Recipe: Lemony Grilled Asparagus with Goat Cheese

Here is another recipe included in the baby shower menu for my friend last week. It’s a Pip’s Plate original, and we sort of winged it last Sunday. It turned out incredibly yummy – this recipe is a great way to jazz up plain boring grilled asparagus.

We served this alongside Grilled Turkey, Bacon and Blue Cheese Sandwiches.

Lemony Grilled Asparagus with Goat Cheese
makes: 12 servings (6 pieces of asparagus per person)

Grilled Asparagus
3 bundles of asparagus (enough for 6 spears per person)
juice of 1 lemon
3 T olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Garnishes
1 lemon for zesting
3 oz chevre goat cheese

Directions
1. Prepare the asparagus by bending it from each end to determine the ripe part of the asparagus. Snap off the woody ends – you don’t want to eat these.

2. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Dress the asparagus and let marinate in a plastic bag for at least 20 minutes.

3. Heat grill to medium high heat. Put asparagus directly onto the grill. Cook for about 8 minutes, turning occasionally to avoid burning.

4. Remove from grill. You can place them on a platter or you can put them on individual plates for serving. Either way, once the asparagus is on a plate, use a microplane grater to zest the lemon over the asparagus. You should use the entire lemon. Then, take the chevre and crumble it on top of the asparagus.

4 Layer Hearty Chicken & Vegetable Lasagna

Nothing is more soothing on a cold gray day than a plate full of fresh-from-the-oven lasagna.

This version attempts to make lasagna a bit healthier than the traditional beef and cheese version. I’ve substituted ground chicken, added a ton of veggies, and cut down on the amount of cheese.

With all these veggies layered in between pasta and cheese, this becomes hearty and good-tasting to the bone.

Serve with garlic bread and Caesar salad for a complete meal.

4 Layer Hearty Chicken & Vegetable Lasagna
Makes 8 servings
Time: about 1 hour and 45 min

Ingredients
12 uncooked lasagna sheets
2 T olive oil, divided
1 # ground chicken
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 white onion diced
1 serrano pepper minced with seeds (optional)
5 cloves garlic minced
1 cup quartered baby bella mushrooms
26 oz jar tomato-basil pasta sauce
1 T chopped fresh oregano
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground pepper
2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese, divided
15 oz container part skim ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Boil 6 quarts water in large pot. Add 1 T salt when boiling. Add lasagna to pot, stir, and cook for about 6-7 minutes, or according to package. When cooked, drain and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, heat 1 T olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add ground chicken and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks through. When fully cooked, remove from pan and place on a plate.

4. Heat remaining 1 T olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini, onion, garlic, serrano, and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent.

5. Add chicken back to skillet with pasta sauce, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer and let simmer while mixing remaining ingredients.

6. Combine 1 cup mozzarella, ricotta and eggs.

7. In a lightly greased 9 x 13″ pan, add 1 cup sauce mixture to bottom. Place 3 lasagna sheets on top of sauce. Add 1/3 of the cheese mixture, then 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat layering pasta, cheese, and sauce. Top with Parmesan then remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 – 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes. This is important because it gels together, making it much easier to dish out. Cut into 8 pieces and serve hot.

Recipe: Spicy Pepperoni Pizza

This is a homemade version of my favorite pizza at Zelo / Bacio / Ciao Bella. You can use goat cheese or not – depending upon your taste preference. This is pretty easy, especially if you buy pizza crust. I really like Boboli ready-to-bake pizza crust. When making my own pizza dough, I really like this recipe from Epicurious.

You could also use premade pizza sauce, but this recipe calls for such an easy way of making your own pizza sauce with ingredients you most likely will already have on hand.

Spicy Pepperoni Pizza
serves: 2-3 (pizza is cut into 6 pieces)
time: 15-20 minutes

1 serving pizza dough or ready-to-bake Boboli crust
1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 1/2 T olive oil
2 t dry Italian seasoning
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 oz pepperoni
1 jalapeno, sliced thinly
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
2 oz soft goat cheese

Preheat oven to 450.

Place pizza crust on pizza stone or baking sheet. Combine garlic and olive oil in small bowl then brush over crust. Sprinkle Italian seasoning over the crust, then spread the tomato sauce over the crust. This is essentially your easy-to-make pizza sauce without dirtying a lot of bowls.

Top with pepperoni, jalapeno, and cheeses.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven, slice into 6 pieces, and serve.

Add more crushed red pepper if you want more spice.

Gourmet Club: April 12, 2008

After the brilliant success of our first Gourmet Club meeting back in January, I immediately went home and started scavenging the internet for braised short rib recipes – because it doesn’t get much better than that. And man oh man….it doesn’t.

Nicole and I were serving the main course this time, which also meant we would be hosting it at my house. I first thought an Asian inspired short rib recipe would be exactly what I was looking for. Until I found this recipe: Brasato al Barolo (Braised Short Ribs with Pumpkin Orzo and Horseradish Gremolata). YUM.

Then I thought…wait a second, this is from Mario Batali’s restaurant Babbo cookbook…hmmm…why does that sound familiar? Then it dawned on me! I finished a book at the end of November titled “Heat” – which is now one of my favorite books – about Bill Buford working for Mario Batali and traveling through Italy. Well, this dish is mentioned in great detail. I looked it up, laughed at the descriptions (it’s violently vulgar), and said “sign me up! this is the dish!”

I read some more about the region this dish comes from – Emilia Romagna in northern Italy and discovered this from wikipedia:

The city of Bologna is famous for its superb cuisine. Perhaps less well known is the fact that it lies at the heart of Emilia Romagna, a region celebrated both in Italy and abroad for the range and quality of its culinary delights. From the Adriatic coast of Ravenna and Forlì to the inland plains and river vallleys of Parma, Piacenza, and Modena, Emila Romagna is richly blessed with prime produce and ingenious cooks.

We preordered short ribs (not flank style but the cut with one bone per rib) and picked them up early that Saturday along with all the other ingredients, then went back to my place to get everything prepped. Have you ever grated fresh horseradish? It is STRONG. And it’s fleshy and weird – it kind of creeped me out a bit.

Either way, the dish was hands down the best dish I’ve ever made. It was simple enough to do again, although somewhat time intensive as it requires a long time in the oven. Although the recipe says to braise at 375 for 2 hours, the next time I would braise at 350 for 3 hours.

The table setting had an Italian theme with reds, greens, and yellows.

Here is the menu:

First Course
Antipasto platter of assorted meats, cheeses, olives, and breads
Paired with: Tommasi Poggio al Tufo Rompicollo, Maremma Tuscana, 2004

Second Course
Tagliatelle with Mussels, Clams and Pesto
Paired with: Tamellini Soave, 2005 (excellent wine)

Third Course
Braised Short Ribs with Pumpkin Orzo and Horseradish Gremolata
Paired with: Josetta Saffirio Barolo, 2002
*A special note about the wine: there is this fellow who suggests wine at the place I love to go (Hennepin Lake Liquors in Uptown – their selection and prices are unbeatable) who, in the past, has had a very low success rate at suggesting wines for me. My strategy for Sat? Avoid him AT ALL COSTS. Well…that unfortunately didn’t happen as another worker pointed me directly to him and there was no one else in the store. F*****ck. He ended up suggesting this wine and it was excellent. Thank god. It was $40/bottle and we bought 2. Josetta Saffirio learned how to make wine from her mom and dad, who are both professors of winemaking in Italy. This is her second or third vintage and only makes 3,000 cases a year.

Fourth Course
Various Cheeses: Taleggio served with honeycomb, Pecorino ginepro served with balsamic reduction and olive oil, Sottocenere al Tartufo, Blu del Moncenisio with fig pear spread, Valsesia Toma with fig pear spread, La Tur with honeycomb
Paired with: Ruvei Barbera d’Alba, 2005

Fifth Course
Panna Cotta with fresh strawberries and blackberries
Paired with: Felsina vin Santo Chianti Classico, 1999

recipes after the jump

Review: Gramercy Tavern, New York

Whew! What an experience. The Gramercy Tavern is definitely one of the best restaurants in the country. Although I would’ve liked the food to be a little more adventurous and exciting, the dining experience was top notch.

There’s a reason owner Danny Meyer has the top 2 Zagat restaurants in New York. Yes- the top 2 spots. Second place belongs to Union Square Cafe.

Service. Service. Service.

We had a 7:30 pm reservation at Gramercy Tavern and we had no reason to believe we wouldn’t make it. We had quite the time getting there. First, our flight out of Minneapolis/St. Paul was a total circus. We spent 2 hours in the plane AT the gate. The pilot insisted on giving us updates every 5 minutes – the A/C was broken, then the bathroom door was broken, etc.

I wan’t panicking yet. I thought we still might be able to make the 7:30…until I realized we wouldn’t arrive in New York until 6:45ish. So I called Gramercy Tavern. They were very accommodating and requested that we just call when we get there.

When we landed at JFK – at 7:30pm – I called Gramercy Tavern again. I spoke with the same man, and he was committed to getting us to his restaurant. It was great!

By the time we finally arrived at Gramercy Tavern, at 9:30pm, we walked in and the staff immediately smiled and said, “We’re so glad you finally made it!” So were we. The feeling when we walked through the restaurant to our table was nothing short of delightful, warm, and inviting.

I started the night with a well-deserved Belvedere martini. Yum. It was heavenly and perfect. I and my 2 companions opted for the tasting menu that night: me- the meat version, they- the vegetable version.

I’d have to admit that the vegetable tasting menu was far superior to the Spring tasting menu. The plates were as beautiful as pieces of art. And they tasted about as good. (You’ll have to excuse my lack of details about the food. Not only was I famished, it was also a couple weeks ago.)

My only critique of the Spring tasting menu was that the food sounded a lot better than it tasted. Everything was perfectly seasoned, I just felt that the options were slightly boring. How many times have I had roasted chicken with mashed potatoes? Don’t get me wrong, it was good.

Then the cheese course came. This made the meal. We had a selection of 15 or so cheeses and they all sounded delicious. We got a sampler and I experienced a couple new sensations. First, washrind cheese is now my new favorite. Melt-in-your-mouth and dreamable cheese. Go get some if you haven’t had it yet. Also, I loved the balsamic-fig jam and honey they served with the cheese. Perfect compliments to our selections.

The wine was also incredible. Their half-glass pours are not the average half-glass pour, but rather just under a full-glass pour. Or so it seemed to me.

Dessert was ok, nothing memorable.

In the end, I’m so happy we went through everything we did to get there. It was well worth it.

Butternut Squash Pesto Pizza

I spontaneously made this for dinner last night and it was really good. I used a premade pizza dough from Pampered Chef (all you do is add water and knead the dough) and it worked really well. Just make sure to follow the guidelines for the dough you use. This particular pizza cooked for about 20 min in a 425 degree oven. Times and heat may vary.

Butternut Squash Pesto Pizza

1 pizza dough
1/2 c pesto (recipe follows)
10 oz butternut squash (I used Cascadian Farms frozen butternut squash, but you can also roast your own if you have more time)
1/4 chopped onion
1 c Pecorino Romano – grated (you can also use Parmesan Reggiano if you can’t find pecorino – any salty, hard Italian cheese will work well)

Pesto
1/4 c toasted walnuts, chopped
5 garlic cloves
2 cups packed basil leaves (you can also add spinach and/or arugula if you like)
1/4 c Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
olive oil
S&P
Blend the first 4 ingredients in a food processor until processed, but not pureed. Stream in olive oil while processing to create the right consistency (it should be smooth but not runny – spreadable).

Roll out the pizza dough onto your baking surface (I prefer to use my pizza stone to get even cooking). Spread pesto over pizza dough. Top with squash and spread out over pesto. Top with onions and cheese.

Bake pizza in a 425 oven for about 15-20 minutes – again, cooking times may vary.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Take it up a notch

I made this version of a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner last night and it was so yummy. The feta made it really creamy and the pesto gave it a rich fresh flavor. I also think this is the first non-vegetarian recipe I’ve posted. I’ve been a very bad vegetarian lately. But I’m ok with that.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

4 slices whole grain bread
1/2 c basil pesto
4 oz fresh feta cheese (I used Israeli feta and it was delicious! Made from sheep’s milk, Israeli feta is creamier and less crumbly than regular feta. If you can’t find Israeli feta, choose another sheep’s milk or goat’s milk feta. Avoid cow’s milk feta as it is usually chalky and flavorless.)
4 slices turkey bacon, cooked (Wellshire Farms is the best there is – if you can find it, buy it)
olive oil or butter

I used spray olive oil and it worked really well and was far less messy than butter or liquid olive oil. Coat 1 side of each slice of bread with olive oil or butter; turn over onto a work surface.

Divide and spread the pesto on 2 slices of bread. Divide and spread the feta on the other 2 slices of bread. Top the feta sides with 2 slices of bacon each. Place each pesto half onto each feta/bacon half.

Warm a skillet over low heat. Place sandwiches in skillet and cook over low heat. Don’t be anxious and cook over any higher heat than low. Using the low, even heat allows the cheese to melt and blend with the other flavors. Cook each side for about 5-7 minutes, or until browned.

Cut in half and serve.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

You can vary this sandwich to whatever you have in your kitchen. Try some kalamata olives instead of bacon if you want a vegetarian option but still a little salty. Or try grilled apples, white cheddar and walnut pesto. The options are endless.