AntSaint

Preserving the Summer - Canning 101

Enjoying all that summer harvest goodness? What's that? So much produce you can't eat it all? Time to start canning. Here are some basics:

Link: Canning 101: The Basics | Lehman's Country Life.

"What do you plan to do with the extra that you can’t eat or enjoy at the moment? Preserve your extra produce for use in the fall and winter! Whether you freeze, can or dry your food depends upon the space and equipment you have available and what your personal preferences happen to be. This article will focus on the safety issues and canning basics."

Meat as Accent, Not as Main

With the exception of a steak on the grill, our focus in cooking is to have meat be part of the dish, not the entirely of the dish. I got this in large part from my love of Asian cooking. Foods such as Thai food focus on a combination of ingredients and flavors. Meat is part of that combination, not the sole focus of the dish. Same for us. The textures and flavors of meat work in tandem with the rest of the dish, so we can use less meat (and therefore save a bit more dosh).

Link: The Minimalist - The Minimalist - Putting Meat in Its Place - NYTimes.com.

The arguments for eating less meat are myriad and well-publicized, but at the moment they’re irrelevant, because what I want to address here is (almost) purely pragmatic: How do you do it?

Via Lifehacker's Food: Change your Cooking Style to Cut Back on Meat

By the way, before it's mentioned, we also don't eat meat every meal or every day. We vary our diet with meats, eggs, beans, tofu, nuts and other protein sources. It keeps our food more interesting, and it's better for our budget too.

Growing Strawberries

Jodie and I – well, really more Jodie – have begun this adventure as well. We have a long, narrow south-facing bed that runs along our outside bedroom wall, and Jodie has packed it out with strawberry plants. So far, they are growing and happy and looking like we can look forward to many years of strawberry goodness.

Link: In My Kitchen Garden - Growing Strawberries.

in January of 2007 I ordered 30 Cavendish strawberry plants (which are actually more like little bundles of roots with a crown and maybe a leaf or two than actual plants) for $9.95 from my beloved Pinetree Garden Seeds, tucked them in the ground (not too deep, not too shallow) on May 7th (they don't ship you your plants until after the danger of frost), watered them regularly, and snipped off every single blossom that dared to make an appearance. That's right - no berries the first year means much bigger and healthier plants the next. It isn't easy, but it's worth it, trust me

Potstickers Inspire Spring Rolls

Jennifer at Culinaria Eugenius had a great post recently about doing up some  little green potstickers. I couldn't have come across it at a better time. With a fridge full of yummy CSA produce, I was nonetheless feeling a bit of a cooking doldrum.

Then I remembered that we had a bunch of spring roll wrappers in the freezer. Left over from a "roll your own" egg roll party we did for my birthday, I snagged a pack out of the freezer for about an hour's thawing.

From there, dinner was easy. I whipped up enough spring roll filling to do up rolls for 3 people, with leftovers.

Ingredients

All ingredients should be chopped small. Not minced, just small.

• Oil for stir frying and frying
• 1 chicken breast
• Couple of cups of greens (spinach, joi choi, bok choi, whatever)
• 1 carrot
• 5 mushrooms
• 1 spring onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1-1/2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• Cumin
• Lemon pepper
• Black pepper
• Chile flakes
• 2 eggs, whisked
• A wee bit of water, say about 1 tsp.

Cooking

1. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. As oil heats, add a few dashes of cumin to flavor the oil. Add onion and garlic and stir-fry for about 30 seconds.
2. Add chicken and cook until no more pink is visible. Season liberally with lemon pepper and black pepper, and maybe a bit more cumin. Add all vegetables except the greens. If the greens have an edible stem that needs more time to cook, go ahead and add the stems too. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add sugar, soy sauce and oyster sauce.
3. Add chile flakes and greens. Cook for about 3 minutes or so, stirring regularly to mix all ingredients and blend flavors. Add about half the egg and kill heat. Stir to scramble and cook egg. Remove wok from stove.
4. Now the really fun part.
5. Mix the bit of water with the remainder of the egg and stir. You'll fill the spring rolls with about a tablespoon of filling each. Plop a spoonful of goodness in not quite the middle of an eggroll wrapper. Fold part of the wrapper over the filling. Brush egg mixture over the edge of the wrapper. Fold in sides, then roll the whole shebang up. Repeat.
6. Clean out and dry your now-empty wok. Heat over medium to medium-high, and add enough frying oil to cover at least half the spring rolls. When the oil is hot — either when a thermometer hits 375°F or a bit of wrapper chucked in the oil fries — start frying.
7. Lay in 2-3 spring rolls at a time. They will not need much time! The filling is already cooked and ready to eat. You are only getting the fried goodness part now. You'll need to fry only about 30 seconds to a minute per side. When side of roll in oil looks like it's browning, flip it. When other side looks like it's browning, remove roll. Lay it on a plate covered in paper towels to blot oil. Repeat, repeat, repeat until are fried a lovely golden brown, and your local Chinese restaurant delivery guy is asking if he can stay for dinner.
8. Enjoy with your choice of dipping sauces. Soy sauce and rice vinegar, red chile sauce, hot mustard, whatever. And a beer.

Rhubarb

Ah, rhubarb. So tangy, so perfect in a pie with strawberries and a homemade crust... but enough about our Saturday night. I never knew that most rhubarb in the U.S. comes from the Northwest, and that was one of many things learned from this article:

Link: The sweet side of rhubarb: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore..

Almost all of the rhubarb in the United States is grown in Washington and Oregon, making it a true local specialty. It does best where the winters are cold and wet. It’s easily grown in the backyard, just requiring a little space. One note of caution: The leaves are poisonous so make sure to discard them

Making Your Own Pizza and Pizza Dough

Jodie and I love whipping up some pizza and really tricking it out (walnuts, apples and gouda, anyone?). So far we've just been using some pre-made dough from our area Winco (cheap!), but after reading this article, it's about time we tried making our own pizza dough too:

Link: Any way you slice it: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore..

"Eugene resident Barbara Wilson has been whipping up pizza at home for more than 25 years, creating both the dough and the sauce from scratch"

Sasquatch Brew Fest in Downtown Eugene, June 7

For some reason, I've never made it to the Sasquatch Brew Fest. But this year, I do believe, that has to change. Just think of it — downtown on a June day (which here, well, might or might not be nice, you never know), and nothing to do but hang and sample some fine Oregon brew. Indeed:

Link: ENTREE NOTES: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore..

"Memorial brewfest on tap June 7 — The Sasquatch Brew Fest, dedicated to the memory of Pacific Northwest professional brewer Glen Hay Falconer, takes over the open-air Broadway Plaza in downtown Eugene on June 7. In addition to beer tasting, activities include a silent auction, beer dinner and a homebrew contest. The festival runs noon to 11 p.m. Admission at the gate is $10, which includes a commemorative glass and two tasting tickets."

Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Gallon of Margaritas

This has been out there for a while, but I'm only recently finding this very nice, very simple margarita recipe from renowned Eugene mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler. I've been telling Jodie I'd like to have some good margarita fixins on-hand for our summer grilling, parties, get-togethers and such, and given that this is also in quantity, well, we're just going to have to try this out:

Link: Jeffrey Morgenthaler � A Gallon of Margaritas by the Gallon.

"It’s summer here in Eugene, Oregon, which means barbecues, camping trips and river floats are on the agenda for the next few months. I always love showing up with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas for the party, so I’ve decided to share my recipe with you, the loyal reader."

Grilled Broccoli Recipe

This past Sunday night, with perfect clear skies and warm temperatures outside, and Jodie and I done after a day of gardening and some indoor project planning, it was time to grill. In addition to some steaks, red onions and thin-sliced fingerling potatoes, we also grilled up a large broccoli head from our Good Food Easy produce CSA. The only mod to this recipe was we did not use Parmesan cheese. The broccoli grilled up nicely — be sure to get it just a hair charred in a spot or two. This is a keeper for summer grilling:

Link: Grilled Broccoli Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes.

"True" Indian Curry

Try as I might, preparing Indian food has always kind of eluded me. I've been working on it though, and this helpful (and appetizing) article in the R-G has me feeling more hopeful about preparing a good curry:

Link: True curry: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore..

"Many delicious curries are easy to create. Before embarking on your curry journey, take stock of your spice pantry. And don’t bother with that prepared curry blend. Blending your own mix of whole spices will reward you with honest and delicious Indian food"