Category: Dairy

Spicy Tuna Melt Twice Baked Potatoes

I think I subconsciously invented this dish sometime back in grade school. Remember how they always served tuna with french fries and ketchup? It sounds weird, I know, but somehow it just goes! If you think about it, tuna patties are often mixed with mashed potatoes (along with other veggies), so it’s not that far fetched. And anything smothered in ketchup is a child’s dream dish.

I’ve had my fill of ketchup as a kid, but now I’m all about a different kind of bottled red sauce – sriracha! If you’ve never tried amping up your tuna salad with some heat, you don’t know what you’re missing. I am a spicy tuna girl all the way! I’ve added harissa, schug, sriracha and hot sauce to spice up my tuna – and they all do the perfect job in adding flavor and heat to boring-old tuna and mayo.

Now that you’ve got the baked potato and spicy tuna idea down pat – here comes the cheddar! When it comes to the classic tuna melt, you’re either a tuna melt person or you’re not. Some people are grossed out by the idea of mixing fish and cheese – and I get that. If that’s you – go ahead and leave out the cheese and go pareve on this one. Spicy tuna loaded baked potatoes are still delish.

Although if you ARE a tuna melt kind of person, then get ready to be blown away! I love how such humble ingredients create this dish of pure comfort food. Who says you can’t indulge on the cheap – you sure can!

When I do baked potato night for dinner, I try to mix it up for variation around the table. I’ll do broccoli and cheddar (of course), tuna (with ketchup for the kids, sriracha for me!), baked beans, avocado and salsa, and of course plain ole salt and butter. You can never go wrong with that!

If you want to go all out on the cheese sauce, try making my harissa cheddar sauce to top off some steamed broccoli or baked beans. Can you tell I’m a little obsessed with spicy?

OK, I can go on and on about potatoes, and tuna, and cheese – but lets face it – we’re in The Nine Days, so what else are you making for dinner this week? I’ve got you covered with a Nine Days category, Pinterest board and of course updates on my Facebook and Instagram pages!

So far, I’ve made bruschetta tilapia with basil-almond pesto zoodles (those recipes are in my ebook) and Linguini Lasagna for the kiddies. Tonight it’s gonna be vegetarian chili and cornbread pie. Tomorrow, I plan to tackle tofu for the first time with a marinated Asian tofu with stir fried veggies and rice noodles. Any tips for a tofu novice like me?

I’ll be finishing the week with my tuna nicoise patties, green bean salad and roasted potatoes (also in my ebook) and then onto some meat again for Shabbat (thankfully!). What are you making for dinner this week? I’d love to hear! And please share your favorite baked potato fillings too!

Spicy Tuna Melt Twice Baked Potatoes

2 russet potatoes
2 cans tuna in water
1/4 c mayonnaise
2 heaping tbsp chives
2-3 tsp sriracha (depending on the level of heat you like)
1 cup shredded Natural & Kosher cheddar cheese

Method:

Scrub the potatoes and pat dry. Pierce several times with a fork to allow steam to escape during cooking (this prevents them from exploding in the oven). Rub with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 1 hr, until they pierce easily with a fork.

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, leaving a thin border so it holds the shape. Add potato flesh, tuna, mayo, sriracha and chives to a bowl and mix to combine. Divide the tuna between the 4 potato halves and top with shredded cheddar. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted. Drizzle with additional sriracha, if desired.

VARIATION: for a kid-friendly version, omit sriracha and use ketchup instead.


This post was sponsored by Natural & Kosher Cheese. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, or via their Blog

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Goat Cheese Ice Cream

We all have bucket lists – things we hope to accomplish one day, dreams we hope to bring to reality. I’d love to visit Italy, tour the South of France, and live on a farm. I’d also love to go grape stomping, write a cookbook, and sell baby hats on Etsy (I’m weird, I know).

My foodie bucket list is a whole ‘nother story of things I want to accomplish in the kitchen. It used to be really long, but I’ve slowly been making my way through. In the past year, I’ve made pasta from scratch, filleted and cooked a whole fish, butchered a duck (and made confit), mastered omelettes and egg poaching, made falafel from scratch (with raw garbanzo beans!), made all kinds of nut butters, cooked a killer risotto, and learned to make a spicy Pad Thai.

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do, was make my own ice cream. Last year, my cousin gave me a gift certificate to chefscatalog.com for my birthday (I know, she’s amazing, right?) and I decided to buy myself an ice cream machine. As soon as the box arrived in the mail, I froze the ice cream bowl and went straight to work making some of the recipes that were included with the machine. I made classic vanilla, strawberry and coffee ice cream – each of which was delicious. But I wanted more.

So I started experimenting with my own ingredients to come up with unique flavors like guava and persimmon. Making ice cream from scratch was fun and exciting, but like many hobbies, my passion dwindled and my ice cream maker got lost somewhere way-up-high in the pantry. As the weather began to warm up, I decided to dust off my machine once again and up the ante on my ice cream making skills. Instead of making a ice cream with a base of heavy cream, I decided to challenge myself to making creme anglaise – a custard made of milk, sugar and eggs that is often used to make ice cream. One more thing to check off my bucket list.

No one said that mastering cooking techniques was easy. I must have gone through 2 dozen eggs and 4 quarts of milk until I managed to make a custard base that didn’t curdle. But practice makes perfect, and this creamy, yet mildly tangy cheesecake ice cream is living proof.

So what’s left on my bucket list? Well, I want to make my own kimchi, learn to can my own jam, make marshmallows from scratch, make authentic French macaroons, learn to use a smoker, eat more Indian food (make naan!), make my own sausage, play around with doughs (from galletes, to gourmet challah and homemade pita), cook a whole turkey for Thanksgiving (can you believe I’ve never done that?!), expand my knowledge of cheese & wine, eat more polenta, cook with (kosher) bacon, and experiment with plantains.

I’m sure I’m leaving out at least 100 other things, but lets see how far I get this year! In the meantime, I’m relishing the fruits of my labor with this unbelievably creamy and decadent dessert made from Natural & Kosher chevre goat cheese. I couldn’t think of a better way to end a dairy meal on the holiay of Shavuot. Chag Sameach!

Goat Cheese Ice Cream

4 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
8 oz Natural & Kosher goat cheese
fresh fruit, or compote, for serving

Method:

Set a large fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and set the bowl in larger bowl of ice water.

Add the milk, sugar and honey to a large saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean and add the seeds and pods to the pot. Heat the milk mixture until sugar and honey are dissolved and small bubbles start to appear.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and slowly stream in 1/3 of the milk, whisking as your pour. Add the eggs/milk mixture slowly to the pot with the milk mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

Continue to cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, about 4-5 minutes. Watch carefully! If the mixture gets too hot, the eggs will curdle. Immediately strain the sauce into the bowl set over the ice water bath.

Add the goat cheese to the sauce and whisk until melted and incorporated. Pour it through the mesh strainer to filter out any bits of cheese.

Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight and pour into ice cream machine. Churn until mixture reaches the consistency of soft serve ice cream, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer.

Serve with moscato strawberries, apricot sauce, plum compote. strawberry rhubarb sauce or fresh fruit!


This post was sponsored by Natural & Kosher Cheese. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, or via their Blog

Other Shavuot Desserts:

blueberry apple crisp
sachlav rose water pudding
cinnamon buns with speculoos cream cheese frosting
classic cheesecake
sour cream chocolate chip cake

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Dairy Made Easy Cookbook Review & Giveaway

Leah Schapira & Victoria Dwek turn out new cookbooks faster than I develop recipes. Their latest addition to the Made Easy series is a fantastic collection of dairy recipes, just in time for Shavuot!

Like Starters & Sides Made Easy, Passover Made Easy, and Kids Cooking Made Easy, the Dairy edition is layed out in the same attractive, easy-to-read style. Even their cookbook-making skills seem made easy. They’ve mastered a template that provides a small soft-cover book that’s beautifully styled, easy to flip through, and filled with tips and tidbits, all without seeming overwhelming. The beautiful pictures draw you in and the down-to-earth recipes make you want to open your pantry right then-and-there to whip up one of their quick and easy dishes.

Besides for 60 easy-to-make recipes, you’ll also find a comprehensive cheese guide, a Make It Light section, a Make it Pareve Guide, and bonus serving ideas. Leah and Victoria fill each page with great tips, like how to measure frozen fruit, how to soften butter quickly or how to bake pizza without a pizza stone. They also share their thought processes and family anecdotes in a fun and friendly way.

What do I not want to make from this cookbook? It’s filled with mouthwatering recipes for breakfast, great starters & sides, soups, salads & sandwiches, and of course pizza, pasta and dessert (hello 180 calorie cheesecake!).

Some of the recipes I look forward to trying are the granola thins, arancini, sweet chili home fries, stuffed sole, French mushroom soup, hasselback baguette, honey pomodoro pizza, cajun creamy penne, cheese buns, peanut butter creme brulee and strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

In honor of the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, I’m giving away a free copy of the Dairy Made Easy cookbook! To enter, simply leave a comment below with your favorite Shavuot dish. You can also follow Busy In Brooklyn via any of the channels below for an extra entry. Just be sure to leave a note in the comment letting me know where you follow.

Facebook
Twitter
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Pinterest 

Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be chosen at random at 10:00 AM EST on Monday, May 26th, 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Roasted Veggie Pasta

from Dairy Made Easy by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek
Reprinted with permission from the copyright holders: ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications
http://www.artscroll.com/Products/DMEP.html

8 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 lb fusilli or penne pasta
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
2 red onions, cut into wedges
1 zucchini, cut into half moons
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp garlic powder
kosher salt, to taste
coarse black pepper, to taste
6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 Tbsp chopped fresh or frozen basil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a 9 x 13-inch pan, combine cherry tomatoes, red onions, and zucchini. Toss with olive oil and garlic powder. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add pasta to vegetables and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Preheat oven to broil and broil for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.
5. Add feta cheese and basil; stir to combine (the heat will melt the cheese). Serve hot or at room temperature.

Tips:

-You can add more veggies to the mix. We also love this pasta with red peppers instead of tomatoes.
-We made the pasta in this photo using broken lasagna sheets.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake

from Dairy Made Easy by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek
Reprinted with permission from the copyright holders: ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications
http://www.artscroll.com/Products/DMEP.html

12 servings

Batter:

1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Chocolate Nut Mixture:

1 (10­oz) bag chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10­inch tube pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and baking soda.
Sour cream should bubble and expand. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar.
Beat until light and creamy. Add eggs and extracts.
4. Add half the flour and baking powder. Add sour cream mixture,
then remaining flour. Beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. In a medium bowl, combine chocolate chips, walnuts,
cinnamon, and sugar. Sprinkle some of the chocolate nut mixture into the  pan. Add half the batter over it, then half of the remaining chocolate ­nut mixture. Add remaining batter and top cake with remaining chocolate­ nut mixture. Bake for 50­-60 minutes, until top is firm and crispy. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

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Zucchini Fries (Gluten Free)

We’re closing in on our series of pesto recipes with these crunchy gluten free zucchini fries! I love using zucchini because they are so low in calories and totally guilt free. To keep them diet friendly and gluten free, I used a chopped nut coating instead of breadcrumbs, and garbanzo bean flour instead of all purpose flour. But what really makes these zucchini fries different is the pesto. I could have went with eggwash to “glue” the crunchy nut coating onto the zucchini sticks, but with extra pesto in the fridge, I decided to give it a try. The results were so flavorful, I can’t imagine making it any other way!

There’s just something about fries that makes eating any vegetable fun, am I right? Good old russet potato fries used to be the only fries  on the brain but sweet potato fries have made it up there too. Personally, I’m a big fan of butternut squash fries,  and just recently, parsnips fries have topped my list of favorites as well. I must blog about those soon.

If you’re dieting and craving some crunch, these oven-fried zucchini fries are sure to hit the spot. Feel free to adapt the recipe to your specific diet! To make them dairy-free, just omit the parmesan and use more nuts instead. I like to use the same nuts as the ones in the pesto (I used Marcona almonds here), but you can experiement with pecans and walnuts too.

Zucchini Fries

2 zucchini, cut into sticks
1/4 cup flour (I used garbanzo flour)
1/2 cup pesto
2-4 tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup grated parmesan
marinara sauce, for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix the pesto with olive oil to thin it out. Add additional olive oil, if needed, depending on the thickness of the pesto.

Set up a dredging station with bowls of flour, pesto and ground nuts mixed with parmesan.

Dip the zucchini in flour, shake off excess and dip into pesto. Press the zucchini sticks into ground nuts/parmesan. Place on a greased cookie sheet and spray with oil (I use a Misto olive oil sprayer but you can use cooking spray). Bake for 15-20 minutes until browned and crispy.

Don’t like pesto? dip the zucchini in eggs seasoned with salt and pepper insead.

VARIATION: To make these nondairy, replace the parmesan with additional chopped nuts.

NOTE: for crisper fries, you can bake them on a rack set of a baking sheet.

Related Recipes:

zucchini parmesan chips
pesto pinwheels

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Pesto Baked Salmon

Of all the recipe requests I receive, it seems like salmon is that one dish that people get bored of rather quickly – me included. I’ve had my fill of honey mustard salmon, I’d rather not look at another piece of teriyaki salmon, and I’m all magic-salmoned-out. The good news is, I’ve got an endless variety of salmon ideas, so I can always pick something from under my chef’s hat (figuratively speaking, of course).

Truth be told, I’m really not the biggest fish person altogether. I won’t touch tilapia (bottom feeders freak me out), I don’t like sole, and I usually stay away from gefilte (is that even considered fish?). I tend to lean towards salmon, flounder, red snapper or seabass, when available. I’ve always wanted to try different types of fish, but they’re not readily available where I live. I’ve had whole bronzino in restaurants and halibut at my mom’s (she loves it!), but I’ve never tried grouper or mahimahi. Arctic Char is one of the best pieces of fish I’ve ever tried – I would love to find a place that carries it!

I’ve always wanted to bake my own whole fish stuffed with lemon and herbs – better yet, catch and fillet it myself. It’s just another one of those things on my bucket list – and I hope to do it one day. I’ve heard that the taste of freshly caught fish doesn’t compare to what we buy at the fishmonger. I can just imagine it smelling of the ocean istead of, well, fish. Don’t you just hate it when you open up a package and a fishy stench just hits you like a fishing rod!?

Back to the salmon – since it’s one of the few types of fish that I eat, I’m always coming up with new ways to eat it. This pesto-smothered-recipe came to me when I was on the South Beach diet and I needed to stay away from sweet sauces and sugar. For added crunch (without the panko carbs), I grind up some nuts (whichever nuts are in the pesto) and sprinkle it over the top. It adds great texture to the salmon!

Pesto Baked Salmon

salmon fillets
your favorite homemade or store-bought pesto
roughly chopped nuts (I like to use the same nuts that are in the pesto, to complement it)
grated parmesan cheese, optional
olive oil
lemon slices, for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the salmon and pat dry. Spread pesto over the salmon slices and sprinkle with chopped nuts and parmesan (if using). Drizzle olive oil over the fish and bake for 15-20 minutes, until salmon is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.

PAREVE VARIATION: to make this dish nondairy – use a pareve pesto and omit parmesan cheese.

Related recipes:

spinach, walnut and cheddar pesto
marcona almond & basil pesto
salmon pasta salad
salmon cakes with yogurt sauce

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