Another Risotto

Tonight I made some “let’s see what I have in the kitchen/garden” risotto that was different enough from my last risotto recipe to warrant its own post. A note on the butter: I bought some butter from the farmer’s market that was “European style,” which the vendor explained meant it had more fat in it. It’s pretty freakin tasty. Anyway…

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tablespoons of butter or olive oil or a combination
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1-2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2/3 cup white wine
• 2 cups rice
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• A few tablespoons of shredded havarti cheese
• A few small, fresh tomatoes, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Instructions

1. Heat oil/butter in a large pot
2. Toss onion, carrots, garlic, and pepper and cook for 5 minutes on med-high heat, stirring occasionally
3. Add basil, parsley, and thyme and stir to coat
4. Add rice and cook until it starts to brown, stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn
5. Add wine and cook until absorbed by rice
6. Add stock 1 cup at a time and stir until absorbed by rice before adding next cup
7. Remove the pot from heat, add the rest of the butter and shred in the havarti cheese (not too much, just a bit for flavor)
8. Toss in fresh tomatoes

Lentil Curry

 

I made one of those “whatever I have in the kitchen” curries tonight, and it turned out pretty tasty! I’m attempting to reconstruct it here, but I might be off on things like spice amounts. I do remember it being pretty mild, so if you want more punch, add more spice. It was also a relatively dry curry, so if you like yours more “saucy,” add more liquid (stock, water, cream, or even crushed tomatoes might be tasty). You can also use vegetable or chicken stock instead of beef, I just have a ton of beef stock that I’m trying to use up.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried lentils
• 2-3 cups water
• 1 potato, diced
• A few leaves of kale, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 small-medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• grated ginger
• a handful of spinach leaves, chopped
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp amchur/dried mango powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsps garam masala
• 2 tsps tandoori masala
• 1 cup beef stock
• salt to taste
• rice for serving

Directions

1. Add lentils and water to a saucepan, bring to a boil
2. Add potato and kale to lentils, reduce heat, partially cover with lid and simmer for 15 minutes
3. Strain lentils and return to pan, set aside
4. In another pot, heat up some oil, then add onion, garlic, carrots, spinach, and ginger. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium high heat
5. Add spices and stir, coating all the vegetables. Cook for about a minute or so more until fragrant
6. Add lentil mixture to the pot and stir
7. Add stock and stir, then cover partially and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes (give or take)
8. Salt to taste, add more spices if needed.
9. Serve on rice.

Lemon pork stir fry

Stir fry is my go-to default meal,so I don’t usually share recipes since they’re usually just small variants of my standard stir fry.  Tonight, though, my experiments led to a different enough path that I think it warrants recording.  The lemony flavor is quite strong.

Ingredients

• 4 thin boneless pork chops
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3-4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 1 head of baby bok choy, chopped
• soba noodles prepared according to package instructions (I normally make rice or pure vegetable stir fries, but tonight I was feeling noodley.  Feel free to use rice if you prefer it)

For marinade:

• soy sauce
• olive oil
• rice vinegar
• a dash of sesame oil
• juice from one lemon
• (1 tsp corn starch and 2 tsps water for thickening into sauce)

1. Mix soy sauce, olive oil, rice vinegar into a shallow dish (I didn’t measure, sorry guys, do your best guess).  Add sesame oil and lemon juice and stir
2. Cut pork chops into strips and place in marinade.  Marinate for an hour or so
3. Heat some olive oil in a wok and brown the strips of pork on all sides.  Set pork aside and drain out some of the juices in the wok, leaving just enough to stir fry the vegetables
4. Add all vegetables and stir fry for a few minutes
5. Add the pork and stir
6. in the reserved marinade, add corn starch and water and stir briskly.  Add to the wok and bring to a boil until sauce starts to thicken
7. Add noodles, toss, and serve!

Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Icing

Just a super quick recipe post…yesterday I baked a chocolate cake for kicks, and wanted to figure out how I could use up some leftover chocolate chips and marshmallows.  I couldn’t find an icing recipe that I had all the ingredients for, but I used them for reference and made this cake frosting that turned out wonderfully!
Unfortunately it was sort of “throw a bit of this and a bit of that” into a saucepan, so most of these measurements are shifty.
Ingredients

• 2 TBs butter
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (I had like 1/4 of a bag leftover)
• Some water
• Some vanilla (maybe 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1 TBs of sugar or more (I literally grabbed several pinches of it)
• Handful of mini marshmallows, maybe 1 cup

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan.  stir in chocolate chips and keep stirring over medium low heat until they are melted.  Add some water if needed to keep from scorching.
2. Stir in vanilla and sugar.
3. Stir in marshmallows and keep stirring until they are melted.  Taste for if you need more sugar (but don’t burn your tongue).
4. Remove from heat and continue stirring until mixture thickens slightly as it cools.  Frost cake immediately!  (it gets pretty stiff when it cools completely)

Edit: I should add: this made enough frosting to cover a 1 layer 8 inch round cake.

Steamed Greens

If you know me well, then you know I struggle to eat vegetables.  None is so difficult to force myself to consume than the greens, though.  This is because greens are disgusting, clearly, but I feel I must make some effort to be healthy.

I can disguise them pretty well in a stir fry, but sometimes I run out of other vegetables to include.  After much experimenting, I have FINALLY figured out a form in which I will actually enjoy them:

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Clove of garlic, chopped
• Greens (this can be spinach, chard, collards, cabbage, kale – whatever) chopped into wide strips
• Salt
• Apple cider vinegar (OR rice vinegar and soy sauce, but more vinegar)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet and saute the garlic for a bit
2. Add the greens and toss until it starts to wilt slightly
3. Add a sprinkle of salt and a bit of vinegar (I usually use a capful so I’m not sure how much this is.  Maybe 2 teaspoons?) and toss the greens.
4. Cover the wok and let the greens steam for a few minutes
5. Remove from wok and serve.

Poached Chicken and Stuffed Turnip

 

This is a weird recipe.  I was trying to mod an existing Poule au Pot recipe based on the ingredients I already had, which were chicken parts instead of a whole chicken (and different veggies and no pasta).  I wanted stuffing, though, so I looked for something else I could mount it in, and happened to have a turnip, so there you go.

For the Stuffing, mix together in a bowl:

• 1 cup or so of breadcrumbs.  I didn’t measure exactly, just grated a leftover third of stale baguette I happened to have
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 TBS melted butter
• salt and pepper
• handful of fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken stock

Gather together in cheesecloth:

• 1 whole shallot with 2 cloves shoved into the sides
• 1 bay leaf
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• a few stems of fresh parsley
• 1 rib celery, cut into chunks

Take:

• 1 large turnip

cut off the root end and the top (keep the top).  Cut out the center of the turnip and set aside for later.  I sort of worked my way around the turnip with a knife, cut an x cross-ways, then used a spoon to dig out chunks.  I repeated this until I had an empty turnip casing.

Fill the turnip with stuffing, put the lid back on and tie around the turnip with kitchen twine to keep it shut.

Season with salt and pepper:

• 1 chicken thigh and leg
• 1 chicken wing

Add the chicken, cheesecloth bundle, and turnip to a large saucepan or pot and fill with water until the chicken is just covered.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then uncover and simmer 10-15 minutes, skimming the fat, reducing the broth.

(this is where I messed up somewhat.  I was trying to figure out the difference in poaching time between chicken parts and a whole bird, and I think I ended up simmering for too long or at too high a temperature, because the chicken was kind of mild.  I may have leeched out the flavor like you do when you make stock.  More experiments needed)

Add to the pot:

• 1 leek, halved and cut into 4 inch pieces
• The turnip innards from before

Add water if needed to keep the chicken covered and continue simmering until the veggies are tender and the chicken is done (165 degree F internal temp).

Remove chicken and turnip and strain vegetables.  Take the lid off the turnip and serve everything together.

Vegetable Soup Recipe

I’m not sure this counts as a true recipe so much as an example of “let’s just throw everything I happen to have in the kitchen into a pot and see what happens.”  I am feeling under the weather today and so thought I’d make some soup for myself.

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
• 1 winter squash, peeeled and chopped into cubes
• 3 small turnips, peeled and chopped
• 1 yukon potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped
• 4 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock or water or any combination thereof
• bundle of random dried herbs (I had some from my CSA in a bundle but I couldn’t identify all the herbs, I think maybe sage was in there somewhere)
• salt and pepper
• spices to your liking (I used some ground ginger to good effect)

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and cook the onion, garlic, and pepper until fragrant, a few minutes.

2. Add all the other vegetables and cook for a few minutes, stirring

3. Add stock and herb bundle.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

4. Remove from heat.  Remove the herb bundle. Transfer about a cup full of vegetables to a blender or food processor and puree, then return to the pot (leave the other veggies in chunk form for texture)

5. Add salt, pepper, and spices to taste.  Heat through and serve.

Pomegranate Apple Sauce

There was a request for the recipe for my pomegranate apple sauce, so here it is!

• 3-4 apples, peeled, cored, cut into chunks
• 1 pomegranate’s worth of seeds (youtube will help you with the optimal way to open a pomegranate)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Add apple chunks and pomegranate seeds to a medium saucepan.  Mix together sugar and water and add to saucepan.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover, let simmer for about 20 minutes.  Remove cover and simmer 20 minutes more, until most of the water has reduced.  Mash up the apples with a spoon.  Done!
As for the honey cornmeal pancakes, I just used this recipe (sans syrup.  I used some plum preserves and then spread the applesauce onto them):
http://www.honey.com/nhb/recipes/recipe-details?RecipeID=647

Tasty breakfast recipe

(serves 1)

1/2 bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
2 radishes, thinly sliced
handful of arugula chopped
2 eggs
olive oil
black pepper
soy sauce

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Saute the peppers and radishes for a few minutes, then add arugula and stir until it is wilted. Beat the eggs and dump them in the skillet. Add some pepper and a dash of soy sauce, then stir the mixture until the eggs are cooked. Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Marinade

A quick discovery when I was throwing together random things in the kitchen.

juice of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1 orange
some rice vinegar
ground ginger

Marinate for 1/2 an hour to an hour. Zing!

Mashed Potato Empanadas

Rather than my usual strategy of making a huge batch of mashed potatoes and gorging myself on them, I wanted to use my CSA potatoes and veggies to make something I could bring to work as a lunch meal. This was very experimental, thus there was a lot of winging it on measurements and simultaneous saucepan wielding and such.

These turned out great! I will say, though, that if I’d had cheddar cheese on hand, I totally would have loaded up the filling with that. Next time!

Ingredients
- Pie crust dough (I just made my usual recipe, but you could use pre-made ones or whatever recipe you prefer)
- 6-8 yukon potatoes, cut into chunks, with skins
- 2-4 Tablespoons of butter (i wasn’t paying attention, I just used a big ole chunk)
- milk (maybe like ½ cup ish?)
- handfull of fresh green beans, cut into chunks
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- handfull of cherry tomatoes
- schmaltz or stock or oil or something to saute with
- ½ a lemon
- salt
- pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
2. Make piecrust dough according to whatever recipe you prefer, or use pre-made pie crust. Set the dough aside in the refrigerator
3. Boil the potatoes in a medium saucepan for 10 minutes, until soft
4. Meanwhile, heat up schmaltz (what I used)/stock/oil/whatever in a skillet
5. Add garlic to skillet and saute
6. Add celery to skillet
7. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, then drop in the green beans and blanch for 2-3 minutes, until bring green. Drain, then add to skillet and stir.
8. Squeeze juice of ½ lemon over the saute
9. When the potatos are done boiling, drain, then return to saucepan. Add butter and mash with a potato masher. Add milk until the consistency is quite gooey
10. Add salt and pepper to potatoes
11. Add the contents of the skillet to the potatoes and mix
12. Add cherry tomatoes and mix
13. Break dough into 6-8 balls, roll a ball out flat, add a blob of the potato mixture, then fold the dough over and seal the edges with a fork.
14. Place the empanadas on a cooking sheet with parchment paper.
15. Brush the empanadas with remaining milk for glaze
16. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown

Radish Risotto

From this week's pile of delicious CSA vegetables, I made this tasty risotto for my friends. I like it because it turns out pinkish from the radishes and wine, and the tomatoes I used from the CSA were all different colors - bright red, orange, and yellow - so it ended up being very colorful!

Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 2 small red onions (or one medium one would work), chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4-5 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 rib of celery, chopped
- 1 3/4 cups-ish jasmine rice (I was shooting for 2 1/2 cups, but I ran out)
- 2/3 cup red wine
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 cups-ish of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Instructions
1) Bring stock to a low boil in a medium saucepan
2) In a large pot, heat up olive oil and melt 1 Tablespoon of butter
3) Add onions and garlic and saute until soft
4) Add radishes and celery and cook for a few minutes
5) Add rice and cook until it just starts to brown (stir frequently so it doesn't burn
6) Add red wine and cook and stir until it is absorbed by the rice
7) Start adding the chicken stock a cup at a time, stirring until it is all absorbed
8) Remove the pot from heat, add the rest of the butter and Parmesan cheese
9) Toss in the fresh tomatoes and serve!

Beef Stew

I think I made my most successful stew yet yesterday! This was adapted from a Joy of Cooking recipe, so I'll merge the ingredients and the directions like they do.

Trim and pat dry and cut into cube:

• 2 pounds boneless beef stew meat, I used chuck roast

Season with:

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Dredge the pieces in:

• 1/2 cup flour

Shake off excess flour. Heat up olive oil in a stew pot. Add the meat in batches and brown on all sides, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add more oil if needed during this process. Add to the pot:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 4-6 garlic gloves, chopped

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions are tender (about 5 minutes). Add the meat back to the pot and stir. Add:

• 2 bay leaves
• fresh thyme sprig
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.

Add enough to cover the meat:

• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 cup red cooking wine

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender (1-2 hours). Add:

• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 sweet peppers, seeded and cored and cut into chunks

Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, 30-40 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs (the leaves will probably have fallen off by this point, just remove the stems). In a bowl, knead together until homogenous:

• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 1 Tablespoon butter

Roll the dough into little balls. Drop them one at a time into the stew and whisk until melted. This helps thicken the stew.

Serve hot with crusty bread. Enjoy!

Roasted Herb Potatoes

I often make meals that are so crazy simple that I don't bother sharing or writing down the recipe. But, I realize that the reason most people don't like to cook is not because it's hard (it isn't) but because it's time consuming. So, for you, one of my simplest and fastest recipes.

Ingredients
- 1-3 potatoes
- a few Tablespoons of olive oil
- salt and pepper
- ground or chopped herbs (I like ground thyme and rosemary, but whatever you have on hand will work)

1) Peel and cut the potato into chunks
2) Toss in a bowl with the other ingredients
3) Spread the potatoes out in a cast iron skillet and cook in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes

It's always amazing to me how you can turn a single root into a meal with just a bit of olive oil and herbs

Zucchini Spice Bread

I got a ton of zucchini in my CSA box, so that's what made this all come about. For those of you who have never tried zucchini bread and think it sounds totally gross, do not be put off! It yields something similar in style to carrot cake. Anyway, here's the recipe, which i modified from something I found on the internet.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon or so white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground dried lavender
2 teaspoons lemon and orange zest *

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. (these would probably make great muffins, too

2. In a bowl, beat together the zucchini, sugar, honey, egg, and oil. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder; stir in the cinnamon, lavender and zest. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat, and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

* I took the orange and lemon that i got the zest from, cut them up, stuffed them in a jar and covered in water and put it in the fridge. It's a nice tasty drink to go with this bread.

Kimchi Borscht recipe

This experimental recipe turned out so yummy that I just had to share it. I give you, kimchi borscht, or Lisa Borgscht (it's a long story, ask Brian Evans). You don't have to worry about anyone giving you a hard time for it not being "authentic" borscht because you can be like "of course not! It's got freakin kimchi in it!"

1 russet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
3-4 beets, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cups water and a big pork bone (or you could just use stock, if you have it. Or water, if you don't)
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
2-3 cups of kimchi. If it's been aging in the fridge for awhile, all the better
black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup tomato paste
sour cream, for topping (optional)
chopped tomatoes, for garnish

1) In a saucepan, boil the water and pork bone (or stock). Add the beets and potatoes and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

2) In a large pot, melt butter. Stir in onions and salt, and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Mix in the kimchi. Pour in the stock (keep the beets and potatoes separate, I used a strainer, but do add the pork bone if you're using it. Cook, covered, for about 10 minutes

3) Add the beets and potatoes. Season with black pepper. Stir in vinegar, honey, and tomato paste. Cover, reduce to low heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove pork bone. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Lentil Soup Recipe

Making some soup tonight! It turned out really yummy last time I tried this variation, so I'm writing it down this time. This makes a big ole pot, but could easily be halfed.

Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 5 or 6 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 4 garlic gloves, minced
- 1 bunch chard, stalks chopped and leaves cut in strips
- 2 potatoes, cut into chunks
- 2 cups of beef stock*
- 2 cups lentils
- 1 teaspoon of ground thyme
- 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (or your favorite flavored vinegar)

1) Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and carrots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

2) Add stock, lentils, chard stalks, potatoes, thyme, and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes

3) Add chard leaves, cook for 15-20 more minutes, until lentils are tender.

4) Add vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Serve!

*for Burbank folk, I made my beef stock out of the bones from the giant beef ribs at the Handy Market Saturday BBQ. It is really good.

Benedictine Spread

The Benedictine Spread was a big hit at the beach firepit party last night, so I'ma share the recipe! Of course you can find recipes just by googling the term, but they all have some variation in them, so this is specifically the recipe that I used last night.

(Extra info: Benedictine Spread is a Louisville, KY recipe, so if you make it that means you're all cultured and stuff)

Ingredients
- 16 oz neufetal cheese (the original calls for cream cheese, but neufetal is just sliiiightly more savory, so I used it instead)
- 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and grated
- 1 medium onion, grated
- 1 Tablespoon mayonaise (some recipes use more of this to the point that it becomes a more dominant flavor, but I think mayo is gross, so I just use a very small amount for a creamier consistency)
- 2 tsp salt
- dash of cayenne pepper

Directions
1. Grate the cucumber and onion, then drain and dry with paper towels. This is an important step, otherwise the spread will get too watery
2. Mix all the ingredients together in bowl
3. If you want, you can add a drop of green food coloring so that it turns bright green and looks like the lost boys' food from Hook. I just didn't have any handy last night
4. Serve cold on chips or bread or whatever

Plumplings

As mentioned on Twitter, I used plums from today's CSA delivery to make dumpling-like pastries, thus called plumplings.

I essentially just used this tasty recipe for plum pie, only halved.

Instead of the pie crust, I split the dough into 12 balls, flattened each, put them in muffin tins, filled each with the filling, and sealed it up at the top.

They are nothing to write home about, presentation-wise, but MAN they are tasty!

Zucchini Chips

Nick vetoed zucchini from the stew we made last night, so I improvised this recipe. Fortunately, Nathan likes zucchini, so they got eaten up.

Ingredients
- 1 egg
- olive oil
- pepper
- coriander
- ground ginger
- thyme
- sliced zucchini
- sea salt

Combine egg, oil, and spices/herbs in a bowl. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet (if you have previously browned beef in said skillet so there's leftover beef goo, all the better). Dredge the zucchini slices through the egg mixture and cook them a few minutes each side on the skillet. Sprinkle with salt and let cool. Nom.

Today's CSA delivery included plums and nectarines, which I will use for a pie. It also included radishes. What am I going to make with radishes?? (Other veggies included: white corn, carrots, tomatoes, more zucchini, and lettuce. Suggestions welcome)