crispy goat cheese over arugula salad with prosciutto and figs

What could possibly be better than crispy-on-the-outside, gooey-melted-inside goat cheese rounds? Why, putting it on top of a salad to excuse it as "healthy", that's what. This recipe from October's Bon Appetit is just pure happiness.

Grocery list (this makes 8 goat cheese rounds, which they suggest is enough for 8 salads): quart fresh figs, 1 lemon, balsamic, white wine vinegar, fresh basil, sugar, olive oil, 1 log goat cheese (11 oz), 1 c panko, 1 egg, arugula, 3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, honey.



Don't be intimidated by the vinaigrette; it only takes a few minutes. If you don't want the hassle of cooking the figs, you can get fig paste or jam that would probably work. Stem and quarter 6 large figs, and heat in a small saucepan along with 1/2 cup water.



Simmer over med-low heat for about 5 minutes, mashing with a potato masher until you have a puree. Remove from heat. The recipe says to drain over a strainer, but I didn't have any excess liquid. I just let it cool for a few minutes then picked out the skins - the remaining paste was perfect.



Stir in 1 T fresh lemon juice, 1 T balsamic, 1 T white wine vinegar, 2 T olive oil, pinch of sugar, and 2 tsp chopped basil. Season with salt and pepper.



After trying this recipe, next time I will put the goat cheese in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before slicing - it was messy. Dip each piece of goat cheese in beaten egg first, then coat with panko. Chill on plate for 10 minutes in fridge before frying.



Heat a little olive oil in a skillet over med-high heat, then cook goat cheese for 1-2 minutes per side, till golden. Arrange arugula on plates and lay prosciutto slices over. Quarter the remaining figs and divide over the plates. Place goat cheese on top, drizzle with honey and the vinaigrette.

chicken saltimbocca

I can't believe I've been cooking this long and haven't discovered Cook's Illustrated until now. I've seen it in stores, just never realized how amazing the content could be. There are no ads, just informative articles and research about how best to create recipes (my favorite cookbook du jour, "The New Best Recipe", is in the same style, presumably because it's a compilation of all the recipes from their magazine). In the April 2008 issue, they cover chicken saltimbocca, with the intention of making it a viable weeknight option (the original calls for veal -- and isn't much different than this recipe in how you'd prep it). The only change I made was to use less butter in the sauce -- in my mind, weeknight viability is dependent on healthiness not just convenience. The result is delicious, and I'm not sure I miss the veal at all.
Grocery list: 8 thin boneless chicken cutlets, fresh sage, 1 cup white wine, 1 lemon, butter, 8 thin slices of prosciutto, flour.



Start by flouring the chicken cutlets: combine 1/2 cup AP flour with salt and pepper in a shallow dish, and dredge the chicken in the flour. Lay them flat on a piece of waxed paper.



Mince 1 T of sage leaves, and divide the leaves across the tops of each chicken cutlet. Then lay 1 slice of prosciutto on top of the sage (so all the sage is covered), and firmly press the prosciutto so it will stick to the chicken.


Heat 2 T of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add 8 whole sage leaves and cook about 20 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel. Add half of the chicken cutlets, prosciutto side down, and cook 3 minutes till golden brown. Flip and cook 2-3 minutes more till golden on both sides. Transfer to a wire rack (which will keep the chicken crispy) over a baking sheet, then place in a warm 200 degree oven. Add 2 more T of oil to the pan, and repeat the process with the remaining chicken.
If there's extra fat in the fry pan, pour out most of it, then pour 1 cup of white wine into the pan. Stir to remove the browned bits and simmer until the sauce is reduced to 1/3 cup (the recipe said 5-7 minutes, but in reality it took me 10-12 minutes). Stir in juice of 1 lemon, turn the heat to low, and whisk in 4 T of butter one at a time (I made a change to the original and only used 2 T), then season with salt and pepper. Place one fried sage leave over each piece of chicken, then pour the sauce over the chicken to serve.

prosciutto-wrapped apsaragus with lemon-dijon vinaigrette

In this month's issue of Food & Wine, there's an article featuring Mario Batali and his favorite ways to grill "italian-style". The original recipe calls for pancetta and an orange-based citronette, but I modified it somewhat by using a simpler lemon and dijon sauce and by using prosciutto in place of pancetta. This is an easy way to make eating your vegetables a lot more fun and impressive at the same time (it went incredibly well with the steak au poivre; the simpler sauce didn't overpower with its flavor).

Grocery list: 1 bunch asparagus (thicker stalks are better -- less labor-intensive), 1 lemon, dijon mustard, olive oil, prosciutto.



Wash and trim the asparagus. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each stalk -- I actually cut the prosciutto in half first so there wouldn't be too much meat per each asparagus. Chill the wrapped asparagus for 15-20 minutes. Prep the sauce: whisk together 1 tablespoon dijon, 2 T olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, salt & pepper.

Using a grill pan or a grill, grill the asparagus over medium heat for 5 minutes, turning to brown all sides of the prosciutto. I placed the pan in a 350 degree oven for an additional 5 minutes to cook the asparagus through (didn't want to burn the prosciutto). Drizzle the sauce over the top to serve. As a side note, in the future I'll try pre-cooking the asparagus for a couple of minutes first so I won't have to bother with the oven.

stuffed pork chops & grilled polenta

I don't normally watch cooking shows, but my sister and I caught a few minutes of a Tyler Florence episode yesterday that made me want to try his recipe for stuffed pork chops (Anthony said the guy lost all credibility when he endorsed a menu for Applebee's, but this looked so good I have to ignore that little detail).

Tyler used bone-in chops, but I prefer the center cut boneless variety -- just make sure they're really thick. For each chop, you need a slice of fontina cheese and a slice or 2 of prosciutto. You'll also need a box of polenta (look in the rice/pasta aisle), a few handfuls of red seedless grapes, thyme sprigs, butter, cream and parmesan.


I soaked the chops in a brine while I made the polenta and prepped everything else (about 30 minutes; put the chops in a gallon size ziploc with a handful of sugar, salt, and a sprig of thyme, then put the bag in the fridge). Cook the polenta according to the package directions, or make grit cakes, if you prefer. When the polenta is done cooking, stir in a 1/4 cup of cream, a handful of grated parmesan, salt, pepper, and 2-3 T butter. Spread into a square pyrex dish and put in the fridge to cool/harden.

Preheat the oven to 425, then stuff the chops -- remove from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Cut an opening (see the picture), and move the knife around on the inside to create a pocket. I wrapped the fontina slice with the prosciutto to easily stuff it down in the pocket. Heat some olive oil in a heavy cast iron skillet over med-high heat. Cook the pork chops for about 6-8 minutes (sear both sides basically), then place the skillet in the oven to roast the chops for 5-10 minutes more. Since mine were so thick I ended up cooking a full 10 minutes in the oven. I also put a big bunch of seedless grapes right on top of the pork chops before putting the pan in the oven, drizzled with olive oil and salt/pepper. This roasts the grapes so you have a sweet contrast to the salty pork dish.

While they are roasting, you cut the polenta into squares, brush with olive oil, and grill on a grill pan till they are brown. To serve the entire dish, place a pork chop on top of the polenta, grapes on the side (I served with a simple arugula salad on the side as well). You definitely won't find anything this good at Applebee's...