Go Farm Yourself ™: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Life is toast

I am sitting in my living room. My beautiful fiance is cooking me toast and eggs. The room is filled with that familar, familial smell of browning bread grains, the sound of spattering egg butter and it just makes me think of everyone that is not eating this breakfast. Maybe its someone rushing in the drive thru for a unlovable styrofoam box full of hollow foodish gross, or someone who can't afford anything today, or even worse, someone who can afford it, but won't eat because they make actually create a curve on their body. I am so grateful for every little snap, slurp, mmm, yum, burp, rip and touch. Eating good food, with great people is simply a divine experience. Food is available for reverence. Free food is coming off trees right now. Picking a little cherry, nibbling a tomato, eating our season. Exquisite dopeness.

free food: http://denver.fallingfruit.org/, http://boulder.fallingfruit.org/

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Why to learn culinary terminology, (and why you're not a dick to use it)

I have just added an element to the blog, "Culinary Idea/Word of the Day". As you will notice on the starboard side of our little foodie adventure ship, I am going to add a random word or thought or idea or technique or food everyday. I think that if you are going to work with food, and respect it, then its always a fantastic thing to be improving your quiver of culinary diction. There are definitely some people who are snarky and condescending with culinary terminology; these people are dicks. It has less to do with the words they are using, and more the kind of shitty person that they are. We are not going to be these people. Knowledge is power. We understand that collecting a common language about food will make us all stronger and more efficient culinarians. It is not about being superior to others, but the terms and ideas used in the food world matter. Chopping is not dicing. Stock is not the same as broth. A sauteed onion will and should look different than a sweated one.

So feel free to use this daily term with those around you. There is always an appropriate time to interject with your newly found knowledge about baba ghanouj, bone marrow or Boston brown bread. Annoy your partner, co-workers, cellmate, bassist in your REO Speedwagon cover band, Shuffleboard teammate or child that you are inculcating with the love of food. Then feed them all!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

30 and "counting"...

I am 30. I am about to turn 31. Age has never really felt like a logical way for me to quantify things. I have never applied the social norms to my life, i.e.: At 24 I will marry my college sweetheart, by 25 I will have a career path, by 26 I have children, and by 30 I will hate everything that I have created.

I have vacationed within my life for what I feel like is just the right amount of time. I did the proverbial journey into "myself" and sorted out who I am on some level or another, what I need in my life and the things that I can discard and tag as clutter. Through all of this self-indulgent "searching", I always had it somewhere in my mind that things were just going to turn out fine...Strike that, turn out AWESOME. I would meet the most killer partner to share my life with. I would find a job that made me lots of money, as well as potentially famous and pretentious. I would live somewhere that felt like the most truthful me. Ok. I'm close.

I have a partner who is amazing. Silly. Gorgeous. Flamboyant. Intelligent. Loves me.

I have a job that is changing the world for the better. Literally.

I live in a place that most people dream of vacationing in: mountains, music, yippies, sun.

Im still itchy. I want to make sure that I am recognized to the fullest extent that I can be. By myself and others. I don't want to miss anything. I want to eat and drink everything, everywhere. I want to live by the ocean. I want to live in the mountains. I want to work out more. I want to eat out more. I wish that I could make tons of money and never work again. I love living simply and having a job that is fulfilling. I want to be cooler. Im pretty fucking cool for 30. I wish that everyone would pay attention to me. I wish I was the kid that could just read a book in the corner. I want my partner to know that I love her more than anything. I want to make more art. I wish I had a 9-5, predictable career job. I should have picked one thing and stuck with it. Im intensely glad I didn't do that. I wish I didn't miscount my blessings so frequently.

But, Im happy. Really Real Happy.

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Culinary Idea/Word of the Day. (Use at least once)

Kale: (this shouldn't even be on here, but evidently, people don't know what Kale is. Get your shit together everyone. Eat it.)

The most beautiful member of the cabbage family, Kale has been cultivated for over 2,000 years. It loves cold weather, though can grow in warm climates. There are an amazing amount of different varietals, all of which have different textures, personalities and colors. Kale can be found basically year round across the world, and is sweet and delicious in the winter. It can be served raw as a salad green, sauteed quickly retaining some snap, or slow cooked for hours ala collard greens. A cruciferous veggie, Kale has TONS of Vitamins A and C, folic acid (great for new mamas!), calcium and iron.

10 Ways to Eat a Beet

Grate it fresh on a salad (or as a salad itself).

Saute it thinly sliced in butter or olive oil.

Braise the greens in a touch of olive oil and veggie stock.

Roast it in tinfoil, peel it and eat it (or pickle them for later).

Juice them and add to salad dressings or your favorite mixed drinks!

Cook like Risotto with carrots and radishes, no rice needed!

Crisp thinly sliced in the oven and eat like chips.

Bake the skin until dry and blend with salt…sprinkle on everything!

Boil, diced, in milk, blend, and then bake into your favorite cake recipe.

Mix grated beets in with ground beef, and garlic for the best burger ever!

Beets fight cancer, improve heart health, lessen inflammation and help prevent birth defects. What more could you ask for in a veggie?!

Go Meet and Eat a Beet Today!

Beet Martini ("Beetlejuice") with candied Beet greens

2 Large Red beets, (with greens)

10 oz Ruby Port, of choice

8 oz Vodka, of Choice

4 oz Simple Syrup (2 oz water, 2 oz sugar, heated)

2 oz cane sugar, .25 oz salt for rim of glass

Scrub and peel one beet, and bake skin at 250 until dry and crispy. Crush and mix with sugar and salt. Pick out best looking greens for garnish, and brush with simple syrup on a non stick baking sheet. Bake at 250 until stiff. Sprinkle with a touch of Cane sugar.

Scrub and slice beets and place with port in a small sauce pan. Lightly simmer (Do Not Boil) until beets have rendered out flavor, about 12 minutes. Strain and reserve beets for garnish. Combine 5 oz of Beet Port with 4 oz of Vodka and shake with ice. Wet rim of martini glass, and roll in beet/sugar/salt mix, pour in martini and garnish with the candied beet green.

Brown Butter Rutabaga, Apple, Leek and Mascarpone Tartlets

5 Lrg Rutabagas, Sliced Thin (1/8”) half moons

1-2 Lrg Leek, cleaned and sliced thin

2-3 Apples, sliced thin

½ stick butter

1 t Kosher Salt

2 t Nutmeg

1 t Cinammon

3 T Raw Sugar

3-4 oz Honey

12 oz Mascarcapone Cheese (Homemade if possible)

6 Sheets Puff Pastry Dough

1 egg, beaten (with 1 t water)

1 part Brown Sugar, 1 Part Sesame Seed, ¼ part Sea Salt to Garnish

Preheat oven to 425 F. Heat butter in a sauté pan, until just melted. Add Leeks, Apples and Rutabagas, and spread thin and evenly across pan. Add just a touch of water (1 T or so) and cook veggies until tender and butter has browned to a nutty, dark tan. Fold seasoning ingredients into Mascarpone in a bowl, adjusting for your taste. Lay out pastry sheets, and cut in quarters to triangles. Place Rutabaga and Leek mixture at the center of the triangle and top with Mascarpone mixture. Fold puff pastry around filling and make a triangular envelope. Brush tartlets with egg wash, and sprinkle with Sugar, salt and Sesame seeds. Bake for 12 minutes or so. Serve with Jalapeno Jam or pickled sweet Piquillo Peppers.

Seared Scallops with Appled Leeks

6 Large Leek Leaves, Cleaned, Full (Green and White intact)

4-6 oz Organic, Unfiltered Apple Juice

2-4 oz Veggie Stock

1 oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 T Butter

6 Medium to Large Diver Scallops

1 Lrg Fuji Apple, Peeled, Diced

1-2 T Butter

1 t Cayenne Pepper

Salt and Pepper

In a sauce pan, place leeks, apple juice and veggie stock. Simmer at a low temp until the leeks are tender. Keep warm in a bit of the braising liquid and reserve braising liquid for scallop sauce.

Clean scallops and pat dry with a paper towel. In a large saucepan, heat the EVOO until it just starts to smoke. Sear scallops until dark golden brown on first side, turn scallops and put into a 350 F oven for about 3 minutes, or until relatively firm to the touch. Rest Scallops in a warm place. Degrease pan, and place back on heat, until just smoking. Deglaze pan with Apple juice Braising liquid, loosen any fond on pan with a spoon. Add apples and reduce by half, and then whisk in butter and season.

Wrap scallops with braised leeks, tying off or tucking them into themselves. Place on top of sauce and spoon some apples on top of scallop. Enjoy!

Bacon Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Parsnip and Carrot Puree

1 Lb Brussels Sprouts (Trimmed of ugly leaves and stems)

4 slices Bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 sm Onion, diced

2 Thyme sprigs, or winter savory

3-4 Large Parsnips, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch pieces

3-4 Large Carrots, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch pieces

Enough Vegetable stock or water to cover veggies

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Drizzle of GOOD Balsamic Vinegar

Optional: ½ C Cream, and 1 T Butter

Cut small “X’s” in the bottom of the sprouts, in order for them to cook more efficiently and thoroughly. Boil the sprouts in heavily salted water (like ocean water) until tender. Set aside. Cook bacon, until rendered, but not too crisp. Set aside. In bacon fat, cook onion until tender and just beginning to brown, add thyme and then sprouts. Cook on medium heat until beginning to brown and add bacon. Simmer carrots and parsnips in salted water or delicious vegetable stock of choice, until tender. Strain (reserve liquid) and blend veggies. Adjust consistency with cooking liquid (or cream and butter) and season, (THINK: around the consistency of mashed potatoes). Place sprouts on top of Parsnip and carrot puree and drizzle with balsamic vinegar (maybe even some shaved parmesean). Enjoy!

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