Ku Ku KaChew

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Watermelon, sushi, and pickles.... Oh my!

I dehydrated watermelon because I heard it gets like CANDY!! I currently have a container with some semi-dry watermelon treats at the moment. My friend borrowed my dehydrator so I didn't have them in as long as they needed. Alas, no worries, I will just stick them back in and dry those suckers out! Below is a picture of some slices before being dehydrated. I will post another when they are done. As you might imagine, watermelon takes quite a bit of time to fully dehydrate because they're full of WATER, silly!! So be patient and flip them a couple times. Hopefully the end result will be like homemade Jolly Ranchers, or Starburst if they don't dry fully. Either way, a fun summer snack!


Had Lu dinner (Lan+Ku) last night and made raw veggie sushi. The "rice" is soaked almonds, sunflower seeds, and arame (seaweed). After soaking for about 8 hrs, I rinsed everything and threw it in the food processor with garlic, ginger, chili pepper, and lime juice. The filling consisted of carrot, kohlrabi, and avocado. I also made a salad type thing with thin slices of heirloom zucchini. The dressing is rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, dash of Braggs, red pepper flakes, black and white sesame seeds, and ginger.


I got 6 little cucumbers at the Decatur farmer's market last Wednesday and finally picked up some dill to try my first batch of homemade pickles!! I sliced the cukes, chopped garlic, ripped the dill, threw in some red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Filled with water and now the waiting game begins!! I know pickles are traditionally made with vinegar, but I saw some raw recipes that only used water so I'm attempting to get the sourness using straight up fermentation sans vinegar. Works with sauerkraut so I'm thinkin it'll be fine! I'll let you know in a few days :)


Any thoughts on what recipes/tips I should video for next? I'll try to keep it shorter this time :-P Please give me your feedback and ideas!!

Thursday, June 09, 2011

COCONUTS 101!!

I said I'd do a coconut video so here you go! 16 minutes of coconuts. ENJOY!!





Smorgasbord

I haven't blogged in a minute, but I haven't forgotten about it! Here are random things from since I last posted:

Chocolate chip cookies! My friend, Amanda, suggested these. I brought them to a carnivore cookout and they were a hit! Everyone did the I'll-take-one-to-be-polite maneuver but they continued to reach in for more so I say they were a success!!

Here is a cake I made for my friend's parents. It was her mom's birthday and she is on a low-sodium diet due to health concerns so she asked me to make a cake. The cake itself is walnuts, dates, cocoa powder, and a little vanilla. The icing is young Thai coconut meat, honey, and vanilla. I adorned it with goji berries and cocoa nibs. Haven't heard any feedback about it yet so I hope it was ok!

Veggie rolls for a quick lunch. I biked home from work and made these from scratch with no previous prep. Ate them, cleaned up, and still made it back to work within an hour. If I can do this, you can too!! I just threw a few carrots, garlic, ginger, and chili pepper into the food processor to grate for the "rice". Sliced zucchini, bell pepper, and celery for the "meat" and voila! Only problem with carrot rice is that it's rather wet, so the nori wrapper can tear easily. I ended up eating these with a fork and knife because it was easier. Still just as tasty!

Plantain-banana pudding, mmmmmm. You have to wait til the plantain gets SUPER ripe. I mean brown and practically moldy. Wait til it's completely brown on the outside and mushy on the inside. It will develop a wonderful sweetness, so don't let the ugly exterior deter you from enjoying it in all its glory! So, you take one ridiculously ripe plantain, one frozen banana, and blend! No need to add any sweeteners. I garnished with goji berries, cocoa nibs, and a few dashes of cinnamon. I love the chewy addition of the goji berries and crunchy texture of the nibs to compliment the creaminess of the pudding. Yum yum yum!!

Fresh local salad with romaine and bibb lettuce from the Decatur farmer's market. Added tomato, avocado, sunflower seeds, and yellow bell pepper. Unfortunately I completely forget what dressing I used hah. But hell you wouldn't even need any with ingredients like that!

My spread from my Decatur farmer's market visit on Wednesday. Bag of romaine and bibb lettuce again, small bag of kale, 2 heads of cabbage (time for some sauerkraut, baby!), one heirloom zucchini, one cucumber, and some local thistle honey! I'm excited :)

Blueberries from my bestest friend in the whole world, Jenny! These are from her grandparents' farm :-D

Fruit salad: Blueberries, banana, and mango. Divine!

Ready for some hackin! See the next post :)