They don't know how to spell "Elvis" in Philadelphia!

We are so sorry to be missing the Elvis Tribute Week in Memphis!

Summer Tomato-Peach Salad

A couple of weeks ago, in the New York Times, Mark Bittman, one of my favorite food writers, had a story titled "101 Simple Salads for the Season." They were brief descriptions, not recipes, but certainly adequate for a reasonably competent home cook to put together something tasty.
Several appealed to me (and you’ll probably hear about some of them later this summer) but one just called my name. His formula: "Mix wedges of tomato and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime juice. Astonishing." I had to make it, or at least my version of it.

I had a couple of white peaches that were perfectly ripened, not too soft but still very fragrant. I also had several heirloom tomatoes I’d picked up at the farmers’ market. It was a wonderful salad and beautiful as well. It would make a perfect accompaniment to almost any grilled meat or seafood. You absolutely must try it. If you are one of those who cannot abide cilantro, fresh basil would make a lovely substitute.


Bittner’s Summer Salad (Alyce’s Version)

3 peaches, barely ripe (make sure they’re freestone)
3-4 perfectly ripe tomatoes, preferably multicolored
½ small red onion, cut into slivers
1 bunch cilantro, washed and dried
3 limes
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ cup fruity extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
A couple of heads of your favorite salad green, washed, and chopped if needed

Peel the peaches and cut into thin wedges. Wash and core the tomatoes and cut them into similar sized wedges. Place in a bowl with the onion and about half the cilantro leaves, very finely minced. Wash the limes, dry them and finely grate the zests into a small bowl. Add their juice, the honey and the mustard and whisk well. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper if you think you need it. It may seem a bit tart at this point but it will go perfectly with the sweet peaches. Pour about half of the dressing over the salad Toss well and let sit at room temperature for an hour or so, or refrigerate up to several hours. To serve, divide the salad greens among 6 plates and top with the salad. Garnish with the remaining cilantro leaves, unchopped. Pass the remaining dressing at the table. Serves six as a side salad.

NOTE: I think I would love this with some chilled, cooked shrimp added as a main course salad for four.

Delicious Dinner in Knoxville

We're off to the beach for a whole week. I can't remember the last time I took a whole week for a vacation. It's been at least 5 years.

We're going to the Outer Banks on Cape Hattaras. On the way we stopped at my sister Cindy''s house for the night, and to hook up with Tom's daughter, Lisa, who was in summer school at UT.

For dinner we decided to go out instead of cooking, and we wanted someplace close to her house. Tom had been to Puleo's Grille before and Cindy agreed with him that it would be a good place for our evening meal.

The menu was broad and quite affordably priced. Everything was good but I got the best dinner: citrus marinated grilled grouper with caprese salad. The tomatoes were local and perfectly ripe, the mozzarella fresh and moist, the balsamic vinaigrette on the salad was great. The fresh basil came from the herb garden that was growing out behind the restaurant. The grouper was delicious.

I think this is only a local Knoxville chain, but for a casual and affordable meal, I recommend it.

Smack them crabs and eat 'em!

I don't know how the experience has escaped me for so long, but I had my first experience with whole steamed crabs...I finally did. We were in D.C. for a family emergency, but on our last night managed to get out to the Quarterdeck in Arlington, VA. Boy! Did we have good crabs. What you see is what was ordered for four: two dozen. When we reserved, we asked for jumbo sized but they had already been spoken for, as had the large size. These mediums were pretty good sized, so I can only imagine what the jumbo ones would be. For the uninitiated, they pour them on the brown-paper covered table, and all you have is drawn butter, vinegar, a wooden mallet apiece and a giant heap of paper towels.

The bottom picture is what was left after we'd done all the damage we could: three crabs remaining unsmacked (thank goodness we didn't get the jumbos, right?) and the last of several buckets of crab shells and claws hauled away by the waiter. What I'm not showing is the white tee shirt I had on. And for a very good reason: it was covered with little crab splashes from top to bottom.

Can't wait to do it again!

Salmon Mousse

I saw a dozen adorable little fish molds at an estate sale, and of course I just had to have them. They sat in my cabinet for months, along with all the other odds and ends of cookware that seemed essential at the time I bought them.


Then it was my turn to bring a plated first course to one of my cooking group dinners. Rummaging around I came across the molds, and thought "Aha, salmon mousse!"


This is an extremely easy recipe, and is one of the best salmon mousses you'll ever taste. As a first course, served as I did, garnished with cucumbers, capers and triangles of dark pumpernickel, it serves 6. It also makes a wonderful brunch main course, served on a bed of lettuce with a creamy dill dressing. Then you would need to double the recipe to serve 6. For the dressing, stir a sprinkling of dill weed and a squeeze of lemon juice into bottled ranch dressing.


I have made it with smoked salmon, and it is delicious. You'll need a good quality smoked salmon to make it work, and that can be a bit pricey. Still for a special occasion, it is indeed worth it.


SILKY SALMON MOUSSE

1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 1/4 lb skinless, boneless salmon filets
1 teaspoon chicken broth concentrate or bouillon granules (see note)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
4 green onions, with part of the green top, chopped
1 tsp dried dill weed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Ground white pepper to taste

In a skillet just large enough to hold the filets in one layer, bring the wine, water, lemon slices and peppercorns to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the salmon, cover, and simmer 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness, or until just barely done though.
Remove the salmon filets to a plate and set aside. Bring the liquid back up to a simmer and pour one cup into a glass measure. Pour immediately into a food processor and add the chicken concentrate. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top, cover and process for about a minute. Add the reserved salmon, onions, dill weed, mayonnaise, lemon juice and zest, and cream. Process just to blend, about 30 seconds. Taste and add salt and white pepper as desired.
Pour into one four-cup mold, or six 1/2-cup ramekins and chill until set, at least 6 hours. Can be made up to 12 hours ahead.

NOTE: I use Better Than Bouillon chicken stock paste. It comes in a jar and is widely available. It's not as salty as bouillon cubes or granules. If you want to leave out the chicken for dietary preferences, vegetable broth paste or granules work equally well. If making this with smoked salmon, use one cup of water, heated to a simmer, for the liquid.

Okay, so I'm sorry...

I have gotten a number of e-mails, and several phone calls, chastising me for having so badly neglected my blog since the closing of Mantia's.

I plead totally guilty as charged, and promise to try to make it up to you. In case you aren't familiar with my latest life events, here's a quick summary: I closed Mantia's after 12 great years at the end of November, 2008. I needed to be out by December 31, but in the middle of December my mother passed away and I was gone for a week. So I locked the doors at Mantia's for the last time on January 7 and showed up at Lucchesi's at 8:00 the next morning. If you aren't familiar with Lucchesi's, you can find the website here.

If that wasn't a big enough life change, my gentleman friend Tom Price, is now my fiancé. Yes, he popped the question on a carousel in Central Park, NYC. So I'm also working on planning an October wedding.

I promise that I'll get back in the groove!

A beautiful piece of furniture!

 This cabinet belongs to our day manager, Joanna Martin. Over the years, many of you have expressed admiration for it. Since we're closing, and since she doesn't have room for it right now, she would like to find it a loving home. Up until we finally vacate the store, we are accepting, on her behalf, sealed bids for it. If you'd like to make a bid, drop by the store, or mail her a bid in care of the store (4856 Poplar Avenue, 38117) and we'll see that she gets it!

Spanish Shrimp and Pear Salad

 

I cooked dinner for neighbors of my gentleman friend this week and made a lovely Latino beef stew that will be featured in my Weekend Entertaining column of the Commercial Appeal this Friday. When it is published, I'll add a link to it. It was really easy and truly delicious.

I started the dinner with a Spanish style salad that everyone seemed to enjoy, so I thought I'd share it here. I'd had a salad similar to this in Spain a few years back, made with fresh juicy ripe pears. Since it's not always easy to find juicy ripe pears, I've made it with good quality canned pears with success, which saves a lot of time.

The salad dressing can be used on all sorts of salads, but goes particularly well with the shrimp and pears of this recipe.

SPANISH SHRIMP AND PEAR SALAD

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 green onions, with some of the green top
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
4 anchovy filets
Juice and finely grated zest of one large lime
2 teaspoons dried tarragon, or 1 teaspoon fresh

To finish:
4 handfuls salad greens (romaine or bibb work well)
12 cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp, chilled
1 16-ounce can good quality pear halves, drained
A few black olives

Put all the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree well. Pour into an airtight container and chill until ready to use.

When ready to serve, divide the greens among four salad plates, top with the pears, then the shrimp. Drizzle with the dressing and scatter the olives around for garnish. Serves 4.

Italian Comfort Food!

During an Italian vacation a couple of years ago I spent a few days in Tuscany. The very first day, at lunch in a small restaurant in a small town, I had ribollita. I loved it, and ordered it at least once a day, wherever we were. Each time it was different, but each time it was delicious.

Ribollita means "reboiled." Basically, it is the local version of minestrone, the second (or maybe even third) day. We tend to think of soup as a winter dish, but minestrone and ribollita are on Tuscan menus year round.

We found it in several forms. Sometimes it was in a flat soup bowl poured over a slice of crusty bread. Sometimes instead of bread, there was a round of garlic-rubbed toast. Once it was brought out in a tureen, topped with shaved red onion. The soup had been layered with the bread and the result was a much thicker dish. But my favorite was one that had the toast floating on top of an earthenware bowlful of the soup, sprinkled with fontina cheese and baked, much the same as French onion soup.

Over the years, I've developed a favorite recipe for minestrone, and recently made a big batch. It freezes well, so I like to keep a few quarts in the freezer.

A week or two ago, I was cooking with friends at their house. I pulled a couple of quarts out to thaw, and we made ribollita. It was such a hit that I knew I had to share it with you.

This recipe makes a pretty big batch of soup, so if you don’t care to freeze some, you can cut it in half. Enjoy some as minestrone, and make ribollita the next day, or even a couple of days later.

The Italians would serve this as a first course, but it makes a good casual supper with a crisp salad, followed by fruit and cheese for dessert. A glass of that Tuscan classic wine, Chianti, is the perfect accompaniment, and dinner is done!

MINESTRONE

2 cups dried cannellini or great northern beans
2 cups dried red kidney beans
5 quarts cold water
1/3 cup good fruity olive oil (preferably Tuscan, of course)
1/4 lb pancetta, cut a little thick, and finely chopped (see note)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks celery, including leafy tops, thinly sliced
1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped, or 1 tsp dried, crumbled
1 head Savoy or Napa cabbage, cored and shredded
1 bunch kale, thick stems removed and cut into 1/2” ribbons
2 cans (28-ounces each) whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand, with their juices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Soak the beans overnight in water to cover by a couple of inches. Drain and rinse. Put into a large soup pot with the 5 quarts water and bring to a gentle boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until just barely tender, 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the pancetta, garlic, onion, carrot, celery and fennel. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables start to brown lightly, about 10 minutes. Add the cabbage and kale and stir to combine. Add the tomatoes, with salt and pepper to taste and simmer another few minutes.

Add the tomato mixture to the pot with the beans and continue to simmer uncovered until the cabbage and kale are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve in soup bowls with a little more olive oil drizzled over the top. This will make 15-20 servings.


NOTES: Pancetta is the same cut as bacon, cured with spices, rather than smoked, and rolled. It is available in specialty markets. You may substitute thick-cut, not too smoky bacon for the pancetta.


TO MAKE RIBOLLITA: Heat the minestrone. Cut as many thick slices of country style bread as there are people to serve, toast lightly in the oven and drizzle with a few drops of olive oil. Ladle the minestrone into ovenproof bowls. Float the toasts on top and sprinkle generously with shredded fontina or provolone cheese. Bake at 350o for about 30 minutes, or until the soup is bubbling and the cheese on top is lightly browned.

Yummy carrot soup!

Usually when a recipe is handed along from person to person, it gets changed a little bit each time. That is certainly true of today’s recipe.

I am in a group of five couples who gather the third Saturday of each month for a wine dinner. Last month the dinner was at my home, and I made the spice-rubbed fish with lady pea succotash that I wrote about a few weeks back. It was every bit as good as the first time I made it, and I’m sure I’ll make it again soon.

Jennifer Biggs (Food Editor of the Commercial Appeal) is in the group. She made a really yummy carrot soup. She revised a recipe that a colleague, Peggy Burch, had given her, changing the seasonings to better match the Portuguese vinho verde that she’d wanted to share with us.

The recipe called for bottled peri-peri sauce. Peri-peri sauce is a hot pepper sauce brought from South Africa to Portugal by seafaring merchants. It has become a part of the Portuguese culinary tradition. The tiny peri-peri peppers are hot. And the sauce made from them is hot. Really hot. But used in moderation, as Jennifer did, it was the perfect seasoning for a soup to go with the crisp white wine.

Bottled peri-peri sauce isn’t widely available, so I went online to try to find a recipe that I thought would approximate the flavors. I tried the soup with a home-made sauce and while not exactly like Jennifer’s soup, it was still very tasty.

Some recipes call for pureeing all the sauce ingredients together (which is what I did), or working to a paste with a mortar and pestle. Others call for just very finely mincing the solids. That’s your choice. Either way, making it a day ahead will improve the flavor.

This makes more sauce than you’ll need for the soup, but you’ll like it later brushed on chicken or fish to grill, or in the butter used to sauté shrimp. Or marinate cubes of beef or lamb overnight for shish kebabs.

We had the soup warm, but it is also very good chilled. The apple relish on top is the perfect accompaniment. Enjoy!

SPICY CARROT SOUP WITH APPLE RELISH

For the soup:
2 lbs baby carrots, chopped
1 lb apples, cored but not peeled, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cups chicken stock
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup peri-peri sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

For the sauce:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 dash angostura bitters
3 cloves garlic
2 red jalapeño (or other hot) peppers
1 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt

For the relish:
1 each Granny Smith and Gala (or other red-skinned) apple, cored and chopped
1 small hot pepper, seeded, finely minced
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
Juice of one lemon

Make the peri-peri sauce: either combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree, or very finely mince the garlic and peppers and combine with the remaining ingredients. Chill overnight if possible.
In a heavy pan, sauté the carrots, apples and onion in the oil for about five minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes, or until carrots are easily pierced with a fork. Remove from heat and puree in batches. Return to the pan and whisk in the sour cream and garlic powder. Either chill to serve cold, or reheat gently, without boiling, to serve warm.
When ready to serve, ladle into soup plates or cups and top with the combined relish ingredients. Serves 12.