Archive | 2008

Pink Mac & Cheese

1 Feb

A good friend of mine reminded me I always talked to him about my blog and my recipes, but that I had NEVER cooked for him.  So I immediately invited him to lunch and made this impromptu comforting pasta dish.

I love pink pasta sauces… I think they’re super tasty and combine the best of both worlds – cheese sauce and tomatoes. 

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PINK MAC & CHEESE

1/4 pound whole wheat pasta – penne, rigatoni, macaroni would all work
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs sofrito
8oz heavy cream
4 oz cottage cheese
3/4 cup shredded Italian cheese mix, divided
2 oz. Laughing Cow cheese or 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes
5 or 6 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
10-12 basil leaves
Salt, Garlic salt and Pepper to taste
  1. In a medium pot, boil water, season with salt liberally and cook pasta until al dente… approximately 10-12 minutes.  While pasta cooks, make the sauce. 
  2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil.  Add sofrito and saute for a few minutes.
  4. Add cream cheese and whisk together with sofrito until it melts.  Add heavy cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the Italian cheese blend.  Whisk together until all cheeses are melted and well blended.
  5.  Add crushed tomatoes and season with garlic salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Add sun-dried tomatoes and basil leaves.
  7. Drain cooked pasta and add to saucepan with sauce.
  8. Transfer pasta and sauce to a baking dish.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup shredded cheese blend.
  9. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese on top is melted and creates a golden crust.

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Not too light, but delicious and comforting… my friend is a convert and now he wants me to cook for him all the time.  I should have taken a photo of his amazed face. 

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Roasted Mustard Potatoes

27 Jan

I love making this dish!!!  The smell of the mustard when it’s in the oven is divine…

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ROASTED MUSTARD POTATOES

2 lbs red-skinned baby potatoes, cut in quarters or halved
6 tbs mustard – dijon, grain or spicy mustards will all work great here
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp Italian seasonings
2 tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Canola oil spray
  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the mustard, garlic, Italian seasonings, olive oil, salt and pepper. 
  3. Place cut potatoes in the same bowl with the mustard mixture and toss to fully coat all the potatoes.
  4. Move the mustard-coated potatoes into a  baking sheet sprayed with canola oil spray.
  5. Roast in oven for 40-45 minutes until potatoes are tender when speared with a fork.

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Herbed Roasted Potatoes

27 Jan

This is one of the easiest and nicest side dishes you can create.  I make it in a toaster oven while I prepare the main dish.

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HERBED ROASTED POTATOES

2 lbs of red skin or other waxy potatoes, washed and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tbs garlic salt
2 tbs Italian seasonings 
2 tbs white pepper
2 tbs parsley – dried or fresh
2 tbs kosher salt
2 tbs lemon zest
2 tbs paprika (optional)
4 tbs Liquid soy margarine – I eye-ball this usually… enough to coat the potatoes.
  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. 
  2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together all the herbs and spices – garlic salt, Italian seasonings, white pepper, parsley, kosher salt, lemon zest and paprika, if using.
  3. Drizzle a small amount of the liquid margarine and “butter” the baking dish or roasting pan you’ll be using to roast these potatoes.  This way you’ll ensure the potatoes will not stick to the bottom. 
  4. Place cubed potatoes in the roasting pan or dish in a single layer.  Drizzle liquid margarine on top of potatoes and sprinkle the herb mixture.  Using your clean hands, massage the potatoes with the margarine and the herb mixture until the potato cubes are all slathered with margarine and herbs.
  5. Roast in oven for about 30-35 minutes – until potatoes are golden brown and soft when you pierce them with a knife.  Move them around the half-time mark if you want.  I sometimes forget and they usually turn out OK.

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2008 – Year of the Potato

27 Jan

I love potatoes.  If I had to eat only one food, I think potatoes would be it.  They’re soooo versatile – you can fry, boil, roast, broil, bake, stew, mash, smash, and basically do anything to them and potatoes will reward you with a delicious and nutritious treat every time. 

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Potatoes are so important in the world’s culinary and nutritional environments the United Nations named 2008 the year of the Potato, based on the role the potato can play in providing food security, eradicating poverty and achieving development goals – WOW!!

There’s one more reason why I love potatoes – my grandfather in Cuba was a well-known potato grower.  He was known by everyone in his town in the southern part of the Havana province simply as “Neno, el papero” – papero being roughly translated to “potatoer”.  My grandfather’s potatoes were consumed locally in Cuba, but mainly exported to the US.  When my good friend Angie learned about this, she lovingly nicknamed me – the Cuban Potato Queen.  To tell you the truth, this has stuck a bit and I even have artwork made by a good friend and artist as homage to this nickname.

I never got to meet my grandfather Neno.  He left his physical body a few years before my mom and dad met here in Puerto Rico…  So in honor of my grandfather’s potato heritage, I have decided to create in my blog a POTATO FESTIVAL.  A collection of potato dishes made to highlight all the goodness and versatility of this discreet tuber.  Some are side dishes, some are main dishes… we might even find some appetizers and desserts in this collection… however, I will assure you, they will all be incredibly delicious.

Hope you like them as much as I will like preparing them…

Herb Roasted Potatoes

Mustard Roasted Potatoes

Potato and Fried Eggplant Pastelón

Creamy Potatoes

Sweet Potato Pastelón

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Agave Nectar

23 Jan

I learned about Agave nectar when I attended the Conscious Gourmet cooking seminar this past April.  I am sure I walked past it a million times in many health food stores, but I usually consume honey or brown sugar to sweeten things and have not had the need to use anything else…

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At the seminar we discussed refined sugars and all the potential health conditions it’s associated with, such as:

Candida
Depression
Crohn’s Disease/Colitis
Ulcers
Hypertension
Gallstones
Kidney-stones
Even, Cancer

So based on this information, why not use and consume a more natural and non-processed form of sweetener?

Agave nectar is made from the same plant Tequila is made.  Cool, huh?  So because it’s a plant-based sweetener, it’s also vegan.  Another cool thing about agave nectar is it has a very low glycemic index.  This means that when you consume it, it will barely increase the glucose levels in your blood, therefore not increasing the production of insulin nor activating the fat storage system.  Hey, I learned this from my sister who is a diabetic from the age of 15 and an endocrinologist.

Just to give you an idea of the glycemic index of different foods:

Corn Flakes         119
White Bread       112
Rice                        83
Honey                   83
Apple                    54
Peas                      32
Agave nectar     27

Agave nectar then is great for those people who are diabetic, are watching their carbohydrate intake or blood glucose levels or even watching their weight.   You can see how my friend Kathleen lost about 45lbs. this last year and agave nectar is one of the few sweeteners she now uses.

And don’t underestimate its sweetness.   Agave nectar is sweeter than table sugar, but it’s not processed or contains any chemicals.  Actually, you should use about ¼ to 1/3 less amount of agave than you would sugar or honey.   You use it the same way you would use honey – to sweeten beverages, desserts, hot cereals, smoothies, yogurts, etc.  I even use it to sweeten my Spinach Crepes recipe.

Check out agave nectar the next time you go to your local health food store.  Try it, you’ll not be disappointed…

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