Tag Archives: Cookbooks

The Fire Island Cookbook

17 Apr

Summer.  Dinner party.  Simple elegance.  These words evoke images of a tablecloth blowing in the breeze on an outdoor table set with seafood, grilled meats, fresh summer vegetables, fine wine and ice cold cocktails to be enjoyed by tanned, relaxed friends savoring every drop of their beach vacation.  Fire Island, New York is one of the quintessential locations people dream of when picturing their fantasy beach getaway, and it is the perfect backdrop for Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen’s brand new cookbook filled with menus for elegant-yet-casual dinner parties for every weekend of the summer!

The Fire Island Cookbook exudes the laid-back “beachy” feel we all hope to experience every summer, enhanced by influences from the authors’ travels to places such as Italy, France, Greece, Mexico, Cape Cod and, of course, Fire Island.  With menus like Mykonos by Torchlight and Paella Beach Party, and even Rainy Day French Menu (featuring the most fabulous presentation of Beef Bourguignon I have ever seen!) to brighten up a rainy summer weekend, there is a perfect meal for everyone and every occasion!  After reading this cookbook through from cover  to cover, I just had to talk to Mike and Jeff and find out how simple-but-perfect elegance seems to be so natural for them.

RC:  I have to tell you, your book is gorgeous!  Your recipes seem to follow a theme of “simple elegance.”  What are the key elements that take a dish from blah-and-basic to simple elegance?

M&J:  Thank you - we were very excited when we got our first full-color copy! It’s all about presentation—use a round biscuit cutter to “ring” mashed potatoes or rice, and use fresh herbs for garnish. Change plates and silver between courses, and use a variety of dish styles. This sounds super obvious, but plate food carefully, and wipe the rims before bringing your plates to the table. We visit markets wherever we travel, and are always picking up small decorative plates that are perfect for appetizers or dessert. Little touches on the table like individual salt and pepper shakers or miniature salt bowls make your guests feel like they are at a fancy restaurant.

RC:  Do you tend to design your menus around wine you’ve preselected, or select wine after you have planned out a menu?

M&J:  A little of both, but we always start with a theme. If the theme is Spanish, the food and wine will be Spanish, or if we’re doing Mediterranean, we’ll skip around France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Morocco, and Israel for both food and wine inspiration.  Sometimes we pick a type of wine, such as Syrah or Grenache from the Rhone Valley or crisp, cold whites and let the menu build from there.

RC:  You designed the menus in The Fire Island Cookbook for beach house dinner parties – do you have any tips for those who are landlocked for creating a beach house feel in their own home?

M&J:  Music sets a mood—we love the Hotel del Mar and Ibiza Chill Out collections playing in the background. Color helps as well; soft blue and turquoise mixed with sandy earth tones and a couple of bright accents make your guests think they’re at the beach the second they see the table. Turn off the television, and as soon as all your guests have arrived, turn the ringer off on your phone, so that your dinner party becomes an unplugged mini-vacation.

RC:  Summer is so close! What do you cook during the spring months to jump-start that breezy summer feeling?

M&J:  We definitely start grilling as soon as we can, and eating simple grilled meats and vegetables, and cold seafood dishes. There are a couple of grilled salad courses in the book: Grilled Endive with Romesco, and Grilled Romaine B.L.T. Salad, and we’ve started making those already. We’ve also gotten hooked on the Spanish Rubbed Steak, which is a year-round favorite. The Tapas Bar Seafood Salad brings you to the beach before you’re even done mixing it all together!

Mike and Jeff’s menu introductions and recipe descriptions in The Fire Island Cookbook are like mini pep talks – once you read them, you are convinced the meal will be a breeze to put together, and will leave you plenty of time to enjoy the company of your dinner guests.  And you know what? The recipes really ARE that simple to prepare!  Mike and Jeff even provide advice on wine pairings and plating ideas to help you bring the whole meal together.  They have perfected simple, breezy elegance – Gazpacho is just a matter of chopping up peak-of-freshness summer vegetables and putting them in a food processor with a few key ingredients to add just the right amount of flavor but still allow the seasonal vegetables to shine through.  Tapas Bar Seafood Salad requires only a few simple steps before tossing shrimp, crabmeat and octopus with a few fresh ingredients, and then can sit in the refrigerator all day until you are ready  to serve it.  And the Peppercorn-Brined Pork Chops with Grilled Sweet Peaches can be made in minutes after a leisurely day on the beach!

If you live in the Monmouth County, New Jersey area and want to meet Mike and Jeff, they will be signing copies of The Fire Island Cookbook at the Barnes & Noble on Route 9 in Freehold this Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.  (Check out Barnes & Noble’s website for more information.)  If you would like a sneak peek of what The Fire Island Cookbook has to offer, check out the Pistachio Frozen Greek Yogurt I made from the Mykonos by Torchlight menu:

Trust me – it tastes as rich and creamy as it looks, and is beyond simple to prepare!  The Greek yogurt is a bit healthier than ice cream, and the pistachios (I used salted, roasted pistachios) make this creamy concoction completely addictive!  But I think the true genius behind this recipe is the almond extract – it offsets a little of the “funk” of the Greek yogurt, and gives the frozen yogurt a luxurious flavor.  With permission, here is the recipe for what I am sure you will be eating for dessert all summer!

Pistachio Frozen Greek Yogurt (From The Fire Island Cookbook by Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen. Copyright © 2012. Published by Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books. All Rights Reserved.)

Makes 8 servings

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 cups good-quality Greek Yogurt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts plus 1/4 cup whole pistachios

1.  Whisk the sugar into the yogurt in a glass bowl.  Add the almond extract and the chopped and whole pistachios, and mix well.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

2.  Transfer the mixture to the canister of an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Serve immediately, or return to the freezer until ready to serve.

Quinoa Cuisine

4 Apr

I know quinoa is good for me.  Heck – it is a “superfood,” rich in protein, calcium, iron, fiber, potassium, B vitamins and minerals.  I keep meaning to try quinoa.  I say I am going to add it to my repertoire as a healthier replacement for rice or couscous.  But I have never actually tried it. 

For those of you who know me, you know that my motto is that I have to taste everything at least once.  Which means, when I was asked to check out Quinoa Cuisine: 150 Creative Recipes for Super-Nutritious, Amazingly Delicious Dishes, I jumped at the chance to finally cook with and taste an ingredient I’d been meaning to try!

Lucky for newbies like me, the introduction to Quinoa Cuisine serves as Quinoa 101 – a guide to the “pseudograin’s” health benefits, the types of Quinoa, and tips for shopping for and cooking with Quinoa.  Once I felt I had educated myself enough to get cooking, I looked through the chapters filled with recipes for breakfasts, soups and stews, salads, and even baked goods to decide what form my first taste of quinoa would take.   I opted for two different recipes – one with white quinoa and one with black, in order to experience the very different textures of those varieties.

As it turned out, my very first bite of quinoa would be my favorite!  The Stuffed Tomatoes, made with white quinoa, are a perfect example of “less is more.”  With only a few ingredients, this dish is fresh, light, and full of flavor!  Jessica Harlan and Kelley Sparwasser, the authors of Quinoa Cuisine, recommend serving this as a side dish to accompany grilled fish or chicken, or as a meatless meal accompanied by a green salad.  And I have to tell you – the stuffing, on its own, would also be a great side dish!  Since I am still obsessing about this dish, I just had to share the recipe with you – check it out at the end of this post!

I also prepared the Asian-Style Edamame and Shiitake Pilaf – what an absolutely gorgeous dish!  The bright green edamame and scallions popping out from among the grains of the black quinoa are truly a sight to behold.  I adored the Asian flavors in this dish, but personally, I was not as big of a fan of the black quinoa’s texture as I was of the white.  I think I just don’t care for the crunchiness – but it’s true what they say about eating with your eyes as well as your palate – the look of the dish paired with the flavors of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar pretty much made up for the fact that I was being a little finicky about the texture. 

There are other chapters in Quinoa Cuisine which utilize quinoa flakes, seeds and flour to make dishes like Chicken Potpie with Quinoa Biscuit Crust, Mini Pizzas, Two-Bean Quinoa Chili and Quinoa Biscuits and Gravy.  I can’t wait to delve further into the recipes and hone my quinoa cooking skills!

As promised, with permission, I am sharing the recipe for Quinoa Cuisine’s Stuffed Tomatoes with you – with the warmer weather coming, I thought this would be the perfect dish for lighter summer suppers, potlucks, picnics…or pretty much any other reason you can think of!

Stuffed Tomatoes (From Quinoa Cuisine: 150 Creative Recipes for Super-Nutritious, Amazingly Delicious Dishes by Jessica Harlan and Kelley Sparwasser. Copyright © 2012. Published by Ulysses Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Serves 4

  • ½ cup white quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 cup vegetable stock or broth
  • 4 medium globe (slicing) tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • ⅓ cup shredded cheddar cheese (about 1½ ounces)
  • kosher salt and black pepper

1. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the quinoa and stock or broth to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the stock or broth has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the quinoa sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, cover, and leave on the burner to keep warm.

2. While the quinoa is cooking, slice the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the cores, seeds, and pulp. Sprinkle the insides lightly with salt and place the tomatoes upside down on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a double layer of paper towels to drain out the excess liquid.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and red pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked quinoa and fresh parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Preheat the oven’s broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place each tomato, cut-side up, on the pan. (If the tomatoes roll, slice off a little piece on the bottom to make a flat base.) Stuff each tomato with the quinoa mixture, pressing lightly with a spoon to pack it in. Top with the cheese and place the pan under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot.

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