Salts Kitchen

And the 25 pounds of tomatoes continue…

My mother made this for my aunt’s baby shower 10 years ago. I have always wanted to recreate it, so with 12 pounds of tomatoes left, that is just what I did. This is a very simple and plain recipe and the tomatoes are NOT cooked. This is a tasty summery treat and should be used with only the tastiest of tomatoes. Don’t be turned off by the simplicity of this recipe or the fact that it has mayo… it’s still so good. Try it, you won’t regret it. Probably.

White Rice Stuffed Tomatoes
1-1.5 cups white rice
1/4 mayonaise
salt and pepper
10 large red tomatoes
2 yellow onions

Prepping the tomatoes:

Slice the very top of the tomato off. Use your fingers to simply scoop out the insides, leaving only the empty tomato skeleton (does that make sense?, see picture). When you’ve emptied about 8-10 tomatoes (or more or less depending on how many people you’re going to feed), place them open-side down on paper towels to let them drain.

While the tomatoes sit, start on the rice. BOIL the rice. My brother-in-law always prefers his rice boiled, while I’m a fan of the ol’ Japanese rice cooker method. However, for this recipe, boiling the rice gives it the right flavor. Instead of following the rice maker’s directions, bring 1 cup of rice to a boil with 3 cups of water and a dash of salt. Boil the rice for about 20 minutes, or until totally tender.

My preference is a Japanese short-grain rice, like Koshihikari or the Botan (the white one with the red flower, easy to find at most stores with an “asian” or “ethnic” section). Any short-grain rice will do in a pinch. Cook the rice until finished and then toss in the strainer. I don’t rinse the rice, but I do let it drain for awhile and turn it over once or twice, to make sure it all drains.

While the rice is cooling, saute the chopped onion until just translucent. They should not brown and should have a little crunch. When the onions are done, place the rice, onions, and 1/4 cup mayo in a large bowl. Add 1-2 teaspoons of salt and a little sprinkle of pepper. Mix and taste for more salt and pepper. Flip the tomatoes back right-side up and stuff them with the rice mixture. You’re going to have to use your fingers to get the rice in all the tomato crevasses. Mound the rice up and sprinkle with pepper. These are best at room temperature and should be eaten the same day if possible.

I’ve skipped quite a few entries that are waiting to be tweaked before posting, but since Friday’s dinner out for Tapas I’ve been wanting this delightful treat again. Exactly a year ago I was traveling (skipping?) through the south of Spain with my good friend, Mr Cooper. This weekend won’t be quite the same as roaming the beaches of Cadiz, but a picnic at Blue Hole? I’ll take it.

When I left for Spain I was incredibly nervous for my stomach. I knew there would be plenty of meats I could eat, veggies, fruits, but what about breakfast? I hate to miss meals, and I hate to miss out on something spectacular. Would I have to go from place to place trying to figure it out every meal? Turns out, breakfast was the easiest. Every morning Coby and I would find a coffee shop and I would have cafe cortido and a tortilla, hold the bread (or hand the bread to Coby). With a tortilla always handy, it was easy to resist the breakfast pastries everyday. Don’t ask about the time I just had to have the specialty dessert and ordered one of each. I regretted it soon after, but man were those good.

Tortillas are also a great picnic item. I went to an outdoor concert a few weeks ago and made this, but tried to speed the process up too much and didn’t use a non-stick pan. Oops. I made this again on Tuesday night for a dinner I made for my stellar volunteers (maybe to bribe them to stay around for another 6 months) and have had it for breakfast each day this week. I’ll be making it again tomorrow for Saturday at Blue Hole and again and again. It’s cheap, pretty quick, and I usually have all 3 ingredients at home already.

This recipe is what my brother-in-law told me on the phone. He doesn’t use a recipe, but he makes the best tortilla in this country that’s for sure. Mine didn’t compare, but I enjoyed it all the same.

A ton of olive oil
7-8 medium sized yukon gold potatoes
1 large onion
5 eggs

Slice the potatoes and onions really thinly. If you have a mandolin, even better. In a 9-in non-stick tefflon pan, pour enough oil to soon cover the sliced potatoes. Poach the potatoes and onion in the olive oil, simmering, and turn (stir) once or twice. Cook until done completely. Strain the oil out and reserve a few tablespoons of it. Whisk together 4-5 eggs with a hefty pinch of salt and pepper. Add the potatoes into the egg mixture and let rest in the large bowl for about 15 minutes.

Use a little of the reserved oil to re-coat the pan and heat the pan up until it’s hot. Add the potato-egg mixture and with your wrist, move the pan back and forth rapidly a few times. Then press the mixture down into the pan with a spatula. Lower the heat and cook until it’s firm-ish. Flip it out onto a plate, clean the pan, redistribute more oil, and then place the tortilla back in the pan (other side up) and swish it back and forth for just another couple of minutes.

Timing is not down pat for this recipe! If anyone tries this out, tell me how it worked.

I have a sensitive stomach. I think we all know that. When I am hurt or upset, my stomach is usually the first thing that tells me I’m not okay. I had a crappy week this week and although my mind is well aware that I’m fine, my appetite and stomach simply refuse to catch up! Why oh why? The problem is, I am hungry but no food sounds good. It’s like in Elementary School or High School, I knew that I had to eat breakfast or I’d feel sick later, so I’d find 1 thing that sounded at all appetizing and then eat that for days, months, or even years on end (think ham sandwich on white for all of 2nd grade). Plus the past couple of days I couldn’t decide if I was angry, sad, scared, or just annoyed- all of which combined make for an awesome stomach! I think more than anything, when things are confusing and just don’t make sense or our minds won’t shut off, or we psych ourselves out for whatever reason, our bodies do fascinating things. Or is that just me?

At work on Thursday, nothing sounded good so I went for sushi with my buddy Chase. Didn’t taste good. He took me for a motorcycle ride for my lunch hour, and I felt great! But the appetite didn’t come back. My 5 year old niece telling me I am “very attractive” definitely worked, but I still couldn’t eat those darn pork chops for dinner. Last night (Friday) I went out for a dinner and a late night swim that had been planned for ages, and I took a Spanish Tortilla for the road. I’d been looking forward to that dinner for a week or so already. It tasted great last night. But today? Nope.

I know me, I know I have to make myself eat something, so yesterday I made Okayu. In Japan, this is the rice porridge I ate so often. Don’t quote me, but this is the same or similar to other porridges in Asia often called Congee. My brother force-fed me Bor Bor (as it’s called in Khmer) in Cambodia a few years ago when I was recovering from an illness. One night at a guest house in the jungle, the owner brought a bowl of it for me with a duck egg on top. I couldn’t eat the egg, but my brother did. I forced myself to eat the Bor Bor and by morning? I was ready for the motorcycle ride of a lifetime and a waterfall hike that nearly killed us both. I digress.

Point is, rice porridge makes everything better. The most basic version is rice, water, and green onions. I needed more protein, so I made mine with chicken broth and water and threw some HEB yogurt cheese in there (my Japanese friends may be flinching right now). I ate just a few bites yesterday, went for a run and took my dog for a swim, and I must say I felt better already. Today, woke up for a kickboxing class, and came home to finish off the Okayu. Now? I’d say I’m just about ready for a bbq and a night of dancing. Blue Hole was in the cards for today, but more friends can go next week. So a full Saturday at Blue Hole in Wimberley, here we come. Okayu saves the day again!

Okayu
1/2 cup rice
3 cups of water, broth, or combination
sesame seeds
chopped green onion
salt
If you can or want more, add chicken or tofu and a bit of ginger or umeboshi

Rinse the rice and put in a pot with the water/broth. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, covered, until tender, and stir a few times. Add the other items and salt to taste.
See? Easy, delicious and insanely cheap.

The first time I ever made risotto was my freshman year of college. I mean, I’d helped in the kitchen, done the stirring, added things, but I’d never made it from start to finish. Then I went to my friend’s grandparent’s house in Napa. There were just 4 of us. I recall it so clearly: Mark, Frida, Laura, and myself. Laura’s grandparents’ house was on a golf course and they were in the city for the week. It was just an hour drive from school so we went that winter just for a night or 2. Laura’s grandparents had dried porcini in the cupboard. I thought, ah risotto is so easy!

Alas, not so easy. I overmixed, undermixed, added broth too fast and too slow, not enough and way too much. It was overcooked and undercooked at the same time. It turned out a large lump of hard oatmeal. I mean inedible. I couldn’t believe it. I decided I would never attempt risotto again. And then I did. It wasn’t as bad, but it certainly wasn’t good. I made it for Mr G once upon a time. He claims his father (Italian descent no less) does not stir his risotto. Ask any Italian and they would certainly gasp. Everyone I come across says that risotto has been easy, perhaps my expectations are just a little too high? Perhaps. But I just don’t want to make the instant or poorly made risotto. My mother suggested it was the brand. I bought a good brand. I made it once more- it was pretty good, but not great. Still.

Then a few weeks ago my boss made arrangements for a staff retreat out in the Hill Country. It was a cooking class for all staff and then about half of us stayed the night in this wonderful place called Juniper Hills Farm. The cooking class was fun, it was more of an exercise in team-building than anything new in the kitchen for many of us. However, we did make “oven baked” mushroom risotto. Again, perhaps the Italian grandmas (oh so many are reading my blog) would gasp. BUT it was tasty, and still creamy. I decided this would be the fool-proof version I would try at home. So I did. It turned out pretty well. The best so far. So here I have written what I did AND the best part? The leftovers. When I was younger my mother used to make this tomato risotto that was one of my absolute favorites. With the leftovers she’d make a big risotto pancake stuffed with mozarella. I did a couple of variations of that and then also attempted my hand at arancini. More on that later.

Yikes- it’s been weeks since I wrote this posting. Is this blog-faux pas?

Summer Risotto
2 slices pancetta, cut into small cubes
1 onion, chopped and separated in 1/2
1 large crookneck squash, deseeded and chopped
1 large zucchini, deseeded and chopped
2-3 small leeks (or 1 large), greens trimmed off, whites chopped
2-3 carrots
5-6 cups liquid (I use 4 c chicken stock diluted with water)
1.5 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup grated aged pecorino
Saute the pancetta in a large pot until the fat just starts turning translucent. Cut the squashes in half lengthwise, and make a slash with your knife around the seeded parts and remove. Don’t be too finicky about this!

Add the crookneck, 1/2 of the onion, and the zucchini. Saute until tender. Remove from pan and set aside for later. Next, saute the leeks, the remaining half onion, and the carrots until tender, over low heat. Don’t let brown.

Add the arborio rice to the sauteing vegetables and stir over low heat for 2-3 minutes, until rice is starting to change color (not browning!). Add the white wine and stir until absorbed.

In a pot, heat 4 cups of broth with 2 cups of water and let it sit on the stove. Preheat the oven to 225 (I think, I can’t remember now what I did!). Now, here’s where it gets special. Don’t be scared, and don’t tell any Italians out there (or my mom). Instead of adding the liquid 1 ladle at a time, add 4 cups of the warmed liquid mixture to the pot and stir for a couple of minutes, slowly. Then cover the pot. Let it come to a boil. Stir again. Put the lid back on and put it in the oven for about 30 minutes. Stir. Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir.

The rice should be tender and the liquid absorbed. If ever the liquid is absorbed and the rice is not tender yet, add more liquid. This process took me an hour. But instead of an hour of stirring, it was an hour of prepping the rest of dinner while the risotto was in the oven. Don’t judge me! It was tasty. I didn’t have my usual tasters on this, but I think it turned out pretty well. Taste for salt and add 1/4 cup grated pecorino and stir. Top with fresh basil and more pecorino as desired.

It’s tomato season. My favorite. Well, stone fruit too. But tomato season is a close second to cherries and nectarines. The best thing about tomatoes in my humble opinion is the variety: the types and all the many things you can do with those lovely types. Pineapple, yellow, orange, cherry, juliet, plum, grape, purple cherokee, early girl, and oh so many more…

This weekend I bought 25 pounds of tomatoes from a farmer at the market selling his #2s for super cheap. This box is huge. The first thing I’m doing with the tomatoes is a very basic tomato sauce. I make a ton of it and stick it in the freezer. When it’s time to defrost throughout the year, I mix them up and make it different each time. I’ll attempt to do different variations here to keep track of along the way. So here we go with the first 6 pounds…

When I left for college sophomore year, I moved into my first apartment. I may have mentioned this before, but that summer I was home for a couple of weeks and my mother and I spent that time on the basics in the kitchen. One of those basics, was tomato sauce: with ripe tomatoes, with canned tomatoes, with herbs, and several other variations. While this is the base for most of the other tomato sauces I make, there are a couple that start differently too. This first tomato sauce is seriously the most basic- no minced garlic, no wine, no herbs. There are 2 different ways that i like to do this one.

Basic Tomato Sauce (the base for all else…)
6 lb tomatoes, quartered
4-5 carrots, peeled and chopped finely
1 medium-large yellow onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, whole and bruised with the back of your knife
1-2 bay leaves

Saute the onions and carrots in 2 TBSP olive oil until soft. Do not let brown. Add the quartered tomatoes and whole garlic cloves (for a more garlicky sauce, chop and add a little later- but I do that as a variation from the jar of this plain stuff). Cover partially and cook over low-medium heat until completely soft, about 45 minutes-1 hour. Now you have 3 options:

Put it through a food mill, which is what I did. I love that it separates out the skin and seeds. I’m obsessed. Before I bought my food mill, I pushed it through a sieve. Some of the carrot and onion pieces won’t go through either, that’s okay. The 3rd option is to cool it down a little, and take away at least some of the skins, then blend it all together in a food processor, blender (I burned my chest once this way so prefer to not do this), or hand held blender.

Another option, if you don’t have a food mill and don’t like the other options, is to peel and seed the tomatoes first. How to Peel a Tomato!Do this by boiling a large pot of water. Drop a few tomatoes in the water and boil for just about 30 seconds.
Remove, and dunk into cold water. The skin should come off easily.Cut the tomato in half across the equator and use your finger to dig out the seeds over a colander to reserve the juice. Cut into quarters and cook everything the same as above and blend at the end or food mill it up.

Meatloaf for dinner again? I feel like that’s what people say and think when they hear meatloaf. I don’t know that I ever thought that. And I most certainly think of it as a treat now. Alas, I don’t get to eat it very often since every restaurant that does any sort of meatloaf does it with breadcrumbs. So in order to get my dose of loaf, I have to make it myself. Fortunately, it is incredibly easy and oh so cheap.

I made a gigantic loaf for about 5 of my girlfriends coming over for dinner. I was concerned that it would be too homely and ugly for people I’ve never cooked for before, but they all asked for seconds. I was pleased. And I only had enough for 1 lunch afterward.

Turkey Meatloaf
1 cup breadcrumbs (I used part of a frozen loaf of GF bread that’s been taking up room in my freezer)
1 cup ground GF oats or oat flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 onion, chopped fine
2 lb ground turkey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 TBP GF ketchup
2 tsp tamari
3/4 c milk or milk substitute (I used almond milk here)
extra ketchup for brushing (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all ingredients and use your hands to mix it up good. You have 2 options here: place loaf in a greased large loaf pan, or pat it into a large loaf on a greased cookie sheet. I did the latter. Brush the top with ketchup. After baking for 30 minutes, brush with more ketchup (if desired). Bake for another 20-30 minutes (total of 50minutes-1 hour). It should be crusty on the outside and cooked through.

Does that mean anything to anyone else besides me? Yes, THE Shauna James Ahern, or to the gluten free world: Gluten Free Girl, hugged me. ME. Okay, this post is about the gluten free world, not a recipe, not even a review. I’m kind of gloating here, but I also want to say what it meant and why it mattered.

I should start off by saying that name-dropping isn’t my style and it rarely impresses me. I’m from Los Angeles: if I played the “I’ve seen so and so” game, you’d lose. It’s not fun. And I feel like people think I’m trying to impress them, so I don’t do it. Except that once I saw Sidney Poitier. That was amazing and I’m not ashamed to say it. And we do play “guess who I saw” in my family. I digress. A lot.

This weekend was the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference. I’ve never attended this, but my mother’s been going for many many years. It is an opportunity for the food world comes together in all its various forms. I’m sure there is some more fanciness as the food movement continues to move more and more into the spotlight (a whole different topic), but ideally IACP is about much much more. This year it was in Austin. And SFC was the beneficiary. Alas, that didn’t mean anything as far as badges and getting to attend. Solely my ED had a badge and she passed it around to us as need be. The very last day of the conference I texted her, “purely for personal reasons I would like the badge to see Gluten Free Girl”. So I got it.

Shauna’s talk was called, “Why Gluten Free Matters” and I really had no idea what to expect. What did happen was that everything she said made sense. It was like she looked into my eating world and said everything I’ve wanted to (or have). She spoke about how infuriating it is when people say “well it’s just a little bit of flour” and about how we can’t afford NOT to be picky and particular. It’s not up to the chefs and servers to decide out how my week is going to go as far as the pain I will be in. And most importantly she spoke about the GF food not being “weird” but being a way of eating. A way of life. There’s nothing strange about a roast chicken and brussels sprouts. It’s not a “niche” or a “fad”- it’s simply “a different way of eating. It’s just good, real food”. Yes, Shauna it is.

Ooh and she also spoke about the significance of Gluten Sensitivity. I do not have the auto immune disease called Celiacs. I DO have an intolerance and I went through the unpleasant tests just to be sure (do you think I’d give up bread without scientific proof?). She spoke about the realness of that. She also spoke a bit about her symptoms and issues. Man did I know what she was talking about! One thing that got me thinking was the “just a smidge” and the “cross contamination” issues. I do cheat on dairy. I do not cheat on gluten. It scares the bejesus out of me. But I do eat the spicy tuna rolls at Whole Foods and suddenly now I am wondering if there is soy sauce in there. I don’t care about “cross contamination” but perhaps I really should. It’s a build up. I can’t trace the pain immediately, but when I do have pains or problems now I curse the world thinking, “I can’t eliminate anything else. This is not fair!” But perhaps it’s because I’m not as strict as I need to be. If it’s a build up and I have 5 batches of fries all fried with the onion rings over a week or 2- well then perhaps that explains why today I am at home with a heating pack. I’d rather be more strict there than have to worry about what else I can’t digest.

I know at least my dad reads every one of my blog posts. I wonder if all food bloggers wonder if there are any other readers out there. Shauna verbalized the sentiments I say every day to my colleagues and friends, “just try it”. Not, “just try this version of what you used to like.” You can try to replace the food you used to eat, but it’ll never be the same. This is simply a different food. And what an affliction to have- where the cure is SOLELY to change your diet?!

After the lecture, my mother introduced me to her. We spoke briefly and as I started to feel bad for the other folks waiting for a signature, I told her that hers was the very first blog I was referred to, 2 years ago when I started this oh so interesting gluten free journey. Hers was the one that allowed me to realize there would be real live people to help me and real live recipes (and no, I had not really read or followed a blog ever before) that I could follow. I told her that, and she hugged me. Not a 1-armed lame hug. A real hug. My mom said we both looked like we were about to cry.

When I was introduced, Shauna told me that I was the face she looked at through the lecture because it was obvious I understood what she was talking about and nodded in agreement with every other sentiment. It’s true. She told me I had a great face. Yes, she said that to me. Truth is, I don’t always follow her recipes and blog, but oh it means oh so very much to know there is an online community. AND that the community I am now (reluctantly of course at first) a part of, has welcomed me with open arms. We hob-nobbed later that night at Boggy Creek over BBQ but it didn’t feel like I was socializing with the famous, as sometimes happens now in the food world (don’t get me started), I felt like I was talking to my peers. I gave her my card, she had a million others. But perhaps she’ll remember my face nodding in agreement.