Quinoa Cake w/ Basil, Lemon and Goat Cheese

QUINOA CAKES

I wanted to create a really simple, healthy and tasty way to use up leftover quinoa.  This is a pretty forgiving recipe, so doctor it up any way you like.  I made a sweet and a savory cake.  Simple!

I kept these cakes pretty minimal and plain so we just get that whole quinoa goodness.  A magical thing happens when you mix the beaten egg into the grain…it starts to get very wet and after a few minutes binds pretty well.  But I think a little flour of some sort really helps bind the quinoa…I like using semolina regular flour or, hey, QUINOA FLOUR could be used as well!  Play with this recipe a bit, it is great fun!

1.5 C cooked quinoa
1 jumbo egg, beaten
1/3 Cup Flour (semolina, quinoa, all purpose…whatevs)

OK, that’s the basic ratio.  A “jumbo” egg is a big egg…the biggest one you’ve got.  If you think your eggs are on the small side (like most of the ones I buy at the farmer’s market) you will want to add about half of another egg or cut back on the quinoa a little.  Stir your beaten egg into the quinoa with a fork, fold in the flour and let it sit for about five minutes.  It’ll really start to bind now.  Time to add your flavorings, here are the ingredient lists for both my sweet and savory cakes:

Savory

2 tsp sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/3 C cheese
1/4 C basil, torn
2 tsp lemon zest
Salt and Pepper to taste

Sweet

1/3 C nuts, chopped
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 C mixed berries
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whether you go sweet or savory the method for cooking these babies is the same.

Melt a little butter or heat up some oil in pan (about a teaspoon, just a light coating) on medium to medium-high heat and add a 1/3 C scoop of the batter.  You can tamp it down a bit to form a round cake.  Let this ride for a good 4 minutes before flipping.  If the cake breaks, gently press it back together with you spatula…it’ll be OK.  After another 4 minutes on the second side the cake should be good to go.  You’ll have a nicely seared and browned surface on the top and bottom and a soft-n-warm quinoa good ness on the inside.  Salty or sweet, morning or night, these are a delicious way to eat quinoa!

Quinoa

QUINOA

The basic recipe for cooking quinoa is very simple—nearly identical to rice only less time involved.

1 part quinoa
2 parts water

Place the quinoa in a sieve and give it a good rinsing.  I usually run it under the tap and massage it with my fingers for several turns.

Boil the water in a saucepot and add the quinoa.  Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer.  Place a lid on the pot but leave it cracked open a little to let steam escape.

After 15 minutes most the liquid should be absorbed into the grain, remove the pot from the heat and fluff the quinoa with a fork.  Taste it…if you want it softer texture, simple cover the pot and let sit for about 5 minutes.  Serve it up!

POTATOES!  What else would P stand for?  This is another one of the MUST BE ORGANIC veggies out there…so watch, listen, learn and cook!  YUM!

Papas Arrugadas in the Canary Islands

Ah, sweet comfort!

Yummy, yum, yum.  I love the potato and I hate the freaks who turned everyone into haters.  Even if the potato was really bad for you, I’d still eat it.  I mean, come on, WHAT TASTES BETTER than a bowl of mashers, a side dish of perfectly roasted and seasoned wedges, or a cone of fries with sea salt?  Soft, crunchy, starchy, pillowy…POTATOES make you feel great!

ONLY GO ORGANIC!  That’s right.  This is one of those crops with a whole lot of nasty chemical use on the farm, and it’s really important that you stick with the OG potatoes.  Pretty frustrating too ‘coz potatoes are everywhere.  If you eat out at a restaurant you are not likely to get a healthy, chemical free spud.  Even so, I know it’s hard to pass up French fries or breakfast potatoes.  But at home you have control, so only buy organic potatoes.

If you find yourself stuck with non-organic potatoes, I’d recommend peeling them.  When the spuds are harvested they are sprayed with chemicals to stop the eyes from growing, so get rid of that skin as best you can.  Of course, with the skin goes the nutrition!  Contrary to popular hysteria, potatoes have some nutritional benefits like potassium, iron, niacin, lysine, vitamins C and B6 and complex carbohydrates.  But, it’s all packed in the skin so quit peeling your potatoes! Eat those skins.

Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are actually low on the list of critical organics.  You can eat your non OG yams and sweet potatoes and not worry so much.  I love sweet potatoes, especially whole roasted ones and their sweet, caramelized earthy goodness.  They’re kinda chewy on the outside and so soft and light inside.  Sweet potatoes are also great pureed and fried…I’ve even been known to do some mean oven roasted fries by tossing matchsticks in olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and throwing them in a hot oven for a half hour.

Sweet potatoes are available most of the year though they’ve become synonymous with autumn feasting.  They’re actually a warm-weather crop and harvested before cold weather sets in, when cured and stored properly (at 60 degrees) they’ll last for months.  So think beyond the holiday table and eat them more often!

What is it about the white potato that we love so much?  I think it is the ultimate comfort food.  Everyone has memories of eating potatoes at some time.  They’re versatile and take on other flavors quite well—absorbing what you cook them with.  They can be soft or crunchy—even at the same time and I think these are two mouthfeels people crave.

On the show I did one of the easiest dishes ever:  roasted potatoes with salt and rosemary.  Extremely simple, fast to prepare and oh so rewarding.  The pommes anna on the other hand is a bit more complicated but by no means difficult.  Usually done with white russet potatoes, I got extra funky and used sweet potatoes.  I love the way these cook up with the time and the butter…a perfect cast iron sear on the bottom!  Delicious and worth the investment in time.  A perfect pairing for any roast meat or other veg!

Don’t neglect the potato!  You know you love it; you know you’ve missed it.  Ignore the carbo-phobes and bring the spud back into your kitchen!  Dive into some healthy, organic potatoes and make your tummy happy!

Sweet Potato Pommes Anna

Pommes Anna w Sweet Potatoes!

A French classic.  The key to this is getting razor thin slices of potatoes.  Again, I recommend a mandolin, but a veggie peeler will do the trick, just be careful please!

Traditionally this is to be done with white potatoes (like a russet) but I love the way the sweetness comes through and meshes with the thyme and the charred bits and the butter.  SO FRAGRANT and SO IMPRESSIVE!

3 lbs sweet potatoes
1 stick butter, melted
Several sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Once again, crank your oven up to 400 degrees.  Bust out a mandolin or a veggie peeler and start slicing those spuds as thin as you can get ‘em.  I leave the skins on but do not use pieces that are nothing but skin.

ON the show I use a cast iron skillet, but any pan will work for this.  A pie pan is a great idea!  Brush a little butter into the bottom of the pan and in a circular motion, fan a single layer of sliced potatoes across the bottom.  Brush these with more butter and throw about a half-teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves on top.  Cover this with another later of potatoes in the same pattern.  Brush that with butter, add more thyme, add a good pinch of salt.  Take the palm of your hand and press down on the potatoes—a little compression as you go helps keep things together.  Our end result will be a nicely compressed, flat cake of potato goodness.  CONTINUE ON!  You are going to keep layering like this this, fan after fan of potatoes, butter, thyme and salt, potatoes, butter, thyme, salt.  COMPRESS, keep pressing down after every two or three layers of potatoes are down.

Do this till you are out of potatoes (or energy).  Pop that bad boy into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes.  I’d take at peep at 30 minutes, if the top is browning too much cover it with piece of aluminum foil—particularly important if you op to do this with white potatoes.  When a knife or fork pierces through the potato cake easily, you know it is done.  Carefully place a plate over your pan and flip it over, the cake should come out and onto the pan and look, smell and taste beautifully!