Morel Mushrooms and Quinoa

I'm a Tree planter by trade and one of the many benefits of working outdoors are the annual Morel mushrooms that pop up in the spring. It's always hit and miss with these mushrooms since they usually come up in areas that have experienced a fire. Lucky for us, last year there was a very big fire in one of the areas that we plant trees. We went to one of those areas today and sure enough there were Morels popping out of the ground everywhere. We usually never plant in the same place twice so I made sure that I picked as many as I could while still making some money planting trees.
If you have never tasted a Morel there really are one of the nicest mushrooms out there. Fried up with butter and garlic they are one of the tastiest food you will ever eat. The other nice thing about Morels is that they dry extremely well and taste just as good, if not better, when used like this. You can then use them in soup, stews, pastas, risottos, etc. Tonight I had some left over quinoa so that was I used as a side dish.
serves 2
20 minutes

• As many Morels as you can get
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups of cooked quinoa
• 1 onion, sliced thin
  
• 2 cups of cut spinach
  

1. Fry the onion in a little olive oil and salt until slightly brown.
2. Add the spinach and quinoa and cook a further 3 minutes over medium heat.
3. In a separate pan at medium high melt the butter with the garlic and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the Morels and cook over medium high heat for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add the food from the 2 pans and serve with a little salt and cayenne.
   

Prawn Pizza

Pizza is another family favorite and no two are ever the same. To me this is the best part about cooking for yourself, you never eat the same thing twice. What could be better than that? I like many types of crust but this one is a favorite as it comes out light, airy, slightly crunchy and very tasty. Perfect for the kids.
serves 3-4
dough - 3 hours
the pizza - 20 minutes

The Dough

• 1 1/2 unbleached white flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp of cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp suger
• 2 tsp fast rising yeast
• a handful of chopped up sun-dried tomatoes
• 3/4 cup of warm water

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Add the water and mix with your fingers and then hands until a ball of dough has formed.
3. Knead for 7-9 minutes, using white flour to keep your hands from sticking to the dough.
4. After a few minutes of kneading add the sun-dried tomatoes and continue kneading.
5. When finished kneading, coat the dough with oil and put in a large bowl. Cover with some plastic and place in a warm spot for a good 2 hours.
6. Punch the dough down, knead for a minute or so, put into a plastic bag and place inside the fridge for at least 1 hour. You can also leave the dough overnight and make the pizza the next day.

The Pizza

1. In a large pizza pan spread out enough cornmeal to lightly cover the surface.
2. Place your rolled out pizza dough on top of the cornmeal covered pan.
3. Spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the pizza dough.
4. Spread 2 cups of finely chopped spinach over the pizza dough.
5. Spread out as many cooked prawns (quickly fried in a little butter) as you like.
6. Grate enough cheese (this one uses Fortinella) to lightly cover the ingredients.
7. Top with 8 torn up pieces of anchovies.
8. Drizzle lightly all over with olive oil.
9. Place in a preheated 450 Fahrenheit oven and cook for 15 minutes.
10. Remove , cool slightly, and serve.
    

Spinach, Chick Pea Thai Curry

Spinach was the vegetable on sale today at the store so my thoughts turned to what to do with it all. It wasn't until I actually had the vegetables frying in the pan that I finally decided on having a Thai coconut curry.
serves 2-3
20 minutes

• 1 onion, cut into strips
• 1 red pepper, cut into strips
• 1 carrot, cut into thin slices
• 3 cloves garlic, cut into thin slices
• 3 cups of rinsed spinach
• 1/2 cup of cooked chick peas
  
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Thai curry paste (red, yellow or green)
• 1 can of coconut milk
  
• fish sauce
• chili pepper
  
• half a lime

1. Fry onion, red pepper and carrot in a small amount of oil in a pan at medium high until vegetables start to brown.
2. Add garlic, spinach, chick peas and a small amount of water. Cover the pan and let simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the curry paste and mix with the vegetables.
4. Add the can of coconut milk and mix in well with the vegetables.
5. Simmer for a further 5 minutes.
   
6. Serve with juice from a quarter lime, fish sauce and cayenne into individual bowls.
7. I didn't have cilantro but this would have been added had I had some.
   

Vegetable wrap

Today's lunch for the boys were some flax meal chapatis filled with some veggies from the fridge. S. had already had a plain warm chapati with butter and was just about to eat another (see the bite) when I told him that I wanted him to eat some veggies as well. I always ask the kids what they want so that they feel like they are in charge. For this wrap S. choose red pepper, grated carrots, and cilantro. Later on he had one with ketchup, red pepper, grated carrot, and spinach. Roll them up and eat them fresh. Hard to beat.

These chapatis follow my standard recipe (April 4, 2008), except that in this batch I added 3 Tbps of flax meal to the flour instead of the previous seed mixture.

Pasta a la J.

When I first moved to this area I quickly realized that the Italians who had settled the area also brought their great food with them. There is pasta galore and the local store always has good produce. It makes eating well as easy as it should be.
serves 2-3
25 minutes

• 1 onion, diced
  
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 carrots, grated
  
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
  
• 3 cups spinach cut up
• romano cheese
• olive oil
• 3 cups of pasta
  

1. Saute the onion and pepper in some olive at medium heat until they turn slightly brown.
   
2. Add garlic and carrots and cook for 3 more minutes.
3. Add spinach, add a little bit of water, cover with a lid, turn to low and simmer.
4. Into a boiling pot of lightly salted water add pasta and cook until done.
5. When the pasta is done, drain and return to pot. Add the vegetables and some olive oil to mix everything well.
6. Serve and add some grated romano cheese.
7. I like to add a little chili peppers as well for some heat.

Garlic, Spinach Omlette

A simple omlette

S. likes to eat a variety of things for breakfast but one of his favorites is still a simple garlic and spinach omlette

makes 1 omlette
8 minutes

• 2 free range eggs
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• handful of spinach, chopped
• your favorite cheese
• a little olive oil
  

1. Fry garlic in olive oil in a medium hot pan for 3 minutes.
2. Add spinach, cook for 1 minute.
3. Add garlic and spinach to the eggs and beat until smooth.
4. Return to the pan and cook until bubbles start to appear.
5. Add cheese and fold omlette in half.
6. Cook for a few more minutes, remove and serve.
   

To make a fluffier omlette cover the pan with a lid while cooking.