World's Best Chicken Stock

This is the main reason I bought a very large and sturdy 12 quart pot.  This recipe is very easy and stock will stay in your freezer for 6 months or more.  By making your own stock you cut out the horrible MSG (now known to be given to lab rats to make them gain lots of weight!) and massive amounts of salt used in store brands. 

Ingredients:

  - 2 (5 lb) roasting chickens (innards removed but neck used)

  - 2 large yellow onions quartered and unpeeled

  - 6 carrots unpeeled and halved

  - 4 stalks celery cut into big chunks with leaves attached

  - 4 parsnips unpeeled and cut in half

  - 20 sprigs fresh parsley (flat leaf)

  - 15 sprigs thyme

  - 20 sprigs dill

  - 1 head of garlic unpeeled and cut in half sideways

  - 2 tbsp kosher salt

  - 2 tsp whole black peppercorns

Add all ingredients to your stock pot and cover with water leaving about an inch above the ingredients but with room for it to simmer without boiling over.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 4 hours.  Skim any foam that rises to the top - this comes from the skins on the garlic and onions.  Strain out the solids and discard everything but the chicken.  (This can be a messy and painful process with such a heavy pot and hot liquids - I sometimes let things cool before trying to handle this step or use a handled sieve to fish out solids before trying to lift the whole thing.)  Separate the liquid into freezer containers if not using right away.  When it has frozen the fat will have risen to the top and should be easily removed.

Side note:  I got the main body of this recipe from Barefoot Contessa but she throws away all that expensive chicken meat afterwards.  If you take the extra time to separate the chicken from the solids and remove it from the bones and skin it makes awesome pot pies, enchilada meat and in anything else you would use shredded chicken meat. It also freezes well!

This recipe is an excellent way to get your house smelling delicious as well!

They make it so difficult. . .

  After a recent trip back to my parent's home in the Midwest I realized how impossible the industrial food companies have made it to make good healthy eating decisions, without considerable effort.  I was unwilling to part ways, for even 9 days, with my no preservative, no HFCS, no GMO, no industrially produced foods diet.  So in order to continue my eating habits I had to have my parents drive me to the Whole Foods in Tulsa after they picked me up from the airport.  I know there are a lot of Whole Foods haters out there because of the high costs of their products but after reading my previous blog entries we can consider the extra expense a given for healthy eating.  My mother was having a good time at Whole Foods - checking out the herbal medicine section and all the different cheeses and dairy products.  Dad on the other hand was having a very hard time justifying the prices to himself. 
  For those of you that have watched the documentary Food, Inc., there is one very frustrating scene to me and that is the segment on the minority family that tries to buy dinner in a grocery store for the same price as they would through a drive-thru.  The two daughters have a dollar a piece to spend and the youngest asks for some pears but can only buy two and the mother tells her that they are too expensive and it won't fill her up.  This whole dialogue is idiotic to me because when you buy all the raw ingredients to cook a dinner it is almost always cheaper than drive-thru, even when purchasing organic and non-processed ingredients.
  I know that most American families are strapped for time and don't always have the patience to cook full meals every night but it just takes planning.  Lots of people have been asking me how I am going to continue cooking my great food when I start working 40 hours a week plus commuting.  A great deal of what I make doesn't take that much time and I spend a few hours on Sunday planning out the weeks menu, writing a very detailed grocery list (sending myself or hubby to Whole Foods to purchase said items) and prepping anything in advance that can be prepped.  I make a big squeeze bottle of homemade dressing that lasts all week, salads become a main veggie side because I don't have to cook it, steaks on the stove, pre-made shepherd's pie/lasagna/enchiladas/soups that were stored in the freezer for those nights I just don't feel like it, get heated in the oven or on the stove.  I always have tubs of chicken/seafood/beef stock in the freezer for whipping up a quick flavorful soup.  And I always request help after dinner is done cleaning up.
  For those people unfortunate to not live close to a really great farmer's market, Whole Foods store or don't know anyone that raises their own pasture raised cattle and chickens then my biggest advice is to start a garden.  While I was home I noticed that it was impossible to find a bunch of basil in any grocery store which seems so absurd to me.  Basil is one of the easiest plants to grow - it likes humidity and lots of sun and loves to be cut and bugs don't seem too attracted to it.  So do yourself a favor and start a small garden or window box with herbs to start and see where it goes from there.  Just don't use any chemical fertilizer (that includes miracle-gro and osmocote) and don't spray it with insecticide (even organic ones).  Happy planting!

Shepherd's Pie

In honor of the recent California crazy weather, apparently the weather gods think it's February and not June, I'm putting up a hearty and cozy dinner that is always a crowd pleaser.  I've made it my goal in life to taste as many different shepherd's pies in as many restaurants as I can and this is about as good as it gets - which is wonderful!

 

Serves: 4-6 depending on what you serve with it, if anything.

Ingredients:

  - 1/4 cup butter

  - 1 pound chopped beef or lamb

  - 1 cup chopped yellow onions

  - 2 carrots chopped

  - 1 1/2 tsp salt

  - 1 tsp pepper

  - 4 oz button mushrooms, sliced

  - 1 bay leaf

  - 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

  - 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste

  - 1 1/4 cup beef stock (preferably homemade - I plan on putting my beef stock recipe up sometime and if you wish it b/f hand just message me)

  - 1 tsp worcestshire
  - 1 lb potatoes, peeled and big chopped
  - 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  - 1/2 cup heavy cream
  - 1/2 cup freshly grated cheddar

  Lightly grease a 6 cup baking dish.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in very large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add meat and cook until starting to brown - about 3 min.  Add onions, carrots, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Cook stirring for 2 minutes.  Add mushrooms, bay leaf and cook until liquid is almost gone - about 4 minutes.  Add tomato paste, cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add flour and cook for 1 minute.  Gradually add stock and worcestshire - bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until thickened - about 20-25 minutes (if mixture still seems a bit runny add a little more flour).  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Meanwhile place potatoes in a medium pot and cover with salted water by 1 inch.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender - about 10 minutes.  Drain the potatoes and return to the pot.  Over low heat, mash the potatoes and add the remaining butter, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and nutmeg.  Add the heavy cream and mix well.  Remove from heat.  Remove the bay leaf from the meat mixture and spoon the mixture into the baking dish.  Top with the mashed potatoes (use a light hand here or the potatoes will get pushed below the meat mixture and it should act as the crust on-top).  Sprinkle the potatoes with cheese and bake until browned and bubbly.  About 10 - 15 minutes.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes or more and then spoon onto individual plates.

For a more unique and fun way to serve the pie place the meat and potatoes into individual coquettes and bake for about 10 minutes.  Everyone will then get their own individual coquette.

Ingredients side-note:  I like to add peas into the pie as well, about a 1/2 to whole cup, this should be added when the mushrooms are added for best results.

The chicken that lays the egg. . .

Since it seems that a lot of my recent recipes involve eggs I thought it a great time to discuss eggs in particular.  You have probably heard that pasture raised eggs are more nutritious for you and that is true.  Eggs have gotten a bad rap and that can be blamed on the industrial egg laying process.  Industrial eggs are produced by feeding chickens all that horrible stuff I've discussed before - anti-biotic feed, animal waste, ground up dead animals, corn, etc.  This process produces an egg that is watery, colorless with bad cholesterol.  Pasture raised eggs have "1/3 less cholesterol, 1/4 less saturated fat, 2/3 more Vitamin A, 2 times more Omega-3, 3 times more Vitamin E, 7 times more beta carotene and 4 to 6 times more the Vitamin D."  If that's not reason enough to purchase the slightly more expensive pastured eggs I don't know what is.
  James and I spent several days last week helping our friend build his own chicken coop which will house 24 free-range chickens that lay eggs for his own use and extras to sell to the local bakery (as well as having fresh chicken meat when the layers don't produce as much anymore, about 2 years).  Our friend has been working towards becoming more self-sustainable on his 11 acre lot in Amador county.  He lives in a very rural area and isn't capable of becoming a member of a CSA nor does he like the idea of paying the higher prices for local well-raised food.  It is an added bonus that he will be eating better and getting exercise through raising and tending his own food production.  It is not only the people who live in the city and have access to more amenities that can eat better.  Growing your own food takes less work than most people think.
  With enough room, chickens can forage for up to 70% of their own food - grubs, bugs, plants and worms.  If chickens are raised with other live stock its an even better deal because the chickens act as the clean-up crew after the other animals have come through and left their droppings behind.  Chickens spread the manure, eat the larvae (gaining protein in their diet) and help fertilize the plants.  The only work needed by a person raising chickens is to make sure they have the added feed they need once a day, a supply of water and to harvest the eggs for a few minutes every day.  Raising chickens has become overwhelmingly popular in the last couple years.
  James and I have done our own research into egg nutrition and have been ordering our dozen pasture raised eggs from our CSA in Dixon.  I was amazed with the bright orange colors of the pastured eggs and how much stiffer and less runny they were than the store-bought eggs.  It was my impression that we were probably buying the best and most nutritional eggs we could through our CSA but just a few weeks ago I was proved wrong.  My brother-in-law has started staying with us a few days a week for his work and brings us a dozen eggs from a farm near his house.  This farm is not out to make money they just sell what extra eggs they have that they don't consume themselves.  As soon as I cracked one of those eggs I was even more surprised to find the yolks were almost a neon orange! I devised a taste test and color comparison with our CSA eggs and these eggs.  I made two batches of scrambled eggs - one with our CSA eggs and one with the farmers eggs.  The color difference is pretty astounding but James and I found that the farmers eggs are almost too grassy tasting!

The CSA eggs are on the left and the farmer's eggs are on the right.

Eggs in a Basket

This is a recipe I figured out for myself after watching one of my favorite movies.  This breakfast item is featured prominently in V for Vendetta and it looked delicious.  It cuts down on your carbs and combines the runny egg yolk with the crisp toast you were going to use to sop it up anyways.  This meal is my typical weekend breakfast with a cup of hot tea, a large glass of water, fruit on the side and my daily vitamin - it's perfect.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:
  - 1 slice of bread with a 2" diameter hole cut out of it (you can save the hole and toast it in the pan after you cook the egg and spread some jam or preserves on top)
  - 1 pasture raised egg
  - 1/2 tbsp butter
  - salt and pepper

Bring a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and place half the butter in the pan.  When the butter is melted place the bread in the pan and swirl it around to evenly coat with butter.  Crack the egg into the hole, sprinkle with salt and pepper and let cook for 2-3 minutes until the white is set on the bottom.  Check the bottom of the toast to make sure it is brown and the egg white is cooked  The egg white on top will still be clear and uncooked. Place the remaining butter in the pan around the toast and flip the egg and toast into the butter and cook for another minute until the egg white on top is cooked.  Flip onto a plate and enjoy!

Tip:  Pasture raised eggs are higher in protein and therefore much stiffer and stronger than factory eggs.  When flipping the toast and egg it is very easy to break the yolk with factory eggs but pasture raised eggs are much more forgiving.

Argument for a multi-vitamin . . .

Continuing in the discussion of nutrition I wanted to take a moment to declare my new found love for multi-vitamins.  When researching the depletion of good nutrients in supermarket food I started to track mine and James' nutrient intake on a do-it-yourself website - http://nutritiondata.self.com/ .  The tracking allows you to input your own recipes and even different name brand cereals and food and calculates your daily caloric and nutritional intake.  What the tracking showed me is that even though James and I eat very well with lots of vegetables and almost all homemade food we were still severely lacking in most categories of vitamins and minerals.  After a few weeks of tracking I decided it was time to try out a multi-vitamin with Omega-3's and vitamin D specifically.  I did a great deal of research online to find the best multi-vitamin with no artificial colorings or ingredients.  The best product I found was the GNC Be-wholesome line of vitamins for me and the Mega Men Heart with Co Q-10 for James.  The daily package includes Omega-3's, calcium, a multi-vitamin, a Vitamin D pill and an herb pill for skin and nail health.  After a few days use of it we were hooked.

 James and I both had a great deal more energy and I was waking up in the morning feeling much better rested and wasn't fighting the snooze button to stay in bed.  The reason I wanted a pill with Omega-3's is for two reasons:  we don't eat enough fish, especially in the winter and I have started to have heart palpitations over the last 2 years or so.  The heart skips and starts have required me to cut out almost all caffeine from my diet and I wanted an Omega-3 pill to help strengthen my heart.  Since starting the vitamin regimen I have not noticed one time that my heart has skipped (about 3 months time).  Vitamin D is also essential for me because I'm so light skinned.  I almost always wear sunscreen when I go out and this blocks my body from making its own Vitamin D which is essential for calcium absorption.

  A bigger and even better benefit to our daily multi-vitamin regimen has been an extreme turnaround in my digestive system.  Without getting too graphic, suffice it to say that my digestive system has been out of whack since birth and has caused me a lot of headache and hassle most of my adult life.  I've taken every "good bacteria" in the health food store, I've taken prescription medication that has now been taken off the market due to fatal side-effects and I've been through more than one experimental medication trial - all to no great effect.  My doctors would always end my many appointments with a "there's not much we can do for you just try to eat better."  Eating better in my mind always meant salads, lay off the junk food and sodas and use everything in moderation, none of which seemed to help (now I know what "eat better" means).  The vitamins, however, seem to have eliminated all my problems.

  Not only was it tracking our diet that pushed me towards trying a multi-vitamin but the documentary "Foodmatters" really made me think differently about taking medication.  The human body is designed to heal itself and with proper nutrition and the right "fuel" for your body it is very possible that we can greatly reduce our trips to the doctor and save money in the long run.

  My only tips on picking and taking a multi-vitamin is beware of synthetic ingredients and artificial coloring and additives and always take it with food so your body digests it and absorbs it the same as food.  Never replace a meal with vitamins - this will lead to your body not utilizing the pills as they should and potentially smelly B.O.  Always drink lots of water as well.  When you become better rested and your body doesn't have to work so hard to acquire the nutrients it needs it's much easier to stop the caffeine cravings and drink water instead.

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Tuscan Steak with Egg

With our grass-fed beef purchase came quite a few steaks and with only a small balcony and a ban on open flames I had to figure out how to cook steaks well on the stove.  This recipe is perfect and so delicious.  It comes from Giada De Laurentiis who is probably my second go-to cook when looking for something new and tasty.

 

Serves: 4-6 (actual portions of steak should be smaller than recipe calls for)

Ingredients:

  - 4, 8 oz rib-eye steaks (can substitute other steak cuts)

  - 2 tbsp herbs de provence

  - 2 tbsp and 2 tsp of olive oil

  - 4 eggs

  - 2 oz. goat cheese (can be herbed or plain)

  - 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Place a cast iron pan over medium heat and allow it to get very hot. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle both sides of the steak with the herbs de provence then drizzle the 2 tbsp olive oil over them.  Grill each steak 6-8 minutes on each side for medium rare (longer if preferred) and set aside, cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest, at least 10 minutes.  Place the rest of the olive oil in the grill pan and crack the eggs into the pan and quickly season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the egg whites are just set, about 2-3 minutes.  Place a steak on each plate and place one egg on top.  Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese and parsley on top and serve!