Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Crostinis

I made (bought) crostinis and made super easy toppings that turned out really fun and light for summer. It was like an Italian version of do-it-yourself tacos.

Our toppings were:

First I did a basic tomato deal, kinda like Taryn's bruschetta recipe. I diced a roma tomato and a handful of grape tomatoes, threw in some julienned sun dried tomatoes and basil and balsamic vinegar. Next time I'd use a tad less vinegar, but it turned out sweet and fresh tasting.

Second, I chopped a medium-small can of black olives and four or five green olives, mixed in a little pesto (store bought, left over from another recipe), and sliced some mozzarella to go under it. Kind of a poor man's olive tapenade. People into capers might use those instead of green olives, I bet that would be interesting.

Third, we had artichoke dill spread. I was originally going to make this recipe, but Sunflower Market had a dill dip just like it but better, so I chopped my artichokes fine and mixed them with the dill dip. It turned out well and the kids loved it.


I thought about doing a mushroom topping, too, but I didn't feel like actually cooking.
Obviously, these barely qualify as recipes, but that's kinda why I liked them. If anyone else has super easy topping ideas or funsies dinner ideas, I think they'd be great for summer "cooking."

New jams, Arizona edition

Just got back from a week at the parental units' house in Tucson (thanks, folks!). Might have a couple more food-related posts later. This one's about souvenir jams. We didn't get any last time we visited Tucson, but this time we did.

If you've been there you can probably guess one of them: you can find prickly pear jelly at any roadside gift shop. We got ours at the Tohono Chul Park gift shop. The brand we got was Cheri's Desert Harvest. The other jam we picked up was Margarita Marmalade, from the same maker.

The Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly (as they title it) is good, but I think it might have a tad too much lemon juice in it - it mollifies the prickly pear flavor so much that you easily forget what you're eating. (Not that I'd know what pure prickly pear tastes like - but I've had prickly pear candies, and those taste more distinctive than this.) It's a good jam, but not a standout.

The margarita marmalade, on the other hand, is excellent. A great mix of lemon, lime, and red lime. They say it has tequila and triple sec in it, too, and I'm sure those help with the bitterness, but I imagine all the alcohol cooks out in the jam-making process, because there's no bite. Just a tiny spiciness mixed in with the fruit. A winner. Definitely worth picking up another jar next time we're down there.