31 August 2010

Wild Rice and Sweet Corn Pancakes with Guacamole & Smoked Salmon

My dad did it again! He created another truly original, balanced, and delicious dinner — and made it look easy!

We ate our pancakes with a fresh fruit salad. Here’s the necessary info to put together this unique and lovely meal (straight from my dad!):

Wild Rice & Sweet Corn Pancakes (with homage to the Vegetarian Epicure)

Let sit to room temp:
2 C milk
1/2 stick butter
3 eggs

Then, whip whites of 3 eggs to stiff.

Mix dry ingredients:
1 C masa harina (corn flour)
1/2 C white or wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutneg

Melt butter, add milk and butter slowly to flour (mix as minimally as possible). Then, fold in egg whites as slowly as possible. Finally, add 1 C wild rice (long grain, cooked) and corn from 2-3 ears (cooked).

Classic Guacamole

Mash together the following ingredients:

3 avocados
juice of one lime
3-4 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 large onion, diced fine
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tomato, diced or, optional:
1 tbsp HOT salsa or 1 jalapeno, diced fine

For the salmon, choose a warm smoked salmon. We got ours from Tracklements. A few more notes from dad:

• If you’re short on time, slices of avocado would be fine in place of guac.
• Replace the masa harina with white flour and leave out the rice and corn, and these are the Vegetarian Epicure classic pancakes. [Ed. note: I grew up eating these and they are DELICIOUS! Best pancake recipe EVER.)

30 August 2010

Decadent Summer Delight: Cheesy Roasted Squash

I never thought to top summer squash with cheese, but it’s actually genius! Thanks to According to Lia for the easy summery recipe.

Make Lia’s Cheesy Roasted Squash!

23 August 2010

Soul-Soothing Soup: How I Got My Cooking Mojo Back

As I’ve mentioned before, I haven’t felt like cooking much lately. It’s a combination of things, but primarily the weather (who wants to spend hours in the kitchen when it’s nice outside?) and my busy schedule have made cooking seem pretty unappealing. Plus, I have a few strategies for keeping it healthy and avoiding takeout even when I don’t feel like cooking.

But this weekend, for whatever reason, my cooking mojo came back in a BIG way. I mean, I seriously got the sudden urge to cook something complicated. Or, not complicated, just… time-consuming. And nothing says real COOKING to me like soup. Soup starts with such basic elements — meat, veggies, spices, water — and turns into something that completely transcends those things. I know, I know, who wants to cook soup in the summer? Well, it was a glum, slightly cooler day, so it felt right.

I have plenty of go-to soup recipes (that exist in my head), but I was in the mood to cook something new. Something with a lot of ingredients. Something over-the-top.

Who better to turn to for that than Paula Deen? Now, I’m not a Paula Deen apologist, but I do love that she embraces ingredients that other chefs would gasp in horror at the sight of. She’s not afraid of butter. Neither am I!

Some quick Googling on the way to Whole Foods yielded this recipe for The Lady and Sons Beef and Vegetable Soup. With a novel of an ingredient list and a total cooking time of 2-3 hours, I knew I had a winner.

I spent a small fortune on ingredients, but it was worth it to reclaim my mojo!

I did all the cooking at casa del boyfriend, so I had to buy even more spices that he didn’t have on hand. Like I said, a small fortune, but worth it.

The best part about this soup? The massive amount of meat involved!

I had to brown this nearly three-pound slab of boneless chuck roast (local, my friends!). In an unusual twist, I followed Paula’s recipe nearly to a tee. And I also used a gigantic pot to fit everything!

Thank goodness the boy has this enormous pot. I definitely don’t own one this big. After a fair amount of chopping, the soup began to resemble something pretty heart-warming.

For those of you who will never venture to Deen territory, this soup had: carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, green beans, black-eyed peas, butter beans, okra, and corn. After nearly three hours simmering, it was ready to eat. Pure bliss… in a bowl!

And that, my friends, is how I got my cooking mojo back. And now I have enough soup to feed a small army. Who wants to come over for leftovers??

10 August 2010

Eat More Basil! 5 Must-Make Recipes for Fresh Basil

Have you planted a patio herb garden yet? If not, what are you waiting for?! It’s easy, cheap, and will provide you with more fresh herbs than you know what to do with… literally! My basil is growing faster than I can make pesto. So I thought I’d do a little research on what’s so great about the herb (besides the fact that my childhood cat was named after it — RIP, Basil!).

According to WHFoods, basil has 60% recommended daily value of vitamin K, along with between 5-10% recommended value of calcium, iron, vitamin A, and fiber. It’s a good source of magnesium as well as potassium and vitamin C.

Basil’s flavonoids and volatile oils are supposed to have health-protecting properties. (Read more here!)

Okay, but I don’t have to convince you to eat more basil, right? I mean, the stuff makes ANYTHING taste gourmet! And fresh basil is so much more tasty than the dried stuff. Store your fresh basil in the refrigerator wrapped in a slightly damp towel, or freeze extra herb in an airtight container (I’m definitely going to have to do this at the end of the summer!).

Now onto the good stuff. How can you use all that basil? I have a few ideas:

• Chop it up and add it to fruit salad for a unique, summery flavor! I just tasted a fruit salad with added basil last night, and it really made for a special dish. The savory, almost spicy flavor of the basil just enhanced the sweetness and tartness of the fruit!
• Make easy creamy pesto cream sauce. Combine garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and salt/pepper in your food processor. Then, heat cream over very low heat until it summers. Add it slowly to the food processor for a pasta topping TO DIE FOR.
• Go classic with tomato and mozzarella. You really can’t go wrong when you combine tomato, basil, and mozzarella. I made a really easy caprese salad using those three ingredients, and it was lovely. Mary also has a great recipe for caprese bombs. Oh, and this caprese burger always looks mouth-watering.
• Infuse olive oil with it. For every cup of oil, use two cups of tightly packed basil (you can also do this with any other herb). Blanch the basil in boiling water for five seconds and then throw it in an ice bath. After you squeeze out the liquid, puree the basil with the olive oil in a blender or food processor. Strain it if you want (I think the green bits would be pretty!), and then store refrigerated in a glass bottle. Use the oil any time you’d use regular olive oil for a wonderful added flavor!
• Make basil-infused tea. Just let your basil sit in boiling water for about eight minutes to create a unique, savory tea.

And of course, I didn’t include pesto (presto!) in this list because it’s so obvious. But you can CERTAINLY make pesto — and you should!

9 August 2010

Taste-Tested Easy Spicy Shrimp, Mango, and Avocado Salad

My aunt Mary sent me this recipe for Shrimp, Mango, and Avocado Salad with Sweet Chili-Ginger Vinaigrette from Bon Appetit (which she taste-tested and approved) along with a photo of the finished product.

I love all the components of this oh-so-summery salad, and I think it would make a great addition to any BBQ! The ingredient list is also short, which to me is a big plus. Try it out!

You’ll need:

• 1/2 cup Asian sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 12 peeled cooked large shrimp with tails left intact (about 8 ounces)
• 1 large head of butter lettuce, leaves separated
• 1 large mango, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices

Make it:

• Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl; season with salt and pepper. Place shrimp in medium bowl. Add 3 tablespoons vinaigrette; toss to coat. Divide lettuce among plates. Alternate mango, avocado, and shrimp atop lettuce on each plate. Drizzle vinaigrette over.