Mexican Oven Fries

I love potatoes in pretty much all forms, and these are no exception.  They are very versatile (use whatever spice you like!) and incredibly simple.  I made these to go with some black bean burgers and my husband and I basically inhaled the whole batch before the rest of dinner was even ready.  

4 red potatoes, scrubbed and dried

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp Mexican seasoning (or really any seasoning you'd like)

Preheat oven to 400 F

Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 8 wedges each.

Toss in a large bowl with the oil, salt, and seasoning.

Arrange in a single layer in a shallow baking dish lined with foil.

Cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and easily pierced with a fork.

(Note - I used McCormicks Mexcian seasoning, which includes chili powder, cumin, garlic, and onion)

Winter Vegetable Gratin

This is a perfect side dish for fall or winter.  Sweet potato, purple potato, and carrot, all baked together with shallots, green onions, and a topping of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Next time I think I might throw some parsnips into the mix too!

(adapted from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson)

3 tbsp olive oil

4 small shallots, quartered

4 small purple potatoes, thinly sliced

1 yam, thinly sliced

3 carrots, cut into 1/2" slices

4 green onions, cut into 1" lengths

salt and pepper

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375.

Heat the oil in a large flame and oven-proof pan.  Add the shallots potatoes, yam, and carrots and cook, stirring, for 15 minutes, until they start to brown a bit.

Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper, and stir in green onions.

Sprinkle with bread crumbs and about half the cheese.

Bake for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

When the vegetables are nicely caramelized, remove from the oven and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.

German Chocolate Cake

This has been on my list of things to attempt for quite awhile, and tonight I finally got around to making it.  It was not exactly quick and easy, but the time and effort were definitely worth it.   It takes awhile to get all the components ready to go.  I love the smooth, shiny look of the chocolate glaze, and the filling is sweet with the warm flavors of toasted coconut and pecans.

(from epicurious.com)

For cake layers:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup boiling-hot water

For filling:
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
4 ounces coarsely chopped pecans (1 cup)
14-ounces can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla

For glaze:
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
10 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Special equipment: 3 (9-inch) round cake pans

Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 350°F and oil cake pans. 

Line bottoms of pans with rounds of parchment or wax paper. 

Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond extract in another large bowl until just combined. 

Beat egg mixture into flour mixture with an electric mixer on low speed, then beat on high speed 1 minute. 

Reduce speed to low and beat in water until just combined (batter will be thin). 

Divide batter among cake pans (about 1 1/2 cups per pan) and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans and rotating them 180 degrees halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes total.
Cool layers in pans on racks 15 minutes. 

Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. 

Carefully remove parchment or wax paper and cool layers completely.

Make filling:
Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
Spread coconut in a large shallow baking pan and pecans in another. Bake pecans in upper third of oven and coconut in lower third, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove pans from oven.

Turn oven up to 425 F.
Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. 

Bake milk in a water bath in middle of oven 45 minutes. 

Refill baking pan with water to reach halfway up pie plate and bake milk until thick and brown, about 45 minutes more. 

Remove pie plate from water bath.
Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla and keep warm, covered with foil.

Make glaze while milk is baking:
Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate and corn syrup, whisking until chocolate is melted. Transfer 1 cup glaze to a bowl, reserving remaining glaze at room temperature in pan. Chill glaze in bowl, stirring occasionally, until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.

Assemble cake:
Put 1 cake layer on a cardboard round, and place on a rack set over a baking pan (to catch excess glaze). Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly over layer and gently spread with a wet spatula. Top with another cake layer and spread with remaining filling in same manner.


Top with remaining cake layer and spread chilled glaze evenly over top and side of cake. Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring, until glossy and pourable, about 1 minute. Pour glaze evenly over top of cake, making sure it coats sides. Shake rack gently to smooth glaze.

Chill cake until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a plate.

Fish in Green Curry Sauce

My mother instilled an envioronmental conscience in me when I was very young and it really effects the way I buy groceries.  For a few weeks, my grocery store only carried oranges from Australia, which is ridiculous because I know for a fact there are oranges growing all over this state.  I didn't buy them because of the ridiculous amount of pollution caused by transporting the fruit all the way here from Australia.  

I buy local foods when I can, shop in bulk to minimize packaging waste, and look for sustainable fish and seafood.  Which is where this recipe comes in.  I needed just some basic white fish.  I remembered from this handy guide that Atlantic cod and halibut, as well as red snapper were on the avoid list, but as I browsed through the case, the only white fish I didn't know about was Orange Roughy.  

I made this dinner, which I thoroughly enjoyed, then had an eye-opening chat with my neighbor, who has a broader knowledge of seafood sustainability than I do.  Not only is this fish dangerously high in mercury, it is from Australia, wildly overfished, and takes 20 years to reach sexual maturity, making it very difficult for the population to rebound.  

I consider this a lesson learned, and will not be shopping without my Seafood Watch Guide again!  But for the record, I highly recommend you make this with Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, or US farmed Tilapia.  And print yourself off a guide at the link above so you can shop sustainably as well!

(adapted from A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider)

about 1 pound of white-fleshed fish fillets

1 small shallot, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 tsp butter

2 tsp - 2 tbsp Thai green curry paste (depending on your tastes - it can be very spicy!)

1 tbsp fish sauce

2/3 cup light coconut milk 

chopped cilantro for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 F and spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.  

Sprinkle the shallot in the bottom of the pan, then lay the fillets on top.

Spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray and lay it, sprayed side down, on top of the fish.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the fillet meets no resistance.

Meanwhile, bring the wine and butter to a simmer and cook until all the alcohol has cooked out. 

Stir in the green curry paste and coconut milk and simmer for about 3 minutes.  Stir in the fish sauce and cook for one minute more.

When the fish is done, pour the curry sauce over it, then garnish with cilantro.

Pumpkin-White Chocolate Blondies

Yesterday was, for no good reason, a stressful day.  I have those sometimes, where nothing goes wrong and yet I feel anxious all day.  The prescription for days like that? Baking and a run.  It works every time!

I came home from student teaching, needing to get into the kitchen but unsure of what I wanted to bake.  Remembering the can of pumpkin and bag of white chocolate chips in one of my drawers, I did a little Google searching and found this fantastic recipe.  I adore the combination of pumpkin and white chocolate, and the added pumpkin pie spice makes this, I think, my favorite pumpkin recipe so far this fall! (Of course, I've probably said that about every pumpkin recipe I've made...)

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into squares.

Syrian Lamb Pizza

One of my favorite ways to figure out what to have for dinner when I'm doing my weekly meal planning is to peruse my cookbook shelf and pull out a couple cookbooks I haven't used in a few months.  Tonight, I happened upon this recipe from "The Essential Mediterranean" by Nancy Harmon Jenkins.

This "pizza" is unusual, in that you mix raw ground lamb with vegetables and spices, then spread it all over a thinly rolled piece of dough.  You bake it for about 10 minutes, and the lamb cooks while the dough crisps up.  It's a little messy to eat - you can use a knife and fork, or fold it and half and eat it like a taco.  Either way, it's really satisfying, and has a unique flavor somewhat reminiscent of shawarma.

(adapted from The Essential Mediterranean by Nancy Harmon Jenkins)

makes 5 8" pizzas

Dough:

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast in warm water.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flours and salt.  With the dough hook, turn the mixer on medium-low speed and gradually pour in the water-yeast mixture.  Mix for about 5 minutes, adding more flour or water as necessary, until you have a smooth, soft dough that does not stick to the sides of the bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about one hour.

Topping:

1/2 cup pine nuts

4 tsp olive oil, divided

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (seeds removed)

1/4 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

2 tsp ground sumac

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp red chile flakes

black pepper

1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 pound lean ground lamb

Combine the pine nuts with 1 tsp olive oil in a medium frying pan.  Heat over low, just until the pine nuts are golden brown.  Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

Put the remaining oil in the pan and add the onion.  Cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, or until onions are soft but not brown.  Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the lamb, onion, pine nuts, and all remaining topping ingredients and mix well.  Set aside

Preheat oven to 450 F.

To assemble the pizzas, punch down the dough and knead for a few minutes.  Divide into 5 golf-ball sized pieces.  Working with one piece at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface until you have a very thin 8" disk.  Place on a Silpat-lined baking sheet, and top with 1/5 of the topping.  Be sure to spread it evenly all the way to the edges.  Repeat with remaining pizzas.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lamb is cooked and dough is beginning to turn golden.  

Remove from the oven and let stand 5 to 10 minutes before eating.

Blueberries and Cream Ice Cream

I wanted to bring back a little bit of summer by making blueberry ice cream. I picked up a bag of frozen blueberries at the store decided to try coming up with a recipe on my own. I'm calling it blueberries and cream because you definitely taste the sweet cream flavor along with the blueberries. I left the whole berries in because I just love chunks of fruit in my ice cream.

2 cups blueberries (frozen is fine)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 cups half and half

In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, and water, and simmer for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and wash out the pan.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
In the clean pan, heat the half and half just to a simmer, then whisk gradually into the egg mixture. Transfer it all back into the pan and cook over medium, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a spoon.
Stir into the blueberries, then set in an ice bath or refrigerate for a few hours.
When cool, transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers instructions.