Food Politics: Who is your farmer?

June 23, 2011

Food politics have been interesting to me for a few years now. It all started when I asked a friend, Jackie, why she just bought local organic foodstuffs. Jackie has several children and grandchildren, and has been an organic gardener for 20+ years. She and her husband, Dale (a retired chemist) live on a 300 acre cattle and horse farm in Gainesville, GA.

I always thought that she just bought organic because they had lots of money to spend, or because she had some political problem with "big business." As I have spent the last decade processing her knowledge of all things local, free-range, and organic, I realize that what I thought of her purchase choices are partially true. But....there is so much more to it than that!

Some of us buy local because we want our monies to go directly to the hard working farmers, and cut out the "middle-man". That "middle-man" is often a large distributing company or multi-national corporation, like Cargill. I understand that the people in the corporations need to make a living too, but I've found through personal experience that nothing is better than giving your farmer the full share of money that he or she deserves.

There are two local farms here in Beaufort that I go to directly for a lot of my food, and a couple of local fishermen. I have blogged about them many times before, but here they are again with their websites:

Dempsey Farms

Rest Park Farm CSA

Sea Eagle Market

Bradley Seafood--on St. Helena Island, so small they don't have a website. They have one boat!

The most rewarding experience I have had buying my food from local producers has been with the Rest Park CSA. They are a family farm of 20 acres near Ehrhardt, South Carolina. Since I live in the "Bible Belt", I will take the immortal words of Jesus--"love thy neighbor"--and very happily show that love to my farmer in the form of dollar bills. I promise I am not doing this to be all "self righteous" and snub those who aren't a member of a CSA. I'm just trying to give credit where credit is due.

Most of us want our dollars staying locally nowadays, right? Seeking out local farmers and CSAs is a great way to do this. Some of the most economically depressed areas in South Carolina are losing their productive farmland because they are too small to compete with the larger "factory farms" and because the locals just want to buy everything from Wal-Mart.

The problem behind why so many of America's small farms are disappearing is very complex, and I'm not going to get into it in this blog. The things you can do to help preserve the small family farmer is to:

1. Educate yourself! Stop at the road-side stands, talk to people in your town who have lived there a while. Check out your options online!

2. Buy local! You will not be disappointed, the freshness is unmatched, and it'll make you feel good about your actions as well.

3. Educate others. Invite your neighbors over for dinner and tell them about where you picked the figs that are in the dessert.

4. Promote the education of our children....especially in rural America. America's brightest youth need to realize that there can be important, interesting and fulfilling careers in rural agriculture.

I love the fact that the West family knows me by name, and I get to see their smiling faces every Wednesday afternoon. I know that they have been working their tails off all season long, and through their exhaustion, I see the satisfaction in their smiles. Despite the hard work, it is worth it to them. They care about their product, their customer, and each other. Almost every time I pick up my CSA box, I learn something new about vegetables. This week's CSA box was the most abundant yet: TWO 25-pound watermelons!, 2 cantaloupes, italian eggplant, grape tomatoes, new potatoes, spaghetti squash, sweet corn, cucumber, jalapenos, bell peppers, and fresh rosemary sprigs. I hope to stop by their farm over the 4th of July weekend on my way home to Gainesville, to see their labor of love in vivo.

Another farm that I support, White Oak Pastures, in Bluffton, GA, has an incredible family legacy. I'm inspired by the daughters of Georgia grass-fed beef farmer, Will Harris III, who all went to Valdosta State to major in business and advertising, and went home to grow their family enterprise. This is how we keep bright minds in rural areas, growing our food and making sure it's done right. I would love to be involved with producers like this as a veterinarian.

If you are interested in the politics of food, check out these links. These are great resources for educating yourself on both sides of the issues: organic, local, and fair-trade.

"The Omnivore's Dilemma" Michael Pollan. 2006.

Which was made into a movie in 2008 called "Food, Inc."

http://www.eatwild.com

Food Politics: Voting with your Trolley. The Economist. 2006

It does not matter what side of the argument you're on...pro vs anti-organic, or fair-trade, one thing that The Economist fails to criticize from an economic standpoint is....buying local is an economically sound idea!

Lazy Summer Weekends

June 18, 2011

Today is Saturday, and I am just messing around the house and garden. It rained a little bit overnight, thank God....it has been so dry here! My water bill appreciates me not having to water the veggies as much.

Since the short thunderstorm last night, today's high is only 91, instead of 97. But that's OK, I have good ways to use the sun, which I'll get to later.

I think I have found the best way to have lunch on a lazy, hot Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Not only is it healthy, but it celebrates the best of the season here. My tomato plants are giving me several ripe tomatoes each day, and I put them to good use.

Doug and I like to eat hummus, so we usually have a Tupperware full of it in our fridge most days. I would like to "publish" my favorite recipe below for you all to try, and use for your own healthy summer lunch. I find ours is better in the summer, since the herbs are fresh:

Simple Slightly Spicy Hummus

Ingredients:

1 cup of dry garbanzo beans, also called "chickpeas"

- We like to use dry, since the canned tend to have a lot of salt added to them, even if you drain them....as I learned from Cooking Light magazine. So....soak your dry beans overnight in water, then drain, and cook in 2 cups of water stovetop for 45 minutes.

- My lazy way: 9 PM the night before, put your 1 cup dried beans and 2 cups water into the Crockpot on low setting. Add a pinch of sea salt as well. In the morning, your beans will be ready to go in hummus or a salad. Drain the water well before using.

5-10 sprigs of fresh parsley

2-5 large leaves of basil

2 tablespoons of tahini, be sure you mix it well....the oil likes to separate

pinch of sea salt

pinch of black pepper

1-2 pinches of kung pao or cayenne pepper, Thanks Uncle Don for your home-grown kung pao pepper flake that I used in mine yesterday!

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil (California), or add until it's nice and creamy

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon of lemon or lime juice

Method:

Using your food processor (fastest, and easiest), put in your herbs, garlic cloves, and tahini and pulse until your garlic is in tiny bits.

Then, add the remainder of the ingredients, except the oilve oil.

Once everything is combined but has a bit of a "dry paste" consistency, drizzle in the olive oil until creamy and smooth.

Remove from processor bowl into a Tupperware or into your mouth.

~This keeps in the fridge for 7-8 days easy, ours never lasts this long.

Today I enjoyed my homemade hummus with homemade flatbread, garden fresh heirloom tomato, cucumber, olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. I topped it off with a refreshing tiny glass of limoncello.

*My flatbread is really just pizza dough that I made last night when I put the beans in the Crockpot. I let it proof overnight in the fridge, then put into the oven right before lunch today. EASY! It's so much tastier than store-bought, you can control the amount of salt, make it whole-grain or organic, and it does not take that much time! I have used the Anson Mills recipe with White Lily bread flour in the same proportions of yeast, water and salt, and its incredible.

I think this lunch is a great way to celebrate healthy eating and celebrating the bounty of summer. I've watched a few recent episodes of Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution on abc, and I think he would approve. My Mom has been making tomato, mozzarella and fresh basil paninis lately, which sounds delicious! I'll have to try that soon with my flatbread!

This evening with my dinner, I want to enjoy another "fruit of the sun"......my Charleston Tea Plantation Peach Tea. Any good Southern cook or "lady" knows that in the summer, you make sun tea! It is so easy and helps keep your kitchen cool. One less stove burner to turn on.

It is simple, simple, simple.

Sun Tea

NOTE: I use loose tea whenever possible, and strain it after brewing.

I use 1 teaspoon of loose tea per cup of water, and it is just the right strength.

Take your tea bags or loose tea, and put in a mason jar or other container with a lid.

Use the same number of tea bags per cup of water, like you usually do.

Fill container with appropriate amount of water.

Put the lid on the container.

Put it in direct sun for 1-2 hours. You want the water to look like tea, and the container to be VERY warm, before you bring it in.

If you want to sweeten your tea, I recommend using a simple syrup or adding agave nectar, as it will dissolve better than granulated sugar.

Chill, pour over ice, and enjoy!

Making Sun Tea is so easy....das Jetta can do it!

Like I've said before.....this blog needs a food stylist! Please laugh at my pictures, it's ok! :)

Ratatouille

June 11, 2011

It's June in the Lowcountry, and the veggies are going crazy! I am now getting cucumbers, squash, sweet onions, eggplant, green and yellow peppers, jalapeños, and sweet corn in my CSA box! The tomatoes are another 1-2 weeks away from being ready at Rest Park Farm.

I've gotten several grape tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes out of my own garden in the last couple of days. Back during the first week of March, I took a chance on the weather and planted my tomato seeds into the ground. At the end of March, I bought larger plants and put them in. Those are now bearing ripe fruit, and there are green tomatoes on the plants that came from seed.

All of the squash, onions, and eggplant have been going into Ratatouille lately. Ratatouille is a French peasant vegetable stew, usually made with squash, zucchini, bell pepper, eggplant, carrot, onion, garlic, and fresh herbs. The most traditional herbs are thyme, basil, marjoram and bay leaf. Ratatouille is also an Academy Award-winning Pixar movie about a rat in a Parisian kitchen.....and is just as good as it's namesake dish!

I have been making 2 big batches a week, and have tried different flavor combinations. Sometimes I add cayenne pepper flake, and other times I add roasted garlic and a light dusting of Parmesan cheese on top before letting it broil to a golden brown.

My favorite way to make Ratatouille is very simple, rustic, and downright lazy.

Oven-roasted ratatouille (makes 4-6 LARGE servings)

Ingredients:

3-4 zucchini, each about 6-8 inches long (phallic monsters, as my aunt likes to call them...heehee)

3-4 small crook-neck or "pattipan" yellow squash

1 large eggplant, rough dice

1 green bell pepper, diced

2-3 large tomatoes, diced

2 carrots, rough dice

1 medium Vidalia or other sweet onion, rough dice

2 cloves of garlic, minced

handful of fresh basil, chopped

small sprig of rosemary, chopped

Two "pinches" of dried oregano

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Two "pinches" of dried chili flake, you can omit this if you're not into spicy

1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper, or to taste

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

-Dice your veggies into somewhat uniform size

-mince the garlic and the herbs

- place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl

- take your clean hands and mix everything together

- transfer to a large casserole dish

- bake for 30-40 minutes

DELICIOUS! Let this bake while you take a shower, brush the dog, or prepare faster cooking components of your meal.

I like ratatouille on its own for a healthy lunch, or as a side dish with grilled chicken, tempeh or sausage. YUM!!!

I have a feeling that someday I will be feeding my kids ratatouille while they watch ratatouille!

Pizza, over easy, please!

May 21, 2011

Sometimes ya just need a good slice of pizza. For me, I prefer to make mine at home. Pizza dough can take a while to make, since you have to let it rise, beat it down, then let it rise again...but it is worth it!

If you do not have the time to make an awesome pizza crust, get some dough from the grocery store, or just order a pizza!

My favorite place to get a pizza in Beaufort is at Panini's Cafe. They have a great selection, and a true thin-crust flatbread-style pizza. The guy that throws their pies into the brick oven always wears a shirt that says: "Never trust a round pizza." My experiment this evening with pizza did end up with an oblong-ish shape...but more on that later.

They also put "non-traditional" toppings on their pizza like preserved lemon, chorizo, and mustard aioli. My favorite is the "Palermo," which has preserved lemon, roasted chicken, peppers, pesto, and mozzarella cheese.

This is my attempt at making this pizza at home, minus the chicken. I did not have any chicken on hand tonight, even in the freezer. The only chicken available is in a form that is unacceptable and harvesting said chicken is considered murderous cannibalism in these parts. So instead, I used eggs as a topping.

This is my "Pizza Palermo a la SBC."

Ingredients:

2-3 tablespoons of Pesto (make it from scratch or from out of a jar, Classico makes a decent one)

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Thin sliced sweet red pepper

1/4 of a preserved lemon, sliced into thin strips* I made my own, see note below

2 large eggs, organic or from your own stupid baby chickens is best

Pizza dough

fresh cracked black pepper

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 500 F

Put your baking stone into the oven while the oven pre-heats

When the oven comes to temperature, you must work fast, lest you end up with an ugly oblong-shaped pizza like mine.

If you are really good, and have a pizza peel or wooden cutting board "lubricated" with semolina or corn meal, you can build the pizza there, and then attempt to slide it into the oven, atop the stone. My attempt at this failed miserably tonight, hence the ugly pizza pictured below. It did not want to slide!

Roll out your pizza dough to desired thickness, take care that it doesn't stick to the board.

Get your ingredients chopped, grated, and ready to build the pizza.

When your stone is hot, remove it from the oven and place on the stove top.

Place your pizza dough on it, then the fun begins.

Quickly: smear your pesto onto the dough, then sprinkle the lemon, red pepper, Parmesan cheese, and then crack the two eggs onto the desired locations on the dough. Sprinkle a little cracked black pepper directly on top of the raw eggs.

* Some members of your family may be grossed out by this, so place the eggs where the pizza can be cut around them into single servings.*

Carefully put the stone + pizza back into the hot oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your crust.

Remove when the eggs are cooked (they will look like fried eggs sitting on top of the crust). Let the pizza cool slightly, cut and serve!

No preserved lemon on hand? You can find them at Whole Foods, international markets, and Indian/Middle Eastern grocery stores. You can also make them yourself! If you are a fan of this blog, you are aware that every winter my Aunt Susan gives me gorgeous Meyer lemons from her back yard. I make some of them into limoncello, some into lemonaid, some into Meyer lemon pies, and some into preserved lemons.

Here is an excellent recipe for making preserved lemons. It is really super easy, and takes about 1 month from lemon to preserve.

These really are a good way to put a salty-sweet note on the pizza. The "pickling" process takes away the sourness of the lemon and leaves a nice tang that works well with pesto.

Don't just think that making preserved lemons limits you to making pizza with them. Go online and look up some Moroccan recipes that call for preserved lemon. YUM!

I hear that the Russians really like eggs on their pizza. I wonder if this is also true in Poland? There is only one way to find out.......but in the meantime, we should ALL make eggs on pizza at home!

The courgettes are coming!

May 14, 2011

Summer is upon us here in Beaufort, South Carolina!

The roses are in

full bloom!

And....The courgettes are also in full swing, both with their blooms and delicious fruit!

Why am I calling regular old summer squash "courgettes"? Well, in Great Britain they call zucchini "courgettes"....and I was trying to trick my husband.

You see, Doug HATES squash. I mean, he HATES the stuff with a passion!

So, this is how bad he hates squash!

Anyways, I had watched an episode of "Jamie at Home" on the Cooking Channel, and he was doing recipes on summer squash. I decided that since my CSA box is bursting with all types of "courgettes".....pati-pans, crook-neck, cannon-ball and regular small zucchini...that I should try some new recipes!

The most classic way I've seen squash cooked in the deep South is the Squash Casserole. It is a favorite at our Thanksgiving and Christmas tables. My Mother makes hers with Vidalia onion, yellow crook-neck squash, butter, salt, pepper and sharp cheddar cheese. She tops the casserole with crushed Ritz crackers.

I prefer to steam mine with Vidalia onion and a little salt and pepper. They cook quickly, and still retain some nutrients.

The recipe I tried tonight is a little different from how most Southerners cook their squash. It is a raw dish, and is delicious! It is an excellent side dish, and I think I'll take the leftovers and spoon it over grilled fish tomorrow night.

Raw Courgette Salad

Serves 2-4

3-6 small young zucchini and/or crook neck squash

1/2 of a sweet red pepper, chopped into slivers

Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons of fresh mint, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons of basil, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

pinch of sea salt

pinch of black pepper

pinch of cayenne or red pepper flake

Method:

Wash the squash and dry them. Using a mandolin or a veggie peeler, peel them into very thin strips, including the very outer skin. When you reach the seeds, stop and discard the seedy portion.

Toss the rest of the ingredients with the thinly sliced squash slices. Taste a bit of it and adjust the acid, salt and pepper. Serve as a side dish, or on top of chicken or fish.

I took a page from my Cousin Buddy's book tonight and garnished mine with basil flowers. They were delicious!

I urge you to take advantage of the squash-a-plenty in your summer garden. Get online and try some new recipes! Don't just feed it to your chickens (mine won't eat it anyways....they must take after their Father!)

Bavarian Invasion!

April 30, 2011

Wait.....those aren't Germans...scroll down!

What better way to spend the last day of my 30-day local eating challenge but with my friends Susanne and Klaus Kries of Gröbenzell, Bavaria! Gröbenzell is a charming little village near Munich. I have such fond memories of visiting there in 1998!

Susanne and Klaus are such vibrant, fun people!

They have been friends of my grandparents since the 1960s. They are visiting the South for two weeks, and they chose to come visit me in Beaufort! We went to the 2011 Beaufort Air Show, the beach on Hunting Island, ate incredible fresh seafood, and I got to make a 99% local breakfast for them on Sunday morning!

I have also made a great discovery this week about the history and peoples of South Carolina!

Did you know that there are actual monks in Monck's Corner, South Carolina? They are part of an order of Trappist monks, to be exact. This monastery was established in 1949 on the site of the Mepkin Plantation on the banks of the Cooper River, near Charleston.

You may ask yourself, what is a Trappist monk? As many of us in the South are Protestant, what do we know about monks? They make beer in Europe, they lead a life of prayer and celibacy, and they tend to be pretty cool cats.

Trappist monks are most well known because in Europe, they make incredible beer. These guys kept Europe alive for centuries when the water was so contaminated with coliforms that only the brewing process could make the water safe for drinking. Louis Pasteur would later discover that this was actually due to the boiling process that beer goes through, but, ethanol is also a mild antiseptic!

These Trappist monks at Mepkin Abbey do not brew beer (the Bavarians were disappointed), but they do farm, produce organic eggs and oyster mushrooms! I bought this "crate" of mushrooms at the Mount Pleasant Whole Foods.

Oyster mushrooms are delicious and can be used in any recipe that calls for mushrooms. Just be sure not to cook them into mush!

My breakfast for Klaus and Susanne on Sunday morning was to be "light," as Klaus requested. The menu:

Scrambled fresh SBC eggs with parsley and chives

with caramelized Mepkin Abbey Oyster Mushrooms

on fresh mixed salad greens from my garden

Sweetgrass Dairy Thomasville Tomme slices

Dempsey Farms fresh picked strawberries

South Georgia Pecan halves

Thompson Farms Hickory Smoked Bacon

Bush River Jerseys Skim milk

Charleston Tea Plantation Governor Gray

Bonnie's Garden Beaufort Honey

Many thanks to my Dad and to N5589R for making the Kries' trip possible. It was a very quick trip, but very enjoyable! I hope that I get to see all of them again very soon.

Doug is already planning a trip to Gröbenzell for Oktoberfest 2012!......after all.....we will be just across the border in Poland!

Berry College and Pics along the way

April 27, 2011

Just some meals I've had along the way.........lots of salad, even with Georgia pastured, hickory-smoked bacon, will make your waistline a little smaller.....so far, so good!

Rainbow carrots, cucumbers, radishes, and the first of the purple beans from my garden!

I'm also really proud of my alma mater: Berry College! It has been named one of 311 U.S. Green colleges in the Princeton Review!

On a sadder note: Berry lost many, many of their 100+ year old oak trees on campus to the huge storms that have marched across the South today. Tonight.....more storms.

Berry College Storm Damage. On a lighter note....I think I've driven that bobcat!