Month: June 2013

In-N-Out Animal Style Potato Wedges

- Elspeth 5 Comments

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Oh. Good. Lord. If this doesn’t have crack written all over it more than crack itself does, then you can slap me. In the face. Because I just had the most delicious ride on the tasty train and let me tell you: I am buying another round trip ticket.

I will also be purchasing some stretchy, elastic-waistband pants to accommodate my soon-to-be mammoth size. I can smell the glory now.

I didn’t want to do animal style fries or a burger, and potato wedges sounded so…hearty. Because that’s what this meal needed– more substance. And boy….mission accomplished.

Make extra onions or else you’ll be fighting over the last morsels (1 onion per person). This recipe makes enough of everything for 3-4 people.

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In-N-Out Animal Style Potato Wedges

sauce recipe from Serious Eats

6 slices American cheese
Sauce
2.5 T mayo
1 heaping tablespoon ketchup
3 t sweet relish
1/2 t white vinegar
1/2 t sugar
Onions
3 large yellow onion, diced very fine
2 t vegetable oil
Potato wedges
3 large Russet potatoes
1 T salt

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the oil until shimmering. Add the onions and salt and reduce heat to medium low. Continue to cook, about 25-30 minutes, until brown and starting to really caramelize. Add 1 T water and cook off (about 1 minute), until the onions are melty. Do this a few times.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425. Scrub the potatoes, cut into wedges (cut each in half, then 4 wedges per half), and soak in water for 10 minutes. Dry completely a with paper towel, place on a baking sheet, and toss with the oil and salt. Bake for 20 minutes with a cut-side down, flip, and bake another 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients. When the potatoes and onions are done, layer on an oven-proof ceramic plate:

  1. Potatoes
  2. Cheese
  3. Onions

Place that back in the oven and heat until the cheese starts to melt, a couple of minutes. Add a few dollops of sauce on top and serve immediately. Sit back and watch the smiles pour in from your audience of admirers.

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Guiltless Vegan Chocolate Mousse

- Elspeth Leave a comment

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Although taking a break from my “Heroes” marathon was a touch painful, I was happy to do it for further work on this recipe. I have been intrigued for some time by the concept of paleo chocolate mousse with no added sugar, but initial attempts did not satisfy me. The base is comprised of only three ingredients– cocoa, coconut milk, and dates– and the flavor of the dates was too strong for me. I wanted more chocolate, more depth of flavor throughout, and a touch of sweetness that didn’t come from the dates.

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I am very happy with the result, which is rich, creamy, a touch coconutty, and very chocolatey. Feel free to experiment a bit with the level of sweetness– cut out the sugar entirely if you’re a purest, or try it with a tablespoon more or less to suit your palate.

Oh and when I say “guiltless”, I mean “doesn’t have any eggs or dairy, so it makes me feel super righteous.”

Guiltless Chocolate Mousse

1 c pitted dates
1 can coconut milk (do not use low fat)
2-4 T powdered sugar or honey
1 t tapioca or potato starch
1/4 c cocoa
1/2 chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 t instant coffee powder
1 vanilla bean or 2 t vanilla extract

Refrigerate the coconut milk overnight. Be careful not to shake the can when you open it and spoon out the top layer of thickened cream. Put into a large bowl and back into the fridge to keep cool. In a food processor, puree the dates until you have a paste, adding some of the coconut water from the can to loosen it up a bit. Pass the pureed dates through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium-sized bowl. Mix in the cocoa, melted chocolate, coffee powder, and seeds from the vanilla bean or the extract. Remove the coconut milk from the fridge and whip with a hand mixer on high until it fluffs a bit. Sift in the powdered sugar and tapioca starch and whip on high. Spoon in the chocolate mixture and continue to beat until fluffy and incorporated. Spoon into serving dishes and chill until ready to eat.

This goes very well by itself, but would also be quite tasty with some shortbread, slathered on a piece of cake (if you’re feeling extra decadent), with shredded coconut and espresso salt, or with some toasted almonds on top.

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Baked Eggs in Crispy Hash Brown Nests

- Elspeth 2 Comments

Here I am again with potatoes. My old friend. Loyal. Beautiful. Delicious. It’s hard to say no to something this sexy.

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Am I right? Can I get an AMEN?

And what better friend to pair with potatoes than an egg? There is no partnership in the universe that can top this dynamic duo (although Bert and Ernie do a damn fine job of trying).

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A crispy bed of hash browns, cheesy filling, and soft baked eggs make this a wonderfully indulgent breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc. The filling is really the key here– it nicely ties together the egg and hash browns with a salty kick from the Gruyere and a sweet slap in the face from the caramelized shallots.

Be sure to wring out your potatoes well to get out as much moisture as possible, or else you’ll have soggy nests. Yum. Soggy. A great word to use when describing food.

Baked Eggs in Crispy Hash Brown Nests
1.5 lbs Russet potatoes
4 T melted butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 c shredded Gruyere
1/3 c milk
6 shallots, diced fine
1 T butter
12 -15 eggs
1/4 c cream
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
Chives

You can either make this recipe into 18 egg nests or 12 nests and 1 small ramekin, about 6″ diameter (I chose the latter). Grease your pan of choice.

In a skillet over medium-low heat, melt the 1 T butter. When hot, add the diced shallots and reduce heat to low after 2 minutes. Continue cooking slowly over low heat for about 45 minutes, or until very soft and brown. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425. Scrub and peel the potatoes, then shred them in a food processor or with a box grater. You should have about 4-5 cups. Place into a dishtowel or cheese cloth and wring out over your sink. This is best done in smaller batches, to maximize the moisture expulsion. Mix the shredded potatoes with melted butter and press into your greased pans so that you have an even wall of potatoes up the sides and on the bottom of your nests. Bake at 425 for 30-35 minutes or until brown.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375. When the shallots are good and caramelized, place them in a bowl with the cream cheese, red pepper flakes, pepper, milk, and Gruyere.  Mix thoroughly. Spoon a tablespoon of the mixture onto the baked nests and smoosh down to flatten (for the larger ramekin I used about 1/2 c). Crack an egg into each nest (2-3 for the ramekin), spoon about a teaspoon of cream onto each one, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the eggs are set (ie, they don’t jiggle when you shake the pan). Cool for 5 minutes, run a knife around the edge of each one, and then lift carefully onto plates. Sprinkle with more pepper and the chives, then serve immediately.

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