I went all out on Easter. I actually broke my fast the night before. We went out to dinner with some friends and I had salmon, brussle sprouts, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and chocolate! Yum. It was tasty, but the best part was going out! This was my first meal in a restaurant in a long long time (besides the time we went out with a group of folks and I brought my own food with me -the waitress loved me - I left her a big tip and she didn't have to do anything but bring me a local beer).
Easter morning I had a SCONE for breakfast - warm and buttery. It was so good! That night for dinner we had pasta with olives. All very delicious. But honestly, most of what I was eating before was totally delcious too. I think that as the end of Lent drew close the thing that I noticed the most was the isolation I felt. I think I really was eating quite well still. Wonderful salads and creative soups, casseroles, even pizza, but not many people wanted the challenge of having me over for dinner. We had house guests the last week and they were a little scared of my diet and tended to eat out a lot (we had a lot of discussion about wheather you could call something a pizza if it had a cornbread crust). I loved everything about this experience, but I think the one improvement would be a community of people who were eating the same way I was eating. I guess that is something worth working towards.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Lardy Lardy
I made LARD! When I was a kid growing up in Chapel Hill in the 80's I remember hearing about lard for the first time. I think it had something to do with a biscuit recipe. I was totally grossed out when I understood that LARD was PIG FAT. I'm pretty sure I found a different recipe for biscuits, because I couldn't imagine pig parts in my biscuit. I became a vegetarian when I was 14. Having been squeamish about meat since I was a young child, I decided as a young teenager that I just wouldn't eat it anymore. I was a vegetarian for 17 years. I won't go into my reasons (long and boring) for starting to eat meat at this point in my life. Suffice it to say that I decided a couple of years ago to eat meat if I knew where it came from, and I knew it had had a good life. So, all this is an explanation of the significance of ME of all people making lard.
When I first started this local diet I had a little difficulty figuring out what kind of fat to use in my baking and cooking. I couldn't use any kind of oil - even if the corn were grown locally there is no processing facility to make corn oil in this region. As a matter of fact there is no local source for vegetable oils of any kind that I have heard of. That left me with animal fats. I got into the habit of frying up a little sausage or bacon if I wanted some fat for things like sauteing greens or roasting potatoes. It was yummy, but it was an extra step in the cooking process that I didn't always have time for.
I had some leftover pig fat in my freezer that I had trimmed off a pork shoulder....why not make LARD? It is amazingly easy. I cut up the fat into small pieces and cooked them in my cast iron skillet (this has the duel purpose of seasoning the hell out of your skillet) for about an hour on very low heat. Then you pour the liquid fat through a coffee filter and ta da you have LARD. You also have some crispy things left in the coffee filter called "cracklins." Cracklins are deep fried fat. They are the little pieces of flesh and fat that don't cook down - so they fry instead. This is not a treat for the faint of heart.
We were lucky enough to have our friends David and Noah in town the day that I made lard. Both of them grew up in the south and they know how to appreciate some fried fat. I salted the cracklins and toasted them in the oven and they were even more outrageously crackly. I have to admit, however, that I can't quite get used to the flavor and texture of fried fat - I think all those years of being a veg ruined me for ever fully indulging in cracklins. Now lard is a different story. It has so many uses. It is basically flavorless. It can be used in any way that vegetable oil would be used and it does a much better job at certain things - like greasing pans, for example. Potatoes roasted in lard are unbelievably good. I am happy to say that I no longer turn up my nose at this local source of fat and flavor.
When I first started this local diet I had a little difficulty figuring out what kind of fat to use in my baking and cooking. I couldn't use any kind of oil - even if the corn were grown locally there is no processing facility to make corn oil in this region. As a matter of fact there is no local source for vegetable oils of any kind that I have heard of. That left me with animal fats. I got into the habit of frying up a little sausage or bacon if I wanted some fat for things like sauteing greens or roasting potatoes. It was yummy, but it was an extra step in the cooking process that I didn't always have time for.
I had some leftover pig fat in my freezer that I had trimmed off a pork shoulder....why not make LARD? It is amazingly easy. I cut up the fat into small pieces and cooked them in my cast iron skillet (this has the duel purpose of seasoning the hell out of your skillet) for about an hour on very low heat. Then you pour the liquid fat through a coffee filter and ta da you have LARD. You also have some crispy things left in the coffee filter called "cracklins." Cracklins are deep fried fat. They are the little pieces of flesh and fat that don't cook down - so they fry instead. This is not a treat for the faint of heart.
We were lucky enough to have our friends David and Noah in town the day that I made lard. Both of them grew up in the south and they know how to appreciate some fried fat. I salted the cracklins and toasted them in the oven and they were even more outrageously crackly. I have to admit, however, that I can't quite get used to the flavor and texture of fried fat - I think all those years of being a veg ruined me for ever fully indulging in cracklins. Now lard is a different story. It has so many uses. It is basically flavorless. It can be used in any way that vegetable oil would be used and it does a much better job at certain things - like greasing pans, for example. Potatoes roasted in lard are unbelievably good. I am happy to say that I no longer turn up my nose at this local source of fat and flavor.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Cornbread PB&J
I just made a batch of the sweet potato cornbread and I left the sweet potato out altogether. It is great. It's still really moist and holds together really well, and it's even easier to throw together. Today I made my first peanut butter and jelly on cornbread. I do love a good PB &J. I found some local raw peanuts at the farmers market. I roasted them and then put 'em in the blender with salt and honey to make a toasty peanut butter concoction. Then I slathered it on my cornbread with some plum preserves (which I believe came from our friends Charlie and Debby). It was pretty good, but I have to admit it wasn't quite as good as a PB&J on whole wheat bread UNTIL.... I stuck the whole sandwich in the oven (I was at work so the oven was on anyway). THEN it was a kick ass warm ooey gooey toasty PB&J that was as good as any I've ever had!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Sweet potato
The other night, at dinner, Reid and I had a laugh when we realized what we were eating. We had baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato cornbread, and a salad that prominently featured grated sweet potato. I later found out that February is National Sweet Potato Month. It seems appropriate. Sweet potatoes are good keepers and obviously very versatile. I suppose that February is traditionally the time when the larder starts to empty out and what is left in the bottom of the bins are the things that keep the best. I feel so lucky to live in a place where sweet potatoes are plentiful in the "hungry" month of February. I am so glad I don't have to eat yucca root or something bland and dry like that. Sweet potato feels like a gift from the gods.
Here is my recipe for sweet potato cornbread. It is moist and yummy. It holds together very well, so it can be used to make a sandwich. It makes excellent toast with honey or jam(or plain). The amount of honey used can vary depending on how sweet you like your bread. More can be added and the batter turned into muffins or cakes. I have omitted the honey altogether and there is still a hint of sweetness from the sweet potato, but the bread goes nicely with sharp cheeses and rich stew.
Sweet Potato Cornbread
2 cups milk
2 cups cornmeal
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons honey
3 eggs
1 large baked sweet potato - peeled and mashed (about 1 cup mashed)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
-soak the cornmeal in the milk for 24 hours. If this is not possible you can heat the milk almost to boiling and stir it into the cornmeal - then allow this mixture to cool.
-add the remaining ingredients to the cornmeal and wisk together to combine thoroughly
-pour into a buttered 9x9 pan ( or some similar size)
-bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until done in the center
-make sure you eat a piece right out of the oven - cause it is sooo good when it is warm
Here is my recipe for sweet potato cornbread. It is moist and yummy. It holds together very well, so it can be used to make a sandwich. It makes excellent toast with honey or jam(or plain). The amount of honey used can vary depending on how sweet you like your bread. More can be added and the batter turned into muffins or cakes. I have omitted the honey altogether and there is still a hint of sweetness from the sweet potato, but the bread goes nicely with sharp cheeses and rich stew.
Sweet Potato Cornbread
2 cups milk
2 cups cornmeal
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons honey
3 eggs
1 large baked sweet potato - peeled and mashed (about 1 cup mashed)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
-soak the cornmeal in the milk for 24 hours. If this is not possible you can heat the milk almost to boiling and stir it into the cornmeal - then allow this mixture to cool.
-add the remaining ingredients to the cornmeal and wisk together to combine thoroughly
-pour into a buttered 9x9 pan ( or some similar size)
-bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until done in the center
-make sure you eat a piece right out of the oven - cause it is sooo good when it is warm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)