Household Blog

I fully admit that I’m a woman given to superlatives, but there it is: these are the best Brussels sprouts I’ve ever eaten. Anywhere. Happy accidents are, well, happy. And tangy, and sweet, and just a little spicy.

It all started with a trip to the grocery store. Damon and I have been planning our annual vegetable gardens for the year, and he has been seriously excited about growing Brussels sprouts for the first time ever. Have you seen how they grow? They look like one of those wacky lollipop displays where all the lollipops are sticking out of the display column, only green, and instead of lollipops it’s little tiny cabbages, and at the top there’s this unruly bunch of leaves that make the whole thing look sorta Fraggle-ish. Anyhoo. I saw in the market that they had Brussels sprouts for sale on the stalk!!! I thought for half a second about the look on Damon’s face and had to get them. And I was right—he lit up :)

Enter part two, wherein we try to figure out what the heck to do with the sprouts. Having a grapefruit on hand that was getting a bit soft, here’s what we came up with. And we both agreed, these are the best Brussels sprouts we’ve had, ever, anywhere.

So without further ado…

Best Ever Brussels Sprouts with Grapefruit

• 24 oz. Brussels sprouts, cut in half
• Safflower oil (or other high heat oil)
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 Tbsp agave nectar
• Juice of one ripe grapefruit
• Sea salt to taste
• 1/2 c. pecans, barely toasted and coarsely chopped

Pour a glug or so of safflower oil into a broad-bottomed skillet, enough to coat the bottom. With the pan still cold, add in the garlic and crushed red pepper, stirring it in the oil. Heat the pan over Medium-high just until the garlic starts to cook and become aromatic.

Add the Brussels sprouts, stirring once to coat them in the oil, sprinkle with a little salt, then let them rest in the pan without stirring for 5 to 10 minutes, to get a nice browning on them.

Add grapefruit juice and agave syrup, and cook 5 minutes more or until tender  but still bright green, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add salt to taste, if necessary, and toss with pecans. Serve hot.

Serves 4 to 6.

As Snoopy (Damon) said, the word of the day (or rather the weekend) is “apples.” I picked up a bushel of apples this week from a local farm, and I’ve been in the kitchen all day today and yesterday preserving the bounty, and as an added bonus, filling the house with warmth and apple-scented goodness!

Already completed are 17 pints of apple sauce, 14 8-ounce jars of chutney, and the apple butter is still bubbling along as I write this, getting thicker and richer with every passing moment.

And how easy is all this? First off, canning itself is not hard, but you need to know how to do it properly. For general canning instructions (and recipes, resources, etc.), click here. For those of you who have already canned in the past, for the apple sauce, peel and chop your apples to fill a big pot, cook over medium low till the apples are mushy (technical term, there). Use a potato masher or immersion blender to make the sauce smooth, then process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes (for pint jars).

For the apple butter, I filled my slow cooker with apple sauce, added a cinnamon stick, and am currently cooking the heck out of it, until it is rich and dark. Process in water bath canner 5 – 10 minutes. Nope, no sugar. Nope, no pectin. I’m actually surprised at how many apple canning recipes call for pectin—especially since apples naturally contain a large amount of pectin. Huh.

But the real jewel in the crown of this year’s preserving festivities was the chutney. Oh so good, so simple, so richly flavored… so many future variations already seeding themselves in my brain. We enjoyed this last night on veggie burgers, but I think this is going to be a constant condiment on our table—sweet, savory, spicy, tangy, and deeeeelish.

Future variations? I could have done with this being a little hotter, so I might add more hot pepper or red pepper flakes next time. Different sorts of dried fruit: apricot, mango, etc. Some diced sweet bell pepper might be nice. Alternative vinegars? You get the idea.

Curried Apple Chutney

• 4 to 4 1/2 pounds apples, peeled and diced
• 3 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 10 oz. (1 1/4 pound) raisins
• 3 c. brown sugar
• 2 to 3 inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 t. sea salt
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 small hot red peppers, finely chopped
• 4 t. sweet curry powder (good quality, like Penzeys)
• 2 T. dijon mustard

Set slow cooker to high. Place all ingredients in slow cooker—this may need to be strategic, as it just filled to overflowing my 4-quart crockpot, and it took some pushing, stirring, and cooking-down for me to get all of it in there :)

Cook covered for 3 hours or so, till apples and all are well softened. Once they are soft, use a potato masher to start breaking up the chunks and giving you that chutney consistency. How chunky you leave it is entirely a matter of taste—I like some chunks in mine, as you can see in the pictures.

Once your chutney is the consistency and flavor you desire, process in 8-ounce jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Make sure the lids all pop down (showing a good seal) and label and date your jars. And… enjoy.

Yield: about 14 cups.

Credit for this simple epitome-of-summer recipe goes to my wonderful grandparents, Buddy and Marie. For as long as I can remember, this (along with their recipe for tomato pie) has been the ultimate summer meal. Fresh in-season ingredients brought in still warm from the garden, chopped, mixed, et voila: perfection. Serve with some fresh corn on the side, and it truly is the quintessential summertime meal. For me anyway. And the amounts are not specific—sorry—the measurements are just sort of till-it-looks/tastes-right.

Tomato Basil Pasta

• Tinkyada gluten free spaghetti or fettucini pasta
• 2 cloves garlic
• sea salt
• 2 or 3 large fresh tomatoes or the equivalent amount of grape or cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped into bite-sized pieces
• a couple handfuls of fresh basil, coarsely chopped
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan for garnish, optional

Smash and peel garlic cloves, and put the whole smashed cloves in the bottom of a mixing bowl. Mix in enough sea salt to coat the garlic and press garlic into the salt. Add tomatoes, basil, a drizzle of olive oil (not too much, just a tablespoon or so, max), and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside at room temperature to let the flavors develop.

Cook your pasta per usual and drain, then immediately toss pasta with the tomato mixture. Serve, garnishing with parmesan, if desired. That’s it!

What’s your favorite summertime dish?

I wrote this recipe last year for Agriberry, a local Richmond fruit CSA. It’s so good, probably the best rib recipe I’ve ever had, and so I give it to you.

I find that one set of spareribs, about 1.5 pounds, is good for two generous serviings. If you are feeding more people (or have smaller or bigger appetites than ours), feel free to adjust the amounts below.

Blackberry Ribs

• 1 1/2 lb spare rib
• 3 t. chili powder
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 c. fresh blackberries or more
• 1/3 c. ketchup
• 1/3 c. maple syrup
• 2 1/2 t. ginger powder
• 1 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
• 1 t. sriracha (or your favorite hot sauce)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix chili, garlic and salt and rub into both sides of the spare rib. Place ribs meaty side up on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for about 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, place all six remaining ingredients in a blender and liquefy. Pour blackberry mixture through a sieve into a sauce pan, pressing mixture with a spatula to work the juice through. Discard the pulp and seeds. Cook the blackberry sauce over medium-high, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly once it starts to bubble. Set aside.

Once ribs have cooked 50 minutes, take out of oven and brush both sides with a liberal amount of the blackberry sauce. Return ribs to the oven, again meaty side up, and cook for another 10 minutes – no longer. Cut ribs into individual pieces, divide between two plates, and spoon more sauce over the top. Serve with leftover sauce on the side for dipping.

It may not be the prettiest dish in the world, but it is probably on my top ten list of favorite meals, and on the top five list for sheer nostalgia. I grew up eating Cajun’s Delight – apparently one of my dad’s patients gave him the recipe once upon a time. So hearty, warm, it satisfies all the tastes, and the textures, oh the textures! Crunchy, smooshy, gooey, firm… this is the definition of comfort food to me. And it’s pretty good for you, too. Shoot, when I was vegetarian I probably ate this at least twice a month. Now I’ve made a few alterations, improving in my opinion the taste and nutritional value. Got a picky vegetarian in the family? Give this baby a whirl…

Cajun’s Delight

• 1/3 c. dry lentils
• 1/3 c. dry lima beans
• 1 c. dry rice (I like a wild rice blend, like Lundberg’s)
• 3/4 c. celery, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 c. pecans
• 2 T. sesame seeds
• 1 t. sea salt
• 2 T. barbecue sauce (gluten-free)
• 3 T. oil
• 1 c. tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 t. sriracha!! (I’m sorry, I just can’t say/type sriracha without shouting gleefully :)
• 6 to 8 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded

For the beans and lentils, I prefer them sprouted, in which case, start them the day before (a post on sprouting will be coming soon). If you’re not sprouting them, soak them for 2 to 8 hours before you start preparing dinner.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cook rice. Cook beans and lentils (it’s okay if the limas are still a little bit firm, it adds a nice texture). Drain if necessary and pour into a large mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients, but reserving about a third of the cheddar cheese to the side (for topping later). Mix well.

Pat mixture evenly into a 9-inch square casserole. Bake on center rack for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over the top, then bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving, if you can stand it. I usually end up burning my mouth in my eagerness, so fair warning.

Serves 6 to 8. Enjoy!

My dad loves spicy, funky food, so I wasn’t terribly surprised when he recently asked me to teach him to make kimchi—this traditional Korean dish of fermented cabbage doesn’t skimp on intense flavors.

Having taken Suzanna Stone’s fermentation class last fall, I’ve relished any and all opportunities to expand my repertoire of fermented foods and beverages, and teaching other people is a joy, especially my delightfully enthusiastic Popsicle—let’s just say I came by my fervent love of food honestly. Both my parents are proficient in the kitchen, and the belly-laughing French declarative “Honh honh honh!!” is frequently heard emanating from the kitchen as concoctions are sniffed and tasted.

So here’s what we used:

Kimchi

4 pounds napa cabbage
1 pound carrot
1 large bunch of scallions
1 large hunk of ginger, peeled and grated
2 heads garlic, cloves smashed and peeled
Dry red chilies—however many you dare to use (we used a couple dozen Arbol chilies *grin*)
3 T. Sea salt

1. First, prep your ingredients—use organic, and do not wash them. Peel away the outside leave of cabbage and chop into 1 to 2 inch chunks. Chop or grate carrot in food processor—do not grate by hand as this will be too fine a grate for the carrot. Remove outer part of scallions and trim off ends, then slice on diagonal into 1 inch pieces. Smash garlic cloves and remove skin. Peel and then grate ginger—I find this easiest to do using a food processor.
2. Next, begin layering your veggies into a large, sturdy stoneware bowl in thirds: spread a third of the cabbage in a layer, then a third each of the carrot, scallions, garlic, ginger, and peppers (I leave my peppers whole); then sprinkle 1 Tablespoon sea salt evenly over it all. Layer in the next to thirds in the same manner until all the veggies and salt are layered into the bowl.
3. Allow contents to sit for a bit, maybe ten minutes—the salt will start to pull water out of the vegetables, and this will become your brine.
4. Then take a pounding implement (you’ll be glad for the sturdy bowl at this point) and start to pound the mixture, and don’t be shy! The goal is to bruise the mixture, break down the cells walls, and draw out more and more liquid from the vegetables. Alternate mixing the contents and pounding, as my lovely paternal assistant demonstrates in the accompanying pictures.
5. Once you have some brine puddling in the bottom of the bowl, it’s probably time to start filling your fermentation jar (I find that this recipe—about five pounds of veggies—almost exactly fills a wide-mouth 2-quart Ball jar). Add some of the veggie mix to the jar, then use your fist to smoosh it down, drawing the brine up over the vegetable matter and flushing out any renegade air pockets (which could cause spoilage during fermentation). Continue adding vegetable matter and smooshing it down till you’ve almost filled the jar and/or you run out of veggies. You’ll be amazed at how much juice is in there.
6. Almost done. Wipe the inside exposed lip of the jar. Now we need to add something to the top of the jar to hold the cabbage mixture submerged in the brine. Some people use a stone, but Suzanna taught us to use a ziploc bag filled with brine**. Fit the baggie down on top of the kimchi, pushing it down to flush out any air bubbles. Seal up your jar and pat yourself on the back—good job!
7. Ferment at room temperature for 1 – 4 weeks. Burp the jar once or twice a day to let any vapors out. Every few days, remove the ziploc, rinse and dry it, wipe out the exposed inside lip of the jar, and replace the baggie. Take a nibble occasionally to see if your kimchi is ready.
8. When your kimchi tastes like it’s ready, refrigerate it. You’ll continue to store it with the baggie on top and wiping the inner lip with each use to prevent the molding that can come with air exposure, but if it does get a little mold at some point, just scoop out that part, wipe out the jar, and you should be fine. The kimchi will keep in the fridge indefinitely.

**On brine: First, the water for the brine must be chlorine-free. This can be accomplished by either letting the water boil and return to room temperature before using, or by letting the water sit out open overnight—either will allow the chlorine to evaporate. Mix at a ratio of 1 Tablespoon sea salt dissolved in 1 cup water. Second, the brine is used in this manner to preserve the batch: any vegetable matter that is exposed to air could potentially mold, hence the ensuring it is completely submerged in brine, and if the baggie breaks, you aren’t going to hurt your fermentation, you’ve only added a little more brine. No harm, no foul. We like that.

What are your fermentation experiments and experiences?

Off the radar for a while, I know. I spent the warm season writing a weekly featured recipe for Agriberry CSA, a fabulous local all-fruit CSA organized by the irrepressible Ms. Anne Geyer. I’ll be posting the “best of” those recipes in the near future, but for today, a welcome to Fall—my favorite time of year. Let us eat well, digest what’s past, and prepare ourselves for the next.

Chunky Pumpkin & Kale Soup

• 1 pie pumpkin
• 1 large bunch kale
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 large shallots, chopped
• 4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
• Whole dried hot pepper (# depends on hotness of peppers – I used one medium-hot pepper b/c the curry paste will also add some spice)
• 2-4 T. finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 yellow peppers, chopped
• 1 c. dried white beans (cranberry, cannellini, etc.) soaked for a day ahead OR 1 can of same
• Fresh thyme – a lot
• 6 c. chicken broth (about 3 cans)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4-5 t. Thai red curry paste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Butter
• Scallions for garnish
• Zatar for garnish

If using dry beans, soak your beans for 12 – 24 hours ahead of time (I loved the big white cranberry beans in this, but I might try it with red lentils next time). Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer to soften right before preparing the soup. Drain before adding.

Preheat oven to 375. Cut your pie pumpkin (or other pumpkin variety or butternut squash) in half, scoop out the seeds, and rub all of interior with some butter. Place face down on cookie sheet and bake in oven until softened, about 30 – 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add 2 sprigs of time, chopped onion, shallots, garlic, a sprinkling of sea salt, and whole dried hot pepper. Saute until onions are softened. Add yellow pepper and ginger. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, and Thai red curry paste,  then stir in the drained & rinsed beans. Mix well and return to a boil, adjusting heat to maintain a simmer. When pumpkin is softened, remove from oven and use a spoon to scoop chunks of flesh out – add to soup mixture.

Clean kale and chop coarsely – I like longer crinkly pieces so I just chop it once laterally. Add to soup but do not mix it in – cover the pot and allow the kale to steam and soften. Then stir the soup, add lemon juice and additional salt or curry paste to taste. Garnish with a sprinkling of zatar seasoning and chopped scallions. Dee-lish!

I love this time of year. Just got whomped last weekend with an unexpected twelve inches of snow, and today, five days later, it’s set to be 80 degrees out. If you don’t like the weather in Richmond, wait five minutes.

Spring Fever, for me, means cleaning house, acting like a lunatic, getting outside as much as possible, gardening, and cleaning out the pantry while relishing the first fresh spring produce. La.

Here are a couple of my faves from this past week.

Pantry Pilaf

I love rice, not the bland white stuff, but the chewy, nutty blends of black, brown, and red rices, take a little longer to cook but the flavor is lovely. So you can cook this with any kind you like, but you know how I feel.

1 c. rice, uncooked
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 onion, chopped (I used yellow, but I think I’ll try red next time)
1/3 c. dry sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 T. oregano (preferably fresh)
olive oil
juice of one lemon
pepper

Place your chopped sundried tomatoes (I prefer to use the dried ones, not the ones packed in oil) in a small bowl or ramekin. Add the lemon juice, pepper, oregano, and just enough oil to give it a  nice gooey mix. Stir well and set aside to soak – do this first – the longer it soaks the better. In skillet, heat a bit of oil and saute the onion just until tender. Set aside.  Cook rice with a half teaspoon of salt and two bay leaves and the requisite amount of water. One rice is fully cooked, toss in the sundried tomatoes and onion. Top with sunflower seeds if desired, and serve.

Braised Greens & Garlicky Beans

1/2 c. dried white beans (I used Rancho Gordo‘s Mayacoba – their beans are marvelous)
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and de-stemmed
lemon pepper
salt

Soak the beans in a liberal amount of water for 4-6 hours. Closer to dinner time, cook beans until tender (this takes a while – I use this as good kitchen meditation time – prep other ingredients, read a book, listen to music, drink some wine, you know – warm things up). Once beans are fully tender, drain them and set aside. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium. Add garlic, saute about a minute, then add the beans. Mix well (try not to smoosh the beans as much as possible) and continue to saute another couple minutes. Add spinach leaves (do not mix in yet) and season with salt, lemon pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Cover the skillet and allow the spinach to wilt. Just before the spinach is fully wilted, remove the lid and toss to mix the greens and beans together. Remove from heat – do not overcook – that beautiful spinach green with the white beans, like the last winter snow melting away. You know, if winter snow was bean shaped and tasted like garlic *grin*. Enjoy!