Category Archives: cookbooks

Cooking Up a Storm, Again

Posted on September 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today, with the cooler weather, I had crock pot, oven, stove top and food processor going, in order to keep up with the last of the garden harvests. And with some of the CSA veggies.

What did I get done?

Another batch of tomato sauce using all of my paste tomatoes, and the CSA roma tomatoes.

A foil package of about 30 cloves of garlic, put in the oven after taking out the chicken that I slow cooked for most of the day, which I had finished in the oven, to get it brown. I used the last of my previous batch of garlic to make dinner Sunday night. I always keep a container of roasted garlic in the refrigerator. Beats buying it from the olive bar at the grocery store.

Two quarts of chicken stock tonight, using the carcass and all the drippings from the all day crock pot chicken cooking.

Pesto, using the CSA basil from a week ago, and some of mine. I still have enough to do another large batch.

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Add that to last night’s work. I made ajvar and roasted red pepper hummus while I had last night’s lamb on the grill.

Finally, I have to decide if I want to keep that rendered chicken fat skimmed off the top of the stock, and download Michael Ruhlman’s iPad cookbook dedicate to schmaltz. Now that’s a new adventure that I might just have to try.

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Tell me. If I saute kale in chicken fat, do they cancel each other out? Healthy food. Serious fat. Could be interesting.

The freezer is filling up again.

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Co-Inky-Dinks (or Coincidences)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

Last night I happened to open Twitter to see the Beard Foundation publication tweets coming fast and furious. Just in time to see a blog I have used to find venison recipes win the individual blog award. Hank Shaw writes this blog. You should check it out.

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. This is one amazing blog if you are looking for food cooked well, from fresh ingredients. His fish and game recipes are my “go to first” recipes when I get something good at the markets. Or, that lovely venison.

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Besides, where else can you find wild boar, bear, and um, squirrel recipes. Seriously. You should visit it and read some of his outside the box recipes. Including his veggie ones. Like the one with salsify.

We got salsify a year ago in our CSA. I have been looking for it ever since. I want to try this croquette. I made fritters the last time.

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I just tried this mushroom recipe today. I will be reporting on the results when I finally get to taste them. I used my cremini from the CSA. Just enough to make a small jar.

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Tomorrow I am heading over to Burtonsville to check out their new market. Orchard Breeze will be there. Maybe rabbit or duck will make its way to my menu, and I can use this great blog as inspiration. Who needs cookbooks when you can use great blogs?

hocofood@@@

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Branching Out

Posted on March 26, 2013 by AnnieRie

Or, using up the CSA box veggies in new ways. We know what we are getting tomorrow. Monday and Tuesday I decided to use as many veggies as I could.

By making stir fry, with shrimp.

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Most of the Napa cabbage went into this meal. Along with the last of the mushrooms. Some carrot. All the bean sprouts left. Add the other items from the store, like water chestnuts, cashews, jumbo shrimp, chow mein noodles, red pepper and scallions. Soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, garlic, salt, pepper, and cayenne flakes. Mix. Match. Don’t measure much. Really good dinner. Enough left over for me to have Wednesday while my husband is at a dinner meeting.

Tonight I made my first ever spinach souffle. Because of a recipe in my Eating By Color book.

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Great cookbook from Williams Sonoma. Mine didn’t rise as much as theirs. But, it still tasted great. Used more CSA eggs, and the spinach left in the spinner. I substituted red onion for the shallot.

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Bechamel I am good at making. Souffles, eh.

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I think I beat the egg whites too much. Still, it didn’t look bad, and was really good.

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Who know what I will try with tomorrow’s CSA delivery.

hocofood@@@

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Eating the Rainbow

Posted on October 17, 2012 by AnnieRie

Eating by Color. An interesting book we discovered at Costco years ago. I use it all the time to find recipes from the CSA box.

Eating by Color, A Williams Sonoma Book

We first started paying attention to the types of fruits and veggies we should be eating, in order to control cholesterol, and get other health benefits. This book divides fruits and veggies into five color groups, and also includes a sixth group. That group is legumes, grains and nuts. Here is a link to a pdf file that includes the fruits and veggies only.

Today our lunch was a perfect example of eating most of the rainbow. Later in the post, I complete the rainbow at dinner.

Purple/blue, the first color, includes the blueberries in the dessert bread. Green shows up more than once, but is really present in the mixed greens in the soup. Because the apple was a green skinned apple, it is also included. White/tan, one of the choices that slows the absorption of cholesterol, shows up in the garlic and ginger in the soup. Red checks in via the chunky tomato sauce that I had made this summer and used in the soup. My chunky sauce also includes carrots, but not much, and onions, so orange and white make a tiny appearance in the soup via the sauce.

The black beans and the pistachios round out the legumes and nut category that the book includes. Again, nuts, legumes and whole grains help in our fight to avoid cancer.

Dinner completed the list. I tweaked my pumpkin hummus recipe to make it have a bit more zing, and made it again this afternoon. It includes the orange/yellow category with the pumpkin, and more legumes with the chickpeas, plus white/tan from the garlic.

pumpkin hummus

I happen to like the way the book assists me in using my CSA veggies and buying fruits to round out our diet. There are lots of other publications available on the web that outline good choices too. Like this one. Who doesn’t want to boost their immune system?

Oh yeah, the apple cider counts too. And, that glass of wine. Interesting, isn’t it?

Tomorrow is CSA day. I wonder what colors we will get this week.

hocofood@@@

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Simple Pleasures

Posted on August 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

Like simple lunch recipes. Three items, and seasoning. Not fresh, but things right out of the pantry.

Tuna, cannellini bean and onion salad

Served with a side of my tomatoes. Olives and feta to garnish. I found this recipe years ago in one of my Williams Sonoma cookbooks.

I love the description used as an introduction. If you want an excellent source for Tuscan recipes, this is the book for you.

Description of this recipe – credit to Williams Sonoma Savoring Tuscany

I made it with the canned tuna and the canned beans. Use organic beans if you can find them. Drain and rinse. Use a can of good tuna packed in olive oil. Dice a small sweet onion. I used Vidalia. Salt, pepper, olive oil to taste.

Tuscany on a plate.

hocofood@@@

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