Tuesday Twister

Isn’t it interesting how the natural color of foods tend to follow the seasons?

Each week, fellow real food-blogger Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS encourages us to take look back and share a little about what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the last week.  Here’s what the 2nd week of November looked like around here..

1) Chili con Calabaza Asada (Roasted Pumpkin Chili) Oven-roasted pumpkin, fried pork belly, fresh & dried chiles, onions, toasted corn, cumin and oregano.  I can (and do) make chili out of just about anything..

2) Chicken Neeka Paprika-roasted chicken with Spanish onion, Roma tomatoes, sweet peppers, lemon, garlic and fresh herbs, served with pecorino-safflower orzo..

3) Lemon Snaps I wanted to see if I could make old fashioned lemon snaps from scratch, using only healthy, unprocessed ingredients.  I got the taste and the healthy part down, but didn’t get the texture right this time..

4) Sprouted Brown Rice Curry A thick, rich soup of sprouted brown rice, corn, curry, red chiles and coconut cream, topped with toasted cashews. When I’m not making chili, I can generally be found making curry  🙂

5) Potatoes Gratiné A slightly different take on a classic dish, these Potatoes Gratiné forgo the usual cheese and cream in favour of bacon, onions and fresh tri-color sage.  This one’s a keeper!

Hot Peppers for Chili con Calabaza Asada


What say we head on over to gnowfglins.com to get some ideas for next week!

Tuesday Twister

Each week, fellow real food-blogger Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS encourages us to take look back and share a little about what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the last week.  Here’s what it looked like around here..

1) Roast Squash Coloradito Roasted sweet dumpling squash stuffed with poblano peppers, Spanish onions, smoked bacon and toasted corn, served over a spicy mole Coloradito.  Seasonal, organic, local and darn tasty.

2) Lamb Keftedes A delicious traditional Greek offering of local, pastured lamb, toasted spices and fresh herbs, garlic, lemon and extra-virgin olive oil.  Frugal and dead simple to make.

3) Penang Goat Curry Pastured goat seared, then slowly simmered in coconut red curry with fried tomatoes, onions and Thai dragon peppers, with fresh ginger, garlic and Kaffir lime leaves. Easy to see why 70% of the world’s population eats goat meat!

4) Duck Fat-Fried Sweet Potato Chips Mandoline-cut sweet potatoes fried in rendered duck fat then sprinkled with coarse salt and freshly-ground pepper.  A weekend indulgence.

5) Thai Red Pumpkin and Carrot Curry A vegetarian dish of roasted pumpkin, carrots, onions, red bell pepper, chiles, ginger, garlic, coconut milk and basil.  Mm, mm mm.

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Frying peppers, onions, bacon and corn for stuffed squash Coloradito

This post is a grateful part of the Tuesday Twister blog carnival at gnowfglins.com!

Tuesday Twister

Each Tuesday, real-food blogger Wardeh at gnowfglins.com asks us to share a bit about what’s been twisting in our kitchens during the past week.  This is a great way for me to be able to how well I’ve been doing (or not) with my goal of eating a healthy diet consisting of primarily seasonal, local and sustainable food..

1) Blackberry Mascarpone Pancakes Marion blackberries, fresh mascarpone, soaked and sprouted flours, vanilla bean paste, pastured butter and eggs and a dollop of maple butter.  If you’re inclined to indulge a little now and then..

2) Rustic Roast Chicken with Sweet Peppers and Sausage Pastured chicken, sweet peppers, sausage, fresh herbs and garlicky croûtons. One of my personal favorites, this one’s in permanent rotation.

3) Lechón Asado Mojo-marinated, slow-roasted pork shoulder with sour orange juice, cumin, oregano and fresh peppers, served with black beans and saffron rice.  Cuban comfort food!

4) Tacos de Tinga Poblana Smoky pulled pork, pickled red onions, avocado and crumbled goat cheese on roasted jalapeño tortillas, made from leftover Lechón Asado.  I used all the leftovers!  Yay!

5) Cauliflower Gobi, Scallion and Black Lemon Pancakes Cauliflower florets in a tomato curry with onions, ginger and whole spices, served with savory garbanzo flour pancakes with scallions and black lemon (limes, actually, but they’re marketed as lemons for some reason).

6) Pickled Red Cabbage.  Love this stuff, especially with roasted meats!

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Pickled Red Cabbage

Another week fairly well met, my fine fellow food folks!  Say, I wonder if anyone’s making desert over at the Tuesday Twister..

Tuesday Twister

Another Tuesday, another look back at what’s been twisting in the kitchen lately.  My gosh, where does the time go?

1) Black Bean Tamales Fresh corn masa spread on soaked husks and filled with cumin-fried black beans.  Served with fire-roasted tomato salsa and chile con queso..

2) Traditional Maryland Fried Chicken There’s a reason why this dish is still on the menu 130 years later!

3) Elderberry Syrup If the drug companies could patent nature, you can be sure they would be selling us barrels-full of elderberry syrup right now..

4) Kentucky Bourbon-Glazed Chicken Most popular post of the past week.  Must be the booze.

5) Lemon Poppyseed Cookies A personal favorite.  I brought these to work so as not to eat them all myself  🙂

6) Beef Heart Chili I’ve been wanting to do something with beef heart and tallow for a long time.  For me, the result was near-revelatory!

A week full of blessings.  I’m particularly grateful to some very generous friends, and very pleased to post in support of The Tuesday Twister.  Please join me as I head off to GNOWFGLINS to see what real life, real food inspiration awaits!

ps don’t forget to toss a recipe in the hat for a chance to win a great new cookbook from Thomas Keller!

La Tornade de Mardi

Each Tuesday, Wardeh at gnowfglins.com encourages us to share what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the past week.

Welcome to La Tornade de Mardi, the Tuesday Twister for October 13th!

1) Roasted Winter Squash Roasted winter squash with smoked bacon, poblano peppers, onions and toasted cumin seed.  These flavors were just meant to come together.

2) Avocado Black Bean Quesadillas Ridiculously inexpensive and outrageously good, I say.

3) Rib-eye Steak Far superior in taste, grass-fed beef is at its best when simply prepared using just a few ingredients.

4) Pindi Chana A traditional, healing curry of tomatoes, onions, chiles, cashews and spices fried in ghee with chickpeas, plump raisins, fresh pomegranate seeds and cilantro.  Even people who “don’t like Indian food” tend to love this dish.

5) Roasted Corn Chowder with Scallops and Bacon I got a shout out from the extraordinarily generous Top Chef Master Rick Bayless on this one.

6) Shirred Eggs with Grilled Ham, Peppers and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Shirred duck eggs with grilled smoked ham & peppers, roasted tomatillo salsa and fried tortillas.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.  Now let’s go see what our most talented neighbors have been up to!