Author Archives: sa.fifer

Unknown's avatar

About sa.fifer

Lover of good, wholesome food and wine. Cooks for one and the cat. Likes to paint-- a frustrated botanical illustrator and amateur (photographer) and fledgling birdwatcher, beekeeper, and Kindle addict. Works as a freelance indexer.

Kale in salads?

Posted on by

This recipe and the one also mentioned in this post have convinced me that I need to try kale in a salad–I love the stuff in soups, and braised dishes.

StefanGourmet's avatarStefan's Gourmet Blog


I remember being surprised when I read about kale salad for the first time on Emmy Cooks, since kale is usually eaten cooked in the Netherlands with mashed potatoes and smoked pork sausage (boerenkool met worst). Fresh kale is also mostly available in winter, not the best season for eating salads. When I was travelling in the USA, I found kale to be used for salads everywhere and even made my own ‘Trail Mix’ version of Emmy’s kale salad a few times. Since it is unseasonally warm at the moment and therefore suitable weather for a salad and I saw a nice head of kale at the market, I decided to see if the Dutch variety of kale is also suitable for kalad. Turns out it isn’t really; even though I used to top, youngest, leaves they were quite a bit tougher than the kale we had in…

View original post 548 more words

Lime and Sage Roast Chicken

Posted on by

This sounds like a fantastic flavor combination–must try this next time I do a whole chicken!

GreedyFrog's avatarThe Greedy Frog

image
If I have been a bit quiet lately, it is mostly because I have been spending some time at my parents’ in France, and I have been rather too busy eating what other people had cooked, to be doing any cooking myself…

But I have brought back a few new cake and tart tins, a brand new cast iron pan (it is huge!) and some Valrhona chocolate. And I can’t wait to start experimenting with my new toys!

In the meantime, here is a nice, easy but delicious Sunday recipe.

Have a great day everyone!

You will need:

1 chicken (preferably free-range)
1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
About 2 tbsp dried sage

Method:

Weigh your chicken, and calculate the cooking time: it should take 20 min per 450 g, plus 10 to 20 min overall. Preheat your oven to 190C/ fan 180/ gas 5.

With strong kitchen…

View original post 137 more words

Musings on the evening meal–dinner or supper?

Posted on by

Just some random thoughts that wandered through my brain while minding the grill on Saturday afternoon….

Orange tabby cat in the refrigerator

Frankie checks the fridge

I hear lots of people talking about dinner, but what has happened to supper?  Where I grew up, on the farm, the big meal was in the middle of the day, so you’d have energy to work the rest of the day.  Supper was a lighter meal, usually after dark, since you could no longer work outside without artificial light which didn’t happen in the hay field.  Well, when you have questions, look it up:

  • Supper:  Etymology: Middle English soper, super, supper, from Old French soper, super, souper, fromsoper, super, souper to eat the evening meal — more at SUP
    1 a : a meal taken at the close of the day; especially : the evening meal when dinner is taken at midday b : a social affairfeaturing a supper; specifically : an evening social (as a box social) especially for raising funds for charitable or other purposes c : a usually light evening meal
  • Dinner:  Etymology: Middle English diner, from Old French disner, diner, from disner, diner to dine — more at 1DINE
    1 : the principal meal of the day eaten about midday or in the evening; also: a formal feast or banquet in honor of some person or event

    Frankie sitting on top of the refrigerator

    Top of the food chain?

Well, I do cook dinner for friends, and I do go out to dinner.  I even occasionally even cook dinner for myself (and the cat).  Mostly, I just eat supper–it’s a comfortable meal to end my day lightly. But supper doesn’t mean a PBJ in front of the TV.  It’s likely simple–griddled fish or steak, a one-pot meal, an omelette dressed as a Spanish tortilla, or soup–easy but tasty.

A son goût! 

Orange tabby cat on the kitchen counter with the mixer, food processor, and knives

What’s cooking?

<><><>

1.  “supper.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (5 Oct. 2012).

2.  “dinner.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (5 Oct. 2012).

Guest contributor coming soon….

Posted on by

Chicken wings are one of my favorite nibbles–well, if I’m honest, I can make a meal of them instead of just nibbling, so I thought it would be good to get some information on cooking them from someone who really knows wings.

Carmen Rice Settles owns Full Street Wings, and she’s put together some marvelous sauces for her wings. While she’s doing them on large-scale way, she has agreed to share her expertise on a home-size scale with us.

I’m happy to have her as a guest contributor to this blog!  Welcome, Carmen!

Greens, with dill and feta cheese

Posted on by

So many greens do well in cold weather–and can be simple to fix.

emmycooks's avatarEmmy Cooks

Welcome to Emmy Cooks!  You can see more of my favorite recent recipes by clicking the “My Favorite Recipes” category on the sidebar (here are July, August, and September).  If you like what you see here, you can sign up on the sidebar to receive a daily recipe by email, add the RSS feed to your blog reader, or follow Emmy Cooks on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Some days, maybe most days, simpler is better.

I had a plan to make this week’s greens into a tart of some sort, or maybe spanakopita, or at least green tartines.  But those things take time, and some days I don’t have time.  I piled all my greens into a pan to wilt, then chopped and dressed them with olive oil, lemon juice, dill, and a sprinkle of feta cheese.  It was better than good enough.

View original post 231 more words

Chilli con carne redux update

Posted on by

I’ve finished the “fast” version of the chilli con carne that I posted about in Chilli Con Carne Redux!  I’ll concede that it’s only sort of faster in terms of the active prep time–it still needs to cook long and slowly, but it is a success.  I don’t think that I can tell the difference (tasted side-by-side with the more laborious version from the freezer) and friends have given it the nod of approval.  So here are the changes and additions to the original chilli con carne that I posted.

  • After the bacon browned, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste was added while the onions were sautéed, and this was browned–again to enhance the umami, not to add tomato flavor.
  •  None of the meat (pork or beef) was browned before adding liquids.
  •  Added bay leaves to increase the earthiness (used five large for this 6 pounds of meat).
  •  Added Mexican oregano–about 2 rounded teaspoons. (You really do want Mexican oregano for this–much different flavor than Turkish or Greek (Mediterranean) oregano–after all it is an unrelated plant, but worth having in the kitchen if you like chili.)
  •  Sun-dried tomatoes (about 1/2 cup chopped) were added for more umami even though this was NOT made in a slow cooker, I was not aiming for tomato-flavored chili.
  • During the cooking time I tasted some in a bowl with a little fish sauce added (yep, I did get up the nerve to try this) and it tasted wonderful; so I added about 4 or 5 tablespoons of fish sauce.  (I suspect that if you don’t have fish sauce a couple of anchovy filets thrown in would have the same effect.)
  • The final thickening was one with a brown roux made with masa harina.  For the fat in this roux I reserved about 1/4 cup of the fat from the de-fatting step.  I heated this and made sure that all liquid was evaporate, then added about 6 tablespoons of masa harina and cooked it until it was a medium brown and toasty smelling.
  • Because of my work schedule, this was cooked in a lower oven (about 195° F) for about 10 hours.

After another run on this I’ll have to post a revised recipe for the “fast” and easier version, but if you feel so inclined you can work with these changes–after all chili con carne is one of those things that really doesn’t need a recipe to be followed strictly.

Dandelion greens

Posted on by

I finished my teaching week this afternoon and found myself in need of an attitude adjustment.  It’s been a busy, hectic week but I still can’t figure out what I supposedly accomplished in all that business.  Still laundry to do and other household chores….

dandelion greens bunched in the Harris Teeter produce department

dandelion greens

In prowling through the grocery store (my local Harris Teeter) the other day I found absolutely lovely dandelion greens.  I haven’t had dandelion greens very often since I was a kid growing up on the farm.  Then they were a springtime treat–the young tender ones in a wilted salad with bacon dressing.  I thought that I’d try them in a one-dish meal based on a recipe from Jacques Pepin’s Shortcut Cook–quick, easy, and in the comfort-food category.  I decided that a good complement to the bitterness of the dandelion greens would be Siciliansausage which Harris Teeter makes in the meat department.  It’s a bit like Italian, but spicier and with much less fennel.

fresh store-made sausages

freshly made sausages

Remove sausage from casing, brown; add chopped onion and continue with the browning, then add a couple of garlic cloves, minced.  Add the chopped dandelion greens, stems about 10 minutes before the leafier parts (still wet from washing), cover and simmer. Depending on the spiciness of the sausage you might want some red pepper flakes. This particular sausage is strongly enough flavored that I did not add anything else.  When the greens are almost cooked, add some cooked pinto beans (in this case I’m resorting to canned ones). For a change from beans, add some diced potatoes to cook with the sausage and the greens.

Finish with a tiny drizzle of good fruity extra-virgin olive oil and it’s good to go, add some of my homemade oat bread, and ripe and fragrant Bartlett pears.

It’s certainly easy, reasonably quick–it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the greens to cook, but it sure does contribute to attitude adjustment!  (Sorry, no pictures–it’s not photogenic.)  It’s good for single-serving cooking since I can buy the sausages individually, and if I’m using mustard, kale, I can buy those loose in the amount needed I don’t have leftovers.  If there is more than I’m going to use at once, I’ll take out some of the sausage and greens to be used later, perhaps as an omelette filling.

A son goût! 

The passing of the autumnal equinox…

Posted on by

I’m now well-established in the routine of the fall semester teaching. The autumnal equinox has come and now the nights are starting to lengthen, which means it’s time to prepare the herbs growing on the deck for the winter.

pots of sage and oregano on stairs

sage & oregano

Most made it through the summer, though looking a bit ratty now, and even having some strange things growing in the pots as well.  Some will likely remain usable most of the winter in this climate (chives, sage, maybe oregano, and the “walking” onions), or at least come back in the spring:  sorrel, chives, lemon grass, and, if I’m lucky the summer (French) thyme, and French tarragon.  Others will die back if I don’t bring them indoors when it gets cold: ginger, turmeric, and sweet bay (Laurus nobilis).

French thyme and French tarragon in small pots

French thyme & French tarragon

Many of my herbs suffered this summer, and some, even though perennials, are aged enough that they need to be replaced and others repotted.  While that’s going on I’m going to try to make the herbs a bit more manageable–so that I can take a bit better care of them than I managed to do this summer with a bit less effort. During some of the long hot weeks it seemed like I just could not keep up with the watering, especially on those that were growing in smaller pots.

I’ve decided to get some professional advice on my container herb garden.  I’ve a good friend and neighbor for whom I did some garden tending while she was out of town, and in payment, I’m taking advantage of her professional services to advise me on revamping my front-deck herb garden for next summer.  I’d like to keep my French tarragon, since I like it better than Spanish tarragon or Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida), though that’s good to have too.

large lemon grass

lemon grass

I have to say that one new addition this summer seemed to thrive regardless of heat and my watering or lack of it: lemon grass!  It almost became a bit overwhelming–it started on the steps with the sage, and had to be moved because it was so large.  It was a rather lovely contrast to the turmeric and the culinary ginger plants–overall a very tropical feel to my deck this summer.

I don’t want to give up any herbs that I had growing so conveniently right around my front door–I just want to make it a bit more manageable!  I suspect that I’ll find more that I want to add, but I’ll try to restrain myself and keep it within reason though I may want to trade some of the hostas or other ornamental plants for more edible plants.

hostas and caladium

not herbs!

Chilli con carne redux….

Posted on by

I love my chilli con carne–but it’s very a very time-consuming kitchen project so after considering umami in the slow cooker I though I’d try a few shortcuts, with some umami boosts.

I usually buy a big chuck roast and cut it up myself, but I found that my local Harris Teeter had stew mean which was chuck roast already cut up, so I bought a big package of that.  Some time saved there.  I did have to cut the pork, but I bought  spare ribs so that all I had to do was cut them into chunks–another bit of time saved.

One thing that takes a lot of time is browning that much meat, so I thought I try bypassing that step since I still plan to cook it in the conventional oven very slooooowly, letting evaporation and concentration happen so there should get a little browning as the liquid reduces.

I toasted all the spices (cumin and coriander) and the chilli peppers that went into the pot and added a little tomato paste that had been browned.  I know that fish sauce (nam pla) and soy sauce are supposed to boost umami, but I just couldn’t put either of them into the pot.  If this doesn’t work, I guess I’ll try that next time.

The pot of chilli con carne is ready to go into the oven as soon as the oat bread comes out.  So some hours from how, I’ll know if this worked or not….

A shorter blogroll

Posted on by

If you noticed the shorter blogroll, it’s not that I’ve taken down any of those great links–they have just moved to “Favorite Blogs” page.  All of them have such unique and good content that I thought it might be more useful to have them listed where I can tell you more about the content.  I’ve more links to add–more food blogs that I consistently follow, so I thought I’d make the transition now while I was checking to make sure that all the links were functional.