Garden Herb Loaf

From "Seasoned Loaves", Country Gardens Early Spring 1996

3½-4  cups all-purpose flour
3  Tbsp. sugar
2  pkg. active dry yeast
1½  tsp. salt
¼  tsp. dried marjoram, crushed
¼  tsp. dried thyme, crushed
¼  tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
½  cup water
¼  cup milk
¼  cup butter
1  egg
1  Tbsp. butter
Dried marjoram, thyme, and rosemary (optional)

In large bowl combine 1½ cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary.  In saucepan heat and stir water, milk, and ¼ cup butter until warm (120° to 130°).  Stir into flour mixture. Stir in egg and enough remaining flour to make soft dough.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead in enough remaining flour to make dough smooth and elastic (4 to 6 minutes).  Place in greased bowl; turn once.  Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled (about 45 minutes).

Punch dough down.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface.  Divide into 3 equal portions.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes.  Roll each piece into 30-inch rope.  Braid ropes; pinch ends to seal.  Loosely coil braid to form round loaf, tucking ends under.  Place on greased baking sheet.  Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled (about 40 minutes).

Bake in 375° oven 30 minutes or until lightly brown; cover with foil last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning.  Melt remaining butter and brush over loaf.  If desired, sprinkle with dried herbs.  Remove from baking sheet.  Cool completely.  Makes 1 loaf.

Breadsticks with Rosemary and Sage

From "Seasoned Loaves", Country Gardens Early Spring 1996

1½  tsp. active dry yeast
1  cup warm water (105° to 115°)
1/8  tsp. sugar
3-4  cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1  tsp. salt
¼  tsp. ground white pepper
2  Tbsp. olive oil
1  Tbsp. snipped rosemary
1  Tbsp. snipped sage
Olive oil

Stir together yeast, ¼ cup warm water, and sugar.  Let stand 10 minutes.  In large mixing bowl stir together 3 cups flour, salt, and pepper.  Make well in center.  Add yeast mixture, remaining water, 2 tablespoons oil, rosemary and sage.

Using a fork, gradually draw flour into liquid in well.  When dough is too stiff to stir with fork, turn out onto lightly floured board.  Knead in enough remaining flour to make moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes).  Shape into ball.  Place in lightly greased bowl; turn once.  Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Divide dough into 3 pieces.  Roll 1 piece into 12x10-inch rectangle.*  (Refrigerate remaining dough.)  Dust dough with flour and fold into thirds.  Set pasta machine on widest opening and pass dough through.  Pass through widest setting again, flouring dough as needed.  Reset on narrower setting; pass dough through, folding as necessary.  If dough is too large to work with, cut in half and work with 1 piece at a time.  Repeat machine rolling and flouring until dough is about 1/16 inch thick.  Dust dough with flour; pass through ¼-inch-wide blade to cut into strips.   Strips should be 12 to 16 inches long.  Place ½ inch apart on greased baking sheet; shape into curves or twists as desired.

To create twists or braids, twist 2 strips together or braid 3 strips together and seal ends.  Brush with olive oil.  Bake in 400° oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on wire racks.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.  For longer storage, wrap, label, and freeze.  Makes about 5 dozen single breadsticks.

* If you don't have a pasta machine, cut dough rectangle into ¼-inch-wide strips with straight-sided pastry wheel or pizza cutter; proceed as above.

Indian Spiced Okra

This is better than boiled okra with butter & salt, which is better than fried okra. Use the full amount of butter, but no more. It will cook down and be well coated even though it doesn't look like enough.

This goes well with tamales or fried corn and sliced tomatoes.

Serves 4 as side dish, 2 as main dish.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound fresh okra
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Stir in the okra, and season with cumin, ginger, coriander, pepper and salt. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover the pan. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until okra is tender.

Mesir W'et - Spicy Lentil Stew

This stew can be cooked until dry to be served on an Injera platter, or left wetter to be eaten with a spoon.

1 cup brown lentils
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
peanut or olive oil for frying
2 cups water
1 Rapunzel bouillon cube
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes (Muir Glen fire roasted)
1 Tbs paprika
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 Tbs berbere
1 Tbs New Mexico chili powder (not smokey)
salt & pepper to taste

Optional: Soak cleaned lentils for up to an hour in water.

Rinse & drain cleaned lentils.
Saute onions & garlic in oil until golden.
Add water, spices & tomatoes & lentils. Bring to a gentle boil.
Simmer until lentils are tender, adding water if needed.
Add bouillon, salt & pepper to taste. Cook until stew has the desired thickness.

Maya's Red Lentil Soup

This is a wonderful soup. Easy to make and good enough for company. The inspiration for this soup came from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" cookbook.
Makes 4 bowls of soup.

3 Tbs peanut oil

1.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled

8 garlic cloves, minced - 4 if crushed

1 cup red lentils

4 cups water

1 Rapunzel bouillon cube (veggie w sea salt & herbs)

10 - 15 curry leaves (or bay leaves)

1 16 oz can Muir Glen fire roasted, diced tomatoes with roasted garlic 

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 tsp mustard seeds

salt & pepper to taste

Clean, wash well & drain lentils.

Mince ginger & garlic. 

Heat 2 Tbs oil in a pot, add ginger & garlic & cook for a minute. 

Add water, lentils, & curry leaves. Cover & simmer gently until the lentils are soft (20 - 40 minutes).

Add tomatoes, bouillon, cayenne and salt & pepper. Simmer gently another 10 - 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft.

Optional for family, required for company: Press the soup through a sieve & return to the pot.

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a small pan, When hot, put in the mustard seeds. They will sizzle & pop, turning gray.

Pour mustard & oil into the soup. Stir & serve.

Toovar Dal with Chopped Spinach

This recipe for Toovar Palak Dal was derived from “The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking” by Yamunda Devi. This is one or our favorite recipes and can be prepared with almost any yellow dal and leafy green. The recipe in the book has more detailed instructions, but this is the gist of it.

1 cup split toovar dal, washed, soaked & drained

1 ½ cups water

5 Tbs olive oil (substituted for ghee)

1 ½ tsp cumin seeds

a pinch of asafetida

fire roasted tomatoes, drained (Muir Glen) (substituted for 1 large tomato)

1 ½ tsp ground coriander

a pinch of cayenne powder

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

½ pound spinach, stemmed & coarsely chopped

juice of ½ lemon

2 Tbs fresh, minced parsley (or cilantro)

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Bring dal, 1 Tbs oil & water to a boil in a saucepan; reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until soft, but not falling apart; drain.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan. When moderately hot, fry cumin seeds until brown. Add the asafetida powder then immediately add tomatoes and remaining spices.  Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the spinach, cover & cook for 5 minutes more.

Pour in the drained dal; lower the heat slightly and add the lemon juice. Cook briefly until dry and richly textured.

Garnish with minced herbs & a sprinkle of nutmeg just before serving.

Serves 4

Jamacian Shrimp Curry

This is  a wonderful dish to prepare, good for family meal or company. The original recipe was shared with me by a generous work friend who often brought samples of his cooking to share.  Serve with brown basmati or jasmine rice with sliced pineapple for dessert.


Some of his cooking notes:

• For the “seafood broth” I used clam juice (I got it at Golden Produce near my house).
• For the curry I suggest using Rainbow’s organic curry in their bulk spice section – rich and more complex; I used half that, and half normal yellow curry plus about a teaspoon of allspice.
• The shrimp I got at Safeway in the frozen section — they only had one size that was raw and deveined, not an exact match to the size the recipe calls for, and it turned out fine.

 Makes 4 servings, about 2 cups each; cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
   * 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
   * 1 large onion, chopped
   * 2 stalks celery, sliced
   * 4 cloves garlic, chopped
   * 1 serrano chile, minced (optional)
   * 2 tablespoons curry powder
   * 1 teaspoon dried thyme
   * 2 cups seafood broth or stock or clam juice
   * 1 14-ounce can “lite” coconut milk
   * 3 ripe mangoes, diced (see Tip)
   * 1 1/4 pounds raw shrimp (21-25 count; see Note), peeled and deveined
   * 1 bunch scallions, sliced
   * 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation
  1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, chile (if using), curry powder and thyme; stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add broth (or stock or clam juice), coconut milk and mangoes. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
  2. Puree 3 cups of the soup in a blender. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Return the puree to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add shrimp and cook until pink and firm, about 3 minutes. Stir in scallions and salt.

Tips & Notes
   * Tip: To peel and dice a mango, slice both ends off to reveal the long, slender seed. Set the fruit upright and remove the skin with a sharp knife. With the seed perpendicular to you, slice the fruit from both sides of the seed, yielding two large pieces. Turn the seed parallel to you and slice the two smaller pieces of fruit from each side. Dice into desired size.
   * Note: Shrimp is usually sold by the number needed to make one pound. For example, “21-25 count” means there will be 21 to 25 shrimp in a pound. Size names, such as “large” or “extra large,” are not standardized, so to get the size you want, order by the count per pound. Both wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp can damage the surrounding ecosystems when not managed properly. Fortunately, it is possible to buy shrimp that have been raised or caught with sound environmental practices. Look for fresh or frozen shrimp certified by an independent agency, such as the Marine Stewardship Council. If you can’t find certified shrimp, choose wild-caught shrimp from North America—it’s more likely to be sustainably caught.

Couscous

This is a quick and fool proof easy carb to add add t almost any meal that needs a little more substnce. This is great if you have a meal with a yummy sauce that you need to pour over something.

1 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup couscous
1/4 tsp salt

Bring salted water to boil in a small pot. Remove from heat and stir in couscous. wait 5 minutes and fluff up.

You can add all sorts of flavorings or other veggies, depending on what else is being served.

Exotic Mayan Stew

Get your can opener ready, this is a quick and easy soup that is a staple for those cold dreary days when you don't feel like cooking. This recipe started from one on the back of a can of Westbrae Organic Soybeans. Not for company, but perfect for family meals. Serve with nice bread or crackers & cheese. There will be leftovers.

2 Tbs olive oil
2 medium onions - diced
2 medium bell peppers - diced
2-3 jalapenos - diced
1 28 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans soybeans - undrained (Westbrae, of course)
1 28 oz can hominy (golden or white) - undrained
3 Tbs chili powder
1 T crushed red peppers (optional)
generous grinding of toasted cumin seeds
generous grinding of black peppercorns
1 T oregano (optional)
1 tsp salt
2 cups water
2 - 4oz cans diced green chilies (optional)

Heat oil in large stockpot and saute onions and peppers until tender.
Add everything else and simmer 10 minutes or more - depending on how soon you need to eat.
Add cans of green chilies at the end.

Southern Corn Bread

We made this for Christmas / New Years this year. This was based on a recipe by Andrea Meyers. It was quite tasty, The cornmeal was a mixture of very fine and coarsely ground corn.

Ingredients

1-1/2 cup cornmeal Bloody Butcher corn meal from Tierra
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1-1/4 cups buttermilk 
4 tablespoons vegetable oil (or bacon drippings if you happen to have any)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.

2. Stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in mixing bowl. Add the beaten eggs and the buttermilk, stirring just until all the dry ingredients are wet. Do not over mix.

3. Add vegetable oil to a 9-10 inch cast iron skillet and place in the hot oven for 3 to 4 minutes. You want the skillet hot, but you don’t want the oil to start smoking.

4. Remove hot pan from oven. Make sure that the pan is thoroughly coated with the oil, bottom and sides, then pour the excess oil into the batter and stir. Pour batter into the hot pan.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.