Tag Archives: broccoli

Potato Broccoli Crepes

27 Sep

A year ago I was walking the streets of Paris for the second time… enjoying as much as my senses could gather.  I loved the ambiance, the rhythm of the city… everything!!!  I felt that if I wanted I may be able to even live there.

Place de la Madeleine      notre dame    crepes nutella

Well, that’s what my friend Jesiel actually did.  She has moved herself to Paris to start at 33 a new career as a Pastry Chef.  She recently started a blog – Sweet Journey of Inspiration – to capture her travels and her love for good authentic food, especially pastries.

So to reminisce about my days in Paris and to celebrate Jesiel’s decision to leave all that is familiar to her and start anew in a city where she still is learning the language, I decided to make these savory crepes…

Savory crepes… crêpes salées or gallettes are extremely popular in menus across Paris.  As you can see from my previous post on Parisian crepes, they’re mostly made from buckwheat flour and come in an infinite variety of savory combinations.  I had mine then with potatoes, spinach and cheese. 

Crepe epinard 1

Well, with the abundance of broccoli we’ve had recently, these are made with delicious broccoli.  They’re simple to make and a nice savory alternative to using up those crepes from our crepes recipe post right here…

 

POTATO BROCCOLI CREPES

1 small red potato, quartered
3-4 broccoli florets
Handful of shredded cheese – it could be gruyere or a cheese blend like I used
Handful of walnuts
Drizzle of honey – optional
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 crepes – recipe here
 
  1. In a small saucepan filled with about ½’ of water, place the potato quarters.  Salt the potato.  Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  2.  When the potato is about to be done, place the florets on top of the potato for them to steam.  After covering the saucepan again, wait about 15 seconds and turn off the stove.  The florets will cook with the steam and remaining heat in the saucepan for about 10 minutes more.
  3. If you have already made your crepes, you should reheat them so they’re flexible and pliable again.  So while you wait on the broccoli to finish cooking, heat up a skillet (I use the same skillet I used to make the crepes in the first place) and over medium heat, place the crepes for about 1 minute on each side.  This will just reheat them and bring them back to life…
  4. Drain the water from the potato and broccoli.  Mash the potato and broccoli together.  Season mash with salt and pepper.  Add the shredded cheese and nuts to the mash. Mix well to combine.
  5. Place about ¼ cup of mashed mixture onto each crepe, fold and place in a plate.  Drizzle with a bit of honey over crepes and sprinkle added nuts on top for garnish.

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Potato and Yautía Pastelón

24 Sep

Recently my grandma was in the hospital… and when this happens, my mom stays with her all the time and I become the official vegetarian food delivery service.

This is one of the recipes I made for my mom while she was staying with my grandma at the hospital.  It was easy to make, nutritious and delicious.

 

POTATO AND YAUTÍA PASTELÓN

2 medium red potatoes, chopped into 2” pieces
1 medium white yautía, chopped into 2” pieces
1 broccoli stalk, both florets and stem, chopped into small pieces
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
½ onion, chopped
1 tbs sofrito
2 tbs horseradish
3 tbs butter, divided
1 tbs parmesan cheese
1 handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
Sal t and Pepper to taste
About 1 tbs of olive oil
Canola Oil Spray

 

  1. In a medium saucepan, I place the chopped potato and yautía pieces along with the broccoli stems but not the florets.  I add water until it comes up halfway.  Add salt to taste, cover and bring to a quick boil over medium heat.  I usually lower the heat when I see some steam coming out of the cover to avoid the water to completely evaporate.  Pieces are usually cooked after 15 minutes. 
  2. Right before you turn off the heat from the potato/yautía… place the broccoli florets inside the same pot so it steams with the steam from the pot.  Cover immediately, wait about 15 seconds and turn off the heat on that burner.  Broccoli florets will be cooked thoroughly in about 5 minutes.
  3. While the potatoes and yautías cook, we prepare the filling… in a medium skillet over medium heat we add olive oil and sofrito.  Sauté for a few minutes.  Add the chopped onion and sauté some more until the onion softens.   Add the thawed corn and cooked broccoli florets. Season with salt and pepper and mix well so all the flavors mix in.  Set aside.
  4. Drain all the remaining water from the cooked potatoes, yautías and broccoli stems and return to the same pot.  Add butter, olive oil, horseradish and parmesan cheese.  You could add a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese too if you’d like.  Mash it all together until smooth.
  5. In a medium-sized glass baking dish sprayed with Canola Oil, add about half of the mashed potato/yautía mix.  Spread it out evenly across the bottom.  Add the corn/broccoli filling on top of this layer.  Now cover with the remaining potato/yautía mash.  Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.
  6. Bake in oven at 450F for about 10-12 minutes, until the cheese on top melts and becomes golden brown.  The pastelón per se is all cooked so you’re just looking for a nice crusty top.

 

Serve alongside a crispy green salad…  This is a great potluck dish or to take to someone when they’re “under the weather”.

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Broccoli Salad

3 Sep

The other day my friend Angie asked for my help in the Yoga Center kitchen… she was down a cook and needed my help.  I’ve been a little detached from cooking at the Yoga Center lately.  Having no important plans for the afternoon, I immediately said yes.

She told me she had broccoli and did not know what to do with it.  So I went thru my mental rolodex and retrieved an idea I’ve been meaning to share with you.   Blanching was the operative cooking technique of the day…

We made this recipe for 20 people so I will try to replicate for a party of 4.

BROCCOLI SALAD

1 head of broccoli florets (save the stems for some other day)
1 small red onion, sliced thin
1 head of garlic, roasted
2 tbs horseradish
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of that same lemon
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
  1. To roast the garlic head, just cut the top off the garlic bulb and place inside a piece of aluminum foil.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper.  Add a small piece of ice with the garlic and wrap the aluminum foil so that the steam does not escape.  Bake in oven at 350F for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Set aside.
  2. In a large pot, bring water to a boil.  Salt the water liberally.  Add the broccoli florets to the water and cook for about 1 minute. 
  3. Remove the broccoli florets from the boiling water with a large sieve and transfer to a large bowl with ice water to stop the cooking immediately and seal the beautiful green color.
  4. Place the onion slices inside the large sieve and submerge the onion slices ever so slightly into the same boiling water as you blanched the broccoli florets.  Just submerge them for about 30 seconds.  Pour some filtered tap water over the onion slices to cool them off.  Set aside.
  5. In a measuring cup mix together the lemon juice, lemon zest, horseradish, olive oil, salt and pepper. 
  6. Now, in a large salad bowl mix together the blanched broccoli that you’ve drained of as much water as possible, the blanched onion slices, the roasted garlic cloves that you’ve removed from the bulb skins, and the lemon/horseradish dressing.  Mix all well together to let the broccoli florets absorb as much dressing as possible.

 

Serve as a side dish… but we also incorporated the leftovers in a pasta salad.  Delicious!!!

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Broccoli Lasagna

29 Jul

Broccoli is in season, because it’s on sale in every supermarket I visit… the bunches looked so green and healthy I wanted to do something different with them.

Is lasagna something different Madelyn, really??  Well, it’s different for me because I have never done lasagna with broccoli before, but lasagnas are a big part of my dinner repertoire.  I used some inspiration from the delicious filling I did last year using broccoli and cauliflower.  Broccoli is on sale, Cauliflower not… so we are using broccoli alone on this one.

 

BROCCOLI LASAGNA

9 whole-wheat lasagna sheets
1 whole bunch of broccoli
1 tbs olive oil
¼ cup red onions, chopped finely
2 cups of milk
3 ounces of cream cheese
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 cup Italian Blend shredded cheeses, divided in half
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
A pinch of red pepper flakes
½ cup of petite diced tomatoes
½ tsp Italian Seasonings
A drizzle of olive oil
2 tsps balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

It seems like a lot of ingredients, but let’s break it down so you can see it’s not that complicated…

 

  1. Prepare the broccoli by cutting up the florets into small pieces so they cook faster.  I also use the stems…  just peel the tough exterior and cut the stems very small so they will cook at the same time as the delicate florets.
  2. I use a steamer to boil the water for the pasta and steam the broccoli at the same time.  I set up the steamer with as much water as it can accommodate in the bottom.  I place the steamer on top and steam the broccoli until it is cooked completely and almost mushy.  This will take about 10-12 minutes.
  3. While the broccoli steams, we make the white sauce…  in a medium sized pan over medium heat add a bit of olive oil and the red onion.  Cook a few minutes to remove the raw taste.  Add the milk and the cream cheese and stir every so often to melt the cheese and start to thicken the sauce.  When the cream cheese is incorporated into the milk, add 1/2 cup of the Italian shredded cheeses, the parmesan cheese and remove from heat.  Whisk all together to melt and blend the cheeses and thicken the sauce.  Set aside.
  4. When the broccoli is done, take the steamer off and place the broccoli in a medium sized bowl.  Add the ricotta and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Mash all the ingredients in bowl using a potato masher.  Set aside.
  5. Using the water still boiling from the steamer, add salt and boil the lasagna noodles for about 8-10 minutes.  I leave them slightly underdone so they do not break on me when assembling the lasagna.
  6. While the pasta cooks, season the diced tomatoes with salt, pepper, Italian Seasonings, drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Mix well and set aside.
  7. Now let’s assemble the lasagna…  In a 9” x 13” glass baking dish sprayed with olive oil spray, place some ladles of the white sauce to prevent anything from sticking.  Place 3 lasagna noodles at the bottom.  Add ½ of the broccoli mixture, add ½ of the diced tomatoes, add a few ladles of white sauce, and sprinkle about 1/3 of the shredded cheeses left.  And we start over again, another layer of noodles, the rest of the broccoli mixture, the rest of the tomatoes, more white sauce and shredded cheeses.  Lastly, top with the last layer of noodles, pour enough white sauce to cover the noodles and allow it to seep into the rest of the lasagna.  Finish off with the remaining shredded cheeses you may have left.
  8. Place the glass dish on a baking sheet to prevent any spilling in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes at 350F, until the filling/sauce is bubbling and the top gets golden brown. 
  9. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before serving. 

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Horseradish Potato Pastelón

6 Apr

I am in love with anything with horseradish in it… cheese, mustards, etc.  And to show my appreciation towards horseradish, I decided to create this pastelón.  It’s really a clean-your-fridge recipe… but delicious in its own right. Confirmed by my friend Jonathan, who was my guinea-pig for the day…

 

HORSERADISH POTATO PASTELÓN

About 2 lbs of potatoes – russet or red-skinned potatoes work well here
4 tbs of butter
¼ cup of milk
1 tbs grain mustard
1 tbs prepared horseradish
½ yellow onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup of shredded carrots
½ cup of broccoli, cut into small pieces
¼ cup of grated Parmesan Cheese
Olive oil
Himalayan Pink Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

 

  1. Boil the potatoes in salted water in a medium sized pot.  I tend to just put enough water to only cover half of the potatoes.  That way they boil and part steam and cook faster in my experience than if you submerge them all in water.
  2. While the potatoes cook, we prepare the vegetable filling…  In a medium skillet over medium heat we add a bit of olive oil and sauté the chopped onions and garlic for a few minutes.  Add the shredded carrots and mix well with the onions and cook until the carrots and onions soften, about 3-4 minutes. Lastly, add the broccoli florets, mix in with the rest of the ingredients and let cook for about 1-2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Then turn off the stove and let the broccoli cook with the residual heat from the skillet.
  4.  When the potatoes are cooked and fork tender, drain the water and mash the potatoes in the same pot you cooked them and add the butter, milk and mash them well with a potato masher.  Add the mustard and horseradish.  Season with Salt and freshly cracked black pepper.  Mix it all in well. 
  5. Spray a glass baking dish with Canola Oil spray and place 1/3 of the potato mixture at the bottom of the dish and spread it all as evenly as possible.  On top, add the vegetable mixture in one even layer.  Lastly, top with the remainder of the potato mixture.  Finish with a layer of sprinkled parmesan cheese on top.
  6. Bake in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes until the cheesy top has a nice golden brown crust.

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