The Miracle Martha

Every once in a while, a recipe or food technique comes around, and people who read recipes recreationally and cook as a hobby (not always the same people), get excited.  A few years ago the recipe that was "revolutional" was Jim Lahey's no-knead bread technique.

Last month, Martha Stewart Living published a recipe for one-pot spaghetti.  Within days, almost every food blog I read had mentioned it.  I saw the recipe several times on Pinterest and got a little excited.  A recipe with fresh ingredients that you throw in a pot, boil and get spaghetti?  Well, I tried the one pan pasta recipe and yes, this is something that everyone can make, and the recipe tastes great.  The pasta cooks simultaneously in broth which cooks down to make a richly flavored sauce.  The recipe takes about 15 minutes to make and the ingredients are all ones I had in my garden or can easily be purchased at the grocery store.

From http://www.apronstringsblog.com

One Pan Pasta Recipe:

Almost Vegetarian Lemon Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

Somehow, we’ve got three full bags of powdered sugar in our 2 bedroom apartment. I have a suspicion they are leftovers from cupcakes never made, but I couldn’t tell you for certain. Anyway, when I happened upon a recipe that would use the leftover summer squash in my fridge and powdered sugar, I was sold. Luckily, these little cookies taste great too and are fairly healthy for you too. Well, healthy enough that I didn’t feel too guilty about eating them for breakfast and Kelli triumphantly called them “Vegetarian Cookies!” (Somehow she’s embraced my almost-vegetarianism as much as I have). When Kelli ate them, she said that she loved them so much she wanted to get them pregnant. Now, if that’s not a voucher for these cookies-I’m not sure what is. Enjoy!

Adapted from Everyday Food

Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon packed finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 cup fine cornmeal
• 1 medium summer squash or zucchini, grated on small holes of a box grater (about 1 cup)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until mixture is crumbly. Add zucchini and stir until a thick dough forms.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are light golden brown at edges, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 25 cookies.

Notes: I only had summer squash in my fridge so I used it. The cookies were delicious, and although the green specks of a zucchini would make the cookies a little less yellow or orange-feel free to use what you have.

The next time I make these I may add a little bit of spice, but they aren’t lacking for flavor at all.

Corn Chowder Nirvana

I love corn chowder.  Corn chowder is one dish that has it's place in the dead of winter and the heat of summer.  In winter, it serves as the ultimate comfort food using frozen corn.  However, in summer the dish showcases fresh corn just off the cob.  I've been in search for the perfect corn chowder recipe for over a year now, one that's not too time consuming but tastes like I've slaved over the stove all day. 

Today, I decided to try the recipe found in the July/August edition of "Everyday Food."  Because I seem to improvise every recipe I make, I didn't do it exactly as follows.  The results though?  Best attempt at Corn Chowder yet!  Corn chowder nirvana!

 

 

Corn and Shrimp Chowder with Bacon
July 2009 Everyday Food

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings .

• 6 ears corn, husks and silks removed
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch strips (I used 3 slices)
• 8 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced (I used 1/2 yellow onion)
• 2 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used 3 medium red potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (I used 1 TBSP of Old Bay.  That might've been a tiny bit too much)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (I used some fresh thyme and rosemary)
• 1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp (I didn't have any shrimp.  I put in a cup of frozen cooked kidney beans which tasted great)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Crackers, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Cut off tip of each cob. Stand corn in a wide shallow bowl; using a sharp knife, slice downward to release kernels. Scrape length of each cob with a spoon to release pulp. Discard cobs. (After I finished removing the corn from the cob, I used my immersion blender on the corn for about 20 seconds, just enough to blend about a third of the corn.  Mark Bittman uses the corncobs to create a stock while you're boiling, and then discard before you serve.  I threw in a couple of cobs in as it gives the soup more of a corny flavor. )
   
2. In a large saucepan, cook bacon over medium-high until crisp and browned, 4 to 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels.
3. Add scallion whites and potatoes to pan; cook, stirring, until scallions have softened, 1 to 3 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add milk, seafood seasoning, thyme, and 2 cups water.
4. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add corn, shrimp, and scallion greens. Cook until shrimp are just opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Season chowder with salt and pepper. Serve topped with bacon, with crackers alongside if desired.

 

Anyway, this recipe doesn't take too long to prepare, tastes great and is hearty enough that you're not feeling hungry 20 minutes after the meal. 

Skillet Potatoes and Onions

 

One of my favorite comfort foods of all time is skillet potatoes and onions.  However, I can never get the potatoes perfectly crispy and my onions are on the burnt side of caramelized.  A couple of weeks ago I read a post from Taste Spotting claiming to have found a great way to make skillet potatoes and onions.  I tried the recipe and was pleased with the results.  I tinkered with the recipe the second and third time I made it, and am happy with the results.  Here's the original recipe with my modifications. 

 

Skillet Potatoes and Onions

Here’s what you need for a large single serving or 2 smaller servings:

1 Small onion cut in 1/2"-1" rings and then cut the rings in half

-5 or 6 small or 2-3 medium red potatoes

-1.5 TBSP vegetable or olive oil

-salt and pepper

-fresh herbs (I usually use rosemary since my rosemary plant is thriving)

1) Place a skillet (large enough so each potato slice has room to cook) on medium heat, add the onions and cover.  Cook for 5 minutes undisturbed.  Check the onions that they aren't burning, stir a bit, and then cook another 5 minutes undisturbed.

2) Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into wedges the last 5 minutes you're waiting on the onions.  Rinse and dry the wedges.

3)  Remove onions onto plate.  (You can eat the finished dish with this plate).

4) add the oil, give the oil about 30 seconds or so to heat up, and then add the potatoes making sure they are wedges cut-side down.

5)sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and then put the lid back on the skillet.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, checking to make sure the potatoes aren't burning.  Adjust heat accordingly.

6) When nicely browned, take the lid off (you don't need to use it again, flip the potatoes and add the onions on top.  Cook until the potatoes are nicely browned on the other side (about 5-6 minutes).  Add your herb of choice.  I've got rosemary, thyme and basil growing in pots so I use a combination of the three. 

7) You should have nicely browned outsides and fluffy potato insides with carmelized onions.  Enjoy with your favorite salsa, condiment or naked as they are!

Thanks to Torta te Bukura for the original recipe!

Recipe Review

I spend time every day reading recipes thanks to the magic of the Internets, but then stick to making my standards. Lately though I realized I should do rather than just be, so I've been trying to make a couple of recipes I read a week. Here's the first.

I've been reading Kalyn's Kitchen for several years but rarely use her recipes. Her recipes are health-conscious and usually look pretty good. She's from Salt Lake, and although she's a foodie, I can see the regional influence on her food from time to time (Not necessarily a bad thing). I noticed this lasagna recipe on her blog a few weeks ago and decided to make it.

I like lasagna, but don't make it all that often because it takes forever. I liked the fact that this recipe uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta and I had some I needed to use. Overall, the recipe was good. I halved it, and ate the leftovers for lunch. The sauce turned out great, with a really good flavor. My only complaint is that it wasn't filling enough. If I make this again, I'll make some more veggie additions to the sauce. It really needed a salad and a couple of pieces of bread or a healthy side-dish to go along with it.

(Credit: Kalyn for the image above)

Vegetarian Lasagna with Quick-Roasted Tomato and Herb Sauce
(Makes 8-10 servings, recipe created by Kalyn and adapted by Joy)

My adaptations are in italics.

5 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half (or used diced Roma tomatoes) I ended up using Grape Tomatoes and they turned out great
2 T olive oil
1 T dried basil
1 T dried Turkish, Greek, or Italian oregano (I had some italian seasoning so I substituted that for oregano)
1 T ground fennel seed--I didn't have this and it was fine
1 cup plain tomato sauce (canned sauce is fine)
1/4 cup water
1 T finely minced garlic or garlic puree--(I upped this to 2 or 3 T--tasted great!)
1/2 tsp. salt
(2-3 T chopped fresh basil and oregano would be great added to the sauce)(I added fresh basil)
1 cup chopped Mushrooms
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 eggs
3-4 cups grated low-fat mozzarella cheese (I used a 16 oz. package, which was not quite 4 cups) (I love cheese, but I didn't use this much. I probably used half this and it was still pretty cheesy)
10-12 dried lasgna noodles
olive oil or non-stick spray for spraying lasagna dish

Preheat oven to 500F. Wash cherry tomatoes if needed and cut in half. Place tomatoes in bowl and toss with 2 T olive oil, dried basil, dried oregano, and ground fennel. Roast tomatoes 30 minutes.

Remove tomatoes from oven and lower temperature to 375F. Scrape tomatoes with all accumulated juice and pieces of herbs into bowl, then add plain tomato sauce, minced garlic, salt, water, and chopped fresh herbs if available. In small bowl, beat eggs, then mix in cottage cheese.

Spray 9.5 by 13.5 inch glass casserole dish with olive oil or non-stick spray. Make a layer of uncooked lasagne noodles covering bottom of dish. (You may need to break the noodles to make them fit.) Spread half the roasted tomato sauce over noodles, then half the cottage cheese mixture and half the mozzarella. Top with another layer of noodles, sauce, cottage cheese, and cheese.

Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake about 1 hour 30 minutes.

While the tomatoes were roasting, I mixed up the tomato sauce mixture and the cottage cheese mixture. As soon as the tomatoes were done, I threw them into the tomato sauce, and then assembled the lasagna as directed above. Because I halved the recipe, I used a 8x8 glass dish instead.