Spain!

I know, it's been forever since I posted, but for good reason (and not a pregnancy, which seems to be in the water lately!) - My husband and I were planning and then enjoying our Thanksgiving holiday in Spain! We flew to Madrid the Wednesday before Thanksgiving week and stayed until the Sunday after. Our itinerary was mad-dash in order to squeeze the places that were on our "must" list...and this was AFTER we both made some concessions of places we wanted to see. This was our schedule:

Day 1 - Arrive in Madrid at 10am, taxi to the AVE train station, then high-speed train to Cordoba to spend the afternoon and night.
Day 2 - Cordoba in the morning then high-speed rail to Seville for the afternoon and night.
Day 3 - Seville in the morning, then (very) slow train to Granada
Days 3/4/5 - Granada - we planned a little more time here than some other locations in order to spend one entire day touring the Alhambra, and it's a good thing we did, we could have stayed there another day!
Day 5 - Granada in the morning, then we picked up our Mini and were off to the Costa Blanca. We drove along the coast until we reached Altea, a gorgeous Mediterranean seaside town that I would happily spend the rest of my life in!
Day 6 - Altea in the morning then we drove inland through Castille La Mancha to Cuenca, where we stayed at the only Paradore of our trip, and got to view the gorgeous "hanging" houses.
Day 7 - Depart Cuenca for Toledo, and say goodbye to the Mini :( We spent the afternoon and night in Toledo.
Day 8 - Toledo in the morning, then high-speed rail for the quick trip back to Madrid.
Days 8/9/10/11 - Madrid. We wanted to spend a good amount of time here for two reasons, 1 to relax from our whirlwind, and 2 to see everything without feeling frantic. It was amazing, we were able to go to the Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia museums, the Royal Palace, Botanical Gardens, El Retiro park and SO much more. Even better, they were setting up for Christmas when we got there, and the next night there was a tree-lighting and huge concert outside in one of the squares a few blocks from our hotel. There was so much energy, it was amazing to be there to be part of it!

Barefoot Bloggers - Blue Cheese Souffle

This was a great base recipe that really lent itself to tweaking to meet my (in my husband's words "fat nazi") requirements. I'm really not that bad, all things in moderation, and where there are strong flavors, like the blue cheese in this recipe using a huge amount is not necessary. So, here's our version adapted from Ina! I will say that Ina's recipe is for one large souffle, but since it's just the two of us here in the Beviamo house (and we don't own a large souffle dish), I cut the recipe down to two individual servings.

Blue Cheese Souffle
Adapted from: Ina Garten

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup 1% milk
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 large eggs
2 egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar
1-2 oz. good quality blue cheese (we used Danish blue)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 2 small ramekins with cooking spray and sprinkle with 1/2 of the grated parmesean cheese. Shake to coat, and shake out excess. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbling, then add flour and wisk to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes, and turn heat to medium. Add milk (room temperature is best) to flour mixture, wisking continuously. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Continue wisking mixture over low heat until it is smooth and has thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and add the two whole eggs, slowly, while wisking continuously (you don't want scrambled eggs!). Add remaining parmesean cheese along with the blue cheese, wisking until the cheese has melted and combined.

In a separate bowl using a stand or electric hand mixer, beat the remaining egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar and beat until the whites hold stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the egg/flour mixture in three increments, being sure to fold the whites carefully so you don't remove all the air. Once combined, divide the mixture between the two ramekins, place both ramekins on a baking sheet and place in the oven (middle rack). Bake 20-25 minutes or until puffy and golden on top. Don't cheat and open the oven while the souffles are cooking, they are so light from the egg white that even a little draft can cause them to sink :(

Barefoot Bloggers: Cheddar Corn Chowder

This was my first Barefoot Bloggers recipe, and I have to admit that I wasn’t too excited about it. Being from New England you would like that I’d love chowder, however growing up working at clam bakes and lobster boils pretty much destroyed all appreciation and awe of things like chowder, steamer clams and the like. However, I wasn’t going to let that stand in the way of my very first recipe, so I just ended up making a few adjustments and I think the result was pretty good.

First, I am always trying to be aware of the fat and calories in what I cook…and in that regard, I’ve tried all kinds of turkey bacon, and there is just nothing that I’ve found that can even come close to a fatty pork bacon, so I’ve given up on that one. Using real bacon, I balanced this recipe by using fat free ½ and ½ instead of the “real” stuff, reduced fat extra sharp cheddar and cutting out the olive oil that the original recipe called for. I just did not see the need for it, with all the bacon and butter. The final product looked great, but was missing something (admittedly, this was probably my own fault since if I’d used all of the fat the recipe calls for I’m sure it would have been richer!), so we dressed it up at the end with some smoked paprika and fresh cilantro for a pop of color, and it was great.

As a note, I only made ¾ of the recipe, and it was STILL enough for my husband and I, and there was even some left over from that!

Cheddar Corn Chowder
Adapted from Ina Garten
Makes 3-4 Servings

2 slices bacon - chopped
1 yellow onion – chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 pinch turmeric
3 cups chicken stock
1 medium potato – medium diced
½ bag frozen corn kernels (or two ears fresh corn*)
½ cup half and half
3 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese – grated

*Note – if you’re using fresh corn off the cob, you will need to blanch the kernels first in salted boiling water for about 3 minutes.

In a medium stockpot over medium heat cook the bacon until crispy. Remove from pot with a slotted spoon. Add the onions and butter to the pan and cook until onions are translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper and turmeric and cook for 2-3 minutes and then add the chicken stock and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook uncovered until potatoes are tender – about 15 minutes. Add the half and half and cheese, and cook 5 more minutes, or until all of the cheese has melted and the cream has thickened the chowder. Season again with salt and pepper, if desired – and serve with the reserved bacon crumbled over the top.

All in all this came out really well for something that I have zero experience making. I’m glad I added the cilantro at the end though, the little pop of color definitely made it look much more appealing to me.

Fresh Tuna Rolls Messina

Near my work there is an awesome grocery store that has the best fresh fish. My husband and I shop there at least once a week and buy whatever looks best, usually without knowing what we'll do with it. This week was tuna. So, another trip to my Batali book, and this is what we ended up with. The picture does not do it justice, it was sweet, salty, smooth and crunchy all at the same time.

Tuna Rolls Messina Style
from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano
Makes 4 Servings

1/4 cup olive oil
2 anchovies, rinsed
1 medium onion diced
6 tablespoons pine nuts
6 tablespoons currants or raisins
zest of two oranges
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used Panko)
4 tuna steaks, each sliced into three thin cutlets
1/2 cup parsley
2 cups tomato sauce
1/4 cup black olives
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine

Preheat the oven to 450. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion, anchovies, 1/2 of the pine nuts and currants and cook until the anchovies dissolve. Add the orange zest and breadcrumbs and cook, mixing constantly, until the breadcrumbs are golden brown (about 5 minutes) then remove from the heat, add the chopped parsely and cool. Meanwhile, flatten the tuna cutlets as thin as you can, about 1/8-inch thick. Heat the tomatoe sauce in a small pan, and add the remaining pine nuts and currants and the olives and red pepper flakes. Divide the breadcrumb mixture evenly between the tuna, and roll each one up like a jelly roll, securing with toothpicks if necessary. Pour half of the sauce into a baking dish, and place the rolls on top. Spoon the remaining tomato sauce over the top and bake about 15-20 minutes, or until the tuna is cooked through and the filling is warm. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes after removing from the oven.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

This sounded so intimidating to me, but I've seen it on several blogs and wanted to give it a try. Honestly, it is dead easy, and so good. I may have used too much lemon but the subtle lemon flavor went awesome with the fried zucchini flowers.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese
From epicurious.com

4 cups milk (any fat content except skim)
1 cup cream (fat free 1/2 and 1/2 works okay too)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Line a collander with cheese cloth and place over a large bowl. Heat the milk and cream together over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. As soon as it reaches a rolling boil, add the lemon juice and stir. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the mixture sit for one minute. Gently stir it up again, separating the curds from the whey. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for one more minute. Poor the mixture into the collander and allow to sit for about an hour, or until cool.

This will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Fried Zucchini Flowers with Goat Cheese

This is from my current favorite, Molto Italiano by Mario Batali. I've been watching a lot of Lydia Bastianich on the Create channel, and I recently learned that her son is Mario Batali's business partner, and an amazing fountain of knowledge when it comes to Italian wine. I think finding this out raised Mario's credit in my book - like he's no longer just a Food Network lackie. So, after pawing through about 10 of his cookbooks at B&N last month, I settled on this one and have not been disappointed with anything so far.

We planted WAY too much zucchini this year, and sadly some of it is going straight from the vine into the compost bin. None of our friends or family, and no one at either of our offices will take any more zucchini, so this recipe was particularly appealing to me!

I was a little nervous about what would happen if we didn't completely remove the stamens from the inside of the flower, but it was actually really easy to do. I mixed the goat cheese in this recipe with some homemade ricotta (I'll post soon) and it was awesome. The tomato "sauce" that goes with it easily deserves it's own post. We've used leftovers of it to dunk crusty bread and it's great. It only gets better after a few days in the fridge. This could easily be a light dinner with a side salad for me.

Fried Zucchini Flowers with Goat Cheese
12 Zucchini Flowers - stamens (and any bugs!) removed
1 cup fresh goat cheese
1 large egg
2 scallions thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1 pound yellow or red grape tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil for frying (I used a nonstick pan and hardly any oil and they still came out with a great crust)
3 tbl. red wine vinegar
8 fresh basil leaves

In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, vinegar, basil and a little bit of the olive oil. Puree until smooth, strain through a cieve and set aside. In a small bowl combine goat cheese, egg, nutmeg and scallions. To stuff the zucchini flowers I found it easiest to put the filling in a ziplock bag and snip off a small piece of the corner instead of using a spoon to try and fill the delicate flowers. Divide the mixture evenly between the flowers. If frying, heat the oil until smoking and add four flowers at a time, keeping them warm in a low oven if you need to cook them in batches. If pan frying instead, add 6 flowers at a time to a nonstick pan over medium high heat and cook 3-4 minutes on each side, flipping three times to create a brown crust all over. Drain on paper towel. Drizzle the tomatoe sauce over the warm flowers and serve.

The Best French Onion Soup

With the recent dip in temperatures from mid-90's to 40 degree nights, this has been on my mind big time! It is so simple, and amazingly delicious! Cooking the onions slowly over a low heat is a huge struggle for both my husband and I, since we tend to be more, high-heat, quick sear-type people, but this payoff is well worth the wait.

French Onion Soup
(makes 2 servings)

1 pound sweet yellow onions, thinly cut into 1/2 moons
3-5 springs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon AP flour
1/2 white wine
2 cups low sodium beef stock
1 cup water
2 1 1/2 inch thick slices of ciabatta bread
(your favorite crusty bread would work perfect)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Add the olive oil and butter to a large pot and place over low heat. Add onions, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cook (stirring occasionally) until the onions are deep brown and amazingly soft. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine, and increase heat, letting the wine bubble for 2-3 minutes. Add the stock and water, and let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, heat the broiler and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Place the bread slices in the middle of the rack and broil, flipping once, until browned on both sides. Remove bay leaf from the soup and ladle into two (broiler safe!) bowls. Top each bowl with a toast and cover generously with cheese. Broil the soup 2-3 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately!