Ginger Pancakes with Honey Lemon Butter and Caramelized Bananas
Sprouted wheat flour, fresh ginger and kefir with bananas, Meyer lemon, cultured butter and wildflower honey..
Sprouted Wheat Ginger Pancakes with Honey Lemon Butter and Caramelized Bananas
For the Honey Lemon Butter
1/2 Meyer lemon, peeled and seeded
3 tablespoons cultured butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
Pulse all ingredients together in food processor until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
For the Pancakes (yields about 8-10 5-inch pancakes)
2 pastured eggs
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup brewed coffee (or decaf)
2 cups sprouted wheat flour
1/2 cup plain kefir
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
2 oz (1/2 stick) cultured butter
Mix together flour, baking powder, soda, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add eggs, kefir and coffee and stir well. Thin with a little filtered water if too thick, add a spoonful of flour if too thin.
Oil a comal or griddle with 1 tablespoon butter or ghee and heat to 375 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto hot surface and cook for 2 minutes on the 1st side and 1 minute on the 2nd side. Transfer to oven to keep warm until the last pancake is ready. Add additional butter if needed and sauté sliced bananas until light golden brown.
Serve topped with honey lemon butter and caramelized bananas.
Wild Mushroom Soup with Green Garlic and Toasted Barley
“medicinal mushrooms have been shown to boost heart health, lower the risk of cancer, promote immune function, ward off viruses, bacteria and fungi, reduce inflammation, combat allergies, help balance blood sugar levels and support the body’s detoxification mechanisms”
Wild shiitake, maitake and porcini mushrooms are simmered in homemade vegetable stock with green garlic, onions, parsley, sherry and toasted barley and seasoned with fresh thyme, sea salt and black pepper. A drizzle of truffle oil seals the deal..
Wild Mushroom Soup with Toasted Barley
Serves 2
2 cups homemade vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups dried shiitake, maitake and porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup barley
1 tablespoon pastured butter
2 bulbs green garlic, including leaves, sliced
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons truffle oil, divided
1 1/2 oz medium sherry
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Bring vegetable stock to a boil then remove from heat. Add mushrooms and steep for 1 hour.
Heat butter and half of the truffle oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add barley and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Roughly chop re-hydrated mushrooms and add to the pan with thyme. Add strained mushroom soaking liquid and simmer until barley is tender, about 25 minutes. Add sherry, parsley and simmer 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve garnished with a sautéed mushroom cap and a drizzle of truffle oil.
This post is part of The Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday!
Southwestern Ham Hash with Fried Eggs and Homemade Ancho Ketchup
Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to use up a bit of leftover ham..
Ham Hash, Fried Egg and Ancho Ketchup
For the Ancho Puree (makes 3/4 cup)
1 cup filtered water
3 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 2 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and allow to steep 20 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth.
Combine 2 parts homemade ketchup with 1 part ancho puree, more-or-less to taste. Refrigerate up to 1 month.
For the Hash
1 tablespoon butter
2 slices ham, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 small red potatoes, cut into 1/4 dice
1/2 small Spanish onion, diced
1/4 cup poblano pepper, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon dill
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Boil the potatoes in lightly-salted water until not quite tender. Drain, and shake the pan until that the potatoes take on a slightly “fuzzed” texture.
Heat butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onions and fry until lightly browned. Add potatoes, peppers, ham and garlic and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until browned and slightly crusty. Mix garlic salt and spices together in a small dish and use this mixture to season the hash to taste. Add scallions and parsley and stir to combine.
To serve, spoon hash onto a serving plate and top with a fried egg. Dress with ancho ketchup and serve hot.
This post is part of the Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday!
Portuguese Linguiça and Fava Bean Stew
Linguiça is a meaty-flavored, brined and lightly-smoked Portuguese sausage made with pork butt, oregano, and paprika. Reminiscent of feijoada or a small cassoulet, it is combined here with uncured, smoked bacon, garlic sausage, onions and fava beans and simmered with tomatoes, cumin, cinnamon and nutmeg..
Portuguese Linguiça and Fava Bean Stew
Serves 2
2 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock
1 large link Portuguese linguiça, sliced
1/4 cup garlic sausage, diced
2 slices uncured, smoked bacon, diced
1/2 Spanish onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry fava beans, blanched and peeled (use fresh when in season)
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 4″ stick of cinnamon
1 whole nutmeg seed, abraded
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 cup celery, diced
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped celery leaves
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Fry bacon until nearly crisp. Add onions, linguiça, garlic sausage and cumin and sauté until very well browned. Pour off grease and transfer meat to a strainer and allow to drain thoroughly. De-glaze pan with a little stock, scraping up all the brown bits with the back of a wooden spoon.
Add cinnamon, garlic, nutmeg, celery and the rest of the stock, reduce heat and simmer until beans are nearly tender, about 45 minutes.
Remove cinnamon and nutmeg and add the meat, tomatoes and tomato paste, celery leaves and parsley and simmer 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then ladle into bowls. Drizzle a little good olive oil over the top and serve hot.
Risotto alle Castagne
Creamy risotto with chestnuts, wild mushrooms, onions, spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano and freshly-grated nutmeg..
Risotto alle Castagne
For the Vegetable Stock (recipe from Gourmet magazine)
For the Risotto (adapted from a recipe by Judith Jones)
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon pastured butter
1/4 cup Spanish onion, diced
1/4 cup wild mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup chestnuts, peeled, blanched and sliced
1/4 cup fresh spinach, blanched, squeezed and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 oz white wine
2/3 cups Arborio rice
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4-1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Heat the butter in a stainless steel skillet over medium heat and sauté the onions, mushrooms and garlic until soft and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the chestnuts and sauté another minute.
Add the white wine, salt and pepper and reduce. Slowly add half the stock and cook, stirring continuously until absorbed. Add the spinach, nutmeg and the rest of the stock and cook, stirring continuously until almost all the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Serve immediately.
This post is in support of Meatless Monday, whose goal it is to goal is to help reduce
meat consumption by 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Old-Fashioned chunky peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips..
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen (adapted from a recipe by Bon Appétit)
1 1/2 cups organic wheat flour (can use soaked or sprouted flour)
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup cultured butter, room temperature
2/3 cup organic chunky peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup rapadura
1 large pastured egg
1/2 cup organic grain-sweetened chocolate chips
Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together butter, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Mix in sugar and half of the dry mixture. Mix in egg and the other half of the dry mixture.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls and arrange 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Flatten each cookie with the back of a fork, forming a crosshatch pattern. Bake at 350 degrees until dry on top and golden brown on the bottom, about 12 minutes.
