What's Cooking Today

Today I made warm butter bean and spinach salad, slow-cooked chicken, olive oil mashed potatoes with wilted spinach gravy, hot cocoa mix, and apple butter.
For lunch I made warm butter bean and spinach salad as a leftover remix of yesterday's butter beans. I added fried onions and spinach to change the flavor and texture, and I enjoyed it with a square of leftover cornbread. See the recipe below.
The organic chicken I got from Soho's, the local organic grocery, cooked up tender and juicy. It just fit into my one-quart slow cooker with a rib of celery, a carrot, and 1/4 cup of pureed tomatoes.
The mashed potatoes were disappointing. I usually don't enjoy russet potatoes mashed, but did not think of this until I was eating them. When mashed, they lack flavor and have a gummy texture. I favor yukon golds for mashed potatoes.
I enjoyed a cup of my hot cocoa (see previous recipe)with my dinner and my apple butter is still simmering in my mini crockpot.

Warm Bean and Spinach Salad: Left-over Remix for the Pork and Butter Beans
I made this recipe after I had made a pot of beans the night before. I ate it with cornbread as a quick light lunch when I was home by myself. Double or quadruple the recipe to serve more people.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion, sliced thinly
½ cup cooked giant lima beans with cooking liquid
2 cups baby spinach
1 teaspoon grated carrots
1 slice of lime

Saute onion slices in olive oil until dark brown. Add beans with liquid and simmer until hot and thick. Stir in spinach and remove from heat. Continue to stir until spinach welts. Plate and garnish with grated carrots and the juice of the slice of lime.

Spring is in the Air

We got a new tank for the gas grill yesterday and took advantage of the warm spring weather we are having today. After church, I heated up the giant lima beans that we call butter beans in the South. I cooked them with a pork rib over night in my slow cooker and whipped up a quick cornbread to have with lunch. But for dinner, I wanted something that fit the great weather we have this weekend. So I put two steaks on the grill and served them with baked potatoes and a spinach and citrus salad. Yum!
I have posted the Butter Bean Recipe Below.

Pork and Butter Beans

Ingredients:
1 pound package of dried giant lima beans
1 pork rib or other 4 ounce piece of fresh pork
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Soak beans in 4 cups of water overnight or boil for 2 minutes and let soak for 1 hour. Drain water.
2. Place beans, 4 cups of filtered water, pork, and salt and pepper in a slow cooker. Cook 8 hours on low. Serve topped with diced onions if desired. A side of cornbread completes the meal.

Rice and Oat Milks

If you have allergies to soy and dairy, you may have experienced a disconcerting feeling from reading the labels of the rice and oat milks sold at the grocery store. Nearly all have many ingredients, and most have soy. Don't despair. It's easy to make your own "milks". First, combine the rice and oats with about three times the amount of water used in the regular recipe. For example, use six cups of water for one cup of uncooked white rice or oats. Bring water with oats or rice to a boil in a large pot. Once the mixture boils, reduce heat so that it barely simmers. Stir frequently and allow to simmer for about three hours (This stage can be completed in a large -slow cooker on low for eight to ten hours). Remove from heat and blend in small batches in your blender or use an immersion blender. For best results, line a colander with cheese cloth and place the colander over a bowl. Strain the mixture through the colander. You can also strain the mixture through a very fine sieve. You can discard the solids after you have collected all of the rice milk or oat milk. You can also flavor the milks with vanilla and sweeten them with sugar or honey if you like.
Try your milk with this hot cocoa recipe:

Hot Cocoa

Ingredients
¾ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
¾ cup sugar
3 ounce dark chocolate bar

Combine ingredients in food processor and pulse into a powder. Stir 1 to 2 tablespoons into hot milk or milk substitute.

Note: Plain, good quality dark chocolate usually does not contain milk or nuts, but read labels carefully before selecting a product.

Potato Curry

My absolute favorite meal is Dum Aloo, a spicy stewed potato dish, from a tiny, family owned Indian restaurant beside the Food Lion on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh, North Carolina. My take on this traditional Indian dish is vegan, soy free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, and wheat free. The secret to the deep flavor is cooking the onions until you almost burn them before adding the other ingredients. They will be tiny black flecks in the finished product. Also, good quality tomatoes are needed for a deep tomato flavor. If you value your clothes, be sure to take the pan off the heat and let it cool a bit after frying the potatoes. If you don’t, the sauce will bubble up at you. Turmeric stains. Serve this curry with basmati rice if available. Also, if no dairy allergies are present, you can add a little cream at the table. A traditional desert to serve with Indian food is fruit. Favorites include bananas and mangos.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons oil
2 medium onions, diced
½ teaspoon Asian style chili sauce
½ teaspoon garlic, diced
½ inch ginger, diced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 good quality vine ripe tomatoes
½ cup water
6-8 small to medium potatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon sugar

Directions:
Heat two tablespoons of oil on medium to medium high heat in a heavy pan and fry the onions until brown. Add the chili sauce, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, black pepper, cumin, and cinnamon and stir-fry for 3 more minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Allow ingredients to cool slightly. Add contents of pan and ½ cup of water to the blender and blend until smooth. Meanwhile, clean pan and heat two tablespoons of oil on medium high heat. Fry potatoes with ½ teaspoon of salt, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Add sauce from blender, ½ teaspoon salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Serves 4.

Pizza

On my way home, I went by the grocery store and picked up a few ingredients quickly. The sky was dark and lightening was flashing before I went in. I grabbed an onion, green pepper, cheese, 3 cans of organic crushed tomatoes, a can of mushrooms, and a can of olives. And a bottle of sparking wine. When I left the store, it was almost dark outside.
When I got home, I combined a packet of yeast in a cup of warm tap water and combined 3 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon salt. Rain began to fall in sheets outside. The yeast didn't look alive in the water, so I stirred in some honey. Bubbles started to float up to the surface, so I thought it was okay. Then I mixed the water and flour/salt mixture together with a spoon. I let it set for about 10 minutes while I looked for my dough hook for the stand mixer. I fitted the bowl and dough hook on the stand mixer as the wind beat the rain against my windows. As soon as a ball formed, the power went out.
I found two candles in the back of my kitchen, lit them with my grill lighter, and set them on plates in the kitchen and in the dining room.
I finished kneading the dough on the countertop and broke it into two pieces, and then I pour olive oil into two bowls. I put a dough ball in the first bowl, flipped the ball over, and oiled it on all sides. I repeated the process with the second ball of dough. Outside small pieces of hail pummeled my front windows.
I cut the fleshy lobes off of the bell pepper. I cut it into thin strips and then diced them, separating some for topping the pizza. I cut the skin from an onion, cut it in half, and diced it. The rain had slacked off outside.
I was grating a carrot into the bowl with the pepper and onion when my husband came home. The rain was slacking and I was considering cooking my sauce outside on the gas grill's burner when the power came on.
I made my sauce by sauteing the onion, pepper, and carrot a tablespoon of olive oil. I added 3 cans of crushed tomatoes and a teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Now the pizza stone is preheating in the oven and the sky is clear.

Pizza Party

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
3 -4 cups bread flour
1 package active dry yeast
Olive oil
1 ½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Corn mill
Tomato sauce (see recipe below)
Desired toppings

Equipment: pizza stone and a wooden cutting board(a stand mixer makes this easy, but it isn’t necessary)

Directions:
Mix water and yeast. Mix flour and salt (start with 3 cups flour). Add yeast water. Kneed or mix with hook if using a stand mixer. If using a stand mixer, stop and push down sides periodically. Add more flour if needed to make a ball. Once a ball forms, divide ball in half. Place each dough ball in an oiled bowl. Flip the balls over, and cover bowl with a damp towel. Let rise one hour.

Heat stone in oven to 450 degrees (Make sure that your oven is clean and there is no unbaked oil on the stone).

Flour a wood cutting board and the dough ball. Using your hands, gently stretch dough into a flat disk. Sprinkle board with corn mill. Gently stretch dough to a pizza shape, being careful not to tear holes. Arrange pizza on board and lightly cover with olive oil. Remove stone from oven and place on heat proof surface. Carefully slide pizza to stone (the corn mill will let is slide). Top with sauce and desired toppings. Bake 15 minutes or until done.

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 small onion diced
½ green pepper diced
½ rip celery diced
1 carrot grated
½ teaspoon pickled garlic or pinch of garlic powder
2 cans organic crushed tomatoes
½ teaspoon red pepper flake
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Saute onion, bell pepper and celery in two tablespoons of olive oil until tender. Add grated carrot and garlic and cook for a few seconds. Add cans of crushed tomatoes and red pepper flake, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Note: The pizza can be made on the cold stone and then put into the preheated oven. The pizza isn’t as good, but it leaves less room for disaster.

Note: After cooking the allergy safe pizza, cheese could be added to a second pizza. However, use caution. The separate cutter and server were hard for some of my diners to keep separate and the situation isn’t safe for children who have allergies.


Dessert Apple Pizza

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe hand tossed pizza crust (enough for one pizza)
½ cup apple butter
3 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
For icing (optional) 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon oil, 2 tablespoons water

Directions:
Shape pizza as in previous recipe. Spread apple butter on crust like a sauce. Arrange apple slices on pizza. Sprinkle with brown sugar and drizzle with olive oil. Bake on preheated pizza stone in a 475 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Note: Try any combination of fruit and jam.

Tonight's Dinner: Olive and Fresh Tomato Pasta with Cinnamon and Sugar Banana "Pudding" Dessert

Olive and Fresh Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1 green bell pepper, diced
12 olives, cut in pieces
2 tomatoes
¼ cup tomato sauce
8 ounces pasta

Directions:Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, sauté onion, bell pepper, and chicken breast in olive oil until chicken is no longer pink and the onion and pepper are tender and lightly brown. When pasta is done, add drained pasta and remaining ingredients to the chicken and vegetable mixture. Cook until warm through.

Serves 4.

Cinnamon and Sugar Banana “Pudding”

Ingredients:
4 bananas
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
With bananas still in peeling, use a knife to make a long slice down one side of each banana without cutting all the way through. Use a spoon to widen each cut. Mix the cinnamon and sugar. Fill each cut with one teaspoon of cinnamon and sugar mixture. Put bananas on a broil safe sheet. Broil on high for 5 to 15 minutes, until peeling is dark brown and bananas are warm through. Serve in peel with spoons for scooping warm banana “pudding” out of the skins.

Serves 4

Strawberry Pork Lettuce Wraps

The hold up with posting a lot of my recipes is getting pictures of them. I take pictures, but they are often out of focus. My brother-in-law, William Jones, has agreed to help me in this area, so I'm sorry, but a picture of this one will have to come later.

Strawberry Pork Lettuce Wraps
I love my slow cooker, but it often gets relegated to storage in the summer because my family, friends, and I tend not to crave the hardy warm foods that it produces during the hottest months. This dish, along with my North Carolina Barbeque recipes, gets my slow cooker out of storage to make a wonderful summer meal. The strawberries melt into the pork, making it tastey and moist.

Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries, caps removed
1 to 2 pounds lean pork roast
1 head lettuce, washed and cored with leaves separated
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon red pepper flake (optional)

In a slow cooker, combine strawberries, pork, salt and pepper, and red pepper flake if using. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Use a fork to shred the tender cooked pork. Serve with lettuce. Allow diners to scoop a small amount of filling in a lettuce leaf, roll, and eat. Serve with fresh fruit and crunchy vegetables like shredded cabbage and carrots.