Tortilla Española (Omelet with Potatoes)

The Spanish word "tortilla" translates simply into "small cake". In Mexico it is used to describe the familiar breads from corn or flour used as the basis for burritos, enchiladas and the like. In Spain, it is used to describe this omelet with potatoes, the Spanish equivalent of a fritata. It's a filling, delicious dish that can easily be used for a hearty breakfast or a light lunch or dinner.

One note: don't skimp on the oil, or you'll never get the crispy golden crust. 

The Book: The Culinary Institute of America's Breakfasts and Brunches.

Description: This book comes from one of the top cooking schools in the United States, and it offers an impressive array of breakfast and brunch choices, complete with a few menu suggestions at the beginning. The recipes range from breakfast drinks through to salads and sandwiches, and from the simplest items (such as soft boiled eggs) to more sophisticated takes on familiar foods. The book definitely leans towards the American view of breakfast, with plenty of recipes for pancakes, waffles, muffins and pastries. However, there are also some other offerings. While the book is geared towards breakfast, many of the recipes in it can easily be used for a light meal at other times of the day.

Language: English.

Genre: breakfast, pastries, light meals.

Veg Status: the majority of the book is vegetarian friendly, although definitely not vegan-friendly. There is only one section dedicated to meat, and even that one also offers a wide range of vegetarian potato recipes such as hash browns. The other sections contain very few recipes with meat, and most of those easily convertible to vegetarian.

GF Status: Not great. Most of the book is dedicated to pastries of all sorts, obviously heavy on the gluten.  You will find some fine options in the egg section as well as the salads, and an experienced GF baker armed with a good flour alternative can probably make most of the other recipes work, but I wouldn't buy this book as a gift for the celiac in my life.

Tortilla Española

Ingredients (for 4 servings): 

- 1 large onion, minced or very finely diced

- 1 green bell pepper, finely diced

- 2 large potatoes (or 3-4 smaller ones), medium dice

- 8 eggs

- 1-2 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional) 

-1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tbsp of olive oil, divided

Preparation: 

1. In a large frying pan, heat about 2 tsp of olive oil over medium heat and add the onion and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent. 

2. Add the potatoes and salt, stir, lower heat, and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are fairly soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the chopped cilantro (if using). Add the vegetable mixture to the eggs and stir. 

4. Add the rest of the oil to the pan over high heat, and make sure the pan is very hot before adding the egg mixture. Allow the eggs to cook until set, without stirring. When the bottom of the eggs becomes golden brown, carefully flip the eggs over with a spatula and cook until they get the same color on the other side. 

Saag Tofu/Paneer

This is a relatively mild Indian dish, made with loads of lovely spinach. It can be made vegan using tofu, or non-vegan using paneer cheese (For a simple recipe for homemade paneer, see the end of my paneer tikka masala post). I made some changes to the original book recipe to simplify it.

The book: Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness 

 

Description: This book is, as the title suggests, a guide to cooking Indian food in your home kitchen, and specifically in an Western kitchen. This means that while there is some use of specialty ingredients, often the book will offer alternatives or simply supply a simplified version of a recipe that makes it easier to cook at home. It works really well if you are living in the UK, or in  a fairly large American city with access to places like Whole Foods or other retailers that will carry Indian spices and the like. It can require a bit more creativity to make it work if you live somewhere where such items are more difficult to locate.

Language:  English

 

Genre: Indian food 

 

Veg Status: The book is by no means exclusively vegetarian, and it has large sections dedicated to meat and fish. However, because Indian food is very vegetarian friendly, this book has lots of vegetarian and vegan recipes. Moreover, most of the meat recipes can be easily converted to vegetarian or vegan by substituting tofu, paneer, or cooked chickpeas for the meat. 

 

GF Status: Indian food is very GF friendly. While there are some breads and pastries that would be difficult to convert to GF, some Indian classics are GF by virtue of using chickpea flour or lentil flour instead of when flour. And of course the vast majority of the recipes for curries and the like are naturally gluten free. In other words, you will be able to find enough GF recipes for your heart's content in this book. 

Saag Tofu/Paneer

 

 

Ingredients (for 2 large portions or four small ones): 

 

- 1 package (about 300 grams) firm tofu or paneer, sliced into cubes

- about 500 grams/ 1 lb fresh spinach or frozen spinach 

- 1.5-2 tablespoon ghee, butter or oil

- 3 whole dried chilis

- 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

- 7 green cardamom pods

- 7 whole cloves

- 3/4 teaspoon fennel

- 1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger

-1/2 teaspoon salt 

Preparation: 

 

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil to a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add as many cubes of paneer/tofu as will fit comfortable and brown them on all sides. Drain the tofu/paneer on paper towels and continue until all of the tofu/paneer is browned, adding more oil as needed. (I needed only one batch). Set aside. 

2. Boil about 2 inches/5 cm of water in a large pot. Add the spinach (frozen or fresh), cover and cook stirring for a few minutes until the fresh spinach is wilted or the frozen spinach is thawed. Drain, and either puree in a blender with some of the cooking water, or simply chop finely. 

3. Heat the ghee, butter or oil with the red chiles, cumin, cardamom, cloves and fennel seeds in a large wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until the cumin turns a golden-brown color, 1-2 minutes. Add the ginger and cook, stirring, 45 seconds. Add the spinach and the salt. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for about 5 minutes. 

4. Place the paneer/tofu squares on top of the spinach. Cover and cook gently 5 more mintes. Halfway through the cooking, use a spatula to gently turn the paneer in the spinach. Taste for salt. 

5. Serve with rice and/or Indian bread.

 

Announcing: The "Herbs and Herbivores" Cookbook Project

Those of you who have been following this blog will not have failed to noticed that it has been, well, mostly dead for the past 18 months or so.  Between a toddler, an international move, a new job, and the other stuff that make up life, for a while there I wasn't cooking very much at all. If I made something more exciting than scrambled eggs for dinner, it felt like a special occasion. Venturing beyond the four or five regular dishes that I know how to make by heart took a great deal of effort.

But I opened this blog because once upon a time, I actually found cooking exciting. I wanted to try new things, explore new flavors, and expand my culinary knowledge. So in that spirit, and in order to challenge myself to rediscover the joys of cooking and baking, I have decided to embark on...

The "Herbs and Herbivores" Cookbook Project

A lot of people these days are getting rid of cookbooks, because "you can find any recipe you want online." In many ways, this is true. I love the vast array of cooking sites and blogs, and I do often use online recipes. But the problem with online recipes is that they are mostly good if you know what you want to cook. If you're looking for a recipe for beer battered onion rings, or a 3-bean casserole, or gluten free ravioli, then Google is your best friend. But it can't replicate the magic of a good cookbook. A good cookbook doesn't just tell you how to make something. It seduces you into trying new things. Even if you never cook a single recipe from a book, reading through it will open up your culinary imagination and encourage you to consider new foods and new flavor combinations. And that's something that an internet search doesn't do nearly as well.

As you have no doubt gathered by now, I'm a fan of cookbooks. In fact, one of the first things people notice about my kitchen is that I have books. Lots of them. As of this morning, there were 119. (Yeah, I know. Time to buy one more book to round up the number. Or another 81, as my husband suggested). I have vegetarian cookbooks, gluten free cookbooks and general cookbooks. I have books dedicated to Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Israeli and Persian cuisines. I have a perhaps disproportionate number of books dedicated to baking (of those an even more disproportionate number dedicated to chocolate). I have books dedicated to specific products, such as squash or tomatoes, and books with as broad a mandate as you can imagine. The one thing most of my books have in common is that they are gorgeous. I like my cookbooks to be glossy, shiny, and full of pictures. I know there are some fabulous books out there with no pictures whatsoever, and I own a small number of them, but like I said - a cookbook should seduce the reader into trying new things, and beautiful book just does that better.

Over the past couple of years, my books have been largely abandoned. But in an effort to rekindle my cooking, I'm going to start this simple, low-key project. Over the next few months, I am going to go over every cookbook I have, and I am going to cook at least one NEW (and vegetarian, of course) recipe from each book. That is, I'm going to make at least one recipe I have never made before. I will then post the recipe on this blog, with a short review of the book from whence it came.

And I will start in just a minute, with a simple and delicious Cinnamon, Sour Cream and Hazelnut Cake.

Cinnamon, Sour Cream and Hazelnut Cake

The first participant in the cookbook project is a lovely cake that would go great with tea or coffee in the afternoon.

The sour cream gives it a lovely moistness, and the cinnamon and brown sugar make it sweet and yummy.

I made it here with Cup4Cup gluten free flour and it came out great. If you have a GF flour mixture that you trust, give it a try. 

The book: "The Sweet Collection" (HaOsef Hamatok), by Israeli food empire "Al Hashulchan".
Language: Hebrew
Genre: sweet pastries and desserts
Veg Status: All of the recipes in the book are vegetarian. A few are vegan, but they are definitely in the minority.
GF Status: Like most baking books, it is not GF friendly, although there are some recipes for fancy, rich, mousse-type cakes that are naturally gluten free. Other recipes will require substitution with a good gluten free flour.

Cinnamon, Sour Cream and Hazelnut Cake

Ingredients: 

- 1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour (or a gluten free equivalent that you trust)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup (200 grams) white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 125 grams/about 4 oz butter, softened
- 200 ml/6.5 oz sour cream (I didn't have enough, so I used a combination of sour cream and a low-fat cream cheese)

For the filling
- 60 grams/1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 100 grams/1 cup hazelnuts, lightly roasted and finely chopped (I used a combination of hazelnuts and almonds)
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to  200 C/390 F. Lightly grease a loaf tin or a small bundt cake tin.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
3. In a mixer, mix sugar, eggs and butter until smooth. Slow the mixer down and add the sour cream and flour gradually: 3 tbsp of flour, allow to mix, 1 tbsp of sour cream, allow to mix, and so on, until they are all mixed in and there is a  smooth batter.
4. Combine all of the filling ingredients together.
5. Put half of the batter in the baking tin. Top evenly with the filling. Top with the remainder of the batter.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Corn and Cheese Muffins

These savory muffins are full of delicious corn and cheesy goodness. They are easy to make and delicious for both adults and kids. They freeze quite well, so you can make a bunch and defrost when you want them.

They have so little flour that it's easy to make a gluten free version by using any neutral GF flour. 

Corn and Cheese Muffins

Ingredients (for 18-20 muffins):

- 800 grams (about 1.5 lbs) frozen sweet corn kernels or canned corn (not cream corn).
- 250 grams/8 oz cottage cheese (in most places this is a standard small container, but you may want to check your measurements).
- 200 ml/about 8 oz sour cream (again, a standard small container will usually be fine).
- 200 grams/7 oz grated cheese (you can use any mild semi-hard cheese such as a mild cheddar or mozzarella).
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup regular flour (you can use any gluten free flour of your choice).
-  1 tbsp canola oil
- salt

Preparation: 
1. Prepare a muffin tin (preferably a large one with 20 spaces, but you can also make this in batches) by spraying it with oil or otherwise greasing it. Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F.

2. Place the corn (frozen or canned) in a sieve and rinse to defrost/wash. Drain and put in a large bowl.

3. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well to create a batter.

4. Spoon the batter generously into the muffin tin (the batter will not rise very much, so you want to fill the 'cups' of the tin to capacity).

5. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until golden-brown and firm. Allow to cool a bit before removing from tin.

The muffins can be stored in the fridge or frozen.

Enjoy!

Gazpacho (chilled tomato soup)

Gazpacho is the ultimate summer dish. It's not only cold and refreshing to eat, it's also cold and refreshing to make, as it doesn't require turning on the oven or stove.
It is quite an easy dish as long as you have a good blender or food processor. Without either one, it's quite a lot of work and won't have quite the right texture.

There are lots of versions of gazpacho out there, but I used this one as my base.

Here I garnished it with finely diced cucumbers and onions as well as some lightly browned almond slivers, but you can garnish it with lots of other things.

Gazpacho is at it's best if allowed to rest overnight in the fridge, so that all the flavors combine. But you can eat it as soon as it's ready if you like.

Gazpacho

 

Ingredients (for 4-6 portions): 

- About 6 medium tomatoes (1 kilo/2 lbs), preferably very red and ripe. 
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 medium or 2 small cucumbers, peeled.
- 1/2 red onion, peeled
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 medium Jalapeno or other hot pepper, deseeded
- 1/3 cup of olive oil, preferably extra virgin
- 1 handful of almonds and 1 slice of bread (gluten free is fine) OR 2 slices of bread OR 2 handfuls of almonds
- 3 tbsp of lemon juice or a light vinegar such as sherry vinegar or cider vinegar (but not balsamic).
- Salt and pepper, to taste.
- Water or ice cubes, as needed. 
- For garnish (choose any combination of these, or nothing at all): finely diced cucumbers, finely diced tomatoes, finely diced onion, finely diced hard-boiled egg, croutons, lightly browned almonds.

Preparation: 

1) chop all of the vegetables into a large chunks. If using bread, cut the bread into small chunks.

2) Put the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion, garlic, jalapeno, olive oil, almonds/bread and lemon juice/vinegar into a food processor or blender, and blend until you get a relatively smooth mixture (although it will still have a bit of texture, especially with the almonds).

3) Season with salt and pepper. If you would like a slightly runnier texture, add a little bit of water (but not much!) at this point. If you plan to eat the gazpacho right away and would like it to be really cold, add a few ice cubes (but only if your blender can handle them!). Blend some more to get the seasoning mixed in and the ice (if using) fully crushed.

4) Serve with the desired garnish and a drizzle of olive oil.

Wine Poached Pears with a Chocolate Bottom

Poached pears are a classic dessert, but this versions adds a lovely chocolate surprise that makes them even more delicious. It also has the advantage of being both vegan and gluten free.

Wine Poached Pears with a Chocolate Bottom

Ingredients (for 6-8 servings): 

-  6-8 smallish pears
-  1 bottle wine, preferably medium-dry. You can use red or white. If you use red, the pears will take on the color. I used white here.
- 1/2 cup sugar(with a bit extra as needed)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (or one stick cinnamon)
- a pinch of ground cloves or a few whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger (or some slices of ginger)
-  200 grams/7 oz high quality dark chocolate (if you want to make this vegan, make sure you use a vegan chocolate)
- Almonds or other nuts of your choice, finely ground (optional)
- Finely shredded coconut (optional)

Preparation: 

1. Make the wine syrup: in a wide flat pot combine the wine, sugar and spices. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Check if the syrup is sweet enough and add a bit more sugar if not. It should be somewhat sweet but not overly so.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the pears: slice the bottom off of each pear, so that they can stand. Using a paring knife or a melon-baller to take out the core of the pear from the bottom, trying to leave as much of the flesh intact as possible. Peel each pear from the top down, leaving the stem.

3. Place the pears in the pot, bottom down, and poach for about 10 minutes, then plop the pears on their sides so that the tops cook properly as well. The pears are ready when you can easily stick a toothpick or fork into the flesh, but they do not fall apart and still retain their shape. Do NOT overcook them. Remove from heat and allow the pears to cool down inside the liquid. When the pears are cool enough to touch, remove them with a slotted spoon (or by gently taking them out with the stems) - reserving the liquid -  and place them on a plate to dry off. Take a clean empty plate and place it in the freezer to use in prepping the pears.

4.  Reduce the syrup: put the pot with the liquid back on a medium flame, and cook until it is somewhat thickened and reduced by about half. Remove from heat and reserve the liquid.

5. Melt the chocolate in a relatively small heat-proof bowl, either in a double boiler or in the microwave. (You want to make sure that the bowl is small enough that you can easily dip the pears in the chocolate). In a bowl or on a plate combine the almonds/nuts and coconut.

6. When the pears are relatively dry, take the clean plate out from the freezer. Gently take each pear by the stem or top, and dip the bottom in the chocolate. Try to make sure that the chocolate not only covers the bottom of the pear but also fills the hollow core. Dip the chocolate covered pear in the nut mixture, and place on the cold plate to harden. Do this for all the pears.

7. Allow the pears to harden on the plate. If it's a warm day or the chocolate won't harden, refrigerate the pears for a bit to help the process. Serve each pear on a plate with some of the reduced syrup. You can also add some nice ice cream to make it even better.