Spring Leek Hash with Polenta and Cheese

Hash & Polenta

Leek & Pepper Hash

In my latest edition of Vegetarian Times, there was a recipe that looked so interesting and simple, I knew I just had to try it. The recipe only had one slight variation where in it originally called for goat cheese and even though I love it, Nathan doesn't. It was so simple, the most complex part was the slicing and dicing, which I love. I sauteed 3 leeks (finely sliced), 1 red pepper (finely sliced) and 2 tbsp fresh thyme (the recipe called for 1 tbsp in the dish and 1 tbsp on top, but I decided to put it all inside). The recipe also called for red pepper flakes, but we didn't have any. In the end, Nathan solved this the problem the same way he usually does: sriracha sauce. Once the veggies were nice and bright, about 10 minutes, I added in 1/4 cup vegetarian chicken broth and 4 minced cloves of garlic (the recipe called for 3 and two were a little small, so I brought it up to 4). I moved the veggies into a Pyrex pan, covered it with thick sliced polenta, topped it off with finely shredded cheese and baked it at 400* for 10 minutes. I can't remember the name of the cheese, but it was a mildly sharp white cheese. It had a bit of a fruity nutty taste to it as well.

Baked Polenta with Cheese

All in all it was a deliciously flavorful, salt free, low fat, vegetarian dinner. I wonder what it would have tasted like with a great goat cheese. I have also been a little proud of myself the last few recipes using peppers. I do love peppers, especially red, orange, and yellow peppers. However, I don't like them hot (temperature wise), and especially not roasted. I usually steer clear of recipes with peppers but I decided to stop doing that, and they were surprisingly fantastic in this dinner, and even in my tomato soup last week.

Hand Blender

Just a quick little post to share how excited I am about my newest kitchen toy! I got a Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender today and I can't wait to use it. I decided that I wasn't going to make another soup until I got one, because transferring soup from a pot to a food processor and back to a pot again is so difficult and messy. Unfortunately, I am determined to make a new recipe for broccoli and spinach soup this week that I needed to get it sooner rather than later. So I did! I can't wait to give it a try!

Breakfast Squares

Breakfast Square Assembly Steps

Folded Breakfast Square

With breakfast being my favorite meal of the day, I like to have an awesome breakfast even when I don't have the time. My solution to this comes at quite a price of time and cash, but it is well worth it. Being a vegetarian, I had to find a solution that didn't involve real meat, and being a health conscientious type of person, I like to know what is in my food. I came up with a solution that is similar to the Pillsbury Toaster Scrambles. What I do first is I take the low fat Pillsbury crescent rolls dough, which comes in a sheet of 8 triangles, and separate them out into four rectangles. I place some scrambled eggs in the center of one half and top it off with one piece of MorningStar Farms Veggie Bacon and half a piece of American cheese. I fold the roll over and pinch it shut. I bake the squares at 350* for 10 minutes, flipping half way through. After they have cooled, I stick them in the freezer, separated by parchment paper. When it comes time to defrost them, I like to pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds and then flip it over for another 30 seconds. That way, I can be sure that the inside is entirely warmed. I put the square in the toaster on low and then flip it over for another go on low. It is a lot of work for an even cook, but it really is worth it.

Cracked Eggs

When I make my squares, I like them to be worth my time and I do what I can to make them last a long time. I start with 12 Pillsbury crescent roll tubes, 2 packages of American cheese with 12 slices each, 24 eggs, and 48 pieces of veggie bacon. I really get a great assembly line together when it comes time to start putting them together and they get more efficient each time I make them. This makes 48 breakfast squares, and I like to add some chipotle powder for Nathan in a batch, and then I sprinkle a little on top. He likes a little kick in his food.

Dill Salmon, Potatoes, & Wine Brussels Sprouts

A Dilly Dinner

Feeling the cold of winter can sometimes make me feel lonesome for the summertime. In the summer, my Yaya (grandmother) makes her famous potato salad with dill, onions, and capers. My summer is literally not complete if I don't get my potatoes. Sometimes I try to replicate her recipes, but they are never the same, naturally. For dinner on Thursday, I got some fabulous looking salmon and decided to give a simple dill salmon a try. I cooked the salmon very simply with salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh dill (I put the dill on after it had been in a 350* oven long enough to not be entirely raw). Once I was sure that the fish was just right, I took it out to serve.

Brussels Sprouts Cooking in Wine

Dill Potatoes

Side dish #1 was dill potato salad. I used white fingerling potatoes and I boiled them until fork tender. I tossed them with olive oil, sea salt, dill, and some pepper. Side dish #2 was Brussels sprouts with wine. I sauteed them with olive oil until slightly browned and then added Riesling and reduced the wine quite a bit. I added the Melting Pot Wine Seasoning. As a whole dish, I found it all to be quite delicious. My favorite part was definitely the potatoes. I know they will be just as awesome reheated, or even cold.

Slow-Cooked Buttery Leeks

I'm still working on my Spanish cooking, and tonight was a success in creativity and recipe following. Like I mentioned before, Spanish food is not for a quick dinner. I was thinking about it today, and the Spanish people really do seem to be the slow cooked type. When we were in Barcelona for our honeymoon this summer, nothing was open before 11am and nothing closed before 3am. It seemed to be the type of place where people took their time to get the best flavor out of life, and I am noticing that in the food.

Buttery Leeks & Spanish Couscous

For dinner tonight, I made Puerros Cocidos, Slow-Cooked Buttery Leeks. They were so incredible that I literally felt like the leeks were filled with butter, which they almost were.

Cut the roots and green tops off leeks (the recipe called for 6 small leeks, but I used 3 large ones), and cut them into ~3 inch stalks. Sautée 1/3 cup of olive oil in a saucepan and lightly brown 4 sliced garlic cloves. Add 5 bay leaves and the leeks to the oil, laying them flat in the pan. Add 2/3 cups white wine (we used Riesling), 5 tbsp butter, enough warm water to almost cover the leeks, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a quick boil and then return to low heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Remove the leeks and then reduce the sauce.

Buttery Leeks & Spanish Couscous

In the meantime, I made some couscous with flavors inspired by the recipes I had read about. I toasted my Israeli couscous, which really gives the couscous a nice nutty taste to it. I added the water and simmered until cooked thoroughly. I added dried thyme, paprika, cumin, and smoked salt to the mix. I served the leeks on top of a pile of couscous and put some of the leek sauce on top. The words melt-in-your-mouth don't even describe how incredibly soft and buttery the leeks were.

Playing with Poached Eggs

Cheesy Grits with Poached Eggs

I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows, 5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson. She has brunch episodes sometimes and I watched a recorded episode where she made deep fried poached eggs over heirloom tomatoes. They were breaded and then rolled in panko before being lightly deep fried and they looked so good. I will try them another day, but yesterday morning I went for a slight variation of one of our favorite weekend breakfasts. I made cheesy grits with a soft poached egg on top. It was quite the treat. Even though I don't know how to poach eggs in water and I use silicone poaching pods that you put in boiling water because I'm a cheater.

This afternoon as I was deciding what to make for dinner, I took out Rustica and started to make some decisions. One thing that I noticed is that Spanish home cooking is a slow process. Most recipes cook for 30 minutes to 90 minutes. I did let my short ingredient list rule fly out the window to try this recipe out. The recipe was called Sopa De Tomate Al Camino, Tomato and Cumin Soup. Here was the recipe (with my slight variations):

Spanish Tomato and Cumin Soup

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 red onion (diced) and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent. Add 1 chopped red pepper and 2 fine sliced garlic, turn heat to low, cover and cook for ~40 minutes. Stir in 2 lbs diced fresh tomatoes and 2 cups of water and simmer for 30 minutes. Add 2 tsp superfine sugar, 1/2 tsp of paprika and 1/2 tsp of cumin. The recipe called for smoked paprika and sea salt, but I could only find regular paprika so I used what I could and used my North Market Spices smoked salt instead. I think this gave me the desired flavor. I used about 1 tsp of the smoked salt. After the soup had cooked for a while, about 15 minutes, and ran the soup through a food processor. After returning the soup to the pan and heating to a simmer, I added the eggs. Crack the eggs in a bowl and slide them into the pan along the edges and the eggs poach in the soup, giving them a delicious consistency and flavor. Poach for about 3 minutes for runny eggs (just the way we like them!) and gently spoon the eggs into the bowls. Ladle in the soup and serve with toasted baguette slices. The whole thing was awesome, but breaking the poached eggs in the soup gave it such a fantastic eggy taste that just can't be beat! I also know that I need to get a hand immersion blender because pouring things into the food processor and then back into the pan is too much of a pain.

Spanish Inspired Broth

I know that the chefs all say not to be afraid of spices, but I am still a little afraid. Especially since I am still unfamiliar with most of the spices. The paprika was complete unfamiliar to me, never used it before in my life. The cumin is still slightly unfamiliar to me, I have only used it in one other recipe before and I under-spiced then too. One of these days I will be comfortable with spices and I won't under-spice. Cooking with salt is a new experience for me too since I don't tend to do it very much.

Spanish Inspired Tilapia

Also for dinner, I made a Spanish inspired tilapia. I took some flavors that I read about in my cookbook and made up this recipe:
Make a broth with 1/2 cup water, 2-3 bay leaves, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp smoked salt with garlic, sprinkle of garlic powder and onion powder. I cooked the tilapia in the broth for 5 or so minutes, until cooked through, flipping once.

Dinner was so good that Nathan couldn't stop telling me about it. He said I could charge for it ;)

Thyme Brie Alfredo

Thyme Brie Alfredo

What do you do with leftover pasta and a block of Brie? Alfredo! My friend Efrat got me Barilla Piccolini Mini Pipe Pasta with Carrots and Squash for Hanukkah and we had cooked it up on Tuesday or Wednesday, and it was so good! With the leftovers I sautéed it up in a pan with butter, melted in Brie, added a bit of milk to cream it out, added some dried thyme, salt, and pepper. I was thinking it would be more like macaroni and cheese and to my great delight it turned out to be Alfredo! It was so good and all the sauce got into the pasta since they were like large macaroni noodles. This is a makeshift fridge cleaner recipe that totally worked out!

In other news, I finally got a small set of (dairy) China yesterday. They are beautiful and I cannot wait to have people over for a dairy meal! I also got a new book about herbs- growing them, keeping them, cooking with them. When I get a chance to go through them all I will post about it. I also heard about a book called "Cooking for Geeks" that sounds so interesting that I am adding it to my list of books to get!