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School is back in session and no matter if the kids are in the classroom or logging in from the kitchen table, schedules are busy for everyone. Make it easy on yourself and prep these recipes beforehand. You won’t regret it! Continue reading “10 Freezer Recipes for the Back to School Hustle” » LEGGI TUTTO
If you’re ready to step it up and start making more authentic Mexican food at home, there’s one piece of equipment you’ll want to buy!
Photography Credit: Elise Bauer
This post is part of our Summer Cookbook Club series for August 2020 featuring My Mexico City Kitchen: Recipes and Convictions by Gabriela Cámara.
It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite Mexican dish, but tacos are pretty high up there. When they’re on-point, they never fail to hit that savory, satisfying, so-good note that made me crave them in the first place. Whether it’s Crispy Fish Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw or Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Tacos, tacos of all kinds are always a win.
“Everything can be a taco!” writes Gabriela Cámara, in My Mexico City Kitchen. “There are no rules about what constitutes this food … other than that it be wrapped in a tortilla and eaten with your hands.”
Ah, yes. Tortillas. The one constant among all tacos! So it’s no surprise that when we asked Gabriela what kitchen tools she’d recommend to a home cook with a growing interest in Mexican food, she said a tortilla press!
What Kind of Tortilla Press to Get?
“If you can get a nice, heavy wooden one which helps you press the masa into even, flat tortillas, get that one,” said Gabriela.
These handmade wooden tortilla presses from Central Coast Woodwork are a great option. They come in 8-inch, 10-inch, and 11.5-inch sizes. We love the mixed oak-and-walnut version, but it also comes in a lovely plain red oak.
Made in California by a family-owned company, these tortilla presses are very well crafted and beautiful enough to keep on your countertop!
How Do I Use a Tortilla Press?
Once you have your tortilla press, it’s time to make homemade tortillas! You’ll also want masa harina and a comal or cast iron skillet.
Then follow this recipe: How To Make Corn Tortillas
Once You Have Tortillas, Make Some Tacos!
Products We Love
Hardwood Tortilla Press
$85.99 on Amazon
Buy
Victoria Cast Iron Round Comal Griddle, 10.5″
$19.99 on Amazon
Buy
My Mexico City Kitchen by Gabriela Cámara
$35.00 at The Simply Shop
Buy
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Cambria Bold
Cambria Bold is the Product and Lifestyle Director for Simply Recipes. She has almost a decade’s worth of online editorial experience and know-how, first as the Managing Editor for Apartment Therapy’s green living site Re-Nest (RIP) and later as the Design and Lifestyle Editor for The Kitchn. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and their two little girls. And, yes, this is her real name.
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Have a few extra-large zucchinis? Stuff them with Italian sausage, onions, garlic, tomato, and fresh breadcrumbs, and bake. (Swap in medium-sized zucchinis, too!)
Photography Credit: Elise Bauer
Fellow gardeners, you know this tale well. You step away from your garden bed for one minute (or a weekend) and come back to find a monster zucchini hiding in the greenery.
Sometimes the plant warns you. Regular zucchini production starts slowing down, odd for early summer. The reason? All of the plant’s attention is going to feeding that one humongous, baseball bat of a zuke.
Fortunately, those ginormous zucchini are perfect for stuffing!
How To Make Stuffed Zucchini
Making stuffed zucchini is easy. You just cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, and scoop out the insides, leaving a shell to stuff with whatever your heart desires.
This week my heart desired Italian sausage, so my friends, this is what we are using to stuff this particular zucchini.
We brown some Italian sausage, onions, garlic, and some of the zucchini insides, and mix it with fresh breadcrumbs, basil, tomatoes, oregano, and Parmesan cheese. One egg is all you need to bind the stuffing together.
Into the oven go these stuffed zucchini boats to bake for 40 minutes. Yum!
Make-Ahead Stuffed Zucchini
Need to make ahead? You can easily stuff the zucchini a day ahead of time. Just stuff the zucchini, keep it chilled, then bake right before serving.
This is a meal in and of itself—no need to serve it with anything else.
By the way, zucchini tends to become watery and mushy when frozen, so we don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Swaps and Substitutions
Smaller zucchini: Use 3 to 4 normal-sized zucchinis in place of the giant one. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the zucchini is tender when pierced.
Vegetarian: Swap the sausage for sautéed chopped mushrooms.
Dairy-free: Swap the Parmesan for nutritional yeast, or leave it out.
Gluten-free: Use gluten-free breadcrumbs, or leave out.
More Ways to Make Stuffed Zucchini
Updated August 18, 2020 : We spiffed up this post with some additional tips to make sure its foolproof. No changes to the original recipe. Enjoy!
Giant Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Recipe
You can stuff the zucchini a day ahead of time and bake right before serving.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 large zucchini, 12 to 14 inches long (about 1 1/4 to 2 pounds) or 3 to 4 medium zucchini
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 slices bread, pulsed in food processor or blender to make fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 cup)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon salt (less or more to taste)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Method
1 Preheat oven to 375°F.
2 Cook the sausage: Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet on medium heat. Add the sausage, and gently cook until it is mostly (but not completely) cooked through.
Stir frequently and break up the sausage into smaller pieces while it cooks. Remove to a large bowl and set aside.
3 Prep the zucchini: Cut the zucchini in half. Use a metal spoon to scoop out the insides of the zucchini, leaving the zucchini shell about 1/4-inch thick. Remove and discard any thick seeds from the insides you’ve scooped out.
Chop up about a cup of the remaining zucchini flesh. (Whatever remains beyond a cup use for another purpose, discard, or compost.)
4 Cook the onions and garlic: You should have 1 tablespoon of fat in the pan (rendered from the sausage). If not, add more olive oil so that you have at least a tablespoon of fat in the pan, and heat on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
Add the chopped zucchini and cook a minute or two more, remove from the skillet and add it to the bowl of sausage.
5 Make the stuffing: Add the rest of the stuffing ingredients to the sausage and onions.
6 Stuff the zucchini and bake: Place the zucchini halves in a baking dish and add the stuffing. (At this point you can make ahead, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.) Add 1/4-inch of water to the bottom of the pan, which will help zucchini cook evenly and prevent the bottom of it from drying out too much in the oven.
Bake at 375°F for 40 minutes. Let sit to cool briefly before serving.
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Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family’s recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
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Like all other Irish soda breads, Irish brown soda bread needs the leavening power of baking soda to help make it rise to the occasion. Yet this take receives an earthy boost from whole wheat flour and a touch of sweetness from molasses while steel-cut oats, a staple of Irish agriculture, bring a bit of textured crunch to the top.
Brown Soda Bread
2¼ cups (281 grams) stone-ground whole wheat flour
1¼ cups (156 grams) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons (4.5 grams) kosher salt
¾ teaspoon (3.75 grams) baking soda
2 cups (480 grams) whole buttermilk
¼ cup (85 grams) unsulphured molasses
1 large egg (50 grams)
3 tablespoons (33 grams) steel-cut oats
Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C). Spray an 8½×4½-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda until well combined. Make a well in center.
In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, molasses, and egg. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture. Using one hand like a claw, mix buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients, working from center to outside of bowl, just until combined. Spoon dough into prepared pan, and spread until even. Sprinkle with oats.
Bake until deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 200°F (93°C), 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan; wrap in a clean tea towel, and let cool on a wire rack. Best served warm.
PRO TIP: During the cooling process, we wrap our still-warm bread in a tea towel. Why? To trap the steam around the loaf, keeping the crust soft and chewy.Overmixing leads to tough baked goods. Recipes that are sensitive to overmixing the dough, like muffins, biscuits, and each of our soda breads, require you to make a flour well. This allows you to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients in a uniform manner.Think of your hand as your most prized baking tool for soda bread. Forming it into a claw and working from the center to the outside of the bowl helps combine the wet and dry ingredients with minimal risk of overworking your dough.Brown soda bread has a softer crust than your traditional yeast-leavened or sourdough bread. To add an extra note of chew to the crust, we sprinkled the top with steel-cut oats before baking.
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Previous articleIrish Cheddar White Soda Bread LEGGI TUTTO
1 Heat your oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F
2 Roll out and blind bake the pie crust: Lightly flour your countertop and roll your pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Place the pie dough into your pie plate.
Line with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill to the top with ceramic pie weights, rice, dry beans, or granulated sugar.
Bake the pie dough at 350°F for 50 minutes to 1 hour, removing the foil liner with the weights during the last 10 minutes of baking time.
Once baked, remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
3 Toast the coconut flakes: Scatter the coconut flakes onto a sheet pan. Try to break up any large clumps, which prevent even toasting. Bake the coconut on the middle rack of your oven for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and use a spatula to toss the coconut flakes. Arrange them into an even layer and return the pan to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes.
Continue this process, once more, checking after 3 minutes instead of 5. Once the coconut is evenly browned, remove the pan from the oven and allow the coconut to cool completely.
Toasting the coconut can be done a week in advance and the flakes stored in a sealed container at room temperature.
4 Begin making the coconut custard: In a mixing bowl, whip the egg yolks and whole eggs together with a hand mixer on high. Sift 1/2 cup of the sugar, cornstarch, and ground cinnamon into the bowl over the beaten eggs and whip until lemony yellow in color—about 2 minutes. Set aside.
In a saucepan, stir together the coconut milk, the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and the salt together.
Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisk constantly to dissolve the sugar until the mixture begins to steam.
5 Temper the eggs: Slowly add 1 cup of the hot milk to the whipped egg mixture in a slow stream while whisking constantly. This will bring the eggs to the same temperature as the milk and prevent curdling. The mixture will foam up a bit.
6 Combine the tempered eggs and the remaining milk: Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the pot with the milk, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, which should take about 2-3 minutes. Incorporate any foam that may form on the surface by whisking in a figure-eight motion.
The mixture should begin to thicken almost immediately after it comes to a boil. Once you see the custard has thickened, and bubbles pop slowly on the surface, remove it from the heat and check for proper consistency.
The custard is ready when it coats the back of a spoon. If you run your finger through the custard, it will leave a clean line and won’t rejoin itself. Once thickened, remove it from the heat.
7 Flavor the custard and fill the pie crust: Stir the butter and vanilla extract into the hot custard. When the butter is completely melted and blended, stir in 1 3/4 cups of the toasted coconut.
Pour the warm custard into the pre-baked pie shell and press a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard. This keeps the surface of the custard from forming a skin as it chills in the refrigerator.
Refrigerate the pie for 6 to 8 hours or until it’s completely chilled.
8 Make the whipped cream: Just before you’re ready to serve, add the heavy whipping cream to a mixing bowl. Beat the cream on medium-high speed until it begins to foam.
While beating, gradually sprinkle the sugar over the cream. Continue beating the cream until semi-stiff peaks form. The peaks should hold their shape when the beaters are lifted from the bowl.
7 Finish the pie: Remove and discard the plastic wrap from the pie. Scoop the whipped cream onto the filled pie. Use the back of a large spoon to spread the whipped cream onto its surface. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of toasted coconut over the whipped cream.
8 Serve and enjoy: Refrigerate the pie until you’re ready to serve. The Coconut Cream Pie tastes best if eaten within 48 hours, but it will last for up to 3 days.
Leftovers! Store leftovers in the refrigerator. Press a piece of wax paper against any exposed coconut custard. LEGGI TUTTO
The grand symbol of Ireland’s baking, Irish soda bread is defined not by the baking soda but by the soft white wheat that grows in Ireland. Low in gluten and protein, the soft Irish wheat receives a boost from baking soda, invented in the 1800s and an immediate game changer for Irish baking. Slashed with a cross and pricked to release heat—or fairies?—our traditional soda bread is enhanced with strong Irish Cheddar, fresh dill, and ground black pepper.
Irish Cheddar White Soda Bread
3⅔ cups (458 grams) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons (4.5 grams) kosher salt
½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking soda
1 cup (113 grams) course grated Irish aged white Cheddar cheese, divided
1 tablespoon (2 grams) chopped fresh dill
½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground black pepper
2 cups (480 grams) whole buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda until well combined. Stir in ⅔ cup (75 grams) cheese, dill, and pepper. Make a well in center, and add buttermilk. Using your hand like a claw, mix buttermilk into dry ingredients, working from center to outside of bowl, just until combined and a ball of dough forms. (Dough should be sticky and slightly clumpy.)
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using floured hands, gently shape into a round. Turn dough over, and tuck and rotate dough until edges are rounded and even. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper, and pat into a 1½-inch-thick disk. Using a knife dipped in flour, cut a 1-inch-deep “X” across top of dough. Using tip of knife, prick a hole into each of the four sections of dough. Sprinkle remaining ⅓ cup (38 grams) cheese on top. Transfer on parchment paper to a baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F (200°C), and bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in a section of bread registers 200°F (93°C), 15 to 20 minutes more. (If you tap bottom of loaf, it should sound hollow.) Remove from pan, and place on a wire rack. Let cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes. Best served warm.
Hollow Note: Perfectly baked soda bread doesn’t just have a golden look and tender texture—it makes a lovely hollow sound when knocked with a knuckle. Give the bottom a tap to hear the echo of a well-baked loaf.Our soda bread dough can be a little sticky to work with, so we used floured hands to help shape it. As you tuck and rotate the dough, keep in mind that it should be a rustic round—not perfect. If you try to make it pristine, you risk overhandling the dough, making it tough.Use a floured knife to keep the sticky dough from tearing while you make your incision. Though you may think of it as mere decoration, make sure your cross is 1 inch deep, as this deep scoring allows the hot steam to be released from the bread while baking.As an added bonus to the good luck from the cross-scoring on top, this pricking in the four corners of the dough allows both fairies and heat to escape from the bread. This helps the bread rise and cook evenly. LEGGI TUTTO
1 Prepare your grill for indirect heat: If you are using charcoal, put the coals on one side of the grill, leaving another side free of coals. If you are using a gas grill, fire up only half of the burners.
2 Season the chicken, rub with oil: Remove neck and giblets from cavity of chicken, if the chicken came with them. Mix the salt, pepper, and thyme in a little bowl, and rub it all over the chicken. Rub the chicken all over with olive oil.
3 Lower chicken onto half-filled beer can: Make sure the beer can is open, and only half-filled with beer (drink the other half!) If you want, you can put a sprig of thyme (or another herb like rosemary or sage) in the beer can.
Lower the chicken on to the open can, so that the chicken is sitting upright, with the can in its cavity.
4 Grill on indirect heat: Place the chicken on the cool side of the grill, using the legs and beer can as a tripod to support the chicken on the grill and keep it stable.
Cover the grill and walk away. Do not even check the chicken for at least an hour. After an hour, check the chicken and refresh the coals if needed (if you are using a charcoal grill).
Keep checking the chicken every 15 minutes or so, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 160°F – 165°F.
The total cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken, and the internal temperature of the grill. A 4 lb chicken will usually take around 1 1/2 hours.
If you don’t have a meat thermometer, a way to tell if the chicken is done is to poke it deeply with a knife (the thigh is a good place to do this), if the juices run clear, not pink, the chicken is done.
5 Carefully transfer the chicken to a tray or pan: I say “carefully” because the beer can, and the beer inside of it, is quite hot. One way to do this is to slide a metal spatula under the bottom of the beer can. Use tongs to hold the top of the chicken.
Lift the chicken, beer can still inside, and move it to a tray. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. Carefully lift the chicken off of the can. If it gets stuck, lay the chicken on its side, and pull out the can with tongs. LEGGI TUTTO
The Best Cabbage for Slaw
For this recipe, we use green cabbage. You’ll need about half of a medium head. (Use the rest of it to make any of these recipes!)
Double the Pickle, Double the Fun!
In addition to using pickle juice in place of the traditional vinegar for this slaw, we also add about a half-cup of chopped pickles. It’s like a coleslaw and a pickle relish all in one!
Ways to Use this Slaw
Besides the aforementioned BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, serve this slaw on top of fish tacos or hot dogs, or alongside burgers, grilled steak, or grilled fish.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This slaw can be made up to 2 days in advance. It will also keep for up to 5 days, but the texture diminishes over time.
Love Coleslaw? Try These Recipes! LEGGI TUTTO
