Summer stir fry thread

by: desmoinesdem

Sat Jul 24, 2010 at 17:25:22 PM PDT

Usually I make my own stir-fry sauces. One light version is an Asian marinade from Moosewood Cooks at Home. In a small saucepan heat about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup dry sherry, the same amount of tamari or soy sauce, half that amount of rice vinegar, a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, and a few slices of peeled fresh ginger. Bring to boil, stir and simmer for a minute before removing from the heat. I soak the cubed tofu in this sauce, then add it to the rest of the stir fry a couple of minutes before serving. I like to toss in a few tablespoons of toasted sesame oil at the end too.

I also like to make a variation on the Spicy Peanut Sauce from Moosewood's Low-Fat Favorites. This can be drizzled over almost any steamed vegetables or added to a stir-fry near the end of cooking. To make it, throw the following in a blender: about 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup water, 1 pressed garlic clove, a little fresh chile or dash of hot sauce, 2 Tbsp cider vinegar or rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari, 1 Tbsp lemon juice and about 2 tsp chopped fresh ginger root. Moosewood says to throw in 1/4 cup of diced tomatoes, but I leave those out. If you have extra sauce, you can keep it for a couple of weeks in the fridge (tightly sealed).

Share your own stir-fry secrets in this thread.

Mexico Diaries: Cuisine of Jalisco

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Jul 20, 2010 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Traditional Dishes of Jalisco:

TRADITIONAL DISHES TO LOOK FOR

• Birria -- stewed goat or pork in thick, spicy tomato broth
  
• Pozole -- thick, hominy-based soup with hunks of pork, tomato, cilantro and garbanzos
  
• Sopa de Elote -- sweetcorn soup
  
• Caviar de Carpa (Lago de Chapala) -- carp caviar
  
• Ancas de Rana al Mojo de Ajo (Lago de Chapala) -- frog legs in garlic sauce
  
• Pico de Gallo -- appetizer accompanying tequila, consisting of small squares of jícama (turnip-like tuber from Bean Family member Pachyrhizus erosus), orange sections, lemon juice, all sprinkled with flakes of chili piquín

NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

• Sangrita -- sweetened orange juice with ground onion, chili pepper, salt and vegetable coloring

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

• Tejuino --fermented from corn (maize), with alcohol added

Also listed in a quick Google search are recipes for Tortas Ahogadas and Rollos Del Mar. And, below, I've included a recipe for Jalisco Style Enchiladas. Last, thank goodness, apparently Jalisco is known for a dessert - jericalla.

the quest for yellow butter

by: RiaD

Sun Jul 18, 2010 at 19:25:43 PM PDT

preserving food is a way to keep garden fruit & veggies edible for months & months after they become ripe.
canning is one way to do this.

*(warning: photo-diary with LOTs of pictures)*

Almond Curry Stew (I Ate the Squash That Ate My Yard)

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Jun 06, 2010 at 00:18:30 AM PDT

Every day when I wake up, the leaves of this monstrous thing are drooped over as if it has not gotten a drop of water in weeks. I bring it a watering can-ful of water or two, or perhaps just give it water straight from the hose, and in a few hours it perks up again, only to repeat it the next day. At the same time, this stupid thing is growing so fast you can almost see it happening. It's actually two plants, not one, although I had already named it "The Squash That Ate My Yard" before I found two stems coming out of the ground. Each day, these plants are longer and thirstier than before, and San Diego won't get a drop of rain for months.

I had been watching the formation of two squashes and finally, when one threatened to grow as big as a pumpkin, I cut it off the vine and began to eat it. I was going to roast it, but then the almond butter caught my eye. And I remembered that my boyfriend just bought some new curry powder... The resulting recipe is below.

My huge squash, with Meg the Fat Kitty posing next to it

Polenta For the Lazy

by: la motocycliste

Tue Jun 01, 2010 at 22:25:48 PM PDT

I like to eat polenta in cold weather, something about it warms you up. Polenta is just a special grind of cornmeal. It is the basic food of Northern Italy and southern Switzerland.

There is a lot of lore, myth and ornamentation about the making of polenta, but as I understand the traditional method, you put a pot of water to boil and immediately add one quarter by measure cornmeal and salt to taste. Then you stir...

Sunday Bread - Potato Bread

by: Something The Dog Said

Sun Apr 25, 2010 at 09:21:25 AM PDT

Happy Sunday Bread Heads! This week we're going to fulfill a request for potato bread. There are those who really go ape over potato bread, though it is not really one of my favorites. I like my bread to either be sweet, or to be savory, potato breads tend to be a little of each with just a light sweetness to them. They do, however have a lovely thick crust and a fine moist crumb.  

Celebration: Carrot Cake!

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Mar 22, 2010 at 23:47:40 PM PDT

The recipe (below) was actually pretty healthy - except for the massive amounts of sugar. Other than the sugar, it was carrots, whole wheat flour, homemade yogurt, local organic eggs, and applesauce. Not too bad! Too bad that there is so much sugar in the cake that you can't eat it and consider it a health food.  

Special Wednesday Edition of Sunday Bread- NY Rye

by: Something The Dog Said

Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 12:08:28 PM PDT

Our Post-Harvest Celebratory Dinner

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Mar 14, 2010 at 22:50:23 PM PDT

Yogurt, Pefected

by: euclidarms

Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 04:59:54 AM PST

I'm always looking for ways to simpifly our yogurt making process. We make a quart each week with milk and cream we get delivered from our grassfed dairy, South Mountain Creamery. Until recently, I used a fairly rigorous process of bringing a mix of "creamtop" (unhomegenized) milk and heavy cream to 200 degrees on the stove top, then lowering the heat on the stove and keeping the milk at that temperature for about 20 minutes, monitoring frequently with my instant-read thermometer to make sure it didn't overheat. Then I would put the pot in a bath of cold water and quickly lower the temperature to 120 before mixing in my bacteria culture.

Well, sometimes I got distracted and the milk did overheat. Or maybe I just got tired of taking the milk's temperature all the time. And the whole water bath thing is a bit of a hassle, as well as a waste of water. In any case, I've found that my yogurt comes out just as fine--thick and creamy--if I just bring the mix to that magic 200 degrees, then turn off the stove and let the milk cool to 120 degrees on its own. Voila: I don't have to do hardly any work at all. The yogurt makes itself.

Sometimes the lazy way is also the most effective and fool-proof. The point of heating the yogurt is to make it thick. If you were thinking it's the amount of starter culture you add to the mix that thickens it, you'd be wrong. It's the heat, and the amount of time heat is applied. This binds the proteins in the milk together, resulting in thickness. So letting the temperature rise slowly, then deline slowly, gives those proteins plenty of time to do the necessary binding.

Still, this method didn't seem entirely simple enough. Is it possible to make yogurt this way if you don't have an instant-read thermomenter? Before I answer that, I would urge you to get an an instant-read thermometer if you don't have one already. It is an essential kitchen tool. That's why you see chefs walking around with one stuck in the pocket of their chef's jacket.

But, yes, I think it is possible to make yogurt without actually measuring the temperature of the milk. When the milk gets to 200 degrees, there should be a fairly thick layer of foam on top. The milk won't be bubbling--you don't want to boil it, at which point the proteins will separate. But there will be foam. Then simply turn off the burner and let the milk rest until it is just warm--not hot--to the touch. This might not be exactly 120 degrees. But the point is, bacteria are killed around 140 degrees, and the last thing you want to do is kill your starter culture when you add it to the milk. You won't get any yogurt at all if the bacteria are dead. Better to err on the cooler side.

So this is my new method for making our weekly yogurt: To make enough yogurt to fill a quart-size canning jar, first put two heaping tablespoons of last week's yogurt in a small bowl and set it aside on the kitchen counter to come up to temperature and activate the bacteria. If you don't have yogurt already, you can use any plain yogurt from the store with active cultures in it. We started with a small container of "Icelandic-style" yogurt. It was expensive, but incredibly delicious, with a distinctive tang.

Next, measure 3 cups of the best whole milk you can find, then add 3/4 cup heavy cream (the cream is optional--you can use milk only if you like.) Pour this into a heavy saucepan and heat on the lowest setting on the stove. We have an electric range, and not the typical coil burners, but those big, solid, European-style metal burners. These give off a gentle heat at the lowest setting.  If you have a gas range, or if your saucepan is not so heavy, you might want to consider investing in some kind of heat deflector so that you don't scorch your milk.

Heat the milk gently to 200 degrees, as measured with an instant-read thermometer, or when there is a thick layer of foam on the milk. Turn off the heat and allow the milk to cool to 120 degrees, or to a point where it is warm--but not hot--to the touch. Use a small whisk, if you have one, to stir your reserved culture into the warm milk. Now pour the mix into a warm canning jar and place the jar in a small cooler. I usually place a couple of extra canning jars filled with hot water in the cooler as well. Set the cooler in a warm spot overnight.

The yogurt will form within a few hours. But since I restrict the number of carbohydrates I eat,  I let my yogurt ferment another day at room temperature. This gives  the bacteria plenty of time to convert the naturally occurring lactose in the milk into lactic acid.

Try this and see if it isn't the best yogurt you've ever tasted.  You may never buy yogurt again.

Eat Yer (Carrot) Greens

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Feb 13, 2010 at 18:53:13 PM PST

After some discussion on this blog, I looked around and found that (much to my compost pile's disappointment) carrot greens ARE edible and, in fact, there are carrot top recipes. Woo-hoo! So here's a photo diary of two different carrot top recipes.

Snowed in with Apple Pancake

by: euclidarms

Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 04:12:02 AM PST

After being snowed in for a week, thoughts do turn to food. My wife dug into the crisper drawer (somehow, it's always stuffed to the gunwales) to make this lovely apple pancake.

Well, it's more like a crepe, but very simple. The recipe comes from our favorite breakfast-oriented cookbook, the aptly titled The Breakfast Book, by Marion Cunningham. In it you'll find all sorts of recipes for pancakes, scones, eggs, marmalades--even lemon curd. It really is a classic reference to have close at hand.

My wife adapted Marion's apple pancake recipe slightly. She only used one "medium" apple instead of the two "large" apples called for. And she caramelized the apple in butter after slicing it into thin wedges for additional flavor. You'll get no complaints from me.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a heavy 10-inch skillet (we use cast-iron), then take off the heat. Remove 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and set aside in a small bowl.

Put the slices from two large apples, peeled and cored, in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Separately, stir 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon into 5 tablespoons confectioner's sugar and sprinkle the mix over the apple slices. Toss to mix. Put the skillet back on the burner and turn heat to medium. Add the apples and cook, stirring often, for about 3 or 4 minutes, or until the apples are tender but still hold their shape (here you can caramelize the apples should you desire).

In a separate bowl (or blender or food processor) combine 3 room-temperature eggs, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup milk and the reserved 2 tablespoons melted butter. Beat until smooth. Spread the apples evenly over the bottom of the skillet and pour the batter on top. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden and puffy. Turn immediately onto a warm platter so the apples are on top. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve at once.

Turn Whey into Cream of Broccoli Soup

by: euclidarms

Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 11:01:48 AM PST

Yesterday I described the simple process my wife used to make delicious ricotta cheese. Since she made it from fresh, whole milk, it produced lots of whey. That's the liquid that separates from the protein solids in the cheese making process. We had a pot of whey sitting in the refrigerator for several days trying to figure out what to do with it, until my wife had the brilliant idea to use it as a soup base.

Just as the ricotta was simple, so is the cream of broccoli soup she made with only four ingredients--onion, broccoli, whey, heavy cream--and seasonings. First, roughly chop 1 large onion and sweat it in a heavy pot with about three tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in two large heads of broccoli, the florets divided and the stems peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds. Saute a few minutes longer. Then add to the pot 2 cups whey. Bring almost to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the broccoli is completely cooked through.

Run the soup mix through a food mill or blender until smooth. Then return to the pot and stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Do I really need to tell you this is the best cream of broccoli soup ever? You could add some garlic croutons, or a generous dab of sour cream. Perhaps you like other spices--a pinch of nutmeg, maybe? In any case, this is a great way to get another meal out of making ricotta. But as our friend El pointed out in a comment yesterday, you don't have to use buttermilk to make your ricotta; you can use something else acid, such as El's homemade cider vinegar, or even lemon juice, which would result in much less whey.

But we like our new whey-based soup. No way, you say?

Whey.

Making Ricotta

by: euclidarms

Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 11:00:03 AM PST

My wife recently had an itch to make ricotta cheese. She says that cheese making and writing limericks are her new passions. Who knew?

Anyway, her ricotta, made with the grassfed milk we get from our local dairy, was the best I've ever tasted: thick and creamy. I ate it right out of the bowl, although I suppose you could make a smashing cheese cake with it, or lasagna. Sorry, I finished it before we ever got that far.

In Italian, ricotta means "re-cooked," because this really isn't a cheese, but rather a byproduct of the cheese making process. When the milk is heated to make the cheese, the whey separates from the protein. The protein becomes the cheese. Except that there's usually some protein still left in the whey. If you cook that again (ri-cotta), the remaining protein forms ricotta.

So what happens when you cook regular milk--instead of whey--to make ricotta? Well, as I've said, you get an incredible ricotta, although technically speaking it isn't "re-cooked": it's only been cooked once. You also end up with a lot of whey. But we'll get to that.

To make the ricotta, my wife used the method described in the February-March issue of ReadyMade magazine. To make 2 2/3 cups ricotta, pour 1 gallon whole milk and 4 cups buttermilk into a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, line a colander with four layers of cheesecloth and set inside a large bowl.

Stir the milk, scraping the bottom of the pot, until the milk is slightly hot to the touch. White, fluffy curds will begin to separate from the paler whey. About a minute after the first curds begin to form, remove the pot from the heat and use a slotted spoon to scoop the curds into the cloth-lined colander.

Gather the cloth around the curds and let it drain for a minute (more if you want the cheese drier). Salt to taste and it's done!

How simple could that be? You can eat the ricotta spread on bread or crackers with jam (we love our green tomato and apple chutney for this), or use it in baked goods. But now you have a pot full of whey. Do not throw it out! Tomorrow we'll describe how to turn that extremely healthful whey into a terrific cream of broccoli soup.

Kids Make Curried Chicken from Southern Africa

by: euclidarms

Fri Feb 05, 2010 at 02:55:43 AM PST

The food appreciation classes I teach at a private elementary school here in the District of Columbia this week landed in Southern Africa on our virtual world food tour. Because of the many Indian immigrants in this part of the continent, there is a definite tilt toward curry dishes in the cuisine. This one, called Kalya e Khaas, is surprisingly easy. Other than the spice mix, only a few ingredients are involved, most prominently chicken, yogurt and onions. But it is so good.

In the Indian tradition, "curry" really means any dish with a sauce, not so much a specific spice mix. But I think you will find this particular blend of spices intoxicating, especially if you grind them yourself. This is the part of the lesson I wanted to stress to the kids in our classes. We are all about making food the old-fashioned way, without fancy electric gadgets. Although you could use an electric grinder for this, the kids are just as happy to pass a mortar and pestle and grind away by hand.

So grind together 1 stick cinnamon, broken into pieces (or 1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon); seeds only from 4 cardamon pods (we crack them open with finger nails to remove the seeds); 4 whole cloves, 5 whole black peppercorns; 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds; generous pinch saffron threads; 1/4 teaspoon turmeric; pinch cayenne pepper. Grind everything into a fine powder. Then add 1 Serrano pepper, seeds and veins removed and finely chopped. Grind this into the spice mix. Set aside.

Take a whole chicken and cut it into pieces. Or, use 2 pounds breast meat or boneless thigh meat, cut into bite-size dice. We chose the latter. Mix the chicken in a bowl with 1 cup plain yogurt. Stir in the spice mix and 2/3 14-ounce can diced tomatoes. Add 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger and 3 grated cloves of garlic. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to marinate while you cook your onions.

The next step requires 1/4 cup clarified butter. There's no trick to this. Simply melt a stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat. Most of the protein in the butter with rise to the top as foam. Simply skim it away with a spoon and discard. What you want is the remaining fat. Pour this carefully into a heavy pot, leaving behind any solids that may have settled at the bottom. Now heat the butter and add two medium onions, cut into small dice. Cook the onions, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown.

Now add the marinated chicken to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through. The yogurt and juices from the tomato will have become a delicious sauce and your kitchen should be filled with the unmistakable aroma of curry spices.

Serve the chicken hot, perhaps with brown rice. Garnish it with leaves from several stems of cilantro and mint, roughly chopped. The kids begged for second helpings.

For more great stories about how we are taking back our food system, check Fight Back Friday.