Happy Caramel and Sea Salt Father's Day

For Father's Day I sent my Dad a box of my favorite Fran's caramels with sea salt. I think he liked them. When he called me to say thank he was chewing on something. After we spoke, I had the strongest desire for caramel with sea salt. So I got out a jar of Fran's Caramel Sauce from Citarella's and made myself a batch of Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Caramel and Sea Salt to calm my craving. Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Caramel and Sea Salt
Makes 36 cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons caramel sauce
Fine sea salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.Whisk toether flour, cocoa power, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Cream together butter, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add flour mixture a little bit at a time until incorporated.
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough between palms of your hands and place on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Use back of a small measuring spoon to make an indentation in each ookie. Bake until just set, about 10 minutes. Press on indentations with spoon again as soon as cookies come out of oven and are still hot. Let cool completely on baking sheets.
4. Spoon caramel into a small microwave-safe bowl and heat until just liquid (do not boil), about 10 seconds. Fill center of each cookie with about 1/2 teaspoon caramel. While the filling is still warm, sprinkle with some sea salt. Let stand until centers are firm.

Tonight's Dinner: Pan-Fried Gnocchi and Local Spinach

On my way home from Bridgehampton this afternoon, I stopped at Bette and Dale's to take a peak inside their cooler. I finally got my hands on a bag of local spinach. (There was beautiful baby kale, too. Hope they're still selling it later in the week--that's going to be the subject of my next Newsday column.) I had already picked up some gnoccchi and leeks at Citarella's, so I decided to pan-fry the gnocchi and serve them on a bed of sauteed spinach and leeks. Easy. Here is the recipe:

Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Spinach and Leeks
Serves 4

Salt
1 pound fresh potato gnocchi
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts, washed and finely chopped
1 pound spinach, washed, coarse stems removed
Salt
Ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound potato gnocchi
Parmesan for serving

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi and cook until just soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and heat through. Scrape into a bowl and cover to keep warm.
3. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the gnocchi in a single layer and cook until golden on both sides, shaking the pan occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Arrange the spinach on serving plates, top with the gnocchi, and serve immediately with Parmesan on the side.

Lunchbox Request

This weekend, one of my children begged me to make that Springtime specialty, potato-leek soup, for her lunchbox on Monday. But, since I was busy putting together her chocolate-raspberry birthday cake (the recipe, from Susan Purdy's book, The Family Baker, and it is the most requested birthday cake I've ever baked), can you blame me for buying Citarella's creditable version instead?

Happy Byproduct of 10th Grade Spanish Assignment

Last week, I bought this jar of roasted peppers at Citarella's under the mistaken impression that my daughter needed peppers for her tapas homework. I was afraid that if I put it in the cabinet I would forget about it, along with other random items I've bought by accident over the months (years)--Newman's Own salsa, carrot juice, canned cherries, concentrated beef broth. So I just let it sit on the counter until I remembered this savory red pepper loaf cake recipe:

Polenta Loaf with Roasted Red Peppers and Provolone
Makes 1 loaf, about 12 generous slices

Sliced and then cut into cubes, this made a great snack with my Channing Daughters Rosso Fresco.

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teapsoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablepsoons sugar
4 ounces Provolone cheese, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup roasted red pepper slices, patted dry and diced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the eggs and milk in a large measuring cup.
2. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Cream together with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary, about 3 minutes. On low, mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture. When incorporated, mix in half of hte milk mixture. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk mixtures, ending with the flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds. Stir in the cheese, peppers, and parsley.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until the loaf is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, invert onto a rack, re-invert, and let cool completely before slicing and serving.

An Ideal Father's Day

I thought my brain stored a complete catalog of the party goods available on Main Street in Sag Harbor. But as I complacently made my way to the back of The Ideal (102 Main Street, Sag Harbor; 725-1670) a few days ago for some printer paper I was stopped dead in my tracks by a new carousel dripping with retro-styled birthday hats and loot bags from Party Partners. What was this merchandise and how long ago had it been sneaked into town? Luckily, I was able to buy these gingham print backyard barbecue party picks before Father’s Day. My purchase guided me in planning the rest of the day—Wusthof steak knives from Williams-Sonoma as a gift, strip steaks from the IGA for dinner. The fried olives were inspired by a bar snack we had when we were in the city last weekend. They are irresistible right out of the pot, but too hot to handle, so the picks came in handy for those, too. And since I had a few extras, I stuck one into each serving of our strawberry-rhubarb cobbler.


Fried Olives
Makes 24 olives

I used the pitted green olives from Citarella, which were perfect. Or you could buy stuffed olives—Cavaniola’s sometimes has olives already stuffed with anchovies or blue cheese—and use those.


1 ounce fresh mozzarella, cut into small pieces
24 large green pitted olives
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg lightly beaten
1/3 cup dried bread crumbs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil

1. Place a piece of mozzarella in the cavity of each olive. Place the flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in three shallow bowls. Roll each olive in the flour, then in the beaten eggs, then the bread crumbs. Transfer the breaded olives to a plate and let stand for 10 minutes to allow the breading to dry a bit.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil to 350 degrees. Lower the olives into the hot oil, and fry until golden brown, a minute or so. Remove the olives using a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

Radishes, Part 2

After I made my radish leaf pesto a couple of days ago, I still had a dozen beautiful radishes to work with. So I made grilled chicken and radish tacos. They were so easy to put together, really good, and fun to eat. This recipe is definitely going into my regular rotation as long as local radishes are available.

Grilled Chicken and Radish Tacos
Serves 4

I bought my corn tortillas at Citarella's (they have a homemade flavor that the supermarket variety lack). To warm them, I put them on the grill, but you could wrap a stack in aluminum foil and heat them in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes instead.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 ½ pounds)
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon (or more or less to taste) canned chipotle chile, chopped
12 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
6 scallions, white and light green parts only, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
Salt
8 small corn tortillas
Sour cream

1. Preheat a gas grill to high. Brush the chicken with 1 tablespoon of oil and sprinkle with salt.
2. Whisk together the lime juice, sugar, and ginger in a large mixing bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the remaining 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and chile. Add the radishes and scallions and salt to taste.
3. Turn the heat down to medium-high and grill the chicken, grill cover closed, turning once, until cooked through, about 10 minutes total. Let the chicken rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes, slice thin, and toss with the dressed radishes. Serve with the tortillas and sour cream on the side.

Sometimes This Happens

So I went to Citarella's in Watermill to pick up some fruit, and I look what I came home with! I could no longer resist the screaming orange signs in the windows at Go West (760 Montauk Highway, Watermill, 631-726-9378), where everything is being sold at a steep discount, because this store is closing at the end of the month (the Bohemia branch will remain open).