Apple Crisp and Birthday Thoughts

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Today is my birthday! Yeah!!! Happy birthday to me! I always loved my birthdays, I am happy to think that I lived one more year, and I feel that a new year has started for me all over again.  My mom says such feelings change once you turn fifty... I don't know about that, maybe she is right, maybe not. But I have a lot of birthdays to celebrate before that date comes anyway, and I intend to enjoy them all. For me the year starts now, this is when I make my reflections, think about what happened over the past year, and perhaps even make a few resolutions for myself.

Here is what my resolutions list might look like:

 

• Resolution number one: do not make resolutions.
• Then the list would go on with things like eat less sugar, volunteer more, exercise more, read more, watch less TV, get a job, etc, etc...
• The last resolution reads: when feeling overwhelmed with life and its tasks, go back to resolution number one.

Tonight  I am having a double chocolate cake from my absolute favourite  Seattle bakery, after all, birthdays only come around once a year. But that is ok, for all the other days of the year, there is always Apple Crisp. I love this dessert because it is healthier and easier to make than most baked desserts.

 

Apple Crisp Recipe:

 

I made this with a mix of Braeburn and Granny Smith. If you want to go even lighter, swap the ice cream for low-fat frozen yogurt. This crisp can be baked in advance and reheated. This recipe uses a  2  1/2 quart size dish, enough for 6 servings.

 

You will need:

For the apple filling:

6 cups of peeled, cored and chopped apples, about 6 small ones (**see note)

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

 

For the crisp topping:

1 cup  (155g) of all purpose-flour (or use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white)

1/2 cup (45 g) of old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)

1/3 cup (90g) of  sugar

1/3 cup (75g) of packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick, 125 g) of unsalted butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C).

Have two medium size bowls ready. In one of them, mix all ingredients for the filling and set aside.

In the second bowl, add all the dry ingredients from the toppings and whisk until all combined. Pour melted butter in and stir until crumbs form.

Lay the apple filling in a oven-proof dish and top it with the crisp topping.

Bake it for 35 minutes or so.

Let it rest for about 10 minutes before dishing it out. Serve it with ice cream.

 

 ** Note: mix lemon juice with the apples as soon as they are chopped to avoid them from getting brown.

 

Caldo Verde

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When Cabral's fleet arrived in Brazilian lands some 500 years back, they brought along many things, like their cultural habits, language, religion and also their culinary traditions. They taught Brazilian Native Indians how to dress, pray, eat, talk and just "be civilized", among other things. In exchange, they got our lands. Not a bad deal, right?

The fact is that you cannot speak of Brazilian cuisine  without mentioning Portugal. Portuguese influence is quite strong inside Brazilian kitchens. We eat lots of cod (which the Portuguese taught us how to preserve in salt), we buy pasteis de nata at local bakeries and we love caldo verde.

Caldo verde literally means green broth. It is a very simple yet delicious soup made with a base of oil, water, onions and potatoes. To me this is one of the ultimate comfort foods. It is amazing how a few simple ingredients can make such a wonderful soup.The verde part comes from very thin stripes of collard greens. The soup is normally topped with pieces of linguiça, but here at home I have it vegetarian and add the meat only in Andrew's bowl of soup.   A quick look at the ingredient's list and one also notices that this is a very inexpensive dish to make.

 

The traditional way, with smoked Portuguese sausage

 

My vegetarian version, just omitting the sausage and adding a few crackers on the side

 

To most important element of  caldo verde are the collard greens, they must be slices ultra-thin. I put together a step-by-step with photos on how to prepare them, hope it helps.

Caldo Verde Recipe:

You will need:

2/3 cup (150 ml) olive oil. I used extra virgin because the oil plays a big part on this soup

1 large yellow onion, chopped

5 medium size  starchy potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 quart of water

2 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bunch of collard greens, washed and thinly slices (see Preparing Collards instructions bellow)

Portuguese smoked sausage, or any sausage of your choice, cooked and sliced

 

1 - Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-heat, add the onions and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes or until  onions are soft.

2 - Add the potatoes, cook quickly for a couple of minutes.

3 -  Add the water and salt starting with 2 teaspoons and adding the rest if necessary at the end. Bring it to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are completely cooked.

4 - Blend the soup: there are many ways to do it. You can use an immersion blender  directly in the pot or you can transfer the soup in batches to a blender and blend it. If you like a chunky soup, leave some pieces of potatoes whole. What I do sometimes is to leave the soup simmering for long enough that the potatoes start to fall apart. You can add more water if you think it's too thick.

Taste the soup and adjust salt if necessary, add fresh pepper to taste.

Place a handful of collards on the  bottom of each bowl and pour soup. Make sure the soup is extremely hot, as it will flash cook the greens. Top it with the slices sausages, if using.

 

Step 1                                                                          Step 2

 

Step 3                                                                         Step 4

 

 

 Preparing Collard Greens for Caldo Verde:

First, wash and dry the leaves.

 

Remove the tough middle stem

Pile leaves and roll them like in the picture, making log shapes

 

Chop logs as thin as you can. On this case, there is no such thing as too thin. for this soup, I also like to run the knife once on the opposite direction, such as to chop the leaves, just to break them a little bit. It makes it easier to eat the soup, instead of long strings.

Ants on a log

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I recognize that for many people this little snack is quite common. It seems to be this way here in the U.S. But for me, this is a new discovery. I never had ants on a log.  In my mind I picture parents and grandparents making this snack for little ones: "look, it is like ants on a log!" And the child is so excited to take a bite of the log and make some ants disappear. Pour little ants!

I think it's the cutest thing, and it also makes for a pretty healthy snack. For mine, I use peanut butter sometimes, other times I use cream cheese. And for the little ants, they can be anything from raisins, to currants to dry cranberries. Maybe there are others way of making them but I only know those ones ( I accept suggestions though!)

Perhaps one day I will be making those cute snacks to someone little too!

 

To make them:

Clean and cut celery stalks into pieces. Fill each piece with peanut butter or cream cheese. Top them with raisins, currants, cranberries.

Enjoy and have fun!

Roasted Acorn with Sage Cream and Maple Syrup

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I think the January weather here in Seattle (and by that I mean rain, rain, clouds, and more rain. Did I mention rain?) is starting to get on my nerves. I don't really feel like doing much and don't even consider going out of the house when it's pouring down outside. I guess I should be reading more books or working on some of the many baking projects I have in mind, but I am not. I am just feeling very lazy these days. I am telling you all that to justify that this is going to be a very short, straight to the point post, pretty much just a recipe. Nothing wrong with that, right?

About the dish: it makes for a great side dish, it's very seasonal and the maple and sage taste great together. The cream can be a little heavy, so I drizzled a little bit and had the rest on the side.

Roasted Acorn with Sage Cream and Maple Syrup:

adapted from Williams-Sonoma Holiday Entertaining book

You will need:

1 corn squash

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper

1/2 cup (4 oz, 125 ml) of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of sage leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the acorn into 1 inch thick slices and scrape out the seeds. Place slices on a baking sheet and brush them with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until cooked but still firm.

While the squash cooks, make the sauce by simmering the cream with the sage leaves for about 15 minutes.

When acorn squash is done, pour some of the cream over and drizzle with some maple syrup. Serve the leftover cream sauce on the side.

Blueberry Muffins

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I feel really good every time I eat blueberries. Even if they are tucked inside a muffin. And I feel even better if  they are home made muffins. Blueberry is considered a super food due to its high amount of anti-oxidants. I use fresh ones when they are in season  and frozen ones when they are not. In fact, I actually freeze fresh ones during the end of summer when the prices are cheaper and they are abundant.

I guess most people might already have their own recipe for blueberry muffins, but I will share mine anyway. The recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart baking book, surprisingly named Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook :)

Here it goes:

 

Blueberry Muffins Recipe: (makes 12 standard size muffins)

You will need:

 

1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature (see note)

2 cups of all-purpose flour, or 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 1/2 white

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of blueberries, fresh or thawed if frozen

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of milk (I normally use 2% because it is what I drink)

 

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin pan by either using cooking spray (I use the butter with flour kind) or by buttering and flouring them, tapping out excess.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Using an electric mixer (with the paddle attachment) beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time and add vanilla.

Turn mixer speed to low and add flour mixture slowly until incorporated. Add milk slowly and mix on low speed until just combined. Do not over mix batter (if you feel you did it, just let it rest for about 15 minutes before moving on).

Sprinkle the blueberries with a little bit of flour, no more than a teaspoon, just to coat them. Shake off excess flour. This step will prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.

Fold in blueberries carefully into the muffin batter. Use your softer spatula and be gentle not to break them.

Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. (At this point you can choose to sprinkle them with some sugar to give an extra crunch and sweetness to them. I tried both ways and I prefer it without the extra sugar).

Bake for about 30 minutes. Test it by doing the toothpick test, it should come out clean if inserted in the center of a muffin.

Let cool and remove from pan.

 

Note: I am pretty good at planning ahead what I want to bake, but sometimes I still forget to leave the butter outside for softening. On that case, I put it in the microwave and heat it in 5 seconds intervals. It normally takes 3-4 times to get to the right consistency.

Grilled Avocado, Portobello and Pico de Gallo Sandwich or, as I call it: A Mexican Double-Decker

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I believe some of best things in life happen when we don't really plan it. That is exactly the case here. I had some leftover pico de gallo in the fridge and no more tortillas to go with it. A quick look at my kitchen showed me an avocado resting on the fruit basket, a bag of my favourite multi-grain sliced bread on the counter and some sharp cheddar in the fridge.  And like magic, a new sandwich was created!

It was pretty wet outside so I decided to use my indoor grill pan. Frankly I think it is a big pain in the neck because our ventilation system sucks and every time I grill indoors our  entire 700 square feet apartment gets foggy and smelly. It takes hours to "de fog" the place.  So with that in mind, I decided to grill not just the mushroom, but also the bread slices and the avocado as well. Don't ask...

Grilling the avocados make them warm (duh...) and also a little charred, which I love. I grilled the bread slices too because I had this image of nice grill lines on my sandwich so I threw them on the grill too.

You can find ready-made pico de gallo in many groceries stores. I make my own and I added the recipe at the end of this post.

 

The result was one big, yummy and even nutritious sandwich that I am sure I will be making again.

Mexican Sandwich Recipe:

What I used,  for one huge double-deck sandwich

 

About 1/2 cup of picco de gallo (recipe follows)

1 Hass avocado

1 Portobello mushroom        

2 slices of sharp cheddar cheese

2 slices of multi grain bread

 

                       

Drain the pico de gallo of any excess liquid, set aside.

Heat grill to medium-high. Clean mushroom and remove the stem. Brush it with oil and grill it until tender and cooked, turning once. Remove and slice it.

Peel and cut the avocado in half. Spray the grill with cooking oil and place avocado halves, being careful not to "break" them. Leave it on the grill until you get nice marks, about a minute or so. You may try and turn them, but I found it to be a little bit messy. Remove from grill and slice it.

Grill the slices of bread.

Put the sandwich together buy layering the avocado slices, the pico de gallo, cheese slices and the portobello mushroom.

Enjoy it!

 

Pico de Gallo Recipe:

5 ripe tomatoes

1/2 red onion

1 handful of cilantro

1/3 of a jalapeno pepper

Chop al ingredients and season with salt, pepper, olive oil and a dash of lime juice. For best results, let it rest for at least 30 minutes for the flavours to blend.

As an alternative for the sandwich, you can always just use good old sliced tomatoes and onions, but keep in mind that if you don't add cilantro you will be missing out on a major Mexican flavour.

Chicken and Coconut Thai Curry Soup

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Here at home we just love Thai food. It is often our food of choice when dining out.  We like it so much that I had to learn to make it so we could have it at home anytime we want. This soup is one of our favourites specially during the cold months. It is actually pretty easy as long as you don't decide to make your own red curry paste. You can find red curry paste in pretty much any large grocery store these days,or at least any Asian market. It took a while for us to find a brand that we really liked, some were too spicy, some too strong. You have to experiment and find one that works for you. Once you do, making red curry dishes are a breeze.

I make a vegetarian version for myself by omitting the fish sauce and swapping the meat for tofu and mushrooms. 

I also make sure there is always a pot of fresh cooked rice to go with it.

This recipe makes enough for 4 soup bowls.

 

 

 Chicken and Coconut Thai Curry Soup Recipe:

You will need

2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

1 tablespoon of Thai red curry paste

4 cups of chicken stock

1 14 oz can of coconut milk

1 piece of ginger, peeled, about 2 inches

2 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken meat of your choice: breasts or thighs

2 teaspoon of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

Chopped vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and celery (see notes)

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro

1 small bunch of Thai basil leaves (see notes)

 

Cut the chicken meat into cubes of about 1 inch in size.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the curry paste and cook quickly for about 30 seconds without burning it. Add the stock, coconut milk and ginger and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add the sugar, lime juice,  fish sauce and vegetables. Turn heat up and cook until vegetables are just cooked but still crunchy, about 5 minutes.  Stir in basil leaves and pour into bowls. Top each soup bowl with cilantro and serve with rice.

 

Notes:

  If I am making this soup just for Andrew, meaning that there will be left overs, I add just enough vegetables for one serving and then add more when it's time to reheat the soup. This way the veggies stay crunchy and retain their colour too. The same goes for the basil leaves.

Onion Tarte Tatin

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Readers that follow this blog certainly heard me write about my love for all things upside-down. That is all food things upside-down, of course.... Interestingly enough, I never made an original  tarte tatin (with apples). I tend to look for alternatives to a classic, I think it's  fun.

This is, however,  the first time I post a savory tarte tatin. This is an onion tarte tatin, or an upside-down onion tart. It is very simple to make if you (like me) use store-bought puff pastry. Nothing against making your own pastry, I just never got around to making it yet. Who knows, maybe someday.

I really wanted the onions to look dark and caramelized, so I cooked them over medium-low heat, which took me a bit longer, but definitely worthy. I also used some sugar to help both with the colour and flavour of the onions.

This tart is really tasty, and it makes a great pot-luck dish, since it can be made in advance and eaten at room temperature or just reheated quickly in a low temperature oven.

I used lots of thyme here because I had it in my fridge, but any fresh herb that you like would work. If I had any fresh oregano, I would have used some as well.

This recipe makes one  8 inch size skillet pie, so you can get up to 8 small  slices. They make a very nice side dish.

 

 

 

 Onion Tarte Tatin Recipe:

You will need:

An 8 inch oven-proof skillet

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

1 lb of small onions such as  boiling onions

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

 

Using a floured rolling pin, roll the puff pastry on a floured surface and cut a circle just large enough to cover the  skillet. Place pastry on a cookie sheet, pierce it with a fork  and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel onions and slice larger ones in half, making sure that ends remain attached so onions won't fall apart.

Melt butter on an 8 inch skillet, add sugar and thyme, cook for a quick moment. Add the onions, placing them cut side down and cook over medium-low heat until they are brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes.

When onions are done, remove skillet from heat and cover it with the puff pastry, tucking in the edges. Place skillet in the oven and bake it until puffed and golden, about 3o minutes.

Remove from oven, let it rest for 10 minutes and invert it onto a platter. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

 

	This is what you are looking for: dark, caramelized onions.

2009 Food Trends

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I recently came across a report on Contemporary Food Trends done by The Hartman Group which by the way is located here in Bellevue ,Washington.

I is a very interesting read for anyone who enjoys all-things food, from popular ingredients to restaurant menus to groceries trends. To me it seemed like consumer trends are heading in a good direction:

• less processed foods
• continuing appreciation of local and organic food and
• trying new foods and ingredients in search for the new "super food".

Personally for me, I was happy to see familiar names on the rise:

• Bach Flower Essences (my father has been a big fan and believer for a long time)
• Dry Soda (the lavender one is THE best, I used it to make a lavender float last summer, plus the bottles make lovely vases too)
• Coconut water (I like to buy young coconuts, open it at home and drink it straight from the shell - like this. There is no comparison with the canned stuff that is normally artificially sweetened)
• Brazil nuts (I like them on our granola and even in cookies)
• Fermented, cultured dairy (I know a great product I want to share you all soon)
• Pho (love it!!)
• Frisee salad with poached eggs (something like this one)
• Soba Noodles (so good for you...I tend to like it in soups better than salads)
• Peruvian and Korean Cuisine ( I smell Pisco...)

You can download the complete report here. Enjoy the read!

Lebanese Rice and Lentils

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I am very reluctant to name this dish "Lebanese", maybe I should say "Lebanese inspired", or something like that. I don't want to upset anyone in case my recipe is not authentic enough. The truth is that I used to eat this dish often at a local restaurant  in my hometown. It was not a Lebanese restaurant, in fact it was as Brazilian as it can be. It was  a buffet-style restaurant where you pay per weight (of your plate of food, not your weight, please ...).  This type of places are super common in Brazil and it is most people's first choice for lunch hour. This particular restaurant served  a different cuisine each day of the week. Thursdays were Arabic food, and that included all Middle Eastern "inspired" foods, like fatayer, kibbeh, baklava and my favourite of all, Mujaddara or, for you and me: rice and lentils.

But it's not just plain rice and lentils. This dish tastes amazing also because it has caramelized onions all over it and it uses a  Middle Eastern mix of spices that you wouldn't normally think of when making rice or lentils. In my humble attempt to recreate it I used some more pantry-friendly ones like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The result was good enough to satisfy my cravings until I find a good Middle Eastern restaurant here in Seattle or perhaps until I visit my sister-in-law Kristina and  husband Charbel in Abu Dhabi.  Charbel's family is Lebanese and if he cannot teach me how to make an authentic Mujaddara, at least he can teach me how to pronounce it...

I made this dish specially for the New Year, as it is a tradition in my family to eat lentils on New Years Day or Eve. It is supposed to bring wealth for the year to come, so why not give it a try, right? Besides, eating lentils is no chore for me at all, I love them. Unfortunately I couldn't get Andrew to try them. I guess he is not superstitious enough to overcome his adversity to lentils :)

 

Rice and Lentils Recipe:

I used:

1 cup (8oz) of green lentils

1/2 cup (4oz) white rice

2 very large yellow onions, finely sliced

1-2 teaspoons of salt (depends on your taste)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon of each cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

 

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan and add the onions. Don't worry if it looks too much, they will reduce a lot. Add salt and pepper (I started with 1 teaspoon of salt and added the second one at the end of the dish as I tasted it). Cook the onions over medium heat until they are golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes, stirring it every once in a while.

While the onions cook, place lentils in a large pot and cover with water about 1 inch. Add the spices and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer. Add cooked onions to the lentils along with the uncooked rice.  Continue cooking it, stirring often to avoid it to stick to the bottom of the pot. If necessary, add more hot water and simmer until all grains are fully cooked. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

 

Notes:

This rice dish is supposed to be sort of moist and sticky, sort of risotto consistency, but a bit drier maybe.

The amount of onions you use is up to you. I like it a lot so I used a lot of it.

The ratio of  rice/lentils is also up to you. I used double amount of lentils because I was looking for a lentil-based dish for today. You can do half and half, or more rice than lentils.

You can also use brown rice and I saw recipes using bulgur as well, although I haven't tried that way yet.

It is nice to use some extra brown and crisp onions to decorate the final dish. I didn't do it because I had burnt my skillet, which leads me to our next and final note.

If you burn the bottom of your skillet or pot while cooking the onions, don't panic. After removing the onions, keep skillet heated and add some vinegar. Scrape the bottom using a wooden spoon.