Potato cake

I was digging through my kitchen pans and re-discovered some long lost items! The design of my apartment kitchen is less than desirable. There are small cabinet doors that open to deep large spaces with little to no shelving. In order to find a pan, I have to twist my head to the side and reach my hand into the darkness and hope I can pull out whatever it is I'm looking for out of the pile of pots, pans, dishes, and lids. It's terrible!

I did this blind digging hunt recently and found my mini cast iron pans. LOVE these!

The thing about these little skillets is that you sometimes need to adjust recipes that use a normal deep dish cast iron skillet and you definitely need to alter the cooking times! I've made things in the little skillet that definitely overflowed, overcooked and underwhelmed. So, I checked around the internets to see what you guys are making in these little skillets.

I like to use these mini cast irons for making fancy potato cakes. You use a mandoline to slice a russet potato into paper-thin slices, arrange them in an overlapping circle with a sprinkle of parmesan to glue the layers together. It creates fantastic texture--crispy, ruffly edges with a soft creamy chew to it. They look like something you'd see at a steak house, no?


You could put your favorite cookie dough recipe into the skillet and make a homemade pizookie.

You could make mini cornbread cakes.

You could make mini pear tarte tatin's with brandy.

You could make Heather's gorgeous rustic apple tart.

Got any good ideas? I want to put these little babies to work!

Ginger-Miso Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Lately, I have been missing Hawaii. A lot. I miss the weather, the feeling I get driving around an island I know so well, the house I grew up in, my favorite restaurants, eating papayas and driving up to my uncle's house to swim in the pool and make sushi. Funny how the familiar is so synonymous with what we find to be comforting. I also miss going to my brother's house to watch his Japanese wife, Hiromi, cook authentic Japanese food. You should see her freezer--everything is neatly plastic-wrapped into single serving squares. She is a nabe magician. I am always fascinated watching her cook because she doesn't use recipes, she pours stuff out of colorful packages with no english on it and she, like any good cook, goes by taste and has an extensive palate for the salty and umami flavors of Japan.

I am not so graceful in the kitchen--When I cook Japanese food, it's always a shot in the dark as I hope to make magic out of the trusty staples of mirin, rice vinegar, miso, sake and soy. With various quantities and combinations of those five ingredients, I'm convinced, magic can be made.

For these sweet potatoes, I simmer down some miso, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and water until it becomes a nice, thick syrupy glaze. Then I brush the roasted sweet potatoes with the glaze, sprinkle some sesame seeds on it and put it under the broiler for just a couple of minutes to seal in all the flavor.

I like to serve it with some steamed veggies and a bowl of brown rice.

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 or 3 large sweet potatoes, washed and cut in quarters
* 1 cup water
* 2 tsp. ginger sugar (or 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated finely)
* 1 Tbsp. white miso
* 1 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
* 1 clove garlic, crushed and minced finely
* 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
* 1/2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Note: If you like a little citrus flare with your sweet potatoes, substitute out 1/3 cup of the water for 1/3 cup of orange juice.

DIRECTIONS:

* Heat oven to 400 degrees.
* Wrap each piece of sweet potato individually in foil and bake until fork tender, usually about 30-40 minutes.
* While the sweet potatoes are roasting, combine all of the rest of the ingredients except for the sesame seeds and cook in a pot on medium heat for about 12-15 minutes or until sauce reduces by at least half.
* Unwrap the foil and place sweet potatoes in a baking tray and drizzle ginger-miso glaze over the sweet potatoes, sprinkle with sesame seeds and place under a broiler for 3-5 minutes.

Grilled Nectarines with Black Pepper

The produce available in Hawaii is so different from what I can easily obtain in San Francisco. As far as fruit goes in Hawaii, you can get big fat papayas (grown locally), sweet sticky mangoes that drip with juice (sometimes these are still from Mexico or Chile—shocking, I know!), and perfect pineapple (usually grown locally). Maui is famous for its Kula strawberries and Sweet Kula Onions—the high elevation (up to about 4,000 feet!) up on the slope of the Haleakala volcano provides the harmonious combo of warm days and cool nights and the conditions are just right for this kind of produce. (There’s also plenty of other theories like the fact that the soil is low in sulfur, which apparently makes things more bitter and starchy). Some claim that Kula onions are so sweet that you can eat them like an apple!

But, papayas and strawberries aside, you still have to give up the desire for tender nectarines, amazing peaches, blackberries, blueberries, plums and apricots. For the most part those sorts of fruits do not make it to the islands in their best condition. Now, I have never lived in peach, nectarine and berry heaven also known as Oregon or Washington, but I always imagined that, if I did, I would constantly stuff my face with ripe nectarines, berry jams, and peach pies. If push came to shove, nectarines might just be my favorite fruit—especially white nectarines that are perfectly ripe and supple to the touch and so juicy that you have to stand over the sink to eat them. I would eat four or five a day if I could. Luckily, summer season brings these fruits right to my local farmers market in the city.

Most days, I don’t fuss with fruit—I eat it straight as nature intended. I don’t mix it in with flour and sugar and bake pies or blend it up with yogurt in smoothies. But since summer also coincides with “grilling season,” I thought I would keep it simple and grill some nectarines to get just the slightest touch of roasted flavor. It’s so simple that this can’t even qualify as a recipe really, but more of a gentle reminder to throw some peaches or nectarines on the grill! Slice them in half, gently remove the seed with the edge of a knife, brush them with a little neutral or flavored oil—such as grapeseed, canola, walnut, or olive oil—sprinkle a tiny amount of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and place them face down on the grill for just a minute or two or until slightly charred.
Serving suggestion: These are also delicious with a balsamic reduction or fruit vinegar glaze.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad: Revisited

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wanted to revisit my Roasted Butternut Squash Salad post and provide you with an actual recipe that you can use! It is also really cheap to make!


INGREDIENTS:

* 1 butternut squash (or other winter squash), de-seeded and cut into quarters
* 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
* 2 Tbsp. olive oil (or vegetable broth or water for a fat-free version)
* 1/4 cup dried cranberries
* 2 Tbsp. orange juice (or water)
* 1/2 tsp. maple syrup (or brown sugar)
* 1 tsp. red wine vinegar (or rice vinegar)
* 1 tsp. sherry
* 3 tsp. thyme leaves
* salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

* In a 375 degree oven, roast the squash in a shallow baking pan with about an inch of water for about 30-40 minutes or until fork tender. Allow to cool and then use a peeler to peel off the skin and cut the squash into cubes (this step can be done a day in advance).
* In a small bowl, combine the orange juice, maple syrup, and vinegar and sherry.
* Add the dried cranberries and allow that to sit for about 10 minutes so the cranberries plump up a bit.
* In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat and saute the red onion for 1 minute and then add the chunks of butternut squash for a few more minutes.
* Add in the cranberry mixture, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 3-5 minutes until the juices thicken into a syrup consistency.
* Sprinkle in the thyme leaves and salt and pepper and toss.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Carpaccio

Carpaccio is traditionally made with beef, but there are countless variations cropping up on restaurant menu's and cookbooks. One of my favorite versions is carpaccio made with fresh sashimi grade ahi tuna...My farmer's market is brimming with such gorgeous veggies that I figured I should make a carpaccio with a vegetable! Yes, it can be done! Warm summer months call for inventive and unique spins on the good ol' salad...














This is a dish that is maddeningly easy to make, but exceptionally impressive!

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 small or medium zucchini (green or yellow or both!!)
* good quality olive oil for drizzling
* 2 Tbsp. fresh ricotta
* 3 Tbsp. fresh herbs, chopped (parsley, chives, chervil, and/or mint)
* 2 tsp. lemon zest plus a nice squeeze of lemon juice
* kosher salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste

The trick is to buy small or medium sized zucchini so it is easy to shave into very thin slices with a vegetable peeler (or mandolin if you have one, but it is totally not necessary). You simply shave the zucchini into paper thin slices, arrange in a flower like design on a plate (working from the outside inwards). Sprinkle the fresh herbs on, drizzle the olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest, scatter a few dollops of ricotta, salt and pepper it to taste and that's it! It really IS that simple, I promise.
Simply gorgeous.

North African-Spiced Chicken with Apricot-Almond Couscous

I took my friend, Penny, home to Hawaii with me for a week of fun in the sun and when the vacation was over, I came home to find that she had shipped a mini rotisserie affectionately known as a Baby George to me as a gift for showing her my home island! My very own rotisserie! yelp. I felt like a kid who just got her own bike for Christmas. or a teen whose parents bought a car for Sweet Sixteen. yep, if it wasn't official before, it is now--I'm a foodie nerd.

You can't imagine how easy it is to make the perfect roast chicken....a quick dry rub plus one chicken plus 45 minutes and you have M-A-G-I-C. This meal was inspired by a recipe by Tyler Florence but I sassied it up a bit...I rubbed chicken pieces with an amazing North African Spice Rub and popped them in the rotisserie basket for 30 minutes...and dinner was ready within minutes! Note: If you don't have a rotisserie, you can put the chicken in the oven at 375 degrees for about 35-45 minutes if you use pieces or about 1.5 hours if you use a whole chicken.

INGREDIENTS FOR NORTH AFRICAN SPICE RUB:

* 1 tsp. cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp. cloves
* 2 tsp. paprika
* 1/2 tsp. onion powder
* 1/2 tsp. cumin
* 1 tsp. coriander
* 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
* 1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
* 1 tsp. kosher salt
* 1/4 tsp. lemon peel
* 1/2 tsp. brown sugar (optional)

This spice rub is absolutely perfect for chicken, lamb, tofu or vegetables! You could also rub this on some par boiled red potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and pop them in the oven until they turn golden brown with crispy edges...

INGREDIENTS FOR COUSCOUS:

* 1 cup cous cous (whole wheat if you have it)
* 1.5 cups water (or chicken or vegetable broth)
* 1 Tbsp. olive oil
* Juice and zest of 1 small lemon
* 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
* 2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
* 1/3 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
* 8 or 9 dried apricots, diced
* salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS FOR COUSCOUS:

* Boil water and olive oil.
* Turn off heat and add the couscous. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
* Stir in the lemon juice and zest, parsley, cilantro, almonds and apricots.
* Season to taste.

I loved this couscous and I hope you do too! I can't wait for you to try it!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I *love* sweet potatoes! Making crisp oven-baked fries can be tricky, especially with sweet potatoes because the sugars tend to make them turn soft/soggy with prolonged heat. Ideally, I like my fries to have a crisp outside with a soft texture on the inside, which requires a long time in the oven (but you have to watch them carefully so they dont burn!).

INGREDIENTS:

* 4 or 5 sweet potatoes
* olive oil (for drizzling)
* seasoning (I use a blend of sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and all-spice)

DIRECTIONS:

* Peel sweet potatoes and cut them to desired shape.
* Place them in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle spices.
* Toss everything together.
* Arrange on a cookie sheet.
* Bake at 450 degrees for 40-55 minutes, depending on how crisp you like them--toss the fries every 20 minutes or so.

Serving Suggestion: I like to serve them with organic ketchup or make a miso-mayonnaise dip.

Cranberry Beans & Heirloom Beans

Cranberry beans (the white ones shown above) are popular in Italy and well liked for their creamy, nutty flavor. The pod is usually white with pink/magenta streaks in it...and the beans are similarly colored. Unfortunately, this beautiful coloring fades when you boil them. In Northern Italy, Cranberry beans are called Borlotti and they are usually boiled until soft and served with a simple mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, fresh chopped parsley and salt and pepper. This is a delicious and easy preparation to showcase the flavor of the beans.

Heirloom beans (shown below) have a darker coloring--almost pink beans with dark streaks, but this coloring also fades with boiling...

I discovered cranberry and heirloom beans at my local farmers market. They were so pretty I just had to buy them and find something to do with them--I made them as described above and it was delicious...Beans are really low in fat and high in nutrients so I try to incorporate them into my diet as much as possible..

Serving suggestion: Both types of beans are also great for bean dips, soups and stews, on toasted crostini, or with a tomato-based sauce.