Good Real Food

anyone who tells you that two kids more than doubles the work is totally correct. Wow.

Anyway, in addition to being up to my eyeballs in kids, this site’s software lost it’s marbles for a bit and none of our intrepid authors could login to share their culinary adventures. Apologies that it has taken me so long to get things sorted out.

And being back, I thought I should share something food-ish. In fact, I have two things to share: squash stuffings, and a nifty thing to do with soup.

Squash Stuffings:

I don’t know what’s happening where you live, but we are well into fall here, and that means squash.

In the past weeks, our CSA share has provided a few butternuts, a couple of acorn, a kombucha and some truly amazing delicata. I’ve been kind of down on the peel, roast, eat practice recently - maybe since that was all I ever did with squash so lately, I’ve been stuffing it. Below are two suggestions for stuff squash - the sausage one filled out the roasted delicata, while the bean and greens stuffing filled out roasted acorn squash. The butternuts and kombucha are likely to find themselves in a soup or pie in the not too distant future.

Sausage stuffing for squash: This couldn’t be simpler. Get some good bulk italian sausage. Cook it. Make a simple tomato sauce - I put fennel and peppers and garlic and onions and capers in mine. Halve, scoop, lightly oil and roast your squash (cut side down) - I did ours at 400 and tucked a sprig of thyme under each half of squash. When cooked, spoon sausage into squash and top with tomato sauce and some grated pecorino or parmesan.

Beans and Greens stuffing for squash: Another simple one. Cook some great northern beans. Chop some bacon, cook until it’s mostly done, then add diced onion, garlic, carrots, and peppers assuming you’ve got some from your market or CSA. Cook down, adding some salt and pepper and some crushed red chili along the way. Add your greens. I used some lovely “saute greens” from our CSA - a mix of all kinds of little greens. You could use any greens you like. I think dino kale, chard, spinach, or arugula would all be lovely. Beet greens would be fantastic, and you’d have beets too! Once the greens are wilted, add your cooked beans without the liquid they cooked in, and reduce heat and let it hang out for a bit, stirring occasionally and maybe adding a bit of water if it looks like it needs it. Once again, roast your squash, stuff it with this mixture, and enjoy.

Really, these are shared not because there’s anything terribly interesting about them - you likely already do stuff like this all the time - I just find that sharing and hearing about what others do with their veggies inspires me to get a bit more creative with my cooking from time to time.

Nifty soup trick: Yes, I was rather proud of myself when I thought of this one. Does that make me a food nerd? Fine, then I’m a food nerd.

Anyway, I was making some celeriac, carrot, and beet soup, and I thought it would be swell with a poached egg in each bowl. So, instead of poaching them separately, I just broke the eggs directly into the simmering soup and waited till they were cooked to my liking. Just don’t forget how many eggs you put in!

1 Comment »

I had never seen this cut of lamb before at the market. It was so great on the grill. I just let it sit with some olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon juice for about three hours before putting it on a hot grill for 5-7 minutes on each side. The salad was made by cooking the couscous and tossing it with olive oile, kalamata olives, garlic, onion, spinach, grilled egg plant, and red onion.

No Comments »

I had no idea that this was such an easy meal to make, or that pork tenderloin is one of the leanest meats you can get. My Dad and step mom are big fans of pork tenderloin on the grill, but I was lazy, and, being as it is not quite summer yet, and no risk of overheating the kitchen….I went with an easy inside version. Take a fresh pork loin, salt and pepper it, then brown in a heavy skillet on both sides with a little oil. Transfer to a baking pan and roast in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. At this point, pour on a sauce or glaze of some kind. I used about a 1/2 cup of maple syrup mixed with cinnamon and cloves. Other recipes I have seen call for orange juice and ginger. Roast for another 5-10 minutes–but check, as it as it is really easy to overcook these babies, leaving them dry. D liked the finished product with a bit of the extra glaze drizzled on top. I served the sliced tenderloin with summer squash and kale made by sautéing both in sesame oil with onion and garlic and sesame seeds added just before serving. The combination of sesame infused veggies with the maple syrup taste of the pork was divine.

No Comments »

I love nettles!

Granted, today was my first experience with them outside of tea, but after today, I can see that nettles and I are going to have a long and lovely relationship.

We received some nettles in our CSA box, and C, knowing that I was intrigued at the idea of eating something that was going to do its darnedest to fend me off with its sting, grabbed a few extra bunches from the “trade” box at the pick-up site.

Given that this was my first time with nettles, I did some research and found that the only real consensus on nettles was that you had to cook them to remove the sting. Okay, fine, we can work with that.

I also learned that some people had tried doing a version of pesto using nettles. I figured you couldn’t go wrong mixing a green with loads of garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, and olive oil, so that’s what I did.

To do what I did, you’ll need the following:

• a bunch of nettles, well washed, leaves removed from stems (be careful, and do your research on how to handle the leaves
• a bunch of spinach, washed and de-stemmed
• garlic cloves, at least 3, though I think more is better
• toasted pine nuts, and maybe a few walnuts, almonds, or other nut of your choice
• parmesan
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

What to do:

1. wash your nettles and spinach
2. boil some water, and cook your nettles in the boiling water for about five minutes
3. drain, and dump nettles into a food processor
4. toast your pine nuts and walnuts either in your oven or on stove top
5. add toasted nuts to nettles, and pulse in the food processor
6. add garlic, spinach, and parmesan, along with some salt and pepper - proportions are really up to you here, if there’s a pesto recipe that you like, use it as a guide, I usually wing it
7. whiz that all up, then turn the processor on and add a steady stream of olive oil till it’s your desired consistency
8. toss with pasta and enjoy

One note: Last year, I came across a pesto recipe that suggests putting diced potatoes in with the pasta when you cook it, so when you toss with the pesto you’ve got pasta, potato, pesto happiness. I’ve taken to doing this, and highly recommend it. I generally use small red potatoes, and cut them to somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch cubes - skin on. Basically, you want them small enough that they cook in same time as the pasta does.

So there you have it - stinging nettles and spinach pesto. Enjoy!

No Comments »

delicious and insane is how I’d describe this beet pesto recipe that I got from the nami-nami blog - delicious because come on, it’s beet pesto - beets, cilantro, garlic, and pine nuts - what’s not to like? Insane because when you toss this with pasta (reserve a bit of cooking water) and some olive oil, the pesto colors your pasta a beautiful, intense lustrous red that has to been seen to be believed. You look at the color and can’t help but wonder what beets were thinking when they decided that that was their color of choice.

We ate this pesto tossed with whole wheat fettuccine and it was lovely.

1 Comment »

Sorry, still no pictures - soon, soon.

This stew has to be one of the easiest and tastiest things I’ve ever tasted - all the more easy because I didn’t have to cook it.  However, it was very easy according to my wife, and she is generally unimpressed with overly complicated or time consuming recipes.

The universe sent me two very similar recipes for this dish in the space of week.  I couldn’t ignore that sign from the great cookbook in the sky, and nor should you.  Chances are very good that you’ve already got most of what you need in your pantry as it is.

1 Comment »

I was inspired today by this cookbook I received as a gift, Homegrown Pure and Simple by Michel Nischan. He has a recipe for chicken soup that changed how I think about making it. His recipe calls for 2 whole chickens for the stock and the soup and it is perfect for cooking ahead for easy weeknight meals.

 What you need:

•  2 whole free-range, responsibly raised chickens
• course sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
• 3-5 small yukon gold potatoes
• 3 celery ribs, trimmed
• 2 small yellow onions
• 2 large carrots, peeled
• 1 turnip, peeled
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. In a soup pot large enough to hold 1 chicken and the vegetables with at least 4 inches of room at the top of the pot, place 1 whole chicken in the pot and add cold water to cover by one inch. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, skimming any foam that rises to the top, for about one hour. Remove the chicken from the pot with tongs and a ladle.

2. Season the chicken broth to taste with salt and pepper. Put the second chicken in the pot and add the potatoes, celery, onions, carrots, and turnip. Add water as needed to cover everything in the pot by 1-2 inches.

3. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about an hour. Add the parsley during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

4. Remove the second whole chicken from the pot. Let it cool, then pull the meat from the bones, discarding the bones and skin. Save the meat from the first chicken for sanwiches, fajitas etc. for the next week.

5. Cut up the whole cooked vegetables and add them back to the pot along with the chicken meat from one to two chickens. If you like, add noodles in the last 10 minutes. I used mini star pasta, omited the potatoes, and used two large turnips and three carrots.

3 Comments »

No pretty picture this time - seems my camera is having trouble focusing, which is understandable when confronted with such tasty food. You’ll have to take me at my word that this meal wasn’t just tasty, but was pretty too.

The only credit I can claim in this line-up was the combination. I’d read this recipe for braised red cabbage with prunes on a blog earlier in the week, and it sounded easy and wonderful. I’d been planning to make it, but wasn’t quite sure what to make with it. That problem was easily solved while chatting with our meat and poultry farmer at the St. Paul Farmer’s market this morning. I saw pork chops, and thought about what sort of meat my wife was likely to be craving and briefly pondered side dishes and cooking methods.

It took longer to type that than it did to think it.

So, pork chops in hand, me the kid came home and a few minutes of googling turned up this lovely recipe for braised pork chops. And there you have it - two braised dishes coming together for an easy and lovely meal.

While the pork chops were good, I think the real star here is the cabbage. As I said to my wife, “how can anything this purple be bad for you?” In truth, it’s the combination of the orange juice and the almost melt-in-your-mouth prunes that really push this over the top. The recipe for the cabbage makes a lot, which was my intention. I’m already dreaming of the cabbage for lunch later this week over brown rice, maybe with a slice or two of fried haloumi cheese on top.

2 Comments »

I recently started to try using leaner meat options in my standby recipes. (Last month is was ground turkey instead of ground pork in my lasagna.) I have been working on perfecting my chili recipe for some time now (this time of year I make it about every other weekend), but today was the first time I have tried using ground bison in place of ground beef. Below is my home chili recipe w/ bison.

What you need:

• 1 pound lean ground bison
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large can of tomatoes
• 2 cups cooked or 1 large can pinto beans
• 2 cups cooked or 1 large can black beans
• 1 red or 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 habanero pepper chopped
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 bottle of beer
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup strong coffee

1. Saute onion, peppers, garlic and spices in oil in a dutch oven or deep heavy pot. Add the bison and stirr to brown.

2. Add the tomatoes, beans, beer and coffee and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Salt and pepper to taste and eat with good bread or cornbread along with a topping of fresh cilantro or sour cream. This chili tastes even better on the second or third day.

2 Comments »

I can’t really take credit for either of the items that graced our table this evening - a lovely rice and smothered cabbage soup via The Wednesday Chef (where do I know her from?) accompanied by squash fritters based on this recipe with light modifications courtesy of me. No pictures cause the camera has been acting up a bit, but it was a truly lovely supper. My wife was in the mood to cook, so she took charge of the soup while I tackled the squash and by some odd miracle, we finished up everything right on time as the small one was starting to get peckish - in both the hunger and mood senses of the word. Since we’re expecting another child, I added a few sausages to the menu to bump up the protein, but they could easily be left out for a really nice vegetarian meal that is just perfect for a winter Sunday supper.

Two notes on the recipes - we switched out the arborio rice in the soup for some already cooked left-over brown rice and vegetable broth for the beef stock, we also spiced up the squash fritters with cayenne and skipped the powdered sugar. The fritters were great. We felt that the soup was missing something, which C and I both agreed was a green flavor - likely solved by the addition of some chopped up parsley at the very end. In summer, basil or other fresh herbs would do nicely, maybe even arugula. The soup recipe is quite simple - though does take some time, and seems to be a good place from which to make multiple modifications.

1 Comment »