Tourtiere Pie (Canadian Pork Pie)

An old tradition for French Canadian families around the Christmas Holiday--usually Christmas Eve-- includes tourtiere pie.  Usually made with ground pork or other game meat,  I used grass-fed ground beef & ground pork. It is a very simple recipe and super quick if you buy the crusts and line your own pans. I doubled the recipe and used about 1/2 tsp of the nutmeg and sage per pie. Don't skip the 30 minutes of simmering!  The gourmet flavor of the end result is going to surprise you.  RICH an Flavorful!

                                                       TOURTIERE  

1 1/2 lbs ground pork                               3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup water                                         dash of pepper

1/2 c finely chopped onion                       dash ground sage

1/2 c fine dry bread crumbs.                    dash ground nutmeg

plain pastry for 2 crust 9 inch pie

Brown pork in skillet. drain off excess fat. add remaining ingredients except (and as if we didn't know any better) the pie crust.   Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Line pie plate with half of crust. Turn mixture into crust. Adjust top crust and seal. Cut slits in top to permit escape of steam. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or till crust is a golden brown.

We had ours with roasted turnips and broccoli raab braised in rice wine. Terrific meal tonight!

Curried Cabbage

Enjoying the weekend cooking up all the veggies that need immediate attention. They have been so patient with me!  I've been wanting some curried beef but wanted to use up some fresh cabbage. When I googled curry and cabbage this magnificent recipe came up and showed the combination works great!

All I did was add cooked, grass-fed ground beef towards the end. I didn't have any shallots and I substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil. It turned out unbelievably tasty and I got my curried beef fix in just a few easy steps. It all happened so fast that I managed to get only a few scrumptious photos of the process.

Tina's Easy Salad Dressing

All measurements are approximate. In a blender, whip up a dressing of organic extra virgin olive oil (1 cup), apple cider vinegar (max 1 - 2 tsp: "less is better"), red balsalmic vinegar (2 TB), fresh squeezed lemon juice (2 - 3 TB), grey sea salt (1 tsp), fresh ground pepper (1/4 tsp), and a clove (or two) of garlic. This dressing will keep well when refrigerated for 2 - 3 weeks.   Here's how I did it!   Note: I forgot the red balsalmic this time around and it isn't as good without it.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

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Had some leftover tatsoi and needed some protein for breakfast... here's how I did it!
Step by step amazing eggs with tatsoi!

Kale Chips

 These are one of my kids favorites!  I was ecstatic to find kale on the market last week, so I promptly ordered two bunches and then had to wait until Friday.   I hate waiting, especially when it has to do with food I love to prepare and eat!

This recipe is adapted from one I found on Food Network.

Kale Chips

Wash and tear into chip-sized pieces, removing the rib

1 bunch kale

Dry kale and toss with

olive oil

to lightly coat.  Spread the kale in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Blend well and sprinkle lightly over kale

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Keep the leftovers for great all around seasoning. Or sprinkle the kale with your seasoning of choice.

Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes flipping once, or until they are crispy but not burnt.

Then make a second batch…they won’t last long!

 

Green Papaya with Cilantro Vinaigrette

I was really excited to get my first delivery from St Pete Locally Grown.  When we moved, finding a local food source was important to me…and now I have to figure out how to cook the local produce.  So I decided to go on a culinary adventure and order green papaya. 
The green papaya salad I tried first looked a lot like a slaw.  It had shredded green papaya and carrot with a fish sauce vinaigrette of sorts and peanuts on top.  (I found this recipe online here.) ) But I grossly over estimated the amount of shredded papaya I needed, so I ended up with lots of raw material left over.  I have been mulling ideas around for a few days and here is what I did with the leftover papaya.

Green Papaya with Cilantro Vinaigrette

Combine in a large bowl

2 cups peeled, seeded and shredded green papaya

1/2 cup shredded carrot

In a food processor pulse until finely chopped

1 clove garlic

Add and process until well blended

1 cup cilantro leaves

juice and zest from 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon cumin

dash cayenne (or more if you like that sort of thing)

1/4 slightly heaping teaspoon salt

Add and continue processing until all ingredients come together

1/3 cup olive oil

Blend 3/4ths of the dressing into the shredded papaya mixture or more to taste.  Chill for 30 minutes to 2 hours before serving at room temperature.

I put mine on a tortilla with some refried beans, shredded cheese and sour cream.  I think it would rock the socks to add shredded chicken or black beans to the salad and I intend to try it that way next time.

I still have a whole green papaya left over…maybe I’ll try a cold teriyaki green papaya and chicken salad next.  With toasted sesame seeds on top, yumm!

Plump & Plentiful Pluots!

The pluots on our Market this week were amazing and many are ripe despite having been stored in the refrigerator.  A pluot is a hybrid stone fruit which is 3/4 plum and 1/4 apricot. I have had to cook some of mine as I could

Grouper Cheeks with Cajun Lime Sauce

This was wonderful!  I took fresh lime basil from the garden and used both the leaves and the flower buds which are wicked tangy.  I melted a few teaspoons of butter in a fry pan and added a little coconut oil. Then I sprinkled in cajun spice and stir fried the lime leaves and buds until coated and soft.

I added thawed Grouper Cheeks and fried on medium on just one side.  Then, as I would with any fish, I Turned each cheek over after about 2 to 3 minutes and covered it for about two minutes at which point I remove it from the burner and let it finish in the pan.  This holds in the moisture and doesn't overcook the fish.  Serve immediately! It was DELICIOUS!

Pan Fried Red Grouper with Rosemary & Summer Salad

Fresh homegrown, dressed summer salad greens topped with backyard Florida avocado served with pan-fried Red Grouper topped with rosemary.  Nestled in between, our summer vegetable favorite-- callaloo.

SALAD FIRST: Take fresh summer greens of green and purple sweet potato leaves, wild amaranth, purslane, Egyptian spinach, Okinawa spinach, and Moluccan spinach and drizzle with that fabulous Japanese Ginger dressing I keeping raving about. Top with some ripe avocado from the backyard.

COOK FISH LAST: Pan fry Red Grouper with Rosemary in some hot (not spitting) coconut oil for three minutes. Turn the fish over, cover for one minute and remove from the heat. Let it finish cooking for just a few more minutes then serve it immediately..

Summer Salsa from the Market

So here's an interesting mix for a summer salsa: nectarines, Okinawa spinach, and bunching onion tops.  All fresh ingredients: two from Nathan's garden and the fruit from our Market.  Nice to use some of our fresh summer greens.

This salsa was easy and made very quickly once I realized that
our plates needed some color and Chef Emily's roasted pork deserved a bit of "savory tang"!

Add some organic brown rice, fresh callaloo from the Garden and YUM!

Fresh Ham Roast from Chef Emily Golden Drews - OMG!!!

Chef Emily cooked one of our Market hams from Ferguson Farms! check it out... yum yum. 

and here is how Chef Emily created this masterpiece...

The skin, rind, is still in tact. If you're brave you can pluck the remaining hairs and make cracklins.

Free range pork has a beautiful dark pink flesh. Comparatively, CAFO pork is quite anemic looking.

Removing the skin. I scored it so I could remove it in sections.
I have saved it so I can render the bits of fat that remain on the inside.

Scoring the fat cap allows it to render while creating a nice crisp shell when the roast is finished.

My flavor rub: lemon zest, fresh crushed garlic, chopped fresh rosemary, sea salt and rendered bacon fat.

Cover tightly and refrigerate 12-24 hours.

Heat your oven to 500 dgrees. Your top rack should be on the second place from the bottom. Cook for 20 min. and lower heat to 400 degrees. At this time, take out the ham to baste with the rendered fat and the drain it off. return to the oven for about 2hrs or until your meat thermometer reads 165. Check close to the bone. This ham is about 9#. Adjust your time accordingly depending on your size. During this time, remove ham about every 30 min to baste and drain the fat. If your top fat is brown and crisp before the roast is done, cover it loosely with foil. Let the roast rest at least 10 min before carving.

VERY IMPORTANT! Save the fat! Don't throw it away! Strain the hot fat and let it cool. This is an excellent, nutrient dense, extremely valuable and stable cooking medium.

Applewood-Rubbed Salmon & St. Pete Locally Grown Greens

Customer Elizabeth C. reports that "As a first-time customer, I just have to rave! I made dinner tonight featuring the sauted greens

Calabaza, Corn, and Coconut Soup from Epicurious.Com

Customer Lind A. shared this wonderful soup recipe she found on Epicurious.com in her search to cook the beautiful calabazza squash she purchased from Nathan's garden!

Jeff's "Holy Mackerel"!

I love our Market potluck socials for tons of reasons. The locavores, location, children, talk, networking, education, the firepit (even in summer), the music, light spirits, and the food.  Speaking of which: First, let me say that I don't eat mackerel. I used to fish for it and we always threw them back.  That said:  My favorite potluck food this week (which tied with the vegan dumplings from Rolling Oats) was

Eating what’s “hot” when it’s hot!

Interested in hot weather vegetables for your St. Petersburg garden? This blog post from August 2010 bears repeating again this summer.  

Red Malabar Spinach

Silver Queen Okra

Spinach Salad--Fresh From Our Summer Garden

Nathan made this wonderful last minute salad the other night and used the delicious chunky ginger & garlic dressing that I cannot stopping promoting. Needless to say, I put a little dressing on my steak...

This simple salad included some Okinawa spinach, Moluccan spinach, and a dash of

Polly's Mango Curry

Mango Curry
2 almost ripe mango - large dice
1 med onion
1/2 green and red peppers,
1 med carrot
1 stalk celery
4 T yellow curry
2 t cumin
1 t salt & pepper
1 can organic coconut milk , plus 1/4 can water

Slice veggies on diagonal, then stir fry until crisp tender, add spices to pan stirring until well mixed, cook for maybe 2 minutes, until browned and aromatic. Stir in milk, water and mango. Heat through. I serve over Thai brown rice. Enjoy.
Polly

Dressed Medjools

Dressed Medjool Dates

I brought this to a recent birthday party as my contribution for dessert.  Layer cranberry hibiscus leaves and chartreuse sweet potato leaves

on a deviled egg dish, then arrange these "dressed" medjool dates.  Easy to make: just apply organic peanut butter to each medjool date and "push" into some cacao nibs before arranging on a plate.  Try eating one with a cranberry hibiscus leaf wrapped around it!  They were, of course, a hit!

Salmon a la "Salad Symphony"

Customers Brock and Kay made good use of their Salad Symphony mix this week by marinading salmon in the ginger dressing we posted with the product on the Market. Then they "beached" the salmon

A Salad To "Deliver" Protein

I've been looking for more ways to get affordable protein into my lunch diet. Protein bars are great in a pinch but many contain wheat and I want a healthier alternative for my digestive system, especially for lunch.  I've concocted a great salad

Winter Garden Salad

Another terrific video from Jeff Yentzer highlighting fabulous produce from our online Market. Special Thanks to professional videographer Jeff of VibrantHealthVideos(.com)!

photo: source: couresy of Jeff Yentzer video

Concoction for Winter Herb Tea

Rosemary

Thanks to Jeff Yentzer of Vibrant Health Videos for another fine Youtube, this one on a winter tea blend containing lime basil & buds, okinawa spinach, and rosemary. All ingredients were harvested from the garden of Nathan's Natural Veggies.  Drink up...and enjoy!

Lime basil

Okinawa spinach