Cook Like a Rock Star - Anne Burrell [25]
1 Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2 Put the goat cheese in a small ovenproof dish and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is warm, very soft, and slightly oozy.
3 While the cheese warms, toss the arugula in a medium bowl with 1 tablespoon each red wine vinegar and finishing oil, and season with salt. Divide the arugula between four serving plates.
4 In large bowl toss the tomatoes, onion, and basil with the remaining oil and vinegar and season with salt. Arrange the tomato mixture on top of the arugula and garnish each plate with a dollop of the warm goat cheese.
Holy tomato!
Grilled Shrimp with Chickpea Fries, Zucchini & Pine Nut Salad
SERVES: 4 • TIME: ABOUT 2 HOURS, MOSTLY UNATTENDED
There are so many things to love about chickpea fries—for starters you can make the base for this dish ahead of time and then fry up the fries just before you want to serve them. Also, I’ve added some crunched-up chickpeas into the mix for texture. And who ever thought of pairing these lovelies with a raw zucchini and onion salad? Look at me—always thinking up something new! Add a couple of grilled shrimp and some pine nuts, and you have something really special.
MISE EN PLACE
FOR THE CHICKPEA FRIES
Kosher salt
½ cup chickpea flour
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup canned or cooked chickpeas, crushed
Extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE SALAD
8 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (I prefer the ones with the head on)
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 zucchini, green part only, julienned
½ red onion, sliced super-thin
2 cups baby arugula
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
Juice of 2 lemons
These chickpea fries are also really good with aïoli—check out this recipe for a Q&E (quick and easy) dipper for these lovelies!
FOR THE CHICKPEA FRIES
1 Put 2 cups water in a small saucepan, salt well, and bring to a boil (BTB) over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, whisk in the chickpea flour, and cook over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. Toss in the cumin, cayenne, and crushed chickpeas. When it’s done, the mixture will be thick like mashed potatoes, about 15 minutes. Taste it—it should be REALLY good; if it isn’t, reseason.
2 Spread the mixture out in a lightly oiled 9-inch baking dish and chill until fully set, at least an hour (this can be done in advance).
3 Cut the chilled mix into thick sticks, ¾ to 1 inch wide. Coat a nonstick sauté pan with olive oil and bring to high heat. While the oil heats, set up your drying situation next to the stove by putting a couple layers of paper towels on a baking sheet. Working in batches, cook the fries on all sides until golden and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove and drain on the paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and keep warm in a low oven.
FOR THE SALAD
1 Preheat a grill.
2 In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with olive oil to coat and season with salt.
3 Put the zucchini, onion, arugula, and pine nuts in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and make sure it tastes delicious!
4 Grill the shrimp, turning once, until no longer translucent, 4 to 6 minutes total.
5 Arrange the salad on serving plates and top each with a couple of chickpea fries and 2 shrimp.
Chickpea-sy!
When you go to a fish store you might see numbers next to the shrimp. These numbers correlate to how many shrimp are in a pound (for example, 12/15 means there are between twelve and fifteen shrimp in a pound). The bigger the number, the more shrimp per pound; the smaller the number, the bigger the shrimp! For this recipe I recommend really big shrimp.
Grilled Sea Scallops with a Watermelon Three-Way & Dandelion Greens
SERVES: 4 • TIME: ABOUT 1½ HOURS, MOSTLY UNATTENDED
I don’t think there’s anything terribly exciting about grilled scallops—but I do think you can put them together with interesting ingredients and make them exciting. That’s why I pair scallops with—wait for it—watermelon! I know, who would think of putting scallops with watermelon, let alone three kinds (watermelon, watermelon