Solar Chicken Greens and Spicy Cheese

Did you ever see a recipe with ingredients that just grabbed you and you had to make it, right then and there? My niece shared one on Facebook that was low carb and looked absolutely delicious from Tonya Stairs's healthy recipes, so you might want to check out Tonya's page when you're through here for the original Pepper-Jack Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken recipe. Well, I had everything on hand – sort of, and ended up with a dish that was just as mouth-watering (using my imagination, here, based on Tonya's ingredients) with an end result that delivered more surprises. You can slice in any direction for equal portions, freeze it for another meal, or, cut it small enough for dainty hors d'oeuvres! Love multi-tasking foods; don't you.

I decided to use parchment paper to line my pan to make it easier for cutting and serving. Oops! That sounds as though I knew what the end result would be, and, I didn't. My main hope was that any extra grease would be absorbed by the paper.

 

By resting the, uh, ah, lasagna (?) (Are noodles required to call a dish lasagna?) for about ten minutes, cutting was very easy with little damage to the top layer. This was a totally unexpected drop-your-jaw delicious entrée. A definite repeat recipe and one, I think, I will do for next week's Midtown visitors!

Preheat your solar oven to 225°F and, for an all-round heat, use a rice bag on the bottom.

Solar Chicken Greens and Spicy Cheese Lasagna
Chicken Layer:
1 lb ground chicken
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
1-1/2 Tablespoons fresh herb mixture: dill, stevia, oregano, garlic chives, basil, parsley. (When I pick my herbs from the garden, I generally pick just one end of a leafy section or what looks like it would become about 1/2 tablespoon when chopped. Rosemary is just a small sprig.)
1/4 cup white wine
Mix together and then spread over bottom of pan. Mixture should be thick but easy to spread without being 'saucy.'
Greens:
1 lb of combined fresh spinach, lettuce, and chard, end stems removed and greens softened in 1/4 cup of water over medium heat. Drain and cool before spreading over chicken layer.
Cheese Layer:
4 oz sour cream
8 oz cream cheese
4 oz mozzarella cheese (I didn't have Monterrey Pepper Jack Cheese)
1 egg
1 Tablespoon finely chopped hot peppers of your choice. (I used JRods Backyard Grill Chipotle Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce – a Midtown vendor who makes it fresh)
1 Tablespoon of above chopped herb mixture

Blend together until there are no cheesy lumps in mixture, then spread over greens layer. Cover or use two pans; one for the food and an inverted one for the cover.

After approximately 40 minutes, check for doneness with a toothpick, continue baking, uncovered, until lightly browned and an inserted knife comes out clean. You can also check with a little jiggle of the pan to see if the center is almost firm. There are eggs in the cheese mixture, so they will continue to cook while resting. You want the layers done without being too firm.

Serve in rectangles, diamonds, circles – let your imagination soar, because it's a dish that begs you to play with it. I could see cutting out little shapes for the children, as well, to get those greens into them. Who knew that substituting almost everything could have such a happy result? Give it a try and let us see some of your presentations.

 

Solar Workshops go Mobile

 

There had to be a better way to carry around everything I needed for both the Midtown Farmers Market and the Solar Workshops around the State. I'd been looking at cargo trailers and wanted something sturdy but light enough that I could  handle in my advanced years and settled on this lovely grey Diamond Cargo 4'x6' trailer. I would have to do my own internal fixtures, so it was to the drawing board with thoughts of multi-purpose trailer living before ending up with several designs to make everything accessible with the least amount of trouble to my knees!

It started with a blank exterior slate.

And, an interior with a whole lot of empty waiting for the 'pimping.'  My main focus was to stop things from sliding around and keeping a path to the back.

With the interior height at just below 48 inches and not wanting to spend the next few years with a bent neck or on my knees, I bought a little wheeled tool holder for scooting around. Not entirely visible, you can see the tools on the hood ready for use. Let me say that it worked perfectly for moving back and forth, with plenty of head room and a nice seated height. Good choice.

Turns out, the walls are a composite that is seriously hard (good construction) and even with using an electric drill for pre-drilling holes, they were very resistant to the eyebolts. I'm nothing, if not persistent, and, many minutes later, four vertical reinforcing ribs were installed, placing screws at 4" intervals, top and bottom, with eyebolts in between. This would hold the SolarChief(R) in place with heavy-duty bungee cords. Then, I decided I didn't need to work THAT hard and simply placed eyebolts around the rest of the trailer to bungee things as needed. Those over-the-door half-hampers on the left work great for holding my craft items and are only eleven inches deep. A super bonus was that the hooks fit over the inside trailer wall. Yay!

I have plenty of room for all my ovens and accessories, held tightly in place, with center room for moving back and forth without having to move items.

 

 

The craft holders were moved to the back, the SolarChief(R) is in place, and there's room for all the ovens and materials for the workshops. Watch out North Carolina; here I come!



Solar Shrimp Wontons and Fresh Spring Spinach

See those sloppy wontons?  I made them. Oh, yeah. Thought I had the smaller wrappers on hand, but turns out they were the big ones. Now, there's nothing wrong with excess wonton dough, unless, of course, you're an aficionado and demand a ravioli-type fit. I just made the filling bigger and added cooking time. I mean, they're used for egg rolls; right?  For company, I would have made the trek to the store for the right size; for just us, availability and hunger won out.  The spinach is fresh from my garden; but, the tomato is from the neighborhood produce market. Sold as garden-fresh, brought up from Florida, means truck tomato, to me, and they simply do not taste garden fresh. We still have a few months to go before the garden produces the ones I've planted.

 

But, there was fresh lettuce in my garden to line the steamer, so I was committed.

 

 

Used a fat tablespoon for the filling, slopped the edges with water, and gently brought everything together. I like to use tinfoil beneath the wrapper, when I don't have cheesecloth, because it prevents sticking during the construction phase.

 

 

I used a baking rack set on a sheet of tinfoil in my baking pan and covered it with some fresh lettuce as a base for the wontons, adding a cup of water in the bottom for steaming.

I then created a foil cover, sealing top and bottom, and put it in my 275F preheated GSO for forty-five minutes.  The end result was luscious, ugly, wontons and very wilted lettuce.

The shrimp filling was interesting but I think I prefer a different protein. Will have to do it, again, to make sure. I'm not overly fond of seafood and pasta, either, so that may well color my feelings.

Shrimp Filling

20-30 shelled and deveined raw shrimp
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 small clove finely chopped garlic
1 Tablespoon finely chopped sweet onion
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Chinese spice
1 teaspoon finely chopped basil
8 - 10 Wonton wrappers

I used my food processor for final mincing of the shrimp and other ingredients but shred and chopped the veggies, first. Pulse until everything is blended and looks finely minced.

Place a large tablespoon of mixture on center of wonton wrapper and bring up watered sides to seal. Place on lettuce-leaf bed. Bake for approximately 40 minutes at 275F.

Serve with soy sauce or create your own favorite dipping sauce.

Acorn Squash in EZ-3 Solar Oven

 

 One of the easiest ways of solar cooking squashes, root crops, and corn, is by simply placing them whole in the solar oven and letting nature take its course. Within a few hours, you have a delicious vegetable, prepared in its own jacket, still full of all the nutrients, to serve in your favorite way. I made a much larger EZ-3 oven for the Midtown Market booth, and decided to check out the timing with the added insulation. Got slammed with a stomach virus and have only just felt well enough to catch up on my blogging. The picture is blah, and for that I apologize, but it's the end result that counts.

 

Because I was using was is basically and cardboard and tinfoil solar oven, I knew that the cooking times would be at least two-and-a-half times conventional timing, but still faster than a slow cooker. In addition to the insulation used, I had a rice bag preheating for a bottom base, and used craft plastic (available in sewing departments) for the glazing and covered the entire EZ-3 oven. You can also use a large oven bag opened to a single layer, or use two to reduce condensation.

 

 

As I've often mentioned, I have no problems 'helping' my solar cooking by preparing foods so that they will cook evenly and faster, the same as one would do for a crock pot meal. Knowing that it would definitely take longer to cook the acorn squash, I peeled and sliced it, first, positioned it in a metal baking pan and added 1/2 cup seasoned juice. Covered it with foil and placed it in an oven bag.

 

 

Within two hours, squash is ready and simply mashed in the delicious gravy. Unfortunately, I forgot what the mixture was, exactly, but know there was chicken stock, 3 star anise, salt and pepper, a pinch of cinnamon, and -- then, my mind goes blank. So sorry. But, it was cooked through and very easily mashed with a fork, after removing the star anise and seeds.

 

 

It was delicious and proved that the EZ-3 does a great job.

 

 

 

 

 

SolarCub Solar Oven in Jacket Carrier

SolarCub(R) in Insulated Jacket Carrier

We solar cookers keep trying to find just the right portable oven to bring this exciting money-saving method of cooking meals to the general public. I focus on the mainstream and try to make it as appealing, as possible. In that regard, I offer different levels of start-up ovens, beginning with my mini-oven kit that will bake single-serving dishes, up to my SolarCub(R).  In my workshops, depending on their length, participants are shown how to make a variety of ovens from cardboard and foil; such as, the Copenhagen, E-Z3, and my own adaptation of the Cook-It.  For those people who simply want to buy an oven without having to build it, themselves, the SolarCub(R) is a ready-made kit, ready to assemble in a snap! The insulated jacket combining protection against the wind, retention of heat, and a carry handle for easy transport, is sold separately.

 

As I mentioned, assembly is a snap.

 





There is no bottom because I use rice/bean bags as a base and vessel holder.  The empty bag is included in the kit, with instructions on how to fill and close it for use. In addition, there is a piece of unhemmed 100% cotton knit black material to use as a heat-drawing cover.

 

 

To prevent movement, spills, and offer some insulation, I suggest that my customers use either a large blanket or box as a nest. But, you know me, if I can sew something, I'll do it, and the SolarCub(R) Carrier Jacket was born.  It snaps to the SolarCub(R) and remains stable in winds between 5-20 mph, while helping to retain heat. Alligator clips for attaching the jacket to the oven, rather than snaps, can also be used.

I think you can see the rice bag on the bottom, stabilizing the canning jar in SolarWear(R) and set in a double-folded oven bag,

Because the jacket is soft, it is easily raised to a true vertical position in the winter months. I've used a 2"x4" piece of wood here; but, you can use whatever you want.

 

When the meal is done, remove the cooking pot and begin cooking something else (if it's early enough in the day), or simply snap the handles together and bring it all inside! I love the food pattern on the Jacket Carrier; don't you?

 

 

My booth at the Farmers Market on the Commons at North Hills, Raleigh, opens on May 4th. Hope to see you there. For those wanting a SolarCub(R) Jacket Carrier that does not snap to the SolarCub(R), you can place an order anytime and it will be available for pick-up two weeks from date of purchase or shipment. If you want a Jacket Carrier that snaps to your solar oven, both items will be available two weeks from date of purchase.  Now, to make a matching hat and apron! Not!

 

 

 

A Forbidden! Solar Black Rice Sirloin Tip Meal

I am now on a par with the Chinese Emperors. Oh, yes; shocking but true! Me. Who knew? It all began with my quarterly refurbishing of grains and rices from Whole Foods. Blithely filling the bags with bulk this-and-that, I saw what I first thought were black beans, only to discover they were tiny grains of rice – by name, Forbidden Rice! Now, this may not be news to all of you, but it was quite the surprise to me, I can assure you. See, in the photo, how tiny they are, after being cooked? They are but a hair larger than their dehydrated size. But, the taste -- Oi-vey! such a delightful, nutty, flavor with just the right amount of al dente texture. It will definitely be a part of my final meal, if I do get a word. I can see why only the Emperors were allowed this fantastic grain.

 

It's obvious that I'm going to have to work on more appealing photos, but time will take care of that and, meanwhile, you'll be coming up with your own. I used both a metal loaf pan and a round baking pan for the solar dinner, and used aluminum foil for the cover. Rinsed and then pre-soaked the rice for about 20 minutes to begin rehydration and then poured it into the loaf pan, adding water brought to the boil in the microwave. The veggies and sirloin tips were sauté, placed in their own baking pan, and mixed with the sauce.

The solar oven had reached 250°F and I stacked the baking pan over the loaf pan. Days are getting longer and the meal was started at 12:45 p.m. In just under 1.5 hours, this very dark but delicious dinner was ready and we were very happy to tuck in.
Forbidden Black Rice

1 cup Forbidden Black rice
1-7/8 cups water, brought to boil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil

Rinse and pre-soak rice for approximately 20 minutes. Pour into casserole, add water, cover with foil and place in solar oven for approximately 1.5 hours. Let rest for 10 minutes, fluff with fork and combine  with oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Sirloin Tip Mix

1/2 pound sirloin tips, cubed
1 T tallow/oil
1 green bell pepper, sliced vertically then cut in half
1 medium sweet onion, sliced vertically
1 T fresh ginger, cut into pieces, then removed before serving
1 T soy sauce
1 T Chinese orange sauce
1 T grapeseed oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp Chinese spice mix

Preheat solar oven to at least 225F. Use separate covered casseroles.  Dry sirloin tips with paper towel and brown in tallow/oil; remove to casserole pan. Saute peppers, onion, and ginger, until soft; add to sirloin tips. Combine rest of ingredients with sirloin tip mixture. Cover with foil, bake in solar oven for approximately 1.5 hours. Stir, then serve.

I kept the rice and stew separate and added a touch of the sauce to the rice so you could see the sesame seed size against the cooked black rice grains. Normally, I would place the stew over the rice but it just didn't look right -- not that this does. I need a red ribbon, or something. But, don't be fooled, there's a powerful amount of taste in every bite.  I hope you'll give Forbidden Rice a try. It's expensive, but don't you deserve it? You bet your sweet bippy you do. Don't forget to share your recipe!

Spring Container Garden 2013

Last year's garden

The biggest benefit to having a waist-high garden is how early the soil heats up for planting. Unfortunately, that still doesn't solve the problem of having super-short springs and a rapid plunge into hot, sweltering, weather. Here in North Carolina, it has taken me some time to figure out the gardening limitations and enjoying both a spring and summer garden is out. The summer garden must be started no later than April for healthy crops. Gone are the spring-summer-fall gardens of my Virginia life. Of course, the timing couldn't be better. I am, after all, in my later years and it's enough to enjoy what I can do and simply reminisce years gone by.

In its seventh year, the garden needed to be revitalized and so I did the Lasagna Garden thing and added a top layering mid-February. Look at how beautiful the soil is almost nine inches down!

These are this year's 'birthing sheets' waiting for placement. I've combined fertilizer with the flour paste to hold the sheets together. Decided to use the 'broadcast' (rather than precise) method because the thinnings will be used in salads, leaving the proper spacing for the rest to grow into vegetables.

Here they are in place, dampened down to prevent the wind from moving them around while waiting for the soil cover.

Now, you see them; now, you don't!

Seeds and plants are in place.

Think I'll just sit here in the shade, with knife and fork in hand, waiting . . .   Why don't you pull up a chair and join me?

Mainstream EZ-3 Solar Oven

As you know, I've been cooking meals with the Global Sun Oven® for the better part of the past seven years and have been able to do anything in it that I do in my conventional oven. And, for those of you who prefer to have a larger more stationary oven that can stay outside, I feel I've done this with the SolarChief®. What's most important to me, though, is that you actually give solar cooking a try. The good news is that it's as easy as pie to have your own solar oven, today, in under an hour.

 

If you search online, you will find any number of solar ovens designed by solar cooking enthusiasts and, sooner or later, you'll find one you want to try for yourself. I said I would be showing a variety of solar ovens that I will be using at this year's Midtown Market on the Commons at North Hills Mall, and this is one of my favorites because it does the job.

Today's oven is one designed by Sharon Cousins and is called the EZ-3 Solar Oven. It's very easy to make and only requires a box with dimensions of at least 15"x15"x15", which is what I used for last year's exhibit. This year's larger decorated model was made from a Puppy Pad delivery box 15.5"x15.5"x19" and can hold this 2-quart teapot quite comfortably. The larger size creates higher heat. The only difference is that I clipped off the very top of the back triangle because I really haven't found that it's needed and it keeps the glazing cover from crowding the pots.

Because I'm missing a smart gene, somewhere, it took me until the last two months of market days to realize I could actually be using that oven, in addition to the GSO to, at least, keep me in hot coffee/tea/soup/? while sitting in the cold. Duh!

The EZ-3 you see on the far left was made from a smaller box and could hold a mug or quart-sized canning jar and I wanted to try the larger one so that there would be hot water available throughout the morning.

Found this wonderful GREEN teapot at the Thrift Shop for only $3 and decided to use that size for my next EZ-3. As soon as my puppy pad delivery arrived, I set to work. By placing the box on its side and cutting from corner to corner, I was able to get the height I wanted. What that meant was I would have to glue the inside flaps, which created a little bump but nothing to create a problem. Then I glued heavy-duty tinfoil across the bottom, the sides, and the extra front reflective piece. It looked like a cardboard and tinfoil oven – a perfectly serviceable oven!

But, I wanted to make it prettier. So, I found some extra cotton material and glued it to the outside. With the larger dimensions, the opening was way too big for the opened extra-large oven bag, so I decided to use some sewing plastic for the glazing. It works beautifully! The table was made for me by a very dear friend and the top rotates easily for following the sun. I adore it! By the way,  I'm not concerned about any toxic emanations because I'm using covered pots and it's pretty much gone by the third or fourth cooking session.

The temperature was 46°F and the winds at 9mph. Within 45 minutes, I had water hot enough to steep a teabag. I was hoping you could see the steam coming up from the cup but there was just too much shine all around. The handle was VERY hot and I'll remember to use a pot holder, next time! My plan is to keep water going all morning, so this was an outstanding exercise. That funny little thing you see over the spout is a 'cork' I crocheted with 100% cotton to keep steam and moisture from covering the inside of the plastic cover.

I have nothing against getting my from any of the surrounding restaurants, but that can eat into your profits faster than a teenager discovering you have an extra $20 bill! This is a powerful little portable oven and I hope you'll give it a try. If you don't have large boxes, why not make individual smaller ones and let everyone in on the fun?

Solar-Baked Cake Doughnuts

I love shopping for bargains after the Holidays. This year, I was able to pick up two (count them, T-W-O!) special baking pans for just $1.50 each. One was a big Valentine heart-shaped cookie pan and the other was a Wilton six-cavity doughnut pan. I decided to use the recipe on the back and probably won't do it, again. Buttermilk in my doughnuts is not a favorite flavor of mine and it wasn't improved by the sun. That is, in my opinion!

However, so far as the solar baking was concerned, it worked great! The original recipe suggests a conventional oven temperature of 425°F but my doughnuts cooked fine at 300°F.
I'm up to my elbows in workshops, this spring, and so – lucky you! – this post is short and to the point!.

Solar-Baked Cake Doughnuts
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat solar over to 300°F Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add liquids and beat until just combined. Fill each cavity 2/3 full.

Bake until tops of doughnuts spring back when touched, approx. 25 minutes. Let cool in pan 4-5 minutes before removing. Finish doughnuts with your favorite topping. Makes 12

Okay. Back to getting ready for next workshop – pysanki, this time!

Solarcooking Presentation In Fancy Dress

Chicken and Chickpea Solar Soup

With my first solar presentation for 2013 coming up this week, I wanted to do something a little different to show that you don't have to wait until you can afford a commercially-built solar oven to enjoy the benefits of FREE energy and savings. I try to have several examples of items that can be used for solar cooking so folks can see just how far we've come from our Scouting days of wrapping a hamburger in a piece of tin foil. I've been using a commercially-built Global(R) Sun Oven but, today, I want to talk about a quick-and-easy one you can build yourself, that will last you quite a while with a little care.

I'm not going to show every oven that I've made in this post, but will probably show them in the next few weeks. Instead, I'm going to focus on my own 22-inch model of Sharon Clausson's Copenhagen oven design and my newest favorite way of creating an oven "chamber." I don't think everyone will go to all this trouble -- well, maybe, the home crafters who want to make theirs more personalized will give it a whirl -- but, it solved my problem.

I needed a way to duplicate Sharon's dual-glass bowl oven chamber -- one that would take a lot of hard use and not break. Voila! Here are two stainless steel 2-quart mixing bowls that I was able to buy for just under $8.00 each at Wal-Mart. They caught my eye because of the quarter-inch lip that is perfect for binder clips. And, it turned out that the height of the inside chamber was within an eighth of an inch of the half-gallon sized canning jar, meaning that I could cook in larger portions.

The shape of the bowls made it almost impossible to get a grip and keep them vertical when placing them down into the deep solar oven, so I decided to do something about it. Using a size K crochet hook and some black Peaches & Cream 100% crochet cotton, I made a carrier specifically designed for the bowls, extending the upper edge portion two inches to allow room for a drawcord to tighten it around the top's inverted smaller dimension. The end result, as you see, holds the top in position and makes it almost immovable. This way, based on contents, binder clips are not always necessary. (For the Chicken and Chickpea Soup cooked directly in the bowl, I used the clips.)

I still hadn't solved the problem of raising and lowering the bowls into the oven. Crocheting two cords to crisscross over the top was the solution to keeping the bowls balanced and lifting easier. I made sure that there was enough give to raise the handles about two inches to prevent the hot metal from touching my skin at the end of the cooking time.

Stainless steel is a very reflective surface and, since we don't want those solar rays reflected away from the cooking chamber, this large draping crocheted square was the answer.

As you can see, it's still pretty far down into this large-sized Copenhagen.

You can take the time to fit the draping cover beneath the crossed cords, but I found it was just more work than I was willing to do and just as easy to lift it off at the end of cooking and use the handles. The cover makes a nice "potholder" during removal.

 Soup went into the solar oven at 10:45am and removed at 2:00pm, hot and delicious. All in all, I think I've created a very portable unbreakable accessory; don't you?