Wednesday, April 27, 2011

"It was the best butter." ~ Lewis Carroll


This post is about one of the many items on the Rogue Chef’s Kitchen Essentials list.
You want to know my number one reason for not being a vegan? Butter.
I have slated into my ideal body weight a few pounds simply devoted to butter.  I love butter. Julia Child would be happy with my enthusiasm for this food. It has never let me down especially when I’ve needed it the most.  Butter seems to make everything better. It melts in your mouth and accents that morning breakfast item perfectly every time. It is a true friend that gives and gives more, in every which way.
So, what is butter? Cream and fat: two ingredients, that’s it, at least that what it is supposed to be. Lets clear something else up right now. Repeat after me: “Margarine is NOT butter, it is an IMITATION” (and no I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter” doesn’t count either, and no it is not “healthier”). 
When I was younger, less than ten lets say, I had my own special saying each time I sat at the table to eat. “Butter, Butter, Butter, a whole stick of Butter” and then would cut a huge hunk of butter and eat it to gross out my family and friends, and secretly loved the eating part every time.  I stopped doing it when I became socially aware of the word “fat”. I was never worried about my physical appearance until people started telling me I would get fat by eating my favorite food. I couldn’t help it. We as humans have a natural predisposition to loving oil, sugar, and fat. No wonder it is so tasty.  Now, since I have just allotted butter into my main diet, I have not ever worried about eating the real thing. This fat is just that; fat. Not replacements for, just fat.
Salted vs. Unsalted: each has their purpose.  Just remember when you are using salted butter you are adding extra salt to the recipe you are using. So if your recipe calls for salt, using the unsalted butter would not jeopardize the taste. Most people have crossed that line of too much salt before. Say this with me; "I will only buy real butter".
Here are a few interesting facts about butter, and then two more rules from Michael Pollan author of Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual that directly relates to this post.
1. Butter can be made from not just cows’ milk, but from other animals such as goats, buffalo, sheep, and yaks.
2. The shape of you butter stick will change by crossing the Rocky Mountains.
3. Here is a website if you want to make your own butter
How To Make Butter
4. There are at least five different types of butter: Cultured, sweet cream, raw cream, spreadable, and whipped.

Michael Pollan's Food Rules
#9: Avoid food products with the wordiod “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.
The forty-year-old campaign to create low- and nonfat versions of traditional foods has been a failure: We’ve gotten fat on low-fat projects. Why? Because removing the fat from foods doesn’t necessarily make them nonfattening. Carbohydrates can also make you fat, and many low- and nonfat foods boost the sugars to make up for the loss of flavor. Also, by demonizing one nutrient -fat- we inevitably give a free pass to another, supposedly “good,” nutrient – carbohydrates in this case – and then proceed to eat too much of that instead. Since the low-fat campaign began in the late 1970s, Americans actually have been eating more than 500 additional calories per fay, most of them in the form of refined carbohydrates like sugar. The result: The average male is seventeen pounds heavier and the average female nineteen pounds heavier than in the late 1970s. You’re better off eating the real thing in moderation than bingeing on “lite” food projects packed with sugars and salt.
# 10: Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.
Imitation butter – aka margarine – is the classic example. To make something life nonfat cream cheese that contains neither cream nor cheese requires an extreme degree of processing; such projects should be labeled as imitations and avoided.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Celebration of Food which brings us Life.

Today is Easter, the celebration of spring, color, and everything that has life on this planet. This is also celebration of rebirth. What a beautiful thing that we are able to plant a seed, watch it grow, tend to it, and reap the bounty of its harvest. We then replant the seed to bloom again the next spring. All the plants, seeds and flowers I have planted this year are starting to flourish and stretch towards the sun. 
I was searching around for some traditional bread recipes, and found this one from The Czech Republic. In Prague, Easter celebrations are more about welcoming spring than anything else. ‘More of a celebration of spring not a religious holiday’ ” says the author of this post. This very dense bread is deliciously served with butter, honey, cream cheese, or your favorite spread.  Here is the link to the recipe and my picture of how it turned out.




My tutor and I also made a melody of meat and vegetables cooked on the grill, with a layer of my Champagne Fennell Risotto (recipe available upon request) underneath. It is a very attractive meal boasting many colors, textures and shapes.

Season your meat of choice; we used chicken, with your favorite spices. We use a mixture of Cajan Seasoning, Salt and Pepper. Chop up some vegetables in larger sized chucks as to not fall in between the slats.  Throw them on the grill and cook till done.

The presentation was arranged by the Tutor from his experience in working for a country club.


I hope you all have a beautiful day and now photos from the yard and garden. 
Lettuce

Rosemary

Sage, Oregeno, Dill, Thyme

Red Cabbage

Red Cabbage Gone to Seed

Various Tomato Plants

Various Cucumbers

White Rose

Rose and Magnolia

Wild Violets (can eat like spinich!)

Crab Apple Sapling

Lemon Tree

Azelea

California Poppies

Morning Glory


 
Beets
 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Victory Garden Cookbook


Victory gardens came about during World War II when America was rationing its food, and people began to garden again, to save money and always have a fresh meal available whenever they wanted. Today in our current crises, I believe this book can indeed help to bring about the food revolution we need to have again today, in our society of food-like substances.
This post is part of my upcoming section titled, Mr. Liver Eatin’s Kitchen Essentials. These are not in any particular order.  I will be featuring the tutors’ essentials for a kitchen in any household.
Now, it is time for the story.
Last April I made a trip to Boston, MA to visit my sister. I stayed in the small town of Worcester about fifty minutes outside the city with my Great Aunt Joy (She is my Paternal Grandmother’s cousin. Not blood related, but kin all the same). Joy is her essence, and with her thick MA accent, love of food, and knowing the family tree like the back of her hand, we connected immediately. I had only met Joy once before. I was about 7 or 8 years old and my family was traveling around the East Coast doing our 13 Original Colonies trip. (My family really likes to travel, and usually has an educational purpose, emphasis on History, but is always fun.) I remembered Joy’s house and where I had slept all those years ago, but everything else was vague. We started to talk and catch up and the questions began. I knew that she had complied our family tree on my father’s side, and had photos, a few letters, but I had no idea the extent she knew our history. She had photo albums, letters, written stories, newspaper clippings, the family tree sketched out, and many other things to tell the story of part of my heritage. Eventually the conversation found its way to food. Joy loves food, wine, and the event of gathering friends to enjoy it together. I told her that I had a garden back in Charlotte with my tutor, and she immediately says “wait, come with me”. We go to her absolutely loaded bookshelf and she pulled down the red book that has been a huge stepping-stone in my cooking. It is called, The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash. She presents it to me with triumph in her eyes. I look inside and the table of contents blew me away. Instead of the traditional layout sectioned by Appetizers, Soups, Bread, Salads, Dinner, Desserts, etc., it was organized by vegetable. That’s it, over thirty different vegetables, well thirty-eight to be exact.
[STOP: How many vegetables can you name before looking it up? I would love to see some comments on this…!]
From Tomatoes to Salsify, and Jerusalem Artichokes to Kale, Marian Morash seems to cover it all. Each chapter starts with the vegetable and some basic information, how she harvests and uses each of the vegetables that come out of the garden each year. Then each section has over fifteen recipes each, some even over thirty. And, since I grow a garden, (three years and counting), I found it to be very useful. Even if you do not have your own garden, picking up a bunch of vegetables at your local fresh market, or local grocery, and you have the book to make a tasty meal out of any of them.  Marian Morash’s description of the book is as follows: “A book in which we would give gardeners all the tips they need to know about preparing, cooking, storing, freezing and some way of preserving their vegetables.”
Every recipe I have made from this book has been simply amazing. She is very direct in her style of presenting the instruction of the recipes, and easy to follow. If you follow her directions, there is no way you cannot simply blow the socks off any person you cook for.  (Unless you are simply not paying attention.) She introduced vegetables that I had never heard of, she inspired me to plant more, and educated me on the ways of the gardener in the kitchen. When I was younger, I always wanted a garden. Roses, ivy, pumpkins, and hedges, I have wound up planting real food to grow and enjoy.  I am a part of a complete circle. I plant the seed, tend to it, watch it grow, pick the harvest, prepare it, eat it, and reap the benefits as well. Even if have to live somewhere that I have no land to work, I will break out the pots, soil and always have seeds to plant by the window.
Thank you to my Great Aunt Joy who has changed my world with one small gift.
Now, I will leave you with the opening paragraph from the introduction of
The Victory Garden Cookbook.
The Victory Garden Cookbook
“Americans have always gardened. For hundreds of years farm life was the backbone of this country; ingredients for most family meals were right in the backyard. Gradually, however, the farm family gave way to our urbanized society and packaged produce became a way of life for most households. It took a time of national emergency, World War II, to bring citizens back to the earth: “victory gardens” shot up across the nation. At the end of the war, as the country rejoiced and looked ahead to more affluent times, many of the gardens went to seed. Once again is took a traumatic event, the energy crisis of the 1970’s, to get people to rethink priorities. The need for self-sufficiency became apparent. This, and economic necessity may have triggered a renewed interest in home gardening, but it has been a combination of the emotional and physical satisfactions of gardening and a new passion for freshness that have sustained the “back-to-basics” movement. “

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Kim Chi

Kim Chi is a traditional Korean dish that usually consists of a variety of vegetables, and various spices, all consumed after a fermentation period of a few months. It can also refer to various blends of these ingredients, unfermented as well. Kim Chi is still being made using the traditional method of storing used to be stored in huge jars buried underground to maintain a consistent temperature of fifty-five degrees.
My method consists of chopping up everything, mixing it, then storing it in a large container in the fridge. Usually it is consumed within a week, but has lasted more than a month! The vinegar used in this dish prevents the ingredients from spoiling, and the fridge keeps it fresh and cool.  This recipe has a large amount of fresh vegetables and fruits, fresh garlic, and spices, things that are not as prevalent as they should be in our American diet.
My tutor found out about Kim Chi when we were trying a raw foods diet. It was perfect to eat and fit within the parameters we set for ourselves during the diet. My first experience making Kim Chi was very eventful. Half way through cutting up the fruits I let my thumb get in the way of a heavy Wusthof knife, and I sliced the corner of my thumb almost all the way off, down to just a thin piece of skin holding it on. Thankfully one of my friends is a doctor, and she sewed me right back up when I called her and told her what happened. All this to say, yes you will cut yourself, but you can prevent it by keeping your fingers out of the way... at all times.
Here is a simply wonderful recipe that I was able to stumble across. I have posted only the main directions, but if you have a desire to get really in depth about the process, the energy, and the tradition behind it, and the step-by-step instructions about how to prepare each vegetable and ingredient, here is a link to the site. http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/UltimateKimchi.html
Now my friends enjoy and give this amazing process a try!
Ingredients
Directions
Organic foods
  • 1 Napa cabbage
  • 3 Carrots
  • 2 Cucumbers
  • 3 Heads broccoli
  • 2 Bunches scallions
  • 1 Apple
  • 2 Small oranges
  • 1 Lemon
*Health food store
  • Unrefined rice vinegar
  • Unrefined sesame oil
  • Kosher salt (or sea salt)
*Korean foods store
  • Crushed red pepper (coarse)
  • Crushed garlic
  • Sesame seeds
    (Roasted more flavorful.
    Raw may be healthier.)
Cooking tools
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Small mixing bowl
  • Cutting board
  • Cutting knife
  1. Rinse all vegetables in water and salt.
  2. Cut out stem of cabbage with a V-notch, then cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half lengthwise once again, and slice crosswise into strips.
  3. Cut up the cabbage stem into thin strips.
  4. Sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt.
    Scoop and stir with hands.
  5. Let cabbage sit while peeling carrots and cucumber. Peel carrots completely. Take strips from the cucumbers.
  6. Section the carrots and cut into thin strips.
  7. Section the cucumbers and cut into thin strips.
  8. Cut broccoli heads into byte-size pieces, cut stalks diagonally to make thin oval slices.
  9. Add salt. Scoop and stir.
  10. Trim scallions, slice the white part down the center, then cut into strips diagonally.
  11. Core and dice the apple and add.
  12. Skin the oranges and lemon.
  13. Slice the oranges, separate into pieces, and add.
  14. Put a handful of chili pepper into a sauce bowl. Add from a third as much to an equal amount of sesame seeds, and crushed garlic.
  15. Add enough sesame oil to moisten everything, and approximately an equal amount of rice vinegar (enough to make a paste).
  16. Dice the lemon and squeeze into the bowl, add the remaining pieces.
  17. Mix the ingredients in the sauce bowl to make paste, and then gently spread the paste into the vegetable bowl.

* Substitution notes:  While you do not have to go to a health foods store and a Korean market to find these ingredients, if you have access to them I highly encourage getting them there. I found the sesame seeds raw at Trader Joes, I crushed my own garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes can be found at any food store. The hardest things to find were the unrefined sesame oil, and rice vinegar. You can use the refined kind but just know it will not be ‘traditional’ and all the health benefits will not be as potent. But, it still tastes great and is a great way to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into you diet.

The camera died before I was able to take a picture of the finished process. But, here are a few photos of the process, enjoy.

 
Writers Note: Every chef has recipes that they use to create amazing meals. Whether it is memorized or in a special book, everyone uses recipes. Do not think that because you are using a recipe you are a failed cook, but you are one who is learning the craft. I have only recently been able to start expanding the recipes when I see them and make my own substitutions. If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything, even cooking.  

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Family Dinners vs. Eating Alone


One of my Parents biggest kicks was Family Dinner. We had family dinner at least four to five times a week. Dinner would last between one and three hours on a regular basis. This was our time to be together, and catch up with each other and what has been going on that day. Dinner would seem to always end up with someone being tickled until they dropped, chased around the house, or sprayed with water during dishes. There were not many secrets in our family because we spent the time at the table to become closer as an entire family.
(Side note: 6 people in a group trying to actively engage in each others lives through the medium of eating together. I do not think I need to tell any of you of the significance of eating a meal with a group of people.)
We used this time to create close bonds and have open discussions about anything. My parents would go around and ask each of us what we did that day, giving us all a chance to be heard. When my eldest sister left for college, our family dinner dynamic changed. She was always trying to motivate the family to do things. Play games after dinner, plan a party for the next weekend, or con someone else into doing the dishes for her. Then my second sister left the next year, and the noise level dropped...significantly. Then, with just my brother and parents, our dinners became shorter because we all got busier, and eventually left for college. My parents would and still make it a point to eat dinner together as often as they are able to. With it just being them, my Mom is starting to pull out wild recipes, and have even more fun in the kitchen, preparing for a smaller palate. But, the main meals I remember were Saturday Morning Breakfast, and Sunday Main Huge Lunch. Friends would love to spend the night on Friday’s so they could enjoy our crazy colored pancakes, and as much bacon as you could stand.  Sunday dinners, my Mom would be planning for days in advance. We would always have plenty of food on the table, a variety of things to choose from, and my Mom would ask us, what we wanted to eat.
Remember, a family is who you spend time with, not just who you are blood tied to. Create a circle of friends to swap cooking meals for each other and being each others family. “Try not to eat alone.” (Quote from Michael Pollan at end of post). Eating is one of the things we will have to continue if we want to live and breathe on this planet. So, why not enjoy it? Eating with others is not only fun, but can also keep you accountable to you own regime. Try to have cook offs, or invite a friend over for dinner. You can even make an event of it. Go to the grocery store, pick out your ingredients, and then make the meal together.
Eating and cooking with someone can also really help the wallet. Think about how much on average you spend going out to eat, buying your meals, or buying the prepackaged meals. Really, sit and think about it. How much money would you save if by spending a little more time and effort you could spend at least half as much by preparing the meals yourself? And always having leftovers for lunch the next day?  I spent eight dollars on a lunch box that looks like a purse, and it has been one of my best investments yet. I have more than paid for this ten times over. Who says you don’t have to be classy bringing your own food to work or school?
Today the number of people in our society who eat alone continues to grow. Being single and working a job is hard. Especially mustering up the courage and stamina to just make a meal. But lets think about it this way. You are providing for YOU. You are proving nourishing, healthy things for your body. One of the best gifts you could give yourself is simply taking care of yourself. How can you expect to take care of others and not take care of you? Make a goal for yourself this week. Find a recipe you want to make, grab a friend, purchase the ingredients and try it out. The worst thing that could happen is…well…. never mind! But seriously, what have you got to loose?
Again, I leave you with a rule from Mr. Michael Pollan.
“Try not to eat alone.”
“Americans are increasingly eating in solitude. Although there is come research to suggest that light eaters will eat more when they fine with others (perhaps because they spend more time at the table), for people prone to overeating, communal meals then to limit consumption, if only because were less likely to stuff ourselves when others are watching, we also then to eat more slowly, since there’s usually more going on at the table than ingestion. This is precisely what so much food marketing is designed to encourage us to eat in front of the TV or in the car. When we eat alone, we eat more. But regulating appetite is only part of the story. The shared meals elevate eating from a biological process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community.” – Michael Pollan, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual
Writers Note: Distractions can lead to understanding
It has taken me many days to completely compile this post, and there is still so much I would have liked to add.  I meant to post yesterday afternoon, but kept getting involved in conversations with various people until 9am this morning. Each person on this planet is entirely unique, but everyone desires the same thing. We all want someone to listen to us non-judgmentally and accept us for who we are. Try to be this person for someone today.
My next post will be about making Kim Chi this past weekend.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Black Bean Soup, Perfect Basmati Rice, Limelight Pie, and Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread.


 As promised here is the post about my adventures in the kitchen this past weekend.
Here is: Black Bean Soup, Perfect Basmati Rice, Limelight Pie, and Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread.
My first experience with black beans was part of the first meal my current tutor made me. It was in the form of a Black Bean Hummus. I was hooked day one.  Lets begin by giving you some nutritional information about Black Beans. You Carnivores wonder how the Vegetarians get all their protein? “A cup of black beans will provide you with 15.2 grams of protein (that's 30.5% of the daily value for protein), plus 74.8% of the daily value for fiber. All this for a cost of only 227 calories with virtually no fat.” Also, beans are cheap. Can I say this again? CHEAP and HEALTHY MEAL! Also look at the price per pound. You will get more for your money buying the dried beans than the canned version. Get those beans dried and as close to their natural state as possible. I understand the convenience of pre-cooked beans, but ¼ of a pound bag of dried beans makes four times the amount of one can of beans.  And one more note, about industrial canning: beans require a short cook time at low temperatures. But made in mass form and produced on that scale it involves very high temperatures over a long time span. It ends up cooking out more of the nutritional value of the beans making them the beans with less of a reason for eating them.  Any additional reading I direct you to this page. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=2
All it takes to prepare a meal is planning and knowing what you need in the kitchen.
Black Bean Soup
This versatile soup can be made with ease, enjoyed as leftovers, frozen, and made into more yummy things such as Black Bean Burgers, Black Bean Hummus, and making homemade burritos.
You will need:
-       1 large pot
-       2-3 cups of water per cup of beans
-       2 cups Black Beans
-       4 Tbsp unsalted butter
-       1 white/yellow onion diced
-       4 cloves fresh garlic, minced/or 2 Tbsp minced garlic from a jar (I always add extra because I love garlic!)
-       1 lime, zested, then cut in half
- 1 bunch fresh Cilantro chopped
-       Spices to taste: Salt, Pepper, Cumin, Cayenne Pepper are my essentials, add whatever else you like after the beans are cooked.
Presoaking your beans overnight ahead of time will help reduce your cooking time and make them easier to digest.  I highly recommend this method.
1.     Place beans in a large bowl and soak in water, making sure it covers the beans. Cover with a dishtowel and let sit overnight.
2.     Melt butter in large pot on medium to high heat
3.     Add onions and sauté till golden yellow (3-4mins)
4.     Add garlic and sauté for another minute or two
5.     Add beans and water making sure it covers the beans.
6.     Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until they are done
7.     Add cilantro, lime zest, and squeeze the juice into the soup
8.     Add Salt, Pepper, Cumin and whatever other spices you enjoy
I love to pair this soup with Basmati Rice and sautéed vegetables.
Basmati Rice
I read this awesome tip about keeping the proper consistency of this rice. By adding the lime juice and olive oil it helps the rice not to stick together grain by grain, but can easily be molded into a beautiful round serving.
-       1 cup of rice to 1 & 1/3 cups of water
-       2 tbsp unsalted butter
-       1 onion diced (shallots are a wonderful substitution here)
-       A few garlic cloves minced
-       1 tbsp lime juice
-       1 tbsp olive oil
-       Salt and Pepper to taste

1.     Presoaking your rice will leach out a lot of the starch and provide a less clumpy texture for your rice
2.     Melt butter in pot over medium to high heat
3.     Sauté fresh onion and garlic in bottom of pan till golden yellow
4.     Add water and bring to boil
5.     Add rice, lime juice, and olive oil
6.     Cook for 15mins, and then take off heat and let sit for another 10mins.
7.     Salt and Pepper to taste, fluff with fork and serve!


Limelight Pie
This pie recipe is taken from the cookbook For Goodness Taste put together by the Junior League of Rochester.
This book was in my Mothers recipe cabinet, and one I remember always wanting to cook out of. I asked for it for Christmas one year, and got it! I would say 90% of all the recipes I have tried from this book have worked out and been extremely tasty and simply elegant. This is the best key lime pie recipe I have baked to date. Also, it is the tutors’ favorite dessert.

Limelight Pie

Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
½ cup fresh lime juice
Baked 9-inch graham cracker crust
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
  • In a large bowl, use whisk or rotary beater to beat egg yolks. 
  • Add milk and beat until well blended. Stir in lime juice. Beat slowly until thick.
  • Pour into cooled pie shell
  • In a large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form
  • Spread meringue on pic. Bake approximately 5 to 7 minutes or until top browns. 
  • Refrigerate until serving time.
    • Hint: this pie is best made one day in advance.

Temperature: 375
Time: 5 to 7 minutes
8 Servings

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
I also made, on this past rainy Sunday, this scrumptious recipe I found on one of my favorite food blogs, Joy the Baker.  When I made it and followed her recipe it turned out exactly like the pictures, and since I do not have the best access to amazing cameras, you can look at hers and know I can make it and you can too!
http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/03/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread/
Variation: I haven’t tried this yet but in the layering process you could add a sweet cream cheese filling as well.
Thank you all for reading and any questions, comments, posts, your own experience, please share!
Writers Note:
This is the first time I have ever written down a recipe not copied from a book. I am going to practice writing down recipe’s to get the rhythm down and understand how to make a coherent flow to instructions. Also, there is so much that I truly to not know, which I have again discovered by beginning this project. It is another avenue to research and expand my knowledge about what I love so much.