Appetizing Appetizers

Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time! In our new home, celebrating with family and great food....it was nice. Besides the traditional turkey (brined...was amazing!!!), I served creamed spinach, a chorizo and parmesan bread pudding/stuffing, pomegranate and balsamic glazed roasted onions and another not-worthy-to-mention side.

On Saturday, we had a few friends over for some late afternoon small bites and drinks. Preparing a new menu of treats was the last thing I wanted to do. I'm a huge fan of the mantra, "Buy some...prepare some." So, I purchased some cheese and cured meats and pulled out a batch of olive lemon zest shortbread and roasted tomatoes; both that I had made a couple days prior. And the pièce de résistance of the menu -- my pomegranate and balsamic glazed roasted onions from Thanksgiving, served perfectly with tart goat cheese and crostini.

Like most families, we had Thanksgiving leftovers, which I am generally not so fond of. I enjoy food the first time around, but unless it's one of those dishes that improves with time, I pass. These onions didn't necessarily "improve" -- they were fantastic the first time around and continued to be so two days later.

Lucious, buttery Olive Lemon Zest Shortbread

Roasted tomatoes, served in the jar, straight from the fridge

Sweet Roasted Onions!!!

Pomegranate and Balsamic Glazed Roasted Onions

3lbs red onion, peel and quartered (cut thru the core, leaving the core attached)

Glaze

2 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon dijon vinegar

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 cup olive oil

sprinkle of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the ingredients for the glaze. In a bowl, combine the quartered (or if the onions are large, cut into eighths) onions and half of the glaze. Place onions on a cookie sheet, leaving space between each quarter (if you don't allow for space, the onions will steam and will not achieve the carmelized look/taste you want). Roast for about 20 minutes and flip quarters over. Roast for another 15 minutes or so. The onions should be slightly crispy, shriveled and carmelized.

Prepare the glaze: Simmer the second half of glaze on the stovetop until it achieves a syrup consistency.

Drizzle the glaze over the onions, once plated. Top with pomegranate seeds.

This dish is fantastic as a side dish to any menu. Serve as directed above. If you choose to serve as an appetizer, you can peel the layers of the quartered onions and pile them (very rustic) on a platter. Drizzle with the glaze and top with pomegranate seeds.



A Hearty Grain

I don't have much of a tale to share about this salad.

Every bite of it is delicious. And, if it matters at all -- it's extremely healthy. Deep hues of red from slow roasted tomatoes, bright orange roasted squash bites and green spinach leaves comprise a gorgeous fall salad that can be served for lunch or as a dinner side. Wheatberries form the base of this salad, a reddish, brown hearty grain, that when fully cooked, has a slightly chewy bite.

Left: Uncooked soft processed wheatberry

Right: Fully cooked wheatberry

There are several steps to this salad, but once all of the ingredients are prepared (and by the way, each can be prepared over a couple of days), the meal comes together seamlessly.

Warm Wheatberry Salad

2 cups cooked soft processed wheatberry (see below)

1 cup cubed roasted butternut squash (see below)

6-8 slow roasted tomatoes, chopped (see below)

1/4 cup favorite black olive (example: kalamata, oil-cured)

large handful of fresh spinach leaves, chopped

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles 

1/4-1/3 cup (to taste) red wine vinaigrette (see below)

salt/pepper to desired taste

Combine all ingredients in a oven proof bowl. Right before you want to serve, place in the oven at 250 degrees to warm the salad and slightly wilt the spinach leaves. Sprinkle with salt.

Wheatberries

Place 1.5 cup of wheatberries in 3 cups of boiling salted water. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, or until they have a soft bite. Drain.

Roasted Butternut Squash

2 pound butternut squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half vertically. Discard the seeds. Cut into small cubes and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle cubes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper. Roast about 25 minutes, or until a knife can slide easily thru the cubes.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes (courtesy of Epicurious)

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1 teaspoon dijon
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
sprinkle of salt

A Detoxing Meal

This weekend, my best friend and her husband visited from Connecticut. The weekend was perfect! We laughed. We shopped. We drank ALOT. We ate even more. From the moment they arrived until minutes before they departed -- we ate.

Cambozola cheese and lemon crisps on Thursday evening. Friday morning began with fresh bagels and homemade vegetable cream cheese (a favorite of my friend's husband). Took a few deep breaths before lunchtime and made our way over to what probably is the BEST hamburger I've ever eaten at, Ballard's, Lunchbox Laboratory. I don't often make such strong claims, but ask any hamburger-loving Seattleite and I bet they feel the same. I'm barely finishing my 1/4 pound (perfectly grilled) burger, smothered with carmelized balsamic onions and gorgonzola and complemented by rosemary salted tater tots and I'm thinking "I can not possibly eat another bite of food." Ummmm.....BIG FAT LIE! Because, with dinner came lots of wine, roasted tomatoes with balsamic syrup and goat cheese, a butternut squash and carmelized onion galette, sprinkled with aged blue cheese, roasted garlic hummus and other small bites. The main dish, a fantastic one-pot meal -- Mixed Seafood, Chicken and Sausage Paella. Dessert -- like there was any room for that (but we managed to make room) -- was homemade chocolate peanut butter cups and hazelnut tofee.

We didn't disappoint on Saturday evening either. Dinner at Quinn's on Capitol Hill was, in a word, AMAZING! Delicate french fries, dressed with demi-glace and oozy fontina, salt cod fritters, foie gras, oxtail, escargot, pork ribs, goat, crispy chicken...and the list continues. Oh, and ridiculous amounts of liquor. The end to a perfect evening -- watched one of the most hilarious (high levels of adult comedy) shows currently on the TV roster, "The League." (Discovered last night that the entire first season is On Demand.)

Skip ahead to yesterday (Monday). Friends are back home in Connecticut. And, with a weekend's worth of decadent food and drink behind me, a cleansing, healthy, butternut squash soup seems in order.

Curried Apple Butternut Squash Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
2 pounds butternut squash, roasted (recipe below)
2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 cup apple juice
salt to taste
handful of chopped cilantro

Saute the onions and curry powder in a large pot, until onions are soft and transluscent. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

With a spoon, scoop out the flesh from the roasted squash and place in pot with sauteed onions. Stir to blend all ingredients. Pour in 1 cup of broth and the apple juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Using a food processor or hand blender, puree the soup to the consistency you like. Add the remaining  broth if necessary. Place back on the stove and simmer for a few more minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

To make a full meal, I usually cut up chicken sausage and add some grated parmesan, goat or blue cheese to the top. Mmmmmmm.

Roasted Butternut Squash

2 pound butternut squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half vertically. Drizzle each half with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast about 25 minutes, or until a knife can slide easily thru the flesh of the squash.

I apologize for not sharing a photo. The soup is delicious, but it just doesn't photograph well.

Tis the Season to Have Parties!

And what better way to celebrate the holidays and enjoy your friends/family company than to have the food prepared for you!

I'm generally not one to highly promote Tapenades, but from one gracious host to another -- a catered party is a FABULOUS party! One, you don't have to fight the retail traffic for ingredients. Two, clean-up....what clean-up? Most important, three -- you actually can celebrate as any gracious host should celebrate -- with your friends, and not behind the kitchen counter preparing appetizers.

Browse the menus on my site and get inspired!