Pork & Veggie Pot Stickers

Friday, March 30, 2012

I love dumplings -- pierogies, momos, wontons, gyoza, kreplach, shu mei, mandu, manti... I am a fan of them all. I also love the idea of having a freezer full of this type of ready-to-cook goodies at my disposal. That is why I devoted half of last Sunday to making a boatload of pork and vegetable-filled pot stickers.

Pork & veggie potstickers with brown rice, peanut sauce & pickled cuke salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Ain't they gorgeous? I served them with a peanut dipping sauce (I use the one from Deborah Madison's excellent book, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone), brown rice, and a quick pickled cucumber sesame salad.

To be honest, by the end of the whole process, I was so tired that I did not want to even see another pot sticker for a long time... But that feeling has passed by now and I am thrilled to know that our chest freezer is bulging with three big bags full of these beauties.

Tray of potstickers headed to the freezer by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

The process is pretty simple if a bit time-consuming and labor-intensive. There's a lot of slicing and dicing to make the filling and then quite a lot of filling and crimping to put the dumplings together. Definitely way more fun with at least one other person and ideally, a couple of friends (you can divide up your haul at the end).

Chopping the Napa cabbage by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

I recommend using high-quality, organic ingredients. My filling was a mix of veggies -- Napa cabbage, carrots, cilantro, leeks, and garlic.

Cilantro, Napa cabbage, and carrots by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

And a whole lotta pork that I bought at Fleisher's, our amazing local butcher shop that sells only locally-raised, organic and grass-fed meats. Buying meat from Fleisher's pretty much takes the guesswork out of the process. They also know, well, EVERYTHING about meat...

Organic pork from Fleishers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

But if eating flesh is not your bag, you could easily omit the meat and just use veggies - they'll still be totally delicious (and significantly cheaper than the version with meat.) In fact, next time I make these, I'm going all veggie - cheaper, healthier and a little bit easier.

Leeks and carrots by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Or, if you do dig meat but are, say, an observant Jew, you can use ground beef, chicken or turkey in its place or substitute shrimp.

You can also make the dough for the dumpling wrappers yourself if you've got that kind of time on your hands and are feeling ambitious. If not, you can just buy gyoza or wonton wrappers at an Asian foods or regular grocery store (I got mine at Hannaford's).

Wrappers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Likewise, there's no real right or wrong way to wrap them. I went with the more traditional pot sticker crimping method while my husband preferred to wrap his up like little presents - I think they turned out pretty gorgeous, don't you?

Tray of potstickers headed to the freezer by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

The recipe below is one I've adapted from several that I found online as well as the one I consulted in the Joy of Cooking.

Pork & Veggie Pot Stickers

Ingredients

* 1 head of Napa cabbage, shredded
* 3 large leeks (or 1 bunch of scallions), minced
* 3-4 carrots, grated
* 1 cup of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
* 1 pound of ground pork (optional)
* 4 Tbsp salt
* 5 cloves of garlic, minced
* 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped or grated
* 5 Tbsp soy sauce
* 2 Tbsp sesame oil
* 2 Tbsp corn starch
* 3 packs of pot sticker skins - try to find the circular ones (even though I could not)

To make the filling:

Slice or shred the Napa cabbage until no large pieces remain. Place the shredded cabbage in a colander, sprinkle a whole lot of salt over it, then set it aside for 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the filling. The salt will pull the water out of the cabbage so you want to give it time to work. At the end of 30 minutes, squeeze the remaining water out of the cabbage with your hands (you can also wrap it in a dishtowel or cheesecloth to really wring it out, if you prefer.) Discard the salty water and put the remaining cabbage in a large bowl.

Draining the cabbage by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

2. Add the rest of the vegetables, herbs, garlic, ginger and the pork, sprinkle with the soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch and stir well to combine.

Napa cabbage, carrots, leeks and cilantro filling by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

To wrap the pot stickers:

Set up a small bowl of water that you'll use to seal the wrappers with and set out a plate to do your wrapping on. Put a dollop of filling in the center of the wrapper.

Adding a dollop of filling to the dough by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Dip your finger in the bowl of water and wet along two (consecutive) edges of the wrapper.

Wetting the dough by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Pick up two opposite edges and pinch them together in the middle.

Crimping the potsticker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Starting from that center point, crimp your way down one side of the wrapper.

Crimping the potsticker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Then crimp your way down the other side, making sure you pinch tightly enough to really bond the edges of the wrapper together fully.

Crimping the potsticker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Set them on a wax paper covered baking sheet as you finish them and cover with plastic wrap (or just a big plastic bag - even better!) as you work to prevent the dumplings from drying out.

First row of potstickers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Use right away or freeze on the cookie sheet and then place in a heavy-duty Ziploc and freeze for up to three months.

To cook:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of peanut oil in a frying pan over medium high flame until the oil is shimmering.

2. Place the pot stickers in the pan, flat-side down, they should not be touching. Fry them for 1-2 minutes until the bottoms are a light golden brown.

Frying the potstickers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

3. Add 1/4 cup of water and immediately cover with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the heat to medium and let steam for 4 minutes.

Steaming the potstickers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

4. Remove the lid and cook, uncovered for another 4 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. The bottom of the pot stickers should be nice and brown and the insides should be fully cooked - cut into one to make sure nothing is raw in there. If they need more time, add a bit more water and steam for a few more minutes with the cover on. Then remove from the pan and serve with the dipping sauce.

Pork & veggie potstickers with brown rice, peanut sauce & pickled cuke salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

New Ramps Cookbook is Out! With MY Photo On The Cover!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Forgive me this moment of shameless bragging. A lovely new ramps cookbook from St. Lynn's Press featuring MY photo on the cover is out. My copy arrived yesterday and I was thrilled not only to see my image but also by the fact that the book is really nice - great recipes and great info and resources for ramp lovers, ramp hunters and ramp growers.

The new Ramps Cookbook - my photo is on the cover! by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Check it out and order your copy of Ramps: Cooking with the Best Kept Secret of the Appalachian Trail today - ramp season is almost here! And stay tuned - more on the topic of ramps coming soon.

Title page of Ramps cookbook with my attribution for cover image by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Make Homemade Vegetable Stock From Kitchen Scraps

Thursday, March 15, 2012


Although I love making soup, it's always bothered me that making stock feels so wasteful. As the child of one of the world's thriftiest people (love you, mom!), the idea of tossing a whole bunch of gorgeous carrots, celery, onions, and herbs into the pot, only to remove them all a little while later, replacing them with new veggies that would feature in the actual soup, has always rubbed me the wrong way.

And buying cartons of stock is expensive and those cartons may or may not actually be recyclable (nevermind whether my garbage company actually recycles the stuff it claims to recycle...) so that was not really doing it for me either. But then, a couple months ago, I saw a post on Facebook about making vegetable stock FROM KITCHEN SCRAPS!!!! My prayers had been answered.

So I started saving some of the veggie scraps (more below on which ones are best to use and which ones you should avoid) that would otherwise have gone straight into the compost bucket. I stored them in one of this one-gallon Ziploc bags in my freezer. Since I like to cook and I like vegetables, they started piling up pretty quickly.

Ziploc of frozen veggie scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Then I followed the incredibly simple instructions (basically, cover them with water, bring to a boil and simmer for one hour, then strain) to make my own homemade vegetable stock.

Simmering the vegetable by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

And guess what? It's good! It was easy. It was free. And absolutely no vegetables were wasted in its making. Once I was done with those scraps, they got tossed on the compost heap, too.

Veggie stock from kitchen scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Now we've got several containers of the stuff in our freezer, waiting for the next time we want to make some delicious soup. We also did an ice cube tray or two as it's great to have some smaller units of stock on hand if you just need to de-glaze a pan or add a little bit of liquid to something but don't want to go whole hog and defrost an entire yogurt container (those are our freezing containers of choice for bigger, liquid-y stuff) of the stuff.

Veggie stock from kitchen scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012>

The only thing I plan to change is omitting onion skins as I think I might prefer a clearer-looking stock - onion skins add nice flavor but also darken the color considerably. This is totally up to you, though.

Veggie stock from kitchen scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

So get scrappy and then get simmering! Once you're fully stocked, I've got a short list of delicious soups you might want to try your stock on at the bottom of this post.

-- print recipe --
Homemade Vegetable Stock From Kitchen Scraps
Makes roughly 3 quarts

Veggies To Save
Onions, carrots, and celery form the backbone of veggie stock, but don't stop there! Lots of other veggies add sweetness and flavor: leeks, scallions, garlic, onions (see my note below), fennel, chard, lettuce, potatoes, parsnips, green beans, pea pods, zucchini and other squash, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, asparagus, corn cobs (think sweet!), winter squash skins, beet greens, and herbs like dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro and basil. You can use anything that is beginning to lose its luster but steer clear of anything that has actually gone bad, of course.

Veggies to Skip
These vegetables tend to overpower the stock flavor-wise (and some of them turn a bit bitter) so you may want to dump them directly on the compost heap, instead: cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, artichokes. And skip anything rotten or moldy.

Veggies You May Want to Skip
You can use beet root scraps and onion skins but just be aware that they will make your stock either a deep red or a deep brown so you may want to skip them. I plan to skip 'em in the future.

Storing the Scraps
You will want to collect roughly 4-6 cups of vegetables to make 2 quarts of stock. You can either save your scraps throughout the week in a large Ziploc or some other airtight container in the fridge, or if you're collecting scraps for longer than a week, just keep them in the freezer (this is what I do.)

Making the Stock

1. Place roughly 4-6 cups of scraps in a 5 quart stock pot. Add 1-2 bay leaves and a few black peppercorns

2. Cover it all with cold water then bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for about an hour. Any more than an hour and the flavor will begin to deteriorate.

3. Strain vegetables using a fine mesh strainer or a colander and giving them a press to make sure you get all the broth. Quick tip: I made mine in my steamer pot from Ikea which made the straining incredibly easy since all the veggies were in the steamer insert and I just lifted it out of the pot once it was done. Let cool then pour into glass jars, clean yogurt containers or freezer bags. Let cool completely in the fridge and then freeze or store for up to five days in the fridge.

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Vote for Me! Saveur's Best Food Blogs 2012 Awards

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Howdy y'all. I'm just back from Austin, TX where I ate what has to be the world's best cupcake - the James Brown (you guessed it -- a chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting) at Sugar Mama's Bakeshop on South 1st Street. If you're ever in Austin for SxSW or any other reason, I recommend making a quick stop to sample Sugar Mama's goodies.

When I get home, I saw that Saveur has started accepting nominations for its 2012 Best Food Blogs Awards. I didn't win last year but that doesn't mean I can't win this year!

That's where YOU come in... Will you take two minutes (if that) to nominate me?

It's truly easy and you don't have to sign up for anything or create an account. Here's what you do:

1. Go to this page: http://www.saveur.com/food-blog-awards/nominations.jsp and enter my blog's URL (http://www.gardenofeatingblog.com) in the URL section.

2. Choose a category. You can pick up to three but I think that I'd just go with "Best Cooking Blog" for starters unless you feel moved to add something else (in which case, feel free!)

3. Add a short explanation of why you're nominating The Garden of Eating - this is obviously up to you! (But please don't say because I asked you :))

4. Enter your name.

5. Enter your email.

6. Un-check the three boxes unless you want to get those emails. And then click "Submit".

That's all! Thank you in advance.

Egg Salad With Fresh Dill & Celery

Sunday, March 4, 2012

My boys and I are in Austin, TX for a little visit with our super fun bro- and sis-in-law and my mom and dad-in-law (who are also quite fun.) We sure picked a good weekend to come -- the weather has been the kind of perfect spring that comes but once a year and all too briefly. Brilliant, cloudless blue skies, warm sun, cool breezes.


Trees are putting out tender little leaves, blades of bright green grass are pushing up everywhere, sour grass (yum!) covers the hillsides and Texas Mountain Laurel (see below) and a bunch of other lovely flowers I don't know the names of are blooming. In short, spring has sprung. (Muchas gracias to my sis-in-law, Becky for these two lovely iPhone shots of the city as I forgot to bring a camera and still have a "dumb" phone.)


Unfortunately, spring has not sprung in upstate New York. At least it hadn't by the time we left -- in fact, we headed out on the heels of a two-day snow-sleet-ice-rain storm. Perhaps that is why I was seized by a desire to make egg salad - which I consider to be a sort of culinary harbinger of spring - in the midst of the white stuff falling from the sky a few days ago.

Classic egg salad on baguette by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

I had some fresh dill and some celery left over from making chicken soup for a friend who's been sick for what seems like forever, the poor thing. There's something so incredibly spring-like about fresh dill - the fresh, light flavor, the tender, feathery, green fronds.

Dill, celery and eggs by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

And I had some hard-boiled eggs hanging out in the fridge, including one kinda funny-looking one that started out as a failed soft-boiled egg.

Funny eggs by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

I've been making a lot of Grandpa Joe's eggs for breakfast lately and sometimes the egg just "cracks up" (pun intended) when it hits the boiling water, even though I coddle it by easing it in with a slotted spoon.  I usually just hard-boil these unfortunate souls which end up looking rather unique.

Scooping the yolks out by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

So I mixed up this simple and dee-li-cious egg salad. It's a much more classic interpretation than I typically make but it was a hit with me and the husband. 

Classic egg salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Happy (almost) spring to you all.

Egg Salad With Fresh Dill & Celery
Serves 3-4

Ingredients

* 4 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
* 2-3 stalks celery, leaves and ends removed, finely chopped
* 1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot or onion
* 1-2 Tbsp chopped, fresh dill
* 2 Tbsp sweet relish
* 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
* 1 tsp mustard
* Sea salt
* Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Cut the eggs in half length-wise. Scoop the yolks out into a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the mayo, mustard, relish, salt and pepper and mix to combine.

2. Chop the egg whites into cubes/squares and place them in a bowl along with the celery and onions. Add the yolk-mayo-etc., mixture and mix well.

3. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, etc., to taste. Serve on bread, crackers or a bed of lettuce.

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Pork & Veggie Pot Stickers

I love dumplings -- pierogies, momos, wontons, gyoza, kreplach, shu mei, mandu, manti... I am a fan of them all. I also love the idea of having a freezer full of this type of ready-to-cook goodies at my disposal. That is why I devoted half of last Sunday to making a boatload of pork and vegetable-filled pot stickers.

Pork & veggie potstickers with brown rice, peanut sauce & pickled cuke salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Ain't they gorgeous? I served them with a peanut dipping sauce (I use the one from Deborah Madison's excellent book, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone), brown rice, and a quick pickled cucumber sesame salad.

To be honest, by the end of the whole process, I was so tired that I did not want to even see another pot sticker for a long time... But that feeling has passed by now and I am thrilled to know that our chest freezer is bulging with three big bags full of these beauties.

Tray of potstickers headed to the freezer by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

The process is pretty simple if a bit time-consuming and labor-intensive. There's a lot of slicing and dicing to make the filling and then quite a lot of filling and crimping to put the dumplings together. Definitely way more fun with at least one other person and ideally, a couple of friends (you can divide up your haul at the end).

Chopping the Napa cabbage by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

I recommend using high-quality, organic ingredients. My filling was a mix of veggies -- Napa cabbage, carrots, cilantro, leeks, and garlic.

Cilantro, Napa cabbage, and carrots by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

And a whole lotta pork that I bought at Fleisher's, our amazing local butcher shop that sells only locally-raised, organic and grass-fed meats. Buying meat from Fleisher's pretty much takes the guesswork out of the process. They also know, well, EVERYTHING about meat...

Organic pork from Fleishers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

But if eating flesh is not your bag, you could easily omit the meat and just use veggies - they'll still be totally delicious (and significantly cheaper than the version with meat.) In fact, next time I make these, I'm going all veggie - cheaper, healthier and a little bit easier.

Leeks and carrots by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Or, if you do dig meat but are, say, an observant Jew, you can use ground beef, chicken or turkey in its place or substitute shrimp.

You can also make the dough for the dumpling wrappers yourself if you've got that kind of time on your hands and are feeling ambitious. If not, you can just buy gyoza or wonton wrappers at an Asian foods or regular grocery store (I got mine at Hannaford's).

Wrappers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Likewise, there's no real right or wrong way to wrap them. I went with the more traditional pot sticker crimping method while my husband preferred to wrap his up like little presents - I think they turned out pretty gorgeous, don't you?

Tray of potstickers headed to the freezer by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

The recipe below is one I've adapted from several that I found online as well as the one I consulted in the Joy of Cooking.

Pork & Veggie Pot Stickers

Ingredients

* 1 head of Napa cabbage, shredded
* 3 large leeks (or 1 bunch of scallions), minced
* 3-4 carrots, grated
* 1 cup of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
* 1 pound of ground pork (optional)
* 4 Tbsp salt
* 5 cloves of garlic, minced
* 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped or grated
* 5 Tbsp soy sauce
* 2 Tbsp sesame oil
* 2 Tbsp corn starch
* 3 packs of pot sticker skins - try to find the circular ones (even though I could not)

To make the filling:

Slice or shred the Napa cabbage until no large pieces remain. Place the shredded cabbage in a colander, sprinkle a whole lot of salt over it, then set it aside for 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the filling. The salt will pull the water out of the cabbage so you want to give it time to work. At the end of 30 minutes, squeeze the remaining water out of the cabbage with your hands (you can also wrap it in a dishtowel or cheesecloth to really wring it out, if you prefer.) Discard the salty water and put the remaining cabbage in a large bowl.

Draining the cabbage by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

2. Add the rest of the vegetables, herbs, garlic, ginger and the pork, sprinkle with the soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch and stir well to combine.

Napa cabbage, carrots, leeks and cilantro filling by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

To wrap the pot stickers:

Set up a small bowl of water that you'll use to seal the wrappers with and set out a plate to do your wrapping on. Put a dollop of filling in the center of the wrapper.

Adding a dollop of filling to the dough by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Dip your finger in the bowl of water and wet along two (consecutive) edges of the wrapper.

Wetting the dough by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Pick up two opposite edges and pinch them together in the middle.

Crimping the potsticker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Starting from that center point, crimp your way down one side of the wrapper.

Crimping the potsticker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Then crimp your way down the other side, making sure you pinch tightly enough to really bond the edges of the wrapper together fully.

Crimping the potsticker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Set them on a wax paper covered baking sheet as you finish them and cover with plastic wrap (or just a big plastic bag - even better!) as you work to prevent the dumplings from drying out.

First row of potstickers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Use right away or freeze on the cookie sheet and then place in a heavy-duty Ziploc and freeze for up to three months.

To cook:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of peanut oil in a frying pan over medium high flame until the oil is shimmering.

2. Place the pot stickers in the pan, flat-side down, they should not be touching. Fry them for 1-2 minutes until the bottoms are a light golden brown.

Frying the potstickers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

3. Add 1/4 cup of water and immediately cover with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the heat to medium and let steam for 4 minutes.

Steaming the potstickers by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

4. Remove the lid and cook, uncovered for another 4 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. The bottom of the pot stickers should be nice and brown and the insides should be fully cooked - cut into one to make sure nothing is raw in there. If they need more time, add a bit more water and steam for a few more minutes with the cover on. Then remove from the pan and serve with the dipping sauce.

Pork & veggie potstickers with brown rice, peanut sauce & pickled cuke salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

New Ramps Cookbook is Out! With MY Photo On The Cover!

Forgive me this moment of shameless bragging. A lovely new ramps cookbook from St. Lynn's Press featuring MY photo on the cover is out. My copy arrived yesterday and I was thrilled not only to see my image but also by the fact that the book is really nice - great recipes and great info and resources for ramp lovers, ramp hunters and ramp growers.

The new Ramps Cookbook - my photo is on the cover! by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Check it out and order your copy of Ramps: Cooking with the Best Kept Secret of the Appalachian Trail today - ramp season is almost here! And stay tuned - more on the topic of ramps coming soon.

Title page of Ramps cookbook with my attribution for cover image by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Make Homemade Vegetable Stock From Kitchen Scraps


Although I love making soup, it's always bothered me that making stock feels so wasteful. As the child of one of the world's thriftiest people (love you, mom!), the idea of tossing a whole bunch of gorgeous carrots, celery, onions, and herbs into the pot, only to remove them all a little while later, replacing them with new veggies that would feature in the actual soup, has always rubbed me the wrong way.

And buying cartons of stock is expensive and those cartons may or may not actually be recyclable (nevermind whether my garbage company actually recycles the stuff it claims to recycle...) so that was not really doing it for me either. But then, a couple months ago, I saw a post on Facebook about making vegetable stock FROM KITCHEN SCRAPS!!!! My prayers had been answered.

So I started saving some of the veggie scraps (more below on which ones are best to use and which ones you should avoid) that would otherwise have gone straight into the compost bucket. I stored them in one of this one-gallon Ziploc bags in my freezer. Since I like to cook and I like vegetables, they started piling up pretty quickly.

Ziploc of frozen veggie scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Then I followed the incredibly simple instructions (basically, cover them with water, bring to a boil and simmer for one hour, then strain) to make my own homemade vegetable stock.

Simmering the vegetable by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

And guess what? It's good! It was easy. It was free. And absolutely no vegetables were wasted in its making. Once I was done with those scraps, they got tossed on the compost heap, too.

Veggie stock from kitchen scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Now we've got several containers of the stuff in our freezer, waiting for the next time we want to make some delicious soup. We also did an ice cube tray or two as it's great to have some smaller units of stock on hand if you just need to de-glaze a pan or add a little bit of liquid to something but don't want to go whole hog and defrost an entire yogurt container (those are our freezing containers of choice for bigger, liquid-y stuff) of the stuff.

Veggie stock from kitchen scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012>

The only thing I plan to change is omitting onion skins as I think I might prefer a clearer-looking stock - onion skins add nice flavor but also darken the color considerably. This is totally up to you, though.

Veggie stock from kitchen scraps by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

So get scrappy and then get simmering! Once you're fully stocked, I've got a short list of delicious soups you might want to try your stock on at the bottom of this post.

-- print recipe --
Homemade Vegetable Stock From Kitchen Scraps
Makes roughly 3 quarts

Veggies To Save
Onions, carrots, and celery form the backbone of veggie stock, but don't stop there! Lots of other veggies add sweetness and flavor: leeks, scallions, garlic, onions (see my note below), fennel, chard, lettuce, potatoes, parsnips, green beans, pea pods, zucchini and other squash, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, asparagus, corn cobs (think sweet!), winter squash skins, beet greens, and herbs like dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro and basil. You can use anything that is beginning to lose its luster but steer clear of anything that has actually gone bad, of course.

Veggies to Skip
These vegetables tend to overpower the stock flavor-wise (and some of them turn a bit bitter) so you may want to dump them directly on the compost heap, instead: cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, artichokes. And skip anything rotten or moldy.

Veggies You May Want to Skip
You can use beet root scraps and onion skins but just be aware that they will make your stock either a deep red or a deep brown so you may want to skip them. I plan to skip 'em in the future.

Storing the Scraps
You will want to collect roughly 4-6 cups of vegetables to make 2 quarts of stock. You can either save your scraps throughout the week in a large Ziploc or some other airtight container in the fridge, or if you're collecting scraps for longer than a week, just keep them in the freezer (this is what I do.)

Making the Stock

1. Place roughly 4-6 cups of scraps in a 5 quart stock pot. Add 1-2 bay leaves and a few black peppercorns

2. Cover it all with cold water then bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for about an hour. Any more than an hour and the flavor will begin to deteriorate.

3. Strain vegetables using a fine mesh strainer or a colander and giving them a press to make sure you get all the broth. Quick tip: I made mine in my steamer pot from Ikea which made the straining incredibly easy since all the veggies were in the steamer insert and I just lifted it out of the pot once it was done. Let cool then pour into glass jars, clean yogurt containers or freezer bags. Let cool completely in the fridge and then freeze or store for up to five days in the fridge.

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Vote for Me! Saveur's Best Food Blogs 2012 Awards

Howdy y'all. I'm just back from Austin, TX where I ate what has to be the world's best cupcake - the James Brown (you guessed it -- a chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting) at Sugar Mama's Bakeshop on South 1st Street. If you're ever in Austin for SxSW or any other reason, I recommend making a quick stop to sample Sugar Mama's goodies.

When I get home, I saw that Saveur has started accepting nominations for its 2012 Best Food Blogs Awards. I didn't win last year but that doesn't mean I can't win this year!

That's where YOU come in... Will you take two minutes (if that) to nominate me?

It's truly easy and you don't have to sign up for anything or create an account. Here's what you do:

1. Go to this page: http://www.saveur.com/food-blog-awards/nominations.jsp and enter my blog's URL (http://www.gardenofeatingblog.com) in the URL section.

2. Choose a category. You can pick up to three but I think that I'd just go with "Best Cooking Blog" for starters unless you feel moved to add something else (in which case, feel free!)

3. Add a short explanation of why you're nominating The Garden of Eating - this is obviously up to you! (But please don't say because I asked you :))

4. Enter your name.

5. Enter your email.

6. Un-check the three boxes unless you want to get those emails. And then click "Submit".

That's all! Thank you in advance.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Egg Salad With Fresh Dill & Celery

My boys and I are in Austin, TX for a little visit with our super fun bro- and sis-in-law and my mom and dad-in-law (who are also quite fun.) We sure picked a good weekend to come -- the weather has been the kind of perfect spring that comes but once a year and all too briefly. Brilliant, cloudless blue skies, warm sun, cool breezes.


Trees are putting out tender little leaves, blades of bright green grass are pushing up everywhere, sour grass (yum!) covers the hillsides and Texas Mountain Laurel (see below) and a bunch of other lovely flowers I don't know the names of are blooming. In short, spring has sprung. (Muchas gracias to my sis-in-law, Becky for these two lovely iPhone shots of the city as I forgot to bring a camera and still have a "dumb" phone.)


Unfortunately, spring has not sprung in upstate New York. At least it hadn't by the time we left -- in fact, we headed out on the heels of a two-day snow-sleet-ice-rain storm. Perhaps that is why I was seized by a desire to make egg salad - which I consider to be a sort of culinary harbinger of spring - in the midst of the white stuff falling from the sky a few days ago.

Classic egg salad on baguette by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

I had some fresh dill and some celery left over from making chicken soup for a friend who's been sick for what seems like forever, the poor thing. There's something so incredibly spring-like about fresh dill - the fresh, light flavor, the tender, feathery, green fronds.

Dill, celery and eggs by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

And I had some hard-boiled eggs hanging out in the fridge, including one kinda funny-looking one that started out as a failed soft-boiled egg.

Funny eggs by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

I've been making a lot of Grandpa Joe's eggs for breakfast lately and sometimes the egg just "cracks up" (pun intended) when it hits the boiling water, even though I coddle it by easing it in with a slotted spoon.  I usually just hard-boil these unfortunate souls which end up looking rather unique.

Scooping the yolks out by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

So I mixed up this simple and dee-li-cious egg salad. It's a much more classic interpretation than I typically make but it was a hit with me and the husband. 

Classic egg salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

Happy (almost) spring to you all.

Egg Salad With Fresh Dill & Celery
Serves 3-4

Ingredients

* 4 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
* 2-3 stalks celery, leaves and ends removed, finely chopped
* 1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot or onion
* 1-2 Tbsp chopped, fresh dill
* 2 Tbsp sweet relish
* 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
* 1 tsp mustard
* Sea salt
* Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Cut the eggs in half length-wise. Scoop the yolks out into a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the mayo, mustard, relish, salt and pepper and mix to combine.

2. Chop the egg whites into cubes/squares and place them in a bowl along with the celery and onions. Add the yolk-mayo-etc., mixture and mix well.

3. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, etc., to taste. Serve on bread, crackers or a bed of lettuce.

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