The Wandering Spatula

What I've been up to...

2011-10-17T22:13:00.000-04:00

Harvest Corn Chowder

Sorry I can't remember what was in this, but man it was good!!! I had a day of harvesting in the garden and came inside to cook something tasty. I just added a bunch of random things into the chowder like tomatos, zucchini squash (from my Boss's garden), carrots, croutons left over from a dinner at the farm, cheddar cheese, onions, and other things.

Hand-made Pumpkin Ricotta Ravioli with browed butter sage sauce and Gorman Farm Bacon

Notice our new table that my new husband just made us and the chairs we just got as wedding gifts? They were made by Les's cousin out of coffee burlap sacs.

I'm teaching a cooking class this month. So right now I'm perfecting the recipe. I'll get back to you on what goes inside of it.

Spaghetti Squash Stuffed with Everything Good

I've never had good luck with growing squash, but this year the spaghetti squash has grown like gang busters! I've been trying a whole bunch of new things with them. This was pretty tasty and it was all ingredients just from my back yard or already in my fridge.

Half the Spaghetti Squash, scoop out the seeds, and place cut side down in a pan with 1/2 in of water. Bake the squash at 350˚. Take a fork and scoop out the flesh leaving 1/4 in around the outside. Mix the squash with whatever you have in the fridge. For this recipe I had leftover couscous (made with home-made chicken broth), ham from the wedding, shredded carrots, onions, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and chives on top.

Cereal Crusted - Stuffed French Toast with Blueberries

Filling:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and more for cooking the french toast
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 Tablespoons apricot preserves
1 cup diced blueberries
4 thick slices whole wheat bread
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Egg Batter:
6 extra-large eggs
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

Breading:
1 1/2 cups of a mixture of crushed Cheerios, granola, flaked coconut (My suggestion don't use Cheerios. They just don't work well)

In a medium bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of butter and the cream cheese until combined. Add the apricot preserves and mix until incorporated. Fold in the blueberries into the cream cheese mixture.

Cut bread into thick slices. Make an incision on the crust side of the 4 pieces of bread about 3/4 of the way through. You're creating a pocket to stuff the cream cheese mixture into. Gently spoon 1/4 of the cream cheese mixture into each of the 4 slices of bread and gently close the pocket. Refrigerate the stuffed slices while you prepare the batter and breading.

For the egg batter, add the eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, vanilla, and milk to a medium shallow bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Prepare the breading by adding the crushed cereal mixture to a sheet pan. Dip the bread slices in the egg batter making sure to let each side soak for about 20 seconds. Next, dip them into the cereal mixture.

Put a large skillet on medium-high heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter. When the butter has melted add the stuffed bread slices and brown on each side for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from skillet and serve immediately. Top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, fresh blueberries, and syrup if desired.

adapted from: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/04/strawberry-stuffed-french-toast.html

Dinner Parties

2011-08-07T23:27:00.007-04:00

I haven't been able to write in my blog in a really long time so I'm doing two today. Here are just a few pictures of the great things that my friends and I have made at different dinner parties we have had.

The first one we had delicious beer bread, wilted salad, upside-down mushroom tartlettes, and stuffed acorn squash. YUM!!!

The third picture is of a dinner we had where my friends and I made farinata, dolmas, fried squash blossoms filled with garlic scape pesto and goat cheese, kale tahini salad, and tzatziki sauce... We also had goat knuckles, deer burgers, chicken, beef and a bunch of other meat. Oh man I love these dinners and the creativity!! Thanks guys for such great food.

If I have time I'd like to give you the recipes for all of the things I made. Hopefully I'll have time!

PEACH SEASON!!!

2011-08-07T21:10:00.011-04:00

This weekend one of my co-workers got a ton of peaches from a side stand, and was incredibly nice to share them with me. They were starting to get a little overly ripe so I went to it making some delicious peachy-ness!

I made a peach, gruyere, and caramelized onion quesadilla AND a peach, blueberry galete. Yum yum!!!

Tortilla Ingredients:
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- enough

Quesadilla Ingredients:
- gruyere
- onions (fajita-style slices)
- chopped chives
- 1/2 in. slice peaches
- olive oil
- pinch salt
- pinch pepper
- pinch sugar

Tortilla Recipe:
1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Add water until it forms a ball.
3. Knead for about 8 minutes
4. Separate into balls.
5. Let rest
6. Roll balls out flat
7. Heat frying pan on medium heat, add a little butter and fry on both sides.

Quesadilla:
1. stir-fry onions with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar until start to get wilted and golden.
2. Place tortilla in frying pan and cover with cheese, chopped chives, peaches, and caramelized onions.
3. Put other tortilla on top and fry until cheese is melted.

Peach and Blueberry Galette

( I got this recipe and slightly adapted it from http://www.thegalleygourmet.net/2011/07/sunday-dinner_17.html)

serves 6-8

For the Pastry Dough

1 1/2 cups unbleached-all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

10 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3-6 Tablespoons cold water

For the Fruit Filling

1 pound (about 2 large) ripe and juicy peaches, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 half freshly squeezed lime juice

pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of kosher salt

1 Tablespoon milk

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar for sprinkling

Mix together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar until combined. Scatter the butter pieces on top of the flour mixture and use a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse bread crumbs and the butter is the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water over the mixture and mix; repeat with the remaining water until the dough begins to form small curds and holds together when pinched with fingers. (Depending on the humidity in the air you may not need all 6 tablespoons of water- I only used 4 1/2 tablespoons today). Empty the dough onto a work surface. Using a bench scraper, form the dough into a rough mound about 12 inches long and 4 inches wide perpendicular to the edge of the counter. Starting at the farthest end, use the heel of your hand to smear about one-sixth of the dough against the work away from you. Repeat until all the dough has been worked. (This technique is called frisage - I just learned how to do this) Gather the dough into another mound and repeat frisage technique. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold and firm but malleable, about 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 400º F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. (If the dough has been chilling for longer than an hour, let is rest at room temperature for 15 minutes to become malleable). Separate into two balls. Lightly dust a large sheet of parchment paper with flour. Roll dough into a round circle about 1/4-inch thick, dusting with flour as needed. Transfer parchment and dough onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until cool and slightly firm.

Meanwhile, gently toss together the peaches, berries, and lime juice in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt over the fruit and gently toss to combine. Remove the dough on the baking sheet from the refrigerator. Sprinkle top with sugar. Carefully place peaches in a spiral and place blueberries on top in the center of the dough, leaving a 2 1/2-inch border around the edge. Carefully fold one edge of dough over 2-inches of fruit, leaving a 1/2-inch area of dough between fruit edge and inside edge of galette. Repeat folding around the tart, overlapping dough every 2 to 3 inches while gently pinching dough at the pleat, but without pressing dough into the fruit. Using a pastry brush, brush the dough with the milk and sprinkle with the tablespoon of sugar. Do the same with the second one. Bake for 30-40 minutes, the fruit juices should be bubbling and the crust golden brown. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Source: Adapted from Joy of Cooking, 1997 and America's Test Kitchen

Crepes filled with spinach and fondue-style spinach artichoke Dip

2011-02-06T10:58:00.008-05:00

So this is how Les and I eat breakfast everyday. We break out the big wine glasses and garnish our breakfasts. Ha! Just kidding, but today I did get inspired. On Friday I had a cooking class at the farm and the talented Laura Robinson was our guest chef. She taught about cooking with ratios and how if you use simple ratios you can achieve different types of food. One of the items on the menu was a simple crepe, and we had so much crepe batter left over that I was able to bring it home and experiment with the fillings myself.

This recipe reminds me of the crepes I had when I lived in France, and also the crepes I made when I managed the Speckled Bird.

Recipe for the Crepe:

The Ratio: 1 part liquid: 1 part egg: 1/2 part flour

We had one girl in the class who was lactose intolerant so we used water for our liquid. Laura made a great handout for the class which some of the info is below.

Ingredients:

8oz Water (Liquid)
8 oz Egg (1 large egg is 2oz)
4 oz Flour
pinch of Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla (the vanilla extract we use was homemade by putting about 3 vanilla bean pods that you cut lengthwise into vodka and let stand in a mason jar for at least 3 months.)

STEPS
Weigh flour and add to blender along with other ingredients
Blend for 7-9 seconds, or until just combined
Let batter rest in fridge for an hour to ensure tender crepes
Heat 6-7” skillet over medium heat and grease slightly with butter
Add 1/8 cup of batter to pan, tilting to evenly coat the bottom
Let set untouched for about a minute, flip and cook 30 seconds longer

NOTES
1 egg = 2 ounces
1 fluid cup = 8 ounces
Refrigerate cooked, cooled crepes for a week or freeze for a month
If I didn't use the leftover crepe batter I wouldn't have included the sugar or vanilla in the crepe batter since it was a savory crepe

VARIATIONS
Use different liquid base – soy/almond/coconut milk, water, stock, juice
Add a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped herbs
Add ground spices (cayenne, cinnamon, etc)

WHAT TO DO WITH CREPES
Fill with leftovers
Layer with filling and slice like a cake
Use as a base in muffin tins and fill with custard
Use with any number of sweet applications
o Lemon curd
o Jam
o Sauteed apples
o Nutella

For our filling we used something totally different. for my next class on Friday "Cooking with Wine," I'm making a spinach artichoke dip. I was experimenting with it yesterday and had left overs. So I thought yum. Lets add the artichoke dip into the crepes with some of our left over fresh spinach. Yum.

Spinach Artichoke Filling (Fondue-Style)
For this recipe, we used homemade mayo (recipe below), but you can use store-bought mayo just as easily.

INGREDIENTS:

1 8 1/2 oz. can artichoke hearts
1 cup home-made mayonnaise (see next recipe)
1/2 cup Meier’s White Table Wine (it's a local winery in Cincinnati)
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
1 cup fresh finely chopped spinach
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 medium boule of bread (I made some homemade bread using the ratio of 5 parts flour: 3 parts water (plus salt and yeast). I also doctored it up with olive oil, subbed some local buckwheat and rye for standard bread flour.)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Drain artichokes and chop finely. Mix gruyere cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and oregano in a bowl. Set aside.
Gradually add wine to mayonnaise, blending well.
Fold Parmesan cheese mixture, spinach, and artichokes into the wine mayonnaise.
Place in an ungreased 1 quart baking dish and bake, uncovered for 25-30 minutes until hot and
bubbly.
Cut top of boule like a pumpkin. Leaving 1 1/2 inch thick crust, pull out the soft sourdough from the center of the boule, and pour mixture into bowl that is left.
Serve immediately with bread from the inside of the boule, crackers, or vegetables.

Home-made Mayonnaise

The Ratio: 20 parts oil: 1 part liquid (plus yolk)

INGREDIENTS:

1 egg*
2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or any kind of acid; lemon, wine, lime, etc. - I used this because it's from a local farm in Indiana.)
1 tsp water
1 tsp salt
1 cup light olive oil (can use any kind of oil; canola, vegetable, sunflower, etc.)
1 tbsp whey (optional) **

Makes 1 cup
In the bowl of a food processor or bowl, combine egg yolk, vinegar, water, and salt. Whisk until ingredients are combined.
Continuing to blend, stream olive oil drop by drop until it starts to look creamy. It is important that the oil is added very slowly. Once emulsion starts to happen add the oil in a very small
continuous stream.
Once 1/2 cup of oil has been added, oil may be added at a slightly increased speed. Keep
whisking until all oil is added and the mayonnaise sticks to the whisk. Store mayonnaise in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Mayonnaise will thicken more during the chilling process.

NOTES
** Lacto-Fermented Option - After making basic mayonnaise, stir in whey. Store in an airtight
container for 7 hours at room temperature before transferring to refrigeration. Fermentation will extend the mayonnaise shelf life from several days to a month or more. (I haven't tried this yet, but I want to. I'll have to make some farmer cheese to get the whey. That's for another day)
* You can also use just the yolk, if you do this, freeze your egg white until you can use it like in a meringue. I found using the egg white makes the mayo a lighter color and it seemed more creamy to me.

Because of the gruyere cheese and wine the artichoke dip has a rich winy fondue-taste. I got the ratios from the book Ratios by Micheal Ruhlman. Thanks Brian for getting this book for me! It's great and I highly recommend getting it if you like to cook/bake!

Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-11-09T22:12:00.003-05:00

One of my co-workers is leaving the farm (Gorman Heritage Farm) and for her going away luncheon I made some Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting. This recipe uses some of our lavender, and I used the eggs from Findlay Market. I just love being able to cook more with local ingredients. I've actually started teaching cooking classes at the farm now that uses as many local ingredients as possible. I'm hoping to keep this more up to date with what is prepared in the classes. But for now, here is the cupcake recipe.

Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons lavender petals
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

I first infused the butter with lavender using the following method (the ingredients above account for the butter infusion process).

Infused Butter Method from Cupcake Project

* Slightly more butter than your recipe calls for. When you make the tea-infused butter, some of the butter will get stuck on the tea leaves and you’ll end up with less usable butter than you started with. How much more butter should you use? You’ll have to experiment. It will vary depending on the type of tea that you use and how good you are at pressing the butter out of the wet tea leaves. I found that I needed 1 cup of butter to end up with 3/4 cup of butter.

* 2 grams (or approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons) of whole-leaf tea per tablespoon of butter. As Robert says, “The key to flavor is freshness so be sure that you are using only tea that is highly aromatic and butter that has no off aromas or flavors.”

Instructions:

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter until just liquid.

2. Add the tea leaves.

3. Continue heating the mixture for about 5 minutes on low heat.

4. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for another 5 minutes or until the butter is discernibly tinted by the tea leaves.

5. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the tea leaves and then discarding them. This is the part where you will undoubtedly end up with some butter that you can’t get off of the leaves. I encourage you to press as hard as you can, but not to obsess about lost butter – it’s for a good cause.

6. Let the butter come to room temperature and then use it as you would regular butter in your baked goods.

via Baking with Tea – How To Get the Flavor of Tea Into Your Baked Goods ~ Cupcake Project.

Frosting:

Beat lavender-infused butter and cream cheese with a fork (if you have a mixer it probably would make it easier) until fluffy. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time; mix until smooth.

Lemon Cupcake:

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake, and sprinkle with lavender petals.

Adapted from From Martha Stewart Cupcakes, May 2009

via Lemon Meringue Cupcakes and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations on marthastewart.com.

via PrissyCook » Blog Archive » Lemon Mergingue Cupcakes.

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Falafel Wraps

2010-03-14T16:30:00.003-04:00

I just recently moved to Cincinnati and into a house that has two ESL (English as a Second Language) Students. One is from China and one is from Saudi Arabia. So I'm really excited to learn how to cook food from their home towns.

My first attempt was falafel. I don't think it originated in Saudi Arabia, but Abdullah said that he has it in his country. So I tried it, and wow they turned out so well! They are so delicious. I'll have to do this recipe again! And to make it even better my friend Megan brought some hummus she made that has garlic and turnip greens. UM UM UMMM so good. I would have never thought to put turnip greens in hummus, but now I want to do it every time!

These guys are just so great looking that I had to take two pictures. So here's the recipe...

Falafel
Ingredients:

30 oz. can chickpeas, drained
2 medium onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons self rising flour
2 tablespoons Tahini
oil for frying (we used a Fry Daddy deep fryer... I think this is what made it work so well)

Preparation:

Mash together chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, and salt first with a potato masher. Then I just dug in with my hands. It goes faster and you can smash each bean. When it's starting to come together and the beans are mashed up add the tahini and the flour. You want the result to be a thick chunky paste.

Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball.

Fry in oil at 350 until golden brown (2-5 minutes).

Serve in a pita (Abdullah had gotten us Pita bread to show us what they eat for breakfast) with Tzatziki, turnip green hummus, spinach, cucumber, and tomato

Tzatziki

2 cups strained yogurt
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
2 tsp lemon juice
pinch salt

Fold in the cucumber and garlic into the thick yogurt. Sprinkle salt and stir in the lemon juice.

Green Tomato Pie

2009-11-03T09:33:00.004-05:00

So I've always wondered what to do with all of my green tomatoes? It's getting cold and the sun doesn't hit my garden anymore. So I have tons of tomatoes on the vine that won't turn red. So what did I do?? I made a pie!

Ok I know it sounds weird, but it wasn't too bad. I think if I picked the tomatoes off the vine a little earlier then the skin wouldn't be as hard, but it was still a good use for green tomatoes.

This recipe was derived (lots of changes though!) from Food Network's Paula Dean recipe

The crust (not from Paula Dean)
1 1/4 cup flour
4 Tbsp cold butter
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The filling

1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 pinch cloves
5 green tomatoes and a dozen green cherry tomatoes, or enough to fill pie crust, thinly sliced

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

To make crust:

Add flour, sugar and salt and mix together. Cut in VERY cold butter into small pieces. Slowly add water while stirring with fingers until just together and slightly dry. Put in freezer for a couple hours to harden. Then cut pie dough in two equal parts. Roll out one half into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Spray pie pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Then put rolled out pie dough into pan and set aside.

Mix sugar, flour, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl. Lay tomato slices in pie crust. Sprinkle mixture over tomatoes. (Overlapping will occur but tomatoes will shrink in size when baked.) Create Lattice and Pinch dough with fingers to seal edges. Then fold over the sides of the crust with fingers and make V shaped wedges with your fingers to make crust. Put pie in freezer for an hour to set.

Sprinkle lattice with sugar for a shine then cook pie at 375 for 10 minutes then 350 for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Broccoli leaves and Squash Risotto

2009-08-21T14:45:00.006-04:00

I finally was able to cook again! Yah! My friend Amanda Roelle was talking about fermenting vegetables at the Seasonal Salon and she asked if I could bring some veggies from Les' yard to ferment. So I brought back some peppers and some broccoli leaves. The discussion/demonstration went great! Amanda did a great job and made kimche out of the brocolli leaves and peppers (she added cucumbers, garlic, ginger, and salt also). But there was left over broccoli leaves so I decided to make myself a little dinner... Risotto it is! I bet a lot of people didn't even know that you can eat broccoli leaves, but umm they are tasty!

Broccoli Leaves and Pattypan Squash Risotto

Ingredients
4 large broccoli leaves sliced in thin strips
1/2 small broccoli head
large diced pattypan squash (it was from my garden)
1 hot pepper minced
1 tsp black pepper

1 T butter
1/4 c. onion diced
1 green onion sliced
2 garlic cloves
olive oil
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp Corriander
4 cups veggie broth
2 T red wine
1 tsp salt
1 cup risotto
1/4 cup amaranth seeds

mozzarella cheese to top (not shown in picture)

Directions:

Stir fry onions, garlic, butter and oil until just golden.
Add risotto and and fry for a couple more minutes until translucent
Add red wine.
Slowly add in 4 cups of veggie broth 1/2 cup at a time until risotto is tender but not mushy. After first 1/2 cup of broth add in the amaranth seeds.
While the risotto is being stirfried, stir fry up the broccoli leaves, broccoli, squash, mustard seeds, corriander and hot pepper until just wilty about 5-8 mins.
Combine both risotto and Veggies together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add Mozzarella on top for some extra tastiness.
Enjoy!

Serving : 4
Time: 1 1/2 hours prep and cooking

Foraging Walk

2009-07-25T19:12:00.025-04:00

This post is going to be a little different. I'll start with a simple recipe (well kind of recipe), but
most of the post will be about all the plants I found out from a foraging walk that are either medicinal or edible. Check out the instructor's website. Her name is Nance, and I'm amazed at all the knowledge she has about the natural world. It was such a great time! I'm super psyched about foraging now, and one of these days I'm going to make an entire meal on things that I foraged. So stay posted. I also got a book on it, and I'm learning more and more each day. Also, if you click on the images they get bigger, and there is some really interesting details that you might not notice just viewing it small.

So for the sort-of recipe (it's perfect for a side salad)...

Yellow Sorrel and Mushroom Salad

4 sprigs of yellow sorrel (the first picture)
4 button mushrooms
1/8 c of raisins
1 1/2 T of pecan meal
2 green onions
balsamic vinegar

cut up the mushrooms and green onions, separate the yellow sorrel. Then mix all ingredients together. Sound easy? Yep! It is and super delicious!

Please realize that these are notes that I took a couple weeks ago and pictures, and my mind tends to be very forgetful. So before you go and eat or use any of the things I describe, do some research or ask an expert.

The first picture is yellow sorrel from my garden! I had no idea it was edible, and boy is it delicious. I had noticed a lot of it in my garden, but I thought it was clover. Luckily, I thought "oh I won't pick the clover because it's a nitrogen fixer for my garden." Come to find out it's not clover at all, but I'm happy I didn't pull it out. I have so much of it my garden, and it tastes like a lemon. Please don't confuse it with clover though. I just made Moroccan Mint tea today and added a little of the yellow sorrel in it to give it a hint of lemony goodness. In the book that I got, it says not to eat in excessive amounts because it is high in oxalic acid which excessive consumption may inhibit the body's absorption of calcium. The Chinese use this to clear fevers, resolve clots, and reduce swelling, and snake'sbit treatment. Nance suggested making a pesto out of it. I'll have to try that!

This is catnip, which is good in lemonades, is a sedative, and cats go kind of crazy about it. I'll have to bring some over for Mae (Les's cat). Wikipedia said, "Research suggests that in a test tube, distilled nepetalactone, the active ingredient in catnip, repels mosquitoes ten times more effectively than DEET, the active ingredient in most insect repellents,^[5]^[6] but that it is not as effective a repellent when used on the skin.^[7] "

This is Yellow Dock. The leaves and roots can be used as a liver tonic and sedative. The seeds are full of protein. In fact, if you were to live by foraging for your food, these seeds are one of the best ways (well besides meat), to get your protein which is hard to get when you are foraging.

This is Burdoch. The roots, leaves and stalk are edible, but you need to eat it early in the season on the the first year (it's biennial). It takes like artichokes. My book says the roots are good with sesame seed oil, ginger and soy sauce after the root is peeled and boiled (you might need to change the water twice because it can be bitter). You can also make mock celery soup with it.

This is another bienniel that you need to eat only in it's first year. So if it reaches the point of what it looks like in these pictures. You've waited too long. It's called Woolly Mullein. We had this in a tea with mint before we started the foraging walk. It opens up the lungs. You can soak the flowers in oil and it helps with ear infections. My book says that Native Americans lined moccasins with the warm woolly leaf.

This Yarrow or Milfoil. It is an antifungal. The flowers are delcious in tea. It helps sweat, heals cuts when added to oil. The book warns that it looks similar to poison hemlock so you need to get expert identification. The poison hemlock has purple spots on the stem.

These are prickly lettuces. This is very bitter, it's a mild sedative, and antifungal (Nance suggested I use this on my wart on my hand).

This is Chicory. In New Orleans they roast the root and add it to coffee. I should have Les try to use it in his next barista competition. The book also says that the young leave are edible, although bitter, and the you can combine the chicory blossoms with 1 pint of cottage cheese. Sounds interesting.

This one came as a surprise. It's a wild carrot but more commonly known as Queen Anne's Lace. I knew this one before because my dad is allergic to it. But the root has a carroty taste! This is another one that looks like a hemlock which is poisonous. So you need to be careful, but it should have a carroty smell. It is also believed to be a form of birth control, but Nance suggested to not test that theory. The book also says that the florets can be stripped and sprinkled over salads or in meatloaf. It's also a worm expellant. So if you are traveling abroad, this could be something good for you if you think you have worms.

This is mugwort or Artemesia Bulgeris. Nance burned some of this that she dried earlier in the season before we started. It suppose to clear the mind. It is also believe to turn a baby who is breach. It is also a bitter that can be used in home brews (Dad, maybe you could try this in your next beer batch)

I found this one in my garden also! It's Wild Spinach, lambsquarters, or goosefoot. Lots of names for this one. At the end of our walk we ate a wrap made out of this. We wrapped up mint, homemade cheese and wild tart cherry jam that Nance had made. Delicious!

This is Pepperweed, also called poor man's pepper. It is a substitute for pepper. My book also said that the tea from the leaves is said to restore sex drive also.

This is Smartweed or Lady's Thumb. It's called lady's thumb because the leaf looks like a person pressed their thumbprint into the leaf. This leaves are good in salads. This is another one that I see ALL over the place, and had no idea it was edible. The flowers are just beautiful!

This one another one that I see all over the place, and is prolific in my garden is Plantain or Buckhorn. These leaves can be crunched up and used to sooth cuts, burns, and stings. The seeds can be milled up for flour. The seeds are also a very mild laxative. The book also says that the tender young leaves can be used in salads while the tougher ones can be boiled in salt water.

And now here are just some pictures of the people I went on the walk with and Nance (the wonderful instructor). I know what you are thinking. Are they really eating things that are directly off of a train rails, with the run off everything? And yes we were but at our own risk. Nance said that if we were planning on feeding guests to not use the plants here, but this area had a great collection of the plants that she could point out for us to find other places. I'm sorry this was so long winded, but I really wanted to document what I learned, and I thought you might be interested too!

Happy foraging! Oh and if you are interested in what book it is Basic Essentials: Edible Wild Plants and useful herbs by Jim Meuninck.

Amaranth with Hardy Veggie Stirfry

2009-04-21T23:29:00.003-04:00

While in Belize we would cook with Callaloo leaves as a leafy green. Andrea would tell me that most people just think this is a weed, but the greens and the seeds are actually quite healthy and tasty. Then low and behold, I come to Chicago and Dr. J (the women who started Black Oaks Center that we work with through ADPSR) told me she had a dream about giving me amaranth. So she brought some over for me. It was crazy because I had no idea that you could get Amaranth around here. She said that Amaranth grows all over their land. Supposedly Amaranth like buckwheat is a complete protein which is rare for a grain. So tonight I decided to experiment with what I had in my fridge. In Belize they told me you could use the seeds in baking bread, but I read the package and it said that it does well in numerous things. Last week I made a dahl soup and threw some of them in. Quite good. Probably my favorite soup I've made in awhile. Tonight I though hey lets cook it like couscous. It kind of looks like it anyway. And this is what I came up with...

Amaranth with Hardy Veggie Stirfry

Ingredients

2 cups veggie broth (use the broth made from veggie scrapes)
1/4 cup amaranth seeds
(i'd suggest doubling this recipe for the amount of veggie stirfry)

1/2 small onion largely chopped
1 zucchini thinly sliced
1/4 head of red cabbage chopped
1 small beet peeled and thinly sliced
handful of fresh spinach
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 T tumeric
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 T lemon juice

Start with boiling the veggie broth and slowly add amaranth seeds. Lightly boil seeds with veggie broth for about 25 mins. You might need to add more water. Cook until seeds are chewy but still firm and liquid is gone.

Heat oil in a wok. When almost to the point of smoking, add cumin seeds and poppy seeds until they become fragrant (about 2 mins). Toss in onions and garlic until golden. Add beets, cabbage, lemon juice, tumeric, and worcestershire sauce and cook for about 4 minutes. Add zucchini and cook for about 2 more minutes. Lastly add spinach. Cook until spinach is only slightly wilted.

Place stirfry on top of a layer of amaranth seeds.

Enjoy!!!

Pesto, Hollandaise, hardboiled egg Sandwich

2009-03-07T22:00:00.003-05:00

When I made that delicious Vegetarian Eggs Benedict, I had a lot hollandaise sauce left over. So what can you do with it?? Make a sandwich!

Multigrain Bread (from Flourish, I am interning there and helped bake this bread, but I can't share their secret recipe... sorry.. but it's good!!)
Hollandaise Sauce (look for recipe on previous blog)
2 eggs
2 tbsp pesto (I used my mom's homemade pesto. You'll have to ask her about it...)
lettuce (got from my CSA box from Farmer Tom's CSA)

This is a quick and easy sandwich! Slice the bread. Smear pesto on one piece of bread. Smear the refrigerated hollandaise sauce (now should be the consistency of spreadable butter) on the other. Hard boil an egg about 12 minutes so that it the egg yolk isn't completely chalky yet, but it's cooked through. Slice the egg and place on sandwich with the lettuce. Perfecto!

Healthy Blueberry Banana Muffins

2009-03-07T21:45:00.002-05:00

In my previous blog I talked about some muffins that I made with egg whites... hence the hollandaise sauce. This is it...

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 really ripe mashed bananas (if you have bananas that became too ripe to eat. Don't throw away. Place them in the freezer until you are ready to bake.)
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tbsp plain organic yogurt
1 cup fresh blueberries

(I got the base recipe from allrecipes...submitted by ELEMMIRE) I just make a few amendments.

Grease muffin pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together flour, sugars, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder in one bowl.

Then mash up bananas in another bowl with egg whites, vanilla extract and yogurt.

Add the two mixtures together until mixed completely. It's best if you have a whisk (I unfortunately don't have this).

Put batter in 12 muffin pans, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the inside is done (you can check with a toothpick. If there is uncooked dough on the toothpick after you poke the middle, it's not done.)

Enjoy!

Veggie Eggs Benedict (not vegan)

2009-03-01T12:55:00.004-05:00

I just started getting a CSA box from Farmer Tom's CSA and I've been experimenting with all the new food. It was like Christmas time when I opened up my box of foodies. I didn't even know what some of the items were, and I thought I was pretty well versed in types of food. I was wrong. Friday night I made some stewed Indian red and yellow beets (yellow beats? who knew!), and some kale in peanut sauce over rice. They turned out not bad, but I couldn't find my camera. So I'll have to make it again to put it on the blog sometime.

But today I woke up inspired... After all the stress this week brought. I needed to cook with abandon to work out some of my anxieties. Yesterday I baked Blueberry banana muffins (I'll show you this soon), but it only used egg whites so I had egg yolks left over. I decided to freeze them (with a little salt) in ice cube trays so I could use them again. Not wanting to waste the yolks, I started with the idea of Hollandaise sauce....yumm... I am very impressed with this dish and I'm excited to test it out on some friends/family. If you cook this meal, please let me know what you think!

Now to the recipe. *please rememeber I don't measure so the ingredients are estimated* This is what came out of it...

VEGGIE EGG BENEDICT
(pan fried eggs with stir-fryed kale, onions and sesame seeds on top of fresh sourdough with a light topping of hollandaise sauce.)

Sourdough
3 small slices
*see previous blog on how to make your own. Please note amendments to the recipe at the end.

Hollandaise Sauce

4 scrambled eggs yolks
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick melted butter

Kale Stirfry

1 head of kale chopped
1/2 medium white onion
2 cloves garlic (1 tsp chopped)
1/4 c water
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juic
1 Tbsp ginger, garlic and grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp olive oil
dash of sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t savory
1 t sesame seeds

Fried Eggs

2 eggs

First thing you need to make the sourdough.

Hollandaise Sauce (I tried making this at the Speckled Bird Cafe, but mistakenly used egg whites instead of yolks. Doesn't work!!!)
Melt the stick of butter and set aside. Whisk together the egg yolks (please don't throw away the egg whites use them as merengue or in a baking recipe like healthy blueberry muffins OR instead of fried eggs have scrabbled egg whites), salt and the lemon juice. Set up a double broiler, or if you don't have one like me, place a pie pan on top of a small soup pan (preferably one that you can fit the pie pan into but is still resting on the sides) with water in it. Don't let the water boil. It should only be on the verge of boiling and the water should not be touching the pie pan. From there put the lemon juice, egg yolk, salt mixture into the pan and keep whisking. Gradually pour the melted butter into the mixture whisking the whole time. It should thickin and grow in size. It took me about 3 minutes. Take sauce out of pan so it doesn't keep heating and place to the side covered. It probably will form a slight layer on the top if you let it sit for awhile, but if you stir it up it'll be fine.

Kale Stirfry
Place the olive and grapeseed oil into a hot pan on medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry onions (keep left over onion for another dish tomorrow) with garlic until golden brown. Add the chopped kale into the pan and stir fry together. After a about 30 seconds put the water (can use the water from the pan in the hollandaise sauce. waste not want not) into the pan. It should sizzle immediately. Then add vinegar and lemon juice. Keep stirring the ingredients all the while. Then add sugar, salt, savory, and sesame seeds. Continue stirfry until the greens looks slightly wilted but not completely limp. Set aside covered

Fried eggs or (scrambled egg whites)
Make sure you use a flat non stick pan. Put a small amount of olive oil in the pan then break two eggs into the pan making sure they don't touch and egg yolks remain intact. Once the whites turn white on one side flip the eggs. If you like the eggs gooey don't fry too long, but i like mine not gooey so I end up having to break the yolk once the white parts are set.

Now put it all together. Place three slices of sourdouch on a plate. Layer kale then eggs, then a little more kale. Garnish the top of the masterpiece with some hollandaise sauce.

Umm umm good.

Sourdough Bread

2009-01-31T16:00:00.004-05:00

I shadowed this wonderful women at Blackberry Farm about a month ago, and she let me take home some of their 10 year old starter. I brought the starter up to Cincinnati and baked some delicious bread with it!!! I didn't have a baking stone or a proofer. So instead we put it in the bathroom and made a hot bath that made the room hot and steamy. Perfect large proofer. We made two loaves and they worked out great! It's quite easy to make too!

It's based on a baker's Percentage. I made two 1 kg loaves which is the gram measurement. um um good!

Ingredient Percent Gram
Flour 100 940g
warm Water 70 658g
Salt 2.54 24g
Yeast .1 2g
stiff 40 376g
total 212.64 2Kg

Feeding: 25% starter
50% water
100% flour
*I've found that for me equal parts of everything works better

to make liquid start : equal parts flour and water
- feed couple times between converting from liquid to stiff and visa versa
- feed about every 8-12 hour outside and 1/per week in fridge

I realized I forgot to say how to actually make the bread...
Mix together dry ingredients. Then add stiff and gradually add water. Sometimes you'll use less water so just work with it. It'll take practice. Start kneeding bread for about 10 minutes until everything is worked together and the dough is very elastic and cohesive. Place dough into a greased bowl and cover loosely. Place in an area that is preferably 80 degrees F. Let rise for about 2 hours. Take out dough onto a table that is lightly floured. With fingers punch down bread. Form into a tight ball (for shaping you should read some books or articles about it). sprinkle flour on top and Let rise again for about an hour loosely covered with syran wrap and flat on the table. Then punch down again and mold into whatever shape you want boule, baguette, loaf, etc. Let rise another 45 minutes covered in a humid place. About 20 mins in start to preheat oven and place a metal pan in broiler and baking stone in the oven. Cut slits on top of bread with seratted knife and place on baking stone in preheated oven. Also put three icecubes in the pan so that it'll moisten the oven and set the bread crust. After about 35 minutes check the bread. It should be golden and the bottom should sound hollow when you tap it. Let it cool, and enjoy.

Rollinia and Malay Apple

2009-01-30T19:41:00.004-05:00

I was looking through my posts and realized I didn't blog about this craziness. It kind of feels like a turf ball, but the inside taste like a keylime pie. It's found in Belize, but you won't ever get this in the states because after a couple hours after you pick it, it wilts and isn't edible anymore. It's called a Rollinia... The little red thing in the back ground is a malay apple (not sure how to spell that). That is kind of sweet with a white center.

JaCeKa - Mediterraen Vegetable Couscous

2009-01-30T19:26:00.003-05:00

Saddest thing... my dad and I decided to play chef about 2 months ago, and I wrote the recipe down, but now.... 2 months later, I lost the sheet and forget what was on it. It was DELICIOUS!!! Incredibly rich and just umm good. Here is a picture of it. I'll try to tell you what was in it, but it could be completely wrong, and I don't remember the amounts.

Diced eggplant
artichoke hearts
onions
canned tomatoes
kalmata olives
cumin
olive oil
lemon juice
cayenne pepper
allspice
Parmesan cheese on top (this was VERY VERY STRONG cheese. I found out later that I'm allergic to it. It makes my geographic tongue act up. Sad because this was some incredible cheese.)

on top of garlic and pine nut couscous.

Man it was so good. I'll see if I can duplicate it.

Caramelized Fry jacks

2008-09-19T23:39:00.006-04:00

Not quite the fry jacks in Belize, but I tried... Next time I suggest that the sugar sprinkled on after they are fried.

3 c flour

1 1/2 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar + sugar to cover tortilla

1 tsp salt

water

2 tbsp coconut oil + coconut oil for frying

Mix together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder well

add oil and mix well

add water until ingredients are wet but dough still sticks together and doesn't stick to you hands

knead until dough gets kind of elastic

pat out into a tortilla

cut in half

heat oil until almost smoking

cover tortilla with sugar (after doing it.. it's better if you do this step after frying)

place in oil until puffs up and is golden

yum yum!

In belize they make them without sugar and serve with refried beans and eggs. They seem to puff better than mine. It's a work in progress!

Sweet pepper Quiche

2008-09-19T23:27:00.003-04:00

Another Guatemalan trial with not many ingredients.

Ingredients:

7 packs of club crackers

1 stick butter

2 red sweet pepers

6 eggs

1 cup cream

salt

crunch up the saltine crackers with butter and water around the outside of the pan

Put pepper and onion in crust

Mix eggs, salt, pepper, and cream

pour over veggies

bake at 350 degrees until golden on top about 45 mins.

pepper

Pad Thai Guatemalan Style

2008-09-19T23:10:00.002-04:00

It's really not Guatemalan style, it's just we didn't have any ingredients really. So I made it just with what we had and it actually tasted good.

Ingredients:

3 c cooked rice

2 garlic cloves

1 onion chopped

1 c chopped broccoli

2 carrots chopped

2 tbs ketchup

1/4 c soy sauce

2 tbsp mustard

3 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp hot sauce

parmesan as decoration

saute veggies until slightly softer but still crunchy.

Mix wet ingredients together

put cooked rice in pan

put in sauce

cook until everything looks mixed thoroughly

serve

Chuchitos

2008-09-19T22:28:00.003-04:00

While I was in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala, I helped make these with a Mayan family for the campesinos that were going to come and hopefully join a coffee cooperative. It was so much fun. Hard to understand. They went between speaking Kaqchikel and Spanish which I know only slightly. They gave me a traditional Mayan apron. It was so great!

Makes 140

Ingredients:

10 lbs Masa

salt to taste

pepper to taste

8 Red sweet peppers

6 tomatoes

4 green chilies

msg (yikes.. don't use that)

2 packets chicken bouillon

140 corn husks

140 pieces of pork/chicken/carne

boil ground sweet peppers, tomatoes, green chilies, msg, chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper. Mix about 1/4 of Masa in boiled mixture

pat left over masa into tortillas

scoop tomato mixture onto tortilla, and make tortilla look like a taco

place in corn husk and wrap like the picture.

boil chuchitos for about 3-4 hours

Also good if you take it out of the corn husk and grill.

yumm... but don't eat local pork in Guatemala. pork = crazy rash and giardia... fun times!

Guiness Pancakes w/ caramelized bananas and cream

2008-08-17T23:42:00.006-04:00

Inspired from Dan Divelbiss. (Definitely the ultimate Bachelor food) He normally makes it with boxed pancakes, but I would haven't any of that. So this was my attempt at making box Guiness Pancakes...

3 c. flour
1/2 c sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 1/2 cans of Guiness
butter to grease pan
100% cream
2 bananas thinly sliced

Pancakes:
Combined flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir together completely. Add eggs and stir together. Add Guiness until it creates a thick soupy texture.

Heat pan and put butter in pan. Pour about 1/2 a cup of mixture onto the pan. Once the batter stops bubbling, flip pancake and heat through.

To make caramelized bananas:
Thinly slice bananas. Heat pan with about 1/2 stick butter. Place bananas in pan and put about 3 tbsp sugar. Mix together in pan. Stir occasionally until it turns into a golden brown mush.

Then drizzle cream on top.
Enjoy!

Lychee

2008-08-04T00:54:00.003-04:00

Fruit found in Antigua market. The top picture you can see the actual edible part in Dan's mouth, and the hairy red part is like a peel found on his plate.
It kind of tastes like a grape without its peel, but a little more gelatinous. Good fruit!

Pattaya (Dragon Fruit)

2008-08-04T00:45:00.002-04:00

Crazy fruit found in Panajachel while we were getting ready to go back to San Marcos, Guatemala. It tastes kind of like a kiwi. Yummm... yummm

Tortilla Espanola (Spanish Omelete)

2008-08-03T23:22:00.008-04:00

When I first experienced this dish I was in Annecy, France. One of my friends, Sylvan, from Spain prepared this dish for one of our "family dinners" with the Salomon interns. Then again in Belize , another one of my friends, Joanna, prepared this dish for me while I was down in Punta Gorda, Belize for a meeting with OVA (Organic Vanilla Association). So now, in Guatemala, I prepared this dish for Les, Dan Dake, and Dan Divelbiss before a long night of Scrabble. Practicing my Spanish and bargaining skills, we bought all of the ingredients from a large open market in Antigua. Be sure to wash all vegetables from Guatemala before eating.

Please realize this recipe was made up and not measured. So the ingredients are estimations of what I really used. And I'm living in a bachelor pad where they have no spices or utensils for cooking...

8 huevos (eggs)
4 medium papas (potatoes) peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cebollas (onions) diced. I chose yellow, but any color is fine.
2 large cloves ajo (garlic) diced finely
1 tsp sal (salt)
1/2 tsp azucar (sugar)
1/2 tsp Maya-ik picante sauce (hot sauce)
1/4 lb quesa (fondu cheese) shaved
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
green chilies (for garnish)

Heat pan with 1/2 tbsp olive oil.
Stir fry onions, sugar, 1/2 salt and garlic until onions are slightly golden.
Set aside.
Scramble eggs and rest of salt.
Put 1/2 tsp oil in pan and heat.
stir fry potatoes and hot sauce until potatoes are soft and browning on the sides.
Mix onion mixture, potatoes, and cheese (leave some cheese out to place on top) with egg mixture
Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in pan
Pour egg mixture into pan
As the egg starts to set use a spoon or spatula and pull edge slightly off of pan so the raw egg and fill in that open space.
After egg is fairly well set but middle is still gooey, use spatula and free egg from the pan. Be careful not to let omelet break
Place large plate on top of pan. Make sure the plate covers entire pan.
Using a hot pad (warning it will be really hot!!! trickiest part of recipe) flip omelet onto plate. Gently slide omelet back into the pan (this is to let the top part of the omelet to cook through).
When the omelet is cooked through again flip omelet back onto serving plate.
Sprinkle left over cheese on top and garnish with peppers.
Enjoy