Curry Buttermilk Falafel Chick'n

This recipe title sounds more like a shopping list than the name of a meal. But O! Is it good. I found the idea of using premade falafel mix as a coating for frying in a library cookbook years ago. I can't recall the name, but I remember most of the recipes were fairly involved, whereas the falafel chicken one was incredibly simple. I was tempted to try it because I wanted to taste a palatable treatment of boxed falafel mix. This incarnation of this recipe came together very last minute as a way to make a quick dinner and use some things up the the fridge/pantry, so proper techniques (as with all my recipes by me) are lacking.

In this recipe, I use the leftover curry buttermilk dressing as a base for the chicken. I guess this is ingredient elimination 2.0. Since I don't actually eat chicken, I used Quorn brand naked cutlets. If using proper chicken, which I imagine you are, sub in 4 chicken breasts, thawed.

Curry Buttermilk Falafel Chicken (serves 4, or if you inhaled it like we did, 2)

• 4 chicken breasts
• Up to 1 C curried buttermilk dressing (enough to coat the chicken)
• 1 tsp creole mustard
• 1 tsp capers with juice, finely chopped
• pinch celery salt
• pinch chili powder
• splash lemon juice
• 1 1/2 C premade falafel mix
• peanut oil, for frying

1. Add the creole mustard, chopped capers, celery salt, chili powder, and lemon juice to the buttermilk dressing. 
2. Coat the chicken with the buttermilk dressing, allow to marinate at least 1 hour, overnight, if you're patient enough.
3. Pour one-and-a-half inches peanut oil in a heavy duty skillet. Heat to 350 degrees. 
4. Carefully coat the chicken in the falafel mix, very gently shaking off the excess. Fry, 2 at a time in the peanut oil, watching closely.
5. When the chicken is toasty-brown, but not burned, remove from the oil. Put on a plate with paper towels and allow to drain. Eat and enjoy!

                                                     The chick'n gets a close-up

Kitchen Notes: I am not an expert at frying, so if you have superior techniques for this recipe, by all means use them. The reason for the additional ingredients to the buttermilk dressing has nothing to do with this recipe--I was trying to make it a good sauce for a sandwich/veggie burger and then abandoned the idea. You could probably just stick to the original buttermilk dressing recipe and have great results. You can get falafel mix at most health food stores, or in the international department of the supermarket.


Verdict? Wicked good. The buttermilk dressing imparts great flavor, and keeps the chick'n moist. This product is notorious for drying out in my experience, so if this can remain succulent, I imagine that genuine chicken would be delightfully juicy. The falafel batter is crispy and light, similar to food fried in panko. The falafel mix also has more flavor than a lot of batters.

Long Beans with Chili-Garlic Sauce

Wandering the farmer's market, we stumbled upon something called Chinese long beans. I'd never seen them before, and since I'm usually enthusiastic about most produce, I thought I'd give it a go. When I say long, I mean long. See here:

Be forewarned: this veggie does not achieve the esteemed status of asparagus or broccoli in my opinion, but the sauce it's stirfried in is quite yummy. The recipe for the sauce comes from the March-April 2010 issue of Cook's Illustrated. The recipe has been mildly tweaked. The original recipe calls for broccoli, which I highly recommend.


Long Beans with Chili Garlic Sauce (serves 3 as a main dish)

• 1 1/2 lbs Chinese long beans, washed, trimmed and cut into inch-and-a-half pieces
• 1/4 C vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 Tbs dry sherry
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• heaping table spoon of chili-garlic paste
• 2 garlic cloves, very finely minced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or red pepper powder
• 1 tsp, plus 1 Tbs vegetable oil (peanut would probably work well too, but be advised that you may taste the peanut a bit)
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• Cooked rice
• Chopped green onion for garnish

1. Whisk together the broth, sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, and chili-garlic paste.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the  garlic, red pepper, and 1 tsp oil.
3. Heat the remaining Tbs oil in a wok on high heat. When just beginning to smoke, add the beans and sprinkle with the sugar, stirring constantly. Cook for about 3 mins, until the beans begin to wither but maintain their crispness.
4. Add the garlic mixture, incorporate well, cook for <30 secs. Don't let the garlic burn. 
5. Add the broth mixture, stir constantly, as broth thickens, about 45 secs. 
6. Serve over rice and add green onion for garnish.

                                                 This was not an easy dish to photograph!

Kitchen Notes:BE CAREFUL INHALING WHEN MAKING THIS DISH! It is very spicy, and will make you cough. I like my food spicy, but this meal will still have a lot of flavor if you half the heat. I used basmati rice, simply because I had some to use up, but I don't recommend it, as the gentle flavors of the rice get lost in the heat of the sauce. I think that yaki soba noodles may be beautiful here, and will probably do that with some of the leftovers. The raw beans have a bitter smell when cut, so I imagine the sugar sprinkling is an important step to limit bitter flavor in the finished product.

Verdict? I am not usually texture averse, but the beans were too chewy and squeaky for me. I think they'd work better in a meal where they weren't the focal point, but mixed with many other vegetables. The flavor of the sauce, is terrific, and I can say from experience, goes great with broccoli. I think that typical green beans would work fine too--the beans absorbed the sauce perfectly.

Ingredient Elimination: Curried Buttermilk Dressing for Tomatoes

Our current contender for Ingredient Elimination is buttermilk. I had plenty of buttermilk from the quart I purchased to make corn bread, but little inspiration with what to do with it. The label admonishes, "tastes best if used in 3 days".  With the clock ticking, I again consulted Moosewood New Classics for a solution to the abundance of buttermilk (it really wasn't as dramatic as I write it to be).

                                  The contender, weighing in at 32 liquid oz

Since I had a container of fresh cherry tomatoes in the fridge, this dressing, intended for tomatoes, seemed like a good fit.

Curried Buttermilk Dressing (makes 1 C)

• 1/2 C buttermilk
• 1/4 C plain yogurt (I used Greek)
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 Tbs cider vinegar
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• salt
• pepper

1. Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper in a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
2. Drizzle over tomato wedges or as a dip for cherry tomatoes.  

 The camera doesn't capture it, but the turmeric gives the dressing a lovely color


Kitchen Notes: The original recipe calls for yogurt or mayo. Since I had yogurt, and I am not partial to mayo, the yogurt won. I'd imagine that mayo may make the flavor a bit milder. If you're using as a dip, some of the buttermilk may need to be replaced with sour cream to make it heavier.

Verdict? With perfectly ripe tomatoes, the flavor contrast with this dressing is pure summer. I'd be less enthusiastic with non-seasonal tomatoes. This isn't to say the dressing is not good, but the tomatoes elevate it. I'm going to season the leftovers with a bit of celery salt. This would be scrumptious with fried green tomatoes. I have a feeling it'll make a good base for a remoulade, so I'll try that and let you know of the results.

Tomato-Pesto Broiled Goat Cheese Dip

I became introduced to broiled goat cheese dips at one of my favorite local places, Radio Maria. There's is a pureed pepita version, which I've replicated before and will probably pop up on this blog when I tried it again.

I quickly learned that broiled goat cheese dips are mega-tasty, impress easily, and are a great way to use up leftovers. Here we go:

Tomato-Pesto Broiled Goat Cheese Dip (serves 2-4 as an appetizer)

• 5 oz tomato almond pesto 
• 2 oz goat cheese, sliced into medallions (I used sundried tomato-basil goat cheese)
• baguette
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half

1. Slice the baguette into thin slices. Rub the cut side of the garlic on each slice of the bread. Toast the bread slices.
2. Turn the broiler on high. In a 6 oz oven proof ramekin (ideally one that is long and shallow), add the pesto. Place the goat cheese slices on top of the pesto.
3. Heat in the oven under the broiler, watch closely, and carefully remove when the goat cheese is toasted brown. Serve with the toasted bread.  

                                 

Verdict? My strong conviction is that goat cheese dips are a nice crowd pleaser. This combination worked well. The warm tomato and creamy goat cheese are very satisfying. Enjoy!

Dinosaur BBQ Jalapeno Cornbread

I'd been craving cornbread since I made blueberry butter. Then, my husband had planned to go to Dinosaur Bar B Que in NYC, which is the sister restaurant of the wildly popular original in Syracuse, NY. We used to go there when I was in school, and it's an egalitarian paradise. It's where bikers, professors, and students co-mingle. And it's a great spot for vegetarians. I'm not kidding.

I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of the Dinosaur empire when they catered an event at the Syracuse U bookstore and he bought some books from me. But I digress. My husband's planned trip to Dinosaur in NYC convinced me to make something from the Dinosaur Bar B Que cookbook, and cornbread it was.
 The cookbook's called Dinosaur Bar B Que: An American Roadhouse by John Stage and Nancy Radke.

Dinosaur BBQ Honey-Jalapeno Cornbread (serves 9-12)

• vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 C yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 C flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 C buttermilk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 C butter, melted
• 2 jalapenos, finely diced
• 1-2 Tbs honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 x 8 baking dish with the shortening. Pop the dish in the oven while the oven heats up.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter. Once mixed well, stir in the jalapenos.
4. Mix together the dry and wet ingredients until just moistened. 
5. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Cook for 25-30 mins (took 20 in my oven). Bread is done when a toothpick comes out clean.
6. While the bread is still hot, drizzle the honey on the bread, and brush the honey over the top. After the bread has cooled 10 mins, it's ready to cut and enjoy. 


 Kitchen Notes: I had never made cornbread before, so I didn't deviate from the recipe. Now I'm ready for mix-ins. I'm thinking: cheddar, chipotle, chopped chives, or caramelized onions.

Verdict? The cornmeal I used came from a local farm, Moore Family Farm, and its ground was a lot coarser than cornmeal I've seen before. As a result, this is a slightly gritty, earthy tasting cornbread, but it works. The jalapenos don't add a lot of spice, but do contribute to the earthiness of the cornbread. It's not a very sweet variation, but the honey glaze adds a lot of depth. The vanilla is a crucial element of the flavor.

Tomato Almond Pesto/Pesto alla Trapanese

I really can't take any credit for this one, other than having the smarts to "like" Cook's Illustrated  on Facebook. It appealed to me because I had extra blanched almonds from horchata, as well as a container of cherry tomatoes in my fridge that were coming close to requiring life support. I probably would have made it even if I didn't have these two things handy. Cherry tomatoes are flavorful and abundant right now, and with pinenuts selling for more per pound than filet mignon, an economical pesto with almonds sounded pretty good.

   I followed the recipe pretty closely with this one, I annotate what I've modified slightly.

Pesto alla Trapanese (makes about 3 C pesto, 4-6 servings pasta)

• 2 1/2 C cherry tomatoes (the recipe doesn't specify 2 1/2 C whole tomatoes, or chopped. I used 2 1/2 C halved cherry tomatoes)
• 1/4 C skinless almonds (I used a 1/3 C)
• 1/2 C packed basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic (I used 2)
• 1 pepperoncini, stemmed
•  salt
• pepper (my add)
• 1/2 tsp sugar (my add)
• generous amount crushed red pepper
• 1/3 C extra virgin olive oil (I used 1/4 C)
• 1 lb pasta, linguini or fettucine (I used sun-dried tomato fettucine, see note below)
• 1/2 C grated parmesan (I omitted)

1. Place the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the skillet frequently. Cook until fragrant and slightly browned. Allow to cool, slightly.
2. In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, basil, almonds, garlic, pepperoncini until smooth. Add salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. If slightly bitter, or not flavorful enough, add the sugar.
3. With the motor on, slowly add the olive oil. Because I knew this would cause pesto to erupt out of the food processor, I slowly pulsed in the olive oil instead, and it emulsified just fine.
4. Heat water for the pasta and cook. Reserve 1/2 C pasta cooking liquid and add to the pesto. Toss together pasta, pesto and parmesan and enjoy.

Kitchen Notes: The texture of this is not as a typically basil pesto, it's more comparable to a runny salsa.The original recipe calls for completely cooling the almonds to room temperature. Mine were still quite warm when I added them, and this didn't appear to change the flavor. I found the sugar was necessary because the pesto had a flavor that was sweet, but unpleasantly bitter, and the sugar resolved this. I used a sun-dried tomato dried pasta. Typically, I think that flavored pastas underperform, but here it works well.  A lot of the flavor is usually lost in the cooking water, but since the cooking water is incorporated into the sauce, the flavor is retained. I used Pasta Alley brand which I buy at my farmer's market. It takes a bit longer to cook than commercial pastas, and it has a fantastic chewy texture. I used a combination of red and purple cherry tomatoes. This is note is probably unimportant, but it gives me an excuse to post a picture of the tomatoes:

And here's the pasta:

Verdict? Pretty tasty. Avoid if you don't like your pastas a bit sweet. If you like the sweetness of a pumpkin ravioli, than you'll probably enjoy this. If pumpkin ravioli is too sweet for your tastes, better skip this one. I enjoyed it garnished with almonds, but I also think that 1 of the following would be good: mozzarella (in lieu of parmesan) for a caprese style pesto, a few fresh greens, or kalamata olives used very sparingly.

Apple Turnover Squares: A Comedy in 3 Acts

A comedy in 3 acts, because despite 2 instances of tragedy, the outcome, while not aesthetically beautiful, quite tasty warm, room temp, or cold. This recipe comes with apologies to both The French Culinary Institute and pastry chef Melissa Murphy.

 

This recipe is very heavily borrowed from a caramel apple turnover recipe in The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine from the French Culinary Institute. It's quite the tome. It weighs 6lbs (I weighed it).

I call this a comedy in 3 acts because, as mentioned above, there were 2 tragedies, but the outcome was yummy. Tragedy 1) I burned the caramel sauce. It went from colorless, odorless sugar water, to a split second of divine golden sauce with a sweet aroma, to an acrid, burned mess. 2) Caramel sauce 2.0 oozed all over the baking sheet, burning in the oven (see below). However, the result was tasty, see below.

Apple Turnover Squares (serves about 8)

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 4 oz ricotta cheese
• 1/4 C confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 Tbs amaretto liquer
• pinch salt
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 Tbs water
• 1 large Granny Smith apple
• 1 Tbs butter
• cinnamon
• sugar
• lemon juice 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the ricotta, confectioner's sugar, amaretto, and salt together. Spread a thin layer of the ricotta mixture across the puff pastry, leaving a 1 inch perimeter around the pastry.
2. Over a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the 1/4 C sugar and 2 Tbs water and cook over medium heat for about 10 mins, stirring frequently. Cook til golden brown, don't allow to burn. If you try a couple times and burn it, sigh, and have some commercial caramel sauce on hand.
3. Let cool slightly. Pour the caramel sauce over the ricotta mixture. 
4. Peel the apple and cut into thin slices. Arrange over the top of the caramel, allow the apple slices to overlap slightly.
5. Melt a Tbs of butter. Slightly brush the butter on the outer perimeter of the puff pastry. Save the remaining butter, and add to it a splash of lemon juice, a heaping tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Pour mixture over apples. 
6. Bake for about 15 minutes on a lightly greased cookie sheet or until golden brown. 

                              Can you see all the burned caramel sauce?

Verdict? Pretty good stuff. A few things to keep in mind for the next attempt. The ricotta cream is fantastic stuff by itself, and makes a nice alternative to whipped cream. However, the ricotta dries out a bit in the oven. The caramel sauce would likely be superior with a bit of butter and vanilla extract. Caramel can be fickle, so there's no problem if you can find a good quality caramel that's premade. This recipe is fairly forgiven for a baked product.

Horchata Iced Latte

Have you ever had rice pudding and thought, I wonder what this would taste like liquefied? That to me is the Mexican drink horchata. Although liquefied rice pudding sounds strange, it has a delightful flavor.  This recipe comes with 3 warnings: 1) I've only tried horchata twice before attempting this recipe, both times at quick-service taquerias, so I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this recipe 2) It's probably not worth the blood, sweat, and tears to make 3) this recipe involves a lot of whining, but here we go.

I stumbled upon the idea of an horchata latte on another blog, unfortunately, I didn't bookmark it. The appeal of it surprised me, as I like my coffee to taste like coffee. I found a horchata recipe on the Food Network site. I followed the recipe close to the instructions, but I recommend some changes so that you don't tear your hair out.

Horchata Latte (makes 8 servings horchata, also recipe below for 1 serving latte)

• 1 C rice, rinsed and drained;
• 2 C skinless almonds;
• 1-2 cinnamon sticks;
• 8 C water
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Grind the rice. The original author recommends grinding in a coffee grinder or spice grinder. If the rice is not completely dry, this is a fine way to royally mess up your grinder. After gunking up my coffee grinder, I used a mortar and pestle.  This worked pretty well, and it helped me get some frustration out from messing up my grinder:

2. In a large bowl, add the pulverised rice to the almonds and cinnamon sticks. The original author doesn't mention grinding the almonds, but to me this makes sense. I didn't, but if I make this again, I'll be sure to do this.
3. Pour 3 1/2 C water on the rice/almond mixture and let sit overnight. It'll look as appetizing as dishwater at this point:

4.Add to the mixture 1/2 C sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. I mixed up the order of the recipe here, it may become clear why in a moment.
5.Blend the rice mixture in a BLENDER. In SMALL BATCHES. Don't use a food processor. I did. I flooded my counter. Usually, my food processor does well with liquids, this time it leaked everywhere. I wound up adding fresh water back into the mixture, and keeping it overnight again. I had to unearth my blender, the first go around, the liquid spewed out of the top. Small batches worked fine, and I finally got this situation under control.
6. Put cheese cloth, a double layer, over a large pitcher. Carefully pour the mixture through the cheesecloth. I used clothespins to secure the cheesecloth, see below:

7. Once the liquid is poured through, carefully collect the edges of the cheesecloth and wring out the contents of the cheesecloth. If serving plain, serve over ice.
8. To Make an Iced Latte: Brew 1 C double strength coffee. Toss some ice in a glass, pour about 2 parts horchata to  1 part coffee. Use a cinnamon stick garnish if desired.

Verdict? Well, this was a lot of work. Truthfully, it would probably be better if I could have used it at original strength, not the strength after the whole food processor debacle. However, it is oddly refreshing. The horchata makes a fine dairy-free and soy-free coffee creamer. I also think it would work as an alternative to Irish cream or kaluha if combined with a bit of rum. If you have more success with this recipe, let me know!

Edit 08/28/2011: Now that I've cooled off from my original frustration from making horchata, as well as cooled off with a yummy glass of horchata, my perspective has changed. The horchata is tastier the next day, just make sure it's well mixed.

Tomato Ricotta Tart

This is purely a texture dish. The flavors are more subtle than my previously tart recipe, which featured zucchini and goat cheese. I was inspired to make this because 1) the tomatoes are beautiful right now; 2) it's cool enough to bake; 3) I had one remaining lonely puff pastry in the freezer. Here we go:

     My apologies for this photo. I had thought I took a photo before munching on this, but guess I forgot to. Also, I am far from a food stylist, this doesn't have the symmetry of the zucchini tart due to using 2 different kinds of tomatoes, one of which was already partially cut up. Oh well.


Tomato Ricotta Tart (serves 4-6)

• 1 puff pastry, thawed
• 6 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 8 oz ricotta, water drained off
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• small handful fresh basil, chopped
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper 
• sugar
• basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat some olive oil over medium-low heat. Cook the shallots for about 5 mins, stirring often. Add garlic and cook for about 2 more minutes. Add more oil if needed, shallots absorb a lot of oil in my experience. Continue cooking if needed until shallots are soft.
2.  Combine the shallot/garlic mixture with the ricotta. Add the basil and salt to taste. Don't clean the pan used to sautee the shallots and garlic, you'll need it later. 
3. Place the thawed puff pastry on a lightly oiled baking sheet. As with the zucchini-goat cheese tart, lightly score the perimeter of the pastry, about 1 inch in, without puncturing through the pastry.
4. Place a layer of sliced fresh mozzarella on the puff pastry, avoiding the edges.
5. Using a rubber scraper, spread the ricotta mixture over the mozzarella. 
6. Place the tomatoes on top of the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of sugar to bring out the flavor of the tomatoes. 
7. Using a pastry brush, brush any remaining oil mixture off the pan and onto the edges of the puff pastry crust. 
8. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges of the pastry are golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature. Tuck in basil leaves among the tomatoes if desired. 

Kitchen Notes: You don't need to drain the ricotta with a cheese cloth, however, removing any excess liquid that comes with relatively unprocessed ricotta is an important step, it will help the mixture from becoming waterlogged and the puff pastry from becoming soggy. Learn from my mistakes: The top layer should have more tomatoes than you think you will need. The tomatoes didn't shrink much while baking, but while cooling, the tomatoes contracted. It tasted fine, but I would have enjoyed a few more tomatoes. A slight overlap should work fine. I made the mistake (and I knew better) of placing the basil leave on top of the tart before baking, this should be done after the tart comes out of the oven.

Verdict? The texture of this is divine. The quality of the ingredients is going to drive this dish. First, you crunch into the flaky, buttery, pastry. Next, the juicy ripe tomatoes, followed by the rich (but not too rich) and creamy ricotta, and ending with the satisfyingly chewy mozzarella. Given that it's got both cheese and puff pastry, it's surprisingly light and clean tasting.

Watermelon Lime Soda

In Champaign-Urbana we're lucky to have a little Vietnamese place, Xinh Xinh Cafe, that serves food that is quick, tasty, and as an added perk, pretty thrifty. They've got an impressive soft drink menu that includes lime soda. This drink is bubbly, refreshing, and only subtly sweet. Impressively thirst quenching on a hot day. I decided to give my own a go, with the added flavor of watermelon.

                                       An unexpected perk was the pretty parfait effect

Watermelon-Lime Soda (serves 1, easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc)

• 12 oz seltzer or club soda
• 1 lime
• 2 tsp confectioner's sugar
• handful watermelon ice cubes 

1. Juice 1 lime into a serving glass. Slice into eighths, add between 1/2 the lime up to 1 whole lime to the glass
2. Add the confectioner's sugar and seltzer and gently stir. Taste, and add more sugar and/or lime if desired. 
3. Drop in some watermelon ice cubes. Serve with a lime and melon ball garnish if desired. 
     
To make watermelon ice cubes: Scoop out some of the contents of a seedless watermelon and pulse them in a food processor. I personally like to retain some of the texture, but watermelon can be completely liquified if desired. Pour into ice cube trays. Freeze for a few hours. 

                        Mad scientist at work. Note the free ad for Columbia Street Roastery in the back

                                                            I really love the color

Verdict? Delightfully refreshing.  Folks with strong texture aversion may not like this one, as the watermelon, even sent through the food processor, retains its somewhat fibrous texture. This could be resolved by straining it, but that seems like a lot of extra work to me. This could make a fun summer cocktail with a bit of gin, rum or vodka, but I haven't tried it that way. If you do, let me know. Here are some more shots of this pretty drink:

 

A Trio of....Cucumber Salads, Part III: Korean Spicy Cucumber Salad

 Welcome to part III of cucumber salads! Occasionally I get very ambitious and make the Korean dish bi bim bop. This little salad is a mix in or banchan for this dish. This salad, while delicious, it rather spicy and super garlicky. Just a few slices will do. If you do incorporate it into bi bim bop, the flavors will soften considerably.

This recipe comes from a favorite of mine, the cookbook Dok Suni, by Jenny Kwak and Liz Fried. I would check it out from the library for months at a time. I finally broke down and bought it.


Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad (Oye Moochim) (serves 4 or more)

• 1 cucumber, prepared as written here 
• 1 1/2 Tbs red pepper flakes, or more
• 1 Tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame salt
• 1 tsp very finely minced garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• pinch brown sugar
• salt

1. Mix together the red pepper flakes, vinegar, sesame salt, garlic, sesame oil, and sugar so that it makes a paste. Combine with the cucumber, Mix thoroughly. Serve chilled. Keeps fresh for a week. Will actually keep longer, but won't taste as yummy.  

                                                 Served with my rescued noodles
Kitchen Notes: I've seen sesame salt defined two ways: 1) a combination of pulverized sesame seeds and salt; 2) Pulverized toasted sesame seeds. Truthfully, this time around I didn't feel up to grinding the sesame seeds, so I omitted it. I've included a graphic of the red pepper flakes below. They are used a lot in Korean cooking. I keep mine refrigerated as they seem to get moldy very fast.

Verdict? Little goes a long way. Strong bite from the garlic. Strong heat from the red pepper. Refreshing cukes. Give it a try.

Baked Goat Cheese & Veggie Quesadillas

So I was a bit over zealous prepping my goat cheese mixture when I made my Zucchini and Goat Cheese Tart. No worries though! The leftover made a tasty filling for quesadillas.

Served with sour cream, salsa, and my hot sauce of choice, Goya jalapeno, which we oh-so-cleverly call Green Goya.

Would these taste better fried? Absolutely! But they do crisp up deliciously in the oven, and I don't have to contend with pesky oil that creates greasy spin art on my shirt. Sometimes I make these with roasted veggies, which are delicious, but require the oven to be heated up hotter than hell in a heatwave. This time I sauteed the veggies. Here we go:

Baked Goat Cheese & Veggie Quesadillas (serves about 4)

• 4 oz of goat cheese, prepared as written here 
• 2 heaping Tbs sour cream
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 1 small sliced zucchini
• 1 small sliced summer squash
• 1 small green pepper
• 1 small red pepper 
• Seasonings: salt, pepper, adobo seasoning, oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin in any combination as desired
• Vegetable oil
• 8 medium flour tortillas (I used fajita size)

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a blender or food processor, mix goat cheese mixture and sour cream until it's spreadable, but not runny. Set aside.
2. Heat a bit of oil in a skillet. Cook the onions for about 5 mins over medium high heat. Add the other vegetables and seasonings to taste. Stir frequently. Cook for a few minutes. Vegetables should still be very firm, they'll continue to cook when baked.
3. Divide the goat cheese mixture over each tortilla. Place a thin layer of vegetables on 4 of the tortillas, place the remaining four tortillas on top of the veggies, cheese side down.
4. Place the quesadillas on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Brush the top side of the quesadilla with a bit of oil. Place in the oven for about 15 mins, or until toasty brown, turning halfway through. 
5. Eat, enjoy, don't burn your tongue on the vegetables!

Kitchen notes: I was skeptical of my idea of adding the sour cream to the goat cheese, but it's necessary to prevent the goat cheese from drying out. If you don't want to go through the steps of making the seasoned goat cheese, a flavored goat cheese from the market is probably a fine substitute.

Verdict? So happy that this incarnation of the flavored goat cheese worked so well. This meal is a bit of a fajita/quesadilla hybrid, but you know what? It works.

Deconstructed Sushi Salad

Do you ever eat a maki roll, just to have it fall apart all over your plate? This recipe captures this.Joanne from Eats Well With Others posted a scrumptious looking recipe for a veggie sushi salad. I loved the idea--I've always been compelled to try to make sushi, but have been too lazy. I figure a restaurant can do superior job. This took the complex work out of sushi, maintaining the flavors. I liked the concept of Joanne's recipe, but I changed the flavors to suit my taste. Additionally, it gave me an opportunity to try a sushi salad dressing featured in Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. The dressing recipe is slightly adapted from Moosewood's recipe, and the salad recipe was inspired by Joanne's recipe.

My favorite roll, as I am a sushi poser who doesn't eat dish, is the AAC roll (avocado, asparagus, and cucumber). Because it's not quite the right season for asparagus, I had to modify a bit.

Deconstructed Sushi Salad (serves 4-6) 
Sushi Dressing (makes between 3/4 C-1 C)

• 1/2 C rice vinegar
• 2 tsp wasabi powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2-3 Tbs soy sauce
• 2-3 tsp minced ginger
• toasted nori 

1. Mix together all ingredients except nori. Snip the nori into small pieces and incorporate into the dressing. Set aside.

Sushi Salad

• 2 C uncooked sushi rice
• 1 small cucumber, diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 4-6 medium shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and diced
• 1/2 of the dressing made above

1. Rinse the sushi rice several times. Place in saucepan with 2 C water, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 mins, remove from heat. Let steam, covered, away from heat for 10 more mins. Allow rice to cool to room temp or place in fridge.
2. Place the mushrooms in a microwave safe container, cook, checking every 30 seconds, until most of the liquid is removed. This should take about 90 seconds. Be careful not to let the mushrooms burn.
3. Pour half of the dressing over the rice, mix well. Add the mushrooms and cukes, mix well. Dice and add the avocado just before serving, mix well. Serve, with dressing and soy sauce for dipping. Enjoy! Stays fresh for up to 3 days.

Kitchen Notes: I used seasoned rice vinegar, so you may need more sugar or other seasonings to adjust. Real wasabi powder (see below) is far milder than that served in most Japanese restaurants, so if you're crazy about the flavor of restaurant wasabi, get tube wasabi from an Asian market. The original recipes for both Joanne and the Moosewood cookbook both recommend pickled ginger, I used fresh as that's what is on hand.When you initially mix the wasabi and rice vinegar, it will look vile. Don't worry, it won't look like this for long.

                This used real wasabi, rather than the horseradish wasabi we tend to be familiar with

                                                               It's sort of gray

Verdict? I was surprised at how well this approximated the flavor of sushi, minus the tight structure. Unlike traditional sushi, the rice does not dry out very quickly, it remains fresh the next day. This recipe invites a lot of flexibility with ingredients, and would likely be great with fish on top. Dipping each chopstickfull in a bit of soy sauce is simply yummy.

A Trio of....Cucumber Salads, Part II: Japanese Cucumber Salad

I don't know how long I've been making this recipe. It's another one slightly adapted from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant. I will tell you, that it's very important to adequately cook the sake used in this recipe. It is not OK to get tipsy off your food. I've learned this from experience.


Are you familiar with the Korean concept of banchan with meals? It's the idea of serving very small side dishes with your meal, almost like an amuse bouche, but served to accompany the meal, not before. Served in this fashion, this works quite well, but by itself, the flavors are overwhelming.

Without further ado, round II of cucumber salads.

Japanese Marinated Cucumbers (Su-no-Mono) with Sake Noodles 
For the cucumbers:

• 1 large cucumber, prepared as outlined here
• 1/4 C sake, boiled
• 1/3 C rice vinegar
• 3 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 Tbs mirin

1. Mix the sake, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and miring together. 
2. Add to cucumbers, allow to chill for a couple hours. 

Kitchen Notes: As mentioned above, the flavors in this become very concentrated, it serves better as almost a  relish, garnish or condiment. For a very light meal, this goes well on somein noodles, or as a side for my deconstructed sushi salad, coming up next.

Verdict? Truthfully, I'm not as in love with this salad as I once was. The sake imparts a slightly floral flavor, which is an acquired taste. As a way to flavor other dishes, though, it works great.

Key Lime Cannoli

A pause from cucumber blogging. My friend Amy was intrigued by the blueberry cannoli, and since we had plans for a dinner date at my house, I decided to make some for her. Being fatigued of blueberry, I made a different flavor. Key lime. Hooray for key lime.
                                 
                                        
  I know, another recipe with a heavy citrus slant. I have no financial interest in citrus groves, honest

Key Lime Cannoli (makes 4-6 regular cannoli or up to 12 mini cannoli)

• 16 oz ricotta cheese (you should know by now--don't use fat free)
• 1/4 C key lime juice
• 1/4 C-1/3 C confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
•  zest of 1 lime
• 6 premade cannoli shells 

1. Drain any liquid off the top of the ricotta, place in bowl, and begin whisking with a fork.
2. Slowly incorporate the sifted confectioner's sugar. Keep whisking! Incorporate a lot of air into the mixture.
3. Add the lime juice, zest and vanilla extract.
4. Continue whisking until mixture is somewhat fluffy and all the lumps from the ricotta are gone.
5. Taste, add additional sugar, lime, or vanilla as needed.
6. Gently spoon the filling in the cannoli shells. A small rubber spatula works nicely.
7. Enjoy!

Kitchen Notes: This recipe has more fluid than my previous cannoli post, so it will likely require additional time with whisking. Heed my previous warning not to whisk with a whisk (let's see how many times I can incorporate the word "whisk" into this post) but with a fork. In my photo, you'll notice that I've sprinkled unsweetened, flaked coconut on the cannoli which is a nice complementary flavor. If your feeling bold, I invite you to make the rather bizarre sauce that I concocted, you can see it drizzled on the plate above. I took about a cup of Rose's sweetened lime juice and reduced it on medium-low heat for 20 mins. It's super-sour, and packs an interesting dimension of flavor into the recipe. Flavor develops over a few hours, so if you're not serving right away, let the mixture sit in the fridge and fill the shells just before serving. This time I used Alessi brand mini cannoli shells, in my previous post I used Bellino brand. I prefer the size of the Alessi mini-cannoli, however I find that the Bellino brand has a lighter, flakier, less processed taste. My supermarket does not stock key limes, but stocks key lime juice in little squeeze bottles.

Verdict? I love key lime, and I find that cannoli are ideal for taking favorite desserts and experimenting with them in a different manner. The flavor is subtle, but works great since it's such a texture heavy dish, the juxtaposition of the smooth filling and the crispy, crunchy shell. It's also wicked easy to make, and doesn't require heating up the oven on a hot day.

A Trio of....Cucumber Salads, Part I

As much as I harassed my friend Katie for bartering for my tzatziki recipe, she was super generous in sharing her cucumber bounty. I took the opportunity to make 3 international cucumber salads, each which share the same initial prep. The first I'll feature, is a Finnish cucumber salad, that I've taken from Moosewood Restaurant's Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, with some minor modifications. I've included a photo from the cookbook, to illustrate why I needed to create this blog. I annotate my cookbooks to the point of vandalism:

                                                         See all the pencil marks?

To start the 3 salads, I took 4 very large cukes, peeled them (don't peel them if your peels are nice. If your peels are nice, score them with a fork), and sliced them very thin. I threw them in a colander, sprinkled them liberally with salt, and drained for 20 mins or so. They looked like this:

After they've drained, rinse off the salt. In a clean, lintless tea towel or cloth napkin (you'll need several), place a handful of cukes and wring until you've extracted as much water as possible. Put the cukes in a mixing bowl. Continue until all the cukes have had water removed. As a heads up, the other 2 cucumber salads are Japanese and Korean.

Finnish Cucumber & Dill Salad (serves 4-6)

• 2 large cucumbers, prepared as detailed above
• 2/3 C sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (I prefer sour cream, but used yogurt since that's what I had. Avoid fat free--low fat is OK)
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 Tbs white vinegar
• handful of minced fresh dill
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Mix the sour cream or yogurt, oil, vinegar, sugar, dill and pepper together. Keep salt separate for now.
2. Fold into cucumbers.
3. Add salt to taste. 

Kitchen Notes: This tastes best when eaten a few hours after assembled. Try to eat within a day or so, as the flavor diminishes significantly and becomes watery after this. Don't omit the sugar, though it sounds odd. It helps enhance the flavors of the salad and does not create a sweet flavor. I add the salt at the very end, because inevitably some salt remains on the cucumbers after rinsing, so it's hard to gauge how much salt is needed until the salad is assembled.

                                                   It tastes far more attractive than it looks!

Verdict? One of my favorite summer salads, and one I make again, again, and again. Well worth the work, in my view. Very refreshing.

Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

This past weekend, in St. Louis, my husband and I stumbled upon a fantastic little place in St. Louis, La Dolce Via. I had the spinach torta with a side of field greens with a rocking lemon vinaigrette. I felt compelled to try at home.

If you've never had a quinoa salad, try one now. Yum. A beautiful alternative to traditional tabbouleh & pasta salads. The inspiration again, comes from one of my favorite food bloggers, Kevin of Closet Cooking, with the recipe by me. 

Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette (serves 4-6)
For the Vinaigrette:

• 1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 C red wine vinegar
• juice & zest of 1-2 lemons
• 2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
• salt 
• pepper
• large handful of dill, chopped

1.   Mix ingredients 

For the Salad

• 1 C quinoa, uncooked
• small tomato, diced
• small zucchini, cut into small wedges
• 1/4 C red onion, finely diced
• 1/4 feta crumbled

1. Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Bring quinoa, 1 1/2 C water, and a pinch of salt to a boil. Cover, and cook for 15 mins. Remove from heat, fluff, and let it remain covered for 10 mins. Let cool.
2. Mix together quinoa, veggies, feta & vinaigrette. Serve cool or at room temperature. 


Verdict? Hooray! I love, love, the texture of quinoa, and I love, love, the fresh flavor of lemon. Makes an ideal lunch.  

Zucchini & Goat Cheese Tart

My goal was a meal that could be served at room temperature, because it continues to be flippin' hot here. Though, my brilliant self didn't consider the fact that the oven still needed to be on to make this. I hadn't worked with puff pastry before, but after using philo dough, puff pastry is a piece of cake (no pun intended)

I made this for a friend who wouldn't mind being a guinea pig for my culinary experiments. This recipe was inspired by Closet Cooking's zucchini tart, with this recipe by me:

          It looks so pretty! Sadly, the zukes deconstructed as soon as I took a pizza cutter to this baby

Zucchini Goat Cheese Tart

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 8 oz goat cheese
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 C sundried tomatoes, chopped 
• 3 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped
• 1-2 tsp herbs de Provence
• 1 med zucchini, sliced very thin
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• garlic powder

1. For the goat cheese mixture (make the night before if possible): place the goat cheese in the mixer on low speed, until fluffy. Gradually add the garlic, sundried tomatoes, oregano, and herbs de Provence. Increase speed to medium. Continue until well mixed. 
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Unfold the puff pastry. With a knife, score the perimeter of the puff pastry, approximately 1 inch from the edge, be careful not to cut through the pastry.
3. Spread the goat cheese mixture on the puff pastry, about 1/4 in thickness, omitting the inch around the perimeter. 
4. Carefully place the zucchini slices across the goat cheese mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Mix together a bit of olive oil and garlic powder, brush across the edges of the puff pastry.
6. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-20 mins or until golden brown. 

 

My kitchen aid is working over time

 

                                                 Before the zukes make their appearance

                                        
  I became convinced that the puff pastry would crack, or fall, or burn, so I felt the need to take a picture before the trip to the oven

Kitchen Notes: I used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, which is available at most supermarkets. It was recommended to me by someone who is ingenious at making desserts. I found the easiest way to put the goat cheese on the puff pastry was to pat it down with very clean hands. When I made this, I actually used way too much goat cheese, so I reduced this recipe to a more reasonable level. I've got big plans for the leftover filling, though.


Verdict? Good stuff. Very elegant looking, very simple. I definitely need to tweak the seasonings somehow for my liking, but I'll be making this again.