Shrimp Cocktail and Martinis
One of my favorite things about dinner parties, whether I’m going to one or hosting one myself, is the cocktail hour which precedes it. Maybe I just like drinking too much (probably true) but there is something about it that does, as they say, “open up the pallet." Even if we’re going to a restaurant, sometimes Joel and I like to sneak in a little early before our reservation and have a drink to ourselves before dinner begins. My go-to aperitif, or drink taken before a meal, is a classic Dry Gin Martini, with an olive or occasionally a lemon twist. Sometimes if I’m not feeling particularly boozy I’ll opt for a Negroni, Aperol Spritz, or maybe a glass of white wine, but I’m fairly committed to my martini most outings; a rinse of dry white vermouth, a hefty pour of Bombay Sapphire, a solid stir - as to not “beat” the liquor - a garnish, et voilà! The perfect martini (for me).
Aside from the cocktail which makes the cocktail hour, there is the cocktail food. It’s usually always something light such as deviled eggs, meatballs, oysters, perhaps some cheese and an assortment of nuts. However, in my opinion, there is one king that stands out amongst all other cocktail treats and that is Shrimp Cocktail - it even has cocktail in its name! Shrimp cocktail is truly an easy dish to make and it’s very forgiving. It’s also a classic so I will argue in favor of the classic shrimp cocktail sauce, but even then the sauce is also forgiving. Serve it over ice as a chilled hors devours or let it cool to room temperature and serve it that way, it’s up to you and your preference. You could also boil the shrimp or, as you will see when you read the following recipe, you can roast the shrimp, too. Finally, when you serve your dish dress it up a little with some fresh herbs as a garnish, throw on gherkins (cute little pickles), olives, and lemon slices and you’ve elevated your shrimp cocktail to a cocktail hour work of food art.
Shrimp Cocktail (serves 6 - 8)
Ingredients:
For the shrimp
2 pounds extra large shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 lemon, sliced whole
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Several sprigs of fresh herbs such as parsley, tarragon, dill, thyme, and fennel leaves
For the cocktail sauce
1/2 cup chili sauce (such as Heinz)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or other hot sauce you like)
1 anchovy + 1/4 teaspoon ketchup + 1/4 teaspoon water
Instructions for the shrimp
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel and de-vain the shrimp, but leave the tails on to make dipping the shrimp easier. In a bowl, add the shrimp, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix until all the shrimp are coated, set aside. Meanwhile, on a sheet pan scatter around the lemon slices, onion, garlic and sprigs of herbs. Place a wire rack that fits snug and just above the herbs inside the sheet pan. Spread the shrimp in one layer over the wire rack.
3. Roast in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes, just until shrimp are pink, firm to the touch, and cooked through. Set aside to cool.
Make the sauce
1. Combine the chili sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco (adding more for desired spice), and stir.
2. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, add the anchovy and additional ketchup and water. Heat up and stir until the anchovy breaks apart and dissolves into the ketchup. Spoon into the cocktail sauce and stir. (Optional: for even more flavor, after the shrimp have finished, spoon a 1/2 teaspoon of the cooking juices from the sheet pan into the cocktail sauce and stir.)
To serve
Place the cocktail sauce in a serving bowl set atop and in the middle of a serving platter. Arrange some of the shrimp around the the edge of the sauce bowl. Then, arrange the shrimp around the platter how you see fit. If you want your shrimp served cold, add some crushed ice to the platter and serve the shrimp on top of that. Decorate with parsley or another herb(s) of your liking, and scatter with green olives, gherkins, and lemon wedges.
The Dry Gin Martini (serves 1)
Ingredients:
1/2 shot dry white vermouth
3 shots dry Gin, such as Bombay Sapphire
Green Olives (such as queen olives or cocktail olives)
A lemon Twist
Chilled martini glass
Cocktail shaker
Ice
Instructions:
1. Pour 1/2 shot of dry white vermouth into the chilled martini glass and swirl around, then dump out (this is called a rinse). Set Aside. Add the gin to the cocktail shaker and stir vigorously for 20 seconds. Pour into the martini glass and garnish with an olive or a lemon twist, or both. Enjoy responsibly, because seriously this is a strong drink!
Chou Farci, better known as “stuffed cabbage”
Well, quite some time has passed since I last met you here. Such is life; sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. In good news, spring has finally arrived and the long, cold days of winter are quickly fading into memory. Summer will soon be arriving on our doorsteps to set ablaze that youthful mischief which is aroused with warm weather.
Speaking of warm weather, it’s once again nice enough in the evenings to enjoy dinner outside. This is that rare sweet spot of the year when the temperature is just right and the pesky flying bugs aren’t abundant. Perfect for a delicious evening meal and chilled wine.
Chou Farci/ Stuffed Cabbage (serves 2 -4)
Ingredients:
1 large head of Savoy cabbage
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 or 3 carrots, diced
2/3 pound lean ground beef
2/3 pound hot Italian sausage
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup dry white vermouth or dry white wine (optional, but adds a touch of acidity and sweetness)
3/4 of 15oz can of crushed tomatoes (juices included)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. In the mean time, remove the first two outer leaves of the cabbage and toss. Then, remove the tough core at the bottom of the cabbage with a knife. Cutting away from you, cut into the cabbage and around the core, remove. Peel the cabbage layers apart from the bottom (keeps them from ripping), using the knife to detach any leaves which still might be attached to remaining parts of the core. When all leaves have been removed, place them into the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. First cook the onion and carrots until they begin to soften, 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and sausage, along with the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, fennel seeds, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. As the meat cooks break it up with a spatula until it’s crumbly. Once the meat has browned, add the vermouth or wine and simmer down until it’s nearly all evaporated. Then pour in the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes or longer if needed, until the liquid has mostly simmered and been absorbed. Transfer to a bowl and let the meat filling cool.
3. Smear the butter into any dish large enough to hold all the ingredients, such as a deep 9 inch cake pan, or a deep bread or meatloaf pan. Don’t be shy on the butter! Place the largest and prettiest cabbage leaf down first, this is what will display when it’s un-molded. Top with another leaf and arrange the leaves until the base and sides are covered. It’s okay if the leaves extend beyond the pan, you will eventually fold them under the top layer. You won’t use all the leaves, reserve enough to create four or five layers.
4. When the mixture has cooled, discard what remains of the sprigs of thyme and the whole bay leaves. Add the egg and mix well. Scoop some of the mixture into the bottom of the pan, top with some of the cheese, and finish with a layer of cabbage leaves. Repeat this until you have three or four layers. Finish with a layer of cabbage leaves, making sure to tuck the leaves in on all sides.
5. Bake for 40 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Once finished, unmold by placing a plate or serving platter on top of the baking dish, flip, and remove the mold. Cut into slices and serve right away.
Pot Roast Feast & Holiday Magic
My favorite part about this time of year is all the food and drink, the cooking, and of course all the family and friends. I had started this holiday season being pretty “good”, as in I had been regularly going to the gym, watching what I ate, and I hadn’t been drinking. But somewhere between Thanksgiving and my birthday I said, “it’s the holidays do whatever you want”, and it’s ben a steady decline into bodily disarray ever since. I’m exaggerating, but I’m sure at least some of you can relate to the gluttony we find ourselves indulging in this time of year. I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed it, I’ve enjoyed every minute this season from spending Thanksgiving with my siblings and nieces and mom, to my birthday at a French restaurant and the whole place singing happy birthday to me with sparklers going off, and now on Christmas spent with Joel and his family, and all the friends and little bits of holiday cheer in between. I’m feeling grateful for it all. And there’s still the New Year to come!
A few days ago we hosted two of our friends, D & V, as a pre-Christmas dinner. The weather leading up to Christmas has been characteristically winterish, frigid below zero temperatures, ice, and snow. The day we decided to host the city had basically come to a standstill but our friends braved the weather and the roads, and I think they’d agree it was worth it.
Happy Holidays, everyone, and cheers to the New Year ahead.
Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes (serves 4 - 6)
Ingredients:
(1) 3.5- 4 pound chuck roast
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled
3 cups water + 3 teaspoons better than bullion (roasted beef base)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of each: dried thyme, dried oregano, dried basil, pepper
1 bayleaf
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage
2 -3 pounds Carrots (or as many as you’d like and that fit around the roast)
6 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, quartered, and scored with a fork
2 shallots, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
Gravy
Ingredients:
The following ingredients, except for the flour, will accumulate from the roasting process.
2 tablespoons roast drippings
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups roast stock
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Throughly dry the roast with paper towels. Place flour on a plate and coat the entire roast. Shake off any excess flour, you should have remaining just a light coating. Heat vegetable oil in a pan over high heat. Using tongs, lightly brown the top, bottom, and sides of the roast. Place roast on either a baking sheet with a wire rack (large enough for three cups of water), or a shallow roasting dish also with a rack so that your roast isn’t swimming in liquid. Place the whole garlic cloves into the crevices between the fat and the meat.
3. Remove the oil from the pan. Using a half cup of water, deglaze the pan making sure to get all of the brown bits at the bottom. Pour the deglazed water into your measuring cup and add enough hot water to get three cups. Beat in the bullion (it dissolves better the hotter that water is) and then mix in the Worcestershire sauce and dried herbs, set aside. Using kitchen twine, tie together the herbs and place on top of the roast.
4. Around the roast, place as many carrots as you’d like as well as the potatoes and sliced shallots (it’s okay if there is some overlapping) Pour the prepared liquid all over the roast and sprinkle on the salt all over. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
5. Roast at 425 degree F for 30 minutes in the lower middle third rack of the oven (like two notches up from the bottom). Carefully remove roast from oven, turn over, then re-foil. Lower the temperature to 300 degrees F. Add roast back to oven and cook an additional 4 hours at 300 degrees.
6. When finished, remove from the oven and move the roast and vegetables to a serving platter, cover with the foil, and let everything rest for 25 - 30 minutes. Everything will be soft and tender at this point.
7. For the gravy, remove all the remaining juices from the roasting dish to a bowl (it’ll be around 2 cups of liquid).* Using a spoon, skim off as much fat as you possibly can into another bowl and set aside. In a sauce pan set over medium heat, add two tablespoons of the skimmed roast fat and whisk in two tablespoons of flour. Whisk for about two minutes to cook the flour, you’ll start to see the beef drippings and flour bubble (this is your “roux” for the gravy). Immediately pour in the two cups of roasting liquid, whisk vigorously, and be sure to scrape all sides of the pan to get any sticking flour. Whisk until the gravy thickens to the right consistency, beating in up to an additional teaspoon of flour to reach desired thickness.
8. Pour some of the gravy over the roast and vegetables, and serve remaining gravyin a dish alongside the roast.
Green Beans
Ingredients:
3 pounds green beans
4 tablespoons beef drippings
salt and pepper
Instructions:
1. Bring to the boil a large pot of lightly salted water. Blanch green beans for 10 minutes. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.
2. When ready, heat the beef fat over medium high heat. Add the green beans and season to taste with salt, toss. When the green beans are heated through, season to taste with pepper, toss, and remove from heat to a serving dish. Serve alongside the roast.
*Notes: If you have less than 2 cups of roast stock, simply add enough water until you get two cups and add 1 teaspoon of Better than Bullion Roast Beef Base per cup of water added.
Chicken Breasts with Creamy Sizzled Leak and Mushroom Sauce, featuring Broccoli
It’s Saturday again, which is arguably the best day of the week. It’s the only day of the week, in fact, that you go to sleep the night before knowing you won’t work the next day and go to sleep knowing you won’t work again the next. Every other day of the week you go to bed with work obligations looming overhead. Don’t get me wrong, I love my day job but it is still work after all.
As I’m writing this, I am doing so knowing well that I should instead be working on my research proposal for my masters program. I’m researching, or rather should be, about the effect of graduation rates of students of color who also have or have had a teacher of color. I hypothesize that indeed there is a correlation between higher graduation rates among black students who also have or have had a black teacher. It’s fascinating stuff but right now all I want to do is think about cooking, which is both a passion and now a perfectly suitable way to procrastinate.
My fridge is still full of produce from the Thanksgiving holiday and everything in it is teetering the fine line between fresh and beginning to wilt. I have some leeks that are slightly soft but still completely edible, potatoes that will certainly be too far gone by mid next week if I don’t use them immediately, goose fat, broccoli which I have no idea when I bought or if I even bought it but for now looks fresh, a package of dry porcini mushrooms that I forgot to use the other day, a few lemons, and an embarrassing amount of unused fresh herbs because I overestimated how many I would actually need for Thanksgiving. Oh, there is also the chicken I thawed out yesterday but didn’t end up making because I decided I was too tired and pizza sounded easier. This all to say it was the perfect hodgepodge of things to throw together today for a delicious late lunch.
Chicken Breasts with Creamy Leak and Mushroom Sauce, featuring Broccoli (serves 2 - 4)
Ingredients:
1 - 2 heads of broccoli, steamed
-you could easily use frozen broccoli or swap in asparagus or Brussel sprouts
2 chicken breasts, split and pounded flat
1/2 of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pepper
4 tablespoons butter
2 leeks, the white parts chopped fine
0.5oz dry porcini mushrooms (or some other type of dry mushroom you might have)
-alternatively you could use up to 8oz of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, chopped
5 small sage leaves, chopped
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup white wine or dry vermouth
1 cup heavy cream
Instructions:
1. Steam the broccoli with your preferred method. Cook until the stems can be pierced with a fork and the crowns are soft but not mushy - you don’t want them falling apart later in the sauce. Set aside when finished.
2. Split the chicken breasts in half. Place your hand on top of it to apply pressure and use a sharp knife to cut through the breast, keeping as center a line as possible as you cut through. Between two sheets of waxed or parchment paper, pound the chicken breasts to 1/4 in thick. Squeeze the halved lemon on all over the chicken and sprinkle on the salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a skillet, heat the 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted and foamed, add the leeks and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and then add the herbs and combine.
4. To the skillet add the chicken breasts over the leeks and mushrooms, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. At first the chicken will sear and the leeks will begin to crisp and brown - that’s what you want. Flip the chicken, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes. At this point the chicken will begin releasing liquid into the pan. Check to see if chicken is done; when pierced the juice will run clear and when cut at the thickest part, it will be completely white. Cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes if it’s not quite done. When finished, remove chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
5. Add the chicken or vegetable stock to the skillet along with the wine or vermouth. Boil down over medium high heat for a few minutes to burn off the alcohol and reduce a bit, 3 - 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and boil for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Check sauce for season. Then, Gently fold in the broccoli florets. Return the chicken back to the skillet along with any of the accumulated juices. Bring to the simmer, cover, and cook an additional 2 minutes over low to moderate heat to heat everything through. Serve immediately.
Roasted Gold Potatoes with Parsley
Ingredients:
4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of duck fat, goose fat, or olive oil
Small bunch of parsley, chopped fine
Salt and Pepper
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 420 degrees F. In a baking dish large enough to hold all the potatoes, rub a garlic clove all over the bottom. Lightly grease the dish using goose/duck fat, olive oil, or butter. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the diced potatoes, fat or oil, and the chopped parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Transfer potatoes to the baking dish and roast on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes, giving them a stir twice during their cooking. Serve with the chicken.
Goose Getaway
This year we were lucky enough to have Veteran’s day fall on a Friday, which meant that many of us had a three day weekend. I had been looking forward to this weekend since August - I had originally suggested this trip to friends one evening after feeling overwhelmed with work and annoyed with the blazing, scorching heat of August, in anticipation of a long relaxing weekend with beautiful fall colors and colder temperatures. Coincidentally, I had came upon an article about “the best places to see autumn colors” and noticed one of those places was unexpectedly Arkansas, a state not entirely far from my own. I was reeled in, I wanted go and my friend Veronica very graciously organized a cabin trip in Royal, Arkansas not far from Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was picturesque and absolutely fulfilled my Autumn Getaway fantasy; a cozy cabin in the woods, fall colors and leaves abound, cold fresh air and most importantly good friends and food.
Of course no trip to a cabin would be complete without our favorite companion, Paxton. I think he had the best time of anyone, roaming around unleashed on a fenced property without the fear of getting out. It was the cutest thing watching him explore. He’s the best boy!
Now for the food. The last few years I have been eyeballing the goose that happens to appear every year during the holidays at the store. Prior to this trip I had never eaten goose, let alone cooked one. Needless to say I went into this cooking endeavor blind and unsure about how the goose would taste. I combed through a few cookbooks, namely the Art of French Cooking, but found those recipes a little tedious (iykyk) and not what I was looking for when it comes to cooking my first goose - I needed something.. gentler. I watched a few YouTube videos and came across a Gordon Ramsay video that stood out to me in both its presentation and feasibility, so I went with that. I served the goose with a deliciously sweet and velvety date sauce, and rounded off the meal with green beans sautéed in goose fat and cornbread dressing with chestnuts (yes, those chestnuts) and cranberries.
Roast Spiced Goose (serves a dinner party up to 10 people)
Ingredients:
(1) 11 pound young goose
2 lemons
1 orange
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons Chinese five spice
Honey
Instructions:
1. In a bowl, zest the skin of the lemons and the orange reserving them for later. In the same bowl add the salt and the Chinese five spice. Using a spoon, press and smoosh everything together until it becomes almost a paste of sorts. Set aside.
2. Pat the goose dry using paper towels. Score the goose beginning at the bottom of breast and across, over the back bone, to the other side, all the way until just before the opening at the end. Repeat this step on the opposite side. Be sure to score with enough pressure to just puncture the skin being careful not to expose any of the red flesh underneath. When finished, you should have a diamond designed pattern across the top of the goose. Alternatively, if you prefer something easier, simply pierce the goose skin all over the top with a fork, with enough pressure to just puncture the skin and again being careful not to expose any of the red flesh.
3. Throughly rub the goose all over with the zest and spice, being sure to get every crevice. The goose can marinate with the spices up to overnight. When ready to place in oven, quarter the lemons and orange and stuff inside the cavity of the goose.
4. Preheat oven to 465 degrees F. The goose will release a lot of fat in the cooking process and I recommend using a roasting pan with a rack. When ready, place goose in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 370 degrees F and cook for 70 minutes.
5. Remove goose from oven and very carefully drain the excess fat into a heat proof dish. Reserve for later recipes. Generously drizzle the honey over the goose. Using a knife, slice between the legs and the breasts (to ensure a more even cooking of the different meats for the last few minutes).
6. Place goose back in oven and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes. For me, this turned out to be medium rare/medium.
7. Remove goose from oven, cover with foil, and cook for 15-20 minutes. Carve goose similarly to what you would carve other poultry.
Date Goose Sauce
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
alternatively: 2 1/2 cups boiling water with 2 1/2 teaspoons Better than Bullion Chicken
1 cup red wine (something you like or would drink, not sweet)
3 tablespoons port wine
3 tablespoons balsamic
1/2 pound of Dates, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
Instructions:
1. Combine chicken stock, wines, and balsamic in a saucepan. Over high heat, boil down by 2/3 which will leave you with 1 cup. Meanwhile, boil 2 cups of water and then pour boiling water over the dates and let them soak for 5 minutes, drain. Add the dates to the reduced wine. Simmer slowly for 3-5 minutes, the sauce will thicken. Off heat, add two tablespoons of butter and swirl.
Roasted Green Beans in Goose Fat
Ingredients:
3 pounds whole fresh green beans, stems trimmed
1/2 of a lemon
salt, pepper
reserved goose fat
Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Carefully add in the green beans. Gently boil the green beans for 8 - 10 minutes, enough that they are soft but still have a slight crunch. When ready, strain and run cold water over them. Set aside until ready to move on to step 2.
2. On a sheet pan, spread out the green beans. Toss with a tablespoon or two of the goose fat. Squeeze the lemon over the green beans, and season the green beans with the salt and pepper to taste. Toss a final time.
3. Cook the green beans in a 370 degree F oven for 15 minutes, just enough to heat them through and bake them slightly.
Cornbread Chestnut and Cranberry Dressing
Ingredients for Cornbread
1 cup flour
1 cup corn meal
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup melter butter
1 large egg
1 cup milk
5 sage leaves, minced
Instructions for Cornbread
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 in. round cake pan or cast iron skillet.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add to it the wet ingredients. Mix until the ingredients are just combined - it will still have some lumps. Pour the batter into the greased baking dish.
3. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and toothpick inserted in the middles comes out clean.
Ingredients for Dressing
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium yellow onion
3 celery stalks
1 clove of garlic
1 piece of thick cut bacon, cut into lardons (small strips)
Goose, or other poultry, giblets (optional), chopped
(1) 7oz bag chestnuts, chopped (something like this)
alternatively if you have fresh chestnuts, you can roast them yourself and use those
1/4 cup fresh sage, minced
1 teaspoon dry sage
6 oz. cranberries
1 cup chicken stock
1 9-inch pan of cornbread, cubed
Salt and Pepper
Instructions for Dressing
1. Preheat oven to 370 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 in. baking dish or cast iron skillet large enough to hold all of the cornbread.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter over medium low heat. When melted, add the onion, celery and garlic and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Add the bacon and giblets and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Lightly season with salt and pepper to taste. Finally, add the chestnuts, cranberries and sage, and cook another 3-5 minutes until warmed. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
3. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and combine with the chicken broth, add the additional dry sage. Gently fold in the cornbread cubes until everything is coated and combined. The mixture will be slightly moist and crumbly, with both small and big chunks.
4. Put the dressing mixture into the baking dish and dot with the remaining two tablespoons of butter. Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, until the top is browned and the edges are slightly crispy.
