INCREDIBLY SIMPLE APPLE CARPACCIO

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets, Incredibly simple by sallybr

I love to bake but we rarely have dessert at home. Only dinner parties will find us enjoying sweets after a meal. Still, when it is your perfect match’s Birthday, it is nice to close the meal with some sweetness. We wanted something light, no heavy laminated dough, no cake, no pie. I stumbled on this recipe by accident, simplified it quite a bit and we absolutely loved it! At the end of the post, I will give you a suggestion to turn it into a verrine, in case you do not want to go through the trouble of slicing the apples so thin.

APPLE CARPACCIO
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 apple (I used honey crisp)
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted
1/2 cup full-fat yogurt
honey to taste
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
lemon juice

Cut the pistachios in small pieces, mix half with the yogurt, add honey to taste. Reserve the remaining pistachios.

Quarter the apple, core it, but do not peel it. Slice it super thin, ideally using a mandolin. Spread the slices over a plate, squirt lemon juice all over.

Place a dollop of yogurt in the center of the slices, top with pomegranate seeds and reserved pistachios. Drizzle with a little bit of honey and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This was delicious, refreshing and light. I highly recommend it if you want to serve dessert but keep it on the light side. If you don’t own a mandolin and don’t want to go through the effort of cutting the apples by hand, dice the fruit and layer on a little glass. A layer of apple, some lemon juice, yogurt-pistachio layer, more apple, and top with the yogurt mix, finishing with pistachios, pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of honey. It will be a different serving style, but equally delicious.

ONE YEAR AGO: Chocolate-Cherry Miroir Cake, A Vegan Showstopper

TWO YEARS AGO: Bee Happy Honey Macarons

THREE YEARS AGO: Episode 7 of Great American Baking Show, Canapes, Opera Cake and Running out of Gas

FOUR YEARS AGO: Raspberry Ganache Macarons

FIVE YEARS AGO: Pain au Chocolat

SIX YEARS AGO: Two Unusual Takes on Roasted Veggies

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Kadoo Boranee: Butternut Squash Perfection

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Creamy Broccoli Soup with Toasted Almonds

NINE YEARS AGO: Fennel and Cheddar Cheese Crackers

TEN YEARS AGO: A Festive Pomegranate Dessert

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: My First Award!

TWELVE YEARS AGO: A Message from WordPress

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Turkish Chicken Kebabs

30Aug2022

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE: KOREAN CHICKEN THIGHS

Posted in Incredibly simple, Poultry by sallybr

Mix a few ingredients, marinate the chicken. Grill. Done. It will go into our rotation, which tells you how much we loved it. Spicy to the right level. Sweet to the right level. Tender and moist.

KOREAN CHICKEN THIGHS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons Gochujang sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste

Mix all ingredients for the marinade, whisking them well. Add the pieces of chicken and move them around to coat each piece with the marinade. Leave it in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

Sprinkle a little more salt on the pieces of meat and grill until done, about 7 minutes per side, depending on how hot your grill gets.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Two of my best buddies are Gochujang and Sriracha. I like to drizzle Sriracha over turkey burgers or other things ready to eat, but Gochujang I prefer to cook with. I find it a bit too strong on its own. In this marinade it is the dominant flavor, but unless you really dislike spicy food, it is not overpowering. I was quite amazed by how tasty leftovers turned out even when tortured fora couple of minutes in the microwave. We had them with air-fried zucchini (which I did not do a good job, over-crowded the basket and they turned out mushy), and British-style roasted potatoes (Sally pats herself on the back, they were perfect).

ONE YEAR AGO: Zucchini with Quick-Pickled Vegetables and Peanut Sauce

TWO YEARS AGO: Nha Benta (Brazilian candy)

THREE YEARS AGO: The Best, The Very Best Hummus

FOUR YEARS AGO: Chicken Katsu

FIVE YEARS AGO: Whole-Lemon Marinade: Long Overdue

SIX YEARS AGO: Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Almond Vinaigrette

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Eggplant Tomato Stacks

EIGHT YEARS AGO: The Couscous that Wasn’t

NINE YEARS AGO: Apple-Cinnamon Bread

TEN YEARS AGO: Blueberry Galette

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, August 2011

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Journey to a New Home

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Friday Night Dinner

1Nov2021

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE CARROTS

Posted in Incredibly simple, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

I kept waiting and waiting to get more recipes and make a more involved article in my “Incredibly Simple” category, but truth is I would MARRY these carrots if I was single and searching for a perfect match. It makes no sense to delay this post. You will not find a simpler recipe. And definitely not one that will surprise you as much for the outcome versus simplicity ratio. Do not be ashamed to buy this ingredient at the grocery store: Sweet Soy Sauce for Rice, by Kikkoman. It is all you need. Well, carrots would be nice to have also…

JAPANESE-STYLE ROASTED CARROTS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

Carrots, cut in sticks, enough to cover a quarter baking sheet
1 to 2 tablespoons grape seed oil
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce for rice (Kikkoman)
zest of 1/2 lemon + lemon juice to taste

Heat oven to 420F. Coat cut carrots with olive oil, season very lightly with salt and pepper.

Roast for about 25 minutes, until edges start to get golden brown. Remove from the oven, drizzle the soy sauce and lemon zest all over, and roast for 5 minutes more, or until the sauce starts to caramelize. Serve with a little drizzle of lemon juice.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I don’t know if I will ever bother making a different version of carrots, at least not until I get bored with this beauty. If you want to feel virtuous and work harder, make the sweet soy sauce yourself from scratch. There are many recipes around (like this one), but at least once go the easy route and try this version. We all need a simple side dish in the repertoire for those times in which life seems a tad overwhelming.

ONE YEAR AGO: Sarah Bernhardt’s Cookies

TWO YEARS AGO: A Really Big Announcement

THREE YEARS AGO: Stir-Fried Chicken in Sesame-Orange Sauce

FOUR YEARS AGO: Monday Blues

FIVE YEARS AGO: A New Way to Roast Veggies

SIX YEARS AGO: Two Takes on Raspberries

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Spice Cake with Blackberry Puree

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Own Your Kitchen with Cappuccino Panna Cotta

NINE YEARS AGO: Chicken Parmigiana, the Thriller

TEN YEARS AGO: Wild Mushroom Risotto

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Tartine Bread: Basic Country Loaf

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Pugliese Bread

16May2021

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE TIMES FOUR: MAY 2021

Posted in Air-Frying, Desserts, Incredibly simple, Salads, Veggies by sallybr

Last time I shared Incredibly Simple recipes was 7 months ago, so it’s been a while… The first three are embarrassing simple. The fourth will surprise you. Read on, my friends!

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #1

AIR-FRIED CAULIFLOWER FLORETS

I admit that the picture is not that great. The problem is I had no intention of blogging about it, until I realized I made it three weeks in a row, and now it’s pretty hard for me to prepare cauliflower any other way. The air-fryer is the perfect environment to get crispy, tender inside florets, in 20 minutes. Yes, 20 minutes start to finish. No mess, no fuss. Perfect results every single time.

Toss the florets in a large bowl with a little grapeseed oil (you can use olive oil if you prefer), season with salt, pepper, and when you want to rock your world a bit, go for smoked paprika, maybe a touch of curry. Set your fryer to the highest temperature (mine is 390F), and let it roast for 20 minutes, shaking the basket once or twice.

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #2

HARD-BOILED EGGS, THE AIR-FRYER WAY

If you own an air-fryer and want to expand your horizons to use it more often, hard-boiled eggs are a great option. Place as many eggs as you want in the basket. Set it to 270F (or around that temperature, depending on your model) and set the timer to 15 minutes. You might need a little adjustment in the time. For my fryer and my taste in hard-boiled eggs, that combination hits the spot. If you want to have soft-boiled eggs, reduce the time to 8 to 10 minutes, but again you’ll have to tweak the conditions. The eggs peel like a dream, by the way.

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #3

SWEET AND SPICY WALNUTS (or PECANS)

Phil came up with this idea and now we do it all the time for our salads. Grab a handful of walnuts or pecans. Coat a non-stick small skillet with a tiny tiny tiny amount of olive oil. Heat, and add the nuts. Season with salt and pepper, or if you like to change things a bit, go for a touch of paprika. When the nuts start to get fragrant, drizzle a very small amount (maybe 1 tsp) of maple syrup. Everything will bubble furiously. Shake the pan to move the walnuts and coat them with the syrupy mixture. Immediately remove from the heat and transfer them to a small bowl to cool down a bit. Add to your salad. Any salad. Try to refrain from picking those babies from the bowl when no one is looking

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #4

FRIANDS

You may ask yourself… “Has she lost her mind?” BAKING in Incredibly Simple? Nope, I did not lose my mind (at least not for this particular reason). This is a recipe that a 5 year old can make with minor supervision as the young child will need to operate a food processor.

Melt 1 stick (113g) of butter and place in the bowl of a food processor together with
90g all-purpose flour
110g almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
3/4 tsp baking powder
5 egg whites
190g powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Process for 1 minute. It will be very foamy. Spoon the mixture in non-stick muffin tins (or friand molds), filling each cavity no more than 3/4 full. Place two raspberries in each portion, top with some slivered almonds. Bake at 325F for 18 to 20 minutes, until the edges start to get golden. Let them cool for 10 minutes, remove from the molds and when fully cold, dust with powdered sugar.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I hope that if you consider yourself a non-baker, or worse yet, a bake-o-phobe (like I used to be), you will still grab the ingredients and try this recipe. You can vary the nut flour by adding some hazelnuts or even ground pistachios in some proportion together with almond flour. Or you can bake this simple version. They are delicate, moist, fragrant, absolutely perfect with a cup of tea. And so incredibly simple to prepare! Make sure to surprise whoever is around and when you bring those to the table, say very non-challantly… “I’ve made some friands for you”… Work on your best French accent, it is a must in this case.

ONE YEAR AGO: Phyllo Parcels with Moroccan Turkey

TWO YEARS AGO: Roasted Corn and Zucchini Salad

THREE YEAR AGO: Fraisier Cake, A Celebration of Spring

FOUR YEARS AGO: Zucchini Frittata with Roasted Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

FIVE YEARS AGO: Playing with Pectinase

SIX YEARS AGO: Poached White Asparagus with Lemon and Pistachios

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Dan Lepard’s Saffron Bloomer

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Fesenjan & The New Persian Kitchen

NINE YEARS AGO: Quinoa Salad with Roasted Beets

TEN YEARS AGO: Pasta Puttanesca

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Miche Point-a-Calliere

18Oct2020

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE TIMES FOUR: OCTOBER 2020

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Incredibly simple, Rice and Grains, Seafood by sallybr

It’s been a while since I shared with you recipes that are super simple but tasty enough to justify being featured on a blog post.

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #1
EGGS WITH ZA’ATAR AND LEMON

This very simple “recipe” is from a wonderful cookbook called “Falastin.” Gently boil as many eggs as you want, but just for 6 minutes. The idea is to get the yolk still pretty creamy. Now in a small bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, and za’tar. Peel the eggs, and chop them coarsely, drizzle your little sauce and sprinkle salt on top. Amounts are totally flexible, I usually go with 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon olive oil and then improvise. I don’t know how many times I’ve called this lunch, with Ak-Mak crackers or a slice of sourdough bread. So good!

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #2
SMOKY CHICKPEAS

Inspiration for this recipe came from Steeped: Recipes Infused with Tea (I adore it). You will need some smoked tea (Lapsang Souchong), but it is totally worth it to get some and keep in your pantry, even if you don’t enjoy it as a regular tea. I use it in chocolate ganache and quite often in cooking. It gives the food a very nice, subtle smoky flavor.

Slice open one bag of smoked tea, mix its contents with some cumin, smoked paprika, and salt. Open a can of chickpeas, drain and rinse well. Add into a bowl, drizzle some grape seed oil all over it, add the dry spice mixture and mix. Spread on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, and roast in a 400F oven for 25 minutes until golden brown. Once again, amounts can be totally eye-balled, no need for precision here. Relax and have fun with it.

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #3
AROMATIC BASMATI RICE

I found this gem of a recipe at Spice House website and made it four times in a row. That tells you how much we enjoyed it. It just turns a regular batch of rice into something special. I made some adjustments to their recipe as I felt that the rice was turning out a bit too underdone for our taste.

AROMATIC BASMATI RICE
(adapted from Spice House)

1 cup Basmati rice, rinsed
1 Tablespoon grape seed oil (or another mild-flavored oil)
5 whole cardamom pods
2-3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
salt to taste
2 cups cold water

Add oil to a non-stick saucepan and place the pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cardamon (you can lightly crush them if you want more flavor), cloves and cinnamon stick to saute briefly. When fragrant, add rice and salt. Saute a minute or so to coat the grains of rice with the flavored oil. Add water, but don’t put the lid on yet.

Once the water boils, turn the heat down and simmer uncovered for 7 minutes. Cover the pan, and let it cook on very gently heat for 7 more minutes. Turn the heat off and let the rice sit in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the spices and fluffing the rice for serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Make sure to count how many little spice pieces you add to the pan so you can be sure to remove them all, although they are pretty visible on the cooked rice later. There is so much flavor in this recipe, I guarantee you will be hooked on it.

INCREDIBLY SIMPLE #4
BAKED SALMON WITH SOY-GINGER GLAZE

BAKED SALMON WITH SOY-GINGER GLAZE
(inspired by At Home with Natalie)

3 salmon filets
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil (do not add more, it is powerful stuff)
salt to taste
sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

Place the salmon filets (skin side down) over a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil leave at room temperature while you heat the oven to 350F and reduce the sauce for glazing.

Mix the soy sauce and mirin in a small non-stick saucepan, add the ginger, brown sugar and sesame oil. Simmer gently for a few minutes, until it starts to get a little thicker. Brush the top of the filets with some of the glaze, season very lightly with salt, and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Reserve the rest of the glaze.

Remove the pan from the oven, brush with more glaze and sprinkle sesame seeds. Return to the oven, and cook until done to your liking. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

We eat salmon every week, but usually the husband is the seafood cook in our house. I rarely venture into his department, but was tempted to try this very simple preparation. I know I’ll be making it regularly, the only key thing is to get the fish cooked to the exact point you want (which is easier to do with sous-vide, but sometimes it’s nice to simplify things further). Probe the filet with a paring knife, and remove from the oven when it reaches your personal Nirvana level.