Marrakesh Vegetable Curry

This evening, guest blogger Allison and I got together for a good old-fashioned gabfest, which, when you get the two of us in a room, usually involves enough f-bombs to make a sailor blush. Since she’s been associated with this blog since the beginning, it was only fitting that we make a meal together which could be featured in a post.  After moving to New Jersey, which has quite a large Indian population, I’ve had a love affair with their food, especially curries.  This is a Moroccan twist on a traditional curry, thanks to the addition of orange juice, which provides a surprisingly delicious hint of citrusy sweetness.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 medium eggplant, cubed
  
• 1 green bell pepper, cubed
  
• 1 red bell pepper, cubed
  
• 1 medium yam or sweet potato, cubed
  
• 2 large carrots, chopped
  
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
  
• 1 medium onion, diced
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 2 tbsp brown raisins
  
• 1 cup orange juice
  
• 1 tbsp curry powder
  
• 1 tsp. turmeric
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  
• 2 tsp salt
  
• 2 tsp. black pepper
  
• 4 tbsp olive oil

What To Do:

Cube the eggplant, green and red bell peppers, and sweet potato, dice the onion, mince the garlic, and chop the carrots.

 

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat, then add 2 tbsp of the olive oil.  Saute the vegetables for 5 minutes.



While the vegetables are cooking, you can begin to make your spice mixture. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat.  Pour in the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, then add the cinnamon, curry powder, turmeric, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Use a spatula to evenly mix the spices, then remove them from the heat.

*Note: Not all spatulas are created equal.  I learned this the hard way, by causing a giant FAIL:



Yes, that is my spatula melted into two pieces.  I was wondering why it looked like a piece of pasta had fallen into my spice mix before I realized it was plastic, not dough.  As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Beer Silicone utensils (and bakeware!) are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”  Indeed, Ben.  INDEED.

ANYWAYS.  Back to the curry: Pour your spice mix over the vegetables in the Dutch oven, which should be reducing in size thanks to the time spent simmering.  Add the orange juice, garbanzo beans, zucchini, and raisins.  Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low/simmer, and cook for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally.



When I opened the pot, I was immediately assaulted with a garden-y, citrusy sensory overload.




The orange juice and spices cook down into a rich, thick sauce that coats the vegetables and was immediately absorbed into the brown rice I served this with. This is an extremely filling dish thanks to all the fiber and protein in the veggies, but none of us could stop ourselves from going back for seconds.  I recommend having some crusty bread or a pita on the side so that you can soak up all the sauce from your bowl once you’re done!  I’m excited to eat this tomorrow as leftovers, as I think it definitely has potential to be one of those dishes that is better after sitting overnight and letting the flavors meld together. You could easily throw in some spinach (mine was a little past its prime, so I was forced to exclude it), slivered almonds, or any other vegetables you might like. The raisins were an interesting inclusion that, in my opinion, could easily be doubled the next time around. I also think this would be excellent with a squeeze of lemon juice to enhance the hints of orange, or instead using a carrot-based juice.  There’s lots of room here for adaptation, and I strongly encourage playing around with the ingredients to suit your own tastes!  Regardless of what you use, you can’t go wrong with such a flavorful, healthy addition to your dinner menu.

Chocolate Toffee Crunch Trifle

For the past five and a half years, I’ve been lucky enough to work in a lab that feels more like a collection of friends and family than random coworkers.  We have a nice tradition of going out to lunch for someone’s birthday, followed by a cake/pie/dessert of the birthday person’s choice.  About a year ago, I made this trifle for my university’s church fellowship summer picnic, and it was a huge hit.  Before I brought it to that event, it sat in my workplace’s refrigerator for the day, where it served as an endless source of temptation to my labmate, Jason.  He practically begged me to let him have some, which, of course, I did not. Recently, Jason was preparing to defend his Ph.D. thesis, and I told him that for his celebration afterwards, he could pick any kind of cake or dessert he wanted and I would make it for him.  Not surprisingly, this was his top choice!

What You’ll Need

• 1 box of chocolate chunk brownie mix
• 1 3.9 oz. box of sugar-free, fat-free instant chocolate pudding
• 1 14 oz. can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 12 oz. container fat-free whipped topping (Cool Whip)
• 2 2.8 oz. Heath brand toffee bars
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• ½ cup water

What To Do:

Prepare the brownies according to the box’s instructions, then let them completely cool.  I recommend letting them cool for at least 2 hours, since the firmer the brownies are, the better. Once they are cooled, cut the brownies into 1” squares.

In a large bowl, mix together the condensed milk, water, and pudding mix until it is fully blended (it will be fairly runny).

In a separate bowl, combine the whipping cream and the sugar.  Beat vigorously with a whisk for 2-3 minutes until the cream has reached a stiff consistency to the point that it forms peaks and does not fall off of the whisk when lifted.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture using a spatula.  You have to be careful not to overwork this mixture, as the whipped cream can lose its thickness, and you want this to stay light and fluffy. 

Continue folding until it is evenly mixed throughout and there are no remaining visible streaks of color.

Finally, break the Heath bar into a rough crumble (small chunks). Those of you in well-equipped kitchens can do this in about 3.2 seconds using your handy dandy food processors.  I, however, lack such a fun kitchen utensil (but it’s on my Christmas list, hint hint). Since I couldn’t use a magical machine to do it for me, I went the old-fashioned route and pounded the holy hell out of the candy bars with a can of beans while they were inside a Ziploc bag, reducing them to a fairly even consistency.  This extremely loud pounding may or may not have a) freaked the hell out of my cats, b) caused me to worry that I might dent my new counters, and c) ripped open the Ziploc bag, leaking toffee crumbs all over the counter whenever I moved the bag.  That’s just how I roll.

Now that all the fun stuff is done, it’s time to assemble the trifle!  It should go without saying that it helps if you have an honest-to-goodness trifle bowl, since they are deep enough for all of the layers in this dish.  If not, any deep bowl will work (glass is preferable since it’s so pretty when it’s done!).

Start out by covering the bottom of the bowl as completely as possible with your brownie squares.

Next, sprinkle a generous handful of the toffee bits over the brownies.

Then, spoon the chocolate whipped cream on top. Make sure you add enough to fully cover the brownies with room to spare (you will have plenty left over for the other layers!). Cover this layer with the fat-free Cool Whip, taking care not to mix the two cream layers.

Repeat this once more with the remainder of the ingredients.  The Cool Whip should nearly reach the lip of the trifle bowl once you’re done. 

I had some teeny-tiny toffee crumbs left over in my mangled Ziploc bag, which I then sprinkled on top for garnish.

This makes at least 8 healthy servings, and my coworkers managed to polish nearly the entire thing off minus the one scoop I managed to sneak away for my hubby.  My boss, who tends to have a bit of a sweet tooth, declared this “one of the best desserts he’s ever had”.  While I don’t like to use such lofty praise for my own dishes, this is pretty frickin’ awesome.  It’s seriously loaded with chocolate, which is not what I usually prefer, so I can only manage a small serving, but it’s delicious enough that even I am tempted to go back for seconds.  The use of the whipping cream helps balance out the chocolate pudding, and believe it or not, this isn’t overly sweet. You can leave the toffee bar out if you don’t like the texture, but I think the crunch brings this to a whole new level (I’ve tried it both ways).  All in all, this is a relatively easy dessert that will impress your guests and is sure to disappear quickly!

Tomato Basil Bisque

‘Tis the season…for soup! I am definitely one of those weirdos who loves to eat soup year round, and yes, I do mean even in the dog days of summer. However, I don’t think anyone can argue with the fact that soups are the perfect winter dish – warm, satisfying, and the overall epitome of comfort food.  While there are some great seasonal dishes, such as butternut squash soup, my all-time favorite is tomato soup.  I have so many memories from my childhood of eating grilled cheese sandwiches with Campbell’s tomato soup (come on, who DOESN’T?!) after playing outside on cold fall and winter days.  This soup is a slightly more grown-up version, but that doesn’t make it any less tasty.

Tomato Basil Bisque

What You’ll Need:

2 cans crushed tomatoes

16 fluid oz. chicken broth

18 basil leaves (one large handful), minced

1 cup fat free half-and-half

3 tbsp. butter cut into 1tbsp. chunks

2 tbsp. sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

What To Do:

Drain the tomatoes into a large soup pan and add the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the tomatoes are simmering, rinse the basil then roughly chop it into thin strips.

After the 10 minutes is up, add the basil and the sugar.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Finally, add the half-and-half and cubed butter.  Mix well, and cook on low until the butter has fully melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served this as an appetizer at dinner with some crusty Italian bread and OH MY GOD IT WAS AMAZING.  Sorry – I couldn’t restrain myself.  But seriously, this was some damn good soup.  I had to stop myself from eating so much of it that I wouldn’t have room for dinner.  This tastes exactly like the best tomato bisque you’ve had at a restaurant.  It’s got a strong tomato flavor, although it’s creamy enough to cut the acidity.  The basil isn’t overpowering but you could certainly add more or less depending on how strong of a flavor you like.  The best part of this soup is that it’s so easy to make – it only involves 6 ingredients! I was making this while preparing the rest of our dinner and I barely had to worry about it, beyond dumping things in the pot at different times. This also makes a giant amount of soup – I can’t wait for leftovers at lunch with a piping hot grilled cheese!

Giving Thanks

I would be a poor excuse for a food blogger (and let’s face it, most of the time that’s true) if I didn’t say a few words on the one day a year solely devoted to eating – Thanksgiving.  Sometimes it seems like the true meaning of this day has been lost.  The concept is simple: give thanks.  The gluttonous amount of food that we have come to associate with Thanksgiving is really just a byproduct of every family’s innate desire to feed as a way of giving comfort and showing love.  Whether you spent today with your family, friends or loved ones, I hope that at some point you took a moment to think of the things for which you are truly thankful. I, for one, have too many things in my life that I am thankful for to list in this post.  I have a wonderful husband, fantastic friends, and a family that means the world to me.  Without veering into areas that are beyond the scope of this blog, I will end by saying that every day is a blessing, and I hope to remember and appreciate that as often as possible. I am grateful for each and every one of you who has taken the time to visit and read this blog, and I hope that the love with which my recipes are made finds its way from my family to yours!

Holy Guacamole!

Last weekend, guest blogger Molly came for a long overdue visit.  On Saturday, we went to NYC and ate ourselves into a food coma: we had the world’s best falafel at Taim in the West Village, then trekked our way over to The Doughnut Plant in the Lower East Side for Peanut-Butter-Glazed-and-Blackberry-Jam Filled doughnuts.  SO. GOOD.
We had big plans for Sunday – we were going to make a variation on the macaroni & cheese recipe I posted earlier this month. Before we went food shopping on Friday night for the necessary ingredients, Molly happened to find a recipe in her purse for bacon guacamole that she had torn out of the newspaper several months back.  This was clearly fate, since a) it was a recipe by Top Chef Master Rick Bayless, one of my favorite chefs, b) it has bacon in it, and c) it has avocado in it.  This is, quite clearly, a trinity of awesomeness. 
Bacon and Tomato Guacamole
What You’ll Need:

• 5 strips medium-thick bacon OR 8 strips regular-cut bacon
  
• 3 medium/large ripe avocados (see note)
  
• ½ medium white onion, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
  
• 2 or 3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, removed from the sauce, stemmed, slit open, seeds removed, and finely chopped
  
• 1 medium-large ripe tomato, cored and chopped into ¼-inch pieces
  
• ¼ cup (loosely packed) cilantro, roughly chopped, plus extra for garnish
  
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  
• Salt to taste

**Note: When selecting avocados, you can test for ripeness by pressing your thumb down into the fruit.  If your thumbprint remains, it is ripe.  However, as we soon learned, this level of ripeness means they should be used immediately.  If you aren’t planning on using the avocados that day, choose ones that are slightly firmer.
What To Do:
First, Master Rick instructed us that we should cook the bacon strips in a skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until they were crispy and browned.

We ended up cooking the entire package of bacon, because we didn’t have the thick-cut type and thought we’d need to add a few extra slices to compensate.  Also, we had to taste-test it several times just to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.
While I was cooking the bacon, Molly got to work preparing the avocados.  Using a sharp knife, slice carefully through the fruit around the pit, then twist the two halves so they separate.  We had purchased the avocados at their perfect ripeness on Friday night, and had originally planned to make this dish on Saturday night after getting home from NYC. However, we were both too tired and WAY too full to make this when we got back, so it waited until Sunday.  This was a big mistake – the avocados had over-ripened, and instead of being a lovely green, they were starting to turn brown and get stringy.  Not appealing.  Molly scraped out the parts that were usable then mashed them in a bowl until they were smooth. We then had to cheat by adding one tub of Trader Joe’s guacamole so that we’d have about the right amount of avocado in proportion to our other ingredients.

As the second batch of bacon was cooking, I got to work chopping the tomato and onion, while Molly prepared the chipotle chiles.  You can find these in the international section of your supermarket for about $2 per can.

As the instructions mentioned, you need to open these chiles up and remove the seeds (they are the hottest part).  We used 3 peppers and there was plenty of heat in our guacamole; since we both like spicy foods, this suited us just fine, but if you prefer a milder taste then I would suggest using only 2 peppers.
After the peppers were sliced and diced, the bacon was drained on paper towels and chopped into large crumbles.

The onion, tomato, chile peppers, and about ⅔ of the bacon were tossed into the bowl with the avocado. This was topped with a generous helping of the fresh chopped cilantro.

We gently mixed all of the ingredients together so as not to pulverize the tomato until they reached a uniform mixture.

Season the guacamole with salt and lime juice to taste (I hand squeezed a half of a lime into it without measuring and it was just right). Right before eating, top with the rest of the bacon and more cilantro, if desired.

Besides each other, there are few things that Molly and I love more in this world than bacon and avocados (particularly in the form of guacamole), so it was no surprise that this was pretty freaking amazing.  The chipotle peppers gave a smoky heat that helps cut the creamy nature of the avocado, while the fresh onion and crispy bacon helped liven up the texture.  Our only complaint, if you could call it one, was that there wasn’t quite enough bacon (really, is there such a thing as too much bacon?!). I think this might be because we used regular-cut bacon instead of the thick-cut that Master Chef Rick advised. Regardless, this was extremely tasty, very easy to make, and a perfect munchy dish for a lazy Sunday afternoon. You can find the original recipe for this, and many other sure-to-be-delicious meals, in Rick’s new book, Fiesta at Rick's.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

Recently, my dad and uncle were visiting for the weekend, and I made a variation of this for dinner, which they both loved.  I decided to try something new for a side dish, based simply on ingredients I had laying around in my cabinets and freezer. I had picked up a box of quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) when a local supermarket was going out of business and it was on sale for 50% off. I’d come across several recipes that incorporated quinoa, but I’d never tasted it before and had no idea what to expect.  This recipe called for a lot of flavors that I loved, so I thought it would be a safe bet.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

What You’ll Need:

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 ½ cups vegetable broth (see Note)
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp cayenne or chili pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

**Note: It can be difficult to find low-sodium or sodium-free vegetable broth.  If, like my dad, you limit your sodium intake, you can easily halve the vegetable broth and use water instead.  I made this recipe that way and it did not suffer at all in terms of flavor.

What To Do:

As with any recipe, start out by preparing your vegetables – chop the onion and mince the garlic.  These will then get sauteed in the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat until they both begin to soften and turn golden brown.

Next, measure out the quinoa – even though it looks like a small amount it expands like rice as it cooks and makes way more than you think it will!

Add the quinoa and the vegetable broth to the skillet, followed by the cumin, cayenne/chili pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, the quinoa will have absorbed nearly all of the vegetable broth and will be fluffy, round little balls. Add the frozen corn and black beans to the pan and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, or until the corn is heated all the way through.  Transfer immediately to a serving dish, then cover with the cilantro for garnish.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flavor this dish had on its own.  It was a perfect counterpart to the casserole entree, but it certainly stands up as a main dish on its own.  The quinoa has a mild, nutty flavor that reminds me of brown rice, but with a shape/texture more similar to tapioca.  I’m a sucker for anything with a black beans/cumin/pepper combination (I’m sure you can see the theme in my recipe choices), but this was a crowd pleaser, so I know it’s not just that I was an easy sell.  While this was good hot, I actually liked it even more as a cold salad the next day for lunch.  Besides the minimal amount of oil used to initially cook the onion and garlic, this dish is essentially fat free, has a ton of fiber, and is very cheap and quick to make. Quinoa is an extremely versatile grain, and I’m looking forward to incorporating it into more of my meals in the future!

Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the month of October has been christened Rocktober, thanks to the many birthdays during the month: myself, my husband Eric, and my best friend/guest blogger Molly, among others. Last weekend, Eric and I roadtripped from New Jersey back to my hometown in Connecticut for a mass birthday celebration (we let my uncle, an early November birthday, join in).  Per family tradition, the birthday boy/girl gets to choose their dinner, and I invariably opt for homemade macaroni & cheese. Mac 'n cheese is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite food.  I am a sucker for it in any form - homemade, Kraft blue box, Kraft squeezy cheese, Easy Mac, you name it.  I even liked the crap they served in the dining halls in college.  I have no shame in making this admission, even though it speaks rather poorly of my palate.  Anyways, this recipe is the way my family has been making this my whole life, but this marks the first time it's ever actually been written down.  The method is fairly standard and is likely what you'd find in a cookbook, but I was very excited to finally have the amounts of spices used accurately measured and written down!

Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese
What You'll Need:
1 1/2 lb macaroni elbows
2 lb extremely sharp white cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup white flour
3 cloves minced garlic OR 1 tsp crushed garlic
5-6 cups milk
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt

What To Do:
We typically buy the cheddar cheese as a giant block, which then needs to get roughly grated into an enormous pile that just begs for periodic "taste tests".

Start out by precooking the macaroni.  I generally cook the pasta for slightly less time than suggested since it will be baked for quite some time, and I don't want it to get mushy.  After the pasta is cooked, drain it and leave it to the side until the sauce is ready. Turn on the oven to preheat at 350F.

To make the sauce, start out by melting the stick of butter over medium heat. Also, add your minced/crushed garlic so that it will gently saute while the butter is melting.

Try not to think about how much butter this calls for.  IT IS WORTH IT.

After the butter is melted and the garlic has been mixed in, add 2-3 tablespoons of the flour to the pot. 

Immediately begin whisking the flour and butter together so that they form a thick paste, which becomes the basis for the roux sauce.

 Slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk, stirring constantly until it is completely smooth.  The most important part of making this recipe is that you NEVER EVER under any circumstances stop stirring.  Not stirring leads to a burnt, scorched sauce, and that is bad news bears.

A nice, creamy roux sauce.

Keep your heat on low/medium, depending on your stove, so that the sauce is only lightly simmering.  It will continually thicken, so keep adding the remainder of the milk until you reach the volume of sauce that you need.  For this recipe we ended up using between 5 and 6 cups, but this will also depend on whether you are using skim, low-fat, or whole milk.

Add the mustard, pepper, onion powder, and salt to the sauce, and then mix well.  Gradually add one handful of cheese to the pot at a time, waiting to add more cheese until the previous bunch has melted.  Like Dory from Finding Nemo said, "Just keep swimming stirring, just keep stirring..."  Add the remaining cheese except for one handful, which is reserved for the topping.

Taste the sauce to see if the flavor is to your liking.  I realize this is hard to do if it's your first time making it, but it should be sufficiently cheesy (who am I kidding, there's never enough cheese) and should have a sharp tang, thanks to the mustard and pepper.  If necessary, add more of the various spices to your preference.


Spray 2 casserole dishes or oven-safe bowls with non-stick cooking spray and place them on a large cookie sheet (to catch overflow of the sauce while cooking).

Fill each bowl about halfway with the macaroni, then generously cover the pasta with your cheese sauce.

Mix the sauce into the pasta, then add another spoonful or two to each bowl.  It is amazing how much sauce the pasta will suck up.  After it's nice and gooey, add more pasta to each bowl so that they are filled almost to the top level.  Add more sauce to each bowl to the point that it almost looks soupy; while these bake, the pasta will absorb the sauce, and if you don't have enough at the outset, this will come out dry.

Yummmmm.

Lightly cover the tops of each dish with Italian seasoned bread crumbs, then sprinkle the leftover cheddar cheese on top of each.

Bake these for approximately 45 minutes, or until the top is a crispy golden brown.

Full disclosure: this picture was not taken immediately after coming out of the oven.  I actually forgot because I was in such a frenzy to eat and I COULD NOT WAIT.  You'll understand they torture of smelling this cook for almost an hour and the pleasant torture of anticipating hot, melty, gooey, cheesy goodness in your belly.  Thankfully, this recipe makes so much macaroni that we never touched the second dish, so I was able to sneak a picture of this the next day.  We had 7 people for dinner, and each of us had a, shall we say, "healthy" serving, so you can imagine how much food this makes.  You can easily scale this down for 2-4 people but cutting back on the amount of pasta you cook, and using less butter/flour/milk to make your cheese sauce.  I would say that you could use the same amount of cheese no matter what, but that might actually cause a lactose overload. This is an incredibly rich, decadent meal, but as Molly said in her previous birthday cake post, what's the fun in having a birthday if you can't indulge? That being said, when I make this I usually use skim milk, light cheese, and margarine instead of butter.  Feel free to experiment with the cheeses you use and the spices you add - no matter what, nothing beats macaroni & cheese!