Tomato-Corn Salad

Today I decided that a nice cool, summery salad would hit the spot for this week. (Since it is over 100 degrees F here.) I thought corn and tomatoes sounded good, but not with cream or anything too heavy. I found a couple recipes and meshed them together. Here's the final product:

Tomato-Corn Salad

16 oz. frozen corn (you can also use fresh, but for reasons I won't discuss here I chose not to)
16 oz. (or so) of fresh tomatoes, chopped (I used some Yellow Pear, Red Cherry, and half of a red beefsteak that I rescued from the demo garden.)
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (or whatever pepper you want to use for spice)
1/2 of a small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Fresh basil (or cilantro), minced, to taste
Splash of olive oil
Splash of lime juice

Chop all the vegetables (minus the corn) and mix together. Microwave the corn on high for 5 minutes, or until hot. Mix the corn with the other vegetables. Add the herbs, olive oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve warm or chill before serving.

Sunday Sandwich

The Sunday sandwich saga continues with a Tuna Sandwich Plus...

Twist on a Tuna Sandwich

• 2 slices bread
• Mayonnaise
  
• 1 (6 ounce) can tuna(oil preferred, but water works)
• 1/2 (3 ounce) can sliced ripe olives
• 1/4 (3 ounce) can canned jalapeño slices

Directions

1. Mix everything together (except the bread). Don't use too much mayo.
2. Don't use too many jalapeños, because the juice will spice things up a lot.
3. Spread the mixture on the bread.
4. For an additional twist, try grilling it. (I think adding some grated cheese or a slice of cheese would make this even better. And maybe some onion too.)

1. Try grilling!

Sunday Sandwich

So apparently I totally forgot to post some sandwiches into this post and schedule it for posting. Silly me. I misread "draft" to mean "finished and scheduled to post." And here I thought I was doing so well to have all of my posts pre-written for the time I would be gone. Again, silly me.

So here you go, a day late. (Oh, and this is just a random recipe I found, not from The Book at all.)

Sushi Sandwich

• 1 (6 ounce) can salmon or tuna (albacore)
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 avocado
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons wasabi powder
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 4 rice cakes
• pickled ginger (optional)
  

Directions:
1. Flake salmon or tuna with lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Add cream cheese and stir until the mixture becomes paste-like.
3. Stir in wasabi powder and soy sauce (measurements are estimates so if you're concerned about it being too hot or salty, begin with smaller amounts and then adjust seasonings according to taste).
4. Stir until well combined.
5. Spread a generous heaping of mixture on each rice cake.
6. Slice avocados on top.
7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Drizzle with rice vinegar and a touch of extra soy sauce.
9. If you have it, a little pickled ginger with each bite gives the total sushi effect!

Sunday Sandwich

Okay, so far I'm just re-posting sandwiches from my old blog. Eventually I will probably break out the sandwich book and post some new sandwiches. That will be after I remember to retrieve the book from my shelf and perch it next to Steven's computer.

Oyster Loaf Sandwich
Cut Vienna rolls into halves and spread lightly with butter; on one half lay four fried oysters, cover with the other half of roll, and serve with a pickle.

Oyster and Caviare Sandwich
Butter thin slices of brown bread, cover one slice thinly with caviare and on this lay two raw whole oysters; cover with another slice of bread and garnish with slice of lemon.

Grill Room Oyster Sandwich
Toast three slices of white bread and lightly butter. Place fried oysters between the slices and dust lightly with pepper and salt. Cut in strips and serve on a lettuce leaf. Remove contents of half an orange peel and fill with chili sauce. Serve on the plate with the sandwich.

Remove the contents of half an orange peel? Uh...are they trying to say "peel an orange"?

Mwahahaha! The Return of the Sunday Sandwich!

Harlequin Sandwich
Lightly buttered slices of white and graham bread. Spread each with Neufchatel cheese and sprinkle with a few English walnut meats. Put a white and a brown slice together.

Berlin Sandwich
Chop olives fine and moisten with mayonnaise dressing; spread on buttered slices of bread. Spread other slices with Neufchatel cheese and put slices together in pairs.

Limburger Cheese Sandwich
Spread thin slices of lightly buttered rye bread with Limburger cheese, then with thin slices of bologna sausage; cover with another slice of rye bread. Garnish with a pickle.

Bread Photos!

I know you've all been waiting breathlessly to see pictures of the breads I've been making, so here they are. Ginger Scones

Basic Hearth Bread

Raisin Pecan Bread

The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum

I received this book for Christmas from Steven's family. It is every bit as scrumptious as I thought it would be. I'm only sad that my schedule will not allow my to start trying out recipes for a couple more weeks.

I've been making basic breads for quite a number of years, so I'm definitely comfortable with the yeast aspect of bread making. However, the idea of making starters and sponges and using some of the more artisan techniques and ingredients has always been a little scary. What I really appreciate about this book is that it includes a lot more than just recipes...it also covers the science behind why certain techniques work or why different types of flour are better or worse for each type of bread. I remember doing some things with types of flour in my Food Processing class at ISU. (For those of you who remember, this was the absolutely HATED class that had ridiculously long, boring labs...largely watching huge vats of various things boil for hours on end.) Anyway, I think that the information in this book is presented much more accessibly than the class, with a good balance of the Science of bread making with the Art of bread making. Duh...if it wasn't, no one would buy the book.

I have 10 recipes marked in the book to try, starting with the Rich and Creamy Ginger Scones. I'll keep you updated as I have the opportunity to test the recipes...and maybe I'll even torture you with pictures!

Recipes for Ramadan Feasts

My parents are hosting a Yemeni foreign exchange student this year. Last weekend was the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, so we had the other family with a Muslim student over this afternoon for a feast of sorts. I made 4 dishes that are roughly Middle Eastern in flavor: Noni Afghani, Fereni Starch Pudding, Lamb Tagine, and Spicy Pakistani Chickpeas.

The Noni Afghani, which is a type of flatbread, was really good and everyone liked it. I really liked the pudding, although not everyone was as thrilled. One of the exchange students really liked it too, so I guess that's what counts, right? It is a simple milk and cornstarch pudding flavored with cardamom and ground almonds. The lamb dish was tasty as well, but I felt like it was cooked too long and some of the spices were less flavorful than they could have been. The lamb could be made with beef too, I think. The chickpeas were okay, but I was kind of combining 2 recipes together and I kind of accidentally spilled too much curry powder into them. Oops.

The other family brought some pretty tasty hummus and tabbouleh, so I think we had a pretty good meal all around.

Beet Semifreddo Recipe

Or Beet Sorbet, if you prefer English. No, don't stop reading! I haven't completely lost it. The October issue of Gourmet contains a recipe for Beet Parfaits. Having been exposed to Corn Sorbet and Carrot Ice Cream by the creative ex-pastry chef at CVI (Lara!), I wasn't totally scared off by this idea. However, being only semi-motivated, I only made the semifreddo part of the recipe, rather than the whole thing. It turned out okay, not perfect, primarily due to my lack of proper tools and techniques. It is a beautiful fuchsia pink color though!

Beets actually contain a fair bit of sugar, which is why this recipe works. If you have some beets kicking around and are feeling adventuresome, try it out!

Beet Semifreddo
2 lb. beets, unpeeled, cut into thick sticks for juicing
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
5 large egg yolks, at room temp. for 30 minutes
1 1/4 cups chilled heavy cream

Juice the beet, then skim off the foam. (You need about 1 1/2 cups of juice.) Boil juice in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until reduced to about 1/2 cup, 20-25 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and chill until cold.

Heat sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then boil, without stirring, until syrup registers 248-250 degrees F on thermometer, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, start beating yolks in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed to lighten. Add hot sugar syrup in a slow stream, beating at medium-high speed until pale yellow, fluffy, and tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. (Mixture should be completely cool.)

Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold into yolk mixture until just combined, then fold in cold beet juice gently but thoroughly.

Transfer to an airtight container and freeze, covered, until firm, about 3 hours.

Stuffed Tomatoes

I made these tasty stuffed tomatoes last week for dinner. I will say that the atomic spicy sausage was unnecessary. Hey, the package said "Hot, Spiced Italian Sausage." How was I to know that the company wasn't practicing false advertising like most often happens?!?

You can vary the seasoning used in this stuffing recipe; leave out the onions, use cooked chicken or steak instead of the sausage, and try oregano instead of thyme.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 6 large ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 pound spicy pork sausage
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 cup shredded Provolone cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup water

Cook rice according to package directions; let stand for 10 minutes, then fluff and let cool slightly. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the tops off of the tomatoes and reserve; scoop out the pulp, leaving the shells intact and reserve pulp.

In large skillet, cook pork sausage, stirring to break up sausage, until thoroughly cooked. Remove sausage, drain on paper towels, and set aside. Pour excess grease off of skillet, but do not rinse. Add olive oil and cook onions and garlic until tender. Add sausage and onion mixture to rice along with tomato pulp, thyme, Provolone, and Parmesan cheese; mix gently.

Fill tomato shells with rice mixture and place in a 9" baking dish. Top with tomato tops, if desired. Pour water around tomatoes and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Blinchiki

I made Blinchiki (Meat-stuffed blini) for dinner this week. I found the recipe in a Russian cookbook, and since it's pretty good, I have decided to share it with you

Blinchiki

Batter:
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup milk
2 tsp. butter

Beat eggs; add flour, salt, and baking soda and mix. Gradually add milk and 1 tsp. butter, melted. Melt remaining 1 tsp. butter in a small (6 in.) skillet. Heat till foam has subsided and skillet is very hot. Pour in 1/2 soup ladle of batter; cook a few minutes until light brown on bottom. Remove to clean towel. Do not fry on other side. Continue until all batter is used; use wax paper between layers of pancakes. Cover with towel to keep warm.

Filling:
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 lb. ground chuck
1/4 cup beef broth
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 raw potato, peeled and grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry onion in butter until golden. Add all other ingredients and stir well until meat is browned and has lost pink color. Place 1 heaping tablespoon on each pancake and roll up into a long tube. Bake filled pancakes in lightly greased baking dish at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream.

*Notes: I added mushrooms, and some garlic salt to the filling as well. I also made blini the size of my skillet...15 inches, rather than 6. At that size, the recipe makes 5. I'm not a fan of serving anything with sour cream, either. Ketchup all the way!*