Author: katejerome2020gmail.com

Helene and Vegetable Bean Chili

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I live in Asheville. We survived and are coping. Hurricane Helene caused untold damage and suffering, with many, many houses damaged in our neighborhood by falling trees and inundating rain. But we are Asheville strong and will recover and rebuild.

Being in a situation without power, water or communication certainly makes one take stock of what is important. We scrambled for candles and lanterns, potable and flushing water, and gas to run generators. We frantically tried to cook everything in our freezer as it thawed (I am lucky to have a gas stove we could light with matches). As we handed food out to neighbors and hosted neighborhood dinners, I decided never to let my freezer get that full again. I love to put food by, but the food I lost was such a huge waste.

The community spirit certainly lives on, and our neighborhood, which came together to help each other through the last month, is having an outdoor chili supper tonight. We will all bring food, be grateful for the electricity to plug in the slow cookers, and happily drink our bottled water (no potable water available yet, and probably not for another month).

It’s to be a cool evening, perfect for chili, and there will be a myriad of chili flavors for all to sample as well as plentiful sides and delicious desserts. Most of all, it’s a chance to check in again with neighbors and friends to see just how everyone is doing.

I’m taking vegetable chili, full of vegetables, beans and most of all, tummy-warming flavor. You can put anything you like in this chili and it will keep a week in the fridge and in the freezer for three months. This recipe serves 4-6 and is easily doubled for your own neighborhood chili supper. It’s a great slow-cooker meal.

Vegetable Bean Chili

olive oil for sauteing
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can chopped green chilis
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled if you like, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. chili powder of choice (I like a combo of regular chili powder and chipotle chili powder
2 t. ground cumin
1 ½ t. smoked paprika
2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, with juice
2 15 oz. cans black beans (I don’t drain and rinse – the juice adds flavor)
1 15 oz. cans pinto beans (see above)
2 c. vegetable broth or water
1 to 2 t. cider vinegar (brightens the flavor)

Garnishes: chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, tortilla chips, sour cream, grated cheddar or jack cheese

Warm the olive oil until shimmering in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion, chiles, carrot, celery and a few shakes of salt. Saute until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and cook until fragrant stirring constantly, about 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes and their juice, beans and broth or water. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes or put into the slow cooker on medium for about three hours. At this point check for salt. If you used unsalted beans, it will definitely need salt. Before serving you can remove a third and blend it to make a thicker chili if you like. Garnish to taste.

My path in the woods before Hurricane Helene

My path after Hurricane Helene

For the Love of Chiles

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The garden is bursting with ripe chile peppers, so it’s time to make salsas, hot sauces, chili pepper powders, and other chile goodies.

I grow a few favorites every year, but I’m a sucker for new varieties as well. I’m not a fan of extremely hot peppers, especially when they are so hot that the burn takes away all flavor. But there are some mildly hot peppers that are not on that extreme scale, and the flavors you get from them is unmatchable.

I always grow Aleppo and Espelette peppers for chili powder and Jalapenos for salsa. I grow Anaheims and Poblanos for roasting for the freezer for soups and stews in winter, and this year my new pepper is Sugar Rush Peach, an heirloom that has just appeared to be readily available.

Sugar Rush Peach peppers
Dehydrating

I had only one plant of Sugar Rush but it was heavily laden with lovely peach-colored peppers as they ripened. So, I had baskets of these peppers and needed to figure out what to do with them. I tried grilling them and they were a little too hot to eat plain so I diced them into some salsa which toned down the heat a bit. I dried the rest for chili powder and the tropical sweetness behind the heat is delicious. My best discovery was to stuff halves with cream cheese mixed with pepper jelly and broil them. They are not quite so hot when cooked, and these “poppers” are absolutely delicious.

Two extraordinary ways to eat some of the sweeter chile peppers:

Grilled Stuffed Sweet Heat Peppers

20 Sweet Heat peppers, sliced lengthwise into halves, seeds and membranes removed (they look best if the stems are left on)
2 slices bacon
1 c. cream cheese, softened (or ½ c. cream cheese and ½ c. goat cheese)
¼ c. shredded cheddar cheese
¼ minced chives
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 T. chopped fresh thyme

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Cook bacon until crisp and drain. Crumble bacon and add to rest of ingredients. Stuff pepper halves and place on grilling rack coated with cooking spray. Grill covered about ten minutes, until peppers are charred. Remove to serving platter and sprinkle with chopped, seeded fresh tomatoes.

Stuffed Sugar Rush Peach Peppers
Ten Sugar Rush Peach peppers, sliced lengthwise into halves, seeds and membranes removed (they look best if the stems are left on)
½ c. softened cream cheese
¼ c. pepper jelly (or any favorite jelly)

Mix the cream cheese and jelly and stuff the pepper halves. Slide under the broiler just until the cream cheese gets soft and begins to brown.
Remove and enjoy!

Simple summer meals

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cucumber tomato onion salad

Nothing says summer like a tomato, cucumber and onion salad, a staple in our house. After a day in the sun or in the hammock, why cook? We have a pile of tomatoes fresh from the garden sitting on the counter, so this salad paired with fresh sweet corn makes a perfect summer meal. 

Summer’s bounty

Summer, by nature, brings on lazy days when you want only cool, simple things to eat. And quick and easy preparation.

Open the crisper drawer and lo! Zucchini, yellow squash, snap beans, fresh dill. What can I make? Blanch the beans until crisp-tender and chill, shave the squashes into ribbons, and dress with chopped dill, feta cheese and a simple vinaigrette.

Here are a few simple meals to make your summer evenings easy. And they make good use of garden and market-fresh produce. For salads, simple olive oil and vinegar dressings are easy. But even though I love to make homemade dressings, I cave to simplicity in the summer and purchase dressings. This is a great time to use fresh herbs like basil, dill and mint.

Grilled baby carrots
  1. Fork canned albacore tuna over cooked pasta. Top with fresh tomatoes, and fresh grated Parmesan
  1. Grilled vegetable salad: Grill colorful vegetables like bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, eggplant. Toss them with fresh herbs, olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
  1. Caprese salad: Layer slices of ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
  1. Gazpacho or cucumber soup is perfect for hot days. Blend fresh tomatoes and/or cucumbers with onions, garlic, herbs, and a splash of olive oil.
  1. Seafood tacos: Grill fish or shrimp, top with crunchy slaw, avocado, and a squeeze of lime and roll in soft tortillas.
  1. Fruit salad: Combine seasonal fruits like watermelon, berries, and peaches. Add a hint of mint and a squeeze of lime or orange juice for extra freshness.
  1. Pasta salad: Mix cooked pasta with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese. Dress with a light vinaigrette and fresh herbs.
  1. Stuffed bell peppers: Fill sweet red bell peppers with quinoa, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and spices. Bake until tender.
  1. Cold noodle salad: Toss cooked whole wheat spaghetti or soba noodles with carrots, bell peppers, snow peas or whatever other vegetables sound good. Toss with a sesame-ginger dressing.
  1. Grilled chicken Caesar salad: Grill chicken breasts and serve over crisp romaine lettuce with Caesar dressing, croutons, and Parmesan cheese.

The Magic of Self-Seeding Plants

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Morning Glory

It’s quite a gift to have plants that deposit themselves in your garden effortlessly. About this time of year, when I’m exhausted from all the garden work, I have a love affair with annuals and perennials that reseed themselves. It’s such a source of delight to see fresh new dill plants in late summer because I let some go to seed. The same goes for cilantro and arugula. It’s a sustainable and cost-effective way to maintain my garden. 

Self-seeding plants naturally drop seeds which germinate and grow into new plants without intervention. If you end up with plants in the wrong spot, simply remove or move them. The key is to avoid deadheading so they can produce seeds, and to be ferocious about weeding in spring in case you don’t recognize seedlings. 

Annuals complete their life cycle in one year, dying after the seeds are spread. Perennials, on the other hand, may spread from the crown or may also strew seed about the garden. The plant dies back to the ground in winter but comes back the following spring. 

Poppy

Incorporating self-seeding perennials and annuals into your garden can bring a sense of spontaneity and low-maintenance beauty. The magic of self-seeding plants makes a garden more vibrant with each passing year.

Zinnia

A few self-seeding perennials that thrive in our area: 

black-eyed Susan, columbine, coneflower, coreopsis, fall anemone, lupine, primrose, yarrow

Coneflower

Annuals: cosmos, flowering tobacco (nicotiana), larkspur, love-in-a-mist, morning glory, Mexican verbena, poppy, zinnia


Homemade Stock

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Homemade stock

In my vein of saving money and making food taste better, one of my go-to’s is homemade stock. There’s nothing quite like the scent of a kitchen with a pot of simmering stock on the stove. 

It’s a fantastic way to extract flavor and nutrients from ingredients while reducing waste and homemade stock adds depth and richness to soups, stews, sauces, and risotto. 

I keep a bag in the freezer into which go all of my vegetable scraps. When I have a bagful, I toss them into a large, heavy pot for a long, slow simmering. You can also toss in chicken or beef bones if you are a meat-eater. 

Most vegetables such as onions, carrots, celery, leeks and garlic make a delicious stock. Be sure to use the peels, especially onion and garlic, as they make the stock richer. Don’t use potato peels or scraps from cabbage, cauliflower or broccoli since they make the stock too strong. I also glean parmesan rinds from my grocery – they often sell them fairly inexpensively – and toss one or two into the stock for richness. 

Add whatever herbs you have handy, either fresh or dried, such as parsley, thyme, bay leaves, basil and oregano. 

Cover with a substantial portion of water and put on a low simmer. The longer you simmer it, the richer your stock will be. Four to six hours is adequate or you can cook it in a slow cooker on low overnight. 

I prefer to salt my stock when I use it in a recipe, but you can certainly salt it as you make it. 

Once the stock has simmered long and slow, remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly. Strain through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a clean container to remove the solids.

Let the stock cool completely before storing it. Refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for several months. I freeze mine in 1-cup portions for easy use later. 

Oven Baked Risotto

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup Arborio rice
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine, (optional)
  • 3 cups stock (here’s where your homemade stock will shine)
  • 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, (optional)
  • Additions: prosciutto, brie, mushrooms, pumpkin, butternut squash, peas

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In an ovenproof saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring to coat the grains with oil, about 1 minute.

Stir in the wine and cook until completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in 1 ½ cups water, the stock, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, transfer to the oven, and bake, until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from oven. Stir in ½  to ¾ cup water (the consistency of the risotto should be creamy), the butter, cheese and parsley. Serve immediately.

Homemade Ricotta

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Honey and mint-infused ricotta with blueberries

In my vein of keeping things simple and less expensive, one of my faves is ricotta cheese. It’s a great boost of protein, is low in calories, and if you make your own, you can control exactly what’s in it. 

Store-bought ricotta can be expensive, but it is simple and quick to make. When you make it fresh you can make it as creamy or dry as you want. All it takes is high-quality milk and lemon juice or white vinegar.

It’s a great base for pasta sauces, to mix in chicken or tuna salad, to spread on grilled bread for bruschetta, to lighten and moisten baked goods, as a topping for pizza, to make delicious dips, to stuff pasta, to layer in lasagna and even to make a low-calorie sweet pudding to satisfy that sweet tooth. 

Crepes stuffed with lemon-flavored ricotta

Recipe for Homemade Ricotta 

Ricotta and avocado bruschetta

8 cups whole milk 

Organic is best; try to find milk that has not been ultra-pasteurized. But regular pasteurized milk is fine. You can make ricotta with 2% or even skim milk but it won’t be as rich or as creamy.

½ teaspoon salt 

you can omit this, especially if you are using it for something sweet

3 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar

Line a colander with several layers of dampened cheesecloth or a linen tea towel and place over a bowl to catch the liquid. 

Heat the milk in a large heavy pan, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching. Heat to 185 F. This scalding kills any stray bacteria that might interfere with the clotting process.

Turn the heat to low, add salt if using, and add the lemon juice or vinegar.

Gently stir the mixture for a few minutes as the curds begin to form. The liquid that separates is whey (keep this – see below).

Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for about twenty minutes. 

Gently ladle the ricotta into the colander. Let sit for about 10 minutes for creamy ricotta or up to 20 minutes for dry ricotta. 

Homemade ricotta will last about three days in the refrigerator. 

*Whey is a great protein-rich addition to baked goods, in a smoothie, as a soup base, or even added for extra nutrition in pet food. Freeze it in ice cubes to have it available for tossing into a soup if you don’t intend to use it immediately. 

Homemade Yogurt

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Everyone I know is complaining these days about how expensive groceries are. There’s not much we can do about coffee and olive oil, but there are a few ways to cut costs. And fun ways if you enjoy being in the kitchen.

A staple in our house, yogurt, has gone up in price along with everything else. Store-bought yogurt is between $4.00 and $7.00 for 32 oz. A 5-8 oz container runs from $1.00 to $1.50. The cost depends on whether you purchase organic or non-organic, Greek or regular yogurt. 

One of our favorite breakfasts is homemade yogurt with a splash of elderberry syrup, blueberries and a handful of granola. Good for our gut and our brains because it tastes so good. 

Make your own yogurt

Making your own yogurt is simple. It will take four to five hours to set but once it’s made, you don’t have to do anything except wait for it to do its yogurt thing – the bacteria will thicken the milk and make a delicious, creamy homemade product that you can use in a myriad of ways. 

To make it thick like Greek or yogurt cheese, simply spoon it into a strainer and let it sit to drain for an hour or so. 

The type of milk you use is also up to you. Whole, 2% and skim all work well. I like to use organic whole milk, but any will do. Try not to use ultra-pasteurized if you can get it as sometimes the pasteurization process impedes the bacterial growth necessary to thicken it. 

I’ve not made yogurt from oat, soy or almond milk, but it might be worth trying. You will have to start with yogurt with live cultures which is a dairy milk product. Or you can purchase live cultures online if you want to try non-dairy milk.

Recipe

This makes 4-5 pints. I tend to cut it in half just so I don’t have so much in the fridge at one time.

You’ll need a heavy-bottomed pan, glass jars and lids and a cooking thermometer. I use a candy thermometer.

½ gallon milk (whole, 2% or skim)

¼ c. room temperature plain yogurt as the starter (just take it out of the fridge for half an hour or so)

If you don’t already have yogurt in the fridge, purchase a small cup of plain yogurt. Make sure it lists live cultures on the label. Don’t be tempted to use one that is sweetened or with fruit as this can stop the fermentation process. Once your yogurt is made, you can sweeten and fruit it up as you desire. 

How to make

Heat the milk until it reaches 180 degrees, stirring occasionally to keep it from scorching. Hold at 180 for one minute. This scalds the milk to kill any unwanted bacteria. Remove from the heat and allow it to drop to 115 to 120 degrees. 

Remove 1/3 c. of the milk and add to the yogurt starter. Blend well with a whisk and return to the milk, whisking to mix well. It will form a skin, so use a strainer and pour it into glass jars. 

Cap the jars and put them in a cooler or something with a tight-fitting lid that will keep them insulated. You can also use a pot that will accommodate the jars and surround them with a towel. I use a small insulated cooler and put a folded towel on top for the fermentation process. 

Fill another jar with boiling water, close the cooler and let sit for 4-5 hours. Voila! You have your own homemade yogurt! Be sure to save the bottom of the last jar to make your next batch.

Gluten-Free 3

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It’s amazing how, when we heard “go gluten-free,” I thought “I absolutely can’t give up bread”. But then I whipped into gear to start looking at the options. I bought the ingredients to start baking without gluten and cruised the internet for advice about why we shouldn’t be consuming it.

Basically the advice, in a nutshell, is that if you are sensitive, you should stay away from gluten. However, if not diagnosed with Celiac disease or an actual allergy, then it’s not critical to buy oatmeal that is certified gluten-free or to avoid anything that might have even come into contact with wheat. The anecdotal take is that you should stay away from gluten no matter what because it is inflammatory. The medical advice is that it hasn’t been proven to be inflammatory and it’s fine to eat bread. The most important piece of advice to remember is to read your own body’s response.

Now that we’re several weeks into a gluten-free diet, we realize that if we have to continue this way, it’s not all that hard. We’re waiting on blood tests to see if gluten is causing the digestive issues, so will take all the advice with a grain of salt until we know the final diagnosis.

Meanwhile, commercial gluten-free hamburger buns, bagels, bread and wraps are perfectly edible. Okay, the bread doesn’t taste quite like a crusty sourdough loaf, but it’s certainly okay on a sandwich. And I like to pride myself on being adaptable. No adolescent pouting here.

I’ve had several failed loaves of bread using my own mix, so my advice is that, even though expensive, buy the ready-made baking and bread mixes. Try several and figure out which one you like the best. And enjoy your biscuits, pancakes and avocado toast!

My Nano’s buttermilk biscuits (with a tweak)

2 c. gluten-free baking mix (Bob’s Red MIll, KIng Arthur, Pillsbury)
1 T. baking powder
½ t. salt
¼ t. baking soda
6 T. butter
1 c. buttermilk

Blend dry the dry ingredients. Cut in butter with two forks or a pastry cutter until it resembles a coarse meal. Add buttermilk and mix lightly, just enough to incorporate the ingredients. Be sure not to overmix. Pat into a loose ball, turn onto a floured board and roll out to about ½” thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Brush the tops with milk for browning. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Gluten-free, take 2

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(I do not receive compensation for mentioning products – these are simply two that are readily available)

So, on with our gluten-free journey. After perusing the gluten-free products aisle, we’ve (my husband and I) had a few revelations, a few disappointments, and a whole new appreciation for this realm. And especially an appreciation for those people for whom gluten is a serious allergen with drastic symptoms when they consume it.

We’ve tried a couple of commercial breads, some delicious and some that taste like cardboard. The biggest lesson, however, is the cost. So, I’m determined to figure out how to make good artisan whole-grain bread that is gluten-free. Without wheat flour. So far, the only gluten-free flour mixes I’ve found are not necessarily whole grain because they are based on white rice flour. But they often contain pea flour, maybe corn flour and buckwheat flour as a base. Believe it or not, buckwheat has no gluten.

We’ve also perused the internet and many, many websites purport to make gluten-free products that taste good. I will continue to do the research and experimentation. The good news is that now that we’re making ourselves aware of gluten as an ingredient, it’s becoming second nature to check before we purchase or use anything.

We’ve eaten out several times since starting this journey, and most restaurants offer gluten-free products as a regular part of their menus. The downside is that the establishments usually charge extra for gluten-free bread. And we were surprised recently at a restaurant that had a whole gluten-free menu. The burger came with baked sweet potato fries, but there was a $2.00 upcharge to substitute regular fries (they couldn’t guarantee that the fries weren’t cooked adjacent to a product containing wheat such as battered fish or chicken).

I recently made a birthday carrot cake for a friend and we were both a little disappointed that we couldn’t have any because we both love carrot cake. But, it prompted a late-night session with the internet and a gluten-free brownie recipe. The brownies were good – chewy and chocolaty, although they did taste a little different than our favorite Katherine Hepburn brownie recipe (see below).

I find myself going to the King Arthur site regularly. So far, their gluten-free recipes seem somewhat reliable (I really don’t get any compensation – I just feel it’s the best resource so far). They do have their own line of products as well, so when you are looking you often find them lined up next to Bob’s Red Mill products. It takes some of the guesswork out of the process. We bought a cornbread mix and it produced good cornbread. A little heavier than my grandmother’s recipe, but still good.

But I’m a cook-from-scratch sort of cook, so I’m lining up the individual ingredients needed and will start working on my own mixes. I’ll keep you posted.

Katherine Hepburn’s Brownies (borrowed from PBS History)

½ cup cocoa or 2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened baker’s chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
¼ c. gluten-free flour
1 t. vanilla
¼ t. (or more) chile flakes
Pinch of salt
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts or pecans

Melt butter with the cocoa or chocolate together in a heavy saucepan over medium-low, whisking constantly till blended. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and walnuts. Mix well. Pour into a well-buttered 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares. The fudgy goodness is hard to slice so use a sharp knife and spatula.

Gluten-free diet

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I’m going to take you on a journey with me. Out of medical necessity, my house is going on a gluten-free diet. I’ve always shied away from gluten-free products because they just weren’t necessary and I assumed they weren’t as good as those made with wheat. Happily, I’ve been redirected.

I’ve spent a lot of years cooking with flour – from making a roux for creamy pasta to my grandmother’s traditional holiday cookies to soy sauce in stir-fries (yep, soy sauce has wheat in it) to good old bread baking and even making a sandwich.

I do so many things by rote and from scratch, that I now have to stop and think through any recipe and figure out substitutes. I asked a gluten-free friend which commercial breads taste best and her response was, “I don’t know. They’re all pretty bad.” However, until I can figure out how to make my own substitutions, I’m reliant on commercial breads and baking mixes. And they are pretty expensive.

But they certainly don’t deserve the bad reputation that so many have. I can’t say they’re homemade good yet, but at least there’s hope. Gluten-free products have come a very long way in the past 20 years. I made waffles from a gluten-free baking mix recently and they were actually as good as our usual homemade ones. Buttermilk and baking powder seem to work equally well with any type of flour. Most restaurants offer gluten-free bread and bun options so it’s also possible to eat intelligently when out without having to bring your own bread.

So, as I bounce along this road, I’ll share what I find as far as different flours to use, how to make leavening work without gluten, and which commercial products are the best. Keep in mind that if I mention a brand, I’m not selling or getting any compensation. It’s simply something I’ve tried that is readily on the market.

Here goes!

Gluten-free waffles and pancakes for two

I purchased an all-purpose baking mix (King Arthur) that already has baking powder and xanthum gum in it. Certainly not intended for bread baking, but the waffles were delicious. I’d really like more of a whole grain mix so I’ll next try just the plain alternative flours to make my own waffle and pancake mix.

The recipe using the baking mix:

2 T. vegetable oil or melted butter
1 large egg
1 T. sugar (optional)
½ t. vanilla extract
1 c. baking mix
½ t. baking powder (the mix already has some in it but they suggested more)
dash salt
1 ½ c. milk

Mix and let stand 10 minutes. Pour onto hot waffle iron or pancake griddle.