Good To The Last: Chard Pesto on Toast

This may not be the prettiest thing to ever come out of my kitchen... but it's definitely one of the cheapest... and best tasting!

Today I have a couple of questions for you:

1. Do you sometimes find yourself with a boatload of Swiss Chard?
2. Are you left wondering what to do with all the thick stems from that chard?

I've been in that boat on more than one occasion. I used to just toss them into the freezer and add them to the pot when I made stock, but now I have another trick up my sleeve... Chard Pesto.

I first read about this simple and delicious stuff a few years ago in the book, An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler... and I haven't tossed a single stem in my stockpot ever since. 

Chard Pesto
Not really a recipe, more like just a thing you do when you have a big bunch of chard stems...

1. Cut them up, then throw them in a pan with some butter or oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2. Cook them down a fair bit, adding a little water and a lid in the beginning.
3. Check and give it a stir now and then to see how it's coming along, removing the lid when mostly done.
4. Take it off the heat once "they" become an "it" (soft and mushy and thick enough to stand on its own)
5. Let cool it down some (too hot and it will steam the toast, making it soggy).
6. Pile it onto pieces of toast made from good sturdy bread and grate some Romano or Parm over the top.

It's the kind of thing that is so lacking in attractiveness that you won't want to make it for guests. Once you taste it though, you really won't want to share anyway... so it's just as well. I should also add that it makes a mighty fine dinner on a day when you don't want to spend a lot of time cooking.

Jack-Be-Useful

What can you do with a jack-o-lantern that never fulfilled its Halloween destiny? That was what I pondered earlier this week. We bought two rather large orange beauties but then got too busy to carve them in time for Halloween. In the past, I would've just called them autumnal decor and enjoyed them as-is until they started to get squishy. Now I'm thinking what a silly wasteful girl I was. There is so much goodness in these orange orbs... it's almost spooky.

Most folks use sugar pumpkins for their pie-baking etc. Truth be told, I prefer them also. They're smaller and easier to work with as well as being naturally sweeter than their carve-able cousins. They also cost more. The cheapest I found was a buck a pound. Might as well buy the canned purée. But... there is a trick to using jack-o-lantern pumpkins (which are a much better deal) which you'll see in a minute. First things first...

Homemade Tortilla Chips with Faux Hummus

A couple weeks ago my friend told me about an appetizer she'd had at a local restaurant... she told me it would be super simple to recreate at home and that it was, in fact, incredibly delicious. Then she proceeded to make it for me. (Yea!)

This is what she did... she mixed some local lime-infused olive oil and good balsamic vinegar into plain store-bought hummus. And that was all there was to it. Except for the eating part. We started dipping cubes of Ciabatta bread in it and I almost couldn't stop. Let me tell you... I fell for that stuff in a bad way. Who needs dinner when you've got a bowl of that in front of you?

Not too long after, I found myself staring at all the tubs of prepared hummus at Trader Joe's. Why not just make my own? After a quick glance at the ingredients, I grabbed some tahini and headed home to research recipes. It wasn't until a day or two later that I noticed the container was labeled Tahini "Sauce". Harrumph. So much for following the recipe for real honest-to-goodness hummus.* Time to just wing it.  The tahini sauce was made from olive oil, salt, and lemon juice, in addition to you know, actual tahini. Well with all that, I was half-way to hummus already...

A Little Cautious Bravado

"Dinner's going to be late, Honey... just pretend we're in Spain!". I add that last bit when dinner's going to be reeeaally late. Like the other night. But then, as I recall, we actually did eat like they do in Spain... I made Tortilla Española.

In case you're unfamiliar, a Tortilla Española (or Spanish Tortilla) is a tasty traditional dish of potatoes, eggs, and onions. It can be served hot, cold or room temp (love that). It's perfect for brunch, lunch, dinner, or as an appetizer (love that). Any occasion, any time of day, any time of year. And, yeah, the other night we ate it well past the hour when most American dinners are long since over. Well, as they say... más vale tarde que nunca!*

The only tricky bit about making a Tortilla Española is the inverting or flipping... that's where it can get dicey if you're not confident. Did I mention the sizzling skillet... centrifugal force... hot oil? Go ahead and shout "Olé!" after flipping it. Or, do like me and just exhale. You'll probably be holding your breath. The good news? It gets easier each time.

So, with a little caution, some bravado, and a big handful of salad greens on the side... you'll be amply rewarded with a tasty and easy meal. A meal that goes equally well with red or white wine, I might add, but in this heat, I think it's especially nice with a chilled rosé.

Wanted: Cheese Delivery Facilitators

Homemade crackers are almost always tasty but they're not always crispy. In fact, lots of the homemade cracker recipes I have found are really just savory cookies, often with the cheese baked right in. Let's say that together: "cheese baked right in". Mmm. They are self-contained. They don't need anyone else. They bring their party with them.

What I've been looking for though are crisp crackers I could make at home, crackers that would taste good alone but would be even better if they met up with a fabulous piece of cheese. They have a bit of snap to them, they're friendly, and they get along well with others.

Everything's Better On Homemade Crackers

I found two recipes for the latter variety of cracker and truly couldn't be happier. They are both easy to make, crispy, tasty, and looking for some good cheeses to pal around with.

Popcorn Makes It A Party

Let's play "association"... I say a word and you say the first thing that pops* into your head. Ready? Here we go... POPCORN!

I don't know about anyone else but my first thoughts run something like this: Butter... Movies... Caramel... Ballpark... Butter... Circus... Kettle... Zoo... Butter... (you get the idea).

Popped corn, though a fairly humble snack, seems to make everything a bit of a special event, even if it's just watching DVDs from the sofa in your jammies. Taking its specialness up a notch or two (or five or twenty) are these popcorn-based snacks that may just divert all your attention from whatever movie (or ballgame) you're watching...

• Maple Bacon Kettle Corn from Joy The Baker (and awesome popcorn maker)
• 8 Awesome Toppings for Popcorn ...some sweet, some savory, from the folks in The Kitchn
• Cajun Caramel Corn and Cran-Apple White Chocolate Popcorn over at Serious Eats... yowza!
• Herbed Buttermilk Popcorn at 101 Cookbooks sounds super tasty!
• How To Make Pöpcørn from the Swedish Chef... I think he's making popcorn shrimp, but in true Muppet style, it looks more like popcorn FOR shrimp. Either way, it's a party før süre!

*Pun intended.

Special Note: In the olden days, if you dialed POP-CORN on your phone you would get a recording of a nice lady telling you the exact time. It doesn't work anymore though.

An Abundance Of Appetizing Appetizers

In theory, an appetizer, by its very name, is supposed to fan the flame of your hunger before the big meal... In reality, we usually end up stuffing ourselves on the apps and "ruin our appetite" for dinner. Geez, don't you hate it when mom is right?

Since we're adults now, I say heed what mom said, but stuff yourself with the appetizers anyway.... and then skip dinner! There've got to be some perks to growing old up, right?

Still cleaning out the cobwebs in my bookmarks folder... here are a bunch of appetizers that sound, well, really appetizing (many of which would make a fine meal)...

Pretzels, Baseball and the All-American Pun

A couple of weeks ago I picked up the funnest cookbook at my local library's book store. The library itself is a phenomenal resource (especially with its online features that I can use from home), but as an added bonus they have a used-book store on-site that draws me in like a magnet. The books are super inexpensive (dare I say, cheap?) and magazines are only a quarter. When shopping for fun and sport is no longer an option, it's nice to know that you can feed a shopping need with a buck fifty. So, back to the "new" cookbook I just picked up. I said funnest but I didn't mean it. I meant to say punnest. Not a word either? Too bad, it should be. I have always loved a good pun as does my family and most of my friends (groaning and eye-rolling means they like it, right?). Well, for three dollars, I hit the jackpot of all pun collections with the TBS Dinner & A Movie Cookbook. It's chock full of movie trivia, great sounding recipes, and puns, puns, puns. I don't know when I've had so much fun just reading a cookbook. 

This book has already earned a spot on my shelf just for pure entertainment value of course, but my general rule for cookbooks is "use 'em or lose 'em", so I chose the Batter-Up Ballpark Pretzels (pg. 18) to start with. The book recommends pairing these with the movie Field Of Dreams ("If you bake it, they'll say yum"), but in honor of today's World Series opener, we're going to skip the movie and eat our pretzels while listening to the big game.* And here's the exciting part (for me at least), I can make a whole dozen for less than the price of one actual ballpark-bought pretzel. That's something to cheer about. 

Men Who Stare At Goat Cheeses

Fresh goat cheese has such a bright and tangy quality, it's utterly delightful... (yes, there was a sort of a pun in there). A little bit like cream cheese, but tangier... and not so creamy; it's really versatile and pairs perfectly with summer's (and fall's) bounty of fresh fruits and veggies. The next goat cheese I get will undoubtedly find its way into one of the following recipes...

• Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion and Spinach Quesadilla at fitnessmagazine.com
• Toast with Kumquat Marmalade and Goat Cheese from Serious Eats
• A bunch of  delicious Marinated Goat Cheese ideas at The Kitchn
• Two fantastic looking recipes from the What Katie Ate blog: Cherry Tomato, Basil and Goats Cheese Canapés and a Candied Pancetta, Goats Cheese and Aged Balsamic Salad.*
• I love the rustic ease of a crostata (or galette if you prefer) at any time of year. Here is a Lemon Crostata with Plums and Goat Cheese (oprah.com) and individual Goat Cheese and Grape Galettes (thekitchn.com)

On a recent solo trip to the market, Hubs discovered an aged Gouda made from goat's milk. He discovered it by way of free samples. Not only did he tell me all about it when he got home, but he made a point of showing it to me the next time we were at that market together. That was him hinting. A lot.

Aged goat cheeses need to be treated a little differently than the fresh ones, as they lend themselves best to simpler preparations such as: breaking a piece off, placing in your mouth and chewing slowly. You can optionally choose to follow each bite with a sip of compatible wine. But only if you insist on over-complicating things.

* I just drooled on my keyboard. I hope nobody noticed...

Peanut Buttery Goodness

Peanut butter is so versatile (and delicious) it can be used in everything from sugary cookies to spicy chicken dishes and everything in between. Here are some ideas I've been drooling over in my bookmarks folder...

• PB & J Pancakes from Food Network
• 5 yummy Peanut Butter Snacks at TheKitchn
• I can't wait to try these Peanut Butter Graham Crackers from SeriousEats
• These Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies from Joy The Baker take only 4 ingredients

Ran out of Peanut Butter? Make your own!

• Joy The Baker shows how easy it is to make Homemade Peanut Butter

The Good, The Bad & The Bruschetta

When you make the decision to stop buying bread and start baking it at home, you have to find ways of using up the failed loaves. Because no matter how many times you make it, there will be failed loaves. It's designed that way so we learn humility.

Croutons are always an option, as are breadcrumbs (and I'll tell you, it's a whole lot easier to grind up a failed loaf for breadcrumbs now, than to demolish a beautiful loaf later because you didn't realize you were out).

A friend of ours sparked an idea that sounded so much better this time: bruschetta. She had been watching Julie & Julia on DVD the other day and called me up to ask if I had the recipe for the bruschetta Julie makes in the beginning of the movie.*  Turns out, you don't really need one.

Bruschetta is one of those wonderful "peasant" foods that are infinitely adaptable to anything and everything you have on hand. I have one cookbook that devoted a whole section to bruschetta and not one of the toppings uses tomatoes!

We wanted the tomato-laden version though, and while it's a little early in the year for fabulous flavorful toms, we were craving that tomato-basil goodness. That, and the bread pan-fried in olive oil! After all, that was the part that made everybody sit up and notice. Rather than a light brushing of olive oil, or at most a "drizzle" prior to toasting or broiling the bread, this was calling for a swimming-and-sizzling kind of approach!

Movie-Night Bruschetta How-To

1. Dice six of the most fabulous tomatoes you can get your hands on. If they're excessively juicy, throw them into a strainer for a few minutes after dicing. 
2. Roughly chop a good-sized handful of fresh basil leaves and toss in a bowl with the tomatoes. 
3. Chop up a handful of your favorite olives, removing any pits along the way. 
4. Cut half of an onion into a small dice and add it the mix, if you think you'll like that. 
5. Heat up a skillet over medium heat, adding approximately one tablespoon of olive oil per slice of bread. 
6. Add bread in a single layer and flip to coat both sides with the oil. Sourdough, a baguette, or any rustic-type loaf (preferably day-old) works really well. Watch bread closely and flip it again once the first side is a nice golden brown. 
7. When the second side is done, move the toasts to a paper towel to cool slightly. 
8. Slice a clove of garlic in half and rub the top of the toasts all over with the cut-side of the garlic clove. 
9. Place the toasts on a platter and top generously with the tomato mixture. Sprinkle with ground pepper and sea salt. Be sure to serve it with big napkins... this is no dainty dish!

Notes: We used Roma tomatoes and seeded half of them (cannot wait to use real garden tomatoes!). Our bread was very dense and I knew it would end up being too crunchy and/or chewy if we cut it too thick, so we cut it quite thin. With good bread, slice it to 1/2" or 3/4" even.

Things we learned along the way...
-Kitchen knives in movies are sharper than regular kitchen knives.
-Actors in movies are much neater eaters than my husband and I.
-Bruschetta and a glass of wine makes for a fine dinner... just like in the movies.
-Husbands may mock the gusto with which the movie-husband ate his bruschetta, but in the end, they wind up quoting his lines word for word without even realizing it. 

Some other bruschetta recipes lurking in my bookshelf...

• Bruschetta and lots of variations: page 265-266, How To Cook Everything, Bittman (1998)
• Desperate Measures (Kevin Crafts, 1993) has a basic Bruschetta on page 79
  
• Wonderful "non-tomato" versions (with wine recommendations) on pages 61-63 of The Perfect Match, St. Pierre (2001)
• Bruschetta with Tomato, Black Beans and Arugula on page 34 of Gourmet's Quick Kitchen (1996)
  

*She knew that I had been gifted with the mother-lode of J & J-related stuff this last Christmas. However, in the movie, the bruschetta was prepared prior to Julie's blog project and so, would not be found in Julia's cookbooks.

Sweet Little Sour-Bombs

As if from some alternate reality, the skin of the kumquat is the sweet part and the fruit inside is sour. Really sour. If you've eaten one, you will either love it or hate it. They may look like cute little shrinky-dink oranges, but they pack one heck of a sour-patch punch.

During the course of your life you just might find yourself living near someone with a kumquat tree, or working with someone who has a kumquat tree at home - you'll know it if you do. These people will love you to pieces if you take a bunch of them off their hands; they will thank you profusely and may even want to hug you.

In my experience, the people who have kumquat trees in their yards are generally not the ones who actually planted the tree. The trees are there in the yard when they move in and it's such a great place and "Oh look! It even has a fruit tree of some kind! Won't that be nice? I wonder what it is?". These people are soon desperate to unload the enormous bounty of sour little fruits on anyone who will take them. And then they yank the tree out.

For the life of me, I cannot remember where I found this recipe,* but it sounded kind of good, and I'm curious to try it out. All I need now is a fruit-laden neighbor and a party to serve these at...

Cream Cheese and Ginger-Stuffed Kumquats

1. Slice one pound of kumquats in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh.
   
2. Trim flesh to remove any tough or woody parts and remove the seeds.
   
3. Combine the flesh, 4 ounces of cream cheese and 4-6 slices of crystallized ginger in a food processor until well blended.
   
4. Using a pastry bag and medium tip, fill kumquat shells with the cream cheese mixture and refrigerate until ready to serve.
   

Read more about kumquats here.
*As soon as I find the source, I'll add a link to it.

Rosemary Parmesan Crackers

Adapted from Parmesan Cream Crackers by Mark Bittman

2 cups flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup packed and grated Parmesan cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup cream
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
1 tsp each: ground pepper, nice flaky salt for sprinkling

Pre-heat oven to 400°. Pulse flour, salt, cheese and butter in a food processor until combined. Add the cream and let machine run; adding more cream if needed, a teaspoon at a time, until mixture holds together but is not sticky. Divide dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured board until 1/8" thick. Carefully transfer rolled out dough to Silpat (or parchment) lined baking sheet. Sprinkle top of dough with sea salt, ground pepper, and chopped rosemary. Pat toppings lightly with hands. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, rotating pans half way through cooking time. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temp.

My Notes: These are not as crispy as I was hoping for, but they sure taste good and were quite easy.

Pick A Peck Of Pretty Pink Peppers

After reading this article about pink pepper-berries, I couldn't wait to see if there were any growing at my Mom's house when I visited for Christmas. Just off the back yard, there is a huge and graceful Peruvian pepper tree. That's where my tree-house was when the tree and I were much younger, but I don't ever remember there being pink berries on it.

Turns out that these trees bear little or no fruit if there are not enough female flowers present. Since I've been away though, there has been a new Brazilian pepper tree growing under and among some other plants by the fence, stretching way up high for a bit of sunlight. And there were pink berries on it. Not a lot, but a few.

This scrawny lanky "tree" was a volunteer in the yard, and though I didn't pick a peck* of pepper-berries, I did manage to reach a couple clusters. Next time we'll need to get the ladder out. With these rosy little foraged berries, homemade crusty bread, and some goat cheese, we'll be all set for New Year's Eve! Now if only I had the thyme...

Pink Pepper Goat Cheese Spread

My Notes: This couldn't have gone together easier. I split the goat cheese between two shallow 4 oz. ramekins (truth be told, they were from Trader Joe's frozen créme brulée). No fresh thyme was available, so I used some that I dried myself from our old garden before we moved. The spread smelled fantastic coming out of the oven and tasted great smeared on the homemade bread. The honey really countered the pepper berry perfectly. As easy as this is, I love that it can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Let's see: it's super easy, really tasty, not your average party offering, and it's pretty too. Most definitely a keeper.

*Ever wonder just how many peppers were in that peck that Peter Piper picked? Click here to find out.
Peruvian Pepper Tree (Schinus molle)
Brazilian Pepper Tree (Schinus terebinthifolius)

Hors d'Oeurves, Appetizers and Such

I was just reminiscing about this super tasty appetizer we had at J winery in Dry Creek Valley during the Food & Wine Affair. I think it may have been November of 2007? Well, I may have forgotten the date, but not the amazing hor d'oeurves they paired with one of their wonderful champagnes. Which one? Yeah, I don't remember that either.

It shouldn't be too hard to recreate that appetizer though. As I recall, it was simply: a leaf of endive* with a blob of creamy blue cheese, a chunk of fresh fig, and a candied pecan half on top... Perfection, especially paired with champagne!

In honor of the upcoming holiday party season, here is a selection of other tasty nibbles and garnishes to make and enjoy...

• Itty bitty mac 'n cheese bites at Food And Wine mag (sub Gruyere for the American cheese)
• Make these ham and noodle fritters smaller and serve them as an appetizer
• Pregnant Dates (with a movie tie-in) at The Kitchn
• Brie Stuffed Mushroom Caps from thepioneerwoman.com
• Crispy wonton leaf garnish from MS Weddings
• More fun with wonton wrappers, Origami Cranes from The Kitchn

*I never know whether to say en-dive or ahn-deev. Oh well.

Simply Smashing White Bean Dip

Made this dip for a party we went to today. It's hard to say whether it was a success or not. Some of it was eaten, certainly, but there was plenty left to take home. Of course, there was a ton of food at this get-together. So much that whole sub-sections of party food neglected to make it onto my plate. Assuming that other people had a similar experience, I should take it as a positive sign that a few people did indeed try my dip. There was no real feedback other than when I turned around and saw Hubs dipping pieces of bread into the bowl of dip... before we'd left for the party. Uh, yes. He did.

I thought that this dip would be a perfect choice, given that the ingredients were few, and the technique simple (even considering that it involved the use of the food processor), and in addition, it sounded really tasty.

All we needed at the store were beans and lemons. There wasn't time to cook the beans from scratch, so we bought a can of navy beans and a can of cannellinis. We also picked up some coffee and steel cut oats while we were there. "Hey, we should get some dried beans to cook up for soup this week. We'll need carrots and celery for that"...

Can you believe I forgot the lemons?* Don't answer that. Hubs graciously went back to the store while I started making the dip. He came back with eyes wide open. He'd never purchased lemons in a grocery store evidently. Why would you, when you know lots of people with lemon trees? Of course, when you move away, even a few miles, all of that is moot. The supermarket is closer than your old friends.

What did you say? Why yes, we do have a lemon tree! Funny you mentioned it. The lemons on it don't seem to be getting any bigger or yellower though. They've been green so long that twice now I've accidentally referred to it as "the lime tree" and Hubs had to correct me.

Well, he came home with those pricey store-bought lemons and went straight past me to the back yard, where he proceeded to show them to our little tree while yelling, "GROW FASTER!" at it. Really loudly.

Simply Smashing White Bean Dip
Adapted from: Rosemary-Lemon White Bean Dip by Mark Bittman

2 - 15 oz. cans of white beans (3 cups)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
3/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 Tblsp
1 "three-finger" pinch of salt, plus more to taste
3-4 grinds of black pepper
2 lemons, zested
1 good squeeze of lemon juice
1 Tblsp fresh rosemary, finely minced

Drain the two cans of beans and put them into the bowl of a food processor along with the garlic and salt. While the machine is running, drizzle the olive oil into it and continue processing until smooth. Taste the dip at this point, add the black pepper and any additional salt if needed. Pulse a couple of times to distribute the seasonings evenly. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the dip into a bowl and mix in the lemon zest, juice, rosemary and a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Garnish the bowl with a leftover sprig of rosemary and serve with raw veggies or little toasts (see notes).

Notes: Each 15 oz. can contained 1-1/2 cups of beans, drained. Since the original recipe called for 2 cups, and I had 3, I decided to make half a recipe more and use up all the beans. I kept all the other quantities pretty much the same except for the olive oil which I increased roughly by half. The Hubs sliced up a baguette I had bought at the farmer's market yesterday, brushed the slices lightly with oil and popped them under the broiler for a few (watching the whole time and flipping them over once the first side started to get color).

*We were there for two items and I forgot one. Proof that my memory/retention is holding strong at 50%. Note to self: WRITE IT DOWN!... AND BRING THE LIST WITH YOU!

Cipollini and Mushroom Tart

The first time I ever had cipollini onions was the year we did a whole Martha Stewart Living Thanksgiving dinner. I was in charge of some of the side dishes and so became introduced to the lovely little cipollini. Normally, I'm not one to wax poetic about onions. They have their place but they're not a star on their own. These were. Pardon the pun, but they were gobbled up. Every last one of them.

This is not that recipe.

When I find it again, I'll definitely add it here. In the meantime, this dish sounded really really good. It's autumn after all, and my thoughts are turning to onions and mushrooms and other earthy delights...

• Cipollini and Mushroom Tart ...from The Kitchn

Updated this to include links to these Martha Stewart onion recipes...

• Balsamic Glazed Cipollini Onions
• Pan-Roasted Balsamic Onions
• Sauteed Cipollini Onions

These all sound great and would no doubt taste good too. If the recipe I made was one of these, it was probably the Pan-Roasted Balsamic recipe. Don't quote me on that though. I can't be sure until I make it again!

Kale Chips

I'll admit it: I'd never had kale before I made these. This recipe (and all the others like it) made me want to try some. What can I say? I'm a sucker for phrases like: "We didn't stop eating them until they were all gone... they were that good." Well, with that kind of statement thrown down, I just have to try it for myself. Besides, it's another way to get more veggies in my diet, and I like that they're crispy without actually having to fry them. Win-win.

The original recipe that I found online (and know not where) was identical to the one linked below, with the added instruction to "flip halfway through the cooking time" and not to "overcook or allow them to become completely brown as they will taste bitter".

• Kale Chips at ChowMama

Notes (9/21/09): I finally got some kale! Only two leaves, but they're pretty darn big (and besides, if I don't like them I won't get stuck with a lot of leftovers). The two leaves (cut-up with my kitchen shears) completely fill one baking sheet. I set the oven for 10 minutes, then took them out to flip them. I started to flip them in the oven with my long handled tongs, but the heat coming out was just too hot, and the tongs were overkill. Those sturdy leaves were already delicate and crispy so I just flipped them with my fingers (works fine as song as you don't touch the hot pan). I put them back in for the last 5 minutes after flipping them.

The verdict? They weren't brown at all, but they do have a hint of bitterness to them. I also made the mistake of salting them again after I flipped them, so they were way too salty... oops. Hubs tried them and said: "huh, that's kale alright", "tastes burnt", "too salty", and "leaves an aftertaste. I knew I didn't like kale".

I thought the flavor was o.k., but next time I won't cook them as long (and won't salt them as much). They would taste great served alongside fish (perhaps because of the vinegar and sea salt?).

Parmesan Herb Puffs

Everyone should have a "go-to" appetizer. Something you can make for a party that you know will turn out great without a lot of fuss, and tastes great too. This here's mine. Easy, versatile, and party-licious...

Parmesan Herb Puffs 
adapted from Sesame Seed Puffs, page 76, Williams-Sonoma Outdoor Entertaining, 2005

1 pkg frozen puff pastry sheets
3 Tblsp olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp black pepper, ground
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded/grated
2 tsp fresh herbs, minced (rosemary, thyme, etc)

Position racks in middle and upper-third of oven and preheat to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpats.

On a lightly floured work surface, unfold 1 sheet of the puff pastry and brush the top with 1-1/2 Tblsp of the olive oil. Using a pizza wheel, cut the pastry sheet into 16 squares. Without moving the squares, cut each square in half on the diagonal into 2 triangles, for a total of 32 triangles. Sprinkle the surface with half of the salt, pepper, cheese and herbs.

Separate the triangles and using a spatula transfer them to the baking sheet, spacing them evenly. Prepare second puff pastry sheet and bake until golden brown and nicely puffed, about 16 minutes. After the first 8 minutes, switch the baking sheets between the racks and rotate them. Transfer the puffs to a wire rack and let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

The puffs can be baked up to 1 day in advance, cooled to room temperature, and stored in an airtight container. Re-crisp in a 450° oven for 3 minutes before serving.

Makes 64 pieces
Serves 10-12