Garlicky Parsley Buttered Mussels

Posted on February 15, 2013 by kaprise

Today, I went for a run, and then I got back and ate two bars of caramel chocolate before deciding to join the adult world and eat real food.

I saw these mussels in the freezer, and decided that a quick bake in the oven with some garlicky sauce would be just the ticket for an adult (and not chocolate/sugar) filled meal. Bonus points for being paleo friendly.

Garlicky Parsley Buttered Mussels (an inspired Kaprise Kitchen original)

1 pounds of mussels (I used frozen ones that were already shelled)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 1/2 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1 small bunch of parsley chopped to bits (haha I felt like saying “chopped to bits”)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of macadamia nuts, smashed (with a wine bottle)

Arrange mussels in a baking sheet, you may use a rack like I did, or simply let them rest on the sheet
In a small heatproof bowl, melt the butter and stir in the parsley and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste
Gently spoon the mixture over the mussels
Top with a sprinkle of your “smashed” macadamia nuts
Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.

While my mussels baked, I made a quick mushroom pasta and threw the mussels and a little bit of the baking liquid over it before devouring. Delicious!!!

Note: I baked mine in a small convection toaster oven… the best place to make food for one or two.

Notes on Baja Fish

Posted on February 14, 2013 by kaprise

I was thinking about the recipe I posted earlier today, and I couldn’t help but wonder “what is baja fish?” Because my fishmonger simply had a little sign that said “baja” fish and told me it was good… so I bought it.

I mean… I know where cod is from. I know what it looks like. I know what tuna is from. I know what that looks like too. I have a general understanding of fish (did I ever tell you I was a waitress at a sushi place?)… but I’ll be honest, “baja” was not something that I was adequately familiar. Plus I wrote this recipe, and I didn’t want to give anyone mis-information (because bad information really sucks).

So… I sat down and went off googling. Turns out… there isn’t really anything called “baja fish.” In fact, I’m still pretty unclear on exactly what fish I ate this morning…

But! I did want to let you guys know… and tell you that I will figure it out and when I do, I’ll update you.

That is all.

xoxo -H

Sweet Potato Baja Fish Bites

Posted on February 13, 2013 by kaprise

Guys… Baja fish. It’s tender, delicate, and delicious. Mine was prepared simply… just a tiny pinch of salt and a light dusting of flour before being pan fried in olive oil. Can I just tell you? AMAZING!

I had a few pieces of fish left over, and I couldn’t stop thinking about ways to prepare the fish. Scallion? Ginger? Salad? Sandwich?! Then I thought, “BITE-SIZED!” and came up with this!

Sweet Potato Baja Fish Bites (Kaprise Kitchen Original)

2 filets of baja fish
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of flour (for those Paleo eaters, you can omit this all together or batter your fish in egg, or dip lightly in fine almond flour)
1 sweet potato
1 carrot
1 teaspoon of grainy mustard
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar reduction

Slice the sweet potato and carrot into 1/2 inch slices, toss in olive oil, and roast in the oven at 425F for 25 minutes, until crisp. (You can also do this the day before and chill in the refrigerator)
Heat a non-stick skillet with a little olive oil. Sprinkle the baja fish with a teensy bit of fine salt and lightly flour. Fry the fish for 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through. (Also, can be done a day in advance and chilled in the refrigerator)
In a large serving platter, place the slices of sweet potato
Gently brush each sweet potato with a thin layer of mustard
Top each sweet potato/mustard with a piece of fish, sliced to fit the pieces.
Garnish with a little sliver of roasted carrot
Top each bite with a drop or two of balsamic vinegar reduction.
Eat!!!

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction: Super easy! Just put some balsamic vinegar in a non-reactive pan, medium heat, cover, and reduce until 1/2 volume. Make sure your kitchen is well ventilated, and please, for the love of cooking, do not sniff the mixture! Just let it bubble away until it’s 1/2 volume. Cool and store in an airtight jar. Use on anything.

Note: You can use any type of left over fish in this recipe. I do think that the baja was a perfect match for the sweetness of the sweet potato, but I can see cod being really good too. I would do a tilapia also, but maybe with a chili-cilantro salsa instead of balsamic.

I hope you guys enjoyed this recipe! Also… Happy Valentines Day!!! Celebrate those you love, and celebrate yourself, because there is no one else you should love more!!!

xoxo -H

Chewy Toasted Coconut Toffee Chocolate Cookies

Posted on February 10, 2013 by kaprise

C.T.C.T.C. Cookies… haha! I don’t know why that amuses me so much!

Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about those Girl Scout Cookies… you know the shortbread ones covered in caramel and coconut and drizzled in chocolate?? I thought a lot about that caramel, and the texture of the cookie. I like the dryness of the cookie, contrasting with the chewiness of the caramel. I had some heavy cream in the fridge that I had originally earmarked for caramel, but then I made pastry cream (for no apparent reason, since it’s still whipped up and sitting in the fridge). I decided that I would make a simple toffee for my cookies instead… I thought about drizzling the hot toffee through cookie dough and baking the cookies with oozy ribbons of toffee running through them and dipping them in chocolate. Then, I thought about making toffee flavored shortbread and rolling them through coconut flakes like Mexican Wedding Cookies but with coconut instead of powdered sugar. But I finally decided I wanted something thick, chewy, and flecked with toffee, coconut, and chocolate.

Despite the toffee, these cookies are not overly sweet, instead they are mildly flavored with molasses and vanilla. The coconut toffee and chocolate just add a bit of sweetness and complexity to the cookies. I think next time, I’ll scale up the coconut and perhaps use chunkier flakes.

Chewy Toasted Coconut Toffee Chocolate Cookies (adapted by some large stretch of imagination from All Recipes)

12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened just a bit (maybe 30 seconds in the microwave)
1 cup of granulated sugar
3-4 tablespoons of molasses (I used 4 but feel free to use less if you are sensitive to the bitterness of molasses)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of flakey salt (again, feel free to use less if you dislike saltier cookies)
1 cup of crushed Coconut Toffee (recipe to follow) (Make this about 2 hours before the cookies so it has time to cool)
1 cup of flaked chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350F
In a large bowl cream the butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth.
Beat in vanilla and the egg and egg yolk until creamy and smooth.
Sprinkle in the flour and baking soda and salt. (I know, I know, I don’t use two bowls, but I promise this works just fine so long as you sprinkle and distribute the leavening ingredients as you mix it in)
Stir in coconut toffee and chocolate
Spoon in 1 tablespoon scoops onto parchment lined cookie sheets (Important! Because the toffee will get everywhere as you bake).
Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes or until just puffed and the edges are just crisp. The cookies will deflate a little once they come out of the oven. If you prefer crispy cookies, bake for a couple more minutes until the edges are crisp and the centers of the cookies have fallen.
Should make 24-30 cookies. I made mine a bit larger than a tablespoon and got 26 cookies (so far only 24 are left).

Coconut Toffee (ummm… I made it up?)

1 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup of toasted coconut, unsweetened

Melt sugar in a pan until smooth and deeply golden
Remove from the heat, and add butter in slices
Stir until smooth on low heat
On a pan, spread 1/2 of the coconut making a slightly thicker lip to contain the toffee in a bounded area (nerd alert)
Pour the toffee onto the pan
Sprinkle the top of the toffee with the remaining coconut
Cool
Smash with your fist, a hammer, ~~your head,~~ or any heavy instrument. Add to cookie dough, yogurt, or anyplace that needs awesomeness.

Ta Da!!!

xoxo -H

Cheesecake Nanaimo Bars

Posted on February 6, 2013 by kaprise

I first read about nanaimo bars on Closet Cooking’s website a few years back… They looked great, but I didn’t think about them again until recently. I’m not sure where I stumbled across another picture of these bars, but then I was obsessed with the idea of making them. I read a bunch of recipes before settling on Seven Spoons and Closet Cooking for my models.

Instead of making them in a 9×9 pan, I made mine in a cupcake pan so I wouldn’t have to worry about cutting the bars. I also tweaked the recipes just a little bit to accomodate the ingredients I had on hand and I scaled back the sugar since I like my cheesecake a bit tart.

I’m a huge fan of cheesecake, so next time I would double the cheesecake and 1/2 the chocolate cookie crust. However, these little bites were truly delicious and I’m glad I made them!! (Even if I feel mildly ill from eating 3 of them in a row).

Cheesecake Nanaimo Bars (adapted from Seven Spoons and Closet Cooking)

Crust:

1 1/2 cups of sugar cookies, blitzed through a food processor (or smashed in a plastic bag with a rolling pin)
1/4 cup of chocolate cocoa
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup of almonds, blitzed through a food processor
8 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350F
Mix the dry ingredients together, then drizzle the butter into the bowl until the ingredients come together
Press into the bottoms of cupcake liners. I used these adorable monkey ones from Reynolds. (Also… I have quite a bit extra cookie mixture leftover, so don’t be concerned if you also have left over)
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until just browned.
While the cookie cups bake, start on the cheesecake filling

Cheesecake filling:

8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup of sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Whip the cream cheese with sugar until smooth
Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue whipping until smooth
Once the cookie cups have finished cookie, top each with about two tablespoons of cheesecake batter each
Tap on a flat surface to evenly distribute the batter in the cups
Bake for another 10 minutes, or until the cheesecake has set.

Chocolate ganache topping

7 ounces of dark chocolate
1/2 cup of heavy cream

As the cheesecake and cookie layers cool, make the ganache topping
In a double boiler (or a mixing bowl over boiling water), heat the chocolate and heavy cream. Once the chocolate has melted, whisk the mixture until smooth and glossy.
Put 1 to 2 tablespoons of ganache on top of each cheesecake/cookie cup, smooth the tops with a knife.

Put the whole pan in the fridge and let it set. These should keep for up to a week in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!!!

I used these Guittard chips for my chocolate ganache and I am impressed. They were deliciously dark and not overly sweet. Definitely a re-buy!

How to Peel Pomegranate Redux

Posted on February 6, 2013 by kaprise

A while back I posted “How to Peel Pomegranate” complete with pictures and detailed information on how I peel my fruits. You can see that post HERE.

Though pomegranate season is nearing the end, I thought I would share this new video that I saw. This gentleman explains and demonstrates how to extra pomegranate seeds efficiently with a knife and wooden spoon. I have yet to try this technique, but from what I see, it looks like an efficient alternative to sitting and gently peeling the fruit. He gives great explanation, so you can watch the demo below.

In case you can’t watch the video… the basics:

Score the pomegranate around the entire circumference of the fruit… the equator. Equidistant from the flowering end and other end
With your fingers, gently “stretch” the edges of the fruit to dislodge some of the seeds.
Over a bowl, flip the pomegranate into your palm (cut side on your hand) and spank the skin of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon until all of the seeds have been dislodged
Remove the larger chunks of pith from the bowl
DONE!

Dwan-Jjang Gook (Soybean Soup)

Posted on February 5, 2013 by kaprise

It’s really unclear how to spell Korean words in English. Sometimes I think they sound one way, but then the conventional spelling that most people online is completely different. Anyway – I think it should be spelled “dwan-jjang” but I have seen “doenjang” and “ddanjjang” and some others. Regardless of the English spelling, dwan-jjang is fermented soybean paste. It’s made in a variety of ways, but One Fork, One Spoon wrote a little bit about it, so hop on over to read up if you are interested.

Personally, I find the word “fermented” to be a bit off putting, which is why I excluded it from the title of my post. Anyway – this is a quick way to make dwan-jjang gook, or fermented soybean soup. From start to finish it takes less than 30 minutes. I start my rice first, and then start on the soup. I usually make my rice in a cast iron pot or a stoneware pot… Let me know if you want me to do a more in depth post on making rice without a rice cooker.

A quick note before I do get started, for people with gluten intolerance or sensitivity to wheat, this is NOT the soup for you. Many of the commercially manufactured dwan-jjang pastes include some form of wheat… if you are set on eating the soup, you will have to do significantly more research into what types of commercially produced paste do not contain gluten.

Dwan-Jjang Gook (the way my mother makes it)

1/2 cup of dried anchovies, or “mael-chi”
4 cups of water
3 tablespoons of dwan-jjang paste (I suggest started at 1 tablespoon and working your way up as your paste may differ in flavor and saltiness than mine.
Scallions (optional)
1-3 teaspoons of soy sauce (also, for gluten sensitive folks, almost all commercially manufactured soy sauce contains wheat so watch out for this also)

Boil4 cups of water with the anchovies for about 20 minutes
Remove the anchovies from the water and discard
Muddle the gwan-jjang paste 1 tablespoon at a time into the anchovy stock, and bring to a simmer
Add soy sauce to taste
You can add any variety of vegetable at this point. My favorite is spinach.
Pour the soup over rice and enjoy!!

Easy right?!

Little anchovies in water

Washed spinach leaves

Skimming the anchovies out of the soup

Dwan-jjang paste

Adding the paste to the soup

White rice and spinach leaves (I usually just pour the hot soup over the leaves so my spinach is “just” wilted, but feel free to add them to your soup as it simmers.

Soup, rice, and spinach

Crispy Quinoa Cakes (burger substitute)

Posted on February 4, 2013 by kaprise

The other day I was trying to convince myself that I did NOT need to eat my 3rd burger of the week… I was losing this self-argument, but in a lightbulb of genius I decided to make quinoa patties. I had been thinking about quinoa and black bean vegetarian patties for a few days, so I thought it only natural to use what I had in the house already. I pulled inspiration for these “cakes” or “patties” from here and here. Have you read Yummy Supper before? Excellent pictures, excellent inspiration, and the name is so adorable!! The other blog is a new find, and I’m excited to read more from it!

Crispy Quinoa Cakes (Inspired from Yummy Supper and EYS)

1 cup of uncooked quinoa
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 small onion
1 small bunch of parsley
1 cup of cooked brussel sprouts
1 cup of shredded cheese (I used some random raspberry beer cheddar I had languishing in the fridge, but I imagine anything would be good in this! I’m going to try feta next time)
3 eggs whisked
Salt/Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of flour (optional)
1 cup of olive oil (maybe a little less)

Wash the quinoa and drain well (I find that unless you give the grains a good scrub you end up with a little sandiness so I’m sure to wash them really well and drain in a mesh sieve).
In a saucepan, bring the quinoa to a boil in 2 cups of water. Once the water boils, lower to a simmer and put a lid on it (bahaha… put a lid on it). And let it cook until fluffy (about 20 minutes).
While your quinoa is cooking, get started on the vegetables.
Dice the celery and onion. Put into a large mixing bowl.
Slice the brussel sprouts. I used pre-roasted brussel sprouts, but you could use frozen ones or whatever other green vegetable you have on hand. Add to the mixing bowl.
Chiffonade the parsley and add to the bowl
Grate the carrots, using the large holes on your grater, into the mixing bowl with the other vegetables.
Once your quinoa is done, add to the bowl and stir until evenly incorporated.
Add in the whisked eggs, shredded cheese, and salt/pepper.
Shape the mixture into patties. I used about 1/3 cup of the mixture for each cake (this makes about 16 cakes)
(OPTIONAL: You can dust the patties lightly in flour before frying them, it helps a little with cohesiveness, but I fried with and without flour… so it’s really up to you.)
In a frying pan (I used a non-stick one), heat the olive oil until a little bit of batter sizzles.
Taste the little sample batter and adjust your seasonings accordingly.
Fry the cakes in small batches, allowing them to brown before flipping them. I cooked mine for about 4 minutes on each side.
I let them drain on a cookie cooling rack.

I ate my quinoa cakes with seared scallops and packed the rest of the cakes in a large container with pieces of parchment paper in between layers. To reheat, I simply put them in a frying pan and reheated for a few minutes with a teaspoon of olive oil. These keep well in the fridge for up to a week, but I doubt they will last that long.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I think my recipe might be a little garbled, but I made these in a frantic and starved state (and I’m writing it in the middle of the night)!!

Osechi Ryori And Other New Years Traditions

Posted on January 31, 2013 by kaprise

I know… for most westerners, the New Year’s Day has already come and gone. However, for those people who follow the lunar calendar, it’s just approaching. This year lunar new year falls on February 10. We call it “Seul-Nal” (though, wikipedia tells me that it is spelled “Seoullal”). Regardless, Korean people celebrate Lunar New Year by spending time with family and eating dduk-gook… or rice cake soup. The Lunar New Year is also celebrated with folk games, dressing in traditional attire and paying our respects to our elders. Jjul (or bowing) is a ritual that is often performed by the younger family members to the elders. I always remember Lunar New Year as being a blend of tradition and fun. Growing up as one of the only ethnic families in my area, I was inundated with American culture, but I did find a fascination with this other part of me… the being Korean part. My mom would pull out these little boxes with Korean games, and I have this distinct memory of these chalky candies that a relative brought us once… and most of all? Staying up late to play games, eat good food, and laugh with my family. All good memories.

Last year, I spent the Gregorian calendar new year (January 1) with my uncle’s family. My aunt, who grew up in Japan, presented us with these beautiful little boxes filled with curious little nibbles. My aunt has an incredible eye for beauty and a great passion for food, so you can imagine exactly how beautiful and delicious these little bites were. I regrettably don’t have pictures. However, I was introduced to an entirely new world of New Year’s traditions… osechi ryori. Osechi ryori refer to special foods served on New Year’s Day in Japanese culture. Now, it turns out the Japanese follow the Gregorian calendar, so my little spiel about osechi ryori is a bit overdue. However, I did think it was a beautiful idea. Each of the foods served represent something for the New Year… the roe symbolizes fertility and the burdock symbolizes long roots and stability. There are many, many other meanings and beautiful symbolizations, but my take away? New Years traditions, no matter what culture or origin are beautiful.

The New Year means hope. To me, hope is the most beautiful of all human emotion because it holds such great strength. Hope carries all that is good in our lives and propels us forward. I think it may be the most universal of emotions, especially at the start of each New Year.

It may be a bit late for Gregorian calendar followers and a bit early for Lunar Calendar followers… but I wish you a Happy HAPPY New Year. I hope that your year is filled with hope, joy, new beginnings, and love.

Are you celebrating Lunar New Year? What are you New Year’s tradition, Gregorian or Lunar calendar?

And for those scholars and curious individuals, some reading:

Hazelnut Almond Scones with Chunky Chocolate and Cherries

Posted on January 28, 2013 by kaprise

What a mouthful…. both literally and figuratively. Let me tell you… these scones? Amazing. Totally and utterly drool worthy… these are the scones that you drive an extra 15 miles to a different grocery store to get the right ingredients for. These are the scones that you get heart palpitations when you see someone else reaching for the last one that you wanted to add to your tummy (in addition to the 2 others you stored in there).

Forget the whole wheat thing… these are made of nuts. Nuts!!! This will change your life forever. I mentioned the recipe by Nom Nom Paleo, but being the nudge that I am, I had to tweak it. I couldn’t help it. Anyway – here is my recipe, just adapted a bit.

Hazelnut Almond Scones with Chunky Chocolate and Cherries, a mouthful in every way (Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo)

2 cups of finely ground almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup of finely ground hazelnut mean (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
4 tablespoons of cold butter
2 large eggs (Did I ever tell you guys about the difference in egg size?)
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of bourbon vanilla
2 – 3 ounces of good quality dark chocolate, smashed (because baking is all about stress relief)
1/4 cup of dried cherries (I chopped mine in half)

Preheat your oven to 335F (I know. It’s a weird number, but I promise it works)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and a pinch of salt (I didn’t use any because I used a salted chocolate and salted butter, but this is totally your call).
In the dry ingredient bowl, grate the butter (using the chubby grater holes) into the dry mixture. I like to dip my butter into the flours and grate so that the grated butter doesn’t stick. You can also freeze the butter, but I normally just dip and grate.
Once the butter has been grated, crumble the dry ingredients with the butter. Make sure you have some chunky bits. Think the pea-sized bits you want when you make good fluffy biscuits.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, vinegar, honey, and vanilla.
Make a well in the butter and flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients.
Combine gently. Your mixture should be cohesive, but very wet.
Gently add the chocolate and cherries. (As I mentioned above, I smashed my chocolate bar. I also used closer to 2.5 ounces because I ate some before I added it to the bowl)
Portion out the dough into even balls and shape on a parchment lined sheet.I managed to make seven large scones, but you can just as easily make daintier ones.
Bake at 335F for 12 minutes before raising the temperature to 350 and rotating the pan. Bake at 350 for another 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Gobble them up!!!

Notes:

You will notice that the original recipe used baking soda, but I chose to use baking powder because the smell of the baking soda was unnerving to me. Baking soda and powder are basically the same, except baking powder has cream of tartar in it. For whatever chemical reason, baking powder does not have the same smell. I’m weird about smells… so this made a huge difference. Keep in mind, because baking powder does contain less baking soda (leavening agent), the dramatic rise and pouf of my scones is much less dramatic. However, barring your strange obsession with smell, feel free to use baking soda for the dramatic lift and the pillowier texture.
In the same vein, these scones are not light and fluffy… instead they are moist, a little heavier, and deliciously flavored.
I used a cup of hazelnut flour because I saw it at the store and I figured… why the hell not. It definitely adds a certain nutty flavor and luxuriousness to these scones, but you can also just use almond flour. Also… something important to note? Hazelnut flour smells TERRIBLE, but it bakes perfectly and it loses that strange smell. They turn into beautifully nutty scones.
I did try this recipe with 100% hazelnut flour and NO almond flour… they do not turn out the same because hazelnut flour is a great deal chunkier than almond flour. The resulting “scone” was more of a pile of semi-stuck together ground up hazelnuts. While it was delicious, they were not scone-like in nature.
I am pretty convinced the reason these scones are just so glorious is the quality of ingredients that are used. Most of the ingredients are on the pricier side, but well worth it. I think when you use truly good quality and well sourced ingredients, everything is bound to taste delicious. I’m not really sure why this comment is included, but it popped into my head so I’m leaving it.