You can make a variety of vibrant fruit breads with bakery emulsions, and I will give you several recipes.
Coming to you live from the DATC Computer Library, I am back with a long overdue post. It took a little time adjusting to a new technology program I signed up for and to get used to being up by 6 am every day. That is not the easiest thing to do when one has been on a swing or night schedule for 5+ years. But I am almost back to normal. I go 40+ hours a week, do not have to drive as I got a discount student bus pass, and so far I completed 2 courses by testing out, and 2 courses the old-fashioned way, in 1/2 the time I was told it would take because the program is self-directed. So I am pretty busy. But I am still cooking and will try to remember to post now.
Emulsions are a useful chemistry technology. They have been used in painting and baking for many centuries. An emulsion, to spare a definition, is a thick syrup-like mixture which holds its flavor better, especially during baking. These are a near priceless commodity, but you can find them for $7 or less per bottle. I recommend checking your local Ross Dress For Less Store in the hopes of finding some for $2.99. They are used in place of traditional juice or zest. For instance, I have on my shelf at home, orange, raspberry, lemon, and almond emulsions, and a bottle of chocolate essence, which is similar. Of those, I do not like the almond but heartily recommend the others. Zests, made from a peel put through a fine cheese grater or a special zester tool, combined with juice, make a dough harder to work with, can introduce pollutants you don't need in your diet, and will lose their flavor no matter how much you put in. The emulsion solves all these problems, especially when combined with black truffle oil which heightens and compliments flavors in cooking. As an added bonus emulsions are very stable and will not spoil, ever, for all intents and purposes, even at room temperature. What a deal.
Black truffle oil smells disgusting on its own, but I braved it in my baking and adore it now. Just don't drink it straight or anything, and use small amounts when you start out with it. I do not like it in pasta sauce and have done little other experimenting.
I think I can't say anymore without being dull. The recipes are below. All are quick breads which take less than 15 minutes of work, not counting the bake time, and these will make 6 muffins or a small loaf of bread, approximately 6 inches long. These are not translatable- what I mean is that if I list the recipe as a bread, it probably would be hard to make muffins out of, and if I list it as muffins, it may or may not make a good bread also.
Raspberry Honey Whole Wheat Bread
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
3 fl oz honey
1 tsp raspberry emulsion
1 tsp black truffle oil (or replace with an additional 1 tspn of emulsion)
Water as needed
Oil your baking dish and bake at 350 F for approximately 30 min. Check at 25 min.
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup enriched flour
2 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar or brown sugar
1 tsp black poppy seeds
1 tsp lemon emulsion
1 tsp black truffle oil (Or replace with additional 1 tspn emulsion)
Water as needed
Oil your baking dish and bake at 350 F for approximately 30 min. Check at 25 min. This is not the traditional cake-style fluffy dessert lemon-poppy seed bread. Its a robust little number that retains all the sweet and aromatic pleasantries of the other, but with added health benefits.
Orange Cranberry Muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup enriched flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar or brown sugar
1/8- 1/4 cup craisins or chopped fresh cranberries
1 tsp orange emulsion
1 tsp black truffle oil (Or replace with additional 1 tspn emulsion)
Water as needed
Oil your baking tray and fill 6 cups as evenly as possible. Bake at 350 F for approximately 30 min. Check at 25 min.
And here is a bonus simple recipe without emulsion
Morning Glory Muffins
Run 1/2 carrot through a fine cheese grater, or a zester if you have one, or shred it any other practicable means to start. Add to:
1 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 enriched flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 fl oz molasses
1/8-1/4 cup dates or raisins
Water as needed
I make this as muffins but it can be a bread also, with no conversion trouble. Bake at 350 F for approximately 20 min. May take a little longer. Check at 20 min though.
Coming Soon (hopefully): Making ravioli from scratch with stamps- plus a basic all-purpose pasta recipe, home-fermented kefir sodas, how to start a barter club, and a recipe for apple-fig dumplings.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Baking with Emulsions
Friday, January 18, 2013
I've Gout You Under My Skin
Skyscraper piles of snow, deadly flu epidemics, sub-zero nights, and a good old-fashioned vintage winter with all the added horror of modern smog. AKA I've missed you too, so here are 2 recipes at the bottom.
Gout was a fine word to open a game of Scrabble with the other week, because it reminded me of the need to read about gout symptoms and see if maybe instead of some mysterious new form of pain I just had gout in my feet. Turns out I did. This surprised me as gout comes with a stigma and is lumped in with diabetes in the minds of most; one of those semi-culpability diseases people can cure by just putting the fork down or using it to scoop lima beans rather than jelly ones. I'm not exactly in terrible shape, though by my standards, I've let myself go recently. Well, turns out gout is just a form of inherited arthritis, and if there is one thing I collect, other than hippos, old music, old cartoons, squashes, and several other things, its any kind of arthritis there is. Precocious arthritis is my hobby.
Gout basically is a swelling and stiffening of the feet, also marked by redness, pain or itching or burning, and not wanting to move at all. Its usually in the big toe, but because I'm never normal, mine was in the fourth toes. This is charming to discuss, surely. I had some minor gout, but a little gout goes a long way, as the saying goes. Made famous by Henry the 8th, the late Ben Franklin, and many a comic strip French chef, gout is actually a hereditary disease triggered by diet, and specifically, uric acid from purines.
Purines come from a surprisingly-benign, or even, healthy list of foods. The most taboo food items are: mushrooms, cauliflower, lentils, beans, red meat, and sweets such as honey. (So you can see why gout is synomymous with Henry the 8th, he the man who by force of will power (less-ness) changed the Western diet to a sugar-based one after his first taste of the white powder, and he the man who invented such delicacies as "sugar-crusted roast Turkey drumstrick", and "syrup-dipped pig's feet" with jellied jam sauce.) The expended list adds chocolate, beer, wine, oats, leafy green vegetables, baked goods with leavening agents, dried fruits, and eggs. Also, by the way, peanuts are not really a nut, but a legume, so peanuts and peanut butter also trigger gout.
That doesn't leave me much to eat does it? And if you look back at my most recent posts, you'll notice that I was basically on the perfect diet to discover whether or no I am susceptible to gout. I was practically begging for gout. Hell, I ate like a gallon of wild mushroom soup followed by pot roast chili- fabulous and recipe to come below, and preceded by "Canaan Pie", made with cream and honey and dried fruits. I also satisfied a craving for cauliflower for the first time in a year. Live and learn.
Gout is cured by drinking exasperating amounts of water and avoiding foods which contain purines or uric acid. Protein in the diet should be reduced and pretty much nothing but rice and fresh fruit is acceptable. Go over that list again. Its extensive. Vitamin C is helpful. Also, there is no better medicine than dried cherries. As far as medicines go, this last one is pretty delicious. I now have 3 lbs of dried bings around for flare ups, though this was my only noticeable gout incident to date.
The best treatment is prevention. Spread out the taboo foods, or eliminate them.
Well, after my gout cleared up thanks in large part to several days of hunger, I succumbed to this flu which is apparently ravaging Utah and everywhere else, and had some infected sinuses. I started to feel poorly, then spent a 36 hour period with an animal's wiped mind, laying in a fetal position wrapped inside blankets and still shaking with cold. I slept 29 out of 30 hours at one point, sitting up just long enough to do the necessities and fill in one sudoku puzzle. Now I'm still recovering from that. So I have not been out skiing while failing to post to this blog, I promise you that.
Enough moping. My other news is I registered for college courses and will learn web development, including writing code in HTML and several other languages. This should provide me work, and hopefully that work will be stimulating, or at least, not unbearable. I am curious about programming, but its so new to me, I don't know what to expect. I had some financial aid to utilize or lose soon so the whole thing is paid for, and I will treat this like a job, a job that doesn't pay but should eventually. I will be going full-time, so we shall see how much cooking I do, and whether or no I can offer a recipe every week. That will depend on if I keep trying new things and finding the time to do so. I think I will. I started today and now I get a 4 day weekend. But I can do most of next week's work at home with a tedious text book. Hurray.
Pot Roast Chili
This is a very good option for a chili, a little more deluxe than ground chuck varieties. Also its a second recipe to use with roast cuts.
1. Slice 1 lb beef roast or pork roast/loin into 1/2 inch slices, season if preferred, and bake in oven 90 minutes at 375 F. I did not season my beef roast as it was a nice fatty cut and I let the fat do the work and get all melty.
2. On a range top, in a large pot, combine: 1 can black beans, 1 can kidney beans, 1 can butter beans, and 2 cans pinto beans, all part-drained, with 1 can diced tomatoes (or fresh is that is a palatable option), 1/4 butternut squash (pre-baked), peeled and diced into cubes, 1 cup golden corn kernals, 1/2 green bell pepper diced, onion (or powder), and seasonings. I suggest: coriander (coarsely crushed), cinnamon, minced garlic, green chives (if you did not add chopped onion), brown sugar, mustard, and white pepper. Bring to a light boil, then simmer 30 min.
3. Serve as 2 dishes. Its a vegan chili with the meat available to those who want it, as complimentary dish, or to be dipped into the chili.
I will never make a chili again without butternut squash. Its a colorful, healthy, and satisfying addition, helping to replace meat, but not conflicting with it.
Thai Lemon Butternut Squash Soup
Finally found a butternut squash soup recipe I like. Invented this one after finding a markdown deal on some "La Tourangelle Artisan Thai Wok Oil". This oil is good for wok cooking, or as additive in soups, and consists of Thai Basil and Lemongrass in Safflower oil. My roomate claims it smells like Fruit Loops, which I find insulting, as he hates sugared cereals and thus, Fruit Loops, but I think he's just not familiar with the scent of lemon or of Fruit Loops.
For your soup you need:
1 large pot
1 butternut squash, baked or boiled, peeled, and cut into cubes.
16 oz vegetable broth
16 oz water
1/3 cup wok oil
onion powder
nutmeg
white, red, and black pepper
1/8 cup brown sugar
Add all into your pot and boil for 30 minutes. Then let cool, put through blender or food processor, and reheat to desired temperature for consumption. Pretty easy and pretty basic. Might be improved by adding some noodles or fresh leaves, or peanuts, or something else I am not thinking of, but as an experiment, I just made it as basic as possible. The above recipe would reduce to a very thick near syrup and will probably take water before serving, but you can also serve it very thick. Will make 8-10 bowls.
Next post will be about fruit emulsions and how to use them.
Rather than a music recommendation I offer you a book this week: Parnatti's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. Great fun. Delightful 2 page or less stories about where almost everything you've ever touched in your life or heard in your life comes from.
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Friday, December 28, 2012
A few more thoughts for the end of the year
Many people make resolutions this time of year and then break them. But better ideas include making gourmet butters while taking up bartering.
Usually by the third week of January, they are back to their normal un-improved selves. I never have that problem because I don't make resolutions, or if I do, I make them the third week of January and so out-last the crowd. But this year, I have set some already. None involve this blog. But you may want to make some modest goals yourself. They can even be food related. I set up a budget and am really really going to follow it this time.
Thoughts on fresh eggs
I found a source for farm-fresh eggs, and by that I mean I have friends, well, acquaintances really, but when you have no friends you see more than 3 times a year, its the same thing really. And by "found", I mean, they told me they had farm-fresh eggs and asked if I wanted any. A big affirmative there, buddies.
Teresa and I got to go inside the hen house, which smells. Hen houses tend to do that, but those 19 chickens and especially those 2 roosters seem like pretty healthy and contented birds. Teresa got to collect the eggs, which was fun. And we've been asking plenty of questions about laying. For instance, most chickens will lay within 4 months of hatching, but it may take 6, and they will give one egg daily, usually, though once my "farmer" friend collected 20 eggs in a morning. Arakana chickens lay green eggs (just the shell) which are fun, and younger chickens are prone to lay double yokes, but that goes away with time.
The taste of a fresh egg is really far better. And they will perform better in recipes or the pan. These eggs will scramble almost instantly, and the yokes are strong, very orange, and if fried lightly, do not run all over when poked. That is a good sign. If you poke a raw or a lightly cooked yoke and it flows like water, you've got the egg of an unhappy or unhealthy chicken, brother.
Very fresh eggs should be used as friers, as the yoke is strongest and most resistant to breaking. Your oldest eggs should be boiled. Fresh eggs boiled within a few days of being laid will not separate easily from the membrane and so make a bad choice for hard-boiled eggs.
My seasonings of choice for scrambled eggs are lemon pepper and lemon-lime paprika. I recommend finding some great eggs and making Huevos Rancheros from scratch with fresh tortillas formed by hand and a raspberry salsa diced right then and there. Or try a duck omelette, or a chinese pork omelette. Chinese pork is made in a slow cooker with Chinese Five Spice. Check your local grocery. Delicious. I usually add green chiles and eat it on tortillas or tostadas, but the leftovers go in an omelette.
Flavored Butters
My second attempt at flavored butter went much better than the first, when I tried melting the butter over heat. To do it right, let butter soften at room temperature, or aid it a little by setting it atop the range (in a bowl or tub) or toaster oven while you bake something inside. Mash it up with a fork and your desired seasonings. Then put it into a tub to chill and solidify again, or try reshaping it into a log and putting it back in the wax paper wrapper. My butter this week is 1/4 lb stick, 2 tsp plum butter (yeah I'm on a kick right now), 2 crumbled dried basil leaves, and a sprinkle of garlic powder. Pretty excellent on sourdough bread, which I've been eating also with my mushroom soup. Fresh basil would surely be better. Next week I am going with apple, fig, and almond butter, made with my apple, fig, and almond preserves. To die for by the way. Village Green Preserves. I found my jar at a Home Goods store and since big boxes break out like pimples by the thousand, you probably have one near you. 1/4 stick butter, 2 tsp preserves. I assume it will be delicious.
I also suggest what I tried once at "The Mark", a fine restaurant in Portland. Blackberry, basil, and garlic. I didn't want to crack open a jar of blackberries just for that.
When you get the hang of your new butter hobby you can start baking in concert with your gourmet butters so that you never end up with an artisan bread that fails to synchronize well with your condiment. Is butter a condiment? I'm not sure what else to call it.
I went a whole month without having butter in the house. Can you believe that? My goal right now is to eat what I have in storage and from the harvest and keep food bills below $20 a week. Going well, by the way.
Bartering Is a Fantastic Hobby
I think I have mentioned my love of barter recently, but if not, well, I love to barter. I bartered an 11 X 14 photo I had several copies of for a watermelon (the best of my life) and 1 dozen ears of corn, and I just bartered my rarely used Juicer to a friendquaintance (Teresa's friend really, like most of mine) mother of 3 and soon to be 4. She gets the juicer and I get a spot of cash and 5 different variety of preserves to go with my canned applesauce. The juicer gets used and I gain a little counter space. I tested the old girl one last time with a fine brew of carrot, cucumber, bell pepper, apple, celery juice. Very fine. Still works great. Saved the pulp to make a couple batches of vegetable stock for free. I am going to miss that juicer, but I only used it a few times a year because I get my veggies in soup and on pizza and in salads when in season.
Seasonal Living
Right now though I am living seasonally like never before. The great bulk of my fruit and vegetable intake right now is squashes, potatoes, and canned goods, all local. Squashes stop being a thrill after about 3 a week, so I can only imagine what Indians thought of them in an era without brown sugar. I try to make some spicy when I mash them up, but I just don't love that flavor mix yet. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Its nice to never run out of crunchy toasted seeds to eat though.
Apparently there are "Seasonal Living" groups all over the US and even here in Utah. These groups seem to be poor at communication, as am I. Which I guess could be expected since they are anti-fast food and anti-technology, at least, to a degree as opposed to the rest of the modern world. So you can probably find some foodies near you, even if they can't, or don't want, to find you.
And yes I am still drinking tea every day and often 2 or 3 brews with my new (used) beautiful tea pot. I hope this is making me healthier. It is increasing my tea bill though, even using bags twice each.
Your musical advice this week is Songs From a World Apart by Levon Minassian and Armand Amar. I have no idea how to describe this. Samples for free on Itunes or Amazon. It only takes 5 seconds to determine if I'm crazy or your life was previously incomplete. Resolve to check it out. Right now. Or at least by the third week of January. Now I'm 2 Mondays ahead with my posts. If you get fat its not my fault. Though maybe with that recent pecan pie post, it kind of will be.
German Mushroom Soup
Here is a decent recipe to produce with your pounds and pounds of dried mushrooms.
Since no one enjoys or reads my witty remarks anyway, here is the recipe, and I am posting it 3 days early since another holiday is coming up and I will otherwise lose my passion and put off my "article" for a week:
Saute 8 oz baby bella mushrooms and 8 oz white crimini mushrooms in 3 tbsp butter and a squirt of olive oil for 10 min, add 2/3 cup Tawny Port (the only beverage alive which tastes like Christmas and actually produces Christmas inside you if you are drunk on it), and 32 oz vegetable stock, or water with vegetable pulp in it (such as carrot, cucumber, and pepper pulp from a juicer). Simmer for 10 more minutes, then let cool long enough to put into a processor or blender. Once creamy, return to pot along with 1 cup dried mushroom mix (or fresh). I used Oyster, Ivory Portabellas, Shiitaki, Brazilian, Morels, and Porcini, because those are what I have. Lots of. Still, after 3 years. Some mushrooms are an acquired taste. Season with garlic powder, onion or onion powder, 1 red chile diced (dry or fresh), green chives, and 1 tsp all spice. Zest 1/2 of a carrot through a fine cheese grater. Add 16 fl oz water, and boil for 30 min. Remove from heat, add 16 oz creme. Stir and serve.
Its not a revolutionary mushroom soup, but it has 7 kinds of fungi, a good blend of seasonings, a nice undertone of sweet liquor, and its easy. Better hot than cold.
Easily spruce it up with some gratuitous German Bratwist slices. You know, if you can't eat a thing unless it has meat in it.
Musical recommendation: Siwan (Ocrd), composed by Jon Balke, with vocal by Amina Alaoui, includes performance by Jon Hassell, who I think is famous. A stunning collaboration with an early music feel that is also modern and minimalist with strings, percussion, and ghostly out-of-this-world singing inspired by the Arab-Andalusian traditions. I got chills just remembering I had this tucked away in a binder and have not listened to it in months. I am going to right now.
I hope you don't hate this soup. It was my first effort at a mushroom soup and perhaps it can be improved later, but for now, its pretty good.
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World's Greatest Pecan Pie
A few changes to a classic recipe.
I decided while baking a pecan pie for the first time around Thanksgiving, that the pecan pie was in need of a revamping. Did you know, or want to know, that the pecan pie is essentially pecans, sugar, corn syrup and eggs, all on a white-flour crust with lots of shortening. That is exactly 1/2 of a healthy ingredient. Also, it leaves much to be desired. That is essentially a sugar mallet. Put enough sweet crap in anything and it will taste good. But if you want more, then read on and get my recipe for "Canaan Pie", named of course after The Torah's "Land of Milk and Honey."
So here are your ingredients:
Crust:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
0.5 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all vegetable shortening
water
(Yes I know its still not very healthy. Its a pie. I think if you are quibbling over the kind of flour used primarily in a dessert crust you are mistaking dessert, a treat, for food and main courses. That said, the little amount of whole wheat flour will make a stiffer crust that browns around the edges and can be picked up by hand and gobbled down, without tasting like wood. I prefer this recipe. Its more stout.)
Mash it all together, form it into a crust like you would a pizza dough, (and yes I did flip it in the air once), pat in a greased dish until mostly even and in the right shape. Do I really need to explain this?
Pie Filling:
1.0 cups pecans
0.5 cups honey
2 tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup plum butter (or another quality jam you have on hand, such as blackberry preserves)
1/4 cup creme
3 whole eggs
1/4 cup diced figs
1/8 cup currants or dates
1/8 cup slivered almonds
Beat by hand your 3 eggs with the honey, butter, plum butter and creme, then add to it your pecans, figs, and currants or dates. Stir up, pour into your pie crust. Bake on high 350 F for 15 minutes, remove, scatter and lightly press almond slivers all along the top surface. Bake another 15 minutes. Check to see if done. If not, watch carefully for 10-15 more minutes. Remember the pie will continue to cook when removed from the oven.
Serve with a little whipped cream, or don't.
Vegan Option:
Don't add butter and creme and use egg
substitutes if you want a Vegan option. Not sure how great that would
be, but probably still a little better than standard pecan pie. Add
some extra fruit I say. You can never have too many diced figs. Some
scholars believe the houris, or perma-virgins, of Muslim paradise, a
controversial regenerating supply of babes to the devout, originally
read "figs" meaning you'd have a nice fat supply of sweet fruits that
never run out.
Is this my shortest post ever? I think so. And its 5 days late too.
Music advice: "A Musical Banquet" starring countertenor Andreas Scholl. Composed by John Dowland and others, this is court music from the Elizabethan era starring the world's most famous high-pitched male voice, a sound which in previous eras could only be produced by castrating children before they could hit puberty. All in the name of Christ and music, right? But we have full-time music schools now and with billions of humans to choose from, there are at least five genetic freaks who are the singing equivalents of Olympic athletes and can live butch lives while performing these songs. Great CD. I listened to it while inventing this pie.
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Monday, December 17, 2012
Canning Applesauce
Andrew attempts home canning for the first time.
I am not going to go into the exact specifics step by step, because there are a lot of them and the information is out there other places, such as on the labels and instructions that come with glass "canning" bottles you can buy, and will need if you are going to try canning, but let's just say that I am now familiar with the process of home canning, my many fall apples are all processed, save for six reserved for one last apple crisp dessert, and I could not get out of bed this morning.
Canning is a lot of work. Really its an all day process, so start early. I also suggest you not come up with clever ideas like: I will do this while drying 10 more apples to replace the dehydrated slices I already ate on recent hikes so I won't run out in July, and I will also provide dinner for 4 people by roasting 3 lbs of pork in a slow cooker (which needs to be shredded at some point) and dicing 4 kinds of vegetables to go with it, and I will do this all myself because everyone else is addressing 300 Christmas cards and going on an 11 hour "tis the season" shopping run to buy XXL sweaters for an in-law who I have never seen wear a sweater. Those are bad ideas. Don't entertain them. (Side note: I have never understood the theory of needing to buy everyone a Christmas gift if you buy anyone a Christmas gift. Christmas is for girls and kids. Kids love to get gifts because they're greedy and need attention and have no money and women love to shop and will take any excuse to do so. We men put up with it, and we are willing to lackadaisically open a few packages while trying to watch football or dreaming about a decent breakfast and half-heartedly pretend to be excited that our wife/girlfriend's sister or mother is now effectively dressing us, and we are even willing to thank you profusely for driving to Walmart and choosing the same gift card for us that 1,000,000 other ladies choose every Saturday, but that doesn't mean we will wear the XXL sweater or the new pair of slippers or pajama bottoms with puppies on them that you force on us. And the response of "he's a jerk, he never likes my presents, but THIS year I will get him something he can't hate!" is not a rational one. And none of this is about me or anyone I or you knows in any way. Resemblance is coincidental. But point is, no man will or has ever cried because he didn't get a present from everyone on Christmas. A man wants something, he goes and buys it. That's why he works horrible jobs. Did you think it was so you could have a duvet and French doors out to your patio?)
Canning should be done in the long-standing traditional way: throw on some music, invite friends or family over, everyone chain themselves to a cutting board or to the range, divide the labor, and make an assembly line of a weekend of it. Some or all of the men may be out bagging trophy bucks at the same time. Order dinner out or go sit somewhere and let morose young college graduates coming to grips with the realities of a job market in a down economy and a world with 7 billion largely superfluous people wait on your every need. And also, maybe don't start with apple sauce. There are a several additional steps for that.
Okay, so here is what will pass for a recipe this week. 27 apples gave me 1 gallon of applesauce, which fills 8 pint jars. That might sound like a lot, but for a whole day's work, it is not a ton. Also I gave away 3 jars because Teresa's mother supervised and instructed me on the use of bottle tongs, sterilizing jars, and so forth. She earned them I say. Next time, I would use 50 apples and go for 2 gallons. That provides a year's worth for a small family if you also have peaches and jams and squashes and potatoes piled high.
I used 18 red delicious and 9 granny smith green apples, which turned out pretty good. I diced, then boiled for 20 minutes, then partly drained which means I lost some nutrition and flavor, but oh well. Next time I hope to streamline things. That dirtied 3 large pots. Then I let the mushy apples cool, put them in a blender, which took 7 loads, put them all back into one large pot, seasoned with 1/2 cup white sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and ancho chile powder. Then we sterilized our jars because they were dusty and gross and old. First a wash with dish soap, then sterilization by boiling, then sterilize the lids by boiling, then pack the hot sauce into the hot jars, then bring a HUGE canning pot with jar rack to a boil, then add the jars, add more water to cover the jars by 1 inch which stops the boil, let boil 20 minutes since we are at nearly 5,000 ft elevation and the process time is longer. Remove, let cool for 12 hours. Hopefully they "pop". All did. Hurray. Oh yeah, and this required moving 8 bottles 4 times each to different counters with bottle tongs so I am now skilled with those, though they are intimidating at first. And there was a pork dinner fit in the middle, did I mention that?
I was exhausted this morning and slept in. I also hiked through snow for 2 miles yesterday morning, once with Teresa which involved pushing 150 lbs of combined wheelchair and girl up a steep hill. So at the end of the day, she rolled her eyes at me and suggested I stop doing so many things at once like always. And that seems like a good idea. I hope this proves helpful to you at some point. Home canning can save you large amounts of money and makes the health spooks of recalls and salmonella warnings merely something to say "hmm" to disinterestedly, while flipping the electronic digitized page of your e-reader newspaper, or whatever you kids use these days that probably gives you cancer and creates a need for mood-enhancing drugs. However, that savings does come at the incredible input of time. But if nothing else, I learned a new skill and have a greater appreciation for pioneers and the attention to detail people needed in the past. Screw up this task while gossiping and your whole family dies of food poisoning. Life was a lot of work. So try canning sometime, though I'd recommend getting your HUGE pot boiling with the rack in it, and then leave it boiling all day or at least all afternoon, and processing 50-100 jars. That's the way our forebear mothers did it. And the day after, I bet they really enjoyed a walk outside in the fresh air, while thinking deeply about the cosmos and expressing themselves intellectually and artistically with their free hours, or at least, they thought: thank God I don't have to chop another apple for 8 months! That's about what my sentiments were when I finally did get up this morning.
Musical advice this week: "Vivaldi for Valentines" is a wonderful compilation of short pieces by the composer best known (or is that only known) for "The Four Seasons" on strings. You get to hear 20 of his other highlight pieces. Pair it with "Liszt for Lovers" in the same series, 11 long pieces on piano by a true eccentric composer.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Its time at last for me to survey the squash field.
Actually, its 5 days too late according to my new Mondays schedule, but I lost my photo for this post and that took away my thunder. I was planning to number 11 different squashes and review each with a recipe, but now I have to do something shorter and possibly less helpful. Or will it be, more helpful?
So I will offer some recipes and answer some questions because squashes or winter melons daunt a lot of people.
Question 1 and 2: Is there such a thing as a decorative squash? If so, why can't I eat them?
Yes, there are squashes grown just to sell as decoration. For most Americans, this is every kind of squash, but for the culinary minded, it is small colorfully patterned squashes that look like tiny flat pumpkins. These are grown to sit in the middle of a Thanksgiving Feast, not to be part of it, meaning that even at a local market, you ought to ask if they were sprayed with dangerous chemicals, and get as much info as you can. That said, I tried 4 varieties of decorative squashes this past month and found 3 of them to be pretty darn adequate and edible. The last one, I chucked. The main difference with these is that the "flesh" is a little tougher or has a stringy quality, that maybe they take longer to cook, and they are more "hole" than "doughnut". The cavity inside is big and there isn't much to cook. But the seeds of any squash can be roasted, with or without seasoning. And are usually delicious. So don't just pitch a squash when Thanksgiving is over.
Question 3: How do I cook a squash?
Any squash can be halved, set on a baking tray, and baked in a small amount of water. The water helps the squash from drying out and to cook evenly. Most can also be boiled. This will mean you get less good stuff, if you are dumping out the water before eating. I boil a butternut if I am making soup, or a spaghetti squash usually because its easier when I am substituting it for pasta. Others I now roast. In an oven, I bake at 350 for 30 minutes- 45 minutes, depending on how large the squash is. You can cook it less time if you want it firmer. Halving a squash to bake or boil it means you simply scoop out the guts once they are soft. Always scrape away the stringy gummy layer around the hole before cooking, just as if you were cleaning out a pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern. A decorative squash will have a thick layer that you don't want to eat. The acorn squash on the other hand, as example, is almost all good and ready to cook. A butternut is the hardest thing on earth to peel if you try to do it before boiling or baking. I would never try again, unless it was to train some Ninja boy in Karate Kid 11, who lacked patience. Cut it into pieces that fit in the pot, boil or bake, then peel, then return to pot, mash, or put through a blender/processor for soup. Or eat it right out of the rind. Halved acorn squashes are the ideal side dish as they come in their own "bowl". But any squash can be eaten straight from the hard rind.
Question 4: How do I roast these delicious seeds you speak of?
Halve your squash, pull the seeds out and separate from the goop and slimy crud. Dispose of that crud. Without washing the seeds, throw them on a tray, preferably in a small toaster oven, put the heat to 300 and watch them. Small seeds will take as little as 15 minutes and should be flipped after 10. Pumpkin seeds are the biggest and will take 30 minutes usually. Flip at 15 minutes. Season if desired before roasting, when they are still wet. They taste much more flavorful without a rinse. I season, if at all, always with seasoned salt/garlic salt. But more often, I just let them go. Sometimes I burn the seeds on purpose because they are extra crunchy. I have had a steady supply of seeds all winter thus far because the only seeds I consider inedible come from the kabotcha, which I have mistakenly called a "kubutchen" previously. Those are chalky and puffy and gross. Throw them away. For a seed recipe, see "Mohican Chowder."
Question 5: How do I pick a good eating pumpkin?
Talk to the farmer. Ask about which pesticides were used, if any. And try to find a variety other than the pie pumpkin meant to be eaten, or which is an heirloom/vintage variety. The store pumpkins are grown to be carved and are not featured for their taste, quality, or texture. I find they fall apart into unpleasant strings. If you can't cube the "flesh" of your pumpkin wall, then its not an eating variety. Older pumpkins were grown not for size or shape or color, but to be delicious and healthy. I stopped buying super size pumpkins because the rind tends to be stretched thin and they may burst open and start leaking while being roasted. Not ideal if you have some turkey soup or chili in there.
Question 6: How do I know if a squash is ripe?
An acorn squash should be mostly green, showing some orange flecks. Orange means its a bit past ripe, but will keep. Same goes for a kabotcha. A pumpkin is ripe if orange and not on a vine, basically. The decorative kinds are much harder to tell because they give you no signs. Butternuts don't change color either. Nor spaghetti squash. For those, soft spots will mean rot, so avoid those. Make sure the rind is not cracked, and don't worry about peak freshness. Squashes or winter melons were a useful crop because of how long they keep, not the peak of freshness like an orange has.
Question 7: What the heck are these 30 lb squashes? And what are they used for?
The banana squash is similar to a butternut as a harder squash, but a little more peppery. Yes these are edible, and the farmer I spoke with says his family will slice off a pound or so every few days, cook it, serve it, and then go back for more. They keep these monsters in the garage where they stay cool and last all winter. However, you will need to cut away the exposed section each time. So you basically eat every other slice, with the waste slices thinner, hopefully. Alternatively, serve it as the side dish at a big feast or party.
Okay, that seems like enough of that section. A few favorite recipes:
Acorn Squash
My favorite way to eat this is to split it in half, scoop away the gunk, roast the seeds quickly and then bake upside down in water for 30 minutes. Pull from the heat, add a pat of butter, a spoonful of brown sugar and of raisins, stir, and its delicious, and in its own bowl.
Kabotcha
I bake it upside down and halved. Seeds are thrown out. This one I like the flavor on so much that I add no seasonings at all. Eat it from the "bowl" rind if hungry enough, though it is a larger squash and will feed at least 2, and probably 4. Be sure to liberally scoop away the gloop or the final product when mashed up will be very unpleasant in the mouth. My first attempt I tried to save too much "flesh" and threw most of it away. It was like eating soft thistles. I would chew and chew and couldn't keep from gagging.
Spaghetti Squash
Detailed on this blog before. It replaces spaghetti with a sweet pleasant flavor very well enhanced by a good tomato sauce. I like to cover it then with edamame, and goat cheese, or with feta and olives and pistachios, or all those and peppers. About anything works. Very low calorie and very low carb for you dieters. Bake or boil.
Pumpkin
I cook things inside a pumpkin generally, and usually chili. See older posts. Watch the labels "chili" or for a title with "pumpkin." You can also bake one without food in it, and if its large, start the pumpkin "on empty". They can take over an hour to cook at 450. I have also started cutting away the back wall on a jack-o-lantern and roasting it in slices, then freezing the slices. They will come out mushy and be harder to chop but can then be added to soups as "cubed" pumpkin. Pie pumpkin, canned pumpkin, and dwarf pumpkin all disentegrate into soup. Canned pumpkin is great in pancakes with a little whipped topping or a buttermilk syrup and of course in cookies and my oat bars. See older posts for "Oat the Door Bars".
Butternut Squash
This one I make into soup once a year, though it has yet to come out great. Hard to produce a desired consistency and I have never found the right spices to make it taste delicious like it does in gourmet organic markets where I've had it. I usually add fat noodles, and do not like celery in this soup. Other than that, I'm open to your advice. Really I am. However, try this: boil 2 cup dry lentils and 1 butternut squash separately, then scoop out your squash and add to your lentils. Stir in a couple teaspoons of Red Curry Paste and add some cashews and raisins, and you have a great little spicy dish.
Yellow Squash
This one is a yellow acorn squash. But its not an acorn squash, just has the exact same shape. Its not sweet at all, and tastes just like the summer squash you get in some frozen vegetable mixes. It may be the same thing, but I don't think it is. That summer squash I believe looks like a cucumber. Well this one I bake and then scoop out/mash and my favorite spice blend is Lemon Lime Paprika and Roasted Fries Spice Mix (both in tall glass bottles by "The Gourmet Collection"- I find them at TJ Maxx and there is no easy way to fabricate them which is why I bought them; but see the previous post for the Fry Spice ingredients). A pinch of cinnamon and a dash of brown sugar is optional. I have never known butter to hurt anything. You can sweeten this with brown sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg, but I do that with other squashes which can't be made spicy. So I try different spice blends with this one. I like to crank it towards hot usually.
Banana Squash
I've only ever used this in stir fry, but I do like it there. Chop it and start it with plenty of oil so it will soften and start it ahead of "soft" veggies like sugar snap peas, with carrots if you use them. It also fits in curry. Great stir fry is yours for the having with a little mix of wok oil and stir fry sauce. I am sure you know where to find both in your grocery store. Curry is simpler yet with Curry paste and coconut milk. Watch for dented cans to save money. If you are going to throw a few cans of coconut milk and then check back in the damaged goods cart at the back of the store the next morning, you will want to be make sure you know where the cameras are. I have NEVER done that. That anyone knows of. And you shouldn't either. Its naughty.
I was once told by a young man from Chinese heritage with restauranteur parents that I made the best non-Chinese Chinese food he'd ever eaten. I'm pretty sure that is a compliment. Kind of like telling someone "white men can jump".
Well I hope that helps. Hopefully my next post will be about how to can applesauce, since I still have not done that. And "Canaan Pie" is coming. I have revolutionized the pecan pie, in my head. But its just a theory. This month I will try the recipe I invented.
Your unsolicited musical advice: Annette Hanshaw! I feel I've mentioned her before, but can't find where or when I did. I think most of her very best and most charming songs are on the "Sita Sings the Blues" soundtrack. That costs $9.99 and is only available as MP3 download. So I'd look into that if you got this far.
