Arugula Salad with Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinaigrette

Our food photographer is forever on vacation...

When we first introduced our Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar, we wondered if we could reasonably expect to convince our fans that this is more than a ‘dessert’ ingredient.  Well, we doubt no longer!  After a few days of experimenting with this alluring condiment in Nan’s test kitchen, we are convinced that this can be a versatile and exciting part of sweet AND savory dishes.

This pairing with arugula is inspired.  The strong peppery taste of the greens are countered beautifully by the rich savory chocolate.  If you are unfamiliar with arugula and its spicier than spinach taste, you may want to.  Of all vegetables, arugula (also known as ‘rocket’) is highest in bone building calcium, magnesium and manganese.  And if the health benefits do not sway you, perhaps this will; arugula has been considered an aphrodisiac in Italy since Roman times.  So technically we should tell you this is two aphrodisiacs on one plate… prepare at your own risk!

vinaigrette

·         2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

·         2 tablespoons Pastamoré Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar

·         2 teaspoons juice from the mandarin oranges (see below)

·         4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

·         ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

·         salt to taste

salad

·         6 ounces baby arugula leaves; cleaned

·         3 ounces slivered almonds; toasted with a touch of salt

·         4 ounces goat cheese; crumbled

·         1 - 11 ounce can mandarin oranges; drained reserving some juice.

Place shallots in a small mixing bowl.  Add Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar and the juice reserved from the oranges.  Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking until the vinaigrette has emulsified.  Add black pepper and salt to taste.  You will need a fair amount of salt to bring out the chocolate flavor.  Set aside and allow flavors to meld, at least an hour.

In a large bowl, combine arugula with vinaigrette, toss to cover.  Add the almonds, goat cheese and oranges, fold carefully into the salad.  Alternatively, plate before adding oranges; then arrange oranges in a circular pattern on salad.  Serve immediately. 

 

Serves 4.

copyright Nan's Gourmet Foods - not to be pilfered or picture altered in any way.

blogging

There was a time I cooked or baked something different every day. Then, life, school, work, eventually a wedding happened, and the food blog was repeatedly neglected. But I refuse to retire it.

A few months back, while still completely devoted to wedding planning, I asked Steven what he thought about starting a blog together. Understandably, he was skeptical. I mean, I can’t even keep my food blog running, how could I start a second blog? But he didn’t dissuade me either. Maybe he was enticed by the prospect of writing about craft cocktails.

The truth is, blogging is hard work. Kudos to the people who are able to make a living blogging full time. I am not a chef or photographer and certainly not a writer. Cooking and snapping a few pictures is easy, taking a good picture is hard, using photoshop with nonexistent photoshop skills is ridiculous, and the writing, oh man the writing, would easily take hours. That is how blogging became tedious. This time around, the pictures with be straight out of the camera and there will be typos. If you want stunning photos or witty prose, I can recommend some other food blogs, but chances are you’re already reading them.

My blogging will return to being my creative outlet. Now is a time of change; a new job, new city, new place, and a new blog with just a little bit of everything.

Pasta Mix & Match #3

There are two types of meals I find useful to help me clean out my refrigerator, and this is one – Pastamoré pasta.  (The other is pizza, or more specifically, a Boboli pizza shell).  It is not uncommon for my fridge to be hiding some small portions of previously prepared goodies, not enough for a full meal, but definitely not something I want to see wasted.  I am especially loathe to waste tomatoes.  So here is one such scrounging event.  I had everything on hand except I did buy the two sausages.

If you need any more ideas on how to pair our Pastamoré pasta, do not forget about our two page Pasta Combo Chart here and here!

Love that goat cheese!

• 2 Roma or small tomatoes, chopped to ½ inch dice
• 2 green onions (shallots or onion would also work), thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons Pastamoré Roasted Tomato Dipping Sauce
• 2 hot Italian sausage links
• splash of white wine
• 1 - 12 ounce package Pastamoré Whole Wheat Rosemary &Garlic Linguini
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• salt & pepper to taste

In a small bowl combine tomatoes, onion and Roasted Tomato Dipping Oil.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.  Cover and marinate in refrigerator for at least an hour, allowing flavors to meld.  Remove from fridge and allow mixture to return to room temperature, about an hour.

In a large pot with lots of water, bring to a boil and prepare pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, heat a small fry pan to medium high.  Add non-stick cooking spray and sausages for about ten minutes until cooked through, turning frequently.  Turn off heat and add the splash of white wine.  (These can also be prepared on a grill).  Allow to cool to touch, and then cut into ¼ inch rounds.  Return cut sausage to pan to allow them to soak up reduced wine and keep warm.

Divide pasta into four bowls.  Spoon the tomato mixture along with juices over each portion.  Arrange sausage rounds on each.  Top with crumbled goat cheese.  Season with salt and pepper if necessary and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Strawberry Salsa

Here is a fun and different approach to salsa.  We like to use this with fish or shrimp tacos – the refreshing cool spicy strawberries are a wonderful contrast to the hot grilled seafood.  Just add to some Napa cabbage in a corn tortilla.  This is also wonderful with just tortilla chips! For this recipe, the strawberries do not need to be fully ripe.

• 2 pints strawberries, hulled and chopped
• 1 small green jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped
• 3 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon Pastamoré Meyer Lemon Oil
• ½ tablespoon Pastamoré Fresh Jalapeño Oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon pepper, or to taste

In a bowl combine strawberries, jalapeño, chives, Meyer lemon oil, fresh jalapeño oil.  Add desired salt & pepper.

Makes about two cups.
 

Raspberry Balsamic Spritzer

We have mentioned this before, but it will bear repeating a few times.  Dr. Oz has recommended two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar with each adult meal.  He indicates it will help you feel fuller, and it activates genes which help burn fat.

Dr. Oz - Diets for Every Decade

With that in mind, and the hot summer days upon us, we thought we would share a suggestion from one of our fans:

One of these has rum, one of these does not... can you guess which?

• ice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons Pastamoré Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar
• sparkling water or club soda
• sprig of mint for garnish
• 1 ½ ounce white rum or gin; optional

In a tall cocktail glass, fill at least half way with ice.  Add the raspberry balsamic, and fill with sparkling water/club soda.  Add mint and/or alcohol if desired.

This refreshing beverage seems to work best with our ‘berry’ balsamics, so be sure to try this with our Pastamoré Blackberry Balsamic as well.  We are going to try it with our Citrus tonight, and we are guessing our Dark Sweet Cherry would be awesome too.  We would love to hear your suggestions!

Caprese Summer Salad

To us, there is nothing more evocative of a great summer salad than this one.  Even better, there are few dishes easier to make.  There is a catch, of course.  Each of the ingredients need to be top notch for this to shine.  Do not bother creating this if you do not have the best of each – no rubbery mozzarella or off-season tomatoes, please!

• 2 large ripe heirloom or vine-ripened tomatoes, red & yellow if possible
• 8 to 12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese (water packed)
• 20 to 30 fresh basil leaves
• a high quality extra virgin olive oil
• Pastamoré Traditional Barrel-Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Cut the tomatoes into ¼ inch slices horizontally, and the cheese into large ¼ thick rounds.  Slice the basil into thin strips (a chiffonade).  Layer alternating slices of tomatoes and mozzarella on a large, shallow platter.   Sprinkle on the basil.  Drizzle the salad with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Lastly, finish with a drizzle of the balsamic vinegar.

Serves 4.

Alternatively, this can be arranged on individual plates.  And yes, we do know that in the strictest sense this recipe, from Capri, this would not be served with balsamic.  But heck, we have one of the best balsamic vinegars in the world, and we love it on this salad!

Citrus Grilled Portabella Burgers

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Chef Jon, who grilled the portabella mushrooms in the same fashion with fig balsamic and used them in a spinach salad.  You can find that recipe here.  This recipe is simple to make and the result is a filling and satisfyingly ‘meaty’ burger.

Some day we will fire our food photographer and hire a good one!

• 4 large portabella mushrooms
• olive oil
• 4 tablespoons Pastamoré Citrus Balsamic Vinegar
• 4 hamburger buns
• 4 ounces herbed goat cheese
• 1 small red onion, sliced and separated
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• salt & pepper to taste

Heat grill to medium high heat.

Remove stems from the portabella mushrooms and brush the ‘top’ of the cap with olive oil – this will be quickly absorbed by the mushroom.  Place caps gill side up on the grill.  Drizzle about a tablespoon Citrus Balsamic Vinegar into each cap, and season lightly with salt & pepper.  Leave on grill for 10 to 15 minutes until the mushroom is quite tender – you will not need to flip or move them.  The balsamic will sizzle and most will be absorbed into the mushroom as it cooks.

Toast the buns alongside until brown.  Assemble ‘mushroom burger’s’ with the onion and tomato.  Spread or crumble one ounce of the goat cheese on each burger and serve.

Serves 4 generously.

Thyme Roasted Red Potatoes with White Balsamic Reduction

This is a reconstruction on one of our most popular recipes.  Originally we used our White Balsamic Vinegar, but as is the case with our fabulous fan base, a suggestion came in to use our White Balsamic with Pear instead.  What was already and easy yet extravagant side dish was raised to a new level - the very subtle pear back note in fact brightened the dish.  What follows is the recipe revised with the use of the White Balsamic with Pear.  One last note, our Traditional Barrel-Aged Balsamic Vinegar or any of our balsamic vinegars infused with fruit would also work well.

Joseph Phelps 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon is optional

• 1 1/2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed, halved
• olive oil-flavored nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• ¾ cup Pastamoré White Balsamic Vinegar with Pear
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Place potatoes in large bowl and generously spray with nonstick spray.  Toss to coat.  Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons thyme and all of the garlic salt.  Toss to coat.  Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Arrange potatoes cut side down on sheet.  Roast potatoes until tender and golden brown, turning every 15 minutes and roasting about 40 minutes total.

Meanwhile, boil vinegar and sugar in heavy small saucepan over medium high heat until liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup, about 10 minutes.  Mix in remaining 1 tablespoon thyme.

Transfer potatoes to plates.  Drizzle reduced balsamic syrup over potatoes.

Serves 4.

Oven Roasted Parsnips & Carrots with White Balsamic Vinegar

In our opinion parsnips have always been underrated.  Come to think of it so is roasting vegetables.  Both are healthy and easy choices, and along with ever popular carrots, these make for an attractive and tasty side dish.  And there is a benefit to the finished product looking like colorful French fries – kids will want to eat and love them!

• 1 pound medium parsnips, trimmed, peeled
• 1 pound medium carrots, trimmed, peeled
• 2 tablespoons Pastamoré Rosemary with Roasted Garlic Dipping Oil
• 1 tablespoon Pastamoré White Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Cut the parsnips and carrots into what will look like French fries – they should be about 3 inches by ½ inch by ½ inch.  Combine parsnips and carrots in a bowl.  Drizzle oil and white balsamic, sprinkle in the salt & pepper; toss to coat evenly.  Spread in even layer on baking sheet.  Roast until vegetables are tender and brown around edges, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Serves four.