How About Those Plants I Propagated?

Dead. All dead.

I took cuttings from all my favorite plants from my Austin garden, babied them, potted them up, then put them in the back seat of an un air conditioned car being towed from Texas to Oregon. Bad idea. They all got shocked by the heat, sun, dryness and all around unpleasant climate of Steve, my Hyundai Accent. All but the lemon balm: it of course survived as lemon balm is just another of the many pervasive and invasive mints: you just can't kill 'em.

At least California let me keep my kaffirs. My Meyer Lemon, alas was confiscated. More about the federal quarantine on citrus coming soon!

Our Christmas Citrus tree met a very sad demise: incinerated in the state of California.

Have you ever tried moving with plants? What were your results?

Lemongrass Chicken

This isn't a recipe, per say, but a documentation of one delicious dinner i whipped up the other night using herbs from my gardens
Lemongrass Chicken:

• Chicken Breast (could use any chicken parts, really)
• 1-2 stalks fresh lemongrass, outer 'grassy' layers removed, chopped, pounded in mortar and pestle
• 1-2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
• 3 cloves garlic, or garlic paste
• Several hatch chilly peppers, roasted and diced
• Bunch multiplying onion greens, or chives
• Chicken stock
• Sesame and coconut oils
• Pinch coconut curry powder
• 1/2 T Turmeric
• Dash Cumin

Put a dollup of coconut oil and drizzle of toasted sesame oil in a pan on med/high heat. Add turmeric and curry powder, lemongrass and kaffir leaves. Sizzle for a bit then drop in chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper and cumin.  Let one side of chicken breast develop a nice sear, then flip and add the rest of the ingredients and cover with lid. I slathered the top of the chicken breast with garlic paste before flipping. Stir occasionally and add more chicken stock as needed. Be sure chicken is cooked to at least 165 degrees. You may wish to dice the chicken before sauteeing. I like to leave the breast whole, trapping the juices inside THEN cutting into chunks.

I served mind with some quinoa that i cooked with chicken stock and another frond of lemongrass.
Let's hope my lemongrass and kaffirs make it through the freeze. I have a feeling the lemongrass will not - i'll just have to cook it all!

Pasta Salad - with Kaffir Lime and Tangy Spice

I headed up to Lake Buchanan this past weekend to spend some time with my second cousins at their lake house and share a picnic lunch. One of my cousins is vegan, so i thought it would be fun to pick some garden goodies and blend them up for a nice pasta salad seasoning and add some grilled tofu and seeds. I ripped off my own trout marinade from a week or so ago, skipped the tequila (i'm out) and added some fresh jalapenos. Yum!

For the tofu:

Freeze the tofu before hand to get a better texture.
Cut into chunks and scatter in a pan with some olive oil (spray) on med/high: tofu takes much longer to brown than meat, so leave it a while.
Sprinkle with salt, smoked paprika, cumin.
Cook until all sides are good and browned. Turn off the heat and add some:

• hemp seeds
• sunflower seeds
• flax seeds
• pecans

Plus a little sesame oil and more salt and turn turn turn until the pan cools. Don't let those little seeds burn!

In the meantime, boil some water and cook your pasta. While you're waiting for the water to boil, assemble your sauce:

• White wine vinegar
• Olive oil (maybe a half cup each? i just poured the amount i wanted - more vinegar than oil)
• Splash mirin
• 3 large kaffir lime leaves
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 2 large multiplying onions with greens, or scallions, or bulb onions
• Tablespoon or so of peaches, diced
• Splash worchestershire sauce
• 3 large jalapenos, ripe, de-seeded (i de-seeded one and left the rest with seeds)
• salt, pepper, cumin, sweet smoked paprika

Blend all up, taste, add more vinegar or hot peppers as needed to balance the sweetness. Shouldn't be sweet, but shouldn't be puckery tangy either.

Cook and drain the pasta, add the sauce, add the tofu - voila! Into the fridge to be enjoyed tomorrow, or serve right away. If waiting, the pasta will absorb the sauce - which is either good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Pasta salad is one of my favorite things to make for going camping, as long as i have a well fitted lid to go on this here Pyrex dish (cooler water likes to invade my camping food). It's an easy 'pick as you go' snack to have around, and also a filling and satisfying sit down picnic lunch. If you can't get kaffir lime leaves, you could use the juice of a key lime or some lemongrass - but get the kaffir leaves, they're so awesome!

What's your favorite potluck/picnic dish?

Kaffir Marinated Trout with Salsa and Pupusas

I think both my husband and i floated somewhere magical whilst eating this meal - mouthgasms were abundant. I really out did myself with this meal,  though it was actually really easy. I used my stick blender's food processor attachment to make the marinade, and had to fight myself to stop from just drinking it right on the spot.

The trout was gifted to us by a good friend for my husband's birthday, all the veggies were homegrown, and i molded up the little pupusas minutes before cooking them.
Here's how it went:

Marinade (amounts are very approximate, more to ratio):

• Splash white wine vinegar
• Splash (about half the amt of the vinegar) olive oil
• Splash (about half the oil) tequila
• Splish worchestershire sauce
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small onion
• Dashes cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne
• Generous dash hot smoked paprika
• 1/2 a peach

The amounts of the liquid need to be enough to make enough marinade for the amount of fish - but don't overdo the oil or the vinegar, as the onions and the rest of the veg will liquify pretty well and you don't want the vinegar/oil flavors to overshadow the kaffir lime. Blend and resist drinking it all right there in the kitchen.

Salsa:

• Red ripe serranos, seeds and membrane removed
• Red ripe and green jalapenos, 1/2 with seeds and membrane removed
• Porter tomatoes, eighthed
• Finely chopped onion
• 1 peach, diced finely
• Salt, pepper, chilly powder, cumin
• Very small splash white wine vinegar - the peach should be juicy enough to add juice into the salsa

Pupusas:

• Masa harina
• Water, enough to form a soft, not sticky dough
• Shredded cheese and salsa (see above)

I marinated the fish for about 2 hours in the refrigerator - simply poured the marinade of the top of the fish in a pyrex. I later laid out the fish on my toaster oven's pan with space in between, filled with pieces of shredded cabbage, and the marinade poured over the top. I cooked at about 400 for 15  minutes, then decreased to 300 while the hubby finished doing the dishes (an additional 10 or so). The fish is done when it will flake apart and the marinade is simmering.

I made the pupusas after i put the fish in the oven and kept them on a moist cloth until ready to cook - three at a time in a pan on medium until browned on each side. The salsa i made first thing in the morning so the flavors would amalgamate for most of the day.

This marinade was seriously the most delicious thing that has entered my mouth oriface in a LONG TIME. It tasted much like my favorite Thai curry and soup dishes because of the unique flavor of the kaffir leaves. I have 2 kaffir lime plants that i harvest from, but you can find the leaves for sale in most asian markets and some grocery stores that specialize in unique foods (here that would be Fiesta and Central Market/ Whole Foods). It was spicy, but not TOO spicy, as the salsa was VERY spicy consisting mostly of peppers with a few tomatoes instead of the other way around.

Try not to salivate all over your computer  :)

A big PS:

My friend Marigold is hosting a really super awesome and unique giveaway on her blog: a handcrafted Waldorf inspired doll. The doll is really beautiful (and worth $125!) and would make an excellent gift to some special young person. Check out the post for more details on how to enter to win. I know many of my readers are parents looking to live the best life with their children that they can - and this doll is a really wonderful alternative to Barbies or GI Joes and all the gender stereotypes and nasty carbon based (i assume) plastics that go with them.

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY as well! One and a half weeks left to win! Yay for free stuff!

Soup Recipe, with a kick!

I looooove tortilla soup. Though, actually i've never actually HAD tortilla soup - i just make up soup recipes that i refer to as being tortilla soup. There are never tortillas involved.

Usually i throw together some hominy, Rotel, chicken or turkey meat (or no meat) and some stock and spices to make a yummy, brothy, spicy soup refreshing on hot or cold days. This evening i created a soup full of ingredients from the garden and homemade turkey stock. I formed ground turkey into balls for a little textural excitement, and served with a dollop of sour cream. This made the perfect amount for two hungry humans - could be spread out to 3 or even 4 servings as a side dish.

Zesty Summer Soup with Turkey Meatballs

• 1/2 pint condensed turkey stock
• 2 or so pints water
• Several small red onions (garden fresh onions really make me cry!)
• 2 cloves diced garlic
• 2 serrano peppers, red ripe and diced
• 3 kaffir lime leaves roughly torn
• Double handful Porter Improved (could use roma) tomatoes, quartered
• Salt, pepper, cumin, hot smoked paprika - season to taste
• Ground turkey
• 1 package ground turkey
• Splash Worchestershire sauce
• 1-2 T taco seasoning (i use Colorado Spice Company, no msg)
• Salt, pepper, cumin, chilly powder
• Handful of whole wheat orzo pasta

Place  all veggies and liquid into a medium pot and bring to a boil - simmer, covered until broth takes on some kaffir taste, about 15-20 minutes. Add meatballs and cook until they all float and are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add orzo 10 minutes before serving. Be sure and dip that ladle all the way to the bottom to get even dispersal of goodies.

You could add many other veggie options, and sub the ground turkey for shredded rotisserie type chicken leftovers or even beef or pork meatballs. I just love making soup - it's really so much easier than you would think, and just about anything is possible. I really see no reason to buy canned or cartoned soups from the store - make your own! It'll taste even better!