Paper Palate

If you were to complete a quick sketch of Food Network star Dave Lieberman’s target audience, you would end up with something pretty close to me: interested in quick home-cooked meals made with fresh ingredients and a sucker for a set of sparkly blue eyes.  So, of course I was intrigued by what Dave Lieberman’s newest book, Dave’s Dinners: A Fresh Approach to Home-Cooked Meals, has to offer. 

Dave was kind enough to provide a sturdy hardback format with a casual feel.  It is organized into eight chapters: Drinks and Finger Foods, Salads, Soups, Poultry, Fish, Pasta, Meat, and Desserts.  Since the cookbook is low on the intimidation factor, I felt up to trying out some recipes on a few guests.  Instead of the usual approach of taking a sampling from many sections of the book (the shotgun approach), I dove into just one section: the finger foods and decided to throw a quasi-tapas party, with many little plates.  The next step was picking the menu.

Because fairness is my middle name, I knew I had to pick recipes that were appropriate for my novice cooking skills.  In order to give Dave and his blue eyes a fair chance at impressing me, I also had to pick recipes that I was pretty sure I would like under regular circumstances - meaning I didn’t make anything that included mayo or fennel.  Ick. 

The first recipe I tried for my eager tasters was Roasted Red Peppers and Ricotta Crostini.   It’s a toasted baguette topped with ricotta cheese mixed with a bunch of fresh ground pepper, roasted red peppers, and reduced balsamic vinegar, garnished with a bit of broccoli shoots.  I am proud to say that Dave got me to do something that I have never done before - I roasted my own peppers.  Usually I just buy them from the cute little overpriced pepper and olive bar at my grocery store.  No more! Roasting the peppers was easy to do (thanks to Dave’s instructions) and imparted a certain pride of ownership. 

The crostini recipe is a good example of making the most of the flavors from a few ingredients.  Now, I don’t want to brag (okay, I do want to), but my crostini looked pretty darn close to those pictured in Dave’s book.  With the right lighting and a better camera, these little babies would be stars.  Oh, and the flavor?  Highly satisfying.  You’ve got sweet peppers, creamy cheese, tangy balsamic and a crunchy piece of toast.  How could you go wrong?

Next on the list was Sweet-and-Sour Ale Baby Backs.  This is one of two baby back rib recipes, with the other calling for a dry rub.  I have never made ribs before, but the recipe couldn’t have been easier - you basically throw all the ingredients in a bowl, mix them up, pour the sauce over the ribs and and bake them at 325 for an hour and a half, basting every half hour and flipping them over after an hour.  The sauce includes “good ale,” brown sugar, tomato paste, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic, ginger and red chili flakes. 

Of the three recipes, I made, this was my favorite.  The flavor was exactly as advertised - sweet and sour.  It was much more unique than anything I have ever gotten out of a bottle.  Plus, this qualifies as a “I can’t believe I made this” recipe.

Because I thought it would shock my guests to know that I could make potstickers, I saved the Pork Potstickers with Citrus-Soy Dipping Sauce for last.  My pre-party intel included a very frank discussion with myself about whether or not I could actually fold the won ton wrappers like Dave did.  After some soul-searching, I decided I was up to the task and as you can see, I didn’t do half bad!  The filling includes pork, egg, scallion, garlic, sesame oil, light soy sauce, white wine vinegar and ginger. 

This recipe was the top choice for my guests, but they liked my usual potsticker sauce instead of Dave’s.  I just mix equal parts of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, while Dave’s involved peeling, zesting, grating and juicing.

Here are other recipes that caught my eye for some future fresh approaches to home-cooked meals (although, I should warn you that Dave does not choose a “less is more” approach when naming recipes): Arugula, Red Apple and Radish Salad with Cider Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese, Butternut Squash and Pear Soup, Roasted Chorizo and Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Over Rosemary Black Beans, Coconut-Ginger Tilapia Packages with Red Potatoes and Snow Peas, Farfalle with Garlic, Peas and Bacon, Roasted Rosemary and Lemon Pork Tenderloin with Pomegranate Reduction and Gorgonzola Polenta, and Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes.