Gluten Free | I Can Cook That

Pan Seared Flounder with Fried Rosemary and Garlic

In an effort to eat more fish, I have been in search of recipes that call for fish other than salmon, my main seafood staple. I’ve made flounder once before and loved how quick it cooked up and how delicious it tasted.

So when I found this recipe for Pan Seared Flounder with Fried Rosemary and Garlic in Cooking Light’s Fresh Food Fast cookbook, I knew I had to try it.

I’ve had the Cooking Light Fresh Foods Superfast cookbook for a while now and just finally opened it. I found so many delicious recipes that I can’t wait to try!

Ingredients (get all ingredients here):

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 rosemary sprigs
2 flounder fillets
Salt, pepper and paprika, to taste
Lemon wedges

Continue reading Pan Seared Flounder with Fried Rosemary and Garlic

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

My little sister loves deviled eggs. She loves them to such an extreme, that we chose a restaurant (Supper in Philadelphia) during Restaurant Week solely because they were known for their amazing deviled eggs of the day. (The rest of their food is awesome too, definitely worth checking out). During Restaurant Week, they were offering their Sriracha Deviled Eggs, which my sister devoured. So when I was offered to try Land O’Lakes eggs through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I knew I wanted to make them for her. Luckily, Supper took the guesswork out for me and shared their recipe with Meal Ticket a few years back.

Land O’Lakes eggs come from hens that are fed an all-vegetable, whole-grain diet with no animal by-products.

Courtesy of Land O’Lakes

Although I primarily use eggs for baking or as an ingredient in a larger dish, I wanted to highlight the eggs for this recipe.

Ingredients:

6 Land O’Lakes eggs, hard boiled and halved
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon
2 teaspoons Sriracha

The juice from 1/2 a lime

The zest from 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

Fill a large bowl with ice water. To hard-boil the eggs, add 6 eggs to a large pasta pot. Cover with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes uncovered. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the iced water for 30 seconds and remove. To crack the eggs, roll back and forth on the counter and peel the shell off of the egg.

Halve the eggs.

Scoop out the yolks and transfer them to a bowl. I used a half teaspoon so that the spoon was smaller than the yolks. They are pretty easy to kind of pop out.

Use a fork to mash the yolks. Add the mayo, Dijon, Sriracha, lime juice, zest, and cilantro to the yolks.

Mix to combine, try to work out any chunks that may remain, you want it as smooth as possible. Add the mixture to a ziplock bag. If you have a pastry tip, feel free to use it. If not, just cut off one of the corners and squeeze the mixture into each egg white.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of paprika.

I’m not a huge fan of hard-boiled eggs, so I let my sister and friends be the judge of these eggs. When I asked my sister what needed to be changed, she told me nothing, she loved them just the way they were.

My friends managed to eat a dozen deviled eggs within minutes! Some even said they were some of the best deviled eggs they’ve had –they clearly haven’t been to Supper yet. 🙂

The Sriracha adds some heat to the eggs but is not too spicy. The lime flavor does shine through, so if you are not a fan of lime, cut out the zest (the original recipe did not have zest in it).

Yum

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

6 Land O’Lakes eggs, hard boiled and halved
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon
2 teaspoons Sriracha
The juice from 1/2 a lime
The zest from 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

Instructions

Fill a large bowl with ice water. To hard-boil the eggs, add 6 eggs to a large pasta pot. Cover with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes uncovered. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the iced water for 30 seconds and remove. To crack the eggs, roll back and forth on the counter and peel the shell off of the egg.
Halve the eggs.
Scoop out the yolks and transfer them to a bowl. I used a half teaspoon so that the spoon was smaller than the yolks. They are pretty easy to kind of pop out.
Use a fork to mash the yolks. Add the mayo, Dijon, Sriracha, lime juice, zest, and cilantro to the yolks.
Mix to combine, try to work out any chunks that may remain, you want it as smooth as possible. Add the mixture to a ziplock bag. If you have a pastry tip, feel free to use it. If not, just cut off one of the corners and squeeze the mixture into each egg white.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of paprika.

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Venison Chili with Jalapeno-Cheddar Corn Muffins

I spent most of Saturday in the car driving to/from North Jersey in a freak Nor’easter snowfall that really made the ride quite an experience. After yesterday, it is clear that winter is (sadly) not too far away, so I better get started on some of my favorite cold weather foods. First up, chili.

I just joined a new farm club called Arganica, that just started delivering to Philadelphia. I actually joined it because my CSA share is ending and I still wanted to receive different vegetables during the winter months. However, as I was looking over their offerings, their meat and fish section is what really caught my eye. I decided to take a chance on a new type of meat I’ve never cooked with before: venison. When I mentioned I was planning on making venison chili to my boyfriend, his eyes lit up. Here’s hoping my chili can live up to whatever high expectation he has for this meal! To go along with the chili, I also made pepper Jack corn bread muffins.

For those a bit wary about venison, the meat is actually quite lean; venison is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than beef, pork, or lamb.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

2 lbs ground venison

4 strips of bacon

2 cans red kidney beans, drained

1 can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon hot sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon ground chili

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 jalapeno (or similar) pepper, seeds removed and chopped

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup weak coffee

Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Sour cream

Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

Wilted Tatsoi with Sauteed Tofu

One of my friends asked me if I’d be willing to add some tofu recipes to my repertoire. I was pretty wary to try it. I don’t mind tofu, but I can’t say I’ve ever had a hankering for it. Well, for some reason, I picked up some tofu this week so I decided to finally make a recipe including it for my friend. I also received tatsoi in my CSA share, which is the perfect opportunity to use the tofu in this recipe for Wilted Tatsoi with Sauteed Tofu.

Ingredients:
2 bunches of tatsoi
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
A dash of rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
4-6 oz tofu, cut into cubes

Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ground ginger and brown sugar to a bowl and mix to combine and reserve.

Add 1 teaspoon of the toasted sesame oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Cube the tofu.

Add the tofu to the pan.

Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until browned.

Remove the tofu from heat. Cut the stems off of the tatsoi.

Add 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil to the saute pan and turn down the heat to medium low. Add the tatsoi.

Cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat. Add the reserved sauce to the pan.

Stir to combine. Mix in the tofu and serve.

This was so quick and easy! I actually ate this as a meal, but if you cut the tofu pieces smaller, this could also work as a yummy side.

I loved the subtle sweetness of the sauce. Tatsoi tastes very similar to bok choi, so the flavors worked really well.

I was really pleasantly surprised by the result. You might just catch me making another tofu recipe in the future!

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce

I have had quite the hankering for Mexican recently, so I was so happy that the October issue of Cooking Light included a bunch of delicious sounding Mexican inspired vegetarian meals. I decided to go for the Black Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, because they can easily be frozen for future lunches and dinners. I substituted a few of the ingredients for what I already had, but you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

2 Cajun peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups chicken broth, divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

The juice of 1 lime

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups pre-shredded Mexican-blend cheese, divided

3 thinly sliced green onions, divided

Cooking spray

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

5 tablespoons light sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare the peppers, onion and garlic cloves. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over high heat. Add onion and cook for 1 minute.

Reduce heat to medium and add the garlic and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 cups broth, parsley, tomato paste, and cumin.

Cook for 10 minutes, or until it thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.

While this is cooking, add the extra cup water and the chopped peppers to a food processor. Pour the onion mixture into the food processor when finished cooking. Blend until smooth. Stir in lime juice and cayenne.

Combine the beans, 1 cup of cheese, and half the green onions in a bowl.

Add 1/2 of the sauce to the bottom of a cookie pan coated with cooking spray. Add 3 tablespoons of the bean mixture to to each tortilla.

Roll up, placing the seam side down.

Add to the cookie pan.

Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas.

Top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining green onions and serve with sour cream.

This recipe has so much flavor! I was really pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. I am pretty sure I didn’t allow the sauce to reduce enough, but it thickened up in the oven and still tasted wonderful.

A serving is two enchiladas, so I actually have 4 meals left over after making this. As I mentioned before, enchiladas freeze really well, so 3 are going into the freezer and one will be my lunch tomorrow, win!

To make this recipe more effective for a weeknight, you can make the ranchero sauce ahead of time an refrigerate it until ready to use. The recipe took about an hour from start to finish.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes & Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree

After visiting several supermarkets in search of pumpkin puree only to find they were sold out, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Amy’s Cooking Adventure had instructions on how to make my own puree using pie pumpkins so I tried it out. To test out my finished product (and as a nice pat on the back) I made pumpkin pie milkshakes to celebrate.

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

I honestly don’t know why I don’t make more dinners that involve chicken. I guess I just never have any on hand. This week, we were celebrating one of my friend’s birthdays by making her dinner and we settled on a chicken dish. I was really at a loss for what to make, so luckily Budget Bytes came to the rescue with her recipe for Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken. (Please excuse the photos in this post. I wasn’t exactly planning on making a post about it so they aren’t that fantastic. But this recipe is too good not to share!)

Ingredients:

For Chicken:

4 thin chicken breasts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil, thinly sliced
Parsley, chopped

For Bruschetta:

4 medium roma tomatoes
1 small sweet onion
1 medium garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Continue reading Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce

I love mashed potatoes. I love them so much that my Aunt and Uncle usually ask me to come over the day before Thanksgiving to help peel all of the potatoes so that there are enough for me (I could probably eat just a bowl of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving and be happy.) I found a new method of making mashed potatoes on MyRecipes, but modified it a bit and added a mushroom sauce to make this vegetarian recipe for Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce.

Ingredients:

8 medium-size red potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Mushroom Sauce:

2 teaspoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 container of sliced cremini (baby bella) mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Continue reading Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce

Godiva Coffee – Pumpkin Spice & Caramel Pecan Bark

I am in love with fall, it is by far my favorite time of year. It is the only time of year I can give into my love of all things pumpkins and not get funny looks. Sadly, I feel like the autumn season seems to be getting shorter and shorter, so I need to get as much “fall” food and drinks as I can. As a member of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker Program, I was lucky enough to receive two different limited edition fall coffees from Godiva: Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark.

The coffees are based off of Godiva’s Pumpkin Spice Truffles and their signature Caramel Pecan Bark. The Pumpkin Spice coffee has a wonderful pumpkin pie taste, with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. The Caramel Pecan Bark has notes of toasted pecan and caramel. I couldn’t wait to try them!

I decided to make two different recipes for each coffee to really test out their flavor. The weather in Philadelphia has continued to be pretty darn humid, so I made a few chilled coffee drinks. I also decided to use some of the coffee grounds to make my own Caramel Pecan Bark.

First to make the Caramel Pecan Bark. Making bark is really simple and makes a great gift or easy party dessert. I incorporated some of the coffee grinds to enhance the flavor of the chocolate.

Ingredients:
16 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Begin by chopping your chocolate. I was feeling particularly lazy so I just used my food processor.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Line a pan with parchment paper and spread the chopped chocolate evenly on top. Bake for 5 minutes or until melted. Using a spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly so that it is the same thickness throughout.

While the chocolate is melting, make the caramel. Add the sugar to a pan over medium high heat. As soon as it begins to melt, begin to whisk vigorously until mostly melted. (see photo) Take care not to burn the sugar!

Add the butter and whisk to combine. Be careful, it will bubble!

Remove from heat. Wait 10 seconds and add the cream, whisking to combine.

If you’re not feeling particularly gutsy, feel free to just purchase caramel sauce. Making the caramel can be tricky, it took me two tries. I burnt the first one so badly that my entire condo filled with smoke! Oops.

Chop the pecans. I used raw pecans; for extra flavor use toasted.

Sprinkle the pecans over the melted chocolate.

Sprinkle on the coffee grounds and top with the caramel.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow to harden.

Break into uneven pieces, so as to resemble bark.

Yum! I think next time I make this, I think I would add just a bit of sea salt to finish it off. However, this was delicious on its own!

On to the drinks. First up is a Pumpkin Spice Martini, adapted from a recipe sent to me by Food Jaunts. She was nice enough to let me post it on here, so thank you very much! If you have a minute, be sure to check out her blog, it’s fabulous!

Ingredients:
3 oz brewed Pumpkin Spice coffee, cooled
1 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz Godiva chocolate liqueur
Ice

Begin by brewing your coffee. Set it aside and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Add ice to a shaker. Pour in the vanilla vodka, Godiva liqueur, and coffee. Shake and strain into a martini glass.

If you don’t have a shaker, you can use anything that has a secure lid. Just be sure to use a strainer over the martini glass so that no ice enters the glass.

I absolutely loved this drink, I wish more martinis tasted this good! The vanilla, chocolate and pumpkin spice flavors delivered a smooth and tasty drink.

You can add whole coffee beans to the martini glass for some extra flair if you’d like. They’ll float to the top!

In my attempt to be creative, I’m pretty sure I ended up making a chilled Caramel Pecan Bark Vietnamese Coffee. Either way, it was tasty!

Ingredients:

6 oz brewed Caramel Pecan Bark coffee, cooled

2 tablespoons condensed milk

2 tablespoons milk

A few ice cubes

Whipped cream

Extra coffee grinds or chopped pecans for garnish

Begin by brewing your coffee and allowing it to cool.

Add the coffee, condensed milk, and milk to a blender.

Add ice and blend until pureed. Pour into coffee mugs and top with whipped cream, coffee grounds, or pecans if desired.

Condensed milk is already sweetened with sugar, so I personally don’t think you need any more sweeteners in this. If you have a big sweet tooth, sub out the milk with more condensed milk.

I love how this tasted! It was more of a dessert drink than a coffee drink but I’m ok with that. The caramel and pecan flavors still shown through, making a really delicious treat.

No coffee post would be complete without Iced Coffee. This recipe takes some make ahead time, but is so worth it, so that your coffee isn’t watered down. I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman and was really impressed with the results!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Caramel Pecan Bark coffee grounds
2 cups cold water
Ice
Milk, cream, or half & half (whatever you prefer)
Sweetener, if desired

Note: you will need a cheesecloth for this recipe.

Add the coffee grounds to a container that has a lid.

Pour in the cold coffee and mix to combine.

Allow to “brew” for at least 8 hours. Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Place a few layers of cheese cloth over the strainer and pour the coffee mixture into the strainer. Give it a while to strain through. Use a spoon to press through the remaining liquid.

Add ice to a glass.

Pour the coffee into the glass, filling it just over half full.

Add your milk/cream/half & half. Stir to combine.

Sweeten the iced coffee if desired. (Note: the Caramel Pecan Bark coffee has some sweetness to it, so I didn’t think it needed any sugar)

This is perfect to serve with the bark!

I don’t think I will ever make iced coffee another way again. The flavor of this was amazing, not even a little bit watered down!

Last but not least, I decided to try a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, right off of the GodivaCoffee.com website.

Ingredients:
6 oz brewed Pumpkin Spice coffee
3 teaspoons pure maple syrup, divided
4 oz warm milk
Whipped cream, if desired

Begin by brewing your coffee. Add the coffee to a mug of your choice and keep warm.

Heat the milk over medium heat until warm. If you’re feeling fancy, use a whisk to whip the milk until frothy. Add 2 teaspoons maple syrup and the milk to the coffee. Stir to combine.

Top with whipped cream and drizzle with the remaining 1 teaspoon of maple syrup.

This is a great “fancy” coffee drink to make at home when, like me, you don’t own an espresso machine. The flavors are very similar to popular pumpkin spice lattes out there and is so simple to make!

I hope some of my experimentation will inspire you to come up with some of your own recipes. The Godiva fall coffees make for a great base. I am so excited to enjoy this coffee for the rest of the season!

Roasted Eggplant & Feta Dip

I am at a bit of a loss for what to do with eggplant. Eggplant Parmesan and Baba Ghannouj are the only two recipes I really know that use eggplant. However, I found a tasty sounding recipe from Eating Well that includes a bunch of other ingredients from this week’s CSA.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant

The juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and mince

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your broiler. Line a pan with foil and place the eggplant on it. Poke a few holes within the eggplant so that it can let out steam while broiling. Broil for 14 to 18 minutes, turning the eggplant every 5 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the skin is charred a little and a knife goes easily into the part right near the stem. Transfer to a cutting board until it’s cool enough to handle.

Prepare your onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil and parsley.

Add lemon juice to a medium sized bowl. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise.

Scoop out the inside of the eggplant into the bowl and toss with the lemon juice.

Add olive oil and stir with a fork until the oil is absorbed.

Add feta, onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil, parsley, cayenne and salt.

Taste and adjust as needed.

If covered, this recipe can be made up to two days ahead of time. The original recipe included a red bell pepper instead of a green one (I only had a green pepper), and that color would have really popped in this dish.

Serve with toasted pita. This would be a great addition to any mezze platter: tomatoes, hummus, grape leaves, etc.

Pesto

Nothing tastes as fresh as homemade pesto. It is surprisingly easy to make and really blows the store-bought stuff out of the water. With a whopping 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper), pesto is definitely something you need to try to make if you haven’t already! I made this to go with my gnocchi that I made for a food swap.

Ingredients (makes about 1 cup):
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

Add the basil leaves and walnuts to a food processor.

Pulse a few times to combine.

Mince your garlic.

Add to the food processor.

Pulse to combine.

While the food processor is running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream.

Add the Parmesan cheese and pulse to combine.

Season with salt and pepper.

You can add more of whichever ingredient you think you need more of at any time. I prefer my pesto to be relatively firm, so I don’t use a lot of olive oil to make mine. I also tend to add more cheese on top of my pasta anyways, so I limit the amount of cheese I put into the pesto. You can also use pine nuts instead of walnuts; I just prefer walnuts.

Be sure to use high quality ingredients for this recipe if you can. Because none of it is cooked, you want basil when it is fresh, high quality olive oil with a smooth taste, and a nicely aged cheese. A little pesto goes a long way when used as a topping on pasta, so this recipe can luckily be frozen to use at a later date as well!

Jalapeno Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

When I first came across this recipe for Jalapeno Ginger Butternut Squash Soup, I was intrigued by the ingredients. Never would I have thought to add jalapenos and ginger to a butternut squash dish. It seemed so odd, and yet so delicious as well. This weekend, the weather began feeling a bit more… autumnal. So I used this wonderful weather as an excuse to try out this recipe. I altered the original recipe a bit, but you can find the original here.

Ingredients (makes about 8 servings):

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2-in. cubes

3 cups water

3 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1/4 cup coconut milk, plus more for serving

I’ve attempted to peel and cube butternut squash in the past. And it is absolutely not worth it. It takes forever and never seems to yield as much as you think it will. So I wimped out at bought the pre-packaged pre-chopped stuff. And I am so happy I did. I ended up using 3 20 oz containers of the butternut squash.

Begin by chopping your garlic and jalapeno and grating your ginger.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and cook stirring constantly for 1 or 2 minutes.

Add the cayenne pepper and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring.

Add the squash, chicken broth, brown sugar, and 3 cups water.

Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.

Add about 1/3 of the soup to a blender. Remove the top middle piece of the blender top to allow hot air to escape. Place a paper towel over the opening and puree until smooth. Add to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining soup.

Be very very careful doing this! I managed to burn my hand pretty badly when removing the top off the blender. Ouch!

Stir in the coconut milk and serve. I added a tiny bit more of the coconut milk on top of a poured serving and swirled it.

This was a surprisingly tasty soup. The smooth texture is really nice and the butternut squash taste shines through, with a hint of coconut milk. There is a very slight heat at the end from the jalapeno and cayenne, but is definitely not spicy. I honestly couldn’t taste much of the ginger, so next time I might add a bit more. This soup can also be frozen so I look forward to enjoying it in the colder months, but it only took maybe 40 minutes from start to finish so this can easily be made on a weeknight.

Mushroom Risotto

This past weekend, Kennett Square held it’s annual Mushroom Festival. I unfortunately didn’t get to go this year, but my parents dropped off a variety of mushrooms for me. When I have a lot of different types of mushrooms, my go to recipe is a mushroom risotto.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
2 cups assorted mushrooms, sliced (I used oyster, shiitake, portobello & trumpet)
1/2 a small onion, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stock
4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Continue reading Mushroom Risotto

Broiled Thai Curry Salmon & Baby Bok Choy

As much as I try to like bok choy, I just don’t really like the flavor. However, I received two baby bok choy in my CSA so here’s my attempt to hide the cabbage-y taste using a Bon Appetit recipe as a base that includes a Thai Red Curry sauce.

Ingredients: (this only makes 1 serving)
2 baby bok choy
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1/2 can coconut milk
the zest of 1 lemon
the juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 6-ounce salmon fillet
Chopped scallions, for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat your broiler.

Roughly chop the baby bok choy and place on one side of a cookie sheet.

Place the salmon on the other side of the cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper.

Broil for 5 minutes. Stir the bok choy and broil for another 4 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and the bok choy has crisped a bit.

While the salmon and bok choy are cooking, heat the oil in a saute pan and add the red curry paste.

Cook for 30 seconds and add coconut milk and lemon zest. Boil until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice and fish sauce.

To serve, add baby bok choy to a plate and top with salmon. Drizzle curry sauce over the entire plate. Top with chopped scallions if desired.

The curry sauce did a fantastic job of making the baby bok choy palatable. I still did get a hint of the taste of the baby bok choy, but it was much more subtle than just a steamed bok choy recipe. I wish the sauce had a bit more spice to it, so next time I’d probably increase the amount of the red curry paste.

I was apparently quite hungry and started eating this before I topped the salmon with scallions. Oops. But after having a few bites without the scallions and a few bites with, I strongly suggest adding them, they really work great with this dish.

Corn, Tomato & Basil Risotto

After a weekend of brownie and brie baking, I’m back on track making normal meals. Keeping with my tomato-corn themes, I was happy to find a recipe from Fine Cooking that included both of these ingredients. Even better, it is also a risotto!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups of frozen corn kernels
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. torn fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

So I chickened out this time on the corn. Out of my last batch of a half dozen corn cobs, 5 (FIVE!) of them had worms. Goo. I understand it is very difficult to grown corn organically, but I needed to just take a step back from the whole surprise-in-my-corn.If you are using fresh corn, click on the link above to see the original recipe, I used frozen kernels for mine so I had to adapt the recipe accordingly. You will need three corn cobs.

Add the chicken broth to a pot and heat over medium-low heat. In another saute pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the rice and stir to coat.

Add the wine and cook until absorbed, about 1 minute.

Ladle in 1 1/2 cups of the warm broth into the saute pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broth is absorbed (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add a 1/2 cup of broth at a time, waiting until the broth is absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup.

Combine the tomatoes,olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of the basil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

I’d be happy just eating this!

About 16 minutes into the cooking of the rice (you’ll still have broth left), stir in the corn. Continue to add the broth in 1/2 cup increments until the rice is creamy, about 20 to 25 minutes in total.

Remove from heat and add the Parmigiano cheese and tomato-basil mixture. Top with the remaining basil and serve.

Somehow, this risotto was light and refreshing. I loved the sweetness from both the tomatoes and corn, it tasted like summer! I ate the leftovers from this the next day for lunch and it held up really well, which is always a plus.