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Recipe Roundup

10 Nov

When compiling and sorting these articles and recipes, it took me a moment to realize that, though I will be sharing five links below, those links actually contain a total of nine separate recipes.  I’m crediting Portland Farmers Market for that unexpected burst of recipes, as the very nature of my writing relationship with them dictates that I will attempt to make as much food as possible with the smallest amount of funds required (note: all six of my recipes for them came in at well under $20–that’s for all six recipes combined.  You want frugal?  I can give you frugal.)

As an added bonus, these dishes would all fit in nicely atop your Thanksgiving table, especially if you are looking for recipe ideas that fall well outside the basic realm of turkey and potatoes.

Pear-Stuffed Acorn Squash; Kidney Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Three Sauces (Sage Brown Butter, Caramelized Shallots and Thyme, and Garlic Chips with Sauteed Spinach)

This sage brown butter sauce was so good that I ate it until I felt a profound sense of discomfort.

Indie Fixx continues to provide Savory Salty Sweet with a great place to share more recipes with more people. These three recipes are my most recent contributions, and they happen to be some of my favorites.  That dark chocolate zucchini cake is absolutely magical.  It’s rich, complex-tasting without being complicated to make, and it just so happens to be vegan (and secretly stuffed with a vegetable, which you’d never, ever be able to tell by eating it).

Linguine with Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Blueberry, Orange, and Cornmeal Pancakes

On an unrelated note, a couple of months ago I made zucchini muffins with some fantastically fresh zucchini, straight from our garden.  As I was scooping the batter into the muffins tins, I noticed that things were looking a little firmer and more robust than they normally should.  Undaunted, I moved on, baking the muffins anyway.  It was only after the muffins had been removed from their tins and cooled that I realized why the muffins looked rather unusual.  I forgot to add the sugar.

Surprisingly, I actually sort of liked the muffins without sugar.  They were still very moist, but they were definitely sturdier, without the fine crumb usually found in a muffin.  They actually tasted more like a bread, less like a muffin, and closer to what I prefer these days when I gravitate towards a snack.  I am debating whether or not to share the recipe.  I am not sure if these muffins would be anyone else’s cup of tea, since I happened to be the only person in the house who ended up eating them (and I live with a carb-loving child and the Perfect Eating Machine, so that’s saying something).

Still, I am sort of fond of them in all their sugar-free, cinnamon-filled glory.

Jeez, that looks healthful.  Like some sort of nutrition nugget that zoologists develop as a snack for panda bears.

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Tiny Party Sandwiches

9 Aug

Let’s say you are in charge of providing snacks and treats for a party.  The party is not a dinner affair, nor a lunchtime soiree, but rather something that falls in between.  It’s a casual backyard get together, and you are expecting 30-40 people to join you.  Though those people will certainly not be expecting you to provide them a meal, it is, of course, assumed that you will be laying out a selection of light bites to hold people over until their next meal, which should helpfully supply some sort of absorbent landing pad for the selection of beer and wine that are also very likely to be consumed.

You’ll, of course, want to make something that isn’t terribly time consuming to begin with, but you’ll also help yourself immensely by making something that is capable of being replenished quickly and with minimal fuss.

Do you know what you want to do?  You want to make your lovely guests some sandwiches.

Now, hear me out on this one.  I am not advocating that you bust out the deli ham and mustard (though, to clarify, there is, of course, nothing wrong with serving such a thing to your guests).  What I am talking about in this instance is a selection of spreads and toppings laid atop tiny slices of baguette.  It’s not quite crostini, and not really bruschetta, but more of a cross between an open-faced sandwich and an appetizer.

The components are simple, but pleasing.  Light and creamy ricotta cheese is folded together with a sprinkle of herbs, honey, or spices.  The ricotta is generously spread on top of a small piece of crusty bread, then topped with a vegetable or fruit of your choosing.  One sandwich pictured here features a cool mint and ricotta spread topped with fresh cucumbers.  The other, which happens to be pleasing to both children and adults, is a lightly honey-sweetened ricotta topped with ripe strawberries, then drizzled with just a thread more honey.  That’s it.  You’re done.  Two baguettes later, your guests are pleased, your tummy is pleased, and you’ve discovered the secret to a delicious party snack that is light, fresh, and delicious, but also delightfully uncomplicated.

Leaving you all the more time to actually enjoy your own party while you simultaneously enjoy your sandwiches.

Mint Ricotta and Cucumber Sandwiches

2 cups ricotta cheese

1/2 small garlic clove, smashed and finely chopped

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced

1 large baguette, sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, garlic, mint, and olive oil.  Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste.

Top each slice of baguette with 1 tablespoon of ricotta mixture, then top ricotta with thin slices of cucumber.

Honey Ricotta and Strawberry Sandwiches

2 cups ricotta cheese

6 tablespoons honey, divided

pinch of salt

1 pound of ripe strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

1 large baguette, sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices

In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese with 4 tablespoons of honey.  Add pinch of salt and mix to combine.

Top each slice of baguette with 1 tablespoon of ricotta mixture, then top ricotta with 3 or 4 thin slices of strawberry.

When you have topped all of the slices of baguette, thinly and lightly drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons of honey over the tops of the assembled sandwiches.

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What to Do with Leftover Scraps of Pie Dough

1 Aug

Things have been a bit pie heavy over here lately, but I think I’d be selling you all short if I moved on from all this talk of pie without first sharing with you one of my favorite pie tips.  Why?  Because this tip does not just involve pies, it involves tiny pies.

High on my list of borderline fanatical food preoccupations (there must always be lemons in the house, we must never buy pre-salted nuts) is my insistence on never, ever letting food go to waste.  I cannot claim to be 100% successful in this endeavor (though I try), but my efforts rarely wane, no matter what I happen to be making.  One of the easiest—and most delicious—food salvaging operations I have come up with is this, a solution for what to do with all those little leftover bits and pieces of pie dough that one is faced with after diligently rolling, cutting, trimming, and preparing a pie.

A delicious pie, with dough scraps aplenty 

In the winter time, when sitting down with a hot cup of coffee and a warm cookie seems like the best thing in the world, I tend to shape leftover pie scraps into cookies.  Sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar and left out as a cozy treat, it’s a tough act to beat.  In the summer time, however, when you’ve relented to having the oven on for the shortest amount of time possible, and you’re not so into the idea of hot beverages and warm cookies, you can’t go wrong with these tiny little fresh fruit pies.

The process could not be simpler.  When making a pie, set aside all your errant scraps of pie dough.  After you set your pie in the oven to bake, gather together all of your dough scraps and roll them out into a rough circle.  Take whatever tiny cup or bowl you would like to use as a little pie plate (here I am using tiny little 4-ounce ramekins), then cut a circle about 2 inches outside the perimeter of the makeshift pie plate.  Tuck the circle of dough into your container, gently pressing the dough against the sides and bottom, then use a fork to poke steam holes into the bottom and sides of the dough.  Re-roll and re-cut dough until you’ve used up as much of the scraps as humanly possible.  It’s up to you if you want to freeze the tiny pie plates at this point (freezing the dough for 30 minutes or so before baking it will prevent a bit of the shrinking that will go on once the dough starts to bake in your hot oven, but it won’t eliminate all of the shrinkage, so I often don’t bother with this step).

Once all of your pie plates have been prepared, set them in the oven to bake alongside your pie (or, if you want to bake the tiny pie crusts on a baking sheet, set them one shelf below your pie where there is room enough to accommodate an additional baking sheet).  The tiny pie crusts, being tiny and all, will bake much faster than an entire pie, so watch them diligently to prevent burning.  These three pie crusts took about 25 minutes to bake.

After your crusts have cooled, you can then fill them with pretty much anything you want.  Here I have adorned my tiny pie crusts with garden fresh strawberries and blueberries, topped with a bit of vanilla yogurt.  This is a heavenly combination, but I imagine pretty much any combination of fruity-plus-creamy would be fantastic.  Raspberries topped with a dollop of crème fraiche.  Nectarines dotted with whipped cream.  Blackberries and custard.  Really.  There is no way to make this not taste good.

Bonus information!

Don’t want to eat a tiny pie right now?  Prepare your tiny crusts in their tiny vessels, then cover them with foil and pop them into the freezer.  When you are in the mood for a tiny pie, bake the frozen pie crusts at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes (until the edges have turned a dark golden brown), then cool and fill as desired.  Frozen, unbaked pie crusts will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

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