Vegetable Croquettes

I wouldn't really call my toddler a fussy eater..but there are times when hot dog and pizzas are the only things he opens his mouth to... such phases though short-lived get me worried and that is when I consult my most trusted recipe book First Meals by Annabel Karmel. I had bought the book at the local library sale and till date consider it as my best buy from the library. It has a wonderful collection of quick and easy kid-friendly meals and at the end of a clean plate, courtesy First Meals,  I always wonder why had I not thought of the recipe earlier. 

Anyway, these vegetable croquettes were born during one such fussy phase of my little toddlers life. The original recipe had carrots, sweet corn and broccoli, which I traded for spinach and greens peas The result was delicious. Both daddy and son approved of it and recently even the toddlers aunt certified it as a simple and tasty snack.

Cheese Souffle # French Fridays with Dorie

They say 'third time's a charm.' Probably that is why it took me a three trials to get the souffles right. After the first two trials I had given up but all the FFwD posts kept nagging me to try one more time.... and look I got it right this time :) 

I almost followed Dorie's instructions... just that I used Swiss Cheese and not Muenster for that is all I had in hand. Also I whipped up two third of the recipe. Since I did not have a lot of time to cool the bechamel before adding in the egg whites,  I simply let the bechamel sauce rest while I was beating the egg whites and soon after folded in the egg whites. The souffles rose in 17-18 minutes. I let it stay in the oven for another couple of minutes and then took it out. 

The tops had browned nicely and the souffles was light, fluffy and cotton soft. Though my husband really liked it and was more than happy to eat off most of the toddlers portion, like my toddler I did not enjoy it too much. I found it a bit bland and after a while slightly boring. I blame the Swiss Cheese for it and plan to try this recipe again with a tastier variety of cheese. Also since the souffle was an impulsive inclusion for dinner i had not prepared the recommended tomato pepper salad to go with it. I guess the souffle would have tasted less flat had I accompanied it with a perky salad. Anyway the texture was impressive and I plan to make it again soon with better cheese and a salad by the side and probably serve for lunch.

As a member of french friday's with Dorie I am not supposed to post the recipe on the blog. However you can find this particular recipe here. For more delicious recipes order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.

French Fridays with Dorie : Back-of-the-Card Cheese and Olive Loaf

We LOVE olives. all three of us. even though the little one cringes every time he takes a bite, he will still ask for more. so i was certain that this loaf would be an instant hit with us. and I was right. we loved it. though Dorie suggested serving long fingers of the loaf as a pre-dinner nibble, on day one, I served slices of the loaf for dinner along with a simple broccoli soup, also from Dorie's book. the two paired up quite well and we felt so full afterwards that that day the rest of the dinner returned to the refrigerator untouched. no grudges about that. it just saved me from cooking up dinner the next day :-)

As Dorie says, originally this recipe or something close was printed on a card produced by the Comtè  cheese makers organization and distributed to fromageries all over France. She and Patricia Wells chanced upon them while shopping in Provence and later tweaked the recipe to make their own loaves. For my loaf I followed Dorie's recipe to bits and used Swiss cheese, tapenade, oil-cured black olives and orange zest. since my husband is not a fish-eater, initially i was a little wary about the use of tapenade in the recipe. i however realized later that there is really nothing fishy about it and quite enjoyed the slight pickle-y flavor that it added to the loaf.

Will I be baking it again  ? Oh. Yes. It is such a delicious loaf and takes so little time to put together !! I might however rethink the quantity of salt and serve it nibble-size with a drink, just as a French host would do... I am also keen on trying out the other variations that she suggested. A pesto loaf with pine nuts and sundried tomatoes is what i have in mind for the weekend. 

As a member of french friday's with Dorie I am not supposed to post the recipe on the blog. However you can find this particular recipe in Dorie's   June, 2009, Newsletter.  For more delicious recipes order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.

Cheesy Pinwheel Puffs

Oh ! Its past midnight. I had a good mind to stop by before twelve and wish you all Happy 26th ! Hope your day was good. Mine was much better than yesterday. The  prescribed medicines and spoons full of honey did a good job and though it might take some time before Pradyot can be declared fit... he was much better today....  and since i was a little relaxed i decided to venture a bit into the kitchen..

Back in fall I had seen an episode of Giada at Home where the chef had baked these Cheesy Pastry Puffs. The recipe had seemed fairly simple. So I had pinned it for posterity,  till I recently chanced upon it again. This time driven by our love for everything Greek, I decided to try it out with a Mediterranean twist. And guess what.. with the richness of their colors and mix of the flavors these gorgeous Cheesy Pinwheel Puffs became an instant hit..  I must admit that though very flavorful, the copious amounts of cheese make them a little heavy and sinful.. However they are so tasty that no one stop at one :)

ingredients

for the puffs.

3/4 cups ground oat flour (I ground them in the coffee grinder), plus extra for dusting

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled

1 cup shredded Sharp Cheddar

2 cloves of grated garlic

4 1/2 tablespoon pureed spinach, chilled (I microwaved some frozen spinach and pureed it)

for the filling. I tried few combinations.

store bought pizza sauce + mozzarella

feta cheese

feta cheese + homemade avocado hummus 

homemade avocado hummus sprinkled with copious amounts of dried coriander.

for the avocado hummus

2 cups of boiled chickpeas
2 avocados
8 green olives
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
2 tablespoon of dried coriander
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

what i did.

For the avocado hummus, I combined all the ingredients in the blender and pulsed at regular intervals till the mixture became smooth. (the mentioned quantities yield  around 26 oz of the hummus. once refrigerated, they can be used over a month.)

For the puffs.  I placed an oven rack in the center of the oven;  preheated the oven to 375 degrees F; lined two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Next combined the oat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl and mixed them till the mixture formed a coarse meal. Then added the grated garlic, cheese and chilled spinach puree, one tablespoon at a time till the mixture formed a smooth pale greenish ball.

Then on a lightly floured plastic wrap,  rolled out the dough and divided it into 4 equal rectangles, each about 1/4-inch thick. Spread the store bought pizza sauce + mozzarella on one, feta cheese on the second, avocado hummus + feta on the third and avocado hummus and copious amounts of dried coriander on the fourth rectangle. Starting with the long side, I then rolled up the dough, jelly-roll fashion, wrapped them in plastic wraps and set them to freeze for 30 minutes.

Next unwrapped the dough one at a time, carefully cut out slices from each of them, about 1/4 inch thick and arranged them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Then baked them until they were puffed and light green in color, about 18-20 minutes. Finally I let them cool for about 10 minutes before taking the first bite.

Nishi and I both agreed that we liked the pinwheels with the avocado hummus  and feta cheese filling the most. but that might just be our love for feta, hummus and everything Greek.  the others were just as delicious. so do try them and let me know which one was your favorite... I'll love to hear.