Ionia Community Recipes www.ionia.org • 2013 Ionia, inc • 54932 Burdock Road, Kasilof, Alaska 99610 • (907) 262-2824 1 Table of Contents Condiments We Use! 2 Grains and Beans! 4 Land & Sea Veggies! 13 Soups and Stews! 22 Desserts! 26 Ionia, inc • 54932 Burdock Road, Kasilof, Alaska 99610 • (907) 262-2824 1 Condiments We Use Miso is a salty, earthy creme made from soybeans, salt and barley or rice koji (which is the starter, or inoculant) fermented for 2 - 3 years. Used for hearty flavoring of soups, stews, porridges and pickles, miso has beneficial organisms and enzymes which are vital for digesting whole grains. In meat eating cultures, yogurt and cheeses were used for this same purpose. In grain eating cultures, miso is the key to assimilating all the valuable nutrients in the food. At Ionia, we eat miso soup every day and make miso from scratch. Shoyu known by many westerners as soy sauce, is a fermented soybean/salt/koji liquid condiment used in just about everything - soups, stews and broths, porridges, sauteing, dressings and sauces and pickles. Shoyu flavors a broth similar to bullion, is a gentler, more rounded form of saltiness and also holds those beneficial enzymes. At Ionia, we use shoyu in just about every meal. Umeboshi pickled plums and ume vinegar are made from green plums, pickled in salt and shiso leaves for a year or so. Umeboshi brings a unique, bold combination of salty/sour to many dishes. It is bright pink and also bravely stands out as a healing power. Umeboshi is used as a go to tonic for nausea, indigestion, and hangovers... also as a way to countermeasure poisoning and infection of any mild sort. We use it often in dressings, sautes, pickles and it is a great pickle on its own with brown rice. The juice off of the pickling crock is bottled and sold as ume vinegar. At Ionia, we are beginning to make umeboshi from scratch. Kuzu, processed from a root, is a thickener like corn starch which is very strengthening for the intestines. Perfect for adding to cooked fruits or to make a clear gravy for sauted veggie stir-fry. Kuzu is expensive, so at Ionia, we use it sparingly and consider it precious. Ionia, inc • 54932 Burdock Road, Kasilof, Alaska 99610 • (907) 262-2824 2 Brown rice vinegars are top of the list for adding zing and sour sparkle to dressings and pressed salads. Brown rice mirin is a sweet vinegar used to bring sweetness to broths and sautes. Brown rice syrups are gentler than either maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey. The sugars in brown rice syrup are complex sugars (rather than simple sugars) so they are even gentler than fruit sugars and less acidic. Kids don’t bounce off the walls after eating brown rice syrup, and as a concentrated sweetener, this is as mild as it gets. At Ionia, we use brown rice syrup in dressings and many desserts - pies, cookies, cremes and fruit compote. The kids cook it to make candies like taffy and peanut brittle and popcorn balls. When we are setting up a kitchen, there are a few cooking utensils which we have found to be quite indispensable: •A SHARP, COMFORTABLE VEGETABLE CUTTING KNIFE •A STAINLESS STEEL ( NOT ALUMINUM) PRESSURE COOKER •A GINGER GRATER •A WIRE MESH HAND HELD STRAINER AND A COLANDER •BAMBOO OR WOODEN STIRRING SPOONS •A STAINLESS OR CAST IRON SAUTE POT WITH A TIGHT FITTING LID IN AN APPROPRIATE SIZE FOR THE HOUSEHOLD • A STAINLESS SOUP POT WITH GLASS OR STAINLESS LID THAT FITS WELL, AND PERHAPS THAT DOUBLES AS A STEAMER •GOOD MIXING BOWLS - PREFERABLY NOT MELAMINE PLASTIC •GLASS JARS FOR STORING GRAINS, BEANS, AND SEEDS •2 FLAME TAMERS ( METAL HEAT DIFFUSERS USED UNDER POTS) •PINT AND QUART GLASS JARS ARE ALSO USEFUL FOR MANY THINGS FROM STORING LEFTOVERS TO TEA •GAS OR WOOD FIRES ARE THE BEST SOURCES OF HEAT - ELECTRIC IS LESS DESIRABLE AND MICROWAVE IS UNACCEPTABLE Ionia, inc • 54932 Burdock Road, Kasilof, Alaska 99610 • (907) 262-2824 3 Grains and Beans For practical purposes in the kitchen, think of these whole grains: •The brown rices (including sweet rice, long grain, basmati, short grain and even black and red rices) •Millet •Whole Oats (groats) •Barley (both pearled and naked) •Quinoa •Grain corn (blue and yellow) •And the wheats - red, white, winter, spring (also kamut, spelt and rye) Also, these are grain like staples which share much of the same properties: •buckwheat (kasha) •jobs tears (hato mugi barley) •wild rice There are also many whole grain products, in which most of the whole grain is present but has been ground up: •Whole grain pastas and noodles •Polenta and corn tortillas •Whole wheat breads including pita and chapatis •Cracked oats, rolled oats •Seitan (“wheat meat”) •Bulgher and whole wheat couscous 4 Sweet Millet 2 ½ cups millet 2 onions, diced 3 carrots, diced ½ any kind of sweet winter squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup, kobocha, etc.), diced ½ hard green cabbage, cut into small squares sesame oil In a heavy saute pot, water saute the onions over a med low flame, covered. There should be about an inch of water in the bottom of the pot to prevent burning. After about 20 minutes, add the carrots, squash and cabbage. Then, in another pot, bring the millet up to a boil and cook on a low flame with a flame tamer for ½ hour. Keep cooking the vegetables on a low flame while the millet is cooking, stirring every once in awhile. Mix the cooked millet in with the sweet vegies, and a dash of sesame oil. Cook all together for another 10-15 minutes on a flame tamer to sweeten up the millet. Very nice and soothing on the stomach. Pumpkin Rice 4 cups of short grain brown rice 1 ½ cups raw pumpkin seeds 6 cups water small pinch of salt Soak all ingredients overnight. In the morning, add a pinch of salt, and pressure cook for 45 minutes on a low flame and flame tamer. Mix well and serve hot. Really delicious with umeboshi pickle and nori on the side! Walnut Rice 1 1/2 cups short grain organic rice 1/4 cup walnuts 1 pinch sea salt Place rice in pressure cooker. Add 2 1/2 cups water, the pinch of salt, close the lid and put on a medium high flame. Once up to pressure lower the flame and place on a flame deflector. Cook for 45 minutes. While the rice is cooking preheat an oven 5 to 350 F and roast the walnuts on a baking tray for roughly 10 minutes. Check the nuts every 3 minutes and turn them to prevent burning. Once evenly roasted remove them and allow to cool. Remove pressure cooker from the stove and bring down from pressure naturally, do not open the valve. Transfer the rice to a bowl and stir in the walnuts, then serve. Fresh Summer Rice Salad 3 cups long grain or basmati brown rice 1 cup each of diced: apples cucumbers celery carrots broccoli corn off the cob, if you have it 1 cup minced parsley 5 cups of water big squirt of olive oil big pinch of seasalt juice of 2 lemons Combine rice, water, olive oil and salt in a boiling pot with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer, cook on low for 55 minutes. Blanch the celery, carrots, broccoli and corn briefly in boiling water until they are the brightest color! Combine in a salad bowl with the raw apples, cucumbers and parsley. When the rice is cooked, fluff up with a wooden spoon and mix well with all the vegetables. Squeeze in the lemon juice, mix well, and serve on a bed of lettuce. Steamed Rice Kayu Bread 4 cups of softly cooked brown rice whole wheat flour pinch of sea salt corn oil If you don’t have any soft rice cooked, you can make it with leftover rice from lunch - or just cook 1 cup of rice with 5 cups of water for 1 hour. In a big mixing bowl, put the soft rice and one pinch of salt. Mix well. Slowly knead in whole wheat 6 flour until you have a dough that is not too sticky. It should eventually feel like your earlobe. Keep kneading about 100 times. Form it into loaves, oil some bread pans, and fill up each bread pan about ½ full with the dough. Put the loaves to rise in a warm spot for 6-12 hours. If you have a steamer that your bread pans can fit into, then great! If not, place the bread pans in a big pot and pour water into the bottom of the pot until it is halfway up the sides of the bread pans (“Ohsawa pot style”) Bring to a full steam, and steam the bread for 2 ½ hours on a med low flame. You may have to add water into your steamer or pot a few times. Remove the bread from the pans, and let cool for half an hour before slicing. This bread is very digestable, and kids love it! They love to make it too. We like to serve it with: - sesame sauce - stew - jam - pumpkin butter with onions Sweet Barley 1 ½ cups barley, soaked overnight in 6 cups of water 2 onions, diced 3 carrots, diced ½ any kind of sweet winter squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup, kobocha, etc.), diced ½ hard green cabbage, cut into small squares sesame oil In a heavy saute pot, water saute the onions over a med low flame, covered.