Re: a little perspective

Whether its the World Food Program or your local food bank, let us please get some children fed, ok?  Click the picture below for a beautiful side-story about one family’s decision to help the FEED Foundation’s Rwanda project.

Frugal Friday

Roasted chicken with vermicelli and fresh vegetables & herbs..

Leeks, celery, carrots, garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary, some dried tomatoes that I put up at the end of the summer, tumeric, roasted red pepper, freshly ground caraway and brown mustard seed, S&P, vermicelli,  stock/broth and chicken pieces (I’m using inexpensive thighs).

Season the chicken well with S&P and half sharp paprika and brown in a Dutch oven with a little olive oil.  Transfer chicken pieces to another skillet and finish in a 400 degree oven (about 15 minutes).

Meanwhile, sauté the vermicelli, mustard/caraway and vegetables in the same Dutch oven until the vegetables soften and the pasta is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, herbs, red peppers, turmeric and just enough stock or broth to cover the vegetables.  Cook until the vermicelli is just done, about 8 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, make a nest of pasta on the plate and dress with raw sprouts and microgreens. Place the chicken on top of the pasta and drizzle with a little of the stock and drippings from the chicken pan. Garnish with chopped Italian parsley.

Rating  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ –

Spotted Dog

Also called railway cake, this recipe starts out as Irish soda bread..

Adapted from numerous recipes found on the internet

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oat flour
2 teaspoons non-refined sugar or other sweetener
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg

Sift the dry ingredients together then add the caraway, raisins and milk.  The dough will be soft, damp and a little tacky.  Turn out into a standard loaf pan and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until the loaf passes the toothpick test.

Try it toasted with jam for breakfast.

Tastes best the 1st day, but will last 2 if sealed in an airtight container.

Rating  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ –

Home ec classes are hot again

by Katherine Miller, The Oregonian
Tuesday January 13, 2009, 12:01 AM

IN THE MIX

It’s funny how things go in and out of fashion. Take home economics: For many generations it was an accepted part of a woman’s education; but for the “liberated” generation it was part of a woman’s oppression. Now the pendulum has swung again and classes in canning and preserving are one way cooks of both genders can live up to the mantra of the moment: Eat locally, seasonally and sustainably.

(Actually) Crispy Sweet Potato Fries. Mostly.

You might also like these Rosemary & Black Pepper Sweet Potato Fries..

“There’s probably no vegetable with a higher beta carotene content than the sweet potato.  This is the beta carotene that protects us against cancer, colds, infections and other diseases… But remember that our bodies can only convert carotene to vitamin A in the presence of bile salts… Butter stimulates the secretion of bile and helps the body to convert carotenes to all-important vitamin A…”   Sally Fallon

Trouble is, butter has a low smoke point of about 350 degrees.  Clarified butter (or ghee) on the other hand, has a very high smoke point of up to 485 degrees.

No mushy oven fries here, gang..

Adapted from a recipe by Mollie Katzen

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1/4″ sticks and arrange on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon melted ghee or clarified butter.  Just put the butter on the pan- don’t coat the potatoes with it.

Place into a preheated 385 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Turn potatoes over and cook another 10 minutes.

Turn oven off and let stand 20 minutes to dry.  Season with sea salt and serve with homemade ketchup and enjoy all the iron, potassium, niacin, magnesium and vitamins C and B6.  And fiber.  Lots of fiber.

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