Eating the Scenery

Easy Almond Flour at Home

2012-01-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

Because most baked goods are made with grains and sugars, and serve as vehicles for stuff we don't want to eat much of, like jams, syrups, frostings and other sugary toppings, we've been amazingly successful this past year in turning around the desire for baked goods.

Once in a while I'll whip up a batch of something made with almond flour, though, like pancakes. They're scrumptious for breakfast with mixed berries atop. I'll post the recipe.

But first, I urge you not to buy expensive, pre-ground bags of almond flour. Once a nut is ground, the fats in it begin to oxidize. You'll set back the oxidizing process enormously by using fresh, whole almonds ground the minute you want to use almond flour.

I've had some success making almond flour in a blade coffee grinder. But I'm thrilled to report there's a new little food processor out, made by KitchenAid, that has a larger capacity than a coffee grinder and does a SUPERB job of turning out almond flour in seconds. I think it's because they've raised the upper blade so that it catches pieces of nuts whirling around above the lower blade.

Many grain-free recipes call for blanched almond flour, but my whole, raw, unblanched almond flour performs wonderfully in every recipe I've tried. A good source of almond flour recipes is Elana's Pantry.

EASY ALMOND FLOUR AT HOME

Start with whole, raw (not roasted) almonds, organic if you can find them. Almonds aren't a local crop, so I'll get them at our local health food stores or order them from a highly satisfactory online vendor called Nuts.com.

If your almonds are frozen (I usually keep mine in the freezer), let them warm up a bit if you can. It's easier on your grinder if the nuts aren't frozen.

For every cup of almond flour needed, use about the same amount of almonds. For example, one cup of almonds will give you about one cup of almond flour.

Place almonds in your grinder of choice, paying attention to capacity of your grinder. The little KitchenAid food processor above holds 2 cups, but the average coffee grinder will hold only 1/2 cup or so.

Pulse a few times to begin breaking up the almonds into smaller pieces. Then process constantly until you have a fine meal.

The most important thing is to stop processing before you get almond butter! But even if you do, almond butter is a wonderful thing, too.

2012: Winter CSA Box 5

2012-01-20T16:15:00.000-08:00

Box 5 contained lovely romaine leaves, purple and green cabbages, turnips, thyme, russet potatoes, dried chickpeas, and huge red onions. The chickpeas are resting comfortably while awaiting transfer to their giveaway winner!

I carmelized two of the onions in ghee, then added cardamom and chopped kale and apple in a loose adaptation (read: too lazy to go look up the recipe) of this dish. I love my local vegetables!

Legume Giveaway!

2012-01-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

Why should the big name bloggers have all the fun? As anyone reading Eating the Scenery knows, I no longer eat legumes. But my CSA boxes have contained two lovely bags of them lately ... chickpeas and white lentils.

So ... why not a giveaway!

I assume that at least one or six Loyal Readers of Eating the Scenery do eat legumes. Despite the strident tone of my sidebars (need to work on that), I try very hard not to be the Food Police. Decisions about food are very personal. Perhaps you eat legumes. I have some I don't need. Giving them to you doesn't mean I don't care about you. I do hope you'll give some thought to preparing them, though.

That said, no hype, pressure or hypocrisy are involved when I say you won't find beautiful lentils and chickpeas like this anywhere but here ... southeast Washington State, the Fertile Crescent and Legume Capital of the Western World. (Wait ... that might be hype.)

Best of all, you don't have to like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter to enter! (Heaven forfend. This blogger is too busy in the kitchen to bother with most social media.)

Just be the first person to comment on this post, say that you want the legumes, and I'll either ship these puppies to you or bring them to you, depending on where you live.

I'll reply to the winning post. If I don't know you, I'll ask you to e-mail your address to me at eatingthescenery@gmail.com.

If no one comments, I'll be really embarrassed, and perhaps give up blogging entirely.

Bone Broth in the Slow Cooker

2012-01-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've been picking up grassfed beef soup bones here and there for a while (okay, a couple of years) and finally got 'em all out of the freezer the other day. Inspired by bone broth makers all over the internet, and with the hope of a hot, nourishing collagen grog, I was (once again) suprised at how easy it all was. And from first to last sip, the bone broth was, indeed, wonderful!

A diversionary note: If you have wonderfully marrow-y bones like this, you can actually roast them 'til the marrow is crackly and bubbly, then eat the marrow. I tasted it, and it was heavenly. Believe it or not, marrow bones, served with a cool and crispy parsley salad, are a hot ticket item at a high-end restaurant in New York City.

Okay, back to the straight and marrow. I'll keep this as brief as possible, because there are recipes all over creation for this stuff.

BONE BROTH IN THE SLOW COOKER
These amounts make roughly 3 quarts of broth.

You'll need:

Grassfed beef bones (about 4 pounds)
Carrots
Onion
Celery
Apple cider vinegar
Bay leaves
Salt and pepper

Thaw your bones. Rinse them well to remove any bone dust.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange bones on a baking sheet as shown. At the last minute, I decided NOT to use the Silpat, so removed it and placed the bones directly on the baking sheet.

Roast for 20 minutes or so, then check to see how things are going. The marrow should be sizzling, and any meat on the bones should be getting brown. Keep roasting 'til things look nice and crispy and brown. You can use unroasted bones, but roasting adds flavor and color to the finished broth.

While bones are roasting, cut up a few carrots, an onion, and some celery. This is optional, but will make the broth tastier, I think. Put the veggies in the crockpot, and add a couple of bay leaves and a few grinds of pepper.

Place bones in slow cooker. Add water to a depth of at least an inch over the bones. I used a 6-quart slow cooker for the bones shown. Be sure to use quantities of bones, veggies and water that keep your slow cooker around 3/4 full ... that's what most manufacturers recommend, but mine was a tad more full than that and worked fine. But don't fill it to the brim. You'll need room for the simmering action.

Add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the slow cooker. The wisdom here is that the acid will help release the calcium and other goodies from the bones.

Cook on low heat for 12 to 24 hours. I cooked mine for 15 hours with great results. I had read that I should skim the broth periodically, but honestly, there was nothing to skim. If you have anything floating that doesn't look nice, you could skim it off.

At this point you have a decision to make. You can remove the bones, strain the broth, then put the bones BACK in the slow cooker, add more water, and keep making broth (for days, even!) until the bones begin to dissolve. I elected not to do that.

With tongs, pick out the bones and place them on a platter to cool and discard. Set up a strainer over a heat-proof casserole large enough to hold your broth, then ladle out broth into it. When the broth level gets low enough, pour the rest of the slow cooker contents into the strainer. Remove strainer, and stir a teaspoon or two of salt into your broth. You can also wait and salt the broth to taste when you use it in soups or for drinking.

Cover and chill the broth. Remove solid fat from top, then freeze broth in containers of choice. If using glass, leave room for freezing broth to expand.

And don't forget to heat up a mug of broth for yourself! You've earned it.

2012: Winter CSA Box 4

2012-01-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

Box 4 contained the crispiest, freshest salad greens (mostly romaine) I've ever seen. There was a bunch of kale to swoon over, a big blue-green squash, russet potatoes, a bunch of beets, dried oregano, two cobs of popcorn and a bag of white lentils.

I have been busy cooking simple food that doesn't require much in the way of recipes. But a few new things are in the blog pipeline ...

Salmon and Red Curry Soup with Winter Greens

2012-01-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

I thought Tom Yum Goong was the best soup ever. But I have a new favorite! The braising greens from Box 2 found their way into this soup, which I made a second time with Box 3's braising greens, and adjusted the ingredients and seasonings to perfection for your enjoyment.

SALMON AND RED CURRY SOUP WITH WINTER GREENS
If you keep the broth-to-vegetable ratio steady, you can substitute freely for veggies you might not have on hand.

2-1/2 pounds wild salmon fillets, skin on (I use Costco Kirkland brand, from the freezer case)
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 small red onions, sliced
3 cups sliced mushrooms
4 (slightly packed) cups greens (braising greens, spinach, sliced chard, etc.)

2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste
2 tablespoons grated or minced ginger
8 cloves garlic, chopped
A couple of slices of seeded jalapeno pepper, or to taste
2 cups small zucchini, quartered and sliced

2 cans (14 ounces or so) coconut milk (not the "lite" kind)
2 cups fish stock (or cooking broth from salmon)
2 cups water
1 bottle (8 ounces) clam broth (optional)
4 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon honey

1 cup sliced basil
1 cup chopped cilantro
Lime wedges

In large skillet, place salmon, wine, water and salt. Simmer, covered, 20 minutes or so, until fish is cooked through. Remove fish to plate, and remove skin. Reserve cooking liquid.

While fish is cooking, heat coconut oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add sliced onions, mushrooms, and greens. Saute, stirring frequently, until onions and mushrooms begin to soften.

Add curry paste, ginger, garlic, jalapeno and zucchini, and stir, then cook for about 2 minutes or until ginger and curry become fragrant.

Stir in coconut milk, strained cooking liquid from salmon (or fish stock), water, clam juice, fish sauce, and honey. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or so.

Taste soup, and if needed, correct seasonings.

Break the salmon into largish chunks and add to soup. Heat through.

Serve in shallow bowls and top each serving with basil, cilantro and a lime wedge or two.

Serves four very hungry people.

2011: Winter CSA Box 3

2011-12-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

That's a hunk of pink banana squash there. Egad! Braising greens, salad greens, two dozen eggs (my add-on), Delicata and acorn squashes, onions, turnips, leeks, dill, and some dried white beans.

Even though I was a little tired the night I picked up this box, its contents clearly were not going to wait for me to feel like dealing with them. So onward I forged.

I washed the dill and put it to soak and revive. Topped the turnips and leeks, cleaned up the onions, seeded and peeled and chunked the banana squash. Realized I had some beets left from an earlier box, and so dinner began to take shape ... CSA Box Emergency Borscht.

A big chopping session ensued, and most of the onions and turnips and all of the dill and leeks went into a pot with a pound of Baron Farms pastured pork sausage, some cabbage, and some chicken broth. And you know what? By the time the soup was simmering nicely, I felt re-energized!

The cubed squash went into the fridge for another day, when I tossed it in coconut/sesame oil, coated it with Rogan Josh seasoning, and roasted it. Divine!

Sometimes the CSA boxes seem like a lot of work. But we enjoyed the soup for several days, and the roasted squash was delicious. Totally worth the effort!

Kale, Cranberry and Blood Orange Salad

2011-12-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

Because I'm usually the only cook around our house, I think constantly about faster ways to get things done in the kitchen and still end up with tasty, attractive results.

I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that kale salad is way easier, and even tastier, made in the food processor instead of with laborious stacking and slicing. You can, of course, stack and slice for a different effect. This method produces a more relish-like salad that is, I think, optimally flavorful and easy to eat.

KALE, CRANBERRY AND BLOOD ORANGE SALAD

If you don't have Perol blood orange vinegar, just use orange juice instead of the apple juice, use your usual vinegar, and stir in a little grated orange peel just before serving. Or use other citrussy or fruity vinegar. The object is to get a fruity taste in there!

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup apple juice

1 bunch Lacinato kale
1 small shallot

2 tablespoons Perel blood orange vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

In food processor, chop shallot finely.

In small saucepan, combine apple juice and cranberries, and heat gently to warm. Add chopped shallot, and remove pan from heat. Set aside.

Wash kale, spin dry, and remove thick stems. Place stemmed kale in food processor (in batches if too crowded) and chop coarsely.

Place chopped kale in medium bowl. To juice mixture in pan add vinegar, olive oil and salt. Stir, then pour dressing over kale and mix well.

Just before serving, stir in walnuts.

Makes 4 servings.

2011: Winter CSA Box 2

2011-12-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law called one day, and chatted with Mr. Eating the Scenery. She must have asked how I was doing, because Mr. ETS said, "Oh, she's having lots of fun with fruits and vegetables."

And so it is that we acquire, by virtue of that which engages us, a certain identity. So be it. I can think of worse things to be associated with!

The second Winter CSA box's largesse included salad greens, braising greens, spaghetti and acorn squash, broccoli, green cabbage, daikon radishes, onions, taters, and Brussels sprouts. And yes, I'm having fun with them.

A Turkey in Two Hours

2011-12-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

The original article from the Tri-City Herald.

Tried and true recipes, dogeared and written-on (try that on an iPad or Smartphone!), are still alive and well in many kitchens. Years ago I started keeping these gems in a three-ring binder so as not to lose them ... and to experience again and again their consistently wonderful results.

Such a recipe is "A Turkey in 2 Hours" from a long-ago edition of the Tri-City Herald. The technique is from Chef Wil Masset, then owner and master chef of Birchfield Manor in Yakima. He is still there, though his son is now the chef and owner.

My turkey weighed 15 pounds, and was Organic Prairie brand from Fred Meyer. Blue Valley Meats offered local turkeys, but I didn't decide on the menu this year soon enough to order one from them. I sincerely miss my former turkey providers, Russ and Laurie Stasska, who moved to North Carolina. Happy holidays, you two!

A TURKEY IN TWO HOURS
from Chef Wil Masset, Birchfield Manor, Yakima

You will need:

Turkey
Sharp knives
Paprika
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Carrots, Celery and Onion

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Position rack low enough so the oven can accommodate the roaster and turkey. Remember the turkey will be on its side, and thus perhaps a bit higher than if it were lying flat.

Prepare your seasonings and oil in little bowls so you have them all ready for when you begin to massage the turkey. For my 15-pound turkey, I used 2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper, 1/2 cup olive oil, and 5 teaspoons paprika (2 sweet, 2 smoked, and 1 hot).

Cut off the turkey's crop skin at neck, and cut off wings at second joint. Remove giblets. I placed the neck in the roasting pan to use in stock.

Place the bird in a large roasting pan on a bed of chopped carrots, celery and onion.

Now, rub the turkey (and the wings) with a mixture of salt, pepper and paprika, inside and out. Then rub olive oil into the turkey.

Arrange the turkey on its side, propping it up securely with the wings. Placing the turkey on its side better uses the oven heat and speeds cooking, preserving the moisture in the meat.

Place the prepared turkey on its side. This is important.

Place bird in oven and roast for about an hour and a half. At this point (approximately three quarters of the way through the cooking time), carefully turn the turkey over. Don't use forks or other implements that could pierce the skin and cause a loss of juices. You can use clean potholders or dishcloths, or large tongs you can clamp between the cavity and the bird's skin surface, while stabilizing the bird using your protected hand on the other end.

Re-stabilize the turkey (remember to place it on its side) with the wings. You can turn the wings, too.

Return turkey to oven and continue roasting for another half hour to an hour ... until juices run clear when meat is pierced at the thigh joint near the body. A thermometer placed there should read at least 160 degrees.

My 15-pound turkey, which was completely thawed, took 2-1/2 hours to roast.

If the breast meat is done but the leg/thigh joint needs more time, you can either cover the breast with foil, or slice off the breast meat, and roast the rest of the bird some more.

This method produces a juicy, flavorful turkey, and the carcass/bones make a splendid stock. I used the drippings to make a gravy using almond flour and arrowroot, from a recipe in this cookbook.

My thanks to Wil Masset for taking the guesswork out of turkey cooking, thus adding a certain serenity to my holiday meal preparations.

A 15-pound bird will easily serve 8 to 10 people.

2011: First Winter CSA Box

2011-11-25T05:38:00.000-08:00

As a kid, I used to watch Monte Hall on "Let's Make a Deal." He would stand there bemusedly, patiently holding his microphone, while contestants literally would jump up and down, going seriously delirious just to have the opportunity to choose "one of the three doors where Carol is now standing!"

At the time, I was somewhat puzzled that people could behave so in public. But last Tuesday I definitely had the urge to do a little dance on the sidewalk when I picked up my first Winter CSA box. It's nice to know the simple things in life can still thrill: turnips, cabbage, beets, squashes, cranberries, tomatoes, braising greens, salad greens, and radishes. All insanely fresh.

Spanish Garlic Soup with Saffron and Cumin

2011-11-23T16:02:00.000-08:00

It's gray and blustery outside. It's the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe it's a Sunday night. Whatever. You just don't feel like cooking! But you feel better if you have a real meal instead of a snack, however healthy the snack might be.

Dragging yourself to the fridge, you open it. Maybe there's some leftover turkey or other meat in there. You keep local eggs on hand, right? If you're a foodie, you'll have saffron and smoked paprika on hand, too, and broth in your pantry or freezer. If not, go stock up ... you know you're going to have one of these moments this winter!

Traditionally, this soup is topped with a hefty number of white-bread croutons. Trust me, diced avocado is way more satisfying.

SPANISH GARLIC SOUP WITH SAFFRON AND CUMIN

Sopa española del ajo con azafrán y comino

2 tablespoons butter or ghee

1 small onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced (reserve for egg frying)

1 teaspoon ground cumin seed

2 cups diced cooked meat, optional (turkey, chicken, pork, beef)

1 quart homemade chicken or turkey broth

1 teaspoon saffron threads*

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon butter or ghee

2-4 eggs (depending on number of servings you are making)

1 avocado, diced

In medium-sized pot, heat butter or ghee over medium heat. Add onion and chopped garlic. Cook, stirring now and then, for about 5 minutes or until onion begins to soften.

Sprinkle cumin over onion mixture and cook briefly, stirring to slightly toast it. Mmmmm!

Add meat, broth, saffron, paprika and crushed red pepper. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon ghee or butter in small skillet. Add the minced garlic, then immediately fry the two eggs in the butter/garlic mixture, turning eggs once.

Taste soup; add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top each bowl with a fried egg and some diced avocado.

Makes enough soup for four small or two large servings.

*Reasonably priced saffron is available at the European Market on Huntington Street (across from GESA) on Huntington Street in Kennewick. They keep it behind the counter, so you have to ask for it.

Simple Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Yams

2011-11-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I 'm always astonished when I discover a simple, easy way to cook something. We do tend to over-complexify sometimes, don't we?

Organic yams and sweet potatoes, looking very fresh and wholesome, have been appearing regularly at my local Yokes Fresh Market.   I recommend preparing more than you'll need for one meal ... they reheat beautifully and can be sliced or diced and fried to make a lovely hash with leftover duck, turkey or pork.

When peeling yams, be sure to peel through the light-colored layer just underneath the skin, to the darker orange layer underneath.

SIMPLE ROASTED SWEET POTATOES AND YAMS
I recently learned that yams and sweet potatoes are "cured," which means allowed to dry a bit after harvesting. Because of that, yams and sweet potatoes should be stored in a cool, dry place, and not in the refrigerator. I've tested this new bit of knowledge, and it seems to be true!

You'll need:

Yams and sweet potatoes
Coconut oil (you could probably use butter or olive oil; I haven't tried it yet)
Salt and pepper

1)   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2)   Peel your yams and sweet potatoes and cut into roughly same-sized chunks. They'll cook more evenly that way.

3)   Melt some coconut oil (I used 1/4 cup for 2 yams and 2 sweet potatoes) and pour it into a mixing bowl.

4)   Add the yam and sweet potato chunks and toss to evenly coat.

5)   Tip yams and sweet potatoes onto a baking sheet (I used the bottom of a broiler tray).

6)    Sprinkle with salt and pepper, or herbs, spices and seasonings to taste.

7)   Roast for 40 to 50 minutes, testing near the end of the roasting time to see if the thickest pieces are tender through.

Serve, or place in casserole and cover to keep warm until serving time.

Grassfed Chuck Roast, with Leeks and Fennel, in the Slow Cooker

2011-11-17T15:45:00.000-08:00

Remember Crockpots? Who doesn't have a Crockpot story to tell: "It tipped over in the car on the way to a potluck! The beans hadn't even begun to get soft after 12 hours of cooking!" My personal stories are more along the lines of special dinners being ruined because the slow-cooked entree was ... ah ... not so much cooked as poached in a sea of simmered sludge.

But no more. Crockpots (generically known as slow cookers) are back with a vengeance. After all, we're all busy. We still want, as we did in days of Crockpot yore, to return home on a blustery fall evening to the savory smells of a dinner that is ready to eat.

Creative cooks have worked hard to achieve this renaissance in slow cooking. Having been intrigued by a number of their cookbooks, I decided to jump into the fray with Liana Krissoff's Secrets of Slow Cooking, and Costco's offering of a sleek, modern, 7-quart Crockpot.

The ancient 4-quart Crockpot I received as a wedding present in 1978 still works fine, but I was interested in the larger capacity, and ... the new digital controls! Essentially the same as older models (high and low settings), but now the hours count down so you know just how much time has elapsed, and when the hours you set are reached, the unit switches to "keep warm" mode.

For this, my first slow cooking foray in a couple of decades, I decided to stick with a simple beef dish. I thawed a Thundering Hooves grassfed chuck roast (Blue Valley Meats bought the inventory when Thundering Hooves went out of business) and checked out a slew of recipes in books and online.

I drafted up a unique recipe of my own, but when I started to prepare it, I found that my carrots had frozen in the vegetable bin, and I had no onions but did have a fennel bulb. Hence, the recipe I intended became this recipe instead. And when, five hours into the cooking process, I discovered two large leeks lurking in the fridge, I sliced those up and tossed them in. The result was so amazing that I'll definitely re-create this re-created recipe next time.

SLOW COOKED CHUCK ROAST WITH LEEKS AND FENNEL

A splendid, satisfying winter dish. I served it with a deep green kale salad with dried cranberries and walnuts, and spaghetti squash. Winter dinners don't get much better than this.

One 4-1/2 pound grassfed chuck roast (or smaller roasts to total about 4 pounds)

3 tomatoes, diced, or a can of diced tomatoes
1 7-ounce jar or can tomato paste
3/4 cup red wine
1 head garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (about 10 cloves)
1 fennel bulb, diced
2 large leeks, sliced (or put them in at cooking midpoint*)
1/4 cup oregano
1/4 cup thyme
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
5 bay leaves

Cut roast into even pieces (I cut mine into three chunks) and place them in the slow cooker.

Mix all remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour the red wine into the empty tomato paste jar, cap and shake to rinse all the last bits of tomato paste out. Pour the sauce mixture over the roast, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

My roast (4-1/2 pounds) was tenderly, meltingly perfect, at 8 hours. I removed the meat to a casserole, then poured the sauce into a deep saucepan, where I used my immersion blender to turn it into the most amazingly delicious (and starch-free) gravy.

This recipe easily would serve 8 people.

*It's a myth that removing the slow cooker's cover during cooking releases epic amounts of heat. You could even leave the lid off and get great results. So, poke, prod and add to your heart's content!

Tom Yum Goong

2011-11-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

This incomparable Thai soup requires a trip to your local Asian market, but after that initial effort, it's quick to prepare.

Tom Yum Goong is a magical soup. It soothes. It warms. It invigorates. I have theories as to why this is so, but it's more satisfying just to enjoy the soup than to talk about it.

Thanks to Michele, the lemon grass is local! She gave me a lemongrass start which I am nurturing indoors this winter and will set out in Spring. Lime leaves, lemon grass and tamarind freeze quite well, so keep some on hand to make this soup when you need it most!

TOM YUM GOONG

There is room for you to alter this recipe to suit your tastes, but do be careful of the broth-to-seasonings ratio. I combined many recipes and adjusted until I found perfection.

1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste

6 cups Oriental or chicken stock
4 cloves crushed or chopped garlic
8 kaffir lime leaves
15 inches of lemon grass, cut into 3-inch lengths
8 slices galangal or ginger
1/4 cup tamarind paste (if it has seeds, soak paste in water and strain into soup)
2 cups regular coconut milk (not "lite")

2 cups mushrooms, quartered
2 cups cabbage, cut in 1-inch chunks
2 cups broccoli, separated into florets

12 ounces tail-on shrimp, thawed or fresh
2 medium tomatoes, cut in wedges

Green onion and cilantro to garnish

Combine lime juice, fish sauce and curry paste in small bowl.

Bring stock to boil. Add garlic, lime leaves, lemon grass, galangal or ginger, tamarind paste and coconut milk. Boil for 3 minutes.

Add mushrooms, cabbage and broccoli. Boil for another 3 to 5 minutes until vegetables begin to be tender.

Add shrimp and tomatoes. Cook just until shrimp turn pink.

Stir in fish sauce mixture. Serve in bowls. Top each bowl with green onion and cilantro. If you like, you can swirl in more curry paste before garnishing, to raise the spice-heat level in individual bowls.

Makes 6 large or 8 smaller servings.

A Visit to the Northwest Regional Food Hub

2011-11-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

For a while now, you've been seeing that little notice in the upper right side of my blog recommending the Northwest Regional Food Hub's "Shop the Northwest" website for placing your order for local products, to be delivered to their store for you to pick up.

Today I actually visited the Northwest Regional Food Hub.

I get positively giddy when I think about how fortunate we are to have such a varied and vast lineup of truly exceptional food producers in our area. As a farmers' market junkie, I droop in spirit a tad when the markets end, then perk up when my bi-weekly Winter CSA deliveries start. Now I can get my local food fix in between deliveries.

A refrigerator case of Pure Eire ... pure dairy bliss!

The Northwest Regional Food Hub is located at 603 Goethals in Richland, and is part of a larger movement to provide improved customer access for small and mid-size producers of fresh food and other products. At last ... something in our crazy world that makes sense!

As you might guess, people like those who run the Food Hub have a definitive interest in health and clean eating. I had a great discussion with one of them today. She's been grain free for more than three years, and it seems there are actually (!) people interested in learning how to cook for the grain-free lifestyle. In a moment of crazy enthusiasm, I shared my blog link and said I'd help with that.

Local onions and pumpkins.

The Hub has tastings, classes, farm tours, celebrations, and other events. The best way to keep up with the goings-on at this bustling mecca of local goods is to drop them a note here and request their e-newsletter. You must do this to stay up to date; things are changing rapidly at the Hub.

And drop in during their retail hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 9:00 to 5:00. Friday is order pickup day between 4:00 and 6:00. Some days they serve a fresh-made lunch, and on Saturdays they may be serving breakfast. All with local products!

Moxie Organix skin care products: "Courageous skincare with a heart."

Brussels Sprout Salad from Mixt

2011-11-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves in Bend, Oregon. At Ginger's Kitchen Shop, I was immediately drawn to their small but amazing selection of cookbooks, many of which I'd never seen before. Lots of new cookbooks are coming out that use just simple, fresh, unprocessed foods ... and few to no bloating grains, legumes or pastas, which we have been eschewing for some time. (For some weird reason, I love the word "eschew" when it comes to things not eaten!)

So it was a marvelous treat to page through Mixt, a salad cookbook by Andrew Swallow. My Schreiber and Sons Brussels sprouts were, I knew, waiting at home ... and I couldn't wait to get there and make this salad!

BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH WARM BROWN BUTTER VINAIGRETTE
Adapted from Mixt, by Andrew Swallow

Pomegranates hadn't quite hit the grocery stores when I made this, so I substituted fresh raspberries. But pomegranates are here now! Be sure to save your healthy bacon fat for use in other dishes.

1.5 pounds Brussels sprouts (yield 9 ounces leaves when separated)
8 strips uncured bacon, preferably from pastured pork, cut into 1-inch pieces; use 1/2 inch chunks if bacon is thick
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1-1/2 tablespoons salted butter or ghee
1 organic Fuji apple, cored and sliced 1/8 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1 white turnip, julienned

Cut off the bottom of each sprout and peel off the leaves. I ended up with gorgeous little sproutlet hearts; use those, too!

Heat a pot of salted water to boil, and prepare a large bowl of ice water.

Blanch the sproutlet hearts for 1 minute; add to them the sprout leaves and blanch for 2 more minutes. Drain quickly and throw sprouts/hearts into the ice water. Set aside.

In medium skillet, fry bacon until perfectly crisp but not crumbly. Transfer bacon to a small bowl and set aside. Drain the bacon fat and reserve for other uses. Add butter or ghee to skillet and melt, then add sage and saute for a minute to flavor the butter. Turn off heat. Add mustard and vinegar, then whisk well.

Assemble salads: In serving plates, place sprout leaves/hearts. Add apple slices and toss. Drizzle vinaigrette over. Season with salt and pepper, and add bacon, pomegranate seeds (or raspberries) and turnips.

Serves three as a main course, four as a side.

Baron Farms Pot-Roasted Pork Loin in White Wine with Garlic, Fennel and Rosemary

2011-11-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

Roast pork perfection ... thanks to Baron Farms.

Years ago I found a used cookbook by Jamie Oliver, the British chef known for his casual approach to cooking. Like mine! Jamie uses great, fresh ingredients and doesn't do fussy. Like me!

This is one of my favorite recipes ever. Still, you can play with it .... like I did with Jamie's recipe. Just be sure to start with local, pastured pork, such as this beautiful loin from Baron Farms in Wapato. Easily, theirs is the tenderest, most flavorful and succulent roast pork I've ever tasted.

BARON FARMS POT-ROASTED PORK LOIN IN WHITE WINE WITH GARLIC, FENNEL AND ROSEMARY
Adapted from The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

This is a rustic dish, and goes beautifully with a green salad, grilled vegetables, and chunky applesauce. My roast was about five pounds, and was bone-in. It roasted in about 2 hours. If your roast is boned, it will take less than the indicated time to cook.

1 3- to 5-pound local pastured pork loin roast, rolled and tied if flat
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
Butter and/or olive oil, about two tablespoons

8 or more cloves garlic, peeled or not
A handful (or a couple of branches) of fresh rosemary
4 bay leaves
2 or 3 fennel bulbs, cored and sliced
Half a bottle of white wine (I used Badger Mountain Organic Chardonnay); more if you like

Fennel bulbs sometimes have discoloration on the bulbs. Just use a peeler to remove it, rather than wasting the fennel! The bulb on top has been lightly peeled.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season roast with salt and pepper, then sprinkle on the fennel seeds. In Dutch oven or other heavy pot with lid, brown meat on all sides in butter and/or olive oil over medium-low heat, until roast is nice and golden brown.

Throw in the garlic, rosemary, bay leaves, fennel slices, and wine. I wanted more juices, so I added a 12-ounce bottle of organic apple juice.

Here's your roast, ready to go into the oven.

Cover pot and place in oven for about 1-1/4 hours, or until internal temperature (if bone-in roast, test temperature near bone) reads at least 160 degrees.

Remove roast to cutting board and slice. Remove rosemary, garlic skins (if left on) and bay leaves from juices. Arrange pork slices in shallow casserole and pour juice mixture over meat.

Serves 6 to 8, depending on size of your roast.

Colonel Mustard, with the Collards, in the Dining Room

2011-10-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Mustard greens (left) and collard greens, washed and ready to chop.

Let's face it. Greens are not for ninnies. Most folks have no clue how to prepare them, and so gravitate to easier things, like zucchini and carrots. Yet robust greens like collards, and spicy, spiky greens like mustard, are true nutrition workhorses.

Schreiber and Sons is the only local producer of mustard greens and collards that I've found. At the next-to-last Richland farmers' market of the season, I found these gorgeous, organic greens to be on sale, but only if bought in quantity. They were $3 per bunch, but only $1 per bunch if I would buy five bunches. I hesitated only for a moment, then loaded up my cart.

I could advance so confidently because I have devised a method to make these wonderful organic greens a part of more meals, with less work. Here's the plan for frozen, on-demand greens that will amaze and satisfy.

1) Get your hands on as many bunches of fresh mustard and collard greens as you can. I used my two giant bunches of mustard greens, and two of my bunches of collard greens. (If your greens have gone limp from being in the fridge too long, try this to revive them.)

2) Tear the collards from the stems. Wash the leaves and place in a large bowl. No need to spin dry. Run kitchen shears through the bowl, snipping to the bottom. Don't snip your fingers. In fact, keep your non-snipping hand out of the bowl, just to be safe. Alternatively, stack the leaves and slice, then chop them. Collards should be roughly chopped. Place them in a large pot.

3) Add a half inch or so of water to pot, sprinkle a little salt over all (I used 1 teaspoon of chipotle salt), and bring to a boil.

4) Cook collard greens for 15 minutes or so, adding water if necessary.

5) Meanwhile, trim the stem ends of the mustard greens, wash the greens and place them in a large bowl. You don't need to remove the mustard leaves from their stems; the stems are tender. Either chop the mustard greens with shears or make a neat pile of them and cut in strips. Reserve mustard green strips/pieces in the bowl; you're going to add them to the collards in the pot later.

6) When the collards have cooked 15 minutes, pile the chopped/sliced mustard greens into the pot on top of the collards. Sprinkle with another teaspoon of salt. Clap the lid on the pot and cook for 15 more minutes, stirring the mustard greens in as they cook down.

Soon you will have a pot of hot greens that looks like this. I stirred in a couple tablespoons of bacon grease, but that is optional; you could also use butter or olive oil.

The two white dishes in the rear of the picture are 1-1/2 quart Pyrex casseroles waiting to receive the greens for freezing. Fill your casseroles to your liking, or divide the greens into smaller containers for freezing. Evenly divide any remaining cooking liquid among the containers.

Cool, cover, refrigerate, then freeze your casseroles of greens. When frozen, run some hot water over them to loosen, then pop them into gallon-size Ziploc bags and return to the freezer.

This picture shows frozen greens prepared like this, but with prosciutto, onion and garlic added.

When you are ready to use your frozen disk of greens, get it out of the freezer and set aside for a bit. In a medium-sized skillet, saute onions and garlic in oil or fat of your choice. You may wish to use bacon or prosciutto, too. You could use sesame oil, ginger and garlic or curry paste for Oriental greens. Or go in another direction and sweeten things up with a little maple syrup or honey, and Dijon mustard. You can use cream or butter with nutmeg. Fresh or canned tomatoes are wonderful with greens. Thyme and other savory herbs go well, too. So do chopped toasted nuts, added just before serving. Your creativity is the only limit here.

When you have cooked your sauce ingredients to your liking, remove them from the skillet, then add the frozen greens with a little water and heat through until the greens are completely thawed and simmering hot. NOW pour your sauce back in over the greens, stir, and serve. Adding the sauce mixture at the last keeps bacon crispy and your sauce ingredients distinct and not overcooked.

There's nothing like dark, robust greens, with an interesting, flavorful sauce, to complement any other foods on your dinner plate. The spicy mustard greens lighten up the more sturdy collards. And you'll feel virtuous and fortified when you rise from the table!

Cajun-Portuguese Fusion: Bouillon Verde

2011-09-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Autumnal Equinox is here, so ...it's soup time! I'm pretty sure Soup Peddler David Ansel titled his hilarious and fun-to-read cookbook Slow and Difficult Soups in response to the overused "Quick and Easy" that dozens of cookbooks seem to use these days. Most of David's soups, though, actually are quite simple and speedy to prepare.

Every year about this time I start thinking about Caldo Verde, a Portuguese soup made with linguica sausage and kale. That's why I picked up a package of AmyLu's andouille sausage at Costco the other day.

Yes, I know andouille is Cajun, but Costco didn't have linguica. Come to find out, I didn't have enough of my delectable Schreiber and Sons kale, either, so I subbed in some of their Brussels sprouts. Then I decided to add carrots, and some smoked paprika. Really, it became rather a soup free-for-all, which, I am happy to report, turned out splendidly.

So, herewith my Cajun-Portugese fusion soup. Caldo Verde is Spanish for green broth, which in French is bouillon vert, so we're calling this Bouillon Verde. Fair enough?

BOUILLON VERDE
Adapted from The Soup Peddler's Slow and Difficult Soups by David Ansel

The book calls for browning the sausages first, then sauteeing the veggies in the fat in the pan. My sausage was, unfortunately, rather low fat, so I couldn't do that. But if you have fatty sausage, browning it first is the way to go!

3 tablespoons ghee, butter or olive oil

2 onions, quartered and sliced into crescents
1/2 bunch kale, thick stems removed, leaves chopped
2 cups trimmed Brussels sprouts, coarsely chopped

8 andouille sausages, cut in about 1-1/2 pieces, at an angle for jauntiness
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
a few grinds of black pepper

2 quarts chicken broth or stock

2 or 3 potatoes, peeled (or just well scrubbed, if they're organic), cut into 3/4-inch dice
6 fat carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and then into 3/4-inch dice.

1 head garlic (about 8 fat cloves), peeled and coarsely chopped

Salt as needed

Start off by heating the ghee in at least a 6-quart soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, kale and Brussels sprouts as you prepare them, stirring occasionally. The veggies should begin to soften and perhaps even brown a bit.

Add the sausage pieces and stir, then stir in the paprika, crushed red pepper and black pepper, and cook a few more minutes.

Add the broth, potatoes and carrots, and half the garlic, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or so, then stir in the remaining garlic.

Cook 5 to 10 more minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Taste for salt; whether to add any or not depends on the broth you use. I added 3/4 teaspoon and found it to be just right.

Makes about 8 servings

Costco is now selling this organic chicken "stock" as opposed to the "broth they formerly offered. The label says "More versatile than broth." My opinion? The stock is exactly the same as the former "broth."

Don't be afraid to buy these lovely branches of Brussels sprouts at Schreiber and Sons' booth at the farmers' markets. The sprouts pop off by hand quite easily. Just snap and twist.

The Ritual Nectarine

2011-09-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

You know how it is ... well, maybe I'm unique, but I doubt it.

Glorious weather. A spectacular hike experience. Sweltering and thirsty, you reach the hike midpoint, and pull up to the nearest log or rock to rest a spell and enjoy a magnificent view (which you have EARNED!).

You rummage around in your pack for that ripe-to-perfection Gilmore Farms nectarine you have wrapped carefully in a paper towel. One sweet, juicy, flavorful bite later, and you know that this is an experience you will never forget: endorphins high from being outdoors and hiking, nourishment and hydration flowing into you from one of the tastiest, juiciest fruits known to man. You want to have this experience again and again.

That happened to me several years ago on the hike to Upper Crystal Lake from Chinook Pass, and because we take this hike every year, I've made sure to repeat this ambrosial experience each time by packing a Gilmore Farms nectarine to look forward to. These photos are from this year's hike on September 4.

This hike is spectacular and perfect in every way. There are open hillsides, rocky shale, shady forests, cool lakeside resting spots, several great viewpoints, a high pass, flower-filled glades, and finally, views of Mount Rainier above Upper Crystal Lake.

Looking back at Chinook Pass from the trail.

Sheep Lake lunch stop. Sourdough Gap is in the indention in the center of the photo, in the mountain ridge.

A sampling of the flowery glades we passed by.


Tiger lilies ... a rare sight. They're native to Washington State (a knowledgeable-looking hiker told me) and don't bloom for very long.

And finally: The Nectarine View

Logistics: Link to a map here. We like to start the hike by parking at Tipsoo Lake, just inside the (no-fee) entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. There are restrooms. Follow the trail shown on the map to Sheep Lake. There's another trail up to Sourdough Gap, through which you can proceed, taking the left-hand trail at the fork, to a small ridge, passing over which you will see Upper Crystal Lake and Mount Rainier.

And don't forget to pick up your Gilmore Farms nectarine (they're at Pasco, Richland and Kennewick Farmers' markets) before leaving home!

The Surprisingly Easy Watermelon Basket

2011-08-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were invited to a gathering with no name or theme, or even an expressed purpose (hanging out with great people was implied). There would be food. We could bring something if we wanted. Well! With such nonexistent guidelines, I didn't know which way to turn. So I asked my group of friends last night at our Gals' Dinner Out what to do ... I was thinking about melons. Jeanne said, "Why not make a melon basket! It's easy!"

I laughed. Ha! I could just see the hash I'd make hacking around on a juicy melon, not to mention the low likelihood of ending up with something worthy of taking where Other People would actually see it.

But once again, as has been the case so many times (and I've blogged about many of them), I was entirely wrong. I tried it. And it worked.

May you all be so blessed with friends who have faith in you, and with the courage to do something outside your culinary comfort zone.

This was instinctive. To keep the melon from tipping, I sliced a bit off the side to keep it stable.

With the knife point, I scored a line around the long equator so I'd know where to stop when slicing the basket handle. I also lightly scored, on the top, the desired width of the basket handle so I'd know where to cut.

Now we're cookin'. I got a container ready for the melon squares. (Yes, that is a box of Gilmore Farms organic nectarines in the background. They are awesome! See Gilmore Farms at our local farmers' markets. The melon is from Sageland Farms in Pasco.)

With a smaller, slimmer knife, I cut the arch of melon out from under the basket handle, and started making cubes of the pieces as I cut them out.

Cutting down into the bowl of the melon. This is a little tricky because of the curves. So I started saving the nicest-looking, most even cubes separately for the finished presentation.

An ice cream scoop worked great for cleaning out the melon bowl. After that, it was just fill (least perfect pieces underneath, saved perfect cubes for the top), chill, and go!

Savoy Faire Slaw

2011-07-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

You'd think the plethora of amazingly fresh local vegetables in summer, available at our area's FIVE weekly farmer's markets, would result in an endless cascade of posts on this, my local food blog. Ironically, though, the big push every day to use up the produce with which I've stuffed my fridge results in some hectic cooking, with little time left for blogging about it.

As well, long summer evenings don't lend themselves to sitting at a computer, but rather to being outdoors enjoying our balmy Tri-Cities weather and gorgeous sunsets! But I have a few things in the blog pipeline that are good enough to publish.

How could anyone not be inspired by this gorgeous local organic Savoy cabbage? I paired it with a creamy chive dressing found in one of my favorite cookbooks.
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SAVOY FAIRE SLAW
Dressing inspired by Patricia Wells in Vegetable Harvest.

Savoir-faire is the French expression for "know how to do." You'll know just what to do with this slaw!

1 smallish head savoy cabbage

1/2 cup cream
1 tablespoon snipped chives
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Trim core from cabbage. Slice cabbage very thinly, then slice crosswise a few times so you have pieces about an inch long.

Whisk dressing ingredients in medium bowl. Add cabbage and mix well. Slaw will keep well but tastes fantastic freshly made.

Makes 4 servings

Undeservedly Good Shrimp Curry

2011-07-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you want lip smackin' food with the minimum of effort. By "minimum," I mean practically no effort at all. Not just cutting corners, but eliminating them entirely.

To that end, I frequently employ some seriously slap-happy cooking practices that just possibly could get me banned from the food blogosphere. To be honest, the results aren't always blogworthy.

But this scrumptious dish calls for a little peek into the slam-dunk, get 'er done methods you can use to produce meals when you really don't feel like cooking. And when you didn't thaw anything ahead of time. When it absolutely, positively has to be on the table by six o'clock, and you started cooking at 5:45.

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UNDESERVEDLY GOOD SHRIMP CURRY

Adapted from tasting the Valley Cafe's Spicy Asian Shrimp from our last visit there. You can use a 14-ounce can of coconut milk instead of the water and coconut cream, if you like.

25 tail-on (or tail-off ... your call) shrimp, frozen
1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes, in oil (I used Costco's, even though they have Italian spices!)
A few slabs (about 1/2 cup's worth) of coconut cream (see end of this post)
1 to 2 teaspoons red Thai curry paste
1/4 teaspoon (or more to taste) crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
A few grinds black pepper
2 cups water
Green onions (or chives)
Fresh basil or mint (Mint was growing in a pot on the patio, so I used that)
Chopped fresh tomato, if you have it

Quickly rinse the frozen shrimp, pluck them from the rinse water, and lay them in a single layer in a medium skillet. Top with the sundried tomatoes, and arrange your coconut cream slabs around atop all. Add the curry paste, crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper and 2 cups water.

Turn heat on to medium high, and when things start to bubble a bit, stir everything around. Reduce heat a tad, but make sure it keeps simmering. The shrimp will begin to turn pink. Stir occasionally, and when shrimp are done, remove them with a slotted spoon to your serving dish.

Continue simmering the sauce until it's reduced about a third. If you used a can of coconut milk, reducing probably won't be necessary. Pour sauce over the shrimp, top with green onion (or chives), diced tomato, and basil or mint.

Makes 2 very hearty servings.

Valley Cafe Vegetables

2011-06-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Some of you who grew up in the age of strip malls, Applebees and P.F. Changs will not remember when most restaurants had narrow street fronts and were long and thin, stretching through to a back alley. The Valley Cafe in Ellensburg continues this grand tradition of narrowness, but this venerable establishment had foresighted designers, and is blessed with a row of ancient skylights to alleviate the inevitable darkness of this building design. The experience of walking back in time is very strong at The Valley Cafe, especially as the booths, counter, and most of the furnishings are original.

Ellensburg makes a great day trip from Pasco. The day we were there was chilly and windy, but sunny, and we were glad to get in out of the jacket-piercing breeze to see what we could find on The Valley Cafe's menu that would be friendly with our way of eating.

We decided on the Steamed Vegetables and a separate order of Spicy Asian Shrimp. After we ordered, I asked the server if any bread was involved in this meal. We're getting used to heading bread off at the pass so it won't be wasted. She hesitated a moment, but said "No."

It took quite a while for our order to be prepared, and when the vegetables arrived, they were a delightfully colorful and flavorful mix of vegetables I'd never seen combined before. As well, they were topped with a little cheddar-jack cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds, something I'd also never considered doing to vegetables. Naturally, I took notes.

As it happened, the chef himself brought the rest of our order to the table, and I told him how remarkably tasty the vegetables were, and how unusual was the combination. He said, "Well, you didn't want broccoli, so I just put together some other vegetables." Turns out, the server thought I'd asked if any broccoli were involved in our meal, thinking we didn't want it!

I never fail to be intrigued by the happenstances that result in new dishes. This one is a new favorite of ours, and it goes particularly well with the cafe's Spicy Asian Shrimp, so I concocted an easy-peasey version of that, too, and it'll be up next.
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VALLEY CAFE VEGETABLES
Cook gently so your vegetables will retain their color and flavor.

2 tablespoons ghee or butter

4 carrots, peeled and cut into coins
1/2 pound asparagus, snapped and cut into 1-inch lengths
1/3 of a small red cabbage, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 jar (6.5 ounces) marinated (or plain) artichoke hearts

Pumpkins seeds lightly toasted in a dry skillet
Shredded jack or cheddar cheese (optional, of course)

In large skillet, melt ghee. Add carrots and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add asparagus and cabbage, and continue cooking until all is just beginning to soften. Add red pepper pieces, and cook, gently stirring occasionally, until all vegetables are crisp tender. Don't overcook.

Remove to serving platter or individual plates, and tuck artichoke pieces here and there evenly. Sprinkle with cheese and pepitas.

Makes 4 generous servings.

Heidi Swanson's Spiced Coconut Spinach

2011-05-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

Things are slightly hectic around here lately, but my mind continually returns to the kitchen, especially as the farmers' market season gets underway. Several ideas are circling in my mind about refining, nay, reinventing, my way of cooking. I'm excited about sharing some ideas and approaches I've been discovering.

I am usually a slap-it-together-and-see-what-happens kind of cook. Once in a while I carefully create a constructed dish, but I've often wished I could be a slow-down-and-think-about-it, mindful, kind of cook more consistently.

Meanwhile, I tried this recipe by Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks, who somehow manages to be mindful, deliberate, and spontaneously creative with ingredients on hand ... all at the same time.

I had what turned out to be 14 ounces of fresh spinach from the very first Pasco Farmer's Market of the year, and so doubled Heidi's recipe, which made four hearty servings. Having no shallots, I used onion in their place.

I highly recommend this dish. It's very calming to toast the mustard seeds, cumin and coconut. The scents and subtle colors appeal to the senses. You have an awareness that you are doing something to spinach that will be very, very good. Preparing the ingredients all ahead of time creates a sort of serene kitchen ballet as the dish unfolds in real time, and really, not so much more time than slapdashery would take.

An early Spring dish that nourishes on all levels.

Kohlrabi Greens

2011-05-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

The sweetest, crispiest organic kohlrabi can be found at Fred Meyer these days. I'm hoping to see it at the farmer's markets this year.

In the meantime, we've been enjoying it raw, peeled and sliced, sometimes as a great chip stand-in with guacamole. It can also be shredded and used in salads, adding an interesting, fresh flavor kind of like a cross between cabbage, turnips and broccoli.

Normally, I discard the leaves and store the Sputnik bulbs in the fridge 'til ready to use them. But the last couple of bunches had leaves that looked perfectly fresh and tantalizing, so I washed them, sliced them, and have been cooking with them ... and they are wonderful!

Kohlrabi greens are closest to kale when it comes to cooking time ... they're not as tender as beet greens, but are more tender than collards, which need to boil for an hour. Just wash the leaves, rip out the thicker parts of the stem, slice the leaves thinly, and saute for 10 to 15 minutes with onions, garlic, crushed red pepper ... or even apples or tomatoes and herbs. Voila! A new green!

What to do with Coconut Butter

2011-05-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

Healthy fats like coconut oil beat sugar and flour every time for clean, sustained energy and a happy metabolism.

So, in the midst of the Easter onslaught of factory-churned-out chocs and candies with additives galore, I just got out my beautiful marble Easter eggs for color, and made Nancy's coconut-date energy balls.

These are really, really, good, plus, as you can see from Nancy's description, they have all kinds of positive health implications. I increased the organic citrus peels to two teaspoons each, which gives these little citruspheres a powerful resemblance in taste to those horribly unhealthy lemon bars which we all remember fondly for their ability to make our teeth hurt. We should have listened to our teeth! Our bodies didn't want that much pure refined sugar. Nancy kept going on her theme and developed raw cacao superfood truffles, which look tempting to me to try.

As often happens, finally having found a recipe that used the coconut butter I'd bought on impulse, another way to use this luscious stuff appeared. Ryan's coconut cream and blueberry bark is incredibly delicious.

As with the citrus balls, you soften the jar of coconut butter (or coconut cream) in a pan of warm water on the stove, pour it out (I used a Silpat; Ryan used parchment paper) and slap frozen blueberries evenly across the top. The frozen blueberries solidify the coconut butter. Just break the bark into bite-sized pieces (this is important, because chomping into a big piece may cause a blueberry laundry crisis) and store 'em in the fridge.

Many thanks to Nancy and Ryan for adding variety to my energy arsenal!

Update: Here's a seriously convenient way to keep coconut cream and coconut butter accessible. If you've ever tried to dig 'em out of the jar with a pointy knife, you know what I mean. Warm the coconut cream or coconut butter in the uncovered jar set in a pan of water on the stove. May take 15 minutes or so at a simmer. Stir occasionally. When soft, spread coconut cream or coconut butter onto a Silpat. Let harden, and either cut or break into roughly tablespoon-sized pieces. Store them in a jar or other container. For coconut cream, one tablespoon heated with 1/4 cup water makes 1/4 cup. Stir a piece or two into curries, with a little water, or into sauteed veggies with Asian seasonings. For the coconut butter ... you can either resoften with your preferred warming method, or just enjoy it as a snack.

Coconut cream pieces ready to reconstitute ... or just eat!

On Not Eating Certain Scenery

2011-05-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

Last April we were cleaning up flower pots in preparation for new planting, when a mama quail, completely camoflaged, whirred out of this pot when we approached it. We carefully inspected the pot, and sure enough ... we found a nest with 18 little speckled eggs in it. Mama came back later, and I took this picture of her. Yes, she is there ... at about 12 o'clock.

The next day, she temporarily left the nest, and I quickly took this picture of the eggs.

I had seen a quail couple, with the mama waddling about and looking really round, exploring our yard for a nest site a couple of days before. We learned that quail eggs take 28 days to mature. Sure enough, about that much time went by (with us tiptoeing around the flowerpot every time we went outside to work in the yard) when we noticed that hatching had begun.

The hatching was quickly over, and the quail parents set immediately to their task of teaching the little ones how to queue up, hide in a cluster under mama's wings, and keep close to the fence or stay under shrubs when the annoying person with a camera stepped carefully out of the house. But I was not able to get good pictures of them because they never stood still!

For several days, the training went on, with one parent herding and fussing over the chicks, showing them how to find food and avoid predators, and the other parent standing guard atop the fence. Then they were gone.

I thought our quail excitement was over, and I had cleaned out the flower pot and planted new flowers. One day, though, I saw a quail family in our yard, with significantly larger chicks. Were they our quail family? I don't know. But all in all, it was fun and educational to watch Nature at work.

And this time, no recipe.

Chard Gets its Mojo Back

2011-04-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

Formerly flat bunches of chard, after reconstituting submerged in water for two hours.

Our big hanks of chard from the CSA boxes tend to stick out of normal-size bags, and they wilt down to a pretty thin and floppy state when kept in the fridge too long. I had accumulated quite a bit of chard, and wondered if it would be possible to restore the chard to its plump, crispy state. Much to my surprise, I found that it is!

Because I didn't really expect the outcome to be this amazing, I didn't take a "before" picture. But my chard was flat, folks. Droopy doesn't begin to describe it. I trimmed the stem ends, and put it all in my big old yellow Tupperware bowl (you know, the gigantic one). I filled the bowl to the brim with water. Two hours later, I noticed that the chard was curling up crisply out of the bowl. I prepared to spin it dry, but realized, as I lifted the leaves out, that it was already dry. In the bottom of the bowl, only about 1/4 cup of water remained. The chard had absorbed all the rest. It looked as if it had just been picked.

So don't give up on your greens. I suspect the key thing was to trim the stem ends; the water was probably absorbed into the chard through the stems.

Update: It works for spinach, too. Be sure to freshly tear or cut stem ends and make sure the stem ends are submerged. I do think the leaves take up the water from them. And I was delighted to discover a new way to use chard from commenter Janet. Thank you!

Creamy Lemon, Garlic and Tarragon Chicken

2011-04-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

Mr. Eating the Scenery once posited that if tuna could be called Chicken of the Sea, it only stood to reason that chicken could be called Tuna of the Land. Of course, this is the same man who wondered, upon observing this sign outside Yakima, a nearby city, if there was a corresponding sign outside Palm Springs billing it as the Yakima of California. You can see why I like to keep Mr. ETS well nourished.

My intentions for these two free-range tuna ... er, chickens, started along the thyme and rosemary line. But sunshine, bobbing robins, miscellaneous birdsong, bright green tarragon springing up outside ... diverse factors converged to make it obvious that something quite different was called for on this bright (albeit chilly) Spring day. Herewith, the result.
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CREAMY LEMON, GARLIC AND TARRAGON CHICKEN

Long ago my mom taught me to cut up a chicken. Later, my youthful, preppy self learned that you can buy chickens already cut up! Now that I have reverted to local, free-range chickens, which come to me whole, I find that chicken-cutting-up skills, apparently, never leave you.

2 lovely, free-range, local chickens (mine were each about 3 pounds)
Coconut oil or your fat of choice
1 cup chopped tarragon
1 organic lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
8 cloves garlic, crushed or roughly chopped
1 cup white wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pan juices from roasted chicken
1/2 cup Pure Eire organic Jersey cream
Fresh tarragon

Cut up chickens into leg/thigh pieces and breast pieces. I left the breasts whole because I don't have a cleaver. Put backs, necks, wings (if they're scrawny) into a plastic bag and freeze to make stock later.

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

In large Dutch oven, heat coconut oil. Brown leg/thigh pieces on both sides and remove to plate. Brown breasts on skin sides, then turn upright in pan. Pour in white wine. Scatter half the garlic and tarragon over the breasts, and top with half the lemon slices. Place leg/thigh pieces on and around the breast pieces, and top with remaining garlic, tarragon, and lemon slices.

Cover, and bake for 50 minutes. Check internal temperature of breasts; when it is 165 degrees, chicken is done. Lift chicken pieces from the Dutch oven and place them in a shallow casserole. If you've left the breasts whole, remove the meat from them for easy serving.

Pour chicken juices through a strainer into a suitably sized saucepan. Heat to a simmer, reduce if desired, stir in cream, heat through and pour over chicken pieces. Top with fresh tarragon sprigs or chopped tarragon.

Serve with optimally prepared, fresh, local vegetables of your choice.

Makes 8 to 10 hearty servings. And don't forget to make stock with the backs, wings and bones!

Box Eleven

2011-04-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

The last three boxes are all coming in a row ... this is the time of year when growing things really take off, and apparently it's mostly GREEN! Chard, parsley, Walla Walla sweets, spinach, and delectable asparagus. Like last year, I'll be sorry to see the boxes end, but am enormously grateful for our local farms and the fact that the farmers' markets are just around the corner.

Cheese Louise

2011-04-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

The other day I stopped in at Cheese Louise, a cool little cheese and gift shop on The Parkway in Richland. I love going in there, because the proprietors (who would rather be called "cheese mongrels" than cheesemongers) truly are dogged in their pursuit of cheese excellence.

Yes, their cheeses come from all over the world, but the shop is local! And some of best cheeses in existence do, in fact, come from other parts of the world. Cheese Louise does carry some Northwest-made products, as does Ariel Gourmet right next door. And let's face it, if I knew of any locally-made cheeses, I'd be all over them. I depend on my readers to let me know about local foods, because I can't discover them all myself!

Anyhoo, that day at Cheese Louise, I slowly came to realize, through discussing the offerings with one of the delightful cheese consultants, that I was in the mood for feta. "But not just any feta!" I insisted. I have been disappointed in feta before ... expecting a sharp, briny tang and getting instead a chalky nothingness. But at Cheese Louise, you can taste before you buy. One taste of the all-sheep's-milk Pastures of Eden feta cheese, and my eyes lit up. Peoples' eyes lighting up is probably a pretty common occurrence at Cheese Louise.

That cheese was destined to be crumbled over a simple Greek salad of red pepper, cucumber, tomato, and Kalamata olives, with a drizzle each of lemon juice and olive oil, and a finishing sprinkle of oregano. More will be stirred into sauteed spinach with mushrooms, and it's the kind of cheese you could just serve a hunk of, along with walnuts, crudites or fruit, and enjoy immensely.

If you haven't done so yet, do pop into Cheese Louise for a delightful cheese browse!

Asparagus and Prosciutto Bundles

2011-04-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Something there is about asparagus that makes one want to create elegant dishes with it. It's a stalk, for one thing. Cooks don't get to play with stalks all that often. So, when I read the very short list of ingredients on a package of Parma proscuitto (pork, salt) at Costco, I felt the time had come for me to try prosciutto for the first time ever.
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ASPARAGUS AND PROSCIUTTO BUNDLES

I adapted this super simple version from several recipes online. Some called for a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, which I used, but prosciutto is salty, and the salty Parmesan seemed redundant. So I left it out of my recipe.

1 pound luscious, local CSA asparagus
3 ounces prosciutto (if using two slices per bundle)
Butter

Lay two pieces of waxed paper out on countertop. Peel slices of prosciutto apart and lay them on one of the pieces of waxed paper. It's okay if they overlap a bit--you just want to get them apart for ease of use.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter a 9 x 9-inch baking dish. Reserve some butter for topping the bundles.

Bring about 1/2 inch lightly salted water to boil in a skillet. Snap tough ends from asparagus, and wash the stalks. Simmer asparagus in the water for just a few minutes, until stalks are just crisp tender. With tongs, remove asparagus from skillet to the other piece of waxed paper.

Divide asparagus stalks into equal-sized bundles. Wrap each bundle with a piece of prosciutto. I used two pieces per bundle. Some directions called for securing them with toothpicks, but I found the prosciutto adhered to itself quite well, and shrank a bit further in the oven, keeping a tight hold on the asparagus.

Place bundles in baking dish, and top each with a little butter. Bake for 10 minutes or until things start to sizzle a bit. Remove from oven, turn each bundle a little to bathe it in butter, and serve. It's easiest to cut the bundles into bite-sized pieces with a sharp knife.

Makes 6 bundles, or about 3 servings.

Winter CSA: Tenth Box

2011-04-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Asparagus (and thus, to me, true Spring) is here! Our farmer specializes in asparagus, and it doesn't get more tender or fresh than this. As well, we have mixed salad greens, spinach, Walla Walla sweet onions, chives, and cilantro. Only two more boxes, and I'm set to appreciate the heck out of all this local greenery ... and then start frequenting the local farmer's markets!

Nature's little creatures also like our fresh CSA asparagus ...

Duck Eggs

2011-04-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

I probably should have seen this coming, but of course I did not. Being a tad impulsive when in the presence of interesting food opportunities, and because the duck experiment turned out so well, I couldn't resist continuing the duck theme, and so picked up a box of Russ and Laurie's duck eggs when I saw them in the cooler with the chicken eggs at the Northwest Seafood Market pickup site.

Googling, I find that duck eggs are larger and richer than chicken eggs, and the shells are harder to crack. After using the duck eggs in a scrumptious omelette, and in another berry flaugnarde, I can attest that both facts are true. I honestly think one duck egg is equal to two chicken eggs. Easy.

As well, duck eggs are supposed to perform exceptionally well in baking, possibly due to their extra rich quality. I plan to use them in a grain-free bread or pancake recipe to see if the higher rise and better texture claims are true.

The duck eggs are available for $4.75 a dozen in the cooler at Northwest Seafood Market in Richland, but if there aren't any there, contact Russ at his website.

Update: Due to job changes and a relocation, Russ will be shutting down his farm after the winter egg subscriptions end later this month. As long as the eggs are available, they'll be in the cooler at Northwest Seafood Market. Contact Russ if you need the details to order and pick up meat chickens, which will be processed next weekend. Wow, I'll really miss Russ and Laurie's wonderful products. My deepest gratitude and best wishes to you in this next adventure in life!

Ninth Box

2011-04-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

Box Nine contained two bags of golden delicious apples (crisp and juicy!), a big 'ol fennel with tentacles reaching everywhere, green onions, salad greens, spinach, chard, sage, and chickpeas. The salad greens were scrumptious in a salmon salad, and the green onions found their way into Tom Kha (a Thai soup). The fennel looks to me like it should be in a gratin. Hmm. I sauteed the chard and spinach together, and they were delicious. I recently read that if you eat leafy greens regularly, you will get your needed Omega 3's as well as calcium. Eating scenery has its perks!

And that's Bananagrams in the background. If you haven't discovered the joys of Bananagrams, and you like word games, well--you're missing out. Go get it! It's way more fun than Scrabble, because it's fast moving, you don't have to wait for other people to take their turns, and you're completely in charge of your own word arrangement.

Kale with Garlic, Sage and Thyme Butter

2011-04-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

A serendipitous dish, put together with ingredients I had on hand. The thyme and sage in my herb garden looked particularly fetching, even after our winter freezes, so I decided to stride confidently in the direction of the kale dish I was beginning to envision.

Sage and butter have long been happy partners, and I discovered that kale loves sage, too. This is a company-worthy kale dish, with a little heat from the red pepper, a satiny smoothness from the butter, and a rich, savory taste from the herbs and garlic.
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KALE WITH GARLIC, SAGE AND THYME BUTTER

1 bunch lacinato kale
1 large onion, peeled, halved and sliced
5 tablespoons butter or ghee

6 cloves garlic
Leaves from 1 handful of fresh thyme sprigs
A handful of fresh sage leaves
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 cup chicken broth or white wine
Salt if needed

6 small fresh tomatoes, quartered

Wash kale, remove thick stems (I do this by ripping the kale away from the stem) and slice the kale into thin strips.

Peel garlic cloves and place them in a small food processor with the thyme and sage leaves. Process to a fine chopped state. Alternatively, chop the garlic and herbs finely with a knife.

In large-ish skillet, heat butter or ghee over medium heat. Add onions and saute for a few minutes. Add garlic and herb mixture and saute a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, stir in the kale and chicken broth, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste sauce for salt; I added 1/4 teaspoon. Just before serving, stir in the tomatoes and heat just until the tomatoes are warmed through and savory looking. Serve hot.

Makes 4 hearty servings

Bison Chili

2011-03-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

Whoa! This is what happens when you've been craving chili and you see "Buffalo" on a package of ground meat at the grocery store: You throw three packages of the stuff in your cart, and go home to create the best darn chili on the range. Yessiree, this is hearty, satisfying fare. I didn't have a recipe, but I wrote down everything I did. 'Cause this chili is definitely going to be made again.

As the creative process unfolded, the red pepper and kohlrabi in the photo were relegated to crudite status. I made an innovative cornbread stand-in, using macadamia oil instead of grapeseed oil, that turned out to be amazingly good. Yee haw!

Because absolutely authentic chilies don't contain beans or tomato, I'm thinking about trying this sans-tomato next time.

This recipe comes with a book recommendation: The Buffalo Commons by Richard S. Wheeler.
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BISON CHILI

The ancho chili powder will determine the overall taste and heat level of your chili. I make my own with those leathery ancho peppers sold in the Mexican food aisle at the supermarket, mixing in a dried hot chili pepper or two. Make a lot! Good ancho chili powder is hard to find, and makes a great gift. It's especially important for red sauces for enchiladas, and chilies like this one.

3 pounds ground bison
2 tablespoons oil (I used avocado oil)

4 carrots, in 1/2-inch dice
1 turnip, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 onions (I used a red onion and a white onion), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons ancho chili powder (see note above) or regular 'ol chili powder
1 tablespoon regular 'ol chili powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon cumin seed, toasted in a dry skillet and slightly crushed with mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon salt

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 jar (7 oz.) tomato paste
3-4 cups water

3 fresh bay leaves or 1 dried bay leaf

In large soup pot, heat oil. Add bison, break up with your spatula, and begin to saute. While that's going on, prep your veggies in the order given and add them to the pot, stirring well each time. By the time you get to the garlic, things should be sizzling along nicely.

Scatter the chili powders, paprika, cumin seed and salt over the meat/vegetable mixture, and stir well, cooking for a few minutes 'til the spicy aroma begins to waft around your kitchen. Stir in the bay leaves.

Add the spaghetti sauce, the tomato paste, and 3 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. If you like a saucier chili, add another cup of water.

Makes 8 to 10 hearty servings.

Eighth Box

2011-03-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

Delivery of Box Eight was delayed because of very cold weather. But stuff is taking off again! Spinach, salad greens, parsley, fennel, lentils, squash, garlic ... and cute little leeks. Ah, Spring. I can almost taste the asparagus to come ... and meanwhile we'll enjoy these fresh, green wonders.

A Trio of Toasted Nori Chips

2011-03-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

From left: Nori Faux Wasabi, Nori Con Chipotle, and Nori Coco Szechuan.

I have a little fascination going with sea vegetables. Mr. Eating the Scenery, however, eschews them. I recall a long-ago salad I made with hiziki ... he said it tasted like a locker room smelled. The gauntlet was thrown. But in the intervening years, he has yet to even taste anything I make with sea vegetables!

So this recipe caught my attention. But I had to mess with it. I went slightly crazy. It's the curse of culinary curiosity. If ingredient x works, why not try ingredient y? And then, z?

I used Nancy's recipe, and it is perfect. She uses 3 tablespoons of water per five nori sheets. I started out using too much water on the wasabi flavored chips, and the folded nori stuck fast to itself, took 30 minutes to crisp, and the layers didn't curl and separate airily like the subsequent batches where I brushed on less of the water mixture. So ... curb any heavy-handed liquid tendencies!

A TRIO OF TOASTED NORI CHIPS
Adapted from The Smart Palate

I didn't have wasabi powder, so used horseradish. I love silicone basting brushes ... they work really well for this, clean up fabulously in the dishwasher, and you don't have to pick bristles off of your food.

For each flavor:

5 sheets nori
salt to your taste

Nori Faux Wasabi
2 teaspoons Bubbies pure horseradish
3 tablespoons water

Nori con Chipotle
2 teaspoons chipotle puree
3 tablespoons water

Nori Coco Szechuan
2 teaspoons coconut aminos (a very useful soy sauce substitute)
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons ground Szechuan pepper, sprinkled on before folding nori.
No salt for this one; the coconut aminos are very salty

Heat oven to 250 degrees.

Brush a sheet of nori with liquid mixture. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Fold in half and press lightly. With kitchen shears, cut nori into five or six strips. Repeat with remaining nori sheets. This is like craft class in grade school! And you get to eat your project!

Lay the chips in a single layer on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Place in oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Chips will crisp and begin to curl a bit. When they're dry and crisp, remove to cool.

You can brush them with hot sesame oil as Nancy did, or hot chili oil, I suppose. I didn't have any spicy oils, so I didn't ... but I think it would be very delicious.

I put all my chips in the same bowl, so I could be surprised by different tastes!

Each batch makes about 30 scrumptious chips. None of which Mr. Eating the Scenery would touch.

Mustard Greens with Ginger-Garlic Cream

2011-03-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

While I love kale, spinach and chard, especially alongside savory meats, once in a while the noticeable spiciness of mustard greens makes a nice change.

For once, I actually followed the recipe directions and strained the ginger and garlic from the simmered cream, although I was tempted to chop them finely and leave them in. The result is an elegant, creamy greens dish with a hint of exotic, spicy flavor ... quite delectable alongside Thundering Hooves spicy Italian sausage, into which I mixed a generous amount of minced CSA red onion.
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MUSTARD GREENS WITH GINGER-GARLIC CREAM
From Fast, Fresh and Green by Susie Middleton

1 pound mustard greens
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 cup Pure Eire heavy (though I prefer "ethereal" as more descriptive) cream
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
4 slices fresh ginger, chopped or smashed

Nearly fill a big pot with water, and add the salt. Bring water to boil while you stem and wash the mustard greens. Wash leaves thoroughly (this is a lot like washing the floppy ears of a large dog) and pull leaves away from thick stems. As you finish each leaf, place it in a large bowl. When all leaves are washed, run kitchen shears through the bowl a few times to reduce the size of the leaves a bit.

Add all the greens to the boiling water, pushing down to submerge. Return to a boil for 4 minutes; taste a leaf for tenderness, then continue cooking for 2 more minutes, until greens are tender. Drain in a colander, squishing the greens against the sides to get all the moisture out. Set greens aside.

Heat the cream, garlic and ginger in a 1-quart saucepan over very low heat, simmering until reduced to 1/4 cup or so. You'll need to stir the cream a few times to keep everything reducing nicely. When cream has reduced, remove garlic and ginger with slotted spoon.

Add greens to reduced cream, stir to coat, and heat just until hot. Overcooking at this point will make the greens begin to release water. Serve hot.

Makes 2 generous servings.

Saffron Cauliflower Pilaf

2011-03-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

Saffron rice pilaf has long been one of my favorite dishes. I felt sure I could create a cauliflower version, and it was way easier than I thought it would be. I checked out a few recipes to see what exactly is in the dish, then assembled my own.

The trick here is to cook it JUST enough so that the onion and garlic are soft but the cauliflower retains a crisp-tender quality. It reheats beautifully the next day, so could easily be made ahead for a company meal.

And of course, substitute freely! Golden raisins instead of cranberries, pecans instead of (or in addition to!) walnuts ... invention is the key to the best discoveries.

I found reasonably priced, flavorful saffron at the European Grocery on Huntington Street in Kennewick. They keep it at the front counter, so you have to ask for it.
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SAFFRON CAULIFLOWER PILAF

1/2 cup very hot water
1 teaspoon saffron threads

1 medium head cauliflower
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

In a medium sized pot, combine very hot water and saffron. Set aside.

Wash cauliflower and separate it into florets. Run these through your food processor on the medium shred disc. You'll get a lovely mountain of cauliflower.

To the saffron water, add onion, garlic, butter, salt and pepper. Stir. Bring to a simmer and cook for two or three minutes only. Add shredded cauliflower and stir well. Continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until color deepens, cauliflower is crisp-tender, and onion and garlic are cooked (they can be crisp-tender, too, if you like). This will only take a few minutes.

Stir in cranberries. The water should all be absorbed. I didn't need to add more water; you might.

Taste for seasonings, stir in cilantro and walnuts, and serve hot.

Makes 4 hearty servings. Also very tasty reheated the next day!

Celeriac and Kohlrabi Salad

2011-03-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Our decision to go grain free means that vegetables play a huge role in our meals. Many nights I open the fridge, toss vegetables out onto the counter, study them intently for a few minutes while a way of using them takes shape in my mind, and then start chopping.

The resulting creations are usually tasty, and always very nutritious, but only occasionally blog-worthy. I honestly didn't expect this salad would make it to the blog, but one taste and my eyebrows went up and I fetched my camera.

The beauty of this salad is its unexpected combination of tastes. Who knew that kohlrabi and cilantro would get along so well with each other, much less make a happy threesome with celeriac? I suppose because celery is naturally higher in sodium than most vegetables, no salt was needed.

The only dressing is lemon juice. It seemed that oil would only weigh down this lovely, light and crisp salad, so I stopped ... like an artist has to do at some point with every painting ... when I felt perfection had been achieved.
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CELERIAC AND KOHLRABI SALAD

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 small (about the size of a large grapefruit) celeriac, peeled
2 kohlrabi, peeled
3/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup chopped cilantro

Place lemon juice in large bowl. Cut peeled celeriac into pieces sized to fit into your food processor, and shred using medium shred blade. Immediately toss shredded celeriac in the lemon juice to coat well. This will keep the celeriac from turning brown.

Shred kohlrabi on medium shred as well, and toss it, along with red onion, into the bowl with the celeriac. Stir well until all the veggies are coated with lemon juice and are well mixed. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, stir in cilantro.

Delicious the moment it's made, even better and still fresh the next day.

Serves 4 to 6.

Thai Duck Curry with Shiitakes and Pineapple

2011-02-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

You knew I wasn't done with that duck. I think I used everything but the quack!

Thai curries are a huge favorite of mine, and I decided to create my own. If you haven't a duck, you could substitute chicken or shrimp.

A friend, recently returned from Thailand, said she loved the food, but after a while it all started to taste the same. We have Thai food only occasionally, so always love its distinctive coconut/spicy/ginger/lime flavors.

In this curry, the pineapple provides a zingy sweetness, and the shiitakes and duck are good, earthy complements for each other.
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THAI DUCK CURRY WITH SHIITAKES AND PINEAPPLE

I HIGHLY recommend getting everything chopped and ready to go before you start cooking. This dish goes together quickly. I actually prepared the vegetables and pineapple the night before.

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup diced cabbage
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste

1 14-ounce can coconut milk, plus one small can coconut cream or coconut milk
1-1/2 cups duck stock (you can use chicken stock)
1 tablespoon almond butter (you can use peanut butter)
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
2 kaffir lime leaves

2 cups duck meat, sliced from roast duck
15 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and halved
1/2 cup whole raw cashews

1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 cup sliced basil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the onion, pepper, cabbage, ginger and garlic, stir-frying 'til everything has a glossy sheen and has started to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add curry pastes, using caution with amounts. Curry pastes vary wildly in heat strength. Stir and fry so that the pastes are distributed throughout.

Add coconut milk, duck or chicken stock, almond butter, pineapple and lime leaf and stir well. Bring all to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir in duck meat, mushrooms and cashews, and cook for 5 minutes more.

Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, basil and cilantro, and return to simmer. Serve with braising greens and rice, if desired. Warn people to watch out for the lime leaves! Their flavor will deepen in the curry if they are left in, which is one reason not to remove them.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Pear and Cardamom Breakfast Cookies

2011-02-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

A batch of these grain-free delights is easy to make and keep in the fridge, and the cookies are a welcome sight on mornings when you don't feel like spending a lot of time cooking breakfast. The original recipe called for apple, but my lovely red CSA pears inspired me to try them instead.

Of course, there are many variations and options with fruit and spices for this cookie. As well, you can leave the fruit in dice and stir it in just before baking, for a fruit-studded cookie, or blend the fruit in for a smoother, sleeker cookie.
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PEAR AND CARDAMOM BREAKFAST COOKIES
Adapted from This Primal Life

If you use use very large pears or apples, ultimately you'll have more liquid and thus a runnier batter. You want the batter to hold a cookie shape. If your fruit is very large, considering using half of it, or doubling the recipe.

1 cup almonds
3 dates (optional; the fruit makes the cookies nicely sweet)

Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 tablespoons butter, ghee or oil
1 smallish CSA red pear, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in small skillet, and cook the pear, stirring occasionally, until it is heated through and no longer crisp. It can still be firm. Remove from heat.

In food processor, process almonds and optional dates until a fine meal forms. Add salt, baking soda and cardamom, and pulse a few times.

Add eggs, vanilla, and pears, including any butter from the skillet, to food processor and pulse just until well mixed. Alternatively, transfer batter to a bowl and then stir in the pear chunks and liquid.

Drop by large spoonfuls on Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned and firm. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes 4 large cookies (which is why I usually double the recipe! They keep well in the fridge.)

The Delights of Mason Jars

2011-02-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

Over on the smart palate, Nancy commented, "And why is it so much fun to drink out of a Mason jar?" The question niggled at me enough that finally I decided to address it. I'm always fascinated by trying to figure out why we do what we do.

As with those creepy dessert shooters, I found some strong feelings emerging about Mason jars. But unlike the icky shooters, most of my Mason jar feelings were positive. I had fun using a Mason jar for a few days to see what observations I could make about this humble object.

Drinking out of a Mason jar is fun because ... it seems slightly forbidden! It's a natural response to conventional wisdom's hoity toity "One does not drink out of a jar!" with a kind of triumphant, in-your-face, oppositional "Why the heck NOT, dude!" attitude. There's a little renegade in all of us, no?

Mason jars evoke, at least for certain people of my generation, security and plenty. We see cellar shelves filled with Mason jars of cherries, tomatoes, relishes, plums, peaches, pears ... as long as you have a tool to open your jars with, you'll have food, even in a national disaster. My great aunt used to send home jars of canned venison for us (I confess to always feeling a bit squeamish about it, though). So just looking at Mason jars, and handling them, brings back all those feelings. When was the last time a mere drinking glass actually evoked something for you?

Clearly, big business has discovered that Mason jars have draw power. I've long noticed that homestyle restaurants serve beverages in them. You can even buy faux Mason jar mugs with handles on them, presumably to fill this blatant need of restaurants and marketers to grab hold of our heartstrings and thus our pocketbooks.

I was stunned to discover a veritable plethora of restaurants in all corners of America calling themselves Mason Jar, even one in (gasp!) Manhattan. Is it just me, or is there something slightly sinister about using such a homey object to lure us in to consume what are no doubt the farthest things (in terms of quality ingredients and affectionate care in preparation) from homestyle dishes imaginable?

Finally, a parting thought to create a springboard for even more thought: Those markings (1/4, 1/2 etc.) on the sides of the Mason jar are spectacularly inaccurate, if they are referring to cups. Why would Mason put misleading marks on their jars? Whatever the reason, it is clear that, like Walter Cronkite, the Mason jar is firmly entrenched in America as a trusted friend.

Pommes de Terre en Graisse de Canard

2011-02-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

It came to my attention that the French use their duck fat to create gloriously crisp and flavorful fried potatoes. Why could I not do the same? We're eating few potatoes nowadays, but in keeping with our "small portions of really good food" theory, it seemed only right to use my local duck fat to fry some of my CSA potatoes. And they were, indeed, really good!

Besides, I've always wanted to write a recipe with the name translated in italics underneath it. Merci, Babelfish!
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LOCAL POTATOES FRIED IN LOCAL DUCK FAT
Les pommes de terre locales ont fait frire en graisse locale de canard

5 small CSA potatoes
2 tablespoons duck fat
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel potatoes, halve them lengthwise, then cut into 1/4-inch slices. I spread the potato slices out on a large plate and microwaved them for five minutes to get the cooking process started. My experience with frying raw potatoes has been that they take a very long time to fry to doneness. Ideally, I like to use oven-roasted potatoes, peeled and sliced, for fried potatoes, but I didn't have time for that.

Heat duck fat in a large skillet over medium heat. When fat is hot, place potato slices in the skillet, spreading them out as evenly as possible. Apply salt and pepper. Now go away for a while and don't touch the potatoes. They need a full five minutes or more to get a crispy finish. Carefully lift a slice or two and check for a golden, crispiness. If it's there, turn the potatoes in the skillet. Let them fry another five minutes or so, turn again if necessary to crisp most of the potatoes, and serve hot.

I could have let my potatoes fry a bit longer. It's enormously tempting to keep turning them, but they need uninterrupted frying time to get the best crispy effect!

Makes 6 abstemious servings

Classic CSA Braising Greens, Three Ways

2011-02-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

By way of the wee memory fairy working her magic on two CSA customers this week, I found myself, as the drop site host, in possession of TWO unclaimed CSA boxes. I feel bad when people forget to pick up their boxes, but there it is. I have been instructed that the unclaimed boxes are mine to use or share.

This week we each had a bag of braising greens, so I have two extra bags ... a real treat, as I have never seen braising greens in the grocery store. The farmer's e-mail tells us the greens are all Asian varieties: mizuna, tatsoi, and mibuna. These greens wilt down significantly when cooked, like spinach. So I like to mix other vegetables (preferably from the CSA box!) in with them. This week's bok choy and red onion were perfect candidates!

There are, of course, infinitely more than three ways to cook greens. I have given ideas here. Think of them as the starting point for your own creations. The photo shows the Indian Braise.
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CLASSIC CSA BRAISING GREENS, THREE WAYS

I suspect braising greens might be available in Asian markets, of which we have several in our area. But if you can't find them, spinach, chard and even sturdy lettuce varieties will work. Just watch the cooking times so you don't overcook thinner greens.

Indian Braise

1 tablespoon coconut or vegetable oil

1 baby bok choy, sliced
1/2 large or 1 small red onion, halved and sliced
2 cups sliced cabbage

1 tablespoon curry powder or garam masala

12 ounces or so mixed braising greens, sorted and washed
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon red curry paste or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt to taste

Coconut and chopped macadamia nuts to garnish (optional)

Heat vegetable oil in large-ish skillet. Add bok choy, onion and cabbage. Saute, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.

Scatter curry powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt atop vegetables, stir, and cook, stirring for a minute or so until the spices become fragrant. Stir in coconut milk and curry paste, mixing well.

Pile braising greens into the pan, stir well to incorporate them with the other vegetables, and cover. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary, until greens have wilted and become somewhat tender. Sprinkle coconut and chopped macadamia nuts atop if desired.

Makes two large or four small servings.

Oriental Braise

To same (or different!) combination of vegetables above, add chopped ginger and garlic when sauteeing the bok choy, onion and cabbage. Use sesame oil if desired. When adding the braising greens, stir in hoisin sauce or soy sauce mixed with a little water. Add crushed red pepper if desired. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

American Braise

To same (or different!) combination of vegetables above, using coconut oil or vegetable oil, saute with plenty of garlic. Stir in raisins, dried cranberries or chopped prunes when you add the braising greens. Just before serving, stir in a splash of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, and some fresh walnuts. Orange peel and orange juice work well with this combination, too.

Box Seven

2011-02-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

I love it when I forget the boxes are coming, and drive up to my house and see them sitting there! This box reminds me of the one last year with six GIANT red onions. I was so thrilled that I made this recipe that called for three of them! We also have apples, squash, bok choy, sage, lavender, and braising greens. Dinner is gonna be great!

Roast Local Duck

2011-02-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

Last November, I picked up my turkey from Russ and Laurie at CG Ranch in Benton City. It was really cold that darkening afternoon. Later that night, the first snow of the year would blanket the land. My friend Michele, several other customers and I were standing around waiting as the turkeys were weighed. Russ's coveralls were bloodstained from dealing with the turkeys.

Then Russ said, "I have extra ducks if anyone wants one." Instantly, I knew I had to have a duck. Visions of a crispy, roasted duck floated before my eyes. I had never cooked a duck, but in that visceral, rural, meaty moment, inexperience didn't seem any sort of obstacle. A duck wasn't just meat, it was game meat, something our pioneer ancestors, nay, even primitive man had pursued, slain, roasted over smoky fires, and been nourished by! (Yes, I know Russ raised the duck, but still. Ducks have history!)

And so the duck, wrapped and tucked in the freezer through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and beyond, was never far from my mind. I Googled. I read cookbooks. I talked to people about ducks. It seemed that ducks were regarded as problematic. They have lots of fat. They should be massaged for quite some time before cooking to soften the fat. They should be poached before roasting. They should never be poached before roasting! They should be trussed. They should be split. The wings should be removed. The wings should be left on and tucked.

A few days ago, I put the duck in the fridge to thaw, and it did. I now had no choice but to Take Action. I found the recipe I thought would see me though, and it did, splendidly. We enjoyed a luscious duck dinner tonight, and with less work than I had feared.

As I write this, I have about two cups of boned duck meat waiting to be made into a curry, about two quarts of luscious, savory duck stock, and a cup and a half of beautiful, golden, rendered duck fat.

All my duck dreams came true, and I am now a duck fan. I hope you will be, too.
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ROAST LOCAL DUCK

I am indebted to the blog The Hungry Mouse for the excellent instructions and photographs. I followed the instructions except for the following adaptations:

Rather than scoring the duck's fat, I snipped it in a crosshatch pattern with the tips of kitchen shears. I cut the wings off, and laid them beside the duck on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. I salted the duck inside and out, rubbing the salt in. I did not tie the legs.

My duck was 3.5 pounds, and I was worried about over-roasting, given the recipe's four-hour roasting time for a larger duck. So I raised the oven temperature to 325 degrees. The duck roasted in exactly two hours, and I turned it over once after the first hour. At the two-hour mark, I tested the internal temperature in a thick part of the meat, and it was 165. I removed the duck to a small, shallow casserole, basted it with the sauce, and returned it to the oven for just about 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Shiny, fragrant, crackly, perfection.

My sauce adaptation included smaller amounts for the smaller duck:

1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
A 1-inch knob of ginger, minced
Grated rind of one organic orange

Combine all ingredients in a small pan and simmer over low heat until reduced to a syrupy state.

The 3.5-pound duck served two people with nice sliced pieces, and the two drumsticks would probably constitute another serving. There are also the smaller pieces of meat taken from the bones later.

Here is my lovely duck fat! Apparently, it is the French secret to glorious fried potatoes.

New Zealand Blue Squash Soup with Coconut Milk

2011-02-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Blithely, I washed my two CSA New Zealand Blue squashes and prepared to split them into chunks. "Why not roast them both!" I thought. "Efficient!

After about twenty minutes of splitting, seeding and scraping, Squash A had established a fierce, gnarly dominance over the entire cookie sheet.

Squash B, vanquished, skulked back to the garage, and Squash A went into the oven.

Whereupon I went outside to my trusty concrete squash-bashing patio and, with a hammer, broke a coconut into pieces, having already drained its liquid. Half an hour later I had, at great risk to myself, picked and pried the coconut meat from the shell with a sharp knife. I had Googled "coconut milk Champion juicer" to find out if I could make my own coconut milk. Yes!

Half an hour later, I had the coconut milk, some lovely shreddy, tasty coconut pulp, and a spectacularly splashed and coconut-speckled kitchen. I then began on the soup.

Some may think I spend too much time cooking. They would not think so after one taste of this sublime soup. Freshly-roasted, densely flavorful squash ... delicately flavored coconut milk ... the sweetest hint of pungent spices ... the tiny crackle of crunchy coriander seed ... do try it!

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NEW ZEALAND BLUE SQUASH SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK
Adapted from Lentil Breakdown

You could use butternut or other flavorful squash, or pumpkin. You could also use pre-ground spices. Depending on how freshly ground they are, you may wish to adjust amounts. I decided a splash of lime before serving would provide a nice counterpoint.

2- to 3-lb. or so New Zealand Blue or other squash of choice, or pumpkin (to total 4 cups of cooked, mashed squash)
Olive oil or butter

1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, diced
1 knob ginger, 1" or so square, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon cardamom seed
1 teaspoon salt

4 cups water or vegetable or chicken broth (I used chicken broth)
1 14-oz can coconut milk, or 1-1/2 cups labor-intensive homemade coconut milk

Juice of 1/2 lime

Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash or pumpkin into manageable-sized pieces. Scrape out seeds. A serrated ice cream scoop works great for this. Lavishly oil or butter the cut squash surfaces, and place them on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Roast, checking occasionally for doneness, about an hour and half. The squash should have carmelized in places. Remove, cool a bit, and scrape cooked squash (make sure to get all the carmelized bits in!) into a bowl. You should have about 4 cups of cooked squash.

Crush cumin, coriander and cardamom seeds roughly in a mortar and pestle.

In large pot or Dutch oven, melt 1 tablespoon butter and saute the onions in it until they begin to soften. Add ginger and garlic, and cook a bit more. Scatter spices over, and stir, letting the mixture cook a few minutes until it is redolent with spice scent.

Stir in salt, broth and coconut milk, and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste, and add seasoning to your liking. Depending on your squash's absorbency, you may need to add broth or water.

Puree the soup. I used an immersion blender right in the pot to puree the soup, though I didn't puree it to absolute smoothness ... I like a little intrigue in cream soups. You could also transfer it to a blender in batches.

Stir the lime juice into the hot soup just before serving. Garnish with cilantro, a sprinkling of coconut, a curl or two of lime peel ... this soup, from beginning to garnish, is very open to adjustment to your personal taste.

Makes 8 generous servings.

Celery Root Soup

2011-02-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been noticing those interesting vegetables tucked up and back of the more usual, recognizable varieties in the front rows of the produce aisles. Vegetables are playing a much larger role in our lives now, and, after casting my eye further around the available selection than I normally do, I brought home a hulking, monstrous celery root that nearly fell out onto my toes each time I opened the fridge door.

Its destiny was fulfilled last night. This is a delicious soup, despite the unfortunate appearance of a celery root. Or celeriac ... it's the same thing. Still, how pretty is a potato? It's all relative.

This recipe was originally a bisque, but that called for straining it through a sieve, something I am loathe to do to a perfectly good soup. It seems much to me like cutting the crusts off sandwiches. Rustic is more attractive than primped, when it comes to food, no?
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CELERY ROOT SOUP
Adapted from Cooks.com

1 celery root, about 1-1/4 pounds, peeled and cubed
1 large potato or 2 small CSA ones, peeled and cubed
lemon juice

3 tablespoons butter
3 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut in 1/2-inch rounds
3 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups chicken stock (I used stock made with my CG Ranch chickens)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup Pure Eire cream
2 tablespoon green onions, sliced

As you peel and dice the celery root and potato, place them in a container of water with some lemon juice added to keep them from turning brown. Discard the lemon water after adding celery root and potatoes to the soup.

Melt butter in soup pot, and add leeks and garlic. Saute for 10 minutes or so, until leeks have begun to soften. Add chicken stock, celery root, potatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

I used an immersion blender to "puree" this soup, as opposed to putting it in batches in a blender. Don't over-puree: Beating with blades releases potato starch and the soup will become gummy.

Stir in cream, taste for seasoning, heat gently through, and serve topped with green onions.

Makes six generous servings.

Box Six

2011-02-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

A bag of beautiful red pears is hiding out under the salad mix. I found a big bag of taters, two squash, dried herbs, fresh cilantro, split peas, apples, and a baby bok choy. I washed the salad greens right away and made Wilted Greens with them, and sauteed the bok choy next morning with shallots and Thundering Hooves sausage, and sprinkled the CSA cilantro o'er all.

Grain Free Banana Bread

2011-01-26T14:02:00.000-08:00

As part of our Gluten-Free January project, I've tried a few (very few) recipes for baked goods that will satisfy our acquired-over-decades taste for something ....well, baked.

I say "few" because one thing you don't want to do in a healthy diet is replace something unhealthy (white flour baked goods) with something grain free (made with almond flour, almond butter, etc.) and eat it in the same amounts as the white flour stuff.

Muffins, breads and pancakes made with almond butter or almond flour are superb, but they contain enough fat to boost your daily fat intake up to even the Primal Diet's 65 percent fairly quickly. Fortunately, they are also more satisfying and filling! Because they contain few to no concentrated carbs, they don't set you up for the never-ending, carb-craving cycle.

A slice of this bread for breakfast, with fruit, fits nicely into the overall scheme. The Smart Palette's recipe called for unsweetened chocolate chips, which I measured out and had standing by. But I forgot to put them in! I also forgot to sprinkle the top with date sugar, as called for!

No matter. A delicately banana-flavored and filling bread this is, indeed. You will be amazed that it is flour free.
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GRAIN FREE BANANA BREAD
From The Smart Palate, who adapted it from Grain-Free Foodies

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 cup unsalted almond butter

2 tablespoons freshly ground flax seeds (I used a blade coffee grinder)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Generous pinch of fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped unsweetened dark chocolate or unsweetened dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon date sugar, for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium mixing bowl, with electric mixer, combine bananas, eggs, almond butter, flax seeds, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Blend very well; mixture should be quite smooth.

Add baking soda and vinegar and mix briefly. If desired, stir in chocolate.

Spoon batter into a greased (use butter, ghee, or coconut oil) small loaf pan. I used a small Pyrex loaf pan that measures 7-3/4" by 4-1/2". If desired, sprinkle date sugar atop batter.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of loaf comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes on a rack, then gently loosen sides with a thin spatula, turn loaf out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely before slicing.

Butternut and Spinach Frittata with Cream and Walnuts

2011-01-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

Mmm, creamy, squashy, nutty ... superbly satisfying on a cold January evening, with a green salad and grapefruit wedges.

Crank's Bible is a rich compendium of intriguing combinations, and gives great consideration, in an easygoing way, to the pleasure of both eye and palette. I found this cookbook on a sale table some years ago, picked it up, put it down, walked off, walked back ... you know the drill.

I'd had this recipe marked for weeks, and, finally, the perfect evening for it arrived. I used my CSA butternut squash cubes, previously frozen, and local Davis Farms walnuts, Pure Eire cream, and CG Ranch eggs.

Believe it or not, I took this recipe down by half. Nadine Abensur's version was positively Bacchanalian, with a whole dozen eggs and a cup of cream! I did, however, use her full amount of garlic, on my yet-to-be-disproven theory that in most savory dishes, garlic is always welcome.
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BUTTERNUT AND SPINACH FRITTATA WITH CREAM AND WALNUTS
Adapted from Crank's Bible, by Nadine Abensur

6 local eggs
1/2 cup Pure Eire cream
4 fat garlic cloves, or 8 smaller ones, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

1 pound butternut squash cubes
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon tamari
Dash of Tabasco, or red curry paste, or ground chipotle

5 ounces spinach leaves, washed and big stems removed, or use baby spinach
About 1/4 cup walnut pieces, broken into large-ish pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In small bowl, whisk eggs, cream, garlic, salt and pepper, and set aside to infuse.

In large bowl, toss squash cubes with olive oil, tamari and Tabsco, and spread on Silpat-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until squash is fairly soft and edges have begun to carmelize.

Remove squash from oven, spread spinach leaves over squash, and stir the spinach in gently. Return to oven for a few minutes, or until the spinach has wilted a bit.

Carefully spoon squash and spinach mixture onto a frittata pan or suitably sized ovenproof nonstick or seasoned cast iron skillet. Heat over medium heat just until skillet is hot. Pour egg mixture over squash, to fill out to edges of pan.

Now, you may either gently move the squash around, scraping with your spatula through to the pan bottom to allow egg mixture to fully cook, as the author did, or use my optional method of setting the frittata back into the oven, checking every few minutes to see if the eggs have gently set. You don't want the frittata to get dry.

Sprinkle walnuts atop, and leave to set a while at room temperature. Nadine Abensur says this gives it "time to settle and ease into itself." (You see why I bought her cookbook?)

Serves 4 generously.

Mixed Berry Flaugnarde with Vanilla Bean

2011-01-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

Mixed berry what?

This lush, earthy yet sophisticated dessert proved a beautiful, delicately vanilla-scented solution for a Costco-sized bag of mixed berries that had crouched for months (years?) in the bottom of my freezer. You know, the one you keep moving around when you're looking for other stuff. And you think, "What can I do with two pounds of mixed berries? Why did I buy them in the first place?"

I love The Nourished Kitchen blog, and was enchanted by this recipe that is so satisfying to the senses, uses my berry largesse, and assuages my conscience for ignoring that bag 'o berries for so long.

A flaugnarde (flewn-YARD) is apparently kin to the clafoutis (kah-floo-TEE), but it is flourless and more custardy. As it happened, my aunt had given me a tube of vanilla beans (she'd been to Costco, too, and shared), and my Pure Eire cream was ready for something new.

It does add a little continental flair to say "we're having flewn-YARD" for dessert, but this lovely dish would be good even without announcing it with a French accent.
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MIXED BERRY FLAUGNARDE WITH VANILLA BEAN
Adapted from The Nourished Kitchen

2 pounds mixed fresh or frozen berries
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 egg
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup maple syrup

1 vanilla bean (optional)

Preheat oven to350 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss berries with vanilla extract. Put berries in a baking dish, and roast them for 20 minutes. They should have released most of their juices.

Carefully spoon berries into a colander set over a bowl. Let them drain thoroughly; a screen mesh colander is best. You want them to be as juice-free as possible. Save the juices to use for flavoring other things like smoothies and ice cream, or simmer the juices down to make a lovely, vanilla-scented syrup.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk thoroughly the egg, egg yolks, cream and maple syrup.

Pour the strained berries into a shallow baking dish. I used a 10 1/2-inch Corning ware dish with 1 1/2-inch-tall sides. Spread berries evenly over bottom of dish. If using vanilla bean, lay it on top of the berries. Pour batter over berries and bake for 45 minutes or until the flaugnarde browns and the egg is just set.

Best served warm, after it cools just a bit.

Makes 4 generous servings, or 6 smaller ones

Fourth and Fifth Boxes

2011-01-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Box Five ... onions, garlic, salad greens, chickpeas, carrots, chili peppers, a Carnival squash, a New Zealand Blue squash, and (I think) another Kabocha.

Box Four ... taters, squashes, popcorn, lavender, beets, salad greens, and lentils.

The Best Kale Dish You've Ever Made

2011-01-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

This post's title is a direct quote from Mr. Eating the Scenery, after he finished off his second helping, leaving the dish empty. This was indeed a spectacularly delicious way to prepare kale, which is often found braised with garlic and olive oil, ho hum.

The funny thing is, the original recipe called for crushed coriander seed. For reasons unknown, I read "cardamom," and duly crushed cardamom seed and sprinkled it in at the appointed time. The round, sweet, spicy, exotic flavor seemed to fuse the kale and apples and onions in a wondrous waltz of taste.

I didn't notice until sitting down here with the recipe that it called for coriander seed.

Sometimes a mistake can be wonderful.

The photo I took before we dug in, however, is best forgotten. The sunrise above, looking east from our home, is much more attractive, if tangential to the food theme. Trust me.
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KALE WITH APPLES AND CARDAMOM
From The Smart Palate, tweaked a bit

My bunch of kale was rather small, so this recipe made about two very hearty servings (or four smaller ones). If you use a large bunch of kale, you'll want to increase the olive oil and perhaps use a large onion and a second apple, and increase the spices a bit.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamom
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 bunch kale (I used Lacinato, aka Black Tuscan), washed, cut from center ribs, then sliced thinly

In large skillet with a lid, heat olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the onion and apple, and sprinkle all with salt and pepper. Saute for a minute or so, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until apple and onion begin to sweat (sorry, I just learned that culinary term a bit ago and keep wanting to use it), about 5 to 8 minutes. Add a little water if necessary to keep things from sticking.

Sprinkle cardamom and crushed red pepper over the apple mixture and stir it in, then stir in the kale. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until kale reaches the consistency you like.

An amazing dish.

Makes 2 to 4 servings, depending on size of your kale bunch

Homemade Ice Cream with Cherries and Dates

2011-01-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

Ever seeking to reduce my use of refined sugar, and increase good fats, I decided to try making some ice cream with no refined sugar at all. I'm certain that using our wonderful, local Pure Eire Jersey cream gave this ice cream its eye-opening, superior taste and texture.
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HOMEMADE ICE CREAM WITH CHERRIES AND DATES

Just a small dish is immensely satisfying, much like Italian gelato.

1 cup frozen pitted sweet cherries
10 pitted dates
3/4 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups Pure Eire cream

Place an appropriately-sized glass container with cover in your freezer so it is ready for the ice cream. If you are going to serve it freshly churned, freeze little serving bowls.

In a blender, puree the cherries, dates and water until smooth. Add vanilla and cream, and blend just until cream is incorporated and mix is smooth.

Pour into ice cream maker and process for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the ice cream stiffens and begins to curl around the paddle blades in a big way.

Serve the ice cream right away, or spatula it (hey, if you can spoon something, you can spatula it, right?) into your frozen container. Put right into the freezer.

Makes a little under 4 cups of rich, delicious ice cream, or about 8 servings to savor slowly!

Kabocha with Clothes On

2011-01-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Amazing! Who knew there were squashes whose peels you could eat! Apparently people eat unpeeled kabocha squash all the time! I love it when I emerge from the culinary dark, finally to see something that others have known for millennia. Here's how you do it.

Slice off the stems and blossom ends. Cut off any bumps or damaged spots, and remove any divots.

Then cut the squash in half. Be careful. If you have trouble getting the knife through, take the squash to a concrete area and bang it to complete the split.

Use your trusty serrated ice cream scoop to remove the seeds. Cut squash into dice (about 3/4 inch) and toss in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Spread on a Silpat-lined cookie sheet and sprinkle the dices with salt and pepper.

Roast at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring once at midpoint. The squash will begin to caramelize, and will taste exquisitely sweet and dense.

Other squash varieties whose skins are edible are Delicata and acorn. But you have to make sure the squash is fairly fresh. Apparently the skin grows thicker throughout the winter as the squash loses moisture.

To test for peel edibility, you could cut a cube and microwave it to see if the skin goes soft.

Our venerable CSA farmer grows umpteen varieties of squash and held a squash tasting that I was not able to attend. Perhaps he mentioned this wondrous quality of certain squashes! It certainly speeds the preparation process, and provides an easier source of cubed squash to freeze or roast!

Wilted Salad Greens

2011-01-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

Traditionally known as "wilted lettuce," this tangy and deeply satisfying salad was commonly served back in the Day. Generally speaking, I refer to the Day when people did not consume processed carbohydrates in the volumes and concentrations found in Big Gulps and giant Venti frappuccinos, unless they were hoisting bales of hay onto trucks all day, or suchlike. And no one fueled themselves on chemical stews of fractured transfats, because they were not concocted yet.

Thus, real fat (butter and such) wasn't cause for any hand-wringing. In fact, our (mostly long-lived) forebears would probably have prepared significantly more of the hot dressing for this salad, hence the "wilted" moniker. But the amounts I use here won't take down your lettuce volume by much.

As we further reduce the amount of processed carbohydrates we consume, and prepare more fresh vegetables, we find that adding real fat becomes appropriate.

Options for additions and variations are many: hard boiled eggs, green onions, herbs, cream in the dressing ... personalize it your way, or find your grandma's recipe for wilted lettuce and find out just how good the Good Old Days really could be!
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WILTED SALAD GREENS

If you use bacon you have already cut up, fried, and frozen, just heat it in a little skillet to crisp it and release some of the fat, then use olive oil to reach the 2 tablespoons of fat amount.

A medium sized bowl of fresh, CSA salad greens
Natural bacon
Olive oil
Vinegar
Sucanat or agave syrup
Salt

In a little skillet, fry about a cup of bacon pieces (about 4-5 slices). Remove bacon to drain. To the bacon fat, add enough olive oil to reach a volume of about
2 tablespoons. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar (any kind, really), and 2 teaspoons of your chosen sweetener. Sprinkle on some salt. Whisk and cook a little, until the sweetener is dissolved and the liquid is hot.

Spoon the hot dressing in a swirl over your salad greens. Scatter the bacon pieces atop.

Makes 4 hearty servings

The Things We Do for Squash

2011-01-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

No other vegetable plays so hard to get. Even optimistic I, on occasion, am daunted by their thick-skinned impenetrability. But as everyone knows it's better to have attempted to cook squash than never to have cooked it at all.

To that end, with visions of happy-ever-after roasted squash dishes dancing in my head, I boldly brought in my CSA squash a while back, during that particularly cold spell we had where the north wind was bitingly fierce. Darkness was falling. I couldn't get the knife to fully split the squash, so gathered squash and knife and headed out my (north facing) dining room door to the back patio, where there was concrete. The wind immediately blasted into the house, so I pulled the door quickly shut.

Not until I had slammed the knife-impaled squash onto the concrete, thus splitting it, did I find that I had failed to fully unlock the door. I was now locked outside, in the near dark, with a split squash, a knife, no coat, and an unmercifully arctic north wind bearing down upon me.

I recalled with great vividness the discussion Mr. Eating the Scenery and I had recently about our non-operative garage door keypad. It was still inoperable. The keybox by the back door (also north facing) was my only hope. I don't think I've ever been as close to frostbite as I was fiddling with that frigid metal keybox, feeling for the number sequence and punching numbers in the dark, for around 20 minutes, failing to get it unlocked and growing fumblier minute by frosty minute.

Still, I have wonderful neighbors, and had they been home, I'm sure they would have welcomed me in, big chef's knife, squash and all, for tea and cookies while I waited for Mr. Eating the Scenery to arrive home. As it was, at last I succeeded in opening the keybox and the door. I needed no trip to the emergency room but was fascinated by the pain involved in slowly thawing my fingertips under tepid water.

Squash hurts.

Greek Potatoes

2011-01-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

So good it makes you want to do a stomping dance and break some glassware.

Earlier this fall, as I was buying leeks (when my local ones were gone, I didn't seem to be able to be without them) at the grocery store, the checker asked me what I did with them. There are so many things! But of course I was struck dumb, as we so often are when there is so much to say, and could only blurt things like "soup" and "eggs."

But I shall take this recipe to her. No one who asks me for ideas or recipes shall be left in the dark.
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GREEK POTATOES
Adapted from Plenty by Diana Henry

2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 cup lowfat yogurt

1/4 cup olive oil
5 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into chunks
1-1/4 lb. Yukon Gold or red potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks slightly larger than the leek chunks
Salt and pepper

12 to 16 ounces spinach, chard, or other greens, more or less to taste, sliced
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
A glug of lemon juice

Mix the garlic and yogurt and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add leeks and potatoes, and season them with salt and pepper. Heat over a low temperature for 20 minutes or so. Check occasionally and add water if needed. This seems to be called "sweating," and indeed the potatoes and leeks will look a bit like they are doing hot yoga.

When potatoes are not crisp but are less than tender, add the spinach and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix gently, add a little more water, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cover. Cook about 5 minutes or until the greens have wilted nicely.

Stir in the dill, mint and lemon juice. At this point I stirred in the garlic/yogurt mixture, but the original recipe advises us to serve it alongside, a perfectly acceptable option.

Makes 6 side dish servings

Sheffield Harvest Crush Apple and Grape Cider

2010-12-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

My stepson contributed this tasty local cider to our Christmas dinner. Sheffield Cider in Mesa (just north of Pasco) makes this blend from apples and several varieties of wine grapes. It's amazingly fresh tasting, almost like fresh-squeezed juice. First you taste the apple, then a delightfully crisp grape essence.

Add Alan Pangborn's Blanc de Blanc from Moonlight Cellar in Kennewick, and you have two wonderful, local ways to toast the New Year. Resolve to make 2011 your year for eating locally!

Smoked Salmon Chowder

2010-12-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

This delicious chowder has become our traditional Christmas Eve dinner dish. Savory, hearty, with a subtle hint of tarragon ... it's a real keeper. I've tweaked it a bit and see that I've written "perfect" on its page in the cookbook.
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SMOKED SALMON CHOWDER
Adapted from Soups and Stews by Maryana Vollstedt

Do make this a day ahead of time and chill so the flavors can blend. Stir in the half-and-half when heating to serve. You can leave out the half-and-half and still have a delectable, creamy chowder.

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken stock
2 cups bottled clam broth
2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut in half-inch dice
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dill
1 teaspoon paprika

10 ounces smoked salmon, from Northwest Seafood Market, skin removed and flaked
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 drops Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup half-and-half (or mixed Pure Eire milk and cream), optional

In large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter with oil. Add onion and celery and saute until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir. Add stock and stir until slightly thickened. Add potatoes, tarragon, thyme, dill and paprkia. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add salmon, garlic, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, salt, pepper and wine. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Add half-and-half and simmer over low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes.

The Lunar Eclipse/Solstice Box

2010-12-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

Total lunar eclipse, Winter Solstice, and Winter CSA Box Three--all on the same day. What is the deeper, or higher, meaning of this? Um ... nothing! I don't mean to squash anyone's enthusiasm for the supernatural, but I don't carrot all for big stretches to link unrelated items. Unless I'm trying to put a bunch of things into a recipe ...

Western Dried Fruits Cake

2010-12-25T21:21:00.000-08:00

A gem of a cake made entirely of nuts and dried fruits, with just enough vanilla-scented batter to hold it all together. Beautiful, jewel-like slices go wonderfully with coffee and tea, or on a plate of cookies and candies for dessert after a holiday meal.

This recipe came out in the 80's and I've seen many versions since then, varying the fruits and nuts, adding candied ginger and such. But for a pure, heavenly taste that unquestionably deserves all the superlatives you can give it, this original version is the ticket.

I've been making this cake in little foil pans for around 25 years now, and giving them as gifts. Merry Christmas!
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WESTERN DRIED FRUITS CAKE
From Sunset Magazine

A couple of hints: Snip the apricots into quarters using kitchen shears. It's easier than using a knife. To butter the pans, use a brush dipped in melted butter; brush the butter onto the waxed paper lining also.

1 cup chopped pitted dates
2 cups quartered dried apricots
1 cup golden raisins
1-1/2 cups whole blanched almonds
1-1/2 cups walnut pieces
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter a 5- x 9-inch loaf pan; line with baking parchment or waxed paper, then butter the paper.

In small bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder to blend.

In large bowl, combine dates, apricots, raisins, almonds and walnuts. Add flour mixture to fruits and mix evenly.

Beat eggs with vanilla to blend. Stir thoroughly into fruit mixture. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and spread evenly; press batter into corners of pan, and press batter down as you fill the pan so there are no gaps. Shape the batter so it's a bit rounded on the top of the loaf.

Bake in a 300-degree oven until golden brown, about 2 hours. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out of pan. Peel off paper and let cake cool on rack.

Wrap in plastic wrap or foil. Chill at least two days or up to two months. Or eat it immediately! The flavor is excellent fresh, too. If desired, sprinkle the top of the cake with 1 tablespoon rum or brandy once a week.

Makes 1 loaf

Gift loaves option: Double the recipe. Use six small foil loaf pans, about 3 x 6 inches. Butter and line pans as instructed above. Be sure to push batter into corners of pans and press down so the loaf is compact. Bake at 250 degrees (a cooler temperature than the big, single loaf) for 2 hours. Watch the cakes during the last hour to prevent burning. For these small loaves, I found that 300 degrees was too hot.

Book Review: The Dirty Life

2010-12-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

This book was absorbing and compelling all the way through. It goes way beyond "city girl marries farmer." Ms. Kimball describes how, although she was completely unfamiliar with farming, she almost instantly was captivated by its gritty fundamentalness. She felt safe, seeing literally for the first time in her life where food actually came from. A New Yorker, she had rarely cooked.

The farmer who became the author's husband, and with whom she started and currently operates a whole-diet CSA farm, is a fascinating man who lives his beliefs about how food should be grown, and he cooks fantastically simple yet complexly-flavored meals with the farm produce.

There are no recipes, but that's kind of the point. The author writes that when we move to seasonal, local eating, "The central question in the kitchen would have to change from What do I want? to What is available?" The Kimballs provide "naked, unprocessed food, two steps from the dirt."

Their Essex Farm is the first whole-diet CSA in the country, providing members with beef, pork, chicken, eggs, milk, herbs and vegetables, berries, grains and flours, legumes, and maple syrup.

This is a book to savor, but that will have to happen on my second trip through. The first time I was completely caught up in the suspense inevitably generated when livelihood is linked so directly to something as capricious as Nature.

Roasted Beet Salad with Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Horseradish Vinaigrette

2010-12-17T17:51:00.000-08:00

My Mom recently returned from a trip to Hood River, Oregon, and described this dish she encountered at the restaurant at Hood River Inn. It sounded simple and delicious. Spectacular, multicolored beets arrived in the first two CSA boxes, so I roasted them, used some for this salad, and pickled the rest.

For two salads, simply cut peeled, roasted beets into chunks and toss them in a mixture of 2 tablespoons olive oil or Apres Vin grapeseed oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 teaspoons horseradish, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Let the tossed beets sit in the mixture for a while, then lift out and arrange them atop arugula on two salad plates. Drizzle remaining dressing from the bowl over the salads, and scatter crumbled goat cheese atop. I think any vinaigrette, especially perhaps cranberry or raspberry, would be just as delicious.

That Casa Mia Mango Dessert

2010-12-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Casa Mia makes a delicious dessert of zabaglione topped with mango puree. My Costco mangoes were ripening alarmingly fast, so I decided to sort of replicate the Casa Mia dessert using my Pure Eire milk and cream. Now, I use very little dairy, but can't seem to resist picking up some Pure Eire whenever I'm in one of our local health food stores. My philosophy is that if you're going to have some dairy, why not have fresh, local dairy, from Jersey cows?

So. I sliced two mangoes into the blender, and added enough milk and cream (okay, more cream than milk) so that the whole thing could blend into two servings worth of delicious, creamy, mango-y dessert. Satisfying, and no processed sugar involved.

Slow Food Christmas Cookie Exchange

2010-12-12T16:34:00.000-08:00

Thirteen brave folks added the Slow Food Cookie exchange to their busy holiday calendars. This despite the invitation to put vegetables in cookies, and categories for judging including "healthiest ingredient" and "most unusual ingredient." Slow Food folk are incredibly intrepid! They even shared favorite baking memories with the receptive group. From left, Kurt, Nick, Sarah, Aisling, Peggy, Rachel, Laurie and Russ.

Ask Angela about anything to do with baking, and you will get an enthusiastic and thorough response, as Whitney finds out!

We sampled Carrot-Beet Cookies, Herb Shortbread, Spinach-Blueberry-Oat Bars, Squash-Cranberry-Walnut Biscotti, Pumpkin Cookies, Brandy Balls, Ginger Cookies, and Green Tea-Pecan Cookies. A good-natured but somewhat controlled free-for-all voting session awarded bakers prizes for healthiest ingredient, most local, most unusual ingredient, and first place in taste. Congratulations to winners Sarah (2!), Angela and Peggy.

Not just cookies, but cider, local cheeses, fresh-baked bread (with local flour) by Angela, local hot spiced wine, and fruits were on offer.

Softly falling snow added to the holiday ambiance.

My Mom chats with Russ and Laurie, who supply many local folks with free-range chickens, eggs, turkeys, and even ducks. Thanks to all the farmers and bakers who made this relaxing and fun Slow Food event possible! And special thanks to Angela for co-hosting!

Cranberry Pluot Sauce

2010-12-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

Rummaging in the freezer, I found cranberries from last year. And beside them, a container of pluot sauce frozen this summer. Combine them? Why not!

I usually make cranberry sauce with orange juice concentrate, but these fruity things seemed drawn to each other by some invisible force of culinary serendipity. It happens! It's fun, momentarily at least, to free oneself from the same old combinations of things and take a risk.

In this case the payoff was an amazingly great cranberry sauce with summery pluot undertones. I used a little honey to bring a not-too-sweet balance to the sauce and harmonize the flavors.

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CRANBERRY PLUOT SAUCE

8 cups frozen cranberries
3 cups pluot sauce (plum sauce would work, too)
1/3 cup honey

Put cranberries and pluot sauce in a large pot. Add a little water to get things started. Heat over medium heat until pluot sauce is fully incorporated and berries start to pop. Cook, stirring, about 10 to 15 minutes more until sauce thickens and most of the berries have burst. Stir in honey.

Makes about 8 servings.

Box the Second

2010-12-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

Two winter squashes, two Chinese cabbages, two bunches of carrots! Chili peppers and oregano, spinach and braising greens, a bunch of beets and turnips. And a really happy CSA customer in a pear tree!

Lemon and Cumin Slaw

2010-12-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

This is a light, lemony, crunchy slaw that goes together quickly and compliments any meat (pulled pork comes to mind!) or sturdier casseroles, such as enchiladas and mac and cheese. It's also great alongside robust, winter soups such as chilis and chowders.

I'm always drawn to recipes with a minimum of ingredients, especially when they combine so beautifully like this, where the flavor of each ingredient is equally showcased.

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LEMON AND CUMIN SLAW
From the British Country Living magazine

This slaw keeps very, very well, and develops a deeper flavor over time. But it's amazing freshly made, too. I once tried adding some olive oil, but it only detracted from the fine, tangy crispness of the slaw.

1/2 a medium-sized green cabbage, thinly sliced into shreds
1 organic lemon
1 tablespoon cumin seed (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Grate the lemon's peel into a large bowl using a Microplane or other fine grater. Juice the lemon, adding the juice to the bowl with the peel. Add the salt.

In a small skillet, toast the cumin seed 'til it begins to brown and becomes fragrant. Transfer to a mortar and pestle, and grind roughly, then transfer to the bowl with the lemon juice and peel.

Whisk dressing, then toss in the cabbage and mix all together well.

Makes about 6 servings.

Party Mix, Remixed

2010-12-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't remember the moment they learned how to pronounce "Worcestershire?" Every year around Christmas or New Year's when I was a kid, we'd make a batch of Chex party mix, baking it in the bottoms of our oven broiler trays, and faithfully stirring it every 15 minutes for an hour. The salty-sour-crunchy effect was unique back in the day, and you had to make it. Today, you can buy preservative- and color-laden bags of the stuff. No thanks! Herewith, my redux version.

"Redux" actually means "brought back" or "restored." In this case, I'm bringing back the memorable taste but none of the preservatives that, alas, Chex brand cereals contain. To complete the feel-good theme I used organic butter and a bunch of other cool things.

I don't keep onion powder (!) or that item the Chex people call "seasoned salt" on hand, and my garlic powder is rather ancient, so a little creativity was called for. You can use your creativity, too. But this recipe will get you started.

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PARTY MIX, REMIXED
Adapted from the Chex Original Recipe

Yes, you should double this. It makes a lot, but you can give it away or even freeze it and surprise yourself later! Plus, it has a tendency to vanish. If you're a pretzel fan, substitute those in for some of the dry ingredients.

9 cups total of square, chex-ish cereals (I used Health Valley Crunch-Ems and Cascadian Farms Multigrain squares from our local health food store)
1/2 cup dry roasted almonds
1/2 cup dry roasted cashews
1/2 cup Alexia onion strips, broken up a bit
1/2 cup Annie's cheddar bunnies

4 tablespoons organic butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Heat oven to 250 degrees. In a large roasting pan, combine the cereals, nuts, onion strips and cheddar bunnies.

In small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, salt and spices. Mix well. Drizzle over the dry ingredients, tossing well until combined.

Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool thoroughly before storing.

RELATED REDUX POST: Tater Tot Casserole, Remixed

Cabernet Sauvignon Roasted Potatoes

2010-12-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

The subtlest hint of fresh Cabernet Sauvignon grape flavor from the oil lifts these local spuds into the realm of nearly ethereal.

Snowy roads have kept me closer to home than usual lately, but I discovered some local organic Russets, purchased from my CSA farmer's stand at the Richland Farmers' Market, lolling around in my produce drawer. (Yes, Jeanne, that would be the "Humi-drawer," for those of us who remember the glory days of the Frigidaires!)

A light massage with grapeseed oil, a dusting of salt, pepper and thyme (rescued just before the single-digit temperatures blackened the herb garden), and these taters are ready to go.

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CABERNET SAUVIGNON ROASTED POTATOES

Glorious amounts of creativity can be applied to this recipe ... different flavored oils, different herbs, even different kinds of potatoes.

4 local organic Russet spuds, peeled and quartered lengthwise
1 tablespoon Apres Vin Cabernet Sauvignon (or other flavor) grapeseed oil
Salt
Pepper
Thyme

Rub olive oil all over quartered potatoes. Arrange on Silpat-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme. Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

First Winter CSA Box!

2010-12-01T22:56:00.000-08:00

The boxes are here! Woo hoo! Imagine having a box of fresh, locally-grown vegetables, all winter, every two weeks 'til April. No, you're not dreaming! It can happen!

This first box contained winter squash, Chinese cabbage, chard, cranberries (from Western Washington), turnips, beets, carrots and sage. The cranberries made a luscious sauce for Thanksgiving, and the carrots are wonderfully sweet. The cabbage went into Thanksgiving dinner slaw. I cooked the beet and turnip greens for dinner on dropoff day. And somehow missed getting the chard and cranberries in the photo. I seem to recall flinging produce here and there in my delight.

This is my second winter CSA year, and my blog was created to document my first year's experience. We're off and running again!

Secret Ingredients 101: Local Grapeseed Oil

2010-11-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

While dining at a wondrous little cafe/wine bar in Prosser, Wine o'Clock, I noticed that their salads tasted lush and deep, despite having the mildest of dressings. The other dishes we ordered also had this strange and wonderful presence, a sort of essence of themselves, unencumbered by strong flavors.

I decided the secret must be grapeseed oil. It had to be something that I obviously wasn't using at home! Then I remembered that there were two bottles of Apres Vin oil tucked into my fridge door--Roasted Garlic Chardonnay and Cabernet--that I had purchased at last year's Richland Farmers' Market and had forgotten about. Since my discovery, I've been using my Apres Vin grapeseed oils for salad dressing and roasting. It works beautifully.

For salads, tossing simple greens with plain Cabernet grapeseed oil imparts a subtle wine flavor and actually brings out the flavor of the greens. You don't need vinegar. You don't need garlic. You don't even need salt. Yes, it has taken me this long to realize that good salad greens actually have flavor to bring out! This oil is very light ... you only need a little.

The Roasted Garlic Chardonnay oil has the subtlest hint of wine and garlic flavor, excellent for most anything you'd use olive oil for, even dipping bread.

Apres Vin makes several flavors of grapeseed oil. Take a look at these flavors and combinations Apres Vin offers. Their site also describes the nutritional value of grapeseed oil. It's not cheap, but you can use it sparingly. A great addition to any kitchen where fresh, local foods are prepared! And Apres Vin itself is local ... they're located in Prosser.

To the Women of Thanksgiving, with Love

2010-11-21T22:06:00.000-08:00

We cut and crumble, chop and knead,
Make endless lists, and cookbooks read,
Shop and haul, cash and carry,
Roll the dough, sort cranberries.
Scrub and toss and smooth and shake
All your holiday to make.

We traverse rural hill and dale
To the blood-spattered farmer, who on his scale
Does our free-range turkeys weigh.
We stand shivering there on butchering day,
And wonder why we truss and bake
All your holiday to make.

Yes, we will eat. And we will pray.
And thankfully partake on the great day.
When all are served and sated, each one,
And we've cleaned it up, the dishes done,
A well-earned rest we'd like to take.
But no. There's the next meal to make.

Shepherd's Pie with Yams and Curry

2010-11-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

A cultural crossover here ... not your typical English version of the Shepherd's Pie, but an exotic cousin. Warm, spicy, savory and sweet. A brilliant one-dish meal that is hearty and happily filling.

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SHEPHERD'S PIE WITH YAMS AND CURRY
Adapted from The Organic Foodie

I had a few mushrooms that needed to be used up and added them to the meat mixture. They really rounded the dish out nicely. I considered using ground lamb, but am glad I didn't. The beef's milder flavor really lets the spicy ginger and curry flavors dominate.

2 large yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 teaspoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened fine-shred coconut

2 teaspoons coconut oil
1 pound lean ground beef (I used Thundering Hooves)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1-inch piece of ginger, minced
2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup raisins (optional; I didn't use them)
1 packed cup of chopped spinach (didn't have this so used 1/3 cup cilantro - very good!)
1/4 cup almonds, finely chopped
two pinches ground cardamom
one pinch salt

Cook yams in a pot of boiling water until soft. Mash until smooth. Stir in until well blended the coconut oil, cinnamon, salt and coconut.

Mix almonds with cardamom and pinch of salt. Small food processor works great for this.

In medium skillet, heat coconut oil. Add onion and cook until onions begin to soften. Sprinkle curry powder over onions and cook, stirring, for a minute. Add ground beef and continue cooking until beef is thoroughly cooked. Add ginger, garlic, spinach or cilantro, and (if using) raisins.

Place meat mixture in 10-inch Pyrex pie dish or other similar dish. Spread yam mixture over top, and sprinkle with almond mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until heated through and almonds are a bit toasted. Let sit for a few minutes after removing from oven.

Makes 4 hearty servings or 6 smaller ones.

Roasted Delicata Squash with Leeks, Apple, and Fresh Herbs

2010-11-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

"Delicata" may sound sissy, and in fact I believe its name derives from the fact that it doesn't keep as well as other squashes. But it's a hearty squash, unafraid to step up to the plate and challenge the big boys, like butternut, in both flavor and texture. The maple syrup really provides the perfect link for all these flavors to meld succulently.

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DELICATA SQUASH WITH LEEKS, APPLE AND HERBS

1 Delicata squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch C shapes
2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, cut in 1/4-inch slices
1 apple, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fresh chopped sage
Fresh thyme

In large bowl, combine the olive oil, maple syrup, salt, pepper, sage and thyme. Toss the squash, leeks and apple in this mixture, and spread them onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Roast at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until squash and apples are tender and leeks are soft. Stir mixture once or twice during cooking.

Makes 4 servings

Leek and Portobello Frittata with Thyme and Oregonzola

2010-11-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

Leeks have become a real favorite of mine, and were frequently available at the farmer's markets this summer. The other night, I realized that my garden thyme was still producing, there was a hunk of Oregonzola cheese in the fridge, and I had two local leeks and a portobello mushroom. The planets aligned, and this dish was born. A classic combination of great savory flavors.

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LEEK AND PORTOBELLO FRITTATA WITH THYME AND OREGONZOLA

2 tablespoons butter
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced thinly
1 big 'ol portobello mushroom, stem removed and cut in 1/4-inch slices

1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried

6 to 8 local, free-range eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon crumbled Oregonzola cheese

In frittata pan or medium-sized ovenproof skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the leeks just until they become somewhat soft. Add the mushroom slices, and carefully saute for a few minutes or until the mushrooms have become somewhat soft. Push the leeks around to cover the bottom of the skillet, and bring the mushroom slices to the top. You can arrange them in a starburst design if you wish. Scatter a little salt and pepper over all, then carefully pour on the eggs to fill the pan. Lift up the mushrooms if any become covered with eggs. Scatter garlic and thyme leaves over all. Continue cooking on stovetop for a couple of minutes or until eggs begin to set.

Place pan in oven and bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until eggs are just set. Watch carefully; you don't want the frittata to be too dry.

Remove from oven, wrap potholders around handles so no one gets burned, and scatter the cheese across the top. Cut with spatula into wedges. Serve hot.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

A Year of Blogging Local

2010-11-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Today my humble blog celebrates its first birthday.

You, dear reader, have really made my blogging year a true pleasure. You have shared recipes, given advice, actually made some of my recipes (this one was the most popular), and some even showed up at my house for a class. You have commented. You have endured my bad photographs. You have happily accepted containers of leftover blogged dishes, and in some cases sat down at the initial taste testings. You have been unflinchingly honest. You have come into my kitchen and cooked with me.

One cannot cook with local foods without ... local foods. I am constantly thankful for our many local farmers' markets, growers and producers, and especially for the indispensable gift of our local Winter CSA, happening again this winter.

This recipe was in the works last winter when we lost my Dad. The comfort of robust, home-cooked food at a time like that cannot be overstated. I am thankful for my family and friends, and give special accolades to my mom, whose influence on my life with food has for years nourished not only my love of the fresh and local bounty around us, but my creativity and spirit of fun in cooking and trying new things.

Thank you, every one.

Save the Pickled Beets!

2010-11-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, but not so much lately, I worry about foods disappearing. I know, some foods should disappear, like fried liver and doorstop fruitcakes. But you know what I mean: You're savoring a lovely slice of spicy pickled beet and suddenly, without warning, you think, "What if people stopped eating beets? And farmers stopped growing beets? And there would be no more pickled beets!"

I'm not saying everyone has episodes of food paranoia like me, but in case the whole worrying-about-food-disappearing thing is due to the cosmic resonance of some underlying potential universal truth, now and again I like to make, and enjoy, pickled beets. And if you do it, too, maybe we'll keep pickled beets alive!

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PICKLED BEETS

This recipe is easily increased for more beets, and all the ingredients can be played around with according to your taste.

About 4 medium-sized beets, or 6 smaller ones, either red, gold, striped, or a mix
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1 or 2 tablespoons agave nectar or organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
A few grinds of black pepper

Wash the beets and either trim the stalks off or leave an inch or so on. Lay beets in a Pyrex baking dish, add a quarter inch or so of water, cover the dish with foil, and roast the beets at 350 degrees for an hour or so. If beets are varying sizes, some may need to be removed before others are done. Beets should be tender when pierced with a knife.

Alternatively, wrap the beets in aluminum foil and roast for the same amount of time.

Cool the beets, rub the peelings off (a paper towel works nicely for this) and slice them. Toss them into a jar. You can have the vinegar and spice mixture already in the jar, or you can toss it in on top of the beets and shake gently. Store in fridge, turning and tossing jar gently now and then to keep the beets coated in the pickly mixture. Enjoy without fear.

Beet and Saffron Rice Timbale with Spinach and Leeks

2010-11-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ms. Eating the Scenery is smitten. She stumbled across this chef who, apparently, has been cooking in England for some time without Ms. Eating the Scenery's knowledge. What a funny name he has! And how creative are his culinary combinations! Quinoa and fennel salad with mint, coriander and dill! Lentils, radiccho and walnuts with manuka honey!

Ms. Eating the Scenery is the devoted slave of anyone who can find new and tasty, nay, soaringly scrumptious dishes using vegetables, herbs, grains, nuts, legumes in simple yet magical ways!

Even Ottolenghi's recipes, however, are but a starting point. Inspiring, but endlessly revisable. Which of course all truly great recipes are. Ms. Eating the Scenery's addition of leeks to the sauteed spinach, she thinks, elevated this dish to truly splendid. Her sidestepping of several of the more fussy steps resulted in a different looking dish than Ottolenghi's, but it satisfied on every level of taste.

Next time, Ms. Eating the Scenery will consider assembling this dish in a glass casserole in reverse order, so that it looks neat and contained, showing off its colorful layers.

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BEET AND SAFFRON RICE TIMBALE
WITH SPINACH AND LEEKS
Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi

3/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1/4 cup boiling water

3 medium beets (but roast a few more while you're at it, for pickled beets)
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

2 cups basmati rice
1 teaspoon salt
Grated peel of one lemon
Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter
1 or 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
8 to 10 ounces spinach, washed and spun (thick stems removed)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper

Pour the boiling water over the saffron in a small cup or bowl. Leave to infuse.

Wash the beets and either trim the stalks off or leave an inch or so on. Lay beets in a Pyrex baking dish, add a quarter inch or so of water, cover the dish with foil, and roast the beets at 350 degrees for an hour or so. If beets are varying sizes, some may need to be removed before others are done. Beets should be tender when pierced with a knife.

Alternatively, wrap the beets in aluminum foil and roast for the same amount of time.

Cool the beets, rub the peelings off (a paper towel works nicely for this) and dice them in 1/2-inch-or-so sized chunks. In a bowl, toss the diced beets with the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Rinse the basmati rice 'til the water runs clear. Cook according to package directions, adding the 1 teaspoon salt, until rice is fluffy and liquid is gone. Stir in the lemon peel and pepper.

In medium or large-ish skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the leeks until they begin to soften. Add the spinach, and continue to cook until spinach is comfortably wilted. Sprinkle chopped garlic over, and salt and pepper to taste, and stir. Cook just a few minutes more, then remove from heat.

For timbale, butter a 3-quart round or oval dish well. Lay the beets in the bottom. Cover with half the rice, pressing down firmly. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of saffon water over rice. Layer the spinch on next, followed by the remaining rice. Press it down firmly. Sprinkle remaining saffron water over rice.

Quickly and carefully unmold the timbale onto a serving platter. Alternatively, layer everything in reverse order, ending up with beets on top, and serve like a casserole.

Makes 6 servings

But can you hug a Korean eGrandmother?

2010-10-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I noticed a little ad in the local paper for a "Korean Food Festival." Well, hey! It was held at a Korean church on Gage Boulevard in Richland. They had marinated meats and vegetables ready to grill, fried Korean pancakes, and various other Korean foods for sale, including big jars of homemade kimchi, which I love.

I bought a jar of kimchi, and asked the Korean lady selling it if she could give me a good traditional recipe for kimchi. I was thinking, maybe her great-grandmother's traditional secret recipe .. you know. But it was not to be.

"Oh, just Google it," she said. "There are lots of recipes for it online."

Cabbage Soup with Sausage and White Wine

2010-10-23T18:29:00.001-07:00

Two things captivated me when I spotted this recipe years ago. It called for two cups of white wine, which I felt sure would elevate a simple cabbage soup well beyond being brothily boring, and the cooking instructions said to cook "until the cabbage is redolent and tender." I cannot resist words like "redolent."

A truly easy yet extraordinarily savory and memorable fall and winter soup.

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CABBAGE SOUP WITH WHITE WINE AND SAUSAGE
Adapted from The Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Sylvia Thompson

The original recipe was a stew, and used only one cup of chicken broth. My other additions are the red bell pepper, crushed red pepper, and smoked paprika. The recipe also states that "a Czech or Pole would also season the stew with a good pinch of caraway seeds." Though not of either of those persuasions, I do grind some caraway seed a tad with mortar and pestle and sprinkle atop the soup when serving.

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large or 8 small carrots, diced
1 large red onion, diced
2 tomatoes, diced, or 1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme (I usually add quite a bit more thyme)
6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small head green cabbage, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound sausages, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or larger if you prefer
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups good chicken broth
1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
Freshly ground black pepper

Boiled potatoes and sour cream or yogurt for serving

Heat olive oil in large soup pot. Add carrots and onions and saute for several minutes. Add tomatoes, thyme and garlic, and heat through.

Pile the cabbage on top of the vegetables, and scatter the sausage atop the cabbage. Pour wine and broth over, and sprinkle with the paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring the mixture all together at 20 minutes. When the cabbage is "redolent and tender," add pepper, taste for salt (I usually add about 1/2 teaspoon), and serve over boiled potatoes. Top with sour cream or yogurt if you wish.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Goat Cheese

2010-10-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

When looking at a heap of fresh tomatoes ripening rapidly on one's kitchen counter, one tends to think of sweeping, efficient yet delicious ways to capture their fresh taste and make the heap smaller without too much effort. Soups and sauces are the usual options, and for good reason. They're scrumptious.

Once I got going with the whole quartering-the-tomatoes process for this recipe, I looked over and saw the pluots and plums lying there, and decided to roast a plum with the toms instead of adding the tablespoon of honey called for.

And I don't mess around trying to pour hot soup into a blender ... I use an immersion blender that I discovered my husband had, after we married. "I'll never use that," I thought. Ha! I use it all the time.

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ROASTED TOMATO SOUP WITH GOAT CHEESE
From Lucid Food by Louisa Shafia

Make sure you have enough liquid (about 3 inches or so, or enough to fully cover the head of the blender) before you start the immersion blender. If the liquid is too shallow, the blender will fling it around your kitchen.

12 ripe tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon honey (or roast a pitted plum or pluot with the toms)
2 springs fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, plus more for garnish
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh goat cheese

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Core and quarter tomatoes, and remove and reserve the seeds for the stock. In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes with the garlic, onion, honey (if using) or pitted, halved plum, rosemary, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, and a dash of salt. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the rosemary .

Combine the tomato seeds, bay leaf, and 1 cup water in a pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Strain the stock into a bowl. Rinse the pot and return the stock to it, and add the roasted tomatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

Turn heat off and let soup cool a tiny bit. Add goat cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and blend 'til smooth with an immersion blender. Or pour the soup carefully into a blender or food processor and blend 'til smooth. Season to taste with salt, and reheat a bit if necessary.

Garnish each bowl with a few drops of balsamic vinegar, a few grinds of black pepper, and perhaps a little rosemary if you wish.

Makes 4 servings.

Butternut Squash, White Bean and Kale Ragout

2010-10-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

The farmers' markets are bursting with squashes and greens right now. Who am I to resist them? It's fall, after all, even if our warm temperatures belie the fact.

For sheer fall robustness and mellow flavor, this ragout fills the bill beautifully. Both dinner guests immediately responded postively when I offered to send some of it home with them. And later I added chicken broth to my leftover portion to make soup with a marvelously maple-y and squash-y depth of flavor. A delicious and versatile dish.

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BUTTERNUT SQUASH, WHITE BEAN AND KALE RAGOUT
From the New York Times, 11/14/07

1 3-pound sugar pumpkin or butternut squash
2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup
2-1/2 teaspoons cider vinear
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or 3 cups cooked white beans)
2 cups vegetable broth

3/4 pound kale, ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, or more to taste
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Coarse sea salt

In small saucepan, stir together 2 over medium heat 2 tablespoons butter, maple syrup, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and pinch cayenne. Pour into large bowl.

Peel butternut squash, remove seeds, and cut flesh into 1-inch cubes. Toss cubes in maple syrup mixture 'til coated. Spread squash cubes on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Roast, turning occasionally, until squash is tender when poked and a bit caramelized at the edges, about 30 minutes.

In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, and add leeks, garlic rosemary and a large pinch of salt. Cook, sitrring occasionally, until leeks are very soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Add beans and broth and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir kale and cheese (if using) into leek mixture, and simmer until kale is cooked down and very tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the roasted squash cubes and cranberries. Taste for salt and pepper. Garnish with additional cranberries if desired.

Serves 6 to 8

Butternut Squash Advice, and My Dad

2010-10-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Nobody raised deeply flavored butternut squashes like my Dad. We lost Dad last winter, and we miss him every day. Naturally we are discovering with each season more of the quiet legacies he left that we grew to expect ... tulips and daffodils in spring, scrumptious tomatoes, peppers and raspberries in summer, and those glorious butternuts each fall. He raised Concord grapes for Welch Foods for 40 years, and this year when that sweet, grape-y fragrance began to float about on hot fall days, it was especially poignant to realize that he wouldn't be here for the harvest.

While Dad didn't want much to do with computers or the internet, I think he would have approved of my giving you all advice on how to get the most out of your butternut squashes.

Nothing tastes quite like an excellent butternut squash. Mellow and smooth, it reminds us of summer's warmth and warns us of autumn's chill.

But how to get AT the dang things! Butternut squashes can be exasperatingly inaccessible, what with their hard shells and the fact that most of us don't keep axes in our kitchens, much less a handy wood-splitting stump out back.

No matter. I have found that microwaving butternut squashes for 10 minutes or so softens the skin and allows you to peel it off, leaving an accessible squash that can now be cut into slices or cubes for your favorite recipes.

Just cut the ends off the squash (I'm not sure why I do this) and, with a knife, poke some holes into the seed cavity. I think that helps avoid explosions? Not sure. But why not do it anyway!

Now, position the squash on its side in a microwave, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Total time will depend on your squash and your microwave. Check after 5 minutes. The skin should start to turn a bit gray, and begin to pucker a little. The skin should remove easily when the right amount of cooking time has been reached.

You will need to let the squash cool a bit before continuing with the peel job. I've found that standing the squash upright and peeling downwards works best. DO NOT cut upward toward the hand that is steadying the squash. I hope I don't need to tell you why.

Be sure to remove the peeling down to the bright-orange squash flesh, and to trim off all the little green lines running vertically.

After peeling the squash, cut it in half lengthwise. A serrated ice-cream scoop works wonderfully to get all the seeds and strings out.

You can now cut the squash into chunks, dice, slices --- whatever your recipe calls for. The squash pieces can be used immediately or frozen.

Just don't waste any, y'hear? It isn't easy to grow a good butternut!

Wedding Applesauce with Granny Smiths and Metaphor

2010-10-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

This week my stepdaughter was married. Naturally, the newlyweds have been on our minds a lot. Today as I was making applesauce of delicious, local, organic Granny Smith apples, I was reminded that Grannies are my stepdaughter's favorite apples. I noticed that the knob of ginger I peeled looked like a little bluebird of happiness.

As I peeled and sliced, simmered and spiced, I knew this applesauce was taking on a special meaning, like every good marriage does. And that a little metaphor might be in order, considering this new marriage in our family.

Granny Smiths can soak up a lot of water, so you have to keep checking in to see if you should add some.

Tangy by nature, Grannies need a little sweetening, but not too much. The sauce is better with a little texture, rather than blended boringly smooth. I added fresh grated ginger for warmth, and cinnamon for a little spice. Applesauce can be soothing to come home to after a rough day, especially if it's made with love.

This post's for you, kids. May your trip through life together be warm and sweet.

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WEDDING APPLESAUCE

About 9 good-sized Granny Smith apples
A knob of ginger
A tablespoon or so of cinnamon
Honey or agave nectar, to taste

Peel, core and slice the apples into a large pot. Peel the ginger and grate it over the apples. Add about half an inch of water to the pot. Simmer, stirring frequently, as apples begin to cook. Add more water if necessary. Cook until desired texture is achieved. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon and sweetening, if desired. Share with someone you love.

Makes about 8 cups

Chili Peppers: Crushed Red

2010-09-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

Having years ago learned that the flavor of fresh-dried or fresh-ground spices is leagues better than the barely-there flavor of those little expensive cans of dust you find in the supermarket, I don't buy any herbs or spices dried or ground unless I'm having a pantry emergency.

Crushed red pepper is no exception. While you will get heat from store-bought crushed red, you will not get the depth of flavor that comes from drying your own local peppers each autumn. And have you SEEN the glorious selection of peppers at the Farmers' Markets? Ask for the hottest ones, rinse and wipe dry, spread them out on an airy surface like a cooling rack, and go do something else for a few weeks.

If you get impatient, you can cut the stem top off and slice the peppers in half. They will dry faster this way, but they won't look as scenic, and they'll take up more room. I've found that if you make a wreath or swatch of the peppers, the air doesn't circulate as well and some of the peppers may mold. If you find that any of the peppers you are drying turn black, discard them.

When peppers are dry (you can hear the seeds rattling when you shake the pepper), remove the stem tops and let the peppers dry again for a few days just to make sure they are really dry. Now make your heat decision. Much of the heat in hot peppers is in the seeds. If you want maximum heat, leave all the seeds in. To tone things down a bit, discard some of the seeds. But if you have read this far and like spicy food, you will scoff at that instruction.

Toss the dry peppers into a food processor and pulse until you get particles of a size that is pleasing to you. Should you want smaller particles than the food processor will produce, grind a few tablespoons of the flakes at a time in a coffee grinder (that you reserve for grinding spices) 'til the sizes please you.

Store in a covered jar and use carefully. It doesn't take long to make your soup or sauce inedibly hot; I usually start with 1/8 teaspoon of seeds to, say, your average eight-cup batch of soup. The longer the peppers cook in anything, the hotter the dish will be.

Pure Eire, Again

2010-09-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

It seems impossible for me to stop blathering about how incredibly delicious Pure Eire cream is. It makes amazing butter. And I served it, whipped, atop a plum tart. You simply cannot believe the sumptuous texture and deep, buttery flavor of this whipped cream! And two days later, the whipped cream left over hadn't even begun to separate.

I buy it at Richland or Kennewick Health Food Stores, in the dairy section. As of this writing, Wednesday is the usual fresh delivery day.

Let's face it, if you're going to have cream now and then, it might as well be ethereal, no?

Chilis Rellenos Americanos

2010-09-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

I have always loved chilis rellenos. Authentic recipes call for dipping the whole cheese-stuffed poblano pepper into egg batter and deep frying it. The stem end is left on for a very rustic experience.

Over the years I reserved chilis rellenos for special occasions when eating out, and never made them at home. Then, about six years ago, I decided to come up with my own recipe, one that would satisfy but be less greasy. I've made it many times, always in the summer when the poblano peppers start appearing at the farmers' markets.

The dish is wonderfully warm, smoky, chile-y, eggy and satisfying. It would make a great breakfast casserole, but I usually serve it with cornbread and coleslaw for dinner.

Be warned that roasting peppers indoors WILL set off your smoke alarms. At the Richland Farmers' Market, there's a vendor who will roast your peppers over a gas flame while you wait. It doesn't take long, but you'll want to get right home and refrigerate the roasted peppers 'til you're ready to use them.

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CHILIS RELLENOS AMERICANOS

Smoky chipotle salsa is simply a can of chipotle peppers "en adobo" (sauce), which you puree and store in the fridge. This little jar of smoky heat will come in handy for a lot of dishes.

6 or 8 poblano peppers (you may see these incorrectly called "pasilla" peppers)
16 ounces or so grated jack, pepper jack, cheddar, or a mixture of cheeses you like (smoked gouda gives the finished dish a more smoky flavor)

8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Sliced green onions if you have them
Smoky chipotle salsa, about 1 tablespoon

Wash the peppers and cut the stems off. Reach down into the center and remove the seeds. If using a pepper roaster over a gas flame, turn on your exhaust fan. Arrange about three peppers at a time over the flame so they get maximum exposure. As skins start to pop and char, turn to expose all sides and, when peppers are charred evenly, toss them into a bowl lined with a paper towel, and cover them immediately. Roast remaining peppers and let them cool gradually in the covered bowl for 15 to 20 minutes.

Alternatively, arrange peppers on oven rack and turn oven to 500 degrees. Turn on exhaust fan. Roast peppers 'til skins start to pop and char; turn if necessary. Continue with step calling for putting them in a paper-towel-lined bowl and covering them. You can also place them in a brown paper bag, rolling the top down closed.

Rub the peppers to remove the black char as much as possible. Lay them out on your work surface.

Beat eggs with milk, salt and crushed red pepper until very well blended.

Set aside some of the grated cheese to sprinkle on the top of the dish. Form remaining grated cheese into fists, as many as you have peppers. Gently open the peppers and put the cheese into the cavity. Arrange peppers in a casserole, and pour the egg mixture over. Scatter sliced green onions on top.

Bake casserole at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes, or until knife inserted into egg mixture comes out clean.

Drizzle smoky chipotle salsa over the top, then brush it around to coat top of casserole. Sprinkle reserved cheese atop, and serve.

Makes 6 to 8 servings, depending on how many peppers you used.

Eggplant and Potato Gratin

2010-09-19T03:56:00.000-07:00

A total departure from cheesy gratins, this dairy-free recipe is one of those serendipitous discoveries that I can't imagine not having found. I make it every year about this time when all the fresh vegetables in it start showing up at the farmers' markets. Everything in this dish except the olive oil, salt and pepper was locally grown.

This gratin truly illustrates the rich depth and mingling of flavors achievable with a simple preparation and ingredients that compliment each other. Be sure to use a really good olive oil.

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EGGPLANT AND POTATO GRATIN
From The Vegetarian Bistro by Marlena Spieler

If time is short or you are using potatoes that take longer to cook, like Yukon Golds, you can microwave the casserole for about 15 minutes to get it heated up, then put it in the oven to finish.

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, deribbed and cut into strips
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed

1 cup drained, diced tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
Several large pinches of dried thyme (be generous here)

1 eggplant, stem end trimmed, sliced lengthwise 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick
2-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Using 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, saute the onion and red pepper in a medium skillet 'til softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, two thirds of the garlic, salt to taste, and the thyme. Cook briefly and set aside.

Brush or rub eggplant slices with olive oil on both sides, and cook them on a griddle until lightly browned on both sides. Alternatively, broil the slices under the broiler. I suspect you could get away with not pre-grilling the eggplant slices, but I haven't tried it.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a 3- or 4-quart casserole dish. Place one third of the potatoes in a layer on the bottom, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Layer on half the eggplant, another third of the potatoes, and the remaining eggplant.

Spread the tomato mixture over the eggplant, then toss the remaining potatoes in a bowl with the remaining garlic and olive oil, and spread them over the eggplant.

Sprinkle the final potato layer with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden and the potatoes are cooked through. Cover with foil if top gets too brown before potatoes are done. Test by inserting a paring knife down through the center of the gratin; it should meet little resistance. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Gyros!

2010-09-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Yes! You can make delicious gyros meat that goes wonderfully with the tomatoes, cucumbers and onions of the season. I had seen this recipe, and the tzatziki recipe that goes with it, some time ago, and finally decided to try it.

Local lamb and beef are, happily, quite available at our farmers' markets. You can also order from Thundering Hooves in Walla Walla, and they'll bring the order to a drop point in the Tri-Cities.

Honestly, this gyros meat is actually fun to make, is wonderfully delicious, and while it's baking will make your kitchen smell like a Greek restaurant!

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GYROS
Gyros and tzatziki recipes adapted from Velveeta Ain't Food

1 pound ground lamb
1 pound ground beef
2-1/2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 large yellow onion
2 large cloves garlic
4 slices bacon

Combine lamb, beef, salt and oregano with your hands. Wrap or cover and chill for at least 2 hours. This is important!

Line a small broiler tray with foil, poking holes in the foil so the fat will have a place to drain.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the onion, garlic and bacon until pureed. Add the lamb/beef mixture and puree, scraping down sides as needed, until you have a smooth paste. Yes, it is not going to be attractive!

Gather meat into a rough loaf shape with you hands and place it on the foil-lined broiler tray. Shape it into a loaf that is about 2 inches thick; this will result in a loaf length of about 9 inches and width of 5 inches or so.

Place meat on middle rack of preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour or until it has an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Let loaf cool. I refrigerated mine and sliced it after it had chilled; this probably made it easier to slice.

Cut chilled loaf into 1/4-inch slices. Broil slices about six inches from broiler for about 4 minutes per side, or until meat is becoming crispy and browned.

Serve with tzatziki (below), and diced, fresh tomatoes, onion and cucumber. If you'd like a traditional gyros sandwich, you can make a thick flatbread (not pita bread) such as naan, and enfold your gyros meat and condiments in a bready enclosure. I served tabouli salad and decided not to use bread, and we didn't miss it.

Makes 28 1/4-inch slices, about six servings

TZATZIKI

3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 medium clove garlic, pressed or finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (or mint)

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Quinoa Tabouli

2010-09-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

You've seen them. Bunches of green stuff that hang out of baskets and lie around in heaps at the farmers' markets. Parsley, mint, cilantro, green onions, and so forth. And the bagged greens, which the farmer has so considerately captured for you to take home. But what to do with them!

Fret no more. Boldly wash and chop and mix and enjoy!

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QUINOA TABOULI
Adapted from Moosewood Cookbook

I had been wondering if quinoa could be substituted for bulgur, and yay! It can! Just make sure you watch carefully near the end of cooking so you can keep it fluffy, with grains separate, and not soggy and in clumps.

2 cups quinoa
5 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large garlic clove, crushed or very finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly-ground black pepper

1 bunch parsley, washed, big stem ends removed, and spun dry
1 bunch mint, washed, leaves removed, and spun dry

1 bag of arugula, washed, thick stems removed, spun dry and sliced

1 small sweet onion, minced, or a bunch of green onions, with some of green parts, sliced

2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 large or 2 small cucumbers, diced

Rinse the quinoa 'til water is clear. Place in pot with water and salt. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, stirring now and then, 'til liquid is almost gone, about 15 minutes. Each time you stir, level out the quinoa in the pot afterward. Watch carefully for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, and when liquid has been reduced practically to nothing, remove quinoa from heat and stir to fluff. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Blend cooled quinoa into the dressing in the large bowl. Stir in the parsley, mint, arugula, onion, tomatoes and cucumbers. You can also add bell peppers, zucchini, or other vegetables that you like. Serve the salad cold or at room temperature.

Hint: You can put the parsley and mint, and green onions if using, into a food processor and pulse 'til it's all a lovely green fluff.

Makes 8 generous servings