The Global Kitchen

This is the least photogenic dish I have ever made so here is a picture of a supercute puppy instead.

courtesy of THE DAILY PUPPY



No matter how I arranged and photographed it this dish was a big pumpkin colored mess and looked like something else entirely.

But the recipe is too good not to share. I've been making it for a few years now and am always astonished at how good it is.

The sauce is from Martha Stewart's Every Day Food, May 2004. You can use any enchilada filling but I like one posted by Bob over on the Cooking Light boards.

SPICY PUMPKIN SAUCE/ENCHILADS
("Everyday Food; May 2004)

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeno, quartered
(remove ribs and seeds for less heat, if desired)
1 tsp. chili powder
8 corn tortillas (6 inch)
Filling of choice (see below)
1-1/2 cups grated sharp white cheese (6 ounces)

Serves 4 * Prep time: 20 mins. *Total time: 1 hour

Preheat oven to 425.

In a blender, puree pumpkin, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, 2-1/2 cups water, 2 tsps. salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper until smooth. (Hold blender top firmly as blender will be quite full.) Pour 1 cup of the sauce into the bottom of an 8 inch square or other shallow baking dish.

Roll tortillas with filling; mound on half of the tortilla and roll up; place seam side down in baking dish.

Pour remaining sauce on top; sprinkle with cheese. Place dish on a baking sheet; bake until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool five minutes before serving.

FILLING:
2 cups black beans; one cup chopped fine in a food processor
1/2 cup sour cream
1 chopped chipotle in adobo
2 chopped scallions

Combine.

Another recipe by Mark Bittman for Runners World. For those who don't know I registered for a half marathon in January so I've been really conscious of my nutritional needs, thinking of food as fuel. But I promise to keep the recipes interesting and I will continue to cook ethnic food when I can.

This salad was very easy and very good! It was closer to a dry salad than a dressed salad and I wasn't sure I'd like it but it was very tasty. And filling!

Recipe HERE

As a Food Buzz featured publisher I get all kinds of offers for products and services. One of the most recent was a set of Moo-cards from www.moo.com.

I was excited to get these as they're little business cards with my blog address. So no more scrambling for something to write on when someone asks for the address. They all have different food related pictures on the back too. I love them!

AsianFoodGrocer.com just became a member of Food Buzz's Tastemaker program and were kind and generous enough to send me a $30 gift certificate!

I was really excited! Their products are more Japanese, which, I don't have a lot of experience cooking so this was the perfect opportunity for me to try some new products.

Service was super fast. I had my order in 2 days and it was very well packaged. I would definitely order from them again.

My favorite item is my Maruman Organic Soy Sauce. I sipped a little out of a spoon and it is good. Plus I'm a sucker for cool packaging.

One thing the company asked is that I create an original recipe. Yipe! Like I said I am not proficient in Japanese cuisine so this was a real challenge.

It also probably didn't help that I waited until the last minute either. Anyway I got home one night and realized I was at my deadline. I checked the fridge to see what I could come up with and found some ginger and a package of snowpeas.

It's also hot here today and I wasn't in the mood to cook but I thought a cold noodle salad sounded appetizing. And it was!

So I don't know how original this is as it's a riff on some of the soba noodle salads I've had in the past but I did not use a recipe. If I were to make it again I would add shredded carrot and maybe swap out the peas for shredded baby bok.

Soba Snow Pea Salad with Miso Dressing

3 oz soba noodles
1 cup Snow Peas
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs white miso
1/2 tbs mirin
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp fresh ginger chopped fine
Chopped salted roasted peanuts if desired

Boil noodles until just about done. Drop in snowpeas and boil for 15-30 seconds, until they turn bright green.

Drain and pour ice water over noodles and snowpeas to chill.

In a small bowl combine soy sauce through ginger. Combine with noodles and snowpeas and top with chopped peanuts.

Another Bittman recipe from Runners World.

Also very popular. I'll be making this again. And as it's a one pot meal you don't have to worry about sides.

He says it serves four but those are very generous servings. I stretched it to six.

For the meat I used half lean turkey sausage and half boneless skinless chicken thighs. I also used leeks instead of onions.

By Mark Bittman
From the October 2009 issue of Runner's World

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage, bone-in pork chops, duck breasts, or chicken legs, or 1 pound of a combination of meats
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
2 leeks or onions, washed and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths
3 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium zucchinis, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups canned tomatoes (and juice), chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
4 cups canned white beans, drained and liquid reserved in case needed
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add meat and cook, turning until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain off all but two tablespoons of fat. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, leeks or onions, carrots, celery, and zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook five minutes, or until softened. Add tomatoes and juice, meat, and herbs. Bring to a boil. Add beans and boil again, stirring occasionally; reduce heat so mixture bubbles gently. Cook for 20 minutes, adding stock or bean liquid when mixture gets thick. Fish out meat; remove bones and skin and chop into chunks. Return to pot and add cayenne. Warm through. Serves four.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 580
CARBS: 82 G
PROTEIN: 40 G
FAT: 11 G

I got this recipe from Runner's World magazine of all places. They had a profile on Mark Bittman and he provided some healthy recipes. I'm trying another tomorrow.

I'm training for a 10K and just happened to pick up the magazine and boy was I ever glad I did. It's an excellent issue.

And this recipe was SO good! A DEFINITE repeater!!! My picture isn't pretty So I may take another tomorrow.

For those of you who have tofu troubles this is what I've learned. Buy extra firm and pat it dry when you take it out of the package. Then place some paper towels on a plate and place the tofu on the towels. Put a couple of towels on top of the tofu followed by a plate and a skillet or a can of vegetables or whatever. Let drain for at least 20 minutes.

Tofu is like a sponge and you have to get the water out so it can absorb whatever flavors you're adding.

I also used reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms for this dish. You can buy giant bags pretty cheap at the Asian grocery store.

The recipe is HERE.

Nature's Pride Bread was kind enough to mail me 2 loaves of bread to try. I received a loaf of 100% Whole Wheat and a loaf of 12 Grain.

I'm not a big bread eater because a lot of supermarket breads have the dreaded HFCS or other objectionable preservatives. Natures Pride has none of those.

I've tried both varieties and I will say I was impressed. I was skeptical of the 12 grain because I like chunky grainy bread and with the exception of some seeds the texture was smooth. My skepticism was erased when I bit into my sandwich. The bread tastes very good and has a bit of a sweet taste. The Whole Wheat was equally impressive and had a nice chewy crust.

I would definitely choose these breads on my own.

For more information the company's website is HERE