Thursday, July 29, 2010

Smashed Potatoes

While I love food for its yumminess and prettiness, I especially love fun food. Like dipping, which is my favourite method to eat anything. Chips, veggies, bread bits, even whole sandwiches are vastly improved if dipped in something awesome. While this recipe is not a dip, it was pretty fun to make which earns it huge brownie points in my books. Smashed potatoes are deliciously in between mashed and roasted and as already mentioned, more fun than either.

Boil mini-potatoes until just cooked.

Place on clean towel.


Using a second (clean!) towel, 'smash' (i.e. gently push down) the potato until it is about 1.5 cm thick. That's the fun part.


Transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet and let them cool completely at room temperature.

Heat the oven to 450C. Drizzle potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Make sure some oil gets underneath the potatoes so they are completely covered.

Roast until deep golden brown around the edges, about 30-40min. Flip the potatoes once mid-way through cooking. 

I served them with prosciutto wrapped chicken and warm pea salad, recipes to come!

Happy eating!

A.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Roasted Jalapeno and Lime Salsa

As a salsa-snob on a budget I could easily go broke if I didn't ration my salsa intake since I only like buying the fresh fancy stuff. So using a classic student solution, I made it myself...with great success. This will be a repeat recipe for sure!

Ingredients:

5 tomatoes
1 fresh jalapeno
1/3 cup diced red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp tomato paste
Juice from 1 lime
cumin
cayenne
salt and pepper



1. Dice tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos and onion and spread on pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt.

2. Roast at 400C for about 20-30min.

3. Stir in tomato paste, lime juice, cumin, cayenne and s&p. Taste-test, season until you're happy.

* Next time I would add lime zest for a stronger flavour.


A.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Mountains and Appetites: Unlimited

A recent excursion took us hiking up every mountain in and around Atlin with the Yukon Ski Team. While still a rockin' good time, this was training-camp-style hiking...an enthusiastic pace for 7+ hours, sometimes no trail to follow, and often necessary to use all four limbs plus more to get to the top!



A great side effect of so many mountain peaks is an endless appetite and constant eating. And the funny thing about camping is just about anything tastes fantastic. So while the following meals may not seem particularly unique or special, try a little pre-hike and dinner will taste ten times better.

Dinner #1: Chicken Fajitas

Whole wheat wraps
Chicken (cooked in basic fajitas seasoning)
Yellow, Orange and Red Peppers (cooked with chicken)
Avocado
Mixed Greens
Mango Lime Salsa
Old Cheddar


This meal has is all... colour, flavour, nutritiousness, its easy to make and leaves very few dishes.

Dinner #2: Foil Fire Roast

This meal is a Girl Guide favourite. Even easier and less dishes than fajitas.

Just put yummy stuff in many layers of foil, throw in the fire, play some cards while you're waiting, then dig in!



We put the following in our foil roasts but the possibilities are endless...

Pre-cooked ham
Potatoes
Yellow and red bell peppers
Carrots
Old cheddar

Many a fellow camper expressed extreme jealously over our brilliantly simple and scrumtious meal!

And you gotta have s'mores for dessert with this one...


See below for some more appetite-building action!


B. showing off her pro-river hopping skills.


A. taking the fastest route down.


Rock tossing, an infinitely entertaining game.


Stay posted for more posts. There's just been too many adventures and not enough time to share them!
Bradele.

Baked Zucchini Chips

This simple delicious recipe beats a bag of potato chips any day. The recipe below isn't an exact science and feel free to get creative with the spices and flavours in the bread crumb mixture. 

Ingredients: 
1-2 Zucchinis 
2 eggs
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

How to Make'em:

1.  Lightly beat the eggs. Combine the bread crumbs, grated parm and s&p in a separate bowl.

2. Slice the zucchini in desired chip-sized pieces:

  
3. Dip each chip in beaten egg and then in the bread crumb mixture.


 4. Place on a tray and bake in the oven at 400C  for about 20min each side, flipping the chips over part way through. 


 5. Serve warm or cold, its all good. 



Feels good to be back at the blog. Sorry for the neglect!

A.