Monthly Archives: July 2012

Black Truffle Butter Popcorn with Manchego and Black Pepper

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This is, unquestionably, my favorite popcorn of all time.  Besides being a ridiculously delicious nibble for a rainy night home alone, it is a perfect snack for movie night when you want your friends to feel special.  It uses black truffle butter, which is a quick and easy way to elevate the good to the best.  The aromatic, woodsy depth of the truffle permeates the fluffy kernels and creates a sublime foundation for salty Manchego cheese and cracked pepper.  This is a truly sophisticated treat, and one that you will make again and again.

If you can’t find truffle butter at your local market, you can go to my favorite meat purveyor and buy it online at D’Artagnan here.  Besides popcorn, this butter is a special addition to a seared steak, roasted fingerling potatoes, or your favorite pasta shape.

One caveat:  If you are sneaking this popcorn into the movie theater, as I have been known to do, wrap it up good.   Truffles have a noticeable aroma, and may induce looks of envy/disapproval all around you.  Remember this also, any time you use a potent cheese, butter or the like, you need less of it.  This makes it considerably better for you than devilishly beloved movie theater popcorn.

Being ostracized by fellow patrons is a tiny price to pay for the pleasure of this popcorn, BELIEVE me.

 

Black Truffle Butter Popcorn with Shaved Manchego

SERVES 6-8

 

½ cup popcorn kernels, popped

2 tablespoons black truffle butter, melted

1 cup freshly grated manchego cheese

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Place hot popcorn in a large bowl, add melted truffle butter and manchego, and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.

 

*My Two Cents:  If you only find white truffle butter, it will make a fine substitute.

I use the Spanish manchego cheese here, but any hard and salty cheese will do.  Parmesan is most traditional in this popcorn.

If you want to add a splash of color, some fresh chopped parsley can be folded in for an herbal touch.

 

Tomato-Melon Gazpacho with Basil

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I’m going to say it:  I find fault with what many of us have come to regard as classic gazpacho.  I mean, I get the whole “tomato salad as a soup” thing, but I’ve never been able to get excited about it.  When you take a base of raw tomato, celery, herbs, and vinegar you wind up with a pureed version of a salad I wouldn’t necessarily be fond of either, containing whole tomato seeds and a raw texture that borders on gritty.  If you’ve found the same to be true, I urge you to think outside the box and start with this ingeniously simple gazpacho brought to us by Mark Bittman, the ultimate glorified minimalist.  I first discovered this recipe about 5 years ago, and though I practice seasonal gazpacho promiscuity, this is one I make with great frequency.

A few things set this soup apart:

1)    Tomatoes are combined with sweet melon to create a naturally sweet and creamy soup, that is the perfect, glistening apricot hue

2)    Both the tomatoes and melon are briefly sautéed to coax out the natural juices and get the raw edge off

3)    The tomatoes are peeled and seeded (yes, this means an extra step but the skins are bitter and the seeds are impossible to puree, so it’s really necessary to make this soup what it is), leaving nothing but the succulent flesh to be pureed into creamy deliciousness.  Here is how I do it:

Core them by cutting a small divot out of the stem end of the tomato; then make a small ”x” in the skin of the opposite end. Prepare an ice bath, and then plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for 10 or 15 seconds. Quickly remove the tomatoes and drop into the ice bath.  When cooled off, peel the skins with a small paring knife, cut in half horizontally and scoop out the seeds.  I learned in school to use the back end of a soup spoon to scoop out the tomato cavities, it is the quickest way to get the job done.

This is a soup that takes a bit of planning as it must be very cold when served.  Because it is so creamy and mild, this makes it taste like the best savory/sweet summer milkshake you could imagine.

TOMATO-MELON GAZPACHO

By Mark Bittman, The New York Times 1999

SERVES 4-6

 

4 tomatoes, about 1 1/2 pounds, blanched as directed above

1 3-pound cantaloupe

5 tablespoons olive oil

10 leaves basil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of a lemon.

Core, peel and seed tomatoes; cut flesh into 1-inch chunks. Seed melon, and remove flesh from rind; cut into chunks. Place a tablespoon of olive oil in each of two 10- or 12-inch skillets and turn heat under both to high. Add melon to one and tomatoes to the other, and cook, stirring, until they become juicy, no longer than 2 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, puree melon with tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups water and basil, along with some salt and pepper. Stir in remaining olive oil. Chill, add lemon juice to taste and adjust seasoning. Serve.

Indian Spiced Chicken over Lentil-Walnut Salad with Mustard-Walnut Vinaigrette

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Lentils are something I did not fully warm up to until I was in my 20’s.  Wow, it’s not until I make statements like that that I realize I am no longer in my 20’s, something I am also a bit slow to warm up to.

In any event, I didn’t see much use for them.  There was quinoa, and rice, and beans, and so many other proteins that fit the bill just fine in salads, soups, and the like.  It wasn’t until I made Jamie Oliver’s prosciutto-wrapped salmon over lentils, dressed with a dollop of yogurt that I woke up to just how delicious and versatile they are.  They are also super affordable, and stretch out almost any meal.

This is a variation on a lentil salad I made in culinary school, and I rotate some version of this into my work-week lunch plan very often.  As I often say, these ingredients are TOTALLY interchangeable.  If you have white wine vinegar, use that instead of champagne.  If you don’t have walnut oil, throw in some extra toasted walnuts to compensate, and if you don’t have a commercial Garam Masala Indian spice blend, you can easily throw one together using cloves, cinnamon, cumin, peppercorns and cardamom.  The whole idea is not to limit yourself, with any salad the secret is balancing out the flavors to create harmony.

This can easily be made a vegetarian dish by omitting the chicken, or top with a spiced salmon or cod if you’re in the mood for seafood.  It’s a great dish that knows no limits.

 

 

FOR LENTIL-WALNUT SALAD:

SERVES 2

 

4 oz. French green lentils

½ carrot, cut in small dice

½ English cucumber, cut in small dice

¼ leek, cut in small dice

1 Tablespoon fresh parley, chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

2 ½ oz. toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 ½ oz. Mustard Walnut Vinaigrette (recipe below)

 

Simmer lentils in boiling, salted water until tender according to package directions.   Refresh in cold water, and drain well.

Combine lentils, carrot, cucumber, herbs, leek, walnuts, and vinaigrette and refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

FOR MUSTARD-WALNUT VINAIGRETTE:

YIELD 16 FL. OZ.

 

4 fluid oz. champagne vinegar

2 oz. spicy brown mustard

1 teaspoon honey

2 shallots, minced

10 fluid oz. mild olive oil

2 fluid oz. walnut oil

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

 

Combine vinegar, mustard, shallot and salt and pepper and whisk.

Whisk in oils gradually, add herbs and whisk until fully combined.

Dress lentil salad as needed.

 

 

FOR CHICKEN BREASTS:

SERVES 2

 

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (6-8 oz. each)

2 tablespoons garam masala

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 Tablespoons olive oil

 

Preheat broiler to high.

Pat chicken dry. Stir together spices, salt, and 1 Tablespoon oil and rub evenly all over chicken.  Marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat broiler to high, and put in roasting pan 5 minutes before ready to cook the chicken to get it hot.

Remove chicken from the refrigerator, and place breasts in roasting pan, under broiler.  Broil for 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Let chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before serving with lentil salad and vinaigrette.

 

 

Sweet and Spicy Candied Nuts

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I remember being a college girl, being in a “fancy” Boston restaurant and eating an arugula salad with sliced pear and roquefort before every chain restaurant jumped on the bandwagon.  It was salad, but it was SWEET!  I was in love.

My favorite part of that salad was the candied pecans.  The crisp, toffee-like coating cracking on my tongue to reveal the buttery flesh of the nut, the way the sweetness sung amidst the creamy, rich blue cheese…. It was a moment of great significance for my mouth and me.

My love affair with candied nuts has only grown, and I think they are as versatile a snack, gift, and culinary embellishment as it gets.  This particular recipe is my standard, and is sweet, salty, spicy, and just plain delicious.  Best part of all is that, because egg white is used as the binder instead of oil or melted butter, they are quite heart-healthy and low in sugar.  Eat these nuts by the handful (my favorite method of consumption), combined with stewed berries on thick Greek yogurt, amongst dried figs, grapes and assorted cheeses on a cheese plate, or of course on a salad.

Please note:  You will most definitely need to make a double batch.  I find that significant “quality control” tasting is essential as they are cooling.

 

 

SWEET AND SPICY CANDIED NUTS

MAKES 5 CUPS

 

2/3 cup raw sugar (truvia or splenda if you want to make this sugar free)

1 large egg white

1 lb. mixed nuts

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Large pinch cayenne

Pinch ground cloves

 

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg white. Add the nuts and toss to combine. In a separate bowl, stir together the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne and cloves. Sprinkle the mixture over the nuts and toss thoroughly.

Spread the nuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake, tossing occasionally, until the nuts are fragrant and almost dry to the touch, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove pan and, once cool enough to touch, break it all up by hand to release nuts from the sugary baked coating.

Serve.

 

*My two cents:

If you have a single nut preference, feel free to go nuts.  (First and last pun on this blog, I almost promise.)  This is a method that can be done with pecans, almonds, walnuts, and cashews with great results.