Cilantro Pesto

One thing about all of this making-lots-of-new-recipes business is that you end up with a lot of leftover ingredients in your fridge. And sometimes they end up going to waste. And that is annoying. But I have a new tactic. I go to Google or to some cooking website like Epicurious or Smitten Kitchen (new reference - thanks Susan!), and I type in the ingredient I'm looking to use. Voila! I get a bunch of recipes.

Today's secret ingredient was cilantro. (I feel like I'm on Iron Chef.) I came across a cilantro pesto recipe on allrecipes.com. Perfect!

I made the cilantro pesto with two changes. It called for 1/2 cup of olive oil. I used 1/4 cup. Secondly, I replaced the white wine vinegar with lemon juice. I left it in the fridge for a day to "let the flavors come together," tossed it with some whole wheat pasta, and wow! The cayenne gives it a real kick. It is VERY cilantro-y. For me that's a good thing, but you should definitely not make this if you don't love cilantro.

I'm looking forward to trying this recipe again with more modifications. A friend made it yesterday, and she used curry instead of cayenne. She also didn't simmer it and said it was still terrific on hot pasta.

So when a recipe calls for two tablespoons of chopped cilantro, don't worry. You can just throw the rest of it in the food processor with some basic ingredients and get a delicious sauce.

Irish Car-Bomb Cupcakes

My friend Sarah (one of my most favorite people ever) bakes all the time. All. The freaking. Time. It's awesome. I see the things that she bakes and usually am just jealous of the people that get to eat them or intimidated by how fancy her baked goods look. But sometimes, I am inspired to bake things myself. Like these: Car-bomb cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen!

Guinness chocolate cupcakes, filled with whiskey ganache, topped with Baileys buttercream frosting. What downside could there be to baking these? None, my friends. None at all.

My baking adventure got off to a slightly rocky start - the initial Guinness/butter/cocoa mixture didn't exactly look like I thought it should, but I figured it would all get mixed in anyways, so it probably wasn't a big deal. And I was right! The cupcakes, pre-whiskey ganache and Baileys frosting looked (and tasted) delicious!


Then it was time for the ganache. I was excited because A) I had never made a ganache before; and B) Saying "ganache" makes me feel fancy. Simple pleasures. Anyways, I ended up having to use some bittersweet chocolate chips instead of baking chocolate because our grocery store did not have bittersweet baking chocolate (ridiculous). I used about 2.5 tbsp whiskey, and I think it turned out really well. The whiskey essence was there, but it wasn't too boozy.

As for the frosting - usually I can't stand making home-made buttercream frosting. The sugar is always impossible to mix in and it takes forever. But thanks to the lovely SK recipe notes, this frosting was not bad at all! I creamed the butter, added the sugar little by little, and then when it looked thick enough, I added a tablespoon of Baileys and a tablespoon of heavy cream. And then another tablespoon of Baileys. And then some sugar. And then another two tablespoons of Baileys. Who knows how much Baileys is actually in that frosting? Not me, that's for darn sure.


I think the finished product turned out really well - very rich but extraordinarily delicious, which is good because baking these cupcakes is pretty much the only thing I accomplished today. Tasty!

Sweet Potato And Black Bean Burritos

So I've just recently completed a PhD and a move to Louisiana. I'm hoping to revive this blog with the help of some new friends that share a passion for cooking fun things. This blog will become "Academicooks." You can look forward to hearing from more of us about what we've been cooking -- good, bad, and yucky.

Today we made a recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites cookbook. These Sweet Potato And Black Bean Burritos were my first experience using a food processor. The consensus on the dish is that it was pretty good. We think that leaving the filling slightly chunky might be more pleasant. We also felt the filling could use another flavor, maybe another vegetable. Not sure what. Finally we definitely think it could use a sauce. While we served it with the fresh tomato salsa featured in an earlier entry of this blog, the burritos were quite dry coming out of the oven.

Overall, I think idea of a bean and sweet potato filling is a good one, and I can imagine lots of uses for this filling. I suggest you give it a try!

Sweet Potato And Black Bean Burritos
5 cups peeled and chopped sweet potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola oil
3 1/2 cups diced onions
4 large minced or pressed garlic cloves
1 tablespoon minced fresh green chile
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground coriander
4 1/2 cups cooked black beans (3 15 oz. cans, drained)
2/3 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
8 eight-inch tortillas
Salsa

Preheat oven to 350.

Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with the salt and water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, warm the oil in a medium skillet or saucepan and add the onions, garlic, and chile. Cover and cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a food processor, combine the black beans, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, and cooked sweet potatoes and puree until smooth. Transfer the sweet potato mixture to a large mixing bowl and mix in the cooked onions and spices.

Lightly oil a large baking dish. Spoon about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of the filling in the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place it, seam side down in the baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake about 30 minutes, until piping hot. Serve topped with salsa.