Moroccan Shakshouka

Hey there, y'all! I hope you enjoyed a fabulous and sunny St. Patrick's Day (I know I did, not least of all because I am now DONE with the MPRE aka future-lawyer-mandatory-ethics-exam).

I have some (slightly) exciting news: Torts & Tarts has now passed the 1000-views mark! So thanks to all of you for checking it out, and pinning to it on pinterest, and "liking" it on facebook, and all that good stuff.

When I looked at the "stats" tab just now, in addition to the number of pageviews I was able to see some basic data re: who has been checking out the blog. I learned:

• some not-surprising things (the Bailey's Cupcakes got more hits than the Healthy Egg Salad)
• some slightly surprising things (Torts & Tarts is huge in Ukraine. Like, it is BLOWING UP. It looks like the blog was linked to on a dating site. So uhm, привіт.)
• some VERY surprising things (some people found the site by Googling "torts and tarts porn movie"- whattt?)

Isn't the internet a wonderful place?

Moving on. I hope all of you (friends, family, single Ukranians and porn aficionados alike) enjoy today's recipe: Moroccan Pepper, Tomato, and Egg Stew aka Shakshouka.


I'm no arbiter of Moroccan authenticity, but I spent a chunk of time in Morocco before law school and the flavors of this stew took me right back to the Maghreb. I ate something very similar a couple of times in the South, where it is prepared in a tagine and called a "Berber omelette." Variations of the dish are served all over North Africa and the Middle East. The recipe calls for harissa, which I don't have, so I used a combination of hot sauce and sweet paprika along with ground cumin and turmeric to give the stew its color and flavor.

Moroccan Shakshouka
adapted from Olive Trees & Honey

The major ingedients in this simple stew are peppers, tomatoes, and eggs. You'll need 4 green bell peppers, as well as 1 1/4 lbs. (3 cups) of peeled, seeded, and chopped plum tomatoes. I absolutely massacred my tomatoes and ended up well short of 3 cups- next time I'll buy a few extra tomatoes as insurance.

You know what one of my favorite foods in the world is? Bell peppers. You know what one of my least favorite kitchen tasks is? Deseeding and deribbing bell peppers. C'est la vie.

Heat 3 tbs of olive oil in a large saucepan and add 1 large onion (chopped) and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (minced).


Cook for approximately 5 minutes, until slightly translucent.


Add the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the peppers are "crisp-tender"- until they have started to soften but just barely.


There are no pics with the tomatoes because seriously, I butchered them. It was a fight to the death, and despite having several large, sharp knives in my arsenal I lost. Badly. But take my word for it that after the peppers are crisp-tender you should add the tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp turmeric, a dash of sweet paprika and a healthy pour of hot sauce (or harissa if you have it). Bring it all to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft.

Using a spoon, create 4 indentations in the stew. One at a time, crack 4 eggs into a small bowl and then pour into the indentations. Cover the saucepan and cook until the egg whites have set but the yolks are still runny (the recipe says 5 minutes, but for me it took about 10-15).


I don't like runny yolks so I cooked the eggs almost all of the way through- you can shorten the cooking time if you are more of a sunny-side-up type

Serve immediately. To add some extra color and flavor put a drop of hot sauce on each egg and sprinkle each plate with some extra paprika.

The recipe serves 4-6 people as a side dish, and 2-3 people as a main course (although there might be some fighting over the last egg).

One or two eggs with a heap of veggies is the perfect serving size for a hungry guest!

I have to say, I absolutely loved this dish. Not only did it give my tastebuds a strong dose of nostalgia, it was delicious. The eggs were perfectly cooked- soft and tender as only poached eggs can be, but kicked up a notch with all the spices. The stew is low-carb and low-calorie and yet very hearty and filling. The amount of harissa/paprika/hot sauce can be adjusted to taste.

And its always nice to have yummy leftovers.

Crispy Parmesan Veggie Sticks

Sometimes planning what to cook feels like a futile exercise in free association. Making one thing leaves you with a lot of leftover ingredient A, so you buy ingredients B and C to make another dish, but then you're left with too much B, so you run out and get D, E, and F, but E is only sold in bulk so you hunt desperately for other things to do with it before it goes bad, and so on and so forth.

Its difficult to buy ingredients in the proper quantities when cooking just for yourself or for a few people- hence the plethora of random ingredients cluttering my cabinets and my refrigerator (flaxseed, anyone?). But lately I've been trying to use up the food I already have before running off to the store. Sometimes this is successful (like when I used the parsley and lentils left over from this meal to make this salad), and sometimes it's not (like when I was left with a boatload of dill after making this casserole and for the life of me couldn't think of anything to do with it. I think its still in the back of the fridge somewhere).

I'm doing well this week though, and to make this snack I scheduled another date with Panko breadcrumbs (evidently pronounced pahn-ko, not pain-ko, an embarrassing revelation I had when I asked for it at the grocery store last weekend) to create a healthy treat that has all the satisfying crunch of french fries but with a whole lot more vitamins and a whole lot less fat. These veggie sticks are great served with tomato sauce, aioli, or honey mustard. If you make them with seasoned breadcrumbs they might even be good all by their lonesome. I used asparagus and zucchini but I bet other vegetables would be good as well.

Crispy Parmesan Veggie Sticks
adapted from How Sweet Eats

Ingredients:

• Asparagus spears (the thinner the better)
• Zucchini, sliced into wedges
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (seasoned or plain)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup ground or finely grated parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray (if you don't have a wire rack, just the baking sheet is fine, but you will need to turn the sticks over halfway through the cooking time).

With the egg whites in one shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs, flour, parmesan, salt and pepper in another, dip the veggies first in the egg whites and then the breadcrumb mixture.

Unfortunately I could only find this thick asparagus, but thinner spears will be a whole lot crispier!

Arrange veggie sticks on top of the wire rack/baking sheet.

like modern art, no?

Place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes, until the breadcrumbs turn golden brown. Remember to turn the sticks over once midway through cooking if you are not using a wire rack.


Yum scrum!

Sephardic Lentil Salad

Well, here I am. Back in NYC and back in the land of Olive Trees & Honey, a mysterious land where seemingly any dish can be deemed Jewish as long as any Jew ate it anywhere at any point in time. This "Sephardic" lentil salad is no exception- while many a Sephardi may have enjoyed it, something tells me the salad's appeal (and history) is a bit broader. This simple salad can be served warm or at room temperature and would be a great side dish for any entree with Mediterranean or North African flavors. Try serving it over rice or with some fresh hummus and warm pita.

Sephardic Lentil Salad (adapted from Olive Trees & Honey)

Ingredients:

• 1lb (about 2 1/4 cups) brown or green lentils
• 8 cups water
• 1 bay leaf

For dressing:

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice or red or white wine vinegar (or even a combination: I used half lemon juice, half red wine vinegar and it turned out well)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped

In a large saucepan, bring the lentils, bay leaf, and water to a boil.


Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender but not mushy (about 25 minutes). Drain and remove bay leaf.



Put the warm lentils in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice/vinegar, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, and cumin.

the usual suspects: a lineup of the dressing ingredients

Slowly whisk in the olive oil.


Drizzle over the lentils and stir gently to coat. Just before serving stir in the onion.



You can serve this salad plain, sprinkle it with feta cheese, or even make it into a dip by blending it in a food processor with 1 cup tahini and and an extra 2/3 cup of lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups of parsley.

You can also serve it in a bowl you made at a paint-your-own-pottery studio in college.

Panko-Crusted Salmon and Warm French Lentils

Greetings from the barren hinterlands of northern Westchester County!

Yes, I am still banished to the Timbuktu of the Tristate area, the Siberia of the Northeast, completely lacking cell service, and now in addition to forced family bonding and merriment in the form of St. Patrick's Day celebrations my parents are making me prepare all of their meals. (Translation: I've had a really relaxing couple of days up here doing absolutely nothing and happily utilizing my parents' kitchen which is almost the size of my entire NYC apartment). I'm heading back to the city tonight, but lucky for me (and my parents, and you) I had time to cook one last meal before I go. I was actually supposed to make this dinner last night but ended up going to see The Artist instead.

BTW what did you guys think of The Artist- did it actually deserve Best Picture? I thought it was cute. Not great, but very good. The sound editing and special effects were pitch-perfect. And I now have a petite crush on Jean Dujardin. Like, his forearms contain more sex appeal than the entire male population of my law school combined. But I digress...

~le sigh~

This time I gave the Barefoot Contessa a try, making a couple of recipes from her book "How Easy Is That?": Warm French Lentils and Panko Crusted Salmon.


Just how easy WAS it? Meh, not too bad. I had to go out and buy a few ingredients we didn't have (French Le Puy lentils? Really, Ina? Not all of us are so classy as to just *happen* to have French AOC lentils lying around), but the prep itself was relatively simple. And I only set off the smoke alarm once.


Both recipes were relatively simple and helped create a meal with fantastically complex flavors despite the limited number of ingredients. I highly recommend both, although my mother commented that the mustard flavor in the lentils was "quite strong" so you might only like them if you like mustard (but I generally dislike mustard, and I liked the lentils, so go figure). There was actually dijon mustard in both dishes, creating some continuity on the plate.

And now, onto the documentary evidence of my culinary adventures!

The lentils dish was started by sauteeing leeks and carrots in olive oil for 6 minutes (normally you would add chopped garlic in at minute 5 but ma mère is allergic).

Meanwhile, 6 whole cloves were stuck into a peeled onion and brought to a boil with one cup of lentils and 4 cups of water.

Once the lentils started boiling, the carrots and leeks were added.


Once the lentils were almost tender, the onion was removed and discarded and the lentils were strained and put into a bowl with 1 tsp of butter. Meanwhile, I mixed olive oil, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.


This mixture was then poured over the lentils, and the dish was allowed to cool slightly before serving.


For the salmon, I mixed 2/3 cups of Panko breadcrumbs with 2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley and 1 tsp lemon zest. The crumbs were drizzled with 2 tbsp of olive oil and tossed thoroughly.


The salmon, cut into filets and skin-side down, was smeared with dijon mustard and sprinkled with salt and pepper. The Panko mixture was pressed onto the top of the fish.


2 tbsp of vegetable oil were heated in a large saucepan on the stove. I placed the salmon in the saucepan for 3-4 minutes to create a nice sear (unfortunately at this stage some of the breadcrumbs fell off and burnt on the pan, leading to the fire alarm incident. Oops). The entire pan was then moved to the preheated-to-425-degrees oven for 5-7 minutes, until the fish was almost cooked through and the breadcrumbs started to turn golden brown. The pan was removed from the oven and covered with aluminum foil for 10 minutes to let the fish set.

oh heyy there, charbroiled breadcrumbs

I served the salmon with the lentils, some plain white rice, and a lemon wedge. Yum scrum! Thanks, Ina. You just won a point in your battle with Nigella Lawson.

Bailey's Black and White Cupcakes

Aside from openmindedness and appreciation of diversity and all that good stuff, one of the benefits of having parents from different cultural backgrounds is the number of holidays my family celebrates. And yes, I am indeed part Irish so unlike SOME of you green beer -swilling heathens out there I possess a legitimate right to celebrate St. Patrick's Day thankyouverymuch. (Fake snark alert: feel free to get down with your badass green beer -drinking self whenever your heart desires).


But let's be honest, for us St. Patrick's Day has nothing to do with culture or saints or snakes or Ireland and everything to do with family and food. Saturday night was our annual St. Patrick's day dinner, and as usual my aunt's corned beef and cabbage solidified her reputation as, like, the best cook EVER. Corned beef and cabbage is one of those meals that sounds disgusting and doesn't look or smell much better, but it tastes sogoodsosaltysomuchflavor and ugh vegetarianism be damned I have a weakness for it to the point where its not even funny. My aunt also makes an amazing irish soda bread with raisins that is dense and sweet and beyond fabulous, as well as great cole slaw and great potatoes and seriously everything she touches is usually delicious, so I was at a bit of a loss as to how I could possibly make a dessert that people would even want to LOOK at after that amazing dinner.


The answer? Alcohol. (As usual, amirite?). To be specific, Bailey's Irish Cream. Lots of it. Bailey's in the cupcake batter. Bailey's in the chocolate ganache. Bailey's in the buttercream frosting. Bailey's swigged straight from the bottle as I toiled in the kitchen...

Just kidding. That's gross. I used a glass.

The cupcakes were inspired by a recipe from Better Home & Gardens, but as I started making the batter I didn't like the results I was getting (too thick, not enough chocolate, etc.) so I tweaked the recipe as I went along, and improvised the frosting. The result was a moist and surprisingly light cupcake with deeeelicious frosting flavored with just enough Bailey's to make it interesting. The chocolate half of the cupcake could have used some more flavor so going forward I might substitute cocoa powder, but all in all the cupcakes were a crowd pleaser and I'll def be keeping one in the freezer to celebrate with on the REAL St. Paddy's day after I'm done taking the MPRE (come to think of it, the entire bottle of leftover Bailey's might come in handy as well).

Bailey's Black and White Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place paper liners in 24 cupcake/muffin molds. In a medium mixing bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until soft, adding the sugar, vanilla, and liqueur. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl every once in awhile. Add egg whites one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then alternate adding the buttermilk and flour mixture, mixing until just combined.


Why buttermilk? The acid in buttermilk reacts with baking soda to produce bubbles of carbon dioxide, hence why buttermilk is the preferred liquid of many cooks for making light, high-rising biscuits, scones, pancakes, etc. In this case it lends itself to a light cupcake with a very soft and fluffy crumb.

Pour half of the batter into a separate bowl and add the melted chocolate. Fill each cupcake mold about 2/3 of the way full, spooning chocolate batter into one side of the cup and white batter into the other.


Bake about 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes and then remove cupcakes and set on the racks to cool entirely.

Symmetry has never been my strong suit

For the Bailey's Ganache:
Bring 1/2 cup of whipping cream just to a boil. Remove from heat, add 6oz chopped bittersweet chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes.


Add 2 tbsp Bailey's and stir until smooth. Let sit for 15-20 minutes until somewhat thickened, and then smoosh about a tablespoons-worth onto the top of each cupcake, smearing it around a bit with the back of a spoon until relatively flat but not dripping over the side.


Let set (about 1 hour or 15 minutes in the fridge).


For the Bailey's Icing:
Mix 2 sticks butter (room temperature) with 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar until well blended. If you have a mixer, great. If not, this can be done by hand. Add in 3 healthy tablespoons of Bailey's and mix well. Spread onto the top of cupcakes with a knife or use a pastry bag with a wide tip.


For some extra flair, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, crushed coffee beans, or green sugar crystals.


Enjoy!

Tahini Dip

Well, this is embarrassing.

I feel like that awkward kid in middle school who forgot about the science fair and shows up with a crap paper mache volcano while the girl next to him demonstrates the aerodynamics of her homemade hovercraft.


The source of my shame? I'm not sure if what I have to share with you today is a "recipe" per se. Calling this a recipe would be like calling the directions on a bag of microwave popcorn a recipe. It's THAT simple. But I am still posting in the hope that one day, someone just like me (aka someone craving hummus who is too lazy to go to the grocery store to get chickpeas because it is FINALLY SPRING BREAK goddamnit and I just want to sit on my fire escape in the sun and read the latest issue of World Soccer magazine).... ahem, yes, JUST LIKE ME will see this and think "oh good! Here's what I can do with my lifetime supply of tahini paste."

So here is a non-recipe recipe for Tahini Dip, a rich and creamy creation perfect for those times when you want something a little zestier and thicker than hummus and/or are too lazy to get off your ass and get some chickpeas.

Tahini Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup tahini paste
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cold water

Mix the first 4 ingredients together. Add the cold water, little by little, until the dip reaches the consistency you want. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro/parsley.

Looking at the ingredients you may wonder how this doesn't end up a soupy mess because tahini is pretty runny to begin with. But a weird thing happens when you add the lemon juice- the tahini seizes up and thickens, until it is almost like a coarse dough.


The cold water then counteracts this and brings the tahini back to its creamy consistency.


This dip is pretty good with almost any vegetable. Serve it with pita wedges, bell pepper or cucumber slices, or make a meal out of it by sprinkling with some feta and serving with panfried zucchini. Yum scrum.