Sweet Potato Latkes

I rarely fry food.  I just don’t.  But at this time of year, I start seeing Hanukah recipes, and the one I see the most often is for Latkes.  You’ve seen them on TV.  They’re those grated potatoes that are fried.  They look mighty good, but the few times I’ve tried to make them, I am sorely disappointed because they are not as flavorful as I like.  Here Hanukah has rolled around again, and this morning I found myself thinking about Latkes again!  However, I have learned a few things since the last time I tried them, and these are the best I have ever made.  One change I made was in using sweet potatoes.  I love to use sweet potatoes in savory dishes.  I think the changes that made these better were not just one thing but a combination of many things.  

I am satisfied!

By the way, the eating of latkes at Hanukah has nothing to do with potatoes and everything to do with OIL.  Hanukah is about the miracle of oil.  Look it up!

Here’s what I did to make the the Best Latkes!  This made enough for about 6 servings. 

1 medium large sweet potato

1 small onion - red if you have it.  It just looks pretty in the dipping sauce.

Herbs and Spices that I used:  (use what you have and what you want to use)

salt

pepper

rosemary - chopped fresh or dried

garlic powder - This is one time I don’t prefer fresh garlic because it would burn.

chili powder

cumin

turmeric - I use turmeric for an almost mustardy taste and because it’s good for us.

ginger - good in most everything and good for us  

plain flour

cornstarch

1 egg

Wash the sweet potato but don’t peel it.  Grate it with a box grater.  With the potato I used I ended up with about 4 cups grated.  Put it all in a big bowl and salt it, cover completely with water, and mix it all up.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Grate part of the onion. 

Slice part of it thinly in 1/3 half-moons.  (Slice it in half and then cut part way to the root end in 3 parts.  Then slice across.)  

Dice up the rest of the onion and save that part for the dipping sauce.

Drain the grated sweet potato very well in a colander.  Put it back in a bowl and now mix in the grated onion and all the juice, the little onion slices, your salt, pepper, and other herbs and spices.  If you don’t have a certain spice, don’t worry.  But you want to use savory spices in this dish.  Mix, mix, mix.  Taste.  Add what you think it needs.  If it doesn’t taste good before you cook it, it won’t taste good after you cook it.  It’s like a rule.

Now, you can sprinkle in a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch and a couple of tablespoons of plain flour.  Mix that well.  Now make a little well and crack your egg into it.  Scramble it up with a fork and then mix the egg in well.

Get a skillet heating to about medium and add in oil.  I use olive oil.  (I do not care about that stuff about not frying with olive oil.  This is what they use in the Mediterranean part of the world, and therefore, so do I.  You can use what you want.) 

Turn the oven on 250 F and put a baking sheet in the oven.

Using a tablespoon and a fork, drop a spoonful at a time into the hot oil.  Make sure you smooth it down and even spread it a little if needed so that it is no fatter in the center than the edges.  Cook it 2 or 3 minutes per side.   Drain on paper towel then move to the baking sheet to keep warm in the oven.   

You will have several batches to cook, so you can make the dipping sauce while you cook.  

Dipping Sauce

I am using the word sauce for lack of a better word.  

-Greek yogurt - or sour cream  - About a cup

-diced onion

-salt

-cilantro -chopped - if you have it

-green onions - chopped

-Something spicy.  I used a little bit of canned chipotle peppers diced up.  You might want to use -diced jalepeno or crushed red pepper.  Horseradish would work also. 

-small lemon

Put the yogurt in a bowl and add everything on the list down to lemon.  With the lemon you want to first zest it.  That means just take a little small grater with a handle on it and grate just the yellow part of the rind straight into the bowl.  There is lots of flavor there!  Then cut the lemon in half and squeeze about half of it into the sauce. 

Stir it up.  Taste it.  You will probably need to add lemon juice or salt.  Or both.  

Serve latkes on a plate with a dollop or two of sauce on the side.

This is good, Y’all!

~Missy

Just One Cedar

This post has nothing to do with gardening or cooking, but since it's my blog, it seems like a good place to park this.  This is true story from my childhood growing up in Mississippi.  I have told this story to some of my friends and my momma gets me to tell it to her. most every year.   

     

For my whole life, when my momma comes across a cedar tree she will pinch off a piece and crush it and take a long, slow smell.  “Oh, it’s just like a memory drug!” she’ll say.  She has told me that all the Christmases when she was a little girl come flooding back.  I’ll smell that same cedar, and I have memories that flood back too, but for me those memories are of a very particular Christmas.

     When I was young, we always went and cut a Christmas tree on the Saturday two weeks before Christmas.  I would get out the calendar and get Momma to pinpoint which Saturday that would be, since of course rarely fell exactly 14 days before.  On the designated Saturday we would go to the old home place in Caledonia to find a cedar tree.  As a girl, she had spent many hours tramping those woods and knew the places to look.  My brother, Marty and I went with her.  Sometimes it was cold, but in Mississippi a December day is just as likely to be shirt-sleeve weather.  Getting a tree wasn’t something Daddy participated in; this was Momma’s joy.  

     But in December of 1973, my momma was in the hospital.  I was in 6th grade.  Marty would have been in 3rd.  They said it was hepatitis.  I didn’t know what that was, but I did know that often as we changed classes at school, the teachers would wait until almost everyone was gone and would ask, “Missy, how’s your momma?”  They asked often.  I felt like that meant there was something somebody wasn’t telling me, but I didn’t ask.  In those days, you just didn’t ask.  One day Daddy told us, “Your momma might not be home for Christmas.  She’s real sad.”  He said we would need to be brave to help her.  He didn’t say brave, but that’s the word I said to myself.  He said not to say anything to her about it. 

     I don’t know how long she was in the hospital.  I don’t know if it was a week or two weeks.  I those days, you could not go up to visit anyone in the hospital if you were under 12.  I was under 12.  I would be 12 in January.  Those were the rules, so she had us call her every day just as soon as we got in from school.  But we didn’t mention Christmas. 

     I kept checking the calendar.  I figured out which Saturday counted as “two weeks before.”  As the day grew closer, I didn’t say anything about a tree to Daddy, but I knew when THE day was to be.  I was just going to let it pass.  

     But on that Saturday morning Daddy got a call and as he hurriedly changed clothes, he said, “I’m going to the hospital and I might be bringing Momma home!  I don’t know for sure yet.”  He said something about blood tests and he left.  

     Momma might come home on Christmas tree day!  But she was sick so I knew we couldn’t GO get one.   I thought maybe, just maybe I could find one on our property.   We had 50 acres, and I had walked all over that place.  Some was pasture, and some was woods.  But I had never seen even one cedar tree on that whole place.  Big pine trees, oak trees, and sweet gums.  No cedars.  But I had to try.  I knew it would make Momma so happy if she knew the Christmas tree was taken care of.  So I headed out. 

     I walked.  And walked.  And walked.  I looked at all the edges where they were most likely to be found.  I had never seen one on the place before…  But I hadn’t been really looking for cedars in particular before, so there was a chance.  I kept walking, and I kept looking.  And I prayed.  I prayed for just ONE cedar.  

     Finally, there was no place left to look.  I had gone all around the edges of both pastures.  There was no point in looking deep in the woods because they don’t grow there.  I gave up and headed toward the house.  And the tears slowly fell.  Me, who never cried.  I had tried so hard.  It had been a great plan, but it didn’t work out.  I was so disappointed.  I wasn’t disappointed about not having a Christmas tree; I was disappointed that I hadn’t been able to do this great thing for Momma — IF she got to come home.  That part might not even happen anyway.  I walked back to the house a familiar way.  As I got into the front field, I looked up and, low and behold, there were three cedar trees!  They were all in a row along an old, long-since abandoned fence row.  I had never seen them before, and I had been in that area lots of times.  Marty and I rode our ponies there all the time.  But there they were.  A miracle!  

     Soon Daddy pulled in with Momma in the car!  We couldn’t even give her a hug because of germs.  That was part of the deal of her getting to come home — no contact.  As soon as I could I told her about the tree.  “You won’t believe it!” I said.  Daddy got the saw, and we went and cut one of those trees, the best one and dragged it home.  I think maybe our old tree stand was too small or something, but I had read in a magazine that you could put a tree in a bucket of wet sand and that would hold it up and keep it fresh.  So I got a 5-gallon metal paint bucket, and shoveled sand into it.  We set the tree up in it, and to make it look okay I put aluminum foil around that bucket.  Beautiful.  It really and truly was.  And Momma was home on Christmas Tree Day, and we had a miracle Christmas tree.  A cedar tree prayed for by a little girl.   

***Note:  I did write a song about this with the same title around 2002 as a Christmas gift to Momma and in 2004 recorded a simple version for her.  It's not a song we perform in the band or anything, but it's special nonetheless in other ways.  (I'm telling this because invariably someone will say that I should write a song about it.) 

      

     

Roasted Butternut Squash

Butternut squash is a wonderful vegetable, and I would love to see everyone use it more.  Many people think of it as a sweet food, but I prefer it to be savory.  My favorite way to prepare it is to roast it.  I then eat it in a pasta dish or in a pot pie type dish

Winter squashes include Butternut Squash, Hubbard Squash, and others with a thick skin.  They are called "winter squash" not because they grow in the winter but because they store well for eating during the winter.  You can use any winter squash for this recipe.  Summer squashes are yellow squash and zucchini, etc.

In Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods, Laura writes of her ma cutting Hubbard squash into chunks with an ax!  I've never had to resort to that with Butternut.  :)

The easiest way I have found to peel butternut is to just use a good vegetable peeler and peel the squash before you cook it.  Then using a good sharp knife, cut off the ends and cut the whole thing in half lengthwise and then into about 1 inch pieces.  Butternut squash is not easy to cut at first.  If you can cut it into chunks that are shorter than your knife, it goes easier.  Oh, do scoop out the seeds and pulp first!

Preheat the oven to around 425.  (You can use a lower temperature if you're cooking something else.  Just cook longer.)

In a bowl toss with a little olive oil and rosemary, salt and pepper, and garlic.  You can use any other savory spices that sound good to you.

Place on a big sheet pan and cook until the edges are brown and the pieces are fork tender.  This will take around 30 - 45 minutes.  You want the edges to be browned.  That brown stuff is caramelization and is what makes roasted vegetables so good.

Using a wide spatula, take up the cooked squash and place in a big bowl.  I love to then add a bit of broth (chicken or vegetable) or water to the pan to get up the brown bits and let it reduce to make it a little saucy.  Pour this reduced liquid into the bowl with the squash.

My favorite way to eat this is over wide noodles or bow tie pasta with blue cheese on top!  A cheddar cheese will work just as well.  If you eat this with pasta, mix the cooked pasta into the bowl and mix together before serving.  

Add some crusty bread and you have a feast!

Easy Bread!

Do you love fresh bread?  Fresh baked pizza?  But, like me, you are tired at the end of the day, and you feel you don't have the time or the energy to make your own dough. Or maybe you want to eat whole grain, but you've found that things like 100% whole wheat pizza dough is hard to come by. Here is the easiest way I have found to have great bread, to make it cheaply, and to know exactly what is in it because I put it there myself. Yes, I have a bread machine. It is in the closet. Why would I get it out when I can have great crusty, yummy whole wheat bread every day with 5 minutes of work? Here's the recipe. I'll be posting other things to do with it as I can. For now, love the crusty bread!

Master No-Knead Bread Recipe

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 TBL yeast

1 1/2 TBL salt

6 1/2 cups flour – I use whole wheat.*

(You can double this if you want to 13-6-3-3 --which is easy to remember)

Note: I like King Arthur whole wheat best, and I also enjoy their white unbleached whole wheat flour made from white wheat. So far, it is my favorite whole wheat flour. I also like King Arthur because they are employee owned. (They are not paying me to say this.)

dough after it has risen in the fridge-
Note the fancy pie tin top. 

I mix this up in a big plastic container. (I usually have to add more water especially if I use King Arthur.) Stir it with a big wooden spoon until everything is moistened. It will make a very wet dough. Put a loose lid on it. Because it has to be abIe to let gases out, you can't use a tight fitting lid. (I put plastic wrap on and lay a tin pie plate on top because it fits my container perfectly, but for a couple of years I put plastic wrap across it and fastened it with a giant blue rubber band.  When I lost the rubber band and had to find another solution.) Put it in the fridge and leave it for at least 3 hours. It will rise beautifully. When you get ready to use some, just put flour on something (I use the smooth back of a plastic cutting board) and pull or cut some out and knead the flour in a bit until it is smooth and not so sticky. It will last for about 2 weeks.

To make bread, make it into a ball and put it in a skillet or on a pizza stone and let it rise in a warm place at least 30 min. If it hasn't risen any, find some place a little warmer and wait. It will be worth it. Put a little dish of water in the oven while you heat the it to about 425 if it's very thin and maybe 385 if it's thicker. When you put the dough in the hot oven, spray some water on the sides of the oven also.

Sometimes, because I like lots of crunchy crust and not so much middle, I make a thinner bread in a skillet. After I have worked the dough a bit, I put olive oil on the bottom of the skillet , pat the dough out, flip it over and cook it at maybe 450 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. As soon as it comes out of the oven, loosen the bottom and prop it up with a butter knife or something that will hold it off the pan so it doesn't get soggy as it cools. I've found that a medium sized skillet is perfect for 2 people. A big skillet would be great for 4.

If you want, you can knead in black pepper and rosemary and sprinkle coarse salt on top. If I have them, I put raw sesame seeds on top.

You can use this master recipe for any kind of bread.  I most often use it to make pizza - on of my favorite food groups!

For a sourdough type flavor, when your dough gets low, just make the new batch on top of it and stir in the leftovers along with the scrapings from the side. It just adds good yeast!

I got this from Mother Earth News several years ago and it has improved my life! 

By the way, in the fridge the top of the dough will have some oxidation and turn gray. It's still fine.  The dough will be good for at least 2 weeks. 

*If you prefer the lightness of white flour then just swap it. I am using whole wheat because it is better for us.

Roasted Vegetables -- Oh My!

For roasted vegetables cut up whatever you have. It could be zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, eggplant, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash (or any other winter squash), carrots, okra, radishes, onions, whole cherry tomatoes, whole garlic cloves... If it's a hard vegetable like potatoes or carrots, I like to parboil them a bit before the next step. It helps them cook more quickly and they seem to taste a little better.


Next, put them in a mixing bowl and spoon some of your Missy's Special Herb Mixture  on it. Toss it or stir it around. Tossing is way more fun and makes people think you know what you're doing.

Add more herb mixture if you need to. I then add salt, pepper, cumin, ginger, liberal amounts of garlic powder and turmeric, maybe some chilli powder. Really just use whatever you want to try. If you don't have any of the “special herb stuff,” then make sure you add chopped rosemary to the other spices. Toss or mix it up again then put on a baking sheet. I like to prepare each veg separately so I can pull something out if it gets ready before the others. I do put the cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves throughout so they will almost melt into everything else.

If all you have is
salt and pepper, then use just that!

If you use okra, keep them whole or cut them in big or little pieces; all ways will work, but make sure you add it late because okra cooks more quickly than the others.
Cook in your oven at about 425 until things start to brown. You might as well cook two pans worth if you can so you'll have leftovers – maybe. Easy!

Roasted Tomatoes

Heat the oven to about 450 degrees.
If you are using cherry tomatoes, just wash the tomatoes and put them whole in a black skillet. If you are using Romas (paste tomato-which means it contains less water) or a slicing tomato just cut them in slices or halve and then slice.   Drizzle some olive oil over it and add a fair amount of salt. For Romas I add a bit of lemon juice because they are less acidic tomatoes.  If you have fresh garlic cloves, peel them and put them in whole. Cook it till everything gets darker. You want some caramelization; that's where the best flavor is! The cherry tomatoes will burst on their own. You can stir as you see fit to get browning on more sides.

When it's done, you can use it over pasta or on bruschetta... I promise you will lay up in bed thinking about this stuff; it's that good! If you don't need it that day or if there is some left, just put it in a jar in the fridge. It will keep for at least a week-maybe more.

No pictures yet! I'll add that when I make some more, but I wanted to get this up!

Schiacciata- What Kind of I-talian Word Is That?

Schiacciata is thinner and crisper than foccaccia.  It is very simple in toppings.    If you use the Easy bread dough recipe and keep some in the fridge all the time, then you can whip this out in no time!  My favorite version gives me a use for all the wonderful cherry tomatoes I have coming in right now.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. 

Knead about a grapefruit size ball of yeast dough for each one. Here'she Easy bread dough recipe .Put olive oil on a pan or a pizza stone and press the dough out pretty thin. Leave the indentions from your finger.  At this point you have choices about simple toppings.  This version is what I usually make.  I have seen it made with grapes just like I'm using the cherry tomatoes.

Savory Tomato and Rosemary Schiacciata

-cherry tomatoes (or Roma or other paste tomato cut in a large dice)

-rosemary

-black pepper

-coarse salt

Spread cherry tomatoes over the dough.  There may be a inch or two between them.  You can leave them whole or cut them in half.  I choose to cut them in half with the cut side up.   My thinking is that I don't want the juice to spill out and make the crust soggy.  Instead, I want it to become more concentrated.

Coarsely mince fresh or dry rosemary and sprinkle all over.

Grind coarse black pepper all over and sprinkle coarse salt.

Now drizzle with olive oil.  (I like to use garlic oil.)

I have learned that it works best to go ahead and run your pizza cutter around and cut it before it is cooked, otherwise if you just break pieces off after it's cooked, the little tomatoes fall off.  

Put in oven for about 20 minutes.  When it is done, you want there to be some crisp places on it.  

*Option:  You can drop some pesto around a few minutes before it is done. 

Toasted Almonds - A Little Thing

Sometimes the addition of one little thing to a dish will make a huge difference in flavor.  You may have heard the term umami recently.  Umami is just a little ingredient or technique that provides greater depth of flavor or perhaps even a "meatiness." even when it is a meatless dish.  Umami is often what makes the difference between a good dish and a great dish.

So I'm going to write some Little Pieces about some Little Things that I do.
 

Toasted Almonds

Toasted Almonds is Little Thing that will make a big difference.  And it is simple, simple, simple!

I add this to the top of a dish after it is already plated.  These toasted almonds will give you nice changes in texture, and when you get a piece in a bite, you'll have a big boost of flavor.

I have used it to to top dishes that have a base of quinoa, rice, farro, or roasted zucchini.  These are just what I have tried so far.  I wouldn't use it on a dish that already has lots of very strong flavors.  It will be lost there.  I've used it on warm salad type concoctions that are meatless and I have used it in dishes where I've added some salmon.
Now, you are probably thinking that you can buy already roasted almonds or slivered almonds.  The slivered almonds are just not a big enough so don't waste your money there.

Here's what I do.

Preheat oven to 350.
Take some whole natural or raw almonds and put them on your cutting board.  With a chef's knife, carefully chop across the pile a few times.  You'll need to cover them with your hand a little so the pieces don't go flying into the floor.  The goal here is to have random big pieces. You're trying to get each almond cut about one time but not necessarily in half.  Think abstract  art and don't try to be perfect.

I put the pieces in a trusty black skillet, but you can just use any pan, and put it in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.  Keep a close eye out so they don't burn.  You'll know they're ready when you can smell  a little change.  Pull them out and that's it!

You can make extra and store in an airtight container for another meal if you want.

Fried Squash Blossoms, Y'all!

These will disappear quickly!
(There are 2 fried basil leaves on this plate also.)

I don’t eat lots of fried foods, but THIS is worth it!  Fried Squash Blossoms, Y’all!!

I had read about these in some of those dreaming about  living in Italy books I like to read. 

I have read different folks’ take on them, and here is how I like to make them.  As usual, this is not an exact recipe because I just don’t cook that way.  I’ll tell you what I do and you make changes as you see fit.

Fried squash blossoms make a great appetizer, but they need to be eaten soon after they’re cooked.  That means the people who you’re feeding need to be visiting with you in the kitchen or they won’t get any.  It’s sort of a rule.

This is a male blossom.
You want to leave a little stem on for a handle.

This is a female bloom of butternut squash. You can see the
tiny squash at the base of the flower.  

First, you need to know that there are male and female blooms.  The female blooms will have a tiny squash at the bottom.  When that bloom gets pollinated, that baby squash will grow.  The male blooms don’t have anything at the bottom.  The blooms you need for this dish are the male blooms.  You can use the female blooms too, but it will cost you a future squash.  But maybe you WANT less squash!  

Some folks say that zucchini blossoms are best, but I’ve tried blossoms from zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash, and I never can remember which plant they came from by the time I get back to the house, and they all taste good.  Some blooms are bigger than others is the main thing I’ve noticed.  

You have to pick these blooms in the morning while they are wide open and fresh.  Later in the day they will start closing and will get more fragile.  Do shake out any little bee or critter that’s inside. Just make sure you don’t pick all the male blooms or there won’t be anybody there to provide pollen.  Remember your biology class.  It is possible to save blooms in the fridge for a day or maybe two.  I do it by putting a paper towel in the bottom of a good sized plastic container and putting them in that.  I like an ice cream container for this because it doesn’t cause them to be crushed.

Next, you need to pick out the stamen from the middle of the bloom.  That’s the part that has the pollen on it.  Do this right away because it’s harder to do after it’s been in the fridge.  

Now decide if you want filling or no filling.  In Italy they do both.  In my house, I do filling because that’s the best part to me.  Besides the crunchy outside.

Filling: 

Some folks use ricotta cheese, but I prefer Greek yogurt because it has more tang and flavor so….

• Greek yogurt - a good teaspoonful for every blossom 
• salt and pepper
• Lemon zest or a little bit of good lemon or lime juice (zest is best)
• I also use some chopped fresh thyme.  Use any herb you have that you think will taste good.
• Basil is also a good choice.

         Taste it and adjust for salt.

Batter:

• plain flour (I use whole wheat.)
• salt and pepper
• baking soda - this makes the batter foam which makes it lighter
• IF you have it, sprinkle in a little citric acid (the stuff in the canning section that keeps fruit from turning brown.)  I think it makes things foam more, and it adds zing.  
• water
• vodka if you have it — just a splash or two

I know you’re wondering about the vodka!  Vodka is good to use in any batter or pie crust because the alcohol evaporates faster than water.  Wine doesn’t work well—or it didn’t the one time I tried it just to see.  I don’t know about beer.  I think the sugar part doesn’t work in this.  So buy you some cheap vodka.  I’ll give you some more reasons to use it another day.

Stir it and keep adding liquid until is thinner than pancake batter.  You want this to be a thin coating.  

Take your teaspoon and put a spoonful of filling in each blossom.  Sort of twist or just bring together the ends of the blossom.  

Heat your oil in a skillet.  It doesn’t have to be very deep at all, just a half inch or so. 

I put it on medium heat.  You want them to cook fairly quickly.  If they cook too slowly, the filling will get too melty.  

If I only have 6 or 7 to do, I use my medium skillet so it doesn’t require as much oil.  Now, I use olive oil for this because that’s what they use in Italy and because that’s what Mario Batalli would use.  If I were smarter, I would probably use another oil.  Use what you want to use.

Dip the blossoms one at a time in the batter holding by the stem.  Make sure it is coated completely and let some of the excess batter drip off.  Next, carefully lay it in the hot oil.  You want to hear lots of sizzling!  By the time you get 3 in the oil, it will be time to turn over the first one.  Make sure it’s brown on the edges.  Turn it very carefully because you don’t want to puncture the blossom.  When it’s brown on the other side, take out with a slotted spoon or spatula and put it on a wire rack to drain over paper towels.  

*You want to use some sort of rack when you fry things because it will stay crunchy on the bottom and not have a soggy bottom that way.  

Immediately sprinkle with salt while the oil is still wet.  I especially like to use Rosemary Salt !

Let cool just a little and divide them very, very evenly between you and your loved one.  Do not cheat and get more!  (Well, if you’re the cook you CAN legally get an extra one.  This is called “The Cook’s Share.”) 

If all went well, the outside will be crisp and the inside will be soft and just warm.  Some may drip down your chin.  That’s perfect!  

Eat well, y’all!

Rosemary Salt – For a Delicious Finish

 

 Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. It is wonderful on roasted vegetables and on chicken, fish, or shrimp. But here is a new favorite – rosemary salt! It is so simple to make and will add a delicious finishing touch to many of your favorite dishes. I like it best on roasted or fried potatoes and baked (or fried!) potato chips. I also love it on ANY roasted vegetables or meats.
This is one of the simplest things you will ever do!


You need:
coarse kosher salt
fresh rosemary

Gather fresh rosemary. If the stems are woody, strip the leaves off. If you gathered soft tips that you were able to pinch off with your fingers, then you can use stems and all. In a bowl layer coarse kosher salt and rosemary. You will use more salt than rosemary. Leave this uncovered just overnight. By morning the salt will have absorbed all the moisture (and flavor!) from the rosemary. Finally, put it in a covered jar, and it is ready to use!




     I like to use this as a “finishing” salt. By that I mean that after a dish is cooked I then add this last touch so that the flavor hits the tongue just right.  I often use plain chopped rosemary IN the dish as it is cooked and then add the special salt at the end for layers of flavor.

Missy's Special Herb Mixture

This is great for roasted vegetables or meat. (My daughter calls it “vegetable rub.”) You can also drizzle it on salad greens as a dressing. I drizzle it on sandwiches or on any kind of fritter. I sometimes mix a bit with Greek yogurt to make a creamy type salad dressing or to use in place of sour cream on potatoes or Mexican dishes. Truthfully, it will enhance the flavor of pretty much anything!


You don't have to have much of any one type of herb to make this concoction. And please know that this is not a “recipe,” it is maybe more of a method in which you can experiment and adapt and change to suit your tastes or what is in your garden right now.



Here's what to do:
Gather whatever herbs you have at the moment. What I use is:


rosemary (ALWAYS rosemary)
basil
lemon thyme
sage
crushed fresh garlic
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
If you like you can add some fresh hot pepper.





If you don't have all of these do not worry; just make it with what you have! If you have other herbs you like, then throw that in too. You can even do this with just one herb if you like!

Put the garlic in the blender first with a bit of olive oil and give it a whir. Then add everything else. You want to use more olive oil and just some lemon juice. (I started adding some lemon juice and salt because that keeps it from spoiling quickly.) Make it pretty wet. Whir it up real good. (How do you like that technical terminology?) Pour it in a jar and store in the fridge. That's it!

You can use this to flavor most anything.  You can drizzle it into a bowl of soup.   You can use it on any vegetable either roasted or sautéed or right on the plate.  I also enjoy it on fish.  This is also great in a vinaigrette

In any use,  I often use some in the cooking stage and then a little bit after the food is plated that way you get different flavors from the same ingredient.

*Note- I have started using more oil than what is pictured.  I love the flavored oil.

Quinoa With Roasted Veggies!

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) is the most nutritious of all grains!  It is high in fiber, a good source of iron, and is a complete protein!  Quinoa is quick and easy to prepare.  It only takes about 20 minutes to cook!  It has a slight nutty flavor.  A bag will cost about 6 or 7 dollars, but you'll get 16 servings from it!  You won't need to use any meat in this dish because one serving has about 7 grams of protein.

To prepare quinoa, you need to look on the front of your bag and find out if yours has been pre-rinsed or not.  Quinoa naturally has a bitter coating on it when growing that keeps birds from wanting to eat it.  If yours has not been rinsed already, you'll need to rinse it well and drain it using a fine-mesh strainer.  The bag will give you instructions on that also.

You will cook it using a 2:1 ratio of water or broth to grain.  You cook it about like rice.  I like to add herbs and spices at this stage.  You'll cook it around 20 minutes or until it absorbs all the liquid.  You'll know it's ready when the baby roots are sticking out.  They look like tiny tails.

Now you can treat it like a warm salad, or a base for roasted vegetables, or use a simple sauce.   I haven't tried it yet as a baked dish, but I looked forward to trying that also.

Roasted Vegetables, Mushrooms, and Quinoa

Y'all know I don't use recipes often and this is another of those times.  Use whatever you have coming in from the garden or whatever vegetables you have.  You can't mess it up!

Yesterday I had just picked my first zucchini from the garden, so it had to be eaten for supper!  I roasted it and some tomato and onions and quickly sautéed some mushrooms.

Here's what I did:
Quinoa - 1/4 cup dry for each person.  Cook that up.
Zucchini - cut in a medium dice
Roma tomatoes - about one for each person--cut in a large dice
  or
Small handful of cherry tomatoes for each person - leave whole
Mushrooms - cut in quarters or halves.  I like this better than slicing because I feel like you get a better burst of flavor that way.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Zucchini or other such veggies will take the longest so get them in the oven first.  Put the cut pieces in a big bowl and toss with olive oil or use Missy's Special Herb Mixture.  (Add additional oil if you use that.)  If you haven't already added herbs, then chop up whatever herbs you have.  I like to use rosemary for sure.  Then  mix up whatever dry spices you want to use.  At least use salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Use cumin and turmeric if you have it.  Now sprinkle this dry mixture on the veggies stirring or tossing as you go.  Spread it all on a big sheet pan and put it in the oven.  Read more about Roasted Vegetables here.  Roasted Vegetables. Oh My!

Roast your tomatoes in a black skillet or thick pan.  Drizzle them with olive oil and add salt and garlic powder.  If using Romas, add a little lemon juice because they need a little acid.  Put them in the oven but keep an eye on them.  Pull them out when the edges get a little brown.  Add a little liquid like qhite wine to the pan to get up the little brown bits. (Flavor in the brown!)  Read how to make Roasted Tomatoes .

In a pan on the stove or in the oven, put a little bit of butter--a couple of pats--and some olive oil.  Let that just melt and then put in the mushrooms and get them coated fairly well.  Add more olive oil if you need to.  Add some salt and pepper and garlic and stir it all up.  Stick in the oven for just a few minutes.  8-10 probably.  Pull them out when the color just starts to change a little.  You want them to not be all shriveled and cooked down.

When the quinoa is ready, stir that into the pan with the roasted tomatoes and let them love on each other.  This is going to make it taste SO good!  Then when everything else is ready, either stir the zucchini and mushrooms in the dish or what I like to do is serve the quinoa and mushrooms on each plate and then top with the zucchini and mushrooms--mostly because I want my fair share of mushrooms!

I served this with some just-picked cucumber on the side---diced with salt, pepper, and lemon juice or vinegar.  Not swimming in the vinegar but just drizzled.

Eat well, Y'all!!  ~Missy