deb's pots

Sriracha Lime Sauce

Posted on February 17, 2015 by debspots

My first blog post, Apples, was published just over 4 months ago. I am still a “newbie” blogger, with lots to learn, but increasingly, there is evidence that my readers (that’s you) are liking what you are seeing, getting cooking ideas, trying the recipes, and interested in what I am doing here. This delights me enormously! So when you asked for the recipe for the sauce pictured in the Crispy Chicken post, I rushed to comply. Well, that’s not exactly accurate. First I went to Florida for my Dad’s 80^th birthday. Then I rushed to comply.

What, first you want to “hear” about Dad’s birthday? It was great! Megan and Brian flew down from DC/Baltimore, Max came in from Ohio, and Bob and I dodged several snow storms to escape our construction for a few days! We did lots of cooking and eating together (including a full-on Chinese feast and boozy milkshakes), Tal and Meg put together a beautiful tribute, we walked on the beach at Hobe Sound and kayaked on the Locksahatchee River. Since 5 of us are potters, we all threw a big platter bowl together and everyone signed the back. And Wendy and Rick announced their engagement! Our time together was full, sweet and meaningful and a wonderful way to honor our patriarch. Here are just a few snapshots:

And speaking of our patriarch, I think we all get our love of asian and spicy foods from him. He loves condiments like this sauce. I put it together last week to accompany the chicken; I love a combination of creamy, spicy, sweet, and sour, and have combined all those flavors. So today, I made a big platter of lightly steamed and raw veggies to dip in a fresh batch. We’ll have some hard boiled eggs for protein.

Sriracha Lime Sauce

This makes a great dip for chips, too! And it goes wonderfully on a piece of grilled fish, poultry, or meat. Try it on roasted veggies like eggplant, or zucchini, or on grilled veggies if your grill isn’t covered with three feet of snow.

Makes ½ cup-ish

¼ cup mayo (lowfat is fine, don’t use fat free)
¼ sour cream (lowfat is fine, don’t use fat free)
1 tsp honey or agave (optional)
juice of ½ lime
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp sriracha (add more if you like it spicy)
salt and pepper, to taste

Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl. That’s it! Drizzle it! Dip things in it! When it’s all gone, swipe out the last bit with your finger and offer it to your valentine.

Posted in appetizer, entree, healthy, lunch, main course, supper | Tagged dip, fish, gluten free, lime, meat, paleo, party, poultry, sauce, snack, sriracha, supper, vegetables, vegetarian | 4 Comments

Crispy Chicken

Posted on February 13, 2015 by debspots

It’s hard to believe that it was very close to 20 years ago when this recipe was first transcribed. Megan was in kindergarten, and her teacher put together a cookbook for Mother’s Day. She asked the children to tell her how Mommy made their favorite food.

Megan knew exactly how her mom made her favorite-crispy chicken: “First you take the chicken. Then you put the crispy on it. Then you put it in the oven. Then you eat it,” Crispy chicken has always been a McGrath/Bernstein family favorite. A version was in my first cookbook, The Ugly Snuggly (a book named after a bathrobe). The seasonings, coatings, and toppings have varied, but the concept and process have survived two decades of family life.

Crispy Chicken

Serves 4

The seasoned buttermilk soak makes the chicken tender and tasty. Gluten free, paleo and low carb cooks may substitute extra nuts and/or cheese for the panko.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, organic and/or local are best
1 cup buttermilk
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 tsp salt 1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 cups panko (whole wheat if you like, see note)
1 cup toasted almonds, ground
1/2 cup grated parm

Cut the chicken into “fingers,” 3 or 4 strips per piece. Mix the next 5 ingredients in a sealable container or zip top bag, add the chicken, and get everything well mixed. Put the chicken to soak in the fridge for at least one and up to 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Mix the panko, ground almonds, and parm in a wide, shallow bowl. Dredge the chicken fingers in the crumb mixture and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Dont crowd them unless you are cooking in a toaster oven and have no choice.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the crispy is nice and brown and the pieces feel firm to touch. you can always cut one to check. Make sure no one else sees you do this because then you have to share your little appetizer. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce* and lots of veggies. Leftovers are great for lunch over a nice salad! *If I get two requests in “comments,” I will give you the recipe for the Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Sesame Sauce pictured here.

Posted in entree, family, healthy, lunch, supper | Tagged baked, chicken, chicken fingers, children, comfort food, kids, oven | 8 Comments

Honey Sesame Ginger Glazed Salmon

Posted on February 8, 2015 by debspots

If you know me, follow me here on my blog, or on social media, you know that this has been an interesting winter here in the house in the Warwick woods. I thought there was supposed to be an ancient Chinese curse about living in interesting times, but according to Wikipedia, there is no such curse. But don’t we all understand the invention of such a fake Chinese curse?

Last summer, we discovered that part of the floor in front of the refrigerator was “spongy,” not a desirable quality in a floor. The counters were warped, the cabinets no longer stayed closed even though we asked them nicely. It was time either to move or to renovate the kitchen.

I called realtors and went looking at houses for sale. We saw some nice homes, but none we liked as well as ours, so the decision was made to do construction; this would not be the first renovation for us, but by far the most extensive. We chose a builder we know very well, a friend and artisan named Bill Merritt. Bill has worked with us before and we trust him, which is turning out to be very important. We are also working with a kitchen designer named Judi Price; we think the world of her, too.

The kitchen we are planning is a real workhorse; authentic, handmade, function meets form. We are working with local artists and crafts people as much as we can afford, reclaiming when possible. I am taking pictures as we go, which I will show you when it’s over. I can’t bear to reveal the “before” and “during” until I can also give you “after.” Wouldn’t you rather see pictures of ingredients and my lovely pottery?

It has been a creative and collaborative process, and there are the normal stresses of building: mess, loss of privacy, time suck, inconvenience…these we have weathered well. The tough part for all of us has involved unexpected structural problems with the house. We designed the floor plan based on the original drawings, kindly provided by our home’s original owners. But demolition revealed that the actual building fails correspond to those drawings. It also fails to correspond to common sense.

These surprises have cost us a huge amount of time, energy, frustration and eaten up our budget. We have been stalled for weeks at a time. Poor Bill has been so frantic he has lost sleep and weight. There have been times it appeared that there was to be no solution to the problem, and that we would just have to live forever with a gutted, wall-less, ceiling-less, floor-less hole in the middle of our house.

Yesterday, we met with Judi in the gutted hole and a light appeared that was not coming from a hole in the plywood floor boards! We are all creative thinkers, and I believe our collaborative “thinking outside the box,” (pun intended) has finally produced a workable solution. Stay tuned.

Through all of this disruption, frustration and stress, there have been a few enormous comforts for me. The primary one has been my life perspective. I have experienced true tragedy; this experience is not tragic, nor does it constitute true hardship. I never lose sight of that. It does help. A lot. The other one is our relationships. We trust our people, we are working as a team. Bob and I have a very strong relationship. We have walked through fire in our marriage and it has made us stronger, as individuals and as a couple. We work very well together. I am grateful for him every minute of every day.

And a very real salvation for my sanity has been my ability to use my culinary creativity to feed us well and to continue to maintain the blogs even without a kitchen. Thanks to our dear friends, Tina and Andy, we have a borrowed hotplate in the basement, along with an ancient toaster oven and a brand new microwave (the old one smashed in the demolition).

So…as we ready ourselves for another snowstorm and another week of construction, I am puttering around in the basement, making a beautiful salmon supper and taking pictures as I work. This recipe is loosely Chinese. No curse in sight!

Honey Sesame Ginger Glazed Salmon

I like salmon filet, but feel free to use salmon steak. The same marinade and cooking method and times will work perfectly using halibut, shrimp, or scallops. And this marinade is also delicious with chicken, pork or beef.

Serves 2, multiplies perfectly

Gluten free folks, use GF soy. Paleos, skip the sweetener.

12 oz center cut salmon filet, cut in two pieces**
¼ cup white wine or sake
¼ cup soy sauce or tamari
2 tsp. honey or agave (optional)
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tsp grated ginger*
1 scallion, thinly sliced, divided
2 tbs. sesame seeds

Optional garnishes: extra scallion, soy, sesame oil, honey, chili oil, lemon, Mongolian Fire Oil or sriracha.

Mix all ingredients except the fish and sesame seeds; reserve half of the scallions for serving. Put into a sealable container or a zip top bag and roll around to coat. Pop into the fridge. It’s great if you have up to 3 hours, but 20 minutes will do if you are in a hurry.

Preheat the oven to 450° for 20 minutes while the fish is soaking in its yummy bath. Prepare a sheet pan with a piece of parchment. When the oven is ready, give the fish a little shake as you take them out of the bath and put them on the parchment. My pieces were fatter than wide, so I decided to roast them on their sides. Position yours in whatever way they seem most stable and beautiful. Sprinkle the sesame seeds in a thick, even layer on top.

Put the pan into the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 275°. Bake for 15 minutes. The fish will be silky and pink in the center. If you like it more thoroughly cooked, add an extra five minutes.

Garnish with the reserved scallion and your choice of optional garnishes.

*I use a coarse microplane rasp grater. Fresh ginger is great, but I often used candied ginger instead. Its keeps well and works just fine in most recipes, including this one. Just grate it as you would the fresh.

**I consult the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch when I buy fish.

Posted in entree, healthy, main course, supper | Tagged asian, fish, ginger, glaze, gluten free, honey, low carb, paleo, roasting, salmon, sesame | 7 Comments

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on February 5, 2015 by debspots

How do you feel about cooking for people with food restrictions? When I think about this issue, I realize just how complicated and nuanced it can be. My own feelings about it have changed many times over the years.

My folks have always been hardy souls and hearty eaters. Mom never believed in special diets and didn’t hide her disdain for people with sensitivities or allergies to certain foods. When I was a vegetarian in college, she thought that was pretty silly and unnecessary. When my first baby, Megan was terribly colicky, I was frantic. I read that it might be helpful to avoid gassy foods like broccoli or beans and to stay away from garlic and spices. Mom was horrified. She said, “You’re going to paint yourself into a smaller and smaller corner and never get out.” I could see her point, yet I was so desperate to make my baby feel better, I would have done anything! PS, Mom was right on that one, it didn’t matter what I ate, poor teeny Meg howled and howled and the only thing that helped was vacuuming while holding her upside down in the dark. Luckily, that phase was relatively brief!

For all the years my kids were growing up, feeding people with special food needs was interesting, but a little stressful. I have always been committed to preparing almost everything from scratch, so figuring out how to accommodate restrictions was often a lot of extra work.

So, I was concerned when Miriam told us she needed to stay away from gluten. Mimsy is “my other daughter.” She is Megan’s best friend. Mimadee, her parents and brother are our very dearest people; the kind of friends that are like family. When the girls were teens, Miriam spent a lot of time at our house. I always loved it when the house was full of teenagers, and I loved feeding them. So, I wanted to be able to whip up snacks and meals for everyone at a moment’s notice.

I realized that, like any challenge, cooking gluten free food simply requires a little skill acquisition and planning. I embraced the challenge and it became a pleasure rather than a source of stress. It didn’t take long for me to figure out how to make delicious gf meals and treats, things we choose to eat all the time even though we aren’t sensitive to gluten.

Developing this gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe was fun. I started working on it when my kids were in high school, and refined it when my grandnieces were diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Four year old Maggie loved them!

My preference is always to stay away from weird or processed ingredients. Or things that can only be used in one dish, things I think of as “culinary unitaskers.” So this recipe contains ingredients that are easy to find in any market and that you will be likely to keep in the pantry anyway. When I offered these side by side with my famous “Levain knockoff” cookies (yes, the recipe for those is coming soon, they are mad popular), the gf ones got rave reviews from the gluten sensitives and the omnivores alike.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can bake just as many of these as you are going to need at any time. I like to portion them onto a sheet pan and freeze them. When they are like little gluten free rocks, you can pop them into a zip top freezer bag and keep them until you need them. No need to thaw before baking, just use the longer end of the baking time range.

I use organic ingredients.

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into half-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups gluten free oats
1 cup whole raw almonds
¾ cup cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 pkg bittersweet or milk chocolate chips (about 1 cup)

Pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor until finely ground.

Add butter, pulse until fully incorporated. Add egg and vanilla, process until combined. Dump into a bowl and mix in chips by hand.

Drop by generous tablespoons onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Space them a couple of inches apart, they don’t spread too much. I like to use a portion scoop to make them mounded and even. Freeze or bake, or freeze some and bake some.

Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes, or until they just begin to get golden. Let cool for 5 min before you yell “cookies!”

Note: I baked these in the toaster oven in my basement because I have no kitchen now!

Post Script (pun intended): My beloved Miriam asked me a question on Facebook. Yes, I love all the ways we communicate these days! She asked if she can use her single serving nutri bullet as she doesn’t have a food processor. I’m not familiar with the nutri bullet, but I am happy to take a shot at it anyway.

Cut up the butter and let it come to room temp; also take the egg out of the fridge to take the chill off (it will blend more easily). Use the bullet to grind your almonds and oats. Then do the mixing by hand. The dough will be pretty soft, so you might want to chill it for a while before portioning. And the cookies will be better if you chill or freeze before baking, too.

If you try either method, make sure to let me know in comments!!

Posted in baking, dessert, gluten free, sweets, treats | Tagged chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, gluten free, vegetarian | 5 Comments

Surprising Kale Salad

Posted on January 31, 2015 by debspots

I am a little hesitant to get on the kale recipe bandwagon. Especially when I’m hopping onto the back of that wagon. After all, I am a trendsetter! I still have my 1980 Birkenstocks. 1980 was before anyone else wore them, and they’ve been popular at least twice for five minutes since! I don’t like to be at the back end of a trend; and I’m not sold on kale…

So, I’m still not a huge kale fan. I kind of think it belongs in that hearty Portuguese soup in Provincetown; I’m not convinced it should creep into other culinary territories. But…I keep reading and hearing about it. And seeing it looking so lovely in markets. It’s all over the internet and tv, and in restaurants. And we’ve already established that I am competitive. So, I have to embrace kale enough to do it at least as well as everybody else. I may not be comfortable at the back of the wagon, but I don’t want to get left behind, either.

I went through a very brief kale chip phase by request of my “other son,” Sam. I am a total sucker for this sort of request, let’s not forget the ice cream post. Try me, you’ll see. But, I really don’t like a kale chip once it’s been out of the oven for more than a half hour.

I can throw some kale into a stew with the best of ’em. My stews are good, and greens are a nice addition to many, especially if there’s some sausage or bacon in there. The kale is cooked enough to get soft. But I think cooking it that long is supposed to destroy some of the nutrients in the leaves.

But raw kale? That’s been a challenge. I had a kale salad in a DC restaurant. This salad was famous; the yelpers yelped about it. I was very hopeful. I’m a hippie, I’m supposed to like chewing and chewing raw green leaves. It was ok…meh…Not something to yelp about.

I tried to develop my own. My reading lead me to do something so ridiculous, I am still embarrassed: massaging my food! It might have become a regular thing, except the kale didn’t want a massage. It kept trying to escape, jumping off the counter, kale overboard! What a disaster!

This is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night: how to subdue kale with neither violence nor intimacy? I got it! Here comes the surprise! Read on.

Surprising Kale Salad

Surprising Kale Salad

This salad is surprising for two reasons: 1. The way it is prepared. 2. The fact that it is truly good, not just good for you.

I love Cara Cara oranges in this salad, but feel free to use any seedless orange you like. Blood oranges would be lovely, too.

Vegan or Paleo? Simply leave out the cheese or substitute your favorite non-dairy cheese.

Serves 2-4

5 oz. kale, I used baby here, but any works, cleaned and trimmed
1 orange, peeled with a knife and cut into rounds*
1/3 cup toasted walnuts**
3 oz. blue cheese, crumbled or torn (I use imported gorgonzola) (optional)
2 tbs. balsamic syrup
2 tbs. best quality olive oil
drizzle of honey or agave
salt and pepper to taste

*Cut off the ends, and then cut off the skin and pith in ribbons (see my pictures), make sure there is no white left and then cut into slim rounds. Save the peels until I tell you what to do with them!

**You can toast them in a dry skillet until fragrant, or in the oven (watch like a hawk, they are no good if burnt). I like to do them in the microwave; with mine on full power, this quantity is perfect in 90 seconds.

Combine the balsamic glaze, olive oil and agave in a cup. Squeeze the peels over the dressing to collect any nice orange juice that you would otherwise waste. Microwave dressing on high for 20 seconds or until bathwater warm. If you are micro-averse, use a tiny saucepan and warm just a bit on the stove.

Cut or tear the kale, if necessary, into bite size pieces. Place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the machine running on low, pour the dressing over the kale. Add some salt and pepper. Let the machine run until you can see that the leaves have wilted. This should take just a minute or two. Don’t pulverize them, just get them to submit to your will.

Put the kale into your lovliest salad bowl, preferably one made by a local potter. Or me. And arrange the walnuts, cheese and orange rounds perfectly over top. This salad can hang out in the fridge for up to a day if you want to eat it cold. Or you can toss and eat it right away and it will be room temp-ish.

Posted in lunch, salad, side dish | Tagged gluten free, kale, no cook, orange, paleo, vegan, vegetarian | 4 Comments

Lentil Stew with Artichokes

Posted on January 27, 2015 by debspots

All this talk of blizzards has taken me back to my college days. I remember the historic blizzard of ’78, when I was a freshman at Brandeis and 36 inches of snow fell in the Boston area in 24 hours; campus was closed for a week, we ran out of (bad) food and medical supplies…it was a memorable time.

I became a vegetarian during my time there precisely because the food was so bad. If you took a piece of meat, you wound up with a wad of nasty gristle in your mouth and no socially acceptable way to remove it.

In the 1970’s, vegetarian food often took the form of pretend meat. You still see some of this sort of thing today, but it is much less prevalent. Things like “lentil loaf” were all the rage in those veggie cafes in Harvard Square. You know, the place with spider plants hanging from beaded macrame’ contraptions in the window.

I mistrusted lentils for a lot of years after that. In fact, I grew to mistrust anything that masqueraded as something else. This is a big issue for me now during my kitchen renovation. There are a lot of things pretending to be other things in the construction industry: vinyl pretending to be wood, “composite” that is supposed to look like stone; I want genuine. All this pretending makes me grumpy. So…it turns out that the lentil is just yummy if you don’t grind it up and try to make fake meatloaf.

Having recovered from lentil loaf trauma in the last decade or so, I have rediscovered the lentil and embraced it anew. The popularity and easy availability of the French Puy lentils has helped my healing enormously. I adore them! I make lentil soups with and without meat. I make lentil salads with walnuts and feta. I do a warm lentil salad with carrots and shallots and serve roasted salmon on top. The Cook’s Illustrated folks have convinced me that brining the lentils (not necessary for this dish) can be the key to a perfect preparation.

Now that my kitchen is beyond demolished and I am cooking on a hot plate, (during a snow storm) stews have become very appealing. We are so wiped out at the end of these stressful demolition days, most nights, we fill our wood fired bowls and take our stew up through the wreck to our bed and hunker down with some authentic, no-pretense-anywhere, healthy, one pot food.

Lentil Stew with Artichokes

Jerusalem Artichokes are neither artichokes nor from Jerusalem, but they have an artichokey sort of taste and I love them here. If you can’t find them, you might substitute potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, or turnips, or simply leave them out.

Serves 4 or 2 with enough for tomorrow; this is great left over.

1 leek, cleaned and sliced
2 tbs. neutral cooking oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
1 lb. Jerusalem artichoke, cleaned and cut in chunks
2 cups lentils (I like Puy)
¼ cup white wine
14 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like muir glen)
32 oz stock, veg or chicken
1 box frozen quartered artichoke hearts

Garnishes: sour cream or greek yogurt, scallion, parmesan cheese

Saute’ the leek in the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium high heat for a few minutes. Add the carrot and Jerusalem artichoke and cook for five minutes or so. Add the lentil and stir to coat with oil and let them get a little heat. Add the wine and stir, scraping the pan bottom to dislodge and brown goodies on the bottom. Next, the tomatoes and stock go in. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce to simmer and put a lid on the pot. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Toward the end of the time, check often to see if the lentils are cooked through. The best way to tell is to taste a few. You want them just tender. Don’t let them overcook or they will be mushy, not a disaster, but not so nice, either. When the lentils are right, add the frozen artichokes and cook for just a few more minutes until they are hot. This happens faster than you might think.

Serve with garnishes. A salad which includes some fruit like orange is nice, but not necessary if you are tired or stressed.

Posted in main course, one pot meals | Tagged artichokes, gluten free, lentils, soup, stew, vegan, vegetarian, winter | 6 Comments

Veggie and Tofu Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Posted on January 23, 2015 by debspots

What do you notice when you first meet someone new? I pay attention to nonverbals; eye contact, body stance, smile…

What do you notice when you first come into contact with a piece of pottery? I don’t think I ever just look at a pot. If I am going to “meet” that plate, bowl or cup, I must hold it in my hands, feel the weight, and touch its surfaces. The next time you are at a gallery opening or a craft show, watch the potter when they look at ceramic art. Potters always and automatically pick up at pot and turn it over to look at the foot. If they like the pot, they caress it like a lover. If they really like it, they have trouble putting it back down on the pedestal and feel compelled to come back and hold it again.

That’s how I felt when I first “met” the three pieces of pottery featured in the pictures below. They were made by Troy Bungart, and I really wish that you could hold them in addition to seeing them. They feel wonderful in the hands. When I eat out of the bowls, they fit perfectly in the cup of my palms. When I drink out of the little teabowl, the cup feels like it belongs in my hand, the rim feels good on my lips. These pieces look and feel like they were made by a master potter; this is no accident because they were, in fact, made by the best of the best. This guy is the real deal!

It is my great honor to feature Troy Bungart’s pots alongside my own here. Troy and I developed this recipe together; I wish he had been here to share the stir fry with Bob and me tonight. He is in Michigan and we are in New York. But I have his pots and he will have my pictures and recipe, so we are virtually sharing this delicious meal.

My sweetie and I are cooking and eating in our temporary camp in the basement now as our kitchen is completely demolished; gutted. I’d like to tell you that our renovation has been easy and painless so far. But that would require lying! The good news it that we have a wonderful team of true artisans on our project and we have great hope for the result. Even in the midst of mess, drama, worry, and inconvenience, making this delicious dish and eating out of Troy’s bowls has been pure joy!

Veggie and Tofu Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Serves 2-4 depending on what else you are eating.

You can serve this over your favorite rice, other grain, or noodles. Cauliflower “rice” would make a nice bed, as would cooked spaghetti squash or greens. We like a big bowl over nothing at all!

You can easily substitute different vegetables depending on what you find in the market or what you like. If you don’t eat peanuts, substitute another nut and leave out the peanut powder. I haven’t tried it, but I imagine you could use almond flour or finely ground cashews here. If you don’t use cornstarch, you may use a different thickener or simply omit.

Troy recommended the Mongolian Fire Sauce. It is wonderful!

Tofu and Veg:
1 block extra firm tofu, drained and pressed*
2 tbs. neutral cooking oil, I used peanut
1 inch knob of ginger, finely minced
2 scallions, sliced
1 ½ cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 ½ cups sliced bell peppers, use your favorite colors; I used babies here
1 Belgian endive, sliced lengthwise
2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed and cleaned
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed, cleaned and sliced
¼ cup white wine or sake

Sauce:
1 tbs. cornstarch
2 tbs. peanut powder (I like pb2) (optional)
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
½ cup stock (vegetable or chicken)
agave or honey to taste (optional)

Garnishes: toasted peanuts, sliced scallion, additional soy or sesame oil, Mongolian Fire Sauce or Sriracha.

*Take the tofu out of its water and rinse. Squeeze it gently between your hands. Place it on a small plate with a kitchen towel under it, then fold the towel over it. Place another plate on top. Put this whole construction in the fridge for 15 minutes. Now, your tofu is properly drained and pressed.

This recipe provides a perfect opportunity to prep in advance. Get everything ready before you start cooking and have all the ingredients in reach. Once you do this, the finished dish comes together in minutes. Mix all the sauce ingredients, too. And have the garnishes ready.

You can do all the cooking in one big nonstick skillet, but I really prefer my regular All-Clad for just about everything. However, the tofu does best in the nonstick, so I used two different pans. This is not really necessary.

Either way, first brown the tofu over high heat in 1 tbs. of the oil. Set the tofu aside while you do the veggies.

Start the ginger and scallions in cold oil and bring the temp up. When they begin to really sizzle, add the veg, one at a time, in the order listed. Cook each for a minute or so before adding the next. Cook them all together for just a couple of minutes and then add the wine. Let the bubble for a minute. Now, stir the sauce ingredients and add to the pan. Cook until the sauce thickens and coat the veggies. Gently stir in the tofu and warm it through. Serve over your chosen base, or not, and with your preferred garnishes.

Visit Troy Bungart’s blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed, Pinterest account, or Instagram feed. To purchase pottery tools, go to his Etsy page. And for a real treat, check out his work at the Schaller Gallery.

Posted in art, ceramics, dinner, entree, main course, supper | Tagged asian, gluten free, healthy, paleo, peanuts, pottery, Schaller Gallery, stir fry, tofu, Troy Bungart, vegan, vegetable | 6 Comments

Tahini Sauce with Herbs

Posted on January 18, 2015 by debspots

The color of tahini always makes me think of my favorite pottery glaze: shino. I learned about shino from my beloved mentor, Malcolm Davis, The Shino Warrior. Malcolm was famous for developing a carbon trap shino, Although his name will forever be associated with these glazes, they remained a mystery to him. I asked him a technical question once and he replied, “What do you think I am, a shino expert?” His unofficial self-title was “The Shino Worrier.”

I first met Malcolm in the summer of 2001 at Peter’s Valley. Bob and the kids used to visit me when I was there. I let Malcolm know they would be joining us for dinner. he said, “Just make sure you keep them away from me, I hate kids!” Of course, Brian, then 9, decided to sit right next to the Bourbon-drinking master of porcelain. I tried to find a conversational gambit that would help make everyone friends…

Brian has just learned about Martin Luther King in school, so I pointed out that Malcolm had worked alongside King in the 60’s. My son was quiet for a moment, and then he looked at the great potter. “how do you feel about black children,” he asked. Malcolm stammered, “um….fine, I don’t have anything against black children,” “Oh,” said Brian, “So, it’s only white children you hate?” Malcolm howled. He lived for 14 years after that and I heard him tell that story many times.

Shinos are very varied. Sometimes, they are creamy, like tahini. They can blush. In a salt kiln or wood and salt, they look almost white. I’ve seen mottled deep green shinos; Malcolm called them “green snot.” Carbon trap shinos have black spots, and range in color from ivory to pink to orange. If a pot went orangey without spots, Malcolm turned up his nose and scoffed, “shit fucking pumpkin orange!”

I learned a lot about shino, porcelain, and making pots from Malcom. Mostly, I learned to appreciate a well made piece of pottery. Malcolm said, “if you have never wanted to lick a pot, I feel sorry for you,” I agree!

To celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King and to honor The Shino Warrior, I developed a tahini sauce that tastes good on almost everything! I used my shino pots in most of the photos. You might see some additional glazes, but shino was always applied before any other glaze, because “shino first or you’re cursed.”

Tahini Sauce with Herbs

1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup yogurt
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tbs agave
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all the ingredients to combine. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Garnish with additional cilantro and scallions.

Variations: Add freshly grated or chopped candied ginger. Add lime zest. Use lemon instead of lime. Add sesame seeds or sesame oil. Add a little soy sauce. Add a few dashes of hot sauce. We like Frank’s or Sriracha.

This sauce is wonderful on salmon or shrimp, as shown here. It makes a lovely basis for an abundance bowl. You will love it on grilled meats or poultry. Try it with chicken tenders, roasted sweet potatoes, or as a salad dressing. Experiment and let me know!

Posted in condiment, entree, main dish, pottery, sauce, side dishes | Tagged cilantro, gluten free, herbs, low carb, Malcolm Davis, paleo, salmon, sauce, Shino, shrimp, tahini, vegetarian | 4 Comments

Brussels Sprout and Sweet Potato Hash with Pork (or Not)

Posted on January 15, 2015 by debspots

As I type this post, there are two men a few feet away from me making hash of my former kitchen!!! The renovation is under way! We will be in a state of mess and disruption for the foreseeable future, but it is my intention to use this as an opportunity to increase my level of culinary creativity. And thus, to continue blogging!

From now until the new kitchen is ready, I will have a hot plate, a toaster oven and a microwave. So if any of you, my beloved followers, have ideas or suggestions for me, please make a comment at the end of this post. I would LOVE to have your thoughts!

Anticipating this messy hash, I decided to make a pot of something to reheat for a few days; I knew I would not be up and running in my temporary “kitchen” in the basement for a bit and I hate to rely on take-out even for a single night. I wanted something hearty and warming, since the weather is still absolutely bitter. Hash! This would have gone seamlessly except for the incident in which the microwave got smashed to smithereens…. but my husband is a hero and saved the day! And with the ability to reheat, Bob and I have been able to have a hot meal after our long work days this week.

So Brussels Sprout, Sweet Potato and Pork Hash was the dish that saved us from starvation here in the demolition! It is hearty and soul-warming and I think you’ll love it even if your kitchen isn’t being destroyed in the background!

Brussels Sprout, Sweet Potato and Pork Hash

I apologize for the repeated food-porn affectation involving quail eggs in two consecutive posts! I just couldn’t resist them when I saw them at the store. And they are so good on top of both of these dishes. But chicken eggs are just as good and much less pretentious!

Serves 4-6

1 ½ lbs lean pork*
2 tbs. neutral, high heat cooking oil (I like organic peanut)
1 big sweet potato
2 containers of brussels sprouts, trimmed
2 scallions, cleaned and sliced
cayenne pepper to taste
½ tsp. fennel seeds
salt, to taste

Optional garnishes: poached or fried quail or chicken eggs, arugula leaves, chopped tomato, sour cream, grated chopped cheddar, scallion greens. I might have suggested avocado, but if I say avocado one more time, you are going to stop reading my blog!

*I used boneless pork loin chops because they were on sale, but you can use tenderloin or loin if you prefer. You could use preground pork, beef, turkey, or chicken. Or, if you are vegetarian or vegan, you can leave out the meat entirely.

Cut the pork into rough chunks and put them on a plate. Freeze for 15-20 minutes or until they just start to get firm and icy. Process them in a food processor (fitted with the steel blade) until fairly finely ground. Before you take the meat out of the freezer, add the cayenne, fennel seeds, salt, and the whites of the scallions (save the greens for garnish) to the processor and give it a whirl to combine.

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Take the meat out of the machine and put it in a bowl. Now, put the grater attachment into the processor. You don’t need to wash the processor bowl unless handling it with porky bits grosses you out.

Grate the sweet potato and start sautéing it in the oil over high heat in a big ovenproof pot. While that gets going, switch to the slicing blade on the machine and slice up all the brussels sprouts. I think this is so fun! While you are doing this, you can reflect on just how weird I am.

Add the sprouts to the pot, give a good sprinkle of salt and cayenne, and let the veggies cook a bit, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to let them burn on the bottom. When you feel everything has gotten some heat, maybe 5 minutes or so, adds the pork. Continue cooking, stirring every couple of minutes, until the pork is mostly cooked through.

Now pop the pot into the oven for 15-20 minutes to get everything fully cooked and let the dish come together and become a unified thing. Sort of.

You can serve this as is or with any of the garnishes.

Posted in dinner, main course, supper | Tagged brussels sprouts, eggs, gluten free, hash, low carb, paleo, pork, sweet potato, vegan, vegetarian | 3 Comments

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

Posted on January 10, 2015 by debspots

We are in the deep freeze here in the northeast! When I went for my run this morning, the temp was 10° F. with a wind chill of zero! I had to wear this ridiculous garment I believe is called a baklava…no that’s a pastry. Well, this is a fleece hood that I think belonged to Brian when he was a baby. It covers most of my face and neck. At some point during the run, my legs were so cold, I had a moment of panic and had to look down to make sure I hadn’t forgotten to put on pants!

The deer and the birds are appreciating the food I give them every day. I know they are able to withstand the cold, but I feel for them and wish I could convince them to come inside and get warm. But then, they’d have to help me pack up the kitchen for our upcoming renovation and that’s about as unfun as being out in the bitter wind.

Last night was Brian’s last night home on his winter break and it’s one of our final meals before demolition. We’ve been experimenting with different spaghetti squash incarnations and also with different ways to make low carb Pad Thai. This one is a winner!

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

Click over to my recipe for Stuffed Spaghetti Squash on Chick Pea and Rutabaga for details on how to prep your spaghetti squash. I use organic, local ingredients when possible. If you don’t have access to quail eggs, just use chicken eggs on top.

Serves 4

2 medium spaghetti squash, halved, cleaned, baked, and scooped, see note
2 tbs. neutral oil
1 big onion, sliced pole to pole
1 small napa cabbage, chopped
2 small boneless pork chops, sliced into thin ribbons (optional)*
1 package firm tofu, drained well and cubed
1 chicken egg and 4 quail eggs (see note)**
1 tbs. cornstarch***
3 tbs. soy sauce****
¼ cup dry white wine or sake
1 tbs. toasted sesame oil
garnishes: peanuts, sliced scallions, cilantro leaves, lime wedges, sriracha, extra soy sauce, extra sesame oil

Place the pork in a bowl and add 1 tbs. of the soy sauce, the wine and the cornstarch and toss to coat. Let stand while you get everything else ready.

Preheat the oven to 400°. Toss the tofu with 1 tbs. soy sauce and 1 tsp. sesame oil. Line a baking sheet with parchment and arrange the tofu in a single layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until browned and a little crisp.

Heat 1 tbs. oil over high heat in a heavy pot or large, deep skillet. Add the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the napa and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Now pork goes in with any juices that are in the bowl. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until the pork is almost cooked through. Add the egg and remaining 1 tbs. soy. Stir well. Turn off the heat. Add the remaining 2 tsp. sesame oil.

Cook the quail eggs in the remaining oil in a very nonstick skillet just until the whites are set.

Garnish with optional garnishes and fried quail eggs and serve. You can put the eggs on top of the full skillet. Or you can put the whole dish in a big, flat bowl and serve it that way. Or you can make up individual bowls (I like this best), and everyone gets their own egg.

*for a vegetarian option, leave out the pork and simply mix the wine with cornstarch and soy and add when the recipe calls for adding the pork.

**for a vegan version, make the pork modifications and leave out the egg.

***for strict low carb or paleo diets, simply omit the cornstarch.

****gluten sensitive, use wheat free soy.