At the farmer's market the other day I bought some kale. I have been craving kale, largely due to watching it grow at what seems an extremely slow rate outside my kitchen window. I asked my daughter if she wanted it and she said, "Only if you make it with the beanies and tomatoes." Hmm. I had forgotten about that. So the night before last a dutifully put out half a bag of garbanzo beans to soak overnight.
Garbanzo beans do not do well with a quick soak or a quick cook or anything like that but I truly think they taste better from dried than canned. And I've become a bit suspicious of cans and am trying to usher them out, thanks to all the BPA hoopla.
So after soaking them overnight, I rinsed and drained them and put them in a pot to boil and cooked them, checking them periodically for 45 minutes or so. Until they were soft but not totally done.
Mind you this was the day after that really big bottle of sake...I decided some broth might be in order. So I had to make 2 recipes for 1 dinner with 4 people. (Ridiculous, isn't it?)
Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans, eh, whatever you wanna call 'em) & Kale
1/4 bag of dried garbanzo beans, pre-soaked and pre-cooked
1/4 bunch of fresh kale, washed and coarsely chopped
6 cups of broth
salt
pepper
garlic
I thawed out my broth, which is homemade, mineral-rich, and gluten-free, and was also a mixture of turkey and chicken. I thawed it only slightly and then threw the frozen hunks in the pan, letting the stove do the rest of the work. I was feeling a bit in need of laziness, and perhaps it showed. Adding some garlic powder and wishing I had fresh on hand, I stirred in the kale and the beans. I simmered this at a low heat for about 20 minutes, allowing all broth to de-frost and all flavors to meld. I seasoned with salt & pepper and then sampled a cup, taking immediate notice, shall we say, of its restorative properties.
In another pan, I made my daughter's request:
Chickpeas with Kale & Tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup red bell pepper
1/4 bunch chopped kale
2 cups marinara sauce
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. powdered garlic
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 cup dried garbanzo beans, pre-soaked and pre-cooked
In some olive oil, saute the onions and peppers until they start to be tender. Add the
garbanzo beans and kale. Pour the marinara sauce over it, add seasonings, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat immediately to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the kale has begun to soften. This dish has always been a favorite of my daughter's, in its many incarnations. I have used fresh or canned tomatoes before too. I just don't buy canned tomatoes anymore, so I have subbed in the marinara.
No this is not the latest craze on Cartoon Network, believe it or not. It was last night's dinner. And quite tasty it was, too. Easy to make, pleasing to the whole family, a winner in my book. The baby is going through this mysterious stage where he doesn't want to eat vegetables. I'm not really sure why, and quite frankly, I really don't care. Eating vegetables is not an optional thing around here, and the sooner he learns that and quits screeching and throwing things, the better off we'll be. But he ate last nights veggies without protest, which made dinner a much quieter affair. See? If you were brought a steamy yummy looking plate like this-- I bet you'd eat your veggies too.
Ingredients:
1 lb. shark steak (preferably wild-caught)
1 cup jasmine rice
4 cups water (divided)
a large chunk of fresh ginger
frozen veggies
tamari sauce
powdered garlic
Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup onion
rice vinegar
sesame oil
corn starch
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
lemon zest
Cut your shark steak into large cubes and place in a bowl. Grate up about a tablespoon of fresh ginger, and about a teaspoon of lemon zest. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar, 1tsp. powdered garlic, and about 1 tsp. of tamari sauce toss. Set aside. Start rice cooking (for me jasmine rice seems to take about 25 minutes. I have no package directions because we bought a 25 pound bag and are down to just a bit in a Rubbermaid container.) In a large skillet, pour about 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and the chopped onions. Once the onions start to turn translucent, add the marinated shark to the oil and cook at medium heat until the chunks are cooked through. I forgot to time this, but was able to prep coffee for the following morning, inspect a messy child's room, feed rice chex to the baby, stirring throughout, and then I think it was done, if that gives you an idea. Remove shark to another (clean-please!) bowl.
Grate more ginger into the pan, add another teaspoon or two of garlic, about 1/8 cup tamari, 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce, another tsp or so of lemon zest. Stir together, and add the frozen veggies. Fresh would be great if you have them on hand, I did not. I used a frozen pack of "Asian" vegetables and a mystery can of salt-free green beans that has been around for ages. Cook until veggies are cooked through, then add them to the bowl of shark. In the same pan, add more sesame oil, about 1 tablespoon, more grated ginger and lemon zest, 1/8 cup rice vinegar, and about the same amount tamari sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add 1 teaspoon of powdered garlic, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. of cayenne. Then, dissolve some corn starch into 3 cups of warm water. How much you use depends on how thick you want your sauce to be. Add this mixture to the sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook together for about 3 minutes.
Add shark and veggies to the pan and stir well, making sure all is coated evenly. Serve shark & vegetables over rice with sake. This meal is totally gluten-free. I'm not sure about the sake though.
A note on sake: We always buy the same brand, and we only buy it at Super H Mart. It's twice the price anywhere else. We have developed a pretty easy method for heating it, since we like hot sake but don't want to cook the alcohol out. We bring a small pot of water to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Then pour your sake into your sake carafe and place it in the water for 2-3 minutes. Remove the carafe and pour from there.
So our garden is blooming and alive and growing and we got our first cucumbers. So I decided to make some quick pickles once I managed to grab two cucumbers that hadn't been eaten by anyone yet.
Quick Pickle (Refrigerator Pickle) Recipe
2 pickling cucumbers, preferably fresh from the garden
2 tsp. mustard seed
2 tsp. dill
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. salt
1 tsp.black pepper
2 cups white vinegar
Bring vinegar to a boil and dissolve the salt in it. Meanwhile, cut your cucumbers (I did one jar of spears, one jar of chips.) Arrange cucumbers in 2 mason jars and divide the seasoning between the two jars. Pour vinegar/salt mixture over the cucumbers to cover. Seal the jars and mark the date. Allow the jars to cool. Once cool, refrigerate for 3 weeks before serving.
Note: This is a quick pickle recipe that must be refrigerated. It does not require sterilization of the jars or pressure sealing, so lack of refrigeration could cause you to grow, um, extra seasonings of the unsafe variety.
You can eat these prior to the 3 week mark but they will be extremely tart. We cracked open a jar after only 3 days and consumed it in one sitting. But my kids do LOVE sour.
Amaranth is an ancient grain that the Aztecs used not only for nutritional sustenance, but also in ceremonial situations. It is high in minerals, high in protein, and gluten-free. All of which made it sound like a winner in my book and prompted 3 weeks of shopping to find the stuff. It was actually rather hard to find, which is quite odd since it grows as a native species in much of the U.S.
Whatever, I found it at Whole Foods, and in spite of their reputation as Whole Paycheck, it was not expensive (I think $2.72 for almost 2 lbs.) I've cooked out of the container twice and haven't even used 1/4 of it.
On the same night I made our "Fancy Brussel Sprouts" I decided to introduce amaranth. I often introduce something "weird" when I have other foods I know the kids will eat.. if they don't feel trapped, they tend to be much more experimental.
It was loved by all. Seriously. And so easy to cook, I see it becoming a staple for us. I get tired of rice, and the hubby gets tired of potatoes.
Amaranth in Chicken Broth
Ingredients:
3 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup amaranth
2 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. ground garlic (I was out of fresh!)
1 tsp. oregano
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
In a small pot, bring the chicken broth and amaranth to a boil. Reduce heat and add spices and olive oil. Cook, covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve as a side item in place of rice.
On the way back from our Father's Day excursion, we went by Dekalb Farmer's Market to pick up some meat, produce, and spices. We have a habit of allowing M to pick out some fruits and/or vegetables at the market. Over the years, she has picked things ranging from doughnut-shaped peaches to kumquats to purple potatoes. And whatever it is, I try to buy to encourage her in trying new things and eating more fruits and veggies.
For some bizarre and unusual (at least for a 7 year old) reason, she loves brussel sprouts, which we ordinarily buy frozen. But they are (apparently) in season now, and so this weekend she chose fresh brussel sprouts. I do not know that I have ever eaten a fresh brussel sprout, I had certainly never cooked one. I rather consider cooking a new food a fun challenge though, so I planned a meal around it... Bison Cubed Steak, Fresh Brussel Sprouts, leftover Marinated Veggie Salad, and Amaranth in Chicken Broth. It was a fresh, healthy, and yummy meal.
Since M picked the Brussel sprouts, I asked her if she wanted them boiled and plain or wanted me to saute them with onions, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. She said,"I want them to be the fancy way."
So here's my recipe for "Fancy" Brussel Sprouts
1/2 lb. fresh Brussel Sprouts
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 cloves fresh garlic, sliced into slivers
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. lemon zest
sea salt
olive oil
water
Fill a large mixing bowl with water and throw the Brussel sprouts in. Allow them to soak for ten minutes or so to loosen any dirt. Rinse and remove. With a small knife, cut the stem from the bottom, carefully removing most of it, but not cutting it close enough that all of the leaves will fall off. Then, turning each sprout on its head, cut a cross in the bottom about halfway through, to enable the inside to cook better. Fill a small pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add the Brussel sprouts and lemon zest and continue to boil for about 10 minutes. Remove the Brussel Sprouts from the water (I use a pasta utensil for this, but that's just me.) Cut the sprouts into quarters and reserve. In medium skillet, heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil with about 1/2 of your vinegar. Add the onions and garlic, cooking until they begin to turn translucent. Add your Brussel Sprouts to the skillet, along with the rest of the vinegar, sprinkle with a bit of sea salt. Cook until sprouts are tender and coated well with the vinegar.
The onions and vinegar help offset a bit of the bitterness of the Brussel Sprouts, and apparently they were "fancy" enough to satisfy M's taste. I ate the leftovers straight from the pan as a snack when I was cleaning up the kitchen 2 hours later. (So I guess they were "fancy" enough for me, too.)
Recent events that-shall-not-be-named (why do I feel like I'm writing a Harry Potter novel?) have led me to thinking of a bucket list. I'm sure you know the concept of a bucket list, the whole what do I want to do before I die.
I don't think for me it's a what do I want to do before I die so much as a what do I want to do while I'm young, and what I want my kids to experience when they are young.
Do you think about these things? Or am I weird?
My list for my kids ( I would like them to each do before they are 10):
1.) Go real camping. No cabin, no rv. Cook over a campfire and pitch a tent.
2.) Volunteer with the poor.
3.) Travel abroad, to at least one or two countries.
4.) Visit worship services for faiths other than our own.
5.) Go to sleep away camp for a week without mom, dad, or grandparents.
6.) Learn to balance a budget.
7.) Learn to cook a meal.
8.) Learn to grow food.
9.) Learn enough of one other language to get by.
10.) Dream and be a kid.
A list for myself. While I'm young!
1.) Renew my wedding vows in Jamaica with my kids there with us.
2.) Go back to school for something
3.) Learn Spanish
4.) Get another tattoo (or two)
5.) Learn how to really build things. Like maybe build my kids an amazing fort/swingset or something.
6.) Travel abroad to somplace really unusual
7.) See the pyramids!
8.) Write a book and try to get it published.
9.) Get into and maintain the shape I was in when I was an archaeologist.
10.) Be financially independent.
11.) Learn, really learn, that you can't change other people, you can only change yourself.
To be honest, I have never been a huge fried chicken maker, because I simply wasn't good at it, until I stumbled upon a recipe by the Lee Brothers a couple of years ago. Their recipe is step-by-step guaranteed delicious perfection. I still haven't made it very often, (because fried chicken isn't necessarily the best thing in the world for you) but I have come to appreciate it as a good dish to conjure up for something like, oh I don't know, say a picnic.
But now we are gluten-free. And my Lee Bros. cookbook (which looks JUST LIKE that one over there) is still mysteriously packed up in one of my many boxes of books from when we moved (because yes, yes I DO have THAT many books.) But I was planning a special picnic for my husband who LOVES fried chicken.
Uh oh.
Determined as I was to make gluten-free fried chicken, I was scared. Scared I would fail, I would waste the chicken. Scared it would turn out nastified. And quite honestly, after staying up until midnight the night before Father's Day making said chicken, I still would not have included it in this blog because I thought I had failed.
But yesterday, when we pulled the cold container of fried chicken out of the cooler at the park, I was more than pleasantly surprised. Had it not been 12,000 degrees outside, I would've indulged and eaten a truck load of it. It wasn't pretty chicken, but it was very, very good.
So here is my recipe I concocted after reading about 50 recipes on the internet.
Ingredients:
1 gallon water
11 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups sea salt
2 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1 tsp. granulated garlic
ice
3 cups buttermilk
1 lb. rice flour
black pepper
cayenne pepper
granulated garlic
parsley
salt
cornmeal (not cornmeal mix)
3-4 cups coconut oil
a large amount of time and patience
This was a 2-day recipe, or at least a night-and-a-day. I don't normally have that amount of time to invest, but to cook something for an occasion like Father's Day I will make it work. But if you would like to try this at home, I thought I would give a warning!
Thaw out your chicken if you have it frozen. Do this in the refrigerator or in water, do not do it in the microwave and risk partially cooked, dried-out chicken. Once it is thawed and/or removed from the package, wash it off. In a large bucket or trash bag if you don't have a bucket, pour 1 gallon of cold water and dissolve the sea salt and brown sugar in it. Add the 2 tsp. parsley and 1 tsp. garlic, plus 1 tsp. italian seasoning. Add the chicken and ice. Put your container of chicken the coldest part of your refrigerator and leave it there for 4-6 hours. This is brining the chicken. It helps the chicken to have more moisture when you fry it so that in turn your chicken is juicy, moist, and super-delicious.
When you are ready to cook, pull out three mixing bowls or large containers. In the first, put about 2 cups of rice flour, and sprinkle in some garlic, parsley, cayenne, and about 1/8 cup of cornmeal. Put the exact same thing in your 3rd bowl. Toss or mix the dry ingredients together. Pour about a cup of buttermilk in the 2nd bowl. Line them up on your countertop in a neat little assembly line. Heat your oven to 350 and grease 2-3 baking sheets.
The next step is to dredge the chicken. Dredge in bowl 1, dip into the buttermilk bowl, and then dredge it into bowl 3. Lay across a baking sheet. Repeat until you have all of the chicken breaded. Bake your chicken for about 30 minutes and remove from oven. Turn the oven off for crying out loud! It's summertime and hot as h-e-double hockey sticks!
Now heat a medium to large skillet over medium high heat. I like to use a smallish skillet for fried chicken so that I only cook 1 or 2 pieces at a time so I have better control of what's going on in there, but that does make it take considerably longer. Pour in just enough coconut oil to coat the bottom of the skillet with about a 1/4 inch coating. Once the oil is melted well and hot, add pieces of chicken one at a time. Make sure your chicken can lay out entirely flat. Fry chicken for about 5 minute on each side.
Do not obsessively turn the chicken, this will cause your breading to fall off. Do not forget about the chicken and cook it too long, this will cause your breading to burn. The chicken itself is mostly cooked at this stage, but still needs to be finished off and you are crisping and cooking the breading.
Do have plenty of napkins on hand for eating. If you are transporting to a picnic or other event, store in an airtight container and keep cold.
Enjoy your picnic-- try and avoid flies and ants and enjoy sun and family!
In some olive oil, saute the onions and peppers until they start to be tender. Add the 
