Buyer Beware
Beyond the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry
New Survey Finds a Number of ‘Organic’ Soy Food Brands Importing Beans from China — “Silk” Soy Milk Abandons Organic Ingredients Altogether 
“Health conscious shoppers should no longer associate Silk with organic, and should seek the green USDA Certified Organic seal when purchasing soy products… The good news in this report is that consumers can easily find, normally without paying any premium, organic soy foods that truly meet their expectations.”
Real Food: Onion and Garlic Soup
“The raw and fresh garlic have different, but somewhat overlapping, effects. I generally recommend raw garlic for treating bacterial infections. Cooked garlic has a more deep-seated digestive and immune-enhancing effect. The cooked garlic is also preventative of arteriosclerosis and is used as a preventative and curative of heart disease and many types of cancer”
-Richo Cech, ethnobotanist, writing in Making Plant Medicine.
Two kinds of onions and two kinds of garlic in a deep, rich bone stock with fresh thyme, sherry and a raw butter-fried Parmesan croûton..
Red and spring onions, garlic and fermented black garlic, fresh thyme, tomato paste, sherry, beef bone broth, chicken bone broth, sea salt, pepper and allspice.
Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat and cook chopped garlic and slivered onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelized and the garlic has melted, about 1 hour.
Deglaze the pan with sherry, scraping up all the brown bits with the side of a wooden spoon.
Add tomato paste, beef and chicken stock and simmer 20 minutes.
Add thyme and S&P to taste and ladle into bowls set on a baking pan.
Top with a large croûton fried in butter and chopped parsley.
Bake at 500 degrees (or broil briefly) until the cheese is bubbly.
Posted as part of Real Food Wednesday
Reject Factory Farming
Hey, farmer, leave those pigs alone!
15 years ago, Russ Kremer ran an industrial hog confinement operation in Frankenstein, Missouri. Following standard practices, he fed his pigs daily doses of antibiotic for growth efficiency and to ward off illnesses. Then, one day Russ was gored by one of his hogs and nearly died from an antibiotic-resistant infection. He realized the danger posed by the overuse of antibiotics, and immediately transformed his farm. Today his hogs are antibiotic-free. Russ is the founder of the Ozark Mountain Pork Coop and the president of the Missouri Farmers Union..
thanks to cheeseslave for the tip about FRESH the movie
Run Like Hell
Seared Elk Noisettes with Roasted Vegetables and Chile Jus Lié
Elk, or wapiti range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark; the meat is much leaner and higher in protein than beef.
Colorado elk, roasted tomatoes, onion and garlic and a chili-scented jus lié over wild rice with fried sage, shiitake and bacon..
Trim elk of any fascia as may be present, then cut into large cubes, about 1 1/2 inches. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Do not skip this step.
Rinse and drain real wild rice. Sauté in butter for a few minutes until fragrant, then add chicken or vegetable stock and a bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until almost done, about 45 minutes.
Roast tomato, onion and garlic with a little olive oil and S&P in a 500 degree oven until browned. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
Sauté diced bacon, shiitake mushrooms and fresh, torn sage in a hot pan until browned. Add to rice 5 minutes before it comes off the stove.
Preheat a large heavy skillet over medium heat for 15 minutes – we need a lot of uncrowded surface area in order to sear the meat very quickly.
When very hot, add a couple of turns of olive oil and a spoonful of butter. Cook the elk for 5 minutes without touching it – it should be sizzling as it browns. Turn the pieces over and brown the other side for 2 minutes.
Add in the roasted and chopped vegetables and cook another 2 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with a glass of red wine, and scrape up the brown bits with the edge of a wooden spoon.
Add a spoonful of chili base (ancho, guajillo, New Mexico, cumin, cinnamon and salt) and some jus lié, demi-glace or stock and cook another 2 minutes to combine flavors. The elk should be cooked to medium-rare at this point.
Serve elk and roasted vegetables with shiitake, sage and bacon wild rice. Some fresh peas would have been nice. Alas..
