Aspen Cranberry Walnut Pesto with Goat Cheese

This is the definition of a perfect little bite.  Sweet cranberries, fresh basil a punch of garlic and smooth goat cheese (chevre for my foodie friends)  Particularly nice with a little bubbly, this is a re-creation of an hors d'oeuvre from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.  A few quick snaps of the event:

  

Sun, food, wine, mountains.

 

Amazing.

Now let's get to the pesto

Enough for about 25 crostini or crackers


1 clove garlic
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup fresh basil
¼ walnuts
½ grated parmesan or grana padano cheese
¼ extra virgin olive oil
pinch red pepper flake
½ cup goat cheese


1. Pulse garlic, basil in food processor until finely diced.  Add cranberries, walnuts and red pepper flake and pulse until ingredients are incorporated but still chunky.

2.  Place mixture into a medium sized bowl and stir in cheese and oil.

3.  Spread about a teaspoon of goat cheese on a piece of crostini or cracker and top with pesto.

Enjoy!  More Aspen recipes to come!
MJM

Ricotta Pecorino Spread

On a cracker, crostini or cucumber slice; pretzels, pitas or peppers.  Add a little or alot to a bowl of macaroni or layer between your lasagna noodles and enjoy the magic.  This is a simple alternative to store bought, (ahem) junk. 

A little lesson first.  I can't help myself.  Ricotta means, re-cooked.  It is traditionally made by re-cooking the whey leftover from sheep's milk cheese making.  This is generally hard to come by unless you have access to a dairy farm or sheep.  I don't.  Here's the short cut:

Ricotta
Yields about 2 cups

7 cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream½ tsp salt
6 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1. In a nonreactive pot (anything but aluminum), add milk, cream and salt.

2. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and heat until it reaches 190° on a thermometer.  Do not boil or you will scorch the liquid. 

3. Once it hits 190°, remove pot from heat add lemon juice.  Stir once to incorporate then leave, undisturbed for about 10 minutes.

4. In the meantime, line a colander with 3 layers or so of cheesecloth or if you have a clean flour sack towel, that will work, too.

5.  After 10 minutes, drain mixture into colander.  Allow to drain completely; occasionally lifting colander to be sure whey is draining.  Leave it be for an hour.

6.  Once it's drained.  You're ready to transform into a spread or use as is.  Turns out this freezes well, too.  Make a larger batch and pop into small freezer bags for future use.

Finally, Ricotta Pecorino Spread

1-2 cups fresh ricotta
1 cup grated Pecorino cheese
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt, black pepper to taste
Pinch red pepper flake


1.  Combine all ingredients until fully incorporated.  Spread onto crostini


2. Topppers:  smoked sea salt, thinly sliced prosciutto, radish wedge, a sliced cherry tomato, small basil leaf, drizzle of balsamic...make it your own.


Enjoy!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

2 cups béchamel (classic white sauce)*

½ medium onion, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 bay leaf

¼ tsp paprika

2 ½ cups grated cheese (cheddar, pecorino romano and fontina)

3-4 ounces pancetta, diced; bacon also works if you like it smoky J

½ lb pasta (cavatappi, medium shells or rotini)

½ cup sautéed breadcrumbs**

4 TBS butter cut into pieces plus more for greasing baking dish

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°

1.    Butter a deep 1 ½ quart baking dish

2.    Sauté diced pancetta over medium high heat until browned.  Set aside on paper towel to absorb any oil.

3.    Prepare white sauce and add onion, shallot, bay leaf and paprika.  Gently simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

4.    Remove from heat, remove bay leaf and stir in pancetta and about 2/3 of the cheese mixture.  Reserve the rest of the cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.

5.    Cook pasta in super salty boiling water until al dente (about 6 minutes), drain completely and place in large bow.  Stir cheese/pancetta/béchamel mixture into macaroni.

6.    Add half of macaroni mixture to baking dish and sprinkle with half of remaining cheese.  Add rest of macaroni and top with remaining cheese. 

7.    Top with breadcrumbs and dot with small pieces of butter.

8.    Bake about 30-35 minutes until top is browned and crisp and macaroni is bubbling.

* Béchamel Sauce (Yields 2 cup)

8 TBS Butter

8 TBS Flour

4 Cup milk

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Pinch nutmeg

1.    In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat

2.    Add flour and whisk until well blended

3.    Remove pan from heat and slowly whisk in milk

4.    Return pan to heat and whisk constantly until no lumps remain and mixture has thickened and is smooth (about 2 minutes)

5.    Mix in salt, pepper and nutmeg

** Sautéed Breadcrumbs

2-3 slices sandwich bread

¼ tsp salt

Pinch black pepper

Pinch cayenne pepper

2 TBS butter

1.    Toast bread until dry and crispy, allow to cool

2.    Crumble in bowl and toss with salt, pepper and cayenne

3.    Melt butter in medium frying pan over low heat.

4.    Add breadcrumb mixture and sauté until butter is absorbed and crumbs are toasted. 

5.    Spread out on paper towel and cool before using

6.    If making larger batch of breadcrumbs, use a food processor.

Enjoy!  

MJM 

QUINOA: FOOD WITH A FOOT

My brother refers to quinoa as ‘food with a foot’ and gets a little weirded out by the way it looks when it’s cooked…I happen to think it’s fantastic.  Yes, fantastic.  Nutritionally, it adds tremendous protein (since it is technically a seed and not a grain) and the texture, in my opinion, is perfect.  It is practically impossible to mess up and can be seasoned in a wide variety of ways.

Cooking Quinoa

Yields approx. 2 cups cooked

1 cup quinoa (rinse it first)

2 cups water or stock (veggie, chicken, whatever)

¼ tsp salt (easy on the salt if using seasoned stock)

Bring stock or water, salt to boil with quinoa.  Lower to simmer and cook about 15 min until liquid is absorbed.  

Here’s how I jazz it up

Italian style

2-5 fresh garlic cloves, minced (don’t use that stuff in a jar)

Olive oil to coat the bottom of a pan (does anyone really measure olive oil?)

Parmesan, Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano cheese

Fresh basil, chopped or chiffonade (if you want to get fancy)

1. Over medium heat, sauté garlic and oil until fragrant, be careful not to burn
2. Add cooked quinoa to pan and coat with garlic and oil.
3. Finish with cheese and basil, as much as you like
4. Salt and pepper to taste

Asian style

2-5 fresh garlic cloves, minced (I can’t help myself)

Sesame oil* (this stuff is potent, only use a few teaspoons to coat the pan!)

1-2 tbsp fresh grated ginger

¼ cup (approx.) chopped scallions or green onions

Soy sauce to taste

1. Over medium heat, sauté garlic and oil until fragrant, be careful not to burn
2. Add ginger to oil and cook until fragrant
3. Add cooked quinoa and coat with ginger, garlic, oil mixture
4. Finish with scallions/green onions
5. Season with soy to taste

Mexican style

Jalapeno, Habanaro*, Serrano peppers; seeded and chopped

Vegetable or olive oil (enough to coat a medium skillet/frying pan)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1. Over medium heat, sauté peppers and oil
2. Add cooked quinoa and coat with peppers/oil
3. Mix in chili powder and cumin
4. Salt and pepper to taste

*wicked spicy

Add More?

To make this more of a complete meal, add some shrimp, tofu, chicken, pork or beef to any dish and adjust the seasonings.  Add some black beans or top with avocado to the Mexican style for more flavor and texture. 

Don’t worry so much about exact measurements of seasonings.  Cook your food the way you like it.

Enjoy and check back for more!

MJM