Pupusas!

Have you had a pupusa before? Just saying the word puts a smile on my face. It's like mashing two sopes together and topping them with crunchy deliciousness.

Thank you El Salvador, for producing something so AWESOME. I used to work at this law firm in LA and twice a week a lunch time a rickety old roach coach would pull up into the alley behind our building and dish these out for 2 bucks a pop. There were only a couple of us at first, but after a few weeks, word had spread and the line was 20 minutes long.

I haven't had a pupusa in about 7 years, but I woke up craving them the other day and set out to make them. I did a little research on recipes, combined a few, and came up with this. It's not as greasy as the ones I remember, which makes me think it's a bit healthier. You can come up with pretty much anything to stuff them with, which makes it fun. Go vegan and skip the cheese, be creative and add some shredded rotisserie chicken, get carb wild and stuff them with potatoes. Either way, you can make these better at home on the cheap, and fairly easily.

I cheated a bit and used some salsa I'd made earlier, but the traditional way is just pureed stewed tomatoes with salt and pepper. It's up to you how authentic they'll be. I also used baggged cole slaw since it was cheaper than buying cabbage and carrots separately, and less work :)

Bean and Cheese Pupusas (gluten free!)

2 cups rice flour
1 cup hot water
1 can black beans
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz shredded cheese (i used colby jack)
Olive oil, salt, pepper

4 cups cole slaw
1 red onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup white or apple cider vinegar
salt, pepper, oregano

1 can stewed tomatoes, or some salsa

Saute garlic and onion with some olive oil in a saucepan. Add can of black beans with liquid, and bring to a boil. With a potato masher, mash down the beans while they are cooking until they are thick and only slightly lumpy. Let them cool for a few minutes and then mix in shredded cheese.

While this mixture is cooling, blanch the cole slaw and onions in boiling water for about 2 minutes.

Strain the whole thing and rinse several times with cold water. In a bowl, toss them with vinegar, salt, pepper, and a few pinches of oregano. Add a bit of cold water and let the whole thing sit while you make the pupusas.

Start with the rice flour in a bowl, and stir, gradually adding hot water until a thick dough forms. It will be somewhere between bread dough and cookie dough. Rub your hands together with a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking, and grab a golf ball sized chunk of dough. Working with your palm, flatten the dough and fill with a heaping tablespoon of bean mixture.

Now, fold over the outsides and flatten to about 1/4 inch thick. Some of the mixture will seep out, but that's ok, it crisps up and adds some extra flavor. You can also flatten them out a little more once they are in the pan.

Then, just fry a few at a time at medium high heat in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, flipping once. Top with the marinated slaw and pureed tomatoes or regular salsa.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Well, I think the cold is here to stay and my only defense is an awesome bowl of soup. I used to order it all the time at this cafe called Zanzibar in San Diego all year long. It was really good, but I always used to wonder how it would taste if they roasted the squash first.

I topped it with some sesame sticks, but you can top it with whatever crunchy, carbalicious thing you might have handy. Also, to make the recipe vegan, just swap the chicken broth for veggie broth and omit the heavy cream.

It's as easy as chopping up some veggies

and roasting up some squash

Seriously. I'm never paying for butternut squash soup again. You shouldn't either. Make it better at home. My grandma would be proud of you.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

2 squash

1 large or 2 small leeks, thinly sliced until you hit the dark green part

2-3 carrots, diced

1 onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 8 oz carton heavy cream

6 cups chicken stock (i'm currently obsessed with "better than bouillon")

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

3 tablespoons molasses (brown sugar works too)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (you could also use nutmeg, cinnamon, or some combination)

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Whisk together balsamic, molasses, and olive oil. Slice the squash in half, scoop the seeds out, and rub the mixture all over the inside. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as well.

Roast, sliced side up, at 400 degrees until its super soft and the edges start to blacken. This could take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, saute the carrots, leeks, garlic and onion in olive oil until tender (about 7 minutes).

Once the veggies are tender, add stock and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.

After the squash is roasted and you've let it cool for a bit, scoop out the insides with a metal spoon and drop them right into the pot of stock. Make sure to get all the burnt bits and the balsamic/molasses liquid that's left behind!

Working in batches in your blender or food processor, puree the stock and squash mixture until smooth.

Return the whole thing to low heat and once it begins to boil, stir in the heavy cream. Simmer for another few minutes, adjust seasonings (you can add some more pumpkin pie spice here), and serve topped with your favorite crunchy bits!

What to do with eggplant

My sister raised a really good point recently: eggplant usually takes a long time to cook! Usually I do either eggplant parmigiana, or layer it in some kind of lasagna, both of which take a little too much work. Not only that, as much as I like eggplant, it's either mushy and flavorless, or deep fried, when I order it in a restaurant.

This recipe is an awesome, healthy way to get that earthy eggplant flavor into a pasta dish. It also happens to be vegan!

First, I grilled some sliced eggplant in a grill pan, though you could just as easily do this on the BBQ.

  Then I grilled up some tomatoes for a sauce base

Once those are grilled, chop everything up and toss it into a sauce pan with some onions, garlic, and  crushed tomatoes.

Simmer and season for 15-20 minutes or so, and you're left with a smoky, earthy, eggplanty sauce!

Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Sauce

2 small or 1 large eggplant, sliced
2 Tomatoes, sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 large can crushed tomatoes, with liquid (the fire roasted ones are the best)
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper, Seasonings to taste

First, grill the sliced eggplant and tomatoes on a grill pan or on the barbecue. In a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic until tender, and add the diced eggplant and tomatoes along with the can of crushed tomatoes. Simmer for about 20 minutes, seasoning to taste.

Gaga for Romesco

In my refusal to let the cold weather take away the last bits of my first summer in Chicago, I was looking for a bright and flavorful way to capture the warm weather in a meal. 

Fate was on my side, and red bell peppers were on sale for ten cents a piece. Not only that, Lady Gaga's Bad Romance has been on repeat in my head for about a month now, and that ro-ma-ro-ma-ma line just makes me think of Romesco sauce.

I remember tasting some on a piece of  toast at some random Tapas bar in Barcelona and thinking that the bright, smoky, tangy flavors captured the essence of Spain perfectly. 

My own version is simple, clean, and will smack you in the mouth with smoky deliciousness. Not only that, it's cheap and easy to make! Make sure to get smoked paprika though, it makes all the difference.

Fire roast some bell peppers,

Cover them up with some saran wrap so they will steam and soften for twenty minutes or so.

Cook down some tomatoes with olive oil and garlic...

Blanch some almonds and throw the whole thing in a food processor. 

Romesco Sauce

1 large tomato

2 red bell peppers

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup blanched and dry-roasted almonds

2 Tbsp red or white wine (whatever you have open)

1 slice double toasted loaf bread

1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper

Roast 4-5 red bell peppers over a gas stove until they are black and mostly charred all over. I know it looks and sounds a bit dangerous, but my grandma showed me how to do this years ago and even though this was my first time trying it, the results are amazing! If you don't have a gas range, you can also grill the peppers on a barbecue. 

Blanch almonds for 2-3 minutes in boiling water, and rub the skins off in a colander under cold running water. Dry roast them in a saucepan until they've dried off and start to turn brown and smell fantastic

Finally, pulse everything in a food processor until the whole thing is well-blended and you have a thick sauce about the consistency of hummus. 

You can serve this on some good crusty bread, over grilled meat, or even use as a dip for carrots. I got a little crazy and spooned it over fried chicken cutlets and served it with roasted cauliflower. 

Figs. Cake. Repeat.

As much as I love sweets, sometimes i'm a little disappointed by a restaurant's dessert-making skills (I'm talking to you, Souplantation). It's happened to all of us. You have an awesome meal, only to be greeted by dry cake, watery creme brulee, or a cannoli that's seen better days. 

I say screw 'em. Go out for an awesome meal, and come home to a homemade dessert!

My awesome friend Sara recently sent me this recipe for  Olive Oil Pistachio Cake with Fig Compote Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting posted on the ever-delicious "In The Kitchen" series over at Design Sponge. 

Say what? 

Yeah. I love Sara.

The cake is good too. It's really really good.

My experience with figs, other than Fig Newtons, is pretty much non-existent. Fate smiled down on me this morning though, when fresh figs and pistachios happened to be on sale at this awesome produce place down the street. Double score!

It's as easy as baking a cake...

(I have a weird obsession with vintage Pyrex)

Cooking down some figs...

And shellacking on some frosting.... (is that word?)

I had been meaning to try out an olive oil cake for a while, and this was the perfect opportunity. With the addition of pistachios and figs, the whole thing has this Mediterranean vibe. The cake is super moist, not very sweet, and the tartness of the figs hold up to the decadent cream cheese frosting... do yourself a favor and bake this cake. Then write Sara a thank you card. She's one of my kitchen heroes. Just wait until i get my hands on her doughy nutty cream cheesy dough ball recipe... 

Here's the recipe with a few modifications from Design Sponge:

Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

1 cup shelled (salted and roasted) pistachios
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 8×8 inch baking pan with olive oil.

Pulse pistachios in a food processor until the texture of big sand. Alternatively, you can put them in a Ziploc gallon bag and beat them with a wine bottle or rolling pin.

In a bowl, whisk ground pistachios, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until combined.  Add oil and milk, and whisk for a couple minutes until everything is well blended.  Add eggs and lemon juice and beat until mixed.  

Pour batter into greased pan.  Bake for about 35 minutes, or until edges are lightly brown, and inserted knife comes out clean.  

Fresh Fig Compote

1.5-2 cups fresh figs

Juice from one large orange (1/3-1/2 cup)

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon honey (or agave sweetner)

Chop figs into about 1/2 inch pieces. Cook them down along with juice and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until most of the liquid is gone (about 20 minutes). Stir in the honey after taking them off the heat, and allow mixture to cool. 

*Note - you can also use dried figs if you can't find any fresh ones... just up the water to 1 1/2 cups

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 block cream cheese (softened)

1/2 stick butter (softened)

2-2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl, whisk together the softened cream cheese and butter until they are well combined. Mix in the vanilla, and begin to add the sugar in batches, whisking well before adding more.

Assembly

1. Slice the cake in half

2. Slather fig compote in between layers

3. Frost the top

4. Eat

I heart pie

I ate 1/4 of a pie for breakfast.

I'm not proud.

It was staggeringly, swelteringly, suffocatingly hot last night, and being the pie addict I am, I needed something to satisfy my sweet tooth without having to heat up the entire kitchen.

Cue Joy the Baker and her take on Martha Stewart's No-bake Peanut Butter Tart.

Bless. Her. Heart.

Seriously. This is better than the peanut butter pie I used to order at Denny's all the time when I was in high school. Not that Denny's is known for being an authority on pies or anything, but I was a fat kid in high school and that pie was freaking delicious.

Here's my take on a classic. I've modified the recipe a bit, mostly because I'm lazy and don't have a stand mixer.

Peanut Butter Pie

Crust
2 cups crushed cookies (Nilla Wafers, Marias, Graham Crackers, Oreos)
1 stick butter, melted

Filling
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
1 tub cool whip, divided
1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened

First, make the crust. Crush the cookies as best you can in your hands, and finish them up with a rolling pin. You can also stick them in a big ziploc bag and smash them with a wine bottle. Not that I've done that before, I'm just giving you options.

Once they're smashed up and you have about 2 cups, pour them into a 9" pie plate. Pour on the butter and mix the whole thing up really well before patting it down to form a nice crust. Stick the crust in the freezer so the butter can re-solidify while you make the filling.

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, condensed milk, and cream cheese with a wooden spoon until the whole thing is well combined. Next, fold in the 3/4 of the Cool Whip and pour the mixture into the crust.

Top with the remaining Cool Whip, and chill the pie in the fridge for about 2 hours or the freezer for 45 minutes before eating.