An Easy App

A beautiful veggie platter is easy to do, very affordable, and can be quite impressive. Arrange sliced carrots, celery, quartered mushrooms, zucchini slices, or any other combination of fresh slices veggies. I love to blanch whole green beans in boiling water for about 5 minutes and then transfer them to ice water, then blot them dry with a paper towel. I also like to use this method for broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, and new potato slices. For a special addition, wrap some of the veggies with sliced prosciutto.

Serve with your favorite dip. I make an easy curry dip by combining low-fat sour cream, curry powder, and dijon mustard.

Fancy Little Cake

I was making some cupcakes for my friend Anna's birthday last week and I had a little extra batter. I decided to play and see what I could do. I used 2 loaf pans and put a thin layer of batter in each pan on top of a piece of parchment paper, so it wouldn't stick. After they were cooked I cut 4 little square out of the cake, by cutting each loaf in half and stacking both half then trimming the edges. I made the top 2 squares a little smaller than the bottom 2. Then I iced it all up and added a few little decorative touches. Voila! I think I'll make these from now on for my friends. It makes for a much more impressive presentation.

Charred Artichoke with Curried Remoulade Sauce

My absolute favorite vegetable is the artichoke. I am always coming up with new recipes around this heavenly veggie. This one is pretty straight forward. I tried to copy an appetizer from Bricktops, a local restaurant here in Nashville, and I think it turned out pretty durn well if I do say so myself.

Artichoke:

Trim the artichoke by cutting off just the end of the stem, leaving as much of it as possible. Also trimming with scissors the tips of the prickly leaves. You can slice off the very end of the top, to get all of those tips that are snugged in tightly together. In a pot on the stove combine 4 cups of water, half a lemon quartered, 2 tbsp. olive oil and a pinch or two of salt. Bring this to a boil. Cut the artichoke in half lengthwise and then cut each half in half lengthwise again. Next, scoop out the little bristles inside and the smaller inedible leaves and discard those. Then add the 4 quarters to the boiling water and cover. Reduce the heat to medium and leave them alone for about 30 - 40 minutes. When the hearts are fork tender, remove them from the water and place on a baking sheet, inside up. Turn your oven on high broil. Brush them with a little more olive oil, and place them in the oven. Watch this very closely. It will happen fast. As soon as the edges start to brown, pull them out and they are ready to eat.

Remoulade:

Combine 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 4 tbsp. mayo, 2 tbsp. dijon mustard, a pinch of herbs de provance, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and a little salt to taste.