Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves

November 13th-17th 2023

Day of the Dead has come and gone, this is the anniversary date that Andrew and I keep because it was technically our first date back in 2002. We celebrated by having dinner out last week by ourselves, trying a new Mediterranean place on NW 23rd and seeing a friend’s art show. Nothing was really planned, the way things used to be which I sometimes miss. But I also realized how much I learned from him about the importance of the planning of meals every day with a family, the routines and the habits, were something important for me to learn to slow down. My mind works too quickly and I am a workaholic so I would routinely, until I met Andrew say, “It’s 5:00 pm and I am hungry, what should I eat?” without a thing in the fridge except leftover Indian food and some ketchup packets and a rotting lettuce end.

As an only child with a solo parent, my mother, who worked all of the time, I was routinely left at home to my own devices and many frozen lean cuisine dinners were my only staple. I never learned to cook simply because my mom did not really cook. Much of the food in our kitchen in the 1970s and 1980 was frozen and never really appealed to me-especially the frozen meadley of lima beans, carrots and peas that often times ended up on the floor to see if the dogs would eat it-which they never did. Smart dogs. When My mom did present me with a cooking lesson it was never fun so I opted out. My last cooking lesson that I recalled was slicing mushrooms and she wanted me to slice them one way and I wanted to slice them another way so it was a battle. Which I left, knowing that I would never win anyway.

This week we are all busy so one of the options is trying our local Olympic Provisions beer brats. Plus it is raining and that is the best time to send Andrew out to grill-in the rain. It is his favorite, really—he always comments when it is raining that it’s a good grilling night so I try to make sure I plan accordingly for him. I like Olympic Provisions breakfast sausages but most of the rest of their stuff is too rich for me so we will see if these are the same.

Linnea and I visited friends Larry and Kent to do and afternoon of Eco dying with local fall leaves and ferns.

 
 

Vegetarian Lentil Soup: Daddy’s recipe

Ingredients:

  1. 2-3 cups Lentils

  2. 7 cups stock

  3. 1 large onion chopped

  4. 3-4 cloves garlic

  5. 1 cup each of chopped celery, carrots, potatos

  6. 2 T. Molasses or brown sugar

  7. 3. T. apple cider vinegar

  8. 1 T. Each thyme and Oregano

  9. 1/8 teaspoon cloves

  10. salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

  1. simmer lentils and stock, covered for 1-2 hours

  2. saute onion in ghee for 5-10 min

  3. Add garlic and veggies and saute briefly and then add a small amount of water, cover and steam until soft (about 10-15 min)

  4. Add herbs to veggies for the last minute of steaming

  5. Combine veggies and lentils and add molasses and vinegar.

  6. Let flavors marry for 15-20 min on low heat and serve with grated parmesan and crusty bread and something green!!!!

BEER BRATS

from Olympic Provisions

/www.olympiaprovisions.com/collections/sausage/products/bratwurst

with Sauerkraut and roasted squash

Ginger Aebleskivers with Apple Butter

Made by Linnea

Recipe by Amy Thielen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup apple butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon each baking soda and salt

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

3 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup of milk with 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice in it)

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 teasp vanilla extract

1/3 cup sunflower oil

8 T (1 stick of butter) melted

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

  1. spoon the apple butter into a plastic bag, push it into a corner, and snip the tip at the end to make a 1/4 inch wide opening. Set the bag, snipped corner pointing up in a teacup.

  2. mix all dry ingredients together.

  3. Separate the eggs-whites from yokes in separate containers. beat the egg whites to soft peaks.

  4. Mix the dry ingredients and the dry spices in one bowl

  5. Mix the buttermilk (we used Oatly and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice), sugar, molasses, and vanilla

  6. Add the flour mixture to the egg yoke mixture and whisk until smooth.

  7. Fold the egg whites into the batter and mix until smooth.

  8. heat the aebleskiver pan hot enough to cause a drop of water to sizzle when it touches. Now brush the wells of the pan with melted butter or ghee. Spoon in the batter to fill the wells three-quarters full.

  9. Push the tip of the apple butter bag into the center of each batter filled well and inject about 1/2 teaspoon of the apple butter into each aebleskiver.

  10. Cook over medium heat until the underside is done (2 min) and then turn with 2 toothpicks. Cook for 2 more minutes and gently remove to a tray. Immediately brush with butter and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

  11. Repeat until done with batter. This made about 60 aebleskivers for us and was easier to 2 with 2 people. One to cook and one to brush with melted butter and sprinkle.

Beef Kheema Aloo

from: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/231026/keema-aloo-ground-beef-and-potatoes/

I had made another version of this and it was too dry so I am attempting this one.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1 extra-large onion, chopped

  • 2 tablespoons water (Optional)

  • 2 pounds lean ground beef

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root

  • 1 serrano chile pepper, finely chopped

  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander

  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt

  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  • 3 potatoes, peeled and diced

  • 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

  • 1 cup frozen green peas

  • 1 teaspoon garam masala

  • Directions

    1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until soft and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. If browned bits of onion are stuck to the bottom of the pan, add water and stir to loosen.

    2. Stir ground beef, garlic, ginger, serrano chile, and cilantro into the pan; cook and stir until beef is browned and crumbly, 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in coriander, salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, and turmeric; cook and stir until flavors blend, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and tomatoes; cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

    3. Stir in green peas and cook until sauce has slightly thickened and flavors have blended, 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle garam masala over top, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.