Every Thursday, there is a lovely farmer's market in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA. Now that my schedule is more flexible, I have delighted in visiting the various local vendors and purchasing local meats, cheese, bread as well as the traditional fruits and vegetables. I decided to make a nice, romantic meal for two last night featuring the market's products.
Last week I purchased a small log of aged goat cheese from Westfield Farm. I managed to eat it in under 24 hours : ) Thus, I decided it would be an appropriate choice for my meal. I bought a loaf of ciabatta from Clear Flour Bread, an amazing bakery in Brookline, to serve with the cheese and a bottle of dry red wine-a blend of malbec, cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
I made homemade chimichurri, both to marinade the steak and to use as a sauce for the cooked steaks.
To make the chimichurri:
1/4 cup minced cilantro
2 roasted piquillo peppers, diced finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
I bought flat iron steak from River Rock Farm, that sells fresh beef at the farmer's market. Flat iron is a relatively new cut of beef, created from removing a very tough piece of gristle from an otherwise tender and flavorful cut of meat. River Rock Farm sells meat from steers raised in pastures, without the use of artificial growth hormones or feed additives. All meat is aged for 14-28 days for maximum taste and tenderness.
Using a fork, poke small holes throughout the steak, flip it and repeated the process. Use 1/2 of the chimichurri as a marinade for the steak, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours; remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
To cook, preheat the oven to broil then lightly oil and heat up a cast iron pan with raised grilling edges over medium high heat. When the pan becomes hot, place steak in pan, cooking about 3 minutes on each side to sear. Place pan in oven about 5 inches from broiler and cook additional 5 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes on plate before slicing. Spoon chimichurri over sliced steak and enjoy!
YUM! The end result was delicious. I highly suggest buying local meat if you can, the flavor was rich and the meat unbelievably tender.
This is a classic early summer salad. Pair with a frittata and some crusty bread, and you have an easy, flavorful Mother's Day brunch!
Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries
4 oz crumbled goat cheese
8oz baby spinach
Balsamic vinaigrette
Wash strawberries well and remove stems. Slice in half vertically.
Wash spinach and let dry.
Divide spinach among 4 plates. Top each with 1 oz goat cheese and 1/2 cup sliced berries. Drizzle vinaigrette over salads.
While working at Dali Restaurant, I discovered my love for Spanish food. (Let's be honest-I pretty much love all food...I just learned what Spanish food actually was while at Dali). Many of my recipes draw inspiration from or are my interpretation of their tapas.
One favorite tapa was "queso rebozado con miel," caramelized honey-onions with lightly fried goat cheese balls. The sweetness of the onions complimented the bitterness of the goat cheese. A glass of sangria or dry red wine is the perfect finishing touch.
Ingredients:
2 large onions
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
6 ounces fresh goat cheese
Panko bread crumbs
Olive oil
Wash and peel onions, cutting away the top/root sections. Slice in half (top to bottom) and slice onion halves into long, thin strips.
Melt butter in large saute pan over medium heat. Add onions and brown sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally about 5-10 minutes, or until onions are soft. Turn heat to medium low, stirring occasionally, cook 30-45 minutes, until golden brown. Check every 5 minutes of so to stir, and to make sure onions are not cooking too fast (you want them to slowly caramelize-not burn!).
Remove saute pan from heat.
Form small goat cheese balls, about 1 inch in diameter. Press in Panko bread crumbs and flatten slightly.
Heat up olive oil in clean saute pan over medium heat. Add goat cheese patties, cooking about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden (if they start to brown, take pan off heat and cool down a bit to medium low).
Cover small plate with caramelized onions. Top with 2 or 3 goat cheese patties. Enjoy!
(I ate my perfect Panko-covered patties...these are sans bread crumbs)
I'm part of a lunch group at work; every day a different person brings in food. About 8 months after I started the group, a vegetarian was hired. Now I am all about free choice, but this threw a serious wrench in the works (<-is that a saying?). As a result, I was forced to come up with some veg-friendly dishes.
Ingredients:
Dough to make about 12 empanadas (homemade, or frozen-if frozen, remove from freezer before starting to cook)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 small onion
1 green pepper
4 cloves garlic
4 oz goat cheese
2 fried sweet plantains (if you are not feeling it, buy Goya frozen ones, they are very close to the original)
Salsa
1 avocado
2 limes
Cumin
Paprika
Preheat oven to 375.
Mince the cilantro and garlic and dice the pepper and onion. Heat oil over medium-high heat in large saute pan. Add diced/minced ingredients and turn heat to medium. Add 1/4 teaspoon paprika and 1/4 teaspoon cumin to mixture. Saute about 7 minutes or until onion is translucent. Remove from heat.
Slice fried sweet plantains (maduros) into small chunks, about 1/2 inch wide. Mix into black beans. Crumble goat cheese over beans and mix well. Add sauteed ingredients to beans, stir and set aside.
Roll out empanada dough and cut into small discs, about 3-4 inches in diameter. If using frozen discs, gently roll out a little to loosen the dough. Fill each disc with about 2 tablespoons of filling. Fold over to create a half-moon and use a fork to pinch dough shut. Repeat until all filling has been used.
Set filled shells onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Cook about 20 minutes or until empanada dough is starting to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool a little on cookie sheet.
Slice avocado into 1/4 inch strips and cut limes into 12 wedges (6 for each lime).
Serve empanadas with sliced avocado and salsa for dipping. Squeeze lime juice over empanada to eat.
