Crostini: Garlic Ricotta with Fresh Blackberries and Agave.

August 3, 2017Leave a comment

Hey Y’all,

Quick post here about an easy recipe you can make for almost any event. You can serve up a few before dinner, make an entire tray for a party, or fill a plate and eat them for dinner! Crostini are my go-to side dish during summer because they are light and often call for fresh vegetables or fruits. In San Diego, summer brings a variety of tomatoes and tons of stone fruit!

Crostini are an Italian appetizer consisting of small slices of grilled or toasted bread and toppings. The most famous of which is of course, bruschetta.

In fact, it wasn’t until I lived in Italy did I learn that bruschetta is part of a larger crostini family. I just always assumed we had toasted bread with toppings, and the Italians, the amazing Italians, had BRUSCHETTA!

There is literally no end to the crostini combinations you can make, but, here’s a pretty good list to get you started. CLICK ME.

OKAY, let’s get started.

Crostini: Garlic Ricotta with Fresh Blackberries and Agave

Total: 30 min
Active: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Level: Easy

INGREDIENTS

1 fresh baguette – bread of your choosing
Olive oil
Garlic (fresh, crushed, or powder)
Fresh blackberries
Whipped ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice baguette into rounds. Place on oven safe baking dish. Apply decent amount of olive oil to each slice, spreading with basting brush. Do not saturate bread. Use just enough oil to prevent the bread from drying out or hardening in oven.

(Note – if you are using fresh or crushed garlic, apply to bread at this time. You need only use a small amount.)

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven. Allow to cool to the point you can touch.

Spread a generous portion of ricotta cheese onto each slice.

(Note – if you using garlic powder, apply a small amount to each slice, on top of the cheese.)

Add fruit. Drizzle with agave.

Serve with chilled white wine.

Enjoy!

SUSANNAH

Follow my cooking Instagram for step by step directions – @sdgastronaut

Simon and Garfunkel Potatoes

March 14, 2016Leave a comment

Hello Gastronauts!

Happy Sunday !! Just wanted to share a quick recipe from this morning. I call it my Simon and Garfunkel potatoes. Why? Because I cook them with Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (duh!)

Just cut up a mixture of golden and red skinned potatoes into bite sized pieces. Transfer them to a medium sized pan and add your seasonings: salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, parsley and thyme. (I used all dry spices.) Add olive oil. Mix until all potatoes are evenly coated. Then heat on medium to high heat stirring so they do not burn. Cook until tender and the skins are crispy (as desired.) Serve with fresh rosemary sprinkled on top.

I served these up with some Dr. Ben Carson Fruit Salad of Your Life (oranges, pears, and apples mixed with agave syrup drizzled on top.)

ENJOY!

-Susannah

Shrimp Egg Bakes!

March 6, 2016Leave a comment

Hello Gastronauts,

As promised, our CSA has started back up! Week 1 of Spring CSA is here:

100% organic kale, beets, radishes, green onions, lemons, cilantro and assorted salad mixture.

I excitedly jumped right into cooking this stuff up! So here are the recipes for garlic kale and shrimp egg bake, and (for the non-kale lovers) radish and shrimp egg bake.

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KALE – if you’re like me you totally understand the nutritional value of kale but you struggle to find enough new recipes to keep you excited about eating it week after week. Hopefully, you will try out this breakfast or brunch idea and find a new way to eat kale in your home!

INGREDIENTS – kale (4 leaves including stems), 1 green onion (leaves and bulb), crushed garlic (1 tablespoon), olive oil, shrimp (pre-cooked, medium sized), 2 eggs (preferably farm fresh), milk, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, and your favorite cheese (shredded.)

STEP ONE – cook the kale

Chop the kale into semi-bite sized pieces (I say semi because the kale will cook down and become smaller.) Place in pan with garlic, olive oil, and chopped green onion. Cook on medium heat until mildly wilted. Do not burn or let it become crispy.

STEP TWO -Transfer to mixing bowl and add shrimp. Add salt and pepper to mixture as desired.

(Ignore my Snap Chat captions LOL)

STEP THREE – grease ramekin or baking dish. You won’t need a very big one, this is going to make a personal pan pizza size serving 🙂

Add contents to the ramekin.

In separate bowl beat 2 eggs. Add milk. Then pour the eggs/milk combo into the ramekin.

STEP FOUR – top with breadcrumbs and shredded cheese (I used fontina.)

( I will get to the minis shortly!)

STEP FIVE – Cook at 375 Fahrenheit (°F) for 25 minutes (uncovered.) Then broil for 5 minutes to make the cheese and breadcrumbs extra crispy.

STEP SIX – top with cilantro and serve warm.

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Okay what to do if you have someone in your house who is not a fan of kale? Substitute radishes for kale! (If they don’t like radishes, maybe just no vegetables at all.)