Cilantro-Lime Rice

I'm about to reveal something, so don't be shocked. I love Mexican, but wait...wait...that's not the shocking part. Here it comes: of all the great Mexican food I've tried, Chipotle is still my favorite place to get a burrito.


Okay, now that that's off my chest...don't get me wrong, I appreciate an authentic taco in a homemade tortilla with carnitas and salsa verde. And I've had some goooood Mexican. But there's something about Chipotle that I just really like. I think it's the rice.


So when I came across this recipe claiming to be a copycat of Chipotle's cilantro-lime rice, I knew I'd be trying it right away. And it was good.


Ingredients
1 cup long grain rice
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp. vegetable oil


Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the rice, water, 1 tsp. oil and salt.
2. Bring to a boil and continue to boil on high, uncovered, until most of the water has evaporated.
3. When the water is just covering the surface of the rice, reduce the heat to low.
4. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
5. Turn off the flame and keep the pot covered for another five minutes.
6. When the rice is ready, pour it into a medium mixing bowl.
7. Add the cilantro, lime juice and remaining oil, and toss until well-combined.


Enjoy! I served it with the balsamic glazed pork loin and a vinegar cucumber salad. 

Balsamic-Glazed Pork Loin

I love Asian-inspired dishes, especially when they involve meat. I love everything from Korean BBQ short ribs to tangy sesame chicken to miso soup or fried rice. So when my friend Sonja had me over for dinner and made this pork loin, I knew it would become a fast-favorite (she also gave me the recipe for a delicious winter soup, which I posted awhile back). I'm also loving my crock pot these days, so the ease of making this juicy, shredded pork also pulled it to the top of my list. After having the pork at Sonja's house, I made it twice in the next two weeks. And I'm nearly ready to make it again!

Ingredients
2 lb. boneless pork loin
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water


Glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. soy sauce


Directions

1. Mince the garlic cloves and combine in a bowl with sage, salt and pepper.

2. Rub over pork loin on all sides.
3. Place pork in a crock pot and add 1/2 cup of water.

4. Cook on low for 8 hours.
5. After 7 hours (or 1 hour prior to the loin being done), combine the ingredients for the glaze in small saucepan. Heat and stir until the mixture thickens.

6. Brush the pork with the glaze two or three times during the last hour of cooking (every 15 minutes or so.)
*Note: I attempt to turn the pork in the crock pot after each brushing of glaze to ensure it gets coated evenly. You'll notice the glaze start to darken and give the pork a nice crust.
7. When the pork is done, shred with a fork and toss in the extra glaze.

Cinnamon Cookies

These are divine. So cinnamon-y and sugar-y. Crunchy and soft. 


Wishing you had some? 

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar + 1/2 cup, reserved
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon + 1 tbsp. reserved
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together 1 cup of sugar and the butter until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until incorporated.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, 2 tsp. cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in small increments until just combined.
6. Once combined, set aside in refrigerator for one hour. This allows the dough to firm up so it's easier to roll into balls.
7. Once the dough is set, shape the balls into rounded tablespoons.
8. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tbsp. cinnamon and stir to combine.
9. Roll each ball of dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
10. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the dough balls approximately 2-3 inches apart.

11. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown and the top of the cookies begin to crinkle.
12. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet until they have hardened a little. Then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tabbouleh Salad

Tabbouleh salad is an Arab wheat salad that is typically comprised of tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and mint (among other things). I was introduced to tabbouleh by my Uncle Craig, whose vegetarian recipes are the best...probably because he puts so much time and care into figuring out the right ratios and flavor combinations. You might recall another recipe of his that I've posted. 


This is my take on his tabbouleh recipe. You'll notice that there's no mint, as you might find in a more traditional recipe, and I've added chicken stock (instead of water...since Craig's is vegetarian) and feta. Serve with pita bread or as a salad on its own.


Ingredients
Tabbouleh salad (I use the Near East brand)
chicken stock
2 lemons
1/4 cup olive oil
3 1/2 tsp. salt
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, minced
1 english cucumber, peeled and diced into small cubes
2 cups grape tomatoes, quartered
1 small package feta cheese, cubed
1 tsp. black pepper


Directions
1. Place tabbouleh and spice pack in a large mixing bowl.
2. Bring 1 cup chicken stock to a boil and pour over wheat salad in mixing bowl. 
3. To bowl, also add the juice of both lemons, olive oil and 1 1/2 tsp. salt.
4. Stir, and let stand, covered, for one hour at room temperature.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables, herbs and cheese.
6. When the wheat salad is ready, add the vegetables, herbs and 2 tsp. salt. Toss, then add the feta cheese and gently stir to combine.
7. Chill at least one hour or overnight for best flavor.

Pão de Queijo

I love me a good dinner roll, and I love it even more when they're not frozen or take-and-bakes. These are tasty little buggars, but with a unique texture and taste (they're somewhat chewy, but I like it). Give 'em a try. I found the original recipe at Simply Recipes.


Ingredients
1 egg, at room temperature
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
1/2 cup, packed, queso fresco
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. fresh chives, finely chopped
1 tbsp. scallions, chopped


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a mini-muffin tin (with butter or Pam spray).
2. Place all of the ingredients into a blender, and pulse until smooth.
3. Fill muffin tins almost to the top.

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until puffy and lightly browned.
5. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
6. Serve warm.
*Note: you can also reheat them before serving if you make them ahead of time. And the batter stores for up to a week prior to baking, if you really like to prepare ahead of time.

Medovnik (Russian Honey Cake)

At the risk of sounding insane, I'll disclose that when I'm bored or feeling restless, I love searching for new, challenging recipes to tackle. Case in point, I found myself in that bored, restless state a couple months ago and, after searching online for a long time, I came across a recipe for this Russian layer cake. I had googled a list of ingredients I knew I had on hand (think honey, flour, sugar), and after some Google-perusing, I found this. 

There were a couple obstacles to overcome. The first: most of the recipes were actually in Russian. So it was after some extra searching that I found one translated roughly into English. Second: I had to convert the measurements from liters and grams to cups and teaspoons. Third: the recipe I found kept talking about how difficult the cake would be to make. 


So why did I keep reading, you ask? Why not give up and just bake some cookies or something? Two words: Dobos torte. Yes, that's right, I'm referencing the Hungarian layer cake I made for Jen's birthday back in March that Gagi taught me a couple years ago. Now THAT is tough. And the very recipe for this Russian honey cake mentioned the infamous Dobos torte...stating that, if you thought this recipe was tough, check it out. 


With that said, I knew I had it in me to try. After all, if I can make a Dobos...I can certainly conquer Medovnik, right? 


Here's my version of the recipe, after several trial-and-still-tasty-errors. Think double the filling! Oh - and honestly, it's not difficult at all.


Ingredients
3 eggs, at room temperature
5 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 + 1.5 cups castor sugar, separated
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cup sour cream


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 355 degrees.
2. With a hand- or stand-mixer, beat together the eggs, salt and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy, approximately five minutes.
3. Meanwhile, melt the honey and butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring to combine. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. When the sugar mixture is ready, mix in the honey mixture on low speed. Then add the baking soda and mix until incorporated.
5. Mix the flour into the sugar mixture in batches until just combined.
*Note: this batter will be thick, like a cookie dough. Don't fret - that's how it's supposed to be!

6. Divide the dough in half, and then in half again, so you have four parts. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

7. With a rolling pin, roll out one quarter of the dough on a well-floured surface. I roll it out as close to the shape of the baking sheet as I can. Once it is rolled, transfer the dough onto the baking sheet.
*Note: this is done by allowing the dough to roll itself around the rolling pin. Then unroll it in the opposite direction over the baking sheet. It should then lie pretty flat.

8. Bake for six minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 with the remaining dough.
10. While the layers are cooling, start the filling.


11. In a medium mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream, vanilla and 1.5 cups of castor sugar to form stiff peaks.
*Note: I tend to whip this a little longer than I normally would because you have to fold in the sour cream, which can easily deflate the mixture a little bit.
12. Once whipped, gently fold in the sour cream. Set in the refrigerator until the layers are ready to be frosted.


13. Trim off the edges of the layers and discard.

14. With a ruler, measure the layers into thirds. I find that each layer is about 5 inches wide and 10 inches long. You'll end up with about 12 layers.
*Note: these measurements are flexible based upon how big you roll out your dough.

15. Remove the filling from the refrigerator. Set one layer on your serving tray or container and spread a generous layer of filling on top.

16. Stack the second layer on top and spread with more filling.
17. Repeat with all the layers.
*Note: it's okay to let the filling run over the sides. You'll smooth this out anyway.

18. Once the last layer is placed, cover with filling and let it run down the sides. Using an off-set spatula, smooth the top and sides.
*Note: the filling may be runny at this point, and that's okay. It will stiffen as it sits in the refrigerator.

19. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. This allows the filling to soften and moisten the layers.

*Note: It's so hard to wait, I know...but it's so worth it!

Pickled Cucumber Potato Salad

Alright people. I love potato salad...and I've posted a couple recipes before (one of which I made today for lunch). But this one takes the cake. Something about the vinegar-y bite of the cucumbers and the sweetness of the mayonnaise on soft potatoes make an ideal combination. Add to it the sharpness of the radishes, and we've got ourselves a winner, folks...adapted from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients

6 tbsp. white vinegar

4 tsp. salt

2 lbs. baby cucumbers (aka Persian cucumbers)

3 tbsp. fresh dill

3 lbs. fingerling potatoes

1/2 large white onion

8 radishes

3/4 cup mayonnaise (or a little less, depending on your preference)

Directions

1. Combine vinegar and salt in a small bowl, stirring until salt dissolves.

2. Thinly slice the cucumbers and place in a large plastic container or bag. Refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally to ensure all the cucumbers begin to pickle.

3. Dump the cucumbers into a sieve in the sink. Cover with a paper towel and place a large weight or can on top to facilitate drainage. Drain up to three hours (the longer, the better).

4. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling water well-seasoned with salt. Cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes if the potatoes are small.

5. Drain, and cool the potatoes completely.

6. Slice the potatoes and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

7. Using a mandolin, thinly slice the radishes. Separately, thinly slice the onion.

8. Add the drained cucumbers, radishes and onion to the potatoes. Also add in 3 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped.

9. Toss to blend, and let stand one hour.

10. Add the mayonnaise, and season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

*Note: you can make this one day ahead and keep refrigerated overnight. Eat cold or at room temperature.