I hadn’t planned on cooking a real dinner last night, so I was surprised that I was able to make an absolutely delicious mushroom and spinach panade from the The Zuni Cookbook by Judy Rodgers with basic food that I had lying around, like old bread, onions, and stock. A panade translates to a “big bread thing,” which further translates into “a fluffy, gratineed casserole.”

I still can’t believe how utterly luxuriant and delicious this meal is. It’s the casserole dish that I’ve always looked for — of simple vegetables, bread, and a little cheese, not laden down with cream and eggs and pounds of cheese. Not only did it have the richest, most earthy aroma, but the texture of the finished dish blew me away. The bread inside turned downright silky, almost creamy (I had been wrong to be afraid that the high amount of liquid used would make the bread mushy and watery). The bread on top, of course, was drier and crispier, and a perfect contrast. And the stock thickened into a true sauce, and the onions, mushrooms, and spinach were smooth and comforting. It was almost a stew, almost a bread souffle, almost a vegetable dish. Rodgers says that they serve it in lieu of soup, pasta, or risotto, or as a side dish to meat. Any way it’s served, be prepared to be blown away.

Speaking of “any way,” I changed around with the recipe a bit. Her base recipe is for a chard and onion panade with Fontina, but I used spinach and centivalli cheese from Switzerland instead, added mushrooms, and sprinkled crumbled bacon and chopped chives as garnish at the end. I also used sourdough bread, because that’s what I had. As I said, I had no plans to even make this, so I just happened to have all this basic stuff. Plans might have been nice, though, because keep in mind that it takes about 2 hrs just to bake and more time to prep. The good news is that for leftovers, all you have to do is put a slice into a hot skillet, press it into a patty, and saute it for 3 minutes on each side. Its creaminess is alive and kicking again. And… it’s also good cold, right out of the dish. I think it’s also eminently customizable, so I will experiment with increasing the ratio of vegetables even more and varying which I use.

(more…)

We made all of these on Friday. I was too tired at the end of the day to run and get my camera, which was a shame, because everything turned out quite nicely.

If you’re ever looking for a good topping for focaccia, try Emeril’s Three Cheese Salami. Instead of parsley, we tore bits of arugala onto it after we’d baked it. Very nice.

If you ever want a sandwich made with a pretzel, try cutting it in half horizontally (it helps if you have torpedo-shaped ones), and filling it with either ham, swiss, and mustard…. or salami and (sage) cheddar. Bliss.

Open-Faced Shrimp and Spinach Grilled Cheese Sandwich

• olive oil
• 1/2 slice of ciabatta (a slice cut in half for an open faced sandwich)
• a couple handfuls of baby spinach
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 roma tomato, roughly chopped
• about 5 shrimp, shelled and deveined
• as much Spring Hill Dairy sage cheddar (or any other cheese, like feta, parmesan, swiss) as you’d like
• coarse salt to spinkle ( I happened to have fume de sel grey salt that was chardonnay and oak smoked)

(more…)