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Summer of Salads: Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

partysugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:15:42 -0700

Whenever I'm cooking for a crowd and need a recipe that's portable, I always consider pasta salad. It's filling and easy to make a large batch. While sometimes I assemble a Mediterranean pasta salad with orzo and feta, I also like to make this recipe with tomatoes and mozzarella.

What provides this salad with incredible flavor is the sun-dried tomato dressing - it's so good I've enjoyed it with fish! Made in a blender or food processor, the dressing is a mixture of tomatoes, capers, and garlic, thinned with oil and red wine vinegar. A generous handful of parmesan cheese and fresh basil finish off the satisfying salad that only tastes better the next day. To make it before tomato season is over get the recipe now

Sole Inspired by Julia

partysugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:30:30 -0700

Whenever I chat with someone about the film Julie & Julia, it seems the famous recipe for beef Borgignonne enters the conversation. However, when I watched the movie it wasn't this dish that stood out in my mind. It was the sole meuniere - the life-changing fish that Julia enjoyed upon her arrival in France - that I long to taste. Since I have a copy of my grandmother's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I went home and looked for Julia's recipe.Unfortunately it's not in the book, so I hit the Internet in search of a buttery white-fish recipe. Although it's not necessarily a classic sole meuniere, I experimented with this sole and herbed white wine lemon sauce. The final result wasn't a culinary revelation, but it was decidedly delicious. If you're looking for a light, filling meal with fresh flavors, why not channel Child? For the recipe, keep reading.

Fast & Easy Dinner: Tilapia With Arugula and Tomatoes

partysugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:00:27 -0700

Just because you are cooking for one doesn't mean you shouldn't take the time to prepare a healthy and delicious meal. If you live alone, this recipe is for you. It's quick and uncomplicated, but flavorful and well balanced.

Tilapia, a light, flaky white fish, is cooked with tomatoes and arugula. A simple piccata-style pan sauce of butter and capers tops off the fish. Don't hesitate to be resourceful. Have a vegetable drawer filled with spinach? Use that instead. To treat yourself to this dish, get the recipe.

Know Your Ingredients: Caperberries

YumSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:00:18 -0700

If you were surprised to learn where capers came from, it might be helpful to get a primer on a close relative, the caperberry. Do you know the difference between the two?

These oblong, semi-green fruits, which are picked from the same plant as capers, are similar in size to small grapes or olives. The berries have a brined, lemony taste that's reminiscent of capers, but with less salt and intensity. If the immature blossoms of the flowering bush aren't selected to become capers, they flower into a white and violet-colored bloom, and later fruit to produce a berry that, when brined, has a milder, less piquant flavor than a caper.

Caperberries have varied uses from their smaller counterparts; they're often eaten as a snack alongside antipasti or placed in lieu of olives as a garnish in Bloody Marys and martinis. They can also be incorporated into savory salads.

Do you prefer caperberries to capers? What are your favorite ways to consume them?

Know Your Ingredients: Capers

YumSugar — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:00:33 -0700

Like hearts of palm, capers have become a fixture in salad bars, smoked salmon spreads, and meat marinades. But besides their characteristically piquant flavor, what do we know about them? Capers have played a significant role in Mediterranean cuisine for thousands of years; early dishes have been traced back to before 3000 BC. These tiny green dots are the immature flower buds of a thorny, prickly bush that's widespread all over the Middle East and Mediterranean.

Processing the buds is labor-intensive, as they must be plucked at a specific point in the maturation process. The bud, which is generally flavorless when fresh, develops an intense, sharp flavor after the blossoms are sun-dried and brined in vinegar, salt, or wine. And while they range in size from 7 mm to the size of a small olive, smaller caper varieties are more aromatic and come with a higher price tag.

Are you astonished to hear that capers have been preserved for thousands of years? What are your favorite ways to enjoy them?

Source

Fast & Easy Dinner: Eggplant and Portobello Schnitzel

partysugar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 07:45:25 -0800

In German, schnitzel is the word for "cutlet" and the culinary technique usually refers to an ingredient that has been breaded. In this vegetarian variation, thick eggplant slices and meaty portobello mushrooms are dipped in egg and breadcrumbs. Instead of the usual fatty pan-frying, the veggies are baked until brown and crisp in the oven. A delightfully simple lemon-caper butter sauce makes this dish elegant enough for entertaining.

Look at the recipe when you read more.

Eggplant and Portobello Schnitzel
From Vegetarian Times

Ingredients

Schnitzel
1 cup nonfat milk
1 large egg
2 cups Italian-seasoned dried breadcrumbs
8 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed
2 medium-sized eggplants, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
Lemon-Caper Sauce
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
3 Tbs. olive oil
3 tsp. capers
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. parsley, chopped
Lemon slices and parsley sprigs for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray.
To make Schnitzel: whisk together milk and egg in wide bowl. Spread breadcrumbs on large plate.
Dip mushrooms and eggplant slices into milk mixture, then coat slices with breadcrumbs. Shake off excess crumbs, and set on prepared baking sheet.
Spray vegetables with cooking spray, and bake 10 minutes. Flip vegetables, spray with cooking spray, and bake 10 to 15 minutes more, or until vegetables are tender and breadcrumbs are dark golden brown. Set aside.
Meanwhile, make Lemon-Caper Sauce: melt butter in saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until butter begins to brown. Stir in oil and capers, and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat, and add lemon juice and parsley.
To serve: Stack 1 mushroom and several eggplant rounds on each plate; drizzle with Lemon-Caper Sauce, and garnish with lemon slices and parsley sprigs, if desired. Serve immediately.

Serves 8.

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Chicken Provençale

partysugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:45:10 -0700

With its thick tomato sauce dotted with capers and black olives, this dish is prepared in the classic Southeastern French style. The flavors meld quickly and the simple meal comes together in less than an hour.

Although the addition of potatoes is not traditional, the starchy vegetables are a welcome ingredient that balances the dish. For a complete meal, serve with a crisp green salad and a glass of Provençal red wine. To look at the recipe, read more.

Chicken Provençale
From Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine

Ingredients

8 small or 3 medium yellow-fleshed potatoes, such as Yukon gold (about 1 pound), halved (quartered if medium)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup niçoise or other brine-cured black olives, chopped
2 tablespoons drained capers

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the potatoes until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes; drain.
While the potatoes cook, season the chicken with salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the chicken breasts and cook, turning, until browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a large casserole dish.
Add the garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring, until golden, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and their juice and simmer over low heat until the liquid is reduced, 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the olives and capers and season to taste with salt.
Scatter the potatoes over the chicken and pour the tomato mixture on top. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and slice on an angle. Spoon some sauce and potatoes onto each plate and top with chicken.

Serves 4.

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Summer Supper: A16's Tuna Panzanella

YumSugar — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:00:45 -0700

A few weeks ago, I raved about a new Italian cookbook called A16 Food + Wine that has a delicious (and unique) meatball recipe. Well, I'm still learning great things from it. This week, I made a panzanella with tuna and capers, another item on the menu at the launch party. Every ingredient, from the briny capers to the fragrant basil, was well-balanced.

This is a fantastic meal to make if you've got too much bread or when your loaf is going stale. I left the capers whole, since I like their saltiness and texture. You can easily adjust the recipe to your liking; get your hands on it (and step-by-step pictures) when you read more.

Tuna With Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Capers, and Bread
Adapted from A16 Food + Wine by Nate Appleman

Ingredients

1/2 pound country bread
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Persian cucumbers or 1 English (hothouse) cucumber
1 pound tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 tablespoon capers, soaked 30 minutes and chopped
5 basil leaves, coarsely torn
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil-packed tuna, drained

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Tear the bread into bite-sized pieces.
In a large bowl, toss the bread with about 1/2 cup olive oil, coating the bread evenly. Spread the pieces in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and toast for 10 minutes, or just enough for the bread to turn slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Slice off a piece of the cucumber and taste it. If the skin is bitter, peel the cucumbers. Otherwise, keep the peel. Halve the cucumbers lengthwise and remove the seeds with a spoon. Cut into chunks about the same size as the tomatoes.
Place the tomatoes and cucumbers in a large bowl, add the capers and basil, and season with a pinch of salt.
Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and the vinegar over the mixture and toss thoroughly.
Add the tuna and bread and toss again just until incorporated.
Arrange the salad on a platter and serve immediately.

Serves 6.

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Fresh Tuna Salad with Avocado

partysugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:45:49 -0700

Give tuna salad a gourmet makeover by using fresh tuna instead of its canned counterpart. In this delicious dinner recipe, the tuna steak is seared in a fennel, black pepper infused olive oil. Grown up ingredients - capers, garlic, and black olives - are stirred into the mayonnaise based dressing.

Served in avocado halves, this salad is rewarding, sophisticated, and scrumptious. Look at the recipe when you read more.

Fresh Tuna Salad with Avocado
From Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
One 3/4-pound tuna steak, cut 1 inch thick
Salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 anchovy fillets, minced
2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 celery ribs, sliced crosswise 1/8 inch thick
1 small red onion, finely diced
1/3 cup pitted oil-cured black olives, chopped
4 Hass avocados, halved and pitted
Pea shoots or alfalfa sprouts, for garnish (optional)

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine the olive oil, fennel seeds and peppercorns and bring to a simmer over moderately low heat.
Season the tuna with salt and add it to the saucepan. Simmer the tuna steak over low heat, turning once, until barely pink in the center, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate and scrape off the fennel and peppercorns. Strain and reserve the oil.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, blend the mayonnaise with the minced anchovies, capers, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the fresh lemon juice.
Stir the celery, onion and olives into the dressing. Using a fork, break the tuna into 1-inch pieces, then fold into the dressing. Season with salt.
Set 2 avocado halves on each of 4 plates, skin side down.
Drizzle the avocado flesh with some of the reserved spice-infused olive oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.
Spoon about 1/2 cup of the tuna salad into the center of each avocado half. Top the tuna salad with the pea shoots or alfalfa sprouts and serve.

Serves 4.

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Sunday Dinner: Seared Tuna with Avocado and Salsa Verde

partysugar — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:00:05 -0700

Tuna steaks are a delicious and healthier alternative to beef steaks. The meaty fish - that takes well to most seasonings - is filling and easy to cook. In this provocative recipe, tuna is topped with a pungent, Italian style salsa verde and chunks of ripe avocado. The salsa is made like a vinaigrette with fresh parsley, garlic, capers, mustard, and olive oil.

To make this succulent tuna tonight get the recipe and read more.

Seared Tuna with Avocado and Salsa Verde
From Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients

2/3 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 tablespoons drained capers
1 clove garlic, smashed
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick (about 2 pounds in all)
1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

Directions

Put the parsley, capers, garlic, lemon juice, anchovy paste, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper into a food processor. Pulse to chop, six to eight times.
With the machine running, add the 1/2 cup oil in a thin stream to make a coarse puree. Leave the sauce in the food processor and, if necessary, pulse to re-emulsify just before serving.
Heat a grill pan or heavy cast-iron pan over moderately high heat.
Rub the tuna steaks all over with the 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
Cook the fish for 3 minutes. Turn and cook until done to your taste, 3 to 4 minutes longer for medium rare. To serve, top the tuna steaks with the avocado and drizzle with the sauce.

Serves 4.

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