Deep Fried...Something

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I came across this recipe yesterday, and I couldn't wait to try it.  Not only did it sound pretty easy (and tasty), but it's the perfect thing to munch on during a football game, even if it is only preseason.  Thanks to my friend Jan for this recipe!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients:

• 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Ranch dressing
• ¾  cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
• 1½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
• crackers

Directions:

1. Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through.
2. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm.
3. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker.
4. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly.
5. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

Notes:
You could also make this with freshly cooked chicken instead of canned, but there are enough other flavors that it doesn't taste like canned chicken at all.

Baked Quinoa Casserole

I was browsing TasteSpotting the other day for quinoa recipes and this one caught my eye.  Not because it looked amazingly good, but because the picture was to put it nicely, not very appetizing and I was curious what the heck it was.  Once I clicked through, the recipe actually sounded pretty good so I decided to make it.  I made a couple of modifications, which I've incorporated below.

Baked Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½  cups fresh broccoli florets
• ½ white onion, chopped
• Handful of spinach
• 4 large eggs
• 1½ cup milk
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup shredded cheese
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a 9" pie plate or casserole dish and set aside.
2. In a medium-sized sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine the water, quinoa and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Turn off the heat and fluff the quinoa with a fork.
3. Place the broccoli florets, spinach and onions on top of the quinoa, cover, and let the saucepan rest on the warm burner for about 5 minutes, or until the florets are bright green and crisp.
4. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the milk and pepper, whisking until combined. Add the cheese and whisk to combine. 
5. Place the quinoa-vegetable mixture in the prepared casserole dish. Pour the egg mixture over top, mixing gently if necessary.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Allow the baked quinoa to cool for 10 minutes on a wire cooling rack before cutting into slices and serving. Serve hot.

Notes:
You can use soy milk and eliminate the cheese to make it a dairy-free recipe like the original if you want. 

Quinoa Asian Slaw

My friend Leigh sent me this recipe, because she knows that I love quinoa recipes.  I already had grand plans for dinner tonight, but this seemed like it would be a great side dish for our meal.  The initial recipe came from here, and after I clarified a typo with the person who posted it (she initially had 2-3 cups of water listed instead of Tablespoons), it was a remarkably simple recipe to make.  I didn't take a picture of it by itself, so you'll have to look at this post to see it.

Quinoa Asian Slaw

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cabbage purple, and green
• 1/2 cup carrots shredded
• 1/4 cup green onions
• 1/4 cup green pepper

Sauce

• 1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
• 2-3 Tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Hoisin sauce

Directions:

1. In a pot, combine rinsed quinoa with the water and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. 
2. Combine with cabbage, onions, and peppers in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients.  
4. Pour over slaw mixture and stir well to combine.  
5. Cover, refrigerate and let cool for 1-2 hours until quinoa is cold and flavors have had a chance to blend together.  Eat as a side or as a whole meal!

Notes:
I doubled the recipe, and replaced the peppers with more cabbage and carrots and green onions.  I also used a blender instead of a whisk for the sauce, which made it much quicker.

Homemade Hummus

...or should I say yum-mus.  I'll be the first to admit, I didn't used to like hummus.  I thought it was boring and expensive, and I wasn't a huge fan of the taste.  Then I went to Israel, where it was served EVERYWHERE we went, and I realized how good it could be.  When I got back, I started looking up recipes, because it seemed really overpriced at the grocery store.  When I realized how few ingredients it needed to have, and how inexpensive those ingredients were, I decided to give it a whirl.  This has been one of my favorite recipes for several years now, and I can't believe I haven't put it on the blog before now.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup sesame seeds
  
• 6 Tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small can marinated artichoke hearts, drained (optional)

Directions:

1. Toast sesame seeds over medium heat in a dry pan until they are golden brown and beginning to stick together, 3-5 minutes.  
2. Move sesame seeds to food processor and puree, adding water 1 Tablespoon at a time, until you have a paste consistency.
3. Heat olive oil in pan and cook garlic until golden brown.
4. Add garlic, oil, garbanzo beans, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and artichoke hearts to the food processor and blend until smooth. 
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.  If consistency is too thick, add a little bit of water or more lemon juice.

Notes:
This makes about 4½ cups of hummus.  I've seen recipes that add sundried tomatoes, a small onion, roasted red peppers, etc.  Be creative, it's almost impossible to go wrong with this recipe!

Double Broccoli Quinoa

When I decided to make this recipe this weekend, I looked back in my blog archives because I was sure I had posted it before.  Turns out I was wrong, even though I've made it a few times.  This recipe comes from the 101 Cookbooks blog.  It's one of my favorite cooking blogs, and all of the recipes are vegetarian.  This works as a main dish or a side dish.

Double Broccoli Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked quinoa (see notes)
• 5 cups raw broccoli, cut into small florets and stems
• 3 medium garlic cloves
• 2/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 big pinches salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Optional toppings:

• Chile oil (see notes)
• Sliced avocado
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Slivered basil

Directions:

1. Heat the quinoa and set aside.
2. Now barely cook the broccoli by pouring 3/4 cup water into a large pot and bringing it to a simmer. Add a big pinch of salt and stir in the broccoli. Cover and cook for a minute, just long enough to take the raw edge off. Transfer the broccoli to a strainer and run under cold water until it stops cooking. Set aside.
3. To make the broccoli pesto puree two cups of the cooked broccoli, the garlic, 1/2 cup of the almonds, Parmesan, salt, and lemon juice in a food processor. Drizzle in the olive oil and cream and pulse until smooth.
4. Just before serving, toss the quinoa and remaining broccoli florets with about 1/2 of the broccoli pesto. Taste and adjust if needed, you might want to add more of the pesto a bit at a time, or you might want a bit more salt or an added squeeze of lemon juice. Turn out onto a serving platter and top with the remaining almonds, a drizzle of the chili oil, and some sliced avocado or any of the other optional toppings.

Notes:
To cook quinoa: rinse one cup of quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer. In a medium saucepan heat the quinoa, two cups of water (or broth if you like), and a few big pinches of salt until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Quinoa is done when you can see the curlique in each grain, and it is tender with a bit of pop to each bite. Drain any extra water and set aside.

To make the red chile oil: You'll need 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes. If you can, make the chile oil a day or so ahead of time by heating the olive oil in a small saucepan for a couple minutes - until it is about as hot as you would need it to saute some onions, but not so hot that it smokes or smells acrid or burned. Turn off the heat and stir in the crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside and let cool, then store in refrigerator. Bring to room temp again before using.

I had never served this with feta before, because Sarah's not a big fan of it.  If you like feta though, it really is amazing in this dish. 

Roasted Chickpeas with Garam Masala

I have to admit, I really like chickpeas.  They're incredibly versatile in recipes, they're good on salad, and they're remarkably healthy (basically pure protein and fiber).  A couple of months ago, roasted chickpeas suddenly became all the rage.  I never really looked at any of the recipes though, because I thought it sounded complicated.  Imagine my surprise when I found this recipe today, while searching on tastespotting.com for garam masala recipes.  4 ingredients?  5 minutes of prep time?  Sign me up!  These are a great snack, and would be awesome on a salad in place of croutons.  I can't wait to try them again with some other spices (chili powder and curry powder both sound amazing).

Roasted Chickpeas with Garam Masala

Ingredients:

• 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Garam Masala
• 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.
2. Drain the chickpeas in a colander and rinse very well. Let them dry for 5 minutes or so, then place them in a big bowl.
3. Add the olive oil, Garam Masala and sea salt. Toss until the chickpeas are evenly coated.
4. Spread them out on a rimmed cookie sheet so that they’re not overlapping, then bake for 40 - 45 minutes, tossing the pan occasionally. They’re done when they’re crisp and crunchy.

Notes:
Garam Masala is an Indian spice mix.  I used this blend from penzeys.com, containing Moroccan coriander, Tellicherry black peppercorns, cardamom, Korintje cassia cinnamon, kalonji, caraway, cloves, ginger and nutmeg.

Green Bean Casserole

This recipe originally comes from The Mean Green on Food Network.  I made a couple of changes based on recommendations from Chris, who made this for Thanksgiving, and a few more changes based on my personal tastes.  This is by far the best green bean casserole I've ever tasted, and I'll definitely be making it again in the future.  It is a bit time-intensive, but absolutely worth it.

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:
For the Beans:

• 1 pound green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces (weighed prior to trimming)
• 2 strips bacon, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large Vidalia sweet onion, 1/2 cut into large dice, 1/2 reserved
• 1 Portobello mushroom
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

For the Roux:

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

For the Topping:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Reserved 1/2 Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
• 3 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 cups canola oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch green beans (cook at rolling boil for 2-3 minutes).
3. Remove to an ice bath until cool, drain and let dry.
4. Lightly butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish.
5. In a large frying pan, over medium-high heat, saute bacon until lightly crispy; remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
6. In remaining bacon fat, add olive oil, heat over medium-high heat, add onions and saute until just starting to caramelize.
7. Add in mushrooms, garlic and minced shallot and saute for 2 more minutes. Season with the salt, pepper and cayenne. Set aside.
8. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. When butter is melted, add in flour, all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until well combined. Continue to stir for 1 minute more.
9. Add in milk 1/4 cup at first, stirring well to combine, then add 1/2 cup more milk, stir to combine and bring to a simmer, then add final 1/4 cup of milk and stir and simmer until thickened.
10. Add in seasonings, combine with onion mixture and green beans, and pour into prepared pan. Top with 3/4 cup panko crumbs, then reserved bacon, then remainder of panko lightly sprinkled on top.
11. Place in oven, set timer for 35 minutes.
12. In a medium bowl place buttermilk, onion, and shallots. Let sit 10 minutes, drain well.  
13. In a medium bowl, combine flour and seasonings. When green beans have been in the oven 25 minutes, in a large frying pan, heat canola oil to 350 degrees F.
14. While oil is heating, dredge drained onion and shallots in flour mixture. Drop carefully into the hot oil, 1/3 at a time. They will cook rapidly, 1 minute or less. Turn over if necessary. Remove and drain on paper towels. Let oil heat between batches.
15. When timer goes off for green beans, take out of oven, top with onion-shallot mixture, evenly coating the casserole, place back into oven and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Remove and let set 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
I halved everything except the fried onion topping from the original recipe.  I love having tons of crunchy fried onions and shallots on top.  I used peanut oil instead of canola oil, because it's what I happened to have handy.

Quinoa Pilaf With Chick Peas, Pomegranate and Spices

This recipe, originally seen in the NY Times, has been sitting on my computer screen for a few weeks now.  It sounded interesting, but I wasn't sure how the combination of flavors would turn out.  I finally decided to give it a go, and it's incredibly good.  I would suggest using a little more of the yogurt garnish on top than the picture shows (I added more after my first couple of bites).

Quinoa Pilaf with Chick Peas, Pomegranate and Spices

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup quinoa, cooked (4 cups cooked quinoa, see notes)
• 1 cup cooked chick peas (canned are fine), rinsed
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

For garnish (optional):

• 1 cup thickened yogurt
• 1 small garlic clove, pureed (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat a large, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat and add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Toast in the pan, stirring or shaking the pan, until they begin to smell fragrant, and transfer to a spice mill. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then coarsely grind. Set aside.

   

2. Return the frying pan to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and salt, stir together for about half a minute, and stir in the cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Add the remaining olive oil and stir in the quinoa, chick peas, and 3 tablespoons of the pomegranate seeds. Stir over medium heat to heat through, several minutes. Taste and adjust salt. Transfer to a platter or wide bowl and decorate with the remaining pomegranate seeds. You can also mold the pilaf into 1/2-cup ramekins or timbales and unmold onto the plate, then decorate with pomegranate seeds.
4. Stir the garlic into the thickened yogurt. Serve the pilaf topped with the yogurt and drizzled with lemon juice.

Notes:

I've included a picture of my spice mill, mainly for sentimental reasons.  It started its life as a coffee grinder, but I don't drink coffee.  I mentioned to my mom a few years ago that I was looking for a pepper grinder like the one my grandma used to have, and she gave me this one from her cabinet.  It's the perfect kitchen tool for grinding pepper (and other spices!).

This recipe had specific instructions linked for cooking the quinoa.  They recommended cooking 1 cup of quinoa in 3 cups of water instead of the standard 2 cups.  I followed their instructions and it came out just fine.  Bring water to a boil, cook for 15 minutes, then drain the quinoa and let sit for about 5 minutes. 

I don't have ramekins or timbales, so I just used a 1/2 cup measure.  I packed the pilaf in fairly tightly, then turned it over on my cutting board and carefully transferred it to a plate.

For the garnish, I used greek yogurt since I know it tends to be on the thick side.  It's a very simple, but very tasty garnish.

Curry Chickpeas

There's an Afghan restaurant just up the road from us that Sarah and I like going to every now and then.  Inevitably, we order curry chickpeas as an appetizer, and then have almost no room left for our actual dinner.  Since I have a fairly ridiculous amount of red curry powder, I finally decided to try to make this myself.  The recipe below is a slight modification from what I actually made (I put in a whole small can of tomato paste, which was good but a little too much). 

Curry Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon red curry powder
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 can (14 ounces) light coconut milk
• 2 cans (14 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Put curry powder in hot saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.  Transfer curry powder to a bowl and add water to make a paste.  Set aside.
2. Heat oil in saucepan (still over medium heat) and saute garlic until golden.  Add salt, tomato paste, and coconut milk.  Stir until well mixed.  Add curry paste and mix well.  Bring to a low boil.
3. Add chickpeas and return to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve with tandoori bread.

Notes:
I'll probably use a little more curry powder next time I make this, but overall it was a great dish. 

Corn Fritters

Today's recipe comes from American Classics, a cookbook from the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine.  I'll be making another recipe from this book later this week too, I couldn't resist.  This was a nice easy recipe, although I'd recommend being careful while frying the fritters.  The oil splattered quite a bit when I was cooking them.

Corn Fritters


Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed
• 1 large egg, beaten lightly
• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 Tablespoons cornmeal
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 large shallot, minced (about 3 Tablespoons)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable or corn oil, or more as needed

Directions:

1. Using a chef's knife, cut the kernels from 1 or 2 ears of corn (to make this easier, cut the ear of corn in half, then rest cut side on cutting board).  You should have about 1 cup.  Transfer the kernels to a medium bowl.
2. Grate the kernels from the remaining corn on hte large holes of a box grater, then firmly scrape any pulp remaining on the cob with the back of a knife.  You should have a generous 1/2 cup kernels and pulp.  Transfer the grated kernels and pulp to the bowl with the cut kernels.
3. Mix the egg, flour, cornmeal, cream, shallot, salt, and cayenne into the corn mixture to form a thick batter.  (The batter can be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 hours.)
4. Heat the oil in a 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 2 minutes.  Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter into the oil (half the batter, or 6 fritters, should fit into the skillet at once).  Fry until golden brown, about 50 seconds, then, using a thin metal spatula, turn the fritters and fry until the second side is golden brown, about 50 seconds longer.
5. Transfer the fritters to a paper towel-lined plate.  Add more oil to the skillet if necessary and heat until shimmering.  Repeat to fry the remaining batter.  Serve the fritters immediately.

Notes:
When fresh corn is out of season, frozen corn can be used.  Processing the frozen kernels in a food processor approximates the texture achieved by grating fresh corn.