"Out East" Eats - Hamptons Inspired Menu

The other day, I received a very thoughtful gift from my sister in law. It was a beautiful cookbook celebrating one of our favorite places in the world.

My Newest Cookbook, Photo: NK

"Just because" gifts are always extra sweet, but this one happened to be amazing. Silvia Lehrer's book, Savoring The Hamptons, includes an exhaustive listing of the many noted restaurants, wineries, and specialty food and produce purveyors in the Hamptons, along with easy recipes that they have either created and inspired. 

The East End of Long Island is a place that holds special meaning for me and my family. When are lucky enough to be "out east" we tend to stay away from the vibrant social scene that the area is known for, opting instead for a lazy day on the beach, a quick visit to the North Fork to check out a winery, and at night, family meals at home, cooking and grilling with the best fresh ingredients the pristine local land and sea can offer.

For today's post, I thought it might be nice to adapt a few recipes from Savoring The Hamptons as a way to share a taste of one of my all time favorite destinations.

Beautiful Zucchini Blossoms fresh from our neighbor Freddie's Hamptons Garden, NK

Hamptons Inspired Menu 

Angel Hair Pasta with Tomato Coulis

Fava Bean and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad
Roasted Striped Bass Fillets with Capers and Croutons

Out East Appetizer:

Let's start simple with an easy and light pasta dish with a quick cooking fresh tomato sauce. Coulis is like the quick-cooking cousin of the raw sauce we explored a few weeks ago, Crudaiola. It's basically a fresh preparation that is only slightly cooked. Anything can create a Coulis - berries are a popular ingredient in dessert coulis, usually used as toppings. Back to our tomato version - in just five minutes, a light tomato puree develops to create a super fresh tasting sauce. You'll have just enough to gently coat slender stands of angel hair. Use the freshest tomatoes you can find and don't forget to de-seed. 

Angel Hair Pasta With Tomato Coulis

Adapted from Savoring The Hamptons by Silvia Lehrer 

Serves 4 as an Entree, 6 or more as an Appetizer

Ingredients:

8 Roma Tomatoes or 8 Plum Tomatoes

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Shallots, chopped finely

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped finely

3 Tablespoons fresh Basil chiffonade

2 Tablespoons flat leaf Italian Parsley, finely chopped

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

1 LB Angel Hair Pasta 

Kosher Salt (for boiling pasta water)

1/2 Cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, for serving 

Method:

Set a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. 

To prepare the Coulis, make an X on the bottom of your tomatoes. 

Prepping the Tomatoes for Blanching, Photo: NK

Peeling the Tomatoes is easy after a cold water bath, Photo: NK

Boil up some water in a small saucepan and plunge tomatoes one by one into the boiling water for 40 to 50 seconds. When you pull them out, transfer them to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When cool enough to touch, peel, seed and coarsely chop the tomatoes.

In a saucepan, heat up the Oil over medium heat and sauté the Shallots for up to 2 minutes until they are translucent. 

Add the Garlic and continue to sauté for 40 to 50 seconds until tender. 

Add the Tomatoes, Basil, Parsley, Salt and Pepper to taste. Lower heat a bit to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if you like. 

Once your pasta water is boiling, prepare pasta according to the box instructions or until al dente. 

Drain and toss with the Tomato Mixture. Serve with grated cheese and sprigs of Parsley to garnish. 

Enjoy! 

Angel Hair with Tomato Coulis, Photo: NK

Out East Side Dish:

What goes well on the side of this light and fresh pasta dish? 

In keeping with our Italian theme, thought I'd try out one of Tuscan inspired sides in my book, Fava Bean and Mozzarella Salad. I adapted the recipe using creamy, buttery, Buffalo Mozzarella. Fava Beans are more readily available in Spring so if you aren't able to find them fresh in Summer (I wasn't), feel free to use canned Fava Beans as we do below. They came out very tasty. Of course fresh is ideal both for taste and because fresh Fava has a lovely green color. If preparing the Fava Beans fresh, simply bring a pot of salted water to a boil, drop in the beans, and return the pot to a boil for about a total of 2-4 minutes. Drain them in colander and rinse with cold water. Split the pods open and slip the beans out of their pods. Also, Marjoram and Lemon are a classic Italian flavor combination. If you haven't explored yet, I suggest you check it out.

Fava Beans and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad

Adapted from Savoring The Hamptons by Silvia Lehrer 

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 can Fava Beans, rinsed well in cold water and dried

1/2 Garlic Clove, finely chopped

8oz Mozzarella di Bufala chopped into small bite sized chunks

1 Tablespoon fresh Marjoram or 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Marjoram

Zest of 1 Lemon

2 -3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil 

Kosher Salt and freshly ground Pepper

A few pinches Chopped Italian Parsley (Optional) for serving

Method:

Place the Garlic, Mozzarella, Marjoram, Lemon Zest, Lemon Juice, Oil, Salt and Pepper to taste in a mixing bowl and stir to incorporate. Add the Fava Beans and toss gently. Taste, and feel free to adjust ingredients to your preference, perhaps you like it more lemony?

Prepping the Buffalo Mozzarella, Photo: NK

Preparing this one day ahead will allow flavors to blend well. Try to let it sit at least 4 or 5 hours if you can't prepare in advance. Give it a toss, garnish with optional Parsley and serve at room temperature. If your guests are bean shy, you can always serve a smaller dollop of bean salad on top of a bed of greens or herb salad. 

Fava Bean and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad, Photo: NK

Enjoy! 

Out East Entree:

Few fish are more East End than Striped Bass, or Striper, as it's affectionately called on the Forks. Once again, I chose an Italian-inflected preparation of this local catch from my cookbook, opting for a roasted Bass enhanced with capers, olives, and crunchy croutons. Enjoy it with a dry Chardonnay -the book suggests North Fork Macari Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay. 

Roasted Striped Bass Fillets with Capers and Croutons

Adapted from Savoring The Hamptons by Silvia Lehrer 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Garlic Clove, finely chopped

Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

4 portions of Striped Bass Fillets, 6 to 8 oz each

1/2 bunch Scallions, white and green parts, cut into 1 inch pieces on the diagonal

1/4 Cup finely chopped Italian Parsley

Fresh Fillets of Striped Bass, Photo: NK

1/2 Cup diced Roma Tomatoes (about 1.5 to 2)

3 Tablespoons Capers

2-3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3/4 Cup store bought Croutons - unseasoned if possible. 

16 to 20 Nicoise or Kalamata Olives, Pitted

Method:

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly oil an oven proof serving platter large enough to hold all fillets in one layer. 

Place the platter in the oven while it is preheating.

Lightly rub the flesh side of the Fillets with Garlic, Salt, and Pepper to taste. 

Garlic, Salt, and Pepper Rub, Photo: NK     

Combine the Scallions and Parsley in a bowl and set aside. 

Scallion ans Parsley, Photo: NK

When ready to cook, remove the platter from the oven and place the fish, skin side down, on it. Reduce the oven temperature to 375.

Scatter the Parsley and Scallion mixture over the Fish Fillets and then scatter the Tomatoes and Capers on top.  Drizzle Fillets all over with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 

Bake for 14 minutes.

Remove fish from the oven and scatter the Croutons and Olives over the fish. 

Adding the Capers and Croutons, Photo: NK

Return fish to the oven and bake another 3 to 5 minutes longer until Fillets are springy to the touch.  

Roasted Striped Bass Fillets with Capers and Croutons, Served Alongside Butter Lettuce and
Vidalia Onion Salad Over a Bed of Thinly Sliced Raw Zucchini, Photo: NK 

Serve straight out of the oven on the hot platter, seasoning with a little extra Salt and Pepper.

Photo: NK

Restaurant Inspiration - Smoked Salmon & Goat Cheese Toasts over Field Greens

What inspires your recipe ideas?

For me, inspiration comes from so many sources. 

These days, places like Pinterest are a visual treasure trove of food ideas. It took me all of three minutes on the site to become fully obsessed. Of course, other blogs offer amazing ideas daily, and when I am feeling old fashioned, I like to page through my cookbooks, ideally while eating food and watching the Food Channel at the same time. 

                   
Inspiration supercharged.

A Few Of My Favorites, Photo: NK

Photo: NK

Then there will always be my old standby food mags - Every Day Food and Food and Wine are favorites. Gourmet is great when I'm looking for something fancy schmancy.


But by far, my favorite place to gleen inspiration is in restaurants and at other people's tables.

See, I'm a menu snatcher. I grab takeout menus everywhere I go. The best are those that not only list the dish, but include most of the recipe components as well. If something catches my eye, I'll sample it and then take note of the ingredients so I can adapt them on my own.

Today's dinner is wonderful salad inspired by the cute little modern Italian restaurant, Bruschetteria, on Rivington street in the Lower East Side. 


Bruschetteria is a favorite of mine because it offers simple and fresh small plates. It was on a  trip there some years ago that I first tried their Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese on Toast Points over Arugula, Capers, Red Onions, with a Lemon Vinaigrette. I enjoyed it so much that I've been making it ever since. I may be a bit biased because anything with smoked salmon, capers and red onion always makes me a happy woman. 

The adaptations I've made to this dish over the years are largely to husband-proof it. To give you an idea, the first time I made it, the Mr. asked where the rest of his dinner was. He's a peach, right? 


Next time, I added an avocado to make it heartier. He also groans when I give him a salad with only arugula. He'll eat arugula mixed with other greens, but alone, he doesn't like it - "too peppery", he says. I now do a mix of field greens with extra bread on the side - just in case he's still hungry.   

This weekend, after totally overindulging at Easter, we were both ready for something light. When you're feeling the same, this salad makes a great dinner. It's also super as an elegant luncheon dish. Maybe one of these days I will have reason to hold an "elegant luncheon," but to date, I have yet to do so. :)  

Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese on Toast Over Greens, Capers, Olives & Red Onions

Serves 2 - Inspired by Bruschetteria NYC 


What You'll Need:
4 Ounces Organic Mixed Greens
4 Ounces Smoked Salmon - preferably Wild Alaskan 
1/4 Large Red Onion, sliced thinly into half moons
1 teaspoon Capers plus more for Salmon Toasts
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
2 Lemon wedges for serving plus extra for squeezing
1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Ripe Hass Avocado, cut in half, pitted and flesh scored into cubes
10 Kalamata Olives, sliced
3 Ounces good quality Goat Cheese, preferably Boucheron, at room temperature
4 medium slices Russian Rye or bread of your choice, toasted



What To Do:


Cut Bread into four even slices, set in toaster. 

Next, place your Salad Greens into a Large Bowl.


Cut Onions thinly into Half Moons. Toss them into the salad greens, setting aside some of the slices to top the Salmon Toasts.

Next, slice each Avocado half in a crosshatch pattern as below. Run your knife along the skin all around to separate flesh. Leave Avocado in the skin until ready to use, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then top with a big squeeze of Lemon.

Ripe Hass Avocados - So Tasty, Photo: NK

To make dressing, toss 1 teaspoon of Capers in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon Olive Oil and 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice. Mix, crushing some of the Capers a bit with a fork to release their flavor. Set aside.


Pop Bread in the toaster oven to toast lightly. 


Toss chopped Olives into the bowl with the Salad Greens and pour on the Dressing. Toss thoroughly to distribute ingredients and dress. 


Next, place Avocado on top of Greens.

Remove Toast from the toaster and spread each slice with a good amount of Goat Cheese. 
Top each slice with a few pieces of Smoked Salmon, extra Capers, a few slices of Red Onion from what was set aside, and another big squeeze of Lemon Juice. 


To plate, serve 2 Salmon Toasts per dish. Perch them atop the salad greens. Serve with extra Lemon wedges. 


Enjoy! 

Finished Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Toasts over Field Greens, Photo: NK

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