Pineapple Habanero Chicken

This is my first all original recipe that I've created and have to say it's pretty darn good.  I made a couple pint jars of habanero pineapple jelly last fall and have been holding out to try them with something and I think I found the perfect solution.  It may not look as glamorous or appetizing as some of my other creations but it was definitely delicious.  We're having it again tonight, actually and the husband is excited!

Serves: 2-4
Ingredients:
  - Half a Pint Jar of Habanero Pineapple Jelly (or some other extra spicy tropical fruit jam)
  - 1 1/2 Medium Yellow Onions, Sliced
  - 3 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
  - 1 Tbsp Salt
  - 3/4 Tbsp Pepper
  - 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  - 1 lb of Chicken Breasts (usually 2 breasts)
  - 1/2 Cup Sour Cream plus extra for serving
  - 1 Tsp Asian Chili Garlic Sauce (optional add more or less to your taste)
  - 2 Cups Cooked Brown Rice

 In a non-plastic bowl, mix together the jelly, vinegar, salt, pepper and oil until well blended.  Rub the chicken down into the mixture making sure it is well coated and cover with foil and marinate in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours, longer marinate times will not hurt just give it richer flavor and moistness.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a cast iron or oven proof pan  to med-high heat and place the chicken and the marinade into the pan along with the onions.  Cook the chicken 4-6 minutes on each side until just browned, all the while stirring the onions and softening them with the chicken and sauce.

   Place the entire pan into the oven and cook 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through.  Return the pan to the stove, with the burner turned off, stir in the sour cream and chili sauce.  Place the desired amount of rice on each plate and a whole or half chicken breast (based on however hungry you are :-) with sauce ladled over the chicken and a dollop of sour cream.  The dish is best with some kind of roasted green veggie and an ice cold beer!  Enjoy!

Trail Mix Bars

This recipe comes from a good friend of mine that is a wonderful baker.  She gave me the recipe a few weeks ago and I made it for my "birthday cake" since I'm not much of a craver of sweets nor did I want the extra calories of my usual birthday blueberry pie.  I mostly take a square of this heavenly stuff to snack on during the day at work in lieu of the usual cup of nuts or dried fruit.  It makes a lot of individual bars so it's great for households with lots of kids or if you like to stock up.  It's also great crumbled into a bowl of plain yogurt for your breakfast in the morning!

 

Serves: who knows - lots!  I still have over half in the fridge and have eaten it every day since mid-January and now it's mid-February!

Ingredients:

  - 1 2lb jar of Creamy Peanut Butter

  - 1 1lb jar of Natural Honey

  - 1 cup Rolled Oats - not the quick cook kind (I like the gluten-free)

  - 6oz. Cacao Nibs (the chopped up hulls of cacao)

  - 8 oz. 75% or higher Chocolate Chunks

  - 6 oz. Dried Papaya (usually comes in strips and needs to be diced)

  - 6 oz. Dried Sour Cherries (can chop them if you would like)

  - 8 oz. Pistachios

  - 8 oz. Sunflower Seeds

  - 6 oz. Dried Cranberries

  - 6 oz. White Raisins

  - 8 oz. Sliced Almonds

  - (obviously you can substitute whatever nuts you desire for the ones listed here)

  First, line a baking sheet with wax paper and turn the oven on to 300 degrees.
  Mixing all the ingredients takes a very large mixing bowl, I ended up using my very large stock pot because my mixing bowl wasn't large enough.  Mix all the dry ingredients together first and then add the wet ingredients - dig in with your hands (the only way to do this is to get messy and enjoy licking your fingers afterward!).  Mix everything until it is of even consistency with no big clumps of peanut butter.  Dump the entire mixture onto the wax paper and smooth out.  Place in the oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and place in the fridge - let it cool completely, about 2 hours.  Remove from the fridge and overturn the sheet pan onto a flat surface and peel away the wax paper.  Using a large knife slice the bars into the desired size and place in ziploc bags or wrap in syran wrap.  Enjoy!

You Really Expect Me to Eat That?

So as usual, California passed a law in order to protect its citizens from potentially harmful food substances.  This law known generically as "California's Downer Livestock Law" was aimed at commercial livestock farms that slaughter all their animals and package them for sale whether they are healthy and can walk on their own or not.  Downer cattle and pigs have a much higher incident rate of mad cow disease and other infectious pathogens but the commercial food industry, unwilling to give up a few bucks profit, has always found a way to get these downer cattle to the slaughter house and package them as if they are just as safe as the "healthy" livestock.  California's new law stated that any downer cattle or pigs must immediately be culled from the rest of the herd and euthanized to prevent any pathogens from spreading to the other livestock as well as to better regulate downer cattle from entering the slaughter house (federal law apparently already prevents these cows from being slaughtered but we know how well the FDA does their job - in the U.S. only 9% of all downer cattle are tested for diseases compared to 100% in the EU and Japan). 
  It's no surprise that the National Meat Association - specifically pig farmers (who have very high percentages of downer livestock) took this law to court to have it declared invalid.  The pig farmers won the battle with a federal judge near Fresno, CA with the argument that "with proper care and attention a non-ambulatory pig can be rehabilitated to become a healthy pig again and pose no threat to humans if fully recovered."  The judge bought the argument and agreed with the Meat Association.  My skepticism abounds and apparently so did the skepticism of the next judge at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals who called the decision of the lower court "hogwash"!  What corporate farm is going to take the time or money to "rehabilitate" a downed animal . . . that would be a total of none, in my opinion.  It would take too much money, a veterinarian bill, drugs, special attention from farm workers - yep rehabilitating downed livestock is just not going to happen.  The fight went all the way to the Supreme Court and in a unanimous decision by all 9 judges, they shot down the California law saying that the federal law that does not allow downer livestock to be slaughtered pre-empts the California law and therefore it is invalid.
  Typically I'm not one for government regulation and I like to keep the choices of what I eat under my control and not rely on the government to protect me.  There are people, however, that don't have the drive to research, the time to researach or the knowledge of food production that I have and I think that there needs to be some repercussions for the companies who perform these horrible business practices.
  I try to buy my food by always putting a "face to my food."  This means that you know the person or know of the person that produces your food and you can be sure that it is safe for you to eat and good to put in your body.  After all the undercover videos of forklifts pushing downer cattle to the slaughter house and knowing about the high number of anti-biotic resistant e-coli incidents in corporate produced meat, it's obvious how well the federal law is being enforced.  I'd just as soon buy my meat from the grass-fed farmer down the road, keep my money and economy local and help the people I see on a regular basis as well as taking the money away from the corporate snakes!

Beef Tongue in Madeira Sauce

My first foray into "offal" cooking was a success and with tripe and beef heart still in the freezer I'm expecting quite a few more successful ventures.  If ever in doubt about good old fashioned cooking never venture far from classic French cuisine.  My husband just bought me Stephane Reynaud's French Feast cookbook and it has everything in it.  This recipe is his only recipe for tongue but after tasting it, who needs another one?

 

Serves:  6

Ingredient:

  - 1 Beef Tongue

  - 1 Bouquet Garni - tied bunch of thyme, rosemary and bay leaves

  - 3 Carrots

  - 3 Onions

  - 3 Celery Stalks

  - 2 Shallots

  - 1/2 c White Wine

  - 1/2 c Madeira Wine

  - 3/4 c Heavy Cream

  - 1 pinch of Flour (more if you want your sauce a little thicker, which I think I might next time)

  - 12 Cornichons (sour french gherkin sized pickles)

  - 1 tbsp Capers

  - 1 bunch Tarragon

  - Olive Oil

  Peel the carrots and onions and slice them thinly.  Drop the tongue in a large saucepan filled with water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.  Rinse the meat, disposing of the water, and repeat the process but adding in the carrots, onions, bouquet garni and celery.  Cook for 3 hours or until the meat is very tender. (3 hours was plenty at a heavy simmer)

   Once the tongue is cooked, remove the skin (I used my heavy dishwashing gloves to do this since the meat is very hot and slippery).  Thinly slice the skin (if the joining muscle is still connected to the tongue just cut it off at this time, it is mostly fat and cartiledge).  Place the sliced tongue back in the stock to keep it warm.

 

  Peel the shallots and chop them finely.  Saute in olive oil, add flour, and deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom.  Allow the liquid to reduce by half and add a ladle of the cooking stock, then the madeira and cream.  Allow to barely simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon or desired consistency, add salt and pepper to taste.

  Julienne the cornichons and add them to the sauce with the capers.  Cover the tongue slices with this sauce and sprinkle with tarragon leaves.  Enjoy with a nice green salad and vinaigrette and a starchy side like sauteed corn or mashed potatoes!

The CDC and Its Shady Practices

So it's been a while but with jumping around from contract job to contract job, a two week trip to MO with no internet and general unrestrained chaos in my life . . . I've finally got things under control and can find sometime to sit down and blog.  I'm hoping my new found serenity in life can continue for a while and I can also schedule time to sit here and write because it makes me happy :-)

  If there were any doubt in anyone's mind that the government and its agencies were corrupt it was blatantly obvious this week with an article about the CDC.  Apparently the CDC now has a policy of not releasing the offending company's names who produce or serve food that is contaminated with certain pathogens that make people sick.  The excuse the CDC gave is that they do not want to overly panic the public into not buying products from these establishments if it was not the direct fault of any one particular thing the company was doing or not doing but rather a general "oops" moment that probably won't happen again. 

  The case in particular that the CDC was being ridiculed over was a certain "mexican chain restaurant" who had served food in 10 different states that was contaminated with salmonella.  The result of this outbreak being that 68 people were sickened and one person died.  It has now come out, to no surprise to anyone I don't think, that the offending company was Taco Bell (the only other chain mexican restaurants in those states being Chipotle and Qdoba who have very good food practices).  It is also blatantly obvious that the CDC powers that be - those people that used to work for the private companies that they are now policing - are kowtowing to the big conglomerates to protect the company's reputation and revenues to the detriment of the American people, the same people they are supposed to be protecting. 

  To me it just makes everyone look bad all around.  The big companies are paying off or putting pressure on the CDC officials to not release their names in an obvious effort, in my opinion, to protect their bad practices in the name of profit.  I'm not sure what the CDC officials could possibly be getting out of the deal except for maybe money under the table or future benefits from these companies when they re-enter the private sector.  Regardless of the reasoning behind it all, it just backs up my desires to know exactly where my food is coming from and who produced it and how and not put anything that is mystery into my mouth.

Article can be found here:
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/31/10274541-whos-behind-that-outbreak-sometimes-cdc-wont-say

Wild Mushroom Risotto

You may sense a recurring theme in our household meals - Mushrooms!  Yes, James and I love mushrooms but they provide an awesome substitute for meat in your dishes and taste wonderful as well.  This recipe is one that I've been adverse to try for a while now due to the high costs of morel mushrooms and saffron but this last week I just said the heck with it and tried it anyways (not to mention I still had some saffron leftover in my pantry).  When it came down to final prices it was about eight dollars per serving so it won't be in our usual weekly repertoire but definitely a great meal for special occasions.  James and I both agreed that this was the most amazing meal I've made to date! 

Serves:  6

Ingredients:
  - 1 oz dried morel mushrooms (usually come in 1/2 oz pkg at a specialty food store)
  - 1/2 lb fresh cremini mushrooms (can substitute shiitake or portobello)
  - 4 cups homemade chicken stock
  - 6 tbsp unsalted butter
  - 2 oz pancetta, diced (can substitute american bacon)
  - 1/2 cup chopped shallots (3 shallots)
  - 1 1/2 cups arborio rice (very important that you use arborio)
  - 1/2 cup dry white wine (pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, etc)
  - 1/2 tsp saffron threads
  - 1 tsp kosher salt
  - 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
  - 2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

Place the dried morels in a bowl and pour 2 cups boiling water over them.  Set aside for 30 minutes.  Scoop the morels from the water with a slotted spoon, reserving the liquid.  If some of the mushrooms are large, cut into 2 or 3 pieces. Pour the  mushroom liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel (morels can be gritty). You should have 2 cups; if not, add water to make 2 cups.  Set the mushrooms and the liquid aside separately.
  Meanwhile, remove and discard the stems of the cremini and rub any dirt off the caps with a damp paper towel.  Do not rinse them!  Slice thickly and set aside.

In a small sauce pan heat the chicken stock with the 2 cups of reserved mushroom liquid and bring to  a simmer (be careful not to boil off too much of the liquid or it won't be enough).
  In a heavy-bottomed dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots over med-low heat for 5 minutes.  Add the morels and porcini and saute for another 5 minutes.  Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter.  Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes.  Add 2 ladles of the chicken stock mixture to the rice plus the saffron, salt and pepper.  Stir and simmer over low heat until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes.

 

Continue to add the stock 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes.  Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry before adding more of the stock mixture.  Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente (not soggy) about 25-30 minutes total.  When done, the risotto should be thick and creamy and not at all dry.  Off the heat, stir in the parmesan cheese.  Serve hot in bowls with extra cheese on top!

Turkey Day . . .

This post begins a series of blogs about the different foods that we consume during the holidays.  Being the centerpiece and the alternate name for one of our nations most treasured holidays I thought it a good starting point to begin with turkey.  Most every family in the country will buy a grocery store bought turkey to cook for their Thanksgiving feast, whether it be Butterball, Tysons or some other astronomically huge food company.  I wonder, however, how we might rethink what we are thankful for during this great holiday if we knew a bit more about the food to which we are giving our thanks.
  Industrial turkey operations are abominable and contribute to our unhealthy populous.  Don't get me wrong, I'm  not a big animal right's activist but the living conditions of the turkey contribute to the unhealthiness of the meat.  Turkeys are raised on giant farms (similar to chicken farming) mostly in the midwest and the south.  They never see the outdoors in their short lifespan unless it is in the truck ride to the slaughtering plant.  They are kept by the tens of thousands in enclosed houses with no natural light, wood chips covering the floor to absorb their waste (which isn't cleaned out until the turkeys are removed to the plant, a period of 12 - 14 weeks) the ammonia fumes given off by this waste is enough to burn your eyes and throat (imagine what it's doing to the birds) they are so cramped they can't move to develop good muscle for meat and their beaks are snipped so they can no longer peck and choose what to eat but are only able to shovel mass amounts of antibiotic laden corn into their stomachs.  To increase the amount of food the turkeys eat lights are kept on 24 hours a day to keep the turkeys awake and continually eating to gain weight.  Wild turkeys eat a varied diet of bugs, grass, and seeds which give them rich flavor and varied meat (white and dark).  The mono-diet of corn that industrial birds consume gives them very little flavor so at the processing plant all the birds muscles are injected with saline solution and vegetable oil to bulk them up and add flavor.  Hence the ginormous task of the home cook to keep the turkey moist, flavorful and edible.

                              Industrial white breasted turkey house.                             

Naturally raised organic turkey farm. . . you choose what looks healthier!

   Before industrial farming, it was no culinary feat to cook a turkey - just place it in a roasting pan with some stuffing, salt and pepper and it came out wonderfully flavorful - not so with industrial turkey.
  There is the huge issue of cost, however.  I've been receiving lots of emails from my local pasture-raised organic meat coop to pre-order my turkey for the holidays.  I believed that was a great idea and I love to jump at any chance to provide good wholesome food for not just my immediate family but the extended family as well - that was until I saw the prices.  For a naturally raised no antibiotic fed turkey in Northern California it's about ten dollars a pound, that's seventy dollars for a seven pound turkey!  Knowing that my mother-in-law usually gets at least a fifteen pound turkey if not larger I understood there was no way an average American household could afford this and we certainly could not.
  Here are the alternatives I came up with:  go for a traditional old-world style Thanksgiving and negate the leftovers (after all, the pilgrims certainly weren't putting leftover bird in the fridge or freezer for black Friday) therefore we would need a much smaller bird and compensate with more side dishes.  Non-traditionally we could cook Cornish game hens or any birds that the family had recently nabbed (i.e. ducks, quail, wild turkey, etc.).  For those families that hunt this is a great alternative but for those who don't organic game hens run about $3.15 a pound and can be cooked just like a turkey but in less time!
  Looking forward to any comments from you on alternatives to the industrially produced turkey feast . . . Happy Thanksgiving!

Tropical Smoothie

I find that I've recently started wasting a lot of money at Jamba Juice.  I love that place and it is good for you but I would rather buy organic fruits and milk products and make my own at home for much less than the five plus dollars they charge you!  This is a great smoothie and works well for a morning rush out the door breakfast or a leisurely Sunday brunch with lots of breakfast goodies.

 

Serves: 2 (you can make the full recipe and freeze the extra for the next morning)
Ingredients:
  - 1/2 ripe mango
  - 1 cup pineapple (frozen or fresh)
  - 1 ripe banana
  - 1/4 cup orange juice (I like to use the Naked orange juice or you can use fresh squeezed)
  - 1/2 cup milk
  - 1/4 cup plain yogurt
  - 1 tsp to 1 tbsp good honey (add more honey if the fruit isn't quite ripe or sweet enough)
  - 1 cup of ice (if using frozen fruit use less ice)
  - Add any extra fruit you may think would be good:  berries, kiwi, papaya, etc.

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Enjoy!

A Safe and Clean Household Environment

So I've been thinking about this for a while and just recently started to research it.  I constantly look at what's in my food and make sure there are no synthetic unpronounceable items in it - and if so it goes directly to the banned list of products.  Why then, have I not moved this household philosophy further?  Laziness or lack of research could be to blame but it could also be and most likely is my OCD.  I am a germ clean-freak and I bleach everything.  I like my house to smell good with scented candles when I walk in the door and I love cleaning products that make me feel like I'm killing all those microscopic germs (not to mention I love bleaching my whites and making them look like new).

  Bleach is horrible stuff, I've known that for a while.  I use it in abundance for cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, dishes and the laundry.  I've even given myself migraines (coming from the chlorine gas) for over using it but relished in the fact that I killed all those nasty viruses and germs in my house.  There's a better way, though, and it kills just as much germs, still makes the house smell clean (kills odors) and is just fine with the environment because it is a naturally occurring substance - H2O2 or commonly known as hydrogen peroxide.  It's cheaper, non-toxic and just as efficient.

  It can be bought in two strengths - the usual 3% solution at your pharmacy or a higher "food grade" strength of 35% at your local health food store or drug store.  H2O2 is much better for those people on a tight budget as well because it costs pennies on the dollar of all those pricey name brand cleaners and works just as well if not better!

Some helpful tips on how to use hydrogen peroxide:
  - Store out of sunlight and in a well marked preferably dark bottle (this helps it not revert back to oxygen gas and water)
  - Toothbrushes can be dipped in the 3% solution to de-germ and then used after well rinsed.  A solution of 1 tbsp H2O2 to 1 cup of water can be used for mouthwash and this will whiten teeth over time and kill bad bacteria (much cheaper than Listerine). 
  - Counter tops, cutting boards, sinks, door handles or any non-porous hard surface can be sprayed with equal parts 3% H2O2 to water in order to disinfect and clean.  This same solution will also help remove toilet stains and bad bacteria.
  - Just as with bleach in laundry, one cup of 3% solution to a load of whites will keep your whites white! :-)
  - Use the 3% solution to remove blood, red wine stains etc on carpet and it won't bleach the fibers.
  - Of course it always works well to disinfect cuts and bug bites!

  This blog post may not pertain to how you cook and prepare food but the object of this blog is to help you live a healthier less toxic life and this is a great step to take to save you money and help out the environment! 

Caesar Club Sandwich

This is my favorite homemade sandwich and after looking at my recipe lists I determined it was time to add more lunch recipes.  The recipe is adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe and one of the first things I ever cooked outside my comfort zone.  It's wonderful with some homemade chips or a hot bowl of soup.  I hope you like it!

Serves:  3
  Ingredients: 
  - 2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
  - good olive oil
  - 4 oz thinly sliced pancetta (can substitute bacon but pancetta is tastier)
  - 1 large garlic clove
  - 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
  - 1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste (found in the asian food aisle usually)
  - 1 tsp dijon mustard
  - 1 1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  - 1/2 cup good mayonnaise (good mayonnaise should only have 3 ingredients!)
  - 1 large ciabatta bread (french bread works well too)
  - 2 oz baby arugula, washed and spun dry
  - 12 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
  - 2 to 3 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan skin side up.  Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through.  Cool slightly, discard the skin (or feed it to the dog!) and bones, and slice the meat thickly.  Set aside.
  Meanwhile, place the pancetta on another sheet pan in a single layer.  Roast for 10 to 15 min. until crisp.  Set aside to drain on paper towels.  (This step can be done after the chicken and the same sheet pan can be used to make clean-up easier).
  Place the garlic and parsley in the bowl of a food processor (or a blender) and process until minced.  Add the anchovy paste, mustard, lemon juice, and mayo and process again until smooth dressing like consistency.  (Refrigerate dressing if not using immediately - this part could be doubled or tripled and the extra dressing stored in the fridge for later)!
  Slice the bread in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom.  Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up for 5 to 7 minutes.  Cool slightly.  Spread the cut sides of each piece with Caesar dressing.  Place half the arugula on the bottom piece of bread and then layer in order:  sun-dried tomato, shaved Parmesan, crispy pancetta, and sliced chicken.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another layer of arugula.  Place the top slice of ciabatta on top and cut in thirds crosswise.  Serve at room temp.

Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Meat Marinara

This is a recipe that I've refined over the years and I started fixing spaghetti squash thanks to my longtime friend's mom who made it for me years ago.  Spaghetti squash is a wonderful way to mix-up your usual Italian dinners the flesh looks just like spaghetti when cooked but has a great crunch as well!

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
  - 1 large Spaghetti Squash
  - 2 tbsp Olive Oil
  - 1 lb of Grass-fed Ground Beef (can substitute Italian sausage spicy/mild for more flavor)
  - 1 medium Zucchini, chopped
  - 1 large Yellow Onion, chopped
  - 1 large Red Bell Pepper, chopped
  - 6 cloves of Garlic, minced
  - 2 large Portobello Mushrooms, chopped
  - 2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
  - 1 tbsp Salt
  - 3/4 tbsp Ground Pepper
  - 1 1/2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
  - 1 14.5 oz. can Diced Tomatoes
  - 1 1/2 cans of Tomato Sauce
  - 1 tbsp Butter
  - 1 cup shredded Mozzarella or Mozzarella and Pecorino Romano mix

In a large stock pot bring enough water to boil to submerge the spaghetti squash.  Using a fork puncture the washed spaghetti squash on all sides in order to let steam escape.  Place the squash in the boiling water and boil for 45 minutes, making sure to turn the squash so it gets cooked on all sides - the squash will float.

   Meanwhile heat a large skillet to medium-high heat with the olive oil.  Add the onions, garlic and beef into the skillet and cook until onions start to become soft and the beef browned - about 5 minutes.  Add the peppers, zucchini, salt, pepper, and seasoning - cook until the peppers and squash begin to soften - about 5 minutes more.  Add the mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and vinegar, bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.  Taste for seasoning, add more salt or italian seasoning if needed.  Sauce will be thin at this point, let it simmer on the stove until the flavors are well mixed and the sauce is the thickness that you desire - up to an hour.  (This will make much more sauce than you need, this is a good time to stock your freezer with an extra meal's worth of marinara sauce).

   After the squash is boiling for 30 minutes preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Drain the squash when it is done boiling and place it on a cutting board, using a sharp knife cut the squash in half and remove the pulp and seeds (like any melon or squash) place the cleaned halves on a cookie sheet cut-side up.  Using a fork, test the squash for doneness - the meat should start to come off in spaghetti-like pieces but it should still be pretty tough at this stage).  Spread a 1/2 tbsp of butter on the meat of each half of the squash and place the cookie sheet in the oven for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes the meat should separate easily from the skin and come off in pasta like strings.  If it is still a little difficult to remove the meat from the skin bake for another 15 minutes.

At this stage there are two ways to proceed, either remove all the meat from the squash and serve like you would any normal pasta or use the squash skin as the vessel for serving.  If choosing the second method, place the desired amount of marinara sauce in each half of the squash, cover with half the cheese and place back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Remove the squash and slice each half into subsequent halves and serve!

A Cook's Best Friend. . .

So I've blogged a little before about organizing and how to best prepare foods and make it easier on yourself and your busy schedules.  I stand by my statement that a freezer is a busy cook's best friend.  In this blog I'll try to outline the best ways to use a standard freezer/fridge combo and a chest freezer, for those of us lucky enough to have one.  I highly recommend buying one for anyone looking to save money in the long run - you can usually find them in estate sales and at dent and ding stores for much cheaper.  We bought ours as a floor model at Lowe's and ended up paying at least 100 dollars less than original price.
  To start I will talk to the average home freezer.  The best trick to efficiently using your home freezer is to freeze things like soups, sauces, veggies and other small things in flat sheets. Notice the bottom shelf . . .

My personal freezer is a little sparse at the moment because we have it all in our chest freezer but think of how many servings of split-pea soup, corn chowder and marinara sauces I could stack up on the top shelf as well.  The trick to freezing things flat are good sturdy freezer safe ziplocs: with a sharpie label the ziploc with the contents and the date the food will expire (things always look the same when they're frozen so you can never tell what's in that bag!) place the cooled prepared food into the bag laying flat on your counter (enough for one night's meal)  and seal trying to expel as much air as possible.  Lay the ziploc flat on the bottom of your freezer (or on a cookie sheet if you have no flat surface) things like soups and sauces can usually stay for up to 6 months in the freezer! 
  For storing these ziplocs in a chest freezer it's good to get a plastic file crate and put it in the bottom of your freezer then place the ziplocs upright in the crate (the frozen ziplocs can be sifted through like file folders and you can easily find whatever you need).  I also recommend, as I have before, to double or triple your recipes on those nights that you do cook to quickly get your freezer stocked with extra meals.

My chest freezer may look a little crazy but everything is assorted into its requisite bin.  I chose this freezer because it had hanging and sliding baskets so things won't get buried beneath everything else.  Since we buy beef in large quantities our freezer is mostly meats, stocks, and lots of frozen summer corn.  I have bins for steaks, roasts, offal, and ground beef.  The stocks are all labeled in freezer safe containers and placed on the bottom of the freezer.

To further help me in my meal planning I create a list that I stick on the outside of the freezer that lists what's in the freezer and how many servings there are.  When something is used I just strike it off the list or reduce the number of servings listed.

This helps when I sit down on Sunday and make my grocery shopping list.  I know what I already have on hand and this way I don't buy so much at the store and spend less money in the long run.  To further help me save money I always keep my eye out for any special deals on organic meat that I can stock up on and put in the freezer - like the organic pork sausages that I bought last week for half price!  You may spend more money on a certain trip to the store one week but it will be a lot cheaper in the long run.  Happy organizing!

Chicken Bouilliabaisse with Garlicky Beans

This is a much simpler bouilliabaise than the classic bouilliabaise and the beans give it a heartiness that's homey and satisfying.  I recently found in my favorite book store a book on braises and stews by Tori Ritchie.  Braises and stews are great because they give you lots of flavor with little effort - most of the time just pop it in the oven or crock-pot and let it be.

 

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

  - 4 Chicken legs, split into drumsticks and thighs (you can choose to leave skin on or off but I think it adds flavor)

  - Kosher salt

  - 6 tbsp olive oil

  - 1 yellow onion, sliced

  - 1/2 cup dry white wine - I used Pinot Grigio

  - 4-inch strip of orange zest (don't zest it into little pieces you'll want to remove it later)

  - 1 tsp dried thyme

  - Generous pinch of saffron threads

  - 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

  - 1 cup chicken broth (preferably homemade)
  - 2 cans (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  - 4 garlic cloves, minced
  - 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicier)
  - 4 oz crumbled feta cheese

 Preheat an oven to 375.
 Rinse the chicken and pat dry with a paper towel.  Sprinkle with salt.  Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a 5-7 quart dutch oven over med-high heat.  Add the onion, sprinkle with salt to taste and cook, stirring until softened - about 3-6 minutes.  Add the wine, zest, thyme and saffron and let come to a boil.  Add the tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil again.  Put chicken in pot, pushing it down in the sauce.  Cover and transfer to the oven.  Cook until chicken is opaque at the bone, about 45 minutes. 

  Meanwhile, in a baking dish, stir together the beans, remaining 3 tbsp of oil, garlic and red pepper flakes.  Put in oven alongside the chicken for the last 15 minutes of cooking time.  Remove the beans from oven and stir in the feta, season with salt and pepper.  Spoon beans into bowls and top with chicken and sauce.  Serve with crusty bread to sop up the extra juice!

My apologies and new thoughts. . .

So I've committed the ultimate blogger sin - falling behind in posts which leads to lack of interest and general apathy in my readership - for shame!  I do apologize and I blame it on my lack of focus on food in general in the past few months (lots of travel to Missouri, working out of town during the week where there is no place to buy organic or healthy foods of any quantity or quality, worried about finding a real job, etc.).  It has been possible for me with the new job, where I live in a house at a winery helping my brother-in-law manage construction on the site, to eat organically by going to Whole Foods on Sundays and stocking up and planning for the week.  I cook for myself and one other person that works and lives with me at the winery who also subscribes to my food philosphy.  So generally my breakfasts and dinners are good organic food but here's the problem - lunch!
  My lunches are now revolving around the work place and construction work environment.  The owner of the winery buys us lunch most days and other days I go out and get the crew lunch.  It's great to not have to worry about paying for lunches but I have felt my heath issues returning and feeling less well and lethargic these days because of it.  Maybe that's why I have felt less like blogging . . . maybe a little bit of a hypocritical dilemma running through my brain.  I did, however, on recommendation from a new friend just watch a new documentary that may have just changed my outlook on food all over again.
  This documentary is called "Fork Over Knives" and it follows two doctors that over the course of their practice and in-depth research have proven that animal based foods are the cause of most cancers and heart diseases.  Not only is the corn fed beef and industrial meat substances bad for us but meat in general.  Of course it is MUCH better to consume grass-fed and pasture raised animals in reasonable quantities but their extensive studies prove that we should probably be eating only grains, fruits and veggies without dairy, meat or added oils in our diet.
  Their studies are very convincing - people who had had multiple bypass surgerys or extensive cancers throughout their bodies have gone on to live decades after their illnesses and have made complete recoverys, sometimes without chemo and radiation or even surgery - biologically I have one qualm.  If humans were not meant to eat meat then why do we have "meat tearing" canine teeth?  Is this just a hold over from our evolutionary make-up, which we have evolved away from but no longer need (like our tail bone with no tail?) or do those canine teeth have a different purpose now?  Do we need the canine teeth for tearing into fibrous veggies like celery and broccoli?  Next time I eat I am definitely going to pay more attention ;-) but for now I think I will just significantly reduce the amount of meat I consume. 
  Until next time your thoughts and opinions are definitely welcome.  Happy eating!

The scary world of dehydration. . .

So this last weekend Meredith and I decided to continue improving on our preserving prowess and we canned more tomato sauce.  We ordered the organic "seconds" (bruised and split) tomatoes from Soil Born farms (they ended up being beautiful unblemished masterpieces of organic goodness and not bruised at all, for a whopping 50 cents a pound!  So with 60 pounds in total and an array of other goodies we headed home to her house in Amador.  Luckily she has a great brick patio with some shade and we set up our big cooking operation from the previous weekend.  The one big difference is that we had decided to try our hand at dehydrating fruits and veggies as well.
  Our friends and family graciously donated their dehydrators for our venture and I had visions of dried soup mixes and scrumptious dehydrated fruit snacks dancing in my head.  We took the Ball Blue Book and a guide, "How to Dehydrate Food" as our bibles and compared the two recipes.  Through the comparison we came up with our game plan of what fruits and veggies we needed to pretreat in citric acid, how thick we cut them and at what temperature the dehydrator should be set.  What we found was not all fruit and veggies are created equal and what a P.I.T.A some of them were!
  Apples, pears, strawberries, and figs were the easiest and seemed to come out the most uniform (all but the figs were pretreated with citric acid).  White peaches were AMAZING dried but quite a bit of work with blanching, peeling, pitting and slicing.  Grapes, blueberries and cherries - while amazing tasting - were too messy, too time consuming to prep and took WAY too long to dehydrate.  I'll buy my raisins at the grocer in the future.

   The plan for the fruit is to make homemade trail mix.  This is something I used to do all the time in Italy before our long bus rides every weekend with my architecture class.  My roommate and I would venture down to the Mercato Nuovo and visit our favorite dried fruit vendor - he had EVERYTHING!  Our favorites being dried mango and pineapple.  Then we would head over to get a bag full of almonds and walnuts with some chocolate candies.  Our DIY trail mix would sustain us on those long bus rides from city to city.  Today I went to Whole Foods and stocked up on raw nuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips from the dry foods bins and once my homemade dried fruit is done conditioning after a week it will all get put into individual snack size food-saver bags!
  For the homemade dried veggies, less pretreating was necessary and they came out fairly uniform.  Green beans, okra, onions, peppers and corn came out great.  Carrots were too much work and do not retain much of their nutrition or flavor after drying so those are nixed for my future dehydrating endeavors.  Meredith and my greatest find, however, were dried zucchini!  We ended up slicing a lot of Mer's extra zucchini from her garden and seasoning it with a garlic seasoning mix.  When dehydrated zucchini becomes crispy and with seasoning easily takes the place of a chip - flavorful, crunchy, no fatty oils and raw so it retains all the nutrients!  Just remember to go light on the seasoning because the "chips" are much smaller after dehydration which compounds the spice flavor!

10 medium zucchini sliced 1/4 inch with garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder.

10    pounds   of   zucchini   equals   a   quarter   pound   of   zucchini    chips!

Bloody Mary Mix (Alcoholic or Non)

This recipe is the one I used last weekend for canning but it will probably stay in the fridge for a week or more and would freeze excellently (just add the vodka before pouring yourself a glass otherwise it won't freeze). 

Makes: 5 quarts - 20, 8 oz. servings

Ingredients:

  - 30 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, decored and quartered

  - 2 1/2 cups green peppers, chopped

  - 1 3/4 cups carrots, diced

  - 1 cup celery, diced

  - 1 small onion, diced

  - 4-6 garlic cloves, minced

  - 1 Serrano pepper, seeded and minced (optional)

  - 1/4 cup parsley, minced

  - 1 bay leaf

  - 1/4 cup sugar

  - 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

  - 2 tbsp salt

  - 1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire

  - 1/2 tbsp Tabasco or to taste (I added about 3 tbsp)

  To peel the tomatoes slice the skin of the tomato after washing and drop in boiling water for 1 minute or until skin becomes wrinkly, remove and drop in an ice bath.  When cool the skin will peel right off and then just core and cut in quarters and push seeds out with your thumbs.

  Cook the ingredients from the tomatoes to the parsley in a large pot until mushy - it will quickly become soupy - cook for 30 to 45 minutes, until veggies become softer.  Remove the bay leaf and working in batches, place the contents of the pot in a blender and puree to a desired consistency for drinking.  Return blender mixture to the pot and add the remaining ingredients.  Taste for seasoning and spiciness.  Bring this to a boil and either can the contents, place in a refrigerator container for immediate enjoyment or store in freezer safe containers for later.  If canning place in sterilized quart jars and water bath can for 40 minutes.

  Add the desired amount of vodka (or not) to mixture and place in shaker with ice, shake vigorously, pour chilled mixture into a glass with ice and pickled garnish or celery stick.  It's great with brunch or as an afternoon treat before dinner!

Fun at the farm. . .

So this post is going to be less about ways to eat and live better and more about how much fun I had last weekend at the farm where our CSA  box comes from.  Every year, as a thank you to being a farm member, Eatwell hosts two tomato saucing parties.  They invite whoever wants to come out to turn 1800 pounds of tomatoes (roma, heirloom, beefsteak, etc) into whatever wonderful concoctions you can dream up - for free.  All you have to bring is the propane stove, your utensils for cooking, chopping and blending and your jars - they supply the tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil, water and pressure canners as well as the spacious hoop houses with lots of tables.

The hoop houses where the canning is set up.

  This year was my first year and my sister Meredith came out with me to be my sous chef.  I wasn't really sure how much I would get canned but I was hopeful it would be a lot (I bought 48 quart jars which ended up being a little too ambitious). Meredith and I arrived at the farm 30 minutes early to make sure we had a prime spot, unloaded our turkey fryer, dual propane stove, two coolers, blender, pots, cutting boards and 2 five gallon propane tanks and got things hooked up and ready to go.  Within an hour of arriving, a wonderful concoction of freshly picked tomatoes was boiling away on our stove and the turkey fryer water was heating up ready to sterilize jars.

The sauce just after coming to a boil - the foam boils away after an hour or so and it reduces by about a 1/3 before it's ready for canning.

The recipes that I had spent hours looking for on the internet were the easiest and the most flavorful I  could find.  Making tomato sauce had previously been a little off-putting to me because it is so much work - boiling the tomatos, putting them in an ice bath, peeling the skin off, slicing, decoring, deseeding, draining and then boiling down before processing in jars.  I found a great recipe online that said to just wash your tomatoes, slice them in quarters, remove the stem and blend to a liquid consistancy then just boil it for 2.5 hours until it is at the thickness you want and then can for 25 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.  That was a lot less work in my opinion and the added bonus is that not peeling off the skins adds more nutrients to the sauce.  By blending it all up together the pulp, skins and seeds all become one texture and no one would no the difference unless you told them. 

Meredith blending up the tomatoes for the sauce.

  The long part of the process is waiting for it to boil down so while we had our first pot of tomato sauce boiling away we decided to prep the tomatoes and other ingredients for our bloody mary mix.  Unfortunately the recipe I found for bloody mary mix called for peeled, cored and deseeded tomatoes, so Mer and I promptly set in to blanching, cutting and peeling 60 tomatoes.  It was a messy repetitive job but it helped pass the time as we waited for things to cook.  Added to the tomatoes were onions, parsley, worcestshire, tabasco, serrano peppers, celery and carrots.  After all this cooks down for 45 minutes you blend it all up, return it to the pot, check for seasoning and spice, bring to a boil and can in a water bath canner for 40 minutes.  You can drink it with or without alcohol and my little taste test before canning told me it was going to be pretty darn good!

The first batch to come out of the canner.

  We cooked and canned from 10:30 am to about 9:30 pm.  We got 13 quart jars of sauce made and 11 jars of bloody mary mix, plus we made a great meat ragu to share with everyone that night at dinner.  Mer and I learned some valuable lessons that will only help us to be more efficient and organized next year.  We know that we definitely need at least one more pair of hands and an extra turkey fryer wouldn't hurt either.  Eventhough it was a lot of work, we found ourselves planning to do it again before the season is over - perhaps in Mer's backyard.  We would just need to find a cheap supplier of organic tomatoes in large quantities.  Perhaps I'll call Eatwell this week and see if I can get a few more crates of tomatoes and do some more canning this weekend.

  Once you start canning it quickly becomes an addiction!  I encourage everyone to try it out at least once - it makes for great presents at the holidays and what better way to preserve the fresh taste of summer all year round!

Lemon Fusilli Pasta

This is another great recipe from Ina Garten - it's fulfilling in that it cures your carb craving but uses great fresh ingredients like cherry tomatoes, which are especially wonderful this time of year. It's great served hot or room temperature!

Serves:  4 to 5

Ingredients:

  - 1 tbsp olive oil

  - 1 tbsp minced garlic (I usually double this)

  - 2 cups heavy whipping cream

  - 3 lemons (with good clean rinds)

  - 1 lb dried fusilli pasta

  - 1/2 lb baby arugula (or 2 bunches common arugula - the more arugula grows the more bitter it gets)

  - 1/2 cup freshly grated paremsan

  - 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for 60 seconds. Add the cream, the zest from 2 lemons, the juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta in a colander and place it back into the pot. Immediately add the cream mixture and cook it over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until most of the sauce has been absorbed in the pasta. Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl, add the arugula, Parmesan, and tomatoes. Toss well, season to taste, and serve hot

But I Don't Have Enough Time!

I know there are skeptics and naysayers out there in regards to my "localvore" way of eating and feeding my family because of the amount of time everyone thinks it takes.  The key to successful healthy eating is organization and planning.  For those of you with desk jobs or the usual 9-5 work day there is almost always a few minutes a day - whether it be a 15 minute coffee break or a few minutes on your lunch break where you can sit down and write up a menu for the coming week's meals.  I try to divide my list into each day with lunch and dinner listed (breakfast is usually the same every morning); I find it also very helpful to plan to cook a large casserole or pot of soup at least once a week so that it can be used for leftovers and that way I don't have to cook some of the nights.  If you're short on time during the work week but have an extra hour or two on the weekends when you're fixing dinner try to prep or make another of your meals ahead of time and freeze it or have it ready to be thrown together in a few minutes. When I'm preparing something in advance I try to double or triple the recipe and freeze the extra portions to stock up the freezer for those nights I'm in a pinch and don't feel like cooking.
  When grocery shopping, in order to make your trip the fastest possible, organize your shopping list into the appropriate food areas in your grocery store (i.e. produce, meat, dry goods, dairy, etc).  Think about the way you travel through the store and list the different categories in that order.  This little bit of organization ahead of time can save you lots of time from running back and forth across the store trying to find the last few items on your list.  To make your trip even faster, shop with another adult or teenager in your household and give them half the list!
  My previous blogposts mentioned going to farmer's markets on the weekends to stock up on produce and other local goods and you may be telling yourself "the hell with getting up early in the morning on the weekend to go produce shopping!"  There are some other great benefits other than just picking up some local fruit and veggies, however.  Many farmer's markets have ready made meals all prepackaged and ready for purchase like homemade pasta and pasta sauces, baked artisan breads with toppings baked in that are great for do-it-yourself pizzas and ready made desserts.  A lot of food vendors have set-up shop at their local farmer's market as well, so it's a good place to get breakfast and that takes one more meal off your list that you have to prepare.
  I find it very refreshing to get up and grab a cup of coffee or tea at the market, walk around with James and see what looks good, and take the dog out for a long walk.  Getting up and doing something on the weekend also helps me be more productive the rest of the day.  I find I get a lot more done when I get up and be productive right-off-the-bat versus lounging around the house with my cup of tea.  Farmer's markets are also a great place to take the kids - it gives them a place to run around, interact with people and learn about the different things that farmer's grow in their area as well as expand their food palette.
  Hopefully these tips help you out with your busy schedules and allow you to more easily prepare healthy meals for you and your family!  Bon appetite!

Pickled Garlic

This was my first venture into canning and it turned out pretty well - the inspiration came from a farm outside DC where they have an annual corn maze and farmer's market with lots of canned jelly's and veggies.  Great for a snack with drinks or as a garnish in savory drinks like bloody mary's!

Makes 3 pint jars.

Ingredients:
  - 14 heads of unblemished garlic (blanch in boiling water for 1 minute and then place in cold ice bath to easily peel the skins off without damaging the cloves)
  - 3 cups of 5% white vinegar
  - 2 tbsp pickling/kosher salt
  -  1 cup sugar
  - sliced spicy peppers (jalapeno, serrano, wax, etc.) optional

  Boil the garlic in vinegar, salt and sugar mixture for 1 minute then place the garlic in the 3 sterilized pint jars to 3/4" below the rim.  Pour the solution over the garlic to 1/2" below the rim and wipe rim clean.  Place hot lids and rings on top and boil in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.  Remove and let stand for 24 hours before moving.  If top lid is sucked down and does not "pop" then canning was successful and they should stay in a dark cupboard for over a year.  Enjoy!