Coming Soon: Asparagus Souffle

You could see this later tonight, but it's more likely this lovely asparagus souffle will make its Food Wishes debut tomorrow. Things are a little hectic around here as I'm getting ready for a short, but exciting trip to New York City, where I'll be making sandwiches with Bobby Flay. Hang tight for more details on that, and stay tuned for this!

Tuna Crostini Recipe

I had some left over hard boiled eggs and an assortment of condiments in the refrigerator last weekend, so I decided to use them to make tuna crostini, a classic Italian snack. I used 3 pieces of Dimpflmeier Klosterbrot Rye Bread basted with olive oil as the base. The end result was an easy to make snack that only took about 20 minutes to prepare. Here's how to do it:

Ingredients
olive oil
4 pieces of rye bread
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
2 5oz. cans of tuna fish in spring water
1 tbsp relish
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
Parmesan cheese garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, relish, mayonnaise, and sour cream.
3. Drain the water from the cans of tuna. Add the tuna fish to the bowl
4. Mix together all of the ingredients.
5. Cut each piece of rye bread in half.
6. Lightly coat each piece of rye bread with olive oil.
7. Spread the tuna mixture onto each piece of bread and then place it on a baking sheet.
8. Put baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Italy

Happy National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day!

I can't believe it's already National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day! April 12 seems to come faster and faster every year. Anyway, what better way to celebrate than with one of our famous Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwiches? These crispy, cheesy works of art are not for everyday use, but today, they are not only appropriate, but necessary. Enjoy!

Click here to go to the original Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwich post!

Mystery Noodle Experiment: Operation Crepenoodlespaetzlecini

This bizarre and quite possibly useless video recipe is what happens when I don't have the good sense to not film what I'm cooking. What started as some innocent experiments with semolina dumplings, somehow turned into a surreal crepes-pasta-spaetzle-noodle-chowmein hybrid.

As I cooked and edited this freak of nature, I kept going back and forth between thinking this was a giant waste of time, to actually thinking we may be on to something. I think the basic idea of using a denser semolina crepe as noodles is worth exploring further, but not until I hear what you all think.

By the way, some of you may be wondering why I didn’t mention what it tasted like during the video. I have no idea. It was pretty good – kind of like fried macaroni, only a bit softer and richer. I think I was just so confused by the whole exercise, it never occurred to me. Anyway, I hope some of you do some experimenting of your own, and together we can take this to the next level…or not. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

pinch of salt, and maybe sugar

1/2 cup semolina flour

2 teaspoon olive oil (not shown in video, but add it in)

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Crunchy outside, chewy inside, gluten-free vegan chocolate cookies.

I have a new cookie recipe to share today. A cocoa infused cookie studded with semi-sweet chocolate chips. A cookie that tastes like a brownie- if a brownie was slightly crispy and crunchy on the outside, and chewy soft on the inside. You could say, it's a brownie with a cookie texture.

Texture is a big deal in gluten-free baking.

It's no secret that giving gluten the boot also means giving texture, stretch, and structure the old heave-ho, right along with it. First timers bite into gluten-free goodies and pause. They chew. Their eyes widen and dart to the side as they search for a word to describe exactly what it is they are chewing.

The word most often used to describe something gluten-free? Gummy. Or worse. Cardboard. Attributes one does not necessarily associate with pleasure. With nourishment. With flavor.

Which is why I am here.


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American Kobe

This short film about beef came about during some recent recipe testing. The magnificently marbled American-style Kobe beef is flat iron steak from Snake River Farms, and while this doesn't qualify as a video recipe (sorry, the cooking part is missing), I still wanted to share. Enjoy!

Lamb Schawarma Recipe שווארמה

During my interview with Levana Kirschenbaum, I learned about a type of sandwich called schawarma that is a signature Israeli dish. So I tried to see if I could find any recipes for schawarma to understand how it is made. I found a couple of recipes that used chicken as the main ingredient. However, when I think of Middle Eastern cuisine, lamb comes to mind. The recipe that follows is a hybrid of a few that I found with some of my own improvisations.

Last weekend was the first time that it was really warm here and it felt like spring. So we decided to grill the lamb for the schawarma outside on the Weber.


We also decided to try a new wine with this dish. Since schawarma is popular across the Mediterranean, we wanted to find a wine from this region as well. We decided on Voga Merlot. This Sicilian wine (in a most un-traditional bottle) turned out to be an exceptional pairing with the lamb schawarma.


This recipe is all about prep-work. You will need to marinade the lamb overnight. In addition, you will need to slice up a few vegetables for condiments as well as make a tahini paste and tzatziki. There is a little bit of work involved in getting the condiments ready but if you get a few bottles of wine and some friends involved, dinner will be ready before you know it! Here is how to do it:

Recommended Equipment:
charcoal or gas grill

Ingredients:
2 pounds lamb
12 slices pita bread
1 cup plain yogurt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tspn tobasco sauce
2 tspn lemon juice
1 tspn vinegar
1 tspn onions, finely minced
1/2 tspn Kosher salt
1/2 tspn black pepper
1/2 tspn cayenne pepper
1 cup tahini
2 tspn lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tspn chopped parsley
1/2 cup water

condiments
sliced tomatoes
sliced onions
mixed sprouts
romaine lettuce, sliced thin
tzatziki


Preparation:

1. Make the tzatziki.
2. In a large bowl, add yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, Tabasco sauce, black pepper, cayenne pepper, vinegar, onion and salt.
3. Add meat to the bowl and coat with the marinate. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Combine the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley.
5. Whisk well.
6. Add water if needed.
7. Slice up the tomatoes, lettuce, onions for condiments.
8. Grill the meat until done.
9. To make the sandwich slice open a pita, spread some of the tahini sauce onto the bread. Add some lettuce, tomato, sprouts, and onion. Top with the meat and a dollop of tzatziki.

Israel