NOTE: picture stinks bc it’s from my cell, my hard drive is still crashed. Typing stinks cuz I’m on my cell.

Do you remember how NASTY brussel sprouts used to be? If your parents were like minea, they bought the frozen ones and just boiled them up!  Blech! There are so many better ways to make them!  My favorite way involves carmelizing them and adding a bit of cheese.  I’ve also learned that cooking them with sausage and adding some horseradish cranberry sauce works wonderfully.

Since moving to the South, I’ve learned that some greens truely benefit from animal fat. Collards are one, and brussel sprouts really are another.

Awesome Brussel Sprouts
1″x1″x1″ cube of pork fat, chopped into ~6 pieces (local, cut from pork shoulder from West Wind Farms) (sub w olive oil or butter to make vegan/ vegetarian)
1/2 small onion diced (local, Colvin Family Farms)
3 clove garlic
2 c fresh brussel sprouts, halved
1 tsp+ ground mustard
1/2 c white wine (local Pot Blanc from Blue Ridge Winery in the Old City)
Optional 1/8 c of cheese (rec: asagio or bleu local-ish Kenny’s Farmhouse)

In skillet/pan over Medium High heat, add chopped pork fat (or other fat), onion, and garlic.  Cook until onion goes translucent and starts to brown.  Drop heat to medium, add brussel sprouts and cover.  Let cook until sprouts start to tender (~4 min) and add mustard. Let cook until sprouts are almost done (should be bright green and starting to get tender). Deglaze with white wine.
Reduce.
Serve.

NOTE: picture stinks bc it’s from my cell, my hard drive is still crashed. Typing stinks cuz I’m on my cell.

Do you remember how NASTY brussel sprouts used to be? If your parents were like minea, they bought the frozen ones and just boiled them up!  Blech! There are so many better ways to make them!  My favorite way involves carmelizing them and adding a bit of cheese.  I’ve also learned that cooking them with sausage and adding some horseradish cranberry sauce works wonderfully.

Since moving to the South, I’ve learned that some greens truely benefit from animal fat. Collards are one, and brussel sprouts really are another.

Awesome Brussel Sprouts
1″x1″x1″ cube of pork fat, chopped into ~6 pieces (local, cut from pork shoulder from West Wind Farms) (sub w olive oil or butter to make vegan/ vegetarian)
1/2 small onion diced (local, Colvin Family Farms)
3 clove garlic
2 c fresh brussel sprouts, halved
1 tsp+ ground mustard
1/2 c white wine (local Pot Blanc from Blue Ridge Winery in the Old City)
Optional 1/8 c of cheese (rec: asagio or bleu local-ish Kenny’s Farmhouse)

In skillet/pan over Medium High heat, add chopped pork fat (or other fat), onion, and garlic.  Cook until onion goes translucent and starts to brown.  Drop heat to medium, add brussel sprouts and cover.  Let cook until sprouts start to tender (~4 min) and add mustard. Let cook until sprouts are almost done (should be bright green and starting to get tender). Deglaze with white wine.
Reduce.
Serve.

I was hoping it would at least wait till I was getting some ad revenue.

NOTE: Because my hardrive died, you’re stuck w a cell phone photo.

So there’s this place here in Knoxville called Senor Taco. If you haven’t been there before, you should check it out. My friend Elo and I have been going there regularly (at least once a week) for three years now for their margaritas. Don’t let the Tuscan Countryside wallpaper-murals fool you, this place is Mexican through and through. Of course they have the typical quesadillas, tacos, and chili rellenos, but they also have some more authentic Mexican food involving tongue, whole fish, and stomach. Unfortunately, menudo (chili and cow stomach soup) and pozole (pork and hominy stew) are only served on the weekends, not always compatible for my craving of this rich, spicy soup with blossoms of hominy and chunks of fatty pork.

Oh, well, I guess I just need to make my own, don’t I? This soup is great for a chilly afternoon, and your kitchen will smell DELICIOUS!

4 dried chipotle peppers
8 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion, diced (Local – Colvin Family Farm )
3/4 lb of fatty pork shoulder or butt cut into 1 inch cubes (Local – West Wind Farms )
2 cups of chicken stock
3 cups of hominy (dried and soaked overnight, or just canned)
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp oregano
Salt and pepper.

Toppings:
Tortilla chips
Sour Cream / Yogurt
Avacados
Tomatillos
Lime
Jalapenos

Seed chipotle peppers. In small pot, combine chipotle peppers, 2 cups water, and 3 smashed garlic cloves. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes. Blend with immersion blender or in food processer.

In 4 quart soup pot, sweat onions and garlic on medium low with a pinch of salt. When transparent, add cubes of pork and cumin. Stir occasionally until pork is seared. Add oregano, chicken stock, hominy, and blended chipotle mixture. Season to taste with more cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.

Allow soup to simmer for at least an hour. It is done when the meat falls apart (about 1 1/2 hours) Spoon into bowls and top. I like Tortilla chips, yogurt, and chopped tomatillos, which is one of the few things that survived my gardening this year (LOCAL! ;) ).

Bok choy or napa cabbage (LOCAL Colvin Family Farms)
daikon radish, turnips, other radishes (LOCAL Colvin Family Farms)
Hot Peppers – tabasco, jalapeno, or other (LOCAL Pepper dude at Market Square Farmers Market)
Ginger (optional)
Cumin and chili powder
rice vinegar
Jars with lids

Slice the leafy veggies into ribbons. I discard the tougher stems. Place in one bowl.

Slice the root veggies into matchsticks or thin slices. Place into a second bowl. Coat these veggies with cumin and chili powder (approx 1 generous tsp each for every 2 cups chopped).

In the bottom of each jar, place a 1/4 inch slice of ginger and a hot pepper (or two). Fill the jar with about 1/3 leafy veg, 1/3 root veg, and then a proportionate amount of either depending on how much of each you have (you don’t want to have a final jar of just leaves or roots – unless you do!). If you like your kimchi really spicy, add another hot pepper in the middle.

Stuff the jar. Seriously, those leaves squish down. Fill jar with rice vinegar, put on lid. Refrigerate.

Well, I say poo on that! This bread is perfect for the winter, especially for the holiday season. It’s super easy to make, super rich, and super versatile! The dough can be frozen (just let it thaw for the afternoon before assembling loaf and allowing to rise again). The shiny crust (from the egg wash) makes this a gorgeous addition to any dinner table. Also, Challah bread, like the original recipe author stated, makes some of the best french toast ever!

Challah

Based on the recipe at Smitten Kitchen

1 Tbsp yeast
7/8 c tepid water
1/3 c Sugar
1 c Water
1/4 c Veg Oil
3 Eggs (Local – from the Farmer’s Market)
1/2 Tbsp salt
4-4 1/2 c Flour (unbleached bread flour)

Preheat oven to 150F. Place oven proof bowl half full with water into back corner of oven.

Combine yeast, water, and 1 tbsp sugar in oven proof bowl. Allow the yeast to foam. Add remainder sugar, water, oil, 2 eggs, salt and 2 cups of flour. Stir until smooth. Slowly add remainder flour until dough becomes elastic (like bread dough) and knead for 5 minutes. Return dough to oiled, oven proof bowl. Cover with cloth. Turn off oven and place bowl with dough on oven rack. Allow to rise for 1 hour our until doubled in size.

Remove dough from oven, punch in middle. Recover, return to oven for 1/2 hour.

Remove dough from oven, punch in middle. Divide into 3 or 4 (or more if you can handle it) strands about 1-1 1/2 inch thick. Braid strands together. Pinch dough together at bottom and top. Allow to rise again. Ideally, this session should last about 2 hours in the refrigerator or 1 hour in the oven, covered in a damp cloth.

When dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 375. Beat remaining egg in dish. Apply egg wash to bread. Bake bread for 30-40 minutes.

So after taking a many-year hiatus from Summer Squash I’ve finally been able to start eating it again, but in limited quantities, and in ways that involve the oven. As i have a paltry single window unit for my bitty house, I loath to run the oven in the summer. Through this winter, though, I have many plans for my stowed away squash. If you want to keep your summer and winter squash through the winter, preparing it to freeze is super duper easy.

Cubes of Summer and Winter Squash

Start a large pot of salted water boiling and prepare a large bowl of ice water. Peel any squash with tough skins (like Butternut) and chop all squash up into approximately 1 inch cubes. When water reaches a boil, toss in squash, allow to boil for about 2 minutes. Remove from boiling water and shock squash cubes in cold water. Once cool, place squash cubes in freezer bags and place in freezer.

note: I tend to boil one type of squash at a time so I can keep them separate in the freezer bags in case I only want a particular type later on.

Roasted Winter Squash

Winter squash will keep in a cool, dry location for most of the winter. But my pile of winter squash was just too unwieldy, so I needed to take care of it.

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut winter squashes in half and arrange cut side down in a deep baking or roasting pan. Fill pan with about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch of water. Place baking pan in middle of the oven and let bake about 30-50 minutes (less time for smaller, thinner squash and more time for larger, thicker ones). Pull out of oven and let cool until comfortable to handle. Using a spoon, scoop out the soft flesh of the squashes and store in freezer containers. When room temperature, stack the bags flat in the freezer. I separate the squashes based on type.

The roasted squash can be thawed by leaving on the counter for a few hours. Then it can be added to soups, casseroles, and even macaroni and cheese.

My grandmother received a full set of Guardian Service waterless cookware for her first wedding to my grandfather’s best friend. My grandfather met his best friend when they were both in the Air Force in WWII. The best friend was a pilot and my grandfather was his navigator. When the war was over, they returned to their respective fiancees and got married like so many other returning soldiers. The two couples kept in touch and attended many bombardier group reunions. In the 1980s, my biological grandmother and my grandfather’s best friend both passed away. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, my grandfather and his best friend’s widow continued to get together and attend their events.

In 1993 they decided to stop fooling themselves and to finally get married.

I never knew my biological grandmother, and I hear that she was a wonderful, strong, and classy woman. But I consider my grandfather’s second wife to be Grammy. Grammy was one of “those grandmothers.” The ones who move to Florida and immediately join a shell-collecting club. She took ballroom dancing lessons, went to bingo, and drank martinis. She always had a huge floppy hat tied down with a scarf that coordinated with her breezy, draping caftans and which ever of her myriad pair of ubiquitous sequined flipflops.

Three years ago, after a long fight with cancer Grammy passed away, leaving my grandfather again a widower. He downsized his living space, moving from their Florida bungalow to a fancy retirement complex in New England as his daughter lives up there. He sent most of the clothes and other stuff he wanted to keep in a moving van, but he filled his mini van with still more and started the drive from Florida to New England. On the way, he made a stop in Knoxville.

I didn’t expect anything from my grandmother as I tend to be rather removed from family events, but my grandfather told me that Grammy wanted me to have a good set of cooking pots. She decided that with everything else I had to deal with, she wanted me to not have to worry with the flimsy pots and pans us youngsters normally start out with. I think part of the decision making was influenced by the fact that my one other cousin on that side was getting married into a “good family” soon so she would not be wanting for quality housewares. So he directs me to pull out 12 boxes from his van. They fill up my tiny living room!

I was a little hesitant to start using them as they were so different from what I was used to. They’re hammered aluminum, about 1/2 of an inch thick! They conduct heat so very differently from anything else, which took some getting used to. Since then, though, they’re all I use. They go from the stove to the oven and back. They heat very evenly and hold onto it for longer than the thin cookwares do.

The Guardian Ware has pervaded my cooking so much that when I cook for other people at their place, I bring my pots with me and sometimes leave them there for a few weeks. Multiple times this has bitten me on the arse as the thought of losing one of Grammy’s pots after a breakup has caused me to explode the dude’s phone with messages about how I NEED MY POT BACK! You think I would learn by now, but I keep thinking that “this dude is a decent human being,” which thankfully they have all turned out to be in the applicable long run (long enough to get my pot back!).

I love my Guardian Ware, and am so very thankful that my grandparents chose to pass them on to me. If anyone reader gets a chance to try out a piece of Guardian Ware, snatch it up! You will find it to be your most used piece of cookware.

Inaugural Post!  Wow… that is certainly a rough start.  I’m going to attempt to post twice a week.  One post will be a recipe and the other post will be about something food-ish.  We’ll explore the parameters of food-ish as we go, but I certainly hope that it’s enjoyable.  Suggestions of Foodish Topics are always welcome, as are new banner images (That’s me cooking with the oversight of my cats, in Knoxville.  Yay MS Paint!).

So, enough dallying, let’s get going with some great Mac and Cheese! I made this yesterday, before I planned to restart this blog. Future pictures shouldn’t look like they’re from my cellphone.

Recipe inspired by: Broke Ass Gourmet

Baked Mac and Cheese with Butternut Squash, Sage, Carmelized Onions, and Red Sweet Paprika Peppers

1lb whole wheat pasta
2 c roasted butternut squash (about 1 medium or 1/2 of large) (LOCAL – Knoxville garden)
1 c diced onion ( LOCAL – Colvin Family Farms Spring City, TN)
1/2 c +1 tbsp butter
1 medium sweet paprika pepper, seeded and diced ( LOCAL – the Pepper Dude at the Market Square Farmers Market)
1/8 c chopped sage (LOCAL – my garden)
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c water and 1/4 c unsweetened yogurt (or 1/2 c milk)
1/2lb colby chedder chopped into ~1/2 inch slices (Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese Austin, KY – not w/in 100 miles, but close!)
Asagio cheese (again Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese Austin, KY )

Boil pasta according to direction, set aside

Roast squash by cutting in half lengthwise. Place squash halves cut-side down in deep roasting dish. Fill dish about 1/2-3/4 inch deep with water. Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes or until soft. This could take up to an hour if you have a thick, dense squash. When squash is ready, remove from oven and scoop out 2 cups of roasted squash flesh. Work out any chunks with a fork, immersion blender, or food processor. Any extra squash can be scooped into a freezer container and kept in the freezer for future use.

Sweat onion until almost transparent. Add 1 tbsp butter, diced pepper, and sage. Allow to continue to soften and caramelize. When caramelized, remove from heat and set aside.

Melt 1/2 c butter in large pot. When melted, slowly add flour to create pasty mixture. Use a whisk or fork to keep from lumping. Add water/yogurt or milk. Add cheese. When melted, fold in butternut squash.

With heat on low or off, fold cooked pasta into cheesysquash mixture. If your pot can be put into the oven (like mine), then top with grated asagio cheese, cover, and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350F. Or put cheesy,squashy,sagey pasta into baking dish, top with asagio cheese, and cover and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350F.

This post is a placeholder, an experiment, and an introduction.

My name is Gexx, I’m a South Knox resident who enjoys cooking. I also am very interested in local foods. One big reason for my locavore tendancies is simply that local foods create a smaller carbon footprint. Therefore, this blog will be used to share recipes. But not any recipes – they will follow a few rules.

Criteria for recipes that I post:

1) They will feature atleast one ingredient grown/raised/minimally processed within 100 miles

100 Mile Radius from Knoxville, TN

2) A conscious effort will be made to secure all ingredients from the most responsible sources.

3) They will include a picture. I tend to forget to take pictures until after I eat. Which doesn’t really help.

4) Someone else will also try it and give his or her approval before I unleash it upon the reading public (if available).