Super-Easy-Vegan-Veggie-Coconut-Curry

Made this one in a pinch the other night, and it was a DELIGHT. (No pictures, lo siento.)

1) chop an onion, 3-4 cloves of garlic, and about a table spoon of ginger. Place all three in a food processor and mince (if no food processor available, just chop into little bits).

2) Start a pot for your basmati rice and add once water is boiling. (the rice will take about 20 minutes depending on how soft you want it - be sure to check the pot and stir rice occasionally so it doesnt dry out and stick to the pot. Add water if necessary)

3) Add a tsp of olive oil to a sauce pan, heat, and then toss in your minced onion/garlic/ginger. Sizzle until aromatic (a few minutes).

Now the fun part. In the same pan add (according to taste):

1.5 tsp turmeric
1.5 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin powder (or freshly ground cumin seed if you're a stud)
1 tsp coriander powder (" ")
1 tsp of garam masala
a few cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
A pinch of rock salt and ground pepper.

Stir into onion/garlic/ginger mixture.

4) Immediately add your vegetables to the pan. If you have less time, grab a bag of frozen asian stir-fry veggies. If you have more time, pick out some fresh favorites (potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, okra, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms would all be good) and chop them prior to cooking.

Stir vegetables into seasoning and minced mixture until evenly dispersed.

5) once the veggies have become soft, add 1 can of coconut milk (be sure to shake the can to achieve proper thickness. Stir.

let ingredients stew for a short while until you think it looks delicious enough to eat.

6) spoon rice onto a plate and ladle the curry over the rice.

voila!

Preserves!!

Sue and George came to visit this week and while they were here I heard that the peaches were ripe at Shelburne Orchard so we went to pick a few. We may have overdone it a little because we ended up with 12 pounds of peaches! Some got eaten right away, some got sent on to mom and dad, but I was still left with almost five pounds of peaches. Which is a whole lot when you can't eat fresh fruit. I asked a friend for help and got this recipe for peach preserves.

4 pounds of peaches: peeled, pitted, sliced

1 package powdered pectin

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

7 cups sugar

Combine all in a saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring gently until the sugar is dissolved. Boil 1 minute. Ladle into jars (can or freeze).

Seemed easy enough so I brought all the fixings out to the farm to get help from Laura (and because it just seemed right to make preserves at a farm).

Laura suggested par-boiling the peaches to get the skins off quickly and easily so I checked the Joy of Cooking for instructions. I love that book, it gives the most basic instructions in detail.... which I need.

In the end it was really easy. I made 5 pints of preserves and had a bit left over in the pot which we ate while still warm over ice cream.

I won't know until it all cools if it successfully gelled but it's tasty already anyhow.

You can expect to get some the next time I see you :)

I also got a recipe for peach butter that I'd like to try but have now run out of peaches. I may have to pick more.

Kitchen Sink Tempeh

A favorite staple here at the farmhouse is what I like to call "Kitchen Sink Tempeh" because it's seasoned with everything but the kitchen sink. We like to get the Rhapsody Tempeh but we've also used the LightLife organic three grain tempeh. First cut it into strips less than a 1/4 inch thick. If you've never used tempeh before don't be put off if there's some black on the uncooked tempeh; it doesn't mean it's gone bad.

Put olive oil in a frying pan on low heat and place the strips of tempeh in the pan in a single layer. Flip them immediately and drizzle a little sesame oil over top. Then add the rest of the ingredients as the tempeh cooks. No, I don't have measurements of how much to add, just sprinkle and dash to taste. We use:

Apple Cider Vinegar

Braggs Liquid Aminos

Lime Juice

Ground Mustard

Garlic powder

Honey

Salt and Pepper

Cook the tempeh flipping occasionally until brown and crispy looking on the outside. Here's Julie with a perfectly browned piece.

How to use it? We put it with rice or quinoa and cooked veggies. Or even better as a burrito with beans, onions, sour cream, salsa, and cheese. Now that the weather is nice enough we've been doing more and more out on the second floor back deck including eating dinner and playing Rock Band!

Baked Kale Chips

My friend Sasha brought these to Stitch and Bitch a couple of weeks ago and I pretty much stood at the counter and ate all of them. Not very good potluck behavior.

Baked Kale Chips

Prep Time:
10 Min

Cook Time:
10 Min

Ready In:
20

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 58 | Total Fat: 2.8g | Cholesterol: 0mg

Mom and Dad's Visit

Tad and I can't fit in our pants following Mom and Dad's Visit. I had to bust out my fat pants. Here was some of our food concoctions:

Creamy Horseradish and Dill Dip

Serves 6Hands-On Time: 05mTotal Time: 05m

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• dippers (such as celery sticks, cucumber rounds, and potato chips)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, horseradish, milk, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until fluffy. Stir in the dill. Serve with the dippers.

Rosemary Pecans

Serves 8Hands-On Time: 10mTotal Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375° F. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, cayenne pepper, and ½ teaspoon salt. Add the pecans and toss to coat.
2. Transfer the pecans to a rimmed baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Bake, stirring occasionally, until toasted, 10 to 12 minutes.
3. Add the rosemary and toss to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Rubby mcrubbersons

I've never done a dry rub on meats before so I thought I'd give this one a try on steaks. Tad says "It was real tastey."

All-Purpose Rub

4-6 Hands-On Time: 0hr 05m Total Time: 0hr 05m

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• kosher salt
• Olive oil

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cinnamon, oregano, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt.
2. Add enough olive oil to make a paste and rub over raw meat, under and over chicken skin, or on seafood.

Easy nuf.

Easiest from Scratch Bread

So I know this won’t work for Erin… and Mom probably would avoid having this much bread in the house too…. but I had to share this anyway.

While working at the Bradford Public Library the librarian Gail told me about this great cookbook she’s been using to make bread from. It’s called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The basic recipe was published in Mother Earth News in their December 2009/January 2010 issue and although it’s pretty wordy, it was actually really, really easy…. no kneading and no punching. It’s practically idiot proof. The best part is that you make a huge batch of dough, FOUR POUNDS worth. Then you just pull off a hunk and bake each loaf as you need it. The dough lasts up to 2 weeks in the fridge and becomes more sourdough-like the longer you keep it. I’m putting the basics here but the whole article in M.E.N. has way more details and information about ingredients.

5 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 Tbsp (2 packets) granulated yeast

1 Tbsp kosher salt

1/4 c. vital wheat gluten (Bob’s Red Mill or Hodgson Mill recommended)

4 c. lukewarm water

1-2 Tbsp whole seed mixture (optional)

1. Measure the dry ingredients and mix together in a 5-quart bowl or re-sealable lidded (not airtight) container.
2. Heat the water to slightly warmer than body temp (about 100 degrees F). Add to the dry ingredients and mix without kneading, using a spoon, food processor (with dough attachment) or heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). Don’t knead! It isn’t necessary. You’re finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough that remains loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.
3. Cover dough with a lid (not airtight) or cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), which will take about 2 hours. Longer rising times – even overnight – will not change the result. Fully refrigerated dough is less sticky and easier to work with than dough at room temp. So, the first time you try our method, it’s best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or at least 3 hours) before shaping a loaf. Whatever you do, do not punch down this dough!
4. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up a 1-pound (grapefruit sized) piece of dough and cut using a serrated knife or kitchen shears. Hold the dough in your hands and add a little more flour so it won’t stick. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides. This should take no more than 20-40 seconds. If you work the dough longer than this, it may make your loaf too dense.
5. Stretch the ball gently to elongate it and taper the ends.
6. Allow the loaf to rest covered with plastic wrap on a pizza peel covered with cornmeal or parchment paper or a silicone mat (or just use a greased cookie sheet) for 90 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for half an hour with a baking stone placed on a middle rack and an empty broiler tray on the very top or bottom rack.
8. Just before baking use a pastry brush to paint the loaf with a little water and sprinkle the seed and nut mister on top. Slash the loaf with quart-inch-deep parallel cuts with a serrated bread knife.
9. After the oven is preheated slide the loaf off the pizza peel onto the baking stone in the oven (or just put the cookie sheet in the oven). Pour 1 cup of water into the empty broiler tray in the oven and close the door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is richly browned and fir to touch. If you used a cookie sheet, remove it and bake the loaf directly on the stone or oven rack when it’s about two-thirds of the way done. Allow the bread to cook on a wire cooling rack.
10. Store the rest of the dough in a container in the fridge and use over the next couple of weeks. Over time it ferments and takes on sourdough characteristics.

Ok so that sounded hard to me but after making one batch of dough (and baking two loaves of it already) it was way easier than I expected. I don’t have a pizza peel so I just did it on a baking sheet which worked fine… and I skipped the seeds on top. But hey look at that, I made bread!