Red rice, aka Himalayan Red Rice, is a short-grain rice native to South Central Asia, but is also grown in parts of France. Similar in shape to brown rice, red rice has all the nuttiness of it’s dun-colored brethren with a pleasing deep rose hue.
Red rice contains a higher fiber content than white rice and more flavor than either brown or red rices. Nutty, earthy and very aromatic, use this as a departure from the same-old same-old.
Since red rice is dark colored and contains more natural bran than white rice–it has a longer cooking time–on par with brown rice.
Simple Savory Red Rice with Fried Artichoke and Wilted Escarole
This recipe makes a hearty but light, satisfying meal. If you don’t happen to have escarole on hand, substitute any green you are trying to unload. Even broccoli would be great. Same goes with the artichoke. I like its golden brown & delicious taste in this recipe, but you can certainly do without. Roasted broccoli or cauliflower would do nicely.
1 c. red rice
2 c. water
pinch salt
1/2 onion, chopped
2 artichokes, chopped and cleaned
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 head escarole, chopped and cleaned
Hot chili oil
hot paprika
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Combine water, salt and rice in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook approximately 45 minutes or until the rice is done and the water is absorbed.
While your rice is cooking…
Saute onion and artichokes in olive oil on medium heat until browned.
Add escarole. Saute until wilted. Toss with the rice, hot chili oil, hot paprika and salt & pepper to taste. Sprinkle with good-quality Parmesan and serve.
This is the kind of recipe that is not a recipe. More of a guideline. Serve slow-cooked tomatoes: crushed as a jam slathered on a burger or crostini; as-is as a finger food (my favorite!); chopped in a salad; tossed in with grains; or with a shot of good-quality olive oil as a pasta dressing.
Slow-Cooked Tomato Jam
Roma Tomatoes (as many as you have – I only happened to have 3 on this day)
3-5 cloves thick-sliced garlic
a sprinkling of ground cinnamon
a sprinkling of caraway seeds
Big pinch salt
Big pinch fresh cracked black pepper
Olive oil for drizzling
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F. Quarter the tomatoes lengthwise and arrange cut sides up in a single layer on a foil-wrapped baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with cinnamon, caraway, salt & pepper (or other herbs and/or spices if you are so inclined).
Roast for 2 hours until tomatoes collapse a little and are browning in spots. Flip over (skin side up) and roast an additional hour and a half until the skins are puckered and the tomatoes are falling apart.
If any should make it to a bowl, mash with a fork or potato masher to make jam or slice for salads and pasta.
If you’re like me, they may not make it that far.
Variations: You can make this jam with any tomato you have on hand–I have made with slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, etc., though my favorite is the Roma tomato for this particular application. You can also add brown sugar to the mix, swap the cinnamon for nutmeg, etc. This can really be dressed a thousand different ways depending on what you happen to have on hand when you notice your tomatoes are almost past their shelf life.
Ok, so I totally forgot to take a picture of this recipe. Here, have a Vidalia onion instead 🙂
Roasted Potato Salad
1/2 lb. small red-skinned potatoes
Canola oil to toss with
1 ear corn, kernels removed
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
1/4 lb. your favorite bacon
3-5 oz. baby arugula
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. dried cumin powder
1 Tbsp. dried chipotle powder
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Big pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
Chop the potatoes into 1/2 inch or so pieces, toss in a little canola oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast approximately 25 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
While the potatoes are cooking, slice the bacon into 1/4 inch thick batons (or however you like) and crisp over medium heat. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel to drain.
Add the onion and corn to the bacon fat and kick the heat up to medium high. Cook 10-25 minutes or until browned. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine potatoes with the corn mixture and 3-5 oz. baby arugula in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cumin, chipotle powder, mustard and red pepper flakes. Taste. Adjust seasoning to your liking.
Pour over potato mixture and toss to coat. Taste again and adjust seasonings to your liking. Add bacon to finish and serve.
It’s a small indulgence, but makes dinner for one something to look forward to
Every time my DH (Darling Husband) is working late and won’t be home for dinner, I try to cook myself a little something I don’t usually get. In years past, this meal consisted of shrimp, asparagus and mushrooms or sushi. Since he now eats shrimp & asparagus and even the occasional spinach, these dinners are now heavy on the mushrooms and/or vegetables he likes less than others (like zucchini. He barely tolerates zucchini, but living in South Florida and belonging to a CSA, we get tons of it all summer long). Tonight’s dinner I whipped up using the mushrooms, some leftover diced zucchini and leftover cooked millet. It’s simple, satisfying, and indulgent (the butter!).
My Husband Is Out Of Town Indulgence
Sautee 3 Tbsp. diced shallots in 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil on medium-high heat until beginning to brown on the edges.
Add 1 1/2 c. sliced button mushrooms, 1 1/2 c. diced zucchini, 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter and salt & pepper to taste. Sautee until mushrooms are browned and cooked through and zucchini is almost disintegrating, approximately 5 minutes if your slices are small.
Add 1/4 c. cooked millet and stir to combine. Season with salt & pepper and finish off with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to serve.
Bring the water to boil in a covered steep-sided pan. Add the quinoa, cover, and lower the heat until just simmering. Simmer 10 mins., top with the kale and re-cover. Simmer 5 minutes more, turn off the heat, and stem an additional 5 mins. or until the kale is just tender and the water is absorbed.
While your quinoa is cooking, combine the lemon and orange juices in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, scallions, oil, pine nuts, red pepper flakes and feta.
Add the pilaf to the bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt & pepper to taste and serve topped with a 2 oz. patty of fresh breakfast sausage.
Serves 2 for dinner with enough left over for lunch.
1 onion, halved & sliced thin
1 pint sweet mini peppers, sliced
1 head collards, washed, de-stemmed & sliced
1 tsp. Hungarian hot paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground chipotle
1/4 c. Water
1 c. Good quality tomato sauce
Batons of cooked bacon
1/2 c. Yellow grits
2 c. Mixed water & milk
Splash balsamic vinegar
Sautée onions and peppers over medium until very soft and starting to caramelize. Add 1/2 of the tomato sauce, collards, spices & salt & pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally 2 mins or until well incorporated. Add water and cook, stirring occasionally and adding tomato sauce when the mixture looks too dry, 15 mins. Or until collards are softened and look done. Add remaining sauce and vinegar, taste for seasoning and adjust.
While the greens are cooking, make the grits. Over high heat, combine milk and grits with 1/2 tsp. Salt in a saucepan. Whisk continuously until the mixture comes to a boil. Cover and reduce eat to a simmer. Simmer 5 mins.
This jam is quick, involves no canning, and makes just the kind of jam I like–not too sickly sweet. Since seeing Jamie Oliver make a version of this jam on one of his shows last week, I have made it two ways: with mixed strawberries and blueberries, 1/4 c. sugar and balsamic vinegar; and with straight strawberries, 2 Tbsp. sugar and Jam Jar wine. I like the sugar content of the second batch and the berry mix of the first batch the best. Unfortunately, I was too busy slathering the first batch on everything I came across to take any pictures. The second batch has yet to make it to any serving vehicle but a teaspoon (and a wooden spoon and a serving spoon). This is proving just the thing for the weekly batch of strawberries I get with my CSA. I hate to admit it, but after a year and some change, I’m kinda fresh strawberried-out.
1 lb. berries
2 Tbsp. white sugar
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar or fruity red wine
Wash and prep berries; place in a wide pan. Add sugar and skoosh with your hands until the desired consistency is reached–you’re looking for the mixture to look like jam already and the sugar to dissolve.
Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam, 20-30 mins. or until the jam is at a consistency you like. Add the wine or vinegar in the last few minutes of cooking.
Serve with waffles, oatmeal, rice pudding, toast or a spoon.
I’ve always wondered what made Canadian bacon Canadian. Is it that Canadians don’t know how to make real bacon? Does it have something to do with Virginia and hams? was it originally a marketing ploy by McDonalds? How many degrees away is this from Kevin Bacon?
You don’t know either? Let us then take a culinary detour of sorts to discover the real roots of this bacon.
Canadian, aka back bacon or Irish bacon isn’t Canadian at all. Not really. It’s more of a Canadian-English-American hybrid super bacon.
Canadian bacon comes from the lean pork loin, which is located in the middle of the back. It is then brined and smoked.
According to Kitchen Project, this type of savory pork was most likely dubbed “Canadian” by marketers in the United Kingdom who took to importing pork from Canada to deal with a shortage in the mid 1800s.
This imported bacon was prepared Canadian-style (unsmoked and brined) and rolled in ground yellow split peas (or some other form of fine yellow meal) to aid with preservation. In Canada, this type of cured bacon is still common in parts and is called Peameal bacon.
When the English got their porcine packages, they added smoke and didn’t bother to change the name. Emigrating bacon lovers brought the new concoction to the States and Canadian bacon as we know it was born. Isn’t globalization great?
Mmmmm…. pork loin…..
This slab o’ pork wasn’t nearly as hard to find as the pork belly. My friendly neighborhood butcher at Laurenzo’s Italian Market had it on hand and was more than happy to hand me the tastiest looking roughly 3 lb. pork loin in the case.
Since this preparation is all about the smoke, I broke down and purchased a stovetop smoker (Camerons large from Amazon). The smoker is compact, looks easy-to-use and presents as a neat silver self-contained package.
Ok, so I forgot to take a nice beauty shot of the smoker before it got not so nice looking but smoky.
The brine for this preparation was simple; just tons of water, Kosher salt, pink salt, table sugar, garlic, thyme and sage.
Ever feel like a serial meat drowner?
I popped the loin in, waited 2 days, took it out, wiped it off and slapped it on a tray to air cure in the fridge for a few days.
All brined up and nowhere to goOk, so it has somewhere to go…
And then my smoker finally came in from Amazon, and we were off!
Alder chips/dust for smoking
The lid didn’t quite sit perfectly over the hump of meat, so I wrapped the smoker in foil
I smoked my pork centered on one burner over medium with Alder chips for a couple of hours. It smoked the house out a bit, but not unbearably so (keep in mind that smoke is sticky and if you don’t want your kitchen and/or house to smell like someone’s been cooking bacon for a week, make sure to clean anywhere the smoke could have gotten thoroughly).
Deeply smoky pork exteriorSmoky but not quite so baconed interior
The final product was meh. Not terrible, not great. The outer portion on the outside of the fat cap looks and tastes like Canadian Bacon, but the inside looks and tastes like a pork roast. A deeply smoky pork roast at that. I think where I went wrong was the nice thick pork loin. Had I used one of the thinner loins, I think it would have turned out just right. Live and learn.
I’ve been racking my brains trying to think of a new vehicle in which to premiere the Canadian Bacon, but to no avail. I tossed a handful in with some greens and a fried egg, and it was not my favorite. Entirely edible, but I liked the dish sans smoke better.
I’m thinking maybe a soup. Maybe even the split pea soup my DH has been begging for for months will do this “bacon” justice.
Split Pea Soup
A Much Better Use of Canadian Bacon–Split Pea Soup Adapted from Split Pea Soup with Country Ham from one of my favorite food blogs, Orangette
6 oz. fresh Canadian Bacon, cubed
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 c. dried split peas
8 c. water
Cap full of apple cider vinegar
Salt & white pepper to taste
Olive oil
Crusty bread (optional)
Add1 Tbsp. olive oil to a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. After the oil heats up, add the bacon and cook, stirring, until starting to brown.
Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring to avoid burning, until the vegetables are tender but not browned (roughly 10 minutes).
Add the split peas and water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and cook 90 minutes to 2 hours or until the peas have broken down.
Taste, add the vinegar if the taste needs punch; salt & pepper to taste.
I covered the pot while cooking and the resulting soup was more watery than I like. So, I grabbed my slotted spoon and got to work separating the bacon from the vegetables and excess liquid.
If you want a more refined-looking soup at this point, let the soup cool a bit and blend the vegetables and desired amount of liquid until smooth, add back to the pot along with the reserved bacon and heat through to serve.
Serve with a nice swirl of olive oil to finish and thick slabs of crusty bread for sopping.
Serves 1 hungry deprived husband for dinner with enough left over for you too, if you don’t get too close.
When James Oseland names a dish his favorite over the past year, I tend to sit up and take notice. I don’t know about being my favorite, but this dish was a pleaser. Ignore the ham in the photo above. This shot was taken with the leftovers, which I foolishly added home-cured Canadian Bacon to. I shouldn’t have. This dish was absolutely great without it, and the smokiness ruined it the second time around. The original version also didn’t call for heirloom tomatoes, but I had a bunch on hand with no plans so I threw them in. I happen to love tomatoes cooked like this, so I liked them. If you do not, or if you don’t have any on hand, feel free to omit.
Extra virgin olive oil
5 scallions, minced
8 oz. cut n clean seasonal cooking greens
1/2 c. flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 c. mint leaves, chopped
1/4 c. fennel fronds, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs per person
Double handful heirloom cherry tomatoes
Crusty bread, sliced on a bias and toasted (optional)
Heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and cook for 4 minutes, until soft. add the greens, parsley, mint, fennel, garlic, tomatoes and 1/2 c. water; salt & pepper to taste. Cook, stirring as needed, until the greens are tender and tomatoes have softened and split, 10-15 mins.
In a medium pan, heat a turn and a half around the pan of olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Crack your eggs (1 person’s at a time) into the skillet and fry by constantly spooning hot oil over the yolks until the yolks are just set, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel to de-grease and then onto your greens to serve. Serve with crusty bread.
My first batch of eggs I cooked a little longer than the second, and I actually enjoyed that more. The eggs were still a little runny, and the whites were nice and fried. Cook as you like.
After capturing the tomatoes for posterity, I threw together this quick and simple lunch
After stopping to photograph the heirloom tomatoes for posterity, I threw this quick pasta together for lunch in under 10 minutes.
1 Serving rice noodles
Olive Oil
Double handful tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 handful parsley
Big pinch red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste
Take 1 serving thin angel hair-style rice noodles, place in a medium pot. Add cold water until half full, place on burner on High. Cook according to package directions (approx. 3 mins.) drain.
While you’re waiting for the pasta to cook, slice 1 clove garlic super thin and chop 1 handful parsley. Rinse a double handful tomatoes.
Over medium-high heat, bring 1 Tbsp. olive oil up to just shimmering; add garlic and stir. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until tomato skins begin to split and garlic is deeply golden (but not burnt!)
When pasta is done, add it to the pan, salt & pepper to taste and add a shot of olive oil if the mixture looks dry. Add parsley and a pinch red pepper flakes. Toss to combine and serve.
Gastography 