Spiced Sweet Potato Fries with Curry Mayo, by Diane

This recipe came from Eat Delicious, and reminded me so much of my favorite restaurant fries here in DC. I was excited to try them at home since the restaurant is currently closed. These were really flavorful and very easy and quick to make! The mayo would be great on a variety of things as well!

Tip: I have recently discovered that air frying potatoes is wonderful during the summer because I don’t have to turn on the oven, but it does tend to dry out the potatoes. To fix this, I simply remove the potatoes when they’re finished cooking from the air fryer and put them in a bowl that is tightly covered for five minutes. This allows the hot fries to steam them selves which both keeps the air fryer taste as well as allows some moisture back into the french fry.


Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes-

2 lbs sweet potatoes
2 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Curry Mayo-

3/4 cup mayo
2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp mild yellow curry powder
Pinch sea salt


Directions:

1. Slice the sweet potatoes into long strips and toss with remaining ingredients.

2. Roast the sweet potatoes in a 400° oven for 45 min on a parchment paper-lined baking tray, turning halfway, or airfry at 400° for 15 min then cover to steam for 5 min.

3. While the potatoes roast, whip up the mayo and adjust seasonings if desired.

Ham, Sweet Potato and Egg Bake, by Diane

I found this recipe from @pennysprimal on Instagram, and it seemed like a quick and easy way to have a few protein packed brunches this week. I literally chopped and tossed everything together, this was so quick to whip up!


Ingredients:

10 eggs (I had to use 12 to cover ingredients)
2 cups spinach
1 small pack grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
2 small ham steaks, cubed
1/2 red onion, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled
Salt and pepper


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.

2. Precook the sweet potato by piercing it with a fork and microwaving it for 3 minutes.

3. While the sweet potato cooks, assemble the veggies in the pan. Chop the sweet potato and add it to the pan.

4. Whisk together eggs and salt and pepper, and pour over the veggies.

5. Bake for 45-50 min until eggs are set.

Burnt Basque Cheesecake, by Diane

This recipe really intrigued me, and it felt right to add it as our fourth course for the summer Spain meal. The technique involves pouring a crustless batter into a parchment lined pan to get the shape, and then cooking it at high heat so the outside appears burned (it tastes carmelized not burned). This technique calls for the cheesecake to be still uncooked in the center when the outside is burned, so that it forms a crust when it sits at room temperature and poaches the inside. It is also served at room temperature as well. It tastes like creme brûlée and butter cake had a love child, and it’s delicious!


Ingredients:

2 lbs cream cheese, at room temp
1 3/4 cup sugar
7 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Line a 10” springform pan with parchment paper leaving 2 inches around all sides. Spray the parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray.

2. On low speed or by hand, cream together the sugar and cream cheese.

3. Add in the eggs one at a time, then stream in the cream and add the vanilla.

4. Fold in the flour and make sure no lumps are left.

5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 60 minutes (50 if your oven runs hot). You want the color to be dark like the photo.

6. When the cheesecake is darkened and the inside still jiggly, remove from the oven and allow to cool until room temp. The cheesecake will fall with puffy edges like in the photo.

7. Serve at room temp.

Pan con Tomate, by Diane

This is one of my favorite appetizers, and the third of our line up of summer dishes from Spain.
It was super quick and easy to make, and definitely takes advantage of summer tomatoes! I used heirloom tomatoes because I like them best. Recipe from: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/09/pan-con-tomate-tomato-bread-spanish-recipe.html


Ingredients:

1 ciabatta loaf, sliced thickly (my store had presliced so I used a wide italian baguette)
2 large tomatoes
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Fine sea salt
Flaky sea salt

Directions:

1. Grate the tomatoes in a large bowl, and add fine sea salt to taste.

2. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle fine sea salt onto the bread slices and broil for 3 minutes or until the edges get browned.

3. Rub garlic cloves on the bread, then spoon tomato mixture and top with flaky sea salt. You can add a drizzle of olive oil here as well.

Gazpacho, by Diane

This is not my photo- I threw the soup out and forgot to take a photo!

This was our next dish for our summer Spain dinner. I have never really had gazpacho before and was excited to try it. We used an Alton Brown recipe, and I have to say I was not a fan of this one either- but my friend who loves gazpacho loved it! So it’s possible I just don’t love gazpacho... either way I’ll stick to salsa :)


Ingredients:

1.5 lbs tomatoes, skinned and chopped and deseeded
1 cucumber, peeled sliced and seeded
1 small red onion, diced
1 small jalepeno, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lime, juiced
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
Tomato juice
2 tbsp basil leaves

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except basil into the blender and pulse on high for 20 seconds. Add tomato juice if desired, and save some of the veggies for a garnish or for a chunkier gazpacho if desired. Chill for 2 hours before eating.

Tuna, Blood Orange, and Avocado Salad, by Diane

Our next country up was Spain, as we thought it would have a lot of cold dishes we wouldn’t have to turn the oven on for. First up was this salad, which seemed good in theory but in actuality the tastes just didn’t really go well together for me. It was supposed to use tuna belly, but I couldn’t find it and had to use canned tuna instead. Recipe from: https://spanishsabores.com/2014/04/18/tuna-belly-blood-orange-and-avocado-spanish-salad-recipe/


Ingredients:

One cup arugula
1/4 cup tuna
1 blood orange, cut in slices
1/2 avocado, cut in slices
10 pistachios, crushed
Olive oil
Sea salt


Directions:

Assemble all ingredients together, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt.

Coq Au Vin, by Cheryl

We had a little French theme going on in our household this week. With an endless summer full of no possibilities I felt like I needed something to keep us entertained besides our backyard and afternoon movies. I suggested a learning about different countries theme and J was super into it. She picked France as the first country to learn more about since she was just there. The kids loved coloring rainbows with the French names for colors, learning that the rooster and iris are the country's animal and flower (who knew??), and making fun Eiffel Tower snow globes!

Ok, back to the food. I made a French dinner with the help of my sous chefs and this was fantastic. It didn't take nearly as much time as I thought it would and the sauce and chicken were heavenly. I have never made such a flavorful crispy skin! I love a crispy skin. I will definitely be making this again when the cooler months come rolling in. I forgot to make a side of mashed potatoes so I cooked up some pasta to go with it. It was delicious. Yum!

Ingredients (recipe from here):

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 slices bacon diced
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 6 small white onions cut in half or quartered depending upon size
• 2-3 cloves garlic mashed
• 2 carrots peeled and rough cut
• 1/2 bottle of full-body red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 8 ounces Chicken Stock 
• unsalted butter
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 sprig rosemary
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 4 large skin on, bone in chicken thighs

Directions:

• Add chicken to a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag. Pour in one cup red wine and seal bag, pressing out air. Let stand while you prepare the remaining ingredients or overnight for the best results.
• Preheat oven to 350°
• In a large Dutch oven or rondeau, cook bacon over medium-high heat, stirring and reducing heat as necessary to prevent scorching, until browned and fat has rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
• Remove chicken from zipper-lock bag, discard wine, and pat dry.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Return Dutch oven with rendered bacon fat to medium-high heat.  Add chicken thighs skin-side down, and cook until browned, about 7 minutes. Turn and brown the other side, about 5 minutes.   Don't move the chicken around while cooking, allow it to sear in place.  Use a spatula to get under the chicken when turning being careful not to rip the skin.
• Remove Chicken from pan setting aside until needed
• Add mushrooms to pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Add onions, carrots, and garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add bacon, the remainder of the wine, tomato paste, chicken stock, thyme and rosemary and bring to a simmer, stirring up any browned bits.
• Add chicken back to pan, leaving skin side up and not submerged if possible. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour.
• Remove pan from the oven and take the chicken out of the pan.
• Add in two tablespoons of unsalted butter that has been rolled in flour, getting as much flour into the butter as possible.  This is called a beurre manie and will thicken your sauce. Mix the beurre manie in well and allow to simmer over medium heat.
• Return chicken to pot, spooning sauce on top. Garnish with remaining sprig of thyme or rosemary.  Serve with potatoes, pasta, or rice.

Rose Scented Saffron Rice (Mulhammar), by Diane

This was the final dish we made for our Bahraini meal and it was also really delicious! The combination of flavors worked well on their own but also surprisingly went really well with the shrimp balls! Again, this tasted like something that would never come out of either of our kitchens, and we were pumped. Also great leftover!

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp saffron threads
3 cardamom pods, cracked
2 tbsp rose water
6 cups water
1 tbsp salt
2 cups basmati rice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a small bowl mix saffron, cardamom, and rosewater together. Set aside.

2. In a medium pot, bring the salt and water to boil.

3. Rinse the rice under cold water repeatedly until the water runs clear.

4. Add rice to boiling water and cook for 8 minutes uncovered, stirring every few minutes. Drain and return to pot.

5. Put the rice back in the pot and add the saffron mixture along with melted butter. Poke holes in the rice with a wooden spoon. Cover and steam over very low heat for 20 minutes or until fork tender.

Bahraini Shrimp Balls (Chebeh Rubyan), by Diane

This was the entree portion of the Bahraini meal a friend and I made last week, and I am still dreaming about it!! Both of us agreed that not only were the flavors outstanding, but honestly we were both shocked this came out of our kitchens. It tasted like take out and nothing I would have ever known how to create, like a combo of Middle Eastern and Indian and African food. I cannot wait to make these again and again! They were also amazing leftover! The only thing I would change is maybe an egg to help the shrimp balls hold together a bit more, as some of them were a bit fragile.


Ingredients:

Shrimp Balls:

1 lb shrimp, cooked and cleaned
1 tbsp cilantro
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/2 c brown rice flour

Baharat Powder:

1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp each nutmeg, black pepper, coriander, cumin, and cinnamon
1/8 tsp each cloves and ground cardamom

Sauce:

1/3 cup butter
1 onion, minced
1/2 lemon rind, grated
1 cup warm water
1 tsp tamarind paste
15 oz. diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp sugar


Directions:

1. Melt butter and cook 1/2 the onions (reserve the other half for the shrimp balls) until golden brown.

2. Add in baharat powder and remaining sauce ingredients, stir well and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Cover if the sauce gets too thick.

3. While the sauce cooks, place the shrimp ball ingredients in a food processor until it forms a paste.

4. Form 2 inch diameter balls, and fill inside with the remaining minced onions. I found the easiest way to do this was to flatten the shrimp balls, put a tiny bit of onions in the center, pinch closed, and roll tightly.

5. Add the shrimp balls to the sauce and cook for 20 minutes, occasionally flipping and re-covering with sauce.

Roasted Eggplant Dip (Uukkous Al-Badinjan), by Diane

This week a friend and I found a list of all 195 countries and some fun new foods to try to cook from each one. We decided this would be a fun way to “have dinner together” virtually since we live far apart we would cook the same foods and eat together. I ran my finger up and down the list and when she said stop we landed on Bahrain. Having never tasted Bahraini food before, we were intrigued and picked three dishes to make for dinner. This roasted eggplant dip was the first one, and this photo is the only one because I tasted it and promptly tossed it out! I very rarely give up on a dish without trying to fix it, but here we are. The flavors were off in a way I can’t describe even though the ingredient list would make it seem like they easily blended together! My friend’s eggplant blew up in the oven shortly afterwards, so no one had a good report of this dish. But since Cheryl and I made a rule to post everything good or bad, here it is!! The other recipes were MUCH better, thank goodness!!


Ingredients:

3 large eggplants
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 tsp salt


Directions:

1. Roast the eggplant until softened, and let cool.

2. Scoop out the eggplant and combine in a food processor with remaining ingredients until smooth.