the family table: May 2013

May 29, 2013

spring session: pork pot roast with root vegetables

The last spring class...pork pot roast. This is a recipe I have used for both the dutch over and a crock pot. Both ways come out nice and succulent, falling apart. You can use any root vegetable here. I added celery root, but I think turnips or sweet potatoes would also be delicious.

Enjoy.

Braised Pork Pot Roast by The Family Table

To go along with the pork, we made a quinoa salad, with orange zest, dried cherries, pine nuts and fennel. See my last posting for the recipe with israeli couscous. I like it better with the couscous (especially as I overcooked the quinoa in class!)

May 22, 2013

spring session: braised chicken thighs with swiss chard and balsamic vinegar

Spring and the swiss chard is stretching out in the garden...

A really delicious and nutritious dish is Braised Chicken with Swiss Chard and Balsamic Vinegar. You sear the chicken, saute the colorful stems along with onions and garlic, and then deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar and diced tomatoes.

This is cooked in the crock pot or a dutch oven and you have a meltingly yummy dinner for less than $3.00 per person (with free range chicken thighs).

Braised Chicken and Swiss Chard by The Family Table

To accompany the chicken, we made an Israeli Couscous Salad with Dried Cranberries, Arugula, Pine Nuts with an Orange dressing. I started with the recipe from the blog, "the Kitchn" but subbed in dried cranberries for the dried cherries, pine nuts for the walnuts and we mixed in orange zest as well. It is a really tasty salad, one that I will go back to over the summer. It was nice with the juices from the chicken.

May 08, 2013

spring session: saffron braised chicken with fennel and carrots and a spring couscous salad with asparagus and peas

Spring colors are the theme for this week's braised dish. Saffron Braised Chicken, with fennel and carrots.

Saute the sliced onions and fennel in saffron and butter...

The stunning apron lady, aka Tracy, adds carrots to the saute...

After searing the cumin, coriander and paprika crusted chicken thighs, you add diced tomatoes, chicken stock, sherry and sherry vinegar. The stew is then braised in the oven for 1 1/2 hours or in the crock pot for 4.

Chicken With Saffron, Fennel and Cilantro by The Family Table

Making the most of the spring produce coming to market, we made an Israeli Couscous Salad with fresh peas, asparagus and snap peas. The salad is dressed with a lemon vinaigrette and tossed with chives and freshly grated parmesan. This can be made ahead and served room temperature with the chicken or would be nice eaten warm as well.

May 01, 2013

spring session: barbecued beef brisket, kale salad and biscuits

The Family Table Spring session has started. I am going back to simple, easy to prepare, good tasting family dinners, inspired by Michael Pollan and his new book "Cooked". I particularly liked the editorial that Mark Bittman wrote on this book in the New York Times. He wants to start a home cooking movement. As Michael Pollan says: "Cooking is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your diet. What matters most is not any particular nutrient, or even any particular food: it’s the act of cooking itself. People who cook eat a healthier diet without giving it a thought.”

I am going to post whole family dinner menus in this spring session of the Family Table. I hope that you will grab a friend, shop and chop with them, laugh and share while your family dinner simmers away!

Wednesday, we made Barbecued Beef Brisket in the crock pot (or dutch oven, both work great). The advance prep time is very short (see the lovely Tracy pricking the meat before she slathers the marinade on), then into the crock pot for 9-11 hours.

Slice the meat, drizzle on the sauce, and you are good to go.

To complete this meal, I would add a kale salad, roasted sweet potatoes and either home made biscuits (these are very easy and lighter than normal biscuits) or store bought parker house rolls. You can print out the recipes below.

Barbecued Beef Brisket by The Family Table

Kale Salad by The Family Table

Sweet Potato Wedges by The Family Table

IN THE GARDEN

Four years ago, after generous donations from local garden clubs, we launched the Urban Garden at the YWCA. It started as 6 raised beds and we grew tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, cucumbers, zucchini, collard greens, okra, eggplant and yellow squash. In 2012, thanks to an exciting donation from CoBank, we were able to increase the beds by 3, then 2 the next year 2 more in 2014. In our growing season, from April to December (thanks, global warming), I harvest the vegetables and prepare them in my weekly cooking sessions with the women at Mary Lou’s Place. It has been a great experience for all of us: planting seeds, then seeing them pop up from deep dark soil, then harvesting and eating the vegetables. It is magical. Each week I showcase a seasonal vegetable by using simple and easily repeatable recipes and preparations. As our garden unfolds, I will offer those recipes up to you, entitled “In the garden”.

In 2013, we started offering classes to Evanston women participating in W.O.W. (women out walking) sponsored by the Health Department. I held three part series where we would plant seeds; three weeks later tend the seeds and talk about nutrition; and three weeks later harvest and cook with the vegetables.

In 2014, we continued the outreach classes to the Latino Advisory Committee, to clients at Connections for the Homeless, and to families in Y.O.U.'s community schools. It has been a great journey and I hope to add new cooking groups this year.

A big thank you to those who have helped me along the way: to Margaret, Betta, Missy and Laurel for helping me in the kitchen way back when; to Amy A. for being there, for 4 years now; to Kim F. who helped maintain the garden that first summer; to Courtney and Jean who are so lovely to cook with; to Cie, my outreach cooking companion; to Amy D. who is the green thumb behind garden care 2014 and 2015; to Kim C. for making this blog; to Charles without whom the garden would not exist and to all of the many family table cookers, crock pot buyers and garden waterers who have made my years working with the YWCA possible. Thank you.

FAVORITE COOKBOOKS

River Cottage Veg, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Vegetable Literacy, Deborah Madison

Roots, Diane Morgan

Food Matters, Mark Bittman

Super Natural Everyday & Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson

Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi

Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, Maria Speck

Tender, Nigel Slater

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Judy Rodgers

Simply Ming, One Pot Meals, Ming Tsai

Bills Food, Bill Granger

Art of the Slow Cooker, Andrew Schloss

Slow Cooker Revolution, America's Test Kitchen

Any books by Jamie Oliver

Sunday Suppers at Lucques, Suzanne Goin

Braise, Daniel Boulud

Hello.

I created the Family Table in late 2010 with the goal of helping families, of all backgrounds, share low cost, nutritional family meals. From my distant days of cooking in restaurants in San Francisco, I had learned the joys of braising: simmering pots, filling your house with the anticipation of dinner. Braising is simple, inexpensive, full of vegetables, and provides comfort food for the whole family. When I overcame my snobbism of slow cookers just last year, I realized that they were the missing link that could enable families to eat together, even with the crazy pace of life we all seem to lead.

Over the past years, through my bi-weekly cooking with women, I have discovered that we all share the primal desire to eat fresh, healthy and good tasting food. Standing together at a kitchen counter, peeling, chopping, grating, enables us to connect to one another as we share stories of our lives, our hopes, our insecurities in a safe way. We are nurturers by nature and as we gather together to create food for our family, we are brought closer together.

I choose my recipes for their simplicity, affordability and flavor. Wherever I can, I omit extra fats, add extra vegetables, within reason. I want to confess: I am not a health food fanatic. I believe in real food that people will enjoy sharing every night of the week. Most recently, I have started an edible garden where I plan to cook with the fresh produce as it blooms. I encourage people to visit my blog, read the recipes, and maybe even gather some friends and neighbors to cook together.

alex