I have made many friends having dinner in our home happy with my tasty goat cheese and avocado toasts, but am always looking for a tasty new topping to enjoy pre-dinner. This one found inspiration with baby squash and zucchini just picked from a local farm and simply roasted with fresh thyme from our garden with Champagne vinegar, a squeeze of lemon and a touch of olive oil.

Recipe:

Roasted Summer Squash Crostini with Thyme
Ingredients:
1/2 baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds and toasted over low heat for just a few minutes (just below browned)
2 small yellow squash, sliced into thin rounds
2 small zucchini squash, sliced into thin rounds
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil + more for drizzling
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 springs fresh thyme, stems removed
1 tablespoon fresh parsley or extra thyme for garnish, chopped
3 ounces fresh goat cheese
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss together the squash, vinegar, lemon, oil, thyme, red pepper flakes and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
Roast for 10 minutes until just starting to become caramelized. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Lay the baguette slices on a tray and spread with a thin layer of goat cheese. Top each slice with a few pieces of squash, fanning out the pieces in a slightly overlapping pattern zucchini then squash then zucchini and so forth. Make sure to keep any of the zest or thyme or red pepper with the squash. Add an extra drizzle of olive oil.  Sprinkle with a bit of fresh thyme or parsley and serve.

Recipe:

Risotto Primavera
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large white onion, peeled and diced
2 leaks, dark green removed and stem, cut in half lengthwise, then into half moons and washed well
1 pound asparagus, rough ends removed and cut into 1 inch pieces
8 button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 small zucchini squash, sliced thin
1 small yellow summer squash, sliced thin
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
8 cups stock (we used a mix of chicken and vegetable)
1/3 cup cream
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
Chive flowers for garnish

Preparation:
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a large Dutch oven.  Preheat the oven to 375. Add the stock to a large sauce pot over low heat to simmer. Drop asparagus into the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds then use a slotted spoon or spider spoon and remove into an ice water bath to quickly chill (ice and water in a shallow bowl). Then drop the squash and zucchini into the boiling water and repeat the process, removing the asparagus into a bowl and set aside to fold into the risotto at the end of cooking. Repeat adding the squash to a separate bowl.  Drain the boiling water from the Dutch oven and begin making the risotto in the same pan by adding the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and leeks and saute until very soft. Add the rice to the pot and cook for a few minutes to coat with the oil. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and season with 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Stir in a pinch of red pepper flakes then add 6 of the 8 cups of stock. Place the lid on the pot and into the oven for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir. If the liquid has fully or almost fully soaked into the rice remove to the stove top, if it is still a bit liquidy let cook in the oven another 7-10 minutes. Then remove to the stove top over low heat and add 1 ladle of remaining stock then fold in all the vegetables. Another ladle of stock, then add the cheese, lemon and herbs. Taste and adjust any final seasonings. Fold in the cream and another ladle of stock. Serve immediately garnished with fresh chive flowers.

It was all about summertime Rose wine this week on D:The Broadcast so decided to share a tasty salad perfect for Rose pairing just in time for the weekend. I am all about rose right now…I was on a mission at the barrel auction at Auction Napa Valley to try the latest Rose from the region, and will have a full list of suggestions on Sidedish next week, but for now here are a few recipes to pair with a gorgeous Rose of Syrah from Napa, or Pinot Noir from Sonoma or Willamette, Garnacha from Spain, or a classic Rhone blend from the South of France.

Recipe:

Summer Salad
Ingredients:
8 ounce baby Romaine and spring mix lettuce, washed well
2 tablespoons Radish sprouts or baby Arugula (a peppery green), chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, torn
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, sliced thin and cut into half moons
10 strawberries, hulled and sliced
5 sweet grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 avocado, sliced and chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
Sprinkle salt and freshly ground pepper

For the dressing:
1/4 cup basil infused olive oil or regular olive oil (we found a basil infused oil at the St. Helena Olive Oil Co that we love)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Pinch of fresh dill
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 minced shallot

Preparation:
Layer all the salad ingredients into a large bowl except the avocado and cheese. Cut the avocado and scoop into a bowl then squeeze lemon over and set aside until ready to serve. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and drizzle over the salad and toss together. Add the avocado and gently toss into the salad. Sprinkle on the cheese and serve with an ice cold Rose.

I am the first one to admit when I am terrible at something, and though I do pride myself on the creations that come out of our little kitchen, baking is just not my forte….much less creative baking.  To celebrate my 40th and Gary’s 60th birthdays in Centennial style we asked the amazing Bronwen Weber of Frosted Art to create a cake celebrating the things we loved – wine, movies, Yoda, wine. Above is what we received last Saturday for our celebration Sunday. With the excitement of the evening (and the delicious grilled cheese sandwiches that rolled in at the end of the party from Ruthie’s Rolling Cafe) we didn’t get to cut into the cake until the next day (benefiting some friends around the neighborhood greatly.) The great thing about Bronwen is that the taste of her cakes is as important as the actual look….one lemon tier and one incredibly moist and delicious carrot cake wrapped in film reels, wine bottles, glasses and a tasty chocolate cork screw, Oscar, a big fish Gary would love to catch one day, a set of wedding bands (as they were in on our surprise) and a perfect, perfectly represented Yoda made of sugar.  Thank you Bronwen and Debbie!  We will always treasure this wonderful set of memories.

I just returned from an amazing week of wine with Herdade do Esporao and their sister winery Quintas dos Murcas in Portugal. Easily one of the most beautiful places on earth with breathtaking views of vineyard filled vistas dotted with olive and citrus trees sweeping down into the Douro river in the north and olive trees rising parallel to old vine vineyards in the south in Alentejo with quaint historic towns and Roman ruins rising next to gilded churches. A truly special place. The food was rich and robust, much like the wine, celebrating new twists in traditional fare like heart stews of lamb, rabbit or fish, salt cod, and plates and plates of salty cured presunto, or the Portuguese dry-cured ham, served with sweet chimneys of tomato, pumpkin, apple or apricot, and lots of fresh olive oil ranging in flavors from light and green to floral to spicy and robust. While visiting Murcas we had dinner at a beautiful restaurant called Rui Paula DOC/DOP on the Duoro River after a leisurely afternoon boat ride.

This gorgeous meal featured my favorite flavor of the trip – octopus carpaccio pulled straight from the river that morning and cooked in perfectly seasoned water to accentuate its salty brininess and flavored with an herb pesto and very green olive oil.

Incredible, and something my culinary aptness hasn’t tried to master yet.

Instead, here is a recreation of another dish we had that night, just caught sweet shrimp called Mozambique with a creamy, incredibly rich and decadent potato puree accentuated with black truffle and mushrooms. It was their play on surf and turf or Terra/Mar (Earth/Sea). A touch of truffle salt can give the aroma and hint of flavor similar to their truffle or a bit of truffle paste.  For the shrimp, use the freshest, sweetest and largest ones you can find.  Also, don’t be afraid of the olive oil…they use a lot like in Spain and Italy, but it is so much better for you then butter and cream used often with a heavy hand in traditional mashed potatoes. Bonus, my skin has never looked better. We had this paired with a mineral filled, steely white from Esporao called 2 Castas blending the indigenous Arinto and Antao Vaz varieties, another good white for this would be an Assyrtico from Greece.

Recipe:

Jumbo Shrimp with Olive oil and Truffle Whisked Potatoes
Ingredients:
1 pound large, very fresh shrimp – leave the tails, remove the rest of the shells and reserve
1/2 white onion, cubed
5 golden/white potatoes, skinned and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
5 chantrelle or cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced into quarters
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped fine + 4 whole stems + a bit for garnish
1 fresh bay leaf
Olive oil (a good rich one, not a light one – you want the flavor)
1/3 cup white wine
2 tablespoons black Truffle paste or 1 teaspoon truffle salt (if you use the salt be careful with the rest of your seasoning to not over salt)
Salt and pepper
Finishing oilve oil, a lighter one then what you cooked with but still rich and green

Preparation:
Add the potatoes to a large stock pot filled with water. Salt the water generously (this will add a flavor to the potatoes while they are cooking – like you would with pasta). Bring the water to a boil. Boil the potatoes until tender.  Meanwhile, in a very Portuguese way of using everything and not wasting, bring another small pot of water to a boil with the shrimp shells, and tablespoon of salt, the whole parsley stems, bay leaf, 1/2 white onion, 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Boil for 30 minutes. Drain and reserve 1/3 cup for sauteing and save the rest of the water to use as stock in soup. Meanwhile season the shrimp the with the dried spices, a dash each of salt and pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 the wine. In a large saute pan cook 1 garlic clove and 1/2 of the shallot in 1 tablespoon olive oil, when soft add the mushrooms and the parsley cook for another 2-3 minutes until warm and slightly caramelized. Keep warm until ready to serve. When the potatoes are soft, drain and add them back to the pot. Drizzle in olive oil, starting with out 1/3 cup, whisking as you drizzle. Depending on the texture of your potatoes you may need to add up to 1/2 or even more, but you want them to almost have a yellow-green hue and be able to taste the herbal notes married with the truffle, without being runny. Fold in the truffle paste or truffle salt with 1/2 tablespoon pepper and salt, to your taste. Keep warm until ready to serve.  Heat 1 more tablespoon of oil and saute the remaining garlic and shallot and cook until just soft. Add the wine and stock. Reduce by 3/4. Toss in the shrimp and quickly saute for 2-3 minutes until pink – be careful not to over cook. Plate by placing a large spoonful of potatoes in the center of a plate place a few mushrooms around the plate.  Add three or four shrimp to the top of the potatoes and drizzle with the finishing oil and an extra sprinkle of parsley.

Recipe:

Creamy Leek Soup
Ingredients:
2 leeks, cleaned very well, dark green tops and ends removed and discarded, roughly chop the rest
1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil + more for drizzling
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup fat-free half and half or skim milk
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and white pepper
Chives, for garnish

Preparation:
Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil to medium – low heat in a soup pot and add the onion, leek and cauliflower.  Saute, stirring often until just softened, but not caramelized as you don’t want to turn the soup brown.  Add the garlic and season with the red pepper flakes and about 1/2 tablespoon each of salt and pepper.  Cook for another 3 minutes, again stirring often, then add the stock and 2 tablespoons parsley, bring to a boil then simmer for at least 20 minutes.  Using an immersion blender or food processor pulse the soup until very, very smooth. Whisk in the half and half and the remaining parsley.  Adjust any final seasonings to your taste and serve with another drizzle of olive oil, garnished with fresh snipped chives.

Gary is home (yea!) and I am inspired to cook for us again. I was at my local organic market getting a few things to make dinner the other night and saw a bottle of marinade for some chicken I was buying. In reading the ingredients I noticed the first two were high fructose corn syrup and oil…so I quickly put it down and decided to make my own instead. Incredibly easy if you have a good spice rack and a few kitchen staples. We made a Greek inspired salad to pair with lots of fresh greens, tomatoes, capers, cucumbers and low fat feta. How healthy are we! Perfect paired with a gorgeous bottle of Russian River Pinot Noir from Siduri…..so glad Gary is home.

Recipe:

Chicken in Red Wine Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders (rinsed and patted dry)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce or Bragg’s
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped well
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 large sun dried tomatoes, diced fine
Dash cayenne pepper
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash ground cinnamon
Fresh snipped chives for garnish

Preparation:
Whisk together all ingredients together in a large bowl except the chicken and chives.  Place the chicken in a zip lock bag and pour the marinade over, seal and massage the chicken a bit helping the marinade along. Rinse the bowl and place the bag in the bowl (in case it drips) and place in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes up to 2 hours or so. Preheat the oven to 375. Remove the chicken from the bag and place in a baking dish with a bit of the marinade to help keep it moist during cooking. Discard the rest. Bake for around 25 minutes until cooked through. (I am always very careful with chicken making sure it is very cooked through, cook to your taste.) Remove and serve, garnished with a few fresh chives.

We wish you a very happy Mother’s Day filled with lots of love and happy kisses, especially to my mama, sister and the new moms who have recently welcomed happy bundles of joy, like our sweet friend Melina.

And to those who get to celebrate motherhood in the non-traditional way, as loving friends to the children of our sweethearts or who are overjoyed by kisses from our four-legged punkins’.
Yoda sends you the very best kisses.

Cheers to you all!