100% Whole Wheat Biscuits

Most whole wheat biscuit recipes call for part whole wheat flour and part all-purpose flour.  I made mine with 100% whole wheat flour.  I have written the basic biscuit recipe below.  At the bottom, I've included a couple of variations.  The picture below is of cheddar dill biscuits.

100% Whole Wheat Biscuits
Adapted from this recipe.
Yields 12 small biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup Smart Balance, cold
• 1 cup skim milk, cold
• additional whole wheat flour for rolling

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.
• In a food processor, pulse together the first five ingredients.  When the flour has a consistent coarse texture, dump it out into a mixing bowl.
• Add the cold milk to the flour mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon until everything is just evenly incorporated.  The dough will be very sticky.
• Sprinkle some whole wheat flour onto a clean, smooth work surface.  Turn the sticky dough out onto the flour and form into a large ball.  (Flour your hands to minimize dough stickage.)  You can then roll the dough out to 3/4-inch thickness and cut with a 2 1/2 inch diameter biscuit cutter, or you can pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into 2-inch balls and then slightly flatten them out.  Handle the dough as little as possible to maximize biscuit softness and fluffiness.
• Place the biscuits 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes.

For garlicky biscuits, add 2 teaspoons garlic powder to the dry ingredients.

For cheddar dill biscuits (as pictured above), add 1.5 teaspoons of dried dill to the dry ingredients.  Then add 1 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese when you add the milk.

Veggie Strata

Stratas are great for the end of the month when you need to stretch that grocery budget because they use inexpensive ingredients that you probably have left over in the fridge anyway.  The base of a strata is bread, eggs and milk.  What you add to that is up to you.  Below is a basic veggie strata recipe using leftover veggies from my fridge today.

I like to make these in 8-ounce ramekins because they're pretty, and it's built-in portion control.  You can also make this recipe in an 8"x8" square baking pan.

Veggie Strata

Ingredients:

• Smart Balance
• 4 slices of 100% whole wheat bread
• 8 large eggs
• 3/4 cup nonfat milk
• salt & pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced into half-moons
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons of shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 4 tablespoons of shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease 4 8-ounce ramekins with Smart Balance.  Using a round cookie or biscuit cutter the same diameter as your ramekins, cut out 4 circles from the 4 bread slices.  (Put the bread scraps into a plastic bag and throw into the freezer to use later as croutons or bread crumbs.) Place one bread circle at the bottom of each greased ramekin.  Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and salt and pepper to taste (I used approximately 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper).  Pour some egg mixture into each ramekin, just enough to cover the bread.  Set everything aside.
• In a sauté pan, heat olive oil on medium heat.  Add onion slices and sauté until soft, about 7 minutes.  Then add the rest of the veggies, garlic and salt and pepper to taste, and continue to sauté until everything is soft.  Set aside.
• By this point, the egg mixture that was poured into the ramekins should have all been soaked up by the bread slices.
• Top each soaked bread slice with 1 tablespoon of mozzarella and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan.  Add the sauteed veggie mixture, dividing it evenly among the 4 ramekins.  Then pour the remaining egg mixture evenly into each ramekin.
• Place the ramekins onto a baking sheet (this step is important, since the stratas will puff up while baking, and possibly bubble over, making a mess in your oven if you don't use the baking sheet).  
• Bake in the center rack of the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.  (If you are making one big strata as opposed to 4 ramekins, increase the baking time to 40 - 45 minutes.  The strata should be completely set and not jiggle when it's fully cooked.)
• The stratas will puff up while baking, but after they're removed from the oven, they will quickly deflate.  Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

You can serve these right from the ramekins, or you can take them out.  They should pop out of the ramekins very easily.

Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Spinach

I thought I'd posted this already, but it seems I have not.  I used my Goat Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Portabellas recipe and applied it to chicken breasts.  Yummy and versatile.

Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Spinach

Ingredients:

• 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 1 log (4 oz.) goat cheese, softened at room temperature
• 1/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
• cooking spray

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butterfly the chicken breasts.  Season outsides and insides with salt and pepper.
• In a bowl, combine the goat cheese and spinach. Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts and stuff inside the butterflied chicken breasts.
• Place the stuffed breasts onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Stuffed Eggplant

This is soooo good.  The stuffing is killer.  Thanks, Michael's Mom!  I'm thinking the stuffing would be good in giant portobellos, or even bell peppers, too.

I would highly recommend baking the empty eggplant "shells" for a little bit before adding the stuffing, and then continuing to bake once they're stuffed.  The first time I made this following the original recipe, I stuffed the raw eggplant "shells" and they were not quite cooked through when the stuffing was done.  Also, I mixed the chopped tomatoes directly into the meat mixture instead of piling them on top.  YUM!


Stuffed Eggplant
Taken from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 smallish (5" - 6") eggplants
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 pound ground sirloin
• salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 1 large heirloom tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 additional tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Remove the eggplant tops and cut each eggplant in half, lengthwise.  Scoop out some of the inside center flesh, leaving a 1/4" shell.  Place the shells, skin side down, on a baking sheet misted with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside.  In the meantime, place the scooped out flesh in a microwave-safe bowl with a couple tablespoons of water and microwave on high for 2 minutes until soft.
• In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sweat the onion until translucent.  Add the ground sirloin, salt and pepper to taste, and minced garlic.  Brown the beef, then drain the fat and transfer the beef to a mixing bowl.
• Add the microwaved eggplant flesh and the rest of the ingredients (except for the two additional tablespoons of Parmesan) to the bowl and combine with the meat.
• Divide the meat mixture into 4 equal parts and spoon into each of the partly-baked eggplant "shells".
• Place the stuffed eggplants back into the oven and bake for another 45 minutes.
• When done, sprinkle the tops with the remaining Parmesan cheese and place back into the oven for a minute until the cheese melts.

Saucy Pork Chops

We spent the day apple picking in Oak Glen.  It was a lot of fun for the toddler.  I was highly disappointed this year, though.  The crops were sparse, and 90% of the apples were infested with worms.  Even the farm folks admitted that the number of damaged apples was higher than usual.  It took us almost 2 hours to find enough non-wormed apples to fill our 2 small bags.  Hopefully next year will be better.

By the time we got home, it was after 6pm and we were STARVING.  I had some pork chops and a package of crimini mushrooms in the fridge.  I wanted something substantial and comforting, so I thought I'd experiment with some sort of gravy for the chops, to be served over brown rice that would sop up all the saucy goodness.  It was so good.

Saucy Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 medium boneless pork chops (1.5 - 2 pounds), all visible fat removed
• salt and pepper
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 8oz. package of crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 cups chicken broth

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet.  Season the pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper.  Sear the chops for a few minutes on each side.  Transfer the chops to a plate and set aside.
• Add the sliced onion and chopped mushrooms to the skillet and stir, scraping up all the brown bits.  Sauté for 5 - 7 minutes on medium heat until the onions and mushrooms are soft.  Add the minced garlic and stir for another minute.
• Sprinkle the mixture with whole wheat flour and continue to stir for another minute.  Add in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low.  
• Transfer the seared pork chops back to the skillet and nestle them into the sauce.  Cover and simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes, until the chops are cooked through.  Check the flavor of the sauce and add salt and pepper if necessary.
• Serve over brown rice or whole wheat noodles.

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
Adapted from this recipe


Ingredients:

• 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 (15 ounce) container of part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup fat-free cottage cheese
• 2 eggs
• olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 pound sliced crimini mushrooms
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1 (1 pound) bag of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Boil noodles per package instructions.  Drain and lay flat on aluminum foil, set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta and cottage cheeses with the eggs.  Set aside.
• Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.  Sweat the diced onion until translucent.  Add the mushrooms and season with TSSS.  Sauté for several minutes until soft.  Add the spinach and sauté a few minutes longer.  Add the marinara sauce and continue to stir until heated through.  Remove from heat and set aside.
• Spray the bottom of a lasagna pan with olive oil.  Lay 3 noodles in the pan.  Spread half of the cheese mixture over the noodles.  Then spread half of the spinach-mushroom mixture over the cheese.  
• Lay down 3 more noodles.  Spread the rest of the cheese mixture (minus 3 tablespoons, which you need to reserve), then the rest of the spinach-mushroom mixture.
• Lay down the last 3 noodles.  Top with the remaining reserved cheese mixture.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Then remove the foil, top with the shredded mozzarella and parmesan, and return the lasagna to the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
• When done and bubbling, remove the lasagna from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Palmiers

I grew up all over the world, but my most memorable experiences came from the 5 years we spent living in Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), West Africa.  Côte d'Ivoire used to be a French colony and gained its independence from France on August 7, 1960.  When we lived there in the early-to-mid-80s, there was still a lot of French influence, including many boulangeries and patisseries turning out crusty loaves of French baguettes and flaky desserts.  One of my favorites was the palmier, a light, airy, flaky, sweet, crunchy "cookie".  Its base is a puff-pastry-type dough, which, while simple to make in theory, takes a lot of time, something I don't have much of these days.

Enter my Google search, which led me to where else but the Food Network website.  The two palmier recipes that stood out to me were from two of my favorite chefs: Ina Garten and Anne Burrell.  They use frozen puff-pastry sheets from the grocery store.  YAY!  Not exactly the same as the authentic stuff, but close enough and pretty damn good.

What I ended up baking today was a mesh of these two recipes.  Ina's recipe is more traditional, but when I saw that Anne puts cinnamon in hers, I had to try it that way.  Sans orange zest.

Oh, and if the thought of light, flaky, crispy pastries filled with sweet, crunchy caramelized sugar has you distracted and wondering if this recipe is South Beach Diet approved, sorry, but it's not.

Palmiers
Taken from this recipe and this recipe.
Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 pinch of kosher salt
• 1 package of Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
• 1 bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

• Combine the sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl.
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture onto a pastry marble.
• Open up one of the thawed pastry sheets directly onto the sprinkled sugar mixture on the marble.  Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of sugar mixture onto the top of the pastry sheet.  Make sure to coat every bit of the dough with sugar.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick.  You want to press the sugar mixture into the dough while rolling.
• Take one of the short ends of the rectangle and fold it so the end reaches halfway to the middle of the rectangle.  Then fold it again so you reach the middle of the rectangle.  Do the same to the other side.  Then fold one side onto the other as if you're closing a book.  (You'll have a 6-layered flat "log".)
• Transfer the "log" to a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Do the same for the remaining thawed pastry sheet.
• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• When ready to bake, remove one of the "logs" from the fridge and place onto a clean flat surface like a pastry marble.  Slice it into 1/4-inch pieces (approximately 24 pieces per "log"), and lay each piece flat onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 12 minutes, then flip the cookies and continue baking for an additional 3-6 minutes, depending on your oven.  You want the cookies a nice golden brown.  Check them often towards the end; when I did 5 minutes mine turned out slightly burned, but 3 minutes was perfect.
• Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then once the cookies firm up a bit, transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
• For optional chocolate dip: Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler over simmering water.  Dip completely cooled cookies in the melted chocolate and lay them on parchment paper to set.
• Store the cookies in an air-tight container.

Fish with Eggplant Ragout

Today was clean-out-the-fridge day.  I found: 1 eggplant, 1 package of sliced button mushrooms, a small orange bell pepper from a friend's garden, and 1/2 an onion.  On the counter were 4 plum tomatoes, and in the pantry was half a jar of couscous.  I bought some red snapper fillets on my way home from picking up the munchkin from school.  Throw it all together and what do you get?  A skillet of yumminess.

Fish with Eggplant Ragout

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant, diced into 1/2" pieces
• salt
• olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 plum tomatoes, diced into 1/2" pieces
• 1 small bell pepper, chopped
• 1 package (6 oz.) sliced button mushrooms
• 1/4 cup water
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• large dash of dried thyme
• large dash of dried oregano
• 1 pound fish fillets, cut into 4 pieces

Directions:

• Liberally salt the eggplant pieces and let sit in a colander for 10 minutes to drain.  Rinse thoroughly.
• In a large skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat and sauté the onions until translucent.
• Add the eggplant and everything else except the fish.  Season with TSSS to taste.  Sauté for about 10 minutes until veggies are soft.
• Move veggies to the edge of the pan and add another tablespoon of olive oil to the center.
• Season the fish fillets with TSSS.  Add the fish in a single layer to the center of the pan.  Cook for a few minutes on each side until done and flaky.  Spoon the veggie mixture over the fish, remove from heat and let sit for a minute.
• Serve over couscous or rice.

Spinach Turkey Roll

ETA on 8/9/14: To make this gluten-free, I replaced the 1 cup of bread crumbs with 1/4 cup coconut flour.  

This was delicious, and the presentation was pretty impressive.  I used Jennie-O turkey, which comes in a 1.25-lb tray (as opposed to just 1 pound as the original recipe calls for).  I added parmesan and salt to the mixture for more flavor.  And I don't keep mustard powder in the pantry (though maybe I should), so I used regular Dijon mustard.  I also don't keep wax paper around, so I used aluminum foil to roll the meat mixture.

Spinach Turkey Roll
Taken from this recipe.



Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup marinara sauce
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated or shredded parmesan
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tray (1.25 pound) ground turkey
• 1/4-ish teaspoon salt
• 1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• olive oil in a mister
• another 1 cup marinara sauce for plating

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 11 ingredients together.
• On a large sheet of aluminum foil (or wax paper), spread the meat mixture out and shape into a large rectangle, a little larger than 12x8 inches, and approximately 1/2-inch thick.  Sprinkle with the spinach and cheese.
• Position the short side of the meat rectangle towards you, and carefully roll up the meat like a jelly roll, peeling the foil away as you go.  Seal the ends and the seam and discard the foil.
• Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Transfer the turkey roll to the baking sheet, seam side down, and bake for 50 - 60 minutes until cooked through (internal temperature registers 165 degrees F).
• When the roll is done, heat the remaining 1 cup of marinara sauce.  Slice the turkey roll into individual portions and top with the heated sauce.

Fish Stew

A quick, simple and delicious fish stew.  I made more broth than what the original recipe called for because I love dipping a warm, crusty sourdough loaf into it.  I also omitted the tomato paste and added more tomatoes, and next time I think I'll add even more.  Yum.  Eat more fish!

Fish Stew
Taken from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• a few tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 8-oz. bottle of clam juice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup vegetable (or fish) broth
• 1.5 pounds of sea bass (or other white fish), cubed into 1-inch pieces
• a dash each of dry oregano, thyme and Tabasco
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt, to taste
• freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
• lemon wedges

Directions:

• In a large heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes until soft and translucent.  
• Add parsley, tomato and tomato paste and cook, stirring often, for a few minutes until tomatoes begin to soften.
• Add clam juice, wine, vegetable broth and fish.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover the pot.  Simmer 7-10 minutes until fish is cooked through.
• Add TSSS and pepper to taste.
• Ladle into bowls and spritz with lemon wedges.
• Serve with fresh, hot, crusty bread.