Recipes

Ok, ok, technically they aren’t homemade because I didn’t make the corn tortillas, but that may be coming sooner rather than later.  I did however bake these and season them so deliciously that I will most likely never purchase a bag of tortilla chips again. Unless there is a “tortilla chip” emergency and well, I’m sure there would be worse things that could happen.

I’ve made these a few times and the only thing that will make a difference is the thickness of the tortilla itself.  This couldn’t be easier and you can make them a day or two ahead and store in an airtight baggie.

This batch was ONE package of corn tortillas which cost about $1.00. (plus the oil, salt and lime I already had)

Brush one corn tortilla with a small and I mean, small! amount of vegetable oil on both sides.  You don’t need a lot.

Layer another tortilla on that one and brush the top with oil. You don’t have to brush the bottom because the one below it will transfer the oil.

Continue laying another 3 or 4 tortillas. I use half the package , about 6 tortillas per cookie sheet.

First cut in half, and then in thirds or quarters if you want skinnier chips.  I love this part because they do not come out looking perfect. They are different sizes and sometimes (whoops!) even different shapes.

Spread them out on a cookie sheet, trying not to overlap them. I didn’t spray the cookie sheet, but you could lay down parchment paper if you wanted even easier clean up.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 11-14 minutes.  This depends on the thickness of the tortilla. My first batches took 11 minutes and burned in 12. This batch took almost 15.  Just keep an eye on them.

This was one package of corn tortillas (minus the few chips I had to “taste” for quality control)

As soon as they come out, squeeze fresh lime juice over them and sprinkle with salt.  You could salt them before they cook too, if you like them saltier.  You can eat them warm or let them cool completely and store in an airtight baggie.  They should last a few days, if you can stop eating them.

mmm extreme chip closeup!

Enjoy!

Apple picking is probably my favorite Fall activity. I LOVE it. I could go every week. In fact, I think that may just be my plan this season.  Two weekends ago we went to the apple orchard to pick honey crisp apples right off the tree.  Eating apples that you’ve picked seconds before you take that first bite…ah it really doesn’t get much better than that.

I always pick more apples than I can eat.  This time was no exception. I came home with eight pounds of apples. Hmm, what to do? Fortunately, when I checked my mailbox that same day, I found a postcard from one of our cruise friends.

(Yes, I know the cruise post hasn’t come yet….JenTastic needs to add her two cents to my post before I publish it, but at the rate she’s going, we’ll need another cruise to refresh our memories before this one gets written)  

Anyway, that postcard happened to have a recipe for apple strudel, so that is what I decided to make.  I didn’t actually use that recipe, but I researched a bunch of them on the Interwebs and took a culmination of what I found.  That’s how I roll in the kitchen, people. Improvise.  Sometimes more successful than others.

I had completely forgotten how finicky filo, phyllo, whatever you call it, dough is.  That stuff will drive anyone crazy. It’s no wonder things like baklava are so incredibly costly, and rarely made at home!

So here’s my apple strudel – step by step, except for the steps where I crushed sheets of filo between my fingers, cursed at my ceiling and then threw them angrily into the trash. Sadly, those steps have been edited.  Tis a shame…they were pretty amusing moments.

I’ve never made strudel before, but I used to make apple pie all the time when I worked at a little grocery store after high school so I was fairly confident in my strudel making ability.  I always TRY to stick with a traditional version the first time I make something so I actually added raisins. I don’t usually include raisins in food that needs to be cooked because of a traumatic, childhood incident.   I love raisins, really I do.  As a child, I never went anywhere without my box of Sun-Maid raisins.  Everyone knew this, including my brother.  One day, my wonderful, caring, nurturing brother decided that he would rip the legs off ants, crush them and feed them to me as if they were my beloved raisins.  Apparently, I ate many an ant until Mom discovered what he was doing.  I learned of this later in life, thankfully (I have a bug issue, much like my friend Kim) but I’ve never been down with warm, plump raisins.

I really don’t want to think about that right now. I’d rather talk strudel.

Apple Strudel – made 2 strudels (filo was smaller than I remember, so you may have to adjust filling amounts)

5 medium apples – peeled, cored and chopped
1c apple juice
2T corn starch (maybe a little less)
1/4c sugar (may need more if apples aren’t sweet enough)
1 t cinnamon
4T butter – melted
1t vanilla
1/2c raisins
1/2c chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/2c plain breadcrumbs
4-5 sheets of filo (or as many as you can separate fully and still have enough to work with) Filo should be thawed, but very cold.  Keep it frozen until day before you use it.  Keep in fridge until you’re exactly ready to use it and keep it under a damp, cold cloth when working with it. (got that?)

Add corn starch to 1/4c of apple juice to make a slurry – set aside.

Peel, core and chop apples. In a large saucepan combine apples, remaining apple juice, sugar, cinnamon and raisins.  Cook over low to medium heat until apples are softened, about 10 minutes.  Stir slurry to mix, add to apple mixture, stir continually for another minute. Add vanilla and remove from heat.  Stir in pecans.  Let cool.

I haven’t added the pecans yet, but here they are:

On a clean, dry surface lay out one piece of filo (I put a piece of parchment right on my baking sheet and it was very easy to move around.)  Lightly brush it with butter; a pastry brush OR your fingers will work…just be careful, it’s very fragile.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs. (Yes, I know! I didn’t realize this was a secret part of strudel.  You can also use cake crumbs if you happen to have them, but really who keeps cake crumbs around? I thought that’s what your mouth was for??)

Repeat with 3 or 4 more layers, butter, breadcrumbs, repeat.  Finally you’ll have a little stack of layers.  I added half of the filling just off center on my filo stack.

Then I carefully rolled it up (with more cursing and under the breath mumbling) and ended up with these beauties!  Don’t say a word about the misshapen one, you’ll give it a complex.  When it was all baked and sliced, it looked perfectly normal thankyouverymuch.

Brush the tops with remaining butter. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-18 minutes. I think mine took about 20.  Just watch them.

Oh la la!  Look how pretty they are! and NOTHING makes your house smell better than apples and cinnamon cooking.

I let them cool overnight and then I sprinkled them heavily with powdered sugar and sliced. Here are some glamour shots of my strudel.  Head shot.

Side angle.

That’s it! With practice, the filo will come easily, but as I was fighting with it, I was already thinking of back up plans. You could cut the filo in half and layer in muffin tins making strudel cups. I may try that next time, but I WILL be making more of this soon! I COULD have made one big one, but I’m not sure how I would have rolled it up. It was hard enough with these little ones.  I’d guess that as I get better at the filo, I can make larger ones.

These actually made perfect size slices. I took them to work and shared.  I did. Really.

See?

My cruise friend Julia, whose postcard sparked this whole idea, suggested topping it with a warm vanilla sauce or of course, vanilla ice cream.  Both sound good, but warm vanilla sauce is now on my “to do” list.

I bought a lot of beautiful red, yellow and orange peppers this week at the farmer’s market and then didn’t know what to do with them so I decided to try roasting them.  Turns out it’s easy, but a bit messy, to do!

I preheated my oven to 450 degrees and covered a cookie sheet with tin foil.

I put the peppers on the tin foil and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and then used my hands to cover each pepper with a little oil.

They went into the oven for a while. Honestly, I didn’t check the time because I was making dinner and I kept looking at them. I’d guess maybe 15 minutes and then I turned them over and cooked them another 15 minutes.  I have NO idea if this is too much time, but they turned out ok.

After they came out of the oven, I put them into 2 small brown lunch bags to steam.  Then I went to eat my dinner.

A little while later (maybe 20 minutes because I watched the last two rounds of Chopped) I started peeling the skins off and removing the seeds.  This is the messy part. It took me about five peppers before I figured out how to get the seed pod out without breaking them all over the peppers.

I put all the peppers in a container and drizzled with more olive oil and put in the fridge.  I will be making paninis or roasted pepper hummus with them soon. You could also slice them and put on salads.

Easy and delicious!

This corn chowder is easy to make and super delicious with fresh summer corn!  There is a bit of prep time, so make sure to consider that.  I based this off a recipe from Cooking Light and it’s really delicious and surprisingly, not too hot for an August night.  The corn is sweet and fresh and I think cilantro brightens up everything!

a small chunk of pancetta, or a few slices of bacon

3 shallots, finely chopped (1 onion would work as well)

1 celery stalk finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced or grated

1/2 poblano pepper finely chopped

1/2 to 1 teaspoon paprika (season to taste)

salt

pepper

1 -16oz of reduced sodium chicken broth

1/3c water

5-6 ears of fresh corn kernels or 4  cups frozen corn kernels, thawed

3/4 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp

1/3 cup half-and-half

cilantro and flat leaf parsley to taste

Directions:

Heat a large Dutch oven or saute pan with high sides over medium-high heat.

Add pancetta or bacon to pan; saute 4 minutes or until it begins to brown.

Remove pieces and drain on paper towels.

Add shallots, celery, garlic, and poblano pepper and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add corn, and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add broth; bring to a boil, and cook for 4 minutes.

Place 2 cups of corn mixture in a blender and blend until smooth. (I used my immersion blender and it worked just fine. I did blend it in a separate bowl and poured it back in, but next time, I’ll do it right in the soup pot.

Return pureed corn mixture to pan.

Stir in shrimp; cook 2 minutes or until shrimp are done.

Stir in half-and-half and adjust seasons to taste.

Crumble reserved bacon over soup and sprinkle with cilantro and parsley.

My notes:

I like shrimp, but I don’t think it added anything special to this recipe.  You could also make this vegetarian by omitting the pancetta or bacon and using vegetable stock instead.  The real flavor comes from the corn and the poblano pepper.  Adapt as you like, adding whatever veggies you want.  Enjoy!

a small chunk of pancetta, or a few slices of bacon
3 shallots, finely chopped (1 onion would work as well)
1 celery stalk finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1/2 poblano pepper finely chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon paprika (season to taste)
salt
pepper
1 -16oz of reduced sodium chicken broth
1/3c water
5-6 ears of fresh corn kernels or 4  cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
3/4 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1/3 cup half-and-half
cilantro and flat leaf parsley to taste

Directions:

Heat a large Dutch oven or saute pan with high sides over medium-high heat.
Add pancetta or bacon to pan; saute 4 minutes or until it begins to brown.
Remove pieces and drain on paper towels.
Add shallots, celery, garlic and next 3 ingredients (through minced garlic) to pan, and saute for 2 minutes.
Add corn, and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add broth; bring to a boil, and cook for 4 minutes.
Place 2 cups of corn mixture in a blender and blend until smooth. (I used my immersion blender and it worked just fine. I did blend it in a separate bowl and poured it back in, but next time, I’ll do it right in the soup pot.
Return pureed corn mixture to pan.
Stir in shrimp; cook 2 minutes or until shrimp are done.
Stir in half-and-half and adjust seasons to taste.
Crumble reserved bacon over soup and sprinkle with cilantro and parsley.

This is a variation of a recipe I saw on a cooking show.  It might have been Paula Deen, which shocks me because I can never cook anything she makes.  She uses too much butter and sugar for me.  Why yes, I did just actually say “too much sugar.”

These are Lemon Coconut Macaroons and they are SO delicious.

1 large egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 c sweetened condensed milk
2+ Tablespoons lemon zest (I used a whole lemon, it was a big one)
1/2 T lemon extract (I didn’t have any, so I used all the juice from the lemon I zested and it tasted just fine)
1/2t vanilla extract
1 – 14 oz bag of shredded sweetened coconut – roughly chopped.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a bowl,whisk the egg white and salt until frothy.  This took about 2- minutes using a hand whisker, faster if you use an electric mixer (which you do not need for this recipe)

Stir in condensed milk, zest and extracts (and juice if you use the lemon juice).

Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the coconut until combined.

You can use a small ice cream scoop or just use your hands to make 1 1/2 inch macaroons.  You will need to use your hands to form them together, so be prepared to get your hands dirty.

Place them about an inch apart on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake until lightly browned. Check on them after 20 minutes, but mine needed almost 30.  They will turn brown very quickly after  they start browning so be sure to watch them.

Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

Notes: If you like your macaroons a little more refined and not so crazy, you can chop the coconut  more finely.  There are a lot of variations you can make with this recipe, just experiment with flavorings.  They can be dipped in chocolate or rolled in nuts, all sorts of things.  Be creative. If they turn out less than desired, you can always bring them to work and call them “test recipes.”