why everyone needs a pressure cooker

to the vegetarian, it is indispensable. my curiosity was piqued because they were running rampant on every chef/competition show on television, and when i found this bottom-of-line model at bed, bath, and beyond about a month and a half ago for $16 (with a coupon) i thought it sufficiently cheap to experiment with.
and i love it. i can't even see the need for a more expensive one unless i needed a thicker bottom for searing off meat, but i'm not going to be doing that anytime soon.
my favourite thing about it is it allows me to come home from work, decide i want to cook dried beans (not having soaked them the night before), and eat before eleven o'clock. it's so simple. i just use the 'quick soak' method, wherein beans are put in a pot full of cold water, brought to a boil, and then lidded up, the heat killed, and the whole thing left to soak for an hour. after that, a mere 20-30 minutes under pressure has the beans perfectly done. not 'almost done' - perfect.
also tomato sauces can be tossed and a cooked for half an hour that come out tasting like they've simmered for 3 or 4 hours. amazing. i even bought one for the hospital christmas grab-bag ($20 limit - no problem).
be sure to read instructions so as not to put anyone in danger. especially with beans. always soak them (even just a quick soak) - as this will stop them from foaming up, which can clog the vent, and don't fill the cooker more than halfway.

mee krob

it doesn't look very appetizing, it doesn't sound very appetizing (i think it was one of the 'cursed words' in a south park episode), but man is mee krob tasty. traditionally made with shrimp and beef, this recipe is adapted from madhur jaffrey's vegetarian world of the east cookbook. it's basically a vegetable stir fry with deep fried noodles and egg folded in. very yummy. the ingredients are as follows:

• 6 oz. very thin vermicelli style rice noodles
• 1 large carrot, chopped (sometimes, i don't know what i'm making for dinner until halfway through, and chopping helps me to figure it out. in the picture you may notice i have brunoised the carrot, celery, shallot, and habenero - it might serve the recipe better to finely julliene these ingredients)
• 2 celery talks, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 habenero, chopped
• 1 small can seasoned, fried bean curd (or season and fry your own), julienned
• 1/2 a small can of bamboo shoots, julienned
• 3 chicken eggs
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce (the recipe calls for ketchup, which i don't have, but i had a mexican tomato sauce i had made the night before flavoured with cinnamon, which worked quite well)
• cilantro to garnish

first soak the rice noodles in warm water until al dente (~8 min), then drain and rinse thoroughly. allow to drain completely. heat oil at a depth of 2 inches or so in a wok to 360 degrees. lay a handful of noodles into the oil and fry for 2 minutes. flip over the noodle patty and fry on the other side until just barely brown. drain on kitchen paper and repeat with the remaining noodles. when finished frying drain off all but 2 tbs. of the oil (i just decant it into a bowl so i can strain it when it's cool). add all the veg to the wok save the bamboo shoots and tofu and stir fry vigorously over high heat for two minutes before adding said omissions. toss for 30 seconds or so before breaking in the eggs. make sure to break the yokes and stir fry until almost set before adding the tomato, soy, and mirin. break in the fried noodles. reduce heat to very low and cook, folding over every now and again until very dry ~15 min. garnish to your liking and serve with rice and your favourite sauce.
also, n.b. i had no scallions, ginger, or bean sprouts, i think all of these things would have improved the dish.

i wonder what this portends...

does this onion resemble anything to you? no?... just me then...

a whole other relleno

i've said before that one of my favourite foods is the chile relleno, so much to my luck a couple weeks ago rick bayless' pbs show, mexico one plate at a time, did a whole episode on just that! his main point throughout the episode was that while the most popular application of the dish is the one of which i am so fond, the name itself simply means 'stuffed chile.' he then proceeded to make the classic, as well as an ancho chile stuffed with ripe planitains, onion, garlic, and brown sugar, served with a craime freche, and an anaheim chile stuffed with shrimp and cheese, wrapped in corn husks and grilled. i have frankestensteined the two together, somewhat, with my own additions of wit or necessity.
the end of october also saw my last csa basket, which consisted predominantly of squash. i still have a pumpkin and a spaghetti squash i haven't gotten to yet and they're going soft in places. unfortunately, we have been without an oven for the last month and i have been required to steam what i have, or cram it into the toaster oven.
i have done a couple different varieties of this recipe in the last week or so, with fresh and dried chiles. here is the ancho, a dried poblano, the classic chile of the relleno, because it's different, and i would never have thought to stuff a dried chile. i used:

• 6 ancho chiles
• 1 small-medium acorn squash
  
• 1 tsp. fresh grated cinnamon
• 3 cloves, pounded fine in a mortar
• 1 tbs. brown sugar
• 1 medium white onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs. butter (optional)
  
• corn husks for wrapping (optional)
  
• olive oil as needed

soak the chiles in water just off the boil for about five minutes, until softened but still holding their shape. cut a slit into the side of each chile and remove the seeds and membranes.
half the acorn squash and scoop out the seeds, reserving them for another use. drizzle the halves with olive oil and season with the cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper. cover with foil and roast the squash at 375 degrees f for about 45 min. before removing the foil. allow another 15 min. or so for the squash to finish. it should be fork tender. allow it to cool somewhat before scooping out the flesh.
heat olive oil with the butter in a small pan and sweat the onion and garlic with salt and pepper until translucent. add as much of the squash as is prudent to fill the chiles, reserving any extra. sautee the squash until well combined and season to taste. stuff the mixture into the chiles.
now you could serve that just as is, there is no need to cook anything further, but if you are preparing for later in the day, or your filling is messier or needs to melt or something, the corn husks are a lot of fun. you just soak them in boiling water for about ten minutes, place two end to end to end to give yourself a decent working space, and tear one into ribbons for tying. then you can grill or roast them as you like it, no muss no fuss.

dashi

killer stock for clear asian soups, which make an amazing first course, or as a base for miso soup. i've done this twice in the last week, the first time with dumplings filled with spicy mushrooms, and here with cabbage rolls. the idea for the rolls came from a madhur jaffrey recipe for a stew with potatoes, turnips, and seitan. i liked the picture and thought it might be pretty as a soup.
the broth is simple and spectacular. i filled a two quart rice pot with water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, about 10 dried shitake mushrooms, four crushed cloves of garlic, a thumb sized bit of ginger, and a sheet of kombu about five inches square. brought it to a boil and then simmered for about twenty minutes before straining through muslin. the mushrooms are totally usable for anything else, and i saw a recipe in the aforementioned jaffrey cookbook for some kind of japanese pickle/relish using the soaked kombu, though i haven't tried it yet.
for the cabbage rolls i cut the rough center stem (sliced thinly go great in a stir fry) out of about six of the outer leaves of a large head of napa cabbage and blanched the leaves for about two minutes.
the filling was just shredded carrot, garlic, and ginger sauteed together for about two minutes before adding a handful of frozen spinach, covering, and leaving to steam on low heat for an additional five minutes. i placed two leaves end to end before adding the filling, then rolling and slicing like maki rolls. a few of the slices were delicately placed in a soup bowl and the dashi broth then spooned around. a delightful, light first course with cold sesame noodles.
i also tried my hand last week at making both tofu, and seitan. guess what i had for diner... pizza! the seitan worked all right in theory, i used the recipe from the post-punk kitchen. but, no matter how i cooked it up it just tasted like bread to me. maybe the texture of meat, but the taste of soggy, chewy bread. i know i can make tofu taste good and i know i can get the texture that i want, why do seitan and tempeh elude me so? i am here officially giving up on seitan and tempeh. i will not attempt to dick around with these devilish things again, unless, at some time, i taste a dish containing one or the other that is truly sublime. i do not foresee this happening.
the tofu experiment went mostly well, i made the soy milk without problems, anyway. something went wrong with the coagulation and pressing, however (also, i fell asleep for about three hours while the tofu was pressing) - and wherein the problem lies, exactly, i do not know. i will do further reading on the subject before trying again.
other failed experiments of the last week included trying to make agar vinegar sheets, which looked and tasted horrible, and making agar caviar out of herb juice a la the top chef episode a couple back. the mint/cilantro pearls i made were absolutely gorgeous, at least the first few were, before they started to turn brown, but they tasted the same as the vinegar sheets, that is bland and rubbery.
i had the great fortune of seeing an old friend from new york a little bit ago, and she was talking about food as i was staring into her dark, beautiful eyes. in her infinite wisdom she said, 'i like food to taste like what it is.' alas, she's gone, but the lesson i took to heart; experimenting is fun, but it's time to get back to clean, simple, delicious food.

garden tart

so we've been waiting very patiently for our tomatoes to turn red, somewhat daunted and a little bit giddy seeing the two or three hundred fat green fruits weighing down our vines, which have all turned brown and wilted under the strain. but all of august came and went, cool and rainy as it was, and nary a blush. i resigned myself to the prospect of making jar upon jar of pickled green tomatoes. then, about a week ago, under the warm and pleasant september sun, the first little tinge of pink appeared, brightening into an orange glow that seemed to come from within. i am a firm believer in the adage, 'there are only two things that money can't buy: true love and home grown tomatoes,' and while me mum may be happy to pick them half ripe and let them redden inside, i patiently awaited that perfect rubber ball red specimen to manifest itself.
and then the chipmunks came.
like a demon horde belched up from a bloated rodent hell, they came. and they attacked what i loved the most, choosing only fruit just on the cusp. and for awhile, i was a broken man. i had half a mind to loose duncan on the yard, who does not hesitate in the disposal of a chipmunk.
then my csa box came, and on top of the 3/4 bushel box of assorted veg there was another whole box of just tomatoes, of all shapes and varieties. and in the end, our yard held too many tomatoes to sate even the chipmunks gluttony, though i hope they all got the runs. we now enjoy the abundance of our little plot of dirt, and i must think on canning soon. when things get tough, the tomatoes will always win.
this tart is just a way to use up all the abundant squash and tomatoes that late summer brings. just puff pastry with a layer of caramelized onions, then squash sliced very thin on a mandoline, then tomatoes, just baked until the pastry was puffed and brown.
i took what was left of the thinly sliced zucchini, and along with some chioggia beets sliced the same way, deep fried them to make vegetable chips. the beets worked out much better than the squash did.
i also made a poblano and hominy soup that night, as an appetizer, adapting the recipe from one i found from vincent price (he rubs his roast). pretty good, but i didn't take any pictures

thai curry (sorta)

emptying the fridge into something comforting. this is a very egalitarian dish as it welcomes pretty much any ingredient into it. what it isn't is authentic. i spent my day off the other day trying to search out a few things for my kitchen. i was recently inspired by the how to make tofu post on the i eat food vegan blog. i have yet to order my cultures yet, but there was the clever idea to buy muslin at a fabric store instead of shelling out five bucks for two square feet of cheesecloth at the grocery store, or even half that at home depot. so, i am now the proud owner of about five yards of muslin that i picked up for ten bucks, and can strain to my hearts content for about the next ten years or so. i was also looking for agar agar which i failed to find, so i think it'll have to be the internet for that one.
anyway, i was in whole foods searching, and ended up buying tempeh again. i keep thinking i must be doing something wrong, and am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that i just don't like tempeh.
i marinated it in soy, garlic, ginger, rice wine, and sesame oil for an hour, then stir fried it until golden brown, basting with the marinade, before adding it the curry. and it still tasted like soggy bread to me. eh. i need some lateral thinking here, cause i still have the other half of the block in my fridge to use up.
firstly, i had no curry paste to speak of, so i made a quick curry powder by first toasting pepper, cloves, cumin, mustard seed, fenugreek, coriander, dried curry leaves, and nigella seeds in a dry wok. i then ground these with turmeric and a little rock salt in a mortar.
the rest of the ingredients were:

• 1 green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 carrots, cut on the bias
• 2 ribs celery, cut on the bias
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut on the bias
• half a small cabbage, shredded
• handful large green beans, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (these were from my garden, they're getting too big to eat super fresh and need to be pretty well cooked)
  
• 3 large scallions, cut on the bias
• about 4 oz tempeh, marinated for an hour and pre-cooked (i recommend tofu instead, unless you know how to make tempeh taste good, in which case, please enlighten me)
• 3 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 habanero, minced
  
• thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 can of coconut milk
  
• handful fresh basil leaves

i stir fried the carrot, celery, and scallions in a wok with some oil for about two minutes before adding the zucchini, cabbage, and the beans. i let those stir fry for about five minutes before adding the garlic, ginger, and chile. tossed those around for about five minutes before adding my curry powder, though i think a thai curry paste would be better. then i added the lime juice, coconut milk, and basil and let it simmer for ten minutes before serving over white rice.

duncan surveys the bounty

i think this is the best time of year for farmers' markets. those orange striped things are actually eggplant, go figure! and the grey-brown garlic clove looking things are shallots. what plenty! the brown warrior is pleased, he even chewed on the stems of the peppers for a bit.

attack of the killer squash from outer space

i've been very lazy about posting anything this last month, but i certainly haven't been shy about cooking. between the farmers' market, my csa box, and the fact that my little garden has started to actually yield its bounty, i am somewhat swamped with veg. when anyone asks if i want to go out for dinner, i must decline, because there's just too much in the fridge. it all started in late july, as my mum and i had been picking your typical zucchini from the top of the plants, lo and behold, hiding underneath the broad leaves lived and breathed the mongo zukes, the smallest dwarfing my forearm. for awhile we were eating courgettes three meals a day and giving away all we could. i've made my fare share of caponattas and ratatouilles to last me a lifetime (and yes, some in the freezer for when i begin to forget this bounty).
it's calmed down a bit for now, but we still have as many squash as we could like. last night i made eggplant involtini, and threw a slice of zucchini on top of each slice of eggplant. it was pretty good, not that you could taste the squash much, but hey, anything that uses it up at this point. i had no ricotta, so the filling was new goat cheese, an egg, and herbs from the garden with a pinch of nutmeg. the sauce was made from some of the first of our tomatoes to ripen.
it was so yummy i completely forgot to take a picture of it after it was through baking.

summer evening samplers

i've got a little smokey joe kettle grill, the kind that's only a bout a foot wide and sits right on the ground. it is dedicated veg, and flesh will never approach it. but upstairs on the deck is the big gas grill, which has been used to grill meat, and still is once or twice a year when there's family in town that eats that sorta stuff. now the little grill is great because i can sit out on the patio and drink and smoke right next to the food, it's the most relaxed form of cooking in the world. but i don't always have the forethought to get the charcoal going, and sometimes i just can't be bothered, so when it's too hot to put on the oven i'll use the gas grill kinda like an oven or a range, with pans or a grill grate to keep things kosher. last night was one of those little bit of everything summer meals, you can never have too many salad. there was potato salad, tomato basil salad, roasted tempeh (which kinda tasted like soggy bread - i don't think i like tempeh), stuffed jalapenos, beet greens, and fresh from the garden! courgettes and blossoms just lightly heated in olive oil.
a couple nights ago i tried my hand at socca, which is an italian flat bread made with chick pea flour. i did it on the gas grill with a heavy cast iron skillet. it was alright, but a little dry inside, and i've read it's meant to be creamy like a good french fry, which it certainly was not, so i'll know for next time. i topped it with a simple green salad and served it with a celeriac/kohlrabi slaw.
and last week sometime i tried my hand at mapo tofu again, but this time made no attempt to make it authentic, i just cooked in a way that i thought would taste good to me. my major objection last time being the texture of the tofu, this time i used extra firm, which i pressed, marinated, and seared off before adding to the sauce along with many more vegetables. it was much more satisfying to my palette.

country fried tofu with roast onions, mashed potatoes, and gravy

delicious comfort food. all very satisfying. the tofu is from ann jackson's cookin southern, vegetarian style, which is a great depository of tips and tricks for adapting classic dishes, as well as treats no health food cookbook would touch with ten foot pole. i've had these little golf ball size onions from the farmers' market that wanted using up so i cooked them in the style of a dish i like to do with shallots for thanksgiving. the mash was simple, unadulterated, and i'm always trying to come up with a nice, hearty gravy.
for the tofu: mine was leftover from some spring rolls i made the other night, just extra firm tofu sliced about 1/2 inch thick, pressed, and marinated with a bit of sesame oil and tamari. ms. jackson's trick is to dredge it in nutritional yeast and pan fry it low and slow in cast iron till it's beautifully golden all over.
i've talked through good, proper mash a couple times already, but to reiterate: boil potatoes whole, peel, pass through a food mill or ricer, mix with butter and cream.
for the gravy: this was sort of a thickened mushroom gravy, lots of chile, but didn't taste that hot - adjust to your own taste.

• 4 small fresh onions, minced fine, any of the good looking green bits included
• 1 jalapeno, minced fine
• 1 habenero, minced fine
• 3 cloves garlic, minced fine
• small handful dried porcini and
• small handful dried chanterelles, soaked for twenty minutes, minced fine, liquid reserved
• small sprig rosemary, minced
• small handful parsely, minced
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup mushroom stock (i like 'better than bullion,' they have it at whole foods)
• 1 tbs. cornstarch

suatee the onions, garlic, and chiles in olive oil until softened, then add the mushrooms. cook, stirring often, until it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, then deglaze with the white wine. add mushroom stock, bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1/2 hour. combine about 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom liquid with the cornstarch. when ready to serve add slurry and bring to a full boil to thicken.
now for my favourite, the roast onions; i used:

• 3 small fresh onions
• 2 shallots (yes looks like four, sometimes you peel a shallot and there are 2 inside!)
• 3 tbs. butter
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup water
• ~1 tsp. marmite
  

suatee the onions in butter until golden brown all over, a little black is ok, then...


add brandy, enjoy fire! watch for eyebrow singing/arson charges.
add the water and the marmite, then place in a 350 degree oven for ~1/2 hour till the onions are soft and the liquid is reduced to a sweet syrup. yum. the liquid left over after making this is pretty incomparable as a gravy itself, but not enough for all those mashed potatoes.
everything put together and garnished with some basil made for a very satisfying meal.

summer squash soup

a very simple soup. i find that soups are one of the easiest things to make magnificent and memorable with only a gentle touch. other foods can be 'good' even 'great,' but a sublime soup shows up much more often, i think. our own zucchini are not quite harvest ready in the little back yard garden we've got going, but squash is dirt cheap at the farmers' market since the plants produce a huge amount. one of the doctors at my work grew up on a farm in wisconsin and she related this adage, 'you can tell the people who have no friends if you see them buying zucchini at the grocery store.' which didn't sound dirty at all at the time, but when i repeated it to some friends at the bar that night all context had evaporated away leaving only a single and crude entendre - and me not getting what i had just said. anyway, i sauteed three or four fresh (golf ball size) onions, roughly chopped with any of the good looking green bits thrown in as well, with two or three cloves of garlic until soft and fragrant. then, i added four pattypan squash (mine were about fist sized, but a little more or less will not this recipe break), roughly chopped, and sauteed for another 10 minutes on medium heat. at this time i added a tablespoon of dried dill (fresh is fine, i had none) and enough vegetable stock to cover everything up. bring to a boil, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes or so before having at it with an immersion blender. i served garnished with chives and sour cream. also delightful chilled.

mum's cheese pies

to say i learned everything i know about cooking from my mother would not be entirely true, but i learned a hell of a lot from her, and more importantly she imparted to me a passion for cooking -how to wrap the day up with a fine meal like putting a bow on a present. as french gourmand tallyrand put it, "show me another pleasure like dinner, which comes every day and lasts an hour."
this is one my favourite recipes of hers, all the better for its simplicity. she says to have learned it from an old, greek friend of the family, dora.
first you mash up some feta or goat cheese with a beaten egg. in this particular incarnation some suateed spinach was added as well. defrost some filo dough and cut it into strips about 3 inches wide. layer them 2 or 3 sheets thick. place a teaspoon of the filling on one end of the filo strip and then fold up like a flag, sealing the last fold with a little water. fry in olive oil until golden brown. there's no need to grease the filo because of the frying. quite a treat!

rumbledethumps

made this more for the sake of the name than anything else. basically it's just bubble and squeak baked with cheese on top. now i've got no roast dinner's leftovers to use up, but this combines two of my favourite things, mashed potatoes and greens, and is totally worth making in it's own right. in my csa box last week i had some savoy cabbage (i think) so i decided to use that as the green component. i also had garlic scapes, which i didn't even know existed - and now that i do i guess i'll have to wait until next year to get them again. the guy at the farmers' market told me that the green parts of fresh onions and scallions were edible, which i had been uncertain about before, so i threw those in as well.

these are the garlic scapes above, very tasty. i used:

• 4 baking potatoes
• 3 tbs. butter
• 3 tbs. heavy cream
  
• ~6 garlic scapes, roughly chopped
• green parts of 3 fresh scallions, roughly chopped
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 1 small (fist sized) head of broccoli, roughly chopped
• 1/2 head savoy cabbage, or any other dark green, roughly chopped
• cheddar cheese to top
• oil to saute

wash the potatoes then place them in cold water and bring to a boil. simmer 30 min or until cooked through. cool enough to handle, then peel and pass through a ricer or food mill. mix in cream and butter, set aside. in a saucepan over medium high heat saute the onion, scapes, and shallot greens for ~5 minutes until translucent. add the broccoli and cabbage and ~1/3 cup of water. cover tightly and let steam for 10 minutes or so. when everything is cooked through mix into the mashed potatoes. place in a casserole dish and cover with shredded cheddar cheese. bake at 375 f for 15-20 minutes until bubbly and starting to brown on top.
one of my favourite cookbooks, vegetarian entertaining for friends, by simon hope, has a great recipe for cheesy bubble and squeak where, instead of baking, egg and cheese are added to the potato/greens mix with some bread crumbs and flour, formed into patties and then fried. delightful. great recipe and infinitely adaptable. any dark leafy green or cruciferous vegetable can be brought into the mix. this week's rumbledethumps was great, but i've made a most delicious version with brussel sprouts and mustard greens.

grilled salad

one of my favourite summertime meals. who says you can't put everything on the grill? pretty much anything you'd normally put in a salad - grilled. i have here a head of romaine, quartered lengthwise, four slices of bread, one tomato, quartered, and three shallots, quartered lengthwise. - all drizzled with oil and seasoned. the shallots and tomatoes take the longest while the bread and lettuce just need a couple of minutes per side. dressed simply with olive oil and vinegar.

potato gnocchi with mushroom leek cream sauce

fresh pasta is not all that difficult to make and once gotten the hang of sure to impress. i had some boiled potatoes left over from my pot pie the other night and decided to make gnocchi. they came out very well, perfect little pillow-like dumplings. i understand that authentic potato gnocchi contain no egg, but it sure makes them much easier to work with. maybe next time i'll be brave. i used for the gnocchi:

• 2 medium russet potatoes, boiled whole and peeled
• 1 chicken egg
• ~1 cup all purpose flour, plus or minus to feel

put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill to break them up without making them gummy. beat the egg and fold in. now add flour little by little and fold to incorporate. the way to handle this dough is more akin to biscuit or pie dough than fresh pasta, that is as little kneading as possible to bring all the ingredients together. the dough should be still fairly wet, tacky not sticky. i had about 1/4 cup of flour left over which i used for the rolling out. let rest 20 min. cut off a palm sized piece of the dough and roll with flat hands into dowels 3/4" thick. cut into 1/2" pieces and roll each one off the back of a fork, pressing down with a finger to create a concave on one side and ridges on the other.
boil in lots of salted water for ~3-4 minutes when floating vigorously or freeze for later use. sauce with whatever you'd put on pasta. i just sauteed leeks and button mushrooms in oil until browning then deglazed with port and added cream. garnish with plenty of cheese and parley.

pot pie

thursday night i made one of my favourite fallback recipes, veg pot pie. it's a great way to empty out the fridge as you can put just about anything in and it always comes out scrumptious. pictured here with a puff pastry crust, my preferred way to cook it is with a biscuit crust (i was being lazy). i used:

• small head of broccoli, cut into small florets and stems cut into 1/4 in. dice
• 1 russet potato, boiled whole for ~30 minutes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. chunks
• 1 red onion, cut into 1/4 in. dice
• 2 small carrots, cut into 1/4 in. dice
• 2 stalks celery, sliced thin on the bias
• 3 cloves garlic, minced fine
• 1 habenero, minced fine
• 2 stalks tarragon, stemmed and roughly chopped
• small bunch thyme (i'm lazy and just tie it up in cotton twine and fish it out later, most of the leaves fall off while it cooks- for fancier preparations by all means stem it)
• 7 or 8 dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for half an hour and roughly chopped, soaking liquid strained and reserved
• 1 sheet puff pastry or 1 basic biscuit recipe
• wee dram of wild turkey or other bourbon (there's no actual pot in this pie, but there is some booze)
  

heat a saucepan over medium heat with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. cook the onion, celery, carrot, habenero, and garlic for about 10 minutes until translucent. add the herbs and the mushrooms and cook an additional five minutes. now if you're like me and you like pyrotechnics, add the bourbon and enjoy the fireball - it will be big (especially if you've got good high proof bourbon like old rip van winkles 107). if you have low ceilings or some special attachment to your eyebrows you may want to take the pan off the heat, add the bourbon and stir for a minute or two while the alcohol boils off before adding back to the heat. now add in the mushroom liquid, broccoli, and potatoes. you now have a choice to either boil down the sauce to your desired consistency or mash up some of the potato to thicken it. pour into a baking dish, top with your desired crust and bake at 350 f until golden brown on top and bubbling below.

bean sprouts and hot spots

long week. one of my dogs has a relatively minor skin infection that is driving her absolutely mad and she won't do anything on her own (e.g. eat, eliminate). she needs a lot of supportive care and i didn't have time to post anything, but these were the meals of the week.
my bean sprouts exploded. i started with a measly half a cup of mung beans in two pint mason jars (not nearly enough room) topped with cheese cloth and rubber bands, rinsed twice daily for about four days. i got this method from the pictures in the sprouting section of madhur jaffrey's world of the east vegetarian cooking which is interesting only because the text of the section describes something completely different involving zip top bags and a colander. anyway, i would recommend using two quart jars for the same amount of beans and hopefully the sprouts won't look so stunted. they tasted great, though, spicy and crunchy. the most annoying part was picking off all the little green bean skins.
monday night i made spring rolls with fried tofu, bean sprouts, rice noodles, scallion, sesame oil, and cilantro for an appetizer (and lunch the next day) and stir fried the same ingredients with some chopped veg, lime juice, and sriracha for a kind of a pad thai thing for my main course.
tuesday i used the farmer's market morels and tried to make a fancy sauce for some new potatoes. it wasn't inedible, but lacked the rich taste i expected from such a fancy ingredient. i'm not sure if i just didn't have enough of them. with roast tomatoes it sustained life processes sufficiently for me to cook another day.
wednesday and friday were comfort food nights, and i made the exact same thing both nights. taco salad in an edible bowl. it is merely a vehicle for the things i like most to eat: cheese, refried beans, and chiles.

gumbo z'herbes

green gumbo. i love greens. from the first time i had salty collard greens at a thanksgiving potluck on the west side of chicago i have loved greens. up until a year and a bit ago i worked at a little independent pet store. i loved that job because, for the most part, there was always something that needed doing and everything was different. my last year there i was in charge of the reptiles and had, amongst all other things, the task of feeding them. we had an eleven year old sulcatta tortoise (about a foot diameter) as well as two adult iguanas (not at the same time) that had been found in trees in the city (they're cheap and small as babies, but they get big ~5-6 feet) - all total herbivores with big appetites. in addition to this were the omnivorous lizards: the bearded dragons, the uromastyxes (guessing at the plural here), the skinks, etc. so i cut up each week a varied and varying mix of greens that i would wash, dry, and chop up at home then feed to the animals at work. as a result i had a great variety of greenery passing through my home, and needless to say, took my tithe.
mustard, collard, turnip, beet greens, carrot tops, chard, spinach, and all matter of lettuce. since then i have not eaten nearly as many greens (save probably spinach) if it wasn't thanksgiving. but with the farmers' markets becoming lush and my csa basket not letting me choose, i got some greens in the fridge
gumbo z'herbes is a traditional good friday dish with as many different kinds of greens as you can find. my version this night was untraditional, no okra, no file powder, but i've never made a roux this good and i think that sealed the deal. i used (quantities of greens very approximate):

• rainbow chard, stemmed (~1 bunch)
• baby spinach (3 big handfuls)
• beet greens (from one bunch of beets), stemmed - all washed and chopped into ribbons
  
• ~2 sprigs tarragon leaves
• 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
• 1/2 green bell pepper, fine dice
• 1 stalk celery, fine dice
• 3 cloves garlic, fine dice
• 2 bay leaves
• sprig of thyme
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 oz. flour, by weight
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• cayenne pepper, to taste

in a medium dutch oven over medium heat add the oil, when shimmering add the flour and cook whisking often for 30-50 minutes. the flour should get darker and darker while starting to smell crazy good. if you just can't take it anymore, or you're worried it might burn, then add the veg. a brick colour is ideal, but i gave up at a brown roux and it tasted better than any gumbo i've ever had.when satisfied with the colour, add the onion, bell pepper, and celery, cook 7 minutes or so and add the garlic, bay leaves and thyme. cook 3 or 4 minutes more, then add the stock and the greens. simmer 30-40 minutes uncovered and serve over long grain white rice with hot sauce as needed.