Asian-inspired Pasta Salad

Several people have taught me how to cook.  While I was in college, I had the opportunity to learn from a wonderful woman named Barb, who decided to teach a cooking class at the church I attended.  The class was a great experience.  I had fun cooking with my friends, I was introduced to new foods (like quinoa), and got some rather practical advice and recipes.  One of the first things (if not THE first) we made was pasta salad.  Pasta salad is a great thing to start with.  It's pretty fast and easy, and as Barb demonstrated, more flexible than you would think.  Barb had us make three versions of pasta salad, using different dressings to impart different flavors: Italian-, Greek-, and Asian-inspired.  Here's my take on the latter, prepared for a large group:


Asian-Inspired Pasta Salad
1 box penne pasta (or any pasta you like, really)
Chicken pieces (whole bird, breasts, whatever floats your boat)
Carrots, julienned (slivered)
Celery Sticks, chopped
Snow Peas, chopped
Peanuts
Green Onion (Scallion, Spring Onion, whatever you want to call it), chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 C Soy Sauce
1/3 C Sesame Oil
1 tsp Ground Ginger
3 Tbsp Peanut Butter
Pepper
Sesame Seeds

Begin by cooking the pasta-- boil it, drain it, and give it a cold water rinse to prevent it from sticking to itself too badly.  While that's boiling, cook the chicken:  Trim and discard any non-yummy bits off, and chop the chicken into bite-size pieces.  Sprinkle Salt, Pepper, Ground Ginger, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder over the meat.  Cook in a pan with ~1 Tbsp oil until just browned, stirring regularly.  When finished, set aside to cool.  This is the point where I actually start my vegetable prepping.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, chicken, carrots, celery, snow peas, peanuts, and green onions.  (Yes, I realize I have not included numbers or measurements.  In this case it really is a matter of preference and not much else.)

In a smaller bowl, combine the garlic, soy sauce, oil, ginger, and peanut butter.  Whisk or beat together, and season to taste with pepper.  Check seasoning, and adjust as you see fit.  (And this doubles, halves, or otherwise adjusts quite easily.)  Pour over the pasta mixture, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and stir around.  Allow to sit for a few hours for optimal flavor, stirring occasionally.  Serve cold.

Broccoli Cheese Soup... and Tortillas!

My last blog featured a broccoli dish, too.  I must really like broccoli.  Which surprises me.  I actually do like broccoli!   Broccoli-Cheese Soup is one of my favorite ways to eat it.  It's rich and comforting, fairly easy to make, and has a built-in vegetable.  Ok, that last reason is a bit shaky; the soup is not a health food, but you could do worse.  Cheese chowder with no broccoli, for instance (quite delicious, but another time...).

Broccoli-Cheese Soup (based on the recipe found in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 15th ed.)
4 C fresh broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 C chicken broth (I used a can, which is a bit more than that)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp lemon peel
1 C cream
2 C shredded cheddar cheese

Begin by steaming the broccoli for 8-10 minutes, until tender.  (I test by jabbing it with a fork.)  Set aside about half the broccoli, making sure that it is in bite-sized pieces.  Combine the remaining broccoli with half the chicken broth in a food processor.  Process until smooth, and set aside.
In a large pot, melt the butter and add flour to make a roux.  Add the lemon peel, 1/4 tsp salt, and a dash of pepper as well.  Add the cream all at once, but slowly and while stirring.  Yes, lumps will probably dissolve, but try to minimize them anyway.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, and then 1 minute more.  Add the broccoli/broth purée, reserved broccoli, remaining broth, and 1 1/2 C cheese.  Cook and stir until heated through.  Consistency can be adjusted by adding more milk and/or broth; be sure to check the seasoning.

Serve topped with additional cheese.
Notes:  BHG has only 1 C of broccoli set aside to be added more or less intact.  I found that I wanted less broccoli purée and more chunks of it, and have adjusted accordingly.  I also used about twice as much cheese as the recipe initially called for.  I love cheese.  It made for a very rich soup, and I did add extra broth to thin it some.  As I made it, the recipe was enough for 6 dinner servings.  

There are simple ways of doing things and complicated ways.  I tend to enjoy the complicated way.  One can, for example, serve tortillas by opening a package, stacking them in a microwave and warming them up.  Or, one can do it the complicated way: make fresh tortillas from scratch.  Advantage of first way:  20 seconds tops.  Advantage of complicated way:  tastier.  The tortillas I make from scratch are a bit thicker/fluffier, softer, and vaguely reminiscent of pancakes.  They are an excellent staple-- great by themselves, great for quesadillas, and wonderful with curries.  Although time-consuming, the ingredients are simple and easy to find.  They are probably not the most authentic thing I've ever made (no corn, for starters), but when you serve them with soup or curry, that's not really a big deal, is it?

Homemade Tortillas

3 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4-6 Tbsp shortening (crisco, margarine, or butter will all work)

3/4 C water
Grease for cooking (oil or butter)

Combine all ingredients into a thick dough.  Divide into small pieces (about a hand-full of dough) and roll out flat.  Rolled-out tortillas can be stacked prior to cooking, but be sure to put down some flour between the tortillas.  I've found that if your dough tends to contract, you can let it rest for a bit then roll it again.  I've also had some luck with holding it by the edges and letting gravity stretch it immediately before cooking.

To cook the tortillas, grease either a pan or a griddle.  For best flavor, don't skimp on the grease.  You don't need to go crazy-- we used a silicon brush to coat the pan with canola oil, which probably came to about 1/2 tsp of oil per tortilla in a 9-inch pan.  And yes, grease between each tortilla.  Cook over medium-high heat until the tortilla has browned spots on the bottom (lift to check), then flip and repeat for the other side.

The cooking is probably the most time-consuming aspect of this recipe, which is why using a griddle instead of a pan can be very convenient-- you can cook more than one tortilla at a time.  Using the pan and relatively low heat, it took us about an hour to cook all the tortillas.  (I sacrificed time to ensure no burning, but toward the end upped the heat to med-high with no adverse results, so that's what I recommended above.)

Wild Rice and Broccoli

All things in moderation.  Ever heard that before?  It was written (carved, whatever) on the Temple to Apollo at Delphi.  (Or so I was informed.  I don't actually read Greek, so I was relying on someone else's interpretation.)  The ancient Greeks were an interesting bunch.  But the point here is that it's fairly sound advice.  Applied to food, I think it comes down to watch what you eat, but don't obsess about it; or the reverse-- enjoy unhealthy foods, but don't make them the basis of your diet.

Recently, I took a vacation.  During that time I enjoyed eating things like an amazingly massive cinnamon roll drenched in delicious maple glaze, lots of potato salad, and baked spaghetti.  After all this, I was trying to come up with something fresh and healthy for lunch.  I found broccoli in my fridge and wild rice in my pantry, and decided to go with those. Wild rice is rather healthy, since it is left in its whole grain state.  This means the fiber and protein content is higher than that of white rice.  It also means there's a nutty flavor flavor to it.  I'm also a fan of broccoli.  To begin with, it is the king of the dipping veggies-- those florets work like sponges, trapping all the wonderful flavor.  It's also crisp and sturdy, and can stand some cooking.  As a kid, I hated cooked broccoli.  Even now, I prefer a light cooking. Just enough to soften it but leave it crisp.  

I seasoned the dish with onion, coriander and dill weed.  I'm not sure I've ever seen those used together, but I wasn't really sure what kind of seasoning I wanted, so I chose them by smell.  I thought they smelled like what I wanted to eat.  Since smell is really what is responsible for most of what we call "taste" (we only truly taste saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, sourness, and umami [although some folks dispute the latter's existence]),  this method works pretty well.

Wild Rice with Broccoli

1/2 C uncooked wild rice

1 Tbsp butter (if you wanted to be really healthy, I suppose olive oil would be a good choice, too)

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried dill weed

1/2 tsp ground coriander

3/4 C broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces

Cook the rice according to the package directions.  (They will vary based on type of rice.)  Use the time that the rice is cooking to prep everything else.  When the rice is done, melt the butter in a pan with the onion powder, dill, and coriander.  Toss in the broccoli and stir it around for about a minute to allow it to soak up the flavors.  Add the rice and stir an additional minute or so until the broccoli takes on a bright green color and is slightly tender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
(Note-- times are approximate.  I actually added everything to the pan at once, but the rice soaked up my flavors faster than the broccoli could, which wasn't necessarily bad, but not what I wanted.)

This made enough for about 2 lunch/side dish servings.  It would also have been an excellent dinner for one.

Quiche

Can you imagine when quiche was invented?  Someone somewhere cooked up something new for someone else (I'd like to think a friend), and they put it down on the table, and the person who was just eating must've been like, "Holy Cow!  It's an egg pie!!!!"  Although perhaps not everyone loves those things (eggs and pie) as much as I do...

There are several quiche recipes out there.  I know.  I have about seven myself.  The first one tried, and my go-to recipe, is from Better Homes and Gardens.  The recipe shared here is adapted from the Quiche Lorraine recipe in the 15th edition of New Cookbook.



Ingredients:
1 recipe for pie crust
2 C diced ham (we were using up leftovers)
2/3 C chopped onion
6 eggs
1 1/4 C cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 C mozzarella
1 Tbsp flour



The first step to making a quiche is to prep the crust.  In this particular recipe, you need a hot, fresh crust, not a pre-made one.  My favorite pie crust recipe is shared under the "Jabuticaba Pie" post, but you can use any recipe you like.  Preheat the oven to 450° Fahrenheit, and roll out the dough.  Do NOT prick it with fork (like you might for other pre-baked pie crusts), and cover the crust with a double thickness of foil.  Bake the crust for 8 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 6-8 minutes until the crust is golden.  Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325° Fahrenheit.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling.  Stir together the eggs, cream, salt, and nutmeg.  Add the onion and ham.  In another bowl, combine all but 1/4 C of cheese with the flour.  Stir so the cheese is coated, and add to the egg mixture immediately prior to pouring the filling into the hot crust.  Top with remaining cheese and bake about 55minutes, until the quiche is set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  You may wish to to cover the edges of the quiche with foil to prevent over-browning, but I find that I fill the pie dish full enough that this isn't a problem.  

A few notes: I use a deep pie dish.  It's a pyrex 9.5 inch-diameter dish, and is about 1 1/2 inches deep.  A shallower dish may require either scaling down the filling recipe (use less ham, only 5 eggs...adjust to taste), or just not using all of it.   If you want a milder onion flavor, go ahead and sweat the onions (cook them in a pan with a bit of oil until they're softened but not browned) prior to mixing them into the filling.  I skip this step because I like the slight crunch the onions give the quiche, and find that the baking is enough to take the bite out of the onion.

Jabuticaba Pie

One of the joys of moving from a temperate to a tropical climate is suddenly being introduced to a whole range of fruits you've never heard of.  This seems almost anachronistic to me, with globalization making bananas and strawberries available to your average supermarket year-round.  But it is indeed the case, in part because of fruits like Jabuticaba, also known as Brazilian grape.  These berry-like fruits are native to South America, and grow directly on the trunk of the tree, which is crazy to see and makes them relatively easy (in my opinion) to harvest.  The fruit has very sweet flesh, although the skin and seeds are quite tart, and they're supposed to be loaded with antioxidants.  Why aren't they extremely popular outside the tropics?  Shelf life.  Once the fruit is ripe, you have about a 3-day window to enjoy them before they spoil.  This is usually prevented by making jelly or embraced by making wine/liquor.  I don't have a fermentation set-up, and I didn't feel like trying to round up canning supplies, so I just made a pie, hoping everyone would eat pie before the 3-day window was up.  Everyone likes pie, right?

The key to a good pie, in my mind, is the crust.  And that's the tricky part.  I had read tips, watched professionals, and tried different recipes, but couldn't quite get it.  Then I went to a 4th of July party with my roommate and had the most delicious pie (outside of Stauffer's if you're ever in Lincoln, NE).  Turned out this fantastic pie was homemade by my roommate's Aunt, who every year considers not entering her pie in the county fair so that someone else will win.  And she gave me the easiest, most consistently awesome pie crust recipe.  I've been baking pies ever since.


Aunt Marilyn's Pie Crust Recipe:
2 C flour
1 C crisco 
1 tsp salt (don't forget this.  That's pretty much the only way to ruin this recipe)
1/2 C cold water

Yeah, that's it.  Mix the flour, salt, and crisco until crumbly (see photo, left).  Add about half the water and mix well.  Add more water as needed until you have something resembling a pie dough.  Dump onto a floured surface (I always a silicone mat, because 1-- the texture of the mat makes it easy to spread a thin, even layer of flour, and 2-- it makes picking up the rolled crust WAY easier) and knead just until you reach the desired consistency.  Divide in half and roll out into crusts, then put 1 crust in a pie pan.

Some additional tips:  1) Don't over-mix or over-knead.  Other sources that I have encountered talk at great length about the importance of not perfectly blending everything.  Those weird semi-incorporated blobs of crisco are going to give you a flakey texture. 2) To roll the crust evenly, roll from the center out, in a different direction each time.

To make the Jabuticaba Filling:
2 C Jabuticaba, halved
3 Tbsp flour
1 C sugar

Those measurements are approximations.  The sugar does a few wonderful things-- it makes the pie sweet (the batch of jabuticaba I had was rather tart), it mixes with the juices of the jabuticaba--creating the gooey, yummy,

gel-like filling around the fruit, and it inhibits bacterial growth when present in high concentrations by altering osmotic balance.
      Basically, all that wonderful sugar is going to pull water out of just about everything around it.  You can actually see this happen-- cut up some strawberries, sprinkle them with sugar, and come back later. The sugar will have dissolved in strawberry juice.  (It can be more noticeable with salt and apples, but strawberries and sugar tastes better.)  But water won't just get pulled out of fruit; it'll also get pulled out of bacteria, making their lives a whole lot harder, and making your food last longer.
     Back to the recipe! Combine the ingredients, pour them into your pie crust, and either top with the second pie crust (be sure to poke some holes in it) or with a crumble.

Quick Crumble Topping:
2 Tbsp Flour
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Butter
Combine in a small bowl until they take on a sand-like texture.  Sprinkle over the pie.

Cover the edges of the pie crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.  Bake ~30 minutes in a 375 degree (Fahrenheit) oven.  Remove the foil, and cook about 10 minutes longer.  The edges should be lightly browned and the filling set.

Peanut Butter Coconut Caramel Dip

 Anyone else ever get caramel cravings?

Caramel sauce is pretty easy to make, and I decided to try making some with coconut milk a while ago. Coconut milk has low enough fat content that it didn't work the way I hoped, and I had to use some cream to get the sauce back to a good consistency, but then it was thinner than I wanted it.  I added some peanut butter to thicken it, and was like, "Eureka!"  So, to intentionally make peanut butter coconut caramel dip...



...you need:
Sugar 
Brown Sugar
Butter
Cream
Coconut Milk
Peanut Butter

Start by pouring the sugar in a wide pan.  You want a wide pan, even for a small amount, because you want as much sugar as possible in contact with the heat.  For a 7-inch pan, use 1/2 cup or so of sugar.  Add about 1/2 Tbsp butter, (just a little bit) to keep things from sticking, and about 1 Tbsp brown sugar (a caramel shortcut).  Heat the pan over medium-high heat until the sugar starts to melt.

SLOWLY add the cream (about 2 Tbsp), stirring frantically so that clumps of sugar don't form.  Follow this by adding about 2 Tbsp of coconut milk.  Let the caramel simmer for a bit, cooking off extra liquid, giving any clumps a chance to dissolve, and allowing a little more time for caramelized flavors to blend.  Turn off the heat, stir in about 3 Tbsp (a giant spoonful) of peanut butter, and allow the caramel sauce to cool a little (it will thicken as it cools, too).

If you don't have cream, you can use half-and-half.  Milk is getting a little thin-- you need the fat content of cream.

I like eating this with apples.  You could probably whip it with a bit of cream cheese and make a fantastic fruit dip.  It would also be great with something like Nilla Wafers, or poured over cake while warm (so it soaks in a little... mmm, I'm going to have to try that next time I make white cake.)

Turkish Pizza

Once upon a time, I went to Germany and attended school.  On one of my first days, I went after school to meet my host sister for lunch.  This meeting had the dual purpose of making sure I could get around town without getting hopelessly lost, and introducing me to one of her favorite foods (at what quickly became my favorite snack stop).  It was called Turkish Pizza, even though it's not really pizza.  I'm not really sure what it was.  It was a flat bread, with some sort of meaty-saucy stuff on it.  And it only cost a Euro.  I would LOVE to be able to make it myself.  (This shop also had the most amazing sweet curry sauce that I would have gladly bought by gallon.)

Flash forward a few years, and I'm idly flipping through The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook (ISBN 9780681025981), and I see a recipe for Turkish Pizza.  It didn't look like the delicious snack I ate in Germany, but I decided to give it a go anyway.  It didn't taste quite like the snack either, but it's pretty good.  I think it's a fairly similar recipe, just meatier.  Personally, I'd have called it Turkish Tacos.  

Ingredients:

1 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/3 C flour

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef (recipe calls for lamb, actually)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp red [cayenne] pepper

3 Tbsp tomato paste

13oz can (or close to it) crushed tomatoes (I ended up using diced tomatoes)

1/3 C pine nuts

1 Tbsp ground coriander

Start with the flatbread.  Mix yeast, sugar, and 1/4 C warm water in a bowl.  Now, when it says warm water, you generally want a little warmer than body temperature.  You're creating a good growing environment for the yeast, so you don't want it to be too hot, because that will cook the little guys.  I generally check the temperature like I would for a baby's bottle-- pour a little water over your wrist.  It should feel just slightly warm.  To get it to that temperature, I usually start with the recommended amount of water in a microwave-safe container.  I heat the water, then add cold water, reducing the temperature and giving me extra water to pour out as I test.  I've had it drilled into my head that you never take warm water directly from the tap-- it increases the likelihood of lead from old pipes being present.  Leave the yeast in a warm place to grow for about 20 minutes.  Viable yeast will cause the solution to look frothy and increase in volume.


Mix the flour and 1 tsp of salt in a bowl.  Add the yeast mixture, 1 T oil, and 3 fl oz of warm water.  (3 fl oz is slightly more than 1/3 C)  Mix to form a soft dough, then dump it onto a floured surface and knead ~10 minutes, until smooth.  Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave in a warm place for ~1 hour, until doubled in size.  I cover the bowl with a damp towel and put it in a sunny window.  Towel allows some air flow, but making it damp prevents water loss.


Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a frying pan over low heat and cook the onion until soft but not browned.  Add the meat and cook ~10 minutes until it is browned.  Add the garlic, spices (except coriander), tomato paste, and tomatoes.  Cook for ~15 minutes until "quite dry".  Add half the pine nuts and the coriander.  Season with salt (and add more of the spices if you feel the need), and leave to cool.  Preheat the oven to 415° Fahrenheit, and grease 2 baking sheets.

Punch down the bread dough, and dump it onto a floured surface.  Divide it into 8 portions and roll each of them into ovals roughly 7 inches x 5 inches.  Distribute the dough onto the baking sheets.  Spread the meat mixture over the dough, leaving a border along the edges.  Sprinkle the remaining  pine nuts over the meat, and brush the edges with oil.  Roll the dough over to cover the outer edges of the meat, creating an open parcel.  Pinch the sides together at the ends, and brush with more oil.  Bake ~15 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve with yogurt, or, if you like, Tzatziki (see below).



Tzatziki is Greek, actually, so perhaps there's a hint of irony to enjoying Turkish Pizza with it.  (Turks and Greeks are not known for getting along peacefully.)  It's a cucumber and yogurt sauce/dip, served with flatbread and meats alike.  I love it.  My version is quick and easy.

You need:
~2 C Greek-style plain yogurt (thick stuff)*
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 cucumber (a piece about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 4 inches long)
salt
pepper
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp oregano

* If you can't find thick, Greek-style yogurt, any plain yogurt can be made thicker by placing a coffee filter in a sieve, placing a bowl underneath, and leaving the yogurt in the filter to drain off excess moisture overnight.  You can use sour cream in a pinch, too, by treating it this way.

Prepare the cucumber by peeling it, grating it into a bowl, and squeezing out the excess moisture with your fingers.  Mix the cucumber, yogurt, and other ingredients together.  Adjust to taste.  It will taste best if you can leave it to sit for an hour, allowing the flavors to really soak and blend together.  In the mean time, enjoy the cucumber juice with some ice water-- it's quite refreshing.