Basic Italian Tomato Salad

19 Jul

I love tomatoes…  I just do.  To me, cutting up a few tomatoes on the side constitutes a complete salad in my book.   I can go through a whole pack of Costco tomatoes in a week… all by myself.

I also love taking a simple, delicious recipe and using it in various ways – exciting flavors enjoyed in various formats.  And that’s what this Basic Italian Tomato Salad is… 

What makes it Italian??  Well, the Italian ingredients – white balsamic vinegar, mini fresh mozzarella pieces and Italian Seasonings.

 

BASIC ITALIAN TOMATO SALAD

4 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped into large pieces – if you have heirloom tomatoes, all the better
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp of white balsamic vinegar – regular balsamic will also work here
A pinch of fresh basil – I also use the freeze-dried kind
½ tsp of Italian Seasonings
1 tsp of salt
Freshly cracked Black Pepper
1 clove of garlic, grated – optional
About 16 pieces of mini fresh mozzarella pieces

 

  1. In a medium sized bowl, combine all the ingredients.  Toss to combine.  Allow for the mixture to marinate and create a juice/sauce in the bottom of the bowl.
  2. Combine with mozzarella pieces in a plate.  Drizzle some extra olive oil on top when plating.

 

Sometimes I add the cheese pieces in with the rest of the ingredients to marinate too…  it’s up to you.  This is a very delicious and versatile combination that you will use over and over again.

Then you can take this Salad and use it in:  an Italian sandwich with ciabatta bread, an Italian panzanella salad, a delicious Italian tomato/mozzarella pasta…   

Tags: ,

Egg-free Spelt Crepes

15 Jul

For a long time, I’ve been meaning to share with you a recipe for egg-free crepes…

All the recipes you see out there include eggs and I decided to modify my favorite recipe to get the same results.

EGG-FREE SPELT CREPES – recipe makes about 20 small crepes

1 ½ cups of organic spelt flour, sifted
½ tsp kosher salt
2 cups soy milk, plus 6 tbs
4 ½ tsp egg replacer mix
 5 tbs butter
1 tbs Olive oil, for skillet
¼ cup water, if needed
  1. In a small sauce pan over low heat, melt the butter.  Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the egg replacer mix with 6tbs of soymilk.  Whisk together and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, sift flour and salt using a fine sieve.  Set aside.  It’s important to sift using a fine sieve, because organic spelt flour has little flakes that we should not include if we want a smooth crepe batter.
  4. Pour remaining soy milk into a blender.  Add the melted butter, egg replacer mix and flour.  Blend well for a few minutes.  Place the crepe batter in the same blender cup in the fridge to rest for at least 2 hours.  I made the batter in the morning to use later in the afternoon.
  1. When you’re ready to use the batter…  move it around and see if it has the consistency of a light pancake batter.  If it’s too thick, add ¼ cup of water to make it thinner.
  2. Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 tbs olive oil and spread out using a paper towel.
  3. Pour one ladleful of batter into skillet into skillet, turning and tilting skillet as you’re pouring the batter.  The idea is to coat the bottom of the skillet with a thin layer of batter.  Don’t be discouraged if the first few ones are not as you expect.  It took me a few tried to get the right rhythm of ladle and skillet.
  4. Loose the edges of the crepe using an off-set spatula.  You’ll see the crepe bubble a little, very similar to pancakes.  Loosen the crepe delicately from the pan using a silicone spatula.  When you can move the crepe loosely by just shaking the skillet, after about 1 minute of cooking, flip the crepe using the silicone spatula.
  6. Cook on the other side for about 30 more seconds.  Just slide the crepe out of the skillet onto a plate lined with wax paper.
  8. Repeat the process all over until you finish the crepe batter.  Pass the oiled paper towel once in awhile in between crepes, as needed.

Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container for about 2 weeks.  The crepes have so much butter, they will not stick.

If you do store any in the fridge, just heat the up in a warm skillet for about 1 minute to make them soft and pliable again.  I used these crepes to make my Gateau de Crepes.  They’re also delicious to eat as a dessert with a filling of cajeta/dulce de leche or fruit jam.

Tags: , ,

Gateau des Crepes

14 Jul

I got this recipe idea from a Martha Stewart’s magazine… since I saw it, I have been meaning to make it myself.

We got together a few friends from my French group to celebrate la Fête de la Bastille – France’s  National Holiday – and it seemed only fitting to make one of this gateau to celebrate.

I modified the recipe a bit to make it more vegetarian – particularly made spelt crepes without any eggs.  The results are fabulous and extremely delicious.  The filling is basically the same exact filling as the mixture we made for our Spinach Croquetas, but added some gruyere cheese to make it more French and decadent.

GATEAU DES CREPES

½ medium onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, smashed lightly
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs spelt flour
2 cups plain soy milk
2 ounces of cream cheese (optional)
1 ½ cups Gruyere cheese, grated and reserving ¼ cup for garnish
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
12 egg-free Spelt Crepes
 
  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and olive oil.  When the butter has melted, add the chopped onion and the 2 smashed garlic cloves.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the onions cook and look translucent.
  2. Take out the garlic clove pieces.  Add the spelt flour to the onion mixture and stir to become a paste.  Cook the paste moving it around for a few minutes to make sure there will not be raw flour taste later on.
  3. Slowly add the soymilk to the flour/onion paste and whisk it all while adding the milk.  The sauce will thicken once the mixture boils a few minutes. 
  4. After the sauce has thickened, take off from the heat and add the cream cheese, gruyere cheese.   Mix well together to make sure the cheeses melt.  Take out about ¼ cup of white sauce and place it aside.  Add the dried spinach.  Mix well to incorporate the spinach well into the sauce.  Set aside.  The sauce will thicken while standing, and this is a good thing.
  5. After the spinach sauce has cooled, we’ll assemble the crepe stack…
  6. Pre-heat oven to 450F.
  7. On a rimmed buttered baking sheet, place one crepe.  Slather with about 1 tbs of spinach sauce until almost the edges.  Place another crepe on top, slather again with spinach sauce.  Repeat this same thing 11 times and finish off the gateau with the 12th crepe. 
  9. Top the last crepe with about 2tbs of the reserved white sauce.  Place the reserved gruyere cheese on top.
  10.        
  11. Place gateau on the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheeses melt and create a golden lovely top.

 

Allow the gateau des crepes to cool off a bit before slicing into wedges, just like any other cake.  I served this alongside a green salad with a mustard vinaigrette.

 

 

When I made this, the oven was not fully at 450F and the gateau slid out of place and the filling spilled a bit out into the baking sheet.  I have asked if someone else had this same issue, but no replies so far.  I think the oven was too cool still and instead of just heating the filling and making the top golden, it just melted the cheese all over again.  Maybe using the broiler would be a better alternative.

The next few times I have used my leftover crepes, I have rolled them up and served them individual style.  This makes more sense to eat alone or for just two people… and it’s just as delicious.

Tags: , , ,

Caffeine-free Hot Carob

13 Jul

For every Encierro in San Fermín, the Encierro is not the beginning of the day but more really the culmination of a night of partying.  Well, the almost culmination because before going to bed after the Encierro you must have breakfast.

Some people consider breakfast a spiked “zumo de naranja” or orange juice… as we can see with our Pamplona friends here.  But for most Spaniards a sandwich or “bocadillo” or Churros con Chocolate are more fitting breakfast choices.

But a word of caution…  if you order a Hot Chocolate or “Chocolate Caliente” in Spain you will get something closer to a  hot chocolate pudding in a glass.  If you want to drink something closer to what a hot chocolate is in America, you need to ask for a ColaCao with hot milk.  ColaCao is the Spanish/European equivalent to Quik.   But it’s important for you to know the difference so your expectations are met.

I am self-procalimed chocoholic, but I‘ve had to steer away from chocolate because of its caffeine content.  That’s basically the reason why the vegetarianism I practice avoids chocolate.  So when we had our churros the other day, my taste buds were craving something “chocolaty” to dunk the churros in… and the vegetarian alternative is Hot Carob.     

Carob, available in both bar and powder form, makes a very delicious caffeine-free alternative to hot chocolate.  And because carob is a bit bitter it resembles the bitter bar chocolate used to make hot chocolate from scratch.  Here’s how…

 

HOT CAROB

¾ cup of evaporated milk – about ½ a container
¾ cup of water
1 tbs carob powder
2 tbs agave nectar

 

  1. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the evaporated milk, water and agave nectar.  Whisk in the carob powder to avoid any lumps from forming.
  2. Heat up the mixture enough without bringing it to a boil.  I like to keep whisking for a little while to prevent the carob powder to scorch at the bottom of the pan.
  3. Take away from heat and cover to maintain hot for a while.

 

Serve hot with a side of churros…

The evaporated milk gives it a creamier consistency as if you used regular milk, but you can certainly substitute the evaporated milk and water for equal parts of just milk.

Tags: ,

Spelt Churros

12 Jul

My friend Angie’s mom, Doña Tina, is from Asturias.  They were just visiting Asturias this past Easter.  Angie came back with plenty ideas for us to make together.  Among them, a CHURRERA…  or a little machine contraption to make churros.  We just had to try it for our Spanish-inspired dinner menu recently.

Mariana and Natalia were super excited to make churros… they were asking for them the whole night.  Churros are sweet, crunchy and delicious.  What’s not to like??

The recipe is super simple… just 3 ingredients – flour, water and butter.  That’s it; Nothing to it.  All you need is a little bit of muscle to work the Churrera.  Or a second pair of hands is also very useful.  If you do not have a churrera, don’t worry – a simple pastry bag with a star tip will also do the job.

We used spelt flour for the job… and it worked out extremely well. 

 

SPELT CHURROS

1 cup  spelt flour
1 cup  water
2 tbs butter
a pinch of kosher salt
Canola oil for frying
Organic sugar for sprinkling on top

 

  1. In a medium saucepan bring the water and butter to a boil.  Dump the flour into the water in one swoop and start mixing it all together very briskly using a wooden spoon.
  3. After mixing the dough around the pan for a little while, about 1-2 minutes, take the dough out of the pan to cool off.
  4. After the dough has cooled, insert it into a churrera or pastry bag with a star tip.
  6. In a large skillet, place about ½ inch of oil for frying the churros… traditionally olive oil is used, but I do not like to use olive oil for frying.  Check the oil is at the right frying temperature by inserting a wooden spoon into the oil.
  7. Press the churros dough through the currera and into the hot oil.  Try to use a circular motion going from the center of the pan and spiral outward.  When you run out of space in the pan, cut the dough using kitchen shears.  That’s the traditional way the Spanish do churros.  If this is too complex, just draw some lines into the frying pan and cut the dough again using kitchen shears.
  9. Fry churros for about 10-15 minutes, until the dough is golden brown on all sides.  Spelt flour is a little bit darker than traditional white flour, so it’ll take a few minutes of frying before you start seeing the change in color and doneness.
  10. Take the finished churros out of the oil and place in a paper towel to drain.  Sprinkle with organic sugar on top.

 

These churros are spectacular and even more so with a cup of Hot Carob on the side.

Tags: , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →