Potato Chips and the Beginning of Date Nights In

A couple of months ago I pre-ordered Ashley Rodriguez's cookbook Date Night In.  It came a few days before Christmas and I could not have been more excited (Merry Christmas to me)!  Its pages are filled with beautiful and inspiring food and words and I devoured every bit of it over Christmas break.  After finishing the book, I committed that 2015 would be the year for more date nights in.

Well last Thursday I decided sort of spur of the moment that I would have our first date night in that evening.  I decided on homemade potato chips (from Ashley's book), KBR (kale bacon & ricotta) sandwiches from Ashley's blog, an orange and raw pickled beet salad, and homemade crème fraiche ice cream with raspberries. (It worked out well that I had already made the pickled beets and ice cream a few days before.)

That afternoon I used my mandoline to slice potatoes paper thin and then gave them a quick dunk in a bath of cold water.  After being drained and patted dry, I watched them bubble around in a pot of hot oil and transform into golden, crisp potato chips.  I couldn't help but stand back and admire my lovely pile of potato chips.  Do you ever get that really tight excited feeling?  That feeling for me often accompanies really great food, Christmas time, and seeing my kiddies soundly sleeping and now for date nights in with Todd. 

While in the middle of frying my chips, Preston came home from school he asked me what I was making potato chips for.  I told him that it was for a date night in with Dad.  After tasting a few of the chips he asked me if I would do a date night in for him.  Someday Preston.

Potato Chips

Serves 2 to 4 depending on how many chips you want to consume

2 large russet potatoes
4 cups canola or vegetable oil
Kosher salt

Slice the potatoes into very, very thin rounds (about 1/16 inch thick) using a mandoline.  Place the potato slices in a large bowl of cold water and let soak for 5-10 minutes. 

Drain the potato slices.  Place the slices in a single layer on a triple layer of paper towels and then roll it up to lightly dry them.  Keep the slices rolled up in the towel as you cook off batches to keep the potatoes from oxidizing. 

Add the oil to a large saucepan.  It should be about 2 to 3 inches deep in the pan.  Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees.

Fry the potatoes in batches of 10 to 15 slices.  Be careful not to overcrowd the pan.  Carefully move the chips around with a slotted spoon or spider until the chips are golden brown and the bubbling oil has calmed.  If there is still frantic bubbling, there is still moisture in the chips (moisture equals a not so crunchy chip). 

Transfer the fried chips to a paper towel or brown paper sack lined baking sheet to dry.  Season with kosher salt while the chips are still warm.  Bring the oil back to 350 before adding the next batch.  Eat and enjoy.

Recipe slightly adapted from Ashley Rodriguez's Date Night In

Whole-Grain Gingerbread

Yesterday I took Noah to the orthodontist.  His appointment was at lunch time and so while he was having his braces tightened, I made my way up the street to Kneaders Bakery to grab a sandwich for lunch.  I sat in my car eating my sandwich and listening to a podcast while I waited for him to emerge with his new and improved bright blue rubber bands wrapped around those little silver brackets. 

I made the decision to only eat half of my sandwich and to save the rest for lunch the next day (which was today and not the wisest decision).  My leftover sandwich was not quite the sandwich it was yesterday.  It was really quite a sad and dried out sandwich and I'm not sure why I decided to finish it.  It unfortunately left me feeling like I needed something more and that something more was Megan Gordon's whole-grain gingerbread. I could not get that gingerbread out of my head and so between showering and having to leave to help in Stella's class, I whipped that gingerbread up in record time.  It came out of the oven just as I had to walk out the door.  To be honest, while I was helping in Stella's class all I could think about was gingerbread, gingerbread, gingerbread. 

 

Whole-Grain Gingerbread

 

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup spelt flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Zest from 1 large orange

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the pan

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

1 large egg, beaten

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, orange zest, and pepper.

 

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter.  Add the molasses and honey and heat while stirring until the mixture is combined and just warm.  Pour into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Add the milk, yogurt and beaten egg and whisk together until combined.

 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the edges pull away from the pan slightly and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.  Let the gingerbread cool completely in the pan before removing.  Give it a good dusting of powdered sugar and serve.

 

Recipe adapted from Megan Gordon's Whole-Grain Mornings

Kale, Orange and Feta Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

This time of year is always a bit hard for me.  I love the holiday season and all the excitement that comes swirling around with it.  New Year’s often leaves me feeling a little down and deflated.  I had a conversation with my mom about these very feelings and wondered why I often feel like this and why I don't look at the beginning of the year in a different light.  Instead of feeling sad that the holiday season is over, maybe I should look at this time of year as time for renewal and becoming a better version of myself.  I'm not the best goal setter and that possibly might be because I'm not the best goal achiever.  Maybe the expectation of the New Year and achieving great things adds to my deflated feeling.  Maybe this year instead of great, big expectations and dreams, maybe it's about taking baby steps towards the better version of me.  Maybe instead of doing the things that are good and better, making a choice each day to do the things that are the very best and most important.  Maybe some days it will be easier to make that choice and I will make great strides towards that better me and maybe some days it will be harder and I'll make small skips like choosing to eat a kale salad for lunch (and loving every single bite), but hopefully either way I'll keep moving forward.

Just a side note:  I told my husband a few days ago that I was craving a kale salad.  He seemed to think that the words crave and kale don't go together as well as maybe crave and potato chips.  I guess I see his point, but this so called craving came back in full force after I had eaten my weight in Chex muddy buddies on New Year’s Eve.

 
Kale, Orange and Feta Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

1 bunch kale, washed, stems removed and leaves shredded of finely chopped
1 avocado, thinly sliced
1 pomegranate, arils removed
3 oranges, peeled and sliced into rounds
5 radishes, thinly sliced
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup pepitas, toasted

Honey-Lime Dressing

3 tablespoon fresh lime juice (about 2 small limes)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium jalapeno, membranes and seeds removes, minced
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Dressing:  Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl or place ingredients in a small glass jar with a lid and give it a good shake.  Set aside.

Place shredded kale in a large salad bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and massaged the leaves with your hands until the leaves are darker in color and fragrant.

Drizzle salad dressing over the kale (you may not need all of the dressing) and toss well to lightly coat the kale.  Add the avocado, pomegranate, oranges, radishes, cilantro, feta and pepitas to the bowl.  Toss the salad gently to combine and serve.

Adapted ever so slightly from Cookie + Kate.

Spelt Pizza with Ricotta and Spicy Greens

Last night I wanted to stay up to watch some of the Voice after my kiddies had gone to bed.  I have a serious problem staying awake once I sit down on the couch.  It's a rare occasion if I can keep myself awake longer than 15 minutes.  I don't even have to be lying down; in fact I'm never lying down.  I will catch my husband frequently looking in my direction to see if I have zonked out.  It's unfortunate, but no matter how hard I try or how much I want to stay awake, my eyelids are just too heavy to keep open and then I'm gone.  I'll often tell my husband when I start to feel sleepy that the sandman has just passed.  Once I'm asleep, it means that the sandman passed by again and knocked me out with one of his sandbags.  The reason I say all this is because last night to keep myself awake, I decided to make pizza dough.  I had big plans for a great lunch the next day.  I went to work and busied myself in the kitchen.  Between the pizza dough making and eating a bowl of Raisin Bran, I managed to catch a full episode of the Voice without falling asleep.

This pizza was everything I'd hoped it would be.  I was a bit nervous how the spelt pizza crust would turn out, but it worked perfectly and tasted perfect with the spicy greens and creamy ricotta.  After my first couple of bites, I had to share the deliciousness and so I took a couple of pieces to a neighbor and then called my husband to tell him how I was in lunch heaven.  
  
 

 

Spelt Pizza with Ricotta and Spicy Greens

 

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water

1 teaspoon honey

2 cups spelt flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

 

1 cup fresh ricotta

3 tablespoons olive oil

12 green onions, thinly slice (white and green parts)

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups baby kale, roughly chopped

4 cups Swiss chard, cut leaves crosswise into 1-inch strips (about one bunch)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Red pepper flakes

Lemon zest

Fresh grated parmesan cheese

 

In a small mixing bowl, combine yeast, warm water, and honey.  Let sit for 10 minutes or until foamy.

 

In a large mixing bowl, stir together spelt flour and salt.  Pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil and stir together until a dough forms (I added a bit more water and an extra tablespoon of olive oil to help the dough come together).  Cover and let the dough rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

 

Place the dough in a Ziploc bag and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

 

An hour before baking the pizza, remove dough from the refrigerator.  Place pizza stone in the oven.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

 

Cut dough into two equal pieces.  Roll one piece of dough into a rectangle.  Transfer the rolled out dough to the back side of baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.  Prick a few times with a fork, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt.

 

Slide the parchment paper with the pizza dough onto the baking stone in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Sauté the green onions for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant.  Add the kale and Swiss chard and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until just wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dump the greens in a colander and toss a few times to let juices drain.

 

Remove pizza from oven by sliding parchment paper with the pizza back onto the back side of a baking sheet.  Spread half of the ricotta on the pizza dough; place half the greens on top, sprinkle lightly with red pepper flakes and a light dusting of lemon zest and freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Slide pizza back into the oven for 3-4 minutes to warm through.  Repeat with second piece of dough.  Eat and enjoy!

 

 

Note:  To make this a bit easier, you could forget about the pizza stone and just place the rolled out dough onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and cook the dough on the baking sheet.  One baking sheet should be big enough for all of the dough.

 

Recipe slightly adapted from The Yellow Table



Chocolate-Drizzled Oatmeal Shortbread

As I walked out the door this morning to take Stella to gymnastics, I grabbed two cookbooks.  (I use the term gymnastics very loosely.  It's more like playing on gymnastics equipment, mats, and a very long trampoline.  She loves it.)  It's nice to have something to do, like browsing through cookbooks, while Stella is hanging upside down from a bar, doing somersaults down wedge mats or bouncing up and down on a trampoline.  I also brought with me a few small pieces of cardstock to write down some of the recipes I would like to try and any ingredients that I may not have a home.  As I was browsing the pages of The Sprouted Kitchen, the women next to me asked me what cookbook I was reading.  I happily showed her the cover and shared my excitement for some of the recipes that I have already tried.  She seemed interested and wrote down the name of the cookbook and blog on a piece of paper and stuck it in her purse.   (Hopefully her purse isn't anything like mine which often resembles a deep abyss filled with receipts, grocery lists, change and half pieces of Extra gum that taste like pennies.  If it is, she may never find that piece of paper again.)  On the top of my "to make" list, were these cookies.  I had all the ingredients at home and with words like dark chocolate and flaked sea salt, not much convincing was needed.

Chocolate-Drizzled Oatmeal Shortbread 

From The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose or rice flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
Flaked sea salt, such as Maldon, for garnish (optional)

In a food processor, pulse the oats to create coarse flour.  You want a bit of texture to remain, not pureed until it is completely smooth.  Set aside.

In the food processor or using a bowl and wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the vanilla and egg and mix again.  Add the oat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and nutmeg and pulse a few times to combine, scraping down the sides of the food processor or your bowl as necessary.  The dough will be fairly tacky.

Using your hands, roll the dough into a uniform log about 3 inches in diameter.  If you like, sprinkle a handful of rolled oats and a few tablespoons of turbinado sugar on your work surface and roll the log in the mixture to create a crust.  Roll the log up in plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and preferably two.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Working quickly, slice the log into 1/2-inch coins and spread them on the baking sheet 2 inches apart.  Bake until the edges just begin to brown, 14 to 16 minutes.  Transfer the cookies to a wire rack.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl over a pot of simmering water, being careful not to let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.  Arrange the piece of parchment you used for cooking the cookies under the wire rack for easy cleanup.  Drizzle the melted chocolate on the tops of the cookies in a zig-zag motion.  Sprinkle a bit of flaked salt on the top of each cookie.  The chocolate will firm up in about 15 to 20 minutes. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.

Spaghetti Squash Tacos and a Dinner Victory

Should or shouldn't I make these tacos, was the question I kept asking myself the other day.  Not because I knew I wouldn't like squash tacos, but because the people that I live with seem to be more of the non-squash eating type.  I wasn't sure I was in the mood to hear the moans and groans at the dinner table that might accompany tortillas filled with spaghetti squash.  Eventually my want for the tacos won out over the possibility of any dinner table complaints.

Todd and Noah weren't quite home when I sat down to eat with Preston and Stella.  I made a taco for myself and both Preston and Stella and then I sat back and watched and listened for the reaction.  It didn't take long for Stella to tell me that she didn't like them, which wasn't surprising being that the only food I don't have to remind her to keep taking bites of is chocolate cake with ice cream.  Preston on the other hand said nothing until he finished and then asked for another one (sweet victory).  As Preston and I were finishing up, Todd and Noah walked in and sat down at the table.  I made Noah a taco and Todd made one for himself.  Besides, Stella, Noah would have been a sure bet to take one bite, set it down, eat the entire bowl of sliced pears sitting in the middle of the table (all in hopes of never having to touch or taste the squash taco again).  But, to my pleasant surprise, Noah ate the entire taco without one complaint and Todd ate two.  I was thrilled!  I will happily take four out of five and deem the spaghetti squash tacos a dinner victory! 

Spaghetti Squash Tacos

3 pound spaghetti squash
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder (you can also use regular chili powder)
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin 
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Sixteen 6-inch corn tortillas
One 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained well
Crumbled queso fresco, feta, or Cotija cheese
Finely diced red onion
Chopped fresh cilantro
Hot sauce
Lime wedges

Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and roast the halves facedown on a oiled baking sheet for about 40 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

When the squash has finished cooking and has cooled slightly, working over a bowl, scrape the squash flesh with a fork, loosening and separating the strands as you remove it from the skin.  Discard the skin.  In a small bowl, whisk lime juice with chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt.  Pour over the spaghetti squash strands, and gently toss together.  Taste the squash, and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Heat a dry, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Warm and slightly blister each tortilla.  Sprinkle each warm tortilla with black beans, squash mixture, cheese, diced red onion, cilantro and a couple of shakes of hot sauce.  Serve with lime wedges.

Recipe slightly adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook