Thanksgiving recap

In case you've missed it, I will state it once again: I LOVE THANKSGIVING. It's my favorite holiday. In fact, depending on the day (the mood, the stars) I might even say that Thanksgiving is THE ONLY holiday I really like. So when we found ourselves somewhat overworked this year, we knew we had to downsize our Thanksgiving celebrations, but we knew we would still enjoy the holiday nonetheless. After all, I believe Thanksgiving is about the love you put into a meal you will be sharing with your loved ones. And that's exactly what we did. Let me show you a selection of  some of the stuff we had last Thursday.

The apps. We received our friends and family about an hour away from feasting so we kept the appetizers simple. We basically had goat and cheddar cheeses, served with quince and sweet potato pastes/jam. You might not see them on the pic but we also had whole wheat crackers and a trail mix. Also, we had a delicious cheese and paprika dip courtesy of Mama Pia, who was was kind enough to send us some goodies, even though she wasn't feeling well enough to make it to the dinner.

 

The salad. Well, I didn't have anything against having a more traditional salad for our Thanksgiving dinner, (you know, besides those greens not being seasonal) but I decided to go for something else instead. I made this apple and orange salad with walnuts in a maple vinaigrette. It was really good.

The rice. Although the thought of rice during a Thanksgiving dinner may sound to many like a continuation on the theme (of me getting away from a traditional menu), that is not the case. In fact, my first 20 Thanksgivings were equally centered around arroz con gandules, a staple dish of any Puerto Rican dinner that claims to be special. Since I must (sadly) admit that my rice skills are spotty, I called in a professional; my friend Alice makes the best arroz con gandules this side of the Atlantic, and she was responsible for this beauty.The gandules have a nutty taste that plays so well with the saltiness of the bacon/ham, the capers and the olives. And it goes perfectly with turkey.

The stuffing. Well, there is no way I am letting anything stuff my Thanksgiving turkey. There's no way in hell. But I do love stuffing/dressing, and my BF makes the best I've ever had. He was feeling adventurous and wanted to try a different recipe this year, so he made this one. It features rye bread (his favorite, my acquired taste) and celery.  I really, really loved it.
 

The turkey. OMIGOD. I love turkey. I love turkey so much that during my college years about half of my meals were turkey based. I made this turkey the Puerto Rican way, as a pavochón - a turkey (pavo) that tastes like pork (lechón). In a nutshell, the turkey sits in a garlic-heavy marinade for at least one day, and then it's roasted to perfection. Besides eating it, my favorite part of making this turkey is to actually smell it as it roasts. This picture was taken halfway through the roasting process.  After that, I was devoted to my guests and to what I call the Thanksgiving spirit.

The dinner. In addition to the stuffing, our dinner featured two other dishes made by my BF. Almost at the last minute I asked him to make scalloped turnips and parsnips. At that point he probably realized I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't want a single potato served for Thanksgiving. I'm glad he was in charge of this winter roots, because they turned out so good! The creaminess was amazing. He also made a wonderful cranberry sauce, the second one he made within a few days. They were somewhat different, but both of them were super tasty!

The desserts. I feel like most of us are lucky if we actually end up eating a good dessert during Thanksgiving. Well, we were really lucky to get to eat two wonderful desserts. First, we had what is probably the best sweet potato pie I've ever had. And I've had plenty of pies. This one was made by our friend Krista. I was greedy so I kept the very last piece of the pie and while storing it to eat it the next day (when I took this picture) I may or may not have ruined the beautifully browned pics of cream/meringue topping the pie. I didn't mind it; the pie was still so good! I especially loved how well the Graham crust contrasted with the flavors she developed in the filling. Yumm.

Also, we had a luscious flan, courtesy of Mama Pia. Not only it was good, but it was so beautifully decorated that I even felt guilty slicing it. But I did. And I ate it like there was no tomorrow! This flan reminded me to be thankful. Thankful to be able to enjoy all of this wonderful food with friends and family.

Roasted sweet potato with pecan and maple

The last couple of weeks have been CHAOS!!! Ok, chaos may be somewhat of an overstatement, but it certainly has been stressful (now an understatement). We’ve had people doing work around the house…  You can probably guess where this is going, but I’ll still give you a quick description of where the stress comes from. The workers arrive at 8 am, so you need to either be gone to work by then, or you better plan on staying out of their way. They’re nice people doing hard work, so you have to work very hard at choosing your words when you are voicing your concerns. And of course, you have to go behind them fixing, or at least trying to fix, all of the things they break along the way. That’s actually quite some work, but unlike them, I’m not getting paid to do it. But like they say back home “There’s no evil that lasts 100 years, nor a body that can survive it”, so I’m glad it’s almost over. We all know it wouldn’t take the project 100 years to take me to my grave; an extra couple of weeks would do the trick.

I did have my share of drinks through the whole process, and they got me through it. Two sets of friends got married as this madness was going on, so I had two weddings to celebrate (and to drink away my stress). The two ceremonies were very different, but they were both absolutely beautiful, and the venues were just gorgeous. I had good food with good friends, so I had the best of breaks from all the chaos. I may have eaten more than I should, but hey, you can’t measure your buddies’ happiness in calories (nor your sanity in drinks), so I “partied”.

But the last two weeks have not been just me pigging my problems away. I’ve had my share of exercise - some of it reflected on my “Cleveland’s my gym” posts. I’ve been going to the gym 4 days a week, I’ve been commuting by bike and I’ve been running 5K twice a week. On that note, I won a free registration for a 5K race on a giveaway from one of my favorite local blogs –Poise in Parma. This will be my first race, so I’m excited. Maybe I’m a little too excited. I’ve been driving people INSANE talking about the race, and asking for advice. I’m just pumped! BTW, anyone has good training tips for races?

I’m back to normal now (or at least close to), so I’m back on track cooking and blogging about it. I made this beautiful dish that I absolutely HAVE to share with you: roasted sweet potato with pecan and maple. I adapted it from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook – Ottolenghi, The cookbook – and he in turn adapted it from the website Epicurious. It’s technically a warm sweet potato salad, dressed with maple and other goodies. It is absolutely delicious, and like all great recipes, there’s room for your interpretation, so it can be adapted to work with the ingredients you have. I substituted lovage (which I’ve featured on another post) for cilantro and parsley and I made a few other changes from the original(s), and the result was a damn good dish. I’ll share my version!

On the road shortcut

2 small sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
35g (1.5 oz.) pecans
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
6 Tbsp. roughly chopped lovage (you can substitute for 4 of parsley and 2 of cilantro)
2 Tbsp. roughly chopped chives
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes
¼ cup raisins
Salt and pepper

For the dressing
4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. pomegranate champagne vinegar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1.      Preheat the oven to 375 F.

2.      Cut the unpeeled sweet potatoes into 2 3/4 inch wedges. Spread them out on a baking dish and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper, mix well with your hands and then roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.

3.      On a separate baking sheet, toast the pecans for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and chop roughly.

4.      While waiting for the sweet potatoes, make the dressing. Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl with some salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.

5.      When the potatoes are ready, transfer them to a large bowl while still hot. Add the red onions, lovage, chives, chili flakes, pecans and raisins. Pour the dressing over and toss gently to blend, then season to taste. Serve at once or at room temperature.

Bacon Blue Burger and Grilled Sweet Potato Wedges

I am a scientist. At least that what I tell myself. As any other grad student, I am stubborn. Anyone who has at least tried to get a Ph.D. in sciences knows that grad school isn't about revolutionary findings that will shape the world for years to come. No, no, my friends. Grad school is about failing... a lot. It's about learning how to avoid self loathing when an experiment fails. It's about doing everything in your power to save that failing plan of yours, even though your inner self's only contribution is a constant "you should have gone to business school". At the end, a Ph.D. is about not giving up in the face of adversity.

The great thing about this Ph.D. resilience is that once you've built it, you can use it to deal with anything life throws at you, for instance, cooking. Earlier this week, I had leftover bananas from last week. Against my better judgement, I decided to make a pie out of them. I told myself, "self, why don't we make a blueberry-banana pie? They work well together in smoothies, so why not a pie? " Oh my, lets just say the pie was a bit of a disaster... There's not even a point in discussing the flavor (which was ok if you were wondering, but certainly nothing to blog home about). I made quite a few mistakes. The worst one was that I didn't use any corn starch, so everything was liquidy at the end. I started with frozen blueberries and they never really cooked, so it was like eating "fresh" blueberries, and to top it all, they released so much water... My combined stupidy resulted in a perfectly baked crust, and a great crumble top getting totally soggy.

Oh, I was so annoyed, but it was time to move on. The birthday of a good friend of mine was approaching and she refused to celebrate it. I mean, come on! You have to do something... So I decided to solve the problem with a "clever" idea. I was to make a birthday cake, a rum cake to be precise. That way we could have the birthday cake, and we could feel like we were at happy hour at the same time. I found a recipe from a Puerto Rican cookbook written in the 50s, that had less details than an Amish dress. I followed the strange and overly simplistic directions and baked the cake. It was a beautiful cake, so I was happy. I left it cooling to decide later whether I wanted a frosting or not, but when I came back the cake had collapsed in the center because, you guessed it, it wasn't fully baked. It was such a tall cake that the toothpick test said it was done, but it wasn't. I wasn't about to give up. No sir. I'm stubborn. I rebaked the damned cake, frosted it with a simple vanilla frosting to retain the moisture, and topped it with sweetened coconut flakes to round the rum and vanilla frosting flavors. At the end it was edible, and according to the ones who ate it, the cake was good. I liked the flavor, but it wasn't as good as it could have been (plus I could taste all that drama...). Maybe next time. 

With a bruised ego, I decided that my last two failed attempts at baking had left me with way too much sugar in my system. It was time to go for a wholesome, summery, and low calorie dinner that will bring my spirits back up. Logically, I decided to make a burger. You know what they say... "burgers make everything better". Oh, wait; maybe I'm the only one who says that... Blue cheese and bacon are probably my favorite toppings for burgers. Even though both of them are good sources of protein, they are high in calories and high in fat. Thankfully, both of them have powerful flavors, so I don't really need to use (or eat) that much of either, so I can get away with using them without adding too many calories to my burgers. Instead of having fries as a side, I decided to make grilled sweet potato wedges to pair with my burgers. I was so excited I told myself "I'm loving it".

 

I started with the sweet potatoes, since they take the longest time to cook. I salted cold water and added two medium sized sweet potatoes, and brought them to a boil. I boiled them until they were almost cooked. I left them cool a bit just so I could touch them, and I sliced them as wedges (first in half and then as wedges). I brushed them with olive oil, and seasoned them with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano and brown sugar. I left them sitting on the side until it was time to grill them.

For the  burgers I used a mixing bowl and added the meat, the blue cheese, and the bacon. I seasoned with the mix of my spices (salt, pepper, cumin and oregano) and mixed everything. I split the meat mixture into four and shapped them as balls. I pressed them with my hand making a little bit of a dip in the center, because when the burgers grill they tend to rise at the center, so when they do, they will just even out and they won't have a hump. I fixed the patty shape and went to the grill. I grilled them over high heat for about 5 minutes. I flipped and transferred to another side of the grill over a medium flame, and cooked for 4 more minutes for well done. Please, never-ever press your burgers while grilling. You will loose all the juicyness of the meat. Leave them alone, flip them once and gently check their doneness. 

I grilled the sweet potatoes on the side of the grill that was still hot, for 5 minutes, turning them twice. I used the upper part of the grill to toast the whole wheat kaiser rolls I was using as buns. Please, don't ruin your burger using cold bread. Just don't. When everything was ready, I used olive oil mayonaise on my rolls, assembled my burgers, and served them with my sweet potatoes.

The burgers were very, very good. I loved their blue cheese and bacon flavor. Since I was using sirloin, which is the leanest cut of beef, the bacon and blue cheese really helped keep my burgers tender and juicy even at well done (I prefer medium, but since I was doing two well done, I made them all well done). The best part is that because bacon and blue cheese are powerful flavors, I didn't have to use much to get all the flavor, but only a few of the calories. It was like having my favorite burger at Red Robin without the calories. My burgers were 317 calories per serving and the grilled sweet potatoes were only 122 calories. It was definetely more than just a "happy meal"; it was a great one. I usually don't buy burgers from fast food places, and only seldomly from restaurant chains. When I do, it's from Red Robin because, lets face it: It is a happy, happy place, and their burgers are yu-mmy! However my favorite burger, the "bleu ribbon", has a hefty 1052 calories, and that's without the bottomless fries!!! My burger had all the flavors I love, for a third of the calories (on a cheat day, go to Red Robin just for fun and have any of their great burgers - non payed advertisement, lol).

Finally, a good result! That's all a scientist can ask for. 

Got a healthy recipe for burgers you love? Share it on the comment section!

On the road shortcut

Burger

1 lb ground sirloin 

1 oz blue cheese, sliced or crumbled

2 slices uncooked bacon (18g)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dry oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

In a medium mixing bowl add the meat, the blue cheese, and the bacon. Add the spices (salt, pepper, cumin and oregano) and mix. Split the meat mix into 4 and shape them as balls. Press them with the hand and make a little bit of a dip in the center, so when the burgers are grilled and rise at the center, they won't have a hump. Fix the patty shape. Grill them over high heat for about 5 minutes. Flip and continue grilling on a side of the grill that's over a lower flame, and cook for 4 more minutes for well done.

317 calories, 30g carbs, 11g fat, 18g protein per serving.

Grilled sweet potato wedges 

2 medium sweet potatoes 

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper 

1 teaspoon oregano

Use a medium saucepan; add some salt to cold water and use to boil 2 medium sized sweet potatoes until they are almost cooked (20-30 minutes). Let them cool a couple of minutes or so, until cool to the touch and slice them into wedges (first in half and then into wedges). Brush them with olive oil, and season them with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano and brown sugar. Grill over high heat for abour 5 minutes, turning them twice.

122 calories, 24g carbs, 3g fat, 2g protein per serving.

Calories from Red Robin's Bleu Ribbon Burger were taken from fatsecret.com
Calories from my recipe were calculated through myfitnesspal.com

Stuffed sweet potatoes, boricua style

After making those delicious Romanian sausages last week, mititei (Be not afraid, little ones), I was on a roll, and I was left wanting some serious street fare, Puerto Rican street fare this time. One has to represent, you know? The most popular street food back home are the "frituras" (fried ones), which are actually different dishes, that just happened to have the deep fryer in common. To an international audience the "pastelillos" or "empanadillas" (small empanadas or turnovers) might seem familiar. Those can be made from a wide variety of fillings, but the most common ones are ground pork, ground beef, and "pizza" (tomato sauce and mozarella cheese). But of the frituras, my favorite ones have always been the "rellenos". Rellenos (stuffed ones) are made of a starch stuffed with ground beef or pork. The most common rellenos are the "rellenos de papa" (potatoes), and in a distant second place the "rellenos de pana" (breadfruit - if you don't know what this is, you have really been missing out on life, my friend). For both of them a purée is made, then they're shaped into a ball the size of a tennis ball, they get stuffed with meat, and finally they get deep fried. They are beautiful. They have a nice golden color, a somewhat crisp exterior, a soft consistency (even though they hold their shape), an amazing texture and a flavor to kill for. This week I wanted to eat a relleno, but I didn't want to drive all the way to the Puerto Rican neiborhoods to buy them, and I could certintly do withouth the calories that come from them. It was time for a plan B (which since I'm a little selfcentered I call plan A - plan Angel).

Like most Puerto Ricans, I'm not a big potato eater. Not to throw shade on all the potato lovers out there, but if you close your eyes and pick at random any of the other roots we eat in the Caribbean, chances are that the one you select will taste better than a potato. Please, don't blame me; I don't make the rules, that's just the way it is. So back home, potatoes are mostly used as ingredients for soups and stews, mostly to thicken them with their released starch. The relleno de papa is one of the few dishes that actually highlights potatoes in our cusine. But when it was time for me to make the rellenos, I realized that the potatoes we had were already called for by another dish we were planning on making. I decided to switch and use sweet potatoes instead, and stuff those. It would just take a few adjustement to really seize the flavors of the sweet potatoes, but nothing complicated.

 I started the process by cutting the sweet potatoes into 2 inch long cubes. I boiled them in slightly salty water (with the skin on) for half an hour. I quickly rinsed them with cold water, just so I could handle them for peeling, but making sure they were still hot. I added butter, salt, pepper, cinammon, orange peel and cardamon, and proceeded to mash them. I added 1 tablespoon of flour to the mash, and after flouring my hands, I mixed it in. I left my sweeties sit while I worked on the filling.

To stuff my sweet potatoes I had to make the "picadillo". Picadillo, means the "thinly cut one" (or ground meat) and it's the traditional stuffing for the rellenos. To make it, I heated a heavy skillet and added a few slices of bacon, and then ground pork. I seasoned the meat using salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, cilanto, achiote. As the meat browned I chopped manzanilla olives (olives stuffed with red peppers) and added them to the meat as well. Normally you would use an "alcaparrado" (which are olives and capers in a brine) to make the picadillo, but I have to admit that I just couldn't find it in the fridge fast enough so I gave up and went for the manzanilla olives. Regardless, about 10 minutes into it, the picadillo was ready. 

Time to stuff stuff. Once again I floured my hands and took my mashed sweet potatoes and split them into three. Why three? Well, I tried making them a bit smaller to make more of them but they were not looking "glorious" enough, so I went for a bigger size. Sometimes size does matter. I shaped them into balls (about the size of a softball) and then I pressed them in the center to make a dip. I added 2 tablespoons of the picadillo to each, and kept the leftovers for another day. Then I closed the dips by gently reshaping the sweet potatoes as a balls again, going from the bottom up, from all sides. I coated the sweet potato balls with some additional flour and baked them at 350 F for 40 minutes. 

Oh, Lord have mercy!  I knew that they would be softer than the original version because they were one, bigger; and two, baked instead of deep fried. But it wasn't bad at all; they held their shape very well. Once I tried them they were so good that all I could think was "why the hell don't they sell these on the streets?". The spices really brought out the rich, sweet taste of the sweet potatoes, and the juices from the meat infused the with additional layers of flavor. They were really, really good.  I estimated these rellenos to be around 450 calories, so it was perfect for a light dinner, plus it leaves you room for a salad (and a possibly a cerveza). 

The main problem I had with the rellenos is that now I want more of them, so I will have to make them again, and again. Oh, well, if I'm forced to I guess I'll have to make them... I'll make sure to keep you updated if I tweak it up and end up making the rellenos even better! ¡Buen Provecho!

On the road shortcut

Sweet potatoes

1.5 lb sweet potatoes

4 tablespoons of butter

3 teaspoons of flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon orange peel

1/2 teaspon cardamon

Picadillo

1lb of ground pork

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

3 slices of bacon

2 tablespoons of chopped manzanilla olives

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cilantro

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon achiote

Kohlrabi - expect great things

Sometimes, for some obscure and unknown reason, I feel like an artist. I need some inspiration. I'm not really sure of what exactly it is that I'm looking for, or what is it that I want to accomplish, but I have this feeling that I will recognize the signs when I see them. As part of my inspiration search, I decided to give the West Side Market, in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, a friendly visit. Now, if you haven't been to the West Side Market, you may not appreciate the abundance of both food, and of visitors at the huge location. The Market, even though at a glance it may look like an old fashioned approach to buying food, has actually been growing its reputation on specialty and gourmet items. I was sure something would catch my eye. And it was a trio of kohlrabi.

I had actually never seen kohlrabi before, or at least I never paid attention to it. You see, I grew up in Puerto Rico, where everything thas is edible has a loud presence... And it screams EAT ME! The Kohlrabi is technically a winter vegetable, so you can imagine... To me it was the definition of droopiness. But once again, in the interest of trying to spice things up I went for it.

Kohlrabi is actually quite a common item in the cuisines of central and northern Europe. Like its name suggests (kohl - cabbage) it is yet another cultivar of cabbage. That means that it is an artificially selected form of cabbage, grown for its stem as the part of the plant you'll eat. The rabi part of the name, suggests its similarity to turnips, which I have never eaten either... Which make things interesting... Anyway, the point is that they are supposed to be somewhat sweet. They are also very nutritious stems. There is a good amount of fiber, some protein, and a very long list of vitamins and minerals you may want to check out; they will probably give your multivitamins a run for their money. Some people claim you should not eat kohlrabi if you have thyroid problems, but I don't really know if that's true. Actually, I heard about that after I had finished eating them... So, I guess is a good that I don't have thyroid issues.

So, how to cook it? A soup would have probably been a safe choice. That is, after all, the Euro-way. However, I wasn't really in the mood for it. I looked around the kitchen, and I saw some of the other friends I brought home from the market. Now things were getting fun. I noticied I also had two staples of the Puerto Rican cuisine I don't get to eat too often: a plátano maduro (ripe plantain) and a ñame (yams - not sweet potatoes, not at all). When you see a plantain, you can know its sweetness level based on its color. Green is savory, Yellow is somewhat sweet and Yellow/Black is sweet. Yams are savory and delicious. So immediately, I thought of one of the most common dishes we have in Puerto Rico: viandas. Viandas refers to a a family of dishes made of a collection of roots (yes, those Spanish Roots you see in the supermarkets), green bananas and sometimes pana/panapen (breadfruit) boiled together. The magic of the dish relies on the different tones of each ingredient echoing the next; it goes from the savory taste of green bananas, to the sweetness of the local varieties of sweet potatoes (batata) balanced by spectra of the savory/sweet notes of each of the components. 

I wasn't sure about the boiling part of the process, but I was decided to keep the idea of the viandas alive in my head, as Grandma would have been insisting, had she been alive. However, instead of boiling my goodies, I would roast them. I made 3 kohlrabies, 1 sweet potato, 1 yam, and 1 ripe plantain. I peeled and cubed them, added salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Since I was going all Puerto Rican on the poor Arian stem, I decided I might as well go all the way and and season with dried basil and dry oregano. Then, they went to the oven for 45 minutes, at 425F, and turned every 15 minutes.

When I got them out of the oven, they were beautiful. And their flavors were amazing. The notes of each one of the ingredients balanced the other, and they allowed the taste of the kohlrabi to shine. It definitely tasted better than cauliflower (which I love), and slightly less sweet than a red cabbage/apple salad. One thing to note is that, if you attempt making this, and you are unfamiliar with the yam, you may want to add it to the roasting pan like 10-15 minutes after the rest of the combo go in, so it is less crunchy, and you have time to acquaint yourself with its texture before you have to deal with the crunchy factor. I loved it, though. I also loved the shiraz that stopped by to make sure everything was in order.

Something like this pairs well with a mayo/ketchup combo of a sauce/dip. But in the interest of health, you can skip it, and instead you can combine it with something juicy, like baked chicken thighs, with sautéed onions and garlic. Any tender meat would pair well. Back home, we normally eat this kind of food with codfish, cooked with onions, garlic and olive oil. You can make a simple olive oil/garlic sauce as a dressing, and it would go very well. Actually, the mayo/ketchup dressing can also be lighten up using 1 part mayo, 2 parts greek yogurt, and 1 part ketchup. Additionally you can have some greek yogurt and add your favorite vinegar, and some dried herbs and even some fresh garlic. It's all good. 

By the end of the evening I had made a new friend. And now that kohlrabi has a place in my kitchen, it will be invited back. Normally I don't have roots and plaintains sitting around, so maybe next time the kohlrabi will make it into a soup... Or maybe not. What can I say? ...I'm kinda moody.