June 1 Menu Plan

This is my proposed menu, in no particular order since it involves going to the grocery store, where I may or may not buy the ingredients, depending on whether they are on sale or not. I'm just that stubborn. or frugal. or something.

As for the dried apricots I still haven't found any with out preservatives. I may end up just drying my own, they are in season now. But that is ridiculous. I could just eat fresh apricots, instead of dried apricot cookies.

Crockpot Asian Shredded Pork

4 pounds boneless beef or pork roast
1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce
1/2 cup gluten free hoisin sauce
6 tablespoons ketchup
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons Chinese 5-spice powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder (or 6 cloves, minced)

Put meat in cooker. Sprinkle the dried spices directly onto the meat, and top with the ketchup and honey. Pour in the soy and hoisin sauces. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork.

Serve over white or brown basmati rice, or over raw shredded cabbage.

Bolognese

1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 large red onion, diced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 cups red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
salt pepper
2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
1 cup milk

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. Add grated carrots and onions and cook for a few minutes. Make a well in the center of the mixture, then add in the ground beef. Cook for a few minutes until brown, gradually stirring it into the carrot mixture. Throw in oregano and basil. When the meat is browned and combined with other ingredients, make another well. Add tomato paste and let it heat. Add garlic and stir to combine. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add red wine. Stir together. Add Worcestershire and stir. Add canned tomatoes. Finally, pour in milk, stir, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours—however long you need.

Sesame Snap Cookies

Makes 10 cookies

1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 teaspoon lemon extract or lemon juice
1 teaspoon agave syrup

Place the apricots in the food processor and process into a paste. Add the pistachios, sesame seeds, lemon extract, and agave syrup and process to mix well.

Scoop the dough by 1 1/2 teaspoons onto a sheet tray lines with parchment and flatten into cookies.

Will keep for a week in the fridge or for several weeks in the freezer (thaw before eating).

Variations:
If you love herbs, try adding 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or tarragon to the dough. Or add 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger for zing.

Chicken with Shallot-Apricot Sauce
serves 4

For the chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 medium shallots, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 heaping tablespoons apricot jam or preserves
salt and pepper

Season each chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Cook the chicken breasts for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until they develop a golden brown crust. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook for about 5 more minutes, or until the chicken is just cooked through.

When the chicken is finished cooking, remove from the pan, set on a plate, and cover with foil to keep warm. Return the heat to high and add the 1/4 cup of chicken broth, de-glazing the pan and scraping the brown bits from the bottom.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium to large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes, until they begin to get soft and the bottom of the pan begins to brown.

Add the 1/2 cup chicken broth to the shallots, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan while the broth reduces. Add the balsamic vinegar, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add the apricot jam and stir to combine. The sauce will thicken but should still be easily stirred.

To serve, slice the chicken, drizzle with the pan juices, and top with the shallot-apricot mixture.

Irish Meat Loaf

Boiled Beef Tacos

2 lb ground chuck
1 t salt
2 T chili powder
2 cloves minced garlic
1 t cumin
2 T paprika

Put in pot, just cover with water. Bring to boil. Stir and mash to break up clumps every 15 min, cook for 1 hour.

Add chopped onion, cook for 20 more minutes. Briefly stir with hand blender. Drain with fine mesh colander return to pot. Some liquid can be reserved and fat allowed to separate in refrigerator. Combine this with cornstarch and add back to meat for a saucier meat.

Irish Meatloaf and Colcannon

This recipe has taken some research, I am trying to reproduce the one and only meatloaf I have ever liked. I interrogated the cook at an Irish Pub to get the recipe, but all I got were the secret ingredients( I hope I can remember all of them), and I have to put it together! So this is attempt 1:

Irish Meatloaf
1 carrot
2 ribs celery
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground lamb
2 eggs
1 t thyme
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c raisins
celery salt
fennel seeds
whole grain mustard
1/2 c rolled oats
3 slices of brown rice bread soaked in guiness and beef bullion

Finely chop vegetables and garlic, saute.
Mix all ingredients together and press into a loaf pan.
Bake 375F 45min, baste.

Baste/Sauce:
1/2 c ketchup?
2 T whole grain mustard
1/2 c guiness
1/2 c balsamic vinegar

Serve with colcannon and mushrooms sauteed in guiness sauce.


Colcannon
1/2 bunch kale
1/2 head cabbage
4 potatoes
1 onion
milk

Cook kale and cabbage in boiling salted water until tender but not overcooked. Drain very well and chop finely. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes, and while they are cooking chop onions and simmer them in milk or cream for about 7 minutes. Drain the potatoes, season and mash them well, then stir in the cooked onions and milk, adding a little more milk if needed. Finally blend in the finely chopped kale and cabbage. Heat and brown the entire mixture gently, then pile in a warmed dish. Make a small well in the center and pour in the melted butter.

Deal!

I just have to say I am now a big fan of Kroger. Despite all of its many undesirable features, you can really get a deal there. In fact my deep freeze is now fully stocked with poultry. All natural, antibiotic and hormone free. I was looking for ground lamb, but the first Kroger didn't have any in stock anymore-- instead they had the previously mentioned chicken for $1.99 lb for boneless skinless chicken breast. So swooped in and grabbed almost all they had. By the way if you do this other shoppers will gather, you must be decisive in what you want or they will decimate the supply of whatever sale thing before you make up your mind. While I was there I did a bit more looking around and found roaster chickens also on sale, again all natural hormone free. This particular Kroger also had the cage free, grain fed eggs on sale too. I think I am misleading you when I say on sale, these are all manager specials meaning that my total at the end was equal to the YOU SAVED part on the bottom of your receipt.

After not finding the ground lamb, I finally ventured over to the local butcher. My sister in tow for support. The first venture into something new requires support. They are very nice. Their prices are not great. They had no lamb.

This butcher is by a different Kroger, so I thought perhaps I would check there, since the other Kroger was just out of stock. They also had the fabulous chicken sale, BUT marked down again for 1.49 lb. This chicken looked old, I'm a fan of a good deal, but if you would have to cook this asap, it wouldn't have kept in the freezer. It had started to get all of that extra juice in the package, those are not the best packages to choose. Instead I bought two of the all natural, hormone, anti-biotic, cage free turkeys. The regular ones were even more on sale, but the whole point of stopping our Sam's Club membership was to get more of the natural organic meats and produce. AND yes they had ground lamb, on sale: 1.99 lb.

Bread Cache

I have been hoarding these recipes, and I am tired of keeping up with the tabs so I am going to group them here, and share pre-tested:

Pizza Crust
Irish Soda Bread
Bread Machine Bread
Focaccia

Sadly I STILL do not have all of the necessary flours, but wonderful things happen like this morning's muffins when I just make do. Pizza crust is a go, but I have already planned the weeks menu, as for the rest 1) I lost my bread machine paddle and am too cheap to pay for the replacement-- I am waiting to find it at a thrift store and 2) millet flour. I have heard good reviews on millet flour, and have even held a bag of it in my hand. But no, alas, I have 5 gluten free flours (7 until this morning when I used up all the white rice and buckwheat flours) and 3 different starches and xanthan gum, but not millet. Heh. So my hesitation over whether or not I had it a home I believe is excusable.

Yummy Muffins

I finally have a successfully made from scratch gluten free recipe. I decided to wing it and just substitute what I had on hand and add a dash of xanthan gum.

GF Yogurt Coffee Cake Muffins*
1/2 c butter substitute
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c yogurt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 c rice flour
1 c buckwheat flour
1 t xanthan gum

topping:
1/2 t cinnamon
2 T sugar
1 T brown sugar

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Mix well. Combine baking soda, baking powder and flours. Add to wet mixture. Scoop into greased muffin tins, layering topping between dollops of mix. Sprinkle topping over each muffin. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes. Yield: 1 dozen muffins

This was so good, that my test subjects said: "You can eat these?!"

Yes. I. Can.

For you see my dear, these too are gluten free and delicious.

*Original Recipe: Finer Things In Life

Menu Planning

I am not a menu planner. I buy what is on sale and only when it is a good price. But I am going to give it a try, combining the two: sale items with staple items. Mainly as an attempt to clear out my pantry and fridge. Especially since my fridge is now freshly stocked from the Dekalb farmer's Market, and super sale buy from Nu Pak grocer. I don't want any of the yummy-ness to go to waste, and this would be a good opportunity to plan out when to use all of the unusual spices, and dig through the large collection of cookbooks I have acquired.

Saturday:
Roasted Aubergines- Curry Cookbook, North India Recipe pg 71
*marinated Eggplant and Mushrooms overnight for tomorrow

Roasted Aubergines
2 Large Eggplant
3 T veg oil
1/2 t black mustard seeds
1 onion finely chopped
1 1/2 c mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 crushed red chili
1/2 t chili powder
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/4 t ground tumeric
1 t salt
1 can chopped tomatoes* I substitute frozen roma tomatoes here*
1 T cilantro

Bake eggplant 440F for 30-35 min, or until soft.
Fry mustard seeds in a large pot with veg oil.
Add onions, mushrooms, garlic, and chili.
Add spices and tomatoes.
Mash roasted eggplant and add with cilantro to the pot.
Boil until thickened, garnish with cilantro.

Marinated Eggplant and Mushrooms
1 eggplant
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic mashed
salt and pepper
12 mushrooms
1/2 c diced celery
1 t fresh rosemary
1/2 c olive oil

Sunday:
Marinated Eggplant and Mushrooms, Passover pg 58
Savory Baked Chicken, Passover pg 157
Quinoa

Savory Baked Chicken
Chicken pieces
juice of 3 lemons
6 T olive oil
salt and pepper
2 t ground cumin
1 t ground oregano
pinch of allspice* optional
1/2 t cayenne pepper

Toss and coat chicken with ingredients.
Bake 450F, 1 hour

Monday:
Fruit Salad
Potato Tortilla, Spanish pg 104
*soak beans overnight for Tuesday

Potato Tortilla
3 potatoes
1 onion
3 T veg oil
4 eggs
garnish with parsley or tomato wedges

Thinly slice potatoes and onion, saute until potato slices are tender, 20 min.
Remove from heat, mix eggs and spices, pour over potatoes and onions.
Cook 5-8 min, setting bottom and lifting edges to allow uncooked egg to go to the bottom of the pan. Invert on plate, slide back into pan. Cook until golden brown.

Tuesday:
Mixed Bean and Aubergine Tagine with Mint Yogurt, One Pot pg 226

Mixed Bean and Aubergine Tagine
1/2 c dried kidney beans, soak overnight separately
1/2 c dried black-eyed peas, soak overnight separately
2 bay leaves
2 celery sticks, halved
5 T oil
1 eggplant, cubed
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 red chillies, crushed
1 t paprika
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 1/4c stock
1 T each chopped parsley, cilantro, mint
salt and pepper

Drain beans, add more water and boil separately 10 min.
In large casserole add 2 1/2c water, bay leaves, celery, beans.
Cook 375F 1 1/2 hours. Drain.
In pan cook eggplant until softened.
Add garlic, onion and chillies onion is cooked.
Add to casserole, along with paprika, tomatoes, salt and pepper.
Cook 1 hr.

Mint Yogurt
2/3 c yogurt
2 T mint
2 scallions, chopped

Wednesday:
Meat Loaf-- recreate Irish Meatloaf
Cabbage and Potatoes

Thursday:
Garlic and Kale

Friday:
Chicken with Lemon and Garlic, Spanish pg 184
Salad with grapefruit

Chicken with Lemon and Garlic
Chicken pieces
2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 t paprika
juice of 1 lemon
2 T chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Stirfry chicken, onion, garlic, and paprika.
Add lemon, parsley, salt and pepper just before serving

Next Week Possibilities:
Chickpeas with Spiced Potato Cakes, West India Recipe pg 131
Beef Biryani, CurryBook pg 146 with Red Lentil Pancakes pg 150
Rice Tortillas, Spanish pg 138
Spiced Lentils with Spinach, South India Recipe pg 113
Menestra, Spanish pg 130

Rainy Days

I really enjoy a nice rainy day. The birds still sing, did you know? And all of the wonderful growing things in the yard are getting quenched, or maybe just drenched. But nevertheless this is a marvelous thing, a reason to celebrate. Celebratory Breakfast:

Baked Amish Oatmeal (easy and delicious!)
1 1/2 c oatmeal
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c milk or milk substitute
1/4 c butter or butter substitute
1 egg
1 t baking powder
2 t vanilla
1 pinch salt

Bake in small greased baking dish at 350F for 25-30 min.
I like to top mine with fresh fruit (especially peaches) and yogurt, but you can cook it with fruit or nuts already added.

Enjoy!


P.S.
Gutters are a pretty good substitute for the sound of rain on a tin roof.