The Global Kitchen

Holy cats this is astounding!!! On a scale of one to 10 I give it a solid 20!!

I wanted to use up the pozole I cooked up a couple of weeks ago and found this highly rated recipe on Epicurious. It was listed under Healthy Mexican so that was an added bonus. It was a bit labor intensive but well worth the effort. This soup is seriously awesome!! I put avocado tossed with lime juice in my soup.

Green Pozole with Chicken Gourmet | February 2003

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 2 hr Makes 6 generous servings. 9 cups water(I used chicken broth for more flavor) 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf 1 large white onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced 6 garlic cloves, chopped 2 1/2 teaspoons salt 3 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs 1/2 cup hulled (green) pumpkin seeds (not roasted; 2 1/4 oz) 1 lb tomatillos, husked 2 fresh jalapeño chiles, quartered (including seeds) 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 teaspoon dried epazote or oregano (preferably Mexican), crumbled 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 (15-oz) cans white hominy, rinsed and drained Accompaniments: diced radish; cubed avocado tossed with lime juice; shredded romaine; chopped white onion; lime wedges; dried oregano Special equipment: an electric coffee/spice grinder Cook chicken: Bring 8 cups water, bay leaf, half of onion, half of garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil, covered, in a 6-quart heavy pot, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add chicken and poach at a bare simmer, uncovered, skimming off any foam, until just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board to cool. Pour broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, discarding solids, and reserve. When chicken is cool enough to handle, coarsely shred with your fingers. Make sauce while chicken cools: Cook pumpkin seeds in a dry small skillet over low heat, stirring occasionally, until puffed but not browned (seeds will pop as they puff), 6 to 7 minutes.

So good I made it twice!

I will warn you the prep time on this is close to an hour, which is more time than I usually like to spend on a salad. But the payoff is definitely worth it. You could make the dressing and tempeh ahead of time, which is what I did the second time around. I also threw a garlic clove and the jalepeno in my mini-prep and minced them together to save chopping time.



Wilted Arugula with Braised Tempeh, Mango, and Red Onion
The Healthy Hedonist by Myra Kornfeld
Serves 4

1/2 lb tempeh cut into 12 "fingers"
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/4 cup pineapple juice
5 tbs fresh lime juice
4 whole garlic cloves plus one garlic clove, minced
1 2 inch piece of ginger, cut into 4 slices(I also peeled it)
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 jalepeno pepper, stemmed seeded and minced
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs fresh cilantro, coursley chopped
1 tbs plus 2 tsp canola oil
3/4 lb arugula, stems removed (about 9 cups)
1 ripe mango

In a medium sauce pan combine the water, soy sauce, 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice, 2 tbs of the lime juice, whole garlic cloves, ginger and the tempeh. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Then lower the heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes.

Remove the tempeh from the marinade and set it aside. Using tongs or a slotted spoon remove the ginger and garlic from the marinade and discard. Add the red onion to the marinade and simmer for one minute. Drain and place the onions in a small bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tbs of the lime juice, toss to coat and set aside.

Simmer the remaining 1 cup pineapple juice in a small saucepan until it is reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10-15 minutes.

Combine the reduced pineapple juice, the remaining 2 tbs lime juice and the minced garlic, jalepeno, mustard, salt, cilantro and 1 tbs of oil in a small bowl. Whisk and set aside.

Wash and dry arugula. Place in a large non-reactive bowl (metal or glass).

Peel and slice the mango into 3/4 inch slices and set aside.

Warm a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat and add oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the tempeh and sautee turning once until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside.

Bring several cups of water to a simmer in a large pot. Toss the arugula with 1/3 cup of the dressing and place the bowl over the simmering water. Using tongs toss the arugula until warm and it begins to wilt, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Divide the greens among 4 plates and arrange 3 pieces of the tempeh and mango slices over each mound of greens. Sprinkle with red onions and drizzle with the dressing. Serve immediately.

This is so easy you don't even need a recipe. There is one in Mark Bittmans How to Cook Everything Vegetarian but I gave it a glance, closed the book and put the dish together.

I made his recipe for cooked tomatilla salsa. It wasn't spectacular and you can get the same results with a jar of salsa verde. Or regular salsa.

He also suggests serving it with tortilla chips, which is a great idea if you aren't counting calories.







Black Beans Enchilada Style
Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman



2 cups salsa verde or salsa of choice
3 cups black beans
1 cup frozen corn(do not thaw)
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 cup Jack cheese cut into small cubes
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco
tortilla chips

Heat oven to 400.

Spray souffle dish with cooking spray or wipe with olive oil.

Spread salsa in bottom of dish


Mix beans, corn and desired amount of salt and pepper and pour on top of salsa.

Press cubes of jack cheese into beans and top with crumbled tortilla chips. Top with crumbled queso fresco and bake 20-30 minutes.

Take a quiz at Earthbound Organics. Get 9/10 and get a free shopping tote.

http://www.ebfarm.com/AboutUs/Environment/ConservationQuiz.aspx

I'll have mine in June.

This is probably one of the most unphotogenic meals I've ever made. Take my word for it when I say it was tasty.

Not only tasty but it took a heck of a long time. I started it at 9 am and it wasn't finished till about 3:00. I'm not used to cooking low and slow so I had to resist the urge to call it done when it obviously wasn't.

Beef, goat and, if you're not Muslim, pork are proteins reserved for celebration in Malaysia and Indonesia because they're expensive. This dish comes from The Cradle of Flavor and was served to the author at a 3 day wedding ceremony.



Every freakin' pepper I found at the 4 grocery stores I visited was green. I suppose I could have gone to the Mexican grocery store but after a lot of running around I just didn't feel like it.
I used fresh turmeric but dried is fine as I didn't notice an overpowering tumeric flavor. The paste did turn my fingers yellow though.

I served this lemongrass scented coconut rice and pickled cucumbers and carrots.

Beef Rendang
Rendang Daging Sapi
West Sumatra, Indonesia

flavoring paste
1 whole nutmeg, cracked
5 whole cloves
6 shallots coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
5-20 fresh red Holland chiles or other long red chiles such as Fresno or cayenne
1 2" piece fresh turmeric peeled and chopped or 1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 2" piece ginger peeled and chopped
1 2" piece galangal chopped
5 candlenuts or unsalted macadamia nuts

2 lbs well marbled boneless beef chuck or bottom round cut into 2 to 2 1/2 inch pieces
2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
3 thick stalks lemongrass tied into knots (smash with the flat end of a knife to make them pliable)
1 4" piece of cinnamon stick
7 kaffir lime leaves
5 daun salam leaves(optional)
1 tsp salt
1 tbs shredded kaffir lime leaves

Place the nutmeg and cloves in a food processor and grind into a powder. Add the shallots through the candlenuts and pulse until the mixture resembles cooked oatmeal.

Combine the paste and the meat through the salt in a wide skillet or sautee pan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and reduce the heat to medium low and simmer at a slow steady bubble stirring every 15-20 minutes.

The coconut milk will cook down and the fat will render and the mixture will become darker and thicker. Continue to simmer until the liquid has reduced by 95 % stirring every 15 minutes. this will take 2-3 hours depending on the pot you use. Test the meat, it should be tender enough to poke with a fork. taste for salt and add more if necessary.

When all the liquid has evaporated reduce the heat to low and allow the meat to brown slowly in rendered fat. Stir every five minutes to prevent burning. Continue to sautee until the beef is the color of roasted coffee beans about 5-10 minutes more.

Remove and discard lemongrass cinnamon and leaves. allow meat to rest 30 minutes before serving. It's even better the next day.

Lemongrass Scented Coconut Rice
Nasi Uduk

2 cups jasmine rice rinsed well
3 stalks lemongrass tied into knots
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a pot with a tight fitting lid. bring to a boil, stirring to prevent scorching. Boil 15 seconds then reduce heat to low and cover pan. Cook 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to steam, covered 10 minutes more(no peeking)
Uncover pot, remove lemongrass and fold rice allowing flavor to permeate.

No recipes today!

But I'll have a few interesting dishes tomorrow. At least I hope they'll be interesting as one of them is going to be really labor intensive and required a trip to the Asian market.

On the CL board there are three, count them THREE, threads about reusable grocery bags. Seems that more and more people are using them as grocery stores are starting to charge for bags and some, like Whole Foods, are doing away with plastic altogether.

I'm pretty good about bringing my own and all the stores I shop at give a bag refund. Whole Foods gives you a choice of taking the refund or giving it up to charity. Apparently their charitable donations from this are huge!

I have an insulated Whole Foods bag I like. It keeps the cold things cold for 3 hours and in the AZ heat your food can thaw mighty quick in a hot car. I also have a regular Whole Foods shopping bag and a Trader Joes' canvas bag.

I have some mesh produce bags and I do reuse plastic produce bags.

Someone on the CL boards drew my attention to these great Target bags. They're 99 cents and fold into a little pouch that fits in most of my purses. I also like that they're easy to fold into the pouch (four folds and a zip) unlike a map which I can never get right. There's also an outside pocket.





When I unpack my bags I immediately take them back out into the car. When I make a grocery list I also try to put it in the bag. This helps me remember to take them into the stores.

I took inventory of my pantry and freezer and discovered I had everything but the tomatillos for this soup. Not making a big shopping list is a good thing!

This soup is wonderful! I loved the way the sweetness of the zucchini, the tartness of the tomatillo and the smokiness of the chipotle had a party in my mouth.

I cooked dried black beans last night so there will be more black bean recipes to come.



Southwestern Mixed Vegetable Soup
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

2 tbs grapeseed or corn oil
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 tbs minced garlic
1 dried chipotle(I used canned in adobo and minced it)
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs fresh oregano or epazote leaves
salt and ground pepper
1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen unthawed)
1 cup cooked black beans
1 large potato peeled and rough chopped(I used 2 red potatoes and left the peel on)
3 tomatillos cut into chunks or use canned
1 med tomato rough chopped
1 zucchini rough chopped
6 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Sautee onion in oil for 10 minutes or until browned over medium heat
Add garlic, cumin and oregano with a little salt and pepper
Sautee 30 seconds.
Add remaining vegetables and beans and sautee till shiny about 1 minute.
Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is done. Season to taste, pour into bowlsa and top with cilantro.