I’m b-a-a-c-k!!

I know, things have been a little quiet here at The Table. I had Valentine’s all planned out for you and then a little stomach virus, a schedule change and .. well, that whole domino thing kicked in and my  well oiled schedule went AWOL.

I am slowly but surely digging my way out. Emphasis here on slow.

The good news is that even though Valentine’s day has come and gone you don’t have to wait until next Valentine’s Day to make this – and I seriously hope you don’t!

Although I adore the hearty and heavier foods of winter, about this time of year I start craving fresher, lighter flavors.  This seems especially true this year since  the  winter weather here in Southern California is also AWOL -  one day it’s in the high 70′s and the next in the 50′s and I waver between firing up the grill and making a hearty soup. So, over the next few weeks the dishes here on the Table seem a bit mixed up you’ll know why!

Ok, enough about the weather. Let’s get to the food!

Since I’ve got some spring gigs coming up, I’ve been working on some spring menus and have  had this recipe bookmarked for some time. It features two of my favorite ingredients – citrus and seafood . When designing catering menus, I look for dishes that not only sound different and intriguing, but have great color  and texture  and  that don’t require a lot of last minute preparation – which, BTW, is also my criteria for Valentine’s Day dinner!!  These scallops meet every single criteria and then some – they are great as an appetizer, but also as a main dish (served with some decadent potatoes as a side or just some good, crusty bread) or would make a beautiful and elegant  lunch.

Scallops with Cara Cara Gastrique is a post from: A Communal Table

A few month’s ago, I got a call from Patti Londre of  Worth the Whisk and the genius/mastermind behind Camp Blogaway. Patti was working with the Idaho Potato Commission on a Valentine’s project  to celebrate Potato Lover’s Month and wondered if I would be interested.

I think I said “YES”!! before she even completed the question.

All I needed to do was create a salad featuring Idaho Potatoes and show up in pink at Patti’s house with my salad. Oh, and I’d also have to hang out with some of my favorite food bloggers and pose for the camera.

I know, it’s tough being a food blogger.

So what exactly was this project? A full page spread that newspapers across the country could use in their Valentine’s Day food section.

As you can see, they got my good side – right behind the camera which is my favorite place to be!

So, if you come across this in your local paper, let me know!!!

Now, onto the best part.. the food!!

It’s no secret that I love salads so it’s no surprise that I chose to make one with one of my favorite ingredients – Idaho potatoes! I decided to use fingerlings in it because I not only love the flavor but the firm texture of fingerlings  is perfect in salads and makes this one perfect for a buffet or a potluck dish!

Needless to say, EVERYTHING was delicious … check out my fellow bloggers recipes and get yourself into the kitchen – you and your Valentine will be happy you did!

Western Shepherd’s Pie by Patti at Worth the Whisk

Cream of Potato and Poblano Soup by Ericka at Nibbles and Feasts

Potato and Beet Galette by Erika of In Erika’s Kitchen

Idaho Potato Asiago Cheese Muffins with Herbs de Provence by Valentina at Cooking On the Weekends

Potato Lover’s Month with Idaho Potatoes: Romesco Fingerling Potato Salad is a post from: A Communal Table

Walking by, I  never glanced their way.

And I am not alone. All too often, we pass them by, our eyes eagerly searching for some  arugula or meslun or perhaps some lascinato kale -  the frumpy darling of foodies everywhere.

Despite its ruffled loveliness and outstanding  nutrition cred,  the lowly mustard green  sits by in relative obscurity – a wallflower among greens.

This is just plain wrong – and shameful.

How big a shame I didn’t realize until just recently when I picked up a bunch for a salad I was going to try.

After wolfing down a huge plate of this salad (and snitching pieces from the bowl before I served it)  all I can say is… “why in the world did I not discover them sooner”?They are tender with a little spicy bite and pair wonderfully with all kinds of greens and will be a regular addition to my salad green repertoire.

It appears I have  a lot of catching up to do – and after the Superbowl spread yesterday, a lot to make up for as well – and what better way to start off my road to redemption than with a salad – especially this salad. Mustard greens, lascinato kale (yeah, its a darling for a reason), homemade croutons and a little grated gruyere all  glossed with a simple white wine vinaigrette.

Redemption  has truly never tasted so good.

Mustard Greens with White Wine Vinaigrette and Homemade Croutons is a post from: A Communal Table

I’ll admit, these are a little “over the top”.. for me, but as the saying goes, “go big or go home” – so as you can see I went “big” – in more ways than one!

I’d been working on some recipes for the Superbowl and was thinking about Buffalo Chicken… and then I started thinking about fries.. and then I thought, “well, why not combine them and see what happens”?

It was a good move… if I do say so myself.

Since the chicken and the fries are baked this dish isn’t as calorie dense as you might think – and you can make most of this ahead of time, so you won’t be in the kitchen when it’s 4th and down….which may or may not be a good thing!

And for you “snacking pleasure” I’ve pulled some things out of the archives if you’re looking for some additional inspiration!

 Roasted Corn Dip

Superbowl Sliders

Texas Cake

Buffalo Chicken Fries is a post from: A Communal Table

Are  you ready for some football??

Sunday is the “big day” but  even if you aren’t a Patriot or Giants fan (or even a football fan!) it’s a fun day to hang out with your friends and family and a great excuse to relax and eat. And since we haven’t really done that in about a month,  to my way of thinking we are definitely overdue!

So what is on your Superbowl menu? I’ve found that people are just as passionate about their Superbowl party fare as they are about their favorite team. For some folks, it is all  about the wings and for others – well, you better have that hot dip or you can just forget about it. Fortunately for me, my crew isn’t very demanding .  But, with a nod to tradition,   I’ve got a great dip to share. A little different than the usual spinach or artichoke dips, but just as tasty!

Mahummara is a common dip throughout the middle east – and it seems folks are just as passionate about what is a “true” Mahummara and what isn’t as folks are about whose team is better.  In researching this recipe, I found hundreds of variations – so in the interests of full disclosure, I am not claiming this is a “true” Mahummara. What I will claim is that it is really good, and really easy!

Mahummara Dip is a post from: A Communal Table

We all have them – you know, those dreams where you show up to class and it’s the final – and you haven’t been to class all semester. And then you  wake up, relieved to find that yes you  did graduate and you  did not flunk the final.

For me those dreams are a little different. In my dreams, instead of showing up to class for the final, in my version it’s people who show up for dinner that I have invited … and not prepared for.

EEEK!!! Yes, it is my own, personal version of  the dream!

I had that dream the other night and it got me thinking. What would I do if that really did happen? Of course the answer depends upon lots of things – what’s in the fridge, freezer and pantry and how good the local take out is! But just for grins (because I’ve been a little bored lately!) I decided to take a look through said fridge, freezer and pantry and see what I could come up with.

And to bolster my courage I did what any  self respecting “foodie”  would do- I started with dessert first! I figured  if I could nail that, the rest would be a piece of cake (no pun intended!).

My search led me to some unusual unlikely ingredients. I had some canned blackberries, a small box of fresh blackberries and a carton of cream. So what to do with these things? Well, I could make a pie or ice cream – but in the interests of my little experiment I thought I should stick with something quicker and easier – because if I really did have people over, waiting 4 hours for  ice cream to harden up probably wouldn’t go over real well. Ah, I thought, how about a fool?

It was perfect – the dish and of course, the name! Seems I have a thing for recipe titles this month – first Butcher Shop Bolognese and now Blackberry Fool.

And yes, this does have me a bit worried. But back to the fool.

If you aren’t familiar with it, fools are probably one of the easiest desserts on the planet and require only three ingredients – fruit, a little sugar and heavy whipping cream. Puree the fruit, add a little sugar if needed, whip the cream and stir the whole lot together.

Which is pretty much what I did – with a couple of small tweaks – namely cooking down the canned berries and adding a healthy dose of Chambord to them.

So, if this dream (or nightmare in my case) actually happens,  I’ve got the perfect dessert… with the perfect name!!!

Blackberry Fool is a post from: A Communal Table

You probably are wondering why I am posting a recipe using Guinness almost two months before St. Patrick’s Day.  But I was so excited about this I couldn’t wait!!

A couple of years ago we went to Ireland and made the obligatory trek to the Guinness Storehouse.  Figuring we’d need a little sustenance before imbiging sampling, we decided to have lunch at their restaurant (well, that and we had two teenage boys with us – ’nuff said).

As we sat ogling the panoramic view of Dublin (and trying to decide if a full pint was a wee bit much at lunch!!) the waiter brought us a basket of brown bread to tide us over until our entrees arrived (and probably to help soak up some of those pints we’d decided on!) . But not just any brown bread – it was  the  best brown bread of the entire trip – and maybe in my whole life.

So there was no question I had to get the recipe – but despite my efforts  it was a no – go. The waiter had no idea how the bread was made  and the pastry chef in charge of making the bread was off. The recipe book in the gift shop had lots of great Guinness recipes – but no brown bread.

Once home  I searched the web- no luck. Although  I have  a pretty darn good  Brown Bread recipe, it isn’t the same as the one  I’d had at Guinness.

Sigh.

So, I figured it was just “one of those things” and as they say, “life moves on”. Recently though I was surfing the web and came across the Guinness website and clicked on their recipe section – you know, just in case that brown bread recipe was there.

And it was.  Have I mentioned how much I really love the internet?

Needless to say, I ran right out and got some  Guinness and set to work on the bread. Time hadn’t dulled my affection for this loaf – it was as good as I remembered- and  it’s  the perfect thing to go with soups, stews and winter salads – or as a little snack, toasted and spread with some good Kerrygold butter and a bit of Dubliner cheese.

Oh, and it’s a “quick bread” – which totally works for me since as you know, I sort of have a problem remembering to make bread.

Guinness Bread is a post from: A Communal Table

No, I didn’t clean out the butcher shop and come up with this dish.

But seriously – isn’t that the best  name? That’s what I thought when I came  across this recipe in Barbara Lynch’s book, Stir.

So, of course I had to make it.  As I read through the ingredients I thought it might be a bit of a tough sell around  here.

Not because of the chicken livers (more on that in a bit) but because if you asked my family, the bolognese sauce I make (my mom’s recipe known as “spaghetti sauce” ) is in the top 5 of their all time favorite recipes. Competing with that was going to be nothing short of a challenge and one that I was not completely looking forward to -you purists out there know exactly what I am talking about, right?

But forge ahead I did.

The verdict? “Really, really good. But not the same as Grandma’s.”

But that is ok. There is room for more than one bolognese in this household – as I bet there is in yours.

Ok, and the chicken livers? That’s the secret to this sauce according to Lynch. And she is spot on. They add a surprising depth of flavor to the sauce and make this a wonderful dish to serve on a weeknight but also for a casual get together with friends. Paired with a good bottle of red wine , some lightly dressed greens and some good crusty bread, you’ve got an easy and fabulous dinner.

And as Barbara says, the chicken livers will be our little secret, ok?

Butcher Shop Bolognese is a post from: A Communal Table

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get” – Forrest Gump

That is sometimes how I feel when I clean out my refrigerator – I just never know exactly what I am going to get. Unfortunately, most of the time it isn’t something as nice as a chocolate!! Occasionally though, I come across something that is a pleasant surprise – in this case that would be some leftover dulce de leche and some whipping cream. Being the thrifty soul that I am (yes, dear I can hear you laughing as I type this!) I figured I simply couldn’t let it go to waste so the next question of course was “what am I gonna do with that”?

Fortunately finding uses for dulce de leche and whipping cream isn’t brain surgery – ice creams, puddings and Chocolate Chili Dulce de Leche cookies all sprang instantly to mind. But I’d been wanting to make a semifreddo and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. For those of you who  aren’t familiar with it, Semifreddo is a frozen dessert that is (at least to my way of thinking) a cross between a mousse and an ice cream and typically consists of meringue, whipped cream and whatever flavoring combination you fancy. Hence, an internet search will turn up hundreds of recipes.

Yikes. Cleaning out the refrigerator was the easy part.

After reviewing a bunch of recipes it was easy to narrow down what I was going to use as my basic recipe – I passed on those that included gelatin (not that I have anything against gelatin but in this dessert it just seemed wrong) and on those that were heavy on the egg yolks since I really wanted something lighter and airier. I finally settled on one from The Essential New York Times Cookbook to use as my starting point – 1)  because I didn’t have to convert mL’s and grams (tough for me when I am adapting a recipe) and  2) because it included a technique for an italian meringue that I’d never tried.

Suffice it to say that I will be using this technique for italian style meringue from now on…to be blunt, it rocks. No drizzling hot sugar syrup into egg whites and hoping I don’t cook them.. those days are now gone!!

Have I lost you or bored you to tears yet? Sorry about that – I tend to “geek out” a little when it comes to technique but in the interests of brevity I think I am gonna just move on to the recipe.

And tell you that it is ONE of the best desserts I have ever made.

And tell you that you really should try it. Today.

And that it is TOTALLY worth splurging on.

And that it would make a fabulous Valentine’s Day dessert…so you can plan ahead.

Chocolate and Dulce De Leche Semifreddo is a post from: A Communal Table

One of the best things about writing a food blog is that you not only get to play with food, but you also get to review cookbooks… and given my obsession with them this is a good thing!! Recently, Quirk Books  sent  me a copy of “Little Old Lady Recipes – Comfort Food and Kitchen Table Wisdom” by Meg Favreau.

This cookbook is a  collection of recipes by real life home cooks – an homage to  the “extraordinary women who create potluck dinners, church socials, and the best desserts you’ve ever tasted”. It covers everything from basic oatmeal to.. gimlets (but more on that, later).  Each recipe is accompanied by a photograph of the cook (instead of the dish) and more often than not a “pearl of wisdom”.

Seriously, how can you not love a cookbook that has quotes like this -

“If you are working in the kitchen and someone asks if you want help, immediately  remove your apron, hand it to them, and go into the living room to have a drink:. – Gladys, bridge club hostess, 84

Like all cookbooks in my stack, I read this one cover to cover.. and I loved every page. The recipes, the photos and the quotes … it truly is a snapshot of American cooking that is often overlooked and a wonderful way to “re ground” your approach to food and cooking.

Ok, so back to the gimlets.

The recipe in Little Old Lady Recipes is the classic recipe with gin and Rose’s lime juice. But as usual, I can’t go with the stated recipe and have to “tinker” – especially since I didn’t have any Rose’s Lime Juice.   Sitting on my kitchen counter was a huge bowl of tangerines and I thought… why not?

Why not, indeed.. it was delicious and while not strictly a gimlet, I think the “little old ladies” would approve!

Tangerine Gimlet is a post from: A Communal Table