Tag Archives: parsley

Basil Parsley Oil

2 Jul

I did this flavored oil to season a nice Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese Toasts… but I was surprised how versatile the oil has proven to dress and season many other recipes.

 

Basil Parsley Oil

 

BASIL PARSLEY OIL

A small handful of parsley – mostly leaves
A small handful of basil leaves
About 1/3 cup of olive oil
Sea Salt – 1 turn around the food processor bowl
About 4 turns of the pepper grinder

 

  1. In a food processor mix together all the ingredients and process until the herbs are chopped super fine.
  2. Let it rest room temperature for about 1 hour so the flavors mix well together before using.

 

If you’d like, you could strain it… but I like it chunky.

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Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese Toasts

1 Jul

I LOVE tomatoes!!!!  I just love them immensely… they might well be my favorite vegetable.  I am stuck between potatoes and tomatoes as my favorite, and I am just realizing that possibly neither of them is actually a vegetable.

Oh well, vegetable or not, I have been receiving way too many tomatoes in my weekly CSA box that I have been finding creative ways to have them.  Although growing up I used to just slice a tomato as a way to add “a salad” to my plate and, to this day, I still do it when I am too lazy to wash lettuces and cut up other salad components.

Something I recently started doing (or stopped doing would be a more accurate expression) is to not place tomatoes in the fridge.  With the temperatures being so hot here in PR, I always believed tomatoes would spoil way too quickly if they were left sitting on a counter.  Well, they eventually can spoil, but you can safely leave them there for a good week and they will be perfect.  The taste of a tomato is definitely better and more intense if it’s left at room temperature.  Apparently there is a component in the tomato that is shuts down its flavor permanently if the tomato is kept in the fridge.

This is a tomato salad made to celebrate the lusciousness of tomatoes… 

 Tomato Salad 2

TOMATO SALAD WTH GOAT CHEESE TOASTS

Tomatoes – organic and local preferably to ensure their freshness and flavor
1 whole-grain demi-baguette, sliced on a bias
Salt/Pepper to taste
Drizzle of olive oil
About 2 oz of goat cheese – left at room temperature for a few minutes
About 1 tbs of Basil/Parsley oil

 

  1. Slice tomatoes as you wish – in slices across its equator, pole to pole… however you prefer.
  2. Drizzle baguette slices with olive oil, some salt and pepper and toast in a toaster oven until they’re golden around the edges.  Slather them with goat cheese
  3. Place sliced/cut tomatoes on a plate.  Drizzle basil/parsley oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.  Place goat cheese toasts on the side…

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Cracked Potatoes

27 Jun

Going to my French classes every day this Summer, has made me crave some French-inspired food…  such is the case with these Cracked Potatoes.  I had seen them in magazines, as part of the Gourmet Next Door show and even in several websites…  so I decided they were easy enough for me to give them a try for lunch.

The cool thing is that these look spectacular for company, but with the addition of fresh lemon or lime juice, they tasted fancier than just your regular boiled and “sort of” fried potato… 

 

 

CRACKED POTATOES

10-12 baby red potatoes, scrubbed well and left whole
2-3 garlic cloves, smashed open
2-3 tbs olive oil
Kosher salt – generous for the boiling water and more for seasoning later
2 tbs fresh parsley for finishing
The juice of 1 lemon or lime

 

  1. In a medium sauce pan, boil the potatoes in salted water for about 10-15 minutes.  I try to make them until they’re almost done when pricked with a fork.
  2. When the potatoes are almost done, drain them and let them cool off a little.
  3. Using something flat, like a plate or the underside of a glass bowl (so you can see what’s happening underneath), press each potato slightly until it cracks, exposing some of its flesh.  Be gentle as to not smash the potato completely… you only need a crack.
  4. In a skillet or even in the same pan you used to boil them – just remember that when the potatoes are smashed, they’ll take up more space than previously.   Heat of about 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the garlic cloves that you have just cracked open with the side of your knife.  This will impart a garlic taste to the oil and eventually roast them making them very sweet indeed.   Place the potatoes in the pan and “fry” the potatoes on both sides until the skins look crisp and golden around the edges. 
  5. Try not to add any potato that was over smashed, because this would just fry the insides of that potato and create a nice little mess on the bottom of your pan.  Can you tell I speak from experience????
  6. Right before the potatoes are done, sprinkle with the fresh parsley and toss to combine.
  7. Remove from pan and allow to cool of a little bit.  Sprinkle with a light dusting of kosher salt… and I guess if you have some sea salt or even fleur de sel would make it super French indeed.

 

When you serve them, allow a lemon half for each guest to squirt some lemon juice on top of the potatoes.   This recipe serves 2 or one hungry Madelyn… Mmmmm.

 

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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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Garlic Parsley Breadsticks

22 Dec

This is a great appetizer or accompaniment to any Italian dinner. 

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GARLIC PARSLEY BREADSTICKS

1/2 package of refrigerated whole-wheat bread-stick dough mix
1/4 cup of parsley, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
  1. Mix in a small bowl the parsley, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.
  2. Let it sit on top of the counter to marinate for about 20 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  4. Take the bread-sticks dough and spread the garlic parsley mixture on one side.
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  6. Twist the individual bread-sticks and place next to each other in a baking sheet.
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  8. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the bread-sticks are golden brown.
  9. Serve warm.

You can definitely use this same garlic parsley mixture to make regular garlic bread… just spread it on a cut baguette and bake in the oven until crunchy.

My apologies… the bread-sticks smelled so good, I forgot to take a photo of them.

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