Greens and Beans

NOT green beans.  Sorry for the capitalization there--just wanted to be sure to clarify that the post title was not a typo.

Okay.  So we did buy a house, and it is a bit of a fixer-upper (oh, and way out in the country/mountains with somewhat unreliable internet service) so I haven't been doing a lot of new cooking around here or finding time to post about anything to this blog.  Disclaimers.  Check.

BUT, I was just snacking on some leftovers in the fridge, and thought this little recipe might be worth recording and sharing.  Use kale, spinach, chard, what have you . . . 

Greens and Beans

glug of oil
Handfuls of fresh greens, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
chopped tomato (fresh or canned)
2 cups black beans

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:  So simple, you probably don't even need this part.  Heat up the oil, toss in the greens and a little water and fry/steam them a bit before adding the garlic and cumin.  Stir and continue to cook a few more minutes.  Add tomato and finish cooking greens to your desired tenderness.  Stir in the beans and warm.  EAT THIS UP! 

I guess it's just a capital day.

Hope you ENJOY!

Irish Stew

I have typically made up my own Irish stew version for St. Patrick's Day, but this year I decided to follow a recipe from my bought-in-Ireland Irish cookbook (brilliant idea, right?).  And I mostly stuck to it.  What I love about this recipe is that it is so simple and you actually end up with a stew--thick, rich gravy in the bottom of the pan that is absolutely wonderful to mop up with fresh soda bread.  YUM!

[[Funny/ironic side story about the meat used in my Irish stews.  It's venison, not lamb or beef which would be more traditional.  One year when we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our small group from church we read the St. Patrick's Breastplate prayer as a prelude to our meal together.  One story goes that the prayer was chanted for protection against druids who were laying in ambush for Patrick and his followers.  Legend has it that God answered this prayer by making Patrick and Co. appear as deer to the druids and they were able to pass by unharmed.

Yep.  Then after we read the prayer we ate Irish stew with venison.]]

Anyhow, this year I followed an actual Irish recipe (except I still used venison of course!).  You basically brown your meat in some butter or oil then layer onions and carrots on top followed by thickly-sliced potatoes.  Add turnips if you like.  Pour broth over the whole and stew for two hours on the stove or in the oven. 

Making this in my cast-iron skillet meant it was a one pot deal.  Nice!  I'll go ahead and post a recipe since I made a few (just a few!) changes.  I used less meat and added some flour when it was browned to make sure I had a nice, thick gravy in the bottom of the pan.  I also pre-sauteed the onions the second time I made this which I thought added a nice depth of flavor.

Traditional Irish Stew

(adapted from "The Irish Heritage Cookbook" by Margaret M. Johnson)

1 lb. lamb, beef or venison cut in about 1-inch chunks

2 - 4 carrots thickly sliced (I like the diagonal look)

2 onions, sliced 

2 - 3 large baking potatoes, peeled, halved, and thickly sliced

Thyme, salt, and pepper to season

1 cup water or broth

Butter (as much as you need!)

2 - 3 TBSP flour

My method:  Pre-heat oven to 300F.  If you want to caramelize (or saute until lightly golden) your onions, do this first in a few TBSP of butter.  Remove from the skillet when they are done to your likeness and add the meat into the same skillet.  Add more butter if necessary.  Sizzle and stir until browned and add the flour.  Work the flour into the meat and bit and remove from heat.  Toss in a bit of your chopped or dried thyme.  Layer on the onions and carrots (and turnips if using) and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a few tsp chopped, fresh thyme.  Spread Potatoes on top and sprinkle again with salt, pepper, and thyme.  Pour your water or broth over all.  I used some vegetable bouillon broth with a generous splash of balsamic vinegar in it for a little depth (I think a nice, dark beer would be fantastic in place of the broth!).  Cover, and return to low heat for two hours.  Or, do as I did and bake it in the oven for the same amount of time.  Check it after an hour or so to see if it needs any more liquid.  The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups, but I found just one cup to be satisfactory.  When the potatoes and carrots are cooked to your likeness and the meat is tender, uncover the stew and brown the potatoes under the broiler.  Garnish with fresh parsley or thyme.  Serve it up soon with thick slices of fresh soda bread--baked along with or right after the stew!  I also served mine with some delicious cabbage/spinach saute ("recipe" to follow in another post).  My mouth is actually watering as I write this.  And we've got more venison chunks in the freezer, so there's no reason not to make it again soon.  Wonderful recipe for the winter repertoire!

Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

So I used to work at this great cafe that made all sorts of yummy food from fresh, local ingredients, and my favorite was the noodle bowl.  Rice noodles layered with lettuce, herbs, carrots, and chicken and soaked with a sweet/sour/tart/pungent sauce.  YUM.  YUM.  I crave it.

Then I found a Vietnamese restaurant that made a killer noodle bowl (they should, right?) in a deeper bowl with smaller noodles, more finely chopped ingredients and marinated beef.  Oh wow.  I LOVED it!  

Well, too bad that the Vietnamese restaurant closed and I moved away from that town anyhow.  Sigh.  Here in central PA not so much Vietnamese food unless I want to drive an hour.  

As with the Chinese food, it's time to make my own.

Of course, I did what I always do and scoured the internet for recipes then made my own version of a noodle bowl with what I had on hand.  It turned out AWESOME!

Here's what you do:

1. Make the sauce (Nuoc Cham or Nuoc Mam): lime, water, sugar, fish sauce, garlic and a leeetle bit of sriracha

2. Cook the rice noodles, drain & rinse (you end up eating this at room temperature).

3. Cook any meat you want (I marinated some chopped pork tenderloin in a ginger/garlic/soy marinade and pan fried it)

4. Chop, slice, shred, crush, etc. the other ingredients and start layering:

    Noodles
    Lettuce (shredded--I think bok choy would be nice too)
    Cilantro, Mint (and Basil if available!)
    Carrots (shredded)
    Cucumber (shredded)
    Green Onion (sliced--I forgot to add it, and I could tell it wasn't the same!)
    Meat
    Nuts (I used toasted sesame seed, but peanuts or cashews would be     
          yummy too!)
    Nuoc Cham  (I used this recipe and added sriracha and garlic)

I'm going to make this again sometime this week using marinated venison on top.  And I won't forget the green onions!  Let me know if you try making it and what you think.

Daily Bread Continues . . .

I have to admit it. This discipline I've chosen for Lent has turned out to be a struggle some days. Originally, I thought "oh, this'll be a great way to consciously meditate on God's daily goodness to me while enjoying a passion: bread". Well, yes, sometimes it has worked out like that. Then there are the day(s?) where I hurriedly mixed up a few tablespoons of flour, a bit of oil, and some water to fry and eat at 11:00 pm. Or that other day when I woke my husband from a couch nap at 10:30 (PM!) to make him eat some fresh, homemade soft pretzels with me. There was also that weekend traveling that I simply bought an "add water only" biscuit mix to make my daily bread with (hint: these are okay fresh but pretty much yuk the following day!).

Mixed up with all of that has been the gigantic headache of turning our house inside-out for extermination purposes, the disappointment of not getting internet access at our new home (at the outset of this bread thing, I was planning to blog every day as part of my discipline), the scare of a smoking--yes, SMOKING!--washing machine, and a few trips between new home and old home (the second time I remembered to pack flour, salt, and my arsenal of leavens along with a week's-worth of clothing for the family). Ah, yes, and we're going camping this weekend. Have I really decided to make fresh bread every day?!? It's beginning to feel like a discipline rather than a pleasant exercise, and the whole being-mindful-of-God's-goodness thing has become a lot more relevant (read: "difficult") too.

But I suppose that's the point of a discipline, eh? Sticking with something no matter what happens to make you want to quit it. And I have been, actually.

Some days I've really needed the reminder that God is good and is going to take care of my needs. My husband and I have joked about all the calamities that have been striking us, but we're both healthy; we have a beautiful baby; we get to spend time with our families; materially, we're not in need; we have plenty of food to eat and lots of good friends to share it with; our new neighbors are great . . . I could really go on and on. Do I need to worry about getting renters for our old house or sob over some of the disappointments of our new place? Maybe a little. But I think my faith in God can supersede those things. One day at a time.

SO! This is a cooking blog, right? And maybe you're wondering about the picture I started off with.

One of the delightful meals I got to make this month (the 1st of March to be exact) was a pork pot pie with a soda bread crust (that satisfied the daily bread requirement). I browned, then stewed a half pound of pork tenderloin with some onions and garlic, then added cooked potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peas to it along with a vegetable gravy to thicken it up. The vegetable gravy was made with a roux (melted butter and flour) to which I added a veggie broth I made by boiling the veg skins I had from the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions. I also added some veg bouillon to deepen the flavor. The filling all got dumped in my cast iron skillet then covered with the soda bread crust (recipe from an Irish cookbook I have) and baked until the crust was done. YUM! Only things I would change are less salt in the crust and a bit thicker/chunkier filling (I had a limited veg selection on hand). I also think this could easily be made all in the skillet rather than three different pans. Don't you like the cute country hearts on the crust, though? =)

Famous Casserole

I don't make casseroles very often. I'm more of a stove-top cook. Maybe it's the time involved; maybe it's the fact that I have to use so much energy to heat the oven. But when you're having a potluck at your home, the appeal of a casserole grows. I wanted to keep things simple for home group potlucks, so I was doing the soup thing. Soup is simple, right? Well, when you don't have a table that more than six people can sit around comfortably, and guests are trying to juggle bowl, plate, and cup on their knees as they sit on a couch . . . well, the simplicity factor warps a bit. Not to mention the extra clean-up (from potential spills as well as the extra dishes).

So for my second hosting attempt, I did the casserole thing. It's still a one-pot dish. One plate. No hot liquids. You see the appeal.

I took my original soup idea, made it less liquid-y, added some rice, popped it into the oven for 30 minutes, and . . .

Anita's Famous Butternut-Bean Chipotle Casserole* is born!
(yield: one 9 X 13)

olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 butternut squash (or pumpkin or sweet potato), cubed (4 cups)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
29 oz.-can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
15.5 oz.-can beans (I only had kidney on hand, but would have preferred black)
1-2 TBSP chipotle sauce (optional, but then you might have to change the name of the casserole)
3-4 cups cooked rice
cheese (I didn't have any, but this would be a good addition


Instructions: In a large stock-pot saute the onion and garlic in about 2 TBSP of olive oil over medium heat. When onions are translucent, add cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne and saute a few more minutes, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients--except the rice and cheese--and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook until the squash (or pumpkin, or sweet potato) is tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F. When squash is tender add rice and cheese if using, pour into a greased 9 X 13 baking dish, and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle more cheese (I think a sharp cheddar would be delish!) on top to melt before serving.



*(that pretentious title is a joke, by the way, but it was tasty and it got cleaned up pretty fast)

Mushy-Butt Zucchini Dolma II

When I made the zucchini dolma last Friday, there were two peppers and one zucchini that didn't fit in the pan. I stowed them in a smaller pot in the fridge to cook at a later date. Sunday afternoon, between church and running off to a graduation, I took the opportunity. To try to correct some of the flavor, I simmered the dolma in tomato sauce with garlic added to it.

Taste-Tester(s) Say(s): "It tastes more tomato-y; it has more flavor"

Cook's Word: It still needs a lot more salt and tomato paste in the filling. And it was still mushy. My next attempt may include partially pre-cooking the rice so that the vegetables themselves aren't subjected to too much steaming. When I get it "perfected" I promise I'll post my recipe!

Mushy-Butt Zucchini Dolma

For my inaugural post, I was hoping for a huge triumph in the kitchen. What I ended up with was (as per post title) "mushy-butt" dolma. Well, alright, they weren't a total failure (read "waste of time and money"), but they weren't the dolma of my dreams. "Dolma", by the way, means "stuffed" in Turkish.

The story begins, well, I can't remember exactly. Pick one of the following scenarios: at the thrift store where I picked up the corer/peeler do-hicky; on a Sunday afternoon, discussing Turkish food at length with my new sister-in-law (who also lived in Turkey); or at the grocery store when I spied just the perfect dolma-making zucchini. In any case there was a circumstantial convergence such as produced the following display on my counter:

Having scoured the internet for recipes and gathered all the appropriate materials, I felt eager and equal to the task at hand. Thanks to Almost Turkish Recipes for the inspiration recipe.

The corer/peeler do-hicky does its thing to
the zucchinis--insides have been stashed in
the fridge for a stir-fry experiment later on

The stuffing: rice, cooked ground beef, chopped onion,
whizzed tomato, fresh parsley, dried oregano,
Turkish red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, and a
leeeetle bit of olive oil. This stuff smelled a-MAZ-ing!

The stuffing stuff way outnumbered the zucchini
so we ran over to Save and Prosper for some green
peppers. These babies are stuffed and ready to cook!

. . . and cooked . . .

Eaten with homemade yogurt (another
post about that to come, I promise)

Taste-Tester(s) Say(s): "Yummy, yummy in my tummy."

Cook's Word: On my little recipe card I wrote, "needs more salt! Add garlic to filling & tomato paste--don't use oregano!" In other words it wasn't what I was expecting, but I've got some ideas and am determined to try again. Also, I'll try not to cook it to "mushy-butt" stage again.