Spinach Soufflé

Somehow, I went from needing a quickie side dish to this.  It took about half as much time and twice as many dishes to whip up as I was expecting.  Using the recipe from The Spruce Eats, I can see how restaurants can get away with making these while home cooks seldom do.  I could easily have made a dozen in the same amount of time it took to make two.  And the cleanup time would have been similar.

I'm simplifying one step by using frozen chopped spinach.  Cleaning a pound of fresh is a pain in the butt.  There's a difference in the moisture content, so you only need a 10 oz package.  When defrosted and drained, it comes out about even.

I made individual servings in my little ramekins because I was just finishing off the last of a bag of spinach.  I do have a round casserole that can handle the full recipe.  If you don't, you can use an 8"x8" square pan.  The corners will be done before the middle.

*10 oz frozen or 1 lb fresh spinach
1-1/2 Tb plus 1/4 C butter, divided
*3 Tb grated parmesan cheese
2 Tb flour
1/2 tsp salt
*1 C milk
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3 eggs, room temperature, separated

1.  If using frozen spinach, defrost and drain out the excess water with paper towels.  For fresh, wash and remove stems, then finely chop.  Cook in a skillet until wilted and set aside to cool.

2.  Use first 1-1/2 Tb of butter to grease six individual or one 2 qt soufflé dish.  Coat sides and bottom with the grated parmesan.

3.  Start preheating oven to 375º.

4.  In a medium saucepan, melt remaining 1/4 C butter over medium heat.  Stir in flour to make a roux and cook about 30 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Add milk and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

5.  Add spinach to the milk mixture and remove from heat.  Beat egg yolks slightly, then pour a generous spoonful of the warm spinach mixture into them and beat to combine.  This tempers the eggs so they don't cook prematurely.  Return mixture to rest of the spinach and stir thoroughly.  Set aside.

6.  Beat egg whites to stiff peaks.  Stir about 1/3 into the spinach mixture, then fold remainder into it. You should still be able to see some of the whites.

7.  Divide mixture between ramekins that have been placed on a baking sheet (or one casserole).  Bake for 30 minutes, until puffed and the edges are golden.  Serve hot, before they have a chance to deflate.

Serves 6

Difficulty rating :-0

Caribbean Black Beans (Frijoles Negros)

As part of my Puerto Rican-themed Purim spread, I made black beans for the protein.  Time consuming, yes, but 95% of that time is passive.

The key to Eastern Caribbean beans is to season at the beginning, then cook them forever.  A crock pot, pressure cooker, or InstaPot can make this easier.  Lacking any of those, this dish spent six hours in the oven at 225º.  But hey, good things come to those who wait.

Sofrito is just a fancy word for Caribbean pesto.  You whiz up some herbs with a little oil, lime juice, and bell peppers.  Red sofrito includes a tomato.  I subbed a tomatillo for the pepper because I already gave myself one asthma attack this month.  In my defense, it was a really good steak and I could have scraped off the spicy pepper sauce or asked for it on the side.

Don't be daunted by the insane number of ingredients.  Most of it goes in the blender right off the bat for the sofrito.  The only stand-alones are the beans, some onion, some garlic, and the bay leaf.

1-1/2 C dry black beans
1/2 C diced onion, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1 Tb olive oil
1 large tomatillo or small green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
*1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
*1/4 C cilantro leaves
*2 Tb parsley leaves
juice and zest of 1 lime
*1 Tb white wine vinegar
*1 bay leaf

1.  The night before, sort beans and soak in 5 cups water in a casserole with a lid.  I love the minute the dry beans hit the bottom of the pot.  They're like little black pearls.

2.  6-8 hours before mealtime, drain the beans and let them hang out in the strainer while you prep the rest of the casserole.

3.  In a blender or food processor, combine oil, 2 Tb of the onion, the chopped tomatillo, one clove garlic, cumin, oregano, cilantro, parsley, lime zest and juice, and white wine vinegar into a chunky sauce.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

4.  Start preheating the oven to 225º and boil 3 cups of water.  Into the casserole, place remaining diced onion and garlic, the sofrito, the soaked beans, and the bay leaf.  Pour over boiling water to cover and place lid on dish.

5.  Bake for at least 6 hours, stirring every 2 and adding water as necessary.  Taste liquid at every stir to see if more salt or pepper is needed.  If desired, remove a cup of the beans and purée or mash and return to the pot.  Serve hot, and it's even better the next day as leftovers.  You can even thin it out with stock into a black bean soup.

Serves 4-6 as a main dish, 10 as a side

Difficulty rating  :)

Braised Fennel

The weather was lovely the week I was gone.  I came back, and the fennel was twice the size it had been.  Two bulbs required cooking asap.

One of the small plates at lunch on the ship was braised fennel.  The way roasting a radish mellows it to bring out unexpected flavors, braising a fennel changes its texture and intensity.

I'm using this version from Simply Recipes, but subbing only lemon zest and juice, since it seemed wasteful to zest an orange if I wasn't planning to eat it.

*2 large fennel bulbs
1/4 C butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
*2 Tb anise flavored liqueur such as Ouzo or Anisette
1/2 C chicken or vegetable stock (unsalted)
1/2 C water
1 Tb reserved fennel fronds
*Lemon juice and zest for serving

1.  Slice off stems just above bulbs and reserve enough fronds for garnish.  Cut fennel bulbs lengthwise, then each half into four slices, making sure to get some of the core in each piece to hold it together.

2.  Melt butter in a large skillet over medium.  Add fennel pieces and allow to cook undisturbed until underside is browned, about 4 minutes.  Sprinkle with salt and sugar and turn to cook other cut side another 4 minutes.

3.  Turn up heat a little and add liqueur.  Allow to boil off, then add stock and water.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

4.  Uncover and turn the heat back up to reduce the sauce by a third.  Serve either hot or chilled, garnished with fronds and lemon zest and squirted with a bit of lemon juice.

Difficulty rating  :)

Mofongo

Our last stop on the cruise was San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We did not get to Yamburger, instead having lunch at a popular restaurant on Columbus Square.  This is where I heard of mofongo, a plantain dish that goes by several names around the eastern Caribbean.  I'm calling this non-American in labels because of the multiple countries serving variations.  Contrary to my credit card's opinion, Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.

To make this in the traditional way, you fry the plantain slices, then mash them in a mortar and pestle with garlic and pork rinds.  I was working on making this vegan and/or KLP, and subbed in mushrooms for the umami flavoring.  Tempeh is also an option.  You just need to add a touch of liquid smoke (not KLP) or chili powder to get a similar depth.

This recipe is only for the plantain mash.  I'm using the variation on The Spruce Eats, which has a better photo of what the finished product is supposed to look like.  I'm pretty sure the nutritional information is for the whole batch and not per serving, or maybe the computer breakdown did not realize the majority of the oil isn't consumed.  You can top it with any kind of stew, pulled pork, or grilled shrimp.  I had it with black beans, rice, and veggies for Purim.

2 large, green plantains
1 Tb garlic paste
4 oz pork rinds or portobello mushrooms
oil for frying

1.  Finely chop pork rinds.  If using mushrooms, finely chop, then sauté in 1 Tb oil until all the moisture is given up.  Add a teaspoon of liquid smoke or chili powder to season, and a touch of salt to taste.  Set aside.

2.  Peel plantains.  The easiest way I've found is to chop off both ends, then make a long slice down the inside, to open it like a canoe.  Slice the insides into 1/2" thick rounds.

3.  Heat oil 2" deep in a fryer or pot to 350º.  Drop in slices in batches and cook until crispy, about 5 minutes.  Drain on paper towels, then transfer to a mortar and pestle with some of the garlic and grind until smooth.  Think of it like mashing up french fries.  Mine were too chunky and I had trouble breaking down the "skin" of fried outside.  I must have missed that window where they go from too hot to handle to too cool to mash.  You can use a bowl and a potato masher.  Repeat until all of the plantain and garlic have been used.

4.  Once all the slices are mashed, mash in the pork rinds until well distributed.  Either shape the mix into balls or use a lightly greased ramekin to build mounds.  Serve hot with a spicy stew or barbecue.

Difficulty rating  :)

Cruise Portioning

Just a quick post until I've had a chance to cook something.

Back from my cruise, and I barely remembered to take any pictures at all of the food.

I only put on about three pounds during the week, largely because of how I chose my lunches.  Holland America's dining room portions are proper and not too big.  Most of the time, I would have eaten more if it was on the plate.  In the dining room, they expect you to select several courses and they portion them accordingly.

The buffet is a different story.  I stayed away from the sandwiches and hot dishes, instead choosing one or two of the small plates.  (Although, I was rather upset that they were out of fried mac'n'cheese balls when I wanted them as a snack.)  These were also usually the vegan and vegetarian offerings.  If I felt the meal was too small, I'd grab a roll or slice of focaccia.

I know, half a marinated artichoke and a mini chickpea salad isn't exactly a filling lunch, but I ate an awful lot of desserts.  They were so pretty.  The one below is two meringue cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche, garnished with a white chocolate spoon.  There was at least one kind of cheesecake every day, a constant supply of cookies and ice cream, and all sorts of other pastries.

The good news is that the weight is dropping off nearly as fast as I put it on, simply by going back to regular meals.  I'm assuming the first pound was water retention from all the extra salt I was consuming.  Proper hydration and going easy on the salt in my own cooking took care of that.

Next up is going to be my annual vegan Purim entrée.  I've promised myself to eat less meat for a week or two, after having it for dinner every night.  This is a good way to get started.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Dressing

The salad I was making was unremarkable, just some Romaine, asparagus, chickpeas, and chopped up chicken sausage, with a few olives for garnish.  So I put effort into the dressing instead.

I have learned never to underestimate the flavor of a roasted tomato.  Lightly seasoned and baked until soft, it becomes juicy and loaded with rich tastes.  This recipe tosses the tomato into the blender with a single serving cup of Greek yogurt for a lightly flavored sauce.  For more tomato flavor, up it to a full pound.  To make a chilled tomato soup, use two pounds tomatoes to one serving of yogurt.

1/2 lb ripe tomato (1 large)
salt and pepper
*dried basil
*single serve cup (approx 5-6 oz) plain, nonfat Greek yogurt

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Core tomato and slice in half across the equator.  Place open halves face-up in a roasting pan with a rack.  Lightly season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with dried basil.

2.  Roast 45 minutes to 1 hour, until very soft and the juices fill the tomato chambers.  Cool until you can handle them, then peel off skin.  It should come right off if they're cooked enough.  Purée in blender or food processor.

3.  Add yogurt and blend again until smooth.  Taste and add more seasonings if necessary.  Chill at least one hour, to meld the flavors.

Makes about 1 cup

Difficulty rating  π

Yam-Burgers

I went googling this idea, and came up with a hamburger place in San Juan, Puerto Rico.   I didn't find any recipes for combined ground beef and sweet potato patties, which is what I had in mind.  There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan yam burgers online.  I could have made this into a casserole with noodles and called it "yamburger helper".  Changed plans - and made things much easier on myself - by turning this into a burger on sweet potato toasts.

1 lb 80/20 ground beef
*1/4 C minced red onion
*1 clove garlic, minced
salt and white pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 fat sweet potato, about 3/4 lb
olive oil
serving garnishes like lettuce, cilantro, avocado, Greek yogurt...

1.  In a bowl, knead together ground beef, minced onion, and garlic.  Sprinkle in a bit of salt, white pepper, and the paprika.  Refrigerate while you prepare the sweet potato.

2.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon mat and start preheating the oven to 400º.  Slice the potato into 1/4" thick slabs big enough to rest a small burger on.  I did it on an angle to increase surface area.  Brush both sides with oil and bake for 10 minutes.  Flip and cook other side another 10 minutes.

3.  You can either wait until the toasts are done and use the broiler, or just make 4 burger patties (on foil for easy clean-up) and put them on the top rack of the oven for 10-15 minutes.  Flip halfway through.

4.  Build burgers with desired garnishes, but be aware you're probably going to want to use utensils for this one.  The toasts can't support a whole quarter-pound burger.  Serve warm.

Difficulty rating  :)

Fennel-rama

It has been cold and rainy in L.A. the past two months, but my area has not had any freezes.  That means all my "cold season" veggies have done very well.  It's actually the climate they were bred for.

Very happily, the fennel I planted in December has gone gangbusters.  It's only four bulbs, but they are loving the weather.  No one is bolting from too many warm days in a row, since it has not been over 70º in over a month.  Pretty soon, I'll come up with a use for at least one of them.

The romaine lettuce is also doing great, even though one is bolting, and I have one arugula that is still useable.  The three remaining artichoke plants are soaking up all the rain and getting ready to flower in the next month or so, whenever it's warm enough.

I keep forgetting I have cilantro.  I'm so used to my efforts with it failing that it's a shock to be able to have some whenever I want.

Basically, expect more vegetable dishes in the near future.  Spring is here!

Asparagus and Mushroom Tart

This recipe went through a lot of evolution between making a shopping list and rolling out the dough.  First, I was going to make a quiche, but I was out of store-bought crust and didn't feel like making one.  Then I thought maybe pizza, and didn't have any sauce or enough mozzarella.  Buckwheat galettes sounded good, but they involve a lot of standing and I had a muscle spasm in my back.  That brought me back to quiche, which now did not seem like so much work compared to crepes, and I made it easier by turning it into a tart with a part buckwheat crust.

This didn't seem like so many ingredients when I was making it.  The first six are the crust.  Maybe it didn't seem like a lot because I was inventing as I went, using items out of the fridge to get rid of them before vacation.  I'll only be away for a week and Bruin Smurf will be home to take care of Molly and throw out anything scary in the fridge, but I'm always convinced everything is going to spoil.

This crust was much better than the last time I used buckwheat flour in one.  Using half regular flour gave it structure and a milder taste.  No longer gluten-free, but I don't care about that.

*3/4 C buckwheat flour
3/4 C all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 C shortening, chilled
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 Tb apple cider vinegar, chilled
cold water as needed
1/2 lb asparagus
1 large portobello mushroom
*1/4 C diced onion
*1 rib celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 Tb olive oil
*1 C mozzarella cheese
1 egg
*1/2 C milk

1.  In a bowl, stir together flours and salt.  Cut in shortening until pea-sized.  Sprinkle in vinegar and just enough water to make the dough come together.  It should still feel fairly dry.  Wrap in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate for half an hour.

2.  Thinly slice the mushroom cap, and cut any long strips in half.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Cook the diced onion, garlic, and celery in the oil until wilted, then add the mushrooms.  Cover and cook over medium-low until the mushrooms are done, about five minutes.

3.  While that's going, cut off the tough ends of the asparagus and cut into inch-long pieces.  Simmer in a medium saucepan with water to cover and a dash of salt until just turning bright, but not too soft. Drain immediately.

4.  Toss together mushroom mix and asparagus and season with salt and pepper to taste, keeping in mind there will be cheese.

5.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface and place in a 9" tart pan (or 8" pie tin).  Chill while oven is preheating to 375º.

6.  When oven is ready, move crust to a baking sheet, in case of leakage.  Spread half of the vegetable mixture in the crust, followed by half of the cheese.  Repeat.  Beat together egg and milk and gently pour evenly over the filling.  Bake until cheese is golden and edges of crust are browned, 25-30 minutes.  Allow to cool before removing tart ring and slicing.

Serves 6-8, depending on how many side dishes you have

Difficulty rating  :)

Shortening Biscuits

It's a bit early to start the annual chometz purge, but I'm going on vacation next week and decided to get a jump on it.  One batch of vegetarian tamales would get rid of the remaining husks and masa harina in the pantry.

I made the filling, soaked the husks, and it was time to get down the flour.  I opened the bag, and the inside was crawling with teeny tiny grain bugs.  Tossed that and the now-unuseable husks and changed my plans to stew with cornbread.  Opened the cornmeal, and found more bugs.  This is why you should always freeze your milled products for two days before opening and whenever they won't be used for an extended period of time.  I didn't follow my own advice, but at least it got rid of a whole bunch of chometz products.

My A.P. flour was fine because I run through it so fast.  I went searching for biscuit recipes.  The one in the Bible is almost identical to the scone recipe I use.  Swap shortening for the butter and omit the sugar.  I whipped those up in twenty minutes, which is way less time than the tamales would have taken.

1 C flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tb chilled shortening
*1/4 C plus 2 Tb milk

1.  Preheat oven to 450º.  Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.

2.  Cut in shortening until pea-sized.  Smaller than the flakes you want for pie crust, but not overly mixed in.

3.  Stir in milk.  Knead a few strokes until uniform.  Press out to 1/2" thick.  Either cut into rounds with a 2" biscuit cutter or square off the edges (ish) and cut into squares like I did.

4.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly golden.  Break apart if baked touching (for softer sides and less of a crust), and cool enough to handle before serving.

Makes about 8

Difficulty rating  π

Geode Cake

I wasn't going to do one of these for the single reason that they don't look like a geode.  I was obsessed with the real thing in the 80's, from rock collecting to art perched on crystalline fragments.  A geode is a dull rock that only reveals its structure when you break it open, and then it's usually hollow in the middle.  Yanking out a chunk of cake and filling it with candy does not look like a geode.

But I thought it would be a less girlie cake for a guy at work's birthday, and decided to give it a try.  I'm using the Oreo cake from the previous post because the frosting looks somewhat rock-like.  Figured I'd get one detail sort of right.

Most recipes I found had you put clear rock candy gems on the cake and paint them with food coloring.  I cut out the middleman and bought purple and pale pink rock candy sticks at Party City, then smashed off the candy from the wood stick.  Actually, I got the last package of the color I wanted because they were slightly smashed.  There are clear rock candy gems you can order on Amazon if you have a couple of days to plan ahead.  They're sold by the half or full pound and also come in colors and flavors.

1.  Bake a cake.  Trim layers level (save the cake), fill, and crumb coat.

2.  You can do a marbled fondant coat if you want, but I did a buttercream finish.

3.  With a very sharp knife, mark out portions of the cake to excavate.  I've seen some with huge gashes.  Someone wanted a slice for themselves.  I opted for one signature cutout and two smaller holes, so every view had a crystalline surprise.

4.  Carve out the holes and spackle them with frosting.  Save all the crumbs and their frosting.  You don't need to frost perfectly, just a good crumb coat.

5.  Cover holes in rock sugar candy.  If using clear, you're going to be painting it with gel food coloring thinned out slightly with vodka.  I'm not that talented and rimmed the outside with pink crystals after filling the middle with purple.  Tweezers were necessary, and I still got frosting on me.  This is going to take a while.  It's why all the YouTube videos I found use time-lapse for this part.

6.  This step, I completely disagree with nearly every video.  They all have you put on a gold or silver rim.  Geode art with a metallic rim is to cover the artist's butt so you don't sue them after cutting yourself on the sharp crystal edge.  Real geode rims are much more boring.  I painted the edges with black gel color thinned with a drop of vanilla extract.  You usually use vodka or a clear extract to make paint, but this is black.

7.  Get out all those crumbs and trimmings.  Mash them in a bowl with a fork to make a dry cake pop dough that barely sticks together.  Add more frosting if necessary.  Form into balls of various sizes, then press into "cups" that look like tiny broken-open geodes.

8.  Gather together any remaining sugar dust.  Fill the cups with the crystals and shake out the excess.  Use these to decorate the base and/or top.  If desired, paint the edges of these mini-geodes to make them pop.  I used the remaining cake pop dough to make a bottom border of "dirt", then sprinkled more crystals around to keep things interesting.

Difficulty rating  :-0