Tag Archives: bocconcini

MAH JONGG WEDNESDAY RECIPES

As promised, here are the recipes from our luncheon on Wednesday.

GAZPACHO

6 large ripe tomatoes (heirloom if you have them)
2 sweet red or yellow peppers (1 of each is nice)
1-2 jalapeno peppers
1 medium sweet yellow onion
1 large shallot
2 large hothouse cucumbers
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups canned tomato juice (Sacramento)
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
 
Wash and prepare the veggies, core and coarsely chop tomatoes; save the juice. Core, seed and coarsely chop peppers. Peel and coarsely chop onions and shallots. Coarsely chop cucumbers.
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IMG_0774 In a bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, reserved tomato juice, and canned tomato juice.
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In the food processor, puree the vegetables in small batches, adding tomato juice mixture as necessary. I like to keep the veggies coarse but it’s OK to puree completely. Depending on the juiciness of the tomatoes, you may need more tomato juice. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!
After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and stir in cayenne, salt, fresh ground pepper, and dill. Cover and chill for at least 4 hrs. It’s always better the next day. I stir and correct seasoning before serving and serve with a small dollop of sour cream. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.
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I use a very flavorful olive oil from a shop in Hudson, New York by the name of Olde Hudson (Olio Extravergine di Oliva) and a Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine vinegar.
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CHICKEN CAPRESE SALAD
Okay – this recipe is so easy that I am almost embarrassed to tell you about it. But it is the perfect salad for a hot and humid day – easy to make and delicious to eat!
  • grape or mini heirloom tomatoes, halved
  • spicy marinated bocconcini, herbed olive oil reserved
  • diced rotisserie chicken
  • Yep, you read this correctly – rotisserie chicken right from the market!!!

Pick the bocconcini out of the herbed olive oil. Quarter and transfer to a bowl. Add the tomatoes and the chicken. Drizzle with herbed olive oil and toss gently to combine; season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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 ENJOY!!!

MAH JONGG WEDNESDAY!

I hosted Mah Jongg Wednesday yesterday – the first time since before I had surgery back in March. It was so great to have everyone here and we really had a great time.

Lunch was perfect for this horrible heat wave we are experiencing right now in NYC.  The humidity is absolutely unbearable. We started out with a bottle of Cava, thanks to G – so nice to begin our lunch with a bit of bubbly, as she said. The first course was a chunky, spicy gazpacho with a dollop of sour cream (all recipes will be posted tomorrow) and cheese and different artisanal crackers. S1 brought some really fantastic crackers from a shop in Sag Harbor; they had a kick of spice in them – a perfect pairing with the spicy gazpacho and the cheese.

IMG_0789Spicy food seemed to be on today’s menu – the main course was Chicken Caprese Salad with a bit of a kick from the spicy bocconcini in it.IMG_0790And then it was time to get serious and sit down at the Mah Jongg table. There were five of us so I sat out the first few games and cleaned up the lunch dishes. IMG_0792 (2)Look how serious everyone is…you’d never know from these photos how much laughing went on today. IMG_0795I was thrilled to have a Jokerless hand today of 22 44 444 666 8888 – it really doesn’t happen that often to any of us and everyone was excited for me. IMG_0796Then it was time for dessert and, as usual, I forgot to take photos. But it was the perfect dessert for this hot and humid day – a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of chocolate Talenti Gelato, a big drizzle of Sanders Hot Fudge (the BEST hot fudge ever and it is from Detroit!!!), and a big sprinkling of chopped salted peanuts – YUM!

And then the craziest thing happened…S1 exposed 7 Bam, Joker, Joker, 7 Bam. My turn came around and I had two 7 Bams in my hand that I exchanged for her two Jokers. Everyone oohed and aahed – how lucky to get two Jokers at the same time! A few moments later I exposed 4 Dot, Joker, Joker, 4 Dot –  S1’s turn came and she exchanged her two 4 Dots for my two Jokers. Really? It’s rare enough that you can exchange two tiles for two Jokers in one turn, but two people doing it in the same game? Wow! But wait! Then S1 exposed 5 Bam, Joker, Joker, 5 Bam and when it was K’s turn, she exchanged two 5 Bams for the two Jokers. OMG – three times in one game!!! We really couldn’t get over it.

In spite of the heat and humidity (what ever was wrong with my A/C – or was it simply too hot and humid to get any relief?), we had a great day of Mah Jongg!