Kale Crisps - Three ways

Every now and then you discover a way of preparing something that is so simple, you have to marvel. I give you kale crisps. I love kale raw, especially on sandwiches. This is a fabulous alternative.

** Oh, no. I just had the first food disaster due to blogging. While writing this, I forgot that I had set a pot of collard greens on the stove. The water boiled off. I now have a house filled with smoke, ruined 2# of greens, and destroyed a ham bone I'd been saving for weeks.**

Ah well, back to the kale...

The Method
I'm offering three variations on these crisps.

• 1 large bunch of kale leaves, washed, drained, and dried
• olive oil
• sea salt
• curry powder (optional)
• shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Toss the kale with olive oil. (Do not do this if you are topping it with shredded cheese.)
3. (Optional) Sprinkle with curry powder and toss to very lightly coat.
4. Place on baking sheet in a single layer.
5. Sprinkle very lightly with salt.
6. (Optional #2) Sprinkle with grated cheese.
7. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown.

The Results

Amazing! I need say nothing more.

Bean and Cheese Loaf

One of my talents is that I can discover culinary gems in a cookbook.The title of this post is identical to the recipe I discovered in "New Natural Foods Cookbook" by Jean Hewitt (1982). Not exactly inspiring. Nevertheless, it seemed a reasonable way to make a vegetarian meatloaf - and that sounded good. I give you: Bean and Cheese Loaf (page 104, by the way).

The Method
The only modification I made to this dish was the inclusion of OPO turnips and carrots. I reduced the milk slightly to account for this, but not enough. 3/4 cup would have been plenty.

• 1 C whole wheat bread crumbs (I made mine with honey wheat bread from Three Sons Bakery)
• 1 C milk
• 1 20 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and coarsely ground (I used my nifty Kitchen Aid attachment)
• 1/4 C parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 3-4 small turnips, diced (optional)
• 2-3 small carrots, diced (optional)
• 3 TBs oil
• 1 1/2 C walnuts, finely chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 TB soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 C cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Soak the bread crumbs in the milk.
3. In a large bowl combine the chickpeas, parsley, and salt.
4. In the oil over medium-high heat, saute the onion, celery, turnips, and carrots until tender but not browned.
5. Add vegetables to the chickpea mixture.
6. Stir in the soaked bread crumbs, nuts, eggs, soy sauce, cayenne pepper, and cheese.
7. Pour into an oiled bread pan.
8. Bake for 50 minutes. 
9. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing. (Mine was too moist to remove.)

The Results

Good ingredients, of course, make an enormous difference. Here, it is important to have good bread because this is a dominant flavor in the dish. The loaf is savory and a nice complement to a big salad. We enjoyed ours alongside a strawberry and mixed greens salad topped with a Dijon mustard and honey dressing.

Fantastic Frittata

Sunday morning. Peaceful.Ah, what to eat? Our typical Sunday is a slow start. Saturdays are for pancakes, waffles, and other creations requiring active cooking. Sundays are for easy morning meals. A standard for us is the frittata. These can be as complicated or simple as you like. I view them as an ideal opportunity to use leftovers. Rummage in the fridge and pantry. Put everything that sounds good (or needs to be eaten) on the counter. Then cook.

The Method

• potatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
• 1 small onion
• 10 eggs (depending upon the size of your pan; you need enough beaten egg to almost cover the other ingredients)
• cheeses (cheddar and cream)
• veggies of any sort (I chopped some OPO broccoli and broccoli leaves, sweet orange pepper, and tomato)
• ham or other breakfast meat, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Precut all of your ingredients. Beat the eggs in advance. 
3. Heat oil in an oven-ready skillet over med-high heat.
4. Add the potatoes and onions. Saute until they are browned on both sides and the onions have softened.
5. Add the remaining vegetables. Saute until they begin to soften.
6. Pour the beaten eggs over the vegetables.
7. Place shredded cheese and/or dollops of cream cheese across the top.
8. Cook until you see the eggs have just begun to set. You want them to remain runny on top.
9. Place the pan into the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the eggs are fully cooked. Shake the pan to check if they are set. They will expand to cover everything.

The Result

Wonderful every time. I don't often season the dish while cooking. This allows the natural flavors to shine. A few coarse grinds of black pepper and a nice cup of coffee go well with this. Enjoy!

Traditional Malawian Meal

I have previously acknowledged that my time living overseas, in one of the poorest and most disadvantaged nations, has influenced the way I think about food. Admittedly, these many years later, I no longer give this as much thought as I once did. However, I was asked to give a lecture on global issues for a colleague's class this week. I draw upon those experiences to illustrate the stark differences in how Americans live from most other people in the world. One significant difference is in diet.

Malawians, like people in most cultures, have a staple, starchy food: nsima. Nsima is simply boiled corn flour. There are two main styles based on the type of flour used. Nsima made with highly hand-processed flour, called ufa woyera, is bright white and contains almost no nutrients. Ufa ngaiwa is less processed and retains its food value, but results in nsima that is more roughly textured and brownish/yellowish in color. These characteristics make it less desirable for many Malawians.

The typical Malawian diet is comprised of nsima (or a thinner, porridge made from the same flour) and ndiwo. "Ndi" functions as "and" in Chichewa, the main language in Malawi. So, ndiwo could be thought to mean the food you have in addition to nsima. We might refer to it as "relish." Ndiwo can be made of many things: meat, vegetables, eggs, etc. Often it is boiled leaves or beans.

Here is a set of traditional, simple dishes that would appear across separate meals rather than in one sitting like we've done.

The Method (Nsima)

• 1 C corn meal (this is a fine substitute, although your end result will be bright yellow or white, if you can find white meal)
• 2-3 C water, lukewarm

1. Use a non-stick pot and good wooden spoon
2. Stir a small amount of the corn meal into the lukewarm water. Avoid lumps!
3. Bring water to a boil and slowly add the remaining corn meal. Stir constantly.
4. Continue stirring as the mixture thickens. 
5. After 4-5 minutes, it will suddenly become very thick.
6. Stop cooking when your spoon can stand upright in the nsima without falling.
7. Cover and allow to cool slightly. (You're going to eat this with your bare fingers.)

The Method (Ndiwo: Greens)

Malawians eat many different types of leaves - some that are familiar to us here in the U.S. You can use any greens that you enjoy.

• large bunch of greens, chopped (I used collards)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 C roasted, unsalted peanuts (ground; I used my coffee grinder)
• 1 tomato, diced
• oil
• Salt

1. Saute the onions in the oil over medium-high heat until they soften.
2. Add the diced tomato and ground peanuts. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the greens.
4. Cook the greens until they are soft (15-20 minutes). You'll have to add some water, but you want the greens to remain fairly dry and sticky, not soupy.
5. Season with salt.

The Method (Ndiwo: Beans)

Beans are also a staple food and a primary protein source. There are many varieties, too. Here I made use of canned kidney beans, just to keep things simple.

• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tomato, diced
• oil (is this ingredient list familiar - the ubiquitous four items in Malawian cooking: oil, salt, tomato, and onion)
• salt

1. Saute onion in the oil over medium-high heat until they soften.
2. Add the diced tomato and salt. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the beans. 
4. Cook until heated through.

The Results

This is an easy-to-prepare meal - and fairly healthy, too. We added pickled and scrambled eggs to the plate. 

You eat using one hand. Usually, your right. Pinch off a piece of nsima (hopefully, you haven't let it get cold). Then dimple it with your thumb to create a pocket to hold some of the ndiwo. Scoop it into your mouth. 

I ate many, many meals similar to this. But I'm thankful to have other options now. I hope you'll give it a try.

Eggs-cuppable

Wow. What a crazy week. There was time to cook, but no time to blog. I have a list of meals to present. Let's start with breakfast several days ago.

I've had varied success with baked eggs in the past. Despite my general interest in complicated recipes, I never can bring myself to place the ramekins or other baking dish in a pan of water during cooking. I've also found that preparing eggs this way takes much longer than every cookbook I've read suggests. Still, about every six months or so, I make another attempt. This time, the results were pretty good.

The Method

• several thin slices of good bread (I used honey wheat from Three Sons Bakery)
• fresh eggs (Thank you OPO!)
• pre-cooked ham or other breakfast meat (optional)
• cheese (I used a terrific gouda from Sweet Grass Dairy)
• several TBs unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Spray a cupcake pan with cooking spray
3. Cut the bread into sections to cover the bottom and sides of each "cup" in the pan
4. After arranging the bread, place a small piece of meat in the bottom of each cup.
5. Crack a single egg into each cup.
6. Place a few small pieces of cheese, and a 1/2 tsp of butter on each egg.
7. Bake for ... well, recipes generally say 5-7 minutes...for up to 30 minutes.
8. Check the eggs occasionally after the first several minutes. You want the whites to just set. (I left mine in too long this time.)

The Results

This is a fun way to prepare and present eggs. The result is a crispy, toasted cup filled with creamy egg. You can easily make these without the meat or cheese, but those add something to the dish. Substituting sauteed vegetables would be great, too.

Banana Bread: Half-and-Half

In what appears to be a violation of my self-imposed rule, I made banana bread (again) yesterday. But, I enjoy a good argument, so here are two facts that you should consider before passing final judgment. First, the ingredients are not from our CSA, recording whose preparation is the primary reason for having this blog. Second, the recipe I used was different from the first in that it reduces the sugar by half, adds milk, and uses fewer eggs. The end result was entirely different - and worth sharing with you. For reasons that will become clear, call this bread ala' Lee Majors.

The Method
This recipe is taken from Jacques Pepin's, The short-cut cook (1990), which is a wonderful collection of simple yet interesting dishes generally requiring very little time to make. (Including a cheese souffle from his mother that I want to try...you add whole eggs not whipped whites.)

• 1 TB corn oil or cooking spray to grease the pan
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 TB baking powder
• 4 TB butter, slightly softened
• 1/2 C sugar
• 2 very ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 C milk
• 1/2 C sunflower seeds (I used walnut pieces instead)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Grease a bread pan with the oil or cooking spray.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, butter, and sugar in a food processor. (I used a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, which makes me happy ever time I cook with it.)
4. Blend until the ingredients are well combined (10-15 seconds).
5. Peel the bananas and add them to the mixture. Blend for 5 to 10 seconds.
6. Add the eggs, milk, and sunflower seeds (nuts).
7. Blend until the batter is well combined.
8. Pour the batter into the greased pan.
9. Bake for 60 minutes, or until nicely browned. (A knife inserted at the middle should come out clean.)
10. Cool on a baking rack before unmolding.

The Result

I ran a knife around the edge of the bread in the pan then flipped it over to release it. Thunk. The loaf split in half, leaving the bottom firmly attached to the pan and the top on my counter. So much for spreading a tablespoon of corn oil around the pan. (The second loaf I made today came out cleanly. I coated that pan with cooking spray.)

Still, I enjoyed the concordance of the halving of key ingredients and the loaf itself. (I did, actually, which is probably strikes you as strange - unless you know me well.) I quickly removed the bottom portion and rebuilt the loaf. (Six Million Dollar Man theme and intro montage running through my head.) The loaf was moist and warm enough to meld together to a fair degree.

It was a much lighter and less sweet bread than the original recipe. We enjoyed it with coffee and a few fresh, Florida strawberries.

French Toast - Good enough to adopt

We again found ourselves with a few over-ripe bananas. This was a great opportunity to explore recipes in which to use them. Having had Bananas Foster on pancakes or french toast on several occasions at Another Broken Egg, I was excited to try this at home. However, I was interested in toning down the sweetness, because this dish can be cloying.


Again, DDD offered a wonderful version from a restaurant in New Orleans.


The Method
You are making this dish in three parts: filling, batter, and sauce. I reduced the filling and sauce recipes considerably from the original recipes. There were still leftovers for each.


Filling

1. Combine and cream together: 2 bananas, 2 C dark brown sugar, vanilla, and 4 oz. cream cheese.

Batter

1. Combine 2 eggs, 2 TBs sugar, and vanilla until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Stir in 1 C half-and-half

Sauce

1. Melt one stick of butter in a sauce pan.
2. Add ~ 1/2 C dark brown sugar.
3. Take pan from heat and add 1/4 C bourbon (the recipe calls for rum, which is always delicious with bananas; but - alas - we are out...and out of Diet Coke, too. Coincidence?)
4. Return the pan to the heat and set aflame. (You can do this with a match, but I simply tip the pan slightly over the gas flame.)
5. Once the alcohol has burned off, add 1/2 C of heavy cream.
6. Simmer and stir until the sauce turns creamy.

Creating Fostered French Toast

1. Slice an entire baguette of french bread into four "hinged" segments.
2. Lay open a segment and cover with a layer of filling. (Mine soaked into the bread, so I tried not to use too much.)
3. Next, place a layer of sliced bananas. (I would be generous, but try to keep in a single, flat layer.)
4. Cover the bananas with more filling.
5. Gently press the "sandwich" closed.
6. Cut into 1 1/2" - 2" thick slices. (You'll be soaking these in the batter and cooking the cut faces.
7. Soak both sides of each slice in the batter.
8. Cook on a non-stick griddle or oil pan until golden brown on each side.
9. Drizzle with the Foster Sauce.

The Result
This easily could have been sufficiently decadent to call "brunch." By reducing the amount of filling and sauce, it was less sugary and stuffing. Still you are eating a whole baguette, several bananas, sugar, and a good deal of butter - so this is probably not an every day or even every weekend breakfast. 


I just realized that I forgot to take pictures. Sorry.


We still had more than half of the filling and sauce remaining, and a good portion of the batter. I've frozen all three and will try to reuse them some future weekend. (I'll let you know how that turns out.)


I would also use better french bread (i.e., not supermarket varieties) in the future. This would give the toast more body.

Zucchini...Cake?

Zucchini falls into a family of veggies that can be adapted to a variety of culinary services, along with eggplant and tofu (soybeans in secondary form). I'm not a particular fan of squashes, but do enjoy zucchini. Looking forward to dinner tonight - with strong seasonings in the burgers and greens, I knew a dessert would be appreciated. I've had zucchini bread many times, but never have made (or had to my knowledge) zucchini cake.


I found this recipe for Zucchini Orange Chocolate Cake amid several dozen similar versions online. 

The Method

2 1/2 C regular all-purpose flour, unsifted

2 C cocoa
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C soft butter
2 C sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp grated orange peel
2 C coarsely shredded zucchini
1/2 C milk
1 C chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
3. With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended.
4. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini.
6. Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.
7. Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
8. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.
10. GLAZE: Mix together 2 C powdered sugar, 3 TBs milk, and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat until smooth.
11. Drizzle over cake.
12. Cut in thin slices to serve.

The Result

The cake was - as promised - not very sweet, extremely delicate, and moist. We ate it warm with a fresh glaze. Absolutely wonderful! (Is it wrong to feel like your eating your veggies while you're eating cake? We didn't feel the least bit guilty.)

Mac and Greens - Love in a single dish

Love. There are few things in life that that come close to feeling as good as love. Food, another four letter word, can spark us to wax poetic about our connection to something apart from ourselves.


Dinner tonight was the food equivalent of a crush. 


Our CSA share yielded a very tasty...but spicy bunch of purple mustard. (I ate one large leaf raw and it made my eyes water and nose itch.) It occurred to me that most Macaroni and Cheese concoctions use dry mustard power in the roux. Why not use sauteed mustard greens instead? (Okay, I realize this is not a novel idea. Someone can probably Google an entire website dedicated to mustard-pasta-cheese dishes.) Nonetheless, I was inspired.


The Method (Mac, Greens, and Cheese)

1. Steam then sautee 8 C. raw, chopped purple mustard leaves until al dente. Set aside.
2. Cook 1# short pasta (We used fusilli)
3. Riffing on Alton Brown's M&C recipe, prepare a roux of 3TBs each flour and butter. Cook 5 mins.
4. Add minced onion, paprika, 3 C. milk, cayenne pepper, bit of dry mustard, and a bay leaf. 
5. Cook 10 mins or until thickened.
6. Season with S&P.
7. Stir in 1 1/2 C. grated cheese (We used Super Sharp Cheddar, Grana Padano, and regular cheddar)
8. Once the cheese is incorporated, add in the sauteed mustard leaves.
9. Pour mixture over cooked pasta spread in a baking dish.
10. Cover with 1/2 C. grated cheese.
11. Cover with slices of "real" tomatoes
12. Cover with 1 C. crushed cheezit-type crackers (We used TLC brand) mixed with 3 TBs wheat bran and 3 TBs melted butter.
13. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

The Method (Arugula and Strawberry Salad)

Again, inspired by a recipe found on the Orchard Pond Organics (our CSA) website, I decided to return to a raw salad approach to arugula. 

1. Roughly chop a large bunch of arugula (We each ended up with massive portions)
2. Slice into this a pint of fresh strawberries
3. Add cubed feta cheese (although goat's cheese would be an excellent choice)
4. Drizzle with olive oil and balasamic.

The Result

Words fail when trying to describe how decadent this meal was. First, it was not overly cheesy. There was enough sauce to coat everything, yet not enough to sufficate all the other flavors and textures. The greens blended creamily with the cheese, but kept a little body - a terrific complement to the al dente pasta. Their spiciness was very muted, but infused the dish. Tomatoes as a topping? We decided this tasted like an amazing grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches.


This was definitely a - Where have you been all my life - dish!


The salad, too, was gorgeous! Five, fresh, bright flavors set against the melded (and melted) mac and cheese. The roughness of the arugula leaves contrasted with the soft pasta and greens. Strawberries peeking above everything with their tart fruitiness. Another winner. 

Greenocci

A busy week resulted in a couple of nights eating leftovers and one dinner at Red Elephant. This, however, left us with a surplus of arugula and mizuna on the final evening before our next CSA share.


Enter the Gnocci.


I had recently found a recipe for kohlrabi gnocci in the Victory Garden Cookbook. The author suggested arugula as a substitute for the kohlrabi. It seemed that we could also include the mizuna. Sounds a bit strange perhaps, but I know there are many variations of this dish in traditional Italian cooking. Plus, we still have leftover lemon chicken - so we had a fallback option if they didn't turn out.


The Method

1. Steam the arugula and mizuna (whole) until tender. (This pot reduced to 2 C.)
2. Sautee the steamed leaves in butter (add garlic powder - we have no fresh)
3. Puree the leaves with 1 C. ricotta, some nutmeg, S&P
4. Bring 6 TB butter and 1 C. water to a boil
5. Add 3/4 C. flour, mix until smooth and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes
6. Incorporate 3 whole eggs into the flour mixture
7. Combine pureed ricotta/leaves with the batter
8. Add 3/4 C. grated Parmesan (we used Grana Padano plus Parm.)

The batter was thick and sticky. Using two spoons I began forming small "dumplings" and dropped them gently into a pot of salted, simmering water. The initial batch fell apart even with a very mild churning of the water. The leaves-to-flour ratio was too high. I ended up adding an additional 1/2 C flour to it to give it a little more body. With hindsight, I would have doubled the flour mixture for the amount of leaves I used. Also, I decided to make larger balls - about 1 1/2 - 2 inches. These held up much better during cooking. Each batch simmered for 15 minutes or so.

Drain the cooked gnocci and set them into cold water. When cool and firm, they sink. Transfer these to a butter-greased baking dish.

I sprinkled these with browned onions and a good handful of grated Grana Padano. They baked at 350 for about 20 minutes.

The Results

Batter difficulties aside, the gnocci were wonderful. A savory, soft - almost fluffy - texture. The choice of browned onions in place of a sauce was excellent. The flavor of the arugula and mizuna blended nicely with the cheese, nutmeg, and egg. (Remember, we are using free range chicken eggs from Twin Oaks Farm, which have a deep, rich yolk and a very fresh taste.) They didn't hold their shape well. Perhaps using potato in the batter (or simply increasing the amount of roux) would help.

The only downside to eating salad greens this way is the amount of time this recipe takes - it's far more involved than simply preparing a raw salad with dressing. But it was worth it.

We served another cucumber and tomato salad with this. There are precious few weeks left in real tomato season! (Sorry for the poor picture.)

Radish Top Soup

A good broth is easy to make and worth the effort - what little it requires! Our freezer fills up with various bones and trimmings, which eventually find their way into a simmering pot. (Usually upon the demands of a particular person.) I was intrigued by the Victory Garden Cookbook recipe for radish top soup. This seemed a promising way to use the leaves, which you'll recall were partly responsible for our earlier radish conversion experience. Here, I was left with the chance to use them apart from the root. Personally, I like greens of all sorts - spinach, collards, mustard, even pumpkin leaves ("mnkhwani ndi mtedza" - pumpkin leaves with peanut flour). Radish leaves are also spicy with a slightly "fuzzy" texture. That makes them the perfect addition to a creamy soup like leek and potato.

The Method

1. Simmer quartered potatoes in 6 C. good chicken stock (leftover from poached chicken)
2. Sautee sliced leeks in several TBs of good butter until lightly browned
3. Wilt the roughly chopped radish leaves and stems (washed of course) with the leeks
4. After 5-6 minutes, add the leeks and leaves to the potatoes
5. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 10 minutes
6. Puree the veggies and slowly add stock, cream, and a little butter until you have a smooth consistency.
7. Season with S&P and enjoy.

The Result

We have a quart of excellent soup in the fridge for later eating. I guess this is a good excuse to make some whole grain bread today. After a breakfast of zeppoles, a dinner of soup and salad may be in order - but Sundays are made for grilling.