See ya, week 5. It was a great week full of the most indulgent of food as I have had so far. Sinking my teeth into a catfish sandwich or venison burger was really satisfying. Just eating anything that doesn't involve a fork or spoon is really satisfying. But to be completely honest, this week I started having repeated thoughts of the meal that Intimidating Minnow, Styx Hot Tea, Pacer Tailbone, and I had for my last dinner out. My thoughts go something like this...
Lifting the taco, a warm corn tortilla with a bit of steam collected on the bottom, dripping with a hot sauce, fingers touching my lips and tasting the slight sourness of a lime I previously squeezed...sinking my teeth into a full bite of warm meat and crisp onion and aromatic cilantro...wiping my hands on my napkin...reaching for the jumbo lime margarita on the rocks, wet and cold glass, a bright pink or green straw that is really too big in diameter but that's ok because I don't care if it's because the waiter hopes I'll drink it faster that way...the warm flavor of tequila and cool lime mixing in my mouth...hearing the ice cubes clink against the inside of the glass...holding the skinny stem of the glass as I put it back on the table...picking up a tortilla chip, warm and salty with a sheen of oil, dipping into salsa or guacamole...feeling the resistance of the dip...taking a bite and hearing the chip crack......
You get the idea.
I'm almost half way through this thing. I can do this.
Day 29
breakfast: blackberry and apple smoothie
lunch: fried egg on pan corn tortilla with hot salsa, apples
snack: apple chips
dinner: soda bread catfish sandwich with aioli and pear chow-chow, pears in orange and nutmeg
I've been waiting for a good time to make my soda bread, and this was the perfect week given all the good things I was able to use it for. It takes 3 cups of flour, but it lasts for many meals. It's a pretty nice replacement for regular white bread, so it works well for sandwichy things.
I'm almost half way through this thing. I can do this.
Day 29
breakfast: blackberry and apple smoothie
lunch: fried egg on pan corn tortilla with hot salsa, apples
snack: apple chips
dinner: soda bread catfish sandwich with aioli and pear chow-chow, pears in orange and nutmeg
I've been waiting for a good time to make my soda bread, and this was the perfect week given all the good things I was able to use it for. It takes 3 cups of flour, but it lasts for many meals. It's a pretty nice replacement for regular white bread, so it works well for sandwichy things.
Day 30
breakfast: blackberry milk
lunch: soda bread catfish sandwich with aioli and pear chow-chow, pears in orange and nutmeg
dinner: venison burger (made with venison, spinach, garlic, and rosemary) on soda bread with aioli and pear chow-chow
Venison burger. Enough said.
breakfast: blackberry milk
lunch: soda bread catfish sandwich with aioli and pear chow-chow, pears in orange and nutmeg
dinner: venison burger (made with venison, spinach, garlic, and rosemary) on soda bread with aioli and pear chow-chow
Venison burger. Enough said.
Day 31
breakfast: soy milk sweetened with syrup from pears canned with orange and nutmeg
lunch: venison burger (made with venison, spinach, garlic, and rosemary) on soda bread with aioli and pear chow-chow
snack: apple chips
dinner: venison burger (made with venison, spinach, garlic, and rosemary) on soda bread with aioli and pear chow-chow
Day 32
lunch: toasted soda bread topped with aioli, carrot top pesto, and scrambled egg whites with garlic
dinner: black raspberry and apricot galette
My aioli took two egg yolks, so I saved the whites for this scramble. And I needed to eat the rest of the carrot top pesto in the fridge, so this idea came about. I was surprised as to how yummy this creation of leftovers was!
I had been thinking about some sort of rustic tart since summer. This was the day for it. I used my small amount of black raspberries and some of my canned apricots to make a galette. If you like pies or tarts, you have to try this! It's so easy and doesn't take long at all! This one was about 5" in diameter. I'm making more of these in the future.
breakfast: soy milk sweetened with syrup from pears canned with orange and nutmeg
lunch: venison burger (made with venison, spinach, garlic, and rosemary) on soda bread with aioli and pear chow-chow
snack: apple chips
dinner: venison burger (made with venison, spinach, garlic, and rosemary) on soda bread with aioli and pear chow-chow
Day 32
lunch: toasted soda bread topped with aioli, carrot top pesto, and scrambled egg whites with garlic
dinner: black raspberry and apricot galette
My aioli took two egg yolks, so I saved the whites for this scramble. And I needed to eat the rest of the carrot top pesto in the fridge, so this idea came about. I was surprised as to how yummy this creation of leftovers was!
I had been thinking about some sort of rustic tart since summer. This was the day for it. I used my small amount of black raspberries and some of my canned apricots to make a galette. If you like pies or tarts, you have to try this! It's so easy and doesn't take long at all! This one was about 5" in diameter. I'm making more of these in the future.
Day 33
breakfast: french toast with crabapple syrup and apricots, Kentucky Coffee Tree coffee
lunch: fried egg sandwich on griddle cakes with spinach, aioli, and thyme, Kentucky Coffee Tree coffee
snack: griddle cake with butter
The previous day's galette required a whipped egg for brushing on the crust, but I had a lot of egg leftover, so I used it along with my last soda bread pieces for french toast.
breakfast: french toast with crabapple syrup and apricots, Kentucky Coffee Tree coffee
lunch: fried egg sandwich on griddle cakes with spinach, aioli, and thyme, Kentucky Coffee Tree coffee
snack: griddle cake with butter
The previous day's galette required a whipped egg for brushing on the crust, but I had a lot of egg leftover, so I used it along with my last soda bread pieces for french toast.
Day 34
breakfast: apricot smoothie, griddle cake with elderberry jelly
lunch: crabapple sauce, griddle cake with elderberry jelly
snack: apple chips
dinner: 21 dolmas stuffed with venison, red potato, reduced Roma tomatoes, dried mint
You might recall I made dolmas on the same evening that Intimidating Minnow and I picked a boat load of wild grape leaves this past summer. I had just one jar of 35 leaves canned, so I used 21 of them for this batch of dolmas. I used red potato in place of rice, added some reduced tomatoes, and of course venison in place of lamb. But the mint tied it all together, and this was a tasty mixture.
breakfast: apricot smoothie, griddle cake with elderberry jelly
lunch: crabapple sauce, griddle cake with elderberry jelly
snack: apple chips
dinner: 21 dolmas stuffed with venison, red potato, reduced Roma tomatoes, dried mint
You might recall I made dolmas on the same evening that Intimidating Minnow and I picked a boat load of wild grape leaves this past summer. I had just one jar of 35 leaves canned, so I used 21 of them for this batch of dolmas. I used red potato in place of rice, added some reduced tomatoes, and of course venison in place of lamb. But the mint tied it all together, and this was a tasty mixture.
Day 35
breakfast: leftover dolmas filling scrambled with egg, crabapple sauce
lunch: leftover dolmas filling scrambled with egg, pears
snack: apple chips
dinner: coq au vin blanc, spiced pear bread with butter, pear/crabapple wine
Egg barter day! Crystal was awesome to suggest a trade of crabapple sauce and dried mint for 18 eggs instead of 12. Yahoo! Thank you, Crystal.
Pretty fancy week, huh? I wish I could re-eat some of this food. It ended with coq au vin blanc. Intimidating Minnow came over and we tested it out for dinner. Not bad, for eating a bird (not crazy about eating birds as you might recall). Normally I'd cut the fat off, but I left all of it on this rooster. Not wasting a thing if I can help it.
breakfast: leftover dolmas filling scrambled with egg, crabapple sauce
lunch: leftover dolmas filling scrambled with egg, pears
snack: apple chips
dinner: coq au vin blanc, spiced pear bread with butter, pear/crabapple wine
Egg barter day! Crystal was awesome to suggest a trade of crabapple sauce and dried mint for 18 eggs instead of 12. Yahoo! Thank you, Crystal.
Pretty fancy week, huh? I wish I could re-eat some of this food. It ended with coq au vin blanc. Intimidating Minnow came over and we tested it out for dinner. Not bad, for eating a bird (not crazy about eating birds as you might recall). Normally I'd cut the fat off, but I left all of it on this rooster. Not wasting a thing if I can help it.
Recipes:
Aioli: 2 egg yolks, 4 large roasted garlic cloves peeled and mashed, 1 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons leftover pickling liquid from pear chow-chow (you can use lemon juice or a similar acid). Combine everything but the oil and whisk well. Very slowly dribble the olive oil drops into your mixture as you constantly whisk. After the first 1/4 cup of canola oil is whisked in you can increase your oil to an irregular tiny stream. Whisk the whole time until all oil is incorporated. Keep in the fridge.
Soda bread: 3 cups g-free flour (with added xanthan gum), 1/2 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 beaten eggs, 1 1/2 cup soy milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar. Combine dry ingredients, whisk wet ingredients separately. Add wet to dry and pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for an hour at 350 degrees.
Galette: Filling: 2 cups fruit (I used 1 1/2 cups black raspberries and 1/2 cup apricots), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix all together, check sweetness and add more sugar if needed, depending on the fruit you are using. Crust: 3/4 cup g-free flour (with xanthan gum), 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons cold butter, 1/4 cup cold water. Process: Combine all crust ingredients except the cold butter and cold water. Then cut in the cold butter until you get small pea-sized texture of butter bits in the flour, slowly add cold water and mix into dough. Roll out to 6" in diameter on flour dusted parchment. (I used parchment so I could flip it over onto my baking sheet easier.) Pour filling into the center of crust, leaving an inch of crust exposed all around the filling. Fold crust up over filling. Brush beaten egg onto crust and dust the entire top of galette lightly with a little more sugar. Bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.
Dolmas: Sauté 1/2 pound of ground venison, 1 baked and finely chopped red potato, 4-5 blanched and reduced Roma tomatoes, and dried mint and salt to taste. Add spoonfuls of filling on the bottom halves of steamed or canned grape leaves (mine were canned for this recipe and I think they were better than the freshly steamed ones last summer), fold grape leaf sides in, and roll the leaf from bottom to top. Drizzle all with extra virgin olive oil.
Coq au vin blanc: Combine 1/2 bottle of pear/crabapple wine (or any white wine), a few sliced cloves of garlic, and 1/4 cup chopped wild onions with bulbs. Simmer in a pot for 5 minutes. Let mixture cool. Pour mixture over two rooster legs and thighs, cover, and refridgerate for 24 hours. Remove rooster from mixture and brown both sides of all pieces in a skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Strain marinade mixture keeping liquid in a bowl. Add garlic and onions to the skillet to brown. Add 2 tablespoons g-free flour to skillet and mix well with ingredients. Slowly add marinade liquid and whisk well. Add rooster pieces back to skillet and simmer for 25-30 minutes, rotating rooster and lightly stirring a few times until meat is done. I did have to add about 1/3 cup of water while the rooster was simmering, and I also added an extra splash of olive oil.
Spiced pear bread: 2 cups g-free flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 beaten eggs, 1 1/2 cups chopped canned pears (that were canned in apple juice and a cinnamon stick...or you can use any other fruit that you like as long as it's the same consistency), 1 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 cup canola oil. Combine dry ingredients, and make a well in the center. Add eggs, fruit, sugar, oil and vanilla to center. Mix well and bake 1 hour (checking with a toothpick at about 50 minutes into baking) at 350 degrees. If you have nutmeg, add 1/4 teaspoon to your mixture. I already had these super spiced pears (way too much cinnamon in one jar!), so I didn't need anything extra to get that warm type of flavor that nutmeg adds. I have made this fruit bread in many many ways...you can really use any fruit you like as long as it's the same semi-mushy and wet consistency.
Aioli: 2 egg yolks, 4 large roasted garlic cloves peeled and mashed, 1 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons leftover pickling liquid from pear chow-chow (you can use lemon juice or a similar acid). Combine everything but the oil and whisk well. Very slowly dribble the olive oil drops into your mixture as you constantly whisk. After the first 1/4 cup of canola oil is whisked in you can increase your oil to an irregular tiny stream. Whisk the whole time until all oil is incorporated. Keep in the fridge.
Soda bread: 3 cups g-free flour (with added xanthan gum), 1/2 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 beaten eggs, 1 1/2 cup soy milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar. Combine dry ingredients, whisk wet ingredients separately. Add wet to dry and pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for an hour at 350 degrees.
Galette: Filling: 2 cups fruit (I used 1 1/2 cups black raspberries and 1/2 cup apricots), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix all together, check sweetness and add more sugar if needed, depending on the fruit you are using. Crust: 3/4 cup g-free flour (with xanthan gum), 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons cold butter, 1/4 cup cold water. Process: Combine all crust ingredients except the cold butter and cold water. Then cut in the cold butter until you get small pea-sized texture of butter bits in the flour, slowly add cold water and mix into dough. Roll out to 6" in diameter on flour dusted parchment. (I used parchment so I could flip it over onto my baking sheet easier.) Pour filling into the center of crust, leaving an inch of crust exposed all around the filling. Fold crust up over filling. Brush beaten egg onto crust and dust the entire top of galette lightly with a little more sugar. Bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.
Dolmas: Sauté 1/2 pound of ground venison, 1 baked and finely chopped red potato, 4-5 blanched and reduced Roma tomatoes, and dried mint and salt to taste. Add spoonfuls of filling on the bottom halves of steamed or canned grape leaves (mine were canned for this recipe and I think they were better than the freshly steamed ones last summer), fold grape leaf sides in, and roll the leaf from bottom to top. Drizzle all with extra virgin olive oil.
Coq au vin blanc: Combine 1/2 bottle of pear/crabapple wine (or any white wine), a few sliced cloves of garlic, and 1/4 cup chopped wild onions with bulbs. Simmer in a pot for 5 minutes. Let mixture cool. Pour mixture over two rooster legs and thighs, cover, and refridgerate for 24 hours. Remove rooster from mixture and brown both sides of all pieces in a skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Strain marinade mixture keeping liquid in a bowl. Add garlic and onions to the skillet to brown. Add 2 tablespoons g-free flour to skillet and mix well with ingredients. Slowly add marinade liquid and whisk well. Add rooster pieces back to skillet and simmer for 25-30 minutes, rotating rooster and lightly stirring a few times until meat is done. I did have to add about 1/3 cup of water while the rooster was simmering, and I also added an extra splash of olive oil.
Spiced pear bread: 2 cups g-free flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 beaten eggs, 1 1/2 cups chopped canned pears (that were canned in apple juice and a cinnamon stick...or you can use any other fruit that you like as long as it's the same consistency), 1 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 cup canola oil. Combine dry ingredients, and make a well in the center. Add eggs, fruit, sugar, oil and vanilla to center. Mix well and bake 1 hour (checking with a toothpick at about 50 minutes into baking) at 350 degrees. If you have nutmeg, add 1/4 teaspoon to your mixture. I already had these super spiced pears (way too much cinnamon in one jar!), so I didn't need anything extra to get that warm type of flavor that nutmeg adds. I have made this fruit bread in many many ways...you can really use any fruit you like as long as it's the same semi-mushy and wet consistency.