To Make Later

I also subscribe to the San Francisco Chronicle Food and Wine Newsletter and this week's "Appetease" looks sublime. Note to self: make later when you have company (lord knows the damage these babies could do if I was the only one around to eat them!).

Grilled Blue Cheese Onions

Onions sliced neither too thinly nor too thickly (1 inch is about right) will easily cook through and still be hefty enough to stay on a skewer.

INGREDIENTS:
4 large red and/or yellow onions
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
3/4 cup panko
4-5 ounces blue cheese
Balsamic vinegar (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Assemble 4-6 long metal skewers that hold 2-3 onion slices each; if using wood skewers, soak in water for at least 45 minutes. Preheat grill to moderately low heat.
Peel the onions and slice horizontally into 1-inch-thick slices. Run a skewer through the slices so the layers hold together; brush both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place onion slices on the grill, cover loosely with foil; turn occasionally until cooked through — about 30 minutes total.

Meanwhile, lightly brown the panko in a skillet over medium heat or on a baking sheet in a 375° oven, stirring frequently. Place panko in a bowl to cool slightly. Chop or crumble the blue cheese into small pieces and mix with the panko. Set aside. When the onions are almost done and have been turned over for the last time, brush onions with balsamic vinegar, if using, then top each slice with the blue cheese mixture and press down firmly. Re-cover the onions with foil and allow cheese to melt. Serve immediately.

Yields about 10-12 pieces

PER PIECE: 70 calories, 3 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat (2 g saturated), 7 mg cholesterol, 139 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.

Fancy Chicken Salad

So at a place near my work, they have this amazing chicken salad with capers. I've been wanting to try and make it for awhile, and this weekend I finally got the chance. I found a recipe on epicurious (I'm obsessed, can you tell?) and even though it wasn't exact, it turned out SO delicious. This is another good thing to make when you want to look fancy, but don't really want to put in too much effort. The hardest part of the recipe was going out for the obscure ingredients.

Chicken with Tarragon-Caper Sauce

As you can see, the recipe is for chicken breasts, which you then spoon the sauce over. I skipped all that (and the greens), and instead upped the mayo just a tad and mixed it in with cut-up chicken to make chicken salad. It was exquisite. I also made some garlic mashed potatoes with roasted chunks of garlic and shallots for a side. Looks and tastes pretty impressive, but like I said, VERY easy.

I served on toasted whole wheat Squagelbread which worked out quite nicely, although any bread would probably work fine. (I should try sourdough next...)

Prado Pressed Salad

I haven't actually made this myself, so it's kind of cheating. But Jeff and I went out to dinner this weekend and I had this salad before my main meal. It was big enough to be a whole meal in itself, and was so incredibly delicious, that I just needed to find out how to make it. Since I found the recipe online, I thought I'd share it with all of you.

I think it would be perfect for a night when you want to make a fancy main dish for yourself but still want it to be healthy (you could have it with bread, maybe), or if you were serving guests and are looking for something to go with a main dish.

(1 serving)
2 ounces baby arugula
2 ounces (about 1/4 cup) sliced dried figs
1/3 cup sliced strawberries
1/4 cup candied walnuts (see accompanying recipe)
4 tablespoons Sherry Shallot Vinaigrette (see accompanying recipe)
3 slices Asiago cheese, torn
Balsamic syrup (see note)

Place the arugula, figs, strawberries, walnuts, vinaigrette and cheese in a mixing bowl and mix well. On a 12-inch plate, place a ring mold in the center and fill with salad mixture. Press salad firmly until compact and then slowly lift ring mold while holding greens down. To finish, streak balsamic syrup over salad and plate.

Note: To make balsamic syrup, place balsamic vinegar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the liquid reduces by half, or until it has achieved a syrupy consistency. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

(Adapted from a recipe from chef Jeff Thurston of The Prado in Balboa Park.)

Candied Walnuts

(Makes 2 cups nuts)
2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Vegetable oil, for frying

Place walnuts in boiling water for about 1 minute. Drain and cool. Toss walnuts in powdered sugar until well coated. Heat oil to 325 degrees in a frying pan and fry walnuts until they are crispy and golden brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Sherry Shallot Vinaigrette

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups vinaigrette)
1/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 cup olive oil blend
1/4 cup minced shallots
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place honey, mustard and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Using a whisk, blend in oil in a slow, steady stream. Add half of the shallots and lightly blend. When oil has been emulsified, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining minced shallots.

Paprika Crusted Chicken

This is my go-to, super-easy, impress people dish. It's pretty much fool proof, and looks and tastes spectacular. Unfortunately, I don't have specific amounts, but again, it's pretty much fool proof. The *best* way to do it is to grill a whole chicken, but you can also roast a chicken or just bake chicken breasts (or thighs or whatever you like).

Mix up a paste of paprika, kosher salt, and water. I usually start with a couple tablespoons of paprika, a few teaspoons of salt, and stir it with a fork as a I add water a few teaspoons at a time until it forms a nice thick paste. Note: if I'm cooking it with the skin on, I'll make the paste a little thicker; if I'm cooking skinless chicken breasts, I make it a little runnier so the flavor isn't overwhelming. Cook according to standard instructions.

I usually serve it with a bed of wild rice and a side of garlic sauteed zucchini.

Five minute tomato sauce recipe

For the good gravy - 101Cookbooks - very worthwhile.

Other Epicurious Recipes I've Tried

1. Mahi-mahi with blood orange, avocado, and red onion salsa
I bought some mahi-mahi, and then realized I didn't know what to do with it. So a quick epicurious search brought up this "3.5 forks" recipe. Turned out really delicious, was relatively easy with the food processor, but a bit spicy, depending on how much jalapeno you put in. Overall, flavorful, fresh-tasting and pretty simple.

2. Cheddar and pepper scones
The fact that this was one of the best recipes in 1999 caught my attention. I actually just needed a salty breakfast item to go with the pound cake that Cas had already baked (it was my turn to bring in treats on Friday - haha it all seems very mundane when you put it in writing). Easy to make, didn't need to buy any exotic ingredients (except buttermilk, which I don't normally stock), and the scones tasted like homemade mac and cheese. Haha, I think it may depend who you are, but I found them pretty savory.

3. Eggs Benedict with mock Hollandaise
Made for a Mother's Day Brunch sans mothers (it's true), these were a big hit. PLUS, the mock Hollandaise is easier to prepare and better for you than real Hollandaise. A few guests said it tasted better as well. I like to use whole wheat muffins and regular Canadian bacon. Served with steamed asparagus.

Prosciutto and Mozzarella Panini

When I worked at Pizza Rustica (36th and Chestnut) the summer between sophomore and junior years, one of our most popular sandwiches was this panini made with freshly-sliced prosciutto, which it was part of my job to slice. They were amazing! I haven't made them since then, because I usually don't have all of the ingredients available, although we came pretty close in Rome once. Usually it's lack of good bread, good cheese, or often good meat. But today on a trip to Trader Joes I noticed they had every one of these things, so I made them! It's easy, tastes somewhat out of the ordinary, and something I think anyone (except, I guess, a vegetarian) would like:

Ingredients:
Ciabatta bread
Fresh- NOT smoked- Prosciutto (about 3 oz. makes 2 sandwiches, I think)
Some sliceable logs of mozzarella cheese (like for Caprese salad)
Sun-dried tomatoes
Basil (fresh or dried)
Olive Oil

Cut the ciabatta in half with a good bread knife, slather olive oil lavishly inside. Slice enough mozzarella thickly to cover the bottom half of the ciabatta, add a small handfull of tomatos on top of the cheese. Place or sprinkle a good amount of basil on the tomatos (don't be shy, this was a pizza place and they used tons of basil on everything). Add the prosciutto on top, and enjoy. We heated these for people who were under the impression that panini must be hot, but they're totally fine cold.


P.S. I just learned writing this that "tomatoes" has an "e" in it, thanks to my Firefox spell-checker. Whaddayouknow?