Confessions of a Mormon Foodie

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Dried Pepper Family

George Santayana said, “The family is one of nature's masterpieces.” It wouldn't surprise me is he was talking about peppers. It's certainly a family that warms my heart.

Dried peppers make there way into our kitchen most commonly through the spice rack, although dried hot peppers can be found if you cruise the Mexican food aisle. Many peppers are made from dried capsicums. This is different from the more conventional black or white pepper, ground from peppercorns. Different pepper products vary wildly in the amount of heat they have so, it's a good idea to know which is which.

Hot Pepper Flakes
Their flavor is quite fiery and there can be a lot of seeds in with the flakes. Use with caution. Sprinkle sparingly over foods before, during, or after cooking to add a kick to almost any dish. Adding a touch to a tomato based pasta sauce, or sprinkling over pizza slices is a great way to spice things up. You can buy them already prepared or you can my your own by grinding dried red peppers in a mortar.

Paprika
This is the mildest of all peppers in the family and can be found in sweet (mild) and hot (Hungarian) forms. Most times the sweet versions are the most versatile, but I favor the hot because of the more intense flavor. Spanish paprika is smoked and they prefer to call it pimentone. Commonly used in Hungarian and Spanish dishes it adds subtle heat and complexity to food.

Cayenne
Made from one of the hottest varieties of chilies (that are edible, anyway), cayenne is used frequently in Mexican and Cajun foods. It adds real heat and flavor so, use cautiously. It is also sold as red pepper.

Chili Powder
Chili Powder is actually a blend of chilies, garlic, cumin and oregano. Different brands will differ in heat, but most are relatively mild. Chili powder adds authenticity and piquancy to Mexican, Indian, and Southwestern dishes.

Photo by Irina Ignatova

Monday, March 23, 2009

How to Make Spaghetti Pie

When my wife cooks spaghetti, she cooks spaghetti. Lots of spaghetti. Enough to last for a week spaghetti. She mixes in canned spaghetti sauce with all of it so we can't re-purpose it with different sauces.

I don't like eating the same thing day in and day out so, I needed a solution. This recipe for Spaghetti Pie, adapted from Best Recipes Magazine, helps me add variety to our left over spaghetti, and saves me from boring food.

The fact that it's delicious doesn't hurt, either.

Ingredients

3 cups cooked spaghetti (left overs are acceptable)
1/2 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed if any (or use ground beef)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I used button mushrooms, but crimini's would be great)
1 green pepper, chopped
3/4 cup canned marinara (spaghetti) sauce
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs
1 tablespoon butter, melted.
1 cup Ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons dried parsley (or 2 tablespoons, freshly chopped)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Olive oil

Directions

Grease a 9-inch pie plate with olive oil and set aside.

Heat more olive oil in a large skillet and saute the sausage, crumbling it, the onion, mushrooms and pepper until the sausage it cooked and no longer pink. Spoon off the fat and remove from the heat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Reheat the leftover spaghetti in the microwave, removing excess sauce if needed. In a large bowl combine 1 egg with 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and the melted butter. Add the spaghetti and toss to mix well. Spread he spaghetti mixture in the bottom of the pie plate, making a 1/2-inch thick rim up the sides of the plate, like the crust of a pie.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining egg, remaining Parmesan cheese, parsley, and Ricotta cheese. Spread over the bottom of the crust. Top with meat mixure.

Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and bake for 5 minutes more to melt the cheese. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Newman House Breadmaker Wheat Rolls

Now that I've gabbed about soft dinner rolls, it's time to put my dough where my mouth is and give you a recipe for a good dinner roll.

Inspired by the Lion House in Salt Lake City and the Parker House in Boston, I wanted to give dinner roll making a try. Seeing as how I'm on a semi-conscious health kick, I also wanted to increase the fiber content and replace some of the saturated fats with the unsaturated variety for my rolls. I didn't want to give up any of the soft texture and flavor, though. I can't exactly call these rolls “healthy,” but compared to the recipes that inspired them, I'd like to think of them as “less unhealthy.”

I'm also lazy. My rolls would start life in the breadmaker.

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon wheat gluten
1/4 teaspoon dough conditioner
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons non-fat dry milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

olive oil as needed, before cooking
melted butter as needed, after cooking

Directions

Put the first ten ingredients in your breadmaker in the order listed. At least, that's the order for such things in my bread maker. Set it to the “dough” cycle and let it run.

At the end of the cycle, remove the dough from the pan and put it into a bowl that has been greased with olive oil, turning to coat with oil evenly. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (about an hour).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the oven is warming up, dust a large cutting board or counter top with flour. Punch the dough down and roll out on the dusted board into an 18 inch by 8 inch rectangle. Cut the rectangle into eighteen pieces as shown in the diagram on the left.

Drizzle olive oil over the dough, and roll each piece up, from the short end. Transfer to a floured baking sheet, cover, and let rise again until double in size. Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for about 12 or until golden.

Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter or more olive oil.

Makes 18 rolls.