For the past couple of months Chris and I have been maintaining a habit of cooking and eating on the beach once a week, which has proven itself to be both a delicious and surprisingly uncalamitous affair. It's an opportune time to futz with flavourful, uncomplicated cooking. Plus, I have yet to lose any tooth enamel from stray grit in my brunch.
Cisca's birthday was coming up so a beach dinner was in order. On the menu was vegetable-goat cheese terrine and shellfish steamed in white wine with tarragon pesto. Anachronisms fluster me, so let's start with what I did the day before:
Vegetable and goat cheese terrine.
1 large eggplant
1 butternut squash
3 large red peppers
olive oil
salt+pepper
A couple bunches of basil
approximately 8 oz soft goat cheese
Peel your squash, and wash the peppers and eggplant. Slice vegetables to about 1/4" thickness, brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill the veg over high heat until cooked through with nice char marks and set aside to cool. I suppose you could bake them in the oven on a sheet if you don't have access to a grill, about 7 minutes each side at 450 degrees would probably be sufficient. I don't have a terrine mold, I just used a couple of ramekins, but I would think that a loaf pan would work pretty well, too. If you want to skin your peppers like I did just blister their outsides black, and you'll find that it peels right off.
Line your vessel of choice with plastic wrap, brush the plastic wrap with a little olive oil, and then stick the basil leaves to the bottom and sides of your mold. layer in the vegetables and goat cheese as you like, then cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge. While it sits, it's always best to put some kind of weight on top so as to compress the terrine. When you're ready to serve just turn out of the dish and remove the plastic wrap. I think this would be a great thing to serve at dinner parties - it looks great, tastes great, AND bullshits its way around any lack of cullinary expertise you may or may not have.
Come to think of it...this next item kind of does the exact same thing.
Shellfish cooked in white wine
Cisca's birthday was coming up so a beach dinner was in order. On the menu was vegetable-goat cheese terrine and shellfish steamed in white wine with tarragon pesto. Anachronisms fluster me, so let's start with what I did the day before:
Vegetable and goat cheese terrine.
1 large eggplant
1 butternut squash
3 large red peppers
olive oil
salt+pepper
A couple bunches of basil
approximately 8 oz soft goat cheese
Peel your squash, and wash the peppers and eggplant. Slice vegetables to about 1/4" thickness, brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill the veg over high heat until cooked through with nice char marks and set aside to cool. I suppose you could bake them in the oven on a sheet if you don't have access to a grill, about 7 minutes each side at 450 degrees would probably be sufficient. I don't have a terrine mold, I just used a couple of ramekins, but I would think that a loaf pan would work pretty well, too. If you want to skin your peppers like I did just blister their outsides black, and you'll find that it peels right off.
Line your vessel of choice with plastic wrap, brush the plastic wrap with a little olive oil, and then stick the basil leaves to the bottom and sides of your mold. layer in the vegetables and goat cheese as you like, then cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge. While it sits, it's always best to put some kind of weight on top so as to compress the terrine. When you're ready to serve just turn out of the dish and remove the plastic wrap. I think this would be a great thing to serve at dinner parties - it looks great, tastes great, AND bullshits its way around any lack of cullinary expertise you may or may not have.Come to think of it...this next item kind of does the exact same thing.
Shellfish cooked in white wine
3-4 lbs of your choice of shellfish (we used a dungeness crab, clams, and mussels)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp white pepper
3 tbsp butter
1 bottle dry white wine
1/2 lemon
Stick a heavy, lidd
ed pot over high heat and throw in your butter, garlic, and shallots. Once the shallots and garlic soften, squeeze in the lemon and add in the wine and seasonings. After that comes to a boil, dump your seafood in and cover for 5 minutes. We doomed our crab to deliciousness by adding him into the pot and covering it about 5 minutes prior to letting the clams and mussels join in, I would recommend you do the same due to their slightly longer cooking times. Take a peek after 5-10 minutes, and if you s
ee that the shells are wide open you can go ahead and take it off of the heat. Otherwise, shake your pot around a bit and cover it up again.
While extremely delicious with just the broth in the pot and a crusty slice of bread, you can serve it with this stuff for some extra tasty-points. It's great both on the seafood, as well as spread across your favorite artisan loaf.
Tarragon pesto
1 jar with a damn tight lid
Equal parts of sweet basil and tarragon leaves, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp corriander seeds, lightly crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
olive oil to cover
You're going to need a fair bit of greenery in order to make this goodness happen, I would say that a greedy fist-full of each will make about 2/3 cup of pesto. In any case, chop it up to your liking - I don't always want my pesto pastey, so I left it in a pretty rough chop. Stick everything except the oil and corriander into your jar. Heat up a dry pan and roast the corriander seeds for a few minutes to make them a little aromatic, then pour in a goodly amount of extra virgin olive oil. Don't fry it up or anything, just warm the oil through and pour over the other ingredients. Close it up tight and shake that jar like it's the baby you never wanted to have, but always wanted to eat.
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp white pepper
3 tbsp butter
1 bottle dry white wine
1/2 lemon
Stick a heavy, lidd
ed pot over high heat and throw in your butter, garlic, and shallots. Once the shallots and garlic soften, squeeze in the lemon and add in the wine and seasonings. After that comes to a boil, dump your seafood in and cover for 5 minutes. We doomed our crab to deliciousness by adding him into the pot and covering it about 5 minutes prior to letting the clams and mussels join in, I would recommend you do the same due to their slightly longer cooking times. Take a peek after 5-10 minutes, and if you s
ee that the shells are wide open you can go ahead and take it off of the heat. Otherwise, shake your pot around a bit and cover it up again.While extremely delicious with just the broth in the pot and a crusty slice of bread, you can serve it with this stuff for some extra tasty-points. It's great both on the seafood, as well as spread across your favorite artisan loaf.
Tarragon pesto
1 jar with a damn tight lid
Equal parts of sweet basil and tarragon leaves, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp corriander seeds, lightly crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
olive oil to cover
You're going to need a fair bit of greenery in order to make this goodness happen, I would say that a greedy fist-full of each will make about 2/3 cup of pesto. In any case, chop it up to your liking - I don't always want my pesto pastey, so I left it in a pretty rough chop. Stick everything except the oil and corriander into your jar. Heat up a dry pan and roast the corriander seeds for a few minutes to make them a little aromatic, then pour in a goodly amount of extra virgin olive oil. Don't fry it up or anything, just warm the oil through and pour over the other ingredients. Close it up tight and shake that jar like it's the baby you never wanted to have, but always wanted to eat.
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