Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Pudding & Other Things

This post is a part of Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS.

I have tried out several new recipes in the past week & while I won't share all of them with you now, I will be soon!  The first one was Andrea's Coconut Milk Vanilla Pudding.  I'm normally not one to make pudding because it requires standing & stirring over the stove: I'm too much of a multi-tasker to stand for that!  (Translation: I walk away from the stove & it burns or curdles.)  But for the sake of my son, who loves vanilla pudding, I gave it a go.

First you combine 3 Tbsp. honey, 1 Tbsp. arrowroot, and a dash of salt in a small pan.  Whisk in 1 can of regular coconut milk and one egg yolk.
You bring it to a simmer, stirring & scraping constantly, over medium high heat, then reduce to medium and continue cooking & stirring til pudding "coats the back of a spoon" (I never can tell what that means, but since she also said "two minutes" I just did that).
I think I stopped cooking mine too soon because it never did thicken up (I thought it would set up in the fridge).  It was very tasty, but my son rejected it because of the coconut flavor.  Oh well, more for me!  It was quite sweet & next time I will try dropping the amount of honey down to 2 Tbsp.
Makes 4 servings.  Now if I was really cool these would have been in matching containers, but since I was behind on the dishes then you get what you get!

I have also been trying out some new recipes for different greens this week: kale, spinach, even rainbow chard (which I had never tasted or bought before in my life).
 I didn't buy that much- just once bunch. Photo credit to Alex (eflon)
I ordered the greens from our produce co-op and went right over to allrecipes.com to see what I could find.  I tried two different highly rated recipes with the chard and have to tell you that both of those were rejects- no more chard!  But I found a way of cooking kale (or spinach) that my daughter loves & now she is actually asking me to cook kale everyday- seriously!  Who would have thought?  I will share more of our "green" adventures tomorrow.

For my final Tuesday Twister thought, I'd like to share a picture with you that I will entitle "I thought it wouldn't happen to me"
This picture was taken in my freezer.  This is my chicken broth.  Do you see the little shards of glass next to the container?  Yes, I thought it wouldn't happen to me.  I had heard stories of glass shattering in the freezer, but I thought if I left enough room for expansion everything would be fine...  Maybe I didn't leave enough room this time.  This could be interesting, I imagine when I thaw it I will put it in a fine strainer & catch any glass shards?  Or do you think it's not worth it?

Here's hoping you enjoy your kitchen adventures this week!
Lisa

P.S.  You'll notice over on the right hand side of my blog is a white box that says "Feeling Overwhelmed?" and it links to the ecourse at GNOWFGLINS.  This is different than the Online Cooking Class from the Nourished Kitchen, whose banner is running at the top of my blog.

Wardeh (of GNOWFGLINS) has felt compelled to offer her ecourse on a donation only basis.  This is a step of faith that I highly respect, and I hope that everyone who takes her course realizes the hours and hours of her time that she has put into the curriculum.  Blessings Wardeh!

9 comments:

  1. Yum, I LOVE greens! Especially chard.

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  2. @ Local Cook- guess I haven't found the right recipe yet - so if you want to point me in the right direction I will try again! :)

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  3. Really, the only safe jars to freeze in are the wide mouthed Mason jars that are like the wide mouth pints - that have no "bend" at the top. Sigh... That's too bad! You used to be able to buy something called "freezer jars" but I don't know if those are still made or not.

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  4. @loves2spin- that is actually really good for me to know, because I have some "recycled" (salsa, etc.) jars that have no bend at the top, so now I know to prioritize those for the freezer! thanks :)

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  5. I would not use recycled glass jars in the freezer, you really are supposed to use glass that says it is freezer safe. Check the websites of Ball and other jar manufacturers to see if you can get the freezer-safe jars. A Shame to waste such expensive food by having the jars break.

    Chard is one of our favorites. Try chopping it up an sauteing it with onion, garlic and maybe a bit of hot pepper flakes, then a splash of balsamic vinegar. You can also use it in a fritatta with some dill, onion and any other things you like.

    My favorite greens dish is this one. Braised Escarole with White Beans from Molly Stevens. I make extra beans and freeze them, then it is a breeze to make at dinner time. I use whatever greens i have on hand (never have used Escarole) which is usually a combo of kale and chard. My kid love this!! I found it typed up on a blog so I didn't have to bother typing up the long recipe. It isn't complicated, just has a few parts and ingredients, but is quite simple to make once the beans are cooked.

    http://wordstoeatby.blogspot.com/2006/01/braised-escarole-and-white-beans-from.html

    Lisa

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  6. i've had that happen - always so sad to find it - homemade stock is like gold in my eyes!

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  7. if i was going to strain the broth, i would do it through a clean t-shirt, folded double. it will take some time, so do it in the fridge. even cheese cloth has too big of gaps in the mesh to catch all the glass.

    as for the jars, i'd use the plastic freezer jam jars, available in 8 and 16 oz by Ball. i get them at winco, same section of the store as the glass jars. if you don't want to leave your food in the plastic (i personally don't care), they have sloping sides. so when it is frozen solid, just run briefly under hot water to loosen, sqeeze, out it comes. then wrap in freezer paper or whatever.

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  8. @Jenn- thanks for the info! :)

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