POLENTA WITH FRESH HERBS AND GORGONZOLA

It's time for our weekly Food Matters Project recipe. Our host this week is Sandra of Meadows Cooks. Sandra chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Polenta Cakes with Garlicky Mushrooms. The garlicky mushrooms sounded divine however I was serving mushrooms at a small dinner party this weekend so I went with a fresh herb and Gorgonzola take on this recipe.

I mixed the polenta with milk and water and stirred until it started pulling away from the sides of the pan. When it was creamy and thick, I added some Parmesan cheese, butter, and fresh herbs. Spread all of this on an oiled baking sheet in let it firm up in the fridge for a few hours. When firm, cut the polenta into squares (or any shape you want) and top with a slice of Gorgonzola cheese. Back in a 400~ oven for about 15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is bubbling.

I would call this comfort food all dressed up! I served this as a side with a grilled beef tenderloin but this would make a fantastic appetizer.

POLENTA WITH FRESH HERBS AND GORGONZOLA

1 1/2 cups coarse cornmeal

3 cups water

3/4 cup milk

1 TBSP. chopped fresh basil

1 TBSP. chopped fresh thyme

1 TBSP. chopped fresh rosemary

5 TBSP. grated Parmesan cheese

2 1/2 TBSP. butter or olive oil

8 oz. Gorgonzola

Put the cornmeal and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan. Slowly whisk in the water and milk until smooth. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking continuously. Lower heat and whisk until thick, 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in the butter (or olive oil) Parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs.

Lightly oil a baking sheet and pour polenta onto the pan. Spread with a spatula until about 1/2 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 2 hours).

Preheat oven to 400~. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Cut firm polenta into squares or any shape you like. Top each square with a slice of Gorgonzola cheese. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until cheese has melted and is bubbly.

For our other members take on the recipe click here.

SAVORY BISCOTTI

Our Food Matters Project group  made Biscotti this week. Margarita from Let's Cook and Be Friends chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Walnut Biscotti. In Mark's recipe he has removed the eggs and butter for a heathier version. Since I don't eat sweets often I decided to try a savory biscotti recipe. I had never made biscotti before so I followed a recipe by Giada De Laurentis. The biscotti batter is made with goat cheese and herbes de Provence. The flavors are amazing!

I never knew biscotti was so EASY to make. It just takes a few minutes to make the dough. You form it into a 13x 3 1/2 inch loaf. Bake it for 30 minutes, let it cool, slice it, and bake it again. The next time I make this (and that will be soon) I will try to adapt this recipe using Mark's recipe and leave out the butter and eggs. I think it will work.

I served the biscotti with French Lentil Soup and fresh greens from the garden.

For all the delicious takes on the recipe click here.

SAVORY BISCOTTI

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons herbes de Provence

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature

3 tablespoons sugar (I would use 2)

2 eggs, beaten, at room temperature

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, herbes de Provence, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and goat cheese together until smooth. Beat in the sugar and eggs. In batches, add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. With damp hands, form the dough into a 13-inch-long, 3 1/2-inch-wide loaf. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

Transfer the loaf to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the log on the diagonal into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Recipe by Giada De Laurentis

BUFFALO CHICKEN AND QUINOA FRITTERS

This weeks Food Matters Project recipe was chosen by Aura of Dinner With Aura.  Aura chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Sweet Potato and Corn Fritters with Thai Dipping Sauce. Mark's recipe sounds fantastic and you can find it here but I was thinking along the line of football snacks. I had leftover chicken and quinoa in the fridge so Buffalo Chicken and Quinoa Fritters sounded perfect.

Cooked quinoa is combined with cooked chicken, finely diced onion, and a mixture of cheddar cheese and blue cheese. Add your favorite hot sauce, an egg, and some crunchy panko crumbs and you are ready to fry. The fritters are lightly fried until golden and crispy. Serve with carrot and celery sticks and blue cheese dressing for the ideal game day snack, appetizer or light lunch. This recipe is so adaptable. Leave out the chicken and just make cheesy quinoa fritters. Don't like blue cheese? Substitute any cheese inside. Bottom line, quinoa makes the best fritters!

For the other members creative takes on this recipe visit our website here. 

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Fritters

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 cup water

1 cup chicken, cooked and shredded

1/4 cup hot sauce or to taste

1/4 cup onion, finely diced

1/2 cup cheddar, shredded

1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled

1 egg

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

oil for frying

      

Simmer the quinoa in the water until the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes and let cool enough to handle.

Mix the cooked quinoa with the chicken, hot sauce, onion, cheddar cheese, blue cheese, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, adding more breadcrumbs if required to allow it to hold its shape.

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.

Spoon the mixture into the pan and form patties of any size that you desire and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2-4 minutes per side, and set aside on paper towels to drain.

Recipe from Closet Cooking.com

LABNEH-MIDDLE EASTERN SOFT CHEESE

It's Food Matters Project Monday and this weeks host is Jessica of Cheese Please. Jessica chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Cheese-Nut Balls. The recipe sounded great but I wanted something a little lighter, not only in consistency but also in calories. I decided to take the easy way out and make my own cheese for my cheese ball. What????? Labneh, a Middle Eastern soft cheese. Delicious and really easy to make. Labneh is strained yogurt with a little salt.. That's it!

You simply mix yogurt with some salt, let it strain in a coffee filter like I did to remove the whey ( or you can use muslin or cheese cloth and hang it to drain) and in 24-48 hours you have cheese.

What is sometimes referred to as Lebanese Cream Cheese the result is a soft, slightly tangy cheese, something between yogurt and cream cheese. I think it's tastier than cream cheese, lighter, and lower in calories.

You can flavor this cheese any way you want. Using spices such as zaatar or sumac, adding fresh herbs like mint, oregano, or chives. Sprinkled with chili flakes, or topped with olives. The possibilities are endless. You can form it into small balls, cover it with olive oil and it will keep for weeks.

I served mine on a plate with warm baguette slices. I surrounded it with chopped cucumber, chopped tomatoes, mixed chopped olives, and chopped pistachio nuts. Topped the whole thing with chopped fresh mint. This is awesome. I hope you try it and get creative with it. Take this cheese ball to your next party and tell everyone you made the cheese yourself. Now that's impressive :) :)

For the original recipe click here on Jessica's blog and for all the other creative takes on the recipe click here.

Labneh

3 cups plain yogurt

1 tsp. salt

Mix yogurt and salt together. Place a coffee filter in a sieve over a bowl and let the whey drain out. Put in a cool place or the refrigerator and let set 24-48 hours. Change the coffee filter once during the process.

Form into small balls and cover with olive oil or make one large ball and get creative using the suggestions above or make it your own.

ARTICHOKE RICE CAKES WITH MANCHEGO CHEESE

This week our Food Matters Project host is Jen from Small Kitchen College. Jen chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Crisp Rice Cakes with Stir Fried Vegetables and Chicken. Using rice cakes as  my inspiration I went on a web search. When I stumbled on a recipe for rice cakes and artichoke hearts I thought how good would that be? Then I read the recipe and found out that these rice cakes were stuffed with Manchego cheese, one of my favorite cheeses from Spain! Perfect.

My husband and I got hooked on Tapas during our time in Spain last year. I thought this might be a nice addition to our Tapas menu. While this sounded delicious, I have to say that this might be the BEST. BITE. EVER.

Artichoke hearts are sauteed with onion and garlic. Rice is added to the mixture along with hot chicken broth. It was like making a risotto. The recipe didn't say what kind of rice to use and I thought about aborio (as in risotto) but decided it might be too creamy so I used jasmine rice. After it was cooked you add Parmesan cheese and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. The rice mixture was firm and sticky enough to form a nice round rice patty. Now the fun part, form a golf ball size patty and fill it with manchego cheese. Flatten it slightly and roll it in corn meal. Be sure to use a fine corn meal, I used Masa Harina. The corn meal gives the outside a nice texture and extra flavor and crunch when fried to a golden brown.

Serve these hot. There are so many layers of flavors in each bite topped off by the melted Manchego. I post many recipe that I think are really good but these are at the very top.

Thanks for a great pick Jen. I don't think I would have ever made rice cakes and this combination will be on my tapas menu forever.

For the other members creative takes on the recipe click here.

Artichoke Rice Cakes with Manchego

1 jar artichoke hearts packed in water (not oil)
2 oz butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
4 oz rice (I use jasmine)
2 cups HOT chicken stock
2 oz grated fresh Parmesan cheese
5 oz Manchego cheese, very finely diced
3-4 tablespoon fine corn meal (Masa Harina)
olive oil, for frying
salt and ground black pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley, to garnish


Rinse and drain artichoke hearts. Finely chop.

Melt the butter in a pan and sauté artichoke, onion, and garlic for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the rice and cook for about 1 minute.

Keeping the heat fairly high, gradually add the stock, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked - this should take about 20 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper, then stir in the Parmesan cheese. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Leave to cool, then cover and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the palm of one hand, flatten slightly, and place a few pieces of diced cheese in the center. Shape the rice around the cheese to make a small ball. Flatten slightly, then roll in the corn meal, shaking off any excess. Repeat with the remaining mixture to make about 12 cakes.

Shallow fry the rice cakes in hot olive oil for 4-5 minutes until they are crisp and golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, garnished with flat leaf parsley.

Serves 6

Recipe adapted from InternationalRecipes.net

MEDITERRANEAN LAYERED DIP

It's another week of cooking from Mark Bittmans's The Food Matters Cookbook. This week Megan from Art by Megan chose the recipe Greek "Nachos" with Feta Drizzle. This recipe inspired me to make a Mediterranean layered dip. I made this dip for a party a few weeks ago and it was a big hit. Today I made this dip for two and thought a small glass bowl would be the perfect size and show off the layers. Well, you can see the layers but it was hard to dip into and get a little bite of everything. This dip is perfect the way I made it the first time in a low, shallow dish.

I roasted some tomatoes with garlic and olive oil. Taking the time to roast the tomatoes put this dip over the top. Roasting intensifies the sweetness of the tomatoes. 

This is such a fun recipe. You can use anything Mediterranean that you like. I started with hummus, a layer of pesto followed with chopped olives, chopped cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, and topped with crumbled feta.

Served with pita chips.

For all our members take on this recipe here.

LAYERED MEDITERRANEAN DIP

15 oz. hummus 

7 oz. pesto (any kind)

chopped kalamata olives (or any kind)

seeded and diced cucumber

oven roasted tomatoes, chopped

Feta cheese, crumbled

In a 12" round plate spread a layer of hummus, layer of pesto, olives, chopped cucumber, roasted tomatoes, and crumbled feta cheese. Serve with pita chips.

CEVICHE

It's another week of cooking from Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook. This week our recipe was chosen by Jen of Vanilla Lemon. Jen chose Corn-Avocado Salad (with a Little Something Seared on Top.) You can find the orginal recipe here . We follow the recipe as written or use it as inspiration for our own creation. This week while I was reading the ingredients Ceviche came to mind. Ceviche, pronounced "seh-BEE-chay" is a popular South American dish where raw fish is marinated in the juice of an acidic fruit. The juice basically "cooks" the fish. With the warm summer weather outside you can stay out of the kitchen while the fish cooks in the marinade.

I started off down at the harbor to see what looked good. Using Mark's recipe as a guide I checked out the scallops and they looked great. You can use bay scallops ( the small scallops) but I prefer diver scallops.

I cut each scallop in half (to make two round scallops) and each scallop into quarters. Covered it with lemon, lime, and orange juice and let it marinate for three hours. Then I added avocado, onion, cucumber, serrano peppers, and cilantro. You let it sit another hour and it is ready to serve. The perfect appetizer for a warm summer day.

 CEVICHE

Makes 4 servings

1 pound scallops (bay or diver, if using diver scallops cut them into bite size pieces)
or 1 pound white fish, cut into bite size pieces

1 cup lime juice (about 10 limes) or any other citrus

1/3 cup minced red onion

1/3 cup seeded and diced tomato

1/2 cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumber

1 avocado cut into bite sized pieced

1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced

3/4 cup chopped cilantro

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a glass bowl or dish cover the scallops or fish with the lime juice and marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Toss gently about every hour.

Add the onion, tomato, cucumber, avocado, serrano, salt and pepper to taste, and chopped cilantro. Let sit in the refrigerator one more hour. Drain out most of the juice before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Notes- We prefer the flavor of white fish in this recipe because we like the texture better than the scallops. After marinating overnight the texture of the scallops were much better.

For all of the Food Project Members creative takes on this recipe click here.

SMOKED SALMON FINGER SANDWICHES

This weeks Food Matters Project recipe was chosen by Aura of Dinner with Aura. Aura chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Updated Tea Sandwiches. Tea sandwiches, how elegant. I'm not surprised that Aura picked this recipe. Go visit her blog here. It exemplifies elegance.

 I have never had or been to a tea party in Santa Barbara. I went to a tea party at Harrods in London, and high tea at the beautiful Empress hotel in Victoria, Canada, but never at home. I thought about a tea party but we are so casual in S.B. and during the day we are at the beach or outside enjoying the weather so appetizers seemed appropriate.

 Slices of Bavarian sunflowerseed rye bread were spread with a mixture of cream cheese, chopped chives, and lemon juice and stacked on top of each other. Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated until firm.

Sliced into finger sandwich sized squares and served with smoked salmon, chives, onions, lemons, and capers.

This was the perfect way to end a summer day.

For all of the other Food Project Members creative takes on the recipe please click here.

Thanks Aura for a great pick this week.

Recipe and photo inspired by http://www.apronandsneakers.com/