Gnocchi with Chicken Meatballs and Pesto

This one is all about the chicken meatballs, no frying and a nice change from the traditional beef and pork meatball.  Preheat your oven to 350 and cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  In a small bowl add a half a cup of milk to a cup of panko bread crumbs and let sit.  Saute a couple of finely chopped shallots and three cloves of garlic then put in your Cuisiart with approximately two pounds of chunked boneless chicken thighs and one pound of breasts.  Pulse until it is the consistency of hamburger then combine in a large bowl with a cup of grated parmesan, some chopped parsley or scallion tops, a lightly scrambled egg, ground pepper, a generous helping of kosher salt, and the soaked panko.  Thoroughly stir the mixture then roll with your hands into one to one and a half inch balls and set them on the cookie sheets.  Bake for fifteen to twenty minutes rotating the trays about half way through. 

For this dish I combined my cooked meatballs with a basil pesto and some dried store bought gnocchi that I just had to boil for ten minutes.  Other times I’ve added the meatballs to a pot of marinara and served them over ziti or spaghetti, melted mozzarella over them for a meatball sub, or added them to a chicken or potato soup.  They’re even amazing cold right out of the fridge the next day.

Open Face Tomato Melt

My lunch today exemplifies the saying that sometimes the simplest things in life are the best…or in this case, the tastiest.  In Vermont we only get tomatoes this good for a couple of months a year, but the Cabot Cheddar and artisan bread are available year around and the combination is pretty awesome just plain.  Or if you want to get fancy you could top with bacon, mushrooms, kalamata olives, or whatever leftovers you have around from last night's dinner.  After putting a little bit of oil into the pan I grilled the bread on one side, flipped it, then covered it with some shaved cheddar…that’s the secret, putting the cheese on the just grilled side so it melts before your bread burns.  Once the cheddar melted I laid down my sliced tomatoes and topped with some kosher salt.  Could have also done it in the toaster but I don’t think it’s as good.

Ricotta with Basil

I had twenty minutes last night to come up with an appetizer for a potluck board meeting and pulled this one off with five minutes to spare.  In a bowl I mixed together a pint of my favorite locally made ricotta, a large handful of freshly chopped basil, and more extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt than you think you will need.  Keep tasting as it’s hard to remove the salt once you’ve crossed the line, but the salty crunch is what makes it really good.  I served it up with a sliced baguette.  It’s also nice to drizzle some additional olive oil over the top just before serving.

Roast Vegetable "Ratatouille"

It doesn’t get much easier than roasting vegetables and it’s a great way to warm up the house this time of year. This combination of cherry tomatoes, corn, and eggplant is a great one for both flavor and texture.  With the oven on 450 I cut my eggplant into quarter inch slices, cut my corn from the cobs, and stemmed my tomatoes before tossing them separately with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt.  In separate dishes I roasted each for approximately 45 minutes to an hour until the eggplant was cooked through.  I quartered the eggplant slices then tossed them in a bowl with the cooked corn, tomatoes including juices, some fresh basil, a small pour of Balsamic Vinegar, and Kosher salt and white pepper to taste.  I think the tomatoes are critical but the possibilities of what you could combine them with are endless.

Tomato Bread Salad

This as an oldie but very goodie, fresh tomatoes, basil and stale bread.  I had a third of a baguette hanging around for a few days so I sliced it into half inch slices then cut each slice into sixths.  Then it was just a matter of combining my tomatoes, basil, extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt.  This is one of the few salads I dress ahead of time so the water from the tomatoes and olive oil have a chance to soak into the stale bread pieces.  You could also add some minced garlic, chopped scallion, or a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, but your salad will only be as good as your tomatoes…and they aren’t any better than they are right now.  Enjoy!

Caesar Corn

It’s sweet corn season in Vermont and not sure what made me think of it but this combination of Caesar dressing, parmesan, and sweet corn I made for dinner last night was incredible, I’ve been reminiscing about it all day.  I blogged about barbequed corn back in July so what this posting is all about is a super easy fail proof Caesar dressing.  In an empty Ball or peanut butter jar add one whole egg, a chopped garlic clove, an anchovy or squeeze of anchovy paste, a dollop of Dijon mustard, and a half inch of extra virgin olive oil.  Insert your stick blender so it’s resting on the bottom of the jar and blend on high while slowly lifting the blades up through the mixture.  Once it starts to thicken add another half inch of oil, kosher salt, black pepper, and lemon juice, then blend for another ten to twenty seconds.  You could probably use the same technique in a blender or Cuisinart but I've never tried.  Regardless, it’s important to let it sit for fifteen minutes before serving.  You will never buy another bottled Caesar or go to the trouble of whisking again.

Arugula Pesto

There’s so much you can do with a fresh pesto whether it’s basil, mint, chive, or arugula like the one I used over and over again last weekend.  And with a bit of Cuisinart magic they take less than ten minutes to whip up.  I first pulse until fine a generous handful of pine nuts(walnuts or almonds work in a pinch), a large peeled and coarsely chopped garlic clove, and a dash of Kosher Salt.  Use a spatula to scrape the mixture back into the bottom of the Cuisinart before adding a full bag of arugula.  With the cover on I start the Cusinart and drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil through the opening in the lid until the mixture is smooth but not runny.  I recommend that you add the oil slowly and keep checking the consistency…you can always add more oil.  Finally I add a quarter to half a cup of grated parmesan, additional kosher salt to taste, and one more quick pulse to stir it all together. 

I served it with grilled salmon the first night, tossed it with a thinly sliced strip steak for a potluck appetizer the second night, and combined it with some quartered sun gold tomatoes and topped my egg tacos for Sunday brunch.  Even had enough left over to smear on a sliced baguette for an afternoon snack.

Chop Salad

This is the time of year when we open the fridge and are lucky enough to find a huge variety of fresh vegetables, and there’s no better time for a chop salad.  For a late Sunday lunch last weekend I chopped up a bit of almost everything I had around, carrots, half a fennel bulb, a salad turnip, some scallion, a cucumber, a few radishes, some arugula, and some corn I cut right off of the cob.  I even chopped up a couple of left over chicken thighs from the night before.  Nearly anything would have worked, romaine, green beans, peppers, endive, peas, cabbage, jicama, or zucchini.  Aside from a lot of crunch the key I think is to chop everything up small enough so that you get a lot of variety with every fork full.  I dressed it simply with some extra virgin olive oil and lemon, but again, any dressing would work.  And of course kosher salt and pepper to taste. 

Fried Flounder with Sriracha Mayonnaise

This one is really about the Sriracha Mayonnaise.  Don't get me wrong, I love my crispy panko coated flounder but what makes this dish special is the sauce.  If you haven't discovered Sriracha chili garlic sauce already go out and get yourself a bottle immediately, it's available everywhere and easy to spot with its distinctive green top.  I use it right out of the bottle on sandwiches, tacos, and eggs, in sauces, and as I did here, stirred together with some mayonnaise for an amazing condiment.  Perfect for anything fried, even french fries.  For the flounder I dusted each fillet with flour after sprinkling with salt and pepper, dipped them in egg, and then coated with panko before frying in a small amount of canola oil.

Hummus, Feta, and Arugula Salad Plate

I love talking food and one of the key things that consistently comes up in conversation is what you have around your kitchen in the way of ingredients.  This salad I made for lunch yesterday is nothing special but it highlights several of the items I'm sure to always have on my shelves.  My favorite store bought hummus, pita in the freezer, kalamata olives, feta cheese, cucumbers, arugula, lemon, and of course, extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt.  They are all extemely versatile and best of all keep for a long time.  You're only as good as what's in your kitchen, stock up.

Watermelon, Tomato, and Feta Salad

Summer is the best for quick easy salads and this combination of sweet, acidic, and salty is incredible.  Simply combine one inch cubes of seedless watermelon, large chunks of tomatoes, feta cheese, chopped mint and chives, then dress with extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.  You could substitute basil and scallions just as easily, whatever you have around.  This is a great one!

Basil, Tomato, and Mozzarella Pasta

I came home from the farmer’s market last weekend with some beautiful little tomatoes, a sure sign of August.  Last night I used them to make a tasty pasta by combining them with basil and mozzarella, so fast and simple but always so good and summery.  While boiling the pasta I cut a Maplebrook Fram mozzarella ball into quarter inch cubes and with about a half a cup of extra virgin olive oil I put them into a large bowl and sprinkled with kosher salt.  I halved lots and lots of tomatoes, put them in with the cheese, then coarsely chopped a generous amount of fresh basil and set it aside.  After draining I put the steaming pasta into the bowl and let it sit for a minute so the heat of the pasta had time to slightly soften the cheese and tomatoes at the bottom.  Finally I tossed in the basil, some grated parmesan and added a bit more olive oil, kosher salt, and white pepper to taste.  Tomato season, one of the best times of year to be in Vermont.