Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

Zesty Orange Quinoa Salad

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At our house, we’re getting ready for Disney. In just 7 short days, we’ll be on our way to the Mouse and all the walking and such that will come with it.

Trying to get in better shape (and to detox from my recent sugar overload), I’ve been a really good girl in the food department the past week or two. And since I really love quinoa already, this tangy salad was an easy swap.

Concentrated orange juice is one of those things that I normally eschew, being basically concentrated orange-flavored sugar and all. But for this application, it works, giving a super-concentrated orange flavor without watering things down. If I had some of that frozen orange zest like we had in culinary school, it would be a worthy lower-sugar substitute. But these days, I am all for using what’s already in the house.

How do you like to prepare quinoa? Let me know in the comments.

Enjoy!

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Zesty Orange Quinoa Salad
Serves 2 as main dish, 4 as sides

  • 1 c. traditional (white) quinoa
  • 2 c. vegetable broth or water
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 large head broccoli, cut into medium florets
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1/4 c. cider vinegar
  • 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 T. frozen orange juice concentrate
  • 1 tsp. dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp. dry basil
  • 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 2 T. celery leaves, chopped
  • 1 T. fresh mint, minced (optional)

Cook quinoa according to the package directions, using the broth or water at a 1:2 proportion.

While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the vegetables. When all the vegetables are diced, put the peppers, broccoli and celery (not the leaves) in a microwave-safe bowl with a few tablespoons of water. Cover the bowl and microwave on high, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until the broccoli is bright green. Strain out the water. If you prefer not to use the microwave, you can blanch and shock the vegetables by boiling water, cooking the vegetables for about a minute, then straining them and rinsing with cold water.

Prepare the dressing in a small jar or other container with a lid. Place the vinegar, olive oil, orange juice concentrate, mustard, dry basil and black pepper in the jar, cover the jar and shake well.

When the quinoa is done and still warm, fold in the veggies, celery leaves and mint if using. Fold in as much dressing as you like, being careful not to crush the quinoa.

Serve warm or chilled, either alone or mixed with salad greens. No further dressing is needed.

Fancy Pants Learns to Cook an Egg (And Rocks at Supreming Oranges)

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Yes, folks, it’s true…I have trouble with eggs.

Same goes for toast and cheese dip. If it’s really simple, I am apt to burn, break or otherwise screw it up.

Chocolate soufflé with a raspberry balsamic reduction and homemade spiced whipping cream, no problem. It’s a curse.

So when our Food Production I instructor told us early on in the semester that we’d be cooking eggs soon, I was nervous. I knew we’d get to this sort of thing, but really, now? Can’t we start with sushi or baked alaska or something like that?

In class, we had our standard weekly test (I think I did OK; it included lots of math for recipe conversions, so we’ll see) and a lecture on kitchen equipment.  I tried not to look too much like a know-it-all, but I actually had several of the items at home. I also found some useful info on cooking on the Internet. My mandoline could rip your fingers into tiny little ribbons. Pretty ones.

Then we went into the kitchen for our lab activities. Again, per standard routine, we spent quite a bit of time on knife skills, but a few different applications this time. We were to cut a potato and some celery into large dice (that’s 3/4″), chiffonade some cabbage for the Finish Line Café to make slaw (kind of a 1/8″ shred), batonnet some carrots (1/2″ x 1/2″ x 3″) and do an angled, 1/4″ cut on another carrot.

Here’s a photo of my angle-cut carrots. The instructor started measuring today, so I put my two best pieces invitingly out to the side. It didn’t work. The ones he grabbed were a little shy of 1/4″. Blech.

Although a lot of my knife work wasn’t so great this week, I have to say, I was proud of my orange segments. We were to “supreme” the orange, a nifty technique detailed here on Coconut & Lime (although we didn’t take off so much of the orange when peeling it). It’s basically how you get the really super-pretty citrus segments without the pith.

Everyone lined up for inspection. The instructor picked at the oranges ahead of me with a shaking head. Uh oh. He gets to mine and turns them over on the cutting board. He opens his mouth. Gulp…

“I can’t find anything bad to say about these.”

You have to understand…for this instructor, he might as well have sung you the Hallelujah Chorus. I went back to my station, cutting board in hand, a little taller. Too bad I don’t really care for oranges.

I know, I know….this may be more detail than you wanted. Let me fast-forward.

The egg.

After knife skills practice, I was to hard-boil an egg, then poach one. Hardly ever succeeded at the former, never even tried the latter.

Instructions: Find the appropriate kind of pot for the induction cooktops (only iron or stainless steel works). Put in cold water and one egg. Bring to boil. Turn off. Cover. Wait 10 minutes. Peel said egg and present to instructor for inspection.

For some reason, I ended up with a massive pot that took a while to boil, so I got behind. Meanwhile, I saw that several folks’ eggs were turning out underdone, even at the given 10 minutes. I left mine in an extra couple minutes and….miracle of miracles….it was perfect! Sometimes it pays to be late.

By the time I was poaching, most everyone else was cleaning up and getting ready to leave. Bah! This isn’t like me. I was embarrassed. Thankfully, the instructor was gracious and waited for me to finish. He even suggested I try again when the first poached egg stuck to my pot. (It wasn’t ruined, just not as pretty as it could be.)

My results: Delicious.

More photos:

My cabbage chiffonade. It was too wide.

My neighbor working away.

Fabulous co-student boiling her egg. She got the coveted smaller pot. Grrr.

And now, tasting and judgement!

Our instructor inspects boiled eggs.

Ganache Three Ways (and weird ones at that)

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Greetings, friends.

A couple days ago, I had myself a good old-fashioned chocolate throw-down. Well, maybe not so old-fashioned, considering the eclectic flavors, but definitely feeding the chocolate fix.

The orange-mint ganache went over well at a baby shower on Sunday, alongside a cream cheese/marshmallow fruit dip.

The orange-mint ganache went over well at a baby shower on Sunday, alongside my cream cheese/marshmallow fruit dip.

Ganache is one of my favorite foodie tricks. It’s simple yet decadent, impressive, and versatile. Depending on how you make it, you can use ganache as a coating or filling for cakes, a whipped frosting, or rolled into truffles. I usually end up eating most of it from a spoon, right out of the fridge.

Generally, ganache is simply one part chocolate to one part heavy cream, or two-to-one chocolate to cream if making truffles or other firm candy. There are many variations on the exact technique, but it is generally quite forgiving, considering the persnickety nature of chocolate.

Three bowls of chocolate, waiting for their flavorings and cream!

Three bowls of chocolate, waiting for their flavorings and cream!

For these experiments, I chose — for the first time — to use the microwave method. This means bringing the cream just to a simmer in the microwave, then pouring into a bowl of chopped chocolate. I will advise you to do otherwise on one of the three variations…not a big deal, but probably easier. We’ll get there.

I halved the typical recipe for ganache so I could make several smaller batches. I used the one-to-one ratio most commonly used for fillings and less-firm coating. This turned semi-firm in the fridge (perfect for spooning), and warmed up beautifully in the microwave as a dip (see top photo). I’ll give you the basic recipe, then the flavorings for each:

Basic Microwave Ganache

  • 8 oz. good chocolate chips, chopped finely (I used Ghirardelli in a food processor)
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Chop the chocolate chips finely in small batches with a large knife, or buzz in a food processor for about 15 seconds. Place into a small heat-resistant baking dish or bowl. In a microwave-safe measuring cup, heat the cream in 30-second increments until just simmering. Pour over chocolate and stir vigorously until all the chocolate is completely melted. The mixture will feel very loose at first, then tighten up as the chocolate melts. Cover and cool in fridge for at least 2 hours or until set.

Variation: Orange Mint

Before measuring the cream, put 2 T. frozen orange juice concentrate in the measuring cup, then pour cream to equal 1 cup. Mixture will thicken and seem to curdle a bit, but this is OK. Crush two or three fresh mint leaves in your hands until you feel the oil, then tear into small pieces and stir into the mixture. Heat the mixture until just simmering. Using a wire strainer, strain mixture as you pour it into the chocolate.

Variation: Cranberry-Grape Sage Buzz

blastBefore measuring the cream, place 4 T. Blast XS Cranberry Grape Energy Drink Mixer (contact me for ordering info) in the measuring cup, then pour cream to equal 1 cup. Mixture may thicken a bit as above. Crush one large or two smaller fresh sage leaves until you feel the oil, then tear into small pieces and mix in. Strain and continue as above. (I suppose you could use 2 T. of frozen cran-grape juice concentrate instead, but you don’t get the caffeine and B12 buzz!)

Variation: Smoked Cayenne and Spices

Peppers and such in the cream. Given the amount of time it took to steep in flavors, this would have been easier on the cooktop.

Peppers and such in the cream. Given the amount of time it took to steep in flavors, this would have been easier on the cooktop.

Measure 1 cup cream into a small saucepan over low heat. Using kitchen scissors, cut a two-inch piece of smoked cayenne pepper into very small pieces into the cream. Add one small stick of cinnamon, two whole cloves, and about 1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg. Slowly bring to a simmer and keep there for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste the cream to see if the desired amount of “kick” is acquired. (If you don’t want to buy smoked cayenne peppers, you could use a sprinkle of cayenne powder, the smoked kind if you have it.) Strain into prepared chocolate and stir as above.

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The surprising thing about the cayenne version, besides the fact that it is actually good, is the separation and delay of flavors. First you get the smokiness, then the chocolate, and lastly you get the kick of the pepper. A few seconds after you think you’re done, in fact.

Next time, I’ll try using the truffle-making proportions and see how the flavors hold up. Or maybe I can melt these back down and add more chocolate…any choco-experts out there? The pepper one would be wonderful as a truffle, rolled in cocoa powder and a bit of cayenne powder. Hmmm…..

Until then, I’ll just be eating these out of a spoon. That would, in fact, be a neat presentation for the three flavors: a plate of three Chinese-style soup spoons filled with each ganache. There you go, that was free. Someone do that and take a photo…I don’t have those spoons!

Try these or your own weird flavors, and let me know how it goes.