Appetizer

Squash and Pomegranates?!

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Farro is one of those grains that is slowly creeping into the restaurant scene. Farro is also underused and often misused. This ancient grain can be used in a multitude of ways and makes a delicious side dish to almost any meal.

I’m going to be totally honest…I headed to the pantry at work looking for arborio rice to make a classic risotto. Turns out I was out of arborio rice and had remembered I bought farro just the other day. I had almost forgotten about this nutty grain entirely!

Turning farro into a risotto is one of my favorite ways to use this delicious morsel. Here’s what I did:

2 cups farro
2 quarts chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil

2 cups butternut squash, diced & roasted (this is about 1 squash)
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch cinnamon
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1.) In a large rondeau or pot, saute the onion, garlic & thyme until the onions just start to get some color on them. (about 5 minutes on medium) Add in the farro and continue sauté until the grain start to smell nutty and fragrant.

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2.) Deglaze the pot with white wine. Once the alcohol is cooked out of the wine, while stirring, add in about a cup of the chicken stock at a time. Make sure after each addition the previous amount of stock has been absorbed by the farro. You will start to notice after a few additions of stock and stirring the creaminess the starch from the grain gives off. This is what you want!

3.) Once all the stock is added into the farro; bring the roasted squash, mascarpone, spices & parmesan into pot party! Once these ingredients are mixed in the risotto becomes creamy and rich. Garnish the risotto with the pomegranate seeds. These add a nice textural contrast to the creamy risotto and a touch of acidity and sweetness!

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Trick Alert: I bought my pomegranate seeds already out of the fruit. (I’m lazy…but also the quantity needed would have taken me weeks to get out! For this recipe you will only need about 1 or 2 pomegranates) Sorry for the rant…back to the trick. Cut the fruit in half and over a bowl of cold water with the fruit seed side down, smack the back of the fruit with a spoon until the seeds fall into the water. The seeds will sink and the light flesh will float making for a much easier experience!

you’re welcome…:-)

 

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End of Winter!

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I am obsessed with brussel sprouts. They seem to be the latest fad popping up in restaurants, but I was in love at first bite! Roasting these tasty morsels is the go to technique for cooking, but I wanted to treat the brussel sprouts differently this time around.

Thinly shaved sprouts (yes raw!), shredded carrots, currants, toasted almonds & goat cheese make this end of the winter salad.  The textural differences, the simple vinaigrette and the sweet and savory contrasting flavors make this salad a great start to any meal.

For the salad:

1 lb. brussel sprouts, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
2 tbsp. dried currants
2 tbsp. toasted sliced almonds
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

For the dressing:

1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl toss together the first five ingredients. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together lemon juice, dijon mustard, honey and salt & pepper. Stream in olive oil until combined. (try to emulsify the olive oil into the mustard, this just creates a creamy homogenous dressing)

Toss the dressing with the salad and let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving. (this helps wilt the crunch of the brussel’s just a bit)

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Pantry Raid!

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I recently had a few of my close friends over to shoot the shit, gossip and eat some yummy food. I was on a tight budget and decided to make due with ingredients that I had on hand…It was a pantry raid if you will :-)

Topped Crositni is always a super simple and extremely versatile appetizer that everyone enjoys. These can be boring so try something new and exciting like my BLT Crostini with a siracha mayo. It is so easy and fast to do. Here’s whatcha will need…

 

BLT Crostini

1 small loaf of French bread, sliced to your liking (I did about a half inch thick)
Olive Oil for Drizzling
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled (preferably thick cut)
1 cup diced tomatoes, squeeze out the seeds and juice from these guys it will prevent the crostini from being too soggy
1/2 cup shredded ice berg lettuce…if you want to be fancy you can use any sort of lettuce variety you like
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1-2 tablespoons of siracha It’s like an Asian hot sauce. You can find it at most grocery stores
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper

So take your sliced bread, drizzle it with olive oil and season it with some salt, pepper and garlic powder. Top each crostini with about 1 teaspoon of cheddar cheese. (heck do more if you want!) Toast it in the oven at 350 degrees until golden brown and toasty.

While the crostini cool a bit, mix together the mayo, siracha, lemon juice and some more salt and pepper. Season as you cook people! Dollop each crostini with desired amount of spicy mayo. Top each crostini with as little or as much tomato, bacon and lettuce as you want. I drizzled mine with more olive oil and seasoned the tomato and lettuce with some more salt and pepper.

This crostini is so inexpensive and most of you have these items on hand. Your guests will never know it was so easy :-) (Excuse the Christmas looking platter…hey don’t judge it was all I had! haha)

As always feel free to make my recipes your own…I tend to cook with what I have! Be creative and have fun :-)

 

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