eat less oil

Why is it that Obama doesn’t speak of farms? I want to hear him talk about how we are going to feed ourselves. There is a letter from Michael Pollan to our next president (whoever that might end up being) in the NYTimes Magazine today. A long letter.

Our politicians are not really talking about food. I wonder if they think it is worthy of consideration. We are so worried about foreign policy and spreading democracy throughout the world but we can not feed our own people. “It must be recognized that the current food system — characterized by monocultures of corn and soy in the field and cheap calories of fat, sugar and feedlot meat on the table — is not simply the product of the free market. Rather, it is the product of a specific set of government policies that sponsored a shift from solar (and human) energy on the farm to fossil-fuel energy.” (Pollan, NYTimes)

One more thing that we can tie to petroleum dependence. One more system that affects the life of every person in this country with broken policy created to benefit the wealthiest of Americans and the corporations. It will change, it must. You might not live to see it. My son certainly will.

“The power of cleverly designed polycultures to produce large amounts of food from little more than soil, water and sunlight has been proved, not only by small-scale “alternative” farmers in the United States but also by large rice-and-fish farmers in China and giant-scale operations (up to 15,000 acres) in places like Argentina.” (Pollan, NYTimes)

This is a topic worth discussing and another example of something we must change. . . .

pie crust

The cool weather arrives and I want to get into the kitchen and bake. I have been contemplating pies and tartes. I must admit that my crust is often less than perfect and this year I am going to do something about it. I want to try making pie crust a few different ways so I can see what the differences are.

There are three crusts that I am going to experiment with. I have made some clarified butter (super easy to do and you should always have it in your fridge) and I will make one crust that is 50% butter and 50% clarified butter. This should make it a bit easier to work with. I am going to do one with the dreaded vegetable shortening, again 50% butter 50% shortening. The third is the one that I am most excited about – 70% butter and 30% lard – for I hear this is the superior pie crust!

“Still, the leaf lard crust was as gorgeous as I remembered. Puffing up in the oven, and crumbling deliciously when you cut it, it took the crown. That very mild hint of bacon was happily still there.” Melissa Clark, NYTimes

I have a few things to say about lard. I have been researching (via my job) meats and fats and nutritional facts for years now. I have come to believe that a natural fat is much better for our body than something that is created as part of a manufacturing process or in a lab. The lard that I have sourced will come directly from a local farmer who raises organic, grass fed animals. It will be what is called leaf lard, this is the lard that is located around the kidneys and it is supposedly the preferred lard for pastry.

The funky thing is that I will have to render the fat – never done that before. So it will be an adventure.

Then I will make my three pies and have a taste test and folks will get to tell me what they like the best – sorry to all the vegetarians, because to participate you must eat all three. . . . I will keep you posted.

apples

The season is here. apples, apple pie, carmel apples, baked apples, apple cider, apple juice, apple crisp, apples with my pork. . . .

I was at market the other day and bought some delightful, local apples. Olde Lane Orchards. Here is what I love about market – I walk up to the table and ask for something that will be crisp and tart. I walk away with a wonderful treat. I love seeing the people who grow the food and I like letting them make the choice for me of exactly which apple I want. He was right. They are yummy.

blue cheese and bacon

The other night Darcy and I decided to go to FARM. We ordered a beautiful fried green tomato salad, a flat bread with duck confit, chili pepper and pear, one of the FARMburgers with blue cheese and bacon, and a pear creme brulee. Everything was lovely – in particular I wish to note that the edible flowers on the salad were a tasty and totally new experience (did you know that you can eat begonias?) The burger was perfect (the meats are never overcooked and I appreciate this,) and the dessert was heavenly.

Funny thing is that we were not going there for dinner. We wanted to grab an end of the week drink (magellan, rocks, twist of lime) but somehow all the food sounded so good that we just kept eating. It was great fun and I can assure you, we laughed a lot.

macaroni and cheese with what?

Mac and Cheese, it is one of those foods that comes in a box and reminds me of being a hungry 15 year old, digging through the cupboards in my mother’s kitchen late at night.

Earlier tonight, something happened. I had the most divine macaroni and cheese experience and somehow I will never look at it the same way again.

This was nothing like the krappy kraft macaroni and cheese of my childhood. So perfectly yummy – lobster and truffle oil and and so much goodness that I had to sit and revel in it. . . Finch’s never fails to please and this dish demonstrated (once again) that they can take a childhood favorite and turn it into something grown up and divine.

For dessert – a lovely peach galette with vanilla bean ice cream.

This gets three thumbs up and a GO! RUN! You will be happier when it is in your belly.

we all eat. . .

“You eat. Willingly or not you participate in the environment of food choice. The choices you make about food are as much about the kind of world you want to live in as they are about what to have for dinner.”
Marion Nestle – What to Eat

Food is political. If there is money to be made our government gets involved. It is subject to lobbies and interest groups. The dairy council – do they have your best interest in mind? Can the University of Illinois tell us, honestly, what effect soy has on our bodies when Illinois is the largest producer of soy beans in the nation?

I have been reading What to Eat, and I am reminded of how complicated food is. I imagine what food was before it was industrialized. I dream about the deconstruction of this food system that we have become so marginalized by in the last 60 years. It is all about the money, this is a hard thing to overcome. Profit and expansion above the well being of the consumer, this is a depressing situation. How do we know what to eat?

I am passionate about food. I work for a natural foods co-op dedicated to providing our customers with the products they want to buy. In this there is a catch 22. The marketing efforts cloaked by science convince people of what they want when sometimes this is not a healthy or sustainable option. We certainly offer better options and in particular the bulk, meat, and produce departments offer an oasis of real food. The cheese and dairy sections are filled with healthy options.  I shop almost exclusively in these departments when looking for food. The peril that lies in the grocery aisles is terrifying.

There are some things. . . vinegars and olive oils, pasta and sauce, locally baked breads, fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate – that I love and find their way into my basket when I shop. If we take a look at the categories where people expect a lot of options, things get scary.  In the frozen department, I will by fruits and vegetables but can not bring myself to settle on a meal in box – this somehow violates my sensibilities with regards to what real food is.

I dream of stores that have only things called ‘Real Food.’ What would that look like? Do you ever read the labels when you shop? It was a few years ago that I decided that if I picked up a jar of tomato sauce and saw it was full of mysterious, unpronouncable things that I could not eat it. Imagine a place where you don’t have to worry about the man made ingredients in your food.

chicken soup with rice

There are some days where I feel completely frazzled and overwhelmed with life and the only thing to do is get in the kitchen and cut stuff up. Yesterday was one of these days and so I found a recipe that called for carrots, onions, and celery to be diced very small. I know how to dice things – squaring them off and having everything be a uniform size. . . . but I am not very fast or skilled at doing it and so I spend a bit of time very focused on just one thing. This is very grounding for me.

My chicken soup is beautiful. Organic chicken from a local producer, wild rice, assorted veggies. Simple and very hearty. This is one of the things I love about fall – it is time to make soup again.

I discovered a website where a friend of mine is writing about food. Please take a look if you have a chance.

terrine

So. I am excited to make some pate. Perhaps you think this to be odd, that I am going to master the art of weird mushy meats and vegetables, but the truth of the matter is that it is just one more thing on the list of things to figure out in life.

I get vinagrettes and sauces. I have worked on the hollandaise, the veloute. . . . I am not saying that I have nothing left to learn, but the perfection of a sauce is something that I will work on for my whole life. I take great joy in understanding the science and art of it. . . . it is all great fun and I think I am ready for something more.

These odd arrangements of squished up meats and veggies appeal to me, what can I say? Now I need to get myself a terrine.

smells of nostalgia

This is the time of year where everything starts to end. The days are getting shorter, the sun doesn’t get quite so high up in the sky, the breeze feels cool and carries a hint of death. The cicadas are quiet. Birds know, trees know, the bugs and the flowers do too.

Something slows in me, the passing of time is different. I want to eat rich foods and linger on street corners. I walk more slowly and as the wind gathers up my hair and blows it here and there I stop to enjoy the moment. There is no urgency to that which approaches and I find myself distracted by the desire to sit and stare at the sky for hours.

The apples have arrived. My beloved blackberries – ripe with the summer sun – are replaced with heartier fruits that will last us into the winter. I love apples, but they do not taste of sunshine and summer rain like the berries do.

I ate turkey and mashed potatoes last week, it was a rainy day and the warmth of these foods reminded me of sunday dinners (served at noon) at my grandmother’s house. I walked very slowly, through the rain, when that lunch was over.

julie’s girls

I have not met the chickens yet, but I have been eating their eggs. I love buying eggs from a friend who has her own chickens. The hens are young so the eggs are funny shapes and sizes but each week they get bigger and look more like the farm eggs you would buy at the store.

Regardless of what they look like, they taste great. I have been using them for omelettes – I am trying to perfect my flip and this requires practice and lots of eggs. . . .