Balsamic Fig Variations

It’s summer…berries are in season.  They go beautifully with our sweet Balsamic Fig dip.  I do it three ways.   If you ask me, they’re all worth the calories.   And, if you ask me nicely, I’ll send you the foolishly simple recipes.

The pudding, spooned into a Martini glass and topped with Balsamic Fig.

The berry pudding, served with a dollop of Balsamic Fig. I’m not sure dessert gets better than this.

In this version I spoon fresh and slightly cooked berries on top of pound cake and then top with the Balsamic Fig. This is so easy, it’s almost cheating.

You know how on the Food TV show “Chopped,” several experienced chefs try to quickly prepare delicious, innovative dishes using surprise ingredients? I wanted to do something similar and find out what a top Boulder chef could do with a surprise batch of Ciolo products.  So last week, I showed up at Pizzeria Basta with 5 items for owner/chef Kelly Whitaker to taste and create with.

Basta (it means “enough” in Italian) is much more than a Pizzeria and Kelly Whitaker is  more than just a good, local cook  He’s a smart, talented and highly creative, often praised chef who never ceases to surprise us with his blend of old-world, wood-fired cookery, and modernist cuisine techniques.   The only cooking methods Kelly has at his restaurant are his wood fired oven, a hot plate to heat water for house-made mozzarella and a sous vide set up for his amazing, slow cooked/then browned meats.

On the day I arrived we had under 2 hours to prep and taste some creations using:

Green Olive Tapenade

Lemon Artichoke Tapenade

Jalapeno Pecan Pesto

Moroccan Delight (whose real name is Muhammara)

Truffled Ricotta Dip

Slices of squash ready for grilling & filling.

It’s hard to pick a favorite but I think the one that surprised & delighted me most was the preparation using the Truffled Ricotta.  Kelly thinly sliced some summer squash lengthwise.  He brushed the slices with olive oil, sprinkled with a little salt and put them in a hot grill pan to soften and add color.  Then he spread each slice with a thin layer of Truffled Ricotta, topped that with a few basil leaves, rolled up the squash and plated them with a sprinkle of more chopped basil.   Tasty, easy and very festive looking. 

Kelly then used the Green Olive Tapenade, one of my favorites, in a grilled Romaine salad that could easily be served for lunch.  The big surprise here is the addition of a 6 minute egg. 

At 6 minutes, the egg white is fully set but the yolk is still soft.   You can shell the eggs and place them in a warm water bath while you prep the rest of the dish, which couldn’t be easier.   Kelly split a long head of Romaine and placed each piece face down in hot, grill pan (I’d just use my barbecue grill).   He let them cook until slightly softened and nicely browned, then he dressed them with some lemon, olive oil and the green olive tapenade.  After placing the slightly warm egg on the plate, he cut them in half so that the soft yolk mixed with the salad dressing.  Kelly added a few croutons, a little more olive mixture, and voila.   A beautiful luncheon salad or elegant first course at dinner.  Something you can easily do at home.

His other dishes were Oysters baked with Lemon Artichoke Tapenade, Mussels served in a lemony broth, accompanied by Moroccan Delight-topped crostini, and a simple pizza with Jalapeno Pecan Pesto and goat cheese.   We can do all of these at home using the same Ciolo products!

MEATBALLS….(and I promise I’ll get to them)
I was at a cocktail party recently and musing with a fellow imbiber about how quickly trends arise and permeate so many different worlds. Gadgets do this, of course, but also expressions and words. Remember how back in the late 1990’s it suddenly seemed that every article you read included the word “Schadenfreude”? Who even knew the word before that? Was it that the sentiment – it means to take pleasure in someone else’s misfortune – suddenly arose and needed to be remarked upon? I don’t think so. Humans have always been susceptible to feeling this way. It was the word itself that got swept into our vernacular there for a while and then just as suddenly departed. The actual feeling of schadenfreude certainly didn’t vanish, but our interest in saying it seemed to fade.

Nowhere is this tendency to make something a part of the zeitgeist (one of those trend words that stuck) more prevalent than in the world of food and drink. Just a few years ago, it seems, loving Bourbon was a sort of secret pleasure. I learned to make a Manhattan 30 years ago so I could impress my mother and then I fell in love with them although I always felt a little funny ordering one when everyone else at the table was getting a Chardonnay. Now I get to go to Bourbon tasting parties and the Wine Spectator has created a whole new magazine to talk about Bourbon and other whiskeys and the cocktails they make.

And so I come to meatballs. Who hasn’t always loved meatballs? But suddenly it seems they are a trendy food and every fancy-pants chef is serving them. About two years ago I probably hadn’t made meatballs maybe ever, when from nowhere the urge to eat them was upon me. All I could think about was a dish of meatballs with red sauce. So of course I Googled them and there they were. Dozens of recipes. I chose one from Anne Burrell, one from Alton Brown, combined and tweaked them a bit and there I had it. Meatball craving sated for a while.

When I was preparing for our Ciolo-Sartori sponsored “Women in Food” party I decided that very small meatballs would play a big supporting role. The size that could fit on the end of a toothpick. My friend Michele Wells had served some really good Lamb Meatballs at Christmas (alongside a fabulous Brisket) and I figured I’d make something similar. I also have to mention that in my book, great meatballs are usually accompanied by a great sauce. In this case I served three…a standard garlicky yogurt/cucumber Tzatziki, our Ciolo “Moroccan Delight” (it’s really Muhamarra but no one knows what that is so we call it Moroccan Delight) and Ciolo’s Jalapeno Pecan Pesto. Personally, I liked the Moroccan Delight/Muhammara best but all three were good and the meatballs, if you like lamb, are easy and terrific. In fact, I can’t remember when I made anything that so many people asked the recipe for and so here it is.

I actually doubled this recipe since I was making them for a group but I’ll give the smaller one here. It definitely multiplies just fine.

¾ lb ground lamb
¼ lb 85% lean ground beef (I added the beef because I wanted a juicier meatball than I thought I’d get with the lean-looking lamb alone)
¼ cup minced onions
1 teaspoon each, cinnamon, cumin and salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1/8 cup breadcrumbs and 1/8 cup chickpea flour (you can skip the chickpea flour and just use ¼ cup breadcrumbs…I used the flour because I wanted that Middle Eastern flavor).
1 slightly beaten egg
¼ cup raisins

Mix everything together gently and form into small balls. I made each of them about 1 oz. Place balls onto parchment-lined baking sheet and into a 375 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes or until just barely done.

Serve warm with sauces on the side (I recommend Ciolo’s “Moroccan Delight” or “Jalapeno Pecan Pesto”)