Using Up the CSA Veggies: Sunday Morning Frittata

Frittatas are excellently versatile and hearty for any meal, and are easy to make. Their leftovers also make great cold or re-warmed snacks. I called this a "Sunday Morning Frittata" because it takes a bit of time to prep the veggies, and frittatas have a festive, "Sunday Brunch" kind of presentation. But of course you could prep the veggies and eggs the night before and quickly and easily make a frittata any morning of the week.

I've been making frittatas regularly with our CSA subscription to Riverdog Farm, as they can incorporate so many veggies with delicious results. Just chop up whatever veggies you want to use ~ onions or garlic always make a nice base, plus maybe a starchy vegetable, such as sweet potato, potato, or beet, and then a huge pile of greens ~ so good for you, and cook down to next-to-nothing, so they don't take up a lot of space. Plus eggs, maybe add a seasoning herb, and some cheese on top at the last minute for added flavor and satiety. Voila! A satisfying, rainbow-nutritious meal in a skillet!

Beet, Spring Onion, and Spinach Frittata

pastured lard and/or grassfed butter or ghee for the pan (be good to yourself; be generous with the fats!)

(I also added a spoonful of nitrate-free, pastured bacon grease for flavor)

3 medium-sized beets, sliced

3 egg-sized spring onions, without greens, sliced

a hefty bunch of spinach, chopped, and rinsed well

10 eggs

a generous sploosh of grassfed cream, or grassfed whole milk, or plain whole-milk yogurt

a teaspoon dried dill, or more of freshly snipped dill

sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

yogurt cheese or goat cheese

In a medium-large cast iron skillet, I melted lard and butter on medium-low heat. I sauteed the beets and onions together until they were soft and the onions were sweeeet. I added the spinach and mixed and cooked till they were all wilted. While these were cooking, I mixed the eggs with about 1/4 cup of raw cream (yum!) and salt, pepper, and dill. When the veggies were ready, I positioned them evenly in the skillet, and poured the egg overtop. I turned the heat down to medium, and did nothing else till the egg was set but still runny on top. I turned the broiler on (and shut the bedroom door to prevent the smoke detector from coming on!), and then placed generous dollops of homemade yogurt cheese* all around. Popped it under the broiler for a few minutes until the top was set and browned. This does not take long!

I think frittata is perfect with a side salad and sauerkraut. I served what's left of the Salad Kraut.

*With the consistency of goat cheese, all it takes to make yogurt cheese is just pouring yogurt into a linen/cotton napkin, tying it up with a rubber band, and letting the whey drain into a bowl. I use the whey for fermenting projects ~ like apple butter! Drain for a few minutes, or even overnight, depending on your desired thickness.

Using Up the CSA Veggies: Hidden-Veggie Egg Scramble

Haha. I'm laughing at myself. I was preparing to share with you all the clever ways I find to use up a generous CSA box. I had taken notes throughout the past week, and had my notebook sitting beside my keyboard, poised.

Then we were sitting down for a Sunday Brunch when I looked over at my voracious-eating husband's plate; the pile of sauteed veggie medley was clumped in the corner, close to cold. I asked him (sincerely) if it was to his liking. He admitted: "I'm really tired of all these vegetables. I know there's only so much you can do with them. When I get to the bottom of my jar of soup [I pack him quart jars of soup to reheat at work], I often have a little pile of veggies just like this. I look at it like this: [he made a forlorn face]." Although I was disappointed at this, I count on him to be honest with me, because: who wants to go their whole life thinking their cooking is well-loved, when actually their loved-one is just fibbing and swallowing it down? I know everyone has their own taste, but I'm the cook for my family, and I want to make food that everyone likes for the most part. Now, Troy is a meat-lover. He definitely falls on the "hunter" end of the hunter-gatherer spectrum. Though I fully embrace my omnivorous nature and love me a charcuterie plate appetizer, I tend towards the "gatherer" category. We balance each other out.

At that moment, I realized I've reached the point that I imagine every cook faces when trying to feed their family well: hiding vegetables. Here's how I did it this morning:

Hidden-Veggie Egg Scramble

three-four meal-sized portions, depending on the appetites of the eaters

butter or other delicious fat for the pan ~ don't be shy

3 smallish carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds

1 medium onion, chopped

4 large stalks of chard, chopped

sea salt to taste

7 pastured eggs

1/3 cup grassfed whole milk or whole yogurt

sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

fresh red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

more butter or other delicious fat

1/2 cup grated cheddar or monterey jack

~In a cast iron skillet, I sauteed the veggies till soft ~ starting with the carrots and onions, and adding the chopped chard in the last five or so minutes.

~While that cooked, I lightly mixed the eggs with the dairy and seasoning.

~Then I poured the sauteed vegetables into the egg mixture and used that always-handy immersion blender to puree till frothy. You could, of course, simply use a regular blender.

~I melted the butter on low in the same skillet. Then I poured the egg-veggie mixture in there and scrambled.

~When they were still a tad on the runny side, I sprinkled the melted cheese on top.

~Then I turned off the burner, and put a lid on it.

When the cheese was melted, the eggs were ready.

I served it with Salad Kraut.

With all that melted cheese on top, how was my sweetie to know about all of the veggies that were hidden beneath? ;-) His verdict, after all was eaten: "Delicious; but I could still taste the veggies." Well, yeah, but... I think he might have to get over that. And the verdict of the girl: she ate quite a lot of her little bowlful. My verdict: "Yummy! With the sweetness of carrot."

Just a little suggestion from my family test-kitchen here in April. Let me know how it goes.

Fermented: April Veggie Kraut

My assistant is always up for kraut-making. Pounding, stirring, adding the salt, chopping (with very attentive Mommy-supervision!), and of course taste-testing for quality-control. She generally thinks my recipes are too sweet, so she helps me by thinning out the sweet bits before jarring; she's thoughtful that way. ;)

I'm enjoying the weekly culinary challenge that is presented with a CSA. Riverdog Farm sends us a generous bounty of produce every week. My personal goal: to have an empty vegetable drawer when we go pick up our box on Fridays. This means that we eat a lot of fresh veggies, and that we make a lot of ferments! On delivery day, I assess the produce as I sort it into the proper receptacles ~ the fruit bowl, the root drawer, and the crisper drawer in the fridge; I make rough guesses of what I can use for breakfast, what would go great in a soup, what could be eaten raw for salads and snacks, what deserves to be showcased on its own, and what would be yummy in kraut. On Thursday night or Friday morning, what's leftover in the crisper drawer goes to the kraut. For a long time, I only liked cabbage fermented, and disliked it any other way. Lately I've been enjoying it cooked (till soft). So less cabbage is getting dedicated to kraut. But I've also been loving fermented grated carrots, so I've hoarded away at least one every week. Farm-fresh carrots are SO delicious! Instead of winding up forgotten in the back of the drawer until they're limp ~ like grocery store carrots sold in bags tended to in my kitchen, farm-fresh carrots are as sweet as candy simply eaten out-of-hand. They make any meal they touch a flavor treat.

Here's last week's kraut ~ a Springtime rainbow.

One grated carrot

1/4 of a small purple cabbage, shredded

a few red chard stems, sliced

1/2 a pink lady apple left for a day on the cutting board (not from CSA, but still local!), sliced then chopped

1/2 a fennel bulb, chopped

fennel leaves, minced

sea salt

I used some of the pink brine leftover from a Winter kraut of carrots, celeriac, and watermelon radishes, to cover these veggies. In a few days, everything will be pink. I like pink kraut. :)

Fermented: First Veggie Kraut in Baja

Chopped and jarred in our outdoor camp kitchen in La Ribera, Baja California Sur, Mexico. From veggies procured at the Mercado Organico in Cabo San Lucas. Lovely, eh?

Fermented: "Salad Kraut"

A note I sent to Austin at 12:30 am before I flew out the next day (I never stay up that late!):

"Just finished a manic clear-out-the-veggie-drawer-before-leaving-on-a-jetplane batch of kraut. I call it salad kraut because I added a bunch of arugula, and then dill and two kinds of mustard seed. Feels fresh and Spring-heralding. : ) Cabbage, carrot, cauliflower and romanesco plus their leaves, and celeriac. Wish it luck!"

The April assessment of this kraut: "One of my favorites," says Sealion! He likes the addition of the traditional pickling spices. The arugula, which I left whole on the stalk, is particularly "pickly" tasting. A success!

Yum ~ in Photos

A plate of fresh coconut-date love.

Home from the Farmers' Market ~ late-summer bounty. Radicchio, gorgeous basil,

Armenian cucumber, zucchini and crookneck squash, a load of dry-farmed tomatoes

and a couple multi-colored heirlooms.

Can't you just *taste* the sun's love in a warm, ripe, garden-fresh tomato?

That might be *the* taste of summer to me.

fermented: carrots, and fruit-scrap vinegars

I hadn't fermented any veggies in a while. Inspired by my roommie, Austin, who was fermenting something nearly every time he went to the farmers' market there for a while (!), I did a veggie ferment in brine. This kind of ferment is so easy, because you don't even have to do any chopping. Simply fill the jar with whole veggies, then top off with seasalted water. For the half-gallon jar I filled, I used between 2-3 tablespoons of seasalt. More for hot weather, less for cold. My mix was mainly tiny carrots, with whole cloves of garlic, grated as well as sliced ginger, and then a large handful of sea veggies (they were called "sea crunchies", but were no longer crunchy, so I added them in; I don't know their official name. I love seaweeds and they are soooo nutrient-dense. A bonus. I covered the jar with a cloth and secured it with a tie to keep out bugs. It sat in a cool room (which would be any room in our house this "summer"!) for over a month. A thick, smelly, furry layer of mold developed on top that would have deterred a novice. I, being a seasoned veggie fermenter at this point ;-), pulled this layer off with a spoon very easily. Underneath, the garlicky brine smelled appetizing. A layer of carrots at the top was off-color and mushy. Below that, the carrots were crisp and pleasantly flavorful. The overarching flavor of this ferment is garlic, with not even a hint of ginger! Oh, well.

"Garlicky Sea Carrots" in pint and quart jars, ready to eat

A ferment I have been looking forward to all year is fruit-scrap vinegar ~ the recipe for which I read in Wild Fermentation (one of my favorite books of all time). I discovered it last year when we were gifted FIVE WHOLE GALLONS of tasty cherries, and I didn't want to waste a single one! It's so easy, and it utilizes bruised fruits, and pits. So it's a delicious way to savor every morsel of the ripe, luscious summer fruit bounty! This year the only thing I did with our backyard plums is make vinegar with them. The last two years I tried to make jam, ended up using way too much sugar to balance their bitter tang, and ended up not eating it because we just don't eat sweet stuff. So = a waste. This season I gathered a large mixing bowl of fruit off the ground, after the squirrels and birds had had their fill, and made vinegar. We all win! : )

I also bought a huge bag of nectarine "seconds" at our favorite nectarine vendor ~ Kashiwase Farms (We are so spoiled by nectarines around here!!! They are sweeter than candy, before they even get soft. Incredible!). I sliced up all the fruits to eat out of hand, while piling a mixing bowl high with the bruised pieces and pits. Then I made vinegar. Have I mentioned I love how easy fermenting can be? Well, all you need to do to make phenomenally flavorful, gift-worthy "gourmet" vinegar is to dissolve 1/4 cup sugar (I use organic Sucanat/Rapadura, which is dehydrated cane juice) per quart of filtered water and cover the fruit ~ any organic fruit scraps will do. Cover it with a secured napkin to keep away the fruit flies that will be tempted and pesterful. Give it a nudge to stir it up occasionally. Let it sit for a week or more, until the liquid gets thick with color. Then strain out the solids and let it turn for a few weeks. First it will smell sweet, then like alcohol, then like vinegar. This is an aerobic process, so a wide-mouth vessel is best ~ for big batches I like to use pyrex mixing bowls, or wide-mouth canning jars for smaller ones. It's also important to use glass because of the acidity of the vinegar (as opposed to metal). Once it smells and tastes sufficiently vinegar-y, pour it into the attractive vessels of your choice and enjoy any way you would a tasty sweet vinegar.

Summer Veggie Lovin': Fresh Salsas

Summer is such a fun and easy time to prepare meals. All the bright, colorful produce demands to be eaten immediately, without much work at all. I have been loving salads. Some days I have some form of salad with breakfast, lunch, and dinner! And lately I have been mixing up what I call "salsas" for a fun salad concoction. I chop up veggies, add some olive oil and (usually red wine) vinegar or citrus (lemon or lime) juice, seasalt, toss them together, and then put them on top of a bed of good lettuce (my favorite is Little Gem from Blue Heron Farm!). Another way I've served these salsas is mixed with a pasta (Tinkyada rice pasta), or grain ~ such as brown rice or quinoa, or a combination! It also works on top of scrambled eggs. I love fresh veggies for breakfast (this morning I sauteed a handful of chopped dandelion greens with sliced garlic, added that to eggs, then topped it with leftover salsa ~ so good).

cherry tomato, Armenian cucumber, snipped basil, and red pepper flakes

Here's a list of ingredients from concoctions I've made just in the past few days:

Barely-cooked corn fresh from the cob

Cherry tomatoes sliced in half (this is my favorite way to eat tomatoes right now

~ neat and easy)

A beefy heirloom tomato, diced

fresh-pressed garlic (I put this is almost everything)

basil leaves snipped with scissors

cilantro snipped with scissors

fresh oregano, minced

Armenian cucumber, sliced into rounds, then quartered

young (small) yellow squash or zucchini, sliced into rounds and quartered

Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

green beans, sauteed

avocado, diced

Sample Combinations:

Barely-cooked corn fresh from the cob

Cherry tomatoes sliced in half

basil leaves snipped with scissors

red wine vinegar

Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

Armenian cucumber, sliced into rounds, then quartered

fresh oregano, minced

balsamic vinegar

Barely-cooked corn fresh from the cob

Cherry tomatoes sliced in half

avocado, diced

cilantro snipped with scissors

lime juice

young (small) yellow squash or zucchini, sliced into rounds and quartered

A beefy heirloom tomato, diced

green beans, sauteed

fresh-pressed garlic

A later edition:

Ooo!! A new combination!

diced ripe cantaloupe (yuuuummm!)

Armenian cucumber rounds, quartered

snipped basil

olive oil and seasalt

crumbled feta

Delicious!!!!

Farmers' Market Love

Here's another shout-out to the farmers' markets. I still love them and they are still a highlight of my week. Sometimes I attend all three Berkeley farmers' markets in one week. It's just that good. Here are some outrageously red radishes I saw at Blue Heron Farm's booth, where I get my weekly fix of baby lettuces.

Outrageous, no?

Thai-Inspired Coconut Soup with Pork and Rice Noodles

This met with great enthusiasm at the dinner table last night. : )

I think all it's missing in the Thai department is lemongrass, which I'm not in the habit of keeping on hand.

Thai-Inspired Coconut Soup with Pork and Rice Noodles

Serves 2-3, depending on appetite

1 quart chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
about 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled with spoon, then grated with a Microplane, with about a tsp set aside for pork
1 carrot, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
about 1/3 pound ground pork
sea salt
fish sauce (simply of anchovy, salt, and sugar), to taste
1 tbsp rice vinegar
enough rice noodles* for two people
a large handful of sugar snap peas, tips chopped and strings removed
a small handful cilantro, chopped, for garnish
red pepper flakes

This can all be done in pretty rapid succession; the veggies should retain some texture. Heat the broth and coconut milk to boiling. Add ginger, garlic, and carrots, fish sauce and vinegar. Knead the pork with the tsp ginger and a little sea salt, and drop bite-sized pieces into the soup. Add water as necessary to keep it soupy. Wait a few minutes and add the pasta. When the pasta is very close to done, toss in the snap peas and cover while you get the bowls ready; the snap peas should cook only till bright green. Serve in large bowls, with cilantro and red pepper flakes sprinkled on top, to taste.

*Whenever we eat pasta, we use Tinkyada brown rice pasta. Unlike other white and even whole grain pastas, it is a whole product ~ fully available for the body. And it's tasty, with a good texture.

A late-summer variation:
Substitute cubed (unpeeled but scrubbed) sweet potatoes - or my recent favorite discovery: purple yams! - for the carrot and snap peas. Simmer in the broth until soft but still intact.
Substitute cooked brown rice for rice noodles.
Mmmm!

Dandelion Greens with Onion

Oh! Dandelion greens season! I look forward to it every year. Dandelion greens are one of Spring's loving ways of helping us cleanse and tonify our organs after Winter's heavier and heartier fare. They're bitter! And that is indicative of their medicinal quality. I have come to relish the bitterness because my body just craves these greens! She knows what she needs. And lately I have been buying them at the Farmers' Market every time I go, and cooking them as soon as I get home.
This is how I've been preparing them - with bacon grease and sauteed onion. Of course you can use another fat, but bacon grease really counters the bitterness nicely. Nutritionally, the fat helps make the green goodness available to your body; just as importantly, it tastes good!

2 tbsp bacon grease*
One onion - chopped
1 tsp seasalt, to taste
1 bunch dandelion greens, chopped no wider than my pinky

In a cast iron skillet, sauté the onion in the bacon grease until very soft. Chop the greens before soaking - cut the whole bunch off above the twist tie. Then start at the tips and chop down, making sure the pieces are very small. To clean, soak in a bowl of water. Then, pull them out of the soaking water by the handful directly into the skillet so that some water comes with the greens to help with cooking. Fold the greens in with the onions and cover at medium-high heat. Stir occasionally. Cook until the greens are soft, and serve piping hot. I've been enjoying them by the bowlful with a little bit of brown rice. Here's to Spring - Salud!

* about bacon grease ~ Only use nitrate- and nitrite-free bacon that has been humanely raised. It's worth the occasional splurge! Lately we have been loving Prather Ranch bacon. Makes my mouth water just to type it! Here's how to save the delicious grease: after frying the bacon while the skillet is still very hot, rubber band a clean kitchen cloth (like an already-stained kitchen towel or napkin) over the mouth of a clean jar. Then slowly and carefully pour the bacon grease through the napkin. This will strain out all the bits so that the grease can be used again. Refrigerate until you're ready to enjoy it in another meal. Yum!

Red Flannel Hash of Sorts

Another winner!

Enough for 5-6 for breakfast.

2 large red potatoes, cubed

1 large onion, chopped

2 large beets, cubed

1 large carrot, chopped to match the size of the other veggies

butter

olive oil

thyme

5 breakfast sausage links, cut into little pieces, then browned

8 eggs ~ scrambled

sea salt and pepper, to taste

(optional: leftover sauteed greens ~ beet or otherwise, reheated )

Roast the first set of ingredients in a covered baking dish at 400 till soft. I took the lid off for the last 15 minutes.

I reheated the leftover greens with the sausage in its final minutes of cooking.

Then I layered the egg, and sausage mixture on top of the roasted veggies. I highly recommend doing the chopping and cubing the night before. That makes it much easier and quicker in the morning (I'll try to remember that next time!). Colorful, hearty, and flavorful.

Lamb Tabouli Pilaf with Tahini Dressing

We have family staying with us this week, and I have made a loose menu of breakfasts and dinners so that we eat a large majority of meals here for the week. Last night I got resoundingly positive feedback on dinner (yay! ~ from a variety of "types" of eaters), so I thought it was worth sharing.

But I'm gonna make it quick because breakfast is cooking and I can't keep the masses at bay forever!

Lamb Tabouli Pilaf with Tahini Dressing

Enough for 6 for dinner, plus leftovers for a few people as a snack the next day!

1 lb ground lamb with salt and pepper, browned

1 1/2 cups brown rice

1/2 cup quinoa

beef stock

large can chick peas (other beans are worth soaking ahead. but i buy canned chickpeas.)

1 block of dry cow's milk feta, crumbled small

1 bunch parsley ~ minced

1 "bunch" peppermint (from garden), minced

1 "bunch" lemon balm (from garden), minced

2 Tbsp minced red onion (I hate raw onion, but I thought it was appropriate..)

freshly toasted cumin, ground

sea salt and pepper to taste

juice of 3/4 a lemon

dressing:

whole milk yogurt

about 1/2 cup freshly toasted sesame seeds, ground in coffee grinder

olive oil

3 cloves garlic, pressed

more of the toasted cumin, ground

smoked paprika

sea salt

juice of 1/4 a lemon

Cooked the rice and quinoa together with 2 cups beef broth as part of the liquid. I let the meat and grains cool to about room temp, and tossed everything together in a big bowl.

Sorry I don't have measurements for the dressing. I probably used 1 1/2 cup of yogurt, and 1/4 cup (good) olive oil to make a thick creamy dressing. We used a lot of the dressing, so don't hold back. It was delicious, and was integral to flavor and texture.

This dish would be great served the next day ~ for a picnic for a group, etc. It is refreshingly light, yet filling, for a warm Spring day (like yesterday!).

sweet potato custard breakfast muffins with greens, and chevre

Still attempting to shake up the breakfast menu. This morning we had a winner, for sure.
Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1/2 red onion, chopped small
A large cereal bowlful of greens, chopped fine
Fat for sauteeing (such as butter or bacon grease)
8 eggs
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup milk
Chevre - a goodly amount
Sea salt - a 1/2 tsp each for greens and custard mixture
Freshly ground pepper

Butter to grease the muffin cups

I sauteed the onion and the pile of greens - dandelion and kale
mainly - while I baked a large sweet potato. I cracked 8 eggs into a
mixing bowl with 1/4 cup cream and 1/4 cup milk, then added the peeled
sweet potato, sea salt and ground pepper, and took the immersion
blender to it to mix it till frothy (a blender would work fine).
Filled buttered muffin cups with a layer of the sauteed greens, then
topped off with the custard mixture up to maybe 1/4 inch from the top.
Then! I plopped generous spoonfuls of chevre into the center of each.
Baked at 350 until golden and firm. They came out all puffed up and
beautiful, but quickly fell as any other puffed egg thing does. Still
delicious!! I have an earthenware muffin cup dish with extra-large
cups. I'd say it would've been 8 regular-sized muffins.
But then there was a lot of the custard left over. So I poured it into
buttered (cast iron) mini-muffin cups that baked up to look and taste
just like popovers! With a really nice sweetness and color from the
sweet potato. A pat of butter that inevitably slid down the piping hot
muffin onto my fingers just meant that they were literally finger-
lickin' good.
And both were a hit with the adults as well as the wee one of the
house, so they score extra stars.
In the future I might either use fewer eggs to make fewer muffins,
or saute' more greens to fill all the muffins. But as it was, I
enjoyed having some more meal-like muffins and some treat-like ones.
Experiment amongst yourselves and get back with me.

For Randi ~ Indian by Intuition: a Recipe

Dear Randi ~

I was quite flattered by your recent blog post. As any blogger can do, I choose the face I put forward and the voice I use. Intentionality and mindfulness are practices I work on a great deal in my life, so they're an obvious focus of my writing.

(And, by the way, my personal blog is open and ready for business again after a brief .. re-collecting. (-; )

For cooking, as with any skill (such as writing plays or teaching students), I think it takes passion and practice. I can't help but cook because I love it. And by cooking, I get better at cooking. It is possible to hone your intuition. I had the great honor and luck to work with incredible, intuitive chefs weekly for several years at Three Stone Hearth kitchen. Simply by their presence and rapport with ingredients, Jessica Prentice, Porsche Combash, and Misa Koketsu, taught me volumes that textbooks could never attempt. I paid as close attention as my wits could muster.

One seemingly intuitive trick that Jessica taught me was about choosing ingredients that complement one another: pay attention to the produce and meats, spices and herbs, and fats, used by a particular regional/cultural cuisine. If you want to use coconut, for instance, it helps to start with cuisines in which coconuts are used commonly ~ say, Thai and not Irish. Then use the spices that that particular cuisine uses regularly ~ like lemongrass and ginger. Certain cultures (because of beliefs) would never use pork products in their dishes. Countries located by the ocean use a lot of seafood. A country's location on the globe affects the things they have had on hand down through the culinary ages. With our modern mechanized food system, that gives us watermelon and basil in January, it can take a little sleuthing to learn who traditionally ate what, where, when, and why. And that's where recipes and the internet are very useful ~ to learn these details. Once you know roughly the foods different cuisines use together with success, it is easier to browse the produce stands and your cupboards and know what will work together.

Porsche taught me about honing your intuition with measurements. Start with recipes. Every time you take a measurement ~ for instance, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, dump it into your hand and get to know it until you can tell what a quarter tsp looks like without the measuring device. ~ It's ok to double check! After a while, you will gain confidence in seasoning things without thinking about the measuring spoons.

And in a day-long croissant-making session, Misa inadvertently taught me that there is really no substitute for.. experience. In a single afternoon, there is simply only so much one can learn about a skill that takes a career's worth of work to master.

And now on to the recipe.
Last night I had a craving for comforting Indian-style creamy sauce. I had in my cabinet:
a large sweet potato,
two small white potatoes,
a large onion,
and a jar of coconut milk.
I also had brown rice.
Coconut oil,
Butter,
Sea salt,
Plus spices:
Cumin
Coriander
Powdered ginger
Turmeric
Cinnamon
Fennel seeds, and
Cayenne.
So I put the brown rice, water, and a tablespoon of coconut oil in a pot to cook, following the instructions on the package (takes an hour). I chopped the onion into pieces about as big as my thumbnail, and cut the potatoes into slices about the width of my pinky, and then quartered the bigger slices. I put a couple tablespoons of butter in a cast iron Dutch oven and turned the heat to medium-low. For time's sake, I threw all the veggies in at once. Then I bathed my daughter (you can skip this step; it's optional (-; ). Since they were on a pretty low heat, I didn't worry, and just glanced in to see them steaming every now and then. When Anjali was dry and in her favorite handed-down bubblegum pink bathrobe (which, in reference to your blog, Randi, I never would've kept if she hadn't dragged it from the bag and insisted I zip it up on her and then wouldn't take off for two days), I turned up the heat to medium, stirred the veggies, and stirred in: a tsp seasalt, a tsp cumin, a tsp coriander, a tsp powdered ginger, a tsp turmeric, a 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp fennel seeds, and ... a thorough sprinkle of cayenne (less than 1/8 tsp). I let these cook for about five minutes and then poured in a can of coconut milk (don't use "lite" - use the real deal! Delicious *and* good for you!!). I brought it up to an enthusiastic simmer and put the lid on. Stirring occasionally, I let this cook until the potatoes were tender. At the end I added about 1/3 pound of ground lamb that I had seasoned with salt and pepper, and browned in a skillet with butter. But this could be a delicious and filling vegetarian meal, easily. You could even add some canned chick peas during the simmer, and/or a couple handfuls of chopped greens such as kale.

Spoon the coconut-veggie sauce over the rice in a bowl, and savor for yourself after your daughter finally goes to sleep. (-;

And thanks for the inspiration Randi!

Wassail Kraut

Made by Ciara, Austin, and me, the mind behind the spice mix in this recipe is all Ciara ~ a ferment master who earned her title from many a Friday fermenting at Three Stone Hearth kitchen! We put it in the crock yesterday, and it should be close to ready right around Christmas. Probably perfect by New Year!

7 decent-sized heads of cabbage ~ 5 green, 2 purple

2 apples ~ preferably crisp and tart, like pink lady

1/4 cup, plus 2 T coarse sea salt

2 T whole coriander seeds

1 t whole cloves

1 t cardamom seeds, taken from the pods, but not ground

6 cinnamon sticks

Quarter the cabbages and core them. Shred. Massage with salt (to taste. It should taste salty.) until the leaves start to lose their stiffness and liquid collects in the bottom of the bowl. Core the apples and slice thin. Toast the coriander, cloves, and cardamom. Mix the apple and spices in with the cabbage, attempting not to break or mush the apples. Pack into a clean crock or jar, with a weight, so that the liquid rises an inch above the vegetable matter.

Open for the holidays and share with loved ones!

Roasted Roots

Here's one of the ways I've used all those carrots.

This simple method works with many the root veggie ~ try parsnips and turnips this way! It's easy and crowd pleasing. Since moving to California, I have developed a great appreciation for fennel, as it grows wild here even in the medians. It works like onion, but adds a fresh, mild anise flavor.

Roasted Beets and Carrots with Fennel

serves four as a side dish

1 tbsp butter (don't be afraid to use more!)

1 tbsp olive oil

3 medium-sized beets, scrubbed

2 large carrots, scrubbed

1 regular-sized fennel bulb

sea salt to taste ~ start with 1/2 tsp

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Quarter the beets, and chop them again in half in a way that makes roughly uniform chunks. Do the same with the carrots, again with the goal of making roughly equal-sized pieces with the beets. This will help them cook in about the same time. Cut the fennel in half lengthwise, and then slice it lengthwise from there into thin pieces.

In a roasting dish (I love earthenware ~ I've found every piece I own at thrift stores for cents!!), place the beet and carrot chunks and the fats. Cover. Put the dish in the oven and roast, stirring a couple times to coat the veggies in butter and oil. When the veggies begin to yield to the press of fork tines ~ maybe 20 minutes, add the fennel slices, stir and cover again. Roast for about 10 more minutes, or until the veggies are tender but not mushy.

Sweet Potato Soup with Greens

I love soup. I could probably prepare and enjoy a soup every night of the year. A base of some good broth, whatever produce we brought home from the farmers' market plus maybe some meat ~ that's the soup. And it's always good. This winter season I have been attached to making soup this way: lay down a base flavor ~ usually starting by simmering a chopped onion in the broth; then a veggie such as stewed tomatoes, roasted winter squash, carrots, or in this case, roasted sweet potatoes with the skins. I puree that. Then I add a chopped or chunked veggie that adds texture. This often includes a dark leafy green. We eat a lot of dark leafy greens. They are oftentimes delicious in soups. Last night's ingredients were intended for a soup to take to a friend who recently had a healthy baby boy. But we sure did enjoy it. ;-) The three different dried peppers cut the sweetness of the potatoes three different ways. Leftover, it was probably even better.

Sweet Potato Soup with Greens

serves 3-4 depending on your sweet potatoes, the water you add, and the size of your bowls

A quart of good chicken broth ~ homemade or of equal quality, or homemade veggie broth

A mess of sweet potatoes roasted at 400 until soft, cooled, then sliced into 1/2 inch pieces ~ as many as you can fit between your two hands without dropping them (before they're roasted) ~ I used "Japanese sweet potatoes", but use your favorite, or what's on hand. In America, Sweet Potato = Yam = same thing.

Three large cloves of garlic ~ two crushed well with the side of your chef's knife, the other sliced thin

Dark leafy greens ~ I used what they call a "braising mix" at the farmers' market = an assortment of young kales, collard, chard, etc. ~ equal in precooked volume to the potatoes, chiffonade

1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Cayenne

*Fresh* red pepper flakes

Smoked paprika

Sea salt to taste ~ start with 1/2 teaspoon

Water as needed

In a pot or dutch oven, warm the chicken broth slowly up to a boil. Add the crushed garlic and simmer until the garlic is soft. Add the sweet potato slices and simmer. Puree till smooth (there's that handheld blender again!). Toss in greens and garlic. Cover. Simmer until greens get a little darker than just wilted. Add vinegar, spices, and sea salt, adjusting as needed. If it's too thick, add some water and bring back up to temperature. I think it's better at the consistency of thick soup, as opposed to a soupy baked potato... This is hearty.

Serve with a salad and some craggy hunks of bread to dip in the soup.

Read about that charming label.

squashmoosh

say it. "squashmoosh." purse your lips when you say it and let the "sh" sound trail a little long. it is as yummy to eat as it is to say.

i roasted a simple butternut squash with nothing really in mind to do with it. once it cooled, and i tasted it, it really didn't do that much for me compared to the many winter squashes i have delighted in. i looove em. so i thought i'd make a pureed type of side dish, adding a little sucanat to make it more pleasing. but first i added butter. lots of butter, like almost a whole stick. then i tasted again. what?! it tasted so sweet, it no longer needed sugar! dashes of cinnamon and sea salt = it was deeeelicious. now, i know that vegan sympathizers and hold-overs of the low fat epidemic will insist that a roasted winter squash is perfectly tasty without anything added to it. i agree; it would have been good with nothing but its wholesome natural flavor. but with the added butter, it was *deeply satisfying.*

mmmm!

astonishingly already thinking about what to feed the tot, this will definitely be in the winter repertoire. and i know it seems too simple to write a recipe about, but ~ try it. i am in love with my handheld blender and rarely use the stand-up blender anymore for these kinds of things. so that's what i recommend (i found mine second hand for 99 cents!!), but a blender works, too, just so long as you leave the lid open if pureeing hot squash and protect yourself by covering it with a towel. or wait till it's cooled and heat it up again to add the butter.

Squashmoosh

serves 4 - 6 as a side dish

butternut squash

butter

sea salt

cinnamon

cut butternut squash in half lengthwise and place face down on a buttered baking dish. roast at 400 until very soft when pierced with a fork. let cool. scoop out the seed and discard. scoop out the flesh into a pot and mash by fork, or puree with a handheld blender (or scoop into a blender, puree, then transfer to the pot). warm gently, add butter, and incorporate as it melts deliciously. add sea salt and cinnamon to taste.

enjoy!

Summertime Tapenade

Technically, this is not a true tapenade. But the bold presence of the black olives made me call it that. I think it has a nice ring..

chopped perfectly ripe tomatoes (don't even think about making this in the winter! use olive-oil-soaked sun-dried tomatoes if you do. and leave out the cucumber.)

~ I have discovered dry-farmed tomatoes this season. oh. my god. ~

diced Armenian cucumber (discovered that this season, too.. )

minced garlic

chopped oil-cured black olives, with the brine set aside

freshly toasted cumin

freshly toasted coriander

sea salt to taste

chili flakes to taste

Combine these ingredients to meet your needs. I used enough small early girl tomatoes to fill my two hands, and diced enough cucumber to fill it out nicely, but not densely (then I ate the rest of the cucumber slice-by-slice as I prepared dinner!). I minced 4 regular-sized garlic cloves, and chopped.. 8 olives, because that's what was in the fridge. I toasted a little more than a teaspoon of cumin seeds, and a little less than a teaspoon of coriander. Toasting spices brings out their flavor; I can't recommend this highly enough. It's really worth the few extra minutes of effort and attention. You will smell when they're done. Trust your nose. Add the reserved olive brine to your taste. Then the sea salt and chili flakes.

We ate this atop grilled lamb chops.

Then the next day, after it had had a chance to meld overnight, I ate the remainder on my scrambled eggs.

Yum!