Jamaican Inspiration - Spicy Chicken Soup

 

Inspiration

• I wanted to make chicken soup because it was feeling like winter today after a very mild winter
• I wanted it to have a warm quality and wondered about putting allspice in it. I did some searching  in the Flavor Bible for pairing thyme, marjoram (herbs I usually put in chicken soup), and allspice. Marjoram wasn’t listen, neither was celery which I usually use. So I was down to carrot, onion, thyme, and allspice. I decided to also use black pepper, bay, and a habanero I’ve had in the fridge for a while. 
• I was thinking dumplings, so I googled Jamaican dumplings soup, and found some recipes. I noticed a lot use pumpkin.

Spicy Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1yellow onion, quartered
• 2 carrots, cut into large pieces
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 6 allspice berries
• 1-2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 habanero pepper, cut in half
• 1 whole chicken
• 3 Yukon potatoes
• 1/2 a buttercup squash
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice  

        Method

• In a large, heavy stock pot heat the oil over medium high heat.
• Add the onion, carrot, thyme, allspice berries, black peppercorns, salt, and habanero and sauté until fragrant. 
• Add the chicken and brown on all sides.
• Add enough water to bring to cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce heat to bring to a simmer, partially cover with a lid and let simmer until chicken is tender and falling off the bones.
• Remove the chicken to a plate to allow to cool
• Strain the broth and set aside.
• In the stockpot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat.
• Add the garlic, thyme, and ground allspice and cook to fragrant 
• Add the potatoes, squash, and broth and bring to a boil.
• Reduce to a gentle boil and cook until vegetables are tender.
• While vegetables are cooking, remove the meat from the bones and break into pieces.
• When vegetables are tender, add the chicken, and heat through. 
• Serve

 

Ukrainian Inspiration

Inspiration

• I had a beet root and horseradish salad at Veselka in NYC and wanted to try my hand at it. I found this recipe which I used for guidance. I couldn’t find fresh horseradish, so used prepared.
• I wanted to make a pork tenderloin to go with it. A Ukrainian friend once made me vareniki with potato, dill, and feta. I also love dill with beets. So, I decided to bring dill into my marinade. For pork, I also like a marinade with mustard and so I incorporated that as well. 

Beet and horseradish salad

Ingredients

• 4 beets, trimmed and washed (about 400 g) 
• 3 tbsp prepared horseradish 
• 20 g apple cider vinegar 
• 20 g sugar 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Method

• Place beets in a medium pot and cover with water. 
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down a bit to retain a gentle boil.
• Cook until beets are knife tender (20-40 min). 
• If they are different sizes, you might take out the smaller ones to cool while the larger continue to cook. 
• You might have to top up with more water and bring back to a boil.
• Remove beets from water and set aside to cool
• Once cool, peel the beets and then grate into a medium bowl
• Add remaining ingredients and stir well. 
• Set aside to allow flavors to blend before eating.

Dill Mustard Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

Marinade

• 5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 heaping tbsp whole grain mustard
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp dill weed
• Large pinch salt
• Generous amount of pepper

Remaining ingredients 

• Pork tenderloin
• Olive oil  
• 4 tbsp labneh
• 1 tsp whole grain mustard
• 2 tsp dill weed
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Method

• Whisk together marinade ingredients in a large bowl. 
• Add tenderloin and rub well with marinade and push down until submerged as much as possible. 
• Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Turn occasionally.
• Mix together labneh, mustard, dill weed, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
• When ready to start cooking, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Remove pork from refrigerator.
• Once the oven is heated, heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat
• Add a generous amount of olive oil to the pan and let warm.
• Remove pork from marinade and put into the cast iron.
• Brown on each side
• Place cast iron into the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes
• Turn pork and set a timer for 10 -15 minutes
• Cook until pork is 145 in the thickest part.
• Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
• To serve, smear a scoop of the labneh onto the plate and top with slices of tenderloin.

Leftover Cornbread

A couple days ago I posted about the Easter dinner I made for my friend and myself. This morning I realized I still had some of the cornbread sitting on the counter. Now, I love cornbread, but when it sits around a few days it gets a little old tasting. I have been known to use the leftovers to make stuffing (and I guess I've never blogged that because I can't find a post... weird). But, since it was morning and I was looking to have some breakfast, not plan dinner, I revived my days old cornbread by cutting it in half, slathering it with butter, and pan frying it until it was golden and delicious. I also realized I was out of syrup, so I improvised and made molasses honey to pour over the top of the cornbread. Voila, simple, delicious breakfast made with what I had in the house.

Cornbread with Molasses Honey

day old cornbread, sliced in half
butter
1/4 c honey
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
pinch of salt

Butter the cut faces of the cornbread and put in a skillet over medium heat.
Fry the cornbread until golden, then flip.
Briefly fry the cornbread on the other side, then remove from the pan.
While the cornbread is frying, in a small sauce pan, heat the honey, molasses, and salt over medium heat.
Once warm and salt is dissolved, remove from heat.
On a plate, place your cornbread and drizzle with the molasses honey.

Roast Chicken and Collard Greens

I've been living in Maine for nearly six years now. When I think about that, it seems crazy. One of the things that has made living here much easier is the proximity of my older brother and sister-in-law, which was the result of one of those life coincidences. About the same time I got a job here, my brother got an opportunity to expand his artist's skills down in Massachusetts. So, I moved to Maine and he and my sister-in-law move to Massachusetts. It is nice to have them so close because my entire family can only get together so many times a year. I typically spend the less important holidays, like Thanksgiving and Easter, with them. But, there have been times where for some reason or another I don't make it down to spend even those holidays with them. In those instances, one of my friends invites me to her family's holiday celebration. I'm always grateful for their generosity (and of course the delicious food they provide).

This past Sunday, while my friend's family had extended another invitation to myself and another friend far from her family, we both felt like having a really quiet Easter dinner. So, I decided to cook dinner for the two of us. Luckily we checked if the stores would be open on Easter, so I was able to get to the store the day before for all my ingredients. Actually, I ended up at 4 stores because the 3 stores before the last did not have any fresh mint on hand. I'm not sure why other people needed mint; I doubt they were all planning to make minted carrots like I was. (That's another on of those delicious Eula Mae recipes I mentioned previously in this blog). Along with minted carrots, I roasted a chicken (sort of based on the Eula Mae recipe) and made cornbread (also Eula Mae) and collard greens. My friend shared a delicious bottle of red wine she got while in Turkey and we finished the meal with hazelnut gelato. All in all, it was a delicious meal (if I do say so myself).

Roast Chicken

1 5 pound chicken, washed and patted dry
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
6 shallots, ends trimmed off and sliced in half (you can leave the skins on)
2 bay leaves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a small sauce pan, melt the butter with the thyme and sage over low heat and then set aside to cool slightly.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan.
Mix the salt, cayenne, black and white peppers.
Rub the salt and pepper mixture on the skin of the chicken and between the skin and meat.
Stuff the cavity with the shallots and bay leaves.
Rub the outside of the chicken with the butter mixture and then place it breast side down in the roasting pan.
Place the chicken in the oven and roast between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until fully cooked.
Remove from roasting pan and place on a platter for serving.

Collard Greens

1 tbsp oil
2 - 1/4 inch slices salt pork, cubed
2 large bunches collard greens, stemmed, sliced into 2 inch strips, and washed thoroughly
1/2 tsp raw sugar

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Add the salt pork and cook, stirring occasionally until browned (bottom of the pan might brown as well, but that should come up once the greens are added).
Add the greens, stir, and cover.
Turn heat down to medium.
Let greens cook until desired tenderness, stirring occasionally (be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get up the browned bits).
Sprinkle sugar on greens and cover for a couple more minutes, then stir and serve.

Spicy Sofrito and Black Bean Soup

Thinking back on my childhood, I think I pinpoint my now sister-in-law's entry into our family as the moment where our culinary world expanded. I refer to both an exposure to new foods and flavors and to the culture around sharing food. Growing up, my mother and my sister-in-law's parents made almost every meal from scratch. My guess it was both family tradition and economically driven. It's much cheaper to feed your family home cooked meals than pre-made ones (well, it was. Now I'm not sure if that is still the case). During college my sister-in-law would get a craving for something my Mom would make and tell my brother that they needed to buy celery so that they could make "white people food." It was and still is funny because so many of our meals growing up really did start with a base of onions, celery, ground beef, and salt and pepper. My sister-in-law's family, being Puerto Rican, started most dishes with sofrito, adobo, oregano, cumin, and a smattering of other seasonings. Despite eating a lot of Puerto Rican food over the years and watching both my sister-in-law and her parents cook, I still haven't been able to capture the flavors properly in my own house.

When it came to dinner time, we always sat down as a family to eat, as I believe my sister-in-law's family did as well. In our home, someone would serve up food for each person, giving them the amount they wanted. If we wanted seconds, we served ourselves. In my sister-in-law's family, someone serves the food, but typically gives you more than you ask for. When your plate nears empty, someone offers you more. My sister-in-law told me that one of the first times she ate dinner at our home, she left hungry because while she wanted more food, she was never offered any more and she didn't feel comfortable serving herself more even while the rest of us grabbed seconds. Over the years, we have shared many meals and while our tendencies in how we gather and share food may not have changed much, we have become more accustomed to our differences, small as they may be.

As we all grow and explore the world around us, we have been exposed to more styles of cooking and have incorporated those into our lives. My brother and sister-in-law lived in Japan for a couple years and brought back a passion for the Japanese style of cooking. Growing up, we almost never ate fish because we lived in Wisconsin and nobody in my family went fishing. After they returned from Japan, the family started eating fish with more regularity and occasionally we will make miso soup, ginger chicken, or tonkatsu. I lived in China, where a friend and her mother taught myself and a couple other foreigners how to make baozi. For the last couple years, my family has made baozi for our Christmas Eve dinner. This time intensive meal goes quickly when everyone is chipping in to help roll the dough and form the buns. My other sister-in-law, wife of my younger brother, is a vegetarian which has introduced more non-meat options to our family gatherings. When you grow up with every meal being based on a meat and starch, learning to cook delicious vegetarian meals definitely has a learning curve.

As I drove to the grocery store tonight pondering what to cook for this week, I had a craving for Puerto Rican beans. But, me being me and me not really having mastered Puerto Rican food, I made up my own style of sofrito. Below is the recipe for the sofrito and the black bean soup.

Spicy Sofrito

2 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 bell pepper, cored and quartered
1 head of garlic, peeled
8 small shallots, peeled
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo
2 cherry peppers, stems removed and halved
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch cilantro

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Place in jars and either refrigerate or freeze.

Black Bean Soup

1 c spicy sofrito
1 1/2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 small jar pimentos with juice
2 tbsp slices green olives with juice
2-4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
adobo to taste
3 28 oz cans of low sodium black beans
2 cans of water
2 tsp chicken better than bullion

Place spicy sofrito, tomato sauce, pimentos with juice, green olives with juice, oregano, cumin, and adobo (sprinkle back and forth across the bottom of the pan twice) in the bottom of a large stock pot. Turn heat to medium-high and cook until fragrant. Add the black beans, water, and chicken bullion. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully use an immersion blender to blend smooth. Serve hot.

Campfire Fajitas

Shepherd's Pie at The Liberal Cup in Hallowell, ME

Beer at the Liberal Cup in Hallowell, ME.

Finished Pasta

Pasta in Process

Expanding the Theme

For anyone that may stumble upon this blog or may glance at it occasionally, you'll notice that almost every post so far has been a recipe. And I find that I don't blog very often because while I love food and cooking, just like everyone else I get into ruts or obsessions or convenience patterns that mean that I don't have any new recipes to share with you. This means that I sorely neglect my blog and that frustrates me at times. (This post is going to be like every other post, minus a recipe, in how I explain the random things that influenced the end product, just like my cooking).

I've also recently discovered Ill Doctrine, which speaks to me in ways that many things in my current life don't. I realized that I miss my academic side, the one that pays attention the the world around herself and reads nonfiction books regularly. The one that thinks critically about subjects that matter to her. I discovered this part of myself during high school listening to Rage Against the Machine. Their lyrics and political activism led me to think critically about the world around me. Throughout my college and grad career, I focused on learning more about the varied history of the United States, especially focused on the Black Freedom Movement and other similar fights for equality and recognition. As I became focused on my career (totally unrelated to any of this), I lost sight of this part of myself and Jay Smooth's witty, intelligent and insightful commentary has reminded me of it.

As I have become more of a "foodie," I've found that my background in history has influenced how I seek out new recipes and knowledge. When I have a chance to pick it up, I adore reading through Gastronomica. Whenever I find myself in a bookstore, I'm not only looking at cookbooks, but also books that deal with historical and social aspects of food. If it's a used bookstore, I'm looking for old cookbooks. As a result, I've had this idea running in my head for a while that I want to explore the world of culinary history, but in relation to the racial, social, and political history of the US. So far, this has resulted in my buying culinary history books when I run across them in stores, but the READING of those books has been lacking.

So my idea is to expand what I write about on this blog and to attempt to blog more often (ha, we'll see how that goes; I've said that before). I'm going to write about things I'm reading (both history and current events) and my thoughts and questions about them. Most likely what you'll read here won't be hard and fast opinions, but rather my reflections or initial reactions to these things. I'm open to broadening my perspective, so if you read something I've written and agree or disagree, let me know. I just ask that you be respectful of others (not just myself) when posting any comments. (I've seen far too many comments sections online become festering areas of hatred and misunderstanding due to harshly worded snap judgements).

Without further ado, here is my first foray into this expansion of my blog's theme:

I recently read this blog post about a now derelict human zoo in Paris recently. I couldn't help but wonder if modern day tourists are any better than the people who went to this exhibition around the turn of the century. People who travel, especially to "exotic" locations, tend to be of a certain socioeconomic status and this also tends to mean they are white Americans which carries its own sense of superiority or privilege that, if not carefully monitored, can lead to the former.

Working in a field that deals with a lot of people who travel, I see a wide range of behaviors. People's behaviors toward food while traveling is quite telling. There are people who will only eat at American chains when abroad, unsure of and sometimes distrusting of local cuisines. Along a similar line, there are those people who will only stay in resorts that provide a high level of familiarity and comfort. If the restaurants do offer local cuisine, it tends to be (like the rest of the resort experience) molded into something familiar to tourists' palates. There are also tourists who try to seek out the true local cuisine while traveling (I'm one of these, I love exploring new foods). However, it could be argued that restaurants are a far cry from a true expression of a cuisine. I would know; my mother cooked from scratch my entire childhood and I've never had anything at a restaurant that captures the same essence of my mother's cooking. There are also people who want a "true" experience and will seek out a way to interact with people in a more intimate manner, preferably through home stays or simply making friends and going to their homes to eat. These varied attitudes towards local cuisines could also be applied to interactions with all other aspects of the culture and the people.

I wonder if, in a tourist role, it is entirely possible to have an open and honest experiential dialog with the culture you have chosen to visit. In all roles, you are coming to the experience expecting the host culture to be a certain way, whether it be a frightening, foreign entity that you're not entirely sure you actually want to know or it be an authentic expression of what you think the culture is. In all manners, the people and the culture become something that you consume. You expect to absorb something and to take something away, but rarely is traveling thought of a dialog. This is where I start to feel like modern day tourists end up being quite similar to the people who visited Paris's human zoo in the early 1900s. I can see the people going to this exhibition of other peoples and cultures with the variety of perspectives that we currently display when traveling, but not seeing the experience as a dialog. They were there to observe, judge, and experience, but they weren't necessarily there to see these people and their cultures as anything but what they had been taught to expect.

This is not to say that I believe that going to another place and consuming another culture is entirely equivalent to moving people from their homeland into a farcical representation of it in another country. This seems more exploitative. However, I would be very interested to know the situations around these people moving into these replicas of what was deemed their cultures. Were they forced? Coerced? Willing? What happened to them once the "human zoo" was shut down? How did they view their position and their role at the park? It's easy to demonize the French empire, but it is a double edged sword in that it removes all sense of agency from the people who inhabited the park. By doing this, are we any better than their contemporaries since we are seeing them as objects without any free will or power in their situation? If anyone knows of anything written about these people, I would be interested in reading more.

White Beans with Roasted Pepper and Tomatillos

This summer has been keeping me quite busy. I've spent nights and days at my friend's camp, gone to the beach, seen a play in the park, gone out a lot, and taken my dog for countless off leash walks on the Eastern Prom. The weather has been wonderfully hot, so I've been eating a lot of fresh vegetables and hummus. This weekend was more mild, so I took the time this afternoon to make a couple things that required the oven. The recipe below is loosely based on Puerto Rican stewed beans my sister-in-law makes and includes tomatillos, that I wanted to try cooking with again. I was happy with the results.

White Beans with Roasted Pepper and Tomatillos

4 medium tomatillos, husked and washed
1 red bell pepper, washed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp oregano
adobo to taste
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cans water
1 tsp chicken bouillon
2 tomatoes, cored and chopped
1/4 c chopped cilantro

Set your oven to broil.
Put tomatillos in a cast iron pan and put under the broiler.
Place the pepper under the broiler, turning as the skin blackens.
Once tomatillos are soft and charred on the top, remove from the oven. Place the tomatillos on a plate and scrape out the very burnt juice, but not all of it. Let the tomatillos cool and then chop.
Once the pepper is blackened on all sides, remove from oven and put in a bath of cold water. Once cool, peel, remove the seeds, and then chop.
With the cast iron pan on a burner set to medium, add the olive oil.
Once the olive oil is hot, add the shallots and cook until soft and starting to brown, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
Add the cumin seeds, oregano, and adobo and cook until fragrant.
Add beans, water, chicken bouillon, tomatoes, chopped bell pepper and chopped tomatillos.
Bring to a boil and the reduce to a simmer.
Cook, stirring frequently, for about 30 minutes or until the water boils down and becomes thick.
Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro.
Serve hot.

Salad with Thai Peanut Dressing

This recipe is credited to my mother, who upon finding herself headed to a Midwest barbecue (read: lots of unhealthy food), wanted to make a vegetable heavy dish that she could nibble on without worry. My younger brother also gets a shout out because he was the one that introduced us to Thai pizza, which is delicious. My mother took the sauce and used it as a dressing over a mix of vegetables. What is below is a rough estimate of what I put in my own version tonight. (At some point I will invest in a camera so that I can share images of these dishes with you).

Salad with Thai Peanut Dressing

3 chicken quarters
1/2 head red cabbage, sliced thin
1 tsp salt
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin 2 inch strips
2 small broccoli stems, sliced into thin 2 inch strips
1 1/2 cups 1-inch pieces snow peas
2 c bean sprouts
5 carrots, julienned
4 green onions, green parts only sliced thin
1/4 c peanut butter (I used smooth, natural)
2 tbsp hoisin sauce, heaping
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce, heaping
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 tbsp water
chopped peanuts for garnish

Place chicken quarters in a pot and cover with water.
Put over high heat and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a low boil and let cook until cooked through.
While chicken is boiling, place red cabbage in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt.
Toss to coat and let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Chop remaining ingredients and place in a large serving bowl.
In a small sauce pan, mix together peanut butter, hoisin sauce, teriyaki sauce, maple syrup, red pepper flakes, onion, ginger, garlic, and water.
Put dressing over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
Let dressing simmer for a few minutes, then remove from heat.
Once chicken is done, remove from heat, drain, and let cool before handling.
Place cabbage in a salad spinner and cover with water.
Stir cabbage around to remove salt, then drain and spin dry.
Add cabbage to large serving bowl.
Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove skin and remove meat from bones.
Chop meat into small pieces and add to serving bowl.
Pour dressing over the top and toss until everything is coated.
You can serve at this point or chill it before serving.
When serving, sprinkle top with chopped peanuts.

Asparagus-Kohlrabi Fry

Here is another foray into my obsession with dill. The recipe was a combination of cravings (bacon, dill and capers) and what I had in my house (asparagus, garlic ramps, and kohlrabi). This is one of those dishes that was completely random and ended up a huge success. The combination of ingredients may not be common, but let me tell you that it goes very well together.

Asparagus-Kohlrabi Fry

1 tbsp olive oil
15 3 inch strips of thick cut, peppered bacon
1 c garlic ramps cut into 1 inch pieces
1 kohlrabi, peeled, cut into quarters lengthwise and then sliced thin
1 large bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
1 tbsp dill
2 tbsp capers
salt and pepper to taste

Spread olive oil in the bottom of a cold cast iron pan. Add the bacon and then turn the heat to medium to medium-low.
Cook until the bacon is crispy, turning frequently. Remove the bacon from the pan.
Add the garlic ramps and cook until fragrant.
Add the kohlrabi and cook, stirring occasionally, until kohlrabi is soft and starts to brown.
Add the asparagus and dill and cook until the asparagus is almost done.
Add the capers, cooked bacon, salt and pepper and cook for another minute.
Remove from heat and serve hot.

Dilled Kale

I've recently been experimenting with dill, most likely because I love Hungarian Mushroom Soup and dill dip. Actually, the inspiration for the recipe below probably came from the hot Hungarian sausage I was using; you know, word association. I also figured if dill tastes good as a dip for vegetables, then it will probably taste good with cooked kale. And it was good. It added a subtle flavor to the dish and I think rounded it out nicely.

Dilled Kale

1 tbsp olive oil
1 hot Hungarian sausage link (about 1/3 lb)
1 c chopped onion
1 tbsp dill
2 tsp Hungarian paprika

1 large bunch kale, washed and sliced into 1 inch strips

1 tomato, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a cast iron pan over medium-high heat.
Add the sausage and cook until starting to brown.
Add the onion and cook until starting to brown.
Add the dill and paprika and cook until fragrant.
Add the kale and cook until soft, but not mushy. You may need to cover the pan for a little bit to get the kale to start wilting so that you can turn them. I use a tongs to turn.
Add tomato, salt and pepper and cook until tomato is warm.
Remove from heat and serve hot.

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

I have been in love with Eula Mae's Cajun Kitchen ever since I received it for Christmas one year (I think it was Christmas). I love the rich, spicy food! I have a secret life fantasy of living in Louisiana which mainly consists of scenes of me in 50s style dresses and big hats sipping a bourbon and listening to live jazz music. Every time I cook from her cookbook, I put on some jazz and pour myself a glass of wine and really enjoy the cooking experience. It was a little early for wine today, but it's a long weekend, so instead I made some Coffee by Design coffee (the blend made for Standard Baking), poured in a little Jamaican Rum Cream, and sipped that while I chopped and stirred.

I've become a little more comfortable with the style of cooking, so today I made a couple deviations from her recipe for Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo. I really wanted a tomato flavor, so I added a can of whole tomatoes (chopping them up, as she does for her Jambalaya). Plus, I had some leftover grilled chicken from a small dinner party I had last night and that always makes a great addition to any stew. Finally, I was itching to cook up the andouille sausage I picked up from Karl's Sausage Kitchen down in Boston last weekend. Also, as I mentioned, I love spicy food, so I upped the seasonings a bit. A little burn never hurt anyone.

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

1 tbsp oil
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp flour
2 c chopped onions
1 c chopped green pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 c water
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, tomatoes chopped and liquid reserved
1 tsp chicken bouillon
3 c okra, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
heaping 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
15 - 20 shakes Tabasco sauce
2 c chopped, cooked chicken
1/4 c sliced green onion
cooked rice

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
Add andouille and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
Remove andouille from pot and set aside.
Add 3 tbsp oil and flour to pot and stir constantly until smooth and the color of peanut butter.
Add onions, green pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring until soft (about 5 minutes).
Mix reserved liquid from tomatoes and water and slowly stir into the pot, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen all the brown bits.
Add chicken bouillon and bring to a boil.
Add andouille, chopped tomatoes, okra, black pepper, salt, cayenne, bay leaves and Tabasco sauce.
Bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Add chicken and green onion and cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve over cooked rice.

Edamame Hummus and Pea Shoots Wrap

My new favorite quick meal.

Edamame Hummus and Pea Shoots Wrap

1 whole wheat tortilla wrap
3-4 tbsp edamame hummus
1/4 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 inches cucumber, halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced lengthwise
1 c pea shoots
3 slices sharp cheddar

Heat tortilla wrap for 10 seconds in the microwave.
Spread hummus down the middle 1/3 of the wrap.
Layer pepper, cucumber, pea shoots and cheddar on top.
Fold over each side.
Eat.

Beef and Vegetable Stirfry

There are times when I find myself eating the most random, not-post-worthy foods. Lately, it's been a variety of vegetables with cheese, most likely because that's about all I have in my refrigerator. I even ate popcorn for dinner one night. What can I say, it sounded good! And it was good! My favorite way to make popcorn is to put 1/4 cup of kernels in a brown paper lunch bag, fold the end over a couple times and then microwave using the popcorn setting. Once that's done, I melt some butter in a little dish and pour that over the popcorn, then liberally salt. I absolutely love salt. My theory (unproven by anyone) is that I have low blood pressure and the salt doesn't hurt. Honestly, each time I've had my blood pressure taken, even when very nervous, my blood pressure is on the very low end of the healthy spectrum. I'm not complaining.

Tonight I figured it was time to make something that can actually be called a meal and not randomness-on-a-plate. Trader Joe's recently opened a store in Portland. While I find their pre-packaged produce and too many aisles of prepared foods a little off putting, there are some things I enjoy there. For example, cheap wine, good cheeses, and those cheddar cheese puffs (I try not to buy those too often). I felt that I was getting in a rut at my regular grocery store, so I stopped at Trader instead and actually picked up some of that pre-packaged produce. In all honesty, tonight dinner started with, "I should use that beef I picked up at Tendercrop Farm." Then I spied the tiny zucchini and thought, "If I cut those in half, I bet they would be great in a stirfry." I picked up a red onion, decided to use some of the random vegetables in my fridge, and then grabbed a bottle of wine. (Hey, I was already there...)


Beef and Vegetable Stirfry 
2 tbsp oil
1 lb cubed beef, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 tsp sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp oil
1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thick
1 tbsp oil
6 tiny zucchini, trimmed and cut in half (not lengthwise)
1 summer squash, trimmed and sliced thick
1 1/2 c sugar snap peas
1 c tiny baby carrots
4 tbsp Chinese bean paste (the kind that is salty and sweet)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp raw sugar

Place 2 tbsp oil in a heavy frying pan and place over medium-high to high heat (you'll want the pan to stay very hot, but not so hot that it burns things).
When oil is hot, add beef and stir until cooked through, adding the sichuan peppercorns a couple minutes before it's done.
Place beef in a large bowl.
Add 1 tbsp oil to pan.
When oil is hot (only a couple seconds if your pan is hot enough), add onion and bell pepper and stir until cooked, but still crispy.
Put onion and bell pepper in bowl with beef.
Add 1 tbsp oil to pan.
When oil is hot, add zucchini, summer squash, peas, and carrots and stir until cooked, but still crispy.
Mix the bean paste, rice vinegar, salt and sugar in a small bowl and pour over vegetables.
Add beef, onion, and bell pepper back to the pan and stir to coat.
Remove from heat and place in a large serving bowl and serve.

Strawberry-Mango Smoothie

Another round of smoothies for the next couple days. Actually, it made enough for three days, which is great! Familiar ingredients, but a different flavor.

Strawberry-Mango Smoothie
(about 3 servings)

1 banana, broken into pieces
1 small mango, peeled and chopped
2 c strawberry halves
1/2 c plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp raw honey
3 tsp spirulina
1 c soy milk
1 c carrot juice
1/2 c water

Place all ingredients in a blend and blend until smooth.

Early Spring Salad

Do you ever have one of those days where dinnertime rolls around and all you can think to yourself is, "I want a giant bowl of vegetables and fruit?" I do. Typically it follows a couple days of needing to go shopping and living off of those staples that I keep around but don't eat in large quantities (like nuts, dried fruit, and frozen english muffins... not necessarily together). I went to the store with a mission to buy spinach, but for the life of me I couldn't find any. So, I ended up with frisee and arugula. I nabbed a fennel bulb to add a little complexity to the salad mix. Since citrus season is fast falling behind us, I also grabbed a sumo tangerine. The asian pears next to them looked so tasty that I grabbed one of those too. Finally, I picked up some garlic and black pepper goat cheese, since I thought that would go nicely with the greens and fruit. I decided to use my staple dressing, mustard, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, since it seems to go with so many things. The resulting salad is a lovely blend of sweet, spicy, and pungent. It's definitely a satisfying end to my day.

Early Spring Salad

2 c frisee, torn into pieces
2 c arugula, torn into pieces
1/4 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced
1/2 asian pear, cored and chopped
1/2 sumo tangerine, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp spicy mustard
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper
wedge of garlic and black pepper goat cheese

Wash and thoroughly dry the frisee, arugula and fennel and then place on a large plate.
Top with the pear and tangerine.
Put mustard, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper in a sealable container and shake until blended; pour over the salad.
Place cheese on the side and serve.