SECRET RECIPE CLUB: POTATO CRUSTED ITALIAN MINI-QUICHE

Posted in Appetizers, Breakfast & Brunch, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

November is waving goodbye, I try to stay positive and upbeat even though the weather is getting colder and colder. No matter the temperature outside, the last Monday of the month brings with it a warm feeling: it is Reveal Day for members of The Secret Recipe Club. After getting an assigned blog in secret, we have about 3 weeks to pick a recipe, cook, compose a blog about it and post at the exact same time as everyone else in the group. This month I was paired with Curious Cuisiniere, a blog hosted by Sarah and Tim, a young couple with a smile as bright as the sun on a summer day in Brazil. If you don’t believe me, check their beautiful photo… I love it when a couple has so much fun cooking and exploring different flavors and cuisines, so I was pretty excited to act as a virtual stalker of their site. Before I go into the recipe, let me share with you a great quote from their blog:

Life gets rough. The kitchen gets hot. But there will hopefully always be something tasty that results, someone to share it with, and lessons learned along the way.

Perfect! I wish I had written that myself… 😉 During the stalking phase, I selected 6 other recipes as strong contenders: a Sweet Potato African Peanut Soup, a tasty Coconut Fish Curry, a Sesame Chicken Salad (with an interesting method to coat the chicken pieces), Oriental Burritos. a Sweet Chicken Tajine, and finally something I’ve been wanting to try for a long time, Pretzel Rolls. But, with a dinner party approaching, I settled on the cute mini-quiches.

POTATO CRUSTED ITALIAN MINI-QUICHES
(slightly modified from Curious Cuisiniere)
.
for the crust
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
Salt and pepper to taste
.

for the filling
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 shallot, finely minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash of nutmeg
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
.
Heat your oven to 350F. Place diced potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil potatoes until soft. Drain all but ¼ cup of the cooking liquid. Mash the potatoes with salt and pepper to a very smooth consistency. Spoon roughly 1 teaspoon of mashed potatoes into the bottom of each section of your greased mini muffin tin. Press to the bottom and slightly up the sides to form a ‘crust’. Bake potato crusts for 20 minutes or until they start to get golden.
.
In a medium bowl, combine dry spinach with shallot, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Toss to mix well. Reserve. In a small bowl beat the eggs and milk until well combined. Season with a little salt and a dash of nutmeg.
.
When your crusts come out of the oven, immediately measure or pour roughly 1 Tbsp egg mixture into each cup. Add ½ tsp of spinach mixture and ½ tsp mozzarella cheese to each cup as well. Top off with additional egg mixture if needed. Bake mini-quiche 15-20 minutes at 350F, or until they have set and are firm to the touch. Let the quiche cool for 5 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before removing the quiche from the pan to cool on the rack.
.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I only have one mini-muffin pan that holds 12 muffins, so I had to bake these in two batches. That turned out nicely, because in typical Sally fashion, I disregarded the instructions to use 1 teaspoon of mashed potato in the first batch, and added more. That is no bueno, folks. The layer of potato turned out too thick, never quite crisped up, so the first batch looked sad. Not very brown at the bottom. The photo above shows the correct amount of potato, which interestingly enough is exactly what the recipe called for! So, do as specified and save yourself some grief.

I also thought it was a good idea to add the spinach to the milk-egg base and mix it. No bueno hits again: the spinach just floats and you are forced to mix it in and do all kinds of tricks and messy maneuvers to get equal amounts of spinach in each mini-muffin. Crass language will be heard. Once you follow the recipe as written, there shall be no problems.

Using mashed potatoes as the base was a nice change to the regular quiche. The use of milk instead of heavy cream also lightened up the recipe compared to the classic. I can see variations using sautéed mushrooms, my sister in Brazil wants to make it with sautéed zucchini, all sorts of goodies can be incorporated, just like a normal sized concoction.

I had a great time this month, and invite you to check the productions of my fellow Secret Stalkers from Group D. All you have to do is go poke a blue frog. There is one smiling at the end of this post, waiting for your click… 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Beetroot Sourdough for the Holidays

TWO YEARS AGO: Cod Filet with Mustard Tarragon Crust

THREE YEARS AGO: Soba Noodles: Light and Healthy

FOUR YEARS AGO: Potato-Rosemary Bread

23Nov2013

PUMPKIN HUMMUS

Posted in Appetizers by sallybr

Starting around Halloween, the food blogosphere turns into a pumpkin-fiesta, matching the phenomenon so common in grocery stores too: everything that can be made with a pumpkin flavor will be. Dog food? Yes. Potato chips? Yes, siree. Candles for your bathroom? Of course! Pumpkin Pie Vodka? You bet! It can be a bit much. But, now that the pumpkin fever has subsided a little, I feel it’s safe to come out and play. Let me share with you a pumpkin hummus that we enjoyed recently. I’d love to give credit to the source, but I have no idea where I got it from. I wrote down the ingredients in a piece of paper and ended up modifying it a bit for my own taste. Actually, if you google pumpkin hummus, you’ll find many versions out there, including this one from Sue’s site. She blogged about it just a few days ago, proving that great minds hummus alike.. 😉

PUMPKIN HUMMUS
(a variation from internet sources)

1 can chickpeas, drained and peeled
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp tahini
1/2 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cayenne pepper
drizzle of olive oil

Place chickpeas, lemon juice, water and tahini in food processor. Process until really smooth, let the machine run for a couple of minutes, scrape the sides of the bowl, process again. Add the pumpkin puree’ and seasonings. Process. With the motor running drizzle a little olive oil. Taste and add more lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt if needed.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Hummus is a mandatory appetizer at our home. It doesn’t matter if we are having a dinner party for a few friends, or a departmental get-together to welcome a guest speaker, we always include this super versatile chickpea dip, either as the traditional type, or some fun variation. Making hummus from scratch is easy, and it adds a nice touch. This is a photo of the appetizer course of our first dinner party post-hellnovation. Everything ready, our friends were about to arrive, and we were in Kitchen Nirvana Land…

Apart from the pumpkin hummus, I made the batch of crackers you can see on the green plate: Cheddar and Fennel Seed Crackers, recipe to be featured soon in the Bewitching Kitchen. Think of a shortbread type concoction with a sharp, salty nature, and a very mild fennel taste.

Back to the hummus. My version has two modifications that deviate from most recipes around. First, it doesn’t take any garlic. Second, the amount of olive oil is minimal. When I savor hummus, I like the taste of chickpeas and tahini to be dominant, and that’s pretty hard to achieve if using raw garlic. So I omitted it. I suppose adding roasted garlic could be a nice alternative. In my handwritten note, I noticed that the original recipe called for 1/3 cup of olive oil. I added just a tablespoon, and still could detect the flavor of the oil, not too overpowering, but definitely present. One third of a cup would have ruined it for us. But, different folks, different strokes, you should modify this version as you see fit. Just don’t skip the pumpkin, ok? 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Beetroot Sourdough for the Holidays

TWO YEARS AGO: Cod Filet with Mustard Tarragon Crust

THREE YEARS AGO: Soba Noodles: Light and Healthy

FOUR YEARS AGO: Potato-Rosemary Bread

20Nov2013

SUPERNOVA MEETS WOK

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

My wok is 18 years old, it was one of the first gifts I received when I moved from France to the US, back in 1995. Thank you, dear friend, you know who you are… 😉 I used it a lot in Oklahoma, even though our stove was not powerful enough to bring the best in stir-frying. The wok patiently waited for me inside a box when we traveled for two sabbaticals, and into the box it went again when we moved to the Little Apple and co-existed with an electric stove that even Benjamin Franklin would consider sub-par. Once Supernova was installed, I went to the basement to retrieve my old friend, apologized for the neglect inflicted upon him, and said his loyalty would be compensated: he would meet a superstar and they would live happily ever after… Happy to report that it was love at first flame!

HOISIN CHICKEN WITH CASHEWS
(inspired by Fine Cooking magazine & Barbara Tropp)

2 Tbs peanut oil
1 medium shallot, sliced
2 Piquillo peppers, sliced
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch chunks and velveted
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 oz. snow peas, trimmed
Crushed red chile flakes
2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1/3 cup hoisin sauce diluted with 2 Tbs water
1/3 cup roasted cashews

The day before or a few hours before your meal, velvet the chicken using this method. Heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the shallot slices and cook for 2 to 3 min. Add the Piquillo peppers (I buy them jarred) and cook until both the pepper and onion are browned around the edges. Remove the vegetables from the skillet; set aside. Pour the remaining 1 Tbs. oil in the skillet. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, add it to the oil, and cook, stirring frequently, so that all sides brown, 2 to 3 min. Stir in the snow peas and sprinkle in some red chile flakes. Add the ginger. Reduce the heat to medium low and stir in the thinned hoisin sauce. Simmer for 1 min. to wilt the snow peas and finish cooking the chicken. Sprinkle with the cashews and serve over rice.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Velveting the chicken makes this type of stir-fry so much better that it’s worth investing the small amount of work to do it. Since the chicken can stay in the egg white mixture for up to 24 hours, you could conceivably do it the evening before you intend to make it for dinner. I prefer to do this preparation either when I wake up, or if time allows, at lunch time. Piquillo peppers are from Spain, so their use in this dish qualifies as “fusion-cooking”. In reality, I had an open jar in my fridge and wanted to use it up. So there. 😉

What I love the most about this recipe is the simplicity of the finishing sauce, a mixture of hoisin and water, no cornstarch to deal with. The snow peas barely got in touch with any heat, so they stayed bright green and with a little crunch that was perfect to add that extra something to the dish. A real keeper for a weeknight, there were only three little pieces of chicken left, which made for a super light lunch next day. But, at least I did not have to share…

ONE YEAR AGO: 500 Posts and The Best Thing I ever made

TWO YEARS AGO: Back in Los Angeles

THREE YEARS AGO: White House Macaroni and Cheese

FOUR YEARS AGO: Korean-Style Pork with Asian Slaw

16Nov2013

POMEGRANATE CHICKEN THIGHS & CARROT MASH

Posted in Poultry, Side dishes by sallybr

I am feeling quite generous these days, so you’ll get two recipes in a single post. It turns out they went so well together, that it would be sad to separate them. The source of inspiration for the chicken was a blog I found not too long ago, and started following right away: The View from Great Island, hosted by Sue. Her photography is beautiful, and I’d be happy sitting at her dinner table anytime! The mashed carrot was in the latest issue of Fine Cooking magazine as an option for Thanksgiving side dish. Roasted asparagus rounded our meal quite nicely.

POMEGRANATE AND LIME CHICKEN THIGHS
(adapted from The View from the Great Island)

for the chicken
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 tsp salt
4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

for the glaze
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

To marinate the chicken, put the yogurt, pomegranate juice, salt, and chicken in a large zip lock bag. Massage everything until well combined. Put in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Set the oven to 300 F. Remove the chicken from the marinade, place the pieces skin side down on a large baking dish, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at this low temperature. Remove the foil, if there is a lot of liquid accumulated in the dish remove most of it and discard. Turn the pieces skin side up, cover with foil again and bake for another 20 minutes. At this point, prepare the glaze by combining all ingredients together. If too thin, gently warm it on a small saucepan to thicken it a little. Watch it carefully because it can burn due to all the sugar.

Remove the aluminum foil from the baking dish, increase oven temperature to 425 F. Bake for 15 minutes, once the skin starts to get some color brush the glaze all over the chicken thighs and bake for 10 more minutes or until very dark. You can also broil the pieces at this point, but pay attention to prevent it from burning. Serve with lime wedges.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

CARROT MASH WITH ORANGE AND MINT
(adapted from Fine Cooking magazine)

2 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
salt
1 oz. (2 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
2 Tbs. almond milk, unsweetened
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
Put the carrots in a large saucepan with enough cool water to cover by at least 1 inch. Add 1 tsp. salt and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and cook at a gentle boil until the carrots can be easily pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.

Drain well in a colander, letting the steam rise for a few minutes. Meanwhile, heat the butter, almond milk, oil, mint, orange zest, and 1/2 tsp salt in the saucepan over low heat until the butter melts.

Purée the carrots in a food processor until smooth and then add them to the pan, stirring well to combine.

Adjust seasoning and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: My main modification of the chicken recipe was to adapt it to my favorite method of cooking chicken thighs: low and slow followed by high and fast. I like the way the meat gets super tender and the skin super crisp. You should stop by Sue’s blog and check her version too. She actually made the glaze from pomegranate juice, reducing it with sugar. Since I had a bottle of pomegranate molasses, I followed a slightly different path. The full idea is to have a reasonably thick glaze to coat the chicken.

The carrot mash: my only tweak was to use almond milk instead of heavy cream. I love almond milk and use it every chance I get. A lot more orange zest went into the recipe then called for, because the music playing got me carried away with the Microplane. Such a cool gadget! Phil thought it was slightly too orange-y and not enough carrot-y, but when we had leftovers next day that flavor had mellowed down considerably. As to a side dish for Thanksgiving, I was a bit shocked by how little puree 2 pounds of carrots produced… If you will be feeding an army of people, be ready to peel a ton of carrots and scale this recipe up by a factor of 3 or 4. 😉 Still, a delicious option, bright color, bright flavor, it will shine on your Thanksgiving table next to that big bird.

ONE YEAR AGO: The Many Faces of Kale

TWO YEARS AGO: Short and Sweet

THREE YEARS AGO: Ciabatta, a Classic Italian Bread

FOUR YEARS AGO: Magical Lamb Stew

12Nov2013

ARTICHOKE-SAFFRON SOUFFLE

Posted in Small Dishes by sallybr

The inauguration of the Supernova oven demanded a special recipe. Soufflé had been on my mind for a long time, so all I needed to do was pick a flavor. A parenthesis is necessary. I’d lived for 16 years in a place that did not have frozen artichoke hearts for sale in any grocery store. I was in a state of permanent frozen artichoke withdrawal syndrome, only relieved during sabbatical experiences like the one in Los Angeles. The move to Kansas last year marked the end of my frozen artichoke misery. I now keep those cute little bags in our freezer, and never run out of them. End of parenthesis. Having said all that, artichoke was a natural option to flavor my soufflé. To make it even more special, the bechamel base would be flavored with saffron. Artichoke hearts. Saffron. Case closed.

ARTICHOKE-SAFFRON SOUFFLE
(from the Bewitching Kitchen, following Julia Child’s basic method)

6-cup mold, buttered and sprinkled with grated Parmigiano cheese

3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup hot milk
good pinch of saffron
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites + pinch of salt
3/4 cup artichoke hearts, sautéed slightly in olive oil
1/8 cup Fontina cheese, grated

Heat the milk almost to the point of boiling, add the saffron and let it rest for 15 minutes. Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, don’t allow it to brown. Remove from the heat, and when the butter stops furiously boiling, add the saffron/milk all at once. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly for a couple of minutes more. The sauce will thicken considerably. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat, allow it to cool for 5 minutes or so, and add the egg yolks, one by one, mixing very well after each addition. This sauce can be prepared to this point and refrigerated; bring it to lukewarm before continuing. If you decide not to refrigerate it, then dot it with butter, cover it with a plastic wrap and go work on the egg whites.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm peaks form – depending on your mixer or the strength of your biceps it will take 2 to 5 minutes. Add 1/3 of this mixture to the sauce, to thin it slightly – add the prepared artichoke hearts and the Fontina cheese, mix well. I like to keep the artichoke hearts in chunks, but if you prefer you can cut them in very small pieces.

Now, add the remaining egg whites and fold into the sauce. You don’t need to mix it until it is all incorporated and totally homogeneous, because the “lift” of your souffle’ depends on the air present in the beaten egg whites. If you deflate it, you won’t have a well-risen souffle (it will still taste good, though).

Fill the souffle’ mold to 3/4 of its volume, place it in a 400F oven, reducing the temperature immediately to 375F. Cook the souffle’ for 30 minutes – do not open the oven door during the first 20 minutes. If you like it moist inside, serve after 30 minutes. I prefer to cook for 5 additional minutes, then the texture inside is perfect, not too dry, not too creamy.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

(click to enlarge)

Comments: A friend of mine recently asked me what I would do to get some drama into my life now that the kitchen hellnovation is over. Rest assured, Drama and Sally go hand in hand. Birds of a feather. Two of a kind. Peas in a pod.

I am not a soufflé-novice, and in fact it is one type of dish I’m pretty comfortable making, even for company. However, since the timing is so important, I normally prefer to make soufflé just for the two of us. I suppose it’s acceptable to throw a hysterical fit screaming at the husband to come sit at the table “RIGHT NOW!” but guests might be put off and never accept another invitation. Anyway, I was pretty confident making my concoction, prepared the bechamel based infused with saffron, sautéed the artichoke hearts, whipped up the egg whites. The oven was on, the beautiful blue indicator light had turned off, sign that Supernova had reached proper temperature.

Huge smile, I opened the oven door, and the smile became a shriek of horror followed by a “NOOOOOOOOO!” that could have awaken the dead. I forgot that we had assembled all the racks the day before, and there was no space in between them, so the only thing that could go in would be a sheet pan. Drama? You bet. Beloved husband tried to help but I advised him to leave the premises and take all canines with him. He complied. That’s when I stopped thinking rationally. I quickly put oven mittens on both hands, grabbed one of the racks, pulled it out, ran frantically around trying to find a spot where it could rest without burning any surface, re-arranged the other racks and finally placed the souffle dish inside. ~~Slammed~~ Closed the oven door, and noticed that the indicator light was back on. And on it stayed for quite some time (sigh). In other words, instead of going into a 400F oven, my production went into an environment that was more like 300F. Clear soufflé-abuse. I kept staring through the oven’s window, knowing that the first 15 minutes pretty much decide the fate of your souffle as far as rising goes. Mine was struggling. In retrospect, I should have waited for the oven to reach proper temperature, and only then placed the souffle in. The base is actually very forgiving, it can wait for a while before baking. I knew that, but I wasn’t thinking. Lesson painfully learned.

However, as I’ve said many times before, taste matters more than looks. And this was one tasty soufflé, my friends! Artichokes and saffron: a pair made in heaven, like peas in a pod, birds of a feather, Sally and Drama. 😉