Kimchi!

I would like to say I have a dirty little secret, but it's not, it's a fabulous secret!
I like to rot stuff on my kitchen counter, then I eat it!
And it's delicious!
And I share it!
Then people ask me for my recipe.  Well now here's the dirty secret.  I don't have one.  I wing it with what I have on hand and what I want to accomplish.
This is especially true for kimchi.

When I lived in Korea, I thought kimchi was pretty scary, and I'd only eat the thick stem part, but now, my palate has adjusted and I love the stuff.  But in my years of cleaning up my diet and learning about additives and the like, there is a lot in commercial kimchi that I don't like, such as additives, preservatives and MSG.  It is possible to find organic, additive free kimchi, but it's just easier to make my own.  So I do.  A lot.

I find there are 2 schools of kimchi on the internets.  There are those who are teaching the traditional Korean way of making it, and there are those who are teaching the nourishing/ traditional food way of making it.  They are often similar, except the nourishing folks aren't often Korean.  I find their kimchi to be less red, less potent and less delicious, but I like the nourishing aspect of that kimchi.  So I've created my own kimchi that takes both schools of thought into consideration.

Without adieu.

Kimchi.
For a small batch I use 1 napa cabbage, you can adjust.

1 napa cabbage head, chopped and the obvious dirt removed
2-3 carrots (optional)
2-3 green onions (optional)
1 diakon radish (optional)
Korean chili flakes (1/2 a cup, but to taste)
1/2 an asian pear (or a tablespoon of sugar, it's not for you, it's for the bacteria)
handful of kosher salt
5-6 garlic cloves
1 inch of peeled ginger
1/2 cup of a good fish sauce, I really like Red Boat. (check to make sure yours doesn't have any nasties in it like MSG etc.)
1-2 tablespoons of liquid whey (optional) can use 1 tablespoon of kosher salt instead.
water
mason jar/ fermenting crock/ fido jar/ something to ferment in
plastic gloves

I start by chopping my cabbage up into bite sized pieces, making sure to pay attention to the stems to make sure they're not huge.  Slice or chop carrots/ onions/ daikon.  Make them bite sized and fairly thin, a couple millimeters thick.
Place it all in a large bowl and sprinkle with a generous sprinkling of salt, cover with water and let sit for an hour or so.  This will wilt the cabbage.
After an hour, rinse the cabbage and veggies really well, and let rest in the bowl.
Then move on to the sauce.
In a blender mix the garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and peeled and cored pear or sugar.  Blend into a paste, add water to make it go.  Add your fish sauce, this adds that umami flavour that we like, it doesn't taste fishy to me.  More traditional Korean receipes call for shrimp jut or even whole fresh shrimp, oysters or squid.  I'm not there.  Plus I like the subtle flavour of the fish sauce, not the fish flavour the others impart.
Blend it all together, add your whey or salt, this helps to preserve it.
Once the sauce is blended pour it over your bowl of veggies and mix well with your hands (wear the gloves!)
Then pack it into your fermenting vessel, make sure there is a layer of liquid over your veggies, if not add a little water, close the lid and let ferment on your counter until you see bubbles rise.  This will vary by the temperature in your house and by how much tang you like your kimchi to have.

Other variations you can make is to adjust the amount of everything.  More pepper flakes, more garlic etc.  Vary your veggies.  Mostly this is a technique, there are so many options.
I've come close to making the same kind twice, but each batch does vary.  Kitchen chemistry at it's finest.

It is important to get Korean chili flakes, they're less potent than regular chili flakes and they really impart that lovely red hue that makes kimchi, well, kimchi.

Zucchini and Granola Muffins

Trixie loves these, Adam says they're like a cookie and muffin hybrid. They are vegan, inspired by traditional Zucchini bread.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (can use ww, but I like the pastry stuff better)
1 cup coconut flour (can sub any other flour)
3/4 cup rolled oats (can sub any other flour)
3/4 cup sugar (I used sucanet)
1 cup granola (this was my own recipe too, I can send that as well or use 1 cup of chopped nuts)
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup flax
2/3 cup almond milk (can sub any milk or liquid)
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup apple sauce (can sub pumpkin or more zucchini)
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips


preheat oven to 325 degrees
in a large measuring cup or small bowl mix the flax and milk, let sit
in a large bowl mix flours, sugar, granola, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices
then add to the flax mixture: honey, oil, zucchini and vanilla, mix well
stir liquid mixture into flour and mix until flour is moistened, add chocolate chips, it is very thick and dense, may need more almond milk
then spread into loaf pans or spoon into muffin tins (you'll have to spread them a little in the muffin tins, it's very thick)
for muffins bake 15-20 mins, until a toothpick comes out clean.
for loaves bake 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean
makes 2 loaves or about 30 muffins"

Granola

I've been asked for my granola recipe before, and it's hard to give. I don't have any special attachments to it, I just don't have a solid recipe for it.

I start with a large bowl, the biggest one I have, that can fit in the microwave.

I'll melt a 1/4 cup of coconut oil in the bowl, when melted add 1/4 cup of sweetener, I use honey, agave or maple syrup
then add 3-4ish cups of oatmeal, not steel cut, or instant, just rolled oats
mix mix mix
I've also added puffed buckwheat* 1-2 cups, adds a nice crunch.
mix mix mix
add seasonings
cinnamon, nutmeg, maca**
add dry extras,
seeds, nuts, coconut, cocoa nibs, flax, hemp etc...
mix mix mix,
then I microwave it for 6 minutes. (I understand that this might be doing some damage to the benefits of some of the antioxidants, but it's so easy!) stirring 1/2 way through.
then I remove and mix occasionally until cool
then add the wet extra
dried fruit, chocolate chips, stir and put into storage.

This yields a lot of granola. It will keep a while, but the coconut oil can go rancid. It does not make a lumpy granola, it's pretty free flowing. Everything can be adjusted to taste.
I love it with some Greek yogurt, honey and fruit.

*To make buckwheat crispies, soak a pound of buckwheat in a large bowl of water, you can change the water because it will get slimy. The buckwheat will double in size, at least. After 12ish hours (I did 24) spread out on dehydrator sheets lines with paraflexx or other type sheets and dehydrate until crispy. They are pretty flavourless, but have a lot of crunch.

** Maca is a super food, adds an interesting nutty flavour.

fruit roll ups, healthy style!

A couple weeks ago our fridge started going crazy. It started to warm and stuff started defrosting. This lead to many frantic trips downstairs to empty the freezer into the chest freezer. Then I was left with a fridge full of warming food, which included a lot of berries. Since I had just bought a fancy new dehydrator I thought I would try it out. So I made fruit roll ups!

I took a whole pint of strawberries (or blueberries or any fruit), washed, topped and hulled and blended them in my fabulous blender with about a tablespoon of honey. (while the strawberries were sweet, you need the honey to keep the rolls pliable) Then I poured it onto a dehydrator try lined with a non stick drying sheet (I use a paraflexx sheet), spread to about an eigth of an inch thick, and dry at a low temp, 110F-105F over night. Then peel off and wrap in cling wrap.

They got a double thumbs up from Trixie.

new philosophy

Now that I have a toddler that eats and baby who's close to being a super nosher, I have changed the way I approach food. I am concerned about additives and ingredients that I can't pronounce, I don't want that going into my babies! I cringe at the thought of what that is doing to their wee insides.
So I've been making an effort to make everything from scratch. Everything.
It's daunting, yet rewarding.
I'm going to try to keep this updated with some of my more recent trials. I'll even include the flops!
I've been asked what my food philosophy is; I would say that it's whole food. Not the store, but the idea. I try to make things from scratch, with the purest, most healthy ingredients that I can. Oh and it has to be palatable to a toddler.
fun!
The cookbooks I love the most right now are:
Nourishing Traditions
Ani's Raw Food Essentials
Veganomnicon

I feel that my book choices show that I am all over the board in terms of style, raw, vegan, low carb and meat eater! But the general theme is to use whole ingredients.

So join me on my journey. If you know of somewhere to get more inspiration please let me know!

So Delicious!

One of my favourite blogs is Heather Eats Almond Butter, and on one of her posts she is doing a giveaway for So Delicious and Purley Decadent. I am excited about this because I want a milk alternative but I won't consume unfermented soy products (I'll only eat tofu, miso and soy sauce), so a coconut milk choice is a good one. It doesn't taste really coconuty, so it won't mess with the flavour of your cereal. And most of all it's delicious! I love it.

So long story short, go to Heather's blog and see what she has to say about it.

Now regardless if I get any coupons I'll keep buying it. I'm going to try the icecream and I am going to try to make my own coconut yogurt again, since I've recently become a pro at making my own yogurt.

Chicken and Artichoke hearts

So yummy....

2 chicken breasts
olive oil
2 cups artichoke hearts
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Pound chicken breasts until they are 1.5 their original size, dredge in flour.
In a heated pan coat with olive oil and place each breast in pan. Cook through, turning once.
When cooked remove chicken from pan. Add chicken stock to deglaze pan. When stock is simmering add artichoke hearts and stir to heat through. Add butter to thicken and add salt and pepper to taste.
To serve pour artichoke sauce over chicken breasts.
It's so good!

Jalapeno Cornbread

I made this to go with chili. It's not at all spicy, although it could be made to be spicier. You can really taste the jalapenos though. Also it's really moist, should be refrigerated if not all eaten.

3 cups cornbread mix
2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup creamed canned corn
1/2 cup jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 2 oz jar pimentos

In food processor combine onion, garlic and jalapenos, blend to a mulchy mix.
In a large bowl add corn bread mix, milk, oil, sugar and the corn and mix, add the onion mix and combine. Add remaining things and combine.

Pour into a 12X9X2 greased pan and bake at 350 for 40ish minutes or until an inserted toothpick is clean.

to make spicier chop jalapenos whole, to make less spicy remove seeds and ribs.

Banana and Whopper Icecream

I got Adam an ice cream maker for our anniversary, so let the ice cream making ensue.

2 bananas
1/2 cup Whoppers balls, crushed
1 cup less a tablespoon low fat milk
1 cup less a tablespoon half and half
1 cup less a tablespoon heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

in a food processor blend sugar and banana until it's pasty
add milk and blend
add half and half and blend, make sure the sugar is dissolved
add cream and blend briefly to combine
add Whoppers and stir as to not chop them up any smaller.
From this point follow the directions of the ice cream maker (ours is a 1.5 pint model)
when it's done freeze until desired consistency, and eat.
Yumm.

Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad.

Adam says that this is "good for a cucumber" salad.

1 seedless cucumber thinly sliced
1 green onion sliced
1 carrot thinly sliced *
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

In a bowl mix the final 6 ingredients and heat in microwave for 1 minute. When warm add the sliced veggies and mix well. Chill for a couple hours and eat.
Yumm.
*optional.

Citrus and Red Wine Fruit salad

I made this up tonight, it's so good.

I used the fruit I had, I'll list what I used, but I think that anything along with citrus would work.

salad
4 cups cubed watermelon
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 mango, cubed
2 peaches, sliced
1 cup pineapple, chunked
2 grapefruit, sectioned
2 blood oranges, sectioned
1 orange, sectioned

sauce
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon

I started by making the sauce, mixing the wine, sugar, zest and juice and boiling it.
Then I started on the salad, starting with the mango. After I had cut away what I could from the mango pit, I squeezed it over the red wine sauce, getting the juice from the remaining pulp on the seed. To section the citrus fruits I cut away the skin and white pith, then cut between the sections in the fruit so that it resulted in chunks of fruit with no membranes. Then I squeezed what was left into the sauce after I had removed all of the sections. (there will be some small pieces left and plenty of juice) After I prepared all of the fruit I carefully mixed it, taking care not to crush the watermelon. Then I refrigerated the salad with the sauce in a separate container. To serve drizzle the sauce over a bowl of the salad.
Yum!

Mom's Banana Bread

I had this a lot growing up, it's great.

2 2/3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter*
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 bananas (if I have more I use more)
extras**

1. mix top 4 ingredients together
2. in a separate bowl cream butter and sugar
3. add eggs to creamed sugar and butter, mix
4. add bananas to mixture, mix
5. add dry to wet, in batches.
6. makes 2 loaves, bake at 350 degrees until a tooth pick comes out clean.

* I have also used 1/3 cup oil, or 1/2 cup applesauce, it all works well. The butter gives it a richer taste, but oil is better for you, and applesauce is the best, but results in a drier loaf.
**extras could be chocolate chips, raisins, or nuts. I've also adds citrus zest and it's nice. I add raisins etc. when everything is mixed together. If I'm adding zest I add it to the moist before adding the dry.

Cajun Shrimp

1 cup melted butter
2-3 tablespoons pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons hot sauce
2 lemons, thinly sliced
2-3 pounds shrimp (deveined, shells on or off)

mix first 4 ingredients
spoon some of the sauce into a 9X13 baking dish, enough to cover the bottom
add 1/2 of the shrimp to the baking dish and layer the slices of one lemon over them
cover with some of the sauce
add the rest of the shrimp evenly, top with lemons and cover with sauce.

bake in a 350 degree oven until the shrimps are pink, take care not to overcook.

Serve with a salad and bread.

Biscotti breakfast

serves 1

2 biscotti cookies
1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 cup frozen raspberries
silvered almonds (optional)

crumble cookies into a bowl
in a blender blend the yogurt and raspberries
pour over cookies
sprinkle with almonds

Bread Salad

This is my new favorite salad.

serves 1

2 slices of a rustic stale bread (like ciabatta or a baguette) cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tomato, cubed
1/2 a cucumber, cubed
5-6 black olives, whole
1 tablespoon capers
1-2 tablespoons feta (optional)
1-2 tablespoons balsamic (to taste)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil (to taste)

I start with adding the bread to a large bowl, then veggies and stir. When I add the olives and capers I may add a little juice if the bread is really hard, less if it's less stale. I just drizzle the oil and vinegar on the top of it all, to taste. I like it to be a little more vinegary than oily. I tried it with feta, but I though that the salad has enough flavours and the feta competes too much with the capers.
Overall it's a really yummy salad.

Eat Your Veggies! chocolate cupcakes.

I found this recipe somewhere and it intrigued me. They're good, Adam even likes them.

1 1/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated zucchini

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, vanilla, yogurt and cocoa, stir until smooth.
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients, mix well and add to moist mixture, (I did it in 2 batches) mix until combined, take care not to over mix. Fold in veggies.
Spoon into lined muffin tins and bake in a 350 degree oven for approx 18 mins, or until a toothpick or other such pointy object comes out clean.
Yields 24 cupcakes.

I don't really notice the veggies in them, they just blend in well. The batter is really thick, an ice cream scoop would work well to get even cupcakes.
I think they would be really good with icing.

Fresh Pea Soup.

I'd been looking for a fresh pea soup recipe after my friend Monica made it for me once. I've finally found a recipe, however I made a few alterations. Here's my version.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
4 cups chicken stock
2 10 ounce packages of frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Saute the onions in the oil. When they're soft add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and add the mint, salt and sugar, taste and adjust seasonings as needed (you may also want to add black pepper). Puree the soup in batches. I used a magic bullet and dumped the pureed soup into a bowl as I went along. When all smooth add the yogurt and stir well.
Can be eaten hot or cold.


I like this soup, I find it to be rather refreshing and bright.

Lemon Snowball Cookies.

I made these as an accompaniment to a desert wine.

cookies
2 sticks of butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 cups flour

coating
2/3 cup icing sugar
3 single serve packages of crystal light lemonade

Cream butter and sugar, add flavourings, mix well.
Add flour in 2 stages, mix well.
When combined roll into 1/2 teaspoon balls.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until they are firm to the touch. The will not brown. They don't spread much.

While the first batch is baking mix the coating, then roll the hot cookies in the coating.

They are tangy cookies! Great with a desert wine that you would want to highlight, as they are not sweeter than the wine.

Dduk Soup

Dduk is pronounced duck, and is compressed rice. It's a Korean dish. The dduk is rice forced through a press and emerges from the other side like a long fat spaghetti noodle, one type is about as thick as your thumb which are cut into 3-4 in pieces used for dduk bogie which is a spicy spicy dish. The other kind of dduk is about an inch in diameter and is cut into thin slices on the bias. This type of dduk is used for the soup.

Okay here we go.
This is my version of the soup.

1/2 package of dduk
3-4 green onions, sliced
1/2 lb ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons Korean beef granules (oxo can be substituted, but it makes a darker coloured soup)
water

Start by browning the beef. I don't season it at this time. When cooked strain out fat and rinse with hot water. (I don't like to have grease floating on my soup) Return to soup pot (which should hold 2-3 litres of water), add water, about 3/4s of the way up. Add dduk, onions and soup granules, bring to a boil. When the dduk is tender, turn off the heat and add the egg, stirring to make the long egg strings. Serve. Should make 5-6 bowls.

Bacon Rosemary Pea Soup

This is so good. I make it in the crock pot.

1 medium onion diced
2 large carrots diced
2 cloves of garlic diced
5 rashers of bacon sliced into 1 cm pieces
1/2 cup cooked ham cubed
1 1/3 cups split dried peas
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1-2 tablespoons chicken stock powder
6-8 cups water

In a pan saute onions and garlic, when soft add to crock pot. Saute bacon, when crispy add to crock pot. Add remaining ingredients, making sure to crumble rosemary well. Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8-10. This freezes well, and is so flavourful!