Broccoli Rabe and Jerusalem Artichoke

In this post we're going to cook two vegetable sides, one way. 

Walking around the Greenmarket some of the stalls will show you how to cook ingredients that might otherwise be intimidating. Enter Jerusalem Artichokes. I've often been tempted to try them but wasn't really sure where to start. Fortunately I was able to try them a while ago and have been hooked ever since. 

 Remember to wash all of your ingredients thoroughly. 

Ingredients: 

Fresh turmeric 

"Wild" onions - though you can substitute with scallions or green onions

Jerusalem Artichokes 

 Broccoli Rabe 

Salt and Pepper

Prep: Thoroughly wash your onions and chop the entire plant into pieces no larger than a half inch. I also trimmed off the roots at the bulb. This is not necessary as they are edible, I however am not a fan of their texture. 

Thoroughly wash your turmeric. For ease of handling I cut mine in half before grating it. 

Watch out though this stuff stains your fingers

Add a little vegetable oil (I used grape seed) or olive oil to your pan and add the onions. 

Cook for about 2-3 minutes. 

During my trip to France earlier this year I became obsessed with these Tefal pots and pans that have detachable handles. In an apartment where storage space is a premium these are a lifesaver.

After much internet sleuthing, I was able to find them online. 

My life has been forever improved. 

After allowing the onions to cook, grate in the turmeric. 

Give it a quick stir

Add either the broccoli rabe or the quartered jerusalem artichoke. 

For Jerusalem Artichoke:

Prep: Wash and quarter your Jerusalem Artichokes, you want them to be around the same size so that they cook evenly. 

Sauté the Jerusalem Artichoke for about ten minutes  over medium/high heat or until it becomes golden brown and begins to soften. 

Salt and pepper to taste. 

For Broccoli Rabe: 

DO NOT LET THIS GET SOGGY 

Prep: Blanch the broccoli rabe in boiling salted water quickly. 

We're talking one minute of cooking time in the boiling water and then immediately transferring into a bowl of ice water. Pat dry with a paper towel. 

Your broccoli rabe is now cooked. 

Add the cooked broccoli rabe to the onions and turmeric for 2-3 minutes, enough to heat and season the broccoli rabe. 

Salt and pepper to taste. 

These "sides" are hearty enough to serve as main dishes if you're a vegetarian you can easily add quinoa or beans, or if you are an unabashed carnivore who is trying to up his or her veggie intake, I suggest either jerk chicken or cut up skirt steak. 

 I like to add a little dried hot pepper to the broccoli rabe for some kick. 

Doggone Delicious

So, let me start this off by saying that this face right here... 

...was a terror.  

Now that she has gone to super boot camp (he's an actual miracle worker) she is no longer a terror but still the only thing in the world I have an impossible time saying no to. 

Our walks are usually when I have a chance, or really an excuse, to meander around the city and just explore. One of these walks had us stopping by the Roaming Acres stall at the Union Square market and discovered that it is essentially the canine equivalent of Dylan's. After making friends with the guys behind the counter, puppy dog eyeing them for free treats and pretty much bullying me into buying more bones than she knew what to do with I left there with three packs of their Ostrich Pet treats and bones for days... 

Since then, we can't pass Union Square without stopping at the booth and restocking. 

They are fine to keep outside the packaging although they do dry out a little. 

I just cut mine up into training squares after opening the pack and keep them in a glass jar on the counter. 

Make sure to tell people what they are though, during one of our "Sibling Dinner's" one of my brothers mistook them for regular jerky and helped himself to a handful. 

His verdict: dog tested and brother approved. 

If you're in the Union Square area try the treats, your dog (or perhaps even your brother) will love you more for it and if that is not a compelling enough reason... I triple dog dare you! 

Autumn Flowers Combat Hurricane Showers

I love flowers.

They can make me smile regardless of what happened two seconds ago, twenty minutes ago, two years ago, whatever, all is forgotten the second I see a bouquet. 

It's my worst quality: my disability to stay properly furious in the face of any posy.

Please ignore the assorted squash, most of them will be used in an upcoming soup recipe. 

I am a firm believer that flowers should not be special occasion things.  Nor should they cost you a fortune, so the only day of the year I'm ok with not getting flowers is Valentine's Day because frankly IMHO they're tainted with the abject consumerism of the holiday and mean a lot less than they do if they were given on any other day... end of tangent. 

Anyway, the flowers at your local bodega are available, just as beautiful, and with a little time and creativity are just as great as a bouquet ordered by a florist, oh they're also so, so, so, so, so much more affordable. 

Leo (the VERY kind little flower man who deals with my floral addiction patiently, with an indulgent smile as he generously pretends he doesn't realize how coo-coo I am for the blooms) sells a dozen roses for $10. I challenge anyone to go out and find a better deal than that. 

Today Leo had these crazy looking berry flowers which I wanted to play around with in the vase I got in the Hampton's this summer. 

I absolutely fell in love with the minimalist design and the simplicity of the vase. You can get your own at Stems Vases' website. 

Cutting them proved to be a little more challenging than I anticipated... 

Which brings me to another point, everyone should have a screw driver. 

I don't care if you are the least handy person in the world, honestly you can't be worse than I am. 

No, seriously. I am the worst. 

If I try to fix something I usually end up breaking it worse than it was before I tried, hence why whenever anyone can build, create, fix, install, manually assemble anything I am beyond impressed, we're talking bordering on fangirl admiration levels here people! 

That being said:  I FIXED SOMETHING TODAY!!!!! 

I'm bursting with pride. Can't you tell? 

Midway through cutting the stems my scissors broke, and instead of calling my "please fix this now and I'll make you cookies emergency contact" in a panic, I did it myself. 

If it wasn't as obnoxious as it would be, I would actually give myself a gold star for this one. 

Didn't even "strip the screw." Which is one of my many hidden talents, the ability to strip any screw. Even though I'm not sure exactly how I manage to do it as thoroughly as I do... WOW digression.   

Takeaway point: Buy a screwdriver.

Better yet, buy a multitool. 

But don't use the hammer part unless you actually know what you're doing, I made a hole in my wall with this thing trying to hang a picture by myself. 

Seattle Snapshot

My top ten list of Seattle Must Sees: 

Pike Place Market 

The Space Needle 

Fremont Troll 

Seattle Great Wheel 

Gas Works Park 

Experience Museum Park 

One of Seattle's awesome restaurants (The Walrus and the Carpenter, Revel, Delancey, etc.)

The Original Starbucks 

Beecher's Cheese

Pacific Science Center

Moose Drool by Big Sky Brewing

Poached Eggs with Pea Shoots

From the Union Square Greenmarket; poached eggs with pea shoots, 

and prosciutto. You can toss the pea shoots in a lemon-vinaigrette or enjoy them raw like I did. 

If you want to learn more about pea shoots and their nutritional benefits I suggest you check out the following pdf. 

Curry Lime Chicken with Coconut Ginger Rice

Curry Lime Chicken:

Due to a few injuries and illnesses, the past four months have been a whirlwind. It has basically just been me trying to guide chaos down a cattle shoot. 

This resulted in me needing simple, quick dinners that could easily feed a lot of people. The recipe for the curry lime marinade was originally found by one of my brothers. After reviewing the recipe I made a few tweaks to it and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I also decided to pair the chicken with grilled pineapple. 

Ingredients:

Chicken Breasts (1 package) - Cut into thin cutlets if you would like the chicken to cook more quickly

Marinade Ingredients: 

3 tbsp Joyce Chen's Savory Ginger & Garlic Stir Fry Oil 

Zest of 1 large lime

Juice of 1 large lime

1 tsp cumin

2 tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium) 

1 1/2 tsp pink himalayan salt

2 tbsp light agave syrup

2 tsp curry powder 

1 can of coconut milk 

 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh cilantro

Optional: Make it spicy, add 1/2 tsp spicy chili flakes

1. Make the marinade- Add all the ingredients together in a bowl

2. Add the chicken to the marinade. I've let the chicken marinade in the fridge both overnight and only for a few hours. The more time that the marinade is in the fridge the more it will thicken. 

3. After your chicken has marinated long enough; heat your pan or grill well

4. If using a pan spray with some nonstick cooking spray or oil

5. Cook your chicken in batches, be sure to cook all the way through. 

6. While the chicken is cooking you can take the rest of the marinade and put it in a small saucepan. Because uncooked chicken is no joke, make sure that you cook the marinade at a FULL BOIL for at least three minutes, this will make it safe to eat. If you would rather you can also just double the marinade recipe and reserve some of it to cook for "sauce" later on. We have a divided household on spicy foods, so I made the chicken sans spicy pepper and the sauce with the spice. 

7. Cut up some limes while the chicken rests and the marinade boils

8. Plate, Serve and Enjoy! 

Coconut Ginger Rice

This was surprisingly simple, I tweaked the recipe that I found online a bit by adding ginger to the rice. Personally I love the taste of ginger and have just started to learn a little bit more about its health benefits and anti-inflammatory properties. To read more about this click here. This recipe feeds about six people.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of jasmine rice

1 can of coconut milk

1 large clove of garlic 

1/4 tsp. of grated ginger

1/4 tsp. of pink himalayan salt 

1 cup of water 

Instructions:

Before you start cooking the rice, I suggest that you wash it first. I never used to do this, but then when I learned how to make Tahdig for the first time, I learned about washing the rice and have done it with every rice dish I make (except risotto) to remove the extra starch. I think that washing the rice gives it a better texture. To wash the rice place the rice in a bowl and add cold tap water. Swish the rice around in the bowl with your hand until the water becomes cloudy and sometimes foamy. Carefully pour off the water, or pour through a mesh strainer. Repeat this step until the water remains clear. You can need to wash the rice anywhere from three to five times, it really just depends on the rice you are using. 

Also, the coconut milk can separate in the can, if your coconut milk does separate, don't panic. Just make sure you stir thoroughly when you add it to your pot. 

1.  Pour your now washed rice into a pot

2. Mince the garlic and add the salt, garlic, and ginger to the pot. 

3. Add the coconut milk and water, stir thoroughly to combine all the ingredients. 

4. Cover the pot and bring the rice up to a rolling boil on high hear. As soon as the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to low. Allow the rice to simmer for about 30 minutes. 

5. Turn off the direct heat and allow the rice to rest with the lid on the pot for another 15 minutes

6. Fluff with a fork 

7. Serve and enjoy