I have been nominated for Circle of Moms Top 25 Eco-Friendly Moms Blog. Voting only goes until Thursday, so I am late to the show! Please take a moment to go to their site by clicking on the badge above or on the right of this page and vote for It’s Not Easy Eating Green. As of right now (Sunday night), the blog can still be found under the pending tab, but you can still vote for me there. Thank you!
My favorite poem about spring is In Just by e.e. cummings. Besides the freaky and slightly scary little lame balloonman, this poem sums up everything I love about spring. Are you familiar with it? Here it is as quoted from Poetry.org:
[in Just-]
By E. E. Cummings
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it’s
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it’s
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
Yeah, I told you the balloonman was a little freaky. But that aside, just reading this poem reminds me of the smell of spring mud and light breezes. It transports me back to my childhood and that great feeling I used to get playing outside on those first magnificent warm sunny days of spring, of jumping in mud puddles, and of birds singing and bees buzzing.
Yup, spring is here and it has been S-P-E-C-T-A-C-U-L-A-R! We’ve spent the better part of the past two weeks outside inhaling as much spring as we can get our lungs around. After a long and particularly cold and snowy winter we are reveling in it. You too?
Of course between Easter, Mother’s Day and the Twin’s birthday celebration, there’s a lot of time to cook for a crowd this spring. We’ve been doing our share of that too. All this nice weather has us working up appetites for grilled food and spring fare. With Mother’s day this weekend, I thought I’d share the whole menu for a spring feast. This feast was our Easter dinner this year, but I saved it because I thought it would make a wonderful Mother’s day meal too.
The bulgur pilaf is my own recipe. If your not familiar with bulgur then your are missing out. You may remember my recipe for whole pumpkin stuffed with lamb and bulgur. This recipe is a basic pilaf that goes with anything. You can build onto the flavors here to customize this pilaf in the same way you might for a rice pilaf. Add saffron for a more middle-eastern flavor or oregano, rosemary and thyme for a more Mediterranean flavor. We eat this with chicken, lamb and fish; its just plain tasty.
The rest of the menu is from various places. The absolutely fantastic Leg of Lamb with Herbs and Mustard recipe is from Cooking Light and is some of the best lamb I’ve ever had. The only changes I made to the recipe were to use whole bay leaves instead of ground, a couple extra cloves of garlic and whole grain mustard instead of traditional Dijon. With the lamb and bulgur pilaf, I also served simple steamed green beans topped with sauteed mushrooms.
Another amazing recipe was the dessert. Glissade Chocolate Pudding from 101 Cookbooks isn’t typical chocolate pudding. On the chocolate dessert spectrum it falls somewhere between chocolate pudding and chocolate mousse, but it is all delicious! My mother-in-law discovered this recipe for Passover, and we’ve enjoyed it several times since then. If you are a chocolate fan you are going to be all over this. Make this exactly by the recipe. Don’t make one single change. The importance of the quality of the ingredients cannot be understated here; there are so few ingredients that there is nowhere to hide. Have lots of fresh real whipped cream on hand to gild the chocolate lily.
To make this meal as easy as possible, I’ve included a timeline for preparing the meal. The timeline can be found below the bulgur pilaf recipe. Happy Mother’s Day to all the other mom’s out there and happy spring to everyone! Enjoy!
Basic Bulgur Pilaf
Serves 4-6
I call this recipe “Basic” because it’s the perfect platform for all sorts of enhancements. You can get creative with this recipe by adding different ingredients. Add a pinch of saffron to the broth, or diced sauteed zucchini before serving.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
3 large cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup wheat bulgur
2 cups chicken, beef or vegetable broth
Garnish:
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent and soft, about 7 minutes.
Add the garlic, tomato paste, paprika, salt and pepper and cook for another minute.
Add the bulgur and stir until the grains are coated in the onion and tomato paste.
Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the bulgar rest for ten minutes. Fluff the pilaf with a fork and season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Garnish the pilaf with the parsley and toasted pine nuts before serving.
A Spring Celebration Menu
Roast Boneless Leg of Lamb with Mustard and Herbs (Cooking Light)
Bulgar Pilaf
Steamed Green Beans with Sauteed Mushrooms
Glissade Chocolate Pudding (101 Cookbooks) with Whipped Cream
Timeline:
Up to one day ahead:
Night before: trim lamb, tie and spread with mustard marinade.
2 hours before service:
1 1/2 hours before service:
1/2 hour before service:
Right before service:
Tuesday was the last night in a week long freeze that had the whole family (and much of the Northeast) cooped up in the house. It’s too cold to play outside and too cold to take the twins out at all. The one time I did venture out for anything more than a grocery run or a trip to Ama and Papa’s house was a disaster. That’s when I discovered the hard way that it was so cold that even the baby wipes I keep in the car were frozen. Trust me when I say that you are very happy you were not with us at that moment.
When it’s this cold we all crave comfort food. To me comfort food equals casseroles. My love for casseroles has many reasons. I love that the effort in making them is front loaded so that you have time to clean up the kitchen while the casserole bakes, and I love that you can easily hide lots of veggies in them which makes them kid-friendly as well as mom-friendly. But I mostly love casseroles because they are warm and comforting; that’s a good thing when you are as cold as a penguin with male-pattern baldness.
Of course, I also love casseroles because many of them fall into the category of “retro” food. Most of us grew up familiar with all sorts of casseroles, and many of us have had more than our fare share of bad casseroles. Very few things are as bad as a casserole thrown together with canned soup, frozen overcooked veggies and huge tough boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I don’t think that casseroles deserve their lazy housewife image. Many good casseroles take lots of attention, skill and quality ingredients to turn out just right. Cassoulet is certainly not a simple weeknight meal, and even a good macaroni and cheese requires that the cook know just the right blend of cheeses, milk, pasta and other ingredients to provide a finished product bursting with the right blend of cheese and creaminess.
This casserole checks all my boxes. It’s warm, I’ve hidden in a decent amount of veggies, it’s full of cheese, chili and yummy cornbread. It’s my take on the classic Tex-Mex casserole; tamale pie.
Tamale pie recipes vary all over the place. They are in theory a meat filling with a cornbread topping. Unlike last week’s recipe, I’m not terribly concerned with being authentic here. I just like something that tastes good, stretches the chili out across more meals and warms me up.
This basic recipe is wonderful just as is it, but it’s also has all sorts of potential for adding new things to it. If you really want to warm up, switch out the peppers for hotter ones: use pasillas, a serrano or even a little chipotles for a smokey flavor. Adding beans to the chili here would not be frowned on, and you could chop up any sort of veggie you want it. You can do what you want with this casserole, but I’m a big fan of simple. It’s cheesy, it’s warm, it’s good. So, enjoy!
Beef Chili Tamale Pie
serves 6
This is a simple casserole which combines the classic flavors of chili, cheese and cornbread. Because it is easily warmed up in the microwave, it can be made ahead of time.
Cornbread Topping:
1 cup corn meal
1-1 pound package frozen corn, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon drippings
1 tablespoon sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 oz Co-Jack, Monterrey Jack or Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided in three parts
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Vegetable and Chili Sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 poblano or pasilla pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups Texas Beef Chili without beans
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron pan over medium heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the peppers, onion, tomatoes and salt and cook until all the vegetables are very soft and beginning to brown around the edges, about 10 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking pulse the corn in a food processor several times until it is chopped, but not pureed.
In a bowl, combine the corn meal, sugar, garlic, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. In another bowl combine the corn, buttermilk, garlic, eggs and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in 1/3 of the cheese.
Use a blender or food processor to blend the vegetables up into a smooth paste.
Return to skillet and add chili. Bring mixture up to a simmer then remove from the heat.
Spread 1/3 of the shredded cheese over the chili.
Then evenly spread the cornbread batter over the top.
Mix the chili powder with the last 1/3 of the shredded cheese and sprinkle over the top of the cornbread batter.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top of the casserole is evenly brown and the center of the casserole springs back when lightly touched.
I knew that being pregnant with twins was going to have a few unexpected moments. I knew there was a chance I would be on bed rest, and a chance the twins could come early. None of this happened. However, what has happened is an heavy and unexpected daily exhaustion that is making keeping up with this blog impossible right now. And, who is kidding who, newborn twins are not going to be an easy adjustment. So, I’m sorry to say that It’s Not Easy Eating Green is going on temporary hiatus while I begin my maternity leave. I am hopeful that in late summer I will be able to resume posts, and continue to bring everyone new recipes and ideas for cooking for a (much larger) family in a not-so-green-world. Have a wonderful spring and summer and see you in a few months!
Perhaps you noticed I’ve been M.I.A. recently. Funny thing; it’s hard to cook (much less even think about) food when you are moaning the days away on the couch with morning sickness. That’s been my life for the past six weeks. That’s right, our nest of three is expanding next spring. I am working on getting back into the swing of things, but realistically I will probably be posting less often for the next few months until we settle into our new normal. I am committed to keeping this blog focused on whole foods prepared in a way that respects the planet and the pocketbook and doing so in a way that keeps the whole family coming back for more. Enough of that though–on to Butternut Squash Soup.
This soup is probably my oldest standby recipe. It’s a simple, flavorful, wholesome version of a Fall classic prepared without all the fuss and complications. While most squash soup recipes are laden down with cream, sugar and spices, this one has no cream, no added sugar, and no spices except fresh ginger. I discovered this recipe during a particularly memorable Halloween day in 2002. I was in London for the first time and my first stop was a store called Books For Cooks in Notting Hill. It is just about the most perfect place on earth for a foodie. The front of the store is a cookbook store and the rear is a test kitchen and small restaurant. During the day, the kitchen serves a three course lunch at a set price (£12 back in 2002).The best part is that everything prepared in the kitchen is out of the books they sell. My meal consisted of three courses; pumpkin soup, pork roast over lentils and then my choice of puddings served with tea (of course!). Nine years later, I still remember every bite, but the soup was the clear standout. It was rich and flavorful without being syrupy sweet or cloying with cinnamon and other spices. It tasted like like pumpkin dressed up in an elegantly simple black dress. It was pumpkin yumminess. I was surprised to find out that the soup recipe was not from some exotic European cookbook, but from my go-to all-purpose cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, or as I refer to it, the gospel according to Joy.
Since my introduction to this soup, I’ve tweaked the recipe and made subtle changes. The original Joy of Cooking recipe calls for butternut squash not pumpkin, and I use butternut squash most of the time. I wanted this post to be about the original pumpkin soup I had at Books for Cooks, but I decided it’s not a good idea to cut up a pumpkin picked from the patch just the day before by an eager preschooler; they tend to get a bit attached.
So, while I highly recommend trying this recipe with a fresh sugar pumpkin, I’ll stick with the butternut squash I used to make the soup this time.
Other changes I’ve made through the years include subbing out shallots for leaks, and using olive oil instead of butter. You can easily use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make this a meatless meal, but I prefer the mellower, rounder flavors of chicken broth. I think the most important change I’ve made is a nod to the Book’s for Cooks version. Their version was topped with a healthy dollop or crème fraiche; since then I’ve found that the tang of plain Greek yogurt is the perfect complement to the sweetness of the soup. I serve each bowl with a spoonful of the yogurt and a hearty chunk of crunchy bread. Enjoy!
Butternut Squash (or Pumpkin) Soup – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
adapted from a recipe in Joy of Cooking
makes 8 cups
3 tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
1 cup shallots, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and finely minced
2 pound butternut squash or sugar pumpkin, peeled, chopped and seeds removed
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
plain Greek yogurt for serving
Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add shallot, salt and pepper and cook until the shallots are soft and translucent; do not let the shallots brown.
If you’re one shallot short of having enough a little sweet onion.
Add ginger and continue to cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add squash and stir to evenly coat with oil.
Add broth and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until squash is very soft.
Using a blender and working in batches, puree the soup until smooth. Be sure to remove the center piece of the lid of your blender and cover with a kitchen towel when blending to prevent the hot soup from exploding from the blender. If you have an immersion blender, it works very well for this step. When all the soup is pureed, return to the pot and bring back just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top each with a rounded tablespoon of Greek yogurt and a serve with a large piece of crunchy bread.
Sorry I’ve been absent for a few weeks. Little Guy and I were out of town trying to milk the last of summer for everything we could get out of it. We got a lot of rain! Now we’re busy getting ready for fall. Fall is my favorite season for cooking. It’s cool enough to crank the oven up, and the produce is very me. I’m looking forward to sharing a few squash and pumpkin recipes with you in the next month or two.
There are nights I can’t be bothered with what’s for dinner. In fall that generally means soup is for dinner. I love soup in the fall. You throw in what you have lying around, and like magic you get something warm, soothing and nutritious. This soup is exactly that. This time of year, I always have tomatoes taking up room in my fridge. They started out as fresh vine ripe tomatoes that weren’t eaten fast enough and had to be put into the fridge before they went bad. I also always have a few leftover ears of corn that we’ve boiled. One other thing I usually have is left over roast chicken, since I rush to roast one as soon as the weather turns cool. When you combine those ingredients with a few stock pantry ingredients, you get a delicious soup that you can whip up in no time and spend the rest of the day enjoying the weather outside.
That’s what I’m doing right now. Enjoy.
End of Summer Soup – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
Serves 6
There are several other vegetables that seem obvious in this soup; zucchini in particular comes to mind. I haven’t included it here because I’m not a zucchini fan, but by all means, add a chopped zucchini or your favorite late summer veggie with the tomato if you want.
2 tablespoons butter
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (I used sage and thyme)
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken
2 ears corn, cut off the cob
salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter in a large pot set over medium heat.
Add onion, carrots and ½ teaspoon salt. Saute until onions and carrots are soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and herbs and saute until fragrant, about one minute.
Add tomatoes, broth and chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add corn, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
Sugar gets a bad rap these days. It’s the evil empire of the food world (perhaps eclipsed only by corn). People seem to forget that sugar is magic. Don’t believe me? What happens if you take bitter, unpalatable chocolate and add sugar? That’s right, you get one of the most heavenly foods in existence. Watch again; take lemons and add sugar (and a little water). Abracadabra, you’ve got lemonade! However, Getting a toddler to eat anything but sugar, starch and chocolate takes more than just an Abracadabra. Little Guy’s sweet tooth is the size of Texas, and I’ll let you in on a little secret; he gets it from me. Lately he’s shunning all healthy foods, and only eating the evil sugary fatty ones. I know this is hardly surprising and unusual behavior for a toddler, but I have ways of making him eat his veggies and fruit.
The bran muffins at breakfast are full of applesauce, the meatloaf at dinner is loaded with onions and carrots, and the cupcakes after dinner are loaded with beets. This is hardly a new idea. Long before Jessica Seinfield wrote a book on it, parents have loaded foods down with hidden nutrition. The pasta sauce I ate as a kid was more a veggie puree of celery, onions, green peppers and tomatoes than a true tomato sauce (something I still do), and foods like banana bread and prune cake are double duty treats older than your grandma.
These cupcakes are perhaps the sneakiest of recipes though. At first bite, they seem a chocolaty cupcake with a soft pillow of marshmallow whoopie pie filling. However, they are really under-cover agents packing a wallop of pureed beets and a decent dose of whole wheat flour. The nutrition is great, and I feel slightly better knowing that when Little Guy eats one, that he’s getting a small dose of nutrients, antioxidants and flavanoids along with his heavy dose of fat and sugar.
Yes, I wanted these to have a hidden dose of health in them, but I also wanted them to taste like real whoopie pies. So, for the filling, I stuck with a classic whoopie pie filling. whoopie pie fans will tell you that there is only one way to make filling. But there are two camps to the correct way to make the filling. In Pennsylvania Dutch country the filling is made with egg whites and milk, and in New England, Marshmallow is the key ingredient. In both versions the traditional fat is shortening. I prefer the sweet sticky Marshmallow version, and I also prefer the rich flavor of butter so if you are a whoopie pie traditionalist, then you’ll have to forgive me this variation.
Yes, these cupcakes are moist and yes they are slightly more nutritious than your average chocolate cupcake, but in the end they are just a very tasty combination of the holy-trinity of yummy goodness; fat, sugar and goo. I guess I should warn you though, these suckers are so good that you might find yourself standing over the sink eating one when no one else is looking (not that I would ever do that, but you might!) Enjoy!
Whoopie Pie Cupcakes with Beet Puree - Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
makes 24 cupcakes
These cupcakes are versatile and can be used anywhere a chocolate cupcake is required. Using the beet cooking liquid in the recipe helps the cupcake keep a nice dark color, and also adds back some of the water-soluble vitamins lost when cooking the beets.
Marshmallow Fluff is a local New England favorite and part of the traditional filling, but you can use marshmallow crème if you prefer.
1 cup buttermilk
1 ¾ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 bunch beets (about 3 medium beets)
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
¾ cup butter, softened (1 ½ sticks)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
½ cup butter, 1 stick
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups Marshmallow Fluff
½ teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
Tip: To keep the Fluff from sticking to every surface it comes in contact with spray the utensils you are using when measuring with non-stick cooking spray.
Peel beets and cut into 1” chunks.
Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain off the liquid, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid.
Pulse the beets in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners (24 each) and spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium sized bowl, combine flours, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda and set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer combine sugar and butter and beat until fluffy. Slowly add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions, then add the vanilla and beets.
Add the flour mixture in three parts alternating with buttermilk beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each flour addition.
Right after this shot was taken the finger went into Little Guy’s mouth (against my wishes) and he said, “Mmmm, my you make good cupcakes!”
Divide batter between 24 cupcake cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
For the filling:
Beat butter in the bowl of a mixer.Slowly add powdered sugar followed by Marshmallow Fluff. Beat for about two minutes, or until all the lumps are gone. Beat in the vanilla and salt. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag or large zip-topk bag with a ½ inch hole cut into the tip of the bag.
To fill the cupcakes take a funnel and stick the neck down into the center of the cupcakes about ⅔ of the way creating a hole just large enough to stick the tip of the pastry bag down into the cupcake. Carefully fill each cupcake until it just starts to bulge. Do not over fill or the cupcake will crack open. When you are finished filling the cupcakes, clean the tip of the pastry bag of any cake crumbs sticking to it, and then use the remaining filling to add a small dollop to the top of each cupcake.
Cupcakes can be make one day ahead and stored in an air-tight container or frozen.
CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!
If the cupcake’s gone, then I’m outta here!
My great grandmother, Elizabeth Armenia Dobbs, was a colorful woman to say the least. For example, there was the time she dropped a quarter on the steps next to the family rooster who immediately swallowed it. Both quarters and roosters were valuable back then. She snatched up the rooster, cut open its crop, took the quarter back, and sewed him up. What makes this story so amazing is that the rooster lived and sired many little chicks afterward. Another time she marched over to a neighbor’s home where two children were being beaten and took the children away from the mother to protect them. She was clearly a woman of a different time.
Growing up, my favorite family story about her, however, was not one of amazing surgical skills or bravery, but the one about her and her spittoon. She was a huge fan of snuff, finely powdered tobacco that was the usual form used by dignified women back in her time. The snuff is held in one’s cheek, and the flavor slowly seeps out. It’s a very strong flavor so, how can I say it delicately—I can’t—she had to spit a lot. Snuff users keep a spittoon handy. Great Grandmother’s spittoon was shaped like a rotund Englishman in a three-cornered hat and was called Toby.
A Toby Jug
As she shelled peas, braided rugs, or sewed children’s clothing, she would sit on the front porch with Toby. She was responsible for six children of her own and a boarding house on top of it, so it was probably the only time in her day she had time to relax—if you can call such handwork relaxing. I don’t know why I was so enamored of this story as a child. Perhaps it was that we still had the Toby jug, which by then sat on a windowsill holding a philodendron. Or perhaps it was just a childhood fascination with anything gross. I suspect the main reason was a saying that my grandmother, Mama Gene, took from her mother’s habit. When Mama Gene would taste something that she really really liked, she would declare, “It’s better than snuff and not half as dusty.” To this day I love the saying; I’ve adopted it as my own even though I have no idea what snuff is like, nor do I have any inclination to find out.
Fried okra is one thing that is definitely “Better than snuff and not half as dusty.” It has to be cooked properly to qualify for the accolade, but, believe me, it’s worth learning how to do it. When properly prepared it’s crispy, flavorful and hard to stop munching on—very much like popcorn. And like so many foods I like, the preparation of fried okra has been handed down from my great-grandmother, to my grandmother, to my father, and on to me. Of course, the recipe goes back farther than that to when my English ancestors migrated to America, but I can trace it only to Great Grandmother.
I use corn flour, not the usual corn meal in the coating. Corn flour gives the same great corn flavor as corn meal, but because it’s ground finer it sticks better, and the result is a crisper coating. I say this recipe serves four people, because a half cup of fried okra is technically a serving, and this recipe calls for one bag or two cups of okra. That’s not really enough for even one true southerner. Most of us could nibble this much by ourselves just while we were frying up enough for everyone else. Feel free to double or triple this recipe. People will be happy if you do.
Fried Okra – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
serves 4
Corn flour or masa harina is widely available, in particular the brand Maseca. If you cannot find corn flour you can use corn meal.
2 cups okra, cut into half inch pieces (about one bag frozen)
½ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup corn flour (masa harina)
½ cup all-purpose flour
oil for frying
In a small bowl, combine cut okra, salt, pepper and buttermilk.
Let sit for about five minutes then drain into a strainer. In another larger bowl combine corn flour and flour.
Toss okra into flour mixture. Working with your hands or a fork, separate the pieces of okra so that all the pieces get covered. Depending on how wet your okra is, you may need to add a little more flour and/or corn flour.
Heat one inch of oil in a large heavy-duty pan over medium-high heat. Test the oil by adding one piece of okra; it should bubble immediately as soon as you add it to the pot (350 F).
When the oil is hot, add the okra (you may need to cook it in two batches). Fry, occasionally rotating until light golden brown.
Remove to a pan lined with newspaper and paper towels. Lightly salt and serve hot. You can fry the okra ahead of time then heat it up in a hot oven for five minutes right before serving. A convection oven is very helpful if you want to get it back to the original crispiness.
If you are regular reader of this blog, you may remember that I consider myself the world’s worst gardener. Every spring I start thinking about what to plant, always full of hope and sure that this is the year I’m going to actually grow something and reap the fruits (and veggies) of my labor. This year my season’s worth of efforts reaped six grape tomatoes and two pods of okra for us humans. The wildlife ate well though. The chipmunks ate all the seeds, the groundhog ate the basil, and the deer ate every-stinking-thing else. They even eat the green tomatoes once they reached some mysterious deerlicious state. Every leaf off the parsley and okra plants is gone too, leaving green stems sticking out of the ground.
So you’re probably not too surprised that I don’t try to grow my own corn. I dream of it. See, in my imagination I’m a regular farmer. In the spring I visualize tall thick tomato plants heavy with ripe fruit. I plan on canning things, making pies, sauces and other goodies from what I’ve grown. I think that neat rows of corn as high as an elephant’s eye would look great in the spot of my yard currently overtaken with Japanese Knotweed. In my vision I’m a bit like a Disney princess feeding the deer an apple from my tree laden with fruit and laughing with the chipmunks. But in my dream even the Snow White version of myself hates the groundhog.
Alas, my reality is weekly trips to the local farmer’s market. Not that the farmer’s market is bad, but it’s slightly less romantic than plucking ripe tomatoes a la the Disney Martha Stewart. Luckily for me it’s a good year for the local corn here in New England. Every time I pick up another batch it’s even better than the time before. I’ve had corn on the cob so many times in the past month that think I might start sprouting cobs. So, it’s time to branch out, pull out the soup pot and get to chowdering.
Equipped with a slab of salt pork and a quart of cream, pretty much anyone can make good chowder. But, a rich and satisfying vegetarian version not loaded down with quarts of heavy cream is a little harder. I wanted a nice full flavor; one not only loaded with sweet corn flavor, but also with the flavors of lot of veggies, herbs, and the nutty bite of sharp aged cheddar.
I cut out some, but not all, of the fat by switching from cream to half and half and cutting back on the amount. I also replace the the usual rendered pork fat with a restrained amount of olive oil. To achieve both creamy texture and rich corn flavor I use corn kernels cut off the cob, and also corn grated like in my recipe for creamed corn. The result is a rich and satisfying soup brimming with summer sweet-corn flavor.
The final secret to the success of this recipe is in the garnish. By topping the soup with grated or crumbled aged sharp cheddar, you give each person a burst of flavor that is still melting into the soup as they stir it around and eat it. The flavor gives up gradually, letting the sweetness of the corn hit the palate before giving way to the tang of the cheese. This is not one of those chowders that tastes of nothing but the pure sweet flavor of summer corn. I figure if I wanted that, I’d just make more corn on the cob. Rather it’s a burst of hearty flavors mixed with the best of summer sweet corn to make a soup you’ll be happy you’ve made. Enjoy!
Vegetarian Corn Chowder with Aged Cheddar – Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipe
serves 8
The secret to the rich flavor is in the aged cheddar. I love Cabot Cloth-Bound Cheddar for its intense almost nutty flavor, but any aged sharp cheddar will do. Be sure to not only cut off and grate the corn, but to scrape the cobs. Doing so will add so much extra corn pulp and starch that it really boots the creaminess and corn flavor of the soup.
Cabot Cloth-Bound Cheddar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small sweet onions (or 1 large), finely chopped (about 2 ½ – 3 cups)
2 stalks celery, finely chopped, about ½ cup
1 carrot, finely chopped, about ½ cup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons thyme, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sage, finely chopped
¼ cup flour
4 cups (1 quart) vegetable stock
1 ½ pound potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼” cubes (about 3 large potatoes)
6 ears fresh corn (see below for prepping instructions)
1 ½ cups half & half
8 ounces sharp aged cheddar, grated or crumbled
fresh snipped chives
salt and pepper to taste
To prep corn:
Using a knife, cut kernels off three ears of corn and set aside but do not throw away cobs.
Use a cheese grater to grate remaining three ears of corn into a large bowl.
Working one ear at a time, drizzle a small amount of water over each of the six ears of corn.
Hold the ear of corn over the bowl with the grated corn and use the back of a knife to scrape the remaining corn pulp and starch into the bowl. Repeat with all of the ears of corn.
You should end up with about 1 ½ cups of cut corn and a little over 2 cups of the grated corn and corn pulp. Keep the two types of corn separate because you add them at different times.
For soup:
Heat olive oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
When oil starts to shimmer add onions, carrots, celery and ½ teaspoon of salt.
This is what soft translucent veggies look like. No need to brown the veggies.
Saute until vegetables are translucent and soft; about 10 minutes.
Add thyme, sage, garlic and flour and continue to cook stirring frequently until fragrant and flour is no longer raw. Gradually stir in vegetable stock, one cup at a time to prevent lumps. Add potatoes and grated corn with corn pulp. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot until potatoes are just soft, about 15 minutes.
Add half & half and cut corn kernels. Bring just back to a simmer and season to taste.
To serve, ladle 1 ½ cups of soup into a bowl. Top with one or two tablespoons of crumbled or grated cheddar and a sprinkle of snipped chives.
Ugh, do not get me started on the wrinkles in the fabric. I ironed it twice with steam, and the darn things kept coming back.
In many foods quality and popularity come from the simplicity of flavors. A perfectly in-season, ripe fruit comes to mind, a grilled steak with nothing but salt and pepper, a egg fried in butter, a hunk of warm bread with extra virgin olive oil for dipping, or a summer tomato with nothing but a little salt. Other foods, however excel when flavors build layer by layer to create a delightfully complex combination of textures and tastes. Tostadas win big by being literally and figuratively layered.
A traditional tostada from Mexico is not much more than a crispy fried corn tortilla with a few small bites of meat and toppings on it. It’s a snack not a meal. However, while the Mexican tostada is street food, the Texas tostada is a meal. When I was growing up there, almost every taqueria in Houston had tostadas on the regular menu of favorites. Tucked in between the flautas, tacos and enchiladas were the less popular, but none the less ubiquitous tostada plate. It was usually a pair of flat and crispy corn tortillas topped with beans (usually refried), ground beef, cheese, sour cream and fresh chopped tomatoes all buried under a mountain of thinly shredded iceberg lettuce. A bowl of salsa, sometimes two different kinds, were always on the table for topping off the tostadas. They were light enough to keep you from hating life the rest of the day, but more than enough to make a meal.
Now that I live in New England, I have to make them at home. I’ve noticed that with all the toppings, it’s easy for the meat to get lost. Which of course means that if the beans and other toppings are flavorful enough to make up for it, you won’t even miss the meat if it’s not there. To make them meatless, I use a combination of beans and avocado to take the place of meat. Then I top them with finely chopped romaine, greek yogurt (or sour cream) shredded Colby jJack cheese and fresh salsa roja. It may not be the most authentic tostada you will ever have, but it’s very good, and it’s a great Meatless Monday meal. Enjoy
Mild Salsa Roja – click here for a printable version of this recipe
Makes 1 cup
I love this salsa because it’s easy, authentic (except for the lack of heat) and tastes good on so many different things. It will keep for several days and is very good served cold or warm. To make a hotter salsa leave the seeds in the jalapenos, or substitute hotter chilis such as Serrano for the poblano.
½ onion, peeled and quartered
2 large tomatoes, halved and cored
1 jalapeno pepper, halved with seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
1 poblano pepper, halved with seeds removed
½ teaspoon salt
1 large handful cilantro, leaves only
Heat a large skillet over high heat for two or three minutes until hot. Add the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and onions.
(I should have halved and seeded the poblano before charring; it would have been faster)
Rotate the vegetables in the pan until all sides are slightly charred.
(I should have grabbed the full-sized processor, it would have been faster)
When charred, move the vegetables to a food processor, add cilantro and pulse until well blended, but with some texture still remaining. Add salt (season to taste). Serve warm or cold.
Simple Ranchero Beans - click here for a printable version of this recipe
(based on Rick Bayless Brothy Beans found in Authentic Mexican, by Rick Bayless. William Morrow and Company, 1987.)
makes 2 cups
1 cup pinto beans, soaked overnight or simmered for 5 minutes and then left to soak for 1 hour.
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon taco seasoning (I prefer Penzey’s)
½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
Once beans have soaked, drain off liquid and cover with 2 cups of fresh water. Place over medium heat and add garlic, onion and olive oil. Once the beans come to a simmer, cover and cook until very tender, about 1 ½ hours, adding more water as necessary to just cover the beans. Season with taco seasoning and cook for another five minutes. Season with salt to taste.
Ranchero Bean Tostadas with Salsa Roja – click here for a printable version of all the recipes in this post
Many of these toppings are optional. You can build your tostada with anything you think sounds good. There is no reason you can’t use pre-made salsa and beans, but it tastes so much better when you make it yourself.
8 6-inch corn tortillas
oil for frying tortillas
1 recipe simple ranchero beans (recipe above)
mild salsa roja (recipe above)
sliced avocado
sliced romaine lettuce
shredded Colby Jack cheese
sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
chopped fresh tomatoes
Pour one inch of oil into a medium skillet and heat on medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.
Drop tortillas in one at a time and cook until golden brown on each side; about a minute a side. Remove to a pan lined with paper towels for draining.
Build your tostadas starting with beans, salsa roja, cheese, avocado, lettuce, sour cream (or yogurt) and chopped tomatoes. Serve immediately.
