mussel gazpacho

Given the cost fresh seafood this is a special meal but mussels are cheaper than lots of seafood and less environmentally problematic. Also since Rabbit is Veg.... this is clearly not Rabbit approved. Just get them in an R month or use frozen in summer. Serve with a green salad and sorghum quick bread or other crusty bread.

Cook your mussels first

1lb fresh mussels.Fresh mussels will close when you tap them. Clean mussels first by taking a sprinkle handful of polenta in a bowl of water over the tops of the mussels. This will cause them to eat the corn and eject sand and other debris. Wait 10 minutes. De beard and scrub.

Put cleaned mussels in pot with 1 chopped and cleaned leek and

12 oz  white wine or ale of choice (gf if desired but the white wine works better here) into a pot
with 2 cups seafood stock or veggie broth
cover and turn heat to medium
they should be done after 15 minutes. If done the shells will open and meat will take on cooked appearance. These suckers are easy to overcook.
pour into bowel over ice or refrigerate until cool . Leave the shells in.

Veg mixture to chop and put in blender
1 slice bread(again gf if needed or you can skip)
4 tomatoes
1 red onion
16 oz water
salt and pepper to taste
2 red peppers (I buy ancient reds when they go on for 69cents a lb , wash and freeze them.)
1large and two small cucumbers
4 stalks celery
1/2 head garlic
small handful parsley
2 shots wine or apple cider vinegar
blend until mostly smooth....

refrigerate until the mussels are cool

Mix  both bowls together and serve cold.
mmmm

Eggs - ranting and basic egg recipes

Eggs are nutritious and carry a wide variety of proteins and trace nutrients. They are portable boiled in their shells can be used for making art, and incredibly versatile in cooking. They are also a symbol of life in virtually every religion on the planet. That's some powerful magic.

So why are most of my recipes egg free? No doubt you are aware of what happens with factory farmed chickens. Live slaughter, debeaking, living in poo. You know, I know. Aside from this ethical concern there is another one many of us don't think about. If it's that bad for the chicken's how bad is it for the people who work in the battery? Not only do better treated chickens taste better (both them and their eggs I hear) follow the logical chain of thought regarding that poor standard of life for the chickens means a pretty horrible standard of life for the people working with chickens. According to Human Rights Watch meat and poultry work suffer from systematic human rights abuses, breathing and endocrine problems as a result of the mass manufacture methods used with chickens. (http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/usa0105/usa0105.pdf.) To compound the issue US poultry labeling standards tell us nothing about the quality of life for either the worker or, in most cases, the chicken.

Back when we lived in KS this posed no problem for us. We knew the family who raised the chickens whose eggs we ate. Those chickens were heritage breeds, given a high flax diet, lived on a pasture and allowed the full range of social interaction for chickens. We even met a few of the chickens. Those eggs in 2008 were about 2.50 a dozen for the medium eggs. At the time I could have gotten a dozen of battery eggs for 80cents or so but I got a sense of responsibility and well being as well as taste from these eggs. It just meant we ate fewer eggs, that they were mostly reserved for hard cooked eggs, weekends, parties or the occasional big quiche. This why many of my recipes eschew eggs and offer appropriate substitutes and when eggs appear they are the center of attention.

Since 2008 both grain and gasoline prices have gone up, and this has further raised the cost of eggs and other animal products. We also now live in a large city which, while being closer than many cities to agriculture no longer offers us the option of a half dozen different farms from which to choose our eggs.

This raises the cost of the eggs too. We could go down to whole Foods I guess but these are the same people who refused to back National Healthcare because they assumed you wouldn't be unhealthy if you ate their food. Most people can't afford a "Whole Foods" diet. We can afford diets based on actual whole foods but that's another story. Social Darwinism anyone? Anyway we tend to avoid big chains because they take money out of the community and rarely contribute as much as is being funneled away. Not only that but the fact that they are a nation wide chain tends to mean more standardization and large scale processing which means even if the workers in the slightly larger Organic battery cages might be better off the processor workers will still be dealing with the same mess.

For now we have two choices- travel 1 1/2 each way hours by bus to the big polish market on Narragansett which carries family farmed pasture raised butter, milk and eggs at 2008 prices (as well as pasture raised cured meats which I still won't eat but which some of my family enjoys) or pony up 4-5$ a carton for the same at the health food stores near us. Prices even go up from that in winter because biologically speaking chickens are supposed to taper off to producing fewer or no eggs during the winter. I suspect the rent difference between the two stores is largely responsible for the cost difference. This means when I do get there it's usually for the specific purpose of making yule cookies, Oster eggs, pysanky making, lemon curd or a party. When I do this I usually grab an extra dozen or two, boiling some , freezing the egg white and using the yolks to make lemon, lime or orange curd. We try to save the shells for pysanky of composting.

Eggs are a luxury and we should revere them as such. Respect the egg! Please use the best eggs you can.

To check the freshness of your eggs click here.

Eggs Coddled/ basted

Take as many ramekins or oven safe little cups/ mugs as people you will be serving. Oil or butter lightly. crack each egg into a ramekin. Nudge the egg yolk with the  back of a spoon until the yolk is centered. This means it's more likely the yolk will still be creamy and not solid.) As always with eggs which are not fully cooked you may get sick. Fresher eggs are better for these recipes for that reason and also for taste reasons.

Stove top method

Put ramekins in a wide pan filled to below the rims of the ramekins with boiling water. I use my kettle to do this easier and with less fuel. Turn that sucker on high. When the water boils again cover and check on your eggs in 3 minutes. they should done. If you have a family member with a morbid fear of accidental egg white snot, like my Rabbit, allow to cook for 4 minutes. If they complain about the yolk being too solid explain that animal protein always contracts under heat and the fat only provides a modicum of protection to maintain a runny yolk. So they can pick risk of moderate egg jelly or risk of more solid yolks. Please use waterproof mitts or a jar lifter to remove the ramekins so nobody gets horrible burns. Allow to cool slightly before serving to young children and the impatient. Ceramic holds onto the heat for a while.

Oven method:extra butter or oil needed

preheat oven to 400F. If you want toast slide a cookie sheet of bread on the second rack for ten minutes and then flip when you put the eggs in.

Put ramekins into a large ceramic baking dish. Now add a lump of butter or light drizzle of oil to the top of these eggs. This protects them from over cooking and you from the horrible burned egg smell. 

Pour boiling water into the larger dish up to just below the rims of the ramekins. Put in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Please use waterproof mitts or a jar lifter to remove the ramekins so nobody gets horrible burns. Allow to cool slightly before serving to young children and the impatient. Ceramic holds onto the heat for a while.

Basic Scrambled Eggs for Two
Crack  3 eggs into a bowl. Add 1 oz milk or dairy free milk, broth or even water. You can use a small shot glass to measure if you don't have a 1 oz measure. Using a fork or whisk to create a uniform texture. If using the whisk eggs will generally be fluffier. This is a matter of personal taste.  I usually like to add a grate or two of nutmeg and either a few snips of thyme , chives or other fresh herbs and stir. When preparing this for use in fried rice skip the herbs and spices. Heat a seasoned iron pan to medium, add small bit of oil or butter. Allow oil to heat and spread evenly using a spatula. Pour into pan and stir with fork or spatula until egg begins to coagulate or form little clouds. Continue to stir or flip periodically until you reach the desired texture. Some people like their eggs softer than others.
Hard cooked eggs

You do not really want to boil eggs . This leaves them with a green ring and rubber yolks. Here's what to do instead. Gently place eggs in enough cold water to cover them. Turn stove on medium high. Make sure the lid is clean. Once the eggs reach a boil set a timer for 4 minutes. When this timer goes off cover them with the lid and turn off the heat. Set a timer for 20 minutes and leave them alone. Repeat steps for each dozen you want to make. The stock pot will not help you here.

Deviled Eggs 
Start with 1 dozen peeled hard cooked eggs. Remove the yolks and place in a bowl. Mash the yolks until powdery. Add 2 tb  sourcream or labneh and 2 tb mayo, 1tb fresh dill, a sprinkle of thyme if you have it and 2 tb dijon mustard. Mash it until uniform.If desired Stir in 1 tb capers or dill relish. Spoon or flute into the egg. Sprinkle with parika Refrigerate or serve on a plate over ice, covered.


Godzilla Eggs
These were designed for an insane radioactive picnic sci fi con theme party. Fortune favors the brave. If you aren't making them for a party I wouldn't bother dying whites, but to each their own.
Prepare your dye bath. Use 10 drops food safe green dye (yes there all all natural forms but the green is widely considered the safest) in 1 1/2 cup water with 2 tb cider vinegar in a big bowl or tub. Put the whites in there once separated from the yolk and rotate them every so often so the dye is even. Start with 1 dozen peeled hard cooked eggs. Remove the yolks and place in a bowl. Mash the yolks until powdery. Add 2 tb  sourcream and 2 tb mayo or 4 tb mayo, 1 tb dijon, 1 tb wasabi powder (not the real stuff the green powdered horseradish stuff) and 2 tb sambal oelek.   Mash it until uniform.
Before introducing egg white and filling allow the whites to dry on paper towel to prevent hand an clothes staining. poon or flute into the egg. Sprinkle with paprika or chili powder Refrigerate or serve on a plate over ice, covered. Warn people about the heat level unless you want one thrown at you.

kale(and other)greens

This is possibly the simplest cooked format for greens I have. It works with kale, collards, chard, sorrel, mustard,spinach, broccoli and cauliflower leaves. Also, sweet potato leaves, so I hear) turnip but please mix turnip with something else because otherwise it gets unpleasant. Most of the time it's pretty close to free because it's february and the garden is still making kale. This stuff freezes well. It's tasty healthy and easy. It's good hot or cold. This means it's the one used most frequently on everything from bibimbap to serving it with BBQ Tofu and cornbread.

1 lb (usually 2 biggish heads) cooking greens (anything but cabbage). Rinse well
Rip leaves from veins using your hands and rip up smaller if very large Set these aside. Toss dry bits but save stalks. Chop the stalks.
Mince 4 cloves garlic
1/2 chopped onion (red or yellow but not white as we need the sweetness)

Heat 1 tb Oil (usually olive) in cast iron  The iron will change the flavour in a good way.  Add the onions and stalks from the greens and saute until the onions become translucent. Now add the garlic. If you added it earlier the flavour will be less strong and more bitter because the garlic probably burned.
Add the leaves now .
They should wilt and be about 1/3 smaller before you
Add 1 tb lemon juice ,
1/2  cup water

and either 1/2 TB bird chile powder or 1TB samabal oelek or 1/4 tsp cayenne and 1/2 TB ancho pepper powder.
1 TB soysauce or 1/4 tsp smoked salt
greens should turn vibrant and lightly chewy. If you like them less chewy or you picked older/ rougher greens (like collards or plantago for example) add an extra 1/2 c of water.
Stir occasionally until water evaporates. Serve.

barley and apples

The 25 lb sack of barley flour I ordered from a local mill arrived a few days ago. It's been sitting on my living room floor imploring me to bake something already or at least put it away. For those of you wondering why any city dweller would want a 25 lb sack of barley flour let's just say Barley flour is normally 3.79 for 20 oz plus tax. That brand is not local or organic. Barley is a whole grain which I use as the main flour in all kinds of things including bread, pie, cookies, muffins,pancake mix, cake..this was 37$ for 25 lb of local organic barley flour including shipping which is 9.25 cents per oz. as opposed to 18.95 cents per oz at the local store. Barley is a whole grain flour with a moist crumb that no one in my house is allergic to. It is not gluten free but it is tasty and wholesome. I also only have to lug it up the stairs once and don't have to worry about running out later this winter when we have less $. So it's about half the price , more convenient, local, organic and I can afford to get it right now. Win! Lesson here: search for local mills online for inexpensive grain prices.

There's also a 15 sack of apples on the kitchen bench reminding me there's another 10lbs still in the fridge from last fortnight's csa delivery and the thanksgiving delivery is in 10 days...which all means I better get cooking soon.

First the apples.....

I thought that using up the 10 lbs or so of apples sitting in the fridge was a good plan so I went by my old standby of applesauce. Stef and I eat a lot of applesauce. I didn't have time to sit near the dutch oven for an hour so I decided to experiment with crockpot applesauce. I prepared half of them , paring off bad spots , core and a few worm holes (because those happen in organic fruit), I leave the peel . I then threw them in our 3 qt crockpot on low with about 20 oz of water 1 lg stick of cinnamon. 2 inches of diced fresh ginger, 2 cloves and a pinch of all spice. The next morning the sauce wasn't quite as chunky as a I like so I decided to add another 20 oz water and prepped the other half of the apples and threw them in the mix. I had a cold and forgot about them for a day. This am I realized that I could smell apples cooking and discovered they were almost smooth. Applesauce disaster. The 'applesauce' tasted like applebutter... kind of. I added other stuff. Then I ran it through the stick blender until fully smooth. Now it tastes like apple butter but a touch thin. IT should be applebutter in the morning when I turn off the heat.

Applebutter

a slow cooker with a low setting

10 lbs of apples pared and diced (not peeled) and divided in to 2 equal piles.

set one pile in the fridge

water

1 stick cinnamon, pinch of allspice

1 thumb fresh ginger diced

3 tb honey

2 tb lemon juice

1 tb blackstrap molasses

2 tb cider vinegar

1. Put 5lb of apple bits in crockpot with chunked ginger and spices

2. Cover with water (about20 oz) and set to low

3. The next day add the rest of the apples and another 20 oz of water

4. Allow to continue cooking overnight

5.add honey,lemon juice,molasses and cider vinegar

and blender this thoroughly until smooth

6. Store if it's thick enough for your uses, cook up to 8 more hours. Note: the naturally occurring pectin in the skins should help it firm up a bit so err on the slightly runny side. Refrigerate and give some to a friend.

now I will be making up some of this stuff:

http://squirreleats.blogspot.com/2011/11/barley-quick-bread-and-barley.html

Phoenix Red Pepper Tofu jam band (vegan and gf if you check your ingredients)

I swiped and modified this recipe from one I got from Phoenix bean llc: my favorite Chicago tofu factory. BTW, it's cheaper if you actually go to the factory. 5438 N broadway from 9a-3p weekdays.

Mix sauce in a bowl
1tb sambal oelek, sri racha or gojuchang (I prefer gojuchang)
1 tb sugar or maple syrup or (1/2 tb honey)-skip this if you used  gojuchang or are avoiding sugar
1 clove or two sliced garlic (totally optional)
1 tb miso or black pepper sauce (check for gluten if you're sensitive)
2 tsp soy sauce (check for gluten if you're sensitive)
-----------------------------
Throw one tb veg oil in a pan
add 1/2 chopped sweet onion (red or yellow) or one clean whole leek
and 1-2 red bell, cubanelle, or ancient peppers(anything red and sweet)
fry until onions are translucent
10 oz tofu(either pre-fried extra firm or baked plain or yellow tofu)
If it's the fried soak and rinse it first
then chop into bite sized pieces and add to pan allow to fry 2 minutes and lower heat
 Add sauce and stir quickly until it thickens.
Serve over rice or cool and eat on a salad or this recipe doubles and stores in the fridge up to one week with no ucky soggyness.  Also makes excellent sandwich filling with some sprouts and cheddar cheese....sounds weird but soo good.

Home Economics- where it all begins

       When I list off the things I or my wife won't or can't eat I get asked "So what DO you eat?" There seems to be this idea that food is static and inflexible. This blog is going to be about food, a variety of real food. My recipes reflect my experimentation with different forms ,different cultures of people I know. frustrating allergies,a very small budget, access to a whole lot of great small groceries, a deep love of vegetables , tofu and random whole grains,sweet tooths, ethical quandaries about consumption, environment and labor issues. There's also a whole list of stuff my wife won't eat like cherries for example . My avoidance of water chestnuts on the basis of being "not food" , however, is justified and completely reasonable.

                   Food speaks to us in sounds and smells that remind us of our history , our friends, family, old lovers or next door neighbors. Food is about culture, about artistry , about survival. Food is one of the basic ways we provide for our families. Food is also about how we connect and build communities or destroy them. When talking about food I am always reminded that I am my mother's daughter. She is the woman who made sure I knew how to cook in era when most city dwellers had resort to packaged food or takeout, and how to scrounge and to think about food.
  
                         Here's where my food comes from.  I grew up in a working class family on the north side of Chicago. My mother was trying to feed 2 (sometimes 3) kids on a nurse's salary in a very expensive city. She was busy, like most single parents so we all helped out in meal preparation. Keeping expenses down meant that we always tried to keep a small garden in the back of our building, on a balcony or on the easement. In addition, she was/is a very ethical person and was concerned about the labor conditions our food was produced and sold under so that informed a lot of choices too. Being in a large city also gave us access to recipes and condiments from every corner of the earth. I got to taste everything-Around Channukah  Mrs. Feldman liked feeding me latkes and cookies, I went to Vickie's upstairs for tea and papaya salad, or fried fresh caught smelt on the BBQ with my brothers.

                    Being broke for our family meant that meat was considered a condiment. This  last factor was very lucky as we later found out that mom has a rare genetic kidney disorder which causes the body to do very bad things with certain proteins including all quadrupeds, most game fowl, mushrooms and spinach. I would now be very sad without my beloved mushrooms but I also got the lesson that meals can be planned around economics and allergies with a little creativity. It really came in handy when I couldn't breathe around most cleaners and again last year when I found out I've been allergic to wheat this whole time.

                              Eventually we left and moved to Nebraska in the 90's where I had to learn how to be even more creative because there was less access to certain ingredients (like gojuchang, tapioca or rice noodles )and a greater access as well as much lower costs on produce from local farms. Around the time we moved to Nebraska I became a vegetarian and found it a lot easier than many people my age who did the same because we'd always eaten very little meat. Gradually more diverse ingredients came into the stores there and I gradually learned where the small ethnic groceries were hiding and learned to cook there too. Throughout high school we had a little more money so I got to play with more ingredients and experiment with some pretty outlandish combinations. Some of them worked. Cranberry fudge sauce anyone? Some of them ended up with scorch marks on the ceiling and hiding mutilated cheese under newspaper in the trashcan. I have loved to cook my whole life but it really took off then. 

      Five years ago we were living in KS. I still miss the prevalence of biscuits and gravy even though I know now I'm not supposed to eat wheat. I also miss the guy who charged us 10-15$ for a few bushels of veg every week at the farmers market. Sometimes this means I make baked beans, collards and barley biscuits for a week.  About 10 years ago I  had a year long vegan period which mostly has amounted to knowing how to bake without dairy or eggs- a handy skill for people who want to keep a small budget and avoid factory farming or excessive cholesterol. I also have friends who are allergic to things. I like to accommodate so I will be including recipes for GF stuff, oatfree, cornfree, low/no sugar things, recipes for cleaners for people with chemical sensitivities, etc...  Just after being vegan I started eating fish again, although  I'm pretty picky about what kind for environmental and labor politics reasons so it ends up being once or twice a month when we're feeling financially flush now.  

      We've usually been pretty broke and like a lot of people during this really scary economic climate we still are very broke. In some ways this helps with a quest to eat healthier stuff and in some ways it doesn't. 1$ a lb for organic oats plus a penny for  salt, maybe an apple, cinnamon and ginger plus almost nothing for water  is a far cheaper than a box of cereal with milk. It's arguably healthier. What it isn't is fast or convenient. Research and thought are required. Sometimes land or food really isn't there to use. Sometimes we go out to eat more frequently than we intend. Sometimes we trust the guy who lives less than a hundred miles away who raises chickens in his yard, or grows apples rather than spending thousands on a USDA cert the farm can't afford. Sometimes spending time with your family is more pressing than cooking from scratch. Sometimes we really can't afford that extra 20cents a lb for organic potatoes, and carrots. I think that's ok. We do what we can with what we have, you know?  There are some places where I'm a bit rigid-usually on animal protein. I'd rather go without eggs than buy ones where the chicken had no outdoor access, I eat fish and shellfish rarely because I don't like how fishermen are treated in most large scale operations but I have been known to be more flexible than I'm ethically comfortable with in order to have cheese. Sometimes I'd rather buy a bottle of hard cider than a dozen eggs despite the nutritional benefits of egg vs the questionable nutritive deficit involved in fruit-booze. We all have our faults and our limits. In any case, I plan on making my experiments and time tested recipes available here  and I encourage you to email me and do the same.