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.

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

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.

"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.

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!