Alberta Co-op Grocery

Dinner and a Beer, a la Eli

Posted February 1st, 2012

by Eli

Sometimes, when you’ve been at the coop for 8 hours, staring at the same product that you’ve been staring at for years, it can be really hard to figure out what you are going to eat for dinner and how you are ever going to walk out that door to go home.

Generally, a walk through the produce section will help break you away from zoning out at the mac and cheese. Right now, for the first time I’ve ever seen, we have galangal. I will warn you that the galangal root is very hard, and you should use a good knife or grater; I found that grating in a twisting motion helped, but really, watch out for grated knuckles on this one. However, it is totally worth the amazing aroma that you will be hit with. It’s not as peppery as ginger, and really flowery. So, having a primary flavor motivation and knowing that I had some stir fry sauce left over from the last trip to Fubon, I knew stir fry with rice was my dinner. I got 2 serranno peppers, a bit of ginger, an onion, some mushrooms, a carrot and a bunch of the sweet baby broccolini.

So… stir fry…. galangal…. what to pair it with? Maybe some sake? Or an IPA? Oh, but wait, we have the Ginger Pale Ale from Trade Routes Brewing! I had not been so enthralled with it recently, but decided it was the perfect beverage to accompany this dinner. The ginger is pretty mild and its a bit of a sour pale (I mean, really, a bit, but something I tend to like).

So, I got myself out the door of the co-op!

Once home, I started some rice, chopped the onion and some garlic and then grated the galangal (and my knuckle) and started cooking them in some coconut oil. The knuckle grating convinced me that I would do a better job of flavoring this stir-fry if I opened the beer now. It was a nice inspiration to get the dinner finished. I then grated the ginger and chopped the mushrooms and peppers and threw them into the pan. I poured the stir fry sauce in (I’m sure you have your own favorite way of seasoning stir-frys, but if not, Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki is really good). Then I chopped the carrot and the broccolini and threw them in the pan, gave a stir, added some cumin, and covered it for  just 2 minutes. By then the rice was done! All ya gotta do now is pour the beer into a nice tall glass, put the rice in a bowl and top it off with those delicious veggies!

Dinner, with a perfectly matched beer. Ta da!

Tags: beer, ginger, gluten-free, stir-fry, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
Posted in Announcements, Food and Drink, Home and Garden, Recipes

Next-Day Turkey Soup

Posted December 27th, 2011

I know how it can be, after a huge meal, trying to figure out what to do with all that food once all your guests have gone home, and life begins to return to normal after the holiday frenzies.  Turkey sandwiches get boring, and all the side veggies that were so delicious in the moment just don’t seem to cut the mustard once re-heated.  Well, in an answer to these terrible woes, I bring you a solution: Next-Day Turkey Soup.

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 turkey carcass, all meat removed
• 1 onion, halved, plus 1 onion, minced
• 1 carrot, halved lengthwise, plus 1 carrot, minced
• 1 whole stalk celery, plus 1 more stalk, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups dark turkey meat
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 carrot, minced
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• 3 cups leftover cooked Thanksgiving side vegetables (Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, green beans)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves

Directions:

Put chicken broth, turkey, onion halves, carrot halves, 1 celery stalk, and 1 bay leaf in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 1 1/2 hours. Finely dice the remaining onion, carrot and celery and reserve.

Dice the turkey meat. Make sure meat pieces are no larger than the size of a soup spoon. (If preparing soup the next day, be sure to store leftover turkey meat in an airtight container before placing it in the refrigerator, top with 1 or 2 ladles full of broth to keep meat moist.)

Before straining broth, remove large bones and carcass with tongs. Strain the broth through a sieve, covered with wet cheese cloth. Discard the solids. Transfer broth to a bowl set in a bath of ice water, which will cool the broth quickly and help keep it fresher longer. This can be done the night before and stored in the refrigerator until the next day.

In a large soup pot, heat garlic cloves in the olive oil. Allow to brown slightly and add minced carrots, celery, and onion. Sweat over medium-low heat until softened, about 7 or 8 minutes.

Dice the leftover vegetables (like your Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and green beans). Add the chopped sage to the soup pot along with the turkey broth and the remaining bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. When simmering, add all the leftover veggies, except the sweet potatoes, and diced turkey meat to the soup. Bring it back up to a simmer. Finally, add the sweet potatoes to the center, and gently push them down. Turn the heat off and cover. Allow to sit and steam for 5 to 7 minutes.

Let simmer for 5 more minutes and serve.

Tags: leftovers, soup, specials, sustainablity, turkey
Posted in Food and Drink, General Information, Home and Garden, Recipes