Tennessee Locavore

Pretending Caramelized Onion, Peach & Brie Quesadillas Are Diet Food

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Please come visit me at my new site, Mouth From The South!

I spent this past weekend with a group of the loveliest women imaginable at a spectacular food event called IFBC (recap coming soon).  Let me quickly say that it was an amazing weekend full of fun, laughter & spectacular food.  We managed to pack the last few days with so much awesomeness that it made coming home a bit of a buzz kill, even if snuggling with my husband helped make up for it.  Walking into our construction zone of a house and finding out that one of our affiliate networks decided to change 500+ of their links without warning - well, let's just say that I was brought back to reality pretty damn quick.

After stuffing myself all weekend and risking a blowout with my Spanx, I swore to myself that I would subsist on cardboard & grass for the next couple of weeks.  But after realizing that I had wonderful truffles from Theo chocolates to eat, bread, cheese & salami to finish off, it seemed kind of silly to shock my system with too much healthy food.  Far better for me to ease into it, you see.  Plus I had some brie & peaches to use up.  I mean, it's a sin to waste food, right?

Whenever I need to make caramelized onions for a recipe, I make extra.  They're one of my favorite leftovers to have.  They freeze well and they make just about anything that's savory better, including these quesadillas.  These make a quick meal when time is tight and the way the onions, Brie & peaches taste together is sublime.

Caramelized Onion, Brie and Peach Quesadillas
Serves 2

1 medium peach, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 ounce Brie, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup caramelized onions (See note)
2 1-inch flour tortillas

Mix peaches with sugar and set aside for five minutes.  Put a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Over one half of a tortilla, spread a thin layer of peaches (you'll use about half), a couple of tablespoons of onions and half the Brie.  Fold tortilla in half and slide into skillet.  We usually don't use oil but if you'd rather use some, you can melt a little bit of butter or use a little bit of cooking spray.  It takes about 2-5 minutes per side - you want the tortillas to get nice and brown.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Caramelized Onions

1 large onion, thinly sliced.
1/2 tablespoon butter

Melt butter in a medium skillet.  Add onions and cook about 45 minutes, until onions and nice and brown.  You don't want them to get crispy brown.  Make sure to stir about every five minutes.  I usually double or triple this recipe and either use the onions in other dishes or freeze for later use.

Please click here for a printable recipe!

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Mozzarella, Corn & Tomatoes

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Please come visit me at my new site, Mouth From The South!

This is one of those simple recipes that I'm sometimes hesitant to share.  It's so easy and uncomplicated to make that I always feel like I'm just stating the obvious.  Thanks to the feedback I've gotten lately, I realize I'm being silly.  This recipe uses up leftovers, is quick to make, healthy and so delicious that I've eaten it for four nights in a row without a single regret.

The season for fresh corn at our farmer's market is short and oftentimes sporadic, especially with the drought we're having this year.  When I can find it, I buy at least a dozen ears and I usually cook it all the day I buy it.  After gorging ourselves silly on it, it's nice to do something a little different with the leftovers.  I love this with leftover grilled corn but it's also wonderful with plain cooked corn.  This is great for a quick dinner.  It doesn't have a very scrambled egg texture to it so if you want that, double the quantity of eggs.  

Sungold tomatoes are amazing in this dish.  Their sweet, tropical flavor works so well but it's also delicious with plain, red tomatoes.  I've also added a little bit of leftover bacon to this dish and I plan on trying some chopped red pepper to it as well.

 

 

 

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Mozzarella, Corn & Tomatoes
Serves 2

4 eggs
2 ears of corn, cooked
10 cherry tomatoes (Sungolds are amazing in this), chopped
1 ounce smoked mozzarella cheese, diced
1 tablespoon basil, chopped
1/2 tablespoon butter
salt
pepper

Cut corn off cob.  Melt butter in pan over medium heat until bubbling.  Add corn to pan and sauté for three minutes.  Meanwhile, whisk eggs together in a medium bowl.  Add eggs and smoked mozzarella to pan, stirring slowly but constantly.  Cook 2 minutes, then add tomatoes and basil.  Cook for one minute more.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.  

 

Please click here for a printable recipe!

Warming up with Eggs in Hell

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Please come visit me at my new site, Mouth From The South!

Eggs in Hell has to be one of my favorite meals.  Every time we make it, I wonder why we don't make it more.  It's cheap, quick, healthy & delicious.  You almost never have to make it the same way twice and you can serve it for breakfast, lunch & dinner.  You can use up leftovers in it and I almost always have the ingredients around to make it.  Plus it's got a pretty killer name and I love telling people that they're eating eggs in hell.  It keeps them on their toes.

I almost didn't post a recipe for this because I rarely make it the same way but I realize that people like to have a standard recipe to follow.  Please try this and then try these variations:

• Saute some sausage to start with and then add everything else.
• Leftover salsa?  Use that instead of the homemade tomato sauce below
• Use cumin & cilantro in place of the other herbs & serve with queso fresca or cheddar on top
• Leftover spaghetti sauce? Use that instead of the homemade tomato sauce below
• Add oregano & a little bit of cinnamon and serve with feta cheese on top
• Add in any extra vegetables you might have - I love adding lots of hot or sweet peppers

Eggs in Hell
(Serves 2 people)

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs(I used 1 tsp each of parsley, oregano & rosemary)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
4 eggs
4 slices of bread

Place saute pan over medium to medium high heat.  Add olive oil and when oil is hot, add onion.  Saute for 5 to 7 minutes or until translucent and just beginning to brown.  Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.  Pour in can of tomatoes and use a fork to crush the larger pieces up (or if you want a smoother sauce, run them through a blender or food processor first).  Add herbs and salt and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. 

Give sauce a good stir.  Crack eggs over pan and gently place on top of sauce.  Cover and let cook for about eight minutes or until whites around the edges of the yolk turn from clear to white.  This will give you eggs that are done but the yolks will still be slightly runny.  If the thought of runny yolks squick you out, cook for about 3 minutes more or until the whites over the top of the yolk turn from clear to white.

A few minutes before your eggs are done, put bread in to toast.  Spoon eggs out onto the bread with the sauce and sprinkle with the cheese.  Serve!

Please click here for a printable recipe!

 

 

Dark Days Challenge - Week 6 - Making Leftover Lamb Doubly Local

This week was filled with all kinds of delicious eating - and unfortunately not much of it was local.  I spent a few days up at my parents and while my parents appreciate the virtues of eating local and are very supportive of my decision to do so, they haven't quite made the leap toward trying to put it into practice on a daily basis.  I understand - to a lot of people, eating local can seem like a hassle, especially when you live in a place where few people do it.  My parents eat lots of their own produce and I have very fond memories of the large gardens we used to have when we lived in Nashville and outside of Milwaukee.  But eggs, meat and dairy are almost never local unless we bring them.  One thing they can get very readily is local lamb and since all the meat eaters in our family like it, they often buy it.

Our Christmas Day dinner was roast lamb with a rosemary-garlic marinade, mashed potatoes and frozen baby peas.  The lamb actually happened to be local - both to them and (with the 150 mile limit for this challenge) to me as well. The only other thing that was local was the rosemary used to flavor the lamb.  It was a delicious Christmas meal - I like my lamb a bit rarer than my parents - but everyone enjoyed the meal.  Since my parents were leaving to go furnish their new condo in Tampa the next day, Marcus and I brought the leftovers home so they wouldn't go to waste.

I like my meat a little rarer than my parents and the ends of the lamb were much more well done than I usually like.  I was trying to think of a way to brighten up the flavor and a way to serve it so it would stretch for a couple of meals.  My sides tend to be a bit limited in this area, even though I allow myself the use of non-local flour.  I have local cornmeal and potatoes which gives me several options for a starchy side dish.  I thought about chopping the lamb finely and using it in a tomato sauce and serving it over polenta but I also wanted to use up some slightly stale homemade bread that we had made.  In the end, I sliced the bread very thinly and toasted it.  I topped it with the lamb that had been sliced very finely and drizzled on a dressing made with rosemary, parsley, garlic, red wine vinegar and olive oil.  I have some spinach growing in my garden under plastic and row cover fabric so I picked some for a salad and used the extra dressing on it.

We devoured this both times we made it and I've decided that any additional lamb we make here at home will have to be enough so that we get leftovers from it.  We want to make this again soon.

Really Inauthentic Okonomiyaki

When you've spent several hours in the garden in ninety degree weather, the last thing you're going to worry about is whether or not the recipe you're making is "true" to a particular cuisine.  You want something quick to make, something that uses up a decent amount of produce, something reasonably healthy and something that tastes great.

Heidi Swanson's Japanese Pizza recipe fits the bill perfectly.  No - it's not a traditional recipe for okonomiyaki but it's quick and really tasty.  It's also perfect for using up odds and ends of vegetables from the garden.  I've subbed in kohlrabi, turnip, beets and zucchini and it's all been tasty.  We've gotten in the habit of eating this at least once a week and we've yet to get tired of it.

Japanese Pizza (Inspired by 101Cookbooks recipe)

Serves 1-2

2 cups shredded vegetables, (I used 1 3/4 cup cabbage and 1/4 cup grated carrot)

1 cup leeks, chopped (wash these suckers well)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tamari

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon olive oil

Dipping Sauce - mix together:

1 tablespoon siracha (this makes a very spice sauce so add to taste)

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

 

Combine the vegetables in a bowl. Toss the vegetables with the flour until they're all covered with a dusting of flour.  Add salt and tamari to the egg and stir the egg mixture into the vegetables.  Mix until everything is evenly coated.  

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add olive oil.  Spoon the cabbage mixture into the pan and using a spatula, press it into a round pancake shape, making it as flat as you can.  Cook 5 to 7 minutes - you want it to turn a nice brown color.  To flip, slide out onto a plate.  Put another plate on top of that plate and flip over.  Add a little more oil to pan, let heat for 20-30 seconds and slide the pancake back into the skillet.  Let cook another 5-7 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve hot with dipping sauce.

The only non-local ingredients in the above meal is the tamari, the siracha, the flour and olive oil.  The mayo was actually made with olive oil and local eggs.  This week has once again been full of local eating.  Last night, we had a group of friends over and we all shared pizza made with local tomatoes and vegetables, heirloom tomato salad and brown sugar peach ice cream made with local milk and eggs and local peaches.  Breakfasts are usually local eggs made some way and a bowl of local fruit, usually peaches.  Lunches are either leftovers or salads made from leftover bread, tomatoes and whatever local produce needs to be used.  To be honest, I can't imagine not using local ingredients this time of year.  Not only do you get to support your neighbors, but it's just good food.