Gluten Free · Grains · Nuts · Salad · Vegetable-related

Wild rice, tomato, mozzarella, pistachio and mint salad with tangy yoghurt dressing

January 7, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

A very healthy, interesting salad. A winner! Another great recipe from Aida Mollenkamp

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the tomatoes
3 tbsp champagne vinegar
Kosher salt and grund black pepper
pinch of sugar
1lb grape or cherry tomatoes
5 oz mixed baby greens such as kale, chard and tatsoi
8 green onions (scallions) , white and pale green parts thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
1/2 oz fresh mint, leaves torn just before serving
8 oz (or one large piece) of buffalo mozzarella

For the wild rice – Place 2 cups water or broth in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add a pinch of salt and stir in the wild rice. Bring everything back to a boil before reducing the heat to low to maintain a simmer.
Cook until the rice is chewy and tender but the grain is still intact, about 35 to 45 minutes.
Drain the rice in a sieve or fine-mesh colander, turn out onto a rimmed baking sheet and spread it out to cool.
Meanwhile, make the dressing.

For the dressing – Combine the yoghurt, olive oil, vinegar and a splash of water in a jar, close, and shake until well incorporated. To taste, dip a lettuce leaf in the dressing then add more sugar, salt or pepper , as desired.

For the salad – Halve the tomatoes and combine with a glug of oil and a pinch of salt, toss to coat and set aside briefly, at least 5 minutes. Meanwhile, tear the mozzarella into small chunks or if they’re ciliegine tear them in half.

When ready to serve, arrange the greens , tomatoes (without any juices) and scallions on a serving platter.
Toss the cooked wild rice with half of the dressing, then add to the salad.
Top with mozzarella, pistachios and mint and serve with additional dressing on the side

Do-ahead · Fish · Nuts

Quick salmon with a crunchy cheesy crust

January 6, 2014September 8, 2022 Belinda

Who would have thought this combination of flavors would work so brilliantly!! It’s fast, easy and gorgeous.

Serves 4

4x 6 oz salmon fillets, skin removed if you prefer

1/3 cup softened butter

4 tbsp toasted, slivered almonds

4 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated

Preheat the oven to 375 F

Season the salmon all over.

Liberally butter a shallow ovenproof dish big enough to take the fish in one layer.

Smear the salmon with the remaining butter

Mix together the almonds, parsley and Gruyere cheese, then press some on top of each piece of salmon.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and golden and the salmon is cooked.

Serve with baby buttered potatoes and a green salad.

Appetizer Vegetarian · Appetizers · Fish · Gluten Free · Grains · Nuts

Grilled parmesan polenta with olives, peppers, pine nuts and rosemary

January 5, 2014February 7, 2016 Belinda

So many wonderful Mediterranean flavors and gluten free!

Serves 8 as starter or 6 as a main course

2 1/2 pints water
1 tsp salt
1/2 lb polenta (It’s recommended to use the instant variety, which cooks in 5 minutes)
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 red peppers
1 yellow pepper
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives
3 anchovy fillets, drained of oil and squished (optional, but I love them)
1/4 cup fresh pine nuts
sea salt

Bring the water to the boil in a large wide (not tall and narrow) saucepan.
Add the salt, then shake in the polenta from a height. Stir continuously, using a wooden spoon.
When the polenta is cooked (5 mins for instant polenta and about 20 mins for regular polenta), stir in the butter and parmesan cheese.
Tip it on to a shallow tray and spread out to 1/2 inch thick. Smooth the surface and leave to cool. The cooked polenta can be left at room temperature for several hours, or it can be made a day in advance, but should be kept covered and refrigerated.

Blacken the peppers over a hot gas flame until well charred, put them into a paper bag (I use a paper grocery bag) and clip it shut so the peppers can steam until cool. This makes it easy to remove the skins.
When cool, remove the skins, core and seeds, put them into a colander over a bowl to catch any precious juices, and cut into fine slices.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a low heat in a small pan and add the garlic and rosemary. Cook gently until aromatic, but don’t let the garlic color.
Add the black olives and take off the heat, then stir in the peppers and any juices caught underneath the peppers.
If using anchovies, blend them into this mixture. This can all be prepared a few hours ahead; cover and keep it at room temperature.

Fry the pine nuts in a little oil until golden (make sure you keep moving them around in the pan or they will burn) and drain on a paper towel, sprinkling them with a little salt.

When ready to finish off the polenta, cut it into squares and brush it on both sides with olive oil.
Barbecue the pieces on both sides, or grill them on an indoor griddle until light brown and crispy.
Transfer the crispy pieces onto a serving platter, spoon on the pepper topping and add a smattering of toasted pine nuts.

Serve immediately with a good, interesting green salad.

Appetizers · Gluten Free · Meat

Baked mozzarella balls wrapped in prosciutto with a herb tomato sauce

January 5, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

Crispy prosciutto balls encompassing melting mozzarella with a herb flavored tomato sauce.

Serves 4

4 balls (4oz each) buffalo mozzarella
ground pepper
8 thin slices Italian prosciutto
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

Tomato Sauce
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp champagne vinegar
1/2 cup Passata (tomato puree)
6 plum (Roma) tomatoes, peeled and seeded
5 basil leaves
5 tarragon leaves
sea salt and ground pepper

To serve

a little chopped basil and tarragon
olive oil to drizzle

For the sauce heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a pan and sweat the shallot and garlic over low heat until soft.

Add the vinegar and cook for a further 3 – 4 minutes until reduced, then add the passata and tomatoes, and simmer for 3 minutes.

Add the herbs and remaining olive oil and cook over a very low heat for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick and a deep red.
Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then push through a coarse sieve and set aside.

Preheat an oven to 300 F. Season the mozzarella with pepper and roll up in the prosciutto allowing 2 slices per ball of cheese.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat until just smoking.
Place the parcels in the pan, and sear, turning constantly, until the outsides are well colored, about 1 minute.
Transfer the parcels to a baking dish and cook in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes.

Spoon the tomato sauce in the center of individual plates and sprinkle with the chopped basil and tarragon.
Set a mozzarella parcel on top, drizzle with olive oil and serve!

Baking

Divine Roquefort cookies

January 3, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

These just melt in your mouth and are gorgeous to serve with a nice red wine.

Makes 36 small ones

4 oz self raising flour
4 oz butter
2 oz really mature Cheddar cheese
2oz Roquefort or other blue cheese that is pungent
1/2 cup sesame seeds

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the butter
Crumble in the Roquefort.
Grate the cheddar cheese and add to the bowl.
Using your fingers, mix all the ingredients together well to form a dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 mins to 1 hour.
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until golden, stirring and watching they don’t burn.
Remove and set aside to cool.
Roll the dough into 36 balls and toss each ball in the sesame seeds, pressing to coat well.
Place the balls on a greased baking sheet and press on each one lightly with a fork to flatten a bit.
Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes or until golden.
Store them in an air tight container. (but you won’t have any left to store!)

Appetizer Vegetarian · Appetizers · Gluten Free · Grains

Griddled polenta cakes with caramelized onions, goat cheese and honey

January 3, 2014February 7, 2016 Belinda

This is a real winner, especially as a starter. Crispy polenta topped with sweet caramelized onions, slightly tangy goat cheese, then the drizzle of good honey.
You can caramelize the onions ahead of time so there’s very little left to do before you serve it. I always caramelize more onion than the recipe says as I love it.

Serves 6

Polenta
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup polenta
Extra virgin olive oil

Topping
1 medium yellow onion, halved and cut into 1/4 inch slices. ( I use 1 large onion at least)
kosher salt
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled (I have been known to use 4 oz goat cheese, so buy more, just incase)
good honey to drizzle

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring 2 cups water, the milk and the salt to a boil.
Slowly whisk in the polenta. Turn the heat down and continue to whisk for 5 minutes, or until the polenta is smooth and creamy. Spread the polenta into a 9” square baking dish and set aside to cool.

For the topping;
While the polenta is setting up, add the butter and olive oil to a heavy bottomed skillet set over medium low heat. Add the onion and a sprinkle of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, golden and caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.

Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil into another skillet set over medium heat. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles of the firm polenta and place in the hot skillet.
Cook until slightly browned and crusty on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and cook the other side, another 3 minutes. Work in batches, adding more oil as needed.

To assemble the polenta cakes, arrange them on a plate, top with 1 tbsp (or more) of caramelized onions and about 1 tsp (or more) of crumbled goat cheese and drizzle with honey.

Gluten Free · Meat

The Meatzza!

January 2, 2014February 8, 2016 Belinda

You will just love this, especially as it tastes so good and instead of a crust, it has a meatball-ingredient base with all the pizza qualities. You could even try it with an Italian sausagemeat base too. It doesn’t get much better than this. Thank you Nigella Lawson.

Serves 4 to 6

1 lb ground lamb
3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
3 tbsp breadcrumbs or quick cooking oatmeal, but not the instant one
3 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 clove garlic, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
butter, for greasing
1 x 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tsp garlic flavored oil
1 tsp dried oregano
4 oz fresh mozzarella (not buffalo) halved then sliced
a few fresh basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 425 F

In a large bowl, using your hands, combine the lamb, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs or oatmeal, parsley and eggs. Grate in (or mince and add) the garlic and add some salt and pepper.
Do not over work it, just lightly mix together or the meat will become compacted and dense.

Butter a shallow, round baking pan of about 11 inches in diameter and turn the meat into it, pressing the mixture lightly with your fingers to cover the bottom as if the seasoned ground meat were your pizza crust.

Make sure you’ve drained as much runny liquid as possible from the can of diced tomatoes, then mix the tomato with the garlic flavored oil, oregano and some salt and pepper and spread, using a rubber spatula, lightly on top of the meat base.
Arrange the mozzarella slices on top then put in the oven for about 25 minutes, by which time the meat should be cooked through and lightly set and the mozzarella melted.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes, then adorn with some of the fresh basil leaves and bring it to the table before cutting into wedges, like a pizza.

Appetizer Vegetarian · Appetizers · Holiday Food · Salad

Roasted Delicata Squash, Pomegranate and Arugula Salad

November 23, 2013February 8, 2016 Belinda

This is a gorgeous show stealer for the Thanksgiving table. You can roast the Delicata squash the day before if there is no room in the oven on the day.

Serves 4 to 8

Salad
2 medium delicata squash, around 1 and 1/4 lbs total
1 tbsp olive oil
Fine grain sea salt
4 heaping cups baby arugula (or mixed greens if you prefer)
2/3 cup pomegranate seeds (or a generous handful of dried cherries or cranberries)
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas) or pecans
4 oz Greek feta cheese, crumbled

Maple-balsamic vinaigrette
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp real maple syrup
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 F
Wash the squash and scrape off any tough bits of skin with a knife. Slice the squash into 1/2 inch rounds. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds from each round. Drizzle the squash with a generous tbsp of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Use your fingers to lightly coat all the surfaces of the squash with olive oil.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the squash is tender and golden, flipping halfway.

In a medium skillet over medium-low heat, toast the pepitas (or pecans), stirring frequently, until they are fragrant and lightly golden on the edges. Remove from the heat.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and Dijon mustard with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Once the squash has had a few minutes to cool, combine the arugula, pomegranate (or dried fruit), pepitas (or pecans), crumbled feta and squash in a serving bowl. Toss with enough dressing to lightly coat the leaves. Serve immediately.

Yields 4 substantial side salads or up to 8 small servings.
To make this recipe vegan, skip the feta or serve it on the side.