Caramel Apple Pie

Hi all,

I made this first for Thanksgiving with the hubby's family. I was rushed and nervous, had trouble rolling out the dough, ended up making more dough at the last minute, but successfully threw it all together. I was privy to the first slice and when I took my first bite, I glared at hubby and said "you better go get your own, because you're not having any of mine." He rushed over to get some and was glad he did. It disappeared.

I'm not a big baker, but this is worth making. It's the best apple pie I've ever had.

This recipe is a compilation of tips from my mother and the recipe found here.

Crust Ingredients:

-1 1/2 cups Crisco

-1 tsp salt

-2 tsp milk

-1/2 cup boiling water

-4 cups flour

Note: I don't make the traditional crust with butter. I make a "hot water crust" with Crisco, (super easy). It turns out thicker, which I think is more rustic and country-style. It's not a crust that you make look pretty, it's something you throw over a huge pile of apples and caramel and balances out all the different sugars. Also, this will make extra dough. You only need 3/4 of it at max. I recommend making the top layer thicker than you normally would, but I just love crust.

Crust Directions:

1. Dump Crisco, salt, and milk in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over. Stir or whisk until creamy and fluffy (I used a fork to begin, and a whisk to finish it).

2. Pour in the flour. Using a spatula, make broad, round strokes to integrate the flour. When crumbly, use hands to finish mixing, but don't over-knead it. Place in freezer while preparing filling (about 30 min) or fridge overnight.

Pie Ingredients:

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1/4 cup butter

-5 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced into thin pieces-1/3 cup flour

-2/3 cup sugar

-3 tbs flour

-1 tsp lemon juice

-2 tsp ground cinnamon

-20 caramel pieces, halved

-milk & sugar to brush over pie

Pie Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. To Make Taffy: In a small bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, and 1/3 cup flour. Mix well and set aside.
3. To Make Apple Filling: Place apples in a large bowl. Add white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss until all ingredients are mixed well and apples are thoroughly coated. Feel free to add a bit more sugar
   and cinnamon to taste.
4. Split pastry into halves. Use 1/4 for the bottom and 1/2 for the top. Use the rest for mini pies filled with jam! Roll out bottom of pastry and place in pie-dish (deep dish is better).
5. Spoon half of apple filling into pan. Top with half of caramels and half of taffy mixture. Repeat process with remaining apple filling, caramels and taffy mixture.
   
6. Roll out top of pastry and place over pie. Seal well!!! (Important to prevent caramel from boiling out!) Cut off excess pastry.
7. Cut steam vents and brush top crust with milk and sugar.
8. Cover pie with foil and place on a baking sheet (important!). Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from pie and bake for another half hour or so, until crust is golden. The thicker your crust, the longer it will take. Serve warm.

ENJOY!

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo)

Picture taken from simplyrecipes.com

My apologies for my blogging lethargy :-/. Excuses can be made, such as, "oh I was busy moving", "oh, my sister's wedding", "oh, I'm just super lazy and forgetful". Yeah, probably the latter is mostly true...my bad! Anywho, I recently made this amazing and incredibly easy brazilian cheese bread this week and who better to share the recipe with than me fellow food bloggers. If you haven't heard of or visited Espetus in Hayes Valley, then I highly recommend you satiate your carnivorous itch and try this place. It is like a Brazilian, ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT meat buffet. Well, sort of buffet. Waiters circle your table with different cuts of meat for you to choose from, including chicken hearts. There is also a wonderful salad bar to accompany the meal, which may be overkill with the amount of meat that they serve you.

While waiting for our first round of meat, they bring out these absolutely great cheese bread appetizers for you to snack on. They were so good that our table requested multiple plates, in addition to the meat and salad bar. They were chewy, cheesey, puffy goodness.

Luckily, while perusing the food blogging world, I stumbled upon a recipe for pao de queijo. I love recipes that take no time to make and come out so great that you are likely to impress your friends with your "culinary skills".

Recipe Taken from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_brazilian_cheese_bread/

Ingredients:

1 egg (room temp)

1/3 c. olive oil

2/3 c. milk

1/2 c. tapioca flour (found at Whole Foods - Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 c. packed grated cheese - used Queso Fresco

1 tsp. salt

Special Equipment: mini cupcake tin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly greaser cupcake tin.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. The batter will be a smooth, runny consistency - more so than pancake batter.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the batter into each cupcake holder.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (I did full 20 minutes) until puffy and golden. Be sure not to open the oven a lot cause the puffs will deflate.

When done, cool on rack and then consume immediately =).

**You can store extra batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Coconut Date Smoothie

Blend together following for a mighty refreshing smoothie:

- 8 oz. coconut water
- 10 ice cubes
- 3 tbl spoons almond butter
- 8 dried dates (chopped)
- splash of vanilla extract
- pinch of salt

Tricolor Salad

This recipe is also from one of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazines (LOVE THEM!). This salad is beautiful with the mixture of color, light, but yet hearty with the Parmesan.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

Salad

• 2 c. corn kernels (from 3 ears) - I just used 1 can of corn
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced into .25 in half-moons
• 1 small head of radicchio, cut into 1-in pieces

Dressing

• 2 TBS red-wine vinegar
• 1 TBS EVOO
• 2 TBS grated Parmesan
• 1 tsp honey

1. Mix all dressing ingredients together thoroughly
2. Mix all salad ingredients, and then toss with mixed dressing. You can prep everything up to a day before (be careful, as the water from the cucumber will come out) and then mix the salad and dressing together right before serving.

Nutrition:
122 cal; 5 g fat (1 g sat fat); 4 g protein; 18 g carb; 3 g fiber

Frozen Lemon Souffle

I got this from one of those little Martha Stewart's "Everyday Foods" magazines (they're AWESOME!). Made it for 4th of July. Originally to be topped with only raspberries, but why not add some blackberries and blueberries to make it more festive, eh?!

Ingredients:

• 1 c granulated sugar
• 1 TBS finely grated lemon zest + 3/4 c lemon juice (From 3 lemons)
• 8 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup cold heavy cream
• 1.5 c raspberries (6 oz)
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Recipe:

1. Wrap outside of a 3.5 c. souffle mold or 4 6-oz ramekins with parchment, extending 2-3 inches above rim (it should fit snugly). Secure with tape; set aside. Note: I just used whatever souffle pan i had available :) and did not put the parchment paper since it didn't overflow like it would in the 3.5 c souffle
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together granulated sugar, lemon zest and juice, egg yolks, and salt over medium-high. Cook, whisking constantly until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and small bubbles form around edge of pan, about 5 min (do not boil). Immediately remove from heat while continuing to whisk. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing on lemon curd with a rubber spatula. Note: I squeezed 3 lemons but didn't have 3/4 c. of lemon juice, so just used whatever came out (might be why it was so sweet)
3. Place plastic wrap directly against surface of curd and refrigerate until cool, about 30 min (up to overnight). Note: I just let it sit in the fridge for 30 min.
4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whits on high until stiff peaks form, about 2 min. Gently fold egg whites into cooled lemon curd. In the same large bowl, beat cream on high until stiff peaks form, 1-2 min. Gently fold whipped cream into lemon curd mixture. Pour into mold and freeze until firm, 6 hours (or up to overnight). To serve, remove parchment, top with raspberries, and dust with confectioners' sugar. Note: I let it sit overnight and added blueberries and blackberries to the mix to make it red/white/blue for Independence Day
   

Kettlecorn!

My recent obsession, inspired by SMT's groupons to KettlePop, is kettlecorn. Fortunately, kettlecorn is easy to make on the stovetop!

Original source: Allrecipes

Ingredients/tools:

• Stock pot with snugly-fitted lid
• 1/4 cup - popcorn kernels (these are cheapest in the natural food section-- just get about $1/worth)
• 1/4 cup - canola oil
• 1/4 cup - sugar (probably less-- just eyeball it)
• Salt

Steps:

1. Pour the oil in the pan and place on medium-high. Add in three kernels of corn.
2. When the kernels pop, the oil is hot enough. Add in the remaining popcorn kernels. Add in the 1/4 cup sugar, distributing in the sugar equally across the bottom of the pot. Place the top on the pot.
3. Immediately lift the pot about 1 inch above the stove and begin shaking the pot over the heat. The idea is that you don't want the kernels or sugar to crystalize in any one place on the pot. After about a minute, the kernels will begin to pop.
4. Be careful-- popcorn creates steam, so steam will try to escape the pot, particularly when you remove the top!
5. When the popping slows, remove the pot from the heat and sprinkle liberally with salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Veggie Frittata (Spinach, Tomato, Mushroom, Potato)

(Sorry if it doesn't look too appetizing in this photo :\ it's really good!)

I found the basis of this recipe on good ol' allrecipes.com but made some adjustments and made my own rendition of it. I simply used the recipe to understand the steps but then added some additional ingredients (just bc I liked the additional ingredients and who can say no to more veggies?!). In all honesty, whatever veggies you have on hand, add them in if you think they'll add to the flavor or if you just like them and would like to throw them in, Try it out! That's what cooking is all about! So here is my rendition below, feel free to check out the allrecipes.com version for the original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-5 small red potatoes, sliced
• about 3 cups fresh spinach
• about 2 cups cremini mushrooms, chopped
  
• 1 medium-sized tomato, diced (feel free to use more or different types)
  
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 3 cubes of frozen basil from Trader Joe's (freezer section); feel free to use dry/fresh basil
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• 3 eggs, and liquid egg whites to makeup 3 additional eggs
  
• about 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand. I had a Mexican blend on hand, so just used that and just enough to sprinkle on top of the frittata)
• Recommended: spices for potato (garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, Lawry's Seasoned Salt)
  

Recipe:

1. Take sliced potatoes and toss them around in a bowl with some oil, salt/pepper, and whatever spices you have on hand (I used garlic powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and Lawry's Seasoned Salt)
2. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Place potatoes in the skillet, and cook about 10 minutes, until tender but firm. (Note: may take longer)
   
3. Add in chopped mushroom and cook until they have browned a bit, about 3-4 minutes (and if you're adding other veggies, add them to the mix in the order of longest time to cook to shortest time to cook).
4. Mix in spinach, tomatoes, garlic, basil. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes, until spinach is wilted.
   
5. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Pour into the skillet over the vegetables. Sprinkle with cheese on top. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until eggs are firm. (it took a while for my eggs to completely cook throughout the frittata. I ended up cutting it open to see if the insides were done, took longer than 5-7 minutes)

Chana Masala

Sorry for my delay in posting something new. I've been wanting to contribute but haven't had a chance to really cook anything really substantial since I've moved into SF in March! Major fail on my end.

Well, I was really determined to post something so I decided to make chana masala, partly to use a pile of dried chick peas that I've had for awhile and also to use some spices I had bought in Berkeley at Vik's Chaathouse awhile back. I found a recipe off smittenkitchen.com that looked really doable and quite yummy.

Substitutions: I substituted a half lemon for the amchoor powder as she had suggested in the recipe. I also used a can of diced tomatoes that I cut up further. Instead of ground coriander, I had whole coriander that I tried to ground up, but that wasn't too successful. Next time, I'd definitely buy ground coriander. Also, I used 4 teaspoons of ground cumin instead of 2 tsp ground cumin and 2 tsp toasted cumin seeds.

The recipe is here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/chana-masala/. (picture is from my iPhone, so sorry for the quality)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder (see note)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced) (see note; I used a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta

I found this recipe on Eatingwell.com when I was looking for a pasta that was light and not too heavy/creamy/unhealthy.

Just made it last night, and it came out very light, so if you're looking for a creamy dense pasta, this is not the winner!

Note: I didn't really follow the recipe word for word, but I don't think it makes that big of a difference since you just need to make sure the sausage and pasta are cooked. The rest is up to you. I may add in cremini mushrooms next time I make this to add some more veggies. My own commentary is in indigo.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces whole-wheat short pasta, such as shells or twists (I used rotini, whatever you have on hand)
  
• 8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage links, removed from casings (I used spicy chicken italian)
  
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 cups arugula, or baby spinach (only had 6 cups. ohwell)
  
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes (used 1 medium-sized chopped tomato)
  
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Pecorino Romano, or Parmesan cheese, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Recipe:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until just tender, 9 to 11 minutes, or according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon (I was lazy and chopped up the sausages before cooking) , until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, arugula (or spinach) and tomatoes. Cook, stirring often, until the greens wilt and the tomatoes begin to break down, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and keep warm.
3. Combine 1/2 cup cheese, pepper and salt in a large bowl. Measure out 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid; drain the pasta. Whisk the cooking liquid and oil into the cheese mixture; add the pasta and toss to combine. Serve the pasta topped with the sausage mixture and an extra sprinkle of cheese, if desired.

Per serving (this makes 6 servings): 352 calories; 9 g fat ( 3 g sat , 2 g mono ); 26 mg cholesterol; 47 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 18 g protein; 6 g fiber; 382 mg sodium; 379 mg potassium.

"Like Crack" Mexican Corn Dip - By Diana's Mama

This dip is actually credited to one of my really good friends from home's mother. From good ol' Statesville, NC (smalll smalll town on the outskirts of Charlotte, NC where I'm from)

Although semi-unhealthy, a definite winner for party dips and usually always one of the first things to disappear! ALSO VERY EASY TO MAKE, mix and bake.

Ingredients:

• 1 (11oz) can of Mexican corn ("mexicorn"), drained
• 1 (4oz) jar chopped pimento, drained
• 2 oz jalapeno peppers or green chilies, finely chopped (i use more and definitely use jalapenos if you like a 'lil kick, unless you can find the HOT green chilies)
• 1 cup shredded monterey chesse (i use colby jack or a mix)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup mayonnaise (i use light)

Recipe:

1. Mix and place in shallow baking dish. (I usually cover the top of with cheese as well so that there's a melted cheese shell on top)
   
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until cheese is melted).
   
3. Serve with tortilla chips.

Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

I unfortunately don't have a picture of the recent batch I made but I got this recipe from good ol' allrecipes.com


(picture credited to allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound ground turkey

2 (10.75 ounce) cans low sodium tomato soup (I use a box of the Smoked Roasted Tomato soup from TJ's)

2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon ground cumin

1 pinch ground black pepper

1 pinch ground allspice (never have this onhand, so I just throw in some cinnamon as a sub)

salt to taste

Instructions:

1.	Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until evenly brown; drain.
2.	Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray, and mix in turkey, tomato soup, kidney beans, black beans and onion. Season with chili powder, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, allspice and salt.
3.	Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High. OPTIONAL: Near the end, I sometimes will cut up some fresh veggies and add it in (like zucchini, or peppers. I've also added canned corn in before with the beans to add some other veggies).

Other Cooking Blogs

It's been awhile since anyone has posted, so to re-break the ice, I just thought I'd share this cool site that I found which lists the best 100 cooking blogs.

http://www.guidetoculinaryschools.com/tips-and-tools/best-culinary-blogs

I've checked out a few of them and bookmarked some for future browsing. In the past, I've used/looked at Smitten Kitchen, 101 Cookbooks, TasteSpotting, Homesick Texan, and Orangette. Are there any on or off this list that you'd recommend?

Happy cooking!

P.S. I'll post a recipe soon, promise!

Red Velvet Cake Balls

After Song-My shared the link for Cake Balls, I knew I had to try it. I love cute, bite-sized versions of anything, especially red velvet cake! These looked so fun to make and yummy to eat. I brought them to a birthday party and they were devoured immediately...it was a hit!

I used the recipe from here: http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
  
• 1 can frosting (16 oz.)
• 1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
• wax paper

Forming the balls:
After baking the red velvet cake mix (I bought mine at Safeway) in a 13x9 cake pan as directed on the box, let the cake cool before using a fork to crumble the entire cake. Place the crumbled cake and frosting (I used vanilla) into a large bowl, and mix. Form balls with the mixture (about the size of golf balls) on a cookie sheet, making them compact so they don't fall apart. This makes about 24 balls. Place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Dipping the balls:

Break apart and melt half a bar of chocolate with a few drops of cooking oil in a small bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds and stir. Reheat if necessary to get a smooth consistency.


Using two forks, roll a cake ball into the chocolate and coat evenly. Place on a cookie sheet with wax paper. Refrigerate or freeze until chocolate hardens.

• 
  

Comments & Tips:

• After trying three types of chocolate, I decided Hershey's Creamy Symphony Milk Chocolate was the best in terms of smoothness/consistency
• Melting half a bar of chocolate at a time allowed for better handling because the chocolate tends to be more difficult to work with as it cools
• Making compact balls, as well as refrigerating/freezing, is important because the balls may crumble slightly into the chocolate mixture which would be difficult to reform
• Although the Cake Balls turned out delicious, they were too sweet for me to eat any more than 2. The plan for next time is to use semi-sweet chocolate and/or less frosting (or homemade frosting made with less sugar).

Enjoy!

White Wine Pasta

Recipe based off: http://dailyunadventures.com/2009/08/shrimp-and-white-wine-pasta-sauce-with.html (photo also credited to that site)

I had some white wine left over from the cioppino, so I wanted to use it to make a white wine pasta sauce. I used the recipe above as an outline, but I didn't follow it that closely, so the end product didn't look exactly like the photo. I used onions instead of leeks because I already had an onion at home, and I didn't feel like stopping at the store to pick up parsley, so I used dried basil and oregano instead.

I had rushed home after a long day at work, later than expected, and rushed to finish the sauce, making a ton of mistakes in the process. First of all, I used more white wine than I probably should have (and thus had to simmer it for longer than I wanted to), and secondly, I put in WAY too much dried basil because the cap had fallen off as I was pouring! However, in the end, the sauce was actually really yummy with the extra herbs and wine, so the mistakes really didn't matter.

I ate the sauce with a whole wheat fettuccine, which was really yummy.

Ingredients:

• 4 tomatoes, cut into small-ish pieces (I chopped each into about 6 pieces)
• 1 big chopped onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• Olive oil
• about 1 cup of white wine (I used a sauvignon blanc)
• Herbs: Basil & oregano (chopped if it's fresh, but I actually used dry herbs)
• De-veined shrimp
• Salt, pepper, and sugar to taste

1. Sautee the chopped onions and minced garlic with the olive oil.

2. When the onions are cooked and soft, add the tomatoes and sautee until soft.

3. Pour in the white wine, herbs, and simmer until the mixture has reduced to a sauce. Put in salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. (The sugar brings out the tanginess of the tomatoes.)

4. Mix in the shrimp until they are cooked (about 2 mins, or until the shrimp is curled and firm).

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas

I began with a search for filling vegetarian recipes, and what did I find? AMAZING DELICIOUSNESS in these Sweet potato & black bean enchiladas.

These are a surprising flavor mix, but the sweet-and-spicy flavor combination with a sprinkling of cheese made this a lunch-and-dinner winner. (HAH. I rhymed.)

I found this recipe on the Whole Foods website (under the "Budget Recipes" section-- I only wish I could shop at Whole Paycheck), where it was submitted by Karina Allrich, who writes the Gluten Free Goddess cooking blog. (sidenote: I'm not following a gluten-free diet, but yikes, she's got some good-looking recipes on her site!) I made a few edits to Karina's recipe to make it simpler by swapping in a pre-made salsa for her homemade sauce.

I think the salsa I used was a bit too sweet, so when I make this next time, I'll try to choose a chipotle salsa.

Oh, and don't be afraid of these little guys: they're delicious, easy to handle and not too spicy (I have a low tolerance for spicy foods). :)



Until this recipe, I'd never made rolled enchiladas before, but it was surprisingly easy-- just make sure that the tortilla has a bit of sauce on it so that it doesn't tear when you roll it up. That said, next time I will probably make this "lasagna style" for ease of serving. I struggled with getting my rolled enchiladas out of the pan intact. I'll also probably omit the cilantro, as I didn't think it added enough flavor for the $2 price.

Those edits aside, I will DEFINITELY make this again. Just thinking about it makes me want to eat leftovers! Thankfully, the recipe below was enough for about 4 hearty meals.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:
Sauce: I used Trader Joe's Roasted Tomato Salsa ($2.29)
Tortillas: I used 8 Trader Joe's whole grain tortillas w/ flax seed ($2.49)
Shredded cheese for topping: I used monterey jack ($0.75)

Enchilada filling:
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained ($0.89)
4 cloves garlic, minced (I used 2 cloves garlic + garlic powder) ($0.25)
Fresh lime juice from 1 big juicy lime ($0.39)
2 heaping cups of cooked diced sweet potatoes (You can buy the $2.50 bag of pre-cut sweet potatoes at TJ's and then microwave; however, I just bought a few sweet potatoes, cubed them, and steamed them) ($1.00)
1 can roasted mild green chiles ($0.79)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (pantry)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder mild or spicy (pantry)
Sea salt and black pepper to taste (pantry)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro ($2.00)

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with oil. Then, create the two parts of your enchilada filling.

Enchilada Filling, Part 1: Drain the black beans. Mix the beans, minced garlic and lemon juice in a bowl.
Enchilada Filling, Part 2: In a separate bowl, mix the cooked sweet potato, can of roasted green chiles (undrained), 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp of chili powder and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Next, pour about 1/4 of your salsa into the bottom of your baking dish. Take your first tortilla and dip it in the sauce so that it's generally wet/slick with salsa. This helps prevent the tortilla from tearing. Add about 1/8 of your sweet potato filling to the middle of the tortilla, then top with about 1/8 of the beans. Roll it up across the bottom of the dish. Push the enchilada to the far side of the pan and repeat for the remaining 7 tortillas. Cover with the remaining 3/4 jar of salsa and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes, or until the ends of the tortilla are brown. YUM!

The Occasional Chef: Sam

Hi everyone!

My name is Sam, and I'm going to come right out and say it: I probably cook less than most people. Although I enjoy eating good food and care about what I eat, I tend to only cook for myself, and I'm often content eating what can be best described as "picnic food" -- cheese, sandwiches, fruit, etc.

However!

I do genuinely enjoy eating good food and am embarking on a new effort to eat less meat, so I'm excited to try out new recipes and expand upon my picnic food recipes. I like to think of good cooking as a tasty solution to a logistical problem, so I tend towards strong flavors and practicality. In my posts, you'll probably find:
- tasty dinner recipes that can be easily packed for lunch tomorrow
- recipes with minimal prep work (aka: "easy" recipes!)
- vegetarian options

I'm excited by all the fabulous recipes that everyone is posting. Hope you enjoy!

Chum Cioppino & Friend Fondue

This past weekend nothing really went as planned. It was the weekend epitome of "life is what happens when you are making plans." Planned to go to Tahoe...bowed out of that. Planned to go to the MOMA and get Irish Coffee in SF...weather ruined that. Overall, though, the weekend turned out quite nice, even though nothing was according to plan. Sometimes the best things happen when being spontaneous, which was exactly this meal. Again, I "planned" to have a girls sleepover, but friends ended up being sick or just being able to make dinner. So I decided to invite a few girlfriends over for a bit o'chatting (aka gossiping) and sharing a wonderful meal.

I've never had cioppino but I've seen friends order it at restaurants and it looked quite scrumptious. Plus, the appeal of a one-pot meal with minimal preparation was quite enticing. Ok, I take that back, the minimal preparation is ONLY true if you buy peeled and deveined shrimp (which I HIGHLY recommend). Too bad I didn't. I admit, at first it was pretty gross

to literally extract the poop from shrimp, but you get the hang of it after while or an hour...agh.

This dish was really yummy and even more so the next day after the flavors married. It makes a TON, so definitely use it for a multi-person meal.

Comrade Cioppino

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 3/4 cup butter (next time I would use EVOO just to a little healthier)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 1/2 cups white wine (I used Vermouth - do not use a sweet white wine).

1/4 cup of fish stock or a bottle of clam juice

• 1 pounds large shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 18 small clams
• 18 mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 1 pounds cod fillets, cubed
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1) Over medium-low heat melt butter or heat EVOO in a large stockpot. Add onion, garlic and parsley and cook, stirring occasionally until onion is soft and translucent.

2) Add tomatoes and break down with spoon. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano and wine and fish stock or clam juice. Mix well. Cover and simmer for an hour.

3) Stir in clams, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until clams open.

4) Stir in mussels, shrimp and cod and simmer for another 5 minutes until shrimp are cooked through and the mussels open. The shrimp are cooked when their color turns pink and they curl.

5) Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. Discard any clams and mussels that did not open.

For dessert I stuck with the "one-pot" theme and made a simple, yet delicious chocolate fondue. You do not need a fondue pot in order to make fondue or a mini-burner to keep it warm. The great thing about this recipe is that it makes SO much that the fondue stays warm and liquidy long after taking it off the stove-top.

I ended up with about 4 cups of leftover fondue and this is AFTER four girls made a huge dent in the fondue. So I recommend either cutting the recipe in half or using the leftovers to make

chocolate truffles, which I ended up doing.

Friend Fondue

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

32 ounces of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/3 cup of brewed coffee
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I didn't have any on hand so I substituted a little less than 1 tsp of almond extract).
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup hot water

1) In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the chocolate with the heavy cream. Mix in the coffee, vanilla extract, sugar, and hot water. Continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth.

2) We used the following goodies to dip in the fondue: strawberries, bananas, apples, pound cake

and pretzels

Chocolate Truffles from Fondue Leftovers:

If like me, you have a ton of fondue left over, then refrigerate overnight.

1) Take cold leftovers and form into truffle balls using a teaspoon. I recommend lightly flowering your hands and working quickly with the truffles so there isn't a sticky and chocolaty mess.

2) After forming your truffles, place back into refrigerator for another hour. Because the fondue had a lot of cream, the truffles will always be a bit soft. I coated my truffles in cocoa powder and toasted coconut. I stored them in a large tupperware, separating each layer with wax paper.