Preserving the Early Season Bounty

Home Grown and Delicious

What a time of year this is!  What bounty surrounds us from our farmers, our producers and for many of us I hope, our own gardens!

Have you all worked through the early Spring treats, like Fiddlehead Ferns, Morel Mushrooms, Nettles, and Patience Dock, and are you now wallowing big time in Asparagus, Strawberries, Snap Peas, Lettuces, Arugula, Green Beans, Carrots, Radishes and Greens?  Are you running out of ideas, but do you still find yourself compelled to pick up that beautiful bunch of radishes at the Farmers Market?  Or do you hear yourself say, "just one more pint" of those gorgeous strawberries in their contrasting blue cardboard boxes?  I know the feeling.

Now, it is important to remember that some of the wonderful things we are seeing at the markets or growing ourselves just might be around for awhile - it all depends somewhat on the weather.  But as temperatures rise, we know that some goodies will be gone - at least until the Fall.  So - how do we capture these seasonal wonders in ways that highlight their essence but are maybe a bit different than our traditional uses of them?  Well, we do it by Preserving.  And we are lucky.  Our grandparents didn't have anywhere near the capabilities we have today when it comes to keeping the harvest.

1.  Pickling

       Raw Radishes, Carrots and Turnips are wonderful with just some seasoned sea salt to dip into; and radishes with a good sweet butter and sea salt are an amazing snack.  But did you know that Radishes, Turnips, Green Beans, Carrots and Asparagus are all delicious when pickled?  They all really wake up a cheese board.  And pickled asparagus and carrots are great with sandwiches and pickled asparagus or green beans are wonderful in a Bloody Mary.  Use your favorite simple pickling recipe.  You can then decide to make "refrigerator" pickles, which will last quite awhile in the 'fridge, or "canned" pickles, which will last for a very long time on your larder shelves.  The advantage of the latter method is that, come the holiday season, you will have some lovely gifts for the food lovers in your life.

2.  Jams and Relishes

     Strawberry Jam made with in season, local, recently picked strawberries is just about the best thing going.  And it can be very easy to make!  If you don't want to "put up" jam by canning it, make freezer jam.  Just use a basic jam recipe - usually berries, water, and sugar cooked down to the desired thickness.  Put your jam into small freezer safe containers and you will have the best jam ever all year long.  If you enjoy great relishes, there are many recipes out there using carrots, green beans, asparagus, garlic scapes and lots of other summer goodies that will make wonderful relishes.  These relish mixtures are another great addition to a cheese board or spread on a sandwich.  It is best to can relishes if you are making them in any volume.  Again, not only will you have them for yourself later, but they make great gifts. I make a zucchini relish from Ian Knauer's wonderful cookbook, The Farm, that is a huge hit with everyone.  So when the zucchini starts coming in heavily, guess what I'll be making and canning!

A lot of work but so worth it!

3.  Freezing

     If you have been following this Blog, you know that at this homestead there is a lot of freezing going on during the growing season.  When something we really love is in season locally, we buy it up both to enjoy immediately and to preserve it for the winter months.  The asparagus that we buy this week - as local asparagus is still available - when blanched slightly, vacuum packed and put into our freezer, will taste 100 times better in January than any "5,000" mile sprayed and fooled around with asparagus at a supermarket in January!  If it is something that we are growing, we try to preserve  as much as we are eating - at least that's the working rule!
     Strawberries need only  be hulled - and halved if you prefer - and popped into freezer bags to preserve.  Very "liquid" items like berries do not do well with vacuum packing, so those just get stored by weight and put into freezer bags.
     Hearty Greens - if slightly blanched - freeze very well.  And sweet peas can be trimmed and frozen as is, no need for blanching.  Carrots also freeze very well.  They can also be canned. Actually carrots are very versatile as far as preserving is concerned.  If you do some research you will see that there are lots and lots of methods and recipes for carrots.  If you do pressure canning, think of the wonder of a fresh carrot soup that you pull off of the larder shelf, pour into a sauce pan, heat and finish with a splash of cream!  Imagine a soup made with fresh, in season carrots (maybe your own) and some fresh herbs. On a cold winter's day, that will be a treasure.
     We grow a lot of green beans and the early varieties are starting to come out in full force now.  We treat ourselves to a few meals including those beans picked only minutes before, but we also try to vacuum pack and freeze or pickle a like amount to insure we are holding on to that goodness for the months to come.

4.  Pestos

     Unfortunately, those wonderful lettuces, salad greens and arugula just can't be held on to by the above methods - but, for arugula, Italian parsley, and radish and carrot tops - try making Pesto!  Don't think of pesto as just Basil, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil.  Many delicious greens can go into the food processor - or mortar and pestle - and be made into a delicious pesto mix for pasta, to dollop over meats and seafood, in chicken and tuna salads and absolutely over hot potatoes. Try using different types of oils and vinegars and switch the cheese or use no cheese at all.  I think you will be very pleasantly surprised. You can preserve your pesto by just putting it in freezer bags, but an even better method is to measure it into ice cube trays.  When the "cubes" are frozen, empty them into a freezer bag.  That way you will have just enough for your recipe.

This is hardly an extensive presentation at all of the ways that foods can be preserved.  But it is a start to what I hope will become a habit. I hope that I have started you thinking about preserving some of the bounty of the season for yourself.  Yes, you may be able to purchase some of the above foods all year around, but they will not be local, they will be very expensive and they will not taste as good and/or be as good for you.

And, please, share your experiences in preserving! I'd love to hear from you.

Treasure Real Food.

Breaking the Supermarket Habit - Part 2

Happy Spring Everyone!

I am hoping that as the Farmers Markets are opening and the planting and growing  season has begun, that you all took some time to consider what you are buying at chain supermarkets that you could be buying fresh and locally - and in season.

I'm also hoping to hear from some of you around this topic and these points.  I think we can all benefit from sharing.  This should be an open discussion of what works for you.  Don't be shy! Remember - what works for you might be just the thing another reader needs to hear!  I do believe that, regardless of the demands on your life, you can reach a point where what you eat is at the top of your list of what's important in your life.

Remember at the end of the last post on this topic, I asked you to ask yourselves these questions:

1.  What are your goals in changing your food purchasing and preparing practices?
2.  Do you meal plan?  Do you make a weekly menu?  Do you shop with a shopping list?
3.  Do you have a good idea of what produce is in season at various times of the year?
4.  How often to you cook?  And when you cook, what do you make?  Be tough on yourself.  Reheating a roast chicken purchased from a chain restaurant does not count!

These questions are designed to help you build an actual Profile - for yourself - as to how you feel about, get, and prepare food.  Knowing yourself around these issues will help you in making changes and/or deciding that you don't want or need to make changes.

Question #1 asks you to consider a wide array of your individual attitudes.  People often say to me, "Oh, I really wish that I could be like you.  But I just don't have the time".  I believe that you DO have the time, but you must restructure how you spend your time just a bit.  Or, I hear, "I just am not very good in the kitchen.  I usually ruin whatever recipe I am trying to follow".  See, I think you can learn; I think you take it all too seriously and maybe are afraid to really get started.  Certainly, in this day and age, you have so many resources available to you.  Television, the internet, great cookbooks, other people - these are all learning tools, you have to learn to use them.  Only you can answer the first question for yourself.  I will say that, for me, it is all about delicious, healthy and non- fooled around with food which I can prepare, eat, or at the very least preserve and put up at its peak. It's also about how what I eat is raised.  So for me, anything that comes from big ag/factory farming is out.  You may have other motivations.  Also, I have been cooking almost all of my life.  I like to cook; I like to feed people.  I am most relaxed in the kitchen - even for big meals and special occasions - I like the process.  I think if you are reading this, you are among a group of folks who likes to eat and likes to cook!

Questions #2 and #3 get at some basic practices and some knowledge gathering,  and both are things that I have found to be most practical.  Many of us find ourselves shopping when we are hungry.  Or, we get to the Farmer's Market and we are overwhelmed by all the wonderful things we see - and sometimes, we buy it all up!  And what happens?  Much of what we bought ends up going to waste.  Americans are the biggest food wasters in the world - which is something we should be truly ashamed of, in my opinion  We can avoid a great deal of waste by planning - and this doesn't mean you have to be inflexible. It just means that you are giving yourself an outline, some parameters if you will, to guide your shopping. Take 30 minutes or so before you set out on a food shopping excursion, pour yourself a glass of wine, and consider first each weeknight dinner, the potential for brown bag lunches from each of those dinners, and what will work for something quick on busy weekday mornings.  Then consider what kinds of things (and it's always a good time for treats)  you want to have for weekend breakfasts, lunches and dinners.    And a big note here:  You do not have to buy everything for every meal at once!  If you can get yourself in the habit of food shopping more than once a week, you will also reduce waste.  Many seasonal Farmers Markets pop up more than one day a week at different locations - find out where they are. And, if you have a year 'round market selling local products, you have that benefit as well. 

Realize that chain supermarkets are physically designed to make you buy things you didn't plan to buy; don't actually want or won't end up using.  It is shopping solely from supermarkets, NOT buying most of our food locally and seasonally, that makes us the world's biggest wasters! So do your menus and then your shopping lists for those menus.  If you enjoy using your electronics for such things you can get free applications that will allow you to do menus and develop shopping lists as you go.  Or you can just make yourself a form that works for you, print out copies and use that each week.  And as you do your menus and shopping lists, keep your eyes on the season.  For example, here in Philly local asparagus has been around for a couple of weeks - so I know it won't be too much longer.  Now, along with making all kinds of delicious dishes with asparagus, and eating as much of it as we can,  I know that it's time to start buying some big bunches of asparagus and blanching it, vacuum packing it and freezing it.  Local Strawberries made their first appearance here mid week last week, so we'll be eating lots of delicious fresh strawberries but for every basket we buy to use now, we'll be canning some jam, as well as hulling and freezing the berries.  I think you get the idea.  Be aware of what is truly in season.  In a chain supermarket it looks like everything is in season all of the time.  Break free from that. It's false. And, just to be clear, I am pretty much referring only to produce and meats, poultry and seafood here.  I don't buy "food in boxes".  By this I mean those products that are combinations of multiple 'food' products, often with several of them being dehydrated, meant to make a perfect side dish, or dinner just by adding water, with ingredient lists that are high in sodium and high fructose corn syrup - because your noodles or rice need to be sweetened - and a couple of lines of unpronounceable ingredients at the end of the list.  And I don't buy blister wrapped poultry or meat.  And, lucky me, I live somewhere where I can easily get fresh fish and seafood. Support your local growers and producers and say no to flavorless, sprayed, often GMO laden, "year 'round" produce.  Besides, once you realize what a wonderful treat it is to have something that actually tastes good - like it is supposed to - and was grown well and is at the peak of its flavor, you'll be hooked.

Question #4 the last question that I asked you to consider really gets to the heart of making time for meals - both preparing them and eating and enjoying them.  Nobody has a perfect record here.  I have found myself with a refrigerator and larder and freezer full of all sorts of great stuff, and still dialed the local Chinese takeout.  Stuff happens.  What I want to share is that I do it less and less - it is a big "treat" and that's a good thing.  In our house brown bag lunches from left overs are pretty much the only way to go.  But still one of us may just have a day that needs some gooey cheese fries from the local sandwich shop.  The bottom line is that most of what we eat we prepare ourselves or we grow ourselves or we purchase it from growers, producers and ranchers who  know - either directly or by doing some research. For us, it is most enjoyable to get to know the folks from whom we buy our food.  Chain supermarkets just do not offer that level of personal relationship.  It is generally not part of their marketing strategy and often, they do not even have folks on staff who can answer specific questions.  The way of shopping, selecting and preparing food that I am describing does take us back to an older time and another way.  So does growing some of your own food. But most of all, so does preparing meals at home from fresh, seasonal, safe ingredients.  The act of actually cooking and sharing good meals with those in your life on a regular, ideally daily basis, is something we all need.    We need - not just to escape the tyranny of the supermarket's mass produced "food in a box" -  we also need to stop, relax, enjoy and share.  I honestly believe that our good health as well as our enjoyment of our lives will benefit from both.  Remember how good Grandmom's food was?  

Let's hear from You.

"Know where your food comes from"

Breaking the Supermarket Habit: Getting Started

As we enter the growing season and the arrival of fabulous fresh foods to our farmers markets, and hopefully arriving in some of our gardens as well,  I am planning over the next few posts to discuss ways in which the average person can break free of what I call the "Supermarket Food Habit".

I am often challenged by readers and others as to how they are supposed to "start" eating more locally, seasonally and humanely.  How much more will it cost me?  How much time will it take?  How do I begin actually cooking real food at home?  It is my hope that I will be able to answer all of these questions, along with providing some guidelines for getting started.  And remember, everything does not have to happen at once.  Actually, these kinds of changes are best carried out in small steps/in increments.  The practice of going to one enormous store and filling up one or two shopping carts with everything we could possibly need for at least a week - often supplemented by fast food - is ingrained in our DNA.  So this is not an overnight fix. It's not a fad. We want the changes to be permanent.  So, one step/one day at a time is definitely the way to go.

First, a little bit of history and discussion about where things used to be and about how we got into the situation we are in with Food.  It"s important to think about how this all unfolded.  What led us to where we are today?

In the beginning, industrialization and urbanization cut deeply into the agrarian lifestyle of earlier generations.  Many people stopped keeping a garden and "putting up" food for the winter.  After World War II, "Victory Gardens" all but disappeared. New conveniences like electric refrigerators and freezers became common place in every home.  This begat a corner grocery store, which then begat a supermarket, which then begat a superstore.

Our foremothers shopped the way many of us on the fringes of the Fair Food movement shop today - making 2, 3, even 4 stops.  My Gran would go to the small farmers' market where she liked the chicken and she'd take me regularly to the Reading Terminal Market (when there was sawdust on the floor and poultry hanging) because she liked a number of things from the Amish folks. And always while we there, she got herself a buttermilk from the "Drink Buttermilk and Live Longer" stand and me a Bassett's ice cream in a cardboard cup with a steel holder.  She knew lots of people by name.  And of course she had a real relationship with that corner store owner.  It was a tiny store and Saul stocked it to the ceiling.  He was also a trained butcher, so Gran got her fresh meat from him.  His son played with my sister and I and the other neighborhood kids. There was a personal connection.

Well folks, that was then, this is now.  A time, as Michael Pollen calls it, of "needless complication" about food. My grandmother would not recognize much of what's on the shelves - and especially what's in the freezers - in a typical supermarket.  "Dinners" that you can put in a drawer or a cabinet; fifteen versions of everything; and ingredients lists that boggle the mind.  Our insatiable need for mega stores; our inability to eat seasonally - forget locally - and our insane demand for "perfect looking" produce has nearly destroyed real independent farms and replaced them with horrible institutions of manufacturing food - factory farming/big Ag - whatever you want to call it.  That worm hole led us to tasteless hybrids that shipped well, and then later, GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

So, like many of us, if you at the point where you are considering eating real food, food that comes from the region in which you reside, food that is free from lots of additives and chemicals, and food that is raised the right way - humanely - the supermarket is not going to be your main source.  As a matter of fact, probably no "store" will do everything for you.  A lot of this effort comes from your own kitchen - by cooking more of your own food yourselves, you take the first giant leap toward real food, healthier food, and fair food.

Let's Get Started!

First we should get the obvious issues out of the way.

1.  Cooking most of your own food takes time. Doing a weekly menu takes time.  Preserving your own food takes more time.  You will come to know that it is time well spent.
2.  Shopping selectively (having a butcher, a cheese monger, a bakery,  and going to the Farmers Markets) is more complicated and time consuming than walking into a supermarket.
3.  Consider whether you are really willing to go "all in".  For example, if you are going to take more time in food selection and in cooking for yourself, and then eat fast food lunches or those over processed meals that have a shelf life of forever, you are defeating your efforts.  Learn to Brown Bag it!
4.  YES!  Let's get it out of the way. Some things will cost more.  This is a direct attempt to keep you hooked on the supermarket by the national mega food factories!  I have very little else to say on the subject of costs.  You are putting food into your body! And the bodies of those for whom you are preparing food.  What is that worth to you?  Your call - would you rather pay the farmer or the doctor?

OK - As we begin this process there are a couple of questions for you to take some time to consider  and to answer for yourself  - honestly.

1.  What are your goals in changing your food purchasing and preparing practices?
2.  Do you meal plan?  Do you make a weekly menu?  Do you shop with a shopping list?
3.  Do you have a good idea of what produce is in season at various times of the year?
4.  How often to you cook?  And when you cook, what do you make?  Be tough on yourself.  Reheating a roast chicken purchased from a chain restaurant does not count!

For the next installment of "Breaking the Supermarket Habit", I will provide some guidelines around the above four practices.  If you answer these questions for yourself, the next post will be more useful for you. My guidelines will help you shop for, make, and eat great, fresh, healthy food and be much less supermarket dependent!

Do the Homework! Have Fun!

Spring at an Urban Homestead; A Soup for the Season

It's all about keeping warm right now!

It's a busy time of the year here at our Homestead.  In order to have the kind of yields we want to provide a good portion of our produce for the coming months, we have had to get growing, late Spring be damned!  I can't say enough about the value of having a cold frame or a similar structure - it does allow you to get an early start, especially on spring crops like lettuces, hearty greens, parsley, arugula, carrots and radishes.  We grow almost everything from seed - many of those seeds are Heirloom so they take a bit of time to get going.  Plus, around our home, salads fresh from our garden are at the top of the favorites list.  So what if we have to wait awhile to add our tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers?  Great mixed greens, sliced radishes, peppery arugula, and sliced carrots with a delicious vinaigrette and maybe a fresh cheese make an outstanding Spring meal. Thus, we very motivated to get 'em growing!

We use a number of growing bed techniques, the planter pictured above will serve as the "official" cold frame and, as the weather warms, those lids will come off and be stored for the summer.  Along with the early crops that are in there now, there will be lots of eggplants and a mix of hot and sweet peppers planted there. Then there are our two small standing planters, pictured below.  The covered one holds our garlic (which will be harvested in July) and, as of last week, this planter has also been seeded with Swiss Chard.  The upper planter - slightly visible - will be the growing spot for two kinds of cucumbers - both eating and pickling.  The mesh is helpful in keeping local city critters from sampling seeds, digging, burying, etc.

Small Standing Planters

In addition to the standing planters we have a good sized built in herb garden where we grow, not only herbs (I've scaled down over the years to putting in lots of the herbs we really use, like basil, parsley, chives, mint, thyme, rosemary and sage instead of a wide array of herbs) but also snow peas, celery and sorrel.  This provides a nice balance in these particular beds and gives us fresh herbs for months, well into the Fall.

A section of the herb garden

As shown in the photo to the left, we are also using a mesh covering over our recently planted snow peas - just to be sure they don't get poached!  We had used two "potato growing sacks" (see below) for a couple of years for growing potatoes, but we have decided that we have access to great potatoes from local growers and that we would use the sacks for carrots and two kinds of radishes instead - at least in the early part of the season.  Now that they are seeded, we have been covering the sacks over night to hold some heat in, but carrots and radishes are early seeds that will germinate as low as 40 degrees. This year our Spring has been late to consistently show its face so, in my opinion, better to be safe than sorry and risk a successful crop.

Former Potato Sacks of Carrots & Radishes

We are currently putting in two new planters and, as we finish them up, and get them started,  I will show them in another Blog post.  I am very excited about even more growing room, of course. And, of course, there are large tomato pots with cages to be set up, and peppers, eggplants, okra and squash to be planted.  For most growers I know it's hard to have patience, but this recent weather is really testing the limits of that patience!

So, right now.  We are working hard - more with cleaning and covering and uncovering and building and moving things around.  Right now, there's no end of the work day "hanging out in the garden" and enjoying it - It's too cold by the time we get the work done.  But we know we'll be doing just that very soon! 

In my next Blog I will also report about our experiences having a Rain Barrel installed by a great project in our city!  Very proud of the program, our participation in it,  and the fact that we will be getting some watering and cleaning water directly from our roof!


Recipe:  Swiss Chard and Egg Soup (Adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking Feb/March 2015)

If you love Chard and, especially if you also grow it, you know how prolific it is and how you are always looking for ways to use it.  This soup is deceptively rich, but not too rich for a first course at a Spring dinner.  The combination of the greens, fresh lemon juice, stock & eggs, topped off by some really good croutons will have you coming back for a second bowl.  As always, we played with the original recipe.  We had a big bunch of Swiss Chard; the original recipe used Escarole.  The original also used sun dried tomatoes as an optional garnish.  We left those out. And, in addition, we invented something we are calling "Dry Pesto", which we sprinkled over each bowl at service - much like a gremolata.  Playing with your food is what makes it fun, so make this recipe yours.

Ingredients

3 slices of a good rustic bread, cut into 3/4 inch cubes, about 3 cups (I used our leftover homemade bread)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 good sized shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4 cups Swiss Chard, stems included, coarsely chopped
1 quart low salt chicken stock
3 large eggs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (none of the bottled stuff here!)

Good Extra Virgin Olive Oil for swirling onto the soup at service

"Dry Pesto" - mix equal parts chopped fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese tossed with about half as much chopped pine nuts and one large chopped garlic clove

Technique

Heat the oven to 450 degrees and on a rimmed baking sheet toss the bread cubes with 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread the cubes into a single layer and bake until the croutons are golden - about 8 minutes.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a 4 quart sauce pan over medium high heat.

Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown about 4 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant, just about 30 seconds
Add the chopped swiss chard - first the chopped stems for about 3 minutes and then the rest of the chopped Swiss Chard leaves and cook, stirring until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the chicken stock, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil
Remove the sauce pan from the heat.
Whisk the eggs with the lemon juice and whisk the mixture into the hot soup

At service, top each bowl with some of the Dry Pesto, 3 - 4 Croutons and a swirl of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Swiss Chard & Egg Soup

Enjoy! And plant something!

Great Tomato Products and a Family Owned Business! Recipe: Cream of Tomato Soup

Repack Whole Tomatoes

As anyone who's been reading these posts know I am continually promoting cooking and eating local, well raised, chemical free products.  And you've also seen often my support for family owned small farms and other businesses vs. big agriculture and factory farming.  I am very happy to present for your consideration one of those family businesses.

A little bit of background is in order. We "put up"/can tomatoes every Fall.  We make a lot of red gravy - as it's called in our neighborhood - as well as soups, and other dishes using flavorful tomatoes.  To supplement our larder, we have been buying canned tomatoes and paste from Italy.  Nothing wrong with them; they are fine tomatoes, but I have recently been introduced to great tomato products from a family owned and operated business just a few states over from my own - Red Gold.

Selita Reichart is the matriarch of the Red Gold company.  The company was founded in 1942. Selita  and her husband are the third generation owners of Red Gold and their two sons are being groomed to take over as the fourth generation.   The company's employee created mission statement is:  "To produce the freshest, best tasting tomato products in the world".

I have had the pleasure over the past few months to try Red Gold's products in a number of my favorite tomato based recipes and I am definitely going to be using them - as opposed to the imported tomato products - from now on.  I made red gravy, stewed tomatoes, chicken cacciatore, and cream of tomato soup (see recipe below) and I am very happy to recommend the Red Gold line of products.  The consumer brands from Red Gold include:  Red Gold, Redpak, Tuttorosso; and Sacramento.  For those of us on the east coast Tuttorosso and Redpak are very easy to find.  Their website is worth visiting, as well.  It is well maintained, friendly, interactive, and includes lots of recipes.  Check it out:  www.redgold.com, and please give the Red Gold products a try; I know that you will enjoy the tomatoes as much as you will enjoy supporting a family owned business!

Ready for Grilled Cheese!

Recipe:  Cream of Tomato Soup (Better than the red and white can!)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
Kosher Salt
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 pinch of red pepper flakes (optional, but it doesn't really impart "heat" as much as pick up the flavor)
1 Lg. can (28 ounces) of Redpak whole tomatoes, in their juices
1 1/2 cups of low salt chicken stock
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Optional garnishes:  basil leaves, thyme, grated parmesan cheese

Technique

Over medium low heat, melt the butter with the olive oil in a medium saucepan
Add the diced onions and a large pinch of salt
Cook - and stir occasionally - until the onions soften, about 15 minutes (don't brown the onions)
Add the minced garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook for 5 - 7 minutes more, stir occasionally

Increase the heat to medium and add the can of whole tomatoes and their juices to the pan.  (TIP:  I use kitchen shears to chop the tomatoes a bit while they are still in the can - it gives you a bit of a head start on getting the tomatoes to break down. )
Crush the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon as you stir them around a bit.
Cook until the tomatoes are hot and are beginning to soften; about 10 - 15 minutes
Add the chicken stock to the pan, stir, and bring the mixture to a simmer
Cook at a medium simmer (not a boil) until the tomatoes are beginning to fall apart; about 15 minutes

Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly - for about 10 minutes
Using an immersion blender, puree' the soup until smooth. You can also blend the soup in batches in a blender, just be very careful - the liquid will still be hot.

(NOTE: some folks like a bit of a chunk, which is fine, but I like the soup to be as smooth as I can get it.  Memories of the red and white can!)

Return the pureed soup to low heat and gradually stir in the cream.  Add freshly ground black pepper and taste to adjust the seasonings.   Serve with your garnish of choice.  (NOTE:  I never use any garnish; I usually have this with a basic grilled cheese sandwich, which I occasionally dip into the soup.  Just like my Grannie used to make it for me!)

Enjoy!

Freezers, Refrigerators, and Larders and Amazing Stuffed Pork Chops

 

Our Larder - one part of our system

     It's that time of year when I start taking stock and straightening out our freezers and our larder.  I know we've been pulling things out of the freezer and using things from the larder shelves for a number of months now and I have to take yet another,"inventory".  I need to be sure that I know what we still have lots of, what's getting low (blueberries, strawberries, and green beans I have learned), and what we may have "forgotten" that we had - and making use of it.  The management and monitoring of our supplies, provisions and food takes a bit of time, as does cooking our meals "from scratch", but in the long run we can't imagine any other way - you literally cannot go back to the processed stuff in the supermarket once you start eating this way - you just can't.

     Here's a look at our food storage system and a recipe we developed recently with items we had stored.

     The Freezers & the Refrigerators:  We started a number of years ago, freezing seasonal things that we loved, like asparagus and blueberries, strawberries, green beans, etc. All of the things that we bought fresh at the various Farmers' Markets were bought in bulk in order to "freeze some".  Well, the drawer freezer below our 30 inch main refrigerator filled up pretty quickly, so we invested in a stand alone box freezer and installed it in the basement of our home.  The box freezers are the most reasonably priced and frankly I think they are better at energy management.  They are however a challenge to use.  With a box freezer you are bent over looking in side baskets (the win!) or you are having to dig through layers of frozen packages trying to find the one that is alluding you (the loss!) -  so the more organized the better - you have been warned.  Last year we added a second small refrigerator to the basement line up.   Believe it or not, we seem to have way more condiments and pickles and juices than most people - so again our kitchen refrigerator was getting impossible to manage.  And happily that small refrigerator came with a small top freezer.

     The Larder:  We've been canning tomatoes and tomato puree' for years. Even before we got involved in urban homesteading and growing some of our own food, we'd go to South Jersey and buy flats of Jersey tomatoes to can.  We always maintained a small shelving unit in the basement for our canned tomatoes.  As time went by we expanded to canning pickles and pickled peppers and a jam or two along with the tomatoes.  Eventually we realized that we needed larger shelves, and we needed them to be handy to the cook.  We installed a large shelving unit at the foot of the basement steps, added some fruit crates stacked next to it for storing potatoes, squash, onions and garlic, and just like that, we found ourselves with a larder.

     So, we are currently a three freezer, two refrigerator, one larder household.  It may sound like a lot but keep in mind that we cook from scratch.  And, of course, our interest in urban homesteading has led us to growing some of our own food.  Along with water bath canning, this year we are starting to do pressure canning, which will allow us to have soups, stews, and sauces among other things on those larder shelves.

     In the long run, we are finding that our system is definitely healthier for us and proves itself to be quite cost effective.  Believe me, our costs - even with our initial investment in appliances - are much less than folks who eat take out a good deal and who buy a lot of supermarket processed food. We make our own stocks and freeze them.  Our dinners become vacuum packed for lunches and those seasonal things that we love are available to us long after their growing season ends.  It is worth it to take some time to look at a few key things:   1. how you would be able to preserve and/or store some good, local food;  2. what you would need to cook more of your food at home; and 3. how making some changes might improve your eating experiences - and your health.

     So, as part of my recent "inventory check" - here's what I came upstairs with:   I found two big thick pork chops (from Country Time Farm) and some chicken stock in our freezer; I grabbed some apples and onions from our larder bins; and I opened the small refrigerator and found celery and mushrooms in our produce drawers.  And yes, I had a hankering for the smoky flavor of scamorza - which is basically a smoked mozzarella - so I did go out and buy that!

     And that is how this recipe was born! This is basically our "old time" family stuffing recipe, kicked up a few notches.  The addition of apple, mushroom and cheese provides amazing flavor with the pork.  And if you can, do add the Apple Cider, too!

Recipe:  Roasted Pork Chops with Apple, Mushroom, and Cheese Stuffing
(for 2)

Ingredients

2 thick cut, bone-in pork chops (humanely raised, drug free, local)

2 cups coarse bread (like French table bread) crusts carelessly removed, torn into pieces
2 - 3 tablespoons of lard***
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced cremini mushrooms (slice them thick, then halve them)
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced (small dice)
3 ounces of Scamorza cheese diced (small dice)
No salt chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons Sage
Apple Cider

***It is becoming very clear that vegetable and canola oils are actually not very good for us, while good lard is a fine medium for frying and sautéing in some dishes.  You will be seeing the use  of lard in many of my recipes going forward.

Technique

"Stale" the bread pieces by spreading them out on to a cookie sheet.  This is best accomplished overnight or, if you have bread that is close to stale when you tear it, in a few hours.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

Sauté the onion and the celery in the lard until soft.  Add salt and pepper
Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook the mushrooms until they are tender (not too soft)
Stir in the apple and the sage and cook for 1 -2 minutes
Remove the pan from the heat

Add the bread pieces and toss to blend
Add the cheese and toss to blend

Moisten the stuffing mixture with the chicken stock (how moist you like your stuffing is up to you but remember it can dry out a bit in the cooking process)
Check salt and pepper levels

Lightly butter or oil a baking dish

Make a slit in the side of each of the pork chops - you are creating a "pouch" for the stuffing
Fill each chop with the stuffing mixture.  Stuff well, but don't over stuff.
Put any left over stuffing in the baking dish around the chops.

Now - to gild the lily a bit - pour a bit of good local apple cider over the chops and the stuffing.

Cover the baking pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Uncover the baking pan and bake for another 15 minutes or until the chops are done to your liking.
Let the chops and stuffing sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

During the uncovered baking period, the loose stuffing will form a nice crunchy exterior but will stay soft and juicy underneath.

Enjoy!

Easy & Delicious Beef Bone Broth

There is no better time of year than now to develop the habit of making Bone Broth on a regular basis.  My approach is to make small batches - which keep up to a week or so in the refrigerator.  I take out a small amount each day, warm it up in a small sauce pan, pour it into a cup and sprinkle the hot broth with a few good flakes of Maldon sea salt.  Delicious.  Warming.  Good for you!


Let's begin.  Beef Bone Broth.

Ingredients

A one pound to one and a half pound beef soup bone.  See below - it must be from a naturally raised animal.
Fresh Water
2 - 3 Bay leaves
One yellow onion
Good Sea Salt

Technique

The first and most important item in the broth making process is the bone.  I use a one pound to one and a half pound beef "soup" bone - as my local farmer labels it.  A nice big bone, some marrow, and a good deal of meat surrounding the bone.  You want - no, you must have - organic, grass fed, pasture raised beef bones.  Making beef bone broth from supermarket, factory farmed meat is a waste of time.  You are not looking for a nice hot cup of hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals from an unhappy, tortured creature.

Rinse your soup bone and pat dry.  Some folks roast the bone until it develops some color.  Much like you do to make a good rich stock.  I do not roast the bone.  My broth has a lighter color because of that, but I want all of the flavor and goodness in my liquid.

Place the bone in a medium sized stock pot.  Cover the bone by about 3 - 4 inches with fresh water.  Add about two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to the water - this will leach out impurities that will  rise to the top early on so you can skim them off.

Cover the pot.  Bring your liquid to a boil and then immediately lower to a simmer - a very low simmer.  I use a "simmer plate" that fits over my burner and allows me to keep the heat very low.  You do not want the liquid to boil. I check it every hour so; if you need to, add water to maintain the level. In the first couple of hours, you can skim the scum floating on the top.  After that,  I do not skim the fat off!  I know that you will see many recipes that do skim the fat off.  Fat = Flavor.  I leave it alone.

Again, I make my bone broth in small batches, so I generally leave this pot on a simmer for from 24 - 30 hours.  I may not have mentioned this, but also note that you will have the most amazing aroma wafting throughout your kitchen after about hour three.

At about hour 28 I add a few bay leaves and a regular yellow onion cut into quarters.  That is all that I add. As mentioned,  I do not roast the bone.  I do not add tomato paste.  Thus, my bone broth is "natural" in color.  I like it that way, but once you start making it regularly you may want to experiment.

When the meat is all off of the bone, when the marrow is out and melted into the broth (I help this process along if it doesn't fall out itself) and the broth is a lovely golden color, it's done.

Strain once through a wide strainer for the meat, bone, bay leaves and onion; strain a second time through cheesecloth for the rest of the bits, etc.

After straining, I refrigerate the broth in a large glass measuring cup, covered,  for at least a few hours, and ideally overnight.

When you chill it, you will see that fat has solidified on the top.  Yes - fat.  Good stuff!  I stir this well
so that I am sure to distribute it and then I "bottle" it.

 

"A cup a day" - I usually drink about 8 ounces a day.  Heat the broth well in a sauce pan, pour it into your cup and sprinkle it with some really good sea salt.  Give the salt a chance to permeate the broth and enjoy!


NOTE:  That meat is delicious, although a bit chewy.  You can find a number of ways to use it, especially shredded and slow cooked - as in tacos.  If you live with dogs, you will make them very happy with some of this meat, as well!