Corn Pudding with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese

When I was growing up, my little family of four—my parents, my sister, and I—created some very, very strong holiday traditions. Like, the kind where if one tiny thing changed, we revolted. We were so rooted in those traditions and rituals that giving them up has been hard. Last Thanksgiving, our first without my dad, was really, really hard. He wouldn’t be there to cut the turkey, to joke with my sister and me about the fuckingyams, to give his annual thanksgiving toast. So, to counter the sadness and weirdness of his absence, my mom invited tons of people. Like 30. Or more. It was a huge party.

Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Truffles

Do you guys have a favorite holiday movie?

As far as classics go, I love It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. I also love all the old animated ones like Rudolph, Frosty, and (the original) Grinch. The best newer holiday movie is obviously Elf. And as far as all-time favorites go, the best holiday movie, hands down, is Home Alone. I probably quote Home Alone at least once a month. I'm pretty bummed it's not available on streaming Netflix. Christmas Vacation is available though, and I watched that last night in the glow of my round, shrub-like Christmas tree. 

This year I decided I'm going to try to watch Love Actually. Guys, I'm sorry. I've tried. I really tried to watch it when it came out, and I just made fun of it and eventually left the room. I just don't love Hugh Grant romantic comedies. Not my thing. The only movie that I've liked in that type of genre so far is the Holiday, which is actually pretty good. So. I'm gonna do it. I'll report back and let you know what I think.

But in other news… CARAMELIZED ONION, PISTACHIO, AND GOAT CHEESE TRUFFLES. 

I love cheese balls, and couldn't get the idea of a caramelized onion and chèvre ball out of mind. Then I remembered these little gems, and just couldn't live with myself if I didn't make tiny little bite-sized goat cheese balls. THESE ARE SO GOOD. The caramelized onions, with honey and balsamic, are sweet and tangy, and go so good with the creamy cheese. Then you roll them in ground pistachios for a nutty little crunch. The hardest part is waiting for the onions to cool so you can get to rolling.

You can serve these with crackers and jam (try something like peach jam or orange marmalade) or you can just pop 'em in your mouth like candy. Make these for a holiday party, and people would be pretty stoked about it. Or…make them for yourself, then sit inside near a heater and watch holiday movies, which is my plan, because it's freaking freezing outside. 

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Truffles
Inspired by this recipe

1 onion

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon butter

salt

honey

balsamic vinegar

8 ounces chèvre

1/2 cup pistachios, finely ground (using food processor)

Dice the onion in small pieces.

Heat a  thick-bottomed sauté pan over medium high. Add olive oil and butter, and heat until it's shimmering. Add onions and stir. Spread onions evenly, and cook, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium/medium and cook for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, and cook another 20-40 minutes, until brown and caramelized, but not burned. Stir in a small spoonful of honey and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Add more honey, vinegar, or salt, depending on your tastes. Cook another minute or two, and remove from heat. Let cool completely. 

Crumble chèvre into a bowl, and stir in cooled onions. Roll into 1 to 2 inch balls, and then roll in ground pistachios. Refrigerate until time to serve. 

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannolis

One of my favorite things about the holiday season… other than the decorations, giving gifts, receiving gifts, Santa, the reindeer, the tree, the lights, the days off work, the Christmas Eve crab legs and Christmas day prime rib dinner, snowmen, poinsettias, candy canes, joy, peace, happiness, carolers, mistletoe, cookies, fruitcake, Christmas movie classics, roast beast for the Whos in Whoville, stockings hung with care, eggnog, jingle bells, elves, and the family time… is the abundance of parties!

I’ve had parties coming out my ears this December. Brian’s housewarming, Robb and Amanda’s post-Thanks-pre-Christmas, my company holiday party, a few birthday parties, and a Christmas white-elephant party. So that’s what have I been sooooo busy with that I haven’t had time to write, you ask? Well, sort of. Here it comes. Are you ready for it?? I haven’t just been attending parties this holiday season… I CATERED A PARTY!

Amanda’s coworker Cory (the mastermind responsible for getting us hooked on the Godfather) hosted a Holiday Purse Party, and was awesome enough to ask me to cater it! Now, I’ve prepared food for parties, but this is the first time I was recognized as the ‘caterer,’ and served food to a bunch of gals and I had never met with a fancy sign that said “Food by Loves Food, Loves to Eat.” I feel like this could be the start of something big. Obviously this is all unofficial and under the table...and, well, I don’t have a business license or certified kitchen, so technically it could even be illegal… but if you have friends that are having parties or anything… and aren’t afraid of getting in with a little organized food crime (c’mon, Godfather looked pretty glamorous to me, especially if you add some crostinis to the mix…) then… let's talk.

Anyway, what to make for a house full of mommies that are fully focused on a house full of purses!? What is good enough to keep the attention on the hors d'oeuvres instead of the Kate Spades? Two words. Oreo Bonbons. Chocolaty, creamy, rich, and small enough to make you yearn for more, Oreo Bonbons have been a go-to holiday goodie for my family for years. Oh, and did I mention that they’re the easiest thing to make…ever? 8 oz of cream cheese. 1 package of pulverized Oreos. Combine. Roll into little balls. Done. It’s the stuff dreams are made of.

Sometimes we drizzle them with melted white chocolate. Sometimes we fully envelop them in dark chocolate and put them in little foil candy cups to give away in gift baskets. This time I dipped the base in melted bittersweet chocolate, rolled them in crushed candy cane, and served them on a pick. While the ladies OOOooh’d and AAahhhh’d around the bonbons, I took my pick of the purses!

While the bonbons were definitely the show stopper, my other treats were also quickly devoured. Keeping with the holiday theme, and complimenting Cory’s delicious cranberry-champagne punch, I made goat cheese crostinis and mini chickpea cakes. The crostinis were made up of buttery and delicious homemade goat cheese crackers, with just a hint of cheesiness.

I put a generous smear of goat cheese on top to bring out the full flavor, before layering it with a crispy apple slice, tupelo honey infused with fresh rosemary and cracked black pepper, and a few deep ruby pomegranate gems to make the flavor and appearance pop.

The mini chickpea cakes were adorable and zesty—a mixture of mashed chickpeas (garbanzo beans), grated carrots, bread crumbs, egg, herbs and spices, and sour cream, formed into bite-sized patties, baked, and topped with a dollop of citrusy avocado mousse and fresh red pepper. Delish!

Everyone at the party loved the food, and wanted my business card…which I didn’t have. I mean, did Don Vito Corleone have a business card? Or Tony Montana? Or even Tony Soprano? Nope. You’ll just have to have your people talk to my people, and we’ll see what we can come up, maybe you’ll make me an offer I can’t refuse.

Or you can send me a message via blog comments and I’ll probably jump up and down with giddy school girl excitement, as I work frantically to make a business card.

Goat Cheese Crisps


10-12 ounces fresh goat cheese
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Coarsely ground fresh pepper
Egg whites from 1-2 eggs

In a food processor or electric mixer beat the goat cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the flour and salt and beat until well blended. Divide the dough in half and roll back and forth to create two logs (your desired thickness, I liked them pretty skinny). Sprinkle the pepper in a baking sheet, and roll the logs in it to coat. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes to an hour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut log into 1/3-inch thick diagonal slices. Brush the top of each slice with egg white, and place on an ungreased baking sheet (eggwash side up). Repeat with the second log. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Flip and continue baking until the crackers are a golden, 15 to 20 more minutes. Enjoy hot out of the oven, or let cool and top with whatever your heart desires.

Wait...There was a Dessert Course?

For Father's Day (and a late Mother's Day) my parents came up to Seattle for the weekend, and Amanda and I took them to Elemental @ Gasworks, an "eclectic culinary endeavor.' As a family of self-proclaimed gastronomes and wine lovers, we were excited for an evening of elegant yet simple cuisine, perfectly paired wine, and each other's company. However, as I sit down to write about our fantastic dining experience at Elemental, I realize that I can barely recall the beef course, the cheese course was a blur, and the dessert course was... wait... there was a dessert course? What caused this food amnesia and ensuing short term memory loss? It all started at 5 pm, Saturday night, at the end of Wallingford St, overlooking Gasworks Park...

We sat down in the dining room of Elemental, enamoured with the crisp white linens, simple decor, and bottles of wine stuffed in every nook and cranny. Phred, who owns and operates Elemental with his wife, head chef Laurie, delivered four filled shot glasses to our table, along with a carafe of fragrant cucumber water. Unsure of the contents of the glass, or the 'rules' of the restaurant, we gingerly sipped and nonchalantly looked around at the two other tables for guidance. Advised by Phred to 'try before we ask,' we finished our shot glass of...something like port... and ordered cocktails. In the mood for something new, we all asked Phred to surprise us- something bitter for John and myself, something fruity for Amanda and Mel. My cocktail was a deliciously bitter, slightly breathtaking concoction of white rum, dry vermouth, and Aperol-a bitter orange Italian aperitif. We sipped our cocktails, slower at first, and then faster once we saw Phred taking half full glasses away from other tables in order to deliver the first glass of wine. Waste not, want not.

Our first course, with a perfectly paired glass of white wine, was... popcorn! Flavored with truffle oil and a hint of garlic, this was certainly the fanciest (and most fantastic) popcorn any of us had ever experienced. Truffle is the richest, most distinct flavor I've ever encountered... more of a feeling than a taste, and combined with a simple bowl of popcorn it was pure heaven. We literally licked our bowls clean (when Phred wasn't looking, of course). Next, with another glass of wine, Phred brought out beet, pineapple, and goat cheese salad with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of chopped pistachios. While I generally never meet a food (especially a cheese) I don't like, I've never enjoyed goat cheese. Until now. The combination of flavors was so perfect, that I can't imagine eating the beet and pineapple salad with anything other than goat cheese. And beets and pineapple together... genius! Amanda and I can't wait to try to recreate this dish at home!

One 'shot,' one cocktail, one hour, and two glasses of wine down, our next course was delivered... with another glass of white wine. Shrimp in garlicky butter with peppered focaccia bread sticks. So simple, yet so elegant when paired with a perfectly matched glass of wine... which we knocked back with gusto so that Phred wouldn't take them away still full.

One shot, one cocktail, a long time, and 3 glasses of wine down, we started to take video of us describing the food- for historical records, of course. We also started to reminisce, giggle, and talk in a higher octave. Up next was one of John's favorite courses. With a glass of wine (of course), Phred brought out squid stuffed with a sausage and rice mixture (according to the video, we thought it was either chorizo or linguica). The squid was firm and slightly chewy, and added a briny, fresh sea flavor to the spicy stuffing. It was served over a garlicky Swiss chard. Mel wasn't crazy about the squid, but the rest of us loved this course, for it's unique flavor and fun presentation.

The next course, paired with another glass of wine, was spinach balls in a tangy tomato sauce with a slice of baguette and sweet, rich butter. Following the spinach balls, after one shot, one cocktail, 3.5 hours, and too many glasses of wine to count, we were served one of my favorite courses. Gougères (the savory equivalent of a profiterole...or cream puff) filled with chicken liver mousse and drizzled with a balsamic reduction, accompanied by red wine. I love liver. Mel, John, and I devoured the gougères and reminisced about when I was a kid and would beg them to make BBQ'd chicken livers, one of my favorite things to eat. Amanda didn't care for the liver cream puff, but she was never a fan of liver. I think I raved to Phred about the liver... I might have even told him that I was the liver-eatin'est-kid-around... but I'm not sure because this is about the time that my memory started become spotty.

With our next glass of wine, we were served ravioli in a cream sauce filled with a tapenade that we thought had olives and mushrooms. The pictures were starting to get a little blurry at this point. As were my taste buds. I sort of recall liking this dish.

For the next course, we were served a hearty red wine. And Phred started to make jokes about our tables' frequent trips to the restroom (I believe the exact statement was that John has the bladder of a 13 year old girl). Oh yeah, we were also served the beef course. I wish I could describe the the flavor of the tender, rare slices of beef, or the side of green beans and mushrooms. I would love to tell you, reader, of the way the wine and the beef were perfectly paired, or to examine each individual flavor in the vegetable side... yet I cannot. It's not that I didn't enjoy the beef course. According to historical video records of said course, I loved the beef. Unfortunately, my only memories of the beef course reside in wine induced, giggly, fragmented videos, and blurry photos.

I think that the cheese course came with two more glasses of wine. Rumor has it that we were served a dessert course, which was accompanied by more wine. Amanda tells me that Phred joked about not wanting to lose his liquor license...shortly before John took me outside for fresh air, and before I reportedly bear crawled up the sidewalk. The rest of the night is lost, living only in the minds of my dear parents and sister. From what I can remember, our evening at Elemental was amazing. Filled with 5 hours of amazing conversation and laughs with my family, inventive and delicious food that we are still raving about, and, of course... glass upon glass upon glass of perfectly paired wine.

Thank you Elemental for a wonderful culinary experience. I hope to be back soon so that I can tell my readers about the vast selection of cheeses and the fantastic desserts that I'm sure you serve. Next time, I'll let you take away my glass after each course, with wine still in it.