Prime Cuts

Read enough of the things that I write around Prime Cuts, and you’ll notice something. I have a preternatural obsession with comfort foods. I love their warmth. Their smells. The memories which they evoke. I love a chi-chi fa-fa dinner as much as the next guy, but I’ll take comfy cooking over that stuff any day.

One of the things that conjures up the best feelings for me is my mom’s cheese fondue.

When we were living abroad (when I was but a baby), we spent a short time in Lucerne, Switzerland. While there, my parents frequented a small restaurant that overlooked the lake and which served delicious wines, raclette and incredible cheese fondue. They spent so much time there, in fact, that they befriended the owner, who was kind enough to share his recipe. My mom’s been making it every winter since.

I remember how excited I’d get upon discovering that it was “fondue night”. There’d be a forest of tall, French baguettes and a host of otherworldly cheeses, whose names seemed exotic and adventurous. The house would come alive with laughter and the smells of simmering garlic, warm bread and cheesy goodness. There was something wonderful about everyone gathering around the pot of hot, bubbling cheese and twirling pieces of bread around in it. It was the ultimate conversation starter (early-adoption of social media).

When I was about 19 and was home from college, I wanted to make the fondue for my friends. And thus, the torch was passed. Now, I make it for my family and friends (and, of course, my mom and dad, when they visit) and still revel in the rich, warm goodness of it all.

Today, I’m going to share the recipe with you. It’s not something that you can make often, but on a cold day (which are certainly not in short supply right now), it’s a meal that can’t be beaten. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as mine does.

Case Family Cheese Fondue

Ingredients

2 cups dry white wine (Chablis is a good choice)
2 large cloves of garlic, smashed
2 pounds Emmenthal Swiss cheese, grated
1 pound Gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 pound Appenzeller cheese (if you can find it), grated
1/2 cup Kirschwasser
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 French baguettes, cut into cubes

Preparation

In your fondue pot, over a medium-high flame, combine the wine and the cloves of garlic. Once the wine has come to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about three minutes. Remove the garlic. Add the cheeses, one handful at a time and stir until it’s melted. In a measuring cup, add the cornstarch to the Kirschwasser and stir to combine. Once all of the cheese is in the pot (and it’ll be very liquidey) and melted, add the Kirschwasser mixture and stir until the cheese has thickened.

Transfer the pot to your fondue flame. Skewer cubes of French bread on fondue forks and dip into the cheese.

Eat & enjoy!

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“Do you know any great appetizer recipes?” I get asked this question all the time, especially around The Holidays. People have guests popping in left and right, and the thought of serving up one more veggie tray, one more jalapeno popper, or one more nut-covered cheese ball is enough to make anyone’s head explode.

Psst! I’ll let you in on a little secret. Lean in a little closer (it’s OK … I won’t bite). You don’t have to dish out that cookie cutter, boring, tired out old stuff. There are worlds of goodness out there to be explored without having to resort to … that.

The Holiday Season is the perfect time to indulge a little. The frostiness in the air lends itself to all things warm, bubbly and gooey. So, why not surprise your guests with something a few steps away from the everyday? Serve them something that’ll have them licking their fingers and begging for more. Give them something that’ll make them salivate with anticipation for your next “do”!

First up: Manchego-Quince Skewers

This is so simple, I find it hard to even call it a “recipe”. That said, this is fast, easy, has remarkable flavors and people will gobble these up so fast that your head will spin. Here’s what you need:

Ingredients

1 pound Manchego cheese
1 pound Quince Paste (you can get this at most upscale/specialty markets**)
1 bunch of Watercress
Toothpicks.

**If you can’t find Quince Paste, a piece of dried apricot will do in a pinch.

Preparation

Cut the Manchego cheese and the Quince Paste into 1” cubes. Skewer one cube of each on a toothpick with one watercress leaf. Serve. That’s IT. The creaminess of the Manchego works beautifully with the tangy sweetness of the Quince Paste and the subtle peppery quality of the watercress. Easy-peasy.

Second: Baked Brie with Caramelized Apples

This one takes a little more time, but you’ll reap loads of accolades and smiles, so it’s worth every second.

Ingredients

1 small wheel of Brie
1 tube refrigerated crescent roll dough (the “leading” brand now makes this in big sheets, so you don’t have to contend with seams and the like)
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar (either light or dark is fine)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I like almonds or pecans, but walnuts would work, too)
A handful of dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
English Water crackers, for serving

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Unroll crescent roll dough onto a cookie sheet. Place the brie right in the center. In a skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and cook til it dissolves and gets all melty and caramelly. Add the diced apples, nuts, cranberries and cinnamon. Cook until the apples are just soft and the cranberries just begin to plump up. Spoon this mixture on top of the brie, then wrap the whole package in the crescent roll dough, making sure to seal the seams well.

Bake for about 13-15 minutes, or until it’s golden brown. Remove from oven, transfer to a platter with the English Water crackers and serve. It’s melty, it’s savory, it’s sweet, it’s GOOD.

Don’t settle for the ordinary when you can have something EXTRA-ordinary.

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Photo by: sean dreilinger

A few nights ago we were doing a little grilling and decided that we wanted to make something different than regular fries to go along with our cheeseburgers.  We decided to make baked zucchini fries.  While I’ve had fried zucchini fries before, I really like the clean taste of baking them.

Zucchini fries are an excellent side dish as a substitution to French fries and are sure to go over great the next time you have guests over.  You can serve these as a side dish or by themselves as an appetizer.

One of the things that I love the most about this dish is that it is so simple to make.  It takes no time to put together and, besides the zucchini, you probably already have most of the ingredients at home.  But, when you serve this dish, it will seem like it took a lot longer than frozen French fries.

Ingredients

2 zucchinis
1 egg
1/4 c buttermilk
1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 c seasoned breadcrumbs
1 c marinara sauce
Salt & Pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut zucchini in half crosswise and then into 8 wedges.  Depending on the size of your zucchinis, you could cut into 1/4 slices as well.
3. Combine the Parmesan cheese, seasoned breadcrumbs, salt and pepper into a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and buttermilk together.
4. Dip the zucchini slices first into the egg and buttermilk mixture.  Then roll the zucchini slices in the Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.
5. Coat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Lay out the zucchini slices in rows.  Bake at 425 degrees for approximately 10-15 minutes before rotating zucchini slices.  Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  While the zucchini slices are baking, heat up marinara sauce in a small sauce pan.
6. Upon removing from over, lightly season zucchini slices with salt & pepper.
7. Serve zucchini slices with marinara sauce on the side for dipping.  If you would like to garnish your dish, you could top the zucchini slices with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese, diced tomatoes and freshly chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

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Photo by: h-bomb

I recently had a family reunion back in Chicago and my wonderful aunt Regina introduced me to this fabulous watermelon salsa recipe.  Before tasting, I had no idea it was made of watermelon. Even when I did try it, it took me a minute to figure out what ingredients were creating this sweet yet tangy deliciousness in my mouth. I hope you enjoy this very refreshing and healthy summer treat!

Ingredients

3 cups chopped watermelon
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp chopped green onions
1 tbsp chopped jalapeno pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt.

Preparation

Mix well, chill overnight and serve. Regina likes it best with Lime Tortilla chips. (I agree!)

Enjoy!

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Photo by: ehow

Last night I got an email from Justin saying something to the effect of “Hey bro it’s national grilled cheese month, lets do a post on that”.  Well I knew right away what I would write about for this one.  In fact it’s something that I do everyday in the restaurant, and no, there isn’t any steak in it.  It’s not grilled cheese in the sense of some melted butter between two toasted pieces of bread-type sandwich.   It is, in essence, a deconstructed grilled sandwich, with much nicer cheese and bread as well as a few other subtle flavors.  Now that you’re curious I will tell you the name of the grilled cheese that I’m beginning to wax poetic about – Provoleta.  Unless you have an Argentine background, or a well traveled palate, you may not know what this is.

Provoleta is a favorite appetizer or first course in many Argentinean asados or barbeques, and it literally is grilled cheese…provolone to be specific.  The best provolone is aged in the form of a roped cylinder which is hung to dry for certain lengths of time.  As it dries the flavor intensifies and becomes a bit sharper.  The provolone we use at Caminito is dried almost to the hardness of a young Parmesan.  We use this type of provolone because it’s easier to grill.  The provolone is sliced into ½” thick discs, coated lightly with vegetable oil, and then over a hot and clean fire is grilled for anywhere from 15 seconds to a full minute to achieve a crisp grill marked surface.  The density and hardness of the cheese allow it to be grilled without melting through the grates, and also play a role in the ultimate goal of achieving melted cheese with a crispy surface.

In order to achieve the melted half of the equation, the grill marked cheese is simply placed in a shallow casserole dish, grilled side up, and baked in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes (again depending on the hardness of the cheese) until thoroughly melted, but not dry.  The provoleta is then sprinkled lightly with oregano, diced tomato and then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.  It’s served while still meltingly soft with ample amounts of crusty dinner rolls (the good kind of crusty of course).  The overall flavor is naturally that of a pungent provolone but it is mellowed comparatively by the intensity of the char from the grill marks and smoothed by the addition of the olive oil.  The tomatoes and oregano play what I call a “friendship role” in the overall flavor as they tend to compliment any Italian cheese nicely.

The way I like to eat my provoleta is to break a dinner roll in half, place inside a nicely charred and seasoned piece of melty provolone and then use the top half of the roll to mop up a little oil and cheese juice from the dish thus completing my personal favorite grilled cheese sandwich!  Now that I told you what my favorite grilled cheese is, what’s yours?  How are you going to celebrate National Grilled Cheese month?

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Today, my friend Amber Rae Lambke, takes over Prime Cuts with an insanely delicious recipe for Greek hummus garnished with kalamata olives and toasted pine nuts.  Hummus is a fantastic snack and very healthy!  The funny thing is that a lot of people think it’s really hard.  It’s actually simple to make and if you follow Amber’s recipe below, you’ll be sure to impress everyone the next time you have guests over!

Greek Hummus with Kalamata Olives and Toasted Pine Nuts

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can chick peas, drained
1 lemon
1 sprig fresh oregano, leaves chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 rounded tablespoons tahini paste
1/4 cup kalamata olives, well drained, coarsely chopped
2 whole wheat pitas
1/2 zucchini, cut into sticks for dipping
1/4 cup pinenuts
Salt

Preparation

Combine chick peas, juice of 1 lemon and oregano in food processor. Mash garlic into paste with some salt pressing under the flat part of your knife then add garlic to processor along with tahini paste. Process hummus until smooth (add a splash of water if too thick) then transfer to a bowl and stir in olives and toasted pinenuts (bake at 375 for 3 – 5 minutes), reserving a few for garnish. Serve dip with pita crisps (bake pita bread at 375 for 5 – 8 min) and vegetable sticks.

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Photo by: Amber Rae Lambke