Coconut Basmati Rice

It's been ages since I posted a recipe, I know; but I'm in grad school.  My husband and I made this rice last night to accompany a lovely chicken recipe.  I'm posting it here because it was so gosh darn easy and a great alternative to plain white rice.

1 cup basmati rice, washed and drained

1 can of Light Coconut Milk (about 12 oz.)

1 tsp. turmeric

1/2 cup small dice onion, leek or shallot

15 whole peppercorns

1 tsp salt

  This is really very simple to cook, but I will start here with a quick explanation of rice washing since it's something I never did until I began seriously cooking Asian food.  Most rice bought at the store is coated with excess starch.  By washing the rice you will eliminate it and the rice you cook will be less sticky.  Simply place the 1 cup rice in a large bowl and run it under cold water stirring frequently.  I've found that the tap should only be about halfway open so that none of the rice is stirred up by the running water.  This prevents it from washing over the top of the bowl and down the drain.  Continue rinsing and stirring the rice until the water runs reasonably clear.

  In a small pot with a tight-fitting lid, combine the coconut milk, turmeric, and basmati rice.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat as low as possible.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add the onion, peppercorns, and salt; and cook for another 10 minutes.  You want to watch the rice at this point so that it doesn't burn.  I stirred halfway through this second cooking time and found that it didn't need the full 10 minutes - more like 7. 

  At this time, it's ready to serve alongside whatever main dish you may be having.

Chile Rellenos Redux

I did not get a good photo of this, frankly, because we ate it too quickly. You are probably thinking of chile rellenos as deep fried chiles oozing with cheese. Well, here is a version that is fresh, flavorfull and un-fried. This is based on the chiles that my dad makes, along with a few twists of my own. These ingredients - chiles and corn, mainly - are in season now, and with the heat, this is a perfect summer patio dish, served with some tacos, enchiladas, or any other Mexican fare you'd like to pair it with. It can even be grilled. The recipe is for 2 people, with 2 chiles each: this is good as a starter or side, and can easily be doubled or tripled for more people, or as the main attraction.

4 anaheim chiles, nice and long, and as straight as you can find
2 ears of corn
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
3/4 cup shredded jack cheese (I used this amazing chile jack goat cheese produced locally. I have also used chevre and white cheddar with good results)
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

1. First you will need to char the chiles. This can be done on the highest rack under a broiler, or on the grill. Just wash the chiles and place directly on the rack of the oven, or on the grill, and cook until black and the skin begins to pull away from the surface. As one side begins to blacken, do a quarter turn, allow to char, and continue until the entire chile is nice and black. Then, pick them up with some tongs and place in a plastic bag - I usually use an old grocery bag (I know, bad me, having plastic grocery bags about). Tie off the end of the bag and let them steam for about 5-10 minutes. Then, pull them out and peel the skin off under a stream of cool water at the sink. The charred skin should pull right off. Place the chiles on a paper towell to completely cool.

2. To prepare the filling: cut the corn kernels off the cob, and place in a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, cheese, lime juice, and salt and peppr, and taste for seasoning. The mixture should be mostly cheese and corn, held together with the yogurt.

3. Using a paring knife, make a long slit down the center of the front of each of the chiles. Then, over the sink, pull out the seeds and the connecting strings, using some water to flush them out. You may find that your chiles want to fall apart. Just try your best to keep them whole, if they split, this is fine, the filling will hold them together. Again, dry the chiles on some paper towells. Place the chiles in a medium glass baking dish (depending on how many you are making), and pull open the sides, so that they are laying flat. Scoop about 1/4 cup of filling into each, and continue to add filling until they are nice and full, and you can pull the sides of the chile up and over, but not together. The chiles should have a large opening with filling bursting out, and the side flaps sort of gently tucking over.

4. Bake the chiles in a 425 oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted, and the tops begin to brown. Then, place them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to give the tops a nice rich, brown crust.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Crisp

So, have you heard that blueberries are a super-food? Hoorah! What a good excuse to make this super-simple and luxurious dessert, using the plentiful (and cheap!) summer blueberries. I saw a 2 lb. container of blueberries for $5, and immediately thought of this crisp. It basically takes the crisp topping I use for apple crisp, and substitutes almonds for the walnuts, giving a more delicate flavor and crisper texture that complements the cooked blueberries. Of course, good vanilla ice cream can top it, and melt all about when it comes out of the oven. As it sits in the fridge, the blueberries start to create their own syrup, so it gets even better. Enjoy!

Topping
6 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 salt
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
3/4 cup slivered, blanched almonds

Filling
2 pounds blueberries
2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. For the topping: Place the flour, sugars, spices and salt in a food processor and puse briefly to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 times, about 4 seconds for each pulse. The mixture will first look like dry sand, with large lumps of butter, then like coarse cornmeal. Add the butter, then process again, for four or five 1-second pulses. The topping should look like slightly clumpy wet sand. Be sure not to overmix, or the topping will become too homogenous. Refrigerate the topping for at least 15 minutes, or up to 2 days.

2. Adjust an oven rack for the middle position, and heat to 375.

3. Wash the blueberries and strain until dry (or pat very lightly with a towell), and then mix to taste with sugar. Pour the blueberries into an un-buttered 9 in. pie pan or 8 in. square glass baking dish. Crumble the chilled topping evenly over the top, and bake in the 375 oven for 40 minutes. Eat warm, straight from the oven with ice cream, room temperature, or chilled.

Roasted zucchini heaven (in a salad)

I have to level with you - I'm not a vegetarian, not even close. If it has a face, I eat it. If it's cute, furry, tasty - yep, you guessed it - I eat it. So posting to this blog hasn't been the easiest thing for me to do. I think I am going to go a bit easier on myself. If I cook something wonderful, yummy, easy; something I absolutely have to share, I am going to post it. I will leave the vegetable purism to my ever-faithful meat abstentious co-blogger, Mindy. Don't get me wrong, we encounter a lot of vegetables in our house. I believe in eating well and balanced and in supporting local farms. So I will still be able to share items that vegetarians can cook and eat. Like this one - the most fantastic way I've ever encountered to eat zucchini; because if I levelled with you about that - I hate zucchini.

1 lb. zucchini, sliced lengthwise into quarter-inch widths

2 red peppers, halved and seeded

3 1/2 oz. feta

5 Tbs. olive oil

salt

DRESSING - all ingredients for the dressing should be finely chopped, but if that doesn't happen it all works out okay

1 garlic clove, minced

1 Tbs. chopped mint

honey

lemon juice

1 red onion, medium dice

Toss the zucchini slices in olive oil, salt and pepper. They can be grilled outside on a gas grill or in a cast-iron grill pan on the stove. Cook the zucchini through and set them aside.

Place the red peppers on an aluminum foil lined sheet pan, cut-side down and roast in a hot oven - about 400 F until they are cooked; about 25 minutes. Remove them from the oven and cover them to allow the skins to steam off. You can simply wrap them in the aluminum foil you used to line the sheet pan or transfer them to a bowl and lay a towel on top. They can take ten to fifteen minutes to steam. When ready simply rub the skins off then cut each half pepper into eighths and combine with the zucchini and set aside.

Put the garlic, mint, lemon and honey into a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Still whisking, pour in the oil in a thin stream. The dressing will emulsify and thicken. Season it to taste with salt and pepper then add the red onion. I would recommend going easy on the salt because the zucchini is already seasoned and you will add feta to the salad at the end.

Toss the roasted pepper and zucchini in the dressing and place everything into a shallow baking dish. Cover the top of the salad with crumbled feta and place under a low broiler for five minutes or less. Watch the salad carefully at this point as it doesn't take long to brown. The salad should be sizzling and patches of feta should be lovely and golden.

Enjoy!

Sprouted Garbanzo Burgers

Here is another recipe from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking, which I am enjoying so much that I am basically cooking my way through it this summer. These burgers are delicious - my husband and I ate them just about every day last week (the recipe makes 12) and never grew tired of them. I sprouted the garbanzos myself, which is an extra step that certainly changes the texture and taste of the beans, but I'm not sure it has enough impact to offset the amount of time and effort sprouting takes. I've heard that you can buy sprouted beans at, say, Whole Foods, or equivalent stores, but I have not found them. If you are feeling ambitious or experimental, as I was, here is a link to some good directions on sprouting. You can also just use cooked or canned garbanzos with excellent results.

2 1/2 cups sprouted garbanzo beans, or canned garbanzos, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 onion, chopped
grated zest of 1 large lemon
1 cup micro sprouts, such as alfalfa, broccoli or onion
1 cup toasted whole grain bread crumbs (Ian's, a brand you can find at WF or elsewhere makes a good whole wheat bread crumb, or you can toast and pulse day old bread in the food processor)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

If you are using sprouted garbanzos, steam them until tender, about 10 minutes. If you are using canned beans, jump right in. Combine the garbanzos, eggs, and salt in a food processor and puree until the mixture is the consistency of a very thick, slightly chunky hummus. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the cilantro, onion, zest, and sprouts. Add the bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a couple of minutes so that the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a moist mixture that you can easily form into twelve 1 1/2 inch thick patties. Err on the moist side here, because it makes for a nicely textured burger. You can add more bread crumbs to firm it up a bit, or, conversely, add a bit of water or egg to moisten it. After the patties are formed, you can decide to either cook them, or store them, placed on a plate lined with parchment and wrapped with spastic wrap. Then, you can cook just as many as you need, and store the rest this way, or even freeze them for later use.

To cook, heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, add up to 4 patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes. Flip the patties, and cook the second side for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a wire rack while you cook the remaining patties.

Top with whatever fillings you'd like. We enjoyed these open face on a piece of toasted crusty bread with some lemon mayonnaise, avocado, red onion, and sprouts.

Swordfish Sicilian-style

It has been a little difficult for me to continually find vegetarian recipes to share here. So, pardon me if occasionally, items transgress into the world of meat-eating. Here is a lovely swordfish recipe my husband found in the Chez Panisse Fruit cookbook. We tried it two weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised. The stuffing is savoury enough that I felt I would enjoy it with some sort of poultry, but the mild flavour and substantial texture of swordfish are a good foil.

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion

1 pinch of saffron threads

3 anchovies (rinse them if they are packed in oil)

2 oranges

1/4 cup dried currants or raisins

1/4 cup pine nuts

3 Tbs. chopped parsley

1 tsp. chopped oregano

salt and pepper

bay leaves

This stuffing recipe is for 2 pounds of swordfish which is far too much for only two people. I usually figure 6 oz. of meat/person as a serving. So if you are making this for two, halve the stuffing recipe and purchase a 12 oz. swordfish steak. The swordfish should be cut into 1/8 thick slices about 4 x 6 inches for rolling.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Toss the bread crumbs with 2 Tbs. olive oil and spread them out on a baking sheet. Toast them in the oven stirring occasionally until they are golden brown - about 15 minutes. Dice the onion and saute it on medium-low with the saffron and another 2 Tbs. olive oil. Cook until the onion is soft. Chop the rinsed anchovy coarsely. Squeeze 1/4 cup juice from one of the oranges and pour it over the currants or raisin to plump them. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet on medium or medium-high unitl golden stirring continuously to prevent burning.

In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, onion, anchovies, currants (with their juice), pine nuts, chopped parsely and oregano. Season generously with salt and pepper. Taste. The stuffing should be assertive, but you want to take care not to over-salt as it already contains anchovies.

Lay out the swordfish slices and season both sides with salt and peper. Spoon about 2 Tbs. of stuffing onto each slice and roll it up. Arrange each roll, flap side down, in an oiled baking dish just big enough to hold all of them snugly.

Cut the remaining orange into half-moons or smiles :) and with a bay leaf, wedge it between each roll. Drizzle olive oil over the fish and bake the dish for 15 minutes. The rolls will be opaque and firm to the touch when finished.

We ate this dish with a simple roasted vegetable and a plain risotto. It could also be nice with a salad and a simple pasta.

Chipotle Grilled Tofu and Yucatecan Street Corn

So, it's Memorial Day Weekend, and everyone is out grilling; and grilling lots of meat. What's a vegetarian to do? Opt for the frozen, bland veggie burgers? Nope. Here are two very tasty hot-weather grilling ideas: a spicy grilled tofu that is great either as kabobs or a burger alternative, and rich grilled corn on the cob. I made the grilled tofu last weekend while out camping, and found that marinating for 24 hours really got the spicy tones heated up (read - scorching). But, I imagine that just an hour is a perfect amount of time to get the heat without the burn. The original recipe calls for achiote powder, rather than chipotle, but I was not able to find the former. If you can, give it a try. Both of these recipes come from Heidi Swanson, whose food blog, 101 cookbooks is amazing and inspiring. Equally beautiful is her book, Super Natural Cooking, which I have been scouring the last few weeks.

Chipotle Grilled Tofu

2 tablespoons achiote or chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon raw cane sugar (or brown sugar)
3 medium cloves garlic, peeled
2 big pinches of salt
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
12 ounce package of extra firm tofu, cut into 4 slabs

Whisk together achiote powder, cayenne pepper and sugar. Sprinkle the salt over the garlic, smash it with your knife, and mince it into a paste. Add this to the achiote mixture along with the lemon juice. Whisk until combined.

Place the tofu into an 8x8 baking dish and pour the achiote marinade over the tofu - flip it, flop it....make sure you get coverage on all sides, and rub the marinade into the tofu a bit. Place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Place the tofu on a medium hot grill. Brush the top of each piece of tofu with some of the leftover achiote marinade, grill until the tofu is golden on the bottom with nice grill marks (rotate the tofu 90 degrees halfway through the grilling of each side to get those nice marks). Flip, cook the other side, brush the side facing up with more leftover marinade, and cook until the bottom is golden as well. Remove and serve over a salad, on a bun with all the fixings, or any other way you can think of .

Yucatecan Street Corn

4 ears fresh corn, in husks
3/4 cup crema, for slathering
1/2 cup shredded cotija, for sprinkling
2 limes, halved
2 tablespoons pure chile powder
fine-grain sea salt (optional)

Prepare a medium - hot grill; if the temperature is right, you should be able to hold your hand a few inches above the grate for 4 or 5 seconds. To prepare the corn for gilling, remove any husks other than the inner one or two layers. Peel back the inner husks but keep them attached, and discard the silk. Pull the husks back into place to protect the kernels and grill, covered, rotating a couple of times along the way, for 10 minutes. Peel back the husk on one ear and taste for doneness before pulling the rest off the grill. Slather each with some of the crema, sprinkle with some of the cheese, and drizzle with the juice of half of a lime dipped in chile powder.