Blog Worth Sharing: Good Eats, Good Inspiration

Kale Power

Looking for super nutrient dense foods to feed the family is a rewarding endeavor; it's also an efficient way to feed those you love. Kale is one of the healthiest foods imaginable. There seems to be no end to its nutritional attributes. Packed with  (1) antioxidant nutrients, (2) anti-inflammatory nutrients, and (3) anti-cancer nutrients in the form of glucosinolates, it's truly one warrior of a vegetable. Kale is incredibly easy to grow and loves Marin County.

When cooked properly, kids love it--when sliced thinly in salads with apples--they devour it. Here are two recipes to get you jazzed about Kale. Keep kale in mind for all of your recipes: soups, sauces and casseroles.

Family Kale Recipes by Jen Genova

Kale and Walnut Pesto
makes 2 cups, enough for about 2 lbs of pasta
1 bunch of kale
1 tsp olive oil, plus 1/2 c
1 c walnuts
1/2 c grated pecorino
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
1. Lightly steam the kale (no more than 5 minutes).
2. In the meantime, heat teaspoon of olive oil in a small pan and use to toast the walnuts, stirring frequently. The walnuts are done when they turn golden brown and are fragrant.
3. Place steamed kale, toasted walnuts, pecorino and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Puree as you slowly drizzle remaining 1/2 c of olive oil in a thin stream. Pesto is done when it’s pureed and creamy. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
canola or olive oil, for cooking
good-quality coarse salt
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Wash kale and dry it in a salad spinner or between tea towels. (Extra moisture will keep them from getting nice and crispy.) Cut or pull out the tough stems, tear the leaves into chip-sized pieces and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss with your hands to coat well; arrange in a single layer and sprinkle with salt.
Roast for about 10 minutes, until crispy and starting to turn brown on the edges, but not too dark. Serve immediately or cool completely and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Serves 6.

Creamy Zucchini Omelette

The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook, Murdoch Books, 1996, pp 106-107.

Preparation time: 5-10 minutes

Total cooking time: 12 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchinis (courgettes)


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 60 g (2 oz) butter


• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped


• 5 eggs


• 2 tablespoons cream


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon pepper


• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Note: Buy Parmesan cheese in block form and grate it yourself for a fresher taste.

Cooking:

1. Slice the ends of the zucchinis and cut horizontally into very thin slices. Place half the oil and half the butter in a frying pan and heat until the butter melts. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the zucchini is golden. Sprinkle chopped garlic on top and mix gently. Cook for another 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, lift onto a plate. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel.


2. Beat the eggs with the cream, salt and pepper. Reheat the pan, add the remaining oil and butter and, when very hot, add the eggs. Stir the eggs with the back of a fork. Cook the mixture for 1 minute, tilting the pan and lifting the omelette's edges occasionally to allow the uncooked egg to flow underneath.


3. When the mixture is partly set, spread the zucchini evenly over the top, covering the egg mixture. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, or until set around the edges. Remove from heat and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the top. Cover with a lid and leave the omelette to rest in the pan for 2 minutes. Slide onto a plate and cut into wedges. Serve with a salad.

Daniela's Scrumptious Secrets

There was a yum yum yum buzz going on at the Food Matters table during Earth Week. Daniela Weeren offers up her trade secrets so we can bring this simple scrumptious goodness home...

Five Minute Bread (literally so)

Mix together with a spoon

600 gr. Flour

60 gr. Sunflower seeds

60 gr. Flax seeds

60 gr. Sesame seeds

1 package yeast

2 Teaspoons Salt

2 ½ Tablespoons Fruitvinegar

Add 600 ml. lukewarm water

Stir until everything is wet

Pour into a oiled and floured pan

Put it in a cold oven. (do not preheat)

Turn the oven on to 395 F.

After one hour take it out and it is done!

(Feel free to experiment with the seeds in the bread. For the bread on the Earth week Table I used spelt berries, sunflower seeds and rolled spelt flakes…)

Click here for Gram conversion calculator

Banana bites

125 gr. Butter

70-80 gr. Brown sugar (the recipe calls for 125 gr., but I found that far too much)

2 mixed eggs

200 gr. Flour (I used Spelt and Whole Wheat)

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Pinch of Salt

2 Tablespoons Joghurt or Buttermilk

200 – 300 gr. mashed Bananas (again the recipe calls for more (500 gr.), but it tasted also good with less)

preheat over to 375 F.

Grease a squared pan (20 / 20 cm) and put a squared sheet of baking paper on the bottom

mix Butter and Sugar together until it is well blended together – the longer the better

pour in the eggs and mix well

mix Flour, Salt and Baking Powder in a second bowl

put (or sieve) it into the egg mixture and gently stir together with a wooden spoon

Add the mashed Bananas and the Joghurt/Buttermilk

Pour into the pan

Bake for about 35 Minutes

Take it out and let it cool down for about 10 Minutes

Cut into little squares

Enjoy!

They taste great with Joghurt cheese (let European Style Plain Joghurt (Strauss) drain out over night in a cheese cloth and a sieve. Add a little bit of Agave Syrup to that more firm Joghurt in the morning).

EARTH WEEK: DAY THREE

"I am not a glutton, I am an explorer of food" Erma Bombeck

FOOD MATTERS. Food truly connects us all and when we stop sharing meals together or caring about what we eat, our children, our planet and our communities suffer.

For a simple infusion of joy: cook and cook a lot.

If our grandparents were closer and our communities stronger we'd all have the time and know how to:

Bake bread

Make yogurt

Make sauerkraut

Batch cook

Enjoy preparing meals

Start cooking and do it with friends. Lighten your load and team up with other families to share homemade treats. Taste the love. Yum. Yum. Yum.

The Slightly Sweet Crunchy Cookie to the Rescue

LACY OATMEAL COOKIES
Adapted from The New Basics Cookbook


** Replacing 1/4 cup of the flour with minced pumkin seeds and almonds works beaUtifully

** Omit the white sugar and use 1 cup of brown sugar for just the right sweetness

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried currants (or chopped bitter sweet chocolate)

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets a

Toss the oats, flour and baking soda together in a bowl.

Beat the butter and sugars together in a bowl until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Fold in the dry ingredients and currants.

Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheets and bake until golden about 10 mins. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets for 2 mins, then transfer them to wire racks to cool.

Frugal and Fabulous Foaming Fun

After watching a father load up on over 10 bottles of foaming hand soap at the grocers, I've decided to post one of my favorite homemade recipes. Next time you run out of foaming hand soap, rinse the dispenser out, pumping the water through a few times and try this recipe--you'll never buy soap at $4-5/bottle again!

Foaming Hand Soap

3 tablespoons liquid dish soap (phosphate free, biodegradable)

2/3 cup warm water

Gently mix soap and water and let stand 5-10 min.

Pour into reused foaming dispenser.

Do not shake.

*Add a drop or two of your favorite scented oil for custom fragrances.

If you want to make this process a little quicker, mark the soap line and the water line on your bottle and mix directly into the dispenser. Just be sure to gently swirl the soap and water together, and not shake it. (It works if you shake it, just not as well).

With a savings of over $4/bottle, you'll never buy hand soap again :D

You can do this with your shampoos as well to make hair washing easy, fun, and economical. You'll save on water as well--less soap, means less rinsing.

A great site for buying the foaming dispensers (such fun to make these for gifts) is http://www.bottlesandfoamers.com/cart/

My favorite site ever is ideal for the essential oils http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/aroma/ess.php (warning: if you take a look at their organic bulk herbs and spices--you'll never by spices at the grocer either!--But that's for another posting).


Post by Amy McKelvey

Alice Waters in Your Kitchen Every Night

As much as I love to cook, I know that I'm not alone when I say that: it can get a little challenging to come up with fast, tasty new recipes that keep the family eating complete goodness night after night after night.

Alice Waters, in yet another one of her glorious creations, has developed a site devoted to helping us all eat fresh, seasonal and 'at home' meals without the hassle of flipping through a cupboard full of recipe books.
Complete with menu, shopping list and game plan, htttp://www.notakeout.com is as close as you'll get to having Alice Waters in your kitchen every night.

You can subscribe to notakeout, and receive your Menu and Shopping List every weekday morning, Monday through Friday, via email or RSS. Alice chooses fresh seasonal foods, creatively combined to give you healthy meals in a reasonable amount of time.

A friendly family service for free.

A scrumptiously civilized gesture that this mother of two truly appreciates!

Pizza Amore

A few years ago, dissatisfied with local pizzerias, I started exploring different pizza dough recipes. I purchased a pizza stone and peel, and committed myself to perfecting the scrumptious late night pizza of pre-kid blissful strolls in Florence.

I'd like to think that I was actually getting a little close, but, in truth––I was no where near my ultimate goal. Then, as life so generously does, a new friendship brought me right to where I'd been hungry to go, and saved my family from at least one hundred more 'not quite it' pizza nights.

I have now adopted this same friend's Friday night pizza tradition and have tinkered with the flour, substituting either 1/3 Whole Wheat or 1/3 Kamut, with great results. The current rendition, with Oat Bran generously sprinkled between the sauce and the cheese, is my new favorite.

One step that you absolutely can not skip is letting the dough ferment over night or all day. This is when the magic happens. The recipe is so easy that first thing in the morning I'll make a batch and come dinner time, I'm sprinkling the cheese and popping it in the oven. The less than 10 minute baking time makes it the perfect answer for hungry little 'when are we going to eat' mouths, and with a yield of 6 crusts--there's always plenty to share with friends. I love launching the weekend this way!

Mangia Mangia!

Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.

3. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

4. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Before letting the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours, dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Now let rest for 2 hours.

5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

6. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.

7. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other top- pings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American "kitchen sink" approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.

8. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.

9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

Makes six 6-ounce pizza crusts and is perfect for freezing!