Check out Diane Peterson’s piece profiling Lia and her nourishing tips for a healthy, stress-free holiday in Wednesday’s Santa Rosa Press Democrat. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/section/lifestyle12
Month: December 2010
Buffalo (Bison) Carbonnade
Carbonnade is the Belgian version of French boeuf bourguignonne, only the meat is braised in dark ale instead of red wine. Chimay — a Belgian ale made by Trappist monks — is traditional in this dish. But you can experiment with other types of ale or even stout (a commenter below asks about using Guinness, which is ideal, and I’ve even used chocolate stout with nice results). Our interpretation uses bison (buffalo) stew meat, which you can find online and in many health-food stores. Ounce, for ounce, it has about 20% fewer calories and half the fat of beef. Grass-fed beef stew meat also works well here. Serve over egg noodles or our Celery Root, Potato and Apple Mash.
2-3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1-1/2 pounds bison (buffalo) stew meat, cut into 1-1/2 cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, thinly vertically sliced
2 cups dark ale (such as Chimay Bleu)*
1 cup beef stock
1-1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and swirl in 1 tablespoon oil. Pat meat dry with a paper towel, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow bowl and dredge meat in flour, shaking off excess. Add meat to pan and cook 4-5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. (Brown the meat in batches, using extra oil as needed, so you don’t overcrowd the pan.) Remove meat from pan.
Swirl another tablespoon of oil into the pan. Add onion and saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add ale to pan and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Cook 2 minutes or until until ale is reduced by half. Return beef to pan. Add stock. Stir in sugar. Add thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours and 15 minutes or until meat is fork-tender. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Serves 6
*Belgian ales like Chimay typically come in large, 750-ml bottles. If you substitute a dark ale sold in standard 12-ounce bottles, just use 1 bottle in this recipe and increase the stock to 1-1/2 cups.
Nourishing Gift Ideas from the NOURISH Evolution Market!
It’s that gift-shopping time of year. If you’re like us, you’d rather skip the mall and buy tokens for the nice people on your list online (OK, and the naughty ones, too). Have you checked out the NOURISH Evolution Market? Lia and I have filled it our must-have kitchen tools–the stuff we use every day and what we think makes cooking easier and more fun.
Of course, you can head straight over to the Market and browse to find goodies for everyone or just make a wish list for yourself. We’ve also gone through and picked our favorite selections. Here’s what we suggest you slide under the menorah or tree.
Lia’s faves
- Stocking Stuffer: Oxo Good Grips Melon Baller ($9). “Mine went missing a few weeks back, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dug for it since,” says Lia. “Aside from the fact that it makes balling melons a breeze, I use it to quickly de-seed squash, scrape seeds from cucumbers, core apples and much more.”
- Under the Tree: Colorful Oxo Nesting Mixing Bowls ($25). “I’ve got a mishmash of mixing bowls right now; some that nest, some … not so much,” says Lia. “I love how bright and colorful (and in NOURISH Evolution shades, even!) these Oxo mixing bowls are. The fact that they’ve got a handle and anti-skid bottom makes them even more attractive.
- From Santa: Bormioli Rocco Food Storage Containers ($24). “I’m asking for three sets of these from Santa to take the place of my Tupperware,” Lia confesses. “I’m ready to give up plastic once and for all.”
Alison’s faves
- Stocking stuffer: Messermeister Pro-Touch Swivel Peeler ($7). I got this peeler in my culinary school knife kit, and I love how nimble and sharp it is. It can handle anything from delicate tomatoes to potatoes to thick-skinned winter squash.
- Under the Tree: Fagor Duo 6-Quart Stainless-Steel Pressure Cooker ($91). I used to be terrified of pressure cookers, but this model won me over. It’s foolproof, with a locking lid, easy-to-use pressure indicator and automatic pressure-release function. If you’ve resolved to cook more with dried beans and whole grains in 2011, you want this.
- From Santa: KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Stand Mixer ($321). These are the workhorses of the kitchen–you can use them to whip egg whites, knead bread dough, make cookie dough, cut fat into flour for pastry and, if you add attachments like the pasta maker and ice cream maker, do a whole lot more.
We both love…
- Stocking stuffer: RSVP White Marble Mortar and Pestle ($17). Lia makes a great case for using a simple mortar and pestle instead of food processor for everything from grinding spices to making pesto. This trim model is easy on your wallet, won’t hog kitchen counter space and can handle most any job.
- Under the tree: Lodge Enamel Cast-Iron 6-Quart Dutch Oven ($67). Nights are cold these days, and we’re obsessed with braising. For that, you want a sturdy Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. This model by Lodge is pretty and affordable, too!
- From Santa: Chef’s knife. No kitchen tool is used more than a knife, and a high-quality chef’s knife is a must. It’s also a very personal choice. Lia favors the nimble, Japanese-style Wustof Classic 7-inch Santoku Knife ($100). I love the Japanese-made Mac 10-Inch Chef Series French Chef’s Knife $100), which is well-balanced and holds its edge.
What’s on your list this year? Let us know!
In the meantime, use a pressure cooker or Dutch oven to make our recipe for Pea Soup with Spanish Chorizo and Sherry Vinegar.
Pea Soup with Spanish Chorizo & Sherry Vinegar
This spicy play on pea soup is weeknight-friendly, thanks to split peas, which you don’t need to soak, and a pressure cooker. You also can cook this in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, but you’ll need to simmer the soup for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the peas are completely tender. Serve this thick and hearty pea soup with crusty bread. Note: This recipe calls for dry-cured Spanish chorizo, not fresh Mexican chorizo. If you can’t find Spanish chorizo, substitute another type of spicy dry-cured pork sausage, such as pepperoni, linguisa or even kielbasa. To move this along, you can chop the onion and garlic while the chorizo renders its fat. Leftovers are terrific for lunch or dinner another night; the soup thickens as it cools, so just stir in more stock or water to achieve your desired consistency.
4 ounces Spanish chorizo, diced
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken stock
1 pound split peas
3 cups water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Sherry vinegar, for drizzling (you can substitute red wine vinegar)
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Add chorizo to cooker. Turn heat on to medium-low, and cook 7 minutes or until chorizo renders its fat, stirring occasionally. Use a slotted spoon to remove chorizo from cooker, leaving the drippings in the cooker. Drain chorizo on a paper towel.
Add onion to drippings in cooker. Cook 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add chicken stock to cooker, scraping bottom of cooker to loosen any browned bits. Add peas, water and thyme. Lock lid in place, and bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 30 minutes or until peas are very tender. Release pressure using automatic pressure release OR carefully transfer cooker to skin and run cool water over rim until pressure drops. Remove lid, tilting it away from you, to allow steam to escape.
Stir in salt and black pepper to taste. The soup will have a hearty rustic texture. If you prefer a smoother consistency, use an immersion blender to puree soup to desired texture (or transfer soup in batches to a food processor or blender). Stir in chorizo. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle each serving with a splash of vinegar and sprinkle with parsley.
Serves 6-8
Nourishing Hero: Ruthi Solari
This is the latest installment in our Nourishing Heroes series, in which we feature the individuals and organizations who inspire us with food that nourishes body, soul and planet. Do you know a Nourishing Hero we should feature on NOURISH Evolution? Let us know who inspires you!
It’s December, prime time for food drives to feed those who won’t be fortunate enough to gather around a holiday table filled with goodies. More people than ever need that help. According to the Feeding America Hunger in America 2010 report, nearly 50 million Americans are now “food insecure,” meaning they have limited access to what the USDA defines as “nutritionally adequate foods.” An estimated 37 million rely on food from food banks, pantries, community kitchens and shelters.
Ruthi Solari, founder of SuperFood Drive in San Diego, is on a mission to feed those hungry people by revolutionizing the inventories of America’s food banks. And her efforts have a decidedly nourishing goal: She wants to replace the junk food that fills many food banks with healthy, whole foods.
Like many of us, Solari used to rummage at the back of her pantry to donate unloved items she was never planning to use anyway. That’s how food banks end up with fare like fruit canned in heavy syrup or ramen noodles with sodium-laden flavor packets. Food banks are grateful for all donations, and even of items like these will help keep a person from going hungry for another day. But, Solari notes, healthier foods will also nourish someone’s health and well-being. It’s a matter of giving as good as you’d like to get.
“Close your eyes and imagine what you’d like to find in that bag,” she says.
It all started a few years ago, when she read SuperFoods Rx by Steven G. Pratt, M.D. (Harper) as part of her training to become a certified nutritionist. The book details the health-boosting benefits of whole foods like oats, beans, nuts, berries, salmon and tomatoes. “I’ve always been really passionate about giving back to under-served populations,” Solari says. “And I thought, why not collect nonperishable versions of SuperFoods?”
“Close your eyes and imagine what you’d like to find in that donation bag.”
So she founded SuperFood Drive in 2009 as a nonprofit to stock food banks with nutrient-dense whole foods. A big part of SuperFood Drive’s efforts include educating those who make donations as well as those who receive them. Simple choices are all it takes to elevate a donation from ho-hum to healthy–for example, choosing whole-grain pasta, brown rice instead of white rice, a bottle of olive oil, canned salmon, fruit packed in water instead of heavy syrup, nut butters made without hydrogenated oil or sugar. For those on the receiving end, SuperFood Drive has hosted cooking demos and offers recipe cards to go in distribution bags so people have some ideas for how to use the whole foods.
SuperFood Drive has partnered with Whole Foods, Jimbo’s…Naturally! and San Diego-area breweries and restaurants, and they’re developing partnerships with Albertson’s, Ralphs and Costco. So far this year, SuperFoods Drive has donated 10,000 pounds of food to San Diego-area food banks, and Solari expects that number to double after this month’s drives are completed.
But you don’t have to be in San Diego to participate in a SuperFood Drive. Anyone can organize a drive, says Solari, and people have hosted their own healthy food drives in communities across the country, from Maryland to Seattle to Los Angeles. “It’s really picking up in a grass-roots way now,” she says. (The website has step-by-step tips to host your own event.) And there’s also a virtual SuperFood Drive that allows people to purchase healthy nonperishables online at wholesale prices.
Although December is food-drive season, Solari notes that food banks often run out of those holiday donations by March or April, leaving shelves sparsely stocked through the summer. “We’re thrilled whenever someone contacts us during the holidays to host a food drive,” she says. “But there are hungry people 365 days a year.”
So we propose this nourishing New Year’s resolution: Mark your 2011 calendar to give monthly food bank donations. And make sure they’re SuperFoods!
Pumpkin-Oat Bread with Golden Raisins and Walnuts
This quick bread uses several of the nourishing nonperishables–canned pumpkin, oats, walnuts and whole-grain flour–that Ruthi Solari of SuperFood Drive encourages people to donate to food banks. Enjoy this anytime of day–for breakfast, an afternoon snack or even dessert. It’s also nice baked as muffins or into little 5 x 2-1/2-inch loaves to give as gifts. (Use the leftover pumpkin to make a batch of our Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal with Toasted Pecans.)
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled (a k a old-fashioned) oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 large eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
Nonstick cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
Combine sugars, pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring with a spoon just until combined (don’t overmix or your bread will turn out tough). Gently fold in nuts and raisins. Scrape batter into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove loaf from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.
Serves 12
Win 100 Stamp Credits From Paperless Post
Man, we love when sustainability, convenience and elegance intersect, and they all come together in this week’s goody. We’re giving away 100 stamp credits (the equivalent of sending 100 cards to 100 people!) for the elegant greetings on Paperless Post to make it easy to send your holiday greetings without ever slapping a stamp on an envelope.
Win 100 stamp credits from Paperless Post!
At the risk of sounding like Scrooge, holiday cards are lovely (I especially look forward to my sister-in-law’s wonderfully snarky annual Christmas letter!), but let’s face it, they tend to end up in the recycling bin (unless you’re hoping to appear in a future episode of Hoarders). But Paperless Post lets you send gorgeous virtual cards, which you can design to suit your own style, including your own message or even photo cards. You can also use the stamps to create invitations, announcements or greetings for any occasion. At the same time you’ll save money (each Paperless Post card costs only about 20 cents) and trees (did you know it takes one tree to make 1,000 cards?). Paperless Post’s collections also include City Harvest cards with designs like these adorable snowmen. A pound of food is donated to New York’s City Harvest for every City Harvest card sent via Paperless Post, so you can really spread the cheer!
But you have to enter to win.
So here’s the deal. Only NOURISH Evolution members are eligible to win, so now’s the time to join if you haven’t already! Then, head on over to the Thursday Giveaway group in our community area and leave a comment to be entered to win (important: be sure you’re signed in to NOURISH Evolution so we can find you).
Lia will announce the winner in next week’s Friday Digest!
Happy Holidays!
Our Hanukkah Menu
Cheryl’s story about her rowdy Hanukkah festivities inspired us! The holiday lasts eight nights, which means there’s still plenty of time to celebrate with our Hanukkah Menu. This lineup serves 4, so it’s ideal for a small celebration at home.
To start:
Alison’s Chicken Pate with Brandy is really just a dressed-up, lightened-up version of her grandma’s chopped liver from Kiev. And, yes, she still likes it best schmeared on rye.
The main event:
Roast chicken is a Hanukkah classic, and Lia’s five-ingredient Simplest Roast Chicken lives up to its name for simplicity and still delivers awesome flavor. Accompany it with a side of Root Veggie Latkes (served with a dollop of applesauce) and Spicy Sauteed Rainbow Chard with Golden Raisins.
Sweet finale:
Our Chocolate Angel Food Cake is a good make-ahead treat. Only instead of the strawberries called for in the recipe, substitute seasonal oranges or tangerines, cut up and macerated in a little sugar, lemon juice and Cointreau.
We wish you all a happy, nourishing, light-filled Hanukkah!
Root Veggie Latkes
Who says Hanukkah latkes have to be made with potatoes? A trio of root veggies — carrots, parsnips and golden beets — lend our latkes a golden hue and a touch of sweetness while exotic spices add a bit of heat.
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A Hanukkah That Celebrates Friends as Family
It used to be about the presents. Hanukkah, that is. When I was a kid, the promise of a really good Hanukkah present held a certain magic. Maybe it was a new game or a special book or a cuddly, plush Glow Worm, that long, squiggle of a thing whose head emitted a soft, comforting light when its body was gently squeezed. Yes, we lit the menorah, and said the traditional prayers, but back in my youth I honestly don’t recall raucous gatherings filled with crispy latkes, endless dreidel games or mesh bags pregnant with gold-foiled, chocolaty gelt.
And yet, that has all since changed. This weekend, my husband and I will host our havurah’s annual Hanukkah party, a rambunctious affair where latkes rule, dreidels twirl, menorahs twinkle and 22 kids from nine families run amok like crazed monkeys until they all peter out and return to their respective homes, ready to crash in a sweaty, potato-fueled coma.
The term havurah refers to a group of Jews affiliated with the same congregation who gather for religious or social purposes (or both) outside the formal confines of a synagogue. My havurah has been my Jewish holiday posse since my husband and I moved to California with our young sons in 2004. Together, we’ve rung in six Rosh Hashanahs, broken six Yom Kippur fasts, celebrated six Passover Seders and, yes, gorged on latkes at six Hanukkah parties with these friends and their gaggle of children.
Tonight, food will be served, dreidels will spin, candles will wink and my home will be filled with energy, with laughter and with an abundance of light.
We’ve also shared life’s ups and downs, and witnessed the circle of life in its most intimate forms. Two couples have given birth, two men have lost their fathers and one boy has led the pack in celebrating his Bar Mitzvah. (A queue of children is poised to follow, including my own sons in the next few years.) Members have weathered job loss and enjoyed new professional success, children have grown from infants to first graders, and friendships, once tender and nascent, have solidified into true, lifelong bonds, ready to withstand whatever curves life throws our way.
This Hanukkah, Julia and Alison will come to my house early, armed with potatoes and onions, skillets and spatulas, eager to help fry stacks of latkes for the hungry hordes, including their own spouses and children, who will soon arrive. The rest will then trickle in, bearing gifts, gelt and menorahs in all shapes and sizes. Food will be served, dreidels will spin, candles will wink and my home will be filled with energy, with laughter and with an abundance of light.
And when you get right down to it, the miracle of light–how a flame with only enough oil to burn for one night burned instead for eight–is the prevailing theme of this very holiday.
May your own home be filled with light this holiday season, and may you be surrounded by those who bring you nourishment, comfort and joy.