Oven-Roasted Fries

From Word of Wisdom Living, some blog by some Mormon guy. There aren't that many recipes on it, mostly just health tips, but this is where I got the inspiration for my chicken enchiladas the Robber loves so much. I ran across these and they seemed to fit well into my otherwise-Annie meal. I love oven-roasted potato wedges and these didn't disappoint, but I can never seem to get my wedges crispy enough. :( Do I need to slice my potatoes thinner, or cook them at a higher temp, or make sure they are spread out more evenly? Hrmmmm.

Recipe here:

http://www.wordofwisdomliving.com/home/healthy-recipe-2-oven-roasted-fries.html

Ingredients:

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried dill weed

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried parsley

4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, or potato of your choice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine oil and spices (except salt and pepper). Wash the potatoes and cut into wedges, leaving the skins on. (Thinner wedges are crispier and cook faster.) Add wedges to the bowl and coat evenly. Arrange on a foil lined baking sheet, add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Roast for 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping the potatoes after 20 minutes to brown on both sides.

Raspberry Lemonade Bars

A really good lemon bar is like heaven on earth to me. I love them so much! I came to Stanford for graduate school partially because at recruitment weekend they fed us lemon bars, seriously. But I have not met with much luck in making them for myself. They always turn out runny or taste too much like eggs. But when I saw this recipe and knew that raspberries were still in season, I thought I would give it a try (especially as it would allow me to use my new kitchen toy, the immersion blender/food processor thingy.) I made a half batch in a 9x9 pan and they came out perfect! Tangy and sweet and delicious. The Robber and I ate the whole pan in two days. These are super easy so I will definitely make them again when raspberries are back. Now what to do with six egg yolks...

From Annie: http://annies-eats.net/2011/09/02/raspberry-lemonade-bars/

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2¼ sticks (18 T.) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ C. sugar

2 C. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

For the raspberry-lemon layer:

3 C. sugar

1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour

3 T. lemon zest

¼ tsp. salt

3 C. frozen raspberries, thawed (I used fresh)

6 large egg whites

2 large eggs

1 1/3 C. freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used a wee bit of lime too)

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour and salt just until incorporated.

3. Add the dough to the prepared baking pan. Press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven, maintaining the temperature.

4. While the crust is baking, make the top layer. Combine the sugar, flour, lemon zest and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Add the raspberries to a fine mesh sieve and press through, mashing with a spatula, to extract as much juice and pulp as possible, straining out the seeds.

5. Add the egg whites and eggs to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend. Whisk in the raspberry puree and lemon juice until smooth. (Or you can just add everything into a blender and blend it around without the sieve part, we didn't have a problem with seeds using fresh berries.)

6. Pour the mixture over the crust and bake until the center is just set and not longer jiggles when gently shaken, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

7. Cover and chill well in the refrigerator, at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, use the parchment paper to lift the bars from the pan. Place on a cutting board and slice into bars.

Dust the tops with confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Post-edit: Made some of these with strawberries and they didn't set up as well as the raspberry kind. Don't know if it is the strawberries themselves or something I did differently, but I like the tangy-ness of the raspberry kind more anyway.

Corn Cakes with Tomato-Avocado Relish

Last Friday I stole a meal from Annie and made this along with her amazing raspberry-lemonade bars and some roasted potato wedges for the Robber. It was a variation on the ratatouille-on-cornbread theme, and received with almost equal enthusiasm. The meal just tasted healthy and the flavors of the cakes and relish worked together well. In fact, the cakes do a little better with the relish than as stand alone, but they would also be good with regular salsa and some melted cheese or sour cream. I made larger cakes-- using 1/4 C. and frying them like a pancake, and they turned out puffy and golden and just the right size for piling on lots of the relish. Annie also recommends eating them with some ranch dressing, but I don't think that is necessary because the relish is so delicious by itself.

From Ezra Pound Cake by way of Annie's Eats:

http://annies-eats.net/2011/08/25/corn-cakes-with-tomato-avocado-relish/

Ingredients:

For the cakes:

3 large ears of corn, shucked

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ C. cornmeal

¼ C. red onion, finely diced

¼ C. thinly sliced fresh basil

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 T. buttermilk

2 T. unsalted butter, melted

Canola or vegetable oil, for frying

For the relish:

1 large tomato, cored and chopped

1 scallion, minced

1 T. minced fresh basil

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of half a lime

1½ tsp. olive oil

1½ tsp. white wine vinegar

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 ripe avocado, pitted and diced

Directions:

1. Cut the corn kernels off of the cobs and place in a large bowl. Place 2 cups of the corn kernels in the food processor and pulse several times, until the corn is slightly pureed but still chunky. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the remaining corn kernels.

2. Add the flour, cornmeal, onion, basil, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix well. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and butter, and stir just to combine.

3. To make the relish, combine all of the ingredients except the avocado in a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 2 days. Just before serving, mix in the avocado.

4. Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add just enough oil to barely cover the bottom of the pan and heat until sizzling hot. Scoop the batter into the skillet a heaping tablespoon at a time, cooking the cakes in batches of 4 or 5 so that they are not touching. Fry 1-2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer the cooked cakes to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining batter.

5. Serve immediately topped with the relish and drizzled with ranch dressing, if desired.

Mary Hearty Bye's Scottish Scones

My second batch of these are in the oven right now, per request of the Robber who at 6 out of the 8 in the previous batch. There's a debate as to whether these should be cooked on the stove griddle-style (per the reviewers, the true-to-the-poor-Scotchman's-way) or baked in the oven (only if you are rich and oppress the poor.) Being both poor and rich I tried some both ways for my first batch. I would cook these on the stove if I were going camping and making a morning biscuit, but I found that they puffed better and had a more satisfying texture when baked in the oven. You can go either way, but the oven is faster.

These are much less sweet than my previous scones and more truly like a biscuit, with a texture that is a cross between a biscuit and what we think of now as scones. The Robber toasted his in the toaster oven and ate them with butter and honey; I ate mine with a spread of Greek yogurt and some rhubarb-plum puree and we both had a grand old time.

From Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mary-Hearty-Byes-Scottish-Scones-241465

Ingredients:

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 T. cold unsalted butter

1 C. well-shaken buttermilk

1 large egg, beaten

Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a large bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk and egg with a fork just until a soft dough forms.

2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, divide dough into thirds and knead each piece 3 or 4 times. Pat each piece into a 6-inch round (1/2 inch thick), then cut each round into 4 wedges. (I just turned everything out together, this worked just fine.)

3. Heat griddle over low heat until hot, then lightly oil.

4. Working in 2 batches, dust each wedge of dough with flour, patting off excess, then cook over low heat, undisturbed, 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-low and cook until puffed and undersides are golden-brown, 3 to 5 minutes more. Turn scones over and cook until undersides are golden-brown, 6 to 8 minutes (watch closely; move scones and adjust heat as needed so they cook through without burning). Turn scones on edges and cook until golden-brown, about 1 minute per edge. Cut one scone open to check for doneness.

5. Transfer to a rack and cool to warm. (Lightly oil griddle between batches.)

Notes: Can also bake at 375F for 18 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Plum Rhubarb Custard Pie

You know once I saw this I couldn't pass it up, right? That's how I feel about rhubarb these days. The store here in California has SO MUCH relatively cheap big red rhubarb I feel like I HAVE TO buy it, because sometimes you can go a whole summer and never get good rhubarb. So we have been a-feasting on rhubarb (I made a straight rhubarb pie last week) and I am loving it. The plums are a plenty too, so why not put the two together? I have this in the oven baking and my husband in the bed sleeping all in the same Cubby room together and life is good.

From Confessions of a Cardamom Addict: http://cardamomaddict.blogspot.com/2011/06/plum-rhubarb-custard-pie.html

Ingredients:

For the crust

2.5 C. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

2/3 C. very cold (frozen, preferably) butter

1/3 C. very cold (frozen, preferably) lard

4-6 T. ice water

For the fruit

2 C. rhubarb, chopped into 1cm pieces

3-4 firm purple/black plums, chopped into 1cm pieces

1/2 C. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

For the custard

1 1/4 C. table cream (18% cream) or milk (I used half-and-half)

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1/2 C. sugar

1 T. cornmeal

Directions:

For the crust

1. Mix together the flour, salt and sugar. Grate in the butter and lard and then rub into the flour mixture.

2. Sprinkle in enough water so the dough comes together. Form a ball and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the fruit mixture

1. Mix all the fruit ingredients together into a saucepan. Over a medium flame, bring to a bubble, stirring occasionally, and let cook for about 10 minutes or until the rhubarb softens and the juices are thick. Take off the heat and let cool.

For the custard:

1. Add the cardamom to the cream or milk. Scald the cream, take it off the heat and let cool.

2. Beat the eggs into the sugar. Keep on beating as you dribble in the slightly cooled cream.

3. Remove about a quarter cup of the mixture and mix in the cornflour to make a slurry.

4. Rinse out and dry the saucepan in which you scalded the cream. Return the cream mixture (the one without the cornmeal) to the pan. Over a low flame, stir the custard for a few minutes. Add the slurry and keep on stirring until thick and the custard coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and let cool.

To assemble

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Roll out the pastry to fit a 10" x 2" tin. Blind bake for 20 minutes.

2. Spoon in the fruit mixture and then pour the custard over top. Level as best as you can and bake for 30 minutes. The pie is done when the custard is just set.

3. Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if you wish.

Notes: You can use pluots or apriums instead of plums, and omit the cardamom or substitute vanilla powder instead if you like.

Post-Edit: This was good, but you definitely have to let it set up overnight before it will be anything but runny! I think next time I make it I will omit the cardamom (it's good but the Robber didn't favor it), spice it more traditionally, and 1.5 or double the custard while appropriately reducing the fruit while cutting the custard into the fruit slightly. Sadly the rhubarb is already gone so the re-make will have to wait until next year.

Chana Masala 1

I put a 1 here because this is a dish I definitely want to learn how to make well, but I'm not sure this is the recipe I'm going to keep and use for life. It got better with time, but the Robber thought it smelled like marijuana on the first day (probably the fried cumin powder, oh the silliness of trying to make substitutions in cooking food you know nothing about.) I thought it was just fine but needed some more tomato. In the end of course it all got eaten with plenty of happiness with our leftover naan, but in the future I might try another recipe or tweak this one or just make this one with all the proper ingredients.

From Manjula's Kitchen: http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/01/28/chola-chana-masala/

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can of chickpeas (kable chana, Garbanzo beans)

3 T. oil

Pinch of asafetida (Hing) -- didn't have any of this

1 tsp. cumin seeds -- used ground cumin, hmmm

1 T. gram flour (Besan) -- replaced with cornmeal

1 large tomato

1 tsp. ginger paste -- used chopped fresh ginger

1 tsp. chopped green chilies -- omitted

2 tsp. coriander powder

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. red chili powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. garam masala

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (Green coriander)

Thinly sliced tomatoes for garnish

Directions:

1. Drain the water out of the can of chickpeas and wash the chickpeas well.

2. Blend the tomatoes, green chilies and ginger to make a puree.

3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed crack right away oil is ready.

4. Add the asafetida and cumin seeds.

5. After the cumin seeds crack, add the gram flour and stir-fry for a minute.

6. Add the tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder and cook for about 4 minutes on medium heat.

7. The mixture will start leaving the oil and will reduce to about half in quantity. Add the chickpeas and a half cup of water and let it cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium heat, covered. Press the chickpeas with a spatula so they soften. Note: add more water as needed to keep the gravy consistency to your liking, and let it cook for few more minutes on low heat.

8. Add the garam masala and cilantro. Let it cook for another minute.

9. Garnish with thin tomato slices and serve.

Note: We added about 2 T. brown sugar to this the first day to make it a little sweeter which made it better tasting to our poor American palettes.

Sri Lankan Mango Almond Curry

A few months ago on a date in Santa Cruz the Robber and I just about died and went to heaven eating mango almond curry at this Sri Lankan place. In fact, if you google "mango almond curry" it will link you there because it is so good. I resolved that, if at all possible, the Robber and I would make it for ourselves. At home.

But alas, finding a recipe, so hard. I finally came across this one for mango curry, without the plaintain or almonds that the restaurant used, and adapted it trying to make what we had at Malabar. We made it last night and had it over coconut rice. It was close... but not quite there. Maybe not having the curry leaves or the pandan leaf made a big difference? Even without these more exotic spices, however, the dish was delicious and we will definitely be making it again.

Adapted from: http://www.cookingandme.com/2009/05/sri-lankan-mango-curry-recipe.html

Ingredients:

1 raw mango

1 plantain

1 C. blanched whole almonds

1/2 onion, chopped fine

2 tsp. crushed garlic

1 tsp. crushed ginger

(or use 2 tsp ginger garlic paste)

1 tsp. mustard seeds

2 T. vinegar

4-5 curry leaves

1 pandan leaf cut/torn into bits

a 1" cinnamon stick

1 15 oz. can thick coconut milk

1 15 oz. can light coconut milk

1 T. oil

Directions:

1. Peel mango and cut into long, thin pieces. Do likewise to the plantain.

2. Grind mustard seeds and vinegar together to form a paste.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add the onion, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and cinnamon. Saute until onion turns golden - about 5-7 mins.

4. Add the mango, plantain, almonds light coconut milk, pandan leaf bits and the mustard seed mixture and bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat and simmer until mango and plantain is cooked and tender. Add the thick coconut milk and simmer for another 10 mins. Add salt. Serve over rice.