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Meal Plan 10/6-10/12
I can’t believe it is October already! This is one of my favorite times of the year in Austin because the weather is so fantastic. I also love the wide variety of produce that’s in season in Texas this time of year. We’re still getting a lot of my favorite summer foods (okra, limes, basil, cucumbers) plus some delicious fall goodies (apples, squash, sweet potatoes) too.
Here’s what I’m getting
- Golden or Red Delicious Apples – Apple Country
- Limes – G&S groves
- Okra – Bradshaw Farms
- Basil – Yard Gardens
- Assorted Peppers – Lundgren
- Sweet Potatoes – Naegelin
- Bibb Lettice – Bella Verdi
- Butternut Squash – Massey Farm
- Cucumbers – Animal Farm
Here’s what I’m making
Wednesday: Bhindi Masala (Spicy Okra Curry) with Jasmine Rice
Thursday: Bibb Lettuce Salad with Blue Cheese, Apples, and Pecans
Friday: Peperonata served over whole wheat penne pasta
Saturday: Beer braised sausage and kale, sweet potato fries
Sunday: Creamy Cucumber Soup with Grilled Salmon
Monday: Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese
Tuesday: Leftover Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
In all fairness, I might not actually make any of the dishes above that contain cucumbers or basil. I love making cucumber basil cocktails, so there probably won’t be much cucumber or basil (or vodka) left in the fridge by dinner on Sunday.
A Recipe for Barclay
Almost a year ago, I adopted my dog Barclay from the Austin Humane Society. His name was Ringo then, and he was terrified of most things. He hated busses, cats, and his crate. He couldn’t really walk on a leash without trying to eat it. He was even scared of cameras, so this was one of the best pictures I could get of him during that first month. (I snuck up on him ninja style while he was sleeping.)
Today Barclay is a healthy, happy dog. He gets along great with our cats Chloe and Cannonball Adderley, and with his cousin dog Spirit.
Barclay still struggles quite a bit with separation anxiety when he’s locked in his crate during the day. Besides an hour-long walk each day, the best tool we’ve found for Barclay’s mental health is a kong (the red, hive shaped toy pictured to his right). Each day we stuff it with tasty treats and he licks and plays with it all day until we’re home from work.
The only bummer is that pre-made Kong fillings can be kind of expensive and gross (liver paste is the seventh of 30 ingredients in the liver paste flavored commercial product) plus it doesn’t work that well. We’ve taken to cementing his regular kibble inside the kong using various homemade purees. These use up our leftover local box ingredients and give us a cheap, fun way to keep Barclay entertained. Here’s one of my favorites:
Homemade Kong Filling
1 big sweet potato, cut into chunks
1 apple, cored and sliced with all seeds removed
1/4 cup peanut butter
Cut up the sweet potato and core and slice the apple. Be sure to get all the seeds out of the apple since the seeds contain trace amounts of cyanide which can be toxic to dogs in large amounts over time.* Microwave the sweet potato and apple for several minutes until tender.
Combine cooked apple and sweet potato with 1/4 cup peanut butter in a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. Store in the fridge in an airtight container until you’re ready to feed to your dog. I layer about a tablespoon of Kong filling with a tablespoon of kibble in Barclay’s kong until it’s full, making sure the puree creates a plug in the top. For extra long days I prepare the kong the night before and freeze it overnight so Barclay has to work extra hard to lick out all the goodies inside. This recipe lasts us about a week in the fridge.
*Please talk to your vet about any food allergy or health concerns you may have about your dogs. This recipe is vet-approved for Barclay!
House Pizzeria
I know I’m late to the party on this one, but if you haven’t made it out to House Pizzeria you should try it! Tonight we had their Oktoberfest special pizza topped with beer braised sausage, caramelized onions and cheddar. It was divine. Truly inspiring flavors, and the best thin crust I’ve had here in Austin. They had a decent wine list plus a ton of local beer on tap, and my iced tea was fantastic. Our meal came with gratis crunchy bread sticks and European-style bottled tap water. I knew we were in for a spectacular pie when I tasted cracked pepper, rosemary and fennel in the bread sticks. Rami and I both split the 12-inch pizza and were comfortably full; total cost for dinner and my drink was under $15, including tip.
The flavors in the pizza inspired me to cook with beer this week. I just added some Bratwurst from Full Quiver Farms to my Greenling order so that I can make a pasta-free version of this beer braised sausage recipe, from one of my favorite websites, SustainableTable.org.
Homemade Hamburger Buns
When I was shopping for tailgate ingredients I noticed how expensive organic hamburger buns are. A package of six, locally made whole wheat organic buns at the market costs about $6. Although the rolls looked delicious, I put them right back on the shelf. Who can spend $6 on bread when you’ve gotta buy beer, too?*
I knew I could make some buns at home for much cheaper. I had all the basic dough ingredients on hand in my pantry, plus some leftover sweet potatoes and rosemary from my pesto roll party earlier this week. The bun recipe I created is a spin-off from my pesto roll dough, using whole wheat flour and honey this time to get a similar taste and texture to the store-bought hamburger buns. I used a handy recipe cost calculator to figure out that my homemade buns cost $5.21 cents, or $.43 per bun. Cheap and delicious! Here’s a picture of a finished bun in action:
In the background is the “Oklahoma Suks” beer I splurged on instead of the other hamburger buns. It’s brewed every year right here in Austin by Independence Brewing Co., one of my favorite local vendors.
Hook ‘em Hamburger Buns
2 small sweet potatoes
2 sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)
1 cup potato cooking water, reserved
1 cup milk at room temperature
1 Tbs. honey
1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 egg
4 cups whole wheat flour plus 1/2 cup for rolling and shaping dough
Chop sweet potatoes into sixths and boil unpeeled potato chunks with rosemary sprigs in water for about 20 minutes. Once potatoes are tender, remove them from water with a slotted spoon. Reserve 1 cup potato water & the rosemary. Allow potatoes to cool enough to handle, then remove skin. Puree potatoes and rosemary needles in a food processor, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add reserved water, milk, honey, lightly beaten egg, and melted butter to potato puree and stir to blend. (Mixture should be between 100-120 degrees.) Add yeast and allow it to proof. Add 4 cups of whole wheat flour, stirring dough to incorporate.
Continue stirring dough for several minutes until it is fully formed and elastic. It may be soft and a little sticky– that is okay. Cover bowl with a damp dish towel and set in a warm place to rise for half an hour.
Once dough has doubled in volume, turn it onto a floured surface. Knead dough for 5-10 minutes, incorporating as little flour as possible, until it is firm and holds its shape. Use a pastry scraper to divide dough in half, set one half aside for later. Roll remaining dough into a circle about 1 inch thick and divide into six pieces. Shape each piece into a roll using floured hands. Tip: the technique for shaping roll dough is quite different from, say, cookie dough or clay. Instead of rolling the dough ball between your hands, cup the dough ball firmly in one hand and use the fingertips of the other hand to fold under the edges of the dough until the top surface of the roll is smooth.
Repeat the rolling/shaping procedure until you have formed 12 rolls. Each roll should be about the size of a tennis ball. Place dough balls on a buttered cookie sheet about two inches apart. Brush roll tops with butter and sprinkle with sea salt and crushed rosemary. Cover with a damp towel and set in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
Bake rolls 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Brush again with butter after you remove from the oven, move to a wire rack to cool.
*I know that not all hamburger buns cost $1 each. A package of 8, nationally distributed buns made with high fructose corn syrup costs just $1.50. This makes me angry since I know that my tax dollars subsidize the cheap corn, wheat, and GM soy in those rolls. When my niece is an adult her tax dollars will continue to pay for the long-term environmental and human health costs of those crappy hamburger buns.
Comfort Food Tailgate
Image via Wikipedia
It’s OU weekend! That means most Longhorns are spending the day in Dallas tomorrow eating corn dogs and hoping the our O-Line can stop the Sooners for the big game. Me, I’ll be spending the day in my sister’s kitchen and hoping for whatever luck we can get.
I’m focusing our tailgate on comfort food with a little more game-time preparation than usual. (The better to distract me with.) Whatever happens tomorrow, we’ll at least be happy about the food we eat.
Pregame: Radish Dip with baby carrots and crackers
First Half: Beer and hope
Second Quarter: Beer and agony
Halftime: Venison burgers, creamed cream peas with bacon, spicy baked sweet potato fries
Third Quarter: Nervousness, elation at our comeback.
Fourth Quarter: Apple Pudding
Greenling’s Best of Austin Bash
Rami and I just got home from a great (long!) night at Greenling’s Best of Austin Bash at Hummingbird House in South Austin. I made about 200 Rosemary Pesto Rolls for the occasion, and it was so much fun passing them out to all the new people I met.
My husband Rami took a few pictures of the event per my request. 
This is me set up at the food table, giving out rosemary pesto rolls. You can see I was right next to a huge platter of Brazos Valley Cheese. It was so, so good. I’m very proud of the fact that I only sampled three pieces of cheese, leaving plenty for other fans to eat. On the left is my new friend Jenny. She made some killer dessert bars with some nuts from College Station. (Not Aggies, actual pecan nuts. Tee hee hee.) (I almost exploded holding that joke in for the past 24 hours.)
The line for food at the bash was really, really long. Imagine the people you see above times at least 30. I brought about 200 rolls with me and served almost as many hungry Austinites. By the time folks got a pesto roll, some of them had been waiting over an hour!
Here’s another picture of the line. Also, let’s all take a minute to gawk at this gorgeous tent in the backyard of the Hummingbird House. Big white tent that holds 200 people with a concrete floor=gawk. Dreamy white sheer liner= gawk. Built in twinkle lights & poll wraps=GAWK. I had a tent wedding in Iowa that I decorated myself, and I have so much GAWK in my heart for pretty tent draping. Also, Chiavari Chairs.
Here’s a shot of the grounds after dark. The big tent in the picture above is in the far background.
This is a vanity shot. Since I was serving pesto rolls from behind a table, most folks only saw me from the waist up. That means they missed the adorable detail on the bottom of my shirt and my effective use of braided leather belt. Gaze upon it now!
This is my basket of Rosemary Pesto Rolls. If you haven’t seen it yet, I hope you’ll check out the recipe here.
See you guys at the next soiree! I had so much fun last night, I already started planning my next recipe. Hint: apples, brie, rosemary, butter.
Canary Melon Ice Cream
Image via Wikipedia
Last week we got a Canary Melon in our local box. Honestly I had never heard of Canary Melon before, and I was sort of hoping we’d get arugula instead so I could just avoid it altogether. Canary Melon sounds terrible, like a fruit made out of birds or a big sweet egg.
Luckily my first instincts about the Canary Melon were way off base. In actuality this little, slightly lumpy melon is like a cross between a canteloupe and a honeydew melon. It has canary yellow skin and bright white, firm flesh. As soon as I tasted the canary melon I knew I wanted to make something cold with it in celebration of the end of summer here in Austin.
The musky sweet flavor of the melon lends itself beautifully to this simple ice cream. I adapted a strawberry ice cream recipe from the instruction manual that came with my Cuisinart ice cream machine, but you could really use any vanilla ice cream base and get a good result.
This recipe turned out terrific, but it is very rich. Next time I think I’ll try making tart Canary Melon frozen yogurt, so I can indulge with a little less guilt.
Canary Melon Ice Cream (makes 1-1/2 quarts, or about 10 servings)
1 cold Canary Melon, seeded and chopped*
1 c. sugar, divided
2 Tbs. lemon or lime juice
1 c. milk
2 c. heavy cream
Seed and chop the canary melon. Remove skin. Puree melon chunks in a food processor; add 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice to food processor and pulse until sugar is dissolved. Strain melon puree through a mesh sieve, reserving one cup of liquid & melon pulp. In the same food processor (no need to rinse the bowl), combine milk and granulated sugar. Process for about 2 minutes until sugar is dissolved.
Turn ice cream machine on, pour milk mixture, cream, and one cup of melon juice through ingredient spout. Let mix until thickened, about 30 minutes. Add the melon pulp to the ice cream in the last five minutes of mixing.
*I saved time by cutting the canary melon as soon as it ripened and storing the prepared melon in an airtight container in the freezer for about a week. I pureed it straight out of the freezer and everything tasted terrific.
My ode to Weelicious
Do you read Weelicious? If not, you should start. Weelicious is one of my favorite food blogs, written by busy model-turned-mom Catherine McCord. Almost every day she posts new, healthy recipes that feature fresh produce. Since the focus of the website is family-friendly food, the recipes are usually very simple to prepare.
Tofu Packets are a perfect recipe to make use of the peppers, onions, and mushrooms in our local box this week. I adapted Catherine’s recipe to include a few more adult flavors, with a Thai focus. The veggies and tofu are steamed with a spicy Thai inspired sauce inside a “packet” of baking parchment. This low-fat flavorful recipe has replaced WanFu in our rotation of weeknight meals.
Thai Tofu Packet (serves 4; more with rice)
14 oz. packet extra firm tofu
2 bell peppers
1 jalapeno pepper
1 onion or 4 scallions
1.5 cups sliced mushrooms
2 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbs. fish sauce
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 Tbs. honey or agave
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 Tbs. fresh grated ginger
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup cilantro
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Open tofu and drain off liquid. Wrap tofu block in a kitchen towel and place on a plate. Set a heavy pan on top to drain as much liquid as possible from the tofu.
Meanwhile, julienne all the veggies. Mince the jalapeno and garlic. Measure all liquid ingredients in a bowl and stir with garlic and jalapenos to combine.
Put a 16 inch piece of baking parchment on a cookie sheet. Mound all veggies in the center of the parchment.
Next, remove the tofu from the towel and cut it in fourths. Then cut each fourth into 5 even pieces. Place the tofu on the mound of veggies and pour the liquid over top. If you forgot about the cilantro until now (like me), go ahead and tear about a fourth cup into bite sized pieces over the top.
Now we’re going to make the packet. Tear another 16 inch piece of baking parchment and lay it over the top of the first sheet. Use your fingers to fold the edges of the parchment paper onto each other, crimping an airtight seal along the perimeter of the mound of veggies.
The packet does not need to be pretty. Just crumple the edges together until it’s reasonably airtight. Put the whole shebang in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Cut open the packet (careful! it is steaming!) and serve with rice or on its own. The best part of this recipe is the cleanup. The cookie sheet should still be clean, so all you’ve got to wash are the serving pieces, one cutting board, and a knife.
Meal Plan 9/29-10/5
Today is a new day! I’m feeling pretty good after a night of sleep and some breakfast tacos this morning. Feeling good enough to tackle this week’s meal plan, too!
This week we’re getting:
- Golden or Red Delicious Apples – Apple Country
- Portobello Caps – Kitchen Pride
- Basil – Tecolote
- Zucchini Squash – Naegelin
- Assorted Peppers – Acadian
- Sweet Potatoes – Naegelin
- Green Shallots – Acadian
- Radish – My Father’s Farm
- Beet Greens – My Father’s Farm
- Lady Cream Peas- My Father’s Farm
Lots of new fall produce in this week’s box, plus a couple of summer favorites. I have never worked with Portobello mushrooms or Beet Greens before, so I’m psyched to try those.
I’m gonna make:
Wednesday: Beet Green Salad, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Rosemary Pesto Rolls
Thursday: Greenling’s Best of Austin Bash!!!! Come out and say hi!
Friday: Thai Tuna Salad
Saturday: Lady Cream Peas with Skillet Corn Bread
Sunday: Roasted Garlic and Eggplant Soup (I’m adding my radish tops to this)
Monday: Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms
Tuesday: Cider Brined Pork Roast with Onions and Apples, leftover soup
Easy Stewed Okra, Tomatoes and Peppers
How do you fix a broken tomato? Tomato paste!
What’s spicy, green and red all over? A blog post with pictures of stewed okra, tomatoes and peppers on it!
Knock knock. Who’s there? Okra. Okra who? Okra Winfrey’s coming over for dinner!!
(That one’s not really funny unless you say the punchline out loud in your best Oprah Winfrey voice.)
Ok, seriously. This is one of my favorite summer recipes. It uses delicious, healthy ingredients and requires almost zero skill to prepare, plus it’s vegan!
Easy Stewed Okra Tomatoes and Peppers
1 onion
1 jalapeno pepper with seeds and ribs
4 sweet or hot bell peppers, seeds and ribs removed
1 lb. okra
1 clove garlic
2 cups tomatoes (12 oz. canned diced or 2-3 fresh diced tomatoes will work)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. cajun seasoning
A few Tbs. water for consistency, if stew is too thick
Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a large pot. Chop onion, peppers, jalapeño, garlic, and okra, adding the chopped veggies to the pot as you go. Saute vegetable mixture on medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions, peppers, garlic and okra should start to caramelize, turning dark brown at the edges. The okra will give off lots of slime. Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes or open the 12 oz. can of tomatoes and add those to the pot, with liquid. Season mixture with Cajun seasoning of your choice. Turn heat down to low. Cover and simmer for fifteen minutes to an hour. If you simmer it for the full hour, most of the okra will be pretty broken down and the slimy texture will be gone. Serve this on its own or over rice, grits or polenta.
*In closing: What do you call a nosy pepper? Jalapeno business!!
