Brooklyn Forager

Have I mentioned it's hot? It's really too hot to bake.  But it's also too hot to cook.  And it's a whole lot easier to have a quick sandwich for lunch or dinner than to deal with even the lightest of chopping or boiling or stir-frying.  So, because it's also too hot to even go grocery shopping, I decided that baking in the air conditioning using the convection oven to minimize heat made the most sense.  I think I chose correctly.

I've shied away from breads that required kneading and have become a bit of a one-trick pony with my no-knead bread.  I came across a recipe at a clean eating blog that I enjoy, Clean Eating Machine. With a short list of ingredients, the title of clean eating and a not-so-lengthy amount of rising time, this seemed like the one to try.

A loaf before baking - on it's last rise.A couple of thoughts:

• The original recipe calls for a small bowl.  You're adding 3 cups of flour and 1 3/4 cups of water to this bowl and letting it double in size.  Use a large bowl. 
• The dough is very sticky.  There wasn't a lot of discussion about flouring your kneading surface or adding extra flour.  I did a less robust kneading job in the bowl (again, large is very good here) to minimize mess and avoid adding more flour. 
• If you do use a mini-oven like my toaster/convection oven, a traditional loaf pan is a little large, so the top browns more than it should.  A small price to pay for fresh bread in this ungodly heat. 

Clean Eating Whole Wheat Bread (adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

• 3 cups white whole wheat flour (whole wheat is also fine)
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp honey

1. Mix flour, water and yeast in a bowl.  Let rise until double in size, about 30 minutes. 
2. Add remaining ingredients and knead well.  (Note: I used the kneading process to incorporate the wet ingredients and then just kept kneading for a bit).  Let rise for 30 minutes. 
3. Knead one more time.  Place in standard loaf pan and let rise until it fills the pan (for me it was more like 15 or 20 minutes, but did I mention that it's hot?). 
4. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes or slightly less in a convection oven (mine was done after 30-35).

Too hot to cook.  Too hot to write.  Too hot to even think about the back-logged posts that I have with some delicious recipes waiting to share.  And yet, here I am with a new post! A suitably frozen one, at that. 

Over the past few weeks, A and I have been independently reading and discussing the various problems that people have with dairy.  Don't worry - I'm not giving it up (although I am as convinced as ever that organic is really the only way to go for milk if you're partaking).  I did, however, pick up some rice milk at Trader Joe's to give it another try.

I had tried rice milk on its own quite a few years ago and found it tasted like watery rice.  Which it is, so I guess I got what I deserved. I'm not sure how vegans take their rice milk, but I think that once one is committed, you might not be craving a glass of milk with your PB&J in quite the same way that I do now.  After this attempt, as an ingredient with other tasty ingredients, I'm sold on rice milk. 

The other thing that made the rice milk enjoyable is that I bought myself a little treat.  I love toys.  That's why I have too much stuff in the kitchen, but this one additional purchase may have made my whole summer.  I got myself the Fit & Fresh Smooth Blend Mixer.  We have a blender, but it's full size and makes great smoothies for four.  This is much like the ones you've seen on TV where it is a single cup that attaches to a machine and then you can take it on the go with you.  Love the toys.  

So, to give my new toy a test drive, I threw together some vanilla rice milk, fresh squeezed orange juice (I wanted lime, but alas had none and it was too hot to leave the house), frozen pineapple (I bought one fresh a few weeks ago and cut it up and threw it in the freezer), and frozen mango (Trader Joe's).  A quick buzz and voila! A tropical orange julius-like smoothie that definitely helped take the edge off the heat.  Except to see more smoothie recipes in short order.  Yum! 

(Please forgive me the photo quality - some poor battery charging planning and I was left with only my phone's camera.)

Pineapple Mango Smoothie

• 1/4 c. fresh squeezed citrus juice (orange, lime, lemon, maybe even grapefruit!)
• 1 c. vanilla rice milk
• 1 c. frozen pineapple chunks
• 1/2 c. frozen mango chunks
• fresh mint leaves (optional)

1. Add ingredients into your mixer according to the directions (mine called for liquids first, then heavier ingredients, so I added in the order listed above).
2. Blend it.  
3. Garnish with additional mint if you'd like. 
4. Enjoy!
5. This makes 16 ounces of smoothie. 

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

You really can't go wrong with nut butters and I've definitely wanted to explore a bit beyond my usual peanut butter, so this challenge was very exciting.  Exciting until I remembered that my food processor isn't being cooperative.  Luckily, our fearless hosts allowed some flexibility and so I got to play with peanut butter and will definitely make the rest of the recipes offered up in this challenge in coming months to try them all out. 

The upside to being a little less adventurous with this challenge is that I found a recipe that actually was really easy to prep the night before and will make an interesting, tasty and fairly healthy lunch for work.  I don't usually get that out of these challenges. 

The recipe I went with was the Asian Noodles with Cashew Dressing.  I hoped upon hope that Trader Joe's would have cashew butter for me to test out, but as they didn't, I went for peanut butter with flax seeds.  Still a bit of an experiment, if not a challenge. 

Food processing the old fashioned way!I made the dressing the night before with peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger (and, of course, sriracha for heat).  The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of sugar and while I decided to go with 2 instead, I completely forgot about substituting with another sweetener - definitely go for it. Of course the recipe also called for a food processor here, but I used some elbow grease and a whisk since bits of garlic and ginger never worried anyone around here. 

Next, I sliced up some cucumbers, carrots and fresh green beans and mixed them together with cashew pieces and chopped Thai basil (from the garden!) and let that hang out in the fridge.  Then...I rested. 

Before work I quickly cooked up some rice noodles to finish off the salad and assembled in the morning.  Success! A light, crunchy, nutty salad that is easy to assemble in the morning and bring on the road - think work, picnics, car travel...

Stay tuned for further installments of my nut butter adventures wherein I actually make my own and play with things like cashews and pecans. 

Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew (or Peanut) Dressing (adapted from Daring Cooks Challenge)
Yield: 4 servings

Recipe notes: Customize the salad by adding or substituting your favorite vegetables. Shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and slivered carrots would make nice additions. Obviously, you can omit the shrimp, or substitute chicken or tofu or the protein of your choice. The dressing is equally as good with peanut butter rather than cashew butter. We tested the dressing with nut butters made from salted cashews & peanuts with good results.

Ingredients:

Cashew Butter:
1 cup (240 ml) cashews*

Cashew Dressing:
½ inch (1 cm) slice of fresh ginger, chopped
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste, chopped
½ cup (120 ml) cashew butter
¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) sugar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) vinegar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) toasted sesame oil
¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (75 ml) water
Hot sauce to taste (optional)

Noodle Salad:
1/2 pound (225 g) linguine or thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
1/2 pound (225 g) small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced
1/4 cup (60 ml) sliced green onions
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped cashews (optional garnish)
Lime wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth. (*Or start with ½ cup (120 ml) prepared cashew butter.)
2. Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger, garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency – thinner or thicker -- to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favorite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted, you may want to add salt to taste.) Makes about 1 ½ cups (360 ml) dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternately, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
5. Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about ½ cup (120 ml) cashew dressing; toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you’d like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired.

I have a confession to make. Some nights, I just don't want to cook. Period. I know that happens to us all, but somehow the guilt comes rushing in every time.

For nights like those, I am trying to amass easy, tasty and healthy meals to save us from the call of takeout pizza. One of my favorite sources for inspiration for these meals is The Splendid Table Weeknight Kitchen emails. They're not always as simple as you'd like for a Tuesday, but the recipes are almost always a success.

This one was particularly successful because I mostly have the ingredients on hand at any given time. I haven't solved the wrap/flatbread as a pantry item yet since we don't go through them quite fast enough, but they are easy enough to pick up on the way home.

For me, the yogurt sauce is the star here, but the flexibility of heat and flavor for the garbanzos is great. There is so much potential for variety! If you play with it, let me know how it goes!

Spicy Garbanzo Bean Burritos with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce (adapted from the Splendid Table e-mail)

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1-1/2 cups thinly sliced onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Two 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 6 large flour tortillas

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce 

• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (I used 2%)
• 1 small Persian or English cucumber, peeled and grated on medium holes (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a large sauté pan over medium and add the oil. Add garlic and onion and cook for 6 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes, and paprika and mix well. Add the garbanzo beans and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper and then stir in the cilantro.
2. As the garbanzo beans finish cooking, make the sauce. Mix together all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Spoon 1/2 cup of the garbanzo bean mixture onto each tortilla and top with some yogurt sauce. Fold up tortillas on one end, roll tightly and serve. 

Earlier this year, we were gifted with beautiful Misty Knolls organic chickens from Vermont.  I believe I have expressed my general ennui when it comes to chicken in the past.  Friends, it is because I so often am thinking of boring old chickens.  These are not those sort of chickens. 

When presented with a beautiful chicken, too tasty to fail, I do get excited.  My plan has long been to attempt to feed us for a week on one such roast chicken and figure out all of the exciting things I can do with one bird.  That challenge will still come, but this time, I marinated the chicken in a lovely balsamic, rosemary (and ramp oil!) and garlic vinaigrette a la Giada DeLaurentiis. 

I abandoned the one chicken, many meals idea because I thought this marinade was too flavorful and distinct to lend itself to a number of different meals.  I was essentially proved wrong daily.  Below I've listed the variety of meals that I pulled together over the course of the week. 

Possibilities aside, as a stand-alone dish, this chicken does not disappoint.  I marinated a whole chicken, cut into pieces (thanks to my mother-in-law for her chicken selection as well as her chicken butchering skills), in a savory mix of ramp oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic cloves, dried rosemary, sea salt and pepper. The chicken marinated for about 15 hours, although you could get away with a couple of hours. 

The resultant chicken is juicy and flavorful.  Not boring at all.  As the rosemary was my own addition, feel free to omit or adjust as you see fit.  My hefty handful made rosemary the shining star of the marinade.  In my opinion, this makes the chicken slightly less versatile than a lemon, garlic chicken or something more simple, but no less delicious. 

Our uses for the roast chicken (and pl.ease leave notes in the comments if you come up with more uses): 

• Cold chicken breast with pan drippings, fresh rustic bread and green salad (with scallions! )
• Roast chicken quesadilla with  Vermont-grown baby spinach, smoked gouda and caramelized onions
• Pasta with shredded chicken, marinated mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and homegrown basil
• Chicken Sandwich with Vermont-grown baby spinach and homemade Spicy Stout Mustard 

Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Rosemary Vinaigrette (adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis)

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• a good handful of fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or ramp-infused oil)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (4-pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces (giblets, neck and backbone reserved for another use)
• 1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Whisk the vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, olive or ramp oil, salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend. Combine the vinaigrette and chicken pieces in a large resealable plastic bag; seal the bag and toss to coat. Refrigerate, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
2. Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove chicken from the bag and arrange the chicken pieces on a large greased baking dish. Roast until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 hour. If your chicken browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the remaining cooking time. 
3. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Place the baking dish on a burner over medium-low heat. Whisk the chicken broth into the pan drippings, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the baking sheet with a wooden spoon and mixing them into the broth and pan drippings. Drizzle the pan drippings over the chicken. Sprinkle the lemon zest and parsley over the chicken, and serve.