Meat
Roasted Pork Shoulder
275 Degrees
6 hours
Dry spice rub of your choosing
–>I used a certain spice rub created by Ms. Maureen S. last xmas

When I started reading through this cookbook I realized that I would need a wok. My first wok was non-stick, and rusted after about 6 months where the Teflon peeled away. (gross!) When I lived in San Francisco there was this awesome store in Chinatown called The Wok Shop. I always went in there, but never bought anything- even though it is freakishly reasonably priced. Once I moved and started looking for woks online, I realized I had missed a great opportunity- this store is considered one of the best wok shops in the country, if not THE wok shop. Luckily for me they have a fairly straight-forward online ordering system.  I ended up with 1 handmade iron wok, a gas oven ring (yay! no more electric stove!), a two tiered bamboo steamer, and a Chinese-style pickling jar for my main squeeze all for under $50, including shipping. What a steal!…I appreciate the big warning on the ordering page “our products do not have lead.” Did they previously?!?

Dinner
Roast pork stir fry with kale
and julienne veggies
Place the wok over high heat, drizzle oil into the hot pan
Add julienne veggies, stir fry 1 minute
Add pork and kale, stir fry until warm
add a 1/4 c or so broth, cover and steam- serve with rice

We’ve had a tub of plan greek-ish (thick, but not quite thick enough to count as strained) yogurt in the fridge for about a week. We also had some cucumbers and some dill, along with a few lemons to boot. So, I made a little tzatziki sauce to eat with my Chinese food, and it was delicious.

Lunch/Dinner
Pulled pork sandys
We used Fornax sliced sourdough boule, but just about any hearty bread would do
smear mustard on one side of the bread and BBQ sauce on the other
place pulled pork on sandi, put pickles, or jalapenos, or any other treat on the pork
Slice cheese (we used Moz.) and make sandwich
Toast for 5 minutes until warm through and the bread is crispy

Dinner
Pork Chili
Chop: onions, carrots, potatoes and soften over heat with oil S & P
Deglaze the pan with some red wine, hopefully less crappy than the wine I chose
Add pork, cumin, chili powder, oregano, and full head of garlic, pressed
cook until the liquid is absorbed
deglaze with broth and bring to a boil
add tomatoes- simmer 30 minutes
Add red and white kidney beans- simmer 30 minutes

Who knows what creation will result from the leftover chili!

For the main bit I made Mo’s Sauce-y Vodka Sauce- although I had no heavy cream so I improvised with a  whole milk/cream cheese combo that did the trick less a few cream cheese lumpules. So good! I have never been able to master the thick/richness of a store bought sauce, but this one didn’t need it. It was especially good as leftovers the next day as the liquid had soaked into my al dente noodles.

I had no lettuce, but a good array of fresh salad veggies- plus an avacado to boot! Along came the inspiration for this delicious summer side salad that rounded the meal out perfectly.

Bright Summer Salad

1 cup blanced sugar snap peas

2 inches paper thin sliced English Cucumber

1 shaved carrot (done with the veggie peeler)

1 can cannellini beans rinsed, drained

1 small red gypsy pepper

paper thin sliced onion, to your liking

1 very large yellow heirloom tomato, cubed

Avacado- Cilantro Sauce

1 whole avacado

the top part of a cilantro bunch (about 1/4 cup)

1 clove garlic

juice from 1 lemon

Salt & Pepper

a few T Olive Oil

Milk- as needed

In a blender (or it fits perfectly in 1 of the cup shaped parts to the magic bullet) combine all the ingredients minus the milk. Blend until smooth. Open, taste for further seasoning. If you want a more watery sauce use milk to thin it out.  Toss with veggies and serve immediately.

Last weekend my Man Crow and I decided to leave the confines(and comforts) of urban life and strike out into the vast wilderness of Vermont to camp for a couple of days.  We had a truly excellent time, hiking, sitting in front of the fire drinking box wine (for another post) and of course, mowing.

Unfortunately, my life has been a little hectic recently and I  simply haven’t had the time I would have like to devote to preparing camp-friendly noshes.   However, the night before with little time and an empty fridge wanted to make sure to bring one cooler-friendly, super healthy, energy-giving dish to munch on the whole trip and supplement meals.  So I came up with this recipe, and I must say, it was a winner.

1 Cup Quinoa

2 cups vegetable stock

1 Red pepper

1 Red Onion

1 Large Zucchini

1 Large tomato

1 Tablespoon capers

1/4 cup almonds

1/2 cup crumbled feta (or more to taste)

2 big handfuls fresh basil

olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the quinoa in the vegetable stock, according to the directions on the package.  Set aside and let cool completely.

2. Roughly chop the vegetables (pepper, zucchini, onion, tomato, other veggies of choice) into bite sized chunks and toss in olive oil, s&p and a dash of red pepper flakes.   Put into a casserole dish and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes- until the veggies are tender but not too soft.   Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely.

3.  Lightly roast the almonds either in a pan, stove top, or in the oven alongside  the veggies.  Allow to cool, and then chop roughly.

4.  Toss together the quinoa, veggies (making sure to include the oil and juices at the bottom of the pan) and the almonds.  Add the capers, feta and roughly chopped bail.  Dress with balsamic vinegar to taste.

Enjoy!

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers
This is the recipe I followed but of course I made some modifications to accommodate my pantry but they are purely optional

• I cut the recipe in half to make 6 stuffed pepper halves
• Substituted Barley for Quinoa (i’m not a quinoa hater its just what I had in the pantry!)
• Did not have celery, instead used finely diced squash and green bell pepper
• Used sauteed fresh spinach instead of frozen
• Tip: Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes w/Adobo seasoning works really great here with the southwestern flavors. If not available use regular fire roasted and add the said amount of cumin

The extra stuffing is wonderful on it’s own- I thought of you Riane because the consistency came out to be like a barley risotto!

Veggie Homefries
The ingredients vary depending on how many i am feeding and whats in my fridge but the staples are: unpeeled red or golden potatoes-medium diced, onions-diced, assorted colored peppers-diced, mushrooms-chopped, garlic-minced, red pepper flakes, olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, oregano and parsley.
I also prefer to mix sweet potatoes with the regular but don’t always have them on hand

• Put diced potatoes in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil, drain once potatoes are al dente (they will continue cooking in the pan, if overcooked it will turn into hash-which is still yummy but not always desired)
• Heat butter and olive oil in a saute pan and add drained potatoes, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Saute on medium high until they start to get brown
• Once potatoes start forming an outer crust add onions, after another five minutes add peppers, mushrooms, garlic, thyme and oregano
• When all has reached your desired crispiness, remove from heat and add fresh parsley
  

It is (sadly) the end of summer. But before the colder months officially set in there is one of my favorite foodie seasons- tomato season. Tomatoes are gorgeous right now- and the crows have been snacking on big, plump, brightly colored heirlooms sliced onto fresh bread.

Quick and Chunky Noodle Soup

Soups with broths scare me off because of the time constraints. HOWEVER, I figured out a way to make a tasty chicken noodle soup in less than an hour and a half, though it of course tastes better the next day.

1 whole chicken
bunch of celery
4 carrots
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 medium turnips (or parsnips! or both!)
cilantro! forget that nerdy parsley.
package of egg noodles
and salt and pepper, our good friends

Chop up the chicken as best you can, about five or six pieces, leave the fat on, and boil it for about a half hour, till it gets to falling apart. While that is going on, chop all your veggies up. When the chicken is done, drain most of the water, but save about three cups of the oily goodness. Add three cups of fresh water to the pot, salt the shit out of it, and then add your veggies all at once. While you have them cooking, pick apart your chicken and throw the meat in before the veggies are done. When things have about five minutes (you can tell by the turnips) add the egg noodles and cilantro. And when the noodles are done, that’s it! Pepper to taste.

Even-Quicker, Extra Smoove Roast Tomato Soup
courtesy of my man crow.

tomatoes
garlic
cup of fresh basil (from our garden! yeah!)
salt salt salt pepper pepper pepper
olive oil
and half
*makes about four portions

Slice thin enough tomatoes to fill three cookie sheets, that have been doused in olive oil. Lay ‘em out and thin slice a clove of garlic per sheet, setting those slices on top of the lucky tomatoes. Broil the sheets one at a time for about five-six minutes, until some of the tomatoes start to burn. Drop them in the food processor/blender, making sure to drain the leftover olive oil in. Then the basil, blending, and add the cream as you see fit.

My next recipe is going to be for the watermelon, tequila, lime and cayenne pepper cocktail I’ve been perfecting. Summer is ending, so it’s time I solidify the recipe to my tribute drink. Or maybe now that you know the ingredients, you can mess around with them yourselves!

I saw Barefoot Contessa make a yummy Lemon Fusilli Salad with Arugula so I found the recipe online, tweaked it a bit and ended up with a tasty Pasta Salad that I would be proud to present at my next Picnic.

Changes in Recipe:

• I didn’t have arugula so I just added extra broccoli
• Swapped the Fusilli for some Bow Ties
• Added the lemon juice at the end, I didn’t want the taste to get bitter while simmering on the stove but I still added the zest at the beginning
• Substituted half of the cream with vegetable stock to cut back on some of the richness, but I had to simmer it a little longer to get the right consistency
• NOTES: I know this recipe calls for the broccoli florets, but I happen to really enjoy the steam. If you peel off the outer tough ends, the inside is nice and tender. Also this recipe works great cut in half

Here is my finished product, it’s fine served warm or at room temperature. I would love to hear some other Pasta Salad recipes that you Crows are cooking up!