pepitas

poblano peppers stuffed with Italian eggplant, anchovy and pepitas

by Stevie on July 1, 2011

This recipe is based upon one from Marcella Hazan’s Marcella Cucina. I really love her food. And she sounds like quite a firecracker too. I’ve read somewhere that she’s a big fan of bourbon. Anyone who can cook that well and loves bourbon is alright in my book. I’ve a copy of her autobiography, Amarcord: Marcella Remembers, somewhere around here. I really need to find it soon.

poblano peppers stuffed with Italian eggplant, anchovy and pepitas

poblano peppers stuffed with Italian eggplant, anchovy and pepitas

Her recipe uses yellow or red bell peppers and she makes a big point of having you char and remove the outer membrane. I’ve done that several times, but it is a nightmare. Though I have to agree, it makes the final dish more tender, I don’t think that the effort is worth it. Instead, I’ve steamed my peppers, like I did for the poblanos and reds stuffed with saffron rice.

As to the poblano versus the bell, I remain of the opinion that poblanos simply taste better whereas bells just taste sweet. To each cook his or her own, I suppose. I added pepitas for a bit of crunch and it seems to match the peppers well. I did have two small reds, which I also stuffed. Oddly, these two ended up being leftovers after Hegui and I gorged on the smokier Mexican peppers.

key ingredients for poblano peppers stuffed with Italian eggplant, anchovy and pepitas

key ingredients for poblano peppers stuffed with Italian eggplant, anchovy and pepitas

poblano peppers stuffed with Italian eggplant, anchovy and pepitas

4 to 6 poblano or red bell peppers
1 medium Italian eggplant (about a pound)
salt
2 tbsp pepitas
6 anchovy fillets
2 tbsp Italian parsley
1 tbsp capers
1 garlic clove, peeled
3 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
¼ tsp oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1 Roma tomato, peeled and chopped
vegetable oil
black pepper to taste

Cut eggplant into about ½ inch dice. Toss with ample salt in a colander. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry. Fry in vegetable oil until translucent and soft. Remove from oil to large bowl.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut poblano peppers in half and remove seeds and ribs. If using bell peppers, carefully cut tops off and remove seeds and ribs. Steam for ten minutes. Remove from heat and run under cold water to cool.

Toast pepitas in dry pan until slightly browned and popping. Set aside.

Coarsely chop garlic, capers, Italian parsley, and anchovies together. Add to eggplant. Add tomato, oregano, olive oil, pepitas, black pepper, and 2 tbsp panko to eggplant. Fold together.

Using two tablespoons, stuff peppers with filling, about one tbsp each. Place in a baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining panko. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

Allow peppers to cool to room temperature before serving.



{ 7 comments }

tofu cutlet with broccoli rabe pesto and daikon sprouts

by Heguiberto on February 28, 2011

On my recent trip to the Nijiya Market I bought a one-pound tray of tofu cutlet. Tofu cutlet is just a block of silken tofu that is lightly fried, making the outer part a bit crispy but leaving the inside soft and smooth. It comes ready to use and is perfect to just eat fresh out of the package; or add to soups; to serve on sandwiches, in stir fries, or, in this case, as a delightful vegetarian hors d’oeuvres.

tofu cutlet with broccoli rabe pesto and daikon sprouts

tofu cutlet with broccoli rabe pesto and daikon sprouts

Remember on my recent post on broccoli rabe pesto I mentioned that I had some ideas for what to do with the reserve? Well the time has arrived and this is it. Tofu cutlet with pesto might be an even more delightful way to enjoy broccoli rabe than with pasta. What do you think?

tofu cutlet with broccoli rabe pesto and daikon sprouts

1 block tofu cutlet, cut into ¼ inch thick slices
Kosher salt to taste
broccoli rabe pesto at room temperature (recipe here)
Daikon sprouts to garnish

store-bought tofu cutlet

store-bought tofu cutlet

Lay tofu slices on a plate and sprinkle with salt. Microwave on high for a minute or so to warm. Spread some pesto on each individual piece. Sprinkle with daikon sprouts. Arrange cutely on a platter and serve.

This is super easy to make and will wow your dinner guests every time!

{ 5 comments }

spaghetti with broccoli rabe pesto

by Heguiberto on February 21, 2011

We at weirdcombos love eating broccoli rabe. This underrated vegetable is packed with distinct flavors, ranging from grassy, to spicy, pungent, bitter, sweet and nutty. Our most common way of eating it is sautéd with olive oil, garlic and tossed with ear shaped pasta topped by a generous amount of fine Parmesan. I think that orecchiette with broccoli rabe is probably one of my favorites. We’ve been eating this dish forever and I never find it boring.

spaghetti with broccoli rabe pesto

spaghetti with broccoli rabe pesto

The other day while perusing the Internet I found a couple of recipes for broccoli rabe pesto, which sounded interesting. Here’s the first, and the second.

I was excited by the idea of preparing broccoli rabe in a new way, and it got me thinking: how would it taste after going through the food processor? Would it get too bitter, or too squishy? Depending on how food is processed, sometimes one flavor prevails over the others, stealing that wholesomeness of scents, textures and tastes we identify with freshness. At times all the flavors are gone if the plant has volatile compounds. Try drinking a bottled juice and then eating the real fruit to see what I mean.

As for the broccoli rabe pesto, processing it made the flavor more mild. We liked it, so I’d guess you might, too. It tasted even better the following day.

I made this like basil pesto. Like with that recipe, you can use different nuts. I simply used what we had at home.

fresh broccoli rabe

fresh broccoli rabe

spaghetti with broccoli rabe pesto

1 bunch broccoli rabe, rinsed
1 cup packed baby spinach leaves, rinsed
2-3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pepitas
6 Brazil nuts
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Kosher salt to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
Juice of half lemon
1 lb spaghetti, prepared by package directions

Bring a pot with plenty of water to a boil. Cook broccoli for about 4 minutes or until al dente. Remove from heat to a bowl filled with ice water to blanche. Reserve hot water to cook pasta. Once cold, separate leaves and florets from stems. Squeeze as much water as possible from leaves and florets. Set aside.

Place pepitas and Brazil nuts on a skillet and lightly toast them for a few minutes. Add garlic, salt, pepper, pepitas and Brazil nut and half of the olive oil to food processor and spin it for a couple of minutes. Use a spatula to push the mixture down to bottom in order to grind everything evenly. Add spinach and broccoli rabe leaves and florets. Run food processor until it reaches desired consistency. Transfer to a bowl. Mix in cheese, remaining olive oil and lemon juice.

In a large bowl, fold spaghetti with about half of the broccoli rabe pesto and the stems. Save the rest of the pesto in the fridge in a small container covered with a layer of olive oil to prevent oxidation. Use within a couple of days.

{ 4 comments }

poblano and red bell peppers stuffed with saffron rice

by Stevie on February 3, 2011

I was desperate to create something lively and flavorful for dinner the other night without a huge amount of prep or excessive amounts of grocery shopping. Inexplicably, our fridge was filled with beautiful poblano and red bell peppers, so I thought, “Why not stuff these?”

poblano and red bell peppers stuffed with saffron rice

poblano and red bell peppers stuffed with saffron rice

Visually, stuffed peppers are always a delight. Don’t you agree? Marcella Hazan has a really tasty recipe for peppers stuffed with eggplant and anchovies. Yum! I even like them when the stuffing gets all over the place, like when I made chile rellenos. Messy can be very good.

The problem with a lot of these recipes is that they require you to remove the outer skin of the pepper. That is a lot of work! And it is the step in which I’ll inevitably accidentally destroy the peppers, thus stuffing them becomes difficult to impossible. Well, thank goodness for the 1997 Joy of Cooking. That book came to the rescue again. In their stuffed pepper dish, they call for steaming the peppers with no peeling at all. This is so much easier, and equally delicious!

I used poblanos as well as reds. The recipe in the book calls only for the reds. Also I used pepitas instead of pine nuts, added more herbs than they recommended as well as capers and green olives to give the dish a little kick.

These stuffed peppers had an extremely delicate flavor that was marvelous. We preferred the poblanos over the reds as they had a more complex taste. We ate ours with arugula salad and an extremely aromatic pinot noir from Eric Kent. What a memorable meal!

poblano and red bell peppers stuffed with saffron rice

2 fresh poblano peppers
2 fresh medium red bell peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and cut in thin slices
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 pinch saffron threads
1½ cups basmati rice, well rinsed
2½ cups vegetable stock
2 cups shredded provolone cheese
¼ cup pepitas, lightly toasted in a dry pan
¼ cup each chopped basil, parsley and cilantro
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
¼ cup green olives and capers

Carefully cut peppers in half to create little boat-shapes while preserving stems as much as possible. Remove inner seeds and ribs. Steam for about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool under running water. Set aside.

steaming poblano and red bell peppers: I took off the lid for this picture

steaming poblano and red bell peppers: I took off the lid part-way through steaming for this picture

Sauté onion, garlic and saffron in olive oil on medium heat until onions start to brown (about five minutes). Add rice and stir to mix with oil. Add vegetable stock. Bring to boil then lower temperature to simmer, covered, until rice gets cooked and all the water gets absorbed (about 10 to 15 minutes). Set aside to cool.

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Pour cooled rice in a large bowl. Add cheese, fresh herbs, pepitas, salt, black pepper and olives and capers. Gently stir.

Carefully fill peppers with rice mixture. Place them in an oven-proof baking dish, fitting them tightly together. After all peppers are stuffed, carefully pour ¼ cup water around them into the base of the dish. Cover with foil and bake for thirty minutes to warm through.

Serve with salad.

stuffed peppers crowded together ready for the oven

stuffed peppers crowded together ready for the oven

{ 8 comments }

zucchini blossoms stuffed with goat cheese, cilantro, oregano and pepitas

by Stevie on August 10, 2010

Zucchini blossoms are lovely, don’t you think? The yellow orange color is so pleasing. I’ve been reading about them everywhere in the food blog-i-verse in the past few weeks. One blogger recommends buying them whenever you see them as frequently and for as long as possible. I wish I remember who that guy was! His story inspired me to try them myself.

zucchini blossoms

Unlike some of these other sites that routinely display spectacularly finished deep-fried cheese blossom wonders, mine turned out a bit… less than photogenic, shall we say? More like a blossom scramble without the eggs. But one thing is for sure, these fattening little babies taste unbelievably good! If you’ve been thinking of making them, now’s the time. And like that other guy said, you should buy zucchini blossoms whenever you can for as long as you can. They really are that good!

I invented my own stuffing after reading a number of recipes. I think so long as you use cheese that you could put almost anything else inside. The batter recipe is sort of a blend of a few that I read here and there.

zucchini blossoms stuffed with goat cheese, cilantro, oregano and pepitas

10 to 15 zucchini blossoms
¼ cup grated goat mozzarella
3 oz soft goat cheese (mine was encrusted with dried herbs)
¼ cup pepitas
small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped fine
small bunch fresh oregano, chopped fine
1 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1 cup chilled sparkling water
canola and olive oil for frying

Rinse zucchini blossoms. Remove stem with a paring knife. Gently open flower to remove pistils. I tore some of my flowers in this procedure. I never became a surgeon for a reason.

Toast pepitas in a hot dry pan for about 30 seconds. Mix pepitas with cheeses and fresh chopped herbs. Gently fill each flower with the cheese mixture. Refrigerate for thirty minutes to chill.
Heat oil on high.

my stuffed zucchini blossoms with goat cheese and herbs looks more like a blossom scramble but it tasted great

Mix salt, flour and sparkling water together. This makes a highly energetic and bubbly batter. I was really excited by it. Dip stuffed flowers into batter and gently fry for a few minutes to cook. Obviously this is where my technique failed me. Oh well! Remove to paper towel to drain.

I served mine with the roasted tomato sauce that I make for chiles rellenos. Just like the chiles rellenos, this dish looked a mess but was so good!

{ 1 comment }

Southwest inspired homemade empanadas

by Stevie on August 2, 2010

My original idea for this recipe wasn’t Southwest at all. I was reading this cool food blog, bitchin’Camero, and got super excited by Mel’s recipe for smoked salmon, goat cheese and spinach empanadas.

Southwest inspired homemade empanadas

My folks had just gone on an Alaskan cruise and brought us some smoked salmon as a gift. Perfect! I made the dish more-or-less the way described, but I tried to be ambitious and make my own dough. I should have read between the lines when Mel gave hints on buying pre-made empanada shells at a local grocer or even on-line. Will I ever learn? The filling for the salmon etc. empanada (I made one large pie instead of hand-held ones) tasted great. The crust, not so good: sort of brick-like.

this smoked salmon, goat cheese and spinach empanada looks great but the dough didn't work

Not to be deterred by such a minor setback, I tried again: this time with a different crust recipe and a new filling. I’d already used up the salmon so improvised here with a Mediterranean-meets-Southwest style stuffing. The empanada dough recipe comes from about.com. The dough was easy to make and turned out very well. I ended up sprinkling some sea salt on the finished empanadas before popping them into the oven, which might have been overkill. Otherwise, this was fantastic.

some key ingredients for Southwest inspired homemade empanadas

Southwest inspired homemade empanadas

For the filling:

½ cup olives, pitted (I used kalamata and stuffed Spanish)
3 fillets anchovy
4 sundried tomatoes
6 cloves garlic
12 small dried mild chiles (I used chile puya)
2 small onions, peeled and cut in halves
¼ cup pepitas, briefly dry pan roasted
8 spring onions, chopped
Goat cheese to taste
Salt to taste

For dough:

Follow the link above or take Mel’s excellent advice and try frozen shells. Making the dough yourself brings a real sense of satisfaction if it comes out right. Plus the empanadas can take on irregular and exciting shapes, which make them seem more unique and fun.

To prepare the filling:

Using a cast iron pan on high heat, roast the garlic and onion until blackened a bit. At the same time, roast the chile peppers for about 20 to 30 seconds on each side. Immediately toss them into a small pot of boiling water. Boil, covered, for five minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest, covered, for another fifteen minutes. (This is the same preparation that I used for smoky ancho salsa but with a different chili pepper.) Remove chiles from water. Carefully remove and discard stems, seeds and inner ribs. Place peppers in food processor.

Add olives, roasted garlic and onion, sundried tomatoes and anchovies to chiles. Pulse until a thick paste is formed. Transfer to a bowl.

Mix pepitas and spring onions with blended chile filling.

Southwest inspired homemade empanada close up

To stuff empanadas:

Place a large spoon of filling in the center of each piece of dough. Top with a chunk of goat cheese. Close dough per recipe directions and bake. Allow to cool on wire racks and serve. These would be great for a picnic to wine country!

{ 4 comments }

chiles rellenos stuffed with spinach and cheese

by Stevie on March 26, 2010

I’ve slightly adapted this recipe from Savoring Mexico, a wonderful book in the Williams-Sonoma “Savoring” series. Readers of this blog might recognize that my recipes for tomatillo salsa, smoky ancho salsa and spicy chipotle salsa all derive from this marvelous guide.

chiles rellenos stuffed with spinach and cheese filling

I don’t make the stuffed poblanos or chiles rellenos often only because it’s a lot of work to peel and clean the peppers. Fortunately, Hegui was my sous chef this time, greatly simplifying my bother. I have seen the poblanos pre-cleaned and canned if you want to skip the step using the fresh ones. I haven’t yet tried it that way and sort of wonder if it would taste the same. Certainly the stem would be missing which would make the final dish look slightly less exciting.

I made this last minute so I didn’t have the time to get the proper Mexican cheeses: queso fresco and crema. Instead I got Monterey Jack and sour cream which worked pretty well. The original uses fresh spinach, pine nuts and less onion and garlic than I like. I’ve changed these here.

roasting poblanos for stuffing

If you’ve ever had chiles rellenos before, it was probably the deep fried type. These are baked, not fried, so they’re a bit more healthy.

I had more stuffing than pepper and my peppers sort of fell apart a little. All that means is that they didn’t photograph as cutely as I’d wished. The taste was superb!

some key ingredients for chiles rellenos with spinach and cheese filling

Chiles Rellenos Stuffed with Spinach and Cheese

6 fresh poblano peppers
Monterey Jack cheese, in pieces for stuffing
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
¼ cup and 1 to 2 tsps. olive oil
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup raw pepitas
1 lb. roma tomatoes
½ onion
6 cloves garlic with peels on
Sour cream or crema to garnish
Kosher salt to taste

Clean and roast fresh poblanos over an open fire or with your oven broiler. Once the skin becomes bubbly and blackens, remove from heat to a paper bag. Allow to steam until cool enough to touch. Remove skin. With a paring knife, carefully slit each pepper open lengthwise being sure not to detach the stem. Remove ribs and seeds.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

In a large skillet, add ¼ cup olive oil and heat till smoking. Add spinach, raisins, raw pepitas and salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, until dry.

cooking the filling

Fill each prepared pepper with a piece of Monterey Jack cheese and some of the spinach stuffing. Place tightly together on a baking dish. When all peppers are filled, cover with foil and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes until cheese melts.

Meanwhile, prepare tomato sauce by roasting whole tomatoes, unpeeled garlic and onion in a cast iron pan (I use a coated one) for a few minutes. Remove garlic peels and woody tomato parts. Place garlic, onion and tomatoes in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt as desired.

Heat remaining olive oil in a pan and “fry” tomato sauce on medium for a few minutes. Be careful for splashing.

frying the tomato sauce

To serve, place a ladle-full of tomato sauce on a large dish. Float a stuffed pepper over sauce and drizzle sour cream or crema over the dish as garnish.

I served this with warm corn tortillas and margaritas. Hegui made spring greens with cherry tomatoes and roasted red bell pepper dressing, which went perfectly. Cheers!

{ 2 comments }

nutty, nutty, nutty granola and channeling Daria

by Heguiberto on November 4, 2009

“Welcome to ‘It’s a Nutty, Nutty, Nutty World.’ We’re just nuts about nuts. Crunch nuts with your lunch. Buy them by the bunch. Send them to friends far away to munch.”


This recipe makes me think of “Daria,” that amazing MTV show from the early 90’s about this brilliant, dorky, shy, angst-ridden, cynical high school girl, Daria, her family and classmates. The show’s really funny! In this particular episode, “It happened one nut,” Daria’s parents want her to go to counseling to improve her social skills or find a temp job in order to learn what the “real world” is really like. Yeah, scary! She tries to avoid both counseling and work but her clever dad finds her a job at a kiosk at the local shopping mall selling nuts. The only job requirements are wearing the weird uniform, bagging nuts, smiling and repeating the nut stand’s motto, which I quoted above, over and over and over again. Naturally, she has problems with all four job requirements, with very amusing results. Kevin, the good looking but sort of dumb high school football jock, is her co-worker. He really screws up the motto, saying wild things about nuts throughout the episode. Steven and I were cracking up the whole show and even now, ten years or more later (we saw reruns), we still will simply say “I’m nuts about nuts” and we’ll both laugh.

I love this granola. It’s full of nuts, so we think that you’ll be chanting “I’m nuts about nuts” when you taste it, too. The recipe’s relatively easy to make, tasty and super healthy; perfect for breakfast or even to eat as a snack.

key ingredients for health: rolled oats and wheat germ

key ingredients for health: rolled oats and wheat germ

Nutty, Nutty, Nutty Granola

3 cups rolled oats and barley
1 cup wheat germ
½ cup dry grated coconut
Pinch of salt
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup of raw cashews
¾ cup raw Brazil nut
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberry

How to:
Preheat oven to 275F. Place cashew and Brazil nuts in a zip lock bag, seal and roll a wine bottle over it to crush the nuts coarsely. Transfer them to large bowl then add the pumpkin seeds, coconut, wheat germ, salt and rolled oat/barley mix. Toss. Meanwhile place oil and brown sugar in a Pyrex glass dish, stir and nuke it in the microwave for about a minute or till it bubbles. Pour it into the nut mixture with the maple syrup and vanilla extract. Using a spatula toss it till liquid is incorporated and lumps are dissolved.

baking the nutty nutty nutty granola

baking the nutty nutty nutty granola

Spread mix on a large shallow baking tray and bake for about 40 min. Mix two to three times during baking. For the last 3 minutes increase temp to 350F just to toast the granola a bit being careful not to burn it. Remove from oven. Let cool completely then transfer to a glass jar. Enjoy it with soy milk, yogurt or milk.

nutty nutty nutty granola for breakfast

nutty nutty nutty granola for breakfast

{ 1 comment }

braised carrots with raisins and pepitas

September 25, 2009

I like carrots, but Steven, not so much. For this reason, usually I skip them on my trips to the supermarkets. We’ve been sharing most of our meals together for quite a while now. Sometimes we need to compromise, particularly when our tastes diverge. Things changed when I ‘discovered’ heirloom carrots. There is one particular [...]

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quinoa love

July 25, 2009

This is the best time of the year for locally grown produce: Summer! Last Sunday we went to the farmers market at the UN plaza and found beautiful vegetables on sale for cheap! In fact vegetables are always cheap at this market. Many times they are organically grown or at least grown free of pesticides [...]

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