Salsamole is a recipe that's a little like salsa and a little like guacamole, thus the name. To it's credit, when I served it over huevos rancheros at a brunch this December, a person who normally dislikes cilantro loved it, even though it contains lots, and a person who hates guacamole but likes salsa loved it too, despite the high avacado content. So I consider this a pretty good little recipe for crowd pleasing, even in crowds that might have reservations about traditional Tex-Mex ingredients.
You need not wait for an excuse to go all out with huevos, though. This sauce goes great on chips for watching football or whatnot.
Salsamole
Adapted from Bon Appetit
8 oz tomatillos, husked and rinsed
3 tbsp cilantro
1 avacado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp ancho chile powder
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp cumin
Salt
Pepper
Boil the tomatillos for 20 minutes or until soft. In a blender, add all ingredients except salt and pepper and pulse until the mixture is roughly pureed. Taste, and adjust seasonings accordingly. Serve while still hot, or refrigerate until needed (if making in advance) and rewarm in microwave or toaster just before serving.
Servings: 6-8
Showing posts with label miscellaneous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miscellaneous. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Rocks
This is the time of year wherein I try to catch up on all the recipes I didn't get posted over Christmas. So first up is a recipe for what is essentially a sweet party mix, like Chex mix but better because everything is better with chocolate.
I think I got this recipe from my mother, who in turn got it from a Sunday School lesson if I remember correctly.
Rocks
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 12.3 oz box Crispix cereal
Confectioners sugar
Melt the chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave on high for one minute. Stir well and heat for an additional 30 seconds if necessary, or until all the chocolate is melted. Stir until smooth. Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated.
Add the peanuts and cereal to the chocolate mix and stir until the pieces are thoroughly coated (I find a wooden spoon works well here).
Put the confectioners sugar in a Ziploc bag. Add a third of the chocolate-coated cereal mix, close the bag tightly and shake until the mix is completely coated in sugar. Repeat for the other thirds of the mix. Give it a few minutes to cool and solidify before serving, and store in an airtight container. Keeps for up to a week.
Servings: lots. I have no idea how many servings this makes, really. At least 15, though.
I think I got this recipe from my mother, who in turn got it from a Sunday School lesson if I remember correctly.
Rocks
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 12.3 oz box Crispix cereal
Confectioners sugar
Melt the chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave on high for one minute. Stir well and heat for an additional 30 seconds if necessary, or until all the chocolate is melted. Stir until smooth. Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated.
Add the peanuts and cereal to the chocolate mix and stir until the pieces are thoroughly coated (I find a wooden spoon works well here).
Put the confectioners sugar in a Ziploc bag. Add a third of the chocolate-coated cereal mix, close the bag tightly and shake until the mix is completely coated in sugar. Repeat for the other thirds of the mix. Give it a few minutes to cool and solidify before serving, and store in an airtight container. Keeps for up to a week.
Servings: lots. I have no idea how many servings this makes, really. At least 15, though.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Potato Chips
I try to eat healthy, while refusing to sacrifice anything in the area of taste. I am generally very good at finding ways to cut excess fat, sugar, etc out of recipes, and I've trained my taste buds so that I no longer eat ice cream very often, since it now tastes too sweet to me.
Still, in spite of my best intentions, sometimes I just crave potato chips. As in, 'can't do without' cravings. Previously, I would ignore these cravings as best I could, or try to satisfy them with carrots, which, while crunchy, somehow lack that satisfyingly starchy element one gets exclusively from potatoes. What's a health-conscious cook to do?
Make her own, of course! I stumbled on a recipe from fat free vegan kitchen for fast, easy microwave potato chips, which involve no oil whatsoever, and I now reproduce it here in its entirety, along with some tips that I've picked up for better chips.
Potato Chips
1 russet potato (This method might also work with sweet potatoes and other root starches, like rutabagas or turnips, but I haven't tried it yet.)
Salt
The key to making your own potato chips is that miracle of kitchen inventions, the mandoline. Seriously, if you don't have one, get one. In this case, set your mandoline to its thinnest setting and slice your potato with it. If you use the second-thinnest setting, you will end up with very, very thick potato chips, which some people like (myself included), but which take forever to cook.
On your microwave's glass turntable, lay down a piece of parchment and fold the corners under so that the table can still turn. Arrange your potato chips in a single layer on the parchment. You may need to do these in batches; I usually do. Salt the potato chips very lightly. A little salt goes a long way, here. Once this is done, microwave your chips for 5 minutes, keeping an eye on them as you do. When you start to see brown spots in the centers of most of the chips, stop the microwave for one full minute. If you're making thick chips, the brown spots can take longer to appear, up to 8 or 9 minutes. Just be patient. After the minute of resting has elapsed, restart the microwave and nuke the chips for a further 2 minutes, or until all of them appear nicely browned but not burned.
Servings: 2, but I usually eat them all myself.
Still, in spite of my best intentions, sometimes I just crave potato chips. As in, 'can't do without' cravings. Previously, I would ignore these cravings as best I could, or try to satisfy them with carrots, which, while crunchy, somehow lack that satisfyingly starchy element one gets exclusively from potatoes. What's a health-conscious cook to do?
Make her own, of course! I stumbled on a recipe from fat free vegan kitchen for fast, easy microwave potato chips, which involve no oil whatsoever, and I now reproduce it here in its entirety, along with some tips that I've picked up for better chips.
Potato Chips
1 russet potato (This method might also work with sweet potatoes and other root starches, like rutabagas or turnips, but I haven't tried it yet.)
Salt
The key to making your own potato chips is that miracle of kitchen inventions, the mandoline. Seriously, if you don't have one, get one. In this case, set your mandoline to its thinnest setting and slice your potato with it. If you use the second-thinnest setting, you will end up with very, very thick potato chips, which some people like (myself included), but which take forever to cook.
On your microwave's glass turntable, lay down a piece of parchment and fold the corners under so that the table can still turn. Arrange your potato chips in a single layer on the parchment. You may need to do these in batches; I usually do. Salt the potato chips very lightly. A little salt goes a long way, here. Once this is done, microwave your chips for 5 minutes, keeping an eye on them as you do. When you start to see brown spots in the centers of most of the chips, stop the microwave for one full minute. If you're making thick chips, the brown spots can take longer to appear, up to 8 or 9 minutes. Just be patient. After the minute of resting has elapsed, restart the microwave and nuke the chips for a further 2 minutes, or until all of them appear nicely browned but not burned.
Servings: 2, but I usually eat them all myself.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Hot Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
When I was a kid, there was a running contest in our house: the kid who could find the hottest hot sauce and bring a sample of it home for my father would win $5. Your hot sauce would be diligently compared to the previous reigning winner, and it quickly became very difficult to find a sauce that would make the grade. My father loved spicy foods. (For the record, the current winner is a "psycho" grade sauce from a restaurant in Orlando, Florida. We brought it home in a styrofoam cup, but almost immediately had to transfer it to a plastic bottle because the sauce ate through the cup.)
I personally never caught the hot foods bug, though. To this day, while I love my curries well enough, I've never gone in for the burn-your-mouth southwestern style of cooking. Mexico can keep its chipotles and habaneros, I certainly don't like them.
But today I decided to try a recipe that promised to jazz up hummus, and I like hummus enough that I was willing to be jazzed. Even if it involved peppers. To make it even more promising, the hummus in question would let me make use of the red and yellow bell peppers that my tiny kitchen garden has just started to produce. I was sold. Bring on the hummus.
And it turns out, I like it! So here's the recipe, one of the rare and elusive hot food recipes from Joye.
Hot Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
1 can chickpeas (15 oz), drained
2 red bell peppers (I use peppers from my garden, so I use 4 very small peppers)
1 tsp chipotle in adobo (more if you like it really spicy, leave it out if you hate heat in your food)
3 cloves garlic, chopped into chunks
2 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp paprika
¼ medium onion, rough chopped
2 tsp cumin
3 tbsp lemon juice
Nonstick grilling spray (olive oil spray also works)
(Optional) 1 cup shredded parmesan, loosely packed
Pepper
Salt
Remove the seeds from the bell peppers. Spray a nonstick pan with grilling spray and sit it over medium-high heat. Lay the bell peppers in the pan skin-side-down, and roast them until the skin develops black spots. While the peppers are roasting, chop the onion and garlic. When the peppers are done, chop them into chunks to make it easier on your food processor. Add all the ingredients except the salt and pepper (and the cheese, if you're using it) to the food processor, and process until smooth. Taste and season (warning: season carefully, because a little salt goes a long way in hummus. Be conservative about your salt additions). If you need more moisture, add water, or if you like your hummus a little smoother, add a hint of olive oil to smooth it out. This is the point to dump in the cheese if that's your thing. Process again to mix in the new additions, taste, and serve. It’s good warm, room temp, or cool. I serve with carrots or snow peas for dipping, but toasted pita triangles are good too.
Servings: 10-15. This makes a LOT more than you’d think it does. One can of chickpeas goes a long way.
I personally never caught the hot foods bug, though. To this day, while I love my curries well enough, I've never gone in for the burn-your-mouth southwestern style of cooking. Mexico can keep its chipotles and habaneros, I certainly don't like them.
But today I decided to try a recipe that promised to jazz up hummus, and I like hummus enough that I was willing to be jazzed. Even if it involved peppers. To make it even more promising, the hummus in question would let me make use of the red and yellow bell peppers that my tiny kitchen garden has just started to produce. I was sold. Bring on the hummus.
And it turns out, I like it! So here's the recipe, one of the rare and elusive hot food recipes from Joye.
Hot Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
1 can chickpeas (15 oz), drained
2 red bell peppers (I use peppers from my garden, so I use 4 very small peppers)
1 tsp chipotle in adobo (more if you like it really spicy, leave it out if you hate heat in your food)
3 cloves garlic, chopped into chunks
2 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp paprika
¼ medium onion, rough chopped
2 tsp cumin
3 tbsp lemon juice
Nonstick grilling spray (olive oil spray also works)
(Optional) 1 cup shredded parmesan, loosely packed
Pepper
Salt
Remove the seeds from the bell peppers. Spray a nonstick pan with grilling spray and sit it over medium-high heat. Lay the bell peppers in the pan skin-side-down, and roast them until the skin develops black spots. While the peppers are roasting, chop the onion and garlic. When the peppers are done, chop them into chunks to make it easier on your food processor. Add all the ingredients except the salt and pepper (and the cheese, if you're using it) to the food processor, and process until smooth. Taste and season (warning: season carefully, because a little salt goes a long way in hummus. Be conservative about your salt additions). If you need more moisture, add water, or if you like your hummus a little smoother, add a hint of olive oil to smooth it out. This is the point to dump in the cheese if that's your thing. Process again to mix in the new additions, taste, and serve. It’s good warm, room temp, or cool. I serve with carrots or snow peas for dipping, but toasted pita triangles are good too.
Servings: 10-15. This makes a LOT more than you’d think it does. One can of chickpeas goes a long way.
Baba Ghanouj
I’ve been on a dip streak lately, so one I’m posting a recipe for baba ghanouj (that spelling… every person I meet spells this dip differently!) that I adapted from a college friend of mine. She was in the hospitality school at our university to become a chef, and our dorm served as her willing guinea pigs. This is a version of her recipe, cut back a little on the lemon juice and with the addition of the mint. What can I say, I like mint. I also like almonds, so even though it’s probably heresy to any actual middle eastern person, I sometimes chop those and add them too. Added bonus: this dip is both absurdly low-cal, and vegan. I've been trying to eat less meat lately (meat is expensive!), so a veggie-only dip is good for me.
Baba Ghanouj
1 eggplant
3 cloves garlic
1/8 cup lemon juice (Give or take. I usually just fill a ¼ cup measure about half full, so it’s never exact.)
1 heaping tbsp tahini
1 tsp ground cumin
(Optional) ½ tsp fresh mint (my plant is peppermint, so I use that, but it doesn’t matter)
(Optional) ¼ cup finely chopped almonds (the “finely” here is important. Your food processor will NOT appreciate large pieces of almonds.)
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 430F and slice the eggplant into ½ inch thick slices. Spray a baking tray with nonstick grilling spray (the grilling spray takes more heat; normal nonstick spray will burn) and arrange the eggplant in a single layer on the tray. For extra reassurance, you can spray both sides of each eggplant slice with the grilling spray too. Bake the eggplant for 30-40 minutes or until the middle of all the slices have sunk down and turned softly brown. Remove the eggplant from the oven and use a paring knife to peel each slice. Chop the garlic into chunks. Dump the slices into a food processor and add the lemon juice, tahini, cumin, salt, pepper, and any other additives you may like to the processor as well. Process until smooth (this may take a while, especially for the eggplant seeds), scraping down the sides of the processor once or twice to make sure that all the bits get chopped up. Serve chilled or room temperature, with veggies or toasted pita slices. I like carrots and sweet peas for dipping, but supposedly broccoli, cauliflower, and celery are good too.
Servings: 8-10
Baba Ghanouj
1 eggplant
3 cloves garlic
1/8 cup lemon juice (Give or take. I usually just fill a ¼ cup measure about half full, so it’s never exact.)
1 heaping tbsp tahini
1 tsp ground cumin
(Optional) ½ tsp fresh mint (my plant is peppermint, so I use that, but it doesn’t matter)
(Optional) ¼ cup finely chopped almonds (the “finely” here is important. Your food processor will NOT appreciate large pieces of almonds.)
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 430F and slice the eggplant into ½ inch thick slices. Spray a baking tray with nonstick grilling spray (the grilling spray takes more heat; normal nonstick spray will burn) and arrange the eggplant in a single layer on the tray. For extra reassurance, you can spray both sides of each eggplant slice with the grilling spray too. Bake the eggplant for 30-40 minutes or until the middle of all the slices have sunk down and turned softly brown. Remove the eggplant from the oven and use a paring knife to peel each slice. Chop the garlic into chunks. Dump the slices into a food processor and add the lemon juice, tahini, cumin, salt, pepper, and any other additives you may like to the processor as well. Process until smooth (this may take a while, especially for the eggplant seeds), scraping down the sides of the processor once or twice to make sure that all the bits get chopped up. Serve chilled or room temperature, with veggies or toasted pita slices. I like carrots and sweet peas for dipping, but supposedly broccoli, cauliflower, and celery are good too.
Servings: 8-10
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Simple Pie Crust
One of my favorite parts of summer is the fruit. I love fresh peaches, strawberries, blackberries. And with fresh fruit, comes fruit pies.
I find that a lot of people are intimidated by pie crusts, which always strikes me as funny. A good pie crust is no more difficult to make than a simple cookie recipe, and the buttery, flaky crust is what makes or breaks a pie for me. No store-bought cardboard-tasting crusts here, thanks, I'll make my own.
This is the recipe that my mother has used for years for pie crusts. It's remarkably easy, and I think it originally came from a Southern Living cookbook. It makes a single crust (just the bottom layer). If you want a double crusted pie (bottom and top) just double the recipe. Below the pie recipe, I've included the directions for setting a pie crust, which is the most important part of pie making that most people don't do. It involves crisping the outside of the pie crust, so that when you fill the pie with a liquid and bake it, the crust stays crisp instead of absorbing so much liquid that it turns to mush. More pie-makers than you would believe allow their crusts to turn all mushy because they neglect to set the pie properly, but it always tastes much nicer when the crust is still crisp, even on the bottom.
Simple Pie Crust
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening (you can substitute unsalted butter here, but I find that shortening makes a more flaky crust)
4 or 5 tbsp water
Stir together the flour and salt, mixing them thoroughly. Add the shortening, and cut it into the flour until the shortening is in pieces the size of small peas. Add the water one tbsp at a time, tossing the dough and mixing after each addition. After the fourth or fifth tbsp, the dough should suddenly assume the consistency of proper pie-crust, almost as if my magic. Stop adding water immediately; the goal is a dough that is moist and very faintly sticky, but never wet. Form your dough into a ball. It should stick to itself easily, but shouldn't stick to your hands if you've got the consistency right.
Flour a large flat surface lightly, and flour a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a round sheet, about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. When the dough is properly thin, grab your pie dish. Fold the dough in half, the into quarters and lift it into the pie dish. Unfold it, and press it into the corners of the dish. There should be some crust that hangs over the edges. Trim this crust off with a paring knife, and use the resulting scraps to patch any holes, cracks, or thin areas of the crust. If you want to be artistic, you can flute your crust by pressing the edges between your fingers and repeating as you move around the pie-dish.
Set the crust by lightly beating one egg white with a tsp of cold water, then brushing this mixture over your crust. Poke holes all across the bottom of the crust, then refrigerate it for 30 minutes. These two steps will keep your crust flat while you bake it by preventing airpockets and hot-spots. Bake the crust for 5 minutes at 450F, then allow it to cool to room temperature before adding whatever liquid filling you've got in mind.
Very Important Note: Your pie crust will shrink as it sets or bakes. This means that when you trim the crust, you should not trim it too close to the pie-dish, or you will end up with a crust that is shorter than your dish. When in doubt err on the side of too long when it comes to trimming pies.
I find that a lot of people are intimidated by pie crusts, which always strikes me as funny. A good pie crust is no more difficult to make than a simple cookie recipe, and the buttery, flaky crust is what makes or breaks a pie for me. No store-bought cardboard-tasting crusts here, thanks, I'll make my own.
This is the recipe that my mother has used for years for pie crusts. It's remarkably easy, and I think it originally came from a Southern Living cookbook. It makes a single crust (just the bottom layer). If you want a double crusted pie (bottom and top) just double the recipe. Below the pie recipe, I've included the directions for setting a pie crust, which is the most important part of pie making that most people don't do. It involves crisping the outside of the pie crust, so that when you fill the pie with a liquid and bake it, the crust stays crisp instead of absorbing so much liquid that it turns to mush. More pie-makers than you would believe allow their crusts to turn all mushy because they neglect to set the pie properly, but it always tastes much nicer when the crust is still crisp, even on the bottom.
Simple Pie Crust
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening (you can substitute unsalted butter here, but I find that shortening makes a more flaky crust)
4 or 5 tbsp water
Stir together the flour and salt, mixing them thoroughly. Add the shortening, and cut it into the flour until the shortening is in pieces the size of small peas. Add the water one tbsp at a time, tossing the dough and mixing after each addition. After the fourth or fifth tbsp, the dough should suddenly assume the consistency of proper pie-crust, almost as if my magic. Stop adding water immediately; the goal is a dough that is moist and very faintly sticky, but never wet. Form your dough into a ball. It should stick to itself easily, but shouldn't stick to your hands if you've got the consistency right.
Flour a large flat surface lightly, and flour a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a round sheet, about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. When the dough is properly thin, grab your pie dish. Fold the dough in half, the into quarters and lift it into the pie dish. Unfold it, and press it into the corners of the dish. There should be some crust that hangs over the edges. Trim this crust off with a paring knife, and use the resulting scraps to patch any holes, cracks, or thin areas of the crust. If you want to be artistic, you can flute your crust by pressing the edges between your fingers and repeating as you move around the pie-dish.
Set the crust by lightly beating one egg white with a tsp of cold water, then brushing this mixture over your crust. Poke holes all across the bottom of the crust, then refrigerate it for 30 minutes. These two steps will keep your crust flat while you bake it by preventing airpockets and hot-spots. Bake the crust for 5 minutes at 450F, then allow it to cool to room temperature before adding whatever liquid filling you've got in mind.
Very Important Note: Your pie crust will shrink as it sets or bakes. This means that when you trim the crust, you should not trim it too close to the pie-dish, or you will end up with a crust that is shorter than your dish. When in doubt err on the side of too long when it comes to trimming pies.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Pepperjack Gougeres, BLT Style
Man, has it ever been a long time since I posted here! I'm not dead (yet), I'm just busy. And for me, busy usually means resorting to cold cuts and apples for all sorts of meals. Yesterday, I ate an apple for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, and an apple and a turkey sandwich for dinner. You've no idea how much it pains me to admit that. I hate feeling uncreative.
The good news is, last weekend I managed to find time to test a new recipe, and it turned out splendidly. It's my take on Judy Rodgers's (of Zuni fame) recipe for gougeres. What, you ask, are gougeres? They're little cheesy puff pastries, like what might happen if you took a cheese biscuit and inflated it. They're also bite-sized, which was a nice change of pace for me. I love making whole meals out of appetizers. I always find myself tempted to eat too many if the appetizer is good, so turning them into a whole meal lets me combine this tendency with my love of interactive food. Appetizers are sort of interactive, right? You can eat them with your fingers, at least.
Anyway, where normal people would eat one or two gougeres for an appetizer, I eat seven or eight for a meal. And they're fabulous done this way: cheesy little puffs stuffed with the makings of a BLT, my all-time favorite sandwich. I took Judy's excellent recipe and toyed with it (as I'm wont to do), adding a Southern twist by incorporating pepperjack cheese into the puffs. You could probably also add pimentos, and do a riff on pimento cheese with these, which I think would be both clever and tasty. Maybe I'll try that next time I get a hankering for mini-sandwiches. You could also fiddle with the stuffings for these, and turn them into just about anything you need. Ham and scrambled eggs could be added for a breakfast sandwich (Yum! They're really good this way), or fill them with whatever you've got in your pantry. I just love BLTs, and these make a great little conduit for that passion.
Pepperjack Gougeres, BLT style
For the gougere batter:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chicken broth (I know I always say use stock, but I used broth here, because this should really only be a hint of flavor, not a whole shebang)
3 tbsp unsalted butter (use the European kind if you can get it)
1 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Gruyere, grated
1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, grated
To stuff the gougeres:
10-12 slices bacon
8 or so leaves Romaine lettuce, washed and de-stemmed
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Pour in the flour (yes, all at once) and stir with a wooden spoon or a very stiff spatula until the batter pulls away from the edges of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the batter cook for a few minutes, until it seems almost stiff and fairly shiny.
When it reaches the shiny stage, remove it from the heat and add an egg. Stir vigorously with the spoon or spatula until the egg is incorporated. At first, the egg will not seem to incorporate at all, but gradually, with lots of stirring, it can be coaxed into the batter to mix in completely. Have patience, and a strong stirring arm. It takes me five minutes or so of stirring to incorporate the egg. The batter will at first seem like slabs of slippery paste, but should eventually return to the sticky point once it's absorbed the egg.
Repeat this process for the other two eggs, stirring until each is completely mixed in before adding the next one. It's okay if the batter cools quite a bit during this process. Once you're done adding the eggs, season with pepper, then add all the cheese. Fold the cheese into the mix. Some of it should melt, but it's okay if you have pieces that don't. That makes it even better.
Using a large spoon, dollop the batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1 tbsp per gougere. They should come out looking like little mounds. These don't have to be perfect, pointy bits that stick off will just add a hint of crunch to them.
Bake your gougeres until they are golden-brown and and firm. In my oven, this took 30 minutes, but set your oven's timer for 20 and check them often after that so that they don't overcook. To check if they're done, remove a single gougere from the parchment and pry it open. The inside strands of dough should be tender and moist, but not mushy. If it's underdone, just stick it back together, put it back on the parchment, and bake for a few more minutes.
While the gougeres are cooking, get out a pan and your bacon. Cut the bacon strips in half, one 1/2 strip per gougere. When I'm making these to eat, I sually don't cook all the bacon at once. I only cook enough for the gougeres I'll eat at that meal, and leave the rest for when I eat the others later. Bacon always tastes best when cooked fresh. Cook the bacon in the pan over medium-high heat until crispy, turning once or twice to crisp all sides. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel.
Tear the lettuce into manageable pieces, about the same size as a cooked 1/2 slice of bacon. You'll want about two pieces of lettuce per gougere. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. You'll want 3 tomato halves per gougere.
To serve the gougeres, split them down the middle with a fork. Pack in a slice of bacon, two slices of lettuce, and three tomato halves, then close the top back down on the little sandwich. These are best when warm, so you can eat them fresh from the oven, or if you're eating them later, microwave a few for 30 seconds or so to warm them back up. As I said before, I recommend cooking the bacon fresh just before you eat the gougeres, so that it tastes best.
Servings: 20-25 gougeres
The good news is, last weekend I managed to find time to test a new recipe, and it turned out splendidly. It's my take on Judy Rodgers's (of Zuni fame) recipe for gougeres. What, you ask, are gougeres? They're little cheesy puff pastries, like what might happen if you took a cheese biscuit and inflated it. They're also bite-sized, which was a nice change of pace for me. I love making whole meals out of appetizers. I always find myself tempted to eat too many if the appetizer is good, so turning them into a whole meal lets me combine this tendency with my love of interactive food. Appetizers are sort of interactive, right? You can eat them with your fingers, at least.
Anyway, where normal people would eat one or two gougeres for an appetizer, I eat seven or eight for a meal. And they're fabulous done this way: cheesy little puffs stuffed with the makings of a BLT, my all-time favorite sandwich. I took Judy's excellent recipe and toyed with it (as I'm wont to do), adding a Southern twist by incorporating pepperjack cheese into the puffs. You could probably also add pimentos, and do a riff on pimento cheese with these, which I think would be both clever and tasty. Maybe I'll try that next time I get a hankering for mini-sandwiches. You could also fiddle with the stuffings for these, and turn them into just about anything you need. Ham and scrambled eggs could be added for a breakfast sandwich (Yum! They're really good this way), or fill them with whatever you've got in your pantry. I just love BLTs, and these make a great little conduit for that passion.
Pepperjack Gougeres, BLT style
For the gougere batter:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chicken broth (I know I always say use stock, but I used broth here, because this should really only be a hint of flavor, not a whole shebang)
3 tbsp unsalted butter (use the European kind if you can get it)
1 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Gruyere, grated
1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, grated
To stuff the gougeres:
10-12 slices bacon
8 or so leaves Romaine lettuce, washed and de-stemmed
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Pour in the flour (yes, all at once) and stir with a wooden spoon or a very stiff spatula until the batter pulls away from the edges of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the batter cook for a few minutes, until it seems almost stiff and fairly shiny.
When it reaches the shiny stage, remove it from the heat and add an egg. Stir vigorously with the spoon or spatula until the egg is incorporated. At first, the egg will not seem to incorporate at all, but gradually, with lots of stirring, it can be coaxed into the batter to mix in completely. Have patience, and a strong stirring arm. It takes me five minutes or so of stirring to incorporate the egg. The batter will at first seem like slabs of slippery paste, but should eventually return to the sticky point once it's absorbed the egg.
Repeat this process for the other two eggs, stirring until each is completely mixed in before adding the next one. It's okay if the batter cools quite a bit during this process. Once you're done adding the eggs, season with pepper, then add all the cheese. Fold the cheese into the mix. Some of it should melt, but it's okay if you have pieces that don't. That makes it even better.
Using a large spoon, dollop the batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1 tbsp per gougere. They should come out looking like little mounds. These don't have to be perfect, pointy bits that stick off will just add a hint of crunch to them.
Bake your gougeres until they are golden-brown and and firm. In my oven, this took 30 minutes, but set your oven's timer for 20 and check them often after that so that they don't overcook. To check if they're done, remove a single gougere from the parchment and pry it open. The inside strands of dough should be tender and moist, but not mushy. If it's underdone, just stick it back together, put it back on the parchment, and bake for a few more minutes.
While the gougeres are cooking, get out a pan and your bacon. Cut the bacon strips in half, one 1/2 strip per gougere. When I'm making these to eat, I sually don't cook all the bacon at once. I only cook enough for the gougeres I'll eat at that meal, and leave the rest for when I eat the others later. Bacon always tastes best when cooked fresh. Cook the bacon in the pan over medium-high heat until crispy, turning once or twice to crisp all sides. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel.
Tear the lettuce into manageable pieces, about the same size as a cooked 1/2 slice of bacon. You'll want about two pieces of lettuce per gougere. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. You'll want 3 tomato halves per gougere.
To serve the gougeres, split them down the middle with a fork. Pack in a slice of bacon, two slices of lettuce, and three tomato halves, then close the top back down on the little sandwich. These are best when warm, so you can eat them fresh from the oven, or if you're eating them later, microwave a few for 30 seconds or so to warm them back up. As I said before, I recommend cooking the bacon fresh just before you eat the gougeres, so that it tastes best.
Servings: 20-25 gougeres
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Potato-Pear Salad with Rosemary Vinaigrette Dressing
This recipe was designed to be served alongside pork tenderloin with pear glaze, and I'm pretty proud of it. It was a riff on something I saw on Top Chef, and it came out spectacularly well. The salad is a perfect combination of textures and flavours, and the dressing ties all of it together harmoniously, as well as going beautifully with the pork. I suppose I should expect it from a good chef, but this really is a beautifully balanced meal. I've been to fairly expensive restaurants that didn't show this much cohesiveness of flavour across a plate.
I recommend mixing the dressing first in this recipe, as it's something that can be done in advance then stuck in the fridge until it's needed. If you do this, microwave the dressing for 15-30 seconds to warm it a little before pouring it over the meat and salad; you don't want it to cool those down.
Potato-Pear Salad
3 medium russet potatoes, washed and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 red pears (use the other half of the pear you used to make the pear glaze)
1/2 lb green beans, rinsed and snapped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thinly
4 slices crispy bacon, pan fried then drained
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 350F. If you're doing this at the same time as the pork tenderloin, you can put them both in the oven at the same time.
In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper until all cubes are thoroughly coated. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with non-stick spray, then spread the potatoes onto it in an even single layer. Roast at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the largest potato chunks are soft all the way through, and the potatoes have begin to take on a golden crispness.
Towards the end of when the potatoes are roasting, blanch the green beans in salted water for about 5 minutes. The goal is crisp, but not raw. Err on the crisper side here. Drain the pot of beans, and add a handful of ice to the beans, then run water over them. This will shock the beans, which both softens them further and stops them from cooking. Once the beans have cooled, drain the pot again and remove any remaining chunks of ice. Reserve the beans.
While the beans are blanching, get out a small sauce pan, add a splash of olive oil, and saute the onion over medium heat until the white part turns translucent. Don't saute too much, you want to keep the pretty purple color. The goal is just to take a little of the bite out of the flavour here.
Dice the pears into 1/2 inch chucks, about the same size as the potatoes.
When the potatoes are done, taste one for seasoning and add salt if appropriate. They should taste a little like french fries. Dump the still-hot potatoes into a serving bowl, and add the pear, onion, and green beans. Crumble the bacon slices over the other ingredients, and toss the whole thing. Serve immediately, with dressing.
Note: it's important that the salad be the last thing you finish before you plate and serve the meal. If it's allowed to sit for too long, the pear juices will soften the crisp roasted outside of the potatoes, which detracts from the contrasting textures of the salad.
Servings: 6-8
Rosemary Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
About 1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped as finely as you can get it. Use a spice grinder, if you've got one.
Salt
Pepper
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, egg yolks, and Dijon until homogeneous. Add olive oil slowly, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens a little. If in doubt, taste it. (Tasting constantly is good policy throughout making this dressing.)
Add the soy sauce, honey, and rosemary to the mixture, and whisk those in completely. Taste it, then add salt and pepper to season properly.
Refrigerate until needed, and whisk once more before drizzling over salad and meat just to make sure it's mixed.
Servings: I have no idea. It was plenty for 6-8 servings of meat and salad, though.
I recommend mixing the dressing first in this recipe, as it's something that can be done in advance then stuck in the fridge until it's needed. If you do this, microwave the dressing for 15-30 seconds to warm it a little before pouring it over the meat and salad; you don't want it to cool those down.
Potato-Pear Salad
3 medium russet potatoes, washed and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 red pears (use the other half of the pear you used to make the pear glaze)
1/2 lb green beans, rinsed and snapped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thinly
4 slices crispy bacon, pan fried then drained
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 350F. If you're doing this at the same time as the pork tenderloin, you can put them both in the oven at the same time.
In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper until all cubes are thoroughly coated. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with non-stick spray, then spread the potatoes onto it in an even single layer. Roast at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the largest potato chunks are soft all the way through, and the potatoes have begin to take on a golden crispness.
Towards the end of when the potatoes are roasting, blanch the green beans in salted water for about 5 minutes. The goal is crisp, but not raw. Err on the crisper side here. Drain the pot of beans, and add a handful of ice to the beans, then run water over them. This will shock the beans, which both softens them further and stops them from cooking. Once the beans have cooled, drain the pot again and remove any remaining chunks of ice. Reserve the beans.
While the beans are blanching, get out a small sauce pan, add a splash of olive oil, and saute the onion over medium heat until the white part turns translucent. Don't saute too much, you want to keep the pretty purple color. The goal is just to take a little of the bite out of the flavour here.
Dice the pears into 1/2 inch chucks, about the same size as the potatoes.
When the potatoes are done, taste one for seasoning and add salt if appropriate. They should taste a little like french fries. Dump the still-hot potatoes into a serving bowl, and add the pear, onion, and green beans. Crumble the bacon slices over the other ingredients, and toss the whole thing. Serve immediately, with dressing.
Note: it's important that the salad be the last thing you finish before you plate and serve the meal. If it's allowed to sit for too long, the pear juices will soften the crisp roasted outside of the potatoes, which detracts from the contrasting textures of the salad.
Servings: 6-8
Rosemary Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
About 1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped as finely as you can get it. Use a spice grinder, if you've got one.
Salt
Pepper
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, egg yolks, and Dijon until homogeneous. Add olive oil slowly, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens a little. If in doubt, taste it. (Tasting constantly is good policy throughout making this dressing.)
Add the soy sauce, honey, and rosemary to the mixture, and whisk those in completely. Taste it, then add salt and pepper to season properly.
Refrigerate until needed, and whisk once more before drizzling over salad and meat just to make sure it's mixed.
Servings: I have no idea. It was plenty for 6-8 servings of meat and salad, though.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Baked Polenta Fries
Confession time: I hate to fry food. Oil gets everywhere, and usually the fried thing ends up oil-logged and too heavy. I don't do it often enough to get really good at it, and the cleanup makes me miserable. So I fry maybe, maybe once a year.
All of which means that I can't homemake French Fries. But! I was glancing through the Zuni Cafe Cookbook (which is entirely brilliant) yesterday, and saw a mention of oven roasted polenta. Now that's an idea I could get behind, I thought. Zuni does their polenta in triangles, but there was no reason that I couldn't make fries. One catch: Zuni's recipe for polenta takes over an hour (!) to make, then has to cool for three hours before it can be oven-roasted. There was no way I was waiting a whole afternoon for polenta, so I tried a recipe of my own, and it turned out fabulously.
The fries are crunchy and crisp, with hints of cheese, but none of the oily ickiness of frying. They go great with mustard or Ketchup, and I'll try them with a mayo dressing next time I make them. Cleanup was as simple as washing a saucepan and throwing away a piece of parchment. Much better! I think polenta may be the cure for my need for fries without the frying.
Baked Polenta Fries
1 qt chicken stock
2 cups coarse-ground cornmeal (if you live in the South like me, it's called grits, not polenta, but they're the same thing, essentially)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
Salt
Bring the stock to a boil in a heavy-ish saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the stock is just barely boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and pour in the cornmeal in a thin stream (this prevents clumps), stirring constantly. Allow the cornmeal to thicken the liquid, then taste for salt. Adjust seasoning. Cook, stirring constantly, until the polenta starts to pull away from the sides of the pot. This took 15 minutes or so on my stove. You will think that it is done before it reaches this stage, but have patience.
Once the polenta is the proper doneness, drop in the stick of butter and the cheese, and stir until it all gets mixed together. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick spray, and pour the polenta into the pan. Spread it out and smooth it into a thin-ish sheet, about an inch thick. Put the baking pan into the fridge (or the freezer, if you're impatient like me) to cool down. Don't cover it, it's okay if it dries out a little. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or freeze for 45 min-1 hour.
When you're ready to bake it, preheat the oven to 300F. Run a knife around the edge of the baking pan, then invert the polenta out of the pan and onto a large baking sheet covered in parchment. Slice the polenta into 'fries' (I cut mine once in half lengthwise, and then about twelve times widthwise to make 'fries' about 5 inches by 1 inch). Spread the fries out on the baking sheet and brush each lightly with olive oil. Bake for 20 min in the center of the oven, then turn on the broiler and move the fries closer to the broiler surface for another 10-15 min to give them a nice crust. Turn once during this broiling process to get them crispy on all sides. Serve piping hot with condiments for dipping.
Servings: 25 fries, or about 6-8 people.
All of which means that I can't homemake French Fries. But! I was glancing through the Zuni Cafe Cookbook (which is entirely brilliant) yesterday, and saw a mention of oven roasted polenta. Now that's an idea I could get behind, I thought. Zuni does their polenta in triangles, but there was no reason that I couldn't make fries. One catch: Zuni's recipe for polenta takes over an hour (!) to make, then has to cool for three hours before it can be oven-roasted. There was no way I was waiting a whole afternoon for polenta, so I tried a recipe of my own, and it turned out fabulously.
The fries are crunchy and crisp, with hints of cheese, but none of the oily ickiness of frying. They go great with mustard or Ketchup, and I'll try them with a mayo dressing next time I make them. Cleanup was as simple as washing a saucepan and throwing away a piece of parchment. Much better! I think polenta may be the cure for my need for fries without the frying.
Baked Polenta Fries
1 qt chicken stock
2 cups coarse-ground cornmeal (if you live in the South like me, it's called grits, not polenta, but they're the same thing, essentially)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
Salt
Bring the stock to a boil in a heavy-ish saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the stock is just barely boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and pour in the cornmeal in a thin stream (this prevents clumps), stirring constantly. Allow the cornmeal to thicken the liquid, then taste for salt. Adjust seasoning. Cook, stirring constantly, until the polenta starts to pull away from the sides of the pot. This took 15 minutes or so on my stove. You will think that it is done before it reaches this stage, but have patience.
Once the polenta is the proper doneness, drop in the stick of butter and the cheese, and stir until it all gets mixed together. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick spray, and pour the polenta into the pan. Spread it out and smooth it into a thin-ish sheet, about an inch thick. Put the baking pan into the fridge (or the freezer, if you're impatient like me) to cool down. Don't cover it, it's okay if it dries out a little. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or freeze for 45 min-1 hour.
When you're ready to bake it, preheat the oven to 300F. Run a knife around the edge of the baking pan, then invert the polenta out of the pan and onto a large baking sheet covered in parchment. Slice the polenta into 'fries' (I cut mine once in half lengthwise, and then about twelve times widthwise to make 'fries' about 5 inches by 1 inch). Spread the fries out on the baking sheet and brush each lightly with olive oil. Bake for 20 min in the center of the oven, then turn on the broiler and move the fries closer to the broiler surface for another 10-15 min to give them a nice crust. Turn once during this broiling process to get them crispy on all sides. Serve piping hot with condiments for dipping.
Servings: 25 fries, or about 6-8 people.
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