tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85083673981871860382012-02-16T09:03:20.894-06:00Whole-grains and less fat, but only if it's tasty.Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.comBlogger1671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-15894931215144222182012-01-17T12:57:00.002-06:002012-01-17T12:59:23.731-06:00

Hi there! I've been making these crackers for a good 4 months now and it seems like I ought to share them; particularly since I took them to every holiday gathering I attended. [Gluten- nut- egg-free things are always popular at parties.] People kept asking for the recipe and now, finally, I'm passing it along to the masses.*  Yes, I realize it's now past the holiday party season, but you can

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-31364861107829790292011-08-11T10:25:00.003-05:002011-08-11T10:28:18.538-05:00

[The hybrid --a double X-- arrived shortly after the okra post.  The past two months have been a bit of a blur.  Right now I'm typing with one hand while little CG sleeps in the crook of my other arm, so please pardon any typos... not that I didn't have typos when I had free use of all fingers, I just think there may a few extra this time.]  My oven has also been on the fritz for the past two

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-83407806389213452202011-06-20T07:18:00.001-05:002011-06-20T07:19:01.081-05:00

I've been on an okra kick lately.  I'm not sure how it started.  Growing up I only ever had fried okra at school (yes, in the south, fried okra is a school lunch vegetable) and when I lived in Houston I got to know it as a component of gumbo and some Indian veggie dishes, but I wasn't really partial to it and I have no idea what possessed me to buy some at the grocery store the other day, except

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-86670875764689241352011-06-01T14:54:00.002-05:002011-06-01T15:00:19.199-05:00

These guys are a variation on my Flourless Oatmeal Cookie.  I was making them for a friend and wanted them to be a sort of homey power food, so I was looking to give them a little more nutritional value and nuts and seeds seemed like a logical way to go... and then I realized I was basically making granola bars in cookie form, except they use egg as a binder [more protein!]. I'm rather pleased

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-12035753074675812192011-04-17T14:06:00.002-05:002011-04-17T14:13:40.731-05:00

I took my last flight before I'm grounded.  JG and I went back to Texas, visited my parents, my brother out on the ranch, and lots of friends in Austin.  I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to handle the heat, but then I found myself dragging a reclining lawn chair into the grass to a nap in the 100F shade of a tree at my parents' place because it felt so good outside. These pastures

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-39586462738565787812011-04-02T08:37:00.003-05:002011-05-16T07:34:25.031-05:00

I know it's been unseasonably warm back home [upper 80s instead of upper 70s] but Yankee Land just got more snow [April Fool's!], so hearty soup is still on my menu. The first time I saw a recipe for pasta fagioli I thought a soup comprised almost entirely of beans and pasta couldn't be that tasty.... but I was very very wrong. Italians cooks have a long history of making the whole far greater

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-77980520330996894912011-03-29T17:38:00.004-05:002011-03-29T17:43:06.334-05:00

JG's been spending a lot of time in the lab lately.  He says his research is going well, but the other night he came home rather frustrated because the computer he was using to run his experiments died and he was going to have to take some time away from his actual research to calibrate a new one. The man needed a nice drink.  Martinis and Manhattans have always been our friends, but the recent

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-46355953282513784742011-03-21T20:28:00.001-05:002011-03-21T20:28:49.893-05:00

Yes, it snowed all day today in Yankee Land, but I'm feeling perkier than my last post.  Why? My rhubarb is sprouting! Surely this snow -- and the forecasted snow on Wednesday and Thursday -- is almost the end of it... Right?

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-77214598045706660312011-03-16T18:05:00.001-05:002011-03-16T19:58:53.069-05:00

bMarch is my least favorite month in Yankee Land.  A few warm (50+) days melted the remainder of our 7 feet of snow and made everyone think spring was imminent... but today it never got above 39 and snow flurried all afternoon. [Actually, I appreciated the snow. If it's gonna stay cold, it may as well snow.] I mean, I love my jaunty red thrift-store puffy coat, but I'm getting tired of wearing it

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-31012665942711749552011-03-09T07:05:00.001-06:002011-03-09T07:06:46.219-06:00

So there's this place in Houston called The Hobbit Cafe.  [It was The Hobbit Hole when it was located in an appropriately hobbit-like old house, but it moved well before my time.] It's quaint. There are Lord of the Rings drawings and posters and figurines, most of which are at least 40-years old, and the food is great and mostly healthy-ish... and named after LOTR characters.  Back when JG and I

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-65751829581235358062011-03-06T10:32:00.000-06:002011-04-02T08:41:02.437-05:00

JG pulled out this recipe from the NY Times a few weeks back, and I'd bought oxtails at the butcher shop across the way [which always has oxtails but rarely has turkey thighs] and threw them in the freezer so we'd be set when we decided it was time to proceed. It finally happened last Sunday, the apartment smelled amazing, and the flavor was quite good [if a little sweet for our taste].... BUT..

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-5854801112149711912011-02-28T19:01:00.001-06:002011-04-02T08:41:59.021-05:00

Here's another simple, wholesome-if-you-make-it food that cooks fast: refried beans.  The name comes from frijoles refrito, which actually means "well-fried beans" not "twice-fried beans" but there needn't be much frying at all to get a flavorful spread that's great for layering or dipping... friends back in Texas even include lean refried beans in their baby food rotation since it's a more

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-67375683539046366832011-02-24T19:34:00.004-06:002011-08-11T09:09:44.672-05:00

JG made lentils for dinner this weekend and decided to try his hand at chapati bread, which are thin round flatbreads usually made with at least some whole-wheat flour.  He'd planned to have it all done when I got home from work (my hero) but the cookbook he used just isn't a good one (the flavors are great but the liquid ratios or the cooking times are _always_ way off, but never the same way

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-55043362786304597592011-02-20T13:52:00.010-06:002011-04-02T08:41:02.439-05:00

Last week, a commenter who knew me before I could cook* asked about healthy meals for toddlers... to be consumed within 5 minutes of the parent arriving home from work.  She said he's so hungry when she gets home that she usually just microwaves something quick -- boo her.  Here are my thoughts [I apologize if it's a little disjointed and rambling, but I wanted to respond before the question got

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-37105758858051445052011-02-13T18:09:00.002-06:002011-02-14T18:36:04.164-06:00

My grandmother used to send us each a big heart-shaped cookie for Valentine's day.  Each one was uniquely frosted with botanically-correct flowers [She once was an in-house artist for a university botany department] and the cookies were as tasty as they were pretty.  These lemony sugar cookies were my first experience with lemon zest, and for a long time I thought it was weird that Grandma Sue

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-76475850234998504762011-02-11T06:37:00.004-06:002011-02-11T06:41:28.408-06:00

Do you ever get frozen peas that just aren't great? I got a huge bag of them from my little corner store.  Granted, they made no claim of being sweet or young or tender, but after the first serving of the big, starchy things I knew I wouldn't eat the next two pounds very fast. Boston Snow Meter ...but you may have heard we've gotten a bit of snow here in Yankee Land (~6 feet total with more

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-7889196902961202052011-02-02T18:51:00.002-06:002011-02-02T18:53:31.591-06:00

Oof... it's hard to get going again.  It would have been easier if I hadn't hinted at exciting things to come, only to have them disappoint me. I tried to make the pecan bankets too small -- disregarding the instructions in my own recipe -- and they leaked all over the place.  They kind of looked like praline langues de chat, but they weren't worth taking on the plane with me.  The wild rice/

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-91580407613086514252011-01-12T15:07:00.000-06:002011-01-12T15:07:50.512-06:00

I've always thought pregnant women who were too tired to meet up after work/go to a movie/do anything productive were very, very lame.  I stand by that, but I'm the lamest of them all.  JG and I created a little hybrid or ourselves and I've been coming home from work, eating whatever JG feeds me, and going straight to bed ever since. [Lucky for me, JG makes tasty grub.]  I haven't been doing much

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-53115576569192024362010-11-22T17:07:00.001-06:002010-11-22T17:07:00.588-06:00

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes 8 oz silken tofu 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 T molasses 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp ginger 1/8 tsp cardamom pinch salt pinch nutmeg bake crust puree filling add to baked crust, return to off oven.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-37278367966676029902010-11-02T20:11:00.002-05:002010-11-02T20:12:38.326-05:00

 I meant to get these posted before Dia de los Muertos [All Souls Day], but that didn't happen.  Instead, you can marvel at them this year and plan to make your own next time... They would, of course, work as Halloween cookies, but since I was using my Mexican Chocolate Cookie dough it seemed only appropriate to wait for November 2nd.  Sometimes decorated cookies don't taste as good as the look,

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-70019532649577534522010-10-27T17:11:00.000-05:002010-10-27T17:11:12.772-05:00

I recently made these guys over the weekend for a gluten-avoiding friend of mine.  They have very few ingredients and come together in a minute. The recipe comes from 101 Cookbooks, where they're called "Chocolate Puddle Cookies," but I think they taste like gooey brownies when they're still warm, so I've renamed them accordingly.  They do firm up as they cool but they maintain a thin layer of

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-56905006263407822812010-10-20T00:43:00.002-05:002011-04-02T08:41:02.440-05:00

Here's a perfect example of why I love leftovers.  It was a blustery New England day and JG and I both got home chilled and hungry.  We had a leftover shank. We made soup. It tasted like something we'd labored over for hours, when all the work had been done by a slow cooker a couple days ago. No recipe here... We sauteed another onion, threw in a couple bunches of coarsely chopped kale and let

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-87009834137079497452010-10-17T12:42:00.002-05:002011-04-02T08:41:02.441-05:00

The leaves are starting to change here in Yankee Land, and that makes me want to break out the slow-cooker.  To whit, I present an epic-looking dish which is actually an easy midweek dinner that's just about ready whenever you walk in the door.  [Mark Bittman totally stole my thunder on this one.  The good news is, I was going to tell you that preserved lemons take time to make but are easy to

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-26935650167008224612010-10-12T19:08:00.001-05:002010-10-12T19:09:08.096-05:00

I've posted my posole recipe before, but I recently went back to the post [after I made the current batch] and discovered the pictures were no bueno so I'm posting it again.  Plus, posole is a beautiful thing and I want everyone to try it.  It can be hangover food or comfort food [it is Mexican chicken soup, after all] or chilly-day food and it doesn't require anything you can't find at any

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-91913254564254099592010-10-08T07:30:00.001-05:002010-10-08T07:31:25.273-05:00

The polenta was almost finished when I remembered I had a couple ears of corn languishing in the fridge. It's not like me to neglect sweet corn, but we went out of town for a wedding and sometimes these things happen.  I thought a little roasted corn flavor might be nice in that polenta, but there just wasn't enough time to make elote asado before everything else was ready for dinner, so I gave

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-79042173970123811922010-10-05T06:56:00.002-05:002010-10-05T06:58:21.702-05:00

I know many people are scarred by cans of three-bean salad.  Personally I always liked it, but I like most pickled things.  I will admit, however, that I've never been inclined to buy fresh wax beans, in part because I didn't know what to do with them beside three-bean salad. The answer is one of my favorites*: Roast them!  A woman I know was waxing poetic about them at the market, about how

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-50002442765227102682010-09-30T18:53:00.049-05:002010-10-17T13:01:51.419-05:00

Polenta has a bad reputation as a very fussy starch, but it may help your confidence to think of it as "corn grits" -- a simple, salt-of-the-earth sort of dish.  The name polenta is derived from pulmentum, the Latin word for "porridge."  In practice, the big difference between "polenta" and "grits" is that the former is traditionally adulterated with cheese and butter [and sometimes milk] while

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-45276921603172169842010-09-27T07:13:00.004-05:002010-09-27T18:24:32.239-05:00

I threw this together to satisfy a must-have-something-dessert-ish impulse one evening during the June strawberry season.  I didn't think it was worth sharing, but I've made it so many times over this summer with various berries (blueberries may have been my favorite) and now a second round of berries have appeared in the markets, so I may as well share the fun. You could certainly add a scoop of

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-87302432600945243622010-09-22T07:36:00.000-05:002010-09-22T07:36:08.491-05:00

The weather's turning crisp up here in Yankee Land.  Right now the days are sunny and warm, but the pumpkins and winter squash are appearing in the farmers' markets and the floor feels chilly against my bare feet in the morning.  Hence, it's time to resurrect the oatmeal breakfast. I was never a fan of oatmeal as a kid unless it was rolled oats in cookies (surprise).  My mom never made it for

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-29671189982623143972010-09-14T19:42:00.006-05:002010-09-14T19:50:23.459-05:00

In my quest to heat my kitchen as little as possible, I discovered an interesting way to wilt spinach by beating it up.  It started with a tomato salad I was letting sit to meld the flavors.  About an hour before I was going to serve it, I decided to stir in some baby spinach in as well.  When I came back to it, the spinach was completely wilted -- not in a sad-salad kind of way, but more like

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-40910035891169304912010-09-09T06:36:00.000-05:002010-09-09T06:36:55.198-05:00

If you ever read my recipes, you know I generally use equal parts white whole wheat flour (or WWWF, as it's known on my grocery lists) and oat flour to make a whole-grain base that acts just like all-purpose flour. [Regular {red} whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour comes close, but it's a little gritty.] Back in Texas, the only brand of WWWF available was King Arthur and they make a

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-77616412305751550952010-09-06T21:05:00.001-05:002011-04-02T08:43:56.233-05:00

The tomatoes are finally ripe here in Yankee Land.  I think I understand why eating green tomatoes is such a Southern thing.  Up here you only get one big crop that takes forever to ripen... eating any before they're ready is just wasteful. I bought ~8 pounds of heirlooms at the farmers' market this week and we've been eating them in: in paella, with our last chunk of cured venison sausage as a

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-43426407108942561412010-09-02T14:00:00.002-05:002010-09-02T14:00:01.772-05:00

JG left his bike on the porch for a day and a half and discovered someone had set up camp in his front tire and laid an enormous egg sack.  Wikipedia says they're up to an inch in diameter and this one was at least that big.  She didn't react much when JG transferred the sack, via stick, to the hibiscus bush.  Frankly, if I'd just laid that many eggs, I'd be beat, too. Bonus:  Here's one

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-48109500561850633762010-08-31T07:52:00.005-05:002010-08-31T18:57:06.395-05:00

I entered a farmers' market bake-off this weekend.  I didn't win, but I _did_ come up with a new way to eat cantaloupe.  The judges preferred a blueberry buckle to my quirky melon dessert, but it _is_ melon season and the markets are full of unusual varieties.  I've only recently become a melon lover, but they really are refreshing and "clean" tasting and I think their upgrade to dessert status

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-55861188887061160502010-08-27T15:44:00.004-05:002010-08-27T15:56:50.727-05:00

[Where did I go?  I certainly didn't mean to abandon the blog, but in my evergrowing frustration with self-taught web design, I kept working in Dreamweaver until I couldn't possibly sit at the computer a moment longer and stormed away.  My apologies to anyone who reads regularly and has felt snubbed... but that's probably only my mother and she's holed up in the woods for the summer so she

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-46722014783132670802010-08-17T10:04:00.000-05:002010-08-17T10:04:55.801-05:00

My epazote has returned from the dead.  For once, my excess of optimism paid off.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-44264511239668255772010-08-03T07:34:00.000-05:002010-08-03T07:34:27.005-05:00

Remember my happy little garden?  While I was out of town I lost: the tomatoes, cucumbers, cayenne, nasturtiums, oregano, thyme, cilantro, lettuce, aroogula, and epazote.  Boston's freak heatwave and an unnoticed faucet drip baked some and drowned the others. Most of them were summer flings, but I'd had the epazote plant ~6 years and was one of 3 herbs [and 9 orchids] I brought from Texas. I'm

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-24621620776839097572010-07-29T12:43:00.000-05:002010-07-29T12:43:53.260-05:00

No offense to any native Kansans; I'm sure it's a lovely place to live, but the drive through kills me.  On the way out I hit Kansas City at sunset and wasn't sure I'd be able to give a report on the grain content of the state.  Coming back from Colorado, however, I got to see Kansas in all of its interminable glory.  So here's what I learned on I-70:  Western Missouri= more soy and corn

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-10637908124685044072010-07-17T14:32:00.000-05:002010-07-17T14:32:10.501-05:00

I've just driven through over 700 miles of Missouri and Iowa and have seen nothing but endless fields of fuzzy golden corn and velvet green soybeans [plus occasional bales of alfalfa--now there's a fun word!].  This strip of the nation's breadbasket is decidedly gluten-free. So where do they grow wheat? Or oats? I'm hitting up Kansas over the weekend.  We'll see what we see. [I also hit an

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-75251686520512300982010-07-12T19:47:00.000-05:002010-07-12T19:47:18.514-05:00

I needed to cut back all of my herbs and lettuce before depositing my garden in the bathtub and skipping town, so I made this pretty little no-heat salad for dinner.    I salted the remaining tomatoes and left them to drain over a measuring cup, then combined that with the juice from my 2 remaining lemons, stirred in 1/3 cup of fine bulgur (parboiled cracked wheat) and let it sit until the grains

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-56618798581691975612010-07-08T19:02:00.001-05:002010-09-05T09:29:15.136-05:00

JG and I are spending a bit of time in the heartland, which meant we had to clear out the fridge and put the garden in the bathtub [it wasn't easy].  I had 6 egg whites leftover from a couple projects and chocolate that was starting to bloom in my warm pantry, so I figured I may as well make a triple batch of David Libovitz' chocolate macarons and my own low[er] fat caramelized chocolate ganache.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-73743096687724259382010-07-01T09:45:00.002-05:002010-07-01T09:46:43.846-05:00

 Below are a few ideas for your 4th, plus a simple guacamole recipe after the jump: Smokey Melon Balls Roasted Corn Roasted Squash Carrot Slaw Delicate Gazpacho Pesto Pipian Scallop tacos Summer Squash Pizza [on the grill] Burger Buns Whole-Wheat Pita [My first recipe post!] Mint Tea Agua Fresca Cerveza Preparada/Michelada Silken Chocolate Pie Tres Leches Cake Sunflower Cookies  Green

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-81410826889212497942010-06-29T15:29:00.002-05:002010-09-05T09:29:26.105-05:00

I'm still thinking about that place, so I'm sharing one more recipe before I move on to more July 4th-ish things.  This meal's got a little more... fusion.  It's based on my love of Japanese saba rice (stir-fried rice with cured mackerel) and a Korean bipbimbop or hoedeopbap where cooked rice and raw fish and veggies gets thrown in a super hot bowl and topped with an egg yolk before you add

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-6624138421130372142010-06-25T16:23:00.003-05:002010-06-29T07:02:13.468-05:00

I've had some amazing Japanese food in my day.  I discovered sushi late in college and was fortunate to get an expense-paid visit to Tokyo when JG was working over there for a bit... though I think I was still too new to the cuisine at the time to make the most of my trip.  After moving to Austin, I fell in love with a modern Japanese place and even developed an unfortunate habit of of putting

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-73899577660813171722010-06-22T09:22:00.005-05:002010-06-22T14:19:02.930-05:00

It's been kinda hot here in Yankee Land.  Mock me if you must, but here's the thing:  Where I come from all houses are climate-controlled, and my attic here offers no respite.  In Texas, I didn't mind exercising in 100F+ weather*, but I kept the AC in my house at a comfortable 76F from late-April through early October.  Now when it's 85F outside, it's over 90F in my afternoon sun-drenched kitchen

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-42997977563755096392010-06-17T12:13:00.003-05:002010-06-17T13:33:34.285-05:00

Elote asado, roasted corn, is a delicious Mexican street food and a favorite treat of mine. There were a couple elote stands near my house in Austin and they made trips to the grocery or hardware store so much more enjoyable [and I enjoy both].  The corn was on a big grill in the back of a trailer and they'd shuck the blackened husks to order and wrap it in foil, which is immediately opened and

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-9636459170467364092010-06-15T15:34:00.001-05:002010-06-15T15:56:04.924-05:00

I had a nice big garden in Texas.  Here in Yankee Land, I have a fire escape.  Since I don't have enough space to plant real crops, I focused on a meal-enhancement garden -- herbs and sandwich fixings, plus a couple of squash and cucumber plants that seem ready to get unruly.  I'm rather excited. I've planted totem tomatoes, cayenne pepper, butter bibb lettuce, aroooogula, everbearing

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-65012118238712429312010-06-10T04:22:00.005-05:002010-06-10T06:14:28.937-05:00

 Local scallops were on sale here in Yankee Land, so I picked up more than I needed for dinner [but not nearly as many as I wanted].  The first night I made a ceviche with lime/serrano/shallot and garnished with fresh corn and cilantro from my herb garden.  The next night I seared the scallops [one side only] and served them with sliced avocado, toasted pepitas, and roasted corn on the side.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-58782783573976595292010-06-07T07:37:00.001-05:002010-06-07T07:37:48.234-05:00

A friend saw my request for Indian recipes and directed me to the BBC's Indian Food Made Easy.  I had more coconut to use and mussels were on sale, so mussels with dry coconut was a no-brainer. It was easy, as promised.  I made a half recipe, used quartered grape tomatoes, and didn't cook the mussels separately. Instead, I added 1 1/2 cups of water to the onion/spice/tomato mixture and threw in

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-61461581462659776192010-06-03T19:07:00.003-05:002010-06-05T15:31:09.103-05:00

If any of you stopped by the end of last week/ beginning of this week, I was playing around with moving the site to its own domain and inadvertently lost it for a little while... Let's just pretend I handled it really well and didn't freak out at all, okay? [I know almost nothing about web design but I feel like I should be able to figure out the basics... which hasn't worked so far.] Let's

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-27841533094702048082010-05-26T05:02:00.001-05:002010-06-03T19:08:14.204-05:00

The first time I cooked Mexican chorizo at home, I was horrified. I opened up the casing, the contents glugged into the hot pan and started bubbling away, and I thought -- since it was sausage and sausage is generally a fattier food -- that it was at least 30% oil or some weird fat that rendered instantaneously. All of the chorizo and egg tacos I'd consumed in my past suddenly seemed... unseemly

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-23635324703673285962010-05-22T08:08:00.002-05:002011-04-02T08:42:17.451-05:00

I'm trying to make more Indian/South Asian food because up here in Yankee Land it's a lot easier to find the ingredients cheaply than it is for my Mexican staples. There are three Indian and Pakistani grocery stores within a three-block radius of mi casa and I've found them to be the best-priced purveyors of bulk spices around town, so I decided that this week I was switching from beans and rice

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-86324846153810058602010-05-18T06:28:00.001-05:002010-05-18T06:28:49.709-05:00

This recipe was inspired by a recent plane trip. A nice flight attendant gave me a slice of lime to go with my club soda [I'd never thought to ask] and I opted for peanuts over pretzels. I squeezed my lime and licked my fingers and popped a couple peanuts in my mouth. [A little uncouth, I know, but my other hand was holding my knitting and it was too hazardous to pull the little napkin from

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-5536968852075349642010-05-14T08:25:00.002-05:002011-04-02T08:41:02.443-05:00

JG and I eat a lot of beans and rice, and I often make extra rice to have on hand for leftovers-fried-rice. [We strongly believe that everything is better with fried egg.] This week, however, we somehow ended up with too many beans. I thought to myself, as I always do when putting away leftovers, "How would that taste with a fried egg on top?" And I realized that, of course, it would taste

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-77164579997520615712010-05-11T15:12:00.005-05:002011-04-02T08:42:56.719-05:00

This tasty thrown-together dinner was loosely inspired by a NYT recipe for risotto-style pasta that I mentally bookmarked a while back.   My humble version was quick and healthy-hearty;  I'd say resulting whole was definitely greater than the sum of its parts. The collards maintain their tooth better than other greens and the starches released from the toasted pasta and the beans make a rich,

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-52004410938878290182010-05-07T06:34:00.001-05:002010-06-03T19:16:56.880-05:00

I know I've seen plenty of other recipes out there for aguas fresca,"fresh waters" so if you read food blogs and you haven't made them yet, I probably won't convince you to try. However. They're super tasty. I personally never liked cantaloupe until I tried it as an agua fresca. The melon/lime combo works amazingly well. I consider my first taste of agua fresca to have been a life-altering

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-60093084845216642662010-05-03T13:44:00.003-05:002010-09-02T07:46:42.902-05:00

I like making myself birthday cakes. I also like throwing parties near my birthday so I have an excuse to make a goodly-sized cake that I won't then eat all by myself, one shameful bite at a time.  The best part is that if the party is not actually on my birthday, no one feels compelled to sing to me before we all dig in. Last year I made a rum cake, but a baker friend of mine [You know those

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-2931397639918005512010-05-01T06:10:00.001-05:002010-05-01T06:10:38.827-05:00

I took an unplanned trip to the Midwest last week. As I chatted with various strangers, the first thing people tended to ask when I told them I didn't have a car anymore was "How do you buy groceries?" Well, I don't take more than I can carry, which is a couple over-the-shoulder-bags for walking or a bag and a backpack via bicycle. Once the bags are full, it's time to go home. This time that

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-4624673297527765002010-04-22T05:37:00.002-05:002010-04-22T15:25:01.095-05:00

Once again I am reminded that it's never a bad idea to set a timer and "they-just-need-a-little-longer-so-I'll-leave-them-while-I-clean-up-my-mess" is not the same thing and often results in a lost batch. These were not chocolate, or molasses, or anything that can justifiably be that deep, dark color. JG tried one. He said they weren't bad until the acrid aftertaste. Oh, and did you see this

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-28490949594387305972010-04-19T09:40:00.007-05:002010-04-20T15:07:37.238-05:00

I started baking my own bread when a trip to the grocery store revealed that most of the whole-grain breads used mostly of enriched [non-whole wheat] flour and all of the sandwich breads used corn syrup. Bread need only have flour, water, yeast and salt, and if you are looking for a squishier bread some fat and sweetener, but they should be lower on the list than everything except the salt.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-34707389614638319492010-04-16T16:25:00.001-05:002010-04-16T16:27:47.957-05:00

JG and I took my parents up to Maine to see lighthouses and craggy shores last weekend, culminating in Pemaquid Point with the lighthouse shown on the state quarter. [It was highly recommended by our innkeeper.] On the way up the coast, we stopped at a place on Cape Porpoise called "The Ramp" where I saw what looked like the best lobster roll ever at another table. Sadly, I've had too many

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-71513581637850291102010-04-13T15:35:00.003-05:002010-04-17T16:11:38.877-05:00

[Sorry, friends. My parents came up for their first visit to Boston and I've been away from the computer. I was almost finished with this post when I realized their plane was landing early and just never got back to it. I think they had a pretty good week... more to follow.] A while back, I came across a recipe in an Alice Medrich book that used a tiny bit of chocolate in lieu of bacon to add

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-20064157721534538432010-04-01T11:30:00.008-05:002010-04-01T11:42:08.246-05:00

I have a confession to make. I haven't been sharing my bread with you. I'm sorry. The problem is this: I don't follow any recipes, I don't closely measure how much of anything I put in, I almost never make the same thing twice, and I have a sourdough culture that I add for flavor and supplement with more reliable instant yeast. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once you know how to

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-72221861118656183612010-03-30T12:39:00.000-05:002010-03-30T12:39:24.367-05:00

This is what spring looks like so far in Yankee Land: There are buds on the the trees, but still no leaves. We've had a two or three days where the sun came out and the entire city came out en mass and removed most of their clothing [I have never seen so much pasty white flesh in my life.] For the most part, though, it's been nothing but rain... cold, cold rain. I'm told this is warmer weather

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-57145022768695883422010-03-25T19:05:00.000-05:002010-03-25T19:05:45.844-05:00

I realize I have a biscotti problem -- obsession, really -- but once I gave up coffee I haven't been able to commit to a single flavor. The latest batch were from Joy of Baking, and I followed it pretty closely [except for substituting 1 cup white whole wheat and 3/4 cup oat for the called-for A.P. flour] but I had a little timer problem: I didn't realize it until I was sitting at the

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-79480611295033744212010-03-24T13:03:00.000-05:002010-03-24T13:03:15.426-05:00

It is not a good idea to substitute 8 oz. fat free cream cheese for the same amount of butter in a butter cookie recipe.  The dough seemed fine and I thought the poppy seeds and orange zest would compensate for the diminished butter flavor.  They ended up... biscuit-y.  They're edible, but they're not good.  What's the point of that?  Back to the test kitchen...

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-19729498825223917382010-03-18T09:31:00.007-05:002010-06-03T19:08:33.025-05:00

This recipe was born of an excess of cilantro. Like many people -- and despite growing up with lots of Mexican food -- I had an aversion to cilantro until I discovered late-night Vietnamese food in college. [Houston has the second largest and most diverse immigrant population after New York, did you know that?] I now love cilantro, but really doesn't keep well and I got a _lot_ of it at an

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-82054885113197195312010-03-16T07:43:00.005-05:002010-03-16T07:51:04.034-05:00

I'm going to be honest. This post was inspired by my trash. I leaned over to spit the pit of an oil-cured olive into the trash -- one of those step/flip top things -- and got an intense hit of orange from the peel on the top of the pile. [Yes, I know these things could be composted. I used to compost everything in my backyard, but I have no backyard now and the City of Cambridge doesn't sponsor

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-61367000342580479702010-03-13T07:44:00.002-06:002010-03-13T07:48:07.905-06:00

How is it possible for my bananas to be both green and brown? This has happened with every bunch I've gotten for a least the last month.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-60116409200949225712010-03-11T06:14:00.004-06:002010-03-11T16:14:10.573-06:00

It was just a little chilly in the apartment the other night, so after dinner I decided it was time to turn on the oven.... for bagels.I've never made them before. Peter Reinhart has a recipe floating around foodblogs that I'm sure is fantastic, but it's a multi-day process and I wanted something to bake posthaste... I found a home-style recipe that used a one-hour rise and decided if that could

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-85408431817096523732010-03-04T07:55:00.003-06:002010-03-16T07:47:20.604-05:00

Here's another Iowan delicacy for you: The Dutch Letter. It's an artifact of Dutch settlers in the area, an almond pastry called "banket" that was once reserved as a holiday treat and often spelled out "Merry Christmas" [in Dutch] or a birthday celebrant's name: the "letterbanket". In Iowa, it's simply called a "Dutch Letter" and found year round in certain bakeries in the shape of an "S."

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-11637140232852861622010-03-01T16:33:00.002-06:002010-06-03T19:12:37.121-05:00

I don't know about you, but I love big chucks of egg white in an egg salad sandwich. That toothiness in the midst of the creamy goodness always makes my mouth happy. Sometimes though, when people chop the whole eggs and then add the dressings, the egg whites get obliterated in the attempt to break up the yolks. There is a very simple solution to this, one that also makes your egg salad thick

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-87080947641165231312010-02-25T15:41:00.003-06:002011-04-02T08:42:56.721-05:00

I don't know that this is the best thrown-together meal I've ever had in my entire life, but it's definitely up there. This hot mess is comprised of earthy spinach [brown rice] risotto, tangy vermouth-glazed tomatoes and onions, crispy kale leaves, and a perfectly fried egg. Any of these are tasty by themselves, but the combination is killer.You have no idea what this tastes like. I had no idea

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-63469317575540199672010-02-22T09:25:00.000-06:002010-02-22T20:09:26.860-06:00

I'd drinking too much coffee so I switched to tea for a while, but my mexican chocolate biscotti just don't pair as well. I really love a dipping cookie with my steamy mug in the morning, so I needed a worthy substitute for my go-to chocolate.I was trying to think of a less staid version of almond biscotti when the almond-poppyseed muffins of my youth popped into my head. They were from a box

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-83837173764797333502010-02-18T09:15:00.004-06:002010-02-18T09:21:22.789-06:00

... and here's another one.JG took this from our kitchen window. I really like the snow tracks in the lamplight. I think I like snow, period.Who'd've thought?Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-18592463027638440042010-02-15T09:57:00.005-06:002010-02-15T10:07:01.434-06:00

I heartily recommend throwing a bay leaf in your next pot of pasta water. [1 per lb of pasta, remove after draining.] It lends an extra savory note in a "Wow! This sauce is better than I remember it being!" sort of way. See for yourself.I won't make you eat whole-wheat pasta if you don't want to [even though I think food with actual flavor and texture is vastly superior].

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-52155339994393097872010-02-07T14:32:00.007-06:002011-04-02T08:42:56.722-05:00

Need a quick dip for your Superbowl party? This one's a tasty variation on bean dip that pairs equally well with chips or veggie spears... and takes about two minutes to make.It's based on an appetizer JG and I had at a restaurant in the North End. The bartender called it a white bean-tomato dip and it was served warm with crusty bread. I made mine a bit thicker and limited the seasonings to

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-41436402202114563122010-02-04T10:56:00.008-06:002010-02-04T11:40:16.981-06:00

The frittata is a very versatile dish and is equally good for a leisurely breakfast or a quick dinner. [It does require a brief encounter with the oven.] You can saute onions and veggies or meat -- whatever you'd put in an omlette or quiche -- specifically for the frittata, but its greatest glory is its ability to transform leftovers just by dumping beaten eggs over the top and baking it off.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-48307170981652333092010-02-01T21:05:00.003-06:002010-02-01T21:07:53.464-06:00

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-41911414233206814382010-01-29T11:55:00.002-06:002010-02-18T09:49:12.942-06:00

These oatmeal-raisin cookies are crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and gluten-free without a special flour mix if you use GF oats.* They have 5 key ingredients, and three of them are endlessly adaptable.[For the record, I'm not on the gluten-intolerance bandwagon. I know there are some genuine diseases and allergies -- and I'm concerned that the genetic modifications that make our

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-13595318638241672512010-01-27T14:42:00.000-06:002010-01-27T14:42:00.665-06:00

I just made the most amazing discovery: We had a brief warm spell where the rain melted away the snow and THE GRASS IS GREEN UNDERNEATH!Are you surprised that I'm surprised? Well, let me tell you something that Texans discuss freely amongst themselves but are a little shy to share with Yankees: We don't have grass. Turf grass like bluegrass or fescue, with the deep green color and the

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-33137823157539073142010-01-24T18:01:00.003-06:002010-01-24T18:10:45.513-06:00

I'm addicted to these things. I found them at the South Asian grocery store at the end of my street. They're sweet and spicy-- kind of like the minty Tic-Tacs, but with crunchy centers that won't dissolve.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-40755704483176030992010-01-14T07:35:00.001-06:002010-01-14T07:38:27.092-06:00

I'm not a rabid football fan, but I enjoy a solid afternoon of NFL games from time to time. On such occasions, I've noticed that it's very easy to consume vast quantities of light beer without really noticing. While I've done it many times, I'm getting old [and wise?] enough to prefer a drink that was tasty enough to remember drinking. There is a way, however, to turn light beer into a

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-64675195617652152362010-01-12T00:58:00.003-06:002010-01-27T10:52:23.301-06:00

My newest kitchen toy is a Belgian waffle maker, courtesy of JG's mom. It makes me quite happy... and meant I needed to create a new recipe for whole-grain waffles. I had a pancake recipe I liked from Cook's Illustrated, but their solution for fluffy multi-graininess was to grind muesli into a coarse flour, which tasted good but I'm opposed to heroic efforts before 9am... especially when I

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-1992607700140292852010-01-07T15:48:00.001-06:002010-01-24T18:06:06.412-06:00

Do you pronounce all of the "s"s in Brussels sprouts? I realized as I typed the title that I never do. It's actually kind of tricky to say...As a kid, I once at a Brussels sprout with half of a gray-green worm in the middle [it was probably a caterpillar, really] and refused to eat them for about 10 years. I've since reversed that opinion and loved them shaved raw in the spring or roasted in

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-10277655615358795912009-12-31T15:29:00.007-06:002011-04-02T08:41:02.446-05:00

It's been chilly here in Yankee Land. JG and I decided to combat the weather (and our raging colds) with our very own Austin 63-Way Chili. It's a hybrid of the Cincinnati chili favored by his Missouri relatives [where the number refers to how you order it and we usually made it 3-Way, with cheese, over pasta] and Mexican mole. It's a smokey, earthy, wholesome, stick-to-your-ribs treat that

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-36263278577009371962009-12-23T11:10:00.006-06:002009-12-23T11:46:36.208-06:00

Kabocha is a Japanese pumpkin [hard winter squash] with a nutty flavor and natural sweetness. It's like a more intense butternut squash with a texture almost as dense as a sweet potato. I recently saw them in the grocery store labeled "buttercup squash" and if you find them, you should definitely take a couple home. You can dice it and roast it with the skin on, and it can cook in the oven [or

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-73977471863623876192009-12-18T19:59:00.004-06:002010-01-24T18:06:30.322-06:00

Here's a little game:What do you see in this picture? It's not the most aesthetic picture I've ever taken, but I've been staring at it for a while and there're a _lot_ of things going on here.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-83937212054934253512009-12-16T12:49:00.005-06:002010-01-24T18:06:24.724-06:00

I snuck back to Texas for a week just as the snow started in Yankee Land. My brother works on a cattle ranch [remember the Beef Cake?] and we spent a little time out there. I really loved this picture of a hornet's nest on a mesquite branch... "Don't Mess with Texas," indeed.[FYI: Mesquite is not native to Texas but was brought with the Spaniards, probably as seeds in the stomachs of their cows

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-7170971022718057632009-12-09T19:33:00.004-06:002010-01-24T18:07:08.190-06:00

I was looking to make a non-cookie treat and a trip through my grandmother's old recipe box yielded a card in my grandfather's handwriting for English Toffee. [As far as I can tell, it's an American creation, where "English" means slathered with chocolate.] My grandmother made a lot of sweets, but my grandfather always made the candy, using a scientific thermometer permanently borrowed from his

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-52245731814900558952009-12-06T13:07:00.003-06:002009-12-06T13:08:42.239-06:00

It did that thing they said it would do.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-82575977604820988462009-12-03T17:16:00.003-06:002010-01-24T18:07:17.854-06:00

Our downstairs neighbor replaced some cracked glass in the hallway window, but since it starts getting dark around 4 here in Yankee Land and he has a day job, working on it meant having a giant screen-less hole when all the interior lights were on. I was sure we were going to have a plague of moths, but the next morning I discovered that a temporary window screen had neatly installed herself

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-83196271841604261522009-12-01T07:43:00.003-06:002009-12-02T06:33:41.338-06:00

Sorghum syrup isn't much used outside the breadbasket states, but it's pretty popular where my parents are from in Iowa, where sorghum [a grain species that includes milo and millet] is mostly grown as livestock feed. Its taste is a little spicier and sweeter than blackstrap molasses and has a much richer flavor than dark corn syrup, though either could be used in this recipe. I've never found

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-31784418237107173342009-11-23T13:38:00.007-06:002009-11-23T18:39:55.509-06:00

This recipe is basically a tuile batter: an egg-white based cookie that uses a little flour or ground nuts for structure. They harden as they cool, so they're sometimes spread thin, then rolled up like a cigar fresh out of the oven and filled with a ganache after they cool, or sometimes they're made into squiggly designs and stuck vertically in a mousse or ice cream, restaurant-style.I'm not much

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-70741916116412965782009-11-17T19:20:00.005-06:002009-11-18T12:19:25.075-06:00

The fall colors have fallen. I have to give the Yankees some credit -- it was quite pretty... and now I know that dry leaves on smooth brick sidewalks can be very slippery under foot or bike tire.I just have to wonder: What happens next here in Yankee Land?

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-63529773328091910212009-11-11T11:28:00.010-06:002009-11-11T18:14:10.139-06:00

My paternal grandfather passed away recently. He was a great lover of peanut butter before his doctor cut it from his diet, so I've created a new peanut butter cookie recipe in his honor. I did a shortbread because he considered people over 5'5" to be abnormally tall.He switched to refried bean and mustard sandwiches once the peanut butter was banned. I'm still working on how to turn that into

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-83990590747371617202009-11-05T07:46:00.002-06:002009-11-05T07:58:52.858-06:00

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my first post, the unintentionally anatomical pita bread.Maybe this year I'll get around sharing my weekly bread recipes. We'll see.

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-55017343265920152962009-11-03T09:13:00.005-06:002009-11-03T09:26:43.487-06:00

Pumpkin risotto is an excellent use for one of those small pumpkins or winter squashes laying around everywhere right now... maybe even on your front porch. Each variety has a slightly different flavor, but they'll all work.In keeping with my "Components Matter" bent: Short-grain brown rice is much better in this recipe as it releases starches like the arborio rice does. It's usually the only

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-7521596840559874322009-10-30T06:51:00.007-05:002009-10-30T07:37:59.664-05:00

I first saw these on 101 Cookbooks, but I've since seen them so many other places that I don't know who deserves the credit. All I know is that they amuse me every time I make them.Mine are flavored with HerbSaint, an absinthe clone from Louisiana that imparts a nice anise flavor often found in Mexican baked goods. I even used anise seed for the eyes; their tiny stems look like wild eyebrows..

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8508367398187186038.post-1936543634535172472009-10-28T11:32:00.004-05:002009-11-02T09:43:04.229-06:00

I was going to do a post on my goat milk caramels (cajetas) but I hit a little snag on the second batch that I can't quite explain and I don't want to give bad instructions.Instead, let me say that Texas pecans are fantastic: big, buttery, and amazing when toasted and added to baked goods or eaten straight out of the shell. [Pecans, a member of the hickory family, are the only tree nuts or drupes

Whole-Grain Texanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015097795531078981noreply@blogger.com0