Rhubarb

I can finally post!! Yay!

Rather than doing a recipe per se (since I don't usually cook with them), I'm going to do "Spotlights" on different fruits and vegetables to incorporate into your kitchen.

This week's vegetable... Rhubarb!

Rhubarb adds a nice tart taste to various dishes. You can slice up the stalks thinly (don't eat the leaves because they're toxic!) and toss them in a pan with a little bit of water (approx 3 tbsp) with sugar (1 tsp). Don't cook them too long or they will fall apart and get overly mushy. They should be a little tender-- maybe 3-4 minutes.

You can then put them on top of oatmeal or with a bit of plain/vanilla yogurt. The water you cooked them in becomes a nice syrup.

I also made an apple rhubarb crumble. I sliced up some apples and rhubarb, put them in a bowl, added some cinnamon and sugar, let them sit for a few minutes to get syrupy and then put them in a pie pan with some pre-made crumble topping. It was delicious, especially with ice cream!

Hot and Sour Eggplant

Ingredients
2 long Chinese eggplants, cubed
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 green chile pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon chili oil, or to taste
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions
Place the eggplant cubes into a large bowl, and sprinkle with salt. Fill with enough water to cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Rinse well, and drain on paper towels.
In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, red wine vinegar, sugar, chile pepper, cornstarch and chili oil. Set the sauce aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Fry the eggplant until it is tender and begins to brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour in the sauce, and cook and stir until the sauce is thick and the eggplant is evenly coated. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 153 Total Fat: 7.8g Cholesterol: 0mg

Peanut Butter Stew

I did a variation of this recipe:
http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/recipes_archive.html#52

without the cabbage, cilantro and okra and
with kale, mushrooms, zucchini, red pepper
and added app. 3 tbsp ground ginger and 2 tbsp cumin (or maybe coriander I get them mixed up)

Similar to this one also:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/African-Sweet-Potato-and-Peanut-Soup/Detail.aspx

This is the second time I've made a sweet potato stew and both times its turned out great.

Corn Batter Cakes

A great weekend breakfast or brunch with these tasty corn batter cakes. Make sure you serve them with real maple syrup or fruit and whipped cream.

Dry Ingredients:

1 C Corn Meal. Medium grind is best, like Bob's Red Mill, but a fine grind works too.
1 C Enriched Flour
1 tbs Baking Powder
1 tbs sugar (you can use more or less depending upon your taste
1 pinch of salt

Mix together in a bowl

Wet Ingredients:

2 C Milk (can use buttermilk which adds a nice flavor
2 Eggs
2 tbs melted butter

Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Then add the dry ingredients stirring until you have a smooth batter. Place the batter on a heated griddle or frying pan with a ladle to form pancakes.

Optional:

You can add blueberries or other fruit or nuts to the batter. Warning: frequently the blueberries "clump" together and don't spread around the entire pancake.

Homemade ketchup

SO GOOD! Followed the recipe from Epicurious. I actually didn't do anything but eat it (my guest made it), but still.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Homemade-Ketchup-109037

It went with mushroom pecan burgers I made from Moosewood which are now one of my favorite moosewood recipes of all time. I put avocado and cheese on them with the homemade ketchup. Really nice. I rate the ketchup recipe a 4 star, the Moosewood a 5 star, and the idea of making homemade ketchup a super awesome.

Burger: http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/recipes_archive.html#26

(I didn't put in the MISO and for a few I put in an egg, which made them look a little more burgery).

First REAL Post!!!!

So I realized this blog isn't going to get anywhere unless I do something about this. I will add everyone so that now we can actually all post recipes. Here's my first contribution, someone else has to add next. Also bears are not only riding horses but playing hockey. Just to warn you...of awesomeness.

I made this the other week (I’ve been on a Moosewood kick) and it turned out pretty well. Here’s the recipe - I ended up using Fontina rather than Swiss because I actually had some leftover.

1. Follow pie crust recipe for Spinach-Ricotta pie, or your own favorite for a single crust.

2. Cover bottom of crust with 1 ½ cups grated Swiss. (Gruyere is best.)

3. Cover cheese with: 1 medium onion chopped; sautéed in butter with

¼ lb. Mushrooms salt, pepper, dash of thyme

4. Make a custard: Beat well together

· 4 eggs

· 1 ½ cups milk

· 3 Tbs. flour

· ¼ tsp. salt

· ¼ tsp. dry mustard

5. Pour custard over mushroom layer.

6. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 375º for 40-45 minutes, or until sold in the center when jiggled.