The other day I was searching around and came across a recipe for onion marmalade. I tried it, tweaking it quite a bit so let’s just call it mine. Okay then. Anyway, here’s what I ended up with. Delicious! Great on bread, chicken, uh, turkey* and anything else you could think to slather it on.

Sweet Onion Marmalade
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups chopped onions (about 1 huge onion — I used a sweet onion)
1.5 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup port wine
1 sprig rosemary
1/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp currants
Salt & pepper

Heat the butter and olive oil in medium heavy saucepan. Add onions and a light sprinkle of kosher salt. Cook for about 6 minutes.

Next, add the sugar and rosemary sprig and continue cooking until onions are very soft and browned, about 15 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed.

Add the vinegar and port and simmer for a while, about 5 minutes. A lot of the liquid will evaporate and you’ll be left with a loose, syrupy brown glob. It’s done! Remove the rosemary sprig and stir in the currants.

Taste and then salt and pepper as needed. Before serving, sprinkle the top with the fresh chopped rosemary.

Store in the fridge and then serve at room temperature.

* Ahhh, Thanksgiving. It’s kind of nice to say that this year we are going to James’ aunt’s house (hooray!) and I am not cooking. That gives me a year to think about next year’s menu! Ha!

A couple of weeks ago, when the weather was nice and cool, a big pot of melted cheese sounded like a great idea. Lately, with the temperature in the high 80’s, not so much.

But, we can relive those memories right here. This is based on a recipe in Fondue: Great Food to Dip, Dunk, Savor and Swirl by Rick Rodgers. This is the same cookbook that I used for my last fondue experiment, Cheddar, Roasted garlic annd Zinfandel fondue.

For this one, I changed a number of things from the original recipe — used half and half instead of cream, decreased the cream cheese, added the wine and added more seasonings.

For Fondue
1 cup half & half
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup white wine (I used a pinot grigio)
1 garlic clove, minced
4 oz cream cheese, cut into small cubes, at room temperature
8 oz goat cheese (chevre), crumbled with a fork, at room temperature
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp minced fresh basil
1 tbsp minced fresh chives
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp minced fresh marjoram — (or any combination of fresh herbs that you want to use — just shoot for about 3 - 4 tablespoons total)
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
Optional: 1 1/2 tsp Fox Point seasoning (This is a blend of dried shallots, garlic, chives and green peppercorns and I really love it in stuff like this)

For Dipping
Crusty bread
Blanched broccoli or cauliflower florets
Diced, cooked chicken or turkey
Diced green apples

In a small pan or stove-top fondue pot, heat the half and half, wine and garlic over medium heat until bubbles appear around edges of the mixture. Gradually whisk in cream cheese until smooth.

In a medium bowl, toss the goat cheese with the cornstarch, mustard and shallot seasoning blend, if using.

Gradually whisk the goat cheese into half and half/wine/cream cheese mixture until smooth. Cook gently since overheating makes goat cheese grainy. Continue to whisk gently until the goat cheese melts and it is all creamy. Stir in remaining ingredients (the herbs and the lemon juice).

Taste, add salt and pepper as needed. Okay. Just one taste you. Leave some for the rest of us.

If you need to, transfer mixture to a fondue pot kept warm by a votive candle or flaming gel thingie. Since I just made mine in the stove-top safe fondue pot, I just carried it into the dining room and set it on the base, over the gel flame (on low).

Dip the bread, broccoli, apple and chicken into the fonddue. I found doubling up on the chicken and apple to be especially tasty in the creamy, herby cheese.

Also this week: salads, salmon and almond cake. Woo!

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).

This recipe is from Fondue: Great Food to Dip, Dunk, Savor and Swirl by Rick Rodgers. I think I’ve had it for about five years but I haven’t used it before this batch of fondue. Why use it now? Well, jwa got me this awesome fondue pot for my birthday! It was on my Amazon wish list but I didn’t really expect to get it (because, dude, it’s a $135(!!) fondue pot), and he completely surprised me with it.

I thought he was going to get me the tea kettle on my list and I picked up the box and thought, “Damn. This is very heavy for a tea pot.” Well, that’s because it was a cast iron fondue pot. Hooray!

For the first recipe, I thought and thought. Then I thought about it some more. What is worthy of the first fondue in this great new pot? Well, one that has red wine, a whole block of Tillamook extra sharp cheddar and two heads of roasted garlic, that’s what.

For the fuel, I went to the Williams-Sonoma by work and got a 3-pack of those gel tubs for fondue pots. It worked just fine in the burner. Oh and in my haste to start snacking (I mean, c’mon — it’s a whole pot of melted cheese and wine!!!), I forgot to wipe down the edges of the pot. So, pictures are not as pretty but we were dipping faster. Hey, it’s a trade off I’m willing to live with.

Cheddar, Roasted Garlic and Zinfandel Fondue
1 cup Zinfandel wine
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup roasted garlic puree (2 heads of garlic, roasted, then squeezed out and mashed with a fork)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Start by preparing your dippers. Cut up the bread, blanch the broccoli and brown the sausage.

When that is all done, bring the zinfandel and red wine vinegar to a simmer in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Then, in a bowl, toss the grated cheeses with the cornstarch. Add a handful of the cheese at a time to the simmering wine and vinegar, stirring until melted. Continue adding by the handfuls until it is all incorporated.

Next, whisk in the roasted garlic and add the pepper flakes. Taste and add a little salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer the fondue to a fondue pot and serve immediately. Keep hot over a fondue burner. Dip with broccoli, browned turkey sausage and hunks of bread — we used cubes of pumpernickel and some olive ciabatta.

For the broccoli, I just blanched the broccoli in boiling water for about 2 minutes.

Using the cheddar worked pretty well. The fondue had a very smooth consistency at first but towards the end of the pot, it did get a little grainy. I didn’t mind too much (and jwa not at all) because the flavor was so good. I’m thinking some sort of chocolatey dessert fondue next.

Do you like to live life a little dangerously? How about making your own mayonnaise/tartar sauce and buying $15 worth of halibut for a little kitchen experiment? Sound like fun? Well, it was — but only because these turned out deee-licious! It could have been deeee-sasterous! Okay, I am done now. I think I was channeling Rachael Ray for a minute there. Glad that is over.

Also, we hired a contractor (yay!). We are in the book and have a marmoleum installation date for 10/30. Thank you, Linoleum City and DJ’s Floors. I would go into my rant here about how much disdain I have for another certain marmoleum seller in the area but I will wait until we get our $100 deposit back. The deposit they requested before we could even get an estimate. But, these halibut cakes were so good that I don’t want to complain about ______’s ______ _________ in the same post as I talk about this meal.

So, let’s get back to the awesomeness of these fish cakes and I will bitch about trying to get our floor done in another post. Oh, this is an Emeril recipe. He’s a little gimmicky but he sure knows his food. I have replaced the “Essence” of Emeril (uhhh) with Old Bay, which, if AB likes it, it’s good enough for me!

Another thing — this is one of those recipes where you make the last part listed (the tartar sauce) first. Crazy!

To Poach the fish:
1 pound Alaskan halibut fillets
1 lemon, quartered
1/4 tsp salt
4-5 pepercorns
pinch of red pepper flakes
handful of parsley

Start by poaching the fish. Add enough water to come up about two inches in a large skillet. Add the salt, parsley, 2 lemon quarters, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and add the fish. Poach until done, about 10 minutes or until it flakes nicely with a fork. Remove from the pan, flake apart completely and set aside to cool.

Tasty Halibut Cakes:
1/2 cup unseasoned fine bread crumbs + 1/4 cup more (I used panko — Japanese breadcrumbs because I bought some at Trader Joe’s a little while back and have been waiting to use them in something)
1/4 of a white onion
1 (healthy) tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions, green parts only
2 tsp chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped dill
2 tbsp mayonnaise (store bought or homemade)
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Chopped parsley to garnish

In a large bowl, combine the halibut, 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs, Old Bay, salt, cayenne, green onions, parsley, dill, mayonnaise, and egg.

Fold together with the mixing implement of your choice, gently bringing the halibut and bread crumbs together. Shape the mixture into 4 cute little patties. Dredge each one lightly in the 1/4 cup of remaining bread crumbs (shaking off excess) and place on a plate. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the cakes and cook until golden, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and serve with the remaining lemon wedges and your homemade tartar sauce.

What homemade tartar sauce? Why this one — the one you made an hour ago.

Homemade Tartar Sauce:
So, this has raw egg in it. If you don’t want to eat raw egg or you shouldn’t eat raw egg, go buy some mayonnaise at the store and add the ingredients from the parsley down to what you buy. It’ll still be good!
1 large egg
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tbsp chopped green onions, green parts only
1/4 cup drained sweet pickle relish
3 cloves garlic, minced

To make the mayonnaise (the first step towards tartar sauce), in a food processor or blender, combine the egg, lemon juice and Dijon mustard.

Process on high speed for 15 seconds. With the motor running, pour the oil through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream and process until emulsified. Add the salt and cayenne, and pulse to blend.

Mix in the remaining ingredients and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. But, eat this within 24 hours and discard any leftovers.

Mmmm…a little crunchy on the outside, soft and flaky on the inside.

This month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge is picnic food. This is a great topic as it is very open — there are so many foods that make for excellent picnic-fare. For this assignment, I reached for a very underused cookbook in my collection, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. After a few minutes, I picked my recipe — Greek Lima Bean Dip.

You might be asking, “Huh?” But, yes! Greek Lima Bean Dip, I say! I love humus-like dips. I am always looking for new ones to try and I think they are perfect picnic foods. Sure, dips are not the main attraction like sandwiches or fried chicken or what have you, but the side dishes play a very important role. The role of snack. So here, without further introduction or justification, is this great little picnic dip. It was very fresh tasting and the lemon/oregano/garlic combo did indeed give it a nice Greek flavor.

Oh, okay, wait. A couple of other things — 1. it saves well for a few hours at a picnic, as there’s no mayo in it (the tablespoon of yogurt I added is optional). 2. I changed the dill the recipe calls for to oregano, used more olive oil and added more garlic and lemon.

Greek Lima Bean Dip
3 cups cooked lima beans (2 15-oz cans or use frozen and just cook them according to the instructions.)
4 garlic cloves
Juice of 2 lemons (and a few strands of zest)
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1 tbsp fresh mint
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tbsp plain, low-fat yogurt (optional)
1/3 cup red or sweet onion, chopped roughly
salt & pepper to taste

This is the best kind of recipe — throw everything in the food processor, (except the olive oil, yogurt, salt and pepper) and process until combined well and it looks like a rough paste. Stream in the olive oil until it comes together.

Taste — add salt and pepper. If you want it a little creamier, add the yogurt. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and some lemon zest. Serve with toasted pita, crackers or use in a wrap.

It’s excellent, whether eaten outdoors on a blanket or in front of the tv, where you accidentally started watching Supergroup and now you are ashamed to be sucked in — will Ted Nugent beat up Sebastian Bach over his excessive drinking???!! Aghh — I need to keep watching to find out!

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 is from a recent Everyday Food and it was really, really good. We used it for a sauce with soba noodles, grilled shrimp and some chopped tomatoes but I couldn’t help but think that it would be a great dip for veggies or a spread on a vegetable or grilled chicken wrap. It’s very thick, so as a sauce it works best as a topping or a side. When I tried to mix it with the noodles they both melded together and became…well…cement-like. But — very good tasting cement! So, just stick to using this to top your noodles or rice (instead of trying to combine the sauce) and you’ll be absolutely fine.

I also upped the curry powder called for in the original recipe (1 tsp) and I’d be tempted to decrease the brown sugar just a bit. Maybe start with 1/2 tbsp, taste and add the other 1/2 tbsp if you think it’s needed.

Cashew Curry:
1 slice of ginger, about 1/4 inch thick
3/4 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
1/3 cup plain low-fat (or fat free) yogurt
1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp curry powder — I used Maharajah curry powder from Penzey’s
Kosher salt to taste

In a food processor, pulse ginger until finely chopped. Add 3/4 cup cashews; process until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. This will become paste-like. Mine actually turned into a ball after about 2 minutes. Fun!

Add yogurt, cilantro, brown sugar, and curry powder. Process until everything is incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides at least once. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Serve with shrimp, grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, rice, noodles or whatever you feel like! Use as a dip. Make a wrap. Eat it with a spoon — it’s fabulous!

To heat the sauce, I would just warm it in a pan over very low heat. Don’t boil or get too hot or the yogurt might curdle. Although, the fat from the nuts would probably help keep it from doing so, but I am no Alton Brown — I am just guesing here. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered, up to 3 days.

***

In other news, Je Mange la Ville is getting a new look. Coming very soon. Woo!

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.

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.