The tomatoes are in the ground!

Some time last year, I was chatting with one of my patient’s relatives, who was an expert gardener.  A muckety-muck specifically in tomato circles.  (I didn’t know such things existed.  Now I do.)  My tomatoes have been hit and miss over the years, and sometimes I’ve been blaming the weather.  (Last year’s hail comes to mind.)  What he told me is that I should never take the tomatoes out until after Mother’s Day.  I didn’t start from seed this year, because I’ve been brokenhearted by that process (and annoyed at the expense/effort/yield ratio).  I went to Echter’s….and they don’t have the flavors I want, but I’ll bet I get good tomatoes this year.

It is the day after Mother’s Day.  And this is what I did: 

Four tomato plants:  Lemon Boy (because that lemon one Seed Savers does is the best tomato I’ve eaten in my life, and maybe this is close), La Roma, and Supersweet Beefsteak.  I got zip for tomatoes last year, so I’m banking on varieties that’ll grow, and put them in one of my best and newest, full sun beds.  I put them with three varieties of basil and a Greek oregano.

For the past two years, I’ve put herbs up on the deck and for the past few years they die of thirst and heat.  I know some will reseed and have runners and that may or may not work forever, but I’d like to not have to buy new herbs every stinkin year.  So I bought some of the most basic herb varieties and I’m putting them in the ground instead of pots this year.

I have no idea what I’ll do with the deck.  (That is so far the only photo I’ve gotten of Beau, the newest Jonjak, in focus.)  I’m going to see if the miniature bell pepper seeds from 2011 will sprout, but beyond that, I’m all ears as to ideas.  I may just need to go with cacti.  Twice a day watering when I do 12 hour shifts is not enough water.

I put pea seeds in, very late.  Detroit Dark Red beet seeds went in last week, so they got that rain.  Some chives for Chase, who says he’ll eat them.

There’s a sort of dilemma with the north end of the yard.  I planted several strawberries and two raspberry bushes three years ago.  We have gotten a few strawberries, and last year we didn’t get to them before the bunnies.  No raspberries yet.  It’s our third year, and we have raspberry bushes that could eat a small to medium sized rodent.

That, of course, was the plan.  Hints at flowers on it, so I am hopeful for fruit this year.  It would mean a lot to Mark.  The strawberry plants have sent runners all over the place, and there are strawberries that are now valiantly fighting the weeds off.  Also my plan.  I’m so excited to see it starting to work.  I don’t have a photo of the first strawberry of the season, because I put it in my mouth.    Delicious.  I do have probably a few bowls of yet-unripened fruit yet.  The more we let the cats on the deck, I hope we can keep the damn squirrels and bunnies from my fruit.

 

In the newest bed, I put some sunflower seeds as well as four varieties of peppers:  Anaheim, Mariachi, Holy Mole and Lipstick.  Just to see which variety takes off.  Anaheims did well for me last year, Mariachis grew but didn’t fruit.  I also put in (and hope I don’t regret), common mint, a small common rosemary, lemon balm and English thyme.  I know the thyme and rosemary will become trees if I let them, and the mint could potentially eat the entire bed if I let it.  My evil plan is to have herbs all season (even when hot), and try to encourage the runners to go OUT of the garden and blot out the thistles.

I have the squash bed to go, which was tomatoes, carrots, peas “bed” (area, really) from last year.  It’s got thistles so thick in it, you need a machete.  It has carrots growing from last year that I didn’t find….and maybe a potato that came back.  Another day.  Maybe this weekend.

One area that is starting to look absolutely beautiful is the area under the steps, which is visible by the hottub.  The hostas came back even larger this year (planted 2011), and the hen and chicks are coming up strong.  Mark is cementing the steps, and that, with the mortared wall he did in 2010 (and added to a month ago), it’s beginning to look really gorgeous.

It looked lush and beautiful under there, no matter how hot it got last summer.  The plants are even stronger-looking this year.  It’s beautiful right next to the hot tub.

 

I found a lovely little grey cactus thing at Echter’s today and got it just because.  It might be well suited to the front yard, which also is desperate for attention.  But I like the look of it right where it is, in the sage green pot on the stone.  Mark is hoping to do the entire walkway, which is a massive undertaking.

It would really be nice if I felt good enough about the garden and deck area to host another shindig in June, for friends and family.  I’m also thinkin of hosting an Akea party, and it’d be nice to have that at least partly on the deck, too.  Our living room is too small for social space.  But the deck works very well for it.  Last summer, it was really cool to have my family go poke around my garden with me.

 

Last but not least, I give you a photo of my black-purple iris, which finally bloomed this year (its second).  It’s the kind of flower that deserves the word ‘lugubrious’.  (I can’t think of any other noun…no person, place or thing…worthy of an adjective like that.)  This is my lugubrious iris.  My little garden and I are not worthy of it.  But I will try.

p.s.  I walked very slowly through Echter’s not-for-dabblers rose collection today.  I stuck my face into several flowers and swooned a few times. Roses are my favorite flower to grow.  I didn’t buy today.  But I have more evil plans…

Pasta e fagioli, by the Little Red Hen

It’s almost Mother’s Day, and I’m missing my mom.  I called her today.  It’s a rainy day, I’m kinda stressed by some things.

With that in mind, the only possible thing I could make today is Italian soup.  My Dad does a good minestrone, but I wanted some beans, too.  Obviously, this means white bean pasta e fagioli.

We’re not Italian by blood.  We’re Italian by adoption, long ago, into the community of St. Anthony’s church in Rockford.  Rockford has a vital and strong Italian (well, Italian with a large dollop of Sicilian) community, and we have always felt accepted there, despite my father’s and my blondness.  Italian cooking is just ‘food’ in my family.

Italian soups are home to me.  My mom, my dad.  Flat landscapes and irises and lilacs and things that grow gigantic with zero effort.  And oregano and tomatoes and pepper and garlic.

In other news, I bought the Mother’s Day cards for my mother (mailed, late, annoyed at self), mother-in-law, stepmother-in-law, best friend.  I had my husband sign them with me.  Told my stepson to make cards for his mother (my delightful ex-wife), and grandmothers (step and bio).  (He hasn’t yet, busy with computer games.)

I bought 12 gorgeous chocolate-dipped strawberries for my husband to take to stepson’s football game tomorrow.  I told him that he is to offer them to my mother-in-law, stepmother-in-law, and the ex-wife.  (No, I did not poison them.)  I have the best mothers-in-law a girl could ask for, and it’s strange how I feel like I’m a younger blend of the two of them.  My husband thought the strawberries were just for his mother.  I corrected him.  I did the strawberries for ALL of them, my stepmother-in-law and mother-in-law.  The ex-wife should have a damn strawberry, too.  Because I’m the bigger woman, and I have to endure her for seven more years (noththatI’mcounting).  And because maybe somebody should be an example to teach her son how to be courteous and kind to others.

But I don’t have to be there to hand it to her.  I have to work.

I am a stepmother, and I offered to work tomorrow for a mom.  I don’t mind at all working for her, I really don’t.  (Remind me to thank Maile.)  It makes it easier for me to not be there for strawberry- and card-passing.  There’s no card, no strawberry for me.  I’m not sure how much of that is contributing to my positively foul mood.

Today, I have been cleaning the damn house.   And shopping for food, for meals I have planned out.  And laundry.  And cooking.  And organizing things, and paying bills.  Sometimes I’m awesome stepmom to my stepson, sometimes I’m meal ticket and maid.  I love him.  Those things all exist together.

When my mother would have these same moods (and I know she had them), she used to announce loudly, “Did I ever tell you the story of the little red hen? No?  Lemme tell you about the story of the little red hen.”  (Here is the story of The Little Red Hen.)  She was also fond of saying that when her completely from scratch epic apple pie came out of the oven.

If I had energy today, I’d make a rockin Tuscan bread today.  I don’t.  I have too much to do.  And don’t make me laugh that anyone else will do it.  But I’ve made a vat of soup, and I can still have some with some freshmade bread the day after Mother’s Day. I will make it myself, and I love my Tuscan bread.

I’m pouring myself a glass of Viognier, and missing my mommy.  When my soup is done, I’m going to tidy the kitchen and take it a bowl of it upstairs into my bedroom for my own damn pity party.

If nothing else, the little red hen always eats well.  She eats very well indeed.

source:  Bittman, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

vegan, gluten -

• 1/4 c evoo
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 1/2 – 2 c hard veggies (potatoes, winter squash, turnips or parsnips) (I used potatoes because it’s spring.)
• salt & pepper
• 6 c veggie stock
• 1 c chopped tomato (canned is fine) (and I used canned today)
• 1 1/2 to 2 c soft veggies (green beans, zucchini, summer squash, kale) (I used green beans and zucchini)
• 1/2 c chopped parsley
• 2 c cooked beans(any kind, but for me it’s not Italian soup without white cannellini)
• 1 c small pasta(any kind of course, but ditalini is the only kind for this soup for me)
• garlic to taste(for me, this meant 4 cloves, knowing that I could have used double that…my husband probably not,though)
• parmesan to sprinkle over soup (optional…I didn’t because I didn’t have any today)

Put 3 tbsp evoo into large, deep sauce pot over med heat.  When you get your ripples, add onion, carrot, celery.  Cook until the onion softens, about 5 mins.  (I added the garlic here, too, because it seemed unnatural not to.)  Add hard veggies, sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Cook, stirring here and there, then add the stock and tomato.  Heat until mix bubbles gently.  Cook, stirring every now and then, until veggies fairly soft and tomatoes are broken up, about 15 mins.  (At this point, you can cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days and reheat before proceeding.)

Add beans, soft veggies and parsley, until it simmers.  Add the ditalini.  Cook until everything tender and your pasta al dente, about 15 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning, add evoo, and serve.

p.s.  In case you don’t do this, I used dried beans I had soaked overnight.  I didn’t measure them out.  Soak, boil them for oh, I dunno, an hour or until they taste noncrunchy.  Dried beans are always your cheapest option.  Drain off the water they soaked in to get rid of those bubbles.  (Not to be indelicate, but those bubbles you drain off will otherwise….well, you’ll eat them.)  On the opposite end, ditalini al dente means just cooked enough to hold up the shape well, with no mushiness.  After a day, of course, the ditalini will be soaked through, but that’s okay.  Second day soup’s flavors are better anyway.

 

Smoothie a la Copa Cabana

Coconut water is, of course, the stuff in the middle of the coconut that people usually throw out.  Some entrepreneur decided to box it and sell it as a zero-fat coconut flavored water.  And it’s workin out real well for her/him.

vegan, gluten -

• 330 ml coconut water (small, drink-box container)
• 1/2 frozen banana
• handful of frozen pineapple
• coconut flakes
• a little kale
• 1 scoop Akea Essentials
• protein powder

This is a pina colada echo.  I could add cream of coconut, but I just am not feelin those calories right now.  Drinking Malibu when I was 19 (and its consequences) mostly ended any love affair with coconut-flavored beverages….I had my last pina colada with Mark in Hawaii two or three years ago.  But bananas and pineapple should go together, and I thought I’d try out the coconut water.  It’s pretty decent.

(I don’t have a photograph today because, well, smoothies aren’t that photogenic without a some effort and Chase and I have a date with Adisa and her dogs to go hike this morning….)

Peanut butter cup smoothie

I’m back.  I realize right now there’s nobody but the crickets chirping, but that’s okay.  I made this blog because it’s fun to post my own food experiments, and I’m happy to have visitors.  I kept a journal for at least two decades of my life, and then unceremoniously tossed them in the recycle bin one day.  I do have a Buddhist streak.  So I post for my happiness about food and gardening and I’m delighted to share that happiness.

The dearth of posts was due to the Big Projects of getting married, immediately having drama with the ex-wife, then the usual holiday stuff we all do, then that big honkin test (that, yay, I passed).  Now I’m here.

And I made a smoothie.  I want to post sometime about this new thing I’m using, Akea Essentials, but this blog is for me and for my food and my garden, first and foremost.  (If you want to know about it go to www.michellejonjak.akealife.com  or shoot me an email.)  I’m drinking a smoothie every day, much because of using Essentials.  So it’ll be in all the smoothie recipes, but anybody who’s been here before knows what kind of stuff I post usually.  To the recipe:

source:  borrowed ideas from Courtney D, Kim K and my taste buds

vegan, gluten -

• 1/2 frozen banana
• 8 oz chocolate almond milk
• a dollop of chunky peanut butter
• a little kale
• 1 scoop Akea Essentials
• 1/2 scoop protein powder totally optional

Mix.  Ridiculously good and extremely high in protein.  Most Americans don’t need more protein, mind you, they need less.  But I’m a vegetarian, and a typical dinner for me lately is leaves and nuts and maybe berries.    (I mean that in a good way.)  I have found that I have to have protein in the morning, and when I went with the Slimgenics suggestion of doing eggs, my cholesterol was 208.  (I missed the 9Health Fair this year and haven’t rechecked…I will.)  Two hundred and eight isn’t cool….for a woman who is healthy weight and has been vegetarian for nearly 20 years.  So, nuts for breakfast and protein powders (which is whey) in smoothies it is.

In case it isn’t obvious, this smoothie is so good I feel guilty drinking it.  It’s dessert.  I mean.  Chocolate. Banana. Peanut Butter.  My estimate is that this smoothie has about 300 calories if you’re using a full-fat peanut butter.  (And 3g sat fat.)  By all means, go organic with that.  The almond milk, even chocolate, is only 120 of those calories.

Insanely good.  Time to tackle the weeds!  Woo!

p.s.  Modeling today’s smoothie is Bella, and Moab Brewery’s Raven Stout glass…which is a good stout, more chocolatey than Guinness, and so rich I’ve never been able to eat a glass of it.  (And ‘eat’ is the correct word.)

Seitan in peanut sauce curry

I’ve been studying for my certification exam, thus the echo on this blog.  One of the other things I wanted to do with seitan is re-crack my 20 year old Thai cookbook, by Jennifer Brennan.  When I ate meat twenty years ago, I made many experiments out of that book.  I lived in Chicago and had two Chinatowns to choose from….I got uncommon vegetables and spices relatively fresh, easy, and cheap.  Since I can now make seitan at home easily, I wanted to try one of the recipes I used to make.  I’ve had that in the back of my mind for months.

I had three problems:  1)  Every single recipe uses nam pla….fish sauce.  I solved this problem with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.  I can’t say it has anything in common with real nam pla….it seems like soy sauce plus something I can’t identify.  But a vegan pan-Asian cookbook I have swears by it, so why not.

2)  Shrimp flakes.  More than anything, in Thai cooking, this is mostly sugar.  Still, I found one of my recipes without it.  I’m hoping to just drop that entirely.

3)  Curry paste.  I’m ruined forever by real Chinatown curry pastes.  I’ve never seen them in any grocery store where the labels are predominantly in English.  And I pay attention to this stuff.  I absolutely could NOT make anything out of this cookbook until I found a curry paste…curry swirls in coconut milk is the heart of the dish.  Bex and I recently found ourselves in Savory Spice Shop a few doors down from our coffeehouse.  Their curry powders smelled divine, but I was dubious.  The staff assured me that one part oil, one part water, and one part water would make curry paste.  I reasoned that their curry powders are just herbs and roots, like the curry paste I know.  I was willing to try.

I will type the original, and my changes.

source:  Jennifer Brennan’s The Original Thai Cookbook  (and I think she’s right in asserting that she’s the first to publish Thai recipes for home cooks)

vegan, gluten +++ (but this recipe is originally a chicken dish, so use that instead of seitan and you’re good)

• 1″ piece ginger, chopped (or not)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped (or not)
• 1 tsp curry paste (I used Savory’s Vietnamese Sweet Lemon curry 1tsp powder, 1tsp oil, 1tsp water)
• 1/4 c coconut “cream” (happened to have 1/2c leftover coconut milk that had separated in the fridge…I drew off some of the water and used the denser cream.  I’m sure plain coconut milk is totally fine.)
• 3 whole chicken breasts or two seitan loaves (I made 4 fresh today, but used up one I’d had frozen first)
• 1/2 lb broccoli (I had a bell pepper that was wilting, and I threw that in too)
• 3 green onions including tops, cut into 2″ lengths
• 2 tbs vegetable or peanut oil (I went with grapeseed)
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried red chili powder (cayenne)
• 3 tbsp chunky peanut butter
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp fish sauce or Liquid Aminos
• 3/4 c “thick” coconut milk (it’s a pain to have partial coconut milk in the fridge…I used one can of lite milk…if you only have one can of coconut milk for the whole recipe, you’re good)

In a food processor, process ginger, garlic and curry paste until smooth.  (Which is why you shouldn’t bother chopping up your garlic and ginger first.)  Add coconut “cream” and give the blade a few more turns.  Place your meat thing in a bowl.  Pour curry mix over it and marinade a half hour or so.

In a saucepan (or your wok), boil broccoli and green onions (and any other veggie you threw in) until your broccoli is that yummy bright green color.  Drain and set aside.  The recipe says, “Drain well and place on a heated platter.” Dry wok (I did this by setting it back on the burner for a moment), and heat oil in it, then fry onion until soft and golden.  Add meat thing and marinade and stir fry until golden.  This is easy to do, as I remember, with chicken.  Seitan doesn’t brown in the same way, but it does get a little crispy.  Add remaining ingredients, stir to coat the meat thing well and continue until a thick sauce has formed and the meat thing is tender.

The recipe says, “Lift the chicken pieces and lay on the warmed bed of greens.  Pour the sauce over and serve.”  I dumped my veggies into the wok and coated them a little with the sauce.  Then I put my curry over joe basic rice.

First, I will tell you that the recipe was successful.  Seitan works beautifully in this curry, and the texture of the sauce came out great.  The ratio of vegetables to meat thing was good, and just the right amount of sauce to flavor but not drench everything.

And now I will tell you that the Savory Spice people lied.  This curry is flavorful, but my heart and taste buds cry out for a real pop-you-in-the-mouth-with-flavor curry.  It’s not about heat, it’s about intensity of flavor.  I want to taste lemongrass and galangal and more ginger and chili and maybe tamarind dangit.  There’s no chili oils beading in little places in my coconut milk, and this makes me sad.  Yes, it was a mild powder I tried, but it’s barely there.  Maybe I need three to five times what the recipe calls for.  The powder alone is an echo of pop-you-in-the-mouth flavor, though, and I went with one of the more intense curry powders they had.

It’s like curry for Wisconsinites.  *sigh*  It’s got a nice flavor.  And it’s utterly tame.  I’m drinking OZV Old Vine Zin, and my wine needs something stronger to stand with it.

This is a very tasty currylike meal.   It really is nice, and I’d try it for people who like mild curries.

I think I’ll have to find an internet source for curry paste.  Alternately, my vegan pan-Asian cookbook has recipes for curry paste.  That’s a possibility, too.  I’ll let you guys know what I end up with.  (Possibly in a few weeks after the exam is over…..)

Seitan breakfast sausage

I promise I’ll post the recipes Adisa and I made last week.  This recipe I made because I haven’t given up on having alternative protein to eggs in my morning breakfast burritos.  I’d prefer less cholesterol, and I may be stuck with Egg Beaters, but I thought I’d try seitan breakfast sausage.  Morningstar makes links that are really pretty good.  They’re also pretty expensive.

vegan, gluten++++

source:  Kathrynlovett.com (I googled several recipes, and thought I’d try this….)

• 1 cup tvp (I did not know what tvp was until this recipe…textured vegetable protein*)
• 2 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos*
• 2 tsp vegetable boullion
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 7/8 c boiling water
• 1/2 c vital wheat gluten
• 1/2 c chickpea/besan flour
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp garlic powder (yes it’s on here twice)
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsps sage (I have no sage.  I left it out.**)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke **
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp soy/tamari
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 c water

In medium bowl, mix tvp, liquid aminos, boullion, 2 tsp garlic powder and boiling water.  Stir well and set aside for ten minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Form patties and fry in non-stick skillet.

These are pretty good by themselves.  They don’t cook evenly, however…the outsides get very crunchy and the insides, without the crunchiness, don’t have the seitan texture that I love.  Since these are intended to be torn/chopped up and tossed in with garlic potatoes for my breakfast burritos, I may just try it again and pan fry the whole thing to make sausage crumbles.  The taste is good, not wow….but I’m not sure I’m looking for wow here. 

*  I’ve never cooked or known about tvp before.  I’m a little torn by some vegan products, because it feels like certain foods are heavily processed and that may be trading one evil (heavily processed food) for another (animal cruelty, for example).  Liquid Aminos falls into the same category for me.  For some reason, homemade seitan and tofu don’t fall into this dubious food product category for me, but they probably should.  Once I learned how agave nectar is processed, I switched it mentally from ‘wholesome food’ to ‘same processed crap as everything else’.  Because my reasons for eating vegan meals are not predominantly to prevent animal or bug cruelty.  Mostly, because I’m not convinced of bug cruelty.  I cooked with the tvp and aminos, and now I have them and can cook with them again.  If you don’t have them, not sure this recipe should make you run out and get them.

Makes me want to find out what IS liquid aminos….how do you get an amino acid fluid?  I kinda wanna know, since I put it in my food.  I have this because it was the vegan solution for the essential fish sauce ingredient in Thai cooking.  That bottle alone opens up my favorite Thai cookbook again…which is overwhelmingly meaty.  I used it heavily when I still cooked chicken and fish (in the early 90s).  I haven’t touched it since 1995.  When I found out last fall to look for liquid aminos, I did. ….and I should probably go find out if it’s alien blood or obtained from the torture of cabbages or something.

I may try down the line is making my normal seitan recipe with the other herbs/spices, to see what happens.

**Liquid smoke is something meat eaters have in their cupboard, not longtime vegetarians.  I don’t have sage for that reason, too.  Sage is something you put on fowl.  Yes, you CAN put it in other foods, but I’ve never missed it.  I haven’t needed sage in a recipe in at least five years.  I don’t know what else I’ll use liquid smoke for….I know I could make bbq or jerk tempeh.

There’s few enough meat foods out there I want to mimic.  Breakfast sausage was just an idea to substitute eggs.

Squash stew with chilies, spices and ground nuts

I wanted acorn squash for dinner.  And since I’m on call, there’s a high likelihood that even if I can get dinner made, I could get called at 4pm to go to work until 7p anyway.  So I needed acorn squash that could sit awhile and be warm, ideally in my crock pot.  I flipped through books and stopped as soon as I saw the title of this recipe because it sounds awesome.  However, it’s not a crock pot recipe at all.  Making food in a crock pot is my favorite way to cook because it feels like meals cook themselves and though there’s some preparation, you can go away and forget about it….then come home and yay, your dinner is done.

I’m going to give you instructions from Greens (and Greens is one of the most fabulous restaurants in the world, so they know food.)  …..and also the instructions that I made up as I went.  It’s stew, right?  How hard can stew be?

Hope it turns out okay.

lacto-ovo vegetarian, but easily vegan, gluten -

source:  The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison

• 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 3 tbs sesame seeds (all I had on hand was black sesame seeds used in Indian cooking…so I was brave or stupid and tossed it in…black sesame seeds DO have a different flavor)
• 1 oz (~ 24) whole almonds
• 2 pasilla chiles for chile powder or 3 – 4 tbs New Mexican chili powder (I have decent quality chili rojo…and I don’t have time to go milk cows and churn butter today, so we will be using somebody else’s chile powder)
• 2 tbs corn or olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, cut into 1/2 in squares (and I measured every one through bleary, crying eyes…with a ruler…)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 c winter squash cut into 3/4 in chunks (this is why Greens restaurant is Greens restaurant…they hire somebody to measure the squash chunks, I’ll bet)  (I ended up with probably 5 or 6 cups because I can’t eyeball 4 cups of acorn squash.  Oh well. I hope this is good because I’m making a LOT OF IT.)
  
• 6 to 8 ounces mushrooms, wiped clean and halved or quartered (I went with two hands’ full because I could see how much squash I had….and Mark likes mushrooms)
• salt
• 3 – 4 c water, juice from tomatoes or vegetable stock, heated (I went with 4c thin stock)
• 1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets
• 1 sm can hominy, drained (I don’t buy canned hominy.  I tossed three handfuls of dry in my slow cooker with water to cover, set to high and went grocery shopping.  By the time I was ready for it, it was ready for me.  Hominy is good easy cheap food to take for lunch, with chopped Anaheims and some beans and salsa and cheese.)
• 2 lb tomatoes, fresh or canned, peeled, seeded and pureed. (I was going to use my frozen tomatoes, but when I pureed them, something was *off* about them….so I went with canned puree, because it’s what I had)
• 1 c peas, fresh or (frozen)
• 2 tbs chopped cilantro leaves
• sour cream or creme fraiche
• sprigs cilantro for garnish

As I’m typing this, my recipe looks like it will be quite different from Greens’ version.  Oh well….I’m wondering about those sesame seeds, but we’ll see.

Toast cumin seeds in a dry pan over med heat for several minutes until they smell amazing.  Shake pan back and forth frequently so they won’t burn.  Add oregano until it smells even more amazing.  Remove to a bowl.  Using same pan, toast sesame seeds until they are lightly browned.  Set aside; then toast the almonds.  When they are browned, roughly chop.  Grind cumin and oregano to a powder in a spice mill; then grind the almonds and the sesame seeds to a fine meal.  (As much as I’m sure this method is fabulous, my life — and I’ll bet yours — is short.  I ground all things up together in a mini mixer.  Smells great.  Because I mashed it all together, I’m adding the spices all at once.  It’s a stew….how complicated does it have to be, right?  Right?)

If you’re making homemade pasilla powder:  Preheat oven to 350F.  Roast chilies until they puff up and are fragrant, about 4 – 5 minutes.  Cool slightly; then cut open, remove stems, seeds and veins, tear into pieces.  Grind chilies in a spice mill or small blender jar to make a coarse powder.  (Greens doesn’t tell you this, but you should wear gloves while tearing and mixing homemade chili powder.  Otherwise, ouch.)

Heat oil in a casserole (I used a small frying pan), add onions, saute over med-high heat until they soften.  Then add garlic, cumin and oregano (I added to the crock) and 2 tbsp of chili powder, cook another minute.  (At this point, I transferred the onions to a crock pot because my stew will be burbling in it all day.  In theory.)  Next add squash, shrooms, a sprinkling of salt, and your water/tomato juice/stock.  Boil, then lower heat, cover and cook slowly until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.  Check to see if the mixture dries out while cooking, then add more liquid if necessary.

Add almonds/sesame seeds, cauliflower, hominy and pureed tomato.  Check for salt, season as desired with chili.  Continue cooking until cauliflower is nearly tender, then add peas and chopped cilantro, and let stew a few minutes.  Serve with sour cream or creme fraiche and garnish with cilantro.  These spicy, peppery squash stews are good with a California vin gris or dry sauvignon blanc, or a light to medium zinfandel.

(In crock pot cooking, nothing ever dries out.  And you can add almost everything at once.  So I tossed in the squash, shrooms, salt, stock, spice mix, hominy, pureed tomato, cauliflower and peas.  Everything but the cilantro and creme fraiche (obviously).)  I’m gonna cook it on low for a while and we shall see what happens.  By the aroma, it smells good…but very different because of the sesame seeds.  I had in my head I wanted a Southwest acorn squash something….and I think I’m getting a Southeast Asian acorn squash something.  Which ….might be fabulous, too.  Potentially.  And regardless, Mark will never know. 

p.s.  Turned out really geat.  Warm veggies stew with a little brightness with the cilantro, a deeper hum of the chile, a slight cool smoothness of the creme, and all that crunchiness of the veggies.  Good winter stew.