A play on shapes: long & skinny, little ovals, and rectangles

The phrase “company’s coming” used to be popular when dinner guests were expected. Was that just Oklahoma? I don’t hear it said any more, but we do have “people over.” And there is usually a buffer snack, designed to stave off hunger if the thing in the oven is taking forever to cook and to provide a window for latecomers. But I’ve been fretting about this pre-game warm-up for a while now, since I’d found myself in a decided rut. I had slipped into the soft cheese/hard cheese/crackers array, with a possible olive or nut mix tagging along. Don’t get me wrong, I love to nibble exactly those things before dinner, especially washed down with a crisp but not too dry white wine. But something was missing.

I feel like a middle-schooler here, trying to justify why only the Converse® Design Your Own sneaker will do. I can give you soooo many reasons why I need something new:

1. I’m sure I’ve served the exact same cheese 10 straight times
2. My living room sofa is challenging since it’s really a day bed and one can’t lean in to the cheese board like they might want
3. I have only one cheese slicer

4. Even I am getting sick of that Spanish nut mix from Whole Foods
5. I can’t leave well-enough alone
6. I have some cool little wooden plates that are languishing in the cabinet

So out came the plates. I decided to arrange the appetizers on the plates and serve them that way; now everyone could have their own small plate to ponder, replete with goodies to nosh on at will. Sometimes it’s nice not to have to share.

Individual Appetizer Plates | 6 plates

The plates above are composed of breadsticks, roasted Lacinato kale (I like this variety for its mild flavor and non-fibrous rib), goat cheese “olives,” real olives, pan de higo and seared halloumi cheese with sage. Play with shapes and flavors and textures — but do join me out here, up and out of that rut. And on the day bed.

1 bunch Lacinato kale (also called Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Parmesan or Romano cheese
8 ounces chevre
1 tablespoon zahtar
1 tablespoon smoked bittersweet paprika
8 ounce package (approximately) Halloumi cheese (sheep and goat milk cheese from Cyprus)
8 fresh sage leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Pan de Higo (Spanish fig & almond cake)
Breadsticks
Assorted olives

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Rinse the kale, trim off part of the stem, and dry well.

This variety is beautiful -- a deep blue-green

Use a paper towel to dab the kale as dry as possible before coating it with oil -- this keeps it from steaming rather than roasting

Rub oil on your hands and then coat the kale lightly with the oil

If you have a oil sprayer, use that to lightly coat the leaves

Sprinkle the kale with salt and roast in the oven until very crisp and dry and slightly browning, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and set aside until needed.

The kale browns slightly but maintains its great color

Press a spoonfuls of chevre into oval shapes, making 12 “olives.”

Goat cheese is crumbly but it will hold its shape if you press it together

Put the zahtar on a flat surface and roll 6 of the goat cheese olives in it until coated. Use more zahtar if needed.

These make delightful little bites, and no crackers are needed

Coat the other 6 goat cheese olives with the paprika.

Smoked paprika has a wonderful depth of flavor and a slight sweetness

Prepare the halloumi last, since it is best served warm. The other elements can be made in advance.

Halloumi comes packaged in a block of approximately 8 ounces -- it has a salty, feta-like flavor and a texture something like mozzarella

Slice the halloumi into 1/3-inch slices. You will have 6 to 8 slices

Trim the end pieces so they will lie flat in the pan

Heat a large pan, either cast-iron or non-stick, over medium heat. Have a sage leave ready for each slice of halloumi.

Place the sage top side facing out -- it will attach to halloumi as it cooks

Place the cheese, sage leaf side down, in the hot pan.

No need for oil, since the halloumi cooks in its own brine

Brown the halloumi, sage side down, for about 4 minutes, checking to make sure it doesn’t get too brown. Turn and cook another 4 minutes.

Halloumi has a high melting temperature, which is why is can be pan-seared or grilled

Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and serve warm. Slice 6 pieces of pan de higo. Arrange each plate with a breadstick, a piece of roasted kale, 2 chevre “olives,” a couple of actual olives, a slice of browned halloumi and a slice of pan de higo.

Pass the vino, per favore.

Kelly McCune © 2010

©2010 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Beautiful little fruits, so adaptable

I’ve come a long way since my first acquaintance with the fig, which took place when I was about eight and was the gooey center of a Fig Newton. I was half a country away from Oklahoma and a decade older before I ate a fresh fig, and was surprised how little it had to do with those Nabisco® cookies (I did think they were exotic). The beauty of the fig is how adaptable it is. It makes an excellent jam, is tasty dried, can be used in cakes, cookies (!), and other sweets. Figs and honey have been paired for centuries. But it works with savory flavors — another classic combo is with Stilton — and holds up to being cooked.

So I found these figs, and that became my starting point.

Figs, honey and Stilton...rosemary joins in as do wine and capers

I also had two whole boneless chicken breasts from Harmony Farms. Now Harmony Farms is an interesting place. I hadn’t been there before even though it’s right up the highway from me in La Crescenta, California. I knew they sold hard-to-find meats, like ostrich and kangaroo and alligator, but I hadn’t thought of going there until recently, when I heard that they sell Wagyu beef from Australia, “kobe-style” and grass-fed. I discovered that all their meat is “natural” and some “organic,” containing no hormones, antibiotics or pesticides. They hand pick their suppliers based on this and on flavor.

It’s a surprising place when you walk in. There is no butcher counter, just a few large freezers and check-out counter. Most of the meat is flash frozen by the supplier, which the manager told me was a surefire way to get the meat to the customer at its best (and explains the freezers). There is a little butchery going on in the back, but not that much. Three customers came in while I was there and all three got containers that were brought out to them from the back. Were they getting the good stuff (my paranoia)?  Finally I asked customer #3 what she was buying and she kindly replied that it was food for her dog and cats. Oh! Turns out Harmony Farms also does a BIG business in organic raw meat for pets. I hope these folks buy their own meat there, but none did while I was there. Hmmm.

I’ve now tasted the chicken they carry and the pork (from Iowa), a Wagyu steak (just a simple pan-fry and it was delicious), and I have some ground New Zealand lamb and Harris Ranch short ribs still in the freezer. I’m hoping they are as good as the chicken, pork and beef. I’ll be going back to Harmony Farms, but not for my dogs (please don’t tell them).

Chicken Breasts with Fresh Figs and Stilton | 4 servings

This takes a total of about 40 minutes to prepare but tastes like you worked for hours.

4 boneless half chicken breasts, 3 to 4 ounces each half
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon capers and their juice
1/4 cup dry white wine
8 fresh figs, halved lengthwise
6-inch sprig fresh rosemary, leaves chopped, or pinch of dried rosemary
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) crumbled Stilton
2 tablespoons honey

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I prefer smaller breasts (nothing personal!) -- they have more flavor

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof skillet. Beginning skin side down, brown the breasts over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes per side.

Some of the fat from the skin will render in the pan and keep the flesh side from sticking

A nice golden brown start means that when they finish in the oven they'll get deep brown without overcooking

Prep these while you brown the chicken

Remove the chicken breasts to a plate. Add the onions to the pan and cook until browning, about 3 minutes. As the onion “melts,” its sugars will help free up the browned bits from the pan, which add flavor.

Nothing beats a cast iron skillet for going from stovetop to oven

Add the garlic and stir until aromatic, about another 1 minute. Turn off the heat.

Just cook the garlic lightly -- too long at too high heat makes it bitter

Return the chicken breasts to the pan and arrange them, skin-side up, scooping some of the onions onto the top. Pour any accumulated juices from the plate into the pan. Spoon the capers and their juice over the chicken and pour in the white wine.

Arrange the fig halves over the chicken. Sprinkle with rosemary and crumbled Stilton. Drizzle the honey over the top.

Drizzle the honey over the top of the chicken and figs

You can also "eyeball" the 2 tablespoons of honey straight from your darlin' honey bear

Place the pan in the oven and cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes, basting a couple of times while it cooks.

Try not to firehose the chicken with the baster so the rosemary and capers stay on top

If you use a quick-read thermometer, cook the chicken until it reaches 165°F. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

A dish like this is best when allowed to rest a few minutes -- not served too piping hot

Serve the chicken with the pan juices, figs and capers spooned over the top, maybe even with a crusty chunk of bread.

We left the pan in the middle of the table and freely dipped the bread in the pan juice, but then, do we have manners? Naw...

Kelly McCune © 2009

©2010 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

The heat of the tomatoes softens the fresh mozzarella

Last Monday night was an all-round great evening. The subject, from 5:30 until 10:30, was food. Very, very good food. We started the evening at Nancy Silverton/Mario Batali’s Pizzeria Mozza, and since there were 7 of us we tasted 7 different pizzas. And yes, the fuss is accurate and deserved — the pizza is deeply good. Then we saw Julie & Julia at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood, and both the movie and the theater itself were also deeply good (especially all things Meryl Streep). You reserve in advance at the Arclight, are seated by an usher, and very kindly admonished by the same usher to silence cell phones and mouths during the movie. Ahhhh. I may be spoiled forever for pizza and movie theaters.

But back to Pizzeria Mozza. We started the meal with a different take on a standby, caprese, which I resisted because I make it at home with some regularity. And now that my home-grown tomatoes are ripe and I’ve found some amazing mozzarella at the creaky (I mean really creaky) little Italian store down the hill, I was trying to hold it off. But caprese fans will out, and the thing was ordered.

I got a tiny bite of it but it was delicious. The hot roasted tomatoes plopped right onto the mozzarella begin to soften the cheese but leave behind its slight tang. The basil, instead of chopped and sprinkled on top, was pureed with olive oil and drizzled over the mozzarella, making it even easier to mop up the goods with some bread. And that is one of the great pleasures of the last bites of caprese: the mozzarella gives off a little briny “milk,” which mixes with the oil which mixes with the tomato which you try to dab up with a hint of basil. Here it’s making its own soup for you.

This is my take on Mozza’s caprese — and a new way to visit an old friend. Look for the freshest mozzarella you can find, and some really good bread to go with it. After all, Nancy Silverton is the woman behind all that bread at La Brea Bakery. And some of us need something good to go with our bread.

Little cherries and pears were what looked freshest that day -- my own pears had been finished off

Roasted Tomato Caprese Served Warm | 6 hearty servings

1 pound little tomatoes, such as cherry, pear, little heirloom, mixed varieties
Olive oil
Sea salt
25 to 30 basil leaves, about 5 large sprigs
3 tablespoons olive oil
Small pinch salt
Small pinch sugar
Small squeeze of lemon
1 pound fresh mozzarella
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Wash the tomatoes and dry thoroughly. Place them on a large baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Rub the oil over the tomatoes and sprinkle with sea salt.

I like to use a foil sheet so there's no clean-up, but I throw it in the recycling bin -- parchment would work, too

While the tomatoes are roasting, lightly rinse the basil and shake it dry. Chop coarsely.

There is some argument that rinsing the basil washes away some of the oils that flavor it, but mine is from my garden and has to be washed

You'll end up with a heaping half cup of chopped basil

If you have an immersion blender or a mini food processor, put the chopped basil along with the oil, salt, sugar, and lemon in the cylinder or bowl and puree until fine.

Here's my immersion blender, but it's not essential

The little squeeze of lemon will help keep the basil leaves bright

A cross between basil "sauce" and pesto

A regular-sized blender or food processor is too big for this job, so if you don’t have a little machine, simply chop the basil until its very fine and mix it with the salt, sugar and lemon.

Slice the mozzarella into rounds and arrange on a plate.

My creaky Italian market was closed (see how creaky?), so this mozzarella came from Whole Foods

Drizzle with the pureed basil, top with hot tomatoes, and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

And pass the bread, please.

Kelly McCune © 2009

©2010 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.