I had gone to the new Ema Keithel (Women’s market) a few days ago and it had been one exciting day for me. There were so many ingredients that I wanted to try… one after the other. See those creepy looking eels. And one of those ingredients happened to be these lovely looking red potatoes. I bought a bagful of these inconveniently small sized potatoes just because they looked fascinating. Some of them were smaller than a pea.
I had always wanted to try my sister’s baked potato recipe so I called her up and asked her for the recipe. Well, if your potatoes are of the normal size, you will have to cut them up in strips like potato wedges.
There’s always something new to learn from Kundo’s blog.
This post goes out to Adinosaurus, who made a foodwish for dips.
I completely aborted the fortune cookie plan for today because I feel like I need to do a recipe-run just to see if I can handle it. So instead we’ll have some dips!
Adinosaurus and I sort of go way back, because aside from him being a good friend of thebrownboy’s, I also used to be a disciple at the Shorinji Kempo dojo ran by his dad. Therefore I felt somewhat obligated to do this post, even though I don’t really like dips in general. Knowing what I do know, I know that he’s got a thing for delicious food that still has some health value and so I tried finding recipes that don’t include hefty cream cheese or a lot of cheese in general but to no avail, so I hope these don’t disappoint. I did have a few setbacks in deciding whether to do cold or hot dips, but in the end decided to go with the latter just because I personally don’t care much for cold dips and the food made here will ultimately still have to be consumed by yours truly…a little selfish, I must admit, but what’s a food blogger got to do?
Oh and before I forget, I want to give a shout out to the lovely Ellie at Vegan-FTW for her awesome vegan recipes (and that the last dip in this post goes out to her) and also an “I’m so sorry it’s late, but I’ll get to your foodwish tomorrow! Promise!” to Rubberbend. Seriously, tomorrow (fingers crossed) is cheesecake day.
HOT CHEESY CORN DIP (adapted from Closet Cooking):
[ 1 tablespoon butter + 1 cup corn kernels + 1/4 cup onion, chopped + 1/4 cup red and green bell pepper, chopped + 2 tablespoon chopped green onion + 1 jalapeno + 1-2 clove of garlic, chopped + 1/8 cup mayonnaise + a small handful of cheddar cheese + salt and pepper to taste + cayenne pepper to sprinkle on top ]
Preheat the oven to 350F
Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a pan. Add the corn, season with salt and pepper and saute until the corn starts to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Melt the rest of the butter in a pan. Add the onion, and pepper and saute until the onions are soft, about 2 minutes. Add the green onions, jalapeno and garlic and saute until softened, about another 2 minutes.
Mix the corn, onions, peppers and mayonnaise together.
Pour the mixture into a baking pan or ramekin and top with the cheddar cheese.
Bake in the oven until bubbling and golden brown on top, about 10 minutes.
Estimated Nutritional Information:
Makes 1 medium sized bowl, Serves approx 8-10
Per Serving:
Total calories: 247 kcals
Carbohydrate: 23g
Fat: 23.6 (10g saturated)
Protein: 11.8 g
Cholesterol: 38mg
JALAPENO POPPER DIP:
[ 1 cup cream cheese, at room temperature + 1/4 cup mayonnaise + 1/4 cup cheddar cheese + 2-3 jalapeno peppers, chopped + 1/2 tablespoon hot sauce + 1/4 tablespoon yellow mustard + 1/4 cup bread crumbs ] OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup grated parmesan.
Preheat the oven at 375F
Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, jalapenos and the condiments in a bowl and pour into a baking dish or ramekin.
Mix the bread crumbs and grated parmesan (if using) and sprinkle over the dip.
Bake in the oven until golden brown on top, about 10-20 minutes.
Estimated Nutritional Information:
Makes 1 medium sized bowl, Serves approx 8-10
Per Serving:
Total calories: 337 kcals
Carbohydrate: 11g
Fat: 38.2 (22g saturated)
Protein: 27 g
Cholesterol: 33mg
CREAMY SPINACH DIP (adapted from Steamy Kitchen):
[ 8 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted OR 3 cups of fresh spinach leaves + 1/2 of a small onion, minced + 2 tablespoons olive oil + 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg + 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder + 1 cup of cream cheese + 1/4 cup grated parmesan or mozarella cheese]
Preheat the oven to 350F
If you’re using frozen spinach, take a handful of the defrosted spinach and squeeze and discard the water from the spinach. Squeeze as much of the water out as you can. Set aside.If you’re using fresh spinach, wilt the spinach in a pan over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes and then do the same squeezing process to get the water out.
Don’t be alarmed by the seemingly large amount of spinach leaves because once it cooks down, this would turn to
this:
After squeezing the water out of the spinach, heat a saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add some olive oil and swirl to coat.
Add the onions and saute until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes (be patient with this because if you do this over high heat, the onions will burn and become bitter).
Add the spinach and saute until the spinach is warm, but still bright green (about 30 seconds).
Season and toss with salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese.
Pour into a baking dish or ramekins (or other oven-safe dish).
Scatter the grated parmesan or mozarella on top and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm with pita chips, bread or celery sticks.
Estimated Nutritional Information:
Makes 1 medium sized bowl, Serves approx 8-10
Per Serving:
Total calories: 217 kcals
Carbohydrate: 16g
Fat: 27.2 (7.9g saturated)
Protein: 15.1 g
Cholesterol: 32mg
SWEET POTATO & TAHINI DIP:
[ 1-2 small sized sweet potatoes + a bunch of spring onions, finely chopped + 1/2 teaspoon olive oil + 1-2 garlic cloves, minced + 2 tablespoons tahini + salt & pepper to taste ]
Scrub the potatoes and bake in a tray, covered with a sheet of foil at 200°C for 30-40 minutes or just boil them in some salted water until soft enough to be poked with a fork.
*** If you can’t find tahini, follow these steps to make some yourself :
TAHINI:
[ 1/2 cup sesame seeds + 4 tablespoons oil (olive, vegetable or sesame) + 1 tablespoon water ]
Put a frying pan on low heat and roast the seeds, frequently stirring with a spatula. Do not allow to brown. Cool for 20 minutes.
*** Back to the potatoes:
Halve and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir gently together, seasoning to taste. Add a bit of water or soymilk to thin out the dip if it’s too thick.
Serve with pita chips (or other chips of your choice).
Estimated Nutritional Information:
Makes 1 medium sized bowl, Serves approx 8-10
Per Serving:
Total calories: 241 kcals
Carbohydrate: 27g
Fat: 14 (8g saturated)
Protein: 21 g
Cholesterol: 29mg
Enjoy!
I have a pharmacology assignment due Monday,in which we have to take 3 drugs from the current block (GenitoUrinary System) and do a paper investigating whether or not they’ll interact in terms of pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics. My drugs were those to treat Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia/BPH. Let’s just say searching for the information on these 3 drugs is enough to make a grown man cry. I was left totally distraught by the end of it. Not to mention the professors are total dragons who like to pick on those sitting at the back table (where I am unhappily situated, due to my unfortunate late registration & getting the last batch of Student Number).
I felt impotent.
And when I feel like such, I like to make an escape where I can feel whole again. And today,that escape comes in the form of chocolate covered meringues floating in a chocolate-y mousse-y custard.
1. Creme Anglaise (English Custard)
[600ml milk + 1 vanilla pod or 1tsp vanilla powder/essence + 6 egg yolks + 100g caster sugar]
- Warm milk + vanilla on low heat
- Separate egg yolks from white, add sugar, whisk till lemon coloured
- Temper milk into egg mixture (add a ladle or two then whisk)
- Pour milk-egg mixture back to pan and stir over low heat (about 10 mins)
- I deviated a bit from the original recipe and added 50g bittersweet chocolate. Feel free to leave it out.
- Take off heat when mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- Strain and set aside.
2. Iles Flottantes (floating islands/meringues)
[2 egg whites + 50g caster sugar]
- Whisk the whites with the sugar until stiff
- Divide/spoon the egg-whites onto a baking tray lined with wax paper
- Bake until just firm. Cool
- I rolled mine in chocolate shavings. Again, feel free to omit this step.
Enjoy!
:)
