Return, & Shrimp and Pineapple Curry

      I'M BAAACK! I guess its been a couple years now. Things got in the way, work, study, school, new relationship, all awesome things but they took up time. Well... study and work paid off. I am now in med school year 2! Also, now engaged to a most wonderful person who makes me inadvertently smile all the time (D). More about those things later (I feel like I could write a book on these past two years)! 

      I have recently decided that it would be a great outlet to have something creative in my life, that can break up the endless hours of studying (okay I havent actually studied hours in about a week... but back to it tomorrow!). I remembered my old rusty food blog, with its mediocre pictures and Im-too-tired-and-not-creative-or-verbose-enough descriptions, and I had a glimmer of an idea. Maybe I could do a couple GOOD posts a month, and not stress about content or frequency? Use the blog for ME and if anyone loves it along the way... well thats just icing on the [gluten free] cake! I do hope some of you love, or at least like, the blog. If nothing else I hope you find it instructive in at least one thing. Extroverted and Socratic by nature, I hope nothing more than to bring smiles, joy and learning to myself and those around me! 

      The pictures may not be any better, and I am trying harder at making it worth reading a little but... its mine. Its mine and there may be others like it, but this one is mine. On to the recipe part...

Thai Inspired Salad of Awesome!

Recipe found here: By me!
I was featured on Marks Daily Apple!


UPDATE: as of Dec 2012 all pics older than this post are deleted. This was unfortunately a terminal error and cannot be undone. I will be re-uploading the pics from the more frequently viewed posts but doing all of them would be too time consuming.
I am sad. Lesson learned: dont delete Google+ albums!!! Oops. 

Hannah visits!

Alrighty so this is the short, pictorial version of our day. Im pooped and need to go to bed but I wanted to get this up!

Hannah came and visited, after we went to pick up the meat I had ordered we looked arounf and went to a toy store. We found a primal grill set for the kiddos!

Then we got all excited about the kites the toy store had (and the bacon band aids were prety cool) so we decided to make one. It allllmost worked, lol.

Then we went on a hike and saw lots of cool stuff.

Then we made food! GIANT garlic on the left, green mango with garam masala, chili powder and salt on the right.

Yummy thai salad with chicken and cilantro pesto.

YOUNG COCONUT OMG GOOD.

The end.

Beef recipe: Kashk Bademjan

I attended an Iranian dinner party the other night. Hosted by Kali, all food prepared by Marjan (with a teeny help from Kali and I) and attended by many! Let me tell you the food was a-maz-ing! It was the perfect night to break in her newly decorated kitchen, more on my kitchen decorating later. Anyhow, the first reason I chose to make this dish at home was because it looked easier than the rest. The second was that because it was so tasty Marjan literally had to slap our hands away from the pan. She then hid the dish in the oven and when it was heating before guests arrived... I had to promise her not to eat it while she did her makeup. Basically I was a little child with my mommy telling me "No!". I like to think its a compliment of sorts, that Marjans cooking was so good that it took these extreme measures to keep us from devouring it all before guests arrived. You're welcome, Marjan.

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Anyway, one key ingredient that I don't actually own (gasp!) is kashk. I used sour cream instead, as it was the most similar thing I could attain. Kashk is fermented though, and I supposed Ill never really get that flavor in its true form without the kashk. Another thing that is important is that you try your hardest to get Japanese eggplant. I have seen these types of eggplants in every kind of Asian ethnic store Ive ever visited. Indian, Chinese, Japanese... the eggplant is there. I made the dish once with regular eggplant and it was a bit different. If you cant get the Japanese variety, you can use regular eggplant, just add the saltwater soaking step.

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Anyhow here is the outline of the recipe as I remember it, and per Marjan's verbal notes:

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Kashk Bademjan via Marjan

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground beef preferably very lean (there will be plenty of other fat!)

4-5 Japanese eggplant, or 3 medium regular eggplants*, peeled and cut into roughly 3cm cubes

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T turmeric

1/4 cup tomato paste

salt

1/4 c sour cream

dried mint

lard for cooking (or oil if you prefer)

*If you're using regular eggplant, you ll need a saltwater soak. Make some very salty water in a big bowl, add eggplant and cover with a plate. Weigh it down with a can or cup or something. You want all the eggplant to be submerged. After about 30 mins, drain and continue with recipe.

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DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pan/pot/wok over medium high heat, brown ground beef well. Remove beef from pan and set aside.

2. Add to the pan the chopped onion. If there isn't enough fat left from the beef, add some lard. Brown the onion very well (see pic below). Add the garlic and cook for about 3-5 more mins, until cooked but not burned. Set aside with the beef (I just add it to one big bowl).

3. Add about 1/4 cup lard to the pan and let heat for a minute. Add all the eggplant and stir very fast until its all coated.

4. Add about 1/4 cup water to the pan and cover. The steam will help the egg plant begin to cook. When the water is almost gone, uncover and fry until the eggplant is very soft and brown, stirring every few mins.

5. Add the beef and onion/garlic mixture back to the pan, and add the turmeric and tomato paste. Stir to combine. You'll want to mash up the eggplant pieces a little too, just until they are a little smaller than bite size. I like mine a little chunky though traditionally it supposed to be a smooth, homogeneous mixture. Add sour cream. Salt to taste (about 1 t for me).

6. Spoon into serving dish and sprinkle with dried mint fried in a little oil. I like a lot of mint, but base it on your taste. Usually this is served with lavash bread (similar to pita... kinda) but since I don't eat bread (MOST of the time) I made some cauliflower chips to go with it.

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Cauliflower Chips

INGREDIENTS

1 head cauliflower

EVOO or coconut oil, melted

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Cut cauliflower in half. Place halves cut side down and slice into 1/4-1/3 inch slices.

3. Spread out on a baking sheet in one layer (may take 2 pans) and coat in EVOO or melted CO.

4. Bake for about 20 mins. Flip the slices over and bake 20 more mins, or until browned and slightly crispy.

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Don't be afraid!!! Yes its lard.

Yes the container is broken from dropping it... hey, it gets used!

Ingredients in the pan. Clockwise from top: ground beef,

tomato paste, fried eggplant, fried onions and garlic, turmeric.

Finished dish, garnished with some mint,
and served with crispy cauliflower "chips".

Close up. Yum yum.

I'm all about the cauliflower-chip-cutesy thing...

but here's how I really ate it b/c I was STARVING!

Cauliflower topped with kashk bademjan and mint.

Updates, yo.

I think I have a seaweed problem. This is all the seaweed I own. Love it!

Watermelon+ginger+lime juice+peppercorns+basil+club soda=YUM!

Directions: place evrything but club soda in blender and blend. Strain. Add soda. Done!

Papaya salad. I was going for GREEN papaya salad but I guess it wasnt green enough. Still yum.

Dry-fried green beans. With little dreid shrimps. Umami here I come!

Full english brekkie! Starting at the toast: toast, fried tomato, fried mushrooms, hash (potatoes, apple and sage), sausage, bacon, beans (the english kind... more tomatoey) and my eggs are hidden under there somewhere. Lets not forget the tea.

Peach, berry and bacon "clafoutis"...

Crust is made from ground almonds and butter.

Layered with cmbly bacon (just a little), sliced fresh peaches and black raspberries.

Sort of a deep clafouti/tart. Batter is egg whites, butter and some coco flour.

Oh and the middle pic I put the crust on top... that was better b/c it got crispy.

Gazpacho with roasted tomatillos and basil cream.

3 tomatillos, roasted at 400 for about 20 min.

3 med tomatoes

half a bell pepper

half a cucumber

half an onion

1 garlic clove

dash tabasco
1. Add everything to blender... blend!

Basil Cream

1 cup cream

1 cup basil

1. I used a stick blender but you can use a food processor.

Serve: Spoon gazpacho into bowl, drizzle with basil cream and mix in some avocado chunks! YUM.

Pesce spada alla Norma.

Pasta alla Norma, but with swordfish. YUM.

Pesce Spada alla Norma

1 4 or 5oz swordfish steak, cooked however you want (I broiled mine with some lemon).

1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, salted, drained and pat dry.

1 small red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

4 celery tops, minced

1 cup basil leaves, cut in chiffonade

2 T tomato paste

Sprinkle of oregano

Goat cheese

1. Het some lard in a nonstick pan over medhigh heat. Fry eggplant in lard until soft and golden. Make sure the lard is good and hot so the eggplant wont just sop it all up. Having the eggplant WELL drained and pat VERY dry also helps. I used about 2 T lard and had some left when the eggplant was done. Trust me, if you do it right, you wont have oil sponge eggplant yuck.

2. At the last few seconds, sprinkle oregano onto eggplant so it wakes up a little. Remove eggplant from pan.

3. Turn heat to med. Add onion to pan, cook for about 2 min. Add tomato, garlic and celery tops to pan. Let cook about 10 min until tomato is soft and breaking up.

4. Add tomato paste and a little water to dissolve. Heat for a couple mins.

5. Add basil leaves at the last minute and serve. I put in on top of swordfish steaks but you can do whatever sounds yummy! Sprinkle goat cheese on top (supposed to be ricotta salata but I really like goat cheese).

Vegetarian soft rolls with peanut sauce.

Fillings:

Napa, red pepper, scallions, basil, mint, cilantro, cucumber, wakame, avocado.

Sauce:

Peanuts, shoyu, fish sauce, sesame oil, water, onion.

Rolling tutorial here!

CSA catch up. Post computer virus shuffle.

Week 6: candy onions, scallions, collards, broccoli, lettuce, yellow squash, patty pan squash, cucumber.

Week 7: zucchini, carrots, lettuce, onions, candy onions, cucumbers, broccoli, yellow tomato (1st of the season).

Week 8: kale, basil, purple potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, patty pans, carrots, candy onions, cucumber, green beans, yellow tomatoes and GARLIC. I also included some bells of ireland in the pic (flowers in the right corner) because I lovelovelove them and Ben and Emily (the CSA farmers) provided them for me after an email I sent. Thanks guys!

I have a ton of recipes coming, so Im going to get started on that. I must say though, that the cukes Ive gotten from the CSA are super yummy! They are really crunchy and awesome. The garlic... ohmagod it was good!!! Well, everything is good but I have never had garlic that wasn't from meijer or something.

Berry picking at my dads house.

Me being special.

Sunset.

Little sis and I picking berries!

Blackberries or black raspberries. I say black raspberries.

We ended up with about a pint of berries. I need more. They are so good!

Chia seed pudding

Chia seed pudding
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup almond milk
a pinch of dried hibiscus flowers
small handful non-sweetened dried cherries

1. Place everything in a food processor.
2. Process.
3. Eat!

CSA: Week 5!

Week 5: Green onions, Chard, napa, lettuces, turnips, zucchini, patty pan and thyme.

Week 5 Recipes (so far)...

Peach compote

2 peaches, chopped

a little lemon juice

thyme leave, roughly chopped

few chopped stevia leaves

---Simmer peaches, juice and thyme until peaches a slightly soft (just a couple mins). Add stevia and remove from heat. Serve over greek yogurt (or if you're not primal... ice cream!).

Quick and messy zucchini "curry"?

3 zucchini, sliced

1 shallot, sliced

garlic, ginger, lemongrass, thyme... all diced.

coconut milk

--Sautee everything but coco milk in a little coco oil. After slightly cooked, add coconut milk, enough to cover. Simmer for 2 min. DONE!

And here is the full meal... wild salmon, cooked perfectly! YUMMY!!! Maybe I should also mention that I got this fish for ***$8.99/lb*** at an annual sidewalk sale here in yuppieville! Awesome!

Herb roasted chicken...

I made a roast chicken using some herbs from the old CSA. Butter+thyme+sage+tarragon=

Rub on chicken. Put a chopped lemon inside the cavity. Roast breast side down until temp is 165F internal and the skin is golden and crisp. Like so:

The whole chicken, shes about 4 lbs. I let her cool, then removed the meat and skin and pulled it apart into bite size pieces. Saved the bones for stock!

Now what to do with the herb roasted chicken? MAKE SALAD! It is summer time after all.

Summer Chicken Salad

english cucumber, sliced on the bias

celery, sliced

Aforementioned roast chicken

green onions

"dressing": lemon zest, lemon juice, LOTS of chopped dill, cream, salt.

Its really that easy. That dressing was awesome too! I LOVE dill!