Category Archives: Recipes

Vegetarian Squash & Kale Stew

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The daikon are still drying.  I have thusfar been able to find an unstained wooden pickling vessel, so next week they’ll likely get packed into a crock.  Until then, here’s a recipe for a fantastic stew I made tonight that was so nice on a cold evening with a glass of red wine:

Kabocha and Kale Stew with Mixed Beans

Measurements are approximate, use your best judgement.

  • 3/4 plastic carton vegetable broth
  • 1 1/2 cups soaked mixed white and black beans (I had navy, pinto, and black beans I think)
  • 1/2 kabocha squash, seeds removed, peeled and cut into 2″ chunks (Japanese pumpkin, but you could probably use hubbard, turban, kuri, acorn, or butternut [somewhat in order of recommended varieties])
  • 2 1/2 cups of chopped kale (I used Trader Joe’s precut, prewashed organic tuscan kale)
  • 1/2 cup mirin
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • salt and pepper
  • crusty bread to serve with the stew

First boil the beans in the broth.  If using previously dried soaked beans, boil them for a bit until they reach the desired softness, testing occasionally.  (If using canned beans, you can add the squash instead and then add the rinsed beans when that starts softening.)

Add the squash chunks and boil until that starts to soften, about 5-8 minutes. Add the soy sauce, mirin, kale, and spices.  Simmer, mushing up some of the squash chunks with your stirring utensil so that it thickens the broth.  Stir occasionally.  When the beans and squash are the right consistency for your tastes and the kale has softened, it’s done!  Sans prep, this probably takes about 20 minutes cooking time total.

Deceptively simple, but the earthy spiciness of the kale works so well with the sweet richness of the pumpkin and the starchy earthiness of the beans.

Here’s a handy tip I learned about dealing with dried beans: you can soak them in advance and freeze whatever you don’t use of the soaked and rinsed beans for easy cooking next time!  A nice alternative to canned beans.

The Spice of Life

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I suspect until December, you’re going to keep hearing about how busy my life is.  Rest assured I have been cooking delicious things and not just subsisting off of only instant  ramen.  The garden is still going, with peppers and carrots and herbs currently and beets and daikon in the works.  However, my slow cooker has become one of my best friends.  I can throw stuff in there and leave it alone while I study and have delicious food for the week.

One of my favorite recipes I made recently in the slow cooker was slow cooker lasagne.  Here’s the original recipe.  I’ll admit, I did use jarred spaghetti sauce because I was short on time.  However, I mixed zucchini, poblano peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and fresh basil into the ricotta mixture and that made it quite tasty and special.  Easy as pie, except that it’s sort of hard to fit lasagne noodles into an oval shaped slow cooker.

Another favorite recipe I tried was lentil meatballs . I substituted laughing cow cheese for ricotta and add a ton more fresh herbs, but they came out fantastic and were freezable in individual ziplocs for whenever I heated up jarred sauce.

I’ll admit that on the part time vegetarian front as of late, I’ve been a little slackery.  Making the kind of vegetarian food I like takes time, which can be lacking.  I’ll keep trying, though, because there are too many reasons and benefits to not at least reduce my meat consumption.

Along that line, I recently discovered a brand of Thai curry paste that doesn’t contain shrimp paste (like most curry pastes do): Amoy-D. My only beef with it is that I always have to add sugar to the curry because the curry paste itself is more savory than the ones I’m used to.  Today I made panang curry with fried tofu, butternut squash, apples and mango.  This time the fruit helped sweeten it up so I didn’t need to add sugar.

Curry is so versatile…you can put just about anything in it really, sort of like fried rice.  Why fried tofu? Because frying gives it a better texture and allows it to soak up more sauce/curry/whatever.

I made a big batch for my lunches for this week, because that’s what I do nowadays…make huge batches of something tasty and force myself to eat it for 3-5 days.

  • 1 cup of extra firm tofu cut into dice-sized cubes
  • 1-2 cups of vegetable or peanut oil for frying
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1/4 cup panang curry paste (more or less, depending on your tastes)
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled with seeds removed and cut into large chunks (3″ or so)
  • 2 carrots, cut into half coins
  • 3 lime leaves (preferably kaffir, but if you have regular lime leaves it’s better than nothing)
  • 3 coins ginger or galangal
  • 2 small red peppers, cut into rings
  • 1 bunch green onions
  • 1 apple, cut into cubes
  • 1/2 cup frozen mango chunks (or fresh)
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 2/3 cup Thai basil leaves (substitute regular basil if you have to I guess)
  • 2/3 cup cilantro leaves

First, dry the tofu and cut it into the dice sized cubes.  Drying it is important!  This way it won’t splatter quite as much when you fry it.  If you want to be extra careful, you can squeeze as much water out of the tofu as possible and then dry it after you cut it into dice cubes too.

Heat the oil in a pot or wok until a drop of water added to the pan splatters.  Add tofu, stir constantly until tofu is golden brown and looks sort of like little sponges.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  Set aside.

Add the coconut milk to a good sized soup pot and add water to thin it to the consistency somewhere between paste and milk.  Heat on medium. Add the curry paste and blend it in with a spoon or spatula.

Add in the harder vegetables: butternut and carrot.  Also add the lime leaves and ginger coins.  If using non-kaffir lime leaves, smoosh them up a bit in your hands before adding to the pot to release more of the essential oils.

Let this simmer until the butternut squash starts to get a bit soft, then add the peppers, apple, green onion, mango, and peas.

Let this cook for a couple of minutes at a low simmer, until the butternut is cooked to where it is soft enough to be cut with a fork.  Then add in the herbs (basil, cilantro) at the last minute.  Turn off the heat and mix well.

It doesn’t look glamorous, but it tastes fantastic.

A thank you to whoever actually reads this blog.  May all your tasty dreams come true!

 

Kuri Squash Soup with Chestnuts

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One of my recent CSA deliveries included a red Kuri Squash.  The name inspired me to create a velvety squash soup with red curry and meaty chestnuts.  I started with my own broth, made from a mirepoix with oyster mushrooms and simmered with kaffir lime leaves and ginger.  (Note that the mirepoix & mushrooms method is a great way to make vegetarian soup broth in general.) The soup itself has the consistency of a vichyssoise or other creamy soup, with chestnuts adding some substance and is sort of Thai-French-American fusion…  I recommend serving each bowl with a bit of fresh cilantro.

Roasted chestnuts that are pre-shelled are often available at Japanese or Chinese grocery stores (like Nijiya or 99 Ranch) in vacuum sealed packages.  They’re pretty convenient and tasty!  One forenote…I’m not a big fan of Trader Joe’s red curry sauce (I didn’t have a chance to try it before this recipe), so if you make this I’d recommend using Thai red curry paste that comes in a tub.

The only reason I used the Trader Joe’s brand is because normally Thai curry paste is not vegetarian because it includes shrimp paste.  I now regret that decision…it would’ve been better with the sacrificed shrimp.  If I made it again, I might also add some sprigs of lemongrass to the both while simmering.

Curry Kuri Squash Soup with Chestnuts

Ingredients

  • 1 Kuri Squash (or other winter squash)
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 2 small carrots
  •  2 stalks celery
  • 1 cup oyster mushrooms (or other mushrooms)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 large coin fresh ginger
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 can light coconut milk
  • 1/2 bottle of Trader Joe’s red curry sauce (or a few tbsp red curry paste instead)
  • 1+ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
  • 2 cups chopped roasted, shelled chestnuts
  • fresh cilantro for garnish

Cut the squash in half and roast it in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until easily poked with a fork and soft.

Dice celery, carrots, and onions into about 1/4″ cubes.

Chop the mushrooms roughly and add them to a pot with the 2 tbsp of butter.  Mix it all up well.  Sautee them until the mushrooms are nicely browned.

Add the mirepoix and 2 cloves of garlic to the pot and mix it up so it gets coated with the butter.  Continue sauteeing until the onions start becoming browned and caramelized.

Add the water and soy sauce and mix well.  Let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  If you just want a vegetarian stock, once the broth tastes flavorful enough to you, simply strain out the liquid and you have a very good vegetable broth.  For the squash soup, continue on…

Add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, and ginger coins.  Mix well and simmer for 15 minutes.  (I put a couple of tomatoes in with the broth just because…I don’t think it added anything special though.  Not sure why I added it.  But that explains that tomato you see floating there that isn’t included in the ingredients list…)

Strain off the liquid and dispose of the mirepoix/etc.

Time to get back to the squash…remove the seeds and scoop out the meat.

Add the squash to a blender along with the curry sauce and a bit of the broth you just strained.  Blend it up until smooth.

Return the broth to the pot and add the squash mixture.  Mix it all up well and let it simmer.  Add some cayenne powder.

Roughly chop up the chestnuts.  Add them to the soup.

Add the 2 tbsp of grated ginger.  Simmer the soup on a low heat for quite a while, stirring intermittently, until reduced as much as you’d like.

Serve with fresh cilantro, perhaps a wedge of lime.

 

Plottin’ au Gratin

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My mom has been hearing me talk about my plans for a gratin for almost a week now.  The idea came up when a coworker who has gone gluten free due to health reasons graciously paid for my dinner one night, and I offered to repay with something delicious and gluten free.  I got to thinking, of course.

…Who doesn’t like anything with cheese on it?

So I decided on a riff on scalloped potatoes, adding in butternut squash into the mix because I had both lying around and needing to be used.  With plenty of cheese.

The other day on my way to grab ramen with my friend Janette, I stopped at The Milk Pail, a family owned business in Mountain View, CA and home of my greatest weakness: an abundance of amazing and reasonably-priced cheese.   I hadn’t quite decided on which type of cheese I was going to use for said gratin. Needless to say I walked away with 5 different types, including: Wisconsin gruyere (almost holds up to the authentic stuff), English sharp cheddar, Wisconsin gouda, laughing cow light swiss, pecorino romano (for a separate dish), and a french soft ripened chevre (for general munching).  I decided eventually on the gouda for the gratin, with a bit of the gruyere on top.

Gouda gruyere gratin.  Oh Gee!

Anyway, so after gaining like 15 lbs in the past week from eating all the other cheese (kidding), I finally got around to making the gratin.  The (pretty successful) recipe is below.  I did try to make it a little lower-fat by using fat free milk and laughing cow wedges for some of the cheese sauce, but you could go Paula Deen style and use cream and all full-fat cheese if you want.

Butternut Squash and Potato Gratin with Caramelized Onions


Ingredients

  • 1 medium butternut squash (peeled, seeds removed, cut into thin 1/4″ thick slices)
  • 4 medium gold potatoes (skins on, cut into 1/4″ slices)
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 cups cold fat-free milk (2 c for sauce, 1 c for finishing)
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 red onion, minced
  • 2 cups grated gouda cheese
  • 4 laughing cow light swiss wedges  (or substitute another soft cheese like brie if not calorie-conscious)
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • cayenne pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese (or more gouda)

(Bake in a 9×9″ pan.)

1.  If you haven’t already, prep your potatoes and squash. Preheat the oven to 350.

2.  Place them on a large plate as shown above.  Dampen two large paper towels and cover the plate.  Place in microwave and microwave on high for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly soft.  (This cuts down on the baking time.)

3.  If you haven’t prepped the cheese yet, do that while the squash/potatoes are microwaving. Also mince the onion and slice a tablespoon of butter.

4.  Whisk the tablespoon of cornstarch into 2 cups of the cold milk.

5.  If your potatoes/squash are done, you should probably take them out of the microwave to let them cool for a bit.  Next, add 1 tbsp butter and the onion to a pot.

6.  Stirring frequently, caramelize the onions in the butter on a medium high heat until nicely golden brown and translucent.  Reduce the heat to medium-low.

6.  Add the cornstarch/milk mixture to the caramelized onions.  Stir well and bring it to slightly bubbling.

7.  Add the cheese (gouda, laughing cow).  Mix well, breaking up the laughing cow wedges.  Keep mixing until gouda is melted.  Make sure it stays just below a simmer, not bubbling in the pot too much.

8.  Add the salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.  At this point, you may want to use a whisk to break up any chunks of the laughing cow cheese.

9.  Turn off the heat to the pot and let the sauce cool and thicken for a minute or two.  Then ladle a bit of the sauce into the baking pan, spreading it in a thin layer on the bottom.

10.  Layer the thinly sliced potatoes and squash in the pan.  I did a layer of potatoes, a layer of squash, then a layer of cheese sauce, then a layer of potatoes, then another layer of cheese sauce, but you can probably do it however you want.  Just watch the amount of cheese sauce you have left, because there’s not much extra to spare.

11.  The last layer should be cheese sauce, and then sprinkle the gruyere (or more gouda) over the top.

12.  Bake in 350 F oven for 20-30 minutes.  Then raise the heat and broil it for a couple of minutes, until the top is crispy golden brown cheesy goodness.

13.   Let it cool 10 minutes before digging in, otherwise you might burn your face on the molten cheese.  And everyone knows a burnt tongue is a major party pooper.

So after writing all this, I was thinking about how this isn’t only great as a main dish or side, it’d probably also be awesome as a contribution to a potluck brunch!  Mmm..

Veggie Mushu – My best version yet!

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Now that the holidays are over it’s back to eating less meat, which means more vegetarian meals.  I’ve always loved mushu anything, and was very impressed with the addictive veggie mushu made at a great vegan Chinese restaurant in Mountain View.  I hoped that I could vaguely recreate it at home, and I think was fairly successful.

I can’t say this recipe is super quick.  It’s easy to eat, but it takes quite a bit of prep to cook. The main reason is that the way to integrate the tofu in this recipe the best, texture-wise, is to marinate and fry it in oil.  You could, however, save yourself some time by using precut carrots and cabbage.  Also, I find it’s best to put each of the ingredients into a bowl after you’ve prepped them, because wok cooking requires you to add things quickly and keep everything moving.

Luckily Chinese food is great leftover and this recipe makes a lot!

Vegetarian Mushu

Serves at least 3 hungry individuals!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 block Trader Joe’s Extra Firm High Protein Tofu (or probably 1/3 of a larger container of another brand of extra firm tofu)
  • 5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 1/2-1 cup dried wood ear mushroom/black fungus (optional, but present in most mushu recipes in restaurants)
  • soy sauce
  • five spice powder (optional, not pictured)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2″ chunk of fresh ginger
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 small green cabbage
  • 2 small carrots
  • 3 green onions
  • peanut oil (or another high smoke point oil) for frying (not pictured)
  • rice wine
  • (optional: serve with rice or mushu pancakes and hoisin sauce.)

1.  Prepare the tofu. Cut the tofu into thin strips, about 3″ long and 1/4″ wide (as shown in the picture).  Place in a bowl and marinate in a mixture of soy sauce and five spice powder.  Set aside, but stir occasionally to make sure the tofu marinates evenly.

2. Prepare the mushrooms. Remove the stems from the dried shiitake mushrooms (I forgot to do that, but it’s easier to do when they’re dried). Rehydrate the shiitake mushrooms and the black fungus by placing them in two separate bowls of water and microwaving them for 1-2 minutes then letting them sit for a minute or two.  Drain off the water.  Slice the shiitake mushrooms into strips like the tofu, then stir them into the tofu mixture.

3.  Mince the garlic and ginger.

4.  Prepare the vegetables.  Shred the cabbage into shreds about 1/2″ wide.  Cut the carrots into thin strips, about 3″ in length.  Chop the green onions crosswise (after removing the ends), about 1/2″ thick.

5.  Crack the two eggs into a bowl and beat them well.

6.  Drain the liquid off of the tofu/mushroom mixture.

7.  Set a plate near your stove with some paper towels on it.  You’ll drain the tofu on this.  You want it ready beforehand so you can quickly take things out of the oil!

8.  Add about 1-2″ of peanut oil to the wok and turn up the heat to high.  When a drop of water pops when dropped into the oil, your oil is ready.  Add the tofu/mushroom mixture and stir frequently.  The oil should be sizzling and bubbling around the tofu.

9.  When the tofu/mushroom strips look nicely browned and kind of crispy, carefully remove it from the oil and allow it to drain on the paper towel, spreading the mixture out. You want the tofu to be pretty browned and crispy looking, but not black!

10.  Turn off the heat.  Remove some of the oil from the wok (carefully and safely!)  Leave just a little splash in the bottom.  Turn the heat back on high.  Add the beaten eggs.  Let them sit for a few seconds so they start cooking on the bottom, then keep the moving around.  They should be scrambled, but try to make the scrambles small chunks.  Ideally, they’ll be strip-like, like the tofu and mushrooms.  When cooked, remove to a bowl. (A little underdone is better than overdone.)

11.  Add another splash of oil to the wok.  Add your ginger and green onions.  Keep them moving around, and only sautee them for a few seconds.  Then quickly add in all the vegetables and the wood ear/black fungus mushrooms EXCEPT the green onions.  Stir it all up and make sure the garlic and ginger is mixed in well.

12.  Add a splash of rice wine.  Mix it in. This liquid helps cook the veggies, but evaporates quickly because it’s alcohol leaving no extra liquid.  Stir frequently, making sure everything keeps moving and nothing sticks to the bottom, and keep cooking the veggies until the cabbage just starts to turn translucent, just a few minutes at most if your wok is hot enough.

13.  Add in the tofu/mushroom strips mixture.  Mix in well.  Keep everything moving so nothing gets too burnt!  Let cook until the carrots start to get soft, probably just a minute or so.

14.  Add the eggs and green onions.  Stir in.  Add a dash of soy sauce if you’re a salt lover and a sprinkle of MSG if you’re an MSG lover.  Keep it moving.  Once the carrots are no longer crunchy, it’s done!  Turn off the heat!

15.  Serve with a squeeze of hoisin sauce and brown rice or mushu pancakes, whatever your heart desires.  Or just eat it as is!

Nasubi Miso – Japanese Miso Eggplant

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I cooked this up in a hurry tonight so the form isn’t the best, but the flavor is always awesome.  I like mine a little spicy, which is pretty non-traditional, but hey…this is Diet with an Identity Crisis, right?  Also, this recipe shows you just how much patience I lack when cooking late on a weeknight.  There are two ways to do this: the pretty way, or the lazy quick way.

Nasubi Miso (Japanese Miso Eggplant)

Ingredients

  • 2 Asian eggplant (often marketed as “Chinese eggplant”– the long, skinny lighter purple ones), largely diced
  • 1/3 yellow onion, sliced into thin slices
  • 1 thai chili, cut up into thin coins and then minced up (optional)
  • 1-3 tsp vegetable or canola oil
  • 1/4 cup white miso (the light brown color paste, not the instant dried kind)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine seasoning– you could substitute light corn syrup with a little bit of sherry if needed. Most mass produced Mirin doesn’t have much wine flavor anyway.)
  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup of soy sauce (depending on taste)
  • Sesame seeds to taste
  • Other potential additions if you’d like (though omitted in this recipe): 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger and/or 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Put water and miso in a bowl.

Mix until miso becomes like…miso soup.  No big lumps.

Heat up wok or other cooking pan and add oil.  Coat pan well.

Add onions and chilis and keep moving around the hot pan, getting the flavor infused in the oil.  They should get a little goldenly browned on the edges, but not too much.

Add the eggplant cubes.  Mix well, until lightly coated with oil.  Brown a little bit if you’d like.

Add in the miso.  Mix it all up.

(You can see I added more liquid than I’ve put in this recipe.  I lowered it for the recipe because I had to drain about 1/4 of a cup of liquid off.)  Probably best to turn down the heat and let it simmer for a bit, stirring every 30-60 seconds.    Simmer until the eggplant starts being soft and less like styrofoam.

I kept mine on high heat, but you’ll get a prettier looking & better textured result if you cook it slower with more patience.  You can cook it hot and fast like me though, if you’re impatient and really only care about flavor.

Add mirin (or the corn syrup or sugar syrup & possibly sherry mixture).

Add soy sauce.  At this point, I’d pull off a piece and blow on it until cool and see if it needs more soy sauce or mirin.  The taste should be neither sharply sweet nor salty,  more like a salty caramel.  Nom.

If you turned down the heat, bring it back up again.  Mix it all up and keep mixing it over the heat.  You’re going to get a nice caramelized eggplant thing going on here.  The eggplant should be soft (and if you cooked it the lazy fast way like me, kinda mushy and having lost a considerable amount of its shape).  Throw in as many sesame seeds as you want.

Wait for it to cook before you eat it.  Don’t be a fool like me and be all “WHOO THIS IS AWESOME” and take a hefty taste of  it and burn the roof of your mouth.  ’Cause I can guarantee it’s really not worth the pain.

If you used your wok– please, dear god, do not wash it with soap.  Let that black caramelized patina stay on there and wash it with hot water and a gentle scrubber.  Then heat it up smoking hot and reseason it with some more oil (or lard, if you’re hardcore).

Goodnight to any people who read this blog but rarely (if ever) comment on it!  Sweet dreams of caramelized nasubi.

Preaster brunch

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I have a few little traditions in life, and one of the cheapest traditions is Easter egg coloring (particularly thanks to Costco memberships, 5 dozen eggs for $9).  I don’t generally do anything on Easter itself, so brunch came with the eggs this time. I think it’s funny how I’m not religious, but I end up participating in a lot of religious holidays just because they are so entrenched in American culture (though, I guess that’s the case for most Americans nowadays).  I think it’s because I’m crafty and like working with the unusual materials that a lot of these holidays deal with– cookies, pine branches, eggs, etc.  Lured in by unusual mediums!

Somehow these traditions seem to lump up in springtime (St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo if I have money).  Maybe I’m just glad the weather is getting better.

Today for our Easter Egg Coloring Brunch (Preaster Brunch), I served Dutch Babies with fresh farmer’s market strawberries (and, admittedly, Chilean blueberries from Trader Joe’s) and Hash Browns with leeks.  Friends brought along home made raspberry-filled pastries, cupcakes, some savory chicken, mimosa supplies, candy, and of course…bacon.  It was perfect.

I used the dutch baby recipe from Allrecipes, Dutch Babies II.  While places like Saveur and Epicurious are good for teaching you gourmet techniques and having fancy recipes, Allrecipes is a nice user-submitted site with a lot of very easily doable American classics, voted on by members.  This recipe came out quite good.

A Dutch Baby is basically like a pancake, except you substitute some more eggs for some of the flour, turning it into a popover, almost.

You melt the butter in an oven-safe round dish, throw in the batter (which is just eggs, a bit of flour, and some spices.  I added some vanilla extract to mine.), bake it for 12 minutes until golden brown, and top with powdered sugar.  Serve with fresh fruit mixed with some sugar, a bit of lemon juice.  So quick, so simple, and perfect for a brunch.  Here’s my friend Mee (a lovely and talented developer and designer), from Xinair.net,  giving her seal of approval on this recipe:

The hash brown recipe is my own doing, based on years of addiction to hash browns and subsequent years of experimentation.  Today I used leeks for a little more color.  I’ve roughly estimated the recipe below.  Feel free to use more butter or spices as necessary– it’s pretty basic once you get the technique down, and I think the ratio is pretty forgiving overall.

—–

Kestrel’s Hash Browns

(Serves 8)

  • 6-8 yukon gold potatoes (depending on size)
  • 4 small leeks (or 1-2 large ones)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • Kosher salt (~1-2 tsp?)
  • Black pepper (~1 tsp)
  • Cayenne pepper (~1 tsp)

Wash & grate the yukon gold potatoes (food processors are awesome for the grating– I unfortunately forgot mine existed for some reason).  No need to peel them, the skin has lots of vitamins! Set them in a bowl with some water and add a teaspoon or two of salt, mixing them up.  Let it sit, 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Chop up the leeks into thin coins.

Empty the grated potatoes into a wire strainer.  Rinse in cool, running water, moving the potatoes around with your hands to remove any excess starch.  This is the key to getting fluffy hash browns.  Gently squish out a bit of the extra water, and let them sit to drain a bit while you continue on to the next step.

Add the butter to a very large frying pan (preferably non-stick– if you’re using not non-stick, use extra butter.), bring the heat up to medium or medium low.  Let melt and move it around so it coats the whole pan.

Add the leeks to the butter.  Stir them around so they get all coated and delightfully buttery and keep stirring occasionally.  Turn the heat down if they start browning too much.  You want them to get translucent and a little golden, but not brown.

Add the salt, pepper, and cayenne.  Mix that all up nice and well, let it cook in for a minute or two, stirring frequently.

Add the grated potato and mix it all up very well until the leeks are fairly evenly distributed.  Turn down heat to as low as you can, cover and let cook 5 minutes, stirring once or twice.  This steaming effect helps cook the potatoes thoroughly.

Turn the heat back up to medium or medium high and turn the potatoes every 30 seconds or so, once they start getting golden on the bottom.  You want to keep turning them so you won’t get burnt bits, just those nice golden bits throughout.

Serve warm.  I like mine with ketchup and/or eggs, but they were good for some starch-on-starch action with the Dutch Babies too.

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We came, we ate, we conquered.   5 dozen eggs, mimosas, and bacon later, everyone was ready for a Sunday nap.  After some tea, I sent them off with more eggs than they knew what to do with in all sorts of bright colors.  I hope no one food coma-ed while the were driving.  What a gorgeous day, in all senses of the word.

Stew > Sleep

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This will be the second or third day of sleep deprivation, I’m not entirely sure.  Last night was due to contemplation about my future, having just received acceptance from one graduate school.  Tonight is the onset of preparation for my annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner party, the celebration of the palest 1/4 of my heritage.  Tonight meant starting the process of an awesome stew to feed at the very least 12 (luckily stew is one of those things that really is better left over, so I can keep it in the fridge for a day or two and reheat it thoroughly).

Tomorrow will be more preparation (making the base for vegetarian cottage pie, prepping vegetables, boiling potatoes, and hitting up the gym so the fact that I may have enjoyed tasting these things and sipping on a beer won’t show in my thighs.  Thursday, of course, is S-day, with moderated debauchery in the form of a massive dinner party (my neighbors have been warned/invited).  Friday I’ll be amazed if I’m still alive.

Granted, I’ve never been to Ireland, but the internet is fabulous place that lets us all reconnect with our past in interesting and often culinary ways.  Here’s my synthesis of how to create a decent Irish lamb stew for 12 people:

Irish Lamb Stew

(for 12)

You’re going to need a very large stock pot for this one.  There aren’t any potatoes, because I usually serve potatoes as a side since it’s an excuse to make champ.

  • 6 lbs leg of lamb (boneless), cut into 2-3″ cubes. Could use lamb stew meat if where you live is fancy enough to carry cheap cuts of lamb.  (I had to drop $35 for the leg…)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 leek (washed carefully and sliced into 1″ pieces)
  • 6 turnips (2″ dice)
  • 1 parsnip (1″ rounds)
  • 4-6 carrots (1″ rounds)
  • 1 yellow onion (3″ dice)
  • 1 celery root (2″ dice)
  • Frozen peas (1 c)
  • 2 cups pearl barley (optional)

And for the seasoning/sauce:

  • 1-2 c Worcestershire sauce (ok, so I didn’t have any, so I had to use Chinese black vinegar…I’m a horrible person, but it works in a pinch even if it’s a bit thinner.  It’s also vegetarian!)
  • 2/3 c flour
  • 2 bottles of beer (anything will do, as any alcoholic Irish person could tell you)
  • Salt (kosher or sea)
  • Black pepper
  • Thyme
  • Sage
  • Parsley (preferably Italian)
  • Bay leaves
  • 5 or so cloves of garlic (I also threw in a shallot just ’cause)
  • A whole hell of a lot of water
  • Maybe more flour

Cut the lamb into cubes and toss in a bowl with generous amounts of salt & pepper.

Heat up the pot with the butter & vegetable oil until it’s visibly bubbly.  Throw in the lamb cubes.  You’re going to need to stir this a lot and drain off the water about every 5-10 minutes (save this in a pot or bowl!!).  Draining off the water is important, otherwise your meat will never brown.  Keep cooking until the lamb has a nice dark brown color on at least a few sides of each cube.  Remove lamb to a bowl or somewhere, saving fat in the pan.

Add to fat Worcestershire sauce, and the reserved lamb juice that you had drained off.  Use this to deglaze the pan.  Throw in the leeks and cook them until the leeks are nice and soft.   Add in the 2/3 cup of flour, move it around so it absorbs all the juices and creates a roux (a paste-type thing).  Add beer to the roux, stirring frequently.  Taste this and add salt and pepper as needed.  Note that you want this sauce to taste a little more bitter/salty than you would think, because the parsnips, turnips, carrots, and onions all bring a lot of sweetness to the stew.

Now you add the lamb back in, along with the vegetables and spices (thyme, sage, etc.)  Add garlic.  Add a lot of water, enough to cover all of the contents.   This is when I threw in the barley, too.

Let simmer for ever and ever and ever and ever (we’re talking hours here), until there’s noticably less water and it looks like a stew and the meat is tender.  You can add more flour if you need to to thicken the sauce more, but I’d advise whisking it into a paste separately at least with some water, to keep it from making lumps.  A second batch of roux using lard or butter would be better still.

A slow cooker would be great for this, but unfortunately, who really has room to store a slow cooker big enough to hold food for 12 people?

Egg Flower Soup 蛋花汤

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Tonight I made an incidentally low-calorie, low-carb, vegetarian dinner for myself while making some soup for a sick friend: egg flower soup.

Egg flower soup is actually quite simple to make, but looks very elegant and tastes really delicate.  I think, in the authentic version, the soup most often contains spinach, but you can really use whatever vegetables you want.  I use carrots, frozen peas, frozen corn, onions, and green onions.

My recipe for this soup can be found at Calorie Count, but since you’re reading my blog I’ll tell you the two secret ingredients: a little bit of five spice powder (about 2 tsp) and a dash of soy sauce.  You want to let the veggies simmer for a bit in the broth to make sure that the carrots get tender.  I think the recipe probably actually makes more like 4 servings, I just anticipated 2 because I was hungry when I wrote it up. XD

If you want a non-vegetarian version, use chicken stock.  You could also brown some chicken first then add the stock.

Soup-er Rainy Day

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brightening up a rainy day

It’s been raining for almost a week nonstop here in central California, and pretty cold for this area to boot (low 40s in the day, low 30s at night).  I know I’m not going to get sympathy from anyone…well, anywhere *but* California…but it’s a great excuse to make soup.

I’d been craving tom kha gai, a Thai chicken-coconut soup. (I dunno why I’ve been on this Southeast Asian food kick lately, but I’ll probably blame having just finished reading A Cook’s Tour.)  The coconut milk, though, pretty much negates the healthy soup factor, so I opted for a regular ol’ chicken vegetable soup.  The chicken adds richness, the carrots and green onions sweetness, spinach an earthiness, and the lemon, kaffir lime, and galangal a tangyness.

~300 calories for the whole pot, and chock full of tons of vitamins: vitamin A, iron, potassium, vitamin C, and fiber.  Luckily this whole diet thing makes it pretty easy to write up recipes, since I sort of measure everything anyway.

Kestrel’s Thai Chicken Soup

Makes 1 serving as a meal, 2 servings as a side or starter.

If you do your prep first, the cooking will go super fast.

Ingredients

  • 1 skinless boneless chicken thigh (I prefer the thighs because they have more flavor & are cheaper), chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 can chicken broth (Swanson 100% natural is what I used)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce (nước mắm)
  • a few kaffir lime leaves (anywhere between 1-3 is fine)
  • a few coins of galangal (I find it’s a bit sweeter and fruitier than ginger)
  • 1 sliced ring of lemon
  • 2 small carrots, sliced into coins
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, chopped roughly
  • 1/4 cup shelled soy beans/edamame (I bought preshelled frozen ones)
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped fresh cilantro/coriander leaves

Add the oil to the bottom of the pot and heat up.  Add chicken, salt, pepper.  Keep stirring until chicken is a little bit browned.

soup base

Add chicken stock, galangal, fish sauce, lime leaves, lemon ring.  Bring to a boil.

adding veggies

Turn down to a simmer.  Add carrots, then bring to a simmer again and add spinach, soybeans.  Bring to a boil.

simmer!

green onions & cilantro


Throw in green onions, cilantro, and turn off immediately so the cilantro and green onions don’t overcook and lose their brightness.  Stir, let cool for a minute, then enjoy.  Garnish bowl with a few sesame seeds if you want.

all done!

Pro tip: don’t try to eat the lemon ring, galangal, or kaffir lime leaves.  They’re all pretty tough and pungent.  You could probably take them out before serving if you wanted, or just eat around them like I do.