Diana's Gluten-free Pumpkin Pie Crust

Diana's Gluten-free Pumpkin Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 1 cup Corn Flour
  
• 1 cup Buckwheat Flour
• 2 tblsp Tapioca Flour
  
• 1 tblsp sugar
  
• 1/4 tsp baking powder  
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 6 tblsp Butter, unsalted
• 1 tblsp Smart Balance
  
• 1/2 cup cold water
  

Putting it all together

We used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flours. Sift together all of the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to mixer. Slowly mix with paddle until it is blended (cut) into the flour but visible chunks remain. Gradually add in cold water, mixing until the dough comes together. Stop mixing, form into a ball with hands, flatten into a 1-inch thick disc and wrap in clear wrap. Save and refrigerate until ready to use. You will notice that the dough is darker in color due to the buckwheat flour.

When ready to use, roll out like you would with regular pie dough. I roll the dough out between layers of plastic wrap. Then flip it onto a lightly sprayed (non-stick spray, we use Pam) pie plate; crimp the edges as desired. Fill with your strained pumpkin pie custard; bake as directed in Diana's pumpkin pie recipe. Allow to cool before serving. Enjoy!

Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!

Blog-post, photos and recipe Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Sweet 'n Spicy Maple Salmon

What's for Dinner Tonight?

For deciding on what's for dinner, start with choosing the protein. Last night we selected fish, salmon. We keep our fish frozen. Once we decided on having salmon, we pulled it out of the freezer to thaw. After a short period on the counter, for food safety, we put it on a plate and into the refrigerator while we decided on the rest of the dinner side dishes. 

As you can see in the picture, we served the baked sweet 'n spicy maple glazed salmon with a starch and a vegetable to balance the meal. The frozen green beans took less than 5 minutes to saute with fresh garlic and butter, and the rice pilaf was leftover, so we just had to heat and serve.

Our oven's broiler is not working right so we decided to bake the salmon. Your next decision after deciding on the cooking method is how to season the salmon. I decided on using hot pepper jelly. We had pepper jelly in jars made from this summer. Hot pepper jelly isn't really that hot; it adds just the right amount of sweet 'n spicy flavor to just about any food from corn bread to fish!

This is a GardenCuizine freestyle recipe, meaning that you don't really need to measure the ingredients. You can use any amount desired of the ingredients to your liking.

Preheat oven to 350 deg F

You'll need a baking dish with a cover

Ingredients

• Farm raised Salmon fillet (thawed)
  
• 1/3 cup, or less, hot pepper jelly (preferably homemade) 
• 1 Tblsp pure maple syrup
  
• pinch Fresh ground black pepper
• pinch Salt 
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder 
• chopped fresh or dried parsley
• 1/3 cup or less water
  

Putting it all together

1. Combine pepper jelly and seasonings
2. Place salmon in baking dish; spread pepper jelly spice blend over salmon
3. Add water to bottom of baking dish (do not cover the fish in water)
   
4. Bake 15 minutes covered
5. uncover and bake another 15 min or until done
   
6. Serve with a starch and a vegetable, such as brown rice and green beans.

Enjoy! 

GardenCuizine Nutrition data 3 oz Salmon: Calories 175, Carbs 0, Fiber 0, Protein 19g, Vitamin B12 2.4 mcg (99% DV), Healthy Omega-3 fatty acids 2.2g (Wow! 201% DV)

 Photos and blog post Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved.

Savoy Cabbage stars in our next batch of probiotic-rich kraut! #gardencuizine #stonesoupblog

    Savoy - Our next Batch of Kraut!

Savory cabbage stars in our next batch of probiotic-rich sauerkraut that is fermenting now. Did you see my social media posts of the most picture-perfect head of Savoy Cabbage? We bought it from our local farmers market. You can use any type of cabbage for homemade sauerkraut.

The Savoy cabbage was farm fresh, yet didn't yield as much brine as the regular head of fresh cabbage that we used in the last batch. I decided to add a little extra brine after 9-days of fermenting.

Making sauerkraut is fun and easy. I used one head of cabbage (Savoy this time), sliced it thin. In a large bowl, non-iodized sea salt was massaged into it: 1 tablespoon of course salt (not iodized) per 2 lbs. of sliced cabbage. 

I divided the cabbage mixture into two large glass mason jars, covered and set aside to ferment. Every day I open the lids to release any gases and poke down the kraut using tongs. With the lid on tight, sometimes turning the jar upside down to let any brine flow to the top so the top layer won't get moldy.

After 9-days the kraut seemed like it needed more brine. To reduce the amount of trapped air in the jars, I combined the two jars into one jar and pressed down the cabbage firmly. A small batch of additional brine was added. The brine still did not reach up to the top of the shredded cabbage; but, by the next day there was more brine! 

I learned from Holly Howe (see link below), who explains in her blog post, that brine level changes along with temperature in your kitchen. Perhaps our kitchen was a bit warmer. Plus the additional salt brine may have helped.

See below for my small batch brine recipe: note: this may or may not be a good idea! Some say that added brine could make the kraut mushy. I hope not. At the 21-day mark, I will add a comment on texture and flavor. - check back!

Recipe for 1/2 cup extra Sauerkraut Brine

1/2 tsp Non-iodized course sea salt

1/2 cup Chlorine free water (I used filtered tap water)

Related Links

Kraut in a Jar by book author Holly Howe

10 Delicious Kraut Additions

Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Dad's Pickled Beets with Eggs #GardenCuizine Brain Health #recipe

Dad's Pickled Beets with Eggs

Growing up, I remember loving pink, hard cooked eggs. The eggs were served family style in a bowl with pickled beets that Dad made. Funny, all these years gone by since his passing (RIP Dad) and I've never made pickled beets and eggs until now. I made them using last week's leftover hard cooked eggs and 3 whole beets in the cooking liquid that I saved from my kid's "Brain Health" cooking class.

• Eggs contain many beneficial nutrients, including: protein, Vitamin D and Choline. Choline is good for brain health.

To make Pickled Beets with Eggs, cook however many eggs and beets you want to use. One medium beet per person works well. You can use canned beets, but it is so easy to cook your own. Or, better yet, grow your own! 

Whole beets are readily available in the produce section in markets. Simply cut the tops off (compost or use the greens in another recipe), leaving a 1/2-inch on the beet. Rinse and place unpeeled beets in a saucepan. Cover with plenty of water and boil until tender when pierced. Refrigerate. (I leave the cooked beets whole in the cooking liquid until ready to peel and eat.)

Ingredients

Hard cooked eggs
Cooked, peeled, sliced beets 
Beet water - reserved from cooking
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Putting it all together

1. Peel your cooked eggs and add to a large mason jar
2. In a medium sized pot, add sliced beets and their cooking liquid
3. Add the vinegar, sugar and cinnamon; bring to a boil, gently stir to combine
4. Reduce heat to simmer; when the cinnamon looks blended in an all combined, turn off heat. Allow to cool at least 15 min. before transferring to the egg jar. 
5. Let sit another 10-15 min. to color eggs. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve family style at the table.

If you're eating the beets at a meal, they taste great served warm or cold. Save your leftovers! 

I don't like the eggs soaked overnight in the beet liquid; they soak up too much natural color. Save leftover naturally dyed eggs in a separate container without liquid. Pink eggs make a healthy snack!

Enjoy!

Nutrition Data Beets: 1/2 cup slices (85g): 37 calories; 8.5g total carbohydrate; Dietary Fiber 2g; Folate 68 mcg (17% DV); Potassium 259mg (7% DV) plus other nutrients
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Another easy-to-make Probiotic recipe! Kimchi #GardenCuizine #guthealth #functionalfoods

Napa Cabbage
Chinese Cabbage

Kimchi

Napa Cabbage Nutrition Data
Excellent Source: Vitamins A and C

Napa Cabbage stars as the main ingredient in Probiotic-rich Kimchi. Kimchi is a fermented Korean food that is traditionally served with rice. We started a mason jar full of homemade Kimchi yesterday! 

Making Kimchi is as easy as making sauerkraut. We made both at my cooking class: "A Gut Feeling for a Healthy New Year", which was held at Inspira Health Network. I adjusted the recipe slightly since then, adding more scallion and daikon. See below.

Ingredients
1 medium head Napa Cabbage (about 2.5 lbs)
2 Tablespoons sea salt (non-iodized)
2 cups Daikon radish sliced in matchsticks
4 scallions, chopped
1 Tblsp minced fresh Garlic
1 Tblsp minced fresh Ginger
1/2 teaspoon (or more) ground hot peppers (dried from your garden!)
1-2 Tblsp Fish sauce (optional)
Note: be creative! Try adding other vegetables, such as shredded carrots and/or sweet red peppers, which is common in store-bought versions. This will turn the color orange-red.

Putting it all together

• Rinse the cabbage. Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters and remove the core from each piece. Cut each quarter crosswise into bite size pieces. Add to large mixing bowl with everything except the daikon and scallions. 
• Wearing food handling plastic gloves, massage the salt into the cabbage. This will begin to release water from the cabbage. 
• Toss in the daikon and scallion. Combine well. Place into clean mason jar(s). Press down using tongs or spoon. Cover and set aside to ferment. We plan to let ours ferment for a few weeks before starting to eat it.
• The ideal room temperature to help with fermentation is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If it is colder, the fermentation takes longer. Check the Kimchi daily to allow natural gases to escape. Push down the top layer with a spoon to keep the vegetables covered in brine.
• Kimchi can be eaten anytime. Longer fermentation time allows for more probiotics. When you are pleased with the results, store in refrigerator. Kimchi will keep for months. Enjoy!

Blog post and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Just two ingredients to make-your-own Probiotic Sauerkraut #GardenCuizine #guthealth #probiotics

Probiotic Sauerkraut

The joy in preparing for my probiotic foods cooking class was introducing myself and the participants to homemade and store-bought fermented foods with live-cultures. Being new to fermentation myself, I ordered a few educational, how-to-ferment, cook books by James Beard Award-winning and NY Times bestselling author Sandor Ellix Katz. He is considered "The Johnny Appleseed of Fermentation" by Michael Pollan. Katz says in his book, Wild Fermentation, that for him, it all started with sauerkraut.

Sauerkraut is a good place to start for making food with probiotics. Our first batch of sauerkraut is fermenting now. We used the dry-salt method and did not add any water. When enjoying probiotic kraut in meals it is important to remember to eat it at room temperature or not to heat it too high or the beneficial live probiotic microorganisms will die.

Clean your Jars or Crock
To start your adventure in fermented food preparation, first decide what containers you would use. We washed out a few Mason canning jars that we had in our basement. We use them in jelly making and preserving our Jersey tomatoes - now they have yet another purpose - sauerkraut! 

You can readily find Mason jars at grocery markets and stores like Walmart and Target. Our next batch of kraut is going in our crock pot, for an even larger batch!

Only Two (2) Ingredients
Ferment time: 3 to 4 weeks or more (of course you could nibble sooner too) - taste and you decide! Fermentation for at least 9 days yields a more diverse group of microorganisms.

1. 1 head Green Cabbage  (note the weight)
2. non-iodized course sea salt- 1 Tablespoon per 2 lbs. (2% salt)

Method

• Rinse cabbage; discard any dirty, bruised leaves and core and shred the cabbage like you would for Coleslaw. 
• Add cabbage to large bowl and sprinkle top with salt. Squeeze and massage salt into shredded cabbage until you start to notice sweating and moistening of the cabbage. This indicates that cell walls are breaking and water within the veggie can seep out. 
• Stuff the cabbage loosely into clean jars. Then firmly tamp down using tongs or a wooden spoon. Cover and let nature do the rest!
• Check your kraut daily and open the lid to allow any natural gas to escape. Tamp down each time to press down the top cabbage pieces into the brine.
• For best results temperature should be between 68°F and 75°F

Congratulations! You've just completed Sauerkraut Fermentation 101. In your next batch try using other types of veggies. In his book, Sandor Katz suggests radishes, turnips, carrots, beets, garlic, greens, peppers and other veggies. Other options include: caraway seeds, turmeric, ginger or whatever else you can imagine.

People use many different methods to weigh down the top layer of cabbage to keep it under the brine. We didn't do anything. When we try a larger batch in a crock, I may use a stainless steel pot lid to press down the top.

There are several strains of desirable lactic acid bacteria that will develop and preserve your sauerkraut by lowering the pH. This type of bacteria are anaerobic so it won't matter if you want to cover your kraut with an airtight lid. Just remember to allow the natural gas that forms to escape daily.

We used a huge 4 lb. head of store-bought cabbage. Sliced it and added 2 T of salt. After massaging in the salt I took a taste. It tasted too salty. After one week I took another taste and it was so much better; still crunchy, but had the familiar flavor of sauerkraut. Success!

Trouble Shooting
What if Brine Does Not Cover Top of Cabbage?
As you can see from my photo above, our brine is not covering the top layer of cabbage in the first week. I'm thinking that the green cabbage that we used may not have had as much water in it's cell walls like homegrown, fresher cabbage probably would have. If that happens to your kraut too, an option would be to make a small amount of brine (non-iodized sea salt and water) and add it to the jars. 

Update 1/26/18: We waited three weeks before making and adding brine and by the third week, enough natural brine developed so we did not add any.
References and Related Links
Katz S., Wild Fermentation, Chelsea Green Publishing 2016

Plengvidhya V, Breidt F., Lu Z. et al, Applied Environmental Microbiology. DNA Fingerprinting of Lactic Acid Bacteria; 2007 Dec; 73(23): 7697–7702. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2168044/

Recommendations for Safe Production of Fermented Vegetables

Blog post and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Quick and easy to prep Lentil Soup #GardenCuizine #nutritious #recipe

Lentil Soup

low sodium, high fiber 

low carb, low fat

Yields 3 quarts
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 celery sticks
3 carrots
1 medium onion
1 Tablespoon Bryani Paste*
2 teaspoons dried thyme
3 small tomatoes (or one small can diced tomatoes with liquid)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
10 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cup whole lentils, rinsed 
1 teaspoon mild hot sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Putting it all together
Wash and chop celery, carrots, onion and tomatoes. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a soup stock pot. Add chopped celery, carrots and onion; stir. Simmer the aromatics letting them cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally for at least 10 minutes. Stir in the Bryani Paste and thyme. Stir in chopped tomatoes and garlic powder. Stir in water. Add lentils and bay leaves. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are soft. 

When the soup is finished cooking: remove the bay leaves. Stir in cheese and hot sauce. Puree some, not all, of the soup. Serve or store in quart containers - label, refrigerate or freeze.

• Serve with extra hot sauce and grated cheese (rather than salt) and a 1/2 sandwich, whole grain crackers or crusty bread
• Experiment with soup variations adding: potatoes, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, Asofoetida, ginger, coriander or fresh garlic minced vs powder

Enjoy!
*Bryani is a paste blend of curry, ginger and tasty spices. Ask for it at your supermarket.

Excellent Source: Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A and Folate
Good Source: Vitamin C and Thiamin
If you're counting carbohydrates: Only 9g net carbs

GardenCuizine Nutrition Data Homemade Lentil Soup: 1 cup (281g): 122 calories; total fat 4g; saturated fat 1g; trans fat 0; cholesterol 2mg (1% DV); Sodium 137mg (6% DV); total carbohydrate 16g; dietary Fiber 7g (29% DV); protein 6.5g; Vitamin A 2806 IU (~56% DV); Vitamin C 6mg (~10% DV); Thiamin 0.2mg (~13% DV); Folate 108mcg (27% DV) plus other nutrients...

Related Links
Cooking Up Legumes Guide  
Recipe and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Just Peachy Hoppin John with Kale #GardenCuizine #HappyNewYear #GoodLuck #cowpeas @foodbankSJ @EatRight_NJ

Just Peachy
Hoppin' John with Kale

This high fiber, low sodium recipe was made similar to my GardenCuizine New Year's recipe post last year. This year I changed the greens from spinach to kale and added one jar of flavorful Just Peachy Salsa - a local salsa blend from The Food Bank of South Jersey.
 
Follow the recipe here 
with the following substitutions:

• Use black-eyed cowpeas (Fagiolo dell'occhio) from your own garden; or, if you only were able to harvest a small baggie full like us - use store-bought, plus whatever you can spare of your own. I added 1/4 cup extra cowpeas from our garden for good luck!
• Use Kale greens instead of spinach: rinse kale, pick off stems, break leaves into bite size pieces. Follow recipe.
• Stir in one, 16-ounce jar Just Peachy Salsa (or 1-2 cups chopped tomatoes)

Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Simmer on low heat partially covered until ready to serve. 

Happy and Healthy New Year 2017!
Related Links
Cowpeas Recipes
Just Peachy Salsa Provides Funds to Help Food-Insecure Families
Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Fall side dish: Quinoa with #garden tomatillos and yellow split peas #GardenCuizine #recipe #healthycooking

Tomatillo Arvejas Partidas 

Amarilla Quinoa

whole grain side dish

Serves 6
Ingredients
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion (or however much you want to add)
2 garden tomatillos skin removed, rinsed and chopped
1 T chopped sweet garden pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 cup dry quinoa grain
2 cups water or left over bean water (we just cooked a pound of pinto beans that yielded 2 quarts of beans with liquid and had some leftover bean liquid)
1/4 cup dried yellow split peas
1/4 tsp dehydrated garlic
1/4 tsp dehydrated ginger
pinch salt and black pepper
1 T fresh parsley or 1/2 tsp dried parsley 
1-2 Tblsp of your favorite hot salsa

Putting it all together
In a medium-sized pot with lid: heat olive oil, saute onion and tomatillos
Stir in curry powder, thyme then quinoa
Add remaining ingredients and stir
Bring to a boil, immediately reduce to a simmer
Cover and cook until all liquid is absorbed (about 15 minutes)
Stir in parsley and hot salsa
Keep covered until ready to serve

We served this nutritious side dish with Harry's (his mom's recipe) homemade crab cakes and steamed broccoli.

Buon Appetito!
Recipe and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Crab Imperial cooked with #realbutter #GardenCuizine #recipe

Crab Imperial

 made with real Butter

Serves 6

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup chopped sweet red pepper (we used 2 thin sweet garden peppers from the freezer)

5 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup 2% milk

1/4 teaspoon (tsp) salt

1 egg yolk, whisked

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1 Tablespoon capers, drained

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp dried garden Parsley

3/4 cup lite mayonnaise

Paprika (we used Hungarian Hot Paprika, don't worry, a sprinkle won't make it hot!)

1 lb. premium lump crab meat, drained

Preheat oven to 375 deg F

Putting it all together

1. In a saucepan, melt butter and sauté peppers. 
2. Whisk in the flour. Add milk and salt. Stir until blended and beginning to thicken, about 10-minutes. Turn off heat. Allow to cool a little before adding egg.
3. Stir in egg yolk, and remaining ingredients.
4. Add crab meat last: gently stirring so not to break up lumps of crab meat.
5. Spoon into ramekins (shallow individual baking dishes).
6. Sprinkle with paprika and bake 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

For a balanced meal; serve with a starch and vegetable. We served ours with sweet potato oven baked fries and a side of sautéed Zucchini and Onions.

Buon Appetito!

Recipe and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. Recipe inspired by The Williamsburg Cookbook, "Hampton Crab Imperial".

Baked Heirloom Beans. Fiber Superstar! #GardenCuizine #HealthyCooking

Baked Heirloom Beans
Christmas Limas

dietary Fiber Superstar!

Resolve to eat more beans in the New Year! Beans provide excellent dietary Fiber and minerals and are a low cost, lean protein for healthy eating. Christmas Limas have a pleasant chestnut texture. Prepare them as you would any bean. You'll notice that after cooking, the beans will become huge - up to the size of a quarter!

Prepare heirloom beans into a vegan or vegetarian main course or side dish; or enjoy Christmas Limas any time of year as a side to compliment a lean protein (tofu, chicken, fish, pork, etc.). We served Christmas Limas last night as a side dish with grilled chicken and a salad. As you can see in the photos, the beans become more brown when cooked.

We haven't tried growing limas yet, but have heard that they are easy to grow. You can look for dried heirloom Christmas Lima beans from local gourmet suppliers or online from suppliers like Rancho Gordo, which is where we bought ours.

Lima beans are indeed a bean, but they are also starchy, so rather than classifying them in the bean (legume) category, the DGA classifies Lima beans in with starchy vegetables like potatoes, green peas, corn, plantains and cassava. Beans are unique; because of their excellent protein content, 1/4 cup of cooked beans can count as one ounce of protein. 

Research shows diets rich in high fiber foods, such as beans, may reduce cholesterol and the risks of heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups dried Christmas Limas 
water
small piece dried kombu seaweed - optional

1/2 cup onion, diced
1 Tablespoon (Tblsp) olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tblsp molasses
1 teaspoon (tsp) dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon minced hot pepper
1 small sweet pepper - optional (we happened to have some frozen from summer) 
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
pinch black pepper

Putting it all together

• Place dried beans in a stock pot. Top with water to cover by an inch or so. Let soak for 3 hours (or whatever works with your schedule; there really is no set time).
• Drain water. Refill pot to cover beans by 2 inches. Add small piece dried kombu seaweed. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered until tender. Drain and set aside so beans don't overcook - SAVE bean liquid. Remove and discard kombu.
• Saute onion in 1 Tblsp olive oil. Add peppers. Stir and cook until onions are translucent. Stir in molasses, dry mustard and sugar. Add ketchup, Worcestershire and liquid then beans. Stir gently to combine ingredients. Stir in cider vinegar, salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil.
•  Transfer to a baking dish and bake covered 30 minutes at 375 deg. Uncover, reduce heat and cook another 15-30 minutes. 

Related Links
Heirloom Christmas Limas - my article on Dave's Garden
Nutrient Profile Beans
Beans top the charts as a Fiber Superstar! Today's Dietitian
Benefits of Beans and Legumes 
Baked Limas with Tomatoes and Peppers 
Blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Nigerian Ewa Dodo for a New Year's Good Luck #recipe #GardenCuizine

Nigerian 
Ewa Dodo
Black-eyed Peas and Plantains

low sodium

Celebrate the New Year with this Nigerian good luck meal featuring black-eyed peas and plantains. We grew black-eyed peas last year for the first time and found them fun and easy-to-grow. I saved some dried to use for a special recipe to ring in the New Year. Last year we made Hoppin' John. 

This recipe is my version of Ewa Dodo. Ever since I learned how to cook beans from macrobiotic cooks back when I had my health food restaurant, to this day, I still add a small piece of dried kombu seaweed to the bean pot. I also add a splash of vinegar to bean dishes when they are cooking. 

For flavor, adding garden herbs and hot pepper enhances the recipe without adding extra salt. I also added a few sweet peppers because we had a bountiful fall harvest and have a freezer full! Stews are like soups - you can be creative and use up ingredients that you may have available.
 
Serves 4

Ingredients
fish or shrimp (can be salmon, tilapia or we used grilled Chilean Sea Bass)
2 ripe Plantains
Vegetable oil enough for frying
1 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas
small piece dried kombu seaweed

1 cup chopped onion
1-2 small sweet peppers, chopped
dried hot pepper, minced (however much you want to add)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon minced ginger 

2-3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Putting it all together
Decide how you want to cook the fish: in the stew or cook it and then add it to the stew. Traditional Nigerian stew cooks the fish directly in the stock pot. We used sea bass and grilled it before adding it to this New Year's dinner.

In a stock pot, rinse and soak the black-eyed peas for 2 hours. Drain and refill with fresh water add a small piece of dried kombu seaweed. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, partially cover and cook until tender. Drain (to stop cooking), saving cooking liquid and set aside.

 
Fry the Plantains
Peel ripe plantains (ripe plantains have black sections all over skin), slice on bias (diagonal), and fry plantains in veggie oil until golden. Place on paper towels to cool and blot off excess oil, set aside.

In stock pot, heat olive oil; saute onion and peppers; stir in garlic and ginger. Add seasonings and tomatoes, stir. Add beans and saved bean cooking liquid - add as much as desired. You may or may not use all of it, depending on how much water you cooked your beans in. Use your judgement. Stir in vinegar, fish and parsley; cover and simmer to blend flavors. 

Note: this was our first time frying plantains, we fried yellow plantains and found them to taste starchy and dry so we added them in with the stew rather than serving as a side. We learned that you should wait until the plantains get some blackening on the skin before peeling and frying. 

Happy New Year!
Related Links
Beans, Beans, They're Good for your Heart...
Recipe, photos, video and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Quick homemade Cocktail Sauce #GardenCuizine #recipe tastes great with crab cakes!

Homemade Cocktail Sauce

Cocktail sauce tastes great with seafood dishes such as crab cakes or shrimp. It's super easy to prepare. This is another GardenCuizine freestyle recipe; meaning you don't really need to measure the ingredients. Use your judgement and make it to your taste preference. Here is my recipe if you need a guide. You will only need 4 ingredients:

Ingredients
1 cup Ketchup (we use organic)
2 Tablespoons Horseradish
1-2 Tablespoons Lemon juice (fresh squeezed tastes best)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (or more or less as desired)

Putting it all together
Simply combine all the ingredients together; taste and adjust proportions as desired.

Buon Appetito!

We served homemade Cocktail Sauce last night on Crab Cakes
GardenCuizine Nutrition Data Crab meat: 
Excellent Source: Lean Protein, Zinc
Good Source: Vitamin E, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium
High in Cholesterol - all shellfish is high in cholesterol;  similar to the amount found in meat. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your total dietary cholesterol intake to no more than 300 mg/day. 4 ounces of crab meat provides 100 mg cholesterol

Canned 4 oz blue claw crab meat only: 112 calories; Saturated Fat 0g; Total Fat 0g; Protein 23g; Vitamin E 2 mg (12% DV); Folate 48 mcg (12% DV); Magnesium 44 mg (12% DV); Potassium 420 mg (12% DV); Zinc 4.4 mg (32% DV);   
Blog post and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.