Our Bella Cucina » Vegetarian

Potato Frittata

sarah — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:00:49 +0000

It’s no secret that I love to bake, even though making dough is intimidating and I tend to avoid it, I still love to bake and I also love to read baking blogs.

That is how I found Joy The Baker.

Her site has lots of wonderful yummy things, one of which is this recipe for Potato Frittata. It is such a delicious combination of ingredients that is perfect for a Sunday brunch and will turn out yummy……if you’re not like me and don’t rush it. You know how it is, week night dinner time, kids driving you crazy, hungry husband on the way home and you’re trying to fix dinner. Brinner? Anyway, I was rushed, not being careful about slicing my potatoes thinly enough, and definitely not noticing that my potatoes seemed too big to include them all in the pan. I ended up with very crunchy potatoes that my family couldn’t eat, all because I didn’t slow down a bit and pay attention.

Don’t be like me.

INGREDIENTS
5 tablespoons canola oil, divided (I used olive oil)
1 small yellow onion, sliced
4 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices (mine were too large, so don’t take “large” too literally when picking them out!)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
7 large eggs
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 400 degrees F.
Heat a medium saute pan over medium high heat and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onions and cook until caramelized, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of water, scraping any brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Cook until the water evaporates and the onions take on a uniform brown color, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the onions to the roasting pan and toss with the raw sliced potatoes.

Ignore my beat up old baking pan. She may be ugly, but she is good at her job!
Yes it’s a she. Got a problem with that?

Add 1 tablespoon of butter and the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. Toss with your hands and season generously with salt and pepper.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Set the potatoes aside to cool for 15 minutes and reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees F.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, herbs and cream together. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium high heat. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet, making sure that melted butter greases the side of the cast iron as well and add the cooked potatoes to the pan.

Top with the egg mixture.

Cover the skillet with the previously removed foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes more.

Slice and serve directly from the skillet, warm or at room temperature.

I will definitely make this again sometime when I have a little more time to prepare it so I can pay closer attention to slicing the potatoes….and not use such mutantly large potatoes!

♥

Senegalese Peanut Soup

lorrin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:00:36 +0000

A colleague of mine has a practice of always cooking for her friends a dish from wherever in the world she’s just been. Lucky for us, she recently visited Senegal and this awesome soup is what she had to share!

You will need:

3/4 cup shelled roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 pinch cayenne (more or less to taste)
salt
fresh ground black pepper
6 cups vegetable stock or water
2 (1/2 lb) sweet potato, peeled and cut into thick slices or 2 yams, peeled and cut into thick slices
8-12 plum tomatoes, cored and halved (canned are fine, drain and reserve liquid for another use)
1/2 lb collard greens or kale, washed thoroughly and cut into wide ribbons
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

Use the flat side of a wide knife or cleaver or a small food processor to break the peanuts into large pieces.

Put the oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, 3-5 minutes.

Add ½ cup of the peanuts and the cayenne. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir in the stock and sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn the heat down to medium-low so that the soup bubbles gently. Partially cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, collards and peanut butter. Cover and cook until the collards are tender, 5 to 8 minutes.

Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve garnished with the remaining peanuts.

Recipe from http://ivu.org/recipes/african/mark.html – This soup is vegan.

Make it as spicy (or not) as you like – enjoy!

~Lorrin

Beefless Tips on a Bed of Asparagus Quinoa Cooked with Lemongrass & Ginger

lorrin — Mon, 10 May 2010 08:00:02 +0000

It’s easy to fall into the trap of grabbing junk food when you’re rushed off your feet, but here’s a nice and easy, super-simple meat-free alternative. I know this isn’t really a full-on RECIPE, as such, but when I tasted that quinoa I had to tell you how easy it was to make something otherwise bland taste spectacular, and the Gardein is such an easy addition to up the protein quotient!

All you need is:

A bag of Gardein Home Style Beefless Tips (look in the freezer section of your local Safeway or WholeFoods)
Some canola oil
A cup of Quinoa (Fred Meyer carries it in their gluten-free section, Whole Foods has it in bulk or pre-packaged, Safeway apparently has never heard of it)
2 cups of vegetable broth (or you can use water and crumble a veggie stock cube in)
3 stalks of lemongrass, sliced diagonally
A bunch of fresh asparagus spears
Some crushed/minced garlic and ginger (to taste)

Cook the quinoa first, it’ll take about 15 mins all-up. Bring the broth to a boil, then add the lemongrass, garlic and ginger, and quinoa. Turn the heat down to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Now add the asparagus and, if you need to, a teeny bit more water, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

While that’s cooking, heat some canola oil in a fry pan and add the Gardein beefless tips. Sear them for 3-4 mins until they’re nicely cooked.

Serve the beefless tips on a bed of the asparagus quinoa.

(tip: don’t eat the lemongrass, it’s just for seasoning!)

~Lorrin

Butternut Squash Chilli with Quinoa

lorrin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:00:41 +0000

I tried this recipe on a whim and it was an immediate hit – great for a chilly spring evening! It’s also a low-fat dish with a good balance of protein and carbs.

You’ll need:

1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
about a tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of mild chili powder (I added some oregano and a bit of cumin)
1 butternut squash (I improvised with an acorn squash because my corner store was out of butternut – worked just as well!) cubed
3/4 cup of quinoa, soaked in cold water for about 10 mins
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 x 400g can of red kidney beans
A small bunch of coriander, chopped, for garnish

Cook the onion and garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil until soft (about 7 mins).

Add the chilli powder (+ oregano and cumin), cook for about a minute then add the squash, quinoa and tomatoes. I also added some chopped mushrooms.

Simmer for 12-15 mins or until the squash and quinoa are tender and the sauce has thickened. Add the beans and heat through.

Stir in the coriander if required, and enjoy!

Nutritional information per serving: 306 calories, protein 13.9g, carbohydrate 53.4g, fat 5.6g, saturated fat 0.7g, fiber 10.1g, salt 1.2g

Source: www.bbcgoodgood.com/recipes/4888

~Lorrin

Mild Tomato, Cauliflower and Spinach Curry

lorrin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:00:59 +0000

This is a really easy dish to make, thanks to the good folks at Pataks who make awesome ready-to-use curry pastes that are readily available at most supermarkets (as are the ingredients)!

You’ll need:

1 onion , sliced
oil for frying
2 tbsp curry paste (rogan josh paste is good although I’d recommend doubling this and using 4 tbsp)
1 small cauliflower , cut into bite-sized florets
3 ripe plum tomatoes , quartered, or use a 400g tin
100g spinach , roughly chopped
naan bread , to serve

Fry the onion in 2 tbsp oil until soft and golden – about 7 minutes.

Add the curry paste and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant.

Throw in the cauliflower, tomato and 300ml water then bring to a gentle simmer for 10-15 minutes until the tomato has broken down and the cauliflower is tender.

Stir through the spinach until wilted.

Serve with warm naan bread – warming the naan is easy, just wrap it in foil and warm it for a couple of minutes in a pre-heated 475F oven (we also had some jasmine rice with it).

Nutrition Per serving: 271 kcalories, protein 12g, carbohydrate 18.1g, fat 17.2 g, saturated fat 1.4g, fibre 7.5g, salt 0.85 g

Source: bbcgoodfood.com

Enjoy!

~Lorrin

Grandmother’s Cornbread

sarah — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:00:30 +0000

No, not my grandmother. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and all I know is someone’s grandmother makes really good cornbread!

I’ve made a few different cornbreads in the past but this one is my favourite. It partly had to do with the cornmeal I used – I found one that was more finely ground than any other I’ve used before – but mostly because I liked the flavour. It’s not too sweet or too savory and has that slight cake-like taste while still maintaining its classic cornbread flavour. It also nicely straddles the line of not too moist and not too dry.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking Spray

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Grease an 8 inch square pan with the cooking spray.

Over a medium heat melt the butter in a large skillet.

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sugar.

Quickly add the eggs and beat until well blended.

Combine the buttermilk with the baking soda and stir it into the mixture in the pan.

Add the cornmeal.

Add the flour.

And finally the salt.

Stir until well blended and few lumps remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes (mine was ready in 30), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Everyone in my family ate this and I will definitely be making it again!

♥

PW Wednesday – Perfect Pancakes

sarah — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:57 +0000

Sometimes you just want breakfast at dinner. Then again, sometimes you also forget to defrost the meat until it’s time to cook.

I’ll let you decide which situation I was in!

If you’re a crepe and thin pancake type of person, then these are not for you. If you like thick fluffy pancakes that actually taste like cake, then walk (read? cook?) this way.

INGREDIENTS
3 cups cake flour (PW had an extra 2 tablespoons of cake flour added but I removed them with no problems)
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tub vanilla yoghurt (6oz)
2 whole large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla (reduced from 3 in the original recipe to compensate for the vanilla yoghurt)
4 tablespoons butter

Note: The original recipe had 2 cups of milk and no yoghurt. I made that substitution because I thought it might be interesting!

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, add your flour. Sifting it is not necessary, but I like to do it because I find it results in a smoother texture when mixing.

Add the salt.

Add the sugar.

Followed by the baking powder.

Give it a quick stir to combine.

In a separate medium size bowl, add the eggs.

Add the vanilla.

Add the yoghurt.

Followed by the milk.

Give things a stir until combined.

Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring very gently until just combined. Don’t worry if there are some small lumps, it doesn’t matter.

The batter is quite thick, but that is ok. Trust me. If you don’t want to trust me and want the batter thinner then go ahead and add some milk. I take no responsibility for the end results though!

Melt the butter and add it to the batter, stirring gently to combine.

The actual cooking of the pancakes is where Pioneer Woman and I part company. Her directions say to cook on a greased skillet, but pancakes are one of the few culinary times when I prefer a non-stick pan. A dry non-stick pan. That’s right, no butter, no cooking spray, dry. I find that it allows you to cook longer at a lower temperature, giving the pancakes time to rise properly without getting burned from any kind of grease.

So put your teflon coated pan over a medium-low temperature and ladle in a 1/4 cup of the batter at a time.

Allow them to cook slowly. They will puff up a fair bit and start to bubble.

Sorry you can’t see the bubbles well here – I don’t have a macro lens for my camera.

Flip them over to cook the other side, periodically pressing on the top to feel for firmness.

When both sides are golden brown, get them out of the pan and serve with your favourite pancake toppings!

What you do after that is your own business. Putting some on a fork and pretending it’s a Lego laser shooter is completely optional.

♥

Vodka Cream Pasta

sarah — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:00:58 +0000

I’m on a quest to show my husband that you can have a satisfying meal that doesn’t contain meat, but all he does is grumble if there is no animal flesh to be seen. He wants me to add chicken to this dish, and you could, but I’m still refusing. Not every meal has to contain meat, baby!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, finely diced
1 cup vodka
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 32oz can crushed tomatoes (mine had basil in it)
Coarse salt and pepper
16 ounces pasta, such as penne rigate
1/2 cup heavy cream
20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn (optional)

I’m not secretly an alcoholic – the large bottle of vodka is leftover from a party we had months ago!

DIRECTIONS
Heat a large skillet over moderate heat then add the butter and oil.

Add the garlic and shallots to the pan and gently sauté for 3 to 5 minutes to develop their sweetness.

Add the vodka to the pan.

Simmer for 2-3 minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate and the mixture should reduce in volume by half.

Add the vegetable or chicken stock.

Followed by the tomatoes.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.

Cover, reduce the heat, and allow it to simmer while you prepare your pasta according to the directions on the package.

When your pasta is ready, add the cream to the sauce and stir until combined.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When the sauce returns to a boil, remove it from the heat and drain the pasta if you haven’t already. Put the drained pasta back in its pot and pour the sauce over the top.

Give it all a big stir to evenly coat the pasta. If you’re going to use the fresh basil, now would be the time to throw it in so it gets distributed throughout.

Serve immediately with some fresh parmesan on top if you so desire.

YUM!

♥

Potage Parmentier

sarah — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:00:42 +0000

I swear, recipe titles always sound more impressive when they’re in French! Translated, “Potage Parmentier” means plain old leek and potato soup, but sometimes it is the simple things in life that are the yummiest. Sometimes a bowl of soup just hits the right spot!

INGREDIENTS
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
1 lb leeks, thinly sliced
1 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/3 cup cream

DIRECTIONS
Pour the water into a big pot and bring to a boil.

I need to get myself a new stock pot. This one has been around for over 10 years and is quite beaten up!

While the water is heating up, use the time to peel and quarter your potatoes.

As well as to thinly slice your leeks. For those who have never used fresh leeks before, just cut the root tip off and then start slicing all the way up to where the green bits start to branch out.

Add the salt.

The potatoes.

And finally the leeks.

Then put the lid back on the pot with it vented slightly and boil for 45 minutes. You want everything nice and soft!

Once you have finished the boiling process you have two choices. If you like your soup slightly lumpy then go ahead and use a potato masher to smooth it out somewhat. It will still have texture because you won’t get it perfectly smooth with a masher.

If you’re like me and like your soup smooth as a baby’s bottom, then ladle some into a blender. We’re going to blend this in batches, so have a spare saucepan or a big bowl handy to empty the blender into to make space for the next batch. Just don’t get impatient and fill it more than half way or you’re going to have a soup explosion and a big mess to clean up!

Then pulse it a few times until it is as smooth as desired.

Once everything is mashed or blended, return the soup to the saucepan and reheat it. Then turn off the heat, add the cream, and stir till fully combined.

Serve and eat! It goes great with some crusty French bread.

I wish I had remembered to buy crusty French bread!

♥

Potato Bake

sarah — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:00:28 +0000

As delicious as this is, I’m embarrassed to post these pictures of it. Everything was going great in the cooking process until things got kind of crazy in my house right when the oven buzzer was due to go off…and it got slightly burned. So I beg your forgiveness and ask you to use your imagination to envision a lightly browned cheesy top and creamy moist layers of potato beneath it. Really!

INGREDIENTS
5-6 medium-large size potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3-4 medium size cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup whole milk
salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Use the butter to grease a medium size baking dish.

Evenly dot the garlic around the bottom of the dish.

Start layering the potatoes.

Periodically sprinkle a little salt and keep on layering.

And layer some more until you reach the top of the dish.

Mix your two cheeses together then evenly distribute it over the top.

Carefully pour the milk into the corners of the dish.

No that’s not milk in the picture – all I had was 1% so I had to use cream. Bad Sarah!

Then pop it in the oven to bake for 50-60 minutes.

Just don’t be like me and get distracted and end up with a dry, burnt disaster!

One more thing. We sometimes put some diced bacon or ham into the layers as we are stacking the potatoes and that adds a great new flavour to this dish. Try it sometime!

♥