recipe – Page 63 – TasteFood

gluten-free, Vegetables and Salads, Vegetarian

Southwestern Spiced Sweet Potato Fries with Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream

November 19, 2009July 31, 2014by Lynda Balslev7 Comments

Here is the good news: Sweet Potatoes are one of the most nutritious vegetables you can eat. They are packed with dietary fiber, Vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, protein and complex carbohydrates. Not only that, they are low in calories and taste great. There are many ways to eat a sweet potato. They can be mashed, baked, puréed and roasted. They are delicious in soups and stews, curries and ragouts. And, of course, their natural sweetness makes them a perfect addition to desserts – puréed in pie fillings and baked in breads and cakes.

These fries are one of my favorite preparations. The fries are sweet and salty with a fiery kick from the added spices and served with a cooling chili-cilantro sour cream dipping sauce. They are quick to prepare and healthy to eat, since they are not deep-fried, but roasted in a hot oven. I’m not sure if they should be called a side dish, snack or meal, but they are guaranteed to be gobbled up faster than you can say “Sweet Potato Fries.”

*This recipe was chosen as the winner in a competition hosted by Food52 and will be published in their upcoming cookbook. You can find this recipe and many other delicious recipes on their site, and have a chance to cast your votes for favorite recipes.

Southwestern Spiced Sweet Potato Fries

I like to keep the skin on my sweet potatoes adding texture and extra nutrients to this healthy side dish. Serves 4 -6 as a side dish or snack.

2 large sweet potatoes, cut in large matchsticks/batons approximately 1/4 inch by 2 inch
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 425 F. (220 C.)
Toss sweet potatoes and olive oil in a large bowl. Combine salt, cumin, chile powder, paprika, pepper and cayenne in a small bowl. Add spices to potatoes and toss to coat. Arrange potatoes in one layer on baking sheet. Bake in oven on lowest rack 10 minutes. Turn potatoes with a spatula and bake 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and serve with Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream.

Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream:

1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons sweet chili sauce
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 heaping tablespoon chopped cilantro

Combine all the ingredients except the cilantro in a medium bowl and whisk together. Stir in cilantro.

Appetizers

Prosciutto, Fig, Arugula and Goat Cheese Roll-ups with Honey

November 9, 2009June 8, 2014by Lynda Balslev

It’s November and there are baskets of figs for sale in our market. As a transplant from northern Europe, I find this positively decadent. I was shopping yesterday for an autumn dinner, thinking of apples, braising meat, a turnip or two. I rounded the corner in the produce department, and there they were: baskets and baskets of plump purpley-green tinged figs And they didn’t even look sad or weary from lengthy storage or intercontinental jet travel. These were the real ripe deal – all perky, fresh and plump. So, of course, I had to have them.

And this is what I made with what I had at home in my refrigerator:

Prosciutto, Fig, Arugula and Goat Cheese Roll-ups with Honey
Makes 16

8 slices prosciutto, cut in half horizontally
8 small figs, halved or 4 large figs, quartered
2 cups arugula leaves, washed and dried
1/3 cup soft mild goat cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Runny honey

Lay prosciutto slice on work surface. Arrange 1-2 fresh arugula leaves at one end. Place fig on top of arugula. Spoon one teaspoon goat cheese over fig and arugula. Sprinkle with a pinch of pepper. Roll up prosciutto from end with fig. Arrange on serving plate. Repeat with remaining ingredients. (Roll-ups can be prepared 3 hours ahead of serving. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.) Lightly drizzle honey over roll-ups before serving.

Appetizers, Autumn, Fall, gluten-free, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian

Spice-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

November 3, 2009July 30, 2014by Lynda Balslev

Looking for a healthy diversion from all of the Halloween candy in your house? Pumpkins are not just good for decoration and their sweet nutrient-rich flesh. Their seeds are high in iron, fiber and protein, rich in amino acids and zinc. So when you are carving up pumpkins or squash for decoration or baking, be sure to save your seeds. Clean and dry them before roasting for best results. Then, when you find yourself peeking at your kids’ Halloween stash, reach instead for these pumpkin seeds for a healthy, savory snack.

Spice-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Clean and dry seeds:
Remove most of the pulp from the seeds without washing them. Arrange seeds in one layer on a baking tray and leave them out to dry at least 3-4 hours or overnight.

Roast the seeds:
Preheat oven to 375 F. (190 C.) Toast the cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, one minute. Grind cumin to a fine powder in a mortar with pestle. Whisk cumin, paprika, salt, cayenne and oil together in a medium bowl. Add dried pumpkins seeds and toss to coat well. Arrange in one layer on baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool and store in air-tight container.

Appetizers, Autumn, Fall, Soups and Stews, Thanksgiving

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

October 23, 2009August 9, 2014by Lynda Balslev4 Comments

Sweet and spicy, warm and comforting: Curried Butternut Squash Soup is a luxuriant soup for the autumn season. My original inspiration for this soup came from the Silver Palate Cookbook many years ago. Since then, I have tweaked and made variations of this soup in the different countries where I have lived. What I love about this rich soup is that there is no cream in the stock. Sweet onion, tart apples and squash cook down in chicken stock, then puréed and thinned with apple juice. The apples add a sharp, spicy sweetness that compliments the earthy, sweetness of the squash, while curry powder adds heat and roundness to the flavor. As a final flourish, I like to add a dollop of cool crème fraîche as garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro. This is a hearty, healthy and pleasing soup for a cool fall day.

Curried Butternut Squash (or Pumpkin) Soup
As we moved around Europe it was difficult to find the prolific American butternut squash, so I would improvise with small hokkaido pumpkins that were available in the fall. You can also substitute the butternut squash with another sweet, orange fleshed squash or pumpkin.

Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut in 1″ chunks
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut in 1″ chunks
2 tablespoons currry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons salt, to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Crème fraîche
Fresh cilantro leaves

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and stir until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add apple and squash and cook, stirring, one minute. Add curry powder and ground coriander and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add chicken stock. (Stock should cover squash and apples. If not, then add additional stock or water to cover.) Simmer, covered, until squash and apples are very soft, about 30 minutes. Purée soup in batches in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Add apple juice to soup and gently cook to heat through. (If the soup is too thick, add additional apple juice to desired consistency.) Stir in brown sugar, salt and pepper.
Serve soup hot, garnished with a spoonful of crème fraîche and a few cilantro leaves.

cake, Desserts, Fruit

Banana Cake

October 17, 2009July 30, 2014by Lynda Balslev7 Comments

Tried and true, a banana cake (or bread, depending on your perspective) has figured prominently in our home as a baked treat. The kids love it, as do the adults, and in every country we have lived, bananas have been readily available in the markets. I have made variations over the years, adding wheat germ and oats for added fiber and nutrients, coconut for a tropical twist, even chocolate for those cravings of, well, chocolate. This recipe is the base recipe I rely on and come back to time and again. It’s moist, not overly sweet, and keeps in the refrigerator for 4 days. Actually, that’s a guess, because it never lasts that long.

Banana Cake
Makes one loaf

3/4 cup (150 g.) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (150 g.) light brown sugar
3 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1/3 cup (80 ml.) sour cream or Greek-style whole milk yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups (220 g.) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.)
Butter a loaf pan and line bottom with parchment paper.
Beat butter and sugar until they are light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add to bananas and stir to combine well. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in oven until knife comes clean, about one hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from pan.

Try these variations:

Tropical Twist: Add 1/2 cup flaked, unsweetened coconut to dry ingredients. Sprinkle additional tablespoon coconut on top of cake before baking.

More Fiber: Reduce flour to 1 3/4 cups. Add 1/2 cup oats and 2 tablespoons wheat germ to dry ingredients.

Chocolate Boost: Add 1 cup dark chocolate chips to batter before pouring into loaf pan.

Autumn, Fall, Vegetables and Salads, Vegetarian

Baked Root Vegetable Purée

October 13, 2009July 30, 2014by Lynda Balslev4 Comments

There is no set rule for the types of root vegetables you can use in this recipe. In fact, what you see on the ingredients list is what happened to be in my kitchen when I set out to make a this dish to serve with roast chicken last night. As I puréed the steamed vegetables, I envisioned doctoring it with all sorts of extra spices, a little grated cheese, maybe even some minced onion. But then I tasted the purée, and was blown away by its soft, sweet, nutty flavor. Mild and delicate, all it needed was salt and pepper and a dollop of sour cream to lighten its texture. For a little autumnal flourish, I topped the purée with fresh sage leaves before baking, so their woody flavor would lightly infuse the vegetables.

Baked Root Vegetable Purée
Baking the purée creates a crusty texture on its top. If you would like a soft purée, omit the baking step. The sage leaves will lightly infuse the purée with their flavor during baking.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

3 medium parsnips
2 large turnips
1 large sweet potato
1 large rutabaga (swede)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup (60 ml.) creme fraiche or sour cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Sage leaves for garnish

Peel and cut vegetables in 2 inch chunks. Steam in a large pot until very tender, 20-30 minutes. Transfer in two batches to a food processor. Purée each batch with 2 tablespoons butter. Combine puréed vegetables, sour cream, salt and pepper in large bowl and mix well. Pour into baking dish. (Purée can be made to this point up to one day in advance. Allow to cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before baking.)
Arrange sage leaves on top of purée, pressing gently. Bake in pre-heated 350 F. oven 25 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Autumn, Fall, Chicken, Main Course, one-pot, Poultry

Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Fricassée

October 10, 2009July 30, 2014by Lynda Balslev4 Comments

Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Fricassée
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken breast halves, with skin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lb. (250 g.) assorted mushrooms (such as white, crimini, shiitake) stems trimmed, halved
3 leeks, white and pale green parts, cleaned, sliced in 1/4″ pieces
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh
1/4 cup (60 ml.) dry white wine
1/2 cup (120 ml.) chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper chicken all over. Add chicken to skillet, skin-side down. Cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet.
Reduce heat to medium and add one tablespoon olive oil to skillet. Add mushrooms and leeks and cook, stirring, over medium heat until leeks are vibrant and vegetables are tender but not too soft, 3-4 minutes. Add thyme and sauté one minute. Add white wine and simmer until most of the wine is evaporated. Add chicken stock and return chicken to pan. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until chicken is cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and tent with foil to keep warm.
Add cream to vegetables and simmer until cream and stock reduce by a third and begin to thicken. Arrange chicken on serving plates or platter. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serve with rice.

Appetizers, Condiment, Guacamole, Kitchen Equipment

My Mortar and Pestle and a Guacamole Recipe

October 5, 2009May 2, 2018by Lynda Balslev9 Comments

My favorite kitchen tool is a stone mortar and pestle. It sits proudly on my kitchen counter, holding its own in a caveman-esque sort of way, flaunting its primal elegance in between the commercial stove and espresso machine. It’s smugly confident in its weight and kitchen hierarchy (deemed decorative) while my food processor and standing mixer are banished behind cabinet doors (deemed clutter.) New kitchen techniques are awe-inspiring and futuristic, yet my mortar is old and wise with a lineage extending as far back as the Old Testament. Evaporators, anti-griddles, gastro-vacs may be cutting edge, favored by professional chefs and avant-garde molecular gastronomy experts, but my mortar has a stellar history as an essential tool to Native Americans, ancient Romans and Greeks, medieval pharmacists and home cooks spanning the ages from the dawn of civilization. It is the embodiment of simplicity and timelessness, pleasingly tactile and massively elemental. And it’s affordable.

What can you do with a mortar and pestle? You can grind, pound and smash to your heart’s content, making pestos, pastes, sauces, dips, dressings and marinades. You can grind seeds into powder. (I assure you the results of lightly toasting cardamon, cumin or coriander seeds and then grinding them to a fine powder in a mortar will yield results unparalleled by the pre-ground versions.) The mortar is also the perfect place to smash garlic with sea salt, adding fresh cut herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, mint. Crush the garlic first with the salt, then add the herbs and bruise them by giving them a few turns with the pestle to release their juices and flavor. You will be left with a powerful, aromatic paste you can smear on meats and poultry before roasting.

You can also create a complete dish and serve it in the mortar. Try making guacamole. Serve with chips, and you have one-stop-shopping in a primitive vessel.

Guacamole

If you don’t have a mortar, then simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mash with a fork to achieve a chunky consistency. Makes about 2 cups.

1 red or green jalapeño pepper, stemmed and seeded, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
3 large ripe hass avocados
2 tablespoons coarsely grated yellow onion with juice
Juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco

Prepare:
Combine the jalapeño, garlic, and red onion in a mortar. Press on the ingredients with your pestle, and grind them around the mortar in a circular movement, 3 to 4 times. Add the cilantro and gently bruise the leaves with the pestle. Add the avocados, yellow onion, and lime juice and mash to form a blended but chunky consistency. Stir in the cumin, salt, black pepper, and hot sauce and taste for seasoning.

Vegetables and Salads

Bacon, Avocado, Tomato Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

October 3, 2009June 8, 2014by Lynda Balslev4 Comments

This salad is a vehicle for bacon. At least that’s how I viewed it when I made it the other day. In all fairness, it also showcases beautiful sweet Early Girl tomatoes and cool, mild avocadoes. It also presents a light, rustic-style dinner completed by a hunk of piquant Gruyère cheese, Walnut Levain bread and a glass of Côtes du Rhône. But, really, it’s about the bacon.

Bacon, Tomato, Avocado Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
Serves 4-6

1/2 lb. (250 g.) slab bacon, cut in 1/4″ cubes
6 cups mixed greens (red oak, frisée, arugula), washed
4 small red tomatoes, such as early girl, quartered
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, about 1/2 cup
1 avocado, diced
Dijon Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Prepare salad:
Sauté bacon in a skillet over medium heat until browned and fat is rendered, about 8 minutes. Transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towel.
Arrange mixed greens in a serving bowl or on individual plates. Top with tomatoes, onion slices, avocado and bacon. Drizzle with Dijon Vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Dijon Vinaigrette
(Makes about 1/2 cup)

1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup (80 ml.) extra-virgin olive oil

Prepare vinaigrette:
Mix all the ingredients except the oil in a small bowl. Pour in the oil in a steady stream, constantly whisking, to emulsify.

Desserts, Farmers Market, Fruit, Vegetarian

Nectarine, Blueberry and Raspberry Crisp

September 30, 2009July 30, 2014by Lynda Balslev2 Comments

I confess to being a glutton when it comes to stone fruit. There is a window of time when peaches, nectarines and plums run rampant at the market. Vibrantly hued and mottled in purples, oranges, fuscias and crimson, their flesh is a perfect balance of sweet, tangy, winey, and tart. I could eat them all day long, but then my stomach would hurt. At this time when these gifts are abundant, I tend to overshop. (It’s no secret that I have indulgence issues at farmers’ markets.) My kitchen counters are lined with bowls and baskets brimming with fruit. So, it’s no surprise that even in our home, all of this fruit cannot be eaten at the peak of ripeness. Some start to get a little too ripe, buried at the bottom of the bowl, or even passed over for the newest batch from the market. As I said, I have indulgence issues.

This is the moment when a crumble or crisp comes in handy. It’s desserts’ equivalent to a homey vegetable soup. Gather up all the ripe, somewhat passed fruit (as you might with vegetables for a soup), cut and chop and pile them in a baking dish. Garnish with berries and pile on the topping. The tartness of the berries balances the sweetness of the stone fruit, and with little added sugar the result is a rich, murky, sweet – but not cloying – perfumed stew of summer fruit. It’s best served warm, but not piping hot, since that will mask the flavor of the fruit. A dollop of high quality vanilla ice cream or whipped cream adds a cool foil to the warm, more-ish fruit.

Nectarine, Blueberry and Raspberry Crisp

You can use any stone fruit for the crisp. Try any combination of plums, peaches and nectarines. The addition of raspberries and blueberries adds tartness and color.

Serves 8

For the topping:
1 1/2 cups (170 g.) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100 g.) brown sugar
1/4 cup (55 g.) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (170 g.) unsalted butter, cut in small cubes

For the fruit:
2 lbs.(1 kg.) nectarines (or use a combination of nectarines, plums, peaches), halved and pitted, cut in 1″ chunks
1 cup (150 g.) raspberries
1 cup (150 g.) blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar

Prepare topping:
Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Mix well to combine. Add butter, and work in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. (Topping can be prepared one day in advance. Cover and refrigerate until use.)

Prepare crisp:
Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.)
Arrange nectarines in rectangular baking dish. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Arrange raspberries and blueberries over nectarines. Cover fruit evenly with topping. Bake in oven until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling, 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool briefly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.