Onion Jam

This onion compote is delicious and super easy to make. Also makes your house smell great! It's great on toast, or on top of a bean spread, or piled into endive leaves. Enjoy!

Onion Jam

Ingredients:
-1 tbsp. olive oil
-1 lb. onions (I mixed red, yellow, and shallots), all sliced thinly
 -2 tbsp. brown sugar

-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
-1/3 cup dry red wine
-1/8 cup water
-salt and pepper

Method:
In a large skillet over medium, heat the oil. Once hot, add onions and saute for 5-8 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes (stirring often) until the onions are slightly brown.

Add the sugar and stir until it's dissolved. Add the vinegar and bring to a boil, stirring. Add wine and continue to boil and stir. Add the water and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated and it's become thick (about 5 minutes), continuing to stir. Taste and see if you like more salt and pepper, then put in a jar and let it cool. Store in refrigerator.

Homemade Herbed Saturday Bread

If you have a food processor, you can make bread with only 5 minutes of hands-on time. But I call this "Saturday bread' because the longer you let it rise before baking, the better it will be. You can put in whatever herbs or fillings you like!! I made mine with chopped red chilies and rosemary.

Homemade Herbed Saturday Bread

Ingredients:
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-2 1/2 cups white flour
-1 tsp. salt
-2 tsp. active dry yeast
-1 cup (+ a couple tbsp) water
-2-4 tbsp herbs of your choice (or fresh chopped chives, chilies, olives, sundried tomatoes, etc etc! You could really do almost anything here.)

Method:
In the food processor, combine the flours, salt and yeast. With the processor running, slowly pour in the water. It should become the consistency of a only slightly sticky dough ball which turns around and around against the wall of the processor bowl. It definitely should not leave any liquid on the wall. If it isn't sticking together, add 1-2 tbsp water and let it combine again. If by chance you add TOO much water and it gets a bit too sticky, just add 1-2 tbsp flour and mix again. Keep mixing until you get a good bread dough consistency.

(It's hard to describe here but if you YouTube search it, I am sure you'll find a video showing what the right consistency is.)

Take the dough out, knead it just a little bit with your hands, and place it in a bowl and cover it with Saran wrap. Let rise for AT LEAST 2 hours, or up to 5-6 hours. As long as you want, really. I went out and did errands. :)

Uncover the dough and knead a bit - this is the time when you will knead in your herbs/additions. Sprinkle a surface with flour and shape the dough into whatever you want - 1 large boule, a baguette, smaller boules, individual-sized rolls, etc. Put onto a floured surface and cover with a tea towel and let rise again, for at least an hour but up to 3-4 hours.

When you're ready, preheat the oven to 400F, preferably with a pizza stone in there. If you don't have a pizza stone, that's ok. Once the oven is preheated, transfer the dough to a pizza stone or onto a metal baking tray dusted with flour. Using a sharp knife, slice 1-2 lines into the top (only a bit less than 1 cm deep), then pop into the oven. Lower the heat to 375F.

Bake 25-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the internal temperature of the bread is 210F. (You can use a meat thermometer for this.)

Enjoy warm!

 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Citrus-Chipotle Aioli

Sweet potatoes are so good for you and so easy to bake with! These are a great snack and the dip is fantastic and flavorful.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Citrus-Chipotle Aioli

Ingredients:
-3 medium sweet potatoes, washed but skin on
-1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
-freshly ground pepper, to taste
-sea salt

Ingredients for aioli:
-1/3 cup tahini
-1/3 cup water
-1/4 cup nutritional yeast
-3 tbsp. lemon juice
-1 clove garlic
-1/2 tsp. olive oil
-3/4 tsp. salt
-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (canned)

Method:
Preheat oven to 400F. Cut potatoes into fry-size slices (about 1/2" width) and put in a bowl with olive oil, pepper and salt and toss with your hands. Spread out on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 10-12 minutes. Then flip them and bake for another 10 minutes (or until desired done-ness). I like mine a little well done.

For aioli, put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend extremely well, making sure there are no lumps. You might have to scrape down the sides with a spatula if the tahini sticks.

Lime-Jalapeno Guacamole

This is one of the best guacamoles I have ever had - but fair warning, it's only good if you like lime!!

Lime-Jalapeno Guacamole

Ingredients:
-3 medium avocados, ripe - peeled and chopped
-1 medium vine-ripened tomato, seeded and diced
-1/4 cup yellow onion, finely diced
-1/4 cup pickled jalapenos (I used from a jar), coarsely chopped
-1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
-2 limes, squeezed and juice reserved
-2/3 tsp salt

Method:
Mix the onion, cilantro, jalapenos and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Pour the lime juice over the mix and using a fork or muddler, muddle the ingredients until well combined and slightly crushed. Let this sit for about 5-10 minutes.

After allowing the mix to sit, add in the chopped avocado and stir with a fork until you get the chunky consistency you prefer. Then fold in the diced tomato.

Bonus: Because there is so much lime juice, the guac will keep the fresh green color for a WHILE. No browning!

Vodka-Dijon Mustard Roasted Potatoes

These were some of the best roasted potatoes I have ever eaten.  I guarantee they are different than almost any you have eaten either.  I adapted the recipe from the New York Times’ recipe which they included in their 2011 Vegetarian Thanksgiving series.

Vodka Dijon Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

Crusty Delicious Goodness

-2 lbs. roasting potatoes of your choice (I used red-skinned), with skin on and cut into 1” chunks

-1/3 cup + 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

-1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

-2 tbsp. vodka

-1 tbsp. dry vermouth

-1 ½ tbsp. horseradish

-2 cloves garlic, pressed

-1 tsp. paprika

-1 tsp. kosher salt

-pepper to taste

-1 tsp. caraway seeds (whole seeds, not ground)

-1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

-1 tsp. dried red pepper flakes

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F.  In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients except potatoes.  Add in the potatoes and toss with your hands to coat.

Potatoes coated with the sauce

Pour the potatoes onto a baking sheet and make sure they are spread out in a single layer.  Roast for 50-55 minutes, tossing with a spatula every 15 minutes or so.  They should be a little crusty on the outside and tender throughout.

Extreme close up!