Yes, it’s true, I’m still talking about our gorgeous Sunday Valentine’s Day at the Queen Creek Olive Mill, hope you don’t mind ~ because I really love that place! I picked up a bottle of one of their new flavored balsamic vinegars. Fig Balsamic – delicious!

You too can have a bottle of the balsamic or any one of their amazing olive oils… just click here and mail order.

Balsamic Roasted Red Onions

2 large red onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

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

Cut off the stem end of each onion, peel, then slice in half through the root. Keeping the root intact, cut each half into 4 wedges, for a total of 16 onion wedges.

Arrange onions in one layer on pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in middle of preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and just tender, about 18 minutes. Drizzle vinegar over onions and roast until most of the vinegar is evaporated, about 3 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Serves 4

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, 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, that 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.

a tiny hole in bottom of the "food pusher" allows oil to drip at perfect rate. a toothpick is sticking up through clear pusher so the hole is visible, the other dots are not holes, just little bumps in the plastic

Twice Roasted Baby Potatoes with  Aïoli

40 to 50 small new potatoes or fingerlings
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Garlic Aïoli
2 heads garlic
Olive oil
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 extra-large egg yolk
1 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon minced chives, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lay potatoes out in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss the potatoes so they are evenly coated with oil.  Cut heads of garlic through the middle, horizontally, and place in the center of a double square of heavy-duty foil.  Drizzle with olive oil, add thyme sprigs and seal the pouch tightly around the edges.  Place on baking sheet with potatoes and roast potatoes and garlic for 40 minutes, until tender.  Remove garlic packet from pan, open up foil and set aside to cool slightly. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.

after initial roasting, ready for X cut

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, make an X cut on 1 side of each potato and then squeeze gently from the bottom, pushing out a little of the potato to form a flower shape, place potatoes back onto baking sheet, toss gently to coat again with the oil on the pan. Return potatoes to oven and roast another 12 to 15 minute to crisp. Meanwhile make aïoli.

Roasted garlic, ready to squeeze into processor

Garlic Aïoli: Remove the garlic from foil and squeeze the plup into the bowl of food processor.  Add the egg yolk, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to the bowl and process until smooth.  With the machine running, pour in the olive oil into the feed tube “food pusher” and allow to drip into the work bowl via the “drip hole” in a slow and steady stream until the mixture emulsifies.  Remove aioli to a medium bowl.

Stir in sour cream and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Spoon aïoli into a serving bowl and garnish with 1 tablespoon of the chives.   Place bowl in the center of a serving platter.  Arrange potatoes on platter and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup chives. (For serving as hor d’oeuvres; dollop each potato individually with aioli and a sprinkle of chives and place on the platter or pass on a tray.)

Serves 10 as part of a dinner buffet or about 25 as passed hor d’oeuvres

Recycling is a wonderful thing… not only with paper and plastic, but with food too. Of course, the most basic form of food recycling is reusing leftovers, taking the leftover beef from a roast and making burritos, for instance.  Or in this case, using the red wine poaching liquid from the poached pear post on 11/18/09 and using it to flavor this wonderful Thanksgiving side dish. Don’t fret if you didn’t make the poached pear recipe but want to make this, just use red wine in place of the poaching liquid.

I’m using frozen “petite whole onions” also known as pearl onions for this recipe.  Until about a month ago, I did not even know that pearl onions were sold peeled and frozen. What a find, all these years I’ve been meticulously boiling and peeling them myself!

The soaking liquid for the dried mushrooms is also reused here.  If you have any left after using the 1/2 cup asked for in this recipe, freeze it and use to enrich sauces or deglaze pans in the future. And be sure to recycle those Thanksgiving leftovers too! I’ll post plenty of ideas after  Thursday.

Red Wine Pearl Onions and Wild Mushrooms

1 ounce dried wild mushrooms
1 pound fresh wild mushrooms
4 large shallots, peeled, and quartered
3 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1  1/2 cups reserved poaching liquid (from poached pear recipe on 11/18/09 post) or 1  1/2 cups red      wine, divided
14-ounce package frozen pearl onions, thawed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Fresh thyme leaves, for garnish

Place dried wild mushrooms in bowl and pour boiling water to cover, soak until soft, about 35 minutes. Lift out mushrooms, squeezing out excess liquid. Rinse mushrooms in a sieve to remove any dirt or grit and squeeze dry again.  Strain the mushroom soaking water through a cheesecloth (or coffee filter) lined sieve to remove the grit and set aside the soaking liquid.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Halve or quarter large fresh mushrooms, keep smaller ones whole  (about bite-size), transfer all mushrooms to a 9 x 12-inch baking dish. Add shallots, garlic, thyme, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper to baking dish with mushroom and toss well to coat. Cover tightly with foil.

Toss pearl onions with remaining tablespoon oil in an 8 x 8-inch baking dish, generously season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Leave uncovered.

Place both baking dishes in preheated oven. Roast for about 48 minutes, stirring pearl onions every 12 minutes and switch position of baking dishes after the first 24 minutes. After total roasting time, remove pearl onions from oven and set aside.

Remove foil from mushrooms and stir in 1/2 cup poaching liquid (or red wine). Continue roasting mushrooms in middle of oven, uncovered, fort 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add in pearl onions plus 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom soaking liquid and another 1/2 cup of the poaching liquid and roast 15 minutes more.

Meanwhile, place the remaining 1/2 cup of poaching liquid and the balsamic vinegar in a large skillet and boil until reduced to 1/4 cup. Remove baking dish from oven and pour mushroom-onion mixture into skillet, toss to coat.

Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place in serving bowl and garnish with fresh thyme leaves.

May be made 1 day ahead, cool completely,cover and refrigerate. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before reheating and allow to come to room temperature.

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients for Green Chile Macaroni

Connor is coming home for the Labor Day weekend this afternoon. I texted him earlier this morning and asked what he would like for dinner… strangely enough he said, “rotisserie chicken and good mac and cheese.” The reason I say “strange” is because one of his most basic “college foods” is Easy Mac – so it is the last thing I’d ever guess he would want. But of course, he did say “Good” mac and cheese and that means one thing – Robert McGrath’s Green Chile Macaroni. This is the best mac and cheese you can imagine! Robert is one of my favorite chefs and honestly one of my favorite people. His cookbook, American Western Cooking has this and so many other amazingly delicious recipes. I’m writing the recipe just as it appears in the book, but I generally use only 1/4 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half. And Connor really likes to have breadcrumbs on top of his mac and cheese. If you do too, just melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet, add 1 peeled and minced garlic clove and 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs or panko and sauté until crumbs are browned. Sprinkle on top of just before serving.

Robert McGrath’s Green Chile Macaroni

1 tablespoon corn oil
1/4 cup diced polano chile
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni (about 1 cup dried before cooking)
1/2 cup roasted, peeled and pureed poblano chile (see note below)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated hot pepper Jack cheese
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Heat the corn oil in a heavy pan over high heat and sauté the diced poblano chile, red bell pepper, red onion, and garlic until just tender. Add the corn kernels and sauté quickly.

Add the cooked macaroni, poblano puree, cream, and pepper Jack cheese. Stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Season to taste and serve.

Serves 4

Roasting directly over flame until blackened

Note: Poblanos and other peppers are easy to roast on top of a gas stovetop, burner, or grill. Place directly on the flame and turn with tongs until evenly blackened. Immediately put into a bowl covered with plastic wrap or into a paper or plastic bag. (I just use the plastic bag from the produce department that I brought the peppers home in.) Allow steam to build up and allow peppers to cool down enough to handle. Rub off the blackened skins with paper towels. Open up peppers and discard seeds and stems. Either dice or cut into strips or for this recipe, puree in a mini-chop or blender.

Dinner has been decided upon for this lovely (it’s only supposed to get up to 99 degrees today!) Sunday. And not decided by me, but instead by my garden.  I went out this morning, while it was only 84 degrees, and noticed that if I didn’t do something about the luscious basil going wild and the very tall bay laurel tree in my garden that they would take it over.  I’m thinking about a starter of flatbread with basil in the dough, with a basil oil and roasted tomatoes with – wait for it… basil pesto!  And maybe salmon grilled on top of the bay leaves and lemon slices and also some yukon gold potatoes braised in stock and more bay leaves.  I’ve had crème brûlée scented with fresh bay leaves before and although it was delicious, I really don’t want to stand over the hot stove in the summer “stirring constantly” (two of my least favorite words!) a steaming custard.  After painting that little picture for myself, the crème brûlée definitely OUT!  So something else maybe with the bay leaves for dessert – any thoughts out there?  I am off to the movies….

……I am thankful no one came up with any dessert ideas because I was actually to busy to even think about dessert today! Dave and I saw Inglorious Basterds early this afternoon and LOVED it!  This from a girl who has to put her hands over her eyes during the icky parts!  And there were plenty of icky parts, but I still want to go back and see it again!   I’m not a huge Quentin Tarantino fan, I liked Kill Bill(s) and  Pulp Fiction but this movie was just so cool, and Brad Pitt… love him even more than before, if that is possible.  What about Christoph Waltz?  If he isn’t nominated for an Oscar, there is something wrong in the movie biz!   Enough about that, this is a “cooking/food blog” so on to the rest of the that part of the day…  After the movie and a Costco run, arrived home at about 3:00 and began making the Grand Basil-Bay Dinner.  Good friends, Chris and Kathy Froggatt, were to arrive at 6:00, with nice wines in hand!  It was a great evening with good friends.  They recounted their wonderful vacation-cruise to Monaco, Italy, and Greece (ready to go tomorrow after hearing about it all!)  Amidst all the catching up and garden touring, I totally burned (we’ll call it charred!) the flatbread while grilling it.  But we enjoyed it anyway because the Bay Leaf Roasted Tomatoes that topped it were still tasty and the Baileyana Chardonnay  that Chris brought somehow washed away all thoughts of those nasty carcinogens we were ingesting.  Dinner itself went off much better.   We had a fabulous Chasseur Pinot Noir from Sonoma and the bay laurel flavors present in the fish and potatoes were truly sublime. Kathy is not a salmon fan, so I did a “personal-size” piece of halibut for her.  I think the individual size is a really nice presentation for a more formal dinner.  A bit more work to individually wrap each piece of fish, but it’ll cook faster and it does look fancy!  One last note about the salmon.  It is drizzled with olive oil, and any fruity olive oil will do, but I adore our own local Queen Creek Olive Mill Meyer Lemon Olive Oil. It is available locally at A.J.’s or can be ordered online at http://www.queencreekolivemill.com/productdetail.jsp?ProductID=28. And if you are a neighbor or live close enough to drop by, just give me a call if you want to make any of the dishes with the fresh bay leaves.  You can have all you’ll need, free for the taking.  The salmon recipe uses way too many leaves to purchase at the store in those tiny herb packages (when you can find it).   So don’t be shy, the bay tree grows better when it is pruned, so you’ll be doing me a favor, really!

Basil Flatbread with Roasted Tomatoes, Basil Oil and Pesto

Basil Oil

1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
3/4 cup olive oil

Blanch basil in medium saucepan of boiling water 10 seconds. Drain. Rinse under cold water. Squeeze basil dry between paper towels. Transfer to blender. Add oil and puree until smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes 3/4 cup

Tomatoes

6 large tomatoes, each cut in half horizontally
6 fresh thyme sprigs
6 fresh bay leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons peeled and minced garlic

1/4 cup olive oil
lemon ends (optional if leftover from making salmon recipe)

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Place tomatoes, cut side up, in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Place thyme sprigs and bay leaves on top of tomatoes. Sprinkle with garlic and salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil.

Bake until tomatoes are slightly brown around edges, about 1 hour.

Pesto

3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/4 packed cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Place the garlic and basil in a food processor.  Process until a rough paste forms.  Add half of the cheese and oil and process until the paste is smoother.  Add the pine nuts and the remaining oil and cheese.

Preheat barbecue to medium heat. Form each dough piece on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to a floured pizza peel or baking sheet. Brush topside with Basil Oil. Place flatbread, oiled side down, directly on grill rack. Grill until bottom is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Brush top of bread with Basil Oil. Using spatula, turn bread over; grill until golden, another 1 or 2 minutes.

Arrange Roasted Tomatoes on flatbreads. Loosely cover with foil; grill until heated through, about 3 minutes. Top each a little of the pesto. Cut each flatbread into 8 pieces.

Serves 8

Bay Leaf and Lemon Wrapped Grilled Salmon

5 ounces fresh bay leaves (about 80 leaves)
3 or 4 lemons, very thinly sliced into rounds
2 1/2 to 3-pound center-cut salmon fillet with skin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil (or Queen Creek Meyer Lemon Olive Oil)

Lay ten 2 foot-long pieces of kitchen string, side by side and 1- inch apart, on work surface. Overlap bay leaves atop strings in rectangle about same size as fish. Top bay leaves with overlapping rows of lemon slices. Sprinkle lemons with salt and pepper.

Lay salmon, skin side down, on top of lemon. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper; drizzle with olive oil.

Top salmon flesh with overlapping rows of lemon slices, then again with bay leaves. Tightly tie strings, beginning with the middle pieces of string and working toward each end; encasing fish with lemon slices and bay leaves. Place tied fish on grilling basket. This process may be done up to 2 hours ahead. Wrap basket in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before grilling.

Preheat barbecue to medium-high. Grill fish, in basket for about 15 to 20 minutes per side, or until just firm to touch. Transfer fish to cutting board. Cut and remove the strings, and the top layer of bay leaves and lemons. Cut into slices and using a spatula slide pieces, along with bottom layer of bay leaves and lemon slices to dinner plates.

Serves 6

Inspired by recipe in July 2009 Bon Appetit

Bay Scented Braised Potatoes

2 pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes
1/4 cup chicken broth

5 fresh bay leaves
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a skillet just large enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer, combine the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, garlic, olive oil and 1 tablespoon salt. Cover and cook over low heat, shaking pan occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes. Check the broth occasionally and add a little more if the pan begins to dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 6

Roasted Peppers with Bay Leaves

1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 orange bell pepper; roasted, peeled, seeded and quartered
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 fresh bay leaves

Immediately after peeling peppers, while they are still warm, place peppers in a bowl, stir in the minced garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in bay leaves. Allow to marinate for about at least 1 hour at room temperature.

Serves 4