We have a great source of local, organic mushrooms. Every week I have the privilege of picking up a couple of these beautiful portabellas at our local farm club. Invariably, I stuff them full of cheese and other complimentary ingredients. Cheese please, I chant!
This is a quick, easy, and always delicious dinner. Last night, I used cheddar cheese, refried beans, hot sauce, onion, and dill. It took less than 30 minutes, start to finish. I baked them in our mini convection oven, to save energy and heat up the house less.
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This recipe for fermented peppers is my absolute favorite ferment. I make it with the abundance of peppers I grow in my garden each year. It works for any kind of pepper. I have used jalapeños, banana peppers, poblanos, and Rio Grande Golds, to name a few. They come out a bit like the pickled pepperoncinis that often come with pizza. I use them in sandwiches, salads, rice or quinoa dishes, and many other ways.
Fermentation is all the rage because of its wide array of health benefits, especially in providing probiotic bacteria that are good for digestion. This will just be a short delve into fermentation basics with some helpful links to explore. Fermentation is a type of pickling. You put food in a jar, cover it in brine, and wait for the natural bacteria to digest the food, enhancing its vitamin content and providing an abundance of probiotic bacteria that will benefit your gut when consumed. You use a saltwater brine to preserve and protect the food while it ferments. This is different than vinegar pickles or any type of canned pickles. Vinegar contains different organisms that aren’t as good for you (they’re not bad though) or no organisms at all. Canning methods use submersion in a hot water bath, which kills the beneficial bacteria desired in fermentation. Pretty much any kind of fruit or vegetable can be pickled through fermentation. The result is tangy and sour. Think sauerkraut, kimchi, and traditional dill pickles. We got the fantastic Aerogarden last year as a gift. It’s a hydroponic garden with a digital display that tells you when to add fertilizer and water. The lights are programmed to go on and off on a daily cycle. It’s about as easy as gardening can be. Ours was meant for herbs, and came with a bunch of little pre-seeded pods that we inserted. We’ve been growing the same set of herbs for about 9 months now. We started with two kinds of basil, mint, parsley, chives, and cilantro. The chives never sprouted and the cilantro finished a few months ago. The basil, mint, and parsley are still going strong. We can hardly keep up! We’re always looking for ways to use the abundance of herbs.
Baking bread has a bad rap. You’ve probably been told it takes all day. Kneading sounds like a mysterious art. You think you have to follow a recipe to the tee for it to come out well. All of this is false.
Baking bread doesn’t have to be a major project. It’s much easier than you think. This particular sandwich loaf recipe is one of many I make regularly. I like it because it’s so flexible and forgiving. You don’t have to be careful measuring the ingredients. You can just heap them all in a mixer or bowl in no particular order and stir it together. I was never a fan of zucchini until I tried zoodles. I received a Vegetti as a gift, and my whole family giggled about the name of the device for days. I initially tried the Vegetti with cucumber, but it didn’t work well. I knew I would have to try zucchini, so I reluctantly looked up some recipes. Now I’m a total convert. This zoodles and marinara recipe has become a summer staple for us.
You guys, this is so easy and so good. It’s just grated sweet potatoes, eggs, and spices. It comes together very quickly. I even left the clock on my stove in the photos as evidence. I started at 6:10 and we were eating by 6:30. This is my go-to meal for when I need something fast without having to think too much—i.e., after zumba! It uses one pan. We always have the ingredients on hand. Most importantly, it is delicious and filling.
Growing your own herbs is the easiest and most beneficial type of edible gardening you can do on a small scale. You don’t need much space, time, or money to grow herbs, and if you like to cook, you will use them nearly every day. Basil is one of my favorite herbs. I am currently growing two types, Genovese and lemon, and I use them all the time. Yesterday, I put torn basil leaves all over my delivery pizza. See, you don’t even have to cook to use garden herbs.
These tips are for growing basil both in containers and in the ground. I’ve successfully grown basil using these guidelines in diverse climates all over the country- south Texas, the Pacific Northwest, and southern Illinois. This recipe comes from Joyce Goldstein's Cucina Ebraica, a cookbook about the cuisine of Italian Jews. Goldstein writes that for this book, she sought recipes with a long history. The name of this particular dish, Pollo Ezechiele, hints at its Jewish biblical origins. Goldstein explains that for much of Italian history, chicken was more expensive than other meats, so the chicken repertoire of Italian Jews of the past was limited. They tended to use the least expensive cuts, like giblets and other odd pieces that could be ground up and shaped into meatballs. Roasted and fried chicken were reserved for holiday and Sabbath meals. I imagine Ezechiele's Chicken may have been a special occasion meal in times past.
This recipe for s'more nut bars is definitely a keeper. It comes from the book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, which I have been reading about all over the food blogosphere ever since it came out. The book includes recipes from the New York bakery that is the namesake of the book. I'm sure I'll be making more recipes from this book (already the brownies and chocolate stout shake-- alas, I didn't take photos), and maybe then I'll spend a little more time discussing the authors' genius. For now though, I want to tell you about one of my favorite (dare I say my MOST favorite?) source for recipes and other food related info, Cook's Illustrated [www.cooksillustrated.com]. Cook's is a subscription based cooking magazine that comes in both print and online format. They have a test kitchen in which they make recipes over and over, systematically varying ingredients and using scientific know-how to create impeccable recipes. They also conduct reviews of kitchen equipment and taste tests. All of their reviews, taste tests, and recipes come with articles explaining the details of the process. I always check to see if Cook’s has a review if I’m buying a new kitchen tool, and I pore over the taste tests before I go to the grocery store.
For me, one of the great pleasures of spring and summer is picking and eating berries. Strawberries are the earliest berries ready for harvest everywhere I've lived, so every year, eager for the season, I find myself on my hands and knees in a strawberry field, covered in mud with red stained teeth and nails. As with most produce, strawberries are best when they are in season, from late spring to early summer. While you can get them year-round in grocery stores, store-bought strawberries never compare favorably with freshly picked ones. That said, if you know what to look for, you can find respectable strawberries everywhere from the field to the farm stand to the supermarket.
Choosing fresh strawberries: Color, while important, is not the most reliable indicator of strawberry flavor. Deep red color on the whole berry, up to the greens, indicates ripeness, not sweetness. Even after berries are picked off the vine, they continue to develop anthocyanins, the pigments that make strawberries red. However, they do not continue to produce sugars, so a strawberry can be very red and ripe, but still not sweet. So how do you choose scrumptious strawberries? Give 'em a whiff. Sniff for a strong, sweet, strawberry smell. The most fragrant berries will also be the most flavorful. |
AuthorMy name is Hillary. This blog is about the everyday food I prepare in my kitchen, with tips and recipes for easy, wholesome, and diet friendly meals. I have been chanting "cheese please!" since I was a toddler, although lately I've cut back on dairy. Archives
June 2018
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