Two Weeks in the Appalachia Hills of NC

So I really do mean to do this on a more regular basis but life does not always slow down enough for me to show off my meals the way I want to.  So after two weeks of INCREDIBLE meals all you get is a quick report on the foods and only the scantest of clues on how to make it.  If I were not leaving tomorrow for another trip I would honestly try to be more detailed in my meal preparation and thought process.  

Two Weeks of Tasty Food

Kale Salad

Kale salad with an avocado lemon vinaigrette with fresh corn, grated beets and carrots.  The body is hefted up with a bit of shredded cabbage and topped with crushed walnuts and a few more slices of avocado

Buffalo Fries

It seemed abnormal to go to the south without having buffalo wings but the next best thing is buffalo fires with home made 'wing' sauce.  I used a lot of extra pepper and pinch of salt and so much garlic that I ahrdly tasted the spicy delicious wing sauce

 Buckwheat Pancakes
I was visiting a wheat free friend but that did not deter us from pancakes with maple syrup.  The amazing thing about the east coast is blueberries grow wild!  the bananas are still imported but a morning walk to harvest blueberries made these things so much more worth it!

Shredded salad and mushroom risotto 

One of the many amazing dinners consisted of carrot/beet/cabbage salad with almonds, raisins and, sesame seeds.  The salad was dressed in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  The risotto was rich and delicious and could have used more mushrooms but was a nice compliment to the salad.

Indian Dinner
One lovely night we threw a dinner party with Red Dhal soup, turmeric rice (didnt have any saffron so did our best), pumpkin curry and a green salad.

more salad

massaged kale with romaine lettuce.  The tomatoes and peppers came from the small garden on site and the diced almonds came with me from Cali!

 Simple Dinner
Steamed carrots and purple cabbage topped with sauteed potatoes and bell peppers.

Hash brown Breakfast
shred potatoes, shred yams, garlic and onions!  I am always a fan of hash browns but for some reason these were extra good.  Top potatoes with avocado and Chihuly hot sauce and you are always on the right track.

potato stew

I was not thrilled with my first go at buckwheat biscuits but they added a nice body to the stew as they melted in.  The stew was a slow roast with potato carrot cabbage in a tomato base with a lot of garlic and some onion.  

Mexican Dinner
Turns out North Carolina does not offer a lot of Mexican food.  This was the last night as a going away treat to remind my friend what is waiting for her in California.  Salsa fresca Mexican spiced black beans with a side of Spanish rice. Fresh corn and guacamole to make tacos with corn tortillas was like heaven!

Salad once more

On the night I met Debra Frasier, Liz and I shared kale salads.  Shredded carrots, shredded beats, tomatoes from the garden, fresh corn, bell peppers and a lemon vinaigrette.  I ate it and wanted more and more and more!  I dont thing there is anything I like as much as a well made salad!  

I have no idea what I am going to eat for the next two weeks but once I am back we will all know! 

Pumpkin Curry

Somehow we made it to this spring and had some extra squash around and only one thing seemed appropriate,  Pumpkin Curry! Of course I decided to make Garlic Nann to go with it and I tried to do some fried rice but oh man it was failing. . . I managed to save it by transforming it into coconut fried rice, using the extra flavor to help out my texture issue, turned out everyone loved it and it complimented the garlic potatoes well.

             So lets go ahead and turn this:

                                          into this!

Pumpkin Curry:

 I am sure there are a lot of ways to prepare the pumpkin (and roasting will bring out AMAZING flavor) but for time I just cube it and steam it. I remove the skin before hand so I don't have to cool the squash peel it and then reheat, yes it is technically easier to peel it after cooking but it does take an extra step.  Normally I dont steam with herbs but there was enough extra majoram and Basil that I figured why not! I used one butternut one pumpkin and one squash I didn't know the name of. I diced it all and steamed about 5 cups worth (maybe 6) for 15 to 20 min. 

I over-did the steaming a bit (which i don't suggest).  The pumpkin can come out of steam a bit more firm than you would like since it will get cooked during the simmer period.  The end result was something a bit more soupy and not as chunky as I like but WOW it went really well with the Nann and rice.

I used: mustard seed, corainder seed, and fenugreek as my tempering spice (1 tsp each in 2 Tbs oil) heating them in oil until the mustard began to pop a bit before tossing in raw garlic and onion> I dont know why but there was an eggplant in the fridge so I went ahead and diced that and tossed it in the oil to cook down and brown in on a medium high heat.  

I simmer the garlic onions and eggplant in a big pot with the seeds  because I knew the next step was to toss in the pumpkin which I mixed with one can of coconut milk (shake it before you open it so the fatty part mixes in well) with a good head of basil (probably 1/4 to 1/2 C worth of diced basil).  No tomatoes went in but if you have one or two dice them up (just adds a nice body and acidity). The heat gets turned down and the second series of spicing happens! Golden curry powder extra turmeric extra garlic powder then salt an pepper to taste!  No . . .I dont know how much of each but by my estimation a good 1 Tbs of curry a tsp of turmeric and maybe 2 tsp of garlic, it is important to note these extras are to round out the curry powder I get at the food coop and almost all curry powders are different so you will have to go for what you like and maybe include some paprika for spice, cumin (not suggested) for earthiness, ginger or cinnamon for aroma, and so on.  After I had a balance of flavor I liked, I put in a pinch of Asafoetida. . .I dont know who to describe its flavor but it just makes all the flavors pop.  Now you can just let it all simmer on low heat with the occasional stirring to keep it yum! 

 Garlic Potatoes with Greens:

This dish was an add on because I needed something to round out the meal and . . .I love potatoes!  I boiled the potatoes (about 3 lbs cubed) in my extra water (see rice mishap) which was just 2 to 3 cups of stock with some turmeric, pepper and oil.  It only takes 10 min for the potatoes to get soft in boiling water so while that is going I sauteed onions with garlic, mustard seed and cumin seed.  Once the onions were brown I tossed in all the stems from the collards, chard and kale with some random asparagus I found in the fridge, which happened to be just before I threw in my cooked potatoes (just a minute after the stems literally or the stems will go to mush) 

it occurred to me that my pan was not large enough to accommodate all of my greens so I moved it all to a pot, since the essential saute steps were done. Just a bit of water and let it all steam together, giving it a quick stir on occasion.  once the greens were getting down I grated 5 cloves of garlic in and added a Tbs of butter, just like that it is pretty much done! 

Coconut Fried Rice:

So . . .sometimes when you are trying to take pictures of your rice as you brown it before you put in your vegetable stock something silly happens where you forget to measure the amount of stock you are putting in. . . with rice that is very bad! Using a long grain brown the rice to water ration needs to be just below1:2 and somehow I put in 11 cups of stock for my 4 cups of rice. . .I took out as much about 3 cups and used that for the potatoes (which really improved that dish) but Being off in measurements my rice came out a bit more mushy than I usually like. . .I am a fan of firm rice and. . .when you are making fried rice, having your grain on the firm side of cooked is ideal.  This made it hard to get a 'fried' feeling for the rice but we will get to that.  Just a tea spoon of turmeric in the water and your rice will come out awesome colors!  I also used 1 bag of frozen peas, tossed in when the rice was turned to a simmer.  This adds some nice vegetable matter but more importantly fancy color.

Using brown rice the cook time is about 45 minutes on simmer, that is after it is brought to a boil.  keep it covered the whole time with a well fitted lid (or if you put too much water in let the last 10-15 minutes go un-covered).  Right when the rice is almost done use a bit of oil to saute up some onions and carrots. . . or if you forgot to save some carrots steal a bit of your friends carrot,beet,radish salad and saute that.  I only had a bout a 1/2 cup of veggies and ideally for that amount of rice I would have closer to 1.5 cups of veggies to stir fry in.

With the limited vegetables and the consistency of the rice I made a last minute decision! I tossed in about 1 cup of shredded coconut and 3 Tbs of coconut oil. This little trick transforms my yellow rice with a little bit of fried veggies in to COCONUT FRIED RICE! ta~dah! The coconut oil is a key part of getting the flavor to reallt stand out while the shredded coconut does a bit of texture and is really nice sprinkled on top to give away that it is coconut fried rice. 

Garlic Nann:

I rushed it. . . I didnt give the dough enough time to rise but what you see above is 4 cups of flour sifted with 1 tsp salt and 4 tsp baking soda on the right is 2 cups warm water with 1 Tbs sugar and 2tsp yeast ( I think another tsp of yeast would have been good but I already didnt have enough time).whisk in about half the sifted flour always stirring in a smooth clockwise direction.  Once the dough become just slightly stiff and smooth let it sit for 40 minutes (or in this case ten).  Toss in 5-500 cloves of grated garlic ( i used about 10) and add a few green onions for color effect (I didnt do it this time) and begin adding the four again.  stir at the edges making sure you rip through the nice strands of gluten as LITTLE as possible.  once the dough begins to ball you can knead it for 10 minutes on a dry floured surface.  Give it another 40 minutes to rise (or in this case 5 minutes) before cutting ti into little balls that your can easily roll out.  

Turn your griddle (or your cast iron over flame) up to high until the thing si hot then turn it slightly down to medium high and give each side 3-5 minutes.  once it is golden brown and puffy you are ready to east!

Even with the mishaps that were regular in this weeks meal everything came out great! If I didnt keep complaining about the rice people would have thought it was all on purpose! the flavors complimented each other better than I expected where the coconut rice was a nice change up from the garlic potatoes and garlic nann.  the salad (not discussed above) was the perfect color and taste to round out the meal (thanks Ashley) 

Indian Food for Ten

When you start to plan a mean there are a few things to consider.  The quantity of food is of course important but there are textures, flavors, colors and of course nutrition.  A lot of the traditional food combinations you find in cook have had centuries to develop these combinations; so once I decided to make Indian food for dinner this week I already had a good idea of the courses:

Rice
Dhal Soup
Yellow Curry
Pita Bread

and since I like to have a bit more green in my meals this menu augmented with a Kale Salad.

Having only two hours to cook a meal for ten people used to stress me out but after cooking in cooperatives for a few years you learn  few tricks about the order in which things cook.
1) The dhal soup just gets better the longer it simmers so starting this first makes sense
2) The yellow curry takes more prep and about 45 minutes to simmer flavors together
3) The Kale salad needs about 30 minutes to marinate
4) The rice (since it is a long grain white) only takes 15 minutes to cook
5) The pita cooks quick as long as you do the prep work earlier in the day (or get a friend to do it like I did)


Dhal Soup

Perhaps one of the most important steps in preparing a good Dhal is spicing it correctly and one of my favorite things in indian food is tempering spice:

3 Tbs of canola oil

2tsp mustard seed (brown or yellow)

1tsp coriander seed

5 seeds of fenugreek 

1/2 tsp asafetida

1/2 onion Diced

After the oil heats up on high toss in all of the seeds and let them simmer ( i like to wait until the mustard seeds start to pop, it adds an extra smoky flavor) and then toss in the onions and asafetida with the heat turn down to medium.  In about 3-5 minutes the onions should be soft and starting to brown.

6 C red lentils

2-5 cloves garlic

2 C tomato puree

8-12 C vegetable broth

I used red lentils in tonight dinner instead of yellow because the store where I shop does not have organic yellows, but either will work.  Toss the lentils and garlic in with the hot oil and spices making sure to keep string for a minute or two until the vegetable broth is added.  

The wide range in vegetable broth amount is because I am terrible at measuring and it really depends on how thick you like Dhal, I like it a bit thinner so I go closer to 12 C of broth.  Add the tomato puree after the broth.

The time from heating the oil to adding the tomato puree ( of which i sued the Muir Glenn organic fire roasted tomatoes) now should be on the order of 5 or 10 minutes leaving over 90 minutes for the soup to simmer and the lentils to fall apart.  At this point you can more or less leave the Dhal alone giving it a good stir every 15 minutes or so.  

After an hour you want to check the soup, salt and pepper to taste adding extra garlic and vegetable broth as needed to get the flavor you like (it helps to have someone taste with you to double check your taste buds)

Yellow Curry with potatoes and Carrots

The vegetable combination to make a good curry is not that hard, most of the focus of flavor is in the sauce so the focus for vegetable combination is on texture and color. 

10 medium red potatoes

4 large carrots

1/2 head purple cabbage

1 bag frozen peas

1/2 onion

The potato and carrot base makes for a good amount of bulk and subtle taste underneath the curry, I like to leave both in large chunks.  A bag of frozen peas adds a nice pop to the texture and just a hint of color that catches the eye.  Purple cabbage i am in love with, rich color, soft texture, packed with nutrients and does not do much to shift the flavor, i toss in half a head sliced into ribbons just for fun, leaving it out is totally acceptable as well.

3 Tbs of coconut oil

2tsp mustard seed (brown or yellow)

1tsp coriander seed

5 seeds of fenugreek 

1/2 onion diced

3-5 cloves of garlic

1 C tomato puree

1 C coconut milk

2-3 C water

3 Tbs yellow curry powder

1 Tbs turmeric

1 Tbs agave nectar (optional) 

The curry uses tempering spices again but I like to use coconut oil for the extra flavor, you just have to more careful with the heat (keeping it lower) to keep the oil from smoking.  So toss in the mustard seed, fenugreek, and coriander, until the mustard pops then in go the onions for 5-10 minutes  until tender and browning.  The Garlic, Potatoes and Carrots go into the hot oil and simmer together for 2 minutes or so.

the base for the curry is a combination of coconut milk and the tomato puree, the extra water  is to make sure the carrots and potatoes are covered to boil in this delicious combination for 20-30 minutes.  

The turmeric and curry powder go in right at the same time as the water but dont add the peas and cabbage until after the 20 minutes or they will cook to mush while the potatoes are still under cooked.  I also like to sneak in 1 or 2 Tbs of agave nectar here, the little bit of sweetness helps to cut the bitter flavor from the extra turmeric without upsetting the spicy earthy flavor.

Saffron Rice

The rice is one place where I actually get out my measuring cups, having the right proportions makes all the difference between soggy rice, crunchy rice and the perfect fluffy rice you always want.  

4 C jasmine rice (or basmati, or any long grain white)

6 C vegetable broth

1 Tbs canola oil

6 stems saffron

1 tsp tumeric

in truth less than a tbs of oil is fine . . .you just want enough to coat the rice while it is being simmered with the saffron and turmeric (which is more for color than for flavor in this case).   

after only a minute of constant stirring at medium high heat add the hot broth.  It is important that the broth is hot or in addition to the extra cook time to heat it the rice may end up soaking too long and get a bit more soggy than desired.  the most important part here is waiting, bring the water to a boil turn the heat down to a low flame, cover the rice and just leave it alone! 

White rices cook pretty quickly, I usually give 15 minutes with a check at 10 minutes to make sure I dont burn it.  This time when i cooked the rice it only took about 10 minutes but I also forgot to add the vegetable stock (using just water) and had to fix it post cooking.  A sprinkle of powdered vegetable bouillon and a pinch of salt  added when fluffing the rice after the cooking.  

You will have to come back to get the pita and the kale salad but put it all together to make a balanced meal

and enjoy with friends!