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Monthly Archives: April 2009
Smile!
Not really an original recipe, but I made these smiley face cupcake pops for my cousin Megan’s wedding this month. She had a candy buffet and wanted to add these to the table. I won’t lie…trying to make 100 of these was tedious. If I try cake pops again, I’ll stick to making a more sane number.
They are a very cute concept — many more ideas at Bakerella’s blog.
Posted in Fun, Misc.
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Ginger Orange Chicken with Green Beans
Sean and I just joined Boston Organics. It’s a really great deal for organic fruits and vegetables — and they deliver, to boot! I was pretty excited about it because they send a basically random box every week. I figured it would help me be creative every week in what I make for dinner.
This week, we got green beans and some organic oranges. I’ve noticed those two items go bad fast, so I wanted to use them. We also received 5 pounds of carrots last week and a huge bulb of ginger. Since one of our favorite Chinese take-out dishes is spicy string beans, I decided to try and make something similar with all of these ingredients we need to use up.
Ginger Orange Chicken with Green Beans
Serves 4
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. boneless chicken thighs
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
2 large carrots, sliced on the bias
1 small onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger, divided
1 tbsp. rice wine vineger
4 tbsp. soy sauce, divided
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. chili garlic sauce or siracha
2 tbsp. honey
Cut chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes. Put into a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce to season the chicken. Toss to coat. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Mix together half of the ginger, orange juice, orange zest, rice wine vinegar, the rest of the soy sauce, sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, and honey. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Once the oil is very hot, add the chicken and cook until it’s cooked through — about 7-10 minutes. Remove from skillet. Set aside.
Once you remove the chicken, make sure the pan is still very hot, and add the onions, rest of the ginger, and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the green beans and carrots. Stir fry until the carrots and green beans are al dente, about 10 minutes.
Add the chicken back to the pan and pour in the sauce. Cook uncovered for another 2-3 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is mixed into the chicken and vegetables well and starts to thicken. At this point, if you need to cook the vegetables a little more, cover for a couple of minutes to let the vegetables steam.
Serve over rice.
Posted in Asian, Carrots, Chicken, Cuisine, Fruit, Green Beans, Healthy, Main Dish, Meat, Oranges, Quick & Easy, Recipe, Vegetables
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Java Chip Cookies
Almost every year at Christmas, I try to make some homemade treats to send to my friends and family who don’t live near me. This year, I decided to put together some little boxes with all kinds of cookies and sweets (including pecan-bacon brittle — recipe to come, soon.) My favorite cookie in the box was this java chip cookie.
I’d had the idea of a java chip cookie in my mind for a while. I wanted to incorporate espresso and cocoa nibs and chocolate. I used a base chocolate chip cookie recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook
The cocoa nibs work so well in this recipe because they’re crunchy and a little bitter like a coffee bean.
Java Chip Cookies
Makes 3 Dozen Cookies
12 tbsp. butter
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup instant espresso powder
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup cocoa nibs
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Beat the butter, espresso powder, brown sugar, and corn syrup together until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, and then mix in the egg. Beat well.
Beat in the flour and cocoa powder. Then stir in the chocolate chips and cocoa nibs.
Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoons on to a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, just until lightly browned at the edges. The cookies will look slightly underdone in the middle, but will set up as they cool.
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container once cooled.
Posted in Books, Dessert, Recipe, Vegetarian
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Corn and Poblano Chowder
Poblano peppers are my favorite type of peppers. They add heat, but that heat doesn’t get into the way of their great slightly-smokey flavor. I thought that they would work well in a vegetarian corn chowder since I was losing the smokey flavor from bacon that I’d normally use. A touch of cumin also helps create a smoky flavor. The sweetness of the corn plays well with the heat from the poblano.
The secret, I found, is steeping the corn cobs in the milk. I was really amazed at the intense corn flavor the cobs brought to the chowder! I also didn’t use a ton of butter or cream in this chowder. The creaminess came from reducing the liquid by simmering the soup and by blending the peppers with some of the corn kernels to give the chowder a thick, creamy texture without cream or a roux.
It would be awesome with some chopped avocados for garnish — but I didn’t think of that until it was too late this time!
Corn and Poblano Chowder
Serves 4
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 cup leeks, cleaned thoroughly and chopped
2 poblano peppers, sliced into ½ strips
4 ears of corn
1 quart whole milk
½ tsp. cumin
salt, to taste
Heat olive oil and butter in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the leeks, and poblano peppers. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until the leeks and peppers are soft.
Meanwhile, take the husk and silk off the corn cobs. Cut the corn kernels off the cobs and reserve. Cut the cobs each into three pieces. Add to pot once the leeks and peppers are soft.
Add milk. Bring to a simmer and cover. Simmer for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the corn cobs and discard. Add 3/4 of the corn kernels and simmer for about 10 minutes uncovered.
Then, use a stick blender to blend the corn, peppers, and leeks until smooth.
Add the remaining corn kernels, cumin, and salt. Simmer for another 10 minutes uncovered. Serve and garnish with chopped avocado.
Posted in Appetizer, Corn, Cuisine, Healthy, Leeks, Main Dish, Mexican, Peppers, Recipe, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian
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Sundried Tomato and Olive Tappenade
My friend Christine makes this amazing tappenade that I always make her bring to parties. Unfortunately, I can’t have her make it for me every time I want it, so I came up with this proximity — though, I still think hers is better!
This is a simple recipe that you can easily whiz up in a food processor (or one of my favorite appliances, mini food processor
Sundried Tomato and Olive Tappenade
¾ pint mixed olives and roasted red peppers from olive bar*
3-4 sundried tomatoes packed in oil
½ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried rosemary
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
½ shallot
Toss all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender. Whiz until the ingredients make a smooth paste. Serve with pita bread, pita chips, or crostini.
* I used a combination of kalamata olives, green olives, and a whole roasted red pepper. No pits in the olives, of course!
Posted in Appetizer, Cuisine, French, Recipe, Vegetarian
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Red Bean and Rice Cakes
It’s been awhile. I know. I get so behind with blog posts. There have been lots of dishes cooked and places visited since my last post. But for now, here’s a recipe that I created for a dinner that I cooked for our friends Josh and Melissa. They watched our dog when we went to New Orleans in March and asked us only to repay them in food. Great deal for us!
Since we were in the Big Easy, I was inspired to create these red bean and rice cakes. They combine everything good about red beans and rice in a compact little package. Because Melissa is vegetarian, I used a soy sausage, but meat eaters can certainly substitute a good andouille sausage.
Red Bean and Rice Cakes
Serves 4
3 tbsp. olive oil
½ large onion, chopped small
1 large green pepper, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning*
6 oz. soy smoked sausage (andouille preferable, but I could only find soy chorizo), crumbled
1 can, red beans, drained
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup bread crumbes
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic. Cook on medium to medium-low heat until soft, but don’t let the mixture get brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, and sausage. Cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Add red beans to the pan and stir to combine.
Put half of this mixture into a food processor and process until it’s a smooth paste. Return to pan and stir to combine with the remained, unprocessed mixture.
Stir in brown rice and bread crumbs.
Let this mixture cool in the refrigerator for about an hour. Portion into 8 servings and create round cakes out of each portion
Set up a breading station with flour, eggs, and bread crumbs. Cover each cake in a thin layer of flour then egg then bread crumbs.
Add about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil to a deep sided pan. Heat to about 350 degrees. Shallow fry each cake by cooking to golden brown on each side. Drain on a rack with paper towels below. Serve with remoulade sauce.
* I like Joe’s Stuff cajun seasoning mix, but there are tons of different mixes out there. Just use your favorite. Joe’s Stuff has less salt than other cajun seasoning mixes, so if you have a salty one, use half of the seasoning listed in the recipe and add more to taste if needed.
Remoulade Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/8 cup flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
Whiz all of this up in a food processor or whisk together in a bowl (make sure you chop the parsley fine if you use this method.)
Posted in Appetizer, Cajun, Comfort Food, Cuisine, Healthy, Main Dish, Recipe, Rice, Starch, Vegetarian
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