It originally came from the Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking
which was my mother's go-to book for many recipes that became family favorites ... such as the Tuna Puff Log. Yes, it sounds strange but it was a brioche loaf which one baked and then cut off the lid to in order to hollow out and fill with a delicious creamed tuna (fairly stiff but with walnuts and a dash of nutmeg). It made a surprisingly sophisticated dish which I seem to recall my parents serving to company ... who would eat seconds.It's round, has a big hole in the center and is made of thick, chewy dough.Read it all at the WSJ.
But don't call it a bagel.
As we told some of you at last Saturday's delivery we had to sacrifice the second crop of yellow squash, zucchini, and patty pan because the plague of squash bugs had gotten so bad after working so many hours manually killing them and removing the eggs. The nasty bugs were just about to migrate to the second crop of cantaloupe and watermelons. We could not allow that to happen as the cantaloupes and watermelons look good. The squash bugs ruined our cantaloupe and watermelons one year as we didn't think they would be affected by squash bugs, but found out they will destroy them as well as squash. So we used our propane burner tractor attachment and destroyed them all along with the eggs and nymphs. It took quite a long time and used a full 58 gallon tank of propane, but hopefully we have "stayed the plague" and saved our cantaloupe and watermelons. This is part of growing organic. We could have provided some beautiful squash if we were using conventional methods---just spray them with harmful pesticides, kill all of the bugs, and have squash. However, we are committed to organic only and will continue growing produce accordingly. We will plant a third crop of yellow squash, zucchini, patty pan, butternut, and acorn squash tomorrow. I am sure we didn't kill every squash bug, but I believe 98% of them so hopefully the third crop of all the squash will produce abundantly in the fall.I must say, though, that the crops we do receive have been the freshest and highest quality I have ever had since my parents' big gardening days. It is definitely worth the trouble.
Shrub is a colonial-day drink whose name is derived from the Arabic word sharab, to drink. It is a concentrated syrup made from fruit, vinegar, and sugar that is traditionally mixed with water to create a refreshing drink that is simultaneously tart and sweet. In the nineteenth-century, the drink was often spiked brandy or rum. Ubiquitous in colonial times, the use of shrubs as a flavoring for tonic and sodas subsided with increasing industrial production of foods.Reading Eric Felton's entertaining and informative book, How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well, I came across his recipe for a Raspberry Rum Shrub. I remembered having seen similar recipes as curiosities in old cookbooks and the vinegar was offputting to my mental palate. Until, that is, I remembered lemonade with its sweet-tart combination that was diluted by water and ice to make a refreshing summer drink.
My mother had been asking if I had Dad's green pork recipe copied down. Sadly no, but I am sure it's genesis was in Elisabeth Ortiz's original The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking. This is from waaay back in the day ... wait for it ... 1967. Yet it is fascinating to look at how authentic the results were that Ortiz communicated in her recipes using canned tomatillos and jalapenos. In fact, looking up the recipe, I was seized with the desire for green pork and also seized with curiosity about making it old-school Ortiz style.
I remembered when I was in the store and saw a pork roast on sale. Then I ran all over the store picking up the ingredients. Turns out this is not actually the recipe my parents favored. (They used the recipe under this one which I may actually get around to sharing one of these days.)
This was absolutely delicious. We scooped it into flour tortillas. Mmmmm ...
These days pork is not what it was then and I'd use a pork shoulder, though my roast did very well. Also, my ... ahem ... handful of cilantro is actually an entire bunch. What can I say? I'm a fan.
Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz did update her book (The New Complete Book of Mexican Cooking) and making this recipe made me curious as I am sure she now uses fresh tomatillos and the like. I have requested it from the library.
Lomo de Cerdo en Chile Verde
Loin of Pork in Green Chile Sauce
2 tablespoons lard or oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 pounds boneless loin of pork, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 pounds tomatillos, shucked, washed, and cut into quarters
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
2-3 mild jalapenos, cut into strips
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Heat the lard or oil in a skillet, and saute the onion and garlic until limp. Drain, and place in the bottom of a heavy, flame-proof casserole that has a cover. Add the pork, tomatillo, cilantro, and chiles, and the nopalitos. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover; and simmer over a low heat until the pork can be pierced easily with a fork, or about 2 hours. Serves 6.
I usually make this the day after Christmas when I have lots of roast pork shoulder leftovers. In that case, simmer the sauce for an hour and then add the cut up pork and simmer for another hour.
You will receive 6-15 different fruits and vegetables each week. All fruit and vegetables will be grown here on our farm (we may have to supplement our certified organic blueberries by picking from another blueberry farm close to us where absolutely no pesticides are used. Our blueberry bushes are still only 4 years old.) This supply will include 2 pints of blueberries each week plus one full flat (12 pints) during blueberry season. We will be planting peach, pear, plum, and apple trees for future fruit harvest.
I wasted no time but signed up online and sent in my check that very day. I later received notice that I was in. Woohoo!... have been so busy trying to finish all the spring transplanting from the small plug trays into the 2 inch cups, finishing onion planting in the fields "on mud beds", planting eggplant seeds, the 8 varieties of pepper seeds (5 heirloom varieties) and tomato seeds (one heirloom variety) in the small plug trays on warmer beds in the greenhouses. It is already time to begin planting squash, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe, Israel melon, and zucchini seeds in the greenhouses.Yep, we're going to have a connection to nature that I haven't experienced in some time, even though it will be vicarious. As well, I am going to be forced to vary our diet and try new varieties of fruit and vegetables ... also all to the good. I'm excited about this.
Photos of our future produce pickups (fingers crossed for good weather).
When it comes to food, I don't have a gourmet's memory. I remember the kinds of foods I was raised to love. Chaz and I stayed once at Les Pres d'Eugenie, the inn of the famous Michel Guerard in Eugénie-les-Bains. We had certainly the best meal I have ever been served. I remember that, the room, the people at the other tables and our view in the photo, but I can no longer remember what I ate. It isn't hard-wired into my memory.
Yet I could if I wanted to right now close my eyes and re-experience an entire meal at Steak 'n Shake, bite by bite in proper sequence, because I always ordered the same items and ate them according to the same ritual. It is there for me.
Dom Perignon, a $150 Champagne from France, and Domaine St. Michelle Cuvee Brut, a $12 sparkling wine from Washington State, are both made in the traditional Champagne method. Both wines are widely available at wine stores, liquor stores, and restaurants. Both are dry, with high acidity. The two bottle are more or less the same size and shape. So why are consumers willing to pay more than 12 times more for one than for the other?Of course, I feel even more justified than before. Add in the fact that I feel I am splurging if I spend $15 on a bottle of wine and you can see that The Wine Trials is clearly a book to which I was receptive.
The most obvious explanation would be that, to most wine drinkers. the liquid inside the bottle of Dom Perignon tastes better than the liquid inside the bottle of Domaine St. Michelle -- if not 12 times better, then at least somewhat better. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. Between fall 2007 and spring 2008, we conducted an experiment serving these two sparkling wines head-to-head in five different blind tastings, with the bottles hidden inside brown paper bags. And 41 of 62 tasters -- about two thirds -- preferred the Domaine St. Michelle.
In October 2009, we replicated the experiment on a smaller scale with newer releases of the two sparkling wines. This time, we served them to a group of professional chefs, certified sommeliers, and food writers, of which more than 70% preferred the humble $12 bottle to the famous $150 one. this time, we also threw in Veuve Clicquot, a popular $40 Champagne from the same luxury products group -- LVMH -- that makes Dom Perignon. More than 85% of the tasters preferred the Domaine Ste. Michelle to the Veuve.
