Eat Outside the Bag
I’ve been talking about starting a food blog for quite a while now and people have been asking about it since I first mentioned it. Figuring I’d never get it done if I waited until I had time, I spent a few hours last night setting it up. The introductory first recipe post is up, and soon all the recipes from Chiot’s Run will be transitioned over to Eat Outside the Bag.
Why Eat Outside the Bag? Because that’s how we eat. It will be all about the kinds of things I talk about here, focusing on real food, simple food, seasonal food, local food, and tasty food! Generally that means food that doesn’t come in a box or a bag, but from your garden, a local farmer, market or a small artisan producer.
There won’t be a post every day, probably once a week, I’ll try to come up with a specific day so you know when to expect something. I’ll also use it to post interesting food/health related articles that I find, quotes about food/cooking, great ingredients and cookbook reviews. Make sure you check back next week because I’ll be doing a giveaway of one of my favorite bread baking books.
For my first recipes: Grandma Graham’s Perfect Pie Crust and you can find a how-to video over on the Your Day Blog at Ethel. Head on over and tell me what your favorite kind of pie is.
Any recipe you’d like to see over there?
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Cooking up Some Prosperity
It’s long been a tradition in my family to gather together on New Year’s Day to eat pork and sauerkraut. When I was young, my grandma was the cook and the entire family packed into her house, cousins, uncles, aunts to help eat the roasters full of kraut that she made. I never liked it growing up, usually I’d eat the tiniest bit of sauerkraut and stuff myself with the delicious dumplings that topped it. It was a meal that had to be eaten on New Year’s day to ensure that the coming year would be a prosperous one.
When I was in college, the task of cooking the meal was passed down to my dad with my grandmother’s passing. We started gathering in our smaller family group instead of the big extended family. My dad would start cooking early in the morning and we’d enjoy the meal while watching the Rose Bowl Parade. This year, we had to call off the meal because of some illness in the family. Rather than risk not having the prosperity that this meal provides in the coming year, I decided to make it for us.
The kraut was made back in October and it’s been resting in the fridge for the past month. The pork was purchased from a local friend and set aside for this special occasion and was roasted in a hot oven for 30 minutes before going into the pot of kraut.
In case anyone wants my dad’s recipe, here it is:
SPECTACULAR SPARERIBS AND INCREDIBLE KRAUT
Guaranteed prosperity in the new year
2 racks of pork spareribs (4 to 6 pounds of local pastured pork)
3 to 4 pounds of sauerkraut (preferably homemade)
4 finely chopped tart apples (about 2 cups)
4 finely chopped or shaved (with vegetable peeler) large carrots (about 2 cups)
3 cups of home canned tomato juice
1 cup of diced tomatoes
6 finely chopped dried apricots
1 cup of brown sugar (I use maple syrup)
4 teaspoons of caraway seed
(I also add a half cup of butter to the pot)
Cut ribs in pieces, season with salt and black pepper (approximately 2 teaspoons of salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper); place in a large stock pot with olive oil and brown well. Combine the kraut (which can be rinsed to reduce production of gas) with remaining ingredients; spoon over ribs to mix thoroughly until well mixed.
Simmer covered for three hours at low heat making certain the liquid covers the kraut and ribs. Skim off excess fat. Then remove lid and allow the kraut to simmer until some liquid had simmered away, leaving top of kraut exposed. Then make dumplings and place on top of the kraut and over, allowing the dumplings to bake for about fifteen minutes. Makes approximately ten servings and will warm your house for days.
Fluffy Dumplings
2 cups of sifted all purpose flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
…
1 cup of whole milk
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together and make certain the dry ingredients are well mixed. Add the milk and oil and kneed with pastry blender until moistened. Drop onto the kraut and cover. Do not lift cover and let mixture return to a slow boil for 12 to 15 minutes. This will make 10 generous dumplings.
This sauerkraut doesn’t taste like most kraut, you’ll find it much less assertive, even our small nieces and nephews like it. With the huge batch I made yesterday, we’ll be eating on it all week long. Looks like we should have a very prosperous 2012.
Do you have any traditional meals with special meaning?
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Crispy Soaked Walnuts
Here at Chiot’s Run we follow the Nourishing Traditions way of eating. That means that grains and nuts are soaked to make them more digestible and to make the nutrients more available to our bodies. We try to eat as healthy as possible and thus the proper preparation of nuts/legumes/seeds allows us to get the most nutrition from these healthy foods.
Soaking nuts/seeds/legumes reduces their physic acid content. I won’t go into the details of the why/how, head on over and read this article on the Weston A Price foundation website for an in depth explanation of phytic acid and it’s effect on digestion and nutrition. You can also head over to Nourishing Gourmet for a Q & A on soaking for improved digestion as well as a guidelines for other types of nuts like cashews.
You may wonder if it’s worth it to spend the time and effort on soaking. I certainly have noticed a huge difference in the way my body digests foods when they’re properly prepared. Also, if I’m taking the time and money to seek out and buy the best quality ingredients I’m willing to spend a few extra moments making sure I’m getting the most for my money by preparing them properly. Nuts are also much more tasty when prepared this way, once you try them you’ll be hooked!
CRISPY SOAKED WALNUTS
from Nourishing Traditions
4 cups of organic raw walnuts (I get mine from Nuts.com)*
2 teaspoons of sea salt
filtered water
1 half gallon mason jar
Put two teaspoons of salt into mason jar and add 4 cups of filtered water, stir until salt is dissolved. Put walnuts into jar. If water does not cover nuts, add more water until nuts are covered. Let sit overnight. Drain, spread nuts onto cookie sheet and dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours (no higher than 150 degrees, I used 140) stir occasionally until dry and crispy. Store in a tightly covered glass jar in the fridge. You can also dry in a dehydrator if you have one. My oven has a dehydrate setting so I’ve never bothered buying a dehydrator.
Nuts can still be difficult to digest so it’s best to consume them with some yogurt or other cultured dairy product, or they can be thrown into soups as bone broth also helps our bodies digest nuts more easily.
*this recipe can also be used for pecans, other varieties of nuts may require different soaking times and different amounts of salt.
I usually make a double or triple batch when I make nuts, or soak a few different varieties at once to make sure I have the oven filled to make best use of my time and the energy. My favorite way to enjoy crispy walnuts is sprinkled on top of yogurt then drizzled with some maple syrup and a dusting of sweet cinnamon. Now that’s a nourishing breakfast or late night snack that’ll provide all kinds of healthy deliciousness (sometimes I’ll even throw an egg yolk in for extra goodness).
What’s your favorite kind of nut?
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A Sunny Delivery
I grew up in South America in a tropical climate, that means I grew up eating wonderfully delicious in season citrus. Even though most of my food comes from my local area, I take advantage of living in this day and age by enjoying a variety of fresh citrus each year. Last year I ordered one box of organic grapefruit from G & S Groves and they were so good, I decided to join their fruit of the month club this year (I even wrote it on my calendar last year).
Last week I received my first delivery, Rio Red Grapefruit. I’m a HUGE fan of grapefruit, I like them all, even the sour white ones. I’ll have no trouble putting away the 36 lbs of grapefruit and the 36 lbs of oranges which are supposed to arrive next week.
I usually just eat grapefruit like most people eat oranges, in sections, but every now and then I bake them or put them on salads. If you’ve never had baked grapefruit I’d highly recommend it. It’s the perfect way to enjoy them on cold winter morning, they’re juicy, sweet and oh so good! I’ll be posting my recipe for baked grapefruit over on the Your Day blog tomorrow if you’re interested.
Do you like citrus? What’s your favorite kind?
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Dark Days Challenge has Begun
The Dark Days Challenge has begun (it’s not too late to sign up if you still want to). The idea behind the challenge is to:
Cook one meal each week featuring SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients, write about it on your blog and email your happy recapper a link to your post.
For those of us who have been eating locally for a while, this isn’t as hard as it is for someone just starting out. For us it’s about encouraging others to eat locally during that dark season when it’s more difficult. We have a group discussion forum to help people source items in their regions and to discuss meal options and alternatives for items you can’t find locally.
As a seasoned local eater, I thought I’d try to come up with more interesting recipes for the challenge this year. I’m going to try to find a few new things at the farmer’s market each month for my Dark Days meals. This past week leftovers from Thanksgiving was the theme for my meal. We had a wonderful smoked turkey from Martha’s Farm and the stock made with the bones was more like ham stock than regular turkey stock. When I woke up in the morning and smelled the smokey stock I decided that potato soup was the way to go. I have an abundance of potatoes in the garage from my summer garden and I’d like to make sure to eat them up before they start to sprout.
I don’t very often cook with recipes but I’ll do my best to put this one down in case you want to make it.
SMOKY POTATO SOUP
3 quarts of smoked turkey or ham stock*
1/4 cup of butter
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, diced
3 pounds of potatoes peeled and cubed
1 pint to 1 quart of whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
your choice of tasty toppings
Melt butter in pan and add onions, cook for 5 minutes over medium to low heat until almost translucent, add garlic, salt and freshly ground pepper; cover and cook on low for additional 4-5 minutes. Add stock to pan and heat until simmering, add potatoes and cook until soft. Pour milk into pan and smash potatoes with a potato masher until soup is thick and there are only small bits of potato left. If soup is too thick add more milk, if it’s too watery cook down a bit. Top with your choice of delicious toppings: scallions, chives, bacon, cheese, etc.
*if you don’t have smoked turkey or ham stock use regular chicken stock or purchase a ham hock and simmer in water for a few hours.
As a side, I added a some tiny butter head lettuce that I got at Local Roots in Wooster, OH and a homemade buttermilk herb dressing with fresh herbs from the garden! How’s that for a meal to brighten you mood on a dark and cold December evening?
How do you creatively use up turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving? Any favorite turkey leftover meals?
