Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Charred Corn and Crab

Over the weekend, we traveled to my home state of Maryland for a friend’s wedding. I made it my solemn vow to eat crab for every single meal while in the great state. I even went to the market to buy a container of lump crab meat, which I shrewdly stashed in our sad little hotel room fridge, so that I could munch on it for breakfast and snacks. Thankfully, I lucked out at the wedding, where they served filet mignon and fantastic crab cakes. My crab meat aspiration successfully concluded at the airport over a delicious cup of Maryland crab soup.

I returned home still wanting more, however. Perhaps the wedding and all of that vow talk motivated me to prolong my own vow. I started to play with ingredients that traditionally accompany crabs, and decided on a roasted red pepper soup with charred corn and crab. This soup is honestly one of the best soups that I have ever made, and it is sure to become a summertime dinner staple, whether I’m in Maryland or not.



Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Charred Corn and Crab

Ingredients

3 red peppers
Olive oil
¼ cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
Splash white wine
2 cups chicken stock
½ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 ear corn
Fresh crab meat


Method

Preheat broiler. Lightly coat whole peppers in olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Allow the skin to blister and blacken on each side under the broiler, rotating the peppers and roasting for approximately 10 minutes per side.

Place peppers in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 20 minutes. After peppers have cooled, peel and discard the skin, stems, and seeds. Roughly chop into pieces.

In a pot, sauté diced onion in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and deglaze with a splash of white wine. Add chicken stock, peppers, thyme, and crushed red pepper and simmer for 30 minutes.

While simmering, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Roll around a cleaned ear of corn until charred. The same can be done with frozen corn, if desired.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pepper mixture to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add more stock if necessary to thin out the soup. Pour into a bowl, top with charred corn and cleaned crab meat. Serve hot or cold and enjoy!

How do you like to eat crabs?

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Halibut with Mixed Vegetables en Papillote

We had a very special guest who came to visit last week – my sister. Not only did her visit motivate me to make our guest room resemble an actual bedroom rather than an office/college dorm, but it also prompted me to start planning out our meals together. My sister, a talented sommelier, really knows her wines and she has great taste in food, so needless to say, I was really feeling the pressure. I planned to take her to all of my favorite restaurants in the area, and then to make her a nice dinner at home on her last night in town. I ran a list of potential recipes through my mind for days prior to her arrival, but I just couldn’t settle on one. I don’t know why I was so worried since my sister is the most laid back person I know. I guess I just wanted everything to go smoothly. To put an end to my useless worrying, I decided to just go with the flow, take her to the market with me, and see what looked good that day.

We came back from the market with wild-caught Alaskan halibut and an amazing assortment of organic vegetables including fava beans, asparagus, snow peas, brussels sprouts, carrots, and fiddlehead ferns. We decided that cooking the fish and veggies en papillote, or wrapped in parchment paper, would not only be super easy but also incredibly healthy – a nice break from all of our restaurant meals, wine tastings, and brewery tours. We also made a delicious puree from sunchokes and sweet potatoes that complimented the halibut perfectly. California Sauvignon Blanc paired well with this dish as its crisp and light notes did not overpower it. All in all, my sister had a great visit, and now that I look back, I wish I had spent more time redecorating our office/college dorm than worrying about cooking.



Halibut with Mixed Vegetables en Papillote

Ingredients

Alaskan halibut, 4 ounce filet per person
Olive oil
Fava beans, shelled
Asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
Snow peas
Brussels sprouts, halved
Carrots, cut into straws
Fiddlehead ferns
Splash Sauvignon Blanc
Lemon slices
Pinch of thyme
Truffle salt
Parchment paper, 12 inch long sheet per person





Method

Feel free to be flexible with this recipe, as you can basically use any vegetables that you like.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a pot of boiling water, quickly blanch the fava beans, asparagus, snow peas, carrots, and fiddlehead ferns for one minute. Set aside for later use. Sauté brussels sprouts in a pan with olive oil to caramelize them a bit over moderately high heat. Set aside with the other vegetables.

Brush parchment paper with olive oil, pile vegetables on half of the sheet, and place halibut filet on top. Add a splash of Sauvignon Blanc, pinch of thyme, lemon slices, and salt and pepper to taste. (We used truffle salt that my sister had just bought at the spice shop across the street. It was pricey, but incredibly tasty.) Fold over the other side of the parchment paper and start to fold the ends together so that they are tight and no steam can escape. I’ve found that folding the paper into a half-moon shape works the best.

Bake the parchment packets on a baking sheet for 15 minutes. Cut open the packets carefully because they are full of steam and enjoy.




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Fig and Maple Mascarpone Linzer Cookies

All celebrity chefs have their trademark catch phrases and endearing traits. Ina Garten optimistically poses, “How easy is that?” Emeril enthusiastically shouts, “Bam!” or gluttonously moans, “Oh yeah, babe.” Gordon Ramsay swears more than an angry drunken sailor, while Nigella Lawson waxes poetic with her eloquent and witty culinary comparisons. Although I occasionally watch Giada de Laurentiis’ show, I have to admit that some of her vernacular drives me absolutely nuts. Her way of overly accentuating Italian words during her show is pretty humorous, but don’t even get me started on her relentless use of “Aaaaaand” or “Just like that.”

While my kitchen-phobic brother watches Giada’s show to marvel at her cleavage, I tune in to learn how she innovatively combines unlikely flavors. I also appreciate her propensity to add mascarpone (or mas-car-pone-nay, as Italians say) to pretty much everything. Giada served as inspiration for my fig and maple mascarpone Linzer cookies. As I continue to watch more and more Giada episodes, I can feel myself adopting not only her penchant for mascarpone, but also her way of speaking. Have a cup of tea with these scrumptious cookies aaaaaand they will disappear, just like that!





Fig and Maple Mascarpone Linzer Cookies

Makes 12 cookies

Cookie Ingredients

1 stick butter, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons blanched ground almonds
Pinch of salt
Fig jam

Glaze Ingredients

4 tablespoons mascarpone, room temperature
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg until creamy. On low speed, add flour, almonds, and salt, and continue to mix until dough starts to form. Using your hands, shape the dough into a disk and then wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut out cookies using a cookie cutter. For half of the cookies, use a smaller cutter to cut out the center. Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a cooling rack.

For the glaze: Whisk together room temperature mascarpone, maple syrup, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add a bit of water to thin out mixture, if necessary.

To assemble the cookies: Drizzle glaze over cookies with cutouts. Spread fig jam in a thin layer on the flat side of whole cookies. Sandwich flat sides of the whole cookies with the cutout cookies, allowing the jam to show through the center.

Golden Beet Chip-Encrusted Goat Cheese Salad

I didn’t start my love affair with beets until I got married. Thomas, being part Russian, once requested that I make borscht. Borscht? What’s borscht? After a lot of Googling, long consultation with my mother-in-law, and a trip to St. Petersburg (for fun, not necessarily for borscht research), I learned that borscht is a hearty, Eastern European, beet-based soup. I also learned that the process of making an authentic borscht is not only incredibly labor intensive, but it also turns everything in my kitchen red, bright red – including me.


Ever since my first batch of borscht, I have been making multiple variations of it by the gallon, and I have been roasting beets by the bushel. I just can’t eat enough of these colorful root veggies! My all-time favorite beet dish, arugula salad with roasted beets and goat cheese, was recently upstaged by my new favorite, baked beet chips. In an attempt to marry my old to new favorite, I made a beet chip-encrusted goat cheese salad, using golden beets instead of red ones. This delicious dish puts a modern spin on an old classic. Although it is much simpler to prepare than borscht, it still managed to turn everything in my kitchen yellow, bright yellow – including me.



Baked Golden Beet Chips

Ingredients

3 golden beets
Cooking spray
Salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Wash and peel the beets. Very thinly slice beets using a sharp knife or a mandolin. Try to make the slices uniform so that they cook evenly.

Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray. Arrange beet slices in an even single layer, spray the tops with cooking spray, and season with salt.

Bake for 15 minutes, turn, and bake for another 15 minutes or so. Check on the beets occasionally as the thickness of the slices will require a slightly different cooking time. Once browned and crisp (some may brown quicker than others), remove the slices and allow to cool and drain on a paper towel.


Golden Beet Chip-Encrusted Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients

Arugula
Pistachios
Beet chips, crushed
Goat cheese, log
Vinaigrette

Method

Cut goat cheese into 1 inch slices and pat down to keep compact and circular. Press slices into crushed beet chip pieces to cover. Place over dressed arugula and pistachios.

I served mine with a blood orange vinaigrette, but any basic vinaigrette will work. For my dressing, I whisked together blood orange juice, white wine vinegar, chopped shallot, grain mustard, and olive oil.


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White Cheddar Polenta with Caramelized Onions, Apples, and Prosciutto

I’ve had my fair share of amazing pizzas. From Brooklyn’s famed Grimaldi’s, to Naples’ legendary Pizzeria da Michele, and everything in between, I have found that my go-to guilty pleasure is, and forever will be, a perfectly mastered pizza. What intrigues me the most about pizza is how it can easily be adapted into a range of other food forms, such as salads, pastas, or sandwiches, while maintaining its wholesome integrity. It is so simple to take the toppings from a favorite pizza and transform them into a new and innovative dish. Liberty Tavern in the DC area, for example, serves a fantastic pizza called The Vermont loaded with white cheddar, caramelized onions, roasted apples, prosciutto, and sage. After my first bite of this pizza, visions of how I could recreate it in the form of a gourmet grilled cheese or risotto danced in my head.



The last time I went to Liberty Tavern, I had my leftover Vermont wrapped in a doggy bag so that I could enjoy it for lunch the following day. My plan changed, however, as I witnessed a homeless man standing outside the restaurant with his hand extended for offerings. I debated whether I should fork over a few dollars or my cherished leftovers. I decided on the latter, and as I handed him the pizza, I told him that he was surely in for a treat. He looked at me with a blank stare, grabbed the pizza box, and hastily threw it on the curb next him without a sign of gratitude. I couldn’t believe it. Knowing just how delicious it was, I argued with myself whether it would be acceptable to reclaim my beloved pizza from the ungrateful man. Begrudgingly, I turned my back and walked away.

It is my hope that the man outside Liberty Tavern was able to enjoy a decent meal that night; however, I think about the fate of my unappreciated pizza quite often. In order to seek some closure, I decided to recreate The Vermont in the form of a creamy polenta. The pizza’s caramelized onions, apples, and prosciutto make the perfect topping to serve over white cheddar polenta. With The Vermont blissfully reincarnated in this dish, I can once again appreciate its complex toppings and flavor combinations – this time, however, there will be no leftovers!



White Cheddar Polenta with Caramelized Onions, Apples, and Prosciutto

Ingredients

½ cup medium grind cornmeal
2 cups chicken stock
¼ cup grated white cheddar cheese
2 slices prosciutto, diced
Olive oil
1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
Dash sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup white wine
Salt and pepper
Garnish with sage or parsley

Method

Bring stock to a boil, pour in cornmeal, and whisk constantly for 4 minutes to prevent lumps. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to whisk. Partially cover with a lid and simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes. Whisk every 10 minutes to make sure that the polenta is not sticking. Add more stock if necessary. Once polenta is thick and creamy, remove from heat and stir in the white cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper according to your liking.

While the polenta is cooking, sauté diced prosciutto in a pan coated with olive oil over medium heat. Once crispy, remove the prosciutto and drain on a paper towel.

Add more olive oil to the same pan. Over medium heat, sauté the onions and apples for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and a dash of sugar to help with the caramelization. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add more oil if necessary. Once the onions and apples have fully caramelized, stir in Dijon mustard, and raise the heat to high. Deglaze the pan with white wine, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and cook until the liquid evaporates.

To assemble, pour polenta on a plate and top with caramelized onions and apples. Sprinkle crisped prosciutto over the top and enjoy!

Escargots à la Bourguignonne

I had a fantastic weekend that was filled with a luncheon, birthday party, spontaneous sleepover followed by an impromptu brunch, Derby viewing, Chinese takeout and a movie, long run, outdoor yoga, calls to my mom and mother-in-law, evening stroll, and an anniversary dinner. Seven years ago this weekend, I met my husband for the first time in NYC. Although this anniversary should get overlooked now that we have a true wedding anniversary, we still like to celebrate in a fun way.

I decided to make a typical French dish, not only because we are total Francophiles, but also because one of my best friends in the world is currently in the best city in the world – Paris. Thomas and I began our honeymoon in The City of Light, where we enjoyed intimate dinners at bistros and cafés, romantic strolls along the Seine, and smooches amongst world-famous landmarks. So, in honor of our superfluous anniversary celebration and my friend’s French vacation, I thought that we could live vicariously through her with a classic preparation of Escargots à la Bourguignonne. Bon appétit!



Escargots à la Bourguignonne

Ingredients

1 14-ounce can snails and cleaned snail shells (both can be found in specialty food stores)
1 ½ or 2 sticks unsalted softened butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, chopped
2 tablespoons red wine
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
French baguette



Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine softened butter, garlic, shallot, red wine, and parsley in a food processor until smooth. Sample the garlic butter with a piece of French bread and season with salt and pepper accordingly.

Spoon a small amount of butter into each shell, place one snail inside, and then top with more butter. Place shells in a snail well dish, or just face up in a baking dish or ramekin like I did. Bake until very bubbly and browned, about 7-10 minutes.

Serve with a salade verte (green salad) and a French baguette for soaking up the garlic herb butter.

Spicy Avocado Toast with Fried Egg

I’m a bit reluctant to say “Happy Cinco de Mayo” today. Not because I don’t want to celebrate the holiday, but because for the past few weeks, all I have read lately has been about Mexican food. Blogs and food magazines have completely inundated us with posts and articles about the perfect guacamole, salsa, margarita, or name-a-conventional-Mexican-dish here. I get it, I do. People want to eat typical Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo. They also want to knock back Coronas and smash piñatas, but that doesn’t mean that I necessarily have to. I want to celebrate in my own way.

I wanted to make a dish using traditional Mexican ingredients that was more interesting than flan, but less labor intensive than huevos rancheros. And while I had a surplus of rapidly ripening avocados, I settled on a gussied-up version of NYC’s Café Gitane’s avocado toast. Since their incredibly simple dish only consists of toast, avocado, olive oil, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper, I decided to top it with a fried egg (mostly because I think everything tastes better with a fried egg). Although this dish is not necessarily considered Mexican, it does feature traditional ingredients such as avocados and chili peppers. And if this avocado toast doesn’t quite have you doing the Mexican hat dance, then throw in an ice cold Corona to spice up the fiesta. With my reluctance lessened and stomach full, I can now festively say “Happy Cinco de Mayo!”



Spicy Avocado Toast with Fried Egg

Ingredients

Bread
Avocado
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Crushed red pepper
Egg

Method

Toast bread and brush with olive oil. Cut the avocado in half, core it, and slice lengthwise. Place sliced avocado on toast and sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and crushed red pepper. At Café Gitane, the avocado is mashed, but I think slicing looks more elegant.

In a frying pan, fry and season the egg to your liking and then place over avocado toast. Buen provecho!

Cosmo Crunch - Mixed Nut Brittle with Cranberries and Orange Zest

It took two failed attempts, lots of research, and one sleepless midnight cooking session, but I finally managed to make my Cranberry Orange Mixed Nut Brittle. Third time really is a charm. The burns, sticky messes, frustration, and mild case of insomnia were well worth it because my final creation ended up even better than I had originally planned. My initial vision was to make a peanut brittle as a Mother’s Day gift, but as I managed to botch two batches and watch my necessary ingredients dwindle down to nothing, I came up with a new and improved plan – Cranberry Orange Mixed Nut Brittle.

With my mom being an avid lover of all things cranberry and orange (and a devoted Cosmopolitan drinker), this brittle makes a perfect Mother’s Day gift. The chewy cranberries and orange zest make for a great texture balance against the crunchy almonds, cashews, and pecans. The addition of Cointreau adds a bit of pep as well. My tip to making this brittle successfully on the very first try – Use a candy thermometer! Cooking is indeed a science and when changing the molecular makeup of sucrose, proper tools are necessary. Don’t let this scare you though, because I have done all of the dirty work – all in the name of science…and Mother’s Day. So, Mom, here’s to you! And here’s hoping that it doesn’t take you three attempts to make a perfect Cosmopolitan. Actually, that would make for a super fun Mother’s Day!




Cranberry Orange Mixed Nut Brittle (AKA Cosmo Crunch)

Ingredients

3 cups sugar
1 ½ cups water
1 cup mixed salted nuts (I used almonds, cashews, and pecans)
¾ cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon Cointreau or orange juice
Cooking spray

Method

In a small bowl, combine mixed nuts, dried cranberries, orange zest, cinnamon, and Cointreau. Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Continue to boil until the mixture reaches 300 degrees. This takes about 20-25 minutes. Do not stir or whisk, as this affects the sugar molecules. You may swirl the pan if you are worried about burning. This mixture is scalding hot, so use extreme caution.

Once the mixture reaches 300 degrees and appears to be an amber color, pour in the nuts and cranberries. Cook for one more minute and then transfer the mixture to the sprayed sheet pan. Use a spatula to quickly and lightly spread into an even layer. Let it cool completely to set. Break into pieces and enjoy!

Deconstructed Pesto Pea Salad

I had two epic fails while cooking today. I should I have known to stay out of the kitchen since I couldn't even walk and chew gum on the way to the market earlier. When I got home, I attempted to whip up a fun treat to send my mom as a Mother’s Day gift, but unfortunately, I may be sending her flowers instead. I managed to botch not one but two batches of homemade peanut brittle. First, the sugar burned and then the syrup never fully set, leaving a sticky and nutty mess. My back up plan of chocolate and orange truffles was later foiled due to me putting way too much trust into a terrible online recipe. The truffles were such sad little melting blobs, even after I refrigerated and then froze them. I just could not win today.

With my culinary ego thoroughly bruised, I didn’t want to take any chances and fail miserably on a fancy dinner tonight. I settled on a pesto dish that requires absolutely no work whatsoever. You don’t even need a mortar and pestle or food processor for the pesto – keeping it simple tonight! Maybe tomorrow I will locate my motor skills and settle back into the swing of things. And hopefully, once I regain my culinary chops, my mom will be able look forward to receiving something other than flowers this year.



Deconstructed Pesto Pea Salad

Ingredients

Green peas
Fresh basil
Minced roasted garlic
Walnut pieces or pine nuts
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method

Toss cooked green peas with fresh chopped basil, minced roasted garlic, walnut pieces, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.