Global Pork Shortage

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/25/bacon-shortage-pigs.html

Seems like the world may be coming to an end with this unavoidable global bacon shortage.  The apocalypse has begun.  As for the corn and soy prices increasing, I say F both of those things.  Pigs should be eating oats.

How Veg Oils Replaced Animal Fats in American Diets

"What was garbage in 1860 was fertilizer in 1870, cattle feed in 1880, and table food and many things else in 1890."
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/how-vegetable-oils-replaced-animal-fats-in-the-american-diet/256155/

Pork Riblets

Pork riblets are yummy, I usually make them in a mushroom sauce or use them to make stock, then serve them in the soup, makes for a more filling meal.

Here I made them in mushroom sauce, I don't like to use the word gravy.  "Gravy" always makes me think of that disgusting sludge people used to get on their icky french fries in our high school cafeteria.  I use wild mushrooms to make the sauce.  The carrots, surprisingly sweet, I peeled, cooked lightly, drained, put a bit of butter on them, and sprinkled fresh, home grown from seed, chopped parsley.  If you recall my mini garden in my kitchen, that parsley was in that photo.

The asparagus, I sautéed in butter, then sprinkled with s&p, lemon juice, and freshly ground parmigiano reggiano.

Ith gu leòir! (Eat plenty!)  (Scottish Gaelic)

Lunches, Snacks, and Bites

Some days I like "grazing", where I eat bits of food throughout the day, other days I have meals.  In the end they're all meals varying in size.  I thought I'd share what I eat for lunch when I'm home, some ingredients will repeat, and there is a "formula", usually some grain, mainly rye bread in various forms, meat, veg, and cheese, sometimes with soup, sometimes with tea, or a smoothie, a milk shake, or freshly squeezed lemonade.  At times, it's not only dinner ideas that people get in a rut with, it's boring to eat the same stuff for lunch all the time too.  Here are some examples of what I like to eat, very easy, nutritious and filling lunches or snacks:

Fresh carrots, savoy sauerkraut (home made), pickled beets (home made), and Smoked Sirloin Tip (Ogonowka in Polish) on a piece of pumpernickel.

Very crusty walnut cranberry bread with a slice of salted butter.  

Brussel sprouts, with butter and maple smoked unrefined sea salt.

Leek and horseradish sauerkraut (home made, one of my very favourite flavours), rye grilled cheese (Irish old cheddar), and carrots, made with butter.

Goose liver pate with cumin sauerkraut (made by me; I love sauerkraut).

Pumpernickel with lard, lardons, and raw maple smoked rock salt.

Rye with butter and a slice of pig skin sausage - amazing!  I get this sausage at Sausage Partners in Toronto; they make it on site.

Zucchini, smoked Polish sausage, parmigiano reggiano, lachsschinken, kale, sautéed in butter.

I'm not sure what this is called in English, but it's a type of blood sausage, with fat chunks, and tongue; it's delicious.  I find congealed blood tastes a bit like chocolate, the two go well together in recipes.

Here is the blood sausage from above, on rye, with fresh cucumbers, and tomato soup.

Avocado, my caraway bay sauerkraut, Calabrese salami, fresh greens and parsley, grown in my kitchen.

Pumpernickel, Calabrese salami, sauerkraut, creamy tomato soup.

Pumpernickel with lard, lardons, and my delicious home made sauerkraut.

Scrambled eggs with sausage, onion, and rye.

Pumpernickel with lard and lardons and dill pickles, which my dad made.  When I say dill pickles I mean real pickles in brine, not vinegar.

I hope some of my lunch and snack ideas will help you try new things, and keep lunch exciting.  When I work, I always make and bring my own lunch.  It always gets comments and people start making excuses why they don't make their own lunch.  In reality, tasty, healthy, and filling food doesn't have to take  a long time to plan or make.

Figs, tasty on their own, or with a variety of meats and cheeses, also great in tarts with caramelized onions and cheese.

Kalon Digor!  (Breton)

Pig lard and lardons

I love pig fat.  If you know me, you know that.  I love pig skin, whether it's cooked or roasted or in jelly.  I buy pig lard with the bits at a Polish deli, but sometimes I make my own.  I made some recently.  My bf got me this grease pot, which is for dumping grease into, it has a sieve, so the solids stay on top, then when it solidifies, you can scrape it out and dispose of it, without clogging your plumbing with hot grease.  Naturally when he gave it to me, and I saw it said GREASE on it, I was super excited, thinking it was a pot for my fat.  Then he explained the above to me.  I said, who does that?  Why would you want to throw out lard?  When I was a kid, my grandma always had a jar of home made lard.  Sometimes she would fry rye bread in it, and it was so good.

So every once in a while, I fry rye in lard, and either eat it with my home made sauerkraut, or with sliced dill pickles.  It's insane how good it is.  Just to clarify, dill pickles by my def, have no vinegar, just natural brine.  If you're buying "dill" pickles at the supermarket, read the ingredients.  Also, if you're buying rye at the supermarket, read the ingredients, wheat flour is usually a huge component, and to give the bread a denser feel and "healthier" look, they add caramel colour.  Food regulations should be much stricter, especially labeling.  Somehow though, the gov't seems to think that infringing on our privacy (SOPA/ACTA) is more important than labels on our food.

Here is my story in pictures  :)

Those lardons, skwarki (Polish) or scruncheons, as they call them in Eastern Canada, especially Newfoundland, are so yummy, they are like little crispy squishy sponges filled with pig fat.

Another option is just lard on rye with sea salt, I used maple smoked rock salt from BC:

Give it a try, let me know what you think.
Bon appetit!

Bean Burritos

I never get sick of beans, I actually crave them sometimes.  Even if I over do it, after a few weeks have passed, I'm wanting beans again.  It's been a while since I made burritos, so I soaked some black beans over night, and had a tasty dinner last night.  When using dry beans, soaking over night cuts down the cooking time a lot.  I used black beans, because I had some in my pantry.  Pinto beans would also be tasty in a burrito.  You could use canned beans, but it's so easy not to, and significantly cuts down on the sodium.  Anything out of a can is loaded with salt, even if you buy the low sodium versions.  You can also make beans and ground beef or pork or chicken, or sausage, whatever you like.  I made mine just with beans and rice.

First decide how much you want to make, you can always freeze some for later.  You want to use about 3x as much water as beans, and just let that stand over night.  In the morning, add your spices.  I use s&p, cayenne pepper, garlic, onion, cumin - it adds a nice flavour.  Set your stove to low, and let it simmer for a few hours.  If you have a slow cooker, that could be very handy, and you could even skip the soak.  Just put on your slow cooker in the morning, and 8 hours later or so, your beans are ready.  make sure your heat isn't too high, because you don't want to be losing too much water too fast.  Once they are soft, you can try eating one to test, take a potato masher and mash your beans.  That's it, they're ready.

Make some rice, I use brown rice and add some spices, like paprika, hot pepper flakes, a bit of salt, or if you have a pre-blended spice which would go with a burrito, try that.  Then get your toppings ready, I usually have cheddar (old and white for me, mild and orange or marble for James).  BTW, cheddar cheese is naturally white, the orange is food colouring, nothing more.  Gross, right?  I usually have salsa, again, mild for James, sometimes I'll have that, but I like the Chipotle, some diced tomatoes, avocado or guacamole, green onions, cilantro, and sour cream or plain yogurt.  After assembling, I use my grill, and the burritos get warmed up and stick closed together.  I usually put the sour cream or yogurt on top, after it's grilled, or use it as a dip.  Super tasty and healthy.  Not every market has corn tortillas, and even the ones that do, when you read the ingredients, they list corn and what flour.  Corn flour tortillas are very brittle and messy, so my guess is that it's why they don't sell 100% corn flour tortillas here.  If you do use the corn/ wheat blend, those do break apart quicker than the wheat alone, but if you warm them up first, it prevents breakage a bit.

Very tasty, filling, good for you, and great for parties or any day of the week.  You can put left overs in the fridge for the next day or freeze and have in a few days or few weeks.  I used 2.5 cups of dry beans, we had 4 burritos last night, and there is still enough for today's dinner and probably more.  I won't be freezing my leftovers, I'll just use them as a topping for nachos and have a snack for tomorrow night, because I'm not sick of the beans yet :)