I’m in love with my mulch. F. and I harvested our compost recently, and I was astonished at how well it turned out. From the outside of the bin, it seemed to be stratified and not decomposing into a happy wormy compost-dreamland.  But, as the Lord does amaze, my mulch astonished me.

North Carolina has been enjoying a very temperate fall. These past few December days have seen highs into the 70s. We benefited by the nice temperatures and pulled out all the contents of the compost bin on to large tarp, tossed it around, and covered it up with the sides of the tarp and let it cure for two weeks. Finally, we brought the finished product out to mulch our front garden bed.

So dark. So moist. So dreamy. It’s amazing that 6 months of coffee grounds, paper towels, chicken shavings and miscellaneous vegetables peels would result in a finely aerated topsoil. I am already looking forward to Spring.

Buying chicken stock at the grocery store can be expensive. Sold in many forms, as a concentrated paste or in cubes or cans. It’s an oft called for ingredient that both takes a chunk out of your dollar and causes a lot of waste in the environment if you prefer liquid broth which comes with wasteful cans or cartons. My method is an environmentally friendly way of creating your own chicken stock from items you obtain naturally in your kitchen.

If you cook, you may frequently have left over bones from roasting meats. I suggest that you look upon these bones with purpose. They can help form the basis for many future meals! They will provide great flavor and save you money, too.  If you roast a chicken every month and use the carcass for making stock, you will always have free stock (unless you make soup everyday).  It also makes the house smell lovely.

Just add your bones in your biggest pot and add some halved onions (even leave the peels on them!) maybe throw in a carrot or some celery and toss it all in the pot, and fill the pot up with water. Add 1 tsp per quart of salt, a couple bay leaves, and about 8 peppercorns. Let the pot simmer for a few hours. Drain, and allow to cool for a couple hours before transferring into Tupperware and into the freezer.

You’ll be set with free chicken broth in your freezer ready to defrost in the microwave and add to your dish. You can even freeze the broth in muffin tins or ice cube trays for miniature portions when you just need so much.  Do you make your chicken stock at home, yet?

I grew up in North Carolina and feel blessed to call it my home now. The land is forested and beautiful. Our year is marked by four distinct seasons. And our summers are hot and humid with a great growing season. Tobacco, soy beans, squash, tomatoes, and peanuts all thrive. And the humble peanut is one of my favorite fresh ingredients.

In North Carolina, and other places through the south raw green peanuts are harvested and oiled by the bushel in salted water for hours. Their skins get soft and brown, and your fingers slip easy into them to uncase the soft nuts. I have always been given my boiled peanuts, by my grandmother who would  always freeze them in Ziploc bags after their initial boiling. To reheat, you just boil the frozen peanuts for 1o minutes.

The recipe I was following for Chicken Peanut Chow Mein called for dry roasted peanuts. I didn’t have any  in my pantry. Nor did I have (a preference to use) the oyster sauce and sesame oils listed. In both cases I substituted what I had in my pantry and prefered, and I rather liked my version very much. I daresay it’s even better with it’s North Carolina peanuts. They were like soft salty gems among the hardy chicken, slick noodles and crunchy vegetables. Best of all, it’s thrown together in 30 minutes if you have everything on hand.

North Carolina Asian Peanut Noodles

• 1 frozen bag of boiled North Carolina peanuts
• 1 cup carrots, matchsticks
• 1 cup sugar snap peas
• 6 oz chow mein noodles
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp anchovies paste
• 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 can mushrooms sliced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 cup green onion chopped

1. Boil frozen boiled peanuts in water for 10 minutes.Then, shell the peanuts and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, slice the chicken thighs thinly. Then, sauté them with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce until the meat is nicely colored and completely cooked.
3. Remove the chicken, and to the drippings add the ginger and mushrooms and sauté them. In a cup, add the vinegar, anchovy paste, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and broth. Add the sauce to the pan and bring to a boil. Add the peanuts and cooked chicken and keep on low while the noodles boil.
4. In boiling water, add the noodles, carrots and snow peas. Bring back to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Drain.
5. Put the noodles back in the pot and add the sauce. Toss to coat. Add the scallions on top and serve.

A luscious jumble. A delicious mélange. Eton Mess is a scrumptious English dessert of cream, crushed meringues and fruit, typically macerated strawberries. Pillows of cream envelop the both crisp and gooey meringues and the fruit brings a pleasant tartness to cut the sweet concoction.  And as meringues are easily frozen and easily used from the ice box, I often have them on hand. Made up as Eton Mess, it’s the perfect spontaneous sweet for summer simply with some fruit and cream.

Eton Mess, serves two

• Two large meringue shells, crushed into
• 1/2 cup cream, beaten till whipped with
• 1/2 cup fruit, crushed and macerated in
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

The garden is looking luscious. One dahlia plant opened up. It’s so gorgeous it makes me giddy.

The tomatoes are hanging heavy. I counted 66 tomatoes hanging in my driveway garden. I even made these geeky diagrams of what’s growing on.

And drawn out more completely showing the mess of tomatoes with their count.

You probably want to see those other plants. They’re right here.

So things are growing well. I’m trying to germinate some late season squash and cucumbers, after having lost my squash recently to blight. Here’s a photo of it. Weird stalk decay.

It’s okay though. The squash’s decay just makes room for new stuff. I planted beans here, both yellow wax and green bush beans. This part of summer is so fun. Stay tuned for fresh tomatoes soon!

Squashes are lurking under vibrant green leaves.

The beets have all been pulled.

Tomatoes are hanging.

Peppers are growing.

My cilantro has gone to seed.

And something bit off the top of my apple tree.

But things are growing along on my homestead. The peeps are peeping, and the hens are squawking. Even the smallest chicks have grown feathers now.

June’s Daring Cook challenge was a simple pleasure given the reins of creativity. We were challenged with sharing our recipe of a healthy potato salad.  Potato salad is the most delicious type of salad, typically creamy and substantial; it never disappoints.

My family’s recipe for potato salad is not quite a healthy example though. Laden with mayonnaise, olives, and bacon, it’s also not the best to bring on a cookout considering the mayo. So instead, I am highlighting a different type of potato salad.

This recipe actually has some greens in it, too. But not lettuce greens, as they are no longer in the garden. These are your garden herbs, which at this time of year are plentiful and begging to either be used or go to seed.

1. First, combine 1/3 cup of olive oil with 1/4 cup of minced herbs in a processor. Zazz it together, set aside covered until the potatoes are grilled.
2. Boil 1 .5 pounds of potatoes, either red or white but not russet, sliced into 1/2 inch coins in salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain and heat grill.
3. Grill the potatoes on both sides until lightly chard. Toss with herb oil dressing. Enjoy! It’s freshness at its best.

Another plus to this recipe is that it isn’t difficult to bring on a picnic, just bring a container full of the parboiled potatoes and a small container with the dressing. Then, grill the potatoes and toss in the herb oil. A fun change for grilling in lieu of a green salad or a typical creamy potato salad.

Blog checking lines: Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh. 

I chose to do the Chicken & Sausage Gumbo. When we were in New Orleans, Louisiana (“NOLA”) just last week, we had a couple different types of Gumbo. They all had sausage; the variation between the two was the thickness and color of the sauce. One sauce was thick and dark, the other was translucent and green. This recipe yields a gumbo like the first, a thick mahogany hue.

The ingredient list is long, it could take 30 minutes or so to gather everything together, but that’s the only tricky thing about the recipe. Once everything is mise en place, the next step is to make the roux. Here is where the variation in the recipes come from: how long the chef cooks the flour in the fat. If the fat is cooked longer, the sauce gets darker. It starts off sloshy and white, then pales to a beige, until turning brown and more brown, until it’s almost black, or you’re too afraid it’ll turn black to cook it further.

Go ahead and get all your stuff together:

• 1/2 cup duck fat*
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup okra
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1.5 liters of chicken stock
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
• 1/4 pound Andouille sausage
• 2 pounds chicken, with bones or without, with skin or without. I used a pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and a couple leg quarters.
• Creole Spice blend*
• Filé powder

First season the chicken with the spice blend and let sit while you make the sauce. To begin the roux have at the ready

• 1/2 cup duck fat*
• 1/2 cup flour

*You can use any animal fat or oil.

Heat the duck fat in a big pot over a medium high hob. When gleaming with heat, add the flour, and whisk constantly. The roux will begin to color but remain thin for some time. Color the roux to your taste, but at least for 10 minutes.

After the roux is developed, add in

• 1/2 cup okra
• 1 large onion, diced

and fry until the sauce becomes glossy and mahogany in color, about 5-10 minutes. Then go ahead and add in the chicken, stirring to coat but cooking to brown the pieces, about 10 more minutes. Then add in the sausages.

• 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
• 1/4 pound Andouille sausage

Once well combined and heated, add in

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

and bring sauté for a couple minutes. Then add the chicken stock into the pot and bring to a boil, skimming fat every so often for at least 45 minutes. Add file powder to taste. You can serve either alone as a stew, or with rice or with noodles. Enjoy!

*For the Basic Creole Spices, combine

• 2 tablespoons celery salt
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon  onion powder
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

F. brought home six darling chicks this past week. They’re “Leghorn” chicks. They will lay white eggs – a welcome addition to our multi-colored bunch.

We did a photo shoot. Just for fun.  See how cute their little feathers are? I love the little tail-feathers the most.

This little one was a willing subject. So we ventured into the garden.

And little Peeper hammed it up.

And was an excellent model. Happy Easter!

Mid month means, it’s the Daring Bakers Challenge! The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake. The Coffee Cake recipe was a clipped out slip of paper yellowed with age found amongst a collection, but boy is it a winner. I’ve stored this recipe as a permanent keeper. Aside from its basic deliciousness, this recipe is meant for two cakes, which means you’ll always have one to share!

A slight caution. For the most delicious results, allot at least three hours for the process. The dough has to rise twice. And for the most delicious dough, you really want to be generous with the rising time. Good news is, of the three hours, there’s only about 35 active minutes of time.

One of the most fun parts of this recipe, is its surprise component. The meringue-filled center. It’s not uncommon when following a new recipe to have moments where you’re skeptical. You think, how bizarre to add raisins to a chicken salad recipe. Then, the raisins turn out to be your favorite thing about the dish. This recipe had a like moment for me with the meringue.

At first I thought, wont all the meringue just melt as it bakes into the bread. Then, after I cut the dough before baking, I saw how the meringue was pushed out into those fanned out bits, and I thought to myself “wont these taste egg-y and unpleasant once it cooks?” After all, I had had unpleasant bites of soufflé egg white, wouldn’t this be similar?

Instead, it doesn’t taste like boring old egg whites. It tastes like heaven. The sugar from the cake kind of melts into the meringue, and makes for the most divine bites. Instead of avoiding those pieces, they were prized and the most delicious.

Now, about creating this beauty. First, we must create the dough. This dough recipe is a little different than most, as it isn’t an “all dry, all wet, then all together” recipe. Instead, it’s like “a little by a little.”

Begin by gathering the ingredients separately for:

Coffee Cake Dough:

1.5 lbs all purpose flour (about 4 cups)
¼ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoons active dried yeast
¾ cup milk
¼ cup water (temperature does not matter)
½ cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs at room temperature

Spiced Sugar and Stuffing:

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon each ground cinnamon & ground coriander

4 oz chopped pecans (or walnuts)
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

Meringue:

3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar

First step is to create the dough.

Gently melt in a saucepan the butter with the milk, not bringing the liquids past steaming heat. In a mixing bowl, combine 1/3 of the flour with the sugar, salt and yeast. Add in the milk and butter, and mix on low speed until well combined and beat for two minutes on medium-high speed. Then add the 2 whole eggs and another cup of flour to the dough. Mix for another 2 minutes.

Then, on lowest speed, or manually with a wooden spoon or hard plastic spatula, add flour until dough comes together. Knead, either on medium high speed with a dough hook or by hand, for 8 – 10 minutes, adding flour as needed. Once dough is smooth and rounded, lay to rest in a covered and greased bowl.

Then let the dough rise. For at least 45 minutes. Stray more towards the full hour. The dough will appreciate it. It will breathe in those air bubbles that make the dough pillow-y and soft.

While the dough is almost finished rising, make the meringue. Beat room temperature egg whites on medium-low with salt until foamy. Then, gradually increase speed and add sugar until opaque colored. Then, add vanilla and beat on high until stiff peaks. Separately, prepare chopped chocolate and pecans, and combine spices with sugar, for the fillings.

Take the dough out and divide it into two pieces. With each piece, roll the dough out in a rectangle. Before stuffing it. That’s right, you’re stuffing this cake. First sprinkle on the spiced sugar. Then spread the meringue on half of the dough rectangle and top with the chopped chocolate and nuts . Carefully roll the dough up, beginning at stuffed side until you have a long roll.

Form the roll into a circle and press the two ends together to close the circle. Make cuts in the circle at even intervals and assist in fanning the cake out. Allow the formed cake to rise for at least 45 minutes. In the meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400. Once the cake has risen, brush with an egg wash, and bake for at least 35 minutes, or until the cake sounds hallow when tapped.