Elle's New England Kitchen

Welcome to installment two in my raw food journey!  We’ve been doing well, considering that we’ve been “cooked food + meat eaters forever.  My husband is doing slightly better than I am.  He’s got the willpower of…I don’t know what, but he’s almost unbending in this raw food journey.  A bull!  He’s stubborn like a bull.

We’re still in the “integrating” stage, where we do a lot of raw, some vegetarian/vegan, and meat once a week.  We had some beef ribs on Memorial Day weekend that we smoked--and oh man, they were delicious and mouthwateringly perfect!  But we both felt sort of sick after eating them.  Not only bothered in our stomachs, but it felt weird not being able to get the taste out of my mouth.  Beef, I’ll miss you.  You were always such a tasty treat…hehe.  But back to the integrating--we still have some baked bread and non-raw stuff, but overall, we’re eating much healthier than we were a month ago. 

Which brings me to these raw burgers, from Ani Phyo.  They were really tasty!  Perhaps need just a bit of playing around with as far as seasonings go--I’d like to add the Weber Burger Seasoning that we always use.  Used, hehe!  And maybe a little Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.  (Which tastes just like soy sauce, only lighter, for those of you who have never tried it.)

Overall, they were really good, and we’ll have them again, for sure.  I loved the flavor that ketchup added, too, surprisingly!  I didn’t make Ani’s raw ketchup, but the one we used was organic.  They definitely need some crunch, so go ahead and pile on your crisp greens and sliced onions. 

I dehydrated the bread and burgers in my oven with the door propped opened, but as we prepare more and more raw foods, I am starting to see the need for and advantages of a dehydrator.  We like to have crackers and chips to snack on--and it would be nice to pop them in there and let them do their thing.  But in a pinch, the oven did the job. 

The recipe for the burgers can be found here, on Ani’s site.   And the bread recipe can be found by clicking here.  My tip--if you’re making this without a dehydrator, make the bread on parchment paper, because when it’s time to flip it, it’ll be much easier.  Then peel the paper off.  And although the bread looks cracker-ish, it’s not.  It’s very pliable.

Raw Burger Porn:

All of this healthy stuff…

becomes this super healthy bread:

I hope you’ll continue on with me on my raw food journey.  It won’t be all I make and post, for sure.  I love to bake, and we’re still eating meat at least once a week, so there will always be something for everyone.

A couple of weeks ago, we were at the (indoor) farmer’s market, and looking at all of the gorgeous fruits and vegetables. I guess when it’s 35 degrees and freezing outside, everything that is fresh looks gorgeous, right? But really, this place has the best stuff. Anyway, I picked out some beets to oven roast, and the beet greens were just beautiful! Usually, the ones I see at the grocery store are gross. Not pretty at all, and full of dirt. Seriously, you wouldn’t even want to imagine putting them anywhere near your mouth. Ick.

But the ones a the farmers market? They were so pretty and green and vibrant, and I knew we could do something with them. Wasn’t sure what at the time, but I couldn’t pass them up.

A couple of days before, I’d been reading blogs and came across Pithy and Cleaver. Great blog! They had me at Garlicky White Beans. Because, yum! I had already picked up the beans for that to have on a baguette, so the beet greens just worked their way into my plans. One whole grain baguette before leaving the market and we were all set.

Sliced baguette, toasted, a bit of sautéed beet greens, some white bean mash, and it’s heaven in your mouth. Seriously, we couldn’t stop eating this. And have been looking forward to it ever since! We lead such an exciting life, do we not?

There’s garlic in both the greens and the beans, but it mellows out during cooking, so you won’t be keeping any vampires away with this one. And really, if they all look like Edward Cullen, why would you want to? There’s also fresh lemon juice in both. Add some fresh basil to the beans, and you’ve got some wonderful flavors going on.

Sautéed Beet Greens

To print these recipes, click right here!

To print these recipes, click here!

Beet greens from 3-4 large beets, rinsed well and drained, then roughly chopped
2 shallots, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth, if you prefer)
1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper

Sauté shallots with garlic in a little olive oil over medium heat--don't burn!
Add the beet greens and toss them in the oil mixture, after about a minute, add the broth.
Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove the lid, and squeeze in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Bean Mash inspired by Pithy and Cleaver

1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can white beans (don't drain!)
about 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper

In a pan, heat the oil over medium low heat. When it's heated, add the garlic and cook slowly, to infuse the oil with the garlic flavor.
Add the beans and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Begin to mash them with a fork, or a potato masher--even the back of a spoon.
Add the basil, lemon and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the greens and the bean mash on toasted whole grain baguette slices.

This is definitely one recipe that we’ll enjoy again and again. it’s so easy to prepare, and it’s not to bad for you, either. Makes a nice appetizer, or a light meal. Unless you eat all of it, like we did, and then it’s not so light. hehehe.

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I have a lot to cover in this post, so please grab a mug or tall glass of something and join me!

First up--the herb giveaway. I was contacted a little while ago by Matt From Daregal Fresh Frozen Herbs. He wanted to know if I'd like to try a sample. Heck, yeah! Trying to find reasonably priced and super-fresh herbs in the cold months isn't always easy. Not to mention that if you only need a little bit, and you have to buy a whole bunch, then you've got to come up with ways to use the rest up before they go bad, which is always sooner than later.

So here comes Daregal, with the perfect solution! Their herbs are 100% natural, salt free, and processed within three hours of being picked. They're not sitting around on store shelves losing flavor and freshness like the ones we've seen up until now. The herbs are washed, chopped (no stems included!) and ready to use in your favorite dishes--no thawing required, not even for salads. And you might think they'd be all stuck together, but the herbs get a very light misting of natural vegetable oils so they flow freely out of the container.

Basil

Original Blend: Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme and Onion

Bruschetta, soon to be topped with fresh mozz and popped under the broiler.

See the pretty minced basil?

A few weeks ago, Sarah at Homemade asked me if I'd like to start making some recipes together, and we would blog about our experiences. So of course I said yes! Sarah's a sweetheart and It's like baking in your friend's kitchen, except that she's on the west coast, while I'm on east coast. We'll be doing one or two a month, so stay tuned.

The first one we decided to try was pita bread. And what a great recipe! The dough was a dream to work with. I needed to add more flour during kneading because it was quite sticky, but once you get the texture right, it's all good.

The most time consuming part of these is when you set the dough aside to rise. They've got a 90 minute rise, a 20 minute rest, and another 30 minute rest before baking. But they only take 3 minutes to bake, so that makes up for it right? And even better--when you rip one open--because that's a law, isn't it? You are legally required to rip open a piece of bread when it's hot out of the oven, even if it causes acute pain to your digits. So when you rip one open, you get the aroma of yeasty heavenly steamy bread. You don't even need butter to enjoy these, although, I'm pretty sure there's a law somewhere about hot bread and butter going together.

Come to think of it, there should also be a law about not making blog posts at 12:45 am, too. Can I ramble, or what?



The recipe can be found here at Brown Eyed Baker. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer and let that do the kneading. Ten minutes, and the addition of about 3/4-1 cup more flour and the dough was perfect. I doubled the recipe to get 16 pita breads, because we're a family of 6, and every one of my kids had pita bread (and butter) (wait--my two sons didn't have butter on theirs. The little hoodlums--breaking the warm bread/butter law at such an early age...) for dinner. See? Eight wouldn't have been enough. And my husband and I had them for dinner--in a burger recipe which will be an upcoming post. And if any of you try one recipe from this blog, these burgers would be in my top 5 favorites. mmmmm!

SO! I'm coming to the end of my ramblings. These pita breads are easy to make, and would be really fun to do with the kids. And it's kinda fun to watch them puff up in the oven, too.

Right after kneading, and ready to rise for 90 minutes.

After 90 minute rise, we have the dough that almost took over the world. Or at least my stove top.

Required low-angle shot of doughy balls.

"Almost pita breads! We've got to sit for 30 more minutes! And what happened to our balls?"

Puffy pillows of warm, yeasty, bready goodness.