Burritos!

I was thinking about what to make for dinner the other night, and burritos seemed like a great idea. It was pretty hot out, and I love that type of food in this weather. I decided I'd class it up a bit by making my own salsa and own refried beans for the recipe, so that's what I'm going to share with you.

Now, there are MANY ways to make salsa, and I'm just going to give you the way that I made it. You can vary any ingredient and add pretty much anything you want. For the refried beans, the same goes. These recipes are really just basics that you can change in any way to meet your tastes.

So, we actually need very few ingredients for this, there's a lot of overlap.

For enough for three burritos you'll need one tomato (any kind you like: I chose plum), a shallot (or small onion), one jalapeno, a line, a small can of black beans (or red kidney if you prefer), and some fresh cilantro.

The first step is to dice up the tomato, using a serrated knife. I showed you this in the tomato fresco recipe a few weeks ago.

You could make this a "peach salsa" if you diced up some peaches (or mangoes) and threw it in now as well.
Next up is dicing up about a 2 teaspoons of shallots and throwing those in.

At one point I was thinking about making little crescent moons of shallot for a nice presentation, but I decided to dice instead. At this point the in the dicing, where you're getting everything in to small bits, it's important to keep the tip of your knife on the board. It will stop the knife from slipping and save you some trips to the emergency room. (Other than that tip, my knife skills are meager)

Finally, some heat! Dice half of a jalapeno (I had a small one) in to little bits. First, remove the seeds. So, slice it open and you can just pull out the pith and seeds with your fingers.

I've told you once, and I'll tell you again: WASH YOUR HANDS after handling any sort of hot pepper. I was sweating a little bit and rubbed my face and basically set it on fire. NOT PLEASANT.

Okay, to dice a jalapeno, I cut the pepper into matchsticks like below then turn the sticks and cut small squares.

Throw this in the bowl with a half teaspoon of grated garlic and the juice of half a lime. Then add about a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of cilantro and put it in the fridge to allow the flavors to marry. Let it sit for about an hour, but more time is even better.

The colors are really pretty. You can't see the pretty little purple bits that well, but it's mostly my photography that's failing here.

Now it's time for some refried beans. I found a recipe for them in Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything", which is a veritable bible of home cooking.

Start with a few (like two) tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add in about two a tablespoon, maybe more, of diced shallot.

Let this cook for about five to eight minutes over medium heat, until the shallots start to brown.

See the bunch near the bottom of the photo, that's the color we're looking for. Then add in the rest of the jalapeno, diced again and let cook for a minute or two. (You can add the rest of the clove of garlic from before at this stage also. I actually forgot while I was doing it). Add about two teaspoons to a tablespoon of ground cumin and let it go at this point too, until you can smell the cumin in you kitchen.

Now the fun part. Add the beans and give the pan a stir. Find a fork or masher and go at it.

Sorry it's blurry, my left hand was a little shaky. You get the idea though, you want to mash most, but not all of the beans. When you're done it should be a pretty dark purple and look like mush. Add in salt (to taste, about a teaspoon) and some more cumin (about half a teaspoon, but again, to taste) and transfer to a bowl.

See the consistency? Mushy, but you can still make out some whole-ish beans.

Now, you can do anything with these two. I made chicken burritos by sauteing some chicken in a skillet, and making saffron rice. Really, you could do anything, but I think that rice is a must.

So many colors in a burrito: beans, rice, chicken, cheese, salsa, lettuce, cilantro. It's a beautiful taste party. I think I'll make these again soon.

Quick Salsa
1 Plum tomato, diced
2 teaspoon shallot, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 - 3 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in a bowl, cover, and let sit for at least one hour.

Refried Black Beans
1 small can black beans
2 tsp - 1 tbsp shallot, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 -3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp grated garlic

1. Saute shallots in a pan over medium heat until just brown.
2. Add in jalapeno and garlic and saute for just a minute or two. Finally, add in most of the cumin and saute until fragrant.
3. Pour in black beans, stir and let warm for just a minute.
4. Using a fork or masher, mash the black beans in the pan until they form a paste with some beans still visible.

Enjoy guys, and remember, you can alter these recipes in a thousand different ways!

MOVING

Hi guys,

Since it's been unbearably hot in NYC the past few days, I really have avoided doing any cooking. I had a nice fourth though, with some great recipes that I might post eventually (though I can't take credit for any of them). There was a nice shrimp scampi topped with toasted panko, and a cool watermelon and feta salad, good for any hot day.

I've also been busy packing, since I'm moving soon. Well, by packing I mean thinking about packing. I've done some, but I'm taking it slow. I'm moving out of my current place during the week of July 19, so I should probably pick up the pace a little bit.

Anyway, relevant to this blog, the new apartment has a working oven! YAY! Finally, I can make all of things I've been wanting to make for a year: like cookies! It's been a fun ride with the toaster though, and I'll be sad to leave it behind. I'm thinking I'll continue to post recipes, and maybe recipes with limitations for when you don't want to use the oven. I just don't have to be so restrictive anymore.

Stay cool guys!

Also,  I've posted a button here that links to my thumbtack.com profile. Spread the word that I'm good for tutoring!

Summer Peach Soup

So, I bought some peaches at the store this week, it being almost summer and all, and I realized two things:
1. I couldn't possibly eat all of them
2. I didn't know what to do with them, because it's hard to make a crisp without an oven.

It dawned on me, A SOUP! I wanted to make watermelon soup recently, so why not peach soup. The results are light and tart, just what I wanted. WARNING: There is wine in this recipe that you don't cook off

These are your main ingredients. You may also want some salt, and a lemon.

Make sure your peaches are REALLY ripe. Under ripe peaches give NO flavor, they're just starchy. These were pretty ripe, but probably could have used another day or two. According to Ina Garten, there is only one way to tell if a peach is ripe: smell it. I live by that in my peach purchases.

The first thing we need to do is peel and slice the peaches. To do this, you will need a set up with a pot of boiling water and an ice bath.

Boil the peaches for TWO minutes, and then remove to the ice bath. Let them sit there for another two minutes. Reserve a cup of the hot water from the pot.

Now, run a paring knife along the loose skin of the peach until you can make a puncture. From there, you can just tear the skin off. See, by boiling the peaches, you loosened the bonds between the skin of the peach and the meat. You cooled them off so you could handle them.

Look, it's a naked peach. Now, cut the peach in half, remove the pit, and slice into wedges.

Now, we're ready to make soup. In the same pot pour back in the cup of water, and a cup and a quarter of white wine. Add in some cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and a bit of clove. Oh yeah, and the sugar. I would also add in some lemon juice and lemon zest here. It will smell like you're making tea.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the peaches.

Return to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. The peaches will be nice and tender and will have absorbed some of the liquid.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches to a food processor or blender.

See, the water is a really ugly color, and we want the soup to be pretty, so strain off (we don't want the ugly spices) the liquid from the pot in a fine mesh strainer, and reserve about a quarter cup. Now, add that quarter cup and a quarter cup of white wine along with (really) a pinch of cayenne (or paprika would probably have been better) and a little bit of salt.

Now, let the mixture cool BEFORE blending. I put it in the fridge for about ten minute.

Then blend until smooth and pour into a bowl.

Put back in the fridge for an hour to let chill and enjoy! I suggest garnishing with mint, and some whipped cream, if you have it. (Whipped cream would be really good, it would add some decadence that this is missing)

It makes a nice lunch soup for the summer, or a light dessert. I promise, you'll really like it, just go light on the spices and let the peaches shine through. Oh yeah, I added a bit of butter before I blended, just to round out the flavor a bit, it's not a bad idea.

You can use this same process with any summer fruit. Peaches, strawberries (peaches AND strawberries), avocado would be nice (no need to add butter at the end, or boil the avocado). Cherries and strawberries together, probably not pears though. Watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple. So many possibilities. Try one yourself.

Summer Peach Soup (Adapted from a recipe found here)
3 Peaches, peeled and sliced
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups white wine (something fruity)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp clove (or 2 whole cloves)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or paprika)
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
a pat of butter (optional)

1. Combine water, 1 1/4 cups of wine, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, lemon and sugar in a pot. Put over high heat and bring to a boil.

2. Add peaches and return to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Remove peaches from the liquid and put in a blender or food processor along with the remaining white wine and a quarter cup of the strained cooking liquid. Add cayenne and salt.

4. Let cool for about ten minutes, then blend until smooth. Cool the results for an hour before eating. Garnish with mint and/or whipped cream for added yumminess.

Tomato Fresco Sauce

Hi all,

I'm a terrible blogger and haven't been updating at all. I know, it's bad. It's been so hot that I haven't felt like cooking so much. Then I realized that I could make something that's really fresh, and I wouldn't have that feeling, and thus a recipe was born.

We'll start with fresh tomato, fresh basil, garlic (not pictured), white wine, and pasta. That simple.

I love cooking with white wine when it's hot. Just very refreshing, and pulls this sauce together.

So, you'll want to use a serrated knife to dice the tomatoes. You could also just buy canned diced tomatoes, but I'm a glutton for punishment, and freshness.

Then gather your basil, making a basil "cigar" and slice the cigar to julienne the herbs.

Finally, dice some garlic. You'll have red, white and green on the board, like an Italian flag.

Now, heat some olive oil in a skillet and saute the garlic for about a minute or two.

You know, just until the whole room smells delicious. Then add in the tomatoes, some salt and pepper (and some red pepper flakes, if you're in to that) and let it simmer over medium heat for a few minutes. The tomatoes should start to let out their juice.

Add in about half the basil and then put in about a half cup of white wine. Let reduce over low heat for about 10 minutes.

You should have been cooking some pasta during this, and so when that's al dente drain it and toss the pasta with the sauce and a large handful of Parmesan.

I added some sausage to make it just that much better. It was really good and light. A perfect dinner for a hot day. The tomatoes are juicy and sweet, and the basil and garlic complement that beautifully. The wine rounds out the flavor and adds just a little bit of acidity. Just make sure you season it all really well so to balance all of that out with a little heat and saltiness. The Parmesan is really a must. No choice.

I'll write up a recipe in a little bit to post.

Zucchini Love II: Stir fry with Zucchini Noodles

So, my love for zucchini continues to blossom. Yesterday I was pondering what to make for dinner, I had just bought a zucchini, an onion and a red bell pepper from the vegetable market and some chicken from the butcher. I thought about stir fry, but couldn't figure out if I could incorporate the zucchini.

See, to me, stir fry is all about packing in veggies, it keeps me form getting scurvy. Anyway, I suddenly remembered how to make noodles out of zucchini. While the results are far from expert (a real chef would use a mandoline) they are delicious and colorful.

So we start with the veggies, the meat, and some spices. Oh yeah, you can't forget soy sauce. I like that my butcher wrote chicken on the chicken paper. Sometimes I believe that they think I'm stupid.

So, the first step is to quickly marinate the chicken. Cut the chicken in slices and make a marinade out of a little soy sauce, olive oil, salt, pepper and a pinch or two of red pepper flakes. Some ground or grated ginger would also be great here, I just didn't have any.

We'll let the chicken marinate until we're ready to cook it. Now it's the hard part, and the coolest. We need to turn our zucchini into noodles. Get out your potato peeler (or mandoline if you're fancy... I'm not).

Cut off the top (I forgot here) and bottom of your zucchini and just peel off one strip from the top.

Then continue doing this, applying even pressure with your peeler (which I'm bad at) to make long and thin zucchini strips.

Just like that, but I'm sure yours look better. Then stack them and cut them into fettuccine sized strips.

If this picture weren't blurry, it would be really beautiful. The little dark green edge fading to the light green and white of the center, but folded like a piece of pasta. Wonderful food imagery.

Anyway, at this point you'll want to cut your onion and bell pepper in to thin-ish strips. Add some olive oil to a hot pan and toss all your veggies in.

So many bright colors, it already looks wonderful. After about four minutes, add in some garlic and cook just the veggies for another two or three minutes.
Then it's chicken time.

Put in your chicken, including the marinade and stir frequently to mix everything up. It will take the chicken between 5 and 7 minutes to cook. You can leave it on one side for two minutes, then stir everything to flip all the chicken over and leave for another few. The most important thing is that you will accumulate some bits on the bottom of the pan. When you have about two minutes left, add in about two teaspoons of soy sauce to deglaze. You'll thank me later.

Now just serve the results over rice, and enjoy. The dish just looks warm and inviting, but maybe it's just me.

Stir Fry with Zucchini Noodles

1 chicken breast
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1/2 medium zucchini
1/2 red bell pepper, cut in strips
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
3 tsp soy sauce
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Slice the chicken breasts into a about 1/2 inch thick strips. Combine 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and the red pepper flakes in a bowl and add chicken to marinate.

2. Cut the top and bottom off of the zucchini, and with a potato peeler peel off thin strips of zucchini, discarding the first one.

3. Pile strips and cut into strips about the width of fettuccine.

4. Preheat a pan over medium high heat and add remaining olive oil. Saute all vegetables in the olive oil, adding remaining salt, pepper and garlic after a few minutes.

5. After about 7 minutes, add in chicken and all marinade. Stir fry for about 5 - 7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. With about two minutes remaining, deglaze the pan with the remaining soy sauce.

6. Serve over rice (fried rice is  also good here... recipe another time) and enjoy.

Zucchini Coins with Garlic

Before reading this, you need to know one thing... I really like zucchini. Most people find it tasteless and gross, but I think it's a really great summer vegetable that you can add endless layers of flavor to.

The magic starts here.

Next we need to make the coins. So cut the top and bottom off your zucchini and make slices that are about a centimeter thick. Just do the best you can, nobody's perfect.

That's a nice little stack there. You'll need about half of a zucchini per person. This serving is just for me, so only half of the veggie got used here (expect more zucchini soon, maybe).

Now we're going to do the same with the garlic. Make nice thin slices. Again, half a clove per person is really sufficient.

Then make a layer of coins on the bottom of a baking sheet, then put a layer of garlic over it. You can make it pretty, but you'll just ruin it in a minute.

Drizzle oil over the top, some salt and some pepper. Toss it up while your at it, and put it in a 400 degree toaster oven for about 15 minutes. The zucchini will be falling apart at that point and the garlic will be toasted. YES!

Now, zucchini was made to be covered with parmesean. So after the fifteen minutes take the zucchini out and grate a whole bunch of cheese over it. Pop it back in for about two minutes and then it's all done. You just need to serve it.

A perfect compliment for chicken, or any protein.

So, I know this recipe is simple, but I'm on a simplicity kick lately. Something about having everything you're using represented in what you eat. It seems honest enough, and it always tastes good (unless it's gross)

So, enjoy this nice refreshing side dish!

I'll post a recipe later.

Before I finish, I want to make a toaster oven shout out to my friend Becky.

She made a great meal (in ramekins!), and part of this was a really great french onion soup, which got finished in the toaster. I'm so proud.

A Little Gem from Ann Arbor

Hi all,

This past weekend I was in Ann Arbor for a conference. Being in the middle of Michigan, I was pleasantly surprised at the good food I was surrounded by.

On Saturday night we went to a bar that got major hype for "bacon infused bourbon", and I knew immediately that I was destined to drink this drink. It was calling my name, I had no choice.

The bacon is barely detectable at first, since this cocktail is in disguise as a Manhattan. The sweetness is not overwhelming, and then the soft bacon-ness sneaks up and it gets a little salty and you taste a little bit of smoke. I was crying out for more bacon at the time, but it was just the booze talking... okay, maybe a little more bacon.

The cocktail is garnished with a brandied cherry, and allegedly has orange bitters in it. Really the best part about it is this.

It's only $9! After 10, it's $7! AMAZING.