Cast Iron Skillet Panini

It all started with a failed Italian bread recipe.

The loaves spread out instead of rising up.  The bread was still delicious, very soft, probably due to too little flour, and nice crumb.  I halved the loaves lengthwise and widthwise and froze them, hoping to come up with a good way to use them knowing that they would be perfect for paninis if only we had a panini press.

A few weeks later it hit me, why not use two cast iron skillets, one to grill and one to weigh down the sandwich?  While we lack a panini press, we have lots of iron skillets, I love them almost as much as mason jars.  They are inexpensive, indestructible, simple and they cook everything you can think of.  Yes, you will miss the nice grill marks, but you'll still have a nice grilled sandwich.  To further test the idea without wasting ingredients, I searched the Internet to see if this was possible.  Of course theKitchn had a post about it, they think of everything!  If you don't have two cast iron skillets, you could try using a regular stainless steel pan.

For the filling, I used what we had in the fridge.  We are lucky enough to have access to delicious, local greenhouse grown tomatoes and peppers in the dead of winter, shiitake mushrooms and greens.  Feel free to use your favorite veggies or whatever you have that is seasonal in your area.

Kale Pesto

While traditional pesto consists of raw herbs, garlic, cheese and oil, this version uses cooked greens and roasted garlic.  Perhaps I should use quotation marks around pesto or just call it kale sauce.  Either way, it's a nice way to use up extra greens you may have on hand and my husband, who is not a fan of pesto, will actually eat and enjoy this.  This recipe is a slight variation of a Collard Green Pesto recipe that I submitted for my local farmer's market cookbook, which I note not just to brag, but to bring up the point that this will work with any hardy green.    

Sweet Potato and Summer Squash Tacos

The climate and growing season is very interesting in Georgia.  Currently, it is October.  To this Jersey girl, that means cool weather, brisk nights and crisp air.  However, in Georgia, it is still averaging 80 and muggy with heavy air.  But, what we give up in comfort, we gain in available fresh veggies.  Summer squash is still in season while cool weather crops, like sweet potatoes, are popping up.  It occurred to me to unite these unlikely companions and make tacos, a perfect excuse to open a jar of the salsa I put up over the summer.  The husband and I were both thrilled with the results.  The toddler ate beans and tortillas and, therefore, was also thrilled.   

I forgot to take a picture of the sweet potato before I diced and cooked it. 

Sweet Potato and Summer Squash Tacos
Makes 12 Tacos

1 Large Sweet Potato, 14 ounces

2 Medium Summer Squash, 12 ounces

1 Small Yellow Onion, 5 ounces

2 Small Sweet Peppers, 3 ounces

2 teaspoons Taco Seasoning

1 ½ Cups of Cooked Cranberry or Pinto Beans

12 Corn Tortillas

Your choice of guacamole, salsa and shredded cheddar cheese for topping.  

1. Peel and dice the sweet potato into a ½ inch dice.  Add to a 3 quart pot filled with cool water with 1 teaspoon of salt.  Bring potatoes to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium high and continue to gently boil for about 5-8 minutes, until potatoes are just tender.  You don’t want the potatoes to become a mushy mess once you add to the other vegetables.  Drain potatoes and return to the hot pot.  Set aside.

2. Thinly slice the squash, onion and peppers.  A mandoline slicer works nicely here, or just use a nice sharp knife.   

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Saute the onion until it is translucent and just beginning to brown.  Add the pepper and squash and continue to saute until the vegetable are tender-crisp.  Add seasoning and salt to taste.

4. Add drained potatoes and mix well to incorporate with other vegetables and seasoning.  

5. To assemble, place about 2 tablespoons of beans in the corn tortilla.  Top with about 2 tablespoons of vegetable mixture and your choice of cheese, salsa or guacamole.  We used all three, because that's just the kind of family we are.  

If you can get away with any leftovers, the filling makes a really nice sandwich spread.  

Sweet Potato Carrot Fritters

The word fritter has entered our dinner menu frequently in recent months.  Almost any vegetable does well with a quick shred, salt, drain, form and fry to form a delectable patty.  You can even mix up the seasonings depending on your mood.  Think potato pancake with more veggies.  I decided to post this recipe because my husband could not stop talking about how good these were.

My daughter was less impressed.  While she did not throw her food on the floor, she did sit at the table in silent protest, refusing to eat until I reminded her that she had bread on her plate.  We ate these on homemade whole wheat buns with cumin squash pickles, pea tendril and sorrel mix, and salsa spread.

Sweet Potato Carrot Fritters

Makes 9 Fritters

4 Large Carrots, 10 ounces
1 Large Sweet Potato, 11 ounces

1 Medium Red Potato, 6 ounces

2 Small Sweet Peppers, 4 ounces

1 Medium Yellow Onion, 6 ounces

 ½ Tablespoon Kosher Salt
⅛-¼ Cup White Whole Wheat Flour
1 Egg
½ Teaspoon Taco Seasoning

¼ Teaspoon Chili Powder

olive oil to pan fry

1. Grate the carrots, sweet potato, red potato, peppers and onion using a food processor or the large holes of a box grater.

2. Transfer the grated veggies to a large bowl, layering while you go with the salt.  Toss the veggies until salt is well incorporated.  If this sounds like a lot of salt, don’t worry, much of it will drain out along with the veggie juices.  Transfer to a colander placed over your large bowl and let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, maximum of a few hours in the refrigerator to allow the vegetables to release their juices.

 3. Using your hands, squeeze out as much juice as you can.  One nice trick is to transfer the mix to a cloth napkin or dish towel, pull up the corners to make a neat bundle and twist and squeeze to get out all that water.  The more water you extract, the less greasy your fritters will be.                                            

Squeezed Veg

All the extracted juice

4. Coat a deep frying pan with enough oil to completely cover the bottom.  Heat the pan and oil over medium low heat until the oil begins to shimmer. 

5. Mix your drained veggies with the flour until you have a nice, dry mix.  Add egg and seasonings and mix thoroughly.

6. Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop out the mixture and form into patties about 3 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick.  As your form patties, place into the hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Remove fritters to a wire cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet to cool and drain.  

7. Continue forming and frying patties until you have used all the mix.  You may keep the patties warm in a 200 degree F oven, if desired.

8. Serve as a topping for a dinner salad, on a bun or bread, or eat as is for a simple approach.  For a nice accompanying sandwich spread, mix equal parts prepared salsa and strained yogurt, spread on your bread, add a patty and some greens and you have a rad sandwich.  These are nice the eat the next morning on the side of some eggs, hash brown style.

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Sweet Potato Black Bean Pocket Pies

I've been away for a while.  I had a temporary spell of single parenting accompanied by sickness, travel, more travel, and lots of snot rag laundry.  I quickly learned that my free time was best spent sleeping.

It's times like these, through sickness, temporary single parenting, general busyness or particularly fussy eating habits on the part of my toddler that I am most grateful for my crazy freezer food hoarding.  When I feel particularly inspired to cook the weekend away, I make extra and freeze those wonderful leftovers.

One of the best freezer foods?  Empanadas, turnovers, pierogies, samosas, dumplings, or as I like to call them, pocket pies because I think it sounds cute and, if you don't mind a linty meal, they will easily fit in your pocket for transport.  They freeze and reheat wonderfully, are reminiscent of one of my favorite childhood foods(Hot Pockets) and my daughter loves them.

After a 2.5 hour flight, bag collecting, car finding and 1.5 hour drive home, I pulled one of these little pies out of the freezer and had dinner ready in no time for my road weary toddler.  She ate two.  And some rice cakes.  But not milk, it was a week old.

I came across the original idea for this recipe here.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Pocket Pies

Yield: 16 Pies

Pastry:

1 ½ cups of White Whole Wheat Flour

½ cup Milled Flax Seed

¾ teaspoon Salt

10 Tablespoons (5 ounces) Pastured Butter, chilled

¼ cup Very Cold Water

Filling:

1 tablespoon Cumin Seeds

1 tablespoon Chili Powder 

¼ teaspoon Ancho Chili Powder

2 pounds Roasted Sweet Potatoes, peeled and mashed

2 cups Cooked Black Beans, rinsed and drained

2/3 cup Chopped Green Onions, white and light green section of onion only

4 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Cilantro, or just a big handful 

1 teaspoon lime zest

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt, or to taste 

1 Egg, lightly beaten with about a tablespoon of water 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°.

For the Pastry:

1. Sift flour, flax seed and salt together in a large bowl.  

2. Cut butter into flour using a pastry cutter or your hands.  Work quickly to avoid melting the butter.

3. Add water, a sprinkle at a time, just until dough will hold together.  

4. Form the dough quickly and gently into a ball.

5. Refrigerate dough for at least ½ hour or up to one day.

For the Filling:

1. Cook the cumin seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat for 1 minute or until toasted and fragrant, stirring constantly.  Add chili powders and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and let mixture cool slightly until you can handle it comfortably.  

2. Place cumin and chili in a clean spice or coffee grinder and process until finely ground. 

3. Combine spices, sweet potatoes, beans, onions, cilantro, lime juice and zest in a large bowl.  Combine with rubber spatula until mixture is quite uniform.  Add salt.

4. Remove dough from the refrigerator.  Portion into 16 equal pieces by forming ball into a log, cut in half and then cut each half into eighths. 
5. Roll each dough portion into a disc about 5 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick (a tortilla press works well for this step if you're a fan of gadgets.  If not, use a rolling pin).    

6. Fill each dough circle with about two tablespoons of prepared filling.  Brush the inside edge of circle with egg wash, fold dough over to form semi circle and crimp edges with a crimper or fork.  Brush top of finished pie with egg wash for nice browning.  Continue this process until you use all the filling and dough. 
7. Place pies on a large baking sheet. Cut a few small slits on the top of each pie to allow steam to escape.  Bake at 400° for about 30 minutes, rotate baking sheet and bake for 10 more minutes, or until nicely browned.
8. Enjoy as is for an on-the-go meal or with a nice salad for a sit down lunch or dinner.  

             

To freeze, place fully cooked and cooled pies in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Freeze for about one hour on sheet and then move pies into your favorite style freezer bag and label.  They should keep for six months in a standard fridge/freezer setup or one year in a chest freezer.  

P.S. With the left over pie crust dough, I made mini peach pies, which were really just previously frozen peach slices enveloped in pastry.  

Shared at April's Homemaking Meal Planning Monday Recipe Link-up.