saag style greens

Saute 1/2 onion
cumin, garam marsala, cayenne, coriander, salt

1 pint tomatoes
pureed frozen greens + 1/3 c tofu

let simmer for 10 minutes or so
add
1 lb oven baked potatoes

Thanksgiving Leftover Potpie

I made a butternut squash crust with wheat flour in my food processor with the following approximate ingredients:
1.5c cooked squash
1.5 c flour
1 c almond milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
Basically, it turned out like a spoon bread rather than something you could roll out.  So I just spooned it into the pan.

Filling - pretty much whatever you have leftover
Turkey
Cooked potatoes
Carrots
Some more squash
Onion

I made the sauce out of leftover gravy 1:1 with chicken broth, but if you are out of gravy, you could just do a broth/flour/herb sauce.

I topped it with spooned dough and baked it at 400 for 25 minutes.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with caper anchovy mustard

Cut brussels sprouts into quarters and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast at 425 for 20 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, immulse
3 tbsp capers
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp anchovy
1/2 tbsp garlic

Toss together.

Green Tomatoes, part 3: the carb edition

Green Tomato Bread - the sweet version

3 c flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup greek yogurt
2 cups green tomatoes, chopped

Combine dry ingredients and then add eggs, yogurt and tomatoes.  Divide into 2 bread pans.  I topped mine with some honey.

Green Tomato Bread - the savory version

3 c flour

1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp - 1/4c herbs di provence
2 eggs
1/4 c olive oil
3/4 c greek yogurt

2 cups green tomatoes, chopped

Combine dry, then wet.  Divide between 2 bread pans.  Topped with thinly sliced tomato.  This is a bit blander than I was hoping, but will go well with Tomato Jam.

Adapted from http://www.frugalupstate.com/recipes/how-to-use-up-green-tomatoes/

Green Tomatoes, part 2

Fireballs


Whatever is left of your green cherry tomatoes, poked with a needle
2-3 garlic cloves/jar
celery stalks
hot peppers
a dill sprig for each jar
2 c water
1/4 c kosher salt
4 c white vinegar

Fill sterilized jars with tomatoes, garlic, celery, a hot pepper, and dill.  Boil water, salt, and vinegar. Top each jar with brining solution and process for 10 minutes in a water bath.




Green Tomato Salsa - sweet, super spicy, saucy
This didn't really turn out as intended, but here's the recipe anyway.  It was supposed to be a jelly, but like most of my jellies, it is a sauce.

2 lbs green tomatoes
Several hot peppers
1 tbsp salt
1.5 c sugar
1/2 c white vinegar
1 packet sure gel

Food process tomatoes and peppers.  Boil with sugar, salt and vinegar for 45 minutes.  Process into sterile jars in water bath for 25 minutes.

Adapted from http://www.withaglass.com/?p=7368

Sweet Potato and Pear Gorgonzola Gratin

1 sweet potato
1 pear

1 c soy milk
1/2 crumbled gorgonzola or other bleu cheese
1 generous tbsp rosemary
1 tsp garlic
some freshly ground pepper and salt

Bread crumbs




Slice potato and pear thinly and layer in a pan.  Mix slightly warmed soy milk and cheese and spices together.  Pour mixure over layered potato/pear.  Top with bread crumbs and bake at 375 for 45 minutes or so until tender.  This was enough for one person, so next time I'll double the recipe.

Green Tomatoes

It's the end of the season and my tomato vines were still dripping with green tomatoes.  I decided to make 2 different types of green tomato preserves:

Smoky Paprika Green Tomato Pickles


4 c green tomatoes, chopped in large chunks
1 small white onion
2 cloves of  garlic per jar
1/2 green chile per jar
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp paprika per jar
2 c white vinegar
2 c water
2 tbsp kosher salt



Boil salt and vinegar mixture.  Layer tomatoes, onion, garlic, chiles in sterilized jars.  Add spices to each jar and cover with brine.  Process for 10 minutes in water bath.






Green Tomato and Apple Chutney


6 c chopped green tomatoes
3 c chopped apples
1 small chopped onion
1 chopped lemon (rind included)
several green chiles
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 c raisins
several cloves of garlic
1 c cider vinegar
1.5c light brown sugar
1 tsp mustard powder

Mix all the ingredients together in a pan.  Boil for 30-60 min to get to a syrupy consistency.  Process in water bath for 10 minutes.

Baked Chicken and cornmeal dumplings

I cut up a chicken, but you can use any pieces you have -

2 breasts, 2 legs, the back

A thin layer of olive oil with salt and herbs di Provence (any herb combination can be used).  I dredge the chicken and then turn them over.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes and then turn down to 350.  I added the cornmeal dumplings at 30 minutes, but next time I'll add it at 15 minutes.

1/3 c corn meal

2/3 c flour

1 egg

1/3 c milk

1 tsp baking soda

Bake for a total of about 1 hour until internal temp of the chicken is 160 degrees.

With the drippings, I added 1/4 c flour and 1c of chicken broth to make chicken gravy

Ro-tel style tomatoes

I love Rotel. I eat it in everything.  Since I've decided not to eat tomatoes out of a can anymore, I figured I'd need some homemade rotel as well.  Luckily, my tomato plants don't know winter is just around the corner.

I used about 3 lbs of tomatoes in this recipe:

3 lbs of peeled and chopped tomatoes
6 green chiles
2 tbsp salt









Combine and cook for about 45 minutes (until it boils down a bit).  It made only 2 pints. I canned it like regular tomatoes for 30 minutes in a water bath




 I have to get to the market to get some more tomatoes for this.  I tasted some before I canned it and it was yummy but very hot, so cut down the number of chiles if your tastes are milder.

Mint Jalapeno Lemon Marmalade

Several bunches of fresh mint from the garden - chopped to be 1.5 cups
Boiled with 1 3/4c water.  Let steep for 30 minutes.  Drain the mint tea mixture.

3 c sugar

3/4 c cider vinegar
1/2 c lemon juice + lemon zest
several jalapeno peppers
1/2 pouch of sure gel

Boil everything together and add the sure gel while the mixture is cool.  Bring to a rolling boil for 5 - 10 minutes.

The first time, this didn't set up, so I had to reboil and add a bit more sure gel.  Now it looks great.  And tastes awesome

Marinated Sweet and Bell Pepper

I picked up a bag of little sweet peppers from the grocery store and, with winter coming, have to use up all the green bell peppers coming out of my garden.

The peppers were blistered under a high broiler.  It took a couple times before I got this step right, but I think it will only take about 5-10 minutes under a high broiler.  I peeled the peppers after they cooled, but the little peppers were difficult to peel.  I canned them anyway.

The peppers were layered into sterilized jars.  I stuck a few jalapenos in as well.  The peppers were covered with hot marinade made of:

1 c lemon juice

1 c olive oil

2 c white vinegar

2 tbsp oregeno

Processed in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.  We'll see how they taste in a few weeks!

Quinoa and carrot green soup

1/2 onion
2 carrots
bunch of carrot greens




7-10 okra
3/4 c quinoa
4 c chicken  or veggie stock
1/4 c capers
2-3 Kale leaves

Saute onion and carrots in olive oil.  Add stock, carrot greens, okra, quinoa, and capers to pot.  Cut up kale in strips and put in soup.  Boil for 20-25 minutes until quinoa is tender.

Tomato Jam

Adapted from http://www.lanascooking.com/2011/03/08/tomato-jam/


I used 1.5 lbs of a mixture of cherry tomatoes and larger tomatoes from my garden, cut up into small slices and chunks.










1 c sugar
1 key lime juiced and zested
3 cloves crushed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp red pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all into a medium sized pan and bring to a boil.  Let simmer for 1-2 hours.

Balsamic Broccoli Dills

I couldn't recreate my broccoli pickles from earlier this year because I don't have any more of that great jalapeno-raisin wine.  So I had to improve a bit with this batch.

I used up a package of Ball dill seasoning but used balsamic vinegar instead of white vinegar.
I added some jalapenos that had previously been part of refrigerator jalepeno pickles (http://somthgiate.blogspot.com/2011/08/sweet-jalapeno-refrigerator-pickles.html) and a handful of raisins.

I added some carrots to fill the jars.  I processed for 15 minutes according to the package directions

We'll see how they turn out in 1-2 months.

Cumin Squash Salad

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/health/nutrition/18recipehealth.html?_r=1&ref=nutrition

1-2 cut up squash and zucchini, steamed

3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/4 c olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 small bunch of chopped cilantro

Mix together.

Ceviche

Adapted from an old Gourmet recipe.  I buy flash frozen fish from a good grocery store (like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's).

2 swordfish steaks
2 tuna steaks
1 lb of bay scallops

2 c lime juice
1.5 c orange juice
2-3 tbsp kosher salt

1-2 jalapeno peppers
1 medium white onion
other chopped veggies like brightly colored peppers, tomatoes, avacado.
a good handful of cilantro

Parboil scallops in salted water for 1 min.  Cut fish into thin chunks and combine with scallops in juices and salt with onion and jalapeno.  Let marinate overnight or at least several hours.  Mix in cilantro and other veggies.

I use whatever fish strikes my fancy at the store, but I've found by trial and error that a firmer white fish works best. I like shrimp in my ceviche too and I think you are supposed to parboil it as well, which I do sometimes.  When I feel like it.

Sweet jalapeno refrigerator pickles

2-3 thinly sliced jalapenos
1 small thinly sliced onion
I added some orange pepper to color it up

Boil together
3/4 c apple cider vinegar
3/4 c water
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp agave syrup

Combine veggies and syrup in glass bowl.  Let cool and then refrigerate.

Spicy Coriander (Fennel) Green Bean Pickles

12oz of cleaned green beans




1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp coriander
sprig of fennel
2-3 garlic cloves
fresh jalapeno








1 c white vinegar
1 c water
1 tbsp salt




Boil vinegar, water, and salt.  Put spices, garlic, jalapeno in bottom of sterilized jars.  Pack green beans and cover with boiled pickle mixture.  Process in water bath for 10 minutes for pints.

Adapted from http://gabbysgfree.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/real-time-pickle-party/

Chinese Chicken and Cabbage Stirfry

2 cut up chicken thighs marinated in 2 tbsp soy sauce and 3 tbsp sherry with a bit of cayenne

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 head chopped cabbage

1 tsp coriander

1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

Stir fry onion, garlic, coriander for a minutes or two.  Then add cabbage. Add 1-2 tbsp more soy sauce, sherry, a bit of water to wilt everything.  Stir in some tomatoes and red pepper flakes.  Stirfry chicken and then add to mixture.  Add scallions.

Buy water chestnuts for next time.

adapted from http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/stir-fried-chicken-chinese-cabbage-recipe-7741

Sauteed beet greens

While harvesting the beets to can this weekend, we were left with a huge pile of beet greens.  Yum.  From garden to pan in less than 1 hour.

Cleaned and cut beet greens sauteed with garlic olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper and salt.

Beets were also canned.  Yum.

Canning - part 2: Tomatoes

Even though my tomatoes from my garden weren't ready to be canned today, Findlay Market provided me with 9 pints of tomatoes to can.

Blanching and Peeling tomatoes

Tomatoes processed for 35 minutes

All Done!