Coaching Cooking

For more intimate gatherings, as my friends and I had, the tender roasted fruit were offered by the hostess, the fava-cultivating Christi. They go down nicely when talking about the things in life that drive you crazy, that aren’t going so well or that are so stupid you laugh Prosecco out of your nose. And consider this, along with some bread, fair game as a complete meal for one. Luxury in simplicity.

6 apricots, washed, sliced in half and pitted * light honey like wildflower, chamomile, citrus flower for drizzling * extra-virgin oil for drizzling * kosher or sea salt & black pepper to taste * 4 ounces ripe Brie, Camembert, D’Affinois, or any other soft rinded cheese (it’s your call on pungency)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the apricots cut-side up (their empty bellies should be facing you) on a baking sheet. You can line it with parchment or foil to make cleaning easier. From the bottle spout or with a spoon, drizzle the honey over the fruit, just enough each fruit is laced with it, not drenched. [NOTE: I don't give a measurement here because I consider it rather inconvenient to measure spoonfuls of honey and to always have to scrape it out. Precision isn't necessary here.] Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil over the apricots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place into the hot oven.

Cook for about 15 or until apricots soften but still hold their shape. The edges might brown and blister a bit because of the natural sugars and honey. Even better. Remove baking sheet from the oven. Using your fingers or a knife, place a dab of cheese into each of the pitted apricot bellies. Return to oven for five minutes, just to soften the cheese into goo.

Serve immediately.

For the grill: You want the temperature to read 350 to 400. Instead of drizzling with oil, mix the halved apricots in a bowl with the olive oil, honey salt and pepper. Place on the grill cut-side down (flat part) and cook until softened (about 10 minutes). Flip and dollop with the cheese. Cover and let warm (about 2 minutes). Alternatively, you can follow the directions above and cook the fruit in a casserole/container that can be put onto the grill, covered and let alone for 20 minutes.

July 31, 2009 in Baking, Cheese & Dairy, Cooking, Easy, Simple, Intuitive, Fruit, Recipes, Snacks, Starters | Permalink ShareThis

2-3 fresh limes diced
4-6 cucumber sliced. Soak in a light marinade
1/2-1 cup of water
4 tablesppons of horse radish
Optional use red chile powder or your fav hot sauce
2 teaspoons of dill

Mix ingrdients in a large bowl. Add optional fruits diced. Fresh fruit better. OPtion: Blend a few fruits for a base. Chill.
Presto a cold soup.
Overnight: you may have a mold. If you cook the agar and pour it into the soup and chill for several hours then you WILL have a mold.

Now what would happen if you blend greens and use them instead of the fruits? Blend greens or tomatoes to the above and then add dried cranberries or cherries or both to soup. garnish with cream or yougurt. See now you 6 recipes to choose from.

We oft think of tarts as sweet desserts. SO lets go further and try out this NOteworthy Cook book by Joan Frehling recipe for a CABBAGE tart.

6 cups of shredded cabbage
1/4 pound butter
5 beaten eggs
2 cups whipping cream
1 tsp of nutmeg
1/4 teasppon of garlic powder
salt to taste pepper to taste
1 9 inch unbaked pie shell, optional
In a heavy skillet cook cabbage in butter over medium heat, stirring until golden.
Combine egges,cream, and seasonings. Place cabbage in pie shell or lightly greased shallow baking dish. Pour egg mixture over cabbage. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 45 minutes or until custard is set and lightly browned. If omitting pie shell, place baking dish in panof hot water for baking.
Serves 6-9
Now make this a super gourmet recipe by adding some ricoota cheese, cut pineapple ( small squares), some raisens or sliced mango. Mix in after 30 minutes of baking. Option by Mary MacIntyre.

Zuchinni pudding:
I am altering this recipe to make it fast and easier.
Grate 4 small zuchinnis
Prepare a no sugar vanilla pudding mix
(raw option: blend coconut milk, cashews, agar, agar and let set for 15 minutes in the fridge)
You can also look up a simple pudding recipe.

Mix grated zuchinni into pudding mix. If serving hot add grated cheese of choice. If serving cold let it sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

Vegan soul food: Down-home cooking goes meatless
By JULIA TERRUSO
Philadelphia Daily News

terrusj@phillynews.com 215-854-5444

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20090723_Vegan_soul_food__Down-home_cooking_goes_meatless.htmlSOUL FOOD carries a certain connotation of deep fryers, heavy cream, lard and tastiness at the expense of arterial clogging. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Vegan food also carries a certain connotation - of tasteless but sensible cuisine dependent on faux tofu meats and processed fake cheeses. That’s not always the case, either.

Chef and self-proclaimed food activist Bryant Terry wants to set the record straight: Soul food can be fresh and even healthy; vegan cooking can have soul.

Terry’s cookbook, “Vegan Soul Kitchen” (Lifelong Books, $18.95), brings the flavor without the fat. It’s a collection of fresh fruit-, vegetable- and nut-based meals which, while classified as “vegan,” are also traditional family recipes with a hip and healthy flair.

“I thought it was important to make an intervention in the genre of African-American cookbooks,” Terry said in a recent interview. “In terms of books from major publishers, there isn’t a single book that presents African-American cuisine without animal products -

Read on and add culture to you life?!

Thesse recipes are terrific for people with special dietary needs (inc. gluten free). I love peaches and so I’ll probably try this one.

Elaina Love’s Raw Food Recipe for Peach Cobbler

Pie Crust

2 Cups Walnuts
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/4 Cup Dates
Pinch of Salt
Cinnamon

Put in Food Processor and pulse until crumbly. Take out 1/2 and put to the side for topping.

Process the rest until gummy.

Lay down on the bottom of a pie or glass pan.

Topping

6-7 Peaches sliced
1/2 Cup Dates
Tablespoon Psylium Husk
Pinch Nutmeg
Pinch Lemon Zest
Pinch Cinnamon

Put 1/2 of sliced peaches in the food processor with all other ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Take blended mix and add back to sliced peaches.

Pour on top of crust and add crumble on top.

Here’s where you can check out more of Elaina Love’s raw food recipes: www.PureJoyLivingFoods.com

Also, to see about more events in the Pacific Northwest, please visit www.RawVeganSource.com

Live Awesome!
Kev

Beets with Mint and Yogurt
2-3 beets, boiled or roasted in foil
2 cups plain yogurt
3/4 - 1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon oilve oil

Peel the beet and grate it coarsely. Put the yogurt in a bowl and beat it lightly with a fork or a whisk until it is smooth and creamy. Add the salt, pepper to taste, and cayenne, if using. Mix. Add the mint and beet. Mix gently. Put the oil and garlic in a small frying pan and set over medium-high heat. The garlic will eventually begin to sizzle. Press down on the garlic with a spatula and let it sizzle some more, turning the pieces once or twice, until they turn a medium brown. Now pour the flavored oil and garlic into the bowl with the yogurt and mix. This cool dish accompanies spicy lentils or curries well.

Adapted from the recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian
http://newearthfarm.org/recipes.html

http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/recipes/beets040506.shtmlArugula Pesto
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello
Prep Time:
10 min
Inactive Prep Time:
hr min
Cook Time:
1 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
2 cups
Ingredients
4 cups packed fresh arugula
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup pure olive oil
2 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted, plus 1 tablespoon
1/8 teaspoon vitamin C (optional)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl, and bring a
large pot of water to a boil. Put the arugula in a large sieve and plunge it into the
boiling water. Immediately immerse all the arugula and stir so that it blanches evenly.
Blanch for about 15 seconds. Remove, shake off the excess water, then plunge the arugula
Copyright 2009 Television Food Network G.P., All Rights Reserved
FPRIVATE “TYPE=PICT;ALT=FoodNetwork.com”
2
Arugula Pesto
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello
into the ice water bath and stir again so it cools as fast as possible. Drain well.

Squeeze the water out of the arugula with your hands until very dry. Roughly chop the
arugula and put in a blender. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, 2
tablespoons of the pine nuts, and the vitamin C, if using. Blend for at least 30 seconds.
In this way the green of the arugula will thoroughly color the oil. Add the cheese and
pulse to combine. The pesto will keep several days in a tightly sealed container in the
refrigerator.

Pull out before dinner to get to room temperature. Before serving, add the remaining 1
tablespoon toasted pinenuts.

2 large leaves of swiss chard
2 carrots any size (I used fresh carrots with greens on top. You can leave tops on or emove them as you wish)
1 small handful of sunflower sprouts
1/4-3/4 cups of pumpkin seeds raw (More nuts the creamier texture)
2 chopped red plums
1 handful of fresh parsley or fresh cilantro
1/2 large peeled cucumber
1/4 cup of water.

In a blender add 2 ingredients to the water blend. Add 2 more ingredients until all are blended completely. Serve. Optional: chill.
Serves 2-4 depending on size of bowl. Have extra? Pour into a ball or other glass jar and store in the refrigerator. Freezing in a ziplock bag is also a consideration. The frozen soup can be chopped in to cubes and added to other sauces or sops as well.

Gardening in NM, at least in my yard is far more challenging. Yet I am building the soil and do enjoy the process.

I follwed the links today and have many new recipes and recipe sites for you. If you like gardening and susatainability, please also visit my recent blogs at: http://lifetipsdaily.com

Here’s 2 recipes: From Tom Armstrong’s Raw Vegan Source
www.rawvegansource.com

Enjoy!
Perfect Chocolate Mousse
1/2 cup pitted soft dates
3-4 T agave
1 T cold-pressed coconut oil (optional)
1 1/2 T non-alcohol vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups mashed avocado (about 3 medium avocados)
3/4 cup raw carob powder
4-6 T cacao powder (or additional carob powder)
Soak the dates in 1/2 fresh water for 5-10 minutes to soften. Drain the soak water and set aside. In a food processor, blend dates, maple syrup, coconut oil (if desired), and vanilla until smooth. Spoon in avocado and blend until smooth. Add a few tablespoons of date soak water if necessary to aid in blending. Spoon in carob and cacao powder and blend until smooth.
Spoon mousse into parfait or wine glasses. Keeps fresh for several days.
Coconut Smoothie
Juice of 1 fresh young coconut
Meat of 1 fresh young coconut
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1 t non-alcohol vanilla or inside scrapings of 1 vanilla bean
1 T mesquite pod meal
1/2 T lucama powder
2 T dark agave (or to taste)
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 T bee pollen
1/4 cup or more of cacao nibs or powder (optional)
6-9 ice cubes
Open young coconut. Pour coconut water in Vita Mix and add coconut meat. Put all other ingredients (except ice cubes) into Vita Mix and bring to high. Run for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, then add ice cubes and continue on high for a minute. Pour into glasses and serve.
Other possible ingredients: maca, fruits, goji berries, Raw Power, acai powder, etc.

Whiting Fillets
p 32 of the art of Irish Cooking, M.S.

This recipe is mostly for children and healthy adults.
4 tblsps of flour
1/2 teasppon of baking powder
Salt and Pepper
A pinch of herbs
1/4 cup of cold water
4 small whiting fillets
Hot oil for frying

Mix the flour, baking powder, seaonings, and herbs with the water ( no lumps please) until you have a batter the consistency of thick cream. Put the fillets into this aaaaand when they are coated, one by one drop them into a pan of smoking-hot oil. The batter will puff up and become very crisp, while the fish is moist and succulent inside.

Fried Herrings
2 herrings
2 tbsps Irish Oatmeal
Butter for frying
Coarse Salt (Celtic Salt)
Roll the fresh herrings in oatmeal. Fry in a thick pan that has been coated and greased with butter. Drain on a piece of paper and season with coarse salt. Serve with lemon wedges.

Broiled Herrings
2 herrings
A little dry mustard
Salt
Rub the fish with mustard and broil over a clear fire.Season with salt. This is nicest when done in the open air.

Herring Roes
There are 2 distincy types of roe. There is gritty roes with thousands of tiny eggs from the female. There is soft milky roe from the male. Both are great.
1 pound of herring roes
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup flour
Butter for frying
Lemon juice, black pepper
Toss the roes in the salted flour. Fry gently in butter in heavy frying pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice and black pepper. Serve on rounds of buttered toast.

Let’s start with a tradional:
Irish Brown Bread #1 Monica Sheridan Ingredients:

4 c Stone Ground
Whole wheat flour
2 c White flour
1 1/2 ts Salt
1 1/2 ts Baking soda
2 c Buttermilk or sweet milk

——————————————————————————–
Irish Brown Bread #1 Monica Sheridan Instructions:

Mix the whole wheat flour throughly with the white flour, salt, and soda.
Make a well in the center and gradually mix in the liquid.
Stir with a wooden spoon.
You may need lass, or more liquid - it depends on the absorbent quality of the flour.
The dough should be soft but managable.
Knead the dough into a ball in the mixing bowl with your floured hands.
Put on a lightly floured baking sheet and with the palm of your hand flatten out in a circle 1 1/2 inches thick.
With a knife dipped in flour, make a cross through the center of the bread so that it will easily break into quarters when it is baked.
Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake a further 15 minutes.
If the crust seems too hard, wrap the baked bread in a damp tea cloth.
Leave the loaf standing upright until it is cool.
The bread should not be cut until it has set - about 6 hours after it comes out of the oven.

By Monica Sheridan

Irish Soda Bread #2 Monica Sheridan Ingredients:

1 tb Butter
4 c White flour
1 ts Salt
1 ts Baking soda
1 c Buttermilk or sweet milk

——————————————————————————–
Irish Soda Bread #2 Monica Sheridan Instructions:

Rub the butter into the flour.
Add the salt and soda, mix all well together by running the dry ingredients through your fingers.
Add the buttermilk (or sweet milk) and stir into a soft dough with a wooden spoon.
With your floured hands, knead the dough lightly into a ball and turn out onto a lightly floured baking sheet.
Flatten the dough into a circle 1 1/2 inches thick with the palm of your hand.
Make a cross in the center with a floured knife.
Bake at 425 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

http://www.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=15785

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/megabites/2009/06/
Monica Sheridan was Ireland’s first TV cook and the author of Monica’s Kitchen, published in Dublin in 1963 (and a terrific little book that still commands respect). She had a passion for real food and wrote brilliantly. I was reminded of this when I was contemplating the snails in the garden today. Her account of cooking the Irish snail is a classic piece of writing and brilliantly funny. I should add that I quite like snails. Anyway, here it is.

A SURFEIT OF SNAILS
Danyele, a young French girl, spent a holiday with us in Ireland some years ago. It was one of those ecstatic summers that we still remember with nostalgia. The sun shone, day after day; for three months.

A short time before she left for home, we had our first shower of rain in two months. The snails, surprised by this good fortune, came out of their hiding places in battalions to graze on the lawn.

“Escargots!” said Danyele in raptures. “They are so delicious, specially with the butter a la Bourguignonne.

“But you can’t eat those snails,” I said. “They’re ordinary snails, not like the special snails you get in France.”

“It makes no matter. These are les petits gris. We cook them in Corsica all the time. It is very mad not to eat escargots. They cost you nothing except the butter, and they are very well.”

Well, anything for peace. We collected a box of snails and left them overnight, hoping to starve the harm out of them. I, for one, went uneasily to bed. Next morning the brutes, instead of being shyly curled up in their shells, were rampant and entwined round each other in what was, probably, a farewell embrace. I have rarely seen a less mouth-watering sight.

Danyele poked and prodded them with elegant, manicured fingers. “That one, he is very well, you think?” she said holding up a particularly unappetizing bull snail. What could I reply but that he looked lovely? After some more engaging comments, she proceeded to wash the snails (which were, all the time, half-in and half-out of their shells) with the abandon of any young girl rinsing out her dainty “smalls”. To my horror, she was called away before she got any further with the operation, but she looked so disappointed that promised to take over if she told me what to do. Here are the instructions, exactly as I got them:

“Wash the snails in several waters and put them in the water during two hour with big salt, vinegar and a pinch of flour. Wash again with big water the snails, and make them white during five minutes in boiling water. Drain them and make them become fresh. Put away the flesh from the shells. Cut away the black part which is at the end of the animal.

“Put them after, the snails in a pan. Wet them with half white wine and half soup, this liquid in sufficient quantity to cover them. Put in this liquid carrots, onions and a strong bouquet garni. Salt them and cook with a little ebullition during three or four hours. Make them become cold where they have cooked. Make boil during half an hour the shells empty in water with crystals of soda. Drain them. Wash them with fresh water and dry them. Put in the bottom of the shells butter a la Boruguignonne. Put the snails in the shell and fill this last with the butter a la B.

“The proportions have been established like this for one hundred snails of well big. Add to 100 grammes of very fine butter this ingredients: 10 grammes of eschalots well chopped, 2 cloves of garlic chopped and put in dough, two strong spoons of parsley, seasoned. Add 24 grammes salt and 4 grammes pepper and well mix them.”

As you can see, Escargots a la Bourguignonne is no cake-walk.

I was left with the snails washed in big water. I lifted them out with a strainer. I have a revulsion against handling snails that are half-out of their shells. “God help us, they’d put you in mind of goats with the horns sticking up,” said Mary, my maid, eyeing them from a safe distance.

I put them into a basin with a handful of salt, a dash of vinegar, and some water. When I came back, two hours later, the snails were in their shells (dead, I presume), and the basin was filled with drifts of congealed slime. I washed them again in many waters and threw them into boiling water to blanch them. After the blanching, I was faced with the job of taking the snails out of their shells. This operation was performed with a darning needle. They came out in as neat a curl as ever you saw. They reminded me of miniature tubas with the wide lip at the top. (Unfortunately, they also reminded me of snails.)

I followed the instructions and put them to cook with the white wine, the onions and the rest of the paraphanalia. They went on cooking for about three hours. In the meantime, the shells were boiled in washing soda and then rinsed in big water, and I now turned my mind to the butter a la Bourguignonne. Well, that’s easy anyhow. It’s just butter (about a half pound of it), pounded garlic and shallot, parsley and salt and pepper.

I forgot to mention that I took the precaution of buying two dozen of the French tinned snails (which are sold complete with snails), so that we would have them for comparison.

The day is wearing on now. It is now 6.30 p.m. and I have been at the snails almost continuously since 10.30 this morning. The Sheridan snails are cooling in the water in which they have been cooked, the French snails are awaiting the moment when they will be re-assembled in Ireland. Over-blown, beige French snails lie beside their tabby Irish counterparts. Fat French slugs overshadow the delicate Irish molluscs.

The big moment arrives when the snail is again wedded to shell. First, a little butter a la B, then the snail; press firmly with your finger, as though you were filling grandfather’s pipe or scratching a waxy ear. When the snail is well out of sight, fill the shell with more butter a la B. When the shells are filled, put them in a hot oven until the butter begins to bubble and they are ready for the gourmets of the family.

Alas, my story is not yet finished. After all this trouble, it was found that there was no snail cutlery in the house. The best we could do was to unbend some paper-clips and re-fashion them into snail extractors.

Danyele and my husband sucked up the snails with great gusto and assured me that the Irish vaierty had more gout. I toyed with a French and an Irish cousin, but without relish. I never did like snails, no matter what language they spoke. I have always found them tasteless, pretentious and without flavour. Without the garlic butter they are almost uneatable. I know. I tried one in the kitchen. It tasted like a hard-worked baby’s teat.

“We must have snails often,” said my husband, wiping a buttery chin with a freshly laundered napkin.

We must… OVER MY DEAD BODY!

From Monica’s Kitchen, published by Castle Publications, Dublin, 1963

From another page…. Enjoy this introduction…
Monica Sheridan recalls some of the picturesque names under which Irish potatoes have been marked: Golden Wonders, Ulster Chieftains, Aran Banners, irish Queens, Dunbar Rovers, Skerry Champios, and so on — rather reminiscent of athletic team names.