Half Assed Kitchen

Bruschetta

We've been wanting to make bruschetta for a long time. Like forever. We don't know what was stopping us. We've done tomato, basil, mozzarella skewers as well as caprese salad and other variations on the tomato/basil combo.

Recently we've been perusing The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen and came upon a bruschetta recipe. We thought, Let's do this!

So, we finally did.

Our recipe is a variation on the one found in the book. Served on thick slices of toasted sourdough bread, it was gobbled up within hours.

Here's what you need and how you do it

Effort required: Truly 1/2 assed

2-3 medium sized ripe tomatoes (or 4 to 5 plum/roma tomatoes), chopped

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped

1/3 cup basil, finely chopped

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients together in bowl. Let sit for an hour to blend flavors. Drain if necessary.

Serve on toasted bread of your choice.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Caponata recipe and Alouette cheese giveaway!

Update: the winners of the Alouette cheese are Jennifer Jo from Mama's Minutia (a great little blog that I don't know why isn't as big as The Pioneer Woman's), and Vicki! Thanks for playing!

We're currently on a two-week family road trip going through Washington, Oregon and Northern California. While driving yesterday, we started fantasizing about what our favorite cheese might be. Bleu? Gouda? Feta?

And then we remembered that we've been meaning to post an Alouette giveaway. So, on a rare three-night Oregon coast stop, we went to the Alouette site and found this scrumptious looking caponata recipe. Caponata is a Sicilian vegetable salad made of chopped, fried eggplant and celery seasoned with sweetened vinegar and capers in a sweet and sour sauce. (Whew! Thank you wikipedia!)

It looks perfect for a light, warm weather dinner or an any time appetizer.

No effort rating, since we haven't tried this one. We're guessing, with the chopping, it sits on the fence between 1/2 and 3/4 assed.

Here's what you need and how you do it

1/4 cup virgin olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped in 1/2-inch dice

1 Tablespoon pine nuts

1 each medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (to yield 2 cups)

1/4 cup green olives, chopped

1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

1 ounce balsamic vinegar

1 package Alouette^® Feta Mediterranean

In a large 12 to 14-inch saute pan, over medium heat, heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the onions, pine nuts, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes until softened.

Add the eggplant continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Add the thyme, chopped tomato, olives, and balsamic vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Lower the heat and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Fold in Alouette^® Feta Mediterranean Crumbles.

Serve the caponata spooned on crostini or in middle of table with crostini on side to allow guests to help themselves.

Now for the fun part. Leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite kind of cheese by 10pm Pacific Daylight Time on Friday, August 5th to qualify to win one of two sets of three Alouette cheese coupons. That's $21 worth of FREE CHEESE, people. For two of you.

We'll choose the winner at random and make our announcement on Saturday, August 6th, when we will, at long last, be home!

Edamame dip

Here's another recipe for the Pretty Darn Healthy And Also Extremely Delicious file. We got this from Epicurious and made a few, tiny tweaks. It's like guacamole, but with legs. And protein-packed. Give this one a shot served with sweet potato chips. Yum!

Rating: 1/4 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

2 cups shelled edamame (from the frozen food section of your grocery store)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 clove garlic (optional)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoons black pepper

3 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons water (or slightly more)

Cook edamame in a bowl filled with water and placed in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain. Add edamame and all other ingredients into food processor or blender.

Process until mostly smooth. You may need to add more liquid if the dip is too thick.

Serve warm with sweet potato chips.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Bacon jam

Bacon jam is new to us. We read about it while perusing a popular food magazine that starts with an Everyday and ends with a Food. But we didn't go with her recipe, so no need to promote someone that doesn't need promoting here, is there?

Anyway, we couldn't stop thinking about Bacon Jam. What would it taste like? Coffee and syrup and onions? Really?

So we finally had to make it. And the verdict: it's...intense. Rich. All consuming. While you're eating bacon jam, you kind of forget that there's a whole world spinning around you. You get lost in the sweet, spicy universe in your mouth.

We were inspired by Not Quite Nigella's recipe, but modified it a bit. Namely, we took out the sugar. That plus the maple syrup was just too much for us. We wanted the savory to shine through a little more. Also, we skipped the food processor, because it's simpler to not use it and because we like our jam a little chunky.

We introduce our version of Bacon Jam!

Rating: 3/4 assed (teetering toward 1/2 assed though)

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 pound bacon

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, minced

1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper plus adobo sauce it comes in

1 cup coffee

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/8 cup maple syrup (or to taste)

Black pepper to taste

1/4 cup water, or slightly more depending on consistency

Cook bacon in skillet until just done. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon bacon fat. Remove bacon. Add garlic and onion. Cook about five minutes until onion is tender. Here you have a choice. You can add bacon back in, chipotle, coffee, vinegar, syrup and pepper and let it all simmer for two hours on your stovetop. Or you can transfer it all to a slow cooker where you'll set it on low and let it go for 3 to 4 hours. Either way, your house is going to smell divine!

If simmering on stovetop, keep checking and stirring from time to time. At about the one hour mark, we stirred in the 1/4 cup of water. You may need to add water a little more frequently, but this worked for us.

When it's cooked down to a chocolately looking mass, remove from heat and let cool.

Serve on bread, burgers, crackers, pancakes...the opportunities to use bacon jam are endless.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Warm olives with marcona almonds

It's that time again! We're beginning our third annual Half Assed Holiday Apps series, where we'll aim to bring you a new appetizer recipe once a week from now until New Years Day.

This first hors d'oeuvre is as simple as it gets. It's inspired by a restaurant here in Seattle called Tin Table, which serves fantastic food–-this appetizer in particular. We order it every time we go to Tin Table and it never disappoints. The complementary combination of marconas and olives WARMED is so scrumptious, we can hardly keep from thundering down to our own kitchen to mix some up right this very minute.

Rating: 1/4 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

Olive mixture (we get ours from the olive bar at our local grocery store)

Marcona almonds (Trader Joes and Whole Foods both carry these)

Herbs such as rosemary or thyme (optional)

In a medium-sized bowl, mix all ingredients. Heat in microwave 20 to 30 seconds and serve warm.

Dirty martini dip

When we first tried it, we couldn't get enough of this dip that is just as naughty as its name implies. Cream cheese, green olives, mayo, bacon, vodka, and scallions, while not a particularly healthy combination, sure is tasty.

This dip is easy and looks festive served in a martini glass with olives on the side. Give it a try for your next party or get-together and see if you come home with any left (we're betting you won't). Serve with fresh bread torn into bite-sized chunks. (Crackers and pretzels are good, too, but add more sodium to the already salty-ish dip).

Rating: 1/4 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 8-ounce package cream cheese (low fat works too)

1 Tablespoon mayo (again, can use low fat)

1/4 cup vodka or milk

3 pieces bacon crumbled (optional)

1/3 cup green olives, chopped

3-4 scallions, white and light green parts sliced

Mix all ingredients in medium-sized bowl. Chill until ready to serve.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Stuffed mushrooms recipe

Stuffed mushrooms is an appetizer fave at almost every party. And around these parts, it's no exception. They're also easy as all get out. You remove mushroom stems, mix filling in a bowl, spoon filling into each mushroom and bake.

You can stuff mushrooms with almost anything and, as long as cheese and bread crumbs are involved, you'll have a winner.

We use feta, roasted red pepper, fresh parsley, butter, panko and a splash of white wine. But feel free to improvise. Quantities aren't set in stone either. You can add a little more of this or less of that depending on your tastes and what you have on hand.

 

Rating: 1/4 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

2 pounds button/crimini mushrooms, stems removed

1 cup crumbled feta/goat cheese/cream cheese, etc.

1/3 cup panko or other bread crumbs

1/4 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 Tablespoon butter

Splash white wine

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Mix all ingredients except mushrooms. Fill mushrooms. Place mushrooms on cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until filling is bubbly and golden.

Serve warm.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

A little bit Asian, a little bit Heinz-Chili-Sauce American, there is no one besides vegetarians who wouldn't like these meatballs. They have just the right amount of sweet zing to make you go Mmmmm.
 

And, as is typical around here, our sweet and sour meatballs are easy to make, too.

 

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 pound pre-made meatballs (we use frozen Trader Joes' party-size meatballs)

1/2 onion, chopped

3/4 jar Heinz Chili Sauce

2-3 Tablespoons rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1-2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon cornstarch whisked into 1/2 cup water.

Ground black pepper

If still not sweet enough for you, add ketchup, pineapple juice or brown sugar by the tablespoon until desired sweet/sour combination is achieved.

Mix all ingredients and let simmer over medium-low heat until onions are soft and meatballs are cooked through.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Mini cornmeal cakes with ricotta and grapes

This recipe comes to you straight from the Food Network. We went looking for easy apps. We found easy apps. We liked the looks of this one because we like cornbread a lot. And cheese even more.

Our head taste tester thinks these apps would be even better with cream cheese and apple rather than ricotta and grapes. But we'll let you make the substitution, if so desired.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 package cornbread mix, plus egg, milk and oil to make the cornbread

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Handful of seedless grapes, washed and sliced

Honey for drizzling

Mix cornbread ingredients and cook on oiled griddle until each side is golden brown. Remove from griddle and let cool. Top with a schmear of ricotta, a couple grape slices and a little honey.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here. 

Dates Wrapped in Bacon

This one is easy. Ridiculously easy. And good. Insanely good. The bacon and the sugar from the dates fuse to make a crispy, gooey, sweet, bacony burst of flavor and texture. You can prep this one in five minutes. Give it ten to fry and you're good to go.

 

Rating: 1/4 assed (If we'd given ourselves the option of 1/8 assed, we'd go with that, but 1/4 assed is as far down as we're allowed.)

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 pound dates

1 package bacon, sliced in half lengthwise and then cut into four-inch quarters.

Wrap each date in bacon and drop into non-stick skillet. Cook until bacon is crisp. Serve warm or cool.