Nutty Noodles

Do you ever just want to eat peanut butter for dinner? I suspect I'm not alone here, but for the sake of not horrifying your family or roommates, here's an actual recipe with a good dose of PB. This comes together in about 20 minutes, so it's a real winner on those lazy nights. Serves 2 or 4, depending on your determination. Goes great with grilled chicken. Double the sauce recipe for dipping.

PB Nutty Noodles

INGREDIENTS
Sauce:
3 Scallions, white and light green parts, minced, dark green sliced and saved for garnish
1/4 c peanut butter (I suggest Teddie, or a similar natural peanut butter)*
1 TB rice wine vinegar
1 tsp chinkiang vinegar (or balsamic if you don't keep your vinegar cabinet packed with every kind you can find. Yes, I have a vinegar cabinet.)
1 TB soy sauce
1 TB grapeseed oil (or any other flavorless oil)
1 TB sambal or chili garlic paste
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fish sauce (I implore you to do your research and invest in a good brand. This list from ATK is a good place to start.)
1 TB brown sugar
1/4-1/2 c hot water, depending upon your desired sauce thickness
juice of 1/2 a lime, more if desired

Noodles:
12 oz noodles, cooked, rinsed under cold water, and thoroughly drained (Literally any kind. I have a great Asian market near me so I usually use fresh Korean vermicelli or dried udon. Rice stick like the kind for Pad Thai are a good grocery store option.)
2 cups (half a small head) of shredded cabbage (Again, any kind. You can even use the pre-shredded stuff that comes in a bag intended for cole slaw.)

To garnish:
Scallion greens, cilantro (optional if you think it tastes like soap) and crushed peanuts.

Add all of your sauce ingredients to a large bowl and whisk. Add the hot water a little at a time. You want a slightly thick consistency here, thicker than you think you'd want, but thin enough that the peanut butter emulsifies and isn't lumpy anymore. The noodles will be a little wet when you add them which will thin the sauce out more. The amount of water you need will vary depending on the peanut butter you use.

Add noodles and toss to combine. Serve on a bed of shredded cabbage, garnish with scallions, cilantro and crushed peanuts.

*I find that natural peanut butter works best here. It emulsifies better, has a cleaner peanut flavor, and there's no added sugar. If you only have JIF or something similar on hand, you may want to decrease the brown sugar a bit.

Floury Alchemy

I don't know how many of you suffer from weird, irrational avoidances like I do. Not fears really, just things you would really rather not encounter, like hearing nails on a chalkboard, or accidentally eating a glob of really fatty meat. Usually, for me at least, it's a sensory thing. One in particular, I held for a very long time: I hated the feeling of flour on my hands. It kept me from doing any baking where I would need to actually touch the batter. Eventually, however, my love of bread and motivation to stop paying Whole Foods prices for quality loaves won out and I gave in. Since then I've embraced homemade starter-risen sourdough, all manner of wonderful ethnic flatbreads, and your everyday perfect sandwich bread. But the recipe I go back to almost weekly is the one below that I adapted from a New York Times recipe by Mark Bittman. It is, as the name suggests, incredibly simple and really great for a beginner with a little bit of time.

p.s. if you make this for someone else, be sure to keep quiet about how easy it is. Homemade bread is something most people find both mystifying and extremely impressive.


So-Easy-It's-Stupid Bread
makes one large or two small loaves, or 12 dinner rolls

INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
525g unbleached, all-purpose flour (or bread flour, or a mix)
25g honey (or other sweetener - sugar, barley syrup, etc, but it MUST be actual sugar of some kind)
375g warm water (about 100 degrees)

EQUIPMENT
Food scale
Pizza stone, baking steel, or a heavy sheet pan
Parchment paper
Rimless cookie pan or pizza peel
Non-stick 12 cup muffin tin, if making rolls


PREPARATION
In a small bowl, mix water and honey to dissolve. In a separate large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast, salt and flour. Stir in water and honey mixture (preferably with your hands), mixing until there are no dry patches. Knead in the bowl a few times, then cover loosely with a damp tea towel or non-airtight lid of some kind. Let dough rise at room temperature for at least 2 hours, and up to 5 hours, depending upon room temp. Should be about double in volume.

Get ready to bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for up to 4 days. If baking now, place broiler pan or other heavy metal pan (I use a hotel pan) on bottom rack of the oven. Place baking stone or steel on middle rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Form into a round boule, or longer oval loaf (or loaves). Plop onto parchment set over a peel or unrimmed cookie sheet, dust with more flour (rice flour if you have it), cover with plastic wrap, and let rest 40 minutes while the oven preheats. I also sometimes do this in a large loaf pan. Dough will be roughly double in size again when it’s ready to bake. You can also make these into delightful little rolls by dividing the dough into 12 pieces and placing them in a muffin tin. If you don't have non-stick tins, you'll want to grease the cups a little.

Using a wet serrated or very sharp knife, slash dough in one long, clean cut along the top, slightly off center. Slide parchment onto stone and immediately pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, roughly 20-30 minutes (closer to 20 for rolls). Cool completely on a rack. Cover in good quality butter, and try not to eat the whole loaf in one night.

Optional add-ins and substitutions:
Walnuts, pecans, or any nut or seed of your choosing, about 75g
Raisins or dried fruits, 75g
Swap out up to 1/3 of the flour for whole wheat, rye, buckwheat, etc
Add dried herbs
Add olives, roasted garlic or caramelized onions
A bit (50-75g) of that sourdough starter an overzealous friend (me) gave you
Substitute the same amount of liquid whey for the water (leftover from when you made 2 pounds of ricotta – cut salt back to 1 tsp if you do this)

Golden Smoothie

So let's talk about the oh-so-trendy Golden Milk. If you run in certain circles, particularly those involving a lot of yoga pants, you may have heard of this concoction. At it's base, it's an ages-old Ayurvedic medicinal drink meant to tame inflammation. With the recent resurgence in alternative medicine, the Lulu-clad crowd are rallying around things like turmeric, coconut oil, and the like. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a health nut, but I've always had a bit of a hippie bent, and I literally always have all of the ingredients in the house, so I figured I'd give it a try. As usual, I needed to put my own spin on things, and mine is served cold where tradition dictates taking this as a warm beverage. Without further ado, I give you-

The Golden Smoothie
It all starts with cashew milk-homemade, of course. This recipe makes 5 cups exactly if you do it right, and I use 1 cup per smoothie.

For cashew milk-
1 cup raw cashews, covered by at least an inch of water, soaked overnight

Drain and rinse cashews, then add to your blender with 1 1/2 cups of water and blend until smooth. Or not, if you like a chunky smoothie.

Add to that-
1 13.5oz can coconut milk (regular or low fat - but don't use that fake stuff in the carton that's like almond milk)
1 teaspoon honey, optional (I used manuka honey to be a super hippie)
1 TB ground turmeric, or 1 inch piece of fresh, grated
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger, or 1 inch piece of fresh
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Blend til smooth, pour into a storage container and refrigerate. This mix is your fairly traditional golden milk and can be imbibed as-is, or warmed.

To make your smoothie-
Combine 1 cup of mix with one small frozen banana, 1/2 cup of buttermilk (or regular milk), and 1/2 cup of kefir or yogurt (I recommend mango) - blend until smooth, and enjoy.

I don't know if it's had any anti-inflammatory impact, but I do know that it makes a great breakfast or lunch when you're in a rush or just don't feel like eating solid food. It has a fair amount of protein from the cashews and coconut milk, so it will keep you feeling full for a while. I'm sure a lot of folks wouldn't consider this a "health" food, but that's kind of subjective, and I do.

Been a while...

So apparently it's been 5 years since my last post, nigh exactly. A lot has changed for me in those 5 years. I had a big breakup, a few moves (one out of state), found a great new guy, and switched jobs, all of which are blog-worthy, but I just had no energy or motivation while all of that was happening. But here we are. Dust settled, I'm ready to get back into it. Hopefully there are a few folks out there willing to join me on my new adventures in weirdo living. I'll try not to disappoint.

Love,
Jax

fall hard.

the end of the farmer's market is always depressing for me. i have to start relying on grocery stores for my produce again, and the options become more limited. the only thing that saves my mood is cooking with the root vegetables that i stock up on in the final weeks of the market. boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew...whatever, i'm all about them. soups and gratins are my favorite applications for them, so here's a chowder that sort of combines the two.

Roots Of Autumn Chowder

3 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 stalks celery, diced small
1 medium onion, diced small
1 Tbsp curry powder (i used Penzey's Vindaloo, but you can use whatever kind you're partial to)
1 Tbsp dill (dried or fresh)
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida (optional)
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock (homemade, either way. no excuses.)
1 cup heavy cream (or light cream if you prefer)
2 Tbsp butter
olive oil
salt and pepper

firstly, i'd like to mention that you can go ahead and use any combination of root vegetables you'd like for this. turnips, rutabegas, sweet potatoes, even golden beets would probably work just as well in this. in fact, you could even throw in some squash if you were so inclined.

start out with your trusty dutch oven over medium high heat and splash in enough olive oil to cover the bottom, melt the butter, then add your onions and celery. cook them til they're softened and translucent. add the curry powder and asafoetida (if you're using it) and stir just to work it into the oil. dump in the chopped parsnips and carrots (but NOT the potatoes yet) and cook until everything takes on a little bit of brown around the edges.

add the stock and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, raise the heat and boil until the potatoes are tender. remove from heat and stir in the cream and dill. oyster crackers or saltines will go nicely with this.

something to do with tomatillos.

this recipe began it's life as a soup. never one to leave well enough alone, i messed about with it, and the results were pretty awesome, if i do say so myself. the tomatillo base is essentially a salsa verde, and you can definitely use it as such.

Mexican Chicken and Rice

tomatillo base:
2 lbs tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed well and cut in half
1 habanero chili, stem removed OR 1-3 jalapenos, serranos or chili of your preference (this is how you're going to determine the heat level, so choose wisely. i went with the one whole habanero, seeds intact, and it was a good slow burn that builds rather nicely. if you're not really into spicy food, go with the 1 jalapeno, or remove the seeds before adding it to the base.)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tbsp lime (or lemon) juice
1 bunch cilantro, rinsed well, stems intact
Pinch of sugar

2 lbs frozen, boneless, skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
4 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups white rice (i used jasmine, because it's what i had, but you can use whatever you want. brown rice would probably work just as well.)
1 teaspoon dry oregano (preferably Mexican) or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped
1 teaspoon dry epazote (you don't *need* this, but i like it. and obviously, use 1 tablespoon of fresh if you can find it.)

start with the tomatillo base. place chili and tomatillos, cut side down, on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil until they just start to blacken in spots. set aside to cool for about 5 minutes, then add them to a blender or food processor with any juices that accumulated and the garlic, salt, lime/lemon juice, cilantro and sugar. blend until there are no large chunks remaining.

preheat oven to 400° and place chicken on a foil-lined sheet. spoon enough of the tomatillo sauce over the chicken to coat, then cover with more foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil, turn over, add a little more sauce and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until juices are clear and the internal temperature reads about 160. set aside to cool, then cut into 1 inch cubes.

heat olive oil in a dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat. add onions and cook until just starting to brown. add cumin, coriander, and garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

add tomatillo sauce and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. add chicken stock, raise heat and bring to a boil. add rice, chicken, oregano, epazote and salt and pepper to taste and lower heat to medium-low. simmer, partially covered 25-30 minutes, or until rice is cooked.

serve with sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

easy stuff that will impress your friends.

a few months back i finally learned to like hummus. weird that it took so long, right? the problem was the tahini. i just hate an overpowering sesame flavor. so i came up with this recipe, which i like to think is infinitely better than that stuff you get pre-made at the grocery store.

Fruitcake Ambush Hummus

2 15oz cans garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas, but you probably know that if you're reading this)
juice and zest of 2 lemons
1/4 cup sunflower butter (this is in place of tahini, but feel free to use that if you like it, or any other nut butter)
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (i also occasionally add an entire head of roasted garlic)
1-3 teaspoons Sriracha, depending on your preference
1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika (one of those Penzey's spices i find invaluable)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)

you will need a food processor for this, or a masher of some sort and a lot of determination.

drain one can of the garbanzos, keep the liquid from the other and add it all to your Cuisinart. pulse it a little to start the beans breaking down. add the garlic, lemon juice and zest. process until smooth. add sunflower butter, Sriracha, paprika and salt. make sure everything is combined well, proceed to making pita chips.

...what? you didn't think i was going to let you eat store-bought pita chips with this, did you?

Ridiculously Simple Pita Chips

8 pitas
3 tablespoons, or thereabouts, cooking oil (i usually use a combination of olive and safflower, and i just drizzle...i'm not much of a measurer with this stuff)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons Penzey's Forward! spice mix (optional, or you can use whatever spice blend you prefer)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

cut up pitas into whatever size and shape pleases you. drizzle with oil. toss with salt and spices. arrange on two foil or parchment lined baking sheets and bake for about 15 minutes (or until edges just start to get dark brown) at 400°. cool on a rack and enjoy with your awesome hummus and a cold beer.