5 Feb 2013
Hey everyone,
It’s time for my yearly blog cleanup. I will be working for the week or so on some much-needed upgrades and maintenance around here.
Which change am I most excited about? The recipe index! It’s too hard to find recipes. I want them all in one place so they’re easy to browse and search by categories like ingredient and season.
More changes coming, too!
26 Nov 2012
Saturday I went over to Morningside Park’s annual Cane Boil. I didn’t get there until late in the afternoon to avoid the crowds. Watching the women boil the cane juice in the huge reproduction syrup cauldron in their working 19th century costumes, using all period utensils was a transportive experience. I love watching reenactors who dress in their costumes often enough that they become clothes.
All of the cane syrup was sold when I got there, so everyone had to wait for this batch to finish boiling down and get bottled before we could buy our syrup. I had planned on walking in, buying some cane syrup, and leaving… but watching the women work was mesmerizing. The woman in the striped apron was a pro. That’s boiling hot syrup she’s tossing around! They were obviously having a good time, too.
By the time the syrup was ready there was quite a crowd gathered around the syrup shed. The fair was well over by then but everyone just waited patiently. It would be done when it was done, and we were all willing to wait.
Then it was my turn! I got two big bottles of fresh cane syrup, the bottles were still so hot you couldn’t hold them for more than a minute.
Cane syrup is our equivalent of maple syrup- it’s nothing but the juice from crushed sugarcane, boiled down until reduced and thickened. Nothing added, only water taken away. It’s stronger than maple syrup but lighter than sorghum, a little darker in color than Grade B maple syrup, but not as strong or thick as molasses. It’s my favorite liquid unrefined sugar and not only because it’s produced right here in Alachua County. It’s delicious and extremely versatile.
When I got home I immediately started brainstorming. What would I make with my new cane syrup? What would highlight the deep caramel-sweet flavor and beautiful amber color? Mmmm, pie.
If you don’t live in a cane syrup-producing area, you can substitute maple syrup, sorghum syrup, or amber agave. If you want to try honey, start with half the amount and add to taste.
4 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and steamed)
1 1/2 c heavy whipping cream
6 eggs
1 c cane syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 pie crusts (frozen purchased crusts for me, I suck at pie crust)
Move one oven rack to the bottom, and one to the middle. Heat the oven to 350. Get out a big cookie sheet with a lip.
Foolproof filling method: put half of the sweet potatoes, eggs, cream, and syrup in the blender. Pulse until it’s combined, then puree until completely smooth. Scrape into a big bowl. Then do the same with the other half, and add the spices. Scrape into the same bowl and mix thoroughly. This is the best way to get the filling absolutely smooth.
Put the pie tins with the raw pie shells on the cookie sheet. Scrape half the filling into each pie shell. Put into the oven on the bottom rack for 30 minutes. (Baking the pie on the bottom rack cooks the bottom of the pastry crust properly so it’s not undercooked and gooey.) Then move the cookie sheet to the middle rack, rotating the pies if necessary. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until the filling no longer jiggles in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
Sweet potato pie makes an excellent breakfast!
21 Nov 2012
I just cannot settle on a menu this year! There are so many delicious things I want to cook! This is our first holiday celebration at the new house and I want it to be really special, but I know the menu is already bordering on the ridiculous.
And this is only what my husband and I are cooking! My parents are bringing mashed potatoes, more veggie sides, and several pies. I won’t have to cook again for several days… but I probably will anyway.
Anyway, back to the turkey. This year a friend of mine is starting a farm, and she decided to raise heritage-breed turkeys, so of course I bought one. It’s a good-looking 14-pound turkey. I cook the turkey just about the same way every year, and a few years ago I actually wrote down the recipe and submitted it to our local foods newsletter.
Turkeys are native to the Americas and have fed the inhabitants here for tens of thousands of years. Well cared for pastured turkeys from a small farm are one of the best examples of food offered by this land we live on. Unlike factory farmed turkeys, which are kept in close confinement in dark, stifling pens, pastured turkeys actually use their muscles. Because of this, they can be tough or dry if cooked like a grocery store turkey, which is often injected with salt water and MSG to artificially enhance the flavor.
A pastured turkey is an investment and should be cooked with loving care and attention to bring out the full rich flavors of the plants and sunshine that went into it. Taking the time for the following simple steps will insure that your turkey will be moist and succulent.
My beautiful turkey in his briny bath. Alas, no roasted turkey photos from last year, so you get no post-roasting photos until Thursday evening.
One pastured turkey, cleaned and plucked
3-4 sticks of salted butter, depending on size of bird
3-4 shallots, chopped
Several handfuls fresh sage and parsley, chopped
Small handful of fresh thyme stems, leaves stripped
½ gallon of apple cider, no sugar or spices added
Plenty of good salt and freshly cracked pepper
Begin the night before with a fully thawed turkey. Rinse the turkey very well in cold water until the water runs clear.
Find a non-reactive basin that is large enough to hold your turkey fully submerged – make sure it will fit in your refrigerator. Place the turkey in the basin. Place the basin in the refrigerator before taking the next steps which will make the basin too heavy and awkward to move. Pour 1 cup of salt over the turkey, then cover turkey with cold water until completely submerged. You may have to place heavy jars or cans on top of the turkey to keep it submerged. Cover
and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, drain the turkey very well and pat dry with paper towels. Set the turkey aside to come just to room temperature. In a food processor or large mortar combine soft butter, shallots, sage, parsley and thyme. Pulse until herbs are completely combined with the butter. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside at room temperature for the flavors to combine.
Pour the apple cider into a pan and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil until reduced by half its volume. Once reduced, turn the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer until the cider is slightly darkened and syrupy. Set aside to cool.
By the time the syrup is done, the turkey should be close to room temperature. First loosen the skin from the meat of the bird with your hands – be very careful not to tear the skin if possible. Loosen all of the skin around the breasts and down to the legs, then around to the bottom of the bird.
Take a good handful of salt and rub the salt inside body cavity of the turkey to coat it. Take 2/3 of the herb butter and spread carefully between meat and skin along the breast and thighs. Use the kitchen string to wrap around wings and lower legs, tying them tightly against the body – this will help the bird cook evenly.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the tied turkey, breast side up, on the rack in the roasting pan. Baste liberally with cider syrup. Close lid and check for a tight fit. (You can insure a tight seal by tearing a narrow strip of aluminum foil and crimping the aluminum foil around the lid, making an air-tight seal that will retain more steam.) A turkey will take 15-20 minutes per pound of meat to cook. Multiply out your total poundage and then split it into thirds – for example, a 15 pound turkey will take roughly 225 minutes. After the first third of time, turn the oven down to 350. Cook for another third of your total cooking time.
Take the turkey out of the oven and uncover. Wrap two oven mittens in towels to keep from burning your hands. Carefully turn the bird over, breast side down – cooking the turkey upside down lets the juices all run into the breast, keeping the breast moist. With a spoon and tongs, spread the rest of the herb butter under the turkey’s skin. Then baste liberally with cider syrup. Put the lid back on and seal shut again. Put the turkey back in the oven and turn the oven down to 300. Cook for the final third of total time.
Take the turkey out of the oven again and test the temperature with a meat thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the thigh. The temperature should be around 175 degrees. If it’s not up to temperature, keep roasting with the lid on for 20 minutes, basting every time you open the lid, until it reaches 175 degrees. When the turkey has reached the desired temperature and is done, baste with the rest of the apple cider syrup and cover again to let rest for at least 20 minutes so the turkey can reabsorb all of its juices. If you want crispy skin, carefully turn the turkey back breast side up, turn the oven back up to 400 degrees, and roast uncovered 15-20 minutes, until the breast skin is well-browned and crispy.
Originally published in the November 2010 edition of Hogtown Homegrown, the first and I believe only “Conscientious Carnivore” section in the previously 100% vegetarian newsletter. It caused such a furor that the newsletter continued its next edition in its original vegetarian style. Check it out for lots of excellent recipes!
10 Oct 2012
When it comes to the farmer’s market, I am such a sucker for a deal. One of the organic farms was offering baskets of beautiful deep red mixed chiles for $1 a basket. $1 a basket! How could I pass that up, I ask you?
Harissa has been on my wish list for a long time. Bright red chiles, pungent garlic, bright lemon, and a backbone of cumin and coriander… I just had to try it. Most recipes I found called for either roasted red peppers in the mix to tone down the chile heat, or used dried chiles for that brick-red color. I split the difference by carefully de-seeding the fresh chiles. The resulting harissa is incredibly bright, fruity, and nicely spicy without that throat-searing heat.
I am going to eat this stuff on everything. This weekend I plan on going back to that farmer and cleaning him out of beautiful red chiles to make a huge batch of harissa. I will be giving out jars of this to everyone I know.
10-12 fresh red ripe chiles: cayenne, jalapeno and serrano
1 tbl ground cumin
1 scant tbl ground coriander
juice of 1 lemon
1/3- 1/2 c olive oil
4 cloves fresh garlic, smashed
2 tbl tomato paste
1/2 tsp sea salt
Cut off the stem end and slit each chile with a sharp knife down the length. Carefully scrape out the seeds and the ribs connecting the seeds to the wall of the chile. This is where the majority of the heat comes from. Discard the seeds. Cut each chile into a few pieces.
Combine everything in a blender with 1/3 c olive oil. Blend in pulses, stopping often to scrape down the sides. Only add enough olive oil to make everything blend smoothly. Taste for salt. Let chill in the fridge for a few days before serving.
5 Sep 2012
My husband and I started a new diet today. It’s mostly based on the “primal” diet with some Nourishing Traditions thrown in there. We eat really good food but we’re both slowly gaining weight and have a couple other lingering health issues. I truly believe that we are what we eat- our diets should be our first “medicine”. So we’re trying this new way of eating as an experiment for a month. At the end of the month we’ll see how we both feel and go from there. I will be writing about our weekly meal plans here again since it really does help me form the plan and stick to it.
This might be enough produce for a week?
We went camping over the weekend so it was Ward’s for the grocery shopping yesterday. I know this looks like a lot of produce but when you’re eating vegetables for the bulk of your diet it gets pretty… bulky. I hope this is enough food. If we can stick to the meal plan we’ll eat every bit. And this is only the fresh produce! I also bought a few first-time foods- coconut oil and goat’s milk yogurt.
Tuesday- Salmon with Spinach and Creme Fraiche (escarole instead of spinach), sweet potato puree
Wednesday- Roasted Chicken, rosemary-honey carrots, cauliflower & celery root puree
Thursday- Shrimp Stir-fry with Peppers, Green Onions and Snow Peas
Friday- Dinner out!
Lunches- Jim gets big salads with leftover sliced pork Tues- Thurs. I baked that big squash there on the table tonight and made several days’ worth of Curry Sweet Potato Soup with squash and leftover cooked sweet potato. Kids- BLTs and fresh fruit. Everyone gets Florida Crunch Salad on Friday to use up Wednesday’s leftover chicken.
Breakfasts- I’m eating fresh fruit and banana & yogurt smoothies. Jim’s breakfasts are hard-boiled eggs or tuna salad and an apple or pear.
I’m already gathering recipes for next week’s menu. Jim and I are going to take turns making lunches each week, I can’t wait to find out what he picks!
10 Jul 2012
I’m not much into souvenirs. We bought a few things in El Paso. The stuff I can usually afford is all junk, and I can’t afford the things I would actually spend money on.
Food is the exception.
Despite a concerted search for Mexican vegetable seeds, pulque, and a few other hard-to-find items, I left El Paso mostly empty-handed. The “local food” trend hasn’t caught on at all in El Paso as far as I could tell. There were several interesting-looking shops and farmer’s markets in Las Cruces, but we never made it up there. I did finally find some local honey and unsweetened flor de jamaica to make jamaica agua fresca, which my husband had at a Mexican paleteria and enjoyed very much. I’ll be planting several of the hibiscus bushes that produce these flowers if I can reproduce the recipe.
By far our largest spending day on the whole trip was a shopping spree at Dorignac’s in Metairie, Louisiana. Any time we get near New Orleans we stop and load up at Dorignac’s. It’s a large independent grocer that specializes in Louisiana products. How can I resist? We stocked up on Creole and Cajun spices, popcorn rice, creole mustard, Louisiana raspberry wine, a few boxed mixes, a couple bags of frozen crawfish tails, and lots and lots of sausage: alligator sausage, smoked beef sausage made there at Dorignac’s, 2 different kinds of andouille, and a particular green onion boudin that I love.
We also stopped at Jacob’s in Laplace and bought their house-made andouille, turkey tasso, pickled quail eggs, and boudin, but I’m fairly sure we left the damn bag in the hotel room fridge in Metairie, ’cause I haven’t found the bag since we unpacked. The maid got $50 in free sausage if we did.
Saturday night we had a fantastic dinner at Zeke’s Restaurant in Metairie. My middle son and I split one of the shrimp boil buckets. We ate ourselves sick. I had truly forgotten just how delicious a Cajun-style shrimp boil can be. We bought this ginormous bag of shrimp boil spices the next day for a very special occasion. We don’t know what that occasion will be yet- maybe our anniversary in August- but whatever it is will be special… this bag is for 20 pounds of seafood!
Needless to say, we’ll be eating a whole lot of Cajun and Creole food in the next few months!
12 Jun 2012
Today I rode my new bicycle to work!
I have wanted to ride to work for years now, but the old apartment was 8.4 miles from my office… that’s just too far. The new house is only 3 miles and change according to Google Maps! So Saturday I found a cool bike on Craigslist and went and bought it. Isn’t it beautiful? It even has a basket! It’s even turquoise!
There are so many benefits to riding my bike to work-
1. Saving money. The bus costs $3 per day. That’s $48 a month I can spend on SHOES.
2. More exercise. I detest the very idea of joining a gym, and this is good exercise that actually gets me somewhere.
3. No more bus. I have mostly enjoyed riding the bus for the last 4 years but some of the new policies have made bus riding much less enjoyable, most especially requiring the drivers to run the air conditioning at all times in the summer. It’s a terrible policy. It’s extremely uncomfortable for the passengers, dressed in clothes for hot weather, and the windows run with condensation, which is dangerous for the bus driver. The bus now is a back-up, not a default.
4. Saving time. The bus ride is a 10 minute walk plus a 40 minute ride, each way. The bike ride took 35 minutes door-to-door. And no more worrying about missing the bus!
28 Apr 2012
Tomorrow is the Kickoff Celebration to the Eat Local Challenge. (I hope the crowd is as big as the name.) I’m doing a cooking demo at the celebration and had to decide what to make. Random people have been asking me for weeks “what are you making?”. Even my husband asked. But of course I didn’t know until I got to the farmer’s market this morning.
It’s all about eating local- the freshest, most seasonal food possible.
Living in Florida and being a locavore is beyond all dreams of avarice during this time of the year. The sheer variety at the markets right now is breathtaking. Aren’t these colors just the most gorgeous? Those purple onions just got me.
This week my husband asked to take a small break from greens. Greens, citrus and sweet potatoes form a good percentage of our diet in the winter and we’re all ready for a break. That big bok choy in the corner is destined for the kimchi jar in the morning, and the only other greens are those dandelion greens. I just can’t resist French dandelion greens cooked with bacon with a splash of white balsamic vinegar. If anyone complains, I’ll happily scarf them all myself.
Bruised tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red skinned potatoes, eggplant, various sweet & spicy peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, bok choy, purple onions, dandelion greens, and cilantro. Grand total= $40.
This got me thinking. I read about and see people complaining about prices at the farmer’s markets. Now, it’s true that there are yuppy markets out there with “inflated” prices. However, yuppy markets are easy to spot and easy to avoid if you want to. Find the older farmer’s market, the one that’s been around a while. The one filled with stalls of actual farmers. Then really look around and talk to the farmers. Buying directly from the farmers in your area is not like buying vegetables from the grocery store in many ways!
Snap peas are a good example. Snap peas are cheap at the grocery store, right? I mean, you can buy fresh snap peas at Walmart for $1 a pound sometimes. Well, here in Gainesville, you’re lucky if you can find a little basket of snap peas for $3 at the farmer’s market.
“That’s ridiculous!” I hear people say. “It’s so expensive!”
Well, let me tell you. Snap peas are cheap at the grocery store because they get shipped in from places where they are easy to grow. There are parts of the country where snap peas grow by the bucket, and home gardeners can just give them away.
That place is not North Central Florida.
Snap peas are difficult to grow here. They don’t like sandy soil, they don’t like heat, every bug loves them, and they curl up their toes at the slightest nematode. A home gardener is lucky to get one good harvest of snap peas before the plants keel over. That little basket of snap peas is expensive because the farmer had to nurse those plants carefully, plant them extra early, protect them from frosts, fend off the armies of hungry bugs by buying special row covers, and then quickly harvest what they could before the temperatures hit 85.
On the other hand, consider the lowly zucchini. A whole basket of the tiniest tender baby zucchini and yellow squash today was $2. That’s half the price of “gourmet” baby squash at Fresh Market, maybe less. Zucchini, yellow squash, collards, peppers, sweet potatoes, okra, eggplant… those things are easy to grow here. They grow like mad and require little special attention. They’re cheap at the farmer’s market, often cheaper than the grocery store.
So the next time you go to your local farmer’s market and see something that seems wildly expensive, ask the farmer about growing it or producing it. Let her tell you about the travails of trying to grow tender lettuces in the Southern heat, or the lengths he went to in getting those chilis to mature before the first frost.
Then maybe you’ll buy that $3 tiny basket of beans anyway.
18 Apr 2012
There are two major camps in the frugal home kitchen debate: meal planning vs. pantry stocking. After reading this article on stocking the pantry, I realized that I actually do a combination of these two methods. This is one of those (thankfully rare) weeks where we need to spend as little on groceries as possible. A lot of people ask me how I cook meals from scratch, eat such a high percentage of local foods, and stay on budget. This is the system that works best for me.
Most weeks I visit the farmer’s market and do the grocery shopping on Saturday morning.
1. Make a list of what’s already in the fridge and pantry, concentrating on what needs to be used up first like open packages or left overs.
2. Go to the farmer’s market. Buy whatever looks good and has a good price. Keep in mind how much your household can eat in one week. It’s really easy to over-buy and end up with produce that goes bad before it can be eaten. My weekly budget for the farmer’s market is $40-$50, about 1/3 of our total food budget.
This week's basket: onions, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, baby zucchini and yellow squash, rosemary, and lots of beets. All of this plus pastries for me & my daughter was $25.
3. When you are done at the farmer’s market, add the list of what you just bought to the list of what you already have. If you have the time, go get a cup of coffee or breakfast somewhere and plan a rough menu for the week. Look at the two lists like a puzzle. The goal is to use up all the pieces. What can I make that will use all of both lists? How do they fit together best? What absolutely must be used first? What can wait until later in the week?
4. Then write down the menu, and if you need to, make a third list of everything you need but don’t already have. Here is where I do a combination of the two methods. There is a small list of foods that I always like to have on hand, either because we eat them every day or because they’re good “emergency foods” that I can whip up in a hurry if the meal plan for that night has to be cancelled. Sometimes I forget to take the meat out of the freezer, or forget to turn the crockpot on in the morning.
I keep that basic pantry list in my head, but if you’re just starting out then you should write it down. Some of the items on my pantry list: milk, eggs, butter, whole wheat tortillas, Irish Breakfast tea, whole rolled oats, spaghetti, jarred marinara sauce, canned tuna fish, sugar, flour, salt, and a bottle of wine. A huge help is also participating in cow pools a couple times a year so the freezer is stocked with beef, pork, and venison. The only meats we buy weekly are fish, chicken, and sometimes specialty items like bacon or smoked sausage.
Notice, no long-term meal planning. I only plan for a week at a time. I’ve never done longer-term meal planning or shopping than a week. We don’t have room in our tiny kitchen for more than a week’s food for our family of 5.
Here is my notebook with lists of what we have, what we bought, and the resulting meals to use everything up.
5. Now that you’re sufficiently caffeinated, you can finish the shopping. I usually visit 2-3 stores each week to complete my shopping because I am cheap thrifty. Certain items are cheaper at certain stores, and Walmart is not always the least expensive. For instance, the prices on ethnic foods at stores like Publix and Kroger (and Wards!) are extremely high. If you want ethnic foods, go to the ethnic food store. Not only will you get a better selection at a better price, you’ll probably find a bunch of interesting foods you’ve never tried. Since ethnic grocers are independent local stores you’ll also be pumping money directly into the local economy and, if you’re lucky, making new friends. There are items that quality will win over price, too. If you want fish, go to a fishmonger if you can. Try out the Latin butcher shop for meat (look for “carniceria”), or the halal butcher if you’re lucky enough to have one. Some weeks we visit the Indian grocer, the Asian grocer, the Russian grocer, and the regular grocery store. I like shopping for food; this is a chore I enjoy.
My total budget for groceries is $150/week including household items like shampoo and toilet paper. This week, because I had a well-stocked pantry and freezer, I spent $25 on fresh produce and $30 at Publix on the few things we needed to fill in the holes, and we won’t have to shop again until Saturday because of the combination of meal planning and pantry stocking.
So how do you grocery shop?
2 Apr 2012
April is when agriculture in this area really starts to take off. We spend the winter thankful for greens and citrus, and just about the time everyone is getting sick of kale and oranges, bam! It’s strawberry time! And then the tomatoes start coming, and then everything else comes in a flood. We bought the season’s first cucumbers last week. Now this week the full diversity of crops in this area was really apparent- everything from sweet peppers to tomatoes to strawberries to greens!
Unfortunately, last week’s meal plan was a complete bust. The fridge was still stuffed full on Friday, so I knew this weekend would be a light grocery week. I still spent my $40 budget though, because I majorly splurged and bought 1/2 flat of strawberries ($10), a whole smoked mackerel ($8), and a free-range chicken ($11).
What’s in the Basket: a huge bunch of fresh dill, a whole smoked mackerel, one head of savoy cabbage that was too gorgeous to pass by, more oranges and grapefruit, a giant seedless cucumber, swiss chard, and 2 tiny pathetic bunches of cilantro that I spent my last dollar on. Chicken and ridiculous amount of strawberries, too, but they didn’t make it into the picture.
I still have: beets, more cucumbers, several peppers, a big bag of romaine lettuce, sweet potatoes, carrots, quelites, and green onions.
Now the contents of the fridge are threatening to escape every time the door gets opened. We must stick to the meal plan this week!
Sunday- Giant frittata with smoked mackerel, fresh dill, chicory and queso fresco for breakfast, and grilled local sheephead fish with garlic-grapefruit-soy dipping sauce and fried rice for dinner.
Monday-Homemade Sloppy Joes with ground venison, peppers, and green onions, and sliced cucumber salad
Tuesday- Burritos with homemade refried beans, salsa, queso fresco, green salad, maybe pupusas if I feel creative
Wednesday- Meatloaf, savoy cabbage like this, roasted beets, mashed sweet potato
Thursday- Claypot Chicken Rice (using my trusty cast iron dutch oven since I don’t have an Asian clay pot) with stir-fry of whatever vegetables are left over
Friday- Leftovers!
What are you eating for dinner this week?
May 24, 2013 at 9:52 am If your rosemary is taking off like mine, try this simple rosemary cake for a refreshing change.
http://www.greenbasket.me/2013/05/24/rosemary-cake/
We are going camping this weekend! Our last big venison roast will go in the crockpot tomorrow with a bottle of Tennessee Gunshot Sauce and a jar of sundried tomatoes. This weekend we will feast on pulled venison sandwiches!
May 23, 2013 at 3:51 pm I have only one word for this: DUH.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130514101446.htm
Researchers have found they can control one of fruit growers' more severe pests, aphids, with a remarkably benign tool: flowers. The discovery is a boon for organic as well as conventional tree fruit growers. The researchers found that plantings of sweet alyssum attracted a host of spiders and preda...
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