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Raw Zucchini Pasta

Published by @foodiegoogoo

Anyone familiar with the RAW movement? These are people who believe that food is really only nutritious when it isn’t cooked. Raw is just one of those things that involves a heavy duty commitment and because I can’t commit to watering my plants, I doubt it is for me. Me, in my 1950’s style ignorance-is-bliss attitude towards food is starting to hear the whispers from the Raw people and not every whisper is totally nonsense. Some of it is actually good common sense. Yikes.

What I am mostly reacting to is a note I saw about how 51% of any diet should be raw. Anyone see that too? And here is the Uh-Oh moment I had- my little chalice of snuggles and giggles hardly ever eats raw food. I mean she gets the grapes and cucumber finger foods like anyone else but that is pretty much it. Most things I feed her are cooked, steamed and baked. Perhaps I need to take it down a notch.

So I went hunting for some raw recipes that work. I must have read about 5 books and the only thing I thought was ‘why are these cookbooks published?!’ I mean, it is kind of a stupid thought in hindsight but there isn’t any cooking in raw cuisine. Where is the skill? Where is the moment of amazement when products come together into something new and, well, solid.

Enough attacking raw cookbooks. They have their place (as a doorstop) but low and behold this belligerent reader did learn something. It introduced me to vegetable noodles. Who am I fooling, raw vegetables aren’t noodles. At best they are peeled and diced raw vegetable or in other words exactly what they were in the first place. However, there is something kind of fun about the concept and more importantly it will get me to my end goal so I can go back to reading Smitten Kitchen.

The below recipe offers Zucchini noodles. To be honest, prior to all my raw reading I would say this is more of a warm salad type thing. BUT I ask you, the jury, is it enough to fool a toddler? I say it is. I say it is. To begin with, my toddler fell for it and she is a pretty tough critic if you ask me.

This recipe takes the natural sweetness of zucchinis and offers it in two ways. The first, lightly stewed as you would any pasta sauce. The second is ‘raw’ and peeled into thick noodles. These delightful little zucchini noodles will offer the fun of regular pasta but incorporate just a touch more raw.

Ingredients:

2 small onions, chopped

3 tbs olive oil

3 zucchinis, peel and chop two and leave one whole

2/3 navy beans, pre-soaked or canned because these have to be ready to go.

4 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup water or chicken stock (optional)

Preparation:

Warm the olive oil over medium/high heat in a small pot. Add the onions and let them sweat a little.

Once the onions have softened, add the two chopped zucchinis and the navy beans. Stir and add the thyme and bay leaf.

Reduce the heat a little to medium and cover the pot.

Now the fun part begins. Take a vegetable peeler and peel off the skin of the Zucchini. Discard. Once peeled, continue to peel the zucchini into ribbons or ‘noodles’. If you want the noodles wider, peel the zucchini one side at a time. If you want finer noodles, continue to turn the zucchini as you peel.

Once you have made the ‘noodles’, check on the stewing zucchinis. The onion and zucchini should provide enough liquid to create a natural sauce. If you find it a little dry, add a little water or broth. The zucchinis probably need about 15-20 minutes to stew to the perfect consistency.

To serve, put the noodles around the sauce. You may need to chop the noodles a little so that they aren’t too long for little bites. Regardless, sit back and be amazed at the pleasures of mixing raw zucchinis with cooked ones.

The final product!

Meaty Intro: Veal Cutlet Stew

Published by @foodiegoogoo

If your family eats meat, it won’t be long before your child should do the same. And for whatever reason, I found introducing meat a bit of a tricky one. First of all, it just feels like it would be tough to chew. I mean, am I the only adult that has trouble with meat sometimes? Secondly, I think we can all agree that there is literally nothing more disgusting than pureed beef. Try the ‘baby food’ beef in the little pots- grey, flavorless and just YUCK.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a crystal ball to tell you that there will be months where the blender will be your new bestie and the beef is it’s number one victim. It will happen but it shouldn’t happen for long. You, my friend, have options. As soon as you stop pureeing EVERYTHING, as soon as you start to introduce more solid textures like rice and you can offer food that were merely mashed using back of a spoon, as soon as all that starts to happen, you can start offering soft meats. Soft replaces the blender but it isn’t a fair trade and here is why: beef takes forever to soften. It either needs to be marinated or stewed and both take a long time. I should also clarify that this is pretty much true of all meats including old faithful chicken. Have no fear, I have a few tricks up my sleeve and Veal Cutlet Stew is one of them.

I don’t know where you fall on the old Veal dilemma but in my household, the qualification is providence. We are your quintessential organic meat eating family. If veal is still not your thing, I will say that mostly any cutlet will do. And why do I insist that cutlets are the way to go? Basically, the meat will take much less time to soften if it is already cut thin and the results will be small enough for your child to eat from the get-go. To take it a step even further, we are going to chop it up prior to cooking. If that isn’t enough to entice your little one, we are also going to nestle those deliciously succulent pieces of meat in a perfect stew.

The stew I’m about to introduce you to is delightful. It is sweet and savory and easy to assemble. Along with a couple of different onions and an apple, I suggest Jerusalem artichokes. These little tubers (very unlike the green, standard artichokes) are pretty ugly and unusual looking but they have some aspects that make them perfect for weaning. They are nutty, sweet and Jerusalem Artichokes add a little air of sophistication (why not right!). That being said, if you want to forget them because you just aren’t that adventurous and you have no idea what I’m talking about, use potatoes. Red ones are a good replacement because they keep their shape when you boil and boil some more.

Ingredients:

3 tbs + 1 tbs butter

340 grams (12 oz) veal cutlets

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

1 medium gala apple or similar, peeled and chopped

3 Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and chop ped

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 green peas

1 bay leaf

Preparation:

First of all, seal the deal. Take the cutlets and cut them into bite size pieces. In the meantime warm 1 tbs of butter in a pot over medium/high heat. when the butter is sizzling, add the veal and gently stir the meat. This will help seal the meat and ensure that it retains a softness. Take the veal out of the pot once it starts to brown. Clean the butter from the pot and return to the heat.

Add the rest of the butter and once it melts add the onions, apples, Jerusalem artichokes and chicken stock. One the onions have softened, about 5 minutes
, add the stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Add the veal, peas and the bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with a loose-fitting lid.

Simmer for roughly 1/2 an hour or until everything is soft, the house smells delicious and the veal is waving the flag of meat introduction.

When I see this photo I realize that I am NOT a food photographer. It actually looks really nice on the plate

When I see this photo I realize that I am NOT a food photographer. I serve this dish with a really nutty wild rice. I hope you can tell the rice is on the left.

Hi serve this stew with wild rice. Better get it to the table quick!

I better get this dish to the table quick!

Baby Salmon Teriyaki

Published by @foodiegoogoo

Posting this recipe, I have to remind myself to be brave. Jeff Tweedy, Wilco front man once said at a concert that I attended, that he has become more and more insightful talking to the ‘ibis’. In this case, he was talking about the audience of darkness. He knew we were all out there but he couldn’t see us. It helped him work through a few things I guess. Blogging can be much the same.

I am worried that ‘you’ my dark audience aren’t going to like this recipe. Certainly, I am delivering on delicious and nutritious. However, there are a few points to this recipe that may be a pain point for some. Specifically, Baby Teriyaki involves soya sauce and a little brown sugar.

Silence.

I am/am not afraid of brown sugar. I am sure that one of these days I’ll do the proper research to know the types of sugar that are best to use for household health. I’m not totally convinced by brown sugar but I am still too afraid to use honey so I’ll stick to brown sugar for now. If you prefer honey and your child is well past a year of age, feel free to exchange. The switch out will be like for like.

Soya sauce is made of soya. Huge revelation there, right? (Thanks darkness for being so insightful!) Actually, soya is an allergen and it is FULL of salt. To this I think that if you want to see if your child has a soya allergy, this recipe has a very small amount of it so it is probably a good tester so long as you have tried all the other ingredients. ALSO if you are giving your child any soya formula, you are unlikely to learn of anything new allergy wise. You should be good to go. Lastly, there are reduced salt verities of soya sauce. Why not give them a try if you are concerned?

But why am I being so provocative offering a recipe with a couple of controversial ingredients? Here’s why:

You probably ate soya sauce before you were parents and at some point you have to bite the bullet. Why not do it at home with a low amount of soya sauce so you can go off into the proverbial sunset of Asian cuisine? Suddenly you may find yourself able to meet with friends for Dim Sum on a Sunday morning (delicious).

Ingredients:

500 gram salmon fillet cut into four pieces

2 tbs butter, melted

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 orange juice

2 tbs brown sugar

1/8 soya sauce

1 small onion

Preparation:

Place the salmon fillet in a shallow dish or in a zip-lock bag. Your choice.

Combine all the other ingredients today and mix. Poor over the salmon and leave to marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Remove the salmon from the marinade and place the filets on a baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes. No need to turn.

We done.

Know Your Tomatoes: Perfect Low Acid Sauce

Published by @foodiegoogoo

I was going to start this post with some affirmation like ‘I love tomato sauce’ but that is basically redundant. Who doesn’t like tomato sauce? Practically every culture under the sun has found a way to take tomatoes and make a delicious and velvety sauce. When weaning our little ones, one can almost be sure that tomato sauce is the perfect vehicle to get us from liquid to solid. Start with just the tomato sauce and slowly add rice, peas, macaroni…you get the idea. I’ve heard of mothers ‘hiding’ other vegetables inside a tomato sauce. News flash: your kids know there are vegetables in there but the trade off is worth it because everyone loves tomato sauce.

Sadly there is always a catch. In this case the catch is citric acid and salt. Habnabit! What are those things doing in an unsuspecting can of tomatoes? Well, it turns out that tomatoes are already a high acid food but they don’t can that well without the addition of MORE acid. Once the tomato canneries ADD acid, well, it is just taking it a step too far for babies. So to quote Heidi Klum, canned tomatoes are ‘out’.

Instead think of fresh tomatoes for your sauces. This will add minutes to making sauce primarily because tomatoes need to be peeled prior to cooking because the skin is tough and can be a choking hazard for babies.

Another plus to cooking with fresh tomatoes is the ability to choose your variety. This makes a difference if your child is having a mild reaction to the acid levels in tomato sauces and tomatoes in general. Yellow and orange tomatoes have a lower acidity level in general but a rule of thumb is the sweeter the tomato, the less acid levels. Here is a handy article I found that discusses the different varieties. http://www.homeguides.sfgate.com/tomato-varieties-low-acidity-22860.html

What you will find below is a time honored process and not so much a recipe. The tomatoes in this recipe are fresh Roma tomatoes. This is significant because Roma tomatoes are not usually green house grown so they have the sweet flavor and their texture is perfect for stewing. They are also exceptionally cost efficient no matter what time of year. I think that after tasting this tomato sauce you are unlikely to go back to canned tomatoes. In the meantime, you’ll see a lot less skin rashes and tomato allergies.

Ingredients:

8 x Roma Tomatoes

A kettle of just boiled water

1 x Clove of Garlic

3 tbs Olive Oil

1 x Onion (Optional)

Fresh sprigs of thyme (Optional)

Preparation:

Score both ends of the Roma tomato with a little X and place in a stainless steal blow. Pour the just boiled water over the tomatoes and watch as the skin starts to peel itself off. After a minute, pour out the hot water and skin the tomatoes by hand. The peel should just pull away as you handle the tomato. Dispose of the skin. To further drop the levels of acidity, it is a good idea to dispose of the tomato seeds and just have the fleshy skin for cooking. You don’t have to chop the tomatoes once you have scooped out the flesh.

Take a medium sized, heavy bottom pot and heat the olive oil on high. Add the garlic and fry for a few seconds to release the flavour. Onion can be added at this time too to soften. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the tomatoes. Here is your chance to add any additional seasoning.

Reduce the heat to medium-low to give the tomatoes a chance to stew. Covered, for a minimum 20 minutes only stirring it occasionally. You may need to reduce the heat if you don’t have enough liquid or increase the heat if you don’t have a nice rolling simmer.

What you do with this sauce is your call. It goes well with anything and I always keep a pot in the fridge for instant meals at any time. My rule of thumb is no more than three days. This sauce also freezes well. To serve, I like to add a touch of heavy creme, salt, pepper and Ditali (tube) pasta and I am done done done with dinner.

Tilapia- Fishing for Victory

Published by @foodiegoogoo

This is just one of those things. I use Tilapia for this recipe because I can’t resist a sustainable and cost efficient fish. That being said, any white fish will do.

Think of this as a deconstructed fish finger with a few nibbletts mixed in for good measure. Ready in no more than 15 minutes (prep included), you are probably going to thank me for this recipe on a weekly basis. Oh yes, it is that good.

Ingredients:

2 x 225g Tilapia fillet, skinned and cut into large chunks

1/2 cup matzoh meal or breadcrumbs

1/4 cup butter, salted. If your child is under 1 year, unsalted works just as well but isn’t quite as zippy.

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup frozen peas

Preparation:

Take a large skillet and warm to a medium heat. Add the butter and once melted add the matzoh meal or breadcrumbs to brown. This take no more than a minute.

Add the Tilapia, corn and peas all at once. Stir continuously, breaking the fish down to appropriate size with the back of a spoon until the fish is cooked through. If the dish has ended up a little dry, you are welcome to add a little butter or olive oil to serve. Even lemon is a nice addition.

That is all folks. Serve this with mashed sweet potato, sit down and listen to your family regale the day’s activities.

Baby Weaning Basics: An Introduction

Published by @foodiegoogoo

You are probably a sophisticated eater. Doubtful? Let’s take this mini-quiz I just made up on the spot. It’s based on what I see most of my friends have in their pantry. You can mark yourself according to how many you have but let’s just say that if you have any of these ingredients or if even know what they are, you are probably falling in the sophisticated territory. Do you have:

Dried spices
Chilies: fresh, frozen or pastie
Hot sauce
Any vinegar that isn’t white (red wine, white wine, balsamic)
Any grain that isn’t rice (quinoa, bulgar, couscous)

See where I am going with this?

I bet it was pretty hard to scale back when it came time to weaning your baby and family cooking? In our house, the idea that spice was not going to be front and center was something we all mourned for awhile. I love things hot and so does my husband. It has certainly been an adjustment. I prefer to think of this change as an adjustment. Taking spice out of the equation or a few bought sauces of dubious origins doesn’t have to mean tasteless. Babies have a fresh palate to form and mush does not need to be endured for long or at all depending on your perspective.

Let me share with you the things I have learned from experience. Truisms if you will.

The first is that onions are your new best friend. Their sweetness and the depth of flavor they add to any dish is amazing. Get to know your Onion.

The second is that the freshness of fresh herbs can’t be beat. Fresh flavors happen when you start to add herbs without care. In my opinion there is never any reason to try to ram parsley into a tablespoon measure. Make it your own and everyone is going to love it.

Third is that natural sweetness is a powerful thing. Dried fruit, fresh fruit and a host of vegetables that i owe the world to are coming to mind. Have them at the ready.

The last truism that I want to share with you is the concept of ‘real’. Make everything real. Real butter, real stocks and real sweeteners. I refuse to be the sugar police but I am the additive police. Silent lurking preservatives are a no go because if they had something to bring to the table apart from making food last longer, they would be touted from the highest tower. FDA approved or not, phony flavor are not something I am prepared to add to my family meals and you can trust that recipes found here will wave the banner for this cause. I should add that it may seem scary to keep cream and other fatty items in your home but the benefits far out weigh the cons. And if you can’t fathom tossing your low fat butter, yogurt and artificial sweetener, think of the French. They seem to be doing ok and I’m starting to think that everything they eat was originally made for babies. All except baguettes. Those things are tough.

My next few posts are all going to fall under Basics but you might find the recipes and concepts, while basic, are a long lost art.

Simple, Clean and Fast Chicken Broth

Published by @foodiegoogoo

Liquid Gold- simple chicken broth

Obviously we can’t serve our little ones chicken soup from the can, from the cube or from the carton. Obviously.

How did our pantries stoop to such low levels that we can’t use…soup. (see what I did there). Salt, a natural preservative is the culprit here and frankly, very few people are healthy enough to endure the amount of salt and sodium found in a can of condensed soup. Not my dad with high blood pressure. Not my anemic sister and certainly not my little munchkin.

That being said, I’m really not the type to sit around skimming junk off the top of a boiling cauldron of chickens that are meeting a rubbery end. Ironically I always find this method, the old fashioned way of boiling fresh chicken to the ends of the earth and back, well, tasteless. What a conundrum.

My solution is to boil chicken that has already been roasted and enjoyed. I boil the bones and the results are delish. It is a much faster system and while it may not yield as many cups of soup in the end, it is something you won’t mind doing a little more often. The results can be frozen into cubes and whipped out whenever soup is called for in a recipe. Or it can be hearty and lovely family meal when paired with soup noodles, potatoes and left over chicken from your previously roasted chicken. What you will find below is more of a process than a recipe. Believe me that this is foolproof.

A large soup pot

Bones from a previously roasted chicken. Most of the meat should be removed and set a side.

3 yellow onions, peeled

1-2 large carrots ( no need to peel), loosely chopped

1 rib of celery, loosely chopped

1 tsp whole peppercorns

Other things to consider adding:

2 star anise

2 tomatoes, whole

1 leek, cleaned and loosely chopped

Preparation:

Place everything in a pot and add enough water to just cover the top of the tip of the ingredients.

Boil slowly until all the vegetables are very soft and broth has a richness. Roughly 1 hour or more.

Strain the soup of all the bones and vegetables and discard.

Sanity is my #1 rule

Published by @foodiegoogoo

I’ve been feeding my tiny, itsy bitsy daughter solids since she was 4 months old.

The doctor looked at my daughter who may have been around 6 pounds at that point ( she was born 3 lbs 14 oz) and cheerfully said ‘time for solids!’. Did he see what I saw? Did he see what the world saw?! I mean, my daughter could technically still fit in my stomach and I was going to start to feed her solids? Simply put, I was skeptical. Perhaps this was the end game to happiness, weight gain and sleeping the night?

I should learn that things are not that easy and that introducing solids at whatever age is tricky but I had to hit a wall before I could appreciate this new found wisdom. I had to cook and cook and cook and read and read and read before I set up some ground rules for my beloved, darling, fusspot of a daughter. So friends, here they are:

Rule #1- Sanity comes first. This means that everyone in my house eats the same thing as soon as everyone is able to eat a combination of foods and not just single items. For us, this happened at 6 months . Everyone eats the same meal… to varying degrees. For example, my husband likes hot and spicy food so I take out my daughter’s food before I spice it up. This is the kind of thing I’m talking about. Taking things out and devising a menu everyone can eat is far easier in my books than ‘double cooking’ as it is known in the toddler world. Try double, triple and quadruple cooking. I’ve seen it all and I say that it isn’t good for anyone. Sanity is #1.

Rule #2- One pot and one process. I’m not steaming to sauté to roast to ferment. I’m making food the way I know how and with the ease that I bring to every meal prior to and post having a baby. Food rejection doesn’t hurt quite so much if you haven’t spend 4 hours making a meal of tiny proportions. Pureeing to the desired consistency is a simple thing to do with hand blender. No need for all those ‘baby specific’ mechanisms that will clutter your kitchen in 6 months. Food is a social activity in many respects. Your baby will enjoy the challenge of new tastes and sensations and even if they don’t, they will enjoy the ‘collectives’ of a family meal. One pot for all.

Rule #3- This is a personal one but bear with me. My baby will be the one to tell me what she likes and doesn’t like. I will never utter the words ‘you won’t like this’ to my little one. She may hate certain food in certain contexts but I will continue to try, to navigate her through the exciting world of food and show her just how colourful and delicious this world can be.

At the end of the weaning process, your child will be a reflection of you and your attitude towards food. Therefore rule #3 is about having a happy, healthy and open-minded attitude towards food so that you can impart this on your child. Sometimes I think I should make this rule 1. It will make all the difference in the world.

Rule #4- Show no fear. Puréeing past prime because of choking fears? Worrying about allergies that have no hereditary basis? Not you and not me. We are going to introduce as many foods in the safety of our homes as possible. We are not going to wait until the child has a full mouth of teeth to introduce solid meats. Playing it too safe does nothing good for your child. Go to it together.

Rule #5- Three natural and wholesome food groups with every meal. Fat, carbs and protein are what you will find in my recipes. In many instances, all three will appear in one dish and one spoon. That makes my life easy and it usually tastes pretty good too!

Rule #6- Three meals a day, in one designated spot for a designated amount of time. There will be no chasing your little one around the house and no ‘sitting until x food is finished’. This is not the stage for that. If your baby hates food, making meals hours long and all over the house is just going to create ongoing, long-term problems. I recommend 3 meals a day, in the highchair for no longer than 1/2 hour at a time. Snacks can be on the go but meals are more structured.

These are my rules. Everything I have made for my daughter since pledging this to myself have been devised of these rules. Enjoy these recipes. They are thought starters more than anything else. You may love them or hate them. One way or another, let me know.

Kedgeree

Published by @foodiegoogoo

Kedgeree offers fish, rice and egg in a delicious and effortless way. It can be served for any meal of the day and always will deliver on flavor, nutrition and satisfaction.

You may never have experienced the wonders of ‘adult’ kedgeree. If you have, kedgeree may seem a little exotic for little palates. This version is modified and perfect for even the littlest eater at the table.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Basmati rice, cooked

2 eggs, hard boiled and chopped

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs butter

1 tsp curry powder (optional)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 pound fish: traditionally this recipe calls for an undyed smoked fish but I would suggest that any fish will do. If you do want to use smoked fish, become acquainted with the ingredients as there may be unwanted preservatives involved.

Juice of 1/4 fresh lemon

2 tbs fresh coriander, chopped

2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped

Greek yoghurt to serve

Preparation:

Heat a deep skillet at medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil and curry powder if using. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and leave to sweat slowly, stirring often. Once the onions have softened, add the fish and continue to cook until the onions are browning and the fish is flaking. Give the concoction a good squeeze of lemon. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the coriander, parsley and continue to let soften.

Once the fish is completely cooked, take the skillet off the heat and add the rice and chopped egg. Mix well and puree or mash depending on the age of your baby.

To serve, mix with a small dollop of yoghurt. Enjoy

French Toast- Goo Goo Style

Published by @foodiegoogoo

French toast is a smart food because it offers the trio of family health: fats, carbs and protein.

To get the early morning smiles I crave, I mix in banana, orange juice and a touch of cream. I have yet to see any baby, child or adult turn these delicious morsels down.

Ingredients:

2 Eggs, Beaten

1/4 cup, Orange Juice

2 tbs half and half cream

1/2 tbs all purpose flour

1 mashed ripe banana

1 tbs (or less or none at all ) brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tbs butter

2-3 Slices Whole Wheat Bread

Preparation:

Step 1-Whip the eggs until they begin to froth. Add the flour, orange juice, cream, mashed banana, brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well. If you find the flour became a little clumpy, mix the batter harder or just go with the flow. It doesn’t need to be a very smooth batter to taste great in the end.

Step 2-De-crust the bread and slice into small squares. I find a matrix of 3×2 or 6 squares in total to be the perfect size. This helps the bread soak in the batter quickly, cook quickly and thoroughly so that there is no concern of uncooked egg hiding in the center of the bread. Place in the bread in the batter and stir gentle to ensure the bread is totally immersed.

Place a medium size non-stick pan over medium heat and add half the intended amount of butter. Let it melt and start to sizzle.

Step 3-Place the soaked bread in the skillet and let brown. Turn once brown. This process is likely to take about 3 minutes on either side.

Step 4- Let cool to preferred temperature and enjoy!