Okay, that's the last canning pun...I promise.
Anyway, we had our canning workshop last Sunday (actually a fortnight ago). Diana and Jenny (from Angelic Organics) were the knowledgeable, funny and sassy teachers. We weren't a big group, but we filled the kitchen nicely, and every one got a couple of cans of fresh tomatoes.
A few things I learned:
-Canning is easy. Basically you need a clean, sterilized container (which you can do by dunking a jar in boiling water) and something to create a vacuum seal (boiling water or pressure cooker). Altho, there was some discussion about just sealing up hot contents in a sterile jar being enough to create a vacuum (think about how the plastic wrap tightens around hot food in the microwave).
-Canning is pretty. Just look at our tomatoes--and then imagine some artfully arranged ingredients in, say, a relish with corn kernels nestled amongst the tom.s and peppers, a spring of dill and red pepper strips in pickles, layers of different colored fruit preserves).
-Canning is fun. I could see how a canning party (old-school it-goes-faster-with-friends gambit, like a barn-raising) would be a good way to spend an weekend afternoon. If everyone is chopping and pouring, you could get a lot of items "put up" and get the whole chore over with.
-Canning is a great way to get rid of a lot of stuff you are sick of...but will miss by the middle of winter. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, corn. All things that go into overdrive in the garden by the end of August, but will be a welcome treat when you pop the lid in February.
-Canning is relatively safe (say, compared to eating Oreos from Hong Kong). As long as you make sure a vacuum has happened (the top of the jar is tight and hard), and your food is fresh you should be fine. Don't eat anything that smells or looks funny--it should be pretty obvious.
Summer in a jar...why am I just catching on this now!?!
Alec, the 13-month-old, had always been rather picky--not fussy--but picky, he likes what his likes and spits out or drops what he doesn't. Dinner is always a bit of a crap-shoot; one day he powers down melon and cheese, the next day I get a withering look and it's smeared onto the tray top.
About a month and a half ago, I started giving him most of the same stuff that the rest of us are eating, but chopped or mashed up into little pieces. Again, some was a hit (always roasted chicken and beans, sometimes homemade bread, fish, soup), some got the Look and was quickly dispatched to the floor.
Then, one night I made risotto. Risotto is one of the most delicious, satisfying, comfort foods the Italians ever gave us...even more so than pasta. Basically, it's rice cooked in broth that is stirred almost constantly, so the end result is rich, creamy and extremely satisfying. It's extremely versatile, too, since you can add all sorts if things to the basic combination of olive oil, butter, onion, arborio rice and stock. (What mother of two has time to constantly stir stock into rice, while the wee ones empty the tupperware drawer all over the kitchen?...I share my secret below)
I have never heard the baby make such a noise. After the first taste, he demanded more with a roar similar to the "yummy noise" that Dr. Franken-steen's monster makes in Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein. Then he went through about 3 bowls of it that night and 3 more the following evening. So, nothing wishy-washy about his feelings on risotto.
Try this version from Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet, and see if it doesn't elicit some yummy noises from you. Despite the labor-saving approach, I find this very similar to the painstakingly-stirred versions. And you now have time to put all the plastic containers away...
Basic Risotto (serves 3 as a first course, 6 as a side dish)
2T. unsalted butter
2T. olive oil
1/2 c. minced yellow onion
1c. arborio rice
3c. Chicken broth
2T. kosher salt Freshly ground pepperFreshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Heat butter and oil in a heat-proof casserole dish, in a microwave, uncovered, for 2 minutes (these are the times that work on my microwave...adjust if necessary). Add onions and stir to coast. Cook uncovered for 4 mins. Add rice and stir to coat. Cook uncovered for 4 min.s more.
2. Stir in broth (make sure this is room temperature--one time I added cold broth and shattered my dish). Cook, uncovered for 9 min.s. Stir well and cook for 9 min.s more.
3. Remove from oven. Let stand, uncovered, for 5 min.s to let rice absorb remaining liquid, stirring several times. Stir in salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese, if desired.
There's still space in Bushel and Peck's Canning Workshop this weekend: Sunday, September 28 from 3-5pm. Diana Nolden and Jenny Hoople from Angelic Organics will be doing a hands-on demonstration of pressure and hot-bath canning in the store's kitchen. They'll be using local, organic tomatoes and you'll learn how to prepare, can and seal them to save for later this winter when the mere idea of a woody, pink, tasteless tomato makes you sad.
Fee is $20 and covers everything. Come in to the store or visit the website to sign up.
I'm continuing my catch-up on events at Bushel and Peck's Local Grocery. A talk was given in late August by Rich Horbaczewski, who is one of the owners of the store, as well as Grass is Greener Gardens. He and Jackie raise chickens/eggs, sheep and turkeys, as well as grow potatoes, herbs and cut flowers.
This talk was an opportunity to hear how they started the farm and learn more about the challenges of sustainable farming.
By now, I've read a lot about the difficulties of meeting organic standards, especially for raising meat. Keeping animals healthy while avoiding excessive medication and allowing them plenty of access to pesticide-free grazing is the least of the problems. The National Organics Standard Board requires every step of the way to be certified organically, from the food the animals eat, to the processor that does the butchering. Often times these requirements are beyond what small producers can afford, so the farmers have to forgo the organic label.
It was interesting to hear about it, from some one in "the trenches." Rich pointed out that to get his chickens to the nearest organic butcher, he would have to drive all of them four hours to Decorah, Iowa. If he wanted that label, he would have to completely stress the birds out during the trip. Organic, but not particularly humane. Grass is Greener Gardens has decided to meet as many of the organic standards as possible, but opts to process their meat at Lena Meats in Illinois, just across the border.
Other things I learned:
-Eggs labeled as being from "vegetarian" chickens are not necessarily better. Chickens love to peck in the dirt and eat bugs--there's been studies that find the bug-fueled eggs actually have higher levels of Omega-3s. Go Grubs!
(more on this from Wednesday's New York Times)
-Cornish Cross chickens are a breed developed by Tyson to grow super-fast (6 weeks) with gigantic breasts. They are pretty dumb and slow and, therefore, are a treat to foxes and raccoon and owls who are looking for a midnight snack. Rhode Island Reds (what GGG raises) take a lot longer (10-12 weeks), but they are pretty sharp and keep an eye out for predators. Nonetheless, they are much more expensive to raise because they have to be cared for a fed almost twice as long as the Cornish Cross.
-The best time to have sheep give birth ("throw lambs") is in the winter. If you are avoiding antibiotics, there are no mosquitos/ticks/fleas/etc. to pass on disease or infection. It's pretty rough on the farmer, tho.
-(My favorite anecdote) Because lambs are born in the winter, if a ewe rejects one, there's a chance that it may freeze to death. Rich has found several that were pretty cold, but he brought them inside, put them in a warm tub and eventually "defrosted" them. He says they are pretty bone-headed (one liked to sleep with his head in a bucket), but otherwise fine. They have to be bottle-fed and, therefore, become pretty attached to Rich and a few got to live in the house while Jackie was away. I guess that situation didn't last--especially when the baa-ing in the background drowned out phone conversations.
Deborah Madison's pesto recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is the best. I think it's the butter she adds at the end, but I find myself eating it by the spoonful. Or using as a spread in sandwiches; or on pizza; or layered with ricotta on foccaccia (that's how we ate it in Italy back in the junior-year-abroad days). It certainly doesn't last very long.
This time of year, when the basil is going crazy and the garlic is just starting to come in, I try to make a few batches. I hear that if you leave the salt and cheese out, you can freeze it to enjoy in the winter, altho I can never make it last. Check it out:
My Pesto (adapted from D. Madison)
1 to 2 plump garlic cloves (be careful with fresh garlic, too much can really overpower everything else and make the sauce rather painful to eat)
Salt
3T pine nuts (I've also used walnuts and pecans)
3c fresh basil leaves (you can mix in some parsley, which doesn't really affect the taste, but helps the pesto stay brilliantly green)
1/2c grated Parmesan
2T soft butter
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
In food processor: Process garlic, salt, and pine nuts until fairly finely chopped, then add the basil and olive oil. When smooth, add the cheese and butter and process to combine.
I s'pose you could put it on pasta, too.
A few weeks ago, we had our first tasting event at Bushel and Pecks': Johnson Brothers Coffee. Johnson Brothers is a coffee roaster specializing in organic, free-trade beans and owned by Michael Johnson, who was in the store with Alex Butler for the tasting. Through these tastings, they educate coffee-drinkers about bean flavors, the effects of roasting and demonstrate the subtle difference between different brews. It was fascinating business and I learned equally about difference between Salvadoran and Ethiopian beans, as well as how firmly entrenched people's coffee preferences are.
We started with their standard dark roast Sumatran coffee--smoky, rich, familiar. Many tasters stopped there, insisting that they "only drank dark roast" and didn't want to go any further. But, when we did, we moved onto medium-roasted Guatemalan Maya Ixil Quiche (what I drink at home) and Pacamara Tierra Fertil from El Salvador. What a difference! The Sumatran tasted burnt in comparison, while the Central American brews were much clearer and, in the case of the Pacamara had almost honey undertones.
We continued with a Nicaraguan, that was included to demonstrate "baggy" flavor; i.e. the beans had sat around in burlap bags for too long and had started to pick up the flavor. It was hard to describe, other than it was sort of unpleasant compared to the others. We finished with a Ethiopian Yirgacheffe that, to my mouth, almost had a green tea flavor. It was startling when compared to the more familiar coffees, but began to grow on me.
I love a hot cuppa first thing in the morning, usually with a splash of cream. Michael and Alex were very forgiving of those of us who tend to doctor coffee, as they noted how much of drinking coffee is about the experience itself--sitting a cafe, reading a favorite book, lazily waking up at the breakfast table. But they want us also to consider coffee as a fine beverage, like wine, appreciating the subtleties of flavor and choosing a brew according to our moods and tastes, instead of just as a vehicle for caffeine (which, btw, is actually weaker in dark roasts because it gets "burnt" out).
So it was certainly an eye-opener (in many ways...it was alotta coffee for the afternoon), and I look forward to repeating the exercise later in the fall. Medium-roast, who knew?!?
Last nite over dinner, the husb and I compared our top 10 favorite spices. Here's mine (sort of in order):
1. Garlic
2. Cinnamon
3. Salt
4. Vanilla
5. Sesame Oil (not exactly a spice, I s'pose)
6. Fresh Sage
7. Fresh Basil
8. Fresh Oregano
9. Tarragon
10. Ginger
At first, it seems kind of pedestrian, but it's interesting how international many of these are as ingredients. I certainly couldn't cook without the first 4 and would be depressed if I didn't have access to the last 6.
How about you?
As with all enthusiasms, this one for eating locally/sustainably/etc. has been building for awhile. It first started to appear as a serious endeavor when I read an excerpt of "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen in the New York Times. He was writing about what we owe the animals that provide our meat, and this resonated with me--being a sort of guilty meat-eater (but not so guilty that I can give it up). I liked the idea of trying to provide a happy, carefree life to livestock so that they come to the butcher's unstressed and healthy. No matter what, they are dying so that we can eat, but it is a pleasant life up until that point (and it's a pretty quick point).
I was also pregnant with my first son, Eamonn, so all of my food choices become loaded with implication. Every choice was not only for me but for him, too, and this responsibility also made me consider the source of most of my food.
The double whammy of Pollan and Preg to my diet continued once I gave birth and began feeding this little person. How were his sweet potatoes fertilized? What lurked in the ground beef of his taco? What was injected into the cow who gave his milk (and I'm not talking about me)? I became a much pickier consumer, as much as I could be, and a faithful reader of labels. Even so, there's only so much driving around I could do to assemble groceries from approved sources; I had to compromise on some of my purchases (cereal, crackers) and not on others (meat, eggs, veggies).
For a year I helped coordinate events at a local grocery store that specializes in locally-produced organic food, Bushel&Peck's Local Market (many of these happenings are chronicled on this blog). I learned a lot, met many of my local producers and ate some delicious meals. But, you can't do everything, and I decided I would rather focus my energies elsewhere.
Writing this blog is one of those energies, and cooking is another...so, here I am, with a Pig and a Cornfield and a lot to say. Let's Eat!
