Culinary Chronicles: Weeknight Supper

Can you tell that I feel like detoxing this week?  Last week I cooked a big pot roast and ate it for five straight days.  This is my dinner tonight.  Not a meat product in sight.  A variation on Heidi Swanson's Sushi Bowl.   Its good hot or cold, so it's an excellent thing to pack up for lunch tomorrow.

Followed by an Indian flavored chia pudding-- coconut milk, rosewater, cardamom and pistachios.

Have you tried chia pudding?  I like that it's non-cook and easily non-dairy, and low in sugar.  Make it chocolate and it's pretty good.  I'd like to try grinding the seeds in a spice mill for a smoother texture.  I've read that it works, but I haven't tried it.  As a frequent eater of real tapioca pudding, I'm not able to fool myself that the seeds are tapioca-like.  In my tiny kitchen this hasn't become enough impetus to buy another appliance, no matter that a spice mill is small.  (And for the record, even chocolate its not nearly as delicious as this dairy free pudding.  Seriously, use good chocolate and its hard to fail, but make a dessert with tofu-- easy fail.  That one is a win all around).

Culinary Chronicles: Sourdough for a Small Kitchen -- Crepes

I almost always prefer a savory breakfast to a sweet one.  A few weekends ago I put together my standard sourdough pancake starter on Saturday night, but Sunday morning I just wasn't quite up for pancakes drizzled in syrup.  Instead I remembered the sweet potato and bag of spinach that I needed to use up in the vegetable crisper.  What's the savory answer to pancakes?  Crepes!  I modified the pancake recipe into crepes by omitting the baking soda, and adding water to the mix to thin it down.

A quick sauté with some onion, and a drizzle of an improvised goat cheese sauce, and they were delicious.  Later that afternoon a classic lemon and sugar crepe to go along with my tea.

Culinary Chronicles: Quinoa and Fennel Salad with Citrus Dressing, Fresh Peas and Fava Beans

Yesterday was one of those perfect weather days here in Southern California.  This is what it looked like at 7:00 am.

  (Just want it noted that the skull+ antler garden art is not remotely my style, but my landlords')

I went to a barbeque last night and after such a beautiful day I really wanted to bring something super fresh and spring-like.  At the farmer's market I saw lots of fresh fava beans and fennel bulbs, and I knew I already had some quinoa cooked up and waiting in the frig.  A quick stop at Tawny's to raid her garden peas, mint and citrus trees and I had a delicious salad.  Worth noting the recipe for future use.  If it's not so spring-like where you are, try this warm quinoa breakfast drink instead, and come back to this salad when spring hits you.

The salad:

 

3 cups cooked quinoa

1 fennel bulb, sliced thin and cut into strips

1 red pepper, sliced thin and cut into strips

1 cup fresh picked and shelled peas (or frozen if you need to)

1 cup fresh fava beans (if you can't find them just use two cups peas, dried beans would work, but the point of this salad is freshness!)

small handful of fresh mint, finely chopped (about 3 Tbsp once chopped)

small handful of green portion of fennel bulb (ditto)

zest and juice of two small lemons

juice of one large tangerine

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Cook the peas and fava beans until just tender.  It's more time consuming, but do it separately.  My fava beans cooked so fast that they were a little too soft, whereas the peas were a little tougher.  Drain each, then throw all ingredients in a big bowl and toss well.  Keep refrigerated until ready to eat to maintain the crunch of the red pepper and fennel.

Culinary Chronicles: Sourdough for a Small Kitchen-- Vanilla Almond Scones

It's all well and good to bake bread with your sourdough starter, but what about when your kitchen is so small that making bread is just a hassle?  These days I'm working with two feet of counter space, and a tiny apartment-sized electric oven.  If I can't mix something up in one bowl, I just don't have room to make it.  And just try to get your tiny apartment grade oven to reach 500 degrees, much less hold that temperature for an hour in order to get a good crust.  Impossible.  As a result, my sourdough starter was suffering from neglect.  My go-to pancake recipe is great, but there are only so many pancakes a girl can eat, no matter how foolproof they are.  So when I had a scone craving a few weeks ago, I immediately looked for a sourdough scone recipe.  And then I modified it, of course.  

I don't really like soggy fruit in my scones, and anything too sweet limits their ability to be eaten throughout the day.  My go to recipe has just a hint of vanilla, and little or no sugar in the dough, but some sprinkled on top.  In this case I have lots of blanched almonds that I failed to use up in Christmas baking, so I threw a cup of those in.  But that's the great thing about scones, start with a basic recipe, and add whatever you like.  The result were delicious and moist, and perfect for eating with a flavorful goat cheese and sweet lime jalepeno jelly, that I've been buying from a local producer.

Sourdough Scones (Vanilla and Almond in this case) adapted from this recipe. 

(Makes 6 to 8 scones)

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar (or less depending on taste preferences)

3 Tbsp cold butter cut into small cubes

1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 Tbsp vanilla + 1 tsp for topping

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 - 2 Tbsp of milk or egg for tops

coarse sugar for tops

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix together all of the dry ingredients, including almonds.  Add in the cubes of butter and cut in with a pastry blender or a knife (or in a food processor) until the mixture starts to hold together when pressed.  Add 1 Tbsp vanilla to the sourdough starter, then add the starter to the dry ingredients and mix lightly so that it forms a soft dough.  If you were going to add fruit such as raspberries or blueberries, do so now.  The key to scones is not to mix too much.  The ingredients should remain as separate as possible while still holding together.  If the mixture seems too dry, add a teaspoon of milk or water.  Repeat as necessary.  On a lightly floured board, pat dough into a rectangle about a half-inch thick.  Cut into eight squares and place on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.  Brush on milk or egg (mixed with the remaining tsp of vanilla) and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the tops turn golden.  Enjoy!

Breakfast: Inspired by Katy Elliott

This morning Katy Elliott posted about the marmalade she made for her Valentines breakfast, and it reminded me of my own.  I know, I just posted about it last week, but its that tasty.   My current favorite (and I think classic) way to eat it is on toast (from this week's sourdough) alongside a cup of plain black tea and a soft boiled egg.

Culinary Chronicles: Oatmeal Crisps

These are very thin crunchy oatmeal cookies, sometimes called Oatmeal Lace cookies.  I far prefer them to the thick chewy raisin laden type of oatmeal cookies.   I'm pretty sure that I first copied this recipe down out of my Grandma Jan's recipe box when I was about 9 or 10.  At this point the recipe consists of no more than the list of ingredients below, and I just rely on memory to get the rest of it right.  There are no spices included in the ingredient list, but I did add some classic spice-cookie spices the last time I made them, and I think it was a pleasant addition.  Make your own call.

Oatmeal Crisps


1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups quick oats
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
*1 tsp or more cold water, as needed to keep dough sticky
[1/2 tsp. each of ginger and cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. cloves-- optional}

Cream butter and sugar together.  Beat in two eggs and vanilla.  In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt and baking soda together, along with the spices if you are using them.  Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.  Stir in the oats and nuts until well incorporated.   Scoop what seem like small balls of dough onto a cookie sheet with plenty of space in between each one, using a teaspoon sized measuring spoon, or a melon baller. The trickiest part of this recipe is making sure that the dough is moist enough so that the cookies spread out as thin as they are supposed to.  The dough should be pretty sticky, but the dollop should still hold its shape as it sits on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° F, for about 12 minutes.  You may have to test bake a few and adjust the moisture level as needed for the second round.  It's also helpful to have two cookie sheets for baking because the cookies need to cool for a couple of minutes on the sheet before you try to remove them due to their thinness.

Weekend Edition: Soup Making Machine

Last night I proved my ability to multi-task in the kitchen by simultaneously making this Pad Thai for dinner, this Andalusian Cabbage Stew and this Sweet Potato & Sausage Soup to eat throughout the work week, and my weekly loaf of sourdough bread.  The combo of it being dark when I finished and the aforementioned simultaneous dishes means that I don't have a photo of soup for my soup post. Oh well.  Enjoy these baked goods.

This week's sourdough and oatmeal crisps that I made on Saturday.

Culinary Chronicles: Oaxacan Black Bean Tamales

We made more tamales this morning.  This time they are filled with black beans flavored with Oaxacan pasilla chiles, garlic and hoja santa.  They were wrapped in banana leaves, but I'd already discarded them before bringing the plate to the table.  The filling was based on this recipe for tamales Miahuatecos from Zarela Martinez's cookbook The Food and Life of Oaxaca: Traditional Recipes from Mexico's Heart.  We didn't have any pumpkin to mix into the masa, so the sweet elements (brown sugar and canela [cinnamon])were excluded.  I love a mix of savory and sweet, so the next time I'd like to make the cinnamony pumpkin casings with the spicy black bean filling.  I know this sounds weird, my mom wrinkled her nose at the idea, but I might top one of these with Trader Joes seasonal pumpkin ice cream that's currently in my freezer.  Anyone a fan of sweet tamales?

Culinary Chronicles: Chorizo, Wild Mustard Greens and Potato Tamalés

We actually made these tamales on New Year's Day, a little late by New Mexico standards, where many families make and eat tamales on Christmas Eve.  We like to make them over the holidays and freeze them so that we can eat them on Sundays along with atole, remembering our favorite tradition from one of our joint trips to Mexico City.  In the neighborhood we were staying in there was this stand that would pop up outside the local church on Sunday that sold dozens of varieties of tamales and atoles.  Yum, so delicious.

This year we had chorizo on hand, but not a lot, so I came up with the potato and greens combination.  Its tasty.  We also made the same version of pork in red molé wrapped in banana leaves that I chronicled last year.

Culinary Chronicles: Bread

This week's sourdough.  I usually like to make it half white and half whole wheat because I think it improves the flavor, but I was out of whole wheat flour.  I also got distracted yesterday by hosting a brunch for friends and then rescuing a very scared puppy from the street outside our fence, and I totally forgot about my bread dough.  It rose for a long time as a result, and I had to refrigerate it overnight for it's final rise because it was getting too late to bake it.  I think it rose better than most of the recent loaves.  Don't know if it was the overnight refrigeration, or the fact that I baked it on this pizza stone instead of in a dutch oven.  It's a constant experiment, and this morning I got to enjoy that still warm piece for breakfast.

Culinary Chronicles: Novel Recipe for Pumpkin Cake

I read a lot, and a lot of it is very insignificant fiction.  You know mystery novels, chick lit, historical fiction, basically anything that looks like a fast entertaining read as I quickly skim the shelves of my local library.  By no means is quick fiction all that I read, but it is part of my weekly routine.  So what does this have to do with cake?

Recently I picked up two books off the shelf that promised to be mysteries with recipes... interesting.  The protagonists are crime solving caterers, I know, ridiculous.  Both the novels and the recipes were nothing special, but one recipe caught my eye as being timely and tasty sounding.  I decided to make it.  The book calls these pumpkin bars, but make no mistake, it's pumpkin cake.  To me a bar is dense and chewy, while a cake is significantly lighter.  I was initially disappointed as I watched it bake, since I wanted bars, but the cake is so tasty that I got over it.  Reminiscent of carrot cake thanks to the cream cheese frosting and the spices, but very fluffy.  Call it what it is [cake!], and this is a recipe worth making.

Pumpkin Bars Cake adapted from A Catered Halloween: A Mystery with Recipes by Isis Crawford, ©2008, Kensington Books; New York, NY.


4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups (16 ounces) canned pumpkin (the can I used only had 15 oz.-- it worked fine)
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp powdered ginger (my addition)
1/2 tsp allspice (my addition)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt


Icing:
8 Tbsp (1 stick) softened butter
Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk


Beat all the icing ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl until smooth and creamy.  Add more powdered sugar if the icing is too runny.  Put aside.


Combine flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir to evenly incorporate.  Set aside. Beat the eggs, sugar, oil and canned pumpkin in a large mixing bowl.  Add the dry ingredients and mix well until smooth.  Pour the batter into a greased 9"x13" pan.*  Bake at 350° F for 25 to 30 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Apply the icing.  Keep refrigerated.


*The original recipe called for a 10"x15" pan, which I did not have.  Perhaps that would have been enough to spread the batter out thin enough that it resembled bars and not cake, but since there is both baking powder and baking soda in the recipe, I doubt it.  I think doing this will just result in very thin cake.  If you try it, please let me know.

Meanwhile, I'll make this again, but I'm definitely still looking for a pumpkin bar recipe.

Culinary Chronicles: Huazontle / Quelites Quesedillas

I introduced my mom to the concept of blogs by the countless links I send her of things that I think are cool.  She has since introduced me to a couple of blogs in return.  One of them is Lesley Téllez's The Mija Chronicles, where she blogs about learning to cook Mexican food as a young Mexican American expat currently living in Mexico City.  Back in September Lesley bought some huauzontle at market and decided to dedicate a week to exploring how she could cook with it. What is huauzontle?  Sounds really exotic, doesn't it?  Its a Mexican green that's botanically related to quinoa, although its eaten fresh, prepared like spinach or broccoli, and not as a grain.   When I looked at Lesley's photos I thought it looked like a heartier version of a weed that we call lambs quarters here in New Mexico, or quelites in Spanish.  Its also known as wild spinach, and as far as I know, only the leaves are commonly eaten here in New Mexico.  Lesley was preparing the flower heads.  Had the lambs quarters in our yard not been forming their own flower clusters I may not have noticed the similarities.

Lesley Téllez's huauzontle.  Photo used with her permission.

The lamb's quarters growing in our yard in September.  The leaves look identical, although Lesley's seems to be a brighter green.  Lamb's quarters leaves are a little fuzzy, and the flower/seed heads are not as dense.

My mom moved to New Mexico in 1965 as a VISTA volunteer.  She was posted up in Dixon where she worked with a local community organizer to do things like set up the volunteer fire department.  In the early 60s a lot of the villages in Northern New Mexico were still very isolated,  and a lot of the older people still spoke primarily Spanish, cooked on woodstoves, and ate very simple foods that they grew themselves, like beans, chile, apples and things they foraged, like quelites, and watercress.  Either up in Dixon, or in the next few years when she was living in Santa Fe, my mom learned to pick quelites and add them to a pot of beans.  Every once in awhile you'll see them on a menu at a New Mexican restaurant (Padillas has them on whichever day their special is carnitas-- Tuesdays?), sautéed with onions, but its generally actually spinach in that case.  My mom saw someone selling them at the Downtown Farmer's Market this summer, but you probably won't find them in a regular supermarket.

A day or two after reading Lesley's first post about huauzontles, I picked some of the lambs quarters from our yard to try preparing them her way.  I'd never cooked the flower heads before, but I like to experiment. I just blanched them quickly in boiling water and made a simple cheese quesadilla, served with a side of tomatillo salsa.  The lambs quarters really do taste like spinach, a very mild flavor, but this gave a bit of crunch.  It was good, but not super exciting.

My lambs quarters quesadilla with roasted tomatillo salsa.

A few weeks later, much to my surprise,  I went to Pro's Ranch Market and found actual huauzontle in the produce department.  It's flower heads were on steroids compared to my lambs quarters, and all of the leaves had been plucked off prior to display, but I snatched it up.  This whole bunch cost $0.79.

The huauzontle that I purchased at Pro's Ranch Market.

We prepared it much the same way as the first time, in quesadillas.  I should have stuffed chicken breasts and served it all with a molé sauce like Lesley did, since I always buy molé at Pro's these days.  Maybe next time.  In the future I won't bother to buy the huauzontle, but will just use the lambs quarters.  In terms of flavor, I didn't discern any difference, but at least I know that the lambs quarters in our yard are grown without pesticides.  According to this article by Deborah Madison, lambs quarters, also known as goosefeet weed, grows all over the United States.  So keep an eye out for it where you live.

Culinary Chronicles: Lentil Stew with Lamb Sausage and Chicken

Why do I keep posting so many recipes for tomatillos?  Its because they grow like weeds and produce hundreds of fruits per plant, yet most of the recipes that I see on a regular basis are either for tomatillo salsa, or a green sauce for enchiladas.  I've been trying to broaden their range in my cooking repertoire and incorporate them into non-Mexican food dishes.

A couple of weeks ago my mom boiled up a lot of tomatillos in order to freeze them for later use.  She was left with about 6 cups of tomatillo broth that she didn't want to throw away, but wasn't sure what to do with.  In typical fashion, one morning she said to me, "If you are planning to make a soup, maybe you can use up that tomatillo broth."  I had mentioned no plans of making a soup, nor was I particularly inspired to do so, but that is my mom's way of suggesting hopefully that I come up with something delicious.  The idea thus being planted in my head, various ingredients combined themselves over the next few days, and what I finally ended up with was a lentil stew, flavored with lamb sausage that I bought at Whole Foods Market, and chicken.  My mom loved it, in fact what she said after the third night eating it was, "This is the best lentil soup I've ever eaten."  She's not one to quantify things as "the best," so that was pretty high praise.

I'm always interested in the creative process of things.  What triggered the use of a certain medium, or a color combination, were you inspired by a smell, was a memory triggered by the quality of light?  I find cooking to follow the same process.  My original plan was for a much clearer broth, with chicken and Spanish chorizo floating in it, along with white beans, and maybe chard and tomatoes.  Along the way it morphed into a thick broth with the prevalent flavor of lamb.  How did it happen?  I couldn't find the hard links of Spanish chorizo on my regular shopping route, and so I switched to lamb sausage, which seemed like it could go well with the original concept.  Then I got home, and realized that I'd forgotten to buy white beans, and there weren't any in the cupboard.  There were lots of lentils though.  Since lentils are a common food in Spain, I knew that it would combine well with the other ingredients, and voilá, I had a soup to satisfy Mom's request.

Adding a hearty green, like kale, would be delicious in this.  Carrots too.  I had neither on hand or else I probably would have included them.  If you aren't a fan of lamb, go back to the chorizo idea, or substitute a spicy chicken sausage.

Lentil Stew with Lamb and Chicken

1 cup lentils, rinsed

3 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless

1 lamb sausage*, about 6 inches long

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1 tsp. smoked paprika**, or smokey chile like dried chipotle or pasilla

6 to 8 fresh plum tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

6-8 cups tomatillo broth***, chicken broth, or vegetable broth

Cut sausage and chicken thighs into one-inch strips.  Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a heavy bottom soup pot.  Add meat and brown on all sides.  Once the meat is browned, add the onion and cook until translucent.  Add paprika, tomato paste, and lentils and sauté for a minute or two, stirring so that all ingredients are well coated with the spices.  The sausage that I used had garlic and basil in it.  If you are using a plainer sausage, or ground lamb, add a clove of garlic, finely minced and a teaspoon of dried basil or mint.   Add tomatoes, and cook for another 20 minutes, or until the lentils become soft.  Salt to taste.  The sausage that I had was soo salty that I didn't need to add any additional salt.  Soup thickens a lot when the lentils soften.  If you'd like a thinner consistency just add additional broth or water.  Garnish with parsley, a dollop of plain yogurt, or a crumbling of farm cheese.

*I used a pre-spiced sausage from the Wild Oats butcher counter called Lamb with Basil, Garlic and Pine-nuts.  You could substitute chunks of lamb or ground lamb, but make sure to add garlic and herbs if you do.  A spicy Spanish chorizo would also be good.

**I know, I'm currently obsessed with smoked paprika.  It's that good.  Try it.  Or skip it.  You could add some chile flakes, or a small dried chile in its place.

*** I can't imagine that many of you would have tomatillo broth on hand.  We only had it because my mom boiled a lot of tomatillos from our garden so that they could be frozen for later use, and there was extra liquid left over afterward.  The tomatillo broth had a nice tangy sweetness to it that other broths won't have, so if you have tomatillos on hand you could chop and boil some of them to use as a base. 

Weekend Edition: Adventures in Sourdough

I showed you my sourdough starter on Thursday, and this weekend I made my first loaf of bread from it.

I read a lot of recipes, and had planned to use one from Chocolate & Zucchini, but since most of her measurements are in grams, and I don't have a kitchen scale, I had to look elsewhere.  I ended up going with this recipe from S. John Ross.  It turned out pretty well, but there are definitely a couple of things I'd adjust for the next loaf.  I think my sponge should have been a little wetter, because I was only able to incorporate two cups of flour instead of the recipe's three.  I felt like even with dramatically less flour my dough was on the verge of being too dry when I was kneading it.  Also, next time I'd cut out the sugar that is added to the sponge prior to mixing up the dough.  I know sugar is often added to feed the yeasts and make the bread rise, but this loaf had a touch of sweetness to it that I don't favor.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a sweet bread, but was more like a commercial sandwich loaf.  

All in all, the loaf turned out better than I expected.  It rose well, it browned nicely and formed a nice crust, it cut nicely, and it tasted good.  I mixed whole wheat and white flour.  It wasn't particularly sour-- there were parts of the bread that tasted more like sourdough than others.  The crumb was dense enough that it would be good for sandwiches, but it wasn't dense and heavy, or hard to chew.  And most importantly, it sent me an omen that I should continue to make sourdough.  Do you see the perfect "S" that formed as the bread rose?

I also made pancakes with some of the sourdough starter.  I used another recipe from Uncle Jim's Book of Pancakes, a vintage cookbook that I featured in this Vintage Kitchen post (before I'd named the Vintage Kitchen posts, I guess).  They look slightly red because I threw some frozen raspberries into the batter.  Extremely good pancakes.

If you click those photos they'll open slightly larger, but in case you still can't read it, here's the transcription.

Sourdough Pancakes from Uncle Jim's Book of Pancakes by James E. Banks; Filter Press, Palmer Lake, CO, 1967.

In the early days of the American West, a solitary prospector or herder couldn't go to the market when he needed yeast for his baking.  So he carried along a sponge of sourdough starter.  It really was sour dough.  Even today, sourdough cookery is one of the supreme treats for an amateur chef.

The first thing you need is a starter.  Here's a method that has always worked for me.  Because this is still an art, not a science, it may not work for you.  If it doesn't, wait a few days and try again.  Your first batch of sourdough pancakes will repay your effort many-fold.

Place 1 cup of milk in a glass jar or crock (nothing metal!) and let it stand at room temperature for a day.  I use a 6 oz. instant coffee jar, but any wide-mouthed jar will do.  The second day stir in 1 cup flour.  Leave the mixture uncovered in a warm place (80˚ F is ideal and can be achieved near the pilot light on a gas stove.  Not too near, though or the heat will kill the yeast.)  for 2 to 5 days, depending on how long it takes to sour and get bubbly.  To speed the process in warm weather you can cover the jar with a layer of cheesecloth and let it stand outdoors for a few hours to expose the dough to wild yeasts in the air.  If the mixture starts to dry out, stir in enough lukewarm water to bring it back to its original consistency.  When it has a good sour aroma and is full of bubbles, it's read to use.

Every time you use your starter, replenish it with equal amounts of flour and milk.  Let it stand at room temperature for a few hours, or until it gets full of bubbles again, then cover loosely wan store in the refrigerator.  From time to time you may have to scrape some mold from the top of the jar where the starter dries out a bit.

This is certainly not the only way to get a starter going.  When Cal Queal, outdoor editor of the Denver POST, appealed for a recipe, he got 23 answers.  A starter is best if used once a week.  If you don't use it for two or three weeks, discard about half and replenish it as described above.  If you don't expect to use it for several weeks, you can freeze it.  Be sure to leave it at room temperature for at least 36 hours when you want to use it again.

After you've worked with your starter for awhile, you'll get to know it as an old pal that gets better with age.  I'd read this and was skeptical until I noticed that my results took a real turn for the better about six months after I made the starter.

Here's the basic recipe:

1/2 cup sourdough starter

1 cup undiluted evaporated milk

1 cup warm water*

1 3/4 - 2 cups unsifted flour

2 eggs

2 TBS granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda**

In a large bowl gently mix 1/2 cup starter, 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk, and 1 cup lukewarm water (*or 2 cups whole milk), and 1 3/4 - 2 cups flour.  The amount of flour is determined by the consistency you like.  Leave overnight at room temperature.  Be sure not to leave a metal spoon in the bowl.

Next morning add 2 eggs, 2 TBS granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp baking soda**.  Mix well, but don't beat.

** If your starter is quite sour, you may need to add more baking soda.  You'll learn by trial and error.  Never go more than 50% above the suggested amount.

For variations on the basic recipe, you can replace as much as half the flour with buckwheat flour, rolled oats, cornmeal or wheat germ.  They are all good.

If you want to make sourdough waffles, add 2 TBS melted shortening to the batter just before baking.

In the old time lumber camps, the loggers had an easy substitute for syrup.  The simply dissolved brown sugar in hot coffee and poured it over the pancakes.

Culinary Chronicles: Sourdough Starter by Accident

It's not much to look at is it?  I'm really excited about it nonetheless because it's my very first sourdough starter and it sort of came about by accident.  My mom makes her own yogurt, which is super simple.  When you do so, you always keep about a half cup of yogurt to add into the mix for the new batch.   The live cultures are what ferment the new batch into yogurt.  A couple weeks ago, a batch went kind of off.  It smelled and tasted really yeasty.  She decided that it was probably better to throw it out and start again using a jar of yogurt from the store as the starter culture.  Due to the yeastiness I decided to add in some flour and water and see if I could make a sourdough starter.  I mean if it smells like yeast it probably is yeast, right?  Success!  I've already used some for pancakes, the recipe for which I'll share in a future post.  Meanwhile I've been feeding the starter everyday, and growing it, so that this weekend I will have enough to take half and bake a loaf of bread.

I've been wanting to try to start my own yeast culture ever since I saw Martha Stewart do it way back in the 90s, using a leaf from a cabbage.  Apparently that white film that you see on cabbage leaves is a source of active yeasts.  The thing that always held me back is that if you read enough about sourdoughs they start to sound like an incredible amount of work.  You have to feed them and keep them at the right temperatures, and if you don't bake a lot, you end up throwing out starter and therefore wasting a lot of starter.  It always seemed like a project that I'd be better off starting later.  Then fate stepped in with that yeasty yogurt.  I guess I'm going to start baking more.

Culinary Chronicles: Affogato

I'm not a frappaccino drinker, I prefer a plain latte when I go to a coffee shop, and at home I make strong coffee and lighten it with half & half.  In other words, no sweet coffee for me.  Except every once in a while, when an affogato really hits the spot.  I don't think I'd ever had an affogato until I went to Italy, and I don't often see it on menus here in the southwest, but its the perfect treat.  A scoop of ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over, combining after dinner coffee with dessert.  Delicious.

Culinary Chronicles: Molé Pizza with Arugula, Apple and Bacon.

I think I'm on to something here.  I made a pizza last week that used prepared molé sauce instead of a tomato sauce or pesto.  I'm sure someone else has thought of this, but I'd never heard of it.  (Google tells me I'm right, of course others have tried it, but most seem to have kept it Mexican in theme, and I took it in a totally different direction).  It was good!  As I've talked about before when I made tamales early in the year, I think the prepared molé that I can get at Pro's Ranch Market deli section is better than the brands like Dona Maria that are available in most supermarkets.  It's got a pretty high cinnamon flavor to me, but is still (hot) spicy too, and so toppings would have to adjust according to the exact flavor of your molé.  I topped my pizza with garlic, ricotta, apple slices, fennel seeds, brie cheese, arugula and bacon.

This is what it looked like spread on the crust.  Not too much because its got a lot of flavor.

It comes as a dry cube, so I blended it with just a little oil before it was spreadable like above.

Next I layered on the garlic slices, cheeses, apple and fennel seeds.

Finally the bacon and arugula.  The bacon is apple smoked and the arugula rather bitter, which I thought contrasted nicely with the sweet spiciness of the molé, sweetness of the apple, and creaminess of the cheese.

The finished product.  I would have added a bit more arugula if I'd had it since it baked down to almost nothing.

The molé would be great with pineapple too.  I recommend this highly.  Let me know if you give it a try, and what you combine it with.

Culinary Chronicles: The Reward of Frozen Pie

Remember last month when I made and froze a bunch of pies?  No?  Well, maybe I forgot to tell you about making extras and freezing them, but I did it.  Today I was very happy with myself.  I'm feeling a little under the weather, probably just allergies or something.  I needed a little treat, and this mini-pie is going to do just the trick.  Yum, I'm going to go eat it right now!

Just out of the freezer, brushed with milk and sprinkled with sugar.

Just out of the oven.

Culinary Chronicles: Swiss Chard and Tomatillo Gratin

I made this dish a few weeks ago after my friend Deirdre brought me a mixed bunch of chard and kale.  I looked around the kitchen and saw a lot of tomatillos sitting on the counter, and the idea of a gratin popped into my head.  As I've said before, I've been trying to use tomatillos in as many non-Mexican dishes as possible, just to extend their range.  This gratin turned out so well that I'll definitely be making it again, and it may end up being my contribution to the annual Thanksgiving potluck that my mom and I attend every year.  

I'm not the type who has pre-made breadcrumbs at the ready in my frig, so I made them quickly by toasting whole grain bread, tearing it into chunks and grinding it in my food processor.  I added a few shakes of smoked Spanish paprika during the last few rotations.  The smokiness gave the breadcrumbs a nice subtle spiciness against the cream sauce of the greens.  Super tasty, so I thought I'd share.

Partially assembled.

Swiss Chard and Tomatillo Gratin (4 to 6 servings depending on size)


1 large bunch of swiss chard
4 to 6 large tomatillos, cut into bite sized pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 TBSP flour
1 cup milk
2 TBSP butter, plus more for topping
1/2 cup grated cheese, swiss or gruyere
1 cup bread crumbs**
Spanish smoked paprika


Wash, dry and chop the chard leaves into large pieces, and the stems into bite size pieces. In a covered saucepan bring about a cup of water to a boil, then add in the chard and let it steam for just a couple of minutes until its just wilted slightly. Remove from heat, but save some of the water in case you need to water down the roux a bit.  Remove the husks from the tomatillos, and wash under the tap until the stickiness is removed.  Chop into bite sized pieces and set aside.


Meanwhile, slowly melt butter in a skillet. Make a roux by sprinkling in the flour and stirring while it browns a little. Add in chopped garlic, keep stirring and add in milk slowly. Whisk to remove any lumps. Add in half of the grated cheese and stir until melted and incorporated smoothly. Season with salt and pepper. If needed, add in some of the chard water so that the sauce has a loose gravy like consistency. Once the sauce is finished, make sure that the chard is well drained then mix together the chard, tomatillos, and sauce. In a separate bowl, mix bread crumbs with a dash of salt, pepper, and a few shakes of smoked paprika. Spread into a buttered baking dish, and top with breadcrumb mixture, remaining cheese and little dabs of butter. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until topping is browned and vegetable mixture is bubbling. Serve!

(**This originally was 1/2 cup of bread crumbs after making it with a different casserole dish I decided to up the quantity for a thicker topping).

Tiny butter cubes and pepper as the final prep before the oven.

Browned and crunchy topping, just out of the oven.

About to be devoured.

Culinary Chronicles: Apí de Quinoa (Quinoa Breakfast Drink)

Spirit of the Earth: Native Cooking from Latin America by Beverly Cox & Martin Jacobs.

Last week my friend Maggie mentioned that she's been making variations of quinoa everyday.  It reminded me of all of the ways I like to eat quinoa, particularly this recipe for a hot breakfast drink.  It comes from one of my mom's cookbooks, full of recipes from South America, and is really more a part of her cooking repertoire than mine.  Its a great winter breakfast, just as tasty for adults as for kids-- and think about that shot of liquor mentioned by the author at the end, the next time you are feeling under the weather.

Straight from the Spirit of the Earth cookbook:


Apí de Quinoa -- Hot Quinoa Breakfast Drink (serves 4 to 6)


1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
5 cups water
One 2- to 3-inch cinnamon stick (preferably Mexican cinnamon)
3 whole cloves
1 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
4 to 6 TBSP sugar, to taste
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt


Rinse the quinoa well in two or three changes of cold water, then drain.  Put it in a blender with 1 cup of the fresh water, and liquefy it.  Combine the remaining 4 cups water, the cinnamon, and the cloves in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Gradually whisk in the quinoa mixture.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often so that it doesn't stick to the pan.  Stir in the evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt, and continue to cook until hot.  Pour the api through a strainer into a pitcher or directly into 4 to 6 mugs.  Note: Apí de quinoa may be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.  Just reheat it before serving.


The author also says that adults often add a shot of pisco or rum to their drink if they feel a chill coming on.