Madhu Knits and Cooks

Baked Zucchini Sticks - Great Late Summer Party Snack

With zucchini and yellow squash overwhelming the farmers markets by late summer, I decided to get creative with my summertime cooking.  I attempted a fun snack - baked zucchini sticks - that also had the benefit of using up some leftover panko in my cupboard.  

The recipe was fairly easy to construct, though more time-consuming than I expected.  Dredging the zucchini sticks one by one and then rolling in the parmesan/panko mixture was quite laborious, but thankfully the results were very good.  

When hot, the sticks were crisp and tasty.  When cool, the sticks developed more of an eggy flavor, which wasn't as pleasing for my tastebuds.  

These snacks would be a great summer appetizer with a marinara sauce or the KAF recommended sweet onion dip (linked in the recipe above).  Given how much time it took to make them, I think they would be particularly good for a tapas-style party.

You start this recipe was cutting the zucchini pieces into equally sized sticks.

You then put the sticks in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and then let the water from the zucchini drain out for approx. for an hour or two.

As the zucchini exudes its water, you can prepare the seasoned parmesan / panko mixture.  I didn't use the full amount of parmesan, salt, and seasonings called for in the recipe, and it showed up in the blander results so make sure to use the recipe amounts (if not a bit more).  This may also help reduce the eggy flavor that results when the sticks are cooled.

After the zucchini is done draining, rinse the sticks and pat them dry.  Then dredge the sticks in the egg mixture, roll in the prepared panko mixture, and place on a lined baking tray.

Pop the full tray into the preheated oven, turn once or twice to get even browning and serve!  Yum!

 

Roasting Hatch Green Chiles and the Resulting Hatch Chile Enchiladas - New Levels of Amazing Have Been Reached

My freezer is moderately packed with delicious, roasted, seeded and chopped New Mexico Hatch Green Chile, courtesy of a 5 pound order of fresh chile from the Zia Green Chile Company.  I asked the Zia guys about how to roast the chiles at home when I picked up my order, and surprisingly their simple advice adhered to several pieces of guidance I found on the internet as well.  

You first wash the chiles in cold water to get off the dirt, and then place on a lined roasting pan.

Then roast under your broiler until well-blackened or maybe 5-6 minutes on each side (rotate sides after one side is blackened to achieve even cooking across the chiles).

This next part is the one that made me the most squeamish - placing the hot, roasted chiles into a sealed plastic bag to trap the moisture and soften up the skins.  Not sure how to avoid the plastic in the future (maybe glass container?), but something I hope to figure out.

After the chiles have steamed for 15 - 25 minutes, put on some rubber gloves for the most time-consuming part of this process - removing the skins, deseeding and stemming the chiles.  It's fairly simple to remove the skins with your hands if the chiles have steamed enough, but I found the deseeding to be the most time consuming part of the process - so many tiny seeds to get off!

I then placed approx. 1/4 cup of chopped chile onto a covered baking sheet to partially freeze the chile for an hour, and then wrapped each portion tightly in plastic to place in freezer containers.

Ok, now to the amazing Hatch Green Chile Enchiladas recipe I put together, fusing elements of my favorite Tex Mex Cheese Enchiladas recipe with an AllRecipes post.  The result was amazing - deep flavor from incredible spice without unbearable heat.  I really felt transplanted to the Southwest with this dish.  This recipe will probably use up most of my frozen chile through the rest of this year!

Hatch Green Chile Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of roasted green chile, chopped and thawed if frozen
• 5 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1.5 cups chopped white onion, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth or water plus bouillon
• 1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
• 12 6-inch corn tortillas
• ~8 oz. monterey jack, grated
• ~6 oz. cheddar, grated

Directions:

• Heat 3 tbsp. olive oil on medium-high heat in a large pot.  When hot, add 1 cup white onion and saute until transparent (approx. 4 - 6 minutes).  

• Then add garlic, oregano, and cumin and stir until just fragrant or 30 seconds.  

• Then whisk in the flour, until it blends and distributes among the pot ingredients.  After 2 - 3 minutes of stirring, add the vegetable broth, chile, and salt.

• Bring to a boil and then simmer for approx. 20 minutes or until sauce cooks down a bit.  Puree in a blender or with an immersion blender.  This resulted in approx. 3.5 cups of sauce, which could be used for two servings of enchiladas (I froze the leftovers for another enchilada round later in the week).

• As the sauce cools a bit, brush each sides of the tortillas with olive oil and then put a damp cloth on top of the stacked tortillas and warm in the microwave for approx. 1 minute.  This allows the tortillas to become bendable so they won't break while rolling.
• In a 9-by-13 baking pan, spread approx. 1/2 cup of sauce along the bottom and sides of the pan, and heat the oven to 450 degrees.
• One at a time, put an equal amount of cheese (approx. 1/4 cup) and a bit (approx. 1 tbsp) of remaining white onion into the centers of the tortillas, and roll tightly.  Place in the prepared pan, seam side down.

• Pour approx. 1 cup of sauce over the top, and top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and onion.

• Cover baking dish with foil, and cook in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.  Let sit for 10 minutes outside of the oven and then serve.

Weeknight Black Beans - Simple Protein-Packed Side Dish

To complement some weeknight cheese enchiladas recently, I wanted to make a simple protein-heavy side dish.  Looking in my cabinets, the most obvious candidate became an aging can of black beans.  

I didn't want to default to my favorite refried black bean side as I wanted the texture of whole, creamy beans.  So I decided to quickly improvise a recipe, using a few online sources including All Recipes, Spicy Spoonful, and the New York Times.  

The recipe I put together turned out pretty well, and it was definitely an easy side that can be replicated during any quick weeknight meal.  I think the critical step was something that I've used in the refried black beans recipe - a splash of citrus juice, whether lemon or lime at the end.  The citrus definitely brightens up the beans, and makes them almost good enough to eat on their own.

Full recipe details below!

Weeknight Black Beans

Ingredients:

 

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 - 1 small onion, diced (I originally used 1 small onion, but will likely use 1/2 in the future)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. oregano, adjusted to your personal preferences
• 1/2 tsp. cumin, adjusted to your personal preferences
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth (I use water plus a bit of bouillon)
• 3/4 tsp. hot sauce such as Tapatio
• 1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
• salt to taste

Directions:

• In a medium pot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium-high heat.  

• When hot, add onion and saute for 3 - 4 minutes or until translucent.

• Then add garlic, oregano, and cumin.  Cook for approx. 1 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add in black beans, water or broth, and hot sauce.
• Cook down on medium-high heat for approx. 15 minutes or until the beans are cooked to your preference and the water has mostly evaporated.
• Add citrus juice and salt to taste, and serve immediately.