Especially one hosted by Aarti. For those of you who don’t know, Aarti won the Food Networks Next Food Network Star challenge. And she wears the most amazing hair flowers!

Ok, so Aarti didn’t come to Fire & Wine night (we’ll work on that.) But she did inspire the delicious Green Chicken Curry.

The recipe lived up to every positive review on the site. I served it with basmati rice AND nAan. (Aarti suggested either or, but I figured a true Aarti Party would include both.) Mr. Quirky had never had naan before and he likened it to salty pancakes. Fair enough. Regardless, of what it tasted like,  it didn’t last long…

(I grilled it on my grill pan and brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with a little bit of Kosher salt.)

If you’ve never made Indian curry before, this is a great recipe to start with for a few reasons:

1. It’s not spicy. Trust me. DD Girl won’t even let me put black pepper on food. So she wouldn’t have touched it had it had heat to it. (You won’t miss the spice, but if you are like me and insane, you could add a little bit of pepper sauce to your own plate.)

2. It uses a ton of fresh herbs (please say that with a hard “h” like the Brits do. It’s much more fun.)

3. While the smell of it will linger for a few days, it tastes amazing and will impress your guests with your MAD International culinary skilz.

4. It uses easy to find ingredients.

5. It’s healthy!

Aarti’s Green Chicken Curry

• 2 small bunches cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, 1 1/2 cups
• 1 bunch fresh mint, leaves, coarsely chopped, 1 1/2 cups
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup water, plus 1 1/2 cups (I used low-sodium chicken broth.)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 1 3/4 pounds, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon malt vinegar
• 1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt, whisked until smooth
• Cooked basmati rice or warm naan bread, for serving

Directions

When I try, it’s a disaster.

But apparently cooking French inspired foods is a different story.

One with a very happy ending  for three Fire & Wine night gals.

I may not be able to pronounce “cassoulet,” but I can make one.

This Weekday Cassoulet courtesy of the Food Network’s Melissa d’Arabian was the perfect meal for celebrating the first cool night of the summer on the front porch with friends.

The smell sent Gertie over the edge so far that she didn’t know what to do, other than run around in circles and end up on the one forbidden couch of the house. What, Gert? Is nothing sacred?

DD Girl also ran around in circles when she smelled the savory aroma of the bacon, onions, Chardonnay and chicken. But I let her get on the couch. I’m nice that way.

We were joined by a new friend to Fire & Wine night. Foodie Jr. (named because of the fact that she is seven plus years younger than DD Girl and myself.) refrained from running around in circles, but only because it was her first Fire & Wine night and she didn’t know that odd behavior is acceptable expected. She’ll learn.

Even though this cassoulet takes many shortcuts, the depth of flavor is spot on.

But if you are going to make it, you have to pinky swear two things.

1. You will NOT use canned beans. You must make your own beans. The texture of canned beans would ruin the creamy factor that the beans give it. Trust me. No cans. Period.

2. You will NOT use store-bought bread crumbs. There was something about the unevenness of the the bits of bread that transformed this rustic French pot dish into a complex textural experience. Please do not sell yourself short. Make the breadcrumbs! (said in my most growly voice.)

So, I stuck with Melissa’s original recipe with just a few modifcations/specifications-

There was no slab bacon available, so I improvised with thick-cut bacon. Because this bacon produces more grease, I scooped out a good portion of the grease so that only a sheen was left at the bottom of my dutch oven before adding the chicken thighs. This kept the finished product from being overly greasy.

For the wine in the dish, I used an oaky Chardonnay. Usually in cooking, I prefer a fruity Pinot Grigio, but this dish called for Chardonnay. It just did.

Speaking of wine, I’m no expert, but I think it would be perfect with a Cotes Du Rhone. Although, we served it with box of Malbec because Fire & Wine night is classy that way.

Also, I used these amazing fresh tomatoes that came from someone’s  garden.  The someone is a member of Adam’s family.  I obtained said fresh tomatoes at this weekend’s family reunion, and like many things that took place there, I am unclear as to the person to give credit to. So, aunties, if you wish to claim your tomatoes, please do so in the comments. They were the perfect tart and juicy accompaniment for the crispy bread crumbs.

Because these tomatoes were so fantastic, I used two instead of the one it called for. Please understand.

Finally, we served this with a big pile of crusty French baguette. The pile of which was almost as exciting as the bacony broth we soaked up with it.

While she may not have known it was okay to run around in circles, Foodie Jr. aptly summed up the delectableness (It’s my blog. I can make up words.) of this meal: 

This is so amazing. I kind of just want to take the chicken out and gnaw on it for a while. I won’t eat the bone. I promise.

Bon apetite!

Look mom, my first tart!

I was more than a little excited that my goat cheese & zucchini tart not only came out looking pretty good, but it tasted amazing. The crust was buttery and flaky and the filling was savory with hints of zucchini and pops of tomato, basil and goat cheese in each creamy bite.

I’m not going to lie. This is a lot of work. But it came together much faster and easier than I had anticipated.

The key is to organizing yourself in the kitchen before your start. (Isn’t that always the key? The French have some fancy term for it, but I just call it “get your act together.” )

For my recipe (And yes, I’m calling it mine because while I borrowed elements from other recipes, I put them together into one lovely little tart. But don’t worry, I’ll be giving credit where it’s due.)

 I’ll lay out the order of activities in the kitchen for you. I find this helpful.

A note on Fire & Wine:

One of the delights of Fire & Wine night is trying a new technique, recipe or food group each week. Sometimes it’s as “simple” as learning to put together a classic salad . Other times it requires leaving my comfort zone entirely.

These are the weeks I relish. Because they make me a better cook and help me push the envelope on what I’m willing to do.

Three years ago I told Virginia Willis I did not cook. I freaked out when she asked me to prepare her apple crumble for a morning news program we had pitched her on for her cooking demo with the American Royal. (She was going to prepare the crumble in studio, but needed a “finished product” to show.)

But Virginia was stubbornly insistent that I could do it. For whatever reason, she believed in me. (Also, she really needed that crumble.)

Since then, I have come a long way, both in my personal life and in the kitchen. I have channeled that spirit of cantankerous adventure in my cooking. Sure, I may fail. But even in my failures, I learn something.

So if you are new to Fire & Wine night posts, I encourage you to experience the joy that comes from taking a culinary risk in your own kitchen. I mean, you can always order a pizza in the event of a disaster.

Back to the show.

Time to get tarty.

First, make your crust*:

1 ¼ cups of all purpose flour

½ tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter cut into ½ inch cubes

2-4 Tablespoons ice water

 In a food processor mix the flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse just until the mixture comes together in pea sized pieces. Add 1 tablespoon ice water at a time until the mixture comes together as a dough.  Remove from the food processor and shape into a disc. Sprinkle both sides with flour (or just place in parchment paper as I did), wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

 While the dough is doing its thing, start on your filling*

2 large zucchini

3 tablespoons butter

1 small onion

10 cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp chopped basil

1/2 cup of ricotta

2 eggs lightly beaten

2 tbsp chopped basil

2 ounces Goat cheese

2 tablespoons of milk

Salt to taste throughout

 Chop onion and set aside.

 Finely chop cherry tomatoes. Place in cheese cloth and strain. Set aside.

 Start to boil salted water in large pot.

 Grate1 zucchini into a bowl lined with cheese cloth add 1 tsp of salt.  Toss in salt and set aside to weep. (Don’t you weep, though.)

 Get out a cookie sheet or large plate. Line with paper towels.

 Slice remaining zucchini into rounds and blanch for one minute and spread out on the plate or cookie sheet.

 Go ahead and preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

 Wring out the cheesecloth with the grated zucchini to remove moisture.

 Heat butter in skillet. Remove a little bit of the butter for later.

 Add onions and cook until soft (5 minutes) Add grated zucchini.  Cook another 5 minutes. Remember to salt a little at each step.

 Transfer onion/zucchini mix to a bowl to cool.

 Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit for 10 minutes.

 Do dishes or tidy up.

 Then, sprinkle dough lightly with flour and use a rolling pin to roll out to a 12 inch circle about 1/8th of an inch thick. Gently fold in half and place in tart pan.

 From this process on out, it did not go smoothly. There was a lot of dough manipulating to get my dough into the tart pan and smoothed out evenly. It wasn’t perfect, but it tasted good. I was pleased.

 Poke bottom of crust with fork and place in the oven for 8-10 minutes (until golden, but not brown.)

While it’s cooking, return to the bowl with the cooling zucchini and onion mixture. Stir in tomatoes, almost all of the goat cheese, ricotta, basil and salt and pepper into bowl. Fold in eggs.

Add milk if you think it needs it to thin a bit.

Mix all ingredients well to incorporate.

 Remove crust from the oven. Cool for a few minutes.

 Place a layer of zucchini rounds at the bottom of the crust.

 Pour in mixture.

 Top with more rounds (you can get decorative if you don’t have enough to cover the entire top.)  Sprinkle with remaining goat cheese.

 Bake 40-45 minutes

 Remove and brush top with the leftover butter.

 Cook again for 20 minute, or until golden brown.

Served with a mixed green salad tossed with leftover green beans, olive oil and balsamic.

*Credits:

Crust – Recipe courtesy of

Italian Food Forever.

Filling- inspired by Saveur’s Zucchini Tart with Feta and the Italian Food Forever fillings.

So go, get your tart on! That’s an order from Queen of Quirky.

That’s what happens when your friends dine & dash on you on a Fire & Wine night.

(For those of you who are new, Fire & Wine is our weekly girls’ night cooking event wherein I try to create something new without burning down the kitchen. )

To be fair, everyone had a legitimate reason to cut out early this week.  And they told me in advance. 

What I loved about this week’s Fire & Wine creation is that the fire risk was very low. In fact, had I managed to start a kitchen fire on this dish, we would probably have to ban me from ever stepping a toe in any kitchen again.

And that would be a sad thing.

Kind of like when your friends leave you after dinner.

I kid. I kid.

Back to the meal. I decided to try my hand at Salade Niçoise. I love nicoise salad. I’m pretty sure I first tried it in Germany when my folks  lived there. It’s really much more than a salad. It’s quite the meal. And it’s nice and refreshing in the summer.

I served it family style, but you could plate it in individual portions.

I started looking in some of my cookbooks , but then I saw Elise at Simply Recipes had one. It was kind of over then, because if Elise has tried it, then it’s going to work and be delicious. It’s just that simple.

So I went with the Simply Recipes Nicoise Salad. And it was perfect. The only modification I made was a little extra Dijon in the dressing because I love Dijon. Also, do to a unfortunate incident, I only had five eggs.

But wait! You think I’m done yet?

In a unprecedented Fire & Wine occurence, I made dessert!

The perfect dessert for a summer meal. I’m pretty sure it will be a regular in future Quirky household meals.

Behold: raspberry sherbet.

 Sherbet is something I’d never considered making because I don’t have any of that high fangled ice cream machinery.

This is not a statement of complaint. I don’t have room for any more gadgets, gizmos or processors in my kitchen.

But when I was searching for a salad recipe, I found myself reading one of my first cookbooks. Remember Anne from the bra party? (Don’t forget- special custom bra offer for Queen of Quirky readers!) Years ago, her mom introduced my mom to this fantastic cookbook gem out of Kansas City.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com where you can still buy it used

It’s called Beyond Parsley and it was published in 1984 by the Junior League of Kansas City. I call it a cookbook gem because it is really rather remarkable – both in the recipes and the photography.

When I got married the first time, Anne’s mom gave me my own copy of the book. It’s moved all over the country with me, but rarely been used. I wasn’t much of a cook in my first marriage. (My ex-husband would snort if he read that. But seriously. He was a picky pants and cooking just wasn’t fun with him. Mr. Quirky loves to try my food — even foods he historically hasn’t liked. He encourages me all the time, even in my mistakes. He’s kind of Mr. Amazing Quirky.)

So the cookbook was really just waiting for me to find myself in the kitchen. I’m so glad I did.

I’m also glad I tried the raspberry sherbet recipe. I’m even more glad I doubled it. You are going to freak out when you see how easy it is.

Ingredients

1 10 oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed

1 scant cup sugar (I love saying “scant cup.” My recipes never sound so fancy.)

1 cup of sour cream (I used light)

1/2 tsp of vanilla

Directions

Mash berries (I used a potato masher.) Combine ingredients. Stir well. Freeze.

You should really make this for your Fourth of July gathering. But be sure to double it because this only serves four, and I don’t know what kind of portion size they were  thinking because my doubled recipe served five of us and there isn’t very much left.

Enjoy and keep it quirky this weekend!

The supporting star award at my Bras, Booze & Bites party goes to these guys.

Mini mushroom, cilantro & goat cheese quesadillas. So simple, so delicious and so adorable. I love anything “mini.” Mini to me says, “please, eat more of me because I’m small and I don’t count.” What’s not to love about that?

If you’d like to create  these bite-size treats for your next party, here’s what you’ll need:

1 10 count package of taco-sized tortillas

3 Tablespoons butter (divided)

2 cloves garlic minced

2 cartons of diced button mushrooms

1 cup of cilantro leaves

1 small log of goat cheese

2 cups of Monterrey jack

Salt & pepper to taste

To assemble them:

Preheat oven to 400.

Take a cup and press 2-3 circles into your tortillas. Then trace with a knife to cut out the mini tortillas. If you are clever, figure out what to do with the scraps of tortilla. I was thinking maybe a casserole  or something, but sadly, mine just went in the trash.

Chop the sliced mushrooms roughly. I used a chopper, but made sure I didn’t get the pieces too small. You want a bit of texture to the quesadillas.

Chop the cilantro leaves.

Heat 1  Tablespoon of butter in the pan and add the garlic. Heat until frangrant then add the mushroom bits and cilantro.

Cook until tender and just browned.

Salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat.

Mix in the goat cheese until well combined and then transfer to a mixing bowl and combine with the jack cheese.

Melt the remaining butter (You probably won’t use it all. I didn’t.) Spray a large baking sheet with no-stick spray. Place a batch of the mini tortillas on the baking sheet (spaced out.)  Take a spoonfull (smallish) of the mushroom cheese mix and place in tortillas and fold over, pressing to secure. Be careful not to over-fill. Or they will ooze too much.

Brush the tops of them with butter.

Bake for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown and then flip. You can brush the other side with butter too, but I was in a hurry and didn’t. Cook on other side for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.

This made about 30 mini quesadillas.  I had to cook them in 3 batches.

You might want to have a fly swatter handy to slap your guests’ hands because they are going to start grabbing these fast once they taste them.

Ok, sure I just wolfed down a burrito made of meatless meat, but I didn’t consider it “cooking.” It was just something I ate for dinner so that I could justify the tater tots I stole off my friend, Jimmy’s plate at lunch. But when it comes to food and real cooking, I don’t think you have to sacrifice to eat well. And I decided to prove it this week.

When I saw Elise at Simply Recipes Sea Scallops with Asparagus Sauce, I knew it would be the perfect Fire & Wine on-a-diet meal. Served with crusty whole wheat bread and a fresh  salad, it satisfied every craving — creamy, rich, decadent, crunchy, savory and tangy (salad dressing with fresh lemon.)

But the key to this dish is finding good scallops. Now here in the Midwest, that’s easier said than done. But I knew I could count on my friends at Hen House Market to find some good ones.

So I tweeted http://twitter.com/henhousemarket and within a few hours, I was deciding between U10 (10 scallops per pound) and U12 (12scallops per pound.) I went with the larger variety, because larger is always better.

[Insert "That's What She Said" joke here.]

But seriously, just look at these scallops.

Another secret: my fabulous cast iron skillet. Getting it hot enough to create a crunchy sear gave these even more texture and body.

(Wow, that burrito I just ate seems really lame right now.)

I’m sorry, but I just had to throw in another picture of the scallops.

So the final secret is not crowding the pan. I cooked these in two batches and we each had three (and trust me, that was plenty.)

We had an extra special guest this week, so there were four of us total.

Now, I will admit, the asparagus sauce is very….green.

I think as a culture we are a little leery of green mushy foods.

But I know that anything Elise makes can’t be anything short of awesome.  But I did add a clove of garlic to it, because I love garlic and I just thought it would enhance the sauce.

I also subtracted a tablespoon of butter. So we could have a glass of wine with it. (duh.)

But that sauce was fantastic. And the crusty bread was put to use as a vessel for the sauce. All in all, a fantastic meal. Special thanks to DD Girl for footing the bill this time. She decided Fire & Wine would be her treat. I think it was a wise investment…

Two melt downs and several glasses of wine later, I produced this culinary masterpiece. My Italian grandfather would have been so proud. But getting here was not short of sweat and tears.

On Wednesday night, I had stage one of my pre duck ragu melt down.

It was over the parpardelle pasta. In my mind there was no other pasta worthy of  this savory duckatent (sorry) dish. I really, really wanted to make my own. But without a pasta press, the odds of me getting more of a thick, dumpling-like noodle were far more likely than me nailing pasta  on my first run. I owed the duck confit so much more than lumpy starchy noodles, don’t you think? I shopped pasta press attachments for my mixer, but just couldn’t commit didn’t want to spend $100 on my first try at pasta.

Go ahead. Call me a pasta pansy. I deserve it.

Over martinis (Martini Wednesday), DD Girl helped convince me not to have a nervous breakdown over not making the pasta, and it would be okay if I sacrificed cooking pride for quality noodles. (Just this once, I said.) So a call was placed to my favorite Italian market. If you can’t make it yourself, Cupini’s can make it for you. Only parpardelle isn’t a pasta they keep in their fresh supply. It has to be pre-ordered.  And they prefer 48-72 hours warning. Thinking that my duck ragu was to be made on Thursday, I asked if just this once I could pick up my pasta in 24 hours later.

It took a bit of sweet talking (they did my rehearsal dinner and I have a connection to a former store manager) but Cupini’s saved my pasta crisis and promised to have two pounds of fresh parpardelle by 5:10 on Thursday evening.

But personal events (crisis #2) led me to cancel Fire & Wine night on Thursday and reschedule for Friday night. Which was okay because DD Girl and I had already planned for a girls’ night on Friday night. It also gave me more time to confit the duck in advance so that the night of the dinner, I could focus on the ragu.

For a week, I combed recipes for duck ragu. But I couldn’t find one that used duck confit. So I did some combining and came up with….well, I’m not going to hold back – perfection, really.

Here’s how it came together:

1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, and 1 onion (all finely diced) went into my dutch oven along with two tablespoons of duck fat from the night before.

After the veggies were softened, I added four cloves of garlic for about 30 seconds before deglazing with 1/2 cup of red wine (Malbec, because it was what i was drinking.) I let that reduce for a few minutes before adding a large can of whole peeled tomatoes, finely diced, 1 cup of chicken stock and two tablespoons of tomato paste. Also, a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then I turned the heat to low and put the lid on to let the flavors combine.

After about 30 minutes, I added most of the tomato juice from the can of tomatoes, a little more broth (maybe half a cup) and a tablespoon each of dried thyme and oregano.

30 minutes later, I diced up all my duck meat (and maybe gave Gertie a nibble.) Into the dutch oven it went.

Can I pause for a minute and tell you how much I love duck meat? I could eat it every day. Also, did you notice? I finally got a dutch oven! Thank you in-laws!

I waited for as close to 30 minutes as I could, but my house was smelling really good and I couldn’t wait to get the pasta in.

Delicious pasta. You are my friend.

I probably should have withheld a little. Two pounds is quite a bit of pasta, but I used up every ounce of my self-control the night before and so all the pasta went into the salted boiling water.

(And now that I’ve been enjoying leftovers for two days straight, I’m kind of glad I didn’t hold back.)

After a quick 2 minute swim in the boiling water (a little longer because I was frantically trying to locate my tongs, which I had set down absent mindedly) I combined the pasta and a bit of its salty water with my sauce.

I wish this blog had taste-o-net.

Because I’m not sure you truly get how good this was.

I think DD Girl summed it up pretty well…

Sitting outside on the porch, with several bottles of wine, lots of laughter, good friends, fantastic food. I live well.

I may have had a great big bowl of leftovers for breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. I couldn’t wait for lunch.

Gertie, Mr. Quirky and I were all waiting with little pockets of drool forming in the corners of our mouths as the savory aroma of the melting duck fat wafted through our home.

Gertie sat by her bowl for a while, just in case any of the delicious meat might show up.

Mr. Quirky grabbed a paper towel, just in case a juicy duck leg was placed in front of him. (We’re not fancy enough to keep official napkins in the house. The words napkin and paper towel are interchangeable in my book.)

I paced. I fussed. I read. I stuffed my face with Chinese food. Anything to keep my mind off the crisply duck skin sizzling in my oven. (But I didn’t do any laundry. Note this fact.)

Finally, the legs were released from captivity.  

I carefully drained the precious nectar of duck fat into a container. Then I waited. Waited because my recipe said to. Waited because I knew nothing else to do.

Finally, it was time.

But what happened next shocked even me.

I carefully shredded the meat into a container and put the container in the fridge.

(There may have been a few nibbles here and there, a drop in Gertie’s bowl and a few pieces of crispy skin and savory meat taken to Mr. Quirky.)

But for the most part, the delicious duck meat was put away.

For what?

To be continued…

I took on my second Real Women of Philadelphia challenge with the support of DD Girl, Roomie and friends Paul and Andy, and of course my #1 producer, Mr. Quirky. (Who says I need to take direction better…)

Now I know friends Paul and Andy were really invited b/c Roomie forgot it was Fire & Wine night and she had dinner prior to coming, so we had more duck to go around. And that’s ok. But now that we’ve opened the vault into our top secret Fire & Wine night activities, I fear they are going to want to come weekly.

Special thanks to my friends at Hen House Market who ordered two whole duck breasts for me. If you are ever looking for specialty meats or seafood, Hen House is fabulous to work with. (They also were the source of my lobsters – RIP.) And DD Girl who has eaten more duck in her life than I have raved about how delicous and fresh tasting our duck was.

Next week we plan to confit our duck legs (which are waiting in my freezer) and do something similar to Elise’s pasta dish. Stay tuned!

Anyhow, the video has been submitted, the duck breasts were demolished and several bottles of wine were killed on the front porch. Good times. 

(Note, Gertie made her national debut in this video – she pops in toward the end to see what’s going on and why her kitchen smells so good. Can you blame her? She’s a bird dog, afterall.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICQI0iv_YEo]

I couldn’t think of anything more delicious than smoked salmon and cream cheese risotto. I mean, come on! It has it all. Creamy risotto, velvety cream cheese and savory smoked salmon and capers. Not only do you have to create a recipe, you have to film yourself making it.

Thanks to Mr. Quirky, we pulled off our first non-screaming in the kitchen Queen of Quirky cooking video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2raShNKK4E]