GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

Category: Cooking – Recipes

  • Amaranth Urban Foraging Edible Green

    Amaranth Urban Foraging Edible Green

    Urban Foraging while walking the Labs, I ran across a familiar sight in urban areas, an edible green, a type of amaranth that farmers refer to as pigweed.

    Amaranth comes in several versions, the one pictured here is not one of the more floral ones, but it is an urban edible green that you’ll see in tree pits , parks, and weedy lots and roadsides.

    20120607-133407.jpg
    The more visually striking amaranth varieties have names like Golden or Elephant. Golden Amaranth has a huge head of small flowers that lean over from the top of a tall stalk. Elephant Amaranth is purple pink and looks like an elephant trunk.

    You can eat the leaves of all these amaranth varieties, and harvest the seed/grain of those that have substantial flower heads. The weedy version I found in the city doesn’t have much of a flower.

    You can eat the leaves raw, but most cultures cook the leaves. In New York I’ve heard amaranth also called calaloo, which in Jamiaca is the name of the plant and the name of a dish made with amaranth.

    Depending on who you ask, amaranth is a weed or a healthy source of vitamins. Pigweed amaranth fills up farmer’s fields yet cooks use amaranth.

    Do you grow or cook with amaranth? Let us know below:

  • Dutch Oven Cooking Adventures

    Dutch Oven Cooking Adventures

    This is the first of a series of articles about how to cook in a dutch oven, dutch oven recipes, and how to season cast iron and dutch ovens by Gary House, of Cooking-Outdoors.com. A big thank-you to Gary for contributing this.

    Adventures in Dutch oven cooking

    The first time I ever saw a Dutch oven in use was on TV. I remember it quite well as I was sick in bed flipping channels on TV and up pops this show about cooking outdoors and they were using a Dutch oven! Even as sick as I was at the time, I knew this was something I had to try, something new and exciting for the family and I. After lots of research, I finally decided to buy my first Dutch oven, a 12” camp Dutch oven seemed just about what I needed to start with.

    The day my Dutch oven arrived, I was so excited and eager to get cooking but I had to “season” my Dutch oven first. Therefore, a day later, I was able to start cooking and it could only be a Mixed Berry Crisp for me. Of course, the day had to be a miserable one to initiate my new Dutch oven; cold, misty, windy as it was, I started cooking!

    I had just recently built a new fire pit in the backyard and the plan was to cook in the fire pit just as on the show I had watched. Plans change, weather was bad, so I fired up some charcoal to start my dessert. Turns out I was going to do this little adventure alone. The family event turned out to be a “me” only event, well it was a bit cold and misty out after all.

    Guys are notorious for just standing around watching this cook, that’s way we love to barbecue, looks difficult and you have to stand around and watch. Well, now you can get a visual of me “watching” my Dutch oven cook in the misty weather outside. Overlooking our backyard is this big bay window; gives you a great view of the yard from inside the house. As I am cooking, I happened to look up from my strenuous task and there was the whole family watching me and laughing at me as I stood in the misty weather “cooking”.

    Undaunted, I continued with cooking my Mixed Berry Crisp until the first “whiffs” of cinnamon started to float out of the Dutch oven and I can say without hesitation, I was hooked on Dutch oven cooking from that second forward.

    I have learned a ton of stuff over the years about cooking outdoors, met many new friends and have found a wealth of information in many locations. The most important lesson I have learned during all of this, is to share what you love, often and willingly. Dutch oven cooking is easier that you think and I would like to get you started with your new adventure!

    Types of Dutch ovens

    There are, basically, three types of Dutch oven available. A basic “kitchen” Dutch oven, a “Camp” Dutch oven and “Pack” Dutch oven in their general terms.

    A “Kitchen” Dutch oven is the most common Dutch oven found. Characteristics are a rounded dome lid, porcelain coated (some) and are also available in oval shapes. All are cast iron and designed for in house cooking but do not hesitate to place one on your grill outside. They work perfectly!

    A “Camp” Dutch oven is the most familiar one, recognized by its three legs and rim around the lid. Made of Cast iron and is the one I will be discussing in these articles.

    A “Pack” Dutch oven, used for rafting and horse packing trips is made of aluminum, they are very lightweight and easy to transport.
    Dutch oven sizes can vary from a 5” model to a 25” behemoth that can weigh in over a hundred pounds when filled with food. Here are the sizes available: 5”, 8”, 10”, 12” – Standard, 12” – Deep, 14” – Standard, 14” – Deep, 16” – Standard, 16” – Deep, 25” and more for custom Dutch ovens. Note that “Camp” Dutch oven, are measured by diameter as opposed to “Kitchen” Dutch ovens that measure in quarts. “Camp” Dutch ovens also have quart equivalents but commonly referred to by diameter size only.
    The difference between “Standard” and “Deep” Dutch ovens is the quart capacity. The “Deep” Dutch ovens hold about 1 to 2 quarts more than the “Standard” size. They are great for holding stews and larger portions of meats that need more height clearance.
    Choosing the correct size Dutch oven for you.
    The following chart should give you some idea of the size oven that you should buy. (http://www.nwdos.org)

    My recommendation is to choose a 10” or a 12” Dutch oven; no need to get a deep version yet. You will be seriously surprised how much food these produce. Stick with brand names such as Camp Chef and Lodge, their quality is the standard and your Dutch oven will last in your family for hundreds of years if your grandchildren do not sell it on Ebay first.
    Next time we will discuss the types of accessories and tools you will need to get started. I laugh when I think of my expensive tools and accessories I used for my first cook on that first Dutch oven adventure; a pair of pliers and a garbage can lid …


    See ya around the campfire!

    Part One of a Dutch Oven Cooking Series by Gary House, creator of  www.Cooking-Outdoors.com; an excellent source for all things about outdoor cooking, including Grill & Smoker reviews, recipes, and videos.

     

    Gary is also the host of a new DVD, Taking Your Dutch Oven To The Max, using the dutch oven to smoke, grill, and even make ice cream.

    Listen to Gary on this episode of GardenFork Radio talk about how to season cast iron, how to use a dutch oven, and dutch oven recipes.

  • Trimble Overnight Cole Slaw Recipe

    Trimble Overnight Cole Slaw Recipe

    From a GF viewer, an interesting recipe for cole slaw:

    Trimble Over-Night Slaw

    Eric, like I said, this has been a requested side for generations. Now we DO love
    our normal Cole Slaw (being from the South, it’s a MUST have with pulled pork BBQ
    and fried or grilled seafood) but this slaw recipe is GREAT and on a hotdog or as a
    side you can’t beat it. Most of all, it can be put out for hours, then re-refrigerated
    without anyone getting sick like from mayo or salad dressing slaws.
    This is a shredded slaw, not chopped and is crisp and sweet with a tang to it.
    Keeps for a week!!!

    Trimble Over-Night Slaw

    1 large head of cabbage
    1 large onion
    1 large green pepper
    1 cup white sugar
    3/4 cup vegetable oil
    1 cup cider vinegar
    1 teaspoon dry mustard
    1 teaspoon celery seed
    1 tablespoon salt

    Shred cabbage into a large bowl. De-seed/core green pepper and peel onion, then
    THINLY slice in strips on top of cabbage in bowl. Sprinkle sugar over top of
    ingredients in bowl. DO NOT STIR!!!

    In a small pot, mix and bring to a boil the oil, vinegar and dry ingredients. Remove
    from heat and while still hot pour over ingredients in bowl, Again, DO NOT STIR!!!

    Cover and place in fridge for at least 12 hours, THEN stir!!! Either serve then or like
    us, let it sit back in the fridge another few hours. It just gets better with time.

    NOTE:  To make this slaw different, we sometimes use a small head of red cabbage
    and a medium head regular, and/or use two medium onions (red and white) and/or even
    use orange, red, yellow and brown peppers. This is all for looks and a variance in taste,
    but it IS impressive if you take it to a pot luck. Try it first with the original recipe before
    you go crazy!!! : )

    photo by alvimann

  • How to make homemade pasta GF TV Video

    How to make homemade pasta GF TV Video

    Home made pasta, aka fresh pasta, we show you how to make a home made pasta recipe in the GF cooking video. Pasta from scratch is not hard, there’s just a few steps to get it right. Homemade pasta tastes different from store bought pasta, and when you make it yourself, there are infinite variations possible. neat.

    There’s a good chance you have a pasta machine in the basement, an xmas gift from a while back that you never got to, so you’ve got the equipment. If you don’t have a pasta machine, check out these pasta machines
    or the links at the bottom of this article.

    My technique for making home made pasta is based on a method Jamie Oliver shows us in his book, Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook
    – a book I really like, BTW.

    Home Made Pasta Recipe  ©2012 Eric Rochow

    100 Grams all purpose or Italian “OO” flour

    1 egg

    For homemade pasta, you can use either all purpose flour or an italian flour labeled “OO”, i believe its a finer grind flour, but if you can’t find it, all purpose flour works fine.

    The ratio that I’ve found works best is 100 grams of flour to 1 egg. If you are making fresh pasta for 4 people, I’ve found 300 grams of flour and 3 eggs works well.

    Put the flour and eggs in a food processor, and pulse until the flour comes together and looks like small pebbles.

    Dump the pasta dough mixture onto a floured board, and collect the flour into a ball.

    Now knead the dough by stretching the dough out and folding it over on itself. Its best to watch our how to video to see this. Knead for 5-8 minutes

    The dough is kneaded when you press your finger lightly into the dough and the dough fills out the dimple you’ve made again, the dough bounces back.

    Shape the dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, longer is better.

    Take the dough out of the fridge and cut into square pieces about 3″ x 3″,  3/4″ thick. how many pieces you will have depends on how much flour and eggs you mixed together.

    Take one of the dough squares and run it through your pasta machine at its widest width. Fold the dough back over on itself in thirds, like folding a letter into an envelope.

    You will now run the dough through each width setting on the machine, holding the dough so the folds are on the sides. You may need to flour the dough when rolling it through the machine to keep it from sticking.

    After you have run the dough through the machine at its smallest width, take the dough and fold it back on itself until it is about 4″ wide or so, you want a width that is small enough so you can run the dough through the machine again.

    Run the dough the machine again, starting at the widest width and progressing through to the narrowest setting. Note: some machines  have a real narrow final width, you may not want to get the dough that thin, it depends on what kind of pasta you want to make, and how thick you want it to be.

    You can cut the dough in half if it gets too difficult to work with. And you can flour the dough as needed.


    You are now ready to run the pasta dough through the die cutters to make various kinds of pasta, or you can hand cut it on a board, or you can make ravioli with the dough. I’ve found it works best to let the pasta dough rest under a towel for 10 minutes or longer before running it through the pasta cutters, you may need to flour the dough again, you want it quite dry.

    The flour you use for dusting can be whole wheat or semolina or just regular flour. I’ve used whole wheat thinking it gives a bit of a nutty taste to the pasta, but maybe i’m just fooling myself.

    Once you cut your pasta, you can drop it into boiling water or let it dry on a dowel or broomstick set between two chairs. Fresh pasta can take 3 minutes to cook, or 8 minutes, it all depends, you’ll have to keep an eye on it.

  • Brick Oven Plans and Photos From a GardenFork Fan

    Brick Oven Plans and Photos From a GardenFork Fan

    After watching our Simple Brick Oven Plan Video, Roger sent us these photos of his Brick Oven Construction. He has modified the Brick Pizza Oven Plan we used to be able to hold more heat and make a Backyard Brick Bread Oven.

    Enjoyed your brick oven video. We found the same plan after being inspired by our daughter who had spent a week with Bread and Puppet on her campus in Iowa (they built an oven and baked bread for the audience after their performance).
    Attached are some photos. We added the wooden door for bread baking. We soak it prior to baking so that it steams the oven and gives the bread a nice spring as it bakes. We purchased a [ Fluke ] infrared thermometer to ensure the proper temp for the baking. Fluke 62 Mini Infrared Thermometer

    A typical baking progression includes: flatbreads, pizza, bread, tart. It’s great fun. Thanks for sharing your video, Roger

    I like how Roger has added more mass to the Wood Fired Brick Oven to allow it to bake bread, yet still retaining the break down portable nature of the oven, keeping the oven a simple dry fit brick wood oven, easy to build and then take down.

    I need to buy one of those Infrared Thermometer gizmos

    Bread and Pizza Oven using dry fit brick
    A wood door was built and it is soaked in water to give steam in the oven when baking bread
    Bread from a simple brick oven
    Pizza from the backyard brick oven

    a tart for dessert!

  • Truck Stop Meatloaf Recipe with Potato Chips

    Truck Stop Meatloaf Recipe with Potato Chips

    Ah, meatloaf — it  brings back memories of a cross-country road trip, getting lost, and finding a diner that served the best home-cooked meals. The meatloaf was delicious, moist and smooth, but the waitress was salty. I asked her what was in it, she made a crack about lost college kids. In a hushed tone she said  “potato chips” then she gave us pie on the house.

    You don’t have to get lost to find this truck-stop style meatloaf. This recipe does not call for salt or oil since potato chips already have the perfect balance and just the right amount of starch which gives this meatloaf a very moist, smooth texture. I prefer plain low-salt potato chips, but you can explore the many varieties that are available. Cool Ranch anyone?

    You’ll Need:
    1 lb ground chuck or sirloin
    1 lb ground turkey
    2 sweet Italian sausages or 1/4 lb ground pork
    3/4 cup crushed plain potato chips, low salt
    1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
    1 cup onion, minced
    1 cup celery, minced
    1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
    3 cloves of garlic, minced
    1 tbsp each dried ingredient: rosemary, thyme, basil, black pepper
    2 tbsp dried mustard
    1 eggs
    1 large and 1 medium size bowl
    1 paper bag
    a low baking dish
    oven thermometer

    The Sauce
    1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
    1/4 cup ketchup
    1 tsp powdered onion
    1 tsp dried mustard
    1/2 Liquid Smoke (optional)

    Make the Sauce
    The sauce is important, it makes a tangy seal that keeps in moisture as the meatloaf bakes. In a small bowl mix ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, powdered onion, and dried mustard. Liquid smoke is optional but it gives this meatloaf an extra kick.

    Mix It Up
    In a measuring cup, crush and pack in enough potato chips to yield 3/4 cup, then pour everything into a paper bag. With the bottom of a glass or the palm of your hand, pound the potato chips further to remove excess oil (warning: the bag will be soaked with oil). Pour crushed chips and all dried ingredients into a bowl and mix well.

    The key to a smooth meatloaf is to not overwork everything. I find that mixing with my hands instead of a food processor give me the right texture. Remove sausage from the casing (or use ground pork), add all ground meats, minced ingredients, and egg into a large bowl and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and mix again. Here’s how I do it: plunge both hands into the bowl and squeeze every thing through your fingers, turn everything over in the bowl and repeat until everything is smooth and evenly distributed. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

    Bake It
    Preheat the oven to 375°. In a low baking dish form a loaf into a low, rounded rectangle — roughly 2″ deep. The edges will further round off as it cooks. Use the back of a spoon to generously smooth the sauce over the top, but coat the sides lightly. Bake the meatloaf for an hour and 10 minutes. Use an oven thermometer to check if the center has reached 165°. Remove from the oven and let the it sit for 5 minutes.

    If you want a more caramelized meatloaf, stick it in the broiler for three minutes, but watch it closely to make sure that it doesn’t burn. Serve it hot with gravy, more ketchup, or cocktail sauce… turn off the TV and enjoy every bite, but try to leave some for sandwiches tomorrow.


     

  • Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe Video GF.TV

    Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe Video GF.TV

    Sugar cookies are an easy christmas cookie recipe, even I can make these holiday cookies, maybe. Watch here and learn how to make sugar cookies for Christmas and the holidays.

    Universal Sugar Cookie Recipe

    This sugar cookie recipe is based on one Chris Kimball wrote about, saying its the universal recipe used by almost every baker.

    1/2 cup white sugar

    1 stick butter ( 1/2 cup ) slightly softened, but not mushy.

    1 egg

    1 1/2 cups flour

    1/4 teaspoon baking soda

    1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

    dash of vanilla

    optionals:

    chopped walnut, espresso powder, cocoa powder, almonds, etc.

    Preheat oven to 375F

    Put the stick of butter and the sugar in your food processor. You can also use an electric mixer, but I don’t have one right now, so the food processor works well for me.

    Turn the food processor on to medium speed to mix the sugar and butter together, then add the 1 egg and vanilla, mix it in. The mixture should be lumpy, not super smooth.

    Mix together all the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, salt, – and then add these to the food processor butter mixture.

    Run the food processor until the mixture starts to form into a ball.

    Turn our the dough onto a floured board and divide the dough into two equal pieces.

    Roll each piece of dough into a log shape about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

    Wrap these dough logs in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for one hour.

    Using knife or pastry blade, slice off 1/4″ thick circles from the dough logs, place on cookies sheets with parchment paper.

    Bake at 375F for about 8 minutes. you want the edges to be starting to brown, but not dark.

    Cool on a wire rack and eat as soon as possible. They taste great when warm.

    What is your sugar cookie recipe, your favorite addition to sugar cookies? Let us know below

     

  • Socca: A Flat Bread Recipe

    Socca: A Flat Bread Recipe

    Although this batch of socca is fresh from my Brooklyn oven, it’s origins are in Southern France. Socca (faranita) is a crépe made with chickpea flour, it’s  similar to the savory Indian “chila,” but much less complicated. Bean flours are a good alternative to wheat flour — very high in protein and fiber. In Nice, freshly baked socca is sold in open markets by street vendors stuffed with savory things like goat cheese and potatoes — best eaten while it’s hot. You can get all the ingredients at your local grocery store. I’ve found that Indian Besan has a much finer mill than Bob’s Red Mill, it makes a very smooth, thin batter. A round cast iron griddle works best in the oven, but I just used my large skillet.

    You’ll need:
    1 1/2 c. chickpea flour
    1 1/2 c. water
    2 tbs olive oil
    1 tsp dried rosemary
    1 tsp honey
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/2 tbs onion powder
    1/4 tsp cumin
    12″ cast iron griddle (or pan)
    oven set at 400°

    Batter up! Mix all ingredients in a bowl and whisk for about 5 minutes. Cover and set aside for at least two hours at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator for another four hours. I’ve found that the batter improves in texture and flavor if you allow it to sit for a day. You can keep the batter refrigerated in a covered container for up to three days. It should be as thin as eggnog. If it’s too thick, mix in a little water before cooking.

    Preheat your oven to 400°. Heat griddle and coat  evenly with a little olive oil. Pour about 3/4 cup of batter onto the griddle, tilting it back and forth to distribute the batter evenly over the entire the surface. Place it in the oven to cook for 15 to 2o minutes, but do check in 10 minutes. Use a spatula to loosen the socca’s edges from the griddle, then flip it over and see if it’s browned evenly. The “pan side” is the presentation side. Put it back into the oven for another five minutes if it’s not done, then set it aside to cool. Check your oven thermometer first, if the temperature goes above °400, let it cool down before you make a new batch.

    Socca should be thin and soft with crisp edges. You can serve them individually or cut them into smaller pieces. They are best eaten fresh and hot — socca has a subtle sweetness that is perishable. Wrap some ham or scrambled eggs in your first batch of socca.

  • How to make Sauerkraut Kinda Sorta – GF TV

    How to make Sauerkraut Kinda Sorta – GF TV

    We made a sauerkraut how-to video today. Fermenting green or red cabbage into sauerkraut is an easy recipe to make, and the possibilities are endless. Fermentation and fermented foods are on the rise, with their probiotic organisms and all around healthy food reputation. Making sauerkraut should be on the to do list of all urban homesteaders, and i imagine most homesteaders already make sauerkraut.

    Inspired by Daniel Gastieger, author of Yes You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too, we make a simple sauerkraut recipe that is the basis for all sorts of combinations. Daniel was on GardenFork Radio, you can hear his interview here.

    If your idea of sauerkraut is that greyish stuff you see in the store, try making sauerkraut yourself. Take red or green cabbage, or a mix, add salt and go from there.

    Basic Sauerkraut Recipe

    this is based on Daniel’s Yes You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too book.

    1 head of green or red cabbage

    pickling or kosher salt

    Glass, plastic, or ceramic fermentation container

    Remove the outer leaves from your cabbage, just the dinged up ones.

    Chop up your cabbage, you can do this by hand or use the food processor to coarsely grate the cabbage.

    Put the cabbage into a clean large bowl. Add a teaspoon of salt for each pound of cabbage.

    Use your hands to mix the salt into the cabbage, you want to crush and crinkle the cabbage.

    Put the cabbage into a fermentation container, mash the cabbage down and put a clean plate or something similar on top of the cabbage to keep the cabbage down in the container.

    Cover the top of the container with a plastic grocery bag and put the container in a dark cool area.

    Check the sauerkraut after 24 hours, there should be enough brine to cover the top of the cabbage. If there is not, boil a quart of water, add to it 1.5 tablespoons of salt. let the salt water cool, the  top off the sauerkraut so the cabbage is covered.

    Ferment the sauerkraut for at least 5 days, you can go a month if you want to. any mold that forms should be skimmed off.

    When you are happy with the fermentation, put the sauerkraut in a clean closed container in the fridge. ©2011 all rights reserved

     

  • How to cook a roast turkey or chicken GF TV

    How to cook a roast turkey or chicken GF TV

    Baking a roast turkey or cooking a roast chicken is not hard. Our recipe for baking a turkey is a classic with an Eric spin on it. Mayonnaise.

    GardenFork.TV Roast Turkey Recipe How-To

    Buy the best turkey you can afford. The uber-organic ones are pretty pricey, I found a mid-range fresh turkey at the local chain store.

    Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey, and rinse the turkey inside and out. Place on a platter in the fridge for a day. This dries out the bird, which I think is a good thing .

    A few hours before roasting, turn the bird upside down in a roasting rack, and slide an ice pack under each breast. Keep the bird in the fridge until ready.

    When ready to roast the turkey, preheat your oven to 425F.

    Use a medium sized jar of grocery store mayonaise, 1/2 cup mustard, and a large handful of herbs all mixed together. The herbs can be thyme, parsley, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, etc.

    Spread the mayonnaise-mustard-herb mixture over the skin of the bird, also coat the interior of the bird. If you like, you can also lift up the skin of the breast and slid the mix under the skin. A rubber spatula works well for this.

    Put a thermometer in the thigh of the bird, and place it on a rack in the oven.

    Roast at 425F for 30-45 minutes, until the skin is nicely browned, then turn down the oven temp to 325, roast for another 45-50 minutes. The USDA temp for cooked turkey is 165F. I usually pull the turkey out when it is 160F, as the temp will continue to rise.

    When the bird is done, pull it out, cover it with foil and let it rest for 2o minutes, then carve. yum.

    Tell us your secret to great baked turkey or chicken below:

  • Campfire Cookery Cookbook Giveaway

    Campfire Cookery Cookbook Giveaway

     

    The publishers of Campfire Cookery were nice enough to send us a copy of Campfire Cookery: Adventuresome Recipes and Other Curiosities for the Great Outdoors
    , by Sarah Huck and Jaimee Young, to give away to the GardenFork audience.

     

    The book is full of recipes that you can cook outdoors, either in your backyard or your backwoods campfire. It also includes campfire songs, stargazing, foraging, and other fun stuff to do outside. read our foraging articles here Its more than just a cookbook, its an outdoor adventure how-to.

    How to enter the giveaway: Giveaway is closed!

    Post a comment on this page, telling us your favorite campfire recipe, tips, or recollection of past campfires. That’s it, you’re entered into the giveaway. You can leave one comment everyday. Each comment is one point. Giveaway ends November 23rd, 2011 at midnight.

    To increase your chances of winning the book giveaway, you can do each of the 4 following things, for one additional point each:

    Follow GardenFork on Twitter

    Like GardenFork on Facebook

    . this giveaway on Twitter

    [SFBSB button=”button” style=”float:left;”] . this giveaway on Facebook

    Leave a comment below to enter and lets here your campfire stories!

  • Can You Eat That?

    Can You Eat That?

    She, Who Must Be Obeyed, wanted “a-big-mess-o-greens” last night…and cornbread.

    “Fine. You pick’em, I’ll cook’em.”

    So a while later she comes back with a big-mess-o-mess.

    califlower
    The leaves of many garden vegetables are edible

    “What have you done?,”  I ask as I sort through the bale of leaves She dumps on the counter. Collards, fine. Chard, fine. But what’s this?

    “Honey, that’s one of my califlowers,” cut off in it’s infancy. And these are the tops of my radishes. And this looks like kohlrabi.

    “But they’ll make greens, right?”

    Which is an interesting question. Will they? Most cooks in the kitchen focus on what they’re after and compost the rest. If they’re after broccoli or cauliflower, they’ll lop off the leaves and toss them, keeping the florettes. Same with radishes and beets. But those leaves are all edible plant parts. If you don’t want to eat them now, save them for a mess-o-greens or a caldo verde, or wilt them into an omelet for breakfast.

    It’s easier, in fact, to list off the leaves of plants that are not so good to eat: tomatoes & eggplants (alkaline) are in the nightshade family, rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid. There are probably others, but they’re not common in the garden. As always, check if you’re unsure. Here’s a list of “Secondary Edible Parts of Vegetables“ to get you started.

    BTW, Eric’s recipe for DIY recipe for Baking Powder works great! The cornbread was a success. Well, off to find and dig up those radishes She lopped off last night. 

     

  • Baking Powder Recipe – How to make it

    Baking Powder Recipe – How to make it

    Rick and I talked on GF Radio about his ‘ah ha’ moments working with baking powder, and Rick wrote a post about how baking powder works on his Rick’s Column for GF. I added to the conversation that I had learned about how baking powder works, and why it needs to be fresh, from my friend Charlie, who helped me make this Southern Biscuit Recipe video for GF TV.

    Charlie explained to me that baking powder needs to be fresh, and that the can of baking powder the average person has in the cabinet is probably stale. So Charlie made me a convert to making my own baking powder with this recipe:

    1 part baking soda to 2 parts cream of tartar

    The beauty of this is a lot of recipes call for 1 tablespoon of baking powder, so to make it fresh, just mix together 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar. Its best to buy cream of tartar online, Penzy’s Spice has it.

    To show just what a difference fresh baking powder makes, check out these blueberry pancakes. I made these using the fresh baking powder recipe and the pancake batter had yogurt in it, which makes baking powder go into overdrive, because of its acid content.

    pancakes made with fresh baking powder recipe
    check out the rise from using fresh baking powder for these pancakes

    Do you mix baking powder fresh? are there other kitchen products that we should be making fresh instead of buying them in a box or container? Let us know below:

  • Baking Powder, How It Works – Rick’s Column

    Baking Powder, How It Works – Rick’s Column

    Corn bread was pancake flat yesterday, which got me to studying the recipe and the ingredients. Then I realized I’d never understood baking powder. What is it? what does it do?

    BP acts like yeast, releasing CO2 to make gas bubbles so the batter will be fluffy. Yeast do it by eating sugars and then farting CO2. BP does it by chemical reaction.

    It’s like those baking soda rockets we made when I was a kid. Fill the rocket with acid (vinegar) wrap a little ball of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in a piece of Kleenex to delay the chemical reaction, and stuff the ball of baking soda into the rocket with the vinegar and ram the plug home…and stand back. Eventually the CO2 would propel the rocket off the launch pad, usually landing on a roof somewhere.

    Important safety lesson, do not stand over a charged rocket and look down with your remaining eye.

    Baking Powder is comprised of a base (usually baking soda–sodium bicarbonate) and an acid (usually Cream of Tartar–potassium hydrogen tartrate, an acid salt) in powder form, which prevents reaction. There is usually a filler, too, like corn starch or potato starch, both to add volume when measuring out and to buffer and slow the reaction. Dry, these items will not react. But any liquid activates the baking powder and causes it to off gas CO2.

    Here’s the lesson of where I went wrong:

    Lesson 1: I put the liquids into the bowl first and then added the dry ingredients. This allowed the BP to cook off before I mixed the batter and trapped the gasses. If BP had been the last item added, I might have gotten away with this, but when it’s among the first to get soaked, I was sunk. (This is the reason you’re told on the box to mix the dry ingredients first–I failed to follow simple directions).

    Lesson 2: I probably made the loss of CO2 all a lot worse by over mixing (again, this caution is on the box, so I failed to follow simple directions). BP, unlike yeast, releases a set amount of gas per reaction. If you mix the batter too much, you release all the gas from the batter and it goes flat. With yeast, they keep digesting sugars and farting CO2 until they die, which is why you can work a yeast batter loner.

    We use baking powder instead of yeast because we like biscuits in 20 mins vs 2 hours with yeast. (this also is why they sell “Yeast Rolls” and “Dinner Rolls” side by side. I never thought that there was a difference.)

    Lesson 3: there are double activation or double acting baking powders available. These act like single action baking powders when you get them wet, but also have a second reaction that is heat activated by baking, which give you a second chance.

    Lesson 4: honey (as well as buttermilk) is slightly acid. So I should have cut back on the baking powder and substituted baking soda because I used 1/4 cup honey instead of sugar in the recipe.

    Double acting baking powders have the same first acid, Cream of Tartar, but add another acid that is temperature activated as well, giving the pastry a second rise…or in my case, a second chance.

    Eric writes about baking powder, pancakes, and the baking powder recipe here.

    photo by EmmiP

  • Fermentation Sauerkraut How To update

    Fermentation Sauerkraut How To update

    Inspired by Daniel Gasteiger’s new book Yes, You Can! and Freeze and Dry It too book on canning, freezing and more, we are now fermenting cabbage into sauerkraut.

    And we are shooting a video on how to make sauerkraut. Above are the two jars we are fermenting for the video. I did one batch with just green cabbage, carrots and caraway seeds, and started a second batch of sauerkraut with a mix of red cabbage and green cabbage. From what i’ve read, it seems best to use an earthenware crock or plastic container; i used two large glass canning jars.

    we are fermenting cabbage into sauekraut and making a how-to video on making sauerkraut

    The fermentation jars are covered with a towel and sitting on the kitchen counter, I check them every day, and watch these bubbles come out from the cabbage. You can see some bubbles in the jar of red cabbage in the above photo.

    I asked on our Facebook Page for suggestions on what ingredients to put into sauerkraut, and got some great responses:

    Thom: I make two types, one with just cabbage,onions and salt and the other a spicy type with cabbage,onion,garlic,carrots,radish or daikon,pepper flakes,fresh ginger,dill and salt.

    Dennis: love making sauerkraut, apple and cumin is a good combo!

    Woodwife: Green Just cabbage and salt.

    Josh:  cabbage salt and sugar to sweeten it up a bit

    Michael:  Juniper berries

    Joe:  I all ready made mine for the year its canned and put up. I canned 12 quarts I use just salt and a little sugar and a few apples.

    Janet: I haven’t made sauerkraut yet, but I plan on it. I listen to your radio show podcasts on Itunes and recently purchased the book “Yes You Can”. I can’t wait for it to come in the mail. Thank you for everything that you do!! It is truly inspirational and entertaining. Keep up the good work!!! 🙂
    Sunday at 6:41pm ·  1 person

    Claudia:  you wanna get Gundelsheim or Midlessa Sauerkraut, put a McIntosh apple (cut up), bay leaves and Juniper berries as well as sugar and a beef boullion cube and let it cook for about an hour, Oh yeah, cut up an onion and put it in there as well
    Sunday at 10:58pm

    Gerald:  We do 3# cabbage to 1 tbsp salt. Pack it down til brine forms (maybe top off) Weigh it down so the cabbage stays under the brine. Cover and wait. Sometimes we add caraway seeds, but plain ol’ kraut is best. This year we used 80# cabbage total.
    Monday at 8:02pm

    Gerald:  I have also used the lacto-fermented brine in your artisan bread to make it sourdoughish.

    Neat, all sorts of ideas here. next batch will have apples in it. I’m curious about canning the sauerkraut afterward, does that reduce its health qualities? Let me know what you think below:

     

     

  • Kimchi Soup (Kimchi Jigae) Recipe

    Kimchi Soup (Kimchi Jigae) Recipe

    Kimchi Jigae, or kimchi soup, is a traditional winter stew from Korea. It’s like a very spicy hot and sour soup made with fermented cabbage — some call it the cure-all for all winter ailments. It’s simple to make and many of the ingredients are not considered as exotic anymore. You might be able to get everything at an Asian market, or like me substitute a few things. Sliced pork belly is a key ingredient to this soup, which I have left out. It gives this soup a silky texture and a deep smoky flavor. Instead I added butter before serving and used a dried chipotle pepper to give it that smoky flavor. The secret to this soup is low, slow cooking.

    You’ll need:
    1 cup or more kimchi, the thicker pieces sliced into thin strips
    1/2 cup kimchi juice (right from the kimchi)
    2 tsp gochujang (sweet Korean chili paste)
    3 tsp red miso
    1 small onion, sliced thinly
    1 cup mushroom, sliced
    1 cup carrots, sliced diagonally
    1/2 cup pureed pear
    1/4 cup sugar
    1/2 tbsp salt
    5 cloves of garlic, minced
    2 cups chicken or pork broth
    2″ stem of pulverized old ginger root, or 1 tsp of powdered ginger
    1 large dried smoked chipotle pepper
    1 tbsp soy sauce mixed with 1/2 cup water
    1 tsp rice vinegar
    1/2 cup cubed firm tofu or glass noodle
    1/2 cup light sesame oil
    1/2 cup sweet butter
    sliced green onion, garnish (optional)

    If you plan on making your own stock, do it the day before, otherwise buy a good low sodium stock. So let’s get cookin’. In a large stock pot heat sesame oil then add mushrooms, carrots, and onion. Add salt, cover and sweat everything until enough liquid covers the bottom of the pot. Now add the kimchi and juice, stock (chicken or pork), soy sauce, water and vinegar. Bring to a boil then add ginger, garlic, red miso, chili paste, sugar, pureed pear, and dried chipotle pepper. Lower heat, cover and let everything simmer for about half an hour. If you have sliced pork belly add this to the pot , but do use regular bacon.

    Let the soup simmer on low for another 20 minutes then add glass noodles or firm tofu, stir occasionally. Simmer for another 25 minutes, or when the kimchi is soft enough to fork through. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup butter. Stir then let it rest for another 5 minutes, remove the ginger root and the chipotle pepper. Serve hot and garnish with sliced green onion. I like mine with lots of sweet corn on top.

  • Zucchini and Corn Fritter Recipe

    Zucchini and Corn Fritter Recipe

    This fried dish marks the last summer harvest — sweet corn and zucchini from Eric’s garden make for some tasty, savory fritters. Some find it difficult to make golden, crispy fritters that hold together. When something is deep-fried correctly it is not greasy and the inside is perfectly steamed. The usual suspects are soggy batter, over crowding the pan, and oil that isn’t hot enough for deep frying. The key ingredient, zucchini, must be coarsely grated and salted to remove some of the liquid, otherwise the batter is too wet. Use a high heat oil like Canola to get the right frying temperature, which is between 175 and 190 °C (345–375 °F). Frying in small batches ensure that the oil maintains its high temperature. Baking powder is optional, but it does lighten up the batter as it rises with heat. Are you ready to fry?

    Squash and Corn Fritters
    Yield: 4 fritters

    2 cups coarsely grated young squash (or zucchini)
    1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion
    1 cup cooked corn (frozen or fresh)
    1/4 cup Quinoa, (optional) or corn meal
    1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
    1 egg
    1 tsp each thyme, oregano, powder cumin, dried onion flakes
    1/2 tsp chili powder
    1/2 tsp powdered garlic
    1/2 tsp baking powder (optional)
    1/4 tsp black pepper
    2 tsp white flour
    1 tbsp sea salt
    9″ Cast  iron skillet
    Canola or any high-heat oil

    With a coarse grater, shred the green squash, add thin slices of onion (paper thin), Quinoa,  and 1/2 tbsp salt and mix well. Press the mix in a sieve with a spatula then set aside for about an hour to drain most of the liquid. It should yield about 1/8 cup of liquid, which you will discard. If your squash is a bit seedy, use a tablespoon to scoop out the seeds and tough fiber.

    In a hot pan, cook corn with a little water then add a little oil (or butter) and a pinch of a salt. When most of the water has evaporated and the corn is lightly browned, it’s ready. Set it aside to cool down to room temperature. The corn can be fresh or frozen. You can’t beat corn on the cob, but freezing actually improves corn giving it a sweeter flavor and a better texture. If you’re using frozen corn be sure it’s completely thawed and drained before cooking.

    In a large bowl, add cooked corn, grated squash and onion, dried herbs and spices. Mix until everything is evenly incorporated. Then add egg, baking powder, salt and all remaining dry ingredients to bind everything. Mix well, cover and set aside in the fridge for at least half an hour. The batter should be thick, gloppy, and lumpy and it should hold together without separating.

    In a hot 9″ cast iron skillet add oil to a depth of 1/4″. To check if the oil is hot enough, stick the end of a wooden chopstick into the pan. When bubbles form around the chopstick it’s fryin’ time. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of batter into the pan. Brown for about five minutes, gently press down with a spatula, then carefully flip it over. Don’t crowd the pan, fry only two or three at at time. When both sides are evenly browned, drain well on paper towels. If the oil starts to smoke, clear out the dukes and lower the temperature.

    Keep the finished fritters in a warm oven and serve hot — garnish with fresh cilantro, fried onion or mushroom. How about some mango chutney or Branston Pickle? If you want to make this an authentic South Asian dish, add ground dried shrimp or diced cooked lap song sausage to the batter and served with pan-toasted garlic.

  • Artisan Bread No Knead Bread Recipe update

    Artisan Bread No Knead Bread Recipe update

    I was asked to bring bread to a pot luck, and luckily, i had just started a batch of the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day the night before. With this method, take 6 1/2 cups of flour, water, yeast, salt and put it in a large container. You let it rise for a few hours then put it in the fridge.

    loaf of artisan bread
    Artisan Bread Using the No Knead Bread baking method

    I’ve fine tuned my Artisan Bread Recipe link here making it a hybrid of the No Knead Bread Recipe and the Artisan Bread Recipe. I lifted out a hunk of the dough from the fridge, formed it into a ball on parchment paper, and baked it in dutch oven.

    I also make slashes across the top of the dough to make those cool lines . You can see how we make the slashes in our No Knead Bread Artisan Bread video here.

    The bread comes out great! I look like I know what I am doing, and its real easy to do.

    This loaf has a small amount of rye flour mixed into the dough, and it has a nice hint of rye in each slice.

    How have you refined your Artisan Bread in 5 or No Knead Bread recipes? let us know below: