Tastes Like Food

Sure, some of you may laugh, but I’m getting better darn-it! What are these creations, you say? Well, if you have to ask, then I’m just going to assume you are joking.

 If you have lots of eggs to get rid of, or if you just want to impress your friends, make this. I posted this on allrecipes.com after some research and lots of trial and error.

The batter should NOT be whipped as much as you would at lower altitudes.

The final product looks like this:

Using cake flower is important:

Today was a big food day. This last week, my SO had family in town, so we didn’t do a whole lot of cooking. And I’d been out of town the previous 2 weekends, so the cooking I had done was quick and easy. Today, I had a lot of food enjoying to catch up on.

The first thing I did was stop by some cherry trees I’d noticed earlier in the week on a bike ride. I’d talked to the residents and they’d said I could grab as many cherries as I wanted. These were not as sweet or as big as cherries you’d get from the store, but still very edible.

After that, I got a cherry pitter and some scissors. I took the scissors to my garden and cut most of my normal basil (I have some cinnamon basil with which I’m still trying to figure out something to do). I made pesto:

• basil (stems are fine as long as you can chew them)
• olive oil
• parmesan cheese
• pine nuts

Stick it all in the food processor, chop it up and pesto you have! I forgot to put in some garlic, but it was still pretty good. You can see I only got about a 1/2 pint, but now it is in the freezer for some winter day when I want to spread it on toast.

After that, I made breakfast from some things I’d gotten from the CSA. This is stir fried zuchinni and onions, with some chard remnants tossed in at the end.

For lunch, I made pizza-dillas.

• tomato sauce
• shredded cheese
• dried salami
• tortillas

Place all ingredients on tortilla, heat in toaster oven until cheese is melted. Mmmmm.

I also tried a recipe from the CSA handout–baked kale:

• kale
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees wash the kale. Remove the stems. Mix enough olive oil with kale in bowl to coat kale lightly.  Spread kale on a ungreased baking dish. Make sure that the kale is only one level thick–I burned my kale because I put too much in it (some pieces were not crispy, so I left it in too long). Stick it in the oven, checking every 3-5 minutes for crispiness. At the end, it tastes a bit like a healthy potato chip. My SO suggested mixing the kale with bacon, which would of course make it taste better.

And finally, I pitted all the cherries. Originally, I was planning to dry them, but laziness got the better of me and I stuck them in jars in the freezer, to be enjoyed in a pie or on ice cream in the future.

What a day!

The last time we ate at Protos (on Platte at 15th), we sat at that booth in the back right in front of the kitchen. Besides great food and atmosphere, we got a show…

I planted lettuce in my garden this year. I never realized how satisfying it could be. Now, instead of spending 6 dollars a bag at the farmer’s market, I am swimming in free, yummy, fresh lettuce.

romaine lettuce with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries, cucumbers and feta cheese. rosemary sourdough bread and salami on the side. (the cranberries are a nice balance to the salami)

mixed lettuce with cucumber, tomatoes, feta and beets (also from my garden). alongside a sort-of-panini with grilled chicken, pesto, roasted red peppers, mozzarella and basil.

Eight years ago tonight, I met my husband in Washington DC. We ended up at at a wood-fired pizza joint with some friends. So in tribute, I made a pizza on our grill.

I actually saw this on Food Network. Tyler Florence made something similar. I made the dough in my bread machine (easy!), which took an hour. Then I pressed the dough out into an oblong shape and painted it with olive oil that I had warmed some garlic in. I sprinkled Herbs de Province on top. It went on a hot grill, oil side down. I let it set for a couple minutes, then flipped it and topped it with more oil, left over marinara, mozzarella, mushrooms and prosciutto. yummy! It was quick and easy easy easy! Be careful not to let it burn.

This recipe brings new life to potato salad, and it’s prettier too!

Ingredients:

• white potatoes (1 large)
• sweet potatoes (1 medium-large)
• hard boiled eggs (2-3)
• mayo (2-3 tbs) — I use Hain’s Safflower mayo, which is dairy-free.
• brown mustard (1 tbs)
• fresh chives (1 tbs)
• fresh parsley (1 tbs)
• capers (1 tbs)

Directions:

1. Peel potatoes. Cover with water, boil and cook until soft.
2. Drain and set aside to cool.
3. Hard boil eggs. (I place eggs in boiling water, cook for 12 minutes. Remove and immediately place eggs in ice water.)
4. Chop herbs. Put herbs, mustard, mayo, capers in a mixing bowl.
5.  Add potatoes to the herb mixture and mix well.
6. Chop eggs (in quarters or eights), add to mixture and lightly mix.

This is tasty when warm, or after refrigerated. You can easily double or triple this if you’re taking it to a picnic or family reunion.

If you’re like me, and you like to eat vegetables but sometimes you can’t get through them quickly enough before they get mushy, some modified storage techniques will extend your veggies lives in the fridge.

Here is what I do with some delicate vegetables:

• Cilantro - Put cilantro stems down in a mug with water, wrap a plastic produce bag around the outside. If you get the cilantro fresh, it could last for 2 weeks.
• Cucumber - Wrap the cucumber (either whole or in progress) in paper towel, then put it in a plastice produce bag or in a sealed tupperware. One of the more delicate veggies, this will probably only keep for a week.
• Mixed baby lettuce - Place a 1/2 paper towel on the bottom of one of the plastic storage containers the baby lettuce comes in from the store, or your own tupperware. Put the lettuce on top, make sure the leaves are loose. Put the other half paper towel on top, and seal the container.

You can also make some hearty vegetables last longer too!

• Cabbage - Wrap cabbage head in paper towel, then put in a plastic produce bag or in a sealed tupperware. This will keep the cabbage, including cut wedges, good (no brown spots!) for atleast 3 weeks.

If you try any of these at home, you can also use a clean lint-free dish cloth instead of a paper towel.

Kabobs are great summertime grillin’ food. They’re hard to mess up, but some things will make the grilling a little easier…

Tips for making the best kabobs:

1. Soak wooden kabob skewers in water for 2 or more hours. Plan ahead!
2. Cut your pieces of meat the same size, and go for a little on the smaller side.
3. Toss your meat and veggies in olive oil (and some pepper & spices if you like). They’ll be less likely to stick to the grill or char too much.
4. Leave 2-3″ inches at the end of each skewer. Veggies and meat will be less likely to slide off as they’re being cooked.
5. Don’t jam your ingredients too tightly on the skewer. With a little space between the pieces, the kabobs will cook better.
6. Some vegetables are better than others. Onion and peppers work well when combined on a skewer with meat.
7. And lastly, if you’re a bacon eater: wrapping bacon around chunks of turkey, beef or chicken always makes for a tastier kabob!

What my kabobs look like, as they’re fist placed on the grill:

It will be hard for your dairy + wheat loving friends to believe these yummy cookies are dairy-free, wheat-free and reduced fat. So there is no need to tell — unless they say they’re on a diet, then you can use those words to talk them into eating one (tee hee).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sifted spelt flour (white)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup oil (I use olive oil)
• 2 tbs Earth Balance (This is the best butter substitute. It tastes and acts very similar to regular butter. You can also use real butter if you like)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup agave nectar or honey
• 1 tbs rice milk (or other milk of your choice)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 generous cup semisweet chocolate chips (dairy-free)

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, beat on medium until well blended: oil, butter, sugar, egg, honey/agave, milk, vanilla.
3. Stir the oats and chocolate chips into the liquid batter.
4. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the moisture.
5. Stir in the flour mixture. The dough will be soft, but should hold it’s shape (see picture below). If the dough isn’t super sticky and won’t hold it’s shape, stir in a little more flour 1 tsp at a time.
6. Drop by heaping measured teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Use either well-greased baking sheets, or parchment paper.
7. Bake 1 sheet at a time at 350° for approximately 8 minutes. Cookies will be tinged with brown on the edges and very slightly soft to the touch in the center.
8. After cooling on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes, transfer cookies to a baking rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen 2.5″ inch soft and chewy cookies. Adapted from the Joy of Cooking to be dairy-free, wheat-free and corn-free (no corn syrup or canola oil).

When you have the right consistency, the dough will holds its shape. These are dropped onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.