January’s nearing to a close, which is good time to reassess the resolutions of the New Year. Did you lose 5 pounds? Have you exercised daily? Don’t worry, neither did I.
There is one resolution that if you didn’t make, it’s a good one to adopt now: making family dinner a regular habit.
Statistics show that children who share a meal regularly with their families do better in school and have a better relationship with their parents. We all have to eat, so let’s do it together.
I may not have any advice about dieting or exercise, but this is one resolution that I can help with.
Until last year, Purple Asparagus’ mission was to bring families back to the table. With our burgeoning work in the schools (more than 22 and rising), we revised our mission in 2011 to educating children, families, and the community about eating that’s good for the body and the planet. Believe you me, with the number of parent cooking classes I teach, I still have some tips, five in fact, about how to make family dinner 2012’s healthy habit.
1. Be flexible: The greatest enemy to the family dinner is the unrelenting devotion to the clock. Dinner in my house may at 5:30, it might be at 7:30; it all depends upon our schedules, individual and collective. If my son doesn’t get a bath that night, so be it, I’d rather have that half hour for our family to reconnect at the end of the day.
2. Embrace convenience: Don’t be ashamed to use convenience foods. While I know many a food snob that will turn a nose up at the idea of prepared cereals or a tub of hummus. I’m not one of them. Even though I often prepare bread or pasta from scratch, these are weekend activities, not a project to undertake when I’m trying to get dinner on the table after a long day at work. When there are so many wonderful food artisans creating nutritious products with top quality and locally sourced ingredients, there’s no shame in incorporating them into your weekly routine.
3. Upcycle your leftovers: Leftovers, whether from my own kitchen or a restaurant meal, are in regular rotation in my kitchen. Not just meat scraps, like beef or chicken strips that can be laid onto salads or rolled into wraps, but everything. For example, transform your mashed potatoes into a tart crust. Cold rice can be folded with a lemony dressing and garnished with oil-cured tuna. Both her and on my personal blog Little Locavores, I detail these tricks and many more make short work of dinner.
4. Make a plan: Don’t just make a shopping list before entering a grocery or visiting a farmers’ market, but also a plan. Wine Braised Pot Roast served with roasted vegetables can on the day after be a delicious topping for whole grain pasta. Making meatloaf, double the recipe and stuff half into peppers. If you’re not used to this type of cooking, there are lots of terrific resources for meal planning, including The Scramble and Feed Our Families. About two years ago, I ran a few of these meal plans on Little Locavores, including my own.
5. One of the best pieces of advice about family dinner came from a powerful women partner at my former firm. While she was a terrific cook, she freely admitted that she wasn’t always the one cooking for her family. What was more important to her was that the family ate together. If the meal was at a restaurant or from the take-out section of Whole Foods, it was still family dinner. I wasn’t ready to hear the advice when she gave it, only a month after my son was born, and it likely hastened my departure from my Big Law job. Nowadays, I get it. Restaurant dinners and healthy take out are also among the tools at my disposal to get family dinner on the table.
To make this last tip even easier to follow, there’s a brand new initiative taking place at many Chicago restaurants: Healthy Fare for Kids. Spearheaded by Chef Sarah Stegner (a mom herself), Alderman Michele Smith, and former public health profession Diane Schmidt, the program is committed to providing parents with healthy options for their children at restaurants. The restaurants participating in the program will offer at least one delicious and healthy meal for kids on their menus.
Healthy Fare for Kids provided guidelines to chefs, including limiting the bread on the table before the meal and instead providing fresh vegetables. It also asks restaurants to ensure some lean protein with the meal and to use whole grain breads and pasta. Other suggestions are to use cooking methods that are lower in fat, incorporating and local and seasonal products (a goal close to this Little Locavores’ heart), controlling portion size and serving no-sugar beverages and small, if any, desserts.
For more information about the initiative and to learn which restaurants are participating, visit the initative’s website or watch Chef Stegner be interviewed by the Fooditude kids.
Now I will not deny that the little locavore has some peculiar tastes. Yes, his favorite dish is pizza and most green stuff still gives the willies. But then and again, he’ll declare a dish yum, yum, yummy that I would never in a million years expect. This is one of those dishes.
Disclaimer: I still fish out the greens in Thor’s bowl. All the rest is downed with alacrity.
Polish Sausage, Kale and Dragon’s Tongue Beans
4 servings
4 Polish sausages
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 bunch young kale, hard stems removed
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 cup cooked Dragon’s Tongue or Pinto beans
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
Brown the sausages in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Remove to a plate. Let the pan cool slightly and add olive oil. When hot but not smoking, add garlic and cook until fragrant approximately 30 seconds. Add kale and stir to combine. Pour in wine and water and return sausages with the beans to the pan with any juices accumulated on the plate. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes and kosher salt and bring the liquid to a simmer and cook until the kale is wilted and most of the juices have evaporated. Serve in a shallow bowl.
Thanksgiving is less than a week a way. Many of us have ideas of what to make; others have a vague sense that the meal will contain turkey and something. What that something will be, they are not quite sure. Over the years, for the Local Beet, I’ve provided many recipes suitable for this time of year. I’ve collected many of my recipes for Thanksgiving below. All the recipes consist of items available NOW from you CSA box, at area farmer’s markets, or at places like Green Grocer Chicago. Have a happy, sustainable, local holiday again this year.
Just last month, I wrote a post for Williams-Sonoma’s Blender blog about the multitude of uses for squash and pumpkin. When cooking for families, the puree can be blended into mac and cheese, smeared onto tortillas for quesadillas, and whirred in a blender with a banana and apple cider for a smoothie. All of these recipes are delicious and nutritious as we like to say at Purple Asparagus. But none will generate more applause than this.
Doughnuts!
I love homemade doughnuts. But making them for the three of us doesn’t seem an economical use of time or ingredients. The cost of the oil alone. Oy.
I don’t often entertain for brunch. But when I do, it’s too much effort to sit in front of a hot pot of oil. Fry, drain, repeat. Fry, drain, repeat.
That’s what’s nice about being the snack mom for the organized sport du saison. I get to try out new crowd-pleasing recipes for a very hungry crowd. On a cold, October morning, two dozen chocolate and cinnamon sugar pumpkin doughnuts were disappeared by a hungry team of 6, 7 and 8 year old soccer players and parents.
Pumpkin-Spice Doughnuts
Adapted from John Hadamuschin’s Special Occasions
3 cups sifted cake flour
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup sifted whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups pumpkin or other squash puree
Cinnamon Sugar
¾ granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Chocolate Glaze
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Cream together the shortening and the sugar in a large stand mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after the addition of each. Beat in the squash puree. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Let the batter sit for ½ hour.
Pour vegetable oil into a large heavy pot to about 4-inches. Heat it over medium high heat to 360° F.
On a well floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 3/8-inch. Cut out the dough with a doughnut cutter well dusted with flour. Let sit for 10 minutes.
While waiting, make the cinnamon sugar by combining the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Set the chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir in the cream and sugar.
Fry the doughnuts and the holes in the hot fat until browned, a minute or so on each side. After the first batch of doughnuts are done, you can reroll the scraps.
While hot, toss half the doughnuts and the holes in the cinnamon sugar. Glaze the remaining doughnuts by dipping them in the chocolate glaze. Let them drain on a baking rack.
Did you know that October is National Apple Month? We at Purple Asparagus sure do! These days our cars are smelling all apple-licious as we cart varieties like Mutsu, Razor Russet, Scarlet O’Hara, and Lucky Jon’s to Chicago Public Schools all over the city.
See Purple Asparagus is a non-profit that educates children, families and the community about eating that’s good for the body and the planet. Our cornerstone educational program, Delicious Nutritious Adventures, teaches elementary school students about fruits and vegetables in season. Starting with a tasting and ending with a cooking lesson, each program is designed to get kids excited about eating fresh, local and seasonal produce.
In October, we taste 6 or 7 varieties of locally grown apples ranging from tart to sweet. Our students compare the texture, the taste, and of course the appearance of America’s favorite fruit. During the tasting, we learn about Johnny Appleseed and his role in spreading the seeds of apple love to most of the Continental United States. He was quite persuasive and today each of the 50 states can boast its own variety of apple. In America alone, we grow 2,500 different kinds. Worldwide, the number of apple varieties rise to 7,500. If you were to eat a single apple variety every day, it would take over 20 years to eat every kind of apple grown. That’s a lot of apples!
Apples range in size. The smallest member of the apple family grows on a shrub and is smaller than the size of a penny. The largest recorded apple weighed in at over three pounds. In between, most of the apples, we get from the grocery store or the farmers’ market are about ½ pound each.
Even if Purple Asparagus doesn’t visit your child’s school, there’s lots of apple fun to be had this autumn. The farmers’ markets are stocked with heirloom apple varieties. Within a quick drive you could visit an orchard, picking your own supply of apples (apples keep well for several weeks in a well-ventilated, cool, and dry space). And next week, November 4 at 7pm, you could visit with me and my son as we celebrate the fun of apple picking and make a variety of family friendly apple recipes at Kenmore Live Studio located at 678 North Wells in Chicago. There will be tastings, prizes and lots of family fun. Kids welcome.
Apple-Pumpkin Pancakes
Serves 4, making 8 large pancakes, 16 small ones
Chock full of fragrant spices, these pancakes are the epitome of fall cooking. You could always double the recipe, cook the pancakes over the weekend, and the reheat over the week for easy pre-school breakfasts.
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 extra large egg+
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup 2 % milk
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ large apple, grated
Butter for cooking
Stir together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk together the wet ones in another medium bowl. Stir the dry mix into the wet ingredients until combined. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes. Cook on a hot griddle with the remaining butter until browned over medium low heat. Serve with maple syrup.
Ever get stymied by a bunch of collard discovered in your CSA box? I have. While delicious braised, one method of cooking can get boring and I need a bit more excitement in my cooking routine. A few weeks back I was faced with another bunch of olive colored, fan shaped greens from our share. To mix it up, I tried something new.
Borrowing and adapting a recipe from my friend and dedicated Purple Asparagus volunteer, Jill Houk, l turned my collards into spring roll wrappers. Stuffing them with grilled tofu, grated carrots and cucumbers, and lots of herbs fresh from my garden.
Next time, I’ll steam the collards a little longer as they were a touch chewy. Nevertheless, they were a pleasant twist and a new way to use up a challenging CSA vegetable.
Collard Spring Rolls
1 bunch collard greens
1/4 pound rice vermicelli, cooked and cooled
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
1/2 pound grilled tofu slices
2 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
1/4 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup basil leaves
Fit a large pot with a an adjustable steamer insert. Pour in water to reach the bottom of the steamer. Bring the water to a boil. Place 1/2 the greens in the steamer and cook until very soft. Remove the leaves to a colander and douse with cold water. Repeat with remaining leaves.
Lay a leaf on a large cutting board, cut out the heavy stem to about halfway up the leaf. Place about 1/4 cup of noodles on the bottom of the leaf leaving a 1/4-inch border. Top with a little carrot, cucumber, cucumber, lettuce, basil, mint, and scallions. Fold the bottom over the filling and the tuck in the sides and roll over the filling. Tuck in tofu slices and roll up like a cigar until the filling is covered. Cut in half, cutting away any exess heavy stem in the collard. Serve with Sunny Thai Dipping Sauce.
Sunny Thai Dipping Sauce
¼ c. sunflower seeds
¼ c. pumpkin seeds toasted 10 min.
1 T sunflower oil
2 T Soy sauce
1 garlic clove
1 1-inch chunk ginger
3 oz. water
1/8 t. chili oil
Roast the seeds at 350 F for 7 minutes. Grind in a food processor whle warm. Add remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.
There are many pleasures associated with living in the city, including easy access to world class restaurants, our choice of farmers’ markets, and the proximity to downtown locales.
There are also some small disadvantages, the smaller the worse. I know that country folk have to contend with an assortment of varmints. Us? Crazy squirrels and, shudder, rats. It’s been a particularly active year for latter the species. In our set of attached rowhouses, we and our neighbors have seen more than our fair share of the Rattus norvegicus, both dead and alive. I know the genus name only from Pixar’s Our Friend the Rat, a short film associated with Ratatouille. It seems appropriate that the featured dish in said movie highlights tomatoes, since our enemy, the rat, pilfered our last beautiful red ripe heirloom tomato. Boo hoo.
I’m tired of battling the creatures for the fruits of our vine. I also realize that I’m probably being optimistic to believe that any more will turn red given the drop in temperatures. So sadly, I stripped our plants of the hard green balls, realizing that summer is officially gone. The silver lining? I get to make Fried Green Tomatoes, an early autumn pleasure, that I indulge in only after the possibility of ripe fruit is gone. Partnering them with some stewed field peas, a newcomer to our markets, we had a delicious almost vegetarian supper, in spite of the rats.
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 ounces tasso ham sliced
10 ounces fresh field peas (you could substitute soaked black eyed peas)
¼ cup chicken stock
1 ¾ cup water
1 small tomato, chopped
2 to 3 small green tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup buttermilk
dash tabasco
salt to taste
vegetable oil for frying
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the ham and cook for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Pour in water and stock and bring to a simmer. Add the peas and tomato and cook until the peas are tender 30 to 45 minutes.
Heat about an inch of vegetable oil in a heavy medium skillet to 325 F. Whisk the tabasco into the buttermilk and the salt into the cornmeal. Dredge the tomato slices first in flour, then dip in buttermilk, and then into the cornmeal. Fry the slices until golden and serve on top of the field peas.
Photo Credit, Artisan Events
Imagine a class full of children swearing that they hate vegetables. Not hard to envision, right? Come back in an hour and watch them swarm the teacher’s desk for any leftovers from their veggie tasting. Believe that? I’ve witnessed this transformation on hundreds of occasions while teaching in the Chicago Public Schools for the non-profit that I founded and run, Purple Asparagus.
Purple Asparagus educates children, families and the community about eating that’s good for the body and the planet. Every year, we present Delicious Nutritious Adventures, our cornerstone education program, to thousands of parents and children throughout Chicago at schools, community centers, and farmers’ markets. Delicious Nutritious Adventures invites families to explore the foods we eat in an entirely different way. We teach about the farmers who grow the food, the places it comes from, what’s good about food grown close to the earth, and how to prepare healthy, delicious recipes. Combining nutrition education, food literacy, cooking, and fun, our highly popular hands on classes celebrate farm fresh fruits and vegetables.
Obesity is a national crisis, one that’s hit Chicago particularly hard. Overweight and obese children are at greater risk for diabetes, hypertension, increased risk of heart disease, and poor self-esteem. The issue is particularly prevalent in the underserved communities where good food is in short supply. Purple Asparagus is working to combat this issue in these communities by taking a new approach to healthy eating.
While teaching kids about healthy choices is a priority to Purple Asparagus, we’re sneaky about that message. Everything about our classes (even our name) is fun. Kids are more willing to try “healthy” foods when they’re not presented as such. A first grade boy will surely turn up his nose at a chickpea when told that it’s high in fiber and protein. Explain instead that its Italian name comes from its resemblance to a wart on a famous Roman’s face and he’ll climb all over his classmate’s to try it. Describe mint as a gum plant and a child’s resistance to the green leaves will melt. We explore food in a way that’s interesting and fun that makes kids happy to try new foods.
In the 2010-11 school year, we provided 250 hours of free educational programming to schools, community centers, farmer’s markets, and health fairs in Chicago serving roughly 2,500 students in over 30 Chicago neighborhoods on a shoestring budget with an all volunteer staff. We also served as a lead partner with Healthy Schools Campaign on the largest coordinated response to Michelle Obama’s call to chefs, Chefs Move to Schools. Through this program, we trained over 175 chefs who visited close to 200 schools reaching 8,000 children.
All this is great, you say, but how can I help? It couldn’t be a better week to ask this question. Purple Asparagus’ annual fundraiser, Corks & Crayons Benefit at Uncommon Ground, 1401 W Devon Ave, Chicago, on Sunday, August 28, 2011 from 3-7 p.m. The family-friendly event that brings foodies old and young together to celebrate the joys of family meals and healthy eating all for a good cause. The event will include a mini farmers’ market sponsored by Harvest Moon Organics farm, live music from Old Town School musicians, the Kohl Foundation Storybook Bus as well as Truck Farm Chicago, a traveling mini-farm exhibit connecting kids to food and health.
If you cannot attend, please consider bidding on our online auction. We have some terrific auction items to buy now as well as some new items coming on in the next few days – even for out of towners!
Kohlrabi is a vegetable that’s hard to love. Often mistaken for a root vegetable, the bulbous kohlrabi is instead related to cabbage and other brassicas like Brussels sprouts. The kohlrabi pops out of the earth like a fat broccoli, which makes sense give that its flesh tastes and feels a bit like the broccoli stem. The kohlrabi will grow almost anywhere, which is why I think it’s popular among farmers for the CSA box. Then we CSA members get stuck with them alongside the more appealing lettuces and strawberries in spring.
In winter, I grate the older, larger kohlrabi into my potato pancake batter. After frying, I dollop them with avocado cream. Delicious, but it’s not my idea of a warm weather recipe. Last week, I julienned along with cabbage and apples to make a crunchy, sweet, and earthy slaw. We ate it with stewed bratwurst, but I think it would also be a good addition to the picnic table.
Kohlrabi*, Cabbage and Apple Slaw
Serves 8
1 small green cabbage, cored and grated
3 small kohlrabi, peeled and julienned
4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon basil
Cover the cabbage with ice water in a large bowl. Soak for ½ hour. Whisk together the mayoonaise, buttermilk, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. After soaking, squeeze the cabbage dry with clean dish towels. Mix together with the kohlrabi in the dressing. Julienne a cored red apple and add to the salad. Stir in basil.
*Kohlrabi’s nickname is German Turnip. I don’t think it does much for it’s reputation.
While many of you around the country are enjoying early Summer produce, we Chicagoans are still seeing Spring’s greens in our CSA box, lots and lots of greens.
With a little oil, salt, and a warm oven, I can transform the kale into crispy little bites. Chard, on the other hand, has begun to outlive its utility. Unlike its fairer cousin spinach, I don’t like to freeze excess chard. To me, it only intensifies the bitterness.
Instead, I’ve been tucking the Alpine green in stews, both meatless and meaty. Last week’s creation was so well received at my family’s table that I reprised it again this week. If you too have an excess of the red tinged green, try this family favorite.
Franks, Beans and Greens
Serves 4
1 onion, diced
1/2 garlic scape, sliced
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1/4 cup white wine
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestire sauce
Pinches of cloves and cinnamon
1 12 ounce kielbasa, sliced
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 small bunch Swiss chard, rinsed, stemmed and roughly chopped
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and scapes and cook until the onions are caramelized about 7 or so minutes. Pour in white wine and cook until reduced. Add sugar, maple syrup, ketchup, mustard, Worcestire sauce, cloves and cinnamon. Turn off the heat. Brown the kielbasa in a large skillet over high heat. Add the kielbasa, beans and chard to the saucepan. Cover and cook until the chard is wilted and the ingredients are hot. Serve.
A restaurant question frequently posed to me is where can a family find a sustainably sourced meal and still feel welcome? Unfortunately, far too often, so called “family-friendly” restaurants serve produce drenched in pesticides and meat from animals hopped up on antibiotics to keep them “healthy” in wretched confined feeding operations. And I won’t even bring up the quality of offerings on the kids’ menu, often fried and always dumbed down.
Late last year, we took a family trip to London and I was amazed how much better the restaurants there were in welcoming families. Bumpkin, our favorite London place, didn’t have a kids’ menu, but instead told us that they could make a smaller version of any menu item. Zaika, a tony Indian restaurant in Kensington, “washed” Thor’s chicken before putting into the curry sauce so that its spice level would be acceptable to a younger palate.
Here in the states, it’s not as easy for families. But, I’m here to help. My family likes to eat out, but we’re also very conscious about the quality of food that we eat. As a result, I’ve done a lot of homework on restaurants that we’ll feel comfortable at but still serve the quality of ingredients that we enjoy at home. In this new series, I’ll share some of our favorite spots that treat and feed us well. One caveat, if you think it’s okay to let your child jump on the banquette seats (as three little girls did last week at Perennial Virant) or screech at the top his or her lungs through a meal (a delight we witnessed at Big Jones), stick with Chucky Cheese.
It was my birthday on Monday. To celebrate, we visited Sable Kitchen and Bar. As a hotel restaurant, Sable has an obligatory kids’ menu, but it’s not necessary. Sable’s menu is stocked with delicious small plates, creative reinterpretations of bar food. There’s the pretzel, paired with salty, smoky cheese sauce, and the fried cheese curds hot and ready to dip in slightly spicy house made ketchup. I love the Reuben rolls, phyllo wrapped around all the traditional fillings. The kitchen makes several varieties of flatbreads, including one topped with tomato and mozzarella, flavors meant to appeal to big and little kids. The little Locathor, however, prefers the grass-fed Dietzler Farm burger, a producer using sound methods to raise its livestock. The bar’s got a diverse cocktail list and will happily make a Shirley Temple without the artificially colored grenadine, prettied up with last year’s preserved cherries.
Sable’s chef Heather Terhune and her staff welcomed us all graciously. Heather and I are Facebook friends and I had let her know we’d been in. She stopped by our table and Thor was delighted that she remembered a few things about him including his love of music. And so, we had a wonderful family celebration only enhanced by our parting gift. On birthdays, Sable gives the guest of honor a gift: a cupcake kit: cake mix, maple sugar, and a recipe for Maple-Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting, a delightfully adult way to celebrate.
Maple-Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting
Enough to frost 12 cupcakes
Recipe Credit, Chef Heather Terhune, Sable Kitchen and Bar
5 ½ ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon bourbon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in sugar, maple syrup, bourbon, and salt. Beat until smooth. Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with maple sugar.
Strawberries are filling up the markets. To celebrate this, we’re eating strawberries every day: in our cereals, in our yogurt, in our smoothies, and in our salsa. Salsa? Yes, salsa. With a bit of red tomato, it’s a terrific partner to grilled chicken, fish tacos, and even chips. Get it while you can.
Paired with Fish Tacos
¾ cup strawberries, cut into small dice
½ tomato, cut into small dice
2 tablespoons diced red onion
¼ Serrano chile, minced
1 tablespoon cilantro or mint, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lime juice
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve with chips or as a sauce for fish or chicken.
Rhubarb Oat Bars, recipe to follow
Although usually associated with desserts, rhubarb is actually a vegetable – one related to sorrel, a tangy green that I wrote about here. I love to watch rhubarb melt from hard fibrous chunks to velvety, pink-tinged mush. I also appreciate its ability to pair with both sweet and savory dishes whether as tart counterpoint to pork or duck, or as an accompaniment to its fairer and fruitier spring partner, the strawberry.
Given its versatility, be sure to put some up before it disappears. I preserve my rhubarb in two ways: in the freezer and as marmalade. At the start of this series, I talked about my Rhubarb-Grapefruit Marmalade, click here for the recipe.
1. Trim and cut the rhubarb into 1-inch pieces. Pack in airtight bags or containers and freeze.
2. Trim and cut the rhubarb into 1-inch pieces. Cook with granulated sugar (4 stalks to 1/4 cup sugar) until soft. Cool and then pack in airtight bags or containers and freeze.
3. You can also freeze rhubarb after cooking sous vide, a process I described here. Seal it and cook at 140 F degrees for 45 minutes or until soft. Cool and freeze in the sealed bag.
You can use frozen rhubarb to sweeten up your winter in custards, pies, ice creams, and beverages (I love a mint-rhubarb cooler).
Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment. Preheat the oven to 350° F. In a medium bowl, mix together flours, cornstarch, wheat germ, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar for about 1 minute. Add vanilla extract and mix for 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Press the dough into the pan. Score lightly into 1-inch by 2 ¼-inch fingers. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until crust is firm to the touch. Cool slightly.
While the crust is baking, make the rhubarb filling. Pour the orange juice over the rhubarb in a medium saucepan. Scoop in honey and add rosemary. Cook until the rhubarb has broken down and the mixture has thickened, approximately 15 minutes. Remove the cheesecloth bundle.
When the crust has cooled slightly, spread the rhubarb over it.
In a small bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter using your fingers, until the mixture just holds together. Sprinkle it over the rhubarb. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the topping is golden about 15-20 minutes.
Let cool. Using the edges of the parchment, remove from the pan to a cutting board and cut into slices.
This was a delicious accompaniment to sole coated in a pecan-flour breading. I bet it would also pretty great on roast pork or duck.
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
3 rhubarb stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and rhubarb and cook for a few minutes. Pour vinegar, maple syrup, and red wine over the rhubarb and add grated ginger. Cook until the rhubarb is softened and the liquid is reduced, approximately 15 minutes. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and whisk in 1 one piece at a time. Season with salt and pepper.
Watermelon? you say.
Yes, I know, watermelon are months away from our farm stands and markets. But during last year’s season, I had a lot of it. This may sound like an embarrassment of riches to you (and to me during these cool days of early Spring), however, in September, I was doing whatever I could to avoid throwing away the weekly supply of mottled green orbs I found in my CSA box. Procrastinator that I am, I pureed and froze cups and cups of the stuff.
As I sorted recently through my freezer to make room for the new growing season, I came across my six mason jars filled with coral colored liquid. Now, what to do with it? I brought my question to the crowd.
On Twitter, I relayed my dilemma. I explained that we don’t eat too many desserts, nor do we drink cocktails often. Therefore, sorbet and margarita were off the table.
Two suggestions stood out. From a grower and seller of many watermelon came the idea of jelly. The second was a pasta sauce.
In two days, I’ve depleted my supply and crowd sourced two new magnificent recipes.
Cappelini with Watermelon, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese
Serves 2
2 cups pureed and strained watermelon puree
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 green onions, whites finely chopped, 1 inch of the greens finely sliced
2 tablespoons heavy cream
freshly ground pepper and kosher salt to taste
3 slices prosciutto, thinly sliced
1 ounce goat cheese
1/3 cup pea greens
1/4 pound cappelini
Pour the puree into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the liquid to about 1/3 cup. Strain the reduction into a small bowl. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add the cappelini to the pot and cook according to the package. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the whites of the onions and cook until softened. Whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute. Whisk in the reduced watermelon juice until the sauce seems slightly viscous and thickened. Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta, add the prosciutto and coating all of the strands of the pasta with the sauce. Scoop the sauced pasta onto plates or shallow bowls. Sprinkle on the goat cheese, scallion greens and pea greens. Serve immediately.
Watermelon-Basil Jelly
2 cups watermelon puree
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package liquid pectin
3 basil stems
Whisk the first three ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the basil stems. Turn the heat to medium high and bring the watermelon to a boil. Cook until the mixture is thickened and reaches 200 F. Remove the basil stems and pour the jelly into hot sterilized jars. Cool to room temperature and store in a dark place until ready to use.
With the impending arrival of a fuzzy, long eared creature, everyone seems to be talking about eggs this week. The always amazing Christina LeBeau gives her rundown of eggsperiments on Spoonfed. Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan just re-posted her how-to dye eggs naturally over the Kitchn (I love the suggestion of oiling the eggs to give them a high shine). Even bloggers of different faiths have gotten in on the game. Me, I’ll be dying lots of eggs since my Little Locavores kid and I will be appearing on WGN tomorrow at 11am to demonstrate natural egg dying.
I also wanted to share with you this entry that I wrote several years ago for The Local Beet, which talks not only about how to dye eggs naturally, but also how to buy eggs that are not only good for the body but also for the planet since that’s what Purple Asparagus is all about.
In pagan culture, the egg signified the rebirth of the earth during spring. Christians adopted this symbol for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, allegedly having occurred in early spring. Eastern Christianity has created several myths regarding the connection between the egg and the Easter story, including a claim that Mary Magdalene brought eggs to share at the tomb of Jesus, which turned bright red when she saw that Christ had risen.
With all of these associations with life and the earth, it only makes sense that the eggs that we dye for our baskets, egg hunts and rolls be good for the earth and respect life. To do this, we need to be educated consumers and understand the labeling on the cartons.
Sustainable Eggs
Three separate certifying systems have been created by egg producers.
Certified Organic: This is the only certification that is regulated by the government. To earn it, a farmer must pass an inspection showing that the eggs came from hens that eat an antibiotic-free, 100% organic diet, and are allowed access to the outdoors and sunlight. What it does not require is a certain barn or shed size or limit on the amount chickens housed inside such facilities. It also does not require that the chickens spend any time outdoors and specifically allows a farmer to temporarily confine his hens for a variety of reasons, with no definition of the term “temporarily.” It does, however, require certain humane limitations including that a bird must be anesthetized prior to de-beaking, a common practice in egg farming.
Certified Humane: This certification is regulated by Humane Farm Animal Care and is concerned less with what the birds eat than with how they are treated. Hens must eat a “wholesome” and “nutritious” diet, they may only receive antibiotics in the case of disease. The certification requires that the hens have “sufficient space, shelter and gentle handling to limit stress.” In Illinois, Phil’s Fresh Eggs has been named Certified Humane under this system. (They’re also white and great for taking on dye). To find other producers, visit Humane Farm Animal Care’s website. Organic Valley may not be “Certified Humane,” on its website, it states its promise to the consumer that its eggs have been:
“Produced on family farms in harmony with nature without antibiotics, synthetic hormones or pesticides. Our hens are raised humanely and given certified organic feed—never any animal by-products—and range freely outdoors.”
A note on hormones: a hormone-free claim is a bit of a non-sequitur given that hormones are never given to hens being grown for laying eggs or during the egg-laying period unless sick.
The United Egg Producers Certification: This is quite a dodgy “certification.” According to Marion Nestle, the certification “merely attests that a company gives food and water to its caged hens.” Unsurprisingly, a large majority of industrial egg producers have received this certification. The website is chock full of double speak. On the home page, we see a wholesome young family on their bucolic farm. There is a large section called Myth v. Fact. My favorite myth v. fact is the first:
Myth: Farmers only care about profit.
Fact: U.S. egg farmers are committed to the humane and ethical treatment of animals. Many of the farms are family-owned and operated.
While I’m sure that majority of family farmers treat their hens humanely, having recently watched HBO’s “Death on a Family Farm,” family-owned and operated can not necessarily be equated with humane treatment.
A Note on De-beaking: It’s important to note that none of the certifications prohibit de-beaking, though the Certified Organic and Humane standards do require that the birds be anaesthetized during the procedure. Birds are de-beaked to prevent the aggressive behavior that is almost inevitable in close quarters. In the “The Ethics of What We Eat
Sustainable Egg Dyeing
Ever since my son was born 5 years ago, we’ve coloring our eggs naturally. What we’ve done is to use the by-products of our home cooking that would otherwise be destined for the garbage or the compost bin. For example, yellow onion skins create a lovely beige shade, red, a purplish one. I’ll blanch spinach, a traditional menu item on Maundy Thursday, for green. Boil some beets for red. Leftover coffee stains not your teeth for brown. The only virgin ingredients that I use are dried spices – really, how many of you are going to use up that entire jar or turmeric? I also have a huge jar of tomato powder that is past its prime (a donation from the very generous Spice House for a Purple Asparagus project) that when combined with vinegar turns up orange. When using spices, boil water to fill a bowl just large enough to hold an egg or two and add a tablespoon or more or the desired spice with a bit of vinegar. But my all time favorite natural egg dye? Red wine. Not only does it color the egg, but it gives it a sparkly sheen – I’ve always assumed that it’s the sulfites. The best part? When your egg is done, it’s cocktail time.
Pink
1 beet, quartered
cold water to cover
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Cover the beet with cold water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender. Pour off 3/4 cup of beet liquid into a small cup. Mix with vinegar. Reserve the beet for another purpose. Soak eggs for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.
Yellow
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Bring the water to a boil. Whisk in turmeric and white vinegar. Let the liquid cool. Soak eggs for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.
Blue
1/2 cup blueberry juice poured off from a bag of frozen blueberries, thawed
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Heat the blueberry juice and water to boiling. Add vinegar. Let the liquid cool. Soak eggs for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.
Purple
1 cup red wine
This is my favorite egg dye. Soak eggs for a few hours in the refrigerator. They will become a mottled, sparkly purple. The wine can be reserved for cooking
Green
This is a new color suggested by my friends over at Kiwi Magazine.
3/4 cup water
2 to 3 chlorophyll caplets (found in natural food stores)
1 teaspoon vinegar
Bring the water to a boil. Break open the caplets and pour the content and stir. Let the liquid cool. Soak eggs for 1/2 hour or longer.
