Borscht

I am a bad food blogger. I admit this. I never, ever, remember to pull out my camera when I'm cooking. If I'm good, I might remember to take a picture of the finished product, but any of the steps - no pictures. Which leads me to this morning. We'd gotten beets in our CSA a week or two ago, and I picked up a small head of cabbage at the store this week, and with the weather finally cooling off, I decided it was time to try borscht. So I just finished almost an hour of cutting and frying and stirring and now there's a big pot of red veggies on my stove and I came to the living room to type down what I just did so I could remember it and my husband goes - "so...you're not taking any pictures, then?" D'oh!

Borscht

3 or so medium beets (grated)
1 small head cabbage (sliced thinly)
4 medium potatoes (cut into chunks)
2 carrots (grated)
1 onion (chopped)
1 can tomato sauce (or tomato paste)
beef broth
garlic
parsley
lemon juice
salt
sour cream

I grated the beets and carrots, and chopped the onion, then sauteed them in a little bit of olive oil (and a bit of sausage grease I had left over from breakfast). One of the recipes I saw said to add about a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to preserve color, so I did. Then I put the potatoes in the broth (four cups worth of it, about, made from bouillon cubes) and brought it to a boil. Tossed in the sliced cabbage after a few minutes, let it cook down just a touch, then added the beet mixture, as well as the garlic and parsley and tomato sauce. I tossed in a little bit extra water, pretty much just enough to kind of swish out the saute pan and can of tomato sauce. Another recipe said to let it come to a boil, then let it sit and cook in its own heat for a few hours. We'll try that and update you later with the results...

Update: The verdict is - this was good! I ended up letting it simmer for a bit, then just sitting most of the day until we got home from church, and then heating it back up for dinner. It made a lot. A lot. We had three friends over, set aside leftovers for our lunches and still had some to send home with them. Served it with sour cream. And yes, I forgot to take a picture. Even after reminding myself to take a picture, I still forgot. Oh, and let me know if there are any steps I forgot to write down - it seems to me I left something out.

Thyme

Chicken Stir-Fry with Coconut Peanut Sauce

This recipe may sound a bit crazy at first glance. Basically what happened is I started with the Tempeh Stir-Fry with Yogurt Peanut Sauce recipe in the Betty Crocker Cookbook and substituted about half of the ingredients with something else, as is my want. Like Thyme, I rarely follow a recipe. So here is what I came up with. The only problem with it was that it made inadequate leftovers. Better luck next time!

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used the kind you have to stir)

1/4 cup or so canned coconut milk (I had some leftover from my latest attempt at Maharage. Thymne, I seriously want you to post that recipe.)

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (I used tenderloins), marinaded and cut into thin strips.

teriyaki marinade to cover chicken, reserve 3 tbsp for sauce (I made the one that is in the same cookbook and actually followed that recipe. You should be proud.)

1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges

8 oz green beans (whatever was actually left in my bag of frozen whole green beans)

1 cup cooked spaghetti squash

crushed red pepper, to taste

Marinade the chicken for at least an hour in the refrigerator, but no more than 24 hours. Or, if you're like me and never think that far in advance, I learned a cool trick. Just put the frozen chicken and the marinade in a bag together in the microwave and defrost them together. Then you don't have to do extra marinading time.

Whisk together the 3 tbsp marinade, peanut butter, coconut milk, and honey and set aside. I actually forgot to set the marinade aside, so I did this at the last minute using stuff that had been on the chicken, but it was cooked later, so we're all salmonella free here.

Perforate a spaghetti squash thoroughly and microwave 10-20 minutes, depending on the size.

While you're waiting, you can continue cooking. Once it's done, open it up, scoop out the seeds, and fluff with a fork. (You'll notice I only used about 1 cup. That's because I didn't perforate thoroughly enough. The sad results you can see for yourself. 1 cup is about what I salvaged, but it ended up being the perfect amount. Next time I'll probably double or triple the recipe anyway so I can use the whole thing and have lots of leftovers.)

If using a wok, get it as hot as you can. Add oil followed immediately by the onions and green beans. Toss as you cook. Remove when mostly cooked. Allow the pan to reheat, which won't take long. Add 1 tbsp more oil and throw in the chicken (make sure the marinade is drained off). Stir it a bit as it cooks, leaving it alone long enough to get a little bit of browning. Once the chicken is cooked, throw the onions and green beans back in as well as the spaghetti squash, the peanut sauce, and the crushed red pepper. Stir in until everything is hot again. Serve and enjoy.

If you're not using a wok, just stir-fry/saute as normal in your saute pan and follow the same order.

Rosemary

Tomato and corn pie

This week we got a massive tomato (seriously, it was like 2 lbs or so), and a few ears of corn, so I thought - hey, I just saw a recipe that uses these things. I'll just point you to the recipe at smittenkitchen.com rather than rehashing it here 'cause her pictures are so much better than I could have ever done, but here's what I did differently (because heaven forbid I follow a recipe exactly). I sliced my tomatoes in strips, rather than leaving them in whole slices, although I did seed them and let them sit in a colander for a few minutes to drain a bit more. I also added some minced garlic, and used parmesan and mozzarella cheese instead of sharp cheddar ('cause that's what we had). And I forgot to brush the butter on the crust. Oh, well, it turned out good. It was almost too tomato-ey and the lemon/mayo mixture was pretty strong, but by the time I had it for leftovers a day or two later, it was perfect. I highly recommend it.

Thyme

Pesto Potatoes

I made my first attempt at pesto this week. And even though I didn't have pine nuts (or any nuts, actually) it turned out pretty darn good.

Pesto

1 cup or so of fresh basil leaves
olive oil
parmesan cheese
garlic

Put all of that in a food processor, and pulse it until it's all mixed together. Play with the amounts of olive oil and parmesan until it seems like it's the consistency you want it. Oh...the smell...it's like heaven. The only thing I wish I'd done differently is made more

So then, here's what I did with it:

4 or 5 potatoes, sliced
1 cup swiss chard, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
pesto
mozarella cheese

I just layered all of this together and baked it in the oven for about an hour or so. Our oven is kind of screwy, so I'm not sure exactly what the temperature was or how long it was in there for (we'll guess 350ish for about an hour). Next time I'd probably boil the potatoes a bit first so that they were partially cooked which would cut down on oven time.

Thyme

Zucchini zucchini everywhere, and not a bite to eat.

Right now is perhaps my favorite time of year. The sun is out, the grass is green, I've got a bit of a tan, and zucchini is in season. I love, love, LOVE zucchini! It is, perhaps, my favorite vegetable. And for a person who has very few favorites, that is quite a high compliment.

If there's one thing about zucchini season that drives me crazy though, it's all of the people with prolific zucchini plants who bemoan their abundance and grouse about their lack of options. "How much zucchini bread can one family possibly eat? Even if we freeze it, we still have too much." Pish posh! Zucchini is a delightful and versatile vegetable.

As an enthusiastic response to some of my friends who complained thus about zucchini, I put together a 4-page handout all about zucchini. Rather than post my entire handout and risk it being plaigarized (Hey! I worked hard on that!) I'll just list my suggestions here along with a couple of recipes. Happy eating!

Twenty Ways to Eat Zucchini

1. Cut into slices and add to fajitas or stir fry.

2. Put shredded zucchini in a quiche or frittata.

3. Zucchini fritters.

4. Cut into slices, saute in extra virgin olive oil or butter with garlic, salt and pepper. Eat it as a side or on top of pasta with parmesan.

5. Ratatouille! If you don't like egg plant, you can always add more zucchini.

6. There are these cute little globe-shaped zucchini. Stuff them! Can't find them? You can stuff regular ones. They just won't be as cute.

7. Grill it. Marinade in your favorite meat marinade. Slice in half and lay directly on the grill or put large chunks on a skewer.

8. Keep a bag of frozen zucchini chunks in the freezer. Toss handufls into casseroles, soups, stews, mixed vegetables, and more!

9. Slice it up and dress it up for a cold zucchini salad. Slice more thinly for a zucchini slaw.

10. Battered and fried (or oven fried). Nothing says "indulgence" like fried zucchini sticks.

11. Add layers of thinly sliced zucchini to your next lasagna.

12. Soup it up. Make tortellini and zucchini soup or cream of zucchini soup.

13. Zucchini on pizza? Why not? Try it on a Mediterranean themed pizza with feta and tomatoes.

14. Roast with olive oil and herbs. Add other vegetables like asparagus and summer squash if you like.

15. All you need for a solid casserole is a starch (pasta, potatoes, rice), protein (tuna, chicken, ground beef, beans), a sauce (tomato, cream of chicken soup), and a vegetable. Make zucchini the star vegetable.

16. Tired of slicing bread? Make zucchini muffins instead. Vary the spices and add-ins.

17. Using a tempura batter, fry the zucchini blossoms. It's considered a delicacy.

18. Steam chunks or slices of zucchini and serve atop fettuccine for a refreshing, delectable pasta primavera.

19. Make noodles. Use a vegetable peeler to make long, thin strips of zucchini. Steam or microwave and top with your favorite pasta sauce.

20. Why make another loaf of zucchini bread? Make chocolate zucchini cake.

And if that hasn't gotten your creative juices going, here are a couple of recipes to get you going. The first I found in a cookbook compiled by women in my home town. The second is one I came up with after adapting other recipes.

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 c. melted butter or margarine

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (you can substitute half whole wheat flour or use whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 T. baking cocoa

1/2 c. sour milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. grated raw zucchini

1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolat chips (not optional if you want them nice and gooey out of the oven)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine the butter, oil, sugar and eggs; mix well. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa together. Add the flour mixture and sour milk 1/3 at a time to the butter mixture. Add the vanilla and zucchini; mix well. Stir in the walnuts. Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Bake for 35 minutes or until brownies test done. Let cool, store covered in the refrigerator. Yield: 30 to 40 brownies.

Italy with Almonds

I named this dish for the great colors in it (red and green like the Italian flag) and for the Italian ingredients. For an extra special treat, use real Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Serves 2

1-2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

2 cloves garlic, smashed with a large, flat blade, but still whole (you’ll take them out later)

1/3 cup sliced almonds

2-3 cups thinly sliced zucchini

1 cup diced red sweet pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups dried pasta

Parmesan cheese to taste

1. Lightly brown garlic and almonds in oil with salt and red pepper flakes. Add zucchini and peppers, adding the rest of the salt and pepper.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta.

3. Serve hot. Spoon zucchini mix over pasta. Top with cheese.

Rosemary

In search of...

a good peanut butter cookie recipe. I know I might get shunned for this but, I don't like peanut butter cookies. They always seem dry, crumbly, hard and lacking that peanut butter goodness I think they should have. In an attempt to keep them from permanently being on my bad list I'm enlisting your help. If any of you have a good recipe and/or suggestions to make a great peanut butter cookie please share.

Nutmeg