Simple compromises

My vegetarian quest failed - it lasted less than 7 days. We had a windfall of dinner invitations that all involved meat.  I have adjusted my expectations - no land animals - just sea creatures; this will be more manageable until I get the courage to go all of the way.

I've also had to adjust my principles for the kids. Bread has been an ongoing struggle; they want white, but I promote grains, fiber, and no hfcs...I compromised with TJs white wheat but the texture and taste were not very pleasant; it quickly became evident that soft bread can only be obtained via chemicals.  Needless to say, I have fallen prey and purchased Stroehmann Family Grains.  Wonder is running a scam - the sweetener is listed as "high fructose corn syrup or sugar" - bogus; Family Grains prominently displays no high fructose corn syrup.

I started thinking about this labeling and wondered if it's a way to market to people who are grasping at straws for healthy eating, or is a wake up call for people who never read labels.  Speaking of which, I noticed two phenomena throughout the market. There is a subset of national brand food prominently marked simple, no hfcs, natual, etc. These products generally have fewer ingredients and stark packaging; they straddle the border of processed foods.  Some of these products raise the same red-flags as low-fat products; all kinds of maneuvering to meet the standards of the processed food connoisseur.  Enter a new term - fully hydrogenated oil (accompanied by mono & di glycerides)...


Then there's the intentional additives, ie Omega-3.  Everyday products are now bursting with this essential fatty acid.  Olive oil, fish oil, etc have been added to everything...there's peanut butter containing all kinds of fish - anchovy, tilapia gelatin, etc.  This is precisely what Michael Pollan writes about - looking at components of food/nutrition instead of approaching it holistically puts foodstuffs in the hands of technicians.  Conversely, if you eat actual food - the stuff that comes out of the ground - then there's no need to worry about hfcs, partially hydrogenated oil, a full day's supply of vitamin c, omega-3, low-carb, or any of the other pseudo-food hype.

More than a notion

This vegetarian plan is more complicated than I thought, especially when trying to plan the right balance of carbs and protein.

Monday I made black eye peas that were rather flavorful, onions, garlic, celery, peppers, low sodium broth, and seasoning; red quinoa with garlic and onions (this could've been kicked up a bit - my daughter reminded me last night that I used to curry and stir-fry quinoa); and nappa cabbage.

Last night I wanted flavor, however, since I'm out of berbere and it was late, timtimo was not an option so I went with puttanesca. The sauce is made with anchovies so one might argue that its not exactly vegetarian but its close enough.

My son is starting to resist. He's claiming he needs more protein; this is clearly an issue of mind over matter because he is a carb boy, he rarely eats meat but I think he just needs to see it to feel like he's had a balanced meal.
  
I'm still forging ahead, we have dinner plans tonight so I'm not sure if that'll be a setback but I do have kidney beans and lentils on hand.  Three days down, 27 to go. 

Wheatable

I've been thinking about doing a 30-day vegetarian quest (fish on Fridays) for several months and decided that there's no time like the present.

We stopped by my aunt's house after brunch and she was preparing dinner - vegetables and seitan over black beans and rice (she embraced veganism many moons ago).  I resisted seitan when it was an option in my CSA several years ago, largely because I've always been leery of fake meat..it seemed illogical to consume a processed substitute for something you're trying to avoid. She offered me a piece and the texture wasn't bad at all...I thought, I might try it...one day.

We ran errands and almost stopped for dinner but I was determined to kick off this veggie quest, so we swung by H-Mart, I was thinking pancit...veggie pancit.  I picked up sugar snap peas, garlic, scallions, carrots, and nappa cabbage.  (Every time I visit that store I wonder if the low produce prices are because the large Korean community gardens are the suppliers).

When I got back to the car I thought it would be great to have some sort of protein...eggs, perhaps...no, I thought I should go back in and get some firm tofu and dice it small...that's when I saw it - "vegetarian chicken" - I read the ingredients and it seemed pretty harmless (unless you have celiac disease) although, the hype about gluten-free and the fear of carbohydrates made me a smidgen apprehensive. Conversely, wheat gluten has been a staple in Chinese & Japanese cooking since ancient times so I gave it a shot. 

I needed a bit more tamari but the pancit turned out fine, and only my daughter realized that there was either chicken or seitan mixed in.  We have certainly broadened our horizons.

Insatiable

I honestly don't know what compels me to continue this blog...it's not that I have nothing else to do, or think that what I'm saying is so profound, but it's an urge - I seek out new tastes in the kitchen and brainstorm on this blog.  I'm driven to improvise.  Tonight I planned to make my salmon stew but I couldn't resist deviating from the tried and true.  I toned down the robustness, added oatmeal and mixed vegetables - very hearty.

In addition to the desire to experience new tastes and textures, this culinary journey is also an attempt to have full disclosure on the origin of the food that I consume and feed to my family.  That brings me back (for the 1000th time) to eggs.  I was flipping through USA Today at the dealer yesterday and there was an article about eggs and salmonella.  The article detailed a large-scale egg  producing operation in Illinois (1.1 million caged hens) and all I could think about is my friend's three chickens wandering in his backyard.  Egg production is automated...from feeding, to removing waste, to bathing the eggs.  They certainly don't have to worry about those hens coming home to roost because 8 chickens are sitting in a 27.7" x 22.6" cage 24/7. 

It is our demand for cheap food that fuels factory farming and the food borne illnesses associated with food production on that scale.  Cheap, however, is relative.  There are many who can't afford any food and as Ramadan comes to an end that is something on which I'd like to reflect.  While I'm cooking and eating for pleasure, there are so many who are not able to eat for nourishment.

Intimidating

Although it's Labor Day, I pulled out the crock-pot...slow cooking seems most appropriate for the winter but I was desperate.  I had taken out a pack of the short ribs we picked up from River Run and realized that I haven't made short ribs of beef in at least 10 years.  I knew they needed to cook for an extended period but I couldn't think of how to season them. 

I sprinkled some of my basic seasonings and worcestershire sauce, tossed in flour, then seared - placed in the crock-pot then sauteed onions, tomatoes, more seasoning...added pineapple juice (not sure why), and a dash of brown sugar.  I cooked the concoction on high for 6 hours.  It was very flavorful but quite oily (next time I'll prepare a day in advance so that I can easily remove the fat).  For sides, I cooked the last of the kale and pressure cooked the last of the potatoes (for smashed potatoes).

My daughter remarked that all of the food was very flavorful, but for me the show stopper were the artichokes (my son thought they were miniature chickens).  I have no idea how to peel and prepare a fresh artichoke but I took a gamble on TJs jarred artichokes with stems (assuming that the canned hearts would be a disaster).  I rinsed them thoroughly to remove the citric acid then drained while I heated olive oil and butter to caramelize the garlic.  I tossed them in the pan and they were excellent.

I also purchased frozen artichoke hearts with which I made an artichoke and spinach quiche with sun-dried tomatoes and Italian cheese for suhoor tomorrow. 

One day I will tackle a fresh artichoke head-on, but until then, I'm sticking with the jarred variety. 

Coming home to roost

I went to a friend's house for a bbq and was delighted to see 3 chickens moving about the yard. As I watched them eat grass, bugs, and worms, I immediately thought about the grain-based, vegetarian diet promintently advertised on supermarket eggs.  If chickens naturally forage for insects, why are factory chickens being denied a well balanced diet? 


Apparently they're easy to care for; they just need a coop, a yard, clean water, and an occasional pooper scooper. They walk about during the day and go home to roost at dusk. I truly enjoyed watching them. The only strange detail about this event was the Heinz hfcs ketchup that was prominently displayed alongside the TJs whole wheat rolls. 

The chickens were purchased at 14 weeks from a 4H-er in Pottstown for $10 and have each been laying one egg daily since they were 21 weeks old.  The eggshells are a pleasing palette, but it makes you wonder how much engineering goes into producing eggs of uniform shapes and colors - our cosmetic demands are a major contributing factor to the food production machine. 

For our needs 3 eggs per day would yield plenty of omelets and quiche.  Next spring our outdoor space clearly needs to be devoted to a bit of urban subsistence food production.

Townhouse pie

If shepherd's pie is made with lamb, and cottage pie is made with beef, then a beef and au gratin casserole must be a townhouse pie...or an explosion as my son called it.

My dad loves shepherd's pie - I don't, I always dreaded when my mom would make it...but my sister-in-law asked me about it the other day saying that a co-worker made shepherd's pie with broccoli and cheese.  I thought that sounded interesting so I figured I'd take a stab, but with potatoes au gratin instead of mashed. 

As I was thinking about the process, it dawned on me that I would have to partially cook the potatoes before baking or make them super thin.  I chose to boil them (sliced with skins on) for about 7 minutes.  I browned 1 lb of grass-fed beef, added onions, the remnants of a tomato, worcestershire sauce, seasonings, then added a 1lb bag of TJs frozen Organic Foursome (the concoction smelled like meatloaf). 

I put that in the bottom of a dish and mixed up half-and-half (didn't have any heavy cream or evaporated milk), flour, garlic, and a little seasoning.  I layered the potatoes on the meat, poured the sauce over and started wondering how it was going to turn out...was it going to be attractive, what kind of consistency, I was a little concerned about the final product. 

As it baked and the aroma filled the house,I desperately wanted to taste it.  It was delicious and comforting...needless to say - the family devoured it.