Project BudBurst

Got leftovers?  Make frittata!

I still maintain we'll have a late spring for the native trees due to a lack of chill time, but non-native, mostly Asian plants, are in full swing.  This is the first time I've seen forsythia blooming ahead of witch hazel.  It's been a very warm March.  In neighboring yards, I see the typical Asian landscape plants in pink and purple flower.  The lilac was first to bud, and my pear tree is ready to explode.  The flowering almond and weeping cherry are just peeking out.  Of course, there are daffodils and crocus.  Oregano is making a come back, but even the very tender marjoram and curry plants survived the winter.  The feverfew, lavender, and chives are growing strong.  The pea plants just sprouted and we put in our broccoli last night.  The kale is slow to sprout, but I think I need more organic matter in the bed to hold water.

Meanwhile, Master Gardeners have some exciting projects underway.  Volunteers will be keeping track of bloom times at the Roger Williams Botanical Center, which will help plant fans plan their visit based on what they want to see in bloom.  This is called phenology and the information can also track global warming.  Citizen Scientists (like you) can join in by going to the Project BudBurst website and reporting the first buds in your neighborhood, even tracking weeds!

Today, I'll be going to the farmer's market, hopefully finding molasses when I get my eggs, honey, apples, kale, etc.  I'm looking forward to shopping the front yard soon and foraging in the back.  I have been spending less on food since reducing my trips to the big supermarkets.  The food tastes better too.  I suffered through the last hard, tart green apple from the plastic bag my spouse picked up.  No more!

Later, I'll be digging out the rest of the bed for a new "forest garden".  I want to create layers of native plants and some edibles, like ostrich fern, that will suit the less sunny location.  Perhaps a chestnut tree... I will be joining forces with MG at the Community Garden to build one there.  They have a great plan and I hope I learn a lot.  Here is the plan: Edible Forest Garden

Finally, how would you like to have dinner on the table in 10 minutes?  Marinate a pound of meat cut into bite-sized chunks overnight the previous evening.  On dinner night, set oven to broil.  Cook meat 4 minutes per side, turning once.  Check that poultry is cooked through.  Meanwhile, pierce washed organic fingerling or baby potatoes all over with a fork and microwave about 3 minutes, turn over, then microwave 3-4 minutes more.  While potatoes and meat are cooking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan.  Sauté chopped Swiss chard or kale 6-8 minutes, or until tender but not mushy.  Serve.

Marinade:

2 tbs. olive oil

2 tbs. lemon juice

1 tsp. curry

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Hooray for Spring!!!

Today is the Vernal Equinox, when you're supposed to be able to balance an egg upright.  More important, I think, is trying to balance our lives between our work, family, chores, and dreams.  It's a habit of mine to spend too much time working and thinking I'm also addressing my family and dreams.  Working harder doesn't make me any more money, but some work can be priceless.  I'm not talking about another job to buy the latest I-Pad, but the making of a garden with children, of planting snap peas in the cold and seeing them turn into bean stalks.  Atop those, giant fingers will pull off the edible pods, bite down, and smile.  Children become masters of a tiny world.  Last year, a few aphids set up shop, only to be quickly devoured by red and black-spotted soldiers - the lady bugs.  

Last weekend our play-date was swings and slides, rolling down hills, and looking under logs at all the creatures that have magic(k)ally returned.  We saved a wizard by spelling his name.  The five year olds raced the tricycle on the deck.  We pic-nicked on juice and apple sauce.  I made the perfect bread.

So plant something, grow something, and be ready for magic.  All it takes is some dirt, seeds, water, and love.

Vegetarian/Vegan Option

________________________________________________

Honey Grain Bread

Taste of Earth 

________________________________________________

Prep: 25 minutes  Rise: 3-5 hours  Bake 40-45 minutes

Cool: 1 hour  Makes one loaf

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

4 tsp. vital wheat gluten

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup multigrain cereal (such as Bob’s Red Mill)

1 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup warm water (100ºF-115ºF), divided

3 tsp. active dry yeast
1/4 tsp. sugar

2 tbs. olive oil

1/4 cup local honey

In a large bowl, whisk together first six ingredients.  Dissolve yeast with sugar into 1/4 cup of warm water in a separate bowl.  Let sit about ten minutes, until foamy.  Incorporate remaining water, oil, and honey, then make a well in the flour mixture and stir wet into dry.  Flour hands and counter and knead bread about 10 minutes, until elastic.  Place rounded 6” X 4” dough back in bowl and cover with hot wet towel.  (I use my turned-off oven as a proofer.)    Let rise 2-3 hours, or until dough has doubled.  Grease bread pan and punch dough down.  Transfer dough to bread pan, reshaping if needed.  Let rise 1-2 more hours.  Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Bake bread 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped.  Cool one hour.

Mercury Retrograde Spring

Ah, spring, that confusing, wet New England misnomer.  And mercury retrograde: communication tie-ups, techno snafus, details missed, delays and weird dreams.  Or maybe we should blame the time change.  Friends are moving, dealing with trauma, having babies, getting divorced, re-examining their lives.  It is the flux time.  While the winter stocks are depleting (we're down to four apple sauce jars), few new foods are growing.  It's a back-and-forth of frozen meats, root vegetables, and winter squash with kale, other greens, and sprouts.  We've been eating a lot of simple salads of mixed greens and sprouts dotted with herbed cheese.  I made radish parathas, radish raita, and sautéed radish greens.  We used up the last of the frozen hen of the woods mushrooms between the stuffed acorn squash and tonight, the smoked paprika stroganoff.  I know we've gotten used to eating lean when a half cup of sour cream split six ways makes a delicious meal feel like three or four a few minutes later.  We've stopped buying "light" foods because of the added corn and chemicals, but stroganoff is heavy by definition.

Meanwhile, the kale planted in the hoop garden at school is thriving.  We planted snap peas at school and at the home front (literally, in the front yard).  I look forward to biting into the crisp, sweet pods.  It's also a good time to plant kale and swiss chard.  After all that garden clean up last weekend and turning of the compost heap, I need more than salad to keep me going, so here is the meaty recipe.  For vegetarians, you could skip the meat or use textured vegetable protein.  I used ground pork, lower in fat than ground beef.  I think ground turkey would work as well, for a lighter option, although it might taste a bit dry.  Tomorrow, I drop off student artwork for the Spring Show at the Winter's Farmer's Market and see if anything new has popped up for the menu this week.

________________________________________________

Smoked Paprika Stroganov

Taste of 19th Century Russia

________________________________________________

Prep: 10 minutes  Cook: 30-40 minutes  Makes six servings 

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 diced yellow onion

1 tbs. butter

1 tbs. olive oil

1 tbs. or more of smoked paprika

1 tsp. salt

1 cup chicken or beef broth

1/2 cup red wine

2 tbs. flour

1/2 cup sour cream

1 lb. ground beef, pork, or lamb

Melt butter in Dutch oven or large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add mushroom and cook gently, stirring to coat with butter, about five minutes.  Add onions, stirring, and cook until they begin to caramelize, 10-15 minutes.  Stir flour into mushroom mix until well-combined, then add broth.  Meanwhile, heat oil in separate skillet and brown meat in small batches, sprinkling with paprika and salt.  Set meat aside.  After meat is cooked, deglaze pan with wine.  Add drippings to mushroom mix, then stir in meat and sour cream, adding more paprika if desired.  Serve with egg noodles, other pasta, or oven fries, and peas.    

  

Great White Skate and Risotto Croquettes

Tomorrow we film the cooking segment of our first episode of "Around the World in 100 Miles" (RI PBS 14, Mondays in April, 6:30 p.m.).  We filmed our farmer's market visit weeks ago, and of course I made the apple parsnip soup and served it at a committee meeting.  But two huge parsnips sat forlornly in the fridge as I attended to other matters.  Finally back at the FM, I bought all the ingredients again, but also got to talking to one of the fish mongers and went home with a giant skate wing for only $9.  This thing (think: sting ray or shark) will easily feed four people and I was told tasted like scallops.  Scallops being one of my favorite seafood but usually outside my budget, I had to give skate a try.  But what to do with those parsnips I hadn't done a million times already?

I decided to do all easy recipes except for croquettes, which I had an intense craving for.  I cooked up some risotto and prepped everything else.  The parsnips were limp and hard to peel.  I ended up boiling them like potatoes in the same pan I had cooked the risotto in, while the latter quick-chilled in the freezer.  I roasted two large cloves of hard-neck garlic in foil in the oven and mashed it into the parsnips with butter and a bit of salt and white pepper, after I drained the parsnips.  The croquettes got formed, dipped, and fried.  As soon as that was done, I poured the still-hot oil into the now clean pan I had cooked the risotto and parsnips in, so it could cool off and I could cook the skate.  Still warm, the butter browned quickly in the large skillet.  Ten minutes later (two hours total if you count the risotto prep and cooling), I served skate, mashed garlic parsnips, parmesan croquettes, and some window sill mesclun greens.  Everyone had seconds and there were still leftovers because I made too much food.  The skate does taste rather like scallops, but with a different texture, close to a delicate catfish.

Looking forward to airing the show soon.  It was fun just throwing together some tried and true recipes with a few local twists.  The Newport Great White went perfect with the meal, and also finished off the skate nicely.  Tomorrow, making soup again and sharing it and my new leftovers with friends.

________________________________________________

Croquettes

Taste of France Meets Italy

________________________________________________

Prep: 10 minutes  Cook: 20-25 minutes Chill: Overnight Makes 12

1/2 diced onion

1 tbs. unsalted butter

1 cup uncooked risotto

3 cups no-salt chicken stock

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/2 cup grated Naragansett Atwell’s Gold or aged parmesan

2 eggs, beaten and divided

1 cup Panko crumbs

1 tsp. lemon thyme

oil for frying

Melt butter.  Sauté onions over medium heat until golden, 3-5 minutes.  Stir in risotto and cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Pour in one cup of stock, cooking and stirring until absorbs.  Continue with second cup of stock.  Repeat with last cup of stock.  Add liquid and cook longer if rice is not tender after that.  Stir in cheese, salt, and pepper.  Chill several hours or overnight.  When cool, mix rice with one beaten egg.  Form mixture into 2 1/2 inch patties, using wet hands.  Mix crumbs with lemon thyme in a shallow dish.  Set second beaten egg in a separate shallow dish.  Dip patties in egg, then crumbs, keeping spaced apart on a plate.  Heat 1/4” of oil in a large skillet on high.  Place patties gently in oil (the level with rise as more are added), and cook in two batches, about a minute per side, or until golden.  Lift out with a slotted spatula to a bacon tray or plate lined with paper towels.  Serve hot.

________________________________________________

Great White Skate

Taste of France

________________________________________________

Prep: 5 minutes  Cook: 10 minutes  Serves 4

1 skate wing, cut into four equal pieces

1/2 cup unbleached flour

3 tbs. butter

1/3 cup Newport Great White wine

fresh chopped parsley

The local wine gives this classic brown butter dish its uniqueness without competing with the delicate scallop flavor of skate, often caught as fishermen pursue other fish.  It’s simple, quick, and more affordable than some other seafood.  Cut prepared wing into four steaks.  Dredge in flour, shaking off excess.  Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add butter and melt, turning pan around, until lightly brown.  Place skate gently in butter, cooking until opaque three-quarter’s through, about five minutes.    Flip carefully and cook 3-5 minutes more.  Add wine and cook off, scraping up crispy bits from the pan, about two minutes.  Be careful to not overcook.  Add chopped parsley and transfer to plates gently.  Great with risotto.

TBHQ and TV too!

Are veggies really that scary?  Aghh!  The radishpus!  The octoradish!  The, the, thing that has color and flavor found in nature!!!!  In case you missed it, TBHQ, a form of butane used as a food preservative, is bad for you!  So is eating nothing but chicken nuggets for 15 years.  I have a co-worker who's kid will only eat plain bagels with plain cream cheese every day for lunch.  I'm blessed my four year old had thirds of my mashed potatoes last night: wash and cut up local red potatoes, leaving skins on.  Boil until tender and drain.  Mash in butter, milk, herb goat cheese, and sprouts.  Maybe salt, depending on the cheese.  While my kid is used to getting green stuff on her plate, you can get your kids to eat healthier too.  Make a healthier version of something they already like.  Start gradually, if need be.  Cheese makes everything better for kids.  Stay with lower-fat versions.  Let kids food shop with you.  Turn veggies and fruit into faces on that plain cream cheese bagel.  Remember, you are the parent.

My newest recipe uses red lentils and is gluten-free and vegan.  Meanwhile, I'm off to the Winter Farmer's Market to film for my new TV show!

Gluten-Free/Low Sodium/Vegan

________________________________________________

Red Lentil Soup

Taste of Egypt

________________________________________________

Prep: 15 minutes  Cook: 40 minutes  Makes about 4 quarts

2 tbs. olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into 1” half-moons

3 celery stalks, sliced thin

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. coriander

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ancho chili powder

28 oz. can chunky tomatoes

3 cups red lentils, picked over

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add onion, carrot, and celery, stirring and cooking until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in spices and cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.  Pour in tomatoes and heat another 2-3 minutes.  Add lentils and two cans of water (8 cups) and bring to a gently boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are soft and soup is thick.  Puree in batches in a blender or use and immersion blender.  Serve as a soup with yogurt garnish and warm pita, injera, or sourdough bread.  Also a great side dish with eggs or as a sauce over oven-roasted potatoes.

New Year's Revolutions

Crazy, crazy winter it's been, mostly warm, with car accidents and computer kablooeys thrown in.  Still driving a rental after being rear-ended.  Luckily, the other guy's insurance is paying for it all.  Wouldn't it be nice if I could trade in my half-paid for Matrix for a hybrid?  Still installing updates after Safari got "fixed" and new fan was put in.  At least it stops quitting, the computer is quiet and cool, and I figured out how to get it to print again (selecting a beta version of my printer - go figure).

Anyway, much good is in the works.  My Eco-Warrior students grew basil plants as part of their community service, so on MLK day, I brought our 42 herbs to a local food pantry and did a quick demo for about 20 people on how to care for their plants and cook a tasty simple dish with canned white beans, including take-home care sheets and recipe cards.  We gave away all 42 plants and cannellini beans and many joyfully leaned in to smell the basil.  Some people set New Year's resolutions to do more volunteer work.  If you're starting seeds, grow some extra herbs to give to food pantries, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.  Share the green!

One of my other many projects is helping collect rabbit pellet for the New England Cottontail Project.  The NE native species is very threatened, with the introduced Ohio species in far greater numbers.  The introduced species has a white mark on its forehead, which may amount to a single hair, or sometimes no mark at all.  With the rabbit pellets, graduate students at URI will test for DNA to determine species.  Volunteers like me stake out areas using flags and a GPS and collect specimens in sterile tubes with silica after it snows.  

I set one site up on Sunday, finding the GPS center-point fairly easily and setting out to mark 25 meters in four directions.  Walking that far, even in uneven ground, is nothing for me.  I walk over a mile to the bus three times a week.  Keeping a line straight as I measure and tag specific points while navigating through brush, thorny bushes, grape vine, and saplings in 20 degree weather is not.  I got hit in the eye twice.  I kept thinking about Blair Witch Project.  It took me an hour and I was cold.  

On Monday I set out with helpers to survey site number two.  After half a mile through steep pathways and over and under trees, we found our pathway blocked.  800 meters to go.  Getting back to the car, we drove to the back of an industrial complex and tried again.  Trash.  600 meters.  A third try down a narrow winding road with nice houses, 179 meters.  Then it was time to pack up for the food pantry.  I guess I will try again on Saturday, when it's supposed to snow.  But working full-time does not give me much "light" time.

Meanwhile, my producer and I discussed our upcoming tv show: The 100 Mile Lifestyle.  I may just do a parody of Blair Witch when we cover this.  That is, if we can get the camera out in the snowy woods.  2012 appears to have many changes in store.  Chinese New Year is early, January 23rd, the year of the Black Rain Dragon.   In China, dragons are not horrific monsters but wise protectors, especially of water and rivers.  I thought of the rain dragon as I gazed at the protected lake I was exploring, now icy in a single day.  The water I cross going to work often stinks and is posted with warnings not to fish there.  This new area I am surveying is reintroducing fish.  We need more rain dragons to make this happen.  (A great movie that shows this is "Spirited Away".) 

We all want prosperity, whether it's for ourselves, our loved ones, or the Earth.  Eating local foods is one way to encourage this, supporting the local economy, reducing our carbon footprint, and eating healthier for a better life.  This recipe can be made with pine nuts of sunflower seeds, with slightly different (but tasty) results.  If you're short on time or want a thinner wrapper, use refrigerated wonton wrappers in the specialty section of supermarkets or from a local Asian market.

Gluten-Free Option

________________________________________________

Money Bags

Taste of China Meets Greece

________________________________________________

Prep: 20 minutes  Cook: 20 minutes  Makes 48

Filling:

1/4 cup dried Asian mushrooms, reconstituted in boiling 

     water 10 minutes (reserve liquid)

6 oz. frozen spinach

1/4 cup pine nuts or sunflower seeds

1-2 tbs. oil

4 tsp. butter

1 tsp. dried thyme

1/8 tsp. pepper 

2 scallions, or onion, chopped fine

4 oz. local feta (such as Narragansett Creamery’s Salty Sea)

Celebrate the New Year, Chinese or otherwise, with this appetizer of prosperity.  The spinach in  these dumplings represents cash, with feta, pine nuts or seeds, and thyme adding a punch of flavor inside. You can by-pass using a bamboo steamer by placing a cookie rack on the bottom of a large stock pot with lid.  Use wax paper pierced with holes and brushed with oil to keep wraps from sticking.  You can even tie bags with a thread of green scallion for a nice little detail. 

Chop mushrooms very fine.  Sauté pine nuts or seeds in 1 tbs. oil, until lightly toasted.  Add spinach and mushroom liquid as needed, cooking down, about 10 minutes.  Stir in mushrooms, butter, thyme, and pepper.  When all is incorporated, stir in scallions and feta.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Dough:

2 cups flour (or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

1/2 cup water

1 tbs. oil

Sift dry ingredients.  Beat egg, water, and oil in bowl.  Add to dry ingredients and knead into a stiff dough.  Cover bowl with a damp towel and let rest 10 minutes to activate baking powder.  Form dough into two foot snake and cut into 48 slices.  Roll each slice into a thin round, add a tablespoon of filling, gather dough edges, and twist to seal.  (Use a drop of water if money bags do not stay closed.)  Place dumplings in oiled bamboo basket or oiled, pierced wax paper on a cooling rack over simmering but not boiling water, 12-15 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Back from Tour and Green Uses for Trees

My family and I just got back from a 4 hour tour of local foods and recovered resources. First, we went to the Resources (Recycling) for Rhode Island Education, where teachers and members can buy industrial cast-offs for 40¢ a pound.  I loaded up on 20 felt sheets for a dollar special, as well as some odd foam and cardboard pieces, plastic sheeting, embossed paper, wallpaper, and several handfuls of felt/cardboard hybrid circles.  Some of these materials will become characters in my upcoming show: "The 100 Mile Lifestyle", which will air on Cox local access channel 14 starting in April.  I'm on the look-out for bubble wrap so I can recreate the octopus costume from "Love, Actually" and plan to make some reusable sandwich wraps for our "Waste Free Lunch" segment in our second show.  Two bags of materials: $3.80.  Educating the world?  Priceless!

After that, we drove down Elmwood to 1577 Westminster to finally check out the local food supermarket Fertile Underground.  The store is alive and kicking, with a coffee/sandwich bar, fresh and mostly local produce, and a pantry that looks like they raided my house.  So yes, stuff I like.  The murals look great, also done by local artists including my friend Mac.  There's also a kid's play area that is visible from most of the store, so I was actually able to have an adult conversation while my daughter played with the blocks and moving parts pull grasshopper.  I picked up a turnip, rutabaga, carnival squash, dry navy beans, and Narragansett Creamery's Atwell's Gold.  I  will be making a frittata with the squash and cheese later this week.  The coffee was exceptional.  I picked up a bottle of Mrs. Squibb's ice tea which I first tried at a Festival Fete event.  Yummy stuff.  They also carry Yacht Club sodas (with returnable bottles), Trappist Monk jams, many local value-added products (more jams, honey, sauces, etc.) and Farmacy products.  I was able to stock up on mullein for Ryk's asthma. 

Then it was off to the winter farmer's market.  It was PACKED!  More cheese.  Granola.  Brussels sprouts.  We tried some gluten and sulfite free sausage.  My daughter picked out bok choy.  Ryk picked out squid.  I'll be making my "Baby's Got Bok Choy" this weekend, trying the squid instead of the shrimp this time.  The exciting thing was to see how much the market has expanded since last year.  More vendors.  More variety.  More people shopping there.  Now you can get kits to grow your own microgreens or oyster mushrooms.  If you still have a Christmas tree hanging around your house, New Urban Farmers will take it: they are recycling the trees into compost, mulch, and a substrata to grow the oyster mushrooms.  The stumps will be used for raised beds, tomato supports, and other landscaping projects.  Smithfield even brought all their curbside pick-up of trees to them.

Finally home, I noticed it was beautiful outside.  I got one shot of a nuthatch in the tangle of forsythia and bittersweet before the cat decided to join me.  Finding ice in my daughter's sand and water table, I popped it out and we played "Block of Ice" on the deck.  (Think "catch", but using your feet like hockey sticks.)  Surprisingly, the garlic chives are still out.  Then it was swing time and looking for critters under rocks.  We found slugs.  

Well, I have lots of cooking and sewing to do.  I'm close to having a low-income recipe for the recipients of the basil plants my after-school Eco-Warriors grew.  It will be garlicky and full of beans, with fresh basil mixed in.  Meanwhile, there's "Mercy Brown Bread" and fish tacos to make and chicken and worm puppets to sew.  Later.

Gluten-Free/Low Sodium/Vegetarian Option

________________________________________________

Baby Got Bok Choy

Taste of Thai

________________________________________________

Prep: 15 minutes  Cook: 30 minutes  Serves 4

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

2 tbs. mirin or local white wine

2 tsp. corn starch

1 tbs. sesame oil

1 lb. shelled, de-veined local shrimp or firm tofu

1 small yellow onion, diced

1/2 cup chopped white mushrooms

8-10 washed baby bok choy, chopped into 1/2” pieces

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro*

2” peeled, minced ginger**

2 tbs. lime juice (about one lime), plus lime for garnish

Spice it up: 1 tsp red pepper flakes or Sriracha sauce (found in Asian markets) (optional)

Whisk broth, mirin or wine, and corn starch.  Set aside.  In a large sauté pan with lid, heat sesame oil on medium-high and stir-fry shrimp until cooked through, 3-5 minutes.  Set aside.  Sauté onions and mushrooms 2-3 minutes.   Add bok choy and pour broth over all.  Cover and cook 6-8 minutes, stirring up from the bottom occasionally.  Reduce to simmer.  Add shrimp or tofu, lime, and ginger, stirring well.  Heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.  Serve with jasmine rice and lime wedges.

* I find it easier to cut cilantro with kitchen scissors I only use for herbs.

** Ginger can be easily peeled around its unpredictable curved using a spoon.