Cook Like Mad

picture courtesy of HSN.com

Ok, I’m embarrassed to admit this, but a few weeks ago while sleeplessly flipping channels late at night, I came across a special on the Home Shopping Network that I couldn’t turn away from. While I readily accept that I am a food tv-aholic, I have a hard time admitting that I purposefully watched a channel that sells useless trinkets and gimmicky makeup 99% of the time. However, when I saw Todd English, famed executive chef and restaurateur, selling GreenPans, I abandoned my usual assumptions about the HSN and set the remote down. I was sucked in, eyes wide, jaw on the floor, as Chef English and his team demonstrated the pan’s mind-blowing properties: 100% non-stick, non-toxic, and oven-ready, up to 900 degrees. No other piece of kitchen equipment can boast this trifecta.

I say mind-blowing with full confidence. Have you ever cracked an egg into a un-greased nonstick pan thinking that the pan, new or old, might actually live up to its name, and yield you a neat, whole, over-easy, only to find yourself making “i-meant-to-do-this” checkerboard scrambled eggs a minute later? Yeah, you know what botched eggs I’m talking about. Sure, they still taste good, but you’re not giving that to a guest. For the seasoned cook, this mishap will mean nothing, just a re-do, with some oil in the pan next time. For the beginner cook, this could mean discouragement and possibly less interest in cooking (clearly not a good thing!). So, when I saw Todd English and his team cooking with these pans, using no oil or fat to “saute” fish, make pancakes, and flip crepes, I knew these pans would be the perfect tool for a beginner cook in my life: my boyfriend. Since it seems to be the trend in blogs to not use real names, we’ll call him D.

D starting cooking in earnest about 6 months ago and has successfully ventured into the worlds of paninis, pastas, and omelets. In an effort to encourage him to continue cooking, I bought him a GreenPan and he’s never been happier or more confident in the kitchen! Not only is the GreenPan insanely non-stick, it can also withstand temperatures up to 900 degrees! Even with the gas flame maxed out, your stovetop doesn’t get hotter than that, and your oven and broiler can’t get close to 700 degrees, let alone 900. Unlike other non-stick pans that are coated in teflon (toxic at anything above a medium-low flame!), GreenPans are “Thermolon-based” and release no toxins into the atmosphere if overheated, thereby reducing our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. If you’re skeptical about the harmful effects of teflon, check out this article, or google “harmful teflon” and see what pops up. I assure you, you’ll never spend $35 more wisely.

So of course, even though it’s D’s pan, I was dying to test it out for myself! When I made brunch last weekend I gave it the ultimate test: sunny-side up eggs, with no oil/fat in the pan to lubricate them. When making sunny-side up eggs, its only the egg white, pure protein, that touches the pan, so if these didn’t stick, nothing could. The result? Perfect, intact eggs. In fact, foods are downright slippery on this pan’s surface, even with no fat present! No makeshift scrambles in sight.

Corn fritters shallow-frying in the GreenPan (I did use oil for these)

*No recipe this week, but here’s a pic of the resulting brunch dish I made from the sunny-side up eggs: Corn fritters (yup, same recipe as my earlier post) topped with guacamole, crispy applewood-smoked bacon, sunny-side up eggs and slices of raw milk cheddar.

Sunny-side up eggs on corn fritters for breakfast, yum!

Oh yeah, did I mention the health benefits of not needing fat to cook in this pan? No? Well, D and I figure, if we’re not using fat to cook our eggs, we might as well enjoy them with some bacon ; )

-M : )

Summer Corn Fritters with Mixed Fruit Salsa

People constantly ask me, “What’s your favorite thing to make?” As if I, having gone to culinary school, should have a set answer for this question. As if I’m not a great cook if I don’t have an answer. Please. The reason I don’t have an answer is because this is an unanswerable question. Do you ask a parent which child is their favorite? I hope not. How could someone choose a favorite dish? With every dish I make again and again I gain mastery of it, and with every new dish I make or create I expand my culinary repertoire. While these feelings of mastery and novelty are equally as satisfying in their own ways, I constantly find myself more inclined to cook a new dish over one that is tried and true.

Since I don’t cook much in my apartment in New York, when I go down to DC to visit my boyfriend, I love taking advantage of his larger kitchen and surprising him with new dishes. I also love the challenge of cooking something new. I don’t come from a family that has a rich culinary heritage, so when I started cooking when I was 12 years old, I started with a pretty clean slate. Sure, my mom taught me how to measure, mix, bake, and saute, and my dad taught me how to grill and make a mean dish of lox, eggs, and onions, but the food we ate was largely based on what we found at the supermarket that was fresh and healthy (and often, organic), rather than on recipes passed down through generations.

As a result, I feel no duty to keep certain dishes alive, nor do I feel compelled to learn family dishes before I delve into making others that truly pique my interest. I am in the clear. I can cook what I want. Maybe that lack of responsibility to pass down culinary traditions is what frees me to cook simply what I’m interested in cooking. I suppose I take full advantage of this freedom by cooking something new nearly every time I cook. Maybe not something completely new, but I always have to add a new twist. The only real exception to this is my omelet- which I have down to a science- but that’s for another post.

So the more “new” dishes I cook, the more I realize that creating a satisfying meal is more than just finding a balance in its taste elements (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami); it’s also about finding a balance- or an appropriate contrast- in its temperature. Often, we take this for granted. For example, aren’t most fried foods served hot with a cold sauce? Have you really ever thought about how pervasive this is? I have, and here are some examples: crab cakes with remoulade, fried fish with tartar sauce, falafel with hummus, chicken wings with blue cheese dressing….I could go on and on. The thing is, all of these cold elements aren’t healthy (save, hummus), so while they add a cold contrast, they only really serve to make an already unhealthy food even unhealthier. My solution was to create a healthier fried dish with an even healthier cold element to satisfy my craving of having a dish with a contrast in temperatures: corn fritters with mixed fruit salsa! The corn fritters are sweet and savory, as is the salsa, which includes peaches, mangoes, pineapple, red onions, lime juice, and cilantro. Serve this as an appetizer, as a vegetarian entree, or add grilled shrimp, for a heartier meal. Enjoy! We did : )

Summer Corn Fritters with Mixed Fruit Salsa

Yield: 4 Servings

For Salsa: (hint: make this first so it can macerate in the fridge while you cook the fritters. The flavors will meld and yield you a better result. Adjust the salt right before serving. )

2 yellow peaches, diced

1 large mango, or two small mangoes, peeled and diced

1/2 pineapple, trimmed of rough exterior and inner brown seeds, diced (eat the other half as a snack or save for later)

1 small red onion, minced

1 lime, juiced

1/4 cup cilantro (or to taste), minced

1/4 cup canola oil

slightly less salt than desired, to taste

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to macerate, at least 30 min, but up to 5 hours.

For Corn Fritters:

3 ears fresh corn (white, yellow, or mixed), shucked, kernels cut off the cob with a large knife.

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup cornmeal (don’t buy cornmeal just for this, you can substitute 1/4 cup flour if you don’t have it in your pantry)

1 egg

1/2 cup milk (or buttermilk, if you’re feeling adventurous)

2 Tbsp canola oil

1/8 cup cilantro, minced

1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, minced (optional)

salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Canola oil (or peanut oil, if no one’s allergic), for frying

Method:

1. Mix flour and cornmeal in a large bowl. Mix the egg and milk in a separate bowl until well incorporated and add to dry ingredients. Mix gently, leaving some flour in clumps. Fold in corn kernels, cilantro, jalapeno (if using), and 2 tbsp canola oil. Be careful to only mix to incorporate the ingredients, no further. Over-mixing will activate the gluten in the flour and yield you a tough fritter rather than a delicate one. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Batter will be very thick.

2. Heat enough oil in a large pan to come a 1/2 inch up the sides, over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, test a spoonful of the batter to check the seasoning, and adjust the salt/pepper/cayenne as necessary. Drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and spread each with the back of a spoon to a diameter of 2-3 inches. They should be about a 1/4 inch thick. Shallow fry on one side until golden brown, flip, and finish browning on the other side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot with the salsa piled on top, or served on the side.

*Note: These are also excellent with guacamole! (Guacamole: Mash 2 avocados, add 1/2 small onion (minced), 1 small tomato (seeded and diced), the juice of 1/2 a lime and 2 tbsp minced cilantro, and adjust salt to taste. Add 1 minced jalapeno (seeds and ribs removed) or 1/2 minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce, if you want it spicy.)

Enjoy!

-M : )

Smart Bran Whole Wheat Raisin Cookies

Photo from Nature’s Path

Let’s face it, many of us cooks pride ourselves on knowing how to make something healthy taste good, even if we’re not super health-conscious eaters. After all, its much easier to make something with loads of fat and sugar taste good, since as we know by now, “fat is flavor!”, than it is to make something with brown rice and kale taste good (at least to most people’s palates). Maybe its a pride thing, maybe its a desire to at least know how to make something healthy for that stray vegan friend who might happen to drop by, but I always like to have a few healthy food tricks up my sleeve. The thing is, all of my healthy recipes are savory, never sweet. For some reason, every recipe I have tried for vegan, low-fat, or low-sugar desserts has disappointed and I refuse to subject my friends to foods I wouldn’t eat myself.

So when I met up with Lorna Sass last Friday for a recipe testing session, and she told me we were baking vegan cookies and muffins, I was thrilled. For her most recent book, “Whole Grains: Every Day, Every Way,” Lorna won a 2007 James Beard Award in the Healthy Focus category. Additionally, it was chosen as 1 of the 20 best cookbooks published in 2006 by Leite’s Culinaria and named as a notable cookbook of 2006 by the New York Times. Clearly, if anyone could teach me how to make nutritious baked goods taste great, it was her. And so I left there armed with two new recipes that are guaranteed to please vegans and die-hard butter lovers alike. Enjoy!

Note: The cookies and muffins we baked both use Smart Bran cereal (by Nature’s Path) as a primary ingredient, but honestly, since the cereal in the recipe becomes very soft once soaked in the apple juice, I would suggest playing around and substituting your favorite high fiber cereals here, such as Go Lean or Optimum (two of my faves, for sure). The muffins, I can assure you, were impossibly moist and teeming with dried cranberries. As for the Smart Bran cookies, they were soft, chewy, and full of macadamia nuts and raisins. These trump those ubiquitous oatmeal raisin’s by far. Neither are cloying, but both the cookies and the muffins will satisfy the sweet tooths of the health-conscious and the not. : )

Smart Bran Whole Wheat Raisin Cookies

By Lorna Sass, for Nature’s Path

Yield: Makes about 2 dozen cookies

1/2 c. vegetable oil, plus 1 tsp. for preparing cookie sheets
2 c. SmartBran® Cereal
1 -1/4 c. apple juice
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. whole wheat flour (spelt flour also works nicely here)
1/3 to1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
2 -1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 c. raisins
3/4 c. chopped walnuts

1. Brush two cookie sheets lightly with oil. Place racks in center and preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a bowl, combine the cereal, apple juice, and vanilla. Set aside to soften for 15 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.

4. Stir the oil into the cereal mixture. Pour the cereal mixture on top of the dry ingredients. Add the raisins and walnuts. Stir to combine. Taste batter. Stir in more sugar, if you wish.

5. Using your hands, shape bits of dough into balls about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Place about an inch apart on the 2 oiled cookie sheets. (If dough is moist and sticky, drop heaping table spoons directly onto sheets.) With your fingers or the back of a spoon, flatten dough into rough circles with a 2-inch diameter.

6. Bake for 9 minutes. Rotate the pans back to front and bottom shelf to top. Continue baking until the bottoms are golden, 8 to 10 minutes more. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack. When cool, store in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 4 months.

Smart Bran Fruit & Flax Muffins

photo from Nature’s Path

Smart Bran Fruit & Flax Muffins

By Lorna Sass, for Nature’s Path

Yield: 12 Muffins

1 1/4 c. SmartBran™ cereal
1 3/4 c. unsweetened apple juice
5 tbs. Nature’s Path Flax Plus™ Flaxseed Meal** (or substitute: freshly ground whole flax seeds)
1 c. wholewheat flour (again, 2 cups of spelt flour works well as a substitute for both flours) 1 c. unbleached white flour
1 tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice or cardamom
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/3 c. vegetable oil (plus more for greasing muffin tins)
1/3 c. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. dried cranberries, blueberries or raisins (I used dried cranberries with great success)

1. Set rack in center and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, stir SmartBran™ into 1 cup juice and set aside for 15 minutes to soften.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.

4. Grease 12 standard muffin tins with oil.

5. In a medium bowl, beat flax meal with remaining 3/4 cup apple juice for 1 minute. Blend in oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. SmartBran™ with unabsorbed juice and beat for 30 seconds. Pour liquid into dry ingredients. Add cranberries. Stir until just blended; do not over mix.

6. Divide batter among muffins tins. Bake for 7 minutes. Rotate muffins tins front to back. Continue baking until muffins spring back to a gentle touch and a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, 8 to 10 minutes longer.

7. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edges and unmold. When cool, store in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 4 months.