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Chorizo and basil pasta

This guest post comes to us from a British foodie. It’s a pasta recipe inspired by a new, swanky London restaurant. Unfortunately there’s no photo but it sounds scrumptious nonetheless. Cheerio!

The Italians are very well known for their pasta recipes, but the Spanish have their reputation too. Obviously when you think of Spain, paella and tortilla are more likely to spring to mind, but that’s not to say their pasta recipes are not any good. In fact, the extra spice of the Spanish influence works almost too well with pasta.

Recently, I visited a friend of mine in the UK, and after a lovely meal in a London restaurant called 100Hoxton on the first night, we decided to save our pennies and eat at home for the rest of the week. On the third night she introduced me to a recipe she improvised one day when food resources were low and her tummy was growling. Chorizo and basil pasta topped with mozzarella cheese. I loved it so much I figured I ought to share it.

Ingredients:
¼ cup rapeseed oil
1 large yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 Spanish chorizo sausage
1 red bell pepper
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup dried basil
2 tsp ground pepper
Fresh basil, chopped
½ lb. Dry penne or fussili
Grated Mozarella cheese

Directions: Peel and chop the onion. Then cut the bell pepper in half, remove the seeds and veins and chop into little pieces. Peel and chop the garlic finely. Cut the chorizo into round slices about 1/4-inch thick and then half them again. Drizzle the rapeseed oil (it’s slightly healthier than olive oil) into a large frying pan and heat on medium. Then pop the chorizo slices in and lightly cook them for a few minutes. The chorizo will release juices during the process which can be used to cook the peppers, onions and garlic, giving them extra flavour. Then pour the tin of tomatoes into the frying pan and set to simmer, adding the dried basil and pepper as you go along. After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes you can fill a saucepan with water and bring it to the boil ready to cook the pasta. Cook the pasta for 8-12 minutes (dependent on the type you use) and drain the water. Then stir the pasta into the chorizo sauce and serve with some fresh basil and perhaps some mozzarella cheese sprinkled on top.

Roasted garlic bean dip: take 2

Almost exactly three years ago, I posted a recipe for roasted garlic white bean dip. That dip is not unlike hummus except that hummus calls for chick peas instead of beans. Last week, I was craving that dip again but wanted to change things up. I added tomatoes for tang and sriracha for heat, and thus, this fragrant, irresistible hors d’oeuvre was born. I’m not going to go as far as saying that this recipe will replace guacamole in your party snack repertoire but it will certainly make a valiant try. And I assure you, no one will even miss that green standby if you serve this.

Roasted garlic bean dip

The best part is, served alongside some Finn Crisps, this is a healthy vegan snack, full of fiber, protein and other essential nutrients.

(Yield: 1 bowl will serve about 4 people)

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 head of garlic, roasted*

3/4 tsp sriracha

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divide

1/2 c finely diced tomatoes

1 tbsp finely chopped shallot (red onion also ok)

Salt + pepper

*How to roast garlic: Heat oven to 400F. Peel the papery outer layer of garlic head, leaving the cloves intact. Cut off 1/3″ off the top of the head and discard, exposing the flesh of the cloves. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil, and using your hands, coat the head evenly. Wrap in foil and roast for 35 min. Cool completely before handling.

Procedure: Squeeze garlic cloves out of the head and add to food processor along with 2/3 of beans (reserve 1/3 beans for later). Puree. With the motor running, add sriracha and oil. When fully incorporated, stop motor and remove the blade. Using a spoon, stir in tomatoes, shallot and remaining beans. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted garlic bean dip

What is your standby party snack?

Mango and Muenster baked quesadillas

Mango and Muenster baked quesadillas

It’s easy to get stuck in a jack cheese, chicken and/or bean quesadilla rut. But, crispy flour tortillas are actually a great vessel for all types of ingredients and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t let our imaginations run wild! And while Muenster cheese (my favorite melting cheese) and mango slices aren’t exactly a crazy combo, they’re a start.

Mango and Muenster baked quesadillas

(Yield: 4 quesadillas)

Ingredients:

8 flour tortillas

1 c shredded Muenster cheese

1/2 mango, thinly sliced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Procedure: Preheat oven to 350F. Place four tortillas on baking sheet and brush the top-facing side lightly with olive oil. Flip tortillas oiled side down and sprinkle each tortilla with cheese. Divide mango slices evenly amongst four tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with remaining four tortillas and brush tops with remaining olive oil. Place into oven and cook for 10-12 min until crispy. Serve hot.

Mango and Muenster baked quesadillas

To make dipping sauce, combine 3 tbsp sour cream, 1 tbsp lime or lemon juice, and 2 tbsp chopped cilantro together. Serve with quesadillas.

Mango and Muenster baked quesadillas

How would you re-invent the classic quesadilla?

I made focaccia! Sort of.

Each of us has a little person inside our heads that is just desperate to do something but the big person on the outside refuses to do it, usually out of fear of failure. Sooner or later, there will come a time when one must say, “Enough is enough! I’m not going to be afraid anymore.” For me, that something is learning to bake bread and that time came a few weeks ago.

The process always managed to intimidate me; there’s the mixing, the kneading, the proofing and the baking, all of which are relatively easy to screw up. And since I’m more of a cook than a baker, just imagining myself doing it made me nervous.

For my first attempt, I wanted to make a focaccia as it is one of my favorite breads. I used the easiest recipe that I could find, one which not surprisingly came from Mango & Tomato via cookbook author Pat Sinclair. The recipe didn’t call for kneading, a stand mixer or a long proofing time, so it seemed easy enough. But here’s what happened: the directions said to press the dough into a 15×10″ pan and I guess my dough didn’t rise enough because there wasn’t enough of it for the pan. I stretched the dough into a thin disk, assuming the bread would rise while baking - but it didn’t! The bread ended up sticking to the pan even though I oiled it quite well and whatever I managed to scrape off was more like a cracker than focaccia. Of course I was super disappointed but consoled myself with the fact that this was my first attempt and the second time would probably be better.

The second time (photographed here) was better but the dough still didn’t seem to rise enough. The bread was good but not as chewy or airy as I’d hoped.

Would the bread connoisseurs out there please help me figure out where I went wrong? I checked the yeast package and it wasn’t expired. Could it be that the dough didn’t rise because the water I used wasn’t from the tap but had been previously boiled in a kettle? Or perhaps this is just a faulty recipe?

Are there any foods that you’re afraid of making?
Is there a bread recipe you’d like to recommend for my third attempt?

Fried carrot & coconut pockets

My enthusiasm for stuffing wonton wrappers has taken me from cheese and pumpkin ravioli to Chinese style fried wontons. What I’ve learned thus far is that deep frying stuffed store-bought wonton skins yields far better results that boiling them. Because they are so thin, they expand and cannot keep their shape in the process of boiling. Deep frying, meanwhile, turns them into crispy, golden pillows of delight. I have yet to use the simmer-then-pan-fry technique though, which may be the best of both worlds. If you have any expertise in this area, please share!

This foray into the wonton wrapper world (ugh, I’m afraid by the end of this post neither you or I will be able to stand the word wonton) has been, hands down, the most successful. For the filling, I literally threw in a bunch of stuff from my fridge and cabinets, and the results were spectacular.

Ingredients:

20-25 store-bought wonton wrappers

2 medium carrots, peeled shredded

About 1/2 c sweetened coconut flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 scallion, chopped

1 tsp yellow curry powder

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 egg, beaten

Vegetable oil, for frying

Procedure: Combine all ingredients from carrots through soy sauce in a bowl.

Pour about one inch of oil into frying pan and place over medium heat. While it heats up, start to form the pockets. Working with one skin at a time, lay it flat and place about 1 tbsp of filling in the center. Brush the side that is furthest from you with egg, as well as the top two thirds of the right and left sides. Roll/fold, starting from the bottom, to form pocket. Press down to seal the sides and seal the back. Repeat with remaining skins. Place 6-8 pockets into oil at once and fry about 2 min per side.

Final results should be golden brown, not dark. Drain on paper towels. Serve with hoisin sauce.

I call these pockets because I didn’t want to wrap them in the traditional wonton shape. Served with hoisin sauce for dipping, this recipe makes for the best party appetizer.

Obsessing over… (part 4)

It’s been a while since I wrote one of these posts. I hope you guys missed them, ‘cuz I sure did.

  • Lana del Rey: Despite how gravely she screwed up her recent SNL appearance, I LOVE this girl. Seriously, my iTunes have not gotten a break from her (as well as my next bullet point) for like a month now. I love the seductive, mysterious nature of her songs and her strange voice. She doesn’t sound like any other artist that’s popular right now, which is admirable, and she’s never collaborated with LMFAO, which is basically unheard of. Also, I’m a huge fan of her cool, slightly surgically-interfered with look. Recommended tracks: “This is what makes us girls,” “Video Games” and “Million-dollar man.”

  • Kate Nash: The songs of Kate Nash are the definition of contemporary Brit pop. They’re pure fun, for listening and for singing in the shower. Nash is a lot like her fellow Brit Lily Allen, but in my opinion, far more cool. She’s like the strange chick you went to high school with that you always wondered about befriending but never summoned the courage to. Listening to her profusely has also helped me perfect my British accent, an unsolicited skill I’m prone to utilizing after a few beers. Recommended tracks: “Don’t you want to share the guilt,” “We get on,” “Mariella” and “Kiss that girl.

  • Rock climbing at Brooklyn Boulders: One of my friends is really into this rock climbing business and one day, after getting fed up with my gym workout routine, I decided to join him. What I discovered is that not only is this a fantastic, low-impact workout, but it does wonders for the mind as well. I am no expert at this [activity, sport?] but from what I gather, strategy and overcoming one’s fear of heights (even though the walls are about 15 feet tall) and falling are far more important than physical strength. I’m still having trouble being comfortable with the possibility of falling off the wall (the floors are padded) but I’m determined to get good at it!

  • Blue nail polish: Not much to say here other than that I’m really into these right now. Left to right: Brucci “Gianna’s rockin’ blue,” China Glaze “Re-fresh mint,” Essie “Barbados blue” and OPI “Russian navy.”

Your turn! What have you been obsessing over?

Buttermilk biscuits, ya’ll.

If asked what I’d like to have for my last supper, I’d say fried chicken, mac & cheese, gravy and biscuits with no hesitation. This is the second biscuit recipe I’ve attempted and even though it’s awesome for consisting of only four ingredients, I’d be lying if I said I was entirely satisfied with the results. Anyone care to share their favorite recipe?

(Yield: 8)

Ingredients:

2 c self-rising flour (plus extra for dusting)

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 oz cold butter, cubed

1 c cold buttermilk

Procedure: Preheat oven to 400F. Place flour and soda into a food processor, set with the blade attachment. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Then, with the motor running, stream in buttermilk through chute. Once mixture comes together, turn mixture over onto floured surface. Knead a few times then flatten into 1″-thick disc (sprinkling with more flour if dough is too sticky). Then cut out rounds with biscuit cutter and place on baking sheet.

Or use a glass, upside-down, dipped in flour.

Bake for 15 min or until golden brown.

What would you have for your last supper?

A list of my favorite autumn recipes

I thought I’d compile a list of these because hey, why not?

And because I love going through my old blog posts. There - I said it!

Pureed Vegetable Soup

Turkey Shepherd Pie

Easy Beef Stew

Red Wine Risotto

Pumpkin Bread

Carrot Cake

Hot Chocolate

I hope you’ll enjoy these dishes as much as I do.

It’s happening!

Alas, March is here! No, it’s not technically spring yet, but it is not longer winter either! At least not to me. Soon the flowers will bloom, the birds will sing and the sun will be high in the sky. I can’t wait.

*Tulips, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Spring 2010

As of late

My life has been pretty hectic lately (which is exactly how I like it) so I haven’t been blogging as much as I would’ve liked to (which I don’t like so much).

For the past month, I’ve been busy with classes, my paying, boring office job, and a new non-paying internship at Paper & String. Paper & String is a new internet and mobile platform that connects independent retailers and service providers to people who work and play in their neighborhoods. We also cover news and sales, and promote special items. My job is to write about the respective places and their offerings. I am also often sent to frolic the streets of New York and talk to managers and store staff. If you live in New York, follow us on Twitter, friend us on Facebook, or sign up for the email newsletter. And if you own/work for a business in New York, let me know! I’d love to feature you.

So far I’m enjoying this new aspect of my life, though it is stressful. Not only is it hard to balance school, two jobs, a daily commute, and a social life, but I also have to try very hard leave a good impression on the professional world. So far so good, I think. It’s just what I have to do.

Here is some of my work.

In other news, for the music lovers out there, Radiohead released their new record…on newspaper…? Mais, non…

Well, not exactly. The album is now available in digital format ($9) on the band’s website and the ‘newspaper’ edition ($48) will be released in May. The latter includes: a vinyl formal, a CD, the digital format, and lots of printed artwork. I don’t understand what this newspaper business is about but I’m so happy the new album is here!

Their sound has once again evolved. I love their intricate rhythms and cynical undertones. My current favorites on the album are “Little by little” and “Lotus flower.”

In other other news, recipe post tomorrow! Chocolate bark, anyone?

Hello and Welcome!

If you followed me here from For the Love of Food, thank you – and if we are strangers, welcome, and allow me to introduce myself…

I am Sasha, a 20-year-old fille from Brooklyn, New York.

On this blog, I will be posting recipes, restaurant and product reviews, and tips on cooking and dining. Although food will always be my one and only love, I do have regular liaisons and plan to share those with you as well, so you can expect to see posts on fashion, music, books, Paris, and on my love/hate relationship with New York.

I had a Blogspot blog for almost two years but refused to deal with the damn glitches any more. I did import most of the old posts to Chez Sasha (though did not have the patience to format them all properly), but I really love the idea of starting over.

Make yourself at home and drop me a line.

And don’t forget to follow me with bloglovin!

Happy Belated New Year!

I hope you all rang in 2011 with sweet kisses, smiling faces and overflowing champagne flutes.
I just got back from a perfectly decadent four-day Montreal getaway so now I have the energy to keep working on a few new things and by next week, I hope to resume blogging regularly.

See you soon!