Shelling peas, a meditation

Before shopping at farmers' markets, I never bought peas. My grandmother always served peas from a can, so I never considered them a real vegetable. Shelling peas is very time consuming, so don't buy them unless you have time or lots of tiny hands to help you. Shelling a pound of peas took me about a half hour and yielded only one large bowl. But I was on a vacation in the mountains so had the time to sit on the porch and really get in the shelling zone, which, as it turns out, is about as close as I have gotten to meditation in a while. So sit back, get in the pea zone, and let your mind wander.

Ingredients:

• 
  1 lb English peas
  

Instructions:

Step One

Split the pod along the seam. With your thumb, gently scrape out all the peas into a bowl. Repeat. A lot.

Step Two

Just when you've developed what appears to be a permanent green thumb, you'll be about done. You can eat these beauties raw, straight from the bowl. I basically put these in front of a bunch of my fellow travelers after a long day hiking and they dug right into them as if they were chips and dips. If that's not your thing, blanche for a few minutes in boiling water and serve with a touch of salt.

Effort: Easy
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Fresh soy milk

A tall glass of soybeans is not super tasty. But with just a little bit of work, you can have your own soy milk.

Ingredients:

• 1 C dry soybeans
• Fresh water
• Salt, sugar, vanilla (optional, to taste)

Instructions:
Place dried soybeans in a foodsafe, nonreactive container. Leave enough room for the beans to expand to at least twice their volume. Cover with water and allow to soak for about 12 hours. Check the water level periodically and add more water if needed.



Thoroughly drain the beans and rinse.



You'll notice that the beans have doubled in size and the husks have started to come loose. No need to pick out the husks, you'll strain them off later.



Transfer the beans to the blender. Cover with fresh water plus 2 C more. Blend to smooth, on high for one minute. Do this step in batches if you plan to make more than a pint of soy milk.



Pour into a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Make sure to use a large pot because it's likely to boil pretty high. Turn down the heat and boil for 20 minutes.

Strain through cheesecloth and squeeze out every last drop. Try it out - you'll definitely taste the soy and maybe a bit of bitterness. Add sugar, salt, and vanilla to taste. I used about 1/2 t vanilla and 1 t sugar. Feel free to add other flavors, like chocolate, cinnamon, or orange zest.



Place in a container and refrigerate. Use within a few days or freeze to use later.



Save the solids. They're called okara and can be used in other recipes. It still contains 17% of the soy's original protein.

Fresh sauerkraut

Right before leaving for vacation, I saw some fresh cabbage at the farmers' market and figured it would be smart to make a batch of sauerkraut. Now it's ready, just in time for St. Patrick's day. This is so easy to make, you'll wonder why you ever bought it at the store.

Ingredients:

• One small green cabbage (about 3lbs)
• 2T salt
• Fresh water

Instructions:
Cut the cabbage in half and remove the core. Thinly slice the cabbage. If you have a shredder, use that, if not, simply cut with a knife.



When you've got it all shredded/sliced, place in a non-reactive bowl and mix in the salt. Stir thoroughly with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes and then let rest for a half hour.



After the salted cabbage has rested, start to knead it to help release the juices in the cabbage. Continue to do this till you've got as much water out as possible. The fresher the cabbage, the more juice it will have/release.



Once finished kneading, put into a sterile, food-safe container. I used a quart glass jar, but you can use plastic. Add water to cover the cabbage. Make sure that none of the cabbage pieces float to the top. Cover with the lid or push down the cabbage with a plate or plastic bag filled with water.



Let the cabbage ferment for about 3 - 4 weeks. Check it occasionally and add more water if the level starts to get low. This didn't happen to me, but if the water starts to grow stuff on it, just skim it off and continue. After you've let it ferment, eat it immediately, store it in the fridge, freeze it, or can it for future use.

Handmade croutons

One of the reasons I like to eat salads is that I LOVE to eat croutons. The way they absorb the dressing, yet still crunch in your mouth makes my stomach growl just thinking about it. As it turns out, they're easy to make and a great way to find a second, and delicious, life for old bread. You can modify the ingredients to include more spices, healthy bread, or even a little less fat or salt.

Ingredients:

• 1 C cubed bread
• 1 T butter
• 1 T olive oil
• salt and garlic powder to taste

Instructions:
If you've got bread that's as hard as a rock and not even a chisel can make a dent, wrap the bread in a moist towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds. This will temporarily rehydrate the bread. Don't do this too much as it will make the bread too hard when it cools down.

Cut the bread into small cubes, about 1/2 inch cubed.

Melt the butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and swirl. Throw in the bread and mix until all the pieces are covered in fat. Turn down the heat to medium. When the pieces start to brown on the bottom, toss around, trying to get some of the pieces to turn over. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder and toss some more.

Take off the heat while you make your salad or soup or whatever needs crunchy goodness on top.

This is about a single serving for me. Make more, based on how much bread you have. You can make these ahead of eating and store in an airtight container for about a week. If they get too soggy, throw them on a cookie sheet under the broiler for a minute or so.

Freerange Thanksgiving

Pretty much the first thing I did after we secured a two bedroom apartment in San Francisco was to invite my sister to Thanksgiving. Granted, it was still May, but I had never had my sister and her family to my house for any holiday because they always lived in California and I lived in Massachusetts. And once they agreed to come, it was a pretty easy sell to get the rest of the family here.

Of course, it should be apparent to most anyone who has ever perused this blog that I love food and I love cooking food for the people in my life. So it's no surprise that I would plan so far ahead for the one holiday, above all others, that celebrates food. Yes, I know, the holiday is about giving thanks, but when the pilgrims sat down to give thanks that very first time, it wasn't because they had a shiny car or a high profile job or even love in their lives - it was that they were able to survive. And they survived with the help of the Native Americans who taught them how to grow and harvest food.

In honor of this foodie holiday, I tried to embrace the modern day equivalents of the lessons learned in 1621.

Enjoying the bountiful harvest

Of course, I'm always writing about whatever beautiful things are in season and this was no different. I tried to serve mostly foods that were harvested locally. Certainly there were a few essentials (cranberries, marshmallows, and the hot dogs which proved the staple of my nephew's diet) that were not local or in season, but almost everything from the pumpkins to the turkey were fresh from my local farmer's market or from other local purveyors.

The best part of buying locally was the ability to go back to the market the next week and tell one farmer how everyone raved about his garnet yams and the other farmer how he was right that his red bliss potatoes were perfect for mashed potatoes.

Food, like the weather, is something we all instinctually talk about. While we usually complain about the weather, with food it's almost always a positive conversation. Now what better way to give thanks than to actually thank the farmers who bring you the food?

Working hard for our food

Farmers aren't the only ones who put effort and love into their food. And with just a little extra effort, you can end up with better tasting food and more oohs and aahs from your guests. You'll also end up with less packaging waste. Some of the things that I made from scratch included the potatoes for the sweet potato casserole, the pumpkin and evaporated milk for the pumpkin pie, and the stock and bread for the stuffing and noodles.

None of this was difficult to make, they just took a little more planning to make sure I had time to boil down four cups of milk into two or bake the bread to let it get stale. 

And this was just the food that would typically come from cans. That didn't include the handmade noodles, pie crusts, ice cream, whipped cream, and cranberry sauce. All of these dishes used old family recipes, kept alive and celebrated on this day.

Sharing the love
My niece is at the age where she wants to help in the kitchen. Aside from the turkey, she was able to help with every dish that we made. This allowed her to be a part of the fun, but it also allowed us to share our love of food and love of each other with her.

But we didn't just have the family - we also invited a few friends over. It was fun to see what foods they brought to share. Sure, when I was hectically running around the kitchen at the last minute trying to make sure the turkey was done, yelling at anyone in my way, I wasn't thrilled to have so many cooks in my kitchen. But when we all sat down to the gorgeous and delicious meal, cooked with help from almost everyone at the table (and I'm counting the moral support of keeping me company as I cried while chopping onions for the stuffing), it was all worth it.

Thanks everyone.

Figs and goat cheese

Figs are an immensely delicious, but extremely finicky fruit. Farmers must allow them to mature fully on the tree, so pretty much the only time you'll ever see them in a supermarket is in the form of a Newton. I've seen them a few times at Whole Foods this summer, but have been waiting patiently for them to come to the farmers market. Finally, my fig prayers were answered as they showed up at my local market. To celebrate, I made some fresh chevre and a tasty snack.

Ingredients:

• 6 figs
• 2 oz goat cheese
• 1 T honey
• 2 T water
• Salt and cracked pepper to taste

Instructions:
If you're going to make goat cheese, you need to start a few days ahead. I recommend getting chevre cultures form the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. Also, make sure that you can find local goat milk, otherwise, the cheese won't work. Because I'm just cooking for myself, I end up using either a 1/2 gallon or quart of milk. A quart will typically make as much as one of the logs that you find at the store. Heat milk to 86ºF. Add 1/2 packet of culture per 1/2 gallon of milk. Let rehydrate for 1-3 minutes. Let set for at least 12 hours. Drain in cheese cloth for 10 hours (or more).

The longer you let it drain, the denser and tangier it becomes. Once it is to the desired consistency, carefully scrape all the cheese from the cheese cloth and mix in some cheese salt (about a tablespoon).

Slice the top off each fig. Then, starting from the top, slice almost in half, stopping about a 1/4 inch from the bottom. Turn a quarter turn and make another slice. Push open the fig to expose the flesh and place on a baking dish. Broil for about 10 minutes.

While the figs are cooking, put the honey and water in a sauce pan and heat over medium high flame. Cook till bubbly then take off heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Take the figs out of the oven and plate. Put about a teaspoon of goat cheese in each and drizzle with the honey mixture.

Mushroom ragout with arugula and poached egg

So for my last post, I was trying to take a picture of some eggs and accidentally cracked an egg. Uh oh. Well, when life hands you a cracked egg, you poach it! I took the opportunity to do my spin on one of my favorite dishes at Craigie on Main. If doing this for guests, prepare most everything ahead so that you can focus on the poached eggs. I usually make this for myself, so I only have to poach one egg. If you have an egg poacher gizmo, it will probably be a lot easier.

Ingredients (for four servings):

• Mix of mushrooms (bag of dried morels, 2 portobello, 8 shitake)
• 1 - 2 C baby arugula
• 1 C whole basil leaves
• 2 C cooked pasta
• 1 C white wine
• 1/4 C butter
• 2 T olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 eggs
• 2 oz shaved or grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Instructions:
A few words on mushrooms. I try to do local and in season with mushrooms, but splurged on the morels. I also had to extend my "local" reach out of New England and down to Pennsylvania for the portobellos and shitakes. If you're using reconstituted dried mushrooms like morels or chanterelles wait till the raw mushrooms are fully cooked before adding them. Also reserve the water you use to reconstitute them. Sure, it's a little stinky but it makes the most amazing broth. If you don't reconstitute any of your mushrooms just add a cup of water where the recipe calls for the mushroom juice and cook a little longer.

In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high flame. Add sliced raw mushrooms. When the mushrooms are fully softened and browned on both sides, add the garlic and about a teaspoon of salt (less if you're not a fan of salt). Stir frequently to avoid burning the garlic. When the garlic is cooked through add any reconstituted shrooms, their juice, and the white wine.

While you're doing this, cook the pasta. I had just made some ricotta cavatelli, so used that. I think gnocchi would also be a nice choice. Make sure to reserve about 2 C of the pasta water.

Add the butter and a cup of the pasta water to the mushroom mix. The starch in the water will help make a bit of a gravy for the mushrooms.

Now comes the fun part... poaching the eggs. Now that I know the vinegar trick, I really love poached eggs and have used them in other recipes. Add about a tablespoon of white vinegar to the poaching water. Bring the water to a full boil. Crack the eggs into separate ramekins (or other small container) so that you can drop one in all at once. Have your spoon ready so that you can quickly coax the white of the egg back to the yolk. Repeat with the other eggs.

Add the cooked pasta in with the mushrooms. Check that there's still a broth. Add a little more water if it has dried up. Spoon the mushroom and pasta mix into bowls. Sprinkle generously with cheese. Add a mix of arugula and basil on top.

This meal was the only use I made of my winter garden of arugula. Growing salad greens in a window in winter is difficult. But this was so worth it. While I usually use thyme and rosemary with mushrooms, the spicy and tangy flavors of the arugula and basil really balanced the richness of the mushrooms and the yolk of the egg.

You want the yolks to be pretty runny, so try to cook them for about 2 - 3 minutes max. Then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put on top of the mound of mushrooms, cheese, and greens. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper and serve.

To eat, pierce the egg and mix the yolk in with the sauce of the ragout. You will likely want to eat this with a spoon or at least have some bread on hand to sop up the rest of the sauce.

City fresh eggs

Close to 15 years ago, I read Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. While I didn't agree completely with the logic of his argument, my eyes were opened to the disgusting ways in which we raise the animals who become our food. I quickly decided that I would become a free-rangatarian, and I was likely one of the first of my kind. Of all the cruel excuses for animal husbandry, I believed that of egg laying chickens was one of the worst. So unlike most vegetarians who occasionally ignore the egg in their meal, I was pretty hard core about not eating factory farmed eggs. Hence the nickname "free range".

Free range to your health
Fast forward a few years and people started to understand what I was talking about when I said "free range". In fact, many people agree that it is probably a good idea, if only for the health benefits. And it's true. Hens that are allowed to forage outside of cages tend to produce eggs lower in fat and cholesterol and higher in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins (see the table below from Organic & Thrifty). Some people even argue they taste better, but I can't really vouch for that. I do know that it is easier to eat without a side of guilt.

Factory farming ("free range" is not the perfect solution)
Now fast forward even further, to today. Thanks to more books about animal treatment and documentaries, like Food Inc., people are starting to really see and really get how absolutely abhorrent the factory farm paradigm is for the animals and the people involved.

So what's the solution? I always buy free range eggs at the store, however I have my doubts as to the authenticity of their claims. For example, claims that their chickens are free range and fed a vegetarian diet are dubious. Part of what chickens pick up when foraging outside a cage is a variety of bugs (in Hawaii, many people had kept chickens in order to keep the cockroach population down). Bugs, I learned in grade school, are not vegetables. I have a sense that producers started labeling their products as "fed a vegetarian diet" after the whole mad cow scare. To be fair, chickens would likely eat a cow if you fed it to them, so an optimistic view of this package labeling is that they're just trying to assure us that we're not going to have mad eggs.

If they're not being straight forward about their health claims, what about the actual heart of the matter "free". Are these animals actually free or just marginally free? Do a quick internet search and you'll find a lot of pictorial evidence to the contrary.

Know your farmer
Every time I have a chance to buy farm fresh eggs at the farmer's market, I jump on it. They're usually half the price, much higher nutritional value, and they're supporting the local economy. Sometimes they'll even take back the egg cartons, which also allows you to reuse, keeping packaging out of the waste system and helping the farmer save a little money.

Be your farmer
But you can get fresher than that. You can raise your own hens in your own backyard. You think I'm crazy? It's a national trend. In fact on a jog through my Cambridge neighborhood, I ran across a whole family of poultry hanging out.

Certainly a lot of people started raising their own chickens and growing their own food because of the recent recession. Unfortunately, many found that the cost of raising chickens is not offset by the tons of eggs you receive. However, chickens will eat just about anything, so you can make due feeding them your scraps and supplementing with chicken feed and foraging in the yard.

I haven't raised my own chickens so I'm not an expert, but from everything I've read there are certainly some things you should consider.

1. They need a coop. Even city porches or yards have predators, if only the cat next door. You need to keep your birds safe.
2. High production hens can lay as many as an egg a day. And they don't need a rooster.
3. Roosters are a liability for raising chickens. They're noisy and not actually necessary. They'll make your neighbors complain.
4. Many cities allow for chickens as pets, which means if you don't eat the chicken, you can keep it. 

For way more information than I have on chickens, check out the city chicken:

http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/index.html

Crunchy bread

One of the first tiffs I had with my boyfriend was when I got offended when he said I was crunchy. I argued, "I don't like granola. I shave my arm pits. I LOVE white bread!" While I have relented that I am probably at least a little bit crunchy, I do still really prefer a good, crusty white loaf to whole wheat. There's something about its quintessential breadiness; the way that you can eat it with anything. So when said boyfriend suggested I make a whole grain loaf, it took me a while to actually try it out.

After much experimentation (sorry to all my friends on whom I tested not so awesome recipes), I think I've arrived at a very yummy version of a whole grain no-knead bread recipe. I invite you to make the recipe as is, or to play around with it yourself. The trick is always to have enough white flour to compensate for the really heavy dense stuff you put in it. I've read that the maximum you'd ever want whole to white would be 1:1. Otherwise, the bread ends up way too dense (and stone like). I'm pretty happy with a 1:2 ratio.

While I often buy flour which is milled nearby in New England (like King Arthur), they actually get their grains from places like Kansas or North Dakota, which are not local by any stretch of the imagination. I am willing to make this sacrifice because I do love the wheaty carbohydrate foods like pasta, bread, and pizza. So instead, I'm committed to buying in bulk and making it myself whenever possible. The good news, for those of you equally addicted to bready food, is that this no-knead recipe is extremely easy. The only hard part is that it takes time (not effort, just time).

Ingredients:

• 2 C unbleached white bread flour
• 1 C whole wheat bread flour
• 1/2 C rolled oats
• 1/2 C rolled wheat (if you can't find this at your store, just double the amount of rolled oats)
• 1 T sugar
• 1 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t instant yeast (if you use active dry, double the amount and proof for 10 minutes with the sugar in luke-warm water)
• 1/2 C total of any combination of seeds (I used pepitas, sunflower, and flax; if you want to use larger nuts, like walnuts, mix them in before the second rising)
• 1 5/8 C filtered water

Instructions:
Start by roasting your seed combo in a shallow pan over medium high heat. Stir frequently to keep from browning. Take off the heat after about five or so minutes. (If you're using active dry yeast instead of instant, start proofing now.)

Mix the rest of the dry ingredients in a large, non-reactive bowl. I'm a huge fan of the Pyrex mixing bowl set with lids. When making breads and pasta, this basically eliminates the need to cover in disposable plastic wrap (yay!).

Add the water and the roasted seeds and stir till mixed thoroughly, about a minute. You will end up with what they call a "shaggy" dough that is wet and sticky. This recipe calls for more water than a typical kneaded dough. You're basically providing enough food and water (and time) for the yeast to do all the work through fermentation that you would have to do by kneading, namely allow the gluten molecules to bond to each other, creating the elasticity to hold the shape as the yeast releases air in baking.

Then comes the easy part - cover and wait.

Wait.

And wait a little more. In total, you should let it rise at room temperature for at least 14 hours or even longer if you have the time. I typically make the dough the night before I want my first loaf. The dough will have settled into the full shape of it's container (rather than the ball you left it in) and should be dotted with bubbles.

You can cook it all at once or you can take a quarter or a half or whatever amount you need. The rest of the dough you can store in the refrigerator till you need it. One quarter will give you about 2-3 servings. Unless you're feeding a small army, you should only cook a small amount at a time. The whole grains are really awesome at holding in water, so you end up with really moist bread. But you can also end up with a mold time bomb if you don't eat it within a few days. No matter when you use it, the bread turns out great, although I will admit that it tends to be lighter when made without refrigeration.

Whatever portion size you've chosen, plop it on a floured wooden surface. I give it a few good kneads, but all you really need to do is flop it over on itself a few times picking up some of the flour. (If you want to add nuts or dried fruit, do so at this time.) Cover with a smaller Pyrex bowl (should be big enough to allow the dough to double in size) for fifteen minutes. Generously dust the inside of the bowl with flour. Form the dough into a ball and place into the bowl. Cover and let rise for at least two hours.

If you're taking dough from the fridge to use, follow the same steps as above, but then tweak the second rise. If you want bread for dinner, take dough out in the morning and let it rise all day. If you need it more quickly you can use a proofing box or preheat your oven to 100 F for about five minutes and place the covered bowl inside with the door ajar. Don't allow the oven to get too hot. You don't want the dough to be above 90 F or it will kill all the yeast. This method will shorten the rising time to just shy of two hours.

About a half hour before the second rise is finished, preheat the oven to 475 F with a Dutch oven warming inside. To get a gorgeous crusty crust, you will need a covered cooking dish to hold the water in. I've found a Dutch oven works best. If you're cooking the entire thing you'll need at least a 6 quart Dutch oven. Scale down accordingly for other portions. Other methods include cooking on a pizza stone with a pan of water below it. Also, spraying the loaf with water 3-5 times during the first ten minutes of cooking.

To get the dough into the cooking device, dust the top of the dough with flour and then flip the bowl over your hand. Gently coax the dough out and quickly transfer it to the cooking device. Cover and place in the oven. Start checking the bread around 15-20 minutes in. Once a nice crust has developed, take the top off and allow it to cook 15-20 minutes more. Cool on a rack and then enjoy alone or with butter, goat cheese, or jam.

Scrap soup

In the fairy tale of stone soup, clever strangers trick a village into creating a hearty meal with them. The key to this story is that the villagers are convinced that they have no food to share, but are able to find just a little something to add to the soup to help finish it off. When we think of our own kitchens in that way, always saving just a little for the soup, we can end up with quite a tasty broth.

In practice this can be quite easy. Traditionally, you make a broth with whole vegetables - a few carrots, onions, stalk or two of celery. But why whole vegetables? Why not parts of vegetables? Why not the parts of vegetables you were planning to throw away anyway? Even better, why not the parts of vegetables you were planning to throw away that happen to carry the most nutrients? WOW! What a two-for!

Here's the key, whenever you are cleaning and cutting up vegetables, save all the scraps and put them in a one gallon ziplock bag in the freezer. I typically keep a bag of carrot, onion, and celery parts in one bag. This with a chicken or turkey carcass and a few sprigs of fresh herbs makes an standard poultry stock.

But don't stop there. Keep all the scraps of beets, winter squash, potatoes, and any other vegetable you may use. Beets add natural depth of color and flavor. Potatoes are a natural thickening agent. And winter squash adds just a touch of sweetness. Balance that with some fresh herbs like thyme and rosemary and you've got an amazing, rich stock for vegetarian dishes.

Just keep putting scraps into their respective bags until they fill up. Then, dump the scrap vegetables into a stock pot with a tablespoon of olive oil over high heat. Sauté for about ten minutes, preferably browning the veggies just a little. Then add a meat carcass (optional) and herbs along with about 8 cups of water, a tablespoon of salt, and a tablespoon of peppercorns. Simmer for at least two hours adding more water occasionally, keeping the water level constant.

Strain the stock through cheese cloth to remove all the vegetables and meat. At this point, you can take the time to pull out any meat that might have fallen off the bone. I'm always surprised that I tend to find about a cup of really yummy meat. However, this is not a pretty part of the process, so I will spare you any pictures. Now you've completely gotten everything out of your scaps and can feel pretty confident tossing them into the compost bin.

Refrigerate the stock over night. Strain any fat off the top. Then you can either pour the stock into containers in the freezer (I like to use 2 cups as a useful serving size) or you can can it.

Since stock is a low acid food, you will need to pressure can it, which requires special equipment. (Make sure to carefully follow the directions and canning times for canning stock that comes with your canner.) After sanitizing the pint jars and boiling the stock for ten minutes, put the stock in the pint jars and process in the pressure canner.

Trust me, it is so rewarding to take stuff you would have thrown out and make something magnificent out of it. Now, any time you need a little more umph in a recipe, you've got your very own stock in the freezer or pantry.