Category: Recipes by Ingredient + Prep

Recipes by Ingredient

Eggplant and Corn Salad

For July 4th, we had an awesome time at my friend’s farm in New Jersey. We had all our barbecue items ready until it started raining–the eggplants and corn didn’t make it to the grill. We ended up boiling the corns on the cob and put away the eggplants for later use. I then used the leftover corn and removed the kernels from the cob and mixed them with the eggplant to make this salad.

Ingredients:
2 large American eggplants, cut into 1 inch thick wedges
2 boiled corn on the cob, kernels removed
a generous handful of cilantro, finely chopped
about 6 basil leaves, julienned
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
a few jiggers of red wine vinegar
cayenne pepper
salt, pepper, oil

1. Toss eggplant pieces in some salt. Drizzle some oil until just about glistening but not too wet. The eggplant will absorb most of the oil quickly anyway.
2. In a skillet, heat some oil and then add the seasoned eggplants. Keep sautéing until cooked through, about 25 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool.
3. In between sautéing, whisk together 1/3 cup of olive oil with the cilantro, basil, red onion, garlic, red wine vinegar, and cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside. Stir in the corn kernels until well combined.
4. Add the cooled eggplants to the corn salsa and toss well. Chill for a few minutes before serving.

Sancocho, Colombian Chicken and Plantain Soup

It’s World Cup time again and I made the bold choice of picking Colombia going all the way since neither the Netherlands and the United States made it. During the first stage when Colombia played Poland, I invited my Colombian neighbors to watch the match in my apartment. They brought their family and we ended up being a full, fun house.

How do you entertain die-hard Colombian fans watching soccer? You serve them one of their national soups, sancocho. Together with ajiaco, it’s one of the soups that I ended up always ordering while traveling around Colombia a few years ago. I will never forget how hearty it was with the potatoes, plantains, and corn. Even though the weather didn’t call for hot soup then, it didn’t stop me from ordering either one. And now that we are experience a heatwave in New York City, a bowl of it brings back those memories.

Ingredients:
7 cloves garlic
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 red bell pepper, deseeded, chopped
1 green bell pepper, deseeded, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1 habañero chile, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped in 3 parts
3 low-sodium chicken bouillon cubes
1 tbsp cumin, grounded
salt, pepper
1 3-to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 small yucca, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green plantain, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 ripe plantains, peeled, cut into 3-inch pieces
5 medium-sized potatoes, quartered
4 ears corn, cut in 3 pieces

1. In a food processor, purée the garlic, carrots, peppers, onion, chile, and cilantro.
2. In a large pot, combine the purée with about 1 gallon of water, the bouillon cubes, and cumin, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add the chicken pieces and simmer for another 20 minutes.
4. Add the yucca and green plantain and simmer for 10 minutes more. Add the ripe plantains, potatoes, and corn and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

Related post/s:
Try the Colombian ajiaco too

Chicken with Homemade Za’atar

Thanks to Christopher Kimball’s free Milk Street recipes every Tuesday, I always get an idea of what I can make for dinner that week. Za’atar is a Mediterranean spice blend that a lot of people use to grill meats. I was craving that grilled flavor, but because I don’t own a grill and I don’t really want to turn the oven on when it’s 90 degrees outside, I wanted some thinly-sliced meat that will cook through fast.

The Arabic word za’atar also means “thyme”, but I didn’t have it handy so I skipped it in my own version and just made do with what I had in my pantry. The cumin made the chicken very earthy while the sumac added that lemon tartiness that lightened up the whole meal. I really liked the parsley-scallion salad idea here–I never thought I can make a “salad” out of 2 simple ingredients. It was the perfect match to this very flavorful chicken.

Ingredients:
For the za’atar:
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp cumin, grounded
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp salt

3 boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
3 tbsps flour
a handful of parsley
2 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp lemon zest
lemon juice
oil, salt, pepper

1. Mix all your za’atar ingredients in a small bowl and transfer to a plate so it’s easier to coat the chicken. Set aside. Put the flour on a different plate and also set aside.
2. Pound the chicken so they’re thinner and faster to cook through. Lay plastic wrap on a chopping block and put the chicken side by side on top of the wrap. Cover with another sheet of wrap. Gently pound with a rolling pin or a heavy knife handle. Pound until the chicken pieces are about half a thumbnail thin.
3. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Then cover with your homemade za’atar spices; shaking off the excess.
4. Heat a large skillet and add some oil until shimmering. Now cover the spiced chicken pieces with flour; also shaking off the excess. Then add them to the pan and fry each side for 3 minutes. Use a grill press if you have one to weigh the chicken down. Do this in batches if your skillet is not big enough.
5. Make your quick salad while cooking the chicken. In a bowl, combine the parsley and scallions, and season with some oil, zest, and lemon juice. Massage with your hands to mix well.
6. When the chicken pieces are golden brown, remove to a plate and top with the parsley salad.

Beef and Chickpea Spring Stew

I can’t seem to get rid of the carrots and celery in my fridge. As I get ready for my big trip to Paris and San Sebastian this year, I need to clear the fridge to avoid as much food waste as possible. What else can I do with carrots and celery besides mirepoix for stews and soups? It’s been raining all week anyway and the sleepy weather calls for a spring stew that’s hearty at the same time.

Chuck is the meat from around the shoulder of the cow; it’s a relatively cheap cut with good flavor and lots of connective tissue and fat, making it a very appealing choice for this stew. I had everything else in my pantry except the meat, but because I didn’t want to overbuy, I opted for loose beef chuck from my neighborhood butcher. Instead of buying them weighed and packaged from the supermarket, I asked for 5 2-inch pieces so that I just had enough for 3 servings.

Ingredients:
1/2-lb of beef chuck, about 5 pieces of 2-inch cuts
1 small shallot, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
a small knob of Parmesan and its rind
1 can of chickpeas, washed and drained
1 box of chicken broth
2 scallions, chopped
a handful of parsley, roughly chopped
1 can of water chestnuts, washed and drained
alfalfa sprouts, for garnish
oil, salt, pepper

1. In a deep skillet, heat some oil. Season beef pieces with salt and pepper, then add to pot to brown all sides.
2. Add shallots and cook until translucent. Add carrots and sauté for a few minutes. Add the celery and the cheese and keep sautéing until flavors meld.
3. Add the chickpeas and enough broth to cover the beef halfway. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, checking often to make sure that it’s not drying up. When the sauce thickens before the beef is cooked through, add just enough broth to keep cooking the meat.
4. When the beef is easy to pull apart with a knife and fork, fold in the scallions and parsley to combine. Add a little more broth if necessary. You don’t want it to be too soupy, but you also don’t want it to be too thick. The cheese should be holding up the dish’s saltiness and umami flavor.
5. Turn off the heat and add the water chestnuts. Mix to warm them with the rest of the stew. Ladle in a shallow bowl and top with alfalfa sprouts.

Related post/s:
This Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart Saute Pan is deep enough for stews like this

Mandarin-Almond Flour Cake

I can’t even begin to tell you how much citrus-flavored pancakes I’ve been eating in the last few months. It might be the long-awaited spring weather, but all I’ve been wanting is that tangy taste with my fluffy carbs. On Mother’s Day, I had an incredible pistachio almond cake that was also gluten-free; I couldn’t believe how far gluten-free choices have come. I was inspired to do something similar for my niece’s 8th birthday, but with that subtle citrus taste.

Did you know that tangerines belong in the mandarin sub-group? Therefore, all tangerines are classified as a type of mandarin orange, but not all mandarin oranges are tangerines. Got that? The tangerines in the supermarket were a little too wrinkled for my taste, so I opted for a bag of mandarins instead. Their peel is smoother and tighter and lends to easier zesting.

And that’s really the only work you’ll do here. Once you zest all your mandarins and lemon, everything else is a matter of using your mixer and getting everything throughly combined. I burned mine a bit at 50 minutes, so I’m reducing the time here to 40. Feel free to add sliced blanched almonds to your batter. I had them on hand, but totally forgot to use them!

Ingredients:
5 mandarins, throughly washed and wiped dry
1 lemon, throughly washed and wiped dry
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
3 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 small knob of butter, room temperature
confectioner’s sugar for dusting

1. Using a fine grater, grate all the mandarins for their zest. Do the same for the lemon. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Fold in the almond meal, both zests, baking powder. Mix until well combined.
3. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9″ spring form pan. Pour the batter and try to even out with a spatula.
4. Preheat oven at 350º. Bake for 40 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the cake is browning too fast, cover loosely with a sheet of foil. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan to finish cooling. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Related post/s:
The Microplane Classic Zester and Grater is one of my most used tools in my kitchen