Seasonal Flowers: NYC Flower Market

Spinach and Feta Rolls

inspiration: Russian Piroshki are amazing, but now they're mini and bite sized!  We took a little Greek inspiration and made them with spinach and feta cheese.

ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2, 10 oz. boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, grated
• 1/2 lb. feta cheese
• 4 eggs (3 for filling and 1 for puff pastry)
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1, 17.3oz box puff pastry sheets flour (for dusting and rolling out puff pastry)

method: Cook onion and garlic in olive oil till just soft.  Let cool, add to a bowl, and incorporate the thawed spinach, nutmeg, feta cheese, eggs, and panko.  Roll out puff pastry sheet and cut into three strips.  Roll each strip out into about 4x10" pieces.  Place the spinach mixture in the center down the middle like a log.  Egg wash one long end of the puff pastry and roll the other end towards the egg wash side.  Seal by pressing lightly and move off to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, sealed side down.  Repeat with remaining 5 pieces of puff pastry and place all logs into the refrigerator to set up, about 20 minutes.  Remove logs and cut each one into 1 inch pieces, about 8-10 per log.  Place on cookie sheet and egg wash the tops.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, till golden brown.

entertaining notes: These can be made ahead, the cut 1 inch pieces can be frozen up to 1 week or more.

Yields: approximately 48-60 rolls

Chicken Liver Pâté

inspiration: This is perfect for the holidays and for entertaining for a few reasons.  First of all, Chicken Liver Pâté is extremely decadent and tasty.  So much so that it's a good idea not to eat this often, so for a special occasion, this is perfect.  Second of all, the Pâté can be made in advance (at least a few days even) so the prep time is extremely ideal.  And third of all, the ingredients couldn't be more budget friendly.  Try different toppings to change it up a bit.  The recipe below is a classic preparation, but with a few additions, this can easily be changed up to fit a variety of styles.  Add some rosemary and lemon zest for a Tuscan twist, add some cilantro and chilies as a garnish and it has a south western twist, or add some curry powder for a bit of an Indian twist.  Get creative and enjoy!

ingredients:

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 6 - 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 lb. chicken liver
• 1/2 cup dry sherry (really any fortified wine will do like marsala or madiera)
• 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 2 eggs, hard boiled
• 1 tsp. sherry vinegar

method: Start by cleaning the chicken livers by cutting out any fat and connective tissue and set aside.

In skillet, over medium-low heat, add the butter. Add the onion and begin to sweat slowly till the onions begin to get a slight caramel color.  Add the garlic and some salt and pepper.  When the pan is  ready for deglazing, add the sherry.  Add the chicken livers and continue to cook till the the livers are cooked through and pale pink in the center.  Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.  While the liver mixture is cooling, prep your food processor.  Add the parsley, eggs, liver mixture, and sherry vinegar and pulse/puree in food processor to a fairly fine paste.  Check seasonings and add salt and pepper as needed.  Store in an air tight container and refrigerate till ready to serve.  Should be served cold, or slightly room temperature with crostini.

entertaining notes: The chicken liver pate can be made in advance and refrigerated till ready to serve.  The pate is best on day 1 and 2 - it's still very good on day 2 and 3 - however day 4 and on is pushing it.

Yields: 3 cups

Mini Chipotle Meatballs

inspiration: One of our favorite restaurants for Mexican food serves almost everything alongside their Chipotle Sauce.  We love it so much that we did many trial runs of the sauce till we discovered that it's even more simple than we realized - the recipe is below.

Just a few weeks ago, for our Holiday Party, we were toying with the idea of doing meatballs because we wanted to do something with meat and we liked that they were bite sized and easy to make and store.  When we thought about combining our favorite traditionally Mexican-styled sauce with the tiny meatballs, we discovered that we were on to something.  They were very easy to make, very easy to store, very easy to bake off, and so tasty that we had to keep refilling the platter before we had time to bake off another round.  They were definitely the hit of the party and someone even commented that these had "restored their faith in a killer meatball!"  That was the best complement we could get and these will go in our entertaining repertoire permanently.

ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. chipotles canned in adobo, finely chopped and seeded (plus 3 tbsp. of the adobo sauce)
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
• salt and pepper

method: In a large bowl, combine milk and breadcrumbs and allow to fully soak for at least 20 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, add the olive oil and cook the onion, garlic, chipotles, cumin, and oregano and cook till everything is light brown and sweated, about 7 minutes. Add some water to deglaze and let cool slightly. Stir onion mixture into the milk and panko.  Add to the bowl the ground meats, egg, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt and mix well.

Preheat oven to 450 (convect if possible).  Form about 3/4 inch balls of meat mixture and lay out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook in the oven for about 20-25 minutes (do not turn) until browned and cooked through.

Note: Meatballs can be formed, but not cooked, 2 day ahead and chilled.

Chipotle sauce: In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, the 3 tbsp. of the chipotle adobo sauce, and salt and pepper.  Combine till all smooth and plate in a bowl to accompany the meatballs.  Note: Chipotle sauce can be made up to 5 days in advance and chilled.

Yields approximately 60-70 meatballs

Goat Cheese Bread Pudding

inspiration: Every Saturday morning we seem to find ourselves at one of our favorite places to have brunch - Hundred Acres in New York City.  They make a Goat Cheese Bread Pudding, topped with a wilted spinach salad and two poached eggs on top.  It is so amazing that we were inspired to make it our own way.  Surprisingly, bread pudding is very easy to make and we don't know why we haven't learned this before.

ingredients:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 5 eggs
• 2 tsp. fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 loaf of white bread, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 10 oz. goat cheese or chèvres, crumbled
• butter for greasing the pan

method: Preheat oven to 300°F. Lightly grease a loaf pan with butter. Set aside. Whisk together the milk, eggs, thyme, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl.  Add the crumbled goat cheese and with a fork and crush the cheese into the liquid.  Add the bread cubes and toss to combine - the mixture should be nice and wet.  Allow the bread to soak for about 30 minutes.

Pour bread mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the oven for 2 hours, until the top is golden and gives resistance to the touch, or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Baked Shrimp Scampi with Cocktail Sauce

inspiration: We pay a little homage to the delicious yet retro Shrimp Cocktail with these.  The flavor is reminiscent of the Italian classic Shrimp Scampi with the addition of cocktail sauce for that traditional pairing.  The result is a sweet shrimp morsel with the flavor turned way up!

ingredients:

• 1 lb. jumbo shrimp, cleaned and de-veined
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• cocktail sauce (home-made or store bought)

method: Preheat oven to 425.  Combine shrimp, garlic, thyme, zest, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl and toss to combine.  Lay shrimp out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until the shrimp are just turned pink and look opaque.  Plate and serve with your favorite cocktail sauce.

Serves 4-6 people as an appetizer