Creamed Leeks

I have been pulling some cute leeks out of my garden, anything smaller that regular grocery store size are labeled “cute.” I think their growth was stunted from the first two months they grew without any fertilizer in beautiful black soil with a high pH and that was major lacking in nutrients, particularly nitrogen. They taste as good as ever and having used up all my potatoes (lest you think I am lying, those are turnips in the background) and not really being soup season anymore, I have created a new way to use this cute winter crop.

As pictured here, I served it on top of salmon (Costco’s Wild Atlantic). This adds great flavor to a simply prepared piece of fish or chicken. As a stand alone side dish, I spooned the creamed leeks into small crème brulee dishes. Any little ramekin would do, or a pie dish to serve the whole family. I sprinkled each one with swiss cheese and bread crumbs and broiled for 2 minutes. We have a little toaster oven that works great for this. It is really yummy! We have a rule that anything you pick from the garden, you have to eat. Layne has been busy pulling up leeks.

3 regular or 8 “cute” leeks
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ cup cream

Cut off leek roots and spilt in half lengthwise. Swish around in a bowl of water to get all the dirt out. Chop into small pieces, discarding the dark green parts that are tough. Melt butter in pan over medium high heat. Add leeks and cook for 2 minutes stirring frequently. Turn heat down to medium low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring every three minutes or so. Add salt, pepper and cream. Stir and continue to cook until the dish is thick and all water has evaporated. Serve over a simply prepared fillet of fish or chicken.

This post is part of GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister, Whole Foods for the Holiday's and Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Creamy Vegetable-Chicken Soup

THIS is what I mean by slow food.

Onions, carrots, celery, garlic and parsley are all things you can get in season right now.  I can buy them all from local farmers who use organic farming practices.

Nutrient dense, homemade chicken stock simmered with real vegetables and contains real chicken flavors without the chicken.  Nothing beats that delicious, lip smacking gelatin from a true bone broth.

Homemade noodles add such an amazing effect.  Here is a recipe for those so inclined.  If you are not up to making homemade noodles yet, soak some barley the day before and use that instead.  Barley is just as nourishing, but homemade noodles are so lovely.  The third option being brown rice pasta as brown rice is lower in phytates than other whole grains.

For kefir cream, just culture real cream with milk kefir grains and strain for a nice, thick, rich soured cream.  We love cream around here, fresh whipped cream makes anything a treat.  It is hard to find raw cream in my area.  The dairy where I get my raw milk does not have a real cream separator, so it is not pure cream and does not whip up.  I use Trader Joes brand, which is one of the only ones around that doesn’t ultra pasteurized and doesn’t add extra -- stuff.  Read the label, it should just be pure cream.

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups chopped carrots

2 ribs celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups noodles or soaked barley

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup kefir cream (or sour cream)

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Sautee onion, carrots and celery in butter until softened.  Add garlic, salt pepper and stock.  Simmer gently for 20 minutes.  Add noodles and peas, simmer 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir a small amount of stock into kefir cream to loosen up and add cream to soup, add parsley and serve.  Don’t rush through, take your time and enjoy.

For more slow food recipes, check these out:

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Winter Roasted Side

Spinach, Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

Feel-Good Granola

Mayonnaise

this post is part of Real Food Wednesday's, and Whole Foods for the Holiday's

Saag

I know it doesn't look like anything spectacular, probably doesn't even sound remotely interesting to most of you. But if you have had the spinach based Indan curry “saag,” then you know it is worth gathering up a few more spices to create at home. I personally think saag is amazing, the flavors are well balanced, the texture is so creamy and what a nutritional punch! This recipe makes just less than 4 cups of curry. I, myself eat a full cup. That is ½ a pound of spinach!

A lot of foods I can create a recipe by just tasting them, not this one. The first time I had saag I didn't even know there was spinach in it! When I haven't got a clue I turn to allrecipes and recipezaar to get the low down on ingredients and techniques. I like these sites because they have a lot of varations of the same dish. Also, the recipes are rated with stars by people who have tried them along with reviews of how they may have changed the recipe to make it suit them. I take ideas from this one and that one, subsitute some of my healthy oils, sweeteners and whole grains and try it out.

Where do you go for recipes when you haven't got a clue?

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 bay leaves

6 cardamom pods

2 medium onions, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons grated ginger

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, ground

1 teaspoon coriander seed, ground

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more for heat)

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 pound meat, cubed (chicken thighs, beef, lamb, venison)

½ cup plain whole milk yogurt

2 pounds fresh spinach, chopped (or frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed)

¼ teaspoon garam masala

Heat oil in a large pot or pressure cooker on medium-high. Place bay leaves, cardamom pods and onions in the pan, fry for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, cloves, cumin, coriander, salt, black and cayenne pepper, stir well. Then add the meat and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly incorporated the yogurt and add spinach handfuls at a time. Stir until spinach is completely wilted. Cover and simmer for 1 hour or pressure on high for 20 minutes, natural release. Remove lid and add the garam masala. Turn the heat to medium. Stir and cook another 5 minutes until most of the water in the spinach disappears and you have a thick, green sauce. Remove the whole spices (you may not be able to find all the cardamom pods which is okay, but at least remove the bay leaves) and serve with brown basmati rice and *garlic naan. To make this dish vegetarian-ish use less meat, paneer, or cubed red potatoes.

*For garlic naan I roll out 3 ounces of pizza dough, real thin. Then cook the dough on a 450 degree skillet and brush it with garlic oil. Not exactly naan but pretty darn good!

Lemon Chicken

Chinese restaurants give me the willies. I get sick just smelling the food. I have learned to stay away. Their low quality ingredients combined with the fact that their oil is used and reused over and over again until even their highly flavored, MSG laden sauces can no longer cover up the rancid flavor.

Did you know that grocery stores used to sell straight MSG? Now that the majority of the public knows that it is harmful it is hidden in common products and companies hope people don’t read labels and if they do at least they are not able to understand what they read.

The whole concept of chicken and vegetables with (brown) rice is a good one though, so we recreate.

1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, whisk with 1 teaspoon water
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon stone ground mustard
juice and zest of 1 lemon
½ cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
¼ teaspoon pepper

Combine cornstarch, cayenne and salt. Heat oil to medium-high. Coat chicken with cornstarch/spice mixture, then egg. place in oil and brown on each side. Combine vinegar, lemon juice and zest, pineapple juice*, honey, soy sauce and pepper. Pour mixture over chicken. Partially cover and let simmer on low for 10 minutes, until liquid thickens into a sauce. Serve over rice and don’t forget the steamed veggies. I keep mine on the side because I don not like them all saucy, but if you want to stir fry them and add them to chicken at the end, just up the sauce mixture by 50 percent.

*Since we don’t use a lot of pineapple juice, but I like to keep it on hand for sauces and dressings, I buy it in the frozen concentrate form and just scoop out a tablespoon at a time and add ½ cup water.

Chicken Avocado BLT Pizza

As a teenager I worked at a pizza place called The Pizza Ranch (a chain in the Midwest). It was new in town and very popular. All of the pizzas had funny western names like “trailblazer,” “bronco,” and “round up”. One of the pizzas that were hardly ever ordered was the BLT. It was a bacon pizza that was topped with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato after baking. Yes, mayonnaise. I thought that was the weirdest thing ever to put on a pizza.

Now that I am a creative pizza connoisseur and have a delightful mayonnaise in my fridge: why not? Since this is a sauce-less pizza, I like to up the flavor by adding roasted onions to the dough. Just slice two onions, toss in olive oil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, stirring once. Once cooled, they can be added right to the mixer and kneaded in with the dough. Roasting onions takes all the bite out of them while making them tender and sweet. They melt away in the dough and leave nothing but great flavor to enjoy, so don’t be afraid to make this for onion haters.

1/2 batch roasted onion dough
parchment paper
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
4 slices bacon, chopped and fat rendered and saved
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
3 cups shredded lettuce
2 avocadoes, sliced
1 tomato, diced

Let dough rest while prepping the toppings. Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Divide dough in half, roll out each round and place on parchment paper. . Brush the dough with the rendered bacon fat, sprinkle with cheese. Arrange chicken and bacon evenly, top with 1 cup cheese per pizza and bake on hot pizza stone for 6 minutes. Let cool slightly, spread each pizza with 1/2 cup mayonnaise and slice. Then, top with lettuce, avocado and tomatoes and dig in because you deserve it.

Green Chili Pizza

Most Saturday’s are pizza night. Babysitters are busy, restaurants have too long of a wait for kids, weekends are cheap electricity. It’s as if the stars align and that line is pointing straight to Multi Grain Pizza Crust.

Great pizza ideas are inspired by leftovers. This time we have the remnants of some kickin’ burritos, enchilada style (Think Café Rio) leaving me with another delicious pizza combination to share. I didn’t list amount since this was a use-what-I-had creation and I want you to do the same.

Multi Grain Pizza Crust
Green Chili Enchilada Sauce
Shredded beef (chicken, pork…whatever)
Yellow pepper, sliced and sautéed
Colby Jack Cheese
Avocado, sliced

Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Roll out dough, place on parchment. Spread enchilada sauce on dough, sprinkle with half the cheese. Then top with meat, pepper and the rest of the cheese. Bake for 7 minutes. Let cool slightly. Arrange avocado on top, slice and serve. This would also be great with halved cherry tomatoes, shredded lettuce and salsa.

Wellington

A fancy pants main dish that is intensely rich. Though very simple to make, the presentation of this savory stuffed puff pastry is spectacular. Puff pastry is a dough made by layering butter in flour. When it cooks, steam puffs the dough while the fat makes it all crispy. The end result is buttery, flaky goodness. I get my puff pastry from Trader Joe's, it is made with real butter. Other brands are made with hydrogenated soybean oil, which I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole.

Now, this is not an A plus on the healthy meal scale; the pastry is made with white flour and the fat content is out of proportion, but it is made with real food. It is important, that even when indulging to keep your food real so that your body doesn't get all gunked up with toxins(hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup) and chemicals (food dyes, msg) from man-made "foods."

Chicken is a crowd pleaser, so this is what I have listed in the recipe. But salmon is divine.

2 sheets puff pastry (10x10)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
2 cups baby spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 lb. chicken, cubed, cooked and drained of excess moisture
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water (this is an "egg wash"

Thaw pastry sheets. Saute onion and pepper in olive oil, cook through. Add spinach, stir to wilt. Salt and set mixture aside to cool slightly. Mix cream cheese and mustard in a bowl.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Working on a sheet pan lined with parchment or a silicon mat, lay out 2 sheets of puff pastry. Spread chicken on half of each sheet, dividing evenly and leaving a half inch at the edges. Top chicken with vegetable mixture and spoon cheese mixture on top. Fold each pastry over, corner to corner, you may have to stretch the dough a bit. Fork around the edges to seal. Brush the dough evenly with the egg wash, gently cut 3-1 inch slits in each of the wellingtons. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes and cut each wellington in half for 4 large servings.

The Medium Pesto

Basil plants are so easy to grow and around here they last 9 months of the year. Right now is pesto season, when the leaves grow so fast there not enough time to eat them. Pesto is great to season vegetables, chicken, pizza, pasta, sandwiches or just a dip for bread. Along with a thousand different uses, this little mess of flavor has a thousand different recipes.

For pasta, you want it light, for vegetables you want it heavy. Some like it garlicky and chunky, while others like it spicy and smooth. Maybe it needs to be spread-able, or maybe dip-able. I make mine on the in between mark of all three of these scenarios.

The blender on slow makes it smooth but not too smooth. If I have time to roast some garlic, I add three cloves, but if it is raw, just one. Just enough oil to spread out onto dough, but not so much that it runs off my sandwich. Using half spinach and half basil makes pesto between mild and rich, while keeping the dip/sauce/spread/seasoning greener. Come on by, I have plenty to go around.

1 clove garlic
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup grated parmesean
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons olive oil

Place garlic in blender to break it up into small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients, blend on low speed, scrapping down as needed. A tamper is very useful in getting all the leaves into the blades.

To store, press plastic onto the surface of the pesto and keep refrigerated up to 5 days.

Green Chili Enchilada Sauce

This one is dedicated to my SIL Jill who frequently asks "do you have any new recipes?" Because of this simple inquiry, I was able to resurrect this lovely recipe from my sent mail. Three cheers for Gmail! I worked hard on this recipe tweaking this and that and the end result was amazing. I made triple batches and canned this stuff so I hadn't made it in a while, recreating would have been a long time coming.

I got inspiration from Cafe Rio's medium enchilada sauce--heavenly. Ask for a sample next time. We had burritos last night, I had one again for lunch today. So yummy! I use the sauce to flavor my brown rice, pinto beans, shredded beef or chicken and then pour some over the top "enchilada style." Really, I can't get enough. Control the level of heat with cayenne pepper and thin it out with water if needed.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon fresh ground cumin seed
2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
cayenne pepper to taste
1 large can (27 ounce) Hatch green chilies, chopped
2 tablespoon white bean flour (or other flour)
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sucanat
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Saute onion in olive oil until soft. Add garlic, and spices, stir until fragrant. Dump in chilies with juices, sprinkle with flour and mix well. Let cook until paste forms and juices evaporate. Stir in stock and sucanat. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. Blend slightly with immersion blender. Take off of heat and stir in vinegar. Salt to taste.

Herbed White Chicken Pizza

I've met some health foodie gals in Gilbert and we recently met up at a local restaurant, Liberty Market. I have been by there before, but judging by the sign had no desire to stop and dine. Let me tell you, I am so glad I did. The place was charming, had delicious food, helpful waiters, interesting bathrooms, a friendly chef who grows produce out back and puts the leftovers out in a cold case for customers to enjoy (and that I did). I had the Farmer Sandwich, recommended by a Liberty Market regular (Shari). It was pretty much the perfect sandwich.

A big menu item is pizza, specifically the highly recommended "White Pizza." I have a problem ordering pizza at restaurants because I make such fabulous pizza at home. My mom, in all her wisdom, gave thought to my lovely husband at home with the kiddos (wish it had been my idea). So we tried a nibble and the combination was almost perfect...chicken, bacon, pine nuts with a little (too little) bit of arugula. Those greens tantalized me until every leaf was gone. Yes, I ate all that peppery goodness rationalizing to Mom that it won't save well (we had a 30 minute drive you know).

Back to the combination...if I had arugula on hand I would have piled it high. Sadly, I didn't in my last minute urge to create, but when I spotted the red peppers I knew could make this work. I started with a basic white sauce and kicked it up with herbs from the garden. If I didn't have fresh sage on hand I would have used dried thyme, dried sage is yucky.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 cup parmesean cheese, grated

Cook butter and flour for 2 minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and herbs, cook 30 seconds and add milk. Stir constantly and add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cheese until melted. Add more milk to thin if needed.

Once the flavorful sauce was under control I focused on the toppings. I had some procuttio ready to go from last week's pizza, so I used that in place of the bacon. I sliced red peppers and heated a pan really hot, sprinkled with a little sugar (sucanat for me) and salt. Sizzled those for about 2 minutes in a bit of oil. (This is a great way to soften and brown vegetables for a flavorful, less watery pizza topping. Then just chopped up some chicken, sprinkled on the pine nuts and mozzarella and baked to yummy perfection. And yes, I reuse my parchment paper until it falls apart.

Chicken Barley Soup

Who didn't get sick this winter? Wow, it has been rough! We usually get by with a few sniffles but this year we endured week long fevers, 3 day flu's and horrendous coughs. Truly, the best medicine is chicken soup, more specifically the chicken stock in the soup. I learned this from Dr. Oz in You, the Owner's Manual...it is more than an old wives tale and mind over matter...it is science. So you got to use the real stuff, no bullion is going to get you feeling better.

This is a simple chicken noodle soup recipe with the noodles replaced with barley. I like the barley for 3 reasons. 1) Health of coarse, noodles are made with whole grain flour at best in most cases white flour which means VERY little nutrition. Whole grains that have not been broken down into flour have a lower glycemic index which means they have less of an impact on blood sugar. 2) Barley makes it hearty, this soup is filling. 3) Left over noodle anything is mushy - yuck. This soup is actually BETTER the second and third meals, that is extra points in my book, it also freezes well.

Now for the ingredients...Spike is a natural seasoning blend that is found in the baking aisle of any major grocery store. Ultragel or ultra maxigel are modified corn starch products that are great to add a bit of thickness to soups, dressings and syrups. Get it at Preparing Wisely or Grains Plus. Depending on how salty your stock is, you may need to salt the end product. Hulless barley...you'll have to come back tomorrow to learn more in my "One Grain at a Time" post on all things barley.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup dry hulless barley
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon Spike
1 chicken breast
6 cup chicken stock
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon pepper
ultragel

Sautee onion, celery and barley in oil. Add garlic, Spike, chicken and stock . Simmer 20 minutes or pressure on high 7 minutes, quick release. Remove chicken breast from pot and shred. Return chicken to the pot and add carrots and pepper, simmer 5 more minutes, or pressure 1 minutes, natural release. Check for salt. Add water if needed and thicken slightly with a couple tablespoons of ultragel. Serves 6 - 8.

links; Whole Foods for the Holiday's

Enchilada Casserole

Enchiladas are tedious to roll. I have found the lasagna layer method to be much quicker and tastes the same. Of coarse I stuff as much vegetables as I can into it and love to make it all from scratch including the sauce and the tortillas. I recently did a cooking class for a beginner and simplified this recipe greatly. You can have it in the oven with only 15 minutes of prep time. Still nutritious and tastes great.

2 teaspoons. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, chopped fine
2 teaspoon salt
3 cups spinach, chopped or 3 cups grated zucchini
2 cups cooked brown rice (millet and quinoa work nicely too)
1 lb shredded chicken
1/2 cups corn
1 recipe enchilada sauce
18 corn tortillas
4 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Saute onions and peppers with salt in olive oil, 5 minutes. Cook spinach until wilted. Once softened add rice, chicken and corn to make filling. Pour 3/4 cup sauce to coat bottom of 9x13 pan. Layer 6 tortillas, spread half the filling on the tortillas, sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Layer tortillas, filling, cheese again and finish with a layer of tortillas, pouring sauce over entire dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until cheese is browned in spots.

Enchilada Sauce

3 cups boiling chicken stock
2 tablespoon chili powder
3 cloves smashed garlic
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Let chili powder and garlic steep in hot stock for 10 minutes. Blend in blender. Cook butter and flour in sauce pan on medium heat for 3 minutes, add spices, coca powder and salt. Slowly stir in the chicken stock. Let simmer 5 minutes, then add honey and vinegar. Make a double batch and freeze or can extra.

Simplified

12 ounces canned chicken
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups spinach, chopped (or shredded zucchini)
4 ounces diced green chilies
1/3 cups corn
12 ounces Trader Joe's enchilada sauce
9 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

Saute onions with salt in olive oil, 5 minutes. Add spinach, cook until wilted. Once softened add chilies, chicken and corn to make filling. Pour 1/3 cup sauce to coat bottom of 8x8 pan. Layer 3 tortillas, spread half the filling on the tortillas, sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Layer tortillas, filling, cheese again and finish with a layer of tortillas, pouring sauce over entire dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until cheese is browned in spots.

links; Whole Foods for the Holidays

Thai Chicken Pizza

It is so fun to expand on the possibilities of pizza toppings. Thai pizza is a completely different flavor combination that the traditional, which means you can use your leftover dough from yesterday’s dinner right now!

The Sauce:
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon thai chili sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 teaspoons honey

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Smear a thin coat on the dough and toss the chicken with the rest. My favorite toppings include; bean sprouts, grated carrots, green onions, thinly slices bell peppers, crushed peppers, cilantro and provolone cheese.

Super Wrap

I am always disappointed by the wraps I have had at the many sandwich shops around here. Poor quality ingredients that yield a dry, tasteless, less than healthy snack. After having Roxwell my visiting teacher, Sara, brought us these fabulous wraps to satisfy our appetites. Boy, did they ever! So I called her right up and got the dish so I could replicate. There are these fun flat breads at Costco, hiding by the tortillas called “Flat Out.”

We just spread on some hummus (roasted red pepper), pile on a good heap of spinach, line with tomatoes, onions, peppers, avocado, cheese, chicken, tuna, ham, turkey, bacon…whatever you have on hand. Maybe a little mustard and there you have it, a big package of yum-ness. I wrap the kids’ in foil and have them tear it off as they go to prevent a messy fall-apart. I am not a big fan of cold cuts (ya know UBER processed) I try to stick with the real stuff – most of the time.

Jarom has also used them to make a quick pizza with just sauce and cheese melted in the toaster oven. He says it’s good.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is an easy go-to meal, I always have all the ingredients on hand (except for the fresh parsley which is easily left out.) So tasty. It makes a BIG dish, but you will be surprised how much gets eaten – I always am. This is one of my food storage meals. I keep freeze dried potatoes, onion, celery, carrots and peas in storage. I also have loads of canned chicken and of coarse all the baking supplies plus dried buttermilk powder. That reminds me, I need to can butter…still looking for a good sale on that. The biscuit topping could be replaced with regular pie crust, I just happen to enjoy the biscuits more. Use this recipe with your thanksgiving leftovers. Turkey pot pie is killer!

Biscuit Topping
2 cups sprouted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut
¾ cup kefir or buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Stir in kefir until dough forms. Form ball and roll out to ½ inch. Cut rounds (or what ever shape you want. Arrange over warm pie filling or bake on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Note: If leftovers are foreseen or desired, bake biscuits separately to prevent them from getting soggy during refrigeration storage.

1 lb. chicken
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 large carrots, sliced or julienned
2 celery ribs, chopped
Salt and pepper
½ cup flour
1 ½ cups milk
1 ½ teaspoons herbs de provence
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Pressure the chicken and potatoes in chicken broth, 5 minutes, or pull meat from a rotisserie chicken. Reserve the stock. Sauté onion, carrots and celery in oil, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add milk, stock, chicken, potatoes and herbs. Stir until smooth and thickened. Add peas and parsley. Taste for salt. Pour into 9x13 pan or divide among smaller pans. Top with biscuit topping or pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes (large pan).
links; Whole Foods for the Holidays

“Stocking” Bird Bones

Wait. Don't throw out those bones! Even if its that low quality Costco rotisserie birds and especially if it is a good organic free range, grass fed bird. Make those bones into chicken stock. If you don't buy whole chickens much a great alternative is using chicken wings as they are mostly bones and less expensive. If you have an in with a chicken farmer you might just get them for free as they are often wasted when packaging chicken parts.

Homemade stock is so YUM, and you don’t have to be all fancy about it. I have no doubts that all those extra ingredients and steps listed in the very complex recipes make for better end results, but how much better? Not worth it. I feel the difference between homemade and store bought is a lot. Not only is the flavor beyond comparison, it is healthier, more economical and storage efficient (homemade stock is more concentrated). Use stock in all your gravies, sauces and soups. Storage got to be a problem…not enough freezer space, so now I can it. Sound daunting? It’s not. Seriously, it took me 10 minutes. Here are the steps:

1 bird carcass
3 carrots, cleaned and cut in half (no need to peel)
2 celery stalks, cleaned and cut in half
1 onion, peeled and quartered
12 cup water

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Place all ingredients in pressure cooker, pressure on high for 3 hours. Natural release. Place a strainer in a pot both large enough for what’s in the cooker. Dump contents of cooker into strainer. Press with a spatula. Cool then throw away the solids. In a clean pot line a mesh strainer with fine cheesecloth. Dump liquid through second strainer. I like to pour this into a fat separator and let set a couple minutes before pouring it into my jars (4 pints), but this is optional, I usually only get 2 tablespoons of fat from the whole batch. From here you can either freeze or proceed to can. I fill my pressure cooker 1/3 full with water, place jars evenly spaced on a trivet and pressure the jars for 90 minutes, natural release. Once cooled, date and store! Fresh stock lasts only 2 days in the refrigerator so plan your storage option.

This is my quick and easy pressure cooker/canner for small jobs. It fits 4 pint jars. Leyse 8qt. electric pressure cooker.