More creations

April 3, 2011......don't worry, I'm not going to post every single meal this month :)

These creations are not so exciting, but I'm getting warmed up! I am going to have to get creative with the things I have so I don't get bored, or branch out more for different ingredients!

As the spring turns to summer, I'll get more variety, especially with the veggies.

Sunday morning is a good time to sip some "Governor Gray" hot tea with milk and honey, nosh on some fresh strawberries I picked yesterday, and collect eggs for a hearty breakfast.

Breakfast:

(2) SBC egg omelette with chive and parsley

Fresh strawberries

Greenhill cheese

Mixed baby green salad

Skim milk from Bush River Jerseys in Newberry, SC!

-Bush River Jerseys own several Berry-bred cows and are very proud of their genetics!

Listed as favorites in their herd are Berry's Brook Sapphire Thrice and Berry's Lester Diamond!

What a small world!

Dinner:

Curried tofu sweet potato patty with fresh herbs

Fresh strawberries

Homemade chive roasted garlic aioli

Homemade wholegrain flatbread (Anson Mills SC flour)

Mixed baby greens

30 Day Challenge!

Friday, April 1, 2011

I have decided to challenge my culinary skills in the next 30 days in cooking with local products. I know this is beginning to sound like previous blogs about local this and eco-friendly that, but this is going to be a little more intensive.

It's not going to be a cold-turkey kind of challenge, as I am not into self-torture or such a limited diet. I, however, am blessed to live in South Carolina, and many things I love and "need" come from right here in my own backyard!

The 100 Mile Challenge, which was a Food Network Canada reality show filmed outside Vancouver, is my inspiration. On the show, families in the village decided to eat 50% local, 80% local, or 100% local. The focus was on the families that chose to eat 100% local. Everything that was not farmed, sourced, or processed withing 100 miles of the town was off-limits for 100 days. A very tough challenge in our age of fast foods and food addictions from all over the globe (such as chocolate and coffee.)

On a day to day basis I try to buy as much locally as I can, as I have discussed previously on this blog. This time, I am going to attempt 80% local for the month of April!

The rules that I have set for myself include: main ingredients for a meal (veggies, meat, dairy, cheese, carbohydrates) must be sourced from

South Carolina, or a state bordering her. I have chosen to include my aunt's citrus in Florida, since where she lives is only 150 miles away by road.

Spices will be allowed in my cooking, and ONLY California olive oil. I have a feeling that there will be some pork fat in my cooking this month! :)

Follow me along in my adventure, if you'd like! This is really going to test my creativity and food knowledge!

Tonight starts Day 1!

Dinner:

From my yard: baby salad greens (cos, oak leaf, bibb, spinach, arugala), herbs (chive, parsley, cilantro).

From Georgia: pecans, Asher blue cheese, hickory smoked bacon

From South Carolina: dried strawberries, the last from 2010

From Fernandina Beach, FL: meyer lemon juice

The finished product: Baby green salad with chive bacon dressing, toasted pecans and dried strawberries. Dressing made with lemon juice, olive oil, chives, cilantro, black pepper.

Drink: Charleston Tea Plantation Green tea, sweetened with local honey, chilled of course.

Dessert: baked Greenhill cheese, local honey, toasted pecans and dried strawberries

The Salad

When life gives you lemons....

............giant, Mother of All Lemons......you make Limoncello!

Deborah and the Giant Lemon!

Next to a Valencia orange for scale:

"That's as big as my head!" ~Danger

Many thanks to my aunt and uncle, Susan and Don Taylor of Fernandina Beach, FL.

They picked this mutant Meyer lemon this weekend for me out of their backyard. ONE Mega lemon has enough zest to make a liter of limoncello! There is enough juice in one of these to make a pitcher of lemonade!

Here is the recipe I like to use for Limoncello, thanks to Giada De Laurentiis

I do, however, make it as "Florida" as possible. I am not aware of any vodka being made in Florida, so I usually use Stolichnaya.

I'm going to make another batch this weekend with Firefly Straight Vodka, from Wadamalaw Island, SC. This delight from Capri is going to be as Southern as it can be!

Modifications to the recipe for a superior product:

I use organic Florida Crystals granulated sugar, and I use 1/2 the water, and 1/2 the sugar that this recipe calls for. The final product is sharper, tangy and just sweet enough.

I also zest the lemon with a microplane instead of peeling it.

I find I get a better final product when I let the lemon zest steep in the vodka at room temperature for 3-5 days instead of overnight. The alcohol has more time to extract the delicious essential oils of the lemon, according to another recipe.

Don't let this stuff sit at room temperature for too long once the simple syrup is mixed in, otherwise bacteria and fungi will move in!

You can use regular lemon zest for this too, in case you don't have access to home-grown Chernobyl lemons!

Chill the final product for at least overnight before serving. It is so refreshing on a warm summer day! (If it lasts that long)

Getting ready for spring....Compost!

Did you know that 40% of the fruits and vegetables produced in the USA is thrown away un-used and un-digested in American kitchens? A lot of these foodstuffs are "kitchen scraps", while others are items that we buy and have intentions of eating...but they go bad first.

So what do you do with all of this waste that ends up needlessly in the landfill?

COMPOST!

A lot of people think that compost is.....yucky. After all, it is decomposing organic matter. But it really does not smell that bad, and is easy enough to do even in an apartment.

Many cities in the US, like Seattle, provide commercial composting opportunities, alongside traditional trash and recycling services. It was exciting and inspiring to go to a small "taco stand" near the University of Washington (the "Dub") that requires it's patrons to separate compost-ables from recycling and regular waste. It was easy! Scrape your food waste and paper napkin into one bin, put your glass beer bottle in the recycling, and put the plate/flatware in the stack to be washed and used again. Minimal waste!

Compost is also good, inexpensive organic fertilizer. The commercial composting in Seattle provides organic gardeners and farmers with a product that makes good economic and environmental sense.

If you don't live in a town like Seattle that provides curbside compost pick-up, do not fear! You can do it EASILY at home, never smell it, and it won't drive your neighbors crazy. It also helps prevent you from having to buy that expensive Miracle-Gro stuff for your flower beds.

Please take a look at my photos below of my backyard composting operation. Doug and I have a 3-bin system in our home. One for compostables, one for landfill trash, and one for recycling. Yes, you have to buy two more trash cans, and its a little more work, but its worth it! We empty our compost bin in the kitchen every 2 days or so....and we keep the lid on! :)

We want to prevent contamination of E. coli and Salmonella in our compost, so we only compost vegetables, fruits, paper products and egg shells. NO MEAT, NO FISH, NO CHEESE

The commercial composters do allow ALL waste, including meats. But their methods allow the compost to reach temperatures that help to "sterilize" the compost

(think Black Kow manure compost).

So......our process of making beautiful, useful compost! The final picture below is the finished product, ready to go on the garden. It is a 50-gallon trash can full of about 8 months of composting: shredded junk mail, paper napkins, egg shells, and fruits/veggie waste. I also added in some chicken fecal matter from our yard chickens and their used wheat straw bedding.

Our chickens are very healthy and do not live in cramped conditions, so I trust their feces more than I trust the surface of raw commercial meat products.

First photo: "young" compost, made up of shredded paper, soiled chicken bedding.

Second photo: "young" compost, made up of kitchen waste.

Third photo: these two combined into 50-gallon composter #1, where it is turned, and soil from my backyard is added for 3-4 months. It is then transferred to "mature" in the second 50-gallon composter.

Fourth photo: The final product. Once the stuff at the bottom of the "young" compost starts to look like dirt, its ready to be in the "finisher" composting bin. I then let it continue to "mature" and I turn it once a month.

It's really not that hard. Two 50-gallon trash cans, with lids, with holes drilled in the sides for air flow. Turn the "young" compost once a month, and excavate the stuff on the very bottom once a month and put it in to the "mature" compost bin. It is a WORKOUT to do it this way. I work up a sweat with the shovel every time.

Please try composting the way my Mother does it:

There are larger commercially available composters from Rubbermaid, like the one my mother has. It makes things MUCH easier; one bin, and you take out the "mature" stuff from the bottom every few months. The "new" stuff is put into the top, and you turn it with a shovel or pitchfork every month or so. Someday....I will have one!

Composters can be made very easily with old trash cans, wooden boxes, etc. If you live in an apartment, you can have a worm-box that you can put kitchen waste into. The worms really love coffee grounds and tea leaves!

Next blog.......getting the garden ready for planting, I'm planting everything this week now that the compost is all put out! I did have to buy some extra Black Kow compost since my little kitchen didn't produce enough to cover the whole garden. I do what I can!

The Saga of the SBCs

For my faithful blog followers, I want to apologize for not writing much this fall. I have been VERY blessed and VERY busy in my new adventures as a relief veterinarian.

This doesn't mean that I haven't been eating new things and trying to grow a fall-winter garden.....but the lack of blogging is also directly correlated to our chickens: Parmesan, Tandoori and Kebab.

As you can see from previous photos, our chickens used to have full access to our backyard. We have a 7 foot solid privacy fence that they never once tried to scale, even though their sister Piper does it regularly.

Once my collards, bok choy, brussels sprouts and lettuce went into the ground, the chickens went to work destroying them. Basically, most vegetation that is tasty to a human is also tasty to chickens. This made me very upset, since I had spent a lot of time and money getting the plants into the ground. To make matters worse....the chickens had not started laying at this point.

Out of frustration, we soon began calling the destructive non productive little she-devils the "SBCs" or STUPID BABY CHICKENS! AARRRRGGHHH!

So despite erecting complicated mesh fencing around our raised beds, somehow they kept breaking in and enjoying my fresh salad. We had to come up with a solution. They now have their OWN yard along the back few beds of our garden that are mostly in the shade. Now that they are completely sequestered, we can go back to calling them "Silly Baby Chickens" or "Sweet Baby Chickens" especially since they've been laying since late November.

I was concerned that the chickens would hit puberty at the wrong time of the year, since most chickens lay less during the short-days of the year and when its cold. Thank goodness for Rhode Island Red hens....nothing phases these little egg factories! They're not called "cold hardy" for nothing!

We are now getting 2-3 eggs per day. During the freezing weather and snow flurries they did stop laying for a few days. Their eggs are delicious, and once they are consumed, the shells go into the compost to help supplement our now chicken-free gardening endeavors.

Cupcakes

Baking Adventure 01.06.2011

I don’t often bake sweet things in my kitchen, so all I had for baking a last-minute batch of chocolate cupcakes was Anson Mills Red Fife bread flour and the Farina Di Pizzaiolo Pizza Maker’s flour.

Being lazy, I did not want to go out in the rain to Publix to buy the commercial “all-purpose flour” that Ina Garten’s recipe called for, so I decided to experiment. I also did not have light brown sugar on hand, so I made my own with molasses and granulated cane sugar.

The eggs in the recipe are compliments of my own Rhode Island Red hens: Parmesan, Kebab and Tandoori. All brands of products used, and other modifications are noted below.

Not knowing the protein content, chemical characteristics, etc of the Red Fife vs. commercial all-purpose flour, this could have been a disaster. The cupcakes turned out very well, light and airy, with a rich flavor. A delightful cupcake that “grown-ups” will love. I know that oven temperature varies from one home to another, and that barometric pressure, humidity and magnetic deviation from true north can make each batch come out differently….but please give this a try! J

· 2 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (Publix brand), at room temperature

· 2/3 cup granulated sugar (Florida Crystals Florida Natural Cane Sugar)

· 2/3 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon room temperature molasses

· 2 large eggs, at room temperature (from the back yard is best)

· 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

· 1 cup whole buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature

· 1/2 cup (home-made) Greek-style fat free yogurt, at room temperature

· 2 tablespoons brewed espresso (we buy green coffee beans and roast ourselves)

· 1 3/4 cups Anson Mills Red Fife Flour

· 1 cup Ghirardelli Natural Unsweetened Cocoa

· 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

· Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows

· Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, yogurt, and espresso. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:

· 1 cup confectioners' sugar (I pulsed the Florida Crystals sugar in the food processor to get super fine sugar)

· 1 cup Smucker’s Natural Creamy peanut butter

· 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (Publix brand), at room temperature

· 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

· 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

· 1/3 cup skim milk

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Here is the link to the original recipe—Ina Garten Chocolate Cupcakes

Chanterelles

September 4, 2010

Chanterelles! What a find at today's farmer's market! It is the tail-end of the local mushroom season here, and soon it will become too dry for these little guys.

Captain Woody (who makes his own fresh pasta, sells his own hen's eggs, and grows three varieties of cultivated mushrooms) instructed me to use them within 2 days and that they are fantastic in risotto.

http://www.portroyalfarmersmarket.com/vendor_list.html

I forgot to take a picture of them in their raw state, so please take a look at another South Carolina blog about local mushrooms and foraging....he's got some great pics!

Mushroom Mountain

I love how they just marched out of the woods and into Mellow Mushroom Pizza in Greenville and had them put their wild mushrooms on the pizza!

Since our closest Mellow Mushroom is 40 miles away....I just made my own.

Pizza dough: recipe can be found at www.ansonmills.com

I topped the pizza with a roasted local tomato and red bell pepper sauce that contained a little of our own Charleston Hot Cayenne pepper from the backyard.

The greenery on the pizza is home-grown basil, and we added a small amount of Sweetgrass Dairy Eden goat cheese and also a dusting of Parmesan cheese.

The risotto was pretty good with the chanterelles. I added lots of parsley from our garden and of course, Parmesan cheese. The saffron adds a nice luxurious smokey quality. Here is my favorite risotto recipe! I just substituted the chanterelles for the morel and cremini mushrooms, and substituted local rice for the Arborio.

The best kind of rice for risotto is a round or semi-round short-grain rice such as Arborio. This is the most common rice you see in this dish in restaurants. However, in the Lowcountry, I can just use Carolina Gold Rice. It is a semi-round medium grain rice that puts out plenty of starch for a creamy risotto.

From Carolina Plantation:

"In 1685, a distressed merchant ship paid for repairs in Charleston with a small quantity of rice seed from Madagascar. Dr. Henry Woodward planted the seed in South Carolina, beginning the state’s 200 year history as the leading rice producer in the United States. At the turn of the century, rice cultivation ended in the Low Country South because of a weak market, inadequate machinery, and competition from the Gulf States.

Until recently, most of the “Carolina Gold” on the market, unfortunately has been grown in the Gulf States, not in South Carolina. Because of our commitment to providing authentic Carolina-grown products, Carolina Plantation Rice has devoted a portion of it’s rice acreage to the cultivation of true “Carolina Gold” Rice. Your purchase of this home-grown product keeps South Carolina growing."

Carolina Plantation, found along the Pee Dee River in South Carolina, also produces long-grain aromatic rice, processed into both standard white rice and brown rice.

The Carolina Gold rice is about the same price as an imported Arborio pound-for-pound, so order some and give it a try sometime!