So, what did WE do on Thanksgiving? We lazed around and watched the rain for a couple of hours. Once it cleared up outside, we took walks, watched some TV, cooked some (maybe only about 3 straight hours for me) and had a great day. We had six was all, for dinner. Fewer than anticipated, but no less enjoyable.


First off, I made an appetizer that I’ve blogged about before, but when I did I was laid up with my fractured foot and didn’t have a photograph of it. So I took some photos this time. It’s a toasted slice of baguette with a little creamy mixture of mascarpone cheese, herbs and blue cheese spread on it. Then it’s topped with a piece of fresh bright-green watercress, a little slice of crispy apple and then drizzled with a bit of honey. It’s sensational, that’s all I can tell you. If you’d like to learn more, click here.

For dinner we had a delicious Kosher (brined) turkey from Trader Joe’s, the same Italian sausage dressing I made last year, gravy, mashed potatoes made up ahead and kept hot in the crock pot for about 2 hours, my regular cranberry relish and garlic green beans. Those green beans are just SO delicious. Every time I make them I fall in l-o-v-e with them again and again. And they’re EASY. No kidding. I’ve blogged about the beans before (recipe from our friend Meredith), but didn’t have a very good photo of them, so here’s a nice big one so your salivary glands can work overtime. Click here to see the story about the green beans with the recipe.

Our daughter, Sara, brought 3 pumpkin pies. She was supposed to bring a salad (that I’ve blogged about) but she totally forget. To tell you the truth, nobody missed it. We had so darned much to eat, we certainly didn’t need the salad. The green beans were our side instead. And pumpkin pies made up for it. They were just Libby’s recipe, with whipped cream. Plain and simple. We had a great day; hope you did, too. 

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Lately I’ve been on a roll with salsas. There’s no question, I enjoy salsa of most varieties – except canned and ready-made grocery store types. We have one independent market near us, Pacific Ranch Market, which makes fabulous homemade salsa every day. Usually we rely on theirs – it’s so good – and already prepared.

But this time, we were going out for the evening on a Duffy Boat. You know of these things? Cute little electric-powered boats that hold oh, 8-12 people mostly. The driver sits in the rear seat and everybody else kind of sits around the edges. This one had clear plastic windows, but the cool evening breeze flowed in the front as we maneuvered all around Newport Harbor for two hours. From the picture at the right, you can see Cherrie and Joan, as we were cruisin’ and talkin’. We had lots of fun. My DH drove the boat most of the time – as he was the most experienced on the water, since he’s owned a sailboat since he was 7. There were eight of us – I may have mentioned this group before – we call ourselves the HGG – Healthy Gourmet Group. Initially we were eating really, truly, healthy food, but the group decided to think this again – so we try to choose lower-fat ingredients if we can. If we can’t, well, so be it. But we still call ourselves HGG anyway.

I was the front-man on this – I made the arrangements – so I suggested we bring heavy appetizers or finger food. The menu came together so fast I couldn’t believe it. Cherrie said she’d make some wraps (both turkey and ham). Joan would bring skewers of fresh fruit. I’d make some other kind of hearty appetizer, and Sue would bring dessert (brownies with Chambord in them) and coffee. Each couple brought a bottle of wine (one white, three reds). We tootled around the harbor for two hours, ate good food, drank good wine, and had hilarious fun talking.

Going through my appetizer repertoire (that I haven’t already blogged about, that is) I spotted this recipe for avocado and shrimp salsa. Very hearty. And absolutely delicious. I have no recollection where this recipe came from, but I’ve altered so much over the years that it no longer resembles the original version anyway. So it’s as good as “my” recipe. And note, there’s not a single bit of oil or fat in this except what little natural fat there is in some foods, provided by Mother Nature.
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When I think South Seas, I think Caribbean, not Asia. And yet, this salsa is titled South Seas. Maybe Hugh Carpenter, the creator of this recipe, was thinking more of South China Seas. That would be more logical since it contains ingredients that might be more Vietnamese or Thai-like. But, whatever it is, I was blown away by its flavor. I liked it a lot. It’s very similar to a traditional Mexican salsa, but it has some elusive tastes (probably the fish sauce, the basil) that blend in beautifully with the regular ingredients (tomatoes, onions, cilantro, garlic, lime juice). Our son said I should have served this with rice crackers (do they make rice chips?). But I had tortilla chips. And hey, we’re Southern California. We can serve this with corn-based chips! That’s fusion, right?

My daughter Dana was helping in the kitchen, so I assigned her this task. It came together quickly, especially if you have an Alligator Chopper to mince the tomatoes. But it can be made in the food processor easily enough too. I’ll be making this again, to go along with the right meal. The recipe comes from Hugh Carpenter’s book Chopstix – his take on quick Asian food. If you aren’t enamored with fish sauce, substitute soy sauce. I liked the fish sauce in it. When you smell bottled fish sauce, it’s nothing short of awful. But I’ve learned over the years that it’s a necessity for several Asian cuisines, and it pops up now and then in other recipe places. So I always keep it on hand. I recently bought my second bottle of it – it’s taken me over 15 years to use up the first bottle, so you can see I don’t use it all that often. And, you never use very much of it anyway.
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I am such a happy camper when we’re entertaining a group and someone offers to bring something. It’s always such a big boon to the hostess. And in this case our friends Penny & Scott brought just the most delicious appetizer. I can’t believe I’d never had this – as Mediterranean as it is, and since I simply l-o-v-e Feta cheese with just about anything. When Penny unveiled it from her basket, it just looked so beautiful – the bright red tomatoes with little squiggles of basil scattered all over. And when you scrape a bit onto a toasted pita chip? Sublime. Really. Too many of my recipes are labor intensive. This one isn’t, yet it’s scrumptious. You will want to make this again and again, especially when you have good tomatoes like we do now.

There are times when I look at a recipe – a simple recipe – and think there just aren’t enough ingredients in this to make it good. Know what I mean when I say that? I enjoy complex flavors, and I have a varied palate. And yet, the freshest of ingredients, simply prepared, are sometimes just the best. This will become a regular. Penny got this from Sandy. So, thanks to both for this great new recipe.
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It was several years ago that Joanne Weir was making regular circuits of cooking schools. That’s when I first discovered what a kick-in-the-pants she is. I think she’s just about my favorite cooking instructor. As she teaches, she maintains a lively monologue about the different dishes, and about everything else under the sun. She teaches week-long classes in Italy, France and Spain too. Oh, if only our dollar and the euro were a bit more aligned I’d be on a plane to attend one of those European cooking vacations. She also has a PBS cooking show, but none of her spark shows through on it, in case you’ve watched it.  Joanne also teaches classes in her home in San Francisco (for a very small group) which sounds like fun too. But it’s also not a bargain. Alas. I’ll just have to stick to reading her cookbooks, of which I own many.

This recipe was one she served at a class some years ago. It’s from her book, Weir Cooking in the City. At this evening class, she whipped it up first thing so we could have some little something in our tummies while she prepared all the other dishes. I really liked it a lot. It’s spicy (from the cayenne), spreads nicely (as long as you let it the cheese or the finished dip sit out at room temp for half an hour before serving) and attractive (with olives or Italian parsley sprinkled on top). I’ve made it at least half a dozen times. You do need to like Feta cheese, however, and in this case she recommends buying barrel-aged Feta (sheep’s milk) if you can find it. Our local grocery carries it, and I’ve also purchased it at Whole Foods. But if all you can find is regular Feta, use it. It’s served with hot pita bread (not toasted, just hot), so you need to eat it immediately; otherwise the pita is cold. Not all bad that way either, but the bread is supposed to be served hot. This dip is EASY – takes less than 5 minutes to prepare once you have the ingredients out.
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About eight years or so ago I tasted homemade hummus for the first time. Served to me by a friend who is Armenian (she’s a Parisian – not Persian, but Paris-ian, but she’s Armenian, and she lets you know you’d better not forget it!). My taste buds hit nirvana. I’d had nothing but ready made previously, and didn’t realize how incredibly easy it was to make. Or how delicious it could possibly be. Not long after that I attended a cooking class and the instructor demonstrated this method. Oh my gosh. It was so gosh-darned delicious!

The appetizer is not all that difficult, but it does have a moderate amount of work involved. I wish I could tell you there wasn’t. But, you can do most of it ahead – even the day before if you’re pushed for time. Because it has so much work involved, I tend not to make this when I’m doing a company meal with several courses. But, I’ll tell you, nobody has ever come away from the platter without oohs and aahs. Guaranteed.

Here’s what’s involved. One, you make the hummus in the food processor with canned garbanzos, garlic and tahini (sesame seed paste). Two, you slice up the eggplant and sauté it in batches in olive oil. Three, you concoct a simple balsamic vinaigrette which gets tossed with the eggplant once it’s chopped up. Mound the hummus on a lovely platter, then mound the eggplant on top of that and garnish with a bunch of chopped cilantro (or Italian parsley) and toasted pine nuts. That’s it. I serve it with toasted pita chips. The eggplant takes on a very rich mahogany color and when you serve this on a big platter with the eggplant on top, it’s very colorful. You don’t use all of the dressing, so the nutritional information is misleading.

This recipe is one of my all-time favorites and will be so marked on my recipe page (click Recipes in my right sidebar). We had a friend over for dinner last night and she helped with the preparation of this dish (thanks again for your help, Kathleen!).
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At a recent cooking class, my friend Cherrie and I watched the chef prepare these puff appetizers. We looked at one another and whispered, no, we wouldn’t be making these things. Mind you, we hadn’t tasted them yet. Too much work, we said. Hah. One bite and we were both hooked. These little guys are nothing but small rounds of puff pastry topped with a bit of caramelized onion, some shredded gruyere and a sprinkle of fresh sage. It was the caramelizing of the onions that seemed to us to infer too much work.

Having caramelized onions many times, it’s not really all that difficult. Just takes a bit of time to get them to that honeyed succulence released from their internal cells. The onions could be made ahead, but the rest of the prep must be done just before baking. You might glance at this recipe and think the same thing we did – ah, too much work – but you’ll be missing out if you do.
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One year, many years ago, my DH and I took a driving trip up to Wine Country, in northern California. We stopped here and there, wineries, the Napa Valley Olive Oil Company, restaurants (Mustard’s was my favorite), and a darling little gourmet market that’s located on Highway 29. I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s still there, on the east side of the highway. They carried mostly gourmet jars, cans, and a lovely selection of cheeses and olives, tapenade, grilled peppers, fresh bread and snacks. I was in heaven shopping in that little store. The clerk behind the counter recommended a cheese torte thing, to make a little picnic lunch we planned. He sliced off a wedge and off we went. Well, since you’re getting a recipe here, you can guess the torte was out of this world.

Once home, I researched a few cookbooks, and found nothing. I knew it had provolone cheese in it, some cream cheese and pesto, but I couldn’t pick out anything else. Weeks and months went by, and then one momentous Thursday morning our local paper (this was in 1989) featured an article about cheese tortes. Aha! I made it immediately, and made just a couple of little alterations to it.

What this is, is just layers of provolone cheese, pesto and a garlicky cream cheese and pine nut “cream,” then you allow it to sit overnight before unmolding it to serve. It’s really quite simple – probably no more than about 15 minutes to put together.

Leftovers: I almost always have some leftovers of this torte, as we can only eat so much of the appetizer night after night. So one time I cut what was left into little chunks (I used a chef’s knife and just chopped and chopped, then tossed it into a piping hot pot of pasta. It’s almost good enough to combine these ingredients without making it into a torte. Everything melts when you toss it with hot pasta.

Necessary items: a 7-inch round bowl, flat bottomed, or non-metal bread sized pan or dish. It needs to have sides that are about 3 inches high. You also need cheesecloth – not something every home cook has in her repertoire. But it really is necessary. I suppose you could use plastic wrap, but the torte oozes a little, and the cheesecloth absorbs the fluid.
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Believe it or not, I’m not certain I’d make this again. Not because it wasn’t good. It was. There are a variety of reasons: (1) the grill meister had difficulty keeping the cheese from melting right down through the grates (maybe the temp was too high?); and (2) once served, it didn’t stay hot very long (we didn’t put it on a hot, hot plate). Not long enough, anyway. The photo I took of the dish was taken in low light, so I’ve used a Food Network photo at left.

This is a Michael Chiarello recipe – a show he did a few months ago that was an all-grilled meal, from appetizer through dessert. On the program, grilling the cheese looked really easy. It didn’t appear to be so easy when we made it. Obviously there’s a technique here that we just didn’t get. According to the reader reviews at the tv food network, all who prepared the dish loved it, and I guess, had no difficulty with it. So it had to be something we did. The cheese and herb combination was good – as someone wrote, the herbs complemented the cheese well. I agree.

First you marinate the cheese – two chunks of cheese totalling 1 1/2 pounds – in olive oil, oregano, chile flakes, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Then you grill the cheese briefly, directly on the grates, just enough to put grill marks on the cheese. Michael said about 2 minutes per side. That’s when the grill meister ran into trouble. It began to melt, and he had no grill marks. You then transfer the cheese to a metal plate or baking dish (I used a small oblong metal pan that I encased in aluminum foil, so the grill wouldn’t damage the pan) and put that on top of the grill. You cook it until the cheese has begun to melt and “begins to brown on the bottom, about 3-5 minutes.” Well, we never got to the begins to brown part. Finally our grill meister removed the cheese and we served it, along with a bunch of baguette slices he’d also grilled. By the time we transferred it to a serving plate, the cheese was already kind of firming up again and cooling off fast. I think the trouble was with the grill temperature. The recipe does say moderately high heat. Maybe I will try this again and see what happens. Maybe we’ll start with half a recipe this time too. We had 8 people for dinner, and had lots left over. We did eat it – and it was delicious, but the cheese was cool within a couple of minutes, so be sure to place it on a piping hot plate.
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I know, I can hear it already in your thoughts. What is this? Bean dip? Brie? Huh? What kind of nonsense is this? In a word: EASY. In another word: TASTY. Believe it or not, this is really very good. And ever so easy to make. I’ll insert the full recipe below, but it’s nothing more than a can of bean dip mixed up with little tiny cubes of brie (rind removed), and microwaved for about a minute. Serve.

It does take a little bit of time to cut off the rinds, but that’s the hardest part. You can serve it with tortilla chips, but it makes it a bit more elegant if you serve it with crackers. I made lavash crisps from a post the other day for Coriander Lime Shrimp. Using crackers might make your guests think you didn’t just open a can of bean dip and add cheese.

There’s the photo of it in a ceramic bowl, ready for its minute of melting in the microwave. I didn’t get an after picture, but I have some leftovers, so maybe I’ll add another photo to this post later.

If you are in a hurry and want something really good and really quick, this is your ticket. The recipe came from Andrew Schloss, a chef and author, from his book Almost From Scratch. He taught a cooking class a few years ago. His schtick is about how to make things ahead, and make entertaining easier on yourself. He certainly scored on both counts.
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