Colcannon

Colcannon is an Irish dish I've always had as kale and potatoes, but I've seen a number of recipes where the kale is replaced with cabbage. I suppose they're in the same family but I don't even have to try it to know that I prefer the flavor of kale. Here's how I make it:

6-9 potatoes, washed and quartered
1 bundle curly kale, washed, stemmed, and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups half & half and grated cheese*
butter
black pepper
salt
chives, if you like

* roughly 3/4 cup half & half and 3/4 cup grated cheese. don't worry too much about the proportions.

First, a discussion regarding the choice of potatoes: opinions vary. I have found that I prefer Red potatoes or Yukon Golds for Colcannon, although if I found some Roosters I would greatly enjoy putting them to the test. I have not particularly enjoyed Russet potatoes in Colcannon, but your tastes may differ. That aside, on to the cooking!

Start by putting the potatoes in a heavy-bottomed pot and filling it with water to cover by 1/4". Boil, then reduce to a simmer while you prepare and cook the rest.

Start by heating a skillet over medium heat and melting roughly 2 Tbs butter. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add kale and let the kale steam while you attend to the potatoes.

At this time, the potatoes should be cooked through. Poke them with a fork or something to determine whether they require additional cooking time. When they're done (or mostly done, they'll continue to cook a bit from residual heat and an inconsistent texture can be a good thing), pour out most of the water and add the onions and kale.

Mash everything together, adding more butter if it seems necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in a mound with a pat of butter pushed into the top, so you can dip forkfuls of potato into the butter like a boss. If you enjoy chives, use them as a garnish whole or as you desire.

Colcannon is often pronounced as a concatenation of the words call and cannon with a slight rounding of the a in call.

Fresh Cheese Ravioli / Tortelloni

Filling:
4 oz Ricotta
1 1/2 cup finely grated low-moisture Mozzarella
2 oz crumbled Panelo Fresco or finely grated Parmigiano/Reggiano

Mix it up in a bowl.

Egg Noodle:
Start with a very clean counter. Your ingredients follow:

1 cup flour
1 egg
1 pinch fine-grind salt
a little water

Plop the flour down on the counter. Push down the mound of flour in the middle so as to form a well for the rest of your ingredients. Sprinkle the salt over the flour, scramble the egg, and put it in the well. Fill one half of the eggshell with water and pour it over the egg. Now, mix it all up with a fork and your hands. Press it out on the counter, adding very small amounts of water if it is too dry, small amounts of flour if it is too wet. You want the dough to pull the dough leavings off the counter when you roll it into a log, but be fully integrated (no clumps of flour in the middle).

After the dough reaches a healthy consistency, roll it into a log, press the log flat, and fold it into thirds. If you have a pasta press, follow the instructions to press out lasagna. If not, grab your rolling pin and get down to business. You want to roll it out as thin as you can, then lightly flour it, fold it into thirds, and press it out again. Repeat this step at least twice, or more if it seems necessary. After the dough has been pressed out as thinly as seems prudent, cut it into small rectangles (ravioli) or squares (tortelloni).

For Tortelloni, place a slightly rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of the dough square. Fold the dough over the filling into a triangle, gently press out excess air. Use the tines of a fork to press the last centimeter of dough together to seal the pocket, flipping the pocket to repeat on the other side. Fold the pocket back upon itself, and press the arms of the pocket together using the fork.

For Ravioli, place a slightly rounded teaspoon of filling to one side of the rectangle. Fold the dough over the filling to form a squarish packet, pressing gently to expel excess air. Use the tines of a fork to press the last centimeter of dough to seal the pocket, flipping the pocket to repeat on the other side.

Cook in boiling water 6-10 minutes, until the noodle tastes right.

This Has Nothing To Do With Cooking

Check out my other blog. IRaw3some.

Seriously.

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okay.

Refried beans

Take them beans you just made, and put 'em in a skillet with two tablespoons of hot vegetable oil. Fry 'em up.

once they reach the consistency you desire, they are done. Some like to cook them until you're able to flip 'em like a pancake. This is tasty, but overdoing it a little in my opinion.

Beans...

Get some pintos (I like cooking two pounds at once) and a heavy-bottomed, large pot.

Sort & wash the beans, then place in the pot, covering them with water, then filling until there's about an inch and a half to two inches of water above the beans (it's pretty subjective). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to 1/4 or so. You're looking for that happy medium between low and medium, one we might call medium-low, where the beans are still simmering, but large bubbles aren't forming at all. Barely.

Add during cooking:

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
bit of cumin
shake of cayenne pepper
4-6 of those dried chiles japones you find in the dried mexican food & spices section. (I'm pretty sure these are just serranos)

1/4 to 1/2 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped or one can hunt's diced tomatoes

cook for more than two hours, partially covered, adding about a cup of water when the beans break the surface of the water. When it seems that they are beginning to get done, try smashing them against the side of the pot with a spoon. If they look chalky, they are not tasty yet. Once they look like they are done, they may very well be. This is the point when I put them on the lowest possible heat and cook 'em for about an hour longer.

tortilla soup in progress: after adding vegetables.

M's tortilla soup

-slightly modified from a recipe my sister emailed me recently. the original recipe will be posted in its entirety and my modifications will follow.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cups chopped onions
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 coarsely chopped zucchini
1/2 large chayote, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/4 lb chopped portobello mushroom
1-2 jalapeno or 2-3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes (the recipe says muir glen, but, hey, fuck
em)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons salt
6 diced corn tortillas
1/2 cup cilantro
garnish tortilla chips, cilantro, avacado
directions:
heat olive oil in a soup pan
add onions garlic cumin oregano cayenne pepper and black pepper then stir for 2 minutes until onions are soft and translucent
add zucchini chayote portobello mushroom and jalepeno or serrano peppers then stir for another 2-3 minutes
add tomatoes tomato sauce and vegetable brother then bring to a boil over medium heat
simmer uncovered for ten minutes
add salt and diced corn tortillas simmer for 5 more minutes
transfer half the soup to a blender and blend until nearly smooth then return blended soup to the pan and stir to combine or put all the soup in blender til smooth stir in cilantro garnish with tortilla chips and mroe cilantro perhaps avacado

My Modifications

I simply replaced the veggie stock in the recipe with some chicken stock I made myself after roasting a chicken in the oven, and added a small amount of pepper jack cheese when I added the tortillas. I used these red corn tortillas Karen's dad sent up, and they worked great. I also added just over a cup of water at some point after the tomato stuff went in, as well as about 1/4 cup of leftover corn and Ro-Tel. I have yet to serve it, but preliminary taste tests are extremely promising.

Tomatillo Sauce

get a lot of tomatillos. I like the smaller ones with darker green husks. you'll probably need a little more than a pound. so: the "recipe" goes like this (I'm guessing at the measurements here):

tomatillos
3-5 jalapenos
2-4 cloves garlic
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
dash cumin
dash sage
1/5 bunch cilantro, leafy parts only.

peel off the leafy junk from the tomatillos, and place them in boiling water for about a minute and a half. meanwhile, wash your other produce.
make your temperature 350°.
on a pan that will not drain (cookie sheet with raised edges, casserole pan, etc.), place your tomatillos and the jalapenos. let them roast until the jalapenos start to blacken. if you want you can throw the garlic on the pan, too.

toss everything into a blender or food processor and liquefy.

eat. it's freakin' good.

Gingerbread

this stuff tastes pretty good with some vanilla or lemon icing.

½ cup oil
7½ tablespoons molasses
¾ cup milk
½ tsp salt
3¾ cups flour
1/3 tsp ground cloves
1½ tap baking soda
2/3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon

make your temperature 350°.
mix your oil, milk & molasses. separately, mix all the rest of the stuff thoroughly, then sift them into the wet stuff. the mixture should be pretty dry, but maybe if you need to you could add a little more milk, say up to a half cup at most.
stuff the whole thing into a pan about 8" square. Bake for about 40 minutes. stick a knife in the middle. if it comes out dry, you're done. I like to butter the top when I take it out of the oven. just coat it with butter, so the top won't dry out too much.

Biscuits

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Sift together:
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
add:
6 tbs chilled butter
cut butter into the mix until it's like coarse cornmeal. Make a well in the center and add all at once:
3/4 cup milk
stir, then knead lightly (8-10 folds) , roll out and cut.
Bake on ungreased sheet until lightly browned 12-15 minutes.
Makes about 12 biscuits.

Red Beans (serve with rice)

for 1 pound of red or kidney beans - camelia brand is the best, but hard to find

Sort & wash beans and place in a large pot. Cover with at least 2" of water. {try 4"} Add salt & pepper to taste - about 1-2 tsp salt. Bring to boil & cook on medium - keep on med. boil - for 45 minutes. Add boiling water as needed to maintain water level. Don't let it get too low. Check for half cooked by smashing a few beans against the side of pot. This also makes for a creamy consistency. Sautee one large chopped onion and four chopped cloves of garlic in 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add to the beans & reduce heat. Simmer covered about 45 minutes stirring frequently and maintain water level by adding boiling water. It usually takes an added quart or two during the cooking process. Add a bunch of chopped green onions for the last 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Coffee Cake

Here's the recipe:

From Get Your Buns In Here   Ten Speed Press

 
1  9" ring pan/ double recipe for 9 x 13 pan

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt
***********************************************
1/2 cup butter

1 egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder
*************************************************
1/2 cup pecans

2 tsp cinnamon
************************************************
Stir together 1st group of ingredients. Cut in butter or use pastry blender. (Remove 2/3 cup of that mixture and add to the pecans & cinnamon and reserve to sprinkle on top.) Add buttermilk and egg and whip till light and smooth - not too long. Stir in baking soda and powder.

Oil pan well. Spread evenly and cover with crumb mixture. ( I think we added a little extra butter on top, too.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes and cool for 5 minutes.

Dahl

1 cup red lentils- sort through (I think regular would work fine, but haven't tried yet)
4 cups water
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 1/2 tsp cumin pwd.
2 tomatoes chopped

1/2 tsp salt (or a little more)
1 chili pepper - jalapeno or serrano chopped (remove seeds)
about 1/4 cup (loosely packed ) chopped cilantro (recipe says 1 TBS, but more is better)

2 or 3 TBS butter (recipe calls for ghee, but I haven't used it)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
1 onion chopped finely


1) rinse lentils and bring to boil, remove foam (scoop it off)
2) add tumeric, cumin, tomatoes
3) lower heat and simmer (partially covered - open lid a crack - not sure this is necessary) for 40 minutes till tender
4) melt butter and saute onions and garlic till golden
5) add salt, chilis, cilantro and onions and garlic to lentils .



You might want to double the recipe. Otherwise it's a lot of cooking time for a smallish amount. This is so good with a big spoon of yogurt added to each bowl. Dad likes it with rice, too.
I'm not sure if using regular lentils would change the water amount or cooking time.

Beet Soup

This is our variation on the Moosewood Cookbook Russian Cabbage Borscht. Measurements are approximate.


6 beets, peeled and chopped (add beet greens if you have them, not stems)
4 cups water
3 Tbs butter
1 big onion chopped
2 Tsp caraway seeds
1 1/2 Tsp salt
3 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots sliced
3 to 4 cups shredded or thinly sliced cabbage
black pepper
2 Tsp dill
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

Toppings
sour cream or yogurt

1) Cook beets in water till tender ( cover pot, cook 25 minutes)

2) Meanwhile, melt butter in a pot, add caraway seeds, salt, and onions (cook till onions are translucent).

3.) Add to onions, etc. : celery, carrots, and cabbage plus 2 cups of cooking water from beets. Cover and cook till tender (10 minutes).

4) Add remaining ingredients ( beets and greens) simmer for 15 minutes.

Cream of Zucchini Soup

2 Tbs finely chopped green onions
1 Clove of Garlic minced
1 lb sliced zucchini (about 6 medium)
2 Tbs butter

In tightly covered pan simmer green onions, garlic, and zucchini in butter.
add 1 tsp curry, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup milk or cream, and 1 cup Morga bullion broth.
simmer 5 minutes, then blend and enjoy

p.s.
You'll need to cook the zuccini with garlic and green onions till it's tender before adding the milk and seasonings. It takes maybe 15-20 minutes.