Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Indian Spiced Salmon with Pineapple Chutney

October 15, 2010

Whenever I buy a pineapple, I’m always reminded of the Hawaiian cruise my family took the summer after I graduated from high school. We went to a luau on the Big Island, kayaked in Kauai, attempted to surf in Maui, and snorkeled everywhere, but my most vivid memory is our stop at Oahu because that’s where we visited the Dole Plantation. I initially wasn’t so excited about this excursion, being a picky eater and all, but when I saw my brother inhale a huge plate of the fresh fruit in about two seconds, I couldn’t help but try a piece off my dad’s plate. I can’t even describe how beyond amazing that pineapple was…but the fact that I immediately joined in the feeding frenzy and wouldn’t stop gorging myself on the fruit until my mom was forced to cut me off, says it all!

Of course, the pineapples available in Boston don’t compare to the ones in Hawaii, but they are still one of my favorite fruits and it’s not rare for me to polish off half a pineapple in one sitting! I recently decided it would be fun to make a pineapple chutney and pair it with a cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne pepper rubbed seared salmon. This was a really flavorful combo and definitely a meal I’ll be repeating – hopefully one day during another Hawaiian vacation!

Indian Spiced Salmon with Pineapple Chutney
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Indian Spiced Salmon:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
4 7-ounce salmon fillets
1 tablespoon canola oil

Pineapple Chutney:
2 cups finely chopped fresh pineapple
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Mix cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and salt in a small dish. Sprinkle spice rub evenly over salmon fillets and lightly rub it into the fillets. Heat canola oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet and sear the salmon fillets on both sides. Bake salmon for 8 to 10 minutes at 350˚F or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, make the pineapple chutney by placing chopped pineapple, golden raisins, brown sugar, mustard, lemon juice, and salt in a large nonstick skillet and simmer over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated. Spoon pineapple chutney over the salmon. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 533 calories, 19.3g fat, 1.8g fiber, 59.9g protein per serving
Cost: $3.50 per serving

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Walnut Chicken Strips with Rosemary Cider Sauce

October 10, 2010

I was a really picky eater growing up, like sort of embarrassingly picky looking back…but I was always up for chicken strips or nuggets. In fact, even if they weren’t on the menu, I’d do my best to find a way to order them. At Chinese restaurants, for example, I would order sweet and sour chicken without the sauce and dip the fried chicken pieces in ketchup – yep, I was that kid. In high school, I always inhaled a plate of chicken tenders with my girlfriends at our favorite hangout, T.G.I. Friday’s. And even though I enjoy just about every kind of cuisine now, I still love chicken strips, and recently decided it was finally about time to make a grown-up version at home!

I coated my chicken strips with ground walnuts and bread crumbs. While they were baking in the oven, I whipped up a fall-inspired dipping sauce with apple cider. I stuck a spring of rosemary in the juice and simmered it on the stove under it reduced a bit. Then I added in some mascarpone cheese and a roux of butter and flour to thicken it up. The sweet sauce complimented the walnut flavor really well! I served the meal with some roasted butternut squash, but I think sweet potato fries would be even better!

Walnut Chicken Strips with Rosemary Cider Sauce
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Walnut Chicken Strips:
1 1/2 cups walnuts, pulsed in the food processor until finely ground
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into strips (I had 4-5 per chicken breast)
3 eggs, beaten

Rosemary Cider Sauce:
1 cup apple cider
1 small sprig of rosemary
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
To make the chicken strips, heat oven to 350˚F. Mix ground walnuts, bread crumbs, and salt in a shallow pan. Put the flour in a shallow dish and lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in it. Place the beaten eggs in another shallow dish and dredge both sides of the flour coated chicken in the egg mixture; place chicken in the walnut mixture and coat well on all sides. Place coated chicken strips in a greased 13×9-inch baking dish and bake at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the apple cider and rosemary sprig in a small pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Strain mixture into a small bowl and whisk in mascarpone cheese until smooth. Heat butter over medium high heat in a small pan until melted. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook one minute or until mixture starts to brown. Add in apple cider mascarpone cheese mixture and salt and whisk until smooth. Heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture thickens, whisking constantly. Serve sauce with chicken strips. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 591 calories, 33.2g fat, 2.7g fiber, 47.3g protein per serving
Cost: $1.58 per serving

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Fiesta Potato Pie

October 6, 2010

I think casseroles, like meatloaf, tend to get a bad rap, which is sad because not all casseroles contain “cream of whatever” soup – many are quite delicious! It’s been chilly, rainy, and depressing in Boston lately so I decided to cheer myself up by making a savory Mexican pie featuring a mashed potato crust. This is definitely my kind of casserole! I’ve made this crust before and was really excited about whipping it up again and finally using up the remainder of my instant mashed potatoes (edited to add – I mentioned this in my first post about this crust, but since I’ve been getting so many questions about the use of instant dehydrated potato flakes, I wanted to let you know that I bought them just for this recipe so I would be able to control the moisture level of the potatoes – I wanted them to be able to hold their shape in the pan. If anyone tries this with regular potatoes though, please let me know, maybe if they’re too wet you could add a bit of flour like you do with gnocchi to thicken them up!).

I filled the browned crust with layers of spiced ground turkey and cheddar cheese. This is definitely not the most beautiful dish, but it’s tasty, hearty, and super easy to throw together. It definitely hit the spot!

Fiesta Potato Pie
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
4 cups dehydrated mashed potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes)
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Mix potato flakes, water, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until smooth. Press dough into a greased 10-inch greased tart pan with a removable bottom and bake at 350˚F for 40 to 45 minutes or until potato crust is golden brown and cooked through. Push down with the back of a spoon, if needed.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat canola oil over medium high heat in a very large nonstick skillet. Add onions and peppers and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and saute one additional minute. Add ground turkey to the skillet and break into small pieces with the back of a spoon; saute until meat is no cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add in chili powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and stir until well mixed, about 1 more minute. Add in diced tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Heat oven broiler. Place half the ground turkey mixture in the cooked potato pie crust, followed by the half the shredded cheese, and the remaining half of the ground turkey mixture. Top evenly with remaining shredded cheese. Broil for 2 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and pie is warmed through. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 463 calories, 30.7g fat, 2.7g fiber, 24.7g protein per serving
Cost: $1.35 per serving

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Apple Cardamom Crumble Muffins

October 2, 2010

Crisp air, gorgeous boots, warm layers, acorn and butternut squash, pumpkin spice lattes, and pumpkin beer all mean one thing – autumn is here! Fall has always been my favorite season for the aforementioned reasons and the fact that my birthday is in September and I always loved heading back to school when I was younger. This year I was especially ready for the season change because it’s so much easier jogging outside in cool weather! In fact, I ran the Somerville Homeless Coalition 5K with my friends Allison and Libby from lab this morning (it was their very first 5K and they rocked it – yay!) and I’m sure the cooler temperature contributed to my PR of 26:00, which is 8:23 per mile! We had such a great time and are hoping to make this an annual lab tradition and convince more people to run next year.

Apple picking is also a fun fall New England tradition and although we haven’t gone quite yet, I recently whipped up these yummy muffins to celebrate the season change. I mixed shredded apples in a yummy sour cream batter with a healthy dose of cinnamon, cardamom, and toasted pecans, and then sprinkled a lovely almond crumble on top. I can’t wait to go apple picking and make these again!

Apple Cardamom Crumble Muffins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Crumble Topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Muffins:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 apples, peeled, cored, and shredded (about 2 cups)
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Line 20 cups of two muffin pans with liners.

To make the crumble topping, mix the melted butter, brown sugar, almond meal, and flour in a small bowl.

To make the muffins, mix the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until creamed; mix in the sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract, and shredded apples. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and pecans.

Scoop muffin batter evenly into the 20 prepared muffin cups. Top muffins evenly with the crumble topping. Bake at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Makes 20 muffins.

Nutrition: 224 calories, 14.5g fat, 1.4g fiber, 3.0g protein per muffin
Cost: $0.56 per muffin

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Mushroom Walnut Pesto Pasta

September 27, 2010

Apolinaras went to Costco while I was on my baking adventure and brought home a fun present – a huge canister of dried gourmet mushrooms! The blend contained a mix of porcini, morels, Brazilian, Ivory portabellas, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms, and I immediately knew what I wanted to make this weekend when I saw my gift – mushroom walnut pesto!

I blended some rehydrated wild and fresh mushrooms along with toasted walnuts, parmesan cheese, onions, garlic, and a bit of lemon juice to make the pesto. I used the mushroom stock to thin it out a bit, but also added a bit of olive oil for some richness. Then I tossed the pesto with rotelle pasta, even more mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach. It’s the perfect hardy fall dish for mushroom lovers!

Mushroom Walnut Pesto Pasta
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3 ounces dried wild mushrooms (4 cups)
4 cups boiling water
1 pound whole wheat rotelle pasta
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
8 ounces fresh baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup whole walnuts, toasted
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces fresh baby spinach
2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Directions:
Place dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and pour boiling water on top. Let mushrooms soak for 20 minutes or until rehydrated. Reserve 1/2 cup mushroom stock.

To prepare the pasta, cook rotelle according to package directions. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the pot, and keep warm.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat and sauté the onions, 1/2 the rehydrated wild mushrooms and all the baby bella mushrooms for 5 to 7 minutes or until softened; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Place mushroom mixture in a food processor along with the toasted walnuts, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, lemon juice, reserved 1/2 cup mushroom stock, 4 tablespoons olive oil, and salt. Pulse until pesto is well mixed.

Heat remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet and sauté remaining 1/2 of the rehydrated wild mushrooms for 5 to 7 minutes or until mushrooms are softened; add spinach and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

Stir together pasta, mushroom walnut pesto, cooked mushrooms and spinach, and tomatoes in a large bowl until well mixed. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 592 calories, 22.3g fat, 15.7g fiber, 21.4g protein per serving
Cost: $2.92 per serving

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King Arthur Flour Baking Class

September 22, 2010

You can imagine my response when the lovely Megan asked if I’d be interested in attending a blogger baking class she was organizing at King Arthur Flour. Yes, please! I have actually exclusively used King Arthur Flour for years now because it’s such a high quality product and always yields consistent results. In fact, I always have at least their all-purpose, white whole wheat, whole wheat, bread, and cake flours in my pantry at all times (yes, I stockpile flour similarly to the way I hoard baking chips – you never know when you’ll want to whip up a treat!). Even though I’m a pretty confident baker in general, I still haven’t completely mastered baking with yeast, so I was very excited to take a class at their Baking Education Center and learn from the pros!

So last weekend I headed out on a road trip to Norwich, Vermont with an awesome group of Boston bloggers. During the course of the day King Arthur Flour treated us to lunch, the baking class, and a huge goodie bag of whole grain baking essentials (but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine, of course!). We were impressed as soon as we arrived and dug into sandwiches made with the most perfect crusty sourdough bread! As we learned more about the employee-owned company, what really struck me was how supportive and helpful they strive to be to home bakers. They have a very cool Baking Hotline where you can chat with them live online about baking issues for free and a recipe blog that I just started following. I was also very impressed by their educational programs.

After lunch we moved onto our class where we each made our own pizza dough, whole grain crackers, and brownies in a gorgeous light-filled classroom. Our instructor Susan was incredible. In addition to patiently answering all our questions and putting up with our flashing cameras, she walked around while we were making our dough and demonstrated how it should feel at each step. I learned so many tips! Did you know it’s best to fold your dough instead of punching it down and that you can’t over knead your dough if you’re doing it by hand? Or that whole wheat flour can go rancid in as little as 6 months due to the oil in the wheat germ? Or that you can make your dough and toss it in the freezer for later use? I’m already excited to try some more recipes with yeast. Maybe I’ll even get confident enough to enter their National Festival of Breads contest next year!

The classes are pretty reasonably priced at $90 and I’d highly recommend them to anyone in the area. I’ve been drooling over the course catalog and plan to take another one with my mom when she visits next year. Speaking of my mom, when I told their team about my mom’s culinary arts program, they offered to work on setting up a baking demo and/or send her some free baking ingredients, how cool is that?

Of course, I couldn’t resist buying some goodies at their company store too. I tried to restrain myself somewhat and just get products that are hard to find anywhere else. I got four types of flour (pumpernickel, whole wheat pastry, semolina, and toasted hazelnut), mini cinnamon chips, espresso powder, instant yeast, and colorful muffin cups. They also have an online store that I only suggest checking out if you’re ready to part with some cash…there are so many fun ingredients and tools that it’s hard to exert much self-control!

After our class, we had a delightful dinner that Alicia organized at Carpenter & Main and stayed overnight at a quaint bed and breakfast. Talk about a fun group – we all had a blast! Here we all are the next morning by the bed and breakfast (minus Bridget who unfortunately couldn’t stay overnight).

From left to right,
Front row: Kristen
Middle row: Katie, Elina, Megan, Meghan, Alicia, Michelle
Back row: Jen, me

Definitely check out their awesome blogs for more baking tips and pictures if you haven’t visited them yet! Our weekend was the perfect foodie adventure and SO much fun – thanks so much to King Arthur Flour and Megan for organizing! I already can’t wait to go back!

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Blackened Tilapia Sandwiches with Avocado Spread and Crispy Plantains

September 18, 2010

I used to always immediately think of McDonald’s when anyone mentioned fish sandwiches. I’ve actually never had a Filet-O-Fish, but they were my brother’s favorite when we were lucky enough to stop by the Golden Arches growing up, and I have fond memories of him inhaling a couple while I was munching on my Chicken McNuggets. So in my mind, fish sandwich = boring fried fish on a bun. But, this all changed after I ordered a blackened tilapia sandwich with cilantro lime mayo on a whim at the Calypso Café in Chicago. Wow, now my mouth actually waters thinking about fish sandwiches because their version was so flavorful and flakey! I’ve raved about the Calypso Café before – they inspired me to make these unique plantain nachos and are one of the many restaurants I really miss now that we’re in Boston. I bought some tilapia recently and finally decided to try making my own version of this favorite at home.

I mixed a bunch of spices together to coat my tilapia fillets and then whipped up an avocado spread since I prefer it to mayo. I topped my sandwiches with some perfect summer tomato slices too, but my little twist is that I also piled on some crispy shredded plantains! They provided a nice crunch and yes, I know it’s a pain to fry things, but they really take this sandwich to a whole new level and are worth stinking up your kitchen to enjoy. I need to make these for my brother!

Blackened Tilapia Sandwiches with Avocado Spread and Crispy Plantains
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Crispy Plantains
Canola oil for frying
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium green plantain, peeled and shredded with a coarse cheese grater

Avocado Spread
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and mashed
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt

Blackened Tilapia
1 1/2 teaspoons ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon canola oil

4 buns, split
2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions:
To make the crispy plantains, heat vegetable oil to 350˚F in a fryer. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl; add shredded plantains and toss until well coated with the flour mixture. Remove any extra flour from the bowl, if needed. Place flour-coasted shredded plantains in the oil and fry until light golden brown, about 2 minutes, working in batches as needed. Remove crispy plantains with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

To make the avocado spread, mix the mashed avocados, lime juice, cilantro and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

To make the blackened tilapia, place the thyme, cayenne pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl and mix well. Massage the spice mixture evenly onto both sides of the fillets. Heat the canola oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet and cook fillets on 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Cut fillets as needed to fit the buns (I cut ours in half and put both pieces on one bun).

To assemble the sandwiches, spread the avocado spread on the cut sides of the bottom buns. Place a tilapia fillet on top, followed by a few tomato slices and a mound of crispy plantains. Add bun tops and serve. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Nutrition: 636 calories, 27.6g fat, 6.9g fiber, 33.9g protein per sandwich
Cost: $2.65 per sandwich

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Mediterranean Couscous

September 14, 2010

Some things are just meant to be. A couple of weeks ago I was jogging through Harvard Square when I heard someone calling my name. I was disoriented for a second, but when I turned around, I was surprised to see that it was my friend Rashmi from college – crazy, huh – we had no idea that we both lived in Boston! When we met for drinks the next week it felt like no time had passed at all, so I was super excited to have Rashmi and her hubby Ed over for a Greek-inspired dinner last weekend. I’m trying to relax more when we have friends over and not stress myself out by making too many dishes and spending the entire weekend in the kitchen. So, I kept things simple and served chicken kabobs with tzatziki alongside a big Greek salad and Elly’s amazing moussaka. Our guests brought kataifi for dessert and Greek wine. It was a perfect evening of good food and even better company!

I also made a version of my favorite couscous to serve with the kabobs. It’s stuffed with goodies like artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas, feta, and almonds, and dressed with an oregano lemon vinaigrette. I often whip this up for dinner when I’m tired because couscous cooks so quickly and it’s filling enough for a full meal with just the almonds and chickpeas, which are pantry staples I always have around. But, the dish is really versatile and I often add other ingredients like chicken sausage or mix things up by stuffing the couscous into roasted bell peppers!

p.s. Congrats to Cara who won my CSN Stores gift card giveaway!

Mediterranean Couscous
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole wheat couscous
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup crumbled feta
1 cup toasted coarsely chopped almonds

Directions:
To prepare couscous, bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Remove from heat, pour in couscous, and stir well. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium high heat and sauté onion for 5 to 7 minutes or until softened; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute.

Whisk remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, and salt in a small bowl until smooth to make the lemon vinaigrette.

Place couscous, onions, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas, feta, almonds, and lemon vinaigrette in a very large bowl and mix until well combined. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 586 calories, 23.8g fat, 16.6g fiber, 21.0g protein per serving
Cost: $2.21 per serving