Our First Ever Guest Chef Experience and More

Not only did we cook extraordinarily delicious things this time, something very special happened - we had our very first guest chef join our cooking adventures! Jane, an avid baker and chef, joined in the fun because she was visiting from out of town.

With so many more helping hands, we even made dessert! (check out the photos, they are in backwards order a bit).

To start, we made Greek/American Salad - our very own Rebecca's very own creation!

Ingredients:
1/2 crunchy cucumber
1 tomato
1 avocado
1/2 onion (could probably use less, and a red onion might be great)
3/4 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced (we used the stuff that comes pre-sliced in a bag)
2 cups lettuce (of your choice, we used a nice mild one)
1 cup grapes, halved (we used red grapes, recommend the same as you want something sweet)
1.5 cups crushed pita chips (Stacy's brand is the best!)

Dressing:
2 lemons worth of juice (gotta use real lemons)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
5 large garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
Chop everything, medium-sized slices
In a bowl, mix the dressing and layer salad ingredients in this order: onions on the bottom, then cucumber, tomato, avocado, cabbage, grapes, lettuce, and pita chips on top. Toss JUST before serving so that pita chips don't get soggy (you can even keep the pita chips out and put them into each individual plate).

Second on our list were cod cakes with Thai green apple salsa. THEY WERE SO DELICIOUS.

Cod Cakes:

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup vegetable oil (although we didn't use this ingredient because we baked them, not fried them)
1 cup chopped onions
1.5 lb of hake or cod
3/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
Cube the potatoes and set them to boil for 10-13min or until soft. Cut cod into 1 inch cubes and chop the onion.
Saute onion in olive oil with a 1/8 ts salt for about 5 min or until translucent.
Add the fish and saute until it becomes flaky and mostly cooked.
Mix in the parsley and 1/4 ts pepper; remove from heat.
Drain and mash potatoes.
Allow both mixtures to cool
Combine potatoes and fish mixture in a bowl and mix in 2 beaten eggs (make sure they don't scramble if your fish is still hot).
Place bowl in the fridge for 1 hour to set
Remove cod cake mixture and scoop into oiled muffin tin (the original recipe calls for frying these cakes so the 1 cup vegetable oil is for that purpose).
Bake cod cakes at 450 degrees for 10 min then reduced the heat to 400 for another 10 mins or until they turn a nice golden cooked color.

**If you're not trying to be healthy, it might be worth trying to fry these babies because they were pretty crumbly and maybe not as crunchy and fried-delicious out of the oven**

To go on top of the cod cakes- Thai Green Apple Salsa

Ingredients:
4 granny smith apples (we used Staymen apples, as we had just picked them fresh from the farm the day before!)
1 lime
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 small hot red peppers or 1 jalapeno, chopped to your liking
1/4 cup parsley (the original recipe calls for cilantro, but trust us, the parsley tasted AMAZING)
salt to taste

Directions
Thinly slice 4 tart apples and a small red onion. Juice one lime in a bowl add the onion and apples plus 1/4 ts salt. Mix well. Mince one jalapeno pepper (removing seeds and membrane) and chop parsley, add both to the bowl. Mix well and allow to sit at room temp for 30 min. Mix every 10 min within the 30 min sitting time and again just before serving.

Our side dish: Sweet Potato Fries!
(original recipe from http://cookieandkate.com/2010/baked-sweet-potato-fries/)

Ingredients:
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled like a zebra (or less, however much you want to make)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic powder
Olive oil

Directions:
Cut potatoes as evenly as possible into fries. In large bowl, mix enough black pepper, paprika, salt, garlic powder, and olive oil to coat all the fries well. (You might think you're putting too much in, but you're not, the seasoning is totally key).
Bake on cookie sheets (don't use foil) at 450 degrees until they start getting crispy, then turn over, and bake on the other side. It was about 15 minutes per side.

MUST dip in sour cream.

Finally, from our guest chef Jane, we had Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies for dessert!
 
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate (we used one large bar)
1 cup sugar
1 pint fresh raspberries, mashed
4 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt


Filling:
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 pint (or less) fresh raspberries, mashed

Directions Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. In a 3 quart saucepan, combine butter and chocolate. Melt over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Stir in sugar and mashed raspberries. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until well blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and set aside. In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla, and more raspberries. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until smooth. Pour filling evenly over batter in pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
(Original recipe:http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cake/raspberry-cream-cheese-brownies.html)

Our First Moosewood Adventure

Tonight we made sesame tofu and Northern Indian Stuffed Eggplant, a recipe that came from a Moosewood Cookbook (for anyone not familiar, check out Mollie Katzen and her fabulous cookbooks at http://www.molliekatzen.com/books.php).

The sesame tofu had a lot of potential, but we would recommend some changes. Here is the recipe the way we made it, with  notes on changes following.

Ingredients:

1 package extra firm tofu
1/4 cup cornstarch, for dusting
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted
1 bunch scallion, diced (we didn't have these but they would have been delicious)

Sauce
1/3 cup honey (we just barely didn't have enough so added a tbsp of brown sugar) 4 tablespoons tamari soy sauce (we used regular soy sauce) 3 tablespoons finely minced ginger root 3 tablespoons sesame oil 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 3 finely minced garlic cloves 1 -2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

Directions:
Drain tofu (wrap tofu in paper towels and put under heavy press for 30 minutes)
Dust tofu with corn starch
Cube or cut into long strips (whichever you prefer) and deep fry in at least 1 inch of oil until tofu turns a beautiful golden color (on all sides). Be really careful - that oil is super hot!
While tofu is cooking, mix all sauce ingredients in small pan until they start to boil
Throw tofu into the sauce and let it sit and soak until you're ready to eat (at least 10 minutes)
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve!

Our recommendations:
Double the honey amount and reduce the sesame oil and vinegar (by at least a tablespoon each). Our sauce wasn't as viscous as it could have been and a bit too acidic.

(Original recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/sesame-tofu-177242)

Northern Indian Stuffed Eggplant

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants
4 c cubed potatoes
8 ounces of cream cheese
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 c chopped onion
4 tspn cumin (the original recipe called for 2)
2 tbsn coriander (the original called for 1)
2 tspn turmeric (the original called for 1)
1/2 small hot red pepper
1/4 tspn cloves (ground)
4 tbsn ginger root
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 med carrots, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
1 c frozen peas
1 tomato, diced
2 tbsn lemon juice
sesame seeds

Directions:

First cut the eggplants in half, lay them cut side down on an oiled baking sheet, and bake them, covered, on 375 for 30-40 min (until cooked enough to mash). 

Boil potatoes (we used about 5 smallish potatoes, not peeled). Once boiled, drain water and mash cream cheese into potatoes.
Saute onion with cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cloves. When onion turns translucent (in one minute or so), add carrots and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add ginger, garlic, and chili pepper. Cook another minute or two. Then add green pepper and frozen peas. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add tomato and lemon juice. Cook another 3 minutes and remove from heat.

Mix onion mixture with potatoes.

Flip your eggplant and scoop out the eggplant guts, leaving the skin intact. Add eggplant pulp to potato/onion mixture and mix well.
Stuff 1/4 mixture into each of the 4 eggplant slices. Bake for 15-20 at 375.

Tada! Indian food that actually tastes delicious AND like Indian food.

One thought we had was substituting potatoes with cauliflower and making this dish over rice next time.

A little Italy

Pesto was the word today.

Starting from pesto, we went to pasta and then a beautiful salad, and then a baguette was added as well.

Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:
1½ cups fresh basil
1 cup Italian parsley
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups walnut pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup olive oil
1 cup Pecorino Romano, grated (we used Parmesan)

Directions:
Put the pasta of your choice on the stove to boil
Put all pesto ingredients except the cheese into a food processor and pulse until uniformly paste-like
In a large bowl, toss pesto and approximately half a cup of the cooked pasta water (to make it creamy, so you can use less or more water depending on how you like it)
Use additional pesto to spread on baguette and anything else that comes your way

Source: http://www.lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/280

Summer Salad

Ingredients:
1 (ripe) mango cubed
1 (ripe) avocado cubed
Quarter of a red onion (maybe even less) sliced thinly
Fresh blueberries (amount to your taste)
Fresh strawberries (amount to your taste, we recommend most of a quart of strawberries) chopped
1 cup crumbled feta
Baby spinach

Dressing:
2.5 tbsps vegetable oil (although the original calls for olive oil)
1.5 tbsps fresh lemon juice
2 tbsps apple cider vinegar (you can probably use something else but that's what we used and it was so good!)
2 tsps brown sugar
A little bit of salt (to taste)

Directions:
Throw the spinach, chopped mango, chopped avocado, strawberries, blueberries, onion, and feta together. Pour dressing on top and eat the entire bowl.

Inspired by: http://www.the36thavenue.com/2013/06/spinach-salad-recipe.html

And Then We Baked the Pasta

Today's adventure included a first-time red pepper roasting for at least one of us, as well as our own version of one of the dishes - walking right off the beaten recipe path.

We made a "Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Pasta Bake" and a beet salad that we came up with all on our own.

Pasta Bake Ingredients (modified as we saw fit):

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced (or 1.5 smaller ones, like we used)
4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 standard (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 roasted red pepper, chopped (the recipe calls for 2, and we would recommend using 2 if you have them)
½ regular jar of your choice of marinara/spaghetti sauce (our choice: Ragu Tomato, Garlic and Onion)
3 tsp oregano
2 tsp honey(or sugar - we used sugar)
salt to taste
3/4th of a 16oz box pasta of your choice (we used penne, highly recommend it)
4 tbsp packed fresh basil (this is twice what the recipe calls for, and we would recommend even more!)
3 large handfuls fresh spinach, roughly chopped (we would, again, recommend using more spinach - it cooked down to virtually none at all. You could probably triple this easily)
1 package of feta cheese (about half a lb)
Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese for topping (we used mozzarella and definitely recommend it, as it melts so nicely on top)
1 fresh tomato, chopped (our addition)
Black pepper
We also used a bread dip seasoning mix to add a bit more flavor - you can really flavor this dish with just about any combination of spices you like to complement the oregano.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cool water and set aside until ready to use.

In a large saucepan or skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the onions and saute for 6-8 minutes, till translucent. Add the garlic and saute for another minute before adding the tomatoes, red peppers, oregano and pasta sauce.

Bring to a boil (on low heat) so all ingredients mix together

Add sugar, salt and pepper. Stir in the basil, spinach, feta and cooked pasta. Stir well to combine (you will need a pretty large pot, as this will come out to be quite a lot of pasta).

Pour pasta into one large baking dish or 4-6 individual baking dishes. Top with cheese and place in the oven. Bake one large baking dish 30-40 minutes until heated through, bake individual dishes 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

Source: http://fooddoodles.com/2013/06/07/roasted-red-pepper-and-feta-pasta-bake/

Beet Salad (inspired by a variety of interwebs versions)

Ingredients:

2 small roasted beets, peeled and chopped any-which-way you please
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup feta (but we strongly recommend using goat cheese instead)
1 apple, chopped as you like
Fresh spinach for the base (maybe 4 or 5 cups)

Dressing:

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
Salt, pepper, and same bread dip seasoning mix (just a bit for taste)

Directions:

Cut all the things up and whisk your salad dressing ingredients together, dress for an awesome salad experience!

A tip for the future: we would add slices or dices of an orange to this salad because it was missing the tangy-ness we were looking for.

A Journey to India... Finally!

While we've been almost all over the globe in our cooking adventures, tonight was our first venture to India, and I must say, we were both VERY excited that what turned out smelled and tasted almost exactly like real Indian food.

On the menu was Methi Mutter Malai with rice and naan and a random Russian salad for garnish.

Methi Mutter Malai Ingredients:
2 cups frozen green peas (we used 2.5)
1 cup of frozen fenugreek leaves (we accidentally used a pound :) )
1 cup light whipping cream (recipe actually calls for milk and cream but we just went easy and did the cream)
1/2 tsp garam masala
a pinch of tumeric
2 tbs butter
2 pinches dry fenugreek leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1 onion, chopped
7 cashews
5 green chili peppers (we used half a jalapeno, we're a little on the European end of the heat equation)
1 small piece of ginger, chopped
2 cardamom seeds (we used ground cardamom - 1/8th of a tsp)
1 clove

Directions:
Put 1 tbs of the butter in a wok or deep pan and saute the whole chopped onion, ginger, chili pepper, cardamom and the clove until onions turn translucent. Then put the whole thing in a blender or food processor, add the cashews, and blend away until it's a paste.

In the same wok, drop in remainder of butter, add cumin seeds, and fry until they smell good! Add the onion paste and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Add fenugreek leaves (both frozen and dry) and peas, tumeric, and garam masala. Cook and stir until peas aren't frozen anymore (we cooked our peas separately but the recipe wants you to cook em all together). Add cream and stir well, and then it's ready to serve.

We bought the naan and heated it up, and cooked up some rice.

(Recipe credit: http://www.rakskitchen.net/2013/02/methi-matar-malai-recipe.html)

Tips and thoughts:
Our dish was not a soup, although a soup it's supposed to be. If you want it soupy, which you should, use the right amount of peas and especially fenugreek leaves. Also, we wussed out on the chili pepper part of the recipe and should have at least used the whole jalapeno. We recommend at least an entire jalapeno for even the most faint of heart when it comes to spicy food - but the recipe could probably use a real chili pepper.

It was surprisingly easy to put together - don't get overwhelmed by the ingredients list, just go to your friendly neighborhood Indian store (a very first for me!) and ask a nice lady shopping there what the hell half the ingredients on your list mean, and she will help you out right away. And no, she didn't actually work there, but was so helpful and pleasant anyway.

Russian salad ingredients

This is really an afterthought but since we fancy this to be a cooking blog, here's what went into the Russian salad (all chopped):

Broccoli
Cabbage
Onion
Tomato
Green pepper
Vegetable oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for the dressing

We're not giving amounts for the above ingredients because they are vaguely unknown and you can really just chop up and throw anything into this salad - in whatever amounts you like it. Watch the lemon juice since you don't want your salad too sour, but otherwise, everything is really measured "to taste".

The BEST piece of advice we have for you is that this meal should always be finished off with mango ice-cream - but not sorbet (don't be fooled), creamy "exotic" (as the little jar says) mango ice-cream that has a dairy base to it and rounds off the meal incredibly.

We're back! And today's theme was "easy peasy"

Since it's been so long, we decided to bring back our cooking adventures with something easy but man did we hit the jackpot with these two recipes (found with the help of Pinterest and good ol' Google).

First up was "Peanut Udon Noodles with Snowpeas"

Ingredients:

8 oz. dried udon noodles (we just used one package)
4 oz. snow peas (we used sugarsnap peas, and highly recommend it)
1/2 c. peanut butter (make sure it's creamy)
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ginger, grated (or finely chopped)
1 garlic clove, minced (we used 3 medium-sized cloves because we love garlic)
pinch of red pepper flakes
2-4 tbsp. water
1/4 c. chopped roasted peanuts (we used way more because peanuts are delicious!)

We added:
2 (or more, if desired) green onions, chopped
Half a red bell pepper and half a green bell pepper, cut into strips
Crunchy fried tofu

Directions:

Cut the block of tofu in half, so it's half as thick, and put both halves on some paper towels on a flat surface. Put more paper towels on top, cover with a plate, and set a weight on it. Leave tofu draining for 30 minutes (if you drain it for less, it won't be as crunchy).

While the tofu is draining, chop everything and cook your noodles using the directions on the package. Right before they're finished, throw in the peas and bell peppers (let everything boil for about a minute).

We did the next step in a wok, which worked really well; mix together peanut butter, vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Mix in the water one tablespoon at a time until your sauce isn't too thick to coat the noodles. We used the hot water from the noodles to do this because cold water won't mix well into oils. Make sure your sauce isn't too watery (you can always add more water if the whole thing is too thick).

Dump noodles, peas, and peppers into the wok and mix well until everything is thoroughly coated.

Once your tofu has been drained, cut it into strips, fill a frying pan (or deep-fryer if you have one) with a half-inch or so of vegetable oil, and fry tofu strips on each side until they are golden brown and crunchy.

Serve noodles with green onions, tofu strips, and peanuts to put on top in individual bowls, in amounts according to individual preference.

This peanut sauce recipe is STELLAR - so we're going to use it on just about anything we can put peanut sauce!

(Original recipe from ohmyveggies.com)

Dish number two was the "Crunchy Cabbage Salad" - which was even easier! (and very pretty)

Ingredients (we didn't quite follow any of the measurements, and the original recipe called for radish and celery, which we didn't have/don't like):

2 tablespoons or more white or red wine vinegar (we used apple cider vinegar)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic, or more to taste
Salt and black pepper
2 carrots, chopped
1 small red onion, minced
3 or 4 radishes, chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped (we used some green pepper too, highly recommend)
1 small cabbage, cored and shredded.

We added;
(Toasted) sesame seeds!

Directions:
Chop everything and mix it together!

We recommend using less vinegar and less olive oil but it depends on how much salad you're making. The sesame seeds were a super duper good idea and gave it an extra crunch.

(Original recipe found at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02recipes-3.html?_r=0)