"Rustic" implies simplicity and charm that is typical of the countryside. When the wind isn't blowing in the right directions, I can smell the cows from a nearby dairy farm. That's probably as close to the country as I'm going to get. Those folks have it rough not being close to modern amenities like grocery and hardware stores, farmers markets, museums, food cartopia, freeways, etc.
Ingredients
1 qt organic chicken stock
3 chicken sausages, cooked and sliced (or crumbled)
3 organic carrots, sliced
1 c. dry small white beans, soaked
One 14.5 oz can organic diced tomatoes
2 medium yukon potatoes, cubed
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 c. red rice wine
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp herbs de provence or Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
Directions
1. Soak beans in a bowl overnight. Discard soaking liquid and refill bowl with water until ready to use. Discard liquid before adding beans to crockpot.
2. In a crockpot, add all the ingredients. Set to "low" for 8 hours.
3. Ladle hot soup into bowls and serve with homemade bread.
Kimchi Soup
For an overcast and cooler-than-normal July day, this soup really hits the spot. It's a lot on the spicy side because my kimchi experiment came out spicier than I like; but I really haven't eaten any kimchi that doesn't burn everything it touches. Though, the heat in this soup may be what Scovillites expect. The amount of kimchi in this soup recipe might not be enough if serving more than two people.
Makes 2-3 servings.
Ingredients
1 boneless country pork rib, sliced into 1" x 1/4" strips
1 c. homemade kimchi, drained
1 qt pork or chicken stock
1/2 c. shitake mushroom, sliced
1 c. extra firm tofu, cubed
3 tbsp shaoxing red rice wine
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 stalk green onion, sliced for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. In a bowl, marinate red rice wine and pork together for 10 minutes.
2. In a stockpot, heat pork stock to boiling. Add mushrooms, tofu, and fish sauce.
3. In a small frying pan, fry kimchi in its liquid for about five minutes. If you have taken the kimchi from the refrigerator, this step will bring it up to temperature to match the soup.
3. Add the cooked kimchi and marinated pork to the stock liquid. Let boil until the pork is cooked, up to 15 minutes, or longer depending on how tender you want the pork.
4. Serve in bowls and garnish with green onion.
Notes:
For an authentic sour flavor, use kimchi that is more than three months old or add vinegar to the soup. The cut of pork that I use for most of my pork dishes is boneless country pork rib, which is inexpensive and versatile with its high fat content. Mmmm, natural lard.
Makes 2-3 servings.
Ingredients
1 boneless country pork rib, sliced into 1" x 1/4" strips
1 c. homemade kimchi, drained
1 qt pork or chicken stock
1/2 c. shitake mushroom, sliced
1 c. extra firm tofu, cubed
3 tbsp shaoxing red rice wine
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 stalk green onion, sliced for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. In a bowl, marinate red rice wine and pork together for 10 minutes.
2. In a stockpot, heat pork stock to boiling. Add mushrooms, tofu, and fish sauce.
3. In a small frying pan, fry kimchi in its liquid for about five minutes. If you have taken the kimchi from the refrigerator, this step will bring it up to temperature to match the soup.
3. Add the cooked kimchi and marinated pork to the stock liquid. Let boil until the pork is cooked, up to 15 minutes, or longer depending on how tender you want the pork.
4. Serve in bowls and garnish with green onion.
Notes:
For an authentic sour flavor, use kimchi that is more than three months old or add vinegar to the soup. The cut of pork that I use for most of my pork dishes is boneless country pork rib, which is inexpensive and versatile with its high fat content. Mmmm, natural lard.
Cheese Fries (aka Baked Mozzarella Sticks)
I like the term "cheese fries" since the only similarity between these and fries topped with cheese is that they're cut to the size of fries and baked up. I suppose one could always deep fry these, but I lack a deep fryer and enough oil for such an experiment. Trader Joe's and Costco sells uncut mozzarella cheese in 1-lb packages. You can easily freeze the unused portions for later use.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. whole milk mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 c. dry bread crumbs
1 tsp seasoning (optional, see below)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (after removing cheese sticks from the freezer).
1. Slice the cheese so that you have 2" x 1/2" sticks, or thicker if you prefer. Store slices in a resealable bag in a single layer in the freezer and let set up to an hour. This will help the cheese keep its shape when baking and not melt as fast in the oven.
2. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs with salt, pepper, and additional seasoning (see below).
3. Arrange dipping stations in three separate bowls: flour, beaten egg whites, and bread crumbs. Coat a cheese stick with flour, then dip into egg whites, and finally dredge until covered with bread crumbs and seasoning.
4. Place breaded cheese sticks onto a parchment-lined baking tray in a single layer.
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tops and edges are golden brown. Serve while cheese is still hot with warmed marinara sauce, fresh salsa, or other complementary sauces.
Seasoning variations:
Cajun seasoning (serve this with fresh salsa)
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. whole milk mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 c. dry bread crumbs
1 tsp seasoning (optional, see below)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (after removing cheese sticks from the freezer).
1. Slice the cheese so that you have 2" x 1/2" sticks, or thicker if you prefer. Store slices in a resealable bag in a single layer in the freezer and let set up to an hour. This will help the cheese keep its shape when baking and not melt as fast in the oven.
2. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs with salt, pepper, and additional seasoning (see below).
3. Arrange dipping stations in three separate bowls: flour, beaten egg whites, and bread crumbs. Coat a cheese stick with flour, then dip into egg whites, and finally dredge until covered with bread crumbs and seasoning.
4. Place breaded cheese sticks onto a parchment-lined baking tray in a single layer.
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tops and edges are golden brown. Serve while cheese is still hot with warmed marinara sauce, fresh salsa, or other complementary sauces.
Seasoning variations:
Cajun seasoning (serve this with fresh salsa)
Cajun seasoning mix
I have this jar in my pantry labeled "cajun seasoning mix" that I used to use on chicken, but it is too salty and spicy for me. Hopefully this spice ratio will come out edible.
Ingredients
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
3 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp dried ground thyme
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of organic granulated sugar
Mix all in a spice grinder, or crush together. Store in a spice jar.
Use for: burgers, chicken, potato fries, cheese fries, seafood, shellfish
Ingredients
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
3 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp dried ground thyme
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of organic granulated sugar
Mix all in a spice grinder, or crush together. Store in a spice jar.
Use for: burgers, chicken, potato fries, cheese fries, seafood, shellfish
Egg Salad
The combination of hard boiled eggs, celery, pickle and mayonnaise was getting boring. I decided to kick it up in another direction. Staying with the hard boiled eggs and maybe the pickle and/or mayonnaise, I thought I might see what sorts of "salad" substitutions I could do. This version uses bacon for its salty smoked flavor and green bell peppers for its crunch factor. Although, if you dislike bell peppers, I suppose you could use a neutral-flavored vegetable like Jerusalem artichoke or the standard celery rib. You could probably use jicama which imparts a mildly sweet flavor to most salads; although most egg salad sandwiches are typically savory.
The true test of a good egg salad batch is if it can stand on its own or taste as good when paired in a sandwich, with crackers, or on flat bread.
The basic egg salad recipe is as follows:
2 hard boiled eggs, shelled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
2 celery ribs, diced
1 dill pickle, diced
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of smoked paprika, for color (optional)
Mix all those ingredients together in a container. The egg yolks emulsify the mayonnaise to make it thicker. The pickle adds some tang, but can be left out or on the side.
Here's an alternate ingredient ratio:
2 hard boiled eggs, shelled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 slices of freshly cooked bacon, drained and diced
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of no-salt tomato-basil-garlic seasoning
Combine all the ingredients and store in a covered container in the fridge so the flavors can mingle a bit more before using or serving with crackers or bread.
The true test of a good egg salad batch is if it can stand on its own or taste as good when paired in a sandwich, with crackers, or on flat bread.
The basic egg salad recipe is as follows:
2 hard boiled eggs, shelled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
2 celery ribs, diced
1 dill pickle, diced
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of smoked paprika, for color (optional)
Mix all those ingredients together in a container. The egg yolks emulsify the mayonnaise to make it thicker. The pickle adds some tang, but can be left out or on the side.
Here's an alternate ingredient ratio:
2 hard boiled eggs, shelled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 slices of freshly cooked bacon, drained and diced
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of no-salt tomato-basil-garlic seasoning
Combine all the ingredients and store in a covered container in the fridge so the flavors can mingle a bit more before using or serving with crackers or bread.
Dungeness Crab Bisque
Today I attempted to make a consommé from a dungeness crab carcass, which turned out to be an interesting way to make crab stock. I started this recipe with the ingredient ratio from Williams-Sonoma, but found that the bisque was too watery and lacked depth. I later added the other ingredients in the Food Network's crab bisque recipe, minus the whole dungeness crabs which I did not have on hand and made a few adjustments. Also omitted was tarragon, which I neither have fresh nor dried in the pantry.
Using a 5-qt programmable crockpot, I cooked a dungeness crab carcass for the better part of the day; about 6 hours on the "high" setting, and 8 hours on the "low", though I don't think it really cooked for 14 hours. In the crockpot, I also added some Shaoxing red rice wine. Use a strainer to extract just the liquid from the crockpot into a pot large enough to accommodate it and the rest of the bisque ingredients. Unlike all other crab bisque recipes, this one extracts all the crab flavor from one carcass and the meat is from canned crab; though, you could use freshly cooked crab meat if it were in season. At the moment, it is not in season in the Pacific Northwest and live crab prices have gone back up to their off-season norm of about $5/lb. This yielded roughly 3 quarts of crab stock.
Also, note if the canned crab contains added salt. If it does, like the Trader Joe's canned crab, rinse it with water to remove the excess salty water, then strain it before adding to the bisque. This will help to control how much sodium actually gets into the soup.
Ingredients
crab stock (can also substitute chicken or fish stock)
Two 6 oz cans of crab meat
2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. sweet marsala wine
One 14.5 oz can of organic diced tomatoes (or 3 whole tomatoes)
2 tbsp organic tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 celery stalks, trimmed and diced
1 carrot, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 shallots, minced
1 bay leaf
cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
Himalayan pink salt
pinch of ground thyme
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Directions
1. Prepare crab stock by simmering a crab carcass with some dry wine (rice wine works well) in a stockpot or crockpot for several hours. Strain to remove shell particulates and other non-liquid items into a clean stockpot.
2. In a small saute pan, melt olive oil and butter together, then add shallots, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook over low heat until shallots become translucent. Add to crab stock.
If you have a limited number of cooking pots, you may find this reversed step more optimal for the kitchen instead of starting with these ingredients in the stockpot then adding the strained crab stock to deglaze the pot.
3. Add the heavy cream, bay leaf, marsala wine, lemon juice, and spices (cayenne pepper, thyme, pink salt, freshly ground black pepper. Season to taste.
4. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir the bisque so that the paste dissolves into the stock.
5. Let the stock come to a boil, then simmer for at least an hour. In the last half hour of cooking (before serving), add the canned crab or freshly cooked crab meat (cut into 1" pieces).
6. In batches, pureé in a food prep or blender. In this step, you can strain the bisque so that only the liquid remains, or serve it as is while still warm.
Using a 5-qt programmable crockpot, I cooked a dungeness crab carcass for the better part of the day; about 6 hours on the "high" setting, and 8 hours on the "low", though I don't think it really cooked for 14 hours. In the crockpot, I also added some Shaoxing red rice wine. Use a strainer to extract just the liquid from the crockpot into a pot large enough to accommodate it and the rest of the bisque ingredients. Unlike all other crab bisque recipes, this one extracts all the crab flavor from one carcass and the meat is from canned crab; though, you could use freshly cooked crab meat if it were in season. At the moment, it is not in season in the Pacific Northwest and live crab prices have gone back up to their off-season norm of about $5/lb. This yielded roughly 3 quarts of crab stock.
Also, note if the canned crab contains added salt. If it does, like the Trader Joe's canned crab, rinse it with water to remove the excess salty water, then strain it before adding to the bisque. This will help to control how much sodium actually gets into the soup.
Ingredients
crab stock (can also substitute chicken or fish stock)
Two 6 oz cans of crab meat
2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. sweet marsala wine
One 14.5 oz can of organic diced tomatoes (or 3 whole tomatoes)
2 tbsp organic tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 celery stalks, trimmed and diced
1 carrot, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 shallots, minced
1 bay leaf
cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
Himalayan pink salt
pinch of ground thyme
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Directions
1. Prepare crab stock by simmering a crab carcass with some dry wine (rice wine works well) in a stockpot or crockpot for several hours. Strain to remove shell particulates and other non-liquid items into a clean stockpot.
2. In a small saute pan, melt olive oil and butter together, then add shallots, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook over low heat until shallots become translucent. Add to crab stock.
If you have a limited number of cooking pots, you may find this reversed step more optimal for the kitchen instead of starting with these ingredients in the stockpot then adding the strained crab stock to deglaze the pot.
3. Add the heavy cream, bay leaf, marsala wine, lemon juice, and spices (cayenne pepper, thyme, pink salt, freshly ground black pepper. Season to taste.
4. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir the bisque so that the paste dissolves into the stock.
5. Let the stock come to a boil, then simmer for at least an hour. In the last half hour of cooking (before serving), add the canned crab or freshly cooked crab meat (cut into 1" pieces).
6. In batches, pureé in a food prep or blender. In this step, you can strain the bisque so that only the liquid remains, or serve it as is while still warm.
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