Storm of Thoughts

Recipe: Beef and Plantain Pie

This recipe is known as Piñon, a Cuban-style recipe we’ve been making for a long time. If you haven’t eaten anything like it before, the ingredients sound a little strange - but together, they’re delicious. Trust me!

Beef and Plantain Pie

Filling:
1 medium onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
14 – 16 oz. can tomato pieces
1/3 cup drained pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup tomato sauce
2 – 3 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

salt & pepper

8 semi-ripe plantains (yellow and black)

¼ to ½ cup olive or canola oil
2 – 3 large eggs
2 – 3 tablesppons water
½ cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Heat a large non-stick frying pan, and crumble beef into skillet. Sauté over med. – high heat, stirring and breaking up clumps, until no longer pink. Stir in salt & pepper, onions, and peppers and sauté till vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

Stir in can of tomatoes, with the juice, olives and remaining filling ingredients, and simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Do not let it get dried out - add more tomato sauce if necessary. (When done, you can remove to a bowl to cool slightly.)

Meanwhile, cut the ends from the plantains and peel. Cut diagonally into ¼ to 1/3 inch slices. In a frying pan, fry the plantains in oil until golden brown on each side. Transfer onto parchment paper or foil to drain (they stick to paper towels so I don’t recommend them).

Add some oil to the bottom of a baking dish (approx. 8 x 11).In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and water and pour half the mixture in the bottom of the baking dish and coat the bottom and sides.

Arrange half the plantains over the bottom and up the sides tightly in one layer. Spread half the filling in the dish and sprinkle with half of the parmesan.

Add another layer of the plantains, using all of them, and then the rest of the filling and parmesan. Cover it with the rest of the egg mixture, making sure it reaches all of the edges.

Bake pie, covered with foil in middle of oven, about 1 hour. Cool it 10 minutes before cutting.

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Cupcake Recipe

Obviously, a lot of the fun in making my Chrysanthemum Cupcakes came in decorating them. (And you can find a lot of great decorating ideas, including the mums, on Wilton’s website.) That is, of course, unless you count eating them! The recipe is one of my favorite cakes, which I adjusted to turn into cupcakes. It’s from Martha Stewart, which means there are a few extra steps, but, as usual, Martha knows what she’s doing.

White Sheet Cake or Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more to grease baking pan
3 cups flour, plus more for baking sheet
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
8 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-by-18-by-1-inch rimmed baking sheet or muffin tins, tapping out any excess flour; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and 2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until just combined, then set aside.

In a clean bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand blender, beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Then fold in the remaining egg-white mixture.

Transfer batter to prepared baking sheet or muffin tins and smooth batter.

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes for sheet cake and 20 minutes for cupcakes. (Keep an eye on the cupcakes, as timing could differ in your oven.) Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. For cake, invert onto rack, then turn over and let cool completely.

For Icing: Martha Stewart’s Meringue Buttercream

Makes about 10 cups (can do half of the recipe)

3 cups granulated sugar
12 large egg whites
2 pounds (8 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-size pieces
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whisk the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until the sugar dissolves and the mixture registers 140 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Then remove from heat and beat the egg-white mixture with a hand blender on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks and the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (Note: the meringue will deflate slightly as butter is added.) Add the vanilla and beat until the frosting comes together, 3 to 5 minutes. Then beat on the lowest speed until air bubbles diminish, about 2 minutes. Finish by stirring with a rubber spatula until the frosting is completely smooth.

You can refrigerate the buttercream in an airtight container up to one week, or freeze it up to one month. Before using, bring it to room temperature and stir with a rubber spatula to smooth.

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Mangia Monday Recipe: Pizza on the Grill

While I had my house guest recently, we did plenty of eating out. But, since we both also like to cook, we figured we should spend at least one night eating in. And what we decided to make was both easy and delicious - pizzas on the grill. At home, my visitor Jen has a big gas grill, on which she cooks several pizzas at a time. At my parent’s house, we make pizza on the grill on a specially made bbq pizza stone. But here, in my little backyard, we had only a small charcoal grill. Although it took awhile to get the coals ready, the finished product was fun to make and came out perfectly crisp - albeit a little misshapen. You can top these with anything you want; we used tomato and basil on the one in the photo, although we also made other pizzas with ham and ricotta, olives and mushrooms, and fried eggplant. The recipe can obviously be changed a million different ways, but the real secret is in the technique.

Caprese Pizza on the Grill

Pizza dough, store-bought, homemade, or purchased from your favorite pizzeria, divided in four
1 cup Marinara sauce
2-3 tomatoes
Fresh basil, torn into into pieces
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Olive oil

Divide the dough into four pieces, then roll out to form circles. If the grill isn’t ready, leave the dough in the fridge until you’re ready to put it on - it’s easiest to handle when it’s cold. Have all of your ingredients ready to head out to the grill; in this case, that involves shredding the cheese and slicing the tomatoes. Lightly brush one side of the pizza dough and place it (oil side down) directly onto the grill. After the dough has started to cook and gotten grill marks, lightly oil the other side and flip it over. (This can take anywhere from 4-5 minutes up to about 10, depending on the dough and the heat of the grill. It will be easy to flip when it’s ready!) Then, start topping with the rest of the ingredients. If your grill is big enough, do several at a time; otherwise, you’ll have to do them one at a time (as we did).

And that’s it. It’s as simple as making pizza inside. And, generally, much faster. Plus you feel a lot more like Bobby Flay.

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Recipe: Luci’s Corn Salad

My mom loves to cook. (Which, you might have guessed, is where I get it.) And many of my favorite recipes come from her. Not to mention, we constantly update each other on what we saw Giada or Rachael or Ina or Bobby make today and whether or not we both need to try these recipes out immediately. (Usually the answer is yes.) And whenever I need a recipe for a special occasion or a weeknight dinner or - in this case - my blog, she is more than happy to share. (Not to mention well-armed with her arsenal of recipes.)

This corn salad is meant for a summer barbecue. (Assuming this perpetual summer rain ever actually lets up.) The best part is that it can be made ahead of time (even the day before), and, while you can make your own dressing, bottled dressing is just as good on it. (It’s also nice to be able to use the low fat or fat free, especially when the rest of your barbecue consists of things like cheeseburgers or ribs. At least something is guilt-free, right?) And, as my mom can attest, it’s a crowd pleasure, as she gets asked for the recipe every time she serves it for a group of people. (Although I would say her zucchini corn bread is right up there when it comes to barbecue hits. I’m starting to feel a summer recipe series coming on…) Anyway, here’s the recipe. We hope you try it out this summer!

Corn Salad
Serves 8-10 as a side

3 cans mixed white and yellow corn niblets (Green Giant is our standard)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, cut length ways 3 times, then chop
2 bunches of scallions, diced
4 slices red onion, diced
Your favorite light or fat free bottled Italian dressing (or make your own)

And, as my mom said, “Are instructions really necessary? Mix all this goodness together and stir gently. Then sit back and enjoy the compliments!” And the barbecue. And the fact that you did all of this prep the day before and can actually relax for once. Although, again, only after the rain stops.

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Recipe: Sausage and Beans over Rice

This recipe is based on one designed for a slow cooker. We love to make it, but, of course, you need several hours. By cooking it on the stove, you get almost the same meal in a much shorter amount of time. In our case, it also helped that we had the sausage already cooked when we made it, which was perfect for a weeknight meal that tastes like it was cooking all day.

Ingredients

4 sausages
White or Brown Rice, cooked according to instructions
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
2 bell peppers, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cans beans (or about 2 cups if you want to soak and cook dry beans), any kind (we used two cans of cannellini beans and one of cranberry beans; kidney beans, pink beans, great northern beans, and navy beans would also work well)
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
1 teaspoon thyme
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Drizzle the sausage with olive oil and cook in the oven at about 400 degrees for an hour or until done, turning every 15 minutes or so. When done, set aside. Heat oil in a large sauce pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onion, peppers, and garlic until soft. Add in broth and wine and let heat for a few minutes before adding in the beans. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until about half of the liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes. Halfway through, use a potato masher (or any other tool that will work!) to mash some of the beans. After the mixture has simmered, slice the sausages and add them to the pot, then season with spices and let cook for about 5 minutes more. Serve over rice.

Note: The bowl is a slate blue “Cargo” pasta bowl from the Calvin Klein Khaki Collection, my new favorite dinnerware. These wide, shallow bowls come in incredibly handy!

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Recipe: Sweet and Sour Meatballs over Noodles

Is there such a thing as tropical comfort food? If so, this is on the list. I got this recipe from my mom, and it’s a great weeknight dinner. The recipe is made relatively easy by the fact that you use store-bought sauce. And it’s perfect for pretending you’re eating dinner somewhere fun, like Hawaii.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs Over Noodles
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 bottle World Harbors Sweet and Sour Sauce
Small can sliced water chestnuts
Small can pineapple chunks
4 or 5 carrots, sliced on the diagonal, parboiled on stove or in microwave
1 onion, roughly chopped

For meatballs:
1 1/4 ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs (or 2 slices of bread if you make your own)
1 egg
A scant 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
salt and pepper
Olive oil for frying

About 2/3 package of egg noodles

Combine meatball ingredients and shape into 24 to 28 meatballs (not too big, and not too small). In a large saute pan, in oil, on medium heat, cook the meatballs, half at a time, until brown on all sides. Set aside in a dish.

Start the water for the noodles.

In the same pan that had the meatballs (with a little more oil if necessary), on medium-high heat, saute the onions. Let them cook for a few minutes, then add the carrots. After another few minutes, add the water chestnuts and then, finally, the pineapple. Add the meatballs back in, then the bottle of sweet and sour sauce.

Add the noodles to the water once boiling. Meanwhile, continue to cook the meatball mixture on low, for about 15 minutes, adding a little water if the sauce gets thick.

Serve over the noodles and enjoy!

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Recipe: Easy BLT Pasta

This recipe is one of my favorite stand-by pasta recipes because it’s light, quick, and doesn’t require too many ingredients. It’s the perfect spring or summer pasta!

1 pound pasta of your choice (I usually use spaghetti or linguine)
up to 1 cup chicken broth (or 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup white wine)
1 container cherry tomatoes
1 bag of fresh baby spinach
1 package bacon (you can use as much or as little as you want or even substitute turkey bacon)
Ricotta salada, optional, to crumble on top (you can also use feta or grated parmensan)

After you start the pasta, fry the bacon in a large frying pan. When done, remove and drain on paper towels. Remove most, but not all, of the grease left in the pan and cook the cherry tomatoes in the same pan over medium-low heat until warm and starting to get soft. Add the bag of spinach (if it won’t hold all of it, start with half, then add the rest and cook until wilted. Pour in the broth or wine and simmer until the pasta is done. Drain the pasta in a colander and then place into the pan with the spinach and tomatoes. Crumble the bacon back into the pan, mix everything together, and top with cheese to serve.

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Recipe: Shepherd’s Pie

Today brings with it nice weather (for now, at least) and a busy, busy schedule. So, with a little help from my mom (who did the adapting), here is a recipe that was adapted from Danny Boome’s Traditional Shepherd’s Pie, one of my favorite Irish meals. After all, you don’t need rain and cold to enjoy comfort food!

Ingredients

2 tablesppons butter
A few tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons. tomato paste
1 ½ to 2 lbs. ground beef
2 tablespoons. Worcestershire sauce
½ cup beef stock
1 cup peas (can use frozen or fresh)

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Add butter and oil to a large skillet on medium heat. Saute onions, carrots, celery and, after a bit, add the garlic, until tender - about 7 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Once the vegetables have softened and start to brown a little, add the tomato paste and mix evenly. Add the ground beef and cook till meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the Worcestershire and beef stock. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cook another 10 minutes, then mix in peas. Transfer mixture to an oven-proof baking dish and spread evenly. Place mashed potatoes on top and spread that evenly as well. You can “rake” through the potatoes with a fork, if desired.

Cook about 20 to 25 minutes – checking for a nice, lightly browned top.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

3 to 4 pounds baking or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup heavy cream (we actually used ¼ cup sour cream and ¼ cup milk instead)
1 cup grated (white) cheddar
salt and pepper

Fill a saucepan with cold water, add a tablespoon of salt and the potatoes and bring to a boil. Cook until soft when a knife is inserted, about 20 minutes. Drain, put back in pot, add butter and cream and begin to mash. Gradually add the cheese – and if needed, a little more milk - and salt and pepper to taste.

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Recipe: Corn Chowder

Lately we’ve had a few rainy days, which, as they often do, put me in the mood for soup. One of my favorite soups is corn chowder. I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that my mom makes a really good one (which I ate all the time growing up), the fact that it’s pretty easy to throw together, or that it’s the perfect combination of light and creamy. On the day I decided to make it, having all of the ingredients and the easy prep did help. Once the bacon is cooked and the vegetables are chopped, practically all you have to do is throw everything together. (I have now even found pre-chopped onions and peppers in the frozen foods section, which makes this recipe even easier.) Plus, once it’s put together, you don’t have to simmer it on the stove for long; it will be ready when you are.

Ingredients:
10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tablespoons butter
2 small onions, diced
2 bell peppers (I used one red and one green), diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme)
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups milk or cream
2 cans corn (I used one can cream-style and one regular - can also use frozen or fresh)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, barbecue sauce, or hot sauce, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

After cooking the bacon and setting aside, melt butter in soup pot over medium heat, then add onion, peppers, garlic, and thyme. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add flour and stir, then add broth and bring to a boil. Add the milk or cream and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the remaining ingredients (including the bacon), cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

And that’s it! I didn’t use potatoes this time, but you can dice up two and throw them in as well. You can also add in other vegetables (like celery) or even seafood (crab or lobster).

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Recipe: Leek Tart

This is the type of recipe that is simple enough to make any night of the week (especially if you don’t make your own piecrust), not too heavy but still filling, and definitely a crowd pleaser.

1 prepared piecrust
3 large leeks, white part only
1/2 lb. bacon
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
salt and pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese (can substitute your favorite!)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 or 10 inch tart pan with the crust. Place in fridge to chill while preparing filling.

Slice leeks lengthwise and place in a bowl to clean. Then slice again lengthwise and then into rounds, about 1/2 thick. Saute leeks in a little butter and olive oil to soften.

Remove leeks from pan and fry the bacon until crisp, then drain, let cool, and break into small pieces.

Take out the bacon and clean the pan with a paper towel. Melt the 3 Tbls. butter, add the flour and cook one minute while stirring. Slowly whisk in milk, and continue whisking 3 to 5 minutes, until thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the leeks, bacon, eggs and cheese to flour mixture. Then pour it all into the pastry-lined tart (or pie) pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm.

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