Carefree Gourmet

Well, researching the benefits of cardamom has been a bit challenging. There are all sorts of claims, from improving digestion, relieving gas, stimulating metabolism, treating halatosis…. the list goes on. But only two sources of information appeared credible to me. Dr. Perricone simply stated that cardamom provided anti-oxidant protection. But he never stated how much you needed to consume. James A. Duke, PHd, recommends cardamom for treating a sore throat or laryngitis. This is because cardamom is the richest source of cineole which is both anti-laryngitic and anti-pharyngtic. Ok, I had to look those words up! They simply mean good for a sore throat or laryngitis! One article also suggested that cineole helps break up chest congestion. So I suppose the best way to take cardamom if you have a sore throat is through tea. Although a chai latte may sound good, dairy is never recommended when you have a throat condition or a cold!

I keep cardamom on hand for my hot spiced chai drink and rice pudding. If you would like recipes using cardamom seeds, sign up for our newsletter at www.carefreegourmet.com and once you do, you will have access to all of our recipe archives. Check out the January 2010 Indian Flavors party.

Garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas or Bengal gram) are one of the three most important pulses in the world! They are used extensively in the cuisines of many countries. I have enjoyed chickpeas in chili, stews, curries, on salads and most especially made into hummus. In fact, I have included my recipe for hummus below. I spread it on everything and am delighted that chickpeas are so good for you!

They have been around for over 7,500 years traced back to Hacilar, Turkey. The made their way into the Mediterranean in 4000 BCE and on to India by 2000 BCE. They were brought to the New World by the Spanish and Portuguese but never became as popular there as in other countries.

A chickpea is a legume and an excellent source of the trace mineral manganese, which is an essential nutrient for both energy production and antioxidant defenses. They are also a low-glycemic-index food (which means they won’t spike sugar levels in the blood which is especially important for diabetics or those on their way to becoming diabetic). They are rich in folic acid, potassium, zinc, iron, folate and soluble fiber. In fact, one cup of chickpeas will give you 15 grams of fiber. This little legume gets 25% of its calories from protein and is high in calcium and vitamin C. They are low in fat, calories and sodium. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Guide Pyramid has chickpeas in two important places: the first is with high-protein foods such as meat, eggs, poultry and fish, and the second is with vitamin-rich vegetables. Chickpeas protect against heart disease, colon cancer, and circulatory problems. Who knew chickpeas were so good for you??

So toss some chickpeas into your soup, stews, salads, casseroles and curries. Better yet, make a homemade hummus that you can season to your tastes. Serve on sprouted tortillas, fresh veggies or pita bread.

Ingredients

4 cups garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup tahini paste (ground sesame)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño chile (optional)
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon sea salt

Although you can use a blender to make hummus, I think you can blend it better in a food processor. You will really want to smooth out the consistency and break down the garbanzo beans. Mix all the ingredients together. I play with the tahini and olive oil to get the right consistency and taste. Be careful not to put in too much lemon, don’t just squeeze it in, measure. Otherwise you will be fighting that tart flavor. Store hummus in an airtight container. I prefer to use glass storage containers. When serving, top with more olive oil and paprika.

Here is a recipe that incorporates the following superfoods:

- Sweet Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Alums (Onions)

This recipe was based on a recipe found in the November 2009 issue of Cooking Light. I usually make a vegetarian curry with coconut milk. This recipe intrigued me because of the beautiful colors. Of course, I had to adapt it to my taste and preferences. Which is what you should do as well! I served it over Quinoa (Keen Wa) and Buckwheat Groats. I don’t eat white rice, but if you do, feel free to serve it over the traditional Basatmi rice.

Sweet Potato Chicken Curry
2 tsp of hot curry powder (you can get mild too!)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 bay leaf
2 TBL grape-seed oil
1 1/2 lbs organic free range chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium white or yellow onions sliced
2 tsp peeled, minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
5 cups of organic chicken or vegetable stock
1 (14.5 ou) can of diced tomatoes, including liquid
2 cups (about four small) sweet potatoes (the orange ones add better color) cut into 1/2 cubes
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup of frozen peas
1 TBL fresh lemon juice

Combine the spices and place in a small bowl (curry, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, red pepper & bay leaf)

Heat oil in a heavy sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from pan and reduce heat to medium. Add the sliced onions and cook until tender (about 10 minutes), stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium high add chicken, ginger and garlic stirring continually for 1 minute then add the curry spice mixture and cook 2 more minutes, continuing to stir. Add broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and add the sweet potatoes and chickpeas cook for 45 minutes. Add the frozen peas and cook 5 minutes. (Don’t over cook the peas, they turn an ugly color and shrivel up!). If you are not going to serve this right away, wait to add the peas until you are ready to serve. Just reheat the chicken curry and then add the peas to heat through. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

While curry is cooking, check the cooking direction on your quinoa, buckwheat groats or rice and time them to be ready when the curry is finished.

Enjoy!

Pam and I are back from our hiatus! Yes, we took a couple of months off the web, while we promoted our book, Carefree Gourmet Buffets, in person during the holidays. We had great fun meeting so many wonderful fellow foodies!

We also spent time outlining the direction of our new book. The title is TBD, but the focus will change slightly but maybe significantly. We will still be creating party menus and recipes that are fast, easy, and simple. However, based on feedback from our readers and fellow entertaining mavens “carefree” is now going to also me healthier. No, this is not a diet cookbook. It is a party book that you will find your friends and family will love because the recipes won’t clog their arteries, rocket their sugar levels up or put pounds on their hips. We promise, however, that they will be tasty!

We have outlined 12 parties for this book, yes, Pam is looking at me with raised eyebrows. We have 6 months to get this baby created, edited and to the printer. And our last book, well, it took us years to complete. But we don’t have years this time! We hope to be in the holiday issue of Sunset Magazine and want our new book in place when the publicity hits!

So our blog for the next year is going to be a little different. Each week we will focus on the food that we are testing and provide one demo/cooking video per week on one of the recipes we are testing. We would love your feedback and any contributions to our menu. In fact, if your recipe gets selected, it will be printed in our book with full acknowledgment to YOU!

Our book is going back to real food. Superfoods from the earth. We will be selecting a variety that complements the palate as well as providing balanced nutrition.

This month, our focus is on getting in shape, staying in shape, we’ve nicknamed it The Buff Party. That name will change of course, but we like catchy names during development. So what do body builders eat? They eat lots of protein, no sugar, and need lots of vitamins, minerals and enzymes to build muscle. Yes, we are going to build a fun party full of tasty recipes that your figure conscience friends will love! I have started working out… slowly. I am a work in progress and hope in a few months to be able to flex some muscle myself!

Wheat-Free Buckwheat Pancakes

“It never rains in California…. but girl don’t they warn yah….” (I love that song, it is from my childhood!) It’s true, it rarely rains in southern California. And we are in a drought! However, it is cold and rainy today… a perfect fall, chilly, wet day and a great night for comfort food. I like breakfast foods for dinner…. and tonight I am going to make my husband Rod and I buckwheat pancakes. No, I am not going to include white or wheat flour…. I am trying to stay away from “white flour, sugar and rice.”

Did you know buckwheat is not a wheat? I didn’t!! It is not remotely related to wheat. Why in the world someone named it buck”wheat” is odd and certainly mis-leading. It’s gluten-free, and it’s safe for people with celiac disease. Buckwheat and wheat are from completely different botanical families. Buckwheat seeds are technically the fruit of a plant called Fagopyrum esculentum.

Buckwheat is not a grain but because of it’s use, it has been referred to as a pseudocereal. Buckwheat seeds are dehulled and the remaining seed material, called groats, can be ground into flour. Roasted groats are known as kasha. (I didn’t know that either!)

Buckwheat is high in protein and B vitamins and rich in phosphorus, potassium, iron, calcium, and lysine. A great source of dietary fiber, buckwheat helps lower cholesterol levels in the blood. A one-cup serving of cooked buckwheat groats provides 17 grams of dietary fiber (68% of the daily requirement for a 2000 cal/day diet) and 22 g of protein.

I found this recipe on cdkitchen.com. It isn’t easy finding recipe without flour. And most of them want you to use buttermilk (which I don’t consume) so I am going to test out the following but make one minor (well, maybe not minor) change. I don’t have milk, but I do have organic heavy cream… so a little more fat in the batter will have an affect. Baking is a science (too bad I never took any science other than biology and anatomy…)

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbl sugar (I will be using organic sucanat)
1/2 tsp salt
1 organic free range chicken egg (I am out of duck eggs)
1 cup of milk (I will be substituting organic heavy cream)
2 Tbl melted organic butter

Preheat skillet to 375F. Grease lightly with oil. Mix dry ingredients together. Add egg, milk and butter, mixing well after each addition. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles break on surface, turn and bake an addition 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until browned.

Gotta run! Hubby will be home soon and I need to heat up the griddle!

Fresh Kale Sprinkled with Roasted Pine Nuts and Dried Cranberries

You’ve read the labels, you checked in with granny, you’ve hit the farmers market (what are all those strange veggies?). What is the best real food to eat? I have been researching this quite a bit this last year and everything I read and hear turns me toward plants. Vegetables, Fruits, Leaves, Seeds. In all the diet information out there, the one area of consensus is that a plant-based diet is beneficial. The bottom line recommendation is Eat More Plants! We have all heard the term “antioxidant” until we are blue in the face! Plants are full of antioxidants and the more kinds of them you consume, the more types of toxins your body can disarm!

Pollen found that in countries where people consume a pound or more of fruits and vegetables a DAY, the rate of cancer is HALF what it is in the United States.… Wow! What else do you need to know? What a statistic! Focusing on a plant-based diet will result in consuming fewer calories too! Some of us, me included, need to lose a few inches that have snuck up on us over the past couple of years… One thing to be aware of us that seeds/nuts also part of the plant, are high in energy and that equates to calories. They are still really good for you, you simply have to eat them in moderation!

But, but, but, what about meat? Well, we don’t really need it… but, tomorrow we will discuss better options for consuming meats than picking up a steak at your local supermarket.

Here is a fast and easy recipe featuring kale, a great real food, from Elana’s Pantry a website that features gluten-free recipes. Elana and her son both suffer from celiac disease and can’t eat gluten.

Kale with Cranberries
2 bunches kale
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons olive oil

1. Steam the kale until it is bright green
2. Meanwhile, in a cast iron skillet, toast the pine nuts
3. Allow kale and pine nuts five minutes to cool, then toss together in a large bowl
4. Add dried cranberries and olive oil
5. Toss and serve

Serves 8

Omelet Fixings

Have your ever had breakfast for dinner? Why not? It’s one of those guilty pleasures. Our new friend Graham Kerr (be sure listen to his interview on our radio show) co-hosts this type of party with his son. We loved the idea because it’s interactive and the guests get exactly what they like! So the long weekend is here! Instead of the traditional BBQ, why not host a brunch and serve an omelet buffet! It is fast, fun and fabulous food!

The prep is easy and if you are a little unsure about your ability to whip up omelets the old-fashioned way, because you are making them on the spot, then we have an alternative method for you. No matter which method you choose the ingredients are the same. Simply place ingredients in separate bowls and let your guests choose their omelet fixings.

Ingredients

This is an easy and fast way to make omelets. You can cook up to 8 omelets at a time using this method!

2-3 eggs -per omelet (4 or more will NOT work) -just make 2 if you want more
1 ziplock freezer baggie -with person’s name written in sharpie or other water proof pen/marker
1 pot boiling water (only 8 baggies per pot -if more use another pot)
salt & pepper & other herbs (thyme, parsley, chevril, tarragon) -to taste
grated cheese (any kind you like)
cooked bacon crumbles, cooked sausage crumbles, and/or diced ham
chives, scallions or finely diced onion
finely diced bell peppers, tomatoes, avocados
salsa
fresh spinach
mushrooms

Directions

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Write each persons name on ziplock freezer baggie.
3. Chop or cook any omelet fixins.
4. Break 2-3 eggs into each baggie (we prefer whisking them in a bowl first & then pouring it into the baggie)
5. Sprinkle with salt & pepper & herbs, seal bag & squish contents in hands to mix up egg
6. Open bag & either you add or have each guest add desired fillings.
7. Squish bag around to incorporate ingredients.
8. Squeeze out as much air as possible & seal completely.
9. Drop into boiling water & cook for 12-14 minutes depending on desired doneness. You can normally tell if you squeeze omelet how much liquid is left. If you’ve used wet ingredients it may take a little longer.
10. Remove from boiling water with tongs & pat dry on towel.
11. Immediately open, (you can cut the baggie or release the seal) roll onto the plate and serve. It will slide out of the baggies easily onto your plate. Add garnish (sour cream, chives, etc)

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