Caprese Salad Grilled Cheese

Someone should build a monument to the grilled cheese sandwich.

Say what you will about burgers or hot dogs, I don’t think any other dish is as well loved as this one. We should preserve one in a time capsule and send it to another universe so whoever eventually gets it will know how good the food is here.

Anyone old kind of grilled cheese sandwich will do. The plain old classic works: cheddar or American cheese on white bread. But few would argue the merit of variations.

Like this one: caprese salad grilled cheese panini made with fresh mozzarella cheese, ripe red tomatoes, fragrant basil and fruity olive oil inside a crusty hunk of ciabatta, fried to a crisp in a little butter.

It’s the perfect light lunch or supper, weekend brunch dish. Excellent choice for Shavuot, the “cheese” holiday.                                                                                                                                                                                 

Caprese Salad Grilled Cheese    

•   ciabatta bread (or 2 slices sourdough bread)

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 3-1/2 to 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

• 3-4 slices fresh tomato

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

• 2 teaspoons butter

Cut the bread to make two sandwich size slices from the loaf. Brush or spoon one teaspoon olive oil on each bread slice. Place the cheese on one of the bread slices. Place the tomato slices on top of the cheese. Scatter the basil on top. Cover with the second bread slice. Melt half the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, place the sandwich in the pan. Weight down the sandwich (use a large pan with a saucepan or cans inside; or use a panini grill). Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom slice of bread is crusty and brown. Lift the sandwich using a rigid spatula. Add the remaining butter to the pan. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the sandwich, uncooked side down. Replace the weights. Cook for another 3 minutes or until the bottom is crusty and brown and the cheese is melted.

Makes one sandwich

Spinach Feta Cheese Pie

Several couples I know, fellow food-bloggers, have recently had babies, one just a day or so before Mother’s Day. I’m sure their families and the friends who live close by to them will lend a hand. Life is always so hectic and emotional after a baby is born and new moms and dads can always use extra help.

In our family we have tried to anticipate a birth by a few weeks and get together to cook foods that can be packed into containers and stored in the freezer, so that cooking dinner won’t be another something to do during the first week or so after the baby is born when everyone is tired.

We’ve made carrot soup and something we call "green soup" because most of the time — but not all — we use dried green split peas and the liquid part looks sort of green. We’ve cooked baked ziti and our famous, family, tried-and-true butter cookies. And more.

But the favorite is always Spinach Pie. We make a dairy version with feta cheese and a non-dairy version using sauteed mushrooms. This dish freezes well, it’s easy to defrost and pop into the oven (we freeze the pies before baking them). Spinach pie is suitable for lunch or dinner or even as a side dish.

If someone in your life has had a baby recently, why not give them a break and cook some food for them?

Here’s the family Spinach Pie recipe, dairy version:  

SPINACH FETA CHEESE PIE

2 10-ounce packages frozen whole leaf spinach, thawed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 large eggs

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill

freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 sheets phyllo dough

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the spinach and mix well. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the eggs, feta cheese, Parmesan cheese, dill and pepper. Mix well and place in a baking dish. Top with 4 layers of phyllo dough each brushed with melted butter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 4-8 servings (as main course or side dish)

Meyer Lemon Yogurt Pie

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right? Or lemon pie, lemon bars, lemon vinaigrette. And so on.

That’s exactly what I did, years and years ago, when one of Ed’s business associates moved to California and mentioned the lemon trees in his backyard. He had so many lemons that he wanted to send us a box.

They were the strangest looking lemons I’d ever seen. Thin-skinned and vaguely orange. They also tasted sweeter than the standard, in fact, they tasted almost as if it were some kind of lemon mixed with an orange.

This was in the pre-Google search era. No one I knew had ever heard of a Meyer lemon.

In fact, Meyer lemons, which seem so familiar now, popped into popularity only about a decade ago. And when they started appearing in supermarkets during the winter I realized what I had in that box all those years before.

I had used those lemons in all the recipes I cooked that called for lemon juice and peel. It worked, though not perfectly. Meyer lemons are sweeter and they don’t have the tang and pop of a standard lemon, so they’re not ideal for recipes that need a lemony acidity.

On the other hand, because the flesh is sweeter than the more usual lemon, Meyer lemons are perfect for cookies and quick breads. I also slice them and use it as a bed for roasted fish. I make Meyer Lemon Chutney.

And this fabulous, rich, sweet and mildly tangy Meyer Lemon Yogurt Pie. 

Meyer Lemon Yogurt Pie

• 1 fully baked pie crust or Graham Cracker crust
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups boiling water
• 1-1/2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Meyer lemon peel
• 1 cup plain Greek style yogurt
• whipped cream

Bake the crust or set it aside. Or, make a graham cracker crust (or use a store bought crust).* Combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, cold water and Meyer lemon juice in a saucepan. Add the eggs and blend them in thoroughly using a whisk. Gradually add the boiling water and whisk the ingredients until the mixture is smooth. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Continue to cook, whisking constantly, for one minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and Meyer lemon peel. Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes. Add the yogurt and whisk it in. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and chill in the refrigerator until cold, about 4 hours. Top with whipped cream and serve.

Makes one 9-inch pie

*to make a graham cracker crust: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers and 5 tablespoons melted butter. Mix until all the crumbs are coated. Press the mixture onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Almond Crusted Winter Squash and Noodle Kugel

Almond Crusted Winter Squash and Noodle Kugel

One of the tumblr blogs I follow asked readers what their favorite comfort food was.

I thought about it for awhile because there are so many, I couldn’t make up my mind. Like challah and butter; baked, crispy-skinned Russet potato; apple pie; fried chicken wings. Snacks like potato chips and popcorn.

You’ll notice most of these are starch. Even the chicken dish I chose is wings and therefore mostly crunchy, flour-crusted skin.

And of course, there’s kugel: egg noodles, boiled until they’re tender, then crisped in the oven, either plain or with all sorts of stuff inside. Like this recipe for Almond Crusted Winter Squash and Noodle Kugel. 

What makes this kugel such a comfort?

Not just the soft noodles, but the sweet crunchy crust. You get to feel them both in your mouth at the same time, with one bite.

And there’s color too, because I’ve included white cottage cheese, dark red cranberries and orange winter squash, so when you cut a piece it looks pretty on a plate.

Notice please, that you can sort of cut down on some of the less healthy aspects by using Greek style, plain (non-fat) yogurt instead of dairy sour cream and non-fat cottage cheese instead of the full-fat kind.

Kugel is a year ‘round treat. But it’s usually a must for Hanukkah. Sure is for us.

Almond Crusted Winter Squash and Noodle Kugel

• 5 tablespoons butter, melted

• one pound medium egg noodles

• 3 cups diced winter squash (such as butternut or acorn)

• 1 cup dried cranberries

• 2 cups cottage cheese (nonfat is fine)

• 1-1/2 cups nonfat Greek style plain yogurt (or use dairy sour cream)

• 6 large eggs, beaten

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup chopped almonds

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x13” baking dish using some of the melted butter. Cook the noodles according to package directions, drain and place in a large bowl. Add the squash, cranberries, cottage cheese, yogurt and remaining melted butter and toss the ingredients to distribute them evenly. Beat the eggs, sugar and cinnamon together with a hand mixer at medium speed for about 3 minutes or until thickened. Fold into the noodle mixture. Place in the prepared baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the almonds and brown sugar. Sprinkle on top of the kugel. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is crispy and brown. Makes 8-10 servings

The Kugel to End all Kugels

This is the kugel to end all kugels.

I mean it. I am a kugel-eating expert, if only because when I grew up my grandmother and mom made salty kugel stuffed with mushrooms and onions and it was only when I was grown, married and with kids that I had my first taste of this. That taste was a transforming moment.

My friend Susan brought this dish to my annual Break-the-fast (she got the recipe from her friend Linda and I don’t know where Linda got it).

For years after that I have tasted more kugels than you could possibly imagine (including those hard, dried up things they sell in some supermarkets) always trying to surpass that moment of culinary discovery. 

I was even a judge once in a kugel contest.

I have made some wonderful kugels since then. But this is still my favorite. I always ask Susan to make an extra one so there will be leftovers. I pack pieces of it in my freezer so I can have a little treat whenever.

Don’t even think about the calories. Just enjoy.

Susan/Linda’s Sweet Noodle Kugel

      1 12-ounce package egg noodles

      1 8-ounce package cream cheese at room temperature

      1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

      1 cup sugar

      2 cups dairy sour cream

      6 large eggs

      1 teaspoon cinnamon

      1 cup raisins, optional

      2 cups crushed frosted flakes or corn flakes

      4 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the noodles in slightly salted water until al dente (not soft). Drain and set aside. In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until thoroughly blended and softened. Beat in the sugar until well blended. Add the sour cream and blend thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the cinnamon and raisins, if used. Pour the mixture into the noodles and toss to coat them completely. Place in a baking dish. Combine the frosted flakes and melted butter and sprinkle on top of the noodles. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is crispy. 

Makes 8 servings  

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

It’s not too late to make ice cream is it?

Just kidding. Ice cream is always in season.

I made this one the other day after reading an article about Balsamic vinegar. Mostly it says what I have always believed: don’t use Balsamic vinegar for everything.

When Balsamic vinegar was a hot, new trendy product, a whole lot of people were experimenting with it for almost every conceivable recipe. Mostly salads. But, like so many other ingredients, it has been overused.

Commercial Balsamic vinegars are fine for some — not all — salads and for marinades.

Aged, premium Balsamic vinegars are best as a condiment. Add a few drops to complement a sharp cheese (blue types, Parmesan, feta, etc.), bold greens (such as arugula), certain fresh fruit (like peaches and strawberries) or onto sizzling grilled steak (rather than, say, ketchup. Are you reading this Ed?)

And it is absolutely wonderful switched with traditional vanilla extract, for strawberry ice cream.

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

• 3 cups half and half, light cream or whipping cream

• 2 cups finely diced strawberries

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons premium Balsamic vinegar

• 3 large egg yolks

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Heat 2 cups of the cream over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Place the strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the Balsamic vinegar. Mix and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the remaining sugar, the egg yolks and salt at medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until light and thick. Gradually add the heated cream and mix the ingredients. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5-6 minutes or until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour in the remaining cream and blend it in thoroughly. Pour into a container and refrigerate until cold. Add the strawberries plus any juices that have accumulated. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s directions.

Makes about one quart

Classic Strawberry Shortcake

I know it was Julia Child’s 100th birthday this week and she was an important person in my life. Although it was my Mom who taught me the basics, Julia taught me to take giant leaps beyond. I didn’t cook every recipe in her first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but I did make many of them. A boyfriend had given me that book — a treasured first edition — which is now gravy stained and coverless and signed by Julia herself on one of my favorite recipes (I met her when I took a cooking course along with several hundred other people like in some College 101 class).

So, Happy Birthday Julia.

But this week was also a friend’s birthday. A what you call “round number” birthday, so I invited her to my house, along with another friend, who recently celebrated that same round number birthday. We had a few hors d’oeuvre with a nice few glasses of wine, then grilled fish with Grilled Pineapple Salsa (and a few vegetables) for dinner.

SO healthy. We are all at that nice round number watch-what-you-eat age.

But dessert? Oh well. Why count calories when summer strawberries are out and you can eat Strawberry Shortcake?

Which is what I made instead of baking or buying a birthday cake.

Not a morsel was left on our plates.

Classic Strawberry Shortcake

2 pounds fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
orange, mango or papaya juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon peel
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Wash the berries and slice them into a bowl, sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons sugar and a few tablespoons of juice and set aside. In another bowl, mix the flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, baking powder and lemon peel. Add the butter and work into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat the egg and milk together until well combined. Add the liquids to the flour mixture and mix until a soft dough forms. Roll or press the dough to 1/2-inch thick circle on a lightly floured surface. Cut out 8 circles with a cookie cutter. Place the circles on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12–15 minutes or until puffed and lightly brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Whip the cream with the remaining teaspoon sugar until the mixture stands in soft peaks. Cut the biscuits in half and place each bottom half on a serving dish. Place the berries and any accumulated juices on top. Pour some of the cream on top. Top with the remaining biscuit halves. Makes 8 servings.

Milk and Honey White Bread

Milk and Honey Bread

Sometimes I’m just bored with all food. It frequently happens after a summer’s worth of grilling and when roasting a turkey or making a hearty stew doesn’t seem right yet.

Also, the tomatoes are coming in now. Real tomatoes. Red, red ones. Aromatic, juicy, sweet, oozing seeds tomatoes. Late August tomatoes.

Then, for dinner, at least one night, I can make tomato sandwiches. Nothing special. I have no need for $40 olive oil or rare, aged Balsamic vinegar. No chili pepper additions. No teriyaki or hummus. No fusion version.

Just white bread, mayo and sliced tomatoes.

Nothing more. Life is sweet.

Packaged (not soft white) or bakery white bread will do. But if you like to bake and have a few moments, here’s a recipe for a spectacular bread that measures up to a good tomato.

Milk and Honey White Bread

• 1 package active dry yeast

• 1/4 cup warm water (105-110 degrees)

• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

• 4 cups all purpose flour, approximately

• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons softened butter or vegetable oil

• 3/4 cup warm milk

• 2 tablespoons honey

In a small bowl, mix the yeast, water, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon flour. Stir, set aside and let rest for 5 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly. In a bowl of an electric mixer, combine the remaining flour and salt. Add the eggs, butter, milk and honey. Add the yeast mixture. Blend ingredients thoroughly, then knead using the kneading hook, for 4-5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic (or knead by hand for about 10 minutes). Add more flour as necessary to keep the dough from being sticky. (Dough may be made in a food processor). Cover the bowl of dough and put it in a warm place to rise for about 1-1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Punch down the dough, cover the bowl and let rise again for about 30 minutes or until doubled. Lightly oil a 9” loaf pan. Place the dough in the pan. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 25 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

Makes one

Herb and Cheese Gougeres (Choux Puffs)

Gougeres are the easiest and also the hardest hors d’oeuvre to cook.

I say that because they are easy to make once you get the knack. But I admit, they’re a little tricky for first-timers, so you need a few pointers. Which I am going to give you here.

Then once you make them a couple of times you can practically do it in your sleep.

Also, gougeres are extremely useful. I serve them plain, heated to a crisp. But sometimes I serve them at room temperature, cut open and stuffed with all sorts of fillings from plain old egg salad to toasted nuts with cheese or smoked salmon tartare.

And sometimes I fill them with things like mushroom ragout or ratatouille and serve them hot.

Of course, if you make the gougere dough without the herbs and cheese they are …. profiteroles. Which you can fill with ice cream!

Or you can make bigger ones and fill them with ice cream, whipped cream or custard, the way my mother did, and call them Cream Puffs.

It’s all the same dough. The method is the same, so once you get the knack you have this extraordinarily versatile recipe.

I always have gougeres in my freezer. Just in case company comes. Like my daughter Meredith, who loves them and always heats up a few for herself when she’s here.

Or for dinner company or weekend guests, which I am having this weekend.

Or to celebrate Bastille Day, tomorrow, because, well, this is a French recipe. Called choux.

Herb and Cheese Gougeres (Choux Puffs)

1 cup minus 2 tablespoons water

1/4 pound unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 cup all purpose flour, sifted

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mixed herbs, or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Gruyere cheese

pinch cayenne pepper

egg glaze: 1 large egg mixed with 2 teaspoons water, optional

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cook the water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well blended and begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.* Add the herbs, cheese and cayenne pepper and blend them in thoroughly. 

Butter and flour a baking sheet. Drop 3/4 to 1-inch mounds of dough from a teaspoon onto the sheet. Leave space between the mounds for the puffs to rise. For a shiny surface on the puffs, lightly brush the tops of the mounds with some of the egg wash. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the puffs are lightly brown and crispy. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the puffs in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. Or cut them open and fill them. Makes about 60

*Incorporating the eggs is what most people find difficult. Be sure to add them one at a time. Use a sturdy wooden spoon to help you. The mixture will be sticky and at first you think it will never come together, but keep mixing and you’ll see that it does come together. After each egg is incorporated the mixture becomes softer and pastier and stickier. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Milk and Honey White Bread

Would you believe — there’s a book entirely devoted to white bread. It’s called, (of course), “White Bread” and has a cover reminiscent of a loaf of packaged Wonder Bread.

I thought the scorn for white bread was something new. But according to the author, Aaron Bobrow-Sprain, apparently there’s been a lot of controversy about this stuff on and off for centuries. Some of it had to do with food safety issues. But some of it had to do with racism (one health advocate apparently thought white bread was “threatening white racial superiority”).

Who knew?

When I was growing up my Mom would buy bakery rye bread and something called “corn bread” which isn’t that yellow, cakey Southern style stuff but more like sour-dough rye bread and was known in Jewish neighborhoods as “Jewish corn bread.” Those were for having with dinner. Or toasting for breakfast. Or for deli sandwiches.

But she bought packaged white bread too. It was the modern thing. The help-the-little-lady convenience food. It was too convenient not to buy. And there weren’t very many choices in packaged bread anyway. Maybe whole wheat, but I didn’t know anyone whose mother bought packaged whole wheat bread.

My mother bought packaged white bread for this reason (which Bobrow-Sprain also acknowledges), and that is, there are certain kinds of sandwiches that just don’t work with rye, corn bread or any kind of fancy artisinal loaves.

Like peanut butter and jelly and mostly, my mother’s fried-to-a-crisp kosher salami with yellow mustard. That salami was hot and sizzling, right out of the pan when she put it on the mustard-slathered slices and when you held the sandwich to take a bite, your fingers would make such deep indentations in the soft bread that sometimes it made a hole in the sandwich. Never mind. That’s the way it was supposed to be with packaged white bread.

I could actually have one of those sandwiches now. It’s been years.

No, decades.

Generations.

I don’t remember when I last bought packaged white bread. 

I do bake white bread though. With one of my help-the-little-lady convenience machines like my KitchenAid mixer and my Cuisinart food processor. With either of those it’s not that difficult to make a good loaf of bread.

I don’t agree with those who say white bread is bland. Sometimes it’s the ingredients on the bread that you want to give a starring role, not the bread itself. Like that fried salami.

So, for any of you who would like to have a good white bread, try this recipe.

Milk and Honey White Bread

• 1 package active dry yeast

• 1/4 cup warm water

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, approximately

• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons softened butter

• 3/4 cup warm milk

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Place the yeast and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon flour and the sugar. Mix well and set aside for about 5 minutes. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the remaining flour and salt. Add the 2 eggs, butter, milk, honey and the yeast mixture. Blend ingredients thoroughly. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour if the dough seems too sticky. Dough should be soft but not sticky. Place the dough in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1-1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Punch down the dough, knead briefly and let rise again for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Lightly grease a 9” loaf pan. Place the dough inside the pan. Let rise for another 30 minutes. Brush the surface of the bread with the beaten egg. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and well risen.

Makes one loaf