Posts Tagged ‘onion’

Daring Cooks: Rice with Mushrooms, Seafood and Artichokes

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Here it is, a few days late. For this month’s Daring Cook’s challenge Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes chose the dish Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes from renowned Spanish chef José Andrés.

Although I was very excited to try this dish, I found that I wasn’t ready for another paella-type dish so soon after making tomato paella a few weeks go. I considered skipping the challenge all together, but I’m glad that I didn’t.

I have never cooked with cuttlefish. In fact, I didn’t know people ate them. When I was younger and had a parakeet I used to give him a cuttlefish bone in his cage and he would peck at it (for calcium I think). It turns out cuttlefish is similar to squid. I could have substituted squid for cuttlefish, but Shawn isn’t really a fan of un-fried squid, so I chose mussels instead. Because mussels cook very quickly, I added them at the end of cooking when there was still a bit of liquid left in the rice. I spread them over the top of the rice and steamed them with the lid on the pan for about 8 minutes.

I made the recipe with turmeric instead of saffron, portobello mushrooms, frozen artichoke hearts and I threw in some piquillo peppers for color. I also used canned tomatoes instead of fresh for the sofregit for several reasons: 1. My tomato plants haven’t produced anything worth mentioning for at least a month. Something to do with it being too hot here for the blooms to set; 2. I didn’t make it to the farmer’s market again this week because I had to go put a new battery in my car on Saturday morning; 3. I have been wary of most fresh tomatoes from the supermarket after being traumatized by this horrible story.

Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes
From Chef José Andrés’ TV show “Made In Spain” via Olga for Daring Cooks

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Equipment:

1 Chopping Board

1 knife

1 medium saucepan

1 Paella pan (30 cm/11” is enough for 4 people. If not available, you may use a simple pan that size)

1 Saucepan

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)

12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)

1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)

1 glass of white wine

2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh)

“Sofregit” (see recipe below)

300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.

Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)

Saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)

Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) – optional

Directions:

  1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
  2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
  3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean them as shown in the video in tip #7. Cut artichokes in eights.
  4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
  5. Add a bay leaf to the cuttlefish and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
  6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
  7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
  8. Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
  9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
  10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
  11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
  12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
  13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

Sofregit
(A well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms.)

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of olive oil

5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped

2 small onions, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped (optional)

4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)

1 Bay leaf

Salt

Touch of ground cumin

Touch of dried oregano

Directions:

  1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
  2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Allioli is the optional part of the recipe. You must choose one of the two recipes given, even though I highly recommend you to try traditional one. Allioli is served together with the rice and it gives a very nice taste

Allioli (Traditional recipe)

Cooking time: 20 min aprox.

Ingredients:

4 garlic cloves, peeled

Pinch of salt

Fresh lemon juice (some drops)

Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)

Directions:

  1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
  2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
  3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
  4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
  5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
  6. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.

José’s tips for traditional recipe: It’s hard to think that, when you start crushing the garlic, it will ever turn into something as dense and smooth as allioli. But don’t give up. It’s worth the extra time and effort to see the oil and garlic come together before your eyes. Just make sure you’re adding the olive oil slowly, drop by drop. Keep moving the pestle around the mortar in a circular motion and keep dreaming of the thick, creamy sauce at the end of it all.

Allioli a la moderna (Modern recipe)

Cooking time: 3-4 minutes

Ingredients:

1 small egg

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (as above, Spanish oil is highly recommended)

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 Tbs. Spanish Sherry vinegar or lemon juice (if Sherry vinegar is not available, use can use cider or white vinegar)

Salt to taste

Directions:

  1. Break the egg into a mixing bowl.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic cloves, along with the vinegar or lemon juice.
  3. Using a hand blender, start mixing at high speed until the garlic is fully pureed into a loose paste.
  4. Little by little, add what’s left of the olive oil as you continue blending.
  5. If the mixture appears too thick as you begin pouring the oil, add 1 teaspoon of water to loosen the sauce.
  6. Continue adding the oil and blending until you have a rich, creamy allioli.
  7. The sauce will be a lovely yellow color.
  8. Add salt to taste.

José’s tips for modern recipe:
(1) If you do not have access to a hand blender, you can use a hand mixer (the kind with the two beaters) or a food processor. If you use a food processor, you must double the recipe or the amount will be too little for the blades to catch and emulsify.
(2) What happens if the oil and egg separate? Don’t throw it out. You can do two things. One is to whisk it and use it as a side sauce for a fish or vegetable. But if you want to rescue the allioli, take 1 tablespoon of lukewarm water in another beaker and start adding to the mix little by little. Blend it again until you create the creamy sauce you wanted.

Olga’s Tips:
(1) In Spain, rice is not stired as often as it is when cooking Italian risotto. You must stir it once or twice maximum. This tip is valid for all Spanish rice dishes like paella, arròs negre, arròs a banda…
(2) When cooking the alternative style you can change the cuttlefish or squid for diced potato.
(3) If you can’t find cuttlefish or squid, or you’re not able to eat them because of allergies, you can try to substitute them for chicken or vegetables at your choice.
(4) Sofregit can be done in advance. You can keep it in the fridge or even freeze it.
(5) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(6) To watch how Jose Andres cooks this dish click here.
(7) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(8) To tone down the taste when you do it by hand in a mortar, then add an egg yolk. If you want to tone it down in the alternative way use milk or soy milk. Anyway, the best alternative way is the original oil and garlic alone.
(9) Allioli must be consumed during the preparation day and preserved in the fridge before using it.
(10) For help on conversion on metric to imperial, visit this page.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Keep it Simple Stupid: Tomato Paella

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

I’ve always been one of those people that has trouble keeping things simple. For special occasion meals I tend to go overboard, choosing recipes that have 25 hard-to-find ingredients and take several days to prepare. The dishes almost always come out great, but sometimes they feel contrived and I’m left too pooped to enjoy the fruits of my labor. But occasionally, I will run across a recipe like this Tomato Paella and I am reminded that sometimes the best dishes are the ones that take little time and allow a few good ingredients to shine through.

I’ve had this recipe stored away for months, waiting for the moment that I had a few extra homegrown tomatoes to use up. When that day finally came last week, I pulled it out and realized I didn’t have any saffron. I had been meaning to order some from here, but there was no way my tomatoes would last that long. So I skipped it, subbing some tumeric instead, and I didn’t miss it.

The only other change I made to the recipe was that I cut the rice in half, thinking that two cups of rice would be too much for just the two of us. In retrospect, I could have eaten the entire full recipe by myself, but it would have taken weeks for my waistline to forgive me.

Tomato Paella
Adapted from Mark Bittman. This recipe depends on good quality tomatoes, so use the best-tasting tomatoes you can find. I would not try making it with those pink, mealy off-season atrocities from the grocery store.

1 3/4 cups water

1 1/2 pounds good-tasting tomatoes, cored and sliced into thick wedges

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 of a medium onion, diced

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon sweet smoked spanish paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 cup short-grain rice, such as arborio

chopped parsley for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Toss tomato wedges with a pinch of salt and a generous grinding of pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and set aside.

3. Warm 1/8 cup of olive oil in a medium-sized oven-proof skillet. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, paprika, tumeric and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and cook two minutes more. Add the tomato paste and cook a minute more.

4. Add the rice to the skillet and cook, stirring until shiny and slightly toasted, a minute or two. Add the water and bring to a simmer as you arrange the tomato slices on top of the rice and drizzle the tomato juices over the pan.

5. Put the skillet into the preheated oven and bake 15 minutes. The tomato skins should be wrinkled and the rice should be browned and crispy around the edges. If you like crispy rice on the bottom, put the skillet over high heat for a few minutes to allow a crust to form. Garnish with the parsley and serve.

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Posted in budget recipes, main dishes, spanish, vegetarian | 1 Comment »

Falafels—Baked, not Fried

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Falafel is a scary word to the uninitiated. Say it to most people and they will make a face and say, “what is that?” But falafel is delicious. Especially stuffed inside a fresh pita with lots of veggies and tzatziki sauce.

Falafel is made from a mixture of soaked, ground up chickpeas, flour, onion, garlic, seasonings and herbs. While falafel is not an inherently unhealthy food, it can be if made the wrong way. When you buy falafel from a greek restaurant or street vendor, the balls are generally fried, served on white pita, and slathered with tahini sauce and tzatziki.

The first time I made falafel, I fried it. It was great and I was kind of sad that it could only be an occasional treat. Then I read that you could bake it instead of frying and I was intrigued. I decided to try it on the next batch. I found that the difference in flavor was negligible and baking the balls on a cookie sheet was much faster than deep frying them. To further “healthify” the meal, I omitted the tahini sauce, which contains a lot of fat. Instead I used tzatziki made from low fat greek yogurt. I stuffed it all into a white whole wheat pita and filled it with extra tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers. And the result? It tasted just as good as the first batch and it was easier to boot.

Baked Falafel
This recipe for the falafel balls is adapted from this Epicurious recipe. The only real difference is, the balls are baked and not fried. I also like to double the recipe so I can freeze some for later. Note: You do not cook the chickpeas in this recipe. I know this sounds strange, but just go with it. I promise, it works.

2 cup dried chickpeas

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

8 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup flour

oil, for greasing the pans

For serving:

sliced cucumbers

chopped tomato

lettuce

Tzaziki sauce (recipe below)

1. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl, covered by two inches of water (the bowl will seem much too large, but the chickpeas will expand a lot). Soak the dried chickpeas overnight (at least 18-24 hours) and then drain and rinse them.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

3. Place the chickpeas, onion, parsley, cilantro, salt, red pepper flakes, cumin, garlic, baking powder and flour in a food processor and process until well blended.

4. Grease two large cookie sheets (my falafel stuck a little bit to my cookie sheet, so you may want to use a silicone baking mat if you have it, or I suppose you could line the pan with parchment). Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop the chickpea mixture and place it on the cookie sheet in rows about an inch apart (alternately you could roll the mixture into balls the size of walnuts, but the scoop really speeds up the process—I highly recommend using it).

5. Taste the mixture and adjust for seasonings.

6. Bake the falafel for about 20 minutes, or until they feel dry and firm. If they stick to the pan, allow them to cool some before trying to remove them.

7. Stuff each pita with 3 or four falafel balls, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers and a generous dollop of tzaziki sauce.

Tzaziki Sauce

16 oz low fat or fat free greek yogurt

1/2 of a seedless cucumber, grated

2 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons fresh herbs of choice (dill, mint, parsley or cilantro)

juice of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Taste and adjust seasonings.

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Posted in budget recipes, main dishes, mediterranean | 3 Comments »

Little Dumplings of Joy

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Sunday night as I was going through my Google Reader I noticed an abundance of dumpling recipes on favorite sites like Chez Us and Use Real Butter. It turns out that the June Daring Cooks challenge is Chinese dumplings or potstickers. I had just recently learned about the Daring Kitchen and decided to sign up. But, it turns out there is a waiting period to be an “official” participating member. Something about keeping the challenges secret. Fair enough. I still wanted dumplings. Unfortunately, it was late, I didn’t have the ingredients and I was exhausted. So instead, I sobbed silently over a plate of hot dog fried rice. Don’t judge me.

There is one person I know that makes the best “mandu” (korean dumplings) I have ever eaten in my entire life. Her name is Wool and she is pretty much amazing. She can turn the simplest of ingredients into the most flavorful dishes you have ever tasted. Although she has told me the secrets of her mandu, I have never been able to replicate them, and believe me I have tried. Thinking maybe she was leaving out some ancient Korean secret, I bought this book by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee called Eating Korean. It’s a great book—I’m not by any means an expert, but to me it has the most authentic looking recipes of any Korean cookbook I have ever looked at, and most importantly, it has the Wool stamp of approval. So I’m using a recipe from it as the basis for my dumplings, with a few changes.

Korean Pork “Mandu” (Dumplings)

Adapted from Eating Korean: From Barbecue to Kimchi, Recipes from My Home

The original recipe calls for mung bean sprouts, but I substituted napa cabbage because that’s what I bought. I also added a carrot and soy sauce because Wool uses both in her mandu. The recipe calls for fresh ginger, but I used powdered, well, because Wool does. And I added a little sugar … just because I wanted to.

1 cup shredded napa cabbage, washed

1/4 of a large onion, sliced

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 lb ground pork

3 large cloves of garlic

2 stalks of green onion, finely chopped

2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp ginger powder

1 package of round dumpling wrappers (or you can make them homemade if you have time)

oil for frying

1. Salt the cabbage with 1 tsp kosher salt and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Squeeze the water out and place the cabbage into a food processor with the carrots, onion and garlic. Process until the vegetables are finely chopped. Squeeze out any moisture from the mixture.

2. In a large bowl mix the vegetables with the pork. Add the salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, sugar and ginger powder. Mix gently with your hands until the seasonings are thoroughly incorporated into the meat. At this point I like to cook a small amount of the filling in a skillet to taste for seasonings. I can then adjust them if I need to.

3. The next step is to fill and pleat the dumplings. Set up a small bowl of water at your wrapping station. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Then, dip a finger in a bowl of water and wet the edges of the wrapper (usually I do it halfway around so it doesn’t get too soggy). If you don’t want to mess with the pleats, you can just fold it over and pinch the edges closed. If you want to make them look pretty and authentic,  you’ll want to pleat them. I could try to tell you how, but to really understand you need to see photos of the process. Jaden at Steamy Kitchen has a great tutorial with photos that will be much more useful than any explanation I can give here. So if you need help making your dumplings look all neat and fancy, get on over there and check it out.

4. At this point you’ll either want to cook the dumplings or freeze them.

If you’re going to freeze them lay them out on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour. Freeze the dumplings until they are nearly solid and then seal them up in a ziplock bag. You can cook them later at any time using the instructions here. If you’re going to cook the dumplings you’ll want to do it immediately because if you let them sit for too long, they will get soggy. Then the wrappers will come apart, they’ll all be stuck together and you’ll be pissed.

To cook the dumplings (you do it the same whether they are frozen or fresh) arrange them in a hot, oiled skillet, flat side down. Once the dumplings are nicely browned on the bottom (a few minutes, but longer if you started with frozen dumplings), add about 1/4 cup of water (carefully, it will make a lot of noise and splatter) and quickly put a lid or a plate over the top to steam the tops of the dumplings. Once the wrappers look translucent (this only takes a minute or so) remove the lid and allow the rest of the water to cook out. Serve them right away. I like to make a dipping sauce out of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sambal oelek and a little sugar.

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Posted in appetizers, asian | 2 Comments »

Christmas Eve Ceviche for Everyone

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

My family has had a Christmas Eve party every year of my life for as long as I can remember. It’s become such an important part of our holiday tradition that I don’t think it would feel like Christmas without it. I remember as a kid, when the party came around, I could count on two things: getting to open one present early and eating some really good food. As a very mature adult, I have more patience and will power. I have to wait to open presents, and that’s okay. I also realize that most of all, the party is a chance to catch up with the friends and family that we don’t see enough the rest of the year—and it’s those people that really make it special. They are the party. They are Christmas. But do you want to know a secret? I still get excited about the food.

This year was Mexican. My dad was making Soup Nazi Mexican Chicken Chili. No soup for you! And this year was the first year that I was asked to bring something. I decided on ceviche right away. But then as my supply of Meyer lemons began to expand to levels of grotesque proportions, lemon bars started to sound like a really good idea. For several days, I went back and forth between ceviche and meyer lemon bars. My mom loves lemon bars, but would we really need more sweets? The definitive answer was yes. So I did what any reasonable person would do. I made both. And those people I was talking about? You know, the special ones? They wolfed down the ceviche before my dad got to try it, so guess what we’ll be having for New Years? (If you can’t guess, see answer below):

Looks good doesn’t it? Well, you’ll have to make your own because we’re fresh out. Let me know when you’re done and you can have some lemon bars for dessert.

Mock Ceviche

Ceviche is sort of a Latin American fish cocktail. It can be made with shellfish, squid or almost any firm white-fleshed fish. Traditionally, ceviche is not cooked with heat. Instead it’s marinated in citrus juices, which chemically “cook” the fish. And contrary to popular belief, chemically cooked fish is not as safe as fish cooked with heat. You should always treat any fish used for ceviche as though you were going to eat it raw. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to take on that burden of responsibility. So I use this trick suggested by Mark Bittman: Cook the damn fish. Nobody will know the difference. I love ceviche, but I don’t love the idea of giving anyone a tapeworm for Christmas. Ho ho ho!

Ceviche

1 1/2 lbs bay scallops (the small ones), rinsed 

1 cup diced tomatoes, seeded 

2 medium avocados, 1/4 inch dice 

1/4 cup onion, minced 

2 jalapeños, seeded and minced 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1/2 small bunch cilantro, chopped 

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

Thick corn chips for serving

Dressing

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 lemon, juice and zest (I used a meyer lemon) (about 2 tablespoons)

4 key limes, juice (about 2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the scallops, turn the water off and put a lid on it. Allow the scallops to sit for two minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Cut each scallop in half and set aside.

2. In a bowl large enough to accommodate the finished dish, combine the dressing ingredients. Add the scallops, tomato, onion, jalapeno, garlic and herbs. If there’s time, allow the ceviche to marinate in the refrigerator for several hours to blend the flavors. 

3. Add the avocados and toss gently just before serving. Serve immediately with a side of corn chips.

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Posted in seafood, vegetables | No Comments »

(Almost) Painless Vegetarian Tamales

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I made vegetarian tamales. Now if we were talking about your traditional meat-filled tamales I would say, “if you’re ever feeling like you’ve just had it too easy lately and you really want to punish yourself, keep reading because I’m going to tell you exactly how to do it.” These tamales, however, are not “filled” in the way that typical meat tamales are. Instead, the vegetable filling is stirred into the masa. Thus, they are much faster and easier to put together and you could probably knock out a few dozen of them in a couple of hours.

And I know what you’re probably thinking, who cares if they’re easy. Vegetarian tamales? That’s an oxymoron. Tamales are supposed to be soft, greasy, lard-laden little bundles of joy with a meaty surprise inside. This is true. However, I’ve done some research and it appears that the more heart-healthy variety has quite the following. If you don’t believe me, hang in there. The recipe for the venison tamales that I also made over the Thanksgiving holiday—the ones that took all day long and left me twitching in a useless heap on the couch for the remainder of the evening—is coming.

Vegetarian Tamales with Sweet Corn, Carrots, Hatch Green Chiles and Cheese

These tamales are made with a combination of olive oil and butter instead of the more traditional lard. You could use vegetable shortening and they would still be vegetarian, but vegetable shortening is bad for you and it tastes like nothing, so where’s the fun in that? Make sure to season the veggies well and use a flavorful vegetable stock. Offer these with all the fixin’s: salsa, sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce, chopped onions, jalapenos and cheese.

Makes about 30 tamales.

6 cups masa harina

2 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon cayenne

4 cups flavorful, room temperature vegetable stock

3 tablespoons pureed chipotle peppers in adobo

1 cup olive oil

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 onion, 1/4 inch dice

2 carrots, 1/4 inch dice

1½ cups corn (fresh off the cob is best, but frozen is fine)

6 hatch green chilies, roasted, peeled and diced

8 oz grated cheese (cheddar, monterrey jack, queso quesadilla or a blend of the three)

1 package corn husks, soaked and rinsed

1. Caramelize the onion in a little oil or butter. Add the carrots and cook for several minutes. Add the chilies and the corn and cook until the mixture is fairly dry with no visible moisture. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the masa harina, seasonings, salt and baking powder. Stir in the stock, chipotle puree and two cups of water.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter on high speed until fluffy. Add the olive oil and continue to beat until combined. With the mixer on medium speed, slowly add large spoonfuls of the masa mixture. Then increase the speed and beat for several minutes until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. To test the readiness of the dough, drop a small spoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready. If it doesn’t, keep beating.

4. With the mixer on low speed stir in the vegetables and the cheese.

5. Fill each husk with 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the masa. Roll the husk to enclose the filling and secure the ends with strips of corn husk if you like.

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Posted in appetizers, budget recipes, mexican, vegetarian | No Comments »

Fresh Peppercorn Pasta with Greens

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Okay so now you have fresh pasta. Now what? Well there are a number of things you could to with it. The simplest of those is some butter and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese (and lots of black pepper if you’re like me). You might even throw in some fresh herbs. But, how about adding some wilted greens like Luisa Weiss did?

My Greenling box had some collard greens and kale. For this I used the kale, but I’m sure other kinds of greens would work. Although, now that I think about it, I would probably avoid beet greens or red chard as they would turn the pasta an unappetizing shade of pink. But who knows, maybe you like that kind of thing? Edit: I have now had pasta made with beet greens and I found that “pink noodles”, as I called them, are sort of amusing. They were also rather delicious. Maybe it’s just me, but I wasn’t put off at all by the color of the noodles. I thought I would be. Sorry to judge prematurely. LESSON. LEARNED.

So here is what you’re going to do:

1. Melt some butter in a large skillet. Add 1/4 of a cup of chopped onion and two minced cloves of garlic. Cook for a minute or so. Then a few handfuls at a time add two bunches of greens (thoroughly washed, with tough stems removed and chopped or torn into small pieces). Stir after each addition to wilt the greens a little before adding the next handful.

2. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste, then add about a cup of water or stock and cook until the greens are tender and the liquid is mostly reduced.

3. At this point you should have timed your pasta to be done cooking. Drain the pasta reserving some cooking liquid. Add 1/3 cup of garlic and herb cheese (i.e. Boursin, Alouette, or Full Quiver Farms Basil-Garlic Cheese Spread) or ricotta cheese. Salt to taste.

4. Melt the cheese into the greens and add some pasta cooking water to thin it out if needed. Then, dump the pasta into the greens and cheese mixture and toss. Finish with some black pepper and grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese.

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Posted in budget recipes, main dishes, pasta, vegetarian | 1 Comment »