Another Kimchi Adventure. . .

Today I realized I had lots of vegetables that would be great chopped up and naturally ferment into Kimchi.

when using cabbage and the right vegetables, combined with Kosher or Himalayan pink salt, no vinegar is needed and this natural method is more gut healthy

Ever since finding a milder version of Kimchi, at Northern Waters Smokehouse, a multi-faceted Duluth deli-sandwich specialty shop, I've been so intrigued and just love their  milder spin on this.

I've recreated something similar several times, but after this batch is gone, I think it'll be time for a trip over there to buy more of the Northern Waters version get myself back on track by reminding myself again what my original inspiration actually tastes like.
 
For the first part of the process, I chop-sliced the following into a big glass or non-metal bowl:

1 sm.-med. heavy green cabbage

1/2 sm. heavy purple cabbage
1 sm.-med. yellow onion
part of a purple onion
5-6 green onions
1/2 lg. green pepper
2 ribs of celery
2 carrots

Sprinkle 1/3c Himalayan pink salt over all of this and massage it into the vegetables for several minutes. It'll start pulling the water out and shrink the volume.

Let this just do its thing on the counter for a couple hours. Next add 10c of cold water and again massage the vegetables. Cover with a heavy platter to make sure everything is submerged and leave on the counter, if your kitchen is below 65°, or put in the 'fridge for 24 hours.

~ ~ Next Day ~ ~

Drain the vegetable and rinse well with fresh cold water, then let drain again. While this is happening, whisk the following ingredients in a small bowl:

2t finely ground black pepper
2t finely ground red pepper
1T granulated garlic
1T ground turmeric

1T ground ginger

1/3c soy sauce
2t sugar

Put the vegetables back in the big -washed and dried- bowl. Pour the sauce over everything and mix it all well, again with your hands, or a heavy wooden spoon. Fill quart jars. Be sure to push the vegetables down to release more brine. Use thick glass weights if necessary, to keep everything submerged.

Cover each jar with cheese cloth, using a rubber band to hold it tight on the jar. Or a circle of paper towel, secured with a canning ring or sprouting jar top. Not airtight - so gas can escape. Leave on the countertop 24-72 hours.

Check it each day and refrigerate when it until has the tang you like.

This will be best if chilled a week or so. It's fermented, so it will keep a while in the refrigerator. Great as a vegetable side dish, on a hearty sandwich . . . Lin

Coconut Tomato-Vegetable Bisque (with compound butter parmesan biscuits)

SO many vegetables!

This is what I started with. If you substitute English cucumber for the squash, it's very similar to the ingredients for my Gazpacho!

I only roasted those shown on the cookie sheet: squash, purple onion, carrots, cabbage, small tomatoes and garlic. The others have more delicate or fresh flavors, and are best with minimal cooking. 

Drizzle with single source EVOO, season with your favorite vegetable seasonings then roast until golden at 350° for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut up the other vegetables and saute on low heat, starting with the green pepper and celery.

Saute in 2T each:
Better Than Bouillon-vegetable, EVOO, water. After about 10 minutes, stir in the cut up grape tomatoes and green onions. When it begins to bubble again, cover and move off the burner.

Stir in the rough chopped roasted vegetables, the can of stewed tomatoes, 1-2t coconut or brown sugar.

Simmer everything an additional 10 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender until it reaches the smoothness you want. At the end, blend in some fresh basil, then stir in 1 or 2 cans of coconut milk. I used 2 cans this time.

I made some biscuits, in a muffin tin, to go with this. Crack open a can of 8 jumbos, cut each biscuit in 4 pieces putting 3 in each paper-lined muffin cup in a 12 tin. 8 will be bigger ones with 4 being smaller, having only 2 biscuit pieces.

Top each with about 1T grated parmesan-romano cheese. Drizzle with melted butter seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, Italian seasonings. Bake until the tops are nicely browned. If there is extra butter, butter the tops when they are cooled a bit. . .Lin

Chicken Stroganoff

Cook 12 oz. of pasta until about half done. Drain in a colander then put it back in the pot. While still hot, stir in 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 8oz. of Pepper Jack Cheese. Let it cool a bit then add 1c sour cream.

Set aside until later.

1# chicken breast meat

1 sm. onion

4 lg. cloves garlic

2-3 oz. single source EVOO

1/2 -to a whole- lg. green pepper

14 oz. mushrooms

1c chicken bone broth

salt, black and red pepper

Sauté the chicken, chopped onion and minced garlic in the olive oil for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Slice the pepper and mushrooms and add them along with the bone broth and seasonings. I also added 1T Better Than Bouillon - chicken flavor. Low simmer this for another 15 minutes. Combine the meat and vegetables with the pasta and cream sauce.

Pour into a 3 quart casserole and bake at 350° uncovered, 30 minutes or until it's bubbly. Serve with a simple salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette to balance the richness of the stroganoff. . .Lin

2018 Summer Gazpacho

The first time I ever had Gazpacho was in a Spanish restaurant, south of Madison, Wisconsin called La Paella, which has since closed.  We had ordered only wine and several different tapas, one of which being the Gazpacho.  The other gal I was dining with as well as our husbands, tried it, pushed it to center of the table and declared it to be "bad" gazpacho.  Well, naturally, I had to try it, and just loved it!  I finished every bit and practically licked the bowl!  Afterward, I asked to speak to the Chef who had made it.  He would not give me the recipe, but verified each ingredient I guessed, and finally set me straight on all those I hadn't mentioned, but wouldn't give me amounts.  I went home and was able to recreate the recipe almost perfectly!  Mmmmm-Gazpacho-Awesomeness!  Sadly, I either wrote it down and lost it, or never took the time to write it down.  A year later, toward the end of summer, I had ingredients, but no recipe.  I made something good, but not like my La Paella experience.  This continued to experiment and try my hand at this for several years.  Then. . . as fate would have it. . .I was in Madison, many years later, while working for our local police department, for a 3 day seminar.  After the final lecture, which ended way early, I decided to drive back to La Paella and get a big container of that great Gazpacho.  They sold me a HUGE plastic container of it. . .possibly a 1 gallon ice cream bucket, or even larger.  I couldn't WAIT to get home and have some.  Sadly, it was just awful.  WAY too much oil and salt and the flavor was way off.  I couldn't taste the carrot, and I've since determined the carrot is what really sets it apart from other Gazpachos.  Since then, I'm always on the path to create The Perfect Gazpacho!  It's an OCD Quest I'm afraid!  This is my 2018 Summer Harvest Version. . .

6 pickling cucumbers

2 med. garlic cloves

1 lg. purple shallot

½ lg. green pepper

⅓ stalk of celery

1 sm.-med. beet*

3 ripe tomatoes

2 big carrots

2t garlic salt

2t black pepper

½c Tuscan olive oil

3T white balsamic vinegar

tomato juice if needed to thin while blending

Ohh, so interesting!  This turned out well, but nothing like the La Paella version.  I like it, but it wouldn't be everyone's favorite, since the beet really dominated.

*The beet is optional, it's flavor is very aggressive, and without it, the color of the soup would be more green and orange.  I used my blender this time, and it's the consistency of baby food.  I didn't need any of the tomato juice.  If you use a food processor, it'll be chunkier.

Today I had it, as shown, with a squeeze of a sour cream sauce I made.  Sour cream with a little half and half to thin it, then seasoned with fresh ground black pepper, garlic salt, dill - then shake like crazy in a plastic squeeze bottle.  The kind used for catsup and mustard at hot dog stands.  Well. . .stay tuned and do a 'search' here for Gazpacho in a couple weeks, I have another idea for a simpler one, if I can find the right cucumbers! . . . Lin