SESAME-CRUSTED FETA WITH BLACK LIME HONEY SYRUP

This recipe has Ottolenghi written all over, as it should because he created it. Available online clicking here. It was my first time using black lime powder, an ingredient I recently showcased in In My Kitchen.

SESAME-CRUSTED FETA WITH BLACK LIME HONEY SYRUP
(slightly modified from Ottolenghi)

serves 2

for the cheese:
1 block of Greek feta (360g), cut into 4 triangles
35g rice flour
1 large egg, well beaten
100g mixed black and white sesame seeds, lightly toasted
olive oil spray

for the honey syrup:
120g honey
1 tsp ground black lime
juice of 1 lemon


Line a small, shallow baking dish with parchment paper. Pat dry the feta pieces, then dip each piece in the flour, gently shaking off the excess. Coat in the egg, followed by the sesame seeds,
making sure the feta pieces are completely coated. Transfer each piece to your prepared dish and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 425 or use an air-fryer. Spray the coated feta pieces with the oil and bake from cold, for 18 minutes, very gently flipping the pieces over halfway, or until golden and warmed.
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While the feta is baking, put the honey and black lime into a small saucepan on a medium-high heat. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until it turns a deep amber caramel, about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

When the feta triangles are ready, pour the lemon syrup directly over the feta in the baking
dish and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: It is really important to cool the feta triangles in the fridge, they need to be absolutely firm before baking or they will be too soft and melt too quickly. The honey syrup: you will make more than you need, but it is hard to scale it down, so just keep it in the fridge, and I am sure you will find plenty of ways to use it. You can also make more triangles, like in the original recipe from Ottolenghi’s website. Even when cool to almost room temperature these feta concoctions are tasty, with a very complex mixture of flavors. A lovely simple appetizer or brunch item.

I don’t think the honey should be reduced for more than five minutes, because it might get a little bitter. But that might also depend on the kind of honey you start with. I used an all-natural raw honey from a farm in Kansas.

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BAKED EGGS TORTILLA BITES

I am totally in love with this concept, which I saw in one of those reels online that entice you but not always work. This one had a happy ending, and for that I am grateful…

BAKED EGG TORTILLA BITES
(slightly modified from food bites)

makes about 8

3 tortillas
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
25 grams cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon sea salt
pepper, to taste

5 grape tomatoes, one per tortilla cup
fresh chives, to garnish


Heat oven to 350F.

Cut out tortilla flowers with a cookie cutter. Brush the top and bottom of the tortilla flowers with olive oil, insert in a muffin tin. Bake until slightly golden, maximum 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly as you prepare the filling.

Mix the eggs, cream, shredded cheddar, salt, and pepper. Spoon the mixture on top of each tortilla flower till the bottom is covered. Bake again until the egg is cooked (about 8 minutes). Remove the egg tortilla bites and allow to cool.

Slice a grape tomato in the middle at a slant. Cut each half in half. Connect the two set of halves to make two hearts. Top the tomato hearts onto the egg tortillas. Arrange chopped chives as the stem.
Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This was so simple and absolutely delicious. I used a carb-balance type flour tortilla, but I bet it would be even better with regular ones. Do what suits you. I include a little video to show you how to cut the hearts, as it was not quite clear for me when I read her explanation or watched her reel on Facebook. I hope it helps you.


These would be perfect to serve as appetizer for a Valentine’s meal, but I just enjoyed as lunch on a Saturday. Love this type of food. Leftovers were good warmed in a toaster oven, just make sure to keep an eye on the edge of the tortilla cup, they tend to brown quickly. Protect with foil if that bothers you. Each little cup, two small bites, one big smile!

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CORNBREAD ÆBLESKIVER

As I mentioned recently, I do love gadgets, and this pan has been sitting and waiting for too long. However, the moment I saw Karen’s post on this cool recipe, I grabbed it to play!

CORNBREAD ÆBLESKIVER
(slightly adapted from Karen’s Kitchen Stories)

140 grams (1 cup) all purpose flour
70 grams (1/2 cup) medium grind cornmeal
70 grams (1/3 cup + 1 tbs) sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
100 grams canned corn kernels
olive oil spray for the pan

Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients, plus corn kernels with a fork. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.

Heat your aebleskiver pan on medium low and spray each cavity with olive oil.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cavity almost to the top with the batter. Cook until the bottom begins to brown. Using a thin skewer turn the aebleskiver part way and continue to cook. Be sure to push any overflow back into the wells.

After that, add a little more batter to top them off before “closing” them, moving the opening to the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until evenly golden brown and the center is cooked through. Serve right away or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: First things first, I highly recommend this cookbook if you want to expand your Æbleskiver horizons… My main modification of the recipe was cutting the sugar by a bit more than half, and using canned corn because I had some in the pantry and got lazy to scrape fresh corn off the cob. Using the pan takes a bit of practice, I filled the cavities too much in my first batch, but the second half was perfect. I still need to perfect moving the little fritters to cook the second side, but they turned out very tasty.

.

Karen, thanks so much for inspiring me to finally make something with my pan…

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ASPARAGUS AND PROSCIUTTO PHYLLO ROLLS

This is easy but so elegant and tasty, hard to come up with a better idea to impress guests or just enjoy a beautiful side dish on a warm Spring evening. I caught the recipe during a recent episode of TheKitchen, courtesy of Alex Guarnaschelli.

ASPARAGUS AND PROSCIUTTO PHYLLO ROLLS
(very slightly modified from FoodTV Network)

Kosher salt
18 medium stalks asparagus, ends trimmed
24 to 28 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted
olive oil spray
1 cup finely grated Parmesan
12 thin slices prosciutto

Prepare an ice bath with a medium bowl half filled with water and ice cubes.
In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil. Add salt until it tastes like mild seawater. Layer a baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel. Drop the asparagus into the boiling water and cook until slightly tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a large slotted spoon to remove the asparagus from the water, transferring them immediately to the ice bath so that they cool down and don’t continue cooking. Let chill 5 minutes, then drain the asparagus and spread them on the baking sheet with the towel.


Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place one sheet of phyllo on a flat surface with the short end closest to you. Spray the phyllo with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little of the Parmesan. Place another sheet of phyllo directly on top. Brush with additional butter and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Arrange 2 slices prosciutto in a single layer closest to you on the phyllo. Place 2 to 3 stalks of asparagus in bunches along the short side of the phyllo on top of the prosciutto and tightly roll the asparagus up in the prosciutto and phyllo to form a log. Trim the ends of the phyllo to fit the asparagus perfectly. As you make the asparagus rolls, arrange them on a baking sheet with distance between each so that they brown when baking. Spray their tops with olive oil right before baking.

Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake until golden brown on the outside, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with salt.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I wrote the recipe as published, except for the use of olive oil instead of melted butter. Amounts are really going to be flexible, I only made four rolls for us, we had three at dinner and one was my lunch next day, still delicious. I never go through the trouble of making the ice bath, I just rinse the blanched asparagus in running very cold water in a colander, and call it a day. But do as it pleases you, your kitchen, your rules. I have stopped brushing phyllo with butter a long time ago – the olive oil spray is amazingly easy, never hurts the sheets and gives enough flakiness without the extra saturated fat. We love the taste also, so it is a win-win situation for us.

I hope you give this super easy recipe a try, it is wonderful! And if you want to go the vegetarian route, maybe a little black olive tapenade or red bell pepper pesto could be nice instead of the prosciutto.

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COTTAGE CHEESE WRAP

I almost never try “cute” recipes that go viral. To be honest, my last attempt was a certain zucchini flower that ended up as one of the greatest disasters that took place in the Bewitching Kitchen. So I stayed away from the recent fever involving cottage cheese and keto / low-carb / high-protein vibes. That all ended after catching a recent FoodTV The Kitchen episode. Kathy Lee was raving about it. She made some and they all tasted it. Jeff Mauro compared it to a certain Cloud Bread that is also supposed to be low-carb and a good replacement for bread, but it is way too “eggy”. Exactly what I thought, which explains why you’ve never seen me blog about it. This wrap, according to Jeff Mauro, tastes neutral and has perfect texture. I was sold. And wow, I really really loved it!

COTTAGE CHEESE WRAP
(from everywhere in the internet)

Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing
1 + 1/4 cups whole-milk cottage cheese (also works with low-fat)
1/4 teaspoon Herbs the Provence
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch kosher salt (optional, cottage cheese is already a bit salty)
1 large egg

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a quarter-sheet pan (9-by-13-inch) with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray. Make sure to add oil to the sides of the pan to facilitate removal.

In a blender or food processor fitted with the blade attachment, add the cottage cheese and all other ingredients. Blend until very smooth, 15 to 20 seconds. Evenly spread on the prepared sheet pan using a rubber or offset spatula into a thin even layer to the edges of the pan.


Bake until cooked through and lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow the wrap to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove it from the pan, inverting on a board, lift the paper from the bottom of the wrap. Fill with your choice of goodies, roll, slice in half and…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: For my first time making it, I used only ham and mustard inside. I was surprised by how filling the wrap turned out. If you can believe it, I only had half for my lunch, had to save the rest. For something that does not contain any flour, it is quite substantial. It does taste very “neutral”, the texture is pleasing, not eggy at all. You can also bake the wrap and save in the fridge for later, with parchment paper on top, separating several wraps. I will definitely explore the concept further, using different fillings. Now that I am not twisting my nose at the alternate uses for cottage cheese, I have a couple more recipes to try. Stay tuned!

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