A month ago, I received a cookbook called The Nourished Kitchen(Amazon affiliate link) by Jennifer McGruther to review. Instead of just trying the recipes, I've been reading the cookbook like it's a novel. I can't remember the last time I actually 'read' a cookbook. I'm enthralled with this one.
The Nourished Kitchen is a 300+ page cookbook with more than 160 'Farm-to-Table" traditional food recipes with stories of where the ingredients come from and why you should use them. McGruther lives near farms in Co. and not only makes traditional foods delectable but addresses how they are essential to our health and how sustainable they are for the planet. The pictures are down-to-earth rustic; I can imagine myself, cooking up a storm in the homestead's kitchen after a harvest.
What is 'traditional foods"? According to McGruther,
Traditional foods is a system of connection, emphasizing support for time-honored ways in farming, cooking, and eating, and finding a place for fat and lean, animal and vegetable, raw and cooked.
And connecting and honoring she does with stories she tells. And in regards to nose-to-tail eating, she has recipes for making "Pickled (calf) Tongue", "Goose Liver Mousse", "Stewed Beef Heart with Root Vegetables" and "Chicken Liver Paté". But I'm a bit squeamish about organ meats still. So I was delighted to see sections on fermentation, how to make sourdough bread, cultured dairy, seasonal vegetables, from the range, and seafood. And of course, desserts "from the orchard" (fruits). She categorizes the foods from different sources like, 'from the garden" (vegetables), "from the pasture" (dairy), "from the range" (meats), "from the waters" (seafood) and so on.
The book opens with a chapter on different types of ingredients and why it's important to source them locally, for your health and the environment. She covers farm-to-table and nose-to-tail eating concepts in each section. Again, it reads like a novel.
I immediately got hooked in the "from the garden" chapter at the beginning of the book with the "Cider-Braised Kale with Apples and Sweet Cherries." I had too much swiss chard from the farmers market so I decided to make an adapted version. She uses dried cherries but I decided not to use them since it'd add more sweetness. I also used ghee since I didn't have bacon fat. If you want to make it a vegan style, you can use oil that's good for high heat, like avocado oil.
Cider Braised Swiss Chard with Apples
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Ghee or Bacon Fat (or Avocado Oil or other high heat vegetable oil for vegetarian version)
- 1 Small Red Onion, thinly sliced
- 1 apple, cored, cubed with skin intact
- 2 bunches of swiss chard, stems removed (reserve for juicing), cleaned and leaves coarsely chopped (you can use kale like the recipe in the cookbook)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup of apple cider or hard cider
Instructions:
- Melt ghee or bacon fat in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
- Toss the red onion and apples into the hot skillet and cook about 2 minutes.
- Add chopped swiss chard (or kale) and stir until wilted. It should only take a minute or so.
- Add apple cider and apple cider vinegar and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Enjoy!
You can buy the book from any bookstore near you but here it is on Amazon. (affiliate)
Recipe
Cider Braised Swiss Chard with Apples (adapted from the nourished kitchen)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Ghee or Bacon Fat or Avocado Oil or other high heat vegetable oil for vegetarian version
- 1 Small Red Onion thinly sliced
- 1 apple cored, cubed with skin intact
- 2 bunches of swiss chard stems removed (reserve for juicing), cleaned and leaves coarsely chopped (you can use kale like the recipe in the cookbook)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup of apple cider or hard cider
Instructions
- Melt ghee or bacon fat in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
- Toss the red onion and apples into the hot skillet and cook about 2 minutes.
- Add chopped swiss chard (or kale) and stir until wilted. It should only take a minute or so.
- Add apple cider and apple cider vinegar and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Megan Stevens says
This recipe looks great!! I love the combination of bacon fat/ghee with apple cider;yum! My whole family will love this recipe.
Dr. Karen Lee says
Thx Megan! It is my go-to side dish now. Mix it up with any types of dark leafy greens and you can have a variety of side dishes to go with anything!