crispy roasted potatoes

December 21, 2013 by flavorsmack

You know a side dish is good when your family asks you to make it with every meal. We could be having spaghetti and they want these potato wedges. It’s actually my husband who is doing most of the asking, but the kids certainly agree that these little guys are addictive. I also like that it has basically replaced the bag of frozen fries. Just like my rant earlier in the year about over-indulging in snack stand french fries during baseball season (bacon-wrapped potatoes), I was beginning to feel reluctant to buy those bags of steak fries at the store to accompany a meal. We went through that stint of buying the sweet potato fries – trying to pass them off as healthier in our minds, but in the end it is still a bag of frozen fries. These wedges are so much better for you and so easy to make. I found the recipe in Cook’s Illustrated, and I have learned that it is pretty hard to mess up. So easy in fact, that my husband, not so innocently, said that I should make them for Thanksgiving this year. Now, I know he loves them, but he was just conjuring up past Thanksgivings, and all of our mashed potato mishaps. Cheap ricers gone wrong, burners not bringing the water to boil, vegetable peelers breaking, over salting, you name it. But I had an industrial ricer sitting on top of my fridge, waiting to step in and save the day. Plus, once I told my husband that he would have to share the wedges with 10 people instead of just three, he quickly changed his mind. Mashed potatoes came back onto the Thanksgiving menu real fast.

crispy roasted potatoes (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated)

3 TB canola oil
cooking spray
2 (24 oz) bags small golden potatoes, each potato sliced into four wedges
4 TB cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
pinch crushed red pepper flakes

get started on the crispy roasted potatoes:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice the potatoes. On a large baking sheet lined with foil, coat with cooking spray. Add oil to baking sheet and place in oven. While pan is heating up, place potatoes in a large bowl and toss with cornstarch and remaining ingredients. Carefully remove preheated baking sheet from the oven, and tilt sheet to evenly coat with oil. Place potatoes, mostly cut side down in a single layer, and roast until browned on all edges, turning halfway through, for about 30 minutes. Add kosher salt and pepper to taste if needed.

note: potatoes feed 6-8 hungry people. We like to add grated cheese to them when they come out of the oven. Feel free to adjust the seasoning or add other spices to the cornstarch. It’s all good.

red leaf lettuce salad with prosciutto and goat cheese spirals

December 1, 2013 by flavorsmack

I wasn’t going to serve a salad at Thanksgiving this year. It’s unnecessary really, with the amount of food that gets served. My husband would say that it just equals more plates to wash. But there is a comfort level for me, of sitting down for a few minutes and gathering my thoughts before serving the whole meal. This year was no different. I was super organized given how late I shopped for everything. Maybe it is because I have gotten more comfortable with hosting Thanksgiving over the years. But inevitably, something goes awry, and this year it was my new oven. At some point between heating up the cranberry sauce in the microwave (which doubles as a convection oven I have yet to use), and checking on the turkey in the regular oven, the display message on my oven panel decided to change. It wanted to know what my probing temperature was. The jokes ensued, but I wasn’t laughing. We couldn’t shut it off or cancel out of it. I mean really, now? My husband and my sister were hovering over the panel, and if I kept hearing that damn beep one more time I was going to lose it. It was like a button that said ‘press me‘ and that they did – over and over and over again. So I tried the circuit breaker and shut the oven down, only to be faced with it remembering what it was doing prior to being shut down when I reset the circuit. So I retreated to my office to look for the stupid user’s manual, but I couldn’t find anything on probing temperatures. I went downstairs to find my husband and my sister now with their heads in the oven, cracking jokes about looking for probes and if the probe looked big enough….I think the exact term was “prob-y enough”…shoot me now. I finally found one line in the manual – not on how to cancel out of this mess – but how to enter the non-existent probing temperature and hit bake, then off, and just like that, we were back to normal. My side dishes then got to finish heating up, and so it was time to sit at the table. I was so happy to just serve a nice salad that didn’t need to be heated or baked – just served. And I had my two minutes of sanity back.

prosciutto and goat cheese spirals (adapted from Bon Appetit)

8 oz. plain goat cheese
2 TB, plus 1/2 cup hazelnut oil
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced and divided
2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel, divided
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
red pepper flakes
10-12 imported prosciutto (aiming for nice 3 inch wide by 7 inches long slices), thinly sliced
1 cup stemmed baby spinach leaves
3 TB sherry wine vinegar
3 TB shallots, minced
1 tsp sugar
10 cups red leaf lettuce, coarsely chopped and cleaned

get started on the salad:

note: I wash my chopped lettuce in the salad spinner and divide onto the 8 plates. I have been serving the dressing at the table so people can decide how much or how little they want. The original recipe calls for you tear the lettuce and dress the salad before serving. Either way is fine.

Coarsely chop the lettuce and clean in a salad spinner or colander. Dry on paper towels if needed. Divide lettuce onto 8 plates.
In a medium bowl, stir together the goat cheese, 2 TB hazelnut oil, 1/2 tsp of rosemary and 1 tsp of lemon peel. Season with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Place a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter. Place 1 slice of prosciutto in center of plastic wrap. (If slices are torn or too thin, add a second slice to add stability to the roll – which is a good reason to get more prosciutto than you need). Spread evenly, about 2 TB of goat cheese mixture over the prosciutto slice, covering as much as you can. Add a single layer of stemmed baby spinach on top of the goat cheese mixture. Place another slice of prosciutto on top of the layer of spinach. Repeat the cheese and spinach and prosciutto layers twice more, ending with a prosciutto slice. Starting at the long side, lift the plastic wrap up and over the layer to start rolling up jelly roll style. This can be done with quarter turns. Add a final slice of prosciutto, if needed, to cover the seam of exposed cheese and spinach. Wrap up tightly in the plastic wrap. Proceed with remaining prosciutto, cheese and spinach to make a second roll. Chill until firm, about six hours.

wrapped roll

Whisk together the sherry vinegar, shallots, sugar and remaining rosemary, lemon peel and 1/2 cup hazelnut oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Unwrap rolls and slice each of the rolls into twelve spirals, about 1/2 inch thick. Place three rolls onto each of the eight plates of lettuce and serve with the dressing.

ratatouille spirals

November 13, 2013 by flavorsmack

In a weird way, I think this dish is representative of me. It is a dish that tries to please everyone. It looks complicated, but is really straight forward. And you are committed to it, even though it is a bit of a pain in the ass to make. I saw this recipe in a magazine and knew right away I needed to make it. I haven’t mastered it yet, because I think the proportions are off a little with both the veggies and/or the size of the pan, but nevertheless, it is still a good dish. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe and used the anchovies. The dish got an F. The kids were coughing and dry heaving, and then my husband, because he still is a child, did the same. So, obviously the anchovies didn’t dissolve, and ruined the dish (for us). My suggestion to pick around the anchovies got tossed about as fast as the dish did. How was I ever going to bring back my dish that I was in love with for the strangest reasons? Thankfully, the opportunity came up when my cooking soul mate called, and we decided to make dinner reservations. As the night out drew closer, we made the convenient excuse to just get together and cook a meal ourselves. We met to go food shopping for a menu that was basically nonexistent, with the exception of the spirals I was making. But at 5:30pm, in the cheese aisle, our menu took shape. I think that if we didn’t have a clock or a liver, we could have cooked all night. Ok, so maybe just not a clock…kidding. So after the cooking marathon, the hour on the clock told us we were tired and the empty bottles of wine signaled the immediacy of going to bed. However, we had successfully made stuffed jalapeños with Brie, caramelized onion and mushroom ravioli, and of course, I got to make my spirals again. This time, I substituted fresh basil for the anchovies. I still didn’t fill the pan with spirals, but what I could fill was my belly and my fridge full of left overs!

ratatouille spirals (adapted from Bon Appetit)

3 lbs beefsteak tomatoes, scored with an “X” on the bottoms
3 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 cups cubed country bread
2 1/2 lbs medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8 inch thick strips
2 1/2 lbs small japanese or italian eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/8 inch thick strips
3 roasted bell peppers, cut into 1/2 inch strips
20 – 24 fresh basil leaves
1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 x 2 inch sticks
freshly grated parmesan cheese

get started on the spirals:

In a medium pot of boiling water, blanch the tomatoes for 30 seconds. Drain them and then slip off the skins and halve the tomatoes crosswise. Coarsely chop the tomatoes, keeping the juices and seeds.
Preheat the oven to 375. In a large skillet, heat 2 TB of the oil. Add the onion, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and juices and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook while stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened, about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, on a baking sheet, toss the bread cubes with the remaining 1 TB of olive oil. Toast for about 15 minutes, stirring once, until golden.
In a colander, toss the zucchini and eggplant with 2 TB of kosher salt (can be done in separate colanders), and let drain for 15 minutes. Shake out the excess liquid and pat the slices dry.
Spoon the tomato sauce into a shallow 2 1/2 qt. baking dish and scatter the bread cubes on top.

On a clean work surface, top each zucchini slice with a slice of eggplant. Blot dry if necessary. Place a strip of roasted red pepper and then top with a basil leaf. Place a stick of mozzarella at one end. Sprinkle each stack with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and roll up. Stand the rolls in the baking dish and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Cover with parchment paper or foil. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender and the ratatouille is bubbling. Remove the parchment paper halfway through baking. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

note: this dish serves 8 people

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: