Menu for the Evening:
Apps: Cauliflower "Caviar" with Frizzled Prosciutto, Wellington Mushroom Cups
Main: Garlicky Shrimp Pasta
Dessert: Duarte's Apple Pie with fresh whipped cream
Cauliflower "Caviar" with Frizzled Prosciutto
This recipe is from Cooking Light, November 2010; I just saw now that it's a recipe contributed by Mark Bittman, who is a well known cookbook author. He is also the author of one of my favorite resources of quick recipes, "Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less"
- 4 cups coarsely chopped cauliflower florets (about 2 pounds)
- 5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces prosciutto, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 24 belgian endive leaves (about 2 small heads)
Preparation
- 1. Preheat oven to 400°.
- 2. Arrange cauliflower florets in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil; sprinkle with black pepper and kosher salt, tossing to combine. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until cauliflower is lightly browned.
- 3. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add prosciutto to pan; sauté 10 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally. Add garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. Drain on paper towels.
- 4. Combine cauliflower mixture, prosciutto mixture, and vinegar in a large bowl; coarsely mash with a fork. Stir in chopped parsley. Spoon 2 tablespoons cauliflower mixture into each endive leaf. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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| Coarsely chopped cauliflower |
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| Post roasted cauliflower combined with crispy prosciutto |
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| The artsy version |
*One thing I changed about this recipe is that I let it roast for 5 minutes more than what they suggest... and in fact next time I might go 10 minutes longer. The crispiness is really what makes it special, otherwise it just tastes mushy.
*I did not have sherry vinegar on hand so I just used a little bit less than a tablespoon of red wine vinegar
*You'll probably go through more than 2 endives depending on their size; I'd suggest at least 3 if not 4
*2 lbs of cauliflower does not fit in a single layer in a 13x9 pan, at least not until it shrinks up in the pan. This time around I had enough to fill another 8x8 pan with a single layer.
*The salty palate rides again: I used more salt than it called for but not too much more because of the saltiness of the prosciutto
If you don't know how to chop a cauliflower, here's a good place to start. It's not difficult and this technique does help.
Mushroom Wellington Cups
This recipe comes from Martha Stewart Living, December 2011
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 4 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted**
1 1/4 pounds smalll cremini mushrooms, sliced**
6 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
5 sheets (12 by 16 1/2 inches) frozen phyllo dough, thawed**
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over high heat. Cook mushrooms for 6 minutes. Add garlic. Cook until mushrooms are golden brown, about 1 minute more.
3. Add wine. Cook, stirring and scraping browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon, until wine evaporates, about 3 minutes.
4. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to combine. Add cream. Cook until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool for 15 minutes.
**5. Lay 1 phyllo sheet on a work surface (keep remaining phyllo covered with a damp towel). Lightly brush sheet with melted butter. Top with 1 sheet; brush with butter. Repeat with remaining 3 sheets, leaving top unbuttered.
**6. Cut phyllo stack into six 5 1/2 by 6 inch pieces. Nestle each into a cup of a standard muffin tin. Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons mushroom mixture into each. Bake until golden, 14 to 16 minutes.
**Note: The first time I made these, I used the phyllo dough and they were attractive and tasted great. However, it was a bit laborious because the phyllo is so fragile. Because I was short on time, I used pre made phyllo cups which were fine but of course were much smaller. I highly suggest chopping the mushrooms in this case and each cup will hold about half a tablespoon. Bake for the same amount of time.
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| Hella shrooms |
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| Cooking shrooms |
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| Being lazy (these are from Whole Foods) |
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| Phyllo cup of love |
Garlicky Shrimp Pasta
This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated 100 Best Recipes, November 2008
I realize now that I have only 1 photo of the process and none after that. Oops. I'll post the stock photo for now and try to be as detailed as possible. I just want to rave about Cooks Illustrated if you haven't checked it out yet; all the recipes I've tried of theirs are legit and I'm sure it's because that's their schtick; they make everything in their "test kitchen" to figure out the best way. Shrimp tends to be overcooked in pasta dishes but this truly makes it perfect.
Ingredients
5 medium garlic cloves, minced, plus 4 medium garlic cloves, smashed
**1 pound large shrimp (21-25), peeled, deveined, each shrimp cut into 3 pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse kosher salt
1 pound pasta in short, tubular shapes, such as fusilli, campanelle, or mezze rigatoni
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons unbleached, all purpose flour
1/2 cup dry vermouth or white wine
3/4 cup clam juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice plus 1 lemon, cut into wedgest
Ground fresh black pepper
Directions
1. Toss 2 teaspoons minced garlic, shrimp, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Let the shrimp marinate at room temperature 20 minutes while you prepare remaining ingredients
2. Heat 4 smashed garlic cloves and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch (or so) skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is light golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and use slotted spoon to remove garlic from skillet; discard garlic. Set skillet aside
**3. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch over over high heat. Add 1 tablespoons salt and pasta. Cook until just al dented, then drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water, and transfer pasta back to Dutch overn
4. While pasta cooks, return skillet with oil to medium heat; add shrimp with marinade to skillet in single layer. Cook shrimp, undisturbed, until oil starts to boil gently, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in shrimp and continue to cook until almost cooked through, about 1 minute longer (cook until almost all the way pink for all shrimp).
5. Using slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to medium bowl. Add remaining 3 teaspoons minced garlic and pepper flakes to skillet and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute; stir in vermouth and cook for 1 minute.
6. Add clam juice and parsley; cook until mixture starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and lemon juice. Add shrimp and sauce to pasta, adding reserved cooking water if sauce is too thick. Season with black pepper. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.
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| Marinatin' shrimps |
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| This professional looking photo belongs to CI |
Notes:
*This is not a saucy pasta, it's more of a lighter coating of sauce (love it)
*I used rigatoni pasta and it was perfect
*Because I doubled the recipe to serve 8, I did not have a large enough Dutch oven and used my largest stockpot instead
*The "sauce" will be relatively thin so I didn't find a need to thin it out with pasta water although it's probably good when reheating as it tends to dry out in the fridge
*Be free with the garlic! And if you're cool with spicy, go with more red pepper flakes as 1/2 teaspoon is barely anything
*This recipe takes longer to make than you might think it does! I highly suggest getting out all your ingredients out and measured before beginning (a la cooking show style) because it'll come in quick succession towards the end.
Duarte's Apple Pie
OK, I did not have time to make pie from scratch so I bought a frozen one (the horror!) instead. To my credit, the maker of the pie was none other than Duarte's, which owns a well known restaurant in Pescadero. They are famous for their Artichoke Soup as well as their pies. I was surprised to find they had expanded their brand so I had to try it.
Man, I really wish I took a before photo. They had etched "A" into the top so you knew it was an Apple Pie. It made me feel that much more connected to whoever made the pie. Also, I could pronounce all the ingredients on the label. Topped with fresh whipped cream, it wasn't homemade but it was pretty darn close.
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| "Vintage" aka day old, Duarte's pie |
