Two New Grocery Stores

I have been having a terrible time finding chickpea flour, and I prefer not to order food from Amazon.  Yes, I know it's safe, but I don't trust the packages not to break in transit.  So I searched for Indian grocery stores on my way home from work one day.  It was more of a detour than I expected, and I was not really in the mood to shop, but I got my chickpea (besan) flour for a better price than I was expecting.

What had not occurred to me was all the other things I would find at the market.  Of the two aisles in the shop, half of one was giant bags of spices and blends, like a pound or more each.  There were teas, 25 pound bags of atta flour and rice, every Indian legume you can imagine, and quite a few other things I didn't pay attention to because I was there for one item.  They didn't have as much produce as I was expecting, but they did have those cute egg-sized eggplants I like.

I forgot to take photos, and I'm not going to go back without a shopping list and much more energy.  Not the store's fault.

The other new store I tried was a supermarket that just opened near me.  With grocery prices these days, I have stopped being loyal to one store and go where prices and products match my list.  Although, I did just win a $50 Albertsons gift card from one of their promotions; loyalty rewards can pay off.  Super King is a local chain with only a few stores.  This is the first within shopping distance.  Off their ad, I saw cherries for $1.29/lb and butter for $2.  I figured I'd scope out the place and pick up $5 of groceries.

It's a wonderfully open floorplan, with half of the space devoted to fresh produce.  The cherries were terrible, so I passed them up, and they were out of the cheap butter.  I still spent $18.

So this is now a haul post.  For fresh produce, I got two Persian cucumbers and a bunch of radishes to make a quick-pickle salad to have on taco night.  Total for that was 73¢.  They had decent strawberries for $2 a pound that I got instead of the cherries.  They also had the baby eggplants, but I didn't have a plan for them and let them be.  I figured I was done, but kept walking around.

I had been under the impression that Super King was kind of like a Sprouts that catered to a partially Hispanic market.  Not at all.  Yes, there are south of the border foods, but I'd say close to half of the inventory specializes in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and South Asian groceries.  That means I don't have to trek to Westwood anymore.  I found four brands of frozen fava beans, the ones I had been looking for in March.  Got one package.  I did not get the frozen parathas.  Still trying to decide if I want to attempt to make them.  There was also a monthly special on store brand avocado and olive oils.  I've never bought avocado oil, simply because it's expensive.  $6 each for 750ml bottles.

I would call both shopping expeditions successes.  I learned about myself and what I would like to have in my pantry.  Passing up an ingredient is just as important as what you buy.  And if I see an unusual ingredient in a recipe, I now know where to find it.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Biscuit Pie

This is the last of the corned beef I made for St Patrick's Day.  I knew I wanted to make some kind of hash out of it, then accidentally meal planned it for a closing day.   Prep-ahead casserole it is.

When I thought I had two hours to make dinner, there was going to be a proper crust.  Plans shifted and I used drop biscuits instead.  Haven't made them before, apparently, so I used a half recipe of Preppy Kitchen's drop biscuits with part wheat flour and a bit of substitutions to make that work.  By the time the topping was baked, the casserole below it was bubbly and heated through.  I'm getting better at do-ahead meals.

Some may be disappointed in the tiny cabbages at the market lately, but I'm loving them.  I don't need a giant 3 lb cabbage the size of a basketball.  One pound is perfect for a four-serving recipe.  All the same, I'm getting a little tired of cabbages and will probably shift to other vegetables for a while.

I harvested my first leek!  It wasn't huge, but big enough for this recipe.  I did not realize how long they take to grow.  I need to start another round, so they're ready in six months.  And maybe start half a dozen every month to have a constant supply.

2 Tb butter
*1 small leek
1 lb cabbage
salt and white pepper to taste
*8 oz cooked corned beef
*1 15 oz can sliced potatoes (or one small potato, sliced and cooked)
*1 14 oz can evaporated milk
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C all purpose flour, plus 1 Tb
1-1/4 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C cold butter

1.  To prepare the leek, chop off the root and the leafy parts.  Split the white and light green part, rinse well, then dice.  To prepare the cabbage, split it down the middle, remove the core, and dice as you would an onion.  Dice the corned beef.  Drain the potatoes, and cut into smaller pieces if desired.

2.  Melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat.  Add the leek and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add the cabbage and stir to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, keeping in mind that corned beef is salty and seasoned.  Cover and cook until cabbage is wilted, stirring occasionally.  This could take 15-20 minutes.  If it starts to pick up color, turn down the heat.

3.  Set aside 6 Tb of evaporated milk for the biscuits.  Add corned beef, potatoes, and 1 Tb flour to the saucepan and stir to coat.  In a minute or two the flour and butter should cook into the roux.  Slowly add remaining milk and let it thicken into the sauce.  Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.

4.  Pour cabbage mixture into and 8x8 pan.  If this is a do-ahead, refrigerate now.  Otherwise, preheat oven to 425º.

5.  In a bowl, combine flours (or all AP flour for white biscuits), baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt.  I also added some dried parsley because I have an abundance of it.  You could add herbs and/or cheese and they will still bake the same.  Dice or grate butter and add to flour.  Cut in until there are no pieces larger than a pea remaining.  Stir in reserved evaporated milk.  If mixture is still dry, add water a tablespoon at a time until it sticks together like a very thick cookie dough.

6.  Spoon or scoop biscuits on top of casserole.  They're going to hold their shape, so what you see is going to be the finished look.  Bake 15-18 minutes, until biscuits are golden and the casserole is bubbly.

7.  Allow to cool 10 minutes, then scoop out and serve.

Difficulty rating  :)

High-Protein Cheesecake with Tofu

Yes, it's another cheesecake.  My quest for low-sugar desserts continues.  I caught a clip of someone using silken tofu in a cheesecake and ran with it.  The base for this is honey-vanilla, with a jammy whipped topping.

This isn't keto.  It has a teaspoon of honey per serving, plus the biscuits and the topping.  What I created here had a goal of higher protein than the average cheesecake.  It made up for only putting one can of chickpeas in a four-serving vegan sheet pan dinner.

While a variation on the blender cheesecake, I made all three parts in the food processor and just kept rinsing it out.  It kept down the number of dishes to wash.

*1-1/2 C digestive biscuit or graham cracker crumbs
3 Tb melted butter or margarine
1 tsp *stevia or 2 tsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese (or Neufchatel or mascarpone), room temperature 
2 tsp vanilla extract or *1 bean, scraped
2* Tb honey
2 eggs, room temperature 
1 Tb cornstarch
1 14oz package silken tofu
*2 Tb fig jam (or other topping)
*1/4 C whipping cream

1.  Prepare a 6" springform pan (or double recipe for an 8") and place on a baking sheet in case of leaks.  Preheat oven to 350º.

2.  Break up the cookies if starting from whole and process with the sugar or stevia until you get 1-1/2 cups.  I started by breaking up some cookies, pouring it into the pan, adding more, repeat until I had enough, then added the butter.  Pulse in the melted butter to make a damp mixture.  Press into springform, going up the sides as much as possible.

3.  Rinse out the processor.  Pulse cream cheese, vanilla, honey, and cornstarch until mixed.  Add eggs and about 3/4 of the tofu.  Pulse again, then run for a few seconds until smooth but not whipped.

4.  Pour batter into crust.  Bake for about 45-50 minutes, until center is just barely not jiggly.  Turn off oven and leave it shut for 30 minutes, then crack it open for another 30 minutes before removing cheesecake.  It will have puffed during baking, then crashed while cooling.  This is normal for cheesecakes.  Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate before topping.

5.  To make the topping, run the remaining tofu and whipping cream in the food processor until fluffy.  Take care not to let the whipping cream turn to butter.  Add jam and pulse until evenly distributed.  Once the cake has cooled, fill the crashed parts of the cake with the cream/tofu topping.  Decorate with more fruit if desired.  Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 6

Difficulty rating  :)

Oregano-Cashew Pesto

I came up with a way to use the oregano in the garden.  Once again, it's pesto.  This time, I'm only making enough for four to six servings.  It has been a long time since I've even thought about making pesto again.

Pesto is a wonderfully simple sauce.  You throw everything in the food processor, adjust for taste, and you're done.  It looks and tastes fancy, and definitely brings an intense floral note to a dish.  Plus, it's on my Mediterranean diet as a way to incorporate olive oil into more dishes.  I am very determined to get my numbers back on track.

It always amazes me how you can blend or process so much down to so little volume.  If you just read the ingredients, it looks like you're making close to 2 C of sauce.  In reality, the volume of the oregano disappears and you're left with less than a cup of sauce.  Since 2 Tb (one ounce) is a serving, this is how much I planned to make.  There was a bit left over, that I can use for impromptu lunch pizza or something.

*1 C fresh oregano leaves, packed
*1/4 C cashews
1/4 C parmesan or *nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
*2 cloves garlic
1 Tb lemon juice, optional
1/4 C olive oil, or to desired consistency

1.  Add oregano, cashews, salt, garlic and cheese or "nooch" to the food processor.  I've been eating a lot of cheese lately and opted to make this one vegan.  Pulse at first, then run into a chunky paste.  Scrape down.

2.  If not planning to finish the batch within 48 hours, add lemon juice to reduce darkening.  With processor running, stream in first 1/4 cup of oil.  Scrape down and check for flavor and consistency.  I ran it again with a touch more salt and about 2 Tb more oil.

3.  Either use immediately, or refrigerate.  Sauce will harden in the fridge, but become more liquid once warmed.

Makes about 2/3 C, depending how much oil you used

Difficulty rating  π

Honey Whole-Wheat English Muffins

I've been having breakfast at home more often, and thought I'd change it up.  Smaller, homemade, wheat English Muffins would have fewer simple carbs than anything in the store.

To clarify, these are not whole-grain breads.  I'm using regular, processed whole wheat flour to replace about half of the all-purpose flour.  I have a lot of it, and won't be making a new loaf of whole wheat bread until the open box of matzoh is gone.  Probably have to stick it back in the freezer.  This recipe does have more fiber, protein, and fewer simple carbs than an all-white recipe.  Plus, I'm making them smaller than the standard 3-inch muffin.

I started with the bible's English muffin recipe, which I have posted on the blog before.  I didn't expect to use the full extra cup of AP flour, because whole wheat flour hydrates differently.  Daily temperature and humidity affects these things, as well as the moisture content of the butter or margarine.  Even the size of an egg can change these things.  Most likely, the time I posted the recipe I was scooping the flour instead of spooning it into the measuring cup.  When I do that, I find I end up using far more.  At some point, I may switch to weighing my ingredients.

1-1/2 C 100º milk
1/4 C butter or *margarine 
1 Tb sugar
*2 tsp honey
2-1/4 tsp (1 packet) yeast
*2 C whole wheat flour
approx 3 C all-purpose flour
1 egg, room temperature 
1 tsp kosher salt (a pinch more if using unsalted butter)
oil for greasing the bowl and griddle
*cornmeal for the pan

1.  Stir together milk, butter, sugar, and honey.  The butter does not need to melt.  Stir in yeast and allow to get foamy, about 5 minutes.

2.  Into the stand mixer with the paddle, stir together one cup each of whole wheat and AP flour.  Add milk mixture and beat into a stringy batter, about 2 minutes.

3.  Beat in egg.  Add another cup each of wheat and AP flour and the salt.  Beat again into a light dough, another 3 minutes.  At this point, you can put away the whole wheat flour.

4.  Generously flour a work surface.  Pour dough out onto it and knead until smooth and elastic.  Add as little flour as you can to get it to hold its shape.  It will probably be about a cup.  The dough may be slightly sticky from the egg and honey, so don't go entirely by that.  Turn over in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about one hour.

5.  Punch down dough and let rest 10 minutes.  Scatter cornmeal on two baking sheets and into a shallow dish.

6.  Roll out dough to 1/2" thick, adding as little flour to the work surface and top as possible.  Cut into 3" rounds (or smaller, or even squares) and dip lightly in the cornmeal on the pan before setting on a baking sheet.  Scraps can be rerolled, but take care not to add a lot of flour, just enough to prevent sticking.  You may also need to rest the dough for a few minutes between rolls.  When I got to the last one, I cut out squares from the block.

7.  Allow muffins to rise at least 30 minutes, until puffed.  Prepare a griddle with a thin layer of oil.  Heat over medium.  Transfer muffins to the griddle in batches, trying not to deflate them.  Cook until golden and set, about 5 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side for 5 minutes.  If they are getting dark too quickly, turn down the heat a tad.

8.  Remove finished muffins to a rack to cool.  Re-oil the griddle and continue until all are cooked.  My small muffins meant 5 rounds.  It took a while, and the last of them were quite fluffy.  Keep this in mind and start with the first ones you cut out.

9.  Split, toast if desired, and enjoy with toppings of choice.

Makes 18-20 3" muffins.

Difficulty rating  :)

Chicken with Cabbage "Noodles"

I actually planned this before I saw that my blood sugar is creeping back up.  I dropped a jar of pasta sauce off the top shelf.  It didn't break, but the lid was severely dented and I decided to open and use it right away.  I already had pasta this month, and thought cabbage sliced just the right way and stewed kind of has the same texture.  It couldn't hurt as an experiment, and I could always cook up some pasta if it didn't work.

Aside from I should have gotten a bigger cabbage, this worked.  I could have cooked it longer.  Some of the pieces were still quite crunchy.  The good news in that is you don't have to worry about overcooking it.  There just isn't enough liquid for it to become completely limp.

While I used marinara, the cabbage is really a blank slate.  Pair it with any protein, extra vegetables, and sauce.  Pork chops and pineapple BBQ sauce would make it Hawaiian.  I would gladly make it a base for a curry instead of rice.  Peanut butter sauce, pesto, sofrito, mole...the list goes on.  Might not try a dairy or cheese sauce, though.  That seems awkward.  I'm listing the recipe as what I made, so it matches the photos.

*1-1/2 to 2 lbs bone-in chicken pieces (four servings)
1 small or 1/2 large cabbage, about 1-1/2 lbs
1 Tb olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt 
1 12 oz bag frozen peas
*1 C frozen or canned corn
*2 C marinara sauce

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Arrange chicken in a roasting pan.  Bake until thickest piece reaches 165º, about 40 minutes.

2.  Once the chicken has been in the oven for about 15 minutes, start the cabbage.  Remove the outer one or two leaves and rinse well.  Quarter, remove the hard core, and slice into 1/2" thick strips.

3.  Drizzle oil into a large pan or soup pot and heat over medium.  Sprinkle in the cabbage as you separate the strips.  It's going to be a lot fluffier than it looks on the cutting board.  Sprinkle with the salt and stir to coat all the pieces with oil.  Cover and cook until it wilts down, stirring every 5 minutes.

4.  Once cabbage has reduced, add in frozen veggies.  If the cabbage did not give off water, add a few tablespoons to keep everything from scorching.  In a side pan, warm the sauce.

5.  To plate, pile the vegetables on a serving platter.  Top with sauce and chicken and serve.

Difficulty rating  π

Canning Seasoned Beans

All right, after that whole post about not having to can foods, I did some canning.  I was making a Mexican-themed meal and was out of canned pintos, so I figured I'd can beans and use whatever didn't seal.  Of course, they all did.  Murphy's Law, if I hadn't needed some that day, they would have all failed.

You can add up to half a teaspoon of dried herbs and ground spices to a pint jar, one teaspoon to a quart, for safe pressure canning of low acid foods.  Plus any salt or acid you may choose for flavoring purposes.  Those don't affect the safety equation.

I wanted to make two jars of white beans with herbs to use in salads, which isn't enough for a canner load, so they were sneaked into this batch.  I added a quarter teaspoon each dried parsley and tarragon to each jar, then 1/8 tsp each garlic powder, canning salt, and citric acid.  The acid was for flavor this time.  I'm calling them Provençal white beans, being themed to the south of France.

Out of five jars of pinto beans, I made two plain and unsalted, and three pre-seasoned.  Those can be served as is, or turned into refried beans.  I added paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and canning salt to each jar for those.

The canning procedures I followed can be found on the NCHFP website.  There was a lot of siphoning, but all of the jars had sufficient liquid remaining.  I know there aren't enough beans in the two white jars; I was guessing the dry amount.  The important part for those is that the water was up to the 1" headspace mark when they went in the canner.

And now that my annual physical bloodwork came back that I have to reduce sugar and meat, having ready to go beans will help me to get back on track.  I knew that I was having way too much sugar recently, but there's something about seeing the actual numbers to make it a priority.

Non-Canning Preserving Options

Spring is always a big time for my garden.  I enjoy cool-weather herbs and vegetables, and they grow well in my climate because it's such a long season, from November to May.  The parsley I was growing for Passover will now last me the whole year.  I'm having trouble unloading the oregano the same way people try to foist off extra zucchini.

The trick is to preserve whatever I can't use or give away.  The boss who took my extra kale transferred out last year.  I had to toss a lot of it over the winter, but the heat waves killed all the bugs and it is thriving again.  I chopped up and froze a gallon bag of very clean leaves.  It's the less pretty ones I dehydrate.

The heat wave also made the artichokes bloom a little early.  Not very many of them this year, but they all threatened to bloom at the same time.  Simmered up a round of the largest to save just the hearts.  The next dozen, I kept more of the leaves to do quarters later.  Both baggies are in the freezer.  I don't think the last batch is going to amount to much.

Last up for freezer day was making lemon ice cubes out of the other half of the lemon I used to prevent the artichokes from browning.  Any time I need a bit of juice in a recipe, I can toss in a cube or two instead of bringing in a whole lemon.

The next week was dehydrating.  My green onions got out of control again, and I was missing having dehydrated green onion on hand.  Just two of the giant onions dried up into over half a cup.  When I'm ready to use my leeks, I may try to dry those leaves.  Either that, or they'll go in the broth bag.

My calendula are finally blooming, so I'm drying the flowers to use later in teas.  Half a day in the oven on the dehydrator setting took care of it, and got rid of the onion smell.  I planted them to heal the soil and to harvest the flowers.  Judging by how well the kale is doing, mission accomplished.  I should be able to plant nematode-susceptible plants next year.

I did hang the oregano to dry naturally, instead of forcing things in the dehydrator.  There is so much of it, way more than I thought I could grow.  Maybe I'll tie some up to dry as decoration, or give it away as party favors.  Leave it in a basket in the driveway with a "free" sign.  I mean, there's a lot.

Part of growing your own produce is being responsible for it.  Eat what you can fresh, give some away, or preserve it for later.  Freezing and dehydrating are the easiest and safest methods.  They don't necessarily require special equipment, if your oven has a dehydrator setting like mine does.  "Putting up" doesn't have to mean canning.

Beef Stew with Pasta

This started out as a pot pie from scratch.  Then I was scheduled to work seven days in a row.  I considered buying a tube of biscuits for the crust.  Then I could barely get out of bed when I did have a day off, and it turned into opening cans, a packet of gravy powder, and pouring it over pasta.  Wow, good choice.

With beef prices scary, canned beef is an increasingly affordable option.  This happens to be chuck that I canned myself, but I have bought roast beef in a can that was very good.  It's less than a pound, usually 12 oz including the gravy, and has plenty of flavor.  If you happen to have leftover shredded or cubed beef, it is excellent for this stew.

1 Tb oil
*1/2 C diced onion
*4 C vegetables of choice (I used one can of mixed veggies and 2 C frozen green beans)
*1 12 oz can beef or 1-1/2 C leftover cooked beef
1 packet beef gravy mix
*4-6 oz linguine or other flat pasta

1.  Start heating water for the pasta in a large pot.  In a separate pot, heat the oil over medium.

2.  Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the vegetables and meat and bring to a simmer.  I do not recommend using potatoes unless they were pre-cooked.  The simmer time will only be about ten minutes.

3.  While the pasta is cooking, combine gravy packet and 1 cup of water.  You can do less for a thicker gravy.  I used the water from the canned vegetables to start and made up the rest.  Stir into the vegetables and bring to a boil for two minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened.  It takes 2-3 minutes.

4.  When pasta is ready, drain and plate.  Ladle a heaping amount of stew onto each portion and serve hot.

Difficulty rating  π

Spinach and Lentil Casserole

While I'm not a casserole person, this seemed like a good idea.  I couldn't find exactly what I wanted and struck out on my own.  Halfway through making it, realized it's basically spanakopita filling with lentils.  It avoids the fuss of dealing with phyllo dough.  Add one more egg, and it could go in a quiche shell or be baked as a frittata.

I really enjoyed this, and will definitely make it again.  Maybe as a side dish for a holiday dinner.  If you aren't vegetarian, it would work as a side with fish or chicken.  You would get more like six servings out of it.

Random side note, this finished off the container of white pepper I inherited from my mom.  No, I don't use it much.  Still went out and bought more.  I season my food a lot more than I used to.  This one probably won't take 16 years to go through.

3/4 C lentils
1 Tb olive oil
*1 C diced red onion
*2 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz frozen chopped spinach
salt and white pepper to taste
2 eggs
*2 Tb half and half
4 oz crumbled goat cheese or feta

1.  Check lentils for stones and rinse.  In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil with 2-3 cups of water and a pinch of salt.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until they split, about 30-40 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool.

2.  Add oil to the saucepan and heat on medium.  Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add in garlic and spinach and cook until everything is heated through, about 5 more minutes.

3.  Spray or oil an 8x8 casserole.  Preheat oven to 350º

4.  In a bowl, beat together the eggs, half and half, and salt and pepper as your heart decides.  Remember, the cheese will have salt in it.

5.  Add lentils and spinach to the bowl and stir to distribute.  Add crumbled cheese and fold in.  Pour mixture into casserole dish and spread evenly.

6.  Bake 40-50 minutes, until bubbly and eggs have thickened.  Cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Serves 4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side

Difficulty rating  :)