Coconut Green Tomato Curry

Take your left over green tomato stew and add a coconut milk, pineapple, green curry and extra basil and salt to taste.  Warms the bones on these brisk fall evenings.  I think I may like it even better than the stew...the coconut milk balances the sweet tart so well.

Posting for Fight Back Friday
Monday Mania

Green Tomato Stew

Ingredients
1 large glop of coconut oil
1 glug of ACV
1 pound of stew meat
1 small onion
4 TBS sucanat
1 tsp cream of tartar
4 TBS gelatin
green tomatoes, diced
4 potatoes shredded, hash brown style
handful of salt, to taste
basil (optional)

Before frost, (or in our case, a freeze), pick the tomatoes that are left in the garden.  Throw it all in a slow cooker on low and let it cook for the day.  The tomatoes provide the broth.  Enjoy!

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Ice Cream Making Setback

Strawberry/Blackberry Ice Cream

Not 5 minutes after I said, "Don't break it." it was broken. 

Our ice cream making marathon has come to a screeching halt.

Those plastic paddles were just not made to turn in freezer hard ice cream.

 What you see here is what is left of  strawberry ice cream with blackberries picked at our local u-pick.  We use a rice paddle to scoop with, works wonderfully for what is normally more of a soft serve textured ice cream.  This was a second batch of the same mix and the canister wasn't quite cold enough to firm it up enough...so we stuck it in the freezer.  It was supposed to be temporary.  I'd been doing it all weekend long with great success.  I was told it was hard to turn, but didn't actually look at it myself.....




It tastes wonderful...severe rationing is in order.

Hearth and Soul Hop 
Tuesday Twister

Coffee Ice Cream

Coffee Ice Cream
(modified from the "Joy of Cooking"***)

1/2 cup strong coffee ( I used an OG Kona blend...on sale, of course)
1.5 cups sugar
1/2 tsp unrefined salt

dissolve and let cool a bit

2  beaten fresh eggs
2.5 cups fresh whole milk
1 cup fresh cream
1 tsp vanilla

add slightly cooled coffee mix slowly to cold cream mix while stirring

chill over night  and churn in a well chilled ice cream maker

Garnish with shaved chocolate, if desired

Exquisite!


(***It takes work to keep a cow for fresh milk and chickens for eggs...why ruin that with scalding and such?)


Monday Mania

Strawberry Ice Cream

We are finally getting the cream from our cow...now that her heifer is gone.  Extra cream in our household means ICE CREAM!

Strawberry Ice Cream
(adapted from the "Joy of Cooking")

1 quart strawberries
1 cup cane sugar
2 TBS cream of tartar
1/4-1/2 tsp unrefined salt
4 cups fresh cream


Chill mixture overnight, shaking periodically to mix up sugar and spread strawberry flavor.  This recipe makes 2 batches in my manual canister ice cream maker.  It was incredible decadent and yummy.

Fight Back Friday

New England Style Clam Chowder

What do you do when the cow is producing an abundance of milk?     Make chowda!

 I originally learned to make chowder from my handy dandy OLD "Joy of Cooking" book.  I haven't checked it in a while, I don't know how closely I follow the recipe anymore.

Ingredients:
Homegrown Bacon or Salt Pork
Coconut Oil
Potatoes
Clams
Gelatin
Unrefined Sea Salt
Fresh, whole milk
Pepper (optional)

A friend of mine used to raise a couple pigs a year on clabbered milk and we would trade for grass fed beef.  We have a stash we are hoarding in the freezer....but when the bacon is gone, it's gone, as I won't eat commercial pork if I can help it.  We do enjoy the good stuff while we've got it though.

Cut the bacon into "bite size" pieces.  I usually just tear it up by hand by twisting the slices as a group.  Crisp the bacon in the coconut oil, then add diced potatoes.  I like to use the juice from the clams to cook the potatoes in.  The liquid doesn't have to cover the potatoes if you cook with a lid.  Cook until tender.  Add the clams, salt and gelatin and stir.  We use at least a TBS of gelatin per 1/4 lb of bacon.  Turn the burner off and add milk right before serving.  Correct the salt and add pepper if using.

We are big fans of leftover chowder, so this batch was about a cup of oil, 1 lb + of bacon, a half a pan of potatoes,  a 28 oz can of clams, 5-6 TBS gelatin, 2 handfuls of course salt, 1/2 gallon of milk from a few nights ago and I just peppered my individual bowl of chowder.

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Whole Foods for the Holidays

"Hot" Chocolate

I'd be hard pressed to think of anything more cozy and satisfying on a cold morning than a cup of real hot chocolate....except maybe real hot chocolate with a large glob of whipped cream.

Allow for 1 cup of fresh milk per person, but only make what you will use immediately...it doesn't carry over well, in my opinion.



Ingredients:
Fresh Milk
Cocoa powder
OG Sugar or sucanat
Salt
Vanilla


If you are meticulous, you can measure the dry ingredients exactly and mix together until fairly smooth, then add to the milk.  If you are like me, you will just eyeball it, tossing straight into the milk and call it good.  I use 1 part cocoa powder to 2 parts sugar...mostly because it's easier to remember that way.  I add a small pinch of salt for one or 2 glasses and a large, 3 finger pinch for anything above that. Heat at "egg" temperature, a low medium heat and whisk until the cocoa is melted into the milk.  You don't HAVE to use a whisk but it really, really makes it easier and go faster.  Add vanilla at the end.  Watch out for extra ingredients like HFCS in the vanilla.  It's done when the side of the pot feels comfy in your hand.  Any more than that will kill the enzymes in the milk.  

Simple Lives Thursday
Fight Back Friday

Freezer "Fudge"

I modified a friend's recipe for "healthy chocolate" to make this:


Freezer "Fudge"

1 cup coconut oil
½ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup cane sugar
2 TBS Gelatin
1 cup cocoa powder 
2 tsp. pure vanilla
1/2 -1 tsp unrefined sea salt



Melt coconut oil and maple syrup together on low heat.  Mix dry ingredients together and add to pan and stir until smooth.  Add vanilla and stir.

Pour into a greased, wide and shallow pan like a lasagne pan or broiler pan.  Spread evenly. Chill in the freezer for about an hour.  Slice and enjoy.  I forgot to grease my pan but used a metal spatula for scraping up off the bottom.  Wonderfully decadent with a nice "bite."  Actually.......reminds me of a tootsie roll.


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Spicy Oyster Chowder

Spicy Oyster Chowder
Diced Potatoes
Broth
Coconut Oil
Onion (optional)
Tomatoes with Green Chilis
Oysters
Gelatin
Unrefined Salt
Sugar/Cream of Tartar mix
Mushrooms (Optional)

I used a couple handfuls of potatoes, 1 small onion, what was left of some broth from the back of the fridge,  a large glop of oil, 2 cans of tomatoes (Best Choice brand doesn't use BPA lining), 2 cans of oysters, a handful of unground salt, 4 TBS of gelatin and 10 TBS of sugar with 5 tsp of cream of tartar.  I was feeling a little off so added a LOT more sugar than I usually do....my liver needed it.  There are no rules here, just use what you have on hand and what pleases your eye.


Cook potatoes in broth until tender, add onions if using.  Add all other ingredients and sweeten to taste.   Slow simmer for about 15 minutes. Chowder lends itself to leftovers as the flavors meld over time.  You can substitute clams or whatever for the oysters, but oysters are a good source of copper as their blood is copper based instead of iron based.

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Mexican Sour Gherkins

First harvest of the Mexican Sour Gherkin

This is the first year I've planted these...well, any gherkin, for that matter.  I've had the seeds for a while, bought them at Baker Creek a few years ago.  I finally got around to planting them because I wanted to make pickles and liked the idea of not having to cut them.

I planted late and really didn't think they would ever come up.  I spent a long time thinking I had pulled them by accident, confusing them with a weed. When they finally did grow, they grew up the cattle panel, across the panel and back and forth a few times.  Very prolific foliage!

These have taken much longer than 70 days to harvest as this is October and we've just had 2 nights of "almost" frost.  There's a little damage to the leaves at the very top, but there's more plump fruit than there were a few days ago too.  I suspect our marathon, week after week heat wave may have arrested the development of the fruit...or fried them.

I am hoping the cold of the past few days was a glitch and we can have a nice fall and prolonged harvest.  There are a lot of immature fruit on the vines right now.  Next year I would like to grow them on an arbor (bent cattle panel) so the fruit hang down away from the leaves for easier picking.  They are much smaller then the leaves and hide very well.  Sure are pretty though.....

I took what few gherkins I had and mixed with some vinegar, salt, sugar and cream of tartar.  I am not sure how long to wait for refrigerator pickles...maybe just as long as you can stand it, I guess.

Tuesday Twister

Thai Style Potato Soup

Thai Style Potato Soup
Potatoes and/or Sweet Potatoes 
Pineapple
Coconut Milk
Broth
Shrimp (optional)
Gelatin
Basil (optional)
Unrefined Salt
Green/Red Curry paste
Dried Mangoes (optional)
Sucanat/Rapadura (optional)
Cream of Tartar (optional)


Cut up the potatoes, place in pan and cooked covered in broth.  When potatoes are tender add pineapple, mangoes (if you have them, fresh or frozen would work too) coconut milk, salt and curry paste.  Be careful with the paste, a little goes a long way.  Add gelatin, basil and sweeten to taste.  Extra sugar will help cut the "burn" if you've added too much curry.  Use approximately 1/4 tsp of Cream of Tartar per tablespoon of sugar.  Add the shrimp at the very end, if you use it, when the burner is already turned off.  They will be done before you can fetch the bowls for serving.

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Grinding Salt

I buy my unrefined sea salt in bulk....cheap.  It's not ground and an average size piece can be the size of an eraser on the back end of a pencil.  I was grinding it in my suribachi or mortle and pestle, but it was SLOW.

I decided to invest in a salt mill with a ceramic grinder as I have read they hold up better to "wet" salt.  I chose the Kyocera brand because it got good reviews.  The "white" fine grinder is ok for a pinch or dash of salt, but a little slow for the volume we usually need.  The "yellow" course grinder is wonderful and we can salt our potatoes in just a few turns.

It helps tremendously to prevent caking to NOT grind over steaming food, but to instead, grind into the cap and then sprinkle over the food.  I think the black adjustable grinder might be a good choice as well, but it had mixed reviews as to the ease of adjusting the grind.  Based on my experience with these, next on my WISH LIST is the coffee mill with ceramic grinders for large batches.

Tuesday Twister
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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (with skin)

Potatoes
Butter
Coconut Oil
Garlic
Salt
Pepper

The potatoes I used were a bit "dusty", so they got a thorough scrubbing before insertion into the Cuisinart.  I chose the smallest ones so I could fit two in the slot and keep them upright...and therefore no cutting necessary.  I wasn't sure they would cook well because I just dumped them in the steamer without separating stuck together pieces.  Worked fine.  While the potatoes were cooking, I slowly melted what was left of a stick of butter with about 4 small cloves of garlic sliced about 1/8" thick.  The idea is to soak the garlic in the warm butter, not really cook it.  I find this method brings out the sweetness in the garlic.  I added the coconut oil, less than half plus some salt and pepper to the butter.  When the potatoes were done, I emptied the water from the bottom pan and poured in the butter.  I added the potatoes and mashed with a wire masher and added a lot more salt.  Fabulous!  

For a little variety, I made an indentation with my fork as for gravy and added a little apple cider vinegar.  Added a little sweet tart to it reminiscent of potato salad, but more subtle.

Since potatoes have a small amount of egg quality protein, this is a complete, balanced and inexpensive meal all by itself.

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