After my less-than-stellar morel hunt last weekend I needed to forage something more gratifying. It’s the perfect time for spruce tips. Pretty much all the spruce trees in town are boasting bright green tips with brown papery casings. I ventured as far as my yard to collect a pound of them. They required very little processing; just remove the papery casings and you’re good to go.
I’ve never been quite sure what to make with these edibles. I’m not much for tea or jelly. I wanted something savory.
I first referenced the Goddess of Alaska Forests, Laurie Constantino, and made a delectable dip with mayo, Greek yogurt, lemon juice and minced spruce tips. It was perfect for the garlic bread crusts I had leftover on my dinner plate last night.
Recently a friend of mine told me about a Juneau-based blog that’s all about foraging Alaska edibles. There was an intriguing recipe for spruce tip gnocchi. I had to try it.
As Part Two of my summertime Alaska blog series, I tried to harvest a few things such as fiddlehead ferns and fireweed shoots, but I only successfully cooked something using devil’s club.
You’ve probably encountered devil’s club in any Alaska forest. It’s pretty much the last plant you want to encounter because it’s covered top to bottom in sharp thorns that can easily embed themselves in your skin; but in the spring the plants produce short buds covered in premature, soft thorns. This part of the plant is edible. Is it good? That’s what I aimed to find out.
I embarked on my devil’s club hunt on a sunny spring day after the birch trees had started budding. I had no trouble finding a thicket of devil’s club up on the hillside. They all had 1-to-3-inch buds emerging from the dry, wheat-colored stalks. I used a gardening glove to pluck them and collected them in a bucket.
This one isn’t quite ready yet. There should be an inch or two of green coming out of the brown sheath.This one is ripe for the plucking!
After getting stuck with thorns a few times I felt as though I had enough to work with. On the drive home my car started smelling like an Alaska forest. The devil’s club buds had a spicy, celery-like scent.
In an effort to spiff up some of my past recipes, I made this winner dinner tonight and have decided it shouldn’t be called “Lazy Lasagna” but rather, “Skillet Lasagna.” It is much easier to break up the lasagna noodles and not deal with slippery, boiling hot noodles and layering and all that, but it still takes some time to make this recipe and it’s still totally worth it!
***
My family requested lasagna for dinner yesterday, but I didn’t get home till 5 p.m. so it would have been a mad dash to get lasagna on the table by 6:30.
Here’s what I made instead. Although it’s about the same ingredients as lasagna I didn’t have to take the time to layer everything out. I just threw it all together, topped it with cheese and stuck it in the oven. Easy peasy.
Skillet Lasagna
From start to finish: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients:
12 ounces lasagna noodles
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces button or crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound loose Italian sausage
6 ounces baby spinach, roughly chopped
3 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided, plus more for serving
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When the water boils break up the lasagna noodles into irregular pieces and add to the pot. Cook according to box instructions, about 12 minutes. Drain and set aside.
While the water boils and the noodles cook, heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. Add the mushrooms and salt and sauté until some of the liquid has evaporated, about 7 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until spinach is wilted, another couple of minutes. Transfer mushrooms and spinach to a bowl and set aside.
Without cleaning the pan, add the sausage and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until sausage bits start to brown. Add the sauce, mushrooms and spinach. Combine well.
Add the noodles, 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup parmesan and stir till the noodles are well coated. Top with the remaining cheeses, cover and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Slice up like a pie and serve with additional grated parmesan cheese.
Growing up I rarely had the chance to eat classic dinner foods such as tuna noodle casserole and meatloaf. I absolutely love these dishes. My mom started making meatloaf after I had moved out of the house and it quickly became a favorite. I don’t know what magic she puts into her recipe, but I’ll never know because, like me, my mom just throws stuff together and doesn’t keep track. Well, tonight’s meatloaf was worth remembering.
I doubled the recipe so there’s plenty of leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches, which are almost better than fresh-out-of-the-oven.
Mini meatloaf with mushroom marsala sauce
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped pistachios or cashews (optional)
2 egg yolks
2 slices of good white bread
2 Tbs. milk
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped pimiento olives (optional)
2 Tbs. dried parsley
1 Tbs. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
For the sauce:
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup Marsala wine
splash of beef broth
up to 1 cup of reserved mushroom liquid (read recipe for details)
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place dried mushrooms in a small bowl with hot water. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes. In another small bowl, tear up the bread and add the milk. Let sit for a minute and mash up with a fork.
In a Kitchen Aid bowl add the meat, nuts, yolks, soaked bread, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, onion, garlic, cheese, olives, dried herbs, salt and pepper. Finely chop the mushrooms and add them to the mixture, reserving the mushroom liquid for the sauce. Use the paddle attachment on a low setting until well combined.
Pour the bread crumbs on a tray or pie plate. Heat butter and oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Form four small loaves and dredge them in the bread crumbs. Brown the loaves in the pan two at a time.
Place the loaves in a casserole dish. Top each loaf with decorative olives if you’d like them to resemble a 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until the center of the loaf reads 140 degrees on a meat thermometer. Remove from oven, transfer loaves to a cutting board and let sit, covered, while you make the sauce.
The sauce: Reheat the pan that you used to brown the loaves. Pour any drippings from the casserole dish into the pan. When the pan is hot add the marsala and tomato paste and whisk until everything is well combined. Bring to a simmer and turn down the heat. Add about 1/2 cup of the mushroom liquid and a splash of beef broth. Add more mushroom liquid if it’s too thick. Add parsley just before serving.
Slice loaves into thick slabs. Serve with egg noodles and green beans. Slather with delicious meat sauce.
For years I’ve struggled with stir fry. It seems easy enough: chop meat and veggies, fry them up in a hot pan, toss with sauce and serve over rice or noodles. I could do the veggie part right, but the meat always turned out pale and chewy. I wanted that crispy beef you get at a restaurant that’s tender and flavorful.
I finally figured it out. It isn’t even hard. First, my kitchen stove isn’t hot enough. It can’t heat a wok like an industrial restaurant flame can. So right away I was set up to fail. My first step was to ditch the wok. My stove just can’t heat the bottom of a wok to a high enough heat. Instead I place a cast iron skillet in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees before putting it over a hot flame. This produces the hottest pan and will help with that caramelized sear I’m looking for on the meat.
Second, tenderize the meat. In the past I just sliced my beef thinly and tossed it into a pan. I find poking it all over with a fork or a meat stabber creates a more tender final product.
Third, don’t overcrowd the pan. Adding a large quantity of cold meat to a hot pan will lower the pan’s heat and it’ll take longer to reheat it. Cook your beef in two batches and the pan will stay hotter. Lastly, don’t move that meat! To achieve that perfect sear, toss in the beef and don’t stir it, shake it or flip it for a minute.
Here’s a recipe I came up with tonight, inspired by this recipe, and using what I had available in my kitchen. I hope you don’t feel intimidated by the number of ingredients. Most of them are staples in my kitchen. Use whatever veggies you like. That’s the great thing about stir fry. It’s customizable. Serve over noodles or rice, whichever you prefer. I happened to have udon noodles so that’s what I went with tonight.
Tenderize the beef with a meat stabber or a fork. Slice thinly across the grain. In a bowl combine soy sauce, vinegar, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp. sesame oil, corn starch, salt and pepper. Add the sliced beef, coat in the mixture and set aside.
Place a cast iron skillet in a cold oven and set the temperature to 500 degrees. Set a large pot of water to boil. Cook noodles for nine minutes, rinse with cold water and set aside.
In the meantime, chop the onions and bok choy. Massage the kale for a minute. This helps it be more tender when cooked. In a medium bowl, combine the sherry, oyster sauce, chicken stock and ginger; set aside.
When oven reaches 500 degrees, remove the cast iron pan and place it over a high flame. Add some cooking oil, enough to coat the pan, and let it heat for a minute. Add half of the beef and spread it evenly on the pan. Now don’t move it! Let it sit and sear for one minute. Flip each piece, toss in the dried peppers and garlic and let it sit another minute. Place into the bowl with the sherry and oyster sauce. Add a little more oil to the skillet and let it reheat for a minute. Add the second batch of beef and cook the same way.
In the now empty pan, add a little more oil if needed and toss in the onions. Stir and let cook for a few minutes till onions begin to soften and brown slightly. Add the bok choy, kale and sugar; toss to coat in the oil. Add a splash of chicken stock and let the greens cook down for a few minutes, until tender. Add the beef mixture and green onions and toss well. Serve over the noodles.
I seem to struggle with basic recipes such as steaming peas and frying bacon. Green beans fall into this category. I either undercook them or overcook them; either way they turn out not good. Welp, I finally figured it out. Slightly sweet, tangy and caramelized, these green beans were the easiest.
The best green beans ever
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 Tbs. butter
A splash of marsala
Juice of 1/4 of a lemon
salt and pepper
Directions:
Heat a cast iron pan over high heat. Add the butter. When melted, add the green beans. Cook on high for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss in the marsala and thoroughly coat the green beans. Keep cooking until beans start to brown and caramelize, about three minutes. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking another few minutes until green beans are tender.
I love junk food. LOVE IT. But there are lots of reasons why I shouldn’t eat it on the regular.
I’m not a big fan of diet recipes that try to emulate the real deal. Usually they lack in flavor or texture. But I’m willing to try them once in a while.
Here’s a recipe that satisfies my fast food desire: homemade chicken nuggets. Not only are they kid friendly (my son gobbled them up), but they are great for those on low-carb or gluten-free diets.
This is a great weeknight dish since they only take about 40 minutes from start to finish. Serve them with cheesy broccoli quinoa and you’ve got yourself a tasty junk-like meal.
Low Carb Chicken Nuggets
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
1 pound of chicken tenders (chicken breast would be fine)
1 tsp. baking soda (optional)
3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
Cut your chicken into two-inch pieces. Place them in a bowl with two tablespoons of cold water and the baking soda. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. (This step is optional, but I find it makes a more tender nugget as per America’s Test Kitchen’s advice).
Whisk together the eggs in a pie pan. Combine the dry ingredients in another pie pan.
Toss the chicken pieces in the egg then gently dredge them in the almond flour mixture. Place on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, flip them and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool a couple of minutes before serving.
I haven’t ever been much of a soup fan, but tonight I may have changed my mind. I threw together a minestrone-esque stew that was bursting with flavor and vegetables.
This is a flexible recipe. Use whatever veggies you like; you can’t really go wrong.
Vegetable Soup with Italian Sausage
Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 oz. pancetta, or three slices of bacon
1 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cups chopped red cabbage
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1, 14-oz can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
With a new year comes New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve decided to join the countless others who resolve to eat more healthily. As a contributor to Anchorage Food Mosaic Project, I was recently asked what my Food Year’s Resolution was. Fewer cheeseburgers was the first thing that came to mind, but also to cut down on carbs and to eat more healthily in general.
My husband and I are trying out the South Beach Diet, which is a low sugar and carb regimen. The first phase is pretty strict, but that doesn’t limit my ability to cook delicious food.
Today’s lunch was quick to prepare and pretty dang delicious. I love me some smoked salmon, but that stuff is expensive. I wanted to make a dish that had the flavor of smoked salmon, but was a little easier on the pocketbook.
This salad recipe is chock full of nutrients and with the use of smoked paprika, it fulfilled my craving for smoked salmon. I purchased my canned salmon at Costco, but if you’re lucky to have an Alaska fisherman friend, you could certainly make this with fresh-cooked salmon!
Smokey salmon lettuce wraps — A South Beach Diet phase 1 recipe
I know this is supposed to be a crafty holiday guide, but I had to include this simple treat in the list in case you find yourself needing to provide a snack at an office holiday party. I don’t like baking much and I don’t have the time to create four dozen sugar-coated almond cookies. Grab a bag of pretzel chips and chocolate chips from Costco and dig around your cabinets for some Girl Scout cookies. You won’t be sorry.
Chocolate-covered pretzels with Thin Mint sprinkles — No. 7 on Alaska Knit Nat’s DIY Holiday Craft Guide
Ingredients:
48 or so Pretzel chips (or regular pretzels)
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Thin Mint cookies
Directions: Process Thin Mints in a food processor until coarsely ground. Set aside in a bowl. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 3/4 cups chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in increments of 30 seconds, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted. Add the remaining 1/4 chocolate chips and stir until melted. Dip half of each pretzel in the chocolate and place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with a pinch of Thin Mint crumbles. Place cookie sheets in the fridge for 15 minutes or until chocolate is set.
Directions:
Alaska Knit Nat 