The Perfect Pantry - Peek into Mine!

In case you haven't found the wonderful food blog, The Perfect Pantry, be sure and check it out. Not only is Lydia a wonderful writer but she has a fun feature every Saturday called, "Other People's Pantrys" where she features photos from readers' pantries. Mine is featured today, so take a gander at what I've been cooking from!

Hugs!

Corn Chowder

Corn Chowder is one of those easy soups that can either remind you of cheap creamed corn or can easily be taken to gourmet heights with a few high quality ingredients.

As a student I would go the cheap route: frozen corn, skim milk, and some vegetables for a filling hearty vegetarian soup. After I began cooking professionally, and like most professionals, fell in love with high end ingredients, I learned to make a chowder that used cream, homemade stock and fresh corn. While both versions are good, the more gourmet style really tastes so much better that I can't go back.

I know that much of the colder northern hemisphere is way beyond fresh corn season and posting this recipe from southern California is somewhat unfair. But if you're sliding into the winter months and you happened to freeze some sweet corn from the summer, this would be the perfect time to bring back the taste of summer in a warming cup of soup!

Corn Chowder

3 ears corn, shucked
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 bulb fennel, chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt
pepper

In large stock pot bring enough water to boil to contain corn. Boil for 10 minutes until cooked. Drain all but 3 cups of boiling water and set aside. When corn is cool enough to handle, cut corn off cob. Place cobs back in cooking water and bring to boil and cook at least another 30 minutes. In smaller sauce pan, saute onion in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add celery and fennel and dried thyme if using and cook another 5 minutes. Pour corn cob stock into pot and add corn and fresh thyme if using. Bring to boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes or until celery and fennel are very soft. Remove thyme sprigs and turn off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in cream and serve.

Hugs!

Shredded Jicama Salad

Jicama is one another one of those strange looking vegetables whose ugliness I find oddly compelling. It looks like an overgrown nut, plain in color and yet intriguing. Its flavor is very distinctive yet subtle but the real draw is its crunchy texture which releases a fresh flavored juice that is totally unexpected.

Indigenous to Mexico, it is actually a root vegetable of a very large vine. While I have never seen it growing, I imagine it is one of those plants that can overtake a wall since it can grow up to 15 feet long.

Unlike some vegetables, it really does not mix well with others. I think of it as a king of a small island; it needs to be the center of attention and its couriers are very small in number. However, like most small tropical islands, it is worth the visit!

Jicama is best grated or sliced in matchsticks and tossed with salt, lime juice, cayenne and a little oil. Here, I added some grated carrots, fresh fennel, celery and if I would have had it, cilantro. It doesn't absorb its dressing really well, so don't over do it.

While most people don't readily think of jicama when root vegetables are mentioned, it is and also my submission for the No Croutons Required Soup and Salad Challenge for the month of November which focuses on root vegetables. Check out the challenge and discover other great blogs. Or make this salad and try a new root vegetable with texture like a water chestnut and a sweet, citrusy juice!




Shredded Jicama Salad

1/2 large jicama, peeled and shredded on large holes
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 fresh fennel, shredded
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Toss all in bowl and serve immediately.

Hugs!

Sesame Salmon

If you don't know by now that wild salmon is not only really delicious but super healthy for you, crawl out from under that rock you've been hiding under and join the party. Wild caught salmon (as opposed to farmed) lives in the cold depths of the sea and because of its chilly home it develops a high oil content which is where omega-3 fatty acids collect. It is these acids that are so good for us (they're a collection, look it up if you want all the nutritional nitty gritty info.) Regardless of its status as a superfood I just love to eat it!

While lightly steamed or baked salmon with a squirt of lemon juice or even just butter, salt and pepper is wonderful, sometimes I like to dress it up with this Asian marinade that I originally used for tuna steaks (another fish high in those great omega-3s.) This is such a simple combination but the addition of the rice wine, which has a subtle sweetness, really brings out the salmon flavor.

I make this as a hot meal for dinner or save it to put on greens for a very satisfying lunch.

Sesame Salmon

1 lb salmon steaks
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 teaspoons rice wine

Mix marinade ingredients in baking pan that will hold the steaks. Marinate fish on each side for 15 minutes each but don't over marinate, since the flavor of the salmon will be lost in the marinade. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees, skin side down, for 15-20 minutes or until middle of fish is done. Serve immediately or chilled.

Hugs!

Garlicy Kale

I cannot remember when I learned kale was a "superfood" but it was definitely within the last 5-7 years. Since then whenever people talk about "eating whole foods" kale is always mentioned and people hold out their love for kale as proof that they eat healthy. It is truly amazing what hype and publicity can do for something (or someone) because now kale is ubiquitous, and not simply in the conventional grocery stores as garnish in the deli cases!

The fun thing about kale's popularity is that farmers have explored different varieties. There's the curly kale (of display case notoriety), Russian kale with its purple tinges, and Lacinto or Tuscan kale (my favorite) just to name a few. The different textures of these varieties allow for a wide range of uses. Curly kale is the best kale for baked kale chips since its ruffles capture olive oil and salt so well and bake up into crispy healthy treats. Russian kale is a less dense leaf that requires less cooking and is a good substitute for spinach in the Japanese sauce of Gommae. Tuscan or Lacinto kale has a texture in between the other two and can stand up to scrambled eggs or fritatas as well as being added to vegetable stir frys.

In this dish I used the curly kale and made what is a quick and simple dish, but loaded with wonderful flavor and the satisfying green taste of good fresh kale.

Garlicky Kale

8-10 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch curly kale, destemmed, chopped well

Place large pot over high heat and when you can feel the heat above the pan add oil and allow to heat for 1/2 minute. Add garlic and stir fry 1 minute until you begin to smell garlic. Add kale and toss to absorb oil for 1 minute. As kale begins to wilt add 2 tablespoons of water and cook until all of water is gone and kale is wilted but garlic is just beginning to brown. Remove from heat and serve immediately or serve at room temperature.

Hugs!

Beef Vegetable, Stone Soup Style

Do you know the story of stone soup? It's essentially the story of how a homeless man (or in the parlance of the day, a wandering traveler) came to town looking for some food for work but no one wanted to open their doors to him for fear that he would rob them. Not to be deterred, the traveler announces in the town square that he's going to make the most delicious soup from a stone.

As the man places his pot full of water with a stone in it over the fire he has built, curious town folk begin to gather to see how he will produce this magical soup. Drawn in by his story telling, one by one they contribute a vegetable here, a meat bone there and some grains here. Soon it truly is a delicious soup boiling away and drawing the whole town with its delicious scent. In the end it is enough to feed all and everyone is so pleased with having contributed to the magical soup.

I love so many elements about this story; the traveler's faith in changing the town folk's minds, the soup feeding all, and most of all, the creation of something satisfying and nourishing from humble ingredients. This recipe could easily be the soup of the story and I love its meaty flavor without the heaviness that meat can impart to soups.

Beef Vegetable Stone Soup Style

1 beef marrow bone
4 qts water
bay leaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 fresh fennel, chopped
2 red potatoes, chopped
2 stems fresh thyme
1/2 cup barley
2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste

Place bone, water and bay leaf in stock pot, bring to slow boil and reduce heat. Simmer for at least 1 hour, 2 is best. In sauce pan, heat olive oil and add onion and garlic and cook 2 minutes until you begin to smell garlic. Add carrots and celery and cook another 3 minutes and then add fennel, stir well and cook another 2 minutes. Add potatoes, thyme, barley and 4 cups of prepared beef stock with bay leaf and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until barley is cooked. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs, season with salt and pepper. Skim beef fat off top and serve.

Store leftover beef stock in glass mason jar and allow beef fat to collect at top to seal stock. Freeze for 3 months or refrigerate for 1 week.

Hugs!