Chevre with Sauteed Grapes and Fresh Herbs - Recipe

Chevre with Sauteed Grapes and Fresh Herbs

I love this appetizer because it comes together in minutes, tastes amazing, and the sauteed grapes provide an element of surprise and pleasure. It is a riff on a popular dish from Seattle's Osteria La Spiga, where they do it with Toma cheese wrapped in grape leaves.

This version is even simpler. You should feel free to try it with other cheeses and other herbs. Mint or basil would be delicious. How about grilled Halloumi cheese instead of the chevre?

I recently received a sample of an organic extra-virgin olive oil from Gaea. I used it for this dish and it added a very clean, clear, fruity and pepper note that I was happy with. I'm also impressed that their oils are certified carbon-neutral.

The finished dish can be plated family style like you see above, or in individual portions. Serve it with a crusty baguette or a grilled flatbread.

Chevre with Sauteed Grapes and Fresh Herbs
Vegetarian and gluten-free; not vegan
Serves 4

• 8 oz. fresh chevre (goat cheese; I'm partial to the Laura Chenel brand)
• 1.5 cups seedless red grapes, halved
• 1 + 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced
• 1 tablespoon chive blossoms, pulled apart into individual flowerets
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
• flaky sea salt

1. Divide the chevre into 8 parts and roll into balls. Set aside to warm up towards room temperature.
2. Just before you are ready to serve, saute the grapes in 1 tablespoon of the oil for 30 seconds over medium-high heat.
3. To serve, place the chevre balls on a plate. Distribute the warm grapes over the top. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Garnish with the herbs and sea salt.

Golden Beet Tartare (Ok, Really, Diced Beet Salad) - Recipe

Wait! Wait! If you think you hate beets, don't surf away yet.

I love beets. I would eat them on a boat, I would eat them with a goat. I would eat them in the rain, or in the dark or on a train.

If your only experience is with canned beets, you haven't really ever had beets. I can't tell you how many people I've converted to shameless beet-loving over the years. I'm a certified beet evangelist. (Which makes it legal for me to marry root vegetables in most states).

Of course today's dish is really a beet salad, but using some of the complementary flavors often associated with beef tartare. The visual resemblance would be stronger with red beets, but I'm not really trying to mimic a meat dish here, just riffing off of it. I didn't think it needed a raw egg on top, but I did put rosemary mayo on the toast for a little fattiness. Sieved hardboiled egg would be nice too. I didn't add anything acidic, but if you want a little citrus juice in there it is ok with me.

You could serve this as an appetizer, or as a side salad with a grilled entree.

Golden Beet Tartare (aka. Finely Diced Beet Salad)
Vegetarian, vegan if you omit mayo or use a vegan mayo, gluten free if you omit the toast
Serves 4

• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 2 large golden beets (enough to yield 1.5 c. diced)
• 1/4 cup peeled, seeded and finely cucumber
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• flaky salt (Maldon!)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• black pepper
• 4 pieces of thin, toasted or grilled bread cut as you see fit

1. Combine the mayo, rosemary and a couple pinches of salt. Do this first so the flavor of the herb has time to develop.
2. Boil the beets whole, in salted water, until tender. Remove the peels and then finely dice until you have 1.5 cups of dice. They should be no larger than 1/8". The easiest way to do this is slice off all 6 sides until you have a cube, then cut first into uniform slices, then batons (sticks), then dice. You'll have some extra stuff you can snack on or save for another purpose. If you take your time and do a nice dice, this dish would look really good.
3. Combine the beets, cucumber, onion, capers, olive oil and a teaspoon of salt. Taste and adjust seasoning.
4. To plate, arrange a mound of beets on each of 4 plates, or use a ring mold. Top with the chives, black pepper, and a few more flakes of salt.
5. Spread the rosemary mayo on the toast and serve.

Crispy Soba Noodle Pancakes with Scallions and Gochujang - Recipe

Crispy soba pancakes

Last week I asked my friends "Tell the truth: isn't crispy the best part of any dish?", and got impassioned responses, ranging from "Of course. Crispy is carmelized", to  "Not if it's a gummy bear..." . For me, it is all about the crunch and those toasty flavors. So when I found I had lots of noodles left from last week's Japanese-style soba noodle soup, I knew just what I wanted to do with them: pan-fry them into a little pancake with lots of surface area, so it is all crispy, all the time.

My hope was that these guys would form a pancake without having to add egg or any other binder, so I could really crisp up the noodles without burning the egg, and it worked great! They locked together beautifully.

For condiments, I added sesame seeds which are always happy whenever toasty flavors are around, cucumber and green onion, and a dipping sauce made from Korean gochujang (aka kochujang) chili paste with mirin. Buckwheat noodles are eaten in Korea too; I know they are served cold in a dish called naengmyon, but I'm not sure if they go by a different name when hot, or if they are ever fried. Can anyone enlighten me?

I really enjoy gochujang as an alternative to other chili pastes. It not extremely hot, and usually includes fermented soybeans and rice for a rather complex, appetizing flavor. I would compare it to chilis mixed with miso. If you don't have access to gochujang, you could make another kind of chili sauce using, say, Sriracha.

I think this dish would be best served as an appetizer or bar snack, with cold sake or beer. It makes for fairly messy eating as the crispy, salty noodles break up, so I wouldn't necessarily hand pass it to people in their best party dresses!

By the way, drop me a line on Twitter, I'd love to engage in more conversation with y'all. (Can you tell I grew up in Kentucky?)

Crispy Soba Noodle Pancakes with Korean Kochujang Hot Sauce
Vegetarian and vegan; not gluten-free
Makes about 8 pancakes

• 1/2 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste)
• mirin (rice wine), or for a different taste, rice wine vinegar
  
• 1/3 lb. dry soba noodles, cooked and cooled according to package directions
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• vegetable oil for frying
• sea salt
• black pepper
• 3 green onions (scallions), white parts, thinly sliced
• cucumber, peeled if needed, thinly sliced
• toasted sesame oil

1. Whisk the gochujang with the mirin until it reaches a dipping sauce consistency, and set aside.
2. Combine the soba noodles with the sesame seeds.
3. In your largest skillet, bring about 1/8" of oil to frying temperature over medium-high heat. Just short of smoking hot.
4. For each pancake, put a nice handful of noodles in the skillet and sort of press down to flatten. Do as many as you can comfortably fit at one time. Fry on one side until golden brown, maybe a minute or two, then flip and fry the other side. Drain on paper towels and season with sea salt.
5. Serve as soon as possible, garnished with a grind of black pepper, green onions, cucumber and a few drops of toasted sesame oil, and pass the dipping sauce.