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.

All Apologies

Things have been a little crazy in my life lately. Well, not crazy busy, just crazy in a draining sort of way. My pups recently ruptured a disk in his spine. Oh yea, my dog went beyond normal dog problems to major surgery. I was an absolute wreck for a few days. There were all sort of crazy scenarios going through my head, the worst being "what if they can't fix him and I have to put him down." I now know that when he actually does die, I'll need to take at least a week of vacation so that people at work aren't subjected to my persistent sobbing. It will not be fun. Luckily, they were able to fix him. And, while he'll be spending a long two months in his kennel all the time while his disk scars over even though he feels just fine and has no idea why I keep telling him he can't jump on anything or walk up and down the stairs on his own, he should eventually recover the strength and nerve response in his hind legs. I can only imagine what I'll be like at the end of all this. He's already driving me nuts barking at everyone outside and trying to run around. He needs exercise. I think the animal hospital should throw in free dogging swimming sessions so that he can work out his energy.

Anyways, back to the real purpose of this blog. Food! The CSA is ramping up. I didn't write down everything I received the last few shares, but let's just say there have been green beans, carrots galore, napa cabbage, potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, kale, herbs, fresh cut flowers, and so on. It's been delicious. I have also purchased some local, healthy meats (the maple sausage was delicious), eggs, and organic blueberries (with cream, to die for). I recently made a great salad: a giant mound of greens, bacon, boiled egg, and a warm maple-mustard-bacon grease dressing. So delicious. I would provide a recipe, but can't tell you the exact measurements for the dressing. It was more like, okay, I have some warm bacon grease in that pan; whisk in a giant scoop of maple-mustard; whisk in some rice vinegar, pour into a bowl to be spooned over salad.

Also, I've shared the Chilled Ginger-Carrot Soup and the Curried Quinoa with Vegetables. Well, a friend came over for dinner recently and I made both for our meal. It was the perfect combination. We also drank Vin D'Alsace Pinot Blanc 2007 with it. Sometimes meals are a complete bust (like the salt overload meal I made for one friend once, what a disaster), but sometimes they are exquisite. This was the latter. You must try it (but maybe don't add quite as much ginger as I did. Spicy!).

Last night I made up a layered vegetable dish that was absolutely wonderful, though a bit salty. I'm going to try reducing the salt for you guys, but you may want to be careful when salting the vegetables for weeping. I think that's what pushed this one over the top. But, salting the vegetables is essential to reducing the amount of water in your dish.

Baked and Layered Eggplant, Zucchini, and Tomato

2 Asian eggplants, ends trimmed and sliced thin vertically
3 small zucchini, ends trimmed and sliced thin vertically
salt
2 tbsp basil olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 c fresh oregano leaves
1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto
3 tbsp chopped kalamata olives
2 medium tomatoes, cored and sliced thin
fresh mozzarella slices
2 tbsp grated Parmesan

Preheat over to 375 degrees.
Place eggplant and zucchini slices on a cooling rack over your sink and salt. Allow to sit. Once water has collected on one side, flip and salt again.
While those are weeping, heat olive oil is a heavy skillet over medium heat.
When oil is hot, add onion and garlic and cook until onion is transparent.
Add canned tomatoes and oregano and cook until most of the liquid is cooked off, remove from heat.
Rinse eggplant and zucchini well, then press between sheets of paper towel to remove excess moisture. (Lean down on your hands, but not so hard as to squash the vegetables.)
Pour a little olive oil in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch cake pan and spread evenly.
Lay eggplant down in pan to create a layer.
Put a layer of prosciutto over the eggplant.
Layer the zucchini slices over the prosciutto.
Sprinkle the olives over the zucchini.
Layer tomato slices over the olives.
Evenly spread cooked tomato sauce over fresh tomatoes.
Layer mozzarella slices over sauce.
Sprinkle with Parmesan.
If there is any leftover prosciutto, chopped and sprinkle over the top.
Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Cover with foil if cheese is browning too much for your taste.
Slice and serve warm.

I'm Sure This Has a Fancy Name; I Just Call It Delicious

Wanting to use up the small, tender zucchini I received in last week's share, I decided to experiment. Shredded zucchini, finely chopped kale, ricotta, and eggs and I found myself enjoying something between a frittata and that spinach and artichoke dip every restaurant now makes (from a can, I suspect). I ate it with some whole grain bread, but it stands up pretty well once slightly cool. I'm thinking I'm going to try it again and use it in a sandwich, maybe with some fresh tomatoes and basil. (I just ate lunch and am hungry just thinking of this).

Zucchini and Kale "Frittata"

3 small zucchini, shredded
salt
1 tbsp bacon grease (or olive oil)
6 c finely chopped kale
2 eggs
1 c ricotta
1/4 c green onion, sliced
2 tbsp fresh basil, minced
2 tbsp fresh oregano, minced
large pinch each of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss shredded zucchini with a sprinkle of salt and let stand in a sieve.
Melt bacon grease in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Add kale and cook until wilted and not watery; remove from heat.
In a bowl, beat eggs well, then mix in ricotta, green onion, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and mix until smooth.
Squeeze excess moisture out of the zucchini, then mix into the egg and cheese mixture.
Add kale to bowl, mix, then pour ingredients back into the skillet and spread evenly across the bottom.
Place skillet in oven and let bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until set and starting to just brown on the edges.
Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before cutting into pieces and serving.

Bonus Day

I have tomorrow off, so I thought I would post two things today (ooo). Last night I had breakfast for dinner, but without any syrup requiring breads (I don't have any syrup at the moment, bummer). Instead I made an omelet and a potato-kale scramble. Do you call it a scramble if it doesn't include eggs? Hmm... Anyways, it was delicious and accomplished 2 goals: finish the last of the spinach from the share the week before last and knock down one bag of kale from last week's share. I didn't have any bread for toast (should probably go shopping), but I found a large boiled Yukon Gold potato in my refrigerator. Ah leftovers, how you save the day more often than not.

Spinach and Cheddar Omelet with Potato-Kale Scramble

2 tsp butter, divided
3 eggs
3 tbsp green onion, sliced thin
1/2 c spinach, washed and chopped
1 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/2 c cubed cooked potato (cold)
3 c kale, washed and torn into pieces
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

In a pan over medium heat, melt 1 tsp butter.
In a bowl, beat eggs well.
Mix green onion and a pinch each of salt and pepper into the eggs.
Spread butter in pan evenly, then pour in eggs.
Once the eggs are well set, but still slightly wet on the top, use a spatula to flip.
Sprinkle spinach and cheese on one half of the omelet, then turn other half over to cover. Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.
Place 1 tsp butter in the same pan and add garlic.
Once garlic is fragrant, add potato and kale.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then stir while cooking (using spatula to scrape any browned potato from the bottom of the pan).
Once potato is hot and kale is wilted, transfer to plate and eat while warm.

I think I also mentioned that I was going to make some coleslaw with all the cabbage I had left from two weeks ago. I researched a variety of recipes in my old cookbooks. I find, when you're looking for something classic, the old cookbooks are always the best. Too many cookbooks today try to make things less fat (eat less) or time (I enjoy cooking, so I don't necessarily need all my meals done in 10 minutes) or are trying to reinvent recipes (which I have no problem with, I do that a lot, but again, looking for classic). Also, if I'm looking to experiment myself, I like to know how people typically make something and to think of variations all on my lonesome.

After digging around, I found that a "boiled dressing" was a classic for coleslaw. It's not actually boiled, but it is cooked in a pan and then allowed to cool before dressing the vegetables. I took ideas from a few different recipes and settled upon adding mustard seeds and celery seeds to the dressing. For the vegetables, I added shredded zucchini, kohlrabi, and carrots. I also met someone once who salted the vegetables and allowed them to weep before adding the dressing, so I also did that. After a few days, it's gotten a bit watery, but the first couple days it was delicious. Eaten with some cold cooked chicken, it was a nice summery meal.

Classic Coleslaw

6 c finely shredded cabbage (mixture of green and napa cabbages)
2 zucchini, shredded with a grater
1 kohlrabi bulb, peeled and then shredded with a grater
1 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp butter
3/4 c half and half
1/4 c vinegar
1 c onion, sliced paper thin
2 c carrot, shredded with a grater

Place cabbage, zucchini, a kohlrabi in a salad spinner and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and toss.
While vegetables are sitting, place other 1/2 tsp salt, mustard seeds, celery seeds, black pepper, cayenne pepper, sugar and flour in a sauce pan and whisk together.
Add egg yolks to seasonings and mix well with a whisk.
Slowly add half and half, whisking smooth.
Add butter and vinegar, then turn on heat to medium-low.
Stirring constantly, cook dressing until it starts to thicken.
Remove from heat, then pour into a Pyrex measuring cup and put in the refrigerator to cool.
When dressing is cool, rinse the vegetables with water and spin dry.
In a large mixing bowl, combine these vegetables with the onion and carrots. Stir well.
Pour dressing over the vegetables and mix well.
Place in the refrigerator and allow to sit for at least 2 hours before serving.