Good Evening fellow cookers and blog followers. After a relatively normal day at work, selling and fixing bikes, I got home and was faced with that age-old question, "what's for dinner." With nothing planned or thawed, and more energy going into dinner tomorrow night (brined, roasted turkey for no particular reason), a quick trip through the inter webs brought forth this idea of kale, tofu, bean tacos. A few bites in and my comment was "this is why I don't go out to eat much." Pretty awesome vegetarian taco recipe for you. I personally love tacos in most all forms, and this recipe creates no exception to that rule, while creating exceptional tacos.
For the tofu:
olive oil - some
vinegar - some
soy sauce - a splash
Worchestershire sauce- a splash
Liquid Smoke - a drop or two
hot sauce - your call
salt
pepper
steak rub a.k.a. the usual suspects
Mix all ingredients into bowl to create a marinade for the tofu. Slice tofu into 3/8" slices and place on plate. Pour marinade over tofu and allow to soak as long as time allows. When ready grill about 6-7 minutes per side (I made that number up, but it sounds good)
For the kale:
avocado - half worked well for two people
tahini - appox. 2 tablespoons
garlic - yup
vinegar or lime juice - approx two tablespoons
anything else you want (cayenne?)
Please ingredients into food processor. Turn on until blended. Add water to form a good thick dressing, but not a paste consistency. Cut the stalks out of the kate and chop. Pour dressing over kale and message for a bit.
For the rest of the innards:
Anything goes here. We started with onion and garlic sauté, added jalapeño then added beans and half a can of tomatoes. Seasoned as you might expect. Cumin, garlic, salt pepper, smoked paprika, cayenne, etc. Kyrstan always nails this part, I'm not sure exactly how, but its always awesome.
For the noise:
I would personally recommend the Pizza Tapes, featuring Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and Tony Rice for musical accompaniment for this recipe. Jerry and the Dawg are old standbys, but it is fun to hear Tony's very jazzy, frenzied licks joining in for some more "impromptu" pickin'. Very nice.
For the Quaff:
I'm usually happy with anything, so long as it says IPA on the bottle, tonight, no exception, though I'm sure some winter margaritas would have brought a summer-in-december vibe to the meal.
Serve on warm tortillas. Start with a bed of kale, then some beans, then some tofu on top. Fresh guacamole and salsa are encouraged. Delish.
I think the main things that stick out here are the kale/dressing (awesome) and grilled tofu. The grilled tofu is a first for me, but something I've been wanting to try for a while. Spray your grill with some PAM-esque product first and grill away. If no grill is available, I've had lots of success baking tofu in its marinade, and then throwing it on the burner and frying it for the last ten minutes.
This gives my other favorite veggie lentil tacos a serious run for their money, not sure which is better.
Give 'em a shot, let me know how they turn out.
Andy
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Breakfast Quesadilla - A Work in Progress
This morning, I tried bring together four ideas from recent visits with the kids:
- Jo took us to Morning Glory for brunch in Philadelphia and introduced us to frittatas
- Kate made individual quesadillas using 6 inch tortillas in Portland during our visit last week
- Andy made primo breakfast burritos in Moscow, ID during our visit last week using black beans which he had cooked and then frozen in small plastic bags
- Visiting Molly in Tucson last week provided the opportunity to pick up some real south western tortillas
Yesterday, following Andy's lead, I cooked up a pound of dried black beans and froze them in small plastic bags for future use. This morning, I cooked up half a small onion, 2 cloves of garlic, one bag of beans (I got 9 small bags from a pound of dried beans), some dried red pepper from the garden, some Recaito cilantro cooking base (I used Goya's), salt and pepper, all to taste. I beat two large eggs with salt, pepper, and a little dried mustard and a small glug of milk. Spray two 6 inch skillets with Pam, add 6 inch corn tortillas, layer in cooked bean/onion mix on half, pour in scrambled egg, add shredded cheese and cook, eventually folding over and flipping. Serve with salsa.
Given the ingredient list, it's hard for this to not taste good. However, as executed, it definitely suffered from 10-lb-of-shit-in-a-5-lb-sack syndrome. It was hard to cook through without charring the tortillas, was difficult to fold and flip, and did not quite have the characteristics of a quesadilla because it was too puffed up. Next time, I will use less onion and beans (1/4 onion and half a bag of beans to make filling for two 6 inch tortillas should be enough), maybe a little more Recaito for flavor and only one egg for two 6 inch quesadillas. Mom thought it could use less cheese, but I think the cheese is one of the defining characteristics of the quesadilla so I would leave it the same or maybe a little more. With the lighter filling load and a little practice, it should be possible to get the egg cooked and the cheese melted without overcooking or charring the tortilla. If half an egg is not enough breakfast, you can always make two or use a larger tortilla with more filling. Also, you can obviously substitute flour tortillas, more typical for quesadillas, for corn if it suits.
So, an interesting alternative to the breakfast burrito and worth developing, I think. If you try it, post a comment with your experience.
- Jo took us to Morning Glory for brunch in Philadelphia and introduced us to frittatas
- Kate made individual quesadillas using 6 inch tortillas in Portland during our visit last week
- Andy made primo breakfast burritos in Moscow, ID during our visit last week using black beans which he had cooked and then frozen in small plastic bags
- Visiting Molly in Tucson last week provided the opportunity to pick up some real south western tortillas
Yesterday, following Andy's lead, I cooked up a pound of dried black beans and froze them in small plastic bags for future use. This morning, I cooked up half a small onion, 2 cloves of garlic, one bag of beans (I got 9 small bags from a pound of dried beans), some dried red pepper from the garden, some Recaito cilantro cooking base (I used Goya's), salt and pepper, all to taste. I beat two large eggs with salt, pepper, and a little dried mustard and a small glug of milk. Spray two 6 inch skillets with Pam, add 6 inch corn tortillas, layer in cooked bean/onion mix on half, pour in scrambled egg, add shredded cheese and cook, eventually folding over and flipping. Serve with salsa.
Given the ingredient list, it's hard for this to not taste good. However, as executed, it definitely suffered from 10-lb-of-shit-in-a-5-lb-sack syndrome. It was hard to cook through without charring the tortillas, was difficult to fold and flip, and did not quite have the characteristics of a quesadilla because it was too puffed up. Next time, I will use less onion and beans (1/4 onion and half a bag of beans to make filling for two 6 inch tortillas should be enough), maybe a little more Recaito for flavor and only one egg for two 6 inch quesadillas. Mom thought it could use less cheese, but I think the cheese is one of the defining characteristics of the quesadilla so I would leave it the same or maybe a little more. With the lighter filling load and a little practice, it should be possible to get the egg cooked and the cheese melted without overcooking or charring the tortilla. If half an egg is not enough breakfast, you can always make two or use a larger tortilla with more filling. Also, you can obviously substitute flour tortillas, more typical for quesadillas, for corn if it suits.
So, an interesting alternative to the breakfast burrito and worth developing, I think. If you try it, post a comment with your experience.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup
The other day, we had roast chicken for dinner, mostly because I had a hankerin' to make chicken soup and needed the raw materials. As usual, the leaving all went into a pot with an onion, a carrot, a stalk of celery, some black pepper corns, and two bay leaves to cook down. After cooking and cooling, I skimmed most of the fat and strained out the broth. I picked the meat from the carcass, chopped it fairly fine, and added it back to the broth.
To make the soup, I rounded up all of the usually suspects: chopped onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. I also found we still had some very flavorful celery leaves and fresh parsley in the garden. Last winter, we went the shore for a day and ate lunch at Yianni's Cafe in Ocean City, NJ. The soup of the day was Lemon Chicken Noodle which I found intriguing and wanted to try, so in addition to everything else, I cut a lemon into thin slices, removed the seeds, and added them with the other vegetables. For seasoning, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, of course, plus dried thyme, a little bit of dill seed, and a shake of dried mustard for good measure. Cooked it all down, added potatoes and, just before serving, egg noodles.
By the time this was all cooked, the lemon slices had just the rinds remaining cooked through and soft, about like the carrot slices, with a little lemon flavor but no astringency. I really like this soup. It puts a whole new twist on chicken soup and I recommend that you try it next time you make it.
By the time we got to second leftovers, the egg noodles had about given up, having been cooked to death in rewarming, and much of the lemon flavor had faded, so enjoy this one fresh.
To make the soup, I rounded up all of the usually suspects: chopped onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. I also found we still had some very flavorful celery leaves and fresh parsley in the garden. Last winter, we went the shore for a day and ate lunch at Yianni's Cafe in Ocean City, NJ. The soup of the day was Lemon Chicken Noodle which I found intriguing and wanted to try, so in addition to everything else, I cut a lemon into thin slices, removed the seeds, and added them with the other vegetables. For seasoning, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, of course, plus dried thyme, a little bit of dill seed, and a shake of dried mustard for good measure. Cooked it all down, added potatoes and, just before serving, egg noodles.
By the time this was all cooked, the lemon slices had just the rinds remaining cooked through and soft, about like the carrot slices, with a little lemon flavor but no astringency. I really like this soup. It puts a whole new twist on chicken soup and I recommend that you try it next time you make it.
By the time we got to second leftovers, the egg noodles had about given up, having been cooked to death in rewarming, and much of the lemon flavor had faded, so enjoy this one fresh.
First Annual Traditional Family Thanksgiving Breakfast of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits
You don't need a reason to ride motorcycles around the countryside, but sometimes it's nice to have a quest, and one of ours (the buddies from my other blog and I) is to find the best sausage gravy and biscuits east of the Mississippi. So far, the title goes to the Moose Lodge in Richwood, West Virginia ("You don't need to be member."). Up until today, that is.
The other day, I got it into my head that I should try my own SG&B, and yesterday I realized that while we have a traditional family Christmas breakfast (creamed dried beef on biscuits), we don't have a traditional family Thanksgiving breakfast. Up until today, that is.
From a Google search, the basic recipe is ridiculously simple and easy and just what you would expect it to be: brown the loose sausage in a skillet, use 2-3 tablespoons of flour to whisk the drippings into a rue, add milk, cook to thicken, season with salt and plenty of black pepper (sans sausage, it is called black pepper gravy, after all). Of course, in a garlic/chocolate universe there is only one thing to do. And really, doesn't all good cooking start with "chop an onion and mince two cloves of garlic..."?
So, half a pound of Hatfield Pennsylvania Dutch sausage stripped from the casing, half a small onion, chopped fine, and two cloves of garlic, minced, into the skillet. I also added half of a dried red pepperocini from the garden chopped to fine flakes for a little heat (optional, especially if you are planning to add a lot of black pepper and/or are not fond of picante). By taste, I added some sage and a little thyme (dried) all of which smelled really good as the sausage browned.
Hatfield advertises this sausage as "reduced fat" and I actually has to add a little butter to the skillet in order to make the rue. Flour and milk added by guess (gotta have gravy sense), then salt to taste and lots of fresh ground black pepper.
You could, of course, work up Grandma's famous buttermilk biscuits to make it really special, if you had a Grandma who had a buttermilk biscuit recipe which was famous. Lacking same, we did not obsess over the biscuits, just Bisquick using the recipe from the box, but they came out fine. We served up the SG&B Jo style: with a poach egg dropped on top. I ain't gonna lie, it was extrageniferous and more than enough to hold us 'til mid afternoon TG dinner.
A new family Thanksgiving tradition is born...
The other day, I got it into my head that I should try my own SG&B, and yesterday I realized that while we have a traditional family Christmas breakfast (creamed dried beef on biscuits), we don't have a traditional family Thanksgiving breakfast. Up until today, that is.
From a Google search, the basic recipe is ridiculously simple and easy and just what you would expect it to be: brown the loose sausage in a skillet, use 2-3 tablespoons of flour to whisk the drippings into a rue, add milk, cook to thicken, season with salt and plenty of black pepper (sans sausage, it is called black pepper gravy, after all). Of course, in a garlic/chocolate universe there is only one thing to do. And really, doesn't all good cooking start with "chop an onion and mince two cloves of garlic..."?
So, half a pound of Hatfield Pennsylvania Dutch sausage stripped from the casing, half a small onion, chopped fine, and two cloves of garlic, minced, into the skillet. I also added half of a dried red pepperocini from the garden chopped to fine flakes for a little heat (optional, especially if you are planning to add a lot of black pepper and/or are not fond of picante). By taste, I added some sage and a little thyme (dried) all of which smelled really good as the sausage browned.
Hatfield advertises this sausage as "reduced fat" and I actually has to add a little butter to the skillet in order to make the rue. Flour and milk added by guess (gotta have gravy sense), then salt to taste and lots of fresh ground black pepper.
You could, of course, work up Grandma's famous buttermilk biscuits to make it really special, if you had a Grandma who had a buttermilk biscuit recipe which was famous. Lacking same, we did not obsess over the biscuits, just Bisquick using the recipe from the box, but they came out fine. We served up the SG&B Jo style: with a poach egg dropped on top. I ain't gonna lie, it was extrageniferous and more than enough to hold us 'til mid afternoon TG dinner.
A new family Thanksgiving tradition is born...
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Anchovy Rice Eggs
Home alone tonight since Mom's colleagues are taking her out to dinner so an opportunity to try something new. The other day I bought a can of anchovies on a lark since I had not had them in decades; last night we had stir fry and there is rice left over; the chickens have been laying eggs faster than we can eat them - sounds like the foundation for a plan.
Melt some butter in the skillet, add the rice, season with black pepper, add the anchovies and bring up to heat. Scramble two eggs, add S&P, and add to the skillet. Cook gently while toasting rye bread.
If you don't object to salty, fishy, anchovy flavor this is really good.
Melt some butter in the skillet, add the rice, season with black pepper, add the anchovies and bring up to heat. Scramble two eggs, add S&P, and add to the skillet. Cook gently while toasting rye bread.
If you don't object to salty, fishy, anchovy flavor this is really good.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Because veggies are better with cheese
Hey folks,
Admittedly I haven't been cooking very much this fall. Cooking for one isn't a ton of fun. But I have started cooking a full size version of something on Sunday and then just eating that all week.
This week I sauteed a bunch of veggies together and threw it in a pan with some polenta and cheese. Pretty tasty and a quick meal. I like anything that gives me lots of veggies in one punch, so this was a great thing to make in the beginning of the week to have on hand.
Here's what a did...
Chop up and throw in a pan with some olive oil the following
Admittedly I haven't been cooking very much this fall. Cooking for one isn't a ton of fun. But I have started cooking a full size version of something on Sunday and then just eating that all week.
This week I sauteed a bunch of veggies together and threw it in a pan with some polenta and cheese. Pretty tasty and a quick meal. I like anything that gives me lots of veggies in one punch, so this was a great thing to make in the beginning of the week to have on hand.
Here's what a did...
Chop up and throw in a pan with some olive oil the following
- eggplant
- zucchini
- mushrooms
- broccoli (steamed it first)
- garlic
- onion
- spinach (wait til the other veggies have cooked for a bit and then throw it in at the end to wilt)
Once the veggies are done, add some tomato sauce and heat through. Throughout this period throw in whatever spices catch your eye. I did salt, pepper, oregano, and basil mostly.
Then slice some polenta lengthwise and layer it in the bottom of a 9x13 pan (greased). On top of the polenta, put some mozzarella cheese, then the veggie/tomato sauce mixture, then more cheese.
Bake it til the cheese is melted. Eat.
Cheap, easy, relatively healthy if you aren't offended by cheese.
Molly
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Savory french toast plus
In the middle of making french toast for breakfast the other day, I decided I didn't want anything sweet to start my day. So, I decided to try to make a savory version of french toast. My idea was inspired in part by a favorite recipe of ours for a savory bread pudding, since bread pudding and french toast are basically the same thing. I ended up making the french toast into an open-faced sandwich, and it was a real winner.
Mix together eggs and milk just like you would for regular french toast. Then, instead of adding cinnamon, vanilla, and maple syrup (which, by the way, makes a bangin' regular french toast), add some dried tarragon, salt, and pepper. Soak your bread in the mix and cook on your griddle as for regular french toast. In the mean time, caramelize some onions or cook them up a bit on one side of your griddle. Wilt some arugula, if that's your thing (it's mine). When the french toast is done, put some arugula on top, top with sliced swiss or cheddar cheese and place under the broiler briefly to melt the cheese. Top with a heap of onions and enjoy!Here's a picture of mine from this morning and one of Aleks enjoying his.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Basmati Eggs
I often like to put a little bit of left over rice in scrambled eggs. The other day we happened to have a little left over basmati rice from ghobi and channa masala the night before so I tried using it in a scrambled egg the next morning. What a great idea! Don't try to use any other strong seasoning in the eggs; it will overpower the subtle flavor of the basmati rice. This morning, I did not have any rice left over, so I made a 1/4 cup of basmati rice to add to our scrambled eggs, served with a spinach, lettuce, and beet green salad with tarragon vinaigrette dressing. The fall greens are in and we are swimming in fresh spinach; life is good.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
School lunches
Have you seen an elementary school lunch menu lately? Disgusting! Probably about what it was when we were kids, but ugh. So, I usually pack Will a lunch, usually leftovers. We're running low on those tonight, so I just packed him a lunch of pepper and carrot sticks, a sliced apple, and thick slices of homemade bread with natural peanut butter. Made me think of Mom. Man, I remember just wishing Mom would "get it" and pack us wonder bread with Skippy peanut butter and a tasty cake so we could be "normal."
(So far my lunches, which usually consist of leftovers, haven't driven Will to buying the school lunch. What does he care? He doesn't eat it anyway. As soon as the kids raise their hand to say they are done eating they're allowed to go outside for recess. Given that the only other recess of the day is 15 minutes in the morning, you can imagine that Will doesn't sit still long enough to eat much.)
Just made me think of family and I wanted to say hi.
What's your favorite packed lunch these days? I always get happy for black beans and rice - they taste great and feel good in my belly all afternoon.
-Maggie
(So far my lunches, which usually consist of leftovers, haven't driven Will to buying the school lunch. What does he care? He doesn't eat it anyway. As soon as the kids raise their hand to say they are done eating they're allowed to go outside for recess. Given that the only other recess of the day is 15 minutes in the morning, you can imagine that Will doesn't sit still long enough to eat much.)
Just made me think of family and I wanted to say hi.
What's your favorite packed lunch these days? I always get happy for black beans and rice - they taste great and feel good in my belly all afternoon.
-Maggie
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Zucchini Carrot Muffins
HELLO hello hello hello
Is anyone out there? Phew we've been slacking lately. But I'm bringing it back! Fall is coming (so I'm told, we're still hitting 100 here) and it's time for a new bunch of recipes.
I'm now cooking for one and trying to lose a little weight, which makes grocery shopping no fun. However, I saw this recipe on one of the blogs I check and had to give it a shot. I made them today, and they're delicious!
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups zucchini, finely grated (probably about 2 zucchini)
1 cup carrot, peeled & finely grated (probably about 4 carrots)
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter, cooled
1 cup flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries (I subbed dried cranberries)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line or grease your muffin tin.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and mix until well combined. (I also added some other fall spices, nutmeg, cardamom, etc.).
In a large bowl, combine the grated zucchini, grated carrot, egg, and melted butter. At first it may seem like you don't have any "liquid" but just mix it a bit and it'll suddenly look like a batter due to the water in the veggies.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine. Add the chopped pecans and dried cherries (or crans). Stir.
Divide into the muffin tins and bake for 20-23 minutes.
I made a half recipe and it worked out well. They are heavy when you pick them up. Really good.
Happy fall!
Molly
Is anyone out there? Phew we've been slacking lately. But I'm bringing it back! Fall is coming (so I'm told, we're still hitting 100 here) and it's time for a new bunch of recipes.
I'm now cooking for one and trying to lose a little weight, which makes grocery shopping no fun. However, I saw this recipe on one of the blogs I check and had to give it a shot. I made them today, and they're delicious!
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups zucchini, finely grated (probably about 2 zucchini)
1 cup carrot, peeled & finely grated (probably about 4 carrots)
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter, cooled
1 cup flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries (I subbed dried cranberries)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line or grease your muffin tin.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and mix until well combined. (I also added some other fall spices, nutmeg, cardamom, etc.).
In a large bowl, combine the grated zucchini, grated carrot, egg, and melted butter. At first it may seem like you don't have any "liquid" but just mix it a bit and it'll suddenly look like a batter due to the water in the veggies.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine. Add the chopped pecans and dried cherries (or crans). Stir.
Divide into the muffin tins and bake for 20-23 minutes.
I made a half recipe and it worked out well. They are heavy when you pick them up. Really good.
Happy fall!
Molly
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
How to eat 2.5 pounds of spinach in a week...
I have become a big fan of greens over the past several years. Swiss chard was my favorite for a while, then I learned some of the joys of kale, and I have now moved on to arugula as my favorite. Somewhere along the way spinach became a bit "meh" to me. It cooks down soooo much, and it doesn't have the flavor of chard or arugula. But, when I saw a 2.5 pound bag of baby spinach for $2.99 at Costco the other day, I couldn't resist. I figured if nothing else, I could steam it and freeze it, to pull out at some point when all the other veggies had been used up. In the end, we, including the kids, ate the entire bag before the week was out. AND (and this is a huge and) Will asked if we could go get another bag and now goes around singing "Spinach, spinach, oh how I love spinach, spinach." Disclaimer, pretty much all of his love of spinach is confined to one thing I made, but still, I considered that a pretty huge success to come from someone who previously wouldn't touch anything green. So, how do you eat 2.5 pounds of spinach in a week...?
1) Spinach w/tahini sauce. - w/ grilled steaks and roasted mixed russet and sweet potatoes w/oregano.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spinach-with-Tahini-1222193
Basically, steam a colander-full of spinach or cook it however you like. Puree or mix together a clove of garlic, 3 T tahini, 1 1/2-2 T lemon juice, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/4 c water. Pour the sauce on the spinach and enjoy. The tahini and lemon juice complement the flavor of the greens a lot. I think this would also be good with arugula.
2) Spinach rice casserole:
Cook 2 c of rice. Cook a colander-full or two of spinach, the chop. Add a cup or two of grated cheddar cheese and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic to the rice. Mix together three eggs, ~1/3-1/2 c milk, salt, pepper, mustard powder, and some nutmeg, then stir into the rice. (Best to let the rice cool a bit before adding the eggs, if possible, but if everyone is getting hungry, just add the eggs and stir quickly, and you'll be okay.) Spread into a buttered casserole. (I used a 9 X 13 pan to make it shallower and thus help it cook more quickly.) Bake at 375 for 20-25 min. It's a one-pot-wonder - Yum!
3) Spinach banana smoothies
This is the one Will liked so much. You can play around with the proportions to find what you like.
Puree together 1-2 bananas, another colander-full of spinach, two peaches, and ~1/2-3/4 c yogurt. I think it helps if either the bananas or peaches have been pre-sliced and frozen. You don't need to add any liquid. It seems odd at first, but the spinach releases plenty of water to make a nice smoothie. Tonight we had this again as our vegetable/fruit with our "breakfast for dinner" of sweet potato hash browns and eggs.
4) Spanish spinach and white beans
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spanish-White-Beans-with-Spinach-356051
This recipe was okay, as written. I would definitely start things off by frying up some bacon next time.
Fry up some bacon. Remove the bacon, then cook an onion and some garlic in the grease. Add 1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes and 1/2 t smoked paprika (I just used regular - maybe part of my problem with my version of this dish). Stir in 2 19 oz cans of white beans (I have no idea how many I used. I just threw in all the ones I had cooked and frozen in my freezer, about 1/2 a gallon bag full) and two colanders-full of spinach, along with some water. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Crumble the bacon and add back. There should be a decent amount of sauce, and I recommend eating it spooned onto bread. Healthy and pretty tasty.
5) With sausage and sauerkraut sandwiches. Did I mention I'm trying to clean out my freezer and fridge in preparation for moving? Well, I had a lot of sauerkraut in there, so I bought some brats and grilled them up to make sandwiches. Then I started thinking I needed more vegetable, but the only thing we had was the 2.5 pound bag of spinach. So I cooked up a bunch. Aleks and I put it underneath the sauerkraut in our sandwiches, and couldn't tell the difference. The kids were not so easily fooled, perhaps because they were already so suspicious of the sauerkraut. I really need to move them some place more German, so they can grow up right!
One final note: I don't like slimy steamed greens, and almost every time I try to cook them in a pot that's what I end up with (or else they burn due to lack of water). I've found that microwaving them in an uncovered bowl is my favorite method of cooking them. Just put in a bowl and microwave for a minute or two. They cook down, but not completely, and they don't get all wet and slimy.
And that is how we used up a huge bag of spinach in one week. The only problem was that I didn't have any left over to try Andy's power-of-tower breakfast on the weekend. I'll get there...
1) Spinach w/tahini sauce. - w/ grilled steaks and roasted mixed russet and sweet potatoes w/oregano.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spinach-with-Tahini-1222193
Basically, steam a colander-full of spinach or cook it however you like. Puree or mix together a clove of garlic, 3 T tahini, 1 1/2-2 T lemon juice, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/4 c water. Pour the sauce on the spinach and enjoy. The tahini and lemon juice complement the flavor of the greens a lot. I think this would also be good with arugula.
2) Spinach rice casserole:
Cook 2 c of rice. Cook a colander-full or two of spinach, the chop. Add a cup or two of grated cheddar cheese and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic to the rice. Mix together three eggs, ~1/3-1/2 c milk, salt, pepper, mustard powder, and some nutmeg, then stir into the rice. (Best to let the rice cool a bit before adding the eggs, if possible, but if everyone is getting hungry, just add the eggs and stir quickly, and you'll be okay.) Spread into a buttered casserole. (I used a 9 X 13 pan to make it shallower and thus help it cook more quickly.) Bake at 375 for 20-25 min. It's a one-pot-wonder - Yum!
3) Spinach banana smoothies
This is the one Will liked so much. You can play around with the proportions to find what you like.
Puree together 1-2 bananas, another colander-full of spinach, two peaches, and ~1/2-3/4 c yogurt. I think it helps if either the bananas or peaches have been pre-sliced and frozen. You don't need to add any liquid. It seems odd at first, but the spinach releases plenty of water to make a nice smoothie. Tonight we had this again as our vegetable/fruit with our "breakfast for dinner" of sweet potato hash browns and eggs.
4) Spanish spinach and white beans
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spanish-White-Beans-with-Spinach-356051
This recipe was okay, as written. I would definitely start things off by frying up some bacon next time.
Fry up some bacon. Remove the bacon, then cook an onion and some garlic in the grease. Add 1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes and 1/2 t smoked paprika (I just used regular - maybe part of my problem with my version of this dish). Stir in 2 19 oz cans of white beans (I have no idea how many I used. I just threw in all the ones I had cooked and frozen in my freezer, about 1/2 a gallon bag full) and two colanders-full of spinach, along with some water. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Crumble the bacon and add back. There should be a decent amount of sauce, and I recommend eating it spooned onto bread. Healthy and pretty tasty.
5) With sausage and sauerkraut sandwiches. Did I mention I'm trying to clean out my freezer and fridge in preparation for moving? Well, I had a lot of sauerkraut in there, so I bought some brats and grilled them up to make sandwiches. Then I started thinking I needed more vegetable, but the only thing we had was the 2.5 pound bag of spinach. So I cooked up a bunch. Aleks and I put it underneath the sauerkraut in our sandwiches, and couldn't tell the difference. The kids were not so easily fooled, perhaps because they were already so suspicious of the sauerkraut. I really need to move them some place more German, so they can grow up right!
One final note: I don't like slimy steamed greens, and almost every time I try to cook them in a pot that's what I end up with (or else they burn due to lack of water). I've found that microwaving them in an uncovered bowl is my favorite method of cooking them. Just put in a bowl and microwave for a minute or two. They cook down, but not completely, and they don't get all wet and slimy.
And that is how we used up a huge bag of spinach in one week. The only problem was that I didn't have any left over to try Andy's power-of-tower breakfast on the weekend. I'll get there...
Friday, June 28, 2013
Zucchini-Basil Soup
This is another recipe that came to me via Maggie. I know we've both told Mom & Dad about it, but I thought it deserved to be posted on the blog. Please try this, it looks like nothing exciting, but it really is delicious and creamy.
2 pounds zucchini,
trimmed and cut crosswise into thirds
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves,
chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cups water, divided (you can also use veggie or chicken broth)
1/3 cup packed basil
leaves
Julienne skin (only)
from half of zucchini with slicer; toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and drain in a
sieve until wilted, at least 20 minutes. Coarsely chop remaining zucchini.
Cook onion and garlic
in oil in a 3- to 4-quarts heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring
occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chopped zucchini and 1
teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water and
simmer, partially covered, until tender, about 15 minutes. Purée soup with
basil in 2 batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids).
Bring remaining cup
water to a boil in a small saucepan and blanch julienned zucchini 1 minute.
Drain in a sieve set over a bowl (use liquid to thin soup if necessary).
Season soup with salt
and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls with julienned zucchini mounded on top.
I made this with a roasted vegetable panzanella. Yum.
Molly
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Doing my part
I'm doing my part with the summer challenge this week. I've tried two new recipes from the blog. I tried Maggie's fajita rub last night. You need to make that! The fajitas were delicious and so simple! Yum!
I also am currently making black beans from dried beans I bought, again using Maggie's recipe. The verdict is still out on how they will turn out. I'm optimistic!
Molly
I also am currently making black beans from dried beans I bought, again using Maggie's recipe. The verdict is still out on how they will turn out. I'm optimistic!
Molly
Sunday, June 23, 2013
I'm baaaaa-aaack! A "Mexican" salad!
Hey all,
I had a brief hiatus with cooking because I didn't have an appetite and was feeling too lame to do anything. After a week in San Diego, I'm back and ready to roll!
This isn't much of a recipe, but boy was this salad delicious. Tom is in dissertation world and wasn't eating especially well while I was gone. I thought we could both use a dose of some leafy greens. Here's what we ended up with.
Spring mix - chopped up a bit. Most recipes would call for romaine, but we prefer spring mix.
Ear of corn - kernals cut off and sauteed with salt, pepper, and a little bit of butter
Cherry tomatoes - halved
Red bell pepper - chopped
Avocado - chopped
Black beans - rinsed
Feta or cotija cheese - crumbled
Dressing:
1/4 c lime juice
1/4 c olive oil
2T honey
cilantro - some, chopped
garlic - some, crushed
salt & pepper - to taste
Throw that all in a big old bowl and toss. Note: I did not toss the dressing with the salad because I didn't want to run the risk of having too much. We also sauteed some chicken to throw on top, but that wasn't necessary, though it was tasty.
If you have any great salad recipes, throw them out here! I'm not sure why I don't make salad for dinner more often. I could use a few ideas.
Molly
I had a brief hiatus with cooking because I didn't have an appetite and was feeling too lame to do anything. After a week in San Diego, I'm back and ready to roll!
This isn't much of a recipe, but boy was this salad delicious. Tom is in dissertation world and wasn't eating especially well while I was gone. I thought we could both use a dose of some leafy greens. Here's what we ended up with.
Spring mix - chopped up a bit. Most recipes would call for romaine, but we prefer spring mix.
Ear of corn - kernals cut off and sauteed with salt, pepper, and a little bit of butter
Cherry tomatoes - halved
Red bell pepper - chopped
Avocado - chopped
Black beans - rinsed
Feta or cotija cheese - crumbled
Dressing:
1/4 c lime juice
1/4 c olive oil
2T honey
cilantro - some, chopped
garlic - some, crushed
salt & pepper - to taste
Throw that all in a big old bowl and toss. Note: I did not toss the dressing with the salad because I didn't want to run the risk of having too much. We also sauteed some chicken to throw on top, but that wasn't necessary, though it was tasty.
If you have any great salad recipes, throw them out here! I'm not sure why I don't make salad for dinner more often. I could use a few ideas.
Molly
Heretic's pie crust
For Patrick's birthday I made strawberry rhubarb pie from a recipe I found online. To my surprise, the crust recipe used oil and milk instead of shortening and water. The reviews mostly split into two camps. Fist, pie crust purists who outright refused to try the crust made with oil, and second, people who had tried the recipe and loved the crust. Since the oil crust was substantially easier than the shortening crust, I had to give it a try. Purists, plug your ears... It worked. 2 1/4 C flour, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 C vegetable oil, 6T milk. Flour + salt, then oil + milk. But don't mix the oil and milk together when you measure them together in the liquid measuring cup. I don't know if that's actually important or not, but since it involves skipping a step instead of adding a step I follow that instruction religiously. Don't add flour as you roll it out. Instead, roll between two sheets of wax paper. I actually found that the bottom layer of wax paper was unnecessary, since the dough doesn't stick to the counter. I am actually planning to use the wax paper for all my rolling needs in the future, as it is much easier to control the mess compared to flour. I always have stuff against the back edge of the counter, and getting flour on it drives me nuts.
Yesterday was Jasper's birthday and I made empanadas for the party. While making the crust, I poured the liquids into the flour, stirred twice, and just then Samara awakened from her nap and needed my help. By the time I got back to the crust, the wet parts were too wet and the dry parts were too dry. Chewey, glutinous strings had formed, and I had to add water and literally knead the crust to make it rollable. I would have thrown it out except I didn't have enough oil to make a second batch, or enough time to go get more oil. I soldiered on. For each section I rolled, I kneaded it first, then rolled with all my might, only to watch it spring back from the edge like bread dough. My 4" circles became 3" circles within a couple minutes. Cutting small circles leaves a lot of scraps, so most of the rounds had dough that had been rolled at least twice. I was about to be charged with pie crust abuse.
I cut my rounds, laid them between waxed paper, wrapped the stack in plastic, put it in the 'fridge and set it aside for 4 hours or so. When I got them out to fill them, they had shrunk and thickened, and I had to smoosh them thin again between my fingers and work them with my hands to make them pliable enough to fill. I was expecting them to be terrible, but they came out fine. It wasn't a fine pastry, but it did the job and didn't detract from the meal. There is no way a shortening or butter crust could have withstood this treatment.
When I did a better job the first time I made it, the crust was quite good and caused me very little hassle compared to a regular pie crust. When I made it the second time, this recipe prevented a party disaster. So I am now officially a pie crust heretic and plan to make my crusts with oil henceforward.
Yesterday was Jasper's birthday and I made empanadas for the party. While making the crust, I poured the liquids into the flour, stirred twice, and just then Samara awakened from her nap and needed my help. By the time I got back to the crust, the wet parts were too wet and the dry parts were too dry. Chewey, glutinous strings had formed, and I had to add water and literally knead the crust to make it rollable. I would have thrown it out except I didn't have enough oil to make a second batch, or enough time to go get more oil. I soldiered on. For each section I rolled, I kneaded it first, then rolled with all my might, only to watch it spring back from the edge like bread dough. My 4" circles became 3" circles within a couple minutes. Cutting small circles leaves a lot of scraps, so most of the rounds had dough that had been rolled at least twice. I was about to be charged with pie crust abuse.
I cut my rounds, laid them between waxed paper, wrapped the stack in plastic, put it in the 'fridge and set it aside for 4 hours or so. When I got them out to fill them, they had shrunk and thickened, and I had to smoosh them thin again between my fingers and work them with my hands to make them pliable enough to fill. I was expecting them to be terrible, but they came out fine. It wasn't a fine pastry, but it did the job and didn't detract from the meal. There is no way a shortening or butter crust could have withstood this treatment.
When I did a better job the first time I made it, the crust was quite good and caused me very little hassle compared to a regular pie crust. When I made it the second time, this recipe prevented a party disaster. So I am now officially a pie crust heretic and plan to make my crusts with oil henceforward.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Pane Siciliano - aka my go-to bread recipe
Here is the recipe I almost always make when I bake bread. Sometimes I try to branch out, but I pretty much always come back to this recipe. I consider it a bit of a medium-rich bread due to the oil and honey, but I think it's still technically a lean bread. I've found that putting the bread in the fridge overnight almost always increases the flavor a lot, so this bread is better with the pre-ferment. I've also made it as a single whole recipe and then put the whole thing in the fridge overnight. This used to work better for me, but as my yeast has gotten older I've had some trouble getting a good rise the next day. It does save having to mix the dough twice, which is nice.
Pate Fermentee (pre-ferment):
2 1/4 c (10 oz) bread flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 t yeast
3/4 - 7/8 c (6-7 oz) water
Mix as for bread dough. Let rise at room temp, the place in the fridge over night. The next day, cut the dough into about 10 pieces to warm up.
Pane Siciliano:
1 recipe pre-ferment
3 c (16 oz) bread flour
1 3/4 c (8 oz) semolina flour
1 1/4 t salt
1 1/4 t yeast
2 T (1 oz) oil*
1 T (3/4 oz) honey
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 (10-12 oz) water**
sesame seeds for sprinkling on top.
Mix, knead, let rise, without punching down (though with the understanding that you'll lose some rise as you handle the dough) shape into two loaves. Make sure to properly develop the surface tension as you shape your loaf. I've found this to be my biggest problem with putting a full recipe of dough in the fridge overnight. When the dough is colder, it's hard to get the right surface tension so that it rises without spilling over the edges of my pan. Let it rise again, make three slices across the top, mist with water, then sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Place a 9X13X2 metal pan inside the hot oven, then pour water in when you add your bread to the oven. This will create steam that is supposed to help the bread rise more. (I dunno, it's kinda annoying to do, and I'm not completely convinced it makes a huge difference, especially since I've developed my multi-temp baking method (see below). Bake until the bread is done - ie about 190-205 degrees F internally. I like softer, more tender insides, so I tend to pull mine any time after it reaches 190. If you let it get up to 205, it's going to be drier, which may be your preference. It should take 20-30 minutes to back.
*I use toasted sesame oil and love the strong flavor it gives. The original recipe calls for olive oil. I've found that a mix is also good.)
**I always err on the lower end for the water. It depends on how dry your flour is, I guess.)
I think the three most important things for bread are the water content, the extent to which the gluten gets developed, and the temp at which it's baked.
-Bread dough should be wetter than you think. My bread bible says "tacky, but not stick". I'm not sure how to achieve just kneading the dough by hand. The flour seems to absorb more water as you work the dough, so even if it seems too wet at first, as you keep working it, it becomes less sticky, even without the addition of extra flour. I always make mine in my stand mixer, and I'm not sure how you get past that initial "too wet" phase without adding extra flour if you're just doing it by hand.
-Knead until the dough passes the "window pane" test. If you pull off a small piece and gently stretch it with your fingers, you should be able to stretch it until it's translucent without it breaking.
-I've been playing around with the baking temp lately. I like a good fluffy interior and a good solid crusty crust. To get the dough to rise before forming a crust that is too hard for the CO2 to raise any more, I think you have to do the initial baking at a lower temp - say 425-430. Then, I kick the temp up to 450 or so for the last 5-10 min to create a thicker darker crust. I think spraying the crust with more water also helps create more "crackle".
Let me know what you think. I also have recipes for leaner breads and for more rich breads, which I'm happy to pass along.
-Recipes copied or adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. I would recommend this book for all the info in the beginning about the various stages of bread baking.
Update: The family seemed like they needed some homemade bread, so I went to my go-to recipe this weekend. I baked it at 425 for about 15 minutes or so, then kicked the temp up to 435 for another 10 maybe (that's a bit of a guess), then up to 450 for the last 7 minutes. I also used the water pan, and misted the bread and sides of the oven about 4 times during the first 5 minutes or so of baking. Aleks took it out of the oven, and said the internal temp was somewhere around 205 or so. It turned out beautifully - a decent crust (never like good bakery crust, but I think you have to have a different kind of oven for that), perfect texture - soft and chewy. Suzie said "Mmm!" after each bite.
Since it turned out so pretty and I had just posted this recipe, I decided to take a picture.
Note: I made the initial cuts in across the top when I first put them in the pan to rise. I should have either made them deeper or deepened them right before I put it in the oven. Another option, which is maybe the best one, is to only make the cuts right before you put it in the oven. The point of the cuts is to relieve some of the surface tension, giving the bread a place to "bloom" out as it rises.
We enjoyed it with grilled lamb chops, steamed spinach, caramelized onions, grill-roasted cherry tomatoes with garlic and oregano, and a chipotle blue-cheese cream sauce. Man, we eat well.
Pate Fermentee (pre-ferment):
2 1/4 c (10 oz) bread flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 t yeast
3/4 - 7/8 c (6-7 oz) water
Mix as for bread dough. Let rise at room temp, the place in the fridge over night. The next day, cut the dough into about 10 pieces to warm up.
Pane Siciliano:
1 recipe pre-ferment
3 c (16 oz) bread flour
1 3/4 c (8 oz) semolina flour
1 1/4 t salt
1 1/4 t yeast
2 T (1 oz) oil*
1 T (3/4 oz) honey
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 (10-12 oz) water**
sesame seeds for sprinkling on top.
Mix, knead, let rise, without punching down (though with the understanding that you'll lose some rise as you handle the dough) shape into two loaves. Make sure to properly develop the surface tension as you shape your loaf. I've found this to be my biggest problem with putting a full recipe of dough in the fridge overnight. When the dough is colder, it's hard to get the right surface tension so that it rises without spilling over the edges of my pan. Let it rise again, make three slices across the top, mist with water, then sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Place a 9X13X2 metal pan inside the hot oven, then pour water in when you add your bread to the oven. This will create steam that is supposed to help the bread rise more. (I dunno, it's kinda annoying to do, and I'm not completely convinced it makes a huge difference, especially since I've developed my multi-temp baking method (see below). Bake until the bread is done - ie about 190-205 degrees F internally. I like softer, more tender insides, so I tend to pull mine any time after it reaches 190. If you let it get up to 205, it's going to be drier, which may be your preference. It should take 20-30 minutes to back.
*I use toasted sesame oil and love the strong flavor it gives. The original recipe calls for olive oil. I've found that a mix is also good.)
**I always err on the lower end for the water. It depends on how dry your flour is, I guess.)
I think the three most important things for bread are the water content, the extent to which the gluten gets developed, and the temp at which it's baked.
-Bread dough should be wetter than you think. My bread bible says "tacky, but not stick". I'm not sure how to achieve just kneading the dough by hand. The flour seems to absorb more water as you work the dough, so even if it seems too wet at first, as you keep working it, it becomes less sticky, even without the addition of extra flour. I always make mine in my stand mixer, and I'm not sure how you get past that initial "too wet" phase without adding extra flour if you're just doing it by hand.
-Knead until the dough passes the "window pane" test. If you pull off a small piece and gently stretch it with your fingers, you should be able to stretch it until it's translucent without it breaking.
-I've been playing around with the baking temp lately. I like a good fluffy interior and a good solid crusty crust. To get the dough to rise before forming a crust that is too hard for the CO2 to raise any more, I think you have to do the initial baking at a lower temp - say 425-430. Then, I kick the temp up to 450 or so for the last 5-10 min to create a thicker darker crust. I think spraying the crust with more water also helps create more "crackle".
Let me know what you think. I also have recipes for leaner breads and for more rich breads, which I'm happy to pass along.
-Recipes copied or adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. I would recommend this book for all the info in the beginning about the various stages of bread baking.
Update: The family seemed like they needed some homemade bread, so I went to my go-to recipe this weekend. I baked it at 425 for about 15 minutes or so, then kicked the temp up to 435 for another 10 maybe (that's a bit of a guess), then up to 450 for the last 7 minutes. I also used the water pan, and misted the bread and sides of the oven about 4 times during the first 5 minutes or so of baking. Aleks took it out of the oven, and said the internal temp was somewhere around 205 or so. It turned out beautifully - a decent crust (never like good bakery crust, but I think you have to have a different kind of oven for that), perfect texture - soft and chewy. Suzie said "Mmm!" after each bite.
Since it turned out so pretty and I had just posted this recipe, I decided to take a picture.
Note: I made the initial cuts in across the top when I first put them in the pan to rise. I should have either made them deeper or deepened them right before I put it in the oven. Another option, which is maybe the best one, is to only make the cuts right before you put it in the oven. The point of the cuts is to relieve some of the surface tension, giving the bread a place to "bloom" out as it rises.
We enjoyed it with grilled lamb chops, steamed spinach, caramelized onions, grill-roasted cherry tomatoes with garlic and oregano, and a chipotle blue-cheese cream sauce. Man, we eat well.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Amazing summertime breakfast, which can be made in the winter as well.
Alright, this is about the best, relatively simple breakfast yet...Now I know most of you probably don't have a problem eating hollandaise sauce, but I frequently eat breakfast with a young lady who finds the yellow, creamy stuff deplorable. This caused a little problem when having lazy-morning killer breakfasts, since my idea of killer breakfast usually involved biscuits and gravy (hard to get out and do anything after that one) or some form of eggs benny. Alas, a solution was found in the "tower of power" breakfast. I'm not kidding any more, next time you wanna wake up slow and have a killer sunday morning breakfast and another pot of coffee, try this. Kyrstan found the recipe at a blog called My New Roots, which I would also recommend checking out. It seems that the lady running it used to be of lesser notoriety, and her recipes were simpler, not she seems to be changing styles to the slightly more gourmet side, but fun to check out either way. For the record, when she says serves four, it means four considerate, or otherwise "light" eaters. I would plan on an extra half sweet potato and doubling up the poached eggs for four keck-style eaters.
Veggie & Egg Tower of Power
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 giant sweet potato (750g / 26 oz.)
200 grams / 7 oz. cherry tomatoes
4 generous fistfuls of baby spinach (approx. 150 grams / 5 oz.)
2 medium red onions
4 eggs
1 Tbsp. vinegar
ghee or coconut oil (or butter/oil sez Andy)
extra virgin olive oil (optional)
sea salt & pepper
chili flakes
Directions:
1. Start by caramelizing the onions. Peel and slice the onions into rounds. Heat some ghee or oil in a skillet, add onions and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally (not too often, or they will not brown) until dark, soft and sweet – approx. 30-45 minutes. Do not wash pan after use.
2. Preheat oven to 400 °F/200 °C. Slice sweet potatoes across their width into ¼”/6 mm round discs. Coat with a little ghee or oil, place in a single layer on 2 baking sheets, leaving one sheet with a little space for the tomatoes. Wash and slice tomatoes in half. Place on one baking sheet with sweet potatoes, and roast in the oven for 20 minutes or so, until everything is soft. Keep in the oven until ready to serve.
3. Once the onions, sweet potatoes and tomatoes have all finished cooking, put a shallow saucepan of water on to boil, stir in 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
4. Wash spinach, but do not spin dry, as the water will serve to steam the leaves while cooking. Add spinach to the onion pan on low heat and stir occasionally until wilted (3-4 minutes).
5. While the spinach is wilting, poach the egg.
6. While the eggs are poaching, assemble the plate: place 6-7 slices of roasted sweet potato on the bottom, followed by the wilted spinach and caramelized onions. Scatter the roasted tomatoes around the base with a drizzle of good olive oil. Place the poached egg on top of the stack, sprinkle with chili flakes if desired, and a generous grind of sea salt and black pepper. Serve immediately.
Andy
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Why have I never thought of this before?!?!
Okay, I'm going to bite on Andy's challenge, at least sort of. I was actually checking the blog to post something really quickly anyway.
For dinner tonight, I needed something quick, since I had to go to the store after picking the kids up. I settled on pasta with sausage and swiss chard. I got some bulk hot Italian pork sausage and fried it up, then added about 5-6 cloves of chopped garlic. We haven't been eating much pork sausage lately - I mainly use sausage in yorkshire pudding, and I've found that chicken sausages are just as good for that. But, tonight I really wanted some good hot pork sausage. So, like I said, I cooked up about 1/2 lb with some garlic, then threw in a two big bunches of chopped, washed swiss chard. I spun the chard in our lettuce spinner after washing it, so it was only damp. Cooked with the lid on to steam the chard, then removed the lid to evaporate the excess water. I just made sure to turn it a few times so nothing burned. It was pretty decent with a little parm on top of pasta.
But, what I really signed on to post was what we came up with for dessert. I bought some cherries the other day which turned out to be only okay, but which still need to be eaten. I also bought some peaches against my better judgment. Aleks cut one up in my lunch today, and it was surprisingly good - enough so that I was willing to try serving the others uncooked. Will picked out some plums today at the store, though without supervision. Apparently we have different ideas of what "they're soft!" means. The net result was that I had some mediocre stone fruit to get rid of, and while I wanted to just cut them up to serve for dessert, I thought they needed a little extra. So, I checked our ice cream stock. Apparently, Aleks has been indulging in a bowl of ice cream every now and then, because we were almost out. But I had whipping cream. So, I set Will to making a little bit of whipped cream while I pitted the cherries. He slightly overwhipped the cream, so I had to run damage control, at which point I had a brilliant idea (if I do say so myself). I added some cocoa. WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM BEFORE!?!!!?!? It's amazing! (By the way, adding cocoa didn't fix the over-whipping problem. I just added a little more cream for that. But, it all worked out, since the chocolate whipped cream was amazing, so we all wanted extra anyway.) Cream, a little powdered sugar, cocoa. Done. It doesn't have to be sweet.
Will is ready to open a chocolate whipped cream shop, complete with cinnamon chocolate whipped cream, and double chocolate whipped cream with chocolate chips in it. I may try chocolate cardamom whipped cream, since cardamom whipped cream is my other favorite. Ah, the possibilities are endless...
I would say that stone fruit and chocolate are not the most obvious combination, for good reason, but strawberries and chocolate whipped cream with a glass of red wine sounds divine to me.
-Maggie
For dinner tonight, I needed something quick, since I had to go to the store after picking the kids up. I settled on pasta with sausage and swiss chard. I got some bulk hot Italian pork sausage and fried it up, then added about 5-6 cloves of chopped garlic. We haven't been eating much pork sausage lately - I mainly use sausage in yorkshire pudding, and I've found that chicken sausages are just as good for that. But, tonight I really wanted some good hot pork sausage. So, like I said, I cooked up about 1/2 lb with some garlic, then threw in a two big bunches of chopped, washed swiss chard. I spun the chard in our lettuce spinner after washing it, so it was only damp. Cooked with the lid on to steam the chard, then removed the lid to evaporate the excess water. I just made sure to turn it a few times so nothing burned. It was pretty decent with a little parm on top of pasta.
But, what I really signed on to post was what we came up with for dessert. I bought some cherries the other day which turned out to be only okay, but which still need to be eaten. I also bought some peaches against my better judgment. Aleks cut one up in my lunch today, and it was surprisingly good - enough so that I was willing to try serving the others uncooked. Will picked out some plums today at the store, though without supervision. Apparently we have different ideas of what "they're soft!" means. The net result was that I had some mediocre stone fruit to get rid of, and while I wanted to just cut them up to serve for dessert, I thought they needed a little extra. So, I checked our ice cream stock. Apparently, Aleks has been indulging in a bowl of ice cream every now and then, because we were almost out. But I had whipping cream. So, I set Will to making a little bit of whipped cream while I pitted the cherries. He slightly overwhipped the cream, so I had to run damage control, at which point I had a brilliant idea (if I do say so myself). I added some cocoa. WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM BEFORE!?!!!?!? It's amazing! (By the way, adding cocoa didn't fix the over-whipping problem. I just added a little more cream for that. But, it all worked out, since the chocolate whipped cream was amazing, so we all wanted extra anyway.) Cream, a little powdered sugar, cocoa. Done. It doesn't have to be sweet.
Will is ready to open a chocolate whipped cream shop, complete with cinnamon chocolate whipped cream, and double chocolate whipped cream with chocolate chips in it. I may try chocolate cardamom whipped cream, since cardamom whipped cream is my other favorite. Ah, the possibilities are endless...
I would say that stone fruit and chocolate are not the most obvious combination, for good reason, but strawberries and chocolate whipped cream with a glass of red wine sounds divine to me.
-Maggie
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Summer time, a new month, A CHALLENGE
Today I am posing a challenge...Post a recipe, or recipe idea, for one thing that you've eaten in the past week, or month if has been a boring week. Also, try one recipe on the blog that you did not post, and report back. Man, I guess somebody has been going to community college online...Still its summertime, gardens are producing, CSAs and farmers markets are starting up, and you can still get any fruit or veggie imaginable in out out-of-touch idea of supermarkets, so lets get crankin'.
Today is June 4th, but since this is PCT I'll let you slide until the 5th, which puts one week at the 12th. Plus, I'm allowing you to dip back one week which means you have from the 28th of May to the 12th of June to cook and/or eat something awesome, fun, delicious, interesting, or unique and tell us about it. Hurry up, last week already happened.
"Somebody say one, two, three go."
"One, two, three, go."
Bonus points for the first one to name the quote, Dad excluded...Although I'll give Dad one bonus point for giving me the two lines leading up to this sequence.
Love
Andy
Today is June 4th, but since this is PCT I'll let you slide until the 5th, which puts one week at the 12th. Plus, I'm allowing you to dip back one week which means you have from the 28th of May to the 12th of June to cook and/or eat something awesome, fun, delicious, interesting, or unique and tell us about it. Hurry up, last week already happened.
"Somebody say one, two, three go."
"One, two, three, go."
Bonus points for the first one to name the quote, Dad excluded...Although I'll give Dad one bonus point for giving me the two lines leading up to this sequence.
Love
Andy
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Bacon, Avocado, and Corn Salad
Tomorrow is the last day of school, temperatures are pushing 100, and it's time to sit by the pool for hours a day! It's also time for me to make every single side salad recipe I can find. I began tonight with this gem.
Ingredients:
5 strips of thick cut bacon
4 ears of corn, husked
1/2 c. feta or cotija cheese (I didn't measure)
2 T. cilantro, chopped (again, didn't measure)
juice of 1 lime
1 large avocado
salt and pepper
Directions:
Ingredients:
5 strips of thick cut bacon
4 ears of corn, husked
1/2 c. feta or cotija cheese (I didn't measure)
2 T. cilantro, chopped (again, didn't measure)
juice of 1 lime
1 large avocado
salt and pepper
Directions:
- Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain the grease, leaving about a tablespoon or so in your skillet.
- Slice the kernels off the husks of the corn and throw them into the skillet. Cook for a few minutes until golden brown, bacony, and delicious.
- Turn off the heat and throw the cheese, bacon, cilantro, and lime juice in with the corn. Mix.
- At this point the recipe said to let it cool to room temperature, but I didn't have time for that. Do what you want.
- Pit and chop the avocado into small-ish chunks. Throw them in the mixture and stir.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Enjoy!
This was pretty darned good, I must admit. It's obviously not the most healthy of side dishes, but man, those flavor combinations were great. It was all my favorite things in a bowl.
We had this with tequila lime chicken. I made a marinade of tequila, lime juice, shallot, garlic, jalapeno, olive oil, and cilantro. Let the chickens get to know each other in the marinade while we went to happy hour. Then when they were almost all the way cooked, I threw some homemade pico de gallo on top of the chickens. Threw some shredded colby jack on top of the pico and cooked until the cheese was melted. Also delicious.
Ahhhhhh summer vacation!!!
Molly
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Sprouts
Let's get back to the subject of sprouts:
If you've tried them, you know they are a great addition to the fresh vegetable arsenal. They are tasty and nutritious and easy to grow on the kitchen counter year round. The finer ones, like alfalfa or radish make a great garnish. The larger, like lentils or mung beans, can be a significant part of a salad or stir fry. Mom likes any kind of sprouts to top any kind of sandwich.
I started out using a special made sprout grower from The Sprout People but soon found that a one quart canning jar turned on its side worked just as well, accommodating 1/4 cup of lentils or mung beans to make a jar full of sprouts in 3-4 days. The only complaint was that our bean sprouts were short and stubby, never getting very long before they started to try to grow leaves.
Then I read that mung beans need to be sprouted under light pressure to grow long sprouts. So, I converted my sauerkraut press (round of hickory log in a plastic bucket) to a sprout press (slightly smaller diameter round of hickory log so it would reach to bottom of the tapered bucket in a plastic bucket). A half cup of mung beans did not quite cover the bottom of the bucket. I soaked them for ~6 hours, drained them, and left them under the hickory round. Rinsed twice a day. I used a colander to drain the water. In 4 days, I had a 1 gal plastic bag about 3/4 full of long, full sprouts. I made a really nice breakfast salad of ~half-and-half bean sprouts and baby spinach leaves from the garden with tarragon vinaigrette dressing, and last night we had a big stir fry with a double hand full of bean sprouts. This is really the ticket for growing mung bean sprouts.
Yesterday, I tried starting a batch of red lentil sprouts in the press. I don't know if using the press will make any difference with the lentils as it did for the mung beans but I'll keep you posted.
In the mean time, we are eating spinach, lettuce, asparagus, and sprouts, watching the strawberries fill out, and planting garden like mad.
If you've tried them, you know they are a great addition to the fresh vegetable arsenal. They are tasty and nutritious and easy to grow on the kitchen counter year round. The finer ones, like alfalfa or radish make a great garnish. The larger, like lentils or mung beans, can be a significant part of a salad or stir fry. Mom likes any kind of sprouts to top any kind of sandwich.
I started out using a special made sprout grower from The Sprout People but soon found that a one quart canning jar turned on its side worked just as well, accommodating 1/4 cup of lentils or mung beans to make a jar full of sprouts in 3-4 days. The only complaint was that our bean sprouts were short and stubby, never getting very long before they started to try to grow leaves.
Then I read that mung beans need to be sprouted under light pressure to grow long sprouts. So, I converted my sauerkraut press (round of hickory log in a plastic bucket) to a sprout press (slightly smaller diameter round of hickory log so it would reach to bottom of the tapered bucket in a plastic bucket). A half cup of mung beans did not quite cover the bottom of the bucket. I soaked them for ~6 hours, drained them, and left them under the hickory round. Rinsed twice a day. I used a colander to drain the water. In 4 days, I had a 1 gal plastic bag about 3/4 full of long, full sprouts. I made a really nice breakfast salad of ~half-and-half bean sprouts and baby spinach leaves from the garden with tarragon vinaigrette dressing, and last night we had a big stir fry with a double hand full of bean sprouts. This is really the ticket for growing mung bean sprouts.
Yesterday, I tried starting a batch of red lentil sprouts in the press. I don't know if using the press will make any difference with the lentils as it did for the mung beans but I'll keep you posted.
In the mean time, we are eating spinach, lettuce, asparagus, and sprouts, watching the strawberries fill out, and planting garden like mad.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Caramelized onions
Have I posted this before? If so, I apologize for the repeat. But, we just had friends over for dinner and enjoyed one of my current favorite flavor combinations, and I felt inspired to post.
Aleks grilled beef steaks, I caramelized onions, and then we pulled some gorgonzola cheese out of the cheese drawer to add to the mix. Amazing! 4 of us adults ate 6 onions worth of caramelized onions! Slathering onions and bleu cheese or gorgonzola on top of burgers is another favorite of mine.
The trick is to get well-cooked onions, without adding too much oil and without over-browning them. I've found that the secret is salt. The salt pulls the liquid out of the onions as they cook, and the liquid keep the onions from burning, without the need for oil.
Thinly slice more onions than you think you could possibly need. 1) These are so good that even people who don't like onions heap them on their plate, so you always eat more than you think you will, and 2) The volume will decrease substantially as you cook them. Put a bit of olive oil or butter, just enough to tide you over until the salt does it's trick, in the bottom of your pan, add the onions, and turn on the heat to medium/medium-high. Sprinkle in some salt, not enough to make it taste salty, but enough to act on the onions, maybe 1/2 t. per 3 onions, but I really just sort of sprinkle it on, so that's just a guess. Turn the onions as they heat to mix in the salt and keep everything from browning. When the onions start to cook and release their liquid, turn the heat down to medium-low/low. Cover with a lid. Turn the onions every once in a while, and continue cooking until they are translucent and soft, and a big delicious mess, about 15-30 min. If the onions are too soupy and not brown enough, remove the lid and turn up the heat a bit. As the liquid evaporates off, scrape the bottom of the pan and turn the onions every few minutes so that they brown without burning for another 5 min or so. Enjoy at will!
I think onions cooked this way count as one of those dishes that is cheap, oh so good, and good for you, if you keep the oil to a minimum and take advantage of the salt.
-Maggie
Aleks grilled beef steaks, I caramelized onions, and then we pulled some gorgonzola cheese out of the cheese drawer to add to the mix. Amazing! 4 of us adults ate 6 onions worth of caramelized onions! Slathering onions and bleu cheese or gorgonzola on top of burgers is another favorite of mine.
The trick is to get well-cooked onions, without adding too much oil and without over-browning them. I've found that the secret is salt. The salt pulls the liquid out of the onions as they cook, and the liquid keep the onions from burning, without the need for oil.
Thinly slice more onions than you think you could possibly need. 1) These are so good that even people who don't like onions heap them on their plate, so you always eat more than you think you will, and 2) The volume will decrease substantially as you cook them. Put a bit of olive oil or butter, just enough to tide you over until the salt does it's trick, in the bottom of your pan, add the onions, and turn on the heat to medium/medium-high. Sprinkle in some salt, not enough to make it taste salty, but enough to act on the onions, maybe 1/2 t. per 3 onions, but I really just sort of sprinkle it on, so that's just a guess. Turn the onions as they heat to mix in the salt and keep everything from browning. When the onions start to cook and release their liquid, turn the heat down to medium-low/low. Cover with a lid. Turn the onions every once in a while, and continue cooking until they are translucent and soft, and a big delicious mess, about 15-30 min. If the onions are too soupy and not brown enough, remove the lid and turn up the heat a bit. As the liquid evaporates off, scrape the bottom of the pan and turn the onions every few minutes so that they brown without burning for another 5 min or so. Enjoy at will!
I think onions cooked this way count as one of those dishes that is cheap, oh so good, and good for you, if you keep the oil to a minimum and take advantage of the salt.
-Maggie
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Shells
Hey blog world!
The musical is over and I'm back to being a human again. I got to try a new recipe tonight and made my own pizza dough last night instead of buying the pre-made stuff from Sprouts. Yay!
Tonight's recipe was somewhat labor intensive and probably not something you want to consider for a normal weeknight meal, but it was pretty good and seemingly healthy.
Ingredients:
The musical is over and I'm back to being a human again. I got to try a new recipe tonight and made my own pizza dough last night instead of buying the pre-made stuff from Sprouts. Yay!
Tonight's recipe was somewhat labor intensive and probably not something you want to consider for a normal weeknight meal, but it was pretty good and seemingly healthy.
Ingredients:
1 cup shelled edamame (I bought pre-shelled frozen stuff to save time and recommend this)
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 10 ounce package thawed frozen chopped spinach,
squeezed dry
9 (or so) oz artichoke hearts. (I used a 14 oz can of artichoke hearts which I then chopped.)
1 1/4 cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper
Your favorite homemade (or store bought) tomato sauce
Directions:
1. Set the oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor
or blender, puree the edamame. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
2. In a large nonstick skillet set at medium heat,
pour the extra virgin olive oil and add onion & garlic. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add the spinach and artichoke hearts; cook & stir for 5 minutes. Remove
from the heat - add in the yogurt and lemon juice.
3. Add half of the spinach mixture to a blender or
food processor and puree until smooth. Fold into the remaining spinach along
with the edamame, cheese, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Cook pasta shells according to package
directions. Drain and spread jumbo shells on 2 baking sheets. Let them cool
before stuffing.
5. Make or open your favorite tomato sauce (heat it up if not already).
6. Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray.
Cover the bottom of the dish with tomato sauce. Start to stuff the shells with
the dip and line them up in the baking dish. When the dish is full, drizzle
pasta sauce over the shells. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
Again, this was a bit labor intensive for a Tuesday, but the end result was good. I also have leftovers for a good long time. Try this some weekend if you're looking to "indulge" in something creamy. Truthfully, this is pretty darned good for you even though it tastes creamy.
Enjoy!
Molly
Friday, April 5, 2013
Soft-boiled Eggs and Salad Breakfast!
The soft-boiled egg is an art form rarely practiced today.
Thank you for inviting me into this blog!
Some amazingness happened today, with a couple of farm fresh eggs, smoked steal head and baby asparagus.
On soft-boiled eggs:
What amazing delights these are! It's like cracking open a dressing.
-I try to steam the eggs for 6 1/2 minutes, not letting them sit too long on the heat side of the stove.
-Put them under cold water after.
I love the role of chicken eggs in cooking. Better than butter in sauces, they make soups, and they leven.
I like soft boiling / or soft poaching a bit more than poaching, frying, braising, pickling, omeleting, or hard-boiling.
For the breakfast:
-Spinach (or spring greens)
-Browned butter
-Soft boiled egg
-Bacon or smoked fish
-Asparagus or another spring veggie.
For the steps:
(while having eggs in 2" of simmering water for 6 1/2 minutes.)
-brown butter in a cast iron skillet.
-toss with spinach.
-add salt and pepper.
-roast asparagus on same pan.
Serve:
-Leafy greens with a bit of fat, tossed.
-A bit of something else spring, like asparagus.
- A soft-boiled egg, and a little piece of whole wheat toast.
Thank you for inviting me into this blog!
Some amazingness happened today, with a couple of farm fresh eggs, smoked steal head and baby asparagus.
On soft-boiled eggs:
What amazing delights these are! It's like cracking open a dressing.
-I try to steam the eggs for 6 1/2 minutes, not letting them sit too long on the heat side of the stove.
-Put them under cold water after.
I love the role of chicken eggs in cooking. Better than butter in sauces, they make soups, and they leven.
I like soft boiling / or soft poaching a bit more than poaching, frying, braising, pickling, omeleting, or hard-boiling.
For the breakfast:
-Spinach (or spring greens)
-Browned butter
-Soft boiled egg
-Bacon or smoked fish
-Asparagus or another spring veggie.
For the steps:
(while having eggs in 2" of simmering water for 6 1/2 minutes.)
-brown butter in a cast iron skillet.
-toss with spinach.
-add salt and pepper.
-roast asparagus on same pan.
Serve:
-Leafy greens with a bit of fat, tossed.
-A bit of something else spring, like asparagus.
- A soft-boiled egg, and a little piece of whole wheat toast.
Monday, March 25, 2013
pasta with garbonzo beans
Thinking about all the things we've been eating with dried beans lately reminded me of a recipe I've been meaning to post for a while.
This is a nice alternative to your regular pasta dishes - quick, more protein than a normal pasta dish, and indulgently satisfying.
Cook up some bacon (now you know it's going to be good!) - 1/2 lb is probably plenty
Reserve the bacon, and fry a bunch of chopped garlic in the oil (umm, 5-6 cloves, but who's counting)
Add cooked chickpeas (1-2 cans worth, maybe 2-3 cups)
You may want to add a little water - maybe the water from cooking the pasta, if your chickpeas are dry.
Stir in ~1/2-3/4 c chopped toasted almonds.
When everything is hot, spoon it on top of some pasta, and grate some parmesan on top. Delish!
This is a nice alternative to your regular pasta dishes - quick, more protein than a normal pasta dish, and indulgently satisfying.
Cook up some bacon (now you know it's going to be good!) - 1/2 lb is probably plenty
Reserve the bacon, and fry a bunch of chopped garlic in the oil (umm, 5-6 cloves, but who's counting)
Add cooked chickpeas (1-2 cans worth, maybe 2-3 cups)
You may want to add a little water - maybe the water from cooking the pasta, if your chickpeas are dry.
Stir in ~1/2-3/4 c chopped toasted almonds.
When everything is hot, spoon it on top of some pasta, and grate some parmesan on top. Delish!
Dried beans
We're officially moving to Madison, WI next year (!!!) and I'm going to try my hand at being mostly a stay-at-home mom. So, with the idea that I'll have a bit more time at home and a lot less money, I decided to try my hand cooking dried beans to replace a few meals of meat a week and instead of canned beans. I know it's pretty silly to get excited about cooking something that has been a staple of diets around the world for millenia, but, well, here I am, getting excited about cooking dried beans.
I've never been a dried bean convert before because 1) I've never been able to get the right mix of water, heat, attention, and time to end up with beans that are uniformly cooked through without half falling apart from being over-done while the other half still has hard kernels at the center. 2) I've always tried to make beans in big pots that yield a lot more beans than I can eat before they go bad in the refrigerator. And 3) the amount of forethought necessary to have dried beans cooked when I want them eludes me.
Enter the slow cooker and the freezer: It turns out that if you put dried beans in a slow cooker, you can get delicious beans cooked very nicely without a lot of effort or attention. And if you then put your cooked beans in the freezer you can keep them for months without them going bad, and have them ready to use, just like canned beans, at a moment's notice. I haven't figured in the energy price, but bean for bean, I estimate that dried beans are about 1/4 the price of canned beans.
The first thing to consider is: to soak or not to soak? And if you soak, do you then cook in the soaking water or use fresh water. Honestly, I can't figure out what the benefit of soaking the beans would be if you're just going to turn around and cook them in the soaking liquid, but maybe I'm missing something. As far as I can tell, it boils down to how much farting bothers you. If you do a traditional soak overnight, apparently you can remove up to 20% of the gas-causing elements of the bean. Unfortunately, apparently this same chemical is one of the things about beans that is good for your colon health (likely, not unrelated to it's tendency to make you fart). Also, apparently if you eat more beans, your body will adjust to them and they'll disturb your gastrointestinal system less and less. So, take your pick. You can find purists of all colors on the internet, so I tend to go with convenience. One middle of the road option is do what's called a fast soak, where you heat water to boiling, then pour it over your beans and soak for 1 hour. I just tend to go with convenience - whatever works for that day. Like, tonight I was going to cook some beans, and I thought I had time for a fast soak. Then I ran out of time, so now they're doing an overnight soak.
I've so far followed a pretty basic recipe, but it's turned out to be delicious every time. I'm looking forward to trying new flavors as I do this more and more. Here's my basic recipe:
1-2 pounds dried black or pinto or red beans, soaked if desired1 medium-large onion/pound of beans, cut into large wedges
4-6 cloves of garlic/pound of beans, crushed
1-3 bay leaves (my bay leaves are old and cracked into smaller pieces, so if you've got fresher or large bay leaves, you may only need 1)
1 T. salt/pound of beans.
Put the beans, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Cover with water to 1 - 1 1/2 inches above the beans. Turn on your slow cooker. I've been cooking mine on high, which takes about 3 hours for black beans that have been fast-soaked. Cooking on slow is supposed to take about 6 hours. About 1/2 hour before the beans are done, stir in the salt, then finish cooking. This weekend I over cooked some pinto beans and some red beans - I think they don't take as long as black beans, and I lost track of time, as always. I think in the future I'm going to turn the heat down to low or just turn it off after I add the salt, to try to prevent over cooking.
After the beans are cooked, I fish out the onion and bay leaf pieces, then drain the beans.
I also made some amazing garbonzo beans. For those, I just put them in the slow cooker with about
4 c of beans.
1/2 t salt
water to cover.
To freeze: spread the beans on a sheet pan in as close to a single layer as you can get. Put the pan in the freezer. When the beans are frozen, store them in a ziploc bag, and use however you would use canned beans.
My kiddos have been going nutzo for the beans I've been making. Suzie has been tooting up a storm as a result, but she seems to think that's pretty funny, so it's all good by me.
Happy rootin'-tootin'-tootalootin'!
I've never been a dried bean convert before because 1) I've never been able to get the right mix of water, heat, attention, and time to end up with beans that are uniformly cooked through without half falling apart from being over-done while the other half still has hard kernels at the center. 2) I've always tried to make beans in big pots that yield a lot more beans than I can eat before they go bad in the refrigerator. And 3) the amount of forethought necessary to have dried beans cooked when I want them eludes me.
Enter the slow cooker and the freezer: It turns out that if you put dried beans in a slow cooker, you can get delicious beans cooked very nicely without a lot of effort or attention. And if you then put your cooked beans in the freezer you can keep them for months without them going bad, and have them ready to use, just like canned beans, at a moment's notice. I haven't figured in the energy price, but bean for bean, I estimate that dried beans are about 1/4 the price of canned beans.
The first thing to consider is: to soak or not to soak? And if you soak, do you then cook in the soaking water or use fresh water. Honestly, I can't figure out what the benefit of soaking the beans would be if you're just going to turn around and cook them in the soaking liquid, but maybe I'm missing something. As far as I can tell, it boils down to how much farting bothers you. If you do a traditional soak overnight, apparently you can remove up to 20% of the gas-causing elements of the bean. Unfortunately, apparently this same chemical is one of the things about beans that is good for your colon health (likely, not unrelated to it's tendency to make you fart). Also, apparently if you eat more beans, your body will adjust to them and they'll disturb your gastrointestinal system less and less. So, take your pick. You can find purists of all colors on the internet, so I tend to go with convenience. One middle of the road option is do what's called a fast soak, where you heat water to boiling, then pour it over your beans and soak for 1 hour. I just tend to go with convenience - whatever works for that day. Like, tonight I was going to cook some beans, and I thought I had time for a fast soak. Then I ran out of time, so now they're doing an overnight soak.
I've so far followed a pretty basic recipe, but it's turned out to be delicious every time. I'm looking forward to trying new flavors as I do this more and more. Here's my basic recipe:
1-2 pounds dried black or pinto or red beans, soaked if desired1 medium-large onion/pound of beans, cut into large wedges
4-6 cloves of garlic/pound of beans, crushed
1-3 bay leaves (my bay leaves are old and cracked into smaller pieces, so if you've got fresher or large bay leaves, you may only need 1)
1 T. salt/pound of beans.
Put the beans, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Cover with water to 1 - 1 1/2 inches above the beans. Turn on your slow cooker. I've been cooking mine on high, which takes about 3 hours for black beans that have been fast-soaked. Cooking on slow is supposed to take about 6 hours. About 1/2 hour before the beans are done, stir in the salt, then finish cooking. This weekend I over cooked some pinto beans and some red beans - I think they don't take as long as black beans, and I lost track of time, as always. I think in the future I'm going to turn the heat down to low or just turn it off after I add the salt, to try to prevent over cooking.
After the beans are cooked, I fish out the onion and bay leaf pieces, then drain the beans.
I also made some amazing garbonzo beans. For those, I just put them in the slow cooker with about
4 c of beans.
1/2 t salt
water to cover.
To freeze: spread the beans on a sheet pan in as close to a single layer as you can get. Put the pan in the freezer. When the beans are frozen, store them in a ziploc bag, and use however you would use canned beans.
My kiddos have been going nutzo for the beans I've been making. Suzie has been tooting up a storm as a result, but she seems to think that's pretty funny, so it's all good by me.
Happy rootin'-tootin'-tootalootin'!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Fresh Spinach
Last spring we built a couple of raised bed boxes on the south side of the house to provide an early season planting space for greens before the main garden dried out enough to till. One of them became the perennial herb garden but the other spent the season planted to lettuce and spinach. At the end of the summer we planted half of a box to spinach in the hope that it would winter over.The spinach sprouted and grew some through the fall, then hunkered down for the winter, but has been growing again since the turn of the solstice and lengthening of the days. Today, we picked a colander full of fresh spinach which we will use to top dress a stir fry for dinner tonight. It's delicious.
No question about it: this is the earliest we have ever had fresh produce form the garden. Next year, the whole box! In the meantime, let the season begin!
Sweet Potato Fries
This isn't really a recipe, but do any of you all make sweet potato fries? If not, you should. It's become one of my favorite things to make as a side for dinner.
I just take a couple sweet potatoes and cut them up into french fry like pieces. Toss them with some olive oil and whatever spices you want and then throw them in the oven. Sometimes I just do salt and pepper, sometimes some cayenne, it really depends. I just bake them for 15-20 minutes or so and then eat them with a lot of hot sauce.
Truthfully, they are just a vehicle for hot sauce, but they're great. Don't get me wrong, I don't get a nice crisp edge or anything fancy. If you want great fries, go to a restaurant and order them...they'll actually be fried. But if you want an easy, healthy (I assume) side for dinner - go for it.
Molly
I just take a couple sweet potatoes and cut them up into french fry like pieces. Toss them with some olive oil and whatever spices you want and then throw them in the oven. Sometimes I just do salt and pepper, sometimes some cayenne, it really depends. I just bake them for 15-20 minutes or so and then eat them with a lot of hot sauce.
Truthfully, they are just a vehicle for hot sauce, but they're great. Don't get me wrong, I don't get a nice crisp edge or anything fancy. If you want great fries, go to a restaurant and order them...they'll actually be fried. But if you want an easy, healthy (I assume) side for dinner - go for it.
Molly
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Chicken Cacciatore
Hello out there!
I finally had the chance to cook a couple of times this week and I tried two new things. I made chicken cacciatore for the first time. It was pretty good, even though I didn't really follow a recipe. Here's what you need...
Chicken - I used boneless, skinless breast cause I had it. Most recipes call for thighs or drumsticks.
Red bell pepper, sliced
Onion, sliced
Garlic
Mushrooms, sliced
Can of whole plum tomatoes, chopped. I used about 10oz with 1 pound of chicken
White wine, about 1/3 of a cup with 1 pound of chicken
Chicken stock, about 1/2 cup
Thyme, oregano, or whatever seasonings you choose
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in saute pan and add the chicken to brown both sides. Remove the chicken. Reduce heat and add more oil if necessary. Add onions and pepper and saute until soft-ish. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until veggies are done. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, both, herbs, salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes for fun. At some point add the chicken back in to thoroughly cook.
If you just treat this like a stir fry (sort of), it works. I didn't really measure, just threw some stuff in 'til it looked about right. It ended up being pretty good. Truthfully it wasn't my favorite because I don't get too jazzed about cooked bell pepper. That being said, it's good enough to go on my regular rotation because it's quick and easy.
Molly
I finally had the chance to cook a couple of times this week and I tried two new things. I made chicken cacciatore for the first time. It was pretty good, even though I didn't really follow a recipe. Here's what you need...
Chicken - I used boneless, skinless breast cause I had it. Most recipes call for thighs or drumsticks.
Red bell pepper, sliced
Onion, sliced
Garlic
Mushrooms, sliced
Can of whole plum tomatoes, chopped. I used about 10oz with 1 pound of chicken
White wine, about 1/3 of a cup with 1 pound of chicken
Chicken stock, about 1/2 cup
Thyme, oregano, or whatever seasonings you choose
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in saute pan and add the chicken to brown both sides. Remove the chicken. Reduce heat and add more oil if necessary. Add onions and pepper and saute until soft-ish. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until veggies are done. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, both, herbs, salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes for fun. At some point add the chicken back in to thoroughly cook.
If you just treat this like a stir fry (sort of), it works. I didn't really measure, just threw some stuff in 'til it looked about right. It ended up being pretty good. Truthfully it wasn't my favorite because I don't get too jazzed about cooked bell pepper. That being said, it's good enough to go on my regular rotation because it's quick and easy.
Molly
Monday, February 25, 2013
Polenta
This is really a follow-up or expansion on Friday's posting on homemade scrapple. I took the time to look up polenta on Wikipedia and got a brain full. Basically, polenta is any mush, hot and fluid, or cold, solidified, sliced and refried, made from any grain grit or flour. Often, the grain is maize, especially in Mexico and points south. So strictly speaking, scrapple is a pork/corn meal polenta. The spectrum of polentas pretty much spans the specialty "puddings" of the western world: scrapple, liver pudding, hasty pudding, haggis, corn meal mush, Indian pudding, etc, etc, etc. Tripping around in Wikipedia to all of the variations is an interesting diversion.
So my comments from yesterday about the boundless possibilities stands, or even expands. Saturday I tried lamb with barley grits (actually 2/3 barley grits to1/3 white corn meal). I basically used Friday's recipe with substitutions of the broth, meat, grain, and seasoning.
1 c. lamb broth taken to 2 1/4 with water and brought to a boil with
~1/2 c. finely chopped lamb meat
1/2 t. salt
1 t. dried rosemary (chopped fine, might have preferred powdered but didn't have it)
1/4 t. dried mustard
1 small clove garlic
Blend 1/4 c. white corn meal with 1/4 c. cold water
At the boil, stir in 1/2 c. barley grits and the white corn meal slurry
With constant stirring and a flame disperser, return to the boil and cook for 20 min.
Turn out into a small loaf pan.
This too turned out to be really good when sliced and fried up in a little butter.
I am pretty excited about the possibilities of this whole polenta thing.
So my comments from yesterday about the boundless possibilities stands, or even expands. Saturday I tried lamb with barley grits (actually 2/3 barley grits to1/3 white corn meal). I basically used Friday's recipe with substitutions of the broth, meat, grain, and seasoning.
1 c. lamb broth taken to 2 1/4 with water and brought to a boil with
~1/2 c. finely chopped lamb meat
1/2 t. salt
1 t. dried rosemary (chopped fine, might have preferred powdered but didn't have it)
1/4 t. dried mustard
1 small clove garlic
Blend 1/4 c. white corn meal with 1/4 c. cold water
At the boil, stir in 1/2 c. barley grits and the white corn meal slurry
With constant stirring and a flame disperser, return to the boil and cook for 20 min.
Turn out into a small loaf pan.
This too turned out to be really good when sliced and fried up in a little butter.
I am pretty excited about the possibilities of this whole polenta thing.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Homemade Scrapple
The other day, I bought a boneless pork loin roast and cut it up into cubes for pork stew (which turned out really well, complete with dumplings; I used marjoram, caraway seed, and dill seed for seasonings) and had the trimmings and a left over end which I put in a pan and cooked down for broth. A month or two ago, we were at Echo Hill and I picked up some roasted corn meal, thinking it had been a long time since we have had corn meal mush. These two things kind of came together yesterday in an experiment.
I skimmed the fat from the broth, and picked the meat scraps pretty thoroughly. The net result was about a cup of not terribly strong broth and maybe 1/2 cup of meat scraps, which I cut up to be as fine as I could make them.
The directions for the corn meal said to combine 2 c. corn meal, 2 c. cold water, and 2 t. salt, bring 6 c. of water to a boil then add the corn meal slurry to the boiling water with constant stirring, return to boil and simmer 15 minutes. Based on how much broth I had, I made what turned out to be about 3/8 the recipe. So:
1 c. of pork broth brought up to 2 1/4 c. with water
1/2 t salt
1 t. dried Sage
1/4 t. powdered mustard
~1/2 c. finely chopped cooked pork
all brought to a boil
3/4 c. roasted corn meal mixed with
3/4 c. cold water
Corn meal slurry stirred into boiling broth, brought back to a boil, simmered 15 minutes with lots of stirring and a flame disperser under the pan to prevent it from charring. Oh, yeah, I ground some black pepper into it, also - just some, you know how it goes.
The final mixture was poured into a loaf pan and allowed to cool then refrigerated. By golly, turned out of the loaf pan the next morning, it looked like a block of scrapple!
Jo and I had it fried for breakfast this morning. I really liked it.
So, whether it is variations on scrapple, fried mush, or polenta, depending on your orientation and preferences, this opens up a whole universe of exploration possibilities.
First, the corn meal: I really like roasted, brown corn meal. The stuff from the store is OK, but you remember we used to oven roast field corn and grind it ourselves when we lived on the farm and I would really like to give that a try. Most recipes seem to call for yellow or white or a mix. Some scrapple recipes use a mixture of corn and buckwheat meals (particularly from Northampton County where I grew up). I presume one could experiment with all manner of grains. Do they make quinoa meal? Must do. That might be interesting. I reckon oat meal would work too, which starts to migrate towards haggis, I think. I bet barley would work also.
Next, the broth and meat: Well, pork is good, but around scrapple country, every butcher has his own recipe. One key variable is whether they add liver and how much. When we had Peter Bros. butcher pigs, they always charged us for a couple of pounds of beef which they added to their scrapple, so there is the option of mixing different meats. And of course, you don't have to use scraps to avoid the yuck! factor that seems to be associated with the name (alternately, just call it polenta; that's trendy these days). Haggis is made with mutton, I believe. I bet lamb would be good.
And how about a good vegetable stock for a vegetarian version? I did not add any veggies to this mixture, but I always include veggies in my soups, at least some onion and garlic, and vegetarian or not, it opens up a whole 'nother dimension to explore.
Finally, seasoning: Sage is the classic for scrapple, and it is really good. But any herb is possible, so there is a huge range available to explore. I saw one recipe that was getting into small amounts of some spices, like nutmeg, too. What happens if we head off in a mid-eastern direction, seasoning-wise. Well, if you use ground lamb and buckwheat, you wind up at kibbi, I think. Any way, the sky's the limit.
So, try making boiled grain meal in broth for solidification and frying. Call by whatever name you like. Have fun.
I skimmed the fat from the broth, and picked the meat scraps pretty thoroughly. The net result was about a cup of not terribly strong broth and maybe 1/2 cup of meat scraps, which I cut up to be as fine as I could make them.
The directions for the corn meal said to combine 2 c. corn meal, 2 c. cold water, and 2 t. salt, bring 6 c. of water to a boil then add the corn meal slurry to the boiling water with constant stirring, return to boil and simmer 15 minutes. Based on how much broth I had, I made what turned out to be about 3/8 the recipe. So:
1 c. of pork broth brought up to 2 1/4 c. with water
1/2 t salt
1 t. dried Sage
1/4 t. powdered mustard
~1/2 c. finely chopped cooked pork
all brought to a boil
3/4 c. roasted corn meal mixed with
3/4 c. cold water
Corn meal slurry stirred into boiling broth, brought back to a boil, simmered 15 minutes with lots of stirring and a flame disperser under the pan to prevent it from charring. Oh, yeah, I ground some black pepper into it, also - just some, you know how it goes.
The final mixture was poured into a loaf pan and allowed to cool then refrigerated. By golly, turned out of the loaf pan the next morning, it looked like a block of scrapple!
Jo and I had it fried for breakfast this morning. I really liked it.
So, whether it is variations on scrapple, fried mush, or polenta, depending on your orientation and preferences, this opens up a whole universe of exploration possibilities.
First, the corn meal: I really like roasted, brown corn meal. The stuff from the store is OK, but you remember we used to oven roast field corn and grind it ourselves when we lived on the farm and I would really like to give that a try. Most recipes seem to call for yellow or white or a mix. Some scrapple recipes use a mixture of corn and buckwheat meals (particularly from Northampton County where I grew up). I presume one could experiment with all manner of grains. Do they make quinoa meal? Must do. That might be interesting. I reckon oat meal would work too, which starts to migrate towards haggis, I think. I bet barley would work also.
Next, the broth and meat: Well, pork is good, but around scrapple country, every butcher has his own recipe. One key variable is whether they add liver and how much. When we had Peter Bros. butcher pigs, they always charged us for a couple of pounds of beef which they added to their scrapple, so there is the option of mixing different meats. And of course, you don't have to use scraps to avoid the yuck! factor that seems to be associated with the name (alternately, just call it polenta; that's trendy these days). Haggis is made with mutton, I believe. I bet lamb would be good.
And how about a good vegetable stock for a vegetarian version? I did not add any veggies to this mixture, but I always include veggies in my soups, at least some onion and garlic, and vegetarian or not, it opens up a whole 'nother dimension to explore.
Finally, seasoning: Sage is the classic for scrapple, and it is really good. But any herb is possible, so there is a huge range available to explore. I saw one recipe that was getting into small amounts of some spices, like nutmeg, too. What happens if we head off in a mid-eastern direction, seasoning-wise. Well, if you use ground lamb and buckwheat, you wind up at kibbi, I think. Any way, the sky's the limit.
So, try making boiled grain meal in broth for solidification and frying. Call by whatever name you like. Have fun.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Bulgar Veggie "Burgers"
Has anyone posted this recipe yet? There's a chance that someone has, but I don't feel like going back through the archives to check. If not, then you're in for a treat. Last night I whipped these up because our friend Coley is in town and staying with us. We made them with homemade sweet potato fries - it was a delicious and nutritious dinner.
That being said, you know I don't like calling something a burger if it's not really a burger. So, I'd be more inclined to call these veggie patties or something. Either way, a rose by any other name still tastes like a veggie mash.
1/2 cup chopped onion,
divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
plus additional for brushing
1/2 cup bulgur
1 cup water
1 cup canned pinto
beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tablespoon soy
sauce
3/4 cup walnuts (2 1/2
ounces)
2 garlic cloves,
coarsely chopped
1/2 cup packed cilantro
sprigs
3/4 teaspoon ground
cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon grated
lime zest
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime
juice
4 slices multi-grain
bread,toasted
Cook half of onion with
1/4 teaspoon salt in oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring
occasionally, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add bulgur and water and cook,
covered, over low heat until water is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a
bowl and stir in beans and soy sauce.
Pulse bulgur mixture,
walnuts, garlic, cilantro, cumin, cayenne, a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2
teaspoon pepper, and remaining onion in a food processor until finely chopped.
Form rounded 1/2 cups
of mixture into 4 (31/2-inch-diameter) patties. Chill at least 10 minutes.
While patties chill,
stir together mayonnaise, zest, and juice.
Prepare grill for
direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium heat for gas). Put
perforated grill sheet on grill and preheat 10 minutes. Brush patties all over with oil. Oil grill sheet, then grill burgers on grill
sheet, covered only if using a gas grill, carefully turning once, until golden
brown, about 8 minutes total. Serve
burgers open-faced on toast with lime mayonnaise.
I did not grill them, just fried them in a pan on the stove. I also used pecans instead of walnuts because we have a ton of Texas pecans on hand right now. Instead of bread, I used English muffins. We had arugula and avocado to put on top as well.
Anywho, worth a shot! They're good.
Molly
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Kitchen sink Mega Muffins
Molly's post about mega-muffins got me to thinking - maybe my sugar-loving son who likes to get up and get himself a breakfast of a bowl of cereal (before his egg and oatmeal) would be happy to get himself a muffin instead, and in the process have a healthier breakfast. So I searched for recipes and ended up combining several. This is a first run through, and I'll follow with comments about what I would change next time. Here's what we made:
1 1/2 c white flour
3/4 c flaxseed meal
1/2 c oatmeal
1/4 c wheat bran (but most recipes call for wheat germ. I just couldn't find any)
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
>2 t cinnamon
1/4 c butter
3/4 c applesauce
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 c honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 c shredded carrots
1 1/2 c shredded apples
1/2 c craisans
3/4 c chopped mixed nuts
a small bag of frozen blueberries
Mix the dry ingredients. Cream the butter with sugar and honey, beat in the applesauce, then add eggs one at a time. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon into a muffin cups with liners. Bake at 350 for ~25 min. Recipe made 21 small-medium muffins (nice for a 4 year old's pre-breakfast or a snack), some of which are now frozen in our freezer.
These muffins are pretty good, not too dense, moist. Next time I would:
1) Use less sugar/honey. These are too sweet for me, so I would use 1/3 - 1/2 c sugar total, and maybe add more carrots in place of some of the apples. Other variations I saw also called for shredded zucchini, or for chopping the apples instead of shredding them.
2) These didn't have enough "crunch" for me. I would replace more of the flour with oatmeal or flaxseed meal, and use more nuts.
3) I might also look for wheat germ instead of wheat bran to try to increase the flavor.
4) These were actually almost too moist for me. I would be inclined to leave out the blueberries, though I think it might be harder to convince Will to eat them then.
5) I would use more salt, probably 1 t. But then again, I'm a salt-aholic, so I probably wouldn't use more just to cut down on my salt intake.
All in all, a good starting place I think. I would be interested in decreasing the sugar and increasing the protein content, and I'd be happy to hear any ideas along those lines.
-Maggie
1 1/2 c white flour
3/4 c flaxseed meal
1/2 c oatmeal
1/4 c wheat bran (but most recipes call for wheat germ. I just couldn't find any)
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
>2 t cinnamon
1/4 c butter
3/4 c applesauce
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 c honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 c shredded carrots
1 1/2 c shredded apples
1/2 c craisans
3/4 c chopped mixed nuts
a small bag of frozen blueberries
Mix the dry ingredients. Cream the butter with sugar and honey, beat in the applesauce, then add eggs one at a time. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon into a muffin cups with liners. Bake at 350 for ~25 min. Recipe made 21 small-medium muffins (nice for a 4 year old's pre-breakfast or a snack), some of which are now frozen in our freezer.
These muffins are pretty good, not too dense, moist. Next time I would:
1) Use less sugar/honey. These are too sweet for me, so I would use 1/3 - 1/2 c sugar total, and maybe add more carrots in place of some of the apples. Other variations I saw also called for shredded zucchini, or for chopping the apples instead of shredding them.
2) These didn't have enough "crunch" for me. I would replace more of the flour with oatmeal or flaxseed meal, and use more nuts.
3) I might also look for wheat germ instead of wheat bran to try to increase the flavor.
4) These were actually almost too moist for me. I would be inclined to leave out the blueberries, though I think it might be harder to convince Will to eat them then.
5) I would use more salt, probably 1 t. But then again, I'm a salt-aholic, so I probably wouldn't use more just to cut down on my salt intake.
All in all, a good starting place I think. I would be interested in decreasing the sugar and increasing the protein content, and I'd be happy to hear any ideas along those lines.
-Maggie
Monday, January 28, 2013
Butternut Squash and Kale Soup
Tonight I tried a recipe for butternut squash and kale soup. Truthfully I didn't think it was going to be very good, but it looked to be healthy. I decided to give it a shot to force us to eat more veggies. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This is a pretty quick weeknight soup that makes ya feel good. Also it's fun to mispronounce butternut squash as "squtternut bash."
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion,
chopped
3/4 cup peeled and
chopped carrot (about 2 large)
3/4 cup chopped celery
(about 3 large)
2 tablespoons chopped
scallions
some garlic, chopped
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups water
3 to 4 cups 1-inch
chopped butternut squash
2 cups torn/chopped
kale leaves
2 to 3 sprigs fresh
rosemary and thyme
One (15.5-ounce) can
white beans, rinsed and drained
Kosher salt and freshly
ground black pepper, to taste
optional: grated
Parmesan cheese, for serving
Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in
a large soup pot, then add the onion, carrot, celery, scallions and garlic. Cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften.
2. Add the broth, water
and butternut squash. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer
for 15 minutes. Add the kale and herbs and simmer an additional 10 minutes.
Stir in the beans and heat through. Remove the fresh herb sprigs and discard.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve. Sprinkle individual servings
with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
I did not serve it with parm and used plenty of rosemary and thyme (I am my father's daughter). It was quite simple but paired well with the sourdough bread I had picked up. Give it a shot!
P.S. Sorry about the poor quality of the photo, I took it with my phone.
Molly
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Fish Curry
Kanga expressed an interest in simmer sauces and, in particular, in fish cooked in simmer sauce as a high protein, flavorful, easily swallowed food for Grandpa. Simmer sauce is pre-made, store bought, Indian curry or spice sauce which can be used to cook meat or vegetable to make a quick and easy curry. Our local Giant supermarket features both a fish counter and a relatively (for a suburban supermarket) extensive exotic or foreign food section. I was able to buy a small piece of cod and a selection of three different simmer sauces and as an added bonus, a jar of ginger chutney to try.
I was very disappointed. The simmer sauces were all spicy, but none of them was particularly tasty nor did they taste like Indian dishes I have had in Indian restaurants. The chutney was oily and tasted atrocious, in my opinion - a big surprise as the ingredient list started out with ginger and dates and went on to list all of the things you would expect in a chutney.
I felt I owed the products a full trial, so I heated up a package of Passage to India brand Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce and added half a can of mackerel. It got better after heating. I ate it for lunch with some rice and raita. Not too bad, but I didn't really care for it compared to our homemade curries and would not waste $4.50 buying this product again.
So back to square one. I perused Fish Curry recipes via Google. These seemed to be predominantly based on tomato and coconut milk. I picked one that sounded pretty good as a starting point:
http://steamykitchen.com/14700-indian-fish-coconut-curry.html
I pretty much followed the recipe except I used a whole can of Delmonte Petite cut Tomatoes with Green Chilies for the tomatoes and used the juice from the tomatoes in place of the 1/4 c. of water. When I was adding the coconut milk, I was inclined to stop after adding about 1/2 c based on taste of the sauce but then went ahead and followed the recipe since it was the first time through. Since this was an experiment, I did not want to commit the fresh fish, so I added a can of Jack Mackerel and cooked it up.
I took half of this over to K&G to see if they like it. I ate the other half this morning for mid-morning breakfast/lunch with rice, a sliced apple, and a small lentil-sprout salad. The sauce is basically spicy tomato and coconut milk with fresh ginger and garam masala. Chili powder gives it some heat and the fresh ginger adds a delightful high note. The coconut milk tends towards sweet, but not too very much. It is not really like anything I have ever tasted before since coconut milk has never really been a staple ingredient in our house, at least not until now. I thought it was good but it took a little time to grow on me. Using the Jack Mackerel, the flavor of the fish came through (it might not with a truly bland white fish). The breakfast reminded me of the fish, rice and salad buffet set up for the Japanese style breakfast each morning at the hotel in Aizu. The whole combination of flavors is very non-Western.
I think to play with this in the future I will try cutting back on the coconut milk (I tend to not like so much sweet and I expect the coconut flavor will still be there with only half as much), increase the amount of fresh ginger (purely person preference; I just love ginger) and maybe play around with the spice mix, try reducing the garam masala and adding in some other spice flavors. And if K&G like it, I will try making it with fresh fish instead of canned.
January 25, 2013 Update
Today, I took another crack at this using the fresh cod fish I bought the other day. Here is where I landed:1 T oil
1 small to medium onion (66 g) diced fairly fine
2 large cloves of garlic (8 g) minced
Pieces of fresh ginger (23 g) minced, not grated
1/2 t Garam Masala
1/2 t Curry Powder
1/2 t Turmeric
1/8 t Chili Powder
1/2 t salt
1 can Delmonte Petite cut Tomatoes with Green Chilies
Ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
~ 1/2 lb fresh cod cut into chunks
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and saute until translucent, then add the ginger and garlic. Cook for ~ 2 minutes, then add spices stirring to make a spice paste. Use the juice/water from the can of tomatoes to thin as you stir. Then add the tomatoes and continue to cook maybe 5 minutes or so. This is the masala. To this add the chicken broth and coconut milk to make the sauce. Bring to boil. Add the chunks of fish and cook until the fish is done.
Serve with rice and raita.
So far, I like Take 2 better than Take 1- not so overpowered by the garam masala flavor, not so sweet from the coconut milk, and not so hot for those who don't like it too hot. Also, I have to admit, fresh cod is better than canned mackerel.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Sarma
I think I posted recently that I was trying to make sauerkraut with whole heads of cabbage. As a reminder and then follow up:
I recently had several heads of cabbage sitting in my fridge, but no time to shred and pound it to make sauerkraut. I also have some Serbian friends who love sauerkraut but were a bit disappointed by my "German sauerkraut" at Thanksgiving. They did like my sausage and rice balls in sauerkraut at New Year's however, pronouncing in an approving manner that it is actually a lot like sarma. Sarma is basically leaves wrapped around filling, and variations are found throughout eastern and southern Europe. Dolmas, seasoned rice wrapped in grape leaves, even count. Each region has it's own variation, and in Serbia sarma means fermented cabbage leaves wrapped around a meat and rice filling. Finally, I have a father-in-law whose mother used to make sarma to please his Serbian father and who was due for a visit in a few weeks.
So, I decided to try to kill a bunch of birds with one stone - mainly by fermenting whole heads of cabbage to make sarma.
My cabbage turned out amazing! When I first opened my crock three weeks after closing it up I was a little nervous, because it had a bit of a sharp smell on top of the sauerkraut smell. Then I realized that sharp smell was garlic, and I dug in. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! Must include lots of garlic in all future batches of sauerkraut. I couldn't stop eating the stuff - I just kept eating the leaves as I pulled them apart to separate the big ones that I could use for rolling sarma from the smaller ones.
George got his mother's recipe for sarma which basically boils down to a ton of meat with a hint of rice and some tomatoes wrapped cabbage leaves.
-3 pounds ground beef
-2 pounds ground pork
-1 pound ground smoked pork (except I don't know where to find something like that, and I had a pound of lamb in the freezer, so I used that instead. It was pronounced an acceptable and delicious alterative)
-3/4 c raw rice
-some tomato sauce (I got a can of whole tomatoes in juice, pureed the tomatoes without the juice, and then added about 1 - 1 1/2 c of the tomato puree to the meat. Enough to make it moist and add flavor, but not enough to make it goopy.
-salt and pepper to taste
-I also added a bunch of chopped onion. I think this is part of the original recipe and very traditional. I think it just was lost in the translation from Grandma Stanic to Aunt Kathy, to George's notes version 1 to George's notes version 2.
Mix all the ingredients together. Roll in cabbage leaves, burrito style. Layer on top of some chopped cabbage leaves in the bottom of a pan. Add some smoked pork (I used some pieces from a smoked ham hock) to the chopped cabbage leaves for flavor. Cover with a mixture of some of the cabbage brine, the juice from the tomatoes, and some water, then bake at 375-400 for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. (Sorry I don't have more exact measurements for the sauce - I was just throwing it together to get it in the oven at that point. But, use judgement and I'm sure it will be good.)
Apparently a roast pig is the traditional accompaniment, but I served ours with a salad of roasted red peppers, some red onion strips, and a light dressing of rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, tarragon (thanks for that tip Dad, I've been really getting into using tarragon lately), olive oil, and salt.
As you can imagine there is a lot of regional variation in sarma recipes. Our Serbian friend Irena said her family always makes it without egg or tomato, but with lots of smoked paprika, and is more dry. Her husband Dusan's family, which is actually Slovakian, makes a "more German" version with egg and tomato, and it's more wet. And, as I described above, Aleks's grandmother makes it with tomato, but no egg. I made Grandma Stanic's version and attempted Irena's version, and I preferred the version with tomato.
But, most importantly, I learned that you can ferment whole heads of cabbage. This takes a LOT less work than the shredding and pounding for traditional German sauerkraut, and as far as I can tell, it ferments just as quickly. Also, use garlic.
I recently had several heads of cabbage sitting in my fridge, but no time to shred and pound it to make sauerkraut. I also have some Serbian friends who love sauerkraut but were a bit disappointed by my "German sauerkraut" at Thanksgiving. They did like my sausage and rice balls in sauerkraut at New Year's however, pronouncing in an approving manner that it is actually a lot like sarma. Sarma is basically leaves wrapped around filling, and variations are found throughout eastern and southern Europe. Dolmas, seasoned rice wrapped in grape leaves, even count. Each region has it's own variation, and in Serbia sarma means fermented cabbage leaves wrapped around a meat and rice filling. Finally, I have a father-in-law whose mother used to make sarma to please his Serbian father and who was due for a visit in a few weeks.
So, I decided to try to kill a bunch of birds with one stone - mainly by fermenting whole heads of cabbage to make sarma.
My cabbage turned out amazing! When I first opened my crock three weeks after closing it up I was a little nervous, because it had a bit of a sharp smell on top of the sauerkraut smell. Then I realized that sharp smell was garlic, and I dug in. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! Must include lots of garlic in all future batches of sauerkraut. I couldn't stop eating the stuff - I just kept eating the leaves as I pulled them apart to separate the big ones that I could use for rolling sarma from the smaller ones.
George got his mother's recipe for sarma which basically boils down to a ton of meat with a hint of rice and some tomatoes wrapped cabbage leaves.
-3 pounds ground beef
-2 pounds ground pork
-1 pound ground smoked pork (except I don't know where to find something like that, and I had a pound of lamb in the freezer, so I used that instead. It was pronounced an acceptable and delicious alterative)
-3/4 c raw rice
-some tomato sauce (I got a can of whole tomatoes in juice, pureed the tomatoes without the juice, and then added about 1 - 1 1/2 c of the tomato puree to the meat. Enough to make it moist and add flavor, but not enough to make it goopy.
-salt and pepper to taste
-I also added a bunch of chopped onion. I think this is part of the original recipe and very traditional. I think it just was lost in the translation from Grandma Stanic to Aunt Kathy, to George's notes version 1 to George's notes version 2.
Mix all the ingredients together. Roll in cabbage leaves, burrito style. Layer on top of some chopped cabbage leaves in the bottom of a pan. Add some smoked pork (I used some pieces from a smoked ham hock) to the chopped cabbage leaves for flavor. Cover with a mixture of some of the cabbage brine, the juice from the tomatoes, and some water, then bake at 375-400 for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. (Sorry I don't have more exact measurements for the sauce - I was just throwing it together to get it in the oven at that point. But, use judgement and I'm sure it will be good.)
Apparently a roast pig is the traditional accompaniment, but I served ours with a salad of roasted red peppers, some red onion strips, and a light dressing of rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, tarragon (thanks for that tip Dad, I've been really getting into using tarragon lately), olive oil, and salt.
As you can imagine there is a lot of regional variation in sarma recipes. Our Serbian friend Irena said her family always makes it without egg or tomato, but with lots of smoked paprika, and is more dry. Her husband Dusan's family, which is actually Slovakian, makes a "more German" version with egg and tomato, and it's more wet. And, as I described above, Aleks's grandmother makes it with tomato, but no egg. I made Grandma Stanic's version and attempted Irena's version, and I preferred the version with tomato.
But, most importantly, I learned that you can ferment whole heads of cabbage. This takes a LOT less work than the shredding and pounding for traditional German sauerkraut, and as far as I can tell, it ferments just as quickly. Also, use garlic.
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