Vegetarian Menu

We have been trying to get a dinner on the calendar for a very long time with this one super fun couple and this weekend it finally happened. We had such a great time and they were supposed to come up early to watch sunset since October weather is notoriously beautiful here in the hills…NOT this year! To our dismay it was cold and we were totally fogged in. I always ask my guests in advance if there were any dietary restrictions and most often than not there is. One of our guests only eats fish as their meat and is also allergic to garlic.

The Menu

Crostini with blue cheese and fig jam

Stuffed Shrooms

Pecan Crunch Salmon

Israeli Couscous

Salad w/Vinaigrette (see earlier post)

Apple Crumb Pie

Vanilla ice cream

In prepping for a dinner party I always do the dessert first if I can. It’s not a special technique I swear by its really just because if all else fails you WILL have dessert finished!

THE Crostini
I got this idea from the caterer we usually use for my husband’s work events he holds at the house. Of course, our caterer makes his own jam but I still have yet to find a recipe that compares and caterers usually don’t share their “IP”. This is so simple it’s hardly a recipe. It has an amazing combination of the salty and the sweet with the smooth cheese and the crunch bread, basically heaven. Feel free to make the crostini up to a week ahead of time and store in a baggie. I usually buy my fig jam at the local gourmet market http://www.dalmatiaimports.com/Product.aspx . I have seen it several places and it’s always with the cheese. Speaking of cheese use any blue/gorgonzola that you LOVE. My current favorite is Pt. Reys Blue Cheese http://pointreyescheese.com/ .

CROSTINI WITH FIG JAM AND BLUE CHEESE

Thin Baguette

EVOO

Fig Jam

Gorgonzola

To make the crostini, slice the bread about ½” thick. Brush (or spray) EVOO and pop into 375 degree oven for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. At this point you can let cool and put away or prepare.

Spread jam and sprinkle cheese on top. Put under broiler for 1 MINUTE! DO NOT STEP AWAY FROM THE OVEN!

Best served immediately.

I chose to prep these several hours before my guests arrived. I put it on a foil lined baking sheet (no clean up) and put plastic wrap over it until I was ready to bake.

STUFFED SHROOMS

I have been making these I feel like my entire life. Every Christmas Eve my mom does an open house and every year the Shrooms make an appearance and then a quick disappearance. As I got older and my sister did as well she took over these little morsels of heaven. You can easily stuff them the day before and then just let them get to room temp and pop them in the oven. Remember the bigger the mushroom the longer the cooking time. So if you get “stuffing” mushrooms be prepared to cook them for about 35-45 minutes. These are best served hot as well. I am lucky enough to have a warming drawer so I baked them about an hour before the guests arrived and kept them in the drawer with foil over them. I also like to use baby bella or basically anything but white. I love the earthy flavors of the darker mushrooms (for this dish anyway).I also like to use my garlic oil for this recipe (Last night was the exception), I only use Stonehouse oil for my cooking (unless I am frying in Peanut oil) http://www.stonehouseoliveoil.com/ There is really nothing fancy about this recipe but no matter how many my sister and I make there are never more than a couple leftover. The recipe below is for 1 pkg of 10 oz mushrooms. Don’t even bother, just double it.

Gadget: The Alaskan ULU. I came across this when we were in Alaska. They were everywhere and they looked kind of weird to me since I have been using my straight Wustofs for a very long time. I couldn’t imagine what you could do with an ULU. WELL I certainly found out after a salesperson spent 30 minutes with me showing me all the different uses of an ULU. I was sold. This knife is incredible! I have attached a link to show you something similar to what I have. I cut nuts, herbs, skin fish, slice raw meat, etc. I was all about my Santoku before I found this tool! You have so much more control of the knife too. In this recipe I minced up the stems of the mushrooms.

Stuffed Shrooms

10oz pkg mushrooms

2 Tablespoons EVOO

2 teaspoons parsley fresh if you have it

1 clove minced garlic

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup Italian Style bread crumbs

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Clean the mushrooms (in any way you see fit, I put them under water)
Cut off end of stem and pull stem out of cap. I find that if you wiggle it the whole thing comes out.
Place stems aside and mince them up.
Heat oil over medium heat in small sauté pan and add stems, parsley and sauté until stems are fully cooked. Add garlic towards the end and sauté for another minute or two.
Put salt, bread crumbs and cheese in a bowl and mix.
Add stem mixture to bowl and mix well. The consistency should be wet but not too wet. If you can squeeze it together to form a ball it’s good.
Stuff mushrooms and place on foil lined baking sheet sprayed with oil.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Pecan Crunch Salmon
I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com and OMG its amazing! I enjoy salmon but I am kind of picky about it when it’s in its “naked’ state. I am spoiled living in California and being able to get all this different type of salmon. Also my recent trip to Alaska allowed me to taste many different types of salmon. The biggest lesson I walked away with is “friends don’t let friends eat farmed fish”. It’s kind of like eating Maine lobster your whole life and then going on vacation to the Caribbean and eating gulf lobster. It’s an OK substitute but no way near like the real thing (IMHO). I have been known to try 3 different markets before I find fresh fish that I am looking for. For all you locals, Piedmont Grocery on Piedmont Ave, in Oakland, CA is where I buy most of my fish. Yes, they are overpriced but they do have an amazing selection of meat and fish and they are real butchers and fish mongers. Meaning, they don’t sit behind a glass wall and you self serve the meat. NO you tell them what you want and how you are preparing it and they will prep the meat for you. I made a salmon appie and I needed it to be skinned and cut into 1” cubes, not a problem. Of course, this is one reason you pay a higher price probably. Sorry, digressing…in any event buy fresh. Right now, I am all about the fresh, wild caught Coho Salmon, its delicate, and has that bright red color.
For this recipe you can make the wet mixture several days ahead of time and put in the fridge, same with the dry ingredients (keep them separate). I always leave the skin on when I cook it and DO NOT spray the aluminum lined pan. That way when the fish is done I slip the spatula between the flesh and the skin and the skin is left behind easily.

Pecan Crunch Salmon
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons butter
2 ½ teaspoons of butter
¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs
¼ chopped pecans
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
4 4-6 oz salmon fillets

Preheat oven to 400.
Mix mustard, butter and honey. Put in fridge a minimum 20 minutes so it’s thick.
In another bowl mix panko, pecans and parsley.
Season salmon with salt and pepper and place on baking sheet (greased or ungreased, see above). Brush with wet mixture then sprinkle with dry mixture
Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness.
Serve with lemon.

Israeli Couscous with Parsley and Shallots
I discovered Israeli Couscous at a friend’s wedding in Sarasota, odd I know. I am part Syrian and traditionally my grandmother made couscous with her Tabhouli like everyone can picture it. Israeli Couscous is different. They are tiny little beats and need to be boiled. They are in between traditional couscous and pasta. It’s in my supermarket “sometimes” but it’s always at Trader Joes. When adding the water I actually take the pot OFF the stove and add only a few tablespoons (eyeball it) at a time. When the directions say to add it slow they didn’t specify how slow…VERY slow is what it should say. It’s kind of like adding a chicken wing to a fryer. This is also an easy recipe. You can easily sauté the shallots the day before and then bring them to room temp or nuke them and add them to the couscous when it’s hot. I usually complete the entire dish about an hour ahead of time and keep in my warming drawer. This tastes amazing the next day too so feel free to cook the entire dish ahead of time and reheat in a pot on the stove. Low and slow though, while there is oil in this dish it still could stick.

1 package of Israeli Couscous (usually 1 1/3 cup)
1 ½ cup water HOT
2 tablespoons EVOO
Salt pepper
8 (~ ½ lb) Shallots thinly sliced
Parsley
Lemon juice

Heat oil in sauté pan and add shallots, season with salt and pepper and cook until translucent and golden, about 10 minutes. Put aside.
Heat oil in pot and add couscous. Sauté couscous until lightly browned about 5 minutes. Add water VERY SLOWLY. Bring to boil and then turn to simmer for 12 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and add shallot mixture and parsley. Just before serving add lemon juice to your taste and adjust salt and pepper.

APPLE PIE A LA MODE!
My husband and I traveled to Placerville, CA on the motorcycle about a month ago. We do this every year to go white water rafting. We have our favorite spots but just discovered Apple Hill. It’s this place that has all different market stalls and everything that has to do with apples. We obviously got apple pie and it was pretty amazing. I tried to duplicate and came pretty close. My apple of choice is Cortland. I have yet to see them out in the bay area unfortunately. I also made my own crust for this pie. I enjoy making my own crust and I am totally lazy about it. I remember the days I made 20 pies during apple season and I would cut the lard into the flour by hand! Then I discovered that my food processor was way better at it. I have tried many recipes for pie crusts and this one is the best. Ruth Reichl’s recipe…The egg wash on the crust is to prevent the bottom crust to become soggy. Also, the lower that you place the pie in the oven the better the chances of the bottom crust cooking. Make this pie the day before, TRY not to eat it. Reheat it in the oven if you want it slightly warm. I just put it in my warming drawer for a few hours and it was perfect. As for the ice cream, well, this one is the best base I have come by. I found it to scoop like name brand ice cream, not come out in chunks. I have a

For the “single” crust
1 ¼ cups flour
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cold shortening (Crisco)
¼ teaspoons salt
3-4 tablespoons ice water

Put flour, butter, shortening and salt in food processor with steel blade and pulse until pea sized lumps form.
Drizzle 3 tablespoons of ice water evenly over mixture and pulse until your dough ball forms. Depending on weather you might need that extra tablespoon of water.
Do not overwork dough
Flatten dough into 5” disk sprinkle with flour and wrap in plastic
Put in fridge 2 days max 1 hr. min. Or frozen

For the Pie
1 (9 inch) pie shell
Egg wash
5 cups apples - peeled, cored and sliced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Lightly brush pie crust with egg wash and put in fridge while peeling apples.

Place apples in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine 2 tablespoons flour, white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix well, and then add to apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated.

Remove pie shell from fridge. Place apple mixture in pie shell and dot with 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. Lay a sheet of aluminum foil lightly on top of filling, but do not seal.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

While filling is baking, make Streusel Topping

In a medium bowl combine 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, brown sugar, and oats. Mix thoroughly, and then cut in 1/2 cup butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Remove filling from oven and sprinkle streusel on top.

Reduce heat to 375 degrees Bake an additional 40 to 45 minutes, until streusel is browned and apples are tender. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning.

Vanilla Ice Cream (This is for French Vanilla but substitute for regular creamer and use it for a base for any flavor)

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 cups half-and-half cream OR French Vanilla Creamer

2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract (omit if using flavored creamer)

Beat eggs, yolks, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.

In a heavy saucepan heat cream to simmer (until bubbles form around edges.

Pour 1 cup of cream mixture into egg mixture stirring constantly. (Temper the eggs)

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon and reaches at least 170 degrees F.

Remove from the heat; Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours. When ready to freeze, pour stirred custard and vanilla into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.

Equipment: I have had my little Cuisinart ice cream maker for about 10 years now. I use it regularly. It’s easy, small and affordable. http://www.cuisinart.com/products/ice_cream/ice-20.html IF you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, spend the extra 20$ and get the ice cream attachment.