Tips - Making Stock

One thing Daniel and I do while keeping an eye on meat sales is buy whole chickens. Even when they are not on sale, they are usually cheaper per pound than the already-cut chicken pieces. Not only this, but if you are trying to watch your portions, the breasts they sell in multi-packs are usually HUGE! The pieces on the whole-fryers are much smaller and portion/diet-friendly. We try to stick to brands that don't pump their chickens full of salt water and antibiotics. Hopefully as the demand for unmessed-with food becomes greater, it will become cheaper.
Back to the cheaper part... buying whole fryers and butchering them at home has proved better for our diets and our budget. Daniel takes great pride in being able to butcher those hens up as well as a butcher in a shop. After some practice we are both very good at getting all the cuts off, and even making them skinless and boneless. It is one thing to quarter a chicken with bones, but Daniel can work off boneless thighs, boneless breasts, wings, drumettes, and drumsticks in record time. We freeze the pieces in twos, or threes, as meal servings. The drumettes and wings we put in their own bag until we have enough to make hot wings for parties, etc... but that usually takes a while and sometimes we end up eating grilled/barbequed wings for dinner :)


If we aren't making stock the next day we'll take the bones (plus the giblets/neck from the inside) and place them in a bag in the freezer. I usually wait until I have two whole chicken carcasses to make stock.
Another thing we do throughout the week is take leftover vegetable parts, such as onion roots and skins, celery leaves, carrot tops, squash-ends, etc. into plastic bags that we keep in the freezer. That way we are using up part of veggies we wouldn't normally use up.
Once you have enough bones and plenty of veggies, place them all in a pot that is large enough to hold it all plus the water to cover it. One thing I try to do (though not always available) is tie the "veggie scraps" inside some cheesecloth, which makes for easier stock-tending later on.
Cover the bones/veggies with cold water. If you aren't using veggie scraps, place in a couple carrots, a few ribs of celery, and a quartered onion for added flavor. Add 5-10 peppercorns, a few cloves of [crushed] garlic, and a bay leaf. If you don't have celery on hand, I've heard (but never tried myself) that a pinch of celery seeds adds the same flavor.
Now, bring to a boil, but watch it, once it boils immediately reduce the heat so that it is only a simmer. If you let it boil too long you'll get cloudy, murky stock that has all the fat mixed into it.
Now, you don't have to sit over this all day, but you will have to check back (about every 15 minutes or so) to skim off the foam/muck. If you don't put in the chicken skin (which I don't) you won't have as much to skim off... honestly I have read and I find myself that it doesn't add any flavor and its just more fat to skim off the next day.
Simmer your stock for 4-8 hours... Add hot/boiling water as needed (per Alton Brown's method) to keep the veggies and bones submerged, but I tend to shy away from this in the last few hours or so of stock-making, as I think its waters it down. At some point in the process you may not have any more muck/scum to skim off the top... from here it is smooth sailing and tending to it becomes a lot easier. This is the point when I stop adding hot water, and the stock usually boils down to about 1/4 - 1/2 way down... Once your timing is correct, and it tastes to your liking, (or you don't have time to tend to it anymore...) strain your stock through a fine mesh strainer... (tip from our Jager Lamb Chops - If you don't have a mesh-strainer, use a cheese cloth [or even a dishcloth in a pinch] in the bottom of your sieve, in a bowl.) and into another pot (one that will fit in your fridge) it goes... Let it cool in the sink, in a cool-water bath (just fill up the sink around the pot of stock, being carefull not to get extra water into the actual stock.) Once it's cool enough, place in the fridge over night.
Meanwhile, you have bones and necks to pick meat off of. Since this meat has been boiled, it is good for chicken-pot pie or chicken enchiladas or the like. More on that later.
The bones and mashy veggies can go in the trash, or if you have a compost pile, compost what you can).
The next day, your stock should be nice and gelatinous. There will be a layer of fat that you can skim off. Elise, of Simply Recipes, likes to leave the fat on to preserve her stock for longer. I prefer to freeze mine anyways, so I take all of it off.
At this point, once the fat is off, and the stock is taking on room temp (and becoming liquid again - you may have to help it out by putting it on low on the stove top), I transfer the stock to containers for freezing. I freeze some of it in one or two cup portions, and the rest goes into ice cube trays.
The ice cubes are great for recipes that call for just a little stock (when store-bought cans have 16 oz of salty chicken-flavored water, bleck) And, you can warm them up in the microwave or on the stove top to get the amount you need... I think my particular ice cube trays hold about 2-3 tablespoons of stock per cube, but I don't measure it out everytime, as I don't have time for that, and I'm an eyeballer for most recipes.
The frozen stock will keep in your freezer for up to three months, Alton Brown suggests bringing it to a boil before using it again.
Even you can enjoy making your own soups and gravies from scratch... and using up veggies and bones that most people would simply throw out.

Jungle Juice Redefined

Corinne and I were in the kitchen making dinner, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to drink. It had been a long day, a beer sounded good but I was out. In fact we were out of just about out of all of our liquor too. We did have some vodka though so I started to look around for something to mix it with. My eyes landed on a tray of fruit, bananas, an orange and best of all…a mango! When I was younger we used to take all the fruit we could find, put it in a big ice chest and poor vodka or Everclear over it and make Jungle Juice. I thought we could do a little better than that (for flavor at least). I looked around and found some Grenadine and a bottle of sparkling water as well, picked up the tray of fruit and assembled it all on the dining room table. I sliced the fruit and placed it in a glass pitcher (much smaller then the ice chests we used to use!) and poured 1 cup of vodka in it (I wanted to save a little bit of the vodka for later) and the bottle of sparkling water. Then I used a jigger to measure out 1.5 oz of grenadine and poured that in the pitcher. It looked great, the fruit floating in the pitcher, the red color the grenadine gave to it. I couldn’t wait to try it!

I let it sit for about half an hour and poured a small glass. It was horrible! Half an hour is definitely not enough time for the vodka to be infused with the fruit flavor. I put the pitcher back in the fridge and drank a glass of water with dinner. The next day I took it out again and poured a glass with dinner. Much better, the fruit flavor was very pronounced. The bananas flavor was the most prominent with the mango coming in right behind it. I would recommend squeezing the orange juice into it if you want to taste the orange flavor, I did not do that and I wish I had. It was like drinking fruit juice, I could not taste the vodka at all.

Next time I try this I think I am going to use different fruits, some strawberries or watermelon would be good. Another option would be to add some lemon-lime soda, it would add some sweetness and fruitiness if used in place of the sparkling water. Though not nearly as strong as we used to make it, this is a bit more refined version of the Jungle Juice we drank in college.

Making Kids' Food Fun At Home

Speaking of kid friendly foods and tricking your picky eaters into eating stuff that was good for them, I began thinking about what exactly it is I do to get our little one to eat.
Being on a budget and a diet means not buying a lot of junk food... My reference to Michael Pollan in a past entry really cemented my belief in not buying junk food just because it seems to be cheaper than healthy wholesome foods like fresh produce. "Shopping on the perimeter of the store" means choosing fresher foods, foods that aren't generally loaded with sugar (aka high fructose corn syrup) and fat. Now, when you think about a child, you think they need the calories anyways... and while that is partially true, you still need to give them calories from wholesome, healthy, and nutritious foods. But how many five year-olds will choose a whole wheat turkey sandwich over a pepperoni pizza pocket? Or a fresh apple over those cool little gel-filled fruit snacks? Not many... I have some views on these products regarding the diabetes epidemic in our country and other issues that I won't get into... but, my question is: How do you make healthy foods for kids as fun as those chalked-full-of-sugar ones?
I'll tell you how. You don't have to be that creative, and you don't have to be an artist. It certainly helps, but it isn't necessary. Its easy! Lots of my ideas came from my grandmother, who used to surprise me with a fun snack when I'd come home from school. She always had lots of fun ideas to dress up the sandwichs and fruits and veggies she gave me to eat, and in turn, I learned to love all that stuff... hey, I was a weird kid to begin with, but food appeal is as important to kids as it is to adult, if not more. Other ideas I got from various bento sites.

• Try the octopus hot dogs on Biggie's Lunch in a Box blog.

• Fruit and veggies are an easy thing to make fun!

- Canned pears can be turned into dogs heads. (Place a cherry on the pointy part for a noise, and a raisin [or two] for the eyes, cut out a tear drop shape[s] for the ear[s])
- Of course you've heard of ants on a log? (Raisins dotted along a peanut butter filled celery rib).
- Apple Rabbits, also from Biggie's blog, they are pretty easy once you've done them a few times, and are very cute!
- Treasure pots: small tomatoes or apples that have been cored and filled with something. (I'll try to add a picture of these later) Fill with tuna salad, egg salad, raisins, yogurt, pudding, etc.
- Carrot coins/slices and baby carrots are a very commonly loved veggie amongst the toddlers/children I've ever worked with in daycares and schools. Ranch dressing, of course, is fun to dip it in, but other alternatives include sour cream with ranch flavoring mixed in, tzaziki, or hummus. Get creative and experiment to see what your little one likes.

• Sandwiches of any kind can be cut into a variety of shapes.

- When I'm short on time, I just cut the sandwich diagonally and make two triangles... then they can be used as sails for a boat (see below), or other various designs.
- Cookie cutters can be used to cut shapes either inside of the bread or our of the whole piece. Stars are particularly loved. Hearts are fairly easy too and add a cute touch.
- Be sure to cut the shapes out before you put the fillings on, unless you are O.K. eating the little bits that are left! :)

• Other kids items that are fairly guilt free:

- Goldfish crackers that are made with whole grains are available in most stores, try the organic section.
- Rice cakes can be used to make fun shapes - use serrated knives to cut in halves or quarters. (Our little one loves the chocolate ones, they are made with brown rice and are only 60 calories and 4g sugar)
- I stay away from fruit snacks as even though some boast they are made with real fruit juice, they are still loaded with corn syrup. Try fruit leather... Elise at Simply Recipes has a great recipe for homemade fruit leather!


Once you have a repertoire of food items that are fun by themselves, you can create pictures and sculptures out of your food.
Faces are easy to make out of sandwiches. For eyes use raisins, cherries/berries, carrot coins, [a couple] M&Ms... For the nose the same can be used. Mouths can be made out of bananas, or snowman-style (dots in a row) with the same things as mentioned for eyes/noses. Hair can be made from carrot sticks, spaghetti (great use for leftovers), or rows of ranch dressing/ketchup (depending on what else is on the plate :)
Pictures can be made using a variety of things. Try a dog with a rectangle body made from half of a sandwich. A pear head with previously mentioned berry nose and raisin eye(s). Legs can be made out of baby carrots or the other half of the sandwich cut into tiny rectangles. A tail can be made from a long cut of banana.
Try making a sea scene. Long lengths of banana form the top of the ocean (squiggly lines of ranch or ketchup work well here too). Goldfish crackers swim freely. Green peas form the bubbles. Skinny lengths of sandwiches or toast make up the sandy sea floor (graham crackers work too) Octopus hotdogs float along the bottom near various plants (lettuce? carrot matchsticks arranged in a fan? potato stick coral?)
Or try making a simpler ocean. Cut a rice cake in half to form a semi circle, this becomes a boat. Slice a sandwich diagonally to make sails. Make waves out of banana semi-circles (cut the slices in half) Place a few octodogs at the bottom among a ketchup ocean floor.
Robots are well loved by our boy, and very easy to make since they are very angular, lots of squares and rectangles, which can be made with bread, crackers, carrot sticks, etc.
Try making a city. Sandwiches cut lengthwise to form long triangles can be adorned with lots of windows by cutting carrot sticks into small rectangles to form great skyscrapers. Banana coins placed irregularly together form fluffy clouds in the sky. Apple bunnies can sit on a leaf of lettuce that forms the grass in a park below the big city.


Let us know what you do to feed your kids healthy wholesome foods while making it fun in the process.

Corinne's Reviews - Recipe Sites

If you are a food blogger, I'm sure you are aware that there are a ton of sites geared just towards you as part of the foodie demographic...
When we first started blogging about food, I got lost in the tons of sites there are for foodies... In trying to get our name out there and trying to connect with other foodies, I'd tell Daniel, "I've signed up for so many sites I can't keep track anymore!" And he'd laugh at my ambitiousness.
There are sites I've mentioned already - Great Cooks Community, The Foodie Blogroll/Forums, plus a ton others... some geared towards specific foodie audiences, such as Indian foodies or bakers, and some geared towards the general plethora of the foodie community. There are social networking sites, and food-porn sites (think Tastespotting), foodie-encyclopedias (on everything from food styling to writing restaurant reviews), and of course, good old digital recipe-keeping sites. I tried tons of sites from Allrecipes to Recipezaar. While I like (and occasionally use) these sites... you need no telling from me about them... they are some of the most popular and more used... What I want is to tell you about the lesser-known ones... in hopes that maybe you'll find one that fits your needs better.

These are some of my favorite sites that I've stumbled on in my quest for food blogging satisfaction :)


Key Ingredient - A recipe-box site that has some great tools for food bloggers.

Features:

• Recipe "locking"which allows the user to choose whether their recipes can be built upon... always getting credit when your recipes are built upon, or not built upon, but still linked to, or the option to keep them totally locked in which people can't link to or build upon your recipes.

• Recipe privacy sharing only with other network members, only "friends" of your choosing, or completely private (like your own little recipe box)

• Html coding of recipes: This feature is what drew me to go to the site. Bloggers can take the HTML code that K.I. provides and paste it into their blog, the "digital recipe card" allows bloggers to show the recipe, along with a picture, and and "about" tab... all contained in a single form that shows up as a tabbed box your readers can click on to see the different features of the recipe. (see example at Dork Chow)

Group Recipes - A very interactive recipe site with a social twist. It calls itself a social network because the recipe rating, favorites, and grouping allows a lot of room for social contact.

Features:

• Personal digital recipe box - G.R.s Recipe Manager lets you save other's and your own recipes into your own recipe box which allows you to organize into main folders, then further by category/sub category. My box contains the folders: My Own Recipes, Want to Try, Favorites, and General... but they are customizable. The subcategories are divided into things such as appetizers, drinks, lunch dishes, etc.

• Another cool feature about the Recipe Manager? You can import recipes from external sites such as Recipzaar, etc... so you aren't limited to saving only tour own/G.R. users' recipes, and no re-typing in recipes that you don't already have in digital format

• The "Recipe Robot" - When you sign up to use G.R. you take a little quiz that determines your "taste profile." When you view a recipe, the Recipe Robot tells you what its predictions are for the recipe whether you will really love it, just like it, not enjoy it very much, etc... You can browse recipes as well as users by taste profile, so you can find stuff that fits you.

• Way cool search functions - You can also browse recipes by ingredients, or by flavor. Does a spicy chicken dish sound good to you right now? Great- type that in and all the recipes tagged spicy, hot, chicken, poultry, etc. will show up for you to drool over and use.

Other Features to look for:

• Html of own recipes - when you submit a recipe, it automatically converts it into html code so you can insert the code on your blog... this is my personal choice for putting recipes here at A.G.L.A.
  
• Groups - find recipes and meet foodies through similar food interests
• Comparison Queue - compare two or more recipes face to face.
• Ranking - doesn't affect the way you can use the site, but it sure is fun to submit as many recipes/comments as possible and watch your number go up!

Recipe Matcher - While this interactive site doesn't have a recipe box per say, it has some other awesome features that are sure to tickle your fancy.

Features:

• Search by ingredient - You can browse many recipes (submitted by admin and users) by the ingredients of your choosing. For example: You have cream that is going to expire if you don't use it today! Plus you have some other ingredients that you want to use up... type them in and Recipe Matcher will find recipes for you that contain said ingredients.

• You own personal "ePantry" - (for signed-up users) Browse a list of common kitchen/pantry items and check the boxes if you have it. Then, use the browse function to find recipes containing what you have. The list will be organized by percentage of ingrdients you already have... no more rushing out to the store to try a recipe you just found... work it the opposite way... find recipes that use what you already have!

• eBar - Yes, it works with drinks too... Daniel and I have a pretty nice selection of spirits and liqueres, but we don't have everything... On lazy evenings it is nice to find drinks we have all the stuff for already.

Other cool features:

• eGrocery List - Formats your grocery list into a printable version
  
• Recipe Viewing - You can save favorites and view your own submitted recipes (though, recipes you submit are not guaranteed to show up :P )

Check them out, if you haven't already... and of course... let me know your favorites... I love exploring new sites and finding even more ways to meet new foodies. Enjoy!

Eating As the Mediterraneans Do

It seems like the Mediterranean Diet is popping up everywhere. It is not really a gimmick diet in the way of the low-carb craze or these crazy diets your see mentioned on those Weight Watchers commercials. It's not really even a diet in the way of drastically changing what you eat to lose weight. It IS, however, a diet in the way of "the diet" of a certain people. The folks who live around the Mediterranean Sea have been living and eating the way they do for a long time. The way any certain number of people eat according to their culture and locality is defined as one's diet. That is what the Mediterranean Diet is all about... Look at the way people of the Mediterranean countries eat: I've seen many blogs and even videos on YouTube speaking of the importance of eating the way they do. Lots of pasta, lots of beans, fruits and veggies, and less meat than the average American is used to eating. There are supposedly studies that show that the people who live in Mediterranean countries have better heart health and live the longest.
I was definitely raised the way many were by way of dinner containing a meat, a starch, and a veggie. We always had meat. Always... even on our pasta. We usually had potatoes or bread, and then there were the veggies, which, especially as children, we ate the least of.

Since becoming an adult and more aware of treating my body better, making better food choices, and eating cheaper, I've began the transition to what I've realized is classified as the "Mediterranean Diet." I began eating pasta for lunch because it was cheaper and easier than making myself something else. (Deli-meat is surprisingly expensive unless you get the overly processed chunks of mystery meat.) Top Ramen doesn't count as pasta by the way, as it's loaded with salt and fat and other artificial things I've been trying to stay away from. I mentioned some videos by Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman a while back, talking about the importance of eating "true" food (foods on the perimeter of the grocery store), and not eating meat from wasteful (and sometimes cruel) factory farms.
Pasta and beans are some of the cheapest things you can get for your money, make them stretch the farthest, and give you the most nutrition-bang for your buck. I've began eating lentils, chickpeas, and brown rice almost daily. I'm also fond of pasta (I prefer whole-wheat pasta, but budget doesn't always allow), and I try to throw in whatever veggies I have. One thing I've discovered is legumes and pasta together. I've discovered that hummus is a wonderful topping/sauce for pasta. I've experimented with lima beans and pasta, green beans and pasta, and chickpeas and pasta.
My favorite pasta/bean combo so far is this one I make with chickpeas, zucchini, and of course pasta. The silky texture of the zucchini and the firm texture of the chickpeas is just delicious. I'm submitting this to Lore over at Culinarty for her monthly Original Recipes Roundup... check it out.


Mediterranean Pasta Toss
print recipe only here

• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch thick half-moons
• 1 (14.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can whole tomatoes (about 6-8 tomatoes)
• 1 cup farfalle pasta, cooked (2 oz uncooked)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• freshly cracked pepper
• fresh basil, for garnish

Boil water. Cook pasta until al dente. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Saute garlic until fragrant or about a minute. Toss in zucchini, cook until the undersides begin to caramelize, then toss to coat with olive oil/garlic. Add chickpeas and oregano, then reduce heat to medium. With your hand, crush tomatoes into pan. Add cooked pasta and toss for another minute to mix. Sprinkle with torn basil and cracked pepper.
Serve hot as a meal side or cold as a pasta salad.

Tips - Brining

If you are familiar with Daniel and I by now, you know that we are students. You also know that I, Corinne, am not a natural born cook. No, not even close. I'm very creative in other ways, but my natural-born passions lie in art, and education... I have plenty of other passions, well, like, cooking. But I was born to teach. I have a lot of background in training and teaching and education. I'm currently in school to become a teacher... I'm almost done too!!!

Since I have various passions, they tend to intermingle and manifest in each other. Cooking is no exception, at least for me. I love learning about anything to do with food, and even better yet, teaching about it. I decided when we started this blog that I wanted to incorporate my inner-teacher somehow... Recipes are cooks' book-reports. Cookbooks are textbooks of the culinary world. Cooking is the ultimate hands-on science experiment. While I am no expert by any means on culinary knowledge, I am learning, quickly, and who better to teach amatuers than an amatuer herself? It may seem a silly concept, but have you ever had a teacher who knew the material so well they just couldn't break it down to your level? I'm here to break it down.

The first "lesson" I'd like to teach is about brining. Brining is a culinary trick that has gained quite a bit of popularity over the past few years. This is for a good reason: It works! We knew brining was good for making juicy tender meat, and we've heard a lot of hype about it especially around the holidays and turkey-time. We learned that brining also flavors your meat and makes it extra juicy. And, if you are worried about sodium content, (as Daniel and I have to) using kosher salt has essentially less sodium than table salt (click on the link to find out why.)

The general ratio for brining is 1:16. One cup of salt to sixteen cups of water (there are sixteen cups of water in a gallon). Or, one tablespoon of salt to one cup of water, since there are sixteen tablespoons in one cup.
When you are brining something as small as a couple of chicken breasts, you don't need to make gallons worth of brine (which you would do for say, a whole turkey). Depending on the size of the breasts, you would make about a 2-3 cup recipe.
Another thing you can do when brining is add any combination of spices/herbs that will get soaked up by the meat in the process, adding extra flavor to juicy-goodness. (To learn why and how brining works, go to this cool Cooks Illustrated page - for extra credit of course ;-)

To make the brine, put your salt in the bottom of bowl or measuring cup (big enough that it will hold the amount of water you need). Make sure you are using cold water, as warm water will not be food-safe. Slowly pour the proper amount of water into the bowl while whisking constantly. Since the water is cold the salt will not dissolve as fast, just be patient and keep stirring until the salt granules are gone.


Now, add your peppercorns (I usually do twice as many as the number of cups of water I am using (so if I'm using 3 cups of water, I put in 6 peppercorns... you don't have to be this exact, or if you want lots of peppery taste, go ahead and put more... experiment a bit!)
Also, put in your garlic and herbs (such as rosemary, parsley, thyme, etc). Stir.


Now it's time to decide what you want to brine your meat in. If you are brining a turkey, a sanitized bucket, or even a sanitized cooler works (coolers are great because they are big and you can drain the cooler from the tap on the side when you are done, plus they keep your bird cold.) If you are doing something as small as the chicken breasts we usually do, a zip-top bag will work.
Place your meat inside the brining container first, in this case, the zip-top bag. Now, hold the bag open and pour the brining solution into the bag carefully (at this point making the brine in a measuring cup like the one you see in the pictures come is very handy because of the pour-spout)


Zip the bag almost the whole way. Now, very carefully lay the bag down flat almost all of the way, so the bubbles go towards the top and you can squeeze them out slowly. This doesn't have to be perfect, a few bubbles in the bag are fine, as long as your meat is fully submerged in the brining solution. Make sure you zip the bag the rest of the way before you lay it down completely.


Now, to avoid holes in the bag - and nasty raw-chicken brine everywhere, place the bag inside a bowl, so if any leaks do appear the bowl catches it. (This is where I don't skimp brand wise, I've had some awful times with bags and holes and briney-nastiness all over my fridge.)
Place your bowl in the refrigerator (to keep the meat at the correct food-safe temperature).

Now for brining-times. The time it takes to brine something depends on what you are brining. For poultry, a good rule of thumb is about 2 hours per pound of meat, and probably less if the pieces are cut (as opposed to a whole chicken or turkey)
For a couple of chicken breasts, 2-3 hours is plenty of time.* For a whole turkey, you may need to brine it overnight.

Once your meat has been brined, be sure to rinse it off and pat dry (other wise you will have an overly salty taste) Also, you don't need to re-salt the meat before cooking.

*Some say you need to adjust the amount of salt if the meat will be in the brine longer than suggested, but our chicken has never tasted "too salty" from the effects of sitting in the brine for an extra day. That said, we once did Cornish hens to eat on a Friday (we made the brine for them on a Thursday night) but our guests couldn't make it either Friday or Saturday, so we ended up eating the hens on Sunday - they had brined for 3 1/2 days at that point... they were very moist despite dry roasting them, but the saltiness was very noticeable. It seems that a few extra hours won't hurt, but a few extra days will make a difference.

Phoenix Farmers Market Finds

In my blog-stumbling I've come across some very interesting stuff. It seems right now that farmers' markets are not just popular for fresh (and hopefully pesticide-free) food, but also for the fact that locally grown food is 'greener' than food that is shipped in, using gallons and gallons of petroleum and spewing who knows how what by way of toxic fumes into the air just to get it there.
I've recently been very interested in FoodWishes video recipes blog. The blog owner Chef John has posted some interesting "weekend filler" as he calls it, about food issues we are having in the U.S. right now. It is here that I had my almost-epiphany. I say almost because I have been on the "green-eating" track for a while, I just wasn't sure where to go with it. The videos featuring Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan spurred me to get active. Green eating and staying away from artificial (yet-edible) foods has been an issue with me for a while. I know they are bad. I know that fresh, pesticide-free food is better for us. When Daniel and I got married, we began shopping at Sprouts Farmers' Market (a chain store) in order to eat healthier, fresher food, and in the process, we discovered it was actually cheaper than the produce from most grocery stores. Now, it is not a real 'farmers market' per say, most of the produce comes from Mexico, but that is closer than oh, S. America or Australia.
Despite our neighboring status to California ("The Land of Wine and Food" blah blah blah), Arizona doesn't have nearly as much to offer in the way of agriculture and food. But did you know we have farms just outside of Phoenix? We actually have farms that grow food. Vegetables, and fruits and melons, and grains... The farmers' markets haven't caught on quite like they have in California, but they are growing. More people are becoming aware and more markets are popping up in plazas and parking lots on the weekends.


Unfortunately there are a lot of issues with farming and ranching in Arizona. For one thing, irrigation is expensive. Damming of rivers, slow yearly-draining and non-replenishing of lakes/reservoirs, and the creation of huge systems for irrigation all have their issues that I won't get into. I feel that I just can't in order to stay sane. It is a paradox that I can't fix. In order to be green - eat locally-grown food. In order to save/conserve water - eat food that grows more naturally/cheaper/easily somewhere else... What to do?
I've decided that since they are there, I will keep utilizing the farmers markets we have, in order to eat fresh food that doesn't use gallons and gallons of gasoline to get here. Now, if you are familiar with Daniel and me, you know we are on a newlywed, student budget. Eating healthy yet cheap is our thing. Farmer's markets are not exactly cheap. but they are fresh... Oh, to see the food displayed right out of the back of their pickups and smell the sweet melons laid out on blankets in the sun, its a wonderful thing. Something that induces a "who cares how much it is I need it" attitude in me. Consequently, Daniel will never let me go by myself again. But you have to think about it. A splurge say twice a month on the freshest fruit and vegetables $20 can buy you and eating fresh produce from the "semi-green" Sprouts the rest of the time. The money is worth your health, and the environments'. It is worth supporting the farmers who are trying so hard to make a living in Arizona with so little. It's worth contributing the demand to the market so that maybe more people will be interested and maybe the farmers will be able to drop their prices.


I'm so excited about this idea that I've even looked into a CSA, or basically, your very own personal farmers market. See, you pay a set amount at the beginning of the season to the farmer. He in turn brings you whatever he has harvested that week for 10-12 weeks(all season long) and you get the freshest veggies and fruit the farmer has to offer. You get normal things like potatoes, various fruits, squash, etc., but you also get to try new things, whatever the harvest brings in.
It is quite a hefty price since you pay all at once, and I've asked Daniel to give it to me as a birthday present. Summer isn't the season for this sort of thing anyways, the best harvests are in Fall and Spring. Oh I can't wait to do it.


If you live in Phoenix and want fresh produce and can afford it, you must try it. More and more farmers' markets are popping up in Phoenix. Unfortunately they are switching to summer hours, but many are still running. The one I just went to had a simple sign out the day before and had we not driven by it we never would have known it was there.
Look for more posts on what I did with all those delicious finds!

Our Shortlived (But Delicious) Dairy Adventure

On our trips to Daniel's mother's house, I often have to drag him away from her refrigerator as he likes to scavenge for foods she hasn't eaten or doesn't want. In his last raid, he found a whole quart of heavy whipping cream that was going to expire in two days!
Now, while heavy cream probably falls into the definitely not allowed category of our diet, there was something we could make from it that is allowed in very small amounts... butter!
We use olive oil to cook basically everything, from chicken to noodles and sauces, as a non-stick agent for our pans and grill. But any good cook/chef knows you just need butter sometimes. Margarine - yuck! It's all about the butter. We use butter when making roux and adding to sauces... not too much, just a little!

So... in trying to figure out what to do with this quart of whipping cream, I had a vague memory of making butter when I was little, probably in second or third grade. I remembered the teacher putting the whipping cream into a jar and letting each of her thirty students shake it for a minute each. It took a while and we all sang and chatted while each of us took turns shaking the jar, and eventually, we had a clump of fresh butter bouncing around in the jar that our teacher took out and spread on crackers for us to try.
Another butter memory: My grandmother, who was born at the turn of the century (in the 1900's) used to tell me about making butter from cream. Churning butter was hard work, especially when you were working with much larger amounts. She talked about it transforming from warm cream to fresh yellow butter and buttermilk, (which I had a huge aversion to when I was younger.)
Which reminds me. Something I hadn't remembered until I began researching butter-making was the buttermilk my Grandmother relentlessly tried to get me to like. I didn't remember the buttermilk from the school experiment memory, and I had long forgotten that it was a by-product of the butter making process.
I had already began whipping the butter with my immersion blender, I had already salted it, and I had even spread some of the whipped cream on a piece of fresh and delicious rye bread that Daniel's grandmother had given us. Daniel was curious so we flipped on the computer to research butter-making.
We read through a few sites to learn we had only made salty whipped cream! Be it only salty whipped cream, it was still good... But, I wanted butter that I could save and cook with, so I stuck the blender in again and began whipping the mixture some more. To my amazement I wasn't far from the stage of separation where the clumps of yellowish milk fat begin to float to the top of the buttermilk.
At my scream of "It's butter!" Daniel came to the kitchen and I poured the buttermilk into a separate glass. I tasted it. It was amazing! I read that buttermilk is often slightly fermented when sold commercially and I have always hated it - every time I'd agree to try some I'd taste a bit then spit it out. But this buttermilk was good, it was like drinking sweet coffee creamer that isn't as thick (I know, that may sound gross to some of you but it's really delicious!)
It was creamy and sweet. It tasted ten times better than I ever imagined or remembered. If you make butter you have to try it. I consequently made some good cream sauce for some pasta with it... It has all the buttery flavor and goodness of whole cream without all the calories... only 100 cals per cup - comparable to 1% milk - but thicker and it is non fat!
I took the butter and washed it, put it into some plastic wrap and formed it into a squarish clump to harden in the fridge. It was amazing when I took it out to try it in some recipes the rest of the week.
I whipped up a little something with the butter and it's buttermilk that I hope you will try. After messing around with the recipe a bit, and using up the buttermilk, I tried using sour cream, which is just as good. I rummaged around and found some Fordhook lima beans (butter beans)... I remember eating them simply with melted butter when I was little (I know... I was a weird kid, okay?) Frequently underrated by the likes of people who had horrible childhood nightmares about them, lima beans are soft, buttery, and go really well with dairy-based sauces.
My thought process went through cream to butter and lemon and dill, tarragon, and sweet basil. All good with each other in their own different ways, and they made a wonderful herb combination for my limas and cream sauce. I had fun playing with the recipe and I think I am going to enter in Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights again.

Butter Beans and Noodles in Tarragon-Lemon Cream

Print Recipe Only

• 2-4 oz fettuccine pasta, cooked


• 1 cup IQF Fordhook lima beans (IQF are the next best frozen thing to fresh)
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil


• 2 heaping Tablespoons sour cream (or 1/4 cup buttermilk)
• 1 lemon, plus 1 teaspoon zest.
• 1 teaspoon tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon dill


• cracked black pepper

Begin by sauteing your garlic in some olive oil. Add beans and butter after a minute or so. Stir until butter is melted. Squeeze juice from lemon over the beans. Grate zest into pan, and add tarragon, dill, and a few pinches of black pepper. Toss to coat beans and cook for another minute. Spoon in sour cream (or pour in buttermilk) and pour drained noodles on top. Toss to coat, stir to ensure evenness if needed. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.

How many recipes might you use where you need a bit of heavy cream and now you have a whole quart you don't know what to do with? Make butter. It's satisfying being able to make your own ingredients from scratch (and I mean from scratch). Ciao!