Sweet Chile Tuna Sauce with Ravioli

In last week's Commercial Appeal, my column gave a great recipe for a yummy tuna sauce recipe on goat cheese ravioli. There's an easier way to do it, and here it is. Just mix Lucchesi's Tomato-Basil Sauce with a can of Safcol tuna in sweet chile sauce and voila!

Have I lost my restaurant picking touch?

For our first dinner in San Francisco, we took a chance at Fisherman's Wharf. I mean where else would you expect fine seafood? Most of the places looked very touristy (What else would you expect from a tourist destination?). Unfortunately I listened to the advice of a non-resident and we went to Sabella & LaTorre. About the only good thing about it was the attentive service. All meals came with either clam chowder or shrimp salad. We both chose the salad, and it came as you see, topped with a scoop of tiny mushy bay shrimp, half a cherry tomato and a couple of juliennes of pickled beets.On the good side, I asked for Italian dressing and got an obviously house-made vinaigrette with light herbs and a very good quality red wine vinegar.




















Tom ordered "Garlic Shrimp and Crab." It came steamed, and while it looked fairly appetizing, it had been steamed way too long. Both the texture and the taste suffered as a result.















Mine, however, was a the totally big-time major disappointment. I got the special "Seafood Express." It was billed as "Sauteed Crablegs, Prawns and Scallops." I asked what it was sauteed in and the server said "garlic butter sauce." That sounded okay to me, so I went with it. You may not be able to see from the picture, but it came in an umpleasant viscous sauce that tasted neither of butter nor garlic. And there was no taste of seafood in any of the components. Both our meals were $29.95. I've gotten better seafood for way less at Captain D's in Memphis!

Goat Cheese-Vegetable Lasagne

On that first cold, gray, rainy day we had last Sunday, friends were coming to help do a little fixing-up for me at my house. I had promised to make dinner, planning to grill out but the weather put a stop to that. Comfort food, that’s what we needed on a day like that, so I made lasagne.

I had seen a recipe on a French language blog that gave me a starting point but as usual, I had my own ideas of what I wanted it to taste like.

This takes a little more work than I usually ask of you, and dirties a lot of prep bowls, but you can do it well ahead, even the day before, and have a perfectly clean kitchen by the time you want to pop it into the oven. I see no reason why it couldn’t even be frozen, but you’d had to thaw it completely in the fridge before baking.

VEGETABLE-GOAT CHEESE LASAGNE

9 lasagne noodles
2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
2 leeks, white and pale green parts, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into julienne strips
1 bulb fennel, white part only, thinly sliced (save some of the fronds for garnish)
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided, plus more for the pan
3 tbsp. flour
3 cups milk
8 oz fresh (soft) goat cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tbsp. basil pesto
½ cup grated Italian cheese mix

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Cook the lasagne noodles in plenty of salted boiling water for about 6 minutes. Drain and lay flat on a kitchen towel until ready to use.

In a large heavy skillet, melt two tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté, stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes. Add zucchini, toss to combine with the leeks, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving as much butter as possible.

In the same skillet, add two more tablespoons of the butter, and one tablespoon water. Add the bell pepper and fennel. Toss to coat with butter, cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring twice. Uncover and sauté until water is evaporated. Remove to another bowl with a slotted spoon.

Add the remaining butter to the pan. When melted, whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly for two minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly until thickened (it will be fairly thin). Add salt and half the goat cheese crumbled into chunks. Whisk until cheese is melted and set aside.

Combine ricotta and pesto in a small bowl.

Assemble the lasagne: Butter a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish. Coat the bottom with ¼ cup cheese sauce. Put in a layer of three noodles and spread with half the ricotta mixture (it will be a thin layer). Add the zucchini-leek mixture. Crumble half the remaining goat cheese evenly over the top and drizzle with ½ cup cheese sauce. Top with three more noodles, the rest of the ricotta, the bell pepper-fennel mixture, the remaining goat cheese and another ½ cup of the cheese sauce. Top with the final three noodles, the remaining cheese sauce and the grated Italian cheese mixture.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let set 15-20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve, garnished with the reserved fennel fronds. Serves 6 to 8.

NOTES: I keep pesto in the fridge most of the time. You can buy tubes of pesto in specialty markets that would work beautifully for this. The kind that comes in jars also works well. You can grate your own cheese, or find a pre-grated Italian cheese mixture of asiago, fontina and parmesan in the dairy department of your supermarket.

Cute and Tasty Baby Heirlooms!

On the way back from the beach, we stopped at the newish Trader Joe's in Nashville. Regrettably, we had no cooler, and in fact almost no space in the car since we were bringing a friend of Tom's daughter back to Memphis.

One of the things I always look for at Trader Joe's is the "Two Buck Chuck" which usually isn't two bucks anymore. Contrary to many an urban legend, these super-value wines began as the result of an oversupply of wine by a valued TJ's supplier. They’ve become the nation’s best-selling wines, not surprising when you consider the combination of low price ($1.99 - $3.49 per bottle, depending on the region) and great taste Charles Shaw wines offer. Depending on the season and the quality of wine available, our selection of Charles Shaw varietals will vary. I try to pick up a bottle, take it home and taste it, and see if I want to buy more. Of course, due to Tennessee laws, they can't sell wine there, but there was still a wonderful selection of fruits and vegetables.

The picture is of a box of heirloom baby tomatoes. I could just manage to squeeze that, and a couple of chutneys, into the back seat of the car. For last night's dinner, I cut them in half, marinated them with some sherry wine vinegar and olive oil, and served them on some greens. YUMMY. I'm guessing something similar might be available at either Whole Foods or Fresh Market, and I intend to go looking for them.

Happy Hour at the Beach

We've just come back from a week in a beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We filled a 5 bedroom house with family so it was a little hectic. Tom and I found a great little place, Cafe 12, just a couple of blocks from our house in Avon, on Cape Hattaras. From 4 PM to 6 PM they had great spicy steamed shrimp for $.19 each. We could have a lovely quiet time and chow down as well. We didn't eat any meals there but they had great looking dishes coming out from the back to a full house about the time we vacated the bar each afternoon.

They don't know how to spell "Elvis" in Philadelphia!

We are so sorry to be missing the Elvis Tribute Week in Memphis!

Summer Tomato-Peach Salad

A couple of weeks ago, in the New York Times, Mark Bittman, one of my favorite food writers, had a story titled "101 Simple Salads for the Season." They were brief descriptions, not recipes, but certainly adequate for a reasonably competent home cook to put together something tasty.
Several appealed to me (and you’ll probably hear about some of them later this summer) but one just called my name. His formula: "Mix wedges of tomato and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime juice. Astonishing." I had to make it, or at least my version of it.

I had a couple of white peaches that were perfectly ripened, not too soft but still very fragrant. I also had several heirloom tomatoes I’d picked up at the farmers’ market. It was a wonderful salad and beautiful as well. It would make a perfect accompaniment to almost any grilled meat or seafood. You absolutely must try it. If you are one of those who cannot abide cilantro, fresh basil would make a lovely substitute.


Bittner’s Summer Salad (Alyce’s Version)

3 peaches, barely ripe (make sure they’re freestone)
3-4 perfectly ripe tomatoes, preferably multicolored
½ small red onion, cut into slivers
1 bunch cilantro, washed and dried
3 limes
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ cup fruity extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
A couple of heads of your favorite salad green, washed, and chopped if needed

Peel the peaches and cut into thin wedges. Wash and core the tomatoes and cut them into similar sized wedges. Place in a bowl with the onion and about half the cilantro leaves, very finely minced. Wash the limes, dry them and finely grate the zests into a small bowl. Add their juice, the honey and the mustard and whisk well. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper if you think you need it. It may seem a bit tart at this point but it will go perfectly with the sweet peaches. Pour about half of the dressing over the salad Toss well and let sit at room temperature for an hour or so, or refrigerate up to several hours. To serve, divide the salad greens among 6 plates and top with the salad. Garnish with the remaining cilantro leaves, unchopped. Pass the remaining dressing at the table. Serves six as a side salad.

NOTE: I think I would love this with some chilled, cooked shrimp added as a main course salad for four.

Delicious Dinner in Knoxville

We're off to the beach for a whole week. I can't remember the last time I took a whole week for a vacation. It's been at least 5 years.

We're going to the Outer Banks on Cape Hattaras. On the way we stopped at my sister Cindy''s house for the night, and to hook up with Tom's daughter, Lisa, who was in summer school at UT.

For dinner we decided to go out instead of cooking, and we wanted someplace close to her house. Tom had been to Puleo's Grille before and Cindy agreed with him that it would be a good place for our evening meal.

The menu was broad and quite affordably priced. Everything was good but I got the best dinner: citrus marinated grilled grouper with caprese salad. The tomatoes were local and perfectly ripe, the mozzarella fresh and moist, the balsamic vinaigrette on the salad was great. The fresh basil came from the herb garden that was growing out behind the restaurant. The grouper was delicious.

I think this is only a local Knoxville chain, but for a casual and affordable meal, I recommend it.

Smack them crabs and eat 'em!

I don't know how the experience has escaped me for so long, but I had my first experience with whole steamed crabs...I finally did. We were in D.C. for a family emergency, but on our last night managed to get out to the Quarterdeck in Arlington, VA. Boy! Did we have good crabs. What you see is what was ordered for four: two dozen. When we reserved, we asked for jumbo sized but they had already been spoken for, as had the large size. These mediums were pretty good sized, so I can only imagine what the jumbo ones would be. For the uninitiated, they pour them on the brown-paper covered table, and all you have is drawn butter, vinegar, a wooden mallet apiece and a giant heap of paper towels.

The bottom picture is what was left after we'd done all the damage we could: three crabs remaining unsmacked (thank goodness we didn't get the jumbos, right?) and the last of several buckets of crab shells and claws hauled away by the waiter. What I'm not showing is the white tee shirt I had on. And for a very good reason: it was covered with little crab splashes from top to bottom.

Can't wait to do it again!

Salmon Mousse

I saw a dozen adorable little fish molds at an estate sale, and of course I just had to have them. They sat in my cabinet for months, along with all the other odds and ends of cookware that seemed essential at the time I bought them.


Then it was my turn to bring a plated first course to one of my cooking group dinners. Rummaging around I came across the molds, and thought "Aha, salmon mousse!"


This is an extremely easy recipe, and is one of the best salmon mousses you'll ever taste. As a first course, served as I did, garnished with cucumbers, capers and triangles of dark pumpernickel, it serves 6. It also makes a wonderful brunch main course, served on a bed of lettuce with a creamy dill dressing. Then you would need to double the recipe to serve 6. For the dressing, stir a sprinkling of dill weed and a squeeze of lemon juice into bottled ranch dressing.


I have made it with smoked salmon, and it is delicious. You'll need a good quality smoked salmon to make it work, and that can be a bit pricey. Still for a special occasion, it is indeed worth it.


SILKY SALMON MOUSSE

1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 1/4 lb skinless, boneless salmon filets
1 teaspoon chicken broth concentrate or bouillon granules (see note)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
4 green onions, with part of the green top, chopped
1 tsp dried dill weed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Ground white pepper to taste

In a skillet just large enough to hold the filets in one layer, bring the wine, water, lemon slices and peppercorns to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the salmon, cover, and simmer 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness, or until just barely done though.
Remove the salmon filets to a plate and set aside. Bring the liquid back up to a simmer and pour one cup into a glass measure. Pour immediately into a food processor and add the chicken concentrate. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top, cover and process for about a minute. Add the reserved salmon, onions, dill weed, mayonnaise, lemon juice and zest, and cream. Process just to blend, about 30 seconds. Taste and add salt and white pepper as desired.
Pour into one four-cup mold, or six 1/2-cup ramekins and chill until set, at least 6 hours. Can be made up to 12 hours ahead.

NOTE: I use Better Than Bouillon chicken stock paste. It comes in a jar and is widely available. It's not as salty as bouillon cubes or granules. If you want to leave out the chicken for dietary preferences, vegetable broth paste or granules work equally well. If making this with smoked salmon, use one cup of water, heated to a simmer, for the liquid.