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Stir Fried Potatoes with Shishito Peppers

These crunchy strips of potatoes are amazing, especially mixed with thin cuts of shishito peppers…super easy to make.

 

The first time I had this dish in a Chinese restaurant I was amazed to find out that the almost transparent strips were potatoes…since then I went in search for the recipe, and to my surprise apparently stir-fried shredded potatoes is a very common dish in China.

I decided to make my version by adding strips of shishito peppers instead of hot peppers such as jalapenos or red chilis.

– Why the potato strips are crunchy?

Because the potato starch is removed before cooking.

– How do I remover the starch from the potato strips?

By soaking in cold water, rinsing until the water is no longer turbid.

– Are you ready to try this exquisite and simple recipe?

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium size russet potatoes
  • 6 oz shishito peppers
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • Chili oil, to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Peel the potato and cut into julienne or use a mandolin.

Place the shredded potato into a bowl of cold water for about 20 minutes. Gently revolve the strips occasionally. Drain and rinse the potato strips until the water comes out clear. This process will remove the start from the potato strips.

Drain the potato strips and pat dry with paper towel the excess of water.

In the meantime, cut the shishito peppers into thin strips and set aside.

In a wok or frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil under medium heat and stir fry the strips of shishito pepper. Once the peppers are blistered remove from the heat and set aside.

In the same pan add the remaining oil and add the finely chopped garlic until golden brown and fragrant. Add the well-drained potato strips and turn the heat to high and stir-fry to about 30-45 seconds. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, salt and pepper and add back the shishito peppers. Stir-fry all together for another minute or so.

Remove from the heat and serve.

– Looking for more simple and easy side dishes? Please check on the following…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!




Homemade Lemon Curd

Homemade lemon curd is much tastier than the store bought ones, it is so easy to make and only requires a few ingredients.  The color and flavor is pure summer…blasting with flavor, rich, creamy and so flavorful…

I love everything that has lemon in it…from bars to ice cream and our Meyer lemon tree was loaded with lemons, after picking them up and freezing some of them for making smoothie I still find myself with a lot of it…not to mention that we still have other kind of lemons tree in our backyard.

Since I had made pavlova recently I found myself with leftover egg yolks and I absolutely dislike throwing food away, I thought that the best way to use the egg yolks up and the extra lemons was to make lemon curd.

Ingredients:

  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 egg
  • ½ to ¾ cup sugar depending on your taste, I used ½ cup
  • 200 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice form Meyer lemons
  • Lemon zest, approximately 1-2  teaspoons
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces

Method:

Mix the egg yolks with the egg and pass it through a fine sieve directly to a small pot. I find that removing the egg membrane the curd does not taste eggy.

Add the lemon zest and the sugar, mix well and then add the lemon juice, combine well and finally add the butter.

Cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly until all the butter melts and the lemon mixture thickens. The lemon curd will be a bit liquid but it will thicken as it cools.

Remove the lemon curd from the pan and pour into a glass jar. Place a plastic wrap directly to the lemon curd to avoid a film to form. Once it cool completely, place the jar in the refrigerator.

Serve cold.

And my favorite way to eat lemon curd…by the spoon…

or with homemade yogurt

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for Homemade Lemon Curd, for more desserts recipe you might want to check HERE.

Did you know that lemon contain lots of vitamin C which boost your immune system? Moreover lemon peels contain as much as 10 times more vitamin than the lemon juice itself.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!




Air Fried Chicken Wings

This is the easiest, healthiest and fastest way to enjoy chicken wings…air-frying it!

If you are like me and enjoy crispy, and grease free chicken wings you must, I emphasize you MUST try this method…it is magical, and you just need a few ingredients besides the air-fryer and chicken wings, super simple!

Honestly since I got the air fryer I have been using it a lot and I kick myself for not have found this gadget sooner…it is true that is kind of bulky, but it does wonder and does not heat the kitchen as the oven… Did I convince you that this is the way to go?

When ordering chicken wings in a restaurant I always request them dry and the sauce or sauces on the side so I can dip the wings into the sauce as I like…not to mention that I can pretty much enjoy eating hot wings without having sauce all over my fingers.

In this post, I dip the wings in Moore’s Creamy Ranch Buffalo Sauce…a nice balance of tangy and heat…not to mention the creamy texture which coat the wings nicely…so good…by the way, I received this sauce as a compliment and all the opinion are mine.

Ingredients:

  • Chicken wings
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Drizzle of cooking Chinese wine (vodka, rice wine)

Method:

In a medium bowl toss together all the ingredients.

Preheat the air fryer to 350-375F according to the manufacture’s instructions.

Place the wings into the basket and cook for 25 to 30 minutes until the skin is browned and crisp. Make sure to shake or turn the wings during cooking.

Remove from the basket and serve with your favorite sauce.

I hope you enjoy this simple and healthy way to “fry” chicken wings.

Did you know that Chinese five-spices is made with a mix of star-anise, close, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel?

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!




Esfiha – Baked Meat Pie

This is a very popular snack found in Brazil, it is mainly another version of our “hamburger” the ground meat baked wrapped in a bread dough.

Sorry for being away…this couple of weeks so much has happened in my life…one of my very good friends has stopped all the treatments for cancer, therefore she is under palliative and hospice care, with the support of my husband I flew with her out of state to help and spend some time with her along with her family. During the time I was with her, we talked and talked, we laughed and cried, we remembered facts in the past, places we went together, we teased each other…and we comforted each other…it was so hard to say goodbye when was time for me to come home, but she was always very gracious and comforting, telling me that she was okay and that I could leave and not to worry about her. It was an experience that I have never imagined going through…it was a life lesson, being able to face death openly and accept that we all one day will have to come across with. As for now, we still communicate by text and phone, and I am so thankful that she is in such a good spirit, very peaceful, serene and enjoying every day.

I hope I did not spoil your day by sharing this event…now the bright side of my post…a recipe for esfiha, which are simply meat pies. Esfiha are very popular in Brazil. These meat pies are of Middle East origin and they are found everywhere, a very common street food. They can be open-faced, like pizza and topped with cheese, lamb, beef or vegetables.

What I have here is a closed one, and for the dough I used an Asian inspired recipe, therefore the bread dough is super soft and cottony as compared to the recipe that I originally posted HERE…no more ”talk” and let’s head for the recipe. By the way, these meat pies are so tasty and juicy, they can be frozen, and are great as an appetizer or as a main dish served with a side salad. One more thing…they are usually served with hot sauce or wedge of lime/lemon.

Ingredients:

Dough, from HERE

Meat Filling
1 lb 85% fat ground beef
2 tomatoes, seed removed and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon ground all spice
½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Egg Wash
1 egg
½ tablespoon water

Method:

In a large mixing bowl combine the ground meat and all the other ingredients, mixing them together. Set aside in the refrigerator for approximately 2 hours. Remove the excess of liquid. Mix again gently and it is ready for the assembly.

Assembly:

After the first rise, divide the bread dough into small balls, approximately 45 to 50 g each. Roll into small circle of about 12 cm or 5 inch in diameter.
Place in the middle of the circle approximately 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture.
Fold the circle into thirds, forming a triangle shape pie. Seat the ends and place them on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone mate or parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cover the pies and let them rise for approximately 30 minutes or until the pies double of its original size.

Gently brush the top of the pies with the egg wash.

Bake the pies in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Please note that some of the filling might “leak” and it should be bubbling.

Remove from the tray and let it cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with hot sauce and/or lemon/lime wedge.

Did you know that esfiha is also called sfiha in Arabic? It means meat with dough. In Brazil, esfiha is very popular due to the presence of a large Arab population.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!




Five Minutes Flatbread with Green Onion

This is a basic recipe for no-knead flatbread. It is very versatile as you can fill the dough with cheese, roll it will green onion, or just plain.

This recipe is based on the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, which I got a while ago and have been using its recipes here and there. I made bread, rolls and even flatbreads…the basic recipe is very simple and easy to follow.

Of course being “me” I am never content in just following recipes, I always have to come up with something new…so I decided to make flatbreads with the dough…the variation are limitless, with garlic and parsley, ground pepper and parmesan, ham and cheese and the list goes on and on…

Today I am sharing with you two versions of the dough, white and whole wheat, although I personally like the white better somehow…

I halved the recipe since it is only for 2 people, in spite of being able to keep the dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Before I continue I want to apologize for the massive number of pictures…I just felt that pictures would reflect better than words…

I have for you a couple of simple versions besides the plain one, which still delicious, if you are not in mood for extra work…a flatbread filled with melting mozzarella cheese and a twist on the Chinese inspired scallion pancake.

Basic Dough Ingredients:

White dough

  • 2 teaspoons yeast
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 1/3 cups unbleached flour, and extra for dusting when ready to bake
  • 2 cups lukewarm water

Or if you prefer

Whole wheat dough

  • 2 teaspoons yeast
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting when ready to bake
  • 2 ¼ cups lukewarm water

Other ingredients that you might want to use

  • Mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • Oregano
  • Scallion or green onion, finely chopped
  • Salt
  • Olive oil or any vegetable oil

Method:

Basic dough

In a mixer bowl, mix yeast and salt into the water (about 100 F) water. Stir in the flour using a low setting. Mix until the mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Please be advised that the dough will be wet. Pour the dough into a plastic container. Cover, leaving the lid loose.

Let dough sit and rise at room temperature, until dough begins to flatten on top or collapse, for 2 to 5 hours. You can now start to use the dough, although it will be easy to maneuver the dough when refrigerated. The dough is good in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Every time when ready to bake, just remove the amount of dough that you need and place the remaining dough back into the fridge.

Shaping the Flatbread

Remove like a large lemon size dough and place on a slightly flourly surface, let the dough sit for 10 minutes. Using a rolling pin, gently roll until flat (about ¼ in). At this point you can brush the surface of the flatbread with a little olive oil and sprinkle garlic, parsley, oregano, fresh ground black pepper or whatever you palate with for…

Cooking the Flatbread

Place a frying pan in a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil or any vegetable oil, gently lay the flatbread in the pan and sprinkle ½ tablespoon of water. Cover the pan by trapping the steam in the pan, which will help the cooking process. After a couple of minutes, flip the bread and cook the other side for another 2 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Flatbread filled with mozzarella cheese

Follow the same method as for the plain flatbread. Roll 2 pieces of dough to about ⅛ in for each flatbread. Place the cheese in the middle of one disk and gently cover the cheese with the second disk. Seal the sides by squeezing the dough together like a hand pie. Brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle oregano. Continue the cooking by following the instruction above.

Scallion flatbread (Asian inspired)

Before I go into the details of how to shape the scallion flatbread…here is the picture of both white and whole wheat dough…

pen the dough in the same manner as for the basic flatbread. Brush the open dough lightly with vegetable oil and sprinkle a little salt and then sprinkle the green onion evenly. Roll like a Swiss roll with the onion in between. Take the roll and coil it into a round bundle.
Roll out the round bundle again and it is ready for the pan.

or just make it plain…

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for making flatbread! Please check the Recipe Box for more bread recipes.

Did you know that flatbread is simply a bread that is shaped flat? Flatbread can be made of unleavened or leavened dough. Most of the cultures have their version. Examples of flatbread are pizza, pita, tortilla, lavash, naan, matzo, arepas between many others.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!




Babka with Nutella, Asian Style…

This is one of the recipe that as soon as I saw on the Wall Street Journal on a lazy Saturday morning I said “I am making this!”. This recipe got stuck on my mind and I would not rest until I tried it…and of course I had to do it my way…it was not hard since I had all the ingredients handy.

I used an Asian version for the dough, and somehow followed the instructions for the filling. I omitted the sugar syrup because I thought it would be too sweet with the Nutella and chocolate chips in the filling, which by the way, I added a very generous amount, but hey, feel free to add the sugar syrup if you enjoy a sweeter version of this treat. If you want the original recipe look it here.

Overall the recipe is pretty simple and easy if you are familiar with bread baking…and yes, the result is delicious, the combination of Nutella and chocolate chips is just a dream…gooey, moist…as noted in the article, you will have Nutella in each and every bite of this bread. Therefore when eating this bread, you will find your fingers coated with Nutella/chocolate…yum!

One more thing…I only used half of the dough for the babka, the remaining half I made it into rolls.

Ingredients:

Bread dough with Water Roux or Tangzhong

Water Roux
15 g bread flour
75 g water

Dough
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, complete with water to make a final 2/3 cup
2 ½ cups bread flour
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons butter

Filling

Nutella
¼ cup chocolate chips

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65C (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form.

Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients, except for the butter.

Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough. If the dough is too wet or too dry, add more flour or water accordingly. The dough should be soft and almost sticky.

Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates to the dough. At this stage, the dough will be very sticky, do not add more flour as the butter will incorporate totally in the dough.

Remove the dough and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let the dough proof until double of its original size.

Knock back the dough and split into 2 balls and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter.

Using a rolling pin flatten one of the ball and roll into a rectangular (sort of) shape of approximately 13 x 9 inches. Spread Nutella (generously) and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Roll the dough tightly like a Swiss roll and lay the seam side down. Cut into half and again each half to a half. With the second ball I just made rolls…

Lay two segments and for an “X”, and twist each end once. Repeat with the remaining two segments. Transfer them to a mini loaf pan, tucking the end underneath.

Cover the pans with plastic wrap until loaves double in volume. Bake in a pre-heated oven to 350F for 20 minutes.

Remove and let it cool on a wire rack.

If you enjoy this Asian inspired recipe for babka, you might want to check on this other Asian inspired bread such as Chocolate Marble Bread or Cinnamon Rolls in a Cup.

Did you know that babka is rumored to have its origins in Poland? And it was a cake? Many other versions of babka have emerged from cake to yeasted bread.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [dot] Me and have a great week!




Warm Chicken Salad

I got this idea for warm chicken salad from Katerina at Culinary Flavors. I don’t know if you remember, Katerina is a dear blogger friend that when we were in Greece she and her husband received us so graciously, hosting us to a wonderful dinner at the local Greek restaurant, and we learned so much about the culture and life in Greece. Anyway, when I saw this recipe on her blog I thought, yes…I can use this recipe for chicken and make it into a meal by layering Katerina’s Mediterranean Chicken Stir-Fry on a bed of greens. No need to mention (although I just did it), my husband was giving me compliments throughout the dinner…I had to acknowledge that the tasty chicken recipe came from Katerina, which was nice, because during dinner we could again share memories of our trips to Turkey and Greece…

Since the weather is getting warm here in Southern California and the days longer, I love this kind of meal, simple, quick, easy and tasty so we have time to walk at the beach after dinner before gets dark.

I adapted the recipe since I am cooking for 2 people, and please hop Katerina’s site Culinary Flavors for more details. So here is the simple recipe for this tasty chicken :)

Ingredients:

Chicken

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless cut in small cubes
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 pinch of dried oregano
1 pinch of dried basil
1 pinch of thyme
1 pinch of rosemary
Parsley chopped to taste
Salt and pepper to your taste

Salad

Greens of your preference
Tomatos
Kalamata olives

Method:

Chicken

Place all the ingredients together, mix the chicken with the herbs, and let it marinated for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

In a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat and stir-fry the chicken until cooked and golden brown. Set aside.

Assembly

On a plate spread the greens, tomatoes and Kalamata olives, and top with the stir-fried chicken. Serve immediately.

hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. You might want to check Grilled Salmonand Shrimp with Cilantro and Lemon, these are great topped on a bed of greens.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!




Mochi Bacon Cheese Balls

A while ago, I posted a recipe for “mochi cheese balls”, which uses only Parmesan cheese. I adapted the previous recipe by adding Muenster cheese, which give the cheese balls more color and a softer texture due to the melted Muenster cheese. Moreover, bacon bites were added, so you can imagine the taste of these cheese balls. This is a very easy and simple recipe, whenever you want to enjoy a tasty snack or complement a meal, just place these frozen cheese balls in a pre-heated oven for about 25 ~ 30 minutes at 275F and you are ready to receive compliments.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup tapioca flour
1 ½ cup glutinous rice flour
4 eggs
1 cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup chopped Muenster cheese
½ cup Parmesan cheese
¾ cup homemade bacon bits

Method:

In a small pan add water, oil and salt, bring to boil and carefully add to the tapioca and glutinous rice flour. Mix gently until you can manage with your hands (be careful it is very hot). Alternatively add the eggs, the Muenster cheese and the Parmesan cheese until a dough is formed. Add the bacon bits (check the recipe here) and mix until the bacon is well incorporated to the dough. Make small balls (you can freeze at this point if you desire), bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 275F. Serve warm. Makes approximately 50 to 60 cheese balls.

Did you know that Muenster cheese was originally made by Benedictine monks in France? In US, this cheese in mainly used melted since it melts easily over low heat. Therefore used in grilled sandwich and hamburger.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes!




Esfihas

Growing up in Brazil, we were so exposed to Middle Eastern food and Esfiha was something that you could literally find in almost every corner.

Ingredients:

Dough
¾ cup of water
2 cups bread flour
1½ tablespoon sugar
1½ tablespoon dry milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon yeast

Filling

1 lb of lean ground beef
2 large tomato cut in small pieces
1 large onion chopped
½ bunch Italian parsley
2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground all spice
Sal and pepper to taste

Method:

Dough

I use my mini bakery Zojirushi for the dough, or follow the instructions of your bread machine.In my bread machine.

Place the water first at the bottom of the bucket and add the dry ingredients. Choose the dough setting, when the cycle is complete, gently remove the dough from the bucket and knead until all the bubbles are removed.

Filling
Mix all the ingredients and let it set for a few minute.

Assembly

Knead the dough to remove the air bubbles, after removing the air bubbles from the dough make a roll and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Open the dough (approximately 4 in diameter), place approximately 3 tablespoon of the meat filling in the middle of the dough and close it by making a triangle (see the pictures).

Place the esfihas in a flour surface and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Bake in a hot oven, 400F for 20 minutes.

Did you know that esfiha is also called sfiha in Arabic? It means meat with dough. In Brazil, esfiha is very popular due to the presence of a large Arab population.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!