figs & prosciutto

This combination of figs and Prosciutto might be one of my favorite summer bites.
Quick to come together and easy to serve.  Every chef and cook I know is making some variation of this at this time of year. The only difficulty I usually have, is grabbing them at the Farmer's Market in the short window of time they are available. This summer it seemed they were only around for a couple of weeks - and only being sold by a few farmers. 
I, of course, scooped up whatever I could get my hands on and served them every chance I had. 

This appetizer started our most recent TK dinner.

I did some with Goat cheese and some with Parmesan cheese. I like both although usually I prefer the hard cheese. These were pan fried in the one non-stick pan I own (was just easier) Then finished with a drizzle of wildflower honey, fresh pepper and thyme.

Easy.

Delicious.

YOU WILL NEED:

Figs

Prosciutto

Goat cheese or Parmesan cheese

Honey

Fresh thyme

Pepper

TO DO:

Slice all the figs in half lengthwise.

Slice all your prosciutto so you have long thin pieces.

Pick your cheese then put a small piece right in the center of each fig.

Wrap each fig/cheese segment with Prosciutto.

Pan to medium/medium high heat.

Place several bites in the hot pan with the seam side down.

Doing this side first helps to keep the fig wrapped and everything looking pretty.

Cook just until the prosciutto is crisp. 

Then flip and cook the other side.

Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel.

When ready to serve, arrange as many pieces as you can onto your serving platter.

Drizzle with a scant amount of honey.

Add pepper then finish with the thyme leaves.

Enjoy.

The following photo I am adding because these were the tiniest, cutest figs I've ever seen! Probably about the size of cippolini onions. So cute!

dinner @Tate's / august 2013

What do you mean school starts in exactly two weeks??? For some reason this realization just hit me and sent me into a slight panic. Needless to say, I am not ready. Not ready to no longer have my little sidekick with me most every minute of every day. Her and her little antics and constant dialogue and dancing and singing around the house are already missed. I'm a somewhat sad mom right now. Yes...I know...all of you are rolling your eyes at me...why am I here? the reason you're here? oh yes...my dinner post...(sniff...sniff...)

The Summer of Seafood has run it's course. For now anyway. Who knows what will show on the menu for September. In addition to testing recipes for all sorts of seafood I've also been dealing with all the produce that has been given to me. An unbelievably fantastic array of pears, peaches, apples, plums, grapefruit, onions, peppers, tomatoes, on and on this has gone. It has been AWESOME. I have canned and pickled. Made jams, jellies and chutneys. Cooked all of it every which way I think my family will eat it. And for this months dinner I wanted to try and incorporate some of the items that have been swallowing up my kitchen and my fridge. Therefore, we started Sunday dinner with a simple Caprese salad.

(I know - that whole list of produce I just mentioned and I threw some tomatoes and cheese on a plate???!!! What kind of kitchen is this? HA)

Next up was a Brie wheel baked in puff pastry with my homemade spiced peach jam - served with wheat crackers (I was trying to add some nutritional value to this appetizer...think it worked?)

This is one of the worst photos ever but you get the idea.

I let this settle with the guests for a bit and just kept the wine flowing (Best Hostess Ever!) Then served this salad of grapefruit, garlic and ginger marinated shrimp on a bed of arugula, radishes and more heirloom tomatoes with toasted panko crumbs. Additional marinade was quickly boiled and served as dressing - Delicious!

This was followed by an entree of mussels cooked with beer, bacon, tomatoes and thyme. Served with a little homemade wheat pasta and pretzel bread toasts.

I also had a bunch of corn and cherry tomatoes from my market visit so I did a quick succotash sort of dish with fresh basil.

Now I REALLY needed to let everyone sit and rest for a minute (and of course kept the wine flowing) I think everyone was pretty full at this point but I had already made dessert soooooo.....buck up little campers.....here's some homemade plum and brandy ice cream with a drizzle of hot fudge sauce and toasted almonds

Followed immediately by these apple handpies served with the same hot fudge sauce on the side - just in case anyone wanted to put themselves completely over the edge.

WHEW! So what should we have for September dinner@Tate's Kitchen? Thoughts? Suggestions? I promise to not let my tears from missing my daughter get into the food.

:-)

cherry and plum bruschetta

One of the appetizers at the last dinner @Tate's Kitchen. Fresh cherries and plums from my morning Farmers Market visit. A loaf of good bread. A little sweetened ricotta. Salt and pepper and extra virgin olive oil. 
Serve it up!

Filling - but light and refreshing all at the same time.

adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit magazine

YOU WILL NEED:

2 plums - halved, pitted, thinly sliced
1 cup cherries - halved, pitted, sliced if desired
1 tablespoon sugar 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 of a fresh vanilla bean 
(you can use vanilla extract - but the bean is so much better)
1 cup whole milk ricotta
1 tablespoon lavender honey 
(if you have - if not use a good regular honey)
1 teaspoon (or so) herbs de Provence
fresh mint

a loaf of really good french bread 
(you're not going to use it all for this but who buys a half loaf? not me...)
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper

TO DO:

oven to 350

halve and pit all that stone fruit.
(and if anyone has a magic way to do this with cherries without using some fancy device please let me know)
all fruit into a large bowl.
scrape the vanilla bean and add the scrapings to the fruit. 
add the 1 tablespoon sugar (I actually used a little less - but taste and see what you think) and a pinch of salt.
mix well.
set aside.

in a medium bowl add the ricotta, honey, herbs de provence and a little salt and pepper.
mix well.
taste.
add salt and pepper as needed.
i would now leave this in the refrigerator until you're ready to use.
and By The Way - this can be made a day ahead of time - just wrap and cover well and store.

slice the baguette.
brush with olive oil.
bake until top is golden brown and edges are just getting crispy.
about 10 minutes or so.

let the toast cool for a few minutes then assemble.

toast.
spread some ricotta cheese mixture on top.
gently place some slices of plums and cherries.
drizzle very little extra virgin olive oil across the top.
couple turns of pepper.
sprinkle a bit of freshly chopped mint.

serve immediately.

bittersweet chocolate cremeux

I'm on a roll today with the computer so I figure I'll just keep going until my eyeballs fall out of my head. Edit edit edit...upload 9 bajillion photos to Flikr and Facebook...edit some more...label...tag...organize...someone pour me a beer stat!

Anyway...
This was one of the desserts served at the June TK dinner - in addition to Florentines and Lemon curd filled thumbprint cookies - I know...I'm nuts for making all those treats. But this little dish just HAD to make an appearance because it is delicious! I served it with a raspberry coulis, fresh berries, cream and chocolate shavings. All gone.

From the July issue of Food and Wine magazine. 

If you love chocolate this is the dessert for you.

YOU WILL NEED:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

5 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

9 ounces dark (or bittersweet) chocolate

sweetened whipped cream

chocolate shavings

fresh berries for garnish (optional)

TO DO:

chop the chocolate - place into a good sized heatproof bowl - set aside.

medium saucepan - add the heavy cream and whole milk - bring to a simmer over medium heat.

turn off heat.

in a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar and salt until creamy.

add very little of the hot cream to the egg mixture whisking continuously.

gradually add the hot mixture to the egg mixture until it is all incorporated.

everything back into the saucepan and back onto the stove - medium low heat.

stir constantly! until custard is thickened and coats the back of a spoon - 

5 to 6 minutes.

pour the custard over the chopped chocolate.

let stand until chocolate is melted - just a couple of minutes.

whisk the cremeux vigorously until smooth.

pour into a shallow glass or ceramic dish.

press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until set - overnight is best.

when ready - spoon into bowls - add a dollop of cream - add chocolate shavings - berries - serve.

avocado lime soup with fresh crab

What can I tell you about this? I served this soup as one of the appetizers at my last TK dinner and it received quite the rave reviews. I could probably have served this as a meal in itself with just some good bread - but there was a lot of food still to come out so appetizer it was. It comes together pretty quickly and in this Sacramento heat is quite refreshing. I think I originally found this in an old issue of Food and Wine. I of course made a couple changes based on flavor and the need to prep ahead of time. I also HIGHLY recommend you only use fresh crab - we did do a tasting with imitation crab and that was a definite "no go". If you love avocado you will truly enjoy this dish.

YOU WILL NEED:

4 avocados - pitted, peeled, cut into chunks

2 or 3  cups vegetable stock or broth

1 cup cold milk

3 to 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice

(I like lots of lime juice - I may have used almost 1/2 cup)

about 1/4 pound crabmeat

4 radishes - sliced thin

cilantro - rough chop

salt 

pepper

cayenne pepper

TO DO:

puree the avocados in a food processor with half the lime juice, the milk and 2 cups of vegetable stock until smooth.

add a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt and pepper.

give it a couple more pulses and taste.

here i added another couple tablespoons of lime juice and a couple more pinches of cayenne pepper.

at this point it's pretty thick - keep adding vegetable stock until you reach a consistency you like.

taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.

when ready - ladle into bowls, garnish with a sprinkling of fresh pepper, the sliced radishes, the crabmeat and the cilantro.

serve immediately.

dinner @Tate's / march 2013

"mom, are wet willies bad?"
"YES! They are the leading cause of deafness in children your age because some dumb kid sticks his finger in your ear and punctures your eardrum and the doctor's can't fix an eardrum so you go deaf!"

Yes.....I really did give Ada that explanation. And Yes.....I am fully prepared for the day she realizes I have lied to her over and over again in the interest of safety and an all-consuming love - beginning with explanations about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

This has nothing to do with this post or the dinner we hosted last Sunday.
This is merely the latest in a string of rather odd questions coming from our eight year old. The things they pick up at school? 
.....sigh.....why can't they just stay little?

Anyway, back to what I'm doing here.
March dinner @Tate's came on the heels of the LdV Renaissance FAire.
Crazy, I know. Two giant events in three days! I was nuts.
But the RenFaire was a huge success and dinner went swimmingly and then I went to bed! WHEW!

Some photos from the dinner follow. And I will get a few of these recipes up here soon. Especially my new favorite way to prepare cauliflower. Delicious.

We started with these grown up grilled cheese bites.

 I know...a little heavy for a starter but they are SO good. 

I did serve the above after. Something nice and light right? Endive with my canned pears, candied pecans and a sprinkling of Gorgonzola. Some fresh pepper. Empty platter!
Ive posted these before so here is the link...
http://www.tateskitchen.com/2011/11/endive-spears.html

Next came this crazy mess of a salad. Arugula and mixed greens with blanched asparagus and peas. White beans. A gently hard-boiled egg. Pecorino cheese and the best buttermilk, pepper dressing ever!

After salad I served Osso Bucco. One day I will make this dish and have A beautiful photo to share! (This was not the day)

I think I've mentioned before that for presentation purposes one must tie the veal shanks. 

I forgot...again...

one day...

This was served with a saffron orzo and a horseradish gremolata.

And my new favorite way to prepare cauliflower.

Finally dessert! (The guests are required to eat dessert regardless of how full they are from the first million courses! I made it! You will eat it!)

I made a Bailey's Irish Cream ice cream and served it with these homemade Thin Mint cookies. Thank you to the Girl Scouts for the inspiration to make my own.

Then finally, we finished the evening with these citrus possets. Thank you Sarah for the reminder! 

Rich but light. Perfect finish.

And that was it!

I will hopefully get many of these recipes up on this blog soon.

A thousand thank you's to all the attendees.

Look forward to seeing - and hearing - you all at our table again soon.

dinner @Tate's / february 2013

Well, 2013 is starting off with a bang for our monthly dinners! The February dinner table was full, menu turned out terrific, everyone had a fantastic evening. And as usual, the latest issue of Food and Wine was the inspiration. Nothing like completely revamping a menu just because you received a new magazine right? Sure it's the last minute. I'm not worried. I can do this.

whew.....

I need to stop doing that.

Anyway, here's what I served:

Straight off of Pinterest came these little Cucumber roll appetizers.

These will actually be filed under "who in their right mind has this kind of time"??? Although they are absolutely delicious and even more adorable when all lined up on a little serving plate - they probably won't ever make an appearance again (seriously? who has this kind of time???)

So in order to maintain my sanity, I decided to change it up a little bit and serve this appetizer two ways. The second version was much more user friendly and did wonders for my psyche. I did roll maybe a dozen of the little bites above before deciding to use the toast.

Here's the second version,

Not even really sure what to call these. I guess calling them 'cucumber bites' will do - for now.

After the cucumber craziness was a little puff pastry bite with a creamy Brie and chive spread.

(photo? what photo?)

This little salad came next. Roasted carrot and avocado with a spicy citrus dressing. 

D E L I C I O U S

Main course was spiced chicken with a coconut caramel sauce and a fresh pineapple and grapefruit salsa. March issue of Food and Wine - make this!

Served the above with chive and parsley mashed potatoes and bacon wrapped asparagus (again - photo?)

Finally dessert!

There were lemon cheesecake bars with lemon curd and confectioners sugar.

Coconut macaroons.

Then a dark chocolate mousse served with a raspberry coulis and fresh berries.

You think everyone was full?

I think so.

I will get recipes for most of the dishes up on this blog soon.

stay tuned.....