This week’s ingredient was chosen by Jerry, who says that he picked olives so that he could use some of the wonderful olives he brought back from his recent trip to Greece. Don't miss checking out his blog for two delicious olive recipes: a Swiss Olive Galette and Olive and Potato Balls with Pesto. Thank you Jerry for choosing olives!

I was thrilled to see this ingredient in our Small Bites schedule because I truly love olives. I’ve been eating them almost all my life. Green Spanish olives are a main ingredient in Puerto Rican cuisine, added to almost all stews, salads and rice dishes. My mom would usually use a mix of olives, red peppers (pimiento morrón) and capers that came in a jar, known as alcaparrado.

For today’s recipe I chose to make savory empanadas stuffed with olives, ham, egg, and cheddar cheese. I used Spanish Manzanilla olives stuffed with red pimento. Recipe is from The Essential Fingerfood Cookbook.

Ham and Olive Empanadillas

Ingredients:

2 eggs, hard-boiled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup stuffed green olives, chopped
2/3 cup finely chopped cooked ham
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
3 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1. Place the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain and cool for 5 minutes in cold water. Peel and chop.

2. Combine the eggs, green olives, ham and cheddar in a large bowl. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

3. Cut the puff pastry sheets into 4 inch rounds. (You should be able to cut about five rounds from each sheet.) Spoon a tablespoon of the ham and olive mixture into the center of each round, fold the pastry over to encase the filling and crimp the edges firmly to seal. I used a salad fork to make the seal.

4. Place the pastries on the baking sheets, about 3/4 inch apart. Brush with the egg yolk and bake in the center to top half of the oven for 15 minutes, or until well browned and puffed. Switch the baking sheets around after 10 minutes and cover loosely with foil if the empanadillas start to become too brown. Serve hot.

Last year, while traveling in Andalucía, we spent a day in the countryside admiring the endless olive groves that dot the Andalusian landscape. We spent a few hours in the environs of the town of Jaén. The oil produced in this province accounts for one-third of Spain’s olive oil and 10% of the world's olive oil production. Impressive numbers. This photo was taken almost a year ago, on November 6. The olives are not quite ready for harvesting. The fruit will stay on the tree until late November.

I’ve had this bag since 1977. At the time, I was living in Mexico City, enrolled in the National University. During a school break, Ivan and I decided to head south and visit Guatemala and El Salvador. In Guatemala, we spent a couple of days in the mountain town of Chichicastenango, home to a fabulous market where I bought amazing textiles, very colorful wrap-around skirts and this bag.

While attending grad school, my Guatemalan bag became my book bag and I carried it everyday around the Mexican capital, on the subway and buses and on the university campus.

I keep this bag in my closet, inside a plastic container and once in a while, when I’m feeling a bit hippieish, I bring it out and wear it. The letters that wrap around on the top and bottom of the bag spell out Chichicastenango and Guatemala.

Happy weekend! :)

Our ingredient of the week was selected by Deborah of the blog Old Shoes - New Trip. Thanks, Deborah!

I chose to make a pumpkin chutney. This is an amazing recipe with a creamy sweet/savory combination. It can be served as an appetizer with crackers or with slices of baguette or saved for dessert, like we did with a bit more chutney on the side.

I have some leftover chutney and I’m thinking that it will go great with chicken or pork.

Pumpkin Chutney

Ingredients

1 pound pumpkin flesh, preferably a sweet type pumpkin (I used an organic sugar pumpkin)
2 tablespoons good quality extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion, preferably Walla Walla, Maui or other sweet onion
1 clove garlic, well minced
3 tablespoons white vinegar
3 quarter-size slices fresh ginger
Dash cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 lemon, juiced
1 red chile, any kind or your preference, leave whole and pick out after cooking
Brie cheese

Directions

Put all the ingredients into a pot and cook slowly on low heat until thick. It will take between 2-3 hours for all the ingredients to become soft and blended together. Some pumpkins are dryer than others, so if it appears too dry then add no more than a 1/2 cup of apple cider or apple juice.
Cut off the top of a brie cheese. Top with the pumpkin chutney. Bake it in 325 degrees for about 5 to 10 minute or until the cheese inside the rind is melted.

This recipe came from the Georgia Pecan Commission. Following my salt-reducing efforts in my diet, I substituted the can of chicken spread for 5 ounces of roasted pork meat that I had in the fridge. I also added a few chopped raisins to the stuffing to satisfy my craving of a salty/sweet appetizer.

Pecan and Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms

1 lb. large mushrooms
1 T. mushroom stems (from mushrooms)
¼ c. chives or green tops of scallions (chopped)
1/3 c. pecans (chopped)
5 oz. (1 can) chicken spread
2 T. sherry
1 T. salad oil
1 egg
½ T. salt
1 dash black pepper
16-20 pecan halves (lightly toasted)
½ c. salad oil (for dipping)

Put ½ cup salad oil in cup or bowl. Wash mushrooms, remove and chop stems, reserving 1 tablespoon. Dip each mushroom cap into the oil, and place into rectangular dish or ring mold. (If using rectangular dish, larger caps should be placed in the corners.) Mix remaining ingredients (except pecan halves) and stuff caps with mixture. Top each cap with a pecan half. Cover with plastic wrap and cook 15 minutes on high in microwave oven. Let stand for five minutes before serving.

The ingredient was smoked salmon but I chose to use fresh salmon since I'm trying to avoid eating food with high salt content. I used fresh sashimi-grade salmon from Whole Foods which I kept in the freezer for 4-6 hours prior to combining it with the other ingredients.

This delicious, creamy and spicy salmon tartare turned out to be an amazing recipe. My husband enjoyed it so much that he was complaining that I didn't make enough. I used a mandoline to slice the potato to a very thin 1/16". The crisps were also great on their own.

From Saveur

Salmon Tartare on Potato Crisps

1 8"-long russet potato
2 tbsp. canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb. skinless boneless salmon filet or belly
3 tbsp. dijon mustard
2 tbsp. chopped cornichons
2 tbsp. chopped red onions
2 tbsp. rinsed and drained capers
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp. finely chopped chives

1. Heat oven to 300°. Peel potato. Using a Japanese mandoline, slice potato lengthwise into twenty-five 1⁄16"-thick slices, stacking them to prevent from drying out.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; rub each with canola oil. Arrange potato slices on baking sheets, spacing them apart, and turn them in the oil to coat. Lightly sprinkle with salt and bake, rotating sheets and flipping potato slices every 5 minutes, until crisp and browned, 40–50 minutes. (Some will brown faster than others.) Transfer potato crisps to a paper towel–lined plate. Dab dry with a paper towel; set aside.

3. Cut salmon into 1⁄8" cubes. Transfer to a bowl and add dijon mustard, cornichons, onions, capers, and olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Fold in parsley and chives. Chill for 30 minutes. Serve tartare on potato crisps garnished with chopped chives.

I had to go back in time—about 10-20 years—to find a few pictures for this week’s theme. I hope you don’t mind the poor quality of these scanned photos.

My son, Pablo, started playing soccer when he was five years old, in the youth league in Tampa. Here he is practicing his goal kick.

And with his first soccer trophy.

His soccer playing days ended when he got interested in music and joined the school’s symphonic and marching band. The latter became very important to him during his high school years. While it was officially an academic class, to him it was also a sport, with all the practice sessions scheduled to start at 6:00am. Here is Pablo, in 1995 (third L to R) with the saxophone section of the marching band.

When Polaris started kindergarten in 1987, she loved to spend her recess time in the monkey bars, so we enrolled her in a gymnastics program where she had lots of fun with the beams and trampoline.

When she turned ten she was influenced by her horse-crazy cousin and started taking English horse riding lesson. After 3-4 years of training she started participating in equestrian competitions. I was unable to find a picture of her in a dressage event—here are a couple of photos of her jumping her thoroughbred horse, Irish.

On the cross country portion of a three-day-event in southern Arizona.

Happy hunting and a great weekend to everyone!

This week’s featured ingredient was chosen by Nancy of A Winelover’s Wanderings. Nancy just returned from a wonderful trip to northern Italy and she posted some terrific photos of all the yummy food and fine wine that she and her husband had while in the region of Piemonte. Welcome home, Nancy! ;)

I love soft goat cheese and have made it many times; it’s been a while, and I thought of preparing my own for this recipe. However, last weekend my daughter and I visited a fine goat creamery, Fossil Creek Creamery, so we stocked up on their goat cheese. We bought a good assortment of creamy cheeses with various herbs, a goat cheese havarti and a very special one, goat cheese with pear and anise. I used this last one for one of the recipes. They also make a delectable fudge which I regret not buying this time.

With such great cheeses to work with, I think I got a little carried away with this week’s theme since I ended up doing three different small bites. Lately my daughter has been joining me on Small Bite day and we thought of making enough appetizers to make it a meal.

Our first recipe was a cheese fondue we made with a goat cheddar I bought at Whole Foods. I have never made a fondue but my daughter has so I let her take the lead and do all the work.

Goat Cheese and Mushroom Fondue

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 pound chanterelle mushrooms, sliced
1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (thyme, parsley, sage)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cups hard goat cheese like Redwood Hills Sharp Goat Milk Cheddar or Smoked Goat
Cheddar, grated

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, herbs, salt and pepper. Cook about 8 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Set aside.

In a stainless steel pan, combine wine and cornstarch and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat. Add cheese and stir until smooth.

Remove from heat and add mushroom mixture, stirring until well incorporated. Serve in a fondue pot accompanied by cut-up vegetables or fruit, grilled eggplant slices, or day-old bread, cut in cubes.

The second recipe was grilled asparagus wrapped in ham and goat cheese. I did a couple of substitutions to the ingredients: I used prosciutto instead of ham and the cheese I used was the pear with anise goat cheese that I bought at the creamery, to which I added the herbs. I looked for dicon sprouts and couldn’t find them at TJoe’s or Whole Foods.

Grilled Georgia Grown Asparagus

Ingredients:

18-20 pcs fresh asparagus
12 ea slices of truffle infused ham
5 oz Belle Chevre goat cheese
¼ tsp chopped tarragon
¼ tsp chopped basil
¼ tsp sliced chives
¼ tsp chopped thyme
3 oz finely sliced piquillo peppers
1.5 oz dicon sprouts
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs white balsamic vinegar
sea salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
granulated garlic to taste

Procedure:

Trim and wash the asparagus, removing all excess water.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, granulated garlic, and white balsamic vinegar. Let the asparagus marinate for about 30 minutes before grilling.

Wipe the grill clean with an oiled cloth and grill the asparagus on all sides and set aside.

Finely chop the fresh herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, chives, and tarragon). Place the goat cheese in a bowl and let it come to room temperature. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, work the goat cheese until smooth and spreadable. Add the fresh herbs and a little fresh ground pepper to taste.
Place the thinly sliced ham onto a parchment or plastic wrap and spread a thin layer of the herbed goat cheese. Top with the grilled asparagus, thin sliced piquillo peppers, and dicon sprouts. Wrap the ham tightly around the asparagus and chill before slicing them into the desired portion size.

The third appetizer was made with the leftover ingredients from the asparagus small bite. I had left over cheese, some small pieces of prosciutto and a few tips of piquillo peppers. I stuffed the delicious peppers with some tiny pieces of prosciutto and topped it with goat cheese. These were very easy to assemble and really tasty. They were a great one-bite appetizer!

Pollo all’abruzzese coi pomodorini e le olive
Chicken Fricassee Abruzzi-Style

This is an adaptation of a recipe by Marcella Hazan, from her cookbook Marcella Cucina. This delicious fricassee is wonderful served with potatoes or rice.

3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces or 3 1/2 pounds of your favorite chicken pieces (I use boneless, skinless thighs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
2 teaspoons rosemary leaves, finely chopped
Salt
Chopped hot chili pepper, 1/4 teaspoon or to taste
1/2 cup white dry wine
About two dozen cherry tomatoes
About a dozen black Italian olives

1. Wash the chicken pieces in cold water and pat dry. Season with salt.

2. In a large skillet, large enough to hold the chicken in one layer, put the olive oil, garlic and rosemary and sauté over high to medium-high. Add the chicken with skin-side down. Cook, uncovered, until the chicken is golden, about 15 minutes; turn over and continue cooking uncovered until this side is also golden. Add the chili pepper and turn over the content of the pan a couple of times.

3. Pour the wine and while it’s bubbling, scrape the bottom of the pan to release any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan.

4. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook for approximately 35 minutes, turning the chicken over from time to time. If the juices in the pan are drying out, add 2-3 tablespoons of water.

5. When the chicken is juicy and tender, add the cherry tomatoes and the olives. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and almost beginning to crack.

6. Serve immediately.

This week's ingredient was chosen by blog friend, Annie of Churches in Venice.

I didn’t find in any of my cookbooks a recipe I could adapt to a small bite so I searched the Web and found one that sounded very interesting: smooth and creamy avocado tahini dip.

We enjoyed this dip with mini pita bread and olives. I loved the distinctive flavor of the tahini but my husband was not too crazy about it. To correct this, next time I’m going to make it with a blend of pureed garbanzo beans and avocado to make it more a hummus than a guacamole.

The recipe can be found in a number of websites and blogs under different names but it seems that it may have come from the book Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa by Habeeb Salloum.

Thank you Annie for selecting this week's ingredient. I love avocados!

Avocado Tahini Appetizer

4 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp tahini
1 large or 2 medium avocados
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika

1.Place lemon juice and tahini in a blender or food processor and blend.

2.Pit and peel avocados and cut into pieces. Add all the remaining ingredients, except paprika, to the lemon juice-tahini mixture. Blend to a smooth paste.

3. Place on a serving platter, sprinkle with paprika and serve as is or chilled.

A view from the top of Lombard Street in San Francisco, famous for being a completely twisted and crooked street. The photo was taken last November while riding on a cable car. We had seen this street many years ago and even drove down but on this occasion we only had a chance to see it from the top but you can see the traffic sign signaling the turns lying ahead.