I Love Chips...Oven-Baked!

As seen on The Fruit Guys website.

We love chips.

As I've mentioned before, I don't deep-fry foods very often. My fear is that I'll end up deep-frying everything, including candy bars at all hours of the day and night. Because of this homemade chips were seemingly out of my repertoire of dishes.

At about age two, my daughter Isabella was ready to eat all sorts of foods. I knew I had one shot at getting her to love all manner of root veggies. I chose oven-frying as my cooking method. As one of my sisters said "sure, you can get a kid to eat cardboard if you put some olive oil and salt on it and roast it until it's crispy."

She was right.

Isabella eats all manner of root veggies, prepared in any number of ways. She loves a good roasted veggie, especially brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.

Oven-Baked Potato  Chips

This recipe will work for any root veggie: potatoes, brussels sprouts, sunchokes or carrots. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 to 6 potatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Thoroughly scrub the potatoes to remove any grit.
• Slice the potatoes into thin even slices.
• Pour the olive oil onto a baking sheet.
• Place the potato slices on the oiled sheet. Mix them around to coat all of the slices evenly with the oil.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cook in the oven for 15 minutes.
• They are done when the chips turn a nice golden brown.

Cook’s note:  To slice the potatoes you can use either a mandolin slicer or the slicer blade on your food processor. And, cutting them by hand is perfectly fine, just make them as thin as possible and make sure the chips are about the same thickness to avoid burning.

Spring = Salad....Salad Dressings Galore

As  featured on The Fruit Guys website

Salad dressing has been on my mind lately. I think it's a sure sign of Spring, what with all the nice greens beginning to show up in the farmer's markets.

In my head, I keep hearing my brother singing a song he made up "All My Dressings", but I can't remember the rest of it. I think this was something he started singing to one of his many nieces and nephews or his kids as pre-dinner entertainment. Salad dressing and I were never best friends. The reappearance of my brother Chris' song, has, however, prompted me to think some more about dressings. I generally like an undressed (naked, if you will) salad. I'm not sure why I have this aversion to dressing, it certainly has nothing to do with calories. There was a time when I did like dressing. I do remember a good vinaigrette that Gran Fran and Joe would make which I ate when we were kids. That said, I'm beginning to wonder if all of the packaged dressings that people offer me are the turn off. There are too many flavors mixed in that take over the taste of the lovely greens.

I set myself a mission: to find not one, not two, but three dressings that I could rotate through my salads. This coincided perfectly with my recent thinking about how to increase the flavor in my salads. In combination with adding fruits, nuts and sometimes rice noodles to my salads, dressing seems the next logical step to bring up the flavor.

A mustard vinaigrette dressing always plays a part in my Salade Nicoise. I know that I can use that same dressing on any number of salads, or even over some warm boiled potatoes. One down, two to go.

Cole Slaw is a big favorite of mine, especially my homemade version. The dressing doesn't have to be exclusively for cabbage, even though it goes so well with it. I figured I could try it with a heartier green, like spinach, add some cucumbers, nuts and shredded carrots and have myself a great salad. I was right.

Dressing number three came to me in my half-sleep the other day, just waking up after a long night of dreaming about food. Those dreams paid off because I came up with an Asian-style dressing that includes orange juice, ginger and sesame oil. A winner when put over romaine lettuce with rice noodles, almonds and orange slices.

I think the vinaigrette and the Asian-style dressing can double as a good marinade for meats, too. So looking forward to trying them out on a variety of salads and reporting back!

My friends came to dinner the night after I made these dressings. It was really great to be able to say, for once, that I did have not one, but three dressings to offer them. They were all a big hit. I'm going to think up a few more dressings before too long. I think I actually *do* like dressing.

Mustard Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 clove garlic minced finely
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl, using either a small wire whisk or a fork to fully incorporate all the ingredients

Use this vinaigrette on everything from a side dinner salad to a salade nicoise.

Creamy Salad Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon celery salt
• Black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
3. Add your favorite salad and enjoy.

You can make a traditional cole slaw just by adding two cups of shredded cabbage and some julienned carrots. Or, simply pour some dressing over well-washed spinach, cucumbers, carrots and sunflower seeds.

Asian-Style Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon honey
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.

This dressing is fantastic for a mixed green salad featuring hardy vegetables like red bell peppers and green beans.

You can also add rice noodles to showcase the dressing’s flavor and some cilantro as garnish.

Kale. Who Knew It Could Be This Easy?

Spring is here. At least in SF. It's got to be close to 70 degrees here with lovely clear, blue skies. A perfect day for a walk over to our local farmer's market.

There was a nice kale salad in our lunch this past week, so I decided to try my hand at cooking some. I've used kale in soups before, but never any other way.

Many varieties of kale showed up this week at the farmer's market. I got some and then stared it in on my kitchen counter for a good long time. I realized that I had no idea what to do with it. Since it seems very fibrous, braising seemed like a good idea. Then I remembered how we always cooked sausages in boiling red wine before putting them into the tomato sauce when I was growing up. Maybe red wine was the way to go.

It most certainly is the way to go with kale. I don't know if there are purists out there who have a particular right way to cook these hearty leaves, but I recommend that you give the red wine a try.

Once I had the kale cooked down, I thought I'd try two different final dishes with it. I served it alongside boiled potatoes straight from the pan with some of the braising liquid and garlic.

And, I made a pesto-style preparation, by pureeing the cooked kale, garlic and braising liquid in the food processor. Both were good, but I preferred the pesto-style, since I'd never tasted kale this way before.

Red Wine-Braised Kale with Boiled Potatoes

• 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled

1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
3. Add the oil and water.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
5. Turn the heat back to high.
6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
8. Serve over the boiled potatoes, being sure to scoop up some of the cooking liquid to pour over the potatoes.

Red Wine-Braised Kale Pesto with Boiled Potatoes

• 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled

1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
3. Add the oil and water.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
5. Turn the heat back to high.
6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
8. Put the cooked Kale and its cooking liquid into a food processor.
9. Process until all leaves and stems have been chopped up and incorporated into a mixture.
10. Serve over the boiled potatoes.

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Stuffed Zucchini, Vegan-Style

Stuffed zucchini is a delight. I haven't made it in awhile, since I used to cover it in cheese and can no longer do so, dairy-free me and all.

I realized that if I were to put something else with a nice strong flavor in the stuffing, that could complement the mellow sweetness of the zucchini, I might be able to make this taste just as good without the cheese.

Last week, I made this Onion & Shallot Marmalade (click here for the recipe) and thought it could be the perfect accompaniment for the zucchini.

I was right. It added texture and also flavor, both savory and sweet.

Though I did  replace the regular bread with a gluten-free variety (Udi's), all the other ingredients are the same as what Gran Fran always used to make hers. It took me awhile to remember that you have to steamed the zucchini before you stuff and bake it. I did also fry the bread briefly before adding it to the stuffing, to make sure it browned and didn't soak up too much of the oil from the onion & shallot marmalade.

My daughet managed to eat the first batch of chantarelles that I sauteed and I couldn't quite remember how long to cook them in the oven, but in the end, they turned out great. I even managed to get a non-vegetable lover to eat this without any complaint,  and of course, I loved it, too.

 Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

• 6 Zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/4 lb. Chanterelles, cleaned and chopped coarsely
• 2 pieces Rice Bread, cubed
• 4 to 5 sprigs fresh Oregano (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 6 Tbsps Olive Oil
• 1 recipe Onion & Shallot Marmalade (click here for the recipe)
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Steam the zucchini halves until just soft. Do not cook them all the way through, just enough that the meat of the squash is soft to the touch.
3. Remove the zucchini and allow it to cool.
4. While you are steaming the squash, heat a saute pan large enough to hold the bread cubes in one layer.
5. Add the 1/2 of the oil, the oregano, some salt and the bread cubes. Lower the heat to medium.
6. Sautee the bread for about 4 minutes, keeping the cubes moving with a wooden spoon so that they don't burn, but just brown.
7. Remove the bread cubes from the pan and set them aside in a medium bowl.
8. Return the saute pan to high heat, and add the remaining olive oil.
9. Add the chanterelle mushrooms to the pan and cook until nicely browned.
10. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and add them to the bowl with the cooked bread cubes.
11. Take the zucchini halves and scoop out the flesh and add that to the bowl as well.
12. Mix up all of the ingredients in the bowl.
13. Put the scooped out zucchini halves into a baking dish, large enough so they aren't touching.
14. Scoop a layer of the bread/zucchini/mushroom mixture into each xzucchini half.
15. Top with onion and shallot marmalade.
16. Bake at 375 degree for 20 to 25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.

Enjoy!