Corn Mashed Potatoes

My sister Lisa gave me this cookbook a few years ago for Christmas saying, “It may just end up being a coffee table cookbook, but I thought you’d like it.”  It really is a beautiful book.  It is also larger than your average cookbook, so it does look great just sitting out in my house.  I will admit though that for the 3 years I have had it I have merely perused its pages and admired the lovely photos and descriptions of dishes by Marcus Samuelsson.  He is an Ethiopian-born Swedish chef and co-owner at Aquavit in New York City.  I have never eaten there, but maybe I will someday.  You may have seen Samuelsson on Top Chef Masters and heard of his catering of a White House dinner this past November.

This recipe for mashed potatoes has been one that I’ve looked at and considered making more than once.  It seemed like the perfect side dish to serve with our steaks.

These potatoes are a step up from simple mashed potatoes with the addition of corn and thyme.  The potatoes are cooked in milk and cream, and this cooking liquid is used to create the consistency you like for your potatoes.  I did buy a new utensil for this recipe: a potato ricer!  I love it.  So what if it may only serve one purpose?  It made the potatoes so creamy and smooth.  Sometimes I really like a more rustic mashed potato with chunks and little pieces of the skin in there.  But there is something very special about the incredibly smooth and silky texture of potatoes once you squeeze them through the ricer.  This might be one of my most favorite tools to use in the kitchen.  The potato goes in whole and comes out in long lanky strings!  Fun stuff.

The corn adds a delicious sweetness and contrast in texture.  The thyme is a lovely herb to use in these potatoes.  I won’t try to tell you that these are something you should eat weekly.  These potatoes are decadent and rich, so consume in moderation!

Corn Mashed Potatoes

From Aquavit

Ingredients
  • 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 cup cream
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon mascarpone cheese (or substitute cream cheese)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cup corn kernels, from about 2 corn cobs
  • kosher salt and black pepper
Directions
  1. Cook the corn on the cob in boiling water for about 3 minutes.  Let cool, then cut corn from the cobs.
  2. Combine potatoes, milk and cream in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Drain the potatoes, reserving the cooking liquid.
  3. Pass the potatoes through a food mill or potato ricer into a large bowl.
  4. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly.  Add the mascarpone or cream cheese and mix well, then stir in the thyme and olive oil.
  5. Add the egg yolk mixture to the potatoes along with the butter and about half of the cooking liquid and mix well.  Add more cooking liquid if desired.
  6. Fold in corn and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  7. If not serving immediately, return to the saucepan, cover, and keep warm over low heat.  You may need to add a little more cooking liquid if the potatoes begin to get dry.

Manchego Wrapped Olives

Olives.  A lot of people either love them or hate them.  I am not in either group.  I like them in certain dishes, but not others.  I like some kinds of olives, but not others.  I like some raw, and others I prefer to be baked on a pizza.  I am a mystery.  There is just no predicting which olive will please me, and which will cause me to turn up my nose in disgust.

With that little preface you are wondering, “Why did she even try this recipe?”  Well, I knew I had some olives that needed to be used, and I needed a snack that would be relatively easy and quick.  I found this recipe for olives wrapped in a cheesy dough and then baked on Allrecipes.com.  I have tried my hand at deep frying, and while it does create delicious, crunchy and greasy food, it makes my house smell and dealing with that oil is a pain.  So the baking aspect appealed to me.

I switched the cheddar cheese out for Manchego, added more seasoning to the dough, and used two kinds of stuffed olives: green olives stuffed with garlic and green olives stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes.  As I was writing out a shopping list I had a thought. Is it Ben who is not a huge fan of olives?  I sent him a text about what I was planning for dinner to find out.  His response was “Sounds great!”  He is such a sweet man.  Turns out he is in fact not a huge fan of olives.  But, get this…he actually LIKED them!  I guess if you wrap anything in a dough of butter, flour, Manchego cheese and paprika you can expect people to be pleased.

I liked these little bites of crispy, buttery cheesiness wrapped around the salty olive.  The only issue I faced in the preparation was getting the dough to come together.  It seemed way too crumbly.  If you just keep working, then it will become the smooth consistency you need to wrap the olives. 

Preparing these is a little time consuming since you must wrap each olive individually, but you can definitely wrap them ahead of time, chill them in the fridge, then bake them a half hour before you plan to serve them.  Since these were good even at room temperature they would be a great party food.  

Manchego Wrapped Olives

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
  • 1/2 pound Manchego cheese, shredded
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 20 green olives, pitted, or stuffed
Directions
1. Allow cheese to sit out until it is at room temperature. In a large bowl, mix together the cheese, butter and paprika using a pastry blender. Gradually mix in flour, first using the pastry blender, then using your hands. Mix until the dough pulls together. It should form a solid ball with a smooth appearance, but have a crumbly texture when pulled apart. If dough appears too dry, add more shredded cheese.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pinch off a small piece of dough, and cover an olive with it. Roll gently between your palms to smooth and seal the olive inside the ball. Place onto an un-greased cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough and olives. Place the tray of covered olives into the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.

 

Photo courtesy of Bettycrocker.com

Baked Rice Custard

Rice pudding is such a comfort food for me.  It is always so wonderfully creamy, rich and just slightly sweet.  Rice pudding is perfection in a bowl…or on a plate I guess if you like it that way.

Rice pudding has an incredible number of variations.  It is eaten in many different parts of the world.  Each type of rice pudding uses slightly different ingredients and flavors, but most come together in the same way and have similar textures.  In Sweden, rice pudding (Risgrynsgröt) is eaten at Christmas.  Coincidentally, Christmas is when my family eats rice pudding…we just can’t shake those Swedish traditions!

I’ve made rice pudding using the recipe given to me by my mom.  It is delicious.  We have always, and will always, eat this delicious dish cold sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, which is also traditionally Swedish.

I did not know until later in life that there were many ways to eat rice pudding.  You can eat it warm or cold.  You can eat is plain, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, served with fruits or fruit sauce, with or without raisins and nuts, or if you live in Iceland you might top off your pudding with blood sausage.  I will stick to cinnamon sugar.

Most rice puddings include these basic ingredients which are used as a springboard for all types of puddings:

  • Rice
  • Milk
  • Sugar (or some sweetener)
  • Flavoring (vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.)

What about eggs, you ask?  My family has never used eggs.  I never even really considered the use of eggs in rice pudding, until I came across a rice custard recipe.  Being one who enjoys trying new things, I decided to make this Scandinavian baked rice custard this past weekend.  Could it live up to real rice pudding?  Or would it surpass all my expectations and be…God forbid…better than “real” rice pudding?

This rice custard was definitely different than rice pudding but definitely delicious.  I liked the texture that the eggs provided.  It kept its shape when served, unlike my mom’s rice pudding which had a tendency to spread a little.  The flavor was incredible.  The combination of the vanilla and almond extracts is wonderful.  I would recommend adding in about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

I served this with a cranberry sauce that I put together with pantry items.  Lingonberry jam, if you can find it, would be good as well.  Or you can eat is plain, which is wonderful.  I tried it warm after a little cooling time, and the next day after it had been sitting in the fridge.  Either way is yummy.

The question is, was this custard better than the pudding?  No.  They are both very good and I will make them both in the future, but there are just too many great memories attached to eating my family’s version of rice pudding.  Try both and let me know your opinion, though.  I am biased.

Scandinavian Rice Custard

Courtesy of Group Recipes

Ingredients
  • ½ cup medium grain white rice
  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • dash of salt
  • 3 eggs, beaten just slightly
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • dash of cinnamon, if desired
Directions
  1. Add rice to boiling water; boil for 10 minutes.
  2. Drain rice in a colander; rinse and drain well.
  3. Put rice into a well buttered baking dish; stir in the butter and salt.
  4. Mix the beaten eggs with the sugar and salt.
  5. Stir egg mixture into the milk.
  6. Add the extracts and cinnamon ;pour over the rice.
  7. Set rice dish in a larger pan that is half filled with hot water (be sure to use HOT water).
  8. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 to 90 minutes (center of pudding should still be jiggle-y in the middle, but rice must be done).
  9. Stir rice every 10 minutes the first 30 minutes of baking.

Photo courtesy of taste.com.au

Pork Tamales with Chile Sauce

To everyone who doubted me and said encouraging things like “You know tamales are really hard, right?” I have one thing to say…I made tamales and they were spectacular!

Happy New Year!  To bring in 2010 we had a tamale party on New Year’s Eve.  The holiday issue of Fine Cooking magazine had a section devoted to tamale making complete with step-by-step instructions and photos.  This is so helpful when attempting to make something for the first time that requires a certain method to achieve success.  I would have been a wreck without those pictures!  After a few completed tamales it was a breeze, and I feel like next time I will be even better at it.

In Mexico, tamales are traditionally served at Christmas or New Years, so this seemed like the perfect meal for the party.  I read through the recipe at least a dozen times in the 2 weeks before New Years to make sure I had everything I needed and wasn’t going to find myself in a position where it’s the day of the dinner and something has to sit overnight.  This has happened to me.  It is no fun.

I made the rather unwise decision to really talk the party and the tamales up to my friends.  Why did I do this?  I have never made tamales, and there would be no sweet old Mexican grandmother to assist me in my quest.  I had no good reason to tell everyone how good these tamales would be!  The nervousness began to set in as the day approached.  What if everything went wrong and we had to order pizza?  Pressure.

I was so thankful to have a few days of vacation left at home to prepare for tamale night.  I made the pork and the sauce for the tamales the day before, which made life so much easier when it came time to assemble these lovely corn husk packages of masa and tender pork.  Like little presents!  Trying to make these in one day is definitely possible.  You’d have to start pretty early and be prepared to wash a tremendous number of dishes.  The tamales would be served and you’d probably be exhausted, but one bite of these tamales and you would be so overwhelmed by the deliciousness in your mouth that you would forget all about the mess in your kitchen and the hours you spent in there!

The flavors and textures are terrific.  The masa is smooth, creamy and rich.  The pork is tender with just enough spice.  The chiles provide a nice smoky flavor to the sauce that is the perfect complement to the tamales.  Don’t be turned off the the long list of ingredients or amount of prep work.  These are so delicious.  So perfect.  So worth it.

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