Dessert Grec

This recipe came to me by way of an American friend living in France who found it in a French cookbook so I'm not sure if it's really Greek, but I do know that it's really tasty. From what I understand, many French people end a meal with a cheese course or yogurt. While the idea of eating cheese after dinner is a bit strange to me, having a cup of yogurt seems like a natural way to end a meal on a light note. You aren't tempted to have seconds of the main course, as you know something else is coming, but the yogurt provides a sweet finish without adding too many calories. Plus, it aids digestion and is a good source of calcium.

This Greek yogurt dessert includes dried peaches or apricots and a bit of honey to sweeten it up though you can play around with your favorite flavorings to customize it. Zach likes his yogurt with sweetened dried coconut mixed in, though that's not the healthiest option.

Dessert Grec
Serves 2

1 C low-fat yogurt, Greek style is most delicious but regular works too
2 dried peaches or 4 dried apricots
2 t. honey

- Roughly chop the dried fruit and divide between two pretty dessert bowls. Top each with half the yogurt and half the honey. Pop in the fridge while you prepare dinner and enjoy for dessert.

Chicken Saagwala and a Challenge

Was it really a month ago that I was promising new posts and recipes with regular frequency? Alas, my innate laziness has manifested itself in the blogosphere was a severe lack of postings. As I need a swift kick to get the posting started again, I have joined the NaBloPoMo- the National Blog Posting Month Challenge. The official big month of daily blog posting was in November, but NaBloMaPo goes on every month and I'm looking forward to the challenge so check back every day (gasp) for a new food related posting.

And now, for my first November posting, what could be better than this Chicken Saagwala? After all the Thanksgiving turkey and cranberrry sauce, and with all the holiday parties with cookies, hams and the rest of it, this light chicken and spinach dish is full of flavor but easy on the waistline. Did I mention you can make it in about 30 minutes?

This recipe is based off one I found in the Weight Watcher Cookbook. Before you write it off as 'diet' food and therefore tasteless and me as having abandoned good food altogether, hear me out. We all, from time to time, need to focus more on healthy eating. For me, that time is now, and I have to think that some of you out there would like some lighter options to make at home during a month when there are tempting holiday treats at seemingly every turn. I'll never post anything on the blog just because it's healthy- it also has to be delicious and something that I would be happy to serve to guests in my home.

I made this recipe last night fully expecting it to be a mediocre homemade Indian dish but Zach and I were blown away wth how tasty it was. The spices really pop thanks to a quick toasting in oil and since it cooks quickly, the spinach and tomatoes retain their color and the chicken breast doesn't dry out. I added some yogurt at the end to round out the flavors and add a hint of creaminess dish and served it with some (leftover) white rice. This really is one of the tastiest dishes I've made in a long time and I'm excited to have another winning Indian dish in my repertoire. Also a plus- it's gluten-free and could easily be made vegetarian with the substitution of tofu instead of the chicken. Don't have yogurt on hand? Stir in a little cream for a richer flavor or leave it out all together if you're lactose intolerant.

Note: this flavor of this dish depends on the quality of your spices. If you curry powder has been hanging out in the spice rack since the last administration it's probably time to get a new one. I used McCormick brand curry powder (the one in the glass jar with the green lid) and would recommend it.

Chicken Saagwala
Adapted from the Weight Watchers Cookbook
Serves 4

1 T plus 2t vegetable oil
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T + 1 t curry powder
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground cumin
12oz/350g chicken breast or tenders or tofu, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
12 oz/300g frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/3C/75g low-fat plain yogurt
hot white or brown rice, naan, or pita bread (optional to complete your meal)

- Put the oil, ginger, garlic and spices in a non-stick skillet (that has a lid) and turn the heat to medium. Once the mix starts sizzling and bubbling, stir and toast for 2-3 minutes until very fragrant.

- Add the chicken and stir to coat with the spice mixture. Add the tomatoes, mix again and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, still on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

- Add the spinach, stir, re-cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

- Add the yogurt, stir and and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with your accompaniments.

Tossed Salad with Indian Spiced Chicken

I remember reading an article a few years ago stating that the average American family has about a dozen core recipes in its meal lineup, and repeats them, with a few variations, most of the time. At the time, I thought that would be awfully boring, but I've given more thought to it lately, as I haven't been making things I thought were interesting enough to post on the blog. Part of why I started writing this blog was to encourage myself to try new foods and techniques in the kitchen and it's worked, but lately I found myself in a culinary rut. Granted, this was after a summer of heavy travel when I had simply gotten out of the habit of meal planning and into the habit of pasta and veggie burgers. Now that some big life things have happened- Zach and I got married, I'm leaving my job to take some time off before the new job starts (a luxury I really do appreciate), I am ready to get the blog fired up again.

I thought I would start with a 'make the old new again' kind of recipe, turning Indian Spiced Chicken Bites into a meal but putting them on top of a tossed salad with an Indian spice dressing and serving it with warm pita. Is it the most magnificent thing I've ever made in the kitchen? Certainly not; but it was a quick, balanced meal that combines everyday ingredients with a few new tastes to add some excitement to a weeknight dinner.

Tossed Salad with Indian Spiced Chicken
Serves 2, easily doubled
Dressing based on this recipe

1/2 recipe Indian Spiced Chicken Bites
1/2 head romaine (or your preferred) lettuce, torn into pieces
2 carrots, shredded
1/2 C. raisins or chopped dried apricots

salad dressing (below)

- Toss all the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl. Top with dressing and toss again. Serve.


Salad dressing (you'll probably have leftovers)

a bit of lemon zest
2T lemon juice
1/2t turmeric
1/2t cumin
1/2t coriander
1 small glove garlic, mashed into a paste
1/2t sugar
2t grated fresh ginger
chili paste to taste
salt to taste
1/4-1/2C light flavored oil

- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a wisk.

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

This month was supposed to be my triumphant return to the Daring Bakers but it began with a baking disaster and is ending with me typing up this post at 10pm on posting day. I have seen macarons online for a while now and have always been more intrigued by their looks than what I thought they would taste like. While the sandwich cookies look so cute, meringue has never been my thing, so I'd never gotten around to trying them, until this month that is.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

For my first attempt, I carefully separated the eggs and let the whites come to room temperature. Then I proceeded to overbeat them. I knew it but decided to continue on with the cookies anyway, thinking that everything would be all right. Oh no, it was not. The cookies ended up flattened sticky messes and even though I'm usually a one picture per post type of person, I'm sticking in an extra picture of my overbeated egg whites- just in case you aren't sure what they look like (I wasn't). So here they are= if your egg whites look like this, toss them out and start again.


For my next attempt, I whipped the white much more carefully and things turned out pretty well. I couldn't find my piping tips when it came time to pipe out the cookies though, so I ended up make them much thinner than I should have. They turned out a little flat, but still have a hint of the 'foot' they are famous for.

For flavoring I decided to go fall, and mixed nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and allspice into the macaron batter and made an unsweetened pumpkin cream cheese frosting. I find pumpkin quite bitter on its own, but it worked out really well against the incredibly sweet macarons.

One last confession before I end my post. Since my first macaron attempt failed, I switched recipes for the second. The DB challenge recipe is below, but for my successful attempt, I used Helene's recipe. I'm sure both will work, as long as you're careful with the egg whites.


Macarons


Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

Equipment required:
• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients
2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.) Confectioners’ sugar
2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.) Almond flour
2T (25g, 88 oz.)Granulated sugar
5 Egg whites (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Garlic Scape and White Bean Dip

My summer travels have come to an end and I'm back in DC (for the next week at least). While my summer photos are loading I thought I'd post this dip that I made earlier in the summer. It's healthy, delicious and easy- for a while I was making a batch a week to have as a snack. Yes, garlic scape season has passed us by but it's just as good made with fresh rosemary and a small piece of garlic. I used this recipe from Zested, a blog worth visiting just for the photos alone and made even better by the great recipes. I'll be back soon with more recipes and travel food posts.

Smoky Grilled Chicken

Back in D.C. from a lovely long vacation and thought I would post on this smoky grilled chicken I made a few weeks ago. It's from a recipe my co-worker S- and I saw on the Food Network (don't worry, it was after hours) and we both thought it looked amazing. First, a spice rub and then a long, slow cook on a grill with wood chips to give the chicken great flavor and color. It was fantastic, easily the best grilled chicken I have ever made, and quite simple too. The only problem was that the chicken took about 2 hours to cook so we had dinner at around 10pm... which meant there was a little too much time for mojitos beforehand.

I followed the Neely's recipe closely, so I will leave you with the link and few notes:

1) We used a 'sweet' smoking mix S- picked up from World Market that included applewood but had other things too
2) We have a kettle style charcoal grill so followed Alton Brown's suggestion of making a foil pouch for the (pre-soaked) wood chips and snipping little holes it and it worked well
3) The chicken might take a long time to cook through- have some tasty drinks on hand and friends to keep you company while you wait

Garlic Scape Pesto

This recipe seems to be all the rage this year as more and more people discover garlic scapes. My first experience with garlic scapes (which are the green tops farmers cut off the top of the growing garlic early in the season) came last year courtesy of our CSA. I didn't really know what to do with them so used them mostly in stir fries. This year though, I've come across recipes highlighting the fresh flavor of the scapes, like this pesto I adapted from Dorie Greenspan. I think that my scapes were a bit bigger than Dorie's as you can see that my pesto came out rather thick, even though I kept adding tablespoons of water to thin it out. It has a coarser texture than basil pesto but the garlic flavor and surprising burst of spice made it a great cracker topping. Next I'm going to whir it up in the mini-prep again with some basil leaves to make a scape and basil pesto.

Turkish Style Baked Eggs

I was reading Chocolate and Zucchini the other week and saw Clotilde's link to The New Vegetarian Column in the UK's Guardian newspaper. I was intrigued as I had read about the column's author, Yotam Ottolenghi, on other blog posts as he is the owner of a delicatessen, in the true meaning of the word, in London. I'm always on the lookout for meals that don't involve meat, and Zach and I love getting Turkish food out, so I eagerly read through Ottolenghi's recent columns looking for things to make.

When I had found this recipe and announced to the office that I was going to make baked eggs with yogurt and spinach for dinner, my co-worker S- actually started laughing. I will admit that it might sound a bit strange, but if you think about it like a variation on eggs florentine, with the spinach, yogurt instead of hollandaise and a bit of chili oil on top, it starts to sound a lot more normal.

It only took about 10 minutes to put everything together and it should have only taken another 10-15 to bake but I can never tell when baked eggs are done and cooked them for way too long. The finished dish was still really good though, topped with garlicy homemade yogurt, even if the eggs were overcooked. The chili sauce was a revelation though-- as its very similar to an amazing sauce that Zaytinya, one of our favorite DC restaurants, puts on its manti.

I made a few changes to the original recipe, as I couldn't find arugula and reduced the fat content a bit (per usual) so my version of the recipe is below.

Turkish Style Baked Eggs
Adapted from The New Vegetarian
Serves 2-3 for dinner

1 bunch (300g) fresh spinach
2 t. olive oil
4 eggs
3/4 C (150g) Greek yogurt
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2 T (20)g unsalted butter
1/2 t. sweet paprika
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
6 sage leaves, shredded
salt for topping

- Preheat the oven to 300F (150C). Wash the spinach, remove the stems. Head a big frying pan over medium high heat with the oil. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt. Cook until the spinach is wilted and all of the water has evaporated. If you can, use a spatula to squeeze more water out of the spinach.

- Put the spinach in a small, ovenproof dish and make four wells that go almost to the bottom of the spinach. Break and egg into a custard cup (try to keep the yolk whole) and then pour into a well; repeat with remaining eggs. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the egg whites set. (you might want to give it a stab with a fork to check doneness as it's very hard to do by sight)

- While the eggs are cooking, mix the yogurt, the crushed garlic and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Leave on the counter till ready to serve.

- Wipe out the pan you used for the spinach. Add the butter and turn on the heat. Cook until the butter stops foaming then add the paprika and red pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Add the sage leaves, cook for another minute and turn off the heat.

- Remove the eggs from the oven when they're done. Fish the garlic out of the yogurt mix, then pour the yogurt on the center of the egg dish. Pour the butter mix over the top and serve immediately.