Wheat, corn, rye, blueberry muffins

On a cold winter afternoon we needed a preschool friendly activity. Muffin making! These are adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I like them. They're really substantial and the mix of flours was really nice. (Our cat likes to eat muffins and she liked them too!)

Muffins

1 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c rye flour (from Open Oak CSA)

1/2 c Saskatoon corn flour (from Open Oak CSA)

4 T molasses

1/4 t salt

2 eggs

1 c milk

1/3 c canola oil

1 c blueberries (from McKenzie River Organics)

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine until just mixed. Pour into oiled muffin tins. Bake 375F for 25 minutes.

Weeknight dinner in four courses

We needed to do something fun for an easy weeknight meal. I turned an ordinary dinner into a four course meal. This was a winner with the 4 year old--meat, raw vegetables, applesauce, and dessert, and I didn't have to try and create something else that he would willingly eat for dinner.

Course One: Vegetables

Lettuce and shredded carrot salad with Yumm! sauce

Green peas

Parsnip puree

I have watched several cooking show recently where guests are served a form of parsnip puree. This one had a nice flavor with the roasted parsnips, but it had a funny texture--a little grainy.

Parsnip puree

5 parsnips peeled and diced (from CSA)

olive oil

sour cream

milk

salt

nutmeg

Roast parsnips with olive oil and salt in oven 350F for 30 min. Pour into food processor with sour cream, milk, and nutmeg. Blend and keep adding until they reach the desired consistency.

Course Two: Meat

Baked Chicken (Adapted from Wheat-Free Recipes and Menus by Carol Fenster)

1/2 chicken cut into pieces

1/2 c milk + 1 t cider vinegar (or real buttermilk)

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 c flour

3 T corn flour (from CSA)

1/2 t salt

1/4 t paprika

Mix dry ingredients together on a plate. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Dip chicken pieces into buttermilk then into flour mixture. Place on baking sheet. Cook 400F for 45 minutes.

Coure Three: Fruit

Applesauce

One colander full of apples (from our apple tree)

1 c water

1/4 c sugar

2 t cinnamon (optional)

Core and cut apples and place in large pot with water. Simmer until apples are completely soft. Process apples through food mill and add in 1/4 c sugar. Serve topped with yogurt.

Course Four: Dessert

Walnut Potica Roll from Andrej's European Pastry in Chisholm, Minnesota

Thank you Nana! We love this traditional Serbian Christmas dessert (and that it arrived in our mail box--great present)! Yum, yum, yum! I'm going to learn how to make this for next year.

Kenyan-Mexican Fusion

This meal was inspired by a comment from my friend and Kenyan host sister Lilian. When I stayed with Lilian and her family we often had sukuma wiki, ugali, beans, and chapatis as a base for dinner. My family lived in a rural part of Western Kenya and the cooking was done in a cooking house behind the main house over an open fire.

This meal is meant to be eaten with your hands (specifically one hand). Sukuma wiki is typically collard greens cooked with an onion and tomato. Ugali is similar to polenta, but it is used to pick up the greens, beans, or meat served with the meal. Chapatis reminded me of tortillas that my mom makes to eat as burritos on a hot/dry pan; however, the chapatis were fried in oil or lard. On one occasion, I cooked for my host family and made refried beans with garlic and a chilli powder. I modified everything a little bit based on the ingredients that we had at home.

Sukuma wiki
1 bunch mustard greens (from CSA)

1 onion
2 cloves garlic (from CSA)
grapeseed oil

Chop onion and cut greens into strips. Heat oil in a pan and cook onions until translucent. Add greens and garlic and cook until greens are wilted and brightly colored.

I liked the mustard greens. Yum!

Ugali
2 c water
1 c corn flour (from CSA)
1 t salt
1 T butter

Heat water and salt until boiling. Slowly add in corn meal (or flour) stirring quickly to prevent (or remove) as many lumps as possible. Add in butter near the end.

I am quite out of practice and my ugali was very lumpy and didn't hold up well when picked up by hand, but tasted great when paired with the greens.

Chapatis

4 c flour mix of whole wheat and white

4 T butter

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1 1/2 c water

Mix all ingredients together using hands or a pastry knife. Roll out into rounds chapatis.


Cook over medium heat and flip when bubbles start to appear. Can be cooked with oil or without on a griddle or cast iron pan.

My chapatis were not quite round even though I used my Kenyan chapati board and rolling pin. I could hear my Kenyan host mom in my ear reminding me to make them as round as possible. But they tasted great and held up for several days for a variety of toppings!

Beans
1 can garbanzo beans
2 cloves garlic (from CSA)
1/2 onion
2 t cumin
2 t chili powder
oil

Heat oil and cook onions until translucent. Add in beans, spices, and garlic. Cook until heated through.

The beans were a nice addition to the meal. I think especially with the more typical Mexican flavoring it was a nice compliment to the other parts of the meal.

Corn Flour Waffles

I love making breakfast on the weekends. This corn flour waffle recipe from The Joy of Cooking was given to us by our CSA farmers last year.

I like to have a variety of toppings for waffles too so that I can alternate between blueberry syrup, maple syrup, and yogurt. The blueberry syrup recipe from my mom is so simple to make and delicious. I use the leftovers with yogurt during the week. Our maple syrup comes from Funks Grove in Shirley, Illinois; we restock our supplies when we visit my brother and family in Illinois. Yum!

Corn Flour Waffles

4 T butter

1 1/2 c milk

3 eggs

1/2 c corn flour (from CSA)

1 1/4 c wheat flour

1 T baking powder

1 T sugar

1/2 t salt

Melt butter, cool, and mix in milk and eggs. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Cook on waffle iron. Remove when golden brown.

Blueberry Syrup

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 c water

1/4 t cinnamon

3 slices lemon or oranges

2 c blueberries (Willamette Valley)

Mix sugar, water, cinnamon, and lemon/orange in a pan. Heat until boiling, and boil 5-7 minutes stirring constantly. Turn down heat and add in blueberries. Continue to stir and simmer 5-6 minutes.

Rainy Day Chili and Cornbread Dinner

It was one of those days when I couldn't decide what to make for dinner, and we seemed to be missing key ingredients for everything I wanted to make. I did find 1 pound of ground beef in the freezer and several cans of beans in the cupboard, so I decided to make chili and cornbread. We were out of onions, but I thought that I could probably substitute onion powder if I increased the amount of real garlic.

I also found a package of wheat berries from our CSA in the freezer (they've been in a freezer for several months) and decided that these would make a nice addition to the chili.

I hadn't make chili yet in my new slow cooker, so this rainy fall day seemed like a good day to give it a try. My chili recipe originated from a college friend. Beer is the key ingredient. It's fun to see how different beers change the flavor of the final product. This time I used the last beer in the house, an Inverness IPA from Deschutes Brewing. To adapt it to the slow cooker, I tried an idea from Slow Cooker Revolution to make a panade of beef, bread, and milk. We did not have any white bread (as recommended in the recipe), so I used up the last of the heel of the sprouted grain bread and the last 1/3 c of milk in the house. I also used the cookbook suggestion and added 3 T of soy sauce to make a more "meaty" flavor.

Chili

olive oil

1 onion chopped (or tonight onion powder)

cumin to taste

chili powder to taste

oregano to taste

2 cloves garlic

2 cans beans (today 1 can black and 1 can kidney)

1lb ground beef

1 slice bread

1/3 c milk

1 bottle of beer

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

frozen or fresh corn (I completely forgot to add this today!)

Heat pan on the stove and saute onion with the spices until onions are soft. Transfer to the slow cooker. Add in beans, tomatoes, beer, soy sauce, and garlic. Mix milk, bread, and beef together in bowl. Cook on skillet with more cumin, chili powder, and salt until browned. Transfer to slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours. Serve with cheese and cooked wheat berries.

Wheat berries

2/3 c wheat berries (from CSA)

2 c water

Rinse wheat berries in water to remove extra husks, rocks, and dirt. Bring to a boil with the water. Simmer on low for 45 minutes. Drain extra water or let it sit to soak up more water.

The corn bread recipe is known in our house as Nana's Johnny Cake. I used up the last egg and had to use soy milk since I used the very last of the cow milk in the panade. The soy milk gave the corn bread a nice nutty flavor.

Nana's Johnny Cake

1 c corn meal or flour (from CSA)

1 c wheat flour

1 T baking powder

1/4 c sugar

1 egg

1/3 c oil

1 c soy milk.

Mix everything together. Bake 425F for 25 minutes in an oiled 8-inch pan. Serve with Willamette Valley honey or homemade strawberry jam (made from Willamette Valley strawberries).