Pho Fusion

Some may call this "pho", others may refer to it as a "chick-noodle soup". Either way, enjoy this recipe when you're on the verge of getting a cold or need some heat for the body!

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Pho Fusion

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks OR cubed firm tofu

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 tbsp sesame oil

¼ tsp Sea Salt

6 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth

1-3 tbsp Miso paste

1 jalapeno, thinly sliced

3 green onions, sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp  Rice Vinegar

2 baby bok choy, chopped

5 oz chinese noodles (about half a package)

OPTIONAL: 1 cup mushrooms, sauteed, 2-3 sliced carrots

simmer broth with 30 grams Astragalus Root prior to adding to sauté

4 Tbsp Rachael’s Wildroots Kimchi

sriracha sauce OR Julia’s Good Medicine Cherry Thai Honey for serving (optional)

chopped cilantro for serving (optional)

Directions:

1      Heat the sesame oil over medium high heat in a large heavy-bottomed stock pot. Add the minced garlic and ginger and briefly sauté for about 30 seconds.

2      Add the chicken OR tofu and bok choy, sprinkle with herbal sea salt, and sauté for another three minutes until chicken OR tofu has turned white but not completely cooked all the way through.

3      Add the chicken/vegetable broth, miso, jalapeno and green onions to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until chicken is done.

4      Meanwhile, cook the noodles in boiling salted water, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

5      Add Julia’s Good Medicine’s rice vinegar and soy sauce and stir. You can add a little more salt if you like, but taste first because soy sauce already contains a lot of salt!

6      Add the noodles to the pot and serve with chopped cilantro, kimchi and sriracha sauce or Thai honey on top.

7      Enjoy!

Juniper Curry MacNCheese

It all started when I was bottling Juniper Curry Vinegar for Julia's Good Medicine. I would bring home "dregs" or left overs and Sam just fell in love. I knew he liked curry, but this combination really made him excited..."Curry and Vinegar?!" 

That night, he had a dream... he dreamed that I made my oven-baked home made macaroni, but added the curry vinegar to the mix. When he awoke to tell me, we made it for dinner that day. 

Now for those who don't have the Juniper Curry Vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar or a light, possibly herbal infused, vinegar.

Curry MacNCheese

Ingredients:

1 pound elbow macaroni, shells, or other small pasta

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups whole milk

2 cups grated cheese, cheddar, or other melting cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

¼ tsp curry powder

1/2 cup bread crumbs

¼ cup Julia’s Good Medicine Juniper Curry Vinegar

Directions:

1   Heat the oven to 400°F: Rub the 9x13-inch baking dish with a little butter.

2   Cook the pasta: Bring a large amount of water to boil in a large pot. Add the pasta and a generous amount of salt. Cook until the pasta is al dente, then drain and set aside.

3   Make the roux: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour evenly over top and whisk to form a thick, smooth paste without clumps. Cook for a minute or two, until fragrant.

4   Warm the milk: Warm the milk for a few minutes in the microwave or in a separate pot over low heat. Warm just enough so that it's warm to the touch — warm milk mixes more easily into the roux.

5   Whisk the milk into the roux: Slowly begin pouring the warm milk into the roux while whisking. The roux will at first thin out, then seize up into dry-looking clumps, then smooth out to the consistency of mashed potatoes, and then finally settle into a sauce — keep adding the milk slowly while whisking as you move through these stages.

6   Cook the sauce until thickened: Continue cooking the sauce over medium heat until it has noticeably thickened and clings to the back of a spoon, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir slowly while the sauce thickens, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. (If your sauce gets a little too thick, you can pour in a little extra milk to thin it out; no need to warm this extra milk.)

7   Add the cheese: Remove the pot from heat, and stir the cheese into the sauce one handful at a time. Stir in the salt and mustard powder and curry powder.

8   Pour the sauce over the pasta: Transfer the cooked pasta to a big mixing bowl and pour the sauce over the pasta. Stir gently until the pasta is entirely coated. (If the saucepan you used to cook the sauce is big enough, you can mix the pasta and sauce in the pan instead.) Add Juniper Curry Vinegar into the sauce and pasta.

9   Transfer to the baking dish and top with panko crumbs: Scrape the pasta into the baking dish and smooth the top. Sprinkle the panko crumbs evenly over top.

Bake until bubbly and golden: Place the casserole in the oven and bake until the pasta is bubbly and the top is golden, 10 to 15 minutes. If the pasta becomes bubbly before the top is golden, you can run the dish under the broiler for a minute or two to crisp the topping.

            10 Enjoy!

The Not-So-Typical Spinach Venison Lasagna

It's seems as if anything Italian is a hit in our household, so when lasagna night comes, everyone is eager for dinner and, well, left overs.

Since we were blessed with a small deer at the start of winter, we have been finding ways of adding venison to our everyday cooking. It turns out that ground venison is our go-to. I know, not everyone has venison stock piled in their freezer, so feel free to make this recipe with ground beef or no meat at all. I will note that the venison is extremely lean and when used in a sauce there's no worries about the "game-y" taste most people are afraid of. 

While venison may not be common in most people's fridge/freezer, I am not one to constantly have ricotta cheese in my fridge. Instead, homemade yogurt or whole milk yogurt is most likely always in my kitchen. So, I experimented with a simple substitution and to my dismay, it turned out great. I hope you enjoy a classic lasagna dinner with a little bit of a twist.

Not-So-Typical Spinach-Venison Lasagna

Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Julia’s Good Medicine Basil Garlic Olive Oil

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 lb. ground venison OR beef (optional)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can crushed plum tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp Julia’s Good Medicine Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Herbal Sea Salt

1 Tbsp oregano

1 Tbsp dried basil

½ tsp crushed red pepper

½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Lasagna Ingredients:

2 ½ cups whole-milk yogurt

2 bunches organic spinach, coarsely chopped

1 egg

9 no-cook lasagna noodles

1 lb. part-skim mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced OR shredded

2/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Directions:

1      To prepare sauce, heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic; cook until soft and translucent, but not brown.

2      Add venison and cook until browned.

3      Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, herbal sea salt, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper and black pepper; stir well. Bring to a boil; simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes. Let cool slightly.

4      Preheat oven to 375F.

5      To prepare lasagna, combine yogurt, spinach and egg in a large bowl; mix well.

6      Coat the bottom of the 13 x 9-inch baking pan with a third of the tomato sauce. Cover sauce with 3 noodles without overlapping (break noodles to fit), half the yogurt mixture and remaining mozzarella. Top with remaining 3 noodles, remaining sauce and parmigiana cheese.

**To make ahead of time, cover with foil and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

7      Place pan on baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, 40 minutes, or until bubbly.

8      Let stand about 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

9      Serves 12, Enjoy!