My Pig, My Cornfield

Merrily We Broil Along...

2009-10-04T12:36:00.001-07:00

Ah, roasting. I've found there are very few vegetables that don't benefit from this treatment; a moisturizing toss with oil and spices, a gentle spreadout on a cookie sheet, half an hour toasting in the oven. Everything emerges with crispy, carmelized edges, a fluffy center, and a delicious, deeper flavor. Gotta love how sugar/starches react with heat.

There are few things that don't really work (lettuce? what else?), and some are a true revelation (broccoli, cauliflower, sunchokes). You can make all sorts of interesting combinations (onion, potatoes, parsnips, squash; cauliflower, broccoli, carrots; zucchini, eggplant; tomatoes and garlic) to use as sides or, in the case of the tom.s, puree for sauce. The oil and spices create a theme, too: basil, oregano for Italian; cumin and cinnamon for Middle Eastern; chili powder for Mexican; straight-up chili for a bit of heat. Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt is a good, all-purpose shake. You can even throw in some non-veg for interest: nuts, bread cubes, raisins.

I've even slipped some potatoes and onions into a roasting pan with a chicken for the last 45 min.s. Mmm, schmaltz (not so healthy, but delish).

Here's the basic gist:
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut up items to roast to about the same size. Err on the thinner side, because big chunks don't always cook through.
3. Gently toss with a generous drizzle (3 T.?) of oil--olive has a nice flavor, peanut is great with spuds--and whatever spices you are using.
4. Spread this out on a cookie sheet big enough to hold everything out in a single layer.
5. Put in the oven for about 30 mins., turning everything over after about 15 mins. (softer veg cook faster, potatoes and squash the longest, so you may want to add quicker-cookers after 5 or 10 mins.).
6. Let sit for 5 mins. or so and serve alone or with an appropriate dipping sauce (ketchup? aioli? chutney? mustard? pesto?).

Back in the Saddle

2009-09-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

...so to speak. We had our first class for the fall, this afternoon--Saving Summer in Jars. Jenny Hoople of Angelic Organics did a workshop on canning a variety of veggies and demo'ed tomatoes and salsa. We did a batch of salsa last week as party favors for the workshop. It is divine and I have been eating the un-canned leftovers as a sort of gazpacho, Vitamin C load. I haven't even been bothering with chips. (I'll post the recipe as soon as I get it from Jenny--it's closer to the Mexican salsa her in-laws prefer, she sez).

It wasn't as labor-intensive as last year's class, but we covered more ground. I was among unfortunate who lost all tomatoes to Late Blight, so I won't be canning any tom.s, but the process is so easy and so cool, that I'm fishing around for another possibility for my veg stash from the farm.

Home Canned Salsa Found on the internet, this salsa is closest I've found to the Salsa they put out in Mexican restaurants!
8 cups chopped fresh Tomatoes
1 cup Jalapeño Peppers, seeded and minced (I substituted mainly bell peppers for the jalapeños)
1 large White Onion, diced
6 cloves Garlic, minced
½ cup chopped fresh Cilantro
1 TBS Salt
¾ cup Cider Vinegar
¼ cup fresh Lime Juice (I used bottled lime juice)

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Pour hot salsa into hot, sterilized canning jars, leaving ¼ inch head-space. Seal jars with two piece caps. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

This makes enough for 3 pint jars, doubled makes enough for 7 pints.

How closely do you read your labels?

2009-08-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the quiz I wrote up for a talk I gave for Stateline YMCA's Growing Tree preschool teachers. I was discussing the benefits of eating food you make yourself (or pick or grow) or that have a simple ingredients list versus processed items. How good are you at reading labels? (Answers will be printed soon)

Can You Identify These Foods (based on their ingredients)?

1. Old Fashioned Quaker® Oats

2. Quaker™ Instant Oatmeal--Apple and Cinnamon

3. Smucker's™ Natural Creamy Peanut Butter

4. Jif™ Creamy Peanut Butter

5. Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

6. Brownberry™ Whole Wheat Bread

7. Kellogg's™ Eggo French Toaster Sticks

8. Dannon™ All Natural Plain Yogurt

9. Dannon™ Creamy Fruit Blend Yogurt-peach

10. Sunsweet™ Dried Apricots

11. Kellogg's™ Disney Pixar Cars fruit flavored snacks

__ Whole Wheat Flour, water, sugar wheat gluten, yeast, raisin juice concentrate, wheat bran, salt, molasses, soybean oil, mono-and diglycerides, calcium propionate (perservative), monocalcium phosphate, calium sulfate, datem, ethoxylated mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, azodicarbonamide, whey, nonfat milk

___ Cultured grade A milk. Contains active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus.

___Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin, Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid), Water, Fructose, Eggs, Vegetable Oil (Soybean Oil, Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil with TBHQ and Citric Acid for Freshness), Sugar, Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monoclacium Phosphate), Contains Two Percent of Less of Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Whey, Soy Lecithin, Vitamin A Pamitate, Niacinamide, Reduced Iron, Yellow #5, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Yellow #6, Vitamin B12.

___WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, SUGAR, DEHYDRATED APPLES (TREATED WITH SODIUM SULFITE TO PROMOTE COLOR RETENTION), SALT, CINNAMON, CALCIUM CARBONATE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, OAT FLOUR, CITRIC ACID, GUAR GUM, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, NIACINAMIDE*, REDUCED IRON, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE*, RIBOFLAVIN*, THIAMIN MONONITRATE*, FOLIC ACID*.

___peanuts, salt

___ CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, APPLE PUREE CONCENTRATE, WATER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, GELATIN, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CITRIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, COLOR ADDED, COCONUT OIL, CARNAUBA WAX, YELLOW #5, RED #40, SODIUM CITRATE, BLUE #1.

___Dried Apricots, preservatives (sulfur dioxide, potassium sulfate)

___Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, peaches, high fructose corn syrup, fructose syrup, modified corn starch, whey protein concentrate, contains less than 1% of natural flavor, Kosher gelatin, citric acid, pectin, sodium citrate, annatto extract (for color), potassium sorbate (to maintain freshness), malic acid, tricalcium phosphate, Red 40. Contains active yogurt culture.

___100% NATURAL WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS.

___ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR. CONTAINS 2 PERCENT OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES AND SALT.

___Bread Flour, Water, Whole Wheat Flour, Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Salt.

In Praise of the Sugar Snap

2009-07-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Consider the sugar snap...nay, consider a handful. It's a sexy little pea pod, plumped full of water; when you bite into it there is a satisfying SNAP as the skin bursts and the juices pour forth. I can think of no other vegetable that is so satisfying to chomp, so refreshing and summery. I've haven't had them any other way than right out of the clear plastic bag, fresh from the farmer's market. They never last long enough, except maybe to be tossed on a salad--if they make it through the pre-dinner Ingredient Graze that often fills me up before meals.

Eat them quickly--after about 5 or 6 days the skin starts to toughen and the SNAP is no longer very snappy. Keep them in the fridge for extra cool refreshment. They're sweet like candy and crisp like chips, except juicier and guilt-free, since they're nothing more than a little green pocket for water and peas.

Act now, for this seasonal delight will only be with us for a few more weeks. Ah, the rewards of summer...

Mother-in-Law Potato Salad

2009-06-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

My husband's mother was a wonderful cook. Her recipes were the background to most of his favorite childhood memories and, once I met the family, mine as well. When she died in 1994, many of these dishes were lost, as the unmarked recipe had come from one of the many cookbooks that lined the kitchen walls, or was scribbled on a piece of scratch paper and pulled from these books when needed. The file system was all in Barb's head.

My sister-in-law has had an ongoing project to assemble many of these favorites into a cookbook for each of her siblings. If fresh strawberry daquiris are required, Chicken a la Pappa is craved, or Porcupine Meatballs are needed there is a place to find the ingredients. I am working from a 2005 dog-eared edition, with blank spots for new family favorites or the possible discovery of a long lost treat (Orange Rolls are still m.i.a., I think).

This potato salad is the best...either as a side dish, or on greens as a light meal. Summer perfection!

Mom's Potato Salad
(makes a big bowlful, 4-6 servings)
1 c. mayo
2 t. prepared yellow mustard
1/2 t. celery seed
1/2 c. chopped sweet pickle relish (bro in-law uses sweet pepper relish, which is nice too, and adds some color)
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
4 c. cubed cooked potatoes (use waxy taters, red or yukon gold and undercook them a bit so they don't fall apart in the salad...I don't peel mine, tho peeled is probably more authentic)
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onions

Put potatoes, eggs, celery, and onions in large serving bowl. Combine mayo, mustard, celery seed, relish, salt and pepper and stir to mix. Gently stir dressing into chopped salad until evenly distributed. Refrigerate overnite (if you don't start the day before, mix the dressing in the morning and let it sit so that the flavors mingle. Try to dress the salad a few hours ahead of time, so the potatoes soak up the juices).

A Favorite Summer Salad

2009-06-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

It is oh so hot here in the Midwest (for us), and I've been eating a lot of of one of my fave main dish salads. It's a Four-Bean Salad, dressed with a Tarragon Vinaigrette that is refreshing, filling, but not heavy. Plenty of protein to keep you going, but it won't bog you down. I had a bowlful for lunch, on fresh butter lettuce from the farm and a slice of toasted Sourdough Rye (more on that adventure, later) with butter.

Four-Bean Salad
1 14 oz. can each northern beans, black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans (if you are soaking and cooking beans enough to make 1 1/2 c. each type)
1/3c. chopped red onion
1/2c. chopped ham (if you're a meat eater, if not try hard boiled egg or other veggies--green pepper, celery, cucumber)

1. Rinse and drain all beans, if canned.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, carefully, so as not to smash up beans.
3. Drizzle with vinaigrette (recipe follows) and allow to sit for about a half an hour.
4. Serve over greens (my favorite is arugula) at room temperature. Store in the fridge.

Tarragon Vinaigrette (adapted from the New York Times Cookbook)
5 T. Olive oil
3 T. White wine vinegar (I've used a tarragon-infused vinegar, which was fine, but I noticed "tarragon flavor" in the ingredients, which grossed me out--what is that?, so I recommend just a straight up white wine vin.)
1 T. fresh tarragon, or 1/2 t. dried
1 large clove garlic
1 T. salt
1/8 t. freshly ground pepper

1. Cut garlic into fourths lengthwise and lightly "bruise" tarragon, if fresh.
2. Combine with rest of ingredients and let sit at room temperature for a couple of hours to develop flavors.
3. Remove garlic before serving (or don't, but keep and eye out for the chunks in the salad...a firey surprise for the unsuspecting!)

Green Building and Breakfast!

2009-04-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my last full weekend at the store for a bit; May is going to be crazy-busy, so we decided to scale back classes so as not to overlap with all the graduation parties, welcome spring events and the start of the pre-farmers' market. So, I get a bit of a rest (to start planning the summer).

Charles Haynes talked about Green Building--whether as a new structure or, perhaps more importantly, for renovation projects. His thinking is that you are probably doing the environment a bigger solid by working with an standing structure, rather than starting from scratch...less trash, using existing resources, etc. He also said the most important elements to consider when trying to be more sustainable in your home improvement is to focus on the envelope; how do you keep heat in the house during the winter (fix air leaks), how do you keep it cool in the summer (insulation keeps air conditioned air in), and preventing high moisture situations--my problem right now--by making sure water runs away from the structure, whether on the ground level or off the roof. He also suggested making sure your appliances are as energy-efficient as possible, especially when replacing big ticket items, such as furnaces, hot water heaters, dish washers, etc.

Charles is also working on an interesting idea. He'd like to organize some sort of a builder's group, by using the LEED standards for green building to help identify reputable contractors who take these issues in consideration when working. It would also help homeowners find builders who can assure quality work and are well-versed in this kind of construction.

With all that food for thought, I needed some food for the tummy...Paul Dionne was ready to provide that with a delicious, egg-centric breakfast cooking class. He created a menu that could be executed easily and in a timely manner so everything was done at the same time. Oatmeal pancakes were delicious, with rolled oats soaked in the batter for 20 min.s before cooking so these crepe-like cakes have a little texture to them. Bacon cooked in the oven to get it (and its splatters) out of the way. Scrambled eggs in butter. Omelets with just parsley and parmesan (nothing more needed).

To top it all off, we drank full-sized Bloody Marys and Mimosas to celebrate b&p's new liquor license (now we can serve). Bottom's up!

How the Bunny Does It...

2009-04-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I can say this for E. Bunny: if he uses natural dyes, I sure hope he gives himself a head start before Easter. These suckers take forever! Still, there are some really pretty and intense colors (also unusual) that you can get using various fruits, veg, and spices. I've been practicing for a couple of weeks now, because I had a class in natural egg dyes at the store on Saturday.

Here's the basic recipe for the dye:
1. Collect enough of your dye source, so you have at least 2 cups worth (this will probably be enough dye for 3-4 eggs).
2. Put it in a pan that has a bit of room, but not so much that the source is floating around loosely.
3. Cover with water so that all the material is submerged, but, again, not so much that stuff is floating.
4. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 30 mins.
5. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
6. Let dye sit overnite and then strain out the bits and pieces (you could leave them in, but they might make marks on your eggs).

To color eggs:
1. Have hard-boiled eggs ready. Any color eggs are fine, but brown and green eggs will change the color a bit (altho you can use the starting color for various resist effects).
2. Place eggs into dye gently, so as not to crack them.
3. Let sit 30 mins. to 24 hrs., depending on how dark you want the eggs. If leaving overnite, put them in the fridge.
4. Let them dry completely before handling, or you will get fingerprints and lift off spots of dye. An effect, I suppose, but sort of messy-looking.
5. If you want a bit of shine, wipe the egg with a little bit of vegetable oil (a Latvian website suggested bacon rind--you may find your basket full of bugs, if you choose that greasing option).

I had the best luck with red cabbage (turquoise in basket), red and yellow onion skins (deep orange in basket), grape juice (dark purple-grey), and tumeric (bright orange-yellow). I had less luck with beets and carrot tops (the basically white egg in the basket). I didn't try blueberries, spinach, cherry juice, coffee, tea, or raspberries.

So, that was my experience. You can do some cool things with these dyes and don't have to worry if they get into the egg itself. This is Slow Dye, for sure, but not entirely unsatisfying...

A Girlhood Dream Realized...

2009-04-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

There was a totally cool TV show on PBS in the 1970s called Zoom. These groovy kids ran around in striped shirts and bare feet and did all kinds of outasite activities made you want to go out and create. There were lots of artsy crafts like making a giant trashbag balloon-person and filling it with air to float over your backyard, writing plays, cooking and drawing elaborate Aquarian murals on the sidewalk with chalk. I used to pretend I was a cast member and would spend lots of time at the sink re-creating recipes using water as a main ingredient for my audience, sometimes some salt and pepper, old eggshells, and cinnamon, if my mother wasn't looking.

So, when a hole came up in the Bushel&Peck cooking class schedule, I decided it was time for my close-up. I've had lots of teaching experience with other subjects, surely I could lead a class on some of my favorite food topics. So, last week, I did a class on sandwiches, which was really an excuse to demo my favorite no-knead bread recipe and zip up a bunch of spreads in the food processor (who can't use a good recipe for Hummus?). We passed chopped veggies and a plate of cheese and coldcuts and made Dagwood-esque creations (altho not so tall). It was a lot of fun, I wasn't too nervous, and everyone got excited about chickpeas and tahini.

Now, I'm researching an egg-dying class for Easter. There are a lot of tantalizing recipes for natural dyes out there, but they are very slow to work. I'm trying to figure out the timing for everything, but we may have to resort to sending eggs home in jars of dye. I'm back at the sink, again, messing around with water; at least this time I can sprinkle ingredients with abandon. Tumeric makes an awesome yellow-orange, btw.

Zoom-a-zoom-a-zoom!

Benefit for the Band

2009-03-25T14:12:00.001-07:00

Having been an artsy-bandy-drama-y kid myself, I always like to see the high school artists get some attention. The Beloit Memorial High School Jazz Band has been invited to NYC to compete in the Essentially Ellington HS Jazz Band Competition. The winners get to play at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis, after a week of competition and workshops. BMHS is one of 15 bands that have been invited. How very cool is that?!?

It's not cheap, tho. So, to help raise money for the trip, Bushel&Peck's is sponsoring a Jazz Brunch on Sunday, March 29 from 11-2pm. The kids will play, you will eat and a portion of the proceeds will pay off tickets, housing, etc (bring a coupon from the Stateline News or the Janesville Gazette). Here's a preview of the musical offerings...they're so good!

What Kind of Cook Are You?

2009-03-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

I was hoping for a slightly more sophisticated test (the pattern is pretty obvious), but I took a quiz to see what kind of a cook I am. Tara Parker-Pope in her NYTimes column Well discusses the idea of a family's nutritional "gatekeeper" and how what type of cook this gatekeeper is determines how the family eats.

I was guessing/hoping I was an Innovative Cook ("Creative and trend-setting, innovative cooks seldom use recipes and like to experiment with ingredients, cuisine styles and cooking methods"), but it turns out I am equally a Healthy Cook ("Optimistic, book-loving, nature enthusiasts, healthy cooks experiment with fish, fresh produce and herbs. Health comes first, even if it means sometimes sacrificing taste"). So that's fine, I guess. The conclusion of the story is that the families that eat the best (tastiest, but also healthiest) have Innovators as gatekeepers.

It probably doesn't hurt that I love to read about food marketing and can see a grocery store "trick" a mile away (usually)...I try to buy what we need and want, and some newfangled processed item on sale. Sometimes, tho, I fall for the 2 for X ploy (meaning, I could just buy one and still save money). But hey, who can't use an extra package of cream cheese?

Living Lightly and Gyros!

2009-03-15T14:09:00.001-07:00

We were back up to speed, event-wise this weekend, at the store. It was a gorgeous weekend, but we had a nice group for both our discussion on Living Lightly and the cooking class on Gyros and Kebabs.

Maribeth Miller,the organizer behind Green Phoenix (a group dedicated to sustainable living) led the talk. She had a clever way to inspire the discussion: she brought a basket filled with physical reminders of topics--a drainpipe to represent a rain barrel, empty spray bottles to suggest "green" cleaning methods, newspaper as a weed barrier replacement. It got people talking, and sharing, and was a nice solution to the "how to not read off an outline" problem. I am bound and determined to get a rain barrel--or two--this year.

(I hear the Rock County Extension is selling reconditioned barrels sometime in April. Extension agent, Mike Maddox, is talking about compost at the store Monday nite--5:00pm, free--and I will get the details.)

An hour later, we cleared the lunch counter and set up for "Street Food Comes Inside: Gyros!." This was supposed to be our resident sheep-farmer Rich's class, but Jackie (the other resident sheep farmer) and Chad (the resident cook) took over while Rich nursed a back injury. Jackie shared her recent attempted to recreate Gas Station Nachos--but local/organically...the end-result was a delicious mess of Frito Pie (in a bag). We sample Samuel Smith's Organic Cider (alcoholic), which was a lovely pairing, albeit a bit classy for eating out of a foil bag.

Then we drained yogurt, peeled cucumbers, mixed tzatziki sauce, and threaded skewers. The theme was quick-n-easy Meditteranean, and it was. The leg of lamb roast has been started earlier, so we were ready to eat as soon as the demo model had been slipped in the oven. Lots of napkins were used, as this too was bit messy (street food equals portable, but sloppy, I guess). But it was really good, and we barely had room for the kebabs once we polished off the gyros--and I mean polished, I only barely scraped up enough meat from the pan for my pita after everyone else got theirs. Guests first!

It's all in the marketing...

2009-03-02T16:19:00.001-08:00

I love this. A group of 186 four-year-olds (an opinionated focus group, to be sure) was given cooked carrots one day--presented as carrots. The next day they were give the same style of cooked carrots--presented as X-Ray Vision Carrots. They ate twice as many carrots the second day, and continued to eat twice as many on subsequent occasions, regardless of the name. This approach also worked with adults, who ate more Succulent Italian Seafood Filet than Seafood Filet (both sound suspiciously vague, to me).

I guess this should come as no surprise, considering the amount of text enticing youngsters on boxes of cereal, fruit snacks, etc etc. Marketing works.

In which case, I encourage a wholesale effort to come up with exciting, tempting, intriguing names for everything that is met with a grimace at the table: Dynamite Super Cauliflower; Sparkle Princess Spinach (would that work for a girl? all my marketing ploys would involve cars and superheroes, maybe a dinosaur or two); Kung Fu Warrior Tofu!

Unfortunately, the pickiest eater these days is the baby, and he is still unswayed by attempts to glamorize greens. Altho he did eat broccoli willingly last week...there's hope!

Proud Mother...

2009-02-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

Well, there you have it, I am now the proud producer of chard (the tall guys) and two kinds of basil. I started these babies in the b&p seed starting class about 10 days ago and am now observing the fruit (sprouts?) of my labors. I was too lazy/cheap to rig up a florescent shop light over my little soil pots, but the beside table lamp with a compact florescent bulb seems to be doing just fine.

I've been casting around for the best spot to transplant these greenies, come spring (oh please, come spring). With my goofy sunlight I think I will have to have a progressive garden with stations all over the place. No one big spot gets sun for 6-8 hr.s a day. Plus there's the heirloom tomatoes, blue hubbard squash and green heirloom pumpkin seeds to think about as well.

Now I have to get up the nerve to thin my lovelies...

Tea, Stir-fry, Knitting and Gardens...

2009-02-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

Oof, playing catch-up, again. Still, we've had a couple of good weekends' worth of classes and talks, and here are the pictures to prove it:

Two weekends ago,Liz Fiorenza of Wind Ridge Herb Farm shared tips for treating colds and the flu with herbs. Secret weapon: tea. She suggested a variety of tea ingredients: sage, rosemary, rose hips, lemon balm, mint. In combination with hot water and steam, they all offer varying degrees of comfort. Start with warm, moistened muscus membranes in the nose and throat and go from there. Surprising tip: the sole of the foot is also a good receptor for herbal remedies, so essential oils combined with a lotion (olive oil, shea butter) is a good delivery system. We mixed our own tea.

On Sunday, Paul Dionne taught a Kitchen Basics class on making stir fry. Much of the class time was spent on prep, to get all the various vegetables chopped. Secret to peeling ginger? scrape the skin off with a spoon, so you don't waste any of the fresh root itself. As with the pasta, the final dish was more than the sum of its parts and we had a delicious mound of Asian veggies and tofu, with leftovers for everyone to take home.

This weekend, Rose Hoffa (of Madame Purl fame), gave a talk on the source of wool: From Sheep to Skein. She demo'ed how to card and spin wool to get a ply appropriate for knitting or weaving. She had a pile of delicious wools and yarns for us to paw thru. It made me want to get out my knitting needles, immediately.

We also had several meetings of Bushel and Peck's Garden Club. Jackie is spilling the beans and trying to save us all from disappointment by teaching us how to plan a garden (remember how tall things are going to get when you space them) and how to start seeds (don't jump the gun, unless you want a lot of rotted, leggy seedlings). We dug in the dirt, discussed bats and rain barrels, and started basil, chard, and kale. My babies are upstairs right now, under a florescent light, awaiting late April. Hello extreme amounts of pesto!

No class this weekend, because of the Beloit International Film Festival, but stop on by. We're a venue and we're open all night (well, not quite, but it's going to feel like it...)!

The Cheeses of Wisconsin

2009-02-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

To me, there are few things more appealing than a cheese tray. Gooey, crumbly, veined, stinky, waxed, mold-crusted; I'll take them all. I guess it's a good thing I live where I do, because--after California--Wisconsin is the biggest producer of cheese in the United States. AND, if you measure by the amounts of award-winning, artisan cheese, we're the biggest producer--take that Golden State!

Saturday afternoon we were pleased to host Jeanette Hurt, the author of The Cheeses of Wisconsin. She signed the book and taught a class on cheese pairings--with wine, with fruits and nuts, with various spreads. Very interesting and, man, did we fill up.

We tasted: Crave Brothers' Petit Freres (my fave, a soft cow's milk cheese); Carr Valley's Cocoa Cardona; Hook's Basic Blue; Hook's Sweet Constantine; Country Castle's Limburger. The Sweet Constantine was delicious on bread with a little smear of fig jam; the blue was perfect with Double D's Honey; and we spread mustard on the Limburger and it was very nice, and not too smelly.

We hope to have Jeanette back later in the spring to do a class on Tapas, so stay tuned!

Have I Created a Vegetarian?

2009-01-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

They say you shouldn't lie to your kids; that you should just give them enough information to answer the question without too much detail. Eamonn (the four-year-old) has been very interested in the source of food (how do they make oranges? what's in cookies?), and I've been happy to tell him where things came from. Smug locavore-mommy gets to say, "Oh, the eggs are from Jackie's farm" or "The cheese is from that town we drive past on the way home from Gram's(Monroe)."

We had roast beef for Xmas dinner at my parents'. Eamonn took one look at his slice (not even medium rare) and asked where does this meat come from. So I told him it came from a cow. "How do you get it from a cow," he asked suspiciously.

Pause. Everyone looked at me--"Uh, they cut it off the cow," I tried to answer nonchalantly.

"When he's alive?!?" Eamonn asked with horror--how the kid knows it was a steer, I don't know. He's not great with pronouns, though, so maybe it was a lucky guess.

"No, no," I assured him. "When it's dead."

The piece of roast beast in questions remained on the side of the plate, chilling and becoming more disgusting-looking, in light of the aforementioned conversation. Eamonn wouldn't touch it.

What have I done?

Chunky Italian Night

2009-01-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

Kitchen Basics...who couldn't use a little tune up on their chopping and frying skills? Saturday afternoon was spent learning easy ways to dice, tricks for removing the garlic smell from your hands (hold a steel knife under running water, really!), tossing veggies in a fry pan, and assembling a gorgeous plate of pasta. But enough from me...you can see/hear for yourself (Paul Dionne is doing the teaching). Check out the Asian Stir Fry class on Sunday, Feb. 8!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Oh, this poor little blog is languishing. Juggling two of these babies is hard work, esp. when juggling everything else. Still, I resolve to be a bit more attentive. I think about topics all the time, so maybe the thing is to just post these musings and see what y'all think. Food, who doesn't think about it most of the time?

I'm teaching a Make Your Own Baby Food class this month (Jan. 18) and have been thinking about the introduction of food and how the lads reacted. I thought it was going to be some major epiphany, but, for both of them, it was a bit of a snooze (rice cereal with a splash of apple juice--who could blame them). Eamonn was much more interested in the purees; Alec did a lot of spitting and didn't really engage until he could pick stuff up. He's still a lot more fickle when it comes to eating than Eamonn ever is. E finished a beet salad two days ago!

I'll use a lot of information from this site, and my personal experience. As with all things concerning babies, it's useful to remember that they are just little people and can be picky and quirky just like everyone else (I sneer at Bat Man "fruit" roll ups, but can't stop eating Twizzlers, for instance--I guess it's the fake strawberry flavor that makes one slab of corn syrup more appealing). I hope I will inspire some new moms to go beyond Gerber's and create their own mash-ups. Sweet potatoes and apples, anyone?

University of Grandmothers

2008-12-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, Jennifer Esperanza, an anthro prof. from Beloit College, led B&P's Discussion Section about eating and culture. She spoke about how immigrant food traditions change and adapt, when brought to the United States. Many of the habits from the "old country" absorb convenience items offered by the US, other, more time-consuming are dropped. She discussed what is lost as these practices fade; the act of cooking together and the community it creates, the healthier options that come from home-grown/home-cooked food. It was very interesting, especially as everyone seems to be looking to the past for ways to become more thrifty, more economical, more authentic in their eating and living.

(There were some comments about the healthfulness of lard-soaked dumplings, schmaltz, etc., but never mind...)

She also mentioned her visit to the Slow Food conference that was held in San Francisco this fall. The Italian founder, Carlo Petrini, called for the establishment of the University of Grandmothers as a way to preserve this old habits and customs that have fallen victim to convenience and processed foods. It got me to think about my Grandmothers--Klara Plakans--a Latvian emigree who came to the US in 1952 and Peg Sweeney, whose Irish ancestors arrived in the Pittsburgh area in the 1840s. I'm quizzing my parents over the holidays to find out more about the source of our family's food traditions. I know a lot of the stories, but I'll bet there's some deeper stuff that gets unearthed.

I'll keep you updated as I learn more... (for instance, the Plakans family kept a goose they traded food rations for while housed in a US Displaced Persons Camp in Germany in the late 1949s, for instance. A Goose?!?)

Catch-up

2008-12-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

Oof, one thing after another and suddently it's 10 days later. There's a name for this...slow blogging..and I wrote about it on GTTSB. So let's just say I'm trying to guarantee quality blog. Here are some pics from the last couple of weekends at the store. We also had the first couple of episodes of B&P's Discussion Sections, but maybe I'll talk about those in a couple of days.

First up, Bath Fizzies with those Dodges of Double D's B's. Simple to mix (oil, scent, baking soda, citric acid), delightful to use. We combined, compressed and took them home as gifts. Eamonn loves them, but is frustrated that they don't just fizz for the whole bath time--just until they dissolve. He kept trying to sit on one in tonite's bath, so now his can smells like cranberry. Could be worse. A lot worse.

Next up was Truffle Making, in kid-(grand)parent teams. The class was lead by Jinjer Miller, who is has great truffle-expertise. We rolled coffee-flavored, vanilla, almond and peppermint. They were all very pretty, but I thought the almond rocked (secret ingredient: Watkins Almond Extract). Delish.

Last, but not least, was Shrimp Three Ways--as cocktail, proscuitto-wrapped and in gumbo. We were a small, but dedicated bunch and Chad even broke out the crab cakes as an extra treat. Chocolate, seafood, last weekend was rather decadent.

Entertaining with Seafood

2008-12-05T19:01:00.000-08:00

We were a boisterous bunch last Saturday. A few dates, a girls' night out, some of the regulars. Chad Measner of South Padre Sea Foods (and the B&P chef, btw) demonstrated how to peel and boil shrimp for cocktail, sauteing for scampi and searing sushi-grade tuna. He even whipped up a couple of sushi rolls using the raw tuna--a treat for some, a (scary) adventure in eating for others.

Watching Chad, with some assistance from Erich, it occurred to me how loose one should be when cooking. A dash of salt, a squirt of dressing, a splash of oil...there was very little measuring, but lots of tasting and adjusting that went on as we watched. I guess it pays to have quality ingredients within an arm's reach so you can just add a bit of this and that (and have the confidence to mix whatever flavors are on hand).

Anyway, it was quite tasty and the Crane's Lake Chardonnay and Brut were respectable matches. Cheap, but not headache-inducing. We were all pleasantly surprised by the Brut--bring on the bubbly!

A little something to consider

2008-12-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

Sadly, my cord to download photos from my camera took a field trip to Beloit College, so you'll have to wait another day to see pix from Entertaining with Seafood.

In the meantime, there were several interesting articles in today's NYT Science section about food. One about a pediatrician who has tried to eat only organic food for the last three years. Conclusion: he feels much healthier, he can't afford as much meat, many people still don't know what organic means ("You mean vegetarian?" he got asked a lot).

The other is about the "health halo" surrounding foods that are labeled healthy (whether with a stamp announcing "O Trans Fat!"or a picture of some one eating oatmeal while doing yoga), people tend to underestimate the calorie count and overestimate how healthful the item actually is. It goes back to the whole issue of health claims of processed foods. I remember reading some where that the more labeling a food item has to convince you how healthy it is, the less you actually need it. How many labels were on the last apple you ate? Exactly.

One of the researchers was French and commented that, "“Europeans obsess less about nutrition but know what a reasonable portion size is and when they have had too much food, so they’re not as biased by food and diet fads and are healthier. Too many Americans believe that to lose weight, what you eat matters more than how much you eat. It’s the country where people are the best informed about food and enjoy it the least.”

Sigh. Bring on the reasonable portions of wine and chocolate, monsieur.

Oh (Big) Brother

2008-11-15T19:42:00.000-08:00

I'm always charmed by the uneveness of my CSA produce from Angelic Organics. They pull all the carrots and we get all the carrots, lumps and bumps and warts included. A few years ago, I got an eggplant with a long tubular growth, right in the center of its "face"; I put a pair of Eamonn's sunglasses on it and enjoyed at least 10 min.s of hilarity until Eamonn, disgusted, grabbed his specs off the fruit. Sadly, I couldn't find that picture of the shaded aubergine, so you'll have to enjoy this zucchini duck I found on Google images...

Our friends in Europe don't feel the same way. Get a load of this...apparently, the European Union has something against eggplant noses (and braided carrots and twisted squash). There has been a rule on the books banning misshapen fruits and vegetables, although this is going to be repealed at the beginning of July. However, they are keeping the standards for apples, citrus, pears, tomatoes and strawberries. These have to be marked as substandard or intended for cooking, only.

What?!?!? I thought Europe was supposed to be so Green and Less Wasteful than Americans. Heaven forbid a parsnip should have an extra leg. What do they do to keep themselves amused after naptime, before fixing dinner?

Suds from Scratch

2008-11-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

For three November weekends in a row Bushel and Peck's is sponsoring Terri and Dan Dodge's soap making classes. They are the brains behind Double D's B's, and have already graced us with their bees and honey. Now it's soap-expertise.

Our first class was last Saturday; students decided what "flavor" soap they wanted to make--rosemary/calendula, lemongrass/poppyseed, honey-oatmeal, or peppermint--and organized ingredients (lye, oils, scents). We learned proportions, how to measure and mix, secrets to choosing smells and herbs. I was sitting next to the rosemary-calendula group and, man, that cleared my sinuses.

The ingredients are all vegetarian (although, old-schoolers can try a recipe with lard at home). The lye provides the cleansing action, the oils the moisturizing and the scents, well, provide the scents. Everything is mixed and the chemical reaction of the lye, water and oils creates a solution that cooks itself (the water and lye heat up to almost boiling, oil cools it back down). The mixture is poured into a mold, where it hardens for a day and then is removed to continue curing for another month. The lye combines with the oils during this 4-week long chemical reaction, after which is it officially soap. The recipe uses 5% more oil than will react with the lye; the final result--a beautiful, delicious smelling, moisturing (because of the extra oil) bar!

If you find yourself yearning to mix, there's still space on Nov. 15.

Indoor Farmers' Market, #1

2008-11-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

We experimented and were delighted with the results: the indoor farmers' market is on! The Art Gallery at Bushel and Peck's was full of favorite Beloit FM vendors, including: Golden Bear Elk, Arrowhead Orchards, Daval's Buffalo, Earl Hulson, Jimmy's (or Jackie's) produce. There were also wonderful hand-crafts from Bonnie Miller (I bought a great vintage race car piggy bank), David Mauk's lawn ornaments, Robin's Roost candles, and Rhonda Power's beautiful jewelry. Almost everyone will be back next week, so be sure to stop by (from 8-12:30 on Saturday.)

A little something for knead-a-phobes

2008-10-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

It's the end of the road for my trusty bread maker. It has accompanied us through 6 moves (Beloit via Washington DC via Austin, TX) over the past 13 years, but it can no longer beat down raised dough. I bought a new knead bar, to no avail. So, I've been trying to figure out how to keep making bread, without having it turn it into an all-afternoon affair. I don't have a good kneading surface, I tend to overknead, I have an entourage that doesn't like a distracted mother.

Mark Bitten has come to my rescue. He is The Minimalist for the NYTimes and specializes in simple to fix, yet complex to taste, recipes, accompanied by a thorough description of what he is doing and why. He has taken a no-knead recipes for bread and shortened the prep time down to about 5 or so hours. Brilliant. The white bread is divine and, frankly, less work than the bread maker bread was.

Speedy No-Knead Bread
(adapted from Mark Bittman)
3 c. bread flour (MB says you can use reg. flour, but the loaf will be shorter. I recommend bread flour; it has more gluten in it which contributes to the chewy texture of bread. Usually gluten is developed through kneading, which we aren't doing, so I would think the extra would help)

1 package (1/4 oz.)instant yeast (I used quick rise, because that what I had for the bread maker...some comments on MB's blog suggested that was better)

1 1/2 t. salt
Oil as needed

1. Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 c. water (I warmed mine slightly--100 degrees or so), and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. (I put mine in the microwave, which happens to be the warmest place in the kitchen. It's also a more consistant temperature than leaving it out on the counter.)
2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 min.s more. (I'm not sure you can call what I did "folding"; I slurped it around a couple of times and left it on the counter)
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) (I used a Corningware casserole dish) in the oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from over. Slide dough into pot, seam side up (?) and shake pan once or twice to distribute dough.
4. Cover with lid and bake 30 min.s, then remove lid and bake another 15-30 min.s until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

This makes a big, oval loaf that has a great crust. It is moist and almost sourdough-y on the inside--because of the yeast? I don't know but, anyway, it barely made it past dinner. We all had fourths.

Roxanne Neat

2008-10-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Mighty gusts of wind blew the doors open and sent great clouds of fall leaves rolling down the street today. I guess this means we're full into fall (which we are by the calendar, but it seems like we just started wearing coats about two weeks ago). It was nice to slip into the store for brunch and to listen to the lovely, clear voice of Roxanne Neat, a central Wisconsin folk singer.

She played for a little more than an hour, and treated the audience to guitar, keyboards and even (my fave) the banjo. Fresh from an appearance on WERN's (Madison) "Simply Folk," her selections ranged from traditional folk songs to modern ballads. She even slipped in the stores' un-official theme song, "I Love You, a Bushel and a Peck." It was delightful...and too short.

Perhaps she can be convinced to return...

The Start of Something Beautiful...

2008-10-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening, we had our first cooking class, Cooking with the Cheap Cuts, Part One, taught by Rich Horbaczewski who is co-owner of Bushel and Peck's and Grass is Greener Gardens. Lamb shanks and an Angus beef roast were the cuts, and Rich prepared them in a traditional Italian Ossobuco style. He cooked and held forth on farming, eating, hunting, and cooking; we watched and listened (and snacked on fresh hummus and tabouleh, chips and veggies). When the sample pot was finished, he unveiled the final product (another version made earlier that day), which we enjoyed with wasabi mashed potatoes (G is G yukon golds), Bob McCabe's ciabatta bread, and jus from the pot. With a sampling of Bandit wine's cabernet savignon, it was the perfect meal to finish up a crisp fall day.

This is the recipe he used from New Italian Recipes.

This meal was an example of one of Rich's convictions that lamb can stand in for veal in most dishes (he's cooking his way through them to prove his point). Lamb is a tender, flavorful meat that retains these characteristics despite being pasture-raised and grass-fed. Veal calves don't have as carefree a life; to keep the meat tender they aren't allowed the wander and graze so the muscles don't toughen up. I won't go into the details much, but if you ever drive past a farm "growing" veal and see these young cows cooped up in their wire mesh cages it will probably make you want to turn to lamb, too.

You're certainly not sacrificing anything. The meat fell of the bones when it came out of the pot, the jus was rich and hearty with no need for thickening and the whole plateful cost (including the spuds and bread) cost about $7.

Here's what else I learned:
-The shank is the leg bone. Rich has his processed so the bone is sliced, and you can see the interior meat (still red because of recent butchering...New Zealand lamb often has red food coloring added to make it look more appealing, as older meat tends to be greyish). Also having the bone cut means more of the marrow will seep into the sauce and make it richer.

-Because of the grass diet, the meat is not as marbled (veins of fat throughout the muscle) and benefits from a longer cooking to keep it moist and tender.

-Owls only eat the head and gullet of chickens when they swoop down in the night and pick off unfortunate stragglers (see what you can learn?). Foxes just drag the poor suckers off into the woods.

Stay tuned, we have two seafood-themed cooking classes coming up in November and a couple of classes that are t.b.a.

Gourd Love

2008-10-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year when we get squashed by squash. Acorn, butternut, pumpkin, delicata, etc etc. And while they are a delight to behold, all yellow-orange flesh and brilliant-colored skins, even the most diligent roaster can get a bit overwhelmed. My dear friend Jeff is currently under siege from his CSA in North Carolina; he asks, "What else can you do with an acorn squash besides turn it into a baked, sugary blob?"

Once you tire of the butter and brown sugar treatment (and it takes quite a few squash to get to that place), here is one of my favorite ways to use up a lot of squash. Pretty much any winter squash will do, altho it's probably best to stick to the same kind when making the puree. The quickest way to cook the squash is in the microwave: halve it, scoop out the seeds, turn the halves face-down on a dish and nuke them on high for 15-18 min.s. They are done when you can easily pierce the skin with a knife. You can roast it too (same prep, but cook cut-side up in a 425-degree oven for 30-45 min.s). Scoop out the flesh and mash it up--you can add a bit of water to smooth it.

Winter Squash Lasagne, serves 4-6
(adapted from Everyday Cooking)
4c. squash puree (I've used acorn, butternut and delicata)
1/2 t. dried rubbed sage (or 2t. fresh, finely chopped sage)
15oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
1 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pkge. no-boil lasagne noodles (I always use Barilla...their American plant is in my hometown of Ames, IA)

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Grease an 8x8 baking dish, set aside.
-Mix puree with sage, 1t. salt and 1/4t. pepper; in a separate bowl mix ricotta with 1/2 c. Parmesan, 1/2t. salt, 1/4t. pepper.
-Place 2 noodles in the bottom of the baking dish and spread with half the squash mixture.
-Cover this with 2 more noodles and spread with half the ricotta mixture.
-Repeat 2 more layers, then sprinkle remaining Parmesan on top.
-Cover baking dish with foil, and bake until lasagne is heated through--about 45 minutes.
-Remove foil and continue baking for another 20-25 min.s. (Don't overcook, the no-boil noodles tend to dry out)

Here's a Business Plan...

2008-10-09T14:19:00.001-07:00

Wouldn't this be a cool future for the Stateline area?

When I read the term "cheese cave," my mouth starts to water...

Bee-yoo-tiful

2008-10-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Ah, bees. Aside from the stinger, what's not to like? They pollinate, they make honey, they're striped. And, oh the honey. We had Dan and Terri Dodge in the store, last week, from Double D's Bs. They bottle different flavors of honey and also have created a skin care line that uses all natural ingredients, including honey. They keep hives here in Beloit and also in a rural area near town; they try not to move the bees too much, so as not to disturb the hives, but also so they can keep track of what pollen is making which flavor.

We tasted: linden (from the trees that line Grand street outside the store--how local is that!?!), clover (the most common flavor of honey), wildflower (my favorite--a bit clearer and more "flowery" than the clover), cranberry (a bit richer and green-tasting) and buckwheat (which was a beautiful dark brown and tasted a bit like sorghum, good for cooking and stir-fries) . They also had a jar of slightly crystallized "whipped" honey--I could eat that by the spoonful, and honey in the wax comb.

They also brought a chunk of hive, with the queen in it. She was industriously moving throughout the comb, laying eggs (1500 per day) as she went. Terri pointed out that the other bees move away as she comes by--"make way for the queen!" I think all the clamoring bees freaked Eamonn out, and he refused to taste the honey at all, despite lots of yummy noises made by his parents. He eventually was lured back and now refers back to the honey, and how much he loves it, on a regular basis.

I learned:
-Don't pull the first dandelions of the season, if you can help it. They are the first flowers to appear with both pollen and nectar in them, and the hungry bees need the calories to get up and running after winter.

-Colony Collapse doesn't tend to hit small hive owners like it does the larger beekeepers. The industrial keepers drive huge truckloads of bees around the country to pollinate cash crops; this traveling stresses the bees and also puts them in contact with bees from other parts of the country that may already be infected. Like everything else, keeping things small and local tends to be a bit safer and healthier.

-Some of the possible causes of colony collapse include disease, stress and exposure to pesticides. Cell phone tower (same frequency that bees communicate) and aliens (seriously) have been disproven. Aliens?

-Eating raw honey (unfiltered with bits of wax and insect parts in it) does seem to help people with intense pollen allergies. Terri says some local doctors have recommended Double DsBs to patients.

-It is most likely that Albert Einstein did NOT say that if bees disappeared from the face of the earth, mankind would only have four years left. However, the point is a good one...think of how effective a bee-based system of pollination works (what machine could individually dust every single flower of a plant-)-no bees (or bumble bees or black flies) would be catastrophic for our agriculture. No bees, no food chain. Think about that while you slurp down a spoonful of whipped honey.

A (sorta) Local Genius

2008-10-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

The MacArthur Genius grants were announced last week. It's always interesting to read who gets the grants; it's such a diverse group of artists and scientists. This one caught my eye: Will Allen is an urban farmer in Milwaukee, who has developed education programs revolving around gardening and farming in the city--rather than rural areas--with his non-profit, Growing Power. They grow, they sell, they eat...with an emphasis on sustainable methods (of course).

What a cool project. (We've got our own version here in Beloit, at the Merrill Park Community Garden)

Canned and Delivered

2008-09-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

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!?!

Signore Baby

2008-09-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

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 pepper
Freshly 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.

Turn, turn, turn

2008-09-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Convincing people to eat locally-produced food doesn't seem to be all that difficult. Once they get past the price--or at least accept the reasons for it--it makes a lot of sense. Support for the local economy, lower transportation costs, fresher produce are all benefits of eating within your "foodshed." And with almost 13,000 Chinese children sickened by melanine-tainted milk powder (!--that any rational human being could put fertilizer into baby formula and then be able sleep at night is beyond my comprehension) , it seems pretty smart to get your food from a nearby, reliable source.

One part of the equation that is a bit trickier to accept is the notion of seasonality in food. With some things, it's obvious--peaches, cherries, corn-on-the-cob--you just don't see them in the grocery store, except in the summer. Other items are being flown in from distant, warmer countries that have a much longer growing season and aren't fettered by winter weather--asparagus, watermelon, strawberries. But did you know that--at one time--the availability of most other fresh food was also dictated by the season.

For instance, eggs; chickens lay year-round, but their production slows considerably as the days shorten. Sunlight is the natural stimulus for egg-laying, so the hens start to take it easy during the winter months. The lights for caged chickens are on most of the time, to discourage any reduction in output, so there are always eggs in the chain grocery stores, and no one has to go without. Altho, the hens might go a bit crazy (wouldn't you, with no sleep?).

Meat also used to have a season, depending on the lifespan of the animals. It was (and still is) wise to encourage farm animals to give birth in the winter, to cut down on the dangers from insects to the newborn animals if you're not using antibiotics. So, if a farmer was going to butcher a calf or lamb, he would do this in the early spring--probably why lamb is a traditional food for Easter. There was also more butchering going on in the late fall, so that not as many animals would have to be fed from storage over the winter months. As with canning and preserving of the summer's crops, there was also much "putting up" of easy-to-store meat (sausage-making, smoking) so that there would be something to eat in January.

Like the eggs from caged hens, meat from factory farms is not dependent on any time table, other than the amount of time it takes to build up enough muscle mass to be worth slaughtering. This stuff is always available.

But I'm not sure the modern consumer (myself included) would be able to go back to that traditional, more-restrictive a cycle. Sometimes you just feel like a lamb chop (thank goodness for freezers). But being aware of when food is truly available is part of being more in tune with how your meal gets to your table. You can appreciate the convenience of year-round produce, but also be more understanding of what cycles controls a small farmer's yield.

Something to think about...

If you can't Can...Come!

2008-09-19T09:33:00.001-07:00

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.

Meet Your Meat

2008-09-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

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.

By the spoonful...

2008-09-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

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 Taste of Joe

2008-09-12T19:05:00.001-07:00

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?!?

Top 10 Spices

2008-09-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

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?

How it all started...

2008-09-08T12:29:00.001-07:00

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!