Fennel au gratin

Winter is here! Well, the first snow fall is, at least. I woke up this morning to a flurry of snowflakes and immediately thought, "Comfort food time!" Although it's now bright and sunny again, I could still use some cheering up and there's a fennel waiting in my fridge, so fennel au gratin it is. Nothing says warm and comforting better than something cheesy and baked. Anything au gratin is fine by me but - and this might not be everyone's cup of tea - I personally love fennel because it's slightly fiberous and aniseed-y in flavour. This dish takes a little bit of effort and TLC but I always feel it's worth it by the time I'm bundled up in a blanket on the couch with a warm plate of gratin and hot mug of tea. Mmmm.

Read on after the jump for the recipe!

Zucchini Fritters with Dill Yoghurt Dip

So my obsession with zucchinis continues! If you don't know already, I LOVE zucchinis (see proof here and here). It's been a month since I last posted a recipe with zucchini, so this recipe is inevitable.

This time around, we're going Greek. I love the idea of vegetable fritters for the crunch factor. Research has shown that crunchy food makes our brain perceive them to taste better. That's why potato chips are full of air pockets and are always too big for a single bite - that way you'll always need to break them into smaller pieces to fit into your mouth and hear the crunch. Do you ever notice how it's hard to stop at just one chip?

Anywho, crunchy chips aside, there's no way I can stop at just one zucchini fritter either. If you take care to make really thin fritters, they'll come out beautifully crispy. It's also important to get rid of as much moisture as possible. You can simply squeeze the shredded zucchinis in a tea towel or take the extra step - salt them, let sit for about 15 minutes and strain well. Most zucchini fritter recipes I found didn't require feta, so that's a personal preference. Just remember to adjust how much salt you use depending on how salty the cheese is.

Get the full recipe after the jump.

Grilled halloumi and aubergine platter

Photos like this one make me wish I could eat with my eyes! Not only is it beautiful, it's also simple, fresh, healthy and uber easy to put together in a hurry.

Cheese, eggplant a.k.a. aubergine and tomato - only three simple ingredients go into this gorgeous platter. Because it's such a pretty little composition, you can make it as both a side dish and a center piece (see what I did there? "Side", "center", get it?). It's actually inspired by a caprese salad I had at a local resto a while back. Since I couldn't find any fresh mozzarella that's halal or kosher, I decided to use my other favourite cheese - halloumi.

I first tasted halloumi while working in a Lebanese restaurant as a student in Brisbane, Australia. The halloumi is usually sold in small, vacuum-packed miniature bricks to customers but behind the counter, us workers would grill slices of it for our salads or our kebab lunches. Pretty soon I was getting my own regular supply of halloumi to experiment with at home. I was in love with the rigid but tofu-like texture and the subtle buttery flavour. Pan-fried at high heat, it'll form a nutty outer crust that's the perfect crunchy protein substitute in a salad.

You can probably find halloumi in most Indian or Middle-Eastern supermarkets today. I don't have an exact recipe for this platter since it's something I whipped up on a whim. Slicing the ingredients is probably the largest part of the recipe, so don't be intimidated. Here's a general description of what I did:

Tomatoes - get large, ripe ones. Cut into 1/4" slices.
Halloumi - cut into 1/4" slices. Preheat pan to medium high high heat and add just enough olive oil to coat the pan. Place halloumi slices in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown crust forms.
Aubergine - I used Italian eggplants of about 3" in diameter. Cut into 1/4" slices, sprinkle with salt and leave in a colander for 5-10 minutes. Water will start to draw out of the slices. Pat dry with paper towels. Brush lightly with olive oil, pan fry or grill on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side.
Assembly - alternate tomato, aubergine and halloumi slices on a platter. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper (if you want), rip up a bunch of cilantro and sprinkle from on high so that they fall like delicate petals onto the grilled halloumi, aubergine and tomato.

And that's all there is to it! My family was impressed when I placed the platter on our dining table but, really, I barely broke a sweat. I think it's a pretty good deal for such an amazing-looking assemble!

The Ultimate Garlic Spread (is here!)

Folks, brace yourselves; I've found the ultimate garlic bread spread for the ultimate garlic bread!

I hereby declare my search for a garlic bread recipe over! Yes, it's that good. Three ingredients and less than 20 minutes - that's all you need.

The first time I ever had garlic bread was at a Pizza Hut restaurant as a little girl. I admit, I do have a penchant for Italian food. But still, I think garlic bread is an excellent comfort food, especially when you're generous with the cheese. You can make it in minutes, you can eat it on its own or turn it into a meal by pairing it with your favourite stew or soup. What more can you ask of a loaf of bread?

I first tried store-bought garlic spreads to make my own garlic bread (Ick!). Then I graduated to making my own spread with fresh crushed garlic, butter and parmesan, but that combination doesn't keep well, nor does it taste as good with all the butter involved.

Then I discovered Laura Vitale's garlic-parsely-olive-oil formula. Trust me - it is belissimo! It positively saturates the bread with garlicky goodness and the recipe ensures the right amount of crusty and ooey-gooey-chewiness. Plus, as always, this recipe is a winner because it takes minutes to make.

I used mini Italian loaves but any dense bread should do, like ciabatta, baguette, focaccia or even bagels. I would, however, advice against ordinary sliced bread because you do need some thickness to absorb the spread and withstand the heat to melt the cheese. I followed Laura Vitale's recipe as a guide but I made a few adjustments; I reduced the amount of garlic, upped the parsely and sped up the cooking time. I also experimented with different garnishes and herbs like red pepper flakes (Hot! Hot! Hot!), oregano (my favourite!) and fresh chopped parsely (fresh!).

Here's a final tip: double the volume for the recipe, put it in an old jam jar and stick a fun label on. The next time you're craving for some cheesy comfort food, simply head over to your fridge! (Click here to see how I used the spread in my Red and Green Pasta Stir-fry!)

Read on after the jump for the recipe.

Zucchini pizza bites

"Zucchini? Yes, please. Zucchini pizza bites? Marry me!"

That's my stream of thought when I saw this recipe on The Comfort of Cooking. As I've mentioned in a previous post, zucchinis are currently my ulitmate favourite vegetable so I'm always on the lookout for recipes using these delectable moss-coloured squashes. I must have stared at the computer screen for a full minute after I stumbled upon this recipe.

I have to be honest, though, and tell you that the recipe had me at "zucchini". I didn't realize what a bonus the rest of the ingredients were until I assembled each "bite". The fun part of this recipe was that I got to play around with toppings. This made preparing and eating these little bites so much fun!

 The recipe only takes about fifteen minutes so this is definitely going into my bank of quick bites. I decided to jazz things up a bit with a few extra toppings but you can definitely make these with just the sauce, cheese and herbs.

A few extra tips for beginners:
1. Be sure to cut the zucchini slices no less than 1/4" in thickness and to grill them on medium high heat just enough to brown, NOT to cook through. This is important to ensure the zucchini slices will be firm enough to hold their toppings and keep some of their crunch.
2. If you're using relatively small zucchinis, as I was, cut them diagonally to get more surface area for your toppings.
3. Finely shred your cheese. If you're using pre-shredded ones, chop them up well. Long or thick strips of cheese might not fit well on the slices.
4. I used some left-over spaghetti sauce, but any marinara or pizza sauce should do the trick.
5. Feel free to substitute the vegetable toppings, cheese and and herbs to something of your liking.

How fabulous do these look?

Get the step-by-step guide and recipe after the jump.

Battered green beans

We're healthy-snacking today, folks!

I'm a big fan of vege snacks, and I'm not talking about those orange, green and yellow corn puffs that are colour-coded to remind us of real veges but are actually loaded with MSG. I'm talking about fresh veges turned into bite-sized morsels packed with flavour. I think a good way to get into healthy snacking is to keep a bank of easy recipes that you can whip up in a jiffy. These Battered Green Beans recipe is one of them - all it takes are five main ingredients and about 15 minutes of your time. Deep-frying can take some skill but, trust me, these beans are worth it.

First, grab a bunch of fresh green beans and strike a mean pose for the camera.

Next, trim the ends of the beans and blanch them in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Do NOT over-blanch them or you'll have icky-textured beans.

Immediately drop the beans in icy water to stop the cooking process.

 

Drain thoroughly and pat dry. Patting them dry is optional, but it saves you time waiting for the beans to drain completely.

Dredge in flour.

Dip in egg-and-Parmesan batter seasoned with salt and pepper. I used Romano cheese because I couldn't find any halal Parmesan.

Fry in batches on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until evenly golden-brown and legitimately mouth-watering.

Drain on paper towels and season with salt to taste. Serve hot - the crisp factor goes down the cooler the beans get.

Enjoy!

P/S: I eyeballed all my measurements so if you'd like the full recipe, head on over to Laura in the Kitchen!

Notes on deep-frying:

1. It's important to fry the beans in batches so that the oil's temperature doesn't drop too much and too suddenly.  If this happens, the beans will take longer to brown and absorb more oil, giving you soggy battered beans. Ick.

2. Don't be afraid to keep the heat sufficiently high - we're working with only a thin layer of batter and the beans are already cooked through. When the beans are golden-brown, they're done.

3. The oil will splatter quite a bit due to the water content in the beans so use protective gear if you need to. On the bright side, frying takes less than five minutes so I didn't find the splattering too much to handle.

Cheese stuffed grape tomatoes

Every summer, my parents zealously plan and work on their vegetable garden. Last year, we got over zealous with our tomatoes and peppers so this year, we decided to scale down so we don't end up with rotten unpicked vegetables on the ground. There was some improvement, but we still ended up with LOADS of tomatoes. Fortunately, we discovered the sweetness of vine-ripened tomatoes and have since learned to snack on freshly-picked tomatoes. Beside that, I also got to experiment with different - and SIMPLE - ways to enjoy tomatoes. One of my favourite is stuffing them with cheese.

I simply cut the tops off the tomatoes and gauged them slightly to make room for the cheese stuffing. I then added about one table spoon of olive oil to my baking dish and tossed the tomatoes in it. I found this step to be helpful because I can see how much tomatoes I need to fit them all snugly in the dish*. I cut Monterey Jack cheese into small cubes - about 1/8" by 1/2", but it depends on the size of your tomatoes and how much cheese you want in each. The next step is simply to push each cheese cube into the tomatoes. Some of the seeds would overflow out of the tomatoes - let these fall back into the dish and they'll make for a richer tomato-flavoured sauce! Finally, season lightly with salt and pepper, sprinkle some chopped basil or cilantro overtop and bake for 15 minutes at 350F. 

I would suggest letting the tomatoes stand for a few minutes before serving because the hot cheese inside could be an unpleasant surprise. I know, the waiting can be hard but it's worth it. Enjoy!

*Filling the baking dish snugly with tomatoes helps keep them upright, thus keeping the cheese inside the tomatoes rather than spilling over and filling the dish.