Doris and Jilly Cook » preserved foods

Basic Corn Pudding

dorisandjilly — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:19:39 +0000

Our CSA supplies us with a lot of eggs and cheese. Plus, we have a freezer full of corn. Hence, corn pudding.

This version is a slightly altered version of the standby “Corn Pudding with Poblano Peppers” in the 1990s version of Joy of Cooking. Among other things, their recipe omits an oven temperature. I find 350ºF makes the pudding a bit on the dry side—you’ll be happier with the results at 325ºF. It turns out that the amount of corn is flexible, as are the number of eggs and the amount of cheese. You can add roasted peppers if you want, or serve it with a sauce. It’s richer with cream, but perfectly fine without. In short, use this as a pallete to combine whatever you think would be nice with frozen corn.

Basic Corn Pudding

1 quart frozen corn (if using purchased corn, I guess a pound?)
1 onion, chopped
1 T. olive or canola oil
3/4 t. salt
4 eggs
About 1 cup of cheddar or jack cheese, shredded
Fresh chopped oregano or whatever herbs you have on hand (basil’s good in this)

1) Preheat the oven to 325ºF.

2) Saute the onion in a skillet with the oil for a few minutes, until translucent. Add the corn, herbs, and salt and cook a few minutes more.

3) Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the cheese and the corn mixture. Turn into a gratin pan or pie plate. Bake for about 30–40 minutes, until the center is set.

Turkey in Pipian Sauce

dorisandjilly — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:32:52 +0000

Pipian is a rich, thick kind of green mole—the wonderful sauces that play starring roles in real Mexican food. In Oaxaca, they just call it “mole verde,” but in Puebla, it’s “pipian.” When Americans see “mole,” they usually think of the dark brown version with chiles and a touch of chocolate. While still rich, this version is much fresher and lighter, with pumpkin seeds, herbs, and, in my version, tomatillos. About four years ago, my husband and I went to Oaxaca and Puebla and gorged ourselves on every kind of sauce we could find. Whether red, yellow, green, or brown, all of the moles seem to go particularly well with poultry . . . which brings us to Thanksgiving leftovers.

At this point it’s a little late to be pulling leftover turkey out of the fridge (I made a backup turkey on Sunday, so I’m still in the clear), but this recipe will work perfectly well with frozen cooked turkey. My version jumps off from a Rick Bayless version published in Reader’s Digest (I know! I know! But it’s still Rick Bayless), but adds a jar of homemade tomatillo sauce, since I’ve got a whole bunch of them just sitting in my basement waiting to be eaten. Depending on how many people you’re cooking for, it might make leftovers. I haven’t tried it, but I suspect pipian sauce would make a *spectacular* version of chilaquiles.

Turkey in Pipian Sauce

1 c. unsalted pumpkin seeds
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
12 sprigs cilantro
1 half-pint jar homemade salsa verde/tomatillo sauce
1 T olive oil or canola oil
3 c. turkey or chicken broth
4 c. cooked turkey, cut into pieces or shredded

1) Toast the pumpkin seeds in a heavy skillet (see picture). Let them toast for quite awhile, until they’re quite brown and popping.

2) Combine the pumpkin seeds, the onion, the garlic, the cilantro, and the jar of tomatillo sauce in a blender. Puree.

3) Heat the oil in a large skillet or pan (say, the one you just roasted the pumpkin seeds in). Add the sauce and 1 c. of stock. Bring to a boil and cook until it’s reduced by about a third (this will depend on the size your pan). Add the remaining 2 c. of stock and cook another 10 minutes.

4) Here’s the judgment part. Figure out how much turkey you want to add and how much sauce you want for that turkey. For 4 c. turkey, you only need about half of the sauce. Put the other half in a jar and store in the refrigerator for later use. Add the turkey to the remaining sauce and cook gently until heated through. About 15 minutes should do it.

5) Toss your turkey with the sauce into a crockpot and cook on low for 4–6 hours. Theoretically, you could use raw turkey, in which case you’d want it on low for 10–12 hours.

Serve with warm tortillas.

Crockpot Chili with Sweet Pepper Salsa

dorisandjilly — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:10:41 +0000

Remember the only-slightly-weird sweet pepper salsa that I canned back at the beginning of September? It’s really not bad—but since it does taste more like gazpacho than true salsa, I couldn’t quite imagine putting it on chips. Hmmm, I thought. What goes well with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and vinegar? Actually: a lot. You could probably make ratatouille, or picadillo, or an interesting beef stew. I thought I’d start with chili, an obvious candidate. The results were fantastic: not only tasty, but even easier than regular crockpot chili, if there is such a thing. And like most chilis, it’s flexible. If you want to add corn or black beans or even meat, go for it and tell us about it in the comments.

My potluck guests scarfed it down before I could get a picture, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

Crockpot Chili with Sweet Pepper Salsa

2 c. dried kidney beans or 4 cups cooked
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T mild chili powder
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 jar of homemade pepper salsa
a few dried peppers (your choice)
1 small handful of dehydrated tomatoes
1/4 c. bulgar

1. If using dried beans, cook them in the pressure cooker. I find you need about 9 minutes at 15 lbs. pressure for unsoaked beans, but 5 minutes should be plenty if you plan ahead and soak them.

2. Combine everything in the crockpot. Stir well.

3. Cook on low for 6–10 hours, adding water occasionally if necessary.

I love my chili with mac and cheese, but the folks on Twitter tell me this is weird. What do you put on yours?