Buckwheat Crêpes with Corn Salsa

I’ve been changing up where I’m getting recipe inspirations from.  During the summer there are so many fresh ingredients that I want to use and try, so I tend to look into magazines rather than cookbooks.  At the beginning of this summer I decided to subscribe to Food & Wine and Bon Appetit.  Both provide great food articles, recipes and restaurant recommendations for when you travel.  Where do you get your recipe inspirations from?  I’d love to hear some new ideas!  (cookbooks, magazines, blogs, etc)

Below is one of the recipes which I found in Food & Wine, and I’m so glad I saw it.  At first it was a bit intimidating since I’ve never made a crêpe!  I worried that it would come out super thick- like a pancake and not be edible.  But I tried- and by the 3rd one I got the hang of it.  And if I can do it, so can you!

This made a perfect lunch and dinner- fantastic for leftovers!  I’ll definitely make more of these in the future, but just change up the filling to do something different.  These are a lighter and tastier alternative to a tortilla.  You can make them a day or two ahead- they keep well in the fridge!

Buckwheat Crêpes with Corn Salsa
Adapted from: Food and Wine (August 2012)

Crepes:
2 cups skim milk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Salsa:
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 tbsp butter
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 jalapeño, chopped (optional)
3 ears of corn, corn kernels sliced off
1/4 cup chopped parsley
cooking spray or melted butter
about 2 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped chives

To make the crepe batter mix together, in a blender or food processor, the milk, eggs, butter, buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt.  Keep the batter to the side until you are ready to make the crepes.

Preheat the oven to 325°F.  On a baking sheet toss the tomatoes and garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast for 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes are slightly drained.

In a skillet, melt the butter and then add the leeks.  Cook them over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Then add in the jalapeño and corn kernels, cook for about 2 minutes.  Next add in the tomatoes and parsley, cook for 2-3 minutes.

Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet, and spray it with cooking spray or brush it with melted butter.  For each crepe use about 1/4 cup of batter, pour it into the skillet and swirling it around to coat the pan.  Cook over medium heat, until the top is dry and the bottom is lightly golden, about 2 minutes.  Then flip the crepe over and cook for 1 more minute.  Transfer the crepe to a plate to cool off.  Repeat with the remaining batter, which should make about 10-12 crepes.

To serve, spread the crepe onto a plate.  Then spoon the salsa onto the center of the crepe.  Sprinkle the goat cheese and chives on top, and then roll each crepe into a cylinder.

Food Matters Project # 22: Fresh Corn Salsa

Apologies for a delayed Food Matters Project post!  I was traveling yesterday, and just lost track of time!  But don’t worry, I did have enough time over the weekend to try out the new recipe.

This weeks host as Jenn, from Vanilla Lemon.  She recently has moved from Italy back to the US, and had a gorgeous daughter!  Jenn chose the Corn-Avocado Salad with A Little Something Seared on Top from Mark Bittman’s Food Matters Cookbook.  Also, check out what other Food Matters Project member did here.

So I will say that I did not have anything seared on top of my salad.  I was hosting a book club in our condo building, and since one of our members is moving to Mexico, I thought it’d be nice to have a little Mexican theme.  So there was chips and salsa, Mexican brownies, chili bites and a bean dip.  I’ll definitely try to be more creative next time, but the salsa with the fresh corn was perfect!

Fresh Corn Salsa
Adapted from: Food Matters Cookbook (pg 184)

4 fresh corn, kernels stripped
2 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeño, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
juice of 1/2 orange
chips

Mix all of the ingredients together.  Keep in the fridge at least for an hour before serving.  Serve with chips!

Food Matters Project #16: Chicken in Green Salsa

Another wonderful dinner idea from the Food Matters Project!  We had a busy weekend and didn’t get a chance to make this until tonight, so it was a little improvisation of what we had in the fridge.

This weeks recipe was chosen by Sarah of Food and Frederick.  We’ve been following each other on Twitter (@foodandfred), I think there is a bit of a bond since Frederick, MD is not too far from Washington D.C.  I enjoy seeing Sarah’s pictures, and stories about travel, food and running!  Sarah chose the Mexican-style fruit salad with grilled or broiled fish from Mark Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook.  To check out what everyone else from The Food Matters Project did, look here and find the link that looks delicious!

How did the fruit salad with grilled fish turn into a chicken with green salsa?  We didn’t have fish, but I did buy chicken breasts from the Penn Quarter Farmer’s Market this past week.  Evensong Farm has been selling eggs at the farmers market, and recently started having chicken- so I bought a couple of breasts to try.  We didn’t have any fruit to make a salsa, but we did have some green veggies that could make a salsa.  With a little inspiration from Pinterest (check out Fifth Floor Kitchen’s page), we figured out dinner!

Chicken in Green Salsa
Inspired by: Sunset

We ate this dish with roasted potatoes (with salt, pepper and olive oil), but you can also do this over rice.  This wasn’t very spicy, but you can always take out the seeds from the jalapeños, or just omit them (a green bell pepper would give it extra flavor). 

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tomatillos, quartered (skins taken off)
2 poblano chiles, roughly chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
2 jalapeños, halved (optional- or can take out seeds before adding)
1 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large chicken breasts

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Once it’s melted, add the onion.  Sauté on lower heat until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.  Then add the garlic and leave over the heat for another 3 minutes.

Add everything into a food processor (or blender): the onion-garlic mixture, tomatillos, poblano chiles, cilantro, jalapeños, cream cheese, chicken broth, salt and pepper.  Process all of the ingredients until they are pureed.

In a baking dish, place the chicken breasts, and then cover them with the pureed salsa.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.  When the oven is heated, bake the chicken for about 45 minutes.  Check to make sure to chicken has cooked through before serving.

Food Matters Project #14: Black Bean & Corn Salsa

It’s another Monday, so we’ll check out what everyone has made for the Food Matters Project!  Alissa from Big Eats Tiny Kitchen has chosen this weeks recipe.  She chose Mark Bittman’s recipes for Five Quick Salsas for Chips, Dips and Other Stuff from The Food Matters Cookbook.  You can find Mark’s original suggestions on page 46 of his book.  To see what other members of The Food Matters Project did, check out their links in the comments section here.

I’m sure many of us celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Saturday, so we have all eaten a lot of salsa over the weekend.  I hope there were some great margaritas to go with it!  If you need more Mexican recipes, check out what we had made in the past.

I’m a huge fan of chips and salsa, but tomatoes are not in season, so I chose to do a tomato-less salsa.  To fill the void, I opted for some black beans and corn.  Since we didn’t have any chips in the house, I shredded some lettuce and we ate the salsa as a topping for the salad.  It was very refreshing and filling on a hot day.  I also toasted some tortillas and added those to the salad as well.  (*I did add some sunflower seeds to the salad, feel free to omit)

I’ll be back tomorrow with some fun things about the Eat Write Retreat 2012 conference, which I was at this weekend.  I do have something to look forward to this week- some giveaways!!!  Lots of swag from the conference, and I’d love to share my goodies!

Black Bean & Corn Salsa
A Fifth Floor Kitchen original

I cooked dry black beans for this salsa, and I did not use salt when cooking.  So if you are using canned beans, you might want to scale back the salt (or salt to taste).  Fresh corn off the cob would give this salsa a bit more taste, so if it’s in season you should try it.

3 cups of black beans
2 cups of frozen corn, defrosted
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup chopped peppers (yellows and red give the salsa lots of flavor)
2 jalapeños, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all of the ingredients.  Chill for at least an hour prior to serving, it’ll allow the flavors to blend together.

Serve with chips, toasted tortilla or on top of salads or roasted chicken.

Spring Salsa

I think it’s official that spring has arrived in DC (or is it summer?).  The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, along with every possible flower.  Don’t get me wrong, I love this!  Although I think everyone is worried that this will be a horribly hot and humid summer.

Yesterday was the first day of the Penn Quarter Farmers Market.  We’ll have many more vendors to choose from this year, which I’m very excited about.  I picked up a jar of Thai Basil Jalapeños from Gordy’s Pickle Jar, they’re the spiciest they have.  I also got some Bison Sticks from Gunpowder Bison Trading Company, one sweet and one hot.  I’m holding on to some purchases until Sam comes back from India, he’ll have something yummy to come home to!

I’ve also bought herbs and potting soil so I can start our little balcony garden.  Can’t wait for fresh basil or cilantro!  Between the colors and warm weather, I’ve been craving some fresh vegetables- especially in the form of salsa.

My friend Carolyn is coming over tonight, both of us love Mexican food, and I thought chips and salsa would be a great way to start off the evening!  I’m definitely ready to start seeing some vibrant colors on my plate.  And this is so quick and easy, you can’t say no to it!

Spring Salsa
This salsa can vary every single time I make it, depends what I have in our kitchen.  Feel free to play around with the ingredients, more or less of some, to your liking.  Possible additions/alternatives: avocado, green/orange bell peppers, habañeros, scallions, or black beans.

1 lb frozen corn, defrosted & drained
1 red bell pepper, chopped finely
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
4 tomatoes, chopped finely
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño, chopped finely (for less spice, remove the seeds)
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped finely
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl.  Stick a chip in, and enjoy it!