mon petit choux (for the love of brussel sprouts)

Brussel sprouts on the stalk look like an amazing alien creature. They are green and most delicious in spring or early fall. Delicious alongside anything umame,as well as roasted potatoes they are also full of actual nutrients. They just went on sale for 50 cents a 6 oz bag at our local fruit market.

My two favorite methods are roasting  or as a weird mixed slaw which is picnic safe as it contains no mayo:

Roasting
1. Preheat oven to 425F
2. Take 6 oz brussel sprouts Remove any funky leaves, then rinse.
3. Peel a thin slice off the the stump. Then Make an x in the stump. If very large, skip this step and slice head in half. If you want slice half a sweet onion in with this.
4.Drizzle olive oil (2 tb) on a casserole dish or roasting pan, add two cloves garlic sliced thin. Toss to coat.
5. Put in oven for 20 minutes turning half way through. Remove and salt to taste pref with a large flake salt.
6.Drizzle with one of the following dressing options and serve:
   
Maple Ginger Soy
 3 tb  soysauce (tamari for gf folks) ,2 tb maple syrup (honey works too) and 1/2 inch ginger grated plus a pinch of dried ginger. Mix allwith 1 tb water.

Lemon and oil:
Mix1/2 lemon's juice (2-3 tb) with 2 tb olive oil. Toss to coat. You could add 1-2 tb leftover pesto from another night.

Lemon soy
Mix Juice (3-4 tb) of a lemon with 3 tb tamari/soy sauce.

Butter and thyme/rosemary
Melt 3 tb butter , add 1 tb leaves removed from stalk.



Brussel slaw
1.Wash and remove stumps from 8 oz sprouts.Slice into shreds.
2.Wash and slice 2 green onions
3. Optional half a tart apple,cubed
4. 1 grated carrot
5. Optional 1 tb poppyseeds,
6. Optional4 oz fresh broccoli crown sliced into tiny florets. If choosing this option double the dressing.
7. Optional 1 oz. Bacon or coconut bacon or shredded parmesan, &/ or 1/4 tsp smoked salt
8. Optional 1/4 cup currants or raisins
9. 1/2 cup dried cranberries
10.2 tb walnuts, sunflower seeds or pecans
12.Dressing-follows below
13. Toss all together, S&P to taste

Dressing for Brussel slaw
Mix 1 Tb brown, whole or spicy mustard, with 3 tb maple syrup (or one of honey+1 of water), 3 tb cider vinegar, and 2 of olive,or sunflower oil.

Rabbit's birthday noodles- Truffled noodles with and cheese and Arugula

Rabbits birthday is in spring and they love mushrooms and earthy smelling things. These greens are usually growing in our garden in May so this is a Rabbit birthday recipe from last year. The birthday splurge in is the oil and it can be skipped but really is worth it if you can.

1.wash 8oz of mushrooms of choice...usually cremini are reasonable here in quarters, halves or slices
2. slice 1 red onion into half moons
3.toss to coat both in 3tb olive oil in cast iron skillet at put in at 400 F
4. mince 5 cloves garlic
5. boil noodles like penne or rotini(gf work here) or if you have time make homemade gnocchi. Drain and toss in with the mushrooms and onion. Add garlic and toss.
6.chiffonade 3-4 handfuls of spicy/tangy/ aromatic leaves like arugula, sorrel,and basil or a mixture
and mix this in
7. garnish heavily with sharp grating cheese (like the balsamic cheese Rabbit loves and lemon zest, then lightly drizzle with truffle oil

Inhale and enjoy!

Basic sauces: lemon and oil, roasted brussel sprouts...

This should be self explanatory Lemon and Olive oil is one of the best sauces out there. The technique pretty much lends itself to a variety of  citrus fruits and to a degree just use sweeter vinegars (like balsamic or apple) in a smaller quantity to enjoy your deep green things and noodley things more when there is no lemony goodness around.

Here's how to do it.

On many things squeezing 1-2 tb olive oil and the juice of a lemon will do it. Add a sprinkle of salt if you desire ...which I do. Done. This is helpful for salad, Chopped salad and as a dressing on white bean soup.

Let's say you just stovetop roasted some mushrooms and onion or say broccoli or really anything verdant or nicely bitter(Chicken breasts too if you eat them). Before you stir fry add 1/2 onion half moon sliced and sautee in olive oil, adding 1-10 cloves of sliced garlic once the onion becomes translucent. Grab a cup of water (or wine if the mood calls for it) to keep by the stove. Add a half cup to your pot after the onions and garlic play for a bit. Add salt here if you use it. Grate 1/2 of your lemon's (well washed) peel into the pot. Once the liquid reduces substantially to a syrupy/brothy texture add the juice of the lemon. Don't worry this works with bottled lemon juice and no zest if that's what you have, the flavour is just a bit less bright. Garnish with fresh herbs like thyme,mint, chives, basil,etc. when you have them and when it doesn't clash.

Let's say you are roasting brussel sprouts. Fresh brussel sprouts, not the completely ruined frozen variety. So it's fall or spring and you want delicious sprouts. Clean those sprouts and cut a partial x through their butts after trimming the stem. Sliced 3 cloves of garlic on that lb. of sprouts and toss in a liberal bath of olive oil 3-4 tb. Zest and squeeze you lemon on it, Add salt again if you like. add 1/4 cup water and cook in the oven 15 minutes at 425 F. Put under broiler at same temp for last 10 minutes

apple cheddar rice cooker risotto (veg,gf with dairy free / veganoptions)

I'm going to start out by saying that you shouldn't do this. Your rice cooker is not designed for it and you might set something on fire..Really.

I do it at least once a month but I don't leave the house when I do and I check it every 15 or so minutes. Even then it's really good but not quite risotto textured.

1.Take 1 cup rice (can be med or long grain) add 2 cups water with broth paste (or cubes) or broth
meanwhile sautee 1 chopped sweet onion (like a red or yellow) or one sliced clean leek.
5 cloves minced garlic
and one lb of clean and chopped mild or bitter greens (kale, collard, dandelion, chard,cress,broccoli leaves or spinach. Mustard and Turnip do not work well here)
if you want to add a chopped mushroom or a chopped apple feel free
add a bit of salt nutmeg and pepper
use olive or sunflower oil as your oil
add a handful of walnuts or pecans if you can afford to and want to


2.Cover and let sit until rice is cooked

with cheese 3.  Grate or mince up 1/2 cup very sharp cheddar. add this and 1 tb dijon to your rice and stir thoroughly.

dairy free   3. Take 1 tb dry mustard , 1 tb dijon,1 tb lemon juice, 1/3 cup nutritional yeast and 3 tb sesame paste, if you have almond or cashew butter add 3 tb. Mix all thoroughly. Now mix into rice.

4. Add 1/2 bottle gf hard cider to your pot. stir. The more you stir the more creamy.
5. Reset cooker and put back on cook cycle. allow to be used in keep warm cycle for up to 24 hours. garnish with cress or parsley if desired.

how rice ate chicago- lazy lentil risotto

This month this been insane. As a result not only have my posts been more sporadic at best. The status of my frequency in the kitchen is not much better. But we still have to eat and hopefully it'll be quick and not too intense or frequent and it should be hearty and contain nutrients...which brings us to my rice cooker. Several years back, in the throes of a bad fever I purchased a rice cooker online. One of those non stick vacuum sealed bucket kinds. It was a very good deal. No, seriously. Despite it's fever related origins this device is used almost as much as my cast iron, my cutting boards and my knives. Better yet it can keep food warm for a day so I make one big batch of something and it's good for 24 hours without changing serving devices. Please keep in mind the method I am suggesting is not recommended by manufacturers , may cause fires and is done entirely at your own risk. I have successfully been doing this and crazy stuff like it with my rice cooker for 7 years. It's not supposed to do sushi rice or brown rice either but it has been doing that for years too. It's still working. I do have to clean the vents more often. We make pilaf,  rice and beans, sushi rice for handrolls etc in it. We use it an average of 4 days a week. Rice cookers save my sanity, such as it is. This is the best thing I can make in it besides plain  rice. That being said I have seen enough recipes calling for similar that I would assume you can throw these ingredients in a crockpot on low for 8 hours and get similar results. I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know but it might work.


In your rice cooker put:
1 cup lentils

1 1/2 cup rice
3-4 cup water or broth
1 cup red or white wine or hard cider ( my favorite)
1 half head of garlic and 1 sauteed onion or 2 cleaned and sauteed leeks and 2 tb butter/ olive oil/ mixture to sautee them in.
1 lb chopped veg of choice (lately peppers from the freezer or chunks of squash form previous cooking)
1 handful frozen peas
1tb grated nutmeg
chives or scapes when available
1 tsp salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1/2 lb to 1 lb small cooking greens (little kale, dandelion,baby mustard, mizuna, cress,spinach, chard, caulifower leaves,whatever is popping up) washed
1/2 lb grated cheese (swiss, gouda, cheddar, parmesan...whatever)
4 oz sliced mushrooms or 5 dried shitake broken up into the rice cooker pot.

Throw everything but the cheese in. Stir. Put on a full cook cycle. adjust flavours to preference. Stir in cheese. wait 15 minutes, stir again....serve.

universal pesto (vegan or cheesy) gf, cf

a blender or food processor
1 lg handful (1/2 ish) nuts or large seeds
1 0z aged cheese (or 1/2 oz tahini and 1 TB dry mustard)
1-2 oz herbs/aromatic greens
pinch salt and maybe pepper
2-4 cloves garlic
1 oz olive oil
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Tonight I have crinkled cress and nasturtium leaves from our garden getting a bit wilty. If I had them and wanted this a touch spicier I could add radish leaves. If I wanted it mellower I could use spinach or chard. I could also use cilantro.
I will add 3 cloves garlic

and 1 oz cheddar (which I buy in bulk) and walnuts (which are yummy and sitting around)with salt pepper and olive oil. I will blend this until it's mostly uniform.

Schi -meaty or vegan , or dairy (gluten free) usually about 45 minutes total time (good crockpotter)

When we were kids Other Mother Brother would occasionally make this sauerkraut soup( or a very similar one) with bones during winter. For all the reasons you would expect it was cozy and still makes me think of him.  Because our sorrel grew up and bolted when I wasn't looking (silly me) I can't have my favorite (and much more traditional for summer) Schi  (http://www.ruscuisine.com/recipes/soups/schi-and-borsch/n--620/)  and we had mushrooms and sauerkraut lying around , hence:

Schi  ----warning! your house will smell like sauerkraut for a day or two after making this. Fortunately it freezes well and is very very cheap.

take:
1 lb  sauerkraut (traditional ferment if you can find it)reserve the liquid for the broth
1 lg chopped onion or 2 cleaned leeks chopped
4 cloves diced garlic
1 sliced or shredded carrot
3 ribs celery (optional)
8 oz mushrooms (I usually use a mix of rehydrated shitake and fresh crimini) chopped into hunks
2 tsp caraway
4 juniper berries(not necessary but nice)
4 peppercorns or a few grinds of pepper
1 bay leaf
 and saute in 2 tb fat (olive oil, beef or pork drippings, butter) in a heavy bottomed pot  deep enough to make 4 qts
(like my 5 qt enamel dutch oven or a stock/crock pot)

once onions are translucent add:
1/2-1 lb parsnip, potato and/ or turnip)
and
(optional) meat : 1 browned pork  chop with bone, or  beef soup bone/oxtail of choice or 6 oz of chicken prepared as you would for soup. Similar quantities of rabbit would likely also work but as a pescatarian I have no clue how.
and /or
(optional) more dried mushrooms
and /or
(optional) add 9 oz tasty but not at all traditional kale
and/or 6 oz of barley (which is not gluten free and is optional)

3 qts broth (beef, chicken, or mushroom) or water plus the reserved sauerkraut (please note that this is not low sodium and is not intended to be)

Bring to a simmer and cover until :

in the case of no meat
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your root veggies begin to  fall apart

in the case of meat on  a bone
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your root veggies begin to  fall apart and the meat begins to fall off the bone
(fork shred the remainder and pull out the bone- if you can add the marrow to the soup and cook a bit longer)

in the case of meat not on a bone
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your root veggies begin to  fall apart and the meat is cooked (you would know better than I would)
 turn off the fire and  now, for the final countdown you can finish in several ways 
 1. use a stick blender or potato masher on about half and then stir for a creamier texture
 2. garnish with parsley or paprika (about 1 tsp))
 3.  add 1/2 c sourcream or hung yogurt and stir until consolidated
 4. serve it as is
5. 1&2, 1&3, 2&3, 1-3, or take half and do 1 and then 3 with the other half ...oh you get what I mean
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I like to eat this with dill pickle and whole rye bread spread with sour cream/ hung yogurt if we have it (well not if there's any in the soup) garnished with sardines or herring(when Rabbit doesn't have to watch), or thin cut raw sliced beets (when she is there to see it) or maybe some home made apple sauce.

Sucking Chest Wound Salad (simple and gf when made with gf stuff) 15 minutes max

10 or so years ago I thought I hated beets unless they were in borscht. Everyone else in my family loved beets including he tinny or syrupy pickled harvard beets that besmirch all beet kind. I still hate them. Then I had straight beet juice and recognised it's delicious and inherent borschty, earthy, sweet but not syrupy goodness. So I played it against sour stuff and I made borscht, and torschi and finally I discovered the best thing of all ....sliced raw beets. I couldn't be stopped. Sure it will look like a five year old used lip tint on you, but who cares...it's delicious.mmm beets.

Sucking Chest Wound Salad
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(So named because of the color of goat cheese when mixed with raw beets)
1 lb greens
I use what's around but soft buttery greens and peppery ones seem to work best. Sometimes it's little beet greens, arugula, some ' spring mix' , wrinkled cress and other I grab a dozen carrot tops and some dill from the garden; go at them with scissors and call it a day. Anyway, you need 1 lb of salad greens in a big bowl.
add 1/2 oz of sunflower seeds
and 1 oz goat cheese or other sharp flavoured soft white cheese like feta or farmer cheese. now you can be all presentation-y and slice it neatly with dental floss but I usually pinch off a bunch of little  pieces  and throw them in between layers of greenery
you could leave out the 1/4 of a thin sliced red onion but wheres the fun there?
and if it's needing to be used you could add sliced cucumbers or some leftover cooked quinoa or chickpeas
(and clearly, as usual, I digress)
The important part is that you have 2  or 3 well scrubbed raw beets at hand. Speaking of hands you can use some rubber gloves if you don't want to look like Lady Macbeth. Personally I don't bother unless I have an interview or something. Also don't wear anything you might care about getting stained,and um.. if you are squeamish about pink cutting boards either scrub immediately(no guarantees) or protect your board with a layer of wax paper (still no guarantees but a greater success rate) Slice thin or julienne...just remember the smaller the piece the more blood (um I mean juice). Add the beets and juices to your salad bowl. Now for dressing. Drizzle on some lemon or balsamic vinegar (really gory looking and complements your beets sweetness) and maybe some salt and or olive oil. I like pepper but Rabbit doesn't. Toss carefully. Eat.

Sorghum quick bread and pancake/biscuit mix (vegan/ gf options)

Barley is NOT GF if you are celiac or gluten intolerant use the Sorghum...please

Barley and Sorghum are whole grains that plays well with other flavors and have a moist crumbly texture. As a whole grain you should either use the flour relatively quickly or leave it in your freezer to prevent spoilage.  Recipes doubles lovely. Don't freeze this unless you WANT bread crumbs as that's what freezing this does. You can mix the wet and dry willy nilly or if you want packets of quick bread mix for busy evenings you can mix the dry ingredients to store in a jar or tin and add the wet when you want to make it up. This will be ready in less than an hour start to finish with about 45 minutes of downtime.
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Dry mix
3 cups sorghum or barley flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tb baking powder
3 tb olive oil or your preferred oil (yes this goes in the dry mix)
Mix until resembles sandy stuff and store in air tight container
If using this as pancake mix add 1 egg and 1 cup milk per cup of mix. If using as biscuit mix just add the 1 cup milk, buttermilk or milk analogue. They will be crumblier than wheat flour biscuits and pancakes but also more tender.

wet stuff
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oil to oil your pan
2 eggs or 2 tb ground flax in one oz boiling water allowed to soak until gelatinized
1 cup milk, buttermilk or milk analogue (almond worked well)
1 tb lemon juice or cider vinegar(optional-do not use with buttermilk)
heat oven to 350F
oil your pan -a dutch oven (leave the lid off), loaf pan, muffin,or bundt pan works
Whisk wet into dry and pour into pan (take care to fill it nor more than 2/3 full as this stuff rises
and allow to bake 25-30 minutes