Cheap(er) Eats

 So, how y'all doing? Been awhile. I've been busy, and had to remind myself that yes, I do have a blog where I should occasionally write something. About food. It will be a nice diversion from all of the crazy things going on in the world. Except there is one thing from which we can't escape, even when talking about food. 

The price of everything. And the availability. Ok, technically that's two things, but you know what I mean. Anyone who has been to either a restaurant or a grocery store knows that pretty much everything on the shelf is costing way more than it used to. If you can find it. There are many things I just can't buy now, because I can't afford them. We don't eat meat, but even alternate protein items have gone up in price. And fish. Geez! I will always pay more to buy my fish and seafood at my local guy, and summer is when I look forward to softshell and hardshell crabs, but DAMN. Can't do it. Every once in a while, I'll treat myself to a nice piece of swordfish, or striper.

The point is, we have to find ways to make good food, while not breaking the bank. Which leads me to trusty shrimp. Always farmed, always available, always affordable. So versatile. I wait until my local supermarket has the 21-25 count shrimp on sale, then stock up. 

Gardens are bursting forth with summer goodness. I pick cherry tomatoes off my plants daily. Corn is coming in locally. Zucchini. I love zuke. And I have to keep up with the basil plants by making pesto every couple of weeks. It's the best time of the year (and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. Bring it.)

Pasta. Ubiquitous pasta. Always a pantry full of pasta; all shapes and sizes. But always imported and die cut. So worth it. 

Ok, let's get at it now. We have orecchiette, shrimp, zucchini, scallions, tomatoes, garlic, corn, olive oil, pesto and freshly grated Parmesan. Cook the pasta al dente, and keep some of the pasta water. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, add the sliced white part of the scallions, corn kernels, the cut zuke and garlic. Cook, shaking the pan a bit, until it just starts to brown. Add the tomatoes and shrimp. Cook until the shrimp starts to brown, then add some pasta water and pesto. Add the cooked pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the green part of the scallions, plate, and garnish with plenty of yummy cheese. 

This was seriously delicious. I hope I remember to cook it again. 

We are heading on vacation next week, but I promise when I get back I'll start blogging again. I always forget how much I enjoy talking about food and sharing with you. 

Be well. Eat well. 
 

Consider the Oyster (with thanks to MFK Fisher)

 On my most recent visit to see my family in Rock Hall, MD, I was presented with a culinary challenge. Linda had purchased a pint of freshly shucked oysters, but no shells. I had originally planned to make some Oysters Rockefeller, but now had to come up with something that would feed four people, and not be based in milk or cream, like a traditional oyster stew. 

Here are the ingredients I came up with

Oysters, potatoes, shallot, fennel, spinach, panko, butter and a little freshly grated Parmesan. What could be bad? Instead of Rockefeller, let's make it a gratin. (that's a kind of fancy way of me saying I'm making the Eastern Shore version of a shepherd's pie)

This is really easy, and that's why I'm sharing it. It's also pretty damn good.

Ok, team, first thing is to make some mashed taters. I used two large Idaho spuds, which made a nice amount for the base of the dish. Sorry, the pic is sideways but you get the point.

While they were burbling along, I prepped the vegetables. I minced the shallot, and small diced the fennel. I sweated that (which means letting it cook over a low temperature so it won't burn) in some of that yummy European style butter, and added some granulated garlic. When they were soft, I wilted the spinach into it, and seasoned with salt and pepper. (note: if I had had some Pernod, I would have added a splash, but I didn't. That's in classic Rockefeller.)

                        

After the taters were mashed, with plenty of butter and (in our case, oat) milk it was time to assemble the gratin. I buttered a casserole dish, then spread the mash in an even layer. Next, I added the oysters, and put a bit of hot sauce on top of each one. Then, I put the spinach mixture on top.

Oh yeah, I also made some buttery, cheesy panko crumbs. There's never really enough butter, is there?

The crumbs went on top, then the dish went into a 350 oven for 20 minutes. I did mine in a small convection oven, so the crumbs browned up nicely, but if yours doesn't, you can broil it for a second. 

Here's what it looked like on the plate. Good eating on the Eastern Shore!

I hope you enjoyed the step by step instructions, and if you're an oyster lover, this is a great way to prepare them, assuming you can keep from just slurping them down raw!

Stay warm, my friends, and watch out for Covid. I'll post more of my lockdown cuisine so y'all have something to make whilst hiding from Omicron. 

Namaste 

Take this with a Grain of (Himalayan) Salt

 Remember in the last post, I told you I was working on a little project? Well, I'm hoping that this little project will someday become a big project, but for right now, let me tell you about my newest hobby/obsession. 

I have begun to ferment vegetables. I'm doing something called lactic-acid fermentation, an ancient form of preservation. Freezing and canning are both ways to preserve your fresh produce, but both cause a loss of flavor, texture, and most importantly, vitamins and minerals. Fermenting vegetables not only preserves the nutrients, it actually makes them easier for our bodies to absorb!

Fun facts about fermenting:

    It not only preserves, but enhances B and C vitamins

    It makes nutrients more readily available

    It aids in digestion

    There are no chemical preservatives involved

    It helps support the immune system

To begin this undertaking, I needed to learn about what exactly was going on inside the crock. This gets a little "sciencey" (just made that word up), but it's a pretty simple process. You see, all fresh fruits and vegetables are covered in microorganisms, which is not a bad thing. They come from everywhere; the plant surface, soil, air, water. Some are bad, some good. It's not just bacteria, but also molds and yeasts. Everything is just there, hanging out, until the plant is harvested. Then the race against time begins, because the microorganisms are clinging to where the plant is cut, or anywhere it may have gotten bruised or damaged. All these little buggers are just waiting for their turn to alter the vegetables. What fermenting does is choose the good bacteria over the bad stuff. It allows the lactic-acid forming bacteria to take over. And how, you may ask, do we promote this good bacteria? What is the magic formula?

SALT.

Ok, you can go home now. I told you the secret. 

But seriously, how cool is it that just a little salt can preserve vegetables and maintain all of their nutritive value? Here's how it works.

Salt draws the juices out of the vegetable's cells, creating the all-important brine. The brine is the key here. Lactic-acid bacteria are anaerobic, which means they don't need oxygen. By working under brine, they can do their magic without any of the other oxygen-needing bacteria being able to get involved. 

Salt hardens the pectin in the cells of vegetables, helping to keep the crispness.

Salt inhibits the growth of yeasts, which will break down the sugars in vegetables into alcohol instead of lactic acid. No boozy beans for us!

For our purposes, we want salt that is as untouched and unrefined as possible. I use Himalayan salt. 

Science lesson is over for today. Now, I'm going to show you my first project. Sauerkraut. Never, in my life, did I think I would get so excited about fermented cabbage, but DANG, it's good. I am now eating kraut every day, and can't wait to try more varieties. I love the looks I get when I tell people I ate a tomato and kraut sandwich for lunch. 

Kraut is shredded cabbage and salt, pounded together, and packed into a crock to ferment. Seriously, you just slice down the cabbage, mix it with salt, pound on it, and the juices start to flow. Pack it in your crock, cover it with some cleaned whole cabbage leaves, called a "primary follower", then a secondary follower (could be a plate) and weight. I have a ceramic weight, and also sometimes use a zippy bag filled with water as weight. Cover loosely with a dishcloth, and set somewhere cool and dark. Check daily. Make sure there is enough brine to keep it completely covered, or the bad bacteria can get in. 

Woot, there it is! There are other details, but I'm not here trying to teach you to do your own fermenting. I'm here to tell you that I'm going to attempt to start a little home business. I have the name picked out any everything. I'll tell you in a few days. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures of my kraut experience. 

Tomorrow, we will learn about brine fermentation, and I'll show you my pickles!

 

A Little Perspective on the State of the Food World

 It's been a really long time since I've really wanted to sit down and write. Let's see what the litany of excuses are THIS time:

I spent the past year (during Covid) opening a restaurant as the executive chef. We started out gangbusters in the summer of '20, then the shutdowns began. We survived the winter, and came back stronger than ever in the spring, but because of some physical limitations, and a smattering of other factors, I decided it was in my best interest to step off the line. I'm currently walking dogs with my wife, Lisa, and her business, Animalhouse Services. 

One of those physical issues was a very painful, arthritic left thumb and wrist. I'm a lefty, so that kind of sucks. I am currently wearing a brace as I type. As my father always says, "getting old is not for sissies". 

I promise to do better. Start cooking at home again. Take pictures. Share recipes. All that fun blog stuff. But right now, I need to get some of what is careening around my brain down on paper. This past year has given me even more perspective into the fragility of life. Between the pandemic, the chaos of the presidential election, the insurrection on January 6th, and now, the ransomware hacks, my level of existential dread has gone through the roof. I see hatred, division, greed and judgement everywhere. I'm trying to figure out how to navigate this world of random mask rules. I mean, I'm still wearing my mask in stores. I don't understand how people can truly believe that vaccines are a government plot. And I won't even go there with the dude who thinks he's still president. 

I want to talk about the precarious state of the global food supply chain, all the way from the farm/ocean/processing facility to our plates. Just a little light chitchat on a Sunday afternoon. Having just been responsible for sourcing, pricing and ordering all of the supplies for a restaurant, I have had more of an inside track as to what is going on. And of course you are all aware of the dearth of restaurant and hospitality employees. So much of it can be blamed on Covid. There is no stop along the supply chain that isn't affected. Let's pick something: crabmeat. Yes, we know that, no matter where it comes from, jumbo crabmeat is always expensive. And of course, it's supply and demand. Try to wrap your head around how many pounds/tons of crabmeat a hotel or large restaurant chain would buy, all across the world. Most of them would have a contract with the supply companies to buy it up in advance. Then, the rest of the world gets next. Now, throw in a pandemic. Watermen all over the world get sick; can't fish. Less crabs caught. Crabmeat shortage. Prices triple in less than a week. Restaurant owners need to decide whether to take their signature, wonderful crab cakes off the menu, raise the price, or just eat the difference, which, depending on how many they sell, could be a big hit in the wallet. 

This scenario can be applied to produce as well. The growers, the harvesters, the processors, the transport-all affected by labor shortages due to Covid. Poultry plants, meat processing plants, where workers stand elbow to elbow, all crushed by the virus. And then, just when we think we are getting close to being able to get back to full production, some jackasses with Cheeto-stained fingers, sitting in a dark room somewhere in Russia, come up with a ransomware hack that virtually shuts down the world's largest distributor of meat and poultry, completely interrupting the supply chain. Suddenly, no chicken wings! No steaks! No chicken breasts! 

And what does the average American do? They bitch about it, that's what. They bitch because they can't get what they want. Either the shelves are empty in the market, or the price is through the roof, or it costs more at their favorite restaurant, and they take it as a personal affront. I mean, I can finally go back out again, and now I have to pay more for my meal?? 

 I need to step back for a second and take a breath. 

Ok, I'm back. 

HOLY CRAP that was a long breath. It took a month! 

Well, things haven't gotten all that much better since I started this rant. There are still massive food and labor shortages in the food industry, people have become godzilla guests, screaming at the staff, and now, the Delta Variant of Covid is gonna put us all back in masks. 

But, the good news is: I've started putting pictures of my food back on the Food Happens Facebook page. And...I've started a fun, and hopefully eventually profitable new hobby. That's the subject of the next few blogposts, so don't go away, dear readers! 

I'll be back tomorrow. Or the next day. I promise. 

Oh, and it's summer, so get yourselves to a local farmer's market, support your local growers/producers, and eat those delicious fruits and vegetables while they're at their peak!

Go Fish

Although this is not the most exciting way to begin a blogpost, we are going to start with a list of fun facts about me:

1. I don't eat beef, pork or poultry (but I do eat eggs)
2. I do eat fish and seafood, but only if it is sustainably caught and not from certain parts of the world. This makes it very difficult to buy fish in regular grocery stores, leading to an extra trip to the fish market, which wouldn't normally bother me, but Coronavirus.
3. I was told by my doctor to try to cut way back on carbs. This is not so easy, when you eat mostly rice, beans, pasta, fruit and vegetables. 

The point I'm trying to make here, is that it's not always easy being me, when it comes to cooking and eating an interesting variety of dishes. That doesn't mean I don't rise to the challenge, as you all should well know by now. I'm branching out, looking for new and better meat alternatives. I will never eat Tofurky, sorry. But there are some cool things to play with. 

The cool thing I found the other day at the store is not a meat alternative, but a noodle alternative. I love slurpy noodles like Japanese udon, or wide rice noodles in broth. When I came upon these little buggers in the seafood section of the store, I was intrigued. 

Look at all that goodness! 10g of protein! Only 7g of carbs! Gluten free! Non-GMO! Ready to enjoy hot or cold! WOOHOO! 

BUT....What the heck are they? Upon further inspection, right under that big number 10, it says "made with Wild Alaska Pollock". You know what that is, right? The stuff they make surimi with. Fake crab. Fake lobster. California roll fish. That wonderfully tasteless, obviously extremely moldable white cold water fish. FISH NOODLES. 

They were vacuum packed, so they sat in my fridge for a few days, while I pondered over them. What to do? The obvious choice would be a ramen-type bowl, right? I mean, I could put red sauce on them, or olive oil, garlic and some hot pepper. That would be pretty good. 

Ok, first time I went for the obvious. I made a bowl. Seeing as how they were actually the protein, I didn't have to worry about adding shrimp or tofu.

I made a simple miso broth, with a little bit of hot pepper paste and some veg stock. When that was simmering, I added some small cut vegetables, and some Chinese soup greens. I let them cook for a minute or so, then added the noodles, gave it a stir and plated. I didn't want them to actually cook, because I figured they would get really mushy. 

Tell ya what, it was pretty interesting! I liked it! The only issue I had was that by the end of the bowl, the last noodles did get mushy. 

I will definitely buy these again, and try an Italian version, either red or garlic sauce, and I will also do some cold noodles, probably with a ginger dressing or something like that. I'll keep you posted. 

So there you go, folks. Something new and healthy. 

Oh, and I'm trying not to drink every night during this lockdown. Starting tonight. Wish me luck with that one. 

See you soon. Don't forget your mask. UGH..................

Caesar the Day

Last week I had a craving for Caesar salad. It's funny, we have salad for dinner at least once a week, and I never think to make Caesar. I don't like most supermarket Caesar dressings. so that's probably why. Well, that, and the fact that romaine lettuce gets recalled about every 3 months for contamination. Don't get me started on that.

But anyway, I really wanted Caesar. So I made my own dressing. I posted a picture of the salad on Instagram and Facebook, and people started asking for the recipe. I'm sharing happily.

This recipe is one that I created way back when I had my restaurant. It uses raw egg yolks. I use very fresh eggs, (locally purchased when possible), so I never have worried about salmonella. If that freaks you out, I will give you a mayo based way to make it.

Caesar Dressing

1 or 2 anchovies (you can leave them out if they gross you out; I love them)
2 TB Dijon mustard
2 egg yolks
1 cup vegetable or blended oil (all olive oil will make it too rich)
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB red wine vinegar
3 shakes Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 TB minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup warm water
ground black pepper

This is best done in a food processor. A blender will make it too thick.

In your food processor, puree together the anchovy, garlic, mustard, egg yolks and Worcestershire. While the machine is running, slowly stream in the oil, then add the lemon juice, vinegar and cheese.
Season with the black pepper. Add water to get your desired consistency. I like a little bit thinner dressing, but if you like it thicker, you can leave the water out entirely.

 You can do it by hand, but you'll get quite a workout. You have to finely chop the garlic and anchovy into a paste, then put into a bowl with the mustard, egg yolks and Worcestershire. Whisk until the egg starts to get thick, then stream the oil in slowly, whisking constantly. Add the rest of the ingredients.

If raw egg gives you the heebie jeebies, then start with mayonnaise. Puree the garlic and anchovy, and whisk that, along with the mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire and cheese. You don't need vinegar, because most mayo has enough in it already.

As for the salad, well, beyond using either romaine or kale, you can add whatever you want. Remember my friends,
FOOD HAPPENS

A Risotto for Living

YES, I know it's supposed to be soup week, but I posted a picture on Instagram of my dinner the other night, and I promised that I'd post the recipe. For those of you who missed it, here you go:

Asparagus and Sundried Tomato Risotto topped with Scampi. Oh yummmmm...

Yes, it was as good as it looked. 

It's really easy to make, but you do need some patience. Risotto requires attention. To make a really creamy risotto, without turning it to mush, you need to add the hot broth in batches, and stir almost constantly to release the gluten and give it that wonderful consistency. As for the shrimp, well, that was just a quick sauté, then put over top the riso. 

Risotto for 2:

2 TB olive oil

about 1/3 cup finely diced onion or shallot

1/4 c. diced sun dried tomatoes

1 c. arborio rice

1/3 c. sliced asparagus

1/3 c. white wine 

4 c. vegetable, seafood or chicken stock, kept warm

salt and fresh black pepper

a big old handful of fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan, then add onion. Cook over low to medium heat, until onions are soft, but not brown, then add the sundried tomatoes. Add rice and stir to coat the grains with oil. When you hear it start to sizzle, add the wine, and stir until the wine has been absorbed. Add enough warm stock just to cover the rice, then stir almost constantly, allowing the rice to fully absorb the liquid before adding more. When the rice is just starting to get tender, add the asparagus pieces and keep stirring. 

I wish I could tell you exactly how long it takes, but it's different for everyone, depending on the temperature of their burner, type of pan, etc. Just keep going until the rice is almost fully cooked through. 

When finished, season with salt and pepper, add the cheese and stir.

Scampi:

6-8 shrimp per person, depending on the size you get

2 TB olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

salt and pepper

fresh or dried thyme

fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 lemon

If you have bought shrimp with shells still on, peel and devein. You can use the shells to add flavor to your stock for the risotto. 

Heat the oil in a pan, then add garlic, and swirl the pan constantly until the garlic just starts to brown. Add the shrimp and the dried thyme. Stir around until the shrimp are cooked through, then squeeze the lemon over the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley at the very end. 

Place the risotto in the center of a plate or shallow bowl, then put the shrimp on top, and pour any pan juices over the shrimp. 

Voila!

Ok, gang, back to soup tomorrow. 

Loveyoumeanitbyenow

It's Soup Week!

If you're like me these days, you're not going to the store all that often, which means that you are buying a whole lot of whatever is actually available that day. And, possibly, not being able to use it up before it starts to smell a bit funky. The last thing you need right now is for your precious food stash to go bad. I'm here today with a way to solve some of that. 

Make soup. 

I know it's getting warmer out, but there is never a bad time for soup. Especially today. I'm looking out at the wind and the rain, and even though it's not cold, I want to make and eat soup. 

In these uncertain times, soup can be a comfort. So here's my plan. I'm going to start with some basics; recipes for stocks, and a simple soup. Then, every day for the rest of the week, I will post another soup recipe. All of them can be made with what you probably have on hand, or you may have to get one or two ingredients. 

Let's get started, shall we?

Chicken Stock

Yes, I know you can buy it in a box, a can, a concentrate, or whatever, but homemade chicken stock when done correctly, is a wonderful thing. And it makes your house smell fantastic. It's great to have some bones from the grocery store (backs or necks) because they have more collagen, which gives you that nice body. But, if you just get a whole chicken from the store (or have parts) when you are finished, you can pull the chicken meat off the bone and use for soup, salad, or your give to your fur baby who will then love you forever. 

2 pounds of chicken bones, or 1 frying chicken

2 onions, peeled and quartered

2 carrots, washed and cut into chunks

2 celery stalks, washed and cut into chunks (leaves and all)

1 bay leaf

a couple of whole black peppercorns

a splash of lemon juice or white wine or vinegar (this helps the collagen in the bones break down)

COLD water to cover by 4 inches or so

Put all of the ingredients into a stock pot and bring to a boil This is where you have to keep an eye (or nose) out. When you see or smell the stock come to a boil, reduce the heat immediately to a simmer, and skim the brown funky stuff that forms on the top. (The technical name for this is scum. Seriously. The French even have an actual verb for this action: Ecumer-to skim the scum)

Let the pot simmer for about an hour or so. The reason you don't want it to boil too long is that if it does, the fat will distribute into the water, rather than rising to the top, and you will have cloudy, fatty stock. Blech. 

Strain the stock, and allow to cool. Remove any fat that rises and hardens. 

Vegetable Stock

There really is no recipe for vegetable stock. It depends on what you have on hand, which flavor you would like to be predominant, whether you roast the veggies before you simmer them...it all tastes great. I always start with the basics: onion, carrot and celery, then add whatever else I have around- zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus stems, etc. If I happen to have been doing a good bit of cooking, I save the ends of things in a bucket in the fridge to use for stock. 

There is only one rule. Don't use peelings from carrots or potatoes. They tend to make stock bitter. The French have a saying which basically translates into: "Garbage in your stock makes your stock taste like garbage."

Vegetable stock is a great, cheap and vegetarian way to make just about anything requiring cooking liquid. It has no fat, no added salt and is so good, you can even drink a mug of it like tea!

Now, as promised, a nice easy soup recipe. This particular gem is called "Cream of Green"

Why, you may ask, do I call this soup Cream of Green? Well, it saves time and space. Rather than trying to give you a recipe for broccoli soup, spinach soup, zucchini soup etc. I give you the basic formula and let you pick the green. And it doesn't always have to be green. You can use cauliflower or carrots, or squash.

You just have to adjust the cooking time to how fibrous the vegetable is. For example, broccoli stems will take a lot longer to soften than spinach, which will just wilt in. You'll understand in a minute. The other nice thing about this soup is that if you don't want to add the cream or milk, you can use nut milk, or just leave it out altogether. You can also adjust the amount of flour. Broccoli, cauliflower or carrot soup doesn't really need flour, but spinach soup does, or it will be too watery. If you are gluten intolerant, you can use a corn starch slurry at the end.

Cream of Green

1 large onion, peeled and diced

4 oz. butter

4 oz. flour (or gluten free flour)

1 gallon vegetable stock, or chicken stock, or even tap stock (that's water, lol) COLD

2 heads of broccoli

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of nutmeg

cream, or unsweetened, unflavored nut milk

Separate broccoli florets from stems and set aside. Lightly peel stems with a paring knife or veg peeler, and cut into 1 inch chunks.

In a heavy bottom pot, melt the butter and add onion. Cook over low/medium heat until the onion is soft, then add flour and stir until well combined. Slowly add the COLD liquid, stirring to keep chunks from forming. Add broccoli stems and bring to a boil. Keep at a low boil, stirring often, until the stems begin to soften. Add florets and cook until they are just getting soft. 

Remove from the heat, and process in a blender or use an immersion blender, until smooth. If you are using the blender, don't overfill it, or hot liquid will fly out and burn you. Trust me on this.

Place all the blended soup in a container, then season. Add desired creamy product here. 

OH, THIS IS ALSO THE POINT WHERE YOU CAN ADD A BIG OL' HANDFUL OF CHEDDAR CHEESE, FOR BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP. Just sayin.

Note:

Why did we cook the stems and florets separately? Well, the stems take longer to cook, give the soup most of the body and flavor, but will turn a little grey. By adding the quicker cooking florets at the end, you guarantee you will have a nice, bright green soup. 

So ends today's lesson. I'm going to go see what's lurking in the crisper drawer now and make some soup. Hope you make some, too. 

Let's make every day Stop Food Waste Day. Especially now. 

See you tomorrow.

The Cauliflower is in Bloom

Have you been wondering where I've been for the past week or so? No? Wow, I thought you loved me. 

The thing is, I got furloughed from my job. I took a week of PTO, which gave me lots of time to cook and then talk about it. I really did intend on doing something every day. But then, I got picked up in the corporate labor pool. I'm working, which is a good thing. Pays the bills and all that. But it drastically cuts into my cooking and blogging time. By the time I get home, work out, shower, change, make dinner, and watch the obligatory one hour of M*A*S*H reruns, I'm beat. 

But no more. I made a commitment to keep posting, so I will. 

I've realized that I need to stop going shopping for a couple of weeks, since this is supposed to be the worst time for the virus where I live, so I'm going to work with what I have in the house. And when I get to go back out to the store again, I'm going to start being a little more frugal about what I buy. Times is hard and all that. 

So, it's time to eat cauliflower again. Last time, when I made the Buffalo cauli, my friend Nikki asked me for an Asian version. I'm basically treating the cauliflower like chicken wings, so I will most likely do pretty much every flavor you would find at your local BWW. 

I used the same batter as last time, except I added a tiny little bit of sesame oil, and cut out the smoked paprika. 

I found a recipe in my old binder, from when I had State Street Cafe, that I made up for chicken wings, and used it.

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 TB honey

1 TB sweet chili sauce

1/4 c. hoisin sauce

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. minced ginger (full disclosure: there was no ginger at my local market, so I got the stuff in a tube and it worked great)

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. chili oil

toasted sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients, except sesame seeds, in a bowl. When cauliflower is finished in the oven, place in bowl and toss to coat. Plate and garnish with sesame seeds. 

That is a soba noodle salad with cucumbers, scallion, peppers and ginger-apple dressing. 

It was all yummy. 

Tune in again soon. There will be more. I promise. Meantime, hang in there. And try to eat healthy, at least until dessert!

Cod Help Us

First of all, let me say how inconvenient it is that my local fish store can't be open, so I have to resort to the fish sold at the supermarket. I realize this is a total first world problem, but what can I say? I am fortunate enough to be able to pay the price for fresh, line caught fish, or high quality farmed fish. For those of you who don't have this opportunity, I want to explain the two reasons why I, whenever possible, buy non-farmed (or at least not from certain countries' farms) fish. Both reasons actually overlap. Because many farmed fish are kept in tight quarters and are fed mostly a corn based diet, they have very little taste, and much less nutritive value (having been fed corn). For example, you could probably eat a piece of cardboard and get about the same nutrients as if you ate a piece of farmed tilapia. Uh oh, I'm digressing. Moving on now.

Anyway, there I was with my piece of shrink-wrapped, previously frozen, supermarket cod.
I had bought some tasty cherry tomatoes, and a ball of fresh mozzarella, so was planning on some sort of Caprese thing. But I had no basil. So I thought, well hell, I'll add some baby arugula (I always seem to have this in my fridge). I was planning on putting this over some black beans with pickled onions. (I'm trying to not eat too much pasta, or it would have been orzo or something like that)
But wait. I had an avocado that was going funky. Better use that, too. So in it went. Well, at this point, why not just combine the whole thing? So I did.
Well now, we have somehow gone from Italian to Southwest, so I added some cumin, sea salt, pepper, olive oil and lime juice. Looked like this:

 Ok, now I had to season the fish. I have this chili-lime stuff that I bought from Aldi. I will not start talking about the virtues of Aldi at this point, or we will never get done. What I will say, is that this stuff has no artificial ingredients.

I sprinkled a little olive oil over this, and broiled it. So many ways I could have cooked it; pan-seared, in a foil packet, roasted-but this was the easiest at the time. Did you pick up on what I just told you?
You don't have to cook it the same way as I did. How 'bout dem apples?
Here's the finished product. If I had thought ahead, I might have made a lime crema or chipotle aioli to drizzle over it. Then, BOY, would it have looked impressive!

It was yummy, even without the drizzle.
Let's review: what began as an Italian style dish, morphed into a Southwestern dish. What happened?
FOOD. FOOD HAPPENS.
Happy eating. Stay safe, y'all.

Miso Bored

You know when you stare at everything you have in the fridge, and nothing appeals to you? You know, you're hungry, but overcome with ambivalence? Yeah, that's me today. 

So I pulled out the miso paste from the back of the fridge. When everything around you is yucky, miso soup makes you feel better. I don't know why, but it does. I wanted to make it filling, so I grabbed some stuff from the pantry and the fridge. Here's what I came up with:

Dried shiitakes, broccoli slaw, scallions, a ramen pack, miso, and kombu powder. Kombu is edible kelp, used to make a broth called dashi, which adds a little extra umami flavor to things, especially miso soup. Someone once gave me this powder. You can buy sheets of kombu at the Asian market. 

Dried shiitakes are awesome. They have a nuclear shelf life, if you keep them dry. You have to soak them in hot water, so I put them in a small pot and heated water to soften. When they got soft, I removed the mushrooms and strained the liquid into another pot through cheesecloth (if you don't have cheesecloth, use a fine strainer). The water takes on a mushroomy goodness so it became the base of the soup.

You have to remove the stems from shiitakes, whether you are using fresh or dried. They're too tough to eat. Once they were off, I cut the caps into a fine julienne. 

In another pot, I boiled water to cook the ramen noodles. Before opening the package, I broke the noodles into quarters, so they wouldn't be too long once cooked. As for the flavoring packet? The only place for that is the trash can. Ever read what's in that stuff? Sodium, monosodium glutamate, and all kinds of other scary stuff. It's like 2 days worth of salt in one little package. Bleah. 

Once the noodles were about halfway cooked, i grabbed a handful of the broccoli slaw and threw it in the pot. It only took about another minute, then I poured it into a strainer. The slaw stayed a bit crunchy, but was cooked. I put that into the bottom of a deep bowl. 

In the mushroom water, I added about 2 Tbsp. of miso paste, 1 tsp. of the kombu powder, the shiitake slivers and whisked it together. You have to adjust miso to your own taste. Sometimes, you have to add more. 

When I reached the desired flavor, I poured it all over the noodle/slaw mixture and garnished with scallions. 

And here is a great place to use that chili garlic sauce I told you about!

Voila! Lunch! Not too filling, but really satisfying. See, I told you if you keep some staples in the house, you'll always be able to make something great. 

See you tomorrow. I'm off to the Nordic Track machine to continue my climb of Mt. Fuji!

Building Blocks

As promised, here we go on our culinary adventure. I am not going to rewrite the introduction to the book word for word. What I do want to start with is to give you a list of what I consider the essential ingredients to have in your house. They are the building blocks of just about anything you could think of making. In the world without Covid-19, these would all be pretty easy to find at any grocery store.
The fact that I went to the store yesterday and couldn't find any SALT is insane. I realize we are
keeping clean, but are we supposed to be KOSHERING everything in sight? Oy vey...

I'm going to break this into a few categories. Let's start with the refrigerator.

• Butter- you can keep in the freezer if you don't use often. Two kinds: unsalted (for baking) and salted. I think I've mentioned I'm a huge fan of Kerrygold Irish butter. I can eat that stuff like brie. 
• Dijon mustard
• Grainy mustard
• Hoisin sauce
• Capers
• Olives (black, green, all kinds)
• Ketchup (Heinz)
• Lemons and Limes
• Vinaigrette type dressings and Ranch dressing 
• Mayo (I've recently discovered Duke's)
• Miso paste
• Tamarind paste
• Eggs (farm eggs if possible. Or at least free range. Cage free? Nope)
• Some kind of teriyaki marinade (I have Trader Joe's)
• Salsa
• Italian tomato paste (it comes in a tube)
• Anchovy paste (adds umami to certain things, trust me)

Here's a lovely picture of the door of my fridge. You may notice other essentials like Bloody Mary Mix, white wine and Prosecco..

I Put That S#*t On Everything!

I do love me some Buffalo sauce. Back in my carnivore days, Buffalo Wings were one of my favorite football day snacks. But now, I don't eat meat. I mean, every ONCE in a blue moon I will have a bite of chicken or beef if it is locally farm raised, but I don't really crave meat at all anymore.

I do, however, still love Buffalo sauce. So, when the geniuses who decided cauliflower was a good substitute for absolutely ANYTHING came up with coating cauliflower in batter, baking it and tossing it in Buffalo sauce just like wings, I said, "Jen, you've got to try making this."
There are a bunch of recipes out there where you just bake the florets and then toss them in the sauce, but I really wanted some kind of coating, because, if you have ever roasted cauliflower, you know it doesn't get crispy, it gets mushy and falls apart. So I found a recipe and changed it a bit. Holy cow was it good!

I wish I had thought of photographing the entire process, but as we go on with the other recipes, I will. Meantime, this recipe is very easy to follow.

Grab a head of cauliflower and cut it into bite-sized, but not too small, florets. Mine were basically two-bite size. Preheat the oven to 450, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine the following:

1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp. paprika (I used sweet smoked paprika for a little smoky goodness)
1 tsp. garlic powder or granulated garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt
a couple grinds of fresh black pepper
1 cup unflavored oatmilk (yes, you can use moo-cow milk, but I like the consistency of oatmilk. Plus, I don't drink cow juice)

Whisk well until you get a smooth consistency. 
Add the cauliflower florets to the batter, and coat well using tongs. Place on the lined sheet pan, leaving room between pieces. Bake for 10 minutes, flip with a spatula, and then bake for 10 more.
While it's cooking, wash and dry the batter bowl.

In a glass bowl or measuring cup, combine:
1/4 cup hot sauce (Frank's. It's simply the best for this.)
1-2 Tb. butter (everything's better with butter. I am obsessed with Kerrygold)
1 Tb. honey

Microwave 30-45 seconds, then whisk to combine. Put the sauce into the clean bowl.
When the cauliflower is finished, add it to the bowl and toss to evenly coat.

I don't usually buy blue cheese dressing, so I mixed Gorgonzola crumbles into ranch dressing and used that. No regrets on that choice! It was crispy, hot, and delicious!

Make it. Take a picture. Post to Food Happens. And enjoy, even though there's no sports to watch while eating.

Quarantine Cuisine

I guess it's time for me to sit back down at the keyboard and start blogging again, huh? I mean, I really have no excuse anymore, do I?

How have you all been holding up? I have officially been "furloughed" as of today, so I will be posting pretty much everything I make. I managed to load up on as much fresh ingredients that would fit in the fridge. When that runs out, I will start digging way back into the pantry to see what's been lost back there.

Before I move on to the recipes and pictures, let me pause for a moment and say that I actually wrote an entire cookbook (never published) that would be perfect for this situation. The principle behind the book (and my whole theory of creating great food whenever you want) is to have a supply of certain things in your larder and freezer that are the building blocks. In a normal world, you would buy the fresh produce and meat/fish/poultry as needed. Or have the meats stocked up in your freezer, and just pick up the veggies. Since we are in the Upside Down these days, things are considerably more difficult. But we shall overcome.

So here's the deal. I am going to post entries from the never-seen-the-light-of-day cookbook on here every day. Then, what I'd really like is for all of you to make some of the recipes, and post pictures of them on my Food Happens Facebook page. Let's make this a family thing.