Word Perv

Is it strange to love to cook for my friends? To want them to come over and eat and drink with me on a regular occassion? If it is, well, then I guess I’m one helluva strange girl, because last night my friends Michael, Jeff and Kristen joined me for a scrumptious treat of wine and food.

The menu: Carmelized Onion & Goat Cheese Tartlets (”tartlets” - such a funny word. Say it out loud a few times and you’ll see what I mean: TartletTartletTartlet!!), Sea Bass with Warm Tomato-Olive-Caper Tapenade on a bed of Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and for dessert, Ricotta & Raspberry Towers.

Of course every good meal - at least every good meal in my house - begins with an essential element: wine!

To start things off I prepared the onions. They cook down quite a bit, so don’t skimp on them. I wish I had sliced the whole onion as the tartlets were fantastic and carmelized onion has a nice, sweet flavor. Not only that, they look pretty too!

Even better than the look was the taste! The tartlets were fantastic and I will definitely make them again!

Carmelized Onion & Goach Cheese Tartlets

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 large white onion (about 2.5 cups), cut into thin circles
• One 9-10 inch frozen puff pastry, thawed and opened flat
• 2-3 oz crumbled goat cheese (with or without herbs)
• 2 tablespoons herbes de Provence

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet, or line with parchment paper.

In a small saucepace over medium heat, heat the butter until almost melted. Add the sugar, stirring to combine. Add the sliced onion, stir to coat evenly and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occassionally, until golden brown. Transfer to a colander to drain, discarding and excess liquid. Set aside.

Place the thawed puff pastry sheet on a cutting board or work surface. Cut along the sheet’s two seams, then cut each pastry piece in half to create 6 rectangles. Transfer to baking sheet.

Distribute the cooked onions evenly among the rectangles, leaving a 1/4-inch margin on all sides. Distribute the crumbled goat cheese on top of the onions, and sprinkle with herbes de Provence.

Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry has browned on the edges. Transfer to serving plates and serve immediately.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

• 1 pound brussel sprouts
• Olive oil to coat
• salt and ground pepper
• minced garlic

Clean brussel sprouts (remove outer husk and chop off stalk/stem). Toss with oil, salt, pepper and garlic until evenly coated. Arrange in baking dish, cook at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes or until tender.

Sweet Potatoes

• 4 pounds swee potatoes (4-5 large)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pierce each sweet potato in several places with a fork. Place directly on the oven rack and roast until soft, 45-60 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board; let stand until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Slip off the skins and cut the sweet potatoes into small pieces; transfer to a large bowl. Add butter. Smash the sweet potatoes with a fork until fluffy but some lumps remain. Add maple syrup, chili powder, ground cumin, ginger, salt and pepper, stir to combine.

Roasted Sea Bass with Warm Tomato-Olive-Caper Tapenade

• 1+ pound sea bass (enough to serve 4 people)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped cured olives
• 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chooped fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Rub fish with 2 teaspoons oil. Sprinkle with pepper and place on prepared baking sheet. Transfter to oven and roast until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 20 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring, until softened about 1 1/2 minutes. Add olives and capers, cook, stiring for 30 seconds more. Stir in oregano and vinegar; remove from heat.  Spoon the tapenade over the sea bass and serve.

Ricotta & Raspberry Towers

• 6 flour tortillas
• melted butter
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• whole-milk ricotta cheese
• honey
• fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Stack tortillas and cut into 4ths. Place pieces on baking sheet and brush with melted butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over tortilla pieces. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Cool on baking sheet.

Spoon 2 tablespoons ricotta onto a crisp. Drizzle with honey and top with raspberries. Repeat layer to build tower.

The food, all of it, was absolutely delicious. The wine was free flowing and the conversation lasted hours. The company of friends made the entire evening fantastic.