Steamed Broccoli with Grain Mustard Vinaigrette November 4, 2008

The other day I was talking over Skype with my friend from high school, Clari, who now lives in Izmir, Turkey about one of her favorite dishes to make.  She gave me a bunch of Turkish recipes I hope to try for me and you soon.  I would rather eat them while traveling in Turkey first, really, but I will try them here if I do not win the Lotto first.   She mentioned that one of her favorites is Steamed Broccoli with a Yellow Lemon Vinaigrette.  

I was very surprised to hear her story about how her mom does not like the steamed broccoli with lemon combination at all, but her little 5-year old daughter, Kayra, loves it.  The thing is that I love it too…  After our last yoga retreat, I was craving steamed broccoli over olive oil mashed potatoes.  I just needed something to jazz up the broccoli and vinaigrette was just the answer.

So even across the Atlantic, in 2 different continents, two friends love the same dish.  Here’s how I do it…

 

STEAMED BROCCOLI WITH GRAIN MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE

½ a head of broccoli florets

1 tsp grain mustard

Juice of ½ a yellow lemon

About ¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

 

I usually make this with my Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes… so when I finish boiling the potatoes, I place the broccoli florets on top of the potatoes and cover the pot again and turn off the heat.  I let them steam with the steam and heat from the potatoes.

 

 

1. If you’re making this on its own…  just bring to a boil about ½ inch of salted water in a small saucepan, place the broccoli florets in the pot, cover and turn off  the stove.  The broccoli will cook enough with just that steam that is in the pot.
2. In about 5-6 minutes, the broccoli will be bright green, cooked, but still have some crunch to it.  I do not like over cooked, limp, opaque green broccoli at all.
3. While the broccoli is steaming, make the vinaigrette – in a bowl or a jar mix together the mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper and oil and whisk vigorously until well combined and emulsified.
4. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the broccoli when you’re ready to eat.  I drizzle the left-over vinaigrette over the mashed potatoes too and it tastes awesome.

 

This vinaigrette works very well with any kind of steamed veggies – cauliflower, green beans, etc.  It’s super versatile as a salad dressing too.  Maybe this way, your kids might like to eat their broccoli too just like Kayra loves it.

Strawberry Lemonade August 11, 2008

August, by far, has been the hottest month in the Summer.  So to cool off I have developed a nice repertoire of refreshing drinks that will keep me cool.

To give a nice sweet twist to your regular lemonade…  add some fresh strawberries.

 

 

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE

The juice of 2 lemons – I prefer criollo lemons

About 1 ½ cups of water – this may vary according to the amount of juice your lemons yield

2 strawberries, hulled and quartered

2 tbs agave nectar

3-4 cubes of ice

 

1. Mix all the ingredients in a blender. 
2. Enjoy under a shady palm tree.

Cracked Potatoes June 27, 2008

Going to my French classes every day this Summer, has made me crave some French-inspired food…  such is the case with these Cracked Potatoes.  I had seen them in magazines, as part of the Gourmet Next Door show and even in several websites…  so I decided they were easy enough for me to give them a try for lunch.

The cool thing is that these look spectacular for company, but with the addition of fresh lemon or lime juice, they tasted fancier than just your regular boiled and “sort of” fried potato… 

 

 

CRACKED POTATOES

10-12 baby red potatoes, scrubbed well and left whole

2-3 garlic cloves, smashed open

2-3 tbs olive oil

Kosher salt – generous for the boiling water and more for seasoning later

2 tbs fresh parsley for finishing

The juice of 1 lemon or lime

 

1. In a medium sauce pan, boil the potatoes in salted water for about 10-15 minutes.  I try to make them until they’re almost done when pricked with a fork.
2. When the potatoes are almost done, drain them and let them cool off a little.
3. Using something flat, like a plate or the underside of a glass bowl (so you can see what’s happening underneath), press each potato slightly until it cracks, exposing some of its flesh.  Be gentle as to not smash the potato completely… you only need a crack.
4. In a skillet or even in the same pan you used to boil them – just remember that when the potatoes are smashed, they’ll take up more space than previously.   Heat of about 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the garlic cloves that you have just cracked open with the side of your knife.  This will impart a garlic taste to the oil and eventually roast them making them very sweet indeed.   Place the potatoes in the pan and “fry” the potatoes on both sides until the skins look crisp and golden around the edges. 
5. Try not to add any potato that was over smashed, because this would just fry the insides of that potato and create a nice little mess on the bottom of your pan.  Can you tell I speak from experience????
6. Right before the potatoes are done, sprinkle with the fresh parsley and toss to combine.
7. Remove from pan and allow to cool of a little bit.  Sprinkle with a light dusting of kosher salt… and I guess if you have some sea salt or even fleur de sel would make it super French indeed.

 

When you serve them, allow a lemon half for each guest to squirt some lemon juice on top of the potatoes.   This recipe serves 2 or one hungry Madelyn… Mmmmm.

 

Yucca con Mojo Cubano May 4, 2008

The first Mojo I learned about was this – the Cuban Mojo you eat with yucca or with black beans and rice.  The now famous drink in the diminutive, Mojito, has been an acquired taste in the last few years…  This Cuban Mojo over Yucca is a staple at ANY and EVERY Cuban household, and something my family in Miami always makes for me, especially now that I am vegetarian.

Cuban Mojo is delicious – the best “sauce” to pour over anything.  To me, it’s just glorious.  It’s the only decent accompaniment to eat with boiled yucca.  Once you learn how to make it, I am sure it will find its way pairing a lot more than just yucca.  I am almost sure this mojo is the culprit of why I need to squirt lemon juice on arroz moro (black beans and rice).

Try it today… you’ll be a convert immediately!!!

 

YUCA CON MOJO CUBANO

1 yucca root, peeled and cut and middle thread removed or a few pieces of frozen yucca

½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil

½ onion, sliced thinly

3 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated

The juice of 1 lime or limón criollo

Salt to taste, for the boiling water and for the mojo

 

1. In a medium pot with water, add the yucca root pieces and salt and bring to a boil.  Salt the water as if you were boiling pasta.  Water should only barely cover the yucca.  I am lazy, so I buy sometimes the frozen yucca kind.  It works very well and it always turns out soft when boiled.  Yucca can have a tendency to turn out hard; it’s a crap-shoot.  
2. While the yucca boils away, in a small saucepan over low heat add the olive oil, the onion and the garlic.  Let the onions and garlic soften and simmer slowly in the oil.  Add salt to taste.  I tend to season well, about ½ tbs, but I have to be honest, I do not measure.
3. 
4. When the onions are softened, the garlic is cooked, but none have gotten any color, turn off the heat and add the juice of the lemon.  The oil will cloud a bit, but that’s the measure of a true mojo… lemony tangy goodness with the punch of the garlic and onion… YUMMM!!!
5. 
6. When the yucca is fork tender, drain and serve with spoonfuls of mojo over it.

 

This is the perfect side dish with any Cuban dish… I particularly like it with black beans and rice.   And that’s an upcoming lesson.

Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake – DBC March 2008 March 30, 2008

I was very excited to receive the recipe for March 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge - a cake!!!  That is definitely something I can do.   This month’s challenge is hosted by Morven at Food, Art and Random Thoughts and the original recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.  So thanks Morven for such a nice recipe.  I was so excited about this recipe that I actually tried it twice – the first time I made it with whole wheat pastry flour and the second time I tried it with spelt flour.  As you’ll see, spelt yielded better results overall.  What I loved most about this challenge was that Morven gave us the flexibility to change ingredients and presentation as long as we followed the basic recipe components – the cake, the frosting and the fruit preserves.  The rest, was up to us, the creative daring bakers…

I was faced with 2 other challenges for this recipe… First, I do not own any round cake pans – as I mentioned in my last DBC post, I am not a “baker” per se, so I have never attempted to do any layered cakes before and second, I could not find lemon extract anywhere.  My solutions to these dilemmas…  to use my cupcake/muffin pans and to double on the lemon zest and add the juice of the lemons to get the lemony taste.

 

So here’s the Karma-Free version of Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake…

For the Cake:

2  ½ cups spelt flour

1 tbs baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

6 tsp egg replacer diluted into 8tbs water

1 ½ cups brown sugar

Zest of 2 lemons (about 4 tsp)

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

The juice of 1 lemon

For the Sweetened Whipped Cream frosting:

1 pint heavy cream

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla powder

For Finishing:

2/3 cup seedless raspberry or strawberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable

1. Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour your pans – I used 2 cupcake/muffin pans. I also used cupcake liners and worked great too.

To Make the Cake

    2. Sift together the spelt flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

    3. Whisk together the egg substitute and buttermilk. Set aside.

    4. Whisk together the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

    5. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.

    6. Beat in the lemon juice, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

    7. Beat in half of the milk-egg sub mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

    8. Add the rest of the milk/egg sub mixture beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

    9. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

  10. Divide the batter in your muffin/cupcake pans.

  11. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cupcakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean

  12. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then take them out of the pans to fully cool.
 

To decorate the Cake

I made a Sweetened Whipped Cream Frosting just because I do not particularly like the taste of buttercream.  So, to make the frosting:

1. Using both a chilled bowl and chilled beaters, beat the cream until frothy.
2. Add the brown sugar and vanilla gradually while beating.
3. Whip until light and a thick enough consistency to spread as an icing.
4. Use immediately.

Here are my renditions of these lovely cupcakes… 

    

This first picture is the whole wheat version.  As you can see, the tops cracked and the color was a bit paler.  The picture on the right, are the spelt version, with much nicer color, top texture and flavor too.

As you can see, I still have a lot of ways to go in terms of decorating techniques… but the flavors were spot on.

    

     

This recipe is super easy to make.  After you’ve done it once, the following tries are much, much easier… and everyone who had the chance to taste them were impressed by the lemony taste and the crispiness that the bundt muffin pan imparted to the outside…  aren’t they cute?

My favorite way to eat them was to leave them plain, without any decorations, and just spread some of the preserves to a morsel of cupcake and pop it in my mouth.  Delectable!!

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving.

                        

Super Easily Dressed Green Salad December 22, 2007

This is my go-to dressing…

It’s sooooo simple, people usually don’t believe it only has 4 ingredients.  And the only thing you’ll dirty is your hands to toss it together with the salad.

This works with ANY green salad – romaine, arugula, iceberg, baby spinach or a spring mix. I added this time grape tomatoes, but it’s your salad, you can add whatever you’d like.  I’m just showing you the dressing…

 

SUPER EASILY DRESSED GREEN SALAD

1/2 bag of spring mix salad

6-7 grape tomatoes

the juice of 1/2 a lemon

about 1/4 cup of olive oil – use the best stuff you have around here

salt and pepper to taste

1. Place salad greens and tomatoes in a salad bowl.
2. Squeeze the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper on top of salad.
3. Toss gently with your hands to dress.

Serve immediately.

Natural Cold Remedy December 22, 2007

I no longer take chemical medications when I get a cold.  I try to eat well, take a natural vitamin supplement, etc.

But still, I get the occasional cold, just like I have right now.  My mom taught me about this concoction to help the system get rid of the “stuff” congesting inside of you…rather than drying it up all inside.

It’s super easy and tastes better than any Robitussin around.

 

NATURAL COLD REMEDY

1/2 cup honey

the inside clear gel of an aloe vera leaf

the juice of 2 limes

1. Mix all the ingredients in a blender. 
2. Drink about a 2 tablespoon measure every hour or so…  It’s super good, so you can drink it as often as you want.

If you have a cough, add in a 1/4 of a small onion to the mixture and blend. 

Feel better – I am feeling better myself…

Lemony Cheese Dip December 5, 2007

It’s the Holiday season, so here’s another dip for you to try at your next party.  This is my take on Giada De Laurentiis’ Crostini with Ricotta and Goat Cheese. 

I personally don’t particularly enjoy the taste of raw lemon rind in my recipes.  I find it too bitter, even without the pith.  So for this version of the dip I used lemon juice instead of lemon rind.  The lemons in Puerto Rico are quite different from the ones in the States.  The taste of “limones criollos” or criollo lemons is closer to a lime  than to a yellow lemon.  But you can add the one you prefer.

                                

 

LEMONY CHEESE DIP

4 ounce packet of cream cheese

1/2 cup of ricotta cheese

half a log of goat cheese

the juice of 1 lime or criollo lemon

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Mix all ingredients in a food processor.  DONE!! 

Enjoy with whole-wheat crostini… recipe follows.

WHOLE-WHEAT CROSTINI

1 whole wheat baguette

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Cut whole-wheat baguette in slices, on a bias.
2. Place on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
3. Toast in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.

The dip is lemony and delicious.  It would work great in a sandwich… however, I did not have the chance to try it because it was gone in a flash.

Romaine Salad with Citrus Ceasar Dressing November 17, 2007

This is a great recipe for a very tasting dressing.  The dressing is an adaptation from a Bobby Flay recipe.  This yields a nice amount of dressing.  I choose to toss the salads individually and save any left-over dressing.  I make the croutons from scratch because I have not been able to find whole wheat croutons yet.

 

Romaine Salad with Citrus Ceasar Dressing

1 -2 Romaine lettuce hearts

Whole Wheat croutons – recipe follows

Citrus Ceasar Dressing:

1/4 cup of orange juice with the juice of 1/2 a lemon

4 cloves of roasted garlic

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon egg-free mayonnaise

1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Place the orange/lemon juice mixture, garlic, mustard, mayo, vinegar, salt and pepper in a food processor.  Blend until smooth.  With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until emulsified.  Add the Parmesan and pulse a few times until incorporated.
2. Wash the Romaine lettuce and cut into slices.
3. Place in a mixing bowl, toss with dressing, croutons and additional Parmesan cheese.  Shaved or Shredded Parmesan looks really good here.

Whole-Wheat Croutons

1. Cut a whole wheat bagguette in squares.
2. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Toast in a 350 degree oven until crispy and golden, for about 15 min.
4. While still warm, toss with parsley flakes.