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Roasted Red Pepper and Caramelized Onion Dip

on September 20, 2012

If you’ve been around food blogging for a while, chances are you have come across the beautiful blog My Kitchen Addiction. From promoting other bloggers in her Friday Favorites series, to helping others learn about cooking basics in the Kitchen Bootcamp, to posting beautifully shot seasonal recipes, Jen’s blog is a must.

I first met Jen last year at Big Summer Potluck, and had the chance to connect with her again at this year’s BSP. She’s just as warm and sweet as she is on her blog, which is why I am so happy to be able to help celebrate the little baby she will soon be bringing into the world.

Pregnancy is often hard, especially when it’s your first time. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding you, from your own fears about parenting to how your friends and family now treat you. When you’re a new parent, you need extra love and support, and what better way for food bloggers to show that than with a virtual baby shower!

I don’t know about other people, but when I’m at parties I gravitate toward dips. So simple, so innocent… so easy to put a whole bunch in my belly without even noticing. I had a dip similar to this one back at our holiday party for the ATX Swappers, and even after all those months I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Being a food blogger, though, I couldn’t help but tinker with it, resulting in the creamy dip you see below.

When you mix up the dip, it might seem like there are too many vegetables, but trust me on this. You want a sweet bite of pepper and onion in every scoop.

Roasted Red Pepper and Caramelized Onion Dip

1/2 pound red bell pepper (about 2 peppers)
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups diced onion
8 ounces fresh goat cheese (chevre – not crumbles)
4 ounces neufchatel cheese
1 tablespoon freshly snipped chives
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to broil. Halve peppers and remove stem and seeds, then place cut-side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil until skin is blistered and blackened.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. This will take 20-30 minutes.

When the peppers are done, remove them from the oven and place in a ziplock bag or a bowl with cover. Let the peppers cool until they are cool enough to handle, then peel off the skins and discard. If you have roasted the peppers long enough, the skin should peel easily. If it doesn’t come off, don’t worry, just proceed.

Chop the peppers coarsely, and when the onions are nicely browned, add the peppers to the saucepan and mix well. Remove pan from heat. Add the cheeses and stir to melt. (You can return the pan to the heat if the cheese isn’t melting, but you don’t want it soupy.) Once the cheese is melted, season to taste.

Spoon into a serving dish, scatter the chives on top, and serve warm with thick tortilla chips, crostini, or pita chips. This is equally delicious at room temperature or even cold – just note that when cold, you’ll need a knife to spread.

 

Be sure to check out all the other recipes for Jen’s shower!

Bluebonnets & Brownies | Raspberry Lemon Fruit Dip
Sugarcrafter | Sweet Potato Cake with Honey Buttercream
My Baking Addiction | Mini Pumpkin Pies
Simple Bites | English Eccles Cakes
Stetted | Roasted Red Pepper and Caramelized Onion Dip
Food for my Family | Homemade Pear Italian Sodas with Cardamom Cream
eat. live. travel. write. | Goat Cheese and Tomato Tartlettes
Gimme Some Oven | Creamy Caramel Apple Dippers
Dessert For Two | Caramel Apple Cookie Cups
Bake at 350 | Soft Sugar Cookies for a Baby Shower
A Thought For Food | Fingerling Potato Salad
TidyMom | Apple Pomegranate Spritzers
i am baker | Advice to a New Mommy
Healthy Green Kitchen | Guacamole with Pistachios
Tracey’s Culinary Adventures | Caramelized Onion, Gruyere and Bacon Spread
What Megan’s Making | Apple Spice Muffins
Cookin’ Canuck | Gorgonzola Cheese Cups with Pear & Hazelnut Salad
Bellalimento | Frozen Berry Shortcake
Shugary Sweets | Caramel Apple Truffles
GoodLife Eats | Coconut Lemon Banana Bread

 

Happy Virtual Baby Shower, Jen! I can’t wait to see your beautiful baby!

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Ricotta Crostata

on June 8, 2012

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of learning how to make ricotta cheese from scratch, along with a few other Austin food writers. The class leader was Margaret Christine of From Maggie’s Farm. I first met her at our first ATX Swappers event back in December 2010, and I could help but be smitten with her bubbly personality. For me, Maggie is exactly what you think a Southern woman is going to be like: charming, funny, and always ready to give you a big hug and a mouthful of something good.

When I got home with my brand-new ricotta, I thought I was going to make stuffed pasta shells with it, but I spied a package of beautiful, early season grape tomatoes and I knew I had to pair them up for a date.

And, since I always have lard on hand, it seemed like as good of a time as any to practice my pie crust technique. But as I’m never one to leave well enough alone, this pie had to be outside of the box. Literally. It’s crostata time!

Crostatas are so much more fun than pies. See the evidence:

1. The word crostata just sounds cooler. Ricotta pie? Boring. Ricotta crostata? Get me a jingle writer, stat.

2. Crostatas don’t require the use of pie plates, which is useful for poor college students who don’t have bakeware or lazy people who don’t like doing dishes.

3. Free form, baby. Crostatas don’t have to be relegated to the confines of a circle or rectangle. A crostata rises whichever way it damn well pleases.

4. If some of your filling leaks out an edge, that’s OK. Because crostatas are rustic, and if I’ve learned anything from reading food blogs, rustic = messy.

Ricotta Crostata

1 pie crust

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 teaspoons herbes de Provence

½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

½ pint grape tomatoes

Olive oil

1 egg, beaten

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400.

2. Roll out pie crust to about 1/8-inch thick and transfer to baking sheet. Patch the holes you made in the dough from moving it.

3. Mix ricotta, herbes de Provence, and salt together and spread onto crust, leaving a wide rim around the dough.

4. Halve or quarter your tomatoes, depending on the size. (Let’s not get into a size argument here, but my tomatoes were pretty small to begin with, and I halved them because I’m a crazy food blogger. You might not be.) Either way, pile your cut-or-uncut tomatoes on top of the ricotta.

5. Fold over the dough. Sprinkle salt and olive oil over the top of the crostata, or don’t, because who am I to tell you what to do? Brush folded-over dough with beaten egg.

6. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

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Loaded Skillet Potatoes

on May 18, 2012

Hey.

You look pretty today. Have you been working out? No? Well, good, because these potatoes will totally kill your diet.

I’d apologize for them, but they’re really, really good, and honestly? I don’t do stuff like this very often.

Potatoes. Onions. Cheese. Bacon fat. And look, it totally has green stuff right there.

I’ll look away if you decide you don’t want to share.

Also? You’ll be seeing that tablecloth all summer long. It’s from HomeGoods. You’re welcome.

 

Loaded Skillet Potatoes

1-2 slices thick cut bacon
3/4 pound new potatoes
1 clove garlic
1 small white onion
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Salt and pepper

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Set aside on a paper towel. Do not drain the skillet.

Slice the potatoes into rounds and add them to the hot skillet with the bacon drippings. Mince the garlic, and dice onion. Add the garlic and onion to the skillet. Cook over medium until potatoes are tender but not mushy.

Stir in cream cheese and cover briefly to help the cheese melt. Once the cream cheese is fully incorporated, season to taste. Scatter on the cheddar cheese. Crumble the cooked bacon and sprinkle it, along with the chives, onto the potatoes. Do not stir. Remove from heat, and let potatoes rest about 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6, supposedly.

 

Disclaimer: I would have blogged this anyway, but it’s also over at Greenling.com as part of our partnership.

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Grapefruit Avocado Couscous

on March 6, 2012

Every once in a while, I meet and become friends with a writer I’ve admired for a long time. That always makes me feel lucky, because I’ve found a person who is as great in the real world as they are online – surprisingly a rare find. When they invite you to be part of something they love, it’s almost more than flattering, it’s intimidating. And yet they can make you feel so welcome that your fears are easily dissolved.

One such person is Aimée from Simple Bites. I was stunned when she asked me to join the Simple Bites team last year, but I quickly felt like part of the group. Aimee is a born nurturer, and I’ve loved reading about her boys growing up. I couldn’t be happier about her new baby girl, and I know I’m not the only one.

That’s why we decided to surprise Aimée with a virtual baby shower! Now, Aimée, I know this is your third child and you’ve gone through all the motions before, so just sit back, enjoy some snacks, and wait for that sweet girl to come.

I’ve made a refreshing grapefruit and avocado couscous salad. It’s perfect for this almost-spring weather we have, and I swear I did not choose it based on the fact that the beautiful Texas Rio Star grapefruit looks so lovely and baby-girl pink in dishes. Make sure you use avocados that are firm, yet ripe. You want the avocado to maintain its shape in the salad and not get mushy.

You can easily add a zesty vinaigrette to this salad, but I prefer to let the fresh flavors of the grapefruit and avocado shine.

Grapefruit Avocado Couscous Salad

1 cup dry couscous
2 large red grapefruit
2-4 small avocados (or 2 large)
1 tablespoon finely diced shallot
Juice of 1 lime
½ cup diced fresh parsley or cilantro
Salt and pepper

Set a saucepan with 2 cups of water or vegetable stock to boil. Once water is boiling, pour in couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Section your grapefruit (a helpful tutorial video is located over at Kitchen Daily) and place onto a paper towel. Halve avocados, remove pits, and slice into small chunks. Put avocado in a large bowl along with shallot; drizzle lime juice over the top and stir gently.

Fluff couscous with a fork and add to the bowl. Add grapefruit and parsley or cilantro and stir gently to combine all ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and chill until ready to serve, up to 12 hours in advance. (Any longer and the avocado might start to oxidize and turn an unattractive brown.)

 

Don’t forget to visit all the rest of the shower recipes!

Strawberry & Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Jam Frosting from Bluebonnets & Brownies
Strawberry Pretzel Dessert by My Baking Addiction
California Veggie Wraps from My Kitchen Addiction
Waffle Cone Fruit Cups by Dine & Dish
Mini Berry Pies on a Stick and Kettle Corn at Food for My Family
Perfectly Pink Pomegranate Smoothies from Food Your Way
Quiche Lorraine from GoodLife{Eats}
 

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Glazed Turnips

on January 8, 2012

The other day I made tofu for dinner, and I liked it. Last night I made some turnips to go with our roasted chicken. 2012 might be turning out to be a topsy-turvy world for me. But when it comes to eating better, that isn’t a bad thing.

Glazed turnips

I have to admit that last year I tried to cook with the turnips that came in our vegetable boxes, and whatever I did to them did not make me quick to return them to my mouth. But with the new year and my new determination to waste less food, I knew something had to be done.

I’ve done this glazing technique with carrots and tofu, so I thought it was worth trying out. The turnips stay just firm enough, and don’t get overly sweet – the presence of turnipness doesn’t get lost. Best of all, they take less than 30 minutes to prepare.

These turnips are a quick addition to any meal. Try variations by adding other root vegetables, such as beets, and swapping out the sage for other fresh herbs like thyme, or even a sprinkling of dried herbs de Provence.

Glazed Turnips

serves 4

2 large turnips (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
Salt
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

Peel turnips and dice into 1-inch chunks. Arrange turnips in a single layer in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Pour in water, and scatter butter and brown sugar over the top. Cover, and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove lid and continue to cook until liquid is evaporated, stirring to keep turnips from sticking. Once liquid is evaporated, salt to taste, and put turnips on serving dish. Sprinkle sage over the top and serve.

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Review: The Complete Quick Cook

on December 14, 2011

I’m not one of those who learned how to cook at their grandmother’s knee – the only thing I remember my grandmother cooking was the mashed rutabaga that everyone refused to eat, every single Thanksgiving. My interest did begin early on, with clipping recipes from the coupon circular and flipping through our stained Betty Crocker binder, but I didn’t really learn how to cook until I was an adult, and almost married.

I didn’t know where to begin, so I turned to Cooking Light. To me, Cooking Light has always been the most accessible of the cooking magazines, and the sheer volume of recipes in each issue was enough to create tremendous value.

I was really pleased to see that value duplicated in the new book put out by Cooking Light, The Complete Quick Cook by Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein. The recipes included are easy to follow with standard ingredients, and beautiful photos accompany more than half of the recipes. But it’s not just the recipes that make the book worthwhile – there are pages and pages of useful tips, from stocking your pantry, to creating recipe variations, to how to properly sauté. This is a wonderful cookbook for the beginning cook or busy family.

Complete Quick Cook

I made two recipes from the book for dinner the other day: Shallot & Grapefruit Dressing and Sauteed Carrots with Sage. Both of these recipes are great ways to showcase the flavors of the season, as here in Texas our juicy grapefruit and sweet carrots are coming into season. Carrots often get pushed aside in favor of more showy side dishes, but with the addition of sage they can really hold their own against that glazed pork tenderloin or sous vide steak.

Salad dressing is one of those things I often take for granted – I confess I buy it more often than make it, simple because I really like the certain flavor I get. However, every time I mix up a homemade batch it’s like I’ve newly discovered the possibilities.

Shallot & Grapefruit Dressing

Shallot and Grapefruit Dressing

Reprinted with permission

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 cups fresh grapefruit juice (about 3 grapefruit)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; cook 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature.

2. Place grapefruit juice mixture, cilantro, sugar, and pepper in a food processor; process until smooth. With processor on, slowly pour 2 tablespoons oil through food chute; process until smooth. Store, covered, in refrigerator for up to 1 week. YIELD: 1 cup (serving size: 1 tablespoon).

CALORIES 35; FAT 2g (sat 0.3g, mono 1.5g, poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 0.3g; CARB 4.2g; FIBER 0.1g; CHOL 0mg; IRON 0.1mg; SODIUM 1mg; CALC 4mg

Sauteed Carrots with Sage

Sautéed Carrots with Sage

Reprinted with permission

1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
11/2 cups diagonally cut carrot
2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons small fresh sage leaves

1. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add carrots and 2 tablespoons water. Partially cover pan, and cook 10 minutes or until carrots are almost tender. Add salt and pepper to pan; increase heat to medium-high. Cook 4 minutes or until carrots are tender and lightly browned, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with sage. YIELD: 2 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup).

CALORIES 75; FAT 4.4g (sat 1.5g, mono 2.2g, poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 0.9g; CARB 9g; FIBER 2.6g; CHOL 5mg; IRON 0.3mg; SODIUM 224mg; CALC 35mg

Photos courtesy of Oxmoor House/The Complete Quick Cook

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for the purposes of review. I was not otherwise compensated for my review, and as always, all opinions are my own.

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