Mother's Day Brunch: Chile Relleno de Polenta

Chile Relleno de Polenta

I love Chile Rellenos, they are such a wonderful culinary gift from Mexico.  But, I find it very difficult to batter and fry the chiles without the insides spilling out and the delicate roasted chile falling apart.  So I decided that step can be skipped, and you end up with a much healthier chile without all that batter and frying.  I also don't eat cheese any more, and wanted to find a way to make a delicious chile not stuffed with meat or cheese, and Polenta was my brilliant substitution.  So here's the recipe.  I made this dish a few months back, so it's an approximate recipe.  It will be more of a general how-to, but quantities will probably be a little off.  Give me a few months of this food blogging thing and I'll get it together!

Ingredients

4-8 Roasted, seeded and peeled Chiles, choose from Pasilla, Poblano or Anaheim Chiles

2-4 servings of cooked Polenta

Onion

Jalapeño 

Garlic

Corn

Tomatoes

I will add a separate post soon explaining in more detail how to prepare the chiles. To prepare the stuffing, cook a few portions of polenta.  You don't need a lot, about a third cup of cooked polenta per chile. To Jazz the polenta up, heat some oil in a pan and add a teaspoon of cumin seeds.  After two minutes add 1/2 cup of diced onions.  Cook for a few minutes then add two diced garlic cloves and half of a seeded and diced jalapeño.   Sauté, stirring occasionally for a few minutes till everything gets a bit soft and brown.

Next add your corn, you can cut the kernels right off the cob, or use some fresh frozen corn.  About two cups, or two cobs should be enough.  Cook for 2-3 minutes then set remove pan and let cool a bit so you can handle the polenta without burning yourself.  While you are waiting you can begin the tomato sauce.

For the tomato sauce begin by heating a little oil over medium flame in a pan then add a teaspoon of cumin seeds and cook for about 2 minutes till they begin to crackle and smell toasty.  Next add 1/2 diced onion and cook for a few minutes stirring occasionally.  Next add 2 diced garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of oregano and stir a bit as you cook for a few more minutes.

Now add a few tomatoes, turn the heat to low and cover for 10-15 minutes until tomatoes are soft and splitting open.  Turn off the stove and let sit, cooling, while you stuff your chiles.

Scoop polenta into the chiles and arrange in a baking dish.

Blend your tomato spice mixture in your blender, adding a teaspoon of salt then return to the pan and simmer.  Add a sliced zucchini and simmer a few minutes to soften zucchini.  Then pour this beautiful sauce over your chiles.  I put a little cheese over half my batch which is delicious if you like cheese or can be skipped if you want to stay vegan.  You can refrigerate or even freeze this dish to bake and serve at a later time, which will increase your baking time.  If you've filled your chiles with warm polenta and poured hot sauce over the top they'll only need 10-15 minutes in an oven at 350F.  Delicious with rice and tortillas!

Mother's Day Brunch: Mexican Rolls Three Ways

Mexican Rolls Three Ways

For my Mother's Day brunch I wanted fresh bread and I found a great recipe for Bolillos at Holy Cow! Vegan Blog.  I' ve since used the recipe a few more times and will explain a few variations I've tried. 

Ingredients

2 cups Warm Water

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 package active dry Yeast

2 1/4 cups White Flour

2 1/4 cups Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon Butter or Veggie Oil Spread

1-2 teaspoon Salt

I use a small quick read thermometer to check my water is about 110* then add yeast and sugar. Whisk it till dissolved and let sit 5-10 minutes. Set1 1/2 cups of flour aside.  Mix remaining three cups of flour with salt and butter cut into tiny pieces.  Rub together in a big bowl, breaking up butter then pour the yeast water on top. Mix together and then begin to knead with hands gradually adding more flour until a soft dough forms. Continue to knead the dough for ten minutes,adding more floras needed so the dough does not get sticky. To knead you push the dough away from you're fold the far side in and give the dough a quarter turn, always moving in the same direction.  Lightly oil another big bowl, drop the dough in and turn it so it gets oiled on all sides. Cover bowl with a towel an let sit in a warm place for about an hour, it should double in size.  Flip the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a minute.  Divide into two sections then divide each section into 6 so you have 12 sections. Work each piece of dough for a minute, tapering the edges and flouring as needed so it doesn't get sticky. Place on oiled pans, or I use parchment paper as my oven tends to burn the bottoms of my baked goods.  Cover these dough boys witha dry towel and let sit another 30-45 minutes.  During this time preheat your oven to 350*. When rolls have risen again, cut a slit on the top of each and brush with a little oil if you'd like and bake 20-30 minutes depending on he heat of your oven. When they are done you can tap the bottom with a butter knife and they should sound hollow.

The next time I used this recipe I made two baguette shaped rolls instead. One was cut into thin pieces and toasted in the oven with a cauliflower delight on top.

The third time I made this recipe I made half the batch plain and half the batch I added about 1/4 diced onion, a few sprigs of diced fresh parsley and a tablespoon of dried oregano.  I kneaded these seasonings into the dough after its first rise when shaping into the rolls.  It was delicious and made some fantastic avocado and sprout sandwiches.

Mother's Day Brunch: The Menu

Mothers' Day Brunch

 I had my family over for Mother's Day, three generations sitting in the garden, it was wonderful.  I picked a latin theme mixing a little old world into the new world.  I wanted there to be delicious vegan options and a little decadence to please everyone.  The food turned out great, and just the way I like it, all the dishes coming to completion at the same time.  I was probably a zombie all afternoon!  I will use this menu to guide my first recipe blog posts.  So stay tuned if you want to find out how to make some of this delicious and healthy food!

The Menu

Chile Relleno de Polenta

Tortilla Espanola

Andouille Sausage

Mexican Rolls

Fruit Plate

Green Salad

Mexican Rolls

Tortilla Espanola and Andouille Sausage

Fruit Plate

Delicious!

Who are the Sikhs?

After the terrible shooting at the Sikh Gurdwara (what they call their church) in Wisconsin, I feel a need to tell my own experiences with the Sikh people.  Originally I became interested in the kundalini yoga movement started by Yogi Bhajan.  In this yoga practice they use music and chanting and I first discovered this music at a Snatam Kaur concert.  The kundalini yoga followers often become Sikhs an after a few years learning about the Sikh religion from American converts, I discovered the Indian Sikh temples here in San Diego.  I even performed with the congregation earlier this year at a 9-11 memorial concert.  The Sikh religion is the fifth most widely practiced religion on Earth with its beginnings in fifteenth century India with the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak. A fairly recent world religion with about five hundred years of history.  This religion comes out of a time of powerful struggles and subjugations of people by the predominant religious forces, the Muslims and the Hindus.  In both of these religions there was an exclusion of certain segments of society, perhaps because they were not permitted to learn to read or were not born in the proper caste to enter a temple.  The Sikh faith is a egalitarian religion that peaches the equality of all people, a rebellious thought in times of rigid caste systems in India.  The Sikh came up with there own language, Gurmukhi, and worship above all other things the words of their Gurus and the book in which these words are written, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.  A Sikh temple is a place open to all people, with the simple request that you cover your head and remove your shoes.  The Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, the most important of all Sikh temples, has four entrances in all four directions welcoming all to enter.  Sikh temples always include a kitchen because the Sikhs believe in feeding all people.  Langar is the name of this free vegetarian meal served after a worship service.  The food is acquired by donation and prepared and served by volunteers.  These concepts of service and sharing of one's bounty are core beliefs of the Sikhs.  They also believe that everyone must work for their living, contributing to society.  They beleive in compassion and respect for all people.  And most importantly they believe in the remembrance of God in all that they do.  A Sikh tries to remain consciously aware of God's prsence in every moment of their life.  A Sikh wears five items at all time, like a uniform, to remind them to remember God and be a good Sikh.  The turban and long hair hidden beneath are one of these five items reminding a Sikh each moment they are in society to treat others with compassion, to work hard and share of their bounty, and to remember God's presence in every moment of their life.  All though it is for a sad occasion, a candle vigil for the six Sikhs shot down as they prepared for their Sunday service, I look forward tonight to bowing my head to the Guru and immersing myself in the beautiful music that comprises most of the Sikh worship.  Join me at the San Diego Sikh Gurdwara tonight, Wednesday August 8 from 7:30 8:30 at 12269 Oak Knoll Road in Poway.  Wahe Guru!

Private Yoga Lessons

Private Yoga Lessons are available at The Robin's Nest or in your home.  It is an amazingly effective way to go deep into your yoga practice quickly and safely.  Most often those who choose to take private lessons are needing some special assistance that isn't available in large studio or gym classes.  Some examples of therapeutic needs that can be addressed in private lesson include shyness, pregnancy, cancer, obesity or injury to name a few.  At your class you decide what's important.  Do you need to improve flexibility or strength?  Maybe life has been pretty tough and what you need is some positivity and some deep relaxation.  Whatever the life situation, there is a yoga exercise or meditation that will uplift you and strengthen your energy field.

Touch for Health

I am excited to now offer Touch for Health at The Robin's Nest.  Touch for Health is a healing modality that combines applied kinesiology with acupressure massage to bring greater balance and vitality to the individual. I personally received enormous health benefits from the Touch for Health sessions I have been receiving from my chiropractor, Dr. William Lerner, over the last few years.  I wanted to learn how to work with people in the effective, diagnostic way he had worked with me and he pointed me in the direction of Touch for Health.  I am fortunate that the system was developed by a chiropractor in Los Angeles, Dr. John Thie.  His son, Matthew Thie, now runs the organization and I have had the tremendous honor to study Touch for Health from Matthew directly.

A Touch for Health session can range from 30-90 minutes.  It is not so much of a massage but more of a series of interactive exercises.  Each exercise will isolate a particular muscle and determine the relative flow of energy to that muscle and it's coordinating organ meridian.  Based upon the pattern discovered in the body, acupressure points are massaged to bring greater balanced and then the deficient muscles are retested to see if a positive change has taken place.  The session is most effective when are particular goal or intention is created at he beginning of the session.  In this way the blanching becomes specific to an aspect of our life, and can be an effective tool for goal setting and enhancing wellness.

I am currently offering Touch for Health sessions at no charge while I am still in the learning, or student phase of my practice.  These complimentary sessions are available until August 31.  Beginning September 1 I will offer Touch for Health sessions on a donation basis through the end of the 2012 year.  If you would like to schedule a Touch for Health session please click on the following link to use my on-line scheduling system Schedulicity.

LA JOLLA WAVES: Windansea 07.17.12

LA JOLLA WAVES: Windansea 07.17.12: A bottom turn set up a long shoulder ride.