Experiment Polenta: Success!

I remember eating polenta at my Italian grandafather's house and not being particularly impressed with it. I learned to enjoy it more after having a variation of it in Africa, and especially after a fabulous polenta dish I had in Italy when I was visiting relatives. But I'd never actually tried to make it before. However, since our son was recently diagnosed with multiple food allergies, we've been getting more creative than usual in finding complete meals that we can enjoy together, and it seemed time to bring polenta to the table.

I used a basic recipe I found on foodnetwork, and tweaked it just a touch:

5 cups vegetable broth, 1 cup water
2 tsp salt
1 3/4 c. stoneground corn meal
1 tsp olive oil

Bring the broth/water to a boil, add salt, then whisk in corn meal. Stir it frequently for about 15-20 minutes until it's thick enough for a spoon to stand up in. Once it's cooked, turn off heat, add some olive oil (the recipe calls for butter...but milk happens to be one of the wee one's allergies) to make it creamy.

We served it with a marinara sauce (sausage, onions, garlic, crushed tomatoes, fresh sage, oregano, and parsley). The three year old wasn't interested, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

-Thyme

The Great Smoothie Challenge of 2011

It's hot where I live. That means it's smoothie season! Smoothies are great for breakfast or for a snack. They can be very nutritious and tasty or just plain sugary indulgences, all depending on how you put them together. My basic formula for a nutritionally balanced smoothie goes like so:

1 cup plain yogurt (I like plain because I can control how much sugar is going into the soothie, but you can use flavored if that's what you have around, just don't add as much honey later on; maybe omit the banana as well if it's already sweet enough)
1-2 cups frozen fruit
1 small or 1/2 regular/large overripe banana
honey to taste (if necessary at all)
1-3 tbsp ground flax seed for a nutrition boost

Blend to perfection

You can play with this to get all kinds of variations. For instance, when I'm using frozen berries that include dark berries like blueberries and black berries, I like to throw in a big ol' handful or two of fresh spinach; you don't really taste it and with the dark color, you don't really see it either. Then again I know some kids enjoy the green color, so you can do the spinach trick whenever it strikes your fancy as long as the color doesn't bother you.

Coming to the present, I was making smoothies today for snack. Instead of following the above formula, I was winging it with very ripe fresh strawberries that needed used. Since my yogurt was fat-free I needed to add some fat* to the mix. Peanut butter usually overpowers things, so I got creative and went for the Nutella. It was a total gamble and it paid off. So I'm going to continue tweeking this idea now and then to get the perfect strawberry Nutella smoothie. This unexpected flavor combo brings me to the premise of this post:

Please post your favorite or most creative smoothie flavor ideas and how you make them great. Nobody wants to eat the same smoothie over and over all summer long; or at least I don't. So post away. There's no prize except for the wealth of ideas that we'll get from each other.  Now get blending!

Rosemary

*Yes, I said fat. Fat is important as a part of your meals and snacks to help keep you full for longer. It actually slows down the rate that your stomach is emptying, hence keeping you full. It's also very important for small children. Their stomachs are very small and without the concentrated calories from fat it can be hard for them to get enough calories. So when I'm making these for my kid, I'm extra conscious to make sure that there's some kind of fat either in the smoothie or on the side.

Gumbo!

There was a time many moons ago when our parents were high adventurers in culinary land. I distinctly remember a cajun food kick which included the making of gumbo and jambalaya. The jambalaya I was never too fond of as I am not a fan of [un-battered and deep-fried] shrimp. The gumbo on the other hand, became a family favorite. This old favorite vanished for a few years, forgotten in the annals of Lewis family history until a recent family reunion when I requested that we eat it again. This time, I was wise enough to get the recipe. I'll document it here and post comments with any alterations that I might create later on.

Chicken and Okra Gumbo
from La Cuisine Cajun
3/4 cup of cooking oil
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 large onions, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks of celery, minced
1 hen (6 1/2 to 7 pounds), cut into serving pieces and most of skin removed
2 tsp of chicken seasoning (our mom used a cajun seasoning blend)
2 3/4 quarts of chicken stock, chicken broth, or water
3/4 pound of tasso (smoked beef) (I don't think we've ever had this one on hand, you can substitute sausage. Mom uses hot Italian sausage that she cooks ahead of time to removed most of the grease.)
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp sweet basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp of onion powder
1/8 tsp of white pepper
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp of Tabasco sauce
1 1/2 tsp of salt
2 1/2 cups smothered okra (last time we used frozen; canned is also an option)
1 tsp of file powder (the label says it contains thyme and sassafras)
3/4 cup of chopped green onion
1/4 cup of minced fresh parsley
file powder to taste
cooked white rice

*In a gumbo pot or large stockpot (2 1/2 to 3 gallons), heat the cooking oil over high heat until the oil begins to smoke. Add the flour and stir constantly with a wire whisk or wooden spoon, making sure that the roux is constantly moving and not sticking in any part of the pot. (I find that tilting the pot from one side to another helps.) Continue to cook over high heat until the roux becomes a dark reddish-brown. This will take about 3 minutes.
When the desired color is reached, add the onions, bell pepper, garlic and celery. Saute over medium heat in the roux for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Season the chicken with the Chicken Seasoning Mix. Fry half of the chicken in the roux mixture over medium heat for 5 minutes, then remove that half and fry the other half for 5 minutes.
Put all the chicken back into the pot and add the Chicken Stock. Stir  until the roux is absorbed into the stock. Add the tasso, bay leaf, sweet basil, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, Tabasco sauce and salt. Heat over medium heat until the gumbo comes to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, then add the smothered okra and the teaspoon of file powder and continue to cook at a low simmer for 2 1/2 more hours.
Add the green onions and parsley and stir them in well. Cook for 7 more minutes at a low simmer. Serve hot in individual serving bowls with file powder over cooked white rice. Serves 10.

Rosemary with help from Nutmeg

Moroccan-style Chickpeas and Greens

So I saw this recipe for Spicy Moroccan Chickpeas and thought yummm... Plus we'd gotten both mustard and collard greens and I thought how that would be a great combination. So I mostly followed the instructions in the above recipe (I forgot to read the part where you coat the chickpeas in oil first and then coat in spices, so I mixed all the spices in the oil and then coated the chickpeas). I also used less cayenne since someone's heartburn acts up when things are excessively spicy, and cut back on the salt a bit. Also, I only used about 3/4 of it.

Then I sauteed the greens with some scallions and garlic, braised them with some vegetable broth, and then tossed in the rest of the oily spices. We served with rice. So delicious!

So delicious in fact that I made up the seasonings again the next night and used it on baked chicken (again with rice and collards). And then the chicken on a salad today.

Here's a list of the seasonings, for reference:
½ teaspoons Curry Powder
½ teaspoons Allspice
½ teaspoons Ground Cloves
½ teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice (optional... If You Have It In Your Spice Rack, Use It!)
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
½ teaspoons Cayenne Powder (or More... If You Are The Spicy Type!)
2 teaspoons Fresh Grated Ginger
2 teaspoons Sea Salt


-Thyme

Pizza Style Carrots, Iceberg Lettuce Tarts and other fine foods

Pizza Style Carrots

Serves 5

You will need:

• 2 carrots
• 10ml milk
• 10g pickle

Instructions:

1. pre-heat the oven to 220 C
2. whisk the pickle
3. fry the milk
4. defrost the carrots
5. bake for 50 minutes and serve hot

Yum.

 

Ok, so we found a site http://jamesoff.net/site/fun/random-recipe-generator/ You should check it out.

My New Favorite Muffins: Apple Muffins

I love muffins. They're easy to whip up, easy to play with different flavors, and it's easy for even the littlest of helpers to "help" (as long as you  don't mind losing some of your dry ingredients...I have to remind myself to relax when this happens). Today I was thinking that it was high time for me to whip up a batch, but I was out of my "usual suspects" ingredients like overripe banana and pumpkin puree. Something with applesauce perhaps? A plain old muffin? What to do? Then I checked Facebook and a friend of mine posted a link to her blog and the muffins I never knew that I wanted. It's a nice-looking blog with some great recipes, so check it out when you've got a chance.

Here is a link to her original post:
http://perkinsgoodeats.blogspot.com/2009/09/whole-wheat-apple-muffins.html?spref=fb

And here is my version of the recipe because it would be highly out of character for me to follow a recipe precisely.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup oat flour (the original recipe calls for all-purpose, but oat adds a lovely flavor)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (use regular whole wheat flour if you don't have pastry, I did)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ground flax meal (optional)

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup buttermilk or soured milk (1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make a cup)
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 unsweetened apple sauce
2 egg whites or 1 whole egg
2 tbsp canola oil

Add-ins:
1 cup finely chopped and peeled apple
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and mix the wet ingredients in another. Pour wet into dry and and fold in gently, just until evenly moistened. Don't over mix. Add 1 cup finely chopped and peeled apple and sliced almonds and fold in. Pour into 12 regular sized muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Put on wire rack to cool.

Rosemary

Salmon, Dill and Cheddar Frittata

This is probably one of my favorite things that I've cooked lately. The flavor combination of the salmon, dill and cheddar in this frittata made me extra happy.

It all started when I roasted a salmon fillet with lemons, olive oil, salt and pepper for dinner last night. Trouble was, it was too frozen and didn't finish in time for dinner. Then I overcooked it. But at the end of it, I had some lovely lemony salmon ready to flake up and use in a multitude of other applications, like this frittata.

Now, for some background here, let's define a frittata. It's kind of like an omelet, crustless quiche or Spanish tortilla. Like a quiche, it is a great way to use up leftovers and eggs. But I think it's even better because you don't have all the work (or added saturated fat and calories) of a pie crust. You have a nice egg base, usually some kind of cooked protein item (ham, chicken, fish), cooked veggies (leftovers are lovely), starch (leftover pasta, rice, potatoes...), and some cheese to top it off (I've used cheddar, ricotta, parmesan, etc alone and in combinations). Throw in seasonings of your choice, bake it (or cook it stove top until the bottom is set and then finish it under a broiler), and you've got your meal!

The only problem with this particular frittata was that I forgot my starch. So even though it was cooked, it was a bit liquidy. What can I say? I forgot. But, flawed or not, here's an approximate recipe, just to give you an idea of what you can do with a frittata. But I don't usually measure, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Salmon, Dill and Cheddar Frittata

6 eggs (feel free to substitute all or part of this with egg whites according to your taste and needs)
1/3 to 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/3 cup or so milk
salt and pepper
1 tsp or so dried dill weed (fresh would be grand, just use a bit more)

Whisk together all of these ingredients for your egg base and set aside.

8 oz cooked salmon, flaked (again, mine was roasted with lemons, which added to the flavor a lot. If you're using canned or unseasoned, throw in some lemon juice or squeeze lemon juice on to your frittata after you plate it)
1-2 cups diced roasted zucchini
1 roasted red pepper, diced
I forgot to add a starch, but you should probably add at least a cup of one, just make sure the total filling doesn't make you overflow your pan.

Toss all of these together and throw in the bottom of an oven-safe 10" skillet that you've sprayed with cooking spray. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Bake in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes or so until a knife comes out of the center clean.

1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Top with cheese during the last 5 minutes or so of cooking or put it on at the end of cooking and just let it melt.


Rosemary