Soapbox

Bear with me a minute. I need to just put the last nail on my soapbox.....okay. There we go.

I need a minute to rant. Earlier today I found myself at a fruit stall at the Union Square Green Market looking blankly at some lovely red currants that I had no intention of buying. I was only standing there because I was evesdropping on a woman who was grilling the man working at the stand on what was sprayed and why and what was organic and what wasn't. Normally I would be supportive of anyone looking to investigate their food and what was in it. And I do firmly believe that it was her right to do so, so please do not misinterpret the subject of my rant. But her tone was so off-putting and curt that I couldn't help but put in my two cents here in relative anonymity on the internet. This customer with her gorgeous child sitting on her hip asked about everything and why does everything need to be sprayed and so on and so forth. But she was kind of rude to the nice young man who was just explaining that they (like virtually every other stall in the green market) only spray when they have to, and not everything has to be sprayed and all the sprays wash off with water and their cherries are always sprayed.

I learned in much the same way, asking questions about what the farmer's did. But I am no farmer, and I am not going to question the motives of anyone who has bringing produce to market for decades. I understand there are reasons why a great many farmers do not grow conventional produce. Being rude to the farmer because they are not producing organic produce doesn't sit well with me. And I have said before that I still firmly believe that buying local is more important to me than buying organic. I'd rather wash those New York State berries than walk across the street to the Whole Foods flagship store and get some organic ones from California. But that's me. Perhaps she had an allergy to the pesticide residue (but I doubt it).

There is a cult of die hard organic/ biodynamic heads out there. And that's great, I prefer to buy from biodynamic farms when I can. On the Green Scale from 1-10, they rank at 10. I imagine I still fall somewhere around a 6-7 on that scale, but that's on a good day. But in the interest of all those people who are closer to a 3, will all you high ranking people stop faulting them for wanting to move up a bit? If a person realizes that being green and environmentally responsible is important to them, are they expected to all at once stop buying plastic bags and buy everything organic and only buy organic fabrics with organic dyes? I believe these changes happen over time, one by one. I have made so many good changes since Day 1 of my blog. But I am still a work in progress.

But there are pure biodynamic organic people who are using this very positive movement to divide people and say "I am better and more informed than you". Well I do not condone it. I believe that the only way to continue this movement is to encourage those who haven't started down the path. I think we should all be eating organic whole foods, and someday perhaps we all will. But until then, keep on moving up the Green Scale. It doesn't matter if you are a 2 or a 9, what matters is that you want to move closer to that ideal of 10. And being encouraging of those comin' up behind ya' doesn't hurt either.

CSA Week 6

This week at the CSA we got big beautiful broccoli, sweet white turnips that the farmer said you had to try at some point in the season, scallions, chard, a hearty variety of kale, one yellow squash and one stripy guy, red leaf lettuce, 4 tiny cucumbers and cherries.

I have been so tired with DH working late this week that I don't feel like cooking much. However I have pulled through. After the Things found there way to dreamland I finished up the last of last week's scallions and some spinach that I never should have bought at the farmer's market last weekend. I fried the scallions in a little oil, added a few ounces of pork sausage and let that fry for a while. Then I added a half a cup of cooked kasha. Although I wasn't sure what kasha was, and after I cooked it I wasn't sure that I liked it, but I was starving. After the kasha I tossed in the spinach and the last of that fat squash my SIL gave us this weekend (The kids ate most of it for din din tonight). This was actually good. Different, but good.

And do you know what I didn't find out until after I ate? Kasha is (are) buckwheat groats.

A Great Family Dinner

DH and I were so pleased to host his two sisters and brother in law to our home on Saturday! We haven't had them over since their cutie twins were born last December. We have been busy too, I feel like the better part of this year had just slipped away from us!

It was a great opportunity to make some yummy dishes and use up some CSA veggies in the process. The menu? Crock Pot Brisket simmered with paprika, garlic and a beer, Kohlrabi slaw, Cheese Grits and Barbecue Beans. I gave you the recipe for the beans on yesterday evening, so here is the rest of them:

Kohlrabi Slaw
1 Medium Kohlrabi, purple or green-it doesn't matter
2-3 Carrots
1 head of adolescent Bok Choy (you could use half a small head of cabbage, I had the bok choy so I used it, it was perfectly fine raw)

I grated all the ingredients in the food processor and then mixed them up with the dressing. For the dressing, I just whisk everything together. Best to let it sit for a couple hours before serving.

Asian Slaw Dressing
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 squirt of honey or table sugar
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

There is not much that is sustainable, organic or even healthful about these Cheese Grits. But they are good enough that family shows up on time when they know they are being served. I have not found a local or organic source of grits. There is local and organic polenta to be had, but you really need white hominy grits for this, they taste different than yellow corn polenta. I just used Quaker Grits which unfortunately has been enriched.

Cheese Grits
1 cup White Hominy Grits
4 cups Water
1/3 cup of heavy cream (or half and half or milk) About 5-6 ounces of cheese, cheddar, or Parmesan work well, I like a salty cheese Dash of Granulated Garlic

Boil the water on a high flame. When water is at a rolling boil, sprinkle the grits in. Let them cook until the are soft, maybe 10-15 minutes. Add the cream and then the cheese. You can shred the cheese, but I am lazy so I usually just chop it. Add the garlic powder. Stir often, and when the cheese has melted you are all done. Be prepared to make these again.

I would also supply the Brisket recipe, but I just took a 4 pounder and slow cooked it in the Crock Pot for 6-8 hours. I like to let it braise in beer. It is right good. It falls apart for sandwiches but is nice in slices too.

This dinner was a huge success!!

Bacon with No Nitrates?

On Saturday in preparation for our family coming over for dinner, Thing 1 and I went to the farmer's market and the grocery store just the two of us.

I hadn't had a chance to make a list and fortunately that ended up meaning that we bought less than we needed rather than way more! But I was disorganized, right smack dab in the middle of a week during which I have been particularly disorganized. It seems my head is always in the clouds. I was so forgetful that I kept backtracking to go back and get things I had forgotten. Anyone who has ever been to the Fairway in Harlem knows that the aisles are narrow and stuff is just packed in wherever they can fit it. A shopper going back and thwarting the normal customer traffic flow is often given dirty looks.

After finishing my shopping I realized that I had forgotten to buy bacon. I don't keep bacon in the house so this was a pretty big deal, and I don't often look at the display of bacon and say 'there's my preferred brand'. But I wanted to make barbecue beans so I moved against the traffic flow one last time and went back to the cold room.

Fairway in Harlem has an enormous room that is entirely refrigerated. And that is where they keep the meat counter, the racks of milk, aisle after aisle of meat, eggs, juice, yogurt and a fish counter among other things. Bacon is of course in there.

I checked out the Fairway brand because I usually like their stuff. The third or fourth ingredient was sodium nitrate. I was hoping to find an organic bacon, but definitely one without nitrates. I didn't even bother looking at the less expensive major brands. I looked a the gourmet brands. Applewood smoked, all vegetarian diet (read-corn, not grass, but still better than normal animal fare which often includes remnants of their brethren), all of the gourmet varieties had sodium nitrate as well!! So frustrating. With Thing 1 freezing in the cart, a stranger stopped to give us one of the jackets that the store provides to customers shopping in the cold room. No doubt everyone was looking at me saying 'how could that mother bring her three year old in the cold room in shorts and not give him a jacket??!!' But I thought this bacon thing would be easy. I only needed one thing, how long could I be in that cold room?

Finally after looking through every package I found one that was labeled 'Uncured'. Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Uncured Bacon. They explained to me the problem right on the back of the package-"The USDA regulates that certain products not preserved by adding sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate or a salt cure be called UNCURED. For our Uncured products, we instead add natural celery powder, which contains naturally occurring nitrates that bring depth of flavor while inhibiting bacteria and helping the pork retain its color." Finally, my son could leave the cold room.

Furthermore they notate that their products are all natural, no antibiotics, no added hormones all vegetarian feeds and humanely raised on environmentally sustainable family farms. They even go as far as to point out that federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in pork. Rather than taking credit for no hormones as evidence of their character, they alert the customer that they are just following the rules. I find this refreshing. Who knew that the USDA prohibited the use of hormones in pork? I suppose the Pork lobby is slightly underfunded.

My beans were awesome! If I do say so myself..........

Barbecue Baked (or stove top boiled, but who's counting) Beans
Soak you pinto beans over night. Boil them in plenty of water. If you have 1 cup of beans start with 4-5 cups of water. If you get low, just add more, if you add too much, turn the heat up higher to let the water evaporate.. For every cup of beans, add 1 heaping tablespoon of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 strips of bacon diced a good shake of paprika and a good shake of granulated garlic. I boiled them for about 4 hours. If you used canned beans it would take less time, but I boiled them low and took a nap while the kids slept.

They turned out great!

My Low(er)-Flour Diet

Last week I mentioned that I was sick from all the flour after our trip to Block Island. I cut back on flour all week and here are all the floury items I consumed last week:

Tuesday-croutons on my salad for lunch
Wednesday-croutons on my salad for lunch, half a cookie for a snack (it was a pretty big half), bread with dinner (I ate at a real restaurant, where someone takes your order and they take reservations-and there were no children present, Thank You DH!!!!!!!)
Thursday-croutons on my salad for lunch, a couple of dumplings with dinner (Not the asian kind of dumplings, the southern comfort kind. I made chicken and dumplings for the family for the night I went out, but DH didn't leave me that many dumplings.)
Friday-sandwich for lunch with crusty bread, pasta with the kids for dinner
Saturday-small sandwich for lunch, crumble topping on dessert (gooseberry and sour cherry crumble, numnumnum, more on that later this week)
Sunday-Are you ready? Pancakes for breakfast, pizzeria pizza for lunch, homemade whole wheat muffins for a snack and whole wheat pasta for dinner. Oy. And I have to say I really felt the difference. I was literally sick from all the flour.

There were several times that I reached for the kids pasta or the scraps of their sandwiches. But because I was really trying to limit my flour intake I resisted for the sake of science (or whatever this qualifies as).

I do believe though that I feel better when I limit the flour foods I eat. I did not however restrict my carb intake. I ate rice one night, all manner of vegetables, granola and oatmeal for breakfast. I do feel like I feel better when I eat some carbs, whole grains, and of course I am passionate about veggies. But what is it about the flour that makes me so sick? I do not have celiac disease, that much I know. But I can't stand how sluggish I feel after so much flour.

But this 'experiment' has left me with all kinds of questions. I have begun my research into the history of flour and what makes it tick. I should have something for you next week. I'll keep you posted.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Have you ever purchased something because the packaging was beautiful?

I try to remain a logical consumer and purchase items based on their function in my life. I didn't need a bottle of raspberry vinegar. Actually, spending $9 on anything frivolous at the grocery store feels kind of silly, kind of like I got sucked into the food marketing machine. I have still only used 2 tablespoons of the bottle of blood orange bitters I bought last fall, I mean, how many champagne cocktails can anyone really drink? But fortunately this story has a happy ending.

Last Sunday I purchased a bottle of Belberry Royal Selection Raspberry Vinegar. Fairway Grocery Stores have a whole group of their products. They sit together with other expensive chutneys and jams and vinegars. Needless to say it is a display I rarely walk up to. But I was on the market for some new vinegar. And the ruby color really caught my eye. But it was the bottle that really hooked me. It is thick and heavy with a shortish neck at a right angle to the main part of the contents portion. And the product is made in Belgium (not exactly local) and the label is printed in French or Flemish or something. I can read a little French but much of this label escaped me. This made it all the more alluring. I popped it in my cart before Thing 1 could over turn the entire display.

When I got home I opened the bottle. Immediately the smell of fresh raspberries transported me. I actually got a nice visual in my brain of a handmade basket spilling over and fresh luscious red raspberries rolling out onto the counter. The vinegar is sweet and sour, but tastes absolutely fresh as though it has little or no added sugar. There are no labels that I can read so I am a little creeped by the lack of info. But my taste buds are telling me this is okay. So I made a vinaigrette and a luscious spinach and tat soi salad. (I had never heard of tat soi either, it is kind of like chinese spinach, quite good).

Raspberry Vinaigrette
Raspberry Vinegar (maybe 2-3 tablespoons) Small squirt of dijon mustard (maybe a teaspoon, don't try to substitute yellow or brown mustard)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil to taste

In a large bowl mix the vinegar and mustard, salt and pepper together with a whisk. When you have a nice mix start to drizzle the olive oil in. Continue to whisk as you incorporate the oil. Taste often and add as much oil as you like until you get the taste you desire. Most chefs recommend a 1-4 vinegar to olive oil ratio. I like my dressings more tart and go for a 1-2 or 1-3. But this vinegar was so sweet a 1-2 was quite palatable.

Salad dressing was the first thing I learned to make that I normally bought at the store pre-made. My parents often dressed their salads with oil and vinegar, but to this day that is not my preferred dressing. At 16 I thought the idea of homemade salad dressing was revolutionary. Today, I guess I still do.

You know what else would be really good? You could puree fresh or defrosted raspberries, strain out the seeds and mix the puree with some white wine vinegar and then proceed with the recipe. Either way, this is one new dressing that I'll be making again!

Nuts & Trail Mix

I think nuts get a bad rap. They are filled with goodness, high in proteins and good fats. So many nutritionists are careful to tell people that nuts are healthy 'but don't consume too many as they are high in fat'. Meanwhile they are forgetting the important fact that nuts are also high in fiber and all that fat and fiber is very filling and very healthy. I don't know anyone who can eat an entire container of nuts, but I know plenty of people who could put away a bag of cheese puffs (no nutrition there). And don't forget nuts are soooo darn tasty. They are high on my list of 'happy foods'. I have a couple of nut recipes I would like to share. I prefer toasted nuts. Too many raw nuts give me a tummy ache. I have been told that raw nuts are better, higher in nutrition, but I have not done the research. If someone knows please comment!

Really Awesome Trail Mix
1/2 cup of almonds
1 cup of peanuts
1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1/2 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 dried cherries
1/2 milk chocolate chips

Mix all together and enjoy. This is such a great snack and good for the kids. There is some sugar from the fruit and of course getting Thing 1 to eat chocolate is about as hard as getting a sunburn on a hot day. But overall it is packed with protein and really good fats. However I will say at the beach, the chocolate chips kind of melted and got everywhere, sticking all the nuts and fruit together. I don't think it was such a bad thing, but it was pretty messy. We did throw a lttle of it on top of granola for a snack also. It was wicked.

White Chocolate & Blueberry Mix
1 cup of almonds
1 cup of dreid bluberries
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

Mix and enjoy! This is a personal favorite (of mine and my office gals). I was allergic to cocoa and chocolate as a kid so I still have a soft spot in my heart for white chocolate.

A Good Topping for Everything
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 tbsp sesame seeds

This is a mix that I altered from an Elie Kreiger recipe (a personal Food Network favorite) In her recipe she mixes them with maple syrup for a pancake topping. I like the the plain unsweetened mix to top yogurt and berries. It is also great on granola, oatmeal and even ice cream. I need some protein in the morning, and a couple tablespoons of this really keeps me full all morning. And of course it is packed with fiber.

Yum! Enjoy!