Pack it up Ramen- Sweet potato are the new noodles in my life!

Summertime is coming and the dreaded shorts season is almost upon us... Horrors!

So I have been looking for lower calorie alternatives to my favorite meals, with lots of veggies in play. The other day something came across my feed, and it was sweet potato noodles made with my favorite kitchen gadget- the Veggetti.

As I always say, most people do quite of bit of their tasting of food through their eyes, so I wanted this to be visually appealing too!I picked up some of my favorite vegetables, some imitation lobster ( a combination of Alaskan Pollack and real lobster), a huge sweet potato (thanks Frogpond farm stand) and went to work.


Here is the finished plate! Kind of pretty with all of the colors and textures.

Let me start you out at the beginning. I cleaned and peeled the huge sweet potato, then put it into the veggetti and made the thick spiral noodles. ( If you want to know more about the veggetti maker- look at my older post from January 2016) When they were spiralized.. I put them in a glass bowl with a scant quarter cup of water and a sprinkle of salt.






Next I cut all of my stir-fry ingredients into their desired shapes.  Remember to keep the sizes and shapes of your ingredients as standardized as possible. And, I try to have a plan on how much time individual ingredients are going to need to cook, and I add ingredients to the saute skillet in a "longest to shortest" time frame. The goal with a great stir fry is to have all of the veggies be crisp tender and have any proteins be fully heated!

Here is the mise en place 











The sweet potato curls got a plate cover over them and I put them in the microwave. Cooking them on high in 30-45 second intervals, I tasted them frequently to get the crisp tenderness that I wanted. I like the crisp tender texture and found that it took about 4 or 5 minutes to get the noodles to this point. While cooking them, I started on the stir fry.

In the saute skillet, I added about 1/4 cup of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. I find that mixing them together gives me a deeper flavor without the risk of burning the butter. Because I wanted a garlic and dill sauce, I added the garlic first over med high heat so that the oil would flavor with the garlic. In next went the onions and the Pollack/Lobster chunks so the onions could soften and the Pollack/Lobster would have enough time to heat thoroughly.
In quick succession , I added the broccoli, let them saute for a minute or two, and then the rest of the veggies and a few sprinkles of dried dill weed. A couple of fresh grinds of salt and pepper topped them all off. I sauteed them over medium heat, turning them with a spatula gently so they would maintain their shape. After 5 or 6 minutes of sauteing, I tasted for desired crisp tenderness (be careful not to overcook!) and removed the pan from the heat.

Pile the gorgeous sweet potato noodles on each serving plate- (Some of them were 18 inches long!- YUM!) and add a good helping of the sauteed veggies and fish. To brighten the ending, I added a capful of lemon juice drizzled over the top, and of course a little Parmesan.

The taste was amazing. Long slightly crisp noodles and veggies in a garlick-y butter-y dill sauce with the slight acidity of the lemon to make them dance in your mouth. I can't wait to try this again with other ingredients! So very pretty and delicious- Sweet potato noodles are my new Ramen noodle substitute.

I would say to all my aspiring fantastic cooks that maybe reading this blog- go crazy on the colors of your veggies and whatever proteins you want. Clean out the produce draw of your refrigerator!. For those of you who want to know what I added, here is the list:
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 large onion, julienned
1/2 pound of the Pollack/Lobster, chunked
1/3 head of broccoli stalks, also julienned
3 small sweet pepper, the minis- julienned
5 or 6 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 roasted red pepper, julienned

If you look closely at the broccoli, you will see that there is more stalk on them than I usually leave. There is a reason to my madness. A huge trend in food hitting the world last year and in 2016 is something called "Roots to Stem", and it is a movement to have as little waste as possible from your food ingredients. With the extreme amount of food that is wasted each year- and the amount of people who are starving, I am making an extra effort to use up all that I can from any ingredient I use. Watch for some, I am sure, informative and funny blogs about my trials and tribulations doing that!

Ohh- and some exciting news! I am working on a website where you can find all of my recipes plus some cooking technique videos, and whatever else you want to see or I want to share. Check it out soon- www.Christineconsler.com  Let me know what you want to see. You can go now- there is a pretty picture up while I concoct!

Talk with you soon- as always
Live Peacefully. Cook Fearlessly

Chris

Move over brown....Purple's the new rice on the block!

      A few weeks ago, a good friend sent me a link about purple rice and it's nutritional benefits. Since she had to order it in (thanks Amazon!), she offered to share half of the package with me. Immediately, the foodie in me was designing up new cool recipes to showcase the rice.
    So here is the end result... and it YUMMY!

According to my internet research- Purple rice is also known as "Longevity" or Black rice. Purple rice is touted to have a high nutritional value--loaded with iron, Vitamin E, and antioxidants. It has as much fiber as brown rice, and shares the nutty taste. It is a glutinous rice, so that makes it a natural type of sticky rice. Plus it has such a COOL color! 

     So, armed with my baggie of shared purple rice, I set out to create. I think that taste is very much influenced by what the eyes see on the plate, and I wanted the sauce to pop with color. Last year I had the privilege to cook with a great Creole chef, and he had given me some fantastic spice blends when he left. I had played with them in the past, and out of the spice cabinet they came today.

    Here is the mise en place for this dish- and I only add this in because I love the look of all my ingredients out together. I had a few extra ingredients on the board that didn't make it into the dish, I tend to edit as I create.

Creole Shrimp and Roasted Red Peppers over Purple Rice

Ingredients: (serves three adults)

1 cup of purple/black rice

salt and pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp. butter (the real stuff, not margarine)

1/3 of a large onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 roasted red peppers in juice, drained and sliced in strips

1 pound raw shrimp, shelled and de-veined

About 2 tbsp. Creole shrimp seasoning

1 tsp dried dill spice

1/4 cup lemon juice

Shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Rinse the purple rice well, and place in pot with 2 cups water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.

2. About 10 minutes before the rice is done, add the oil and butter to a flat pan. Place over medium heat. 

3. Place the shrimp in a small bowl and sprinkle with the creole spices. Mix well.

4. Over medium heat, when the butter is melted, add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes, do not brown!

5. Add the garlic and continue to saute for two more minutes.

6. Add in the red peppers, then the shrimp after a minute or two. Stir and cook the shrimp until they turn opaque and pink, but be careful not to overcook. (They become rubbery.) When the shrimp are about half cooked-- add in the lemon juice and the dill, continuing to stir. The sauce will thicken a bit.

7. When the shrimp are completely cooked, remove the sauce from the heat.

8. When the rice is done, add a nice rounded mound to the serving plate and spoon the shrimp sauce over the rice, garnish with Parmesan cheese, and a few grinds of the fresh salt and pepper. If you like a little more acidity, drizzle with a few drops of the lemon juice to brighten the flavor.

And there you go!

I teamed this dish with some steamed broccoli and it was very good. And, I have to say, I drizzled my broccoli with some aged Balsamic finishing vinegar... OMG. Some of the vinegar got into the rice- and the nutty richness was better than dessert!

So go- find some purple rice and show me what you can do with it on my blogging Facebook page

Hey.... and if you like- LIKE me too!

Well, now I have an urge to create more dishes featuring a dark purple starch- I see black squid ink pasta in my near future. I'll keep you posted!

As always,

Live Peacefully. Cook Fearlessly.

Chris

  

It ain't over til you add the finishing vinegar (or oil)

      Hello, I am a vinegar addict.  All my family and friends know it, and I am not even ashamed of it anymore.
      For years and years, I have added vinegar to my plate like other people add salt and pepper. I love the stuff and how it makes my food taste- slightly acidic or slightly sweet, depending on the vinegar.  I used to try to hide that I thought everything was better with vinegar on it, but it is a scent that wafts strongly through the air.  I sat through many puzzled glances by people without my addiction- and who thought I was a little weird!
     So, I was pleasantly surprised when a good friend, fully aware of my habit, gave me finishing vinegars from Philadelphia this Christmas. I sat them on the counter and promptly forgot about them- until my sister gave me another bunch of them, along with oils from New Hampshire.

      These have great yummy flavors: oil infusions such as Tuscan Herb, Garlic, Persian Lime- specialty oils like Butternut Squash Seed, White Truffle, and California Almond. In the vinegar line-Black Mission Fig Balsamic, Traditional 18-year Balsamic, and Cranberry-Pear, for example. Recently, while on a trip to Philadelphia-- we took a visit to the Reading Terminal Market, and I found a shop called The Tubby Olive. It has a dazzling display of oils and vinegars, and I spent quite a happy while tasting vinegar after exotic vinegar!

        Home I came, with even more oils and vinegars, promising myself I would figure out what to do with them. Tonight I decided to use two of them as a finishing drizzle-- the 18 year aged balsamic, and a lovely basil infused olive oil. The finishing vinegars have been reduced and are more of a syrup than a water texture- all the better for embracing pastas, breads, or baked potato chips (like I just did!)

 Here is the finished product- and OMG , it was yummy!

 This starts with a bed of gluten-free Fusilli, over which I layered steamed broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and edamone. Added in crispy bacon bits and a little Alaska Pollock and king crab meat. This was then drizzled with the basil oil, the 18 year balsamic and a little fresh lemon juice.  The final topper was some freshly shredded Parmesan. I started drooling the moment I uncapped that 18 year balsamic, and literally inhaled the rest of the meal. I really tried to savor- but it was so good!
     So, I wondered, what else can I do with these? A quick Internet search later, and here is a small list:   Dipping, Finishing, Marinades, Specialty reductions (like Balsamic reduction over grilled pineapple- try it, really, go try it!), over Scrambled eggs, Vinaigrette's and my next experiment- drizzled over fresh popcorn!
      The Tubby Olive has a website called, of course, thetubbyolive.com.  Try it out and look at some of the recipes that they have created:
                   Avocado, Tomato, mozzarella Salad featuring Basil Olive oil
                   Tzatziki Sauce featuring Champagne Vinegar and Fern Leaf Dill oil
                   Black Currant-Chipotle Wings featuring Chipotle oil and Black Currant Balsamic Vinegar.

    I highly recommend visiting their shop in Philadelphia, they are very happy to help and very knowledgeable about their products. I encourage you all to try your hand at the finishing oils and vinegars, they add an dimension that compliments all things.

And, the next time I am out and about, I will be visiting these two shops also.:
      Cardenas Oil & Vinegar Taproom, South Philly
          and
      Monadnock Oil & Vinegar Co., Peterborough, NH
Great vinegars and oils from these two places also. So get out there and play with your vinegars and oils- your dishes aren't done until they have been finished!
Let me know about the winners!


As always, Live Peacefully. Cook Fearlessly.
Chris

Sometimes you soar with the eagles, other times you crash and burn with green drinks and Thai pizza

(My Note- This is a post from my earlier blog- but it has a good message that I want all cooks to remember- when you set out to stir things up, sometimes they blow!) 

    This week's pizza on the patio was scheduled to be a take on Thai fusion, or at least that was the understanding when I started planning my menu. I did the research, made the grocery lists and faithfully picked up the ingredients. I'd like to take a moment before going on to point out some of my excuses for last night:  It was too cold on the patio, the hubby had just washed the patio, I was off my game, my stars were misaligned. But really, sometimes I can just miss the boat so much that you wished I had taken the plane!  LOL 

The drink combo started off so promising-- take some fruits and veggies that can be found in Thailand:   bananas, mango, avocado, cucumber, and limes, puree them down and add some spice and salt. I told myself that it didn't taste too bad when I put it in the freezer to chill.  At the appropriate pre-dinner moment I added vodka and seltzer, poured it into pretty glasses with a mango slice and some cilantro.  Looks fairly pretty, no?

   Okay, okay - looks like something The Exorcist producers may have been interested in... and sadly, it tasted a bit like that too. :) I like my vodka, but seriously, there is not enough vodka in the land to make these chunks appealing. LOL  * PS- please re-read the aforementioned excuses at this time. Haha.*
   On to the pizza.. yes, I do have to go there.  Sigh.  Seemed like another good idea, definitely one that was going to make waves! I would make shrimp pad thai, grill it up on a thin light pizza crust, add a little salty cheese, bean sprouts, egg strips and peanuts when it comes out of the pizza oven. Viola! Instant compliments!  ( That was the plan!)

Now,  I think that it doesn't look too bad-- the pizza crust was perfectly done, and it smelled nice.  I cut into it and took a big bite.  Uhmm, have you ever lived through the moment when you regretted not tasting the ingredients PRIOR to putting them together and serving them? The noodles were so overdone, think sticky and mushy with some shrimp thrown in for color.  I am adding to my excuse list that while making this pizza, I was valiantly trying to choke down that chunky, green drink you saw before! LOL 

    The family though, ever the champs, gamely ate some of the pizza. (I 'm pretty sure...maybe I should check the plants!) They even tried to throw out a compliment or two  (I love them), but the damage was in plain view on the table. I just had to chalk it up as a big loser.  *Again, at this point I re-direct you to the excuses list! *   :)

        However- the pizza crust was really, really good.  It is from Bobby Flay-http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe.html  And, the mushroom and pepperoni pizzas that are always staples were a hit! So, I am putting these two recipes in the trash (except the dough) and going to try it all over again next week. (No Thai though, going to have to regain a little Thai composure, first!)

     This is all part of cooking- doing it fearlessly, getting it right some days...  and laughing on the days when it goes off the rails.  Just always have some peanut butter and jelly in the house and its all good!
 As Always-

Live Peacefully. Cook Fearlessly

Chris

Who cares which one came first?...Deep fry those little devils!

It was probably about a week ago when I first heard about this bit of outrageous deliciousness from a co-worker. Ready?

Deep fried deviled eggs!

I was immediately intrigued by the thought and since Easter was coming up, well- I had the perfect excuse to try them out!
After buying the eggs, I boiled them and shelled them- only lost just a few to horrible peeling. LOL
(A quick tip about peeling eggs my mom told me is to drain the boiling water, carefully, and then crack all of the eggs by swirling the pot, and add cold water over the eggs. Let them sit for a few minutes and the shells will usually peel right off!)

After halving them and putting the yolks in a separate bowl, I started working on the deviled part.

To my bowl of eggs I like to add some spice. Usually I change it up depending on how I feel that day, but for this I went with some standard favorites: mustard, cider vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried mustard powder, celery seed, dried dill, and mayonnaise.
I never really measure the amounts I put in, I start mashing, and tasting, and adding, and mashing, tasting, and adding.. until it is yummy.

Putting the filling in the refrigerator, I turned to the deviling and frying part. According to my co-worker, he uses a flour/egg wash/breadcrumb coating. I started with the same, but changed to panko breadcrumbs because I like them better. Let me tell you - I had 18 people to feed, and had boiled three dozen eggs, now I had to bread 72 halves! I was frustrated after number two, for a couple of reasons. First- egg whites are delicate little flowers and don't really like to be picked up and dredged. LOL Secondly, the fingers that are dredging are immediately cased in flour and egg paste- getting larger with each dredge- I had to stop multiple times to de-bread my fingers!

However, I finished them while the deep fryer was reaching temperature, (I set it at 375 degrees) and there started to be a promise of deep fried goodness in the air.

Setting the first batch in the basket, I slowly lowered them into the fresh oil...

Five minutes of anxious checking later I had this...

It was a start, and they were so crispy! The breading was beautiful golden. Working in batches, I put the deviled filling in a pastry bag and started piping in to the crusty shells. So pretty if I do say so myself!

Here is a close up of them so you can see the texture.

I decided to add some toppings: jalapenos, paprika, dill, sea salt, and a balsamic finishing vinegar. (Haven't heard of them before? keep looking for my next blogs- I was gifted with a bunch of them! yeah!) 

After rushing them warm to the Easter dinner (these were the appetizers), I FINALLY got to try one.......YUM!  Crispy and golden on the bottom with the rich filling, and the tang of the topping. My dad declared them a winning recipe, and a new staple for the big family dinners! I may have created a bit of a monster.  A big thank you to Sim!

Next time I might try a beer batter on the whites, easier to do. will keep you all updated on the results Anyone out tried the batter fry on these? Let me know.

So go on out and try these yourself- I would love to hear how yours turn out.

Update on the book- still in the potential agent's hands... Two weeks down, and turn around time is about six weeks. I am trying hard to learn patience. LOL But I console myself each day that at least I haven't gotten a rejection yet. Haha

Follow your dreams everyone, and as always:

Live Peacefully. Cook Fearlessly.

Chris

You bake me right round baby, right round....

Today, while I was procrastinating about writing a paper for the college course I am taking, I ran across this little gadget I found a few years ago- and promptly buried in my closet of "I'll fool around with this later" kitchen clutter.  
Thinking that this would be a great blog entry, I promptly turned off the laptop (and my Paper), and got to work on figuring this thing out. It had not come with instructions but I was able to find some on the Internet a few years ago, and they were still in the box.





Following the package recipe (word for word) for the French bread, well, that wasn't going to happen. So I modified it all to heck, adding rye flour, white whole wheat, and a 12 grain add in. Fourty-five minutes later, I tugged,  and shaped, and got the dough into the glass container.

       

Another bit of a raise and into the 425 degree oven it went. (That was a bit nerve racking- hot oven and cold glass thing). But after following the directions on timing, 20 minutes later I had this.                                                                       

Following the directions in order to get it out of the tube... well that was a whole another level of frustrations and a minor burn!











I let it cool a bit and cut into it.



















What coolness!
                                                                                                                     

But what to do with it now,- cool toast, appetizers?  While looking around I saw my other favorite kitchen gadget- the Breakfast Sandwich Maker- and an idea popped up!








I added sliced chicken, provolone and pepperoni to the left side: provolone, jalapenos, and tuna salad to the right.

Toasted them for 4 minutes, and

Yummy Goodness.

Here are the finished sandwiches:

They were very good!  And such fun to eat!  So if you stumble across the Pyrex "Bake-a-Round" snag it up for yourself or your favorite baker...

Here's a site that helped me with some new recipe ideas.

http://neufie.com/bake-a-round/

Now, sadly, back to the homework...

As always,
Live Peacefully. Cook Fearlessly
Chris

Move over Leg of Lamb-- This Garlic/ Mustard/Rosemary Baguette Bread is the new Classic!

Happy Spring Everyone!
Today, I was at a spring celebration and wanted to create a bread that went with a friend's lamb dish. Well, actually that was Plan B- Plan A was to make Lamb/Rosemary/Garlic/Dijon mustard sausage that was inspired by Julia Child's traditional mustard-sauced Leg of Lamb. Sadly, due to a minor miscalculation of mine- who would have thought it?, the lamb was wasn't defrosted in time... so that will be tomorrow's post.
So-- I thought, why not take that fabulous mustard sauce and make it the basis of a French baguette? Classic! Plus I recently acquired some new baguette shaping pans from vacation, and wanted to get in some more time with them. Here is the results:

Do they look Yummy or what? And you know it-- they tasted out of this world. All warm garlic-y, mustard-y goodness.
The Basics:

2 cups of warm water
2 tbsp white sugar
2 packages (2 tbsp) of yeast
1 cup rye flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
4 cups of bread flour
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried minced garlic
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried rosemary

Mix the water, sugar, and yeast in a stand mixer bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a dough hook until smooth, or mix together by hand and knead on a floured surface until smooth. Let rise for 20 minutes then cut into four equal pieces and shape each into baguette form. Place either in greased baguette trays or on a greased sheet pan, and let them rise until doubled, another 30 minutes or so.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees when you set the loaves for the second rise.
When the loaves have risen and the oven is warm, brush the tops with an egg white wash, and score the loaves with a sharp knife.
Bake until golden brown and hollow tapping, 20 minutes or so. Let cool and enjoy.

I took extra over to the Spring feast, and the texture on this loaf was great. Here's a picture of it with the lamb stew.

So that is it. It was a great dipping bread, and I saved one to have ham and cheese on tomorrow!
Enjoy!

I'm excited to share some news!

If you want to learn how to bake artisan bread with a no fail method, use deconstructing techniques, AND make some recipes that create stunning reconstructed meals- cross your fingers for me. The book proposal has been in the hands of an agent that I would LOVE to be with, and I am hoping for good news. Five more weeks  of potential waiting, I hope I can learn some patience. LOL
So far the recipe development has been fun- here is a sneak peak at one of the finished pictures.

Also in development is a YouTube site, intending to be used as a instructional area where you can find me teaching an demonstrating cooking and baking techniques.  Got a question? Want to know how to torch a cream brulee, or shape a baguette? Just mention it in the comments, and I will get on it!

Hoping that things are exciting and creative in your lives also.

Live Peacefully. Cook Fearlessly.

Chris