Grow. Cook. Eat. – Page 15 – Julia Shanks Recovering Chef and Urban Gardener

June 30, 2010

Scape Goats (Recipe: Tomato Soup with Scape Pesto)

Don't forget about the Equal Exchange Chocolate Give-Away. Leave a comment on this post to enter.

Scape experiments would not be complete without the de-rigueur pesto. And so I pulled out the food processor, olive oil and parmesan.

After the hake and kale, I didn’t have enough scapes left to make a full batch of pesto. But the basil is coming in; it seemed like the perfect marriage – scape-basil pesto! The scapes would replace the garlic in the more traditional version. Honestly, though, my pesto isn’t very traditional… it’s really just an herb oil, as I don’t like nuts. Nonetheless, moving forward…………..

With pesto in mind, I need something to put under it. Tomato soup seemed the perfect foil, especially since I still have plenty of jars left from last summer, and I will be canning this year’s stash in just a few weeks hence.

The flavors of the pesto were pronounced without being overpowering. I could taste the basil, garlic and tomatoes. The scapes had the spicy raw garlic flavor, though it didn’t linger in a way that raw garlic can. And with tomato soup, one must have grilled cheese! And so, I made lunch…

Tomato Soup, Scape-Basil Pesto and Grilled Cheese

Tomato Soup

1 tbs. butter
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup white wine
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock or water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a soup pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots and cook for 5 mimutes, or until soft. Add wine. Then add tomatoes and stock.

2. Simmer for 10 minutes (longer if using tinned tomatoes). Puree

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Scape-Basil “Pesto”

4 scapes
1 handful basil
¼ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a few processor. Blend until mostly smooth but a little chunky. Season to taste with salt pepper and lemon juice. Drizzle on top of soup.

Grilled Cheese

4 slices baguette
¼ cup grated cheese
1 tbs. butter

Spread butter on bread. Put bread, butter side down in an oven proof dish. Put cheese on top. Bake at 400 until cheese is melted. Serve with soup and pesto.

I'm submitting this recipe to Andrea's Recipe's "Grow Your Own" Blogging event. Check out her site to see what other folks from the blogosphere are cooking up from their gardens.

June 28, 2010

Chocolate Give-Away — and Investing in a Sustainable Food System

People have become accustomed to cheap food. At the grocery store, we expect to pay less than $3 for a gallon of milk, and $1/pound for whole chicken. Many people scoff at the “high” price of organics and farmers’ market produce. Unfortunately, conventional and processed food has hidden costs, externalities not factored into the price structure: The farm subsidies which keep the costs artificially low, the extra health care costs from a culture that has become fatter and fatter from the “western diet”. And the environmental impact of processing and shipping food, and soil erosion. Worse still, conventional food producers do not have the same commitment to paying workers and farmers a fair wage.

The economics of our food system are broken. We need to make investments in farms and food producers that not only sell high quality products, but also practice sustainable farming. We need to shift our focus from solely looking at short-term financial returns to include long-term social returns.

Equal Exchange has been championing a sustainable food system since 1986 by helping small farmers bring chocolate, coffee and tea to market and earn a fair profit for their crops. And Slow Money is a new organization that is looking for ways to invest money in our local food economies so that we not only grow more healthy food, but preserve the land and our environment.

Several weeks ago, I went to the National Gathering for Slow Money in Burlington, VT. The highlights were listening to Joel Salatin (from Polyface Farm) and Gary Hirschberg (CEO of Stonyfield) speak about the nature of their organic businesses.

You may recall Mr. Salatin from Omnivores’ Dilemma and Food, Inc. He’s an engaging speaker whose business focus is not on earning or profits, but on producing the highest quality product and protecting the environment. He posits, if revenues drop, the solution is not in marketing, but in improving quality: a high quality product sells itself.

Gary Hirschberg provided an interesting counterpoint to Polyface’s business model. You may recall that Stonyfield was sold to DANONE several years ago, and has since brokered a deal with Wal-Mart to sell yogurt in their stores. Stonyfield got a lot of flak from the “organic” community for this decision. But Mr. Hirschberg reminded us that we need to help organic become a mainstream food item, not an elitist luxury. Selling through Wal-Mart is an important step in that goal.

I was also impressed by some of the real, tangible cost savings that Stonyfield reaps by being organic. Humanely raised cows yield more milk and live longer. Ultimately, the cost of milk produced from his cows is less expensive than the commercial counterpart. As such, he pays more to the farmers for their milk so that they can earn a respectable wage for their work.

Equal Exchange is an important player in a sustainable food economy. In addition to being a champion of all farmers having the right to earn a fair profit for their crops, they also give out $65,000 in grants to organizations who are working to support Fair Trade, small-farmers and co-operatives. In fact, every year they give out 7% of net profits in this manner.
Equal Exchange appreciates your interest in sustainable food systems.

As a thank you, they will give a $40 gift certificate to one lucky reader. All you need to do is leave a comment here. And please share your thoughts on sustainable food systems and organic vs. conventional. A winner will be announced on Tuesday, July 6th. You must have an active PayPal account to receive the gift certificate.

Update: The deadline has passed for the give-away and the winner has been notified. Congratulations to Miss Maya who won the gift certificate. Thanks to all for the wonderful comments.

June 25, 2010

And Now, Back to Our Story……….

When my sister visits, as she did this week, I live a more Jewish life-style by keeping kosher. To respect her religious beliefs, I bring out separate dishes, pots and pans… making the kitchen suitable for cooking within the Jewish dietary laws. When we go out to restaurants, we only patronize the strictly kosher ones that concentrate along Harvard Avenue in Brookline. My favorite is Rami’s.

Rami’s is the type of restaurant I would open if I ever decided to become a restaurateur. Not for the Israeli cuisine or the casual atmosphere; but because it’s a kosher restaurant that appeals to both Jews and non-Jews; people that adhere to the laws of kashrut and those who do not. My restaurant would be a fine dining, American cuisine restaurant called Dakos… as in: dairy kosher. No meat or shellfish would be served.

But back to reality and Rami’s… They serve Israeli street/café food: falafel, shawarma, and boureks (puff pastry filled with meat, potatoes or vegetables). I first went there with my sister several years ago, but now I’m there on my own every other month. I originally would just order the falafel, but soon discovered the Shawarma, and it was all over.

Shawarma can be made with goat, lamb, or chicken. Rami’s uses turkey thigh meat, skewers it and roasts it on a spit. To order, they slice thin strips off the spit and then griddle it crisp. The allspice seasoning makes this version superior to others. Traditionally, the meat is wrapped in pita bread with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, but at Rami’s you can also get it served on a bed of hummos. Either way, tahini sauce, sesame seed paste thinned with lemon juice and garlic, is drizzled on top; adding a layer of complexity in flavors.

And thus we conclude the series: My Ten Favorite Dishes…. With Rami’s Shawarma taking the #10 spot.

What are some of your favorite restaurant dishes?

June 23, 2010

An Old Favorite – Re-imagined.

The other night I used the garlic scape in a fit of desperation – wanting the garlic flavor but nary a clove to be found in the house. A delicious dinner to be sure, it wasn’t the best show case for this spring delicacy. So today, the experiments began in earnest.

I queried my friends for suggestions – most of the recipe suggestions in cyberspace are for pesto – and Daniel suggested stir-fried with kale, bacon and lemon. With the kale ready for its first harvest, this was a great variation of my favorite kale recipe, and a great way to pull together the flavors of the garden.

Kale Sautéed with Bacon, Scapes and Lemon

2 slices bacon, diced
½ pound kale, coarsely chopped
2 – 3 garlic scapes, chopped
¼ tsp. chili flakes (optional)
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a large a large skillet. Add the bacon and cook until the fat starts to render, and the bacon begins to brown. Drain off excess fat.

To the bacon pan, add the scapes and chili flakes, and then the kale. Cook for 3 minutes, or until kale is wilted and tender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon on top just before serving.

June 21, 2010

Garden Updates – First Day of Summer

Though, I’m so happy in my new blogging home, the transition to blogger to TypePad has been rough. The bright spot has been reading old posts (as I fix links and reload photos).

A few weeks ago, I was looking at my “Garden Updates” for early June 2009.
Tomatoes and jalapenos were just taking shape behind their flowers. And I had the first kale harvest. I intentionally avoided a comparative “garden update” for this year because the progress has not been as robust.

Despite the warmer and drier spring, I still do not have a tomato-baby. I see several promises of tomato flowers, and one spent flower behind which I should soon see a little bum soon. I was especially surprised by the slow timing since the tomatoes were in the ground a full two weeks earlier than last year. My theory? Last year, I phased the tomatoes into the ground – I planted the seedlings in large pots on the deck before translating them into their final home. I think the deck gets better sun. Could it be the extra sun from the deck? Or the phased approach?

The tomato volunteer that I found in the mint patch is now puttering along in a private cage. Alas, it's not growing as vigorously as the other plants. But I think this is because of its less than prime location. By the time I realized I had this plant, the sunnier parts of the garden were already occupied with cucumbers, eggplant, broccoli and other tomato plants.

The first sign of jalapeno just appeared last night, almost 2 weeks later than last year.
The workhorse kale has already produced enough leaves for several sides dishes.

As I admired the bevy of raspberry potentials, I noticed one ripe berry.

The summer is off to a decidedly late start, but the spring has been prolific. I harvested tons of salad; a small patch still yields about 1 large salad every other day. The strawberries have been sweet and juicy. The mint, scallions and scapes have brightened many a meal. Even the radishes were a fun treat.

A note about the hydrangea plant — photo at the top. It's been said that the color of the flowers depend on the acidity of the soil. I'm curious about my soil since the one plant has several variations of blue and pink sprinkled throughout.

June 18, 2010

Garlic Scapes (Recipe: Hake with Tomato-Coconut Sauce)

By now, there isn’t much I haven’t seen… I recognize sprouting okra plants by their leaves, broccoli by its stalk and fennel by its fronds. I can distinguish budding kohlrabi from kale just by the shade of green in the leaves. And now I can say I recognize the garlic too!

I’m growing garlic for the first time this year… and even though I’ve seen fresh bulbs and scapes at the market, I had never before seen how it all comes together in the garden. I planted a row of bulbs right next to a row of leeks, the plume of the leaves distinguish the two.

The real tell-tale sign of garlic is the scape – the curly-q sprout that shoots out from the center. The sprout is thicker/denser than the other leaves, round instead of flat with a pointy tip. Garlic growers snip off this sprout to focus the plant’s energy on the growing bulb. And kitchen gardeners take advantage of this early shot of garlic flavor.

It should be noted that there are two types of garlic – hard neck and soft neck. The soft neck variety doesn’t produce the scape, but has longer storage potential. The hard-neck shoots the scape but only stores for 6 months. This year, I’m (trying) growing both.

A few weeks ago,I dug up one stalk to see if and how the bulb was developing. It just looked like a swollen scallion. And the taste was rather mild.

Now, I have the scape. The flavor is all garlic – without the lingering effect which prevents intimate conversation. You can use it in a recipe as you would scallions – cooked briefly or added at the end as a raw garnish.

The other night, I was out of garlic, so I chopped up a scape to use in its stead. I loved the added texture that is missing from chopped garlic. Though, you can’t see it on the fish (that’s a scallion garnish), I could definitely taste it.

From the garden: scapes, scallions and tomatoes (canned last summer)

Seared Hake with Tomato Coconut Sauce

4 – 6 oz. Hake Filets
1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1 lime
1 tablespoon flour
2 tbs. plain oil
1 – 2 garlic scapes, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 can tomatoes (smoked if possible)
½ can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Season hake with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with oregano, and squeeze the juice of ½ the lime on top.

2. Dust hake with flour. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil. Gently place hake in pan, and let cook for 5 minutes, undisturbed until a golden crust develops. Flip hake over to cook on the second side.

3. To the hake pan, add the scapes and jalapeno. Make sure they hit the bottom of the pan so they can brown a little. Add the coconut milk and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and continue cooking for just a minute or until the fish is cooked through.

4. Squeeze remaining lime juice on top just before serving.

June 16, 2010

Finding My Healthy Weight

Though I weigh about 20 pounds more than I would like, I’ve maintained the same weight for 10 years. I exercise regularly and eat mostly all natural, made from scratch food. My cholesterol and blood pressure are both in a healthy/normal range. For me, this is a healthy weight, and one that I can maintain. My doctor agrees with me.

The other day I was having drinks with a friend and he lamented that he needs to lose 40 pounds. As we talked further about his struggle, he mentioned that his weight has gone up and down those same 40 pounds several times over the last few years. It became clear that, for him, he needs to find a way of eating that he can maintain a comfortable weight; not to diet and then go back to old bad habits of eating.

There are two ways to lose weight: eat less and exercise more. Since I’m not an expert of exercise, I will focus my tips on “eating less.” And by eating less, I really mean: consuming fewer calories. You can still take the same number of bites of food, but if you make smarter choices then you will lose weight and keep it off.

My overarching tips are to make sure you eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, and get plenty of whole grains to ensure you’re getting a healthy amount of fiber. Besides the obvious benefits of fiber, it helps you stay full longer and lower cholesterol.

More specifically, knowing what sabotages good eating habits will help dictate what sort of changes you can make.

Snacking — Because I work at home, it’s tempting to run to the fridge every five minutes for a snack. To counteract this potential sabotage, I do two things: I don’t buy unhealthy snacks and I make sure to stock up on plenty of carrots sticks, cucumbers and popping corn.

Portion Control — When I dine out, the restaurant sets a portion before me far larger than I need. Some of my friends can eat just half and take leftovers home. I've tried, and I just don't have the will-power. Instead, I start with a salad (to make sure I get some vegetables) and then have an appetizer for my main meal. The appetizers tend to be more interesting anyway, and the portions are usually just right. If I’m still hungry – and usually I’m not – I can order a second appetizer.

I Like My Rich Fatty Foods – And really… who doesn’t? These foods are okay if consumed in moderation. If I’m eating a rich meal, I make sure to serve lots of vegetables along with it. And I start my meal with a serving of vegetables… to make sure I don’t overeat the “unhealthy” stuff before I get to my veggies.

I Drink A Lot of Juice and Soda – I’m such a thirsty person. I probably drink about a gallon of water a day. If I were to drink that in soda or juice, I would be more than 50 pounds overweight. So I drink water. Or decaf iced tea. I avoid diet sodas because the artificial sweeteners trick your system and “disrupt our body’s natural ability to count calories.” In turn, it makes it harder for people to regulate their food intake.

When I Get Hungry, I Eat What Ever’s Around —
I do the same thing… being hungry causes me to make very bad food choices. I’ll always want a hamburger instead of a salad, or pasta instead of fish. But how do you avoid getting over-hungry? It requires planning. Maybe it means making several meals on Sunday evening to have in the fridge or freezer. Or perhaps just having a few healthy snacks in the house to stave off the extreme hunger so you can make better food choices. I have several go-to healthy recipes in my repertoire that I can make in less than 30 minutes. And I stock the pantry with staple ingredients for healthy choices.

What are your tips for maintaining a healthy weight?

Here are some easy, healthy recipes from the archives:

Chile and Cilantro Stuffed Tilapia

Moroccan Style Chicken Stew with Chick Peas and Raisins

Soba Noodle Salad with Salmon Teriyaki

Tuscan White Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

Black Bean – Quinoa Salad

Savory Greens and Potatoes

Spicy Chick Peas

Photo credit: Open Salon

June 15, 2010

Culinary Incubator

The barriers to entry for food manufacturers make entrepreneurship difficult. Many of us have the perfect recipe for a rich, chocolate sauce, frozen food line or catering business. Getting your product to market is lined with pitfalls, the first on the list: finding a commercial kitchen to produce your products that complies with state and federal regulations, as most prevent entrepreneurs from producing most food products in residential kitchens. Funding a commercial kitchen for a start-up is neither financially feasible nor prudent.

Nuestra Culinary Ventures had filled that void for food entrepreneurs by offering a culinary business incubator: a commercial kitchen that offered space for up to 25 food businesses at a time. NCV wanted out, and now Crop Circle Kitchen has taken over the space in Jamaica Plain, continuing to offer food entrepreneurs a certified kitchen to launch their business. To date, they have helped launch 25 new food businesses, and continue to take applications

For more information about Crop Circle Kitchen

CropCircle, Inc. – A shared use kitchen in Boston
Contact: Jonathan Kemp and Jeffrey Walker
31 Germania St I/J. Jamaica Plain MA 617-438-2904 info@cropcirclekitchen.org

Non-profit 24/7 shared-use kitchen facility. Provides testing area, overflow use, cooking classes, food safety managers course, technical and business support.”, “22 burners, walk in freezer, walk in fridge, dry goods storage area, meat slicer, 30 qt mixer, grill, convection oven, conventional oven, and proof box”, Storage, 8hrs/quarter hours.

Click here to receive my monthly Food Consulting newsletter by email.

June 14, 2010

Acquired Tastes (Recipe: Roasted Radishes)

I’ve never been a huge fan of radishes, which seems odd considering they’re refreshingly crisp and spicy.

Nonetheless, I decided to plant them this year for their reputation of being one of the first vegetables ready to harvest in a spring garden.
I sowed 3 dozen seeds, but only yielded about 10 radishes. They were small, the ones that were larger were half rotten in the middle. In the end, I ate maybe 5.

I was disheartened but I will probably try again next year.

At the farmers’ market yesterday, I saw bunches of breakfast radishes… the variety I had hoped for in my garden. I bought a bunch.

When I got home, I washed them off and bit into one. The initial kick of intense spice shocked my palate and cleared my sinuses. It dissipated quickly, similar to horseradish, but for my taste, they were too peppery to eat straight. They needed mellowing; roasting was the perfect antidote.

Roasted Radishes with Butter and Soy

1 bunch breakfast radishes
1 tbs. butter
1 tbs. soy sauce
lemon juice to taste

1. Trim the fuzzy hair and leaves from radishes. Wash and cut into quarters.

2. Preheat the oven to 375F.

3. Heat an oven proof skillet over medium-high flame. Add the butter. When melted, add the radishes. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce, and put the pan in the oven.

4. Roast radishes for about 5 minutes. Just before serving, squeeze a little lemon juice on top.

June 11, 2010

Down Time (Recipe: Roasted Asparagus)

I bumped into a neighbor at the farmers’ market this morning. She questioned why I was there shopping when just a few weeks ago I was unloading excess lettuce on her. Don’t I just grow everything I need in my little urban garden? I wish I could grow enough to keep me well fed from April to October!

Since my garden is so small, it’s a constant juggle – trying to maximize the space and time the crops so that I always have something to harvest. A few weeks ago, with the lettuce plants bolting, their production diminished. I pulled out about half the lettuce plants to make way for eggplants and tomatoes. Now, instead of picking a gallon of leaves every other day, I get the same yield over the course of a week. And it’s more labor intensive to pick since the lettuces have thick, unpalatable stalks which need to be trimmed.

I’m now in that lull period – after my spring crops have tapered off and before the summer kicks in. Note to self: plant less lettuce and something that will be ready to harvest in June. In the meantime, I may get a burst of beets or garlic scapes between now and when the tomatoes and cucumbers are ready, but nothing as productive as lettuce.

And even if I didn’t have this lull period, I would still supplement from the farmers’ market for the sake of variety. Though the garden is producing limited vegetable, I have an abundance of sage and other herbs.

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan and Fried Sage

Most asparagus has a woody stem. If you snap the asparagus stalk it
will naturally break where the woody ends and the tender begins.

1 bunch asparagus
1 tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper
freshly grated parmesan cheese
fried sage

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Wash and trim the asparagus of its woody stem. Let asparagus dry.

2. Toss asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper.

3. Lay asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake on the floor of the oven for 10 minutes.

4. Put asparagus on a serving platter, sprinkle with cheese and fried sage.

Fried Sage

1 bunch sage
1/4 cup plain oil
salt

Pick sage leaves from stems, and discard stems. Prepare a plate with paper towels to drain fried sage.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the sage leaves. Swoosh around a little to get the leaves well dispersed in the oil.

When the leaves look bright green and translucent, after about 3-4 minutes of cooking, scoop them out with a slotted spoon onto the paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt.