Brooklyn Forager

One cold rainy afternoon, I sat by the window contemplating snack time.  The weather was terrible and there would be no leaving for a quick bite or missing ingredients.  I had also been emptying the freezer and reviewing the contents, so I knew that I had four frozen bananas (Starting to turn brown? Pop them in a freezer bag and into the freezer.  The skin turns dark, but the bananas stay fresh!) that I wanted to use up.

My fellow healthy-food lover Alissa over at The Simply Wholesome Kitchen told me about a blog that focuses on healthy baking, Sweet & Natural.  I figured I would take a look over her recipes and see what I could do with my bananas.  Here I found Banana Coconut Bars which had the benefit of using up some of the coconut I have in the freezer and the agave sweetener that I picked up at Trader Joe's. 

I can't say that my pantry always has the items required for this healthy snack or that yours might, but the recipe itself is a good argument for keeping them around.  The result is a healthy-tasting bread-like sweet bar which is perfect for tiding one over until the next meal.  I used whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour, because that was what I had around.  The result was fine, although my understanding is that the pastry flour yields a lighter bar.  Play with it.

The last comment I have is with respect to agave nectar.  I've been very intrigued by this ingredient since it often comes up in clean eating recipes and is generally considered a healthy alternative sweetener.  Over the past couple of weeks, however, I've been hearing whispers in the health food community that agave nectar is very highly processed and that there are some heavy environmental impact issues surrounding agave's production.  I'm going to find out more and continue to experiment, but I wanted to put out my current thinking on the subject.  I'd appreciate hearing other perspectives.

Banana Coconut Bars (adapted from Sweet & Natural)

•  4 mashed bananas (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1/4 cup organic agave nectar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare 8x8x2 baking pan with olive oil cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together first four ingredients and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (except coconut) until combined.
4. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just blended.
5. Fold in coconut.
6. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes.

One year, I will be set up in both my larder/freezer and local food connections to take part in the Dark Days Challenge.  I'm finding some interesting ideas as I watch others follow through and trust me, locavores, I am taking notes.

For now, I take the day-by-day ingredient-by-ingredient approach to keeping things local and seasonal.  One recent lunch got me pretty close.  Upon examining the fridge and the pantry, I realized that I had New York apples, New York Cheddar and a jar of Passion Wasabi Mustard that was purchased for us locally in Hawaii.  My tortillas were from Trader Joe's, although a product of some far off place.  Altogether, not an unsuccessful impromptu local meal for a cold dark season. 

Apple and Cheddar Quesadilla with Wasabi Honey Mustard

• 2 whole wheat tortillas
• 1 tbsp Passion Wasabi Mustard (or other favorite mustard)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated New York extra sharp cheddar
• 1 medium crisp tart apple, cored, halved and sliced 
• olive oil, in mister

1. On one tortilla, spread mustard within 1 inch of edges.  Sprinkle half of the cheese.  Top with apple slices.  Add remaining cheddar cheese and top with second tortilla.
2. Lightly mist a nonstick frying pan with olive oil and heat to warm.  Place quesadilla in pan and heat until slightly melted.  Flip and repeat. 
3. Enjoy!

I love red wine risotto.  My husband does not.  So, when he ran off for the weekend with the boys, I settled in to indulge myself.  I have a few versions of this recipe that I like to make, one being Giada De Laurentiis' version and another being a variation with chorizo.  In a quest to make it a bit lighter and a good meatless option (not to mention my lack of chorizo on a cold evening), I used another favorite Giada risotto recipe as a base, her Champagne risotto, and came up with a nice and easy version that gave me a dinner and a lunch for my weekend home with the pup.

Note on cooking with red wine: the maxim is true - recipes taste best with a wine you would drink rather than some cheap cooking wine.  However, in a pinch, I keep the remains of a drinking bottle of wine vacuum sealed in the fridge to use in recipes.  It is not ideal, but I find it works for me since I use splashes of wine in my cooking often enough to keep the bottle relatively fresh (a little red wine makes even a jar of marinara sparkle).

Red Wine Risotto with Peas (adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

• 3 cups mushroom broth or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Bring chicken stock to a simmer on the back of the stove.
2. Melt butter in saucepan.  Add garlic and shallot and cook until fragrant.
3. Add Arborio rice and toss to completely coat the rice in butter mixture.
4. Add red wine and stir constantly until wine has reduced almost completely.
5. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock and stir constantly until reduced almost completely.  Continue with remaining broth in 1/2 cup portions.
6. When rice is soft with just a touch of chewy texture, add peas, cheese and seasoning.  Garnish with additional cheese if desired (I pretty much always desire).  Serve and try not to eat both servings all by yourself!

I've been focused on big batch cooking to keep our take-out to a minimum both to save money and eat more healthfully in general.  It's no secret that a hard-boiled egg makes a good quick snack with lots of protein.  It probably is also no secret that they can get a bit dull. The answer to that in our house is to make our hard-boiled eggs Chinese-style.

To make hard-boiled eggs a more interesting treat, I went to Steamy Kitchen.  Her recipe calls for you to crack the already hard-boiled eggs by tapping lightly with the back of a spoon (keep the shell intact, just crack it all over).  Then place the eggs in a pot of hot water with soy sauce, two black tea bags (there could be a lot of tasty substitutions here if you want to get creative), star anise and peppercorns.  Simmer for 40 minutes and then let the eggs steep for anywhere from a couple of hours to overnight. 

When the eggs are ready, they have a built-in sweet spicy salty flavor and are beautifully marbled, making them very pleasing to the eye and the palate! The inside of the shell is particularly artful even in the early stages of steeping and the eggs themselves get more dramatically marbled the longer they are in the tea mixture.  Our first egg  (below) was tested after about four hours of steeping.  I let them continue to sit in the tea overnight, but those eggs got gobbled up to quickly to document.  All in all, very successful and so easy to snack on in the afternoon. 

The inspiration for this dish came from a recipe over at Serious Eats.  I'd been tossing this recipe around in my head ever since it hit my inbox (I find the Dinner Tonight section of Serious Eats to be invaluable both for inspiration and just really good recipes). The recipe is mostly meatless because it does involve a good dollop (my favorite measurement) of anchovy paste.  One could do with it.  I wouldn't.

In my special version, I warmed some olive oil, a healthy dollop (maybe 1 tbsp) of anchovy paste and a smashed garlic clove over medium to medium-high heat.  I added in some beautiful orange cauliflower, and let the anchovies and garlic get just fragrant and into a good sizzle. Add in about 1/4 cup water and cover for about 5 minutes, turning down the heat slightly. 

Once the cauliflower is tender, the magic begins.    Uncover and season with salt, pepper, and red chili flakes if you enjoy them.  Turn the heat up to medium high and let the water evaporate.  Here, you are instructed to not be afraid of the caramelization of the cauliflower.  I repeat, do not be afraid.  It is very much the key to the loveliness of this dish.

While the cauliflower finished up, I spread some panko bread crumbs on a baking sheet and mixed with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  I covered in a good mist of olive oil and baked for about 5-7 minutes (I have a convection toaster oven so things like this go quickly. You might need more time). 

When the cauliflower was just about done, I added the juice of half of a lemon, toasted pine nuts, a bit more salt and pepper and hot al dente spaghetti.  I topped with bread crumbs and copious amounts of Pecorino Romano and devoured immediately.

I have to say that even though I tend to only write about recipes I enjoy, this really is maybe the best thing I've made.  Ever.  It was so satisfying and full of flavor.  I wouldn't change a thing!