I made this quick and easy appetizer for Sunday dinner with my dad. I only toasted six slices of bread on the grill for our meal. Then I ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next several days, using the toaster to toast the bread as needed. Now I miss it and want more. It really is that good!

The recipe calls for Aleppo pepper flakes. Aleppo chili pepper is from the Syrian town of Aleppo near the southern Turkish border. Aleppo pepper has moderate heat with a mild and sweet undertone, a bit of fruitiness, and a hint of saltiness.

Aleppo is a wonderful substitute for the usual crushed red peppers. In fact, I nearly always use Aleppo pepper in place of regular crushed red chilies on pizza, in pasta and salads, on my morning eggs, really all day long. You can find Aleppo pepper online, at specialty stores and I’ve even found it locally at Safeway.

Roasted Tomato Toast

• 2 – 3 pounds mixed tomatoes *
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 lemon, washed and dried
• Baguette, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons minced chives
• Sea salt (I adore Maldon sea salt flakes)
• Crushed Aleppo pepper

(* Mixed tomatoes are a mix of colors and types such as cherry, Roma, pear, beefsteak, etc)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.

Cut large tomatoes into cubes, slice larger cherry tomatoes in half and leave small cherry or pear tomatoes whole. Place tomatoes on the prepared baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until the smaller whole tomatoes burst. Remove from oven and set aside.

Use a Microplane or small grater to remove the zest from the lemon over a small bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside. Cut the lemon in half and set it aside.

While the tomatoes are roasting, in a small bowl, mix the garlic and mayonnaise together.  Squeeze in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate. Keep that lemon handy, you may want to add more juice later.

Either toast the baguette slices in a toaster or toaster oven or heat the grill and toast.

It sounds like the start of a joke. “Two kinds of butter, a mayo, and a spread walk into a bar…”

But this is no joke, these are what I served with my biscuits and ham at our Easter brunch. My entire Easter menu was inspired by the Easter menu featured in this year’s Southern Living Magazine.  Although, I made several changes in recipes and menu choices to fit my taste. For instance, their menu featured Creole Mayo, I am a fan of Sriracha Mayo, so that is what I made. More Easter brunch recipes will follow in the coming days, for today, let’s look at these four.

I took a poll at brunch and asked for everyone’s favorites. The radish-chive butter won hands down. The second favorite was the other butter, made with orange marmalade and apricot preserves. The final two were tied for third. All four make for a perfect ham and biscuit sandwich.

Radish and Chive Butter

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped radishes
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish

Beat salted butter and salt with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Gently stir in finely chopped radishes and chopped fresh chives. Scrape compound butter into a serving bowl, and sprinkle with more chives. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

[Read more →]

Do you remember your first artichoke?

I do!

I was about 10 years old. There was an Italian family who lived across the street, three doors down from us. The family consisted of a very handsome dad, a seriously gorgeous mom, and an only child daughter who was a year or two older than me. I idealized the girl. She was pretty and nice and very well-mannered. Their home was calm and quiet and they were polite.

At my house, we were loud and there was always at least one of the four of us kids crying, screaming, yelling, or getting in trouble at any given moment of any given day.

Their family and home were like a perfect rose among a bunch of thorns. They only lived in our neighborhood for a year or two. No wonder with all that crying, yelling, and screaming going on!

Anyhow, one summer afternoon, the girl invited me to have dinner at her house. I was so excited. I remember being on my very best behavior and minding my manners. When the mom brought dinner to the table, there were the strangest looking, yet somehow intriguing, green thorny-looking things on one of the platters.

All three of them could see by the perplexed look on my face, that I had never seen an artichoke before. Of course, they were very kind and helpful in teaching me how to pull off one leaf at a time, dip it in the melted butter and scrape it with my teeth. I remember that when I had finished all the leaves, the mom expertly cut out the artichoke heart for me. I was hooked, I was enamored, I was in love with artichokes!

We lived a block away from the intersection of Chaparral and Pima, just down from Scottsdale Community College. A year or two after my introduction to the artichoke, Artie the Artichoke was adopted as SCC’s mascot to express a difference of opinion between the students and the administration concerning budget priorities. I remember that even as an 11 or 12-year-old, I felt a special kinship with those students and was thrilled by their mascot choice.

Strange what you cling to as a kid!

I use bouquet garni for my steamed artichokes. You may recall that we made bouquet garni at last winter’s craft party. If you don’t have any one hand, just throw in a few sprigs of fresh parsley instead.

[Read more →]

Yesterday I mentioned the outstanding sliders that Barb, Kim, and I had at Chaparral Pines in Payson, Arizona. We split an order and I’ve been dreaming about and wanting MORE every moment since then! I dissected the menu description and, by Joe, I think I’ve got it! They are so fabulous, they must be shared – here you go! These would be a great addition for next year’s 4th of July BBQ.  BTW, you will have extra mayo and onions leftover after you make the 12 sliders – this is a good thing… a very good thing!

[Read more →]

One of my favorite songs by The Killers is All These Things That I’ve Done. The chorus, “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier” is my favorite part and was used in a Nike advertisement during the last summer Olympics. Hence the title:  I’ve got sole.  My niece, Raina, had a post on her Facebook page, right before Easter, that totally cracked me up…  “I’ve got ham, but I’m not a hamster.”  I really did laugh out loud at that one!

I was the lucky and happy recipient of an “over-purchase” of fresh fillet of sole and banana leaves after Wednesday night’s cooking class at Les Gourmettes. That meant that Thursday’s dinner was on the table in less than 10 minutes! Fresh banana leaves are available at Asian markets, and are very inexpensive, give them a try!  The leaves tear easily, so it is important to quickly pass them over an open flame to make them more pliable and easier to handle. The exposure to heat brightens them and releases the leaf’s natural oils and fragrance. When steamed, the leaves tend to lose their vibrant green color and turn a darker shade of olive green. Click here to make the chipotle mayonnaise, if you don’t already have some on hand.

[Read more →]

Jamaican buffet, it was a little picked over before I was able to snap the picture, but that’s a good thing, right?

Sliders are irresistible as part of an appetizer buffet. Small and easy to eat while standing, they are the perfect casual party food. If you want to prepare the sliders ahead, place patties on the grill or grill pan and just “mark” each side. Transfer to a baking sheet, allow to cool at room temperature for about 15 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Toast the buns ahead of time, place them on another baking sheet, cover them with plastic wrap and leave them out at room temperature. About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and finish cooking the patties for 12 minutes. While the patties are in the oven, prepare the buns by spreading on mayonnaise and stacking on the onion, tomato, and lettuce. When the sliders are completely cooked, just assemble, put in decorative picks, cut in half, place on a platter and you’re ready to entertain!

[Read more →]

The original version of this recipe is from Tyler Florence of the Food Network.  I made his recipe for a series of classes I just finished teaching at Les Gourmettes Cooking School. With Tyler’s Twice Cooked Potatoes, the second cooking is achieved by deep frying the potatoes, and are they delicious! But after serving 33 students in two nights, I came to the conclusion that using the original version as part of a buffet doesn’t work well because of the final frying step. The potatoes are best eaten immediately, as most fried foods are.  What made the potatoes so wonderful was the crispiness achieved by deep-frying.  My double roasting technique results in a similar crisp texture, but without the extra fat, plus the potatoes can now be served hot or held at room temperature, without becoming greasy. Not only are these potatoes a great vegetable side dish, but they also make perfect little party nibbles!

Aïoli is a garlic and olive oil sauce from France, with a texture very much like mayonnaise. Aïoli is sometimes called the “butter of Provence” because it is such an integral part of their cuisine. In Provence, usually, two cloves are used per person, which may seem like a lot, but roasting the garlic as done here, mellows out the garlic considerably.

The Cuisinart has a special feature just for the purpose of making fresh mayonnaise and aïoli. The lid has a spout (a feed tube) with a “food pusher”.  The food pusher has a small hole in the bottom that allows oil to drip slowly into the work bowl at just the right rate, a “slow and steady stream” allowing the mayonnaise to emulsify perfectly.

[Read more →]