Allergy Eliminiation Challenge- Day 2

Kevin has taken to calling this our Allergy Elimination Challenge, rather than a diet. I think it sounds much better! I'm loving the fact that this new regiment requires me to cook new things! Today I'm experimenting with arrowroot, brown rice flour, coconut oil and xantham gum. Hopefully I'll be able to turn all of those things into a cookie..... Here are a few more recipes from our Challenge! 

Day Two Menu
Breakfast
Sweet potato and banana saute
1/2 grapefruit
1 slice of Food for Life Brown Rice Bread

Lunch
Millet and vegetables
Fresh watermelon

Dinner
Sauteed cod loin with lemon herb sauce
Steamed green beans
Brown jasmine rice
Coconut cookie bites for dessert

Quinoa Vegetable Salad
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh herbs, chopped roughly (I used parsley, oregano and thyme)
1 cup red grapes, halved
1 cup chopped kale
1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Cook quinoa according to package. Meanwhile, saute celery, carrots, onion, and herbs in olive oil. Combine with cooked quinoa. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add kale. Kale should be wilted, but not cooked. When slightly cooled add grapes and chicken and serve. This is a great way to get rid of your leftover veggies and oh, what a tasty summer salad! This meal is gluten, wheat, soy, dairy, nut free and could easily be vegan by omitting the chicken.





Coconut Cookie Bites 
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 TBS ground flax, 3 TBS water (substitute for 1 egg if you're not on the diet)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup ground unsweetened coconut, plus 1/4 cup set aside
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot
1/4 cup potato flour
1 tsp baking soda
Dash of salt
Dash of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until easy to handle. Using an ice cream scoop, make dough balls and roll in reserved coconut flakes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for approximately 10 minutes or until browned and cracking. Note- these are not super sweet cookies. If you want more sweetness, just add additional rice syrup.  

End of summer veggies!

Ahoy there!
It's September and I'm already beginning to feel fall in the air! We deserve an early fall after this very toasty summer. My summer garden is looking terrible and overgrown, and will soon be pulled out for an early fall/late summer garden. Amazingly my cucumbers and bell peppers are still producing. Since my garden is looking grim, I've been visiting the local farmer's market for most of my produce. Last weekend I purchased: green muscadine grapes, yellow squash, tomatoes, eggplant, okra and some green onions. Yum! I put up most of the okra and broiled the rest with onions, garlic, and olive oil. Delish! I know some folks don't like okra, since it's a bit on the slimy side, but it really is a versatile and tasty veggie. So, here are a few end of summer recipes to help use up all those tasty farmer's market finds.

Greek Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
2 large tomatoes
1 cup ground chicken (or not, to make it strictly veggie)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese
Fresh oregano
Fresh mint
Salt/pepper to tast

First core your tomatoes, scoop out as much of the "guts" as possible, then salt and turn upside down to remove excess moisture. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, saute your chicken, adding onions, celery, garlic and salt and pepper. When cooked through remove from heat and add herbs and cheese. Stuff the tomatoes and place in a greased baking pan. Bake 20-30 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and cheese is bubbly. I made these with a side salad and sauteed summer squash. Yum!



Okra Pickles
I wish I could tell you how many pounds of okra I used, but I never measured it. A rough guess would be about a pound, but enough to fill four pint jars.
2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
8 TSP pickling spice
2 1/2 TBS canning salt or Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic
4 dried chile peppers (optional)

Sterilize four pint jars, throughly wash okra, and bring pot of water to a boil to seal jars. Bring vinegar, salt and water to a boil in a separate pot. Meanwhile add to each pint jar: one garlic clove, one chile pepper, 2 TSP pickling spice, and pack with okra. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over okra with 1/2 inch headspace. Seal and place in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. As always, once your jars cool the lids should "pop" indicating they are sealed. If they don't, no worries, just keep the jar in the fridge. These pickles should last up to one year.

It sure has be a while!

Whoops, it's been nearly a year since my last post! Things get busy and so it goes! For my return I bring a new jam recipe, salad dressing and summer dinner. Oh, and a look at the summer garden's gifts! In the basket: banana peppers, miniature orange bell peppers, an eggplant, Rutgers heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and a few straggler onions.


Mixed Berry Jam
4 cups crushed mixed berries (I used blueberries and homegrown blackberries)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup honey (I used delicious wildflower honey harvested right here in the Apalachicola National Forest!)
2 tsp Pomona's Pectin
2 tsp calcium water (comes with Pomona's Pectin but must be made before hand)

As always, sanitize your jars, lids and rings. Crush berries and combine with lemon juice and calcium water, bring to a boil. Meanwhile, combine pectin and honey in a separate bowl. Add the honey/pectin mixture to the boiling berries and stir well. Allow the mixture to return to a boil for two minutes. Fill jars to 1/4 inch from the lip and seal in a water bath for five minutes. The beautiful thing about Pomona's Pectin is that you can use honey or lower amounts of sugar, as opposed to the six cups it takes to make traditional jam.


Quick Creamy Salad Dressing
1 1/2 tbs mayonaise
1 tbs coarse ground mustard
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Dash of olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar

Adjust to taste, these measurements are guesstimates. Yum!


Summer Veggie Pasta
1 small eggplant, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small bell pepper, sliced
1 tomato, cubed
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt/pepper to taste.

Saute the veggies lightly in olive oil, meanwhile toast the pine nuts at 350 degrees until lightly browned. Combine the cooked vegetables, pine nuts, and fresh basil and serve over pasta. So easy! All of these veggies, minus the mushrooms, came from the garden and could easily be substituted for whatever you have available.

Fall was here!

Greetings and salutations!
Fall arrived and then left just as quickly. Last week was cool enough to sleep with the windows open but today we're back up to 92 degrees! The good news is that even though the weather is gone, the fall food has arrived! It's squash season, yum! Last night we had salmon cakes with a dipping sauce over leafy greens and a savory squash soup on the side. Delish! Also, coming soon to a blog near you: homemade granola bars, easy white bread and roasted squash seeds.

Simple Salmon Cakes
1 can Alaskan salmon
1/2 cup crushed savory crackers (any kind will do)
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp dill
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for pan frying

Drain salmon very, very well. Combine all ingredients, add more crushed crackers if salmon is too juicy. Shape into patties and place in hot oiled skillet. Cook on medium heat for approximately five minutes on each side. The outside will be nice and browned when they're done. This recipe makes three medium patties or four smallish patties. One medium salmon cake is definitely a serving.

Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup light mayo
1 tbs Dijon mustard
The juice from 1/2 a lime
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Dash of salt

Combine all ingredients, add more or less lime/chili/sesame depending on your tastes!



Savory Squash Soup
1 medium sweet dumpling squash (Acorn or Butternut would also be tasty)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp marjoram
Approx. 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup milk
Salt and white pepper to taste

Cup squash in half vertically, remove and save seeds (for roasted squash seeds, of course!), place squash cut side down on a baking dish and add water to cover 1 inch. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until a fork easily penetrates the squash. Allow to cool enough to be handled. Meanwhile, saute onion, garlic and herbs lightly in butter. Scoop out the meat of the squash and add to onion herb mixture. Allow squash and onion mixture to get aquatinted. Add enough stock to cover the mixture, approximately 1.5 cups. Remove from heat and pour mixture into blender/food processor. Blend until smooth. Return to pot and add milk, salt and pepper to taste. If soup is too thick add additional stock. Top with croutons or nothing at all!

Dinner Bonanza Day 3!

Welcome to dinner bonanza day 3! Today we're eating Japanese food, yummo! Here's miso soup and marinated tofu served with white rice and pickled daikon radish. The daikon radish can be found in your local Asian supermarket in the refrigerator section. They may be an acquired taste, but they're a staple of Japanese food and are usually served with white rice. Delish!

Quick Miso Soup (Serves 3-4
6 cups dashi soup stock*
7 tbs white miso paste (or red if you prefer)
1/4 block firm tofu, cubbed
2 green onions, chopped
1 sheet of wakame or nori seaweed, shredded

Bring dashi to a low simmer, add remaining ingredients and cook for five or so minutes. Yum!
* I use instant dashi stock. It's a fine powder (almost like instant coffee) that you can find in most Asian markets.

Marinated Tofu (Serves 2-3)
3/4 block firm tofu, in 1/2 in slices
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic and onion. Marinate tofu in mixture for at least two hours, basting occasionally. After marinating, pour off and reserve marinade. Dredge tofu in four and lightly pan fry. Top with marinade and serve.

Dinner Bonanza Day 2!

There's a theme for tonight's dinner! Egg drop soup, Chinese chicken salad and sweet bean paste manju.  The soup is so easy and delicious, not nearly as heavy as the egg drop soup you get at a takeout restaurant.  The salad is my favorite salad of all time, and the manju was an experiment but came out well ! 

Egg Drop Soup (Serves 2-3)

4 cups chicken broth 

4 green onions chopped 

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

2.5 tsp corn starch 

Dash soy sauce

2 eggs

Pepper to taste

Bring broth, ginger, green onions and soy sauce to boil.  Take 1/2 cup of the hot broth and mix with corn starch.  Reduce heat to low.  Lightly beat eggs in a bowl.  Straining through a fork, pour the eggs into the soup while gently stirring in a circle.  Season with pepper and serve.  

Mom's Chinese Chicken Salad (Serves 6)

Salad:

1.5ish cups cooked, chopped, cooled chicken (use yesterday's leftovers if you're following the weekly menu)

Lettuce, I use romaine but any is fine

6 water chestnuts, chopped

6 green onions, chopped

1 package ramen noodles

1 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Crumble ramen noodles and brown with almonds and sesame seeds in a small amount of sesame oil.  Combing all remaining ingredients and toss with dressing. So good!   

Dressing:

4 tbs apple cider vinegar

4 tbs sugar

2 tsp salt

1 tsp accent 

1 tsp pepper 

1/2 c. vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients, except oil, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, allow to cool and combine with oil.  

Manju

From: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesecake/r/manjucake.htm 

2 1/2 cups flour

4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 can sweet azuki bean paste (anko if you're trying to locate it at the Asian grocery store)

Sift dry ingredients together.  Add water and knead into smooth dough.  Separate into twelve pieces, rolling into ball.  Cut 12 squares of parchment paper.  Take each dough ball and flatten, place approximately 1 tsp of bean paste in the center, fold the edges around the bean paste, reforming a ball.  Place on parchment square and into bamboo steamer.  Steam on high 12 minutes.  

Dinner Bonanza Day 1!

Here's dinner! Hang on to the leftover chicken because it's going into tomorrow's dinner! 

Hope you enjoy! 

Whole baked chicken 

1 medium roasting chicken 

Poultry seasoning

1 cup white wine 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat chicken in poultry seasoning.  Bake for thirty minutes then pour white wine over chicken.  Bake an additional 30 minutes or until juices run clear.  Baste in wine juices occasionally.  

Mashed sweet potatoes 

3 medium sweet potatoes 

1/2 cup milk

1 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs butter

1 tsp apple pie seasoning 

Bake/microwave sweet potatoes until tender.  Chop sweet potatoes and mash with remaining ingredients.  I keep the skin on to hang on to some of the nutrients, but you could also peel before mashing if you prefer a smoother dish. 

Creamy cucumber salad

1 large cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced thinly

1/2 cup sour cream

3 tbs apple cider vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp dill 

Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients and allow to hang out 15 minutes before serving.  Season with salt and pepper.

Balsamic strawberries

Got this one from Runner's World Magazine and boy is it yummy!

1 pint strawberries

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Slice strawberries and combine with sugar and vinegar.  Allow to marinate 15 minutes before serving. Delish! 

This week's menu!

This week I'll be trying something a little different.  I'm posting my weekly menu and updating daily with recipes.  Here's this week's menu, tonight's dinner should be posted later this evening.  Hope you enjoy!  

Monday-Whole baked chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, cucumber salad and balsamic strawberries

Tuesday-Chinese chicken salad, egg drop soup and sweet bean paste manju

Wednesday-Marinated tofu, white rice, miso soup, and Japanese pickled daikon

Thursday-Quick chicken pot pie and cakey cookies

Friday-Soba noodles, miso soup and salad 

Blue-tailed skinks and yummy stews!

Hello there! Having finished my internship/grad school I now have lots of time to make yummy dinners! First up is an easy recipe for Chicken and Dumplings, followed by a (not quite as easy) recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon.  Finally, I leave you with a picture of a Blue-tailed skink that was hanging out on the back porch.  Ever since moving a bird feeder to the back porch we've had nature galore! Lots of squirrels, some skinks, lots of cardinals, Carolina wrens and even a few hummingbirds.  The cats fantasize about eating them.  

Chicken and Dumplings (serves 2-3)

For the soup:

1 large chicken breast, chopped into small pieces 

1 large carrot, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup peas

1 can cream of celery soup

1.5 cup water

1 block chicken bouillon

For the dumplings:

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2ish cup cold water

Combine chicken, onion, carrot, celery, 1.5 cups water and chicken bouillon cube in a pot.  Simmer on medium-low heat until chicken is cooked and veggies are tender. Meanwhile, combine flour and salt in a bowl.  Slowly pour cold water into mixture while kneading.  Once dough is well mixed (should be firm), roll into a thin "snake" and let it relax for a few minutes.  Then slice into 1 inch pieces.  Add cream of celery soup and peas to the soup and simmer over medium heat.  Add dumplings while stirring slowly.  Allow dumplings to cook for approximately 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper.  A few notes, for a thicker soup add less water and for an easy variation add the mixture (minus dumplings) to an over safe casserole dish and top with pre-made biscuits.  Bake at 350 for 30ish minutes or until biscuits are fully cooked.

       

Boeuf Bourguignon

Here's Martha's version I modified

5 slices or regular (not low fat) bacon

2 lbs stew beef, cut into 2 inch pieces 

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup beef broth 

5 carrots, sliced into 2 inch pieces

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tbs tomato paste

3 cups dry red wine 

1 cup pearl onions

2 cups white mushrooms

1 tbs dried thyme 

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Chop bacon into one inch pieces and fry in a medium sauce pan.  While the bacon cooks, season meat with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.  Once cooked, remove and save bacon.   Brown meat in the bacon fat in batches, brown meat on all sides cooking for approximately 5 minutes each batch.  Transfer each batch to a waiting bowl.  Once all meat is cooked add 1/2 cup beef broth to the pot.  Bring to a boil and stir to get all the delicious meat/bacon bits on the bottom of the pot.  Once broth has cooked down slightly, add onions and garlic.  Cook until translucent over medium heat.  Add tomato paste and cook for an additional minute.  Add carrots, wine, 1/2 tbs dried thyme, meat and bacon.  Bring to a boil while stirring, then reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer on low for 3ish hours, until meat is tender.  30 minutes before stew is ready prepare mushrooms.  Wash and quarter mushrooms.  Combine mushrooms and pearl onions in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.  Bake at 350 degrees for 2oish minutes, stir occasionally.  Once roasted, combine the mushrooms/onions with the stew and serve with a tasty loaf of French bread.

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, a Blue-tailed skink! 

Curry Rice Yum Yums!

Hi there,
Wow, long time no post! Here is tonight's dinner: curry rice and ginger lime cabbage salad. We used to eat this curry at least weekly in Japan. And, now, thanks to the new Asian grocery store that has opened by our house, we can have it all the time!

Japanese-style curry

1 pound beef/pork/chicken/shrimp
2 baked potatoes, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 portion curry roux (this time we used "Golden Curry" brand)
6 cups water

Stir fry veggies and meat, season with salt and pepper. Once mostly tender add the roux and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until nice and thick. Serve over short grain rice and garnish with Japanese style pickles if you like.



Start with this....


And end with this!

Stay tuned next week for Dewberry Cobbler and pics of the new summer garden.

Down home dinner

Hi there!
Here's what we had for dinner tonight: breaded tilapia, black eyed pea salad, collards and herb bread. Here are the recipes so you too can have this for dinner!

For starters I thought I'd share a quick cost saving tip: make your own breadcrumbs. Bake bread that's getting a little old at 400 degrees for just a few minutes. Grind the toast in your food processor with whatever herbs you like. This time I made Italian breadcrumbs by including parsley, basil and oregano. Saves you from having to buy breadcrumbs and saves you from throwing away old bread!



Now with your handy breadcrumbs you can make this recipe for crunchy baked tilapia!

Crunchy Baked Tilapia
Baste the fillets with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge the fish in your tasty homemade breadcrumbs and bake in a greased pan at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until firm and flaky.

Black Eyed Pea Salad
Combine 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup rice vinegar (alter to taste, more sugar if you don't like it too tart). Finely chop one tomato and 1/2 onion and combine with one drained can of black eyed peas. Combine with vinegar dressing and season with salt/pepper, 1 tsp cilantro, 1 tsp parsley. Let marinate for at least an hour.

Herb Bread
3ish cups flour
1 packet dry active yeast
2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tbs shortening
herbs of your choice
Combine 1 packet dry active yeast with 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 2 tsp salt in a large bowl. In a small saucepan warm: 1 cup milk, 2 tbs sugar and 2 tbs shortening. Heat until just warm (115ish degrees). Pour the heated mixture into the large bowl. Add 1 egg. Add 2 tsp celery seed, 2 tsp basil, 2 tsp sage (or the herbs of your choice). Beat on medium for three minutes. Add additional 1 1/2 to 2 cups flour, just enough to make a moderately soft dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth, about five minutes. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough and place in greased loaf pan or large pie pan. Recover and let rise until about double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.

See my previous entry if you want instructions on collards. Hope you enjoy!

(Imitation) Crabby Patties

Hi there and happy three day weekend!
I made these dudes last night and they were delish! I have to admit these were an experiment so I wasn't particularly precise with the measurements. So here's my best guess, just play around and I'm sure they'll come out delicious!

Imitation Crab Cakes
1 package imitation crab, finely flaked or chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
3ish TBS mayo (you might need more, just eyeball it)
5-6 saltine crackers, crumbled
2ish TBS course ground mustard
1 TSP dry mustard
1 TSP garlic seasoning
1 1/2ish cups italian bread crumbs

Run your crab, onions and bell pepper through a food processor until finely chopped. Combine rest of ingredients except for your bread crumbs. Once everything is good and mixed up, shape the mixture into patties. This made about ten large cakes. If your cakes are a little liquidy just add some of the bread crumbs to firm things up. Dredge the patties in the bread crumbs and fry in vegetable oil until nice and brown on both sides. If you're making several batches you can keep them warm in your oven on low. Oh, and when I got them out of the oil, I gave them a dusting of old bay and sea salt. Hope you enjoy!

Mostly Authentic Asian Dinner

Hi there!
Whoa, two posts in two days! What madness! Last night we had miso soup, a carrot salad and beef gyoza (AKA pot stickers). I must be feeling a little nostalgic for Japan!
Here's the recipe for the pot stickers.

Gyoza
Round won ton wrappers
Ground beef/pork/chicken (Last night I used beef, but I prefer pork)
Soy sauce (sorry, didn't measure, just add to taste)
Ginger (fresh is better, but powdered is okay too)
Mushrooms, chopped real tiny like
Yellow onion, also chopped up real good
Oil for frying

Brown your meat and onions, drain excess grease and add the veggies, ginger and soy sauce. Put about 1/2 tsp of filling in the middle of a wrapper. Moisten the edges of the wrapper with water, fold in half and pinch the edges until they're nice and sealed. Once you've got a bunch ready to go, toss them into the hot frying pan (with oil) and cook until lightly brown. Add about 1/2-1 cup of water (depending on the size of your pan, cover and let steam for about three minutes. Please don't burn yourself when removing the lid, it's going to be steamy in there. Serve with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce and rice vinegar (in nearly equal proportions). Yum! PS- These make great party appetizers, you can make a bunch, refrigerate before frying and bust them out right before company arrives.

Kiss My Grits!

Hi there!
Last night I asked Joe what genre of food he wanted for dinner and he requested Southern. So here's what he got! An appetizer of fried green tomatoes, okra and eggplant. And a main course of shrimp and grits. Now, I just want to say that this is one of my top three dishes. Holy moly is it bad for you, but it's so good! On a side note, all the veggies in the appetizer were home grown. Without further adieu, here are the recipes:

Fried Green Tomatoes
Vegetable oil for frying
1ish cup milk
1 cup cornmeal*
1/2 cup flour*
1 tsp onion powder*
Salt/Pepper

Slice your 'maters 1/4 inch thick, dredge in milk, salt and pepper and coat in cornmeal mixture. Fry for just a few minutes, until golden brown on both sides. Eat.
*Pre-packaged hushpuppy mix works just as well


I didn't plate these up all pretty because we ate them too quickly.....

Shrimp and Grits
(Serves four, or two if your husband is really hungry)
Grits:
1/2 cup stone ground quick grits
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
1 1/4 cups milk or cream
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt/Pepper

Heat the stock and milk, as they begin to boil slowly add the grits. Stir to make sure they don't clump up. Lower the heat and cook for 15ish minutes. Finally, add the cheese a bit of pepper and salt (if needed).

Shrimp:
Three strips bacon
Two cloves garlic, chopped
Peeled shrimp, I used about 10-15
Sliced white mushrooms, about a cup but really, as much as you'd like
1 cup chicken stock
1ish cup hushpuppy mix/fried green tomato mix listed above
1 tsp black pepper

Cook the bacon in pan, remove and crumble the bacon but save the grease. I warned you, this is not low cal! Coat your shrimp with the hushpuppy mix and fry in the pan with your delicious bacon grease and your garlic. Once the shrimp begin to brown add the mushrooms. Saute for just a minute or two. Add the chicken stock and pepper. Let the mixture cook down for a few minutes on a low heat. Top with the bacon you fried earlier. Oh man, so good!



Yum!

Well, tonight is Japanese night at the Davenport Ranch so I'll be back later in the weekend with recipes for miso soup, gyoza and a ginger carrot salad. Until then!

Reaping the benefits...

Of our wonderful garden! Tonight's dinner was 2/3 things we grew! Stuffed banana peppers, polenta with bacon and motzarella and a cucumber wasabi salad.

Look at all these banana peppers! These are just from the last two days! Holy smokes!


And a giant cucumber!


And the final products:


Stuffed Banana Peppers:
Bread crumbs
Boca (or beef, sausage, chorrizo, whatever!)
Yellow onion
Sage
Celery
Salt and pepper
Banana peppers

Finely chop and saute the suffing ingredients, carefully core your peppers and discard seeds. Stuff the peppers and bake at 450 for 15-ish minutes. Yummo!

Turkey Lurkey

Hi there!
I've gotten home after 8PM every single night this week! Except tonight, which is why I cooked a "real" dinner. Stuffed turkey breast, carrots and an herb pasta. That's not the half of it though, all the herbs came from our garden! Yay! Here's how to stuff a turkey breast real good:

1 big delicious turkey breast
1 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 egg
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Basil
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

First you need to butterfly your turkey breast (slice it down the middle but don't cut all the way through). Take your handy dandy meat mallet/meat tenderizer/hammer/something with which to smash and pound the turkey to about 3/4 of an inch thick. Be careful not to punish your meat TOO much, you still need it to hold stuffing! In another bowl combine your herbs, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, egg and a little olive oil. Season your turkey breast, I use a little olive oil, salt and pepper (on both sides). Spread your stuffing on the meat, not quite to the edge, and roll the turkey up! Use some kitchen twine to keep your meat masterpiece from going to pieces. Cook for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Eat it up yum yum!




PS- Tomorrow is Joe's Birthday! He's gonna be 25 years old! Yay Happy Husband Birthday !!!

Soupy soups!

MMM soup! Last night it got down to 27 degrees! Sheesh! Since it was so cold I decided to make a tasty egg drop soup. This is one of the easiest tastiest soups a person can make. Here's what you need:

Chicken broth
2 eggs
Shitake mushrooms (reconstituted if they are dried)
Ginger
White pepper
Green onions, finely chopped
Corn starch

Dice your mushrooms and toss them in with your chicken broth. While your broth heats, whisk your eggs reeaaalllllyy well. Add 1 tsp of ginger and a pinch of pepper to the broth. Take a bit of the hot broth and add one tbs of corn starch, mix until you don't have any lumps and pour the mixture back into the broth. While stirring the soup in a circular motion begin to add your eggs. They should be forming thin ribbons. If they're not instantly cooking, your broth isn't hot enough. Last but not least, add the green onions. See, how easy was that? And here's what you get!  

Nippon

Hello my darling doodles!
This is a recipe taken from our last place of residence, Japan! This is a good easy place to start if you want to experiment with Japanese food. Here's what you need:
Salmon fillet
Cooked short gain rice
Quality green tea leaves
Soy sauce
Salt
Ginger
Wasabi

Salt your salmon generously. Let it hang out for a half hour or so before popping it under the broiler. Broil 5 minutes-ish or until nice and cooked. In the meantime, warm your rice and start boiling that tea. When warm, spoon your rice into a bowl and top with the salmon. Add a pinch of ginger to the tea before pouring it over the fish. Top with a bit of wasabi and some soy sauce. The end! By the way, I served this with a cucumber and tomato salad made with: rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and ginger. I think a tart side dish goes really well with this kind of sweet main dish. Oh, and I almost forgot! Today I planted: chamomile, mine, more basil, dill and lavender. Gardening, here I come!

Din-Dins!

Hi there!
Today was 70 degrees and BEAUTIFUL! Also, I was in a climate controlled office all day. It was tragic! At least there was enough daylight for me to pull some weeds when I got home. Well, today I thawed a whole roasting chicken only to discover that it was actually a turkey breast! What? I know! How does that even happen! Oh well, we ate tofu instead! Fried italian tofu over a mater salad. Delish! Here's what you need:

Firm tofu
Basil
Oregano
Garlic seasoning
Flour
Salt
Maters
Mozzarella cheese
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar

Drain and blot your tofu dry. Slice it how you like it! In a bowl combine the herbs (about 1 TBS each), 1/2 TSP garlic seasoning, flour and a pinch of salt. Dredge your tofu in the flour mixture and slap those puppies in a hot oiled frying pan. It wont take long for these to cook, a couple minutes on each side depending on their thickness. Make sure your oil isn't too hot or they'll be toasty on the outside and cold on the inside. The same thing goes for oil that's too cold, they'll end up really mooshy and oily, ew. I digress, while your tofu is frying, go ahead and chop up your basil, oregano, maters and cheese. Combine with a nice olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt. I like to let this marry for a few minutes before serving. Once your tofu is nice and golden, blot 'em, salt 'em and serve 'em! The end!