No Cook Appetizers – Spicy Marinated Olives & Prosciutto Wrapped Hearts of Palm

I’m crazy for appetizers. Whetting your appetite in anticipation of the upcoming delicious meal while sipping on a glass of wine and conversing with friends is a fantastic way to spend an hour or two. Whenever we host a dinner party, I always set out a few appetizers that are substantial enough to feel like you’re really eating something but light enough so that you don’t spoil your appetite before dinner. I used to put out the standard crudite and dip platter but after a while I started to have that “been there, done that” feeling and I wanted to offer my guests something a little more special than carrot sticks and hummus. Now I start off with spicy marinated olives, prosciutto wrapped hearts of palm, and nibbles of parmesan or pecorino romano cheese. These dishes present very elegantly and can be made a day or two ahead of time. And the best part is that they are no cook recipes so they’re perfect for hot summer nights. No fuss and lots of style, which is just how a dinner party with friends should be.

SPICY MARINATED OLIVES

6 ounce can of large pitted black olives packed in water, drained
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
zest and juice of one orange or lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 bay leaves, crumbled

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 48 hours. Allow to come to room temperature before serving. Serves 4.

PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED HEARTS OF PALM

7 ounce jar of hearts of palm, drained well
1/4 pound prosciutto
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

If the hearts of palm are longer than a few inches then cut them in half. Wrap each piece fairly tightly in a slice of prosciutto. Lay the pieces in a single layer in a nonmetal dish.

Whisk together the oil, vinegar and thyme. Pour over the hearts of palm.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

Allow to come to room temperature.

Sprinkle with black pepper before serving.

Serves 4.

Pollo al Pimientos

This is definitely one of the best chicken dishes I have ever tasted. Truly, I would not lie to you- it’s that amazing. Unfortunately, I can’t claim the credit for creating Pollo al Pimientos because it’s on the dinner menu at Barcelona, my favorite Spanish restaurant in Connecticut, but I will accept your congratulations for figuring out the recipe so that all of us can cook it at home. Breaking down the recipe and getting it just right took a couple of tries but the effort paid off immensely once I mastered the silky, luxurious white wine and butter sauce that bathes the chicken. The sauce is the key to the dish because without it you just have a boring piece of chicken sitting on your plate. The quality of the sauce really depends on the quality of wine so please use a good wine and not that bottled cooking wine from the supermarket. I used a mid-priced bottle of Albarino, Spain’s premier white wine from the Galicia region of Northwest Spain (which is the ancestral home of my husband’s maternal relatives so it was a fitting choice for my family), but you can use whatever white wine you especially enjoy as long as it isn’t too sweet. Albarino has a bright, tart flavor with notes of almond and citrus so look for a wine with those qualities if you want to try something different.

The restaurant serves the chicken very simply with only pan roasted potato slices. In my recipe, I’ve also added in some spinach sauteed with garlic and cumin because the mother in me believes that every dinner should include a vegetable. I used spinach because that’s what I had on hand but you can use whatever green vegetable you prefer, like steamed green beans or asparagus.

Be forewarned: this dish is not for people with sensitive palates because it’s not merely spicy, it’s hella spicy due to the hot cherry peppers. You will feel the burn, but in a good way, I promise. This recipe serves two because I cooked it just for me and my husband when I was experimenting with the recipe but you can easily double or triple the ingredients. But use a little restraint with the hot cherry peppers if you’re tripling the recipe because they can be insanely spicy in large quantities. If you’re making a triple recipe, use only a double shot of the peppers.

POLLA AL PIMIENTOS

For the chicken and potatoes:

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large boneless, skin-on chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
4-6 small hot cherry peppers, stemmed and seeded but left whole
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons cold butter
2 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise in 1/4″ thick slices
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

For the spinach:

1/2 pound spinach, tough stems removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Season the chicken on all sides with the salt and pepper.

Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.

Add the potato slices in one layer. Saute for 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove the potatoes to a plate. Set aside until you’re ready to plate the chicken.

Lower the heat under the saute pan to medium-low. Add the chicken, skin side down, and saute for about 8 minutes or until beautifully browned. Turn over and brown the other side for another 8 minutes. Feel free to adjust the heat even more if pan seems too hot or not hot enough. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm. If the chicken breasts are really thick, they might not be cooked through but that’s okay because they’re going back into the pan later.

Add the garlic, broth, wine and lemon juice to the pan. Raise the heat to medium-high and reduce the liquid by almost half, about 10 minutes.

Add the chicken back to the pan, skin side up. Add the hot cherry peppers. Cover the pan. Lower heat to medium low and simmer for another 8 minutes.

While the chicken is simmering, heat the oil for the spinach in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about one minute. Add the spinach and pour over the broth. Sprinkle the cumin over the spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the spinach is just wilted, which takes a couple of minutes. Uncover and allow the extra liquid to cook off. Turn off the heat and let rest until you’re ready to plate the chicken.

Arrange the potato slices in a fan pattern on your serving dishes. Place a small mound of spinach on the plate at the base of the fan. Place a chicken breast on top of each mound of spinach.

Swirl the cold butter into the sauce until melted and fully incorporated. Spoon the sauce and hot cherry peppers over the chicken and potatoes. Garnish with the parsley.

Serves 2.

Not Quite Jerk Chicken

I’m a huge fan of Afro-Caribbean food, especially the spicy dishes that make your tongue tingle and your cheeks flush pink. So, of course, Jamaican jerk chicken ranks high on my list of favorites. The heat in traditional Jamaican jerk seasoning comes from Scotch bonnet peppers, which are one of the hottest peppers on the planet. I’m talking light-your-mouth-on-fire screaming hot. My kids like heavily seasoned food so I knew that they would enjoy most of the spices used in jerk seasoning but their tender palates can’t handle Scotch bonnets so I created a kid-friendly chicken dish that is inspired by the bold, aromatic spices of traditional jerk chicken but leaves out most of the heat. A jalapeno pepper steps in for the Scotch bonnet so that you still taste a glimmer of heat but your head doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode. I also skipped over the traditional ingredients of rum and molasses because the chicken would taste too sweet without the spiciness of the Scotch bonnets for balance. Serve with white rice and wash down with Red Stripe for the adults, lemonade for the kids.

NOT QUITE JERK CHICKEN

4 pounds bone-in chicken pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into large pieces
5 scallions, sliced into 3 inch long pieces
10 garlic cloves, smashed
2 limes, quartered
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 jalapeno pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place chicken pieces in single layer in a large roasting pan.

Nestle the pepper pieces, scallions and garlic among the chicken pieces.

For a mild hot pepper flavor, halve the jalapeno and discard the seeds and ribs. Mince finely and add to the pan. If you like more heat, don’t remove the seeds and ribs.

Sprinkle with the soy sauce and olive oil. Squeeze the limes over the chicken and add the squeezed pieces to the pan.

Mix together the ginger, allspice, salt, pepper and thyme in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the chicken pieces.

Bake the chicken for 1 hour, or until the juices run clear when a piece is pricked with a knife. If the skin hasn’t become crisp, turn the broiler to high and broil for a few minutes until crispy.

Serves 4-6.

The Superbowl Is My Excuse to Eat Wings and Fries

I’m not a sports fan so I never know the names of the famous players, when the big games are on tv or which teams belong to which cities (with the exception of Boston and New York teams because I lived in those places). I’m hopelessly and laughably ignorant of such things. Last year, I took a day trip to Philadelphia and spent the whole day in the city without knowing that it was hosting the final game of the World Series that night. So it’s not entirely surprising that I didn’t know about the Superbowl this weekend until I was informed by a friend. And then I forgot that someone told me about the game until my husband reminded me yesterday.

But let’s toss aside my lack of sports enthusiasm for a moment. Because do you know what I do get enthusiastic about? Wings. And fries. And then more wings. Yum. I know that sports fans also like wings and fries so maybe I can contribute to the collective American sports fervor by serving up huge platters of my family’s favorite wings and fries to my football-loving buddies. So next year I’m hosting a Superbowl party. And you’re invited. You can bring the beer.

The following recipe makes two kinds of wings- one for those with delicate palates and one for those who like it hot.

LEMON & ROSEMARY CHICKEN WINGS

Whisk together:
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
4 garlic cloves, minced

Pour over 2 pounds chicken wing pieces. Marinate for at least 8 hours and up to 48 hours.

SPICY BLACK BEAN CHICKEN WINGS

Whisk together:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup red wine
3 tablespoons Chinese black bean sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1-2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

Pour over 2 pounds chicken wing pieces. Marinate for at least 8 hours and up to 48 hours.

TO COOK THE WINGS:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Line two baking sheets with tin foil and place a wire baking rack on each. Spray rack with cooking spray or brush lightly with vegetable oil.

Using tongs, place the lemon and rosemary wings on one baking rack in a single layer. Make sure to shake off excess marinade before placing on the rack.

Using the same technique, place the black bean wings on the other rack.

Bake for 40 minutes, turning over once. Switch positions of baking sheets in the oven halfway through cooking time.

When cooked through and beautifully browned, remove wings to a large platter and cover tightly with foil while you prepare the sweet potato fries.

SWEET POTATO FRIES

4 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Peel sweet potatoes and slice into fries measuring 1/3″ by 3″ or 4″ long, depending on the length of the sweet potato.

Mix together the salt, garlic powder, white pepper and dried parsley.

Toss the sweet potatoes with the oil, until each piece glistens.

Remove and discard the dirty foil from the baking sheets used to cook the wings.

Spread half of the fries on one sheet and half on the other sheet.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, switching baking sheet positions in the oven halfway through cooking time. At the halfway mark, flip over the fries with a spatula to ensure even cooking and browning.

Before removing fries from baking sheets, sprinkle liberally with the spice mixture.

Serve immediately with the two kinds of wings.

Serves 4.