Mexican Corn Salad

GUYS.  We're back.  It's been awhile. I know, I know.  Sorry about that.  Hopefully you missed us as much as we missed you.  We have lots of cool homey and hungry posts to catch up on...including this one.  If you love corn (or even remotely like it) this recipe is for you and my veggie loving friend Caitlin.  I cheated and used canned sweet corn (whatever, it's fine) and it came out super awesome and took me a total of 10 minutes to throw together. BOOM.  Back at it. 

We were invited to an Easter lunch on Sunday and after cooking all of my usual Easter staples on Saturday, I wanted to make something a little different to bring.  Enter: cool, crunchy, creamy, spicy, and refreshing Mexican Corn Salad.  Perfect as a spring or summer side dish, if I don't say so myself. 

It's super easy to make. Diced red onions, green onions, jalapenos, canned sweet corn (or fresh if you are impressive and have time like that), feta, and finished with a light, bright creamy lime dressing. It's more authentic to use cotija cheese, but I thought feta was a little lighter and a little tangier.  I'm also obsessed with feta right now.  So there's that.

After tossing all of the ingredients together, let it chill in the fridge for about two hours.  The flavors all come together and create this spicy and sweet awesomeness.  Damn.  I wish we had leftovers.

Here's the recipe!

5 Cans Whole Kernel Sweet Corn (15 oz Cans), drained well 
1/2 to 1 Jalapeno, seeds removed and diced 
1/4 Cup of Red Onion, diced 
1/4 Cup of Green Onions, diced 
1/3 Cup of Crumbled Feta 
1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise 
1/2 Cup of Sour Cream 
Juice from 1 Lime 
1/4 Tsp Kosher Salt*

Mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, and lime juice and then incorporate to the rest of the ingredients.  Let chill in the fridge for two hours before serving.  The dressing sets at the bottom, so toss again before serving and serve cold.

*I went really easy on the salt since it was going to be served with salty Easter ham.  Season to your tastes.

Stay hungry!

Sausage Cherry Stuffing

I just love this recipe.  It's so easy, you can make it in one pot, and it tastes like pure homey heaven.  I paired this with the crown roast of pork recipe I made to celebrate Hardly Housewives' millionth hit and man oh man ...it was just so darn good. 

So this is controversial, but I like to use baguette for my stuffing recipe.  It soaks up the chicken stock and all of the flavorful drippings from the sausage, and crisps up beautifully in the oven. Baguette. Boom.  After cubing it up, just toast it in the oven for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Just to dry it out a bit. 

The key to adding onion and celery to your stuffing is to chop it up fine...you do NOT want chunks of onion or celery in your stuffing.  Trust me on this.  If you don't like stuffing it's probably because of unruly chunks of celery. No spanks.

Next, brown up your Italian sausage.  I used to use Jimmy Dean sausage but then my Uncle Mike yelled at me so I use Italian now.  He was right.

After removing the sausage, you'll be left with all of the beautiful brown flavorful bits.  If you even THINK about disregarding these, then just forget it.  Power off your computer and go give yourself a long pep talk in a nearby mirror.  Because it's a crime to let flavor like this go.

In order to lift them off the bottom, crank the heat to high, add chicken stock (you could also use wine) bring to a simmer and scrape the bottom of the pan.  I pour the drippings into the sausage bowl, and then move on to the onion and celery.

Add a stick of unsalted butter.  Yes a stick.  So sue me.

Add your onions and celery and gently saute over medium heat until they become soft and translucent...about 5 minutes or so.

Add a quarter of a teaspoon of each dried sage and dried thyme.  I would have used fresh, but I forgot to buy them.  I always have dried herbs on hand and quite frankly, this worked great.  I also add a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.

Ok.  Here we go.  Add the sausage back into the pot.

And then add the baguette croutons and your chicken stock.  Add about 1 cup at a time stir, mix, and then keep adding more stock.  I added a total of about 5 cups.  This is where you have to "work" the stock into the stuffing.  I usually get in there with my hands, breaking down the big chunks of bread as I go.

After the bread has soaked up all of the stock and it's nice and moist, add a handful (about 1/4 cup) of dried cherries.  You can certainly add more, but I like just a hint.

This is what you want it to look like.

I mean, I could have eaten it like this.  Who am I kidding?  I totally did.  Like a bowl worth.

I cooked this in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, until the top was golden, golden brown.

The key is to add as much stock as absolute possible without it becoming soupy...this way your stuffing will basically be a sausage bread pudding...not a dry stuffing mess. 

Drool to the face.  Sausage stuffing to the face.  I need a treadmill to the face.

Sausage Cherry Stuffing Recipe 
1 French Baguette
1 Lb Mild Italian Sausage
1 Cup of Finely Diced Yellow Onion
1 Cup of Finely Diced Celery
1 Stick of Unsalted Butter
1/4 Tsp of Dried Thyme
1/4 Tsp of Dried Sage
1/4 Tsp of Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
5 Cups of Low Sodium Chicken Stock
1/4 Cup of Dried Cherries

Cube and toast baguette.  Brown sausage from pan and remove.  Deglaze the pan with a 1/4 cup of chicken stock and scrape the bottom.  Pour drippings into the bowl with sausage.  In same pan, add butter and melt over medium heat.  Add celery, onion, thyme, sage and pepper and saute until veggies are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add baguette and sausage to pan.  Pour stock and work stock in with your hands until stuffing is absolutely saturated - 1 cup at a time up to 5 cups.  Add cherries at the end and then bake in greased pan for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until stuffing is golden brown.

Stay hungry!

Whole Wheat Curried Couscous

We had a party this past weekend to celebrate Jesse's birthday and our friend Katie brought a really tasty side dish.  It was so good that I had to get the recipe from her and share here.

Katie used a Barefoot Contessa recipe with a few changes.  Katie didn't have any currants (who does??) so she used dried cranberries instead.  She also used whole wheat couscous and nixed the red onion.  Here is what she used:

1 and 1/2 cup couscous

1 tablespoon butter

1 and 1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon white vinegar (Katie used this instead of white wine vinegar)

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup small diced carrots

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds

2 thinly sliced scallions

Melt the butter in the boiling water, then pour over the couscous in a bowl.  Cover and leave for 5 minutes, then fluff the couscous with a fork.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper then pour over the couscous.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Tasty served cold or at room temperature.

Thanks to Katie and to Ina (original recipe here) for this yummy side dish.  Enjoy & stay hungry!

Poblano, Corn, and Potato Gratin

Yowza.  These were soooooo good.   

 I've always wanted to make potatoes au gratin, but I didn't have a mandolin.  GUESS WHO HAS ONE NOW BIOTCHES.

I think this is the only time I haven't changed a recipe.  Actually, I doubled the cheese.  Oh and added green onions.  Never mind.  Anyway,  I was looking for a Mexican twist on a Thanksgiving classic, and came across this.  It was exactly what I was thinking of.  It's like you read my mind Bon Appetit.

1 Tbs of Olive Oil 

2 large fresh poblano chiles, stemmed, seeded, chopped

2 large green onions, chopped 

1 1/4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

2 cups coarsely grated Oaxaca cheese or whole-milk mozzarella cheese, divided

1 1/2 cups half and half

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

If you don't have a mandolin, I would invest in one.  The one I bought is cheap.  OXO V-Blade Mandoline - $39.95 from Williams-Sonoma.  Not to shabby.  I used to be scared of mandolins.  I thought I would chop my hand off or something.  When I compared the odds of chopping my hand off with a mandolin to trying to slice 1/8" potato slices with a knife ...I invested in a mandolin.  Money well spent.  

I didn't photograph this step, but saute the chopped peppers and corn in the olive oil for 3-5 minutes over medium heat or until the peppers begin to soften.  Add the chopped green onions and saute for another 2 minutes or so.  Season with a little salt n' peppa.

In a cast iron skillet, or a dish of your choice, add the bottom layer of potatoes, overlapping a bit. If you are using a regular casserole dish and concerned about sticking, either spray the pan with cooking spray or rub with butter.

Next, add a layer of the corn/poblano/green onion mix.

The recipe calls for Oxaca, which is basically like a Mexican mozzarella but with a little more tang.  I couldn't find it in the 3 seconds I dedicated to looking for it, so I grabbed the chihuahua cheese that was in front me.  It's a little more creamy and reminds me of jack cheese.  It's delicious.  I don't really know how you could go wrong with any cheese here.   If you wanted to get all fancy you could use little dollops of goat cheese.

Keep repeating until you run out of layers or until you reach the top.  Whichever happens first.

Next, whisk the cream, flour, salt, and pepper in a bowl and dump over the top.  Cover dish or pan tightly with foil and cook for 30 minutes or so at 400 degrees.  Remove from oven, top with cheese, and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

 TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. 

Drool to the face.  I know it's going to be very difficult, but you MUST let these rest for 10-15 minutes or else they'll be a soupy mess. 

Make these at Graciasgiving or just because you're alive and love good food.  Charlie L-O-V-E-D these.   Pasar Hambre!

Crispy Fried Smashed Potatoes with Rosemary and Serrano Chilies

Hola.  I'm writing this while in Spain right now...so I'm a bit distracted but I'll try to keep it together.  

HAM.  CHEESE. SANGRIA.  Damnit. 

Ok for reals...I made these potatoes before we left and the were incredible.  They were crispy, garlicky, rosemary-y, a bit spicy, and pillowy soft in the middle.  Yum.   

The inspiration for this recipe is pretty random.  One of my go to restaurants in Chicago, Quartino, has this white bean spread with rosemary, olive oil, and serrano chilies.  It's the best.  Somehow my weird little brain decided to use these flavors with potatoes.  Success. 

There aren't exact measurements for a rustic dish like this.  So don't stress.  You will, however, need the following ingredients:

Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes (those are my favorite, but any would work) 

Rosemary 

Serrano Chilies 

Fresh Garlic

Garlic Salt  

Olive Oil

Canola Oil 

Start by thinly slicing one to two serrano chillies, roughly chopping a sprig or two of rosemary, and then adding a few large cloves of garlic that have been smashed.  I usually just use the side of my knife to bruise the skin, releasing all of the yummy garlicky goodness.  Finally, drizzle some good olive oil on top to make a "dressing" of sorts.  The oil is just a vehicle to get all of the flavors together and happy.  We're not actually going to dress the potatoes with all of this.

I use baby Yukon gold potatoes for a couple of reasons.  Yukon gold are just creamy and wonderful all by themselves.  They don't dry out like other potatoes (I won't mention names).  Anyway, boil your po-ta-toes for 10-12 minutes or until they are soft when pierced with a fork. 

Ok...now comes the fun part.  These are called smashed potatoes so that's just what we want to do.  Wait until the potatoes cool enough to touch, and smash them down with a plate, or the bottom of a large glass like below:

This is what you'll end up with.  You don't want to smash them all the way down...just enough to level them out.  Don't freak if a couple fall apart.  Those are bonus ones the chef gets. 

Fill a pan (preferably non stick) with about 1/2 an inch of canola oil and let it heat up over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes.  Any light oil will do - since we're frying we don't want to use a heavy oil like olive oil.  Trust. 

Let these do their thing.  You really can't mess with these or they are going to break apart and you're going to send me emails like, OMG Jaisa why would you suggest a recipe that makes me want to throw my entire kitchen out the window?  Just let them sit and fry for about 5-8 minutes on the first side, or until you see golden brown edges forming on the outside.  The second side won't take as long - maybe 2-3 minutes or so.  

Once crispified, take them out and sprinkle with a little bit of garlic salt.  Or garlic powder and salt. Let these drain on paper towels to soak up the excess oil.  Next, gently lay the potatoes in whatever dish you are serving these in, and then scoop out the rosemary, chillies, and garlic that have been resting in the olive oil.  If a little olive oil comes with the herbs and chillies, don't worry.  It's delicious.

Look at all of those golden brown and crunchy edges....DAMN.

Yup....

...so good.

Stay starchy and stay hungry!

Easter Potato Salad & More Delicious Left Overs

So we're nearing the end of our Easter ham.  I'm so depressed I can't even get out of bed.  Well I can, but it's just to go to my sad, empty fridge to cry and ask WHY GOD WHY...and then return to bed.  It's a vicious cycle. 

I'll show you exactly why we're out of ham, and I'm going to show you how to make my fam's super simple potato salad that we have every Easter.  Check it...

So there's a funny story about these ham sandwiches.  A couple of years ago, we were invited to our first Seder dinner.  I was pretty excited to see what it was all about, and like any good house guest, I brought a treat for the party.  The funny part, was that I brought A SPIRALED HAM AND ROLLS to a Seder dinner.  The even funnier part?  Everyone, both Jewish and Christians alike, ate ever last bit.  My friends dubbed them "Easter Sliders" and I haven't called them anything else since.  I also have haven't been invited to Seder Dinner again.  Hmmmm...

The key to these, are the Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. They are soft, the perfect size and have the perfect hint of sweetness.  They are perfect I tell you.  I like mine with mayonnaise and a squirt or two of Sriracha.  I then shove a small mountain of Cape Cod chips in the inside.  So before I show you the potato salad, just know this:  this my friends is the perfect plate of Easter leftovers.   Rejoice and be thankful.  Amen.  Praise the Lord.  Ok, I'm done. 

Enough babbling, here are the ingredients for the salad:

2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes 

1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise

1 Tbs of Yellow Mustard

3 Hard Boiled Eggs

1/8 Cup Chopped Yellow Onion

2 Tablespoons of Chopped Green Onions

Salt & Pepper

You have to quarter your potatoes at some point, so I do it before the cooking process to speed things along.  

I usually cut them a tad bigger than I want the pieces to be, because they'll breakdown a bit when you mix everything together.  You know why I use Yukon gold potatoes and not regular spuds?  In addition to the fact they are creamy, moist, and flavorful - you can eat the skins.  I HATE HATE HATE peeling potatoes and refuse to do it. 

Throw 'em in a pot, cover 'em with water and let 'em simmer until fork tender. Yes 'um. 

Put your hard boiled eggs into a bowl and break them up.  I use a wire whisk to mash the eggs, but you could use a potato masher as well.  Don't have either?  Just chop them up with a knife.  Need help making the perfect hard boiled egg?  You can check out my special egg post here.

Add your mayonnaise, onions, mustard, and your salt and pepper to the bowl...

 

...and stir it up...

...but be gentle because you don't want to pulverize your eggs.

Ever have potato salad, where the mayonnaise mixture just coats the outside of dry potato cubes?  It doesn't become one with the potatoes?  I have and I'm not a fan.  I'll show you my Mom's trick to avoid this tragedy. 

Drain your potatoes...

...and immediately throw the hot potatoes into the dressing we mixed for the salad.

Gennnnnnntly stir the potatoes around.  Be careful because the potatoes will easily and quickly fall apart if you just stirred them like cold potatoes. 

Immediately cover with plastic wrap or a lid of some sort and let the salad cool in the fridge.  Since the potatoes are hot, they will absorb all of the delicious dressing so it's moist and delicious!  Once chilled, give it a stir.  Sometimes I add a little mayonnaise to spunk it up depending on how much the potatoes absorbed. My sister and I like eating this warm.  Weird, I know.  I think it's because we're too impatient for it to cool. 

Boom.

I like eating the potato salad like a dip with the potato chips.  I know...I have issues. 

Super simple with mayo as the main ingredient.  Is this a Hardly Housewives recipe or what?  Stay hungry!