Baked Tortilla Chips

The other day I needed some tortilla chips for a dip, and didn't want to make a trip to the grocery store just for the one item.  I happened to have corn tortillas in the refrigerator, so I looked up recipes on the web and made up a batch.  With a couple of tweaks and another try tonight, here's what worked really well for me.  These are MUCH better than store-bought chips, and also lower in fat/calories.

corn tortillas  (I can get 8-9 tortillas on two cookie sheets)
spray olive oil
salt (or seasoned salt)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread the tortillas out on one or more baking sheets and spray lightly with olive oil.  Turn and spray the other side.  Then put the tortillas in a stack and cut into eighths.  Spread the pieces on one or more baking sheets, sprinkle lightly with salt (or seasoned salt) and put in oven.  (You could also skip the salt.)  Bake for 11-12 minutes, until crisp.  No need to flip the chips over while baking.  I did two baking sheets in the oven at once, and that worked fine.

That's it!

(Addendum 6/15/16: The Simply Recipes site gives a method for making chips in the microwave, which would be a good option for a hot day when you don't want to turn on the oven.  I haven't tried it, so can't recommend, but you can find the directions here; scroll down to the third method (after fried and baked).

Praise for the immersion blender

A month or so ago, I was in the Chicago area, and after a nice dinner out with friends, we wandered into Sur la Table.  I saw this Cuisinart immersion stick blender on sale for $25 and made an impulse buy.  Now I only wonder why I waited so many years to buy this little appliance.  Well, I know why--I figured that since I already own a blender and food processor, this was totally unnecessary and would just be one more appliance on the counter.  But now I find that for someone like me who loves making soups, many of which involve blending, this is great!  No more transferring of hot soup to the blender or food processor, and no more cleaning up the soup that sloshes out.  Just stick the blender stick in the pot of soup, press the button, and it's done.  And the clean-up is so much easier, too.  Instead of the big, awkward pieces of the blender or food processor to wash, you just detach the mixer part from the colored handle with the press of a button, and run it under the faucet. 

September 2, 2020: The link I had in the original post no longer works, and the current models of a similar Cuisinart blender are about $45. You can browse Amazon for less expensive brands. Don't worry about how many speeds the blender has. Mine has just one speed.

Tomato Soup with Coriander

A couple of years ago, my friend Natania was going away for several months and lent me one of her favorite cookbooks to use while she was gone--a great idea for sharing a beloved cookbook.  Of the recipes I tried, my favorite is this one for "Soupe à la Coriandre."  Last night, I made it to bring to a New Year's Eve dinner, and everyone loved it, so here's the recipe.  It's one of those recipes that I look at each time and think, "It looks too simple to be as special as I remember it."  Then I make it again, and re-discover that simple can be special too.

TOMATO SOUP WITH CORIANDER

adapted from Martha Rose Shulman, Mediterranean Light

6 servings (for a first-course soup)

2 bunches cilantro
1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. ground cumin
1-1/2 t. paprika
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
28 oz. water
4 T. tomato paste
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 c. vermicelli or angel hair spaghetti, broken into pieces--about 1"
juice of 1 lime
sprinkle of cayenne
2 T. cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

Heat oil in a soup pot and sauté the onion over medium-low heat until tender.  Tie the bunches of cilantro together with a string, so that they can be easily removed after soup simmers. 

Add the garlic, cumin, and paprika to the onion and sauté for a minute.  Add the tomatoes with their juice, the water, tomato paste, the 2 bunches of cilantro, and salt/pepper to taste.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

Turn off the heat.  Take out the cilantro and discard.  Blend the soup (using an immersion blender makes this easy).  Bring the soup back to a simmer and add in the pasta.  Cook until the pasta is al dente, adjust seasonings, and stir in the cayenne and lime juice.  Garnish with additional cilantro (if using) and serve.  (It's nice to have the garnish, but you do need the full two bunches in the soup, and sometimes I don't feel like buying a 3rd bunch just for the 2 T. of garnish.  The soup is still great, even without the garnish--just a matter of appearance.)

Shulman emphasizes that the soup should be served at once, and that if you make it ahead (which is fine) or freeze it, that you should put in the pasta only later, when you are going to serve the soup.  But last night the soup sat for an hour or so before we ate it, and it was just fine.  And this morning I ate the leftovers, and that was fine too.  So don't worry about how long it sits with the pasta already cooked!

Enjoy--
Penny

Butternut Squash Gratin with Blue Cheese and Sage

Welcome to guest blogger Laura Lane!  Laura and I had this dish at a new restaurant in Galesburg where the all items are made from local food.  We both loved the squash, and when we complimented the chef, he told us enough about it (including that he found the base recipe online) that we could duplicate it at home.  Laura did the research and offered to share the recipe—it's really good.  Thanks, Laura!

Penny and I tasted this wonderful dish at En Season Cafe. With advice from Chef Bart and an online recipe, I experimented.  This is easy to make; peeling the squash is easy with a sharp peeler! Great side dish, although Rich and I enjoyed it as a main dish, along with salad and bread. You could get by with 1 T. sage, but we like a little more.  And 1/2 cup of blue cheese would be more subtle--we like the strong flavors so went with 2/3 cup. Worked beautifully.  And I hope you like it as well as we did!

Butternut Squash Gratin with Blue Cheese and Sage

from Laura Lane, adapted from http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/butternut-squash-gratin-with-blue-cheese-sage-10000001860069/ via En Season Café

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed (3/4-inch) (about 2 pounds)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 T. chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 1 T butter (optional)
• 1/2-2/3 c. crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 c. Panko bread crumbs

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Steam butternut squash, covered, 10-12 minutes or until tender. [PSG:  This took me about 20 minutes; maybe my steamer isn't the best. . .]

3. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onion 5 minutes or until tender. In a large bowl, mix onion, butternut squash, chopped sage, salt, and black pepper to bowl, and toss gently. Spoon into 13 x 9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Dot with butter. Sprinkle crumbled blue cheese evenly over squash mixture, and sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of cheese. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and crumbs are golden brown.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

I'll be having Thanksgiving at someone else's home next week.  Since I don't have to cook the main meal, I'm freed up to make a dessert that is more complicated than I would otherwise do--the pumpkin chiffon pie that was the crowning glory of my mother's Thanksgiving table.  This is a cut above the usual pumpkin pie!

Ruth Glick's Coconut Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

from Helen Gold, Penny's mom

1 envelope gelatin, softened in 1/4 cup cold water

1-1/4 c. mashed cooked pumpkin (canned is OK)

3/4 c. evaporated milk

1/2 c. water

2 jumbo (or 3 medium) egg yolks, slightly beaten (save egg whites)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. ginger

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

3/4 c. (plus a little more) toasted coconut (to toast: spread in shallow pan and bake at 305 for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently so that it browns evenly; watch out as it browns quickly)

pie shell (graham cracker or regular—either is fine)

whipped cream

  

1.     Bake  pie shell.

2.     Soften gelatin in water.

3.     Combine the next set of ingredients (pumpkin through ginger) and cook over boiling water for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in softened gelatin until dissolved.  Chill until slightly thickened.

4.     Beat the 2 or 3 egg whites until frothy.  Add 1/4 cup brown sugar and continue beating until stiff.  Fold into pumpkin mixture with 1/2 t. vanilla and 3/4 c. toasted coconut.  Turn into baked pie shell.  Chill until firm. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Roasted tomatoes

Warmer temperatures have lingered here, and I just recently stripped my tomato plants of all the partly-ripe and green tomatoes that remained.  I left them in a paper bag for a while, so about half ripened.  I've made roasted tomatoes for a couple of years now, introduced to the recipe by my friend Natania, but I hadn't tried using green tomatoes as well as red.  Great way to use up the green tomatoes, and a LOT easier than make fried green tomatoes.  I have not put in amounts for the ingredients as there is no need to be exact with this.

ROASTED TOMATOES

adapted from Mediterranean Light

• a baking sheet or two full of Roma (or other) tomatoes, cut in half horizontally; can also be done in smaller amounts
• olive oil spray (or regular olive oil)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• minced garlic (or garlic powder if you're in a hurry)
• fresh basil or parsley (or dried if you don't have fresh)

Heat oven to 325.  Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with oil.   Put tomatoes on baking sheet, cut sides up.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add garlic and herbs.  Spray with olive oil (or drizzle with oil).

Bake for 2-3 hours, until tomatoes collapse and begin to carmelize.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

These are so tasty and so easy to make that I alwyas bake at least a whole baking sheet full, sometimes two, and freeze what we don't eat.

Greek Eggplant salad

I made this recently to bring to a potluck, and it was a big hit. The original recipe called for turning the eggplant under the broiler until the skin blackens. I took the easier route of baking it in the oven, and it was just fine!

GREEK EGGPLANT SALAD

adapted from Jane Brody's Good Food Book

4 servings (doubles easily)

1 medium eggplant (about 1 lb.), sliced 1/4" thick (skin left on)
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 green pepper, cut in half
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 small onion, grated (or chopped very fine in a food processor)

1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
3 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. olive oil

minced fresh parsley for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray.
2.  Put eggplant slices and halved green pepper on baking sheet.  Bake for 35 minutes, until tender.
3.  Chop the eggplant and the pepper and put in a medium bowl.  Add the tomato, onion, and garlic.
4.  In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients: salt, pepper, vinegar, oil.  Pour the dressing over the eggplant mixture, and combine thoroughly.  Chill the salad well.  Serve sprinkled with parsley.