running with tweezers

Hay Hay It's Donna Day #4: Brilliant Bruschetta!

It's time again for one of my favorite food blog events, Hay Hay It's Donna Day!. For those not in the loop, its a foodblogger homage to Donna Hay, a brilliant food stylist and recipe developer from Australia. She's the Martha Stewart of Down Under without being outwardly nutty. Our theme this time, determined and hosted by Bron Marshall, is Bruschetta and Crostini.

Let's face it. There is very little in the world that doesn't taste better with a piece of fresh, crusty bread with it. Bruschetta allows you to use it as a vehicle for an endless number of amazing toppings and combinations. I wanted to try one savory and one sweet version. When the mere mention of this endeavor garnered an "OOoooOooh" from my good friend Tony Clark, I took my cooking adventure on the road to his studio. I said the words "smoked salmon" and - suddenly - I heard a wine cork pop and Tony had his camera in hand.

Obviously, the quality of bread used here is important. I would also stress that using good quality olive oil to drizzle/brush on is key. It adds a lot...even if you're going to cover it up with a heap of toppings.

The goat cheese mixture in this recipe - Smoked Salmon, Fennel, and Goat Cheese Toast - is so incredibly flavorful. I added garlic and extra lemon juice to the mixture. The lemon juice also helped thin the mixture a bit and make it easier for spreading. 

Smoked salmon is like bacon. It makes everything instantly good - or better. Topped with a little bit of fresh tarragon, 12 or so pieces of this bruschetta and a bottle of white wine was devoured in about 9.5 minutes. Need I say more?

For the dessert portion of Donna Day, I was left to my own devices...as you can tell by the photo. No action shots this time as its just a bloody miracle I'm able to cook and take a photo of stuff before it falls to pieces. I found a Donna Hay recipe for Bruschetta with Honey Ricotta and Strawberries on Food and Wine's website. This could be my ideal dessert: sweet but not too sweet, fruity and bready at the same time. It also left lots of room for improvisation.

I used an apple walnut raisin bread as the base for my version. I brushed it with butter and toasted it a few minutes on each side (be careful here of over-toasting and burning the fruit in your bread). Rather than mix the honey into the ricotta, I spread a 1/2 teaspoon or so of Italian orange honey on each piece. Next went on the ricotta, which was held nicely in place by the honey. The fruit went on last. You could substitute whatever kind of fruit you had on hand...but I will say that the flavor combination here was absolutely divine. It's a perfect light summer dessert (or breakfast!) and would be a great recipe to make in large batches for entertaining as a unique dessert finger food.

You can find the original recipe for Smoked Salmon, Fennel, and Goat Cheese Toasts here at Epicurious.com. For the original recipe for Bruschetta with Honey Ricotta and Strawberries, go here at Food And Wine.

Thanks to Tony Clark for the action shots and the gorgeous salmon photo at the top. Blame Tami Hardeman for the strawberry bruschetta shot.

Sugar High Friday #21 - Ice, Ice Baby!

It's been some time since I participated in Sugar High Friday, which is graciously hosted this time by Sarah at The Delicious Life. Frankly, my Fridays tend to be Wine High Friday after my crazy work weeks as of late. Plus, it's just too darned hot to be baking stuff. Thankfully, the theme for this SHF is frozen and frosty creations.

I found my recipe for SHF while running on the treadmill - too hot to be running outside, ya know? On the back page of this month's Food and Wine magazine was a trio of fruit based granitas. Each of them had a spicy twist that made them all sound terribly interesting. I chose to make the Honeydew Granita. The recipe called for a touch of cinnamon to be added but I twisted it up and added a pinch of ground ginger. It worked really well with the granita, which couldn't have been easier. Sure, you have to flake the granita every 20 minutes or so with a fork...but you're inside in the AC anyway so whats a few minutes standing in front of the freezer with the door open?

Honeydew Granita - 6 servings

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups honeydew chunks
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

- In a small saucepan, stir the water and the sugar over low heat just until the sugar melts. Let cool, then transfer the syrup to a blender. Add the honeydew chunks, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Puree. Transfer the puree to a shallow plastic container and freeze until frozen around the edges and slushy, around 30 minutes.

- Using a fork, stir the granita every 20 minutes or so, until its completely frozen into a mass of fluffy ice shards, about 1 1/2 hours. Just before serving, fluff with a fork. If the granita becomes too solid, chop into chunks and puree until fluffy.

The Kitchen Sense Cookbook Spotlight: Black Eyed Peas and Black Eyed T's

Let's get in the way-back machine, shall we?

Back in June, Cath from A Blithe Palate and Sara and Ali from the Weekend Cookbook Challenge asked me to participate in a Cookbook Spotlight. Considering that cookbooks are to Tami what Hustler is to the average American male - I buy them for the photos - I enthusiastically accepted. The cookbook, titled Kitchen Sense by Mitchell Davis, came...

...AND THERE WERE NO PHOTOS IN IT. I was crushed.

Nevertheless, I picked out my recipe and made it: Chickpea and Spinach Salad. I took its photo. It was very tasty. The entire cookbook seems to be well tested, well thought out, and could very possibly achieve what it has set out to do: to provide you with one volume of foolproof, go to recipes.

This is, my friends, where the wheels come off. In the time since I made the recipe, I have celebrated my 30th birthday - for two disgustingly gluttonous weeks. I have worked like a maniac. I have run the Peachtree Road Race. I have traveled. I have, subsequently, had my camera stolen - with said photo of one Chickpea and Spinach Salad still on the memory card.

So this weekend, as my new camera arrived and I was deciding which recipe to try out for my replacement post from Kitchen Sense...I managed to give myself a black eye. No. Really. I am going to spare you the ridiculous story...but it has to do with being in close proximity to a car phone charger with a springy cord. I wish I was kidding.

The force did provide me with a moment of clarity: I would make Black Eyed Pea Fritters with Country Ham. My Black Eyed Pea Hummus was a rousing success...so why should these be any different?

People. These things are divine, although *not* the most photogenic food I've ever prepared. These things are also totally addictive. While I can't provide the recipe on my blog (its located on page 196 of Kitchen Sense), take my word for this one. Its a delicious mixture of black eyed peas, cayenne pepper, onion, parsley and some other stuff to hold it all together. Form into whatever shape you'd like - as big or as small as desired - and fry until brown. This is like a fluffier, more flavorful hush puppy. Plus, it has a pig product in it, which automatically makes it good. I ate mine with my favorite salsa...but they would be excellent on their own as an hors d'oeurve with a creamy & spicy dip or as a side for a pork entree.

Black Eyed Pea Fritters with Country Ham is located on page 196 in the new cookbook Kitchen Sense by Mitchell Davis and published by Clarkson Potter Publishers.