Colorful Kale Salad

An impromptu cookout inspired my adorable friend Jenny to whip together the most colorful kale salad. While everyone stood around the grill, I snapped a few shots. It had never occurred to me to add red bell pepper, (admittedly, an ingredient I often forget about), and feta. A total hit!

While noshing, conversation turned toward the subject of things inherited from well loved, and since passed, family members. Jenny recounted her favorite items, telling us of her grandmother's apron, which she wore in the kitchen while preparing this kale salad.

I smile to think of all the women behind generations of aprons; imagining what they prepared, and how they moved about their kitchens throughout the timeless journey of cooking.

Jenny's Colorful Kale Salad:

*1 bunch green kale, rinsed, ribs removed, and chopped

*1 small sweet onion, chopped

*1 clove garlic, minced

*olive oil for sauteing

*1 red bell pepper, chopped

*1/3 cup crumbled feta

*sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Over medium/low heat, saute onion in olive oil until tender. Add red pepper and garlic. Saute for about 2 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove onion and sauteed veggies from pan with a slotted spoon. Set aside in a small bowl.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil in same pan. Add kale and a splash of water. Wilt until cooked through. Season to taste. Remove from heat and toss with bell pepper mixture in a serving bowl. Sprinkle with feta and serve!

Carolina Bison Empanadas

Versions of empanadas can be found across the globe, from Brazil to Ghana, ranging in size, shape, and seasoned fillings. Empanadas are fine finger food for socialites and working class alike in how easily they lend themselves to rushed blue collar schedules or cafe style lounging accompanied by wine or coffee.

Italy knows them as impanatas, stuffing the pastry with ingredients of the region such as mozzarella, eggplant and olives. Bolivia enjoys their version of the dish (saltenas), filled with potato, peas, hard boiled egg, or raisins. In Nigeria, empanadas are commonly filled with greens, carrots, beef or chicken.

During my stay, years ago, in Australia, I recall a version of empanadas, referred to locally as meat pies, stuffed with (you guessed it), various kinds of meats.

The World Cup has put me in a global state of mind, and I love how this dish, like futbol, unites so many regions.

Although it would be a challenge to classify empanadas as health food, if made with high quality ingredients and baked rather than thrown in the deep fryer, they really are lovely fare.

This local Carolina Bison version turned out brilliantly. Garden carrots, spinach, onion and a bit of blue cheese, really bring it all home.

If you have a party to attend, or just want to treat yourself, give this recipe a whirl. People have been doing such things, all over the world with much enjoyment for centuries.

Carolina Bison Empanadas: (makes about 12)

Crust:

*1 cup organic AP flour

*1/4 cup organic whole wheat flour

*1/2 tsp. sea salt

*8 Tbsp cold, high quality unsalted butter, cubed

*3-4 Tbsp ice water

Blend dry ingredients in a food processor, or in a large mixing bowl. Add butter. Pulse. With blade running, slowly add the water, one Tbsp at a time, until dough forms. Turn out onto a floured work surface. Shape into a disk, wrap in parchment and place in freezer for approximately 15-20 minutes while preparing filling.

Filling: (amounts are approximate, play around)

*1 sweet onion, chopped

*1 carrot, diced

*1 celery stalk, diced

*3 cloves garlic, minced

*1/2-3/4 lbs. ground local bison

*1 small garden tomato, diced

*1 Tbsp dried oregano

*1/2 tsp mustard seeds

*1/8 cup dry red wine

*1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

*sea salt and pepper

*1 tsp. cumin

*3 cups fresh spinach leaves

*1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

*2-3 Tbsp blue cheese

*1 egg yolk

*splash of water

Saute onion, carrot and celery in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, until onions are translucent. Add garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add bison. Brown to medium rare before adding the tomato, oregano, mustard seed, red wine, balsamic vinegar, and cumin. Simmer briefly. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add spinach leaves. Allow to wilt and remove pan from heat. Stir in cilantro. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Preheat oven to 375.

Roll dough out on a floured work surface, to about 1/4''. Using a round biscuit cutter or the rim of a water glass, cut out as many circles as dough allows. Gently roll out each circle additionally to create a large enough surface for stuffing.

Working in batches, place about 2 Tbsp of filling to one side of each dough circle. Sprinkle with a small amount of blue cheese.

Fold dough over filling to create a pocket. Crimp rim of empanada with the back of a fork to seal sides together. Trim away excess dough to make a nice looking seal. Transfer to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Slash each empanada with a sharp knife to create small steam slits.

Whisk the egg yolk in a small bowl with a splash of water. Coat empanadas with egg wash using pastry brush.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until pastry is golden and beautiful. Allow to cool before sprinkling with additional chopped cilantro and serving.

Bon Appetit!

Guten Appetit!

Afiyet olsun!

Buon appetito!

Smacznego!

Bon profit!

Bon pro'!

Dober tek!

Enjoy!

Gifts of Memory

Out of all the church services I attended in my youth, and the countless sermons delivered, I struggle to recall specific messages, (not to say they are not still with me in some shape or form). This strikes me as odd, because I can remember every single ingredient layered inside the soft breakfast burritos purchased at the local Mexican joint, Anita's, after church. Sitting quietly in a pew seemed to summon the deepest of hunger pangs. Whenever the last prayer was said, my mouth would begin to water in anticipation.

Anita's had a narrow breezeway entrance, with a pick-up window and a heat lamp beaming over a pyramid of wrapped burritos, for patrons looking to grab-and-go. One of us kids would run in and purchase a stack, sporting our Sunday best, making sure to remember little side cups of homemade salsa and sour cream. Those burritos completed church for me.

When guests come to visit, my favorite time to catch up is over shared meals. Two friends from Washington state graced me with their presence this past weekend, and we took time out to casually break bread together throughout their stay.

Before leaving, Sarah came through the door bearing her homemade zucchini pickles and hand packed albacore tuna, as a farewell token. The tuna was caught by a fisherman friend, which she carefully canned in olive oil with carrot sticks, to add a pleasing color. It was incredible, as were the unbelievable pickles! Gifts such as these bring me back to the phenomenon of memory. The details we remember, and those we let go of, are perhaps retained best by the flavors in which they ride in on.

Peas

With sugar snaps and snow peas all too soon fleeting, do yourself a favor and invite them in for one last dance, accompanied by gorgonzola and maybe a bit of candlelight.

Method:

Harvest peas. Remove tops. (If they are too far along to eat the whole thing, shell out the plump peas and continue). Heat a cast iron pan with a bit of butter. Saute peas for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Add a generous sprinkling of blue cheese and chopped fresh basil. Serve as you bid your final farewells.

Sea Salt Reflections

For the longest time, we were told to substitute butter for margarine, and restrict salt. Now butter is back, but salt still remains taboo in the typical American diet, and for good reason. The industry uses far too much of it, in a highly refined form, with dangerous additives, to make products taste good. This excess has resulted in wide-spread high blood pressure, potassium deficiency, and liver, kidney and heart disease. This is again a prime case for quality. Salt is actually a necessity in its natural form, a different food entirely form its commercial cousins.

It's fun looking to the science behind traditional foods, and rediscovering what our senses already know. Salt is irresistible for a reason.

Watching the BBC's Planet Earth series, I am always amazed by the footage of elephants voyaging into salt caves during the darkest hours of the night, to source the life giving mineral in droves. They have literally shaped the caves over generations of salt mining, with their powerful tusks. It's striking to see one of the world's most prehistoric animals making such a precise journey for salt, guided by nothing more than centuries of genetic code.

Our taste for salt is just as fierce. As discussed in the book Nourishing Traditions, and to quote author Sally Fallon; "Salt is essential to life, that is why we have salt taste buds. Without salt, we die. We need salt for protein digestion, carbohydrate digestion, adrenal function, cellular metabolism and brain development. Unrefined salt provides us with many trace minerals."

My very close friend Kelly, worked for years with the local company- Grain and Salt Society, introducing me to her favorite product, "Flower of the Ocean." This salt is without a doubt the most luxurious staple. Whisked into scrambled eggs, added to stocks, or even sprinkled over dark chocolate truffles, once you try this stuff you will never go back to regular table salt. And no, the company is not paying me to say this. Kelly recently gave me the sweetest salt box, (pictured above), which inspired today's reflections on this precious mineral. Thanks Kelly!

My former salt jar, which I purchased years and years ago, from an antique dealer's yard sale.

Another collection in the making. . .

Lavender Scones

I was gifted three large lavender plants earlier this spring, which had outgrown their former place in the garden. I was thrilled to be the recipient of the statuesque trio. Their prior home happens to be one of my favorite gardens in town, owned by two of my favorite people, whom I have been blessed to garden for. Bursting with aromatic, purple blooms, the bees at my place are happy about the transplant too.

These scones are in honor of June, a woman with enough generosity to pass along a piece of her garden to me, in addition to her consequential lesson of unwavering grace, in, and out of the garden. Thank you dear friend!

June's Lavender Scones:

*1 cup organic whole wheat flour

*1 cup organic AP flour

*2 tsp aluminum free baking powder

*pinch sea salt

*4 Tbsp cold unsalted high quality butter, cut into cubes

*2 fresh eggs

*1/2 cup fresh jersey milk

*7-10 lavender sprigs in full bloom

Preheat oven to 425.

Remove blooms from lavender sprigs. Pour milk in a small saucepan, and place over med/low heat. Stir in the lavender blooms. Heat gently, stirring often for about 10 minuets. Remove from heat. Pour milk through a strainer, pressing down firmly on blooms with the back of a spoon to gain every last drop. Allow milk to cool while completing remaining steps.

Mix the flours, baking powder and sea salt in a medium mixing bowl. Blend in the butter using fingertips. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in with a fork between each addition. Slowly pour in the cooled milk, adding just enough to form dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Gently, and briefly knead. Form into a disk and roll out to about one inch thickness.

Using a sharp floured knife, cut into triangles and transfer to a baking sheet. Top each scone with a few lavender flowers.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes until scones are golden. Cool slightly before serving with local honey and tea.

Potatoes!

A visiting gem of a sister, with a love for the color purple, inspired this harvest. Rather than dig up the Yukon golds, I went for the purples and reds in her honor. Taken by the color while rinsing each tuber, Becky decided to put a little of her love into the mashed dish which followed. Simply whipped with Seven Stars yogurt, the blended array of colors reminded us of childhood's pastels.

Becky's Whipped Garden Potatoes:

*A bunch of early potatoes, rinsed

*plain whole yogurt and butter for whipping

*sea salt and pepper to taste

*1 clove of pressed garlic, optional.

Boil whole potatoes, with skins, in a large pot of salted water until tender. (Boiling potatoes whole keeps them from absorbing water and becoming water logged, for a creamier outcome).

Strain and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Using a potato masher or electric mixer, whip potatoes with butter, yogurt, salt, pepper and garlic, adjusting portions to your liking. Share with a special sibling/friend.