Lupita’s Homemade Cheese and Pepper Tamales

dinner, mexican

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/lupitas-homemade-cheese-and-pepper-tamales/

ingredients

Makes about 50

1 package corn husks
1/4 cup vegetable stock
5 lb masa
8 poblano peppers (chef’s choice!)
2 lb chihuahua cheese
20 small-medium tomatillos
2 seeded jalepenos, diced

directions

Soak cornhusks overnight (or for at least 4 hours)
In a stand mixer, beat masa until fluffy, adding stock slowly. Beat for 5 to 10 minutes. (Masa test: masa is ready when you drop a tiny bit of masa in a glass of water; it should float to the top.) Set aside.
Slice and clean poblano peppers; fry in 2 tbsp corn oil until soft. Set aside.
Boil tomatillos until soft. Blend cooked tomatillos and jalepeno; mix with peppers.
Slice or cube cheese.
To assemble: using a spoon, place a heaping tablespoon of masa on corn husk, spreading on wide end. Leave a bit of space from the widest edge, and leave about 2 inches of space at top edge for folding over. Place a spoonful of cheese and a few peppers in the middle of the masa. Wrap the sides of tamale over one another, then fold down the top. This video makes this process a little more clear.
Once you’ve assembled all tamales, start a large pot to boil.
Grab your steamer basket. Assemble tamales into steamer basket, folded end down (you may need to do two batches).
Once water is boiling, place steamer basket in pot; cover with pot lid or a towel and steam for 1 or 1 1/2 hours. (When masa is cooked and husks begin to separate, your tamales are done).
Serve warm!

Ridiculously Good Caramelized Onion Tart

dinner, new american

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/ridiculously-good-caramelized-onion-tart/

ingredients

Phenomenal Tart Crust

1 ½ cup whole wheat stone ground flour
3 tbsp dark muscavado sugar
1 stick cold butter, cubed
1 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
3-4 tsp ice water
(see frangipane tart crust recipe)

Caramelized Onion Filling

½ c mozzarella
2 tbsp romano
2 extra large onions
¼ cup mozzarella
4 cloves garlic, minced

directions

1. Prepare pastry crust. Combine flour and sugar. Crumble between you fingers until sugar is fully incorporated. Add salt. Use a whisk to fully incorporate and aerate. Add butter. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips (rubbing butter into the flour), mix until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add egg yolk. Incorporate fully. Slowly add just enough water so that the dough sticks together. Form into a ball and refrigerate for at least one hour.
2. Cut onions into 1/4″ rounds. Place in a cold heavy-bottomed pan with just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Toss onions and set on medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions begin to soften. Then, salt lightly, set heat to low, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions begin to color (maybe 20-30 minutes). Remove cover, add garlic, set heat to medium, and stir often until browned. Set aside.
3. Remove pastry dough from the refrigerator and roll out to fit your tart pan. Gently lay into pan, careful not to press in, but gently set in. Fork the bottom and bake at 450 until lightly browned (10-15 minutes).
4. Remove from oven and let crust cool. Spread 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp romano evenly on the tart crust. Then spread with onions, top with 1/8 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp romano.
5. Cover with tin foil and bake at 450 for 30-45 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.
6. Sit down, slice off a piece, and enjoy.

Swiss Chard Burgers

dinner, new american

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/swiss-chard-burgers/

ingredients

1 lb Swiss Chard (When making with collard greens instead of swiss chard, use about/just over half the amount of greens)
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup roughly ground almonds
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 egg whites
2 tbsp greek yogurt
1 tbsp honey
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Burger Buns

2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose)
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
3/4 cup skim milk
1 small egg or 1/2 large egg
4 tbsp butter, room temp, divided
Sesame seeds for topping
1-2 tbsp milk for brushing

directions

Prepare dough. Beat milk and egg. Set aside. In a mixer bowl using a dough hook attachment, combine flour, yeast , sugar and salt. Make a well in the center and pour egg mixture into the well. Beat on low-speed for a minute; then on medium for three minutes. Add butter in two additions, making sure the butter is completely incorporated before each addition. Continue to beat for about three more minutes.
Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl to raise until doubled (1-2 hours).
Prepare burgers. Preheat oven to 375. Set a large pot of water to boil. While you’re waiting, use your food processor to roughly grind almonds (see above). When processing almonds, process for one second; wait; process again. Processing too much or too quickly could make almond paste.
Combine 1/2 cup ground almonds, breadcrumbs, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
Beat egg whites; add yogurt, honey, garlic, mustard and mix thoroughly.
Boil Swiss chard until just tender (3-5 minutes). Cool slightly; squeeze out as much water as you can and place in a food processor. Blend for just about 1 second (be careful not to make Swiss chard paste by processing for too long!).
Using a spatula, mix Swiss chard and quinoa. Then add almond mixture and finally add egg white mixture.
Make six patties (1/4cup of the mixture per patties) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 30 minutes; flipping halfway through. Patties should be slightly browned and crispy on each side.
While patties are baking, divide bun dough into six pieces and shape into balls. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and let rest for 10-20 minutes.
When patties have finished baking, set on a cooling rack and heat oven to 350.
When oven reaches 350, bake buns until browned (about 30 minutes). You may have to cut one open to be sure they’ve cooked all the way through.
Serve and enjoy!

Fake Fried Garlic Fries

classic american, dinner

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/fake-fried-garlic-fries/

ingredients

1 lb potatoes (chef’s choice!)
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

directions

Slice potatoes into 1/4″ wide sticks and toss with 1/2 tbsp olive oil.
Sautee garlic in 1 tbsp garlic.
Bake at 400 on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for about 20 minutes (or until browned) flipping frequently.
Toss garlic and oil with potatoes; add salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!

Fat Free Summer Potato Salad

classic american, dinner

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/serving-up-csa-fat-free-summer-potato-salad/

ingredients

5 small-medium red potatoes
4 ears corn, fresh
4 gerkin pickles, diced
1/4 cup sweet onion, diced
3 tbsp greek yogurt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

directions

Boil red potatoes until tender. Remove skins and cut into eighths.
While potatoes are boiling, remove corn kernels from the cob and place in a bowl. Then, rub the back of your knife against the cob to extract any remaining juice; add potatoes and onion.
Mix sugar, salt, pepper, and greek yogurt. Add to potato mixture.
Enjoy!

Spicy Green Beans

dinner

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/serving-up-csa-spicy-green-beans/

ingredients

½ lb green beans
4 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
salt and pepper to taste

directions

1. Remove ends from green beans and slice into uniform sizes.
2. Fill a heavy-bottomed sautee pan with the olive oil, water, garlic, jalapenos, and green beans.
3. Cook on medium heat just until they begin to brighten (this will take mere minutes); remove from pan immediately and serve.

My Best Borscht

dinner

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/my-best-borscht/

ingredients

5 cups medium fresh beets (about 2 lbs)
kosher salt
3 1/2 cup beet stock
1/3 cup honey (or 1/2 cup sugar)
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp chopped dill (frozen or fresh)–here’s how to freeze fresh herbs
20 oz greek yogurt (optional)

directions

Wash and peel beets; cut into fours. Place the beets in a large pot of boiling, salted water (remember that you’ll need 3 1/2 cups of this stock).
While beets are cooking, combine remaining ingredients: honey, lemon juice, pepper, salt, dill, and–if desired–greek yogurt.
When beets are tender (about 30 minutes) remove the beets to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool slightly.
Measure out 3 1/2 cups beet stock and set aside (you’ll want the stock to cool slightly before adding to yogurt mixture or the yogurt will curdle).
Using a microplane, grate beets and mix with yogurt mixture; add beet stock, mix well, serve and enjoy!

Peach-Apricot Jam

basics

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/peach-apricot-jam/

ingredients

2 lbs peaches and apricots (the ratio is up to you; you can skin them if you like, but I prefer to leave the skins on)
2 lbs sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

directions

Quarter peaches and apricots and place in a large heavy-bottomed, stainless steel saucepan with 2 lbs sugar and lemon juice; let sit overnight (8-12 hours).
Over medium heat, bring peach mixture to a boil.
Cook until gelled.*
Let sit for 5-10 minutes; then move to jar of your choice.
*You have a couple of options when trying to figure out whether your jam has gelled. If you have a candy thermometer, you can cook until mixture reaches 220F.
If not, put a plate in the freezer (for at least 10 minutes); when you want to check for the gel stage, drop a bit onto the plate. This method is demonstrated here: Plating Method
If you turn the plate and the jam doesn’t drip down the plate, you’re good. There’s also the “sheeting” method: using a wooden spoon, dip into the mixture, then pull it out so that it’s parallel to the floor. When two drops join to make one drop before dropping, you’re good to go.

Bread and Butter Pickles!

basics

from https://ofbaking.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/bread-and-butter-pickles/

ingredients

5 lb cucumbers, ends removed, sliced into 1/4″ coins
1 lb large onions, roughly chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp kosher salt (just make sure not to use salt with added iodine)
2 cups ice cubes
4 cups white, distilled vinegar (if you plan on canning, never reduce the amount of vinegar or use a different kind of vinegar than called for in a recipe as the acid in vinegar helps keep your canned food shelf-stable)
2 cups water (again, if canning, use distilled or un-chlorinated water–Chicago’s tap water uses chlorine to sterilize, but this will mess up your cheese and pickle making)
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp celery seed
1 tbsp turmeric

directions

Layer the cukes and onions with 1/2 cup of salt in a (very) large bowl and cover with a layer of ice cubes. Set aside for 2 hours. Drain and rinse in a colander.
Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, mustard seed, peppercorns, celery seed, tumeric, and the remaining 1 tbsp salt in a large, nonreactive saucepan (no aluminum!) and bring to a boil. Add the drained vegetables and return to a boil, stirring to ensure that all of the vegetables are heated through. Remove from heat.
Refrigerate: ladle into bowls or jars. Cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.