Game-free Game Night

We had our friends Jared and Malia over for dinner last night.  Originally, we planned on having a "game night" so I thought it only appropriate to create a menu consisting exclusively of finger-foods.  Well, we never got around to playing any games, but with the help of some lively conversation and a silverware-free dinner, the scrabble board was never missed.

Menu:

Spanish "skewers" 

Tuna tartare

Pea puree crostini

Sliders

Ice-cream sandwiches with salted caramel sauce

Skewer chunks of chorizo, manchego cheese, and halved green grapes onto toothpicks.  A sprinkle of orange zest and a drizzle of fruity olive oil add more Spanish flavor.

Use your favorite tuna tartare recipe (I like this one) and spoon heaping mounds into crunchy endive leaves for a tasty, cool bite.

Blend thawed frozen peas, fresh mint, garlic, parmesan,  olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor to make this vibrant green puree.  Spread onto toasted baguette slices and top with bacon.  

Make miniature versions of your favorite burgers for two-bite sliders.  I like to incorporate chopped shallot, fresh thyme and dijon mustard into the beef before grilling.  Top with melted gruyere, fresh tomato and arugula.  

Use your favorite chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice-cream to make these easy dessert sandwiches.  Freeze for at least two hours before enjoying.   I love this salted caramel sauce recipe.

The perfect bite.

Lean and Mean

In our household, we try to make our weeknight dinners a bit healthier. Don't get me wrong, the olive oil flows and the wine is sipped, but we try to incorporate more lean meats and vegetables during the week.  This is our routine not only because we want to eat in a healthful way, but, more importantly, so we can indulge all weekend without feeling guilty!  Pasta is something that we rarely eat during the week, mainly because it is usually quite heavy.  Never being one to deprive myself too much, I set out to create a lighter pasta dish for dinner this week.  The words "light" and "pasta" don't always go hand-in-hand, but with a few creative tweaks, it is achievable. Whole wheat pasta is delicious, full of fiber and filling.  Use fat free greek yogurt to make a surprisingly creamy sauce.  Add tons of vegetables to give your pasta vitamins and amazing summer flavor.  Prepare this pasta, pour yourself a cold glass of white wine and dig in. It's about time we all started enjoying pasta during the week, without the guilt.

Green Summer Pasta
Serves 4 (or 2 with leftovers for lunch the next day)

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, chopped into half moons, rinsed well
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup of corn kernels (from 1-2 ears of fresh corn or use frozen)
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup dry white wine (I like a citrusy Savignon Blanc here)
3/4 lb whole wheat linguini (3/4 box)
2 large handfuls fresh arugula
3/4 cup fat free greek yogurt
Juice from half a lemon
3 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil with a handful of salt.  Add the pasta and cook to al dente, according to the directions on the box.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the chopped leeks and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper. Cook until leeks are softened, 3-5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the wine, corn kernels and peas.  Stir together and cook for one minute.  Once the pasta is cooked, incorporate it right into the sauteing vegetables with about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water.  (The starch from the pasta water will help the yogurt form a sauce).  Add the yogurt and toss everything together until all of the pasta is coated with the creamy sauce.  Season again with salt and pepper to taste.  Turn the heat off and gently mix in the arugula, lemon juice, Parmigiano Reggiano (if using) and 2 Tbsp of the chopped parsley.  Once plated, top pasta with the remaining chopped parsley.

Note:  Please feel free to substitute your favorite veggies for what I've included above.

My husband Dave loves leeks, but chopped onions would work equally well in this dish.

Locally grown sweet corn.  

Fresh parsley brightens up so many dishes - I put mine in a glass of water to keep it fresher, longer.

Green, creamy and lovely.

Day Dreaming

A little secret about me . . .

For quite some time now I've dreamed of owning my own bakery.  A quaint hole-in-the-wall serving old fashioned treats.  Freshly frosted cakes, warm doughnuts, buttery-rich scones, chewy chocolate brownies and stacks of cookies.  I envision people sitting at the counter, shoulder to shoulder, sharing friendly banter, reading the paper, sipping coffee and indulging in a comforting afternoon treat.  Idyllic and simple. Cupcakes would surely be the main event, displayed neatly in rows from within my shiny glass display case. Delicious flavors made with all-natural and organic ingredients, loaded with butter and scratch-baked with love.  Well, needless to say, a cupcake bakery is no longer a unique concept. Brilliant, yes, but not unique.  Nonetheless, I have spent the last five years of my life trying to perfect my many personal cupcake recipes.  This has slowly evolved from a passionate hobby to an obsession.  I bake a lot of cupcakes and enjoy every minute of it.  One of my favorite flavors, and a proven hit with my taste-tester friends, is the classic red velvet cupcake.  Slightly tangy from fresh buttermilk and sweet from the soft cream cheese frosting, this cupcake really has it all. There are many variations on the red velvet cake recipe and even more stories as to how the recipe originated.  I choose to make mine with a little bit of cocoa powder, but, of course, there is no right or wrong way to make these.  The use of red food coloring (I know, I know, not exactly "all-natural") makes the red in red velvet.  Man, are they red.  And oh so satisfying.  Who knows, maybe one day I'll have that bakery.  And these would surely be on the menu.

BTW:  Two pioneers of the cupcake bakery explosion, Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Sprinkles, make my absolute favorite bakery cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 sticks softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar

2 L eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp vinegar
1 oz red food coloring

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp good cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz softened cream cheese 

1/2 stick softened unsalted butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp pure almond extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

4 cups powdered sugar (or to your liking)

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and move oven rack to the center position.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer with a large bowl) beat butter and sugar on low speed until light in color and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until each egg is incorporated. Scrape the bowl with a plastic spatula, making sure all of the ingredients are evenly combined. With the mixer off, add the vanilla, vinegar and red food coloring, being very careful not to splatter yourself.  On the lowest speed, mix until incorporated.  Scrape the bowl again.

With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mixture.  Once the flour is just incorporated, add the buttermilk.  Then add the remaining flour mixture, being sure not to over mix.  Turn off the mixer and gently mix the batter with your spatula to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.

Line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners and fill each liner 2/3 of the way full.  I prefer to use an ice-cream scoop to distribute the batter which ensures that all of my cupcakes are the same size.  Bake for 20-24 minutes or until the tops just barely spring back when gently pushed.  Be sure not to over-bake.

Allow cupcakes to sit on a wire rack until completely cooled.  Generously top each cake with cream cheese frosting (see below).

Frosting:

Using a hand mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy and combined. Add salt, vanilla and almond extract.  Mix until combined.  Slowly add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition until completely combined.  Eventually, your frosting should be the consistency of slightly softened ice-cream.  The amount of sugar needed may be a bit more or less than suggested above, depending on the softness of your butter and cream cheese.  

Tip:  To ensure that your butter, eggs, buttermilk and cream cheese are all at room temperature, leave them out on your counter overnight.

Red food coloring puts the red in red velvet.

These cupcake liners remind me of Paris.

An ice cream scoop makes the perfect cupcake every time.

Top your mini cakes with that delicious, creamy frosting.

Anytime is the right time for a cupcake.

Backyard Wonders

Nothing says summer like a homegrown tomato.  They just taste better.  As a gardening novice,  I decided to plant one pot of cherry tomatoes this summer and have been thrilled with the results.   This plant has been rapidly producing shiny, red, juicy, sweet fruit with surprisingly little effort and no chemicals.  Happily, Dave and I have been devouring them as fast as we can pick them.  As an alternative to the joy that comes from popping them in my mouth straight off the vine, I've found that sauteing the tomatoes in a cast iron skillet is a brilliant way to bring out their sweet flavor.  A little olive oil, salt and pepper and some chopped fresh herbs is all you need to make a beautiful, quick and easy tomato jam. Cooked just until they blister and soften into a gorgeous red mash, the possibilities for this dish are endless: Tossed with freshly boiled pasta and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, spooned over grilled chicken, mounded atop crusty toasts that have been rubbed with raw garlic, pureed into a chunky tomato soup, poured over a creamy ball of burrata, or simply eaten as-is with a second sprinkling of chopped herbs.  All simple flavors, all delicious and all tasting of summertime.

Fresh pick of the day.

A little olive oil into a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Toss in tomatoes, salt, pepper and chopped fresh herbs - I like a mix of basil, thyme and parsley.

Cook until the tomatoes burst open and become juicy.

Enjoy.

My Favorite Lunch

When I'm home for lunch, the meal I make myself most often involves no recipe and only a few basic things: crusty bread, cheese and some sort of a salad. This weekend I used the end of a baguette, some nutty gruyere and a handful of peppery arugula.  A little time under the broiler and a basic vinaigrette, it's amazing how easily a really delicious lunch can be constructed with the simplest of stuff. I love this meal because it makes me feel a little bit healthy, a little bit French and totally satisfied. A few drops of rich white truffle oil doesn't hurt either.

Bread and cheese.

I whisk up a simple vinaigrette while the cheese melts under the broiler.  

Arugula + vinaigrette + clean hands = easy salad.

A small drizzle of truffle oil over the still bubbling cheese. 

Lunch.

Paris in November

Me, on a park bench in front of the Louvre with a bag of delicious treats from La Grande Epicerie de Paris. 

Bogart Loves is a long time in the making. Being my first blog, I am excited to use it to write about the things I love. I am a girl inspired and motivated by many things, especially food. I look forward to sharing all of the things that excite me, are beautiful to me and keep my belly full.