Quinoa Cornbread

Quinoa Cornbread

Quinoa adds protein and fiber as well as a toasty flavor and great crunchy texture to this cornbread. Great with chili or black bean soup.

2 cups cornmeal (I like Bob's Red Mill medium-grind)
1 cup cooked quinoa, divided (I use a blend of regular, red and black quinoa)
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 cups reduced fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients with ¾ cup quinoa. Mix liquids together and add to the dry ingredients, stirring until smooth. Turn into a greased 9x9 or cast iron pan and sprinkle remaining quinoa evenly on top. Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and a knife entered in center comes out clean.

Holiday (Food) Memories

I come from a long line of food people: my aunt is an owner-chef of a restaurant, my dad owns a bakery and both of my grandmothers are great cooks. So, it should be no surprise that when we gather for holidays food is a central theme. My favorite times are always cooking and eating with family and friends. Here are some of the many memorable "food and drink moments" from this holiday season:

learning to make kimchi (for holiday gifts) with CK's mom (who said I'd make a great Korean wife!)

making our own version of Cioppino on Christmas Day

lobster and champagne with the in-laws - what a treat!

pizza night with the family (granparents, cousins, aunts and uncles included!)

gumbo and cornbread for Sister's birthday on New Year's Eve

so many meals, so many memories...

Adventures in Leftover Land: Part 2

So I ended up freezing quite a few pounds of mashed potatoes after Thanksgiving (see
Adventures in Leftover Land: Mashed Potatoes). After thawing, mashed potatoes can be kind of runny and/or dry, but they worked perfectly in this soup.

Quick Potato Leek Soup

Serves 4

2 leeks, with green parts cut off, split down the middle

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 1/2 to 2 cups vegetable stock and/or milk, or a combination
S&P to taste

Soak the leeks in water to wash out any dirt. Remove from water; drain. Slice the leeks into 1/2-inch strips and sautee leeks and garlic in the butter over low-medium heat until soft. Add leftover potatoes then the stock/milk - until you get the consistency you like. Use imersion blender or blend in batches and return to pot to heat thouroughly. Add S&P to taste and serve with assorted toppings including chopped chives, scallions, cheddar cheese, crumbled veggie bacon, hot sauce, etc.

Adventures in Leftover Land: Mashed Potatoes

MO's contribution to our Thanksgiving meal this year was 20 lbs of mashed potatoes! No, that is not a typo - he did, in fact, make 20 lbs of potatoes. Needless to say, there were lots and lots of leftovers...and our weekend was full of mashed potato jokes and creative leftovers: Sparky and CK made us Mashed Potato Cakes with Poached Eggs and Smoked Salmon, then I made Potato Croquettes with Mozarella (delicious but definitely a once-in-a-while kind of treat). Then we got tired of mashed potatoes so I froze the rest. It will be fun to see what the rest of them become. I'm thinking...soup, pierogies, gnocchi...anyone have any other ideas?

Potato Croquettes
(made with leftover Mashed Potatoes)

cold leftover mashed potatoes
cubed mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs, seasoned with S&P

Use a tablespoon to scoop out rounds of mashed potatoes. Press each around a small piece of mozzarella cheese. Place on a cookie sheet and repeat until all potatoes are used (or until you have enough). Place in refrigerator or freezer until firm. Prepare fryer or pan. Dip each ball in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Fry until golden brown and serve with dipping sauces (marinara, aoli, ranch dressing are some ideas).

Mashed Potato Cakes with Poached Eggs and Smoked Salmon:

Thank goodness for Thanksgiving

I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I sure have been cooking a lot. MO and I hosted our first Thanksgiving (with lots of help from LoPo). We had a fun and delicious celebration with family and friends complete with a late-night bonfire and stargazing. Any day centered around cooking, eating and drinking together with loved ones is my kind of day. Everything was delicious, but my personal favorite parts of the meal were Cousin S's homemade creamed spinach (made with fresh spinach and mushrooms!) and LoPo's cranberry chutney (and of course, the desserts)!

Fish is easy

We just finished this fabulous home-cooked meal that was better than I've had in some really nice restaurants. Halibut is not cheap, but it is my favorite fish and well worth a splurge once in a while for a nice dinner. We had our halibut and greens from the garden with some amazing roasted potatoes that MO made following the lengthy but accurate method outlined in the latest Cooks Illustrated.

Seared fish is delicious, healthy and quick (fish itself takes less than 10 minutes from fridge to plate) and this dish is a great reminder that I should make fish more often.

Pan-Seared Halibut with Sauteed Greens

Serves 2

2 halibut fillets, 6-8 ounces each (with or without skin)
olive oil
S&P

1 bunch greens (spinach, chard, beet greens or whatever you have), cut and torn into 1-inch strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

First prepare greens. Saute garlic and tomatoes in olive oil until tomatoes begin to burst. Add greens and cook for 4-5 minutes. Season with S&P, cover and remove from heat.

Pat halibut fillets dry with paper towel. Season liberally with S&P on both sides. Heat oil in large sautee pan (be sure to use enough to coat bottom of pan). When oil ripples put filets in pan, skin side down. Cook for approximately 4 minutes (tip: don't move fish around in pan until well seared). Turn fish over and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, until golden brown and flaky. (I know this sounds like a short time, but it's really easy to overcook fish and halibut is so delicious and delicate when cooked perfectly, so don't overcook it).

Put half of spinach tomato mixture on each plate, and top with halibut filet. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Cupcakes are fabulous

Cupcakes are festive, cute, and the perfect amount of cake. And they just dissappear. LoPo and I made over 70 cupcakes last weekend for a joint birthday celebration Sparky and I had on Saturday.

I have to admit that there was nothing even close to organic, local, or healthy about this adventure (we used boxed cake mix and store-bought frosting), but everyone loved them and they were so pretty I had to share. Happy Birthday, Sparky!