Kale Chips, A Great Snack

Yesterday I made kale chips and basically ate the entire thing by myself.  You can think whatever you want, but I am a snacker and I'm always looking for something to munch on.  I also wanted to introduce it to my nephew who is fuzzy about everything green on his plate.  First I asked him if he wanted chips and a big smile came over his face, but after he saw that they were green I couldn't get him to try it.  I have made it before for my little one and she also refused to try anything green, but hey, she is drinking orange juice with broccoli rabb most mornings, so I am not going to force the issue.  So a few people asked about kale chips and I wanted to show them that it is easy to make and a great snack packed with vitamin K, vitamin C and beta carotene.   I truly find them delicious but don't take my word, try them yourself.

Ingredients:

Kale (not sure about the measurements on this, I probably used 5 or 6 leaves of kale)

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/4 tsp Sea salt - use your own judgement 

Instructions:

Cut the kale in small strips, discard the stems

Then wash it and pat it down with a paper towel

Put into a Ziploc bag and add 1 tablespoon of oil to coat and sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Toss around in the bag so that the oil and salt covers the entire greens

Spread the kale in a baking pan in a single file

Bake on 400 degree oven for about 10 to 15 mins until the ends of the greens turn crispy.  

Keep a close eye on this, because they bake very quickly and you don't want to burn them.   If your oven is very hot  bake at 350 for 5 to 10 minutes.  

After they are done, snack it right away, you will see they will melt in your mouth.  Oh well, I am not sure if this is a big hit among the young ones in the house, but I am sure if they actually tried it they will have a different reaction.  Enjoy!!

Rhubarb Cobbler.....Sweeeeet!!

Red rhubarb in season now

Okay guys, haven't blogged in a long while.  My children are back from college for the summer so I have had less time to blog, but I really should get back to it.  Here is an update, I recently joined a CSA, which is a "community supported agriculture", an organization where I get weekly vegetables & fruits from a local farm.  I am so excited.  I truly forgot to take pictures of my first stash, but basically everything is grown organically and in season.  My first batch included fresh ripe strawberries, kale, bokchoy, turnips,  and arugula.  Next batch I will surely take pictures.  Strawberries were gone the second day and boy were they sweet and delicious.  The same day I made bokchoy with green apples with a dash of apple vinegar. Yum!  Now the exciting part of the CSA, is that some of the veggies are new to me, like rhubarb.  So here goes my first attempt at doing anything with rhubarb: a cobbler. I'm about to do it now and will give my verdict by the end of this blog. But first, here's the recipe:

Rhubarb cobbler recipe calls for: (recipe from recipe.com . ..I made some adjustments)

• 3/4 cup white sugar - I used Organic cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon butter diced (earth balance)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (Organic pastry flour)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk (soy milk no eggs and apple sauce)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 
  
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Directions:

Chopped up the rhubarb and mixed it with 1 tablespoon of water, sugar and cornstarch, boil for about 5 minutes.
Add to a baking dish then add a dash of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Chopped and mix with cornstarch, sugar and water, boil for 5 minutes

Separate bowl, sift flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the butter and mix with fingers until crumbly.  

Flour should look like this...crumbled 

In another small bowl mix milk and eggs.  I used soy milk and apple sauce for texture and excluded the egg.  Now add into the dry ingredients just to moisten.  


Spread onto the rhubarb mixture.  Sprinkle sugar..I used brown sugar on top.  Then bake.  Wait until it cools before you cut into it.  

Okay my children didn't know what rhubarb looked like and was skeptical trying anything new, but by the first mouthful, they were hooked.  They said it tasted a little like apple pie.  Even my fussy nephew, after much inspection tried it and cleaned his plate.  I was very pleased it was sweet and tart.  Hubby liked it a lot too.  The crust was also very good even though I left out the eggs,  it was perfect.  Okay guys I guess I will be making this again.  Enjoy!!. 

Cajun Food In New Orleans

I had a great opportunity to visit New Orleans for a work conference and was more than excited about the prospect of having some great chow down and to tour this great place that had been devastated during Katrina storm.  Fortunately, I brought my youngest to visit as well and we had the opportunity to tour the area and taste some really great authentic southern dishes.  Gumbo, which was on the top of my list was terrific.  I was a little apprehensive, because I didn't think I could find gumbo soup that didn't contain sausages, but was pleasantly surprised when I found one with okra and seafood and it was truly amazing.

Spicy and delicious...I will like to make my own one day, and I absolutely love okra

Another dish that New Orleans is known for is the good old southern grits.  This dish reminded me of corn meal porridge without the sweetener and the smooth texture.  It was really good with a little salt and butter to give it that creamy texture and wonderful flavor.  I noticed that some people garnished it with bits of bacon and chopped spring onions on top, but it was tasty without it.

I was surrounded by so many restaurants, bars, cafes advertising all types of seafood and Jambalaya.   Live jazz bands at the forefront of many of these places were all very inviting.  The first place, I stopped to have breakfast  was called Stanley's in Jackson Square close to the Louisiana museum and cathedral church.  The enormous plate of breakfast was typical to all the portions I had in most of the places I visited.  Here are some pictures of some of my favorite meals.

Cajun Steamed Craw fish....took me a while to figure out how to get out the meat, but once I did  hmmmmmm!

Stewed Shrimp and fish with a Cajun season with mild heat.
This part of town is also known for its great seasoning with combination of wonderful spices.   

Poached eggs, stuffed soft crab
on an English muffin. Yes this is breakfast,
not at all what I would imagine eating at home,
but when you are in New Orleans, you do as the
New Orleans.

As mentioned the seafood portion were huge, stuffed crabs, lobster legs,
a seafood cheese dish, french fries all fried, so bad for your waistline, but so good
my taste buds and stomach had a great time.

Fried oysters, shrimp, catfish, fries and
bread.  This was way to much for one person
but again very good.  Surprising
it was very difficult to find dishes without
the fried seafood, but all in all southern
spices are fantastic.  Paprika, oregano, thyme,
peppers, and many more authentic spices really
does make all the flavors pop.

Stuffed Crab meat with fries was just right
for my little one

Last night, I went with a grilled shrimp salad
buried in
vinegar sauce and sprinkled with a creamy cheesy sauce.
The seasoning on every bite of shrimp was
amazing.  This was perfect for a late night dinner.

Food Pics From Jamaica

Not an egg fan, but this was like a quiche with veg. in the middle
fried on top of the stove

Stewed liver, yellow yam calaloo and green bananas

Fried fish with green & red peppers, dumpling,  pumpkin, green
 bananas...so good

Fried fish then stewed with the peppers and well seasoned
with traditional seasoning.  Dumplings on the side -
this was delicious.

Caloloo, cucumbers and ginger
and watermelon juice

Fresh sour sop normally comes in a can in the states

Papaya 

My favorite - calaloo, banana and pumpkin

Star fruit, soft and not to sweet.  I had this with breakfast
every morning

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Melon, apples, pineapples and bananas, which were much sweeter than the states

Beets, Orange and ginger mixed in a blender.  

East Indian and Julie mangoes are so yummie.
Red sweet plums

Mushroom, corn salad, calaloo and fish

Mushrooms: The Other White Meat

Still enjoying beautiful Jamaica on my vacation and while eating some pickled mushrooms, I remembered that I still had post, about roasted mushrooms, waiting in draft mode that I wanted to share with you all. 

Mushroom, calaloo, corn salad and fish

I have  been experimenting with mushrooms for the last two years and I have found it to be an extremely versatile food.  Not only have I found it to be a great substitute for meat, but it also has great nutritional value, that you shouldn't discount.  I have tried maitake, shitake, cremini, and other varieties, either roasted, stewed, sautéed or sprinkled on salads.  I know what you might be thinking, and you can stop turning up your noses, and don't say they are fungi. Lord knows I get that reaction from a lot of my friends and family.  I bet if you only knew the nutritional value of mushrooms you would change your mind.  Maybe if you were to even try it, you would see that it can serve as the basis of a meal, as a side dish, whether stewed or raw or in salads.  It really doesn't require a lot of cooking time and that is also another positive aspect about cooking with this lovely fungus. 

Ingredients:

1 to 2 cups of cremini mushrooms

2 tbsp Vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp crushed red peppers

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup basil or cilantro chopped 

Mix all ingredients together except for mushrooms. 

Now add mushrooms into the mixture.  You can also put the ingredients into a Ziploc bag with the mushrooms and thoroughly shake so that every nooks and crannies of the mushrooms are marinated with the sauce.

Roast for 15 minutes on 350 degrees in the oven.  

Drain out the water and put back into the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes.  

Optional, add a teaspoon of your favorite butter for a creamy flavor.

Mushrooms are quite delicious, easy to make and high in vitamin D and other nutrients as well.   As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover.  

Mama's Sunday Mix

As I was drinking my morning juice of beets orange juice and ginger, one of the staff members in Jamaica, Rui Montego Bay asked me if I've ever tried the traditional Sunday morning juice. She said every Sunday most households make rice and peas, stewed curry chicken and greens, I suppose she meant calaloo, which is also a favorite of the Jamaicans. But what I didn't  know although married to a Jamaican man over 20+ years,  that carrot and  beet juice mixed with carnation milk is a must for the household every Sunday. She even said that some people would also add a little Guinness stout to it and top it off with freshly grated nutmeg. Well this is definitely one to try without the stout, not a drinker, but with silk almond or coconut milk (no diary either) which also has a heavy consistency like the carnation milk. Topping that off with fresh nutmeg would certainly keep my marriage very happy.  I will let you all know when I make it.  For those that want to add a little backbone, try it with stout.  And that didn't come from me.

Jamming Juices in Jamaica

I am blogging from Jamaica W.I. with my hubby on our 22nd wedding anniversary, but I couldn't help myself, I had to share some really delicious, fresh juices, fruits and vegetables that I was really excited about.  My hubby thinks I am crazy, because I was raving about the juices, while he couldn't get enough of the traditional Jamaican food like  calaloo (similar to spinach, but not quite), sour sop, dumplings, jerk chicken, green bananas etc.  Don't get me wrong, I more than indulged in these as well, but I was very happy for the morning juices and in the process I learned a few new juices that you may find delicious as well.

Calaloo, cucumbers and little fresh ginger was awesome.  It was really light and refreshing and great for the hot weather.  I will definitely try to make this, whenever I am able to get my hands on some fresh calaloo in the farmers market.

Banana and Strawberries

Cantaloupe, watermelon juiced - refreshing and delicious too

Papaya juice was absolutely out of this world.  Another to try.

Okay, not a juice, but calaloo, green banana, and pumpkin was my breakfast after the great juices..Really delicious, I must say.  Kept me full all day long after two hours of  zip lining in the morning.


Below fish with dumplings were some mornings or lunch time entree.  Yummie! 

Anyhow while I continue to have a great time trying out all these wonderful dishes, I hope you will just be satisfied with these beautiful pictures.