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.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
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
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Roast Chicken
Once upon a time, I dared myself to eat for $15 a week. I wasn't entirely sure when I decided to try it that it could be done, but it turns out that it's not so hard. The secret? Roast chicken.
A small whole chicken (3-4 pounds, a fryer hen) is ridiculously economical meat. I can get them at my local store for about $4.50. Roasted, they're enough to feed me dinner for three or four days, and they produce really useful byproducts: namely chicken stock and leftover bits of meat that I use for chicken salads. I've already given my chicken noodle soup recipe, and I'm somewhat shocked that I didn't give my roast recipe at that time, but since today I roasted a hen and it turned out beautifully, it's clearly time to remedy that oversight.
A good roast chicken is lovely to behold. Golden brown and juicy, I've always thought it's an almost formal-looking dish: a Thanksgiving turkey in miniature. Roasted properly, it's also lovely to taste, with a perfect moist-but-not-too-moist texture and a delicately herb infused flavour that I find difficult to achieve by any other method. Combine these succulent selling points with the fact that a single roast chicken easily can be stretched into meals for a week (two or three nights of plain chicken and some veggies, two or three nights of chicken noodle soup, two or three nights of hot chicken salad), it's a bird that more cooks should learn to lean on.
This method for roasting was cobbled together from various sources, most memorably the Zuni Cafe Cookbook's famous bird, and Barbara Kafka's Julia Child Cookbook Award-winning method.
Roast Chicken
1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs is perfect, but up to 6 lbs is fine)
Salt (1 tbsp per 4 lbs of bird)
Baking soda (use the same amount of baking soda as you do salt, so if you've got a 4 lb bird, use 1 tbsp of each)
1/2 cup fresh rosemary
1/2 cup fresh thyme
Begin the day before you plan to actually cook the bird. Extract the giblets and neck from the body of the bird (save these in a pot nearby and use them to make stock), and rinse the whole thing thoroughly. Using paper towels, dry the chicken completely both inside and out. Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the breast and thighs. Mix the salt and baking soda together, and rub the mixture evenly over the bird. Sit the salted-and-sodaed bird on a rack and put it back in the fridge to wait until the next day. I know that a lot of cooks aren't big on prep that needs to take place the day before, but let me tell you, this is worth it. It's essential. The salt soaks into the bird and gives it amazing flavour, and the baking soda dries out the skin so you get the coveted crisp, crackly skin that cookbook covers envy. Plus it cuts way down on the prep time for the day you cook the bird.
Once you've refrigerated your chicken, it's time to make stock. Fill a soup pot with water and toss in the giblets and neck. Add a handfull of baby carrots, some of the tough stems of brocolli, the dark green tops of leeks that you never use, etc. Boil this for a few hours, then strain it through cheesecloth and skim the fat off the top. Save the fat as seasoning if you like, but certainly save the stock. You can use it with leftover bits of the chicken meat to make soup.
The next day, begin by preheating your oven to 450F. Remove chicken and rack from the fridge, and turn the chicken over so that the breast is pointed down towards the rack. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits across the bottom of the chicken (the side currently facing up). This will allow the fat to drain off more effectively, and will help you achieve the perfect skin. Stuff your herbs into the cavity of the upside down chicken, then place chicken and rack in a roasting pan, and stick it in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and use two spatulas to turn it over so that the breast faces the top. I advise spatulas in lieu of tongs, because tongs have the anoying tendency to rip the skin, which is not the desired result. Spatulas are gentler. Once you've flipped your bird so that the breast side is facing up, sprinkle pepper on top and replace the ckicken in the oven for another 25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 140F. Raise the oven temperature to 500F, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature hits 165F. Remove the bird from the oven, and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before cutting it so that the juices get a chance to redistribute themselves.
A note about cooking at 500F: this temperature is high enough to burn all the dripped bits out of the bottom of your oven. As such, you may want to run your stove-top fan, and keep an eye on the bird to see if you need to open a window, because it may smoke a little. i've never yet had a bird catch fire, so I'm convinced this method is very safe, but because you're essentially cleaning the bottom of your oven by doing this, you may get smoke from some of the drips heating up.
Servings: 6-8, plus stock.
A small whole chicken (3-4 pounds, a fryer hen) is ridiculously economical meat. I can get them at my local store for about $4.50. Roasted, they're enough to feed me dinner for three or four days, and they produce really useful byproducts: namely chicken stock and leftover bits of meat that I use for chicken salads. I've already given my chicken noodle soup recipe, and I'm somewhat shocked that I didn't give my roast recipe at that time, but since today I roasted a hen and it turned out beautifully, it's clearly time to remedy that oversight.
A good roast chicken is lovely to behold. Golden brown and juicy, I've always thought it's an almost formal-looking dish: a Thanksgiving turkey in miniature. Roasted properly, it's also lovely to taste, with a perfect moist-but-not-too-moist texture and a delicately herb infused flavour that I find difficult to achieve by any other method. Combine these succulent selling points with the fact that a single roast chicken easily can be stretched into meals for a week (two or three nights of plain chicken and some veggies, two or three nights of chicken noodle soup, two or three nights of hot chicken salad), it's a bird that more cooks should learn to lean on.
This method for roasting was cobbled together from various sources, most memorably the Zuni Cafe Cookbook's famous bird, and Barbara Kafka's Julia Child Cookbook Award-winning method.
Roast Chicken
1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs is perfect, but up to 6 lbs is fine)
Salt (1 tbsp per 4 lbs of bird)
Baking soda (use the same amount of baking soda as you do salt, so if you've got a 4 lb bird, use 1 tbsp of each)
1/2 cup fresh rosemary
1/2 cup fresh thyme
Begin the day before you plan to actually cook the bird. Extract the giblets and neck from the body of the bird (save these in a pot nearby and use them to make stock), and rinse the whole thing thoroughly. Using paper towels, dry the chicken completely both inside and out. Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the breast and thighs. Mix the salt and baking soda together, and rub the mixture evenly over the bird. Sit the salted-and-sodaed bird on a rack and put it back in the fridge to wait until the next day. I know that a lot of cooks aren't big on prep that needs to take place the day before, but let me tell you, this is worth it. It's essential. The salt soaks into the bird and gives it amazing flavour, and the baking soda dries out the skin so you get the coveted crisp, crackly skin that cookbook covers envy. Plus it cuts way down on the prep time for the day you cook the bird.
Once you've refrigerated your chicken, it's time to make stock. Fill a soup pot with water and toss in the giblets and neck. Add a handfull of baby carrots, some of the tough stems of brocolli, the dark green tops of leeks that you never use, etc. Boil this for a few hours, then strain it through cheesecloth and skim the fat off the top. Save the fat as seasoning if you like, but certainly save the stock. You can use it with leftover bits of the chicken meat to make soup.
The next day, begin by preheating your oven to 450F. Remove chicken and rack from the fridge, and turn the chicken over so that the breast is pointed down towards the rack. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits across the bottom of the chicken (the side currently facing up). This will allow the fat to drain off more effectively, and will help you achieve the perfect skin. Stuff your herbs into the cavity of the upside down chicken, then place chicken and rack in a roasting pan, and stick it in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and use two spatulas to turn it over so that the breast faces the top. I advise spatulas in lieu of tongs, because tongs have the anoying tendency to rip the skin, which is not the desired result. Spatulas are gentler. Once you've flipped your bird so that the breast side is facing up, sprinkle pepper on top and replace the ckicken in the oven for another 25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 140F. Raise the oven temperature to 500F, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature hits 165F. Remove the bird from the oven, and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before cutting it so that the juices get a chance to redistribute themselves.
A note about cooking at 500F: this temperature is high enough to burn all the dripped bits out of the bottom of your oven. As such, you may want to run your stove-top fan, and keep an eye on the bird to see if you need to open a window, because it may smoke a little. i've never yet had a bird catch fire, so I'm convinced this method is very safe, but because you're essentially cleaning the bottom of your oven by doing this, you may get smoke from some of the drips heating up.
Servings: 6-8, plus stock.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Southern Egg Rolls with Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
A few months back, my parents went on vacation to Charleston, South Carolina and ate at a restaurant there called Magnolias, which is famous for its 'Southern Fusion' cuisine: southern-style takes on dishes from all over the world. Dad came back raving about the appetizer he'd had, a southern-style egg roll with a peach chutney on top. The idea sounded intriguing: substitute collard greens for the cabbage in an egg roll, and use Southern staple meats (chicken, ham, tasso). The chutney sounded amazing, and the ingredients in the egg roll didn't sound difficult. But I'm not one for frying, so I forgot about the egg rolls for a while.
Fast forward to three weeks ago. I was browsing through the cookbooks at my local Books-a-million. I'd been captivated by the plating in a cookbook by Morimoto (yes, the Iron Chef), and I still want to try the recipe for vegan mac-and-cheese in a Moosewood cookbook. But while browsing the regional cuisines shelf, I noticed that Magnolias had put out a cookbook, and lo and behold, there in a place of honor was the recipe for the egg rolls. "Well, that looks easy," I thought. "It's all ingredients I should be able to find around here, and none of the techniques look tough." But I still wasn't a fan of frying. So the egg rolls kind of percolated in the back of my mind for a few weeks, and today when I went grocery shopping, I swore to try them before the season for peaches went out. The key to my change of heart was a blog recipe I found for baked egg rolls, a genius invention that eliminated all the downsides I had been worrying about with this recipe.
They were amazing. They're very very good, a combination of chewy and crisp, earthy and light, with a dash of sweetness from the chutney holding everything together and making it sing. Seriously, don't make this without the chutney. It is the je ne sais quoi that makes this recipe work. I'll be making these again and again, not just for dad, but because I think I'm in love too.
Southern Egg Rolls with Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
Egg Rolls:
1/2 minced large vidalia onion
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 lb kale or collard greens, uncooked (I use kale, but I'll try collards next time, because I think their stronger flavour will pair well with the chutney)
10 egg roll wrappers
1 tbsp cornstarch
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Begin by preheating the oven to 425F.
Wash the greens thoroughly, and wilt them in a saucepan over medium-high heat with a teeny dash of olive oil, just enough to keep them from sticking to the pan. When they're wilted, slide them out of the pan and onto a cutting board, then chop them into thin, short ribbons. Once they've been chopped, slide them onto folded paper towels, place another folded paper towel on top, and press as much moisture as you can out of the greens. Then transfer them to a colander and use your paper towels to mash them against the sides of the colander, to get even more moisture out. Leave them in the colander to drain while you finish the rest of the filling preparations. Sprinkle some salt over the draining greens to help them remove water, and to season them.
Mince the onion and slide it into the saucepan to saute over medium-high heat. When the onion is just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook until the onion has caramelized. Reserve the onion and garlic in a medium-sized bowl, and use the same saucepan to cook the chicken, again, using only a teeny dash of olive oil to keep it from sticking. When the chicken is done all the way through and slightly browned, slide it out of the pan and onto the cutting board, where you can chop it into bite-sized strips. Add it to the onion and garlic, then dump in the greens. Use your hands to mix these ingredients thoroughly.
At this point, all the egg roll fillings are finished and you're ready to roll your wrappers. Do not begin rolling, however, until you've started your chutney over heat. Go chop all the stuff for that, then come back to this. Ready? Good.
Set a paper towel over your cutting board to help keep it dry. In a small dish, mix the tbsp of cornstarch with an equal amount of water, and stir until it has no lumps. Place an egg roll wrapper on the towel with one corner facing down, so that it looks like a diamond instead of a square. Brush the edges with the cornstarch mixture, to help them stick. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out a heaping 1/4 cup of filling and place it in the middle of the diamond. Arrange the filling into a thick horizontal line between the right and left corner of the diamond. Fold the bottom corner of the diamond upwards, to form a sort of pouch over the filling. Fold the right and left corners each a small way in, just enough to cover the filling (so that the roll takes on a long, thinnish shape). Finish by rolling the egg roll towards the top. Repeat until you've use all your filling (I usually get between seven and ten egg rolls out of this, depending on how much greens I'm using).
Take a baking sheet, and spray it with non-stick spray. Place the egg rolls evenly on the sheet, seam side down, and then spray the tops with the non-stick spray. Bake for 6-7 minutes on one side, then turn them over, spray the other side with cooking spray, and bake for 6-7 more minutes to finish. Serve while hot, with chutney on the side for dipping.
Because they're baked instead of fried, these tend to reheat pretty well in a toaster oven for lunch the next day, if you manage to have leftovers.
Servings: 2-3 if you use them as a meal like I do and everyone eats several, or 8-10 if you use them as appetizers and everyone eats only one.
Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
1 large, or two small peaches, peeled and minced (If you're using frozen peaches, go for about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 vidalia onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
Slightly less than 1/4 cup light brown sugar (I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup, but don't quite fill it all the way)
Slightly less than 1/4 cup regular sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar
Add all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until they're mixed. Turn the heat down to medium-low (on my stove, this is a very thin boil) and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chutney thickens and achieves a syrupy consistency. While it's cooking, go roll your egg rolls and let those cook. At first, the chutney will get more liquidy instead of less, since the sugar will encourage the peaches to release their juices, but eventually it will thicken back up. Use it immediately, or cool it to room temperature and refrigerate. It should keep 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
Note: If you're using fresh peaches, go for slightly underripe ones. The ones your grocery store sells are probably perfect. If you use fully ripe ones, they'll lose their consistency during cooking and get mushy.
Servings: see above, with the egg rolls.
Fast forward to three weeks ago. I was browsing through the cookbooks at my local Books-a-million. I'd been captivated by the plating in a cookbook by Morimoto (yes, the Iron Chef), and I still want to try the recipe for vegan mac-and-cheese in a Moosewood cookbook. But while browsing the regional cuisines shelf, I noticed that Magnolias had put out a cookbook, and lo and behold, there in a place of honor was the recipe for the egg rolls. "Well, that looks easy," I thought. "It's all ingredients I should be able to find around here, and none of the techniques look tough." But I still wasn't a fan of frying. So the egg rolls kind of percolated in the back of my mind for a few weeks, and today when I went grocery shopping, I swore to try them before the season for peaches went out. The key to my change of heart was a blog recipe I found for baked egg rolls, a genius invention that eliminated all the downsides I had been worrying about with this recipe.
They were amazing. They're very very good, a combination of chewy and crisp, earthy and light, with a dash of sweetness from the chutney holding everything together and making it sing. Seriously, don't make this without the chutney. It is the je ne sais quoi that makes this recipe work. I'll be making these again and again, not just for dad, but because I think I'm in love too.
Southern Egg Rolls with Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
Egg Rolls:
1/2 minced large vidalia onion
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 lb kale or collard greens, uncooked (I use kale, but I'll try collards next time, because I think their stronger flavour will pair well with the chutney)
10 egg roll wrappers
1 tbsp cornstarch
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Begin by preheating the oven to 425F.
Wash the greens thoroughly, and wilt them in a saucepan over medium-high heat with a teeny dash of olive oil, just enough to keep them from sticking to the pan. When they're wilted, slide them out of the pan and onto a cutting board, then chop them into thin, short ribbons. Once they've been chopped, slide them onto folded paper towels, place another folded paper towel on top, and press as much moisture as you can out of the greens. Then transfer them to a colander and use your paper towels to mash them against the sides of the colander, to get even more moisture out. Leave them in the colander to drain while you finish the rest of the filling preparations. Sprinkle some salt over the draining greens to help them remove water, and to season them.
Mince the onion and slide it into the saucepan to saute over medium-high heat. When the onion is just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook until the onion has caramelized. Reserve the onion and garlic in a medium-sized bowl, and use the same saucepan to cook the chicken, again, using only a teeny dash of olive oil to keep it from sticking. When the chicken is done all the way through and slightly browned, slide it out of the pan and onto the cutting board, where you can chop it into bite-sized strips. Add it to the onion and garlic, then dump in the greens. Use your hands to mix these ingredients thoroughly.
At this point, all the egg roll fillings are finished and you're ready to roll your wrappers. Do not begin rolling, however, until you've started your chutney over heat. Go chop all the stuff for that, then come back to this. Ready? Good.
Set a paper towel over your cutting board to help keep it dry. In a small dish, mix the tbsp of cornstarch with an equal amount of water, and stir until it has no lumps. Place an egg roll wrapper on the towel with one corner facing down, so that it looks like a diamond instead of a square. Brush the edges with the cornstarch mixture, to help them stick. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out a heaping 1/4 cup of filling and place it in the middle of the diamond. Arrange the filling into a thick horizontal line between the right and left corner of the diamond. Fold the bottom corner of the diamond upwards, to form a sort of pouch over the filling. Fold the right and left corners each a small way in, just enough to cover the filling (so that the roll takes on a long, thinnish shape). Finish by rolling the egg roll towards the top. Repeat until you've use all your filling (I usually get between seven and ten egg rolls out of this, depending on how much greens I'm using).
Take a baking sheet, and spray it with non-stick spray. Place the egg rolls evenly on the sheet, seam side down, and then spray the tops with the non-stick spray. Bake for 6-7 minutes on one side, then turn them over, spray the other side with cooking spray, and bake for 6-7 more minutes to finish. Serve while hot, with chutney on the side for dipping.
Because they're baked instead of fried, these tend to reheat pretty well in a toaster oven for lunch the next day, if you manage to have leftovers.
Servings: 2-3 if you use them as a meal like I do and everyone eats several, or 8-10 if you use them as appetizers and everyone eats only one.
Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
1 large, or two small peaches, peeled and minced (If you're using frozen peaches, go for about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 vidalia onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
Slightly less than 1/4 cup light brown sugar (I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup, but don't quite fill it all the way)
Slightly less than 1/4 cup regular sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar
Add all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until they're mixed. Turn the heat down to medium-low (on my stove, this is a very thin boil) and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chutney thickens and achieves a syrupy consistency. While it's cooking, go roll your egg rolls and let those cook. At first, the chutney will get more liquidy instead of less, since the sugar will encourage the peaches to release their juices, but eventually it will thicken back up. Use it immediately, or cool it to room temperature and refrigerate. It should keep 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
Note: If you're using fresh peaches, go for slightly underripe ones. The ones your grocery store sells are probably perfect. If you use fully ripe ones, they'll lose their consistency during cooking and get mushy.
Servings: see above, with the egg rolls.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Lemon Dill Tilapia
After a productive August, September has been so drab. The two recipes I've given are good, but it's only two. Sigh. Perhaps I shouldn't set my goals so high. When you're like me and eat leftovers for literally a week after you cook, seven recipes in a month is an accomplishment.
Anyway, here's a recipe I tried recently and liked. The best thing about this is that while it tastes good and is remarkably forgiving (I left it in the oven for seven minutes longer than it should be, oops!), it only takes about three minutes to make. If you're slow about chopping things. The toughest part about this is remembering to set the fish out to thaw beforehand. Also, conveniently, this recipe doesn't produce enough leftovers to last for weeks. I'll only be eating it for a few days, and it's good enough that leftovers won't be a chore at all.
The actual fish is very good. I don't poach things often, but this is poached in dill-infused lemon juice and parchment, and the texture is wonderful. The flavour is very lemony, but while it's strong, I didn't find it overwhelming. In fact, I liked it more than usual, because I'm not a big fan of 'fishy' tasting fish. I like my fish delicate and sweet, or steaky, like young flounder for the former or salmon for the latter. Tilapia is just not my favorite fish, even if it's cheap. This recipe doesn't talk down to the tilapia, but it also doesn't let the tilapia run away with the show.
Lemon-dill Tilapia
1 1/2 lemons, sliced
2 tilapia fillets (To buy fresh tilapia, look for fillets that are reddish, not brownish. Brownish means old.)
10 -15 baby carrots, chopped into little circles
2 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt
Pepper
Thaw the fish first, if frozen. Preheat the oven to 375F.
Cut parchment paper into two 13x9 rectangles. Don't worry about the dimensions much, you just need enough to be able to wrap a fillet in each. Place three lemon slices in the center of each rectangle, and sit a fillet on top of them. Sprinkle salt and pepper over each fillet. Add the remaining lemon slices to the top of each fillet, and sprinkle both fillets evenly with carrots, dill, and paprika. Top each fillet with 1/2 tbsp butter. Fold the parchment over the fish, and tuck the ends of each parchment packet under to keep it closed. Sit both parchment packets on a baking sheet to eliminate any mess in the oven.
Bake at 375F for 20 - 25 minutes or until the fish is done. The timing on this is really forgiving, you won't get overdone fish even if you leave it in for a half hour. Serve immediately.
Servings: 2-3
Anyway, here's a recipe I tried recently and liked. The best thing about this is that while it tastes good and is remarkably forgiving (I left it in the oven for seven minutes longer than it should be, oops!), it only takes about three minutes to make. If you're slow about chopping things. The toughest part about this is remembering to set the fish out to thaw beforehand. Also, conveniently, this recipe doesn't produce enough leftovers to last for weeks. I'll only be eating it for a few days, and it's good enough that leftovers won't be a chore at all.
The actual fish is very good. I don't poach things often, but this is poached in dill-infused lemon juice and parchment, and the texture is wonderful. The flavour is very lemony, but while it's strong, I didn't find it overwhelming. In fact, I liked it more than usual, because I'm not a big fan of 'fishy' tasting fish. I like my fish delicate and sweet, or steaky, like young flounder for the former or salmon for the latter. Tilapia is just not my favorite fish, even if it's cheap. This recipe doesn't talk down to the tilapia, but it also doesn't let the tilapia run away with the show.
Lemon-dill Tilapia
1 1/2 lemons, sliced
2 tilapia fillets (To buy fresh tilapia, look for fillets that are reddish, not brownish. Brownish means old.)
10 -15 baby carrots, chopped into little circles
2 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt
Pepper
Thaw the fish first, if frozen. Preheat the oven to 375F.
Cut parchment paper into two 13x9 rectangles. Don't worry about the dimensions much, you just need enough to be able to wrap a fillet in each. Place three lemon slices in the center of each rectangle, and sit a fillet on top of them. Sprinkle salt and pepper over each fillet. Add the remaining lemon slices to the top of each fillet, and sprinkle both fillets evenly with carrots, dill, and paprika. Top each fillet with 1/2 tbsp butter. Fold the parchment over the fish, and tuck the ends of each parchment packet under to keep it closed. Sit both parchment packets on a baking sheet to eliminate any mess in the oven.
Bake at 375F for 20 - 25 minutes or until the fish is done. The timing on this is really forgiving, you won't get overdone fish even if you leave it in for a half hour. Serve immediately.
Servings: 2-3
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Ithaca Potato-Cheese Soup
After August was a productive month, September has been sadly the opposite. It's mostly the fault of a huge batch of Mexican Minestrone I made fairly early in the month. I didn't like it enough to post here, but there was so much of it that I haven't cooked anything much since, because I had to eat the leftovers. I hate it when that happens: a recipe turns out to produce more than you think it will, but doesn't taste as good as you'd hoped, so that you're stuck eating the sub-par remains for longer than you'd like. Anyway, it's gone now, and to celebrate (because I deserved a reward after all that), I made this soup instead. I can't really believe I hadn't put it on here yet; it's one of my fall staples (I guess I haven't been writing this for a year yet, so maybe I'm just coming around to my fall recipes).
I lived in Ithaca, NY for years, a town best known to many culinary afficiandoes as the home of the Moosewood Restaurant, perhaps the most famous exclusively vegetarian restaurant in the world. I ate at the Moosewood on a semi-regular basis, and loved it: the fun, unpretentious atmosphere; the generally knowledgeable and always friendly waitstaff; and most of all, the appreciation for genuinely delicious vegetarian cooking. The Moosewood always cooked balls-to-the-wall, with no apologies for their vegetarian ethos and no sacrifices on the flavour end for health.
Naturally (much like the Zuni cafe), I felt compelled to attempt to replicate some of their recipes for myself. Luckily (again, like Zuni), the Moosewood publishes a Beard-winning cookbook to help me. The funny thing was, as I began to look over their recipes, I saw places where some of my favorites could be streamlined: butter cut out and portioning easily extended with no cuts in the flavour or quality of the recipe. So naturally, I fiddled. You saw that coming, didn't you?
This is the result, a guiltless take on the Moosewood's Potato-Cheese soup par excellence. I've managed to cut the calories nearly in half, with the help of non-stick cookware and cornstarch, so that this version has fewer calories than, say, a Lean Pocket, and tastes about a million times better. Like the Moosewood's famous incarnation of its predecessor, it's still decadently creamy, and it still practically melts in your mouth. Much like the Root Soup that was one of my very first recipes on this blog, this soup takes advantage of the fact that boiled starches puree into something altogether blissful: velvetty smooth and full of deep, earthy flavour. Then, this soup goes one further and adds cheese to the mix, one of my favorite foods! When I was a kid, I would insist on Mother re-crisping my potato skins and adding cheddar to the top of them, just because those two tastes were clearly meant to go together. This soup is a very grown-up, very good-for-you spin on the exact same concept. I always feel like I'm getting away with something when I eat it. Or maybe I'm getting away to somewhere. It takes me back to fall days in Ithaca, when the gorges roared outside my open window and the leaves melted into a riot of colors. Those were laughing days, joyful days, some of the best days of my life. This is a soup that tastes like that.
Ithaca Potato-Cheese Soup
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 russet potatoes, skin on, chopped into 1 inch cubes (Or, and this is even better, you can substitute 1 1/4 lb fingerling potatoes instead. If you can get them fresh, just out of the ground, or especially if you grow your own, the flavour is AMAZING)
1 carrot, chopped
4 cups water or vegetable stock (go with the stock if you can. It adds a little je ne sais quoi)
1 tsp dill (or more, to taste)
1 1/2 cups skim milk
4 ounces of light cream cheese
1 cup sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (Find the best quality cheese that you can. You want a ton of flavour from it, since the stronger its personality, the more you'll feel it in the soup. I generally go for a local, farm-aged cheese here that far outstrips the generic supermarket brands. Trust me, it's worth the extra money)
Salt
Pepper
Optional: 1 tsp ancho chile powder, or more to taste
In a large non-stick soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the butter over medium-high heat until the onions are translucent. You may not even need the full tablespoon of butter: I usually use only the bare minimum here, to keep things from drying out too much. Add the potatoes and carrots, then the stock or water and dill and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft all the way through. Test one with a fork to make sure.
Puree the vegetables with the cream cheese and milk in a food processor. Work slowly, and only fill the food processor 1/3 full each time (hot foods can explode out it if you fill it too full!). Return the soup to the soup pot after it's been pureed. Taste the soup, and season appropriately with salt and pepper. If you're feeling adventurous, add a dash of ancho chile pepper (I use 1 tsp, then taste it and add more as needed) for a piquant Southwestern spin on this soup. Stir in the cheddar cheese and reheat gently, stirring until the cheddar is melted and incorporated smoothly into the soup.
Serve immediately, and garnish each cup or bowl with chopped fresh parsley or chives if you're serving guests.
Servings: 6-8
I lived in Ithaca, NY for years, a town best known to many culinary afficiandoes as the home of the Moosewood Restaurant, perhaps the most famous exclusively vegetarian restaurant in the world. I ate at the Moosewood on a semi-regular basis, and loved it: the fun, unpretentious atmosphere; the generally knowledgeable and always friendly waitstaff; and most of all, the appreciation for genuinely delicious vegetarian cooking. The Moosewood always cooked balls-to-the-wall, with no apologies for their vegetarian ethos and no sacrifices on the flavour end for health.
Naturally (much like the Zuni cafe), I felt compelled to attempt to replicate some of their recipes for myself. Luckily (again, like Zuni), the Moosewood publishes a Beard-winning cookbook to help me. The funny thing was, as I began to look over their recipes, I saw places where some of my favorites could be streamlined: butter cut out and portioning easily extended with no cuts in the flavour or quality of the recipe. So naturally, I fiddled. You saw that coming, didn't you?
This is the result, a guiltless take on the Moosewood's Potato-Cheese soup par excellence. I've managed to cut the calories nearly in half, with the help of non-stick cookware and cornstarch, so that this version has fewer calories than, say, a Lean Pocket, and tastes about a million times better. Like the Moosewood's famous incarnation of its predecessor, it's still decadently creamy, and it still practically melts in your mouth. Much like the Root Soup that was one of my very first recipes on this blog, this soup takes advantage of the fact that boiled starches puree into something altogether blissful: velvetty smooth and full of deep, earthy flavour. Then, this soup goes one further and adds cheese to the mix, one of my favorite foods! When I was a kid, I would insist on Mother re-crisping my potato skins and adding cheddar to the top of them, just because those two tastes were clearly meant to go together. This soup is a very grown-up, very good-for-you spin on the exact same concept. I always feel like I'm getting away with something when I eat it. Or maybe I'm getting away to somewhere. It takes me back to fall days in Ithaca, when the gorges roared outside my open window and the leaves melted into a riot of colors. Those were laughing days, joyful days, some of the best days of my life. This is a soup that tastes like that.
Ithaca Potato-Cheese Soup
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 russet potatoes, skin on, chopped into 1 inch cubes (Or, and this is even better, you can substitute 1 1/4 lb fingerling potatoes instead. If you can get them fresh, just out of the ground, or especially if you grow your own, the flavour is AMAZING)
1 carrot, chopped
4 cups water or vegetable stock (go with the stock if you can. It adds a little je ne sais quoi)
1 tsp dill (or more, to taste)
1 1/2 cups skim milk
4 ounces of light cream cheese
1 cup sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (Find the best quality cheese that you can. You want a ton of flavour from it, since the stronger its personality, the more you'll feel it in the soup. I generally go for a local, farm-aged cheese here that far outstrips the generic supermarket brands. Trust me, it's worth the extra money)
Salt
Pepper
Optional: 1 tsp ancho chile powder, or more to taste
In a large non-stick soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the butter over medium-high heat until the onions are translucent. You may not even need the full tablespoon of butter: I usually use only the bare minimum here, to keep things from drying out too much. Add the potatoes and carrots, then the stock or water and dill and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft all the way through. Test one with a fork to make sure.
Puree the vegetables with the cream cheese and milk in a food processor. Work slowly, and only fill the food processor 1/3 full each time (hot foods can explode out it if you fill it too full!). Return the soup to the soup pot after it's been pureed. Taste the soup, and season appropriately with salt and pepper. If you're feeling adventurous, add a dash of ancho chile pepper (I use 1 tsp, then taste it and add more as needed) for a piquant Southwestern spin on this soup. Stir in the cheddar cheese and reheat gently, stirring until the cheddar is melted and incorporated smoothly into the soup.
Serve immediately, and garnish each cup or bowl with chopped fresh parsley or chives if you're serving guests.
Servings: 6-8
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