beet and goat cheese crostini

So remember when I was that typical wide-eyed girl in the big city, infinitely optimistic about all the cooking I would do once surrounded by the culinary bounty that is New York?

The truth is, I don't do enough cooking here to earn the self-proclaimed title of an "aspiring chef."  The truth is, having innovative ice cream cones, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly buns and the most perfect, no-nonsense slice of pizza right outside my doorstep can actually make it a lot harder to cook.  The truth is, visiting friends and awesome apartment mates and "you have to try this place" are hard to refuse. The truth is, my fifteenth day in New York ended up being my first day cooking a meal.



Our kitchen, like everything else in our apartment, and maybe the city in general, is small.  It could pass as charming or cozy, but just barely.  Somehow wedged along half of a wall are the following: a sink, what could easily be an Easy Bake Oven (used for storage) underneath a stovetop that won't fit four pots at one time, and a dishwasher.  On top of the dishwasher is a block of what in theory would be counter space, but is kept quite busy keeping our pretzels, bananas, water boiler, utensils and multiple jars of speculoos from falling to the ground.  In other words, there isn't much space to do my thing - or so it seemed.

top left: roasted beets macedoine; top right: apples julienne

The great thing about learning something the "right" way is that you start with the basics, no matter how simple and rudimentary they are, for the very reason that simple is the foundation for complicated.  For example, I never learned to play guitar the "right" way - hooray for the internet - and to this day I can't remember which note each string is.  (Is? Plays? Is named? See, I don't even know the right terminology here.)  While I can play you a few mediocre songs, you can only imagine how lacking I feel when I try to do anything more complicated than that.  On our first day of school, we learned how to manage a workspace.  Things as simple as arranging a cutting board and knives, working over a trash bowl (one point for Rachael Ray, regardless of how you feel about her), having bowls ready for prepared items, wiping down after each step, and having only one item on the board at all times are slowly training me to be O.K. with small spaces.  The reason I know this is that somehow, I ended up being able to roast beets, slice and toast a baguette, make a dressing, practice my knife cuts on the apples and beets, prepare a goat cheese spread, and assemble it all within about a 1.5'x1' rectangle of space. (Not counting the oven and stovetop.  But c'mon.)  The main point of this unbelievably long paragraph is that I can't use the "tiny kitchen" excuse anymore.  Because this, and more, is. totally. Possible.



As for the beets, as much as I was trying to stray away from repeating the same ingredient THREE posts in a row, I can only fight so much against Mother Nature.  When I went to the Union Square Greenmarket this past Saturday and actually tried letting the produce speak to me, the only one that did was this striking chioggia beet.  Seriously, how pretty are they?  Since spring hasn't exactly made its presence known yet (ohh, but it will!), the only fruit in abundance were apples of all kinds.  Unfortunately I don't remember the name, but I went with a crisp, sweet/tart variety I knew would pair well with the beets.  My apartment-mate and I also couldn't resist buying a cute little parsley plant as our foray into amateur-amateur gardening.



So somehow, in the attempt to make something new, I ended up with an interpretation of a pretty old idea.  My version of beet salad involves tender, roasted beets cut into cute, uniform cubes, tossed in a bright shallot and red wine vinaigrette, generously sprinkled on lemony herbed goat cheese and carried to your mouth via garlic crostini, the best kind of food vehicle.  Also a pinch of crisp julienned apples and pretty little parsley leaves.  Because, color.  



We devoured this on the coffee table with the most savory shrimp linguine (cooked in the broth that resulted from boiling clams in beer, lemon, and garlic), and I think all came to the silent conclusion that bigger isn't always better.

Well, ok.  Bigger can be better.  But small can be great :)



Beet and Goat Cheese Crostini Serves 4 as an appetizer or small meal

These would be great for entertaining because everything can be made ahead of time and assembled at the last minute, and because of all the color choices with the different varieties of beets out there. Can you imagine how striking these would be with golden beets or even regular deep-red ones?

Ingredients:

- 1 large beet or 2 small to medium beets

- olive oil, as needed

- 2 demi baguettes, or 1 regular baguette sliced 1/2 in. thick on a bias

- 1 large garlic clove, peeled
- 1 tbsp shallot, minced (about 1/2 shallot)
- 1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 lemon, halved
- 8 oz. of herbed goat cheese, room temperature
- kosher salt and black pepper, as needed
- 1 medium-sized tart apple
- handful of fresh parsley leaves

Roast your beets: Preheat oven to 400F.  Wash beet(s) and coat lightly with olive oil, then wrap securely in foil and place in a baking dish and into the preheated oven.  Cook until beets are fork tender, around 40 min. to 1 hour, depending on the size of your beets. (Mine were about 5 inches across and took a little over an hour.)

Make your crostini: Arrange baguette slices on a lined baking sheet; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then flip them over and repeat.  Place into the oven and toast about 4-5 minutes, until tops are golden brown.  Flip the slices and repeat.  Remove pan from the oven and carefully rub hot slices with garlic, then set aside to cool.

Mix your dressing: In a small bowl (pyrex-type measuring cups are great), combine your shallots, juice of 1/2 lemon, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.  Whisk with a fork until combined, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Mix your goat cheese: In another small bowl, combine goat cheese, lemon zest, a drizzle of olive oil, and any remaining juice in the 1/2 lemon used for the dressing.  Work to combine with a fork until the mixture is smooth and creamy, then season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.

Prep your apple: Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold water, and squeeze the other 1/2 lemon into the water and leave the lemon in the bowl.  Peel, halve, and core the apple, and place one of the halves in the lemon water bath to prevent oxidation.  Carefully cut the apple half into thin slices 2-3mm wide, then cut those slices lengthwise into thin spears 2-3mm wide ("julienne").  Place the prepped apple into the water bath, then repeat with the remaining half.  Keep refrigerated until ready to assemble.

Prep your beets: When the beets are fully cooked, carefully remove from the oven and let steam in foil for at least 10 minutes.  Then using a paring knife, vegetable peeler, or clean kitchen towel, remove the skin from the beets.  (You can rinse the beet in cold water if it is fully cooked but too hot to work with.)  Slice the beet in half, then cut each half into slices .5cm wide, those slices into spears .5cm wide, and those spears into cubes .5cm x .5cm x .5cm ("macedoine").  Place in a bowl and toss with enough dressing to coat (you most likely won't need all of it).  Season with more salt and pepper if necessary.  Clean your cutting board and get ready to plate!

Assemble your crostini: Spread each crostini with about 2 tsp of the goat cheese mixture, a small handful of beets, a pinch of the julienned apples (which you may want to pat dry with a paper towel), and one or two parsley leaves.  Have a ball, and watch the latest episode of Modern Family with friends (optional).