Recipes

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I just had to share this one, as I love kale and my wife does not. We needed to find a way to use our CSA box add-in, and I’m also fond of kale chips, which are strangely addictive: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Kale-Chips/Detail.aspx
I’ve also tried it chopped in a beef, tomato, and bean soup; I like that it can hold its texture upon cooking.

budgetcookingblog's avatarBudget Cooking Blog

Welcome to my new food obsession: Kale smoothies

Until recently, I knew of only one way to prepare kale. That was to braise it with some pork fat until it became soft. It’s actually one of my favorite braised greens.

But then I heard people talking about kale smoothies twice in three days, so I tried it and fell in love with it. Now I’m totally obsessed with kale smoothies.

Kale is one of the superfoods. It’s a cruciferous vegetable from the Brassica food family that also includes cabbage, collard greens, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Kale, which is also known as borecole, is so chocked full of vitamins and minerals that it is considered to be one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet.

It has significant health benefits, including cancer protection and lowered cholesterol. Plus, everytime I have one of these kale smoothies, I swear I feel a burst of energy.

Oh, did I…

View original post 370 more words

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Chow Ciao Chocolate (Bacon) Muffins

Chow Ciao logo

“Muffin- it’s like a chef cupcake.”  Fabio and Niecy mix up a batch of chocolate bacon muffins.  While the Wisconsin State Fair and its chocolate covered bacon is a ways away, make some chocolate bacon muffins!  Everything’s better with bacon – and not just Jim Gaffigan thinks so!

Recipe

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Appetite: A Hunger for Italy

Appetite: A Hunger for Italy book

Elena Bertozzi has written a delicious book for both the mind and the palate in Appetite: A Hunger for Italy.  The book details the main character’s travel to Italy to explore food.  Replete with a picturesque narration, as well as several tasty recipes, the novel is truly a journey for the senses.  Few books can sensibly incorporate the sense of taste, but here Bertozzi has triumphed.  Bertozzi’s writing style clearly elicits images, writing with brushstrokes and providing a window that allows the reader to gaze into a narrative memory.

These two elements would be enough to warrant adding this one to your library or recipe collection, but the book also provides thoughtful points about cooking, culture, and food’s significance to family and friends.  A consideration of cuisine is long overdue in today’s swiftly-moving, health-conscious society.  What do we eat and why?  How can we enrich the eating experience?  Food can be so much more than sustenance.

I will not spoil the story for you, as you must try this book for yourself.  It is a must read! (and the recipes are must tries!)

You can buy copies at Lulu.com or in bulk at Ardea Arts (great as a gift for the chef or book-lover in your life!)

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The freshest lasagna

Chow Ciao logo

Fabio prepares a classic for us: lasagna.  Everyone seems to have their own twist on this dish (over 200 recipes on All Recipes alone!)  There are the time-saving, yet deliciousness-sacrificing easy use store bought noodles (boil and no-boil) for making lasagna, but Fabio has a much tastier fresh noodle (still no-boil!) option.  Who needs ricotta?  Check out this Chow Ciao!

The recipe: lasagna

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The CSAs of Spring

CSA box

As we’re getting very close to May, I’ve been anticipating the CSA start-up this year.  (Just look at all those vibrant veggies from the CSA site photo!)  If you are not familiar with CSAs, it is an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture.  The idea is that individuals buy a share for the year in a local farm, and the dividends are produce and possibly other farm products, (depending on the farm).  The items in your box change as the season goes along (a span of several months), so you can expect peas in spring and potatoes in fall, but it really depends on what the farm plants and harvests.  You share the risks and rewards with the farmers.  If a crop is decimated by bugs, perhaps you do not get many tomatoes that year.  If the beans are super-prolific, you’ll get more than usual in your box.  In addition to being local, farms of this nature  may be organic.  A share in a farm like this can be a way to save money, as organic food in grocery stores (as you may have noticed) can be expensive (and possibly not local)!  Some of the cost of a share may be subsidized through your health care plan’s utility “health credit” (an example).  The plan may not pay for the full cost of the share or pay for it outright, as it may be a partial reimbursement.  CSA farms may even offer a “working share”, where time put in at the farm can pay for a share by itself.  The amount of food you will receive throughout the growing season makes it worth it- one can get quite a bit of produce each week.  My wife and I don’t typically need to buy many other vegetables during the summer months, when combining our CSA produce with that from our garden.  Belonging to a CSA naturally encourages eating more vegetables and fosters cooking creativity as more obscure vegetables may require a trip through a cookbook or online.  The hardest part of the whole process might be waiting for the season to begin!

“This week we have Swiss chard and fennel- now, what can I make?”

 

Finding a local CSA

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Get Pissed Off (Eggs) for Easter!

Chow Ciao logo

Chef Fabio shows us a quick and easy dish for Easter brunch: Pissed Off Eggs. You don’t even have to be upset to eat it!

While not everyone is a fan of spicy, Chef shows us how to moderate the heat.  I’ve become more a fan of spicy flavors as I’ve grown older.  I remember avoiding spicy as a kid all the time.  Now I appreciate what it can do for a dish’s flavors and enliven the senses.

Enjoy!

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Doughnut Day!

Chow Ciao!

(Well, not specifically!  But why can’t every day be doughnut day?)  Doughnuts are definitely a phenomenon; we love our doughnuts!  I recall reading that despite the economy, doughnuts are still a popular item (perhaps because it’s a cheap, tasty, culinary pleasure- affordable for nearly everyone).  As Chef Fabio suggests– let’s not worry about calories here.  Sometimes desserts are just desserts (“stressed” spelled backwards!), but why limit to dessert?  Snacks are ok too!  I’ve had doughnuts from doughnut chains, and those tend to be the best- as the grocery store doughnuts I’m accustomed to tend to lose freshness fast.  These, prepared by Chef Fabio, are the epitome of fresh!  I’d perhaps experiment with cinnamon- there are several varieties available.

Recipe

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Keenwah… I mean Quinoa…

Quinoa

(Photo from Article)

Quinoa– no matter how you say it (keenwah… keenwah…), it remains an excellent food option.  I hadn’t tried quinoa until fairly recently- maybe a year ago.  It’s fairly tasty when made with broth and some herbs of your choosing.  Due to its complete nutritive nature, you could use it as a main dish, but I’ve had it more often as a side dish.  Definitely make sure to wash off the natural saponins (the water will run clear through the quinoa), or it may not be as tasty as you were hoping.