Meatloaf

This is my third week of no carbs for two consecutive days.  I should say it would have been my third week, if I didn't eat 2 slices of my cherry pie today.  That's all that was left over, and it sitting on the counter didn't bother me one bit yesterday, but today was one of those days.  I'm not surprised that I couldn't stick with this "diet", and this just proves that diets are stupid, even if only for two days per week.  Besides I wasn't really following the rules of leaner fats and watery vegetables, so instead of losing nine pounds, I lost one or two, but then on any given day I'm one or two pounds lighter or heavier.

Anyway, yesterday I made a meatloaf with corn.  Sometimes I use peas, carrots, mushrooms, fresh herbs, or a mix of vegetables.  I do this to make the meatloaf more interesting and colourful, but also for the extra serving of vegetables.

Making a meatloaf is easy.  I didn't get home until 16:30, and I had dinner made within the hour, including prep.  I used ground pork, with marjoram, because to me it's the ultimate meat herb, thyme, oregano, sea salt and ground black pepper, 10% cream, a real egg, and a bit of my home made jalapeño ciabatta bread crumbs.  I know those are carbs, but the diet actually allows up to 50g of carbs per day, besides it's over.

Mix it all together with your hand, place in a baking dish, or make mini loaves, or one log shaped loaf, have the oven set for 375 F and depending on how thick your meatloaf is, check after about 40 minutes.  I don't cover it with foil, because then it comes out looking anemic.

Yesterday I served it with broccoli and parmesan cheese.

 

As well as an Asian mix of vegetables, which I sautéed in sesame oil, with some pepper, very basic, but tasty.  I only used sesame oil, because I like the flavour it gives these veg.  The meat loaf has a Cajun spice sprinkled over top, so I kept the veg mild, with just a hint of sesame.  Sometimes I use spices to sprinkle on top in place of bacon strips.

Today I reheated the meatloaf in a frying pan with a bit of water and covered it with a lid.  The water creates a steam and prevents the loaf from burning.  It's very quick.  I don't own a microwave, one came with this house and we gave it away.  Reheating things on the stove or in the oven, or a toaster oven doesn't take as much time as people think it might.  Food always tastes better not microwaved.  I'm totally disgusted when I see people microwaving their coffee, especially when it's in a waxy take away cup.

The other day when I made stock, I had cooked celery, leeks, and parsley, which I remove before making the soup, I keep the carrots in, and make whatever soup.  I put the cooked celery, leeks, and parsley in the food processor, and pureed them all.  I hate wasting food, so I try to think of ways to use as much as I can, and waste as little as possible.

I made these green jalapeño breadcrumb covered balls, and fried them in coconut oil.  

The remaining green puree I just sautéed in coconut oil, with a bit of spices, to add a little kick, and to heat it up.

En Guete!  (Swiss German)

School Lunches in 20 Countries

Have a look and see what you notice:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/what-school-lunches-look-like-in-20-countries-arou

From the nutritional quality of the food served to the dishes it's served in, to the portion sizes and ratios of simple carbs to complex carbs to protein.

The American school lunch is the only one using styrofoam plates and plastic cutlery.

Countries like Kenya, Honduras, and Ghana are serving avocado, porridge, and rice, respectively.  It may not be much, but at least they aren't eating processed foods, no access to hot dogs, chips, candy bars, chicken nuggets, or a frozen fish stick.  I often hear the argument that some people cannot afford to eat organic, free range, etc, and I agree completely, but the money they spend on McD's or Kraft Dinner and a case of soda, could be spent more wisely on a bag of dry beans, an apple, and a can of tuna.  It's all about making smart choices and making the best of what we have.

Pickled Wild Leeks

I went foraging a few days ago, with a group and a pro forager.  One of the edibles I collected were wild leeks.  I pickled the bulbs.

Ingredients:

1kg whole wild leeks
250 ml apple cider vinegar
150 ml maple syrup
100 ml filtered water
20 black peppercorns

5 ml sea salt

1 bay leaf

We got recipes at the foraging event, but I didn't have nearly a kilogram worth of leeks, so I didn't bother measuring the rest of the ingredients either.  I just poured stuff into a pot, more or less trying to keep a similar ratio of ingredients, meaning, by volume, as my eyes measured, I used apple cider vinegar first, then somewhat less of the maple syrup, then even less filtered water, etc.

Directions:

Bring to a boil all the above ingredients, minus the less bulbs, then simmer fro about 5 minutes.

The leek bulbs need to be cut off about 1cm above bulb, trim off the roots, without damaging the bulbs, peel off outer layer.  Wash, add to simmering liquid, and either boil for 1 minute if you're canning, or 10 minutes if you're "fridge pickling".  If fridge pickling, put the liquid and leek bulbs in a jar, close, let cool, then refrigerate for up to 4 months.  This is similar to my pickled carrots from last year.

I fridge pickled this batch of leeks, since I only had enough to fill a 250 ml jar.

Since I didn't bother to measure the ingredients, I had some liquid left over, which I let cool and used as a salad dressing.  Totally delicious, sour, sweet, with a hint of allium.

Dobru chut! (Slovak)

Cherry Pie

I love (good) pies.  My fave pies are cherry, key lime, raspberry-custard, peach cream, pecan, carrot, apple-bourbon, and strawberry-rhubarb, or rhubarb custard.  I've made banana cream and it was good, but doesn't make my list, because it's not one I've ever craved.  Last night I made a cherry pie from cherries I froze last year.  I've never done that before, usually I make pies based on what's in season, because the best pies are made from fresh fruit, and butter not shortening or half and half.  Shortening ruins the flavour, and you can achieve ultra flakiness with cold butter, ice water, and not over blending.

Sweet black cherries are best for pie, and it's what I use when I use fresh cherries.  This time I defrosted sweet black and tart light coloured cherries (I'm not sure what type, because my mom gave me a container of them already frozen).  I learned a few things:  

• Fresh cherries make for a better pie.  

• Sweet dark cherries are better than the light tart ones, or even 50/50.

• If using frozen, separate the juice; I removed most of the juice once they defrosted, but I should've removed all of it.  I drank the juice, it was yummy.

• Because I kept some of the juice, I added extra tapioca to prevent sogginess, and I like it better with less of the stickiness.

When I make fruit or pecan pies, I stuff the pie with the fruit or pecans, I don't like much of the stuff that holds it together, I want all chunks of fruit or nuts.  This is one of the problems with most commercial pies, and also why they are so cheap, because they are half and more of filler.  I hate it when I order a pecan slice and it's only pecans on the top, and then corn syrup or molasses all the way down to the crust. My pecan pie is all pecans - and some rum - with just enough filler to make it stick together.

People think that paying $24-30 for a pie is a lot, but if I was to make these to sell - and I've thought about it - I would need to charge that much, to make any profit.  It costs me $15+ for ingredients per pie, pumpkin is an exception, because it's not expensive, though time consuming if using fresh, and pricier if using Rouge vif D'Etampes, or Cinderella pumpkin, which is my all time favourite, and not easy to come by.  I've never seen it in stores, I get mine in the fall at farmer's markets and then peel, cube it, and freeze it, so it's ready to use.

Back to this cherry pie.  You can see the two tones of cherries.  I mix in some sugar, less than with fresh cherries, because the juice tastes so sweet, I don't want to make the pie too sugary.  I add a bit of vanilla, but don't over do it, or you'll end up with a very fake tasting cherry pie, like the sort you'd get at your local grocery store.  I also add a pinch of salt and a bit of almond extract, it compliments the cherries without leaving an almond taste.

Always dab some butter on top before placing the top crust.

Make your crust from scratch and only use butter.  Store bought crusts can pass for savoury pies, like quiches, but they ruin a sweet pie.  Even a quiche tastes much better with a home made crust.  Be sure to cut vents in your top crust, unless you're making a lattice, then there's no need.  I used my fingers to crimp and wave the edges.  Pies aren't meant to be fussy; they are meant to taste amazing.

It's hard to tell, but this is a slice from last year, with all fresh, sweet, black cherries.

This is a slice from yesterday, with frozen 50/50 black to tart cherries.

Even though this frozen cherry pie wasn't as amazing as a fresh cherry pie, I've managed to eat half of it already  :)  Either fresh or frozen it's still better than that stuff in a can, labeled cherry pie filling.  Why would anyone waste calories on that?  Seriously.

Foraging

Yesterday I went forging with a group of people and a man who forages professionally.  It was loads of fun.  I used to forage often when I was a kid, mainly with my dad, and mainly for mushrooms and blueberries.  Fresh wild mushrooms and blueberries are incredible.  When I close my eyes I can smell both.

Yesterday we gathered wild leeks or ramps, wild ginger - which is unrelated to commercial ginger, but has a similar scent, which may be why they share a name, as well as stinging nettle.  Where I grew up nettle was everywhere, but I don't recall eating it.  In the past I've had nettle tea, and I've boiled it in water and used the liquid as a hair rinse; it made my hair super shiny and voluminous.  I googled prickly nettle benefits and came across this site, which lists many uses:

http://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/stinging-nettle-herb.html

One of the people in the group yesterday said he makes pesto out of it with sunflower and pumpkin seeds; someone else said he makes it with pine nuts and olive oil, like you would standard pesto, but uses the nettle in place of basil.  Whatever you do, don't eat it raw and don't touch it with bare skin.  We sampled trout lily leaves, and when we came to an area with nettle, someone decided to sample a leaf of that as well, poor fellow.

I only cut the tops off, which promotes growth of the remaining plant.  A lot of my nettle has slug bites, but it's ok, cause it's still edible, besides I plan to use it as a hair rinse.  I miss that shine, that no hair product ever gave me.

Here is the wild ginger, which doesn't look like and isn't related to ginger root, but has that similar scent and is more fragrant, without the heat.

I made tea out of it.  It had a lovely fragrance, but wasn't overwhelming and I didn't get tired of it; I had 2 cups in a row.  As much as I like lavender, I can only have so much of it at a time.

Wild ginger is a neat looking plant, with small tube flowers:

You can use wild ginger as a spice for pretty much anything.  I love the tea.

The ramps, or wild leeks, at first glance look similar to lily of the valley, except it's too early for those flowers.  When harvesting, it's best to use a spade straight down about 5", go around the bunch to loosen the soil, and dig them out.  Also, choose a bunch in the middle of a ramp bed, this way, they have a chance to fill in that gap.

Ramps can be used in anything you would use onions or garlic, they can also be pickled, sautéed, and probably fermented; I don't see why not, I have fermented conventional leeks.  I want to pickle the bulbs, sauté some of the leaves, cause I love sautéed leeks, and possibly try fermenting the rest.  I don't have too many, so they will be small portions.  I need to figure out how to get back to that forest, to forage more - morels should be up in a couple of weeks, but also just to hike and have a picnic when it warms up.

Once the roots are cut off, they can be replanted; probably best if they are replanted in the same area they were picked from, but I will try to plant them in my yard and see what happens.

After the foraging, I went to a nearby hobby farm and got real eggs.  Unless you know about this place selling eggs, you wouldn't guess just driving by, cause they don't advertise, it's just small amounts for those who know.  You walk into the atrium, which unless you knew this, it seems like a break in, and there is a fridge with eggs and a freezer with pork, a table with a money box and a notebook to write down your name and how many dozens of eggs you've purchased, no one was there to oversee the exchange.  The forager told us about this farm, but only a few people went, just as well, cause there were only 2 dozen left, and I got one.  If there were more, I would've gotten more.  I want to make custard ice cream from these yummies.  There was a fenced off part of the yard with lots of chickens running around.  I love chickens, they're so cute, and always make me think of bloomers  :)

Foraging for fun is fun, and you can load up on O2.

Ricotta Pasta

This is one of my favourite pasta dishes, and it's so easy.  I've been making it for quite sometime, and I've noticed that little things make a difference.

Here are the things that make this dish yummy:
fresh basil
roasted tomatoes
good quality ricotta cheese
freshly grated parmesan cheese (I always use Parmigiano Reggiano; it seems expensive, but a $5 piece lasts me a long time)
egg noodles (which I tend to use any time I need pasta, noodles, or macaroni)

I use small tomatoes, cherry, campari, or grape; the smaller ones work better than full sized tomatoes.
First take out the ricotta from the fridge, so it's not as cold.
Then, half or quarter your tomatoes, place in a baking dish or on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with dry basil and oregano.  No need for grease.

Boil your noodles or pasta.  Try the egg noodles, you won't regret it.  You can even make your own egg noodles, I'll write about that another time.

Take a bowl or dish large enough to fit everything, including a container or package of ricotta and all the tomatoes.  In that dish, mash up the ricotta with a fork, add some sea salt and ground pepper, chop up some fresh basil and add it to the rest, grate some parmesan and add it in, mix it all.

Next drain your noodles. Rinse lightly.  Add the roasted tomatoes to the ricotta mixture.

Then add the noodles.

This pasta dish tastes incredible, and it's so easy.  It's even better if you have access to fresh non refrigerated tomatoes, because all grocery store tomatoes have been refrigerated, and this is why store bought tomatoes have very little to no flavour.

This makes me think of summer.

Bonum appetitionem! (Latin)

Make your own Citrus Cleaner

http://ybertaud9.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/diy-citrus-cleaner/

DIY citrus cleaner.  I just made this a few days ago, so I haven't had a chance to use it, as it's not ready yet.  All you need is a jar, some white vinegar and citrus peels.  Put both in the jar, close, and let stand for 2 weeks.  When it's ready, dilute with water 1:1, and use on floors, tiles, fixtures, kitchen & bath etc.  Citrus peels have a natural oil in them, so this could be amazing on wood.  It’s antibacterial, smells great, is tough on scum, and there are no chemicals.  I'm looking forward to trying this out.

Saffron Scallops

I love scallops, they're probably my fave seafood, followed by oysters.  I miss the East Coast for the tasty fresh sea treats.

If you know me, you'll know that I don't do diets.  I probably don't work out as much as I should; I walk as much as I can, and bike when the weather permits.  I do yoga each morning, and sometimes some weights or cardio.  Thing is I love fat, and I probably eat more than I burn, so recently I was told about a two-consecutive-days-carb-free "diet".  I don't do diets, and even when I try it ends up like me following a recipe, where I have to change stuff up and make it my own.  So the idea is to not eat carbs for two consecutive days, easy enough, since I don't eat processed simple carbs, the pastries are debatable.

I tried this "diet" last week and this week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Apparently I was supposed to lose nine pounds.  I lost two, and gained it all back as soon as carb free days were over last week, this week so far I haven't gained the two pounds back.  Thing with this "diet" is that during those carb free days, you're also supposed to consume mainly "low fats" (whaa?!), like turkey, lean fish, and olive oil - not gonna happen, no potatoes - fine, and more veg than fruit - also fine.  It's the low fat business that's the issue.

Anyway, the carbs I consume on any average day are rye, oats, quinoa, millet, barley, buckwheat, spelt, wheat berries, rice (brown, wild, basmati, short grained for risotto; I recently discovered short grained brown rice, which takes close to an hour to cook).  I do eat egg noodles.  Point is I don't eat the kind of carbs that this "diet" is wanting to eliminate and my guess is that if I only could eat less of the good high fats and get more cardio in, I'd be fine.  By no means am I over weight, but Id' like to be more toned, without having to purposely "exercise".

All right, so the scallops I used were from Nova Scotia; actually Digby, NS is supposed to have the world's best scallops, or at least one of the best; I had them at two different restaurants, and they were amazing.  PEI has the same situation, but with oysters, from Malpeque Bay - also delicious, and they have annual oyster festivals, chowder and shucking competitions, all loads of fun.

Scallops are best pan fired in butter, obviously  :)
I also like them with saffron and butter.
These scallops were frozen, so I defrosted them before they went in the hot pan.  I was told by a fisherman that scallops are always frozen, even when they are sold "fresh" at the supermarket.  I think they are frozen right away on the fishing boats to preserve freshness.

So, the scallops still had a lot of liquid in them, they probably could've sat in the colander a bit longer, and when I use saffron, I like to fry them longer than usual.  You don't want to fry them too long, just until they turn opaque white, flip them over so both sides get seared.  If they are cooked too long, they shrink a lot and become hard(er).

Melt butter, add saffron, make sure the pan is hot, add scallops, stand them vertically, on the ends where you can see fibbers/ rods, you want to sear them.  My scallops had lots of liquid, so I could've taken them out once they turned white, but I wanted the liquid to boil down and get thick.

You can see the liquid evaporating.

As it boils down it thickens quite a bit: 

And we get a lovely, delicious thick sauce:

Since I made these on carb free day, I served the scallops with asparagus and green and yellow beans.
I normally roast/ bake the asparagus, but this time I made it in a pan with butter.  Once they are on the plate I sprinkle them with salt and pepper, grate parm cheese, and squeeze some lemon juice.  There are days in the summer where that's my meal on it's own.  The beans were also done in a pan with butter and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Verði þér að góðu!  (Icelandic)

Purple Yam

First off, sweet potatoes and yams are not the same thing, just as fennel and anise root are not the same thing, even if the grocery clerk tries to tell you that the terms are interchangeable.  I'll focus on the sweet potato vs yam for this post.  They are two completely different plants.  Yams are related to lilies, where as sweet potatoes are in the morning glory family.  Yams have a rough surface, with ivory, yellow, or purple flesh.  Sweet potatoes have orange flesh with white, yellow, orange, or purple skin.  Sweet potatoes have much more beta carotene, something like 160 times more, 1/2 cup contains twice the RDI (recommended daily intake).  They are also much less starchy, so score lower on the glycemic index.  Yams are a good source of potassium and fibre.  Yams are also not always available at your local supermarket, check out a Caribbean market.

I use sweet potatoes often, because they are delicious, and it's a bonus that they are also nutritious.  I often cut them into fries, and bake them with a Cajun spice blend, and have them as a side or just a snack on their own.  Recently I picked up two yams.  I used one to make my baked fries, with some spices, mix of thyme, basil, savoury, and fennel; I wasn't sure if they'd make good fries, since they are so starchy.  They turned out yummy.  We inhaled them while I was making the dish that follows.

I used the other yam to make a curry.

Super easy and fast, for a healthy home made meal.

Cook some green lentils.  I like to cook them separately, otherwise they get mushy and make the dish look awful.  Drain and set aside.  Lentils don't take long to cook like beans, about 15 minutes, depending on how much you're making.  If you have to, use canned, but soak in cold water first to decrease the sodium.

Melt some butter in a pot, add chopped garlic and onion, cinnamon, cayenne, curry powder, coriander powder, cumin ( I used seeds and pink Himalayan salt rocks, so I crushed them with a mortar and pestle.  If you have cumin powder, use that and fine sea salt, or if you have seeds or coarse salt and no mortar and pestle, place either or both between wax paper or plain paper and use a rolling pin or a round mug to mash or roll over.  If you use a single sheet and fold it in half instead of two separate sheets, it's easier to "pour" the spices into the pot.

Let it all fry for a minute, it'll smell wonderful.  Add a bit of water.  Then add chopped carrots and yam(s), cook for a bit, about 10 min; add cooked lentils, cover and simmer for another 10.

To thicken up the water, I made a roux, basically melt butter and add some flour:

Then stir it into the pot.  

If you don't have as much "sauce" as you'd like, stir in more water.  

Serve with basmati and fresh cilantro.

Selamat makan! (Indonesian)

(I hope I'm getting the right translations, if not please correct me).

An Electronic Nose Sniffs Out Food From Problem Sources

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679608/an-electronic-nose-sniffs-out-food-from-problem-sources

"To see how prevalent it is, Picarro tested products sold by companies from Whole Foods to lesser known brands. So far they’ve found Italian olive oil that is neither from Italy nor olives, as well as cosmetics derived from shark liver oil rather than plants (a compound known as squalane)."

Shakes and Smoothies

Shakes and smoothies are awesome.  They always taste like a treat, but are also healthy.
Here are some flavours I've made lately:

Blueberry smoothie, just frozen blueberries with whole non-homogenized milk.

Mixed berries with milk and plain 10% yogurt.

Raspberry.

Strawberry - peach.

Peach with milk and lavender honey.

The consistency depends on whether I use fresh or frozen fruit, and like I've said before, during off season, I always have frozen fruit in my freezer.  Sometimes I add whole non-homogenized milk, other times almond milk, sometimes orange juice.  Also, ground flax seeds, wheat grass, plain 10% yogurt, honey, vanilla.  Lately I just like whole non-homogenized milk and fruit, very plain, and so good.

Guten Appetit!  (German)

Instant Strawberry Ice Cream

This will probably be the only time I use the word instant here and mean it in a good way.

I just made ice cream in less than 10 minutes.  I was craving something tasty, and thought about making ice cream, but that wouldn't be ready for a few hours to a day, and I wanted something NOW.  Check this out, so yummy and so easy.  Food process frozen strawberries, whip cream with a touch of icing sugar - I should've added vanilla, but I didn't think of that until I was already scarfing down this treat - then fold the berries into the cream et voila.  It was an experiment and I didn't know what would happen, but it worked so well and has so many possibilities.  It has to be served right away, or put in the freezer.  My guess is if you have to freeze it, you may have to blend / mix it before serving.  Also, I think this works best for (frozen) fruit based ice creams.  If you want to use fresh fruit or nuts, chocolate, marshmallows, etc, it'll probably work better if it sits in the freezer for a few hours, so that those ingredients have a chance to soften and mingle  :)  then mix to fluff it.  Yum!

Buon Appetito!  (Italian)

Soup

I love soup.  Make a basic stock and the possibilities are endless.

I like meat based stocks, but you can make an all veg stock as well.  If using meat, boil the meat on it's own first.  Dump out the water, clean the pot, and rinse the meat if necessary; meat gets frothy, so this keeps your stock clean.  In a clean pot, add water, parsley, carrots, celery, peppercorns, sea salt, bay leaf.  You can add other vegetables and spices, this is just a basic stock.  If you're making a sour soup, add the cooked meat closer to the end of the soup being done, just to heat it up, otherwise the meat will get too hard from the acidity.

I used pork riblets for this soup base.  A package for about $4 is enough for 3 stocks, could've been 4, but this way there was enough meat to be part of the meal.  Here are some soup ideas:

Cream of mushroom, goes great with a sandwich, like porchetta on rye with butter and mustard.

Or with egg noodles, I left the carrots and meat in this one.

Pickle soup with star noodles.

I left the celery in for James, with carrots and pork.

Beet soup with flat noodles, using veal stock.

Pumpkin soup, specifically Rouge vid D'Etampes, my fave.  Great with any sandwich.

Tomato soup, which is tasty with noodles, rice, or even mashed potatoes, or on its own in a mug with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Tripe soup.  Try it before you decide you don't like it.

Smacznego!  (Polish)