This recipe was published in the August 2011 issue of Bon Appétit Magazine. Bon Appétit describes this recipe as "Our lighter take on the Gilroy Garlic Fries at the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park forgoes the deep fryer in favor of a hot oven." My hometown of Monterey, California is no more than a 30 minute drive to Gilroy, California-- home of the Garlic Festival. Drive another 1 1/2 hours north, and I'm in San Francisco. I've never been to the AT&T Park, so I've never experienced these particular fries. However, I'm a garlic lovin' fool and I am always on the lookout for baked oven fries. Fries are one of my guilty pleasures, you see. While I'm not 100% thrilled with my final photos of these baked fries (we were hungry and I didn't want these to get cold), I still wanted to share this fast and simple way of making garlic fries that are really delicious-- and I didn't miss the deep-fryer version of fries that I've been known to make at home (about once a year):
I scaled the recipe in half by using two Russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into planks.
Toss potatoes with 2½ tablespoons oil in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet. Roast the potatoes, turning occasionally, until browned and tender, about 30 minutes. Increase heat to 500°. Continue roasting until fries are deep brown in spots, about 5 more minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk ½ tablespoons oil, garlic, and parsley in a large bowl.
NOTE: My garden flat-leaf parsley is finished for the season, so I used my curly parsley. Just a minor adaption...
Add hot fries, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
VERDICT: Hubs and I both enjoyed these baked fries. What I liked about this recipe was tossing the baked fries in with a bit of oil and freshly minced garlic. I also didn't need to pre-cook the fries in the microwave , as with my earlier Garlic Oven Fries. I think it would be fun to use some seasoning salt and even more garlic. Super easy. Excellent recipe.
A printable recipe is at the end of this post.
Saturday, I'm out the door bright and early for a pasta making class. I get to bring my Atlas pasta maker, and I will to learn how to make ravioli. My camera battery is charging, and I look forward to sharing that with you.
I think my cooking mojo is back. I have a backlog of several recipes that I need to post, this coming week. For some reason, during the summer months, we do a lot of grilling. We don't get very fancy, really-- because we're both tired when we get home from work. Most any kind of well-seasoned grilled meat, and whatever vegetables are in our fridge, makes a perfect meal for us. The meals I've been making are so simple and unfussy, that I don't feel it's interesting enough to blog about them. Hence, I get a little lazy about making a new summer dinner recipe. I think that it's Fall and Winter, when I start to create different soup recipes, braised dinners, stews and home baked breads. So, I found myself wanting to break free of the grilling ho-hums.
We enjoy grilling red meat, but I try not limit how often we do that. I starting searching through my saved recipes and I settled on this turkey burger recipes. What seems like ages ago, I had bookmarked this recipe that was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. (Would you believe I still haven't watched her final three shows? That's how little time I have to watch television, these days.) I digress. Oprah was raving how she had the best turkey burger, ever, at Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach. The Donald and his chef were invited to share the recipe with Oprah's viewers. I decided to finally see for myself what all the hoopla was about this recipe:
The first step is to sauté scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool.
The ground turkey is then seasoned with salt & pepper, hot sauce and Major Grey's Chutney. Only, my chutney comes from Trader Joe's. Close enough. Lemon zest and juice is also added.
Because I'm rebellious, at times, I reversed the recipe directions and added the cooked veggies and apples last...and then some fresh chopped parsley. I scaled the recipe down to make four patties. Turkey burgers can be a challenge to work with. They're very soft and can fall apart very easily. After pressing an indentation in the middle (a little Bobby Flay trick I learned), I borrowed something I've seen the fine folks at Cook's Illustrated do--I froze the patties for about 15 minutes.
The recommended grilling time is seven minutes per side, plus 5 minutes for the meat to "rest".
Because the patties were partially frozen, it took about an extra 4 minutes of grilling time. My husband said that the patties were easy to work with, since they the freezer had firmed them. These were cooked to about 160F and they continued to cook as they rested, loosely covered in foil.
I slathered a bit of Poupon Mustard, a touch of mayo and a dab of chutney on the patties. I picked one of our paltry tomatoes (we've had one of the coolest and overcast summers that I can ever remember) and some onion. Look closely and you'll see a golden raisin that was in the chutney.
Of course, fries goes beautifully with burgers. I made a new recipe for oven-roasted garlic fries and they were fantastic! (That recipe will be posted next.)
VERDICT: Okay, I get it, Oprah. This is a really good turkey burger! The apples add a lot of moisture to the lean ground turkey, but you really don't taste them. The lemon zest really came through-- and I think next time, I'd add a little less as I don't want that to be the dominant flavor. In fact, I think lime would be a great alternative! The chutney adds a little bit of sweet to the mix, while the hot sauce kicks up the flavor a notch. If I do say so myself, I need to get busy and make some more of my own peach chutney (that has red bell pepper) to this burger. The bonus is that this is healthy burger, especially if I had whole wheat buns.
I'll definitely add this recipe to our grilling menu. Is this the best burger ever? Ever is pretty absolute, so I don't use that word as liberally as others do. I'd say it's a great burger, and I'm glad I can make my own at my humble home. I doubt that Donald Trump will be inviting me to dine at Mar-A-Lago. How about you?
One of my favorite cooking magazines is "Cuisine At Home". If you've never seen an issue, please order a free preview issue from their website! (I'm not sponsored by this magazine, nor am I being paid to say this. I just believe that when something is really good, it deserves a shout.) The format of the magazine is missing something. Ads! Each page has step-by-step photos and recipes that can be a little bit fussy, along with plenty of very simple recipes. Like the family of Cook's Illustrated's publications, their issues teach and inspire me to cook or bake recipes that are new to me.
This June issue has several recipes that are on my radar. I've already made a few of them, but my laptop is giving me some trouble. My husband, who has a career working with computers, is as bumfuzzled as I am frustrated with my laptop not being able to recognize USB ports! Hence, I can't upload photos to my laptop! It's been well over a week, so I've had to resort to a painstaking workaround. I am confident the problem will be fixed-- someday. Hence, I have recipes and photographs that are backed up and I'm anxious to share with you. This recipe is very simple, and needs only four ingredients-- other than salmon. I didn't have to take a lot of photos, so this recipe is being posted first.
I spotted fresh wild-caught sockeye salmon at Whole Foods. At $18.00 a pound, it sounds very pricey. However, I've read enough information about the dangers of farmed-fish, and so I splurged. I paid about $6.00 per fillet. I particularly love the beautiful red color of sockeye salmon -- unlike the cheaper farm-raised salmon that has red-dye injected into it. You didn't know? It's something to think about...
Simple seasonings-- coarse salt & fresh cracked pepper.
The basting sauce consists of Pure Maple Syrup (not pancake syrup, please), bourbon, unsalted butter and cider vinegar. (The cider vinegar adds acidity, which balances the rich sweetness of the baste.) Simply boil the ingredients over medium-high heat until thickened (3 minutes).
Grill fillets, covered, 3 minutes. Flip fillets, baste with maple glaze and grill until firm to the touch, 2-3 minutes more.
TASTING NOTES: The salmon was moist, and the basting sauce had gentle notes of sweet. The bourbon wasn't overpowering at all (as a side note-- I'm not a bourbon drinker in any way!). I appreciated the simplicity of the basting sauce, the healthy Omega-3 fats from the salmon, and the summer color and flavors of fresh corn and tomatoes. As for my husband, he kept thanking me for the dinner I made for us. He said it made him feel good. I know what he means. It's a guilt-free kind of meal that leaves your appetite feeling satisfied and not overstuffed!
For the next two weeks, I will be working a "day shift" at my job-- I'm so excited! That means, I can be home before 6pm, rather than 9pm-- I think my family is even more excited to have my home-cooked dinners. I look forward to having more time to catch up on writing and editing recipes and photos to share with you!
(Printable recipe cards are at the bottom of this post.)
Who doesn't love a fresh doughnut? I recall the first time I walked inside a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. It was the late 90's and we were in Southern California. My son's eyes grew as big as doughnuts as he watched freshly baked doughnuts coming out of vats of oil, and then roll down a conveyor belt and into a glaze "jacuzzi". As we both bit into a warm doughnut, we were in sugar heaven. I don't want to think about how many fat grams we indulged in, but they sure were good! It's a very good thing that we don't have a Krispy Kreme store anywhere less than a 90-minute drive away. There is a local doughnut shop (Red's Doughnuts) where we live that makes some of the tastiest assortment of doughnuts I've ever had. I avoid that place, because I wouldn't be able to decide between their custard-filled bar with chocolate glaze, applesauce, devil's food or glazed old-fashioned doughnuts. By sheer willpower, I've avoided doughnut shops for a few years, because I don't need the guilt of over-indulging. I love baked goods far more than I should. I have another weakness, however. It's called "Cost Plus/World Market" stores. We have two within 15 minutes of where I live and work. They send me coupons, and I can't let them go to waste.
At World Market, I spotted a Mini-Doughnut pan for about $10.00. I must have picked it up and set it back down several times. King Arthur Flour sells them for $15.95, plus shipping...and I had a coupon. I gave in, and it came home with me. This is the time of year when many of us try to lose those extra Thanksgiving and Christmas pounds. Still, a baked treat can't be all that bad. Can it? I settled on making a recipe for baked doughnuts that I found on the King Arthur Flour Recipe Website. I carefully read the reviews, many of which were positive. Whenever someone writes a negative review, I try to figure out what might have gone wrong and what can I do to improve it. I have a bag of Arrow Mills Organic Pastry Flour, so I decided to use that instead of cake flour. According to their website site, "it is made from soft wheat berries grown each Spring in the fertile San Luis Valley of Colorado, Arrowhead Mills Pastry Flour provides a finer texture and lighter consistency with low gluten content. It's perfect for flaky and delicate pastries and cakes." I keep 1% buttermilk on hand, so I decided not to use buttermilk powder.
Since the doughnuts won't be deep-fried, I read that it's important to heavily grease use a non-stick spray-- even though the pan is non-stick. Done.
The pastry flour is unbleached (and I never buy bleached flour). Though it has whole grain, it's milled very fine.
So, here are the dry ingredients-- pastry flour (you can use unbleached all-purpose, but pastry flour is supposed to yield a tender cake), nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder and sugar. For the wet ingredients, I used 3 Tablespoons of 1% Buttermilk, and 3 Tablespoons ofcanola oil (instead of vegetable oil).
I believe I've mentioned my addiction to the King Arthur Shopping Website, and I'm not paid to say so. I've also touted my fondness for their Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion. I can best describe the aroma as smelling like yellow cake batter. Trust me, you want to drink it, but I add a teaspoon of this to most of my baked goods. (Otherwise, I recommend adding 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.) I've been using their Cake Enhancer with great success. I don't fully understand the chemistry behind why it works, but it does-- it makes my cakes stay extra-moist, for several days. Pour the liquid ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
I gently folded the batter, but didn't work up the gluten. (That makes for tough pastries, ya know). You can see the wheat in the flour, because of the dark brown color. There is pastry flour that has less wheat it in it, so use that if you prefer. Some reviewers suggested pouring the batter into a ziploc bag (I was too lazy busy to dig out my pastry bags).
I was cautioned not to overfill each well, or the "whole" would fuse together and it won't look like a doughnut. I think you could spoon these in just as well.
Bake the doughnuts in a preheated 375°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. When done, they’ll spring back when touched lightly, and will be quite brown on the top. (Mine took about 9 minutes.)
Remove the doughnuts from the oven, remove them from the pan, and allow them to cool on rack. To me, they looked like flat muffins. I wasn't sure if I was impressed. I could have dipped them in melted chocolate and called it a day. I could have sprinkled them, and that would have been lovely. But, I'm trying to make these as guilt-free as possible.
I decided to go with cinnamon-sugar. Since the doughnuts weren't fried in oil, I decided to spritz them, lightly, with some water (rather than melted butter).
That did the trick! I brewed a cup of coffee and decided to give these a taste test.
VERDICT: At first bite, I thought the doughnut was less than exciting. I questioned my wisdom in using a whole wheat pastry flour. They were tender, yes, but I wasn't digging the wheatiness of the flavor. I was underwhelmed, as was my husband. But, wait! The very next morning, something magical happened when I tried them again. The doughnuts were stored in an air-tight container, the night before. The flavor had changed, and to the better! In all honesty, these baked doughnuts won't fool any kind of doughnut connoisseur. But, with a cup of hot coffee these remind me a bit of Mexican Churros (without the grease).
I see possibilities with this recipe, and I'll try them again. Next tie, I'll use regular pastry flour, or a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose. Rather than glazing these, or dipping them in melted chocolate-- I'll just make the real thing if I'm going to spring for a fat and sugar-rush of that caliber. Sometimes, you just have to indulge in a traditional doughnut and I plan to make traditional doughnuts, in the future-- just so I can say I learned how to do it. This recipe is certainly quick to put together, and a lot less messier than heating oil. They're also easier on the arteries and waistline, and that's a good thing. On a scale of 1-5 for flavor, I give these 3 1/2 stars. With some tweaking, next time, I think these could earn an extra star or two.
Is it safe to come out, now that the holidays are over? Don't get me wrong-- I'm not a Grinch during the month of December. This Christmas, however, will go down in my personal history as the day that my appetite disappeared for two weeks. The sight or thought of food did absolutely nothing for me, can you believe it?! Apparently a new medicine that my doctor prescribed decided to kick in on Christmas Eve. My husband watched, with a perplexed look, as I two two bites of my slow-roasted prime rib. The creamed spinach and special potatoes amounted to about 1 teaspoon of each. I didn't even photograph the finished meal because I felt queasy and downright miserable. My appetite is slowly returning, and I've lost 12 pounds since December 1st. It's a good thing, but I also know it's important that I eat-- so I have to psyche myself into eating. (I'll explain more at the bottom of this post about my newly diagnosed Diabetes to spare those of you who want to pass on my stories of injecting a new drug and my progress.)
I made this dish in early December, while I had already begun my pre-holiday goal of eating healthier and dropping some pounds. Time, and my appetite setback, got in the way of posting this. Now that I can enjoy looking at food again, I'm happy to share this recipe with you. While organizing the photos, I could recall how much I loved the flavor of this dish. I had bookmarked this Cook's Illustrated recipe several months ago and then I stumbled across it again. Per Cook's Illustrated, "authentic versions call for a 24-hour marinade and a tandoor, a traditional beehive-shaped clay oven—requirements that keep the dish mainly in the realm of restaurants." In the method of CI that I love so much, they set out to reinvent this Indian classic into a recipe that could be made year-round in the oven. This is how they did it:
We begin with 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks, or a mix, with breasts cut in half), trimmed of excess fat and skin removed.
Garam Masala is a key component for this recipe. I'm still learning about Indian cooking, so it wasn't until I made Cook's Illustrated's Tikka Masala dish, I wasn't familiar with garam masala. According to CI, "Though there are countless variations of garam masala, the warm flavors (garam means “warm” or “hot” and masala means “spice blend”) dominating this Indian spice blend are consistent: black pepper, dried chiles, cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander are staples, while cloves, cumin, fennel, mace, and nutmeg frequently turn up as supporting players." Finding this spice blend has become much easier. I found mine at my local supermarket.
You need yogurt, to marinate the chicken with. I used Greek Non-Fat yogurt, because I love how thick and rich it is.
You also need chili powder and cumin...
There's a little more prep work to go-- you need the juice of two limes, freshly minced garlic and ginger...
Using sharp knife, lightly score skinned side of each piece of chicken, making 2 or 3 shallow cuts about 1 inch apart and about 1/8 inch deep; transfer to bowl. The prep work took me about 30 minutes, between washing my hands a lot while taking photos. Ready?
We're going to "bloom" the spices and reserve half as a rub, and the other half to flavor the yogurt that we'll marinate the chicken with. Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
The aroma is packed with so much flavor! We're just getting started...
Transfer half of garlic-spice mixture to medium bowl; stir in yogurt and 2 tablespoons lime juice and set aside. In large bowl, combine remaining garlic-spice mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and salt. I didn't photograph the next step of using my hands to gently massage salt-spice mixture into chicken until all pieces are evenly coated; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.(It's a bit messy and I didn't want to get my camera all dirty.) Pour yogurt mixture over chicken and toss until chicken is evenly coated with thick layer.
Next, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat oven to 325 degrees.
Arrange chicken pieces, scored-side down, on wire rack set in foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture.
Bake chicken until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 125 degrees for breasts and 130 for legs and thighs, 15 to 25 minutes. (Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces. Transfer chicken pieces to plate as they reach correct temperature.) After removing chicken from oven, turn oven to broil and heat 10 minutes.
The broiler is ready...
Once broiler is heated, flip chicken pieces over and broil until chicken is lightly charred in spots and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees for breasts and 175 for legs and thighs, 8 to 15 minutes.
The method of broiling the chicken mimics the way that juices fall, in a tandoor oven, on the coals along with rendered fat, creating smoke that flavors the food.
My husband loves Indian food. He was both surprised and thrilled to see his "Foodiewife" making a dish I'm really not familiar with. I admit, I was looking forward to tasting this dinner.
VERDICT: When my husband really likes the flavor of something, he let's out a slow moan. I smiled, as he savored the flavor of this dish and he complimented me over and over again. My husband can handle really spicy food much better than I can. On a scale of 1-5, the heat of this dish is about a 2.5. If you love to breathe fire, you might want to kick up the spice heat. To me, it was perfect. This is not boring chicken! It was tender, flavorful and very healthy. I loved this dish so much, that I'm going to pay closer attention to learning how to make more Indian dishes. I am really bonding with the traditional Indian spice combination, and I look forward to adding more spices to my pantry. Cook's Illustrated did it again-- they figured out how to make juicy, lightly charred, well-seasoned meat with just the right degree of tenderness. A printable recipe card is at the very bottom of this post.
In closing, here's a bit of personal sharing on my newly diagnosed Type II diabetes. (Feel free to skip this paragraph and go to the recipe card, and I won't feel offended.) I'm on a very new type of medicine that I need to inject once a day, called Victoza. Having watched my son inject himself with insulin for the last twelve years, I had no problem learning how to inject myself with Victoza. The drugs works great, in that my glucose levels are normal again. The side effects, though, reminded me of morning sickness when I was pregnant in 1988. The nausea has pretty much calmed down, but I just don't feel hungry most of the time. I'm very blessed to have Dr. Allen King as my endocrinologist. Dr. King is one of the foremost experts on diabetes, and his office is in my hometown. He is the author of The Diabetic Bible, and I trust his knowledge of this disease. Emotionally, I'm okay. While I fully understand that Diabetes is not caused by obesity, and it's a genetic predisposition-- my goal is to lose enough weight with the hope that I won't need to take medication. Dr. King says we'll take that one day at a time. In the meantime, I'm doing my water aerobics at least four days a week, and some weight training with a personal trainer. Thanks for listening.
I can still eat the things I love, by the way. I'm not giving up baking, nor nibbling on a home baked cookie or two. The word "moderation" has taken on a meaning as a healthier way of life. I can do this! Heck, I'm doing it now!
I have been unable to visit my favorite food blogs for weeks-- and I apologize if I haven't personally responded to those of you who have left such kind comments for me. Believe me, I want to. Work has been very busy for me, and I pretty much hit the sack shortly after I arrive home at the end of my night shift.
I'm going to try and post more recipes, to make up for my absence. I've miss you guys!
, and I trust his knowledge of this disease. Emotionally, I'm okay. While I fully understand that Diabetes is not caused by obesity, and it's a genetic predisposition-- my goal is to lose enough weight with the hope that I won't need to take medication. Dr. King says we'll take that one day at a time. In the meantime, I'm doing my water aerobics at least four days a week, and some weight training with a personal trainer.
