A Delicious Way To Get Your Veggies

Sweetie really liked this dish and said if we had this all the time that he would eat more vegetables...that sounds like a vote for this veggie pasta dish that is roughly a pasta primavera. The primavera part is Italian (I think) for Spring. The zucchini is certainly not a spring vegetable, but most of the rest are.

This is sort of a three-ring circus pasta. You are boiling pasta water, and then pasta, prepping and steaming or boiling some veggies and also sautéing others. Then you are also making a cheese sauce!

It takes a bit of time to prep the veggies but it can be done while the pasta water comes to a boil. I used the microwave to steam the broccoli, zucchini and snap peas, but you could also use the pasta water to blanch each in turn. Once blanched immediately submerge the veggie in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and to keep the bright colors. I would blanch them long enough that they are tender but still have some bite to them. In the microwave the broccoli (being in small florets) took about 45 seconds and the other two took a minute. I used a steamer pot with perforated lid and a tiny amount of water.

The second thing to do while the pasta cooks is to make the cheese sauce. This is a white cheese sauce and you can either use all ricotta, or part ricotta and part fresh farmer's cheese as I did. I've done it with all ricotta and that is lovely, too. Boiling water, added in small amounts followed by stirring with a mini-whisk, turns the cheeses into a silky sauce and a bit of grated Parmesan, salt and pepper, plus some nutmeg, gives it flavor. You can use the pasta water as the pasta is boiling and heat the sauce over very low heat until all the other elements are done.

Before I started the pasta water I prepared the truly savory part of this dish. I sautéed chopped onion, minced garlic, chopped carrot and chopped red pepper. Once the onion started to brown at the edges in the mixture of olive oil and melted butter, I turned the heat down and kept it at low heat, stirring once in a while, so that the carrots had a chance to soften and the onions to brown a bit more without burning the garlic.

A large, wide bowl is the best for mixing the elements of this dish together and for serving. Once the pasta is cooked, the steamed veggies, sautéed veggies and the cheese sauce all get tossed together. The final touch is a sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Enjoy!

Sort of Pasta Primavera
Serves 3-4

1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped, no seeds or stem
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped into small dice
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (I like cremini mushrooms)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter or non-dairy 'butter'

1/2 pound rotini pasta
salt
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas that have been cut diagonally into thirds
1/2 - 1 cup broccoli, cut into small florets

1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup fresh farmers cheese (or 1/2 cup ricotta and no farmer's cheese)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
dash salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet put the olive oil and the butter and set over medium heat until the butter melts. Stir.
Add the onions, increase the heat to medium-high and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is translucent. Add the red pepper, garlic, carrots and mushrooms, and stir. Continue cooking and stirring every minute or so until edges begin to brown on the onions. Cover and reduce heat to very low. Continue cooking, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

While sautéed veggies continue to cook, put a very large pot of water on to boil. While it is coming to a boil, prepare the zucchini, snap peas and broccoli.

Once the water comes to a boil, add the amount of salt you like in your pasta water (I use 1/4 teaspoon...some people like more!) Add the pasta, stir, and return to a boil.

While the pasta cooks, prepare the cheese sauce. In a small pot combine the  two cheeses and 1 tablespoon of the boiling pasta water (but no pasta). Stir to combine. I use a mini-whisk but have done it with a small flexible silicon spatula or a teaspoon. Once combined, add another tablespoon of pasta water and stir again until smooth.  Add the seasoning and stir. If the sauce looks too thick, continue to add water, a tablespoon at a time until desired thickness. Sauce should coat the pasta in the finished dish. Keep warm over a very low heat. Stir every minute or so.

Prepare the broccoli, zucchini and snap peas: steam in the microwave or cook is a separate pot of boiling water.  If boiling, remove and put into an ice bath, then remove from ice bath and drain, then add to sautéed veggies. Do this one ingredient at a time. Length of time should be to just barely make them tender. When you are done, all three will be on top of the sautéed veggies, with the lid on to keep hot.

When pasta is cooked to your desired doneness, drain and put into a large, wide bowl. Top with the veggies and then with the sauce. Toss to combine. Sprinkle combined pasta & veggies with the Parmesan cheese and serve at once.

Morning Glory

It's fun to know that you can have a muffin and a flower with the same name...morning glory. At this time of year, the morning glories in my garden are going a little wild, having made their upward climb, some are twining on themselves for support so they can keep going, other are swooping down to attach lower down so they can climb again. I love the flowers...trumpets of pink, magenta, deep purple, pale blue and more. The truth is that they self-seed if not constantly dead-headed and become a weed sometimes, but I love them anyway.

The morning glory muffins are also prolific. One recipe makes a full two dozen muffins...that's a lot! They are filled with all sorts of deliciousness...apples, carrots, pecans, crushed pineapple, coconut, raisins and dried cherries as well as vanilla and spice. The wet ingredients includes apple butter but I found a jar of pumpkin apple butter and decided to use that to welcome in fall now that school is back in session. Since I did that, I also used a bit of pumpkin pie spice along with the cinnamon the recipe calls for. Since my supply of dried cherries was running low, I used some dried currants in their place and that worked well. Seems to me the recipe as written is a takeoff on Hummingbird Cake. 

Between the large quantities (you need two cups shredded carrots and a cup of shredded apple for example) and long list of ingredients, the prep takes a bit of time, but you end up with fragrant, delicious, moist and fairly healthy muffins...and lots of them. Do yourself a favor and make sure you set each and every ingredient on the counter before you start making these because it's easy to miss an ingredient. Better yet, prep and measure everything in advance. That way it will all go together quickly and you'll get the best rise out of the baking soda that is the only rising agent used. 

I removed these from the muffin tins in about 3 minutes after taking them out of the oven and I did have to run a butter knife around the edges on some of them to loosen them. If you stand them on their sides in the muffin cup to finish cooling it saves space and they are sturdy enough to hold their shape, too. 

Do try these delightful muffins. They are great for breakfast but also good for afternoon tea and would be a treat in a school lunch. The recipe came from my family but I suspect that it's been around for a long time. 

Morning Glory Muffins
Makes 2 dozen

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded carrot
1 cup shredded apple
3/4 cups raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup flaked coconut (sweet)
one 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, in juice, drained
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat 24 (2 dozen) muffin cups with cooking spray or vegetable oil.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Stir in carrot, apple, raisins, cherries, pecans, coconut and pineapple and make a well in the center of the mixture when combined.

In another bowl combine the oil, apple butter, vanilla, eggs and egg whites. Stir with a whisk. 

Add oil mixture to flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula until just moist/barely combined.

Spoon the batter evenly in prepared pans, filling about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.

Remove from pan at once and cool on a wire rack. Yields 2 dozen.

NOTE: Can be stored, airtight, in freezer for 1  month. Wrap in foil and reheat at 300 degrees F.

Carrot Salad and New Blogger

First, about the new Blogger...I'm not sure that I can stand learning this new version. I had to revert to the old version to do this post since I couldn't figure out how to do a new post! It may be that when using the old version goes away in late August that new posts will go away, too. The already written posts will stay up, but who knows if I have the bandwidth to learn the new version by then. I'm currently learning the ins and outs of Zoom so that I can be a host for two of my P.E.O. scholarship groups when they need to meet. That may end up being all the learning of tech stuff that I can handle. It's been a great run on Blogger...since fall of 2006! Fourteen years is probably enough.

Still, I have until late August to learn the new version, so maybe I'll keep going...come back in late August and find out.

Today the recipe is a lovely Shredded Carrot Salad with Orange and Pine Nuts. It's from the cookbook of Michael Volpatt, co-founder of Big Bottom Market in Sonoma County. I found it one Wednesday in June in the food section of the Press Democrat. That section of the paper has improved so much during the pandemic! Not sure why, but happy that they are concentrating less on wine and more on food.

This refreshing carrot salad makes 6 servings as a side dish and is a great, fresh dish to go with barbequed foods so ubiquitous in summer. If I were to make it for the rest of the year I think I would add some spices.  It keeps for a couple of days, too, so make the full recipe and you'll have leftovers for a nice lunch salad.

I used a bunch of organic carrots from the market that came with tops. I cut off the tops and fed them to the sheep. The carrots themselves were washed and rubbed to remove dirt, and then the top part that was greenish and the tail ends were trimmed before I shredded them all in the food processor.

Before I juiced the lemon, I made zest strips from the peel and added about two teaspoons of them because zest always brightens up dishes. I really enjoyed the citrus zing of the combined juices and the crunch of the carrots and nuttiness of the pine nuts... may have used more than 1/4 cup since I love pine nuts! This salad goes with lots of other foods. Give it a try!

Shredded Carrot Salad with Orange and Pine Nuts

1 1/2 pounds of carrots, cleaned, tops removed, shredded
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon salt

Prepare the carrots by cleaning, peeling if desired, removing the tops and tails and shredding. You should have about 4 cups. A food processor works well for shredding this many carrots.

Place the shredded carrots in a bowl with the orange, lemon, (lemon zest, too, if using), and salt. Allow to marinate 10-30 minutes, stirring once.

Dry toast the pine nuts in a heavy frying pan, or heat the olive oil and saute the pine nuts, stirring constantly, until golden. Just before serving, toss the nuts with the carrots.

Lentils and Eggs

When I was visiting Los Angeles in the summer (yes, it's still summer but it's beginning to feel like fall and school has started again, so summer seems like it's in the past) we went for brunch to a place called Playa Provisions in Playa Vista (I think). They had an eclectic menu but not a lot of items that were non-dairy. One dish that sounded good was lentils with tomatoes and egg and kale. It was outstanding! A touch of vinegar when served added just the right note against the beany flavor of the lentils and the richness of the soft boiled egg. I came home and decided to see if I could replicate the dish, or at least come close.

After searching the Internet I found a recipe by Bon Appetit that was close so I made a few tweaks and served it for dinner a few nights ago. It was delicious and filling and Sweetie enjoyed it, too. One of the key elements is a soffritto of onion, carrot, celery and garlic (the Bon Appetit recipe had fennel and not celery but I don't like fennel flavor) which is cooked almost into a paste. This plus the tomato sauce really flavor the lentils in a great way!

This is a vegetarian dish but could be vegan if you skip the egg. The Bon Appetit recipe called for serving it with bread that had been fried in olive oil, but I just toasted some seeded sourdough and put on some non-dairy margarine for me and butter for Sweetie. I also sprinkled on a bit of Parmesan cheese on his serving and he said that made it even better.

You could probably serve this the day it is cooked, but I like to 'age' dishes with onions, so I put it in the fridge in the pot it was cooked in for a couple of days. That made reheating it easy. The already cooked spinach was reheated in the microwave and spooned on top of the lentil mixture before I added the egg. I actually forgot to add the red wine vinegar, but plan to do it next time (there were leftovers) since the sharpness is a great foil for the relatively bland legumes. The bread is nice for sopping up any juices. I served it in a shallow, wide soup bowl and that works really well because there are some juices.

Lentils and Tomato Stew with Egg and Spinach
serves 4

1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups lentils (preferably French green), picked over and rinsed
water
1 cup baby spinach, rinsed
4 large eggs
4 sliced crusty bread
red wine vinegar and grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Pulse onion, celery, carrots and garlic in a food processor until soffritto is finely chopped.

In a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil and add the soffritto, stirring to coat the vegetables with the oil. Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-12 minutes, until soft.

Stir in the tomato sauce and cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown and very soft, about 10-12 minutes. Add a splash of water if it is browning too quickly. You want to caramelize the vegetables.

Add the lentils and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are almost tender, 30-35 minutes. Uncover and simmer for another 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.

Skim about a cup of the liquid at the top of the pot and place it in a microwave safe dish. Add the spinach and cover with foil. Let sit to wilt the spinach. Refrigerate this spinach mixture.

Taste the lentil mixture and adjust for salt, if needed.

Refrigerate the pot of lentils at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours. You can also just make the rest of the recipe from this point without refrigerating the stew, but the flavor is better with a rest.

On serving day, reheat the lentil stew over low heat, stirring as needed to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs and cook at a simmer for 9 minutes. Removed from the pot and run under cold water until just cool enough to handle. Carefully remove shell while keeping egg whole. Place on a cutting board.

Reheat the spinach mixture while the eggs are boiling. Toast and butter the crusty bread.

Put about a quarter of the lentils in a bowl. Top with a quarter of the spinach mixture. Slice the hot eggs in half lengthwise and place, yolk side up on top of the veggies in the bowl. Add a splash of vinegar and sprinkle with Parmesan, as desired. Serve with the toasted bread. Serve at once.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

Sweetie has recently discovered that he just loves roasted veggies. Tonight I made roasted rainbow organic carrots and a half an onion. Gone in a flash!

Roasted Carrots and Onions

1 bunch carrots with greens on top (or use clip top carrots if that's all you have.) I used organic rainbow carrots...about 7 of them.
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried herbs ( or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs) I used Penzey's Greek seasoning and Zatar which are both dried
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Prepare the carrots by either peeling or rubbing with a clean scrubbie. Cut off the pointed end and just below the green tops. Use the tops for carrot top pesto if desired. Slice the carrots in half lengthwise. Place in a large plastic bag...I use the one from the produce section.

Add the onion wedges, oil, herbs and salt/pepper if using. Shake bag to distribute ingredients all over the carrots and onion wedges.

Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil. Pour the carrots and onions out onto the sheet and use the bag to distribute the veggies into a single layer.

Roast in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until veggies are tender and edges of the onions are browned. Stir about half way through roasting.

Serve at once or at room temperature.

Serves 2-4

Heading off to visit my daughter and friends tomorrow, but Sweetie and Straight Shooter will keep Pi company until I get back.

Cold Noodle Dinner In A Bowl

I used to subscribe to Bon Appetit magazine, but stopped recently because most of the recipes seemed to be ones I couldn't see myself making. That is why I was so surprised when I purchased their June issue in late May at the airport so I would have something to read on my flight home. Despite the fact that it was the Grilling Issue and Sweetie is the one who grills, I found quite a few recipes and ideas for things to make. I think that, with all the recipes so easily available on the internet, that cookbooks and cooking magazines provide inspiration more than anything.

One of the articles was on how to put together a variety of cold noodle salads. There was coconut-lime shrimp with rice noodles, garlicky chicken with udon noodles, Veg lover's soba with a miso-mustard dressing and spicy steak salad with ramen noodles, but they also explained how to mix and match.

Inspired by the article, I decided to make a salad similar to a Vietnamese bun salad, using grilled teriyaki chicken for the protein, rice stick noodles, carrot matchsticks and cucumber, peanuts, cilantro and a fish sauce-lime dressing. It made a wonderful dinner and is a great warm weather dish. I took the same salad on a picnic a few days ago and it was just as refreshing and surprisingly filling.

Rice Noodles With Salad and Chicken
serves 4-6
Inspired by Bon Appetit June 2017 issue

Sauce:
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
hot pepper flakes or hot sauce, to taste

Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

Salad:
4-6 cups thinly sliced iceberg lettuce
2 teaspoons minced cilantro
2 teaspoons minced fresh mint
1/2 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced cucumber, slices cut in half
2-3 tablespoons chopped peanuts

Noodles:
1 package fine rice stick noodles or vermicelli noodles
vegetable oil

In a jar with a tightly fitting lid, place all the sauce ingredients, then shake to combine. Let sit at least 30 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Discard the solids.

Place the chicken thighs in a glass pie dish or similar non-corrosive dish, or in a plastic ziplock bag. Pour the teriyaki sauce over the chicken and let marinate at least 30 minutes. Grill until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Cut into bite sized pieces.

While chicken is marinating, combine the lettuce, cilantro, fresh mint, carrots and cucumbers in a large bowl. Set aside.

Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling water until al dente', then drain in a collander and rinse with cold water. Put the noodles back in the pot and drizzle with a small amount of vegetable oil, then toss the noodles with your fingers to coat them with the oil. If too hot, use salad tongs for tossing.

To assemble the salad, place a portion of the rice noodles in the bottom of a large soup bowl. Add a generous helping of the salad mixture, top with the warm chicken and drizzle with the sauce. Sprinkle chopped peanuts on top. If desired, garnish with additional cilantro and mint.

If you like, you can skip mixing the lettuce, cilantro, mint, carrots and cucumbers and just put the carrots and cucumbers in little piles on top of the lettuce in the bowl, then scatter the cilantro and mint on top, along with the peanuts. Once it all gets stirred together in the bowl as you eat there is no difference in the eating experience.

Duck!

Recently there was a great buy on duck legs at the market. I rarely cook duck, so I took the opportunity to do some online searching for a good recipe. I ended up using a recipe from the New York Times, but also changed it a bit to include red wine because I think duck and red wine go so well together.

The results were awesome, like dining at a fancy restaurant, probably a French one. The dish was rich in flavor, full of roasted veggies, had a wonderful sauce in the bottom of the pot and went really well with some boiled red potatoes. It took a little more time than usual, but was well worth it.

Braised Duck Legs with Veggies

based on recipe at Diners Journal/NY Times

Ingredients

• 2 duck legs, trimmed of excess fat
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup red wine (I used a nice Pinot)
• 2 large onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 pound carrots
• 6 celery stalks
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 oz. sliced, cleaned mushrooms
• 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade.

Method

• 1. Put duck legs, skin side down, in a skillet large enough to accommodate all ingredients comfortably; turn heat to medium. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown duck legs carefully and evenly, sprinkling them with salt and pepper as they cook. Meanwhile, peel and dice vegetables.
  
• 2. When legs are nicely browned, turn them over and sear for just a minute or two. Remove to a plate; remove fat to a small bowl. Add red wine to deglaze the pan, then simmer wine for 1o minutes to reduce. Pour red wine over chicken and wipe out skillet. Add just enough of the reserved fat to cook the vegetables. Discard rest of fat or use for another purpose.  Add vegetables and thyme to skillet along with some salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Return duck legs to pan, skin side up and juices/wine, and add stock; it should come about halfway up duck legs but should not cover them. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, and transfer to oven.
  
• 3. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes, then lower heat to 350 degrees. Continue to cook, uncovered & undisturbed, until duck is tender and liquid reduced, at least another half hour. The duck is done when a thin-bladed knife pierces the meat with little resistance. When done, duck will hold nicely in a warm oven for another hour. Serve hot.

Bun

Although we have been grateful for weeks of almost-every-other-day rain, the constant moisture created a hazard that we didn't think about. I guess four years of drought gets one out of the habits needed to weather rainy years well. A few days ago Sweetie was going down the back steps towards the room he uses for making train and ship models and he slipped on the wet, slightly slimy steps. His feet flew out from under him and he landed on the edge of the bottom step and then finished up on the landing. In the process he got some world class bruises, especially on his bum, but, fortunately, nothing more serious as far as injuries. His back has been pretty sore but he has been careful to ice his injuries and to rest, so he is doing much better. I am so thankful that he didn't break anything!

Usually we take turns making dinner, but I've been doing it since the fall, so last night I decided to make something that I enjoy ordering when we eat out. The dish is Vietnamese Bun salad, with shredded lettuce on the bottom of the bowl, cooked rice noodles on top of that, a scattering of matchstick carrots, cucumber chunks, minced cilantro and minced mint, and warm cooked chicken pieces. The dressing was fun to make. It has lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, water and ginger. Once the salad is dribbled with the dressing, chopped peanuts are scatter on top and it's ready to serve.

I used instructions and recipes from a number of places and put bits of them together, so I don't have a place to send you to. I read of various ways to prepare the rice noodles and finally ended up doing a blend of two of them. The dressing was based on one found on David Liebowitz's blog, but I added garlic and fresh ginger and used more lime juice and less water, so I guess it's my own dressing.

This is a light, refreshing meal with plenty of crunch from the lettuce and peanuts and cucumber and carrots. David uses fried shallots and red onion and I've seen the salad with bean sprouts, too, so feel free to adjust the salad fixin's, too.

I'm still going to order Bun when I eat at Vietnamese restaurants, but it's nice to know that I can make it at home, too.

Vietnamese Bun Rice Noodle Salad

The dressing

• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• a few drops hot sauce, or Sriracha sauce to taste
• 1 small clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced

The salad 

• 8 oz. dried thin rice noodles
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into bite sized matchstick pieces
• 1/2 a cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into bite sized chunks
• 1 large chicken thigh, cooked, skin removed, and cut or torn into bite sized pieces
  (you can also use other protein like barbecued pork, barbecued shrimp, or small, cooked spring rolls, or tofu)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3-4 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts (I like unsalted)

For the dressing 

In a small jar combine the lime juice, fish sauce (more if you really like fish sauce), brown sugar, water, hot sauce, garlic and ginger. Shake to combine well and set aside.

 

For the salad  

Heat water in a large pot big enough to hold the rice noodles. There should be enough water to cover the noodles. Bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat and add the noodles, breaking the mass if necessary to fit it into the pot. Stir gently. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Return pot to stove.

In two or three or four large bowls place the iceburg lettuce. Gather all of the rest of the ingredients and heat the protein part. Turn on the heat under the noodles and bring back to a boil. As soon as the water boils, drain the noodles in a colander, rinse thoroughly with cold water, then spread noodles on a clean kitchen towel to drain.

Place some noodles over the iceberg lettuce. Scatter carrot, cucumber and warm protein (chicken in my case) evenly over the portions of noodles. Scatter the mint and cilantro evenly over the portions.

Drizzle some of the dressing over each salad and top with peanuts. Serve additional dressing at the table for those who want more dressing. Serve at once. Makes 2-4 servings, with some noodles and dressing left over for another time.

Squash and Carrots

Although I love dessert, one can't live, or at least not very well, with a diet of sweets. Because I try to get a few servings of veggies every day, it is worth the time and effort to have a garden and/or buy from farmers markets. You get fresh, seasonal produce that way, and it's almost always local produce.

It's still summer squash season, although the harvest is winding down. We usually grill slices along with whatever Sweetie is putting on the grill, but sometimes I want a different treatment. Last week I made a wonderful saute with zucchini squash, carrots and patty pan squash, plus some chopped Italian parsley, a little garlic and just enough water to keep the veggies from sticking during cooking. Because they were so fresh they didn't need anything else and were delicious.

I cut the patty pan squash into quarters and cut the carrots and zucchini into sticks, trying to keep their shapes about the same so that they would all cook in about the same time. One thing I made sure of was to only cook them until I could insert the tip of a sharp knife. I like my squash with some bite to it. Sweetie likes his carrots that way, so we were good to go. If you look carefully you'll see the lone green bean that was on the bean bush. More are coming in now, but then it was the lone bean!

Triple The Fun, Triple the Flours

The October bread for the always-up-for-something-new Bread Baking Babes, an awesome carrot bread brought to us by the adventuresome Heather at Kitchen of the Month Girlichef was a fun bread to make. It has three kinds of flour (rye, wheat and rice), and overnight sleep to add flavor, and a crunchy, crackly topping that I've heard called a tiger bread finish. Inside there are grated carrots, carrot juice, sunflower seeds (and, n some, parsley) so there is a lot going on with this bread. I love the texture of the topping and really love the tight crumb and mellow flavor. It is not overwhelmingly rye in flavor, nor carrot, nor wheat, just a nice combination of all those with some warmth and texture from the sunflower seeds. Great fresh from the oven and just lovely toasted. Have not tried it yet for grilled cheese, but I can see that it would be an excellent sandwich bread, especially grilled.

I only made half the recipe, using the measurements from Astrid. That was a great help having the measurements already halved, but I found that I needed a whole lot more water both for the poolish and for the dough. When I put together the rice flour topping, I decided that it was too thin with the measurements given, so I added more rice flour. I like how the topping turned out that way. It stayed on the loaves just fine and crackled when the shaped loaves rose, too. Baked, it was nice and crunchy.

I'll bet you want to be a Bread Baking Buddy this month and try out this wonderful, unusual bread, right? Once you do, send Heather an e-mail with your take on it, plus a photo or two. We'll be looking for you. While your are surfing the Internet, be sure to visit the other Bread Baking Babes. The links to their blogs are at the bottom of the post, and on the sidebar, too. Happy baking!

Carrot Bread, Half Recipe
adapted from Artisan Breads: Practical Recipes and Detailed Instructions for Baking the World's Finest Loaves by Jan Hedh
makes two medium loaves

Poolish:
3/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
118 grams lukewarm water (I used 200 grams, but start with less and add enough to make it a thick batter) 189 grams rye flour

Dough:
85 grams toasted sunflower seeds (I'm avoiding sesame seeds at the moment for health reasons, so I did extra sunflower seeds instead. Try not to almost burn them when toasting them as I did) 1 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
118 grams carrot juice lukewarm (I used a mixture of carrot baby food and water) 50 grams lukewarm water (I found I needed more liquid in order to have a decent dough) 85 grams grated carrots (about one large carrot)
450 - 500 grams bread flour (I used part bread flour and part whole wheat flour...which might be why my dough needed extra liquid!) 15 grams honey
2 tablespoons sunflower oil (I used canola oil)
1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt

Crackle Glaze (Topping)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
100 grams lukewarm water
65 grams rice flour (I used a lot more, but didn't measure it, just kept whisking some in until I liked the texture)1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sunflower oil (I used canola oil)1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Day 1: Make the Poolish

Dissolve the yeast in the water, and let sit a few minutes to bloom. Whisk in the flour until smooth - if it is very thick, continue whisking in more water until it is the consistency of a thick batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours; at this point it should be a bit bubbly.

Day 2: Baking Day

In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment), dissolve the yeast in the carrot juice and additional water, let sit a few minutes until it looks creamy (bloomed). Add the grated carrot, the lesser amount of bread flour, and the poolish to the bowl. Knead on low speed for 3 minutes. If the dough doesn't seem too sticky, then don't add any more of the flour; it will firm up as it is kneaded (plus you have more to add to it).

Add the oil to the bowl and knead for another 8 minutes. Add the salt, increase the speed, and knead until elastic, about 7 more minutes. At this point, the dough will not be sticky any longer. Use the extra flour, a tiny bit at a time, to remedy the dough if it is as you knead. Add the toasted seeds, and gently mix in.

Place the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl or container and cover. Let sit for 60-90 minutes, knocking the dough back halfway through. To knock the dough back, remove it from the bowl and set it on a work surface. Use your hands to knock the air out of it. Fold the edges towards the center to form a cushion. Replace in the container, seam side down.

Day 2, later: Making the Crackle Glaze (Topping)
While the dough is rising, dissolve the yeast in the water in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining ingredients. It should be spreadable, but not runny, (which might mean whisking in more rice flour as I did). Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before using.

Day 2, even later: Shaping and Baking
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 2 equal parts. Form the portions into two round balls, and cover them with a clean tea towel. Let rest for 10 minutes.

After the rest, shape each circle of dough into an oblong loaf, by gently pressing ball down into a circle and then tucking/rolling into shape. Set loaves, seam side down, onto a lightly floured bread peel or thin cutting board. Glaze the loaves generously with the crackling glaze (you'll have a lot of leftover glaze), and leave to rise at room temperature for 60-75 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size and the surface is crackled.

Place a baking stone into the oven, and preheat to 475° F during last 20 minutes or so of rise time.

Slide the loaves onto the stone (let them rise directly on a baking sheet or two if you don't have a stone - slide that into preheated oven) and spray generously with water. Close oven door. Lower the temperature to 400° F after 5 minutes. After another 10 minutes, open the oven door to let in a little air. Repeat two more times (every 10 minutes).(I skipped the spray of water and only opened the oven once, about halfway through baking to turn the pan in the oven. Crust was still awesome this way.) Total baking time will be about 45 minutes. Remove bread from oven (loaf will sound hollow if bottom is tapped) and cool on a wire rack.


THE BREAD BAKING BABES!
Bake My Day - Karen
Blog from OUR Kitchen - Elizabeth
Girlichef - Heather
Life's a Feast - Jaime
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya 
Lucullian Delights - Ilva 
My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
Notitie van Lien - Lien

Thyme for Cooking - Katie - our Round-up Babe       

R in the Month Stew

When I was growing up we were told that the only months that were OK for eating oysters are those with an R in them. Well, it's September, so the season for oysters has begun. Truthfully, I sometimes eat oysters in other months as long as they are local ones. We have companies in our area which grow oysters year-round in Tomales Bay, so there are always some oysters in the right stage of development to be eaten. Still, old tapes are hard to dislodge. September means I can eat oysters and so I do.

Oysters are an acquired taste. If you eat them raw, it is like a slurp of sea brine with a little bit of muscle thrown in. It's hard to imagine why anyone ate them in the first place, but once you get to like them they get a hold on you. I could eat them all the time. Unfortunately they, like most seafood these day, are somewhat expensive, so I save them for a treat.

Tonight's treat was Oyster Stew. Our market had jars of small ones on sale and I had green onions, celery, carrots, parsley, small red potatoes, corn and milk handy, plus some bacon. That, plus some salt, pepper and thyme is all you need to make a warm, hardy bowlful of deliciousness.

There are lots of ways to make Oyster Stew. I started by cooking the red potatoes. Mostly that was because I wanted to keep this a one pot dish. After they were cooked and draining, I used the same pot to cook some bacon, then, after fishing out the cooked bacon, I used the bacon grease to cook the onions, celery and carrots. After that it was a simple matter to drain the oysters, mix a bit of flour with the reserved liquid the oyster had been packed in, and then used that to thicken the milk/veggie combo a bit. Throw in some thyme, salt and pepper, the potatoes, the corn and heat 'em up. Right before you are ready to serve, add the rinsed oysters and stir. Set the timer for 1 minutes, stir again, and let sit one more minute. You'll see the edges of the oysters curl like ruffles on a dress. That's it! Time to ladle the stew into bowls and top with a bit of chopped Italian parsley, then dig in. Mmmm.

Elle's Oyster Stew

3-4 small red potatoes, cut into small bite-sized pieces
3 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 green onions, sliced fine, including part of the greens
1 medium carrot, diced fine
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 jar small oysters
2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 -2 cups frozen or fresh corn - if frozen, thaw in the microwave
1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped

In a large pot, cook the red potatoes in simmering water until tender. Drain and set aside.

In the same pot, cook the bacon until crisp, turning once or twice for even cooking. Remove the bacon and set aside.

In the same pot, sauté the green onions, carrot and celery in the bacon grease until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

While the veggies cook, drain the oysters in a fine mesh strainer, reserving the liquid they were packed in. Rinse the oysters under cold running water. If the oysters are large, cut them in half. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour and the reserved oyster liquid.  Set aside.

Add the milk, thyme, salt and pepper to the pot of veggies, stirring to release any browned bits on the bottom and sides of the pot. Stir in the flour mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until liquid thickens a bit. Add the reserved potatoes, bacon, and corn. Heat thoroughly but don't boil.

2 minutes before it is time to serve the stew, make sure that the stew is hot, then add the prepared oysters. Set a timer for 1 minutes. When one minute has passed, stir the stew, then let sit a few more seconds. The oyster edges will have ruffled, so you know they are cooked. Ladle stew into bowls and top with a sprinkle of chopped parsley. Serve at once.

A Potluck Dish I Love

In just a little over a week I'll be off to my Mom's on the East Coast to help celebrate a significant birthday of hers. It's very exciting because all of my siblings will be there as well as some of the spouses and kids and grandkids. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all, and to seeing Mom's sisters and their extended families. I think the last time we had so many of us together was ten years ago for another birthday. Since we are scattered all over the country, it might be years before we gather again.

One of the things planned is a potluck picnic by the Potomac river on Sunday. I'll be making a wild rice/brown rice and baby carrots casserole with herbs to bring. I made it many years ago for one of the Derby Day pot lucks and tried it out for dinner last week. It went really quickly at the Derby Day potluck and Charlie gave it his stamp of approval, too, last week. It’s easy to fix, delicious, and vegan if made with vegetable broth, but mostly I’m making it because I like to eat it.

I'm starting with a rice mixture sold in a box because it is designed to have the different rices cooked together. I'll skip the seasoning packet (with usually has way too much sodium) and instead add some onion and celery, Italian parsley and thyme, a touch of orange juice, plus a bit of salt and lots of pepper. I looked at some recipes online, but didn't find anything where the rice and carrots cook at the same time. I know when I made it years ago I cooked the wild rice separately and then mixed it in once the other rice was cooked, but the packaged mixture didn't need that. It's pretty simple actually: Onions sautéed in a little olive oil, rice mixture stirred in, carrots cut into chunks stirred in, herbs and orange juice stirred in, S&P over all, then the broth. I brought it all to a boil, reduced the heat to simmer, then covered it and let it cook until the rice was cooked. By that time the carrots were perfectly cooked, too with just a bit of bite still to them. I like it warm, but it would probably taste fine cold. It was even delicious a day later, maybe even better. Dishes with cooked onions often taste better then next day.

May is usually filled with lots of occasions for gathering together of family and friends, so you may want to bookmark this for a quick dish to bring or serve at your party.

Wild and Brown Rice with Carrots and Herbs

1/2 medium to large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil or grapeseed oil
1 package wild and brown rice mix (discard the seasoning packet)
1 1/2 cups baby carrots or larger carrots cut into approximately 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
the juice of 1/2 a medium orange
salt and pepper to taste
1 can broth, either chicken or vegetable

In a wide, flat skillet or pan with a lid, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the wild and brown rice, the carrots, the parsley, the thyme and the orange juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the mixture the broth.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, then cover and let cook until rice is cooked and most of liquid is evaporated, about 25 - 30 minutes. If desired you can remove the lid, increase the heat, and let more of the liquid evaporate for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the rice mixture from scorching.

Serve warm or at room temperature. If made with chicken broth, keep chilled once mixture has cooled.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Farm Box Fun

At the home show about a month ago I signed up for delivery every other week of a box of fruits and veggies. The company is called Farm Fresh to You and they deliver from the Sacramento area. I will probably cancel once my own veggies start coming in, but for now it is encouraging me to eat more whole foods. The produce is wonderfully fresh, organic, abundant and delicious. Over the weekend I made both a veggie quiche and some chicken soup chock full of vegetables. Yesterday's lunch included a handful of small Nantes carrots. They were crisp and sweet and so good. Yesterday we enjoyed the broccoli from the box and tonight we are having stir-fry which will include some red peppers, onions, and asparagus, the latter two from the box. I've also been eating some very juicy tangerines from the box as well as navel oranges. We still are shopping at the market for our melons and garlic and potatoes, but it really is nice to have really fresh produce right on hand to inspire me.

Sweetie continues to heal and he and I have become very expert at doing the dressing changes. He still has about another 4 weeks before he can play tennis but we are grateful that he did no long-term damage.

Still playing with kitchen designs and researching appliances. Do any of you dear readers have experience with Samsung gas ranges or with their refrigerators or dishwashers? How about Bertazonni?

For now I'm having fun with my current kitchen and appliances. This baking spree over the weekend was the first time since mid-January that I really wanted to cook and bake. There will be a new bread showing up here on the 16th. I'm looking forward to playing with yeast dough again!

Here is the quiche recipe. It is just a variation of my usual one. If you use evaporated milk as I do, be sure to shake it well before opening. I forgot to do that this time and it took some doing to get it all mixed up in the bowl (which also had the eggs in it). I think this is the perfect quiche for the spring...savory, flaky, full of asparagus and onions and cheese. Now I want another slice...and it's all gone. It went so fast that I didn't really get great photos...but if you make one yourself you can see how beautiful it looks with the green asparagus spears on top.

Spring Quiche with Asparagus and Swiss Cheese and OnionServes 4 - 6

1 9-inch pie shell, blind baked at 425 degrees F for 10-12 minutes (recipe follows)
1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Swiss cheese, cut into ¼ inch dice
3 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
1 ½ cups evaporated milk (I used non-fat) or light cream
¼ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
dash pepper
Dash nutmeg
2-3 spears asparagus, tough bottoms trimmed off and sliced in half through the length of the spear
1 - 2 large mushrooms, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small skillet, saute the onion and celery in the olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Sprinkle the bottom of the pie shell with the sauteed onion/celery mixture and Swiss cheese, distributing evenly. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then add the milk and beat with a fork to combine, add the salt, thyme, pepper and nutmeg and beat with a fork or whisk to combine.

Arrange the half asparagus spears in a nice pattern on top of the onions and cheese in the pie shell. Place the mushroom slices near them where space permits between the spears.

Pour the egg/milk mixture over the ingredients in the pie shell. Place in the preheated oven and bake 30-45 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. I find that setting on a parchment-lined small baking sheet is a good idea in case some of the filling spills over. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.


Pastry Pie Shell

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chilled butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, or two knives, until particles the size of dried peas are formed.

In a small bowl mix together the egg, ice water and lemon juice (if using). Sprinkle over the flour mixture and toss with a fork lightly. Do not over mix. Gather the particles together in a ball. Wrap airtight and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes. Roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface until large enough to fill a 9 inch pie pan with some overlap.

Fit into a 9 inch pie pan, smooth to fit, trip excess , tuck edges under and crimp as for any pie crust. Prick lightly all over the surface with a fork. Freeze 10 minutes. Remove from freezer and cover with a circle of parchment paper or foil. Fill the paper with beans or pie weights (blind baking the crust).

Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 – 12 minutes. Cool slightly. Remove and save the beans or pie weights. Fill with filling as called for in recipes needing a pie shell.

Tip: If you use a pound of dried beans as pie weights as I do, save them once they have cooled off and you can use them again and again as pie weights...just don't plan on cooking them to eat. At about a dollar and a half for a bag of dried beans, it sure beats the almost $9 you would pay for Pie Weights from King Arthur or a similar amount at Sur la Table.

Aye and Begorrah – Corned Beef from Scratch

Welcome, again, Guest Blogger No Handle with a seasonal delight:

Irish Corned Beef

Corned Beef is an iconic Irish dish, and since I am more than half Irish, and have Grandparents who literally came over on “the boat” from Ireland, it is a bit odd that I haven't attempted this before. My (Irish) uncle John made it every year. The recipe I used, and one of the harder-to-find ingredients, comes from a family friend who is more German than anything, and who prepares it for Christmas parties. The Celts passed through German territory on their meandering migration that ended in Ireland, so maybe that's it. She owns the Back Forty bar in Mountain Home, AR where several of my distant relatives also live. Stop by if you are in the area (Branson is just up the road). Thanks Opal!

Aside from obtaining one ingredient, this is not at all a difficult dish to prepare, but it does take some time (about 2 weeks, although another recipe from the Food Channel says it can be done in 10 days). To drop the suspense, the one ingredient is called salt peter, or potassium nitrate. It preserves the color of the meat over its long stay in the corning solution, which is essentially a brine. See my earlier blog on brining a turkey for a shorter brining effort. Where that brine used separate spices, this one calls for Pickling Spices (the salt peter was (inaccurately) labeled Pickling Salt, when I finally found it in a spice store in Boulder, CO had a nice pink color) which includes many of the spices from brining, plus a few more that deliver a wonderful aroma that fills the house when they are being heated. It is a delightful promise of things to come.

There are five ingredients that go into the corning solution, including the Pickling Spices and Salt. While they are heating, chop the garlic cloves into slivers, and insert them at intervals into the beef; puncture the meat with a paring knife to make it easier. I'm not sure that the Irish are that big on garlic, but I am so the recipe suites me fine. Once the solution has cooled somewhat (The Food Channel recipe calls for addition of ice. I am more patient and just let it sit on the counter for a while.) place the beef and solution into a 2-gallon plastic zipper bag or shallow pan.

The recipe calls for weighting down the beef in a shallow container and covering it with muslin, but the plastic bag approach is easier. In either case, the mixture goes into the refrigerator for about two weeks. Since corning is an old method of preserving meat, I suspect it could stay for months with no ill effect.

…. time passes ….

The big day has arrived, so remove the beef from the solution, which you can discard, and rinse it thoroughly. Remove the garlic slivers too. The spices have already been soaked into the meat, and the salt is mostly on the outside. It was needed for osmosis (encouraging the spices to enter the meat tissue), kind of like the way a water softener works. Put the meat in a largish Dutch oven. Le Creuset is nice, but there are good enameled cast iron pots out there for a more reasonable price. Check Macy's and Costco.

Cover it with fresh cold water, and add the vegetables.

I included carrots, even if the recipe doesn't call for them (another did). Put the pot, covered, on the stove on a back burner and bring to a boil, then reducing the heat to medium low to simmer for a few hours. Your patience will be rewarded. After three hours the meat should be falling-apart tender (no bones, so falling-off-the-bone tender doesn't apply), and ready to serve. Slice thinly across the grain and plate.

As the big day approached, I decided to go the distance and cook the full "boiled dinner" of corned beef and cabbage. It meant getting a few more vegetables and adding some pickling spice to the water, to season the vegetables. This requires adding the vegetables in stages, with potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery going in first, followed closely by the cabbage.

I removed the vegetables and cooked the beef a little longer because it didn't seem tender enough. I also transferred the beef and vegetable mixture to a larger pot when the cabbage went in, because my Dutch oven was a bit small (6 quart) and the mixture need a lot more space. Without the cabbage it was just big enough. The end result was delicious, and by adding the pickling spices at the beginning of the boil, the aroma filled the house. Yum! As you can see, adding salt peter did retain a lovely red color throughout the corning and cooking period.  

There seems to be a tradition of rewarding your salt peter provider with a serving, since he or she is a local, and the stuff is so hard to find that you are grateful, and want to show that gratitude. Also, it's just nice to share. So, pass on the green beer and enjoy this Irish (and sometime German) specialty.

Irish Corned Beef - The Recipe

4 quarts water

One half cup kosher salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoon pickling spice [I used McCormick]

One half ounce salt peter

8 bay leaves

5 lb beef brisket

8 cloves garlic

2 onions

2 stalks celery

Combine first 6 ingredients in saucepan (or large kettle). Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes. Place brisket (trimmed of as much fat as possible) stuffed with the garlic, in a non-metallic container. Cover with cooked broth, and weigh down to keep covered. Cover with muslin (or plastic wrap) and refrigerate for 2 weeks. An alternative is a two-gallon plastic zipper freezer bag; press the air out.

To cook: Rinse thoroughly to remove brine. Place in kettle with onions [carrots] and celery. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook for about 3 hrs until tender. Drain and slice crosswise.

Salt peter maintains the color, and may be gotten at the pharmacy. [If you have a “corner drug store"], else at your local spice shop, or search for Humco Saltpetre granular on the web (more expensive). The Humco product is white. Farm stores are another possibility.

Additions (Corned Beef and Cabbage)

1 Tablespoon pickling spice

2 lbs. Potatoes (I used reds, peeled and cubed)

2 lb head of cabbage (I used about 3/4ths of it; cole slaw anyone?)

3 medium carrots, sliced

3 bay leaves (I cheated and used the ones from the corning solution)

 

After the beef has cooked about 2 1/2 hours, add the onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes. Bring to a boil again, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cabbage, return to a boil, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and serve immediately.

Thanks No Handle! Will have to try this myself sometime. Dear Reader, it would be so nice if you would comment so that No Handle, our Denver favorite, gets some feedback. I think he did a grand job.