Potato and Artichoke Tortilla

Potato and Artichoke Tortilla from Smitten Kitchen
This is one of those recipes that I definitely chose for its title: potato and artichoke tortilla. Yum! How can one go wrong? Well, sadly I found out.

This recipe is somewhat more challenging than I originally expected. It was the center piece entree for a small dinner party (4 adults, 1 baby); we ended up with an entree that looked closer to an egg scramble, rather than the artfully photographed tortilla. I know, tragic! Thank goodness my guests were as inspired by the title of the dish as I was and eagerly dug in when served.

Alterations: Veg stock instead of chicken stock. Also, I chose roasted red peppers over piquillo peppers.

So everything seemed to be going fine until it came time to flip the tortilla onto a plate. Despite efforts to unstick any part of the tortilla...a medium sized chunk in the middle of the pan held firm. Thus the tortilla quickly fell apart into a perfect hail storm...egg everywhere! Yikes! Feverishly, I recovered all unsullied bits and attempted to reassemble in the pan. So the second side did cook together better than the first...but yeah, outcome not so pretty. Thankfully it was still tasty however I was disappointed to not get the full experience with the right texture.

Soooo, conclusion is practice makes better. Next time I think I can get it to look closer to the picture and probably after a few more shots become a tortilla making champ, well maybe. Hopefully!

Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread

Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread from Allrecipes.com
Cornbread. Sweet, delicious, and easy to make. What more can a person ask for in a recipe? And of course, I have an old standby recipe from Mom, which I always use. However, when putting together a shopping list I happened upon this recipe...and noted how unusual it is to see a recipe with such high ratings.

Alterations: None! Really! I did however cook the cornbread in stoneware....which I put in the oven to warm up first, then poured batter in.

Secret to eating amazing cornbread is serving with amazing butter. I know, so many people think there is no difference but that is because you probably haven't had Straus butter. This stuff is AMAZING. The group I fed this cornbread to began as butter skeptics...and all of them have been converted. Because it is so expensive, I didn't use it in cooking the cornbread...just for serving.

Is this recipe better than mom's? To be honest, I don't think so. Of course I'll need to cook her's again and compare. :)

Arugula, Potato and Green Bean Salad

Arugula, Potato and Green Bean Salad from Smitten Kitchen
While planning for a small dinner party this past week, my main goal was to use the fastly wilting food from my frig. And quite literally whooped for joy when I happened up on this recipe, because all main ingredients magically were on hand: arugula, yukon gold potatoes, green beans & walnuts

So my primary reason for cooking this salad was not because it sounded amazing, but because it would solve my waste problem. And the fantastic part was despite my over-cooking the green beans…the salad was outstandingly delicious!

Alterations: I used rice wine vinegar instead of white wine vinegar and olive oil instead of walnut oil. Also, I just eyeballed the amounts of potatoes, green beans, walnuts and arugula…after all my driving force was to use everything that was sitting uneaten. One last thing, just used a pinch of salt and pepper since I was in a rush and forgot to come back and taste the before serving.

I would highly recommend making this salad anytime…it was delicious and easy and perfect for impressing people with your creative cooking. The one drawback to the recipe is the presentation. The salad ends up looking rather simple…so next time I hope to roast some beets to add of top to create some color…or maybe a sprinkle of cherry tomatoes would do the trick!

Also, I'd like to note that this dressing was upper easy, delicious, and low fat (I think)! Don't tell anyone though, they'll NEVER know! Thank you Smitten Kitchen!!!

What the World Eats - Photo Essay

This was so fascinating I had to post about it; What the World Eat is a two part photo essay from the book Hungry Planet. The photos themselves are compelling, but what really drew me in is the breakdown below the photo. There is the food expenditure per week + favorite foods. I loved happening across diets that seemed so strange to me...like eating Narwal!

What the World Eats, Part I
What the World Eats, Part II

Peach Shortcake Cookies

Peach Shortcake Cookie Recipe from Cate's World Kitchen
Have I ever mentioned how much I love sweets? Because, I really do! However, I am also terrified I might end up a diabetic...I wouldn't be the first in my immediate family, so I try to be really careful about my sugar intake. And for this reason, it isn't often I bake...

Acceptations can be made, and were regarding a cookie recipe that uses fresh peaches (which I adore)...and the smallish amount of sugar! Yes!!!! Of course there is heavy cream & butter in this recipe....but most of the amazing flavor relies on the deliciousness of the sweet fruit.

Alterations to the recipe: I didn't use whole wheat pastry flour because my favorite grocery store didn't have it...so instead used 1 cup white pastry flour and 1 cup of wheat all-purpose flour. This was probably unnecessary since the "adapted from" recipe calls for all-purpose flour...but I prefer to use all-purpose wheat flour, often I find it too dense and it alters the character of what I am trying to bake too much. Hence why I used the much lighter pastry flour to offset it. Also, I was baking in a hurry and messed up the order of ingredients...like I put in cream before butter and mushed it all together with the butter.

These changes didn't effect the quality of the output...the moment these cookies hit the table...all conversation ceased, accept "ohhhh, so good".

Another thing to note about this recipe, is it was really easy to make...the most effort comes in the cutting of the peaches....the rest was really a quick mix and plop. I am sooo going to be making these again, and soon! Thank you Cate! Great job (the the nutmeg+peach touch was especially inspired).

Again, find the recipe at: Cate's World Kitchen

How to Buy Peaches
Peaches are amazing and delicious...but of course you can have bad experiences with any produce you don't understand how to buy. Here are some helpful tips:
• Use your nose! My most important trick for buying any form of produce...if it smells good, it will almost certainly taste good
• Buy local: the less your food travels, the more likely it is to be fresh, not chemically ripened, & flavorful
• A slight give to the flesh—neither rock-hard nor squishy (Peaches bruise easily, so don’t use your fingertips to check for firmness. Instead, hold the peach in your whole hand.)
• Avoid fruit with green around the stem (they aren’t fully ripe) or shriveled skin (they’re old).

Sweet Potato Sandwich Rolls

Sweet Potato Sandwich Rolls, via King Arthur Flour Co.
I'm constantly on a quest for good sandwich rolls. I sincerely believe they are the difference between mediocre and really good sandwiches. So when I happened upon this recipe a while back, I filed it into the...."hmmm must try this someday" partition in my brain. Which frankly, is more like a black hole.

By some lucky twist of fate, I remembered this recipe and was determined to give it a try! And it ended up surpassing my wildest dreams; it earned an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up!!

Alterations to the recipe: I used normal yeast not instant (and let sit & get bubbly in warm water, which takes approximately 5 minutes). I didn't measure the amount of sweet potato...I simply cooked down and mashed a medium sized sweet potato. Sadly, I have NO idea what type of dry milk I used since the baby peeled the wrapper off the box a while ago. Sorry King Arthur, but I just used the flour I had on hand...which wasn't your brand! And no sesame seeds since Berkley Bowl was closed the day I tried to shop. And lastly, I used a Kitchen Aid mixer instead of a bread maker. Actually the whole use of the bread maker in this recipe may merit a WTF?? Seriously, why?? You have to knead the bugger by hand after all.

Okay so the cooking went about as smooth as anyone could ever hope for. My main issue with the recipe is the dough came out of the mixer a bit too sticky so I ended kneading it for a lot longer than I would have liked because in order to add enough flour to not make it stick. And quite possibly this was all my fault for not measuring out sweet potato... Next time it will easily been corrected by adding a tiny bit more flour to the dough before taking it out of the mixer (and testing the stickiness).

To shape the rolls into the gorgeous Kaiser shape, I used another King Arthur Flour link...I might seriously become some sort of convert to King Arthur...they really do an amazing job! Here is is: Shaping Kaiser Rolls

The bread itself isn't sweet; it has subtle flavor to it. I love it! It is awesome too with the delicious black bean burger. What is most amazing about the bread is how gorgeous it is. It is hands down the most beautiful bread I have ever made. And more than one person asked me if it was in fact real...it is beautiful! And sadly my photography skills were not able capture it in it's full beauty. So, you've got to bake it to believe it!!

Homemade "Spicy" Black Bean Burgers

Spicy Black Bean Burgers
Honestly, I don't get the Boca Burger craze. I've eaten Boca Burgers many a time, and am usually grateful for their presence (in my world, Boca Burgers tend to be the almost after-thought when someone has decided to provide an alternative, but don't have any idea of how to construct a meal that doesn't revolve around meat). But really and truly guys, Boca Burgers aren't that tasty.

So, when I happened upon a recipe for homemade black bean burgers, I was pretty excited. Thank you for the recipe Katie, Good Things Catered. And, overall, I have to say I've been pretty pleased. I cooked this recipe once a few months ago, and cooking it a second time was a no brainier.

The recipe itself is pretty easy to follow. I did have a hick-up while putting too large chunks of carrot into my food processor -- the food processor began smelling like a burning clutch. Lesson learned: cut up your carrots a bit more before tossing into cheapo food processor. Also, "straining excess liquid" with fine mesh strainer didn't go so well both times...as in the water really didn't want to strain out...and I ended up just moving on after making a mesh of the strainer. Also, mashing black beans with a fork...gotta admit, my forks weren't very good mashers. I ended up using something a bit more hearty...and nameless...from my kitchen drawer.

Alterations to the recipe: I didn't use the optional tsp spicy chili garlic sauce. And although I have smoked paprika, I just used normal paprika. Also, I used more like 2 cloves of garlic than 1 and a red pepper instead of a green pepper. I molded the dough into 6 patties rather than 8. I share this information because if for some reason it alters the affect of the dish in a grand way, you need to know.

The burgers come out of the oven smelling good and taste pretty good too, but I think "spicy" is definitely an overstatement. The flavor is good, certainly, and a tsp of chili garlic sauce would no doubt make a difference...but these still come out a bit simple flavored.

Next time, if I want "Spicy", I'll add some jalapeno to the mix and probably a tiny bit more salt & paprika. Also, because I only made 6 patties, the burgers are probably a tiny bit undercooked, so I'd leave them in the oven longer as well. They reheat very nicely though and making a smashing lunch.

When I serve this burger up, one way to dress it that never fails is: Black bean burger + delicious bun (stay tuned, got a recipe that will knock your socks off) + avocado + little pico de gallo (sub: tomato slices & onion) + arugula + dab of mayo. Yum!