Savory, Spicy Yams

Years ago, I used to make a huge, every Sunday I would make an elaborate Sunday Brunch for my family. Eggs Benedict, breakfast souffle, crepes, German Apple Pancakes, coffee cakes, omelettes...loved trying all sorts of different things. I'd crank up the classical music, put on a pot of really strong coffee and be in heaven.

I learned last year that my sister loves to do the same thing. When she told me, we looked into each others' eyes and said "Dad" simultaneously. I remember waking up (often with a splitting hangover headache in high school) to him blaring Capriccio Italiano, the smells of bacon and coffee wafting up into my bedroom. Then coming down to find him pustying around, having fun making us breakfast.

Safety. Comfort. Home.

I looooove Sunday Brunch in any form. Sometimes it's fun to go out. Some of my fondest foodie experiences are Sunday Brunches, outdoors, sipping champagne, lolling and chatting with close friends. Mother's Day brunch at the Ritz in Palm Springs...seeing The Grand Damme with her hat, gloves and retinue. Eating on a balcony in St. Thomas with simple pineapple and coffee, looking out over the blue Carribean Sea. My very favorite was in New Orleans at Commander's Palace. The food (watermelon, fennel, shrimp salad...OMG, to DIE for!!!), the jazz, the snake dancing through the restaurant, the characters that New Orleans is home to...I will remember that glorious morning forever!

Sweet memories...and there are more...but being home, with "my music," the sun shining and stuff cooked exactly as I love it...that's where it's at for me right now.

When I make 'taters for breakfast, I generally do my world famous Breakfast Potatoes. But this morning I wanted something with more kick. I decided on yams with my favorite breakfast scramble.

As I'm the only one in the house that likes yams, I only used one small one. Slice it about a 1/4 of an inch thick.

Coursely chop lots of garlic (I use a whole clove, even though it's only one yam).

Put the yams in a bowl. Drizzle them with olive oil, the garlic; about a 1/2 ts. of thyme; salt, pepper and chili peppers to taste.

Stir to evenly disperse oil and herbies all over the orange moons. After all is evenly coated, lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Broil or bake in oven until soft with a bit of a chewy outside. Be sure to watch them as they can cook quickly. Might also want to turn them over after a five minutes, although I don't always do that.

As my body isn't too happy when it eats gluten, I had a piece of Essene Bread toast. Made myself a cup of strong, mudlike coffee and all come together to = Sunday Brunch Perfect.

These yams are also excellent for dinners with salmon (or probably lots of stuff). In fact, I usually eat them for dinner. But they hit the spot in the morning, when I'm not in "traditional" breakfast mode.

image from here.

Presto-Changeo Tabouli

Not your typical Middle Eastern variety, nope.

First off, Tabouli (or tabouleh) is traditionally made with couscous which is wheat. As I don't do wheat very often, I had to find a replacement. To my mind the perfect one is quinoa.

I'd like to sing the praises of quinoa and why I think it makes a superior Tabouli even if you eat tons of wheat and your body likes it.

First off is that the little grains are so cute. Check out their little tails. The grains kinda look like really interesting looking spermies (the kids love it when I say that stuff).

I cook my grains (rice, steel cut oats, quinoa) a bit on the chewy side. I add less water than the usual recipe calls for, adding more at the end if it looks too dry (it's all about balance). When cooked like this, Quinoa Tabouli is crunchy and crisp (=good), not mushy and soggy (= BAD).

But the quinoa virtues don't stop there. It has tons of nutrients and one of the highest protein contents of all the grains.

In this post, I talked about how using different herbs and spices can make a generic dish a different cuisine, depending on what was used.

For the Basic Tabouli Recipe, the springboard, the backbone, I make the quinoa. When the tails appear and the grain is chewy but done, I then remove from heat, putting it into a bowl and add olive oil, minced parsley and salt. Could it be any easier?

Now, depending on which cuisine I have a hankering for, I'll add different things.

Middle Eastern Tabouli- the traditional recipe calls for lemon juice, spring onions, tomatoes, salt and pepper added to the base dish. Don't by shy with any of those. I also add Greek olives, garbanzo beans, lots of feta, shrimp, thinly sliced, raw fennel, mint and shrimp. Sometimes I mix in some toasted almonds or pine nuts as I'm a nut freak. (What's life without crunch?) This dish is Totally Addicting, on the top list of requested summer dishes in my household.

Mexican Tabouli- add lemon and lime juice, red onions, lots of cilantro, tomatoes, peppers (green and/or red), strained whole black beans, cukes and/or celery, jicama, hot chilies, salt and black pepper. Avocado on each serving (but don't put it in the salad itself as if any is left over, the avocado won't keep.) I usually add shrimp or a white fish for protein.

Italian Tabouli- lemon, tomatoes, red onions, mozerella in small chunks (the stuff that comes in water not the stuff wrapped in plastic), basil, walnuts and/or pine nuts, shrimp, fennel.

Asian Tabouli- lime, ginger, shallots, spring onions, pea pods, sprouts, cilantro, toasted almonds (peanuts would be more authentic, but I don't usually have them around and I like almonds), hot peppers, sesame seeds, sliced and seared ahi layed over the top.

I always make Tabouli the meal, mixing it with lettuce (the kind usually depends on the dish, but a good romaine and mixed greens is always safe). I don't add any other dressings, except perhaps a tad bit more olive oil if needed to bring it all together. Anything else would detract from the dish.

So, yeah...Tabouli is really versatile. It's cheap and even cheaper if you leave out the feesh. It's quick and easy to make...neither stage takes much time or effort at all and there aren't any tricks or esoteric cooking skills required. It's great for summer. I make up a big batch then add the different things for variety on different nights . I have yet to get tired of it. It's a meal in itself, needing nothing more than a glass of wine to make life good.


Quinoa picture is from here. There is also a really nice writeup on the grain worth reading.

The Transformative Magic Of Herbs And Spices

There are times I amaze myself (in both positive and eye rolling ways..not sure which one this story is :) )

Yeah...

So a few years back I has this, to me, culinary epiphany.

I was thinking about different types of cuisines. I was thinking about the ingredients, when it hit me: The key to a dish being Thai or Mexican or Italian or whatever was in part from the ingredients but primarily from the combination of herbs and spices.

Light bulbs turned into lightening bolts. I felt absolutely brilliant.

...then realized that probably everyone on the planet had figured that one out and I was just slow on the uptake.

Brilliant/slow? Brilliant/slow?

Whatever...I'm going with the former.

So, yeah...

Want a Mexican dish? Put in chili powder, cilantro (in it's leafy form) and it's seed/spice cumin, onions, tomatoes, salt, lemon, chilies, parsley and oregano. Onions, tomatoes, avocados, mangos, green and red peppers. If I want a more South American influence, I'll add garlic and cinnamon in addition to the above.

Asian Fushiony Thai? Ginger, garlic, cilantro, pepper paste, basil, lime leaves (I hear they are illegal here, but I can still get them so maybe you can, too), mint. Lime, green onions, shallot, papaya, mango.

Italian? Basil,bay, oregano, marjoram, garlic. Tomato, onion, green pepper, fish sauce, tamari.

Indian? Cumin, turmeric, mustard seed, tamarind, coriander, amchoor, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, asafoetida, garam masala, kalanji, saffron, fennel, mint, hot peppers. Sometimes garlic, onion, lemon, lime.

Frenchy? Tarragon, chervil, chives, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Mediterraneanish? Oregano, olive oil, onion, garlic, parsley, feta, olives

I know there are other herbs and spices that each cuisine uses, but I have these in my kitchen. There are foods that are better pairings for the different kinds of cuisines, but I'm not going to go into that today. Suffice it to say that I have made many basics then, changed them into a completely other dish, simply by playing with the spices and adding things to go along.

Wonder what I'm talking about? Check out the mutable magic of Tabouli....
(recipe(s) soon)


Herb Garden from here
Spices from here

'Tater Soup

It's been raining for days. Love it. Soup weather.

I don't know about you, but I get on craving jags with different soups each year. Three years ago it was Gypsy Soup (garbanzos, peppers, tomatoes and spicies). Last year it was Lentil with Kale. This year it's 'Tater Soup.

Ah, the potato...such a maligned food. I believe it's gotten its bad rap from the reductionist nutritionists who take everything down to molecules, forgetting that we know about 1/100th of what there is to know about the synergistic aspect of whole foods. (another ranty sort of post in the making about that one!)

Yes, it's a high glycemic index food. But when combined with fats, that aspect of it is toned down. It's high in vitamins, a "...source of vitamin C, a good source of vitamin B6, copper, potassium, manganese, and dietary fiber.

Potatoes also contain a variety of phytonutrients that have antioxidant activity. Among these important health-promoting compounds are carotenoids, flavonoids, and caffeic acid, as well as unique tuber storage proteins, such as patatin, which exhibit activity against free radicals." (this quote taken from here, wherein you can read even more about the wonders of Mr. Potato).

This soup is amazingly simple. I got it from one of the two friends I've dubbed "My Iowa friends." It's actually, in the end, simply mashed potatoes in a soup base with cream and butter. I'm not much of a mashed potato sorta gal, but this soup...ah this soup. It invokes safety, cuddles and groundedness. My body feels happy after eating it. Yum.

Ingredients:

5ish pounds of potatoes
A large onion or leeks ...depending on how alium-y you like your soup...I generally use two large leeks, sliced small or minced
Water or veggie broth to cover potatoes
Butter- a stick, preferably organic and NOT margarine
Cream- preferably organic
French Sea Salt
Pepper
Parsley (if you want to get fancy)

Cut potatoes into a number of different sizes. When I first started to make this, I cut them all uniformly. I learned to cut about half of them in very smallish pieces...like under 1`/2 inch. Then cube or whatever, the rest in larger pieces...closer to 1 1/2 or so. This way the smallish pieces fall apart to make a thick broth, but you still have the larger pieces to get hunkies of potatoes, which makes the soup satisfying.

Put potatoes and alium in pan. Cover with the broth or water. Cook until the large potato pieces are tender but not falling apart. Put in butter, and enough cream to give the broth some color, to taste. Add other stuff and serve.

Variations:

As I use this for the main course of my meals, I want some protein. So I had this idea to put fish in. I got totally addicted to Psarosoupa (fish soup) in Greece. This is a much simpler way to make it and the fish does not overpower. I never had that problem in Greece, where each family has their own recipe, but when I tried to make it, I guess I overcooked the fish stock or something. Plus, my understanding from a couple of cooks over there, they use this really small fish to make the stock and we don't have it here. This recipe of potatoe soup tasted close enough to those traditional soups to bring back memories of balmy nights on the beach tavernas after a day of sailing. I use Rock Fish or Cod. Cook up (I generaly fry/steam it in Grapeseed oil). Add to the soup after it's in the bowl. If I have leftovers, I store the fish seperately and add at the end of heating up the soup so as to warm it but not recook it.

You can also add other veggies. My daughter makes an Italian version of the soup with kale and Italian sausage, fewer potatoes and more cream.

While the variations are wonderful, for me, it's the simplicity of the potaoes, and the mild fish that keep calling me back. Yup...this is what's for dinner tonight. I'm trying it in the crockpot for the first time.