My father, an Italian, was a spaghetti expert. “Meatballs,” he said, “need to be as big as your fist.” On spaghetti nights, he’d watch with his arms crossed as I dug into one of his homemade meatballs, which, back then, were almost the size of my head. “A meatball has to sit on the spaghetti like an egg in a nest,” he continued. No matter that it looked like a bowling ball squashing the last breath out of every noodle on my plate. The meatball was always the main attraction. Spaghetti was secondary.

In my childhood, a meatball’s most familiar place was on top of a mound of sauced-up noodles. As I got older, these meaty nuggets made appearances at cocktail parties swathed in barbecue sauce, between tiny hamburger buns as sliders, even as massive floaters in soup (albondigas, anyone?). The meatball’s versatility knew no bounds, gracing the plate in large and mini versions, spicy or sweet, sometimes made with a combination of meats and spices. Even with all these possibilities, a meatball in its simplest form is just meat, some seasoning and something to bind it all together. The spices, the exotic-sounding ingredients – those all stem from the same, basic recipe. Once you have that, you’re free to experiment to your heart’s content.

Tuck this basic meatball recipe into your back pocket so it’ll be at the ready when you need some easy meals and appetizers. Though it calls only for ground beef, don’t be shy about trying other meats, like pork and chicken. For a little heat, sub out some of the ground beef with spicy sausage. You can also experiment with herbs and spices while you’re at it. I’ve included some suggestions for serving at the bottom of the recipe.
BASIC MEATBALLS
Yield: 22 to 24 meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Shape mixture into the size of golf balls and place on prepared pan about 2 inches apart. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until cooked through and slightly browned. Remove from oven and serve alone, or in the following variations.
Cocktail-style: Grab a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce and empty its contents into a pot. Simmer meatballs in barbecue sauce until hot. Pour all into a serving dish, and serve with cocktail forks or toothpicks.
Hawaiian sliders: You’ll need a package of Hawaiian rolls, pineapple rings and apricot jam. Split Hawaiian rolls in half and toast on a baking sheet in the oven for a few minutes. Empty jar of apricot jam into a pot or microwave-safe bowl, and heat until jam is pourable. Brush each meatball with apricot jam and place on Hawaiian roll. Top with pineapple and serve. You can also grill the pineapple rings.
Meatball sandwiches: You’ll need 4 French rolls, 8 slices of provolone cheese and 2 cups of marinara sauce. Simmer about 16 of the meatballs in marinara until hot. Split French rolls in half lengthwise and place on a baking sheet. Line each half with slices of provolone cheese, and toast in the oven until cheese is melted. Spoon in 4 meatballs per French roll and serve.
Spaghetti and meatballs: Simmer meatballs in marinara sauce until hot. Spoon over spaghetti noodles and toss.
Soup: Whenever a recipe calls for meatballs (like Italian wedding soup, or albondigas), drop these in.
To store: Cooked meatballs can be kept in an airtight bag or container for up to two months. This is convenient if you plan to make spaghetti or soup in the coming weeks. Just take a few out of the freezer and pop into the sauce or broth to heat through.

The homely russet potato is not much to look at — especially when you compare it to the swirling architectural beauty of a head of Romanesco broccoli, or the seductive lipstick-red of a radish. But the russet’s allure lies beneath its skin: a creamy, unblemished flesh so versatile, it can transform into a bevy of appetizing eats using just about any cooking method invented.

Yes, these grubby little tubers clean up real nice.

One of my favorite russet makeovers is the galette, where potatoes take a cue from the Romanesco’s structural swirl. To make a galette, potatoes are cut into thin slices, then arranged in an overlapping spiral to form a circular tart. Between potato layers, you can use your imagination to add aromatics, herbs and cheese to flavor. I love the combination of onions, garlic and rosemary — it’s a fragrant classic that never disappoints in a potato dish. This combo also works well if you plan to serve the galette with meaty main courses like beef and lamb.

Now, it’s true that traditional galettes are prepared with a pastry crust, but this isn’t necessary when you’re using russet potatoes. When the galette is baked, the potato slices act as both crust and filling — the top and bottom layers crisp and brown into a crust all its own, while the galette’s center remains pillowy and light. After baking, the galette is inverted to showcase a smooth, even surface of golden potato goodness. (And I promise, inverting it is a lot easier than you may think.)

There are a few methods for making a potato galette, but the breeziest is baking with a nonstick cookie sheet. The sheet acts as a blank, wide canvas for you to create your masterpiece, and the Teflon coating keeps individual potato slices from sticking to the sheet when you eventually flip the galette over onto a serving plate.

This is also a recipe where you can brush up your knife skills. Making thin, wispy potato slices may take a bit of patience if you’re a newbie, but the end result is well worth it. And don’t worry if your slices are uneven or slivered. You can arrange slices to mask these imperfections – but only if you want. In my experience, the flawed, rustic galettes are the best ones.

ROSEMARY POTATO GALETTE
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 3 pounds Russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Rosemary

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub and peel the potatoes, then pat them dry with a paper towel. Slice the potatoes crosswise into super-thin slices, no thicker than 1/8-inch thick (the thinner, the better). Don’t worry if slices aren’t uniform – you can still use them.
2. Place potato slices into a large bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat.
3. Starting in the middle of your nonstick cookie sheet, arrange potato slices into a circle, spiraling and overlapping potatoes until you have a circle about 10 inches in diameter.
4. Top this circle with half of the onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese and rosemary. Repeat Step 2, making another spiraling potato mass over the first one. Top with remaining onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese and rosemary.
5. Continue to add layers of spiraling potato slices until you have none left. Press down on the galette to help the potatoes settle into place. If you need to, you can tidy up here by removing slices or tucking some slices under others.
6. Bake galette for 45 minutes, or until the top is crispy and has a rich, golden brown color. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.
7. When ready to serve, take a large plate and place it over the top of the galette. With one hand on the base of the plate and one hand on the underside of the cookie sheet, flip galette over, so that the cookie sheet is now on top. Remove the cookie sheet to reveal a uniform, golden spiral of potatoes. Cut the galette into wedges. You can serve it as-is, or as a side dish to a meaty main course.

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If you’ve been around long enough, you may have noticed things are getting a bit green in here, what with a salad and a broccoli rabe-heavy spaetzle as my last two recipe posts. Green just seems like the thing to do in the middle of February. Maybe it’s a subconscious thing to counteract all that V-day red we’ve been seeing, or maybe I’m jumping the gun into March. Either way, it just feels right.

These recipes were inspired by the simple pear, basil and parmesan salad I made for L.A.’s Stir It 28 event for Haiti last weekend (that of which I adapted from Leite’s Culinaria). People really seemed to like the combination of pear and basil.

For those not familiar with Stir It 28, read the rundown here. A handful of dedicated and super-friendly food bloggers, caterers and chefs descended on Greg/SippitySup’s lovely Hollywood Hills kitchen in the name of Haiti. (I’m compelled to mention here that Greg has excellent taste in knives. Shun, baby.) We cooked for an estimated 75 guests, all whom donated to the Stir It 28 Haiti fund. For more coverage of the L.A. event, visit the Duo Dishes, The Food Addicts, Uncouth Gourmands, South Bay Rants n Raves and Domestic Divas. (I’ll add more links as they come in!) If you didn’t attend the event, you can still donate to the cause by visiting Flanboyant Eats or CocoCooks and clicking on the logo. All proceeds benefit Share Our Strength and Yele Haiti. Donations will be accepted until Feb. 28.

So back to the recipe: The pesto portion of these recipes can be doubled, tripled – quadrupled even – to suit your needs. And if you have more than an hour on your hands, I suggest cooking the onions down until they’re really browned — not just a golden brown. The darker they are, the sweeter they will be.

PEAR AND PESTO CROSTINI
Yield: 2 to 3 servings (or if you’re me, 1 serving)

• 1/2 loaf French bread
• 2 cups packed basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano
• 3 tablespoons your best olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Bosc pear

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice French loaf into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and brush (or spray, if you have one of those nifty Misto things) with olive oil. Place slices on baking sheet and toast in oven for 10-15 minutes, or until edges are a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. While those are in the oven, make your pesto. In a food processor, combine basil leaves, garlic clove, pine nuts and Romano cheese. Pulse until pesto is coarse in texture, like coarse sand. Add in olive oil and process until fully incorporated. Taste. Add salt and pepper, if needed. Scrape pesto into a serving bowl or dish and set aside. (You should have about 3/4 cup.)
3. Cut pear into thin slices and place on a platter with crostini and pesto. To assemble: Spread pesto over crostini and top with pear and fresh ground black pepper, if desired. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for skirt steak/caramelized onion recipe.)

SKIRT STEAK, CARMELIZED ONION AND PESTO CROSTINI
Yield: 2 to 3 servings

• 1/2 loaf French bread
• 3 medium onions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons your best olive oil, divided
• 2 cups packed basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano
• 1/4 pound skirt steak
• Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice French loaf into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and brush (or spray, if you have one of those nifty Misto things) with olive oil. Place slices on baking sheet and toast in oven for 10-15 minutes, or until edges are a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. Slice onions crosswise into thin rings. Place in a pot over medium heat with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You’ll know onions are ready when they turn a super-caramel color. (You can always cook them down even more, until they’re jam-like and brown. There’s no right or wrong here.)
3. Make your pesto while the onions are on the stove. In a food processor, combine basil leaves, garlic clove, pine nuts and Romano cheese. Pulse until pesto is coarse in texture, like coarse sand. Add in 3 tablespoons of olive oil and process until fully incorporated. Taste. Add salt and pepper, if needed. Scrape pesto into a serving bowl or dish and set aside. (You should have about 3/4 cup.)
4. When onions are done, remove from heat and start on the steak. Heat the remaining table of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle skirt steak with a bit of salt and pepper and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes (depending on thickness) on both sides. Transfer steak to a cutting board and rest it for 10 minutes before slicing meat crosswise.
5. To assemble: Slather on the pesto, top with caramelized onion and skirt steak. Enjoy!

– Cynthia Furey

Hey all! Here’s my latest installment of “Food 101,” which was published in The Orange County Register today.
***
Now that the Superbowl is right around the corner, how about treating your friends and family to a super appetizer along with those obligatory chips, dip and wings?

Crab-stuffed mushrooms only look difficult to make. A large tray with an army of mini sized appetizers, each little soldier with a browned, bubbling cheese crust only suggests that you’ve painstakingly slaved over them for days. Really, the most work you’ve done is chop up some vegetables and spoon filling into some mushroom caps.

Don’t let the ingredient list intimidate you, either. The bulk of it is just vegetables and cheeses that you will cook and mix together in a large bowl. All of these ingredients can be found in your neighborhood supermarket, even the jarred crab meat (check the fresh seafood display).

And if you really want to impress your friends, make sure to grab some lemons while at the store. Ever wonder why lemon wedges are served alongside fish? It’s because their tartness brightens the subtle, sweet flavors in seafood. You can experiment for yourself: Once the stuffed mushrooms have cooled slightly, pop one in your mouth and observe the taste: it’s good, right? Now sprinkle some lemon juice on a second stuffed mushroom and munch on that. Pow! Flavors are instantly enhanced, and you can really taste that crab.

For this recipe, you will need a large bowl, large frying or sauté pan, and a baking pan – maybe two. You can also prepare the filling a day ahead of time. Just make sure to refrigerate and cover with plastic wrap. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

CRAB-STUFFED MUSHROOMS
Yield: 10 to 12 appetizer servings

• 2 pounds button or baby Portobello mushrooms
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 jar (6 to 8 ounces) crab meat
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 to 2 lemons, cut into wedges

1. Clean dirt and debris from mushrooms by wiping them with a damp paper towel or rinsing them under running water in a strainer. Let them dry for a few minutes, and then pull off the mushroom stems from their caps (these pop right off). Set the mushroom caps aside.
2. This next step is where you get to hone your chopping skills. You will need to chop the mushroom stems, onion, bell pepper and garlic as finely as possible without turning them into mush. The fancy term for this is mincing, which you’ve most likely heard. So, mince the vegetables until you’ve got what looks like tiny mosaic tiles all over your cutting board.
3. Once you’re done with that, place the butter in the frying pan on the stove over high heat. When the butter is melted and hot, dump in all your minced veggies and cook them for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the liquid from the mushrooms is mostly evaporated. Stir occasionally.
4. Add the crab meat, salt and pepper to the pan, and cook for a minute or two, just enough to heat the crab through. When it’s good to go, scrape the whole mixture into a bowl and let it cool for at least 20 minutes, or until it’s cool to the touch.
5. Next, add in the cream cheese, egg yolk and half of the Parmesan cheese. Mix it thoroughly with a wooden spoon or whatever you have handy at the moment. If you are making the filling a day in advance, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator. For those forging ahead, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
6. Using a tablespoon, scoop a little bit of the crab mixture from the bowl and pack it down gently into a mushroom cap. Place the stuffed mushroom on your baking pan. You want a well-rounded mound of crab and cream cheese goodness on top. Repeat with the rest of the mushroom caps, then sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan cheese for a topping.
7. Bake the stuffed mushrooms for 25 minutes. You’ll know they’re ready when the Parmesan cheese on top is a light golden brown. Remove the pan(s) from the oven.
8. Before serving, cut the lemon into wedges and sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice onto each mushroom cap. Or, you can serve them on a tray with the lemon wedges and let your friends sprinkle on the lemon juice themselves. Enjoy!

– Cynthia Furey

I have in my kitchen what one local chef tells me is “the kiss of death.”

“An electric range?” she asks. “How do you ever get anything done with one of those contraptions?”

Well, I told her, it’s getting easier. But it’s still an uphill battle.

Moving from my previous apartment meant leaving the luxury and reliable power of gas, where everything cooked evenly and the oven temperature was always spot-on. What a dream that was.

Now I’ve got this shifty nightmare with hardened coils in place of those glowing rings of blue flames.

Simple tasks, like using the broiler to brown things like garlic bread and Croque Monsieur, are super tricky. This broiler gets points for reaching temperature at the drop of a hat, yet it’s one hell of an overachiever, blackening everything in its path within a matter of seconds. How odd that the familiar scent of garlic, butter and bread turns to that other familiar odor of char and carbon the minute you turn your back to the stove. Kiss of death, indeed.

This is why I say thank goodness for blowtorches.

Though one can toast garlic bread without a broiler under normal oven settings, the drama of literally taking matters into your own hands is kind of therapeutic when your counter is lined with pans of blackened oblong shadows of the meal accompaniments they once were.

A blowtorch means angry flames shooting out of your fingertips to match the anger in your heart every time you pull a charred one from the broiler. It means victory.

So maybe I’m not skilled enough for the technology of an electric range yet, and maybe I have a bit of an inner pyro. But despite the kiss of death, I do have my garlic bread. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

Ample use of butter and cheese is what makes this accompaniment shine, so don’t be shy when using them. I like to use the French loaves over baguettes because you can cut them into generous pieces. You’ll get the best results if you use a pastry brush – butter will go on evenly and lightly, and you can add as much or as little as you like. If you don’t have one, crumble a hefty napkin or paper towel, dip it in the butter mixture and dab it on the bread. Work quickly though, so the paper towel won’t absorb too much of the butter.

SUPER GARLICKY PARMESAN BREAD
Yield: 1/2 loaf

• 1/2 loaf French loaf (5 to 6 inches diameter, 14 to 16 inches in length)
• 3/4 cup butter
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, preheat broiler or have a hardware-grade blowtorch at the ready. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, nuke butter until completely melted. Stir in minced garlic. With a pastry brush, brush butter and garlic mixture over bread. Sprinkle cheese over bread.
3. For oven: bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cheese is a light golden brown. For broiler: It should take no more than 5 minutes to achieve a golden-brown color. For blowtorch: Pass flame up slowly and down length of bread until you achieve desired toastiness. Hold flame about an inch away from bread.
4. Sprinkle sea salt and pepper over bread and serve hot.

– Cynthia Furey

Simple is just the way to go sometimes.

Like when you’ve spent the last few weeks in meetings with loan officers and real estate agents and all those other folks who are helping you realize a dream of buying a home. It’s too bad we can’t do all of this over dinner, which I’m sure would be better received than the hollow white lights of an office we should have left hours ago. Yes, we would all be happier if we met over dinner.

But because we can’t, I’ll have to compromise with simple dinners that can be made between meetings and work. Spring and summer are the best seasons for these types of speedy dishes mainly because of all the produce at your fingertips. And because everything tastes better in the summer, you can have bruschetta three nights in a row without risking taste-bud fatigue – which is one of the worst kinds of fatigue, in my opinion.

This magic bruschetta, as I’ve been calling it lately, seemed to pave the way for other areas of my life to behave with simplicity. The meetings waned; the paperwork finally done. I found a home. We completed the first day of Escrow yesterday, just in time for my 28th birthday today (this getting older part still hasn’t hit met yet). We get a three day weekend next week, and then I take off for Hawaii. I’ll knock on wood to be safe, but I don’t think that things can get any simpler (and more exciting!) than that.

And aside from being thisclose to owning a slice of the world, the forces at work gave me the best gift of all: my sanity has returned.

Or maybe that’s the result of all the really, really good wine I’ve been drinking lately.

In any case, both reds and whites pair well with this simple bruschetta – one so laden with garlic that it seems to set your mouth on fire. It’s a simple dinner, but that doesn’t mean it’s a simplistic one. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

GARLIC LOVERS’ TOMATO BRUSCHETTA
Yield: 2 to 3 servings

• French bread, cut into 1-inch slices
• Olive oil
• 1-1/4 cups Roma tomatoes, seeded and medium diced (about 3 to 4 tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup onion, small dice
• 6 basil leaves, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush bread slices with olive oil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until bread is crispy and edges are browned. Set aside.
2. Combine tomatoes, onion, basil and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Toss with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Serve on toast slices as a main course or snack.

– Cynthia Furey

I always thought that any grilled sandwich with at least a 2:1 ratio of cheese to meat/veggies/etc. could be correctly defined as a grilled cheese. Currently 44 percent of voters on Serious Eats disagree. To this majority, grilled cheese is nothing more than bread, cheese and heat. Are they right?

Think of Campanile’s Grilled Cheese Night, and how it might offend this group of purists with it’s weekly nightmare of “grilled cheese” dishes like burrata with capers, both versions of Croque and Ahi tuna. None of these fit the literal meaning of grilled cheese as defined by this group. (I picture the purists huddled in a picketing pack outside of the restaurant, holding signs depicting sandwiches with big red Xs drawn through them.)

If we continue accepting only literal meanings, then many playful spins on certain culinary words wouldn’t quite work. Any reference of the word “steak” that doesn’t apply to actual meat would be wrong (one example that comes to mind is Marcel’s watermelon steak with tomatoes on season 2 of “Top Chef”). I’d also argue that the only true grilled cheese is just the cheese itself, like a grilled Halloumi or queso fundido. Being rigid in definitions takes the fun out of creating new dishes, doesn’t it?

Serious Eats reader Pavlov sums it up best with his comment: “A grilled cheese is whatever I say it is!”

That’s perfect. A grilled cheese is defined by whatever you say it is. It can be classic or have all the bells and whistles of a Campanile grilled cheese.

So today, my definition of grilled cheese has marinated onions, Dijon mustard and skirt steak — a personal homage to my favorite offering on Campanile’s menu. If you’re inclined, you can serve it with watermelon steaks for a truly non-literal meal.

(Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

GRILLED CHEESE WITH SKIRT STEAK AND MARINATED ONIONS
Yield: 4 servings

• Marinated onions:
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

For sandwich:

• 1 pound skirt steak
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 slices French bread
• 4 slices medium cheddar cheese
• Whole grain Dijon mustard
• 4 teaspoons butter

1. To make marinated onions: Place onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper into a large bowl and toss to coat. Refrigerate for a half hour. Turn onions and marinate for another 30 minutes.

2. Drain onions from marinade. In a sauté pan or pot over medium heat, cook onions until shriveled and golden brown, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes. (These will cook down like you won’t believe. Also, the onions will have enough oil on them to cook without sticking, so there’s no need to add any more.) Set aside. Onions can be made a day or two ahead.

3. Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil in the same sauté pan you used for the onions. Season skirt steak and cook for 3 minutes on each side for medium rare. Remove from pan and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing meat on a bias.

4. Butter French bread slices, using 1/2 teaspoon for each slice. Layer onions, cheese and steak slices. Spread mustard over inside of one slice of bread. Grill sandwiches about one minute on each side until browned. Serve hot!

There’s this story of a famous journalist who started his career at a daily paper in a town so tiny, that there was no real news to write about. I mean, we’re talking daily AP photos of squirrels on skis and a whole lotta bake sale stories.

But he refused to settle for those ho-hum tales. Instead, this guy would throw a dart at a city map that was hanging on his wall, and wherever the dart landed was where he was going to find his next story. It didn’t matter if the dart pierced the middle of an intersection or the corner of an open corn field. He would find a story.

Using that method, he met all kinds of interesting people, and equally interesting stories ensued. Now, he’s a big-deal reporter in a metropolitan city. Bake sales be damned.

I never learned the name of this guy – and that detail alone makes the tale scream fiction over fact. But real or not, it reminds me to think creatively when developing recipes: Pick an ingredient and develop the flavors around it, just as he picked a place and developed a story around it.

The tale also helps when choosing one recipe over another to try. But instead of using the dart method, I close my eyes and mix up all the cookbooks on my office floor, then point a finger at a page. There. Done.

It was a similar situation when I made this Gorgonzola and leek crème brulee. It was one in a handful of recipes that we testers at Leite’s Culinaria had to choose from in order to fulfill our monthly testing duties. I closed my eyes, and with finger poised at the computer screen, I made a selection.

Only, as luck would have it, my fat, sausage-of-a-finger landed on three recipes instead of one. Of course, I thought. Just when this dart method of choosing was proving to be foolproof, this happens.

But fat finger be damned. I made them all.

(Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for more)

This recipe isn’t up on Leite’s site just yet, but I will be sure to link to it when it is. In the meantime, I found the recipe on Epicurious’ site, (score!), and it follows below.

GORGONZOLA AND LEEK CRÈME BRULEE
Adapted from Epicurious (recipe from “Crème Brulee” by Lou Seibert Pappas)

Yield: 6 servings

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium-large leeks (about 12 ounces total), split lengthwise, washed thoroughly, and sliced crosswise
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 5 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill or tarragon, or 3/4 teaspoon dried dill or tarragon
• 3 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 24 teaspoons or 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

PROCEDURE:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and onion, and sauté for 7 to 10 minutes, or until soft.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until they are a pale yellow. Whisk in the cream and half-and-half. Mix in the leeks, onions, Gorgonzola, dill or tarragon, parsley, salt, and pepper.
3. Place six standard-size flan dishes in a baking pan. Divide the custard mixture among the dishes. Pour warm water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes (to create a bain marie). Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the center of each custard still jiggles slightly. Remove from the oven and lift the dishes from the hot water. Place the dishes on a baking sheet.
4. Evenly sprinkle 4 teaspoons grated cheese or 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar over each custard. Using a hand-held blowtorch, brown the cheese. Serve hot.

– Cynthia Furey