Taralli

Taralli never appealed to me until someone brought some to work. The Italian light and crispy breadsticks were studded with fennel seeds and had a great salty bite. I fell. Hard.

I loved the fennel seeds in the taralli I tried and I thought adding these with another classic, peperoncini, would make a great combination for my first batch of taralli. I also wanted to try a less common flavour, rosemary for the second batch.  
 
Taralli
Makes about 24 breadstick-shaped taralli's.
Adapted from Babbo Ristorante and David Rocco.

I immediately wanted to try the recipe from Canadian-Italian TV host David Rocco. But I then found a recipe  from Babbo Ristorante's website, my Italian Iron Chef hero's restaurant. This recipe has more wine, white wine in this case, but I did not go to the trouble of getting 00 flour, so I adapted from both recipes since David Rocco's recipe used all-purpose flour.

▪ 250 g (½ lb) all-purpose flour
▪ 2 tsp salt
▪ ½ tsp sugar
▪ 1-½ Tbsp fennel seeds / 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes OR 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary (roughly chopped)
▪ ¼ to ½ cup (250 ml) white wine, or as much as you need
▪ ½ cup (250 ml) extra virgin olive oil

Place the flour, salt, sugar, and flavourings of your choice in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add the wine and oil and mix on medium speed to form a wet dough.
Add more wine and/or water as required.
Transfer the dough to a plastic container, well dusted with flour.
Sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Dry ingredients for the different flavoured taralli.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead lightly.
Divide the dough into two pieces.
Roll portions of the dough into long ropes, about ¾ inch in diameter.
Cut the rope into about 4" pieces. (Taralli are traditionally shaped into rings, but I chose to shape them like breadsticks. It's also less effort this way!)
Boil approximately 4-5 litress of water in a large, shallow pot.
Season the water with salt.
Drop the dough sections, about 6 at a time; the water should remain at a simmer.
The taralli will float to the top when they are done.
Gently scoop them out of the water with a slotted spoon or a Chinese skimmer, allowing them to drain for a moment in the spoon, before placing them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
The dough is still pliable so straighten them to make nice breadsticks-like taralli.
While you are boiling the taralli, preheat the oven to 375 F.
Bake the taralli for 40-50 minutes, flipping them over half way through.
Remove them from the oven when they are a nice even, golden brown.
Transfer to a rack to cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.

Boiling taralli and laid down on parchment paper for baking.

Making taralli is labour intensive but the crispy and delicious finished product was more than worthwhile! While I enjoyed both batches, my favourite is still the fennel seeds one. Unfortunately, I didn't put enough chili flakes to get enough kick. I would also add more rosemary next time for more punch. (The recipe above reflects the more generous quantities.) Other great ideas for flavourings would be to roll the boiled taralli with sesame seeds, or with very finely grated Parmesan. They make a perfect pairing with a glass of wine!

Corn and Shrimp Fritters

My sister gifted me with six different spice blends from Chasseurs d'épices (Spice Hunter), a Québec company. The spices come whole to maintain the flavours, and you grind up the spices before you use them. The package also came with a little recipe booklet. I had eyed a number of recipes to make, corn and shrimp fritters, made with the satay spices, being at the forefront.



Corn and Shrimp Fritters - Makes 10 fritters
Adapted from Spice Hunters - Ethné and Philippe de Vienne. Add more shrimps if you like or skip them altogether to make this a vegetarian appetizer. If you don't want to make the whole spice mix, just pick a few ones, like a bit of cumin.

* 1-½ cups corn kernels, fresh if they're in season
* 1-½ cups shrimps, roughly chopped
* 1 green onion, sliced thinly
* coriander (optional)
* dried chili flakes (optional)
* ½ tsp salt
* ½ Tbsp Satay spices, ground (cumin, coriander, cardamon, white pepper, bird chili, kaffir lime leaves, dried lemon grass, dried garlic)
* ¾ cup flour
* 1 egg, beaten
* oil

In a bowl, mix corn, shrimp, green onion, chili flakes, salt and spices.
Add enough flour so that the ingredients are somewhat dry.
Mix in the beaten egg to make a stiff batter.
Shape into 3" patties.
In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Cook patties until golden brown (about 3 minutes per side).
Serve hot or cold - I like them hot with sweet chili dipping sauce.
Tada!


Satay Spice Mix.



(1) Ingredients, (2) making the batter and (3) frying the fritters.

I was very happy with this recipe. It was easy to put together, and very good. I am loving corn right now, and this was the perfect recipe to showcase this seasonal offering. I enjoyed the combination of the sweet corn kernels with the chunks of shrimps. Let's be honest, the word fritter always win me over and these fritters made for a delectable appetizer!


Perfect bite of corn and shrimp.

Other recipes featuring fresh corn:
* Corn Soup with Dill
* Corn Spring Rolls
* Fresh Corn Salad
* Lobster and Corn Soup
* Sautéed Corn

BBQ Kale Chips

I'm not very proud of my special ability of downing a whole (large) bag of potato chips. I've mentioned before that my weakness is salt. I get a pretty strong craving for salt daily, hence my love for chips. However, I have tried to cut back for 2011. No more large bag of chips for me! So I was really excited to try this kale chip recipe from one of my favourite lifestyle blog Sterling Style.



BBQ Kale Chips
Adapted from My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow, via Sterling Style.
I first tried this with salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. I then went looking for Cajun seasoning but could only found a spicy mesquite. I very much prefer the mesquite to salt.

* a bunch of kale
* olive oil
* spicy mesquite seasoning, seasoning of your choice or simply just salt

Thoroughly clean the kale leaves.
Dry the leaves - I used a salad spinner.
Cut the leaves off from the thick stem.
Tear the leaves in small 1-2" pieces.
Place the kale pieces in a large bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil, while mixing the leaves so they get coated evenly.
Season lightly with your choice of seasoning or salt. (Do this carefully. I over-salted my first two attempts. It may seem like a lot of kale but they shrink down to nothing.)
Spread on two parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes or so at 375F (I switch the baking sheets halfway through), or until the leaves are dried out and crunchy - if you leave them too long, they become brown and slightly bitter.
Tada!



The kale chips did a great job of satisfying my craving for salt. The kale gets a really crunchy texture too. Kale has a pretty distinctive taste and I wasn't sure I was going to get past it. These kale chips have really grown on me and are addictive! I now have a new ability: eating a whole bag of kale chips!


Crunch and saltiness without the guilt!

Another healthy snack:
* Roasted Chickpeas

Easy Pan Fried Shrimps

As an accompaniment to the crab bisque, I was inspired by a popcorn shrimp recipe I saw on Chuck's Day Off. The deep fried version looked mouth watering but I thought I could make a healthier version by pan frying the shrimps instead.

Easy Pan Fried Shrimps
Adapted from Chuck's Day Off's Popcorn Rock Shrimp.

* shrimps
* salt, to taste
* red chili flakes
* 1 egg, beaten
* cornstarch
* oil

Season shrimps with salt and chili flakes.
Dip in egg and then in cornstarch.
On high heat, add oil in a frying pan.
Add shrimps to the pan.
Fry on one side for a minute or two; flip to fry the other side.
Tada!


Shrimps in egg wash and pan frying them.

This recipe could not be easier and it tasted great! I barely noticed that the shrimps were not actually deep fried. The cornstarch gave the shrimps a crispy coating. Properly seasoning the shrimps made them perfect little salty treats. These would probably be good dipped in sweet chili sauce.


Fried shrimps without the guilt!

Swedish Meatballs with Spicy Plum Sauce

I'm back...! I haven't written for a while for too many (not necessarily very good!) reasons. So I do have a backlog of posts. I will start with this meatball recipe that I made for "snack" time at work (every Friday at 10 am - I still love it!). I think I've referred to this recipe before but have never posted it. Whenever I've made these meatballs, they have been quite a hit. The combination of the different types of ground meat makes for a great tasting meatball. I love the sweet and creamy sauce. I also like that it is an authentic "Swedish meatball" recipe (and not those overly sweet frozen ones with a rubbery texture) since Marcus Samuelsson is Swedish!



Swedish Meatballs with Spicy Plum Sauce - Makes 40 meatballs
Adapted from Marcus Samuelsson.
While the original recipe called to fry the meatballs in butter, I baked the meatballs this time. I don't know why I never did this in the past because I actually really dislike the task of frying meatballs, smelling like a meatball myself and worrying that they're not cooked through. Baking the meatballs is healthier, easier and ensure they're all cooked through! On another note, I follow the same recipe for spaghetti & meatballs!

For the meatballs
½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs
½ cup heavy cream
1-½ Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
⅔ cup ground beef
⅔ cup ground veal
⅔ cup ground pork
2 Tbsp honey
1 large egg
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs and ½ cup heavy cream.
Stir with fork until smooth; set aside.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, and add the onion.
Sauté until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine beef, veal, pork, honey, cooked onions and egg.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the breadcrumb-cream mixture to the meat, and mix well (I find this step takes a while to make sure there are no breadcrumb lumps).
In a frying pan, cook a small meat patty in oil or butter; taste the meat and adjust the seasoning.
With wet hands (to keep the meat from sticking), shape the remaining meat into meatballs the size of a golf ball
Lay the meatballs on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Bake the meatballs for 30 minutes at 350F. (Check that meat is cooked through by cutting one in half; bake longer if required).


Making the meatballs.

For the sauce
3 Tbsp butter
1 large shallot, minced
½ red bell pepper, minced
6 dried plums, chopped finely
2 cups chicken broth
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp plum sauce

In a skillet, melt the butter on medium-high heat.
Add shallots, red pepper and plums.
Saute until softened and lightly browned.
Add chicken broth and heavy cream.
Stir in plum sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add meatballs to sauce and simmer over medium heat, until sauce thickens slightly and meatballs are heated through, about 5 minutes.
Tada!


Making the accompanying spicy plum sauce.

I like serving these meatballs with slices of bread to sop up that sauce! None of it should be wasted. Make these meatballs at your next party. I promise there won't be any leftovers!

Tofu Spring Rolls (Chả Giò Chay)

Before leaving Montréal, we had dinner at my mom's. We took advantage of the beautiful September evening to dine outside. I thought that my boyfriend A should be introduced to Vietnamese food, and more specifically rolling food in rice paper. My mom made my fave nem nướng (Vietnamese pork meatballs).

For a vegetarian option for my boyfriend A, she also made chả giò chay. Chả giò chay simply translates to vegetarian spring roll. Therefore, the filling could be made out of anything, as long as there is no meat. My mom's version uses tofu to replace meat. The remaining ingredients are the exact same she would use for the meat version (which I still don't have a recipe here on my blog...).

Vegetarian food and vegetarian versions of Vietnamese dishes are actually quite easy to find in Vietnam because of the Buddhists who do not eat meat. The most strict ones do not eat meat at any time, and the more lax ones will not eat meat during specific periods, following the lunar calendar (sort of, but not really, equivalent to fasting for Lent, or for Catholics abstaining from meat on Fridays during the old days). Anyway, just to say that vegetarian food is easy to come by in Vietnam, and there are even vegetarian buffets during these periods.

Tofu Spring Rolls (Chả Giò Chay)
The ingredients in the filling can be adjusted to your liking. Another common ingredient found in vegetarian spring rolls is taro.

* 500 g of pressed (or firm) tofu

* 1 little bunch (37.5 g) bean thread noodles, soaked and drained

* 1 handful of nấm mèo (wood ear mushrooms), soaked and drained

* 2 small carrots, grated

* ½ onion, minced or diced very small

* 1-½ tsp salt

* ¼ tsp pepper

* 1-½ package (or more) spring roll wrappers of your choice

* oil for deep frying

Soak and drain bean thread noodles and wood ear mushroom.

Place the noodles and mushrooms in a bowl, and roughly cut the noodle and mushrooms with scissors.
Mash the tofu with a fork of if it is too firm, blend the tofu until it forms a crumbly texture.

Add the tofu to the bowl, with the grated carrot, salt and pepper.

Add 1-2 tsp of the filling on to the wrapper.

Roll the filling into a spring roll (refer to ram bắp - corn spring rolls post for pictorial.)

Heat up oil. You can test it by adding a spring roll - the oil is hot enough if there are little bubbles.

Deep fry each spring rolls.

Tada!

Pressed tofu and crumbled up.

Vegetarian spring roll mixture and placed onto spring roll wrapper.

Ready to be deep fried!

Try out this recipe and I'm sure most won't even realize there is not meat! It's deep fried with a tasty filling. What else do you need?



For another spring roll recipe:
* Corn Spring Rolls (Ram Bắp)

Hot Artichoke Dip

Time sure goes by fast! I was assigned another Treat Day at work (we gather every Friday morning to enjoy treats and catch up). This time, I made healthy dips with pita chips: hummus, guacamole and a hot artichoke dip. I've made this artichoke recipe for years and it has always been a hit - I suspect because of all the cheese in the recipe!



Hot Artichoke Dip
Adapted from Roxanne.
I like the addition of colour from the roasted red peppers.

* 1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped roughly
* ½ jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped roughly
* ¼ red onion, diced very small
* ½ cup Parmesan cheese
* 5 tbsp mayonnaise

Preheat the oven at 350F.
In a medium bowl, mix the artichoke hearts, cheese, roasted red pepper, red onion and mayonnaise.
Place the mixture in a small baking dish.
Bake for 10 minutes.
For the top to be golden, you can quickly broil it.
Serve with your choice of baked pitas, Triscuits or sliced bread.
(Alternatively, the original recipe calls to spoon the mixture on slices of French baguette and broil.)
Tada!


Chopped artichokes and mixing everything.


A perfect cheesy bite!

Zucchini Fritters with Tzatziki Sauce

I'm not sure why but I really wanted to try zucchini fritters. Ok, who am I kidding? It's because I love anything fried (and anything called fritter) and the zucchini make it sound healthy so I don't feel too bad about it! I pan fried these fritters so it's not that unhealthy. For this recipe, I turned to kalofagas, my source for all Greek food.



Zucchini Fritters
I strayed slightly from the main recipe, mainly because of ingredients I had on hand.
Adapted from Kalofagas.

* 2 whole zucchinis, washed and grated
* salt
* 1 small onion, diced small
* 1 scallion
* fresh mint, to taste
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 large egg
* ½ cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)
* ¼ cup feta cheese (or to taste)
* salt and pepper, to taste (not too much salt since the feta is salty)

* Grate the zucchini and sprinkle salt over it.
* Allow the liquid from the zucchini to leach for a couple of hours in a strainer (I'm pretty sure I wasn't this patient and probably waited 15 minutes).
* Place the grated zucchini inside a cheese cloth, twist and turn to help squeeze out as much liquid as possible. (I used the little makeshift cloth package my mom sewed me for the homemade soy milk.)
* Place the zucchini in a bowl and set aside.
* In a skillet, cook the onions in oil until softened.
* Mix all of the ingredients with the zucchini.
* In a skillet, fry a small meatball and adjust seasoning to taste.
* Form patties and pan fry in oil on each side, 3-5 minutes per side.
* Serve with tzatziki sauce.



Call me crazy but I find squeezing out the liquid very satisfying work.

Tzatiki Sauce
I like to use my lemon zester to grate garlic. It helps transform the garlic into a juicy paste. I do this for hummus too.

* 1 cup of plain yogurt
* ¼ or so cucumber section, seeded and cubed very small
* juice of ¼ lemon, or to taste
* 1 clove garlic, minced or grated (or more depending on how garlicky you like it)
* salt, to taste

Mix all ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste (that's all there is!).
Tada!


Cubed cucumbers go into tzatziki.

I had the fritters with a side of quinoa as a meal. I was going to share the quinoa recipe but really don't remember what I did with it except that it involved jalapeno. A side of salad would also be good. And these fritters would definitely be popular as an appetizer!



More fried recipes that I like (I thought I had more - I'll have to change that!):
* Crispy Zucchini Flowers stuffed with Ricotta and Mint
* Corn Spring Rolls
* Pumpkin Fritters (perfect for upcoming Thanksgiving!)

Goat Cheese stuffed Mushrooms

I enjoy having "small plates" meals. What can I say? I like variety. So on this occasion, my boyfriend A made soup and a Greek salad. I brought over these goat cheese stuffed mushrooms, a cauliflower salad and roasted heirloom carrots (that didn't turn out too well).



Goat Cheese stuffed Mushrooms
I only realized now that the original recipes calls for large mushrooms. I tried to pick the smallest ones and think this size would be more suitable for cocktail parties. I also realized I don't follow recipes very well so I've included the changes I made.
From French Food at Home.

* 1 lb. small button mushrooms
* olive oil
* 1 shallot, minced (or ¼ onion)
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* ¼ tsp red dry chili flakes
* 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
* 3-4 Tbsp fresh breadcrumbs (I used panko crumbs)
* 1 pinch salt and pepper
* 4-6 Tbsp goat cheese
* 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves (I only had dried parsley and used that instead)

Remove the stems from the mushrooms, finely chop, and set aside.
Place the caps, holes downwards, on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 375F.
Meanwhile, heat up olive oil in a small pan and fry the shallot until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the chopped mushroom stems until soft, about 5 more minutes.
Add the garlic, chili flakes, thyme and parsley.
Cook for another minute.
In a bowl, mix the cooked mushroom mixture, the goat cheese and all but a tablespoon of the breadcrumbs.
Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Remove the mushrooms from the oven and turn them holes upwards.
Spoon the goat cheese mixture into each mushroom.
Top each mushroom with panko crumbs, pressing them into the cheese mixture.
Bake until the tops are golden and the filling is very hot, about 10 minutes.
Tada!


Emptied mushroom caps.


Mixing the goat cheese, mushroom stems and panko crumbs to make the filling.

I was really happy with these mushrooms. They were very easy to make. Each mushroom made for a perfect mushroom-y, salty bite. You can't go wrong combining goat cheese with mushrooms. Yum!


Perfect one bite mushrooms.