Recipe: eggplant bhaji

As much as I live for Indian food, I kinda can’t believe I’ve never posted any of our favorites.  This is a nice, easy one that even I can handle.

Eggplant Bhaji
1 med size eggplant, sliced into finger-size strips
2 T. ghee or butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped or minced
1 in. ginger root, grated
1/2 [...]

Thyme

Adam’s making stuffing for the Rensenbrink Family Thanksgiving tomorrow, so tonight he took out some thyme he’s had drying for several weeks and removed the leaves from the branches:

Here’s a major limitation of the blog: you’ll have to just imagine how amazing it smelled in our kitchen while he was doing this.
This is the first [...]

Stock/broth basics

I mention broth on here all the time, but I’ve never really posted the how-to.  The good news:  it’s really easy.  The great news:  it adds immeasurable flavor and nutrition to everything you make.  I’ve adapted this very basic recipe from Nourishing Traditions:
Basic Stock
1 chicken or turkey carcass, or 1-2 lbs of beef soup bones
Water [...]

Another sauerkraut method

Oooh, the folks over at Simple Green Frugal Co-op have a really great sauerkraut recipe, and an idea that hadn’t occurred to me before:  purposely fermenting your kraut at a lower temperature, for a longer period, apparently gives you better flavor.  Check it out right here.  This is going into the hopper for that magical [...]

Recipe: venison pot pie

Adam’s brother Nigel got a deer last weekend, and gave us a really nice piece of venison.  Here’s what we made (this is adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook):
Venison Pot Pie
1 pound lean boneless venison
2 T. oil
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup carrots, cubed
1 cup turnips, cubed
1/3 [...]

Dog bone broth

So, Adam was chattin’ it up with one of the meat department employees at the co-op tonight, and he asked whether they sold soup bones. The guy said, “Yeah, we do… it’s just that we don’t label them as soup bones.” It’s a sign of the times:

Adam got 1 1/2 lbs of soup [...]

Garden update: November edition

Who’d have thought I would have a garden update for the month of November?  Despite numerous freezes and a couple of snowfalls, we still have a couple of things going on outside.  First, some kale that I planted in July or so.  It never got above micro-size but it was enough to make a little [...]

Recipe: pumpkin pie with gingersnap crust

We made a pumpkin pie yesterday.  We got the recipe from the box of Mi-Del gingersnap cookies that we bought recently in a moment of weakness at the co-op.  It has almost no sugar, and all natural ingredients.  The kids helped us make it, and it turned out great.
Gingersnap crust
1 1/2 c. crushed gingersnap cookies [...]

Recipe: Buffalo Sauerbraten

I’m sorta obsessed with German food lately, can you tell?  I don’t really know why.  I don’t even know what Sauerbraten means, but I can now tell you that it’s basically a roast.
We split 1/4 of a buffalo with Adam’s brother about a month ago, so we have a freezer full of bison meat.  Buffalo [...]

Sauerkraut: new method a success

A couple weeks ago we bought a huge cabbage at the farmer’s market.  Usually we keep our ferments covered tightly, opening the jars about twice a day to let out accumulated pressure.  Because this was such large batch of ‘kraut, I decided to try the Sandor Katz method of fermentation: leaving the cover off and [...]