Salad Strategy

CSA day! Today we got spinach, white scallions and green garlic (both already chopped off with ends in water in the windowsill, because let's grow more flavor), salsify (which I have never had),  carrots, purple radishes (so pretty! and with greens attached), scarlet turnips, more carrots (there were two bags), and zucchini. It seems early for the zukes. I want asparagus. That's a proper spring vegetable! And I haven't had any yet because it hasn't come in the box and we have enough vegetables that I'm not buying it from the store.

~~~

For lunch, I made a salad. Today's was a simple salad: spinach, chickpeas, radish, carrot, turnip,  feta, dressing. Though I'm coming to think of most of my salads as fancy to present, simple to make. Assembly of a basic components.

These are the building blocks of most of my salads.

• Greens
• Grains
• Lentils/beans (Bonus if you've been marinating them.)
• Raw veggies (Do you have a mandoline? It makes my salads feel very fancy.)
• Cooked veggies (I've been using this recipe quite frequently recently)
• Seasonal fresh fruit
• Fritters (Smashed veggies, falafel, risotto fritters. Meat options would probably go at this level too. Or a fried egg.)
• Cheese
• Dried fruit, whatever the season
• Nuts/seeds (Maybe even a savory granola? Croutons if you can! Crispy beans if you'd rather.)

Choose items from at least three of the categories. Probably not more than five or six of them. Usually I build my salad with things at the top of the list going into the plate first as a base and things at the bottom of the list being added later as toppings. Add a dressing or sauce,

Some winners from this winter's boxes:

• Radishes sliced paper thin + grapefruit segments + goat cheese + rose vinaigrette
• Mixed greens + sliced carrots and radishes + smashed sunchokes + sriracha-mayo-lemon dip
• Mixed greens + marinated lentils + mixed roasted veggies + blue cheese + a homemade balsamic dressing
• Kale + chickpeas + daikon radish + caesar dressing

The Box

In the past 12 hours, I have texted with friends in opposite coastal cities about signing up for a summer CSA box. I have also unloaded the Winter CSA box that my household received today. And signed up for our summer shares of produce, fruit, eggs, bread, and gluten-free bread.

I know not everyone can sign up for a CSA. For one thing, they're not actually available everywhere. There aren't really farmer's markets around our parents, though there may be people selling produce out the back of their pick-up. (I googled anyway and was happily surprised that the state agriculture department lists one in their county. Their website was not operational though.) Second, they're not always affordable, especially for everyone worried about pay in this time of record-splintering time.* (This morning was not cheap for ours. It is 5-6 months of food after all.) That said this is the year to do a CSA, if you are at all thinking about it.

Why CSA this season?

1. Seasonal produce. Support local farmers. You know. The usual reasons.

2. This is the year to both make sure that you are getting fresh produce AND also limit contact while obtaining said produce.

3. You can pick it up outside. My current one involves absolutely zero contact with another human.

4. It shortens trips to grocery stores and farmer's markets. (Once our fruit share kicks in, we'll go to the store for dry goods, dairy, juice, and citrus?) Reduces viral load for everyone.

5. Let's face it, travel ain't happening this CSA season like it would in other seasons. So you don't need to think as much about when you're going to be gone and not use the box. You will be there. You will want to eat.

6. It lets you pre-buy food AND also not take options out of the grocery store for the people who can't afford to stock up.

7. It is the year of home cooking experimentation! Join the fun! What better way than the classic? 

In the spirit of cooking experimentation, I'm going to try to share some of my strategies for cooking through the box. Maybe we can think of it as our virtual cookbook to share comfort foods with friends during this time of distance? Or is that what this blog was originally?

* I get that it's not quite the spirit of supporting the farmer, but I would love if CSA's did a monthly signup that would match WIC/EBT dollars the way some farmer's markets do. Guarantee food delivery throughout the month.

Sick Food Stockpile

I look at the post I wrote two weeks ago and it already feels so long ago.

That morning I was feeling my disappointment in the primary elections. Later in the week, I listened to the comments around campaign suspensions. I watched interviews with candidates still running. And rewatched Warren again and again and again.

I was aware of coronavirus being in the US, I'd even already bought the next pack of toilet paper that we need. When I went to the grocery store that week I stocked up a little bit more than usual. And in every grocery run after that. (Our cheese drawer is a little bit ridiculous right now.)

Now it feels like we're in the last gasp of breath before the storm. We know it's coming, but we don't know how bad it's really going to be. We social distance and shelter in place. We disinfect door handles and wash hands as soon as we enter the apartment. Take off the clothes we were wearing outside and put them in the laundry.

I wrote notes on post-its and left them around the floor.
Hi Neighbor,
Don't want you to feel abandoned during our social distancing. If you can't make a supply/grocery run, I'm happy to be on your list of people who may be able to help.
Sarah ###

My pantry is blessedly (or embarrassingly) full for someone who lives in an apartment. It's the way I've lived ever since I lived an hour away from the town where I did most of the grocery shopping and 100 miles away from Walmart. Even now, with a view of the grocery store from my window, I keep extra groceries in the closet. (In my defense, a lot of it is the different varieties of gluten free flour. And you don't want to run out of the right cereals, because the stores that sell those are farther away.)  This is how while the media reports of buying beans, rice, and canned tomatoes, I end up buying cheese, hummus, bananas, and wasabi. For us, it's mostly been a usual week's grocery run.

We have food in the apartment to last us for two weeks if (when?) we need to quarantine. The trick for now is anticipating what food we want if we're sick. Normally, the healthy person would go to the store to get the ginger ale, the bananas, the potatoes, or the rotisserie chicken. (I've even dashed in for those when I've been the sick one.) We won't do that this time.

Instead, I've set aside a box of food for if my time comes. Trying to guess what I'll want (that will also keep for however long it needs).

•  Rolled oats
•  Candied ginger
•  Raisins
•  Box of soup that's been in the pantry since we moved here
•  Dehydrated soup mix
•  Saltine crackers
•  Jar of applesauce
•  Carton of apple juice
•  Six pack of ginger ale

I left the tea (licorice!) in the cupboard. Ideally we'll have potatoes and bananas on hand. Scrambled eggs to be soft on my throat--does that mean making sure that I have at least a half dozen on hand? What about when I want toast with my eggs? I think this is when I message the neighbors I've only met through text and ask them to make a run for me? Or call someone from church for the same?

How are you holding up? What are you reaching for in the pantry or refrigerator? Are you saving anything special?

Saturday mornings, Spring 2020

Saturday morning pancakes are a breakfast tradition. While I am a firm believer that nothing will top Dad's multigrain masterpieces, I am proud that we found Alice Medrich's basic gluten free pancake recipe to experiment with for the celiac. (Flavor Flours is our go-to baking cookbook these days.)

During Lent this year, our household is giving up sweets. Which apparently means no Saturday morning pancakes? (This is not the tradition I grew up with.) Since it's the one breakfast that we eat together, I still wanted something special. Even though our fast is a practice of self-discipline, I still want to mark it with more than the daily cereal/oatmeal/yogurt/smoothie/grapefruit. So we brainstormed brunch level breakfast ideas that are 1) not-sweet, 2) gluten-free, and 3) vegetarian. Not surprisingly, eggs play a key role. More suggestions welcome!

Lenten Brunch Brainstorm

  •  Breakfast taco
  •  Huevos rancheros
  •  Huevos divorcidos
  •  Migas
  •  Eggs in purgatory*
  •  Tomato shakshuka*
  •  Green shakshuka*
  •  Cheesy souffle with salad*
  •  Omelette*
  •  Roasted veggie hash with fried egg
  •  Grits bowl with veggies and side of fruit
  •  Congee
  •  Baked oatmeal

*Means that I want a version served with good bread or toast. Please omit for those for whom this is poison.

"Tex-Mex"

I've never moved in winter before.
  
Haven't really moved without a job lined up either.

And this is the first time that moving coincided with a shift in diet. (Reduced gluten because of allergies in the household. Heart healthy because of reminders about genetics.)

All to say, this is a good time to explore recipes. What better place than a freshly passed down Sunday School cookbook? A new lentil soup recipe seems like the thing for cold weather.

I'm not sure what makes this Tex-Mex.  My best guess is that it's the vinegar.

You could just as easily call it Cajun. You'd be wrong. But then, well, maybe not any more wrong than the working title?

Whatever the title, it's a kicky lentil soup. Compared to Ms. Cutler, I use less bacon (you can leave it out all together), vegetable stock, and forget the tomatoes. (I legit forgot the tomatoes the first time I made the soup. Remembered them the second time, and while it added another serving worth of soup it wasn't nearly as kicky.) My roux was made with glutinous rice flour per Serious Eats gluten-free suggestion, but if you don't have a gluten concern sticking with the white flour should be fine.

Kicky Lentil Soup

2 slices of bacon
1.25 cups brown lentils
6.5 cups vegetable stock
1 onion
1 carrot
1 bell pepper
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons glutinous rice flour (aka sweet rice flour)
1 tsp salt
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

Cook lentils in 5 cups of vegetable stock. (I set the pressure cooker for 9 minutes.)
Cook the bacon, if you're using it. (I put mine in the oven at 400º.)
Chop the onion and start it sautéing in a pan with some oil. Consider adding some mushroom, even though it's not in the ingredient list. Next, peel and cut up a carrot. Add it to the pan. Then, the bell pepper. And maybe whatever hot pepper that's in the vegetable drawer and needs to be consumed....
When the vegetables are softened and the lentils are cooked, add the vegetables to the lentils. Crumble in the bacon--it's done cooking by now.
Let the soup simmer for bit.
While that's happening make a roux in the skillet that is empty again. Melt your butter over medium-low heat. Add in the glutinous rice flour (or white flour). Cook, constantly stirring, for five minutes. Turn the roux into gravy by adding the remaining 1.5 cups of stock, teaspoon of salt, and 2 Tablespoons of cider vinegar.
Stir the gravy into the simmering soup. Let the flavors meld as it cooks a bit longer.
Serve with an array of hot sauces and decide which is your favorite pairing.

Butter mints magic

The holy grail of butter mints

Betty McEachin's butter mints were legendary growing up. Our grandmother savored them and only spare us a taste. They were cool and buttery and melt-your-mouth magical.

For as long as I remember, we were told that the recipe was a family secret. I made butter mints growing up using a recipe from American Girl magazine. I'd dye the dough and sculpt snowmen, Santas, and the North Polar Bear. My creations may have measured up in creativity and design, but they didn't compare to Betty McEachin's in taste. When Mom suggested I make mints for the wedding preception, Grandmom said that she thought she could get Betty McEachin's recipe, and procure it, she did. She passed it along saying, "The real trick, as I'm sure Betsy knows, is a cold marble slab."

The American Girl recipe that got me started. It's a completely different technique than pulled butter mints.

I had no idea that a marble slab was required or even suggested and didn't own one. Marble slab made me think of the ice cream chain, not mints. Buying one ended up being the longest step in the process. We waited for the family store to get them in, but they kept being delayed. I considered calling up a contractor to see if they had any odd-sized pieces. In the end, I went the easy route and ordered online.

Leading up to the preception, I finally got my marble slab and made a practice run. They stuck all over my hands! I quickly discovered that the directions weren't joking when it said to butter your hands. I was apprehensive that I'd somehow pull them too much, so they ended up softening and not holding their shape after I cut them. Delicious nevertheless. Traveling with the mints didn't make much sense, so I planned to make some once I was in state for the preception.

A couple of evenings before the preception, I boiled up more butter, sugar, and water and began pulling and pulling the mints. Like before, the mixture stuck all over my hands. I wanted the mints to hold their shape this time, so I pulled and pulled. The mixture kept sticking everywhere, and then, suddenly it turned to sandy crumbs.

Huh? I was startled. Had I pulled it too hard? Was it something I said? I stuck the sugar crumbs back into the pot and added more water and boiled it back to a syrup again. This time, I didn't pull quite as long and began snipping off pieces before it turned too sandy. Once again, the mints didn't hold their shape, but they did soften and melted in our mouths. After a bit of research, I discovered that the problem was likely the humidity. It had poured that afternoon, and rainy days are suboptimal for candy making.

Last weekend, we had a master class with Betty McEachin. We learned not to stir the pot as the contents boil and that peppermint oil is the way to go. And we pulled and we pulled and we pulled.

Pouring the boiling syrup onto the marble slab.

Ingredients
3 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 Tbsp margarine*
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp oil of peppermint*
* Betty said that it's probably fine to do 100% butter instead of 50/50 butter/margarine, but to use oil of peppermint rather than extract. She often finds oil of peppermint at drug stores.

1. Combine all of the ingredients except the oil of peppermint in a pot on the stove. Bring to a boil, and let it boil without stirring until mixture reaches 260-265 degrees F. This is hard ball stage. You can confirm the consistency by putting a bit on a spoon and then sticking it into a bowl of water.
2. While waiting for the mixture to reach temperature, liberally butter your marble slab. If it's a hot day, you should have already cooled down your marble slab by places ice cubes on it to chill the marble and then wiping it dry. If it's winter and cold out, no need to chill your marble beforehand.
3. When the mixture reaches 260-265, turn off the heat and pour the syrup over the marble, being sure to spread it over the surface.
4. Dab the peppermint across the surface of the syrup.
5. Butter your hands. Stretch the edges out to increase the surface area and allow the mixture to cool faster. As the edges cool, fold them back over the mixture and pull out areas that haven't yet cooled.
6. Once it has cooled enough to handle, start pulling. A single twist per each pull in order to create the ridges. See video for what it looks like.
7. Keep pulling until it begins to get hard. Then, lay your cord out on wax paper and begin cutting with kitchen shears. The cord should be ~1 inch thick and you should aim to cut the mint pieces ~1/4 inch thick. (I had always imagined that it was the reverse.) Do not let the cut mints touch on the wax paper once they're cut. Otherwise, they'll stick together.
8. Pack in airtight container with wax paper between the layers. Again, spread the mints out so that they don't touch.
9. It will take a day or so for the mints to cream, though no one will blame you if you go ahead and try one or three while they're still in their taffy state. ;)

Tips

• Too hard means that the mints were overcooked. Sandy means that the mints were under cooked.
• Do not stir the boiling mixture. Don't do it. I know you'll want to fuss over it.
• You can stir in food coloring right before pouring onto the marble if you like.
• Keep mints at room temperature. Can freeze in an airtight container. Let warm up to room temperature before giving away.
• You can't compete with the master who has been making these for decades. Her touch will always be the epitome of butter mints.

Packing the cut mints away, and maybe snitching a couple tastes, too.

Fridge breakfast, pantry dinner

Let's assert the premise that I like to travel. But that completely disrupts routine. And sometimes you get back from a visit and realize there's only a few days before the next trip and you can go to the grocery store, but really don't need to stock up on things. And I'm not as good at market shopping of only buying for that day's meal. Especially when I'm tired from traveling.

Repeat this every week or two for a season.

Then have your first weekend at home in a month. Decide you want to cook. Determine you don't really want to go grocery shopping. Invite friends over for breakfast. Open the pantry and see what you have.....

Breakfast: Kaiserschmarrn

It's been 6 years since I was first introduced to kaiserschmarrn. My notes describe it as, "It's like an omelet met a pancake. Sweet, but not cloyingly so. Unless you add jam and syrup and sugar. But then you're asking for the sweetness. Perfect for weekend mornings."  Here's this morning's adaptation:

Ingredients (served 3, lightly)

• 4 eggs (large)
• ~1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 heaping Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• Handful of raisins
• Pouring of orange juice
• 2 peaches from travels to Carolina
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• (Forgot the salt. Didn't notice it. But should add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon.) 
• Maple syrup

Directions

1.  Put the raisins in a small bowl and pour orange juice over to soak them in.
2.  Beat the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
3.  Slowly add in the flour, whisk until everything is smooth and even.
4.  Pull out the large skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat. Add in a bit more butter if what you tried first doesn't cover the pan.
5.  While the butter is melting, peel and slice the peaches.
6.  Once the butter is melted, add the raisins and orange juice to the batter. Pour the batter into the pan. Make sure the raisins are evenly distributed throughout. Arrange peaches in the batter.
7.  Cook undisturbed for for several minutes. Then start lifting the edges to let batter run underneath. Once the bottom is set, use the spatula to cut strips that you can flip over. Let the other side brown. Keep cutting into bite-size rectangles.
8.  Serve with maple syrup and a additional peach slices. (And iced tea in wine glasses to feel fancy.)

Dinner: Enfrijoladas

Enfrijoladas were a recent discovery after I cooked a passel of beans in the crockpot. While I do not always have fresh cooked beans that need to be used, I definitely keep a can of beans in the pantry. And now a jar of chipotle peppers too. (Hint: freeze extra peppers in mini muffin tins.) Last night's adaptation:

Ingredients

• 6 corn tortillas
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 cup of vegetable broth
• 3 chipotle peppers
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 cup of frozen spinach
• Cheddar cheese, grated
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Slice the onion. Heat olive oil in skillet and saute onion over medium heat until translucent.
3. Drain the can of beans. Rinse beans and put in blender with broth, chipotle peppers, and garlic cloves. Blend away into a sauce.
4. Heat the spinach. Squeeze out excess water. Add spinach to onion.
5. Pour a bit of the bean sauce into the bottom of your baking dish (last night was the cast iron skillet).  Pour some more bean sauce into a pie plate. 
6. Take a tortilla and dip it into the bean sauce. Flip it over, getting it thouroughly covered. Fill with the spinach-onion mixture and cheddar cheese. Roll closed and place in the baking dish, seam side down.
7. Repeat with other tortillas until you're out of space.
8. Pour some more sauce over the dish. Top with extra cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is at your desired level of meltedness.
9. Serve immediately. (Extra sauce can be frozen.)