Cheese Grits

So, I'm in California for Thanksgiving, swearing and googling the cheese grits recipes I used this summer for picnics and nothing looks right. I resorted to image googling and found it. Come here first. Just make sure when you make the grits, do it according to package directions, i.e. with salt. Also, garlic salt is not necessary.

Irish Beef Stew

Adapted from Epicurious

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces, put in a tupperware with flour, shook up, excess flour shaken off
8 large garlic cloves, minced
4 cups water with one large teaspoon of better than bouillon whisked through
2 cups red wine OR stout (this was a good way to use up wine I'd opened months ago and never finished...shhh!)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used Tamari)
2 bay leaves
2 T cornstarch
1 T flour

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots (I used most of a bag of baby carrots chopped into thirds)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 bag Italian sub rolls from Wawa, absolutely nothing organic in it
unsalted butter, room temperature for the Wawa bread

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Whisk in cornflour and flour about halfway through the 40 minute boil.

Meanwhile, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat (I skipped this). (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.) Transfer stew to serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

The bright green on the stew is magnificent. I couldn't believe I made this myself. I made the bf go buy the Wawa rolls to sop up the juice and I'm glad I did.

Lemon Creme Fraiche Cake

So ever since I was a kid, I've known what creme fraiche really tastes like and I know that I never see it for under 10000 dollars at the grocery.

Maybe I am exaggerating.

So I just made this Lemon Creme Fraiche Cake with Stonyfield Oikos Greek Yoghurt. Not bad. I put orange zest in the lemon icing. There is not really a nice way to put that glaze on. Pour it on and smooth it with a knife. It's not going to look fancy. It has a moist golden center, gooey baklava like crust, and isn't too too sweet. Easy to eat for breakfast.

Chinese Mongolian Eggplant

This was an impromptu Chinese dinner just for myself: drunk garlic chicken boiled in ginger, chicken stock, salt and sauced with a tamari and garlic sauce; Chinese eggplant, bok choy and brown rice. Grandma King used to boil chicken when I was a kid and put garlic and scallions straight on it. So comforting. The recipe on-line called for you to bring the parts to a boil and then turn the water off, cover, and leave the chicken for an hour. Half way through the hour, I got nervous and re-boiled it for about ten minutes, but that's just me. Mom's reaction to this boiled chicken nostalgia was: That dish is so much work. Work! You boil the chicken. The end! So when I went to China in 2002, I took a plane to Inner Mongolia and somehow by pointing to lines in a Lonely Planet, was taken to a touristic yurt camp way out in the middle of nowhere. Keep in mind that this was about a 45 minute drive away from a tiny village, Hohuhoatua (trainwreck spelling) of a million people. So many bikes! We were taken into tents for lunch and there were many dishes lined up, including a very gristly and grey selection of lamb's meat. The three young men working the lunch hour laughed at my reaction to all the food. This is the dish I loved and wanted to repeat as it really answers the question: what do I do with all these tomatoes from my garden? I think it was the first time I fully enjoyed eggplant. They really did use basil, that's not my idea. One regular or Chinese eggplant 2-3 tomatoes or one beefsteak tomato, diced 2 eggs well beaten, fried in sesame oil, made into an omelet, sliced into strips or pieces 1 T tamari 2t cornstarch 1/2 cup water fresh basil leaves 2-3 cloves garlic crushed and minced sesame oil peanut or olive oil hot sauce Eggplants can be bitter if you don't take the time to do this step: Peel it, slice it into panels as if it went through a giant hard-boiled egg slicer. Get a plate and starting with the biggest panels of eggplant, reconstruct the two halves of the eggplant, salting like crazy between with regular table salt. Put the smaller pieces on top. Cover with a plate and weigh it down with a can of something or a pan. I guess leaving the peel on is more authentic, but it get shiny and slimy and I just don't want it in the food. You decide. Make a slurry of the water and cornstarch. Mix until very well blended, no lumps. Add the tamari and a little sesame oil. Set aside. Someone once said to me he hated Chinese cooking because it's like hours of chopping and five minutes of frying. This dish proves this statement a little bit. Roll up the handful of fresh basil and cut it into ribbons. Set aside. Press the brown bitter liquid out of the eggplant and let it slide off the plate or pan. Rinse if you like, but definitely pat the pieces dry with a clean towel. Dice the eggplant. Set aside. Get a pan really hot before you add anything to it. Really hot. Coat the bottom of the pan in a thin layer of oil and quickly add the eggplant. Let it cook, stirring often, for 5-8 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and a few dashes of tamari. When you get towards the end of the eggplant cooking, add half of the garlic and let it get fragrant for about 45 seconds. Then add the tomatoes, the egg, and the cornstarch slurry all at once. Let this cook together gently for 5 minutes or so until it bubbles and the sauce gets thick and a little glossy, but is still pretty runny. At the end of this, add half the basil ribbons and the rest of the garlic. Let cook until the second influx of garlic is fragrant, a minute or so. Put it on a little bed of basmati brown rice and put a pinch of basil ribbons on top. Add hot sauce if you like, I'd say garlic chili paste might be a great thing here.

Best in the World Gluten Free Peach Pie

I just taught for 12 hours and now I want this pie real bad. I'll make it tomorrow.

8-9 little perfectly ripe Jersey peaches peeled and cut into thin slices
2 T better batter flour
2 t lemon juice
1.5 T brown sugar
dash of nutmeg

Mix all the above in a bowl.

One Better Batter pie crust according to this recipe, minus ice cubes: just stick the liquids +yolk in the freezer while you do the other stuff. Also, I substituted butter for the shortening and I can't say there's any reason to buy shortening. It is horrible for you. Period.

Put the bottom half of the crust into a 9 inch pie plate, Pyrex!, for about 8 minutes at 350. Take it out.

Put the peaches carefully on top of the hot but not baked crust. Put the other raw crust over the top and cut some slits into it.

Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then cover edges with foil and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Ooooooo.

That crust is really beyond compare with any other gluten free item. Durnit. I wanna pie. Now.

Cauliflower Rice

In Louisville, there's a Middle Eastern restaurant called The Grape Leaf. I've eaten there off and on since about 1993. I've basically been playing around with many lentil rice pilaf recipes since I ate their cauliflower rice which is pretty divine and needs nothing besides some feta cheese. Then I remembered that the local paper, the Courier-Journal, often will hound a restaurant chef for the recipe of a dish that's very popular. I once even saw in that column the recipe for Baptist Hospital East's Meatloaf: soon after, I was standing in line in that very cafeteria and the person in front of me turned around and said, "Is the meatloaf good?" and I said, "The recipe was in the Courier."

Anyway. It just occurred to me tonight: look up "cauliflower rice courier-journal." Well I'll be.

The Grape Leaf's Cauliflower Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced
Pinch saffron
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup cauliflower florets, separated
1 cup basmati rice
3 cups water
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup raisins

In a pot, heat the oil until shimmery, and add the onion. Cook until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add the saffron, turmeric, cauliflower and rice. Stir to coat well. Add the water, bring to a boil, partially cover and simmer until rice is done and cauliflower is tender, 17 to 20 minutes. Check at 10 minutes or so, and add more water if too dry. Garnish with the almonds and raisins. Serves 4.

***

I predict: few raisins and feta to boot. Make sure you use basmati rice or this will be kind of a bust.

Stuffed Baby Portobellos

from Vegan Piggy -- these were a big hit on the Fourth of July at my house and I want to make sure I have the recipe stashed somewhere.

1 1/2 lb. Baby Portobellos the bigger the better (or button mushrooms)
1 1/2 c. Fresh Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs
3 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Medium Red Onion chopped
1 Garlic Clove pressed
3/4 t. Sea Salt
2 T. Fresh Parsley chopped
1/2 t. Basil

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Process about 2 slices of whole wheat bread in a food processor. You can use prepared bread crumbs, but whenever possible, I'd use fresh for sure. This makes about 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs. It's also a great way to use up the butts of your loaf bread. Set aside. Remove stems from mushrooms and chop them right up. Brush one of the tablespoons of oil around in a 13 X 9 pan. Heat the rest of the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and onions and sauté for 7 minutes. Stir in salt, and then bread crumbs, basil, and parsley. Evenly distribute mixture to mushroom caps. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of your mushroom caps. Keep an eye out that they don't get too brown. Serve with a fresh salad, and enjoy!