Posts Tagged ‘truffle salt’

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More Zucchini

August 19, 2012

We are still enjoying our garden zucchini.  I’m thanking the unusually hot summer.  I usually don’t have zucchini this long, unless I plant additional halfway through the season.    I thought that since we really enjoy the oven roasted tomatoes, why not try the same method with zucchini?  Why indeed.  These zucchini chips have been eaten so fast, they’ve never made it to the table.  Meeshie keeps asking when I plan to make them again.  Soon, sweetie, I promise.

The thinner you cut the zucchini, the crisper they will become.  The crunch is what makes this so irresistible.  These chips are so worth the time needed to make.  Especially since the time element is the hardest part of the recipe.  The time depends on how thick, or thin, you slice the zucchini.  So please be patient.

Are these perfect for an appetizer?  You bet.  Would these taste heavenly as a side to a hamburger, hot dog, sausage, or your favorite sandwich?  No doubt.  Is this a great way to get your child to eat their veggies?  YES!

Oh, and the red baskets?  My husband saw those at Sur La Table at the beginning of summer.  I thought they would just sit in the cabinet unused.  I was so wrong.  We love these baskets!  We use them for lunch and dinner.  We put hamburgers, hot dogs and sausage in them.  We’ve used them for chicken wings.  I bought the double box of waxed paper from Costco and use that as the liner.

Zucchini Chips

  • 3-4 Medium Zucchini, sliced thin
  • 1-2 T Olive Oil
  • Truffle Salt
  • Fresh Ground Pepper
  • Parmesan

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large mixing bowl, toss the zucchini with the olive oil, salt and pepper to coat the zucchini evenly.  Lay the zucchini on the baking sheet on a single layer.  Bake in a 200 degree oven for 2-3 hours, flipping the zucchini after an hour and half.  If desired, toss the warm chips with freshly grated parmesan.

Posted in Appetizers/Drinks, recipe, Salads/Sides/Soups | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments »

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A Garden Find

September 1, 2011

I’m re-posting a great recipe from last year.

I was finally able to make this wonderful tomato pie last night for dinner.  When I looked at the post from last year, I noticed I had tomatoes about a month earlier.  Mother nature was not kind to my garden, but now that I have a tomato harvest I’m enjoying every minute of it.

We love the fresh tomatoes and I had almost forgotten how much we loved this dish.  It’s perfect as is or served with a great salad.

Also, since posting and making it last year, I’ve tweaked the recipe slightly.  Either way you make it, tomato pie is a great summer dish.  I make my own pie crust, but you can use the store bought kind just as easily.

Oh, regarding the pictures.  I was so excited about the pie that I took some pictures before I stuck it in the oven and I forgot the cheese.  Luckily, I remembered the cheese before I cooked it or we would have had a mutiny.

Tomato Pie

  • 1 Pie Crust
  • 4 whole Tomatoes (peeled, Cored, Seeds Removed)
  • 8-10  leaves Fresh Basil, chopped
  • A sprig of Fresh Oregano, chopped (optional)
  • 1/2 C Chopped Green Onion
  • 1 pinch Truffle Salt To Taste (or Sea Salt)
  • 1 pinch Pepper To Taste
  • 1 C Grated Part-skim Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1 C Grated Cheddar Cheese
  • 1/2 C Mayonnaise

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line the pie crust with foil or a coffee filter and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake until the edges are golden, 15 minutes. Cool slightly on a wire rack.

Once the pie crust is out of the oven, set the temperature for the oven to 350 degrees.   Clean and slice your tomatoes and arrange the slices in the crust, overlapping them.  You must make sure to seed and peel the tomatoes otherwise you’ll have tomato soup not tomato pie.   Add basil, oregano, and onion, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.   Mix cheeses and mayonnaise in bowl.  Spread over tomatoes.   Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly brown.  Cool about 10 minutes before slicing.

This is a great way to use up those garden tomatoes and that fresh basil growing like a weed in your garden!

Here’s the original post.

Posted in Main Course, recipe | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments »

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Warm Green Bean Salad

June 12, 2011

I found this recipe for warm green bean salad in an issue of Everyday Food.  It was a suggested that the salad be served with steak.  I made it with a thin sirloin strip steak that I had cut in 4-inch strips.  But this salad would be great with chicken breasts or some salmon.

The recipe called for a can of cannellini beans which I didn’t have, so I added the pine nuts.  It also suggested that the tomatoes be added when you add the garlic, but my husband is not a fan of warm tomatoes, plus when you add the tomatoes to the warm green beans, they do get warmed through.

I loved the flavor of this salad.  I loved the use of the green beans.  My husband and Meeshie loved it too.  Fresh veggies served in a way that everyone loved?  That’s a win in my book!

Oh, and did I mention it is one of those dishes that is done in no time?  The salad only took about 15 minutes from start to finish.  Love something tasty and quick during the week, especially during the summer.  Next time I make this I’m going to throw it all on the grill.  I recently bought a wonderful cast iron pan from Crate and Barrel that would work really well for this recipe, but then in the summer there isn’t too much I won’t cook on the grill instead of using the stove.

Warm Green Bean Salad

  • 1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3/4 lb Green Beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces.
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, sliced thin
  • 8 oz Grape Tomatoes
  • 1/4 C Pine Nuts
  • 1 T Balsamic Vinegar (I used a fig flavored one)
  • Handful of fresh Basil, torn
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a skillet.  Add the green beans and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and the pine nuts and cook for another 3 minutes, keeping an eye on the pine nuts so that they don’t get over brown.  Add the vinegar, tossing thoroughly.  Remove from the heat, add the tomatoes and basil.  Toss in a bowl, add truffle salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4 generously.

Posted in recipe, Salads/Sides/Soups | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments »

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Twisted

April 26, 2011

I made this salad for Easter brunch.  It’s Panzanella or bread salad.  Lovely.

It was amazing.  I loved it.  It is the perfect side for a gathering.  What I liked about it is that it satisfied everyone.  I can see it served at a shower, but it was perfect for brunch.

The dressing was just the right compliment for the beans and bread.  The hint of basil and the use of the oven roasted tomatoes were perfect.  You could also just cut up the tomatoes, toss with some of the olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook them for about half the length of time as the beans.

I also loved this salad because sometimes I get into a salad rut and this really makes me think of summer.  Cut this recipe in half and you have a great side to any summer meal.

Also, this salad can easily be adapted to the grill, if you don’t want to heat up your kitchen the middle of July.

Panzanella

  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1/2 C plus 3 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3-12 inch lengths of crusty bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (12 Cups)
  • 3/4 lb cherry or grape, oven roasted tomatoes
  • salt, to taste (I used truffle salt, but you can use a fine sea salt)
  • pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb green beans, trimmed and halved
  • 3 T balsamic vinegar ( I used a fig flavored balsmaic vinegar and omitted the sugar)
  • 1/2 t sugar
  • 1-19 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 lb lightly salted fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/3 inch dice
  • 3/4 C fresh basil, chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Wrap the garlic clove in foil and roast in the oven for 25 minutes, until soft.  Mash the garlic in a medium-sized bowl with a pinch of salt.  Slowly add 1/2 C of olive oil, whisk until combined well.  Place the bread crumbs in a large bowl and drizzle 3 T of garlic oil, tossing to combine.  Divide the bread between 2 large shallow baking pans arranging them in a single layer on the pan.  Toast in the oven, stirring once or twice, until golden about 10 – 12 minutes.

While the bread is toasting, prepare the green beans.  Toss the green beans in a medium-sized bowl with the remaining 3 T of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Once the bread is finished, toss the beans in a single layer onto one of the discarded pans.  The beans will sizzle slightly.    Roast the beans for 12-16 minutes.  Keep an eye on the beans.  Switch the position of the pans halfway through and stir once or twice.  You want the beans to be tender.  Cool the beans until you are ready to assemble.

To assemble the dressing.  Whisk the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper to taste and garlic olive oil together.

Place the green beans, oven roasted tomatoes, bread, chickpeas, mozzarella  and basil in a large bowl.  Drizzle with dressing and stir to combine well.  Let stand for at least 10 minutes at room temperature stirring again before serving.

Posted in recipe, Salads/Sides/Soups | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Pretzel Crusted Chicken

January 13, 2011

I wanted to make the pecan chicken strips for dinner the other night but realized I didn’t have any pecans.  I went through them all during my Christmas baking frenzy.  We really love the pecan chicken too.  Since I had already committed to the chicken I went through the pantry to see what I could do about a substitute.

I did have some almonds but I didn’t want to substitute with just that.   That’s when it hit me, pretzels.  The pretzels and the almonds compliment each other, but you could easily just use pretzels in this recipe.

Pretzel Crusted Chicken

  • 2 whole Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • ½ C Milk
  • 1/4 C All-purpose Flour
  • 1/2 C Finely Chopped Pretzels
  • 1/4 C Finely Chopped Almonds
  • 1/4 C Italian Breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 t Truffle Salt
  • ½ t Black Pepper
  • 1/4 t Shallot Salt
  • 2 T Cooking Oil
  • 2 T Unsalted Butter

 Cut chicken into strips, about 8-10 pieces per breast. Place in a bowl, and add the milk.  Set aside and soak the chicken in the milk for at least a half an hour.  

In a shallow dish, mix flour, pretzels, almonds, breadcrumbs, salts (if you don’t have truffle and shallot salt you can substitute season salt), and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour mixture. In a heavy skillet, heat oil and butter until sizzling. Place chicken pieces in the skillet and allow to brown lightly.  If there is not enough room in the skillet for all the pieces, cook them in batches turning each piece over and placing them on a plate until each piece is browned.  Put all the pieces back in the skillet and place the skillet in  a preheated 375 degree oven. Bake for 15  minutes.

This makes 4 generous servings of chicken.

Posted in Main Course, recipe | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

July 7, 2010

I had something else ready to post but I’m so excited about this little baby that I had to share. 

I went out after dinner to water the tomato, cucumber and pepper plants in the garden.  I’ve been avoiding the zucchini because we’ve had so much rain and I already had one zucchini rot on me.

So I’ve been watering.  And peeking.  And praying.  It hasn’t really rained since last week and we’ve had some really hot and humid days since the 4th.  Perfect weather for my zucchini. 

I’ll be making this for dinner tomorrow.  On the grill.  Tossed in olive oil.  Sprinkled with pepper and truffle salt.

Ah, truffle salt.  I think I’ve mentioned this wonderful stuff before.  A friend I made through this blog brought this to my attention.  I really love the truffle salt on veggies.  It adds another layer of flavor that I can’t really describe.  I guess yummy just doesn’t quite cover it, does it?

Thank you D for introducing me to this salt.

I’m not sure what I’ll be eating with the zucchini, but at this point I don’t even care.

This may be the only zucchini I will enjoy this summer, you never know.

Posted in garden | Tagged , | 4 Comments »

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Wild Asparagus

June 13, 2010

We have wild asparagus growing near where we live.  There is nothing that compares to it.  Wild asparagus is something we look forward to once the weather starts to break.  I sent my husband out to find some in early May when we were over at my sister’s house but the weather wasn’t quite warm enough yet to find much. My nice Italian neighbor goes out and brings me some.  I’ve never looked for it myself.  This past year the neighbor was supposed to take me so I know what to look for in the grass but she’s been busy.  Something to do with her youngest daughter having twins. 

My brother-in-law called me Friday night to let me know that they had some so I picked it up yesterday.  The great thing about the wild asparagus is that even the bigger pieces are good to eat.  We love the asparagus tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper.  We throw it on the grill.  But now I’m excited to try it with something new. 

Truffle salt.  I was fortunate enough to have someone send me a comment about this wonderful salt and I had to try it.  I actually made green beans with it this week.  I make the fresh green beans in a saute pan with some bacon grease.  Once the beans are cooked I add bread crumbs and some Parmesan cheese.  This time I added the truffle salt too, just a pinch and Meeshie had two extra helpings! Usually I’m trying to get her to each just one small helping.

We also went to a graduation party yesterday and someone made the most wonderful appetizer with asparagus.  The asparagus was cut 3 inches long and wrapped in ham.  The ham had cream cheese and mustard inside.  I had never seen anything like it before.  It was so simple and elegant looking.  The nutty crunch of the fresh asparagus and the ham/mustard combo was so unique.

Thankfully I have some of this great veggie on hand to enjoy for a little while.

Posted in recipe | Tagged , , | 3 Comments »

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