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So while you were grillin' and chillin' this weekend I...wasn't. However, despite my weekend commitments, I managed to throw together a tasty snack that would have totally worked on the grill (skewered!). Since I was at home, I made it on the stove top in a skillet. Like the pig and fig, the pork and shrimp combo was super delish, if not as rhyme worthy. Dig it!
Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp
12 (16/20) shrimp, peeled and de-veined, tails on
6 slices (2 - 3.5 ounces) thinly sliced prosciutto
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1. Preheat the oven to broil. In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp in the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
2. Cut each piece of prosciutto in half lengthwise. Wrap each shrimp in a 1/2 slice of prosciutto. Place in an oven safe pan. Broil for 3 minutes and then turn the shrimp to cook on the other side until crisp. Alternatively, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp is pink and firm, and until the prosciutto is crisp, 3 minutes per side. Serve with lemon wedges. Serves 4 as an appetizer.
What do you make with a head of cauliflower? Seriously. I mean, I know that I like it well enough, and have eaten it in the past, but I can't think of a single preparation. It's often relegated to a position between the carrot sticks and broccoli florets on super lame crudites platters, sitting next to a bowl of sour cream dip flavored with...something. Ack. Should I cook and puree it like mashed potatoes? Roast it? Smother it in hollandaise? Make aloo gobi? Yeah, right. I'll be ordering that for delivery from my favorite Indian restaurant.
I never realized that I had absolutely no idea what to do with a whole head of cauliflower until I was staring at one, wondering why I thought it was a good purchase. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've been eating cauliflower my whole life, but I can't actually pinpoint a single recipe. As a kid I ate it as a frozen vegetable that was heated up and served with melted butter. Butter makes everything better, but there must be a more substantial way to serve it.
After a little internet research I decided to try a recipe that I found on Food & Wine's website. It looked pretty painless and more importantly, flavorful, as cauliflower has a delicate (read: little to no) flavor. Cauliflower and pasta alone would be pretty lackluster, but add garlic cream, prosciutto, and Parmesan and we're talking! It's kind of like a healthy mac and cheese (kinda sorta?) except that you don't have to turn on the oven. (The broiler isn't the oven, really.) And...there might be some heavy cream. But you will get almost your entire daily dose of Vitamin C. See? Healthy!
Rigatoni with Cauliflower, Prosciutto, and Parmesan
(Adapted from Food & Wine)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound whole wheat (or regular) rigatoni
One (1 1/2-pound) head of cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 ounces sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch-thick ribbons
Chopped fresh parsley, optional
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Add the cream and simmer until thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Cook the rigatoni until al dente, but add the cauliflower florets to the same pot after 4 minutes, then continue cooking with the pasta for an additional 4 -5 minutes, until the pasta is al dente. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, toss the bread crumbs with the Parmesan cheese and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Preheat the broiler. Return the cooked rigatoni and cauliflower to the pot over low heat. Add the garlic cream, the prosciutto, and the reserved pasta water and toss until the pasta is coated, 1 minute. Remove from the heat and pour the pasta mixture into a large shallow baking dish, spreading evenly, and sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top. Broil for about 2 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the topping is evenly browned. Garnish with parsley if desired. Serve immediately. Serves 4 - 6.
I apologize for my recent blogging lameness, but I'm finally off the couch! Yippee! I can actually breathe. Oh, and before I forget, now that I've actually been walking outside in the rain...golf umbrellas should be outlawed in NYC!!! How is it OK to walk down a sidewalk with a gigantic (potential) guillotine?!? It's so rude. We should all have to wear rain hats alla Paddington Bear. This chick looks pretty chic, no?
Whatever. It will never happen so I'll just have to accept being stabbed by people lacking in self awareness. And since I've been living off of soup and tea for the last week, I'll need some protein in order to refrain from grabbing those umbrellas and beating the owners over the head with them. (Golf umbrellas belong ON THE GOLF COURSE!) Fortunately my freezer is teaming with forgotten items like the two thick cut pork chops I found hidden beneath a whole bundt cake.
Saltimbocca (which when translated literally means "jumps in the mouth") is traditionally made with veal. But these days, because veal is so un-PC, it will often be made with chicken or pork. Typically the main protein would be wrapped in the prosciutto (and occasionally cheese) and topped with the sage, but I found a recipe for a stuffed version while combing through my files that would be great with these thick chops. What's better than pork wrapped (or stuffed) with pork? And if it's still raining later, maybe I'll throw the leftover pork rib bones at the giant umbrella toting morons.
Pork Chops Saltimbocca with Sauteed Spinach
(Adapted from Gourmet)
2 (1-inch-thick) center-cut rib pork chops
2 sage leaves, chopped
2 thin slices Fontina
2 thin slices prosciutto (1 ounce)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 (10-ounce) bag fresh spinach
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Cut a deep, wide pocket in each pork chop. Sprinkle half of sage into each pocket and then stuff with the cheese and prosciutto. Season the chops all over with 1/4 teaspoon of each salt and pepper.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Cook the chops until the undersides are golden, about 2 minutes, then turn the chops over and transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
3. While the chops cook, heat the remaining tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt. Transfer the spinach and the chops to a platter.
4. Add the butter and lemon juice to the hot skillet that held the chops, stirring and scraping up the brown bits, then pour the sauce over the pork. Serve immediately. Serves 2.
I went out of town again this weekend and came home to a nearly empty fridge. Fortunately in my world, that usually means there's still something that I can cobble together to eat, avoiding the ever present delivery menus that I have shoved into a drawer. While there may be ingredients lurking, the end result is not always so obvious.
After opening and closing the fridge about 15 times (and finally finding usable ingredients), I came up with my dinner: Grilled Endive with Prosciutto and Pecorino. No, I don't have an outdoor balcony, patio, or backyard, but I do have a grill pan, which I ordinarily avoid because using it smokes up my apartment and sets off my smoke detector. Grilling salmon indoors? Absolutely not. Grilling endive? Totally. And since my endive was a little past it's prime, grilling it seemed the only way to rescue it from it's inevitable trip down my trash chute. The prosciutto was leftover from my fig extravagance last week, so although it was not in perfect shape (it was starting to get a bit dry) it softened over the warm endive. The Pecorino was stashed in my fridge just because I try to keep hard cheeses (also Parmesan) on hand because they last longer than soft cheeses (just be sure to keep well wrapped in wax paper and sealed in a plastic bag) and are great in a variety of recipes.
This recipe was inspired by the Grilled Radicchio appetizer at Bianca, my favorite cheap eats destination. The menu describes it as "grilled radicchio under a blanket of prosciutto and Pecorino." Hmmm...a blanket of prosciutto. Sounds cozy.
Grilled Endive with Prosciutto and Pecorino
2 medium Belgian endives, cut in half lengthwise
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 slices prosciutto
Shaved Pecorino
1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush the endive with the oil and season with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, place the endive cut side down and cook (without moving) until well browned, about 6 minutes. Turn over and continue cooking until softened, about 5 minutes more. Remove to a plate.
2. Layer the prosciutto over the endive and top with the cheese, to taste. Drizzle with additional extra virgin olive oil and additional pepper to taste. Makes one salad.
I somehow managed to come home from work with a pint of fresh figs, the way others might come home with some extra Post-It notes. I thought that maybe I would make an interesting, quasi-healthy salad, but then quickly realized what a mistake that would be. Figs lend themselves to being lathered in cheese and shrouded in pork. Dinner!
Here's all you need to enjoy a tasty dinner, devoid of any vegetables (my healthy vows are commonly short-lived):
Prosciutto Wrapped Figs
Fresh figs, sliced in half
Cheese, such as Manchego or Valdeon (a Spanish blue)
Prosciutto
Balsamic vinegar
First, preheat the broiler. Place a piece of cheese on the cut side of a fig half. Wrap the fig and cheese with a piece of prosciutto (about 4-inches long - you don't need to use an entire slice). Repeat with the remaining figs. Meanwhile, simmer about 1/4 cup of vinegar until reduced to a thick syrup, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Broil prepared figs for about 2 minutes per side, until the prosciutto begins to crisp. Keep a close watch to avoid burning. (Do not take a phone call or use the restroom!) Remove to a plate for serving. Drizzle with the balsamic syrup. Enjoy immediately without a salad. Serves as many as you'd like.
I eat a lot of fish. I would say that 90% of the time I go out, I order fish. Ask the waitress at Bianca. I always order the salmon even though I pretend that I might order something else. I've even perfected the art of cooking fish in my toaster oven. (Who wants to turn on the oven in the middle of summer?) Sometimes I get a conscience. Which are over fished? What are we supposed to boycott? Will I get mercury poisoning like Jeremy Piven? Check out The Monterey Bay Aquarium website for the latest information and to look up your favorite fish to see how it rates.
In the meantime, I have a killer recipe that is easy enough to make on a weeknight after work (takes 20 minutes!) yet will impress any guest. (OK. If you have a food processor or one of those mini-preps, life will be much easier.) Wrapping fish in prosciutto makes it a bit more elegant than it would be on it's own, and adding a dollop of pesto definitely gilds the lily. Thanks to Mark Bittman and his Minimalist column in the NY Times, I've been making this recipe since last fall. I decided to add a side of peas since I still had about half of a 1 pound bag after making last week's Pasta with Peas. It's like a vibrant green version of mashed potatoes. No! It's nothing like baby food. Try it! You'll like it!
Prosciutto Wrapped Fish (via Mark Bittman)
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (4-6 ounce) fillets of halibut, cod or other white-fleshed fish
2 - 3 ounces thinly slice prosciutto
2 tablespoons butter
1. Heat the oven to 450˚F. In a small food processor, combine the herbs with pine nuts, olive oil and salt and pepper to form a thick paste.
2. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper. Lay two slices of prosciutto on a board, slightly overlapping like fish scales. Smear the prosciutto with a layer of herb mixture, then lay fish in the center and wrap it up.
3. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, then add the butter. When the foam subsides, cook the fish for a minute on each side then roast until tender, 5 - 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Fillets are done when a thin knife will pass through their thickest point with little resistance. Serve immediately. Serves 4. (I will make the whole amount of pesto but then only roast one piece of fish, saving the pesto for other things.)
*The recipe above calls for Halibut or Cod and according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium website, one should avoid Atlantic Cod (Pacific Cod is good) and Atlantic and California Halibut (Pacific Halibut is good).
Pea Puree (adapted from Gourmet)
1/2 (16-ounce) bag of frozen peas
6 mint fresh leaves
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a medium saucepan combine the peas with 1/4 cup water and the mint leaves and boil, covered, for about 5 minutes, or until the peas are cooked and tender. Drain well, and in a food processor, puree with the cream and butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Serves 2 - 3.
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