Mesquite Flour Pancakes

Early last fall one of my coworkers surprised me by bringing in two large buckets filled with mesquite pods she had collected from her property. She knew that I have a baking habit and thought I might be able to use the pods. All I had to do was take them to get ground into flour/meal. In Tucson we have a great organization called Desert Harvesters who set up at several locations around town in the fall to grind mesquite pods. Sadly, I managed to miss two different weekends when they had set up to mill the pods. In the end, the lovely pods that I had been gifted became infested with some sort of bug while sitting in my garage. I can not tell you how wasteful I felt. I had such a great opportunity, and I blew it.

Fortunately, acquiring mesquite flour isn’t terribly difficult in Tucson. Mesquites are the most common shrub/tree in the desert Southwest. The pods, ground into a flour or meal, have been a part of local cuisine for hundreds of years. In fact, several studies have show that, like many other desert foods, the sweetness of the meal is deceiving. In truth, mesquite flour can be wonderful for controlling blood sugar levels. Obviously, this is a boon to people with diabetes, but I think it’s really great for all of us.

I picked up some flour from my beloved Native Seeds/SEARCH. It is also available here, here and here. It’s a little pricey, but is used in smaller quantities and in combination with regular flour.

These pancakes have no sugar in the batter. In the picture, they are show with honey as a topping. For the gluten-free folks out there, just substitute your favorite gluten free flour mix for the all-purpose portion of this recipe and you’re all set!

Mesquite Flour Pancakes

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup mesquite flour
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups milk, maybe slightly less
• 2 eggs, well-beaten
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

In a large bowl sift together the all-purpose flour, mesquite flour, salt and baking powder.

In a separate, smaller bowl whisk together the eggs, butter and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. There will probably be some lumps, but if you mix too much your pancakes will get tough.

Pour your batter onto a hot , lightly greased skillet in 2 T increments for silver dollar sized pancakes or in 1/4 c dollops for full-sized pancakes.

Serve with warm honey, maple syrup or fruit preserves.

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UPDATED 1.7.09:

Check out Peter’s comment below if you are planning to make these gluten free.  The picture below is his and shows the difference between waffles with mesquite flour subbed in using his method and plain GF flour waffles (looks like moslty just color to me).  He offers some experience with GF flour mixtures that I don’t have, hopefully it helps!

French Yule Log – A Daring Bakers Challenge

And the challenge this month is…

A French Yule Log!!!

This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

(If you are not fluent in French, as I am not, you may want to consider Google Translator for some of the above links.)

Holy Yikes! That was my first reaction after I read the recipe. What have I gotten myself into? And, now that I have coerced my darling sister to join Daring Bakers as well, what have I gotten us into?

I mean, this was not like any of my previously completed challenges. Éclairs? Scary but, as my first challenge, really exciting. Lavosh crakers? Pizza? Holy heck, the complexity of this dessert was making my head spin.

This month’s challenge made me realize that I’m really starting to benefit from my habit of procrastinating until later in the month by taking in what other bakers share in the forums before I start. Seriously, I don’t think I would have been able to jump the stun hurdle without a little reassurance that others had successfully done this! Many, many thanks to those who took on the challenge before me and posted their experiences in the forums!

As it turns out, none of the individual components of the French Yule Log are all that difficult. The challenge is in reading through the long recipe and discerning the timing and order in which components should be made. I even found that within the recipes for each part I benefited greatly by planning everything out before I executed the first step in the recipe. Preparation is king.

Because the recipe for this Yule Log is very, very long, I won’t post it all here. Below, in order of the layers from top to bottom are the components I prepared (we had some leeway here). If you’d really like to try this at home, shoot me an e-mail. I’ll happily share the recipe with you.

• Almond Dacquoise Biscut
• Dark Chocolate Mousse – between all the layers
• Vanilla Creme Brulee Insert
• Pecan Praline Crisp Insert
• Chocolate Cinnamon Ganache
• Almond Dacquoise Biscut
• Chocolate Icing with Almond

If you look closely at the picture, you can see that my Yule Log was still not completely defrosted when I cut into it. I had let it defrost in the refrigerator for a hour before having it at room temperature for 15 minutes, but that was clearly not enough. I recommend an hour and a half in the fridge, unless you like these types of things pretty solid.

Overall, this was a complete hit with everyone who partook. It was definitely a challenge for me to make, as many of these components were completely new to me. I was scared, but I overcame my fear and just went for it. In the end, everything worked out – and that’s what Daring Bakers is all about!

Khombi Tarkari (Spicy Mushrooms with Ginger and Chiles)

There is no doubt that Dylan and I have always been keen on spice. We love many different kinds of ethnic foods and often feel the spicier the better. I say “often” instead of “always” because there are times that this has come back to bite one of us in the butt. One particular instance, early on in our relationship, has nothing to do with this recipe, but it’s funny and will hopefully transport those who are snowed into their caves to a different place. Hopefully.

For our honeymoon we spent a couple of weeks on the island of Hawai’i (the Big Island). We chose the location partially because we have relatives there and partly because neither of us had been and we were intrigued by all of the different environments on this one island. Plus, it was a lot cheaper than flying to Fiji or Thailand or something. We had a budget to work within.

When our plane first landed, after a layover in Honolulu, we were shocked. Shocked by the alien moon landscape. Amazed by how relaxed the airport was. The airport in Kona is pretty much completely open-air. It’s also not very big. We grabbed our bags and high-tailed it to our B&B.

Our travel plans involved staying in various locations on the island for a few days. As we moved though our trip, we talked to locals about places that lay ahead of us. What should we do? Where should we eat?

By the time we were heading to Volcano Village, right outside Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, it was clear that there was one specific eating establishment that had to be on our itinerary. Thai Thai Resaurant.

It was my birthday and a somewhat special dinner out as part of our honeymoon. We were seated at a small table in this pretty small restaurant. Other tables were in near proximity to ours, but it added to the atmosphere. We ordered. What, I can’t remember, but I do remember that I ordered my dish medium spicy. I’m not sure why I did, as I usually order spicy, but somehow I felt I should be more cautious. Dylan, on the other hand ordered from the extreme spicy end of the spectrum, Thai Hot. That’s right, your spice level choices were mild, medium, hot and Thai Hot.

My dish was perfect. As I sat across the table from Dylan I realized that his, on the other hand, was a bit too much. He was quickly losing the ability to hold a conversation and eat his meal. His forehead was sweating and his face was turning red. I had never, never (and haven’t since) seen this reaction from him. Ultimately, he couldn’t finish his meal and had it boxed to take back to our B&B.

Before we left the restaurant a new couple was seated next to us. They both ordered their meals Thai Hot. We tried to warn them, but they would have none of it. As we left Thai Thai we wondered how their meal experience would be. They seemed pretty confident about their spice tolerance but, then again, that was how we had felt too…

As I mentioned before, the story really had nothing to do with this dish. Well, the fact that there are spices in this dish is a corollary, but it’s not spicy per se, so that’s about the only match. The Thai food we had was all about setting your mouth on fire.  Khombi Tarkari is an Indian dish, not Thai, and creates a balance of beautiful flavors and spices in your mouth.  The recipe is another that we have cooked out of Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking.

If you like mushrooms, you’ll want to try this. We ate the mushrooms on their own as a side, but she suggests also eating them wrapped in a bread as a snack or tossed in a pilaf for a simple dinner.

Khombi Tarkari (Spicy Mushrooms with Ginger and Chiles)

• 3 T peanut oil
• 1 c onion,chopped
• 1 T ginger, chopped
• 2 t garlic, minced
• 2 hot green chilies, minced
• 1/4 t tumeric
• 1 1/2 lb mushrooms, cleaned and cut into 1″ pieces
• 1/2 t coarse salt
• 1 t cumin seeds, roasted and crushed
• 1 t lemon juice
• 2 T chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) for garnish

Start by measuring out all of the spices and setting them aside.

Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3 more minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and chilies and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add the turmeric, mushrooms and salt. Cook, turning the ingredients, until all the moisture released by the mushrooms begins to evaporate and the mushrooms begin to fry (about 15 minutes).

Lower the heat and sprinkle on the cumin seeds and the lemon juice. Mix well and continue cooking until the mushrooms absorb the lemon juice and look fried (about 5 minutes).

Turn off the heat and serve warm sprinkled with the chopped fresh coriander.

Cannellini & Collards Soup

Today was one of those hectic days. We’re all having them right now, as we struggle to get an ever-growing list of things done. I thought I had started out well by really limiting all of the things I planned to do this season. I especially limited the shopping. Many people who usually get store-bought gifts will be receiving something homemade this year (they usually get something homemade too…I’m just finally cutting out the store-bought part).

While this approach has saved me countless headaches (I HATE going to the mall, especially this time of year), it has cost me dearly in time. Yes, it’s enjoyable to make things like cookies and candy. The whole production line scenario, though, can be daunting. Especially about half way through when your blood sugar hits rock bottom because you’ve forgotten to eat lunch.  Again.

I’m happy to report that I am finally all the way through! Today I busted my butt to get all of our packages packed and then took them all to the post office (along with our dolly, so I could wheel them in). $90 in postage later a huge weight has been lifted. No more hustling, at least for 2 days…when I start putting stuff together for neighbors. Sigh.

Oh, you’re still stuck on that $90 in postage, you say? Well, I guess the only explanation is that none of our family lives here with us. Everything must be sent off in brown paper packages. Frankly, I am just glad to have it all out the door. The cost won’t really hit home until I balance the budget next month!

Anyway, after running around all day today I needed to whip up something pretty quick but also satisfying for dinner. With the pressure cooker method for the beans, this took about an hour total (plus the time the beans soaked during the day, I assumed I’d use them in something for dinner). If you used canned beans, or had beans pre-cooked on hand, you’d be moving at an even speedier pace.

Cannellini & Chard Soup

• 4 c cannellini beans, soaked (about 2 c dry)
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 qt chicken stock
• 1/2 oz dried mushrooms
• 12 oz spicy Italian sausage
• 1 bunch collard greens (about 12 oz)
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 T salt

If you’re cooking your beans in the pressure cooker, put them in, along with the garlic powder, black pepper, olive oil and enough water to cover them with 2 inches of liquid. Cook for 5 minutes at high pressure and then let the steam escape naturally by just turning off the heat source. This will take about 45 minutes from start to finish.

While the beans are cooking, heat your stock in a large soup pot and submerge the dried mushrooms in it so they have time to soak. I used a small bag of dried mushrooms I picked up at Trader Joe’s. I’ve also seen dried mushrooms at other chain grocery stores and in a HUGE tub at Costco (which I may purchase someday, when I have $15 to spare, just so I can get at the chantrelles in there).

Rinse and chop your collards into ribbon slices. Set them aside.

Slice the sausages into thin slices as well. If you are using uncooked sausage, cook it. I used a pre-cooked Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage from TJ’s, so all I did was slice and toss.

Slice the onion up into thin strips. Sauté the onion in a hot skillet until it becomes translucent.

Your beans should be finishing up about this time (unless you are a much faster and more efficient sous chef than I am). Rinse the beans under cool water until the runoff is mostly clear.

Add the beans, chard, onions and sausage to the soup. Add the salt, to taste. You may need more or less depending on whether you are using a low sodium or no sodium stock, or not. I waited to add the salt until near the end so the mushrooms wouldn’t soak it all up.

That’s it! Salt and pepper to taste. This pot of soup will serve 6 adults, or 2 with lots of leftovers.

Mmmm. Leftovers.

Caramels for Christmas

Last year at Christmastime we were very lucky to have my mom and sister come to Tucson to stay with us for the holiday.  Usually, we have to travel SOMEwhere, since neither of our families live down here.  Getting to stay home and celebrate with family was truly a treat!

We did all of the usual bustling and prepping.  We had a beautiful tree and stocking stuffers.  We planned a full menu and fun activities to keep us busy between meals.  As part of a tradition we plucked from the West, we got a box of candies from See’s (there is no See’s in Chicago, where I grew up).

Yeah, about that box of candy…we waited.  As long as we could.  Then, on the day they were supposed to arrive we got a call – they would be late.  Very late.  The weather out on the road between Chicago and Tucson was not great.

We opened the box of candies.

Then, before we knew it, they were mostly gone.  I know what you are thinking: are you kidding?  I’m not.  I think we ate them for lunch.

Dylan wanted to get more, especially the caramels.  I looked at him straight on and said, “There is not chance, NONE, that I will be driving over to the See’s at the mall on the day before Christmas.  Sorry.”

So we did what any resourceful people with time on their hands would do.  We started searching the internet for a recipe so we could make them ourselves.  (What would we ever do without the internet?)

We found this recipe on All Recipes and proceeded to completely butcher it.  We didn’t’ have corn syrup and I think we were missing a few other things too.  So, we improvised.  The caramels turned out tasty, but didn’t have a very long shelf life.

This year, we decided to give the caramels another shot.  I mean, why buy something that you can make yourself?  Especially when you can be prepared and have all the ingredients!

Below I have copied the recipe from All Recipes.  If you want to make more or less, I encourage you to visit the original, as you can adjust the number of servings you want and see customized ingredient quantities.

Caramels

• 2 c white sugar
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1 c light corn syrup
• 1 c evaporated milk
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 c unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 t vanilla extract

Start by preparing the pan that you will cool the hot caramel in.  This recipe calls for a 12×15″ pan, which I don’t have.  I did some estimating and came up with two pans that yielded approximately 180 square inches of pan space (I multiplied 12 x 15 to get this number).  In any case, line the bottom and two sides of whatever pan you use with parchment and grease well.  Cooking spray works well for this.

Combine all of the ingredients except the vanilla in a large pot with high sides.  I used my 5.5 qt soup pot and it worked perfectly.  You probably don’t want something that is too tall, because you will need to be able to get down in there to measure temperature/cooking stage of the candy.

Turn the heat on low and stir all of your ingredients to incorporate them. Bring the mixture to a low simmer and keep it there.  You don’t want to cook the caramel too quickly – you will just burn the sugar and never thicken the candy.

Ultimately you want to heat your mixture to approximately 250º.  The temperature indicates how hard the caramels will be.  You want to reach the medium-hard ball stage – you want the caramel to form a smooth yet tacky ball.

You can use a candy thermometer to achieve this, but I highly recommend that you also do some testing the old-fashioned way.  To test the progress of your candy, drop a small amount into a cold glass of water.  You’ll be able to see immediately if you are close to the right temperature (in the above picture, the glass contains the winner).  Pour out the water and handle the little bit of candy.  What you feel here will be the final texture of your caramel, so shoot for what you want 🙂

You’ll know you are getting close to the right temperature when the candy gets much thicker and gloppy (for lack of a better term).  In the picture at the right, my caramel was at about 248º.  It took over an hour and a half to reach this temperature.  Be patient!

Once you reach the desired temperature, remove your pan from the heat source and stir in the vanilla.

Transfer your candy to the pan(s) you prepared and let the caramel cool completely.  I stuck mine in the fridge after 10 minutes on the counter.  You’ll need the caramel to firm up before you can do any chocolate dipping 🙂

As you can see from the photos, we chose to coat some of our caramels in dark chocolate.  The little garnish you see on top is Chocolate Salt, which I won in a giveaway last month.  Thanks to Katie from Salt and Chocolate for that extra special something!

Do you have a favorite candy at holiday time? What is it?

Black Beans & Rice

So, originally I was planning to post a true German Apple Pancake recipe today. Thing is, the recipe I tried this weekend was…well, it was absurdly sweet*. And really eggy. And not exactly what I was going for. Stay tuned, though, I’ll be doing some more research and bringing those almost-savory apple pancakes to you shortly.

Instead, I bring you the meal that saved our aching stomachs after we ate the INSANELY sweet pancake I made. This simple, humble meal? Black Beans & Rice.

D and I met in a sort of study abroad program in college. I say “sort of” because we were only abroad for a month of the semester. We spent most of our time in D.C. interning and studying all things International Environment and Development. Then we went to Costa Rica for a field practicum. Which is another way of saying that our program paid for all 12 of us to go on vacation** for a month.

Anyway, while in Costa Rica we ate a lot of beans and rice – the start of a love affair. Back at school for our last years of undergrad (and our first years living off campus) we ate a LOT more rice and beans – in all permutations. More recently, D has been traveling to Miami every month and always makes a point to fill up on Cuban rice and beans. This dish is his version. Maybe you could call it “Cuban-New Mexican Beans & Rice?” Whatever it is called, D whipped this up while I was in a food coma from the pancake…

Again, we cooked the beans in the pressure cooker. 4 hours of soaking and 10 minutes cooking time at pressure. Can’t beat it! After they were done cooking, we rinsed the beans and added the rest of the ingredients to the pot. If you wanted, you could make this even heartier by adding chicken or, as I did today for lunch, topping with a fried egg.

Black Beans & Rice

• 5 1/2 c black beans, cooked and rinsed (2 c uncooked)
• 1 lg or 2 medium onions, diced
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 fresh green chiles, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 T Ancho chili powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 oz dark chocolate
• 3 c chicken broth, approximately
• dash of Worcestershire (optional)
• 3 c long grain white rice
• 5 c water

Toss all but the last two ingredients into a large pot on your stove top. Turn up the heat and get things simmering. The chicken stock should just barely cover your beans. Easy, right? Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Set your rice and water up in a smaller pot (or your rice cooker). Cook for 20 minutes or until rice reaches desired consistency.

Serve the beans atop the rice. Mmmm…

*Panic: did I measure wrong? No, no. The Cooking Light recipe really called for that much sugar!
**That is, of course, if you define vacation like we do: learning and exploring. We weren’t laying on the beach all day, every day. Only one or two of the days 🙂

Kabocha Squash & Cannellini Bean Spread

I don’t know about you, but around here we’re starting to sweat the grocery bills just a little. Actually, as far back as I can remember I’ve been trying to get a handle on our grocery bill. I think my shock started when D and I moved in together. Suddenly the bill went from my single-girl amount to the single-girl-plus-a-boy-who-eats-a-lot amount. In my mind it doesn’t matter that we have two incomes. It still feels painful to spend so much on food.

This is not because I don’t value food or have an understanding of all the costs associated with producing it. I do. In fact, we’re pretty picky about which foods we do buy – a large part of why our bill is higher than other people that we know. Most of my problem is my own squeamishness about spending money. I feel the same kind of pain when I need new running shoes…

We all know, though, that our grocery bills have gone up in recent months. Literally everything we buy has gone up in price. There are a number of reasons: crop shortages, higher gas prices, increased cost of fertilizer, pushes for ethanol production, and, of course, speculation. I suspect that most folks don’t consider that there are people out there – human beings – who actually buy commodities at a low price and hold on to their stock until they can sell it at a much higher price – thus garnering a profit. It seems so selfish and cruel, right? But, you’ve heard of the Chicago Board of Trade, right? Click on through and check out the right side of the page – the daily closing prices for food and food products. Though I’m sure you’ve heard it a hundred times: All the more reason to shop your local Farmer’s Market or join a CSA.

Enough doom and gloom though. You’ve come here for good food, so let’s get on with the good food business…

For me, when I think of cutting my grocery budget, one of the very first foods that comes to mind is beans. They are amazingly good for you, filling, go in a variety of dishes and are CHEAP. Well, they are cheapest if you buy dried beans. Plus you get to skip the part where they sit in cans lined with BPA, which is nice.

For a long time I’ve been in the same boat as Ali over at Cleaner Plate Club: I love the idea of dried beans, but didn’t prepare them all that often because they are such a hassle. I can never seem to soak them or cook them long enough to make them taste delicious.

Enter the pressure cooker.

I first got my pressure cooker for canning purposes. I tried cooking a few things, but nothing really worked out, so I went back to my normal cooking routines and keep using my cooker for canning. Then, almost randomly, I decided to look in my little pressure cooker recipe book to see if there were tips for cooking dried beans. HOLY WHOA! The booklet told me that all I needed to do was soak the beans for 4 hours and then cook them for 7-10 minutes. Could this be true? I had to find out.

It’s true. It really is. I soaked the beans for 4 hours and then cooked them for 10 minutes (just to be safe). Of course, that’s 10 minutes of cooking time at pressure. There’s additional time to build pressure in the cooker and then release the pressure, but 45 minutes to cook dried beans is practically a miracle considering how long it has taken me in the past. (AND, depending on the size of your cooker, it could take significantly less time).

With my beans cooked and ready to go I decided to make a spread to go on slices of the bread I made yesterday. As everyone knows, Spreads + Breads = YUM.

In addition to my cooked beans I had some leftover Kabocha Squash hanging out in the fridge. The beans provide a rich, velvety backdrop to the sweet squash. At first, I actually wasn’t sure what kind of squash I had, but I identified it using this useful site. If you don’t have Kabocha, just use a similar squash.

Kabocha Squash & Cannellini Bean Spread

The White:

• 8 oz Cannellini beans
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t thyme, chopped
• 1/8 t rosemary, chopped
• 1/8 t white pepper
• 1 T fresh lemon juice

The Orange:

• 8 oz Kabocha (or similar) squash, cooked & mashed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 T olive oil

The Drizzle:

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• 1 T rosemary
• Sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Start by adding all of the “White” ingredients to your food processor. Blend to create a thick paste, like hummus. Transfer your bean spread to a separate bowl, clean the processor and add the ingredients for the “Orange.” Again, blend to create a thick paste (this will be slightly thinner than the bean spread).

To prepare the drizzle, heat the olive oil, garlic and rosemary in a small sauce pan until the garlic turns a golden brown color. Remove the garlic and rosemary and set the olive oil aside.

I served the spread in small bowls. To swirl the Bean and Squash spreads as shown in the picture, tilt your serving dish at a 45 degree angle and fill 1/2 way with bean spread. Keeping the dish at an angle, add the squash spread on top. Swirl with a knife

Drizzle the infused olive oil you made over the top and finish with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Take a deep breath, forget about the grocery bill and enjoy a tasty and healthy treat!

~~~

UPDATE: I’m submitting this to the monthly Culinarty Orignial Recipies Round-up.  Click the button below to see what other folks are whipping up!

A Better Sammich

I have always found warm, crusty sammiches to be some of the very best comfort food available. Cook me up two slices of bread with cheese in the middle and I’ll be very happy. Regular, cold sandwiches can be OK, but I’m never excited by them they way I am by their warmer siblings.

Even though I LOVE sandwiches, I was avoiding doing a post about them. Why? Well, they seem so easy and intuitive. Everyone makes sandwiches. Who am I to write a post about how easy they are to make?

D kept encouraging me. This blog, he argued, is something I designed to be about the food we eat. How could we leave out sandwiches? Though I think his enthusiasm was largely because of the prospect of having deli fixings in the house (which he LOVES), he did have a good point.

Besides, browsing Tastespotting had gotten sammiches on my brain. Seriously, how about this, or this, or this, or this, or this?

I usually pan fry our grilled cheese sandwiches, but I really do love panini-style pressed variety better. I think I like them pressed because they are less likely to fall apart on me as I eat them. Anyway, I wanted to make these in that style BUT, we do not own a panini press. My solution? I decided to try and fashion something that would function the same way, without running out and buying something we don’t really need.

I assembled my sandwich, heated up the skillet and ploped it in. I used bacon grease that was left over from cooking the bacon to fry this guy (waste not, want not), but you could use any oil you choose. To press the sandwich I filled our soup pot with water and gingerly set it atop the sandwich.

In the end, things worked out well, but it was a lot messier than I had expected. Of course, it probably would have been just as messy inside the panini press – and a lot harder to clean.

Because the combinations for a hot, crusty panini sandwich are endless, I’ll tell you what is on the one pictured here, but will also give some guidelines on flavor combos so you can make your own version.

Plum Chutney and Bacon Sammy

• 2 slices of fresh bread (I used half of this recipe and baked a loaf)
• ~ 3 T Plum Chutney
• 2 strips of bacon
• 2 slices aged provolone cheese
• 1 slice of ham

Basically, the componets for a better sandwich, in my mind, are:

• fresh bread – it really does make a difference
• something sweet – jam or preserves, roasted red peppers, very ripe tomato, sweet potato, etc.
• something salty – CHEESE!, deli meat, bacon, marinated tofu, egg
• something with a savory taste – onions, mustard (in this case, the chutney has lots of onions and mustard seed built into it)
• heat

Go make a better sammich! I’d love to hear what you come up with!

Warm Quinoa Salad

It’s official:  N is married!  I’m so happy to have A, her hubby, as a new (official) family member!

The last 10 days have been a complete whirlwind.  Traveling.  Eating. Visiting dear friends.  Eating.  Standing up in N’s wedding.  Eating.  More friend visiting.  Eating.  You get the picture.  D and I actually created a challenge for ourselves about half way through the trip:  consume 3,000+ calories per meal.  We were joking around about it but, with all the deep dish pizza, hot dogs, doughnuts, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian, etc.,  I suspect we actually came close.  I guess that is one of my favorite things about Chicago – food glorious food!

Of course, now it is detox time.  I rarely eat as much sugar as when I am on vacation – even though I LOVE the stuff.  The heavy food started to do me in too.  My system is a little out of whack and begging for some stabilizing food.

I started thinking about making something with quinoa and flashed on a dish I made years ago out of Yoga Journal.  I love the nutty taste of quinoa and I figure the healthy punch it packs – complete protein, high in fiber, blood sugar stabilizer, nutrient rich, etc. – fits well into my light and filling detox meal needs.

As a chronic midday salad eater, I find this to be really satisfying for lunch in the fall and winter.  It also makes a great dinner (for 2) or side dish (for 4 or 5).  It’s also easy to double.

Warm Quinoa Salad

• 1 c uncooked quinoa
• 2 c chicken or veggie stock
• 1 c red onion, diced (about 1 medium)
• 1 medium carrot, sliced thinly
• 12-15 green beans, chopped in 2 inch sections
• 1 medium apple, diced
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1 c spinach, sliced in thin ribbons (about 2 oz)
• 1/4 c toasted pecans, roughly chopped
• 3 T olive oil, divided
• fresh ground pepper

In a large sauce pan, heat 1 T of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the quinoa and toast lightly.  You’ll start to hear a small popping sound when they are toasted – it should take no more than 5 minutes.  Add the stock, cover and cook for 20 minutes.  When your quinoa is cooked it will look like this:

Sauté the onion and carrots in 2 T of olive oil.  When the onion is translucent, add the green beans and diced apple and cook for 2-3 more minutes.  Remove from heat.

When the quinoa is cooked, add the red wine vinegar, toss and stir in the veggie mixture.  Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  This will cook the beans so they have a perfect crisp tenderness.  Just before serving toss in the spinach ribbons and sprinkle with roasted pecans.  Add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Mary’s temptation…

To keep my sourdough starter going I regularly reduce the existing starter down to 10g and then feed it equal parts of flour and water. But what’s a girl to do with all that extra starter that is essentially being tossed out each feeding?
English Muffins!

I came across this recipe over Wild Yeast when I was learning about how to maintain a starter.  It seemed like such a waste to be dumping off part of the starter each night, wasting the flour…it was getting costly since I wasn’t baking bread every day.  This really is a great way to keep from “wasting”  so much flour.  These are rich and delicious muffins.  Highly reccomended!