It's springtime!

Just got finished gorging on strawberry shortcake.  Oh so good.  I am so glad it is warm weather time.  That means that fresh fruits and veggies are back!  Here in Wilmington we have a local farm, Lewis Farm, that does U-pick strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.  Right around May the strawberries are ready for picking and we go as many times as we can.  They are so cheap this way and they taste better than any strawberry from the store.  I like supporting a local farm too.   The girls love going and picking their own berries.  Maggie has gotten the hang of it and does really well.  River just pretty much eats her way down the rows.  I would be in trouble if they did a before and after weigh in of the children.   The berries are so ripe that you can smell them when you are walking up to the plants.  On hot days it starts to smell like strawberry wine out there with the too far gone berries fermenting in the sun.  It is such a pleasure to be connected to the food you eat and I think good for the girls to know that food is grown and does not magically appear at the grocery store wrapped in plastic.  

 

So, the thing about fresh produce is...you have to eat it!  Right away.  It is picked when ripe and strawberries especially will not last.  So for two days we eat strawberries with everything, with chocolate, on salads, in cobblers...etc.  Today, I had a hankerin' (I do live in the south ya know) for strawberry shortcake.  I had some strawberries that were still good, but not really for eating whole.  Perfect!  I looked up the recipe in the bible of cooking (Joy of Cooking) and lo and behold, they recommend putting the strawberries on scones!  My other obsession of late.  I just went back to the Tea Room this week with Maggie to have a little mommy/big girl day. My ulterior motive was to get back to their scones.  Well, the recipe for scones was really, really easy.  Here it is in a slightly altered version:

Classic Scones

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Whisk together:

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cut up and drop in:

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

When making something like this or pie crust, I always break up the butter with my hands.  I know you are supposed to do it with 2 knives or a pastry cutter, but I find I can do it faster and easier with my hands.  You have to do it quick so the butter doesn't warm up too much.  Work the mixture till the largest pieces are the size of peas and the whole mixture looks like bread crumbs.

Form a little well and pour in:

1 large egg

1/2 cup heavy cream

Whisk that together quick and then mix the whole thing together with a rubber spatula.  After it is mixed use your hands to knead it a bit and work the dough together.  Transfer it to a lightly floured surface and pat it out to 3/4 inch thick round.  Cut into 8 to 12 triangles and place on your ungreased baking sheet.  Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the tops are golden 12-15 minutes.  

The strawberries I just cut up small and added about 2 tablespoons of sugar.  For the topping, I whipped about 1/2 cup of heavy cream with 1-2 tablespoons sugar in my fabulous stand mixer. Have I posted yet about my love affair with my mixer?  I must do that soon.  I love that damn thing.  

So delicious.  I was going to save this for dessert tonight, but it had to be eaten immediately.  I am so proud that I know how to make scones now.  

My next project:  How to make fruit preserves....

Can't wait for blueberries and blackberries to come!

Amy

What's for dinner? Curry!

If you ask my kids what their favorite dinner is, the answer is always: Curry!  I am so freaking proud of that.  Before I had kids, I was always worried that they would only eat macaroni and cheese or something, but then once they arrived I realized that for the most part, kids will eat what you eat.  I know that I felt like I needed to clean up my diet a bit when my kids got old enough to want what we had.  Soda especially has gone by the wayside.  If the kids see a can near my lips they surround me like flies demanding to know what I have and can they share it? I am not totally anti-soda or treats, but I realize that if I want my kids to eat well and make good choice, then I have to model that for them.  

We have never made separate food for the kids to eat.  Even when they were infants, they ate what was on our plate.  I never made any special baby food or fed them out of a jar, they just ate what we had either mashed up or as I called it, the baby bird style, where I would chew it up a bit with my front teeth and feed it to them.  That sounds gross when I write it down, but hey, they didn't mind!  So they have been eating all of these different flavors and spices from the beginning.

Well, that is the long wind bag explanation for why my kids love curry...the real reason is that it tastes freaking awesome.  This curry tastes kind of like Thai massman curry and it is super easy to make.  Here is the recipe:

Chicken Curry

3-4 chicken breasts

3-4 medium potatoes (or other root vegetables i.e. swt. potatoes, squash etc.)

1 medium onion minced

1 green or red pepper

2 14 oz cans Coconut milk

1 T Red curry paste

2 T Fish sauce

2 T Brown sugar

Handful unsalted Cashews (optional)

Start by simmering your curry paste and coconut milk over low heat until the milk and paste are combined.  While waiting for this, chop up your onion, potato, and peppers and add to the pot.  I chop the onion up quite small for the kids and make the potatoes and peppers around bit size.  Add the fish sauce and brown sugar then bring the pot to a slow boil and cover.  Cook until the potatoes are soft.  You can also wait to add the peppers till the end if you like them crunchier (we do).  While you are waiting for this to cook, chop up your chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and cook in a skillet.  When done, drain off excess liquid and add to the pot. Viola!  Serve over rice.  If you have unsalted cashews, throw them on top!  

You can really use any vegetables, but I suggest keeping with the root veggies.  You can out in anything else you like or have.  If you want to make this vegetarian, just omit the chicken and add more veg.  

Fish sauce is the absolute integral part of this recipe.  It is the stinkiest substance on earth, but without it, Thai curry is blah.  You probably have to go to an Asian market to get a jug of it, but it will last you a long time.  I just finished off a bottle my dad got me a year ago.  He got it in Florida and drove it up here to NC.  The lady in the Asian market asked him what he was going to do with it and he told her he was driving to see his daughter and give it to her.  Her response was "No break in car!"  Seriously, I think the stuff may be listed on the EPAs hazardous waste list.  I kept mine in a freezer bag in the cabinet, just in case.   On its own, toxic waste. Combined with coconut milk and brown sugar, heaven.  

PS:  This tastes even better the second day and it freezes beautifully.  I freeze this and take it when we go camping.  It serves to keep the cooler cold and heats up quick for a fantastic camp dinner. 

As predicted on the LIST, tonight is lentil soup night.  Opened bag of leftover ham from (honestly) too long ago to find that ham had suspicious smell to it.  Oh well, lentils alone are packed with goodness anyway.  Lentil soup is ridiculously easy to make.  Mine tonight has 1 bag of lentils, 8 cups of water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 carrots shredded, 1/2 an onion finely chopped, a bunch of salt and pepper, some thyme, and probably about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. Towards the end I throw in some minced garlic.

Simmer all of this for about 30-45 minutes or so until your lentils reach your desired softness.  I like them a little more creamy, so sometimes I let them go a bit longer then stir them up really well.  You can't believe how filling lentils are.  I like to serve mine with some fresh bread, but alas, time ran away on me so I am making some drop biscuits instead.  Super yummy and simple, here's the recipe:

Easy drop biscuits

1 2/3 cup flour (you can substitute 1/3 to 2/3 cup wheat flour if you like)

1 Tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup oil (veg or olive oil, your choice)

Preheat your oven to 475.  Mix the dry ingredients and then make a little well and pour in the milk and oil.  Stir up the milk and oil a bit and then mix the dough up until the dough just starts to pull away from the sides.  It is a really wet and sticky dough.  Use a teaspoon or your hands and pull out little blobs and drop them on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 8 minutes until they are light brown on the bottom.  Serve with copious amounts of butter...drool.....

Cheap and easy.  Hey, who are you calling cheap and easy!?