Oh My Yum!

I found these beautiful baby eggplants at the Asian market this morning. Inspired by this recipe on Real Simple, I cut two to three slices in each (but didn't cut through the stem so they stayed intact) and stuffed a lemon slice in each eggplant. Then I wandered out to the garden and picked a big handful of oregano. I mashed it up with garlic, salt and olive oil and then smeared that in the slits in the eggplant. I baked them off at 450F until they were soft. By the time I got around to eating them, they were room temp. And they were delicious! I can't wait until I can get eggplant from my garden to replicate this tasty treat!

Eggplant

I've been eating lots of eggplant lately. I bought some at the Farmer's Market and then realized that I had 3 at home in the garden that were ready to eat (I forgot about one of the plants and "rediscovered" it after fighting my way through the tomato vines). In addition to baba ghanouj, this is my favorite way to cook it.

Here's what you need:
A couple of eggplant (Italian/Japanese - I use whatever is around and just cut them into chunks approximately the same size - and inch or so). I don't usually do the salting/rinsing/squeezing thing that is usually recommended for cooking eggplant. These are young and fresh from the garden, so it just seems like an unnecessary step. Stir fry these with a couple tablespoons oil over very high heat for about 7-8 minutes until they are brown and cooked through.

While you're stir frying the eggplant, make the sauce:
2T mirin
2T soy sauce
lots of fresh ginger (about a 1" chunk - I usually use a microplane and don't even bother to peel)
2 (or more) cloves garlic (also microplaned because it's already handy from ginger)
A couple dashes of red pepper flakes
1T sesame seeds

After the eggplant are browned and cooked through, add the sauce and continue stir frying for about a minute until you get a lovely little glaze going.

Better Living Through Chemistry: Sauerkraut (and pickles and beets)!

The mad scientist in me came out in full-force on Friday. I had been doing extensive reading on fermented foods: sauerkraut, pickles, beans, beets, etc and decided that I must give it a try!

My grandparents made gallons of sauerkraut every year - seriously - I think they had a 5 gallon crock (of course, I can't remember what I had for breakfast, so remembering back 30 years is really a stretch). In any case, to my pre-teen brain, it seemed like gallons and gallons of the stuff were put up for the winter. And I loved every minute of the process. Sometimes I dream about Grandma with her hands on top of mine, showing me the proper way to punch down the salty cabbage to extract all of the juices. It seemed so simple and magical then - cabbage, salt, and a couple weeks' time was all you needed to have delicious sauerkraut. It's a wonder I haven't tried to make it sooner.

But I didn't try to make it sooner because once I started reading about it, it freaked me out. Food safety is my profession and fermenting foods at room temperature goes against everything I've been taught. Silly, really ... people have survived for thousands of years eating fermented foods. In fact, they were probably much healthier for it. I eat fermented foods all the time: bread, yogurt, soy sauce, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, beer, wine, pickles, kefir, olives, vinegar ... the list goes on and on. I make my own yogurt and vinegar, so pickled veggies seemed like a logical step. And given what I know about fermentation and food spoilage, I figured the food would surely look/smell "off" if it was really dangerous! ;)

Friday's fermenting adventures started with a trip to the farmer's market. My cabbage was pillaged by bettles, slugs, squirrels, and who knows what else. I got two gorgous heads for $2. Bargain. So much so in fact, that I might not even bother trying to grow it anymore - although I do think it's one of the prettiest veggies in the garden and looks wonderful right next to the coneflowers and day lilies. I also picked up a bunch of beets. I have cucumbers growing at home and knew that before long I would have them coming out my ears, so I didn't feel the need to buy any (besides, they were all too big for pickling, in my opinion).

I cored the cabbage, quartered it, and sliced it thinly. As each shredded quarter went into the big bowl (glass or plastic only), I sprinkled on a hearty pinch of kosher salt (honestly, I didn't measure, but it was probably just shy of a teaspoon).  And then I started packing it tightly into the 1.5 gallon jar. The jar to the left is filled with one head of shredded, salted cabbage. I put both heads of shredded cabbage into the jar - and think I could probably fit 4 heads in this jar (as it starts to release some juice, you can pack it down tighter and tighter and it really does become quite compact). Anyway, every hour or so, I went by and packed it down a little tighter with a wooden mallet (I think we used to use our knuckles at Grandma's house). After 4-5 hours, I had enough juice extracted that it completely covered the top of the shredded cabbage (I have read that sometimes older cabbages are dryer and it can take as long as 24 hours before enough liquid is extracted to completely submerge the shredded cabbage).

It's critical that all of the cabbage be submerged below the liquid line. There are lots of methods for doing this, but I took the easy way out and partially filled a Ziplock gallon storage bag with water and put it in the jar on top of the cabbage. And then I set the cover loosely on the jar. The bag holds the cabbage down under the brine line, and also forms a nice seal so that there's no way for the air to get to the brine and cause spoilage. CAUTION: if you're doing this in a jar, set your jar on a plate with a substantial lip - as the fermentation begins, it will bubble over the top of the jar and on to your counter - or plate.

And now the Cliff Claven in me is showing: if you want a comprehensive resource on fermented foods found worldwide, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN has a lengthy bulletin describing fermented foods and the science behind making them. You'll find everything from sauerkraut and dill pickles to banana beer and fermented tea leaves. It's really quite fascinating. Of course, I'm a total nerd, so take that into consideration before reading the book and then droning on to me about how boring it is!

There is also Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning if you're looking for something more along the lines of a recipe book. I find this book is more a collection of "this-is-how-my-mother-did-it" type of recipes rather than strict measures and instructions. This book includes some really interesting ideas - without all of the pesky science background - that I'd love to try out some day.

More on how the kraut is tasting - and reports on the beets and pickles next time ...

UPDATED: Just in case you want a "real" recipe for making sauerkraut, you can find several here (in addition to the info in the FAO publication):
Wild Fermentation
Mother Earth News
UMN Extension

Korean Style Potato Salad

I did a little bit of cooking this past weekend, and it seemed only fitting to have potato salad on the 4th of July. I'm not a big fan of the mustardy-yellow potato salad that seems to be all to common around these parts. But I do love it when I go out for Korean food and the banchan includes potato salad. Actually, my all-time favorite Korean potato salad is from Yummy Korean BBQ in Hawai'i. This isn't their version, but it's quite tasty!

1 bag "teeny tiny potatoes" from TJs - steam or boil them until tender (I like to steam them with the skins on them). Let cool a little bit and then roughly mash with a big fork.

1 small cucumber, sliced thinly
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar
2-3 T rice vinegar
Mix these together and let sit for about 10 minutes. Drain (but consider saving a little of the brine to add to the mayo in the next step).

1 c mayo
1/4 c finely chopped celery (I usually use some of the leaves, too)
Handful of chopped herbs: parsley and chives
1/2 finely diced jalapeno
Mix these together. I like to add some of the vinegary brine from the cucumbers to this.

Handful of shredded carrots

Mix everything together. Add more mayo if it's not creamy enough. Salt and pepper to taste.

Rhubarb Chutney

I've been wondering what to do with my rhubarb. I made a couple of rhubarb cakes (took one to a friend and ate the other one myself!) but wanted to try something a little bit different. The Europeans seem to like rhubarb as a savory treat, so I thought I'd give it a try. I found some recipes for rhubarb chutney and combined the parts that sounded the best to my palate. The end result was pretty tasty. I roasted a pork loin and have been enjoying pork and chutney sandwiches for a couple of days.

Rhubarb Chutney (all measurements approximate - based on my poor memory - I think this is quite forgiving and flexible, so no need to be exact)

1/2 c red wine vinegar (my homemade stash)
1 c sugar
1 jalapeno, diced
2 cinnamon sticks
2 green cardamom pods
2 T grated ginger
zest from one lemon, plus the juice
handful of dried cherries
handful of golden raisons
1 red onion
4-6 c chopped rhubarb
And I can't remember if I put garlic in it, but I put garlic in nearly everything, so I'm assuming I did.

I put the first 7 ingredients in a pot and let them boil until the sugar had dissolved. Then in went the rhubarb and onion. I cooked it for maybe 10-12 minutes until the rhubarb was soft but not totally disintegrated.

That's it. Easy.

But then don't make the silly mistake I made next. I put the chutney in another pot to cool and browned the pork loin in the chutney pot. That was fine. But then I stuck the whole pot in the oven to roast the pork loin. BIG MISTAKE.  All of the sugars from the chutney caramelized (that's a nice way of saying BURNED) to the pot, making it nearly impossible to clean! I've scrubbed the thing about 6 separate times and think I'm nearly there in getting it clean. It was not a pretty sight.

Rhubarb Chutney 2.0
I used the same base recipe as above, but used cider vinegar and a splash of balsamic vinegar in place of the red wine vinegar. It was rounded out by: jalapeno, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, mustard seeds, garlic, onion, ginger, dates, prunes, dried cherries, golden raisons, red pepper flakes. This version is definitely more tangy/tart due to the cider vinegar and the mustard seed. I'm still up in the air, but I think I like the red wine vinegar version better. Beware: the flavors do change quite dramatically once they've had a day or two to marry and mature.

Overwintered Kale

Much to my surprise, some of last year's kale made it through the winter. Once the snow had melted, I started cleaning up some of the beds and was going to yank out the thick, gnarly stalks from last year's kale. And then I saw it - tiny little leaves popping out of the stalk. I knew kale could be overwintered in milder climates, but I never gave it much thought here. I'm curious to see if it will flower and set seed this year. I'd love to have a huge patch of it that just keeps coming back forever! I have a friend that loves this soup, so I thought I'd give it a try with the first cutting of kale.

From All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup dry red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 6 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bunch collard greens - rinsed, stemmed and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/3 cup lemon juice

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stir in onion and salt; cook until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in lentils, and cook for 1 minute. Pour in water, then bring to a boil over high heat, then turn heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add collard greens, and cook until wilted, about 10 minutes. When the lentils are tender, stir in the collard greens and season with cumin, cinnamon, and garlic; allow to simmer 10 more minutes. Stir in lemon juice before serving.

2010 Produce Meets a Tasty End

I used up the last of 2010's frozen tomatoes yesterday. I had about 3/4 gallon of whole frozen romas, some frozen sun-dried romas, and a quart of frozen sauce (shamefully unlabeled - but I think I just cooked down a bunch of tomatoes with garlic and froze it). I threw them all together in a pot along with some frozen pearl onions, a handful of fresh thyme and oregano (from the garden!!), garlic, red pepper flakes, and a splash of red wine. I cooked it down until it got thick and tasty and then stuck my trusty hand-blender in the middle of it all.

I had some on pasta, but I'm thinking the rest of it will make excellent pizza sauce!