fall session: barley

Barley is a whole grain high in fiber and high in protein.  Barley can help reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and colon cancer.  It also helps to lower cholesterol.  Typically barley is seen in soups, but as grains's health benefits are broadcast and people get more comfortable with their versatility, barley salad recipes are becoming more common.

How to cook Barley:

• Rinse the barley until the water runs clear. 
• If you soak the barley for a few hours or overnight, it will speed up the cooking time.
• Put the drained barley in a pot, cover with water, covering by a couple inches.  Salt.
• Bring to a boil.
• Turn the heat down to a simmer. 
• Cook until it is to your liking.  This usually takes about 15-20 minutes if you pre-soaked the grain or more like 40 minutes if it was not pre-soaked.
• Drain the excess water out.

In Family Table cooking we made a lovely Pearled Barley Salad with Apples, Pomegranates and Pine Nuts.  It is a nice recipe, best when eaten soon so the apples don't get mushy.

But our main dish was the delicious barley soup, made with beef short ribs, wild and button mushrooms and other wintery vegetables.

Following are the recipes for two barley soups: the first, the hearty short rib, barley and mushroom soup pictured above.  The second, is a creamy chicken, vegetable and herb soup that is simple and yet so good.  Quick to prepare, it does not need as much cooking time as the more substantial short rib soup.  Enjoy them both:

Short Rib, Barley and Mushroom Soup by The Family Table

Creamy Chicken and Barley Soup by The Family Table

fall session: bulgur

If any grain seems "hippy-ish" to me, it is bulgur.  Before my grain series I had dabbled in some but NEVER cooked bulgur.  I am happy to report, bulgur is really very tasty and an easy way to get some protein and fiber in your diet.

Bulgur closely resembles couscous.  However, bulgur is the product of wheat kernels that have been boiled, dried, and crushed while couscous is made from rolling moistened coarsely ground semolina wheat into small balls, which are later coated with a finely ground wheat flour.  Bulgur is healthier than couscous as it has 4 times the fiber and has lower calorie and carbohydrate counts. 

Bulgur comes in several grades of coarseness: fine bulgur for more delicate salads, coarser bulgur for stews and soups.   Since bulgur does not take too long to cook, many recipes have you add it into the dish to cook.  If you are making a salad from it, here is an easy way to cook it.

How to Steam Bulgur:

• Put 2 Cups water in a pot with a generous pinch of salt.
• Bring to a boil.
• Add 1 Cup bulgur, stir, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.  

This works for medium bulgur, so if using a fine grade, let sit for less time.  You can always drain off any excess water.  

We made a delicious kale tabbouleh:

Kale Tabbouleh by The Family Table

Then we cooked a Chicken, Chickpea, Apricot and Bulgur Tagine, inspired by Mark Bittman.  This is a great weekday entree as it takes under an hour to prepare: you sautee the chicken, deglaze the pan, add all the other ingredients and then let simmer for about 30-40 minutes.  I added carrots and fennel to the recipe.

NEED A FINISHED PICTURE HERE

Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Apricots by The Family Table

Here are a couple more bulgur recipes, untested, that I hope to try soon:

An eggplant, lentil and bulgur salad


A bulgur recipe from my favorite blog 101cookbooks.  This would make a great salad for a holiday lunch buffet, so colorful.

fall session: farro

Farro was our second focus in The Family Table grain series.  Farro dates way back to pre-Roman times (farro grains have been found in Pharoah's tombs) where it was a major food staple.  Farro has a similar flavor to brown rice, but has a nuttier taste.  It has a very low gluten content and can often be eaten by those with a gluten intolerance (although after making a yummy farro risotto for a gluten free friend, I found out it is not totally gluten free, sorry Tracy).  Farro is rich in fiber, magnesium and vitamins A, B, C and E. 

Farro is very easy to prepare:

If you think of it, soak the farro in water over night.  This will give you a head start on the cooking process, although it is not crucial.   Put the drained (or dry if you did not soak) farro in a pot and cover by a couple of inches with water and a good pinch of kosher salt.  Bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to a simmer and put the top on, stirring occasionally.  Non soaked farro takes about 30 minutes for an al dente taste.  If you soak it first, plan to cook it about 20 minutes.  Drain the farro and stop the cooking process by putting it under cold water until cooled.  It is ready to pop into a green salad, or use it for many farro salad recipes. 

In class, we made a farro "soup" with red wine, chicken sausage and mushrooms.  It was very hearty and when I swirled in truffle oil before serving, it made a very rich and lovely meal for a winter evening.  Please enjoy the soup and some other recipes I recommend:

Farro Soup with Sausage and Mushrooms by The Family Table

This is really delicious.  Perfect to accompany a simple seared or grilled filet of fish.

Warm Farro and Roasted Vegetable Salad with Fontina by The Family Table

This is a nice hearty vegetarian meal.  Easy to make a big pot of and freeze the unused part.  I like to freeze my soups and stew in ziploc freezer bags labeled with the name and freezing date.  I am looking into freezing things in quart wide mouthed canning jars.  Thinking that is an improvement as it elminates the plastic component and makes for easy defrosting in a hot water bath.  Often when I defrost ziploc bags in warm water, I spring a leak.  Let me know if anyone has any tips on can freezing.

Farro and Lentil Chili by The Family Table

Additionally, following please find some farro recipes that I have not yet tried but am hoping to soon.  Let me know what you think if you get inspired to try them out.

Farro and herbs salad, a lunch salad or good with maybe seared salmon or chicken:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/farro-herbs-recipe.html

A crisp, nice salad:
http://honestfare.com/bean-farro-salad-with-cilantro-apple-dressing/


And lastly, before i lose your attention:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/warm-farro-pilaf-with-dried-cranberries/

A great article on farro, including a very good risotto recipe.  I added some shredded chicken thighs, mushrooms and spinach to my farrotto and topped with some cheese and truffle oil, it was delicious:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/01/fresh-recipes-with-an-ancient-grain-4-ways-to-prepare-farro/69313/

fall session: quinoa

The Family Table's fall season has started!  

(We always start with a breakfast treat and a cup of coffee.  These are quinoa carrot muffins.)

The focus of this session is grains: quinoa, farro, bulgar and barley specifically.  Last week, I gathered with five others to talk, chop, saute and share, while focusing on the taste and versatility of quinoa. Quinoa is a complete protein.  Excellent for vegetarian diets looking to maximize protein in their diets.  Quinoa actually dates back some 3-4,000 years to the Andes mountains.  It is high in amino acids, calcium, iron, magnesium and fiber.  It comes in white, red, black and rainbow.

How to Boil Quinoa:

• Rinse the quinoa, then put it in a pot (if you buy "pre-rinsed quinoa you can skip the rinsing step)
• Top the quinoa with water, covering by a couple inches.  Salt.
• Bring to a boil.
• Turn the heat down to a simmer, cover the pot.
• Cook until it is to your liking.  This usually takes about 20-25 minutes, you will see the "curlicue" emmerge from the grain.  Test it, it is done when it is soft.
• Drain the excess water out.

At this point you can use your quinoa for salad recipes, or as a side.  Mark Bittman suggests some great mix-ins in "The Food Matters Cookbook": olive oil, butter, any flavor pestos, fresh chopped herbs, dried fruits, sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic, assorted spices such as cumin, coriander, chiles, saffron, turmeric, whatever you have on hand that you love.

How to Steam Quinoa:

(method thanks to Ellen King)

• Rinse the quinoa, then put it in a pot (if you buy "pre-rinsed quinoa you can skip the rinsing step)
• Top the quinoa with 1 1/3 the amount of water as quinoa (ie. 1 C. quinoa, 1 1/3 C. water).  Salt.
• Bring to a boil. Boil for about 3 minutes. 
• Cover the pot, turn off the heat and let steam for about 20 minutes.
• The quinoa is ready to use, no draining needed.

Cook a whole box.  Eat what you need and then make quart ziploc bags of the remaining and freeze.  Remember it is there, and then take it out and use as an accompaniment to stews, mix in for soups, use in a stirfry, the list goes on...

We made Quinoa Cakes, adapted from a wonderful nutritional vegetarian blog, 101 Cookbooks.

These are really tasty, satisfying vegetarians and carnivores alike (they make people think they are crab cakes).  In class, we cooked them up, made a simple marinara sauce with sauteed eggplant, then grated smoked mozzarella cheese for the top.  We did learn that it is best to saute them right before eating, they do not heat up well (texture suffers).  Once they are in patties, you can keep them in the fridge until saute time, or put them in the freezer for a future quinoa meal.  Just take them out to defrost the morning you plan to serve them.

Quinoa Cakes by The Family Table

Then we made a delicious composed quinoa salad with chicken, dried cranberries, cumin, lime juice carrots and greens. 

Chicken, Quinoa and Dried Cranberry Salad by The Family Table

And another yummy quinoa salad with cucumbers, chickpeas, spinach, mint, feta and a smoked paprika dressing.  I had never used smoked paprika.  It is such a lovely and rich spice (available at the Evanston Spice House). Quinoa is so versatile.

Quinoa, Chickpea and Spinach Salad With Smoked Paprika Dressing by The Family Table

in the garden...canning tomatoes

Last week, with the help of Laura Bougher of The Glass Rooster, we canned 24 quarts of tomatoes fresh from the YWCA's Urban Garden (supplemented by some beefsteak tomatoes from Ed, the generous farmer from Gast Farms-great sausages-at the Evanston Farmer's market).

Laura is a fantastic teacher, demystifying the process, making you feel equipped to tackle it on your own.  Actually, I have gathered some neighbors and we are putting up our own tomatoes tomorrow afternoon.  Fresh garden grown tomatoes, ready to pop into winter stews and soups, I am so excited.

Here is my summary of the canning process:

Clean your jars, wide mouth quart jars are great for tomatoes.  Either sterilize in boiling water, or put through your dishwasher on the sanitizing wash.

Fill your canner half full with water and start boiling (this part is very easy to underestimate and you can be watching a pot for a long time).  Place your cleaned tops and lids in boiling water to sterilize.

Prepare your tomatoes by cleaning them and then blanching them to remove their skins.  Get another big pot of boiling water, and a big bowl of ice water ready.  When the water is boiling, drop the tomatoes into the water for less than a minute, you just want the skins to loosen or crack a bit.  Then, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put immediately into the ice water.  You should be able to peel the skins right off.

At this point, you can either leave the tomatoes whole, or halve or quarter the tomatoes.  I prefer mine quartered as since you are going through all the mess now, better to have them ready to pop in stews and soups later.  Once quartered, pop them into a stainless steel saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Using a masher, mash some to get a good amount of juices.  Let them boil gently for 5 minutes.

If your tomatoes are ripe, you should use citric acid (a natural preservative) or bottled lemon juice to ensure their acidity level is safe for canning preservation. The bacteria that can produce botulism thrives on low-acid foods in an airless environment.  Tomatoes sit on the borderline of low and high acid foods, so adding acidification will make them safe.   For a quart of tomatoes, use 1/2 tsp of citric acid or 2 Tbl. of lemon juice, either works, depends on your personal taste.  Put the acidic ingredient in the jar before adding the tomatoes.

Using a canning funnel (wide enough to allow solids to pass through), fill your clean sterilized cans with your peeled and chopped tomatoes, leaving a 1/2 inch head space.  Using a butter knife or a chop stick, poke around in the can to eliminate any air bubbles,  topping off with tomato liquid to fill.  Clean the jar rims with a damp cloth.  Place a sterile lid on the jar and then screw on a band until it just gives but not too tight (finger tip tight).

Place the sealed jars in the canning rack and then slowly lower into the boiling water (letting the jars acclimate to the hot water temperature).  The cans should be covered by about an inch.  Bring the water back to a boil, cover, and continue boiling for 45 minutes for tomatoes.  Remove the pot lid, wait about 5 minutes, then remove the cans, let cool on dishtowels.

Once the jars have cooled (about 8 hours), check the lids: if it is concave and does not give when you press it, it is sealed.  You should have heard the cans popping as they sealed.  Wipe clean the jars and rims and store.

Some good books to further your canning knowledge: 

"Complete Book of Home Preserving" by Ball;

"Tart and Sweet:101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen" 

"The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and 

Aigre-doux" by Paul Virant. 

in the garden...beets.

Pulling a beet from the ground does not inspire an immediate appetite.  It has long red or green stems, you grab hold, yank, and a dirty spade shape emerges.  I used to avoid cooking them as the whole peeling thing seemed like too much work.  That changed for me when I discovered roasting: wash and dry the beets, put them in a baking pan or pyrex pan, toss them in olive oil, dust them with kosher salt, cover the pan tightly with tin foil and bake in a 375 oven for about 45 minutes or until a knife can pierce the beet effortlessly.  Take them out of the oven, let them cool a bit and then use a knife to peel off the skin, they should slip off easily.  Your beets are ready.  My favorite preparations at this point are to eat them warm with butter and a squeeze of lemon or to cut them in chunks and drizzle with a simple vinaigrette.

Beets contain a wealth of health benefits.  They are high in potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorous, iron, vitamins A, B and C, beta carotene and folic acid.  Beets contain betaine, a substance used in some treatments for depression.  They also containe trytophan, which relaxes the mind, creating a sense of happiness, much like chocolate.  No wonder there is a cult following for red velvet cake, the original version was made with grated beets, imagine the double dose of happiness in each bite.  Beets are high in sugar (natural, pure sugar) but low in calories, so great for a boost of energy. 

Over the summer, I invested in a juicer, a small breville juicer, under $100.  It is just perfect for my home concoctions, usually concentrated around beets.  I am pretty much in a slump.  I juice beets, carrots, ginger, apple or pears and kale.  It is absolutely delicious and always comes out perfectly.  I cannot brag enough.

Here are a few beet recipes:

Beet and Quinoa Pilaf
I would omit the cherry tomatoes here.

Roasted Beet and Blood Orange Salad

Warm Beet Salad with a Parmesan Dressing

in the garden...tomatoes

We can now get tomatoes all year round.  Even in January, bright red tomatoes are prominently displayed in grocery stores.  But, try and make a caprese salad with one of these tomatoes, not so tasty.

Nurturing tomatoes in a garden takes time and attention.  They shoot up, they sprawl, they need constant tying and staking, they need lots of water.  When you bite into that juicy, ripe, home grown tomato, you are rewarded for all of that coddling.
 Mid-August to late September is tomato time.  Farmer's markets are brimming with all shapes, all sizes, all colors.  I like trying different ones like Purple Cherokee, Green Zebra, Sungold, Brandywine, the list goes on.  My favorite way to eat a tomato: cut one up into chunks (chunks seem juicier than slices), drizzle with a decent olive oil, grind some pepper on top and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Amazing.  I could eat tomatoes every day of their season like this.  Mozzarella, Basil and Balsamic Vinegar are fine additions, but not necessary.  A B.L.T. (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich) is another delicacy.  Toast some bread, crisp up some bacon, whip up some mayo (or open the Hellman's/Best Food's, slice some colorful ripe tomatoes and layer them in a sandwich with some garden fresh lettuce.

If you want to get fancy with your tomato, I recommend this lovely tomato tart.  It gets oohs and aahs at a buffet and is equally delicious.  You can slow roast your tomatoes to bring out the flavor and use them in braises and soups, and you can can your tomatoes, more on this in late summer.

Tomatoes are excellent sources of dietary fiber, minerals and Vitamins A, B and C.  They are also rich in Potassium that helps control heart rate and blood pressure. The lycopene, an antioxidant concentrated in red tomatoes, provides protection from skin cancer.  Additional antioxidants in tomatoes protect against colon, prostate, breast endometrial, lung and pancreatic cancers. 

in the garden...zucchini

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Growing up, my family had a small vegetable garden.  I don’t really remember anything about it, except for the ZUCCHINI, which was prolific those summers.  My mother would slice it and put it in a pot with some water and chopped onion.  It would simmer away on the stove top until it was pale green, mushy and pretty void of any flavor (sorry Mom).  Often, it would get the classic 70’s garnish of Lawry’s seasoning salt.  

It was not a top childhood memory.

Now, some 30 plus years later, I love zucchini.  In my opinion, the best way to cook it is to chop it up, making it bite size (about an inch or so).  I then take a sauté pan and heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  Once that is hot, I add a tablespoon of butter and then toss in the chopped squash.  Stir or shake it around to get all the pieces glistening in the fats. Over medium high heat, let it brown and then stir it so that other sides get the golden look as well.  Honestly, I just use kosher salt (my salt of choice) and fresh pepper to season it and it is delicious.  Even my picky-ish kids and boiled-mush-loving mother like it.  If you want to jazz it up a bit, I think adding a squeeze of lemon, minced garlic, some chopped basil or chives would be nice additions.  Maybe a dusting of parmesan? Fine Cooking Magazine has a recipe where they roast it and add in paprika and manchego cheese (I think you could easily just saute the squash instead of roasting).  Nine times out of ten, I stick with the simple sauté.

Zucchini is very versatile.  It can be eaten raw, steamed, grilled, stuffed, fried, boiled, turned into bread, and the flowers can be stuffed and baked.  Although it is mostly prepared as a vegetable, botanically it is a fruit.  Each plant has male and female flowers: the male flowers best for stuffing as they are larger and more dramatic, the female flowers bearing the fruit.  Often, I have tried to grow zucchini, gotten a lot of blooms that then sadly drop off the vine.  A friend recently told me that some plants are under served by bees and need help pollinating.  Ehow’s link is very clear on how to do this.  I have high hopes for this year’s crop. 

Here are some simple recipes that I have tried this season and enjoyed very much:

smitten kitchen's zucchini bread, use the olive oil for the cake, much healthier, moist and yummy

my recipe for "soupe au pistou" a classic provencal soup, made only when it is the height of summer vegetables (like now)

a zucchini tart that would be great for a summer buffet, along with grilled chicken, some sliced tomatoes and a green salad

and then, a raw, shaved zucchini preparation by heidi swanson.  so light, so delicious:

shaved fennel salad

in the garden...beans

Beans are bursting on the vine right now...bush beans, pole beans.  Beans are rich in dietary fiber and they are a complex carbohydrate so they get processed slower, allowing you to feel fuller.  They are rich in vitamins A and C.   Beans can be simply prepared by putting them in a pot of salted boiling water until they are al dente.  Purists like to then fish out the beans with a slotted spoon, plunging them into an ice bath of water so they maintain their vibrant green color.  If you are lazy (like me), draining them in a colander and then dousing them with cold water also works.  At that point, drizzling them with melted butter and lemon juice, or throwing them in with some fresh salad greens makes a delicious and easy way to eat them.  Roasting them is another easy option: place the beans on a baking pan, toss them in olive oil and salt and pepper and put into a 450 degree oven for about 7 minutes, shaking them so they don't burn.  I recently made the following green bean recipes which were delicious. Perfect to serve with some simply grilled fish or chicken.  Green Bean and Israeli Couscous Salad and Green Beans with Parsley and Sesame Tahini Sauce