This recipe is from Food & Wine magazine and is by Bobby Flay. Typically, I’m not big on Flay’s TV personality but this was from a magazine so it’s not like I had to watch him on TV or anything. So, it’s fine. Actually, it was better than fine.

We tried it recently as a possible first course for the reception dinner. Yeah, I think it’s a go — this will be the First Course at Wedding Feast 08 — of course, there will be a vegetarian option for those who don’t eat crab.

But, back to those of us who do — this was so very good. We passed the recipe off to the caterer and they are definitely up for making something like this for us. Hooray!

Now, when I prepared this at home, I made about a 1/6 of the recipe as listed below, since it was only for the two of us and damn, Dungeness crab is expensive.

Coconut Dungeness Crab Cocktail
This will feed about 6 people as a first course.
1 can (13 1/2 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
A couple of dashes habanero hot sauce (we actually had some of this — in a pinch I would use Tabasco as a sub)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds lump crabmeat, picked over
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Optional: 2 tbsp diced red bell pepper
lime wedges for garnish

In a bowl, whisk the coconut milk, lime juice and hot sauce and season with salt and pepper. Now, I think this would be good with a little diced red pepper. Toss that in too if you use it. Next time, I think I will try it. Gently fold in the crabmeat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Since I made this while it was a little warm in the house, I stored the crab mixture in the fridge for the 15 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the crabmeat to shallow bowls and garnish with the cilantro. I thought it looked especially nice in martini glasses. A lime wedge on the rim is also fun.

I was in New Seasons the other day buying some halibut and as I was walking through the produce sections I saw the cutest thing — garlic tops.

“Oh!” I thought to myself, “need to buy! Cuuute!”

Then I got home and realized I had no idea what to do with them. I did a little online searching and found this page — Mary Jane’s Farm about garlic scapes, which I think are slightly younger versions of my tops but I figured it was close enough.

I made the pesto, using half parm and half feta. I also added some pine nuts. Wow! The garlic! It burns! (But in a good way). I mixed about a tablespoon into a big bowl of hot pasta with some olive oil to start, as it did seem a little strong. But — by the middle of the meal, jwa and I were spreading the extra pesto on bread and mixing more of it into the pasta. So, so good. Just make sure you really like garlic.

Garlic Tops Pesto
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
1/4 lb scapes (garlic tops)
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Puree the garlic tops and olive oil in a food processor until smooth. Add the Parmesan, feta, lemon juice and pine nuts and process it all until nice and smooth.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on bread, crackers or with pasta (or all of the above).

So what else did we have with our garlic top pesto and pasta? Grilled halibut with this awesome marinade.

Awesome & Simple Halibut Marinade
4 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Let fish marinate in the fridge for about an hour. Salt and pepper liberally, then grill in the ol’ grill pan.

It turned out really nice and moist and was excellent with the side of pasta, tossed with cherry tomatoes, spinach and garlic top pesto.

I even brought out the balsamic glaze and drizzled a little over the fish and pasta to make it all look pretty.

See? Pretty!

***
In wedding news, I made the lodging reservations for most of the honeymoon in Victoria here. It’ll be nice to have a kitchen while we’re there. We’re also going to rent a car and drive up to Tofino for 3-4 days. We’re going to splurge and stay here. So very excited!

Also, I finished making the save the date cards and I should be able to get them in the mail in early/mid June (waiting on vellum envelopes and nifty return address stamp).

It was a success! It was also our appetizer during Life Aquatic Fest ‘07. We snacked on it while watching some Jacques Cousteau. I never really thought I liked calamari, then I had some a few years ago at the Monterey Bay Aquarium — at the restaurant, that is, I didn’t just grab some squid out of the tank or anything. Crunchy coating, tender inside — it was so good. Who knew? Well, lots of people, I suppose.

Now whenever I see calamari on the menu while we are out, I have to get some. The best so far: mbay, Pacific Way Cafe — cumin-dusted!, Jake’s and Iorio.

This is the first time I attempted it at home. Since it was an experiment, I just grabbed a bag of frozen rings at Trader Joe’s. Next time, since this attempt worked so well, I will go all out and find some with little tentacles. Regardless, these results using the defrosted, frozen rings were crunchy, tender and nicely seasoned.

Instead of the romanesco sauce WS paired these up with, I opted to try a curried tomato dipping sauce. Excellent.

This calamari recipe is one I came across on the Williams-Sonoma Web site and the dipping sauce is from Dan and Steve, who are awesome and who need a much better time slot.

Fried Calamari
1 lb. fresh or thawed frozen calamari, cut into 1/2-inch rings, tentacles left intact
1 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Peanut or canola oil for deep-frying
1 cup rice flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 cup coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta
1 tbsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Optional: Chopped, fresh parsley for garnish

In a bowl, combine the calamari, milk, and a pinch each of salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.

Place an ovenproof platter in an oven and preheat to 150°F. In a heavy, deep fry pan or wide saucepan, pour in your oil to a depth of 2 inches and heat to 375°F on a deep-frying thermometer. Drain the calamari. In a large bowl, combine the rice flour, cornmeal, paprika, cayenne, parsley, salt and black pepper.

Add half of the calamari and toss to coat evenly, then transfer the coated calamari to a colander and shake gently to remove excess flour.

Add the coated calamari to the hot oil and deep-fry, using a wire skimmer or slotted spoon to push it gently into the oil occasionally, until crisp and golden brown, about 1 minute. Using the skimmer or spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain briefly, then place on the platter in the oven. Coat the remaining calamari and fry in the same way.

Garnish the calamari with some fresh parsley if desired and place a small bowl or ramekin holding the sauce in the center of the platter. Serve immediately.

Curried Tomato Sauce
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Pinch ground cloves

Put the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, curry powder, salt, pepper and cloves into a saucepan and place over high heat.

Bring to a boil, stir to dissolve the sugar and cook until the tomatoes have broken down and the mixture is slightly thick, about 10 minutes.

Pour the mix into a food processor and pulse until smooth. Let cool to room temperature before refrigerating.

I’ll start with the cheese ball, as that is usually the best place to begin. I have been telling my mom about the awesomeness of this cheeseball for about a year now, when I first made it last year before the holidays. This outing in Montana was the perfect opportunity to share in its greatness.

My aunt, who doesn’t even like tomatoes, ate as much as everyone else.

Also, it looked much prettier than the title picture above. That’s all that was left from the trip, the picture taken after the poor cheeseball had been in a cooler for 11.25 hours on the drive home. We put him to good use back in Portland.

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the cheeseball-making. Therefore, I will intersperse this post with pictures from the trip.

The Best Cheeseball Ever
Based on Paula Deen’s Pesto Cheese Blossom recipe
1 (8-ounce) package sliced provolone cheese
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup toasted walnuts (you could also use pistachios, pecans — really whatever nuts you like)
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 3 oz pkg dried, sundried tomatoes
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
boiling water

Driving to Montana on I-90

Line a medium glass bowl (the smallest “mixing bowl” if you have a set) with plastic wrap, leaving enough overhang to cover the top. Now, you want to line your bowl with provolone. When I did this, I did not use the whole package of provolone. I used, perhaps, 7 slices total. One on the bottom, five around the sides, then, I folded the provolone lining the side down to cover the cream cheese, then finished with one more slice in the middle.

Interesting mosaic tulip fence across the street from the house we were renting.

But, start with just lining it with the 5-6 slices, in the bottom and around the sides.

For the cream cheese layer, process the cream cheese, nuts, Parmesan and 2 of the garlic cloves in a food processor until blended; scrape the mixture into a bowl and set aside.

For the pesto layer, process the basil, pine nuts, salt and pepper, and the remaining garlic clove in the food processor until blended. With the machine running, add the oil in a fine stream. Scrape this mixture into a second bowl and set aside.

jwa and I.

For the tomato layer, heat up a few cups of water until it is boiling. Add the tomatoes to a heat-proof bowl and cover with the water. Let set about 10 minutes and then drain. Squish the tomatoes with your hands a little to get out a bit more of the liquid. Then, add those to the food processor with the balsamic until they are paste-like.

Yeah, the one big pain about the recipe is that you need to use a food processor three times and clean it twice between uses. It’s worth it though!

My cosmo at 2nd Street Bistro — in the background, my aunt reaches for a bistro fry.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can:
* buy pesto at the store and just drain it a little before using to remove a little of the oil
* Crush the nuts and just whisk them and the minced garlic into room temperature cream cheese
* Chop the rehydrated sundried tomatoes very fine and then mix with the vinegar

When I made this in Montana, I just did a brief cream cheese layer, then the pesto, then the tomatoes, then the rest of the cream cheese. You can also layer it more like this — spread about 1/4 of your cream cheese mixture over the cheese slices lining the bowl. Next, layer the pesto mixture, half of the remaining cream cheese mixture, the sun-dried tomato mixture, and then remaining cream cheese mixture in the bowl. Fold down any overhanging provolone from the sides and cover with provolone as needed (after folding down, I needed one slice).

Walking around downtown Livingston.

Bring the edges of the plastic wrap together over the top. Refrigerate until firm (overnight works well, but 2-4 hours will work if it has to). Remove the plastic wrap and invert the mold onto a serving platter. Serve with crackers, bread or chips. A little of the pesto oil might leak out — no big deal. To serve, I would cut a slice out (like a pie piece) so that others won’t be afraid to dig into it and also so everyone can see how pretty it is inside.

Paula Deen says that this will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. I have not been able to test this theory out.

What to do with leftover cheeseball?
Well, the night after we got back, I mixed some of our leftovers into some polenta for a sundried tomato/pesto polenta. It was quite good.

We had the polenta with leftover meatloaf (I made it the first night in Livingston) and some braised brussel sprouts (scroll down for recipe).

We always have tons of yogurt in the house. Little containers of Tillamook Vanilla, Strawberry and Peach, as well of large containers of vanilla or honey for smoothies and plain yogurt for Indian-ish and Mexican-ish dishes.

So, when I saw Alton Brown make Yogurt Cheese on a Good Eats recently, I immediately went rummaging through my kitchen drawers looking for cheesecloth (I just knew I had some somewhere). Because — wow! Cheese from yogurt, you say? That’s sounds so fun.

After locating the cheesecloth and blending my yogurt and herbs together, five hours later I had this easy and tangy yogurt cheese spread. I used a seasoning blend that I had on hand, but fresh herbs could easily be used in this recipe. Chives, thyme and rosemary would be good. So would shallots, chives and tarragon — the possibilities are quite endless!

The secret is in separating the whey from the yogurt. The whey is the watery liquid that is strained from the yogurt, leaving the creamy, thicker yogurt cheese when you are done. Give this one a try.

Herbed Yogurt Cheese Spread
1 quart plain yogurt (low fat)
4 big cloves of garlic or 8 little cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp dried herb seasoning of your choice (I used Penzey’s Fox Point Seasoning — or you could also use a combination of fresh thyme, rosemary, chives or whatever herbs you’d like)
A dash of cayenne pepper

In a mixing bowl, add the garlic, lemon juice, chives and seasoning mix (or fresh herbs) to the yogurt and combine. Place mixture in cheesecloth (I doubled mine up), set over a colander, set over a large bowl.

Then, wrap the ends of the cheesecloth up over the yogurt to cover.

You will see it start to drip right away.

Weight the top down with a saucer and can on top and place in refrigerator for 4-6 hours.

When it is done draining, the consistency of the yogurt should be like cream cheese and you there will be a fair amount of liquid down in the bottom of the draining bowl.

Discard liquid and add salt and pepper to the yogurt cheese, to taste. Use the spread with crackers, vegetables, on baked potatoes or what-have-you. It’s creamy and very flavorful — and good for you too!

This recipe wasn’t so much an accident in the “oh, hey, edamame dip — how did that happen?” But in the, “okay now I do this and then this and…oops. I was supposed to do what? When?” She then makes a face and hits the button anyway.

But first, a little introduction. This is a great recipe out of the latest issue of Everyday Food. I love dips and hummus and foods of that nature, so I was very anxious to try this. I’m going to give you the actual recipe as written in the magazine first, then I’ll tell you how I messed it up — or perhaps made it better…or maybe made no difference at all.

Edamame Dip
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cups frozen shelled edamame (fresh, shelled edamame works well too)
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 to 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil

In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the edamame and garlic until beans are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain. In a food processor, purée edamame, garlic, lemon zest and juice, oil, and 1/2 cup water until very smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl. If needed, thin by adding water one tablespoon at a time. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day. (If needed, add additional water.) Serve with radishes and crackers, or perhaps some toasted flatbread or pita. Another idea, use it in a wrap just like you would hummus.

Ooops
Sometimes, when I see a recipe, I read it once, then I just kind of assume I can remember it. This was one of those times. You see, I skipped the whole, “In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the edamame and garlic until edamame are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain.”

I went right to the food processor with my soy beans, garlic, a little water and everything else. I hit pulse. Then I read through the next part and realized what I did — or didn’t do.

The verdict? Well, we both really liked it the way I did it. The dip had a very fresh taste (and I didn’t dirty an extra pan). Now, these were not frozen edamame, (I had found fresh ones at Trader Joes), so I’m not sure what difference that makes, if any. If you defrost the frozen ones first, it’s probably fine. My advice: try making the dip both ways — cooking the beans briefly and also using them as is, and see which is better.

Oh, I also added about one tablespoon of fat free yogurt to make it a bit creamer in my version. I love the creamy.

I am really liking these Weeekend Cookbook Challenges a lot, as I have many, many cookbooks and I use them all too rarely. This book is Matisse: A Way of Life in the South of France and it’s half cookbook and half Matisse biography with lots and lots of photos of…well, Southern France. And food and images of Matisse’s artwork. It is also a book that I have never made anything out of…until now!

Dahlias by Henri Matisse.

As southern France seems very sunny and orange to me, it’s no wonder I found a perfect recipe in this book. It’s simple, it’s tasty and well, it’s orange in color.

Grilled & Marinated Peppers:
Full Disclosure: I made a half recipe of this, as there are only 2 of us.
6 yellow or orange peppers
12 salted anchovy fillets (or, I used 1 tsp anchovy paste)
4 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt & freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wipe peppers and set whole on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Place in the center of oven for 25-30 minutes. Watch them closely and turn to cook all sides.

Place the peppers in a plastic bag and seal. Steam for 15 minutes. Remove stems and peel off the skin.

Cut the peppers in half and reserve any juice. If using anchovies, rinse them in cold water then soak in fresh water for 2 hours. Afterwards, dry anchovies on paper towels.

Sprinkle the bottom of a serving bowl with olive oil and arrange anchovy fillets along the bottom of the dish. If using anchovy paste, add to the dish and mix in with the oil. Spread the roasted peppers out on top.

Mince the garlic and whisk into the four tablespoons olive oil and reserved pepper juice. Whisk and pour on top of peppers. Season with ground black pepper. At this point, for fun, I sprinkled about 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar on the peppers as well.

Cover the dish and marinate overnight. Serve with crusty French bread and perhaps a bit of goat cheese the next day.

Tagged with: Weekend Cookbook Challenge

Art Bar
SW Broadway and Main
Portland, OR 97205
503-432-2905

Last weekend we went downtown to Portland Center Stage to see Drunk Puppet Night at the Winningstad Theatre. It was very entertaining and a nice evening out. There were big puppets, little puppets, a whole alien/ufo/puppet/mini-series and an odd yet very humorous performance art piece involving rubber chickens, a hula skirt, a George W. Bush mask, sex toys and a big inflatable globe (I bet you can guess kind of how that went…) Anyway, before all that wackiness ensued — there were the salad rolls.

First off, I love the image with the woman and the martini and the little animated bubbles here. So much fun. While at the Art Bar, I had a couple of cosmopolitans and although I had no little animated bubbles in mine, I enjoyed it.

The menu is small with just a few appetizers: Thai Salad Roll, Garlic Hummus with warm pita and Bruschetta. We split the salad rolls.

The image above is after we had eaten about two of them — is was quite a full plate, not bad for $7. And they were tasty. There are also some salads on the menu and just a few entrees:

Antipasto Platter
Proscuitto, Cappocollo, Salami, assorted cheeses, greek olives, roasted vegetables, sun dried tomato pesto.

Smoked Salmon Fettuccini
With vodka cream sauce, fresh herbs, shaved Asiago.

Fettuccini Ilissio
Smoked tomatoes, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, peppers and pine nuts tossed with basil infused oil and fresh herbs.

Grilled Prawn & Andouille Sausage Brochettes
Mesclun greens, sweet chili sauce, red pepper coulis.

ArtBar Burger
1/2 pound ground sirloin on ciabatta roll, blue cheese aioli, white balsamic glazed red onions, butter lettuce, tomatoes and crisp fries.

They also have a Happy Hour Menu from 4-6 that has a lot of assorted snacks on it.

At $14, the smoked salmon pasta is the most expensive thing on the menu — that’s what I got and I really liked it. It reminded me of this smoked salmon and wasabi cream pasta I used to make when we lived in Sunnyvale. Hmmm, I should look for the recipe, I think it was from Sunset Magazine. Oh, okay, I’m digressing here. jwa got the Fettuccini Ilissio and he seemed to enjoy his meal quite a bit.

The atmosphere is a little dark and candlelit. White tablecloths, mirrors. There’s also bar seating out under the rotunda.

Granted the convenience of eating there before the show might be the main reason we gave Art Bar a try, but I really enjoyed it! I’ll definitely want to go again the next time we see a play. Maybe even if we’re just walking around downtown and I suddenly feel the need for a cosmo — which could certainly happen.

Art Bar get three weird little puppets out of four.

Okay, so for this dinner for 26+ people, I took it a little easy on the starters. Little skewers with mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes, crostini with a white bean and sage dip and olives. See, easy.

The skewers were simply marinated mozzarella balls from Trader Joes and cherry tomatoes. I also experimented with putting olives on a few of them just for color. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s by you or you want to marinate the mozzarella yourself, here’s a good recipe.

Marinated Bocconcini
1 clove garlic, smashed, plus 1 other clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp chopped parsley
12 bocconcini (small mozzarella balls), about 8 ounces

Combine the garlic, salt, pepper flakes, and olive oil in a medium glass bowl. Cover and microwave on high until the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Cool. Add the parsley, minced garlic and bocconcini and refrigerate for at least 1 and up to 24 hours.

Then you simply skewer a cherry tomato and then a mozzarella ball. Fini.

Now repeat like 50 times.

Roasted Garlic and White Bean Dip with Sage
1 can white beans, drained
1 head of garlic, excess outer skin removed
1/4+ cup olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wrap garlic bulb in foil and roast 30-45 minutes until soft. Let cool until it can be handled easily.

Add beans to a food processor bowl. Squeeze roasted garlic paste out and add olive oil, lemon and sage. Process until smooth. Add more olive oil if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper. Serve with crackers or toasted baguette slices.

Happy Valentine’s Day
I know I am a big tease but I am going to cover the cookie flowers and talk about the dark chocolate and orange tart I made for the dinner on Wednesday.