October 26, 2010

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Lemon-Chard Feta Rice

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Need a way to consume more vegetables each day? Try this recipe. These baked tomatoes are filled with lemon-chard feta rice, and baked on top of golden potato wedges and red onions.  It takes some prep work and extra baking time, but the outcome is quite delicious.
When I was 14 years old, I began cooking meals for my family. This is the one dish from those years of many failed dishes, that managed to turn out a delicious meal each time (in fact, this is the only dish that I prepared, that my cousins actually ate). I think I used a recipe from a home-ec class, which included milk, eggs, and spinach. Back in the day (early 90’s), baked tomatoes along with platters of steamed veggies used to be the default vegetarian dish on restaurant menus. Baked tomatoes are a nostalgic dish for me - good thing they are delicious!

Small to medium red onions cook quickly when quartered. Cut up the potatoes and onions first. Then prep the tomatoes. Finally, prepare the stuffing.  Use ripe tomatoes.

Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
4-6 small to medium yellow waxy potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into wedges
3 small red onions, peeled and quartered, leave the ends on
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp capers, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste
4-6 ripe tomatoes, cored and cleaned out, reserve the pulp and seeds
1 recipe lemon-chard feta rice (see note below)
Note: add the reserved tomato pulp and seeds in place of the cherry tomatoes called for in the lemon-chard feta rice recipe.

Directions.
1. Place the potatoes and onions in a casserole dish.
2. Mix together olive oil, capers, salt and pepper and toss with the potatoes and onions.
3. Preheat oven to 375 F.
4. Prepare the lemon-chard feta rice
5. Carefully fill each tomato with about 1/2 cup or more of the lemon-chard feta rice filling.
6. Nestle the tomatoes in between the potatoes and onions, so they don’t fall over.
7. Bake the tomatoes for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes appear wilted and cooked through.
8. Serve the tomatoes along with the potatoes and onions.
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Potatoes and onions in a small casserole

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Tomatoes


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Bright light chards from the container garden (my only successful plant all Belgian summer long)


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Baked stuffed tomatoes ready to go in the oven


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Sunday lunch out of the oven

October 25, 2010

Five Bean Chipotle Chili

This American in Belgium found canned chipotle in adobo sauce at Exotic World (get ‘jer mind out the gutter - it is an international food market). Where I also stocked up on over-priced hot sauce, pinto beans (my god do I love pinto beans), papadums, phyllo dough, Turkish feta cheese, and cilantro. 

This chili is perfect for cold weather. It comes together easily, and although the recipe calls for home-cooked beans, canned beans are a fine substitute. Chipotle peppers and pinto beans are among some of my favorite foods. This turns out to be a spicy chili which carries a lot of heat. Serve with some sour cream or yogurt, green onions, shredded cheese, and cilantro.  I made a quick chili powder out of some pantry spices. It's posted below the recipe.

Yield: 4 servings, 1 and 1/2 cups each

Ingredients:
1/3 cup pinto beans, dried
1/3 cup black beans, dried
1/3 cup kidney beans, dried
1/3 cup garbanzo beans, dried
1/3 cup navy or cannelini beans, dried
2 quarts of fresh water or enough to cover and soak the beans so that the beans can expand.
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup red onions or regular onions diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 T chili powder (recipe below)
2-3 cups water or vegetable broth (or 1 vegetarian bouillon cube)
1 chipotle pepper, chopped (from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
2 T of adobo sauce
1 cooked, diced potato, optional
large handful cilantro, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped into chives.


Chili powder
Yield: 2 tbsp
1 tsp red chili powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Prepare the beans using the soak and cook method or by using a pressure cooker.  Cook the beans with 1/8 tsp asafoetida powder and 1 bay leaf.  Asafoetida powder is meant to reduce the gas-causing effects of bean consumption. Set aside the cooked beans, until ready to use. Alternatively, you could use different varieties (kidney, pinto, black beans, chickpeas) of canned beans (14 oz cans).
2. In a large soup stockpot heat up olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add in garlic and onions and saute for 3-5 minutes.  Add in chili powder and stir to combine.
3. Add in tomato chunks with their sauce and stir together.  Add in beans, water or broth if using, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, and stir to combine.
4. Cook uncovered until the chili begins to boil, then cover the pot with a lid, turn down heat to medium, and simmer the beans for 30 minutes. Stir it often, and adjust for taste. You can add more chili powder or chipotle peppers if you want it spicier.
5.  If using the cooked potato, add it in the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
6.  Garnish the chili with sour cream, chives, cilantro, and shredded cheese if desired.

October 18, 2010

Making Pasta

Ok. Making pasta is one helluva long process. Nico and Allison (two friends with Belgian connections) hooked me up with a hand-cranked pasta machine.  After leaving it out on the counter for a few weeks, I put it in a nice box and made a mental note that I was going to return to it soon.  I found some fantastic blog posts (here and here) with gorgeous photography and easy to follow instructions, and I also looked to Nico’s pictures as he routinely makes homemade pasta.

Making homemade pasta took just over 3 hours from start to finish.  Making the egg-based dough was the easiest part, but passing the dough through the pasta machine to achieve the necessary kneading (I almost wrote needed kneading, hee hee) took a lot longer than I had suspected and made the process very time-consuming.

You need: patience, counter-space, extra help for managing the dough, and lots of extra flour.  The dough will continue to stretch out with each “pass.” The dough is remarkably resilient and didn’t tear, even if it went through the pasta machine irregularly.  I worked the dough through each setting and had to cut my dough into several smaller pieces, and ended up with 8-10 long pieces.  It required a lot of flour dusting which I think could be achieved with a sifter or maybe a salt-shaker (where the salt is replaced with flour).

Making fresh homemade pasta is no easy task. It didn’t really taste like any pasta I had ever tried before. It was soft with a little bit of bite, and not slippery and gummy like store bought pasta. Although, I would take either for convenience.  I made a tossed goat cheese lasagna gratin with a fresh bechamel sauce. The noodles were cut into long rectangular strips, boiled for 1 minute, and tossed with a goat-cheese bechamel sauce and then baked in the oven until piping hot and golden.  My next pasta making adventure (when I have at least 4 hours of extra time) will be a fettucine with a buttered parmesan-reggiano cream sauce (I think a perfect compliment to showoff such a delicate handmade dish).


The hand-cranked pasta machine:
hand cranked pasta machine
pasta machine


Making the dough:
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all-purpose flour, eggs, blanched chopped parsley, salt
Pasta dough ready for resting


Rolling the dough:
miles of dough
making pasta with a hand-cranked machine


Noodles:
herbed spaghetti with parsley
herbed pasta with parsley
herbed pasta


Finally, the tossed goat cheese spinach lasagna gratin:
Tossed lasagna goat cheese gratin

October 13, 2010

Crepes

What are the first thoughts that come to mind when you think of Belgium?

Last year, my thoughts were beer, chocolate, Brussels? If yours are somewhere along that line of thought you're probably not far off, although most people will now add waffles thanks to Jon Stewart.  More Belgium trivia:

1. Are their official languages in Belgium, and if so, what are they?
2. What are the colors of the Belgian flag (without looking it up!) and in what order?
3. How many people live in Belgium?
4. Does Belgium have any regions, and if so what are they?
5. Capital of Belgium?

Crepes or pannekoeken are found on menus at many restaurants and cafes.  They are popular as street food in Brussels (and decked out with fruit, chocolate sauce, and cream), but I like them best served warm with a little sugar or butter.  My family back in NC used to do crepes on big holidays, and I think they'd love seeing the crepes that are available here.  
crepes or pannekoeken

crepe fix-ins

This recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone 
I use a non-stick wide skillet pan that is about 9" in diameter.  I always grease the pan slightly before adding in more batter. I like the non-stick skillet because you can swirl the batter quickly to form a nice circle.  

Crepes 
(Pannekoeken)

Ingredients:
Yield: 8, 9" crepes
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 to 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat flour, but you could use buckwheat, rye, corn flour etc)
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Mix ingredients with a hand-held mixer in a large mixing bowl (or combine in a blender or food processor). I like to mix together the wet ingredients well first, and then add in the flour and salt.  Cover and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.  Resting allows the batter to absorb the flour, so you will have soft pliable crepes. If using a blender or food processor, you'll have to scrape down the sides. 
2. Heat up a non-stick skillet, or cast iron, over medium-high heat. When hot, add a little butter or oil, and then pour in the batter (about 1/2 cup for a large pan, or more than 2 tbsp batter for a small pan, or for a 6" crepe). Swirl the batter around and then let it set for about a minute.  I cook the crepes between medium-high and medium heat. If the batter is to thick and you get thick crepes, thin it with a little bit of water. 
3. The bottom of the crepe should be golden. Flip the crepe over with your hands and a rubber spatula, and cook another 30 seconds until set. 
4. Set the cooked crepes on a plate or pie plate. You can place them in a warm oven until all are done cooking. 

I like serving them with fruit jam, nuts, fresh cut up fruits, honey, maple syrup or brown sugar. They are equally delicious served savory, but I prefer dosa for a savory crepe. 






1. Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, German, and French. 
2. The colors of the Belgian flag (left to right) are black, yellow, and red.
3. Their are approx. 10.8 M people living in Belgium.
4. Belgium has 3 regions. They are Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels.
5. The capital of Belgium is Brussels. 

October 7, 2010

Cabbage Lentil Soup and Truffled Parmesan Polenta






I picked up some quick-cooking polenta recently, and am happy to present this recipe. I would recommend slowly whisking in the polenta to the boiling water, and then keeping the add-in ingredients very close by. I was running around the kitchen looking for a lid, while polenta was bubbling like volcanic ash onto my arms, and onto the floor.  You can serve the polenta right away, or you can let it cool into a mold (such as a shallow narrow pan like a small bread loaf pan, or a bowl) to slice later. Allow an hour more if you mold the polenta. Otherwise this can come together in 40 minutes.

Back in Chapel Hill my friend Melissa made a truffle-mushroom-polenta dish. I think she was trying to pan-fry the polenta but it just melted into the oil, and so she just stirred in her truffled mushrooms.  Then as if that couldn’t get any better, she served it up with some bourbon bread pudding. Melissa, one day, I want both of these recipes, and to finally have my very own bottle of Bulleit Bourbon.  

This came together pretty quickly between 30-45 minutes. If you want fancy polenta slices, allow up to an hour, but most of it is idle time, or could be prepared in advance.

Cabbage Lentil Soup
1 tbsp and 1 tsp butter or oil
3 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 cup red onion, chopped (about 2 small red onions)
1 medium carrot, chopped
2-3 tbsp tomato paste plus 2 tbsp water
3/4 cup French green dried lentils
1 vegetarian bouillon cube
1-2 liters water
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp dried garlic powder
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp oregano
4-5 cups cabbage, cut into wide ribbons.
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp parsley chopped, for garnish (set aside 2 tbsp for the polenta)

Directions:
1. Heat up the butter over medium-high heat in a large soup stockpot.
2. Add in the minced garlic and after 1 minute, add in onions and carrots. Stir for 3 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato paste, and 2 tbsp water, stir to combine.
4. Add in water, lentils, bouillon cubes and the cumin, red chili powder, onion flakes, dried garlic powder, and oregano. Stir to combine. Add in more water if the level looks low. You want enough water so it looks like a soupy and so the lentils can cook. Cook partially covered for 20 minutes. Stir the soup often.

5. Stir in the cabbage and salt and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
6. Garnish the soup with parsley and serve alongside the polenta.

Truffled-Parmesan Polenta:
5 cups water
1 cup ready-cook polenta
1/3 cup parmesan-reggiano, shredded
2 tbsp truffle oil
2 tbsp parsley, chopped

salt to taste cooking spray if using a mold

Directions:
1. Bring 5 cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan and set aside 1 cup of ready-cook polenta.
2. If you have pot holders, put them on for this next step, and turn down the heat to medium-high. For 2 minutes, whisk in the polenta quickly making sure to get rid of any lumps. Quickly, add in parmesan, truffle oil and parsley.  As the polenta thickens the boiling turns into spurts, and you can get burned.  It’s worth it, the polenta is very good. Turn the heat off and continue to stir another 2 minutes.
3. Serve immediately, or follow directions below to make a mold so you can slice the polenta.

Polenta slices:
Put the cooked polenta into an oiled medium mixing bowl, or an oiled medium bread loaf pan.  Set in the fridge (1 hour) or freezer (30 minutes) for rapid cooling.  It can take up to an hour.  
Once cool, slide the polenta onto a cutting board and cut into desired thickness. You can place the polenta in a grill pan (the non-stick ones) used for making grill marks, or put it into a regular skillet and brown with some cooking spray - or you could use a baking sheet and place lightly brushed polenta slices on top and broil on high for a minute or two.

October 1, 2010

Paris

Eiffel Tower

I spent last weekend in Paris. The goal of my visit was to meet my cousin, Vish, and then spend the next 3 days eating and drinking our way through the city of light.  The over-pricey high speed train, Thalys, connects Brussels to Paris in 1 hour and 20 minutes.  An HOUR and TWENTY minutes! It never ceases to amaze me that I am a 7 minute bike ride away from a train station that can take me to anywhere in Europe. Scion xD, I still miss you, but I could live without you.

Arc de Triomphe

There isn’t much for me to write on the things to see and do in Paris, because there are far more glamorous and well-paid professionals that have already done exactly that.  See here and here and here and here.

These were my highlights: I got to spend 3 days hanging out with my cousin, Vish, and I’ve never seen him so relaxed and at ease (he just finished law school and took the bar recently). One can drink cheap tasty excellent French wines, and then sit outside and marvel at the city sights.  Coffee is served at the counter, bar-style, even in train stations, and even with names like AutoGrille. Masala dosas can be found a 10 minute walk away from the Gare du Nord station, and the cafe’s that serve charcuterie and fromage platters are kind enough to explain all the items.  My French is terrible (it mostly sounds like Dutch and English with some really accented “é” sounds) but now I’ll attempt regardless of the poor sounds that come out.

If you’ve never visited the city before (I had only been once before and it was in July of this year), see the tourist-ey things. They are beautiful. They will take your breath away, they are clogged with hundreds of other tourists, but these sites won’t disappoint. Spend at least a day or two doing this.  This is a city that feels like it is built for everyone else, and when you get a day or two, it is exactly that.


So back to the eating and drinking part. We booked a hotel near the Arc de Triomphe, but north in the 17 arr. neighborhood (the street we were staying on had a very well attended outdoor market). First things first, we started Saturday with some still-warm baguettes and croissants.  The plan was to walk down the famous Champs d’Elysees, mosey on towards the Eiffel Tower, stroll by Les Invalides area, and eventually end up in the Latin Quarter.

Shortly after we made it onto the Champs d’Elysees, we queued up for some macarons from the famous Laduree (macarons bought and devoured were: coffee, pistachio, and caramel). After a lunch of croque monsiers, we picked up a bottle of wine (French!) and sat outside watching rollerbladers with views of Les Invalides and the Grand Palace.  On the way towards the Latin Quarter, we passed by the Rodin museum and the Luxembourg Gardens. Although, I’m not sure which street we were on, it had a unusually high number of gated entrances with police guards in clear cubicles.
Laduree macarons


The Latin Quarter was lively, but reminded me of the Rue de Bouche in Brussels. It was basically a tourist trap. The bars were expensive (5 E for a DUVEL?! WTF?), as I write, tourist trap, we ended up staying very late. Unable to hail a cab, and the metros done running, we got to really experience the city of light on our walk back.  We got to walk through the Louvre at night - it was deserted, entirely lit up, and as cheesey as this sounds it was all under a cloudless sparkly sky. Here I am looking upon the replica of the Triumph arch with a nearly full moon peering down upon me.

The next day’s plan was to view the Cathedral of Notre Dame, explore the Montmartre area, and get back to the task at hand: head to a wine bar and patronize a cheese shop (with excellent travel trips from Allison and Nico).  The day turned out to be rainy and cold , and it made it much more difficult to sightsee.  The Sacre Coeure Basilica is located in the Montmartre area, and sits up higher than the city, so you can look out on the Parisian skyline.  Here we finished off the evening avoiding the rain in a lovely art cafe, Living B’art.  This ended up being an awesome highlight of the trip because it felt like sitting in a huge cosy coffeeshop. The front room has a small stage where the cafe hosts live music on Wednesdays, and art pieces adorn the walls. Big wooden tables with benches make it easy to sprawl out for a game or for multiple plates of food. To be honest, when walking past, I saw the game Bang! and forced everyone to go. The plate de jour featured a dish of scalloped potatoes with bacon and some brie-like divine baked cheesey goodness (when in Rome...) and a large salad. We got a mixte platter of meats and cheeses.  While I love that in Belgium one can have boterham, I really really really adore the fromage platters here.  With all the game instructions in French, we gave up pretty quickly.



charcuterie and fromage

On Monday, Vish and his friend Tim, needed to book tickets to their next destination, so we ended up at the Paris North station around lunchtime. There is quite the South Asian collection of Indian restaurants.  Not just any Indian restaurants either. I’m talking about the ones that are full of fellow South Asians, and even better the ones that serve south Indian cuisine.  So after at least SEVEN long months of not consuming any kinds of good yummy hot dosas, I got to finally savor and devour a masala dosa.  That was followed with an afternoon at the Louvre, and the consumption of more macarons (from Pierre Hermé). See what I mean about adding the “é” to everything? You’re practically fluent.  I took the 8 pm train and was home by 10 pm, as an American, living in Belgium, this still fills me with awe and wonder at how much there is to appreciate and enjoy.