A very cool goodie that we got at the Saratoga Farmer’s Market were Purple Potatoes. And I don’t mean purple skin potatoes, but real purple potatoes: on the inside and the outside. I’ve never seen any like them before! Here’s a tille history on them:

Purple Potatoes are available year round, though winter reduces crop availability January through April. Like many varieties of potatoes, purple potatoes are believed to have originated in Peru. Due to their nutritional properties and unique color they have increased in popularity the past twenty years and can be found worldwide. Purple potatoes have deep violet, ink-colored skin and flesh. Aside from their color, purple potatoes are quite similar to Russet potatoes. Dry, starchy and slightly nutty in flavor the purple potato has a fluffy texture when cooked.

Unlike white potatoes, purple potatoes are rich in the antioxidant, anthocyanin. This flavonoid is most often found in blue, red and purple produce such as berries and pomegranates and has been shown to be an immune system booster and aid in the prevention of certain cancers. Purple potatoes are used as much for their color as for their flavor or nutritional value. The purple-colored flesh will dull slightly when cooked. Use in place of starchy potatoes in soups, gratins, salads or traditional tortillas. Pair with other red, yellow or white-fleshed potatoes, eggs, cream, fresh herbs and cheeses, root vegetables, bacon or peppers. Traditionally used in Latin and South American cuisines, the purple potato features in numerous Peruvian dishes.

Oven Roasted Purple Potatoes

Servings: 4
A Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe

Ingredients:

8 medium sized purple potatoes
1/2 packet of Italian salad dressing mix (powder)
1/2 cup of olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 400º F
2. Wash and chop the potatoes into bite size chunks.
3. Place them in a oven-proof baking dish.
4. Bake for 40 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally. The potatoes will darken after cooked.

With information from Specialty Produce

© 2011, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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I think I was into these ingredients because I had been preparing dishes for Guatemala Culinary week, which we posted a few months ago. I had some of the Creole sauce that my husband’s grandmother makes for us. I don’t have the recipe for that sauce (big family secret), but I have included a basic recipe for it, which is of my own making.

Creole tomato sauce is used in our country to eat “tostadas”, which are crisp corn tortillas covered in sauce, sprinkled with cilantro and powdered cheese.  (queso duro)

Thinking back, white rice would have been a better choice to serve as a side dish. I don’t know why I made pasta for this. I was probably going for an Italian type of dish and went completely the other way half way through it, which happens a lot when I just start throwing things in to make a quick lunch. I had cilantro and avocados to accompany this, which was perfect.

Creole Guatemalan Tomato Sauce
A Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Yield: 1 Lt.

Ingredients:
8 plum tomatoes, whole
1 cilantro bunch
2 onions, quartered
1 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, leaves and all, roughly chopped
1 guaque chile, seeded.
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Cook all the vegetables in a pot with about 6 cups of water. Once everything is cooked, transfer the vegetables except for the cilantro, which you will remove, to the blender or food processor, and process until smooth.
2. Add water bit by bit to form a semi-thick sauce.

Creole Tomato Sauce Chicken
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
About 8 cherry tomatoes
½ cups creole tomato sauce
Chopped cilantro, for sprinkling
Queso duro, for sprinkling
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ chopped white onion

Procedure:

1. In a medium sized pan, heat the olive oil
2. Add the onions and brown the chicken breasts. Season with salt and pepper and brown the breasts 4 minutes on each side.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes and the creole tomato sauce.
4. Cover and let cook over low heat for about 10 minutes longer.
5. To serve, place chicken on plate and spoon  the sauce and cherry tomatoes over it. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and queso duro.

© 2011, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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Were the holidays a little too merry?  If you want to watch what you eat a little bit in these coming weeks, we suggest you include this salad in your menu.

The chicken is grilled, with no fat. You have a hearty avocado to accompany it, which is good for you… Don’t go overboard with not wanting to eat avocado, come on!  You have your greens and plenty of flavor from the mango dressing, which is also packed with vitamin C. You can make it at home, or get the bottled variety from the store, if you prefer.  I have included the recipe below.

Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing
Serves 2
A The Foodies’ Kitchen Original

Ingredients:

2 skinless chicken breasts
about 10 escarole leaves, washed
1 avocado
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon powdered onion
1 lemon

Procedure:

1. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Pour the juice of 1 lemon over them and sprinkle with the powdered onion.  Let them sit for 10 minutes.
2. Heat up your grill (or you can use your regular frying pan with cooking spray)
3. Grill chicken according to your grill’s instructions, or if you are using a frying pan cook for 4 minutes on each side.  Pour some more lemon juice over them, reduce the heat, cover the pan and let them cook for about 6 minutes more)
4. Tear your escarole leaves into pieces using your hands and arrange them in two plates.
5. Slice your chicken breast and accommodate the slices atop the escarole leaves
6. Slice your avocado, and place half on each plate
7. Drizzle with mango dressing, and serve immediately.

Mango Dressing
Recipe from Health Foodie

Ingredients:

150 g Flesh of about one mango
½ cup water
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp onion powder
½ tsp basil, dried
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Procedure:

1. Puree everything, except half the basil, in a blender until smooth.
2. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
3. Add the rest of the basil and mix.

© 2011, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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Chicken for lunch… again. I made these a few weeks ago, and since I am already stocking up on holiday ingredients, like almonds, I decided to throw them in at the last minute to give it a different twist. They really made a difference. Even though this sauce has cream in it, as you can see from the pictures it is not a thick or heavy sauce, so it goes really well with rice as a side dish.

Green Onion – Almond Chicken Breasts

A Foodies’ Original Recipe
Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 green onion, sliced (white and green parts)
½ cup sliced almonds
½ cup white wine
½ cup cream
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ cup chicken stock or water
1 teaspoon flour
Chopped fresh cilantro

Procedure:

1. Heat a medium sized skillet, add oil.
2. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced onions, almonds and chicken breasts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 4 minutes on each side.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the wine, cream and chicken stock together. Add the dried thyme.
4. Add this mixture to your skillet. At this point you want to put a lid on your pan, so the liquids don’t evaporate. Let is cook over moderate-low heat for 10 more minutes.
5. Remove the chicken breasts from the pan, dissolve 1 teaspoon of flour into 3 tablespoons of water and add it to the pan to thicken the sauce. (You dissolve the flour in cold water; otherwise it will clump and ruin your sauce). Stir until it is well incorporated.
6. Serve and sprinkle each breast with chopped fresh cilantro and a few almonds.

Serving suggestions: Rice and green vegetables on the side.

© 2010, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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We’re going to have Christmas Eve dinner at home, along with the family, about 15 people. So, instead of being adventurous, with my mom we decided to test out some recipes first. For Sunday lunch, we had Green Beans. We wanted to make something different with them, replacing the classic Green Bean Casserole which is creamy. So, browsing around we found this recipe from The Neelys and thought it was perfect. The original recipe calls for  red pepper flakes, but since we didn’t have any around we replaced that with ground Cayenne pepper and added a bit of bell pepper for color. The recipe came out great and we also saved a bit to re-heat on Monday night. We want to know also which recipes we can prepare ahead the day before so we save time on Christmas Eve. It came out perfect! My only advice would  be to be precise with the cooking times so the Green Beans do not overcook. Since you’re reheating, that under cooking will make the Green Beans stay crunchy. This is a perfect side dish for any meal!

Green Beans with Lemon & Garlic
Recipe adapted from The Neelys, Food Network
Yield 6 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon of bell pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Blanch green beans in a large stock pot of well salted boiling water until bright green in color and tender crisp, roughly 2 minutes. Drain and shock in a bowl of ice water to stop from cooking.
2. Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the butter. Add the garlic, bell pepper and ground cayenne pepper, saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beans and continue to saute until coated in the butter and heated through, about 5 minutes. Add lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.

© 2010, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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I’ll be honest, I love Martha Stewart.  I subscribe to her Living magazine, and constantly look through her website for recipes (usually savory), but for some reason, a lot of her dessert recipes don’t work!  I have tried a couple of cupcake recipes, and they have come out almost unedible.  Has this happened to you?  I know, she’s Martha and I’m … me.  But I have asked around and I know I’m not alone!.  What is it with those recipes?

I may not be a Cordon Bleu Chef, but I can mix a cupcake batter!  I guess it will be one of those things that shall always remain a mistery.

However, and now that I have gotten that off my chest, I have tried to make several of her savory recipes and those have turned out well. And one of them is this rice recipe, which is absolutely delicious.  I almost ate the whole thing myself. (I made half a recipe for Mariano and I).

Mushroom-Orange Rice
Recipe: Martha Stewart
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 ounces button mushrooms, stems removed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sliced scallions
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Procedure:

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add rice, and simmer until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain; set aside.
2. Prepare vegetables: Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery; cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked rice, scallions, zest, and juice. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

© 2010, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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This is one of my “I don’t know what to cook for lunch today” dishes.  I had some yellow corn in the fridge, and I remembered that at my cooking classes, we made a recipe that used the corn cob to flavor the sauce by browning it first and then leaving it there to simmer with the rest of the ingredients. The result is delicious. I had a few other vegetables I could use, so I added them to give the plate some coloring. I didn’t want to just serve pasta with a white sauce. I started to throw stuff in, and here it is. Corn Cream Pasta.

Corn Cream Pasta

2-3 servings
A The Foodies’ Kitchen original recipe

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 yellow corn on the cob
½ white onion, chopped
4 mini green zucchinis
15 cherry tomatoes
3 slices of ham, chopped.
1 cup cream
½ cup white wine
½ cup chicken stalk
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon powdered thyme
1 lb fettuccini

Procedure:

1. Remove the kernels from your 2 corns. Place them vertically on a cutting board and run a sharp knife along side, going from top to bottom and all around. Reserve the cob.
2. In a medium sized pot heat olive oil, add the chopped onion and the 2 cobs. Let them brown for a few minutes. Add the ham and let it brown for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and the corn kernels.
3. Now, we add the liquids: Wine, chicken stalk and cream. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Let it come to a slow boil, and cover to let all the flavors come together for about 15 minutes. Make sure you cover your pot and that you let it cook at low heat, otherwise you will evaporate all the liquids and burn the vegetables.
4. When the 15 minutes are up, remove the cobs and check the seasoning.
5. Serve with cooked fettuccini and sprinkle with fresh or dried basil.

Note: To serve it, mix the cooked pasta with the sauce in the pot. Then serve it.

© 2010, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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On one of the trips to the supermarket I grabbed a box of Rolled Dough Pie Crusts- I know, not very foodie like, but perfect for a quick no-hassle dinner. A few weeks ago, both Jake and I were tired from work and running errands all day. We just wanted to have dinner and catch a movie. I had half a pound of ground meat and this is what it came out. With a bit of effort, this came out fast, surprisingly good and were a great dinner! I just tossed spinach with balsamic and a bit of blue cheese to go with it… and voilá! Dinner!

Easy Dobladas
Servings: About 16 dobladas
A Foodies’ Kitchen Original

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons of Taco Seasoning
1 box of Rolled Dough Pie Crusts (2 per box)
1/2 cup water
1 egg yolk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. On a floured surface, unroll each of the pie crusts and with a 2.5 diameter cutter, cut out about 8 circles from each pie crust.
3. Stack them together and set them aside.
4. Dissolve the Taco Seasoning in 1/2 cup water.
5. In a hot skillet, start brown the ground beef and add the Taco Seasoning mix.
6. Remove the skillet from the heat and put about  2 teaspoons of the filling onto center and fold dough in half, enclosing filling.
7. Press edges together to seal, then crimp decoratively with a fork.
8. Transfer dobladas to a baking sheet. Make the rest of the dobladas in same manner, arranging on 2 baking sheets.
9. Brush the dobladas with the egg yolk and  bake for about 25 minutes or golden brown.
10. Transfer empanadas to a rack to cool at least 5-7 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

© 2010, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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Wine, cream, herbs. You can’t go wrong with that. During weekdays, I am always in a hurry to cook lunch for my family, most of the recipes I have uploaded on our site are pretty easy and quick to make, but this one they particularly enjoy. The wine and cream make it taste like you spent a little more time on it. If you don’t have fresh herbs at hand, by all means use powdered ones. Start with ½ teaspoon of thyme, and if you don’t have chives try using the green part of spring onions.

Herbed Cream Chicken

Serves 2
A The Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
½ onion, chopped
4  fresh thyme springs (you can use powdered thyme)
About 6 chive stalks, roughly chopped
½ cup chicken stock
½ cup white wine
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon olive oil

Procedure:

1. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a medium sized pan over medium heat. Add the tablespoon of olive oil.
3. Add the onions and chicken breasts. Sprinkle the herbs on top. Let the first side brown for 4 minutes.
4. Turn the chicken over. Let it cook for 2 min, and then add the wine. Let it cook 2 more minutes and add the chicken stock and cream.
5. Cover and continue cooking at low heat for 10 more minutes.

Serve with some of the chopped chives as garnish.

Serving suggestion:

Rice with carrots, and vegetables such as mini zucchinis.

© 2010, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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The summer is on its last breaths in Upstate NY, so there’s not better time to keep on grilling as much as possible. I got some beautiful Mangos at the grocery store, and in the grilling spirit, I went out on a recipe hunt. I found this recipe at Kitchen Daily and made a few modifications to it. I hope you like it! This tastes really good. The sweetness of the mango it’s amplified when grilling, but with the balsamic vinegar reduction on top… it’s a great pairing!

Grilled Mango with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Adapted from Kitchen Daily
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced
1/4 teaspoon of Red peppercorns, ground
1/4 teaspoon of Sea Salt
1/4 teaspoon of Garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of Rosemary Leaves

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over high heat, boil the balsamic vinegar for 5 minutes to reduce by half. Cool 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Heat a grill over medium-high heat. Coat the mango slices with a thin layer of the cooking spray and sprinkle with salt, red peppercorns, garlic powder and rosemary leaves.
3. Grill the mango in batches on a lightly oiled grill rack, turning once, until browned and slightly softened (about 5 minutes total). Drizzle with balsamic syrup. Serve immediately.

© 2010, The Foodies' Kitchen. All rights reserved.

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