#alphagalfood

Scallops With Daylily Shoots and Blooms Tiny’s favorite place to nap was in the afternoon sun, by the daylilies. I will never see daylilies and not think of him. They are coming up now, and with a knife I gathered shoots. I am aware that spring’s jellies, jams, syrups, and dried blooms  will soon be made,  so hesitate not in the now more generous use of last year’s stores. I made a little rice and set it aside. In a skillet I added onion, garlic, chopped daylily shoots, a little broth so it wouldn’t burn, last year’s dried daylily blooms, and scallops. With the lid on, a rich broth formed as it all cooked... Once done, I stirred in some rice and a dash of lemon, spooned it into a bowl, then finished the scallops in the now-dry pan.  Over it all I tossed wild violet, viola and speedwell blooms. Each year I remind people not to confuse edible hemerocallis fulva with toxic lilies; consider this your annual warning. Daylilies are eaten to detox and help insomnia. They contain protein, calcium, and potassium, and the blooms are high in beta carotene and vitamin C. The shoots are delicious raw or cooked, and taste a bit like asparagus with leek. Wild violet blossoms are a lymphagogue, aiding lymph glands and congestion, and reduces inflammation. Its leaves contain rutin and salicylic acids, thus reduces blood pressure, eases pain, and as a poultice, acts as an anti-inflammatory and cools acne, arthritis, hemorrhoids, abscesses. . #PantryFood #AlphaGalFood #PantryChallenge #pandemicCooking #foragedfood #CountryLiving #CountryLife #OffGridCabin #offgridHomestead #OffGridLife #OffGridLiving #PantryFood #EatTheWeeds #prefabHouse #prefab #prepper https://www.instagram.com/p/CM161X3FZ6V/?igshid=1i9trd7caefk2

FIRST SNOW Celebration With Kenyan Curry Stew And Ugali Have you considered curry? Like any grocery-bought spice mixture or sauce, it is just representative of what people in a culture throw together individually as they cook, daily. Sometimes I like to play with the ingredients that make up curry, without using curry itself, so here you go: I usually make stew by first, in a large pot, sauteing garlic, onion, and meat (except for this I did the meat separately because I was pureeing it), until browned/the onions, golden, adding broth as necessary so it doesn’t burn. Then I add everything else: here, the carrots, canned tomatoes and letting it simmer… then adding spices: plenty of cumin, turmeric, paprika, thyme, fresh ginger, s&p, then puree. In a separate pan, brown chicken in a bit of oil, letting it sit, then pulling it apart as it becomes done, so that each piece is deliciously crisped. As the chicken cooks and turns, liberally powder it with the same spices. The pan becomes enticingly greased, fragrant, the chicken, a yellow orange, with bits of brown. Now even in MY pantry I don’t have on hand ugali. But wait: I do. Ugali is usually served with dinner, a filling accompaniment. Y’all know what ugali is, though, right? In the south, we serve that up with breakfast: Honeychile, ugali is GRITS. I like my grits like Kenyans like ugali- simple, stiff, with salt and pepper and no whatnot to ruin its subtle lovely taste. Texans can take their cheese and jalapenos and toss it. Traditionally, Kenyans mold bits of ugali with their fingers to scoop and sop up stew. You can use a spoon. Ugali, and grits, go great with saucy dishes. We Southerners and Kenyans relish simple, savory, messy meals. Ladle in the soup, top with chicken. In the garden I made a salad of chickweed and parsley, because fresh greens are delicious with stew. I sat down, slowly tasting a little soup, a bit of chicken, picking up a chickweed frond and a parsley leaf, nibbling, then a creamy taste of ugali, er, grits. The perfect hearty savory meal to serve on the first snow of the year. . #AlphaGalFood #KenyanFood #SouthernFood #PantryFood #PandemicCooking #covidCooking #offgrid https://www.instagram.com/p/CIqwWNiFobW/?igshid=le9ku9v1j2et

Frosty Collards MuChim Stew I’ll say it again: I just love greens. I think I enjoy non-summer vegetables even more than cucumbers, squash, MAYBE even tomatoes. I don’t really pick collards until after a frost or two, but with this week’s hard frosts, it’s open season on collards. I wanted Korean, and Koreans don’t cook with collards, but we’ll just keep that to ourselves. First I sliced collards and simmered them with garlic, some hot peppers, some miso (I had no doenjang), a dash of vinegar, and broth. I always always always have miso on my pantry list, it takes up no fridge or freezer storage and adds so much to broth! In a pan with sesame oil I sauteed a bunch of garlic, onions, hot peppers, chicken thighs... This should be cooked with a little water in the beginning so everything softens, as the chicken is cooked it’s easy to pull it apart into smaller pieces, then finish by dousing it with gochujang. Don’t get intimidated by goghujang, y’all. While there’s no miso equivalent I can recollect in the south, goghujang is just Korean for sweet salty tangy spicy potent concentrated BBQ sauce! If you think goghujang is hard to say, try saying sweet salty tangy spicy potent concentrated BBQ sauce fast, and three times! Any southerner *I* know can whip up barbeque sauce. But for goghujang you *will* need miso. Blend miso, maple syrup, chili flakes / fave hot sauces, coconut aminos, and garlic. If you don’t use the aminos you can stir in tamari or soy sauce. Super easy. Now everything in the pan is done and about to crisp, so drizzle a bunch of that goghujang over, stir it around, let it get all gooey and crisping… Ladle the collards and broth into a bowl, top with the chicken vegetable bbq mix… sprinkle over toasted sesame seeds. It’s in the 20s, and this stew will heat you up! Mmmmmmmmmmmm. . #AlphaGalFood #PandemicCooking #quarantinecooking #PantryFood #SouthernFood #KoreanFood #Southern #covidcooking #OffGridHomestead #OffGridLiving #offgridLife #PrefabHome #prefab #PrefabHouse #offgridcabin https://www.instagram.com/p/CH0URXYlE0p/?igshid=1dh89rybzy2jj

A Simple Herbed Chicken Noodle Soup With Immature Squash Separate conversations with loved ones took me to NYC's Guardian Angels, today, and Chicago gang wars, back then. This is what happens when society is not strong- the coyotes, comfortable, run, until someone steps out, themselves, to take predators on. In response to burglaries, the Guardian Angels have come out of retirement, doing a “wellness check” on New York.  They are paying the price in covid. God bless the Guardian Angels. The tales of gang war… that tale just was pure, intense, unyielding suffering, ended brutally, to be humane. May those tales be respectfully, gently laid to rest, the excruciating suffering comforted. While always remembered, allowed to recede. Contemplative, I went to the garden. Today’s marigolds smelled like honey, not grapefruit. I picked pepper leaves, onion shoots, immature winter squash and shoots, basil & parsley to add to the delicious peppers Sister and my brother-in-law had gifted us this weekend. I started by adding lots of minced garlic, diced squash, onion shoots, sliced pepper leaves and squash leaves and shoots, and chicken to enough water to make a broth, occasionally turning, and once almost tender added spaghetti, sea salt, and red pepper flakes. Ladled into a bowl, I tossed over basil, parsley, marigold. And that was it. No big flavors except for fresh herbs, just a pure, simple, nourishing chicken soup topped liberally with the vitamins C, A, K, manganese, iron, calcium, magnesium, and omega-3, with antioxidants and anti-inflammation properties thanks to lots of basil, parsley, marigold. Pepper leaves provide plenty of A, B, C, iron, and calcium. The immature winter squash, leaves, shoots provide C, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, fiber, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, along with polysaccharides that help with blood sugar. Maybe something so plain and simple, is not so simple. xo . . #PantryFood #PandemicCooking #AlphaGalFood #covidcooking #quarantinecooking #offgridLife #offgrid #OffGridLiving https://www.instagram.com/p/CGqPx4WFn-E/?igshid=36lyx41g8uaa

Rainy Day Seafood Miso Soup In fall, I start thinking about what worked, what didn’t, and what I would like for the garden next year. What worked, and didn’t, in yours? Rainy weekends give us an opportunity to contemplate. Next year I would like eggplants, brussel sprouts, okra, more spaced out in planting lettuce so it doesn’t come all at once, more cherry tomatoes. I had grown the first few in the past, but not this year, and missed them. I am also excited about winter sowing.  Usually I direct sow. The few times I start seedlings, they’re always leggy and never work quite right. I’m really excited about starting experimenting with winter sowing. A really good explanation is on Facebook, “How to Winter Sow Seeds Outdoors,” by Trudi Greissle Davidoff. On the top of my list for winter sowing will be salicornia, so there will be the added curiosity of adding salt to the soil in experimentation.  What worked well this year?  My tried and trues… lettuce, assorted greens, daikon radish, beans, tomatoes (but not as well this year), peppers, most herbs. I do love “beds” of things that are always reseeding and in different stages.  Surprise faves? A second, mistaken planting of a tried-and-true: the fabulous Tahitian Melon Squash, yielded late-season squash blossoms and tender leaves to gorge on while our intended fall greens grew big. What did not work well (yet)? Carrots. Lavender. To my surprise, the beets. Peas could have been better. Lovage did nada. Cucumbers raised only ONE. Oh, not one *plant,* one *CUCUMBER* after almost everything was taken in frost, then drought. (And even then, the day that lone cucumber was finally perfectly grown to pick, the chickens got it!) Oh, chickens. There’s a whole ‘nother topic: designing gardens with chickens… Speaking of, I trudged out to release them from the coop, and trudged in, arms loaded with garden food: radish greens, bean leaves and flowers, onion shoots, a pepper, basil, squash blossoms, cilantro… Let’s make a rainy day soup. (Cont. in comments) #PantryFood #PandemicCooking #covidcooking #AlphaGalFood #offgridLife #OffGridHomestead #OffGridLiving #offgrid #prefab #NonDairy https://www.instagram.com/p/CGVKNoDK_Ar/?igshid=wc3i8gj8jf89

Greens Pasta With Fish In case you’re wondering the “whys” of when and what I eat, it is not just seasonal, not just a particular taste I’m craving, but also has a lot to do with the “get out of my way” factor. If you’re a bean or squash and you’re in my way, or if you’re overshadowing something newly emerging for the next season, then you will get eaten. It’s very corporate shark, no? “GET OUTTA MY WAY OR YOUUUUUU GET EAAAAATEN.” I feel predatory. Positively office-politic-y. But with the squash and bean leaf picking and eating, the previously overrun garden path slowly becomes more clear… and the seedlings, sunned. Today, I picked some green beans, radish leaves, some chardeet. Never heard of chardeet? I also have plenty of cabboli, and musdish. This is what happens when all your vegetables *get it on* behind your back. If they’re hardy, reseed, and yummy? Mutt away. I *guess* I could plant the chard, the beets, the cabbage, the broccoli, the mustard greens and radishes far from each other, but where’s the fun in that? Greens Pasta With Fish In a little water: garlic cloves, cut green beans, greens, a little spaghetti (with nutritional yeast sprinkled on to add a little “something” for we non-dairy alpha-gal people) just submerged, and, after it simmers a few minutes with the lid on, quickly add a filet to the side, put the lid back on, wait a few minutes, check and stir the pasta with greens, flip the fish, put the lid back on, check. When the pasta is almost al dente, remove the lid, let the broth soak up and reduce. When the fish is flaky, turn off the heat. Because we can’t do dairy, add a little Duke’s mayonnaise into the pasta/greens/sauce, stir it around, pour a little sauce on the fish, salt and pepper, serve. I love the green beans with the tangy greens with the creaminess of the pasta with a little mayonnaise. I picked dill and strew that over the fish, marigolds over the pasta. . #PantryFood #PandemicCooking #covidcooking #AlphaGalFood #NonDairy #PrefabHome #prefab #OffGridHomestead #offgridLife #offgrid #quarantinecooking #PrefabHouse https://www.instagram.com/p/CGNVMUMFGfo/?igshid=sbv6ou30ic1

Perfect day to finally break into these pandemic pickled carrots. Still raw, vinegared on the outside, crunchy within. . . #PantryFood #PandemicCooking #Pickling #covidcooking #AlphaGalFood https://www.instagram.com/p/CFPlUWHlqoD/?igshid=n966mkaoz0qj

Chickpea Brunch For brunch, I sauteed onions, garlic, chickpeas and the first fall greens coming up- radish leaves. For seasoning, I used sea salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, oregano, paprika, rosemary, thyme… Once done, I added a backyard egg, scooped it all onto a plate, and sprinkled over plenty of the garden’s parsley and marigold. Greenie’s wound care is coming along. We are all relieved to see him heal. It is a deep gash, so healing comes slow. We have time. All that matters is that he’s healing, and as he heals, his spirits and demeanor return - his comical, brazen nature begins to stir up fun again. I have often mentioned our farm layout- two rectangular-ish pastures connected with a top gate, creating a long “middle aisle” where the house sits within by connecting the pastures then at the bottom with step in, high tensile fencing. Then I let the horses out to mow the lawn, even then dividing that middle aisle area further by adding horse tape with step in poles as “upper” “middle” and “backyard” so they better mow down each area. I highly recommend this farm layout, as it maximizes grazing and minimizes your own mowing! I don’t even bother to totally block them off often, and Greenie knows it. There’s one small area I haven’t cut off, because who wants to wade through high grass? So about every hour or so, Greenie wanders through that opening and down to the yard to say hello. Queenie shrilly calls him back, which then notifies me, I trudge back out with a lead rope, scold him for happily, purposely deadheading my roses, then lead him back to where he is supposed to be, again. For him, it’s a game. Life is now good. . #PantryFood #covidcooking #PandemicCooking #AlphaGalFood #prefab #PastureManagement #quarantinecooking #offgrid #offgridLife #OffGridHomestead #OffGridLiving #PrefabHome #PrefabHouse https://www.instagram.com/p/CFMvLD1lWvW/?igshid=dvue91nqbn4p