While I’m partial to the camping standards like hot dogs and
s’mores, I’ve found a lot of fun in trying to get fancy with my
fire-cooked meals, the best one being a skillet dinner made with
rice cooked risotto-style with lots of bouillon-based broth, onions
and chicken. I’ve also tried a
campfire Bisquick apple cobbler, which was good, but the
fire got too hot and the pot didn’t survive the stick.
For those like me, who like the occasional spruced-up campfire
meal, The News Tribune today has a
feature on campfire desserts, going beyond the s’mores
to things like eclairs and camp brownies cooked over a charcoal
chimney.
What camping concoctions have you come up with? The Boy Scouts
have a pretty good Dutch
Oven Cookbook, know of any other good camping
cookbooks?
Recently, I added another bacon/greens combo concoction to my
growing list of greens recipes.
One quick note before I get to the recipe, I should put in a
quick note about identifying the greens. If you are one of those
people who didn’t get the benefit of asking or forgot to ask the
farmer what on earth all that green stuff was you had in your bag,
a couple websites offers some help identifying greens. About.com
has a decent list of greens with pictures and tips for uses. I’m
looking for others, but that seems to be the most complete. PCC
Natural Markets also has a
basic primer on greens.
Also, while I was out in Internet land, I found a few other
greens recipes and added them to my Food
Stories page.
And now to the recipe, or rather “recipe” because it’s an
approximate of proportions I used to make the dish on the fly:
When I decided to join a CSA, I was prepared for what food
bloggers and other folks said would be an onslaught of leafy greens
in the spring, (and summer, and fall). I saw it as a challenge, an
exercise for my budding creative culinary skills.
This winter, I bought loads of kale and a bunch of chard at the
grocery store, looked up recipes on blogs and even came out with my
own
tomato, kale, garbanzo and sausage soup.
I saw this onslaught as an opportunity to get all the wonderful
vitamins and good-for-you things greens provide, and envisaged a
sudden turn to a healthy-eating lifestyle.
And then I got my first bunches of beet and mustard greens.
Actually, I didn’t even know what they were, and failed to ask
before happily and proudly skipping away with my bagful of fresh
goodies.
It seems that while I was contorting to pat myself on the back,
I failed to look up what “greens” actually meant and in what
variety they come.
But this is not a story of a food failure.
In fact, it’s more of a food rescue.
So with the first batch, I made salad. It was … interesting. Not
that bad the first time around, but not regular, tender-lettuce
salad. It got better the second and third days after I beefed it up
with boiled eggs, bacon and other things that I’m sure negate all
the good-for-you qualities fresh greens provide.
I used to laugh at my friends from the South (land o’ collard
and many other kinds of greens) who regaled me with stories of
things like fried lettuce. I’d just about be on the floor, “You FRY
lettuce? You have got to be kidding,” I’d said. Yeah, it was
mean.
But all this was in my head as I chopped up a heaping helping
from my second batch. I fried it in bacon grease then
scrambled in some eggs and topped it all with crumbled bacon.
I will NEVER laugh at my Southern friends again.
It. Was. Good.
And then, on my third trip to pick up goods, a friendly farmer
at Pheasant Fields FarmRed Barn Farm gave me some
tips and the weekly newsletter included a great recipe of garlicky
greens with Andouille and onions to my weekly newsletter. The
recipe came courtesy of Shannon Harkness of , who says she acquired
it from a Cook’s Country magazine.
I made the recipe from the newsletter with mustard greens and
instead of cider vinegar, I used red wine vinegar (it’s what I had
in the house) and keilbasa (because the grocery store was out of
Andouille). I overcooked the greens a little bit, so they weren’t
quite bright green, and they were a touch bitter, but not
overwhelmingly so, just enough to make it interesting.
So, it seems, I’m coming to love the greens in a multitude of
varieties. If any of you have additional greens recipes, please,
please pass them on.
Garlicky Greens with Andouille and Onions
(From Cook’s Country magazine)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 ounces Andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into
half-moon shapes (substitues include kielbasa or chorizo)
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds greens, chopped
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
Brown sausage: Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until
just smoking. Cook sausage until well-browned, about 5 minutes. Add
onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic
until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add greens and vinegar, cover and cook until greens are wilted,
about 3 minutes. Remove cover, increase heat to high to evaporate
the liquid, about two more minutes.
All I can think about today is being outside. I’ve been taking a
look again at
suggestions of best places to head after work on a sunny
day.
And I’ve been craving ice cream, gelato, sorbet and the like
since I woke up. I’ve been particularly wanting to try out a recipe
I ran across yesterday on Foodista, the Seattle-based food
encyclopedia. It was a Watermelon
Ice recipe that was really basic using only sugar,
watermelon, water and some lime leaves. Best part was it didn’t
require an ice-cream maker, just some patience and ability to stir
up the mix over the course of half a day. Because of that last
part, I didn’t quite have time to make it last night, but it will
definitely be tried out soon. I’ll leave a comment here letting you
know how it went. Or if you try it, let me know how it goes.
I’m going to try a raspberry fruit ice, a strawberry and, taking
an idea from a drink I saw at Bremerton’s Hi-Fidelity
Lounge and combining strawberry with basil.
But since my interest in fruit ice was piqued, I looked up and
found a couple other interesting recipes.
I made my first potato salad this weekend. You’d think with
something so easy, I would have done it before, but those clear
little plastic grocery store containers just seem so easy.
Well, with the spectacular sunshine this weekend, I made a go of
it as a side dish with some burgers.
I read up a little on the basics and whipped together one of my
own. I got a few tips from Barbara Lauternach’s
“Potato Salad”, which reminded me that there really are
hundreds of variations on a potato salad (her book as 50) that
range from ones with vinaigrette-style dressings to things way
fancier than I’m likely to put with a burger. I also searched
around the Internet for various recipes and settled on making a
basic version of my own, noting that most have some sort of
vinegar, mayo and of course potatoes. I also made good use of fresh
herbs growing in my garden.
Other folks add sugar and more crunchy items like relish,
parsley and/or celery. I stuck with some very basic and quick
ingredients, but did change it up a day later by adding a boiled
egg, mustard and paprika to make it a more filling lunch.
I wrote down the basics of what I used below. What are some of
your favorite additions? Or do you have a different basic
recipe?
I made these little cheese snacks this weekend, and the friends
I shared them with seemed to enjoy them.
I’m not kidding about the one ingredient, though you can spiff
it up with herbs, spices and/or a mix of cheeses.
Done right, they can be an airy, crispy snack that happens to be
low-carb (though perhaps high-fat) .
So here’s how you do it. Shred some parmesan cheese, sprinkle it
in circles on parchment paper or a lightly oiled baking pan, bake
at 350-degrees for about 7 minutes, remove immediately from the pan
to cool, and you’re done. If you want, you can shape them
immediately out of the oven by draping them over something or
forming little cups.
You can play around with it by mixing in pepper, cayenne pepper
or other herbs and spices with them. I added finely chopped
rosemary to one batch, but the herbs burned before the wafers were
done. Tossing in a little oil beforehand may have helped.
There were a few lessons I learned while making them:
Watch them while baking: The cheese can scorch and taste
burnt pretty fast. Pull them out when they start to just become
golden.
Grate your own: I tried it at first with some
pre-shredded parmesan from the grocery store, but preferred the
cheese I shredded myself using the tiny shredding part of the
grater. The store-bought had too much powdery grated cheese, which
melts together in a clump and ends up being either chewy or
thickens into something that’s hard.
Keep it thin: When sprinkling, just put a thin
layer for each chip, leave a lot of holes. Most of it will melt a
little together. I preferred something a little more delicate, so
this colors my judgement. I think it’s something that you just have
to play around with.
Not all cheeses mix: Mixing parmesan and swiss
seemed to work well and parmesan with Asiago or other similarly
hard cheese came out great. Cheddar, however, at least the sharp
Tillamook I tried was not a good choice. They don’t melt at the
same rate, so the cheddar ends up being just a burned mess. I
didn’t try it, but mozerella or other cheese with a higher fat
content is probably more likely to melt.
When I went looking for a side dish for
kebabs, I thought of one of my favorite warm-weather
salads, Tabouleh.
This Mediterranean salad is pretty satisfying yet fresh-tasting
and it just happens to be both healthy (it uses whole grains,
vitamins from fresh herbs). I could eat the stuff all day, by the
spoonful. Other folks prefer it in a little more moderation as a
dip for pita bread.
Recipe variations range from ones that run heavy on the hergs,
such as you’ll often find in Middle Eastern restaurants to ones
that treat the parsley and mint like coloring for the grain. Though
it’s usually made with bulgar, variations on the grain also include
barley, couscous, buckwheat (if you’re going for gluten-free), or
rice. To give the dish a more exotic flavor, you can add cumin
cinnamon and/or a touch of allspice. I’ve also seen variations that
include tomatoes, apples cucumbers and other veggies.
(from
How to Cook Everything) 1/2 cup fine- to medium-grind bulgur
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (adjust according to
taste)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups roughly chopped parsley leaves
1 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup shopped green onions
Soak bulgur in hot water to cover until tender, 15 to 30
minutse. Drain well, squeezing out as much water as possible. Toss
with oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Just before serving, add remaining ingredients and toss gently.
Taste, adjust seasonings and serve.
Kebabs have to be one of my all-time favorite barbecue meals.
They allow you to dress up an otherwise bland piece of meat and
make something spectacular out of it. And it’s on a stick. I mean,
who doesn’t like food on a stick?
Shish Kebabs, or marinated meat roasted on a stick, have been
around for centuries. The food is said to come from Turkey,
according to research from
foodtimeline.org and reference librarian Lynne Olver.
The phrase comes originally from Turkish words meaining “skewer”
and “roast meat”.
Three main types dominate: ones with a dry rub, marinated and
ground meat pressed on a stick.
I’m a bigger fan of the marinated type, though I’ve had some
great dry-rub types. A friend once made this delicious dry rub with
cinnamon, cumin and other spices. Kabul’s on 45th Street in Seattle
comes to mind when thinking of places to get great kebabs without
making them yourself.
But Sunday was a stay-at-home kind of night, so I went hunting
online for recipes.
My main criticism of most kebab recipes out there are the calls
to alternate meat, onions and peppers or other veggies. While on
the face of it, having those flavors mix in the cooking wouldn’t
seem like a bad idea, but I’ve never had much success getting them
all to cook at the same pace. My onions usually end up fairly raw
while the meat blackens. So, I generally cook them separately.
But I came across a meat-only recipe that even tasted good
reheated (recipe below). Continue reading →
I’m such a sucker when it comes to mentions of food. When I see
photos or video shots of good food, I almost inevitablly end up
with a craving for it. I am the person for whom the rule “don’t
grocery shop while your hungry” applies.
So it was while I was grocery shopping — hungry —
when I saw a magazine photo of a stuffed green pepper.
I’ve never tried to cook a stuff pepper, and with the image in
my head, I committed myself — while still in the grocery
store — to making some.
Now here comes another sometimes wasteful mistake I tend to make
in the grocery store. I think I can just try to whip something up
with an ingredient that catches my eye. In the process of learning
to cook better, it’s a fun challenge to pull off something new with
existing or new-to-me ingredients. For the most part, it’s a good
thing, but I’ve sometimes bought myself into a trap of not really
knowing what to do with the thing when I get home and letting it
sit until it spoils or not understanding enough about how to cook
the ingredient and making something inedible.
I’ll write more at another time on how I’m working to remedy
that. For now, back to the peppers.
While at the store, I also tossed some Italian sausage and fresh
basil into my cart and dreamed of using up some pearl barley in my
pantry. Several days later, I managed to actually follow up on my
craving and made stuffed red peppers.
Below are the ingredients and portions I used and some notes on
how it turned out. Would love suggestions for improvement.
I think I first had it at a work potluck, a piece of cornbread
sweet and moist and full of enough corn to make it an actual side
dish and not just something to butter.
I asked my good friend for the recipe, and lo and behold, it
ended up being a ridiculously simple corn casserole recipe he got
out of a magazine.
I’ve made my own sweet cornbread from scratch, and it’s not that
hard. And some day I’ll make an all-local ingredient, fresh-milled
corn meal and freshly creamed corn version, I’m sure. But when I
need a quick side (or an occasional potluck dish), such as when I
made
beer batter crab fritters, it’s where I turn. Here’s how
I make it, though unlike the original, I bake them into individual
muffins.
Simple Cornbread Casserole
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1 can corn kernels, drained
1 can creamed corn
Follow the directions on the box. It’ll take about an extra 5 to
10 minutes to bake.
, listed below:
