chilean hot dogs

one of my co-workers is married to a chilean guy and she started to regale us all the other day with stories of the wonder which are chilean hot dogs. of course i had to try them out for myself, because i love toppings. i cannot remember a time in my life when asked the question, 'what do you want on that?' where i replied anything other than, 'everything.' called 'completos' (with everything) or 'italianos' (because of the colours: white,red, green) there are a few variations of exactly what goes on top if you google around. according to my inside source, though, the essentials are as follows: chopped tomato, chopped onion, mashed avocado, mayonnaise, and crushed up potato chips.
i like vegannaise for this and other things, i think it tastes just like mayonnaise and has a better texture. because i am incapable of imagining a hot dog without mustard, into about 2 tbs. of vegannaise i mixed a heaping tsp of mustard and a few shakes of tobasco. the avocado i mashed with a little sherry vinegar for flavour and to keep it from browning, and the onion i soaked in acidified water for five minutes to take a bit of the raw bite off of it.
very simple and delicious, just take your favourite fake sausage thing, toast some buns, slather them with the dressing and build away. finish with the crushed chips on top and enjoy!

egg foo young

i used to work next to a chinese restaurant, where for four dollars you could get a slammin vegetable egg foo young. i realized after a while that despite the assurances of the owner there was no way the sauce could be vegetarian and i stopped ordering it. it's been over two years since i worked there but the fancy has never quite left my mind, so the other night i made an attempt. everything went well, and the end result was quite good, although the sauce needs a bit of work.
i used just a cup of vegetable stock plus a tablespoon each of soy sauce and sugar, thickened with a bit of cornstarch. the result was rather pallid, but tasted ok. in my mind it needs to be much thicker and darker - ideas for the future: worcestershire, vegetarian oyster sauce, hoisin... anyway the patties themselves were decent, allow about one egg per patty, two patties per person. for two:

• 4 chicken eggs
• 1 carrot, grated
• an equal amount of daikon (i used about a two inch piece from a big honker), grated
• 1 rib celery, sliced thinly
• 3 scallions, chopped
• ~2 cups loosely packed bean sprouts
  
• 1 shallot, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• thumb sized piece of ginger, minced

in small sautee pan gently sweat the shallot, garlic, and ginger with a bit of salt, allow to cool. chop all the veg and add those that were sauteed together in a bowl. beat the eggs well and season them, then add them to the bowl as well. mix well.heat a large cast iron or nonstick pan over medium heat with enough oil to liberally coat the bottom. add 2-3 ounces of egg mixture at a time, and using a spatula keep folding the edges over the center of the mass to form a patty. fry on both sides until quite golden (i like some dark crispy bits on mine). keep warm in a low oven until ready then serve doused with sauce next to rice.
of course the veg herein are totally mutable, this is a dish to empty out the fridge. i think what makes it authentic for me are the bean sprouts and the scallions, but i guess it's really just a chinese omelette.

mojo de ajo

one of my all time favourite condiments - and i do fancy my condiments. simply garlic roasted in oil. i keep it in the fridge and use it in lieu of fresh chopped garlic in pretty much anything. coating vegetables in the oil and roasting them in the oven is quite sublime. this recipe is from rick bayless' pbs show mexico one plate at a time.

• 4 heads of garlic
• ~2 cups of olive oil
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

separate all the individual cloves and whack them with the heel of your knife.peel the papery skin off of the cloves and place them in a baking dish. cover with enough olive oil to fully submerge them and season with salt and pepper to taste. while you're doing all this, preheat the oven to 350 f.roast at 350 f for 40-50 minutes or until the cloves are golden brown and the oil is bubbling away.remove from the oven and mash thoroughly with a potato masher or two forks. add the juice of the lime and red pepper flakes. return to the oven for a further twenty minutes and voila! allow to cool and transfer into sterilized mason jars for storage in the fridge. this recipe usually gives me one pint jar and one half pint jar: enough for home use and one to give away!while home-made garlic oils are usually a no-no due to the risk of botulism, the prolonged exposure to the high heat of the oven will kill any C. botulinum and their spores. just make sure to follow hygienic procedures in the kitchen and sterilize any storage vessels to reduce your risk.

bottles and jars

on the far right is the completed tomato vodka. it's very subtle, and the tomato sings a sweet, soft note. at first i strained it through a sieve only, and it was much murkier. the flavour was stronger as well, but not pleasantly so - almost as of fruit on the cusp - about to go off. i strained it again, through muslin this time, achieving the end result, and i am pleased. i'm trying to come up with a cocktail to showcase it, but until then... bloody marys! but for a bloody mary you need worcestershire, so...
my worcestershire sauce recipe:

• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1/2 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 3 cloves
• 2 allspice berries
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 cup tamarind paste
• 3 tbs. palm sugar (it's a guess - slightly smaller then a golf ball size piece) - or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
  
• 3/4 cup malt vinegar
• 2 cups water

crush the allspice and cloves fine in a mortar. heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion, garlic, and ginger. season with salt and pepper and cook on low until the onions are translucent. add the apple and the spices and cook a minute further before adding all remaining ingredients. bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning - if it seems too vinegary add more sugar. strain and bottle.

i like it because the vegetarian worcestershire sauces that i have been able to find (all two of them) have been thick and syrupy. this recipe yields something more like lea & perrins in viscosity, sans the little fishies.the other jar is tomato ketchup - which i am going to call love-apple catsup from here on after a recipe in salt: a world history. the book mentions how ketchup had it's origins as a fermented fish sauce - so worcestershire and ketchup have something in common... nice segue... the recipe i used is from jamie oliver, pretty much verbatim except for substitutions made out of necessity, but it's quite good. i used it to make a thousand island dressing, which along with my sauerkraut combined to make some mighty tasty tempeh ruebens (i'm trying tempeh again) last night that i did not take pictures of.
to come full circle, here is the vodka before straining:

sauerkraut and tomato vodka

that actually sounds like a pretty good combination, maybe with some blinis? but this union was just proximity of genesis. i've been planning on making both things for a while now, sauerkraut after reading wild fermentation by sandor ellix katz, and the tomato vodka after watching the good eats episode raising the bar again.
for the kraut i used:

• ~4 lbs of cabbage (i had more, this was all that would fit in my largest mixing bowl - the excess became a lovely bubble and squeak dinner)
• 4 or 5 tbs of pickling salt (weak brines make me nervous - i have no air conditioning)
• small handful juniper berries
• small handful caraway seeds

mixed all together and crammed down into this big cookie jar i found at tj maxx. a small plate with a large mason jar full of water atop and we'll see how time and my hot apartment treat this experiment.
the tomato vodka is just a simple infusion, though i doubled the amount of tomatoes that the good eats recipe calls for (i used 2 lbs). chop them into chunks and add vodka - i have very high expectations of this - i worry i can't help but be let down... only time will tell.

grilled mushroom torta

as often i was inspired by rick bayless's tv show, mexico one plate at a time, which by me airs on saturday mornings on pbs. it's reruns now, from last summer, and i wonder if they'll be putting anything new out soon. anyway, housesitting for my mum i had access to a grill again, and was my mouth started to watering when a torta show was rerun. the highlights of this sandwich are the sauces, though everything is good. the black beans were directly inspired by the show and are just cooked with a little roasted garlic, onion, and chile before being pureed. the grilled salsa verde was sublime and very simple.the mushrooms i marinated in a little mojo de ajo (garlic roasted in oil) and balsamic vinegar. for the salsa i took tomatillos, serrano chiles, and red onion and tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper before throwing everything on the grill. when it was all nicely blackened i set the mushrooms aside and took all the salsa ingredients and threw them in the food processor with a handful of cilantro, a bit of olive oil, and a squeeze of lime juice. not only did this produce a nice piquant salsa verde, but the smokiness of the charcoal gave it a wonderful body and depth of flavour. next i took a loaf of french bread, sliced it longways and pulled out most of the crumb.i lightly grilled the bread, then spread the black bean paste over the bottom. i then layered the sliced, grilled mushrooms, cilantro, pepper jack cheese, the salsa verde, and avocado before wrapping the whole thing up tightly in foil and throwing it back on the dying coals for ten more minutes.and then i ate the whole thing. all by myself. one of the best sandwiches i've ever had.

kimchi stew

four months of silence later and i'm just using up the last of my kimchi. it was getting a bit ripe so i used it up in this recipe i found from maangchi. i used more veg, adding in carrots, celery, and garlic, and instead of the meat i used this weird stuff i found at super h mart in the tofu isle called 'vegetarian beef.' it's basically wheat gluten and msg, not too bad considering. and as always i went with firm, pressed tofu; i just haven't developed a taste for silken, i must work on this. anyway, very spicy, yummy, and deliciously sour.
(tofu pressing under cans)

very quick cooking. it was done by the time the rice cooker shut off.
also, while i was at super h mart, i bought something i've been humming and harring over for a while. i've not been able to find it anywhere else or in any smaller quantity, so now i am the proud owner of my own pound of chile threads! the bag is about the size of a pillow case and i may well be garnishing to my heart's content many decades from now. only time will tell what the future holds for me and my pound of chile threads...

fermentation

nothing quite like just leaving something on the counter to spoil. and not in that strange roommates' relatives' way where they seem to think leaving things in the microwave or oven is akin to putting them in the fridge... no, this is controlled neglect. last month i made my first batch of honest to goodness put 'em up pickles after finally finding what i thought to be an appropriate vessel. i have been bugging my potter friend to make me a pickle crock (with that special lid that keeps the pickles submerged) for quite some time, but she's got other things on her plate (a baby being one), and the crocks online seem outrageously expensive for what they are, plus add in ~10 bucks shipping and there's no way.
then, i found at marshall's a drink decanter thingy for $10! it's glass, so it's non-reactive, and it has about a 3 gallon capacity. all i do is wrap a tea towel around it to keep out the light. the recipe comes directly from the good eats episode: dill-icious (for anyone who likes good eats, i highly recommend this site, it has you-tube links and everything). the only things i added were white peppercorns, green peppercorns, and some grains of paradise along with the black pepper, and they were some of the best pickles i've ever had. co-workers gave rave reviews as well. my second batch is fermenting as i write this, and includes some habeneros and shallots.
the next experiment was kimchi. for this i used the recipe from maangchi.com, omitting the oysters of course, and instead of the fish sauce, i tried using a mixture of soy sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce. there seem to be two different techniques for salting the cabbage, one being to sprinkle salt between the leaves, the other to submerge it and a salt water bath. this first time i did the former, because in all the videos i have seen on kimchi, that's what the people do, but i will be interested to try the latter some time.
the fish sauce substitution proved a little weak, though, and i think the kimchi could have fermented a bit longer. i only let it go two days (the website recommends none at all or one, but my kitchen is quite cold) - i think i'll try a week or so in the future. after the fact i started looking for fish sauce substitutions, and found this on wikipedia, which through my own inattention turned out quite good. i used:

• half a package (about 2 oz.) of kombu
• 4 cups of water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp. black peppercorns

add the kombu to the cold water then bring to a boil and simmer for 20 min. add the soya, garlic, and peppercorns. here's were inattention helped: the recipe said to reduce down by half; well i started playing a video game and damn near forgot about the sauce. so, an hour later, thankfully not having burned the house down, i was rewarded with a mere half cup of salty, ocean-tasting goodness. i was about to add boiling water to dilute it out, but upon tasting i realized... this is exactly what i was looking for.
and if you aspire to true economy, you can take this nice thick bits of soaked kombu left over, slice them into little 1/2 inch squares, add them to another four cups of cold water with 2 tbs. of soy sauce, simmer for 20 min before adding another 3 tbs. soy, 4 tbs. of rice wine vinegar, and 3 tbs. of sugar. reduce the liquid down to 2-3 tbs. and stir in 3 tbs. of toasted sesame seeds. voila - kombu relish.

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.