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Upcoming Talk About Food Preservation

I love to teach, am fascinated by different food preservation techniques, so I’m really happy to be giving at talk this weekend for the Kensington/Windsor Terrace CSA about food preservation!  This is a closed event, but I’m thrilled to let it out and off to the universe, as I’d love to lead more educational opportunities in my lifetime.

As a fellow CSA member, I know how overwhelming shares can be at times, and depending on how busy you are in any particular week, it’s easy to let the food go and eventually dissolve into a puddle of goo (believe me, I’ve seen enough of it over the years in the bottom of my crisper drawer).  As time has gone by, I’ve found various ways of preserving my food, and each technique has its own benefits.  I’m particularly enamored with the preservation method that actually boosts the nutrition in the food – lacto-fermentation.

I’ll be talking about the most accessible ways to preserve food: freezing, pickling, lacto-fermentation, dehydrating, water bath canning… and one special preservation process that I think its pretty cool and that I only learned about a year or so ago.  I’ll reveal that next week.

Anyway, yes – really excited to be doing this talk!  Special thanks for my friend Serita for helping set this up and to Charlene for overall encouragement.

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Sustainability and 100 Posts

Happy Friday everyone!  This post is my 100th post – quite a happy milestone for me, and the blog.  In honor of that nice juicy round number, I wanted to share this video that really had an effect on me.

Deepak Chopra “True Sustainability” from Omega Institute on Vimeo.

I love the idea that the world around us, the environment, is our extended body. With that in mind, how else can we treat the world around us but in a sustainable way? Chopra says, “There will never be social transformation unless there is personal transformation.” I couldn’t agree more; change always starts with oneself.

Personally, I like to think that I have made some changes-to-practice in the direction of sustainability. These days I’m composting as much as I can, using both my worm bin and the outdoor composter; eating as locally as possible; not driving, but walking and taking public transportation; drinking out of reusable containers at work; using a cloth towel instead of paper towels to dry my lunch dishes; refusing plastic bags at the grocery store and elsewhere.

I’m sure I can do more, though. And with the idea in mind that the world around me is simply an extension of myself, paired with the fact that I do my best to nourish myself in myriad ways, nourishing the world around me is a logical conclusion. That includes the I we treat myself, those around me, the earth, sky, water, to be kind and show compassion. I’ll be exploring ways to implement change and will share it here on the blog.

Here’s to many posts to come!

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Farro, Cranberry Bean, and Winter Squash Soup

soup

This recipe started out with the idea of simply combining farro – my current favorite grain – and cranberry beans, as a way to eat up one of my CSA veggies this week.  So I soaked the farro in the morning, with the hope that the dish would simply come to me.  I’m happy to say that it did, and it is a winner!

I often contemplate dinner while I’m commuting home on the train.  I thought about what would go well with farro and cranberry beans, as well as considered what I had on hand at the house.  It occurred to me that these two ingredients would taste good with tomatoes and winter squash, along with thyme, onions, garlic, and white wine.  Something green also would be good, so I opted for watercress, in part because of its health benefits, and because it looked fresh at the produce stand.

I only had to buy the thyme, onion, and watercress, as well as the white wine. At the same time I took the opportunity to replenish our “house wine”, which is Cloudline pinot noir.  Love that stuff!  The wine I used for this soup is a Smoking Loon sauvignon blanc.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure what this $10 bottle would provide, but I have to say, it is very tasty.  I would definitely buy it again.

This soup is quite thick, almost more of a stew; I tend to like my soups thick, though.  The roasted squash breaks down and thickens the soup, and the starch from the farro also contributes to that thickening.  I enjoyed this soup topped with a fried egg and a bit of grated parmesan, but it is delicious on its own.  It’s a great soup for this time of year – cranberry beans are in the markets, and winter squash is starting to be seen.  Thick soups like this are excellent on cold autumn nights, too.

Farro, Cranberry Bean, and Winter Squash Soup

1/2 c. farro, soaked with water and a big splash of (raw) vinegar

1 small acorn squash, or small winter squash
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp cumin

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 c. white wine
1 pound fresh cranberry beans (1/2 pound shelled)

2 c. stock, water, or a mixture (I used 1 cup stock and 1 cup water)
1 pint crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped watercress
1/4 c. white wine
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Soak the farro in water and acid (vinegar, in this case) for 8-10 hours.  As you start to prepare this dish, drain and rinse the farro.  Set aside.

Cut the squash in half and remove all seeds and obvious strings. Cut the squash into a total of 6-8 pieces. Brush the flesh with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and cumin. Roast in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. When it is done cooking, simply let sit and cool on the pan.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in olive oil and salt in a large pan over medium-high heat until translucent. Add the thyme and garlic and cook for another minute. By this time the onion should start to caramelize.

Add the drained farro and cook about 5 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Add the beans and combine with the onion-farro mixture. Add the stock/water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

As the mixture is simmering, peel and chop the squash into 1 inch pieces. Add it to the soup. Add the chopped tomatoes and the watercress.  Let cook for another 5 minutes.

Finish off with a 1/4 c. white wine, 1/8 tsp of smoked paprika, and 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

This post is participating in the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop, hosted by Wardeh at GNOWFGLINS.

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Change of Seasons

fall leaves

This is the first year in a long time that I’ve been eager for autumn to arrive.

Usually, I lament its arrival – the air cools down and the leaves fall, alerting me to the impending Dreaded Winter.  I am forced to change over my wardrobe to longer sleeved tops and pants, heavier clothing in general, and am always a little sad to put my shorts away.  However – and I wrote about this often – this summer was a scorcher, so cooler weather is truly welcome.  I actually feel a bit cheated out of my summer because on many days the only option was to stay inside with the air conditioner on.  As someone who likes to be outside, this was a disappointment.

Our ConEd bill will also decrease, which will be a relief.

Along with my welcoming of the cool, crisp fall air this year, I also welcome back a number of foods I set aside while it was hot and I didn’t want to turn on the oven: I’m cooking more whole grains, including steel cut oats for breakfast; granola and bread baking are in my plans for next weekend; and roasting winter squash!  This might be my favorite cooking technique in the cooler seasons.

We’ve been getting these hard squashes in our CSA shares for a few weeks, and they have been fantastic.  The other day I cut an acorn squash in half, scooped out the seeds, then cut each half into three pieces.  Then I roasted them with olive oil, salt, and cumin. They were amazing!

Sauerkraut season is around the corner, too, which is very exciting.  This should herald the arrival of a Harsch crock to our home.  I’d also like to make some kimchi this fall, too.  All lacto-fermented, of course.

I’m back to drinking raw milk, too – I was eating raw yogurt but not straight milk for a couple of months. I have a lot of milk in the freezer right now!  Not sure why I stopped for a little while, but my guess was that it had something to do with the warm weather, and my not eating cereal (homemade granola or porridge – I don’t eat commercial cold cereal) for breakfast.  Most of my milk intake happens at breakfast.

My running should also click back into gear – due to a couple a colds and simply overly hot and humid weather, my running suffered in August and September.  Running keeps me centered and healthy, both physically and mentally; the cooler temperatures can only facilitate getting back into a regular routine.  Truth be told, my favorite running weather is sunny with temperatures in the mid-50s.

And with a new season, comes a few changes to the blog.  I’ve cut things down to two columns, giving the content area more space.  Images can be bigger this way, too.  I’ve also added a polling feature, so I’ll showcase polls from time to time.  I’ll also be doing some more fiddling around, so you should see minor changes come and go for a little while longer.

I’m excited by this new season – it feels like a kind of restart, or at least a return to a more varied life.   Fall, I’m happy to see you!

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Summer Preserving – Fig Orange Honey Jam

jars of fig jam

This summer I was fortunate enough to have access to plenty of fresh figs from the two overhanging fig trees in the backyard.  This time last year I lived elsewhere, a place without fruit trees. It was a lot of fun picking all those figs, especially since no one else in the neighboring apartments seemed interested in them. They were all mine!

figs

I went for a run that morning, then picked the figs; they filled up my largest bowl. My landlord stores ladders in the backyard, so I had one of them at my disposal, and boy was it useful. A lot of the figs were way up high and I would never have gotten them without a ladder.  Most of them were perfectly ripe, and oozing a little nectar at the blossom end.  Some were slightly underripe, but that was ok with me – I didn’t want an overly sweet jam, so the tangier figs helped with that.

oranges

orange juice

zest

I love, love, love the taste of orange and figs together.  I first tasted the combination in this Dalmatian fig-orange jam, and thought it was just amazing.  The sweet figs and tangy orange are a perfect combination.

I also wanted to try making a jam with honey instead of sugar, in part because I wanted to avoid using an overly refined sweetener.  Figs and honey seem to go together, too, so it seemed like a natural, logical combination.

At first the honey flavor was pretty prominent, but after the jam had a chance to sit for a while (like overnight), it had mellowed and balanced with the fig and orange flavors.  It also seemed less sweet, which was fine with me.

stewing figs

figs cooking

fig orange honey puree

This is a wonderful fruit preserve, and I will absolutely make it again.  I think it will be good as a sauce with chicken, perhaps with a little bit of spiciness added to it!

Fig Orange Honey Jam

5 cups figs
1/4 cup water
1 3/4 – 2 cups honey
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
zest of two oranges

Wash and quarter figs, and place them in a large pot (I used an 8 qt. stock pot). Heat the figs with 1/4 cup water just to get them started. Cook the figs on medium-low until they start to break down, stirring and smashing them with the back of a wooden spoon to help break them down further. They will start to thicken.

Add the honey, orange juice, lemon juice, and zest, and stir to combine. Keep stirring so that the mixture won’t burn on the bottom. Since you are working with honey and not sugar, the tendency to stick and/or burn might be a little higher than usual.

Cook the figs to your desired consistency; the longer you cook the mixture, the thicker it will be.  Puree it some with a stick blender if you want the figs to have a more even, smooth consistency (this is what I prefer).

Immediately pour the mixture into hot, sterilized 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 20 minutes in boiling water bath.

This jam tastes better after the flavors have had time to marry.

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Perfect Zucchini Pickles

zucchini pickles

Zucchini is still coming from my CSA; last week, I got another pound of it!  I guess our hot hot hot summer helped to produce a lot of it.  I’ll be curious to see if we get it again this week.

It goes without saying, then, that I’ve eaten a lot of zucchini this summer; I wanted to find a new way to prepare it.   Fortunately, a recipe for pickled zucchini was recently posted on the 101 Cookbooks site, and it just sounded so good! The resulting pickles are better than I ever expected, too – perfectly balanced flavors of tang and sweet (and a little spicy) and zucchini that is still crunchy.  I am in love with these pickles!

Basically, the pickles start as thin sliced zucchini, onions, and shallots that are salted to pull out excess moisture, then flavored with two kinds of vinegar, a little sugar, with dill, hot peppers, and mustard seeds added to the mix.  I made a few adjustments to the original recipe and I’m ecstatic with the results!

These pickles are delicious by themselves, with eggs, on toast with goat cheese, and even on hot dogs.  I ordered some dogs via my CSA – beef franks made with pastured beef without nitrites – and these pickles were fantastic on them!  They elevated what is an excellent hot dog to something even more special.

hot dog

The hardest part of this recipe, I must admit, is waiting for the zucchini to drain.  I chose to let it drain for 24 hours, so get as much moisture out as possible.  The original recipe indicates a few hours, but I love the result I got from draining them for longer.  When it’s time to put them together with the vinegars and seasonings, it takes less than 10 minutes to combine everything.

My guess is that if you like (vinegared) pickles, you’ll love these.

Zucchini Pickles
Adapted from the recipe at 101 Cookbooks.

1 pound of zucchini, thinly sliced (about 1/8 inch)
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup fresh dill sprigs
1 small fresh chile pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds

3/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice

Toss the zucchini, onion, shallots, and salt together in a colander and place over a bowl to catch the liquids. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours. Toss once or twice along the way.  The point of this is to leech out as much liquid from the vegetables as you can.

When the zucchini has drained, shake off any water to make it as dry as possible. Place in a 1 quart jar along with the dill, chile pepper, and mustard seeds.

Combine the vinegars and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves, and continue to boil for a few minutes. Pour the liquid over the zucchini and seal the jar. Let cool, then refrigerate. The pickles are good for a week or so.

Makes one large jar.

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Eggplant With Tahini

whole eggplant

I’m a big eggplant fan… that is, when it’s cooked properly.  There is nothing worse than undercooked, “green” tasting eggplant.  It tastes awful (usually bitter) and has a kind of chewy styrofoam texture. I think the texture gets to me more than the taste.  But the thing is, it’s really easy to undercook it, as the opposite is mushy eggplant that’s been cooked within an inch of its life, which is also unappealing, and desirable to avoid.

There is an Italian restaurant around the corner from me that cooks their eggplant perfectly.  It truly a delight to eat – the texture is perfect, almost creamy, with a little bit of a smoky taste.  I expect they grill it to get the taste and texture like that.

roasted eggplant

I get around all of this by cooking eggplant for purposes of a dip, which means the vegetable is very forgiving for this.  I roast it with olive oil for about 45 minutes, and that usually does the trick – the flesh turns nice and soft, and the cut side caramelizes, which adds a little sweetness to the mix.

Usually “dip” means baba ganoush, aka eggplant with tahini.  I love the combination of flavors – the roasted eggplant with buttery tahini, some garlic, lemon juice, and an unusual ingredient I’ve been experimenting with.

before grinding

I received one medium sized eggplant in my CSA share this week, so this recipe was created around that.  You can adjust amount as you like – I mean really, baba ganoush (as well as hummus) has always seemed to me as one without strongly defined amounts of flavoring.  It should be to your liking.  For instance, I like my baba ganoush to have a pronounced lemony-tart flavor, and a little spicy.  Others prefer a stronger tahini flavor. Recipes like this make it easy to adjust seasonings to one’s own taste.

eggplant with tahini

Baba Ganoush (Eggplant with Tahini)

1 medium eggplant
olive oil
salt
2-3 tbs tahini
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp aleppo pepper (red pepper flakes will work, too, but reduce to 1/4 tsp)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the eggplant in half, coat cut sides with olive oil and a sprinkling of kosher salt, and cook, cut side down on a baking pan, for 45 minutes.  Take out the pan and let eggplant cool for 15-20 minutes. Remove cooked flesh from the skins and place in a bowl.  Discard eggplant skins.

To the eggplant, add the tahini, olive oil, sumac, aleppo pepper,  garlic, and lemon juice.  Grind everything in either a food processor or with a stick blender, until it achieves the texture you prefer (I like something fairly smooth).

Serve topped with olive oil and sumac, with bread of your choice.  Feta cheese is a very nice accompaniment to this, along with some fresh raw vegetables like carrots, celery, and bell pepper.

This is particularly delicious the day after, when all the flavors have had a chance to meld.

Makes 2 cups.