Going Easy on the Meat

I'm going to start this blog by saying that I'm not lecturing - I'm just writing about a new style of eating that interests me.  I'm certainly not a vegetarian, I mean I just posted about a chili cook off!

But, since reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma I've decided to become more conscious of where my food is coming from.  I don't want to buy my meat at my local grocery store anymore but grass fed beef and free range organic chickens can be pricey.  

This is where the brilliant Mark Bittman and his book Food Matters comes in.  His solution?  Duh, eat less meat.  This way you can afford to buy those more expensive but humanely raised cuts of meat and you can feel less guilty when you do buy meat that isn't quite organic because you're eating so much less of it.  Mark Bittman's way of eating just makes so much sense.  I've realized that I certainly don't need to eat meat before dinner and a lot of the time I don't need to eat meat at all.  Meat should be a treat NOT the main component of every meal.  Oh and whole grains and legumes are a must.  Read both of these books - you'll learn SO much.  Or, you know, don't.  I'm not telling you what to do.

Does this all sound awful to you?  Are you wondering what the hell I'm eating?  Well look at these pictures and follow the links to a few good recipes and maybe you'll come around.  These are a few of the meals I've enjoyed recently.  It's quite obvious that I think everything is better topped with a runny fried egg.

This is spaghetti squash topped with kale and a fried egg.  

Super simple!  For the spaghetti squash just split it lengthwise, scoop out the fibers and seeds, pierce the skin with a fork, drizzle the flesh with olive oil and cook, flesh down, in a 350 degree preheated over for about an hour.  Toss the seeds in olive oil, salt and pepper and toast those along side - they're a nice added crunch on top. 

I always prepare kale the same way.  Saute some onions in a bit of evoo until they're really soft and sweet then add the clean, chopped kale - mine always has some water left on it from washing it and it's the perfect amount to steam it a bit when  you put the lid on.  Steam the kale for a few minutes, if it needs more water then add it!  Once it's cooked down a little add some red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flake - don't cook it too much, it should be bright green.  Serve with a runny fried egg and the toasted spaghetti squash seeds.

Next - French lentils with broccoli rabe:

The lentils were cooked in some stock with a bay leaf, salt and pepper then finished with some red wine.  The broccoli rabe was steamed for a couple minutes then sauteed in olive oil and balsamic.  

Braised cabbage over red lentils, again, topped with an egg:

I found this recipe on Orangette a few weeks ago and I've made it three (four?) times already and will continue to make it until we get a full week of temperatures over 60.  Braised cabbage is the perfect cold weather food.  I did make two small changes to the recipe - adding leeks, they get carmelized an sweet after the two hours in the oven, and decreasing the amount of oil from 1/4 cup to just a tablespoon or two.  

Leftovers for breakfast:  

Leftover kale with leftover lentils topped with a fried egg and hot sauce.  Oh man.  Yum.

So these are a couple weeks worth of photos.  I really don't top EVERYTHING with an egg.  That braised cabbage, eggless, on top of some quinoa?  So good.  And kale, eggless, on top of some french lentils with a good shake of hot sauce?  Seriously delicious.

Chili Cook-Off!

Yesterday Ron and I hosted a Chili Cook-Off.  This was serious stuff - there were official judges and strict rules and regulations!  Check out the score cards we had made up:

Ron got so many printed that we'll probably be using these 2009 score cards through Chili Cook-Off 2012.

We had 10 entries and they were all so different.  There was pork chili, beef chili, chicken chili and turkey chili!  Verde, mole, with beans, without beans, there was even hominy and couscous.  This was TOUGH competition.  

Here are the fixin's: fresh jalapeno, pickled jalapeno, avocado, onion, queso fresco, cheddar and sour cream (not pictured).  We also had tortilla chips, corn bread mini muffins, bread and crackers.   Oh and dessert - I made chocolate chip cookies, Ron's mom made lime bars, and my friend Manon made butterscotch and chocolate chip bars.  

Thanks Ron Sr, T and Mike for judging.  It was a difficult job.

Gary won 3rd place and a box of cottonelle wipes (Ron thought of that one :)).   Andrea and Dan won 2nd place and a Phillies prize pack including some Phillies Mardi Gras beads that we got in New Orleans last week.  And the big winner was Ron's sister Amy - she won first place and a $50 Jose Garces gift card.  

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone that competed!  

Gumbo and Oysters and Po' Boys oh my!

Ron was working in New Orleans last week and I decided to take advantage and go down to meet him.  After I booked my flight I realized that it was Mardi Gras time!  Oh what was I getting myself into?  I figured I'd have to have a hurricane and I'd have to collect some beads.  I mean I've never been to New Orleans before and it was Mardi Gras - I couldn't NOT.  But, what I was most excited about was, naturally, the food! 

Like these crawfish: 

 

Although I'll admit that it wasn't the food that led to this:

Did I mention that hurricane?  What about the hand grenade?  Let me tell you, getting these beads would have been far easier without the knee length jacket and scarf!

Ron also had a gig a few months ago in New Orleans and I swear after he came home we ate nothing but po' boys , red beans and rice and gumbo for about a week.  Obviously, the food had quite an effect on him.  I've been meaning to blog about our first gumbo attempt for weeks now.  But the problem is that we're missing the money shot - that's right, no final product.  I know, I know, but look how cute the pictures are?  

This was Ron's process:  Open wine, prep ingredients (he likes to put things in separate little containers, quite opposite of the mess that I make!), stir roux until you're too afraid that it's going to burn to last another second, all the while sipping wine:

   
   

Add the trinity (you know what it is, you've seen Emeril), then the other ingredients (we did sausage, crab and shrimp but next time we'll go with the more budget friendly sausage and chicken), then seafood stock and let it simmer.  By the time you've waited for the roux to get dark and for all the ingredients to cook you'll have finished your wine and you'll be too hungry to take any more pictures.  So...sorry about that.  

Anyway, this was good, but the gumbo we had in New Orleans - that was GREAT.  But, hey, we're new to this roux/gumbo thing and next time it'll be better.  I'll keep you updated on our gumbo making progress!

Duck, Duck...

Goose!  Ron and I got our hands on 4 goose breasts from one of my mom's coworkers who shot them himself (thanks Rudy!).  They've been sitting in the freezer for a little while now because I had no idea what to do with them.  They're skinless so I worried they would dry out - especially after I asked one of the chefs that I work what'd he do with them and he replied "throw them in the trash".  Well you know what?  He was wrong...oh so wrong. 

I started by splitting one breast and rubbing both halves with olive oil and seasoning them with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme.

Next I started a side of lentils with mushrooms and turnip greens (inspired by this recipe over at Cooking Books - luckily there are leftovers that I can top with a poached egg!).  I put some french lentils in boiling water with a bay leaf, salt, pepper and a couple of crushed garlic cloves.  They took about a half an hour.  While they were boiling I sauteed some garlic and mushrooms, after a few minutes I added a quarter cup or so of red wine.  Once the wine boiled out I added some turnip greens, balsamic vinegar and seasoned to taste.  While the greens wilted I started the duck. 

I cooked the goose 4 minutes per side.  When it had just about 30 seconds left in the pan I added about a quarter cup balsamic.  The vinegar quickly got syrupy and sweet, I coated the goose in it and then took it out to rest before slicing it on a bias.  

 

I tossed the cooked lentils into the pan with the greens and mushrooms and served up this:

Oh it was good.  The goose was perfectly cooked and the lentils were really good.  I'm looking forward to using the other three breasts in my freezer!  Goose prosciutto perhaps?

Orange Madeleines

I'm searching for recipes with orange in them. My sister sent Ron really great florida oranges for Christmas and we've eaten a bunch but still have a few hanging out in the fridge and they're not going to last much longer. I'd hate to waste them! This madeleine recipe uses the orange zest in the batter and the juice in the glaze. I found this recipe over at the Technicolor Kitchen - it calls for poppy seeds which I didn't have but I'm sure would be delicious.

You start by making the super simple batter, letting it sit for 30 minutes in the fridge then pouring a heaping tablespoon into each mold of your madeleine pan. My pan is from Fante's in the Italian Market, a really fabulous kitchen supply store. It's so packed with great stuff, I could wander around there for hours. You can order off their website too so check it out.



After you pour the batter, put the pan in a preheated 400° oven for 8-10 minutes. When madeleines are golden and poofed up take them out and let the them cool on a wire rack. They should look like this:



Make the glaze using confectioners sugar, fresh orange juice and a bit of the zest. Dip the cooled madeleines in the glaze and let them cool before storing or...eat them immediately! These little cakes are going to be really good with coffee in the morning.



Check out my new red apron! Well, it's new to me but definitely far from brand new. My mother found four of them in my Babcia's house (that's grandma for all you non-polish people out there) in four different colors and gave them to my sister and I for christmas (my mom and aunt got the other two). They're homemade and very vintagey cool - the only problem is that I'm afraid to wear it because I don't want to get it dirty! Sort of defeats the purpose of an apron, huh?

Butternut Squash, Red Wine and Onion Panade

I've been meaning to blog about this recipe for forever.  I made it when my mother was visiting from Long Island.  I'd had all of the ingredients and needed something to do while I was waiting for her to get in!  My mom and I couldn't stop picking at it and I brought it for lunch all week long, every time I finished a serving it made me a little bit sad.  That means it's really good!  Butternut squash isn't quite as easy to find in the store as it was a few months ago - but if you find one, make this immediately.  

The only true definition of "panade" that I can find is this:

panada; panade

1. A thick paste made by mixing bread crumbs, flour, rice, etc. with water, milk, stock, butter or sometimes egg yolks. It's used to bind meatballs, fish cakes, forcemeats and quenelles. 2. A sweet or savory soup made with bread crumbs and various other ingredients. It may be strained before serving.

BUT all the recipes I found involve day old bread, broth, cheese and vegetables.  Now doesn't that sounds better than something that binds forcemeat (eww)?  Molly from Orangette (read her blog - it's seriously awesome) calls her Chard, Onion and Gruyere Panade (next on my panades to make list) a "velvety, voluptuous casserole with a base of soggy bread and stewed onions".  I much prefer this definition because that is exactly what this is:

Another recipe that I don't really understand.  Why is this soggy bread good?  What doesn't it make me gag like a soggy sandwich would?  Oh it doesn't, it doesn't at all.  

I got this recipe from another inspiring food blog The Wednesday Chef.  Tons of stewed onions, red wine, really good day old bread, chicken stock, thyme, parm and gruyere - how could that be bad?  Cheesy, winy, carby goodness.  

"Can I help you little lady?"

I spent Christmas in Florida this year at my sister's house with my whole family including my too cute nephew.  It was really nice to be with family but I must say the 80 degree "winter" was pretty weird.  

My nephew loves to help my sister cook.  Whenever she's in the kitchen he comes in to ask her "Can I help you little lady?" - a pretty funny thing for a 2 1/2 year old to say to his mother!

Here we are making donuts.

   

You'd think me sticking my tongue out would mean that I'm really concentrating but apparently that wasn't the case.  I completely misread the recipe and added twice the amount of butter - I had to throw this batch out (while my nephew wasn't looking) and make a new one!  They were a big hit.

Here he is after helping my mom make some jello coolwhip concoction.  I think this photo was followed by him saying something like "Sasa stop taking pictures I trying to eat" - I got a lot of that.  But with my new Nikon D40 (thanks Ron!) I couldn't help myself!

Oh the cuteness!