Pea & Scallion Pancakes

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Pea and Scallion PancakesTwice last week I had the good fortune of running across a recipe that I couldn’t wait to try and, more remarkably, I actually had all of the necessary ingredients for each recipe on hand and ready to roll.  My luck continued from there, as both recipes turned out every bit as good as I had hoped and will undoubtedly work their way into my repertoire.

The first was a recipe for gigante beans with lemon and fennel from the site, 101 cookbooks.  If you read my blog regularly, it’s probably no surprise that a recipe involving fennel and lemon caught my eye–they’re a couple of my favorite ingredients.  So that, plus the fact that I had just gotten a bug up my butt to clean the cupboard and wound up cooking off nearly every dried legume in the house and needed to find something to do with the enormous pot of gigante beans, propelled me to make the dish immediately.  It was every bit as good as the beautiful photos suggest.  You should definitely try them.  

The second recipe, and the one we’re actually going to talk about today, was for savory pea and scallion pancakes.  After cleaning out the cupboard, I was still on a bit of a cleaning binge and started weeding through old magazines which.  Needless to say, I spent the next hour sprawled out on the living room floor leafing through back issues of Bon Appétit.  I came across a spring pea feature and immediately zeroed in on these pancakes.  They were light golden with bright green pea polka dots and a smattering of green onions scattered over the top.  They looked tender, delicious, and exactly like what I wanted to eat at that precise moment.  I scanned the recipe, raided the fridge, and, within 10 minutes, was having a lovely little lunch.  Like I said, good fortune.

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Chicken & Mushroom Pâté

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Chicken & Mushroom PateWhen I was 20, I spent a semester in Florence, Italy.  I arrived a fairly committed vegetarian but within a week or 2, there I was, debating the merits of Prosciutto di Parma versus Prosciutto di San Daniele at the market, working up the nerve to try a tripe sandwich, and being schooled on  how to chop chicken livers with a mezzaluna to make the ubiquitous crostini toscani.  Needless to say, it was an exciting time in my life.

I will admit, it took me a couple of tries to warm to the rustic chicken liver pâté smeared crostini toscani, but they are literally everywhere in Florence and throughout Tuscany.  You go to a restaurant, they’re on the menu.  Stopping in at a wine bar?  Yup, they’re going to be offered.  Dinner at a house in the countryside?  You can bet on starting with them.  They’re unavoidable and even if their rather dull looking appearance doesn’t win your heart at first glance, after a few polite nibbles they start to grow on you.  Polite nibbles will turn into voracious bites which will eventually turn into tucking a few in your purse for a midnight snack.  

And then you’ll return home and realize how much you miss the ugly brown crostini you’d just taken for granted.  But thankfully, the pâté is ridiculously easy to make.  You can make a batch, toast up a pile of crostini, pop a bottle of Chianti, and whisk yourself away to Italy whenever the mood strikes.  I find myself doing this quite often.  Usually it’s just a tiny batch made from just 1 liver, enough for a couple of toasts to munch on while a chicken roasts, but occasionally I’ll make a bigger batch.  

This particular version isn’t exactly the traditional way of making Tuscan chicken pâté, as mushrooms also play a large role.  I had over-bought mushrooms and wanted to use them up, so I made a pâté that was half mushrooms, half liver.  The mushrooms and chicken livers play nicely off each other to make a spread that is rich and earthy and traditional or not, just eyeing it up, I immediately return to my 20 year old self, off exploring a new place in the world and a new world of food.

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Bacon & Blue Cheese Straws

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Bacon and Blue Cheese Straws

Since Matt and I bailed on all Thanksgiving-related cooking duties this year, we’ll be doing double-duty for Christmas, entertaining my family Christmas Eve, his family on Christmas day.  It’s going to be a lot of fun, but I’ll need to have a few tricks up my sleeve to pull it off.  And a stiff drink at the ready.  

Strategy is crucial when cooking for big groups, especially out of a not-so-big kitchen.  My wheels are already turning, thinking about what can be made in advance, what dishes everyone will like, and what appetizers can be prepped in 2 minutes or less.  What to make, what to make?

Cheese straws!  They’re a win-win-win appetizer solution.  Who wouldn’t love warm, flaky puff pastry crusted with cheese?  And if I up the ante by adding crispy bacon, they’ll be even better!  I can prep them in a couple of minutes, freeze them, then pop them in the oven to bake, just as my guests are arriving.  Now if I could just figure out a way to fill everybody up on cheese straws alone…

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Pea, Ricotta & Prosciutto Crostini

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Pea, Ricotta & Prosciutto Crostini
Recently, I was trying to organize my recipe index here on the site.  In doing so, I realized 2 things:

1. I’m hardly better at organizing my online recipes than I am at organizing the hand-written and clipped from magazines/newspaper recipes that you’ll find strewn about my house.  My index was/still is kind of a mess.  And,

2. I’ve hardly shared any appetizer recipes on my website!

Disorganization–duh, that was a given.  Ask anyone who has ever lived with me; I am the slobbiest slobs. But only a handful of appetizers in 6 months time?  That came as a shock.  That’s not right.  In my household of 2, we’re just as likely to have a plateful of crostini with a bottle of wine on the couch for dinner, as we are to dine on roast chicken and potatoes at the table.  Normally, this is a last minute, late night affair which is why it never makes the blog.  I bring home a baguette from the restaurant, slice it up, toast it, and root around the refrigerator until I find something I can transform into a topping.  My other half is in charge of what he does best–opening the wine.

This batch of crostini was pre-meditated though, and I dare say, share-worthy.  They’re topped with fork-smashed peas, prosciutto ham, and creamy ricotta cheese.  They scream spring (!), are easy to make, light enough to precede a meal, and, if eaten by the half dozen, tasty enough to be the meal.

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Salmon Tartare with Avocado, Olives & Tarragon

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Salmon Tartare with Avocado, Olives & Tarragon

I’ve been staring at my computer screen for far too long.  I’m supposed to be thinking of something clever to write about my latest rendition of salmon tartare, but my mind keeps wandering.

Looking at these tartare pictures, the only thing I can think about is when I’m going to make this again. Soon, it’s got to be soon.

This is my ideal salmon tartare.  It has enough going on to keep me interested, without overwhelming the delicacy of the fish.  This version has a luxurious base of creamy avocado and a spoonful of a tarragon oil to use as a garnish.  Bright lemon and green onions counter the richness of the salmon and a layer of minced black olives keeps the sweetness of the tarragon in check.  It’s indulgent, yet balanced, and, man, is it ever craveable.

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