The Charmed Kitchen

Thought this might get answered by some of my canning friends. I got a load of free canning jars and supplies a while back. In one of the boxes was this  device. It’s about 14 inches long and has a curved wire at the end. I figure it is for use in canning but I have no idea what. Any one know? I’ve had several friends give me guesses but no one knew for sure. Would love an answer to this puzzle. There is a close up picture at the bottom of this post. Thanks for the help.

Ham and Veggie Stir Fry

Somehow a ham bone lead to this dish. I had been using up leftover ham in all sorts of dishes. I was left with the ham bone, which still had a decent amount of meat on it. I was sure it would be used in soup so I placed the bone in a pot with some water and boiled it for a while. The water took on the smoky flavor of the ham bone. I cooled it, removed the meat from the bone and strained the liquid. I have any number of dry beans, lentils and other legumes I could use for my soup. I just couldn’t decide so I put it all in the fridge for another day.

Inspiration hit when I was checking out what else was in my fridge and spotted some baby bok choy. I decided to use the rest of the ham in a stir fry. Since I had the cooking liquid from the ham I used that for cooking the rice. Not the soup I thought I was going to make, but a fun choice in the end. Here is what I did. Feel free to sub out what veggies you like and have on hand.

Ham and Veggie Stir Fry

2 T. oil

1 medium onion, sliced

1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced thinly

1 c. sliced cabbage

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

1 sweet red pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips

2 c. sliced bok choy

1 1/2 c. cubed cooked ham

2 green onions, trimmed and sliced

1/2 c. whole almonds

fresh grated ginger- or powdered, to taste

soy sauce to taste

dash of hot sauce

Heat oil in wok or skillet and cook onion and carrots for 3 minutes. Add cabbage add garlic and stir fry 2-3 minutes longer. Toss in the pepper and bok choy and cook 3 more minutes. Add ham, green onions and almonds along with seasonings and soy sauce and cook until ham is heated through. Serve over hot cooked rice or pasta. Serves 3-4.

Baby Bok Choy

Served over cooked brown rice

Just starting to dry

I’ve been dehydrating apples the last couple of days. Apples are very easy to dry and the final product makes a great snack. Some of you may remember that I picked over 600 apples at a local orchard back in November. What can I say?  They had an end of the season deal- all you could pick for $25. I certainly got my money’s worth. I have made applesauce, apple pie filling, apple desserts, salads and main dishes. I have sent visitors home with bags of them. I have also eaten lots of them fresh. Still, there are plenty in the fridge and I don’t want to waste any of them.

Apple peels tend to be tougher when dried so I peel apples that I am going to dehydrate. I then core and slice the apples and place them in a solution to prevent/reduce discoloration.  I use a mixture of water and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). You could also dip them in water mixed with lemon juice or citric acid. Once they have all been prepped I pull the slices out of the water and drain before placing on the dehydrator trays.  The time it takes to dehydrate them will vary depending on your dehydrator, temp you use to dehydrate, type of apple and thickness of the slices. I have had them dry is as little as a couple of hours when done at 150 degrees. It also depends on whether you want the final product to be soft and pliable or crispy.

A few hours later- all done!

Apple and Cabbage Salad

I think the extra cold weather makes me want summer foods even more. We warmed up to a balmy 2 degrees today. I wanted a dinner that made me think of summer and picnics. I had some boneless chicken thighs, cooked pasta and a head of cabbage to work with. I  pan broiled the chicken and then added some barbecue sauce and let that simmer a little while longer. I also made pasta salad the way my Mom would have- pasta, hard cooked eggs, celery, green onions, mayo, salt and pepper. When I got to the cabbage I wanted something more than just traditional cole slaw. I ended up using a combination of shredded cabbage and slivered apples in an apple cider vinegar dressing. The sweetness of the apples was a nice touch and worked well with the cabbage.

Apple and Cabbage Slaw

6-8 c. shredded cabbage

2 large apples, unpeeled, cut into thin strips

1/2 c. cider vinegar

2 T. sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Combine cabbage and apples in a medium bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the cabbage mixture and toss to coat evenly. Salad can be eaten right away or chilled for a couple of hours.

Dinner tonight

Freshly sliced bananas

I hate to waste anything and I often find myself with bananas that are getting ripe faster than I can eat them. I freeze them often but I actually like to dry some and use them later in baking and cooking or as a snack. Dried bananas are not to be confused with banana chips. The crunchy banana chips are actually fried to get their crunchy texture. Home dried bananas will have the same texture as other dried fruits, soft, pliable and a little chewy.

They are really easy to make. Just peel and slice your bananas and dip in a solution to prevent darkening. You can use citric acid, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) or lemon juice combined with a little water. Some people don’t bother with this step. Frankly I do it, but with or without treatment your bananas will darken a bit. Place on an oiled dehydrator tray and dry until pliable. This can take several hours. I normally place them in the dehydrator overnight. You can leave them in long enough to get crisper, if you like. I just prefer them softer.

Same bananas a few hours later

Warm Winter Salad

The coldest night in years and I had a taste for salad last night. I wasn’t in the mood for a side salad I wanted the salad to be the meal. Don’t get me wrong, I love soup and eat it all the time. I just craved crunch last night. I also wanted a warm meal so I decided to add some warmth to my salad. I had romaine lettuce so I had the crunch part covered. I also had a perfectly ripe avocado to add richness. I checked out what I had in the fridge and ended up with leftover turkey from making stock. I did a sort of pulled turkey thing and added barbecue sauce and heated the whole thing up. I also wanted fresh croutons- so much better than store bought. I sauteed up a small shallot in oil, added bread cubes and some parsley and cooked, stirring often, until the bread was toasted and crunchy. Time to assemble the salad. Romaine lettuce in first. I cut the avocado and tossed the slices in olive oil, lemon juice and a little salt and placed them in the salad next. I drizzled the lemon juice mixture over the lettuce. Next the hot barbecue turkey and then the croutons and toasted shallots. Not exactly what you might think of having on a below zero evening but every bit at comforting as a big bowl of soup.

Pasta with Carrot Sauce

I made this for lunch today and it was awesome.  Since I’ve been pushing myself to not waste food I used something I might normally throw away. I was making turkey stock yesterday. As usual I added aromatic vegetables like onions, celery and carrots to the stock. Normally when the stock is finished I strain out the veggies and toss them. OK, I do like the carrots and may munch on them, but still, I often toss them. I was wondering what I might do with them. They are cooked to mush but still have some flavor. I saved the carrots and some of the onions from the stock-making.  I put them in a pot and warmed them with a little of the stock then I pureed the mixture using a stick blender. After I blended it I added some leftover diced ham, parsley and a little hot sauce. The sauce looked great and even better, it tasted great. The addition of the ham added a little smoky flavor, which I liked a lot. Even before I added the ham it tasted pretty good. It was tossed over hot cooked pasta and I added a little Romano cheese. So good and made from something I would have thrown away without a second thought.

Puree carrot mixture until smooth

It was smooth in no time

Toss sauce with hot cooked pasta

Ready for plating- and cheese!!

Dinner last night

I’ve only just started on my experiment to see how long I can go without going to the grocery store and I already see a change. Predictions for this week are for near record lows and blustery, snowy  weather for the next few days. I read multiple posts from friends on Facebook about crazy busy stores and empty shelves. I would normally be part of that crowd. Not so much because I didn’t have food in the house. I can, dehydrate and have a freezer. There is always food in the house. The trip to the store would be because there are a few items I might not have. Not so much about need as about want. Not going made me feel more secure and more independent.

I certainly get the need for fresh milk for kids or making sure you have bottled water and batteries. I believe completely in being prepared. I am in awe of some of the people I know who can go weeks and even months without going to the store. That kind of self reliance is admirable. My friend, Pris Hastings responded to  an earlier post of mine with this comment.

Pris wrote:

“Enjoyed reading this Judi Strauss. One of my resolutions last year was to stop going to the grocery store. Started out by taking inventory of what I purchased from the store. Figured out what I could grow myself, then raised a huge garden. Canned most of the summer to get my inventory built up. We raise our own beef and hubby hunts so that helped. Will start chickens this year. Also bake bread to keep from buying it. Have fruit trees and strawberry’s planted. You can grow lettuce year round in a tub (protected). Would love to have a cow for milk so I wouldn’t have to purchase milk and butter. And then there’s the things u have to buy, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. make my own laundry and dish soup. Going to start making my deodorant this year. It’s amazing what you can do if you put your heart in it. I love reading what all others do and get some great ideas. My kids say I’m a prepper, but I say I’m just a person who likes to know what I’m eating and I’ve lived thru a terrible hurricane. It was no fun running out of food. I plan to hit it really hard this year and do even more. Love suggestions.”

I am impressed. Thanks Pris for your comments.

I realize that there are more limits living in the city, but there are community gardens and vacant lots. My friend, Mari Keating, has people digging up their suburban lawns and planting food crops. Support local farmers and buy stuff in season and preserve it in some way.  Like Pris said it is also about knowing what food your family is eating.

This isn’t about stockpiling food then not using it. Its about taking steps to insure that if there is some natural disaster you and your family will have food.

Ham and Swiss Bread with Spinach

I was invited to a party last night at the home of good friends Rita and Tom Burke. Great mix of friends and food. I made a ham and cheese stuffed loaf of bread enriched with fresh spinach. It was a big hit and disappeared quickly. 

Ham and Swiss Bread Florentine

3 ¼ c. flour

1 T. sugar

1 t. salt

1 package quick-rising yeast

1 c. hot water

1 T. oil

¼ c. Dijon mustard

6-8 oz. sliced ham

4 oz. sliced Swiss cheese

1 large bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and steamed a few minutes to wilt, drained well.

Set aside 1 cup of the flour. Combine remaining flour with the other dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in water and oil and gradually stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle about 16 x 8. Spread mustard down center middle of dough. Top with meat slices, cheese and spinach. Cut one-inch wide strips of dough from filling to edge on both sides. It will sort of look like fringe.  Alternating sides, fold strips up and over the filling at an angle.  Carefully lift loaf onto greased baking sheet and place at an angle. Cover with a towel and place sheet on top of a roasting pan half-filled with simmering water for 15 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400-degree for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before slicing. Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers.

Note: The variations for this bread are almost endless. Some favorite combinations are Corned beef and Swiss with sauerkraut and thousand island dressing., roast beef and cheddar, chicken, broccoli and cheese, Spinach with ricotta or feta and onions, pizza, assorted fillings. You get the idea. Use your imagination and have fun. Just be careful not to overfill, or the bread will be hard to move, use fillings that aren’t too runny and always use cold fillings.

If you want to use regular yeast use warm, rather than hot water. Also, don’t let dough rise over boiling water. After kneading cover dough and let rise 45 minutes. Punch down and assemble as in original recipe. Cover with a towel and let rise until dough looks puffy, about 40 minutes. Bake as directed above. These breads can also be frozen. 

Dough ready for folding

Alternately fold dough strips over the filling

Fresh out of the oven

Pasta Florentine

I think it’s kind of fun that you can add spinach to a dish and then call it Florentine. Sounds a lot fancier than “Spinach with Pasta.” For dinner with a friend recently I wanted a simple side dish. I had fresh spinach but didn’t want the spinach in a salad this time. I decided to make a spinach and pasta side dish. It turned out really nice. I wanted that creamed spinach feel but without all that dairy. I am lactose intolerant.

The secret? I used chicken stock to make the sauce. I started by sauteing an onion in a skillet in a little oil. I added a couple of cups of low sodium chicken stock and cooked it down by half. Then I tossed in about 8 cups of fresh spinach. I’d washed it and removed larger stems. I also tossed in 4 cups of cooked pasta and stirred it all together. I turned the heat down to medium/low and stirred it every couple of minutes until the spinach was cooked through and the pasta was heated through. Most of the cooking liquid was absorbed into the pasta or had evaporated. I added a little salt and fresh ground pepper and I did serve the dish with fresh grated Romano cheese on the side. It was really good. It tasted rich but not heavy.