The Smart Lady's Guide to Homemade* Hummus

Have you ever looked up a recipe for hummus from a chef or blogger that's really, really good? The standard recipe is: garbanzo beans, olive oil, tahini, seasoning. Process it all together.

Then, there are those that reallyyyyy know their stuff, that go above and beyond, and they add one very special step. They are happy to tell you the secret to the smoothest, creamiest hummus.

Do you know what it is?

De-shelling the freaking garbanzo beans.

Seriously. Every, single one. Here's what you do. There's a really thin layer (membrane? Worst. Word. Ever.) that covers every single little pea bean and if you pinch the outsides of it gently, it'll pop right out of that shell. Discard the shell. High five! You did ONE bean. Now, do a thousand.

No thanks! I did it once and it was smoother and creamier but I like to think of things in terms of effort and return. I am not convinced the effort was worth the return.

So, I have my own, lazy cook's secret for hummus. This is mostly just for entertaining in my book, but if you regularly make yourself fancy homemade hummus, #respect. This will work for you too. Ready? It's.........



Buy Sabra!

I like the garlic kind, but any kind will work (and honestly, so will any brand, I just happen to be particular to Sabra.) Mix it up so it looks smooth and creamy, then take it out of that plastic container and put it into a proper bowl.

Drizzle it with olive oil. If you have flavored olive oil, this is even better. We have a chili infused olive oil that is out of this world. Then, add some chili flakes and a big sprinkling of oregano. It'll make glorious little rivers and pools of extra flavor that is my 30 second version of "above and beyond." Mix it up a tiny bit but don't combine it totally. It loses both flavor and effect!

Ta da!

It looks better, tastes amazing, and I'm pretty sure the Sabra factory de-shells those bad boys for you because it's perfectly creamy and you'll enjoy an hour of your life that otherwise could have been spent de-membraning those glorious but tricky little Mediterranean beans.

Cheers friends, and happy weekend!

The Pioneer Woman's Salmon, or The Easiest Dinner In The World

Say that thinking of The Most Interesting Man in the World.

Tonight, there were important things to get to than dinner. Building a coffee table and last week's DVR'd Scandal in particular. The fact that both of those things are happening right now, today, and not 4 months ago/one week ago respectively is bananas. The coffee table is one of the FIRST things we wanted for our new place and I've waited anxiously for months for Scandal to come back, so yeah. How do these things get away from me? WHERE ARE MY PRIORITIES?

I digress. Salmon! Oh my gosh, this is so good and so easy it's not even fair. I'm a sucker for a good love story and good food, so it was love at first read for me and the Pioneer Woman's blog. And now that she's regularly on the Food Network, I fully (irrationally? maybe?) think of her as my friend. She's so nice! She'd like me, I know it.

So, when I walked past these beautiful, huge pieces of salmon tonight at the grocery store, my mind went straight to my BFF Ree.

Her recipe for salmon (which is actually a recipe from a friend of hers) is so simple. Rub salmon filets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put the filets on a baking sheet, put it in a cold oven and turn the oven on to 400. After 25 minutes, take out your salmon and you will guaranteed have perfectly flaky, perfectly cooked salmon on your hands.

A few tips:

• Wrap your baking sheet in tin foil for minimal dish washing. I do this whenever possible, I am that lazy. With salmon, I consider this step non-optional.
• This is a great base recipe for any sort of salmon you want. In my world, pretty much nothing is getting in my oven without at least two spices on it and salt and pepper do not count. Neither does garlic. I added a lot of lemon pepper and dill to the salt and pepper and it. was. awesome. I've also used this method for miso salmon and a mustard glazed salmon, both good too!
• My salmon filets were quite possibly the biggest I'd ever seen, and were particularly thick. If that photo is not doing a good job of proving it, note that that is a DINNER PLATE, not a small plate. So, I knew they'd need a little longer to cook than 25 minutes and let them go just one extra minute, then took the pan out and tented it with foil, allowing very little air to escape. This helped the salmon keep cooking gently while the broccoli roasted.
• Speaking of broccoli roasting, it's pretty much my favorite thing ever. Pop another sheet pan (use that foil again!) in the oven with chopped broccoli, drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder if you please. This should go in at the same time as the salmon, but it'll need an extra 15 minutes to get extra crispy (turn the oven up to 475 if you like it extra crispy like mine) which is coincidentally the perfect amount of time to make couscous and pour yourself a glass of wine.

The table's done! I clearly had nothing to do with this considering I just wrote nineteen paragraphs about the "easiest salmon ever." Anyway. I'd take a photo of the table but low-light photography and I are not friends yet. Someday, someday.

Olivia Pope (another good friend) awaits.

Cheers, friends!

Chocolate + Peanut Butter Popcorn

Oh man. With my limited-at-best self control, there are certain things I regret knowing exist. Carly Rae Jepsen's full-length album and the fact that you can melt parmesan cheese in the microwave into a giant cheese chip, for example. 

This recipe is being added to that list. I really thought this was my own brilliant idea until I did a Pinterest search and discovered its been done many times by many brilliant ladies. So much for originality, but I'm okay with being in the company of others who roll their popcorn around in melted peanut butter and chocolate.

I knew this couldn't really be BAD, but I didn't realize how dangerously, deliciously addicting it would be. Wish me luck. 

---

CHOCOLATE + PEANUT BUTTER POPCORN WITH SEA SALT

This makes a LOT (about 10-12 cups, depending on how much you sneak in the process!) so make sure you have a destination for your treats or some friends on their way, or you and your self control will be left alone with a bucket of sweet and salty goodness. Best of luck to you, friends. 

5 Tb unpopped popcorn

1 Tb and 1 tsp canola oil, divided

1 C peanut butter 

1/2 C maple agave syrup* 

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sea salt to taste

Pop your popcorn in 1 Tb of canola oil on the stove or in your popcorn popper. If you only have the microwave bags on hand, that'll work too! But please, someday soon, make it on the stove... you'll be a convert.

Pour the popcorn out on to a large baking sheet covered in foil. Be careful to omit any unpopped kernels!

Combine peanut butter and agave syrup in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute or until it's very liquidy and smooth.

Pour the peanut butter and syrup mixture over your popcorn then toss with a spoon to combine. You might need to use your hands to get all of the popcorn coated, but be careful, the peanut butter and syrup mixture will be very hot!

Next, melt your chocolate chips in the microwave for about a minute with 1 tsp of canola oil. The oil makes it smoother and easier to pour over the popcorn.

Now pour your chocolate mixture over the popcorn and toss it all up to combine again.

Sprinkle with sea salt to taste then set the tray aside to cool and firm up. 

*I got mine from Trader Joe's and I'm a huge fan. Honey or plain agave syrup would work just as well.

Apologies for the underwhelming photo. I think I need to read up on food styling... 

When a few last minute things popped up and I couldn't make it to CBN's Oscar party at Nellcote, to say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. So I did what any rational girl would do with a night alone, a mile-long list of things to take care of, and plans to be out of town the whole week: I baked a cake.

And not just any cake, a flourless chocolate cake that I topped with almond butter frosting. I think I could start an entire cookbook of recipes entitled, "Recipe Alterations That Don't Require Me To Leave My Apartment", because I made some interesting substitutions in the name of laziness that somehow resulted in a really good end product. It was fudgy, dense, and not too sweet (until I covered the whole thing with a sugary almond butter frosting.)

This was very loosely adapted from Nigella Lawson's chocolate olive oil cake.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Coconut Oil

• 1 3/4 C + 2 Tb cocoa powder


• 1/2 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 C coffee, cooled


• 3 eggs


• 2/3 cup coconut oil, melted


• 1 C white sugar


• 1 1/2 Tb vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and prepare an 8x8" pan by lining it with parchment paper. If you don't usually use parchment paper, tear a piece big enough so that it hangs over the edges of the pan a bit so that you'll be able to lift the cake out by pulling up the edges of the paper later. Parchment paper makes baking infinitely easier both in terms of cleanup and in the dreaded step of removing baked goods from the pan!


2. Sift together your salt, baking soda and cocoa powder, then set it aside.


3. In a new bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil and vanilla, then add your sugar and mix until its smooth, creamy and custardy.


4. Now pour the coffee into the egg and sugar mixture, and stir until its completely combined.


5. Next, slowly add the cocoa powder into the wet ingredients, stirring it in bit by bit. Take your time or it'll get clumpy and harder smooth out!


6. Once it's all mixed together and very smooth (it'll be really liquid-y!), pour the batter into your pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until you can stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.


7. Lift the cake out of the pan by the parchment paper and set it aside to cool. Once it's cooled for about 20 minutes (be patient!), you're ready to frost! You could eat it plain, but what's the fun in that?

For my frosting, I combined 1/2 cup of almond butter with 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil, 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of salt. Powdered sugar would have resulted in a smoother frosting, similar to a buttercream, but I didn't have it and didn't mind the grainier texture... it reminded me a bit of Reeses filling!

Off to put my sugar high to good use and finish up my work.

This isn't really so much of a recipe as "put them in the oven" isn't exactly a novel concept. But I thought it might be worth sharing, anyway, since sometimes something so simple as putting them in the oven makes the painfully ordinary surprisingly good.

With the particularly evil combo of negative windchills and post-vacation food guilt, cold salads are not exactly cutting it when I literally dreamed of macaroni and cheese last night. I can't roast cheese for you (OR CAN I?), but I can improve on the cold salad business.

Roasted Tomatoes

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.


• Cut your tomatoes into evenly-sized pieces and place on a foil covered pan for easy clean-up.


• Sprinkle to taste with salt, pepper, sugar, and seasoning. On 5 tomatoes, I used about 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp pepper, and one Tb of sugar. Skip anything else, but don't skip the sugar -- it's what'll make your tomatoes caramelize a bit!


• Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with any other seasonings you like - I used a bit of oregano.


• Roast for 30 minutes. If you'd like them a bit extra crunchy and black on top, pop them in the broiler for 2 minutes at the end for charred edges.


• Serve with other roasted vegetables, on top of your salad to warm it up, or as a side dish.

Chicago Restaurant Review: Nellcote

Could any restaurant in the entire city of Chicago be cuter?

The answer is definitively NO, it could not.

We have had the best of intentions of getting ourselves out to the West Loop for oh, the last six months now to see what all the hype was about. On our holiday seester date, we finally made the reservation and headed over on a cold and gloomy Saturday morning.

I think if we had to sum up the whole experience in one sentence, it would be, "WHAT WERE WE WAITING FOR?"

These photos do not do the decor justice. How can a restaurant be both warm and cozy and totally over the top opulent at the same time? It hurts my brain to think about such deep thoughts, but that's exactly what Nellcote does. Gorgeous chandeliers and wainscot ceilings contrast create this warm and glowy space that we just never wanted to leave.

You're greeted with a choice of the Times or US Magazine (naturally, I went for celebrity gossip and Ali bettered herself as an informed citizen) and if you're as lucky as us, you're seated with an absolutely fabulous waiter that I'm bummed is not my friend in real life. Perhaps if we keep going back enough....

We happened to be in when they were showing The Holiday behind the bar, so that was a cozy little surprise.

When we were happily snuggled in to our table with mimosas and trashy magazines/serious newspapers, I told Ali, "I'd come back even if the food tastes like dirt!"

Happily, we were a far stretch from dirt.

We were immediately served a an adorable charcuterie plate with cheeses, jams and prosciutto. As we munched away, we perused the menu and then ended up ordering purely based on our waiter's recommendations. How do you pick just one thing when everything sounds so delicious? #whitegirlproblems

The lobster benedict had huge chunks of lobster under a blanket of smoked paprika hollandaise. The eggs were poached perfectly and melted into the hash underneath.

The simple salad served with the quiche almost stole the show - blasphemy, I know, but the champagne vinaigrette was delicious. The quiche itself was light, fluffy and so creamy.

We opted out of ordering our waiter's recommendation of the sausage and potatoes because it just sounded like too much food (I know, who were we kidding?) but to our surprise and delight, they brought an order to our table for us to try along with our entrees. We ate every last bite of both and both will forever be tacked on to our brunch orders at Nellcote.

We sat around watching The Holiday, chatting, reading and drinking mimosas for an extra hour or two and then reluctantly headed out into the cold. We stepped one foot outside and wondered why on earth we had ever left.

We will be back for you, Nellcote! If brunch was any indication, dinner would be to die for... I'm just envisioning those beautiful chandeliers lit up at night and the cocktails arriving from behind the bar.

Fun tip - Nellcote's NYE party sounds like an absolute blast! http://www.eventstand.com/event/nellcotenye for tickets.

Recipe: Baked Ham and Egg Cups

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was great-- as predicted, lots of games and too much food. In other words, perfect.

As we mentioned, we were really looking forward to making Thanksgiving brunch to our family. Our choice needed to fit two main criteria: fairly light (Thanksgiving dinner later!) and easy enough to assemble for 7 people.

After seeing a few variations floating around Pinterest, we made egg cups for brunch earlier this year and decided that they'd fit the bill nicely for  our Thanksgiving morning brunch. We made two variations and were happy with both results, so we thought we'd share! They are so cute and really, really easy... plus, the world is your oyster when it comes to the toppings -- you can really add any combination of ingredients your little heart desires.

Laura went the traditional route and made Denver-esque cups by adding diced peppers and onions with cheddar cheese to each cup. Ali got creative and made the clear winner of the day - she blanched asparagus and added two spears to each cup with a tiny bit of cheddar in the base, then served them with a Hollandaise sauce.

We left the crispy edges but you could trim them or get really crazy and cover them with foil while baking.

In our opinion, this is a handy staple to have in our back pockets for brunch with the girls, for family, or after a particularly long night out. Cheers! (with our ham and egg cups.)

Ham and Egg Cups -

1. Preheat oven to 375.


2. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray or lightly oil. (We used popover cups this time because we wanted more room for add-ins, but have previously used muffin tins and it works just as well!)


3. Line each cup with two slices of ham, pressing into the bottom of each cup.


4. Add desired toppings, then carefully crack one egg into each cup.


5. Bake for 25 minutes or until egg is cooked through. Each cup should easily lift from the tin.

Chicago Restaurant Review - RPM!

(I wanted to name this post RP-YUM but I'm pretty sure Ali would disown me.)

As Ali mentioned, we had one of the most incredible dinners last week and I have been seriously lagging in sharing the delicious details.

After reading the menu online basically all day, we were pretty excited come Friday night. We often text each other just to make the other one want whatever food we're craving and it was a bit out of control before our visit. Proof:



I'd heard great things about RPM, of course, but I have to admit -- despite the drool-worthy photos on the website, I was a bit of a skeptic. I thought that at least a part of the rave reviews HAD to be just Chicago celebrity hype. Let's be clear, though, as an ardent fan of Team Rancic, this in no way deterred my desire to check it out. I'd suffer through some mediocre pasta for a Giuliana sighting at a beautiful restaurant with a fun scene, no problem.

Wellllll, I'm happy to report that I was totally and completely wrong.

As I suspected, we found the restaurant was beautifully decorated and the people watching killer, but the food stole the show.



House-made ricotta, so simple but definitely my personal favorite. Like a happy fluffy cheese cloud from heaven.



Prime beef meatballs... Smothered in Parmesan and served in the skillet they baked in, these tasted like Giulianas cute little Italian mother was firmly planted in just around the corner in the kitchen rolling these little balls of love by hand.



We chose the tuna carpaccio to break up all of the rich foods with something a bit lighter and were awfully happy with that decision. The freshest, smoothest tuna, so deeply colored it almost looked like salmon with little sprinkles of black garlic for the most interesting hint of flavor.



This might surprise you, but I can count the number of times Ali and I have ordered dessert in the last 5 years on one hand, and that's because the number is one. We're not mad at it, we'd just rather have another glass of wine or more fried olives. The Affogato float came highly recommended by a trusted source, however, so we went for it. A grown up float with an intense bottled coffee poured over creamy vanilla gelato, this was the absolute perfect ending to a fantastic dinner.

Unpictured but amazing -

• Fried olives


• Chicken liver on toast


• Lobster caprese


• Brussels sprouts


• Pork chop as big as my head for the manly man at the table


• Spaghetti carbonara

RPM, we will be back! Sneaking in early on a weekday to the bar area to try a few small plates without the months-long wait for reservations may be our new tactic, but I'd honestly sit on the curb in the  alley outside the kitchen if someone would just be so kind as to hand me a cup of that ricotta and a spoon.

London: Borough Market and The World's Best Grilled Cheese

I found it extremely difficult to choose where to spend my precious free time while in London. How do you see the highlights of one incredible city between 6:30-10pm on weeknights and in just one single weekend? The obvious answer is that you can’t. I could have spent months in London and still not have even scratched the surface.

For me, though, there was one no-brainer. I did some of my own research in the few days before my trip and read about Borough Market, and then it was hammered home when pretty much everyone I met told me it was a must-see for anyone with the slightest interest in food. Safe to say, I have a SLIGHT interest in food. Lucky for me, it was right up the road from my flat in the London Bridge area, so I was up and at ‘em bright and early Saturday morning to beat the crowds.



Borough Market lived up to the hype,  and then some. It was opened in 1851 (dates like this are pretty rare stateside!) and sits off of Borough High street just south of the river at London Bridge, twisting its way through multiple buildings and open areas. Vendors sell flowers, fresh produce, meats and poultry, fish and seafood, cheese, baked goods, more cheese, and then more baked goods amidst restaurants hawking their best of the best – chorizo burgers, fish and chips, English sausage rolls.













If I hadn’t done my research, I most likely would have been paralyzed by indecision on the food front and possibly have ended up in bed all day with a fish and chips induced stomach ache. And in all transparency, when I say “research,” I mean noticing this interesting little Google nugget when looking it up:



Grilled cheese, you say?

So THEN I did some research and found rave reviews by foodies all over the world, touting the toasted cheese at Borough Market “the world’s best grilled cheese.” I was armed with a plan, a latte from Monmouth Coffee Co., and prepared to wait in any length line.

I found my way to the Kappacasein stall after a few loops through the market both by the identifying the long line and the smell of cheese from about 50 feet away. I paid my 5 pounds, was handed a ticket, then spent about 5 minutes considered changing my order to the raclette, a melted cheese that they were burning and shaving off into big gooey piles of it onto roasted potatoes.



I managed to hold strong only after noticing the sign stating that they add grilled leeks and garlic to their grilled cheese, and then noticed the case of “raw” sandwiches, waiting to be grilled – shredded sharp white cheddar on sourdough with tiny hints of purple peeking out from the leeks.



Like the market, the grilled cheese met every single ounce of my expectations… buttery, crunchy, salty, gooey… and I’m pretty sure I’ll never again want a grilled cheese without the added punch of leeks and garlic. I will find SOME way in this lifetime to return to the Borough Market to experience this glory again.

San Francisco + Napa: Bouchon Bakery

I have no earthly idea where to start in describing the last 3 weeks of my life. I’ve never been away from home for that long and while I was definitely happy to see my own bed and pillow Monday night, my little 3-week adventure was one that I’ll never forget.

So instead of trying to write one big post for London and then one for San Francisco, I think I’ll just blog about some of the particularly memorable experiences – you know, like cheese. (See: Halloumi :))

We happened to be in SF/Napa for TWO Bears games and while JB was a trooper about missing the Monday night game with all of the Giants-going-to-the-World-Series madness, missing this past Sunday’s game was not optional. This meant spending an incredible Napa morning in a dark bar, so as a trade off, we headed out super early for a run through Yountville which culminated in a stop at Bouchon Bakery.

I had heard rave reviews of Thomas Keller’s Parisian bakery in NYC, so nothing could have made me happier than seeing that cute little yellow house off the side of the road, line out the door and great smells a half mile away. I did a bit of reading and Yountville was actually their first location, with locations in NYC, Las Vegas and Beverly Hills added later.

I quickly negated our three-mile run (and then some) with the coffee of my dreams and after agonizing for ten minutes over the pastry case, settled on two scones: chocolate cherry and bacon cheddar. They were perfection -- buttery, crumbly, just sweet enough.

If you have the chance to go to a Bouchon bakery, please go! Run! Or walk, but go, and have a pastry for me.

NYC in Pictures

One week later, I'm finally ready to wear heels again, the extreme bloating from Cuban food/rose/halal cart/bagels/more rose/the BEST DINNER EVER at Bell Book & Candle/vodka sodas/late night pizza/mimosamimosamimosas has gone down, and I'm safely above water on the work front.

Totally. Worth. It.

I am so very sad it's over.

I am finally posting my pictures from last weekend! Three things I'd like to call out:

1. I should have taken many, many more photos, and preferably with a real camera.

2. It was three thousand degrees and nine million percent humidity - so I have a whopping two pictures that I allowed myself in and only one with Shai, which is particularly sad.

3. If you're looking for a real peak into NYFW, I'm going to point you over to DrunkOnShoes just as soooon as she gets her pictures up. She'll do it much more justice.  She really experienced NYFW as you'd imagine it - the shows, the celebs, etc.

So enjoy, in no particular order. Click to enlarge!

[gallery orderby="rand"]

Slutty Brownies

Happy Saturday!

The Londoner is basically a genius with the best hair ever. I love all of her posts and recipes, but I've had her Slutty Brownies bookmarked for a long time to make for my baby bro. He's away at college, studying hard at nuclear engineering (proud sister alert!) and I thought today would be the perfect day to whip up a batch. Nothing like a triple dose of sugar to fuel his late night cram sessions studying, um, whatever it is that nuclear engineers do.

His incredible metabolism annoyingly balances out his incredible sweet tooth quite nicely, and I'm grateful that I have somewhere to send these off to so that I don't eat them all by myself. I did taste test just one (swear) and oh my goodness.

These are ridiculously easy, hence the name. I followed her recipe to a T, springing for the Double-Stuf version AND Ghirardelli brownie mix - nothing but the best for you, bro!

Mussels in Basil White Wine Sauce

Happy Labor Day!

I spent the majority of my weekend hanging out with two of my favorite people - my mama and stepdad, who we call "Big" to differentiate between him and my little brother as they coincidentally share the same name. After feasting on my mom's amazing big-as-your-head burgers on Friday night, we were feeling like something a little lighter for dinner on Saturday. The stars aligned and my mom happened to flip to a cooking show on a local station called Secrets of a Chef by Hubert Keller.

I hadn't heard of Chef Keller before, but I definitely bookmarked his site and will be going back for recipe inspiration as soon as possible. On this particular rainy Saturday afternoon, Hubert was whipping up a batch of mussels in basil white wine sauce, and we knew what we had to do for dinner.

Oh my goodness.

However good we thought these mussels were going to be - and we had sky-high expectations! - they were about a billion times better. And really easy to make, too!

Seafood can be a bit intimidating for me and I had never made mussels before, but this was a breeze and I can't wait to make it again... though I'm sure I won't be over my squeamishness at the fact that they're alive when you get them. (The seafood monger at Mariano's informed me that all I had to do was knock on them to make sure they were alive - they squish their shells shut just a little bit tighter. I knocked on practically every shell. Thanks, sir!)

We doubled the recipe for the sauce because we had a TON of mussels (hey, they were our whole dinner, don't judge!) and the only change we made was to omit the tomatoes... but the recipe only calls for a whopping 6 cherry tomatoes, so I can't imagine that really made much of a difference.

Make sure you get lots of French bread to sop up as much of the sauce as possible... it manages to taste both rich and fresh at the same time between the cream and the fresh basil, and Big may or may not have caught me slurping the last bit of mine straight from the bowl.

Image via Voice-Tribune.com

*I somehow managed to accidentally delete all of my own pictures of this, but this picture is almost exactly how they looked, except I had about three times this many!

Mussels in Basil White Wine Sauce

From Hubert Keller's Secrets of a Chef

Ingredients:

(Yields: 4 servings)

•   3 ounces fresh basil leaves
•   1 cup olive oil
•   2 tablespoons butter
•   2 shallots, peeled & finely chopped
•   7 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
•   1 cup dry white wine
•   1/3 cup clam juice
•   1/2 teaspoon salt
•   1/4 teaspoon black pepper
•   30 Mediterranean mussels
•   ½ cup heavy cream
•   2 tablespoons lemon juice
•   2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
•   6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
•   4 slices country bread, toasted

Directions:

TO MAKE THE BASIL OIL:
Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil. Lower the basil leaves into the water, and boil for 30 seconds.
With a slotted spoon, remove the basil from the boiling water and plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Immediately remove the basil from the ice water and pat dry on paper towels.
Transfer the basil into a blender. Add the olive oil, and blend until basil is very finely chopped and oil is bright green. Remove from blender and set aside.

TO MAKE THE MUSSELS:
In a 12" skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic, and sauté just until translucent, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the white wine to the pan and let it come to a boil.
Add the clam juice, and season with salt and pepper.
Gently add the mussels, cover, and let cook 1 to 1 ½ minutes, or until mussels have fully opened.
Once the mussels are cooked, remove them from the liquid with a slotted spoon and cover with foil.
Finish the sauce by adding the cream and lemon juice to the boiling wine mixture. Whisk until combined and let mixture boil for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Add 3 tablespoons of the basil oil and stir until combined.
Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese and cherry tomatoes.
Uncover the mussels and gently spoon them into the serving dish and pour sauce on top. Serve with toasted country bread.

Secrets of a Chef:
•   Check the mussels when they are raw to make sure that they are closed, or that they close on their own if you tap them. If any are open and will not close on their own, discard them because they are no longer alive.
•   Chef Keller likes to serve this in cast iron dishes to keep it hot, or he suggests that it is served straight out of the pot in the middle of the table
•   The extra basil oil can be refrigerated and used later. It is great for any seafood dish.