Green Beans and Tomatoes

I have pretty much already covered this in my vegetables made easy post but want to remind everyone how easy it is to make excellent vegetable side dishes.  It goes like this.  Take your green beans and cut of the ends.  I bunch them up and cut about 10 at a time so it doesn't take forever.  Wash the beans.  Put them in a skillet.  Cut up tomatoes.  I used grape tomatoes here because I had some about to go bad.  You could just as well use diced or cubed tomatoes or even some out of the can.  Put the tomatoes in the skillet.  Add about a 1/2 inch of water the skillet.  Add about half a cup of olive oil to the water.  Season with kosher slat and course pepper.  Cover and turn on high.  When the water is boiling remove the top and let the water reduce out until the vegetables are at the desired texture.

Baked Fish

I love fish.  I used to be really bad at cooking it though unless it was deep fried.  I have recently conquered my issues with healthier cooked fish.  This is important because I love to fish.  if you also love to fish or know someone that does, you can really save some money on your protein budget.  Be careful though.  Know where your fish comes from if it s wild.  Here is the link to the current fish consumption advisory in Alabama.  If you want to get angry about pollution read this document.  One thing to keep in mind is that most pollutants are stored in the fat of the fish.  If you are concerned about the fat being polluted, cut it off.  Also, you should broil with a drip pan or grill the fish as it allows the fat to drip off.  Cooking alone will not remove them.

Enough with that.  On to the fish!  These were farm raised tilapia so I am not concerned about pollutants.  If your fish are frozen a trick i learned from restaurant work is to put them in a bowl in the sink.  Fill with cold water.  turn the faucet on cold on the lowest setting you can get it just above drip.  Warm water will "cook" the fish so use cold to get it defrosted.

Baked Fish
Half a stick of unsalted butter
fish filets - 2-8
half a coffee mug of olive oil
a thimble full of garlic powder, onion powder,  and kosher salt each
1 small spoon of paprika and course pepper each
a small spoonful of an herb (basil, rosemary, oregano(my preferred) etc)


First, make the sauce.  To do this put everything but the fish in a small sauce pan.  Turn the heat to medium until the butter melts.  Whisk it good.  (Note - if you don't have a whisk use a spoon)

Line a metal dish with aluminum foil.  This will make it easier to clean.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put half the sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Put the filets in the pan.  Pour the rest of the sauce on top.  cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 10 mintues or until the fish flakes off with a fork.  Take off the top layer of aluminum foil.  Turn the oven on high broil.  Broil for 1 minute to brown the top.  I use a soft spatula to pick them up so they don't fall apart. Enjoy!

Early Spring Garden

Now is the time to get that spring garden in.  My compost from last year is lovely.  It is moist, rich, and looking like dirt.  This time we planted 3 lettuce varieties, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, onions, beets, and breakfast radishes.  If you live in Alabama and are wondering what you should plant - here is the gardening guide put out by the extension service.  Although, in my experience up to now I feel like you can make some adjustments.  Global warming is happening and gowning seasons are extended.  I had my last fresh squash of the year in late December!  My broccoli never succumbed to the frost and snow.  Also, if you are worried about too much shade in your summer garden, remember that it is going to be super hot.  Hotter than it has ever been.  That shade may be difference between an okay garden and a dead one.  The more sun typically the better but water is the key factor in that statement.  One trick a friend of mines dad uses involves PVC pipe.  He takes one end and drills holes in it.  He then buries it about 1-2 feet next to where he is going to put in his tomatoes.  Then he just waters the pipe.  This means more water retained longer at the root structure. When it is really hot, it is hard to keep that top layer of soil wet long enough to get the plant properly watered. 

Shrimp Etouffee - Mardi Gras Season!

So it is Mardi Gras time again.  This means creole and cajun cooking in the kitchen.  Last week a few friends and I had a creole cook off of sorts.  I made a shrimp etouffee.  I pretty much followed exactly the recipe from this amazing blog I want to share with all of you - Nola Cuisine.  I would recommend using his rice recipe.  It is how I will be cooking rice henceforth.  Here are some pics of my preparation of his recipe.  I didn't get any pics of the final dish as there hungry mouths waiting for me to finish.  Trust me this recipe is excellent.

Tuscaloosa Food Summit

I am trying to organize a food summit for the fall here in Tuscaloosa.  If you are interested in reading about this have a look.  An informational and forming meeting is taking place at Grace Aberdean - Habitat Alchemy at 2124 9th Street in Tuscaloosa tonight at 6:30.  Here are my remarks for tonight. (if you come you will get to hear me read a version of this - bonus!)  We will have a meeting on campus in a few weeks depending on how this one goes tonight.

The decision what to eat can be one of the most private and personal of human experiences.  At the same time, almost no one eats food that they are solely responsible for making, growing, finding, or cooking.  Personally, I recall being a child and eating meal after meal of highly processed food.  Our food came from a freezer in Sam’s club.  At the same time, I can also remember going to visit my grandfather’s house and picking most of what we ate out of his garden.   So what happened in a few generations? 100 years ago, almost everyone in this country was responsible for making a substantial part of their food.  With the industrialization and commoditization of our food chain, we have allowed business and government policymakers to take control of what we eat, how we eat, and where we eat it.  Many of us feel that some incorrect decisions were made along the way and substantial change must occur. Some statistics that I find interesting along these lines:

According to the CDC, 1 out of every 4 children born in the year 2000 or later will get diabetes in their lifetime.  For African- Americans and Asians born after 2000, specifically, that number jumps to 1 in 2.

For the first time in over 50 years we have seen a decline in the life expectancy though the CDC says that is not a trending occurrence.

1 in 8 Americans rely on Food banks or similar assistance for their groceries or food.  Of those 40% have full time jobs.

Over 1/3 of all Americans are obese.  Over 2/3 of all Americans are either overweight or obese.  2 out 3.

That obesity rate is even higher in lower income citizens.

In Birmingham, a person living in Ensley without a car has to take 2 buses and spend more than 3 hours round  trip to buy what most would call even decent food.

If you go to the cancer.org website and read about nutrition, you will see that about 70% of the space in your grocery store is out.

We subsidize the production of a few crops building mountains of corn that ends up in most of that 70% of the grocery store space. 

3 companies – Monsanto, Dupont, and Syngenta own over 47% of the world seed patents.  They own even seeds they had no part in creating.  If your field that is next to one planted with their seed gets contaminated, you pay the price.

We talk about making cheap food available for all but ignore the externalities that abound from this food in terms of much higher health costs, social and environmental costs, and a reduction in our general quality of life.

On the other hand, the prevalence of farmer’s markets has made them almost ubiquitous in most communities at least one day of the week.  Even the white house has a garden.  We have seen even Wal-mart get into organics and move to offer more locally produced food.   There is certainly a lot to be excited about.

 

This is an event for the community.  I think the food summit model of a one-day conference with a day of classes and tours is the right style.  But that should be discussed.  One person cannot make something like this happen.  There are many, many things that need to be addressed. If you would like to help, let me know.

Email mdlawrence@crimson.ua.edu
Phone: 205-936-6120 


Here is an itenerary that of what I woul like to see happen.

Breakout Session and Panelist Topics

Ø   - The Health Benefits of Eating Organically Produced Food

Ø   - The Complete Cost of Food (a discussion of the economics, social implications, health consequences, and environmental impact of eating from the modern food supply system)

Ø  - Monocultures and the concerns over the reduction of biodiversity

Ø  - Community Gardens and Urban Agriculture

Ø   - Seed banks, Genetically Modified Food, and the Patenting of Seeds

Ø  - Food Banks, Food Security, and Food Deserts

Ø  - University of Alabama Dining, Campus Farm?, Campus Composting?

Ø  - CSA’s and their role in sustainable agriculture

Ø  - The Slow Food movement

Ø  - The Role of Faith Based Initiatives in Sustainable Food

Ø  - The Future of Urban Farming – Vertical Farming, (http://www.verticalfarm.com/) The Hantz Farm of Detroit (http://www.hantzfarmsdetroit.com/introduction.html) Jones Valley Urban Farm

Ø  - How can business be part of the solution?  - A sustainable food supply chain, The Stonyfield Story, Net Impact (http://www.netimpact.org/)

Ø  - The Grocery Gap – The work of Social Compact (http://www.socialcompact.org/)

Tours/Events

Ø  Snows Bend Farm

Ø  The Druid City Garden

Ø  The garden at Canterbury Episcopal Church

Ø  Any others that would like to host

Ø  Taste $2.78 – an invitation to Tuscaloosa’s chefs to prepare their best, healthy meals for the cost of a school lunch

Ø  Classes

Ø  Canning/Cooking raw vegetables

Ø  Bread Making

Ø  Home yogurt and cheese making

Ø  How to start an organic garden

Ø  Composting

Oven Beef Roast

 

 While the deathly crush of winter continues, I must make with the protein posts.  I am looking forward to an excellent spring and summer.  But for now, it’s all about roots, meats, and dairy.

Roasts are one of my favorite things to make especially when it is cold outside.  They are easy, taste great, make your house smell awesome, and leave plenty of leftovers.  I actually do not own a crok pot currently so I just use my oven but you can do this in a crok pot on low for 7 hours instead if you want.

This basic recipe is for beef but can also work with a few changes for a pork roast (Boston butt, etc).  If you are doing a pork roast that is fatty, you can leave out the broth and veggies and just salt and pepper it fat side up.  It is fine to do it with chicken broth if you want the veggies but it will work without it too. If it is lean pork use chicken broth and add Thyme and/or Sage as well if you like.

Ingredients

1 roast

Potatoes – At least enough to fill up a cereal bowl

Carrots – as many as you like (the ones pictured came out of my garden in  January!)

Onions – at least one but up to two medium onions (white is best but use what you got)

Beef or vegetarian broth (note, if you can freeze and reuse the broth. It will be even better the next time) – I make mine up from dried granules per instructions.  When I get into buying large cuts of meat I will probably start making it but not there yet

Kosher Salt

Pepper

Rosemary (optional)

 

Take roast.  Cover it in salt and pepper.  Cut up potatoes into cubish wedges.  Peel the carrots and cut into whatever size you like.  If the carrots are smaller I tend to just wash them as the skin doesn’t bother me really.  Dice onions.  Put the roast in a pan that can hold up to 2 inches of broth when filled.  Evenly distribute the onions, potatoes, and carrots.  Pour in the broth.  Cover very tightly with aluminum foil a few times to ensure a tight seal.  Heat on 200 degrees for at least 5 hour and no longer than 7 or 8.  I prep this and put it in the oven at lunch on a day when I am coming home for lunch.  It is then ready for dinner when I get back.  Enjoy!

Labneh - our first cheese

Labneh is a cheese made from yogurt. Check out the wiki link for more info. I make this every time I make yogurt.  I cook with it and use in place of Boursin or Cream Cheese as a spreadable cheese. 

So it is time to make that first cheese!

This is so simple and delicious.  I keep saying that but it's true.  I get very busy and in order to be able to eat the way I want to on budget, I have learned to mostly eat food that is simple to prepare.  This is very versatile as well.  You can add whatever flavorings you like.  My favorites are honey/almond, garlic/chive, and lemon/basil.

Whatever you come up with, get it cooked if it is like garlic chive in a little olive oil until it is brown.   I recommend using a food processor to get everything small or you can hand chop it.  An easy trick on crushing nuts is to put them on a counter.  Take a cutting board.  Out that on top of them and smash them up!  The goal is for this to be an oil or the size of dried spices.

Ingredients

1 Mason Jar (or tub) of Yogurt

1 large spoonful of salt (use that kosher if you got it)

Flavorings of your desire

Equipment

Colander – or big strainer

Mixing bowl of some sort

Cloth *

String

 

Pour yogurt and salt and flavorings into bowl.  Stir.  Line a colander with cloth.  Pour mixture into cloth.  Bring four corner of cloth together.  Tie string around the cloth.  Hang it up somewhere to drip.  Put bowl under it.  10 hours later, you got cheese!!

*I have a white cloth that I use only for cheesemaking.  It is not cheesecloth as that is actually too porous.  It is just a large white cloth that is pretty thick.  Keep it clean though.  Hand wash this in bleach water when you are done and air dry after a good rinse.

Fruit Compote

 

This is a versatile delight that is simple and delicious.  

Basically, anything that is sweet and fruity is a version of this.  I typically do this with berries left over from the peach truck this summer or I buy frozen berry mix and make it.

Take fruit – the good, the bad, and the ugly.  This is a great way to save fruit.  If it is starting to go bad you can make this and then freeze it.  It will keep for a while.

Cut into cubes if necessary (like apples or pears, etc).  Put them into a saucepot.  Add water.  Eyeball it.  You want to cover the fruit in water and then add a little but more.  Add sugar.  This is up to you but depending on the fruit (and your audience)  I use anywhere from a half a coffee cup’s worth to 2 coffee cups worth.  Heat on high until it boils.  Turn the heat down.  Mash up some of the fruit with a ladle or fork or whatever is easiest.   If I am doing the berries, I leave it at that since I am going to use it in my yogurt.  If am making an apple compote I will keep cooking until it boils off enough water to thicken. 

This is an easy way to make an awesome pie filling of virtually any fruit.  It would also be great on pancakes, waffles, or crepes.