Polenta! Simple, not easy. OK maybe easy.

 "Thee the soft nations round the warm Levant

Palanta call, the French of course Polante;

E'en in thy native regions how I blush

To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee Mush!

On Hudson's banks, while men of Belgic spawn

Insult and eat thee by the name suppawn.

All spurious appellations; void of truth:

I've better known thee from my earliest youth,

Thy name is Hasty-Pudding!

“

”

The Hasty-Pudding, Joel Barlow, 1793

 

You know that game, Othello? No, not the Shakespeare play... the game. It's tagline is "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master"

A lot of things fall into this category. Watercolors, planting things, doing cartwheels. And, making polenta. I mean, how hard can something with about 3 ingredients be? And at its simplest, you could make this with only 2: water and corn meal.  Of course, generations of polenta makers would shake their heads at me for saying so.  They learned over the course of centuries that this simple concept - boiled corn meal - can take so many forms.  Soft, rich mush can be served with savory dishes like sausages.  Mix it with sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon and you've got a Latin breakfast porridge.  Spread it out in a flat pan, let it solidify and either pour maple syrup on it like they do in the midwest, or serve with pasta sauce, cheese and herbs like they do in Italy.  It's like a food canvas! 

I've been a bit nervous about using polenta even so, because I'm never sure about whether the grain is cross-contaminated with others.  It's the old shared-equipment quandry.  Was it ground on equipment as wheat?  nuts?  other scary things?   One never knows for sure.  But if you can find a good brand*, or know that the brand only does corn ... well, then this is the food for you.  Easy, fast, and a little goes a long way.  It's a simple to enjoy starchy part of a wider meal.  It can be used as part of the main dish, or sliced in little bars for a quick carry-around finger food snack.  And, well, it's yummy.  

For kids, these are so versatile. Cut in squares or little bars and they're easy finger food for on the go.  Cut with cookie cutters for fun shaped plates at home.  Make them sweet or savory, dip in sweet sauces or ketchup.  (yes, my friends, ketchup). 

One of my favorite versions of this is the Italian style polenta squares.  Cornmeal, cheese, oil, and herbs spread out into a pan, then cut into squares and served with pasta sauce.  I also like the squares fried in butter, but I try not to think about that too much. 

Simple, yes, but not as easy as it seems at first.   Deceptively simple.  Add cornmeal to boiling water, stir, and it's done.  Right?

But if you add the cornmeal directly into the hot water without stirring, you get lumps of half-dry goo.  If you don't stir like crazy, you get lumps. It burns and spatters.  It dries out on the pan to the consistency of cement.  Oy. 

There are a couple tricks.  The best one that I've ever read was on Cooks.com's recipe.  Put the cornmeal in some cold water first and stir it up before you add it to the boiling water.  It's the same principle as adding flour to cold water before adding it to gravy to avoid lumps. 

So, my basic recipe:

3:1 Water to Cornmeal

For this example:
2/3 cup corn meal,

2 1/4 water

2/3 cup of cheddar-style Daiya cheese

Put 2/3 of the water into a pan and begin to boil

Meanwhile, pour the cornmeal into the rest of the water, and stir it up until smooth.

  

Once the water's boiling, add the cornmeal & water mix in while stirring, stirring, stirring.  Keep stirring until the mixture become more and more solid, a couple minutes.

Add anything else you want to add (cheese and herbs, or sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and milk) 

Here, I'm using non-dairy Daiya cheddar style cheese. Turn off the heat and keep stirring.  

Pour onto an oiled or non-stick bar pan and spread out evenly -- a casserole dish, brownie pan, whatever you have that's flat with edges.

Cover the pan with something, be it plastic or a lid of some sort and refrigerate until firm.  Cut into whatever shapes you like! 

If you would like an even cheesier version, cover with another 2/3 cup of cheese and put in the broiler for a few minutes. 

* Bob's Red Mill has a gluten-free cornmeal.  Here, though, I used fine cornmeal from our local latin store and it appears to be fine - no reactions, no nothing! 

Eggs & Cheese! Dairy-Free

Eggs! So versatile, so simple.

I know that a lot of kids are allergic to eggs. But thankfully, mine is not... otherwise, I'd barely know what to make him for breakfast.

He is, however, allergic to cheese ~ yet he loves it. Since we discovered a truly non-dairy cheese, one that tastes great and melts for real, we are super thankful.

My little helper

So I give you my shortest recipe ever:

Eggs with Cheese and Basil

2 eggs, scrambled up in a bowl

1 large pinch (around a 1/4 cup) Cheddar style Daiya dairy free cheese

1 tsp basil

olive oil

Heat about 1 T oil in a pretty hot pan

Stir the cheese and basil into the eggs
pour into the pan and let the eggs cook most of the way through - about 2 - 3 min
once nearly done, flip it as if it were a pancake and cook for a minute more or so (turn off the heat)

Put on plate, cut into finger food sized pieces, et voila! serve with ketchup!

The Warm Yummies: Sausages with Apple Cabbage

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
(The Walrus and the Carpenter from Carroll's Through the Looking Glass)

I love cabbage.

It always reminds me of my mom making holupkes (no idea how to spell it). They're cabbage rolls stuffed with a beef-rice filling and simmered in tomato sauce -- it was one of my dad's favorite childhood dishes, brought over by my great grandmother from Hungary or Czechoslovakia, or the Czech Republic ~ or wherever her ancestral home ended up in the fray of the twentieth century. Essentially, it's Eastern European comfort food. I keep intending to make it... and will, since it's certainly allergy friendly!

But one day, craving warmth, I only had access to a head of cabbage, a few apples, and a package of frozen chicken sausage. Hence... this!  


Chicken Sausages with Apple Cabbage

 With the mixture of apples, onions and cabbage sauteed with apple cider and just a hint of savory mustard this was a hearty, warm dish just right for a cold night.  Perfect for Fall or Winter!  We just chopped the sausage pieces a little smaller for our son to eat as finger food, and it was a hit.   And not bad for Mom and Dad, either...



Chopping!



So... simple recipe: 

Chicken Sausages with Apple Cabbage

Oil for frying (I used olive)

1 large apple (I used macoun), diced

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 head cabbage, chopped into ~ 1" pieces

1/2 cup apple cider or juice

1 tsp stone ground mustard (optional)
1 package chicken sausages *



Sauteing the apples, onions, and cabbage!

1. Sautee the sausage in a little oil, turning over every few minutes to ensure they're evenly cooked, usually around 8 - 10 minutes.  Set aside. 
2. In the same pan, sautee the onions with a little bit more oil until translucent, around 2 - 3 minutes. 
3. Add the apples and sautee until slightly soft
4. Add the cabbage and sautee for about 5 minutes, until slightly soft. 
5. While cabbage and applies are cooking, slice the sausages into 1" pieces.  
6. If you're using the mustard, mix it into the apple cider or juice. 
7. Either way, to deglaze the pan once the cabbage starts to brown slightly, add the cider or juice, then the sausage pieces.   
8. Cover and simmer for around 5 minutes to fuse the flavors and ensure the sausage is fully cooked.

* Check the sausage ingredients carefully to ensure no allergens are present! Sometimes they hide in commercially prepared foods, especially those mass-produced.  We found some that were a local producer but in our regular supermarket, and no more expensive than the name brands.  Delicious and locally made!

Cooking. Slow.



Turkey Coconut Rice with Chickpeas and Raisins

 There's something so comforting about a rice dish. It's warm and filling, just right for a nippy day. You feel like putting it into a bowl, not on a plate. Use a spoon instead of a fork. Everything round and delicious and... like home.

Problem is: it can take a while to make the rice. I mean, not forever... but there needs to be a little forethought and planning involved than usually takes place in this busy house. Small hungry child running around the kitchen? Let's chop something up right now! Hence not as much rice around here as I'd like. Or slow cooked stew. Or baked things.

But maybe the New Year is a good time to remember that slowing down is a good thing. That making food in a panicked state means making panicked food. And while I do intend to translate this into using my slow cooker, I may need to work my way up to that kind of planning. (i.e. thinking about dinner during breakfast)

Last night, instead, I made rice.

What's great about most starches like rice or pasta or potatoes or quinoa or polenta or ... well, I could go on here ... is that while they have their own inherent qualities, they're usually used as a canvas for other flavors.  And what a canvas rice is!   It's all about texture and flavor with rice.  Is it fluffy and light?  Dense and glutinous?  slightly cracked, crispy and sweet?  hefty rich brown?   Each of these has complete categories of cuisine dedicated to them: from pilafs and biryanis to sticky rice desserts, to stir fried vegetables over cracked white rice, to jambalayas and even stuffing.   The possibilities are endless. 

But last night, I wasn't thinking about that cornucopia of flavor; there was no time.  I was in dinner panic mode.  I had only a few things around the kitchen... a pound of ground turkey and... well, that was the furthest I'd thought.  Q was running around the house being his adorable self, and I was torn between being with him or making food for us. 

He hadn't been eating well all day and had to be hungry but he wasn't falling for any of my cheap tricks: Chex "crackers" in a bowl, craisins, even blueberries weren't enticing him.  And he has suddenly decided to give up his previously favorite thing in the world, hot dogs.  (His new favorite thing in the world is bacon.  So much so that he has decided there is a "bacon tube" in his bedroom that he pretends dispenses bacon at his whim.  He is a gracious sharer of this imaginary bacon, I am proud to say ~ but hey, it's pretend bacon!)  

So in the service of nutrition, I quickly sauteed up some onions and ground turkey.  I wanted to try something a little different... so I threw in some cumin, cloves, cinnamon, smoked paprika, and chicken broth powder.   Then for some "finger food" additions, I put in a can of chickpeas and a handful of raisins.   By then I felt like I was channeling the Near East ~ but it needed something a little richer in there, so I threw in a whole can of coconut milk.   ... and, gasp!  wayyyyyy to much liquid!  what to do? 

There was easily an extra cup of liquid that needed to be disposed of, but I wasn't going to throw away those lovely spices just to get rid of it.   What could soak it all up and still make the dish better?   Noodles?  Nah.  Potatoes?  don't have any. 

Then it hit me.  Rice.  

I threw in about a cup and a half of jasmine rice and stirred it down.  Clearly it needed a bit more liquid to get the 2:1 ratio right so I added about 2/3 cup more water.  I let it boil, then stirred, covered and turned it down to a simmer... and walked away to play with my son.   Ahh.   

It ended up rich without tasting at all like coconut, dense and warm with just the right mix of meat, chickpeas and raisins, and overall... delicious! 

So here's the actual recipe which makes it look like I planned all this.  But this was a happy accident. 

Turkey Coconut Rice with Chickpeas and Raisins

2 T oil for frying (non allergenic ... I use olive or canola)

1 cup chopped onions (I use the equivalent frozen because it's faster and they're pre-chopped!)

1 T sodium-free chicken broth powder (I use Herb-ox)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash cardamom (optional)

1 lb ground turkey

1  15 oz can of chick peas, drained

1 cup raisins

1  15 oz can of coconut milk (not the stuff you drink by the way... just good old coconut milk)

1 1/3 cups jasmine or other white rice

2/3 cup water

1. In a deep frying pan or wide stock pan, sautee onions in a couple T of oil until transparent, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the spices to the onions and continue to sautee for a couple minutes, until onions are no longer releasing liquid

3. Add ground turkey, break apart and brown.

4. Add can of chickpeas and the raisins, stirring all together for about 2 - 3 minutes

5. Add can of coconut milk and stir.  Heat the liquid until boiling slightly

6. Add the rice and water.  Stir until all grains are covered by the liquid. 

7. Let the mixture reach another boil.  Cover, turn down the heat to simmer / low for around 20 minutes.  Check around 15 minutes in to ensure the rice has enough water and if it's necessary, add 1/4 cup more water. 

8. Turn off heat and keep covered for a few extra minutes to ensure rice is fully cooked.  Fluff and serve!

Whole lotta LATKES!

I have a little dreidel

I made it out of clay

And when it's dry and ready

Then dreidel I shall play!

OK, we're gearing up for the holidays! Both Christmas and Hanukkah are right around the corner. What could be better than to try out our favorite yummy stuff?

Well, to tell you the truth, I have to admit that trying this recipe, although I have been thinking about it for a while, was a born out of necessity. As you may already have read in other portions of this blog, I have a great love of frozen fruit and vegetables. Why? Well, because they are the next best thing to fresh, they're right there when you need them, they're usually pre-chopped, and you can portion them out as your heart tells you. Little one wants peaches in the middle of winter? Grab the resealable bag from the freezer, defrost a handful, and instant happy (and fed) child. No need to whip out the can opener or open one of the travel containers of fruit you should be saving for the road. Same with a handful of peas or green beans to add color and vitamins to the overall meal.

But, silly me, I forgot to put away the bag of frozen chopped onions last night.  Not only did they melt and make a sticky mess on the counter, but I feared they'd been rendered useless.  Luckily, they were still usable... but needed to be, stat!  Mind clicking into gear: onions.  breakfast. ... must involve potatoes.  what about hash browns?  nah... what about ~ potato pancakes?  e voila:  LATKES!

I've had so many lovely, light as air, non-soggy latkes in my day, but I've always had horrible luck.  Mine turn out soggy: potato juice everywhere while cooking, and thick as mud while eating.  Luckily, I've been reading up on them in prep for the holiday season. 

What's the key? The secret? 

Squeeze all the extra juice out of the potatoes and onions after you shred them.  Seriously, it's that simple!  It makes for some mighty crispy, tasty latkes.

Potato Latkes

2 medium sized potatoes

1 medium onion

1 egg

2 T gluten free flour

1 t baking powder

Oil for frying

1. Shred the potatoes and onions, then lay them flat on either a clean tea towel or a paper towel.  Roll them up jelly-roll style, and over a bowl, squeeze them to your heart's content.

2. Scramble the egg, add the flour and baking powder, and stir. 

3. Add the potatoes and onions into the egg/flour mixture and stir. 

4. Fry them up!   Drain on paper towels

Rousing choruses of Dreidel dreidel are recommended but not necessary. 

POP: Plain old Popcorn!




From left: popped popcorn, unpopped popcorn,
 nesting doll measuring cups.

 

Got a brown lunch bag?

Got a microwave?

Got some popcorn?

Yes? Then you're all set!

My son loves popcorn. When we went to the local farm market's Fall Pumpkin Extravaganza, they had maple kettle corn that was made with corn oil, maple syrup, and a touch of salt. It was one of only prepared things I have EVER bought for him, because I could see the guy making it. It was a massive vat of popcorn into which he poired the syrup, and then stirred up with a paddle the size of an oar. There was little opportunity for him to sneak in something nefarious. So... I gritted my teeth, bought it, and thank goodness! It was not only delicious, but there was no reaction. Most of all, I scored MASSIVE "yay Mommy" points.

Yeah, I had to do a little quality control (i.e. ongoing tasting and testing... and oh that was rough) to bite off the occasional seed or husk from the popcorn, but that was me just being mommy crazy. But since then, he has asked for popcorn often enough for me to wonder how I could make my own.

While I haven't gotten to the Maple Syrup Kettle Corn phase yet, I am aware that there is no way in heck we could use regular Microwave Popcorn. No question there's Soy in them, plus likely butter or casein, or some bizarre chemicals. Plus... you can't recycle the bags and it's a big nasty mess if you over-nuke them.

So, when I saw the post from Squawkfox on how to make our own microwave popcorn from only a bag and some corn, I was intrigued. It seemed too easy. But having tried it, it's not only easy but delicious!

Lil One ate a bowl of it all by himself and asked for more. I was amazed at how he could manage 3-4 pieces at a time in his little mouth. But I loved it anyway, and kept the sippy handy. Just in case. :)
_______________________________________________

Here's the recipe: (clipped from post linked to from above)

Step One: Get a brown paper bag
This is ridiculously easy, internet people. Just head on over to your local grocery store and pickup a package of no name flat-bottomed brown paper lunch bags.
Step Two: Bag your popcorn
Add a 1/2 cup scoop of bulk popcorn kernels to your brown paper bag.
Fold the bag over twice. Don’t use staples to secure the bag — this might spark in your microwave.
Step Three: Pop in microwave
Stick the popcorn bag into your microwave. I set mine for 3 minutes on high.
(Sue's note: I had a smaller bag and only used a 1/4 cup of popcorn, so I did it with 2 minutes...
and was juuuuust starting to get some burned kernels which were easy to dispose of)
Step Four: Toppings. Salt, Sugar, Pepper, Garlic Powder, etc. Whatever you like and you can have!
_______________________________________________

Seriously, that's all there is to it.
Plain ol' popcorn... saves money, calories, and no allergens except corn ~ (but then you knew that!)
What's not to love?

Pumpkin and Spice (r)Ice Cream!



Pumpkin Ice Cream with Gingersnaps



OK rice milk is in it too, but in fact the star of this pumpkin "ice cream" is really coconut milk. Rich, delicious coconut milk.

And this is SO simple to make!

All it takes is coconut milk, pumpkin you probably have left over from Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie spices, sweetener, rice milk. Stir it up, pour into the ice cream maker, and in a half hour you have some sweeeeet eats!

I'm finding that vegan cooking sites are a treasure trove of ideas.  Take this one from the lovely blog So Good and Tasty, written by Jaqui (who also has a great Etsy shop, check it out!)

It's a deviously simple pumpkin pie flavored ice cream made with just a few ingredients that you can whip up in five minutes and freeze up in thirty.   Once you're done, you will have not only the admiration of your children but also anyone else who has the good fortune to be eating with you that day!

Now, don't get nervous about it tasting coconut-y.  It doesn't.  The coconut adds just the right amount of richness to the ice cream ~ and unless someone told you that it had coconut in it, you'd never know it was there.  It's smooth, creamy, sweet, spicy.  Delicious!

So below, I am quoting Jacqui's recipe directly, but when I made it, there were a few changes.  Instead of almond, I used rice milk in the same amount, and since I didn't have any cloves on hand I used some ginger and allspice in overall the same measures. 

The first time I made it, I used Lyle's Golden Syrup instead of the cane sugar.  I did this mainly because I didn't want to wait an hour for the mix to cool in the fridge. (I guessed that was to allow the granulated sugar to dissolve.)  So, I used the only pre-dissoved sugar I had on hand, and Lyle's was it!  It ended up not sweet enough.  The second time, I used Karo (corn) syrup and it still wasn't sweet enough ~ until I added a 1/4 c more of maple syrup!  Perfect.  So if you go that route, it's 3/4 c Karo or Lyle's, plus 1/4 cup maple syrup. 

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

1 14 ounce can coconut milk

3/4 cup almond milk, or other dairy free milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

3/4 cup cane sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients and whisk together well. Let chill for about an hour in your fridge. Once really cold, follow instructions for your ice cream maker. 



Ready to come out!

My ice cream maker suggests around 30 minutes of stirring in the machine.  It goes in looking like thin pudding, and comes out like... well, Ice Cream!   You can eat it then, but it'll be pretty soft.  Most ice cream makers will suggest you "cure" the result in the freezer for at least a half hour afterward.   But seriously, who has time for that?!

We finished about half of the container that night.  It was perfect with (allergen free Pamela's) ginger snaps.  Can you imagine this over apple pie?  All I can say is, WOW!