Crab Rangoons

MMMM fried wontons stuffed with crab, cream cheese and scallions.  I made these as a special treat for my friend who loves ordering crab rangoons in chinese restaurants but hasn't been able to find them here in New York.  Suggestions on where to find them, anyone?  Anyway, we enjoyed these while watching the Emmys and just after Modern Family had won it's fifth award, these were about all done.

What you'll need: (makes about 15-20 depending on how much filling you use)
Square wonton wrappers
8 ounces cream cheese
1 6 ounce can of white crab meat
2 scallions
Enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of your pan, about 1/8 inch high
salt and pepper
A small bowl filled with water for wetting the wontons

Begin by mixing the crab, cream cheese and chopped scallions in a bowl. 
Put a rounded tablespoon in the middle of the wonton wrapper and wet the inside edge of the wrapper.  Press firmly down and make sure there are no holes because the filling will splatter in the hot oil.  Cover the filled wontons in a damp paper towel while you are working so they don't dry out.
Coat the bottom of your pan with the oil and heat until sizzling.  Place a few wrappers into the pan, but don't crowd  it.  Cook about 1 minute on each side, checking carefully that they aren't burning.  The wrappers should be crisp and golden.  Lay them on paper towels when done to absorb any extra oil. 
 Serve with sweet chili sauce or hoisin sauce to dip in and enjoy! 

Fig Orange Jam and Prosciutto Goat Cheese Jam Crostini

Ever get the Martha Stewart-bug and feel like doing things you've never done before, like...make jam?  If you haven't, just ignore this post.  If you have, and totally want to learn how to make jam, read on!  I saw this recipe a while ago and just knew I'd have to try to make jam at least once this summer--I absolutely love figs, so I thought this sounded amazing.  When I found a beautiful box of them at the farmer's market, I realized it was time--I was ready to jam.  This stuff is so easy, because you make it in the microwave.  Yea, you read that right.  You can make jam in the microwave!  Super easy, and super delicious.  All you need in terms of kitchenware is a pyrex bowl or measuring cup, and a glass bottle to put the jam in after.  I think you can get some on amazon, but I just found a few at Home Goods for just a few dollars each.  To sterilize them, you put them in the over at 200 degrees for 10 minutes.  I don't know how long the jam will last out of the fridge, but mine has been good so far in the fridge for 2 weeks.

adapted from Allrecipes

What you'll need for the jam:
1 1/2 cups diced fresh figs (6-10 figs, depending on the size of the figs)
1/2 cup seeded, peeled orange, diced
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon butter

What you'll need for the crostini:

1 baguette

6 ounces goat cheese

1/4 pound prosciutto

Put all of the ingredients for the jam into a large pyrex bowl and let sit for 1/2 hour or more.  If your pyrex measuring cup is large enough to hold all of the ingredients, that is fine too.   

After half an hour, put into the microwave for 5 minutes on high.  Stir after 5 minutes.  Repeat 3 times, 15 minutes in total.  By this time, the jam should be done.  The traditional test to see if it is ready is to place a drop of it on a cold plate.  If the jam somewhat holds its shape, then it is ready.  If it is not ready, put it in for 5 more minutes.  Mine took 20 minutes in total.  When it's done, put it into the glass container and let it cool down. 

Yum! 

If you want to wow some guests (and I happened to have some very special guests over that very weekend) make some crostini with your new jam!  Cut the baguette into 1/2 inch slices and place in the oven at 350 for just 5 minutes so the outside gets a little crispy.  Smear each slice with a bit of goat cheese, and then a tablespoon of jam.  Top with thinly sliced prosciutto.  The goat cheese is tangy and the salty prosciutto offsets the sweet jam.  My guests went crazy for them!! Let's just say a whole bunch of jam was consumed that night.  And red wine.  Because it goes perfectly with these crostini.

 

Enjoy!

Ricotta Crostini: 2 ways

Today I had the luck/time/lunch buddy to go to Torrisi for lunch.  Torrisi Italian Specialties is a cute Italian hole-in-the-wall in Nolita that is a deli by day and a restaurant by night.  Their roast turkey sandwich has been considered among the best in NYC for a while now, and their prix fixe dinner is apparently unbelievable, as well as a great deal for NYC ($50 dollars for dinner--but they don't take reservations--be prepared to wait on line for a few hours!).  I, of course, had to try this famed turkey sandwich (and it did live up to the hype) but I couldn't keep myself from ordering some of their fresh ricotta to take back with me.  MAN is it good!  It is creamy, salty, smooth and I was eating it by the spoonful when I opened it up.  Once my self-control caught up with me I realized I needed to eat something else for dinner besides cheese, however delicious it was.  Crostini is the perfect vehicle, and ricotta pairs so well with salty and sweet I just had to create two types, to get the full effect.  These mini open faced sandwiches are you have the perfect way to use the freshest produce you have in your fridge (have you tasted the nectarines or peaches lately!?) and really epitomize the Italian way of cooking--the best ingredients don't need much to taste good.  Perfect for appetizers at a party, or for a whole meal if you're hanging by yourself, here are two suggestions for ricotta crostini that I hope you'll enjoy while it's still warm out.

What you'll need (serves 2 for appetizers):

1/2 baguette

Ricotta cheese

Crostini 1 (non-vegetarian):

2 ripe nectarines

1/4 pound good prosciutto/serrano ham/iberico ham

Crostini 2 (vegetarian):

Good olive oil

Grape tomatoes

Cut the baguette at an angle, so you have long, pretty pieces.

 

Spread 1 tablespoon ricotta cheese on each piece.

 

 Cut tomatoes lengthwise and place atop the ricotta on your vegetarian pieces.  Lay one piece of ham on the other slices.

 

Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, and place thinly sliced nectarine atop the ham.

 

Enjoy!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

I saw these on a blog way back when and they have just been waiting on my little to-do recipe list for the right moment to make them.  These babies are like little pizza pockets, but without the preservatives (which is justification in itself to eat an entire pan).  They are SO good--probably because I am obsessed with pizza--but if you like your food mini, and you enjoy cheese, bread, pepperoni and sauce, I don't see why you wouldn't love these as well.  They are the best kind of appetizer to serve at a party because they are homemade, SO easy to make, and who doesn't like pizza?  Besides, you probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry anyway except, maybe the mini muffin pan.  In which case, you can get them for about 10 dollars on amazon, and I say go for it.

adapted from Noble Pig

What you'll need:

1 mini muffin tin with 24 cups

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup chopped pepperoni (I used turkey pepperoni and I couldn't tell the difference!)
1/2 cup pizza sauce or any type of marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 375^o and grease your 24-cup mini muffin pan with Pam--make sure everything is Pam-ed or they'll stick! 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.  Then whisk in the milk and egg.  

 Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni and let stand for 10 minutes.

***As a side note, these are easily made vegetarian by leaving out the pepperoni altogether or until after you've poured half the batter into the muffin pan, making a batch of 12 for both the meat and leaf-eaters.

Stir the batter and fill the muffin pan.  The batter should come almost to the top.  Bake about 20 to 25 minutes until the little puffs are golden.  Heat up a little sauce and serve on the side.  If you have basil on hand, sprinkle on top.  Serve while hot and enjoy!

Garlic Roasted Mushrooms

This is a take on Smitten Kitchen's Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms.  I LOVE mushrooms so this is perfect for me, but really--how can you go wrong with garlic and butter on anything?  It's a quickie, and perfect for a party, or even just for snacking while you're cooking dinner!


What you'll need:
White Button Mushrooms
Garlic Cloves
Butter (enough to put small pats on each mushroom)
Lemon Juice (a few tablespoons)
Parsley (a few tablespoons)
Clean and de-stem white button mushrooms.  Finely chop garlic and put a bit inside each mushroom.  Place small pats of butter on each mushroom/throughout the pan and then roast at 450 for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
When they're done, drizzle lemon juice over the mushrooms and sprinkle with parsley.  Put a toothpick in each mushroom to serve at a party, or serve with crusty bread to mop up the buttery, garlicky sauce.  Enjoy!

Fruity-Tutti Guacamole

Last year I went to this delicious Mexican restaurant in midtown called Toloache.  I remember enjoying a great drink and delicious food, but what truly stuck out in my mind was this amazing (and quite expensive) guacamole that they make fresh to order.  The guacamole is so deceptively simply--filled with chunks of fresh fruit--that it makes you mad that you never thought to put fruit in with your avocados before!  I mean, I can't believe I spent my life up to this point without fruit guacamole.  AND I can't believe I shelled out $12 for a scoop of guacamole that cost under half that to re-create myself.  

This recipe is good to make as an appetizer for a bigger group because you have to buy all of the fruit for it, might as well make a larger batch and share

What you'll need (makes enough for 2-3 people)

2 avocados

1 lemon

1/2 mango

1/2 gala apple

5 ish strawberries (or if you can find pomegranate, this is preferable but unfortunately out of season here in NY!)

s+p

*basil optional--great addition if you have it around

Simply chop!

Mango trick I learned from Paula:

Score the top of the mango

Flip inside out to easily cut chunks of mango (sorry for the poor picture taking here)

Lightly mash the avocado with a fork

Mix together

Add s+p and juice of 1 lemon

 

 Enjoy immediately!

Spicy Tomato Jam

I stumbled upon this recipe a few months ago when I had some extra tomatoes (yes, I know, that seems to be a common occurrence around here).  I had some friends coming over and thought I could make some sort of appetizer with these tomatoes.  Without really thinking about it, I threw them into a pot with tomato sauce basics-olive oil, vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes and some salt and pepper and let it simmer slowly while I prepared the rest of the meal.  I let it pass the time frame where I could peel and blend them into some sort of dip, and even let them pass the tomato sauce stage, letting them sit there, gently releasing all of their sticky sweetness until the concoction turned into this intensely tomato-y flavored, spicy jam-like consistency.  It was phenomenal on top of some crusty bread and soft, thickly cut, cloud-like mozzarella. Please, if you have a carton of tomatoes in your fridge, throw them into a pot ASAP and try and stop yourself from licking the bowl and ruining your appetite!

What you'll need:

1 carton tomatoes

2 tablespoons vinegar (balsamic or red wine)

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

red pepper flakes (as much or as little as you like to make it spicy)

s+p

Start by putting the carton of tomatoes into a pot with all of the ingredients

 

 

 Let the tomatoes simmer on low heat until they start to release their juices.  You can help this along by using a wooden spoon to smash the tomatoes a bit.

Keep an eye on the pot and stir every couple of minutes so the tomatoes don't stick to the bottom of the pot.  If it seems like they are, add some olive oil

 

After about 30-40 minutes, the jam will be totally done.  You'll know it's ready when its thick enough to smear on bread like jam!

Serve immediately and enjoy!!

Easy Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Dip

This is the easiest dip ever to make!  It's a great thing to bring to a party, especially if you have no time to think about something elaborate to make.  You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry already.

What you need:

small food processor

lemon juice

greek yogurt (as a substitute for sour cream)

roasted red peppers (you can roast them yourself but jarred ones up the easy and cheap factor)

goat cheese

salt and papper

 Put 6oz of yogurt into the processor

1-2 large roasted red peppers

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

6 ish ounces of goat cheese

blend together till creamy, with little chunks of pepper

Add salt and pepper to taste

 Looks fluorescent, but tastes good!

Serve with pita chips and eat like a civilized person...right from the food processor...

Enjoy!

Stuffed and Grilled Figs

MMM these were so delicious!  I'm not sure what season figs are, all I know is that the Amish Market (yes, I'm obsessed) sells them for a very nice price (a small carton filled with all those pictured above for under $3!) and they are so delicious.  I eat them plain, with yogurt, or drizzled with a little honey.  

Tonight I decided to make a savory side dish and stuffed them with little chunks of goat cheese (also cheap from the Amish Market!).  I (aka my sidekick grill master) put them on the grill and covered them for just a few minutes until the goat cheese melted.  They are delicious like that, or you can throw a few chopped nuts on top.  I chose to top them with walnuts, and it turned out to be a wonderful, sweet and savory, soft and crunchy piece of goodness that I eventually saved for dessert because of how rich it was.

It is a wonderful side dish for a bbq dinner, or a delicious and sophisticated dessert!

Figs, leftover eggplant bruschetta, typical tomato and avocado salad, some fresh bread and my favvvv (ok I promise my next post won't have zucchini in it!) grilled zucchini.

Roasted Eggplant&Zucchini Bruschetta, Tomato Salad and Walnut, Roasted Pepper and Feta salad

After a long hard week during which I was cold-called upon in Torts (and then mercilessly tortured repeatedly for the next hour), I decided to mellow out and start the weekend with a sort of pot luck dinner with friends.  And by potluck, I mean I cooked, and Amy brought a (fabulous) salad.

One of the girls attending this dinner follows a "flexitarian" lifestyle, so I decided to pick a few fresh, veggie-friendly dishes and call it a night.  Borrowing from an "eggplant bruschetta" recipe from SmittenKitchen.com, I decided to make a roasted eggplant, zucchini and goat cheese bruschetta, and a small fresh tomato and smoked mozzarella salad (love those leftovers!). I started with 1 large and 1 medium sized eggplant and zuchinni, fresh bread from Amy's bakery (on 47th and 9th) fresh tomatoes and goat cheese and garlic from the Amish market (50th and 9th) all pictured below:

I began by cutting the eggplant into small chunks; make them as big or as small as you'd like but try and make them even so they cook evenly.  Throw them onto a baking sheet and lightly coat them with olive oil and salt and pepper.

 Bake those for about 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring them once, until they are "silky."  You'll know what I mean by silky when you try the eggplant periodically as it cooks.
About ten minutes before the eggplant is done, chop up the zucchini in similar chunks.

Saute these with a little bit of minced garlic until soft enough that a fork could pierce them easily, but not mushy.
When the eggplant is cooked through, throw it in with the zucchini in a big mixing bowl.  Toss with a large handful of goat cheese crumbles, a teaspoon of red wine vinegar and a generous helping of sea salt and pepper.

Then, spoon this delicious mixture over some bread!

 As a side dish, cut up some of the freshest tomatoes you can find.  This time I used "cocktail tomatoes" which were incredibly reasonable (just $2.50 for a carton of them at the Amish Market!) and toss with some fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar.  Then slice some of your favorite cheese over it.  I used my leftover smoked mozzarella and it came out wonderfully, although the pictures simply do not do the dish justice.  It is an amazing mix of sweet, tart, and all different wonderful, fresh textures.

Lastly, Amy brought the ingredients for an amazing salad.  Clean and fresh, a great mixture of roasted red peppers, walnuts, feta and romaine with a simple vinaigrette of red wine vinegar and olive oil.

Everything was so fresh, healthy, filling and cheap, and a great start to the end of a difficult and tiring week!