About Me

I started this blog to keep track of my kitchen creations. I love cooking and eating. In 2008 I was diagnosed with RA. Food started becoming a huge problem. I needed to find a better way to eat the flavors I love. All the recipes I create are driven by my desire to eat good food that won't create extra pain and inflammation in my internal ecosystem. While the recipes are wholesome, the language is not. I swear. I use the word 'fuck'. A lot! I make no apologies for that. It's just a fair warning. I'm raw and real. Happy cooking! Even happier eating! Cheers! Angie

Monday, July 29, 2013

Kimchi or Kimchee

Kimchi/Kimchee is a Korean side dish made from various vegetables and seasonings that are fermented. Traditionally kimchi styles vary by regions across Korea.

Kimchi is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, C, phosphorous, niacin, calcium, & iron.  It also contains non-dairy lactic acid bacteria, one of which is lactobacillus kimchii.  All that good shit aids your gut in digestion.

This is, by no means, the only way to make kimchi.  I found several recipes and settled on adapting one I found from hungry tigress food blog.

PROCEDURE:

Day 1:  Dissolve 6 tablespoons of finely ground sea salt OR pink salt in 8 cups of water.  Cut 1 head of cabbage (Napa or savoy) into 1-inch pieces.  (I do not recommend using red cabbage for this part. It's too sweet and it will also throw off the color and everything will turn red. I do like the flavor of it, so when the kimchi is completely done, I chop up some of that red deliciousness and throw that shit right on my plate with the kimchi and mix it in. It adds a bit of sweetness to the sour of the kimchi.)  Ok, back to the green cabbage Goddesses.....Make sure that all the pieces separate as you put them in a non-reactive bowl, preferably glass.  Pour that briny shit all over the cabbage so it gets a good bath!  Place a plate inside the bowl over the cabbage to keep all that leafy green goodness submerged. Let this sit at for least 12 hours or over night.


 
Day 2:  Strain cabbage from brine BUT set the brine aside.  You'll need it later!  Put the cabbage back into the non-reactive bowl.  Add to the cabbage 2 tablespoons of Turkish or Hungarian paprika,  2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh ginger, 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh garlic, and 6 sliced scallions OR 1 sweet onion quartered and sliced OR hell!  Add both!  This is your party!.  You can add other savory spices as well.   I throw in some cayenne pepper.   

At this point you can also choose to add other veggies.  I added 2 shredded carrots, 1 rib of celery thinly sliced, 1 kohlrabi root quartered and thinly sliced, 1 fresh jalapeño thinly sliced, and 1 Jimmy Nardello sweet Italian frying pepper thinly sliced.  You can also add daikon radishes and cucumbers.  Hell!  Add whatever the fuck you want!  Except tomatoes. They don’t belong in here.  You can put that shit on top when you fill your plate! 

Once you have everything in there that you want, ix everything together really well.  It's best to just dive right in with your hands.


 





























Split all that delicious veg between 2 wide-mouth, quart-sized canning jars or if you have a half-gallon jar you can put them all in there.  Make sure you pack everything down really well.  Don’t let any of that shit sneak out!  use your hands if you can.  Pour the brine into the jars just to cover the veg. This is very important so pay attention! You will have brine left over!  SAVE THAT SHIT!!!

 

Now.....Here comes the tricky part.  You have to weight down the veg inside the jar.   This will make one hell of a mess if you aren’t careful. (Ask me how I know.) You're going to do this with sandwich baggies and the rest of that sexy brine.  Very carefully, put a baggie in the opening of each of the jars.  Fill the bags with brine.  Carefully squeeze out the air and seal the baggie.  Do this for all of your jars.  Put any extra brine in a glass jar and save it. You may need it later.  Throw NOTHING away when you make this!  Place the jars into a glass bowl incase they drip.  You will not be putting the lids on at this time so put that shit in a safe place for now!  Put the whole bowl in a cool dark area. If you can’t find an area that stays dark, just put it in a corner of your kitchen and throw a towel over the whole shebang. 

 

Make sure to check it daily to be sure that the veg is still submerged.  You may have to release air from baggies or you may have to add more brine to them.  (See?  Save that shit!)  After 3 days check to see if it has soured enough for your taste.  It could take up to 6 days to get the best flavor.  It could take longer for you.  Depends on your preference.  

Once it's how you like it, carefully remove the baggies and dump all that sext brine into the jars, cap, and refrigerate.  If you need more, add some from the extra jar you have tucked away in the back of your fridge.  This will last quite a while. The vinegar has pickled and preserved everything. Make sure you eat this shit every single day for a happy gut!





 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Instant Breakfast

I'm not huge on instant meal- type mixes, however, I have found that in a pinch, Vega brand isn't too bad.  The mixes are not cheap.  I usually only have 2 or 3 around just in case.  As much ad I love chocolate, in this case I do prefer the vanilla almond.  I blend it per the package directions but I also add 1 banana, 1 heaping teaspoon of mesquite powder, and 1 teaspoon of lucuma powder.  The flavor and smell of the shake reminds me of almond paste cookies!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Swamp Cubes

My juicer has not been performing as it should when it comes to juicing leafy greens.  I was beginning to feel like I was wasting more than I was juicing.  I decided to use a different tactic to get the most out of my leaves!

1 large bunch of parsley
1 large bunch of cilantro
1 large handful of spinach
water

Roughly chop the spinach, parsley, and cilantro and put all of it in the blender.

Start the blender and add water a little at a time to keep everything mixing.

Blend until liquified, adding water in small amounts (1/8 cup at a time) as necessary.

Pour juice into ice cube trays and freeze solid.  Once frozen, pop them out and put them into freezer bags.

If you are making Swamp Water use 2-4 Swamp Cubes in place of juicing any greens.

Couscous Stuffed Peppers

This is one of those recipes that came about by trying to make a meal out of what was already in the house.   I

4 large bell peppers, any color (you can also use long Italian green or other large banana peppers)
1 box of organic couscous, rice, farro, quinoa, or any other small grain.  Any flavor is fine.
Fresh shelling peas-as amny as you like (you can use frozen if fresh are not available)
1 large carrot diced
1/2 of a large red onion
5 garlic scapes diced
1/2 of a small green zucchini diced
1/2 of a small yellow summer squash diced
1 fresh ear of corn on the cob (you can use frozen if fresh are not available)
1/8 cup red or yellow lentils

Prepare the couscous according to the package directions.

Cook the lentils in 1/2 cup of water until tender but not mushy.  Drain any remaining water.

Shell the peas, stip the corn off the cob, and dice the rest of the veggies.  ***Do not precook the corn!

Sautee' the veggies in good quality olive oil on medium high heat for 5-10 minutes.  Stir constantly to prevent burning.

When the couscous is done, add it to the veggies and mix well.  Turn off heat.

Cut off the tops of the peppers and scoop out the seeds.  You can keep the tops for little covers while they bake if you like.

Evenly distribute the couscous/veggie mixture between the peppers.  Put the tops back on and bake at 350 in a open pan for 20-30 minutes. 

 
 
###Please note that couscous is made from semolina, which is made from wheat. If you are intolerant to gluten, you can use a hardy red or brown rice.