Ginger Chicken and Chickpeas - aka "Chicken a la Irene"

As hurricane Irene struck the east coast on Sunday, James and I were grateful to have a gas stove, knowing that when the electricity went out we'd still be able to use the stovetop to cook a hot meal. Every report we read indicated that most of our neighbors were without power, and we waited, expected, ours to go out at any time. It never did. Among the lucky few who had power the whole storm, our biggest problem from the heavy winds was losing one big branch from our walnut tree.  Nevertheless, the storm was severe, and we were not about to go out in it to get any ingredients. We chose a recipe that we could make with things we had on hand, or could be easily substituted. From Jane Brody's Good Food Book we selected Ginger Chicken and Chickpeas. We thawed some chicken breasts from the freezer, soaked them in lemon juice and water, and then browned in our indespensible cast-iron skillet. The chicken was removed from the pan, and then it (the pan) was used to sautee the onions. Once the onions were soft we added ground ginger (the recipe called for fresh, but we made do), cumin, cardmom, coriander and a pinch of red pepper flakes. The chicken went back to the skillet along with a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, a cup of water, a teaspoon of cornstrarch, and a few dashes of worcheshire (the last three ingredients were a substitute for broth). After bringging the water to a boil, the pan was covered and set to simmer for 30 minutes.

This was a good, hearty meal on a day that felt more like fall than summer. The chicken had a definite kick, but I think the fresh ginger would have provided the more spicy flavor I prefer. I think I was too parsimonious with the red pepper as well.

Why Our Dog is Not a Fan

Thanks to humorist and fellow dog-lover Mike Peters for illustrating the reason our dog Perry is not an active participant in this blog project. The key is presentation; here (Aug 27, 2011) Grimmy is dejectedly reading the evidence for what our dog has not yet really understood: their culinary lives are boring. Perry has not caught on, because of the enthusiastic way we call out, "Plain brown dog food! Plain brown dog food!" (With credit/blame to Dave Barry.) Also, though her main courses are more boring than wood, she frequently gets chicken-flavored jerky treats that we simply call "doggie crack."

Another Cross-Blog Site

Should I add this to my "Nueva Receta" blog or my "Library Books" blog? I added it to both. Mary Yogi, The Food Librarian is "librarian by day, baker by night". Read her interview with the American Library Association here.

Today in Cooking History

Click picture to read the story.

A Cross-Blog story

I wasn't sure whether to post this story about a community garden at the public library on City Island in the Bronx here, or on my Library Books blog. A decision had to made, though, so here it is.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/at-this-library-check-out-the-tomatoes/

Libraries are wonderful places for foodies. Beyond cookbooks, one might attend a good food lecture, gardening advice, or even an heirloom seed exchange.

Coffee Banana Smoothie

The Hayes-Bohanan's have been drinking smoothies since before smoothies were cool. Back before people even used the word "smoothie" to describe a drink made of blended fruits, juices and yogurt, we simply called them "fruit shakes". And of course we were among the generation that made drinking coffee cool (see my coffee story). So when we recently were offered a free download of a Starbucks Coffee Recipe Book, we could hardly turn it down, and when I saw the recipe for the Coffee Banana Smoothie I knew what I wanted to try first.

The recipe calls for two peeled, sliced, and frozen bananas, so one must begin the night before in order to properly freeze the fruit. The bananas go into a blender along with 1 1/2 cups milk, 8oz. of coffee yogurt, 1/4 t. of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. We did not have any coffee-flavored yogurt on hand so I substituted vanilla yogurt flavored with the morning's leftover coffee. The recipe also calls for optional mint leaves as a garnish. I walked out to my garden in the morning dew to cut same.

This was a refreshing drink for an summer morning. Next time, however, I will use less milk, as the coffee itself provides enough liquid to the mix. I will also blend the mint leaves right in, rather than using as a garnish.

Kohl-whatee?

Image: Vegetarians
 in Paradise

Kohlrabi, that's what! Behold, the kohlrabi, a stout member of the cabbage family, also known as a German turnip. Varying from golf ball to nearly softball in size, it looks like a cross between a Brussels sprout and Sputnik.

One of the great things about having a share in community-supported agriculture (CSA) is the introduction to all sorts of foods -- mainly produce -- that may have been unknown. That was certainly the case for kohlrabi in our family. I remember being introduced to it last year by our friends at Colchester Neighborhood Farm, and cooking up a small bit of it with herbs.

One of the challenges of a CSA is learning -- or relearning -- to live with food seasons. It is always harvest season in a supermarket, but that harvest may be thousands of miles away! So a good CSA community provides not only varied foods but also help with figuring out what to do with them. Enter this evening's dinner: kohlrabi and turnip soup, courtesty of a fellow farm-boxer through the Colchester listserv.

The recipe came as a JPG this time, so I've attached it in that form (click to enlarge). By the way, food photography is a rare specialty, so please don't judge this soup by the photo! The accompanying note suggested that this would be popular with fans of potato soup (which we are), and since we had only one kohlrabi (is that a kohlrabo?) and two small turnips, I added a couple of potatoes. I'm glad I did, as the bitter flavors of the other roots were moderated by the potatoes. I also substituted canned vegetable broth for the chicken stock. I did manage to use all the other ingredients as called for, though I did not manage to remove the garlic before hitting puree.

The results? I loved it, which actually surprised me. Pam found it tolerable but bitter. With Paloma, we reverted to bite-counting games more suited to a younger child. Good thing I also made some biscuits!