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 side dishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label side dishes. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Sweet Potato Fries
Way simple, but also very good.
Sweet Potato Fries
2 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1/2 tbsp paprika
Preheat your oven to 425F.
Wash and slice the potatoes into fries, about 1/2 inch on each side. Mix all ingredients together in a gallon plastic bag, tossing well to coat the potatoes.
Cover a baking sheet with tin foil (you may need two sheets depending on the size of the potatoes). Spread the fries on the baking sheet in a single layer. Cook for 30 minutes, turning every 10 min so they brown evenly. Serve immediately.
Servings: 4
Sweet Potato Fries
2 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1/2 tbsp paprika
Preheat your oven to 425F.
Wash and slice the potatoes into fries, about 1/2 inch on each side. Mix all ingredients together in a gallon plastic bag, tossing well to coat the potatoes.
Cover a baking sheet with tin foil (you may need two sheets depending on the size of the potatoes). Spread the fries on the baking sheet in a single layer. Cook for 30 minutes, turning every 10 min so they brown evenly. Serve immediately.
Servings: 4
Monday, October 27, 2008
Honey Oatmeal Bread
Okay, before you do anything else, go check your yeast. Because if you, like me, tend to neglect the use-by date on yeast packages, you, like me, may get burned with flat bread. It turns out the two-year-old yeast doesn't rise, not at all. And so the first time I made this bread, it turned out to be, well, a brick.
But the second time (this time with fresh yeast) turned out very well indeed. And so here's the recipe. It produces a light, very-faintly-sweet loaf, with a crunchy crust and gorgeous soft crumb. Plus, like all homemade breads, it smells divine while it's cooking. That might be my favorite part of breadmaking: the smell. Sure, it takes a little elbow-grease for the kneading, but when your house smells like bread for the next three days, you tend to forget the effort involved. Just remember to check on the yeast before you start.
Honey Oatmeal Bread
2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (I used the extra-active variety. If you use regular, double all the rising times I give here.)
4 cups bread flour plus extra for kneading
In a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water, oats, honey, butter and salt. Let stand for 15-20 minutes, then add the extra-active yeast. Add 2 cups of flour; mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 20 minutes. If you're like me, the dough may still be sticky at the beginning of this kneading process. Just keep adding flour as you knead until it stops sticking to everything that touches it, and achieves a proper bread-dough texture. It'll get there eventually. My loaves took anywhere from an additional 1/2 cup of flour to 1 1/2 cups.
Spray cooking spray over a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. I used my oven for this purpose: use turn it on to as low as it will go, and turn it off again once it hits 150F or so. It will cool down a little, and this will give you a warm dark place for your dough to do its rising in peace. My dough took about 40 minutes for this first rise.
Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your kitchen shears to cut the dough into two equal pieces and form loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover them with your damp towel, stick them back in your warm place, and let rise again until they once more double in volume. Mine took 20 minutes this second time. Toward the end of this rising, go ahead and preheat oven to 375F. Obviously, you have to remove the loaves from the oven if you were using it as a rising spot to do the preheating. It won't hurt them at all, just leave them covered with the towel until you're ready to cook them.
Once they've risen, bake the bread at 375F for about 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pans and sit them on a wire rack to cool before attempting to cut them. I know they smell tempting when they're hot, but they're rather fragile before they cool, and you risk squishing them if you try to cut them too early, so resist for another 15 minutes or so to give them a chance to firm up a little first.
Servings: 2 loaves, or about 20 slices
But the second time (this time with fresh yeast) turned out very well indeed. And so here's the recipe. It produces a light, very-faintly-sweet loaf, with a crunchy crust and gorgeous soft crumb. Plus, like all homemade breads, it smells divine while it's cooking. That might be my favorite part of breadmaking: the smell. Sure, it takes a little elbow-grease for the kneading, but when your house smells like bread for the next three days, you tend to forget the effort involved. Just remember to check on the yeast before you start.
Honey Oatmeal Bread
2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (I used the extra-active variety. If you use regular, double all the rising times I give here.)
4 cups bread flour plus extra for kneading
In a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water, oats, honey, butter and salt. Let stand for 15-20 minutes, then add the extra-active yeast. Add 2 cups of flour; mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 20 minutes. If you're like me, the dough may still be sticky at the beginning of this kneading process. Just keep adding flour as you knead until it stops sticking to everything that touches it, and achieves a proper bread-dough texture. It'll get there eventually. My loaves took anywhere from an additional 1/2 cup of flour to 1 1/2 cups.
Spray cooking spray over a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. I used my oven for this purpose: use turn it on to as low as it will go, and turn it off again once it hits 150F or so. It will cool down a little, and this will give you a warm dark place for your dough to do its rising in peace. My dough took about 40 minutes for this first rise.
Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your kitchen shears to cut the dough into two equal pieces and form loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover them with your damp towel, stick them back in your warm place, and let rise again until they once more double in volume. Mine took 20 minutes this second time. Toward the end of this rising, go ahead and preheat oven to 375F. Obviously, you have to remove the loaves from the oven if you were using it as a rising spot to do the preheating. It won't hurt them at all, just leave them covered with the towel until you're ready to cook them.
Once they've risen, bake the bread at 375F for about 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pans and sit them on a wire rack to cool before attempting to cut them. I know they smell tempting when they're hot, but they're rather fragile before they cool, and you risk squishing them if you try to cut them too early, so resist for another 15 minutes or so to give them a chance to firm up a little first.
Servings: 2 loaves, or about 20 slices
Friday, October 10, 2008
Yam Biscuits
These are light and fluffy and just the faintest hint of sweet: perfect for making biscuit sandwiches with some of the fresh roasted chicken from yesterday. Supper today was two chicken biscuits and some green beans: simple, but really good.
I think a good biscuit recipe or two is something every cook worth their salt should have under their belt, so here's one of my favorites.
Yam Biscuits
Adapted from Orangette
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbs light-brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 Tbs chilled unsalted butter
3/4 cup chilled sweet potato puree (Read: peeled, boiled, and pureed sweet potatoes. To avoid all the hassle, buy a tin of yams in the tinned foods section of your grocery store.)
1/3 cup buttermilk
In a large bowl, Start by whisking all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 Tbs light-brown sugar, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Using a pastry cutter, cut in 6 Tbs chilled unsalted butter, until the whole mixture resembles coarse meal, with some pea-size lumps of butter remaining. In a small bowl, use the pastry cutter again to pulverize your yams into puree, then stir in the 1/3 cup buttermilk. Stir the wet ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients until combined (do not overmix). I usually do this mixing with my hands, which will get dough all over them, but which I find is gentler than electric mixers for this.
Set the oven to preheat to 425F, then turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead very gently until dough comes together. A few remaining lumps are okay, but you shouldn't see individual chunks of butter or anything. If the dough is too sticky, work in more flour, until it achieves the proper consistency. Needing to add flour is common: the dough is right when it doesn't stick to your fingers anymore. It's too wet if you're still having sticking problems. Shape the dough into a circle, and pat it to an even 1-inch thickness. With a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits as close together as possible. Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick baking spray (the kind that has flour in it). Once you've gotten as many biscuits out of the circle as you can, gather up the scraps and repeat the process to cut out more biscuits until you've used all the dough. I usually just give up and roll the last few into little balls then press them flat to save time.
Bake the biscuits for 20 minutes or until they turn golden. I usually turn the pan around once during the cooking time; it's not necessary but it's a nice touch. If in doubt about the biscuits' doneness, test one by opening it with a fork and examining the center. It should be moist but not doughy. If the biscuit isn't done, just stick it back together and put it in to bake for another few minutes.
Servings: 12 large biscuits, or 20 small ones
I think a good biscuit recipe or two is something every cook worth their salt should have under their belt, so here's one of my favorites.
Yam Biscuits
Adapted from Orangette
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbs light-brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 Tbs chilled unsalted butter
3/4 cup chilled sweet potato puree (Read: peeled, boiled, and pureed sweet potatoes. To avoid all the hassle, buy a tin of yams in the tinned foods section of your grocery store.)
1/3 cup buttermilk
In a large bowl, Start by whisking all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 Tbs light-brown sugar, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Using a pastry cutter, cut in 6 Tbs chilled unsalted butter, until the whole mixture resembles coarse meal, with some pea-size lumps of butter remaining. In a small bowl, use the pastry cutter again to pulverize your yams into puree, then stir in the 1/3 cup buttermilk. Stir the wet ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients until combined (do not overmix). I usually do this mixing with my hands, which will get dough all over them, but which I find is gentler than electric mixers for this.
Set the oven to preheat to 425F, then turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead very gently until dough comes together. A few remaining lumps are okay, but you shouldn't see individual chunks of butter or anything. If the dough is too sticky, work in more flour, until it achieves the proper consistency. Needing to add flour is common: the dough is right when it doesn't stick to your fingers anymore. It's too wet if you're still having sticking problems. Shape the dough into a circle, and pat it to an even 1-inch thickness. With a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits as close together as possible. Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick baking spray (the kind that has flour in it). Once you've gotten as many biscuits out of the circle as you can, gather up the scraps and repeat the process to cut out more biscuits until you've used all the dough. I usually just give up and roll the last few into little balls then press them flat to save time.
Bake the biscuits for 20 minutes or until they turn golden. I usually turn the pan around once during the cooking time; it's not necessary but it's a nice touch. If in doubt about the biscuits' doneness, test one by opening it with a fork and examining the center. It should be moist but not doughy. If the biscuit isn't done, just stick it back together and put it in to bake for another few minutes.
Servings: 12 large biscuits, or 20 small ones
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
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Gourmet Green Bean Casserole
I like older recipes that you can dress up and get creative with, much like the "Take ordinary, typically bad food and make something special" challenges on Top Chef. I was fiddling around with a few ideas one day, and found myself looking at green bean casserole. The idea was good: beans and onions, with some mushrooms and a little crunch. I remained unsatisfied with my makeover efforts, though, until I discovered a recipe online for a take on green bean casserole that looked like it had possibilities. Still, I wouldn't be me if I didn't love to fiddle with peoples' perfectly good recipes, so I altered it a little, tossed in some cheese on a whim, cut the chopping time by using frozen beans, that sort of thing. And here it is, the green bean casserole that's fancy enough for me to make on Christmas.
Gourmet Green Bean Casserole
1 1/2 lbs green beans, frozen
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lb (8 oz) baby bella mushrooms (shitake work also)
1 SMALL pinch ancho chile powder
3/4 cup chicken stock (broth works also)
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp dry sherry or white wine
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup Jarlsberg cheese, finely grated (gruyere works also)
1 1/2 slices whole wheat bread
1/2 can french fried onions
1 tbsp margerine or butter substitute
Salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 400F.
Begin by boiling a pot of water with 1 tbsp salt in it. I know, it seems like a lot, but it's right, trust me. The beans don't absorb much, so don't be shy. Add the frozen beans when the water boils, then bring the pot back to a boil and let the beans cook for 5-10 minutes until they're tender but not wilting. Drain in a colander and run cool water over them to stop the cooking process, then let them sit while you finish the rest of the recipe.
Wash your mushrooms and tear them into pieces (tearing gives a nice textural contrast to the machine-sliced 'shrooms in canned casseroles). Throw them in a pan with a teeny dash of olive oil, and let them saute over medium-high heat while you dice your garlic. Add the garlic to the pan when you get done with it, along with a little salt, some pepper, and the pinch of chile powder.
While the mushrooms are cooking, whisk the flour into your chicken stock, making sure there are no lumps. When the mushrooms are golden brown and beginning to render their juices, add the stock to the pan along with the sherry or wine. Turn the heat on the burner down to medium and stir until the sauce thickens (this should happen pretty quickly, so keep an eye on it). When it's thick, add the cream and the Jarlsberg to the pan and stir to mix. Stir occasionally until this mixture thickens.
When you've got a nice thick cream sauce, add the beans into the pan and mix the whole thing together. Sit the pan off the heat for a moment while you make the topping.
To make the topping, pulse the bread and the margerine together in a food processor until it turns into moist little crumbs. Dump these out into a bowl, and add the fried onions to them, then use your hands to mix the onions and bread crumbs together.
To assemble the whole casserole, get a medium-large casserole dish and pour in the bean-mushroom mixture from the pan, spreading it into an even layer. Sprinkle the breadcrumb-onion mix on evenly top. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on this, and take the casserole out when the topping turns a deep golden brown, but before it burns. Serve immediately.
Servings: 8-10.
Gourmet Green Bean Casserole
1 1/2 lbs green beans, frozen
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lb (8 oz) baby bella mushrooms (shitake work also)
1 SMALL pinch ancho chile powder
3/4 cup chicken stock (broth works also)
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp dry sherry or white wine
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup Jarlsberg cheese, finely grated (gruyere works also)
1 1/2 slices whole wheat bread
1/2 can french fried onions
1 tbsp margerine or butter substitute
Salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 400F.
Begin by boiling a pot of water with 1 tbsp salt in it. I know, it seems like a lot, but it's right, trust me. The beans don't absorb much, so don't be shy. Add the frozen beans when the water boils, then bring the pot back to a boil and let the beans cook for 5-10 minutes until they're tender but not wilting. Drain in a colander and run cool water over them to stop the cooking process, then let them sit while you finish the rest of the recipe.
Wash your mushrooms and tear them into pieces (tearing gives a nice textural contrast to the machine-sliced 'shrooms in canned casseroles). Throw them in a pan with a teeny dash of olive oil, and let them saute over medium-high heat while you dice your garlic. Add the garlic to the pan when you get done with it, along with a little salt, some pepper, and the pinch of chile powder.
While the mushrooms are cooking, whisk the flour into your chicken stock, making sure there are no lumps. When the mushrooms are golden brown and beginning to render their juices, add the stock to the pan along with the sherry or wine. Turn the heat on the burner down to medium and stir until the sauce thickens (this should happen pretty quickly, so keep an eye on it). When it's thick, add the cream and the Jarlsberg to the pan and stir to mix. Stir occasionally until this mixture thickens.
When you've got a nice thick cream sauce, add the beans into the pan and mix the whole thing together. Sit the pan off the heat for a moment while you make the topping.
To make the topping, pulse the bread and the margerine together in a food processor until it turns into moist little crumbs. Dump these out into a bowl, and add the fried onions to them, then use your hands to mix the onions and bread crumbs together.
To assemble the whole casserole, get a medium-large casserole dish and pour in the bean-mushroom mixture from the pan, spreading it into an even layer. Sprinkle the breadcrumb-onion mix on evenly top. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on this, and take the casserole out when the topping turns a deep golden brown, but before it burns. Serve immediately.
Servings: 8-10.
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.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Zucchini Bread
Every summer, I plant a squash plant and a zucchini plant. One of each is plenty since it's just me and the cat at home, and then I have fresh veggies for most of the summer. The problem is that the plants often produce far more than I can reasonably use. My favorite solution to this problem is to grate the unused zucchinis or squash (Squashes? What's the plural of a squash?) in a food processor, then freeze them in 2 cup ziploc bags. This way I can make zucchini bread all winter long.
Recently, I realized that I have a lot of frozen zucchini left in my freezer, so I need to make batches of zucchini bread before the summer comes and I have fresh ones again. This is the recipe I've been using since I was about twelve, and found out what zucchini bread was. It produces a wonderfully moist loaf. I like to eat a slice with a nice cup of hot tea just before bed.
Zucchini Bread
Note: Zucchini turns out to be very wet when you grate it. When frozen, the water often leaches out during thawing, and you end up with a bunch of water and some zucchini matter at the bottom of the bag. It's fine, actually, it doesn't make a difference to the recipe, but I usually discard about half the water in the bag after thawing so that the batter doesn't get too thin. YMMV. With fresh zucchini, you don't need to worry about any of this.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (Or yellow squash. You can do substitutions within the squash family here)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 325F. Spray two 8x4 loaf pans with a non-stick baking spray (the kind that has flour in it as well as non stick spray). If you don't have a non-stick baking spray, use a regular non-stick spray, then flour the sprayed pans.
Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Beat these until they're mixed completely, then add them to the dry ingredient mixture and mix all of it until it forms a relatively smooth batter. Add in the zucchini, and stir until it gets incorporated. Add in the walnuts, and stir until those get incorporated evenly. Pour the batter into the loaf pans.
Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of a loaf comes out clean. For my oven, it takes about 55 minutes. Another test of doneness is how much a loaf falls in the center when you remove it from the oven: it may relax a little, but it shouldn't fall too much. Too much collapsing means it need a few more minutes.
When the loafs are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool for ten or so minutes. Run a knife around the edges to separate the loaf from the pan, then invert them onto a plate and reinvert them onto a cooling rack (this process means you get a loaf sitting right-side up on the rack. You can do it with two cooling racks, if you don't want to dirty a plate). Let the loaf cool for another hour or so before cutting.
These loaves freeze well, and will last almost indefinitely in the freezer.
Servings: 2 loaves
Recently, I realized that I have a lot of frozen zucchini left in my freezer, so I need to make batches of zucchini bread before the summer comes and I have fresh ones again. This is the recipe I've been using since I was about twelve, and found out what zucchini bread was. It produces a wonderfully moist loaf. I like to eat a slice with a nice cup of hot tea just before bed.
Zucchini Bread
Note: Zucchini turns out to be very wet when you grate it. When frozen, the water often leaches out during thawing, and you end up with a bunch of water and some zucchini matter at the bottom of the bag. It's fine, actually, it doesn't make a difference to the recipe, but I usually discard about half the water in the bag after thawing so that the batter doesn't get too thin. YMMV. With fresh zucchini, you don't need to worry about any of this.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (Or yellow squash. You can do substitutions within the squash family here)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 325F. Spray two 8x4 loaf pans with a non-stick baking spray (the kind that has flour in it as well as non stick spray). If you don't have a non-stick baking spray, use a regular non-stick spray, then flour the sprayed pans.
Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Beat these until they're mixed completely, then add them to the dry ingredient mixture and mix all of it until it forms a relatively smooth batter. Add in the zucchini, and stir until it gets incorporated. Add in the walnuts, and stir until those get incorporated evenly. Pour the batter into the loaf pans.
Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of a loaf comes out clean. For my oven, it takes about 55 minutes. Another test of doneness is how much a loaf falls in the center when you remove it from the oven: it may relax a little, but it shouldn't fall too much. Too much collapsing means it need a few more minutes.
When the loafs are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool for ten or so minutes. Run a knife around the edges to separate the loaf from the pan, then invert them onto a plate and reinvert them onto a cooling rack (this process means you get a loaf sitting right-side up on the rack. You can do it with two cooling racks, if you don't want to dirty a plate). Let the loaf cool for another hour or so before cutting.
These loaves freeze well, and will last almost indefinitely in the freezer.
Servings: 2 loaves
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Scalloped Turnips
Starches are passe in the world of today's health-conscious diet. Most people eschew bread and the humble potato in favor of green veggies, fruits, and lean dairy. And this is as it should be. A girl can eat all the carrots she wants, and generally not gain a pound if she doesn't dip them in anything.
But sometimes, I long for the days before we knew what a calorie was. Back when classic French technique was the only way to go, and butter, cream, and pasta (starch! lovely starch!) were key ingredients in every self-respecting cook's repertoire. Before milk came in lowfat versions, and before margerine and "spreads" made their molecularly altered way into our refrigerators. This is a recipe for those days. It's pretty simple: boil some starches, make a roux, combine, add cheese. Presto! Scalloped potatoes, or turnips, or even pasta, if that's the starch that floats your boat.
I made it today with turnips, because I had one sad, neglected turnip sitting in my crisper waiting to be turned into something good. Turnips aren't what everyone thinks of when they make gratins or scallops, but I like it, because it's just enough of something different to add pizazz to a dish. If you've grown up with a child's aversion to turnips (because someone overboiled them, or didn't season them, or served them plain without any dressing, etc), give this one a try. It's like scalloped potatoes without the boring.
Scalloped Turnips
1 large turnip, or 2 medium ones, peeled
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (or more, if you like cheese as much as I do)
Optional: 3 slices bacon
Start by slicing the turnips very thinly. Fill a pot with salted water and boil the turnip slices for 15 or 20 minutes, until they're soft. Taste a turnip at this point, I think they're good just like this. But we'll be adding stuff to them. Pour the potatoes into a gratin dish (or a small baking dish).
Preheat the oven to 250F. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour one tbsp at a time, and whisk into a roux. Add the milk, turn the heat up to medium, and stir until the mixture has thickened into a simple white sauce. On my stove, this takes between 5 and 10 minutes. Taste the sauce, and add salt until it's properly seasoned. Keep a spare hand with the salt, it's easy to go overboard and end up with a salty sauce (ew!).
Pour the finished white sauce over the turnips. Sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce has distributed itself throughout the dish.
If you're feeling extra industrious (or if you've just got a hankering for bacon), pan fry up some bacon while the dish is in the oven, then crumble it into bits and sprinkle those liberally on top. Yum!
Servings: 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side
But sometimes, I long for the days before we knew what a calorie was. Back when classic French technique was the only way to go, and butter, cream, and pasta (starch! lovely starch!) were key ingredients in every self-respecting cook's repertoire. Before milk came in lowfat versions, and before margerine and "spreads" made their molecularly altered way into our refrigerators. This is a recipe for those days. It's pretty simple: boil some starches, make a roux, combine, add cheese. Presto! Scalloped potatoes, or turnips, or even pasta, if that's the starch that floats your boat.
I made it today with turnips, because I had one sad, neglected turnip sitting in my crisper waiting to be turned into something good. Turnips aren't what everyone thinks of when they make gratins or scallops, but I like it, because it's just enough of something different to add pizazz to a dish. If you've grown up with a child's aversion to turnips (because someone overboiled them, or didn't season them, or served them plain without any dressing, etc), give this one a try. It's like scalloped potatoes without the boring.
Scalloped Turnips
1 large turnip, or 2 medium ones, peeled
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (or more, if you like cheese as much as I do)
Optional: 3 slices bacon
Start by slicing the turnips very thinly. Fill a pot with salted water and boil the turnip slices for 15 or 20 minutes, until they're soft. Taste a turnip at this point, I think they're good just like this. But we'll be adding stuff to them. Pour the potatoes into a gratin dish (or a small baking dish).
Preheat the oven to 250F. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour one tbsp at a time, and whisk into a roux. Add the milk, turn the heat up to medium, and stir until the mixture has thickened into a simple white sauce. On my stove, this takes between 5 and 10 minutes. Taste the sauce, and add salt until it's properly seasoned. Keep a spare hand with the salt, it's easy to go overboard and end up with a salty sauce (ew!).
Pour the finished white sauce over the turnips. Sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce has distributed itself throughout the dish.
If you're feeling extra industrious (or if you've just got a hankering for bacon), pan fry up some bacon while the dish is in the oven, then crumble it into bits and sprinkle those liberally on top. Yum!
Servings: 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side
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.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Winter Greens and Chickpeas
I grew up in the deepest part of the American South, where greens are a staple. Tobacco isn't the only huge, leafy plant that gets the royal treatment around here: collards and mustard greens grow three feet tall in farmers' backyard gardens or in huge fields for market. The interesting thing about Southern greens, though, is that few Southern cooks know how to prepare them properly. The standard way is to boil them for hours in plain water with a ham hock, which yields a tasteless, textureless mass that ranks slightly below Spam on my list of unappealing foods. Leave it to the South to grow agricultural glory, then squander it on poor preparation.
Luckily for the greens of the world, it does not have to be so. This recipe capitalizes on their earthy, down-home goodness by complementing them with plump, nutty chickpeas and a rich, slightly tangy combo of chicken stock and lemon juice. With all due respect to the Southern cooks I grew up with, this ain't your mama's greens. These are so simply, earthily good that after I perfected the recipe I made six batches over the course of two weeks, because I didn't want to eat anything else for lunch.
I make this recipe using kale, because its mild flavor adapts nicely to the braising process I use here, but you can use any winter green. Chard would be lovely. The stronger flavoured greens (mustard, collard) might need longer cooking times, but I see no reason why they wouldn't be fine. I think that I originally got the idea from Orangette, here, but this version has evolved quite a bit from hers, so I feel no qualms about claiming it for my own.
Winter Greens and Chickpeas
Servings: 4-6
Luckily for the greens of the world, it does not have to be so. This recipe capitalizes on their earthy, down-home goodness by complementing them with plump, nutty chickpeas and a rich, slightly tangy combo of chicken stock and lemon juice. With all due respect to the Southern cooks I grew up with, this ain't your mama's greens. These are so simply, earthily good that after I perfected the recipe I made six batches over the course of two weeks, because I didn't want to eat anything else for lunch.
I make this recipe using kale, because its mild flavor adapts nicely to the braising process I use here, but you can use any winter green. Chard would be lovely. The stronger flavoured greens (mustard, collard) might need longer cooking times, but I see no reason why they wouldn't be fine. I think that I originally got the idea from Orangette, here, but this version has evolved quite a bit from hers, so I feel no qualms about claiming it for my own.
Winter Greens and Chickpeas
Approx. 1 lb winter greens (Like I said, I use kale here, but others would work. The 1 lb measurement is after the greens have had the tough stems taken out, so you’ll need to buy more than that at the store. I usually get two bunches.)
1 can Bush or Goya chickpeas, drained but not necessarily rinsed (I like the taste of the chickpea-juice, so I don’t rinse them. If it’s not your thing, go ahead and rinse. No big deal either way.)
1 medium-large scallion, thinly sliced
3 smallish leeks, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Prep the greens by rinsing them thoroughly, then cutting the stems out, leaving only the leaves. Discard the stems, and slice the greens into thin ribbons (1/4 in.). Set greens aside. If greens are still wet after this process, that’s fine.
In a very wide sauce pan with a lid, add a generous 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the scallion and leeks, cooking slowly until leeks and scallion have softened and are beginning to turn translucent. Add the garlic, and cook for another minute or so, then dump in the greens, working in batches to wilt the greens down enough until they all fit into the pan. Stir often, and make sure nothing sticks to the pan. Pour the chicken stock and lemon juice over the semi-wilted greens, then cover the pan, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook for fifteen-ish minutes. The goal here is a slow simmer, not a sizzle. The greens will absorb the flavours of the stock and lemon juice, and will release their own bitterness to become tender and earthy. After fifteen minutes or so, remove the lid, salt the mixture to taste, stir, and replace the lid for another five minutes. If it’s getting low on moisture, add a little more chicken stock to make sure that nothing sticks to the pan. If you're using a stronger flavoured green, you might add a little more stock here, and double the cooking time.
Servings: 4-6
Twice-Baked Savory Sweet Potatoes
Savory Sweet potatoes? Isn't that an oxymoron?
Nope! These sweet potatoes aren't your ordinary, marshmallow-infested Thanksgiving fare. These are sweet spuds with a little kick, ready to take their place at the grown-ups' table and laughing at the brown sugar monstrosities that so many people think of when they think sweet potatoes. They take a little time, but they're really very easy. Most of the time is just baking in the oven, and what could be easier than that?
I came up for the idea with these as I do most of my culinary creations: staring vacantly into my pantry and wondering what I was thinking when I bought sweet potatoes on impulse. I practically never eat sweet potatoes, but these were so plump and earthy and tempting that they practically leapt into my grocery basket. So here I was, wondering what the proper treatment might be for sweet potatoes if I wasn't in the mood for something sugary. By coincidence, they were sitting beside my little jar of curry paste in the pantry, and so this inspired combination was born. The curry sets off the sweetness of the potatoes by providing a slight tang, nothing too ostentatious, just enough to make your tastebuds sit up and take notice. It also pulls out the sweetness in the caramelized onions and the buttermilk, which I added because I adore ordinary mashed potatoes with buttermilk. Anyway, this combination is one that I'll be making again, and soon. The next time I get tempted by sweet potatoes that look too good to resist, I'll know exactly how to do them justice.
Twice-Baked Savory Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes (orange or yellow works, I've even made it with one of each)
1/4 large yellow onion, finely diced (or 1/2 medium onion, the onions are very large where I live)
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided into small cubes
1/4 tsp red curry paste (I use Thai curry, but whatever your favorite is should be fine)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded, plus additional cheese to garnish
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 400F. Wrap the sweet potatoes in tin foil, twisting the ends like candy to make handling easy. When the oven is ready, pop in the sweet potatoes, and leave them there to bake for 1 hr - 1 hr 10 min. Test a potato with a fork to see if they're done: the fork should penetrate to the center of the potato with little or no resistance. Yellow sweet potatoes take longer to get done than orange ones, and will seem more resistant to the fork even when they are done. This is normal.
Towards the end of the potatoes' cooking time, add the olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. Drop in the onion, and caramelize until just barely amber-colored. This is a stage somewhere after 'translucent', and before 'french onion soup brown'. This should take about 10 min. Remove the onions from the heat.
Remove the potatoes from the oven, and unwrap them. Lower the oven temperature to 350F, but keep it going, you'll need it later. Using a very sharp knife, carefully cut the potatoes in half. I say 'carefully', because the goal is to get the potatoes in half while leaving the delicate skins intact. Once the potatoes are halved, scoop out the center of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl, leaving 1/4 in of potato attached to the skins. This should form little potato 'bowls' out of the skins, into which we will eventually be returning the gussied-up innards. Set aside the skins, you'll return to them later.
Add the small cubes of butter to the hot potato guts, and pour in the buttermilk. Stir vigorously, until the potatoes' heat has melted the butter and the mixture is fairly smooth. Add the onion, a dash of salt to taste, and a dash of pepper to taste. Mix these in, then taste the mixture. Adjust seasoning.
Add in the curry paste, and stir until mixed thoroughly. Taste the mixture, and add more curry if desired (truthfully, I probably end up using more like 3/8 or 1/2 tsp here. It's completely a personal preference thing, though). Make sure the curry is mixed evenly; if you're using the paste it can take some hard stirring to get it to mix right. Add in the cheese, and stir until that's mixed completely. The potato should still be hot enough to melt the cheese, but don't worry if it's not. It doesn't matter.
Line a square baking tin with foil. I use one with high sides, because it tends to support the potatoes better. Place the four skins in this baking pan, and scoop the curry mixture back into the skins. You should be able to get it all in, don't be afraid to mound it up a little if needed. On top of the refilled potato halves, sprinkle some more Parmesan and maybe a dash of nutmeg if you're feeling artistic. Place the baking tin in the oven at 350F, and bake for 15-20 min. The Parmesan on top of the potatoes should be melted, and the potatoes should be warm all the way through. Serve!
Servings: 4 as a side dish, perhaps only 2 as a main dish
Nope! These sweet potatoes aren't your ordinary, marshmallow-infested Thanksgiving fare. These are sweet spuds with a little kick, ready to take their place at the grown-ups' table and laughing at the brown sugar monstrosities that so many people think of when they think sweet potatoes. They take a little time, but they're really very easy. Most of the time is just baking in the oven, and what could be easier than that?
I came up for the idea with these as I do most of my culinary creations: staring vacantly into my pantry and wondering what I was thinking when I bought sweet potatoes on impulse. I practically never eat sweet potatoes, but these were so plump and earthy and tempting that they practically leapt into my grocery basket. So here I was, wondering what the proper treatment might be for sweet potatoes if I wasn't in the mood for something sugary. By coincidence, they were sitting beside my little jar of curry paste in the pantry, and so this inspired combination was born. The curry sets off the sweetness of the potatoes by providing a slight tang, nothing too ostentatious, just enough to make your tastebuds sit up and take notice. It also pulls out the sweetness in the caramelized onions and the buttermilk, which I added because I adore ordinary mashed potatoes with buttermilk. Anyway, this combination is one that I'll be making again, and soon. The next time I get tempted by sweet potatoes that look too good to resist, I'll know exactly how to do them justice.
Twice-Baked Savory Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes (orange or yellow works, I've even made it with one of each)
1/4 large yellow onion, finely diced (or 1/2 medium onion, the onions are very large where I live)
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided into small cubes
1/4 tsp red curry paste (I use Thai curry, but whatever your favorite is should be fine)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded, plus additional cheese to garnish
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 400F. Wrap the sweet potatoes in tin foil, twisting the ends like candy to make handling easy. When the oven is ready, pop in the sweet potatoes, and leave them there to bake for 1 hr - 1 hr 10 min. Test a potato with a fork to see if they're done: the fork should penetrate to the center of the potato with little or no resistance. Yellow sweet potatoes take longer to get done than orange ones, and will seem more resistant to the fork even when they are done. This is normal.
Towards the end of the potatoes' cooking time, add the olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. Drop in the onion, and caramelize until just barely amber-colored. This is a stage somewhere after 'translucent', and before 'french onion soup brown'. This should take about 10 min. Remove the onions from the heat.
Remove the potatoes from the oven, and unwrap them. Lower the oven temperature to 350F, but keep it going, you'll need it later. Using a very sharp knife, carefully cut the potatoes in half. I say 'carefully', because the goal is to get the potatoes in half while leaving the delicate skins intact. Once the potatoes are halved, scoop out the center of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl, leaving 1/4 in of potato attached to the skins. This should form little potato 'bowls' out of the skins, into which we will eventually be returning the gussied-up innards. Set aside the skins, you'll return to them later.
Add the small cubes of butter to the hot potato guts, and pour in the buttermilk. Stir vigorously, until the potatoes' heat has melted the butter and the mixture is fairly smooth. Add the onion, a dash of salt to taste, and a dash of pepper to taste. Mix these in, then taste the mixture. Adjust seasoning.
Add in the curry paste, and stir until mixed thoroughly. Taste the mixture, and add more curry if desired (truthfully, I probably end up using more like 3/8 or 1/2 tsp here. It's completely a personal preference thing, though). Make sure the curry is mixed evenly; if you're using the paste it can take some hard stirring to get it to mix right. Add in the cheese, and stir until that's mixed completely. The potato should still be hot enough to melt the cheese, but don't worry if it's not. It doesn't matter.
Line a square baking tin with foil. I use one with high sides, because it tends to support the potatoes better. Place the four skins in this baking pan, and scoop the curry mixture back into the skins. You should be able to get it all in, don't be afraid to mound it up a little if needed. On top of the refilled potato halves, sprinkle some more Parmesan and maybe a dash of nutmeg if you're feeling artistic. Place the baking tin in the oven at 350F, and bake for 15-20 min. The Parmesan on top of the potatoes should be melted, and the potatoes should be warm all the way through. Serve!
Servings: 4 as a side dish, perhaps only 2 as a main dish
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