Posts Tagged ‘Red Pepper Flakes’

27-Days of Change

Monday, April 30, 2012

WEEK 1:

So far the first week of our 27-day challenge has been an easy one thanks to a well stocked pantry and freezer. The trick has been to use what we already have in new and interesting ways. New marinades, different seasoning combinations or interesting cooking methods can bring new life to routine meals.

For breakfast Brianne and I have poached eggs on toast. The eggs are collected daily from our own hens and the bread is baked from ingredients I have on hand. Brianne eats an extra piece of toast with blueberry jam, canned last summer from berries picked a few miles up the road. It is the perfect start to our morning (and our challenge).

I contacted my friend Angela who buys raw milk from a private dairy. It’s not in the county, but I think it will be within a hundred miles; still waiting on a response.

Lunch has been egg salad sandwiches on baked bread with sliced peaches canned this past fall from our own peach tree or chicken salad made from broilers we raised by hand, processed ourselves and frozen to sustain us throughout the year. While running errands to the feed store we snacked on Grandpa’s homemade venison jerky, made last fall from his wild harvest, and lemonade made from my neighbors lemon tree.

One of our dinners this past week was grilled lamb chops with an Asian marinade, sticky rice and cucumber salad drizzled with rice vinegar. The cucumbers were hydroponically grown and came from the farm market. The lamb was home raised and harvested last fall, and the rice and other marinade ingredients came from the pantry. We washed it all down with a refreshing glass of mint tea, fresh picked from the garden right before brewing.

All-in-all this week has been a great start to our 27-day challenge.

Asian Marinated Lamb Chops

1 pound shoulder chops (any chop will work)

1 cup soy sauce

1 Tablespoon fresh minced garlic

¼ cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

½ Teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 Scallion, sliced thin

½ Can crushed pineapple

  • Combine all ingredients except lamb chops to make marinade.
  • Place chops in baking dish and cover with marinade. Cover and let sit for 3 or more hours.
  • Grill until about medium doneness, but still pink in the middle.
  • On stove, cook down marinade for topping on rice.

Roasted Chicken with Lemony Potatoes

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

There’s nothing better than opening your freezer and pantry doors and being able to pull together not only a satisfying meal, but one where almost all the ingredients are grown within a few miles of your back door.

Last night, after a day of cleaning and de-cluttering; giving away, putting away or throwing away, I fixed one of our favorite chicken dishes — Roasted Chicken with Lemony Potatoes.

The half chicken, weighing over three pounds, once clucked and scratched and wandered around our small farm. The lemons hang abundantly on my neighbor’s tree, and they are delighted to share with everyone on our street. The rosemary and garlic grows feet from the house. Only the potatoes, olive oil, red pepper flakes and salt came from parts unknown or far away. Read the rest of the story »

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Monday, August 29, 2011

I consider unprocessed pickles, those made without water bath canning, a special treat of the summer growing season. When the garden or Farmer’s Markets are overflowing with cucumbers we make enough to enjoy from summer’s end well into fall, then like most homesteaders and gardeners, we start looking forward to the next growing season. It’s not that they go bad in the fridge, but they do lose that fresh crispiness that makes them a rite of the summer harvest. If you want pickles all year long, use a recipe that calls for water bath processing, so the jars will be vacuum sealed.

Our favorite recipe is from a retired railroad conductor. It was handed down from generation to generation and couldn’t be easier.

THE RECIPE:

The Jars: Thoroughly wash quart- size canning jars either by hand or in the dishwasher.

The Brine: Determine about how many quarts of pickles you will be making. Boil one quart of water for each jar, plus a little extra for evaporation. Keep brine simmering. For each quart of water, add ¾ cup distilled white vinegar and 4 heaping tablespoons of kosher salt. NOTE: Do not use reactive pots (like aluminum) for making brine, use stainless or glass for making pickles.

Packing The Jars:
Wash cukes. Cut or leave whole. Layer the bottom of each jar with fresh dill and crushed or whole garlic (3 or 4 cloves, more if you want a lot of garlic flavor). Pack cukes tight into jars.

Seasoning The Pickles: To each jar, add 1 Tablespoon of pickling spice and a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, or 1-2 small hot red peppers slit open lengthwise (if you like), plus plenty of fresh dill flower heads (it makes a pretty presentation).

Pour The Hot Brine: Cover everything with the simmering brine.

Put Lids On. Leave jars at room temperature for two or three days then put in the fridge for at least a week before eating. Two weeks is even better, if you can wait that long.

Storing Pickles: Pickles will keep for a couple months in the fridge. Of course, if you see anything funky going on in the jar you should not eat them.

Not Your Basic BBQ

Saturday, August 20, 2011

It’s true that hamburgers and hotdogs have long reigned as BBQ favorites, but times are a changing folks. These days, backyard grilling has reached a new level of sophistication, both in flavors and in the array of ingredients that are available.

Here in California, where weather permits us to grill well after our eastern friends have turned on the heat; flavors, textures and ole time favorites combine to turn bar-be-queuing on its head.

Even with our busy schedules, livestock shows and preparations for the new college student, we have spent more time this summer cooking on the grill than any other summer I can remember. We’ve been doing a lot of experimenting too. These nighttime grillings are not your standard steak and chicken faire. There’s the spicy Mandarin marinade with its minced fresh ginger and green onions that we use on lamb steaks and chops, the savory Bangkok spices rubbed into riblets and our, traditionally cold weather favorite, lemon garlic chicken has turned out to be as wonderful on the grill as it is in the oven.

We also found a new Cowboy BBQ sauce that has been great on beef. All these cook along side seasonal vegetables, corn and potatoes and are served with a variety of salads, from Asian Noodle Salad to 5-Color Slaw to our stand-by mixed green, pecan and blue cheese favorite.

It’s a relaxing way to spend an evening—standing over the grill while Brianne goes about her evening chores of feeding animals and working her show lambs. When we shift gears, and Brianne watches over the grill, I water the garden, pick flowers or just revel in the calm simplicity of our farm life. What a way to end the day…family, food and peace. Read the rest of the story »

Dining Out

Monday, July 11, 2011

The past few months have been a crazy ride of unpredictable weather, sheep shows that seem to never end, baby chicks brooding, new geese, and a high school senior year fraught with fear and excitement about the future.

But tonight it’s the middle of June, Brianne and I have managed to make it through all this chaos without killing each other and we two girls deserve a night out!

So tonight we will go out to our favorite café, sit at our favorite table – French bistro draped in a mustard colored cloth and laid with rustic plates featuring hand painted chickens. The best part is this favorite spot of ours is under a lumbering shade tree just 50 feet from our back door. Most nights we don’t feel like driving anywhere or paying someone to cook a calorie laden mediocre meal.

Tonight’s menu: marinated grilled lamb chops, BBQ baked potatoes and a big salad of crisp greens.

The lamb was home raised and butchered last fall (the last of the lambs Brianne showed in the spring), potatoes are from the farm stand down the road and were dug fresh today, and the salad makings were picked moments before the whole feast was laid on the table. For dessert there’ll be blueberry cobbler with organic vanilla ice cream.

The final course: stargazing to the sound of harps and classical guitars drifting out from our quiet little farmhouse. My favorite tunes to relax to on a lazy summer night.

The Marinade:

4 shoulder or leg lamb steaks or 8 loin chops
½ cup low salt soy sauce
½ cup teriyaki sauce
1 Tbsp fresh garlic minced
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tsp fresh ginger, minced
½ Tsp red pepper flakes
1 Scallion, sliced thin
6 Ounce can crushed pineapple

Directions:

To make sauce, mix together all ingredients, except lamb, and pour into a lidded storage container. Give a few vigorous shakes before adding lamb. Turn several times to coat lamb thoroughly. Marinade in the fridge all day. Remove about 30 minutes before cooking. When grill is ready, remove lamb from sauce, cook until about medium, but still pink in the middle.

This is an Asian style marinade and goes well with Asian slaw or a salad with Asian dressing.

Eating Well @ Home!!