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

26May2022

AIR-FRIED CAULIFLOWER WITH POMEGRANATE SEEDS AND TAHINI SAUCE

Posted in Air-Frying, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

This is a winning combination that I urge you to try whenever you find fresh pomegranates to play with. In our neck of the woods, it’s not always available. I prefer to buy the pomegranate seeds in those little jars because I am not too fond of the work needed to extract them from the fruit. Yes, I am familiar with all the tricks, but in this particular case, I opt for the easy way out.

AIR-FRIED CAULIFLOWER WITH POMEGRANATE SEEDS AND TAHINI SAUCE
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

for the cauliflower:
1 head of cauliflower, florets only
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt to taste
pomegranate seeds

for the tahini sauce:
1/2 cup tahini
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup water to adjust consistency (you may need less)

Coat the cauliflower florets with the oil, season with smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Place in the air-fryer at 390F or as high as your fryer goes. Cook the florets until they start to get brown at the edges, shaking the basket every once in a while. While the cauliflower fries, make the sauce.

Mix all ingredients for the sauce (except the water) in a food processor and process until smooth. It will be very thick. Slowly add the water, until you get to the consistency you like.

Transfer the cauliflower to a serving platter, drizzle the sauce all over and sprinkle pomegranate seeds, as many as your heart desires.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I adore cauliflower and I am crazy for tahini. It was odd that it took me so long to put both together. If you don’t have pomegranate seeds, kalamata olives will work well for the contrast of color and that sharp flavor. A shower of black sesame or Nigella seeds could be great too. Anything to give some contrast to the cauliflower-sauce duet. Because our air-fryer is small, when I made this recipe there were no leftovers. Actually I did have extra sauce that was drizzled on all sorts of goodies for a couple of days. If you want to make this dish for company (or if you do not own an air-fryer), go for oven-roasting, 425F works like a charm. It just takes longer and the texture won’t be as crispy.

ONE YEAR AGO: Pistachio-Rose Donuts

TWO YEARS AGO: Smoked Chocolate Macarons

THREE YEARS AGO: Chocolate Celebration Cake

FOUR YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple Times Four, May 2018

FIVE YEARS AGO: Tangential Quiche with Asparagus and Fennel

SIX YEARS AGO: Fakebouleh

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Yellow Squash Soup

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Grilled Chicken with Tamarind and Coconut Glaze

NINE YEARS AGO: Chicken-Apricot Skewers

TEN YEARS AGO: Asparagus Quiche

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Two-stage Pea and Prosciutto Risotto

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Mellow Bakers: Corn Bread

2Jun2020

BULGUR AND CHICKPEA SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE SEEDS

Posted in Rice and Grains, Salads, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

I’ve been on a bulgur kick lately. It is such a nice grain, cooks in less than 10 minutes and you can enjoy it warm or cold. In the version I share today, it showed up as salad, with a very simple lemony dressing with fresh mint from our own garden. Disclaimer: I take zero credit for any fruits, legumes or herbs grown in our backyard. The husband is the gardener in charge, and for that I am forever grateful. I am a certified mint-killer.

BULGUR AND CHICKPEA SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE SEEDS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 cup bulgur
1/2 tsp salt
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 tsp paprika
2 Tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
fresh mint leaves
fresh pomegranate seeds
1/2 preserved lemon, cut in small pieces (optional)
salt and pepper for final seasoning

Cook the bulgur in a large volume of salted water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse briefly with cold water. Reserve.

Place the drained chickpeas in a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle some paprika and microwave for 15 seconds or so. Let them cool briefly. Add the chickpeas to the bulgur in a serving bowl. Add mint leaves to taste, drizzle olive oil and lemon juice, mix everything well. Finally add pieces of preserved lemons (if using) and pomegranate seeds. Adjust seasoning, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The little step of microwaving the chickpeas for just a few seconds with a touch of spice is absolutely worth it. I read about it a long time ago and now I just incorporate in every recipe that calls for canned chickpeas. It brightens up the flavor, and since it is such a short “cooking” time, it does not affect the texture. It exorcises that “tinned” feel out of them.

I added preserved lemons because I made some from scratch back in April and this salad was a perfect opportunity to bring them to play. You can omit or add orange segments together with the pomegranate seeds. Leftovers keep quite well, in fact I think the salad was better at lunch next day. I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a touch of additional salt. This will be in our regular rotation, I am sure.

ONE YEAR AGO: Purple Star Macarons

TWO YEAR AGO: Smoked Salmon, Fait Maison

THREE YEARS AGO: Kouign-Amann, Fighting Fire with Fire

FOUR YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, Yin and Yang

FIVE YEARS AGO: Chocolate Toffee Banana Bread

SIX YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, June 2014

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Baked Coconut and “The Brazilian Kitchen”

NINE YEARS AGO: Honey-Glazed Chicken Legs

TEN YEARS AGO: French-Style Rolls

11Feb2018

FESENJAN, FAST-FOOD STYLE

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

When you buy a container with fresh pomegranate seeds from the store, you need to put it to use before the husband hits said container and inhales them all while watching Broadchurch late at night. I managed to salvage enough seeds to showcase them over a favorite of mine, Fesenjan. Yes, I’ve blogged about it in the past (click here), but this time I used the pressure cooker and really enjoyed the added lusciousness-factor the method provided. If you have a pressure cooker, or the fashionable instant pot, you can turn this classic into fast-food. Can you imagine so much joy on a weeknight dinner?

FESENJAN
(slightly adapted from A Calculated Whisk)

6 ounces walnut halves, lightly toasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in half
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 shallot, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup pomegranate seeds, for serving
chopped fresh cilantro, for serving

Place the toasted walnuts in a food processor and grind them to a coarse powder. Reserve.

On a large skillet or in the pressure cooker (on the instant pot), heat the olive oil and add the chicken pieces seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown them lightly, if necessary in two batches. Reserve. Add the shallots, saute’ for a couple of minutes, then add the turmeric, cinnamon and cardamon. Stir until fragrant. Pour in the chicken stock. If using a skillet, transfer the mixture to the pressure cooker now.

Add the ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses and honey. Stir to combine, Close the pressure cooker and once full pressure is achieved, cook for 15 minutes. Release the pressure, if the sauce is too thin, cook for a few minutes with the lid open to reduce it.

Serve the chicken with fresh pomegranate seeds and cilantro leaves scattered on top.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you don’t have a pressure cooker (or an Instant Pot) you can obviously adapt it for a regular pan, just cook it on a very low simmer for 45 minutes to one hour. I like the chicken to be super tender. Pomegranate molasses is a great ingredient to have in your pantry. You can cook down pomegranate juice with sugar to the point of a syrup, and use that instead, but the convenience of opening a bottle is hard to beat. If you’d like to make it from scratch, here is a good method.

Fesenjan goes well over white rice, over Persian rice (see my version here), or cauliflower rice for those who prefer to follow a low-carb route. Leftovers enjoyed inside a corn tortilla are a no-no. If you know a food blogger who admits in public to doing that, stop following her (or him) immediately.

ONE YEAR AGO: Lavender Macarons with White Chocolate Ganache

TWO YEARS AGO: Raspberry Chocolate Truffles

THREE YEARS AGO: Red Velvet Cupcakes

FOUR YEARS AGO: Happy Valentine’s Day!

FIVE YEARS AGO: A Few Blogging Issues

SIX YEARS AGO: Dan Dan Noodles

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Sophie Grigson’s Parmesan Cake

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Antibiotics and Food

SaveSave

8Feb2018

A SPINACH SALAD TO WRITE HOME ABOUT

Posted in Salads by sallybr

I know, spinach salad is not the most exciting item in the culinary world. I admit it. But this one got two very enthusiastic thumbs up from the husband, who prefers to reserve his excitement for things like a juicy T-bone steak, or falling-off-the-bone barbecue ribs. Every component helps the other one shine. Give it a try.

SPINACH SALAD WITH PEARS AND WALNUTS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

for the salad:
a bunch of spinach leaves, preferably baby spinach
a handful of walnuts, lightly toasted with a touch of salt
one or two Bartlett pears, peeled and thinly sliced
feta cheese, crumbled, amount to taste
pomegranate seeds, sprinkled with abandon

for the dressing:
3 tablespoons grape seed oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
a touch of mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together. I actually prefer to add everything but the oil, so that the salt dissolves well into the vinegar. Whisk the oil, make a nice emulsion and reserve.

Add the spinach leaves to a platter, place all other components on top. Add the dressing, toss the leaves very gently to coat. Serve right away.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I confess to having a problem with pomegranate seeds. I cannot stop grabbing the cups full of them, sold at Dillon’s. I know, who needs to buy that when you can get the fruit and whack it yourself? I can tell you one thing, if you could watch me performing the maneuver of getting seeds off the fruit, you would understand why I avoid doing it. Yes, I’ve tried every single “easy and efficient” method published in magazines, books, and websites. Even the one describe as “The Ultimate Trick for Pomegranate Seeds Removal.” Thanks, but no thanks. But, whatever your method of choice, try this salad, it is really delicious, and elegant enough for company. The juicy pears, the salty feta, the nutty nuts, well… you get the picture.