Daddy's Dust of Death

One of the difficulties of creating recipes out of what I cook is finding substitutes for unique ingredients. A prime example is Daddy's Dust of Death, which is a homemade smoked chili seasoning my husband, Scott, makes. The girls named it Daddy's Dust of Death when they were little and had lower tolerance for spicy.

Scott makes a batch of this every summer, when the peppers and chilis at the Farmer's Market are at their peak. There is no really set in stone recipe, but the essentials typically involve fresh dark green pablonas and red, ripe jalapenos. A ration of probably five pablonas to one jalapeno is about right. A batch at our house requires at least thirty pablonas and six jalapenos.

Cut and discard the stem ends of the chilis; cut fruits in half. Remove seeds, but you don't have to remove all the rib. Leave to dry for a day or two, cut-side down, to flatten a bit. On the third day or so, heat up a smoker using fruitwood or hickory for smoke. Smoke the chilis for 45 minutes to an hour, til they are quite dark and rather crispy. Remove from the smoker and cool.

If the chilis are still moist at all, put them in a dehydrator for a few hours, until they are quite dry. Grind to powder in a spice grinder and place resulting powder in an airtight jar for storage.

This is excellent on anything that benefits from paprika, but the smokiness adds a much fuller dimension than that obtained using any commercial product I've found. If you have the equipment, this is well worth the effort.

Grilled Bratwurst with Sauerkraut and Grilled Sweet Onion

Four servings:

4 bratwursts (approx 7" long)
1 1/2 cup sauerkraut  (approx. 1 can)
1 large sweet onion (Vidalia, Wala Wala, etc.)
2-4 heaping tablespoons whole grain mustard
 (Optional: 1/4 teaspoon caraway seed or 1/4 teaspoon dried dill)

Preheat grill to high (or start, heat, and spread charcoal)
Cut sweet onion into 1/2 inch slices. Spread onion slices on large plate and microwave for 4 minutes on high.
Heat sauerkraut in microwaveable bowl. Two minutes on high should be fine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Get out four shallow bowls or plates for arranging servings.
Place grill basket on grill. Put onions into basket and toss. Put brats on grill.

Using tongs, turn brats and stir onions every 2 minutes. After three turns, turn heat to low and cover. After 4 minutes, lift lid, turn brats, stir onions. Lower lid and cook an additional 4 minutes on low.( NOTE: Depending on the size, of your brats, cooking times may vary. If you're not sure if they're done, cut one in half to check.) Lift lid; remove onions and brats to clean plate/platter.

To serve; toss together onions and room temperature sauerkraut. (If desired, add optional caraway or dill before tossing.)  Divide among four shallow bowls or plates. Slice brats into 1/2" rounds. Place one brat's worth of slices per dish. Spoon 1/2 to 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard over brat. Lightly toss before eating.

This is a great way for the carb-sensitive to join in a family barbecue. This combination is excellent served on a sesame bun toasted right on the grill for the family members who don't have to watch carb-intake. A little barbecue sauce is good on this too, if you can take the sugar.

Blood Sugar Issues: What's a Foodie to Do?

Recently, I've been more serious about dealing with my slightly elevated fasting blood sugar levels. I have a strong family history of Type 2 diabetes, and had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my 18 year old daughter, and am overweight, so having blood sugar issues didn't come as any surprise. I don't rise to the level of actual diabetes, but am in the broad, and often undiagnosed, category of pre-diabetic.

Over the last month, through regular testing and experimenting with foods, I've figured out ways to keep my sugars within normal range, which may even keep me out of the pre-diabetic category. I've discovered that I just can't eat at all after 8 pm, If I want to have a <100 morning/fasting sugar level. I've also lost ten pounds in the last month - yay!

As is the case with all diabetics, both pre- and full-fledged, carbohydrates in the diet are problematic for me. This is not to say that I can't eat any carbs at all, but especially since weight loss is a continuing goal, I'm being pretty careful. Fortunately, I like vegetables, and although they do contain carbs, most of them are pretty much "free" food. I also like a huge variety of meats, fishes, nuts, dairy, and shellfish, so it's not all that hard to stick to this way of eating.

The nutritionist at the Bloomington Diabetes Center, and many current recommendations allow up to 45 grams of carbs per meal. For me, 45 grams per meal stops my weight loss dead in its tracks, so I stay below that number. I do obsessively read labels and have a number of calorie and carb counting websites bookmarked, and have confronted this problem as yet another area that I can conquer through information gathering and compulsive record keeping. In other words, it's right up my alley!

So for the next months, I plan to use this blog to share recipes I create, and information I discover. Up front disclaimer: I'm no nutritionist, so I make no claims about exact carb counts, etc. in any recipe; my goal is to share ideas for really tasty foods that are working for me. I also hope that I may keep myself accountable through regular sharing. I ask y'all for your support through this ongoing experiment that is life.

Microwave Candied Ginger

1 lb. ginger root
3 cups sugar
1 cup water

Peel ginger. slice into 1/8 inch thick slices. Put all ingredients into 2 quart microwave safe bowl. (I use a 2-quart glass measuring cup.) Microwave all ingredients on high for 3 minutes. Stir thoroughly to dissolve sugar. Microwave on high for another 3 minutes. Stir again. Microwave on high for an additional 3 minutes. Repeat one more time.

Remove from microwave and let cool slightly. With slotted spoon, remove ginger slices from syrup and place on cooling racks. Let dry for 1 hour. Place in air tight container and use as needed.

Pour ginger syrup into glass jar. This may be cooked further into hard candy, or used as pancake or waffle syrp, or poured over ice cream, or used to sweeten tea.

Oven Roasted Root Vegetables

I don't know why we didn't discover roasting vegetables earlier. I think we were all so obsessed with tender-crisp flash steaming that we just never considered the possibilities offered by high-dry heat. for whatever reason, I'm glad I got past it and started using my oven for more than bread-baking.

It's hard to cook a small amount of this; once you start chopping, ingredients seem to expand exponentially. But it's okay, because extras make great leftovers, or you may use them in a soup or stew.

A note about the use of Frozen pearl onions: if you choose to use unfrozen onions, be my guest, but my time is too precious to spend time peeling pearl onions. In addition, frozen tend to not overcook in the time required to cook the harder root vegetables. As with all my recipes, make adjustments as preferred to suit your own taste, time, etc.

2 Large carrots
2 large parsnips
1 small rutabaga
2 large turnips
1 bag frozen pearl onions
2 Tablespoons EVOO or grapeseed oil
coarse sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
Peel and chop carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, and turnips into half inch dice.
Pour oil into large, shallow baking dish. Add all ingredients but salt and toss to coat with oil.

Place in hot oven and roast for 15 minutes.
At the end of 15 minutes, open oven and stir vegetables.
Roast another 15 minutes.
Ant the end of the second 15 minutes, inspect vegetables. they will most likely need at least another 15 minutes of roasting, but if they are becoming too brown, you may want to lower the oven temperature to 400.
Stir and return to oven.
Continue roasting until desired amount of carmelization is achieved. Remove from oven and sprinkle with coarse salt to taste.

Serve and enjoy.

Brown Rice and Kale Risotto

Okay, I'll say up front that I rarely take the time to constantly tend this as required for a traditional risotto, so I should probably call it something else. But it maintains the slight toothiness of a risotto, although you could certainly cook it for a little while longer if you prefer a softer texture. It's important to use a short grained rice, like an Arborio or sushi rice; if you use anything else the texture will suffer.

This works well as a prepare-ahead dish, as it reheats nicely in a microwave or on the stovetop, with only a slight loss of texture. The ingredients below make 4 slightly rounded half cup servings. It's easy to increase, if preferred.

1 cup short grain brown rice
2 Tablespoons EVOO or grapeseed oil
3-4 large cloves garlic
1 bunch kale
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups hot water

Peel and coarsely chop garlic cloves.
Remove thick stems from kale and cut leaves into chiffonade. If the leaves are very large, cut them in half lengthwise before cutting the chiffonade.
In heavy, large, lidded pan (I use cast iron) heat the oil over medium high heat. Cook garlic for a minute, taking care not to let it brown.
Add rice to pan and stir constantly until rice is slightly translucent, about 2 minutes.
Add kale and stir until wilted, about 2 minutes.
Add half cup of the hot water to rice, stirring constantly until water is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add another half cup hot water, stirring until the water is mostly absorbed, 1-2 minutes.
Add ground fennel seed, salt, and remaining water. Bring to a simmer (this shouldn't take more than a minute or two).
Stir, reduce heat to low, and cover. Continue cooking for approx. 25-30 minutes. Uncover and taste for texture. If the rice needs to cook a little (or a lot) longer, that's fine, but you my need to add another few Tablespoons water. Recover, and cook until the desired texture is achieved.

Serve and enjoy.

If you like, you may stir Parmesan or Romano cheese into this before serving. A grind or two of pepper, or red pepper flakes and lemon zest are nice additions, too.

Colcannon

4 large baking potatoes
1 large leek - white and light green parts only
1 small/medium head savoy cabbage
4 Tbsp butter*
1/2 to 1 cup half-and half or milk*
salt to taste

Peel baking potatoes. Cut into rough 1 -2 inch chunks. Place in large pot, cover with water. Bring to boil. reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, or 'til tender. (Insert fork into potato chunk. if there is any resistance, continue cooking.)

While potatoes are cooking, Cut leek in lengthwise quarters. Slice crosswise very thinly.
Cut Savoy Cabbage in half lengthwise. Remove core. Cut each half lengthwise into 4-6 pieces. Slice crosswise very thinly. (You're going for something close to a chiffonade, but not quite that thin.)

In large, deep skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add leek. Cook, stirring, 'til leek is translucent and beginning to soften. Add cabbage. Stir and cook with leek til very tender, probably 15 minutes. Reduce heat if anything starts to brown.

Using a slotted spoon, remove still warm potatoes to a colander. Reserve liquid in pot in which potatoes cooked. Put potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl. (If you don't have a ricer, a masher will do, but won't produce quite the same texture.) Add half cup half-and-half or milk. and whisk. If potatoes seem too stiff, add more dairy, up to one cup.

To potato mixture, add the leeks and cabbage, using a spatula to get all the butter. Stir thoroughly to mix completely. Add salt to taste.

Enjoy!

*If you are vegan, or concerned about fat content, you may substitute vegetable oil for the butter, and use the liquid from the cooking pot instead of the dairy. The texture of the dish will be different, but it will still be very tasty.