Old world meets new world

Tonight's experimental dinner: Veggie roulade in collard greens with Jamaican jerk spices

Ingredients:

1 large bunch collard greens, hard stems removed

1/2 lb dried lentils

1 lb brown mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 medium zucchini, medium dice

1 green bell pepper, medium dice

1 orange bell pepper, medium dice

2 firm Roma tomatoes, medium dice, seeds removed

3 stalks celery, medium dice

1/2 c. mashed Russet potato

1/2 c. mashed sweet potato

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. crushed tomatoes

oil

salt

pepper

juice of 1/2 of lime

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Jerk seasoning (recipe below)

Directions:

Cook the lentils with a bay leaf according to directions on package until just slightly mushy (I cooked mine for about 40 minutes). Pre-heat oven to 350F. Lay the collard leaves in a large dish and cover them in boiling water. Set aside. Heat a large sautee pan over medium high heat with a bit of olive oil. Sautee the mushrooms for a few minutes, add 1/2 of the garlic and continue sauteeing until the mushrooms are mostly dry again. Add the bell peppers and continue sauteeing until the bell peppers are just al dente. Add salt and pepper. Dump this mixture into a large bowl and reheat the pan with another dash of olive oil. Sautee the celery and zucchini over high heat until it just begins to brown. Add the Roma tomatoes, the rest of the garlic, and a dash of salt and pepper. Continue sauteeing over medium heat until the tomatoes go soft. Add this to the bowl with the mushrooms. Add both the potato mashes to the bowl with the veggie mixture. Add the smoked paprika, lime juice and about 1/2 of the jerk seasoning (I added some additional cayenne to up the heat). Adjust to taste (make sure to retain about 1/2 tsp of the jerk seasoning).

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Take a softened collar green leaf out of the water and lay on the counter. Add about 1/2-2/3 cup of the veggie filling near one end of the leaf. Form into a roll (if you've never made roulade before, there are youtube videos on how to do this process) and place into the baking dish. Continue until you've used up the collards, the filling, or filled the baking dish (whatever comes first). Open the can of crushed tomatoes, mix in a pinch of salt, some black pepper, the sugar, and remaining jerk seasoning to taste. Pour over the rolls. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10-15 additional minutes, until the collards are very tender. Serve.

NOTES:  Next time I'll add more sweet potato and a bit more cayenne.  I'd probably add a bit of vinegar (apple cider vinegar?) to the tomato topping too.

Jamaican Jerk:
1 tablespoons dried minced onion
2 teaspoons dried thyme
8-10 allspice berries
8-10 black peppercorns
1/2" cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put all jerk ingredients into spice blender and process until fine and powdery.

3 potato pancakes

These were a hit tonight....

2 small-ish Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled & grated
1 medium Russet potato, peeled & grated
1 large sweet potato, peeled & grated
1/2 medium white onion
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. bread crumbs
1 Tbl flour (more if wet)
salt, pepper

Squeeze excess water from onion and Russet potato in kitchen towel. Mix the grated potatoes in a large bowl. Add the eggs, bread crumbs, flour, salt and pepper to the potatoes. Mix thoroughly. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat with a bit of oil. Add a small "patty" of potatoes to the skillet and pan fry on each side until golden brown. Keep warm in a low-heat oven until ready to serve.

Curried potato & sweet potato gratin with brown mushrooms

This was to use up some leftover mushrooms, milk, and cheese. I had sweet potatoes and russets that were on the verge.

2 small-ish russet potatoes (peeled and sliced into ~1/4" slices)
2 small-ish sweet potatoes (peeled and sliced into ~1/4" slices)
~1.5 c. sauteed brown mushrooms, drained (if wet)
salt
pepper

For the sauce:
2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl flour
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1.25 c. liquid (I used a combo of ~1 c. skim milk and ~0.25 c. mushroom broth)
1 c. grated cheese (I used leftover mozzarella)
curry powder to taste (I used about 1.5 tsp)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Warm your sauce liquid to just below boiling. Melt the butter in a separate small pot over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the flour and cook for about a minute, stirring or whisking constantly. Slowly add the liquid to the roux, whisking the entire time. Cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add in the cheese, one handful at a time, stirring until fully incorporated before adding the next batch of cheese.

Spray a 9x9" baking pan with cooking spray. Tightly layer with russet slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Distribute about 1/2 of the mushrooms. Cover with about 1/3 of the sauce. Tightly layer with sweet potato slices. Sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Dust with curry powder. Distribute the remainder of the mushrooms. Cover the layer with about 1/3 of the sauce. Add the final layer of potatoes, alternating russet and sweet to make an almost checker-board pattern. Press lightly to compress all ingredients. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and curry powder. Cover with the remaining sauce. Loosely cover with foil and put into oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Remove cover and broil until the sauce on top is lightly browned.

EDITS: Use a glass/ceramic baking dish and microwave for 3-5 minutes before baking in the oven. Uncover the dish for at least 15 minutes during the bake to allow for moisture to escape.

Commentary: YUMMY!

Carrot muffins - yummy!

2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. Splenda
2 tsp. baking soda
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. shredded carrots
1/2 c. shredded coconut
1/4 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped pecans
3 eggs (I used 2 and 1/4 c. egg substitute)
1/2 c. oil
1 c. + 2 Tbl. applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Put the flour, sugar, Splenda, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to thoroughly mix. Add the carrots, coconuts, raisins, and pecans and stir until all are evenly distributed in the dry mix. In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs then add the oil, applesauce and vanilla mixing until all the wet ingredients are combined. Add the wet to the dry and stir until just incorporated--don't overwork. Line muffin tins (18) with paper inserts. Spoon batter evenly across all 18 muffins. Bake for 25 minutes--turning the tins halfway through the process for even baking.

Spinach & mushroom enchiladas with sour cream tomatillo sauce

Tomatillo Salsa:
1.75 lbs tomatillos
1/2 medium yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno
1 anaheim chile
juice of half a lime
1/2 Tbl honey
1/2 tsp cumin
handful of cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a large cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Peel and clean the tomatillos. Slice the onion into 1/4" thick slices. Peel the garlic. Chop the stems off the jalapeno and anaheim, slice them in half and de-seed (leave seeds in the jalapeno for a hotter salsa. Place on the cookie sheet so that nothing is touching. Roast for 15-20 minutes until the tomatillos are soft. Put the cooked vegetables and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. Blend until desired consistency.

Enchilada filling:
olive oil
1/2 onion finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Poblano/Pasilla pepper diced
3/4 lb brown mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 large bowl of spinach (washed, spun dry and roughly chopped)
ancho chile powder
cumin powder
smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Film the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil. Over medium heat, sweat the onion, garlic, and poblano with a pinch of salt. Turn the heat to medium high and add the mushrooms, sauteeing until onions are slightly caramelized and the mushrooms have given off their water and started to dry again. Add the spinach in big handfuls and stir until wilted. Continue adding and wilting the spinach until it's all incorporated. Cook over medium heat until the mixture there's no more liquid in the pan (there will still be some moisture clinging to the spinach & mushrooms).


Assembling the enchiladas:
additional ingredients: 1 c sour cream or greek-style yoghurt, 10-12 corn tortillas, 2 c. shredded jack cheese

Stir together 1 cup of sour cream (or greek-style yoghurt) and 1 cup of the tomatillo salsa. Spray a large 9x12ish baking dish with non-stick spray. Add enough of the sour cream/tomatillo sauce to the bottom of the dish to just barely cover--spreading to the edges. In a skillet over medium low heat, warm a tortilla until it's soft and pliable, put the tortilla on a small plate, add a 1/4c or so of the filling in the center of the tortilla, sprinkle with a bit of cheese. Roll the enchilada and put seam-side down in the baking dish. Continue with the rest of the tortillas until the filling is used up. (Once you get it going, you can heat one tortilla while assembling another enchilada.) After you've filled the baking dish (and hopefully used up all the filling), cover with the remaining sour cream/tomatillo sauce, spreading around to make sure all the enchiladas are covered. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Broil briefly (no more than 2 minutes) to brown some of the cheese.

Let sit for 1-2 minutes before serving.

Crust for pot pie

I made Alton Brown's Curried Pot Pie this evening. Gearl decided he wanted a real crust, so I adapted Alton's pie crust to be higher in fiber (to at least try to maintain some semblance of WeightWatchers sensibility!)... Because of the vodka, you won't get as much gluten and the crust will remain quite flaky. With all of the bran and whole wheat, don't skimp on the moisture or the crust will turn out a bit too dry.


6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 ounces vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 tablespoons vodka
2-4 tablespoons broth
9 ounces whole wheat flour (by weight)
1.5 ounces oat bran (by weight)
1.5 ounces wheat bran (by weight)
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Place the butter, shortening and vodka into the refrigerator (vodka into the freezer) for 1 hour.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, brans, salt and pepper by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add the butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until the texture looks mealy. Add the shortening and pulse another 3 to 4 times until incorporated.

Remove the lid of the food processor and sprinkle in 5 tablespoons of the vodka. Replace the lid and pulse 5 times. Add broth as needed, and pulse again until the mixture holds together when squeezed. Weigh the dough and divide in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Great dip for fresh, sweet strawberries

Got some amazingly sweet strawberries and wanted a nice way to serve them as a simple dessert...

1/3 c. greek yogurt
1 Tbl. honey
1 tsp. sugar
small pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Heat the honey in a microwave safe bowl until just slightly liquid. Stir in rest of ingredients until thoroughly combined. Dip strawberries and enjoy!