Recipe and Cook's Corner

[Jer009]

Thanks, everybody!

[gnash]

you're welcome jer,,,,  hope the asparagus rabbit comes out fine! speaking of rabbit -- here is a nice recipe for


carrot juice with a "twist":

rinse but do not peel the vegetables. run through an electric juicer:

about 10 lovely carrots
1 or 2 small sweet apples
a small hunk of fresh ginger
one half of a beet,,, for colour

pour into fluted parfait glasses and swerve with a smile.

--> try to use organic carrots, you'll find the flavor is sweeter and has less bite; the apples add sweetness too, and the ginger has a warming effect.

men, if you drink this every day for an extended period of time, take precautions when using a trough style urinal -- you will surprise anybody standing nearby with your pink flow.

[chapeaugris]

Haven't been here for a while. But loving asparagas season! In a cookbook of Amish recipes found one for asparagas pie that I make 2 or 3 times each spring. Have loaned the book out so can't reproduce the exact recipe but it involves

- a big bunch of asparagas, cut into 2" lenths and steamed until barely tender
- some hard boiled eggs, sliced
- Bechamel sauce with the addition of a bit of celery salt and curry powder (was surprised the Amish use that). Those two spices are kind of key to the taste so don't omit.

In a partially-baked pastry shell layer the asparagas and egg slices and spread the bechamel sauce over it. The sauce will be thick but will melt into the other ingredients during cooking. Bake until top is golden.

[ImEnnisShesJack]

oooh!  and that is fairly South Beach Diet friendly!!!


merci, mme. gris!  I will try that this spring.

(pie crust pastry or puff pastry for the shell?)

[chapeaugris]

I've never tried puff pastry for this.

I know virtually nothing about South Beach diet. What makes it compatible?

[ImEnnisShesJack]

Low carbs, very little refined white flour & sugar. 

Whole grains vs. whole wheat.  High fibre.

It helps reverse a physical condition called Insulin Resistance and also effects PreDiabetic Syndrome.  Lowers your cholesterol (esp. with a mild to moderate exercise regime) and blood pressure.  All by changing your diet.  No drugs.  It's actually a very healthy way to live.  Eliminates a lot of the processed foods and pre-prepared foods.  Makes you eat REAL foods.  It will force your body to use up your excess fat stores to generate the sugars your body needs (ketogenesis).  It's actually pretty easy and not nearly as restrictive as people think.  AND IT WORKS for weight loss. 

You aren't doomed to never eat grains and carbs again - but you bring them back into your diet slowly and then try to make the better carb choices.  Whole fruit (for fibre) instead of juice and that kind of thing.  Have a salad with one slice of pizza instead of 3 slices of 'za.  Etc.

I've lost just under 20 pounds in 7 weeks.  The first couple of months are always the most dramatic.  I should be at my goal weight in about a year.  And it's easy to maintain - when your weight creeps up, you just cut back on the carbs...

[gnash]

• heidi, that's awesome about your dieting success!

let me add that juicing two meals a day, and eating whatever you want (within reason) for dinner can be a great way to lose weight. i lost about 20 lbs doing that after college, and it's stayed off ever since.

by juicing i mean using a juicer for juicing fresh vegetables and fruit. that way you get the benefit of the living enzymes that nature provides -- something you will never find in canned, bottled, or carton juice since everything is pasturized these days.


• chapeaugris, the asparagus dish sounds delish!!

[chapeaugris]

Heidi, there's a recipe for zucchini pancakes I make often that would suit your diet. It has barely any flour.

Grate a pound or so of zukes (small ones best for this), lightly salt them and leave for 15 minutes. Then squeeze the juice out of them by the handful.

Beat together 3 or 4 eggs and a packet of feta cheese, crumbled (I don't remember how feta cheese comes packaged over there. It's about a cup full).

Add a tablespoon or so of chopped mint leaves and a bunch of scallions, finely chopped. When I don't have mint I use dill or cilantro -- it's all good.

Mix the zukes into the egg-cheese-scallion mix and stir well. Finally, add a couple of tablespoons of flour to bind it all together. If the mix seems too dry, add another egg. Too wet, add some more flour.

Cook like pancakes and serve with yogurt.

[gnash]

^^^  omg, i can't believe how good that sounds, scallions plus mint with the feta cheese~!

i suppose it's fried in butter... or some ghee!  sounds yummy, chapeaugris!

[chapeaugris]

^^^  omg, i can't believe how good that sounds, scallions plus mint with the feta cheese~!

i suppose it's fried in butter... or some ghee!  sounds yummy, chapeaugris!

Exactly!

We always eat the pancakes with potatoes prepared like this:

Cube a couple of pounds of potatoes (about 3 cm2) and spread in roasting pan. Squeeze a lemon over them, stir in some pressed garlic (we use lots), salt and several tablespoons of olive oil. Mix well, then add boiling water to pan until the potatoes are not quite covered. Put in 375 F or 200 C oven with the fan on until the water has evaporated and the potatoes are nicely browned. At some point when the water is almost gone, stir the potatoes so they brown evenly.

In London we lived in a neighborhood populated with Turkish Kurds and Greek Cypriots and I learned to cook a lot of dishes using feta, spinach, olives, lemons and mint from the corner grocery.

[gnash]

^^^ thanks for the yummy recipes -- so easy, and the boiling water is a new twist. i imagine it helps to speed up the process, resulting in a softer dish. i am going to try that next time!

your old london neighborhood sounds awesome. here in LA we have glendale, with many persian/armenian markets where there's plenty of good feta and stuff like mint. i find myself shopping there instead of the big chains, the selection is unique and often less expensive. recently they had big, sweet, giant globe grapes. they never show up in the bigger markets!

...but i won't soon forget the souvlaki stands in greece, there was a guy that sold then near our house on the beach -- a little cart with a  wood charcoal furnace grilling cubes of lamb on spits. i can almost see the guy folding the pita around the fragrant meat, pulling out the skewer and handing it to me, can taste the coolness of the yogurt sauce and feel the greasy-transparent paper the sandwich was wrapped in. sigh... like nothing i've found in the U.S. since.

(click on pic for link)

[chapeaugris]

Those are kind of like doner kebabs that are ubiquitous in Turkish neighborhoods in Europe. In Germany, they have almost become the hamburger of that country as there are so many Turks and the Germans have developed a taste for them. I didn't really care for them when I lived in London because they were so greasy. (I had been a vegetarian for 17 years until I moved to London and was just kind of transitioning so I didn't eat much red meat anyway.) For a quick bite I used to buy this flat, pita-like bread that was baked with a little feta and a lot of mixed herbs. Also stuffed grape leaves. I miss all that. While I love French food, the French are not especially adventurous gastronomes. They like the cuisine of the countries they colonised and that's about it!

[Jer009]

Laurentia--
I've fixed the Fancy Tomato Beans about three times since I saw them on this thread back in September '06. I'm always amazed at how tasty they are! Thank you for giving me a favorite for years to come.

[gnash]

^^^^ curious, had to look for laurentia's Fancy Tomato Beans recipe. i remember it now, because of the sage! it's a great, easy and quick recipe. here is the link:

http://www.davecullen.com/forum/index.php?topic=8751.msg218814#msg218814


and while i'm at it, here's a drink recipe that lyle posted, the Brokeback Mountain Cocktail from the wyn resort in las vegas... no sage in this like you might expect,,, but it does contain mint..

http://www.davecullen.com/forum/index.php?topic=8751.msg220012#msg220012

cheers!




• chapeaugris, i'm surprised at the limited palates of the french! i like those flat breads with feta that you describe, they're good, and the stuffed grape leaves, yummy... i love the slighty bitter taste and  smooth texture of the leaves. the dolmas, in greek restaurants here, are often served with a sort of creamy lemon sauce. damn, i'm hungry just thinking about them! i think the armenian restaurants call them "sarna"...

[fritzkep]

Those are kind of like doner kebabs that are ubiquitous in Turkish neighborhoods in Europe. In Germany, they have almost become the hamburger of that country as there are so many Turks and the Germans have developed a taste for them. I didn't really care for them when I lived in London because they were so greasy. (I had been a vegetarian for 17 years until I moved to London and was just kind of transitioning so I didn't eat much red meat anyway.) For a quick bite I used to buy this flat, pita-like bread that was baked with a little feta and a lot of mixed herbs. Also stuffed grape leaves. I miss all that. While I love French food, the French are not especially adventurous gastronomes. They like the cuisine of the countries they colonised and that's about it!

I had a Döner Kebap for the first time a year ago last week, on my first trip back to Germany in 30+ years. It tasted quite good!

And Kim, I've been meaning to ask, do you get any Louisiana French fare where you live in southern France? At least in the larger cities? Either Cajun (cadien) or Creole?