Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Bakers we are not!

But there is one thing we both do really love that is baked from the oven and that is blueberry muffins. We've been making a recipe from the good ole' Betty Crocker cookbook for blueberry muffins with a streusel topping for longer than we've been married that we crave. But we haven't made them in years.

So when I came across this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Ricotta pound cake from Trials in Food on Foodgawker I thought, mmmm....I bet I could make these into muffins for breakfast. 

So I researched the difference in cooking times from a cake to cupcakes and decided to go for it.

I used all whole wheat flour.

They from the start were pretty goopy. But not being much of a baker I wasn't sure really what to expect. My research found recommended cooking the muffin for 25-30 minutes as opposed to the 80 minutes that was used in the Trials in Food post. I actually ended up cooking close to 45 minutes in the end.

The came out not quite what I was expecting compared to other photos I had seen. Maybe it was the whole wheat flour, who knows.

But they tasted delish. 

Dense but moist and complete.

I am pretty sure that stick and a half of butter had something to do with that.

I think it may have helped if I would have read the post from the original Simply Recipes because she recommended making sure all of your ingredients were at room temperature before preparing. This may have helped with the appearance of my muffins. 

RECIPE:

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Muffins (adapted from Trials in Food from Simply Recipes)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup  ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar 

3 large eggs

1 tbsp lemon zest 

1 cup  blueberries 

Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare muffin tin, line with cupcake wrappers.

 In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Use an electric mixer (you can mix by hand but will get better results if you use an electric mixer) to beat together the butter, ricotta, and sugar, on high speed, for 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed for one minute after each addition. Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little curdled at this point. It isn’t curdled, it just looks that way.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions, until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Stir in the blueberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula. Place on a baking sheet on the middle oven rack of the oven. (This will help moderate the temperature at the bottom of the pan. I didn’t do this) Bake for 25-30 minutes (I baked for about 45 min), or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes in the pan. 

Spicy Shrimp Tempura with Peach Avocado Salad

It was one of those Saturday mornings where I was dragging my feet a bit getting dressed, a bit bummed I had to go into work on the weekend. So while I was getting dressed I was distracted both by my bully and the Food Network.

The show The Best Thing I Ever Ate/Made was on. And while trying to stop Sally from chasing my sock I noticed Beau Macmillan was talking about this amazing shrimp tempura dish he had made that was sweet, spicy and spectacular.

I immediately went downstairs to download the recipe so on the way home from school I could pick up the ingredients to make it. 

He explained it was easy to make. Yes, easy to make but lots of steps and prep too. I decided to skip a step and instead of making the jalapeño jelly I would instead use some of the habanero peach jelly we had canned last summer to replace it. It was actually a perfect switch.

I tried to find mangoes but couldn't, not even frozen, so instead I had to go with frozen peaches. Winter is tough to find sweet fruit. 

The flavor profiles of the dish were pretty amazing. I'd never made tempura before and it turned out perfect using the rice flour and carbonated water (I used soda water.)

And the coconut sticky rice was delish.

G & I both agreed this may be the best dish we've ever made. And that's saying a lot we cook a ton of food. But this really was EXCELLENT!

RECIPE:

Spicy Shrimp Tempura with Peach Avocado Salad - adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

Coconut Sticky Rice:

1 cup white medium-grain rice, such as Calrose

One 13.5-ounce can coconut milk

Red Pepper Jalapeno Jelly: (We skipped this entire step and used our homemade canned Habenero Peach Salsa.)

1 1/2 red bell peppers, diced

1 jalapeno, sliced with seeds

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 to 2 pinches red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon liquid pectin

Mango and Avocado Salad:

1 avocado, sliced

1 cucumber, seeded and sliced

1 fresh mango, chopped ( We had to use frozen peaches, no mangoes to be found)

1/4 of a fresh jalapeno, sliced

6 sprigs fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

3 green onions, chopped, plus more for garnish

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon chili paste

Pinch black pepper

Tempura Shrimp:

8 large shrimp or tiger prawns

1 1/2 cups rice flour

1 1/2 to 2 cups carbonated water ( we used soda water)

Canola oil, for frying

Directions

For the sticky rice: Wash the rice until the water is clear and all the starch is washed off. Put the rice in a shallow cooking pan and add the coconut milk and 3/4 cup water. (Trick - place your hand flat in the pan and pour in the water. When the liquid reaches your middle finger knuckle, you have the right amount.)

Bring the rice and coconut milk to a boil. Then turn down the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

For the jelly: Put the bell peppers, jalapeno, sugar, cider vinegar and red pepper flakes into a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by two-thirds. Add the liquid pectin to give it a jelly-like consistency. Then set aside.

For the salad: Combine the avocado, cucumber, mango, jalapeno, cilantro, green onions, sugar, oil, vinegar, chili paste and black pepper in a bowl and mix together.

For the shrimp: Peel and clean the shrimp. I like to use tiger prawns - big daddy shrimp!! Frozen shrimp is fine - just let them thaw out and rinse them in water.

Whisk together the rice flour and carbonated water until it reaches a batter consistency (alternatively, you can get premade tempura batter at Asian markets). It's key to not whisk too much, you want a nice fine batter without much air in it.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Next, take a heavy-bottomed pot and fill it with canola oil. Don't fill the pot too much! If using a 1-gallon saucepot, use 1/4 gallon oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it's about 350 degrees F. You can test if the oil is ready by dropping some of the tempura batter into the oil. If it floats to the top, it's ready to go!

Dredge the shrimp in the batter and drop into the oil. The shrimp will cook all the way in 2 to 3 minutes. It's key to not add too many shrimp at once, just add 3 or 4 at a time.

When the shrimp floats to the top, they should be done. You can test them by taking one out and cutting into it to make sure it's opaque, and then taking a bite. Place the shrimp in the oven until you are ready to plate.

Combine all the components: Put the fried shrimp in a bowl with some pepper jelly and toss to coat them. Next, take a little bit of the jelly and place on the bottom of each plate. Put some sticky rice down on the plate on top of the jelly. Place 2 shrimp on top of the rice. Add some mango and avocado salad. Garnish with a little extra cilantro or sliced green onions.

Poutine Style Twice Baked Potatoes

OMG...these potatoes may be the most indulgent thing we've ever made. Besides being a big hot mess on the plate they were to die for kind of yummy.

We've been on a bit of a poutine binge lately. Oh it's soooo good. So when I found this recipe for Poutine Style Twice Baked Potatoes in Food & Wine it was a given they needed to be made and soon. Actually the same night I found the recipe. There was a sense of urgency here. 

I mean baked potatoes scooped out and mixed together with milk, butter, sour cream, cheese and scallions. Then baked and topped with gravy, mozzarella melted until oozey and goozey. Then topped with a bit more sour cream, bacon and more scallions.

Oh SO, SO GOOD! is all that I can say. They were amazeballs yummy.

(And obviously far from Paleo but we'll get back on track again.)

RECIPE: 

Poutine-Style Twice Baked Potatoes from Food & Wine

GRAVY

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth

1 tablespoon veal demiglace (optional)

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped sage

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped thyme

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

STUFFED POTATOES

6 baked potatoes (about 1/2 pound each)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

1 cup milk, warmed

1/2 cup sour cream

3 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (1 cup)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1/3 cup chopped chives

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Vegetable oil, for frying

6 ounces thick-sliced bacon, cut crosswise 1/2 inch thick

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Sour cream, thinly sliced scallions, parsley leaves and celery leaves, for garnish

MAKE THE GRAVY In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, demiglace, sage and thyme and cook until thickened to a gravy-like consistency, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and heavy cream and season with salt and black pepper. Keep warm.

PREPARE THE STUFFED POTATOES Cut one 1/2-inch-wide strip off the top of each baked potato and reserve. Scoop the potato flesh into a large bowl. Place the potato shells on a baking sheet. Using a ricer, mash the potato flesh with the butter into another large bowl; add the warm milk and mix until blended. Stir in the sour cream, Parmigiano, mustard, cayenne and chives and season with salt and pepper.

In a small saucepan, heat the vegetable oil to 350º. Scrape the flesh off the reserved 1/2-inch strips of the potato tops. Cut the skins into wedges and fry until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain the skins on a paper towel-lined plate.

Preheat the oven to 450º. In a small nonstick skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain the bacon on paper towels.

Spoon about 2/3 cup of the mashed potato mixture into each potato shell and make a well in the center. Bake for about 20 minutes, until heated through and golden on top. Spoon some gravy into the well of each potato, then top with the shredded mozzarella. Bake the potatoes for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Transfer the potatoes to a serving platter and top with the bacon. Garnish with sour cream, scallions, parsley and celery leaves and the crispy potato skins.

Chinese Style Egg Rolls

Last summer I was determined to make some delicious  springrolls/eggrolls. I searched and found several recipes. Planned and plotted ideas for days until I finally decided to go with Marc's recipe found on his blog "No Recipes." Yeah, evidently he's an ironic kind of fellow.

Summer 2013 recipe making

But what I liked about his recipe is that he did a great job with a detailed step by step plan that made me feel confident in being able to successfully make them. 

Summer 2013 recipe making

I followed his steps pretty strictly.

I planned and then started rolling, his idea to lay out several at a time was helpful.

Finally, I was ready to fry them up.

Summer recipe 2013

They looked pretty great and I was excited with my success.

Summer 2013 recipe

We had them on the patio to celebrate a nice August weekend meal.

But here's the thing. They weren't great. The filling was fantastic but sadly I bought the spring roll wrappers at our typical grocery store. Bad choice. They were crisp on the outside of the wrapper but the inside of the wrapper was like chewy. Not at all like a crisp spring roll.

See even back in August I had come across Jaden's recipe on Steamy Kitchen and she specifically said, "don't buy the wrappers at your Western grocery." You need to buy the frozen kind you find at the Asian market. But I was attracted to Marc's recipe because he used the noodles inside the roll which I like. As typical you live and learn. Buy only the wrappers you find at the Asian grocery.

So last weekend I decided to give them try #2. But this time I went with Jayden's advice and made her recipe too.

Making the filling - Winter recipe 2014

It all started out good.

Winter recipe 2014

I even tilted the filling after it was cooked to drain the juices on Jayden's advice.

Winter recipe 2014

I rolled them carefully, making sure to not leave space inside.

Winter recipe 2014

This time I used my little fry baby gadget too which was a good option for frying in the winter as I typically only deep fry outside on the grill burner to avoid that deep fried house smell. They turned out beautiful, light crisp and not greasy at all.

So here's the deal the wrapper on Jaden's recipe was perfect. But I have to say I like the filling fixing from Marc's recipe better. I think it was the noodles that I love. 

But they both taught me a lot about making eggrolls or spring rolls.

RECIPE:

Links to both of their recipes below.

No Recipes

Steamy Kitchen

Vietnamese Chicken Pho

You know that age old question, "what came first the chicken or the egg?" This post kind of reminds me of that question. Since becoming a food blogger it seems I'm always now on the look out for cool, photogenic, unusual vessels to photograph food in or with. And these bowls that I found at Crate & Barrel after Christmas came first before the soup was ever a thought. But ever since I bought them I've been on the search for a great Asian style soup to make to put them to good use. 

Actually ever since I made the chicken & shrimp wonton with lemongrass broth a few weeks ago I've kind of been on a yummy, fragrant broth craving kick. I was searching for flavorful broth to make and I came across this recipe for Vietnamese Chicken Pho Ga on Kim's Rustic Garden Bistro blog. When I saw the broth had anise and cinnamon stick I figured this was a broth worth making. 

I started making the broth and realized this was going to be at least a 2 hour commitment. Cooking the chicken in a bath of onions, garlic, anise and cinnamon brought an immediate wonderful aroma to the kitchen.

The broth cooked and cooked and became wonderful. I  pulled the chicken off the bone and then shredded it and made the noodles. 

Creating the soup was like layering a bowl of yum. I started with the cooked noodles.

Then layered on the shredded chicken, sliced onions, spinach, Thai basil and sliced green onions.

Then I ladled the broth over each bowl and topped them with some fried quail eggs and crushed red peppers. 

The pho was excellent. It sadly lacked a bit of salt. The broth tasted perfectly seasoned on it's own but I guess once poured over all of the other ingredients it kind of lost it's potency. 

It was great and the quail eggs were just a nice added treasure in the soup. 

I'm sharing the link to Kim's blog so you can check out the recipe and give it a try yourself.

Rustic Garden Bistro 

Lobster Bisque

This wonderful lobster bisque was part of our New Year's Eve big bash of a meal.

And by big bash I mean no bash at all. Now in our mid forties the whole big night out on New Year's Eve is a distant memory for us. We were trying to remember the last time we actually did go out on New Year's and as best we can both remember it was at least 5 years ago in Chicago seeing Poi Dog Pondering. That was actually a great New Year's. But both of us agree there have really been only a few great New Year's in our lives. It's typically just a bunch of hype and then some let down.

So several years ago we decided to set a standing dinner at home date for New Year's eve and we've pretty much stuck to it. A few years we've had friends over to join us but we made a pact to NEVER go out again unless there is really something worth doing. 

So to welcome 2014 we went with a lobster theme. G made this silky and luscious lobster bisque and I made our fav pot sticker recipe lobster and shitake. It was a nice evening and we actually stayed up 'til midnight and watched the ball drop. That was unusual. 

Happy New Year to You!

RECIPES:

(link to Lobster Shitake Potsticker recipe)

Lobster Bisque adapted from Fine Cooking

For the broth:

• 1 1-1/2- to 1-3/4-lb. live lobster, rinsed ( we used 2 lobster tails)
• 1-1/2 oz. (3 Tbs.) unsalted butter

For the bisque:

• 2-1/2 oz. (5 Tbs.) unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1-1/8 oz. (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbs. cream sherry
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the broth:

In an 8- to 10-quart stockpot, bring 1-1/2 inches of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tsp. salt and the lobster, cover, and steam until bright red and one of the smaller legs twists off easily, about 18 minutes. Remove the lobster with tongs and reserve the steaming liquid.

When the lobster is cool enough to handle, twist off the claws and the tail. Using a nutcracker, crack the knuckles and claws and push out the meat with your little finger or a pick. Set the tail on a hard surface and use your hand to press down and crack the shell; push out the meat. Slice the tail meat in half lengthwise and remove the black intestinal vein. Dice the meat from one claw and half of the tail and set aside for garnish. Coarsely chop the remaining meat. Reserve the shells.

Rinse out the tomalley (green matter) from the upper body. Split the body lengthwise and use your fingers to remove the innards. (If the lobster is female, you’ll see bright-red roe; leave it in the body for additional color and flavor.)

Use kitchen shears or a chef’s knife to break the body and reserved shells into 1- to 2-inch pieces and then use a meat mallet or a small pot to flatten them.

Measure the steaming liquid and add water to total 6 cups of liquid. Melt the butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the flattened shells and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to blister and their color intensifies, about 5 minutes. Add the liquid and 1/2 tsp. salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.

Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a large liquid measuring cup. You should have 4 cups—if there’s more, boil until reduced to 4 cups; if there’s less, add water.

Make the bisque:

Clean and dry the saucepan and melt the butter in the pan over low heat. Add the onion, carrot, and garlic and cook until softened, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, until golden and bubbly, about 2 minutes.

Add the wine, tomato paste, thyme, and bay leaf; bring to a boil, and cook, stirring, until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Add the lobster broth and cook uncovered over medium heat until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped lobster meat and simmer for 2 minutes to heat. Remove the bay leaf.

In a blender, purée the mixture in batches until smooth. Strain through a medium-mesh sieve back into the pot, pushing on the solids with a wooden spoon.

Stir in the cream and sherry, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook the bisque over low heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

Serve the bisque garnished with the diced lobster meat.

Tomato-Chipotle Soup

I think we should prepare you that we are in soup kind of mood lately. It seems like at least once or twice a week we're thinking "soup sounds good." Hopefully we can change it up a bit this month and not overly bore you (or us) with soup after soup but here is fair warning....soup is on in January.

This is a recipe that screamed for us to make it given it's a chipotle soup. It had a fresh flavor, not too spicy and it gave us an excuse to use to use our handheld blender that we never use. Actually next time we will definitely double the chipotles that the recipe calls for.

RECIPE:

Tomato-Chipotle Soup adapted from Cuisine at Home October 2013

4 Tbsp. butter

2 Cups chopped onions

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

2 Tbsp. minced chipotle in adobo sauce

1 Tbsp. adobo sauce (from canned chipotles)

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

2 Cups chicken broth

2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes ( 28 oz. each)

Salt & Pepper

Garnish with: cilantro, tortilla chips, sour cream, guacamole

Melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, chipotles, add adobo sauce. Cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium -low and simmer soup 30 minutes. Remove soup from heat and puree with a blender until smooth. Add salt & pepper.

Stir in chopped cilantro. Garnish each serving with tortilla chips, sour cream or guacamole

Chicken and Shrimp Wonton Soup with Lemongrass Broth

Okay, get ready this is the best soup we made all year I'm pretty certain. And I don't mean the only few days of 2014 so far but of all of 2013. 

Yes, it took many steps and some time but the flavor of this lemongrass broth and the delicateness of the homemade chicken and shrimp wontons was absolutely PERFECT! I mean really perfect. It was sooooooo good. We ate it for lunch and dinner (4 meals) two days in a row. That rarely happens. If I had it for lunch usually I don't want it also for dinner but this soup was so amazing it was a no brainer. We ate as much as we could until it was gone.

Actually just writing about it makes me want to make it again as soon as I can. 

A trick I'll share that I've finally learned when making a wonton or noodle soup like this is to cook your wontons or noodles in the broth. But then remove them from the broth. Serve the amount of wontons you want in each bowl then top with the broth. Don't store the wontons in the broth if you have some left over in fridge. The broth will just get soaked up. 

RECIPE:

Chicken & Shrimp Wonton Soup with Lemongrass Broth adapted from Food & Wine

1. Broth:
2. 1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
3. 1 pound chicken breasts on the bone, skin discarded
4. 1/2 pound spareribs or baby back ribs, cut into single ribs
5. 8 green cardamom pods
6. 3 black cardamom pods (optional; see Note)
7. 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
8. 1/2 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns (see Note)
9. 2 whole star anise pods
10. 10 cups water
11. 1 fresh lemongrass stalk, tender white inner bulb only, chopped
12. One 1 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thickly sliced
13. 3 cilantro sprigs
14. 2 scallions, halved
15. 3 tablespoons soy sauce

WONTONS:

1. 3 ounces shelled and deveined shrimp, minced
2. 2 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, minced
3. 2 garlic cloves, minced
4. 2 tablespoons minced shallot
5. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
6. 1 tablespoon honey
7. 1/2 teaspoon toasted Asian sesame oil, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
8. 1 red Thai chile, seeded and minced
9. 1 teaspoon minced cilantro, plus 1 tablespoon small leaves, for garnish
10. Pinch of fine sea salt
11. 12 square wonton wrappers
12. 1 scallion, light green and white parts only, thinly sliced, for garnish

1. MAKE THE BROTH In a pot, heat the oil. Add the chicken and spareribs and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, 5 minutes. Add the cardamom pods, peppercorns and star anise and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add all of the remaining broth ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderately low heat, skimming off the fat, until the broth is reduced to 6 cups and very fragrant, 40 minutes. Strain the broth through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a large saucepan; skim off any fat.
2. MAKE THE WONTONS In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the wrappers and garnishes. Arrange 4 wrappers on a surface; keep the remaining ones covered with a damp paper towel. Brush the wrapper edges with water. Place 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of each wrapper. Bring all 4 corners of each wrapper together and twist the top gently to form into purses. Press the edges to seal. Transfer the wontons to a plate. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling; cover with plastic wrap.
3. Bring the strained broth to a boil. Add the wontons and simmer over moderate heat until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Spoon the wontons into bowls and ladle the broth over. Garnish the soup with the sesame oil, cilantro leaves and sliced scallion and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The wontons can be refrigerated for 8 hours. The broth can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for 1 month.

Corn Queso Fundido

Happy 2014! 

We can't believe we just celebrated three years completion of sharing our life through food on this spot. Although we have to admit the last 6 months have not been our best in keeping up with documenting our eats. We should maybe make a resolution to improve on this but we're not big on the resolution thing as it just seems like a sure fire way to fail. So we'll just say we hope to do better in 2014.

But back to the celebrating part. We've been over indulging celebrating with food a lot through the month of December it's almost time to get back to that healthy Paleo eating life again soon I think. 

One dish we love to celebrate with is Queso Fundido. I mean melted cheese in any form is right up our alley. The first time we had queso fundido was at a Tex Mex restaurant in Portland, Oregon called Oba about 15 years ago. And to be honest we've been trying to successfully replicate that version every since. But sadly we've never quite hit it just right yet but we're always trying.

This recipe we found in a recent Food & Wine magazine was worth a shot given it had corn in it which G is always attracted to.  It was good, maybe not as creamy as we would of liked it but the flavors were great overall with the poblano that we roasted it really had some yummy flavor. 

RECIPE: 

Corn Queso Fundido adapted from Food & Wine

1. 1 pound frozen sweet corn kernels (3 cups), thawed
2. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3. 1 poblano chile—roasted, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
4. 1 small onion, finely diced
5. Kosher salt
6. 1 large garlic clove, minced
7. 1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
8. Finely chopped cilantro, radish matchsticks and thinly sliced jalapeños, for garnish
9. Corn tortilla chips, for serving
10. In a blender, puree half of the corn with 1/2 cup of water until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine sieve into a medium bowl.
11. In a cast-iron skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the poblano, onion, remaining corn and a pinch of salt and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened and barely browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the corn puree and cook, stirring, until bubbling, about 2 minutes. Add the cheese and cook over low heat, stirring, until melted. Season with salt and garnish with cilantro, radish and jalapeño. Serve hot, with tortilla chip