Recipes

Preserved Lemons

January 7, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Preserved lemons take some time to make but they add a very unique flavor to recipes. I have been wanting to make a Moroccan Chicken Tagine for a long time and I was excited to see that these lemons turned out really well. I didn’t know what to expect–I honestly thought that the lemons would get rotten and moldy. After about 4 weeks, the pith of the lemon darkened so I knew they were ready to try out. Some recipes recommend an even longer time to preserve so I was a bit early. It’s kind of hard to describe the flavor. It’s still very lemony but the most surprising thing was that the bitterness mellowed a lot so you can eat the rind. I stuck with plain lemons, but you can add spices like cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, or bay leaves.
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Harissa (Moroccan Red Chili Paste)

January 6, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Harissa is a chili paste used in a lot of North African foods. It is usually added to couscous, soups, and meat dishes. You can use any kind of chili depending on how spicy you would like the paste to be. I used Arbol chilis which are on the spicy side but you can use serrano, ancho, or guajillo chilies for a milder flavor. I don’t have a food processor so I ground up the garlic and chilies very finely in order to form a paste–and it still turned out pretty chunky. I am excited to try this out on the Moroccan tagine I will be making soon!

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Zucchini Lasagna

January 1, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

I have always had kind of a conundrum with lasagna. Since I don’t eat ground beef and I don’t really care for the creamy white veggie lasagna recipes, I had to get creative and combine my favorite parts of both types. I like the marinara sauce from the traditional lasagna but I also love the flavors that come with the vegetables in the other lasagna. If you are like me–a weirdo who shuns ground beef and cream sauces then this is the lasagna for you. I love zucchini and I thought it would make a tasty layer. I chopped the zucchini in small triangles even though its more “correct” to slice them in long pieces and boil. John frowned at my unorthodox zucchini preparation but I thought it turned out very well. The cheese layers were excellent–a mix of melted ricotta and mozzarella. I really liked this recipe, which is good because I will be eating a lot of leftovers this week. Oh, and happy New Year everybody!

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Eggplant Parmesan

December 26, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

Eggplant can be so delicious if prepared correctly. For eggplant Parmesan, the eggplant needs to be drained of the water and bitterness before pan frying. You can find a lot of different methods on how to drain eggplant but I just use some paper towels and something heavy to press on top of the slices. I also like to strain the tomato sauce because it prevents the dish from becoming too watery. The eggplant parmesan turned out well–after the second round of cooking. I took it out the first night and it was just a little undercooked. The next day I cooked it about twice as long and it tasted great.

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Chicken Quesadilla with Caramelized Onions

December 24, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

I had two leftover chicken thighs from the roasted Cajun chicken so I thought I would use them for chicken quesadillas. I once ordered a quesadilla at this great restaurant that used Manchego cheese and caramelized onions. It was really good so I thought I would try to recreate it. Although I only had cheddar cheese the quesadilla turned out pretty well. I would like to try this recipe out with some of the more tasty Mexican cheeses instead of just plain cheddar.

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Mint Chocolate Meringue Cookies

December 23, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

These cookies require this weird baking process where they cook overnight in an oven that has been turned off. I’m not sure why this is but it works since the cookies turned out really well. The insides are a little gooey with a nice, light texture. They look so pretty on a plate too!

Mint Chocolate Meringue Cookies
(Makes 2 dozen)
Printable Version

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp mint extract
pinch salt
2 drops green food coloring
11 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a bowl, whip the eggs until they are stiff.
Slowly add the sugar, salt, mint, and coloring while whipping.
Fold in the chips. Place dough with a tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Preheat the oven to 400F and leave on for 15 minutes, then turn off. Put the cookies in the oven and let sit over night.

Roasted Cajun Chicken

December 22, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

There are a lot of Cajun chicken recipes on the internet but I thought I would try making up my own wet rub. I thought the chicken turned out tasty–it was very juicy and tender. The rub was spicy and savory and I was quite happy with the results. I made some potato fries with the chicken and they were both pretty good together. I have a lot of leftover chicken so I think I will try making some chicken quesadillas out of it too.

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Potato Fries with Parmesan and Basil

December 22, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

These baked, crunchy potatoes are really good and simple to make. The only thing that might give you trouble is if you don’t have a potato fry cutter. I have one, and it cuts the potato perfectly. If you don’t you could always just slice these as chips or cut them by hand.

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Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 21, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

These cookies are based on the traditional Toll House chocolate chip recipe but with raspberries added to the batter. The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup white sugar but I like to use only 1/2 cup. These cookies always come out so delicious and soft. Even though it’s a really simple recipe it’s probably one of my favorites.

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Gingersnap Cookies

December 20, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

I love gingersnaps but they are often a very crunchy, hard cookie. I like a soft gingersnap so I decided to try them myself. They turned out much softer than I had anticipated which was great. I like a lot of ginger flavor so I was pretty liberal with the powder. For a little variety you can throw in a teaspoon orange zest or a drop of orange extract to change things up. This is a very soft and savory cookie recipe for the holidays!

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