To bring these lovely flavors together I made my own mayonnaise with dijon and lemon juice.  My version of Waldorf is lightly dressed, served atop fresh spinach greens, and topped with cubed chicken.   I had a helping for lunch yesterday and my favorite part is the perfectly ripe, juicy and tasty grape halves.  It was fun to experiment with my version of Waldorf… you can try different fruits, nuts and grains to make your favorite combination.

I paged through my newest Cooking Light Magazine and saw a recipe for Greek Farro, which made me think about making a Greek pilaf.

After doing a bit of searching on the internet, I decided to mix red pepper, red onion, fresh tomato and some fresh herbs (the vegetable component) with farro, barley, and chickpeas (the beans & grains component) and dress it with a tahini lemon garlic vinaigrette.  To give this salad some saltiness and a creamy texture, I topped with fresh feta from the Wedge Coop.

The big question is- to eat it cold or warmed?  I opted for the former, and grabbed a helping from the fridge to eat al fresco!  Nothing better than having a bit of sunshine and enjoying fresh, crisp Greek flavors in a filling pilaf.

Heidi Swanson’s Supernatural Cookbook has my favorite recipe on today’s docket: the sushi bowl.

I’m okay with it if you don’t think this is a salad, but it does come in a bowl and it tastes fantastic.  Starting with brown rice in the rice cooker, I crafted a citrus/shoyu (thicker soy sauce) and sesame oil vinaigrette and tossed it with the rice and some browned sesame seeds.

For protein I added three-grain tempeh (lightly fried in sesame oil).  It is the first time I have cooked with tempeh and I haven’t tasted it before, that I know of.  Tempeh originated in Indonesia and was recommended by my dietician as a great source of protein.  I’m trying to reduce our meat intake, so I was reluctantly driven to buy tempeh and it seemed like it fit in this sushi bowl recipe pretty well.

Tempeh has a much more pleasing texture than tofu (to me anyway)- after I fried it, it had a crisp on the outside and was nicely chewy on the inside.  I think I’ll continue to experiment with tempeh to see where else I can incorporate it.  I also want to study about it, and soy in general, some more.

To finish the sushi bowl (which is like an inside out sushi roll!), I topped the rice/tempeh with a sliced avocado, some green onions and crisped nori (seaweed wrap).  It is so delicious I already ate a bowl for breakfast.  YUM!

I just love the grab-and-go meals that I created this week- perfect for picnics, quick lunch or dinner, and easy to store in the fridge so they’re at the ready when you are hungry.  The flavors only get better after they’ve hung out together for a few days.  Here’s to the week of salad!  I’m getting so hungry writing about it, I want to go get one now!

But before I put the recipe out there, let’s talk some history.  I remember my Grandma Spaniol having a little jar of bacon fat under her sink.  When I found out what it was, I was a bit grossed out.  Why would somebody save the inedible leftovers from a frying pan?

… well, as I found out later- much later- in life, it’s because that rendered fat is liquid gold.  To the extent that the aforementioned local eatery is selling the aforementioned bacon fat in a tin for $1 an ounce.  So let me share with you how to harvest this goodness yourself.

BAKED BACON AND RENDERED BACON FAT

1. Instead of frying your bacon on the stovetop, consider baking it in the oven.  I put a cooling rack inside my jelly pan and lay the bacon in strips across the rack (not overlapping).  I then put the bacon in a cold oven and turn the heat to 400.  The bacon will be nice and crisp and perfectly flat in about 20-25 minutes.
2. Once the bacon is cooked, remove the pan from the oven, and the cooling rack with the bacon on it from the jelly roll pan.
3. Put a coffee filter over a glass jar (Make sure the glass jar is at room temperature or warmer) and pour the bacon fat from the jelly roll pan into the coffee filter.  Be careful and don’t burn yourself.  Allow the fat to drip into the jar while you go enjoy your nice, crisp, hot bacon with breakfast or lunch or dinner or your snack (or chill the bacon and crumble it for salad toppings or a nice seven layer salad.)
4. Once the bacon fat has been filtered, you can throw away the coffee filter and store your bacon fat in the fridge (I don’t recommend storing it under the sink like my Grandma did- even though we’re all still alive to tell about it!)

~or, you can pay $1 an ounce for bacon fat.  I know what I’m going to do!~

So here is the first recipe I ever developed by myself.  I took a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and experimented with different variations on a theme until I ended up with the smoky, nutty, rich, savory yet sweet version of Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies you find below.  ENJOY!!!

What a gorgeous day~ the sunshine and brightness of the new leaves and green green grass inspire me to put some creativity into my cooking.

Whenever I’m talking to people about my passion for cooking and putting some fun into the kitchen, I always ask “What are you hungry for?  What are you craving?”  I love a new culinary challenge- be it an ingredient I haven’t used, food from an area of the world I haven’t tried, or a technique I haven’t mastered.

Do you ever scratch your head while standing in front of the fridge (or on your way home from work, or two minutes before dinnertime) and ask yourself, “what am I going to make today?”  — well, me too.

That’s why I love a week like this where there are lots of themes to play with!

1.  Cinco de Mayo… the perfect excuse for great Mexican cuisine.

I riffed on this recipe from Cooking Light, but instead of using enchilada sauce I used my own pico de gallo for a fresher (tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and lime juice) and less smoky (chili powder and cumin) taste.

I was so pleased with the sprouted wheat tortillas that I used for burritos a couple of weeks ago, that I bought and used them again for this recipe.  Someday I’ll have to try making those from scratch… anyone out there done that?

I served the enchiladas with green onions, squash, and peppers that I tossed in a bit of olive oil and roasted for 30 minutes at 500 degrees until they were soft and a bit browned.  These lend some beautiful color to the dish and filled me right up!

A little cheese goes a long way with these enchiladas… they are very healthy and satiated my craving for some of my favorite food, melted cheese.

2.  Kentucky Derby- Burgoo Stew

Another riff from Cooking Light- it’s so fun to experiment with a base recipe!

I was curious about the origins of this stew, so looked it up in Wikipedia.  Apparently this stew is traditional in Kentucky; that it often is called “Roadkill” stew because of the variety of meats it may contain (trust me, this version includes only Wedge-coop sourced meat!); is a part of celebrations or special events; and when people are hosting events in their homes people often bring the ingredients for the stew so it’s kind of like a pot luck stew.

This stew uses the same 5 basic steps as a soup would:  Aromatics in this case is the meat.  I sauteed the cubed meat in batches until it was nicely browned/Caramelized on each side.  I deglazed the pan with turkey broth (instead of the beef broth called for in the recipe), then added back the meat and the Supporting cast of veggies: okra, corn, onion, green bell pepper, carrot, garlic, cubed potato, and lima beans.  To finish the soup, I added some flavor and Spice: worcestershire for depth; canned diced tomatoes and cider vinegar for acid; brown sugar for a bit of sweetness; and thyme and parsley for flavor.

The stew is full of great veggies and meat, and leaves a nice taste on the tongue.  It’s always fun to use some ingredients that rarely cross my mind: okra and lima beans would not normally show up on my grocery list.  They lent a fun texture and color to the stew.

3.  And just for fun, Italian sandwiches – the story of reuse in my kitchen

To fete my friend Amy as she graduated to Doctorhood, I decided to make homemade pizza at her gathering last Friday.  I loaded up on Italian cured meats (think salami, prosciutto), toppings (fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive muffaletta, and many more).

The perfect way to use the leftovers was to whip up some no-knead Ciabatta and craft some Italian sandwiches.  I’d highly recommend this bread recipe (I made it with much less salt than called for- a great way to reduce sodium in your diet is to make your own bread, as commercially produced bread is a huge source of sodium in our diets).

The rest of the sandwich was a combination of creativity and fridge surfing.  I made a simple, non-dairy pesto out of carrot greens and used that as the sauce on one half of the bread; and homemade pizza sauce on the other side.  In the middle, you’ll find some crisped prosciutto, muffaletta/olives, grilled eggplant, and some mozzarella cheese.

I toasted the whole sandwiches in the oven until the cheese melted and cut them on the bias to serve.  I plated them on a couple pieces of boston bib lettuce.  It’s a pretty presentation and they taste absolutely fantastic too!

It was Cinco de Mayo and we enjoyed homemade margaritas, salsa, guacamole, and other Mexican-inspired yumminess.

Today I whipped up some pico de gallo and thought I’d share the recipe as we get closer to the weekend, May 5, and the Cinco de Mayo celebration!  If you’re craving some heat in your life, forage in your fridge and cupboard and you can make some of this too!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo a todos!

Do you have a favorite Mexican recipe?  Please share!

I indulged and purchased a whole turkey at the Wedge Coop~ raised by Larry Schultz.  For those of you that host Thanksgiving, you know that $1.99/lb is not the best deal for a turkey… but I’ll pay that knowing that my turkey was raised in Minnesota on a family farm, fed a balanced diet, have not been given antibiotics or hormones, and are free-range (vs caged).  I think that the approach comes through in the taste and appreciation of the meal!

I am getting good at this roasting birds thing.  Since the turkey was frozen, I thawed it on Monday in a lightly salted brine with lemons, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and sugar.

Yesterday, I made a paste of olive oil, fresh sage (minced), a bit of kosher salt and pepper, and put that under the skin of the breast as well as all over the flesh of the bird.  Put some quartered onions, garlic cloves and lemon wedges in the cavity and tied the legs together.   With the oven at convection roast/325 degrees, the 13# turkey was done in less than three hours and the house smelled delicious.

My rhubarb in the garden is already going crazy, so instead of serving the turkey with a cranberry something, I made a rhubarb chutney- think chai seasonings, simple syrup, fresh ginger and dried currants.  A perfect accompaniment to the turkey.  To pull the plate together, I roasted butternut squash and covered the whole thing with some maple pan gravy.

When reheating turkey, you don’t want it to dry out… the gravy helps.  I microwave, covered to keep the moisture in.  Or cover with foil and put in a 225 degree oven to rewarm, uncovering for the last couple minutes to re-crisp the skin.

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Homemade Lasagna is on the menu!

So many of you make my day when I get a cute comment or text or facebook post… and it’s often miss Madonna from Bloomington.  I can count on Madonna for great feedback on my meals, and have learned that she and her John are not much for spicy heat, cucumbers, kale or reheated fish fillet.   Sometimes I get a surprise phone call from Madonna to tell me how much they’ve enjoyed something I made.  JACKPOT!

This inexplicable riff on lasagna is one of those calls I got about a month ago.  There are two layers… the green layer, which I wanted to taste fresh, spring-like, and herbacious… is edamame, ricotta, garlic chives, and some firm tofu to add protein.  The red layer is a blend of fresh tomatoes (skinned and pureed) and roasted red pepper.  The noodles are homemade and the cheeses are mozz & parm.  I finished the sauce layers while the lasagna dried (on my window rack!) and served the finished product with homemade bread.

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Veggie Rice Bean burritos with Chihuahua Quesadilla melting cheese

I adapted a Cooking Light recipe to make some burritos.  Let me just admit that I am not a professional burrito roller, and heavily depended on the foil to hold the yummy grilled zucchini, rice, caramelized onions and corn, grape tomatoes and cremini mushrooms together.  As a result I reheated mine in the oven so I could eat it right out of the foil.  The tortilla is so yummy, made of sprouted wheat (which is nuttier in flavor, easier to digest, and whose vitamins and minerals are more easily assimilated into the body).

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A note about the brisket…

I bought a small 1# beef brisket just for Neighbor Dave and me (enough for a dinner meal plus a lunch for each of us).  I got a recipe from “the other Jen”- my pal who is saying goodbye to her cube view and saying hello to a yacht in the bay and culinary school!  The recipe called for beer, onion soup packets, beef consomme paste, espresso powder, garlic herb seasoning, and brown sugar.

Since I only have two of the six ingredients listed (guess which ones!)  I interpreted what was going on there….

1. liquid for low-and-slow braise cooking.
2. flavor, and lots of it… onion, espresso, garlic, herbs, beef stock (consomme paste is a reduction of a clear, gelatinous beef stock)
3. Sugar for caramelization.

I decided to sear off the brisket after seasoning with salt and pepper.  After both sides were nice and brown, I set the brisket aside and deglazed the dutch oven with red wine (instead of beer, because it was already open.)  Then I added quartered onion, celery and carrot to the pan and put the brisket in.  I coated the top of the brisket with minced garlic, brown sugar and added a bit of coffee to the liquid.  Covered the pan and put in a 225 degree oven for 4 hours.

Result: the brisket was a bit dry. (??)  Not sure if I let it go too long, or not long enough… but I’d want it to be juicier next time.

Oh, and roasted celery isn’t my favorite texture.  Neighbor Dave’s either.  It wasn’t our favorite meal, but now it’s a challenge for me to figure out!  I should probably follow Johnny Slots’ advice next time and smoke it instead.

Hi darling, I’m craving that pulled pork peanut butter thai crockpot dinner thing you made for Mom and Dad once…and made for G and me at your house,too. Could you send me the recipe, please?  -Amy

This means:

• I made something memorable!
• Not once, but twice!
• It was so good she wants it again!
• She’s going heroic- and making it in her own kitchen!

Here is the recipe that inspired my favorite message of the day… Thai Pork Stew, adapted from Cooking Light.

I love to make this for Asian-themed dinner parties, because I can enjoy my guests and not fuss over the food after they arrive.  It’s a unique, flavorful, and easy dish!  Enjoy!

But if you just want to know how to expend those calories, consider taking a walk and getting to know how your neighborhood is changing with the seasons!  Here is how I expended some of my calories yesterday:

What’s your favorite kind of calorie expenditure activity?

Smiling all day, living my best life, doesn’t mean that my body is immune from the effects of age, genetics, and lifestyle.  I was so disappointed to learn a few weeks back that my blood pressure and cholesterol are borderline high.

I was in denial…  I cook healthy foods…. minimize the sodium, artificial preservatives, and flavors and maximize the fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and beans we eat.  How could my results be so radically different than what I thought was happening?

  Hold Your Horses.

What the heck is going on?

I need to get real.

I decided to track everything I eat as well as my exercise~ not to change, not yet.  I need a baseline to understand what’s going on.  My sister referred me to a free online food and exercise diary called myfitnesspal.  I’ve been tracking for three full weeks.  I learned a few things:

• Just because I cook every day doesn’t mean I’m immune to the perils of going out.

Neighbor Dave and I enjoy going out for dinner, weekend brunch and happy hour… and on average we probably do this a few times a week.  I was not honest with myself about the sodium, fat, and calorie content of restaurant or bar food- and in some cases this increased my calorie intake per day by 30-50% over home cooked meals.

• Sodium appears in the most unusual places.

In my cooking approach, I typically undersalt (it’s easier to add salt than take it away).  Sodium impacts high blood pressure- I should hold my sodium to less than 1500 mg a day.  This is 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of salt total.  (Even normal diets should contain 2 to 2.5 teaspoons of salt ~ do you know how much you’re consuming?)

I’ve found salt in the strangest places… dinner rolls from Costco have 140 mg of salt each.  1/4 cup of mixed nuts have 150 mg of salt.  2 Tablespoons of grated Pecorino Romano cheese has 180 mg of sodium.  One serving of roasted turkey (4 oz, or a piece the size of your palm) has 1300 mg of salt.  My favorite flavor packet for water is Emergen-c, which has 60mg of sodium.

So if I had a slider-sized turkey sandwich with a bit of cheese, served with a side of mixed nuts and a flavored water, I’ve exceeded my salt by 330 mg!  Not to mention that I’m not full after only having that much.

• I don’t exercise as much as I can or should.

It’s easy to get into my routine of cooking and blogging and administering.  But it’s also easy to work in a walk, some yoga, or some Wii Fit into my day.

I really don’t want to take any medications for high blood pressure or cholesterol.  So I need to make some adjustments to my lifestyle to avoid them.  My doctor and I agreed to give the lifestyle approach a shot for 3 months and if I can get things to normal limits, no medicine for me!  A big motivator, I’ll say.  I’ll keep you up to date on:

• How I’m adjusting my habits when I go out, to reduce sodium/calories/fat grams.
• How I’m changing my cooking to reduce sodium even more (but keep great flavor).
• How I’m integrating more activity into my life.

If you’ve changed your lifestyle to improve your health, what tools or tricks do you recommend?  I’d love to get your tips!

There are many ways to do a great French Onion Soup.  I’m sure there is a way that Julia Child would approve of, the way that they teach in culinary school, the way you’d learn if you went to a Classical French cooking basics at your local cooking school.

And then there’s my way, based on what I have on hand and what I’m feeling like that day.  I believe you can craft a great soup using  Soup Basics which includes 5 techniques:

1. Aromatics: Thinly sliced onion and leek.  I used the food processor to slice the onions and leeks, and if I could go back I’d probably do it by hand as they ended up too finely sliced for my taste.
2. Caramelize: I used a Cooking Light trick and heated 2 T olive oil, then added 1T butter and the onions and leeks.  Olive oil is a healthier fat than butter but this allows for a bit of that rich buttery taste to be incorporated.  I let the onions caramelize for 45 minutes to an hour to get to that nice rich brown color.
3. Deglaze: Traditional French onion soup uses Sherry wine for this step but I didn’t have any on hand so I opened a bottle of my cherished Parley Lake Winery Chardonnay, added a cup and turned the heat up high.  Most of the alcohol burned off and the wine reduced by half…. but you can still tell it’s in there (Yum).
4. Main Flavor/Supporting cast:  Traditional french onion soup uses beef broth but I added homemade chicken broth (which resulted in a lighter color.)  I brought the soup to a boil, reduced to simmer, threw in some thyme sprigs, and let it simmer for awhile.
5. Spice: French onion soup is pretty straightforward, I didn’t add additional spices, but could have topped the soup with freshly cut chives (I can’t find them in my garden yet… I hope they’re still coming back!)  What does add some yumminess is a toasted piece of french bread with melted Gruyere.

Philly Cheesesteaks

For some reason, while I’m trying to reduce my meat intake, gosh once in awhile my mouth just waters when I see a picture of red meat.  I didn’t hesitate to book a night at a local steakhouse when Neighbor Dave’s friends suggested it.  And this week, I adapted a Cooking Light Recipe for Philly cheese steak sandwiches to fulfill my craving.

I seared 1 lb of flank steak after lightly seasoning with salt and pepper, until the middle registered 135 degrees.  While the steak was searing, I cut an onion and green pepper, and minced some garlic.  Once the meat was out and resting, covered, I sauteed the onions for a couple minutes and added the peppers and garlic and sauteed for a couple minutes more.  I thinly sliced the flank, added it to the pan, turned the heat to high and added a bit of red wine to deglaze the pan.  Put the meat mixture on some homemade rolls and topped with a small bit of horseradish and provolone, and put them under the broiler to melt.  Yum.

Birchwood’s Grain Carrot Cakes (with the Jen twist)

My most ambitious cooking this week involves my latest obsession, grains.  I made a traditional grain pilaf: wheatberries, farro and barley in chicken stock and flavored with aromatics (onions and mushrooms).  I then adapted a Birchwood Cafe recipe from the Minnesota Homegrown cookbook.  Result: Grain Carrot cakes (breaded with panko and lightly fried in canola oil) served over fresh fennel salad with kumquat pistachio topping.  I put a cute carrot on top of each cake, using the carrot coulis (my coulis did not turn out nearly as bright as the one in the cookbook picture- not sure why, another interesting cooking challenge to tackle) and a pesto I made from the carrot greens.  They are filling, and except for the broth used in the pilaf preparation, vegetarian too.

What’s cooking in your kitchen this week?  I’m in need of inspiration, if you are hungry for something- tell me what it is and you just might score a dinner invite to my place to taste it!