Sprouted Rice and Quinoa Mushroom Soup

Soup is one of the things that the good wife could eat at any time.  So if I was ever at a loss for ideas of what to fix for supper I could always make a soup and she'd be happy.  Once the weather turns cooler I like to add more soups to the nightly meals.  Of course, the way we do it soup is the meal rather than a warm up for the main meal.  Using the pressure cooker helps speed things up when making soup, especially when incorporating dried beans.


We eat mushrooms frequently.  So much so that I've contemplated setting up a system to grow our own.  Sometime ago I was looking at recipe suggestions I'd gotten via email and came across a Wild Rice Mushroom Soup recipe.  That sounded like an excellent use of mushrooms so I started researching.  In the end I combined parts of several recipes and did my own thing.

A pot full of mushroom goodness

This recipe can be changed to suit your tastes and dietary preferences.  I added some diced Kassler, a German ham, since I wanted meat with it and used chicken broth for the liquid.  Leaving out the ham and using a vegetable broth would make this a good vegetarian soup.  You could also change the types of mushrooms used to change the flavor profile as well.  Another change for the vegetarians would be to substitute soy or almond milk for the heavy cream.  See, it doesn't take many changes to have a completely different soup.


Sprouted Rice and Quinoa Mushroom Soup


2 cups sprouted rice and quinoa
1 box + 1 cup chicken broth
1 lb baby bella mushrooms, chopped with stems removed
1 oz dried shiitake mushrooms
1 leek, halved and thinly sliced
2 -3 Tbs butter
3 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Tbs tomato powder or tomato paste
1 cup dry/semi-dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs flour
olive oil
fresh ground pepper
salt
8 - 10 oz ham, diced (optional)

If using an electric pressure cooker, put the two cups, using the rice measuring cup that came with the pressure cooker, of sprouted rice and quinoa in the pot and add the box of  chicken broth.  Set the timer for 10 - 12 minutes.  If using a regular pot, cook time will be according to package instructions using 1.5 cups of the sprouted rice and quinoa.  Place the shiitake mushrooms in a 2 cup measuring cup and cover with 1.5 cups of boiling water.  Once they are soft, pull the shiitakes out and dice them and reserve the water they were soaked in.   In a large skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil.  When hot, add the garlic, leek, chopped baby bella mushrooms, and tomato paste.  Once the mushrooms have released their liquid, add the chopped shiitake mushrooms.  Sprinkle the flour over everything and cook until the flour starts to brown and stick to the skillet.  Add the wine, 1 cup broth, reserved shiitake soaking liquid and stir until thickened.  Add the contents of the skillet to the pot with the sprouted rice and quinoa in broth and stir to combine.  Stir in the heavy cream and soy sauce then add salt and pepper to taste.  Let simmer for 30 minutes for all flavors to combine.  Optional, once the sprouted rice and quinoa are cooked, add the diced ham to the broth to heat or lightly brown it in a skillet before adding it.  Serves 4 - 6 people.

A nice bowl of Sprouted Rice and Quinoa Mushroom Soup

This soup is rich and thick with wonderful umami from the mushrooms.  The addition of the ham ups the flavor and satisfies those like Uncle T that think you have to have some meat with supper.  Best of all, using the pressure cooker it is quick to make.

Give this soup a try some cold evening and I think you'll be pleased.

Uncle T

Egg Drop Soup and Spam Fried Rice

I imagine some will wonder what kind of culinary disaster Uncle T had in his kitchen with this combination.  One, Spam Fried Rice, is a dish I've made several times as a quick tasty meal.  The Egg Drop Soup was a request from the good wife.  We've both had some sort of virus and have been eating lots of homemade soups as part of our treatment.  The good wife had a craving for the Egg Drop Soup which she always gets when we go out to the local Asian buffet.  Due to both of us being sick it meant making it at home.  As easy as it is I should have started doing it sooner.

A hot bowl of Egg Drop Soup

In researching recipes for Egg Drop Soup I came across a wide variety that ranged from 3 ingredients to others with almost a dozen ingredients.  None of these totals include the seasoning which also varied greatly.  In the end, as usual, I came up with a recipe that would suit our tastes and the purpose for which it was being eaten.


Egg Drop Soup


1 quart + 1/4 cup chicken broth
3 - 4 eggs
1/4 cup + 1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs water
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 green onions
1 - 2 tsp salt
1 - 2 tsp white pepper
1 - 2 tsp 7 spice
1 - 2 tsp turmeric
1 Tbs roasted sesame oil


Slice the mushrooms thinly and set aside.  Slice the green onions, including the green tops, thinly and add to the mushrooms.  Bring 1 quart of chicken broth to a low boil and add the mushrooms and onions.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Add the spices starting with 1 Tsp each and stir into the broth.  Taste and add more of each to suit tastes.  Add the roasted sesame oil and stir in.  Combine cornstarch and remaining chicken broth and pour into the pot and stir.  You are looking for just slightly thickened broth as you are trying for a smooth mouth feel.   Crack the eggs into a measuring cup and break yolks.  Combine the 1 Tbs cornstarch and 1 Tbs water and add to the eggs and stir.  Bring the soup to a higher boil and slowly pour in the eggs while stirring the soup.  Pouring the eggs slowly will produce the nice thin threads of egg.  Serve hot and enjoy.  This will serve 4 people.


The cornstarch in the eggs was reported to make the egg strands softer and they did have a nice feel to them.  Since I haven't made this soup without cornstarch in the eggs I can't say for sure that it works but I've heard the same thing about adding cornstarch to scrambled eggs.  I also found recipes fairly evenly split about whether or not to have the turmeric.  As for the 7 spice, I used a middle eastern spice blend that I get from a local Mediterranean market run by a Lebanese family.  The recipes that called for something similar called for Chinese 5 spice which I didn't have at the house. 

A good bowl of Spam Fried Rice

The Spam Fried Rice came about a few months ago while getting ready to fix lunch after church one Sunday.  I had started out getting ready to make Spam Musubi, aka Hawaiian sushi, when I had the idea.  Fried rice usually calls for using leftover rice but I didn't see the need to make a double recipe sometime just to have enough leftover rice to make fried rice.  While the rice cooked in the pressure cooker I prepped and cooked most everything else.  It's too easy since there is no real hard fast list of ingredients for the most part.  The only must haves are rice and soy sauce, everything else is up to what you want or have left in the refrigerator.


Spam Fried Rice


1 can Spam, we use the low Sodium Spam
1.5 cups uncooked rice
water
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
3 green onions, white and green parts sliced
1 egg
sesame oil
soy sauce
salt
pepper

Take the Spam out of the can and slice through the side into at least 6 slices.  Cut each slice into 4 strips and then the strips into 3 pieces.  You'll end up with at least 72 Spam pieces.  Put them into a hot pan, I use a shallow stock pot, and start to brown.  Stir them to brown on a couple of sides and remove from the pot.  Add a bit of sesame oil and add the mushrooms.  Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper.  Once the mushrooms are browned, remove them from the pot.  Add more sesame oil if necessary and put in the onions.  Cook until the onions are translucent and remove.  While the mushrooms are cooking, crack the egg into a bowl and scramble it up and add just a bit of water.  Once the onions are removed, turn off the heat them pour the scrambled egg into the pot and move pot to coat the bottom evenly with the egg.  The residual heat should be enough to cook the egg.  Once the egg is cooked, break it apart and add to the other things that have been removed from the pot.  Add 1 - 2 Tbs sesame oil to the pot and bring to heat.  Add the rice and stir well.  Start adding soy sauce and stirring until you get the color you want.  Add the other ingredients and combine well, the peas will be heated up enough when added at the end.  Serve hot.  This serves 4.

A quick tasty hot supper

See, quick simple and full of flavor.  I've also made it using sliced red peppers from the freezer or slices of carrot.  I've even added a 1/4 cup of whole kernel corn that was in the freezer.  The egg and peas are in there simply because just about every place I've gotten fried rice from has had them in theirs.


Since this was one meal and I wanted things done as close together as possible I did the Egg Drop Soup up to the point just before adding the eggs.  Once the Spam Fried Rice was done, I started stirring the soup and adding the egg.


Give these recipes a try either together or for different meals.  I think you'll be pleased with them either way.  Let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Spaetzle Gratin with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash

I was looking at recipes using spaetzle the other day and came across some for spaetzle gratins.  The German recipes typically had bacon and cheese, sautéed onions and cheese, or spinach and cheese added to the spaetzle.  I came across a French recipe, at least it was written in French, for a spaetzle gratin with mushrooms and pumpkin.  I thought that one sounded interesting so I made sure to remember it.  I didn't find anything like it among the Ukrainian, Hungarian, and other countries that have spaetzle recipes.

Time to add the cheese

Over the weekend I decided I'd make this dish for supper on Monday night.  The first change that was made was substituting butternut squash for the pumpkin.  Why do this?  I had a butternut squash sitting on the counter ready to use.  Other changes were to get the flavor to suit us better.  Like I've said before, recipes are a suggestion or a source of ideas for me.

Ready for the oven

Spaetzle is easy to make and has been detailed here, http://uncletskitchen.blogspot.com/2015/07/venison-rouladen-with-spaetzle.html.  If you don't want to make it yourself, dried spaetzle can be found in the international section of most grocery stores.  We've eaten the dry spaetzle many times and it is fine.  To me, fresh pasta is always better than dried flavor wise but there is nothing wrong with dried pasta.  I still have boxes of dried pasta in the cabinet.

Another interesting issue, to me at least, that came up was the base recipe had the ingredients in grams and centiliters.  I have a good scale and weighed the spaetzle, mushrooms, and butternut squash.  I did a conversion to get the centiliters to ounces for the cream and just eyeballed the grated cheese for the top.

Spaetzle Gratin with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash

24 oz cooked spaetzle, cooled

16 oz mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

16 oz butternut squash, diced 1/2 inch

7 oz cream

1/4 cup brandy

butter

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup grated Swiss cheese

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

salt

pepper

garlic powder

nutmeg

Place the cooled spaetzle in a large bowl.  Melt butter in a hot skillet and add the sliced mushrooms then season with salt and pepper.  Once the mushrooms have started to brown and have released some liquid add the brandy.  Mix well and allow the brandy to cook off.  Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and add to the bowl with the spaetzle.  Add some butter to the skillet if necessary and put in the butternut squash then season with nutmeg, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cook until the squash is soft and there is some brown on parts of them.  Remove from the skillet and add to the spaetzle.  Thoroughly mix the spaetzle, mushrooms, and butternut squash and taste a bite containing all three.   Add any seasoning if needed.  Add the grated Parmesan to the bowl and mix well.  Pour into a 9x13 pan and pour the cream over it then top with the grated Swiss and Cheddar cheeses.  Bake in 350F oven for 30 minutes.  This will serve about 6 people.

Spaetzle Gratin hot from the oven

This would be good as a stand alone dish or as a side with a good spicy Germany sausage.  We had some homemade Mettwurst with it.  I didn't think about it until we were finished but some sauerkraut would have gone good with this to help cut the richness of both the sausage and the gratin.  Since this was the last of my Mettwurst, the rest will be eaten with pork chops or a pork roast.

Spaetzle Gratin, home fermented Sauerkraut, Mettwurst

The other significant changes I made to the base recipe were adding the Parmesan cheese and the cooking method for the squash.  The Parmesan cheese was not in the recipe I'd found but I thought the additional flavor profile would be worth it.  The original recipe, the one that had pumpkin, called for the pumpkin to be steamed then seasoned with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Obviously, frying in butter with the seasonings and getting some browning on the squash added more layers of flavor and made the butternut squash shine.

So if you're wanting a gratin for supper but are tired of the same old potatoes au gratin give a spaetzle gratin a try.  Let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T

Potatoes and Okra

Potatoes and okra, two of my favorite plant based foods.  Given my ancestral make up I almost think I'm genetically programmed to like potatoes.  Of course, potatoes are a Southern staple and it's hard to think of a day without potatoes in some form.  Needless to say, even though not many potato recipes appear here, we eat a lot of potatoes.

All mixed up and ready for the skillet

I was wondering about a way to use some larger okra instead of frying them when I saw a reference to this dish in an email about potential things I'd like from Pinterest.  I got to looking around and found quite a few.  After that, it was just a matter of deciding how my version would be constructed.


Potatoes and Okra


2-3 russet potatoes, diced 3/8 inch
2-3 cups sliced okra
1 cup sliced red pepper
1/2 cup bacon grease\
1/2 cup corn meal mix
1-2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp roasted cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper


Dice the potatoes and slice the okra and red pepper and put them in a large bowl.  Add the corn meal mix and toss to coat.  Add the spices by pinches and toss after each pinch.  Taste a bit to see when you get the seasoning level you like.  Heat the bacon grease in a large skillet.  Once the bacon grease is hot add the potato and okra mix to the skillet.  The skillet will be full.  Let cook for a bit then gently turn to keep the crusty part with the potatoes and okra it formed with.  Repeat until the potatoes are cooked and there are crispy bits scattered throughout.  Serve hot.  Serves 4-5.

Cooked and ready to serve

A note about bacon grease, like a good old school Southerner, I have a bacon grease pot in the cabinet.  If you don't have bacon grease, you can fry up 6 - 8 slices of bacon and use the grease from that though you may need to add some additional oil to get the correct amount.  Alternately,  you could use lard or vegetable oil of some sort but the vegetable oil won't add anything to the flavor.

We paired this dish with pan fried salmon and it was great.  I've talked about this method with salmon before.  Spread softened butter on the skin of the salmon and season with salt and pepper and place in  a hot skillet.  Season the flesh side and when the cook line is about halfway up the fillet turn it and cook the rest of the way. 

The potatoes and okra did well as leftovers also.  I added some more bacon grease to a skillet and refried them until heated through.  The leftovers were served with pork chops.

This is a simple filling dish that could stand alone if you wanted a vegetarian meal, just use vegetable oil in place of the bacon grease or lard.  However it is eaten it will be a winner.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Uncle T

Chocolate Chess Pie

Now, what is chess pie?  Chess pie is the ultimate pantry pie, meaning it's made with stuff you'll always have in your pantry.  The main ingredients to any chess pie recipe are sugar, eggs, flour, and cornmeal.  Some recipes call for milk, others butter, and some buttermilk.  Other variations have a bit of vinegar, lemon juice, or other spices added.  See what I mean, it's kind of a find what you have in the pantry and throw it together kind of pie.  Once the basic chess pie is mastered then there are variations using coconut, pecans, or cocoa powder for a chocolate chess pie.

Chocolate Chess Pie

Stories/theories as to the origin of the pie cover a wide range of possibilities.  The least likely I've ever seen written was that it was a pie served when the men went to the study to play chess.  Another is that because of the high sugar content it would keep well in a pie chest that  people called it chest pie and with the Southern drawl it became chess.  I've also heard that old Southern women would throw stuff together to make a pie and when asked what kind would say "It's jes pie" which non-Southerners heard as chess.  I have no real clue where the name came from though I am mildly curious.  Regardless, it's a good pie and quick to make and super easy if you use a store bought pie crust.

Fresh from the oven

Cooled and ready to slice

You may have noticed that there aren't many desserts here.  Well, that's because we don't eat that many.  Most times, if we want something after supper it'll be popcorn, canned peaches, or some cheese.  Every so often though, we'll get the hankering for something sweet.  A week or so ago, the good wife told me she felt like having some cake.  The next day a video for a chocolate chess pie came across my Facebook feed.  It's been years since the last time I had chocolate chess pie I decided to do that.  The good wife agreed that it sounded good and asked when was I going to make it.

The basic recipe I used came from the Southern Living 1986 Annual Cookbook.  The below recipe is with my changes.

Chocolate Chess Pie

3 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
pinch of salt, my pinch is about 1/2 tsp
4 Tbs cocoa powder
1.5 Tbs flour
1.5 Tbs corn meal
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 unbaked deep dish pie crust
Optional, 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Add the dry ingredients, including pecans if using, to a bowl and mix well.  Put the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl and combine well.  Pour the milk mixture into the dry mix and stir to combine.  Pour into the pie crust.  Put pie into 350F oven for 45 - 50 minutes.  The center should be set.  Let cool on a rack.

That first slice of pie

When you serve the pie, you have a range of options.  The simplest way to serve the pie is by itself.  A more decorative way to serve it is to lightly dust the slice with powdered sugar.  Of course, the over the top ways to serve it are with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

A nice sprinkling of powdered sugar

This pie keeps well on the counter, just cover it with aluminum foil.  Not that it will stay around very long once you taste it.  Yes, it is that good if I do say so myself. 

Give this pie a try the next time you feel the desire for something sweet.  Let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Red Rice and Shrimp with Boiled Okra

Rice has been a staple in the South for a long time.  It is more prevalent in the Low Country cuisine of the Carolinas and in the Cajun and Creole cuisine of Louisiana.  Still, I remember eating rice while growing up in Tennessee.  Between the presence of rice in Southern cooking and in the Korean and Thai cooking we enjoy, the good wife and I eat a fair bit of rice.  Cooking rice in my pressure cooker makes it an easy choice for many meals.

Red Rice and Shrimp with Boiled Okra

I'm not sure where or when I first saw anything about red rice.  It's not something we ate growing up.  I've been trying to come up with ways to use more of our canned tomatoes and this came to mind.  Plus shrimp and rice are an excellent combination so it just went from there.


Even though our okra is anywhere from almost upright to almost parallel to the ground after the edge of hurricane Matthew hit us, it is still producing.  Since the good wife prefers boiled okra and we had plenty of the smaller pods it was a match made in heaven.  Making good non-slimy boiled okra is detailed in this post, Boiled Okra.  The only change was that I added some of my Cajun style seasoning to the butter instead of using hot peppers.


Red Rice and Shrimp


1.5 cups rice
1 red onion
1 red bell pepper
1 28 oz can tomatoes
1.5 tsp Tarragon
1.5 tsp Oregano
1.5 lbs shrimp, 31-35
6 Tbs butter
Cajun seasoning
salt


Cook the rice according to the method you use.  I used the pressure cooker set for 7 minutes.  Divide the red onion into quarters and slice.  Julienne the bell pepper to strips about the same length as the red onion slices.  Melt 2 Tbs butter in a skillet and add both the red onion and bell pepper and sprinkle with a bit of salt.  Sautee' until they are tender.  When the rice is done, add the red onion and bell pepper to it and stir.  Drain the tomatoes, reserving the liquid, and add to the rice.  Break up the tomatoes and stir into the rice mixture.  Add the Tarragon and Oregano and stir.  Season the rice mixture to taste with the Cajun seasoning.  Add the reserved tomato juice until you get the consistency you want.  Keep warm and let the flavors meld.  Season the shrimp with the Cajun seasoning.  Melt the remaining 4 Tbs butter in a skillet and add the shrimp.  Cook until done and add to the rice mixture.  Stir to combine.  Serve with boiled okra and enjoy.  Serves 4.

A colorful and tasty meal

The shrimp can be left tail on if you like the look of for presentation purposes.  I pinch the tails off because I'd rather not have to fool with it while I'm eating.  If you take the tails off, keep them in the freezer until you have enough to make some good shrimp broth for making seafood soups.  I prefer 31-35 size shrimp because they are small enough to eat with one bite and not have your mouth too full and can be cut in half to eat with some of the rice.


I believe that chicken cut into bite size pieces and given the same treatment as the shrimp would work for folks that are allergic to shellfish.  I'll have to give that a try sometime.


There are many Cajun style seasonings available.  I was given some called "Slap Ya Momma" several years ago and we like it.  Since that can ran out, I've devised my own version of it to avoid having to order it since I've not seen it in stores in Virginia.  If you don't have a preferred seasoning look this one up and order it.


If the tomatoes don't have enough juice to get the consistency you want, add a bit of water or even white wine.  For the first meal, the home canned tomatoes had enough juice to get the consistency I wanted and enough left over for the good wife to drink the next day.  When I reheated the leftovers I used some left over white wine for some additional liquid.  It did add something more to it than water would have.


See, another fairly quick meal that packs a punch of flavor.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.


Uncle T

A Southern Supper

Every so often I get the urge to forego fancy or new dishes for supper.  When that happens I go back to my small town Southern roots.  You just can't go wrong with the basics of Southern cooking.  To that end, we had a meal that any Southerner would appreciate.  Last night's supper was grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, fried okra, and mixed greens.  Oh my goodness it was good.  The only thing I didn't do that my grandmother would have done was make biscuits or cornbread to go with it.


I'll break down the how and why of this meal as I go along.  Now, on with the show.

A plate of good Southern cooking

Grilled pork chops should need no explanation.  After all, is there anything better than glorious pork?  I will say, I could have fried the pork chops but I didn't have enough space on the stove top.  If I hadn't had fried okra then I'd have fried the pork chops and been able to make gravy to go on the mashed potatoes.  Any way, pork is the meat of the South.  I am not big on over seasoning meat since I think the flavor of the meat should shine, so the pork chops got a simple treatment.  I sprinkled kosher salt and ground black pepper on the pork chops then splashed a little bourbon on them.  They sat on a pan until time to take out to the grill.  They were grilled until they reached 145F.  Beautiful juicy white meat with great flavor.


Mashed potatoes are one of those things that tend to get short changed.  It's hard to find a meal in the South without potatoes in some form.  Like pork, the potato is a versatile ingredient and can be used many ways.


Mashed Potatoes


4 russet potatoes
1 stick butter, sliced
buttermilk
salt
pepper
garlic powder


Cut the potatoes into cubes of similar size and place in a pot.  Fill the pot with water and rinse the potatoes then dump the water.  Repeat the process.  Fill  the pot with water until it just covers the potatoes then put over med-high heat.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just tender.  A fork should stick in without breaking the cube.  Drain the water.  Put the pot of potatoes back on the eye to evaporate any remaining water.  Add the butter slices in pot and stir.  Once the butter has melted start mashing.  Add buttermilk as you go till you get the consistency you want.  Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.  Serves 4.


Fried okra is all some people know of okra, or it's the only form of okra they'll eat.  Mention boiled okra to most people and they start talking about slime even if they've never had boiled okra.  In spite of my okra plants getting laid over thanks to the edge of hurricane Matthew that hit us, they are still producing well.  Okra pods that get too big to be tender boiled get sliced and fried.  Since I had built up a good collection of frying okra that's what I used.


Fried Okra


1/2 lb okra
flour
1 egg
1 cup milk
cornmeal mixture (cornmeal, corn starch, salt, garlic powder)
oil


Cut okra into 1/2 inch thick slices and put in flour.  Shake excess flour off the sliced okra and put into egg wash made with the egg and milk.  Drain the excess and put in a bowl with the cornmeal mixture and toss to coat.  Once well coated remove okra from the bowl and put on a plate until all the okra is done.  Heat a skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil in it.  Once it is hot put in the breaded okra.  Cook until brown on the bottom and turn the okra to cook the other side.  Alternatively, you can deep fry the okra and not have to worry about turning it.  Serve hot.

Fried Okra almost ready

Greens are another thing that get Southerners going.  Greens mean different things to different people.  Greens can be collard greens, mustard greens, or turnip greens most often.  There are also wild greens like poke salad, dandelions, and lamb's quarter.  For me growing up, greens meant either mustard or turnip greens.  I now prefer a mix of the two since they both have different flavor profiles and textures.  I've also been known to throw some wild greens into the mix from time to time.


Greens get boiled and slow simmered in the South, especially collard greens.  After all, you've got to give the smoked pork time to give its flavor to the greens.  I did a variation on this.  Our greens had been blanched prior to freezing so they were nearly done.  For the pork flavor, I heated the thawed greens in a skillet with some bacon grease in it. 

Bottle of homemade pepper sauce

I'll throw in one last tidbit about eating greens.  You have to have pepper sauce available.  No, I don't mean hot sauce.  Pepper sauce is vinegar with hot peppers in it.  You put it on your greens and you get a bit of the acid from the vinegar and a hint of heat and flavor from the peppers.  As you use up the pepper sauce, you simply add more vinegar.  The pepper sauce we use was made with Serrano peppers from our garden and apple cider vinegar.  Pepper sauce is widely available in stores, at least it is in the South but it is easy to make your own.  All  you need is a jar, some vinegar, and the hot peppers of your choice.  Pull the cap and stem off the peppers and put them in your jar then fill with vinegar.  Let it sit in the cabinet for a few weeks before using it.


There you have it, a good Southern supper.  Give it a try sometime.


Uncle T

Pork Loin and Fermented Green Tomato Relish

It probably won't be a surprise that I belong to several food related groups on Facebook.  Two of those groups deal with fermentation and the results thereof.  After all, there are many benefits to eating fermented food that I won't get into here.  Most times the conversations are about recipes/techniques to get a specific fermented item.  These are helpful and informative.  Then there are the discussions about eating fermented foods as they are or cooking with them.  These can get a bit contentious at times.  Obviously, I'm on the side of the "sometimes it's just about the flavor" group.  The idea for this supper came from someone posting a picture of a meal they had made using fermented salsa.  I don't have any fermented salsa but I do have the fermented green tomato relish.

Pork Loin on a  bed of sliced mushrooms with garlic

I had bought a couple of pork loins last week since the price was down a bit so when I processed them I kept two roasts.  Each roast is just a bit under 2 pounds which is enough for two meals for the good wife and me.  My plan when I cut this one last week was for it to be our Monday night supper.  I'm happy to say it was a success.

Pork Loin topped with Fermented Green Tomato Relish hot from the oven

Roasted Pork Loin


2 lb pork loin roast
1 quart fermented green tomato relish
1 lb mushrooms
1 head of garlic
olive oil
salt
1/2 cup white wine, optional

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of your roasting pan.  Slice the mushrooms and put in the roasting pan.  Set the pork loin roast on the bed of sliced mushrooms.  Season with salt.  Slice the garlic and put on top of the pork loin roast.  Cover the pork roast with the fermented green tomato relish.  Add the white wine if using.  Place in a 400F oven and cook with the lid on for 1.5 hours.  Check the temperature of the pork roast, if it is at least 135F put the lid back on and let set until ready to slice and serve.  Carry over will bring the internal temperature of the meat up past 145F.  Slice the pork loin into thick slices and serve with a side of the green tomato relish and mushroom mixture.

A nicely done Pork Loin

We had ours with rice though it would pair equally as well with either roasted or mashed potatoes.   Then again, serve what you want to with it.

Oh what a meal

I know not many people will go to the effort to ferment green tomato relish, all is not lost.  There are commercially produced varieties of green tomato relish as well as chutney and chow chow.  These won't have the tang of the fermented relish but they should work with this recipe.  Plus,  you could use the salsa of your choice and make it like the dish that inspired this one.  Heck, it would work with sauerkraut as well though I think you'd have to go with potatoes as the side rather than rice.

Give this lovely dish a try and let me know what you think.  I believe you'll like it.


Uncle T

Frog Leg Salad

Sadly, we live in the city so places I can easily get to for frog hunting are nonexistent.  Even though there are small lakes close to us, I've never heard a bull frog.  If I knew there were bull frogs there I would definitely take an evening ride along the shore.


Happily, we have a good international market close by, Grand Mart.  Yes, I know I've mentioned them before but it is a great store.  Some time back, I had gone to pick up a couple of things and I happened to spot frog legs in the freezer section.  I didn't hesitate.


We'd gotten in the habit of eating salads on Tuesday and Friday as part of the Fast Diet.  Even though we are not following that at the present, we still do salads on those days time to time.  After all, a salad is quick and easy to fix.


Frozen frog legs are much easier to work with than fresh frog legs.  Fresh frog legs still have nerve action remaining so the legs tend to kick and jerk while you fry them.  Freezing them eliminates that problem.


To make a frog leg salad, all you need is 3 - 4 pairs of frog legs per person and a salad for each person.  Any salad will work but we prefer a mix of greens rather than a single type.  The salad pictured is leaf lettuce and Romaine from the garden.  When we have them I also add beet greens and sometimes carrot greens.  I generally use a vinaigrette to dress the salad.  Once you have the salad all you have to do is fry the frog legs and dig in.


Fried Frog Legs


3 - 4 pairs per person
2 cups flour
2 Tbs salt
2 Tbs pepper
2 Tbs garlic powder
oil


Add the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to a bowl and mix well.  Work your way up to the measurements of the salt, pepper, and garlic powder to make sure you get the flavor you want.  Heat oil in a skillet, a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.  Once the oil is hot, dredge the frog legs in the flour mixture and place in the skillet.  Once you can see the flour is browned on the bottom turn them over to finish frying.  Once browned to your satisfaction, let drain on a rack or on paper towels.  Once all the frog legs are fried and drained, arrange them around the edge of the salad bowl and serve.

Frog Leg Salad

The left over flour mixture can be placed in a ziplock bag and be stored in the freezer until the next time you fry something.  It can also be used to make a seasoned roux for making gravy or a béchamel sauce for making macaroni and cheese.  I always have a bag in the freezer ready to use.


This salad can also be made with a nice fish fillet, I use tilapia and white bass, or a boneless chicken breast.  When we have the chicken breast I slice it thinly and lay on the edge of the salad bowl in its original shape.  Sliced thin the pieces can easily be cut with a fork to desired bite size.


Give this a go sometime to up your salad.  Let me know what you think about it once you've tried it.


Uncle T

Spaetzle and Sauerkraut Soup

What a way to combine some of our favorite things.  This came about because of a statement by the good wife.  After finding a container of leftover spaetzle in the refrigerator while putting up leftover spaetzle from supper she told me to make soup to use it up.  Her wish is my command.


I've been trying to use more of our fermented food as part of meals or in recipes.  Yes, I know cooking with them kills the probiotics but sometimes it's about the flavor.  Besides, the improved nutritional benefit is still there and that is good enough.  Since the weather is cooling and since sauerkraut and spaetzle go together well it seemed natural.


I started searching for recipes for soups containing these and couldn't find any with them together.  The spaetzle soups tended be chicken with spaetzle and the occasional recipe with pork or mushrooms.  All the sauerkraut soup recipes had either white beans, potatoes, or both along with a meat that was usually sausage.  So, as frequently happens, I went my own way and started planning.


In the end, this tasty soup ended up containing homemade spaetzle, home fermented sauerkraut, homemade pork broth, and homemade mettwurst.   I chose the mettwurst because it is a good spicy sausage that pairs well with sauerkraut on the plate and I figured it would do the same in the soup.  The soup was made in the electric pressure cooker using a combination of different settings.

A full pot of soup.  The pressure cooker has a 6 quart capacity.

OK, I know most people won't go to the extent of growing cabbage and making their own sauerkraut.  That's OK.  I would suggest buying kraut that comes in a bag in the cooler section of the store rather than the canned variety.  The bagged kraut has much better flavor and crunch


Spaetzle and Sauerkraut Soup


1 lb smoked sausage (mettwurst, kielbasa, etc)
3 - 4 cups cooked spaetzle
1.5 - 2 lbs sauerkraut, drained
1 cup diced carrots
2 cups diced potatoes
6 cups broth
1/2 - 1 Tbs salt*
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 Tbs garlic powder


Put the broth in a large pot and bring to a simmer.  Add the diced carrots and potatoes along with the spices and cook until tender.  I set the pressure cooker for 5 minutes.  Once they are tender, stir in the spaetzle and sauerkraut and let them get warm.  Slice the smoked sausage into 3/8 inch/1 cm pieces and add to the soup and stir.  Let the whole pot simmer for 30 minutes for the flavors to come together.  Serve with a good crusty bread.  Makes 6 servings.


*This will be variable depending on your broth.  My homemade broth didn't have any salt so both it and the potatoes need the salt.  Commercially produced broth has varying levels of salt so adjust to taste.  Don't forget the kraut will have some salt as well.

A bowl of filling tasty goodness

As with many soups and stews it was better the 2nd night and will probably be even better on the 3rd night.  This is a filling nutritious soups perfect for cooler weather.


If you make this soup let me know what you think.


Uncle T

A Different Sunday Dinner

Growing up, Sunday dinner tended to be predictable.  Momma would wrap a beef chuck roast in aluminum foil with some potatoes and carrots and put them in the oven just before we headed out the door to go to church.  After we got home, we ate roast, potatoes, and carrots to the enjoyment of all.  Every once in a while the menu would change but to the best of my recollection, this was the standard.


These days, the good wife and I usually just eat leftovers from Saturday's supper as our lunch on Sunday.  Some times I'll go ahead and cook something but that is usually because we have something we don't want to chance going bad by waiting another day or two.  This most recent Sunday, I cooked for that very reason.


Exotic fruits are some of the few food items we actually go to the store to get.  After all, most of them won't grow in Virginia.  A few days ago we bought some plantains because they had some good looking ones and the price was right.  I don't do the green plantain double frying thing.  I prefer to use one that is almost completely ripe.  Add a little salt after they are done to play against their sweetness and it is an excellent side dish.

Minimum ripeness of plantain I use

Fried Plantain


1 - 2 plantains, almost fully ripe
oil
salt


Cut the plantains in half then cut the two halves down the middle.  Remove the skin.  Lay each half on a cutting board and carefully cut into two slices of equal thicknesses.  Heat oil in a skillet and place the plantain slices in a single layer.  Fry until golden brown then turn them over.  Once the second side is done, remove them from the skillet and drain on a rack or paper towels.  Repeat the process if need be.  Sprinkle a little salt on the plantain slices and serve.


Along with the plantains, I grilled some pork chops and made some black beans in the pressure cooker. 


The pork chops were seasoned with salt, pepper, and ground roasted cumin then a little splash of Tequila for additional flavoring was added.  The pork chops were then grilled to 145F which is medium rare and leaves them tender, juicy, and with just a faint hint of pink inside.  I thought about making a pineapple salsa to top them with but decided that would be gilding the lily.  The flavor was so good I'll definitely be using this seasoning combination again.


The black beans turned out very well.  As usual, I used my Simply Ming electric pressure cooker.


Pressure Cooker Black Beans


1 cup dry black beans
3 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup salsa
3 oz fat back or bacon ends and pieces
2 - 3 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground roasted cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 - 3 bay leaves


Add all ingredients to the pressure cooker and stir to mix well.  Put on lid and turn valve so it will build pressure.  Select pressure cook and set timer for 50 minutes.  At the end of the time, allow pressure to naturally release.  If the liquid isn't thick enough for your liking, mix a little corn starch and water and add to the beans and stir.  Raise the heat for10 minutes then turn back to warm.  Stir and the broth should be thicker.

Fried Plantain, Black Beans, and grilled Pork Chop

As you can see, not a typical Sunday dinner for a good Southern boy at all.  One of the benefits of an Army career is traveling and being introduced to other food cultures.  Try those foods when you get the chance.  If you like them, make them yourself.  If you can't find the right ingredient use one that is close that you do have.  Some of those subtle changes yield excellent results.


Give these a try either together or as parts of different meals.  I think you'll enjoy them.  Let me know how they turn out.


Uncle T

Fermented Green Tomato Relish

Some time ago I wrote a post about green tomato relish and mentioned I may try fermenting it.  Well, I did it.  The results are outstanding if I do say so myself.


Toward the end of the season we were having lots of tomatoes getting chewed on.  I was thinking either birds or rodents even though the chewed spots didn't look like they were made by rodents.  Since we were still getting a few good size tomatoes for fresh eating I kept letting the plants go and put up with the damage.  When I finally pulled up the plants I found out it was some sort of caterpillar doing the damage.  That's what happens when you avoid spraying.


We were going to be going out of town in a couple of weeks so I decided to pull the plants and harvest every sound green tomato and make some relish to ferment.  I ended up with so many little green tomatoes my basket was creaking and I was worried it would break.


Since I had so many I decided on two changes to my plan, first I would clean a bunch of quart jars and second, would use the food processor to save time.


This will not be a recipe with specific quantities as much as it'll be a method to be adapted to what you have on hand.

Two batches of Green Tomato Relish ready to start fermenting

I ran the green tomatoes through the food processor with the julienne/french fry blade.  This cut them into long strips about 1/4 inch square.  I would drop in a red tomato every so often for the little splash of color.  I stopped when the food processor container was full.  Everything was then dumped in a large bowl and mixed well.  We had decided we wanted a bit of heat in the relish so I very finely minced a couple of red ripe jalapenos from the garden and added them.  I added some herbs to one batch but can't tell that they added anything to the flavor.  After everything is well mixed it is time for the salt.


For the salting I used the same process for making sauerkraut.  That means using roughly 3 Tbs for each 5 lbs of mix.  I say roughly because I tend not to measure but use my fingers and go by taste.  Using the 3:5 ratio will work fine though and be more precise if that helps you.  After the salt was sprinkled on everything was mixed and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.  At the end of the 30 minutes, stir the mixture well and put it in jars to ferment.


If you have a fermenting crock you can use that.  I use mason jars for most everything.   Make sure they are clean and well rinsed.  I typically don't bother sanitizing them.  Put some of the relish in the jar and press it down to squeeze out some brine.  Continue to do this until you are an inch or two from the top.  If  you've made a large batch, repeat the process until it is all used up.  Split the brine remaining in the bowl among all your jars.  Use whatever method you choose to keep the relish below the brine and cap the jars. 

Pretty and tasty.  You can see the size of the tomatoes after the food processor.

Once the jars are capped, put them in a pan to catch overflow and set them in an out of the way spot.  I use a corner to the right of our sink that is just a bit awkward to put something we use regularly in.  After 24 hours or so, you'll start to see some liquid in the pan.  This means the fermentation process is starting and the gasses formed are forcing things up.  Start checking the flavor after 3 or 4 days to see if it has reached the desired level of sour.  The first batch was good after 5 days and the 2nd batch took 7 days.  Once it has reached the sour level you want, put them in a refrigerator.  This greatly slows down the ferment.  The flavors will continue to develop until you've eaten it all.


So, like I said, more of a method than a specific quantity recipe.  This relish is good with many things, grilled pork chops and chicken, served with vegetables, or even eaten by itself as a side.  Besides the good wife and me, this has been eaten by the good wife's sister and her family and by a Soldier I work with and his family.  It has been well received by both groups.


I know that much has been written about the benefits of fermented foods for gut health.  I don't know if all this is true and I'm not really concerned with it.  Fermentation does things I know about and care about.  Fermentation makes some nutrients more readily available, lengthens shelf life of the product, and develops some great textures and flavors.  So, if eating all the things I ferment helps our gut health great but I'd be fermenting even if it didn't.


There are many resources online to get you started.  If there is an organic food store close to you chances are good that at least one person that works there knows fermentation.  The one closest to use even sells airlocks for mason jars to aid fermentation.  I've not read it, but several of the sites I've visited to get information have referenced a book by Sandor Ellix Katz called, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods.  It can be found here, Amazon. 


Give fermenting a go and see what you think.  It is basically a beneficial bacteria driven pickling process.  If you eat sauerkraut, kimchee, or any other commercially fermented product you'll be amazed at the difference between that and what you can make yourself.  If you give it a try let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T

Butternut Squash Two Ways and Pan Fried Salmon

A week or so ago we made the drive back to Tennessee to visit family.  We carried a couple of boxes of goodies for family members.  We took stuff from our garden that the good wife had canned, pickles, pinkeye purple hull peas, black berry preserves, etc.  I took some samples of my bacon and sausage.  This is a variation on my childhood memories.  It seems like every time we visited my maternal grandparents we ended up with jars of preserves or containers of frozen corn or peas.  Then, my grandparents had the most productive garden and now I seem to have the most productive garden.


We did bring some stuff back courtesy of the good wife's sister.  From her garden we had some butternut squash and some purple peppers.  The peppers were sweet with a nice fresh flavor.  I much prefer their flavor over green bell peppers.  They are excellent sliced thinly and added to a salad.  I need to try to find them for my garden next year.  We also brought home a loaf of homemade sour dough bread.  I must say, that is some most excellent bread and she has been making it as long as I can remember.

A nice purple bell pepper

For the butternut squash I was wanting to do something different.  I know, there is nothing wrong with roasted butternut squash but there has to be more variety.  An idea came to me while I was watching SEC football on Saturday afternoon.  A quick Google search didn't turn up anything like it so I had my dish.  What I came up with was butternut squash waffle fries.  That accounted for the solid neck portion of the squash and the rest was cubed up and saved for another meal.

Butternut squash waffle fries and Pan fried salmon

The two meals with the butternut squash also featured pan fried salmon.  I first came across this method 8 or 9 years ago while we were living in Texas.  I don't remember if I found it online or saw it on TV.  What I like about this method is it's quick, gives nice crispy salmon skin, and it's easy to get the salmon to your desired level of doneness.  As a bonus, if desired you can use the butter and salmon juices left in the skillet as the base for a pan sauce to pour over the salmon.


Pan Fried Salmon


1 skin on fillet per person
1 stick butter, softened
kosher salt
pepper

Make sure the scales are off the salmon skin.  Pat dry both the flesh side and the skin side of the fillets.  Leave skin side up.  Coat the skin with a layer of the softened butter. Sprinkle some kosher salt all over the butter coating then add a little pepper.  Lay the fillets in a hot skillet skin side down and sprinkle additional salt and pepper on the flesh side.  When the cooked line is about halfway up the fillet, gently flip it over.  The skin should me nicely browned and crisp.  When the cooked lines meet in the middle the salmon is done.  The salmon will be completely done and flaky but will still be moist.

To make a pan sauce to pour over, add 2 - 3 more tablespoons of butter to the skillet.  Once it has melted and is sizzling, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of bourbon to the skillet.  If you want to be dramatic and can safely do so, you can burn off the alcohol.  If you don't think you can safely do it then just let the mixture simmer for a couple of minutes.  Once the alcohol has burned off, add 1 Tbs of mustard and 1 1/2 tsp honey to the skillet.  Stir to combine and let simmer until reduced to the consistency you want.  Spoon over each fillet.

Fried butternut squash, pan fried salmon with pan sauce, fresh salad

Butternut Squash Waffle Fries


1 Butternut Squash neck, peeled
oil
salt


Using the waffle blade on a mandolin, cut the squash using the smallest thickness possible.  Once the squash is sliced, let is sit until the oil gets hot.  I used my outdoor fryer with peanut oil and got the oil to 375F.  Immerse the waffle cut squash in the oil and fry until browned.  Drain well and lightly sprinkle with salt.  Serve and enjoy.

Fried Butternut Squash


1 Butternut squash, cubed.  In this case I used just the seed end of the squash.
bacon grease
salt
pepper
roasted cumin


Season the cubed butternut squash with salt, pepper, and roasted cumin.  Heat bacon grease in a skillet, use 2 - 3 Tbs.  Once hot, add the squash and give it a good shake.  Let the squash cook until it starts to brown then toss the skillet to get the squash flipped.  Continue cooking until the desired level of brown is reached.  Serve and enjoy.


Both these ways of cooking butternut squash are tasty departures from the norm.  The waffle fries weren't even thickness due to the difficulty of getting it to cut smoothly.  As a result, many of them were crispy on one part and crispy with a soft inside at the other.  The little bit of salt was just enough to emphasize the sweetness of the squash.  The cubed squash had a similar texture all the way through but the addition of the cumin and the flavor imparted from the bacon grease made the flavor something else.  Both of these methods will be put to use again.  I don't usually grow winter squash but I may need to next year.


The salmon and butternut squash, either way, would be good accompanied by a salad.  The salmon and cubed squash was accompanied by a simple salad.  The salad was Romaine, Red Leaf lettuce, sliced onion, sliced purple sweet peppers, sliced carrots, tossed with apple cider vinegar salad dressing and topped with freshly fried bacon pieces.  Given the time of year, only the pepper was home grown.


Give this salmon and these butternut squash recipes a try in your kitchen.  I think you'll be pleased with the results.  If you do try them, let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Shrimp in a Peanut Garlic Sauce

By now, you've probably figured out that we enjoy the cuisine of many countries.  Indian food is no different.  We've always gone to an Indian restaurant since all the recipes I've looked at have always seemed either overly complicated or had several ingredients that I don't keep on hand and didn't know where to find.  There may be one but I've not found an Indian market close to us where I could get those ingredients.


I was looking around at Indian and Indian inspired recipes last week and I found one that had ingredients that I had or could alter to what I had on hand.  Using what I had on hand also changed both the texture and flavor profile.  We've decided that this is a keeper recipe.  I'm calling this an Indian inspired recipe because I adapted a recipe that was adapted from a curry cookbook that was written by an Indian Chef, 660 Curries.  From what I've read about the author I may have to get this book.


One of the key changes was in the peanut requirement.  The original called for blanched peanuts to be crushed and added to the sauce.  Those peanuts are rather flavorless and only provide a bit of texture to the sauce.  I decided to use some of our homemade mixed nut butter instead.  I leave a bit of graininess to this butter when I process it and the flavor is out of this world. 


This shrimp dish is good served over rice or cauliflower rice.  Not only that, it is quick and simple to make. 


Shrimp in Peanut Garlic Sauce


1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, size is your preference
1/2 - 1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 cup nut butter
4 - 8 large cloves garlic
3 Thai chilies
2 Tbs canola oil
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
salt
cilantro


Place shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with ground turmeric to suit you.  I was using 35 - 40 size shrimp so I used a good teaspoon of turmeric.  Toss to coat well and let sit for 15 - 30 minutes.


While the shrimp is sitting, mince the garlic and chilies.  Add the oil to a skillet and bring up to medium heat.  Add the garlic and chilies and stir.  After they've cooked about a minute, add the nut butter and stir.


Once the nut butter, garlic, and chilies have browned a bit, stir in the coconut milk.  Be sure to shake the can before you open it.  Bring it up to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Add salt to taste.  Simmer for 2 minutes and add the shrimp.  Bring back to a simmer and cook until shrimp are done, about 3 - 5 minutes.


Serve over rice or cauliflower rice and sprinkle with cilantro.

Shrimp in a Peanut Garlic Sauce over Cauliflower Rice

I used some of my dried Thai Dragon peppers instead of fresh peppers because I didn't grow any Thai peppers this year.  I just minced them up dry instead of rehydrating them.  If you can't find Thai peppers then cayenne peppers are a good substitute.  You should be able to find both at a good Asian store.


Give this recipe a try and expand your kitchen repertoire.

Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

A good bit of the fruit and vegetables that we eat comes from our garden and fruit trees.  At the peak of each season the good wife is kept busy canning the excess so we can eat it throughout the year until the next harvest season.  Tomatoes have been coming in strong for a bit now and we have 17 pints of homemade ketchup and 11 quarts and 1 pint of tomatoes canned for making sauces or adding to stews.  Earlier in the season the good wife found a website, http://joybileefarm.com/making-tomato-powder-scratch/?utm_content=buffer67519&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer, suggested an alternate use for the tomato skins that get removed prior to processing and canning.  The use she found was drying and grinding to powder to use for seasoning, thickening, etc.  Making powder was in lieu of composting or feeding to the chickens according to the website.  We'd always composted them.  The process is simple, put the tomato skins in a dehydrator or on a rack in the oven at the lowest temperature setting and letting dry until they were brittle.  Once they are brittle put in them in a food processor, blender, or spice mill.  I used the dry blade container for the Vitamix.  The powder is concentrated tomato flavor.

Tomato skins laid out ready to dry

Tomato powder

To this point we have about two cups of tomato powder and I was brainstorming on a use.  I've been trying flavored pastas with mixed results so I decided to use the same technique I'd used for some mushroom Fettuccine.  Once I had decided on pasta I Googled to see if tomato pasta was a thing.  Unsurprisingly, it was.  They all used tomato paste and it only seemed to be there to color the pasta and add a bare hint of flavor.  I figured my way would yield good flavor and color.

Tomato pasta freshly kneaded and ready to rest

What kind of pasta to make generated some discussion at work during a break.  The choices came down to cheese and shrimp stuffed ravioli or fettuccine.  I settled on fettuccine because it would be less labor intensive and I was wanting to use some asparagus that I had in the refrigerator.  I only had about 8 ounces of mushrooms on hand so I didn't have as many as I'd have liked.

Tomato Pasta with Shrimp and Asparagus

Pasta:
1.5 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs tomato powder
3 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs water

1 lb 31-35 count shrimp
1 lb asparagus
1 medium onion
1/2 - 1 lb mushrooms
1 cup white wine
1 stick butter
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning

For the pasta:  Combine the flour, the tomato powder, and salt.  Make a well in the center and add the eggs, water, and olive oil.  Mix everything together until well combined and turn out on a floured surface.  Knead the pasta until it is smooth and elastic.  Wrap in plastic and let it sit for 20 minutes.  Divide into 4 pieces and roll to desired thickness and cut to the size you want.  After the pasta is cut place in well salted boiling water and cook until almost done.

Tomato pasta ready to run through the cutter

While the pasta dough is resting, cut the asparagus into bite size pieces, thinly slice the onion, and slice the mushrooms.  In 2 Tbs of  butter sautee the asparagus and onion, season to taste, and then place in a bowl.  Sautee the mushrooms in 2 Tbs of butter until they are done and put in the bowl with the asparagus and onion.  Place the shrimp in the skillet with the rest of the butter and put the pasta into the boiling water.  Cook the shrimp until almost done then add the rest of the ingredients back to the skillet.  Pour in the wine and stir to combine well.  Transfer the almost done pasta to the skillet.  Stir to combine the pasta and other ingredients.  The butter, wine, and pasta water will combine and make a sauce to coat everything.  Plate and serve.  This will serve 4 as an entree.

Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

If you don't have tomato powder, I believe tomato paste could be used for the same effect.  I would add a 6 oz can along with the wet ingredients and add additional flour to achieve the desired consistency.  I also think you could thinly slice Roma tomatoes and dry them until brittle and grind them into your own tomato powder.  I may have to break out the dehydrator to see how that works.

A tasty supper of Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

The final product had a distinct tomato flavor that went well with the shrimp, asparagus, and wine sauce.  The color is nice as well.

Give this pasta a try along with whatever you think will go well with it or use this whole recipe.  Either way, let me know what you think of the tomato pasta.

Uncle T