Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 - Homemade Tortillas

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. butter, softened (5 tbsp. = 72 g)*
1/2 cup warm water


*The butter is an approximation. I cut off one 50-gram portion, plus some extra, which looked like about 25 g extra, so about 5 tablespoons or about 75 grams.



Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut butter into 5 or 6 pieces and drop into the flour/salt mixture. Use both hands to work the butter into the flour/salt mixture. You should end up with a coarse meal, like cornmeal. Slowly add the warm water, and use one hand to work into the dough a bit at a time before adding more. Use both hands to form the dough into the ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it set for 20 minutes.

Five minutes before (unless you have induction burners) the dough is ready, put a flat, non-stick pan on the stove and heat on medium-high. After the dough has set for 20 minutes, separate into several balls. It can make 8 to 10 soft taco-size tortillas. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and rolling pin. Brown each tortilla until bubbles appear underneath, then flip and repeat. Each side needs about a minute.

Monday, May 2nd, 2011 - Baked Brie

Recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_brie/

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sheet of puff pastry dough or 1 tube of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 1 round or wedge of Brie cheese (do not remove rind)
• Raspberry Jam, or other sweet jam
• Brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 On a stick-free cookie sheet, lay out the puff pastry or the crescent rolls flat; put brie round or wedge on top.

2 Spread jam on brie, fold dough over top, cutting off excess dough. Drizzle maple syrup and place a handful of brown sugar on top.

3 Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes, pastry should be golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with crackers and apple slices.

I thought this was delicious and very easy to make.  I will keep this in mind next time I have a party.

Sunday, May 1st, 2011 - Spinach Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe: http://firstlookthencook.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/baked-pasta-with-spinach-and-cheese/


Ingredients

10 ounce casarecce pasta or fusilli (short twisted spaghetti)
1 (5-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups chopped onion
1.1 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/4 cup)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 minutes or until almost al dente, omitting salt and fat. Remove from
heat; stir in spinach. Let stand for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Drain pasta mixture well.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; cook 15
minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup;
level with a knife. Add flour and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk. Gradually add
milk and wine; cook 8 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Stir in 3/4 cup
cheese, salt, and rind. Remove from heat; stir in pepper. Add pasta mixture to onion mixture, and toss
gently to coat.

Spoon the pasta mixture into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Sprinkle half of panko breadcrumbs over pasta, and top evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Sprinkle
the remaining half of panko breadcrumbs over cheese. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until browned and
bubbly.

Serves 6




Changes: I only added one small onion and one garlic, didn't add breadcrumb topping, and probably didn't put in five ounces of spinach.

This only made enough for two hungry people.  The middle was mushy, I should have only cooked the pasta for 6 minutes.  Could add more spinach next time.

Saturday, April 30th, 2011 - Spinach, Mushroom, and Cheese Turnover

Recipe: http://www.ledelicieux.com/2011/04/13/mushroom-spinach-feta-pie/

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 small brown onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of white wine
• 600g of mushrooms
• 150g of spinach
• 60g of Danish feta
• 4 sheets of frozen low fat puff pastry, defrosted
• 1 egg, beaten

Method:

1. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil and onions.  Cook the onions until golden.
2. Add the mushrooms, garlic and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the mushrooms are softened before adding the white wine.  Simmer in the wine for 10 minutes.
3. Add the spinach and cook until wilted and set aside to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (355 Fahrenheit) and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof baking paper.
5. Cut the pastry into quarters.  Top one quarter with the mushroom mixture and crumble a quarter of the feta on top.  Top with one of the pastry quarters and press to seal the edges.  Repeat with the remaining pastry and mixture.
6. Cut a small hole in the centre of the top of each pie and brush with beaten egg.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and puffed.

Changes:  I decided I didn't want feta in this so, I picked gruyere instead.  I bought Blätterteig at Coop, which comes with one or two sheets.  I halved this recipe and used one sheet on puff pastry, cutting it into fourths to make two large "pies".  This was a good size for a dinner portion.  I left them on their parchment paper and put those on a baking sheet.


I took them out at the oven between 15 and 20 minutes because the tops were brown enough, but the bottoms weren't done.  Maybe this is just a result of using my sucky oven.