A Principled Chef

Lesson learned: Never leave a two-year-old alone with a fresh cube of butter.

Posted in: Culinary Humor on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at at 4:49 PM 1 comments  

This is a pretty flexible recipe. I start out with about 8 cups of rolled grain (oats, rye, wheat, barley, whatever you like). Lately I've just been using instant oats--the kids seem to like straight oats better, and the smaller flakes soak up rice milk more easily. (My goal is to eventually flake my own & refrigerate them--but for now, it's from the grocery store.) Then I add a cup or so of a bunch of different fruits and nuts. Here are most of the things I've used:

• Dried pineapple dices


• Raisins


• Dried Currants


• Dried Cranberries


• Dried Mango dices


• Raw sunflower seeds


• Chopped pecans


• Sliced almonds


• Raw Chinese pumpkin seeds (they're the green ones)


• Chopped raw cashews


• Millet (gives a fun, popping kind of crunch and lots of nutrition)


• Flax seed

The basic proportions are 2/3 rolled grains to 1/3 fruits & nuts. The list above are things I've used because they're readily available at the places I shop (two health food stores, a couple of grocery stores, and Wal-Mart). Take a look around and see what's available where you live, and experiment. One of the most important things, though, is that you try to get dried fruit without sulfur, sugar, or other added chemicals. It's tricky to find cranberries without added sweetener, so just try to find some that are less sweet than Craisins, or at least use dehydrated cane juice instead of refined sugar. I wouldn't recommend adding roasted or salted nuts to this. They overpower the other flavors in the cereal.

This can be served cold, with your favorite cereal beverage (we like rice milk or oat milk), or you can add a little hot water and then your milk of choice. I personally like it cold with plain or vanilla yogurt poured over it. Either way, it's a great way to start the day. (Or get through the afternoon. ;o)

Posted in: Breakfast Ideas, Grown Up Food the Simple Way on Friday, January 18, 2008 at at 1:44 PM 0 comments  

Posted in: Culinary Humor on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at at 1:49 PM 0 comments  

• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken pieces, cut into 1" chunks (or you can cut it after it's cooked)
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 c. carrots, sliced 1/4" thick (I use baby carrots--ready to chop, and no lengthwise slicing needed for the kids)
  
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• 6 cans Great Northern Beans (or Navy Beans)
• 1 can mild roasted green chiles
• 2 t. each oregano and ground cumin
• 4 c. chicken or veggie broth
  
• Garlic salt to taste

1. Saute onion, carrots & chicken together until chicken is done. (I cut the chicken into chunks by spearing the pieces with a fork and snipping at them with my kitchen shears.)


2. Add Great Northern Beans, broth, chiles, cumin & garlic salt.


3. Simmer until well-combined and serve with crackers & cheese (as in the photo above--Triscuits and smoked guyere), or salad.

This was about 15 or 20 minutes from start to finish. Perfect for lunchtime, or dinner on a busy winter day.

Posted in: Dinner Ideas, Soups on Monday, January 14, 2008 at at 11:16 AM 0 comments  

• 2 ~14oz bags frozen Normandy veggies
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 8 oz. Shelton's Italian turkey sausage (no chemicals, awesome taste, get it in the health food store, or health food section)
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 1 16 oz. Southern Style hash brown potatoes (Mr. Dell's is the choice around here--no chemicals)
• 1/2 small bag frozen peas
• 1/2 small bag frozen corn
• 2 quarts water
• sufficient bullion cubes to make 2 cups broth

1. Thaw frozen veggies under hot running water in a colander. Warm some olive oil in your soup pot and sauté the thawed veggies until they're looking partly cooked and flavorful. Remove to a bowl for a little later.


2. Toss onion and sausage into the hot pot, along with enough water to cover the bottom of the pot 1/4", and cook until sausage is done. Cut into small pieces, if you have sausage links instead of bulk ground sausage.


3. Add frozen potatoes and cook, covered & stirring occasionally, until they're well-softened on the outside.


4. Add the reserved veggies, peas & corn, 2 quarts water & bullion.


5. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until it has thickened and looks so good you can't wait any longer to eat it.

You can easily convert this recipe for fresh veggies--just be sure you have about two pounds total of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and about 8-10 oz each peas & corn. This was just something I came up with about 40 minutes before dinner was due, and I hadn't planned anything for dinner that day. (I know, I know. At least in my case, when necessity is the mother of invention, you get to see what I came up with. ;o)

Posted in: Dinner Ideas, Lunch Ideas, Soups on at at 10:47 AM 0 comments  

You will need:

• Sourdough bread
• Cream Cheese
• Red Raspberry jam (I like Smuckers' Simply Fruit)
• Sprouts of your choice (alfalfa, clover, broccoli, etc)
• Sliced turkey

Spread the bread with cream cheese, topping with a thin layer of jam. Lay down a bed of sprouts (in my kitchen, the depth depends on the age of the intended diner), and top with a slice or three of roasted turkey. (A lid is optional--but I would add more turkey and other fixin's with a lid.)

This is a reasonably fast, pretty yummy twist on turkey sandwiches, and makes a nice change from the usual mayo/mustard/pickles combo. Made up with an eye for composition and cut into various shapes, or assembled on the little bitty 2" wide sourdough loaves, this would be a fun addition to a fancy brunch or grown-ups luncheon.

However, it passed muster with the munchkins.

Posted in: Grown Up Food the Simple Way, Lunch Ideas, Sandwiches on at at 10:39 AM 0 comments  

These turned out really rather nice, considering my track record with pancakes. Usually they're not this finely textured, and heavier. These were nicely puffed, cooked through without drying out, and yet were done on the inside without burning outside. Really, these tasted more like cakes than anything--or maybe Costco muffins, minus the sugar.

Orange Poppyseed Pancakes

Serves 4 generously, a young family of 6 just barely. If there are two of you, you've got enough for a couple meals. Just toss 'em in the fridge or freezer and warm in a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes before serving.

• 2 2/3 c. Whole Wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 c. instant oats
• 4 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 T. poppyseeds

Whisk the above together well in a largish bowl and set aside.

• 3 beaten eggs
• 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil (or safflower oil)
• 1/2 c. honey
• 2 c. rice, oat or almond milk (water would make a reasonable substitute in a pinch)
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt (Brown Cow cream top)
• 3/4 t. vanilla extract
• 1/2 t. orange extract

Beat the eggs in a smaller bowl, and whisk in oil thoroughly. Measure honey into the same cup as you used for the oil and whisk it in as well, pouring as slowly as you reasonably can. Whisk in remaining wet ingredients thoroughly, then pour this into the dry mixture and combine well.

Here's how I cook 'em:

Pour by 1/3 cup measures onto a reasonably hot griddle. I put my electric skillet at about 250-300F. Any hotter and they burn before they cook. I cover them, and let cook until they're set on top, but not any longer.

Flip, cover, and let cook until the bottoms have toasty spots the same color as the top (unless you let them cook too long on the first side, like I did with the first batch). Put 'em on a platter in a 200F oven while you cook the rest. There's nothing like having four hungry munchkins clamoring in series for more pancakes, with a period of roughly 47 seconds.

These had such a nice flavor, they didn't really need much more than butter on top, if that. But, if you're like me and can't seem to chew pancakes or waffles without something saucy on top, I would highly recommend yogurt in a complimentary flavor. Lemon, raspberry, blackberry, maple, vanilla, or even plain (my favorite). The munchkins like applesauce on top, often mixed with a dollop of all-fruit preserves. (Purple applesauce is a big hit around here.)

Posted in: Breakfast Baked Goods, Breakfast Ideas on at at 9:56 AM 0 comments  

Simply put, this is a gathering place for my recipes. More times than I can count, Vern has said to me: "Honey, this is really good. You should write this down!" So, I've written it down, (usually on a floating piece of paper), and have never found it again, much less been able to recreate it. Occasionally a recipe card came into play, but then it disappeared into my card file, and I haven't usually found it again, either.

Blogging to the rescue. ;o)

So, here are the things I've made that have turned out really well, super easy, or really healthy. (And hopefully the vast majority will be a combo of those three.) Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you find something helpful and healthful. I don't have an exceptionally stylish kitchen, and serve my dishes on Vern's bachelor-days Corelle. But I hope that won't make much of a difference . . . since most of us don't have kitchens like the cooking shows do, and around here if it ain't Corelle, it doesn't last long. ;o)

Bon apetit!

Posted in: on at at 9:51 AM 0 comments