Delicious Spring Recipes

Spring is almost over! I can't believe it.

Well, onto some delicious spring/early summer recipes that I've stumbled upon...


Rhubarb Crisp is delicious. Rhubarb is for sure a seasonal fruit, and we had a whole bushel growing in our backyard for the picking. The young, tender red stalks are the best, but if you lack your own rhubarb plant, whole foods has plenty of stalks right now.

By the way, "fruit" is a pretty generous definition of a long thin stalk, but technically, rhubarb is a fruit.

This recipe from Food and Wine was tremendously delicious. I didn't even need any extra sugar!

Everyday Food Magazine - May 2009

Apologies for the late post - I started this draft ages ago and never got around to digging up all of the links! Better late than never....
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My June issue of EDF arrived much sooner than I expected. But that means, its time for me to recap May's issue. Sadly, I didn't try a single recipe out of this month! (As a lame excuse I offer the fact that I spent many evenings in the last month searching for a new apt, a subletter for my current apartment, and just generally fantasizing about my new kitchen. Somehow with all of that going on I really didn't pull out the mag to explore.) Worry not - I flagged plenty - so here's the recap:

The in-season food of the month was rhubarb. Quite honestly, the stuff has never really excited me, but I did flag the recipe for Rhubarb Crumb Bars. I will admit I think I half intended to substitute something else for the rhubarb. Anyone else have any feelings about rhubarb good or bad?

Remember awhile back when I posted about trying a recipe for Oven Fried Chicken and I thought it was kinda lame? Well this issue has a recipe that looks much more promising than the one I originally tried.

They had a section this month on Chicken 6 Ways. Here are the ones I flagged:
-Roasted Chicken with Lemons and Fennel
-Chicken Cutlets with Herb Butter

Also in this issue were the following recipes I flagged:
-Emeril's Lemon Herb Grilled Shrimp
-Blueberry Almond Granola (I thought this looked so fun to make your own granola! Definitely a project for my new kitchen!)
-Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes
-Steak Salad with Snap Peas
-Roasted Salmon with Herbed Yogurt
-Buttermilk Creams with Strawberries
-Versatile Vanilla Cake (they also printed Chocolate and Lemon variations)
-Glazed Lemon Cookies

French Toast and fresh peaches

I finally got the inspiration to post one of my culinary creations and ironically, it is probably one of the simplest recipes you could possibly make. 

One of my favorite activities is to have a quiet Saturday or Sunday morning with a hot cup of coffee and a great breakfast. French toast has become a favorite of mine - it is easy to make and can be dressed up with some fresh fruit to make it even better. 

Recently, I got some fresh peaches in my produce box and immediately wanted to use them as a topping for french toast. 

Here's the recipe with inexact amounts (you can't really screw it up - it is super easy):

Mix together 1 egg, half a cup of milk, a teaspoon of vanilla, about 2 small spoonfuls of sugar, and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Slice some high-quality bread (the egg mixture above will be enough for about 4 small slices of bread). I use sourdough  - SF has the best sourdough bread. Get a griddle on the stove and spread some butter on the surface. Once the griddle is nice and hot, dip the bread slices in the egg mixture and make sure it soaks into the bread. Place the bread slices on the griddle, let them cook until the bottom side is browned and then flip. Cook until both sides are browned. 

While the french toast is cooking, cut up your favorite fresh fruit topping (peaches, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries are all good). Melt some butter in a small skillet and throw in the cut up fruit and caramelize the fruit in the butter until it is heated through. Warm up some real maple syrup (don't skimp and buy Aunt Jemima - there is a huge difference) in the microwave for 20 seconds. Put it all together as in the picture above and enjoy. Not exactly a super healthy breakfast, but a darn good one. 

Sweet Potato Quesadillas & Homemade Tortilla chips

I got this recipe from my Moosewood cookbook. It was very labor intensive to grate the sweet potatoes, but ended up tasting delicious. I wonder if it could be done in a food processor? Somehow I ended up using like every pot, pan and dish for this recipe, but it was worth it. I halved this for two people.

1.5 cups finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 TBS vegetable oil
4 cups grated peeled sweet potato (about 3 potatoes)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
generous pinch of cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

8 tortillas
Salsa
Sour Cream

Saute the onions & garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the grated sweet potatoes, oregano, chili powder, cumin and cayenne and cook covered for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. (I cooked for less time). When the sweet potato is tender, add salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat. Spread 1/8th of the filling and 2 tablespoons of cheese on half of each tortilla. Fold in half and place in the skillet. Add a little bit of oil. Cook on each side for 2 or 3 minutes. Garnish and dip with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Homemade Tortilla Chips
This also is from my friend's homemade cookbook. These are easy!
4 8 inch flour tortillas, cut into 6ths or 8ths
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional: any or all of the following
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350

Combine olive oil, tortillas, salt, and any of the spices in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet and bake about 15 minutes (it took less for me), until the edges curl up and they are slightly browned and crisp. They will get firmer as they cool.

Skillet Glazed Tofu

I think I may have mentioned that for my birthday, a good friend of mine actually MADE me a cookbook. She is a phenomenal cook who is not afraid to improvise or make her own recipes. The hallmark of her recipes is her knowledge of alternatives or how to substitute. Everything i have from her has been so good!

The other night I made her Skillet glazed tofu. It was delicious. My only complaint is that it was very time consuming to turn all the little cubes. I am wondering if maybe it would work better to cook the tofu and then slice it.

1 block firm tofu, drained
2 TBS vegetable oil

2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 TBS lime juice, lemon juice, or rice vinegar
1 TBS minced fresh ginger, or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 to 1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon molasses, honey, or maple syrup
2 TBS dark sesame oil
a few shakes of any other asian style sauce or ingredient (hoisin, terikyaki)
Cilantro or scallions (optional)

Slice tofu crosswise into two slabs. Press tofu with paper towels to remove excess water, then cut into 1 inch cubes.

Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick frying pan until the oil is liquidy. Put the tofu into the pan in single layer. Cook undisturbed fro 5-6 minutes or until a nice brown crust forms on the bottom. Carefully turn the cubes so that another side is facing down. Cook undisturbed for another 5 or minutes until that side is brown, then turn tofu one more time and cook until browned.

Meanwhile, mix up all other ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk or a fork.

When the tofu is browned, turn down the heat to medium and pour in sauce. It will sizzle like crazy and smell really good. Stir to coat the tofu and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring and turning the tofu occasionally until the sauce had reduced to a lovely syrupy glaze and edges of the tofu are browned.

Serve over hot rice, toss in a stir fry, mix with noodles and steamed vegetables, put into wraps or eat plain!

Global Cupcakes

To follow up on Uma's post about Rainbow Cake, I wanted to show off more neat things you can do with cake and colored gel: Celebrate Earth day.






















Here are little world cupcakes that I made in honor of earth day. I think they turned out super well. They look kind of like little maps, all mini pieces of different continents. The toasty areas make for even more topographic variation. I could even go as far as to overlay a google map image on top...but we won't go there.



















Frosted with white, they were snow capped delicious cupcakes! Earth never tasted so good!

Taco Skillet

I found this recipe for Beef Taco Skillet and made the mistake of showing it to Rajeev. I was just asking if he'd want to try it one day. Little did I know he'd love the Campbell's picture so much that he'd ask for it every time I asked what he wanted for dinner. I finally made it last week (with ground turkey instead of ground beef) and it was a hit! I suggest adding some red pepper flakes to give it more of a kick.

I insisted we have some sort of vegetable to go with it so I simply sauteed some corn with red pepper.