Goth Panda

March 9, 2011

Rigatoni with Sundried Tomato Wine Sauce

I modified this recipe from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe, but I’ve changed it so much that it is not at all the same recipe. All of my modifications were in the direction of streamlining and simplifying, until there were only the basics that drew me to the recipe in the first place: pasta, garlic, tomatoes, and wine.

So this a very simple and quick recipe, although you could make it more complicated if you wanted to. Giada adds fresh parsley and goat cheese to this recipe. I am not likely to have fresh herbs for a weeknight dinner, and I don’t like goat cheese at all. But you could add any kind of italian herb blend, oregano, or basil, and parmesan would probably be great, too. But I usually just make it plain.

The most important thing to have is the best kind of sun dried tomatoes, which in my opinion are these:

These have been seen on this site before, in the most delicious focaccia and in the sundried tomato pesto spread. I have tried to make this recipe with another kind of sundried tomatoes, but it was not as good, and I think it is because the oil from these sundried tomatoes is the best. And since you use the sundried tomato oil in the sauce, it makes a big difference. If you can’t get these tomatoes, and the oil from the sundried tomatoes doesn’t seem like it will be awesome, I might just substitute a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil instead of using it.

Rigatoni with Sundried Tomato Wine Sauce

Heavily adapted from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe

4-6 servings

1 pound rigatoni
8 to 10-oz jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped (oil reserved) [preferably California Sun Dry Tomatoes, julienne cut with herbs]
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz. can tomato paste
1.5 c white wine [I have used all kinds of white wine, and red wine, too, and it is still yummy]
1 tsp salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as package directs, until done. Drain with a colander over a bowl or 4-cup measuring cup, reserving the cooking liquid for the sauce.

Put a colander over a large, heavy skillet and drain the tomatoes into it, so the oil drains into the skillet. Heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the wine and chopped sun-dried tomatoes and simmer until the liquid reduces by half, about 2 minutes. Add the salt, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for another five to ten minutes. Usually I start the sauce right after putting the water on to boil, so I just simmer it until the pasta is ready.

Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat, adding between 1 and 2 cups of the reserved pasta water to moisten. Serve.

Filed under: Quick Vegetarian Dinners

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March 7, 2011

Roasted Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Most nights, I hardly make side dishes. If anything, we usually have salads with the main dish, but I prefer one-dish meals. A lot of the main dishes we make have enough vegetables in them to be both a main and side dish.

I just made up the spices in this recipe, so there is no attribution. A lot of times I change up the spices myself, so these are just a suggestion and you can omit or change them around according to what you have. I use this as an all-purpose side dish when I make something that really does need one, like the Cinnamon Bun Pancakes. Because the sweet potatoes are sliced into disks, they don’t take very long to cook through, but you can do them in a more traditional french-fry type cut. It would just take a little longer for them to be done.

Roasted Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Makes about 4 side-dish servings

2 sweet potatoes, sliced into disks
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with spray oil.

Put the sliced sweet potatoes, oil, and spices in a bowl, cover, and shake until spices are evenly distributed. Spread the potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes in the oven or until tender.

Filed under: Side Dishes

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March 4, 2011

Dorie Greenspan’s Corniest Corn Muffins

This is the first Dorie Greenspan recipe I have tried. For those you who maybe do not follow internet baking sites as much as I do, Dorie Greenspan is kind of an internet baking rock star. There are several internet baking groups out there devoted to baking through her cookbooks, just like I did with The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

I made corn muffins for the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, but I think I like these better. The Peter Reinhart recipe uses bacon, so I had to omit that part, which might be why I preferred the Dorie Greenspan recipe.

This recipe was kind of perfectly balanced between sweet and not-so-sweet, so the muffins are perfect to eat as part of a meal, as a breakfast, as a dessert, or as a snack. We had these with the Black Bean Enchiladas with Easy Mole Sauce, and then ate them at all times of the day after that. There was a lot of love for these muffins at our house.

Dorie Greenspan’s Corniest Corn Muffins

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who got it from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours

Yield: 12 regular-sized muffins or 48 miniature ones

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons corn or other vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup corn kernels (add up to 1/3 cup more if you’d like) – fresh, frozen or canned (in which case they should be drained and patted dry)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, if you’re using it. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and yolk together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy, but make sure there are no dry streaks. Stir in the corn kernels. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes (12 minutes for minis), or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Filed under: Breakfast

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March 2, 2011

Black Bean Enchiladas with Easy Mole Sauce

Mole is a savory chocolate-flavored chili sauce. Although I like both regular tomato-based enchilada sauce and mole sauce (which properly speaking makes “enmoladas” instead of “enchiladas”), Mike’s favorite is mole. Real mole sauce is apparently a multi-day extravaganza to make, and I don’t think you can buy it ready made like you can enchilada sauce (although making your own enchilada sauce is pretty easy). So I like this recipe because the excellent chocolate and chili flavors are there and it doesn’t take nearly as long to make.

I like this with a black bean filling, but it would probably be great with shredded chicken or pork, if you happen to be on the food chain. Whatever filling you like with your enchiladas, I highly recommend the mole sauce as an alternative to your standard enchilada sauce. It is not sweet at all, and the chocolate-chili combination gives it an almost smoky depth of flavor.

This is not that quick of a recipe because of the time it takes to make the sauce. What I do to make this a weeknight recipe is make the sauce in advance – it takes about 45 minutes – and then refrigerate it until I want to make the enchiladas. If you split the recipe up like that, you can make the enchiladas in little more than half an hour. This recipe makes great leftovers, too.

I tried a new brand of corn tortillas, and I was a little disappointed with them. They were thick and tended to tear while I was filling them, as you can see below. This was also probably because I overstuffed them, which is all too easy to do. My enchiladas never want to stay rolled up.

I fit the enchiladas in by doing 8 across and then two rows of two down. I had leftover filling, so I spooned it into the corners.

Black Bean Enchiladas with Easy Mole Sauce

Heavily adapted from Vegetarian Times

Serves 4-6

Mole Sauce
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves or allspice
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 Tbs. cocoa powder
2 Tbs. peanut butter
1 c water or broth
1/2 tsp. salt [you may need more if you use water instead of broth]
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Enchiladas
10 oz. white cheddar cheese, shredded
12 6-inch corn tortillas
1 15-oz can black beans
1 c corn, frozen, fresh, or canned
1 bunch scallions, chopped

Sour cream, for serving

Directions

To make Mole Sauce: Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onions, and cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until browned. Stir in garlic, chili powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves/allspice, and cook 1 minute, or until fragrant, stirring constantly.

Add tomato sauce, cocoa, peanut butter and water/broth. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and puree until smooth in blender.

To make Enchiladas: Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 13×9-inch ovenproof baking dish with cooking spray. Ladle mole sauce into the bottom of the dish, just to cover.

Drain and rinse beans and corn in a colander. Heat a small skillet over a medium flame, and warm a corn tortilla on it for 30-60 seconds [This step is optional, but I think it helps make the tortillas more pliable and gives them a "cornier" taste.] Place a tablespoon or so of the black bean and corn mixture in the center of the tortilla. Top with cheese and scallions. Roll tortilla around filling, and set seam side down on top of mole sauce. Try not to overstuff your tortillas, but let’s face it, this is tough. Continue until the pan is full or you run out of tortillas or filling. Top with the rest of the mole sauce, and any leftover cheese and scallions. Spoon any leftover filling into the corners of the pan. Bake 20 minutes, or until sauce bubbles and cheese melts.

Filed under: Not-So-Quick Vegetarian Dinners

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February 28, 2011

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

These are really, really yummy. I liked the idea of this recipe when I saw it recently, and the recipe exceeded my expectations when I actually made it. These are pretty awesome pancakes, even without the icing, very light and with a good cinnamon flavor. The icing just made them even better, and you don’t even need to add a lot of it. They totally lived up to the cinnamon bun comparison.

This a straightforward pancake recipe; the only thing that was different from my usual recipe is the addition of the cinnamon and maple syrup. I liked that maple syrup got added to the pancakes, since it wasn’t used in topping them and I think it added to the flavor.

Here’s a photo of the pancakes without the icing, and you can see how nice and fluffy they got:

I highly recommend these as a diversion from your normal pancake recipe, if you like pancakes or cinnamon buns.

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

Adapted from bakedbree.com, who adapted it from this recipe on Tasty Kitchen.

Makes about 12-16 pancakes, depending on the size of them, about enough for 4 people

1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Make the icing first (see below).

Put all of the dry ingredients for the pancakes in a bowl and whisk them together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together or stir with a rubber spatula until just combined, with no dry streaks.

Preheat a griddle or large saute pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil. The griddle is ready when water flicked on its surface sizzles loudly. Pour the pancake batter onto the griddle using an ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Flip the pancakes when they are bubbling on top and cooked through on the bottoms, about 3 or 4 minutes. Cook on the other side until cooked through. Pancakes can be kept warm in the oven at 200 degrees until all are finished.

To make the icing:

1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons milk

Whisk the ingredients together until smooth and a pouring consistency. If too thick add more milk, if too thin, add more sugar.

Filed under: Breakfast

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