Curried squash, lentil, feta, and almond salad

 

This is one of my favorite meals when you want something spicy, not spicy hot, but spicy-flavorful.  It's healthy, hearty, and makes you feel good afterward.  I like to eat it as a salad or even better, in tortillas with a little extra cheese.   In this photo, I made the salad without any greens, but I usually put some rucula in with the mix to make it a little more fresh and colorful.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of dried lentils

1 package of cut squash

100-200 grams of feta (goat cheese is good too)

100 grams of almonds, chopped

Spices - curry, cumin, condimento para aves, garlic powder, salt, and pepper

2 Bay leaves

Honey

Olive oil

Directions: Rinse the lentils and let them soak for 15 minutes or so.  Once done soaking, rinse them again.  Bring them to a boil in a pot with tsp of salt, garlic, and the bay leaves.  Once they start to boil, let them simmer covered until cooked through.  Watch them because it can take 20-45 minutes and you don't want them to over cook and fall apart.  Although I've done it and lentil soup is a good backup dish!

Spread the squash onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with about a tsp of curry and 1/2 tsp of the remaining spices.  Drizzle a tsp of honey and tsp of oil over the squash and mix them all around with your hands until evenly coated.  Place sheet in a HOT oven and let roast, turning the squash with a spatula after about 15-20 min so both sides brown.  Cook until done and let them cool.

On another baking sheet, spread out the almonds and roast them for about 10 minutes.  Be careful that they don't burn.  Once they are done, take them out of the oven and drizzle with a touch of honey and salt so that they candy slightly, but aren't too sweet.  Let them cool and the honey harden.  

While each element cools down, chop the feta into little pieces and prepare the rucula.  Drain the lentils and put them into the serving bowl.  Add the squash from the baking sheet, scrapping off any of the juices and browned parts (there is no dressing, so make sure the get all the honey and olive oil goodness). Add the cheese, almonds, and rucula.  Mix all together, adding salt to taste.  Sometimes I squeeze a lemon onto the salad for an extra punch.

Beet, green bean, panceta, and walnut salad

 

This salad is my favorite salad of all time.  Well that's a lie, but it's damn good.  So good in fact, that I even convinced a die-hard non beet eater to convert to eating beets.  Honey roasted beets, crispy blanched green beans,  crunchy panceta pieces, and candied walnuts with a citrus mustard dressing.  Yes please!  Add it to the arsenal folks, it's a keeper.

Ingredients:

- 6 large beets, peeled and cut into large bite-size pieces

- 1/2 kilo of green beans, cut in half

- 100 grams of walnuts

- 150 grams panceta en un solo trozo, cubed

- dijon mustard

- juice of a lemon, orange, or grapefruit

- honey

- olive oil

- salt, pepper, garlic powder

Directions: Lay beets on a baking sheet, sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, pepper, large tbsp of honey and olive oil to coat each beet.  Roast in oven on high for 20-40 minutes until they are done.  Take them out, sprinkle with more salt to taste and let cool.

On a separate baking sheet, place the walnuts in the oven.  Roasted for about 10 minutes, constantly checking that they don't burn.  Take them out and drizzle over a teaspoon of honey and mix for about a minute or two to coat each walnut.  Sprinkle with a bit of salt and let cool and harden.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  While it's heating, get another large bowl ready with ice water.  You want it really cold.  Once the water is boiling, add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes max.  Strain them into the ice water to shock them and stop the cooking process.  This also keeps them bright green.  Let them hang out until you're ready to combine.

Add panceta to a pan on the stove top.  Cook until the bacon begins to crisp and get nice and brown.  Remove from heat and place panceta on a towel to drain the excess fat.  Save the bacon grease for soups, breads, or something tasty!

Now make the dressing with a tbsp on mustard, tsp of honey, the juice of a lemon etc, olive oil and salt to taste.  Mix to combine and add more of whatever ingredient to get the flavor you like.  Add all the elements of the salad together minus the walnuts.  Drizzle some the dressing over the salad and add the nuts to the top.  Delicious!

Thanksgiving in summer

My first plate: stuffing, turkey, cornbread, zuchini bread, squash lentil salad, beet and green bean salad, cheese biscuits

Thanks to our good friend Ro, telling her Father all about the Thanksgiving dinner we cooked last year, he invited us girls to cook him the same feast during the last 4 day weekend.  We jumped at the chance to cook our favorites and test out some new recipes.  Not the lightest meal in summer's history, but so delicious it was worth it.  Luckily it was gray and rainy the next day so bathing suits were kept far, far away!  Recipes for my dishes to come in the next blog!

Talia preparing the love to stuff in the turkey

One done turkey

Beet, green beans, panceta, and walnut salad

Squash, lentil, feta cheese, and almond salad

Self-serve table of turkey, cornbread, stuffing and gravy

Everyone all ready to dig-in!

Best Carrot Cake Ever!

 Trust me, this recipe is the best, most delicious, moist, perfectly sweet, fresh, cinnamony, cardamomy, masterpiece of a cake.  I'm not bragging about my culinary abilities by saying all that, because I don't mess around with baking and follow cake recipes word for word.  I give all the credit to the cupcake project.  The only liberties I took were adding cinnamon to the frosting, a touch of nutmeg and ginger to the batter, and turning it into a cake rather than cupcakes.  Trust me when I say that there is no better carrot cake recipe out there.

Cake Recipe (I double it and make a double layer cake):

• 1/2 C sugar
• 3/4 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground cardamom
• 1 C finely chopped carrot (about 1 large carrot) - It's easiest to do this in a food processor. If you use organic carrots and scrub them well, you don't even have to peel them first.
• 1 C (200 g) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 C dessicated coconut 
• 3 handfuls of currants (You could use raisins instead if you prefer.  You could also add a half cup of any kind of nut.)
• 1/4 C coconut oil
• 1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 C flour

1. In a large bowl, combine everything but flour, eggs, oil, and butter. 
2. Add oil and butter and stir vigorously to combine. 
3. Add eggs in one at a time, combining well after each addition. 
4. Add flour in 2 batches, mixing until just combined.
5. Divide evenly among cupcake liners.
6. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.

Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 C powdered sugar
• 2 t ground cardamom
• 1 t vanilla extract

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until creamy and light.
2. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time. You can add more or less to get your desired consistency.
3. Mix in cardamom and vanilla until fully integrated.
4. Pipe or slather onto your cupcakes.

Roasted Beans in Tomato Sauce with Polenta

My latest cooking extravaganza was inspired by a recipe I found in Simply Recipes.  On my last trip to Barrio Chino, I found some huge beans and couldn't wait to figure out a delicious way to cook them.  After seeing the baked beans recipe from simply recipes, I decided to test it out with the cheesy polenta that I love to make because it takes 5 seconds and tastes fantastic.  The combination was perfect.  You have to have a little time on your hands for this one because dried beans are impenetrable little devils, but it was worth it.

Ingredients:

Beans:

• 1 pound dry beans, largest you can find
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 pound bacon or panceta, roughly chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp dried sage
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili flakes (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• Salt 

Polenta:

• 1 package instant polenta
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated (any sharp cheese is fine)
• Milk
• Queso Finlandia
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:  Soak beans overnight in water.  Drain beans and cover with water.  Bring to boil, then simmer for 1+ hour or until nearly cooked and tender.  Preheat oven to medium heat.  In a pot that can go in the oven, saute panceta in olive oil until browned.  Add onions, saute 5 min.  Add garlic, herbs and spices.  Add honey and tomato paste.  Stir to incorporate.  Add tomato sauce and water or chicken stock.  Bring to simmer.  Drain beans and add them to pot.  Stir and place in oven for 2+ hours.  The longer, slower the cooking, the more the sauce reduces and the richer it becomes.

Prepare the polenta.  Read the directions and prepare the polenta based on the number of portions you want.  Adjust accordingly.  Bring milk to a simmer with a pinch of salt.  Turn off heat.  Quickly drizzle in polenta and stir quickly.  Add 3/4 of cheese and 4 generous tablespoons of finlandia.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I find that it often needs quite a bit to salt to bring all the flavors out.

Serve beans over polenta and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Eating my way through Tandil

Last week I took a lovely weekend trip to Tandil, Argentina.  I saw a promotion in Groupon for an estancia there at a super great price.  I had never been to an estancia and was intrigued by the free horseback riding, pool, hiking, and home cooked meals.  I must admit that I was sold on the trip when I heard Tandil is known for its great cheese and cured meats.  Rich and I hopped on 5 hour bus ride at (kill me now) 8am from Retiro and arrived 5 hours later.  The food at the hotel was great and the cheese and smoked ham picnics were even better!  I definitely recommend a trip to Tandil if you have the chance.

Una Esquina con Queso!

Hotel Meals: 

Veggie Risotto

Pork stir fry

Pork with grilled pears and apples

Homemade Truffles

Mediterranean Roasted Veggie Salad

I like vegetables, what can I say?  I might even go so far as to get kicked out of Argentina for saying that I'm nearly a vegetarian by choice because I think that veggies taste better than meat.  Please don't stop reading my blog for that statement!  I just find that veggies and grains absorb flavor so much better than meat (especially beef - now I'm really going to get kicked out).  Here's a easy dish that can be a quick lunch, dinner, or side.  I had it as a salad with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.  Check it out!

Ingredients: 
1 Package Squash/Calabaza
1 Eggplant
1 Red Pepper
Large handful of golden raisins
Basil - chopped
Spices - cumin, curry, cinnamon, salt, pepper
Olive oil
Honey

Directions: Chopped all veggies and lay onto a roasting pan.  Sprinkle with spices, drizzle with oil and honey.  Mix around so each pieces has flavor on it.  Place in oven on high and roast until cooked through (20-30 min).  Remove from oven and let cool.  Add chopped basil and raisins.  I sometimes add cheese and almonds for a more hearty meal.  Mix salad and add extra salt if needed.

Bobo Restuarant

After perusing Guia Oleo for a while as I tend to do...daily, I decided to check out the restaurant in the Bobo hotel.  The meal was pretty excellent, probably in the top 10 I've had in BA just for creativity alone (the amazing bread basket didn't hurt either).  The menu was either a la carte or a tasting menu which I opted for because the more food I get to try, the happier I am.  Definitely a beautiful spot, with a nice patio, good food, and good service that is worth a visit.  Here's what I ate:

- Gazpacho de palta y naranja
- Trio de entradas: roasted shrimp, panceta, and cherry tomatoes / toast with chicken curry / stuffed mushrooms with ham and mustard cream sauce
- Pork with sweet potatoes and grilled pears and apples
- Fish leeks, tomatoes, and cream sauce with mussles
- Tasting platter of desserts (dulce de leche cheesecake was the bomb).