Vegetable Fries Experiment

Since French Fries (well, really anything fried) cause my stomach to implode, I like to find nice baked fries recipes so I can enjoy the taste of French or sweet potato fries without the nasty heartburn complication.  Recently, I stumbled upon two fry recipes for portobello and avocado fries that looked divine.  I tweaked the avocado recipe, mostly because I didn't have panko, but also because I was short on time and it was easier just to combine both recipes.  My friend, who enjoyed this meal with me, helped me make a basil aioli for dipping.  The portobello fries are from A Cozy Kitchen, my favorite food blog to steal stuff from, and the avocado recipe is from Circle and Kitchen.

Portobello Fries

1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper
2 portobello mushrooms
2 large eggs, beaten

1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment, foil, or cooking spray.  On a plate, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, garlic powder, and oregano.  Beat the eggs in a small to medium sized bowl (big enough that you can dip portobello slices).

2) Cut the portobellos in 1/8 inch slices.  Individually, dip into the eggs and evenly coat with the bread crumb mixture.  Place the fries on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.  At about 10 minutes, flip them so they are baked evenly.

Avocado Fries

2 firm-ripe medium avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced into 1/2 inch wedges
2 large eggs
salt
1 1/4 cups panko
grated Parmesan for serving

1) Repeat the same procedure for the portobello fries, using the panko and salt to taste instead of the bread crumb mixture.

Basil Aioli

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 medium garlic clove
pinch of salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1) In a food processor or blender, combine olive oil, basil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt until mixture is smooth.

2) Combine with mayonnaise.

They were delicious! I saved the extra aioli and plan on making these tasty fries again soon!

Cauliflower Pasta

Today was a "me day".  I decided to take the day off and pamper myself.  I gave myself a facial, took a long, hot shower, and painted my toe nails.  And most importantly, I finally managed to get to the grocery store after a week of boxed mac and cheese.  To wrap up the day, I decided to try a new recipe.  Found on Kitchen Daily, this pasta recipe puts an Italian twist on cauliflower.  It originally calls for red pepper flakes, but I omitted those for my stomach's sake.  I also omitted anchovy fillets...just because.

Penne with Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower, cored and cut into 4
olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
2 to 4 tablespoons kalamata or oil-cured olives
white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped

1) Boil cauliflower until very tender, then drain.  Cook penne according to instructions.

2) Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high on a large skillet.  Add garlic and reduce heat to medium-low and stir.  Add capers and olives and saute with the garlic, but don't let the garlic brown.

3) Deglaze the pan with whit wine with just a splash.

4) Add the cauliflower to the olive mixture and mash with a fork, stirring it in and varying the textures.  Add salt and pepper to taste and even some pasta water if too dry.

5) Toss with the penne with the mixture and add cheese.  Top with parsley (which I, unfortunately, forgot to buy).  Sprinkle with a little more Parmesean for good measure, and serve.

It was great to eat something healthy again!  I will definitely be making this again.

Mushroom and Pepper Tacos

While on winter break in Spokane, my cousin made some delicious poblano pepper and mushroom tacos.  After gobbling down two and a half tacos, I knew I had to try these.  My best friend is home from school, and we took an overnight trip up to Bellingham for her to meet my roommate and our cat.  This is the perfect opportunity to make this recipe.  Now, even with mild poblano or pasilla peppers this is not an acid reflux friendly recipe.  So I took a zantac and drank some milk with dinner because these tacos are too good to pass up.

Poblano and Mushroom Tacos

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 fresh poblano chile, halved, seeded, thinly sliced into long strips
1/2 small red onion, sliced
2 portobella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 corn tortillas
4 thin slices Monterey jack cheese
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Crumbled feta, or cojita cheese
Toppings of your choice

1) Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet and saute mushrooms, onion, and poblano over medium-high heat until brown, about five minutes.  Mix in the ground cumin and season to taste with salt.  Transfer to bowl.

2) Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium-high.  Add tortillas in single layer, draping up sides of skillet to fit. Divide mushroom mixture among tortillas, mounding only on one side.  Place cheese inside and fold over.  Cook until both sides are browned, about 1 minute per side.  Transfer tacos to plates, open, and add assorted toppings.  I like avocado and sour cream.

They were wonderful!  Now to wash them down with some gelato!

Garlic Knots that make your heart melt

I'm beginning work on a play at my school (as the props master), called Rabbit Hole.  For the read through, our director decided it would be fun to have a pot luck so that cast and crew could get to know each other.  So I decided to make a recipe that I have been drooling on my keyboard over for months.  Mozzarella. Garlic. Knots. These knots are divine and I want to make them for everybody I know.

Garlic Knots

1 store bought pizza dough

5-6 mozzarella sticks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces or 1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella

1 stick unsalted melted butter

8 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon salt

oregano (enough to sprinkle on top)

Parmesan cheese

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Liberally butter a large baking dish.

2) Finely mince the garlic cloves and salt.  A small food processor (or magic bullet in my case) makes this faster and easier since it needs to be minced into a wet paste.  Stir this mixture into the butter and set aside.

3) On a floured surface, divide the pizza dough into 1 inch pieces.  Pound or stretch each piece out into a circle, about 3 inches wide.  Place the cheese in the center and fold up the dough around it.  Pinch the seams closed, and roll the dough in your hands to smooth the cracks and seams.  The less cracks, the less the cheese will escape while baking.  Place them in the buttered pan so that they just barely touch.

4) Brush the knots with the garlic butter mixture and sprinkle with oregano.  Bake in the oven for about twenty minutes, or until they are puffed up and slightly golden browned.  Once out of the oven, brush with the remaining garlic butter mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (if you have any, i didn't).  Eat them while they are hot and fresh.

They are bomb.  So amazingly delicious that I made them Monday for the read through and Wednesday for a friend.  So delicious.

Corned Beef!

Every Saint Patrick's Day my mom make corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes and it is perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  She recently e-mailed me the recipe, so even though it's not the right holiday I'm making some delicious corned beef.  My roommate and carved our Halloween pumpkins today, and I thought that a nice dinner would round out the roommate bonding.  This recipe is easy and delicious!


Corned Beef


1 package of corned beef (get a flat that comes with a seasoning packet)
water


To cook the corned beef, take it out of the package and rinse it off; put it in a roaster, or pyrex dish, add water until it is 1/2 inch from the top; sprinkle the packet of seasonings over it; cover with foil tightly, and cook at 325 for at least 3 hours.  Check at 3 hours with a fork, fork should easily pierce the meat.  Let the meat sit on a cutting board (you can place foil loosely on top) for 10-20 minutes before slicing.

I can't wait to have leftovers on rye bread with a little mustard!

Lamb with Friends!

When I was younger my parents got me a stuffed lamb for passover one year.  I named him lamby, and he was one of my favorite stuffed animals.  I have a very distinct memory of playing with lamby in my room one night before dinner.  My mom called me to dinner and I asked her what we were eating and she said lamb.  I turned to lamby and said "baaah, we're having you for dinner!"  Anyways, lamb is my favorite meat.  It is so succulent and has such a different taste than other red meats.  I don't have it very often, but I found a recipe on Epicurus for mint crusted lamb chops and knew I had to try it.  So tonight I invited three friends over and we had an amazing meal!

Savory Mint Lamb Chops (serves 4)
1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

4 large garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons salt (This seemed like a lot, so I did 1 and a smidgen)

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 lamb loin chops, trimmed

(The recipe also called for 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, but I excluded it because of my acid reflux)

Place olive oil, chopped mint, minced garlic, salt, cumin, coriander, and black pepper in a bowl and mix well. Spread the mixture over both sides of the lamb chops.  Place in broiler pan.  (I don't have a boiler pan, but foil on a regular baking sheet works just as well.)  Let stand for ten minutes, so the flavors can sink in!  Preheat the broiler.  Broil the lamb until brown and crusty, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare.

These lamb chops were so delicious I picked the bones clean!  Thanks to Kayla, Leah, and Karl for enjoying them with me!

Yam Casserole and Rosemary Asparagus

Tonight I made one of my favorite dishes of all time.  It's a yam cheese casserole.  The first time I had it was at my neighbors house on Thanksgiving.  My family had spent the day serving turkey dinners to the homeless in Seattle and did not plan on having a traditional meal.  However, our neighbors (and close friends) told us to come over and help ourselves to their leftovers.  We devoured this casserole like nobody's business.  My mom tweaked the recipe a bit (it was originally quite spicy, which is one of my acid reflux triggers) and since then it's been a thanksgiving and family staple.  This dish can also be made with sweet potatoes and is just as yummy.

Cheesy Yams

-cooking spray
-2-3 large yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
-coarse salt and ground pepper
-1 1/2 cups grated Chihuahua or Monterey Jack cheese (16oz)
-1 1/2 cups Cotija or French feta cheese, crumbled (60z)
-1 small onion, thinly sliced
-1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mushroom broth
-1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In almost every recipe I forget this first step.  It's really important to remember to preheat the oven! Pam an 9" x 18" baking dish. Arrange half of the potatoes in dish, overlapping slices, sprinkling salt and pepper between layers.  After about 2 layers, sprinkle half of each cheese and top with onion.  Stir the cilantro into broth; drizzle over the onions.  Top with the remaining potatoes using the same layering technique.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.  Cover with foil; bake for 30 or 40 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until very tender and top is well browned, about another 30 minutes.  Let cool slightly before serving.

So I definitely forgot to cover with foil and didn't bake it long enough.  It turned out fine, the yams were just a little firm.  And I am excited to eat leftovers for days!

I also made some sautéed asparagus to go with it.

Rosemary Asparagus

Asparagus, trimmed
salt and pepper
garlic powder
rosemary

Heat a little olive oil over in a skillet on medium.  Add asparagus and allow to cook for a few minutes.  When they've started browning add seasonings and cook to desired softness.