Tangled Branches: Satiated

riveting tales of how we sustain ourselves

Thursday, November 27, 2008

It Weighs How Much?!?

I brought the paper in this morning and said to the spouse - there's about 5 pounds of advertising there. But Indygardener actually weighed her local Black Friday ads and well...inquiring minds and all that....

3 pounds 7.2 ounces.

That's a bit inaccurate, however, as we received 10 copies of one ad.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it today!

Labels: shopping

Friday, November 21, 2008

The Flavor of Beets and Chard

With the onset of colder weather we've noticed a major change in the chard in the garden. It now tastes good. I planted chard for the first time this spring and we kinda sorta liked it, just as long as it was a relatively minor ingredient and heavily flavored with something acidic or spicy. It was the earthy taste, the same one present in beets, that put us off. But now...now that earthiness has faded into the background and it just has a sweet leafy flavor. I could almost imagine eating it in a salad.

So it's probably something to do with the weather (or decrease in sunlight?), but why? Well, I'm not there yet, but I've learned the reason for the earthy taste. A chemical known as geosmin is to blame. It's also partly responsible for stinky municipal water. But it is uncertain whether the geosmin inherently belongs to beets/chard, or if it comes from microbes in the soil.

Folk wisdom tells us that many vegetables taste better when harvested in cooler weather and increased sweetness is almost always mentioned, but so far I've been unable to find any scientific studies to back this up. So perhaps the plants are producing/storing more sugar and that masks the taste of other flavor compounds? Or if the earthy flavor is due to microbial activity in the soil, perhaps that activity decreases in colder weather? Or both?

I also learned this morning that the red and yellow colors of beets/chard are due to a somewhat rare class of compounds known as betalains. Somewhat rare because they are only known to occur in a handful of plant species. There are up to 28 different betalains responsible for the various flamboyant colors of 'Bright Lights' chard. And those lovely colors would be reason enough to grow it even if it does sometimes taste of geosmin.

Labels: swiss chard

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Potatoes, Kale, and Chard

The kale in the garden is sweet and delicious after our recent cold weather, so I picked a batch on Sunday afternoon and cooked it Tuesday evening. Indian recipes are the default method for cooking vegetables here, but I don't see too many (any?) published recipes for kale in Indian cookbooks. But I reasoned that the flavor could stand in for any cabbage-y type thing in a basic recipe for sauteed mixed vegetables, so I created the following based on Gobi-Aloo-Saag (Cauliflower-Potato-Spinach) from Quick Vegetarian Curries by Mridula Baljekar. Quick is a relative term - most Americans wouldn't think of these dishes as quick. And there's more than just curries here - a quick glance through and I find Pakoras, Rice, Bread, Raitas, and Desserts. Anyhow, here's what I made:

Boil 1 lb. potatoes; drain, peel and chop into approx 3/4 inch cubes.
Remove and discard large midribs from 6 to 8 oz. kale (I left the small ones in), and chop the leaves coarsely (about 1 to 2 inch pieces).
Remove leaf stalks/midribs from about 8 medium-large leaves of chard. Slice the stems thinly crosswise and chop the leaves coarsely.
Slice vertically one medium onion. Mince 3 cloves of garlic.

Heat 3 tablespoons peanut oil in a large deep saute pan. Add 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add 2 dried red chiles and 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric. Stir once and add sliced onions. When the onion begins to brown, add 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon ground red chile (or to taste), and minced garlic.
Stir a few times, and add kale, chard and chard stems. You may have to do this in stages because all the leaves may not fit in the pan before they're wilted. Once you have all the kale and chard in the pan, and they've wilted down a bit, add about 1/2 cup canned chopped tomatoes, the potatoes, about 1/2 teaspoon salt, and about 1/2 cup water. Cover and simmer until kale is cooked through.
Now, the original recipe called for 5 fluid ounces of single cream to be added at this point. I didn't have any (half and half, or table cream), but did have some Mexican crema in the fridge. So I added a few spoonsful of crema, thinned with water to a flowing consistency. Add 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (I used Penzey's Punjabi Masala), and just about a teaspoon of butter. Stir and cook until the cream/crema is heated through and the butter is melted. Taste for salt. The original recipe called for 1 teaspoon salt, but I usually start with half the amount and add more at the end if the dish tastes flat. (Also, the crema was quite salty.)

That's it. This amount was enough to serve 2 people as a main dish with ample leftovers.

Labels: kale, potatoes, swiss chard

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Madhur Jaffrey Does It Again: Lentil Soup

You know how lentil soup can be kind of heavy and stodgy? What would you say to one that isn't? Madhur Jaffrey makes a lentil and shrimp soup inspired by a Filipino dish of mung beans and shrimp - she's written it up in her excellent book, Madhur Jaffrey's Cookbook. I changed it a bit to suit the ingredients I had on hand.

I've been trying to keep the fridge and pantry lightly stocked lately - the fridge failure made me realize that it's not all that efficient to store large quantities of perishable food. Too many things are wasted because they're second or third choice, and I leave them in storage until they go bad.

I had some chicken wing tips in the freezer, cut off and saved the last time I broiled chicken wings. There's no requirement that you must make a huge batch of chicken broth - you can make a very small one with just a few pieces of chicken leftovers, a small amount of water and a few seasonings.

And there was some fresh salsa leftover from the previous night.

Half a bunch of cilantro (store-bought, sad to say).

And about a third of a bag of lentils in the pantry.

I always have onions, garlic, limes, and olive oil on hand.

The only thing I needed to buy was shrimp.

My adaptation from Madhur Jaffrey's Cookbook, Lentil Soup with a Flavor of the Philippines, p. 219:

Chop 1 medium-large onion finely. Heat a spoonful or so of olive oil in a large saucepan (I used my 3.5-quart "everything" pan). Cook the onion until it starts to brown. Add 3/4 cup sorted and rinsed lentils, and 4 cups chicken broth. Cook 20 minutes and taste for salt, add if needed. Continue to cook until lentils are cooked through.

Meanwhile shell, devein, and slice lengthwise 1/4 lb. medium size shrimp. Chop 3 cloves garlic finely. Heat a few spoonsful of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the chopped garlic and stir it around for a few seconds until it smells good and is starting to brown. Add the sliced shrimp and stir until just cooked through. Remove shrimp to a plate (leaving the oil and as much garlic as possible in the pan). Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add leftover salsa to the frying pan. If I didn't have leftover salsa, I'd use about a cup of chopped tomatoes and chiles (Ro-tel would be good). Cook and stir until the liquid is reduced somewhat and add the whole contents of the frying pan to the lentils in the saucepan. Reserve one half shrimp as a garnish for each serving and add the rest of them to the saucepan. Cut one very thin slice of lime for each serving. Chop or tear apart some cilantro leaves and sprinkle them on top of the soup. Taste - you may want to add salt, lime juice or pepper.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Top each with a slice of lime and place a piece of shrimp on top of the lime.

The tomatoes, garlic, chiles and lime really brighten up the flavor of the lentils. I'm defintely making this again.

Labels: lentils, shrimp, soup

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Central Virginia Weekend

Could Central Virginia become the next big foodie destination? Last weekend the NY Times did "36 Hours in ..." and the city was Charlottesville. (There are a few mistakes in that article, and I'll note them at the end of this post.) But the farther you get from Charlottesville, the harder it is to find anything good to eat. Harder, but not impossible, and there are some surprisingly good things if you know where to look. Last weekend, freed from the garden chores by the freeze of the previous week, we visited a couple of favorite places and added two new ones.

San Marcos Restaurant, Orange
I began writing this review almost a year ago, and I'm very sorry I didn't post it sooner. This is a wonderful restaurant, although maybe a bit more wonderful when it first opened. Everything is still prepared with care and attention, but some of the better dishes aren't always available now (Sopes) and the rice has changed from a beautiful pale green cilantro-scented creation to the more usual orangy tomato-chicken broth based stuff. But it's still the best Mexican restaurant in the area. If it was in Charlottesville or northern Virginia it would be hugely popular, but in Orange it's an uphill struggle against the local tastes. Following is what I wrote on November 2, 2007:

Should you ever find yourself in Orange Virginia around mealtime, I enthusiastically recommend that you try San Marcos Mexican Restaurant. We've been watching the construction progress of this place for months now, and last weekend the "Now Open" sign appeared. Last night we stopped in and were very impressed.

It's located in a new small retail space on the south side of Orange on Rt. 15. The decor is "nice storefront", but clean and bright - no sequinned sombreros.

That's as far as I got with it. Since then, we've eaten there almost weekly. We love the Tacos al Pastor (pork with pineapple), the Red Enchiladas (red mole sauce - delicious), the Tortilla Soup (thick and creamy with cheese), the Sopes (lunch only and not always available). We really enjoyed some of the specials, but haven't seen them lately - tamales in banana leaves and posole are two that come to mind. Tortas (sandwiches) look good on the menu, but we've only tried one so far - the Cuban version - and it was tasty.

Full disclosure: I also posted a review on Google, and seconded an opinion on Yahoo!. I have no financial interest in this business, but I fervently hope they stay open because it's one of best places to eat in between Tangled Branches North and Tangled Branches South. The spouse and I can't keep them in business all by ourselves, but we try.

Higginbotham Beef and Bottle Shop, Orange
Grass-fed beef (frozen) and a nice selection of wine with a few beers on the side. What more could you want? We haven't tried too many different things here - mostly ground beef and steaks - but we've been happy with everything. The sirloin steak was particularly good.

Retreat Farm and Village Depot Store, Rapidan
We just found out about this place, and haven't actually tasted anything we bought, but we were impressed with the selection. We bought a boneless leg of lamb, some ground lamb, a dozen eggs AND BLACK TWIG APPLES! One of my very favorite apples and not always easy to find. These weren't quite ripe yet, but I trust they'll be good in cooking. I'll post an update after we've eaten some of our purchases.

Dr. Ho's Humble Pie, North Garden
Sounds like a holdout from the 1970s, but this place makes very good pizza. Sunday was our first visit, but won't be our last. We tried the Don Juan - wild mushrooms, roasted Roma tomatoes, and three cheeses. It was loaded, but the crust held. We deliberately didn't finish it so we could try the Apple Humble Crumble, or was it Humble Apple Crumble, or...well it was good whatever they called it. An entire gratin dish of apple crisp with oatmeal, nuts, cinnamon, and big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Way too much for two people who had just eaten pizza, but we finished it anyway.

Corrections to the NY Times article mentioned above:
In item 7, Country Roads, you have to drive south (not north) on Rt. 20 (towards Scottsville) if you want to see The Waltons locale.

In "If You Go", 200 South Street Inn is an expensive dump. We stayed there a couple of years ago and were flabbergasted at the moldy decrepit room we were given. Light fixtures broken, furniture broken (literally - splintered wood with missing pieces), dangerously uneven floor, and furthermore right next to the railroad tracks, which is OK as long as no trains go by. We should have demanded our money back, but we really needed a place to stay. It's true that it's very difficult to get a room anywhere in town if there's a big event on at the university.

Labels: restaurants, shopping

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Hot Pepper Jelly 1.0

I think it was Ki who planted the idea in my mind. I never even tasted Hot Pepper Jelly before I made it yesterday so I didn't really know what to expect. However, the flavor I imagined was hotter than the reality of this batch. And if I had followed Ki's lead and used Habaneros I might have gotten the heat level I imagined. As it was, I intended to use 100% red ripe Serranos instead of the bell peppers plus 10 Jalapeños the recipe called for. I used the recipe from the leaflet in the Sure-Jell package (and on their website). They wanted a total of 4 cups of finely chopped peppers to 1 cup of vinegar, 5 cups of sugar and a packet of Sure-Jell. I thought by using all Serranos, seeded, I'd a have a pretty red jelly with pieces of pepper suspended in it (no seeds to ugly it up) and that surely 4 cups of Serranos, even seeded, would be enough heat. And maybe it would have been, but I only had enough Serranos for 3 cups and had to make up the final cup with ripe chocolate bell pepper plus a few assorted others.

The color is pretty, just like I hoped for. Taste, well I don't know. I'm not all that keen on sweet sweet things and this has almost a cup of sugar in every jar. It does taste of peppers, with just a tiny little tingling of capsaicin. I tried it on toast this morning, and I'm not about to give up my hibiscus jam for this. I think it might have a future as an ingredient and not something to eat on its own. For lunch today, I mixed it with mayonnaise and coarse mustard as the dressing for a shrimp salad. I expect it would make a good base for a BBQ sauce, or a ham glaze, or maybe even for the sweetening in a mustard recipe I plan to try. Any other ideas?

Labels: canning, jam, peppers

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hibiscus Jam 1.0

They call it Rosella in Australia. That's what I learned when I started searching online for Hibiscus Jam recipes. And just like any other given thing, there are many ideas about how it should be done. I focused on the recipes that measured the fruit and sugar by weight, hoping for greater accuracy. To add or not to add lemon juice? I couldn't understand why - the fruit is quite tart - so I didn't. How much sugar then? Of the two recipes that made it to the championship round, one had twice the amount of sugar as the other. I compromised and weighed out an amount equal to 1.5 times the weight of the fruit. I'm calling it fruit here because I'm tired of typing calyces, even though that's technically what they are.

Having decided on a recipe, I had to gather up some equipment. Where is my 5-quart pan? Not here. OK, I'll just make a smaller quantity. Oh, and I'll need some canning jars and a canning kettle. Two hours and four stores later I had the jars but not the kettle. Well, maybe the stockpot would work. I have a cake rack that will fit in the bottom - oops, no, it's a fraction of an inch too big. How about the old collapsible steamer basket? But the bottom isn't flat. But it's all I have. OK fine. This is an experiment anyway. No jar lifter. What about tongs? Yeah, but where are they? Never mind, I'll use a couple of big slotted spoons.

I measured out 200 grams of hibiscus fruit (calyces with the seed pod removed), chopped them somewhat finely, and set them in a 3-quart pan to simmer with somewhere between 3/4 and 1 cup of water (not quite enough to cover the fruit). I let that simmer for 20 minutes and added 300 grams of white sugar. Simmered for another 20 minutes, uncovered, and packed into 4 4-ounce jars (hot from the dishwasher). Put the lids on and processed for 10 minutes in my improvised water bath canner.

I was so concerned that it might not gel. I needn't have worried. The end product is very firm. How to correct this next time? More water? Less cooking time? But never mind that. This stuff tastes really good! It's not it's like some inferior version of a "real" fruit jam, made out of necessity from available ingredients. Some have compared it to cranberry, and yes, it's something like that. There's no astringency though. To me it has a haunting, faintly floral, unidentifiable "red" flavor. I am definitely going to make this again.

Labels: canning, hibiscus, jam

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