Double Dark Chocolate Waffles

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Alisa

The chocolate cravings have gone overboard. I really blame it in all seriousness on pregnancy. When I’m not pregnant, chocolate is good and fine, about on par with every other sweet. Not pregnant, I don’t think about it outside of seeing it, I don’t dream up ways of using it to its maximum potential in breakfast foods, and I don’t think that it’s “needed” to get from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. successfully. When pregnant…well, all those things suddenly become priorities. Like on Labor Day, I got up and looked up a basic buttermilk waffle recipe and then thought of the maximum way I could choco-fy it. And I did. Yes, I’ve had a similar waffle recipe on this blog before, BUT it wasn’t as good. These waffles are fluffier, less dense, and the chocolate chips remain melty like a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie during your entire breakfast. So. I’m not sorry for seeming repetitive. If you’re pregnant, I’ll understand if I get a thank-you note in the mail later this week.

I topped these in three different ways and they were all good: melted butter and powdered sugar – easy, and the most cookie-like experience. Butter with maple syrup: most waffle-like experience, but I’ve always felt that syrup on a chocolate anything is too much. Turns out, it’s not. And three: fresh raspberries all over the suckers. Chocolate dipped fruit, anyone? They were all good. Dress it up, dress it down, this will be your new craving.

Double Dark Chocolate Waffles
makes about 12 Belgian-style waffles

2 cups AP flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Heat your waffle iron. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk until fully incorporated. In a smaller bowl, whip up the wet ingredients. Gently whisk the wet into the dry until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cook waffles to the waffle-iron’s suggested time (mine has a handy little light that goes off when they’re done) and keep in a 200 degree oven while you cook the rest to keep them nice and warm and crisp on the outside. Serve with powdered sugar and melted butter, or whatever. It really doesn’t matter – it’s all good.

Deviled Egg Burgers

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Alisa

Here’s a little joyous addition to your Labor Day grilling if you want something new! Our dear friend, Shannon, who has been with us through all kinds of culinary adventures over the past 10 years as our most enthusiastic taste-tester, came up with this awesome idea. We were sitting at our favorite restaurant in Lubbock, Crafthouse Gastropub, enjoying one of their creative appetizers, the fried deviled eggs, when the idea came to her. This dish is pure genius: hard boiled eggs, fry the whites in a crunchy batter and then serve the little fried egg halves with deviled egg spread so you can put as much as you want on your egg. So crunchy and amazing! As we were enjoying the dish, Shannon said, “This would be so good on a burger.” And we all sat in silence for a second and let it sink in that deviled egg filling would indeed, be the best burger spread, ever.

And it is.

Imagine the goodness of mayo, mustard, pickle, the tang of vinegar and the creaminess of the ever-popular-fried-egg-on-a-burger-trend, all combined into one spread for your burger. It TOTALLY works. So, I just whipped up a very traditional deviled egg mix and added the basics and it has been my favorite burger of the summer! If you want to try it, a dozen eggs yields enough for about 6 burgers as a spread. So cut it in half if you don’t have all deviled-egg enthusiasts at your party and see how you like it! Thanks, Shannon, for being our partner in culinary crime 🙂 We love you!

Deviled Egg Spread for Burgers

makes enough for 6 burgers

1 dozen hard boiled egg yolks
1 tsp paprika
2 tablespoons mayo
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sour relish
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (or any vinegar, really)
salt and pepper to taste

Hard boil the eggs by bringing all dozen up to a boil (start them in cool water) and once it reaches a boil, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and peel. The glory of this dish is that you don’t have to keep those fussy whites in tact. If they fall apart, they fall apart. If you don’t want to waste the whites, I’m sure you could crumble them up and incorporate them in this recipe as an egg-salad kinda thing. Do what you wish.

In a large bowl, add all the yolks and the other ingredients and mash well with a potato masher or whisk until smooth. Adjust with extra mayo or mustard as you wish – really, I eyeballed this mixture, so I may have had slightly more of something, but these approximations are fairly close to what I did. Spread on burgers, sandwiches, etc, and enjoy!

Green Chile and Corn Chowder

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Alisa

Matt’s been talking for a few weeks, now, about the corn chowder I made around this time last year. I made a curried corn chowder when we lived in our apartment a few years ago and it was definitely something to write home about, although no one wrote about it and we just enjoyed it, as people tended to do before Facebook. Last year, the chowder was more traditional, but nonetheless delicious, and for some reason, so summery, despite its warmth and chowdery-ness. Sweet summer corn, smoked bacon, and this year: the addition of roasted green chiles.

The joys of making a soup or stew, for me, are in the slow development of flavors, and figuring out the best way to go about that process. This time, I knew I wanted to really preserve that sweet corn flavor while at the same time, bring in a little heat and umami that a roasted green chile can provide. So, at the beginning of cooking, I let the chilies and half the corn roast together and I let the trimmed corn cobs boil in the broth the entire time, to draw out the sweet milkiness that is left after you trim the corn off the cobs. I pureed half the ingredients to blend up the chile skins, which I left on for flavor, and then added more chilies and fresh corn at the end, along with super smoky bacon to round everything out. The results were pretty balanced; just enough heat from the chilies, sweetness from the corn, and perfect with a crusty piece of bread to soak up all those flavors.

Summer is winding down and even if you miss out on making this soup while everything is still fresh, the method of cooking will give you wonderful flavors well into the winter soup months. Enjoy!

Roasted Green Chile and Corn Chowder
serves 6-8

4 strips of thick cut bacon, cut into 1/4″ strips
1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 ribs celery, diced (about a cup)
4 roasted green chilies (two whole, two peeled, seeded and diced)
4 ears of corn, kernels removed and cobs reserved
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
5 ounces small, fingerling potatoes, cut into 1/2″ slices
1 1/2 cups half and half

Cook bacon in a large stock pot over medium-high heat until fat renders and bacon crisps. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel to drain.

Add onions, celery, two whole green chilies (stems removed) and half the corn kernels to the pan and cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent. Add chicken stock and corn cobs and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the cobs from the broth and discard. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender until very smooth. If you used a blender, return the pureed soup back to the pot and add the remaining corn, potatoes and chilies and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Add half and half and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir in the bacon and bring the soup back up to a simmer. You can also just use the bacon as a garnish if you want it to remain crispy. Serve with crusty, buttery bread and enjoy!

The Best Fresh Blueberry Muffins

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Alisa

Sorry for the delay in posts. I can’t really blame it on anything except feeling bloated, it’s 100 degrees outside, I don’t feel like cooking anything that’s picture-worthy and I’m rearranging my entire house to make room for a little human that will only weigh about 7 pounds. So here’s another indulgent baked goods recipe that both me and my little growing baby demand in spades these days (hey, I passed my glucose test almost too well. This kid needs sugar!)
Blueberries are $1.30 for a pint at our local supermarket! I bought a couple pints and plan on freezing some for those lonely winter months without a fresh berry in sight. Plus, I need to start thinking about literally storing up for winter as we will have a brand new baby to feed around the clock during the holidays, on top of everything else that will need to be done! I’m thinking these muffins will be perfect to freeze and gently warm in the oven when we need breakfast, yet don’t have the brain capacity to read a recipe.

I made these last week from the New Best Recipe cookbook and they turned out magically perfect. I used fresh instead of frozen, as the recipe suggests, and I indeed had “explosions of tart berries throughout the muffins” but I certainly didn’t mind. Because the recipe was testing in the winter when blueberries were out of season. The blueberries in the store now taste like…blueberries! So grab them while you can and whip these up for breakfast tomorrow morning! I brushed these with melted butter and sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar for a little extra love.

The Best Fresh Blueberry Muffins*
makes a dozen

10 ounces (2 cups) unbleached AP flour (Gold Medal makes a softer muffin because it doesn’t have as much protein as King Arthur.)
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
7 ounces (1 cup) sugar
4 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
10 ounces (1 1/4 cups) sour cream
7-8 ounces (1 1/2 cups) frozen or fresh blueberries

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with papers, like I do, because I live in terror of baked goods sticking.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the egg in a separate medium bowl until well combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add the sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous, about 30 seconds; add the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition. Add the sour cream in 2 additions, whisking just to combine.

Add the berries to the dry ingredients and gently toss until they’re all coated. Add the sour cream mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until the batter comes together and the berries are evenly distributed, 25-30 seconds. Don’t overmix, some spots of flour will remain.

Scoop into the muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full. Bake until muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through baking time. Dump the muffins onto a wire rack, stand the muffins upright and let them cool 5 minutes. Serve as is, or brushed with butter and dipped into cinnamon sugar. You win either way.

*taken from The Best New Recipe. This cookbook will make you look so, so smart.

Homemade Banana Meringue Pudding

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Alisa

I’ve had a long-standing love for banana pudding. Between it and Bananas Foster, I have a hard time choosing my favorite. At one point, it was my favorite dessert on earth. I bounce back and forth, now, between Sticky Toffee Pudding or Bananas Foster. Or anything with lemon. Or chocolate.

My favorite type of banana pudding, however, is the one that has the sweetened condensed milk and sour cream and extra Nilla wafers and all that awesome goodness, but I’m always up for trying a new version. (Matt made this version pictured, by the way). I’ve seen pastry chefs putting meringue on more than just pies for a while. So when we saw a meringue on top of a banana pudding in the latest issue of Bon Appetit, we knew it had to be a winner. And it was! However, I immediately knew a few tweaks I wanted to do to it once we tasted it. First, the base custard just wasn’t banana-y enough. We always keep a few black bananas in our freezer – when you want banana flavor, nothing beats an over-ripe banana. It’s so concentrated that just one will do to amp up the flavor in a vanilla pudding to make it burst with sweet banana flavor. Also, I would use a cooked meringue or a brown sugar meringue instead of the one from this recipe because the meringue wept too much, filling the leftovers up with water. Ick. Cooking your egg whites and sugar before whipping takes care of this problem.

However, for a eat-in-one-sitting recipe, the Bon Appetit version was great (but not banana-y enough, and leftovers got weird). So as long as you have a crowd, this dessert will impress and satisfy! (for the recipe below, I’ve included my favorite meringue and I’ve added a super-ripe banana, pureed into the base).

Banana Meringue Pudding

4 large eggs
⅔ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 super ripe (black) banana
Pinch of kosher salt

Lightly whisk eggs in a large bowl just to blend. Whisk sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk milk into sugar mixture and heat over medium heat, whisking often, until very warm to the touch. Gradually whisk half of hot milk mixture into eggs, then whisk egg mixture back into milk mixture in saucepan.

Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and whisk leaves a trail in pudding (it should be the consistency of mayonnaise), about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, add butter, vanilla, a super-duper ripe banana and salt and puree with an immersion blender until butter is melted and mixture is smooth.

Cover pudding with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto the surface. Chill until cool, about 2 hours.

For the meringue:

3 large egg whites (room temp)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Place the brown sugar in a medium, heavy saucepan with high sides (that sugar will boil up and scare the meringue right out of you if you have a small pan), add water to cover, attach a candy thermometer to the pan, and turn the heat on high. When the sugar is at about 240 degrees, start whipping the whites on high speed (they should be foamy and starting to thicken before you add the sugar). When the sugar is at the high soft-ball stage (245 degrees), remove the thermometer from the sugar and, with the mixer still running, carefully avoiding the whip, pour the sugar into the egg whites in a thin stream. When steam starts to come off the whites, add the sugar more quickly. When all sugar has been added, continue whipping until firm but soft peaks form.

For Assembly:

1 box Nilla wafers
3 ripe bananas, sliced

Spread one third of the banana pudding into a casserole dish (9×9 or 9×13 will do fine). Top with a layer of alternating bananas and cookies, then more pudding and repeat until most or all of your ingredients are used up. Top with meringue and torch with a blow torch if that’s how you roll, or under a broiler with a very watchful eye (as in, don’t take your eyes off it).

Peperonata – new uses for old things

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Alisa

I love learning new ways to use vegetables. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much to do with most vegetables except roast them or turn them into soups. Granted, those are two very easy and tasty options, but it lacks…creativity. And in order to keep eating my vegetables, I need variety! I have a new friend who is vegetarian and gave me the suggestion to purchase the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook, a book based off the recipes served at Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. She said it was one of the best books for vegetarianism and had so much variety and the recipes were so easy, it was always her go-to for what to cook.

Matt dog-eared the recipe for Peperonata, a bell pepper and onion saute that can be used on just about any meal as a garnish or side dish. Much like the Romesco sauce I posted about a few weeks ago, this dish is full of flavor and extremely versatile. The night I cooked it, I made our favorite cornbread recipe and served the pepronata on top of a cut and buttered piece of cornbread and added some cajun broiled shrimp as more of the side dish and let the vegetable be the main course! I like to flip-flop proportions every now and then to get more into the habit of seeing vegetables as the star of the show instead of the 30 second commercial.

First recipe from Moosewood: win! I am excited to dig through and learn more as I go!

Peperonata*
makes about 6 cups

3 red bell peppers
3 green bell peppers
2 large white or red onions (about 3 cups sliced)
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup canned plum tomatoes, or 2 fresh tomatoes (don’t drain the can)
2 TBS red wine vinegar
salt and ground pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar

Slice the peppers and onions lengthwise into strips. Heat the oil in a large (LARGE) skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers and onions and saute, stirring frequently, until tender and slightly browned. This took me about 20 minutes.
Stir the tomatoes and vinegar into the peppers and cook for about 5-10 minutes more, until the liquid evaporates. Add the salt and pepper to your liking and sugar.
Serve over buttered cornbread, in pasta, tucked in an omelet, as a garnish on a hamburger, a topping for hotdogs – it’s really endless!

*recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Chilled Strawberry Soup

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Alisa

I ran across this interesting recipe last week and wanted desperately to try it. A chilled strawberry soup! What could be more summery or fun?

The original recipe called for Riesling and a garnish of black pepper and olive oil and next time I do it, I really want to try that version. Since I would be serving it to Olive and wouldn’t be cooking the alcohol out, I decided to alter the 1/2 cup of Riesling for lime juice and I think the results were so refreshing. Some might call this a smoothie, and it basically is, but it’s thinner and if you go the adult version route, it would certainly be more elevated than a smoothie. Olive loved this different snack and I loved it for breakfast this morning! I garnished the soup with a bit of chocolate mint from my plant out back. Did you know there was such a thing as chocolate mint?! I didn’t but was intrigued and I think there is a subtle smooth difference between it and basic sweet mint (which has the quintessential “gum” flavor). I thought mint and hints of chocolate would be great on a strawberry soup and it was – next time I may even add some dark chocolate shavings as a garnish!

Enjoy! It’s a hot one out there, today!

Chilled Strawberry Soup
makes about 3 cups

3 cups strawberries, hulled
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
Juice from two large limes (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup raw honey
Garnish: mint, chocolate, cracked pepper

Put all ingredients except the garnish in a blender or food processor and blend for about a minute, scraping down the sides. If you want to go the extra mile, strain the soup through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Chill for at least an hour and garnish as you wish! (I didn’t chill ours at all and it was great).

Triple Layer Coconut Cake

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Alisa

Amazingly dense, rich, saturated with coconut flavor with a light, fluffy, creamy frosting that only compliments and doesn’t overpower the rich, dense and super-moist cake. Yes, of course, this was the best coconut cake we’ve ever had. And why, is that? Because it’s Thomas Keller’s recipe, and as anyone who has ever heard of or seen one of his cookbooks will know, everything he touches is gold. This recipe, however, is not found in any of his cookbooks, but was featured in an article on Saveur magazine online. It was a recipe that took him back to his childhood, to having a cake very similar to this in a small town diner. We had this recipe bookmarked for months and finally gave it a go. While you can tell from the pictures that my layering techniques leave something to be desired, the flavors were amazing. Spot on. I even took it to a picnic in 80 degree weather and it held up (barely). This cake needs to be chilled the adequate time recommended, for sure. Even with my missteps and imperfect execution, it was one of the best cakes I’ve had in years.

Go forth! Be bold! Make this cake! We changed nothing – this is just one of those “I made it, so can you” kind of posts, so I’ll simply copy the recipe for you, here! Happy Weekend!

Triple Layer Coconut Cake

FOR THE CAKE:
Unsalted butter, for greasing
2 cups flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1½ cups sugar
3 eggs, separated
1¼ cup mayonnaise
¾ cup coconut milk
½ cup, plus 1 tbsp. buttermilk
2 tsp. coconut extract
2 tsp. vanilla extract

FOR THE MERINGUE:
6 egg whites
1⅔ cups sugar
3 cups sweetened shredded coconut

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the cake: Heat oven to 325°. Grease three 9″ cake pans with butter and line with parchment paper; set aside. Whisk flour, desiccated coconut, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Place sugar and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment; mix until fluffy. Add mayonnaise, coconut milk, buttermilk, coconut and vanilla extracts; mix until combined. With the motor running, slowly add dry ingredients until batter forms; transfer batter to a bowl and set aside. Clean stand mixer bowl and add egg whites; replace paddle with whisk attachment. Whip whites until soft peaks form; fold into cake batter. Divide batter between prepared pans, smoothing tops with a rubber spatula; drop pans lightly on a counter to expel large air bubbles. Bake until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cakes cool for 20 minutes in pans; invert onto wire racks and let cool.Make the meringue: Using an electric hand mixer, beat egg whites in a bowl until medium-stiff peaks form, 5–7 minutes; set aside. Bring sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a 2-qt. sauce pan fitted with a candy thermometer; cook, without stirring, until temperature reaches 250°, 4–5 minutes. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle hot syrup into egg whites until combined. Increase speed to high; beat until meringue forms stiff peaks, about 3 minutes more.

Assemble the cake: Place one cake layer on a cake stand and spread 3 cups meringue over cake; sprinkle with ¼ cup coconut. Repeat with second layer. Place remaining layer on top; cover top and sides with remaining meringue and cover outside of cake with remaining coconut, pressing lightly to adhere. Chill cake 30 minutes to firm meringue; serve chilled or at room temperature.

copied from Saveur

Crunchy Cornslaw – a new twist on the same ol’ slaw

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Alisa

This weekend we had a cookout with some of our friends from church and decided we’d bring a good coleslaw to go with the bbq type meats everyone would be cooking. So we decided to do a punny version of coleslaw and bring cornslaw. I started dreaming it up because every summer for the past four or five years, Matt and I have inadvertently gravitated toward a Corn Dish of the Summer. A few years ago it was an amazing creamed corn, a year after that it was Esquites (a bowl full of the equivalent of Mexican street corn) and last year it was this amazing miso buttered corn with scallions and bacon, a la Momofuku.

Now, I’m not saying this is THE corn dish of the summer of 2014, but it’s a start. We really like it. To compliment the sweetness of the corn, I added a Granny Smith apple and poppyseeds. To offset the sweetness, I added plenty of purple cabbage and red onion and fresh poblano peppers – everything diced the same size (that’s important). Then, I made my own mayo because we had just run out and I didn’t remember it the TWO times I’d been to the grocery store that day. I was not going back. So, homemade mayo with a little dijon and brown sugar and sherry vinegar – the perfect sauce for our perfect summer slaw!

This stuff was fantastic as a side for smokey sausages on the grill (and grilled bread, of course!) Tonight, I made fish tacos and made a little Srirracha mayo with the leftover batch of mayo from the slaw and topped our tacos with the still-crunchy slaw. Amazing! Welcome to summer, my friends!

Crunchy Cornslaw

4 large ears of corn
1/2 head purple cabbage, diced
2 poblano peppers, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and grated
1 Granny Smith apple, diced
1 TBS poppyseeds
1 cup of mayo (homemade or not – just don’t buy something fake or low fat or “miracle”)
2 TBS dijon mustard
2 TBS sherry vinegar
1 TBS brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, cut all the corn from the cobs directly into the bowl. Add cabbage, peppers, onion, carrots, apple and poppyseeds and stir to combine. In a smaller bowl, mix together the mayo, mustard, vinegar and brown sugar and fold into the corn mixture until everything is coated. Season to your taste with salt and pepper. If you want to make your own mayo, I’ll give you our super easy recipe below! Happy cooking!

Homemade Mayo *
makes about 2 cups

2 large eggs
4 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups non-flavored oil like canola, grapeseed, vegetable

Add the eggs, mustard, vinegar and salt to a large cup and add the oil (if using an immersion blender). Start processing as you gradually lift the immersion blender up, letting the oil get sucked under in a steady stream. If using a food processor, add everything except the oil to the processor or blender and blend for 30 seconds. While running, slowly drizzle the oil in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is added and the mixture is smooth.

*adapted from Spike Mendelsohn’s awesome book, The Good Stuff

Fish Tacos

2 fresh cod fillets or other firm, white fish
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
salt and pepper
olive oil for pan frying

Pat the fish fillets dry with paper towels and season each side with salt and pepper. Cut into fish-stick sizes (mine were about 3-4″ sticks) by cutting the fillet across it’s width. Put the beaten egg in a large bowl and the panko and seasoning mixed together in a separate bowl. Dip each stick into the beaten egg and then roll in the panko/Old Bay mixture and pat on all sides to fully coat. Lay the coated fish sticks on a clean paper towel while you finish the others.

In a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add about 4 TBS of olive oil and let it heat till it shimmers. Add the fish sticks without crowding (I had to do two batches) and fry till golden brown on each side. Keep warm and crisp in a 250F oven until ready to assemble the tacos.

For assembly:

Dollop some srirracha mayo (there’s no recipe here – just add srirracha or any hot sauce to mayo and mix it up till it’s a heat level you like! Mine was about 2 TBS per cup of mayo) along the center of a soft-taco sized tortilla. Lay two fish sticks on top of the mayo and then top with the cornslaw. Enjoy!

Summer Grilling: Romesco Sauce!

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Alisa

Ah, summer. It’s upon us! And even though I’m hoping no grilling will get done this weekend due to rain (please, oh please) we have fired up the grill several times already and hope to continue as the months continue to provide us with warm nights and light well into the 9 o’clock hour. We had a truly noteworthy grilling session last weekend where the star of the show was that tasty little dollop of red pepper puree on the side of the asparagus called Romesco.

Romesco is a blend of roasted red bell peppers, hazelnuts, almonds, garlic and roasted tomatoes. I can’t explain how magical it all is when blended up together, but it is incredible as a topping for a grilled flank steak, a dip for asparagus, or even a spread for the grilled bread I’m hoping you’ll still try! We topped baked potatoes with our leftover romesco sauce this week and I just KNOW it would be fabulous on top of a simple omelet. I love a sauce that can be so versatile because it won’t just sit in your fridge, unused. There are literally endless options for this tasty sauce and I hope you will make this for your next summer meal!

Romesco Sauce*
makes about 3 cups

4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
4 red bell peppers
6-8 cloves of garlic, still in their skins
3/4 cup olive oil, plus oil for roasting vegetables and toasting nuts
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1 cup day-old bread, cubed and toasted with olive oil
red wine vinegar
2 tsp Piment d’Esplette (or dried chili flakes)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 300F. Season the tomatoes and peppers with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet. Bake the cloves of garlic along with the tomatoes and the peppers, until the garlic is soft, (remove them when they are to let the tomatoes and peppers finish) the tomatoes have begun to caramelize and the peppers are tender and beginning to blister, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven, cover the peppers with foil and set aside for 10 minutes, then peel the skin and remove the seeds and veins from the peppers.

In a small skillet set over medium heat, toast the almonds and hazelnuts with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and salt.

Remove the garlic cloves from their skins. In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, peppers, garlic, toasted nuts and bread. Add the Piment d’Esplette or chili flakes. Slowly drizzle in the remaining ¾ cup of olive oil until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Season with red wine vinegar, salt and pepper until it’s to your liking. We added about 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar and added about 2 tsp of kosher salt and some pepper. Puree until very smooth, but the sauce will remain slightly chunky.

Serve with grilled vegetables, meats, baked potatoes, bread, etc, etc, etc!

*we combined two recipes from Tasting Table to make our own version.

The Family Meal

we eat together

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Double Dark Chocolate Waffles

Deviled Egg Burgers

Green Chile and Corn Chowder

The Best Fresh Blueberry Muffins

Homemade Banana Meringue Pudding

Peperonata – new uses for old things

Chilled Strawberry Soup

Triple Layer Coconut Cake

INSTRUCTIONS

Crunchy Cornslaw – a new twist on the same ol’ slaw

Summer Grilling: Romesco Sauce!

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INSTRUCTIONS

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