Tzatziki Corn Salad

A warm welcome to new subscriber Jacqueline!

With summer now in full swing, a lot of food talk naturally turns to cookout-type food. Here’s an easy, delicious side dish for your next backyard gathering or company picnic: Tzatziki Corn Salad.

Corn salads are usually pretty popular, and with good reason: they’re tasty and refreshing to eat, and easy to make, even in large quantities. While the vegetables in them can vary somewhat, the big difference between corn salads often lies in the choice of dressing. For this version, I’m using a tzatziki sauce. While Greece has made countless contributions to western civilization, all that art, mathematics and philosophy pale next to a good tzatziki, a tangy yogurt-and-cucumber based white sauce. Even if you don’t make this corn salad, the tzatziki sauce will be a useful addition to your repertoire. Opa, indeed!

This recipe makes about 6 cups of corn salad.

To make the sauce:

Combine ¾ cup fat free Greek yogurt; ½ medium cucumber (seeds removed), finely chopped; ½ teaspoon kosher salt; 2 garlic cloves, finely minced; ½ tablespoon olive oil; 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar; and either 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Set the sauce aside while you work with the vegetable.

The make the vegetable mix:

You’ll need either 12 ears of corn, silks and husks removed, or 4 cups of frozen corn kernels thawed and patted dry with a paper towel. Apply a small amount of olive oil the corn (just enough to lightly coat for grilling), and grille until the corn is lightly browned. (Don’t kill it; you’re just looking to give it a little color and mild grilled taste.) Set the corn aside and let cool. If you’re using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cob after the corn has cooled.

Combine the corn, 4 cups of diced tomatoes (fresh or well-drained canned), 1 finely chopped green or orange pepper, ½ cup of minced onion, and 1 minced large stalk of celery in a large bowl. (Adding some diced, cooked bacon here is optional, but highly recommended.) Drain again to remove any extra liquid so that the tzatziki sauce does not get diluted.

Add the sauce and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, refrigerate overnight to chill the salad and give the flavors a chance to combine. Garnish with parsley before serving, and you’ve got a winner!

As always, if you prefer a cookbook style, notebook-ready version of this recipe, send me a note or a comment along with your e-mail address, and it shall be yours.

That’s it for now. I’m looking forward to sharing another easy, delicious, reduced-fat dish with you next week. Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Buffalo Tortilla Chips with Blue Cheese Dressing

Chicken wings being such a wonderful part of so many great summer picnics, it seems like a good time for a snack recipe inspired by one of the most popular - Buffalo wings. Although buffalo, while happy to roam the range and watch the deer and the antelope play, do not normally have wings, the unique, delicious taste of Buffalo wings was named not for the animal, but for the city in far western New York State where they were first created.

Today’s recipe, Buffalo Tortilla Chips with Blue Cheese Dressing, pays homage to this classic treat. It combines the distinctive spicy-sweet tang of Buffalo wings with the taste and crunch of homemade corn tortilla chips. Garnished with celery and carrot sticks, and dipped in blue cheese dressing, is a worthwhile change of pace from the usual snack chip. And, to the best of my knowledge, you won't find them in the snack aisle of your local supermarket.

The only special equipment you’ll need is a tortilla press although, truth be told, if you have a rolling pin you can even get away with using that. A couple of important Cook’s Notes:

• As noted in the recipe, use corn flour as described, not corn meal.
• As with most things involving hot sauce, use more or less to adjust the heat. The quantities in this recipe make for what I would consider a medium heat that mixes beautifully with the cool blue cheese dressing.
• Since, unlike wheat flour, corn flour does not contain gluten, the tortilla dough will not be toughened if overworked.

This recipe makes 72 chips (about 6 normal servings, or 2-3 teenage servings).

First we’ll need to make our Buffalo tortilla sauce:

Whisk together 1 cup melted butter substitute; 3 tablespoons of Tabasco or similar hot sauce; 2 tablespoons of honey, and  1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder.

To make the tortilla:

Combine the following tortilla ingredients and mix for about two minutes to form a soft dough: 1-1/4 cups of the Buffalo tortilla sauce you made in the previous step; 2 cups of masa harina (corn flour with “lime” (calcium hydroxide), either Maseca or a similar brand); and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. (If the dough seems a little dry, add warm water, 1 tsp at a time, until the proper texture is reached.)

Divide the dough into 12 – 16 balls, and cover with a damp cloth or paper towel while you form and cook the tortillas.

Using a tortilla press lined with heavy plastic (such as a flattened food storage bag), parchment, or corn-floured wax paper, or using a rolling pin, press one of the balls out into a tortilla 5” – 6” in diameter.

Place the raw tortilla in a non-stick pan (no oil or butter) over medium heat. Cook for about 30 seconds on the first side, flip and cook for 60 seconds on the other side, then flip again and cook the first side for another 30 seconds. (A small amount of browning is desirable.) While the tortilla is cooking, press the next one. As you stack the finished tortillas, keep the stack covered with a damp cloth or paper towel to prevent drying out.

When all the tortillas have been cut and stacked, cut the pile into sixths to make chips. Spread the chips out in a single layer on two large ungreased baking sheets.

Bake the chips until golden brown and crisp, about 12-15 minutes. (Rotate the baking sheets half-way through if using more than one shelf.) Keep in mind the chips will get a little crisper when they have cooled.

Allow to cool before serving. Serve with celery and carrot sticks (not pictured in the top photo, but you know what they look like) and blue cheese dressing for dipping.

All that’s left now is to enjoy them!

For a cookbook style, notebook-ready copy of this recipe, just drop me a note or a comment, make sure I have your e-mail address, and it shall be done!

Thanks for visiting; hope  to see you next week! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Bread Pudding Duet

This past week I was faced with a difficult choice. With two delicious bread pudding recipes available - Peach Bread Pudding and French Toast Bread Pudding – I was having a tough time deciding which to publish. Only after much thoughtful deliberation did the right choice become clear: publish both and avoid making a decision all together. (It’s why I order steaks “medium”.) You'll see the basic method is the same for the two recipes; the only difference is some of the ingredients.

For anyone who has not yet experienced the sheer joy of a good bread pudding, the idea is simple: soak bread thoroughly in a custard (think French Toast), bake it until the mixture is firm, and serve it topped with dessert sauces, fruit, ice cream, or anything else you like. Depending on the recipe, almost any type of bread can be used: brioche, challah, French bread. I recently was in an Irish restaurant and had the pleasure of eating bread pudding made with Irish Soda Bread. Some people – I swear I’m not making this up – even make it with donuts. For the recipes below, I chose sweet Hawaiian bread and vanilla ice cream topping for the peach bread pudding and, since challah makes such great French Toast, I used challah with a pancake syrup topping for the French Toast Bread Pudding.

A couple of additional notes on the ingredients:

• The fat is reduced through the use of fat-free half-and-half (in place of the usual heavy cream) and egg-substitute.
• Canned peaches are used instead of fresh. As noted in the recipe for Mango and Friends Chunky Fruit Salad from a few weeks ago, I normally favor fresh fruits over canned, but sometimes make an exception for peaches since the texture and flavor of the fresh ones can be very inconsistent through the season. (This is similar to the reason so many cooks choose canned tomatoes over fresh.)

There’s a lot of inactive time involved, but the recipes themselves are easy. Each recipe below makes 6 – 8 dessert-size servings.

To make Peach Bread Pudding:

Tear one pound of Hawaiian Bread into 1” pieces and toast it lightly or, better, leave it out overnight to get stale.

Once the bread is either toasted or stale, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, divide a 29 ounce can of peaches in juice into a ¾ cup portion (about 1-1/2 full peaches) and the remainder (about 1 cup, or 2 full peaches). Mash the ¾ cup portion, and slice the remainder portion into wedges. Set both aside.

Form a custard by whisking together 2 cups of fat free half-and-half; 4 egg-substitute eggs; ¼ cup honey; ½ teaspoon of kosher salt; ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, and ½ cup low-fat peach yogurt. When the custard is mixed, fold in the mashed peaches and set aside.

Place the bread pieces in an 8’ x 11” baking dish greased with butter substitute. Pour the custard mixture over the bread and let it rest for about 10 minutes while the bread absorbs the liquid. If necessary, press down gently on the bread to help the process.

Cover the pan with foil and bake until a knife inserted comes out clean, about 40 minutes. If you’d like the top browned, remove the foil and let bake for another 5 – 10 minutes. When you’re done, take the baking pan out of the oven, let the bread pudding cool and cut into rectangles with a knife or into rounds with a cookie cutter. Garnish the sliced peaches and a good vanilla ice cream, and you’ve got a tasty dessert without a lot of fuss!

Or, if you prefer the French Toast Bread Pudding:

Slice a one pound challah bread into 1” slices and carefully cut off the crusts. Toast the pieces lightly or, better, leave them out overnight to get stale.

Once the challah is either toasted or stale, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Form a custard by whisking together 2 cups of fat free half-and-half; 4 egg-substitute eggs; ¼ cup honey; ½ teaspoon of kosher salt; ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, ½ tablespoon of vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and ½ cup low-fat plain yogurt.

Place the challah pieces in an 8’ x 11” baking dish greased with butter substitute. Pour the custard mixture over the challah and let it rest for about 10 minutes while the challah absorbs the liquid. If necessary, press down gently on the challah to help the process.

Cover the pan with foil and bake until a knife inserted comes out clean, about 40 minutes. If you’d like the top browned, remove the foil and let bake for another 5 – 10 minutes. When you’re done, take the baking pan out of the oven, let the bread pudding cool and cut into rectangles with a knife or into rounds with a cookie cutter. Top the pudding with syrup, sliced fruit, or anything else that goes well with French Toast, and you’ve got another tasty dessert, also without a lot of fuss!

So now you have two delicious bread puddings to make and serve! And, as you can see from the above recipes, bread pudding provides a lot of opportunities to put in – or take out – anything that’s to your liking to make endless variations of this tasty, classic dessert.

If you‘d like a cookbook style, notebook ready copy of these recipes, just let me know, make sure I have your e-mail address, and they shall be yours!

I’m looking forward to seeing you again next week. Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Stuffed Roast Beef Mariposa

This week, I’m happy to post Stuffed Roast Beef Mariposa, my version of an easy (but delicious) stuffed roast. “Mariposa” being the very beautiful Spanish word for butterfly, the name derives from the preparation method, which includes butterflying your roast and filling it with a mix of peppers, onions, garlic and bacon. If you’ve never butterflied a roast before, fear not: an explanation, included photos, is included. (As an added bonus, I’ve also included a tutorial video for tying a “butcher’s knot” when you tie up the roast before placing it in the oven.)

In the photo above, you’ll see I served the roast with honey slaw and corn on the cob with herbed butter substitute. (To make herbed butter, simply combine ¼ cup of butter substitute (or, if you prefer, butter) with ½ tablespoon of your favorite dried herb.)

This recipe is used a 2-1/2 pound roast and makes 5 – 6 servings.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Butterfly your roast as follows:

• Place the roast on a cutting surface.

• About 1/3 of the way from the top, form a flap by making a cut from right to left, but stop when you have about 1/2” left.

• Turn the roast over and around so that the uncut 2/3 is on top and the cut 1/3 is on the bottom. The uncut part of the first cut should now be on the lower left side of the roast. About 1/3 down from what is now the top of the roast, form another flap by making a cut similar to the first one, stopping when about ½” is left uncut.

• Open the two flaps like the pages of a book and even out the surface of the roast by pounding the uncut “hinges” with the heel of your hand.

In a sauté pan, make the filling by combining 5 cloves garlic, minced; 1-1/2 cup diced peppers (multi-color); 2 ounces diced turkey bacon, and ½ cup diced sweet onion and sautéing the mixture until it is tender but not soft. (It’s going to cook more in the oven later.)

Spread the filling evenly over the butterflied roast.

Roll up the roast as tight as possible. (If any filling falls out – and I tend to overstuff things anyway, so some filling probably will come out - it’s ok; you can save any extra filling and use it to top the beef when you’re serving it later.)

Using kitchen twine, tie the roast at about 2” intervals to hold it closed. You can use any knot that works for you, but many professionals use a “butcher’s knot.” Don’t know how to tie a butcher’s knot? Here’s a tutorial to show you how easy it is. (The total run time is a little over 4 minutes.)

Grind 1 teaspoon each of dried rosemary, dried oregano, dried thyme, and dried red pepper flakes, along with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt in a spice grinder. (If you don’t have a spice grinder, it’s easy to make one from a small, inexpensive electric coffee grinder. First, get a small, inexpensive electric coffee grinder. Then, get a Sharpie or other permanent black marker. Use the Sharpie to cross out the word “coffee” on the box the grinder came in, and write in the word “spice” just above it. You’ve now made your own spice grinder. Just remember to put the cover back on the marker when you’re finished.) Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the ground spices to form a wet rub paste.

Apply the wet rub paste over the entire surface of the tied roast, including the bottom. Place the beef in a roasting pan, and put in the oven till it is the desired doneness. (The internal temperature should be 150 degrees for medium rare, 160 degrees for medium, or 165 degrees for medium-well.) I have found a remote reading thermometer, the kind in which the probe stays in the meat while it roasts, and the temperature reads out on the part that attaches to the outside of the oven, to be invaluable for cooking to the proper doneness, but any method that works for you is ok too.

After the desired internal temperature has been reached, remove the roast from the oven and let it rest on a cutting surface for about 20 minutes, and then cut it into 1-1/2” thick pieces and serve topped with gravy, sauce, etc.

You’re now all set to serve a delicious meal that work equally well hot, warm or cold. Not to mention to impress your guests with your butterflying and knot tying skills!

As always, if you prefer a cookbook style, notebook-ready version of this or any other recipe from the Kissing the Cook site, just say the word, send me your e-mail address, and it will be yours.

See you next week! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, practice those knots, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)