Swiss Chard Mini Galettes

 

Little hand pies are such a joy to eat! Better than a burger (less mess!) and usually made of flour and butter, total deliciousness!

Every cuisine around the world has some version. Pasties from Cornwall, Empanadas from Central America, Samosas from India, Scacciatas from Sicily or Galette's from France. I love them all! 

Galettes are super easy, just roll out a filling, place some cooked veggies in it and pop it in the oven to bake the dough and Voila! Heaven in your hand!

Tattie Scones AKA Mashed Potato Cake

Mashed potato anything is always a winner in my book. I have made mashed potato cakes from leftovers just by adding an egg and some flour, but if you don't have leftovers, this recipe is easy and fast.

These tattie scones are great on their own straight out of the pan or add your favorite toppings. Pesto, cream sauce, cauliflower cream, anything you need to use up that goes with potato would suit these lovelies.

I highly recommend making them just to have some in the freezer; popping them into a toaster oven is a quick and highly satisfying snack option!

Deconstructed Cauliflower Tacos

If you made it past that title, then you are an adventurous eater and probably a fan of cauliflower - two excellent qualities in my book.

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen's Cauliflower Tacos and wanting some potatoes, I made this plate of deliciousness: pan fried potatoes, topped with pan fried cauliflower, and garnished with pickled red onions, cotija cheese, and cilantro. WOW! It was so good, that I had to make it three times in a week before I remembered to wait and get a photo before inhaling it!

Bonus points if you use potatoes that are red or purple on the inside, they just make it so much prettier. Do not skip the easy step of making the quick pickled red onion, it makes all the difference. And if you do it as the first step, they will be ready by the time you assemble your plate.

Broccoli, Wild Rice and Cheese Casserole

Underneath all of that cheesy richness is loads of broccoli and wild rice, nestled in a cheese sauce! Not diet food, for sure, but 100% grade A, comfort food when you are tired of the rain and long for some sunshine!

Here in Northern California, we are not quite underwater - thankfully my house is on a hill - but our winter precipitation level is atmospheric, like the rain we have been receiving. Yup, we no longer are in drought conditions, and hopefully that will help when wildfire season arrives, but for now, let's fight the wet and cold with this delicious dish!

Salmon Cakes

There are so many reasons why living in Humboldt is such a delight, but getting local and fresh caught salmon is near the top of my list. It was the first meal I ate in Humboldt, cooked over a wood fire at the campsite I stayed at on my first night here and it continues to be one of my favorite meals. 

Too often the salmon burgers or cakes found in restaurants are breadcrumb heavy to hold the patty together. Not this version! It uses the salmon itself as the means to meld the patty together, ingenious! Incidentally, this works for crab cakes as well, only I would suggest using a few shrimp as the binder rather than the expensive lump crab. 

My favorite accompaniment is remoulade - a Cajun spicy mayonnaise - but use whatever pleases you!

Tarte de Soleil with Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade

Deep into a Humboldt winter, the sun is a shy one, so try and coax it out with this baked deliciousness! While some of us are happily noticing the lengthening of the days, others get a little preoccupied by the tossing of a pigskin ball and its culmination in a big bowl. Whatever your pleasure, here is a fun and beautiful way to celebrate both of these events.

Puff pastry sandwiches a homemade sun-dried tomato and olive tapenade, baked until golden and then served with a dipping sauce. Perfect when you want to indulge or impress. My inspiration was from Smitten Kitchen, and while I strayed a bit, her suggestions were still pretty spot on. Incidentally, buying puff pastry is the easy way to go, but I did make mine - gluten free! - and my current GF cooking goddess is Nicole Hunn of Gluten Free on a Shoestring, check her out!

Zucchini Chickpea Pancakes with Sriracha

Are you ready for zucchini season? Think I’m jumping the gun a little too soon? If you have planted them in your garden in the past, you know the green rascals grow exponentially, so begin stockpiling your recipes for using up their deliciousness now!

One of my favorite recipes for zucchini are pancakes made with chickpea flour. My first foray into this dish was as an Indian side dish, so I have kept the Indian spices, but don’t let that deter you if spice is not your thing, although these spices are not hot per say, just flavorful. The basics are a few tablespoons of chickpea flour with salt, oil and a little water mixed with diced zucchini, which you allow to rest and then fry up in a cast iron pan. It’s magical!

Chickpea flour makes great pancakes on its own - google Socca and see how the French and Italians eat it with just salt. When you add chopped veggies that cook quickly, like zucchini, then it’s a full meal and a quick one at that.

Asparagus Fritters with Curried Mayo

 

Have you ever seen an asparagus bed? No, that’s not a trick question, they do grow in “beds” and they are finicky growers, I’ve tried. So when you see local asparagus available, grab it up and thank your neighbor for bringing this delectable spring vegetable into the world, because it isn’t easy to get started. However, once they are going, they will last for years. Kind of a metaphor for being a mom!

Moms take care of us as babies, as toddlers, as teenagers and even as adults. It’s kind of pathetic that we only allocate one day a year to officially thank them, so make it a hearty and heartfelt one!

Asparagus fritters sound fancy but they are really simple and delicious. If curry isn’t your thing, dollop sour cream on top and sprinkle some chives to make it look pretty. Your mom deserves it!

Asian Tuna Salad Bowl

Poke bowls are new to me but I am embracing them whole heartedly! Yes, I know the above photo does not have raw fish in it, but hear me out. Mark Bittman - my personal food god - put out a recipe that inspired me to go with the look if not the exact ingredients of a poke bowl - canned tuna.

Add soy sauce, wasabi and lemon juice to canned tuna and surround it with a bunch of fresh, raw chopped veggies and herbs and presto! Deliciousness that you didn't know existed!

While Mark uses cooked rice as a base (similar to a poke bowl) I often stick with more veggies, but feel free to use what you like. This dish is definitely great for using up odds and ends in your veggie drawer, but there are a few staples that I think work well: cucumber, radish (daikon, red), and bell peppers. After that, it's a grab bag. Avocado is always good along with pickled onions or ginger. It's your bowl, make yourself happy!

Cauliflower Cake

When I daydream of publishing a cookbook, one of my titles would be “Vegetable Goddess,” since I fancy myself as someone who can entice people into eating the vegetables they think they abhor. However, there already exists a Vegetable God, Yotam Ottolenghi. 

If you’re not familiar with him or his cookbooks, you’ve probably unknowingly seen his recipes made by someone else. Not only do his recipes inspire gorgeous food porn photos but they taste as good as they look. Us mere mortals worship at his feet and if you have yet to be graced with his brilliance, now is your chance. 

Cauliflower Cake, savory and delicious, combining basil, rosemary, red onion and turmeric with eggs, flour and roasted cauliflower. Best warm, still delicious straight from the refrigerator. You know you are at least curious! 

Pumpkin Pancakes with Balsamic Cream

Years ago a friend had a life transforming meal that included pumpkin ravioli in balsamic cream sauce. She gushed about it and begged me to attempt it, which I did, and it was good. Supremely good. Since then, I've made pumpkin ravioli a few times, but it is time consuming. However, I started thinking that "Winter Squash Pancakes" from Smitten Kitchen would benefit from the Balsamic Cream treatment. Yes, yes it did!

Now pancakes usually means breakfast or brunch, but don't be afraid to bring this deliciousness out for dinner, it works then as well.

I followed this recipe to a T, except that I super cheated and used pumpkin puree in a can, and that made this a super quick as well as delicious dinner. Feel free to bake up or use leftover cooked winter squash to make these pancakes; undoubtedly they will be delicious because balsamic cream sauce is king!

Mushroom Rye Casserole

I won't lie. This is one of those be-inspired-by-a-recipe-but-substitute-what-I-had and those don't usually turn out so well. This is the exception that proves the point!

The basic ingredients of cottage cheese, sour cream and mushrooms were sitting in the frig, but no rice and no parmesan. But there were rye berries and emmentaler, so substitutions were made. And it was amazing!

Personally, the rye berries really made this dish: chewy and nutty, more flavorful than rice. Sold! Also, with tons of cheese sitting in the cheese drawer, some was going in no matter what was in the recipe. The nuttiness of the emmentaler paired nicely with the rye and the mushrooms. Definitely a winner that will be making an appearance again!

Although the photo is less than appetizing (hello winter light!), trust me that the dish must be worth it for me to publish a post on it with such a photo.

Smashed Fried Potatoes

In the Midwest, potatoes are their own food group, meaning they are always a part of the meal, regardless.  No complaints here!

While mashed potatoes are my hands down favorite (yes, even over french fries). this is a new technique I discovered somewhat recently, smashed fried potatoes.

Boil new or red or yukon potatoes until tender, gently smash them to about 1/2 inch in thickness, then give them a quick brown crust in the frying pan. You get the soft squishiness of boiled with the crisp outer goodness of fried. I often boil them in advance and have them readily available in the refrigerator, waiting for brunch or dinner preparation.

And for those curious cats out there, that is pan seared fennel slices next to the smashed potatoes, and yes, that was my dinner a few nights ago, so satisfying!

Homemade Granola

There are more than 750 posts on this blog and not one is about homemade granola...because I had never made it, until now.

I know. Those of you in the know are slapping your forehead. What took me so long!

Really, there is no excuse.

And now there is none for you either. Because it is dead simple, and you can make it with all of those bits of stuff in your pantry that you have been saving for whenever you a recipe that calls for sunflower seeds and pepitas and chopped nuts and shredded coconut and, well, you get the picture.

Add in some rolled oats, coconut oil, dried fruit of a sort, spice of a sort and bake for 20 minutes.

Yup, 20 minutes and then you have homemade granola. Just like that. To eat with your homemade yogurt, because that is really easy too. But that's for another day.

Happy Samhain! Halloween! Dias de los Muertos!

Smoked Salmon Phyllo Pie

Not everyone grew up eating hunks of raw cabbage in their high school brown bag lunch...ok, almost no one. You can guess who is the exception!

But even if you do not share my love affair with cabbage, you will be bowled over by the transformation of humble green cabbage in this phyllo encased pie.

Sweating onion, cabbage and finely sliced fennel in olive oil brings out the sweetness in cabbage and blending it with a minimum of ingredients creates what looks fancy, but us cooks know was actually quite simple to make.

While this pie features smoked salmon or lox, you could easily make it with pork or veggie sausage or just make it a cabbage pie for those of you who share my love of this member of the brassica family.

Broccoli Fritters with Texan Queso

Decades ago Barbara Bush, then First Lady, created quite a stir when she admitted to hating broccoli. There was such an uproar, possibly because it was what so many people were already thinking but of course it made the broccoli lovers stand taller and proclaim their love to the heavens. Guess what camp I was in!

When you come across eaters who are luke-warm on broccoli, this is the recipe to serve them. Broccoli fritters smothered in queso, which is Spanish for cheese but really means spicy cheese dip if you're from the former Republic of Texas!

I love to make this with broccoli that has been patiently waiting in my crisper for inspiration and it's not coming. Simply cut it up, place it in a large pot of water that covers it, bring to a boil then drain. This will create the perfect texture of cooked by not over-cooked broccoli for your fritters, and you can do it in advance which makes this recipe come together super fast!

The photo above is not the most glamorous, but don't be fooled, it's a party in your mouth! And I went with orange cheddar instead of my usual white since Texan queso traditionally uses velvetta. The color contrast is more fun this way as well!

Blue Corn Sopes with Refried Beans and Cheese

Sopes are another one of those Mexican comfort foods that so many people have yet to add to their repertoire let alone try just because they haven't become as ubiquitous as tacos or burritos. But really, they are equally versatile and delicious.

Here in northern Humboldt we are lucky enough to have a local purveyor of great masa - yellow and blue (Bien Padre, AKA Mala Madre according to my hubby), so I scooped up some blue masa to make these tasty morsels. Like Gorditas or homemade corn tortillas, you simply add water and salt to masa and let it sit; then you shape it and fry it as needed.

Making the dough is about trial and error - you don't want it too wet or too dry, and letting it sit for at least 15 minutes helps to allow the masa absorb the water. I simply dump some masa into a bowl - about 1 1/2 cups for about 3-4 sopes each - add about 1 cup of water and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and let it sit while I'm getting the toppings ready. Then I check the dough and see if it needs a little more water or a little more masa. It should hold together when you make a ball and flatten it slightly; if it sticks to your hands, it needs just a little more masa. Conversely, if it's dry add a little more water. After a few trys you will see how it works best.

These were a brunch meal so it was a simple topping of refried beans, shredded cheese (ricotta salata, so similar to Mexican cotija) and some salsa and guacamole. Really, how can you go wrong!

Morning Glory Muffins with Spelt Flour

What do you do with 3-4 cups of leftover raw shredded carrot and apple salad? Make morning glory muffins, of course!

One of my many fun food jobs is being a free-lance lunch lady at North Coast Preparatory Academy and usually the kids are fairly food adventurous. But too much carrot apple salad was just that, too much. So I found this muffin recipe and used up my leftovers. Voila! Repurposed salad in a hand-held breakfast.

Since wheat flour is out of my diet, I used spelt flour. And despite the original author's admonishments about the "correct" way to measure flour (which I didn't follow), and my need to just keep adding until the mixture looked right (spelt needs less liquid than wheat), these muffins turned out wonderfully! My husband's co-workers thanked me profusely for sending them in with him for the staff lounge.

Bread Cheese Smothered in Warm Salsa

Once upon a time, there was a woman with a dream job, managing the wine, cheese and speciality food section of a food co-op in Santa Monica, California. She lived four blocks from the Pacific Ocean, rode her bike to work year round, and loved her work. One day, her ambition raised its ugly head and she thought to herself, "I am Bored! Where are the new challenges in life?" So she quit her dream job and spiraled down into misery and sorrow.

True story. It would be a sad story, but that spiral led her out of the Southland to the North Coast where she met the love of her life and has since lived happily ever after.

But during that dreamy job time she never met Bread Cheese. Why not? Where had Bread Cheese been hiding during that dreamy time? Why had the cheese vendors kept it from her? Thankfully, when she arrived in the land of happily ever after, the cheese monger at the local food co-op brought Bread Cheese out of hiding and she joyously felt her cheese life was now complete.

Do you despair that you have not yet found Bread Cheese? Know your rights! Demand it from your cheese monger today! And start on the road to your happily ever after too!

Cottage Cheese Cakes with Garlic Green Sauce

I know the title is about as unglamourous as you can get, but trust me on this one. And especially if you're looking for something easy to throw together to hold back the hordes as you prepare the big special dinner, this easy peasy recipe is it.

Toss a carton (15oz) of cottage cheese with 2 eggs and 3 tablespoons flour and blend well and then pan fry. Voila! Super tasty and crowd pleasing! Usually I spoon over some sort of garlic and greens puree whether its fancy with basil or some cooked swiss chard. Either way, it always pleases.

This is a great weeknite dinner as well, don't confine it to brunch!

Oh, and happy solstice, yule and christmas!