Squash & Potato Pancakes With Homemade Applesauce
Posted: July 14, 2011 Filed under: In the Kitchen 2 Comments
I found this yummy recipe in Jennifer Carden’s The Toddler Cafe – fast, healthy, and fun ways to feed even the pickiest eater. My beautiful sister (in law) gifted this book to us for fun ideas even though our daughter is a pretty adventurous eater – she’ll try just about anything. I made a few adjustments to the recipe and will indicate where.
One 10-ounce box frozen squash, thawed (I used peeled and shredded small yellow summer squash and small zucchini – sauteed until soft, strained and liquid reserved).
1 beaten egg
1/4 C all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar (I didn’t use)
1 tsp baking powder
8 ounces frozen hash-brown potatoes, semi-thawed (about 10 minutes out of freezer – next time I will try shredded sweet potatoes)
vegetable oil for frying
applesauce for serving (I made quickly while squash was sauting – just 3 tart apples – organic Pink Lady and Granny Smith, steamed then blended in food processor. I added some of the squash liquid to thin the applesauce.
In a large bowl, mix cooled squash with beaten egg. Next add in flour, salt, sugar, baking powder. Add shredded potatoes and stir. Heat nonstick pan over medium heat and add just enough oil to to cover bottom of pan (I used sparingly and worked fine). Jennifer suggests portioning out about 2 Tb mixture into pan and fry on each side until browned (it’s a good idea to press mixture with spatula to thin out). Remove and drain on paper towel.
Rosemary & Garlic Sea Salts
Posted: July 8, 2011 Filed under: In the Kitchen 3 CommentsA very gifted culinary friend introduced us to Celtic Sea Salts a while back in Chicago. We’ve been big fans ever since. She made several varieties but the rosemary/garlic blend (we call rosie salts) is what we use regularly. Once per year I purchase a 5 lb bag of the coarse, light grey salt from http://www.celticseasalt.com – about $21.
As needed, I put 3 or so cups of salt in a food processor with 5-6 fresh rosemary sprigs (leaves picked from stem) and 4-5 garlic cloves, smashed with skins removed. Pulse but do not blend.
You then spread the contents onto a cookie/baking sheet and let air dry overnight as the mixture will be damp. You will pulse salt mixture again the next day, several times. Let air dry a second night.
According to the source, you may store it in a ceramic or glass container with a loose lid to allow the salts to breathe. I have a small jar right by stove always filled and ready for cooking. We use these salts for garlic bread, salads, and in general cooking. The flavor is superb.
4th of July with Pastrami Smoked Turkey
Posted: July 4, 2011 Filed under: In the Kitchen 3 Comments“Turkey?!?” I gasped when the idea of a 4 July BBQ was tossed around. But as a practical matter it made sense. With the fields beginning to show abundance, this is a time to make space in the chest freezer. Farmer Martha had a bird stashed away and so why not?
And then again, Benjamin Franklin had argued for the turkey as the symbol of the United States: “For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. …For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true and original Native of America…He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a Red Coat on.”
So maybe turkey really does belong on the 4 July menu, but roasting was out of the question. This is grill season. Smoking the whole bird seemed a savory solution and – never having tried anything like this before – I adapted two recipes from Steven Raichlen’s “Barbecue! Bible”.
Not being sure the weight of the bird, I mixed up a pastrami dry rub by taking:
6 Tablespoons coriander seeds
Toast them and then grind coarsely in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder, and combine with:
6 Tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
12 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard seeds, toasted
1 Tablespoon ground ancho chili
1/2 Cup kosher salt
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup sweet paprika
2 Tablespoons ground ginger
Mix the ingredients well, and then cover the bird completely, including beneath the skin on the breast, with the rub. Wrap the turkey and let it cure for 24 hours.
Before smoking, mix up an injector sauce using:
1/2 Cup chicken broth
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Teaspoon of the pastrami rub
Put everything in a sauce pan and heat just until the butter melts. Then using a kitchen syringe, inject the turkey at the drumsticks, thighs, and three or four places on both breasts.
I don’t have a smoker, and in a fit of frugality years ago I purchased the 18.5″ Weber Grill instead of the larger model. Today, the size really made a problem as the bird just was too big for the indirect smoking set-up. The bird was too close to the coals
and the top wouldn’t fit. So I tried to adapt with foil.
The apple wood smoke was intense and the air flow too great. The temperature roared. After 45 minutes I opened the lid and the side closest to the flames was getting charred. Egads! I finished it in the oven at 350 degrees for about one and one-half hours, until the internal temp was 175.
I am hoping that the injector sauce helped keep it from drying out but I won’t know how it all turned out until the picnic.
Strawberry Ice Cream
Posted: July 4, 2011 Filed under: Child Centered Activities, In the Kitchen 1 Comment
This recipe comes from Alice Waters’ “The Art of Simple Food” and makes about 1 quart. In a small bowl, whisk briefly, just enough to break up:
3 egg yolks
Measure into a heavy-bottomed pot:
3/4 Cup half-and-half
1/2 Cup sugar
Heat the half-and-half over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When hot, whisk a little of the half-and-half into the egg yolks – this is called “tempering” the eggs – and then whisk the warmed yolks back into the hot mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil. Remove from the heat (you can strain it, but I never bother) and add:
3/4 Cup heavy cream
Cover the mixture and chill. Meanwhile, wash, dry and hull:
3 Cups fresh picked strawberries
Mash, and then add:
1/4 Cup sugar
A dash of lemon juice
Let the strawberries macerate in their own juices, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has melted. Add the berries to the cold cream mixture and flavor with:
A couple drop of pure vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
Chill thoroughly, then freeze in an ice-cream maker.
This recipe will work with any berries, and you could add or substitute peaches and nectarines.
Wicked and Wonderful Strawberry Pie
Posted: June 26, 2011 Filed under: Child Centered Activities, In the Kitchen 1 Comment
Back in the corn-belt, the measure of a strong crop was corn “knee high by fourth of July.” In these parts, folks measure and mark by the ripening fruits and this is the time for strawberries. June’s full moon was, after all, the Strawberry Moon. Along the coast, the berries have come ripe and the fields opened this morning. By chance, we were the first ones to arrive and picked about 6 quarts. E ate handfuls and was very happy.
About one hour inland the berries were ripe almost two weeks ago. Farmer Martha has gone picking several times. On one trip she hauled out 48 pounds. By her permission, we are posting this recipe for a quick and easy summer treat. The strawberry filling comes from her memory, while the nut crust comes from Martha Stewart’s “Pies & Tarts.”
For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, butter a pie pan and into a food processor put:
5 oz toasted almonds
Pulse until they are finely chopped, but not to the point of almond butter. Then combine in a bowl:
2T + 2t granulated sugar
1.5 Cup All Purpose Flour
Add the flour-sugar mixture into the processor and pulse, and then pour into the processor, through the top:
½ Cup unsalted butter, melted
Pulse just until the dough comes together. Then roll out the dough, nip and tuck to fit into the buttered pan, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool.
Into the cooled crust slice lots of berries, until the crust is about, say, one-half full. If you like, add in some ripe mangoes. In the processor, combine and macerate:
a good handful or two or three of fresh strawberries,
1/3 Cup granulated sugar (or to taste)
3T corn starch
Put all this into a saucepan and heat until it thickens, stirring often. Pour the macerated berries over the sliced berries and chill.
Homemade Finger Paints
Posted: June 19, 2011 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities, In the Kitchen 1 CommentA great recipe I found online – with my own tweaks added in:
2 TB sugar
1/3 C cornstarch
2 C cold water
1/4 C clear liquid dish soap
food coloring or food gel
Mix sugar with cornstarch and slowly add water. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until mixture thickens and becomes semi-translucent. Once cooled, add dish soap (helps keep colors from staining – though still take precautions with clothes, etc.), then portion into desired containers and mix in the colors. In addition to fingers and paintbrush, collect some non-traditional tools (feathers, sticks, Q-tips, etc.) for your little one to explore with.
Kitchen Herb Table
Posted: June 17, 2011 Filed under: Gallery - Visual, In the Kitchen Leave a commentLiving in small apartments, we have learned to maximize all the space available, but we still want as many plants as possible. I built this herb table in April of 2008.
Adobo Pepperoni Pizza
Posted: June 15, 2011 Filed under: Farming off the Farm, In the Kitchen 2 CommentsPizza night comes often, and we created this one with various items from around the kitchen, and fresh greens from our garden! We have heard about grinding the wheat berries for making the dough, but we don’t have a food mill yet so we buy our dough pre-made. Preheat the oven to a blazing 475 degrees.
Once the dough is stretched to size, we add some Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce – finely dice one of the peppers and add a bit of the sauce. This has a great smoky flavor, not too hot, and you can get it in the mexican section of the grocer.
Next put a thin layer of grated white cheese. This will melt and help the toppings adhere to the crust. Then add a layer each of sliced pepperoni (we like uncured, but any kind will do), a handful of diced celery and some thinly sliced red onion, some mushrooms (we love shitake), and tonight we added a layer of arugula and bitter greens.
Then top it with some fresh mozzarella, a bit of dried basil and some smoked paprika. Maybe a crack or two of black pepper.
Pop it into the oven for about 15 minutes, then rotate the pizza, then let it go til golden brown, about another 10 minutes.
Pumpkin-Ginger Pancakes
Posted: June 8, 2011 Filed under: In the Kitchen 2 Comments
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C all purpose flour
2-3 Tb buckwheat
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2-3 Tb diced, crystallized ginger
1 large beaten egg
1 C milk
3/4 C fresh pureed or canned pumpkin
Dice the ginger and keep in bowl by your stove. Combine all the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix. Add all of the dry ingredients together in large separate bowl and mix. Add the wet to the dry and whisk until lumps have mostly broken up. Once batter is ladled into pan, drop pieces of ginger into the pancakes.
Supah Dupah Zuppa
Posted: May 6, 2011 Filed under: In the Kitchen 2 CommentsIn our house, we like to call soup “zuppa” (zoopah) – a habit I picked up after dining at a fabulous Italian eatery in Chicago’s Old Town. The zuppa we eat most often is a vegetable barley, adapted slightly from Moosewood New Classics. This recipe easily feeds 4 adults.
1/2 C hulled barley
3 C water
3 Tb olive oil
2 C onions, chopped
1 1/2 C potatoes, 1″ cubes
(parsnips and turnips cut into 1″ cubes make nice additions)
1/2 C celery, diced
1 C green pepper, diced
1 C carrots, chopped
1 C green beans, 1″ cut
1 C yellow squash/zucchini mix, cubed
1 C mushrooms, chopped
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 Tb dry sherry
4 C organic chicken stock
3 Tb barley miso
ground black pepper & salt to taste
1/3 C parsley, chopped
crusty bread for sopping up broth
Rinse barley in strainer, then add to water and bring to boil, cover and simmer for 1 1/4 hours (stirring occasionally). In large pot, saute onions with olive oil until golden. Add all of the prepared vegetables to the onions and cook until tender. Add marjoram, thyme and sherry, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. In separate pan, heat stock. Once heated, add 1/2 C stock to miso paste and stir to loosen. Stir the miso paste/stock into the vegetables. Add salt, pepper and parsley, cover and simmer 15 more minutes. Results are SUPAH.
an Art Farm 