Turnip Gratin Two Ways

It seems that turnips are in season since I have had an overabundance of them.  I have never really had many turnips in my life so when I googled turnips a lot of Gratin recipes showed up.  This is the first one I tried

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/11/turnip-gratin/

Since rutabagas are also in season, I mixed some of those in.  Unfortunately, the recipe didn't quite work out the way she says it does.  Twenty minutes was not long enough to cook all the vegetables.  I think they ended up being in close to an hour and still needed more time.

The dish is pretty but was not our favorite.  In addition to some overly crunchy veggies, we agreed we aren't really crazy about rutabagas.

Attempt number two.  This one came from a Greenling email.

Turnip & Blue Cheese Gratin

Any root vegetable can be used, this is a great "clean the fridge" recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 3/4 cup half and half
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large leek or sping onions- cleaned, and cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds
• 2 large turnips, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup cubed butternut squash
• 4 large mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter a 2 quart casserole dish, rub with one of the garlic cloves, and sprinkle with a little salt. Set aside.

Heat the half-and-half in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme, bay leaf and both garlic cloves. Remove from the heat just before it boils.
Place the leek, turnip, squash, mushrooms and carrots into a large saucepan and fill with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil, cover and steam over medium heat for about 5 minutes. 

Drain and layer vegetables into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle rosemary in between the layers. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle blue cheese and Gruyere cheese over the top. Strain the half-and-half and pour into the casserole.

Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until vegetables are tender and sauce is thick, about 40 minutes. Uncover for the last 20 minutes to allow the top to brown.

For starters, my first attempt at this meal ended me in the emergency room with a nice slice in my finger nail from the mandolin.  Second attempt, I cubed all the veggies instead of slicing them.  For future reference, it turned out just fine.  The veggies that I chose to use were turnips, potatoes and sweet potatoes.  Just for the fun of it, I topped it with cooked bacon.  You should do that too.  This one was much better than the first and would do it again.

Frozen Grapefruit

Greenling has been giving me quite a bit of grapefruit lately.  I am not a particular fan of grapefruit by itself.  On occasion I can put some Agave and cinnamon on it and enjoy, but that doesn't happen very often.  My solution to this problem was to peel and cube the grapefruit then freeze it.

I ended up with little grapefruit ice cubes.  In the morning when I make a smoothie for breakfast I would just toss one block in.  That way I get a little extra vitamin C but don't have to be overwhelmed with tartness.

Fishy Dinner

What do you feed a guy that has agreed to mostly do Paleo for a month?

It turns out you feed him meat and veggies.  In this situation it was Fish, Carrots and Brussels Sprouts.

The fish was covered in pesto and then baked at 350 for roughly 10 minutes.  For the Brussels, I browned some bacon the cooked the halved Brussels in the drippings on medium high heat to get them crispy on the outside.  Of course, toss the bacon back in before serving.  Carrots were put in a skillet with 3 tablespoons of  water then covered and steamed for ten minutes.  When the carrots are as soft as you like (I prefer mine still a little crunchy) take the lid off to cook off any water that is left and then toss in two pats of butter.  Add some salt to taste and if you like them a bit sweet toss in a tablespoon of maple syrup before serving.

The dinner was great and for the guy that doesn't like fish it was a success.

Cucumber Radish Salad

I learned a valuable lesson with this recipe.  Rosemary does not belong in a cucumber salad.  Just don't do it.

The cucumber, radishes and rosemary came from Greenling.  I sliced the cucumber and radishes with my mandolin to get them thin and uniform, but a normal knife will work just fine.  Mix up with yogurt, sour cream salt and pepper.  Adjust the proportions depending on how creamy you like it. Start with a spoonful of each and add more if you want more sauce.

This fed me for almost an entire week.

Dinner Salad

Nothing line having a large salad for dinner on a Sunday night.  Steven has been doing a mostly Paleo thing for the month so we have been eating lots of veggies and meats.  This particular salad is quite a bit of baby spinach mixed with green leaf lettuce.  Then topped with two hard boiled eggs that were diced, 4 mushrooms sliced, 5 strips of cooked bacon crumbled and blue cheese crumbles.  The dressing was some sour cream that was thinned with heavy cream and just a bit of adobo sauce for some spice.  It made for a nice dinner indeed.

March 2012 Fitness

Spring is arriving and it makes working out so much more enjoyable.  I have been getting out and walking/jogging most days this week and it has been awesome.  In February I was able to work out 10 times which is way better than January.

Body Rock Stats
Squat Jump - 24
Pushup - 18
Burpee - 8
High Knees - 128
Switch Lunge - 12
Tuck Jump - 12
Straight Abs - 21

March here we come...

Sausage, Kale Kabocha Squash Pasta

What to do when you have Kale and Kabocha squash on hand?  Make pasta of course.

Roast the squash at 350, face down in a pan with some water until they are done.  Don't be like me and be impatient, it takes time.  Squash is not as delicious when it is under done.

Cook sausage and green onion in a skillet.

Toss washed and chopped Kale on top.  Cook until wilted.

Add in cubed, cooked squash.  Please not my squash was under done and a bit crunchy.  Don't be like me.

Toss it all with some pasta and some cream cheese for a simple, cheesy sauce.

Top with parmesan and enjoy.  Perhaps some red pepper flakes if you are feeling adventurous.

Jalapeno Hummus Bread

So I had this overwhelming amount of homemade hummus that I had no chance of eating all of.  Note to self, don't cook and entire package of dried chickpeas at one time.

Anyway, I found some inspiration...

http://www.food.com/recipe/jalapeno-hummus-bread-441362

It turned out ok.  It was a little sweet for my taste because I used sweet pickled jalapenos and the hummus was a little sweet to begin with.  I must say though it was great for lunch with cream cheese, sea salt and tomato as an open face sammich.  It definitely tasted better with stuff on it as opposed to on its own.

Rutabaga/Turnip Mash with Mushroom Gravy

I'll start by saying I don't remember if they were rutabagas or turnips because I have had so much of both in my life lately.  They seem to be in season....

Everything but the cheese on top came from Greenling.

Start by sauteing sliced mushrooms with green onions.  When they are done toss on a bit of flour and cook for a few minutes.  Whisk in some stock, water or milk depending on your taste and you have a nice little gravy.

Boil diced rutabaga/turnip

Once they are done, drain and mash.  I added a bit of chicken stock rather than milk to keep it a little healthier.

Serve the gravy on top of the mash.  I put a bit of laughing cow cheese on top, blue cheese flavor, and man was that good.

Potato and Collard Hash

Another dinner from my Greenling box.  I had to potatoes already, but the collards and green onion came from the box.

Dice two potatoes and one large green onion and places them in a skillet over medium

Cook covered for about ten minutes.  Stir them place washed and chopped collard greens on top.  Don't worry about drying the collards too much, the water will cook off quickly.

Don't stir too much because you want the potatoes to get crispy.  Once the potatoes are done to your liking create an open space in the middle of the skillet and crack an egg in.  Salt and pepper the egg.

Put the lid back on for 3ish minutes to cook the whites of the egg but keep the yolk runny.

Serve and enjoy.  Makes a great dinner or brunch.

Spaetzle

As it turns out homemade spaetzle isn't that hard.  Make a dough out of eggs, flour, water and spices.  It should be a thin dough so that it can go through the spaetzle maker.  Pour it in over boiling water, once they float they are done.  Toss the cooked spaetzle in whatever you like, we chose cheese :)

February 2012 Fitness

January was a work out FAIL.  I only worked out 6 times.  6/31 is a really bad ratio just in case you are wondering.  The good news is that I did the Big D Climb for the third year in a row and my time was right at 13.5 minutes, which I am thrilled with.

The February fitness test was two weeks late, but here it is


Squat Jump - 22
Pushup - 20
Burpee - 8
High Knees - 80
Switch Lunge - 12
Tuck Jump - 9
Straight Abs - 14

The results aren't great, some are better than others but oh well.  This was my second workout in February, here is to hoping that I do better this week.

Lazy Dinner

So what do I do when I get home and am positively starving and don't have any leftovers to eat?  Make a quesadilla of course.

Put the tortilla in a skillet on medium or high depending on how impatient you are until it is warm then flip it over and top with cheese and seasonings (I prefer chili powder).  Fold it in half and keep cooking on each side until it is brown and crispy.  Serve with sour cream and if you are like me some Sauerkraut so there is a little vegetable in your life.

Who needs a 30 minute meal when you have a 5 minute meal?

Local Brussels with Chicken

First meal made out of the local box.

I used this recipe as inspiration for the Brussels.  

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/02/toasted-coconut-brussels/

Of course I didn't have all the ingredients.  Instead of coconut oil, I used rendered chicken fat as my oil and I didn't bother tossing them with salt and pepper in a bowl before they went into the skillet.  They is just one extra dirty bowl that isn't necessary.  Once they were nice and caramelized, I turned the heat to low and tossed in 1-2 tablespoons of coconut butter instead of coconut milk.  That melted in nicely so I stirred that around to coat all the lovely Brussels.  Instead of shredded coconut I used these Coconut Chips.

http://www.daniellechips.com/

I ordered a huge variety box of these chips a while back and am trying to find ways to use them up.  In case you are wondering coconut is their best flavor.

As for the chicken...

Mix together:

Cooked Chopped Chicken (I had boiled some bones and pulled the meat off of them but if you have leftover chicken breast or just want to cook up a breast and use that, totally up to you) 

Two celery stalks that have been diced

One diced green onion

Two eggs

3/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Seasonings (Perhaps Paprika, Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper)

Press firmly into a meatball shape and cook on a lightly greased griddle or skillet until brown on both sides.

If you want a quick sauce mix together some stone ground mustard, mayonnaise and pickle juice.  Goes nicely with this.

Bread Makes me Happy

Please make this bread some time.

http://www.serenejourney.com/2009/03/quite-possibly-the-best-homemade-crusty-bread-ever/

The loaf smelled so good when it was baking that I really wanted to cut into it right when it came out of the oven, but I had to wait until the next day.

This is possibly the pretties bread I have ever made.  And it was as good as it looks.  The whole thing was consumed within 24 hours of it being sliced for the first time.  Fortunately I didn't eat all of it, but I sure did want to.  Next time I might experiment with some other flours rather than just all purpose.

Using Leftovers - Chicken Wings

Considering that more chicken wings will get consumed this weekend than any other time this post seems appropriately timed.  My pathetic ability to consume large amounts of food recently left me with 3 of the 5 wings I ordered left over.  These particular wings came from Pluckers and are Lemon Pepper.

There is also a chunk of left over summer sausage that got thrown in just because.  Cover about a cup of split peas in about 2 cups of water and get them a simmering.

Chop up the meats, leaving out all the inedible bits like bones.

Toss them in with the peas and cook for about 30 minutes (enough time to get in a quick workout).  Stir on occasion and add more water if need be.  Taste for salt (wings and sausage have quite a bit so you don't want to over do it) and add more as necessary.

Serve up and enjoy.

Greenling = Love

Dallas now has a local produce delivery service and it makes my heart swoon.

www.Greenling.com

Today I received my first local box.  In the mix:

Crimini Mushrooms - Kitchen Pride
Arugula Herb - Generation Farm
Rutabagas - Just Peachy Farm
Brussels Sprouts - Hillside Farm
Marrs Oranges - G&S Groves
Texas Grapefruit - G&S Groves
Greens (Kale, Mustards or Collards) - Paul Quinn Farm OR Good Earth Organics
Spinach - Gundermann AcresGreen
Cabbage - Gundermann Acres

The cabbage was bigger than my head.  Mom was excited about the thought of making kraut again so I am going to bring it with me to their house over the weekend to make some kraut out of it.  It is big enough that we can easily share it.  It is about time for more of it, my last batch is almost gone.  

In addition to the local box, I got a gallon of local milk.  It tastes amazing and I will be having a glass with a ginger cookie tonight for dessert.

I will keep you posted on what the rest of the produce ends up becoming.

Using Leftovers

In case you couldn't tell from the many other posts, I don't eat just a ton of meat.  (Un)Fortunately I end up at quite a few steak restaurants for team dinners because the rest of the corporate world likes to eat steak.  My Solution?  Order a bunch of sides to share with the table and skip the steak. It works out pretty good because I get to try an bunch of things and then there isn't the awkward moment where I have to explain that the side they are serving to the entire table was actually my meal.  Of course there are always leftovers and when I am in Dallas I ask for those to be boxed up so I can get a few more meals out of them.  In this instance there were leftover sauteed mushrooms which were screaming at me to go into an omelette. So into a skillet they went to reheat, toss in a few green onions, two scrambled eggs and some gouda and you have yourself an awesome meal.  Now, don't be like me and just scramble everything into a hot mess (evidence by the awesome unappetizing looking picture below).  Spend some time and make a nice looking omelette so when you take a picture it looks amazing.  Or not because you are way too hungry to take that kind of time.

Sauerkraut

Well, I've gone and done it.  I have become a real German (never mind that being a citizen thing, that didn't do it) and made my own Sauerkraut.  And it turns out that its pretty good and hasn't killed me yet.  What you see in that Stein in one head of cabbage that was shredded and combined with a scant tablespoon of Kosher Salt.  The goal is to mash and squeeze the cabbage and salt mixture to break down the cabbage and get some liquid out of it.  When I was making this the cabbage was cold from being in the fridge so after only a minute of squeezing the cabbage I stopped to warm up my hands and ended up getting back to it 15 minutes later.  At that point the salt was already working its magic and there was quite a bit of liquid.  Back to the squeezing I went a probably spent another 5 minutes mashing it up, then it all went into the stein, pressing it in as firmly as I could the whole time.  Don't forget to add those good juices on top.  Weigh it down, cover and let it sit for 3 days in a cool dark place.  Then dive in a refrigerate the rest.  For the record it was way better than the jarred stuff.

For more reference materials:

http://gracefulfitnessblog.com/2011/03/08/kraut/

http://www.wildfermentation.com/resources.php?page=sauerkraut

Brazil Nuts

Prepare yourself...it is the nutrition lesson of the day.

Brazil nuts are high in Selenium.  In fact they are so high that you only need one a day to get more than your daily recommended limit.  Why do I care?  Selenium can help improve thyroid function which unfortunately my body doesn't do a great job at.  There has also been some connection to selenium and reducing cancer risk, but nothing terribly conclusive at this point.

Now that I know this I will be trying to eat one a day, to keep the doctor away.

Read more:

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=95

Sunday Dinner 1/15/2012

This particular Sunday dinner was served while watching The Incredibles.  It was a really cute movie that had me laughing most of the way through.  It is fun to be a kid again on occasion.

As for the dinner...

Twice baked potatoes and Panko Crusted Shrimp with a green salad to start (not pictured)

Do you care about what was in the salad?  Just romaine, sprouts and zucchini. Nothing special.  But the dressing was homemade with sour cream, chipotle in adobo, roasted garlic, balsamic vinegar and pepper.  Turned out to be a good dipper for the shrimp as well.

Potatoes were previously baked on some other day when I had the oven on.  So this started by the potatoes coming out of the fridge, cut them in half and scoop out the insides, leaving enough around the edges so the shell doesn't fall apart.  Put the insides in a bowl with a large scoop of sour cream, salt and pepper.  I also added some gouda and green onion to the mix for the fun of it.  Put the mixture back in the shell top with more cheese.  Bake at 350 until the potatoes are hot and the cheese is melty.  (This part I did in the toaster oven to save energy).

Shrimps...these beauties were purchased shelled and de-veined.  I recommend saving yourself the time and do the same but if not do that part first.  In a small bowl mix up an egg with just a splash of water and toss the shrimps in.  Put some panko bread crumbs and salt in another bowl.  If you are like me you will also add in some flax seed for a little added nutrition, but totally not necessary.  Coat the egg soaked shrimp in the bread crumb mixture then cook on medium heat in a skillet with a little oil until they are brown on both sides.

Dive in!

Spicy White Bean Hummus

When I first tasted the almost finished product, I could have mistaken it for mashed potatoes. Now, once it has cooled down it is definitely a bean dip, but warm....I could eat this as a side dish when craving starches.  Of course you can leave out the spicy parts if you want to actually eat these as a starch replacement.

To recreate:

Half a pound dry Great Northern Beans
1/2 Tbsp Roasted Garlic
1/2 Lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp green chilies
1/2 roasted habanero
Salt and Pepper to taste
Perhaps some olive oil but not necessary

Soak the beans overnight in water.  Discard the soaking water and cover the beans with fresh water in a pot.  Boil for 30 minutes and test to see if they are done.  If you have ever eaten a bean it should have the same texture, soft but not mushy.  If they aren't done just keep on going, checking every 15 minutes or so.  When you think they are done enough strain the liquid into a bowl to use later.  Toss the beans, roasted garlic, green chilies, habanero, salt and pepper in a blender.  Puree until smooth, adding the reserved cooking liquid as needed to keep the mixture moist and moving.  If you want to add a little of the good fat to this use olive oil in place of the cooking liquid, but that's a personal choice.

If you are like me you proceed to stick a spoon in and enjoy, but you can refrigerate to use later on salads and as a dip.

Potato Cakes

This is my absolute favorite thing to do with leftover potatoes.  I dream about it, I buy 10lbs of potatoes just so I can make potato cakes.  Luckily for me I am the only one in the house that likes them so I get to enjoy them all to myself.  Anyway here is my latest adventure in potato cakes. (Have I said potato cakes enough?)

Roughly two cups of leftover mashed potatoes
1 egg
2ish Tbsp flour
1 green onion (optional)
4 slices ham (optional)
Perhaps some cheese?
Salt and pepper to taste

(I don't really remember what went in for sure, so sue me)

Combine everything in a bowl.  You may need to add more or less flour depending on how wet your potatoes are.  You should end up with a mixture that you can form into a firm ball.  Then take those balls and put them on a medium high griddle or skillet with a bit of oil, press them down to make a patty shape.

Flip them when they are golden brown and delicious.  Then take a really bad iPhone picture.

Serve them up just by themselves, as a side dish or with some sauce.  I will throw whatever I have in the fridge at the time that needs to be used up into the mix.  Have fun with it, but make sure they aren't too loose so they don't fall apart on you in the pan.  Of course, think of me when you are eating them and perhaps some day we can have a potato cake party...

January Fitness

BodRock.tv is doing a 30 day workout challenge that I have decided to start.

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2012/01/02/day-1-of-our-30-day-challenge-fit-test/

As the workouts have been posted, I have realized that I won't be able to do all the days because I don't have all of the equipment.  Which got me thinking....Why don't I just use day 1 as a marker for my fitness level?  So here we have it, roughly the first of every month I am going to do the day one challenge just to see where I am at and try and post the results.

January 2012 results
Squat Jump - 28
Pushup - 19
Burpee - 6
High Knees - 100
Switch Lunge - 13
Tuck Jump - 10
Straight Abs - 17

Don't let me forget that I should keep up with this every month and post my results.

Good luck staying fit in 2012 everyone.

Sunday Dinner

Dinner last night made me quite happy.  Roasted Brussels Sprout with a side of baked Tilapia topped with homemade salsa.  Yum Yum.

As for recreating...

Cut the brussels in half cover in oil, salt and pepper and roast at 375F for roughly 30 minutes or until they are crispy.  The fish was a frozen filet and went into the oven still slightly frozen and stayed in for about 15 minutes.  It was also simply dressed with oil, salt and pepper.  The salsa was a combination of canned tomatoes that had been drained, roasted garlic, softened onion, habanero peppers, tomatillos, salt and pepper.  Try it some time :)