Category: home cooking

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food home cooking

Look What I Made: Green Tomato Relish

 

I have been experimenting in the kitchen with the fresh veggies I got from the Forsyth Farmer’s Market.  Last week I saw the green tomatoes, but I had no idea what to do with them.  Earlier this week, Indrani Sen asked on Facebook about recipes for green tomatoes.  Indrani who is a journalist, got a quote from me seven years ago when she wrote about the Unfancy Food Fest.   It was one of the first  New York Times articles about the Brooklyn foodie artisan movement.  Anyway, her query led me down a rabbit hole of green tomato recipes.  There’s green tomato salsa, remoulade, etc. I ended up using a Green Tomato Relish recipe from Food.com

Ingredients:

  • 3 chopped green tomatoes
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 1 red pepper chopped
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 pinch of dill weed
  • 1 pinch of curry seasoning
  • 1 pinch of garlic pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon of  coconut vinegar (from La Terra Natural Oils)

 

Directions:

  • Put everything in a pot and let simmer for 30 minutes.
  • Let cool and then put in a mason jar.

 

It’s great with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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food home cooking

Breakfast of Champions

Chicken Salad Pita

I don’t have to eat “breakfast food” for breakfast anymore. It’s more important that I eat. Today, I had the rest of the chicken salad I made with a toasted onion pita and with melted cheese. It was kinda like a reverse chicken melt.  I do enjoy breakfast food, so I am getting a kick out of ready Extra Crispy which is a food blog all about breakfast.

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food home cooking

New Potato Casserole

roasted new potatoes with cheese and capers

Last week, I walked the Book Lady Bookstore,  and bought an old cookbook, ‘Comforting Food’ by Judith Olney. The cookbook was published back in 1979.  It’s crazy how vintage cookbooks don’t have photos, only illustrations.  I read a recipe for baked potato with eggs and anchovies.  Inspired by the recipe, I created a new dish. First, I roasted  the new potatoes, orange pepper and Vidalia onion.

First, I roasted  the new potatoes, orange pepper and Vidalia onion that I got from the Forsyth Farmer’s Market.  Then I added heavy cream, cayenne pepper, sea salt and cumin and one clove of garlic. I roasted for 20 minutes or so until the potatoes were soft. Then I sliced the potatoes and mashed them a little.  I added cheddar cheese and sour cream. Then I topped the potatoes with capers I bought from Brighter Day.

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home cooking savannah

Spring Recipe: Kale and White Bean Casserole

Kale and White Bean Casserole

Happy Spring! I went to the Forsyth Farmer’s Market over the weekend, and I bought some yummy produce. This morning, I use the kale and scallion to make an impromptu green and healthy casserole.

First, I added oil to the casserole dish and preheated the dish. They I added garlic, chopped onion and one banana pepper to the dish. Then I drained and rinsed one can of Northern white beans. I also chopped a few scallions and then added feta cheese, cheddar cheese and two tablespoons of heavy cream.

Then I pulled out my spices. I added black pepper, paprika, garlic salt, and oregano. I added the kale last after sauteeing the kale in water and one clove of garlic. Lastly, I had some leftover rosemary focaccia that I got from Back in The Day Bakery. I broke off a few pieces and threw them in. The result is a very delicious and inexpensive casserole that can either be a side or an entree.

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food home cooking savannah

The Ultimate Southern Thanksgiving Side: Cornbread Dressing

local dressing

Dressing is the ultimate Thanksgiving side. On Thursday, there will be macaroni and cheese, potato salad, candied yams and cranberry sauce. However, dressing is the main side to go with the Thanksgiving turkey. It has to be right. It can’t be too dry or too salty. Plus, it must be seasoned properly. Stuffing or dressing, that is the question. It’s kinda like the debate between pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie. I prefer dressing. Stuffing is stuff you might stick in a turkey. It is the stovetop dreck that is high in sodium but low on flavor. Dressing is a side dish, a Thanksgiving staple. In the South, it is typically made old bread or cornbread. The vegetables used are up to the cook.

My friends in New York love my dressing. One friend requested that I make it for Easter, and I have brought my dressing to a few potluck dinners. Now that I live in Savannah, I make a dressing that incorporates local food and flavor.

Inspired by the vegetables I got from Forsyth Farmer’s market, I decided to make an Italian flavored cornbread dressing. From the farmer’s market, I used red and yellow peppers, fresh basil and Vidalia onion. Then I went to my local grocery which is walking distance from my place. I bought Italian sausage, chicken broth and Jiffy cornbread mix there.

Eating local also means going to locally owned business. There’s an amazing takeout place called 520 Wings. According to local Savannahnians on Yelp, the garlic parmesan wings are the best wings in town.

Now that I have all the ingredients, I got to work. First I made the cornbread the night before so that it was completely cooled. Then I roasted the vegetables in the oven and cooked the sausage in a saucepan. As the vegetables and the sausage were cooking, I took the cornbread and cut in the big chunks. Then I place the pieces in a casserole dish. Then I added the chicken broth and the vegetables. Next I added the Italian sausage after making sure that any grease has been drained. Using a big wooden spoon, I mix all the ingredients together. Then I added the chicken parmesan wings and basil on top.

Have a good Thanksgiving!
P.S.Check out Michael Twitty’s hilarious post on how to navigate Black Thanksgiving when you are not Black.

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food home cooking savannah

Recipe: Mac and Cheese With Kale and Roasted Red Peppers

kale with mac-n-cheese

High/low cooking is what I call using local farmer’s market vegetables with store bought stuff. I decided to make macaroni and cheese with kale. I was inspired by a dish I had years ago when Red Rooster opened in Harlem. The mac-and-greens dish is still on the menu, so it must be a favorite.

I bought some shells and cheese to go with the cheddar cheese, kale, onion and red pepper I bought last week at the Forsyth Farmer’s Market. First, I roasted a quarter of an onion and one whole red pepper in the oven with olive oil and seasoning.

In the meantime, I sauteed the kale with chicken stock and garlic. After 10 minutes, I took the kale off the heat and drained the excess chicken stock into another boiler. I used that boiler to cook the pasta. Then I drained the pasta, and added sour cream, cheddar cheese and heavy cream. Then I added in the kale. Lastly, I put the contents of that pot into the same casserole that I roasted the red pepper and onion. I sprinkled a little more cheese and baked for 15 more minutes. It is delicious, and healthy. Marcus Samuelsson, eat your heart out.

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home cooking

Hacking An Autumnal Cake Mix

cake mix hack october

I was in the mood for a spice cake but ended up something tropical. I had a package of Duncan Hines Autumn Velvets cake mix. The Autumn Velvet has two different colored cake mixes that combine together to have a layer cake with two autumnal colors, orange and brown. I only used one of the mixes because I wanted to bake a small cake that I would into cut into squares like brownies.

So to give this cake mix some extra flavor, I added one teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and some freshly grated ginger. My housemate offered some pecans and I add them too. The cake mix instructions call for 1/3 cup of water. Since I had some leftover coconut milk, I used that instead.

After the cake was baked, I drizzled some of Fat Toad Farm Cold Brew Caramel on top. The end result was more of a tropical spice cake. It was kinda like a hummingbird cake but without the banana or pineapple. It’s delicious and it is good with coffee.

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food home cooking savannah

Recipe For Mexican Pulled Chicken And Reducing Food Waste

Mexican Pulled Chicken

Some people hate litter.
Some people hate smokers.
I hate food waste.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, roughly one-third of all food produced for human consumption each year ends up in the trash. How can solve hunger if all that food is wasted?!

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver did a great segment on his show about how food is wasted annually. There’s a new restaurant that just opened in Brooklyn that aims to reduce food waste. Przemek Adolf who I met a few years ago at Dara Furlow’s New Year’s Day brunch, opened his restaurant, Saucy by Nature, with the sole purpose of reducing food waste.

Which brings me to this recipe below. I like a rotisserie chicken from Kroger but I have to have a plan for it or I will end up wasting it. Menu planning is essential to reducing food waste. After eating the dark meat first, there was a lot of chicken left. My first thought was chicken salad, but I didn’t want that. Then I thought of using the slow cooker to make pulled chicken like pulled pork. I went to the store to pick up chicken stock and spotted a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. My Dad told me that he has been adding tomatoes and green chiles to his famous chili, so I figured it would be good for my dish.

Here the recipe:
Leftover White meat from rotisserie chicken
1/2 of chopped onion
1 small jalapeno pepper
1/2 bell pepper (red, yellow or purple)
1/3 cup of chicken stock
1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel or any brand)
A bag of tortilla chips
Monterey or Pepper jack cheese.

Directions:
I chopped up some onion, a jalapeno and a half a purple pepper that I got from the farmer’s market and added to the slow cooker. Then I added the chicken stock. I was using a knife to the cut pieces of the chicken off the bone, but I got lazy and dump all the leftover chicken in the pot. My laziness was rewarded with a more flavorful chicken.

I had a few options of how to eat this Mexican pulled chicken. I could have paired it with rice, or gotten some potato rolls to make sandwiches or even used tortillas to make tacos. However, I decided to make nachos since that was a great way to share food with roommates and neighbor who stopped by.

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food home cooking savannah

Home Cooking: Rustic Sweet Potato Thai Mash

Sweet Potato Thai Mash

What to do with my Local Farm Bag bounty is a cooking challenge that I will gladly accept. This week I got a couple of sweet potatoes and decided to make something savory with one of them.

I love Thai food, but now that I am allergic to peanuts, I try to steer clear of dishes like pad thai. My pantry staples are garlic, coconut milk and ginger. Plus it just so happens that I got some fresh cilantro from the Farmers’ Market.

All the ingredients for Rustic Sweet Potato Thai Mash were right in front of me. I never made this dish before but I knew all the flavors would come together. [Note: This recipe is for one person or two servings. Double the recipe for more people/servings.]

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato
1 shallot, chopped
1 tbsp of coconut milk
1/2 of garlic clove
A couple of sprigs of fresh cilantro
A little of freshly grated ginger
dash of black pepper
dash of salt

Instructions:
Peel one medium sized sweet potato and chop into chunks. Put in a sauce pan and cover with water. Boil potato until soft. Drain water. Place potato chunks in a bowl. Use the same pan to cook chopped shallot, garlic, cilantro and coconut milk. Add the chopped potato back into the sauce pan and use a wooden spoon to stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash the potato with the spoon, but not too much. The goal is to make them look a little rustic. Enjoy!

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food home cooking

Summer Squash Is The Sunshine of the Farmer’s Market

Yellow Squash

I have eaten so much yellow (summer) squash this summer. At the Forsyth Farmer’s Market, it is plentiful.  I have cooked yellow squash with onions and I have made squash casserole with onion, heavy cream, cheese and crackers.

Recipes:

Squash with onions and brown sugar

Summer Squash with Basil and Green Onions

Summer Squash Risotto