Adopting a Real Food Diet. Spring Treats!

In a recent Blog I presented some tips for discussing changing to a Real Food diet and helping friends and loved ones do the same. A Real Food diet is based on fresh, seasonal, local foods - many of which are plant based - and humanely raised, chemical and hormone free meats and poultry.  Real Food folks also avoid farm raised fish.  Observers of a Real Food diet shop locally and buy as much food as possible from Farmers’ Markets, Farms, and Markets representing local producers. Real Food eaters cook at home from scratch often; observe a regular “dinner time”;  and avoid fast food, artificial sweeteners, "substitute" foods like no fat yogurt or margarine, convenience food, and commercially processed and/or commercially frozen food.

Honestly the more I know, the more concerned I become that folks are doing themselves harm with the way that they are eating, so the more knowledge about a Real Food Diet that we can share, the better. More and more I get the opportunity to have in depth discussions with folks who are concerned about their diet and their health and the connection between the two.  Of course, I still have to field the “fresh food/food at the Farmers Markets is too expensive” complaint.  I tend to not engage with that too much because there are ways to analyze it and it is often not true, depending on what you buy, what you waste, the cost of prescription medications, etc.  Real Food as opposed to chemically laced supermarket products might just be worth a few more dollars.

The Food/Health Connection

I have spent a good deal of time already in April watching documentaries and doing a lot of reading and research regarding the connection between Food and Health.

Documentaries like, “Forks Over Knives”, “Cooked”, “Fed Up”, and “Food Matters” - just to name a few - are well worth putting some time aside to view.

I was particularly interested in learning more in depth information about the astonishing rates of diabetes in America - not to mention Heart Disease and Cancer - and the relationship between those diseases and diet.  

I learned some astonishing facts:

*In 2013, 50% of all Americans were taking at least one prescription medication!

*1/3 of all Americans will become Diabetic in their lifetime!

*Americans ingest, on average, 147 Pounds of refined sweeteners a year per person!

Happily, one of the most promising things that i learned was that, through diet, the progression of these diseases can sometimes be slowed or even reversed!  Imagine that.  And imagine how Big Pharmaceutical feels about any scientist or physician advertising  that reality!

Out of all of this learning, and with my own personal experiences, I have come to the conclusion that practicing a Real Food approach can go a long way in improving the American way of eating and the health of Americans in general.

I offer these questions again here to help folks get started in a Real Food direction.

Asking the Right Questions/Getting Started on the Path to Real Food

In order for a person to develop their own goals, it is necessary for them to look at their own habits and practices and decide where they want to make changes.  These general questions can be a good start to helping individuals see their habits and patterns and what they would like to change.

1. How often do you eat fast food in a week?
2. How often do you eat take out in a week?
3. Do you “Brown Bag” your lunch?
4. Do you make menus and shopping lists prior to shopping for food?
5. How often do you cook “from scratch”?  Would you like to do more real cooking?
6. Do you have a - relatively - set “dinner time” for everyone? 
7. How often in a month do you cook for family and/or friends?  Would you like to do more of that?
8. Do you know where the Farmers Markets and Markets selling local farm products are in your immediate area?  
9. Where do you shop for food?

Honest answers to these questions, along with the development of a do-able plan, can provide a real blueprint for adopting a Real Food diet.  This is just a start.  But it is a start!

Please Note:  I do have a limited number of spaces available this Spring for consulting with individuals looking to adopt the practices of a Real Food diet.  These short term consults involve supporting individuals in getting an idea where they are currently and where they want to go in changing their diet.  It also includes some start up "Recipes for Success" as well as an analysis of the best markets and resources in the area.  Shopping tours and menu development activities are also available.  Contact the Philly Foodist at:  DoneganMRI@aol.com

Spring Treats are Here!

Now is the time folks!  Keep your eyes open because the Asparagus, Ramps, Morel Mushrooms, and Fiddlehead Ferns have arrived!  These delicious treats have a very short season and are worth binging on when you can get them. I will be sharing some of our favorite asparagus recipes as the season unfolds.  Ramps and Fiddlehead Ferns bring such a punch of flavor to any dish:  think pasta or rice or sautéed with grilled chicken, fish or meat.  Morel Mushrooms are so amazing - pair them with a basic cream sauce with thyme and freshly ground black pepper and you have an incredible side dish. Morels sautéed by themselves in a little butter with salt and pepper are amazing. Some folks like to stuff them.  The point is, the recipes are out there so do not hesitate when you see any of these spring treats and use your imagination to cook with them. 

Ramps

Fiddle Head Ferns

Cherish Real Food!

Helping People Get on the Road to Real Food!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Solstice/Easter, whatever you celebrated, over the past long weekend.  Over the holiday, I saw a lot of friends and family and was asked some of the same questions that I get asked a lot. Mainly, “How do I start shopping and eating better and cooking more from scratch”? “You must have unlimited spare time!”.  “How do you do it?" Do you ever sleep?”

I realize that many people think it is a daunting task to even enter the kitchen - let alone actually cook in the kitchen. And I also hear the time and stress crunch argument a lot.  “No time”.  “I can’t be running from market to market a couple of times a week!”  “How can I come home after a long day and start cooking dinner from scratch?”. 

Without answers and a plan, these folks end up going to a "big box", or a one stop mega mart where they pick up boxes of processed microwave stuff (I can’t in good conscious call it food), or "rotisserie" chickens, or eating lots of take out and fast food. People also fall into the habit of eating regularly at low priced chain restaurants were the food is frozen and microwaved for service - and highly processed.

When I get asked these questions, I first think, what is it that these folks really want to do?  DO they have goals around good food that they cooked for themselves or are they just feeling guilty by what they see in the - very confusing - press? Are they willing to make some changes to the benefit of themselves and their family?  Lastly, it is also important to know when folks are not willing to make changes and are pretty clear in their belief that anyone who thinks that their heavily processed, sugar laden, fast food diet isn’t good for them - and is really bad for their kids -  is a “conspiracy theorist”.  Trust me - those folks are out there!

Here I offer some guidelines for any of you who get asked these same questions and want to offer something helpful in reply.  If we can help someone make positive, healthy changes, by all means we should. And so I offer the following.

Getting Started

Many years ago, we set out to define some goals for ourselves, the way we shopped, how much we cooked at home, and the way we ate.

Basically our goals were our goals - and they remain the same:    

1. Shopping for and cooking real food that that is humanely raised, chemical and hormone free and local and seasonal.  Making very few exceptions on the “local” aspect. 
2. Making meal time an important time - eating together without distractions and with enough time to eat, enjoy the food, and talk to each other.  
3. Building shopping for real food into the schedule. 

Asking the Right Questions

In order for a person to develop their own goals, it is necessary for them to look at their habits and practices and decide where they want to make changes.  These general questions can be a good start to helping individuals see their habits and patterns and what they would like to change.

1. How often do you eat fast food in a week?
2. How often do you eat take out in a week?
3. Do you “Brown Bag” your lunch?
4. Do you make menus and shopping lists prior to shopping for food?
5. How often do you cook “from scratch”?  Would you like to do more real cooking?
6. Do you have a - relatively - set “dinner time” for everyone? (the work on the positive power of “family dinners” is astounding!  On children, yes.  But also on all of us)
7. How often in a month do you cook for family and/or friends?  Would you like to do more?
8. Do you know where the Farmers Markets and Markets selling local farm products are in your immediate area?  
9. Where do you shop for food?

Of course, there are clearly many other questions to ask and conversations to be had.  We know that if many Americans ate real food, they might be able to eliminate the prescribed medications in their lives. We know that behavior - especially children's behavior - is influenced by the kinds of things they eat. I suggest leaving those more in depth discussions for later in the process.

So, obviously you are not sitting down your family and friends, with paper and pen in hand, and “administering” the above as a test!  But asking folks to consider some of these issues for themselves will help them set their own goals.  Believe or not, we get stuck in patterns of behavior - good and bad - that we don’t even recognize after awhile.  Your nudge may be just the thing to folks thinking about these very important aspects of life.  Good Luck!

Treasure Real Food!

Garden Planning & Delicious Winter Greens Lasagna

The Blog:  Garden Planning and Delicious Winter Greens Lasagna 

These few warm days have been just enough to send me into full on garden planning mode.  I have pulled all of my notes out from the past few years and, as usual, have started planning by promising myself that I will stick to growing the tried and true things that we really like, with maybe one “experiment” or maybe two. 

Then I dive into the catalogs and my reserve weakens.  “A new Heirloom something or other has been discovered??”  “Don’t we really need Tomatillos?”  “Maybe this will be the year that I’ll be successful with that; it looks so good! I should try it one more time . . .”.

Yes, I need someone to talk me down.  In my fantasies I have unlimited space - or think I can create it where it doesn’t exist, which I think I actually have done somewhat, but any more would ruin our little garden escape by overcrowding it.

So, after a first run through of notes and catalogs and articles, I generally start editing in a reasonable fashion.  I’ve learned a lot over the past 4 years of serious growing, so I am hoping that my decisions will yield lots of success.  My pepper habit shows no sign of waning - and it shouldn’t.  We have a lot of success with peppers. I have to have eggplant and okra growing.  The same with a couple bushes of cherry tomatoes.  They are the gardener’s “treat” while working, so one or two types is absolutely necessary.  We eat a lot of salad greens of all sorts, including arugula. The same for hardy greens and beans as well.  I always enjoying growing a bit of garlic and I must have a small plot of potatoes - just because they are so delicious when cooked at harvesting.  Cucumbers are a big deal with us - we love to eat them a number of ways, use them in cocktails and in making lots of pickles.  I have my fingers crossed that the strawberries and blue berries really take hold this year - we went through a lot of jam over the winter.   And, of course, we grow lots and lots of herbs.  I have learned over time what herbs make sense for the way we cook and eat, and what are just going to take up much needed space.

But then, It is time for the Philadelphia Flower Show - so all reserve may be thrown to the wind! 

I would love to hear what you all are planting and if you are, in fact, in planning mode right now or waiting a bit - like a sane person!  Share your garden ideas.

Recipe:  Winter Greens Lasagna (adapted from Chowhound)

This is so scrumptious and satisfying, no one will even miss the traditional  meat filling.  The trick we have found in making this a few times is to use a nice mix of hardy greens (happily we have a freezer full) and also use fresh lasagna noodles.  The original recipe called for “no cook” noodles - which neither of us like.  Buying or making sheets of fresh pasta and just cutting it yourself works perfectly in creating a light and delicious lasagna. You can of course buy dried lasagna noodles, cook them and set them aside, but fresh pasta is really the best.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium white onion, medium dice

3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 cups of heavy cream

1/2 pound of kale (whatever you like, red is good), washed and coarsely chopped - you can remove the stems if they seem to large; we usually don’t remove stems from greens, there are lots of nutrients and flavor there! You should have about 5 cups.

1 pound of swiss chard, washed and coarsely chopped. You should have about 8 cups.

1/2 pound of Lacinato (black kale), washed and coarsely chopped. You should have about 5 cups.

Note:  the point is to use about 18 or cups of chopped hearty greens.  Whatever you have on hand or what’s available - and what you like - will make a delicious lasagna.

1 3/4 cups of creme fraiche.

Freshly cut, uncooked lasagna noodles or a 9 oz box of “no cook” noodles or cooked fresh noodles

1 pound of whole milk fresh ricotta

2 cups of finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 5 oz)

Technique

Heat your oven to 400 degrees, set a rack in the middle of the oven.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  When the oil shimmers add the onion and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper and cook the mixture until soft, stir occasionally.  This will take about 5 minutes.

Add the cream to the pot along with a few handfuls of the greens and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly wilted.  Keep adding greens a little at a time until they are all slightly wilted - and coated in the cream. This will take about 10 minutes. Season the creamy greens with salt and pepper and remove the pot from the heat.

Spread 1 cup of the creme fraiche evenly over the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish.  Cover that layer with a layer of 4 lasagna noodles. The noodles should overlap a little. Use a slotted spoon and scoop 1/3 of the greens mixture from the cream and evenly spread it over the noodles, then cover the greens with a third of the fresh ricotta and a quarter of the parmesan.  Repeat this process for two more layers and end with a final layers of lasagna noodles on top.  Pour 1/4 cup of the warm cream evenly over the noodles.  Mix the remaining creme fraiche and parmesan together and spread that evenly over the top.

Cover the lasagna with foil and bake until bubbling and starting to brown, about 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake until the top is browned completely and the sauce is bubbling. This will take about 10 minutes more.

Let the dish cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.  

Enjoy

Cherish Real Food!

More Great Local Finds and a Few Cold Weather Recipes

The winter is flying by it seems - get the seed and garden catalogs out everyone! -  and we have been playing in the kitchen and coming up with lots and lots of easy delicious recipes - especially easy delicious recipes for 2 - 4 people.  Of course, we are using either ingredients from our freezer, our larder or that which is seasonally available in the Market right now.  But, before we get to the recipes, here are some recommendations for some great local food and drink experiences which have joined our list of favorites!

Things we are loving right now:

LaDavisa Meats - check out the wonderful meats, sausages and assorted charcuterie house made by Nick Macri at his shop in the Reading Terminal Market.  We are addicted to the Sage Breakfast sausage, the hot Italian sausage, the Country Pate’, and various pork charcuterie. If you shop at the Reading Terminal Market, you must go to LaDavisa meats.  www.ladavisameats.com

Rowhouse Spirits - why yes, in Philly we have another local distillery!  And it is a good one friends. All products are distilled and bottled on site in the East Kensington distillery.  Products include:  Poitin - a white whiskey; Gin; Bear Trap liqueur; Rum; and other liqueurs. Tastings are available as are tours of the distillery. We are currently enjoying the Poitin - it makes a great "Blonde Manhattan", the Rum and the Bear Trap liqueur. Check out Rowhouse Spirits soon!  www.rowhousespirits.com

Kensington Quarters Butcher Shop - located at 1310 Frankford Avenue, Kensington Quarters is a full service restaurant, butcher shop and bar.  We are most excited about the butcher shop.  The mission of KQ is to "support local agriculture and sustainable practices by providing an outlet for small farmers".  The butcher shop, which offers lessons in butchering as well, makes use of whole animals.  All of the drying and butchering and preparing is done behind huge glass windows - no "back room" here. The meats and the Charcuterie are excellent.  You can stop by, have a cocktail, enjoy a few small plates, and pick up fabulous appetizers and meats for dinner.  If you are going to enjoy meat once in awhile, this is another wonderful place to get it. www.kensingtonquarters.com

Kanella Restaurant - Voted the Best New Restaurant of 2015 by local critic, Craig LaBan, Kanella is now in walking distance from our home!  Oh, the joys of city living.  The restaurant started life as a very popular BYOB in Washington Square West.  The move to Queen Village has provided more space, a liquor license, and perhaps most importantly, a huge wood fired grill and oven. It offers a Mediterranean menu - Greek influences with an emphasis on Cypriot dishes.  The owner/chef Konstantinos Pitsillides is of Cypriot origin, and his love for his native food comes through.  The new site also has a beautiful bar, where wonderful, inventive cocktails (and old classics) are served and small plates are available. The service is nearly perfect and the food will have you dreaming of returning.  For example, I have had Bronzino in many places, including in Italy.  The Bronzino at Kanella, stuffed with herbs and wrapped in grape leaves, is cooked on the wood burning grill and is brought whole to the table (they will filet it for you, but it's more fun to play with, plus you get to eat the cheeks!) with a small pitcher of lemon and extra virgin olive oil to accompany it. It was transcendent. Go!  Soon!  Go for dinner or stop at the bar for a great cocktail and some small plates - I guarantee if you do the latter, you will be making dinner reservations.  Kanella is now open for Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM.  Check out their menus at:  www.kanellarestaurant.com

One recent cold weather recipe that we adapted is a dish that had many readers contacting me for the recipe when I posted a picture of it.  It is an old recipe. It is an easy recipe. And it is a delicious recipe.  By the way, versions of the recipe were made by Martha Washington and it appeared in, “The Virginia Housewife” by Mary Randolph, which is widely considered to be the first general cookbook in the Colonies.

                            Recipe:  City Tavern’s Potato, Mushroom and Onion Casserole

Potato, Mushroom, Onion Casserole

Ingredients

7 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 tablespoons of oil (we are using Grape Seed oil generally; trying to break the Canola oil habit!)

1 pound of mushrooms of your choice (for the first time trying this we used sliced Trumpet mushrooms)

2 yellow onions, sliced 

2 garlic cloves, chopped

8 medium red skinned potatoes or 5 large Yukon Golds, sliced very thin (we used Yukons and we scrubbed them and did not peel them)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 bunches of fresh flat leaf Parsley, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Technique

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Heat 4 tablespoons of butter and the oil in a large skillet over high heat

Add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet and saute’ for about 5 minutes until they are light brown and tender.

Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and set aside.

In the same skillet saute’ the onions and garlic for three minutes, until light golden brown.  Set aside.

Pat the sliced potatoes dry. Place half of the potato slices in the bottom of a lightly buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper.  Add the parsley.

Top the potatoes and parsley with the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Add the remaining potato slices.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Dot the mixture with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter.

Bake for 15 minutes or more.  Test the fork tenderness of the potatoes.

Pour the cream evenly over the potatoes, top with the parmesan and bake for another 10 minutes.  You want a little color - but not a crispy finish - to the casserole.

Let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy.  

Note:  If you have any casserole left over, mix it with some beaten eggs and pour into a buttered hot skillet - it makes a delicious potato torta! Fabulous served with sage breakfast sausages.

Potato Torta

Ever since the food poisoning “experience”, we’ve been researching ingredients and recipes  so that we can make our own delicious Chinese dishes at home.  I will be writing more about this new learning in the future, but for now, here’s a wonderful Beef and Broccoli stir fry with Udon noodles that we tried recently.  It’s pretty straightforward, easy and delicious.

                                                  Recipe:  Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Beef, Broccoli, Noodle Stir Fry

Ingredients

6 2/3oz udon noodles (A 10oz package of Udon noodles has 3 bundles, we used 2)

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Juice of two limes

1 tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce

3 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons of grape seed oil

1 tablespoon Arrowroot (or cornstarch)

1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets and penny sized cuts from the top of the stem

1/2 pounds of flank steak, in thinly sliced strips (slice against the grain)

Marinade ingredients 

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil

Mix all of the above together

Cook the udon noodles in a large pot of salted water according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

Marinate the beef slices in the mixture for about 15 minutes - not too long, you don’t want to start cooking the beef. 

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, Sriracha, and 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil.  Whisk in the arrowroot and set aside.  This is your sauce.

In a hot wok or large skillet, heat the grape seed oil over medium high heat.

Add the beef strips to the wok and toss and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes. 

Add the remaining sesame oil and toss again. Cook for about another minute.  Push the beef up the sides of the wok or remove from pan.

Add the broccoli florets and 2 tablespoons of water.  Toss and cook until the broccoli is tender, about 5 - 6 minutes.

Add the cooked Udon noodles and the sauce to the wok.  Bring the sauce to a quick boil, it will lose its cloudiness. Return beef to the pan if removed.  Toss until fully coated and warmed through.  Serve and enjoy.

Cherish Real Food!

Dinner in a Box - Really? Two Easy and Delicious Tarts

OK, I have to go on record - and I’d love to hear from you folks about this, too - as saying that these “dinner in a box” companies and their advertisements are getting on my last nerve!  Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Plate Joy (oh that’s cute), and a number of other ‘Services” are out there now constantly pitching, and I can't seem to miss a commercial.  

The concept behind these things is that you have such a hectic life that you can’t possibly shop for your own food, develop your own menus and then - gasp! - cook your meals all by yourself!  You need little index cards telling you what to do next!  Imagine.  I think we used to use cookbooks for that sort of thing.

(Note:  I will say that the only exceptions that I see here are folks who have disabilities that prevent them from getting out of the house or those who live in extremely remote areas where good markets and a variety of foods cannot be found.)

OK, let’s examine how many things are wrong with this whole concept:

1. Know where your food comes from.  If you have followed this Blog, you know that this is the most important aspect of food for me.  I could not eat out of these boxes based on this value alone. These companies have the nerve to tout “local” but the contents are local to where the boxes are put together, if that!  So, basically by ordering these, buyers are reducing business for farmers, growers and producers who actually ARE local to them.  Secondly, who answers the important questions:  how was the meat and chicken raised?  Who raised it?  What sorts of hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals were used?  Saying “Organic” in this case means absolutely nothing. Once a little box shows up on the East Coast with asparagus in it in February, the local/seasonal debate is over.  And that “Alaskan Salmon” TV ad from Blue Apron really sets me off.  The whole soothing voice over is so manipulative and so chock full of misinformation.  Who wants to bet it’s farm raised salmon?  I will be happy to take your money.  And by the way, we know a fishing family in our area who goes to Alaska - actually catches gorgeous real alaskan salmon, and spot prawns, and halibut and cod - all of which is flash frozen on the boat.  It is authentic, line caught and delicious - and actually “wild". And I can buy it right from the fisherman who caught it. I am pretty sure that most folks have the option to buy authentic American seafood and fish as well.

2.  Learning to Menu Plan, Shop and Cook.  If you are trying to eat in what you want to believe is a more healthy fashion, these little boxes aren’t helping you learn anything. Yes, you can open a box and follow an index card of instructions. However, unless you are going to buy this stuff for the rest of your life, how will you learn to be self sufficient in selecting and cooking your own food?  Do you want what you eat controlled by mega corporations for your entire life?

3.  Portion Control Issues.  I’ve had people say this is a big reason for using these services.  So - no leftovers allowed in your home?  No room for creativity?  No lunches made from dinners in your freezer?  Let me guess, you buy lunch mostly everyday - geez, you must be very rich, because those boxes are expensive!  Learning how to shop and how much to purchase given the number of folks eating is all part of the process of becoming self sufficient in the kitchen.

4.  Life is SOOOO Hectic.  This one makes me giggle.  Mostly because everyone is spouting off about this constantly and in addition your time is, to a good extent, under your control.  Really.  It is.  Time management is such a worthwhile skill. If you are eating your meals out of boxes that come in the mail, I suggest working on your time management skills. Not to mention what so many of us have been writing about and urging folks to do for years now.   Get off of the hectic merry go ‘round and begin to take part in securing, and cooking and eating food at home.  Learning to become self sufficient with food and meals and sharing them together on a regular basis, along with being healthier, is a good stress reducer.  Cooking with and for people - actually really cooking - is a wonderful way to express your care for others.  Shopping for food;  going from place to place; and stopping at a couple of markets, a couple of times a week can all be excellent ways to interact with folks, get out and about and learn  what is available and what looks good and what you'd like to cook and eat. 

5.  Getting to Know Farmers, Producers, Purveyors, and Artisans.  I can’t imagine that there are a lot of folks out there who don’t enjoy good Farmers Markets.  Often these markets give us the opportunity to get to know the people who are responsible for the products we are purchasing.  Why would anyone seek to avoid these experiences?  You are taking business away from small producers, small family farmers, and others in your own region. Shop Local!

To me, these services represent a total corruption of the concepts of eating real, seasonal, local food, as well as the concepts of self sufficiency and knowing where your food comes from.  I am hoping against hope that they disappear rather than flourish.  

OK - now on to recipes.  You will have to buy the ingredients, put them together and cook these yourself!  Sorry, I couldn’t resist!

Pre-Oven

Finished Tart

Recipe:  Puff Pastry Ricotta Tart - You can make this with whatever you have on hand, once you spread the ricotta, add toppings as you like.  These are the ingredients that I used for this one. The onion jam is merely red onions cooked down with red wine and finished with a bit of balsamic.  You can also buy onion jam.  Bacon jam would also be great on this.

Ingredients

Good Puff Pastry (I highly recommend DuFours.  It is a bit pricey and it is worth every penny.)

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Fresh Ricotta - try making your own (see my Blog of January 12, 2016).  Whatever Ricotta you use should be fairly dry.

Roasted Red Pepper Strips

Red Onion Marmelade

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Two Scallions, finely diced - white and green parts

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Technique

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or with piece of Parchment paper

Roll out a large piece of Puff Pastry dough - not too thin 

Lay the rolled pastry dough on to the cookie sheet (see photo)

With the tip of a sharp knife make a 1 inch “border” around the dough

Then, staying within that boarder, brush the dough all over with a light coating of extra virgin olive oil

Brush the dough all over with the red onion marmalade, if using

Sprinkle the Ricotta cheese all over the tart

Lay the roasted red pepper strips all over the tart - spread them out well (see photo)

Sprinkle the tart with the grated parmesan cheese

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes - check it often as ovens vary; look for a nice browning on the dough and you want some crispness on the bottom of the tart as well

When the tart is done, let it sit for 5 minutes or so then sprinkle the diced scallions all over it; add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil if you wish
Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy.

Recipe:  Cast Iron Berry Tart.  This is so simple and so delicious and it does not require a lot of preparation.  The cast iron provides for a nice flaky crisp pastry dough.

Ingredients

One pre-made pie crust (I use Pillsbury). Of course you can make your own pastry

2 teaspoons of good lard or 2 tablespoons of softened butter. Note:  "Crisco" is NOT lard.  If you don't have good lard, use the butter.

Two cups of the berries of your choice.  (We have a ton of individual bags of New Jersey Blueberries in our freezer, so I used blueberries).

1/4 cup of sugar (I like Sugar in the Raw for this kind of baking)

1 Tablespoons of good vanilla

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of regular flour

2 - 3 pats of unsalted butter

Technique

Preheat the oven to 400 conventional or 375 convection bake

Coat a 10 inch cast iron pan with the lard or the butter - whichever you are using

In a bowl mix the berries, sugar vanilla, cinnamon and the flour

Roll out the pre-made dough, fold it in half, place it in the cast iron pan and open it up - leave a good deal of pie dough hanging on the edges of the pan

“Dock” the pie dough - just pierce the dough with a fork

Note:  At this point you can pre-bake/blind bake the pie crust for a few minutes.  To do this, you should remove the excess dough around the edges - you will need to add it back to the tart when you fill it.  I do not pre-bake this particular recipe.  We mostly eat this right from the cast iron so I’m not looking for perfection and the berry mixture is not very “wet”.

Add the berry mixture to the pie dough and spread it around

Break up the pats of butter and dot them around the berry mixture

Fold the excess dough down over the mixture a bit (see photo)

Bake at 35 - 40 minutes for conventional oven and 30 - 35 if using convection bake

Remove the tart from the oven; let it sit for 20 minutes or so.

Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or just pour over a little bit of good heavy cream.  It’s also delicious all by itself.

Enjoy.

Treasure Real Food!

Winter Recipes: Easy, Delicious, Comforting

Happy New Year Everyone! 

I hope you all had some time to catch your breath, reflect a bit, and think about the upcoming year.  I am not one for “resolutions” but I do like to think about the big picture once in awhile.  For months now, you have read here the ways in which we are trying to scale down our home and our lives.  Well, this will be the year that we hope to wrap up a great deal of that.  We have found a couple good sources for many of the things we think others could be making use of - instead of being “stored” in our home.  More about our efforts as the year unfolds.

I do hope everyone is “winterized”.  It looks now like we are going to actually have a winter.  I admit that we took our good old time getting the garden and growing beds finalized, the outdoor furniture covered, the rain barrel emptied and shut down and all of the rest. Thankfully, we had taken that time off so we did get the final tasks done last week.  Now - Come on Snow! 

I did lots of cooking over the three weeks that I was off.  I had the opportunity to tweak and adapt and generally play around with some great techniques and recipes.  Also, each winter I go on the hunt for different cream of tomato and grilled cheese recipes.  And again I found a couple!

Here are some of my favorites. I think that they are straightforward and delicious.  And they will warm you up and comfort you.  What more could you ask?

Recipe:  Thomas Keller’s Roasted Chicken Thighs - The “crunch” on these delicious thighs are adapted from the technique Keller uses for roasting a whole chicken.  It uses High Heat and Slow Cooking, but do not worry - they will be perfect!

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  If you have the Convection Roast option, preheat to 425 degrees.

Ingredients

2 whole chicken thighs

4 whole garlic cloves - peeled with ends removed

2 pats of unsalted butter

1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary or parsley or thyme

salt and pepper

Technique

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil

Dry the chicken inside and outside

Place 2 garlic cloves under the skin of each chicken thigh

Place a pat of butter and whatever herb you are using under the skin as well

Pull the chicken skin back securely over the butter, garlic and herbs

Place the chicken legs on the prepared baking sheet

Sprinkle salt all over the chicken

Sprinkle freshly ground pepper all over the chicken 

Roast the chicken for 40 - 45 minutes; if you are using a convection oven, check the chicken at 35 minutes

Let the chicken rest for five minutes

Enjoy

Recipe:  Real Cream of Tomato Soup (adapted from Fannie Farmer) - This soup is so rich and delicious.  Another Tomato Soup recipe that will keep you away from the red can forever.  It freezes well, too.

Ingredients

5 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of chopped onion or leeks (I used leeks last time I made this and loved the flavor)

4 tablespoons of flour

4 cups of whole milk

1/2 bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (this prevents your milk from curdling and you won’t notice it)

3 - 4 cups of pureed tomatoes (canned is the easiest way to go here.  Buy really good, local if you can pureed tomatoes)

Technique

Melt the butter in the soup pot

Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat, stirring until the onion is soft but not browned

Sprinkle the flour over the butter/onion mixture and continue to stir for about 2 minutes

Slowly add the milk, bay leaf, and salt and continue to cook and stir

The mixture should be slightly thickened

Add the baking soda to the tomatoes and stir a bit

Add the tomatoes to the milk mixture and bring just to a simmer

Heat through and check seasonings.

Serve immediately or reheat on medium low before serving. 

Enjoy.

Note:  You can use an immersion blender if you want the soup completely smooth.  If you don’t you will have tiny specks of tomato, which I think makes the soup even more lush and delicious.

Recipe:  Ruth Reichl’s Greatest Grilled Cheese Ever.  I have seen Ruth Reichl demonstrate her favorite way to make a grilled cheese sandwich a number of times - basically this is technique, because in my adaptation, you can use any kind of cheese/s that you want.  Another adaptation here is the use of the mayonnaise - it may sound weird, but you will get the crispiest grilled cheese ever!

Ingredients

Good white bread, medium thick slices

2 scallions for two sandwiches

Cheese of your choice - I always use some cheddar; a smoked gouda works really well; a mild blue in the mix will be delicious.  It all depends on what you like and what you have on hand.  The idea is to mix two or three cheeses together

Mayonnaise 

Butter

Technique

Grate the cheese on the large holes of a box grater

Dice the scallions - white and green parts

Mix the grated cheeses and the diced scallions together

Mound the mixture onto two slices of the bread

Melt butter in a skillet

Top the mounded cheeses with the other slice of bread on each sandwich

Brush the top breads with a light film of mayonnaise

Turn the sandwiches over into the melted butter in the hot skillet

While they are browning, brush the tops of the sandwiches with the mayonnaise

Press down a bit on each sandwich and then flip the sandwiches to brown on the other side

Press down as the sandwiches brown

When the cheeses are melted and the bread is browned to your liking, remove the sandwiches to a cutting board

Let the sandwiches sit for just a minute and then slice

Serve with Cream of Tomato soup

Enjoy

Recipe:  Homemade Ricotta.  Adapted from Ina Garten.  This is a great use for left over milk and cream.  It is rich, delicious and extremely versatile.

Ingredients

4 cups of whole milk

2 cups of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

Technique

First put a large strainer over a large bowl and line the strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth 

Pour the milk and cream into a heavy pot and stir in the salt

Bring the mixture to a rolling boil

Stir the mixture occasionally as it comes to a boil

When it comes to a full boil, turn it off, remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar

Let that mixture sit in the pot for about 2 minutes - you will see curds forming

Pour the mixture into the strainer over the bowl

Let the mixture drain for at least 25 minutes

The longer it drains the thicker and drier the cheese will be - I generally let it sit of about 40 minutes

When it is as thick as you want it, remove the cheese in the cheese cloth and put the cheese into a container

Pour the whey from the draining of the cheese into another container

Whey is wonderful for making baked goods, risotto, and sauces - don’t waste it!

Enjoy

Cherish Real Food!

Next Up:  Apple and Pear Sauce Breads