Millet Polenta

Presoak: Cover 1 cup millet with boiling water, let stand all day or overnight. Drain and rinse a couple of times.

Cook: Add 1.5 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt to the drained millet. Bring to boil, simmer 30 minutes.

Pan: Spread 9″ square pan with a little olive oil, and turn the hot cooked millet into it, smoothing the top. Let stand until cool.

Serve: Cut into squares, use like polenta. Brown in skillet in butter. Or cover with tomato sauce. Or cut into squares for an easily-carried snack. Or whatever strikes your fancy. Would also make a good breakfast.

You could add some grated cheese at the “Pan” stage, stirring into the hot cooked millet before putting it into the pan. Or add herbs and/or garlic to the “Cook” stage.

I liked the sound of it so much, I just went and fixed a batch. Scrounging in the frig, I found 1/2 a sausage link and cut that up, sauteed with the onion. Wandering into the garden (not one of those nice huge ones like many people have, but a small plot behind the garage and some containers around the pool), I picked a jalapeno and a cherry tomato. Sauteed the jalapeno briefly, stirred in the beans (I used pintos), rice, and corn, topped with salsa and cheese and the diced tomato. Delicious and extremely filling!

Variations:
* pintos instead of black beans
* add a bit of leftover meat for flavoring only, such as chicken, ham, sausage, etc
* jalapeno or serrano while cooking
* top with parsley

Now for my recipe:

In lean times so to speak, peppers are a good bet. They add much needed flavor to all that corn, rice, beans, pulses, potatoes etc, are terribly easy to grow, and are the universal food of poor people around the world.

CHILE
1 tomato
1-2 nice peppers such as jalapeno, serrano, or chile pequin
1 garlic clove
cilantro (una cabeza de cilantro)
salt
pepper

Boil the tomato and pepper. Add garlic, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Grind all this up or blend. Do not turn into puree. Delicioso.

These items are readily, easily grown in a backyard, patio, or apartment “garden.” If you are lucky, you’ll find the chile pequin growing wild, as we do here in south TX.

Finally, please add URBAN CHICKEN to the winner’s short list. Amusing and practical.

“Gina’s Allergy Free Black Bean Burgers”

Note, this recipe is soy-free, dairy-free, nut-free, meat/fish-free, and egg-free. All of the ingredients, except the baking powder, can be procured or grown locally (southern California).

Source: Gina Mendolo

Ingredients:

1 T flaxseeds
2 T water
1 small red onion
2 ribs celery
1.5 c cooked black beans or 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 c panko bread crumbs OR crushed tortilla chips OR (basically any sort of bread crumb like things you have around will work)
1 t dried oregano, crumbled
3/4 t ground cumin
3/4 t ground coriander
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t salt
3/4 t baking powder

Directions:

-Mix the flaxseeds and water and heat briefly (30 sec in the microwave, or briefly on the stovetop).
-Place onion and celery in a food processor and dice coarsely OR dice coarsely by hand.
-Place remaining ingredients in food processor with the onion and celery and pulse until well combined, but still textured OR combine all ingredients and mash by hand until well combined.
-Let mixture sit for 20 minutes, covered.
-Form into “hamburger” patties (makes 4 patties).
-Cook in a 350 degree ove (approximate, temperature is not that important) OR grill on a sheet of aluminum foil until crispy on the outside, yet still moist in the center.

“Layered Vegetable Enchiladas”

Note, this recipe is soy-free, nut-free, meat/fish-free, and egg-free. All of the ingredients can be procured or grown locally (southern California).

Source: Gina Mendolo

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
2 medium leeks, diced (Alternative: if you can’t find leeks use one medium onion.)
1 large bell pepper, diced
1 cup corn (Fresh, frozen, or canned work fine. If frozen, no need to dethaw.)
1.5 cups cooked or 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped
12 small to medium size corn tortillas
2 cups enchilada sauce (recipe follows)
Optional: 1.5 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, and pepper jack all work well)

Directions:

-Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
-Sautee the leeks, peppers, and corn in the skillet until just tender, about 3 – 5 minutes.
-Turn off the heat and stir in the black beans and cilantro.
-Spread 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish.
-Place four tortillas on the bottom of the casserole dish. (More or less depending on the size and shape of your casserole dish. You may have to cut the tortillas to fit.)
-Scoop out 1/2 of the vegetable and black bean mixture and spread it over the tortillas.
-Top with 1/2 cup cheese.
-Top with 1/2 cup enchilada sauce.
-Repeat: tortillas, remaining veggie and bean mixture, 1/2 cup cheese, 1/2 cup sauce.
-Top with remaining four tortillas, followed by remaining enchilada sauce, and finally remaining cheese.
-Cover and bake a 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
-Serve with fresh guacamole and/or sour cream.

“Enchilada Sauce”

Note, this recipe is soy-free, dairy-free, nut-free, meat/fish-free, and egg-free. All of the ingredients, with the exception of the flour, can be procured or grown locally (southern California).

Source: Raving Enchilada Sauce Recipe with Gina Mendolo Modifications

Ingredients:

2 vegetable stock
4 T ancho chili powder
1 t ground cumin
3/4 t salt
1/16 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t sugar
5 T cold water
5 T all purpose flour
2 cups tomatoes, passed through the medium disc of a food mill

Directions:

-Place the vegetable stock, chili powder, cumin, salt, cinnamon and sugar in a medium saucepan.
-Use a whisk to mix everything well.
-Heat to a boil, reduce the heat to a low boil and cook for 3 minutes. Note: Whisk frequently to make sure all spices dissolve. This is important for flavor and a nice smooth sauce.
-While the sauce is on a slow simmer/boil, place the 5 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl. With a whisk mix in 1 tablespoon of flour at a time with the water. Whisk vigorously to avoid lumps. If you have lumps here, you will definitely have lumps in your sauce.
-After 3 minutes of cooking sauce, turn the heat up to high.
-Slowly pour the flour mixture into the boiling sauce. Here you must whisk the sauce vigorously while adding the flour to avoid lumps.
-After all the flour is added, continue to whisk the boiling sauce for one minute. You can turn the heat down to medium during this time.
-Turn off the heat – you are done.

“What the Heck Am I Going to Do With All of These Cherries Crisp”

Note, this recipe is soy-free and egg-free. It can be made vegan by substituting margerine for the butter and it can be made gluten free by substituting more almond meal for the all purpose flour.

Source: Gina Mendolo

Ingredients:

3/4 c butter, melted
1 c oats, uncooked
1/2 c almond meal (or finely groud almonds)
1/2 c all purpose flour
1 c brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 t almond extract
1/8 t cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
3 c cherries, pitted

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Grease a 9 inch square or round baking dish.
-Combine all ingredients except cherries in a bowl.
-Press half of the flour and sugar mixture into the bottom of the pan to form a “crust”.
-Pour cherries over the crust.
-Sprinkle the remaining and sugar mixture over the cherries.
-Bake for 30 minutes.

p.s. Also, I meant to mention the incredible cornucopia of food, that a single zucchini plant can produce – enough to feed a neighborhood — but then, given its reputation, that probably goes without saying!

Though I love it best either baked and stuffed with whatever leftover grains and other veggies we have on hand covered with tomato sauce and baked for an hour, or sliced and simmered in broth and spices (a pinch each of oregano, thyme, turmeric and a dash of powdered pico de gallo) along with other summer squash, corn and stewed tomatoes (a sort of squash soup, we call calabacitas), though the simplest and most energy efficient way that I serve it is in salad form:
Into one bowl, slice one 8″ cucumber (peel, if you must, though an easy way to get used to eating the rind is to take a fork and rake it along the outside, somewhat reducing the sometimes bitter taste – this looks pretty, too) and slice 2-3 young (6″ or smaller) zukes very thin, and cut each of 2 – 3 tomatoes into eighths. Cover with your favorite vinaigrette (oil and vinegar) or even bottled Italian dressing and top with a sprinkling of basil leaves. Let marinate for at least an hour. Only one dish to wash, and the only energy used is the elbow grease used in slicing, and that of the fridge, if you choose to refrigerate it before eating.

1 c Maple syrup
1 c Flour
6 ea Eggs
1 t Vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t cloves

Separate eggs. Put whites in large bowl, yolks in medium bowl. Sift
flour several times, put in small bowl. Beat egg whites until stiff,
but not dry. Set aside. Beat yolks until light, add syrup, spices and
vanilla. Beat again to mix well. Pour yolk syrup mixture
into whites and fold gently with wire whip or spatula until blended. Gradually add flour 1 tbsp. at a time while folding mixture. When blended, pour in large tube pan. I use a pan in which the tube part is removeable. Bake at 325 for about 1hr. Cool on rack, then remove cake from pan.

Notes: I like this with a somewhat thin chocolate frosting (so it drips down the sides) but various adaptions could be made using what is available such as: serve plan, serve with ice cream or whipped cream, serve with a drizzle of maple syrup or heat some syrup with a bit of butter for a more savory sauce, maple cream or crumbled maple candy, fresh or canned fruit etc etc.

I have chickens and we make maple syrup so all I’d need from my purchased storage or “the general store” is flour and spices. We don’t now have dairy animals (do have meat animals) but dh grew up on a dairy farm so we would have the knowledge if needed.

We are however spooked in that we live next to Worcester Ma in which the Asian Longhorn Beetle has been found, their favorite food is maple trees, the treatment for the trees is to be cut, also many trees in the affected area will be removed if they seem to pose a danger for spreading the beetle.

Syrup is (hopefully not was) my sweetener for when the shtf and this concerns me more than say 5 years ago when I didn’t know I’d needed it as part of my survival food stores.

Beth in Massachusetts

What about cooking in a vacuum bottle, aka a Thermos(TM). I have always wanted to try this so I experimented with it today. Here’s a simple recipe:

Put 1/4 cup steel cut oats in a pan or other container with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Keep in mind this could be done over a fire or other alternate places rather then a traditional stove.

In the meantime have your vacuum bottle sitting full of hot water. You may want to heat this water first and just leave about a cup in the pan and add the oats to that.

Once the oats come to a boil (this only took a few minutes on my stove on medium heat) pour the hot water out of the bottle and replace it with the oat/water mixture. You could use the now warm water from the bottle to make something else or I have a special jug in the kitchen to discard water and I use it to water plants or fill the dog dish.

Put the cap tightly on the bottle and lay it on its side. If you do this at night you’ll have fresh oats in the morning, possibly still warm.

I tried it this morning and had my oats for dinner. They weren’t very warm but I had left them for 12 hours, I bet they would stay nice & warm for 8 hours.

Here’s why I like this:
You only have to have a heat source for a few minutes instead of around 20 minutes like it would normally take.
Almost everyone has a Thermos (TM) or could get one cheap enough (you want a nice metal or glass lined one though, no plastic).
It is flexible – you can do this with rice, beans, etc.
My favorite part: I added some of my dehydrated apple slices, all broken up, to the mix and when I ate it they were nice and soft and rehydrated.

So all you would need is a way to heat water, potable water, and dried goods like rice, oatmeal, and an infinite variety of dried fruits or even nuts. This would go along nicely with the ANYWAY food storage system discussed in the new post. Not that you need to cook quick oats for long but it would allow you to try other kinds.

The oats would be even better if I had added some of my canned applesauce to them. It is kind of like a slow cooker without the need for electricity. I think I’ll try rice next! Let me know how you like it if you have tried this or try it now!

2 or 3 smoked ham hocks (May use leftover chunk of ham, instead, in which case treat it accordingly with regards to any bone or lack of)
a gallon and a half to 2 gallons water

Simmer together in largeish stock pot till meat begins to seperate from bone. More water may need to be added periodically. Remove hocks from stock, and allow to cool before pulling meat off bones. (Feed bones and fat to dogs.)

2 to 3 largish russet potatoes, chopped into moderate size cubes
1 largish onion, chopped
3 or 4 stalks of celery, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
2 smallish or 1 large turnip, diced up to same size as potatoes
2 or 3 sliced, peeled carrots
1/2 head cabbage, shredded, or 1/2 jar sauerkraut (undrained)
4 cups split peas (color not important)
Rutabaga and parsnip may also be used, if you have any available.

Add all veggie ingredients to stock in pot, bring to a slow simmer and simmer at least 45 minutes or until everything is pretty well mush. Add in meat at last few minutes.

Seasonings may vary from person to person, I usually use a mix of Mrs. Dash, a bay leaf or two, and some black pepper and sea salt to taste.

My hubby loves Split Pea Soup since I started adding the cabbage or sauerkraut to it. Says it really takes the flavor up a notch. (In fact, now he doesn’t leave many leftovers for me.)

This is best served with your favorite corn bread or muffins, hot from the oven, and a good bit of butter to slather on them.