French Cooking and Greg Brown Singing

I am amazed and inspired by my parents garden. It's full of wonderful veggies and every time we head over there I come home with fresh flavorful goodness. Looking at our booty the other night I decided we had the makings for ratatouille, to be quite honest I had never heard of this dish until i saw the cartoon 'Ratatouille'. It's a great movie about a rat that loves to cook. Anyway Ratatouille is a French stewed vegetable dish that uses an abundant array of veggies that I personally adore. I didn't have an onion so I just used what I had and went with it, it turned out fantastical! All the veggies minus the garlic are from my parents grand garden and so....

This shall be deemed

My Parents Are Unbelievably Amazing Ratatouille!

1 medium Rosa Bianca eggplant quartered and sliced

1 medium zucchini halved and thickly sliced

1 large heirloom tomato cubed

2 small cloves garlic minced

1 heaping tsp thyme

1 heaping tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbs olive oil

On medium heat, heat the oil and garlic in a pan, add the eggplant and zucchini, stirring often till veggies begin softening. Add the tomatoes and the herbs, stir. Cover for 5 minutes letting flavors meld and veggies cook. Remove from heat, and eat!

On a different note, I wanted to share the lyrics to a Greg Brown song that inspired this blog title. I love Greg Brown he's a seriously talented poet. I hope you like it.

Lyrics to Steady Love :
She wants your passion, your caress
She wants your hands on her and a soulful kiss
But she's lookin' for more than just that, son
Gotta be somethin' under all the good times and fun

Oh steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

She might like flowers, might like a poem
Might like it better if you were home
And cooked with her and did a little dance
Where the kitchen is happy, love has a chance

Oh steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

She's seen the cool boys hangin' around
With their sad dark eyes they never settle down
They might've written books or made CDs for the shelves
But they mostly just think about themselves

She wants steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

When the kids are cryin' and the bills are due
And you wonder what you have gotten into
And you think the whole deal is not to be
Give her steady love, you'll find out how hot a woman can be

Steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

I've heard men say, "Well look at that
She's such a babe, he's kinda dull, a little fat"
He must know something about kind and fair
When she needs somebody, the man is there

He gives her steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

Mmmm, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

Hankering Answered

Today at the grocery store I purchased a jar of kimchi. Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish. It is fermented and a little like sour kraut except it's spicy. There are many different recipes for kimchi and a wide variety of vegetables that are used. The most common ones that I've seen are Napa cabbage and daikon radish. It's pretty tasty if you like a bit of spice and that fermented flavor.

Thinking about said jar of kimchi on the walk to pick up Brian's suit from the dry cleaners I got a hankering for Bi Bim Bop. A delectable Korean dish that I got introduced to by a friend who used to live in Korea and makes his own homemade kimchi that is way better than any other I've tried. Anyhow, Bi Bim Bop is another traditional Korean dish that literally translates to "mixed rice". When the Korean BBQ was still on 4th street I used to frequent there with some friends and get a sizzling bowl of Bi Bim Bop.

This said what I made tonight was nothing like traditional Bi Bim Bop, served in a hot stone bowl, chili sauce, with multiple side dishes including cucumbers, seaweed, radish..ect... and all that Korean flare. If there's a Korean restaurant in your town I suggest giving it a try, as long as they are MSG free.

What I made tonight I shall call....

... Nat Bim Bop (serves 2)

2 c. cooked arborio rice

1 c. steamed bok choy

1/2 cup steamed burdock root

2 cloves garlic steamed and minced

small handful pea shoots

2 peeled and sliced lemon cucumbers

1/2 avocado sliced

2 Tbs chopped parsley

2 over medium eggs

4 Tbs kimchi

Divide the ingredients in half and arrange in bowls or on plates. Place the hot egg on the top and dive in. If you want to add some extra spunk add a hot sauce of your choosing. We added salt and fresh ground pepper it twas tasty. It also helps that the cucumbers were grown in my ma and pa's garden, extra love.

Love Me Some Cali Cooking!

Several months have past since I last posted a kitchen wonder. Many brilliant and delectable food items have been created over said months, but alas between moving from West Virginia back to California and planning Brian and my wedding I have been unable to post them. Today I have a simple yet wonderful summer meal. The other night I felt in the mood for sandwiches, a rare desire on my part but I went with it. The sandwich we created was so amazing that we made another for lunch today.

There is a local bakery called Grindstone Bakery that makes mouth watering organic, gluten free, vegan quinoa ciabatta bread. It's a tad expensive but once in while we feel the need to splurge on them. They became the base for the sandwich, I'm calling it.....

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's Magic Sandwich

The amount of ingredients vary as to how many sandwiches you are making and how overflowing you like them. All ingredients are organic.

shitake mushrooms, red onion, and purple bell pepper sauteed in olive oil till soft.

thickly sliced heirloom tomato

thinly sliced lemon cucumber

thickly sliced avocado

sunflower sprouts

chopped up basil leaves

sour kraut

before piling on the veggies..... spread a honey mustard sauce onto your bread.

Honey Mustard Sauce or Dressing

1 Tbs organic mustard

1 Tbs local honey

1/2 -1.5 Tbs olive oil (depending on how thick you want it)

1/4-1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

dash of salt

dash of cayenne pepper

Yum!!

Yummy Yummy Yummy I got Love in My Tummy

All I can say is wow.

It's too late for dark chocolate, but c'est la vie bars

1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup lightly toasted walnuts

Melt your chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small pan on low heat, stir constantly to avoid burning. Once completely melted remove from heat, stir in walnuts, vanilla, and salt. Pour into parchment lined round baking pan and spread to an even thickness about 1/2 inch. Place in the fridge and let cool completely. Once hardened cut into slices and enjoy! So easy, so amazing, I could eat way to much of these!(Especially since Brian isn't partial to nuts... they're all mine...) Thanks again to Flying Apron for your amazing recipes!!

Buns and Burgers: Animal free style.

Brian smiles in anticipation of the magnificent meal we created! I marinated portabella mushrooms in toasted sesame oil, agave nectar and freshly minced ginger. Brian made Chebe buns, which were way tasty. We baked the mushrooms for 15 minutes, added some avocado, organic greens, sweet pea sprouts, baby dill pickles, and some of Brian's homemade BBQ sauce and ...viola!!

I didn't even know I could like BBQ sauce, but this was really tasty, I'll have to ask him for the recipe and add it to this post. Yummy, yeah for spring greens!

And so allergy season is at its worst here, literally it's really bad this year. So I've been keeping us pumped full of nettle tea, local honey, and lots of herbs. I recently made energy balls with ginseng and maca, I also made an iron tonic elixir and every other day make a powerful liver tonic tea. We are staying healthy, though the allergies have crept in a bit, a little sneezing, a little coughing, but we keep up with the neti pot and facial steams. I am so happy it's spring!

"cooked with her and did a little dance" -Greg Brown

Some fabulous treats from your chefs Natalie and Brian! Yesterday I made a soup that is the soup of endless possibilities, in other words I call it....

..... Oh... There Are So Many Veggies In The Fridge Soup

For this soup you will need a variety of vegetables, whatever you may have on hand that is needing to be used up. I'll give you a rough list of what I used in our delicious soup!

1 large leek

2 purple potatoes

1 yam

1 large beet

1/2 red onion

3 broccoli stalks, peeled

2 carrots

2 small parsnips

4 leaves of collard greens

(All above veggies should be chopped)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbs minced fresh ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground yellow mustard

2 tsp granulated kelp

2 Tbs dried nettles

Basically from here you can just throw it all in a pot, fill with water till almost covering all the vegetables. Personally I sauteed the garlic, onion, and ginger first, then added the rest of the vegetables, continued sauteeing for 5 or so minutes and then covered with water. I added the seasonings about half way through the cooking. I probably let it simmer for 20 minutes, then blended the entire soup in a blender, returned to the pot and let simmer for 5-10 more minutes. It was fantastic and rich with vitamins and minerals.

Serve with the bread of your choice!! Yeah

And tonight I found that the abundance of green beans in the fridge and that acorn squash were pleading to be consumed. I found a recipe for Asian green beans that sounded good, but since I lacked most of the ingriedients I went ahead and made it up, it turned out rather well.

Here goes

Why Is There Soy In Everything Green Beans

3 Tbs toasted sesame oil

2 tsp wild onions (ramps) minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 and 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 Tbs ume plum vinegar

2 tsp maple syrup

4 c. Aprox. trimmed green beans

1 large carrot, diagonally sliced

1/2 c. toasted cashews

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the ramps, garlic and cayenne pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes, add the ginger, maple syrup, and the vinegar, turn off the heat. While the garlic concoction is starting to heat, put the beans and carrots in a steamer. Steam till al dente. Remove from steamer and place in a bowl. Pour the garlic concoction over the beans and carrots, mix, and top with toasted cashews.

It turned out very nice and we ate it with steamed acorn squash, and red and white quinoa. Nutritious and delicious!!

On to desert.....

Brian made some vegan, gluten free, soy free, donuts. Oh me oh my!

He used the plain chebe bread mix, which is basically tapioca flour and tapioca starch, he followed their basic recipe adding agave nectar and his trade secret that I am currently giving away (with his permission of course)... nutmeg!

Fried those puppies up in a little palm oil, I like it! Keep on cooking friends! Keep those kitchens happy!

DreaMy EgGlets

Here's a shot of those avocado chipotle deviled eggs! Ooooheee!