POTATO WEDGES

From my childhood, I seem to remember the best potato wedges coming from the gas station. This would need to be verified by my sister or mom and could very well be a figment of my active imagination or a complete fusion of different memories into one, somehow the grocery store becoming the gas station in my mind. Either way, I recently made some while visiting my mom, and these turned out much better than I ever remember. I think I just gave potato wedges, a food I haven't thought about in ten years, a sure spot in future cravings.

POTATO WEDGES

from chocolate & zucchini's jo jo potatoes

1/4 cup melted butter

2 pounds of potatoes, scrubbed andcut into 1 1/2-inch wedges

2/3 cup of flour

2 ounces of parmesan cheese

2 tsp of mustard powder

1 Tbsp paprika

1/2 tsp chilli powder (or to taste)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a re-sealable plastic bag. Shake, shake, shake until covered. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Flip potato wedges and cook another 30 minutes or until done and golden.

FRENCH TOAST BREAD PUDDING

Can you imagine - there is a way to legitimately eat bread pudding for breakfast!

Bon Appetit's French Toast Bread Pudding might even be enough to get me out of bed on a Saturday morning! The recipe was so tantalizing that I immediately jotted it down and made it on a lovely Saturday morning while visiting my mom. It was perfect with our first, and second, pots of coffee. Of course, I had to play with the recipe and ended up modifying it quite a bit.

FRENCH TOAST BREAD PUDDING

1 large loaf of French bread with crusts,
torn into 3/4-inch pieces
3 eggs
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup of white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp grated or ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon (preferrably saigon cinnamon)
1/2 cup of chopped and toasted pecans
1 banana, cut lengthwise
2 Tbsp of brown sugar

1. Butter an 11X7X2 - inch glass dish.
2. Put bread in dish.
3. Whisk together eggs, milks, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pecans to blend. Pour over bread and lightly press down bread to moisten.
4. Cover with foil and chill at least an hour.
5. Place in a cold over. Set to 350 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove foil. Place banana pieces on top and sprinkle with brown sugar.
7. Return to oven uncovered and back until the pudding is puffed and golden brown, approximately 30 minutes.
8. Serve fresh from the oven with warm Karo or maple syrup.

VEGGIE CORNMEAL PIE

It may look a bit like a pizza, but it's more like a pie.

VEGGIE CORNMEAL PIE

1/2 head of broccoli

1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used a cobly + jack combo)

1/4 cup of plain yogurt

1/2 cup of milk

2 eggs

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1/2 Tbsp white sugar

1/2 cup of white or yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 handful of toasted pinenuts

1/4 cup of onions

1/4 cup of mushrooms

1/4 cup of small shrimp

1/4 cup of spinach

1/4 cup of corn

salt, pepper, creole seasonings

1. Steam or boil broccoli until almost done. Rinse in cold water.
2. Whisk together cheese, yogurt, eggs, oil, salt, pepper and seasonings.
3. In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, and baking powder.
4. Fold the liquid mixture into the dry mixture until just combined.
5. Pour into a well-greased iron skillet, or other baking dish*.
6. Sautee mushrooms in a one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Do the same with the onions, adding 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, until they are glassy.
7. Combine the mushrooms, onions, pinenuts, shrimp, spinach, and corn. Layer on top of the cornmeal batter and smooth over.
8. Bake 30-40 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 360 degrees F until golden on top.
9. Remove from oven, cool slightly, cut, and serve.

*I used two iron skillets to make this, however, in the future I will probably use one deep dish iron skillet. There is something about cornbread coming from an iron skillet that just seems right. You could use any cake or loaf pan as well.

WHITE BEAN & ROASTED RED PEPPER DIP IN CUCUMBER CUPS

After returning from the once weekly local produce stand, I was in the mood to dish up something from the kitchen. I'd seen a yummy looking White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip on Smitten Kitchen, and thought it would be perfect to smear on sandwiches, dip into with carrots, and have hanging out in the frig all week. Plus, I'm going to a wine and cheese get together next Friday so this will be perfect pulled out of the freezer in a few days. So I modified Smitten's recipe.

WHITE BEAN & ROASTED RED PEPPER DIP

1 15-ounce can of white cannelini beans
1 red pepper, roasted
3 ounces cream cheese
half a lemon

salt & pepper (black and cayenne) to taste

Blend all in a food processor until smooth.



The hardest thing about this recipe is cleaning the food processor afterwards. It's a lovely orange color that hints at fall, even in September in Miami. I roasted the red pepper on the stove eye, perfect for those that have gas stoves. I let it get all black and then easily scraped off the skin.








For the cucumber cups, I simply cut a cucumber into sections and scraped out the seeds, leaving a bottom bit to make a cup and scooped in the dip. Simply delicious and hit an interesting combo of light and cheesey.