Soy Chorizo Sopes

It's a little weeknight trip to South America.

I was first exposed to sopes at my favorite Philadelphia Mexican restaurant, Tacqueria Veracrusana. This place is the real deal... I was obsessed immediately with pulled pork and pineapple tacos enveloped soft, fluffy just-made corn tortillas, the crispy, double-thick corn chips straight from the fryer, and their perfectly creamy guacamole.... It took me a few visits to venture out of my ordering routine and out into the territory of sopes.

Sopes are corn patties that are lightly fried and topped with the filling of your choice. The first bite was instant love. The cornmeal patties are slightly creamy in taste but firm in texture, which makes them satisfying and comforting at once. The gently fried cornmeal is the perfect light and delicate flavor vehicle for an infinite number of delicious toppings. But, I was nervous. I doubted I could re-create this at home. But I craved it so much I just had to try.

My discovery: they were easy. And healthful. In this case, I simply topped each patty with warmed soy chorizo, which took little effort beyond punching a few minutes into the microwave and stirring halfway. Feel free to get creative with toppings like beans, steak, pork, and chicken cooked in Mexican spices and a little broth for moisture. Garnished mine with lime, a little sour cream, and cheddar cheese, these sopes were a completely manageable weeknight dinner... and I saved myself a trip to the tacqueria. Enjoy!

Sopes: corn patties

Ingredients:

2 cups masa harina (corn flour)

4 T. flour

.5 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 1/4 cup warm water (add more if necessary)

vegetable oil for pan-frying

Toppings of choice, such as chorizo, soy chorizo, or other Mexican meats or vegetables

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the water slowly while mixing. Stop adding water when the mixture gets to be moist and well-incorporated, but still a firm dough texture. Either refrigerate covered in plastic or immediately begin to form small 2" size balls with floured hands. Gently press down each ball on an oiled surface until 1/4 inch thick rounds are formed. Heat a skillet to medium-low heat and add enough oil to well-coat the pan. Once oil is hot, gently add each sopes and cook about 4-minutes per side, until slightly crispy and golden brown on each side. Serve immediately with desired filling.

Catching Summer in a Mixed Fruit Pie

Catch summer before it's gone. Just a slice of this sweet and tangy mixed-fruit pie will have your mouth puckering into a smile, filled with thoughts of candlelit patios, dripping popsicles and wide-brimmed sun hats. All of the good things of these fleeting, wonderful months.

Be creative with the fruits you use, it's okay to put in what you have on hand. I used blueberries, strawberries and even a few diced mangoes and peaches. The result was bright, yet complex in the marrying of various textures and flavors. This oozey, gooey layer is complimented by the irresistible crunch of cinnamon brown sugar cobbler topping.

Just be ready with a pint of vanilla ice cream to top it off.... and maybe a camera to capture the smiles for a few months from now, when you'll need to escape into a daydream of summer.

Summer Fruit Pie

Ingredients:

1 frozen pie crust, thawed

5 cups of mixed berries and fruits, larger fruits diced to about 1/2" pieces

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 t. lemon zest

crumb topping: stir together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1 t. cinnamon, and 1 t. vanilla extract. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in 3 T. butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9" pie plate with the pie crust and place on a cookie sheet to catch drips while baking. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, fl

our, and half of the fruits. Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes or until the fruit filling has slightly thickened. Stir in the rest of the fruit and the lemon peel. Pour filling into the pie crust. Evenly sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie to about 1/2 inch from each ed

ge. Cover the edge of the pie crusts with foil to prevent browning, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 25-30 more minutes or until filling is bubbly and pastry golden. Cool on a wire rack, and serve while warm.

Mini Peanut-Crunch Ice Cream Sandwiches

I really went MIA there for a few weeks. Sorry. You see, we decided to move, then had to find a new house, then we actually had to move. And that means weeks of packing and then unpacking again. Needless to say, I am exhausted, and have just begun to use my new kitchen. Hurrah! How I did miss the stove.

These are some goodies that don't require the stove. On the contrary, they require only the freezer.

Start with a pint of ice cream. Not frozen yogurt, but ice cream, the good stuff.

I used chocolate gelato. You want it to be firm enough to hold its own. Got it? Good.

Now finely chop a handful of roasted peanuts. Put them in a small dish.

Take a box of vanilla wafers, a spoon, and get to work. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of ice cream and spread it high and evenly on one vanilla wafer. Top with a second cookie and gently press down to make a sandwich.

Roll the sides of the sandwich in the peanuts. Peanuts should be sticking to the ice cream. Perfect! Now place the cookie gently in a plastic tupperware and into the freezer, keeping the tupperware open for easy access as you add cookies.

Repeat until one of your ingredients are gone. Now cover the cookies and freeze overnight. The next day they will be firm, yet gently yielding when eaten, with deliciously nutty crunches in every bite. The best part is that the vanilla wafers get even better with time, as they become softer.

Enjoy these frozen few-bite treats as often as you like! They're a perfectly portioned snack or dessert, waiting and ready for those warm nights when the stove is taking a rest.

Crispy Falafel with Tangy Yogurt Dressing

I had never made falafel before this, and in fact, I had only eaten falafel once. That was just a tiny, hesitant taste taken off a friend's place. To be honest, the idea of falafel was strange to me. What were these mystery nuggets that claimed to be made of chickpea? As much as I expected not to, I liked what I tried.

Hot summer nights call for dinners that are light and crisp, but hearty and interesting, as this falafel-salad is.

It's okay to lightly fry the falafel in oil. After all, these spicy, fragrant, and crispy nuggets are nesting atop a bed of healthy greens. The falafel's dominant flavors of smoky cumin and earthy turmeric instantly brighten with the zing of lemony yogurt sauce. Here, I drizzled the whole salad with generous dollops of the cool and creamy dressing, which is healthy and high in protein due to its yogurt base and takes barely a minute to whip together.

Admittedly, the only reason I ventured to try this recipe was that I had a bag of chickpea flour I wanted to get rid of. I am so glad I tried these falafel, though. Eating this salad was fun, and delicious, too. I know I'll be making them again, so it looks like I'll be buying more chickpea flour to replenish that supply I had wanted so badly to finish!

Crispy Falafel Patties: makes about eight 3-4 inch patties, or enough for 2-3 dinner salads.

1.5 cups chickpea flour plus extra for dusting

1 T. sea salt

2 t. cumin

1.5 t. turmeric

1 T. crushed garlic

1/4 cup hot water

1 t. baking soda

1 T. chili pepper, ground

1 t. mustard seed (a dollop of regular mustard will suffice)

1 t. garam masala

1 t. fresh ginger

2 T. finely chopped white or yellow onion

1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and drained well

Vegetable oil for frying

Chopped lettuce and diced plum tomatoes for salad

Mix all of the ingredients except for the garlic, ginger, onions, and spinach in a bowl. Add the hot water and stir. Mix in the garlic, ginger, onions, and spinach and stir. Place in the fridge to cool until the mixture is slightly firm and easier to work with. Preheat a large skillet to medium heat with about 1 inch of oil. Meanwhile, dust a work surface with extra chickpea flour and scoop out a few tablespoons of mix at a time to form patties that are about 3/4 inch thick and 3 inches wide. Gently lower the patties into the oil and lightly fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Meanwhile, mix the yogurt dressing, as follows. To assemble salad, place diced tomatoes atop lettuce, then top with 3-4 falafel patties and drizzle generously with dresssing.

Creamy yogurt dressing: 6 oz. container plain non-fat yogurt, zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1 t. dried basil or dill (or fresh if you have it), salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Whisk together until well blended.

Chef's Note: Next time I may try a hybrid of fresh chickpeas coarsely chopped in the food processor, and chickpea flour. This combination may lend itself to a somewhat meatier texture.

Breakfast Delight: Blueberry-Wheat Power Muffins

I am taking a break from my updates about eating in Italy because I've been cooking too many other things I want to share. But I'll be back with that, because boy have I got the best of recipes straight from the Amalfi Coast (think freshly made gnocchi in bright lemon-basil cream sauce, homemade vegetarian ravioli in pumpkin sauce, and delightful lemon cream desserts).

In the meantime I thought I'd share my daily breakfast. I recently started a new job and what I don't have time for is a sit-down bowl of cereal or oatmeal. What I do have time for is a deliciously soft, huge nugget of muffin. Healthy muffin that is. I can't imagine starting my day any other way.

These muffins are incredibly satisfying, and at the same time, extremely healthy. Healthy muffins can often turn out like dense, inedible hockey pucks... These are not so. They have a light, moist crumb, and a spongey texture laced with bursting and juicy fresh blueberries. Crunchy walnuts are the perfect hearty topping (no fattening sugar streusel here).


Plus, mine are baked in heart-shaped muffin molds, which brings just a little smile to my breakfast.

Oozing, fresh blueberries pop in every mouthful....

These muffins are made entirely from white-wheat flour, which I buy at Trader Joes, which is high in fiber and nutrients. Each muffin also contains barely any fat and is low in sugar, as the recipe uses two whole cups of yogurt for its sweet flavor and moisture. These are no-guilt muffins with all of a muffin's delights.

It's definitely a breakfast my day (and time crunch) can get behind.

Blueberry-Wheat Power Muffins:

Ingredients:
2.5 cups white-wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking or instant oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
4 T. ground flaxseed (optional)
2 6-oz. containers vanilla non-or low-fat yogurt
1 6-oz. container blueberry non- or low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup reduced-fat milk
3 T. canola oil
2 t. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1.5 cups fresh blueberries
walnut pieces

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in cupcake tin and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. Sift together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together all of the rest of the ingredients (wet), except blueberries and walnuts. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture well and mix lightly until barely incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Portion out tablespoons of mixture 3/4 of the way high in each cupcake tin. Lightly press walnut pieces on top of each muffin batter and bake until lightly golden and puffy, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes, then carefully remove each muffin and cool completely on the rack.

Pasta Carbonara: A Beautiful Indulgence

While traveling in Italy we ate as many different bowls of Pasta Carbonara as places we visited. Carbonara refers to pasta traditionally tossed in the pan with egg yolks, parmesan cheese, and bacon or ham. Is there anything to complain about with that combination?

Here are two of my absolute favorites... these are the two carbonaras that made my heart truly skip a beat with every bite. Interestingly, they are both very different from each other.

The first is a creamy, utterly indulgent carbonara from enjoyed on Ischia:

Oh how wonderful it was! Each perfectly al-dente noodle of linguine was thickly coated with parmesan cream and speckled with fresh parsley. Each bite hid huge hunks of smoky, savory guanciale. Yes, this portion was pretty much family-sized, and yes, I did eat the entire plate myself. 

Then, my other favorite carbonara was vastly different and yet still almost caused me to cry out in declaration that it was, indeed, the ultimate and best carbonara. But, I still felt I could not forget the carbonara I had enjoyed in Ischa. And so they ended in a tie.

This carbonara was eaten at Hosteria Romana, our last meal in Rome. The restaurant is praised here in the New York Times, and now praised here again on Pumpkin Prose. Everything from our quirky waiter (who had enough antics up his sleeve to star in his own Broadway show) to the Italian locals enjoying a Friday night dinner made it a meal to remember. The carbonara came piping hot, and as the Times suggested, "originale". That is, served in the bowl the pasta is tossed in. 

The deep orange yellow sauce was strikingly beautiful (but not too beautiful to eat). Tiny chunks of crisp and crunchy, almost burnt, and intensely salty bacon had Matt and I rolling our eyes to heaven in disbelief and wonder. I was delighted when the bowl "originale" was served to me. I even made the ultimate sacrifice and generously shared the end of the bowl with Matt (that is love!)

It was clear that this carbonara focused on a yolk-heavy sauce base while the carbonara in Ischia focused on the parmesan and may have even used cream. I did discover that while I loved both, I do enjoy carbonara best when it is served with a flat and wider noodle such as lingine or fettucine rather than spaghetti. This way, the sauce is able to cling to the surface of every noodle, which truly is the ultimate goal of this Italian dream dish.

Basic Pasta Carbonara: (adapt as you like)

1/2 lb. fresh fettucine or linguine (store bought or home-made)

8 oz. pancetta or guanciale, cut into 1/4 inch slices

2 whole eggs or 4 egg yolks, room temp.

6 tablespoons or more Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese

1 t. freshly ground pepper

2 t. salt

2 t. butter

2 t. olive oil

Fresh parsley, chopped

Heat a pot of salted water over high heat. When the water boils, add the pasta and cook until barely al-dente. Meanwhile, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan, then add the pancetta and cook until it is barely crisped. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cheese, and pepper. Keep the bowl near the stove to keep the eggs warm. When the pasta is just al-dente, reserve a small amount of cooking liquid and drain the rest. Add the pasta into the saute pan with the pancetta, then pour the egg mixture in at once, tossing very quickly to combine. The sauce should be thick and creamy. Add more cheese and pepper, and some reserved cooking liquid if necessary, to thin the sauce. Top with parsley. Eat immediately.

A Pizza A Day

While M and I were honeymooning in Italy we ate at least one pizza a day. Here, I highlight our favorite pies. Perhaps it's partly the hunger brought on by the activity and excitement of travel, but this pizza tasted fresher, lighter, crisper, and far more delicious than any I've ever had in the states (no offense to Pepe's or Modern in New Haven or Colony in Stamford).

Perhaps these pies will give you ideas for your own homemade creations! One thing they are sure to do is bring on major cravings....

A popular pizza, offered almost everywhere and which we enjoyed in multiple cites and restaurants has red sauce, mozzarella and fresh prosciutto:

The above pie was enjoyed in a quiet but beautiful restaurant on the Island of Ischia, where we sat along a huge wall of sliding glass windows and looked out over the ocean while having pizza and pasta carbonara. We happened upon the restaurant on our way to the beach. We were starving, and it was open. It ended up being one of our best meals in Italy. It was unexpected and perfect.

Next I'll share the most delicious pizza we ate in Italy. It was at Da Bafetto in Rome, a pizzeria made famous by its thin, crisp, and inexpensive pies. It's a favorite for both locals and tourists alike. It's certainly a no-frills place. They usher you in, demand your order, and throw your pie at you as fast as possible. Don't expect to linger, and you may have to share your table with other diners, as we did. At least our dining companions were able to take this photo of us:

We had our pie with red sauce, mozzarella, and slices of spicy salami. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. We stopped at Da Bafetto on our last night in Rome, right before heading to another restaurant where we actually had dinner reservations... after all, we had to try this pizza before leaving Rome! I am so glad that we did.

 

The final pies I felt were worth sharing are those we enjoyed in Ravello, a tiny town on the top of the hillside overlooking the Amalfi coast. I was feeling absolutely nauseous from having been driven from Positano on the famous cliffside "Amalfi Drive." I needed to eat, and fast. I ordered a white pie with mozzarella, potatoes and mushrooms:

The mushrooms were juicy, the potatoes tender, and the cheese plentiful and oozing. I didn't come up for air until I had finished the entire pizza.

But it was M who ordered the most amazing pizza of all. His pie had red sauce, mozzarella, and was completely covered in FRENCH FRIES.

Every single fry was perfectly crisped on the outside and soft-savory potato on the inside... It was unbelievable. I didn't know it was possible to pull of something that satisfied the American and Italian palates at the exact same moment. I simply could not keep my fork out of M's plate. It was too irresistible.

 

Now that I've shown you enough carbs to last you a few days, I'll be back to share some of the favorite pasta dishes I ate. The pizzas we ate on our travels in Italy were all unique and every restaurant made theirs in a slightly different way than the last, but each pie tasted wonderfully fresh, the way a pizza should. 

On occasion, I find my mind wandering mid-workday to what it tasted like to take a piping hot, smothery bite of pizza in Italy. Particularly, these favorite pizzas I've shared with you here. While I am not sure I'll be as adventurous as topping my pizzas with french fries in the future, I am glad I have enough delicious memories to last me a lifetime.