Jalapeno Relish is Da Bomb

Breakfast, Friday February 23: french toast (home made multi-grain, egg, milk, cream, toasted pecan); yogurt and marmalade swirl, apple, jalapeno relish.

Two important things to emphasize: orange marmalade and jalapeno relish. Orange marmalade is not like other jams or jellies. Its preparation is even easier. That is a little surprising in that jellies are not that complicated. I will allow that they are tedious, timing is important, but the steps require no special skill. Just follow that instructions in the pectin pack. The instructions for marmalade on the other hand are basically: slice; boil; sweeten. Obviously I am oversimplifying, but the point I meant to make is that precise timing and measurement are not as much a concern. Making marmalade is not as tedious as other jams. A great treatment of the details is delivered by Chef Brown. Just follow this link.

I wish I could claim the jalapeno relish 'cause it is REALLY good. It is a gift from the mother of dear friends of ours. Sweet, but not overly, a touch of heat but accessible to nearly anyone, big pepper flavor, deep rich color. I used it for the first time last night to make thousand island dressing for reubens. Best Dressing Evar! I only hope that she is willing to share the recipe. 

If It Weren't For The Picture

Lunch, Tuesday November 16: Plowman's (mixed pickles, pineapple, mixed cheese, baguette).

It's kinda a crappy picture but I like it (very J. J. Abrams) otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.

Nooks And Crannies

Breakfast, Tuesday November 16: seared lamb chop; mixed fruit (apple, pineapple, dates, pecans); pumpkin bread; English muffin.

I find it a little amusing how the average American (whatever that means) wants bread that has a soft and very light crust with a crumb that is uniform and extremely soft, yet I recall an advertising campaign for a brand of English muffins that touted the "nooks and crannies." Now I understand that is so one can load up with more butter, but the demand doesn't go the other way. Hand most Americans a roll or loaf with a similar crumb and they would scoff.

Don't believe me? Sure there is an "artisan" bread section in most grocers. Sales there paltry compared to the "regular" bread aisle. Not only that but consider that artisan bread itself. My favorite example is the bagel. Bagels should be firm chewy and have an almost leathery crust. Most grocery bagels are kaiser rolls with a hole in the middle. I like to call them bageloids.

When The Sauce Is The Star

Supper, Wednesday November 15: pumpkin and nasturtium sauce* over 3 cheese tortellini; multi-grain toast.

This is a good example of experimenting with ingredients on hand. The sauce came about in a "stone soup" fashion. I just kept adding things until I was satisfied with the result.

*Here's kinda how it went. It started with a healthy portion of cooked garden pumpkin and even healthier portion of nasturtium leaves and flowers. I sauteed these together to use later in a sauce because a frost was coming that would kill the nasturtiums. When I finally got to it I added chopped leek, minced shallot, and minced garlic. I sauteed this mix for a bit with some olive oil whilst pondering the rest of the ingredients. I decided to spice with harrissa. That was the most important choice. It really worked well well with the other ingredients. I finished with some vegetable base and half and half. This simmered for a bit, til thickened. 

As I was tasting while creating the sauce I began to realize that it was morphing into something more like a side dish, say heading toward creamed spinach. So rather than the sauce accompanying the pasta I wanted to think of it the other way. That is why when plating I put down a larger portion of sauce then the pasta and then more sauce, surrounding the pasta. A little paprika and done. 

Flip F'Real

Breakfast, Tuesday November 14: (yogurt and crunchity stuff (yogurt, toasted pecans; honey, granola almond slivers chocolate morsels, desiccated coconut); dates.

There's a commercial product available that comes with yogurt and a separate pocket for come crunchity stuff. Alexis likes them so I decided to see how I could improve on the concept.  It was pretty simple to make a mix of her favorite healthy crunchity things. I keep it premixed in a mason jar for a quick and simple breakfast I can put together on mornings when I don't have the energy for something elaborate or sometimes she wants a super healthy meal.

Dippity Doo-Dah

Breakfast, Sunday November 12: dippy egg; toast; liver mush and Irish cheddar; fruit. 

Alexis calls this a dippy egg. Some people don't get it, but when I first heard that I knew exactly what she meant. Egg(s) cooked over easy so you can but open the yolk and dip your toast in it. I am of the other variety of soft egg eaters. I like the egg cooked over easy, but I cut it all up and mix it. My own quirk is that I have to put the egg on the toast then take a bite of the toast-egg combo. It's not the same if I take a bite of one then the other. 

I suppose pomegranates are available all year round, but I only see them around the holidays. Same goes for cranberries. I try to put pomegranate on or in everything to get my fill of them before they disappear again. 

Lima Beans Go With Everything

Supper, Wednesday November 08: stuffed pepper (ground pork, ground beef, chili spice, quinoa, egg, poblano, verde sauce); lima beans; seared tortilla.

One of the nice things about lima beans is that you can use them as a starch or as a green vegetable.

We had a nice final harvest of peppers. We had quite a few very pretty poblanos. I made a big batch of stuffed peppers. I smothered them in some of the homemade verde sauce that I made with the last harvest of tomatillos. The substitution of the more traditional rice with quinoa was a good choice. The quinoa cooked done. With rice sometimes it does not cook all the way, and you are left with meat full of crunchy rice. Not my favorite.