Simple Egg Fried Rice
I know I’m known for generally extravagant meals, so a simple egg fried rice dish seems to be a bit out of character for me. Even more so because as a child, I hated fried rice in any way, shape, or form. This is actually …
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Xinjiang Style Lamb Kidney Kebabs
If you walk along the streets of Flushing or NYC’s Chinatown, carts located on the corners waft the heavenly spiced scent of Xinjiang style kebabs to passerby’s. Lamb, beef, chicken are available, but delectable organ meats such as kidney, liver, heart, intestine, and tendon jockey …
Grassfed Lamb and Pear Carpaccio
One of the things I am thankful for after starting to grow my own food is also being friends with other homesteaders, big and small, who also focus on being mindful in terms of where our food comes from and the care it takes into providing for our families. Many of them are on the Backyard Poultry Discord Server, where we share our failures and our successes at having just a little bit more food security.
The folks at RK Homestead (who I had known before they became said homestead, and are moderators on the server) raise a certain amount of animals a year for sale, and the rest for their own consumption. This year they had lamb available, so I ordered half a lamb earlier in the year (and asked them to save the organs for me as well) and eagerly awaited for Fall.
I got a message saying they were ready, so we loaded up the kids and went on a short 3 day vacation in Atlantic City, near where they lived, picking up my precious cargo on our last day and ferreted it home in a cooler in the back of the car. It was a good excuse to get out of the house.
Usually, grass-fed and grass-finished lamb tend to taste gamier, so imagine our surprise when it turned out to be very mild, with barely a hint of lamb flavor. According to them, their butcher was also very surprised. They also gave me livers and kidney (both lamb and pork), and two pork hearts. I believe I will be making some delicious Xinjiang Barbecue Skewers as well as some creamy pate with them—this is another reason why I like to support local small homesteads and farms, there is no mass waste of organ meats which are delicious and nutritious and a shame to discard.
For the meat itself, of course my first response to such fresh morsels is carpaccio—I love carpaccio and tartare and this was the recipe I was preparing for when they told me it was ready. For a sweet and crunchy foil, I left one last 20th Century Asian Pear on my pear tree, at peak ripeness to pick when we got back. A few quarters of cherry tomatoes off my tomato plants—they’re at the end their season. Tender new growth of peppermint leaves from the garden provide a fresh bite of herb. You can also sear the lamb to intensify the flavor.
I have to provide a general reminder that there is a risk of food borne illnesses when eating raw/undercooked eggs and meat, so make sure you know where your food comes from.
Ingredients
- 2 – 3 ounces thinly sliced raw lamb (or seared)
- 1 teaspoon capers
- 1 teaspoon salt preserved lemon puree or lemon zest and juice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 ounces thinly sliced Asian pear
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 – 3 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- Mint leaves, for garnish. Alternatively chives, dill, or shallots can be used
- Arrange the pear and the sliced lamb on a chilled plate.
- Drizzle with olive oil, garnish with herbs, tomato, lemon, capers, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Fried Soft Shell Crab and Grits
Every year, during the course of my crabbing adventures I catch a few soft shelled crabs. When that happens, I start thinking about what deliciousness I can make with them. Soft shelled crabs are crabs that have just molted from their shells and their new …
Garden Fresh Squash Blossom Pasta
Every year, inevitably, all sorts of plants emerge from my compost pile from the seeds of the stuff I throw into it. Squash and pumpkin most commonly, especially since much of the Halloween decorations get tossed in at the end of the season. This year …
Kani Nanbanzuke (Japanese Blue Claw Crab Side Dish)
A cascade of blue claws this year has me cleaning and freezing them around the clock (I remove the stomach before freezing and scrub, so that they don’t have a fishy flavor due to crabs being scavengers.) Nanbanzuke is an easy Japanese side dish most commonly made with fish or chicken. First fried, then marinated in a sweet and sour soy based sauce with thinly sliced vegetables, it’s a refreshingly tasty dish to pair with rice.
A good friend of my mom’s who used to live in Japan taught her how to make the fish version, which is what this is based off of. I haven’t seen a crab recipe of this out there, which is unfortunate because it turned out quite delicious, albeit slightly more work than a traditional Chinese sautéed crab.
I found the super fresh crab that I pulled up this week all have thin and crispy shells, which makes lightly dusting them in cornstarch and frying them extra delicious—some parts are so crispy they can be eaten as well. They taste even better the next day, with a hot bowl of freshly steamed rice.
Ingredients
- 1/2 dozen blue claw crabs, cleaned and halved
- Cornstarch, for dredging
- 1/2 cup vegetable or corn oil
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup dashi stock (or water, if you don’t have dashi)
- 3 tablespoons sake
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup shredded onion
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot (optional)
- 1/2 cup shredded bell pepper
- 2-3 lemon/lime slices
- Combine dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar has dissolved and alcohol has burned off. Allow to cool and place shredded pepper, onion, carrot, and lime/lemon slices in the sauce.
- Dredge crab in corn starch, and fry in oil over medium high heat until fully cooked and dredging is golden.
- Marinate in sauce and serve.
Spicy California Roll Deviled Eggs
I can be very extra with my food, and this is one such case. This morning me and the family went down to the docks, expecting to come away with maybe a couple crabs and some fish. Instead, we ended up pulling up two and …
Blue Crab Lemon Pasta
As we get further into blue claw season in Long Island, I am busy making tasty things with them. This lemon crab pasta is really easy to make, and the splash of cream at the end gives this a delicious richness that is difficult to …
Spiced Tomato Chutney
I was recommended tomato chutney as a possible recipe when my tomatoes started ripening in earnest. I have never had any before, to my knowledge, which is a pity because after this week, I’ll be canning as much as I could of this delicious condiment. It really is as delicious and flavorful as described, and while I’m sure mine is not an exact replica since I like to experiment with spice combinations, it is still tasty enough for an entire jar to have already disappeared… and for my almost-four year old to brave eating it slathered atop steak. I’ve had it on everything from eggs to sandwiches… and I am in the process of making a cheesy stuffed pastry with it.
It was also a risk, because I’ve been sick this week and my sense of taste and smell is always compromised when I get sick (so not necessarily Covid related). It’s why I don’t usually cook when I’m not feeling well, not because I don’t want to but because what comes out often has a strange flavor. I did get a Covid test (was in and out of the hospital last week for my grandfather, who had fallen and gotten hip surgery), but I’m thankful it tastes quite delicious even now as I have mostly recovered.
This is quite spicy, so if you want it mild, use red bell peppers instead. I used fresh hot peppers from the garden, but I believe traditionally it uses dried chilis. I roasted the tomatoes and peppers in the air fryer first, until slightly charred, so it provided a slightly smokey hint. I can’t wait to make more things with this! I don’t have lentils which is supposed to lend a slightly nutty flavor, but I added a spoonful of tahini which I had on hand.
Ingredients
- 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup red chilis, jalapenos, or bell peppers (for a mild/non-spicy version), chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 cup onions, diced
- 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon curry powder (optional)
- 1 tablespoon cooked yellow lentils, or tahini (optional)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice (to increase acidity for storage)
- Pinch of lime or lemon zest
- Roast tomatoes and peppers in the oven or air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, until slightly charred.
- In a saucepan, sauté onion and garlic in oil until fragrant.
- Combine tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, cooked yellow lentils (if using) into blender and blend well.
- Return to saucepan, add cumin, cardamom, sugar, salt, curry powder (if using) and cook on medium low heat, stirring often until reduced to 2/3rds to 1/2.
- Proceed with normal pressure canning process.
Basil Tomato Grilled Cheese
And just like that, my tomatoes have started to cascade in red globes and spheres of all sizes, and with them come the abundantly delicious things I could make. Before I start the process of storing them (most likely dehydrated and powdered), I wanted to …