Good Real Food

I don’t know about you, but I have been trying to think of ways to cut down our food budget as things are tight and all the current events are causing me to draw on my Dutch genes that tell me to plan for the worst. So, I have been finding ways to cook with what is in the house and garden and waiting way longer than I usually would to restore the food supplies. Apples are abundant and if you save the one expensive honey crisp for a raw sliced dessert and use the other less expensive ones for cooking, you can make a $7 bag of apples go a long way. When I was a kid we had four apple trees in our back yard. Every year we made apple cider, dried apples, and my favorite, apple sauce. We were not allowed store bought sweets in our house, so I made up snacks for myself using plain yogurt and apple sauce that is still one of my favorite things to eat, though my family thinks it looks gross. Apple sauce is perhaps one of the easiest things you will ever make, and it freezes really well so you can enjoy hot apple sauce in the dead of winter.

Slice and core (but do not peel) as many apples as you have around and put them in a large pot. Cover with water and simmer until soft. Place cooked apples in a food processor or food mill and make the consistency you want. Chunky-fine. Return mixture to the pot, add sugar and cinnamon to taste. Freeze in air tight containers.

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I was lucky to have time to make it up to Grand Marais on the North Shore of Lake Superior last week while out checking in on some of my summer interns. I had lunch at the Angry Trout, a local restaurant specializing in fresh local fish. I sat outside in the sun, the lake breeze and the view of sailboats exiting the harbor made me sigh deeply and smile, feet up on the chair in front of me. And just when it could not get any better, I was brought a cold local beer, and a fresh green salad with grated carrots and beets, fresh grilled trout, and this amazing tomato basil salad dressing. It was so good that I was done before I thought to take a picture. I asked if they would give me the recipe for the salad dressing and two minutes later my waitress handed me a little slip of paper with the following written on it:
Tomato Basil
-2 cups chopped tomato
-3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
-3 Tbs. red wine vinegar
-2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil
-pinch o salt-

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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.

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I started out with the best intentions to make a traditional tabouli salad…but the great veggies in the fridge kept calling until I had created a new favorite salad.

What I used (veggies can vary)
-1 cup bulgur
-2 cups hot water
-juice of one lemon
-3 cloves garlic smashed with the back of a knife
-1/2 cucumber cubed
-4 radishes cubed
-7 cherry tomatoes, quartered
-1/2 red pepper chopped
-1 handful parsley chopped
-1/2 avocado chopped
-1/2 cup corn (fresh or thawed)
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tbsp olive oil
Squeeze the lemon into a stainless steel bowl. Add smashed garlic and dry bulgur. Cover with the boiling hot water and let stand for 1/2 hour. In the meantime, chop all the veggies. Add them to the cooked bulgur, toss with salt and olive oil and serve luke warm or put in the fridge for an hour to cool before serving.

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My stepmother gave me these lovely little ramicans, I suspect, just so I could make her this dessert. I use the recipe from the book Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson.

What you need:

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (oh my goodness are these ever expensive! I used vanilla extract the first time I made these and it was good as well if you want to skip the vanilla bean splurge.)
• 6 tbsp milk
• 41/2 oz dark, bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces (one standard bar of good dark chocolate does the trick)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 heaped tbsp confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 275. Stir the cream with the vanilla bean and cover to infuse for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in the milk. Beat together the egg yolk and the sugar, add the chocolate milk and vanilla cream. Remove the vanilla bean if using and stir together. Pour into individual ramicans and bake in a water bath (place in an oven proof dish that you have filled 1/2 way with water) for 45 minutes to 1 hour. There should be a bit of a crust on the top when you get them out of the oven. Cool in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight. I added the rasberries and mint as a topping.

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What the heck is this? Well, it is practically the only local vegetable available (Wisconsin) so I should try it. This is what led me to buy one of these strange things today to take home and test it out.                                                                                                                        I found online a CSA farmer in California who fell in love with these Heirloom roots. “The black Spanish radish is an antique radish, a throwback to a time when people counted on storing roots to survive the winter.” He talks about his journey growing them and also has some interesting Recipes. I was inspired by the Asian influenced one on the site and created this salad using: 1 black spanish radish, two carrots, four scallions, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp rice wine vinigar, 1 tbsp sugar and 1/ 2 tsp salt. It has a very fresh spicy bite with a really clean finish that tasted amazing with a glass of beer. I brought the mixing bowl over to D right after I tasted it. He gave me a sour look for bothering his reading, but I held up a fork to his mouth. His eyes closed as he chewed and he reached for more with  a boyish grin.                                                                                 

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I found this recipe for Shitake Mushroom and Koshihikari Rice Cakes in my new cookbook Homegrown Pure and Simple. I loved the idea — kinda like Italian risotto cakes but with a Japanese flare – but did not like the fact that to follow the orders exactly would require three seperate stops: to the grocery store, a specialty Japanese food store and, being in Minnesota, the booze store. So, I am doing the unthinkable and customizing a recipe before even making it properly. I do hope you understand. Life is too darn short to forsake a beautifull idea just because you work a 9-5 and are not a professional chef.

The real recipe called for sake, mushroom soy sauce, Koshihikari suchi rice, home-made mushroom stock, Panco (Japanese style bread crumbs), spreading out the hot rice on a cookie sheet and letting it be in the fridge for UP TO 6 hours, and the use of some tool called “ring molds”. I used rice wine that I already had in the house, regular soy sauce, the closest thing I could find to sushi rice at the coop, ready-made mushroom stock, my hands, and the little bit of bread crumbs I had left over from making fish cakes a while back. The whole thing set in the fridge for 9 hours and was just dandy.

Here is what I did today. With a bit of planning, I worked a full day and was able to serve these special delicious treats along with salmon and left over mustard greens for dinner.

 What you need:

• 3 cups mushroom stock (you can make your own by pouring hot water over dried mushroms and letting sit for 30 minutes then drain.)
• 1 cup rice wine
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 cup rice (arborio or sushi)
• 10-12 fresh (shitake) mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large shallot
• 2 tbsp oil (I used grapeseed oil)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup black sesame seeds

What to do in the morning before leaving for work: saute the shallots and mushrooms in the oil for 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir for another 3 minutes until toasty. Add the rice wine and stir until dry, add the mushroom stock and stir until rice is cooked. Take off the heat, stir for a few minutes to cool. Leave in the pot and cover. Put in the fridge while you are at work.

What to do When you get home: Take out the rice, form into somewhat flattened balls, roll one half in the bread crumbs, the other in the black sesame seeds. Fry 3 minutes on each side and serve with broiled fish and greens sauted in the same oil with the cakes waiting in the warm oven. I swear it took less than 20 minutes!

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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.

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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.

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D spent a month in Ghana this April. He developed a taste for the common Ghanaian black eyed peas dish, Red Red, and I have been trying to replicate the color and taste for a while now. It is only recently that I found the secret ingredient that gives Red Red and fried plantains their distinctive color and taste: Red Palm Oil. It is more and more common now in local markets and can be found in small or large plastic bottles. Palm oil has a strange consistency that I had to get used to. The oil is solid here in Minnesota in December if you keep your house as cool as mine, so you need to warm it up a bit under warm water or on a warm stove to get it to pour.

I cooked the plantains, the black eyed peas, and the mustard and beet greens in palm oil and the results were as close to authentic as I think I am going to get and very good.

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