Chile de arbol hot sauce

Chris and I made hot sauce today, well, Chris made hot sauce, I was the sous chef and the second hand, since he is operating with only one hand these days. We made chile de arbol hot sauce from Rick Bayless’ Authentic Mexican cookbook and were very pleased with the outcome.
Sterilize your jars and all utensils first. We saved and recycled our hot sauce bottles, but I am sure they are easy to find on the internet. Hot sauce does not need to be canned, it will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator. If you don't want to store it in the refrigerator, you can pour the hot sauce into sterilized canning jars, seal and process in a water bath, and store at room temperature. Refrigerate after opening. This recipe made one big bottle and one small bottle.
Chile de arbols are available in most Mexican markets. I found a big bag at Supermercado Los Angeles. But, if you can’t find them, a good sauce can be made with any small, dried hot pepper.

Chile de arbol hot sauce
1 ¼ ounces (about 50 to 60 mixed sizes) dried chiles de arbol
1 ½ tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds (or about 1/8 teaspoon ground)
4 large allspice berries (or about 1/8 teaspoon ground)
2 cloves (or a big pinch ground)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 scant teaspoon salt
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
¾ cup cider vinegar

Stem the chiles, then roll them between your thumbs and fingers, pressing gently to loosen the seeds inside (I used rubber gloves). Break in half, shake out as many seeds as possible, then place in a blender jar.
Heat an ungreased skillet over medium-low. Measure in the sesame seeds and stir for several minutes as they brown and pop; scoop into the blender jar. Add the pumpkin seeds to the skillet. When the first one pops, stir constantly for several minutes, until all are golden and have popped into a round shape.

Pulverize the cumin, allspice and cloves in a mortar or spice grinder, then add to the blender jar along with the oregano, salt, garlic and vinegar. Blend for several minutes, until the mixture is orange-red and feels quite smooth when a drop is rubbed between your fingers.

Strain through a medium-mesh sieve, (I don’t have a medium and used a fine, it works, it just takes more muscle) working the solids back and forth and pressing them firmly; there will be a fair amount of chile seeds, skins, sesame hulls and other debris to discard, but be careful that there is nothing liquid trapped within them.
Stir in ¾ cup of water then pour into a bottle, cover and let stand for 24 hours before serving.

Really, really good homemade frogurt!

When I was a child at River Hills Country Club, they use to serve this amazing frozen concoction, which they referred to as frogurt. I never knew what it was except that it was this fabulous tart, sweet soft serve ice cream, lemon was my favorite. The frogurt machine was habitually out of service and then it just disappeared all together, but I always longed for that incredible soft serve. Since then, frozen yogurt was everywhere, but it tasted…like ice cream, and it wasn’t as good. Last year we were living in Shreveport, LA temporarily. I was pregnant with an 18 month old, starving, desperately looking for some sort of drive thru fare that would be healthy and I didn’t have to drag the baby out of the car. I spotted a little yogurt place, Counter Culture, with…a drive thru. I ordered the special which had granola, yogurt, honey and fresh fruit, perfect! It looked great. Not only did it look great, but I took a big bite, and it was…frogurt. The frogurt of my childhood, the tart, sweet, creamy, frogurt. I had found it, I knew it was too good to disappear forever. Since I discovered Counter Culture, I have noticed that old school frogurt has become a new food trend, they’re like cupcake shops! Popping up everywhere, pure culture, pinkberry, etc. If you haven’t tried it, get some, but better yet, make your own, it’s really expensive at the trendy yogurt shop.

Frogurt
2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups cream
1 packet yogurt starter
1/8 cup good quality local honey
½ cup sugar

Place a small amount of milk in a dish and allow it to come to room temperature, stir yogurt starter into room temperature milk or allow one ½ cup serving of plain yogurt to come to room temperature . Bring the 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of cream to 180, remove from heat and put in a cold water bath. Add milk with starter or room temperature yogurt to milk and cream when mixture is between 108-112. Pour milk mixture into cups and put in yogurt maker for 14 hours (I always fill one cup with ½ cup serving to use as a sterter in the next batch). In a saucepan combine. ½ cup of cream, 1/8 cup honey and ½ cup of sugar cook over medium low until the sugar dissolves, cool mixture (I put it in an ice bath) when mixture cools to less than 108 degrees add it to your yogurt to taste, depending on how sweet you like it. I served mine topped with plums and honey and a warm, homemade oatmeal cookie.

Cooks Notes: I used milk and cream but you can make yogurt with lowfat milk, I am pretty sure that your lowfat yogurt would freeze. I can’t wait to try goat’s milk. I just made another batch, this time with milk and half and half, but if you are looking for an incredibly creamy frogurt that will keep your friends out of the line at Pinkberry, go with the cream and milk.
Play with your flavors. For chocolate, pour the hot cream over chocolate stir until the chocolate melts, cool to 108 and add to frogurt mixture. Chocolate disguises the tart, sweet taste though. I am trying lemon next, I am going to omit the honey in the hot cream sugar mixture and add lemon juice. Hopefully, it will taste just like it did...when I was eight!

The world might be a better place, if everybody stopped to shell peas...

It's peanut and purple hull pea time. My mother-in-law brought us a sack of purple hull peas and a sack of peanuts from The Peanut Shack in Crystal Springs, MS. So, Sadie and I have been shelling peas and the crawfish pots have been pulled out of the barn to boil peanuts. Even though its still 96 in the shade, Fall has arrived!

We buy peanuts in bulk in the peak of the season when they are cheap, boil them and freeze them. When you yearn for that salty taste of early fall, just take them out of the freezer,allow them to thaw and enjoy! Chris makes really, really good boiled peanuts. The secret, don't let last year's crawfish seasoning go flat, use it up in the fall on your peanuts.

Chris' boiled peanuts
36 pounds of peanuts
6 pounds of crawfish spice
1 cup salt
Bring peanuts to a boil, keep them at a low boil for about an hour and a half until done to taste(periodically, taste until they are done to your liking, I like a little residual crunch, rather than a mushy peanut). Turn off the fire and allow the peanuts to soak for a couple of hours, again, taste until they are as juicy as you like them. Allow peanuts to cool, bag, and freeze.
Use whatever crawfish spice you like. Our personal favorite, for peanuts and crawfish, is Duane's in Lawtell, Louisiana. I am not sure where you can buy it, but if you live in Mississippi or Louisiana they probably drive a crawfish truck through your town. Call them during crawfish season (337.543.6147), they'll be happy to stop and let you pick up a sack off the back of the truck, and be sure to get some of their spice. We've bought many sacks from them and have never gotten a bad one

Tonight, I made a salad with a fig mustard vinaigrette, glazed carrots and a fresh purple hull pea salad.

To make the purple hull pea salad. Bring fresh peas to a boil and then simmer until they are done to your liking. Drain peas, pour cold water over them. I used queso anejo, a really good store bought salsa (fresh tomatoes would have been better), rice wine vinegar, olive oil (pick a good one), salt, black pepper. Mix all the ingredients and chill.

Planting pumpkins, making cheese, harvesting earthworms, starting a compost, raising chickens, making yogurt

I got the pumpkins in the ground today. I planted four mounds of sugar pumpkins along the barbed wire fence to the pasture next to the house. Hopefully, they are close enough to the house, the varmints will stay away. I have read that you can dust the pumpkins with cayenne and it will keep the pests away. I welcome any other suggestions.
I also started a compost pile this week, I harvested some fat earthworms from the soil while digging my pumpkin mounds that I added to the compost pile. I was delighted when digging the pumpkin mounds to find the soil full of grub worms and earthworms. Great protein for a flock of chickens. I just read Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow, and am seriously considering acquiring chickens. I would love to have a beautiful multi-purpose flock, that provides meat and eggs, but I can’t commit to that at this time.. sigh, one day. So we are considering raising a small flock of meat birds to supply ourselves with chicken for the year. I guess I will soon see if I can handle the emotional side of farm life.
I also just read Home Cheesemaking by Vicki Carroll and have sourced raw goats milk, so hopefully we will have cheese in the near future.
I have picked back up my yogurt making. Sadie was demanding it in the grocery store and the laundry list of awful things added to serve one milk that has been heated and cooled with a culture is sickening. This week we made plain and honey with fresh plums. I always keep plain, you can add it to salad dressings in place of olive oil and it makes a great creamy dressing.



Honey Yogurt with Fresh Plums
3 cups of whole milk
1 cup of cream
1 packet of yogurt starter
Good quality local honey
Place a small amount of milk in a dish and allow it to come to room temperature, stir yogurt starter into room temperature milk. Bring the 4 cups of milk and cream to 180, remove from heat and put in a cold water bath. Add milk with starter to milk and cream when mixture is between 108-112. Add honey to taste to the bottom of the yogurt cups, about 2 tablespoons. Pour milk mixture into cups and put in yogurt maker for 14 hours. Place yogurt in refrigerator and allow it to cool. Chop ½ fresh plum and stir into yogurt just before serving.
Cook’s Notes: I found a fancy Waring Yogurt Maker at Tuesday Morning for $39, but if you don’t have a yogurt maker, I made lots of yogurt before I had a maker. It is easy to make a homemade one. Put a hole through a canning lid and insert a thermometer into the hole, place the lid on a sterilized quart jar, wrap the jar in a kitchen towel and place in the warmest place in your house. I have an old stove with gas pilots, the stovetop over the pilot makes a great place to grow yogurt. Monitor temperature on the thermometer if it is dropping below 108 add yogurt jar to a warm water bath to bring temperature up. You can also wrap your jar in a heating pad to hold it at temperature. Don’t worry if your yogurt got too cold, it is still alive, you just slowed down or stopped the starter. If you add the starter to the milk when it is too hot or heat the milk higher than 112 once you have added the starter, you will kill it. The longer you allow the yogurt to grow the more tart it becomes but also the thicker it becomes. You can make a nice thick yogurt with low fat milk and powdered milk. You can also add powdered milk to any milk and it will produce a thicker yogurt.
When making yogurt, reserve one ½ cup serving as a starter for the next time that you make yogurt, when you are ready to make the next batch, take the ½ cup serving out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature and add it when you would the starter.

My Mexican background, Supermercado Los Angeles, chorizo hash and eggs, and elotes

Chris and I share a passion for really good authentic Mexican food. My husband has cooked his way through two of Rick Bayless‘ cookbooks and watches Mexico, One Plate at a Time every time it is on, literally, when he is off work he plans his day around what time Little Ricky comes on, watching the same episodes over and over.

At one point in my childhood my father had a friend whom made frequent trips to Mexico, they worked out a trade in which the friend would return with authentic ingredients not available at the Jitney Jungle in the 80’s and Daddy would cook a meal for everyone. I also made five mission trips to Saltillo, Mexico as a teen. A group of ladies from the church would prepare our meals, I think I was the only catholic school girl that knew, that the incredibly flavorful meat we were eating was goat, but I dare not tell. The smells of fresh corn tortillas, cilantro, chorizo and lime excite all of my food senses.

From what I found, this seemed to be the only food lacking in New Orleans. So we were eager to return to our favorite Mexican grocery in Pearl, Mississippi, Supermercado Los Angeles. Supermercado is owned and run by a very nice helpful couple. They have a decent selection of Mexican produce including cactus paddles, espazote, cilantro, lime, fresh peppers, white onions, etc. There is a good meat and cheese counter at the back, they make their own chorizo, crema and lard for tamales, have a decent bakery selection and a restaurant in the back, set to open in two weeks (9/10). It is a great place to go on a Saturday, there is always a big pot of some meat that has been stewing for hours and a good selection of Mexican street food, elotes and chicharrones.

I hate to start my Mexican dishes with this one, there are many times that Chris and I spend days preparing some fabulous Mexican fare, but this one happened when Chris walked in and said what’s for dinner at 7:30 ( I thought it was more like 5). So I threw something together with our ingredients from Supermercado, and it turned out pretty good, and pretty easy.

Cut potatoes into large cubes and boil them for 10 minutes, then drain. Break up about ½ pound of chorizo into a skillet, allow chorizo to render and cook about seven minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your toppings, I used cilantro, crema, queso fresco and Chris’ hot sauce (look for more about our hot sauce endeavors in a future blog). Add lightly salted and peppered potatoes to the pan with chorizo allow them to cook turning occasionally for another five minutes. ( I used a seco chorizo so not much rendered out to cook the potatoes in, so I added about a tablespoon of olive oil.) Keep on very low eye to keep warm while you prepare your eggs. I prepared my eggs over easy, topped the hash with eggs and a plethora of toppings, don’t be shy with the cilantro.

I purchased some beautiful, incredibly sweet silver queen corn at the Mississippi Farmers Market this week. The corn would have been great all by itself, but I had promised elotes. To prepare the elotes, boil corn, brush lightly with mayonnaise, sprinkle queso anejo all over corn and then finish with a very light dusting of cayenne or your favorite ground chile mixture.

Foodsource:
Supermercado Los Angeles
3157 Highway 80 East
Pearl, MS 39208
601.936.8986

Where I've been...

September 1, 2010

I apologize for my break in blogging. Life’s circumstances have taken me deep into the woods, into the land of no internet, nursing a husband that almost cut his arm off , a 2 year old and a 6 month old. I have continued to cook and photograph, so I have plenty of material that I am eager to share with you. I have also started making baby food for Virginia.

I have not provided very much info on this blog about who I am, where I come from or how I came to blog about food. Really, because I was pretty sure that everyone reading this blog knew my story. I’ve been told that I should give more personal info for my readers, if I even have those. So here goes… I am from Jackson, Mississippi where I was raised in Belhaven in a family of five girls, yes, five! My mother and father are Irish catholic and Italian catholic. So I grew up in a large food centered family. I think I was the only kid I knew whose father served holiday meals in courses, he was just ahead of his time. I graduated from catholic school and went to Sweet Briar College in Virginia, where I met a collection of treasured friends from all over the country. After college I entered the financial services industry with PaineWebber in Atlanta. I lived in Atlanta for five years, single, supporting only myself as well as attending many wholesaler sponsored dinners at the finest restaurants in Atlanta (my father was one of those wholesalers, famous for his dinners.) This allowed me many incredible dining experiences that furthered my food education. Currently, I am back home in Mississippi, married, raising two daughters, Sadie and Virginia. I now have to prepare those foods if I want to enjoy them. My husband, Chris works in the film industry so we have been traveling with him when he works, this has allowed me to live temporarily in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. We just recently returned home. Chris just wrapped Green Lantern, well, they were set to wrap two days after he almost cut his arm off, unloading a truckload of building supplies for our impending home renovation, that is now on hold. Home is in the woods about 30 miles south of Jackson. Our plan is for Chris to continue doing movie work for as little time as possible. Our goal is to have goats, chickens, and a really big garden. We are also doing a complete renovation on the 100+ year old farmhouse that was built by Chris’ great grandfather. So excuse me if I digress into chicken raising or home renovation on this food blog.

Sadly, my weekly trips to the Crescent City Farmers Market, less than ½ mile from my house are over for now, but Bill Ryals, my favorite goat guy’s daughter comes to the farmers market in Jackson. I will be exploring the Farmers Markets in Jackson, growing or raising some of my own food, and making some day trips to New Orleans to stock up. My pumpkin seedlings are looking great and will go into the ground this week, they should be just in time to make a plethora of pumpkin dishes for Thanksgiving.

Softshell crab with meuniere sauce; corn with basil and feta; avocado, peach, basil and goat curd salad

I spotted the softshell lady as soon as I entered the market, and since I can't ever seem to make it early enough to get softshell before she sells out, I made a bee line for her stand, "all out," she says! I then spot the shrimp lady across the market, she has a beautiful box of blue crabs, claws flailing all about. So I steer the stroller in her direction only to be cut off by a man, that orders in front of me. I watch as she takes her tongs and starts filling his bag, then another bag until the only thing left are four dead crabs in the bottom of the box. "Any more?" I ask. I guess hoping, that there is some other elusive box of beautiful blue crabs stowed away somewhere in her truck. "All out!" she proclaims. I finish my shopping and as I'm about to leave the softshell lady waves me over, she still has softshell she was saving for someone who didn't pick them up, whomever you are, thanks for being a flake, I did your softshell justice! My husband says they were better than The Mayflower, and he's definitely not one for flattery!
The lungs on my softhell had been removed as I think most of them are when you buy them, if not, remove the lungs and then take a sharp paring knife and remove the head, cutting it out in a vee. I lightly dredged mine in seasoned flour (flour, Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic, salt and pepper). I added three tablespoons of clarified butter to a skillet on medium, and cooked the crabs three minutes on one side and two minutes on the other side. Remove crabs from the pan, add zest and juice of one lemon. I then add butter to the lemon, a tablespoon at a time, tasting as I go until the butter and lemon are balanced (it will make sense when you're tasting it). I then added 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, I know meuniere purist would disagree, but I wanted mine to taste like The Mayflower.

I had a hard time coming up with a side from whatever was in my refrigerator, which did not include lettuce. What I ended up with were two great summer sides that went suprisingly well with the softshell.



For corn and feta, boil corn, remove kernels with a sharp knife, being sure to milk the cobs, by running the dull side of the blade of your knife down the cob. Add butter (about 2 tablespoons)and garlic, to a pan, saute garlic for a few minutes, add corn and saute for a few more minutes. Remove corn and toss with fresh basil and feta.



For the avocado and peach salad, dice the peach and avocado, add to a bowl with goat cheddar curds, fresh basil, mint or cilantro (I wish I had used cilantro, and maybe mint, too), and salt and pepper. I tossed the salad very gently (stir as little as possible or you will end up with guacamole) with a dressing of 1/2 tablespoon of rice vinegar and 1/2 tablespoon of honey.

So easy to prepare and so quick, the only thing missing were some hot Mayflower Rolls to sop up the rest of the very tasty meuniere.

Note: The Mayflower is a historic seafood establishment in Jackson, MS that has an equally historic meuniere and comeback dressing. Look for a future blog on a dining experience at The Mayflower.



Sadie insisted that I cheese her plate (take a picture), and announced that this meal was her favrit!

My first guest contributor and an easy, fabulously fresh summer corn with tarragon recipe

One of the directions I would like to go with this blog is to encourage you to shop your local markets, and I would love for you to share your experiences with with other readers.
My first guest contributor is Stephen Holder. Stephen grew up in Jackson, MS and graduated from Millsaps College. His desire to see the rest of the world led him to New York City. After several years in corporate America he decided to pursue his passion,cooking. Stephen packed his bags and moved to San Francisco where he attended the CCA. He then spent time working in the kitchen at Williams-Sonoma and catering various other venues. He has since retired from the culinary world and back in Jackson, but he keeps a voracious garden as well as being a Mrs. Berry regular. (more about Mrs. Berry in a future blog). Stephen sent me a wonderful recipe for a tarragon corn that he has been making with his silver queen corn.

Tarragon Corn

Ingredients
* 4 Tbsp butter
* 1/2 cup chopped shallots (can substitute onions)
* 3 cups corn (from about 4 ears of corn)*
* 1 Tbsp of an anise liqueur such as Ouzo, Pernod, Pastis or Sambuca** (optional)
* 1/2 teaspoon of salt if using unsalted butter, more to taste
* 1 Tbsp packed, minced fresh tarragon
* Dash of white pepper (or black pepper if white is unavailable)

* If using fresh corn, to remove corn from the cob, first remove the husks and strings. Stand the corn up with the tip down in a large shallow pan like a baking dish. Using a sharp chef's knife, use long downward strokes to remove the corn kernels from the cob. You might find it easier to use a bundt pan to hold the ear of corn and catch the kernels. Or you can use a corn stripper.
** Regarding the anise liqueur the recipe calls for, I think it's a nice touch, but not necessary. You'll get enough of the flavor with the tarragon if you are avoiding alcohol or don't have an anise liqueur on hand.

Method
1. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the corn, salt, and anise liqueur if using (if not using, add 1 Tbsp water). Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the corn is tender.

3. Remove from heat, stir in the tarragon. Add pepper and more salt to taste.

Serves 3-4.

The Next Food Network Star, apparently... I am not.

I wanted to share with my blog followers, if I even have any of those. My foray into the reality TV world.
I have only watched minutes of a few episodes of The Next Food Network Star, but I have heard numerous times, if I was to do a reality show/competition, this was the one for me. I then got an email, from the only blog that I follow, that the Next Food Network Star was in New Orleans and holding an open casting call. So I felt as if maybe the stars were lining up and I should pursue this. Don't know why, I've never done anything like this, but I went..and they didn't call me back. But, I may not be done with this pursuit, I feel have a message to share, and I feel that my message can extend the lives of our children. So...I'm going to keep blogging and trying to change the way people eat and we'll see, maybe one day...I will be your Next Food Network Star!

Stuffed Briarhill Farms Cornish Hens and Maple Leaf Patisserie Bread

Joe and Jackie Dobie of Briarhill Farms sell poultry at the Uptown Crescent City Farmers Market on Tuesday mornings from 9a.m.-1p.m. I have previously prepared their quail and chicken. Tonight, I tackled their cornish hens. This was the first time that I have prepared cornish hens, so please, let me know if there is a better way, or your favorite preparation.

I brined the birds in a brine solution of a gallon of water, a cup of salt, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup white sugar, thyme, and a bay leaf (use whatever dry spices you have on hand) for three hours. I think the brine time was perfect, the hens were perfectly salty and juicy, but I think a four hour brine might have made them too salty. Remove the hens from the brine and allow them to dry and rest for thirty minutes. I then rubbed them with salt, pepper and thyme, be sure to rub the inside of the cavity.

Meanwhile, I prepared a stuffing for the birds. First, I cut Maple Leaf Patisserie whole wheat bread into small pieces and put it in a 200 degree oven until they dry out. Cut two pieces of bacon into lardons, and cook until crispy. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon, add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add to the oil 3cloves of garlic, finely chopped, and a fresh ancho and pasilla chili, diced, deveined and seeded. I cooked the vegetables in a skillet until soft and then deglazed the pan with 1/3 cup of chicken broth. I probably could have mixed white wine and chicken broth and gotten a better result. I then added the bread pieces that I made earlier with that beautiful loaf of bread from Maple Street Patisserie. Coat bread cubes well in saucepan and let it sit until cool long enough to handle it. Stuff the dressing inside of the hens, truss the bird, and bake it at 375 for 1 hour basting with butter and chicken broth frequently.

I served my hens with a salad made from hydroponic lettuce from Feliciana Greenhouses with my house dressing, greek feta from Ryals Goat Dairy and avocado.

Foodsources
cornish hens
Briarhill Farms, Mt. Hermon, LA
Joe and Jackie Dobie
phone: 985-877-5946
georgedobie@bellsouth.net

whole wheat bread
Maple Street Patisserie
7638 Maple Street
New Orleans, LA
phone: 504.247.7912

greek feta
Ryals Goat Dairy, Tylertown, MS
Bill and Niki Ryals
phone: 601-876-6328
ryalsb@telepak.net

hydroponic lettuce
Jimmy Hadden
Feliciana Greenhouses
phone: 225-635-0417
feltom@bellsouth.net

Goat Osso Bucco and Red Quinoa

I bought goat shanks from Bill Ryals of Ryals Goat Dairy in Lumberton, MS and prepared a memorable osso bucco. It is actually a very easy dinner to make. Pat the shanks dry, truss them, salt and pepper, and then lightly dredge in flour. Put just enough bacon grease in the dutch oven to brown shanks on all sides. Remove shanks add 3/4 onion, 3 stalks of celery and four carrots roughly chopped into pan, salt and sweat veggies, add 1/2 cup port, cook until reduced by half. Add shanks to the pan and a cup of chicken stock or enough to cover 3/4 of the shank. I made a stock with the leftover chicken carcass from earlier this week. Bring dutch oven to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for at least and hour and a half or until meat is falling off the bone. Remove shanks and reduce sauce by half. I poured the sauce and veggies in a shallow bowl and added shanks. Serve with your favorite artisan bread with a nice crust for soaking up this velvety sauce.
I also prepared a red quinoa and it is my new go to side. Wash the quinoa in cold water in a fine mesh strainer or a coffee filter. Add olive oil to a saucepan on medium low, dice two cloves of garlic and add to pan, cook garlic a few minutes. Add quinoa to pan and stir constantly for two minutes add double the liquid, so if you use 2 cups of quinoa (enough to feed 4 and have a cold quinoa salad for lunch the next day) use 4 cups of liquid. I used chicken stock instead of water, because I had made a good one. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 15 minutes. I added a tablespoon of butter after it cooked and fluffed the quinoa with a fork. Use your imagination with the quinoa, if I had more fun ingredients on hand I would have used them, but the pantry was looking slim. Although, I probably should have been a little more creative with my dried spices. I didn't add salt to this recipe because I used a sufficiently salty chicken broth, fluffed with salted butter and topped with a black lava finishing salt. If you use water, salt as you would rice. I use one teaspoon of salt per cup of rice. Enjoy!


On a side note, quinoa is something that we all should add to our diets. Here is an excerpt from the website The World's Healthiest Foods (whfoods.com)
"A recently rediscovered ancient 'grain' native to South America, quinoa was once called 'the gold of the Incas,' who recognized its value in increasing the stamina of their warriors. Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. Not only is quinoa's amino acid profile well balanced, making it a good choice for vegans concerned about adequate protein intake, but quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. In addition to protein, quinoa features a host of other health-building nutrients. Because quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, this 'grain' may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis."
And here is the link to the article if you would like to read further.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=142&tname=foodspice

Thai Chicken Salad and these delightfully crispy vanilla almond granola cookies!

I used the leftover chicken from last night's dinner to make a Thai Chicken Salad. My measurements are to taste, adjust to your liking. I used about 2 heaping tablespoons of Ryals Farms chevre, 1 tablespoon of mayonaise, a good squirt of Sriracha, a good squeeze of a 1/2 lime, 1/4 teaspoon of lime zest, 1 tablespoon of fresh basil, 1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro, and a teaspoon or two of good quality fish sauce. A tiny bit of honey might have been good too. When making chicken or tuna salad I make a wet mixture and then add it gradually into the meat. I served the chicken salad on buttered and griddle toasted Forte Grove Kalamata olive bread with avocado a slice of tomato and an herb spring lettuce mix. I can't wait to try this with tuna. I think it will be a good way to spicce up an otherwise pretty boring lunch. If you don't like the goat cheese, substitute cream cheese, a cream cheese mayonaise base mixture makes a pretty decedent chicken or tuna salad. I omit the cheese altogether make this same base mixture with mayonaise only and a lot more sriracha and it makes a fabulous asian chicken wing. Chop extra cilantro and sprinkle over the wings right before you serve them!

For desert, I discovered a new simple cookie recipe that was great.
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk ( I used Ryals Goat Dairy milk)
1 teaspoon of almond extract (I used almond because the granola I had was vanilla almond)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 stick butter
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups of your favorite granola

Take butter, egg and milk out and allow butter to soften and egg and milk to come to room temp. Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add egg, milk, akmond and vanilla, beat until smooth, add flour, mix until well combined, stir in granola, some dried cranberries would probably be good too. The cookie dough will be more like a batter. Grease a cookie sheet well and then drop by the tablespoon with plenty of space in between. They do expand significantly when cooking, and you want to make sure they don't come together, because you will loose that incredible, sweet, buttery, crunchy crust like edge around all sides. Bake for 10-12 minutes, you are not looking for a lot of carry over cooking, you want them to look done. Store them in an airtight container, they will go well with Chris' iced coffee in the morning.

FoodSources:

free range chicken
Briarhill Farms, Mt. Hermon, LA
Joe and Jackie Dobie
phone: 985-877-5946
georgedobie@bellsouth.net

feta cheese and goats milk
Ryals Goat Dairy, Tylertown, MS
Bill and Niki Ryals
phone: 601-876-6328
ryalsb@telepak.net

Kalamata Olive Bread
Forte Grove , Plaquemine, LA
Contact: Kathleen and Bill Cooper
phone: 225.687.3026
kfcooper@cox.net

Briarhill Farms chicken with giblet gravy, feta and avocado salad with hydroponic lettuce and Forte Grove Kalamata Olive Bread

I used a whole Briarhill Farms chicken that I brined, in a solution of a gallon of water, cup of salt, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar and whatever spices you prefer, for 3 1/2 hours. Removed the bird from the brine and put on a wire rack to dry, once chicken was dry, I made a rub of brown sugar, dry mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper. I then rough cut about 4 cloves of garlic and put them into the cavity of the bird. I baked the chicken at 350 for about an hour or until the thigh meat registers 165.

Remove the giblets before brining to make the giblet gravy. I made a proper giblet gravy years ago and have completely forgotten most of what I did. With one child under foot and another sitting in a bumbo in the kitchen table staring at me to be picked up, I didn't have time to research it. So I made up this recipe as I went along. I put about a tablespoon of bacon grease into a small stockpot on medium, browned the giblets until they released from the pan and were a deep caramel color, removed giblets and added two cloves of finely chopped garlic, cook garlic a few minutes. Deglaze the pan with about 1/4 cup of port add about 1/4 cup of pomegranate juice, 1 cup of chicken broth, salt and pepper, bring to a boil then allow to simmer until almost all liquid is cooked out, then add another 1/2 cup of chicken broth. I do this three of four times or for about 3 hours, you can leave it simmering on the stove and stir only occasionally.

I served the chicken with a bean that I am embarrassed to admit I don't know the name of, can anybody tell me what it is? Brown lima beans? I rendered a piece of bacon, cut into lardons in a saucepan, added beans, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Brought it to a boil then reduced to a simmer for about 30 minutes.

For my salad I used hydroponic lettuce, the perfect solution to our weather being too hot for good local lettuce. I made my house dressing of whole grain mustard, honey, rice wine vinegar, black pepper and olive oil. I topped the salad with avocados and Ryals dairy feta cheese.

food sources:
hydroponic lettuce
Jimmy Hadden
Feliciana Greenhouses
phone: 225-635-0417
feltom@bellsouth.net

free range chicken
Briarhill Farms, Mt. Hermon, LA
Joe and Jackie Dobie
phone: 985-877-5946
georgedobie@bellsouth.net

feta cheese and goats milk
Ryals Goat Dairy, Tylertown, MS
Bill and Niki Ryals
phone: 601-876-6328
ryalsb@telepak.net

Kalamata Olive Bread
Forte Grove , Plaquemine, LA
Contact: Kathleen and Bill Cooper
phone: 225.687.3026
kfcooper@cox.net

Dim Sum and Hong Kong Supermarket

It requires a trip to the Westbank of New Orleans, but today I discovered a foodie mecca, and it involves really good Dim Sum. Chef Shing Kwun Lam of Hong Kong prepares traditional, cart style dim sum at Panda King of Terrytown from 11-3 on Saturdays and Sundays. Servers parade through the restaurant pushing carts full of steaming dumplings and savory dishes. Dim Sum or "piece of heart" originated in the teahouses of the Guandong Province in Cantonese southern China. Most dishes emphasize fresh flavors and are steamed instead of fried with sauces that play a delicate balance of soy, vinegar, wine and sugar.

I would love to tell you exactly what I ate, but there were no menus on the table nor can I find one anywhere on the Internet. Some of dishes we sampled or contemplated sampling included shark fin dumplings; shrimp dumplings; shumai; ground rice sheets loosely wrapped around shrimp, served with one of those amazing salty sweet sauces; shrimp with green peppers; Japanese eggplant stuffed with shrimp; Rice noodle rolls filled with shrimp and pork; Baked and Steamed buns filled with hoisin sweetened pork; Peking Duck; Singapore Noodles; Pan-Fried Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage, Egg and Scallion; Pan-Fried Turnip Cake with Chinese Sausage; Fried Taro with pork filling; steamed Chinese broccoli drizzled with a thick soy sauce; deep fried salty pork; egg custard tartlets; Jalapenos stuffed with ground shrimp; Sticky rice with sausage, wrapped in a lotus leaf; fried calamari tossed with hot peppers; duck feet simmered in soy and star anise; chicken feet coated in fire red pepper sauce.

After you have indulged at Panda King, stroll next door to the Hong Kong Supermarket. The produce section is reminiscent of one of my most favorite foodie stops, Dekalb Farmers Market. I immediately located many ingredients, that until now, I have had to rely on the Internet for when preparing my favorite Asian dishes. From the produce section you walk directly into the tilapia and catfish, live swimming in the tanks, then onto the butcher, with the largest section of meat and poultry that I have ever experienced. I'm going back this week for one of the whole ducks, any suggestions for preparation? I'm thinking Peking duck. From the meat section you enter the extensive bakery, then onto the Banh Mi (Vietnamese poboy) counter, and finally a counter that contains cooked suckling pig, chickens, quail and Cornish hens. Within these outer aisles lies every hard to find dry good you can imagine, as well as a fun housewares section. I can't wait to use the ten porcelain Japanese soup spoons that I purchased for 69 cents a piece in an authentic bowl of Tom Kha now that I have a source for fresh galangal root and kaffir lime leaves.

Panda King fine dining is located at 925 Behrman Highway Gretna, LA 70056.

Briarhill Farms Quail

I experimented with a new protein this week, and was pleasantly surprised with the results. I purchased four quail from Joe and Jack Dobie of Briarhill Farms. I had never prepared quail before and my Internet search proved less than inspiring, this is what i put together from the ingredients I had in my pantry.
Most of the recipes i found soaked the quail in cream, some baked them whole in the cream and some in the skillet. The quail I purchased were already cut up the back so I put mine in the skillet.

Ingredients *
4 quail (cut up the back)
3 TBSP panko
1 scallion
5 pieces of bacon
3 TBSP olive oil
2 stalks of celery
3 cloves garlic
1 box of shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup port wine
2 TBSP cinnamon apple jelly
3 cups cream
small handful chopped parsley
*I did not measure, measurements listed are a best guess, follow the instructions more than the measurements.

Cut whole quail up the back, salt and pepper them and then soak in cream, parsley and a couple of tablespoons of cinnamon apple jelly. I used parsley and cinnamon apple jelly, because that is what I had on hand. I found a recipe that soaked the quail in cream and guava jelly so i thought the apple jelly would work for sweetness and i found another recipe that used nutmeg so I thought that the cinnamon might work as well, but substitute with what you have in your pantry. I soaked the quail for 4 hours although I would have liked for at least six and maybe as long as eight.

Remove quail from the cream (reserve cream mixture), blot with paper towels and dust lightly with panko the breast side of the quail.(I was going to use flour, but somehow I was out, so use flour if you prefer)

Cut bacon into lardons and cook in a large deep skillet. Remove cooked bacon with a slotted spoon. Cook scallions, garlic and celery in rendered bacon fat, remove vegetables with a slotted spoon add a tablespoon or two of olive oil, to remaining bacon grease. Place quail in skillet breast side down, brown quail, turn over and add cream from soaking quail, shitake mushrooms cut in large strips, port wine, cooked bacon and vegetables, this mixture should almost cover the quail, if it is short add more cream. cover and cook quail at least 25 minutes on low.
Serve quail over your favorite brown or black rice and spoon sauce over.



Cook's Disclosure: The recipes that I include on this blog are created by a housewife with a passion for food. I am not a professional chef. I welcome suggestions on ways to improve these recipes or better ways to prepare the food all together. I feel that I become a better cook with each meal I prepare and I hope that through this blog I can learn from others experiences in the kitchen as well, so... please, let me know what you think!

Crescent City Farmers Market 6.1.10

Here are my market finds this week....



a five pound box of blueberries, zucchini, creole tomatoes, granola, soft shell crab, a basil plant, a mint plant, goat cheese cheddar curd from Ryals Goat Dairy in Tylertown, MS, quail from The Dobies of Briarhill Farms in Mt. Hermon, LA, and flowers from Capdeboscq Flower Farm in Amite, LA.


I have already put a dent in the box of incredibly sweet treasures of early summer. Leave a bowl out and they will disappear. I made blueberry popsicles with chopped blueberries, goats milk yogurt, blueberry juice and honey. I see a cobbler or a pie in my near future...Buy your fruit in bulk when it is in season, and freeze what is left for smoothies. I never throw out fruit, if it is about to go bad I slice it and drop it in a freezer bag, freeze it, then add it to a blender with yogurt and juice.

I have never prepared quail before, so I would love suggestions.

Tonight, I prepared a meatloaf using Alton Brown's recipe

6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and broken
3 whole cloves garlic
1/2 red bell pepper
18 ounces ground chuck
18 ounces ground sirloin
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
For the glaze:
1/2 cup catsup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey
Directions
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.

Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.

Combine the catsup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.

I used ground beef and venison harvested from my backyard, and I made croutons with the leftover sundried tomato and garlic bread from Forte Farms. I cut the bread into cubes tossed them in mojo de ajo and put them in a 300 degree oven for 35 minutes. I also added some fresh oregano to my vegetable mixture (thanks, Jeremy!) I served the meatloaf with blackened green beans and macaroni and cheese and homemade blueberry popiscles for desert.

baked chicken, blackenend green beans, angel hair with cilantro chipolte pesto and bayrisches bauernbrot

Before I start posting my market creations. Please remember, I am NOT a chef. My husband came with a set of Culinary Insitute of America textbooks and I grew up in a family where my daddy rolled out his own pasta and my momma boiled her own custard, but I have no formal training. My food knowledge has evolved from many hours reading cookbooks, observing others and eating very well.

Enough about me…here’s my food!



Roasted Chicken, blackened green beans, cilantro chipolte pesto angel hair and Bayrisches Bauernbrot.

I hate to start my food blogging with a chicken dish. Maybe because I have very little respect for chicken as a protein or maybe because I have become so disgusted by the practices of the large chicken farmer that I really never eat it, but I purchased a whole chicken from a poultry farmer at the market (I didn’t get his info, I will next time). I really hate to admit it, but, this was the first time that I have purchased a free range chicken from a small farmer who raised the bird properly, and what a difference. In my opinion, the two birds should not even fall under the same nomiker. In appearance, the chicken is markedly smaller than the grocery store bird, and the taste is far superior, it even has a different texture.
I brined the chicken first for 2½ hours, next time I will increase my brining time to four hours. In my brine I used a gallon of water, a cup of salt, ½ cup sugar and ½ cup of brown sugar and some dried thyme. If you haven’t brined before , try it, it makes a world of difference in the succulence of the meat your prepare. Adjust the sugar to your preference and have fun with different herbs and spices. I then baked the chicken at 350 for about 45 minutes. Next time I will increase my temp to at least 375, the bird was small so the meat was done before it had developed a golden brown skin, and I probably should have put some fresh herbs and garlic in the cavity. After letting the chicken rest, I deboned and sliced the chicken and then topped it with a little cilantro chipolte pesto. The green beans were blanched for a few minutes and then put in an ice bath. I put the green beans in a skillet with liquid gold or mojo de ajo and Paul Prudhommes's blackening seasoning. Here is the recipe for mojo de ajo http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=244 ,this is only my first reference to Rick Bayless, please be patient with me, it is only a mild obsession I have with him. The pasta is handmade, fresh angel hair from Daniel Esses with Paul Arcenaux’s cilantro chipolte pesto. The bread is Bayrisches Bauernbrot (Bavarian Farmer's Bread) made by Captain Karl Mueller of Mueller's Real Bread.
Cost to feed this meal to a family of four, just under $25, the same price as four value meals at your favorite fast food joint.

and for desert.......



Granola and Gold Zuchinni Cookies with a schmear of cranberry cinnamon chevre

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups granola cereal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded zucchini
2 (12 ounce) packages semisweet chocolate or butterscotch chips

Directions
1.In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, orange peel and vanilla. Combine flour, granola, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with zucchini. Stir in chips.
2.Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Theses cookies are better served warm (not so hot that they instantly melt your chevre, but warm enough to soften it to that incredibly creamy texture). I make a batch of dough and bake off the cookies when I want to eat them. The dough keeps well in the refrigerator and you can produce warm cookies every night, in just a few minutes. I din't have any chocolate chips so I put a little chocolate syrup in the egg mixture and upped the flour a tad. One of the many directions that I am going with this blog (hopefully, soon, I will have more of a focus) is to show you how to stock your pantry well and use what you have, it is the only way to make cooking at home beneficial to your pocketbook. Part of the year, my family lives in the country twenty minutes from a gas station, so cooking from the pantry is a skill I was forced to hone.

These are a few of my creations from purchases made at the Tuesday morning Crescent City Famrmers Market in New Orleans, LA. I welcome your comments and suggestions. The purpose of this blog is not only to share my food with whomever might be interested, but also to coninue developing my culinary skills and knowledge. What would you have done with these ingredients?

Crescent City Farmers Market 5.25.10

I attended the Crescent City Farmers Market on Tuesday 5.25.10. Here are a few of my finds..

Green beans


Bayrisches Bauernbrot (Bavarian Farmer's Bread) made by Captain Karl Mueller of Mueller's Real Bread in Poplarville, MS.


Fresh, handmade pasta made by Daniel Esses of Esses Foods in New Orleans, LA
914.434.1972 or chefesses@gmail.com


Paul's cilantro chipolte pesto made by Paul Arcenaux of Paul's Palate in Metairie, LA
504-834-1757 or paul@webdsi.com

We always start our market shopping with Amanda's Frozen Fruit Bars made by Amanda Carvajal of Jefferson, LA 504-231-6921 or luisamanda@cox.net. Amanda makes the most incredible popsicles. I hear she makes equally incredible juices but I have yet to make it to the market before she sells out. She makes an avocado cream popsicle that is definitely one of the best things that I have ever eaten (a pretty bold statement :) This week she had sold out of the avocado cream, I had a strawberry popsicle and Sadie had a pineapple popsicle.
I purchased a number of other items as well, whole milk from Smith's Creamery, basil gnocchi and puttanesca sauce from Daniel Esses, a large basket of the first peaches of the season, black drum filets, gold zuchinni, creole tomatoes and goat cheese cheddar curds from Bill Ryals of Ryals Goat Dairy in Tylertown, MS.

I have already dove into these ingredients and can't wait to share my creations with you. I also plan on attending the Thursday evening Crescent City Farmers Market tomorrow, for the first time.

Welcome!

Welcome to Localtarians.com! I have wanted for a while now to blog about food. Cooking and food are my passions. I love finding the best ingredients to cook with, and I especially love supporting a local food trade. I am using the term localtarian, but it is a term that I have just recently added to my vocabulary, and honestly know very little about. I have for a while now tried to eat locally, I just didn't realize that there was a movement nor a term for doing so. I love the term, (obviously :) and I love the approach to eating. I encourage you to try this with me. Shop your local market and send me your finds to post. I know it has been done before, unsucessfully, but I am also going to attempt to prove that this is a very cost effective approach to feeding your family.
Moms of infants, stay tuned, my baby will be eating solid foods soon and I will share all of my baby food recipes as I cook for her! Thanks teensies, for the new fancy baby food maker!