The semester is now over and a new one is upon me. I just shared what I have let myself do in the past. Now, here is what I WILL do in the future. I will do more than simply stock the fridge. I will have a plan for the food I have bought by creating a meal plan. I will cook multiple meals ahead of time and store them in the fridge. Maybe I will even divide them up by meal and by day.  This is my new strategy  for dealing with busy days. What is your plan of attack when you know you’ve got a busy week ahead of you?

Sooo I have an easy slow-cooker Pork recipe for you! This has made its way into my arsenal of make-ahead/slow-cooker recipes.  Salsa Verde from Trader Joe’s + big hunk of pork shoulder + long hours in the slow-cooker = yummy yummy in my busy tummy.

Here’s what you need: 

1 three-pound or so pork shoulder

1 jar of Salsa Verde (Trader Joe’s has one)

Taco Spice Blend (a mix of 1 teaspoon each of cumin, chili peppers, garlic, onion and oregano plus 2 teaspoons salt; you can always add a little extra of something if you find it lacking in flavors you like)

Here’s how:

1. Make your Taco Spice Blend. Rub spices all over the pork. Place pork in slow-cooker on low setting.

2. Let your pork sit in there for about 4-5 hours or until you find that a piece of pork flakes off easily with your fork.  If you happen to be home, you might want to consider flipping the meat over. If not, it should be totally fine. I just sometimes get a little paranoid about the meat burning/drying out on top because my machine is a little old.

Shreddin' the Pork!

3.  Once you find that the pork is soft and easy to pull apart, pull the piece of meat out onto a plate. It’s shredding time! For instructions on shredding, I’d like to direct you to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juogbZevCXE. She does a much better job of explaining and demonstrating than I can.

4. Once shredded, place the meat back into the slow cooker. Now, this is where the magic happens. Pour about half the bottle of salsa verde into the pot.  If you are not using the same Trader Joe’s bottle, then I would say it’s about 1 to 1.5 cups. Stir the meat around a little bit to make sure that the sauce coats all the meat. Let the meat stew in the sauce for another hour at least.

5. Serve with some veggies of your choosing and you’ve got some meals to last you a few days, depending on how many people you’re serving.

*I seem to have misplace a photo of the finished product! My dog ate it… I will post a photo when I make this dish again!

I’m a little bummed to say, though, that we are now on the tail-end of all the festivities.  This past weekend, however, Robby and I were invited to participate in the second part of a Fall tradition our neighbors hold each year.  Part one: the apple picking.  Around one month ago, we ventured into their yard for some apple picking.  By the time we arrived, all the low hanging fruit had been picked and we got to make like monkeys and climb up to pick the fruit in the top branches.  That was part one.

The Apple Press

Part two: apple pressing. Part two involved us taking the many pounds of apples we picked and running them through a 1800s style hand-operated apple press that our neighbor has.  All the guests had a chance, if desired, to turn the crank and help turn the apples into juice.  We were all invited to bring our own empty jugs to take home the fresh-pressed juice.  Over the last couple years I’ve mostly eliminated juice from my diet, but oh my, after standing next to the big bucket of fresh juice, how could I resist the sweet smell?? I could not and I did not.

While I thought this juice was delicious on its own, I also love having hot apple cider on cold Fall days.  I just heat it up in the microwave and sprinkle some cinnamon on top.  I highly recommend getting your hands on some freshly pressed apple juice without added sugar.  Hot, cold, cinnamon spiced…I love it all and think you will too.

Over the years, though, I had gotten lazy and failed to do anything with the pumpkin seeds.  Pumpkin carving was not customary in Switzerland so I didn’t really have any pumpkin seeds around during my college years anyway.  Last year, I bought and cooked a lot of whole pumpkins but never did anything with the seeds.  This year, though, one of my close friends from grad school has re-introduced me to the savoriness of pumpkin seeds.  She loves pumpkin seeds and every time I talked about pumpkins, she kindly asked if she could have the seeds to eat.  Of course, when I made them for her, I had to “taste” just one (or two or ten).  All of these childhood pumpkin carving memories have come back and I have found a new favorite snack.  Thanks, Chelsea!  I have written out a tasty Chelsea-approved pumpkin seed roasting recipe below.

Here’s what you need: 

all the pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin (about 1 cup)

about 1 tablespoon of melted grass-fed butter or olive oil (enough to just barely coat the seeds)

salt to taste (maybe start off with a couple teaspoons)

Here’s how: 

1. Once you scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin and remove most of the pulp, lay the seeds out on a plate and let them dry overnight.  A good way to separate the pulp from the seeds is to place them in a bowl of water and then, if you need to, get your hands in there to remove the seeds if they don’t  do it on their own.

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Melt the butter in a small bowl that will fit all the seeds. After the butter has melted, place the seeds in the bowl with the butter and make sure all the seeds get coated.

4. Place seeds on a baking sheet and sprinkle salt over them. If you think they are not salty enough, you can always add some salt after baking. Put seeds in the oven.

5. Let the seeds bake for about 45 minutes or until they turn brown. They may start popping…don’t let this scare you! The popping is ok as long as you remove them from the oven afterwards.

6. Eat them up like popcorn. Yes, you can eat the seeds whole.

Happy pumpkin seed eating!

Wee tomato plants at the start of the summer.

Do you remember my newly planted garden I shared with you this summer? I’m happy to report that I’ve harvested quite a few vegetables and strawberries since then! There’s been some radishes, a cucumber and lettuce.  However, I am a little disappointed in the progress of my tomato plants.  You’ll see from my photo that they grew into a tomato plant jungle.  Unfortunately, it just has not been warm or sunny enough for there to be many tomatoes to come to fruit on there. I have had a few cherry tomatoes here and there but no heirlooms. Oh well…It’s a learning experience! Next year I’ll plant a different variety (if I plant tomatoes at all).

And look at them now! (before they started leaning over)

Given how disappointed I was with my lack of tomatoes, imagine how excited I was when I found out that Serendipity Farms in Carmel Valley was having a U-Pick event on Saturday. I would still get the chance to pick fresh tomatoes off of the vine! So on Saturday, after eating my lunch, Joules and I got into the car and made our way over to Carmel Valley.  Within 15-20 minutes, I had a basket full of bright red tomatoes. Exciiiting! I changed up my usual tomato soup recipe and took a little tip from Tyler Florence to make the following soup. How do you like to eat your tomatoes?

Here’s what you need:

about 2.5 pounds of fresh tomatoes (any and all varieties! Heirloom, ace, plum…)

6 cloves of garlic

1 large or 2 small yellow onions (OR you can use 2 leeks)

1/2 cup olive oil

1 quart of chicken stock

2 bay leaves

4 tablespoons (grass-fed) butter

1 large handful of fresh basil

Here’s how:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Wash and chop the tomatoes and onions into large chunks.  Peel garlic cloves but leave whole (don’t chop them up).

3. Spread the tomatoes, onions and garlic on a large cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

4.Let it roast for about 20 to 30 minutes or until the onions have carmelized a little bit.

5. After removing the tomatoes from the oven, place in a large pot along with the chicken stock, butter and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil and then bring it down to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the soup reduces about 1/3.

6. At this point, you can add your washed basil leaves to the pot.  Now take an immersion blender and blend until it becomes smooth.  Put the soup back on low heat for a teensy bit. Add some chicken stock if you feel like you want to make the soup a little less thick.

For a little twist, add some chopped carrots in at step 5.

Enjoy!

Here’s what you need:

Beef Broth (best from scratch like in the link)

2-3 pounds of organic chicken (I like drumsticks and chicken legs)

5 stalks of celery

4 carrots

1 yellow onion

Here’s how: 

1. Chop the onions and celery into thin slices. Shred the carrots or use the vegetable peeler to make ribbons.

2. Place the onions, celery and carrots in the broth and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so.

3. Add the chicken to the broth. Make sure there is enough broth to cover the chicken and veggies. Bring it to a boil and then drop the heat down low to a simmer.  If you are using a slow cooker, there is no need to let the veggies simmer. Go ahead and put the chicken in there and let it go for at least an hour before you eat.

4. Let the soup simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. If you are going to be around the kitchen, definitely let it go longer.

And that’s it. An easy peasy chicken soup-y.

*sorry…No photos!  The soup disappeared as I was tasting it.

Here’s what you need:

2-3 big beef bones (knuckle, femur)

water to cover the bones

Here’s how: 

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place bones in the oven for about 50 minutes.

2. Place bones in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for a few hours. Beef bones can actually go for a couple days to get the full flavor and goods out of them.  I ended up simmering for 4 hours and then turning the stove back on whenever I was fiddling around in the kitchen. This happened for about 2 days.  My dog may have had a couple bowlfuls too…

When you decide you are done, pull out the bones and enjoy!

This was simple and I cannot wait to share what I did with the broth!

Bones...not just for dogs.

okok. I couldn’t wait. I made a creamy chicken soup. To be written later…

A couple of weeks ago, I bought some grass-fed Beef Shanks at the farmer’s market here in Monterey. I bought them because a)I was curious as I have never cooked beef shanks before, and b)that’s all the cash I had left in my pocket.  Instead of making the booth my first stop, I made it the last and had to ask the nice woman what I could possibly buy with the twelve or so dollars I had in my hand. Gr0und beef or beef shanks. I picked beef shanks.  Tonight, I finally pulled them out of the freezer and cooked up a nice dinner to celebrate Robby’s last day of his internship.  I think that this dish was fitting for a special occasion.

Post-meal, I am happily bouncing in my seat and singing along to Fleetwood Mac while writing this post.  I am a happy camper thanks to a happy meal.

Grass-fed beef shanks from Two M Farms/Morris Grassfed Beef

This dish is by no means a quickie but it is definitely easy.  As I have never cooked beef shanks before, I did a little bit of research and ended up loosely following someone else’s directions.Thanks to Ms. Glaze’s Pommes d’Amour for this recipe.  It was delicious and I am delighted to share it with you all.

Here’s what you need: 

1 3/4 to 2 pounds beef shank

1 yellow onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 medium carrot

1 celery stalk

1 cup dry red wine

2 cups beef stock (maybe 3, depending on the size of the pot you use)

1 13.5 oz can of whole peeled or diced tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

olive oil

salt and pepper

The finished product!

Here’s how: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. While the oven is heating up, go ahead and chop up everything that needs chopping.  Chop the onion finely, peel and slice the carrot, peel and coarsely cut up the garlic and cut up the celery.

3. Season the beef shanks with a good amount of salt and pepper. Maybe a teaspoon of each per side.

4. Heat up an oven-proof pan (I used my dutch oven) over medium-high heat.  Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Wait a minute and then sear the shanks on all sides.  Remove the shanks from the pot and place on a plate.

5. Add a touch more olive oil and then add the garlic, onions, carrots and celery. Saute until the onions are soft.

6. Add the red wine and simmer until it is reduced by about half. This should take about 10-15 minutes.  Place the shanks back in the pot and add the broth until the shanks are just covered.  Add the tomatoes and the herbs.  When the liquid comes to a simmer, place the pot into the oven without a cover.

7. Check on the meat every half-hour to make sure that the shanks are covered by liquid at all times.  If the braising liquid is reducing too quickly, make sure you either put a lid on it or add some more beef stock and red wine.  At the one hour mark, flip the shanks over.  Ms. Glaze suggests that you scoop out the marrow and treat yourself. I wholeheartedly recommend that you do this!

8. After about two hours, the meat should be pretty tender.  Take the shanks out of the pot and put them to the side while doing your best to keep them warm.  Then you can do one of two things: take the entire braising liquid (vegetables included) and puree in the food processor. OR you can strain the braising liquid in a chinois or mesh strainer while pressing hard against the vegetables with a ladle or wooden spoon. Scrape the bottom of the chinois or strainer to add the pureed vegetables back to the liquid.  Whichever option you chose, return the pureed sauce back to the pot and reduce until the sauce is tick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Now add the shanks back to the pot and keep on low heat for  a little while longer.

I served my beef shanks with some mashed cauliflower. Bon appetit!

As we are celebrating a birthday, what better way to celebrate than by making cupcakes?! I am pleased to share with you a recent favorite: Coconut Cupcakes from Elana at Elana’s Pantry.  I have already made them a few times. Because I tend to decrease the amount of agave by half and skip the frosting (it’s got heavy cream in it), I treat them more as a muffin at my house.  I served them at brunch yesterday and they proved to be a popular item! I am sure that you will like them very much.  Remember—just like other Paleo treats, just because the ingredients are Paleo friendly, does not mean that you should eat as many as you can stuff into your mouth. (I know I know…sometimes, it’s hard.)

Without further, ado, here is the recipe (replicated from Elana’s Pantry).

Here’s what you need:

3 eggs

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Here’s how: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a small bowl, blend eggs, coconut oil and agave netar.

3. Once combined well, mix in the salt, baking soda, shredded coconut and coconut flour.

4. Allow batter to sit so that it may thicken a little bit.

5. Either line a cupcake tin with baking cups or use coconut oil to grease up the cupcake spaces.

6. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each cupcake opening.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

8. Allow cupcakes to cool before serving.

Enjoy these! Until next time…

Chard-fest 2011!

As a great supporter of sustainable agriculture, both personally and academically, I decided to try out some of the things I have learned on my own.  Through various farm visits and my class I took last semester, I have learned so much about how to avoid chemical usage by interplanting, planting things that attract beneficial insects and rotating crops.  In my plot in the school garden, which I share with two other students, I have been growing Kale, Chard, Beets and Tomatoes.  As you can see in my photo to the right, we have been pretty successful!  In my backyard (which I am oh-so-lucky to have as a grad student!), I also have a couple garden plots that I have been working on. My special somebody built me a couple of beautiful raised beds and so I have planted a variety of seeds and diligently water and weed every couple of days.

A peek at one of the plots!

I’m very excited! Back in Switzerland, we had a vegetable garden which was sort of productive, but to be honest, we didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing. We thought we did, though… This time around, it is definitely still a learning process but I think that I have a better grasp on what I am doing.  Stay tuned to see how things pan out!

For those of you wanting to plant your own gardens, I have put together this little booklet. The booklet explains a little bit of what it means to have an organic garden and how to go about planting your it.  It provides three steps on the why’s and how’s of an organic garden.

Download a PDF of the booklet here: “Beginner’s Guide to Organic Gardening”

What does this have to do with cooking, you might ask. A couple weeks ago, I was at the grocery store and did my usual browsing and wandering around the grocery store in search of inspiration for my next meals.  I ended up at the meat counter and spotted a beautiful piece of bone-in Pork Loin [roast] sitting behind the glass.  The price was just right and I could not take my eyes off of it.  Without even thinking about how or when I would cook it, I heard myself asking for the three pound hunk of meat.  Upon returning to my kitchen, the fact that I had no idea what to do with the pork before dawned on me.  But like the knitting kit, I figured it out.  Fortunately, I did a lot better figuring out the pork than the knitting.  And now I would like to share my beer-y delicious Pork Loin Roast with you all.

note: This is a dutch-oven recipe.

Here’s what you need:

1 three-pound pork loin roast

1 yellow onion

6-7 carrots

12 oz dark beer

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons salt

1.5 tablespoons pepper

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

Here’s how:  

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cut the onion in half and then slice the onion into very thin slices.  Also, while you’ve got the cutting board out, cut the peel and cut the carrots into 1/2-inch slices. If you prefer your carrots to be a little more chunky, go ahead and cut them that way. It does not matter too much how the vegetables get cut.

3. Combine the salt and pepper and then rub all over the pork.

4. Place your dutch oven on the stovetop and heat up to medium-high.  Once hot, place butter or oil in pot and wait a minute. Place the seasoned pork in order to sear on all sides.  This will probably take about a minute on each side.  Once seared on all sides, remove from pot and place on a plate.

5. Add the onions to the pot. Stir the onions around until they are softened.  You may need some additional grease at this point.  After onions are softened, add the carrots until they have softened a teeny bit.

6. Add the beer. Let it come to a boil for a few seconds before placing the pork and the bay leaves in there.  Put the lid on and into the oven it goes!

7. Wait for about 1.5 hours before pulling it out.  If you used a bigger chunk of meat, it will need to go a little longer. If you’re paranoid like me, you might be tempted to open it up and slice into it to see if it’s done. Try to resist the urge! I know it’s not easy…

When you take it out of the oven, be sure to let it rest for about 10-15 minutes.  This resting period will keep the yummy juices from spilling out when you cut into it and will hopefully make you feel a little less uneasy about your meat being done as the meat will continue to cook slowly during this resting period.

Serve with a heaping spoonful of carrots and onions on top.  The soup is also quite tasty as well.

Bon appetit, mes amis! I hope you enjoy this one.