Balsamic Sauteed Greens with Turkey over Forbidden Rice:

 So I've got this winter CSA box, to keep me eating local, normal veggies this winter and I've got to come up with lots of new ways to eat greens, turnips, and beets. Plus I have leftover turkey - still.

1 bunch greens

2-3 baby bok choy

3 turnips

1/2 onion

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

4 slices of smoked pork cheek or bacon - chopped

1 c forbidden (black) rice

4 1/4 cups of stock (I used homemade turkey stock from my thanksgiving turkey)

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 1/2 cups of leftover shredded chicken or turkey

Cook the rice in 4 cups of stock, with half of the chopped onion, and 2 cloves of garlic on medium low for ~50 minutes, salt to taste (You can use any rice, just adjust cook time).

Saute the remaining onion and garlic in butter for a few minutes on medium heat, add pork cheeks and saute 2-3 minutes. Chop greens and bok choy and add them to pan with remaining 1/4 cup of stock. Put sliced turnips on top, and drizzle with balsamic. Salt to taste. Cover to steam for about 10 - 15 minutes without stirring, until soft. Add shredded turkey and stir until heated.

Serve greens on top of rice & garnish with shredded cheese or parmesan. 

When its all said and done this dish looks really weird - everyone at work was asking me what the hell it was. But it's tasty, If you close your eyes I imagine its like a chicken/rice/spinach casserole.

Butchery: A Most Noble Art ... I'm taking a class

My dad is a butcher. Until a few weeks ago I never had any interest whatsoever in what he did. As far as I’m concerned it’s in the pool of manual-labor type jobs for people who didn't go to college.

A few weeks ago I went to the Weston A. Price Foundation Conference in Santa Clara, CA to learn about real, traditional, and what should be normal food.

I met an amazing and inspiring man: Brandon Sheard from The Farmstead Meatsmith. He gave a presentation on whole hog butchery and making bacon. I saw amazing people speak at this conference – but no one (in the course of an hour) changed my worldview, desires, and passion quite like this man.

He proclaimed that every part of a pig is meant for preservation in salt, that this is the highest and best use of the meat of an important and intelligent animal that died for us, and best of all: making bacon is easy.

MAKING BACON IS EASY.

I don’t know how I've become convinced that only commercial entities are capable of producing certain foods for us. I remember being thirteen and making a bag of alfredo noodles from Swanson or something, and thinking, “I wonder what the hell they do to make this tasty cheese sauce powder product – how did people make cheese sauce without this?”

Yesterday at brunch with a women’s group I’m involved with, another member shared with me her disconnect from food processes. She doesn't know how bacon is made or butter, or where these things come from. She’s nearly twice my age. I am lucky enough to have grandparents that farmed when they were kids, and I take to opportunity to ask them about what things were like, but my grandparents have this warped perspective on food. To them it’s all about toil and wasted time and being poor. Why farm when you can get food from the store for so cheap? Then you can save up all your extra money and you’ll be protected from the next depression, crisis, etc. I told my grandpa that I really want to farm. I might have a relatively pricey degree in economics, but what I really really want to do is farm. He subtly hinted that he would cut me off from financial support. (He still gives my ex-drug addict mother monthly allowance ~$600, and he’s helping me through school). He was amazed when a woman he met at the bank told him she was going to school to learn how to farm. I might be slowly convincing him that farm-type activities are becoming relevant again, and that - no you can’t really just buy cheap food at the store. It’s not exactly food.

Fun factoids: pigs are more afraid of being alone than death, pigs can have existential crises, and pigs are smarter than dogs (but the idea of eating dog is so offensive?). A rasher of bacon is typically the distance between ribs. After salting fresh pork belly for about a week its turns into bacon and is shelf stable - you can hang it up in your kitchen!! You can eat any raw pork (just like prosciutto) so long as its not infected with Trichinella worms. Sorry folks but basically everything in the supermarket it positively crawling with it - apparently freezing/cooking kills it (but you are still eating their dead bodies- ew).

I am also desperate to try pata negra mmmmmmm porky deliciousness. 

I wanted to share some of Brandon’s videos, and some recommendation I have for expanding your meat horizons. His amazing videos are all on anatomyofthrift.com. Something that really stood out to me is his comment on relationships with animals you are going to eat. He says people are afraid to name their pigs, but he encourages it. Respect and love for a pig means that you are going to grieve when it dies. You are also going to do your damnedest to put everything you get to its highest and best use. 

This my friends is economics - when something costs more, you care more about it. Cheap or careless meat is the ultimate disrespect to an animal.

Brandon recommended two books: Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery by Jane Grigson, and Cottage Economy by William Cobbett. I've ordered both books from amazon, and I've started reading Cottage Economy. I think it is extremely relevant to my generation. He is a huge advocate of self-sufficiency, and even says that book-learning should only happen after a child knows how to care for himself and make a living with his hands (I find this to be a refreshing idea).

Anywho - to the most important part:

Since watching these videos I've been mildly obsessed with killing a pig.

I saw a tweet mentioning a whole hog butchery class and immediately signed up. It's being offered for $80 by Rose's Meat Market and Sweet Shop at Foster's Market (750 Martin Luther King Blvd) in Chapel Hill on December 20th at 6pm. You get to take home several pounds of meat. As far as I know, they have one spot left and you can sign up here. Of course this is only butchery, not the slaughter. The pig is coming from Yellow Wolf Farm in Walkertown, NC.

Pig Picking: A lesson in the Southern ways of the tailgate

A few weeks ago I had the great joy to be included in a Southern tradition - cooking a pig. At work we had a bit of a chili cookoff (the word on the street is that my Chili Verde took second place - it was never officially announced) - and I met the lovely John M. (who probably took 3rd). Naturally we recognized our mutual greatness and culinary skill and I asked him if I could be his BBQ apprentice. 

Everyone I tell this story to seems to think I'm saying "bar-b-que princess," and I'm thinking about just running with that. He said sure and a week later I found myself and the NC State Farmer's Market for lunch and a pig.

There's a lovely place behind the produce stalls called the Nahunta Pork Center. This isn't pasture-rasied, but it's fresh and comes from North Carolina. They have hams curing out in the open, lots of cheap bacon, and large pork roasts. You can also buy a whole or half pig.

We ended up with a half pig and 6 large bags of ice. A man brought it out in a large plastic bag and put it in the trunck. We took it back to John's house and put it into a cooler that could hold a body (Note: if you ever want to cook a whole pig, you are probably going to need a coffin-sized cooler too). If you are really interested in a tasty pig, now would be the time to brine it in saltwater.

I met up with them the next morning to put the pig on the pig cooker (A flat propane-powered grill that you can trailer to your truck)

I brought them some delish cherry and apple kuchen from my favorite place - Annalore's German Bakery at North Hill's Farmer's Market (If you can't make it through the winter when NH market reopens, she's at most of the markets in Raleigh I think), and some bacon-because I'm weird. I met some of John's friends. They were pretty awesome. 

 A friend of a friend (to be further referred to as the redneck) brought some very tasty sausage from someplace out east that I can't remember. When we were pouring the combined vinegar sauce back into the bottle, the redneck quickly began cutting a water bottle to make a funnel. I learned a valuable lesson from John: "Rednecks are extremely resourceful - this guy is going to come in handy."

Other tid-bits: BBQ refers only to cooked pork - a noun. In the south you cannot have a BBQ - you have a COOKOUT, or in our case a tailgate. Everything occurs on a GRILL.

Tasty meat is all about technique - you have to cook it low and slow. Patience and preparedness are the ideal traits of an outstanding grill master. Also - obtain a gigantic cleaver to you can chop up the BBQ into a yummy sandwich friendly consistency.

We met up with John & Co at the NC State football tailgate later that afternoon, with some homemade dilly beans, pickles, mustard, kimchi, and sauerkraut. And then we had fun!

In case you were wondering NC State whooped FSU.......... WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO. GO Pack!

Asheville

Our trip to the mountains in Asheville was amazing. Asheville is just my kind of place: beautiful mountains, warm climate, and hippies. The thing I love about hippies is our shared appreciation for the unique and creative. This is especially apparent in the restaurants around town. Nearly every store around drum circle has signs in the window reminding people to eat local with the slogan "Ashevile Grown, Buy Local." These people hate Olive Garden as much as I do, along with every other gross chain. The kind I imagine selling over-priced crap seasoned with a stick of butter and frozen in a bag, only to be microwaved and pooped out on my dinner plate. Umm no.

As far as I can tell Olive Garden is not something the great citizens of Asheville eat. We checked out the shops around drum circle downtown which included one selling gifts handmade by random third world types, a craft mall called Woolworth's that had paintings, sculpture, etc, and Origami Ink: a stationary store with hand-bound leather journals filled with thick beautiful paper and ultra-luxe pens.

We refilled our parking meter with coins a quickly tried to find a place for dinner. We passed up a few Mexican places that we're highly rated on yelp for the Tupelo Honey Cafe, a place that our Aunt Wendy said was always too packed for her to try. According to their website the cafe is "New Southern," which really appealed to me. I love the idea of Southern food but too often its soaked in bacon fat and I prefer something that was thoughtfully seasoned. I can cook anything in bacon at home and make it taste fantastic. Eric and Aunt Wendy both had the Sheer Bliss Tupelo Burger, which was quite a bit more than the term "burger" implies. The menu states:

Sheer Bliss Tupelo Burger » Our half-pound house-ground burger, with its delicious blend of prime rib and beef short rib, equals burger perfection. Sublimely char-grilled, your first bite of our signature burger will leave you speechlessly happy. Served with lettuce, tomato, onion and homemade pickles and a side of home fries: 10.95

I read "mouthgasm." I decided to order a random assortment of sides, because they just looked too appealing. After we ordered the waitress brought out three gigantic biscuits with honey and jam. I will remember this biscuit until I die. It was crusty and crispy on the outside and perfectly biscuity in the inside. They were even better that the famous biscuits of the biscuit lady from the Loveless Cafe in Nashville (even Martha Stewart tried to convince her to turn over the recipe and she still said no). So yeah - they are approximately the greatest biscuits on the planet.

The side I was most interested in was the Fried Parmesean Corn on the Cob. Aunt Wendy said that she loved deep fried corn (I didn't even know that you could do that) so I had to have it. I also had Smashed Sweet Potatoes, Fried Green Tomatoes, and the Mac and Cheese. Thank god I don't have a deep fryer or I would probably spend most of the day deep frying corn. It was beautiful sweet corn and the Parmesean was the perfect compliment. The sweet potatoes were good, but its hard to say how good they really were because I always love sweet potatoes. The Mac and Cheese was spicy and creamy and the Fried Green Tomatoes were a great Southern classic.



Since our first trip, I've already been back. This time I was a little disappointed with my biscuit because it had been sadly over worked. I had fried chicken over biscuits and gravy, and the chicken was on point. It was boneless and salty and wonderful. I also had mashed cheesy cauliflower and it was amazing. I'm going to make it asap.

In conclusion, please visit Asheville.

Super Bowl Snacks

Eric and I are going over to a super bowl party with my friend Sarah. We decided to bring guacamole, and Roasted Garlic, Feta, and Walnut Dip (This is also a favorite for wine parties - I like to keep it classy even during sporting events).

Roasted Garlic, Feta, and Walnut Dip
From Yummly.com by KathyP53






Originally it suggested to only put one clove into the dip and serve the rest on the side, but I thought that would be too messy and not as delicious. If you like garlic hummus, you will love this dip!


2 small garlic bulbs (Cut the ends off)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (drizzling)
1 cup walnut halves (toasted)
1.5 cups feta cheese (crumbled)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley
black pepper (fresh ground)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (flakes)
4 pita breads (cut into wedges and toasted)


1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. Cut the end of. The more cloves that are exposed, the easier it is to get them out later. Pour oil over cut side of garlic bulb and rub into skin. Double wrap garlic in foil and roast 20-25 minutes. After it cools use a fork to separate the cloves from the skin.

3. Combine walnuts, feta, milk, oregano, parsley, black pepper, red pepper, and garlic in food processor. Pulse until spread is smooth. Scrape spread into serving dish with spatula. Drizzle dip with extra virgin olive oil and serve with pita bread.


4. Tebow in celebration.

Guacamole


Makes a fuckton of guac.

1 bunch cilantro
2 jalapeños
2-4 limes
6-8 small avocados
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped - reserve some for garnish
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt, pepper to taste
Chives to garnish

1. Chop the stems off the cilantro and put it in the food processor with the lime juice. Pulse until cilantro is well-chopped. Clean the seeds out of the jalapeño, add to the processor and pulse 2-4 times.

2. Halve the avocados and add to processor, pulse until creamy.

3. Remove 2/3 of the mixture & place in bowl. Add roughly chopped bell pepper to remaining mixture with salt, pepper, and garlic. Pulse 5-6 times, incorporate with original mixture in bowl. If you add too much lime and its sour, a 1/2 tsp of sugar will balance it out.

4. Garnish with chopped pepper and some chives.

5. Get your tortilla chips and enjoy!

Almendrados

It's cookie time in my house. I like these cookies because they are mostly almonds so it seems healthy, and it's gluten-free so you can give them to your sickly friends ; ) Plus they taste awesome, duh. I got the recipe out of the December issue of Cooking Light.

You have to have a food processor to grind up the almonds. I think it might be possible to start with almond flour, but I don't know what the equivalent would be. To blanch almonds put them in a big bowl and dump boiling water on top of them. Wait a minute and then rinse them in cold water. Peeling them was kind of fun. They shot all over my living room while I was watching Hart of Dixie.

Ingredients

2 cups whole blanched almonds
2/3 cup sugar 4 teaspoons grated lemon rind (I grated two lemons and juiced one and it turned out well) Dash of salt
1 large egg
Cooking spray (Replace with Parchment Paper)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
24 whole blanched almonds

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Place 2 cups almonds in a food processor; process until finely ground. Add sugar, lemon rind, salt, and egg; pulse 10 times or until dough forms a ball.
3. Shape dough into 24 balls, about 1 tablespoon each. (I recommend lining your cookie sheets with parchment paper- They came right off) Place 1 inch apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon. Gently press one whole almond into the center of each dough ball. Bake at 350° for 16 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Cool 5 minutes on pans. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks. 

Marisol Perez,
Cooking Light DECEMBER 2011

My Dirty Little Chicken Secret

In general I hate fast food. I'm against mass production food of all kinds. So I have a dirty little secret: I love Chick-fil-a like a crackhead loves an eight ball. I have been having lots of random bouts of nausea lately so I originally just wanted a big ass sprite. Then it smelled really good and I wanted some chicken. This is a little challenging because I would like to change my eating patterns to be a weekday vegetarian, but maybe I'll just start with weekend vegetarian? I like Chick-fil-a because they are closed on Sundays and the people that are working there seem like they are happy and probably going to accomplish something with their lives. The customer service is AWESOME! I think in general its extremely difficult to find anyone working at fast food places in the south who isn't a lazy asshole, but Chick-fil-a is fast, accurate, and really nice. They even give you a treat for your dog! I love the chick-fil-a sauce and the crispy breading and the peanutty flavor of the oil, and the big pieces of juicy chicken strips. Its just so good, and it doesn't make me feel bad! I'm not sold on the waffle fries but I'm open to trying them some more.

I am very curious about what other sides they have and possibly getting a biscuit involved in my meal somehow.