My (Belated) Menu Plan for the Week

It's not that I was late in making the menu plan...I'm just late in posting it this week. Woops!

Here's what Casa Dena is serving for dinner this week:

• Monday: Chili
• Tuesday: Porcini-Truffle Ravioli over wilted Arugula with a shallot-garlic balsamic vinaigrette
• Wednesday: Mediterranean Chicken-Chickpea Quinoa
• Thursday: Homemade Indian Takeout
• Friday: Take-out from Season to Taste

Y tu?

My Menu Plan for the Week

Winter slips away for days at a time here in Northern California, leaving you remembering vividly the languor of Indian summer and the coming of spring.

And then winter comes back. For me, I love it. I love feeling the seasonality of the season, if you know what I mean.

So this week, in honor of the cold coming back, I'm cooking up some hearty food. What's best is that it's easy hearty food. And there are going to be some great leftovers for lunches, too.

• Sunday: Robin's School Garden Salad with her Amazing Dressing and homemade Judy's Breadstick croutons (Winter won't be back til Monday)
• Monday: Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Day AND Erev Tu B'Shvat! Tu B'Shvat Seder (Roast Chicken Breasts, Roasted Root Vegetables, and my fave fancy dish French Green Beans w/ Crispy Shallots)
• Tuesday: Chili (Hubby told me that this meal needed to be on the menu every week til spring hits! I agree with him!)
• Wednesday: Homemade Indian Takeout (This one's a big hit in our household)
• Thursday: Moroccan Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew with Quinoa
• Friday: Take-out from Season to Taste (last week we did this and OMG they had the most amazing Shepherd's Pie....I'm drooling just thinking about it.)

Whatchoo cookin' this week? My fellow food-blogger CityMama got a new fryer and is gonna be making Korean hot pot with it....sounds DELISH!

The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Uh...there is so much to be afraid of with this quote below, from today’s New York Times.

But the other thing I’d like to know is WHEN ARE PEOPLE GOING TO GET IN AN OUTRAGE ABOUT THIS? Because I am outraged about it:

"When you buy a box of Cheerios in New York and one in Champaign, Illinois, you know they are going to be the same. By shortening the genetic pool using clones, you can do a similar thing."

– JON FISHER, president and owner of Prairie State Semen in Illinois, after the F.D.A. declared cloned animals safe for the food supply.

More than ever, I am glad for my vow to keep eco-kosher* and only eat meat from animals that have been organically, sustainably, and humanely raised and slaughtered. Dude there is NO WAY I am touching factory-farmed meat from now on. No freaking way.


* What the heck is "eco-kosher", you ask?
Here's an answer: Most often, it's answered by the ancient Jewish practice of asking another question like, "Are grapes that have been grown by exploiting farmworkers and spraying hazardous pesticides 'kosher' to eat at the Synagogue's next wedding reception?" Or, "Is newsprint made by chopping down an ancient and irreplaceable forest 'kosher' to use for a Jewish newspaper?" These things may clearly be "kosher" according to the traditional Jewish law code, but they may be troubling to us.

I'd answer that eco-kosher is a new and evolving concept combining common sense and compassion with a range of ancient Jewish teachings, including kashrut, caring for the earth (Bal taschit), respecting animals (Tza'ar ba'alei chayim), protecting one's own body (Sh'mirat haguf), not oppressing workers and customers (Oshek), the sharing of food, money and work-time with the poor (Tzedakah) and the Sabbath and Jubilee years of rest for the land and from deliberate economic use of it (Schmitah and yovel). These teachings are being incorporated into a set of simple, daily practices to properly respect the earth, ourselves and all other life.
-- Terry Gips

Food Trends for 2008

Sounds like a yummy, healthy, greener-than-ever year to me!

Plus I am thrilled they mentioned quinoa. I am a huge quinoa fan! In our household, 2008 is the year of Quinoa is the New Pasta. I've been subbing quinoa for pasta lately, and it works like a charm and is so much healthier, in every way.

My Menu Plan for the Week

Menu planning keeps me sane. :-)

• Sunday: Leftover Homemade Indian Take-out (as good as the first time!)
• Monday: Chili
• Tuesday: Mushroom Gallette & Arugula Salad
• Wednesday: Quinoa with Sauteed Chard
• Thursday: Tofu Stirfry
• Friday: Take-out from Season to Taste

What are YOU eating this week?

Mushrooms, Delicious Mushrooms

 

Mushrooms are, to me, often the height of decadence and deliciousness. Sometimes eating mushrooms just makes you feel like that's what eating is all about. During the 10 years I was a vegetarian, mushrooms were my favored steak substitute. A grilled portobello mushroom often tastes as steaky as steak! Mushrooms' flavor is often cited as the definition of umami. I would agree: indescribable and the essence of savoriness.

So when hubby and I received our order of mixed dried wild mushrooms from Local Harvest (thanks to a great holiday gift certificate from my parents), I was so excited. And I knew exactly what I'd make first: my mushroom pasta. It's simple. Delicious. Rich and luxurious. And it's SO EASY!

Dena's Mushroom Pasta

3/4 lb crimini mushrooms
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms
1/2 - 1 oz dried wild mushrooms (I used morel, chanterelle, lobster, etc)
As much garlic as you like (for us, that's about 6 cloves)
Pinch and a half of chili pepper flakes
Squeeze of lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp transfat-free fake butter
Pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat rotelle, but spaghetti is lovely in this dish, too)

Soak the dried mushrooms in very warm water for half an hour; drain (save the water/stock for later! It adds flavor to any dish), squeeze out water, and roughly chop.

Cook pasta.

Remove the stems and roughly chop the fresh mushrooms. Roughly chop garlic.

Pour 2 tbsp of olive oil into skillet set to medium-high. When the oil shimmers, add the fresh mushrooms and turn up the heat a bit. Stir them and keep stirring every 2 minutes or so to saute them over the high heat, letting them brown a bit and then keeping it moving so they don't burn, for about 5-7 minutes, or until the mushrooms have cooked down and turned a nice brown color.

Add reconstituted dried mushrooms and continue to stir for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and chili pepper flakes; toss and cook for about 2 minutes more.

Turn off heat and add drained pasta to skillet and combine with mushrooms. Add fake butter, remaining tbsp of olive oil, and squeeze of lemon juice and toss to combine.

Season with salt and pepper, top with grated parmesan, and ENJOY your umami experience.

Reaping What We Sow....

There's a fascinating article in today's New York Times about food allergies and their possible (I'd say probable) connection to the food we eat.

It's a profile of a woman whose kid developed an egg allergy, and after doing lots of research to quell her fear and outrage, she came to the conclusion that it had to do with what they were eating -- that "the food supply is being manipulated with additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children."

Now, this woman who may be slightly nutty, but she is at least getting people to connect the dots. And for that I am glad to see her around.

My Menu Plan for the Week

Cold weather makes me and hubby hungry. We received a fantastic gift certificate from Local Harvest for the holidays this year and put it to excellent use by ordering a whole smattering of dried mushrooms, which were delivered on Saturday. I cannot wait to cook with them! They look delicious.

On to the menu plan....

• Sunday: Roasted Butternut Squash & Chestnut in Pumpkin Pasta Ravioli with balsamic red chard & garlic
• Monday: Take-out (late night, no time to cook, unfortunately! The mushrooms have to wait.)
• Tuesday: My Fantastic Mushroom Pasta (yum!)
• Wednesday: Cold Weather Chili
• Thursday: Roasted Root Vegetables & Brussels Sprouts with Quinoa
• Friday: Homemade Indian Takeout

Understanding Heat

The New York Times has a GREAT and very fascinating article on what they call "the invisible ingredient" in all of our recipes and all of our cooking: heat.

Understanding how heat works makes us better -- and more energy-efficient, I might add -- cooks. It makes our food taste better. It can make a good steak into a magnificent one. It can make what could be a delectable roast into a dry, stringy one.

And who ever knew that gas burners transmit only 35-40% of their heat to the pan? And electric 70%, and induction 90%? Makes you re-think what an excellent kitchen would/should look like!

New Year's Beef Chili

I made this yesterday for our New Year's Day supper and it was DELICIOUS. In fact, I meant to take pictures, but was so excited to eat it that I forgot. Hubby loved it -- and he does not normally fall head over heels for chili. Especially if it containts pinto beans.

I got the recipe from this month's issue of Everyday Food, which is their "light" issue. So this beef chili is a lighter version of the standard. But I tell you: it does not taste light. It tastes hearty and wonderful. I added a couple of small twists to the recipe which don't add calories, but do add to the flavor.

And it was also surprisingly easy to make!

Dena's New Year's Beef Chili

1 tbsp vegetable oil (like safflower or sunflower)
1 or 2 organic medium onions, chopped (depending on how much onion you like)
4 or more organic garlic cloves, chopped (again, depending on how much garlic you like; I used 6)
1 medium organic red bell pepper (or green, if you prefer), chopped into small bits
2 tbsp organic tomato paste
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp fair trade unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pound grass-fed ground sirloin or chuck
1 28 oz can organic diced tomatoes and their juice (or 2 14.5 oz cans if that's what ya got)
1 14.5 oz can organic pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 25 oz can organic black beans, rinsed and drained (or 2 14.5 oz cans...)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

Optional toppings: sliced scallions, light sour cream, light shredded cheese, tortilla chips, and/or avocado

In a large pot or dutch oven (my beloved Le Creuset dutch oven came through for me yet again), heat the oil over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add the garlic and onion. After about a minute, add the bell pepper. Add salt and pepper and let it all cook through and get yummy. Once the onion is translucent and it smells really delicious, add the tomato paste, chili powder, and cocoa powder and stir well so it all combines for about 2-3 minutes and gets really fragrant.

Add the ground beef and break it up with the back of your spoon into small pieces, stir, and let it brown. When there is no more pink, add the beans and tomatoes and their juice and stir.

Let it simmer on low heat, covered, for about 10-15 minutes so the flavors can meld. When you're about 3 minutes from turning off the heat, add the vinegar and as much Tabasco as you like/can stand. Taste it and add any salt and pepper if needed.

Keep in mind: the longer it sits and/or simmers, the more the flavors will develop. I let mine simmer for about 15 minutes and then let it sit with the flame off for about 20 more.

Serve and top with your garnish of choice and enjoy!

Makes GREAT leftovers. I can't wait to eat my lunch today.