Kielbasa & Kale Stew

This is just a rough recipe: adjust proportions to suit.

1 turkey kielbasa
chicken stock
6 medium carrots
1 bunch kale
2 medium onions
1/4 cup (or so) red wine
red pepper flakes
(salt if needed---depends on your stock)

Slice the kielbasa, carrots, kale, onion into smaller than bite-size pieces. Cook the vegetables and kielbasa in the chicken stock and add water as needed so everything is covered. Add the wine. When the carrots are soft, enjoy.

The wine is optional, but you'll be amazed how much it improves the soup.

Citrus Muffins (with butternut squash)

These muffins are adapted for SCD from Harry Eastwood’s St. Clement’s Cupcakes in Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache. I bought a kitchen scale just so that I could bake out of this cookbook published in the UK and not yet translated into American measures. Now I wish I had gotten one years ago.

Citrus muffins

300g butternut squash
zest of 2 lemons
zest of 2 oranges
3 large eggs
100g honey
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 1 lemon
150g almond flour
50g coconut flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
[1/4 cup water]

Preheat oven to 325°. Put muffin papers in 12 muffin cups.

Peel and finely grate the raw butternut squash. If you grate by hand, you can reduce the amount down to 200g. If you use a food processor, pick out the largest chunks. Don’t do this until you’re ready to mix the muffins, or the squash will get dry.

Zest the lemons and oranges & chop the zest. I like to use a vegetable peeler followed by a knife. You can use a fairly rough chop if you like larger pieces of zest.

Weigh and mix the flours, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, squash, honey, lemon juice, and orange juice. Mix everything together well. If the mixture seems too dry to spoon into muffin cups, add up to 1/4 cup water.

Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 40 minutes---until firm to the touch. Serve with a drizzle of honey, lemon curd, or marmalade.

Sweet curry squash

2 chopped yellow onions
entire butternut squash, diced (1/2 inch pieces)
1/2 cup cashews or macadamia nuts
oil
garlic
salt
sweet curry powder and other Indian spices
cardamom
red pepper flakes
lemon peel (or orange peel)

1/3 cup raisins
orange juice
honey

scallions to top

Cook onions with oil, salt, and Indian spices to transluscent, and set aside. Cook squash with oil and all spices to just short of soft (and definitely not mushy) and nuts to browned. Add onions back in, add raisins and splashes of orange juice, and drizzle on a bit of honey after orange juice has reduced. Sprinkle chopped scallions on top when serving.

Spaghetti squash biryani

1/4 roasted spaghetti squash
2 large onions, chopped
1/8 cup raisins
1 cup cashews
1 peach, diced
oil
salt
1 T sweet curry seasoning
1 T tandoori seasoning
1 T ground cardamom

Saute onions and cashews in oil with salt and half the spices until browned, and set aside. Heat up roasted spaghetti squash and raisins in the pan with salt and the remaining spices, stir in onions and cashews, and add the diced peach. Serves 4.

The spaghetti squash and fruit will add plenty of sweetness, so you don’t need any honey or sugar in the dish.

Summer "Pasta" Salad

I finally figured out how to replace the starch in my favorite summer food!

Summer "Pasta" Salad

All measurements are approximate.

1 head cauliflower
4 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
freshly grated parmesan and/or romano
salt/black pepper to taste

Chop the cauliflower into small bite size pieces. Steam until tender. Drain well.

Chiffonade the basil leaves (roll leaves into a cylinder using a big leaf as a wrapper, then use a good knife to chop into thin strips). Chop the tomatoes.

Mix together the warm cauliflower, tomatoes, basil, olive oil, vinegar. Salt to taste, but not too salty. Serve with a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan.

Optional: add leftover chunks of cooked chicken or other protein

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

This is out of season, but Robin asked for it. Meyer lemons are special: they have a more floral scent than regular lemons. I suppose you could use other types of lemons, but I recommend organic if you can because you're eating the whole fruit.

This recipe is adapted from one found in The Gourmet Cookbook. This takes two days: on the first day you prepare the lemons; on the second day you cook and jar the marmalade.

1.5 pounds Meyer lemons
3 cups water
2 cups honey (preferably a mildly flavored honey: your basic clover is fine)

Cut the lemons in half and remove (and save!) the seeds. Tie the seeds in cheesecloth---the seeds will provide the pectin which will make your marmalade gel. Cut the lemon halves into quarters and slice each quarter into thin slices. Combine the lemon slices, the bag of seeds, and the water in a covered pot. Let the pot stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

Chill 2 small plates for testing the marmalade. Bring the lemons to a boil over moderate heat. Simmer, uncovered, until reduced to about 3 cups (about 45 minutes). (Now is the time to sterilize the jars: see below.)

Add the honey and boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam. The marmalade is done when a spoonful placed on a cold plate remains in a mound after a minute in the refrigerator rather than running. Test for doneness after about 15 minutes. It may take up to 30 minutes. The marmalade will set further in the jars, so don't worry if it's kind of runny.

Drain your sterilized jars on a clean kitchen towel for a minute, then turn right-side up. Ladle the hot marmalade into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch space at the top. Run a knife around the inside of the jars to eliminate air bubbles. Discard the cheesecloth bag of seeds. If you have a partial jar, don't try to can it---just use that one first.

Use a 10-minute water bath to seal the jars (see below).

Canning supplies: You'll need 6 pint jars, new lids, and the bands that screw on to hold the lids in place, and a canner or heavy pot (with a lid) that is large enough to hold the jars in a single layer with 2 inches of water over the jars and room for the water to boil.

Sterilizing the jars: First, wash the jars, lids, and bands in hot soapy water, then rinse well. Put the empty jars in the canner, fill with water so there is 2 inches of water above the jars. Bring the water to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Then turn of the heat, but leave the lid on to keep the jars as hot as possible. Separately, heat the lids in water until a thermometer registers 180 degrees: don't boil the lids or they won't seal properly.

Water bath: Wipe the rims of the filled jars. Put a lid on and use a band to screw it in place. Put the sealed jars on a rack in the canner (if you don't have a rack, you can place a folded kitchen towel on the bottom of the pot in the water---this helps to keep the jars from banging against each other when the water boils). Add enough water to cover the jars by 2 inches. Bring the covered pot to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Transfer the jars to a towel-lined surface to cool. (Use tongs!. Use a dry towel if you have to handle the jars!) As the jars cool, you will hear the lids ping. After the jars have cooled, check whether the lids have sealed: they should be concave and they shouldn't pop if you press the lid. If a jar doesn't seal, put that one in the refrigerator to use first. The others can go in your pantry with or without the screw bands.

Currant Scones

Looking for a change from muffins?

Currant Scones (around a dozen)

5 tablespoons butter, room temperature or melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup currants
2 cups almond flour

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a large baking sheet or use parchment paper.

Mix all ingredient thoroughly.

Drop batter onto prepared baking sheet in 2- to 3-inch circles, leaving enough room between for some spreading. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until edge have turned golden brown.