Killer Risotto

I like good risotto, but most of the time it ends up feeling very heavy and well...just...ugh. However, tonight's attempt was phenomenal!

I had it in my brain the other day when I picked up some lobster mushrooms and Chinese spinach at the farmers market that I would make risotto this week. I had some crimini mushrooms just hanging out in the fridge needing to be used...and I always dried mushrooms in my pantry...triple mushroom risotto with spinach! And because I like to try new ways of making things...I made this one vegan. Totally. Killer.

Triple Mushroom Risotto with Spinach

4 oz dried mushrooms (I did a combo of shitaki and king oyster mushrooms)
1 cup boiling water
2 - 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth (I really like the low sodium veg broth from Trader Joe's...good flavor)
4-5 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
4-5 oz lobster mushrooms (or some other flavor...chicken of the woods would be very comparable), sliced
2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil, divided
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cups cleaned and chopped spinach
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
1/4 cup Shao Xing cooking wine (or Sherry)
1 Tbsp dairy-free margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1. In a small bowl, combine the boiling water with the dried mushrooms, and let them soak, uncovered for 30 minutes. Drain 1/2 cup of the mushroom broth into a liquid measuring cup and add the vegetable broth, take out 1/2 of the soaked mushrooms, finely dice and set aside (keep the rest for another time). Heat the veg broth to a simmer (I do it in the microwave)

2. In a small bowl, toss the spinach, lemon juice and salt. Set aside.

3. In a medium size saucepan over medium heat, heat 1 T. of the coconut oil. Add the chopped garlic and onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender and translucent, but not browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4 minutes more. Add the remaining 1 T. of coconut oil and the rice, and, stirring constantly, cook until the rice is evenly coated and sounds like crispy rice cereal in the pan, making snapping and popping noises, about 4 minutes. Add the Shao Xing, stirring constantly, until all of the liquid is completely absorbed.

4. Pour about ¾ cup of the hot broth into the rice and cook, continuing to stir, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Continue to add the broth in ¾-cup increments, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before another addition, until the rice is translucent around the edges but still solid in the middle and the rice is of a creamy consistency, about 20 minutes.

5. Add the spinach and cook for just about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the spinach is wilted and bright green. Stir in the dairy-free soy margarine and nutritional yeast. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

SO GOOD!

*I found this recipe online and modified it...of course.

A Spring Delicacy

Most people associate asparagus with Spring. Here in the CzaMama house, while we love asparagus, CiBaby goes crazy when these lovely little lawn ornaments start blooming!

I believe her eyes rolled back in her head when I showed her today's harvest...1/3 lb dandelion blossoms! Dandelion fritters for dinner!

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Happy St. Patty's Day!

This year I veered away from the standard plate of corned beef and cabbage and made reubens! I love reubens. I've never made them myself before, so I thought it was about time.

Several weeks back I started a batch of sauerkraut out of a wayward purple cabbage. Isn't it pretty??

Armed with a Wellshire Farms corned beef brisket, a loaf of freshly baked homemade deli-style rye bread, aged raw milk emmentaler cheese, the purple sauerkraut and a little homemade dressing (consists of good quality mayo, homemade ketchup and finely diced dill pickles)...it was THE BEST DANG REUBEN I'VE EVER EATEN!

I know what your question is and the answer...no, I never do anything half-assed.

Luck O' the Euro As-ish

So...we're not Irish. And CiBaby is definitely not, although it was SUPER cute when she asked me today if she was Irish. "Only on St. Patty's Day, dear."

However, just because we don't have Irish blood running in our veins doesn't me we cannot celebrate! So in honor of the day we made a green snack to share with our friends.

Edamame Hummus

1 large clove of garlic, peeled

1 Tbsp sesame seeds (or tahini if you have it...today I did not...a crime, I know!)

2 tsp finely chopped cilantro

1 tsp lemon grass (I have frozen chopped lemon grass...so handy!)

1 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce

2 Tbsp mirin

1/4 tsp wasabe powder

1/4 tsp tamarind or lime juice

1/2 tsp sesame oil

12 oz bag (or 2 cups) shelled edamame, thawed

1 cup water

Place all ingredients, except 1 cup edamame and 1 cup water, into a food processor. Process until finely chopped, scrapping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Once finely chopped, add remaining edamame and water and blend until nice and smooth, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve with rice chips or veggie sticks.

May luck find you today, whoever you are!

Pumpkin Chili with Cilantro Lime Cream

With a snowstorm roaring away outside and some pumpkins begging to be used, I wanted something savory, nutritious and delicious to nourish my little family, so I came up with the following using ingredients I had on hand.

Pumpkin Chili with Cilantro Lime Cream

1 cup (1 small) finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (or 1 can)
2 pints (or 2 small cans) diced tomatoes and their juice
1 1/2 cups (1 small can) hominy, rinsed and drained
1 can beans (white, pinto or garbanzo) rinsed and drained
2 cups water, veg broth or chicken stock
1 cup amber ale
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 cups cubed cooked pumpkin

Cilantro Lime Cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp finely chopped cilantro*
a squeeze of fresh lime juice
a pinch kosher salt

Mix together ingredients for the cilantro lime cream and set aside.

Cook onions, peppers and garlic in oil over a med-low flame until soft, but not browned, about 5-7 minutes.

Add pumpkin, hominy, beans, tomatoes, water or stock, ale, cumin, chili powder, oregano, cocoa powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and let simmer 30-40 minutes. Add pumpkin chunks, stir and heat through, 5 minutes.

Serve with cilantro lime cream.
 
*If you don't already have some in your freezer, Trader Joe's has frozen herbs in small cubes...perfect for days like this!

Localicious

Thanks to a wonderful little Park & Rec art class for CiBaby this summer, I have 8 whole hours (spread out over 4 days, of course) a.l.o.n.e. Ahhhh heaven. So what did I do on my first day of solitude? I headed on a necessary errand...to restock my spice and seasoning shelves, which of course took me to Penzey's. I could seriously spend a good chunk of time there, but my spice cabinet and pocketbook said "stick to your list!"

With one necessary errand done and about 25 minutes to kill I swung into the Golden Fig store. Seriously, if you love food like I do, love to talk about it with other foodies and have not been there...GO! Okay, so you don't really need to be a foodie, but I'll bet that you'll start to become a very discerning consumer once you've visited this lovely little shop! Local local local...that's what it's all about. I could spend a king's ransom in that shop, but today I settled with 2 fantastic new (to me) items...Golden Fig's The Bees Knees - fresh squeezed lemon juice, water, local honey, local mint and lavender (we used sparkling water as our "mixer") and Extra Dough's Smokey Chipotle pecans (oh.my.god...HEAVEN!!!).

Another item you can find at GF, and our local farmers market, is Sunrise butternut squash fettuccini. While yes, it's light in flavor, you just need to make your toppings light as well. For this reason, and the reason that I have a bunch of produce from our garden and CSA begging to be used, I made up the following...

Summertime Pasta
8 oz Sunrise butternut squash fettuccini
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
2 cobs corn, kernels cut off
1 medium zucchini
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size of said tomato
1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
sea salt
bacon grease* and/or extra-virgin olive oil

Cook fettuccini as directed, al dente. Once cooked, drain, rinse, and toss with a little extra-virgin olive oil then set aside.

Meanwhile put 1-2 tsp bacon grease or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat and add sage. Saute 2-3 minutes. It will turn crunch. Remove sage from skillet and put into a small, heat resistant bowl. Add corn kernels to the skillet and turn up the heat to medium. Saute 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the corn is cooking, make long ribbons out of the zucchini using a veggie peeler. Toss into the pan with the corn. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and a little olive oil if needed. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Add pasta, toss with veggies and let cook a couple of minutes, basically to just heat the pasta a bit. Turn off the heat, toss in the tomatoes, sage and parmesan cheese; toss to combine. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes...then serve with more parm, if desired.

Seriously, I don't think eating can get any sweeter than local! Totally localicious!

*Yes, I save bacon grease...have I mentioned this before? It's great for flavoring and a little goes a long way.

Could you make...?

I love those 3 words. It's a challenge, like "What can you create with minimal time and without having to buy a king's ransom at the grocery store? Huh? Huh?!?"

A friend recently threw a birthday party for her husband and requested a lettuce salad. With a quick dig through my deep freezer*, and my brain, I came up with the following salad recipe. Of course when I told her what I was making she said, "Oh, I was just thinking lettuce, tomato and cheese." Ummmm, do you know who you're asking???

8-10 cups chopped Romain, or other crunchy lettuce (I used 2 Romain hearts)
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1 cup roasted corn
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
5 slices thick cut bacon, fried and chopped
1/2 cup candied walnuts**
Fried dandelions (recipe follows)
Walnut oil vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Layer salad in this order - dressed lettuce, roasted red pepper, roasted corn, tomatoes, and bacon. Add the walnuts and dandelions right before serving so they remain crunchy.


Make ahead and set aside:
Vinaigrette
1/2 cup Roasted French Walnut oil
2 Tbsp high quality balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp basil, chiffonade

Whisk together right before tossing with the lettuce.

Dandelion flowers
1 cup dandelion flowers, stemmed and washed well
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2+ cup beer (use a little more if you need to thin the batter a bit)
1/2 cup oil (I used corn this time)

Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and beer in a medium bowl. The batter should be like pancake batter, so if too thick add a little more beer, if too thin add in a little more cornmeal. Add in dandelion flowers and toss to coat.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan (I use my 5" cast iron frying pan as I don't like the wasted oil) over medium-high heat. Add the dandelions to the oil one-by-one, blossom side down and cook for about 3 minutes or until slightly browned. Turn over and cook the other side. Remove blossoms (I just use a fork) and place them on a paper toweling. Immediate sprinkle with kosher salt. Repeat with remaining blossoms.


The salad was a hit. Now I just need a name for it!

*This is where all of my harvest time labor pays off!
**If I need to put instructions on how to candy your own nuts, let me know.

Well...why not?!

I look out my big picture window...and there they stand. Bright and glowing in the sunlight, taunting me. "Ha ha! I got into your flower beds and there's nothing you can do about it!" Until a light bulb switched on. Oh yeah? Watch me.

So today I took my trusty bowls out into the wild blue yonder and harvested...dandelions. "Huh?" you say? Well...why not?! Dandelion greens are high in Vitamins A and B, Potassium and Iron...and the flowers taste darn good when you fry them up. Of course T-Daddy said, "We're eating weeds??" and proceeded to tell CiBaby that her Mama is silly.

I fried up a little bit of bacon with a clove of minced garlic then added the dandelion greens (just the leaves, mind you) and stir-fried them up like you would any southern style greens. The flowers were dipped in a little batter and fried to a golden brown and topped with a little kosher salt. Those were gobbled up instantly.

So in the end I guess I'm not so silly after all.

Please note...if you are going to do this make sure that the dandelions you harvest are clean of all herbicides and pesticides. I picked mine out of my organic gardens which do not see any of the forementioned "cides" and are fairly protected from passing dogs.

Potato Gnocchi

For years I have been searching for a gnocchi to rival a restaurant's in the North End of Boston. Everything came up short. And tough. So when I picked a special Fine Cooking - Real Italian magazine I was delighted to see that they had not only a recipe, but also the technique of making these little pillows of happiness. I read through the recipe, tips and instructions and thought..."This is lemon squeezy!"

So tonight I whipped up a batch and I'll tell you the truth it was a little bit of heaven in a bowl...smothered in homemade sauce. Absolutely divine.

Potato Gnocchi - Fine Cooking Recipes, Techniques and Tips

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Note: The one crucial part they left out of the recipe was the actual boiling of the gnocchi. For those who don't want to search the web and don't already intuitively know...Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling add (I had to do it in two batches) the gnocchi; gently stir so they don't stick to the bottom. The gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water when almost done. Let them cook a minute more. I removed them with a slotted spoon into the serving bowl and covered with sauce. So delicious!See More

Happy...

2010!

We rang in a very frigid new year with our good friends, the Kippsters. There was lots good, semi-clean fun...along with, of course, the annual watching of Christmas Vacation. And the kicker is that CiBaby was actually awake to ring in the new year! Yikes but yay!

After that fun night of too much to eat and drink and too little sleep, I creaked my way out of bed and into the kitchen. Our morning entailed celebrating a good friend's birthday with a New Year's Day brunch...and I had signed up to bring the cheesy potatoes. One, never have I made cheesy potatoes and two...well, there's CiBaby...who loves her cheese but her cheese doesn't love her (at least the inexpensive stuff). So I set out on a mission to make a great tasting lactose-free cheesy potatoes...sounds like an oxymoron, right? But holy crykies they were GOOD!*


CzaMama's CheeZ Potatoes for CiBaby


Thick white sauce with mushroom (recipe follows)

1 cup goat's milk yogurt

2 tsp corn starch

2 lbs frozen diced hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 cup goat's milk butter, melted
1 1/2 cups shredded aged cheddar cheese, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp dried onion flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
4 oz chevre, cut/broken into small chunks

In a large bowl, mix yogurt and corn starch. Slowly add warm thick white sauce, stirring constantly until incorporated. Add in thawed potatoes, melted butter, 1 cup aged cheddar cheese and onion flakes. Mix; add salt and pepper, to taste.

Put potato mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and dot with chevre. Top with remaining shredded cheddar cheese.


Bake in a 350F degrees, preheated oven for 1 hour.

Thick white sauce (bechamel) with mushrooms:
2 dried mushrooms (I used shitaki), rehydrated (reserving soaking water), squeezed of extra moisture and finely chopped
3 Tbsp goat milk butter, divided
4 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (or Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour)
1 1/2 cups hot lactose-free milk (I use 2%)
3/4 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add flour; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, or until mixture (known as a roux) is smooth and begins to bubble.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add milk all at once. Return saucepan to heat; stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. Sauce will be thickened and smooth in about 1 minute.

Add salt and pepper; cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

As if we hadn't cheered enough, the clan came over to our abode to continue our annual New Year's Day fire and hot dog roast...with a twist. This year it was so incredibly cold none of us wanted to be outside, so instead everyone roasted their dog and marshmallows by our cozy living room fireplace!

Cheers!

*I make no claim that they are healthy or low in fat/calories...just without lactose.

Eating locally on a budget...the dollars and sense

With all this talk about eating locally, I thought I should touch on the dollars and sense of it all.

The other day, while at the gym working out on the elliptical machine, I caught the last half of an Oprah re-run. It was about kids and obesity.* One thing a mom of one of the kids said really got me thinking. She said they were on food stamps and that it was not always easy to pick the healthier option when on a tight budget. Really? While I can see how that is for some things, I am having a hard time believe that as a blanket statement.**

So I've started to do a little research on the subject of eating healthfully on a budget AND eating locally. I hit the grocery stores, co-ops and the farmers' markets. I won't bore you with all of the prices, but I will sum it up with you will, on average, spend less on locally produced food when comparing like foods (organic to organic and conventional to conventional).

First, if you have anywhere to plant anything edible...do it! Be it a few large pots on your patio, whatever, it's a start. It's as local as you can get...and quite inexpensive. The same day I saw the Oprah show I went to my monthly Master Gardener meeting and it was on Superabundant Small Gardens. In 2005 the presenter decided to really see how much her organic garden produced, not only in pounds but how much it would have cost her to buy it all at the time it was harvested.***

Her garden's expenses included: manure, other fertilizers, seeds and plants, potting soil, electricity and water, pots and supports and her community garden plot rental fee. It totalled up to be around $253.50. Her crop was valued at $1,408.65, minuses expenses...for a total value of $1,155.15. WOW! Now she follows a few simple rules that I personally abide by for my own garden...When you have a small space to garden, produce what you love and costs the most to buy. Of those things look at what takes up the least amount of space, grow up verses out. Love beans but you don't have a lot of room for a large crop? Plant pole beans! Have a fence and love cucumbers? Plant the vining variety and have them climb up your fence. Find compact varieties. Interplant your edible plants into your flower gardens. Eggplant are not only beautiful, but their purple flowers are gorgeous too. Peppers, especially the hot variety add a splash of color (habanero for fall, what could be better???)

Second, if you have access to a Farmers' Market...GO! Not everyone has the room or the time for a garden (or in my case I cannot grow as much as I use) but everyone can visit a farmers' market. Not only do you get the freshest fruits and vegetables picked at their peak, you also get contact with the people who grow your food and support your local community at rockin' prices! I did overhear one woman say, "If I wanted to pay this much for X, I could just go to the grocery store." I think she's missing the big picture, don't you?

Some of my purchases at the Farmers' Market included:
Red bell peppers - 16 lbs for $12 ($.75/lb)
Green bell peppers - 8 lbs for $4 ($.50/lb)
Eggplant - 21 lbs for $5 ($.24/lb)
Tomatoes - 60 lbs for $18 ($.30/lb)
Fresh onions - 5.5 lbs for $4 ($.73/lb)
Beets (red & golden) - 8 lbs for $4 ($.50/lb)

What did CiBaby and I make with all of this (and from our garden) food, you ask?

We made salsa...lots of salsa!...(both red and green...which we eat a lot and is an easy/good thing to bring to parties), pickled beets, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, raspberry jam, pear butter, tomato sauce, eggplant parmesan, moussaka and ratatouille. I also put away roasted eggplant, roasted red and yellow peppers, green peppers, zucchini, corn, sweet potato leaves, green beans and tomatoes for future cooking use...which saves me a ton of money and everything is still peak flavor.

You don't have to be a foodie, like me, to see why this works. It just makes [dollars and] sense.


*Ironic???
**Long ago I was a check-out girl at a grocery store and saw the "food" come through on food stamps...let's just say that a good majority of it was not what I would consider good choices.
***I forgot to ask her if it was just at the co-op/grocery store and didn't factor in the farmers' markets' prices.

The Art of Cooking

As many of you who know me well*...I love to cook. Not only do I love to cook, I love food, I love ingredients, I love cookbooks, I love techniques and I love to experiment. LOVE IT! Nothing gives me more joy, with the exception of my family, to try out new concoctions on friends and family and get their feedback. I consider it art.

As I stand here and sort out green tomatoes I think...what will I do with all of these? Sure sure, I can make "fried green tomatoes," or "green tomato relish"...while good...I can only eat so much of it. So now what? I search cooking websites and cookbooks for inspiration.**

While what ended up being wasn't fancy, we have many jars of green salsa from my own "recipe." My first attempt at it with unripened tomatoes. Smoked in our fireplace, no less. Darn tasty in my opinion...and friends' too!


*Recently a friend who knows these facts came to me with a potential proposition...which has gotten my wheels-a-turning on a potential business opportunity! Stay tuned!!!
**Also, those who know me know that I have shelves and shelves of cookbooks but actually rarely make an actual recipe from them. Why you ask? I use them as a basis for my own recipes. Flavor combinations. And then I wing it...with the exception of baking. I suck at wing-baking.

The Eat Local Challenge: Day 17

With the bounty of the harvest kicking in...fresh tomatoes, ripe off the vine, eggplant and zucchini begging to be picked and used...I couldn't wait to cook up a batch of Ratatouille!

Sebha del Hdaree

Ratatouille with Dates from Cooking at the Kasbah by Kitty Morse

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded, de-ribbed and diced

3 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 fresh rosemary sprig

1 bay leaf

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 eggplant, peeled and cubed

2 zucchini, cubed

1/2 cup dates, pitted and chopped

2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 Tbsp slivered almonds, toasted

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a medium enameled casserole over medium-high heat, heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil and saute the onion and pepper until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaf, and garlic. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil and cook the eggplant and zucchini until the zucchini are golden, 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Add the eggplant, zucchini, dates and paprika to the mixture in the casserole. Stir to blend.

Cover tightly and bake until the vegetables are tender, 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and discard the rosemary and the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with toasted almonds. Serve hot or at room temperature.

The Eat Local Challenge: Day 10

This recipe has been a favorite of mine going back to my childhood. G-Mama use to wait until the zucchini were bursting at the seams and all of a sudden we got a mammoth one...what do do with it? Stuff it, of course!

Hint: start with the tomato sauce so it all comes together at about the same time.


Stuffed Zucchini

4 medium zucchini, scrubbed and peel removed in stripes (you could take it all off or leave it all on, I just did stripes)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 egg beaten
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
6 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried OR 2 tsp fresh oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 pepper
(tomato sauce recipe, below)

Cut zucchini lengthwise, scoop out inside leaving 1/4" shell. Chop pulp coarsely. Heat olive oil, brown onions 8-10 minutes on medium heat until soft. Add zucchini pulp and garlic, cook 5 minutes longer. Scoop into mesh colander and set over bowl to drain.

Brown beef, drain well.

In a medium mixing bowl, take vegetable mixture and meat and add egg and breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt and pepper. Spoon evenly into zucchini shells, mounded. Bake in a shallow dish with warm tomato sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375F for 30 minutes, then 15 minutes uncovered.

Tomato sauce for stuffed zucchini:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 lbs plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped OR 1 big can of plum tomatoes (not drained)
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
black pepper, to taste

Simmer on low for 40 minutes. Press through a sieve or food mill (I never do this, but do it if you like a really smooth, seed-free sauce)

Make no beans about it...

making beans from their humble dried form is easier than...well, easy!

While I don't consider myself a novice cook, I've always been oddly intimidated by dried beans. The selection of dried beans is so awesome, not to mention very economical, but every time I made them, they never turned out. They were still really hard after hours of soaking and simmering on the stove to only dry out and burn, but still hard. A total disappointment.

So in an effort not only to eat local, but to also eat our pantry down, yesterday I looked a bag of dried pinto beans straight in the eye and opened it in an attempt to make beans! Now, I'm fairly sure that I've always looked at the bag before...but this time it had different directions/suggestions that I don't recall ever seeing (and grant it, I've never bought 10 lbs of beans at one time either). You can use your slow cooker to make the beans. WHAT?!??? I (think I) can do that!!!

After soaking the beans for 6 hours at room temperature (or 8 hours in the refrigerator) I put those bad boys in the crockpot, covered with about 1 inch of water, turned the sucker on low and let them do their thing for about 10 hours. Viola! BEANS that were neither hard, dry nor burned!

I hope this information not only expands your cooking knowledge and bean choices, but also your wallet with all of the money you will save!

The Eat Local Challenge: Day 6

The other day I purchased a large bag (around 4-5 lbs) of green beans at the Farmers' Market with the intention of eating some and processing some for the freezer. Well, to my dismay I didn't care much for them...at least steamed. They were a bit too mature (a bit tough and dry), although they had decent flavor...so in order to save them I had to find a recipe to use them up that would somehow eliminate the parts I didn't like. The following soup did the trick (with a little bit of recipe manipulation)!!!

Green Bean Soup (Transylvania style!)*

2 lbs fresh green beans
1 large clove of garlic
1 handful fresh parsley
1 pinch of salt
4 slices Canadian bacon, chopped fine
1 onion, chopped
1-1/2 Tbsp butter, divided
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup Goat's milk yogurt (for the lactose challenged in the family)
3 Tbsp rice vinegar

In a large pot over medium heat, combine green beans, garlic, parsley, salt and water to cover, and cook until beans are tender.

Reserve 2 cups of water from cooked beans, transfer bean mixture into blender and puree, in batches, until smooth. Return to stove and put over low heat.

Fry Canadian bacon until browned, add to bean puree. Add 1 Tbsp butter and cook onions over low to lightly caramelize, add 1/2 Tbsp butter and flour, stirring until brown. Slowly add reserved water, stirring slowly and constantly to prevent lumps.

Cook onion/flour mixture to thicken a bit, then add to the bean soup and bring to a boil. Stir in yogurt (warm up yogurt by spooning some of the hot soup into a large bowl with yogurt first, then add back into the kettle) and vinegar.

Serve with warm bread.

We hope you like it, it was a big hit at our dinning table tonight!


*The original recipe can be found on All-Recipes.com

The Eat Local Challenge: Day 4

Steamed Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

(Nplooj Zaub Pob Qhwv Cub)

from Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America

The mixture used to fill these glistening, fat cabbage bundles is similar to egg roll filling, and, like egg roll filling, every Hmong cook makes it a little bit differently.

Ingredients

10+ outer leaves from 2 large heads of American* or napa cabbage

(or substitute iceberg lettuce leaves)

3 - 2oz packages (bundles) Asian vermicelli noodles (aka cellophane, bean thread or glass noodles)

1 lb ground pork*, chicken or turkey

4 green onions*, white and green parts, chopped fine

1/4 cup cilantro*, finely chopped

1 small can water chestnuts, drained and chopped

3 medium-sized carrots, finely shredded

6 pieces black fungus (they are really black when dry)

6 medium-sized white mushrooms*, chopped fine

1 tsp salt

1 tsp MSG (optional, I did not use it)

1/2 tsp course-ground black pepper

2 Tbsp oyster sauce

a few drops sesame oil (I used about 2 tsp)

2 eggs, stirred

Preparation

Remove and wash the large outer leaves of the cabbage, being careful not to tear them. With a paring knife, cut any tough root-end away from each leaf. In a large pan, bring 3 quarts of water to boil. Once the water is boiling, submerge 1 cabbage leaf (or lettuce leaf) at a time in the water for a second or two. The leaves should become pliable but not limp. Drain and lay the leaves on a plate and set aside.

While preparing the leaves, soak the vermicelli noodles in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes (or follow the directions on the package), or until soft. Using a fine-mesh colander, completely drain the noodles (and rinse and drain, otherwise they become one huge mass of noodles and are hard to mix later). With kitchen shears, snip the noodles into approximately 1-inch lengths. In a large bowl, use your hands to mix the ground meat with the noodles, green onions, cilantro, water chestnuts, carrots, black fungus and mushrooms. Add the salt, MSG (if using), black pepper, oyster sauce and sesame oil. Add the eggs and mix thoroughly.

Using a plate as a work surface, place 1 cabbage leaf on the plate and about 1/3 cup of the filling on the leaf. Roll up the leaf as you would an egg roll, tucking in the sides as you roll. Discard any leaves that have large tears, since the filling would leak out (small tears do not matter). To steam the stuffed leaves, fill a large flat bottomed bamboo** or metal steamer half full of water and set it on the stove over high heat to boil. (I put my bamboo steamer into my wok and it works very nicely.) Gently place each stuffed leaf in the top part of the steaming pan. The stuffed leaves can be stacked on top of each other. Cover the pan and steam the stuffed leaves for about 30 minutes. Remove the steamer from the stove, take the lid off of the steamer, and allow the steam to escape. Then carefully lift each stuffed leaf onto a serving platter. Serve hot.

In the end I have to say they were delicious!!! The only things I would do differently is increase the salt by maybe a 1/2 tsp, up the pepper to at least 1 tsp, and maybe double the cilantro. We also dipped our rolls in a mixture (in 1/3 increments) of soy sauce, mirin and water.

Note: when there were options, the ingredients that were bolded were the ones I chose to use.

+ I ended up filled 25 leaves with 1/3 cup filling (it made a lot of filling!)...if that gives you any idea.

* All locally grown/raised.

**Make sure you line the bottom of the bamboo steamer with some of your extra, too small cabbage leaves...otherwise you will pick up some of the bamboo taste.

Impromptu meals

I'm the queen of impromptu meals.* I have always wanted to be a planner, but it just doesn't seem to be in my nature. Tonight I made the most delicious Sesame Pork (I suppose you could use chicken too). I had been craving some really good sesame pork for awhile. It seems like most Chinese restaurants only have the batter dipped and fried stuff, and I wanted something more...something better.**

Everyone in our little household thought it something great. So here you go.

Sesame Pork - Serves 4

2 boneless pork chops, cut into 1 inch cubes
Arrowroot or cornstarch, to coat
4 carrots, peeled (or if you can't find the peeler at that very moment, just scrubbed) and cut diagonally into ¼ inch slices
2 Tbsp peanut oil (or whatever you tend to use, I like peanut oil for Chinese food)

Sauté pork in oil for 4-5 minutes, turning once. Add carrots and cook another 3-4 minutes or until tender but not soft. Add sauce to combine.

¼ cup dry-toasted white sesame seeds

Sauce
1/4 cup Shao Xing Cooking wine
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp arrowroot dissolved in 2 Tbsp water
1 tsp sesame oil

In a small saucepan on med-low heat, add Shao Xing, soy sauce and rice vinegar, bring to a slight simmer. Add in arrowroot/water combo and combine and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in sesame oil and remove from heat.

Serve over steamed rice sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

*I do have a goal this year to make a new dish BY the recipe once a week, I've done pretty well so far.
**I haven't had a chance to really look hard for a good and different recipe, so I just made it up myself.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day with a Family Sushi Rolling Party.

The party started with CiBaby decorating cookies*


I was the whip-crackin' instructor at our party. Here we have G-Mama and Auntie making their rolls. Watch out for G-Mama though, you might be surprised at the contents. If you were looking for something other than Spam, you may have to look elsewhere!


Our sushi rolls turned out beautifully and very tasty. Along with our rolls we had tempura...they balance eachother out nutritionally, don't you think?

Either CiBaby's tastebuds have developed, or our plan to starve her before dinner worked. She ate 5! pieces of sushi among other things.

But then she was holding out for Bopa's fav...Cherry Berries on a Cloud, to which she proudly exclaimed..."I like it!"

It was a lovely evening spent with the people we love.

*After all of the finger licking, CiBaby was the proud owner of all of the cookies.

Year of the Ox

Happy New Year!

Today we celebrated the beginning of Chinese New Year...the year of the Ox (which happens to be my sign as well!) which will continue for the next 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival.

The day began with a very fun playdate with 9 other mom friends and their 11 children, it was a full house. Fun was had by all. In an effort to minimize stress on myself I made nothing except for coffee. I did buy some fun treats at my FAV Asian market...trying to keep to the New Year traditions (and still be American kid friendly) I got green tea pumpkin seeds, sweet candies and taro filled wafer cookies*.

After the house quieted and was tidyed up, I set to preparing our meal. It was a simple dish but delicious and very easy to make, which was served with Yu Choy. G-Mama and Bopa joined us for the festivities.

Xinjian Rice Pot with Lamb
san geung yeung yuk faan

(copied from Food of the World - China)

This wholesome dish from Xinjiang Province is known in Uygur as "poluo rice" which means finger-food. Thus is eaten with the fingers rather than chopsticks* or spoons. This dish is always served at weddings, funerals, and traditional festivals, including the first day of Chinese New Year.

Serves 6-8 (generous servings)

2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil

10-1/2 oz/300 g lamb or mutton, cut into bit-size cubes

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

2 onions coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppers, lightly roasted and lightly crushed

generous 2 cups short- or medium-grain rice

3-3/4 cups water

In a large casserole, heat the oil and stir-fry the meat for 1-2 minutes, or until the pieces are sealed on all sides. Add the carrot and onion and stir-fry until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Add the salt, ginger, and Sichuan peppers and mix well.

Finally, add the rice and water and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the water. Serve alone or as part of a meal.

We cracked open a bottle of wine

we picked up in China, and put some
traditional Chinese music on the stereo.

CiBaby was so proud of her chopstick skills,

even though there were near misses!

Wishing you all the best,

CzaMama, T-Daddy and CiBaby

*If you see Durian fruit wafer cookies by Garden Company, run fast and far. Horrible. They smelled so awful and tasted just as bad. The coconut and peach were good, and the taro (by I-Mei) were good too. All not terribly sweet...like american wafer cookies.

**We used chopsticks...Bopa wasn't too excited about using his fingers to eat.