Salad & Salsa

Our granddaughter Amy contributed a couple of very tasty salads at our weekend celebration of our grandson’s 18^th birthday and high school graduation.  Great flavor. Enjoy.

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

1 (14oz) can black beans, drained
1 (11oz) can white corn, drained
1 small jar pimento, drained
1 large green pepper, chopped (you can use red, orange or yellow, too)
1 med. sweet onion chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup veg. oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. Tiger Sauce (Found next to tabasco)
1 avocado chopped

Mix beans, corn, pimento, pepper and onion in a bowl.  Mix sugar, oil vinegar and Tiger Sauce.  Pour sauce over the dip mixture, cover and chill for at least 8 hours.  Drain the mixture and add 1 chopped avocado before serving. 

Bok Choy Salad

1 large or 2 small Bok Choy and 3-4 green onions, chopped and chilled together in plastic bag or bowl

2 pkgs. Ramen Noodles, do not boil, remove spice packet

½ cup sesame seeds

½ cup almonds (slivered or sliced)

½ cup butter

2 Tbls. Sugar

1 cup salad oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 Tbls. Soy sauce

Melt butter in a large fry pan.  Add 2 Tbls. sugar, noodles (broken up). Sesame seeds and almonds.  Toast these ingredients, stirring often so as not to burn.  Can be made ahead and stored in a container.

To make dressing: Combine 1 cup salad oil, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 2 tbls soy sauce and ½ cup sugar in a bottle or jar and shake until sugar is dissolved.  Can be made ahead.

Toss noodle mixture, bok choy and green onions together with dressing 10 minutes before serving in a large salad bowl.

Notes:  The noodle/sesame almond mixture sticks together when cooled so you will need to break it up before adding to the greens.

Add as much of the dressing as you think necessary.

Jambalaya

Jambalaya

Here is the original Jambalaya recipe

(As modified by Carol Schmidt):

¼ pound of bacon cut in 1 inch pieces (from Lee Menus at Wild Turkey Farms)

½ cup finely chopped onions

½ medium-sized green peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch strips (from Sheila Green)

1 cup of raw rice

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

A 1pound 3 ounce can whole pack tomatoes, drained and finely chopped

½ teaspoon of thyme

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 cups of chicken stock, fresh or canned

½ pound of cooked ham cut into 2 –inch by ½-inch strips

1 pound of medium-sized raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh parsley

Before I get into the method of cooking, I want to let you know what I did to change the recipe:

1.    I used the 1 pound-3 oz can of diced tomatoes instead of the whole tomatoes. 

2.  I substituted Chorizo or Andouille sausage for the ham, same amount ½ pound, cut into bite-sized pieces. The sausage was bought from both Lee at Wild Turkey and Amy Foster at Gilcrest Farms from Davidson Market)  

3. I added small clams along with the shrimp, both bought at Piedmont from Jamie at Lucky Fish Seafood. 

4.  If you are making a chicken Jambalaya instead of the fish one, add 2 thighs, deboned  and one boneless chicken breast cut into 1/2 – inch chunks.(chicken from Amy Foster) 

5. I use brown rice 

6. If you are only making one dish you can add shelf fish at the same time you add the chicken breasts and have chicken and shell fish Jambalaya

7. I do not have a casserole dish that is safe to use on the stove top, so I followed the directions, but transferred everything to a baking dish to cook.  This may cut into the cooking time a little bit.

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a 3-4 quart casserole, fry the bacon over moderate heat until it has rendered its fat and is brown but not crisp.  Drain on paper towels and reserve.  

Add the sausages and cook until browned but not burned.  Add to the bacon on paper towels.   

Add the onions to the fat in the pan and cook them for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until they are transparent but not browned. 

Mix in the chicken thighs and cook until browned, but not burned; then add the green pepper strips cook for just a few minutes just as the green peppers are wilting slightly.  

Add the rice and stir until the grains become somewhat opaque and milky.  

Then add the garlic, tomatoes, bacon, thyme, salt, and a few grindings of black pepper, stirring them all together thoroughly.  

Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cover the casserole tightly and place on the lower level of the oven.  

After 10 minutes, add the chicken breast pieces and push down under the rice.  Continue cooking until all of the stock is absorbed and the rice is tender.  If at any point the rice appears dry, add additional hot chicken stock or hot water a few tablespoons at a time.  

Serve from the casserole or mound the Jambalaya on a large, heated platter.  Garnish with the chopped parsley.

Sweet Potato, Bacon & Kale

Sweet Potato, Bacon and Kale

This recipe comes to us from Sheila Greene, and comes with great enthusiasm.

Ingredients:

6-8 slices of bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled

1 medium diced white onion

1 large clove garlic

1 TBL fresh chopped Thyme (optional)

1 medium large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

5-6 cups chopped fresh kale (tougher center ribs removed before chopping)

1 15-ounce can of white beans, well drained

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Use a large, heavy bottomed pan to cook 6-8 pieces of bacon until they are crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

Pour off most of the rendered fat, but not all of it. Add the diced onion and minced garlic to the pan and the fresh chopped thyme.

Heat until onions are soft, remove from pan and place in a small bowl. Now add to the pan the sweet potatoes and the chicken or vegetable stock, enough to cover halfway up the potatoes. Place a tight-fitting lid on top and turn heat to high.

After 5-6 minutes, add the kale and the white beans. Stir and replace top.

Continue cooking while making certain the mixture does not dry out, adding more stock if necessary. When the kale is nicely wilted, add the onions back into the mixture, add the crumbled bacon and stir into the mix.

Serve and Enjoy!!

Paleo Short Ribs

 

This recipe comes to us from one of the colleagues of Amy Foster at Gilcrest Farms.

3 lbs Gilcrest grass fed beef short ribs

2 onions, sliced

¾ cup tomato paste

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup water

1 TBL coconut aminos*

3 TBL mustard powder

1 TBL organic honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Place sliced onions at bottom of a crock pot, place short ribs on top. Whisk together remaining ingredients to make a sauce. Pour sauce on top of short ribs. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.

*-- When the coconut tree is tapped, out comes a nutrient-rich sap or juice that comes from the coconut blossoms. The sap is abundant in minerals, vitamin C, amino acids and B vitamins. The coconut aminos are either evaporated at low temperature after they are collected or undergo fermentation, which can take up to a year Coconut Aminos is a substitute for Tamari, or soy sauce,  for marinades, dressings sauces and stir-fries.

Crockpot Beef A L'Orange

Crockpot Beef a L’Orange

This recipe was provided by Amy Foster of Gilcrest Farms, that wonderful supplier of chickens, eggs, beef and other sumptuous products.

1 lb Gilcrest stir fry beef

½ cup teriyaki sauce (or ¼ cup tamari + ¼ cup brown sugar + ¼ cup rice vinegar)

½ cup orange marmalade

1 tp each minced garlic and fresh ginger

1 red pepper,  cut in ½ inch thick strips

6 ounces snow peas, strings removed

4 scallions, thinkly sliced

In the insert of the crockpot, whisk together teriyaki sauce, marmalade, garlic and ginger. Place your sliced beef in the liquid and toss to coat. Turn crockpot on low and cook for 4 hours. After 4 hours, remove about 4 TBL of liquid from the crockpot and whisk in some cornstarch. Return to the crockpot and stir to mix well. Add snow peas and peppers on top and cook on low for an additional 30 minutes. To thicken the sauce and steam veggies. Serve over hit rice and topo with scallions and perhaps a few orange slices. Enjoy!

Chicken Stock

Gilcrest Chicken Stock

Amy Foster of Gilcrest Farms offers her recipe for creating a delicious chicken stock for soups, to flavor rice, creating a wonderful aromatic gravy, or to make the sniffles go away.

 

Ingredients

One  package of Gilcrest chicken backs

One package of Gilcrest chicken necks

One teaspoon each of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

One bay leaf

One TBL of apple cider vinegar

Preparation

Roast chicken backs and necks in a roasting pan in the oven at 350 degrees (F) for 30-45 minutes. When they smell divine and are browning, they are ready.

Boil water in a stockpot and move the chicken parts to the stockpot with enough water to cover the bones. Pour a little hot water in the roasting pan and loosen any brown bits from the pan. Pour this golden liquid into the stockpot.

Add the salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for at least 60 minutes, two hours is even better. Let the stock cool and then remove the bones and skim if needed. If you want a darker brown stock, add one TBL of Soy Sauce or Tamari (decrease the salt).

Package and freeze or begin the make your soup.

Enjoy!

One of Gilcrest's local experts (below) in the Art of Soup-Making, has been known to oversee preparation when necessary:

 

Moussaka

As we were buying egg plant at Sheila and Johnny Greene's this morning, we got into a discussion of using the egg plant in moussaka, one of very favorite dishes. It has such a rich, wonderful flavor that we thought it necessary to share with our vast readership . . .

Here is the recipe for Moussaka that Carol uses.  ** Please see note about freezing part of the full recipe.

 

The basic recipe is lifted from the "Great Cooking: The Best Recipes from The Time-Life Books ", a venerable, ancient cookbook series no longer in print. 

This recipe serves 6-8 people. You can make the whole recipe and then cook only the portion you would use and see note at bottom about the remaining moussaka. Or  if you only want to make half a recipe, cut everything in half.

 Ingredients

 Three one-pound eggplants, peeled and cut lengthwise into ½ inch slices.

Salt
1 cup of flour
1-2 cups of olive oil( I tend to use less than this)
1 cup of finely sliced onions
2 pounds of ground lamb
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped fine or 1 cup of chopped, drained tomatoes ( I use canned tomatoes)
1 cup of canned tomato puree
1 teaspoon of finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Freshly ground pepper
6 tablespoons freshly grated kefalotiri or Parmesan cheese( I use the parm)

 Rich cream sauce

2 cups of milk

1 tablespoon of butter
3 eggs
¼ cup of flour
½ teaspoon salt
 

To prepare:

Sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt, place them side by side on paper towels, and weight them down with heavy platters or casseroles.  Let the juices drain for 20-30 minutes, then dry the slices with fresh paper towels. Spread the flour on Wax paper or in a dish large enough to hold a few slices at a time and dredge the slices in the flour and tap off any excess.

In a heavy 12-inch skillet, heat enough of the olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  When it is hot, but not smoking, place a few eggplant slices at a time in the skillet, being careful to leave enough room between the slices so you can turn them as they brown, about a minute or two per side, watching to be sure they do not burn.  When they are browned enough, transfer the slices onto clean paper towels to drain.  Add more olive oil as needed.  Continue with the browning until all the slices are browned.

In the same skillet, put a bit more olive oil in the skillet, and heat over a moderate heat.  Add the onions and stir frequently; cook them for 8-10 minutes or until they are soft and lightly colored. Stir in the ground lamb,  mashing it with the back of a spoon, to break up any lumps, and cook until no traces of pink show.  Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, oregano, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of salt and a few grindings of black pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Stirring frequently, cook briskly until most of the liquid in the pan evaporates and the mixture is thick enough to hold its shape almost solidly in the spoon.  This will take about 30 minutes or so.  Taste for seasoning. 

While the meat mixture is cooking, prepare the sauce. 

Heat 1 ½ cups of the milk and the butter in a small pan until bubbles appear around the edges. Remove from the heat.  In a heavy 2-3 quart saucepan, beat the eggs with a wire whisk,  blend in the flour, the salt and remaining ½ cup of milk and whisk until smooth.  Place the saucepan over moderate heat and, stirring constantly with the whisk, slowly add the milk mixture in a thin stream.  Still stirring, cook until the sauce thickens heavily, this may take about 7-10 minutes.  When thick enough, set the sauce off to the side. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  To assemble the moussaka, spread half the eggplant slices in overlapping rows in the bottom of a 14-9-3 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle the slices evenly with 2 tablespoons of the grated cheese, and pour the lamb mixture evenly over the slices being sure to spread to the corners of the dish, using a rubber spatula.   Arrange the rest of the eggplant slices  on top and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the cheese. Pour the cream sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes, then increase the heat to 400 degrees F and bake for an additional 15 minutes  or so to brown the top.  Let the moussaka rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving it. 

** If you make the full recipe but will only use half of it, place the moussaka in two dishes.  Cook one and at this point, once it has cooled, cover the second dish tightly with foil and freeze to use another time.

 

And I know, now that your taste buds are fully alert, that you would love to know about wine pairings with the Moussaka. The Moussaka is so rich and flavorful that it needs a red wine, but not one that is too heavy. Here are some suggestions:

 

Tempranillo: A wine with black plum, boysenberry, and secondary flavors of pepper and vanilla

Syrah/Shiraz: A red wine with blackberry, plum, and pepper.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape: A spicy red wine with ripe flavors of black fruit, coffee, and pepper.

 

So, relax and savor the Moussaka and wine. You might even want to toss up a nice Greek Salad, but perhaps we can add that later.