| I am hosting a cooking workshop for children ages 10 to 13 at my home on January 28 from 1 until 5. Children will learn basic knife skills,such as sharpening and caring for knives and proper (safe) cutting techniques. We’ll delve into the chemistry of food–making roux,beating egg whites,understanding risen breads versus flat breads. Class will also follow the experience level of the collective group and their individual curiosities. It will be a fun afternoon of play in the kitchen. To learn more,email me at diana@goddessinthekitchen.com. There are still a few spots left. I have been teaching cooking classes in schools for children and classes for adults since 2005. My middle child,Eden,had to make a traditional dish this week for her North Carolina Settler Project. She will be ten in February and it was really great to work side by side in the kitchen–her chopping mushrooms,me dicing the venison for her Traditional Scottish Venison Casserole. (Each student had to role play a North Carolina settler. Eden–because of our Scottish last name and the large migration of Scottish to the mountains of Western North Carolina–chose to be a Scottish girl.) I have made many dishes with venison and this has to be the most delicious I’ve tried. This recipe came from, A Feast of Scotland by Janet Warren,a book I acquired while backpacking in Scotland in 1994.  Casseroled Venison MacDuff To make the dish,Eden chopped one pound of mushrooms,while I diced four pounds of venison (any cut will do). We were making a large quantity,so you could of course reduce these quantities. Eden then sliced 1/2 a pound of bacon into small pieces and chopped one onion. In one large cast iron skillet I browned the venison in a half stick of butter. (We were reenacting traditional cooking methods here. If fat bothers you,make substitutions–but keep in mind,venison is LEAN and you need some fat in order to digest it.) In another large cast iron skillet,we sauteed the onions and bacon. When the fat had pulled from the bacon we stirred in about 1/3 of a cup of tapioca flour. We stirred in 2 cups of apple cider (you could use a dry red wine or port),a cup of stock,a handful of dried currants (you could use the more traditional cranberries (unsweetened),1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and fresh ground nutmeg,and salt and pepper to taste. Then we stirred in the mushrooms and onions. If the sauce is too thick,add more stock. Cover and simmer in a slow oven,300 degrees,for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. You may want to put a baking sheet or foil in the bottom of your oven to catch spills as the sauce bubbles. We served this for a family meal with buttery noodles. A visiting four year-old,and our own six year-old son,ate three helpings each. Last week our Kundalini Yoga Community celebrated one our local teachers 120th day of pregnancy. This is a special time to honor the mother and her journey as she welcomes a new life. We created a beautiful dais for her to rest upon,shared yoga and meditation and literally showered her with blessings and rose petals. Afterward we enjoyed Yogi Tea and my latest creative confection. I based the recipe on one from the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. I own a grain mill and grind my own millet and rice flours for my gluten free baking. I do not recommend using all rice flour,as I find it to have a strong flavor and texture when used exclusively. Dry Ingredients 2 cups mixed gluten free flours: sorghum flour,millet,sweet or brown rice or a store bought gluten-free flour 1 teaspoon xanthum gum 3/4 cup sucanat (or less if you prefer less of a dessert muffin) 2 teaspoons ground ginger (do not skimp here) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda,sifted Wet Ingredients 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses 2 eggs 1/2 cup buttermilk 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 fresh pears,peeled,cored and chopped into small pieces–a fine dice–around 1/4 inch cubes –particularly if you are making mini muffins as I did Preparation Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil the baking pan. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl,combine the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined. Don’t overmix. Stir in the pears (Be sure to have them prepped before you add the wet to the dry as the baking soda begins working as soon as it contacts acidic liquids.) Pour the batter into a greased 8 or 9 inch square baking pan or one 12 cup or two 24 cup muffin pans. (I’m particularly fond of mini-muffins–and so are my children) Bake 35-45 minutes for the cake or large muffins or 15 minutes for mini muffins (another reason I like them so much). Muffins are done when a toothpick or tester inserted into the center of the cake or a muffin comes out clean. Home late to start dinner after watching The King’s Speech. Salmon was on the menu thanks to The Artisan’s weekly special on Norwegian Salmon. I wanted to make it fast and simple….looking in the refrigerator I grabbed some leftover fennel tops,a leftover half of red onion and a lemon. I placed the salmon in a stoneware baking dish and layered the top with thin slices of red onion,finely chopped fennel stalks and tops and diced lemon (baked lemon is soooo delicious eaten rind and all). I drizzled olive oil over all,topped it with cracked salt and pepper,then slid it into the oven at 350. “What else,what else?”I pondered as I stood in front of the open refrigerator again. I grabbed a parsnip,a daikon radish,a large carrot and closed the door. My trusty kitchen angel began grating each of the vegetables–a ratio of about 2 parts carrot,to 1 part parsnip to 1/2 part daikon. I finely diced a pink lady apple and added it to the grated vegetables. I mixed a few tablespoons of olive oil with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice,a teaspoon or so of honey and a pinch of salt. I tossed a handful of currants and sunflower seeds into the bowl of veggies then tossed with the dressing. Taste test:Heaven. As the salmon finished baking I washed some tatsoi from the Black Mountain Community Garden and tossed it with cubes of avocado,crumbles of feta and a simple dressing of olive oil,lime juice,ground cumin,cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne,black pepper and salt. After a few bites Louis Armstrong’s “Heaven,I’m in Heaven”began a happy parade through my head.  I’ll be teaching at this year’s Organic Growers School. My theme is Gourmet Cooking in a flash. Today’s lunch would certainly fit the theme: I pan fried cubes of Cool Bean’s Tempeh by local Brian Moe in palm oil until golden brown all over. I poured a couple tablespoons of filtered water onto the sizzling cubes and covered them to steam the tempeh for the final few minutes of cooking. While the tempeh steamed I mixed 2 tablespoons of tahini,2 tablespoons of lemon juice,a small knob of finely grated ginger,a dash of Bragg’s and a little water to make a smooth sauce. I turned the tempeh into a bowl and tossed with the sauce. In another pan I sauteed red onion,sliced mushrooms and a small toss of minced chili peppers–preserved from the summer in the freezer. I tossed this with a cup or so of leftover cooked millet. Delicious. Simple. Nourishing. Fast. Rising. Risen. Baked. I love being a Goddess in the Kitchen. . . recipe from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess. I have been making Knock Your Socks off Cookies for over 15 years. They remain my favorite cookie when I am in need of the perfect cookie. A cookie to make the moment better–or to savor an already very good one. My friend Avril recently asked for the recipe so here it is–for you and her. I have tried many variations on this cookie–especially in my days of no sugar. But while other cookies are often improved with amendments and substitutions,this one remains at it’s best in it’s original version as I discovered it in the Cookie Jar Cookbook by Steffi Berne. The only substitution I have found to be equally delicious is the use of rice flour for the wheat. Knock-Your-Socks-Off Cookies 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (sift before measuring) 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder,preferably Organic or Fair Trade pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper,fresh ground 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less if you are faint-hearted) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3/4 cup unsalted butter,softened 1 cup granulated sugar,(preferably organic or fair trade) 1 large egg,preferably local 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (You can make your own by chopping 4 pods into a quart jar. Top with bourbon and steep for 6 weeks,shaking occasionally for good measure.) Sift together the flour,cocoa,salt,black pepper,cayenne,and cinnamon and set aside. (If you have some large pieces of black pepper that don’t go through the sifter,that’s okay. Just compost them.) Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until they are just incorporated. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes. When you are ready to bake,preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheets with a SilPat,parchment paper or grease them lightly with butter or Spectrum Organics palm oil. Pinch off pieces of the chilled dough (I use a one tablespoon cookie scoop) and roll into 1 inch balls. Place them on the sheets about 2 inches apart. Press a fork which had been dipped in cocoa powder firmly into the top of each cookie,first in one direction,then across to form a criss-cross pattern. Re-cocoa the fork as often as necessary to prevent sticking. The cookies should be about 1/2 inch thick. Bake the cookies for 9 to 10 minutes,rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back half way through if you are baking more than one sheet at a time. Bake just until the cookies lose their sheen and have a slightly matte finish. Do not over bake–you want these cookies to have a thin crust on the outside and a dense truffle-like interior. Making sofrito tonight for Cuban Red Beans. I didn’t have any green peppers so I used some beautiful red peppers I had gleaned from the Black Mountain Community Garden. They looked like a large sweet pepper I had grown last year,but it appears that they must be an annaheim that turned red. Whatever it was it was immensely hot and I did not discover this until after I had brushed the cheek under my eye with my pepper juice stained finger. The burn continued to spread to the skin surrounding both my eyes. If you’re reading this I imagine you have your own memories of mistakes or carelessness with hot peppers. This time (yes,I’ve done this before –to my hands only) in my misery,I actually discovered a cure. I initially tried bathing my skin in plain yogurt and then rinsing with cold water. But the burn remained. Then I remembered we had a tube of Weleda Burn Care in our first aid kit. I tried it on a whim and within 15 minutes the burn was gone–even though as I type,the backs of my thumbs,which did not receive the ointment,still burn. Back to the first aid kit. . . This morning I learned for the cost of $70,which I paid to a local appliance repair business,run for fifty years by Jim House,that any additional money would be better spent on a new range and not on parts and labor with Mr. House and his son. I have accepted this kind and honest advice and am now searching for a (here I stopped mid-sentence to retrieve a marzipan cake I baked in my neighbor’s oven) new stove. And so while I have considerable prowess at using an oven,I have little skill in purchasing one. Already I’ve spent an hour researching and feel no closer to choosing and am feeling nearly ready for a nap,so exhausting and boring is this process. The experienced Mr. House recommended that I purchase a Frigidaire. Which narrows things dramatically,but this still being America,leaves me with a large number of choices under $600. If you have a recommendation,or a recent experience regarding the purchasing of a new gas range,please share. I’m writing this entry in response to the blog Home Grown Evolution. She is focusing the month of September on an exploration of beans. At current count my own pantry contains 14 different types of dried beans and the refrigerator vegetable bin holds three types of fresh beans from the garden. The three beans used most often in my kitchen are mung,red lentil and pinto. My preparation for pinto beans is simple and based upon years of searching for the least labor intensive method with the highest nutritional return. The night before I want to make them for dinner I pour between two and four cups of pinto beans (four if I plan on freezing a batch for another meal or two) into my ceramic crock pot and cover them with at least four inches of water. The next morning I drain the water and cover the beans with one to two inches of water. I add a strip of kelp,which adds nutrition and improves the finished quality of the bean,and turn the crock pot on low. The beans simmer slowly all day until dinner time. If necessary,the beans can also be cooked on high for four hours. When preparing dinner,I take the lid off to simmer off any remaining liquid,add salt and sometimes a little fat–a tablespoon or two of olive oil,palm oil or lard. Although I rarely do,you could also saute some chopped onions,garlic and cumin seed in oil until lightly browned and stir this in during the last few minutes of cooking. I serve these beans as filling with homemade tortillas. Depending on the season I will lay the table with additional fillings such as baked sweet potato sticks,steamed corn,steamed julienned slices of kale or collards,brown rice,and fresh or canned salsas. On a weekly basis I make mung bean soup. I often eat this nourishing and cleansing soup for breakfast and dinners on Mondays. A day traditionally used for fasting in many yogic traditions. This also happens to be the day I teach Kundalini yoga. The following recipe is shared courtesy of Naomi Scott of Body Work for Wholeness.
GREEN MUNG BEAN SOUP Ingredients:
1 cup whole green mung beans – soaked overnight
8 cups water
1 tbs. sunflower oil/or ghee
½ tsp. mustard seeds
1 pinch. asafoetida (called hing in Asian stores) (get @ health food store in the frontier herb section)
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground coriander
1½ tsp. chopped ginger root
1 tsp. salt
1½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. raw sugar cane or jaggery (available in Indian grocery stores) I use Sucanat
1 pinch garam masala powder (see recipe below for this spice mixture) Soak the mung beans overnight in water. Drain and wash the beans two times with fresh water. Cook beans in large covered pot with 3 cups water until tender,bring the beans to a boil,and then simmer for 30-40 minutes,until the skins have broken. Heat the oil in large deep saucepan and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds pop,add asafoetida,bay leaf and stir. Add the spice mixture to the cooked beans. Add 1 cup water,bring to a boil and add all remaining spices. Simmer for a few minutes more. Benefits of Mung Bean Soup:
Mung bean is used in Ayurveda to balance all three doshas and eliminate toxins. Spices are used medicinally to create a delicious and nourishing soup. When eaten daily over a period of time,it will have a powerful detoxifying effect that is quite remarkable. Garam Masala To make your own garam masala:roast 1 tablespoon each of cardamom,cloves,cinnamon bark and black pepper. Grind to a powder and store in an airtight container. Coconut Red Lentil Dal is another mainstay of my dinner table. I take a generous cup of red lentils and place them in a pot with approximately three cups of water. I bring them to a boil with 1 teaspoon of turmeric and 1 dried chili. (This is a child friendly recipe,the pepper merely flavors and does not add heat–unless you personally eat the whole thing). Once boiling I simmer the mixture,lid off,for around 20 minutes until the lentils begin to break down and thicken. I then add around 1/2 a can of coconut milk and continue cooking while I heat a dry cast iron skillet. I add 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds and have ready half an onion and three garlic cloves finely chopped. Once the seeds begin to pop I add a generous tablespoon or two of butter or ghee and scrape the onions and garlic off my cutting board into the hot pan. I rapidly saute,stirring frequently until the onions begin to brown deeply. I scrape the pan clean into the pot of dal and add a pinch of asafoetida–also known as hing. I add salt to taste and simmer until the mixture reaches a thick porridge like consistency. We eat this with sweet potato parathas (I will share this recipe and the tortilla recipe another day),coconut,carrot rice,a steamed vegetable like cauliflower or broccoli and green tomato chutney for my husband and I (that recipe to be shared,as well.) The beauty of all these bean recipes is that they make great leftovers and freeze well–both good traits for successful meal planning. Many of my summer lunches are alone;children are in camp or playing with friends. I am come home from a morning of hot dirty labor at the Community Garden. My hunger,the availability of fresh food,and the freedom from caring for other people’s needs allows me to completely lose myself in my simple summer lunches. Some of my favorites don’t need recipes:slices of Early Bird croton from Looking Glass Creamery eaten chunk by creamy,tangy chunk alongside slices of sweet peaches. The dry whiteness of the cheese next to the golden,wet slices of peach is beautiful to my eye and tastebuds. Another favorite is a plate of fresh,coarsely chopped purslane,topped with slices of peeled and broiled peaches (takes less than five minutes to peel,slice and broil one or two peaches for the meal),drizzled with a sharp,bittersweet balsamic vinaigrette. I eat these meals on the front porch,which lies on the West side of the house and is still breezy and cool at this time of day. I keep a red checkered table cloth my mom made on the table. It completes the feeling of grace. And I like the way the red looks against the walls of waxy dark green euonymous bushes and pale green lilac leaves. Another favorite lunch which leaves me composing restaurant menus in its honor is crepes with sauteed veggies. I start by sauteeing slices of shallot in butter. Then I add assorted chopped vegetables–whatever I harvested that day. For example I might add minced chili peppers,quarter round slices of yellow squash (I keep the vegetables small so I can get a taste of each in each bite),chopped tomatillo,and quartered sungolds. I saute until the squash is tender and the tomatillos and tomatoes have just softened. I lay the saute in my crepe (I usually make extra when I make them for breakfast) and top with chevre chaud. Then I retire to the porch and eat slowly. | |
Casseroled Venison MacDuff To make the dish,Eden chopped one pound of mushrooms,while I diced four pounds of venison (any cut will do). We were making a large quantity,so you could of course reduce these quantities. Eden then sliced 1/2 a pound of bacon into small pieces and chopped one onion. In one large cast iron skillet I browned the venison in a half stick of butter. (We were reenacting traditional cooking methods here. If fat bothers you,make substitutions–but keep in mind,venison is LEAN and you need some fat in order to digest it.) In another large cast iron skillet,we sauteed the onions and bacon. When the fat had pulled from the bacon we stirred in about 1/3 of a cup of tapioca flour. We stirred in 2 cups of apple cider (you could use a dry red wine or port),a cup of stock,a handful of dried currants (you could use the more traditional cranberries (unsweetened),1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and fresh ground nutmeg,and salt and pepper to taste. Then we stirred in the mushrooms and onions. If the sauce is too thick,add more stock. Cover and simmer in a slow oven,300 degrees,for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. You may want to put a baking sheet or foil in the bottom of your oven to catch spills as the sauce bubbles.
