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Category Archives: Recipes

BAGUETTE SANDWICHES WITH PROSCIUTTO, BRIE, CARAMELIZED ONIONS FENNEL AND OLIVE TAPENADEPINThings have been in a bit of a spin around here. We’ve been working hard, Kyle at the brewery, me at home and on photography jobs. We are doing our best to find time for fun too… camping, canning, working in the garden. These days are so busy, one of the easiest things to pull together for dinner is a wonderful sandwich and a simple salad. I love the availability of fennel in the summer but I wasn’t quite sure how to use it on a sandwich. I decided to roast it and throw it in the food processor with some kalamata olives for a simple, but slightly unique tapenade. This sandwich is satisfying, rich and simple to make.

BAGUETTE SANDWICHES WITH PROSCIUTTO, BRIE, FENNEL AND OLIVE TAPENADE

Ingredients.
baguette
brie cheese
1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto
one yellow onion, thinly sliced
one fennel bulb, thinly sliced (save a small handful of the fennel fronds)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 large basil leaves
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pits removed
extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons room temperature butter
1 garlic clove, peeled
mixed-greens
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions.
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Toss the sliced fennel, with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes until softened. Allow to cool. Once cooled, transfer to a food processor. Add in the lemon juice, basil, olives and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Blend until mostly smooth.

While the fennel is roasting, caramelize the onions.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add in the onions and cook slowly, stirring often, until they have completely browned. Season with the brown sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and allow to cook for another minute or two before setting aside to cool.

Turn on your oven broiler. Slice the baguette into four pieces, cut each of the four sections into eight open faced sandwich pieces. Place the pieces, cut side up, on a cookie sheet. Spread each with a small bit of butter. Place in the oven to broil for a few minutes, until they are golden. Remove from the oven and rub each piece with the garlic cloves.

Spread each sandwich with the fennel/olive tapenade, top with slices of brie, prosciutto, onions, and a small handful of fresh mixed greens.

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
BAGUETTE SANDWICHES WITH PROSCIUTTO, BRIE, FENNEL AND OLIVE TAPENADE

On Monday night I went out in the evening and harvested a lot of our basil.  After all my blogging, photo shooting/editing and time on the phone it was so lovely to stand in the warm grass without shoes on and methodically trim the fragrant basil. I washed it and set it aside to make pesto with Gigi. Pesto is a great, simple thing to make with kids! Gigi loves to make it, and eat it!

basil pesto recipePINbasil pesto recipePINbasil pesto recipePIN

BASIL PESTO

Ingredients.
5 cups basil leaves, packed
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2-3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (you probably won’t use all of this)
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Directions.
Put the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until it’s finely chopped. Scrape down the sides.  Turn the blender back on and slowly stream in the olive oil until the mixture is smooth, creamy and thick.  Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the parmesan cheese*.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.

*leave the cheese out if you are planning to freeze the pesto.  If freezing, spoon the pesto into ice cube trays, cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight before transferring the cubes into a large ziploc bag.

Have fun and enjoy!!!

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
BASIL PESTO

Beet Chips RecipePINBeet Chips RecipePIN

Last week I shared this recipe for Roasted Beet Salad, and with beets still in season, I love finding other ways to use them. Making baked beet chips is easy, fun and they are delicious. These are the perfect snack. They’re fun for kids to help with too, although if you decided to go that route I highly recommend using only golden beets! These roasted beet chip are fun to make and pretty to look at… while they last.

ROASTED BEET CHIPS
Ingredients.
2 large red beets, peeled and trimmed
2 large golden beets, peeled and trimmed
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt

Directions.
Place your oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven to allow for even heat distribution. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Slice the beets as thinly as possible with a sharp knife or mandolin. Toss the beets with a few tablespoons of olive oil and lay them in single layers on baking sheets. Sprinkle the beets with a pinch of salt.

Roast for about 25-40 minutes, removing the slices as they become crisp. The cooking time will vary depending on the size/thickness of the chips. Sliced by hand they take between 25-40 minutes. If sliced with a mandolin they’ll be finished at a more consistent time. Start checking them around 25 minutes and remove them when they’ve shrunk and crisped up! Transfer finished chips to a cooling rack and let them rest for about 10 minutes.

Beet Chips RecipePIN

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
ROASTED BEET CHIPS

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Pistachios, and Basil RecipePIN

I don’t know about where you are, but here the beets are ready to harvest. Our own beets, red, yellow and chiogga, all got a virus and we had to toss them. But luckily we have a wonderful farmers’ market with great people who grow great veggies. We live close enough to walk to the farmers’ market every week and as often as we can we join up with our neighbors and walk together (sometimes we even sip a beer along the way). I love to use whatever is in season in my cooking and the beets at the market look beautiful right now.

This simple but unique salad recipe is the perfect side dish. It’s flavorful, easy, and light. The goat cheese brightens it up and the basil compliments the beets perfectly. The addition of the pistachios add a little something special. I love to serve it alongside grilled chicken.

ROASTED BEET SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE, PISTACHIOS AND BASIL

Ingredients.
1 lb golden beets, peeled and cut into bit size pieces
1 lb red beets, peeled and cut into bit size pieces
4 oz goat cheese
small handful fresh basil, torn or cut into strips
small handful pistachios, shelled and broken in half
honey
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions.
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Toss the beets in 1/4 cup of olive oil and transfer them to a baking sheet.  Roast for 40 minutes, tossing occasionally. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, drizzle the beets with a bit of honey, and allow them to cool before transferring them to a serving dish.

Top the beets with the goat cheese, basil, and pistachios.

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
ROASTED BEET SALAD

Mango with Lime and Salt RecipePINWe have been slaving away in the garden, working hard to get the patio ready for summer barbecues… Hopefully we will get it done this week so we can relax with our friends who are coming to visit this weekend. At the end of a day taking care of the kiddos, playing in the sun, and working outside, nothing is better than this midday snack… a ripe mango topped with a little lime juice and a pinch of fleur de sel. The tart lime and bitter salt balance out the incredible sweetness of the mango. It’s one of my favorite things. It simple and refreshing.

MANGO WITH LIME AND FLEUR DE SEL

Ingredients.
1 ripe mango
1 lime
fleur de sel or maldon sea salt

Directions.
To cut the mango, place the mango on it’s side so that the pit is vertical on the cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slice down on one side of the pit, then the other. Then, one side at a time, run the knife through the flesh of the mango, scoring horizontally, then vertically, but not slicing into the skin.
Squeeze lime juice over the mango, making sure it runs into the cracks between the fruit segments. Sprinkle the mango with a pinch of fleur de sel.

At this point you can invert the peel and either slice the fruit from the peel into a bowl, or you can simply eat the exposed fruit. I prefer the latter, it feels a bit more indulgent somehow.

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
MANGO WITH LIME AND FLEUR DE SEL