Golden Bread over Steamed Kale Greens with Mozzarella Cheese and Salsa

For the Winter Solstice party we're hosting tonight, I'm serving this seasonal, colorful, nutritious and complementing combination as our entree. I'll mound plates with steamed kale leaves (you can substitute spinach) and top the kale with my recipe for Golden Bread, (for recipe, see October 3, 2010 post) ... seasoned polenta that's fried until crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I'll place a slice of mozzarella cheese in between the polenta slices and the combination will get topped with spoonfuls of homemade tomato salsa I preserved over the summer. It's a simple, comforting dish that seems perfect for celebrating the onset of winter.

Tri-Color Roasted Tomato Pizza

I love what roasting tomatoes does to a tomatoes flavor ... so rich and robust. I also like the rustic look roasting gives, especially this time of year, it reminds me of Autumn leaves. Roast any combination of colors for a beautiful presentation.

Once the tomatoes were roasted I placed them on homemade pizza shells (good quality store bought works as well) and topped them with basil, fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

The pizzas were brimming with rich, roasted tomato flavor.

Here's the ridiculously simple recipe for preparing oven roasted tomatoes.

4 medium tomatoes, sliced (I slice into thirds)

Olive oil

Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 400°. Arrange tomatoes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Roast tomatoes for 45 minutes or until slightly blackened.

Goodbye Summer ... Hello Autumn

For dinner last night we ate and "celebrated" some of the last of summer's harvest ... Old Bay Crab Cakes, sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob. It's one of our favorite summer meals and we relished every bite, knowing we won't be eating much more of summer's just-picked-from-the farm goodness until next year. You know how wedded I am to eating foods in their growing season!

It seemed fitting to "celebrate" the summer season, after all it's officially fall. So stay tuned as I segue into the bounty autumn delivers and join me in celebrating this exciting food season. I'll be featuring all sorts of appetizers, entrees (reinventing and re-popularizing some past time favorites) and some interesting, wholesome, simple soups and stews that represent the season. I'll be showcasing lots of fun and easy bread recipes as well.

In the meantime, enjoy my recipe for crab cakes (while it's local and abundant) and if corn and tomatoes are available, serve them with the crab cakes, you won't be disappointed in this complementing combination.

Old Bay Crab Cakes

1 egg, room temperature

2 slices bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 pound backfin crabmeat, picked of any shell

2 tablespoons butter

In a medium bowl, combine egg and bread, whisk until combined. Add mayonnaise, Old Bay seasoning and Dijon mustard, whisk until well blended. Gently fold in crabmeat. Divide mixture into 4 cakes; or if making crab balls, about 36 one-inch balls.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter, turn heat to medium high, add crab cakes and cook until lightly brown on each side. Yield: 4 crab cakes.

2 x 3 = 1 Delicious Dish

I'm serving roasted green, red and yellow-orange tomatoes over a mixture of colorful beans ... green split peas and red and yellow lentils. For Nick and I, these beans scream comfort food! You don't have to be wedded to my colorful medley, (especially given lentils lose a lot of their color during cooking) use whatever you desire or what you have on hand.

I bought some assorted olives from the olive bar and some of my favorite Feta cheese (Valbresso) to go with our meal. I'm planning to grill some slices of ciabatta bread in olive oil to have for added texture and deliciousness. A simple, nutritious meal ... a perfect way to end the day.

Tidbits for perfection: Plan accordingly; the tomatoes need to cook for one hour. Cook the beans while the tomatoes are baking.

Roasted Tomatoes

4 medium tomatoes, variety of colors or whatever you have on hand) cored and cut in half width wise

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and to taste

Preheat oven to 400°. Season tomatoes with olive oil and salt. Bake for one hour.

Lentils/Split Peas

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (a combination of) red and yellow lentils and split peas, rinsed

In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add salt and lentils, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes or until lentils are tender. Divide lentils evenly among 4 serving bowls, top with 2 tomato halves. Serve olives, Feta cheese and ciabatta slices buffet style.

Marinated Shrimp with Grilled Halloumi

We were happy eaters last night, dinner was one of those meals you were sorry when it came to the last bite ... so I couldn’t wait to share the recipe and one of my all-time favorite foods, Halloumi cheese. I love its wonderful flavor and texture. And who wouldn't marvel at a cheese that can be sautéed or grilled yet still keeps its’ shape and doesn’t melt?

I served it with slices of Ciabatta, the perfect bread for mopping up any of the delicious marinade.

Helpful to know: Over the years I have found that most pre-cooked, peeled shrimp have become almost devoid of any flavor, so I prefer to use 26-30 count raw shrimp that I cook, peel and devein. Plan accordingly; the shrimp need to marinate for 3 hours. Also, remember to save the shrimp marinade as it's used later in the recipe! Halloumi cheese can be found in the refrigerated specialty cheese section of www.wholefoodsmarket.com and specialty cheese shops nationwide.

Shrimp and Marinade

1 pound large shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, combine shrimp with 3 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper to taste. Marinate for 3 hours. Save marinade for inclusion in this recipe!

About 3 hours later …

Grilled Halloumi

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ pound halloumi cheese, sliced

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over moderate heat, add halloumi slices and sauté for about 2 minutes or until just slightly brown.

6 generous portions of lettuce leaves, torn into bite size pieces

2 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds

Kalamata olives

Toss lettuce leaves with remaining marinade. Divide lettuce among 6 rimmed serving plates. Top lettuce leaves with 4-5 shrimp and 2 slices of halloumi cheese. Garnish with toasted sunflower seeds and Kalamata olives. Yield: 6 servings.

Fusilli Pasta Catches Basil Brie Perfectly

Fusilli Basil Brie and Yellow Summer Tomatoes

On the Front Burner News ... I've added a comments section, simply click on to the title of any post, scroll down below the post to post your comment. Or you can let me know your reaction to every post, listed just below each post.






This weeks comfort food ... is a summertime favorite! If you’re not counting points, calories or free radicals, you could easily eat this in one sitting. I'm just warning you!

Plan accordingly. The Basil Brie needs to marinate for a few hours before serving. Whether or not you leave the rind on the Brie is a matter of preference. Brie should be cold when cutting it into bite size pieces; and keeping the rind intact makes it easier to handle. The success of this recipe depends on timing. You need to toss the pasta with the tomatoes and marinated Brie immediately after the pasta has been drained. (Give or take a nanosecond!)

Basil Marinade

3 cups basil leaves

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a blender or food processor, combine basil leaves, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste; process until incorporated.

Marinated Brie

½ pound Brie, cut into bite size pieces

Place Brie in a small bowl and toss with Basil Marinade. Refrigerate for a few hours.

A few hours later …

Fusilli and Summer Tomatoes

½ pound fusilli (3 cups dry measure)

2 medium tomatoes (red or yellow) cut into bite size pieces

Cook fusilli according to package directions; drain and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with bite size pieces of tomato.

Add marinated Brie to pasta and tomatoes; toss until well combined. Divide evenly into 6 shallow serving bowls. Serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings

Crab Salad + A Good Friend = A Great Memory

Best Friend Salad

My friend from elementary school drove in from North Carolina this week to visit with family and friends. We always try to squeeze having lunch in a restaurant when she comes to visit, but this time I offered to play hostess. We relish our infrequent visits (typically once or twice a year) so I wanted to keep it simple, seasonal and with very little to do once she arrived. So this morning I whipped together a really simple crab salad. I added finely chopped celery, yellow pepper and onion to a pound of crabmeat, I seasoned with salt, pepper, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and enough mayonnaise to moisten and bring it all together. I prepared the yellow pepper halves I planned on using as vessels. So all I had to do was chop tomatoes, grill French bread rounds and assemble our plates with garnishes. We were as happy eating as we
were laughing and catching up!