Christmas art

By Ethan P.

Decorating the tree is serious business....

Goat Cheese Pesto Torte

Another favourite....

Goat Cheese Pesto Torte

12 oz goat cheese
8 oz cream cheese
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed (adjust to your taste)
1/2 cup pesto
1/2 - 1 cup chopped up fine oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, including 1 - 2 tsp of the marinade
Salt & Pepper
Toasted pine nuts

Let cream cheese and goat cheese soften to room temperature. In a food processor, chop garlic, then add cheeses. Process until mixed and smooth.

Check the taste. Add salt and black pepper if you want.

Line a small loaf pan or bowl with plastic wrap.

Put about 1/3 of the goat cheese mix into the bowl.

Top this with the pesto.

Put another 1/3 of the goat cheese mix on top of this.

Put the sundried tomatoes on this.

Top with the rest of the cheese.

Put plastic wrap over the top of this.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to four days.

To serve, invert bowl on a serving dish. Carefully remove the plastic wrap.

Garnish with fresh basil, pesto, sundried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts. Serve with crackers or bread.

Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp

This was one of the hits at my cocktail party- very yummy and easy to prepare. The dish was inspired by a few different recipes. Here's my version:

Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
30 large uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined, tail-on (about 1-1/2 pounds)

Directions

Combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Place shrimp in a resealable food storage bag or glass bowl. Pour marinade over shrimp; seal bag, or cover bowl.

Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours to marinate.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Remove shrimp from marinade. Spread on sheet pan, leaving lots of space between shrimp. Roast in oven for 6-8 minutes, removing when firm and pink.

Chill shrimp. Place roasted shrimp on platter and garnish with chopped scallions, crushed red pepper flakes and lemon slices. Serve with dipping sauce- lemon paprika aioli or a spicy cocktail sauce are good.

Makes 8-10 appetizer servings.

Spicy Lemon and Paprika Aïoli

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons hot smoked Spanish paprika (or more!) or 1 1/2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in small bowl; whisk to blend. Season aioli to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Makes 1 3/4 cups.

Birthday Girl

Tomorrow is my 40th birthday.....where has the time gone??? I can't quite believe I'm out of my twenties, let alone on the way to fifty! I'm okay with it though, probably because I'm happy with my life.....and maybe because I'm still a bit tipsy from my birthday cocktail party last night!

I'm grateful for my wonderful husband & son, and the way they make my life complete, and for my family and good friends who have been around for lots of stuff, both good & bad, but are always more than happy to celebrate, eat & drink with me!

I am a lucky woman.

More photos here.....

A big bowl of goodness

While I eagerly await shipment of the latest Barefoot Contessa cookbook- Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics: Fabulous Flavor From Simple Ingredients, I tried one of the recipes being raved about on the FoodWine list....Parmesan Roasted Broccoli, and I wasn't disappointed. Lately I've been into big bowls of goodness, i.e. healthy stuff mixed up in a big bowl, preferably involving a minimum amount of dishes. I used the broccoli recipe as a basis to do just that.

First I made the broccoli, with a few modifications to the original recipe. Here's my version:

Roasted Broccoli

4 to 5 lb broccoli
4 cloves of garlic peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 a large red onion, chopped in to chunks
1 lb herbed tofu, cut into bite-sized chunks
Good olive oil
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese

Preheat oven to 425. Cut broccoli florets from stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets. Discard the rest of the stalks. Should have about 8 cups of florets. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add the onion and tofu. Toss the garlic on the mixture and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until crisp/tender and the tips of some of the florets are brown. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice and pecorino.

While the broccoli was roasting, I cooked up a pound of spiral rice pasta.

Once everything was done, I tossed it together on the sheet pan and served it with an extra grating of cheese. Delicious!
And, since my family won't actually eat this, I have lots of leftovers for my lunches packed away in the freezer...and that works beautifully too!

Halloween

Boo!