Savory Sweet Paninis

My friend Monique made this sandwich for me this past winter and it was delicious! But, being the meat eater that I am, I questioned what this concoction would taste like with some prosciutto. Let me tell you… it’s AMAZING!

For this sandwich you will need:
Rosemary bread (sourdough or ciabatta… something with a nice chewy crust)
Brie (1 wedge will make approx 4 sandwiches)
A pear or apple (approx ¼ fruit per sandwich)
Prosciutto (2 slices per)
Arugula (small handful for each)
Dijon Mustard
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (can sub butter)
Honey (just a drizzle)

For each sandwich, lightly brush the outsides of the bread with the EVOO. On one of the inside slices, spread a thin layer of mustard. I layered my sandwich with alternating sticky/non-sticky ingredients for optimum stay-togetherness, but I’m particular like that (feel free to get wild!): bottom bread with mustard, arugula, brie, fruit, honey, Prosciutto, bread. Grill in a Panini press until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.

 

Ohhhhh yyyyeeeeaaaahhhh...

Notes:

Fruit – This go-round I used an Asian pear. The last time I made this, I used a combo of pears and apples. Go with what you like and what’s ripe and in season.

Cooking method – I don’t have a Panini press. I just cook these like any other grilled cheese, on medium high heat using my spatula to press down on the sandwich and flipping once. You could also try a George Foreman grill, a brick covered in tin foil or another heavy skillet to weigh the sandwich down.

I also made Brussels sprouts with this meal. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Brussels sprouts?!? There better be cheese sauce!” I personally love Brussels sprouts (I support cabbage in any form), but I realize that’s not the norm. My Uncle Chuck maintains that most people don’t like Brussels because of their bitterness and claims that if people had access to fresh Brussels that had sustained a good frost, more people would be fans. As it is, growers can’t afford the risk of a frost becoming a freeze and ruining the crop and therefore harvest before that can become an issue. (This man has been in the horticulture business for 20+ years. He’s very smart about these kinds of things.) :o)

In any case, the particular version of Brussels that I made with this meal comes to you from The Barefoot Contessa. Usually when I find an interesting recipe, I end up changing something. This recipe however is spot on, and I’ve found no reason to change a thing. Find the recipe here. I made these sprouts for my friend Dustin one time (a Brussels skeptic for sure, but a good eater in that he’s willing to try anything) and he has since requested them specifically. A convert who, in conversations, describes these sprouts as, “THE SHIT!!” :o)

As an FYI, when it’s just me, I like to roast Brussels with just EVOO and salt and pepper. Try a flavored EVOO (mushroom, truffle) for added flavor. Truth be told, I prepare most of my vegetables this way if I’m not steaming/boiling them. Clean and trim veg, sprinkle with EVOO, salt and pepper, toss to coat and bake at 425 degrees for 10-30 minutes depending on the heartiness of the vegetable. Stir once during cooking.

Texas Caviar

My Aunt Debie first brought this recipe into our family and it became an instant must-have at parties.  It's a giant mess of colors and flavors and it's most definitely a fiesta in a bowl (and your mouth)!  Even your non-veg friends will be surprised with this easy to make dip.

1 can black eyed peas
1 can black beans
1 can white hominy
1 can garbanzo beans
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
3 roma tomatoes
1/2 yellow onion
1-2 jalapenos (with or without seeds depending on desired heat)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro
1 cup of your favorite salsa
Salt and pepper to taste

Empty all canned items into a colander and rinse.  Let drain while preparing the remaining items.

Chop all vegetables finely and place in a large bowl.  Add drained canned items and pour salsa on top of entire mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the salt as you eat this with chips).  Stir all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Overnight is best.  Drain and stir before serving.  Serve with tortilla or corn scoop chips.

Look at all those layers of beautiful color!!

Mmmm... cilantro.

The finished product.  :o)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

The first time I heard about these delicious morsels was on The Barefoot Contessa.  After throwing a batch together, and testing them out on my friends (I'm so thankful for such willing guinea pigs!) I did a little tweaking (as I am prone to do).  For anyone who enjoys that chocolate/peanut butter combo, they will become a staple.  I recently made them for a co-worker's baby-shower and one of the guests ate four.  I'm guessing they were well liked?  :o)

For ease and simplicity I prepare these using my favorite boxed chocolate cake mix.  (Feel free to make yours from scratch if you feel so inclined.)  During preparation however, replace 1/4c of the required liquid with brewed, cooled coffee.  Don't fret, your cupcakes will not taste like coffee.  It just helps to enhance their chocolate flavor.  Bake according to directions.



For the icing you will need:
1/2 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 t vanilla extract
1/4 t salt
Up to 1/4 c heavy cream
1/2-1 c of salted peanuts (optional), chopped, and placed in a bowl

Allow cupcakes to cool completely.  Put the sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl down as you go.  Add the cream slowly and beat on high until the mixture is light and fluffy.  (If the mixture appears to be getting too thin don't use all the cream.)  Using a knife or icing spatula, ice each cupcake and then dip the tops into the bowl of nuts (this adds such a wonderful texture element!).

M&M Salad

This summer salad will brighten anyone’s day.  Chock full of ripe melons and fresh herbs, with a surprising savory component, this salad is SUPER easy to make, a pleasure to eat and pretty to boot!

M&M (Melon and Meat) Salad
1 personal size watermelon
1 cantaloupe
1 honeydew
1 pkg prosciutto
1 bunch basil
1 bunch mint
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper

• Trim of rind, seed and chop all melons into bite-sized chunks.  
• Finely chop the prosciutto.  Can also pulse prosciutto slices in a food processor until finely ground.
• Remove basil and mint leaves from their stems and finely chop or chiffonade (stack leaves, roll tightly lengthwise and slice across making strips).
• Add all above ingredients to a large bowl and drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Toss to coat.  Salad should be slightly glossy.  Add additional EVOO and seasoning as desired.

This salad’s measurements are very arbitrary.  Don’t like cantaloupe?  Eliminate it.  Have another melon in mind?  Feel free to add or replace.  Need a vegetarian option?  Forget the prosciutto.  (Although frankly, that’s pretty much what makes this salad unique, so forgive me if I curl my lip a bit at this particular suggestion.)

Roasted Chicken

What could be more wholesome and down-home than a roasted chicken?  And although somewhat time intensive, it's a fairly easy process.  It just takes a little patience.  The result will be a juicy succulent chicken that's great for an after work meal or a special Sunday night dinner.  :o)

Ingredients:
1 whole roasting chicken (5-6 pounds)
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch rosemary
1/2 stick (4T) butter, softened (can sub margarine)
3 lemons, halved
2 heads garlic, halved crosswise
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Kosher salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Make butter rub:  Strip approximately 1T each of thyme and rosemary off thick stalks and finely chop.  Mix herbs with softened butter in bowl and set aside.

Prep:  Remove chicken innards (can discard or pan fry separately if you're into organ meats).  Rinse chicken inside and out.  Remove any pin feathers and pat chicken dry.  Place the carrots, onion, celery, and one head of garlic in a large roasting pan.  Drizzle EVOO and juice of one half lemon over vegetables and toss to coat.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables.  Gently separate the skin from the breast (but don't remove it) by sliding your fingers between the skin and breast and making a pocket.  Using your hands, spread some of the butter rub under the skin of the chicken.  For crispy skin, pat the outside of the chicken dry once more and then liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.  For softer golden skin, rub some of the butter mixture all over the outside of the chicken and then liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Stuff one whole lemon, 1 head of garlic and a few springs of thyme and rosemary into the cavity of the chicken.  Tie legs together with kitchen twine, and tuck wings over themselves.

Cook:  Roast the chicken for one hour to an hour and a half or until a meat thermometer inserted into the middle of the thigh registers 165 degrees (be careful to avoid the bone).  Slice and serve!

Optional Extras:  Serve your roasted chicken with some roasted potatoes and asparagus.  Clean veg and chop potatoes.  Place on a foil-lined sheet pan, and either drizzle all with EVOO or toss with any remaining herb butter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat.  Cook veg with the chicken for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.

Gravy, anyone?  Remove approximately two tablespoons of the chicken juices/fat from the roasting pan and place in a medium sauce pan.  Warm over medium heat and then sprinkle in approximately two tablespoons of flour.  Whisk continuously for three minutes to eliminate the flour taste.  Stir in 1 cup of white wine, and 1/2 cup of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  If overly thick, add more chicken stock or wine a splash at a time.

NIOSA

A Night In Old San Antonio (NIOSA).  My favorite part of Fiesta every year.  Fiesta is a 120-year tradition in San Antonio full of parades, festivals and most of all, FOOD!!  I believe it to be one of the most perfect compilations of fair food I've ever experienced.  I started going to NIOSA about ten years ago, and being someone who loves tradition, there are specific food items that I love and must eat without fail.  Thankfully the layout of NIOSA changes little from year to year, so finding my tasty vittles is easy.  Strategic in fact.  :o)
http://www.niosa.org/default2.htm


Bean Gorditas:  Refried beans, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and guacamole stuffed inside a thick, succulent, masa pocket.  Imagine the best soft taco on a corn tortilla you've ever eaten.  Now double that.  The warm thick corn pocket is the perfect vehicle for creamy refried beans and requisite Tex-Mex vegetable mix of lettuce, tomatoes and cheese.  The guacamole on top is just another layer of delicious avocado goo to keep the whole thing together.

White Wine Margaritas:  These fruity drinks pack almost no discernable alcoholic punch, but to me they are the flawless mix of frozen sweet and sour and ideal in taking the edge off that blistering Texas sun.  The added lime salt around the rim gives the drink an extra sour punch that hits me in the back of the jaw and makes my mouth pucker.  I love that!

Anticuchos:  Spicy, marinated, steak shish-ka-bob.  But not just ANY spicy, marinated, steak shish-ka-bob.  Seasoned with lots of garlic and red pepper flake these shish-ka-bobs are grilled over an open flame, giving the meat a delicious smokiness.  When you order an anticucho, they are literally given to you straight off the grill, still sizzling.  A combination of marinade and melted fat drips down the skewer and onto your hands (a little snack for later), but the burn is minimal and secondary to the rush of flavor that hits your tongue as you bite into the delicious cubes o' cow.  This meal's a messy one, but   this is the kind of food that makes killing trees to make napkins, feel so right.

(Picture fail.  I got overzealous and dove into the meat before remembering to take a picture.  The only reason I got pictures of all the other foods is because Monique reminded me.  By far the biggest obstacle for this new food blogger!)


Fried Green Tomatoes:  The first time I ate fried green tomatoes was at the after school program I attended in New York City.  A delightful man, named James (the director, I believe, but maybe not), made them one afternoon and shared them with the kids.  His were corn meal battered and fried, and they were crispy and juicy and made such an impression on me.  I begged my mom for years to try and make some.  I believe after moving to Texas she finally did (thanks Mom!).  The fried green tomatoes at NIOSA however, are tempura battered, making them light and fluffy and super crunchy.  The insides are piping hot and dripping with juicy tomato goodness!  I top mine with ranch dressing to cool off the heat (and just 'cause I like it!).

Bread Pudding:  This is actually a new one for me this year.  For the first time I ventured into an area of NIOSA that I had never encountered before: Froggy Bottom.  Bread pudding ranks high amongst my favorite desserts, but I'm fairly specific about how I like it.  Many times, bread pudding is dry and even the most delicious bourbon sauce can't save it.  This bread pudding was perfectly sticky and moist and the sauce had an inordinate amount of nutmeg in it that I found to be unfamiliar and strange but most delightful and flavorful.

Pizza:  I don't know about you, but my favorite day in grade school was Friday.  Not only because it was the last school day before the weekend, but also because it was Pizza Friday!  That rectangular, thin block of dough topped with canned tomato sauce and rubbery mozzarella.  Good?  Not really.  And yet, strangely delicious and extremely nostalgic!!  The picture you see below is said school cafeteria pizza, in the flesh.  Once a year, I just HAVE to have it.  This year, the pizza booth was shifted slightly and I almost had a melt-down when I thought my food list would not be complete.  Thankfully, a last minute mission to find funnel cake for Monique (a success), resulted in me spotting the pizza booth in its new location and all being right with the world again.

Cotton Candy:  What could be more reminiscent of childhood than cotton candy?  A light, fluffy, gritty cloud of spun sugar that melts in your mouth and coats your fingers with stickiness at just the slightest hint of moisture.  Cotton candy is a splurge I make at every fair, rodeo and carnival.  It makes me happy.  Yes, it's too sweet.  Yes, it's not good for me.  No, I don't care.  It's FUN FOOD!  :o)

There are MANY other foods to be had at NIOSA.  Unfortunately, I am but one woman with one stomach (damn it), and for this former San Antonian at least, I only have one night.  Got some NIOSA favorites you'd like to share?  Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at noellesnoms@gmail.com.

Next Up:  Roasted chicken.  (I cook!  I swear!)

The Food That Memories Are Made Of

When I was a child, approximately 6 years old, living in Manhattan, I distinctly remember a churro that changed my life.  Purchased from a street vendor (who also sold those big, soft, chewy pretzels) this churro was the perfect mix of warm, crunchy outside and doughy inside.  It was sugar-cinnamoned within an inch of its life AND it had a cream cheese filling!  Since leaving New York in 1983 I have yet to find its equal.

At rock climbing this past Tuesday, after politely declining dinner at Plucker's because I'd reached my caloric ceiling for the day, my friend Mike told me about his favorite bakery in Austin: Chuy's Panederia, a fantastic Mexican pastry/sandwich shop just off of 183 and Ohlen.  I wondered aloud if they had churros.  Mike said, "They do.  Although... they have something in them."  That got my attention.  "Are they cream filled?" I asked.  "Yeah, that's it."  A quick call to check their hours and I was on my way (what calorie ceiling?).

I walked into Chuy's Panederia and noticed the churros right away.  They glowed like a golden beacon under their heat lamp from the back of the store.  $.75 later, and that churro was mine!  The smell was absolutely heavenly.  Such a sweet mix of dough, sugar and caramel.  Like a doughnut on crack.  The taste was overly indulgent.  Warm, not too greasy, plenty of cinnamon and sugar (there has to be enough to get equal parts in your mouth and down your shirt/in your lap) and super crunchy.  And the filling?  The filling was slightly different than what I remember, but it was ooey, gooey and had a fantastic caramel flavor.  Not quite the churro of my childhood, but the closest I've had in 28 (or so) years.

Know of another good place I can pick up a cream filled churro (other than New York)?  If so, I'd love to know.  I'm still on a mission, but at least I'm one step closer!