Filed under: breakfast, ferment | Tags: breakfast, egg, fermented, kimchi, korean, vegetarian
I had a great weekend visiting with my family in North Carolina, but now that I am back in Iowa I have to start feeding myself breakfast again. My roommate, Rebecca, said this was “gross,” so maybe I am not doing such a good job. On the bright side, absolutely everything in this meal (excepting the salt and ginger) is either from my CSA or the farmer’s market. Judge for yourself…
Eggs with Kimchi
1 egg, hard-boiled and diced
equal volume of kimchi, diced
Mix them in a bowl and eat ‘em!
Okay, that part was easy. Here is how to make radish kimchi:
I only used radishes and a little bit of cabbage from my CSA, but Katz reccomends that you use daikon radishes, burdock root, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, red radishes, and fresh horseradish root.
Soak the radishes or root vegetables in a brine of 4 cups of water and 3 tbl of salt for a few hours or overnight. Once soft, taste the vegetables. If they are too salty for your taste, rinse them off. Reserve the brine.
Mix the vegetables with a paste of 1 to 2 onions, leeks, scallions, or shallots (or more), 3 to 4 hot red chilies (or more, I used red pepper flakes), 3 to 4 cloves of garlic (or more), and 3 tbl of grated ginger (or more). Stuff everything in a clean quart-size jar. Pack it tightly, pressing it down until brine rises. If there is not enough brine to cover the vegetables completely, add the reserved vegetable-soaking brine. Weight the vegetables down with a smaller jar or a zip-lock bag filled with brine (I prefer the latter method). Check everyday to make sure the vegetables are under the brine. This protects them from mold and promotes the growth of desirable bacteria cultures.
After about a week, move the kimchi to the refrigerator. That’s it! Don’t bother buying kimchi from the store; it doesn’t taste nearly as good and the bacteria cultures have been killed off.
Katz, Sandor Ellix. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company. 2003.
Filed under: Indian, Legumes, ferment, rice, snack, vegan | Tags: dosa, ferment, Indian, lentils, rice, vegan, vegetarian
I’ve been flipping through Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz and making lists of different ferments I want to try. I like the idea of ingesting live bacteria cultures and of practicing traditional forms of food preservation. There’s a lot of literature on the subject so you don’t need me to give a laundry list of health (and, for some, spiritual) benefits.
Some ferments can take over a year; dosas took 24 hours. Dosas are like the Indian equivalent to a crepe or blini but probably a lot healthier. I ate mine folded in half with yogurt and slices of mango but they are good plain or with a hearty curry.
Here’s what you’ll need:
2 cups rice (I used brown, Katz says white Basmati rice is more authentic if that’s what you’re going for)
1 cup lentils (again, I’ve read that both white and black lentils are more authentic. I used red, Katz has also tried lima beans)
1 cup yogurt or kefir (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 small bunch parsley and/or cilantro, chopped
1 inch gingerroot, grated
vegetable oil
Soak the rice and lentils in water for at least 8 hours or overnight. If you leave them to soak a bit longer and they beging to sour, that’s fine. Strain the rice and lentils. Grind them into a batter with yogurt, kefir, or water in a food processor or other grinding implement. Put the batter in a bowl or jar with plenty of room for it to expland. The batter should be fine, not chunky, and thick, just barely pourable. If necessary, add a little water. Ferment (this means leave it out, not in the fridge) 24 to 48 hours or longer. Once it has risen substantially you can make dosas! If you leave it for a number of days, the sour flavor intensifies. Yum.
Add 1 cup of lukewarm water to the thin the batter. The batter should be liquid to produce thin pancakes. Stir in the parsley and/or cilantro, ginger, and salt. Heat a well-seasoned frying pan with oil. Use a laddle to pout the batter into the center of the pan and then use the bottom of the ladle to spiral the batter from the center out toward the edges of the pan. Cook as a pancake, flipping after bubbles appear. I cooked it on medium-low heat. Don’t expect to get the hang of this right away. My first few dosas were thick and deformed but the last couple that I made were thin and crispy! The dosa should be thin. If necessary, thin the batter by adding more water, yogurt, or kefir. Lightly oil the pan between dosas.
Katz, Sandor Ellix. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company. 2003. 70-71.
I’ve been super busy with two papers due and an exam before the end of the week and haven’t had time to make much aside from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I have, however, started a few ferments that I’m really excited about: sauerkraut (German fermented cabbage), radish kimchi (Korean spicy fermented vegetables), and dosas (Indian fermented lentil, rice, and yogurt pancakes). I’ll post more about these when they’re ready to eat!
Filed under: breakfast | Tags: bread, breakfast, egg-in-a-basket, eggs, vegetarian
It’s strange to think that I used to not like eggs. Maybe it was my way of rebelling against an egg-centric household, or the fact that my dad’s idea of good eggs is a runny, milky, scrambled mess (to his credit, they are the best scrambled eggs I’ve had). Clearly things have changed.
I am trying to teach my friend Danny how to feed himself and not be confined to a life of peanut butter banana sandwiches and take-out from Chuong Garden (although both of these are pretty delicious). Last lesson it was grilled cheese (the whole idea was prompted by my joking that he did not know how to make grilled cheese and it turned out to be true). This time, we’re moving onto what is, according to Wikipedia, Brian Wilson’s favorite dish: eggs-in-a-basket!
You will need:
bread
an egg
oil or butter
That’s it! So… oil up a pan and turn the heat to medium. Cut an egg-sized hole in a slice of bread. Toss it in the pan and let it toast for a minute. Crack open the egg and empty its contents into the hole. Once it’s solid enough, flip it and cook the whites all the way through. The yolk will be runny and divine. Serve immediately.
Filed under: side | Tags: apple, autumn, celery, fall, salad, tahini, vegetarian, walnut
It’s apple season, my mom’s favorite fruit, so hopefully I will be posting lots of apple recipes! Apples, celery, and walnuts seemed like a natural pairing (and I had week-old celery in the fridge). But what to dress this crispy salad with? Apples and celery are perfect compliments to peanut butter, so why not tahini, too?
After failing to find Annie’s Natural Goddess Dressing at any of the three grocery stores in town (one of the grocery stores being Walmart… I’m not sure this counts), I searched these here internets and found a similar recipe. I eat it straight off a spoon, but it’s pretty good on just about anything it touches. If you don’t have toasted sesame oil, it’s a worthwhile investment; it packs a lot of flavor. I leave out the green onions and sesame seeds when I make this, but I’m sure it would be an improvement on an already great, simple recipe.
This isn’t the prettiest salad… the apples, celery, and walnuts have a variety of colors and textures, but the dressing is pasty brown.
Apple Celery Salad with Walnuts and Tahini Dressing
one apple per capita, cored and chopped into bite-size pieces
one stalk of celery per apple, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1-2 tbl walnuts per apple
about 1/3 cup tahini dressing per apple (recipe to follow)
Mix ‘em!
Tahini Goddess Salad Dressing
Makes 2 cups
2 tbl plain sesame oil or olive oil
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup tahini
2 tbl red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
5 small green onions, diced
1 tbl lemon juice
1 tbl soy sauce
plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Mix ‘em (with a blender, food processor, or fork)! Store in the fridge in a jar with a tight lid. The lemon and vinegar will keep it fresh for a while.
From: Kathy 228. Tahini Goddess Salad Dressing. Recipezaar. http://www.recipezaar.com/95888
Filed under: breakfast | Tags: breakfast, eggs, frittata, mustard greens, sweet onion, vegetarian
I hadn’t plan to post this but it was really good. Over the summer I would wake up at 5:30am so I could have a nice, leisurely breakfast before starting work on the farm at 7am. Most of the time, it was a frittata, toast with butter and homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam, and yogurt. I whipped up another frittata this morning with my CSA mustard greens, onion, and eggs.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1/4 cup sweet onion, diced
handful of mustard greens, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 or 2 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil
Saute the onion in olive oil until soft over medium heat. Add the garlic and mustard greens and cook until wilted. In the meantime, beat an egg in a bowl with salt and pepper. Add the onion, garlic, and greens to the egg. Add more olive oil to the skillet and cook the mixture over medium heat. When it’s solid enough, like a little egg pancake, flip it over to cook the other side. Sometimes it helps to invert it on a plate and slide it back into the pan. Serve immediately. This tastes good on its own but is also nice with a dash of hot sauce.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Just wanted to make a quick post about this week’s CSA share: tomatoes, potatoes, onions, corn, fennel, eggplant, squash, tarragon, basil, mustard greens, bell pepper, carrot, cabbage, garlic, and radishes. I’m going to try and find a good vegetarian recipe for mustard greens and maybe post about it later in the week!
Filed under: mexican, vegan | Tags: enchiladas, local, mexican, vegan, vegetarian
Yesterday I wanted to make a dish that would last me for meals the next couple of days and to use up some of the vegetables from my CSA share before I get another one on Tuesday. I had taken home some extra corn tortillas from the community meal (a weekly free meal run by the college’s Social Justice Action Group that I co-coordinated over the summer) and had a summer squash and some tomatoes. Perfect for enchiladas!
They were pretty tasty… the sauce is particularly good, but I’m not sure I would reccomend using kidney beans (I had them on hand… use black beans) or cheap vegan soy cheese slices (there are higher quality soy cheeses available, including a “Mexican-style” queso fresco). Use seasonal vegetables. I used summer squash and a purple onion this time. Potatoes and a variety of other greens would be good substitutes. If you’re lucky enough to be able to eat them locally, try avocado.
Salsa Roja
1/4 tsp crushed red peppers
2 tbl oil
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
2 cups tomatoes
1tsp sugar
1 1/2 tbl chopped cilantro
½ tbl lime juice
1. Add oil to stock pot and place on medium-high heat. When hot, add the crushed red pepper, onions, garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, some salt, and a liberal amount of pepper.
2. Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened and comes together, about 20 minutes.
3. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. Puree with immersion blender.
Enchiladas
1 recipe Salsa Roja
½ cup oil
vegetables!
½ tsp dried oregano
2 cloves garlic
12 oz. beans, drained (black beans reccomended)
about 8 corn tortillas
8 slices Pepper Jack flavor soy cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a skillet
3. Cook the onion about 5 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic, vegetables and oregano and cook 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are golden brown and tender. Set aside.
4. Coat the bottom of a casserole dish with Salsa Roja.
5. Place a layer of tortillas on top of the salsa, followed by a layer of the vegetables, beans, “cheese,” and final layer of tortillas. Add the rest of the sauce. If you want, slap some more cheese on top.
6. Put in the oven and cook for 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts.
This recipe is not cheap and not very local, but I wanted to make something really special for my really special friend Grace on her 20th birthday.
I flipped through Abby Mandel’s Celebrating the Midwestern Table for this dessert, one of Abby’s favorites: Caramel-Glazed Apple Chunk Cake. Yeah. This sounded right up Grace’s alley (or anyone with taste buds) and it’s apple season! My friends Marissa, Chloe, Marissa’s friend Trinity, and I baked it on Saturday afternoon, a good break from statistics homework.
Caramel-Glazed Apple Chunk (Birthday) Cake
Cake:
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tbl flour (available locally but I used flour that someone left in my cupboard)
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I used ground nutmeg because my roommate had it)
1 tsp each: baking soda, salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar (maybe I will try this again sometime with honey to local-ize it)
3 large eggs (my local ingredient!)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbl orange juice
1 1/2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch chunks, about 3 1/4 cups (local!)
1 cup chopped pecans (local!)
Glaze:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1. Put a rack in the center of the oven; preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 12-cup-capacity (10-inch) Bundt cake pan (a gift from Abby); lightly dust it with flour, tapping out the excess.
2. Sift (another gift from Abby) the 2 1/2 cups of flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
3. Use a mixer to beat the veggie oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla for 3 minutes. Add the sifted ingredients and the oj and mix until combined. Toss the apples and pecans with the remaining tablespoon of flour and stir them in the batter with a wooden spoon. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
(Trinity chopping apples and Chloe posing/mixing the batter)
4. Bake until a toothpick insterted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.
5. While the cake is baking, bring all the ingredients for the glaze to a simmer in a small saucepan for 3 minutes, uncovered.
6. When the cake is done, let it rest on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Invert the cake onto a rack placed on a sheet of foil. Brush the warm cake with the glaze, reapplying the glaze as it drips onto the foil. Let the cake rest 1 hour before serving.
7. The cake is best served warm. To reheat, place it on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven about 8 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Mandel, Abby. Celebrating the Midwestern Table: Real Food for Real Times. New York, NY: Doubleday. 1996. 288-89.
(The final product and handing it off to Grace before devouring it)
Filed under: breakfast | Tags: bread, breakfast, brunch, egg, french toast, local, vegetarian, whole grain
I love sharing stories about my food almost as much as I enjoy cooking. After realizing I was e-mailing my mom with descriptions of my meals and new recipes everyday, I thought I must be a prime candidate for food blogging. This is mostly for my family and friends, the people who would be reading my food-themed e-mails anyway (and the occasional beneficiaries of my cooking) but maybe I will inspire some other readers on a budget as well.
Last week I made whole wheat molasses bread, one of my favorite recipes from The Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking by Laurel Robertson. It uses very little yeast and has a twelve-hour rise. According to Laurel, this “long, slow fermentation softens the bran particles and gives the dough enzymes a chance to release a wealth of trace minerals.” And it’s just damn tasty.
By this week, the bread was getting a bit dry and, not wanting to waste good mineral-y bread, I have been making french toast for breakfast all week. Normally I would go to The Breakfast Club, a get together for a group of friends I made over the summer (as well as a cult classic film of the 1980s), on a Friday morning. This morning, however, they prepared hot 7-grain cereal from Paul’s Grains in Laurel, Iowa with sorghum. Since I’ve never been able to choke the stuff down, I stayed home and used up the last of my bread.
I love french toast because it is exponentially more delicious than the time you put into it, which is about 10 minutes for me. I use eggs that I buy from my CSA farmer and organic milk from Kalona, Iowa, an Amish community about a half hour away. I just eyeball my measurements but I’ve given you a starting point to play around with.
Caroline’s Single Serving Healthy French Toast
2 slices whole grain bread
1 egg
1 tbl skim milk
1/4 tsp salt
dash of cinnamon (optional)
2 tbl olive oil, for frying
honey, to serve
Beat egg, milk, and salt together in a small mixing bowl.
Dip the bread in the batter, even let it soak for a minute or two. Heat a skillet with olive oil on medium hear. Sprinkle some cinnamon on the bread if you like. Fry the bread and wait for it to brown. I usually do about two minutes per side, but you should check to see how long it takes to brown the first time you make it. Every skillet distributes heat differently and mine are crappy ones I inherited with my rented apartment (along with a George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine). Remove from heat, drizzle with honey (or whatever topping you prefer… honey is a good local option- I can buy it at my farmer’s market- and I like it better than maple syrup), and chow down!
Me and honey bear in the morning!
