Tuesday Twister
Each week, fellow real food-blogger Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS encourages us to take look back and share a little about what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the last week. Here’s what it looked like around here..
1) Roast Squash Coloradito Roasted sweet dumpling squash stuffed with poblano peppers, Spanish onions, smoked bacon and toasted corn, served over a spicy mole Coloradito. Seasonal, organic, local and darn tasty.
2) Lamb Keftedes A delicious traditional Greek offering of local, pastured lamb, toasted spices and fresh herbs, garlic, lemon and extra-virgin olive oil. Frugal and dead simple to make.
3) Penang Goat Curry Pastured goat seared, then slowly simmered in coconut red curry with fried tomatoes, onions and Thai dragon peppers, with fresh ginger, garlic and Kaffir lime leaves. Easy to see why 70% of the world’s population eats goat meat!
4) Duck Fat-Fried Sweet Potato Chips Mandoline-cut sweet potatoes fried in rendered duck fat then sprinkled with coarse salt and freshly-ground pepper. A weekend indulgence.
5) Thai Red Pumpkin and Carrot Curry A vegetarian dish of roasted pumpkin, carrots, onions, red bell pepper, chiles, ginger, garlic, coconut milk and basil. Mm, mm mm.
Frying peppers, onions, bacon and corn for stuffed squash Coloradito
This post is a grateful part of the Tuesday Twister blog carnival at gnowfglins.com!
CAFO Action Alert
As Wendell Berry has tartly observed, to take animals off pasture and put them on feed-lots is to take an elegant solution — animals replenishing the fertility that crops deplete — and neatly divide it into two problems: a fertility problem on the farm and a pollution problem on the feed-lot. The former problem is remedied with fossil-fuel fertilizer; the latter continues to stink.
When It Comes to Agriculture, Size Does Matter -
A Rebuttal to the Dairy Business Association (DBA)
and the Factory Farm Lobby in Wisconsin
By: Tony Schultz
Stoney Acres Farm (Athens, WI) and FFD board member
A version of this op ed was printed in the Country Today, 10/14/09
Last week the executive director of the Dairy Business Association Laurie Fischer wrote a seemingly polite yet defensive editorial to many newspapers and media outlets across the state as a response to the increasing attacks against the rise of factory farming and the environmental issues that accompany them. Although the editorial tried to say “size is not the issue” it continually referred to pollution concerns surrounding larger farms and flat-out stated large farms are better for the environment. This is because no matter how much they use neutral phrases like trying to “keep cows in Wisconsin” or say “regardless of size” they are an organization that represents factory farming and the aggressive expansion of that particular type of agriculture. Much of DBA’s funding comes from corporate donors. Its website says they include Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC, Pfizer Animal Health, Accelerated Genetics, Wick Builders, Bayland Building, insurers, financial-service firms and a host of other agribusiness interests that view big farms as big accounts that buy lots of stuff. Anyone questioning or challenging them is told to shut up, get out of the way of the natural course of “progress” and portrayed as an enemy of all of Wisconsin agriculture. To read more click here
Support family farmers! Please contact Governor Doyle and let him know that you oppose this kind factory farming!
photo credit unknown
Thai Red Pumpkin and Carrot Curry
A vegetarian dish of roasted pumpkin, carrots, onions, red bell pepper, chiles, ginger, garlic, coconut milk and basil..
Thai Red Pumpkin and Carrot Curry (click to enlarge)
For the Curry Paste (adapted from a recipe by Darlene Schmidt)
1 shallot, chopped
1 stalk lemon-grass, minced
2-3 red chilies
4 cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece galangal (substitute ginger)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
3 tablespoons traditionally-fermented soy sauce
1/2 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Process all ingredients together in a food processor, using just enough coconut milk to keep the blades turning. Set aside.
For the Vegetables
1 small pie pumpkin, split, seeded and roasted
2-3 carrots, trimmed and cut on 1/2 inch bias
1 small red bell pepper, julienne cut
1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped
1-2 fresh green chiles, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon raw coconut oil
2 teaspoons freshly-grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
3 scallions, sliced
2 tablespoons curry paste
1/2 can coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh basil, torn
1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds
Split 1 small pie pumpkin in half lengthwise and remove stem, seeds and stringy material. Place cut-side down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and roast in a 350 degree oven until tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle.
Heat coconut oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Sauté carrots until not quite tender, then add red bell pepper, onion and chiles and cook until just tender.
Add ginger, garlic and curry paste and fry until it begins to release a little oil. Add coconut milk and roasted pumpkin flesh, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add scallions and basil a few minutes before the end.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and basil leaves.
This post is in support of Meatless Monday!
Slow-Roasted Wild Salmon with Genmaicha, Fried Capers and Caramelized Lemon
Wild Alaskan salmon is marinated in genmaicha-infused olive oil before being slow-roasted and served with a pan sauce of caramelized lemons, shallots, garlic, capers, parsley and butter..
Slow-Roasted Wild Salmon with Genmaicha 玄米茶, Fried Capers and Caramelized Lemon
For the Salmon
2 wild Alaskan fillets
6 oz extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons genmaicha brown rice tea
1 teaspoon paprika
coarse sea salt and freshly-ground pepper
Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it reaches 185 degrees. Remove pan from heat and stir in genmaicha. Allow to steep until the oil reaches room temperature, about 30 minutes. Pour cooled oil over salmon set in a shallow dish and marinate 1 hour.
Remove salmon from oil, drain briefly and place in a heavy skillet (skin side down) and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Roast in a 225 degree oven until it is brilliant red and flakes easily with a fork, about 12 minutes.
For the Sauce (adapted from a recipe by Michael Symon)
2 tablespoons pastured butter, divided
4 thick slices lemon
1 teaspoon capers
1 1/2 tablespoons shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
Heat half of the butter in a heavy skillet over moderately high heat until the bitter begins to foam. Add the lemon slices and cook until they begin to caramelize, about 3 minutes. Flip the lemons over, add the capers and sauté 30 seconds. Add the shallots and sauté another 30 seconds. Add the garlic, parsley and the remaining butter and cook until the lemons begin to lose their shape, about 1-2 minutes.
To Serve
Spoon sauce in the center of a plate. Place roasted salmon on top and garnish with lemon slices. Serve immediately.
Duck Fat-Fried Sweet Potato Chips
Mandoline-cut sweet potatoes fried in rendered duck fat then sprinkled with coarse salt and freshly-ground pepper..
Salt and Pepper Sweet Potato Chips frying in Duck Fat
Wash and peel as many sweet potatoes (garnet yams) as you intend to fry. Using a mandoline set to about 1/16″, slice potatoes on a bias directly into a bowl of ice water. Allow potatoes to sit in ice water for 1 hour, then spread out on clean kitchen towels and pat completely dry.
Heat rendered duck fat (substitute beef tallow) in a scrupulously-clean skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch until it shimmers. On my electric stove, I set the dial to mark below medium. If the oil is smoking, the pan is too hot.
Place sliced potatoes into hot oil and fry, turning once, until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Work in batches so as not to crowd the pan. Transfer to kitchen towels to drain and season immediately with coarse sea salt and freshly-ground pepper. These chips are best served still hot, but still great at room temperature.
Penang Goat Curry
Pastured goat seared, then slowly simmered in coconut red curry with fried tomatoes, onions and Thai dragon peppers, with fresh ginger, garlic and Kaffir lime leaves..
Penang Goat Curry
Serves 2
1 pound goat stew meat
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 small white onion, diced
1 teaspoon freshly-grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 red or green chiles
1 tablespoon traditionally-fermented soy sauce
1 tablespoon poivron rouge
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon true cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves, ground
2 kaffir lime leaves, slivered
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup thick, raw coconut milk
1 cup filtered water
coconut oil or ghee for frying
In Austin, pastured goat and kaffir lime are available from Farmhouse Delivery.
Trim goat meat of fat and silver-skin and cut into 1-inch cubes. Thoroughly rinse then pat dry. Heat raw coconut oil or ghee in a heavy skillet over medium heat until the first wisp of smoke appears. Add the goat and sear until dark brown with a slight surface crustiness. Transfer meat to a plate.
Stirring frequently, fry tomatoes, onions and chiles until until the onions are translucent and the tomatoes lose some of their moisture. Add ginger, garlic and dry spices and cook until a thick paste is formed.
Add coconut milk, goat meat and lime leaves and simmer until goat is tender, about 75 minutes. Stir the pot now and then, adding water as needed to keep it from thickening too much.
Taste for salt, then add chopped cilantro just before serving.
This post is part of The Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday!
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