Squash Blossom and Zucchini Frittata

After the world's LONGEST absence from home-cooked meals, Alex and I finally had the opportunity to sit down and make a meal together.  Well, I made the meal while Alex tried to talk to Time Warner about our lousy internet speeds.  But that's really beside the point.  The point is, after a few weddings (one in Connecticut and one in Kentucky) and a bunch of really late nights at work, I finally got to cook something and eat it.  Yay!  So I did what I always do and wandered around the farmers' market picking up things willy-nilly until I decided on something to make.  This time I picked up some zucchini, fresh sweet corn, green beans, sun gold tomatoes (greenhouse tomatoes, but still delicious), fresh basil and parsley, cherries, peaches...  I'm really bummed that I ended up missing sugar snap peas, pea shoots and the end of fresh asparagus season due to work, but I can't be too upset that more amazing tomatoes and corn are just around the corner. 

Anyway, this frittata accomplished something that most restaurant frittatas don't - it was moist, tasty and fluffy, not dry and tasteless.  The last restaurant frittata I had was at a place on the UWS called Tarallucci E Vino.  It was one of the driest, most disappointing frittatas I have had in a long time.  It made me remember why ordering a frittata at a restaurant can be a recipe for failure.  I can only think of one frittata I have ever had that was truly satisfying and that was at Spotted Pig, where everything you order could possibly order is delicious.  The one thing that made my experience at Tarallucci e Vino one to remember was the scenery.  And by scenery I mean Matt Damon.  He's just as cute in person as he is in the movies.  To be honest I almost missed him entirely because I was too busy oogling his wife's black asymmetrical tank top.  I didn't realize it was him until I heard his voice.  And for the record, Alex's PLT (pancetta, lettuce, tomato and sunny-side egg) sandwich was pretty tasty.  While we were sitting on the couch and eating this frittata I told Alex that I would be perfectly happy to be served this frittata at any restaurant.  And I stand by that statement.  It was great.  It also made me sad about how much I miss eating at home, but I am hoping that work will slow down a little bit and I will once again be able to eat dinner at home...  Until then, I have the memories of this frittata to keep me happy.

Recipe after the jump!

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Chese and Pistachios

Let's see...  What is there to say about our newest take on beet salad?  We are still in our vegetarian kick, so I wanted to do a hearty salad for dinner with some stracchiatella soup and beet salad sounded like the perfect option.  The funny thing is that we made almost this exact meal (with a slightly different beet salad and homemade chicken stock on the blog almost two years ago).  And in a lot of ways, I preferred that meal - particularly the sweet and spicy candied pecans, the homemade chicken stock for the soup.  I was expecting more sweetness from the roasted beets here, but once I tossed them with the dressing all of that wonderful beet sweetness was obscured.  Granted, grocery store beets in the middle of winter are never quite as sweet as beets are when they are in season, but I tasted the roasted beets before and after adding the dressing so I can definitively say that the dressing definitely masked some of their natural sweetness.  I think beets go wonderfully with goat cheese and this salad was no exception.  The pistachios were an interesting touch as well.  I love roasted salted pepitas with beet salad and candied walnuts or pecans, but I have never tried pistachios.  They are a milder, slightly sweeter alternative, but I might go back to the candied nuts or pepitas. 

Recipe after the jump!

Rustic Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Who doesn't love the combination of tomatoes, basil and cheese?  Generally I pair tomatoes with fresh mozzarella rather than goat cheese, but goat cheese gives this tart a nice tangy richness that would have been lacking if I had used mozzarella instead.  With the goat cheese I couldn't resist a touch of lemon zest to mix up the flavors a bit.  I also thought about using a little fresh thyme mixed in with the goat cheese and lemon zest, but I realized that we were out.  Oh well.  It was lovely with the basil.  Perhaps if I try the tart again using puff pastry or different vegetables (I have been considering making a variation on this recipe with zucchini or summer squash for a little while now) I will use thyme instead of basil.

Alex's only complaint about dinner was that the part of the crust covered by the tomato and goat cheese mixture was not as flaky as he would like (translation - it was a little soggy).  Unfortunately with this kind of tart I didn't think I could blind bake the crust for a few minutes before topping it with goat cheese and tomatoes and folding the edges up.  I'm not really sure how to fix that issue, but for me it wasn't a problem.  The folded up portions of crust were more than flaky and buttery enough for me.  I don't think that a homemade pie crust would have been any flakier than the store bought one, but it might.  I will have to experiment with a homemade crust next time to make sure.  If I had more time tonight I would have whipped up a crust in my food processor, but by the time we started on dinner it was already past 7pm and I didn't want to make the crust, and then let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before I could move on to rolling the crust out and starting the tart. I'm also not sure that the puff pastry under the goat cheese would have crisped up during baking, but I think that I could at least dock it (poke the dough full of holes so it doesn't rise too much) in the center, and then bake it for 5-10 minutes before adding the goat cheese mixture.  Since I wouldn't fold up the edges with the puff pastry, but would instead allow the pastry to puff up and form a crust by not docking the outsides, it should work...  Since we are just starting to head into tomato season now I should have plenty of chances to experiment!

Recipe after the jump!

Goat Cheese Sandwich with Bacon and Honey-Vinaigrette

So this sandwich is an interpretation of another of our favorite meals in Aruba, this one served at a restaurant/bar called Bugaloe Beach Bar & Grill on De Palm Pier.  If you are staying anywhere from Holiday Inn down to the Westin in Aruba, you really need to check it out.  The view is amazing because the restaurant is on a pier jutting out into the water, and the food is fantastic.  The week that we were in Aruba, Alex probably had 5-6 of these goat cheese sandwiches.  The first time we had the sandwich was in August 2008 on our first trip to Aruba and it was entirely due to our love of that sandwich that we went back to Bugaloe.  They really are that good.  I also really enjoy their grouper sandwich, but I have to find some really good grouper before I attempt that one.

My version of the goat cheese sandwich is a little different from the one they served at Bugaloe, but I think it's just as good.  First, I used baguette, instead of the softer bread they used in Aruba.  Second, I toasted the bread to warm it up and make it crustier, rather than warming the goat cheese while leaving the bread un-toasted.  Third, my honey-vinaigrette is sweeter and thicker than the version they served with their sandwich.  Last, and this was somewhat out of my control, our bacon was thicker and therefore packed more of a salty, porky punch than Bugaloe's.  And our goat cheese was creamier, whereas theirs was tangier (again, not much I could do about that).  With all of that said, this is a seriously delicious sandwich and so long as tomatoes are in season, I highly recommend whipping up a sandwich or two.  In each bite you get salty bacon, creamy/tangy goat cheese, sweet honey-vinaigrette, lettuce and tomato.  It's kind of like a BLT, only light years better.

Kelly, this one is for you!

Recipe after the jump!

Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Frittata

I woke up this morning to an almost unbearably dreary, rainy day.  It's the type of day that just makes you want to curl up on the couch in your pajamas with a nice steaming mug of hot tea (or hot chocolate) and a nice book to read.  And never venture outside.  On days like these, a bowl of cereal just doesn't cut it.  I seriously considered making homemade buttermilk biscuits, but somehow I just wasn't feeling it.  Then it occurred to me that I had some amazing Gaspe and Irish organic smoked salmon from Russ & Daughters sitting in the fridge.  Thus this smoked salmon frittata recipe was born.

I went through the fridge and started pulling out things for my frittata - eggs, creme fraiche, goat cheese, herbs, scallions, and the Irish salmon.  I don't know about the rest of you, but the idea of adding cream cheese to a frittata, which is what most smoked salmon frittata recipes calls for, was just very strange to me.  I am a big proponent of cream cheese in frosting, on bagels, and in cheesecake, but somehow I cannot see using it in a frittata.  It's a quirk of mine that certain ingredients belong in certain places and it takes some pretty convincing proof before I can be swayed to believe otherwise.  Either way, I just prefer goat cheese to cream cheese anyway.  What's not to love about goat cheese?  It's creamy, tangy and just utterly delicious.  And I think it pairs incredibly well with buttery smoked salmon.

Recipe after the jump!