Recipes * Critters * Garden * Stories *
Monday, January 6, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Artisan Bread and Garlic Lemon Chicken
One of my favorite online things to do is discover new recipes. There are oodles of cookbooks in the pantry and bookcase and I use them, but there's something fun about connecting with talented cooks from all over the web and learning from them. What an awesome resource.
I had never made bread before, but always wanted to try. I've been intimidated by all that kneading and all the skills of knowing the right feel of a loaf before it goes into the oven. I've made Breadmaker bread, but really wanted to try something simple and Susan's recipe for Artisan Bread was the perfect first try. It was a total success.
Susan's hybrid recipe does not require leavening - has only 4 ingredients - and literally requires patience more than any complicated instructions. And best of all, it turned out every bit as good as any bakery. Nice crust on all sides, soft and delicious inside, moist and flavorful -- and the loaf is huge! You can find this and other delicious desserts and meals she dreams up at http://BerriesandCocoa.wordpress.com.
AWESOME ARTISAN BREAD
This recipe is adapted from Jim Lahey’s My Bread, available on Amazon.com.
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 2/3 cups cool water
GARLIC & LEMON CHICKEN WITH RED POTATOES & GREEN BEANS (FB anonymous)
(Gluten free. Low Carb, Diabetic Friendly) - I made some modifications
Dutch oven 6 qt. Arrange lemon slices around bottom. Combine oil and seasonings and mix, set aside. Add chicken green beans and potatoes and toss to coat. Arrange chicken on top of lemon slices, then green beans, and top with potatoes. Pour this mix over and roast uncovered 60 minutes until potatoes are done and crisped. Remove to serving dish.
The chicken was moist and green beans cooked just right, but the sauce was very flavorful, but thin. Next time I'll whisk in a teaspoon or two of flour and cook the roux for a couple of minutes, and ladle the thickened sauce over the chicken before serving.
I had never made bread before, but always wanted to try. I've been intimidated by all that kneading and all the skills of knowing the right feel of a loaf before it goes into the oven. I've made Breadmaker bread, but really wanted to try something simple and Susan's recipe for Artisan Bread was the perfect first try. It was a total success.
Susan's hybrid recipe does not require leavening - has only 4 ingredients - and literally requires patience more than any complicated instructions. And best of all, it turned out every bit as good as any bakery. Nice crust on all sides, soft and delicious inside, moist and flavorful -- and the loaf is huge! You can find this and other delicious desserts and meals she dreams up at http://BerriesandCocoa.wordpress.com.
AWESOME ARTISAN BREAD
This recipe is adapted from Jim Lahey’s My Bread, available on Amazon.com.
Ingredients:
5 3/4 cups bread flour, plus
more for your work surface1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 2/3 cups cool water
In a large bowl (KitchenAid with dough hook) combine the flour, yeast and salt. Turn mixer on low setting,
adding the water slowly, while scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix
well, combining ingredients thoroughly. The dough will be wet and sticky.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the bread sit 12-18
hours at room temperature. When the dough has darkened slightly, smells yeasty
and the top is dotted with tiny bubbles, then it is ready.
Next, lightly flour
your hands and your work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with
more flour. Fold the dough over itself once or twice, then tuck under the ends
to make a rough ball. Cover with floured towel or flour dusted waxed paper and
let sit for two hours, or until doubled in size.
After 1.5 hours, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place large
(6-8 quart size) covered dutch oven in the oven and let it preheat. This is the
big secret to the artisan loaf – the hot dutch oven creates a mini bread oven!
(If your dutch oven doesn’t have an ovenproof knob, cover with aluminum foil).
After two hours total, (dutch oven has been in the oven for
30 minutes to preheat) carefully remove pot from oven and “flip” dough over the
pot, seam side up. If you need to, shake it a few times to evenly distribute in
pan. Cover and bake for 40 minutes, then remove lid from pot and bake
additional 10-15 minutes or until top of loaf is nice and crusty browned.
Remove bread from pot and let cool completely on wire rack before cutting -- loaf will taste better if you let it cool.
--------------GARLIC & LEMON CHICKEN WITH RED POTATOES & GREEN BEANS (FB anonymous)
(Gluten free. Low Carb, Diabetic Friendly) - I made some modifications
INGREDIENTS
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced and 1 juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon Emeril seasoning
A small sprinkle of red
pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
3/4 pound trimmed green
beans
8 small red potatoes (quartered),
or 2 Idahos, cut in smallish cubes
4 thawed chicken breasts
DIRECTIONS
Preheat
oven to 400°F. Dutch oven 6 qt. Arrange lemon slices around bottom. Combine oil and seasonings and mix, set aside. Add chicken green beans and potatoes and toss to coat. Arrange chicken on top of lemon slices, then green beans, and top with potatoes. Pour this mix over and roast uncovered 60 minutes until potatoes are done and crisped. Remove to serving dish.
The chicken was moist and green beans cooked just right, but the sauce was very flavorful, but thin. Next time I'll whisk in a teaspoon or two of flour and cook the roux for a couple of minutes, and ladle the thickened sauce over the chicken before serving.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Go with your Gut
This apparently was the off year of the every-other-one-is-a-great-Christmas rotation.
It started out strange being in the middle of the week and most everyone working the days before and after. We celebrated with the kids on the Saturday before, and the Hubs lost his pop, and we were just getting through the best we could. Add to that the cold/flu season and we had a day quite different than usual.
It's always great to spend time with family and of course the cornerstone of holidays around here is food. After a year of experimentation with canning and developing other recipes, I was excited to baste the last of the brandied fig sauce from our yard on the fresh spiral ham.
The dinner menu was: zucchini bake, scalloped potatoes, a fresh loaf of artisan bread, steamed green beans, ham, and homemade chocolates for dessert. The ham came out last, heated and glazed and -- does it look kinda weird to you? We all gathered around and peered down at it. The edges crumbled away in our hands and as we opened the slices, the inside was slimy and had green spots. Oh lord. The only place this ham can go is in the trash.
It's 5pm and the sides are cooling on the counter as my sis-in and I frantically scrounge through the freezer and fridge trying to come up with a main course. Raviolis? Perfect! We cooked them up, tossed them with a pesto cheese and butter sauce ~ and had an all carb Christmas dinner with chocolates and wine. And after dinner, everyone kept nodding off, even without the tryptophan.
On the 26th we enjoyed a redeemingly nice breakfast, except for the dogs who got into our nephew's backpack upstairs and chewed up a plastic pill box containing one Zoloft pill. Not poisonous to dogs, thankfully, but Lily did spend the rest of the day drugged out and sprawled across the sofa with her head hanging off the edge, looking around absent-mindedly.
I am looking forward with glee to the on-year Christmas of 2014, sans ham and *always* with a main dish back up.
It started out strange being in the middle of the week and most everyone working the days before and after. We celebrated with the kids on the Saturday before, and the Hubs lost his pop, and we were just getting through the best we could. Add to that the cold/flu season and we had a day quite different than usual.
It's always great to spend time with family and of course the cornerstone of holidays around here is food. After a year of experimentation with canning and developing other recipes, I was excited to baste the last of the brandied fig sauce from our yard on the fresh spiral ham.
The dinner menu was: zucchini bake, scalloped potatoes, a fresh loaf of artisan bread, steamed green beans, ham, and homemade chocolates for dessert. The ham came out last, heated and glazed and -- does it look kinda weird to you? We all gathered around and peered down at it. The edges crumbled away in our hands and as we opened the slices, the inside was slimy and had green spots. Oh lord. The only place this ham can go is in the trash.
It's 5pm and the sides are cooling on the counter as my sis-in and I frantically scrounge through the freezer and fridge trying to come up with a main course. Raviolis? Perfect! We cooked them up, tossed them with a pesto cheese and butter sauce ~ and had an all carb Christmas dinner with chocolates and wine. And after dinner, everyone kept nodding off, even without the tryptophan.
On the 26th we enjoyed a redeemingly nice breakfast, except for the dogs who got into our nephew's backpack upstairs and chewed up a plastic pill box containing one Zoloft pill. Not poisonous to dogs, thankfully, but Lily did spend the rest of the day drugged out and sprawled across the sofa with her head hanging off the edge, looking around absent-mindedly.
I am looking forward with glee to the on-year Christmas of 2014, sans ham and *always* with a main dish back up.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Liebster Award: CityFolk Farmers
Thank you, Berries and Cocoa for nominating CityFolk Farmers for the Liebster Award. Susan's food blog is a lot of fun and I hope you will check it out: http://berriesandcocoa.wordpress.com
The Liebster award is intended to give some exposure to small blogs with less than 200 followers. Here are the rules:
- Link back to the blogger who nominated you
- Answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you
- Nominate 3-11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers
- Go to the blogs you nominated and notify them of your nomination
- Give your nominees 11 questions to answer.
My Answers:
1. What famous person, living or dead, would you most want to have dinner with? Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. Who inspires you? Why? I am inspired by those who overcome adversity and keep their hopeful spirit. My son inspires me. My father.
3. Describe your ideal day. Waking up early and having time to blog, play ball with the dogs and then work in the garden. In the afternoon, I'd be planning a nice meal with the veggies I picked and have an hour to spare in the afternoon to read.
4. What travel spot is the highest on your bucket list? To see the change of seasons in the East Coast
5. What qualities do you most admire in others? An adventurous spirit and the fearless pursuit of a dream.
6. What is your least attractive trait? Shyness
7. What is your favorite movie of all time and why? To Kill a Mockingbird, because the story captures a fascinating time in our nation's history and explores life from a multi dimensional perspective.
8. If you could choose one career and be guaranteed of success, what would it be? Archaeologist
9. If money were no object, where would you live and why? I would be a rich, anonymous philanthropist traveling the world between my houses in England (history), Italy (art and culture), Tahiti (chillin') and Vermont (beauty).
10. What makes you smile? Kindness
11. Describe where you want to be in 10 years. Right where I am: on the farm, with crops to tend and animals, with my wonderful husband.
My Questions:
1. How long have you been publishing on the web?
2. What are you most known for?
3. A favorite memory.
4. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?
5. Biggest influence in your life.
6. One lasting change you would make in the world.
7. Favorite food you would eat every day if you could.
8. Biggest achievement (so far):
9. Number of cities you have lived.
10. Age of your oldest friendship.
11. Biggest dream.
2. What are you most known for?
3. A favorite memory.
4. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?
5. Biggest influence in your life.
6. One lasting change you would make in the world.
7. Favorite food you would eat every day if you could.
8. Biggest achievement (so far):
9. Number of cities you have lived.
10. Age of your oldest friendship.
11. Biggest dream.
Nominations:
http://nonesuchexists.blogspot.com/ NoneSuchExists http://lifejourneythere2here.blogspot.com/ Life Journey https://www.facebook.com/McNutties McNutties http://debsheadstick.blogspot.com/ The Things That Come Out of My Head |
2014
It is a new, unwritten page today, as a new year begins.
I loved 2013. Wonderful people wandered into our lives and we deepened old friendships. The dirt became something, a small garden at first, that grew and flourished, and then an ugly corner of the yard became an oasis. From there came dawning hope for a someday yard with imagined fruit trees and lavender and a sprinkler system and fence.
We got the hang of the tractor and riding mower, and those tools helped ideas take shape. Mistakes were made and fixed. We had little pup-friendly getaways - Mendocino for the Hubs' birthday, Monterey for mine, and a Tahoe Thanksgiving.
We hurtled ourselves into things unimaginable a year ago - fostering a pit bull for instance, and learning to live with copious amounts of bunnies and birds. We learned how to fight back hard against frozen pipes, coyotes and ground squirrels.
Harvesting things from the yard was a thrill: pomegranates and figs and garden veggies. We learned all sorts of things about storing and canning and cooking more organically. This winter's olive harvest was much better than the last, and we saw the payout from all those months of fertilizing and watering. We planted and watch the fruit trees struggle, and now we are invested in learning more to help them grow. As we find balance, the earth transforms us.
I hated 2013. It was a brutal reminder of how fleeting life is, as things we clung to were swept away. We faced the truth that the hippie generation never envisioned themselves to be the elders and are now old and gray. It is up to us to remember the old ways and family folklore and pass it down along with our own stories.
It was an unsettling year as retirement looked us straight in the eye. It was a year of preparing for it just outside the door, and for thanksgiving to be standing on this little piece of land and in a more affordable, sustainable life before than inevitable knock.
What 2013 gave us was the chance to accept the never ending nature of change, and the hard purposeful work ahead. Admittedly we know very little of the reciprocal world of plant/grow/yield/repeat, but that will come.
We will change, pace ourselves, adapt, and thrive. Here's to 2014.
 |
| The Oasis |
 |
| Our Little Slice |
We hurtled ourselves into things unimaginable a year ago - fostering a pit bull for instance, and learning to live with copious amounts of bunnies and birds. We learned how to fight back hard against frozen pipes, coyotes and ground squirrels.
 |
| Shrimp Veggie Saute |
 |
| Red Pepper Jelly |
 |
| Great Horned Owls |
What 2013 gave us was the chance to accept the never ending nature of change, and the hard purposeful work ahead. Admittedly we know very little of the reciprocal world of plant/grow/yield/repeat, but that will come.
We will change, pace ourselves, adapt, and thrive. Here's to 2014.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Christmas Letter, 2013
Oh the weather outside
is frightful … thank you for the thin
layer of frost reminding us it is 22 degrees outside. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Y1 on the farm has been amazing, starting with the discovery of a pair of Great Horned Owls courting in the trees out front and wrapping up with 400 sheep showing up literally overnight to graze in the neighboring alfalfa fields. We bring a flashlight out for the last potty break of the night for the dogs and there are hundreds of pairs of eyes glowing back at us. The lambs skirt the fence and wander around our yard, playing King of the Hill on the pile of left over wood chips.
We brined last winter’s olives for seven months, and it was fun marinating and sharing them. We fertilized and watered the trees like crazy and what a difference in the crop, which we harvested a couple of weeks ago and put into brine. We thought they were Kalamatas, but now we aren’t sure. They are double the size of last year.
Randy’s been busy in the workshop with raised garden planters and a perimeter fence to keep out the ground squirrels. He is enjoying the (new-to-us) tractor. Veggies have done well here. That spindly tree in front turned out to be a Pomegranate, and the gnarly old one out back is a Mission Fig, and both produced well this season, so I’d have to pick the most useful new skill is learning to can jellies, jams, relishes, applesauce and pickles.
A dog wandered into our lives in the middle of the night last summer so now we have two rescue pups to spoil and indulge (and also train, starting in January). Lily and Sam are both about two. Lily is an English Staffie who the vet thinks was used as a breeder dog and dumped in the country. What a love bug.
We experimented with natural essential oils and came up with a helpful mosquito/gnat repellent for the community. People seem to like it, and we just finished testing it in a lab affiliated with UC Davis. That was a great, great experience.
We are both working full time still, but the farm calls to us more and more. You know me: I want chickens and a goat, and a couple of those lambs near the fence that are calling my name. Naaaaaaan.
What we will remember most about 2013 is falling in love with country life; sharing it with those who came by; and laughing through the steep learning curve ... like the frozen pipes we woke up to a couple of mornings ago ...
We hope you found our FB page (Cityfolk Farmers) and the family blog (http://cityfolkfarmers.blogspot.com). FB helps us not feel so far away from those we love when we can share all the great things going on in your lives.
Spending Thanksgiving with the boys in Tahoe for several days was just about the best gift ever, so yes, we opened our present early! May 2014 be all about service to others, dessert first and making dreams come true.
Christmas, 2013
Randy and Nanci & the Fassio Bros.
Y1 on the farm has been amazing, starting with the discovery of a pair of Great Horned Owls courting in the trees out front and wrapping up with 400 sheep showing up literally overnight to graze in the neighboring alfalfa fields. We bring a flashlight out for the last potty break of the night for the dogs and there are hundreds of pairs of eyes glowing back at us. The lambs skirt the fence and wander around our yard, playing King of the Hill on the pile of left over wood chips.
We brined last winter’s olives for seven months, and it was fun marinating and sharing them. We fertilized and watered the trees like crazy and what a difference in the crop, which we harvested a couple of weeks ago and put into brine. We thought they were Kalamatas, but now we aren’t sure. They are double the size of last year.
Randy’s been busy in the workshop with raised garden planters and a perimeter fence to keep out the ground squirrels. He is enjoying the (new-to-us) tractor. Veggies have done well here. That spindly tree in front turned out to be a Pomegranate, and the gnarly old one out back is a Mission Fig, and both produced well this season, so I’d have to pick the most useful new skill is learning to can jellies, jams, relishes, applesauce and pickles.
A dog wandered into our lives in the middle of the night last summer so now we have two rescue pups to spoil and indulge (and also train, starting in January). Lily and Sam are both about two. Lily is an English Staffie who the vet thinks was used as a breeder dog and dumped in the country. What a love bug.
We experimented with natural essential oils and came up with a helpful mosquito/gnat repellent for the community. People seem to like it, and we just finished testing it in a lab affiliated with UC Davis. That was a great, great experience.
We are both working full time still, but the farm calls to us more and more. You know me: I want chickens and a goat, and a couple of those lambs near the fence that are calling my name. Naaaaaaan.
What we will remember most about 2013 is falling in love with country life; sharing it with those who came by; and laughing through the steep learning curve ... like the frozen pipes we woke up to a couple of mornings ago ...
We hope you found our FB page (Cityfolk Farmers) and the family blog (http://cityfolkfarmers.blogspot.com). FB helps us not feel so far away from those we love when we can share all the great things going on in your lives.
Spending Thanksgiving with the boys in Tahoe for several days was just about the best gift ever, so yes, we opened our present early! May 2014 be all about service to others, dessert first and making dreams come true.
Christmas, 2013
Randy and Nanci & the Fassio Bros.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Just the Idea of It
They're baaaack! And they brought lambs! 
The kickoff for winter comes in the form of a large herd of sheep that arrives overnight and grazes the field. There's rich and nutritious alfalfa, and the temporary electric fence just rolls out and clips to temporary posts.
The dogs discovered nearly right away the advantages of keeping clear of the fence. And at first, the sheep curiously watched the dogs as they ventured near, clearing a path for the Lab but mistaking Lily for a cow.
Grown up mosquito repellent testing went on this year at UC Davis in an esteemed lab. We came away inspired and encouraged. On with the experimenting! And on with the planting of lavender, lemongrass and eucalyptus!
The kennel found its final resting place and the dogs can now be safely outside without us. Perimeter fencing is coming soon. Maybe even gutters for the house.
Lily still lights out after farm equipment and ATVs driven by farm workers wearing low brimmed hats. She has her own History that she yearns to remember, but we'll still work on listening skills in January with an obedience class.
I suppose December with its dark, short days makes us more reflective.
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| Hard Working Hands |
What I will remember most, though? The sheer joy of country life overtaking my spirit.
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| Clay Critters by Denise on FB |
 |
| Clay Critters by Denise on FB |
 |
| Pickled baby artis & cukes |
 |
| A Zamora Dragonfly |
Those are my moments: weddings, and celebrations big and small, and laughing happy tears with the re-telling of old stories. Living it up right here, right now.
And now, something else on the horizon: considering retirement, so sweet and so near.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
A Day at the Lab
It has been an astonishing couple of weeks, novice-speaking. We have been optimistically working our way into the mosquito repellent idea and have been curious to test it out by an impartial source.
In stepped Scott Loye Biological Labs out of UC Davis, specifically Scott who has been tutoring us along about the steps and opportunities should the formula be a viable one. After several conversations since July, we got word last week that he had room in his testing lab for a quick, preliminary test with lab mosquitos, and he asked if we wanted to participate. Heck, yeah.
It's a little unassuming place, the lab. We wove through the vegetation and gardens, rain water collection tanks, and stout chicken coup with bunnies and a variety of chickens to a building in the back. Inside were loads of lab stuff and humidifiers and room heaters to make a happy, typical swampy Southern summer day for the mosquitos.
Scott explained the mosquitos they used are the most aggressive variety, to create the most challenging test possible for the repellent. These are the yellow fever mosquitos found in the tropics - the Aeder Aegypti variety.
Next, we sprayed and rubbed in our two formulas, carefully documenting everything in the black leather journal - time, temperature, amount of repellent used, which arm we were selecting to try for which formula. Scott, his assistant Trevor, Randy and I all put Formula B on our left arms, and on the right arm ...
We tried a couple of times at 15 minute intervals, checking whether the formula improved over time. We counted bugs and 30 minutes after counted bug bites. Interestingly! Mosquitos that don't carry virus have a bit of a sting when you are bitten but the bites don't swell and disappear almost right away, at least for us.
How did the formula do? It failed! Last summer, cousin Ric took some of this to the Everglades with his science class and essentially had the same result - against probably a similar variety of mosquito. These swampy hungry mosquitos are pretty stout.
Scott said his lab has tested all the Deet products, Skin So Soft, and many others on the market, and they often fail this test. He explained a lot of products still provide some marketable relief for most environments.
Any touch of disappointment we felt was replaced by the incredible conversation that followed. We all talked for a couple of hours about the EPA, drug interactions, chemical formulas vs natural essential oils, and the kinds of things to research as the formula moves forward. Things to be wary of. Things to explore. Scientific journals that should be studied. Pharmacology vs Toxicology.
We got around to the topic of Malaria in third world countries and the genuine health crisis going on there. Scott brought out an unmarked vial of repellent that was tested in his lab. He rubbed some into his Control arm and put it in the mosquito tank and we watched in excitement as the mosquitos completely left him alone. He explained the product was being developed specifically for widespread distributed in countries that desperately need it. The ingredients are safe, so no fear of trading short term health gains for long term losses.
It felt like we in the presence of a spark of inspiration that will produce a miracle for hundreds of thousands of people on the other side of the world. Who wouldn't be inspired and invigorated by that? We came away totally inspired to never stop learning and experimenting.
What an awesome, awesome day.
In stepped Scott Loye Biological Labs out of UC Davis, specifically Scott who has been tutoring us along about the steps and opportunities should the formula be a viable one. After several conversations since July, we got word last week that he had room in his testing lab for a quick, preliminary test with lab mosquitos, and he asked if we wanted to participate. Heck, yeah.
It's a little unassuming place, the lab. We wove through the vegetation and gardens, rain water collection tanks, and stout chicken coup with bunnies and a variety of chickens to a building in the back. Inside were loads of lab stuff and humidifiers and room heaters to make a happy, typical swampy Southern summer day for the mosquitos.
Scott explained the mosquitos they used are the most aggressive variety, to create the most challenging test possible for the repellent. These are the yellow fever mosquitos found in the tropics - the Aeder Aegypti variety.
Next, we sprayed and rubbed in our two formulas, carefully documenting everything in the black leather journal - time, temperature, amount of repellent used, which arm we were selecting to try for which formula. Scott, his assistant Trevor, Randy and I all put Formula B on our left arms, and on the right arm ...
- Scott was control (no repellent)
- Trevor and I had Formula A (the original formula from June, stored for 4 months to learn about shelf life)
- Randy had Formula C ( the original formula that had been exposed to direct summer sun for 4 months).
We tried a couple of times at 15 minute intervals, checking whether the formula improved over time. We counted bugs and 30 minutes after counted bug bites. Interestingly! Mosquitos that don't carry virus have a bit of a sting when you are bitten but the bites don't swell and disappear almost right away, at least for us.
How did the formula do? It failed! Last summer, cousin Ric took some of this to the Everglades with his science class and essentially had the same result - against probably a similar variety of mosquito. These swampy hungry mosquitos are pretty stout.
Scott said his lab has tested all the Deet products, Skin So Soft, and many others on the market, and they often fail this test. He explained a lot of products still provide some marketable relief for most environments.
Any touch of disappointment we felt was replaced by the incredible conversation that followed. We all talked for a couple of hours about the EPA, drug interactions, chemical formulas vs natural essential oils, and the kinds of things to research as the formula moves forward. Things to be wary of. Things to explore. Scientific journals that should be studied. Pharmacology vs Toxicology.
We got around to the topic of Malaria in third world countries and the genuine health crisis going on there. Scott brought out an unmarked vial of repellent that was tested in his lab. He rubbed some into his Control arm and put it in the mosquito tank and we watched in excitement as the mosquitos completely left him alone. He explained the product was being developed specifically for widespread distributed in countries that desperately need it. The ingredients are safe, so no fear of trading short term health gains for long term losses.
It felt like we in the presence of a spark of inspiration that will produce a miracle for hundreds of thousands of people on the other side of the world. Who wouldn't be inspired and invigorated by that? We came away totally inspired to never stop learning and experimenting.
What an awesome, awesome day.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
The Green Death
Exploring from-scratch recipes has been an adventure.
The newest idea involved making authentic chile verde without benefit of Mexican friends to guide me. Love Food Network, right? It empowers us to try anything and everything. So I hunted around and compared 2 or 3 recipes, and came up with a plan.
Normally I chunk and dredge the pork in seasoned flour and sauté it in onions, bell peppers and other seasonings, and then smother it in canned sauce and it's done. Our version of chile verde is good - but friends have a salt free diet, and I was cooking for them, so we moved into uncharted territory.
The Hubs is daring and brave with pressure cookers, so he did the first step - and expertly added just the right amount of water and seasonings and the 7 lb pork butt turned out perfectly. I think there was about 5 lbs of meat after cooking, which we cooled overnight and reserved the liquid to de-fat and reuse. When you refrigerate the broth, it just skims easily off the top.
Each recipe had its own ideas on how to use peppers, and not working with them often, I kind of interchanged types which is an entirely different story for another time but kind of pertains to the story. I wore gloves, removed the membrane and seeds from 1 Anaheim, 1 Poblano, and 1 big Jalapeno and Cuisinart-ed them until chunky and tossed them in a big pot with 1 1/2 cups fresh tomatillos and 2 large green bells, done the same way. We added that to 3 big white onions and 3 cloves of chopped garlic that had been sautéed in olive oil and let it simmer a while.
{Next time I'll bake all the peppers or broil them until they brown a little, to deepen the flavor and tone down the heat.}
After 5 or 6 minutes, 7 cups of pork butt stock was added and spices too -- bay leaf, coriander, pepper, cumin, a small handful of cilantro and oregano. Cover and simmer for an hour or so. You can add them up or down to taste. I'm not a fan of coriander, but it was good for this.
The house smelled really good and I of course had to test it to see how things were going. Whoa. It was FIRE HOT, so hot in fact I couldn't even imagine serving it. So here was 10 qts of green pepper broth and no real idea on how to fix it.
Like any normal person, I started to freak out. I threatened to throw it out but the Hubs talked me off the ledge. And anyway, it was for friends, and there wasn't time to start over. But obviously I couldn't serve anybody something that would light their butt on fire.
So
Now the consistency was perfect but it was still too hot. And then I skimmed the top of the soup. It turns out, all those little undissolved bits of jalapeno were floating there, and once they were out, the problem was solved.
Now all the cooked cubed pork was added, and after heating through the depth of the sauce was great but I can't believe I'm saying that it seemed a little bland. It cooled in the fridge, and a decision was made to let everyone season it individually.
Our salt-free friends could do their thing, and we found adding 5 tablespoons of hot Tomatillo sauce to the 7 quarts we had put the heat level just about perfect. Served over brown rice. Delicious.
The only problem now is everyone loved it and there's no recipe to share. We'll come up with an actual recipe eventually. I love happy endings.
The newest idea involved making authentic chile verde without benefit of Mexican friends to guide me. Love Food Network, right? It empowers us to try anything and everything. So I hunted around and compared 2 or 3 recipes, and came up with a plan.
Normally I chunk and dredge the pork in seasoned flour and sauté it in onions, bell peppers and other seasonings, and then smother it in canned sauce and it's done. Our version of chile verde is good - but friends have a salt free diet, and I was cooking for them, so we moved into uncharted territory.
The Hubs is daring and brave with pressure cookers, so he did the first step - and expertly added just the right amount of water and seasonings and the 7 lb pork butt turned out perfectly. I think there was about 5 lbs of meat after cooking, which we cooled overnight and reserved the liquid to de-fat and reuse. When you refrigerate the broth, it just skims easily off the top.
Each recipe had its own ideas on how to use peppers, and not working with them often, I kind of interchanged types which is an entirely different story for another time but kind of pertains to the story. I wore gloves, removed the membrane and seeds from 1 Anaheim, 1 Poblano, and 1 big Jalapeno and Cuisinart-ed them until chunky and tossed them in a big pot with 1 1/2 cups fresh tomatillos and 2 large green bells, done the same way. We added that to 3 big white onions and 3 cloves of chopped garlic that had been sautéed in olive oil and let it simmer a while.
{Next time I'll bake all the peppers or broil them until they brown a little, to deepen the flavor and tone down the heat.}
After 5 or 6 minutes, 7 cups of pork butt stock was added and spices too -- bay leaf, coriander, pepper, cumin, a small handful of cilantro and oregano. Cover and simmer for an hour or so. You can add them up or down to taste. I'm not a fan of coriander, but it was good for this.
The house smelled really good and I of course had to test it to see how things were going. Whoa. It was FIRE HOT, so hot in fact I couldn't even imagine serving it. So here was 10 qts of green pepper broth and no real idea on how to fix it.
Like any normal person, I started to freak out. I threatened to throw it out but the Hubs talked me off the ledge. And anyway, it was for friends, and there wasn't time to start over. But obviously I couldn't serve anybody something that would light their butt on fire.
So
- I added a little more pork butt juice. It just made more of the problem.
- I hunted for internet recipe fix ideas. That was surprisingly unhelpful.
- I tossed in a mild can of tomatillo sauce. Also unhelpful.
- I added some smushed up pork to help absorb the heat. Maybe that helped a little bit. I wanted it to work.
Now the consistency was perfect but it was still too hot. And then I skimmed the top of the soup. It turns out, all those little undissolved bits of jalapeno were floating there, and once they were out, the problem was solved.
Now all the cooked cubed pork was added, and after heating through the depth of the sauce was great but I can't believe I'm saying that it seemed a little bland. It cooled in the fridge, and a decision was made to let everyone season it individually.
Our salt-free friends could do their thing, and we found adding 5 tablespoons of hot Tomatillo sauce to the 7 quarts we had put the heat level just about perfect. Served over brown rice. Delicious.
The only problem now is everyone loved it and there's no recipe to share. We'll come up with an actual recipe eventually. I love happy endings.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Farm to Fork
Recently, we enjoyed a toasted bagel with cream cheese and red pepper jelly, which was canned from the jalapeno peppers in the garden.
The figs from our tree were jammed and dehydrated for the winter.
We have enjoyed all summer a fresh chop salad of zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow bells, onion, avocado and Japanese eggplant (mostly) from the garden.
Pomegranates are in varying stages of ripeness, and we've got buckets and buckets of them to make into jams and juices and store for later. Two strangers stopped by to visit the house today. Mary Beth was a girl when her grandparents lived here, and she lived in the house next door. She remembers the fig, the olives, and the pomegranate trees. That would conservatively estimate their age at 50+ years, and they are still vigorous producers once they got onto regular routines of fertilizer, water, and love. Unbelievable.
Some of the land out back was fenced off for burros. Yup: the kids rode burros. She remembered hearing the rumblings of the farm equipment down the road and how the kids would dash out front to wave at the farmers. Her parents put in the pool the year she went off to college, and there was a bite of nostalgia when she realized it has been here 50 years...
I've never thought much of buying whatever I want and eating it year round. This beautiful old gal has stood 112 years, and continues to teach the truth of how to live here. It is hard, continual work to tend to the bounty, from planning to planting, through tending and harvest. And then it begins again with canning and preserving once the fruit is cut from the vine. All of this was on our minds as we munched on our first-ever homemade tapenade. The olives had to journey 10 months to our table. We touched it every step of the way: from harvesting them off the trees last November, tending the brine for seven months, and from there into a savory variety of marinades for three months more, and to the table.
House of ours: we are listening.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Cream of Asparagus Soup
A tried and true favorite.
The kids will never know this soup is made with heart-healthy asparagus. You can make it with asparagus that is past its prime and wilting a bit. Or from leftovers that need to be used up. It's a great base for other winter veggie soups, as well.
In a big soup pot
Take:
2 lbs fresh asparagus, with the hardest part of the stalk trimmed away, rough chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, minced and sautéed in 3 T. butter with the asparagus, 5-6 minutes.
Add:
6 cups chicken stock (organic or home made) heated to the edge of a boil. Let cool 5 min before transferring small batches to blender to puree until smooth. Scoop out any pieces as you transfer it back to pot. Maintain heat on low/med so it stays hot.
Separately:Melt 3 T. butter, add 2 heaping tablespoons of flour and seasonings to taste, and cook over low/med heat 5 minutes until it thickens and flour cooks. (This step can be repeated if the soup needs additional thickening after everything is combined.)
Combine: SLOWLY add roux to stock, whisking all the while, keeping over low/med heat, and add in the sour cream and half and half. Thoroughly heat through (on med heat), checking consistency. Add seasonings to taste (pepper, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of hot paprika for us).
We like it best served in mugs alongside grilled cheese sandwiches. Great made ahead. Great stored in the fridge up to 5 days. (Creamed soups don't freeze well)
The kids will never know this soup is made with heart-healthy asparagus. You can make it with asparagus that is past its prime and wilting a bit. Or from leftovers that need to be used up. It's a great base for other winter veggie soups, as well.
In a big soup pot
Take:
2 lbs fresh asparagus, with the hardest part of the stalk trimmed away, rough chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, minced and sautéed in 3 T. butter with the asparagus, 5-6 minutes.
Add:
6 cups chicken stock (organic or home made) heated to the edge of a boil. Let cool 5 min before transferring small batches to blender to puree until smooth. Scoop out any pieces as you transfer it back to pot. Maintain heat on low/med so it stays hot.
Separately:Melt 3 T. butter, add 2 heaping tablespoons of flour and seasonings to taste, and cook over low/med heat 5 minutes until it thickens and flour cooks. (This step can be repeated if the soup needs additional thickening after everything is combined.)
Combine: SLOWLY add roux to stock, whisking all the while, keeping over low/med heat, and add in the sour cream and half and half. Thoroughly heat through (on med heat), checking consistency. Add seasonings to taste (pepper, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of hot paprika for us).
We like it best served in mugs alongside grilled cheese sandwiches. Great made ahead. Great stored in the fridge up to 5 days. (Creamed soups don't freeze well)
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
A You and Me Place
Here's to endless possibilities in a place we can run and shout out loud. A place where makeup is optional and the TV's rarely on.
A place where hammering sounds come from the garage and the whirr of the Cuisinart in the kitchen and the clank of canning jars.
Here's to room to breathe and grow and change, to try things we've wondered about and never done.
A place to believe again that we can do anything we dream up. A why not do it place.
Here's to aging and practicing our denial with 4 hard of hearing ears and the constant chatter call from various parts of the house ...
what? what? what?
A long drive at sunset place.
A let's try it place.
An always you and me place.
A place where hammering sounds come from the garage and the whirr of the Cuisinart in the kitchen and the clank of canning jars.
Here's to room to breathe and grow and change, to try things we've wondered about and never done.
A place to believe again that we can do anything we dream up. A why not do it place.
Here's to aging and practicing our denial with 4 hard of hearing ears and the constant chatter call from various parts of the house ...
what? what? what?
A long drive at sunset place.
A let's try it place.
An always you and me place.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Red Pepper Jelly
Long past promised recipes to share. And all that I've learned about canning - !
Red Jalapeno Pepper Jelly (substitutions are in parentheses)
Source: Foodie Bride
1 orange bell (or red or yellow), seeds and stems removed
1 lb red jalapenos, seeds set aside, stems removed (or green, or some green and some red)
1 1/2 c. cider vinegar
1 pinch salt
6 c sugar
3 oz liquid pectin (powder pectin equivalent: 4 teaspoons=1oz)
1 Tablespoon butter
Dry red pepper flakes to taste
Food process peppers for 10-15 seconds. Transfer to LG pot (you will need it) and bring to a boil, then simmer 15-20 min.
Put through fine mesh sieve to separate pulp and you need to have 1 cup of liquid. Simmer longer if necessary.
Return liquid to pot, add back in some or all of the seeds and pulp for spicier jelly (I added back in about 70% and tasted as I went), add salt and sugar and stir constantly until dissolved.
Bring to a rolling boil -- one that cannot be stirred down -- boil 1 minute longer and add the butter and pectin, stir well. Let boil 3 min as complete recipe.
Jars need to be hot and sterile and ready to go. Ladle hot liquid leaving 1/4" for expansion. Put in a water bath for 10 minutes with lids and rings put on snugly but not too tight. Remove carefully from water and cool completely on a counter top rack. Tighten ring down.
To check seal: When the jar completely cools, push down slightly in the center of the cap. A well sealed jar will not pop back or have any give. Jars without a good seal should always be refrigerated.
(I double the recipe; it makes 14 or so jars)
Red Jalapeno Pepper Jelly (substitutions are in parentheses)
Source: Foodie Bride
1 orange bell (or red or yellow), seeds and stems removed
1 lb red jalapenos, seeds set aside, stems removed (or green, or some green and some red)
1 1/2 c. cider vinegar
1 pinch salt
6 c sugar
3 oz liquid pectin (powder pectin equivalent: 4 teaspoons=1oz)
1 Tablespoon butter
Dry red pepper flakes to taste
Food process peppers for 10-15 seconds. Transfer to LG pot (you will need it) and bring to a boil, then simmer 15-20 min.
Put through fine mesh sieve to separate pulp and you need to have 1 cup of liquid. Simmer longer if necessary.
Return liquid to pot, add back in some or all of the seeds and pulp for spicier jelly (I added back in about 70% and tasted as I went), add salt and sugar and stir constantly until dissolved.
Bring to a rolling boil -- one that cannot be stirred down -- boil 1 minute longer and add the butter and pectin, stir well. Let boil 3 min as complete recipe.
Jars need to be hot and sterile and ready to go. Ladle hot liquid leaving 1/4" for expansion. Put in a water bath for 10 minutes with lids and rings put on snugly but not too tight. Remove carefully from water and cool completely on a counter top rack. Tighten ring down.
To check seal: When the jar completely cools, push down slightly in the center of the cap. A well sealed jar will not pop back or have any give. Jars without a good seal should always be refrigerated.
(I double the recipe; it makes 14 or so jars)
Monday, September 2, 2013
Kitchen Time with my Jalapenos
The smells of garden filled the air this weekend.
The last 10 figs came off the tree and we enjoyed a fig and almond breakfast cake this morning, Labor Day, as we rested up from a very long week.
Zucchinis have been in abundance, and we've got 4 loaves of Zbread - two regular batches with a hint of cinnamon, and two special batches of double chocolate zucchini that was a family recipe from a friend. Both are delicious, but the DblChoc warmed up a little with a scoop of ice cream is heaven on earth.
On Sunday I bubbled up a batch of creamy broccoli cheddar soup, which we dipped with large chunks of sourdough for dinner, and I had a reprise for today's lunch. It's Panera's recipe. Mine cut way back on the half and half and the cheese, and I doubled up on the carrots, and it was perfect.
The chile plant went crazy and there were 15 good sized ones, so those went into another batch of red pepper jelly. I substituted green for red, added in some red pepper flakes for zing, yellow and red bell peppers as a base, and put up 13 jars this afternoon. We'll do a grand opening on tomorrow's bagel with cream cheese.
The store-bought jalapenos intended for the jelly will be pickled and canned for next year. I planned on making spring rolls and made up some Thai chile dipping sauce that's waiting in the fridge for later in the week.
Kitchen time lets me unwind but I am an every-surface-and-utensil kind of cook. It hasn't been a successful day until every surface is cluttered and the sink is full of dishes. August had too much rental house stuff going on, and I had kind of built up a lot of ideas that all had to be made this weekend. I got through about half of what I had planned. The main thing is the rental stuff is done, and things can get back to something closer to normal.
I am always ready for September, but this year I am especially grateful to flip the page. August is the longest month of the year, maybe because by this point I'm good and ready for Fall.
The garden gave up six artichokes today, 2 lemon cukes, another big dog Armenian cuke, and a squash. Tomatoes are f-i-n-a-l-l-y yielding 6 or 8 a day. Super disappointed in the Better Boys ... all plant and no fruit ... but the Romas and the Beefsteaks are more than making up for it.
Thinking forward to canning salsa, diced tomatoes with onion and peppers, and spaghetti sauce with mushrooms and garlic ... and our winter garden, which is just around the corner. Bring on the crisper evenings and shorter days, the sights and smells of fall, reacquainting yourself with your winter wardrobe, and knowing pumpkins will bring family. And maybe, please, a brief respite from mosquitos.
The last 10 figs came off the tree and we enjoyed a fig and almond breakfast cake this morning, Labor Day, as we rested up from a very long week.
Zucchinis have been in abundance, and we've got 4 loaves of Zbread - two regular batches with a hint of cinnamon, and two special batches of double chocolate zucchini that was a family recipe from a friend. Both are delicious, but the DblChoc warmed up a little with a scoop of ice cream is heaven on earth.
On Sunday I bubbled up a batch of creamy broccoli cheddar soup, which we dipped with large chunks of sourdough for dinner, and I had a reprise for today's lunch. It's Panera's recipe. Mine cut way back on the half and half and the cheese, and I doubled up on the carrots, and it was perfect.
The chile plant went crazy and there were 15 good sized ones, so those went into another batch of red pepper jelly. I substituted green for red, added in some red pepper flakes for zing, yellow and red bell peppers as a base, and put up 13 jars this afternoon. We'll do a grand opening on tomorrow's bagel with cream cheese.
The store-bought jalapenos intended for the jelly will be pickled and canned for next year. I planned on making spring rolls and made up some Thai chile dipping sauce that's waiting in the fridge for later in the week.
Kitchen time lets me unwind but I am an every-surface-and-utensil kind of cook. It hasn't been a successful day until every surface is cluttered and the sink is full of dishes. August had too much rental house stuff going on, and I had kind of built up a lot of ideas that all had to be made this weekend. I got through about half of what I had planned. The main thing is the rental stuff is done, and things can get back to something closer to normal.
I am always ready for September, but this year I am especially grateful to flip the page. August is the longest month of the year, maybe because by this point I'm good and ready for Fall.
The garden gave up six artichokes today, 2 lemon cukes, another big dog Armenian cuke, and a squash. Tomatoes are f-i-n-a-l-l-y yielding 6 or 8 a day. Super disappointed in the Better Boys ... all plant and no fruit ... but the Romas and the Beefsteaks are more than making up for it.
Thinking forward to canning salsa, diced tomatoes with onion and peppers, and spaghetti sauce with mushrooms and garlic ... and our winter garden, which is just around the corner. Bring on the crisper evenings and shorter days, the sights and smells of fall, reacquainting yourself with your winter wardrobe, and knowing pumpkins will bring family. And maybe, please, a brief respite from mosquitos.
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