Popcorn

I love a nice big bowl of popcorn.  Restraint isn't even attempted when I've got a bowl in my lap.  But popcorn from a microwaveable bag is gross and when consumed, I'd always feel awful after.  It's been a long time since I purchased a box of bags of the stuff - I just can't wrap my head around the fact that the inside of the bag flavors the popcorn for you.  Wouldn't you rather just melt real butter and put real salt over the top... amiright?  If this isn't a good enough reason to stay away from the stuff then mayhaps this won't interest you.  However, I think it's worth noting that even if it's been proven that microwaveable popcorn doesn't cause lung cancer, it's likely that it's probably not a good idea to consume it.

One suitable alternative to bags of microwave popcorn are the kernels you can buy and pop in a pot - much healthier and safer and you can flavor however you like.  But, how about you take it one step further and try it from an actual cob of popping corn!

I dropped by Green City Market a couple of weeks ago and one of the stands was selling cobs of popping corn for $1 a piece.  I've read many positive articles about people who've tried it so I decided to give it a try. It was recommended to me that I put it into a paper bag and microwave it to contain the mess, but I couldn't handle not watching it pop for my first time... it made a bit of a mess, but was totally worth it.  I microwaved it for about 4 minutes and ended up with a wonderfully hot and fresh bowl of popcorn.  Flavor however you like - melted butter, cheese, truffle oil, spice blends, hot caramel - and you've got a delicious snack that you can use for entertaining or for a quiet night in on the couch.

I think if I heated it in a bag more kernels would have popped - it will take a bit of experimenting to get the perfect recipe down, but I'm up for the challenge.  There were plenty of cobs to go around at the market - try it out!

Support the Chicago Cooperative!

Many of us have ideas constantly bouncing around in our minds that we don’t know how to turn into reality.  I am most certainly a victim of this and I look up to those people who are brave and courageous enough to take a risk and follow their hearts.  One of those people is Greg Berlowitz.  He is attempting to fulfill many of our dreams to create an accessible cooperative in the northern part of Chicago.  His dedication is tremendous and was clearly shown Wednesday night in his kick-off meeting where he conducted a group activity and brought in speaker Clint Popetz, former chairman of the board of the Common Ground cooperative in Champaign Urbana.  He couldn’t have been more honest and up front with the amount of time and energy that will be needed to make this a success and, despite that, couldn’t wait to get started.

Group activity where we all write our ideas for everyone to see!

A cooperative gives us the opportunity to decide what goes into our grocery store and establish the price of the goods sold.  It is unique in that the members of the cooperative own the cooperative.  The members elect the board and the board establishes the policies of the co-op.  The board then hires a General Manager to implement policy with their supervision.  Many products you will find at a cooperative are local, organic, sustainable or a combination of all of these.  The profits go back into the cooperative and often members shop at a discounted price.  While the community is what keeps a cooperative operating successfully, membership isn’t required to shop there.

Greg’s sense of humor and enthusiasm could not be more encouraging and endearing.  He believes that “building a co-op is not just about building a store.  It’s about building a community-supported organization that can build a store, maintain a store, and enable the store to thrive.  And a co-op is successful when it is born out of a community and fulfills a need that that community has.”  

As a local food advocate, I couldn’t be more excited to become an active member of this project. Although I am more of the uneducated but eager type in this instance, he has assured me that this is, in fact, OK.  He attended a conference in Bloomington over the weekend and says: “At the conference, which was supported by national organizations which support co-ops and are taught by veteran co-op builders, we were reminded that we aren’t reinventing the wheel.  There are established steps we will take and demonstrated processes we will undergo to build a strong organization and then an inspirational food co-op.”  Greg welcomes any and all levels of commitment, ideas and questions you may have.

There is another meeting this Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 at the Sulzer Library on 4455 N Lincoln Ave.  If you have even an inkling of interest in learning about a cooperative or becoming a part of a great opportunity, I really encourage you to stop by and talk food with everyone!

Chicken burgers

I have this thing about ground beef - it really just doesn't do it for me.  Reading way too much about how many different cows go into one burger made my decision to stop eating it really very easy, except I really like them... They are easy to make and are great for company.

I had my best friend over for lunch a couple of weeks ago.  She is a paleo eater and we were planning on just making a salad.  I said earlier that my life change goal is to use what I have and embrace it.  So I looked in my freezer and found some beautiful ground capon from C & D Family Farms in my freezer and texted her that we were having chicken burgers.  Her response was "OK...." so that was encouraging.

The amazing thing about burgers is that they can be whatever you want them to be.  I used what I had laying around: 1 pound of ground capon, a squeeze of lemon, a handful of chopped cilantro, two chopped chilis in adobo sauce, an egg and a couple of teaspoons of Caribbean Calypso seasoning from the Spice House.  Had I not had my little gluten hater over, I certainly would have added some whole wheat bread crumbs, but they're not necessary.  I formed them into 4 beautiful patties and sauteed them in cilantro olive oil, topped with soft queso fresco and voila: a masterpiece.  We liked them so much we both had two.  Certainly a unique approach, but localish and healthy all the same.  What are some weird creations you have made?

Winter Comforts

So I'm a little late in writing what my New Years Resolutions are, but I think that's OK because my goals are more of attempts at life changes.  You see, food for me is an obsession.  I have been obsessed and fixated on food since I graduated from college until last summer.  After I canned tomatoes, I was convinced that I wouldn't be a local eater until I baked my own bread - Can you see where this is going?

And so my friends, I give you the beloved soft boiled egg.  It's elegant in its simplicity.  It's beautiful and delicate.  The yolk is velvety and buttery if you have the right egg.  And if you're reading this blog post, I'm pretty much assuming you know my feelings on store bought eggs versus the real thing.

This is my goal for 2013: embrace what's simple instead of being discouraged by imperfection.  This doesn't mean I have to be thoughtless and careless.  This means that I don't have to get wrapped up in the fact that I don't make my own bread every weekend.  I can easily buy freshly baked bread (or not, if that's what you prefer) and high quality eggs from the farmers market or a specialty store here in Chicago.  And guess what, I'm still kind of making a difference with my locally purchased bread and eggs.  So if that's all I can do this week, then thank you and good night ladies and gents.

And here is the best part.  My 3 minute soft boiled egg actually has some extremely deep sentiment behind it.  When I was a little girl my dad travelled all the time - inevitably when he came home, all he wanted was to sleep in on the weekends.  But he was ever so lucky to have me as his offspring and so at 6 or 7 AM I'd jump out of bed bursting with energy ready to talk to him.  He would get up every weekend and make these eggs for me except he cut the crust off my toast and the egg cutter was Mickey Mouse, not a rooster.  But the egg cups and cat warmer are the exact same as when I was a little girl.  This was something that I waited for all week to do with my dad and now I fondly eat my soft boiled egg and whole wheat toast with a smile on my face, knowing that that is truly what's important.

Summer Reflections

Last week I had to dig my garden up, pull the weeds out and throw my dead plants away.  It was awful.  But at the same time, it was beautiful.  I ended up digging a whole bunch of carrots up that I used in soup along with the thyme that I pulled too.  And then I started planning what I'm going to do next year.

The truth is, I let my garden die.  And I didn't can as much as I should have.  And sometimes, I even bought produce from the grocery store.  This summer was a huge learning experience for me - it was the peak of my quarter life crisis... did you know those existed?  I didn't until I was in the middle of it.  BUT, the good news is that it happened.  I had put so much pressure on myself to only eat a certain way that I sort of exploded and stopped eating food that I even liked.

The passion I have for vegetables may be absurd, but it's part of who I am and it's who I'll continue to be.  And even if I don't cook every single day, the changes that I have made in my life are substantial enough to impact the world in some small way.  I still eat local food.  I'm still eating the food I canned.  And, I'm still learning new canning and cooking techniques.  My bizarre preachy word vomit aside, what I'm trying to say is, don't be so hard on yourself when you're eating.  It can create chaos.  Do what you can do and don't freak out if you don't make the best choice every time.  I promise you'll appreciate cooking/baking/preserving/canning/eating more if you are able to keep this in mind.  At least it worked for me.

And so I leave you with these final thoughts: It's Thanksgiving time!  Make your favorite dish and throw in an extra stick of butter.  It'll be OK :)

Pork Belly Chaos

Most people buy their dad a practical gift for Father's Day, but I'm not so good at those.  I just can't bring myself to go get him another shirt.  This year I knew that my gift for my dad would come from Becker Lane - I assumed it would be some of their gorgeous pork chops.  But as I got to chatting with the guys there, I decided to be bold and buy a piece of pork belly.  It's always the most succulent item on the menu that you never make at home.  He was delighted and surprised by how random I went and we agreed that we would make it together.

I do believe that a piece of pork belly would be excellent smoked on the grill (Labor Day ideas, anyone?), however, we slow cooked it in the oven using Lara Calder's recipe.  It was succulent and juicy and agonizingly sweet yet savory.  It was perfect.  We served it over lentils, as Lara suggests, but you could roast beets or something similarly earthy to keep it as local as possible.  Lara Calder creates this gorgeous glaze with water and apple cider vinegar to start and then honey and mustard brushed over top of the fat as it cooks.  You could serve this for company as an alternative to burgers on the grill and most of the ingredients you can find from local people around here.  Surprise your loved ones with some pork belly.  The shock and awe factor will be excellent and the end result is delicious.

Pickled Beets

It's been far too long since I posted last.  I missed it greatly and I'm glad to be back.  After working through several major changes I have found peace and happiness in my cooking projects and running and I can't wait to continue sharing them.  I have a post for you that I wrote a couple of weeks ago for The Local Beet.  In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful produce and you haven't lost too many fruits and veggies in this extreme heat!  This really is the best time of the year: tomatoes are everywhere. :)

I know what you’re thinking: pickled beets are gross. But I promise you, when they’re not purchased in a mystery can where they’re hardly recognizable, they are irresistible. Beets are without a doubt one of my favorite vegetables in the world (artichokes are at the top, no question). They are earthy and complex and warm and perfect on salads. Usually I just throw a couple in foil and roast them for 30 – 45 minutes every week so I can make salads with goat cheese, arugula and walnuts, but these past couple of weeks it has just been way too hot for the oven. If you’re a city dweller I know you’re with me because AC units hardly have the capacity to cool off a bedroom let alone combat the oven. So I offer you pickled beets as an alternative to your standard roasted beets!

You will have to use your stove, but it will make several pint jars which will be enough to keep you oven free for quite some time. The recipe I used to pickle beets is from the most informative book I’ve found thus far: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. The book calls for 10 cups of prepared beets – I just bought a bag of them at the farmers market for $5 and called it a day. Boil beets whole with the tops almost all removed in a large pot covered and cook for about 40 minutes (prepare canning jars while the beets boil; for instructions see my post on Strawberry Jam). When beets are cooked, run them under cool water, remove skins and slice them as you like.

Acquire pickling spice (or make it!) and tie 3 tablespoons in a spice bag. The Spice House is where I got my pickling spice. Combine 2 and a half cups white vinegar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar OR honey (which I used and I really recommend) and the spice bag. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat heat and stir to make sure the honey dissolves. Boil gently for 15 minutes, remove the spice bag and add beets. Return the mixture to a boil. Ladle the beets into the prepared jars within 1/2 inch of the top of the jar. Ladle the hot liquid over the beets to cover. Wipe the rim, center the lid and screw the band on; place the jars in canner and process for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and wait 5 minutes to remove the jars. Cool for 24 hours and store.

Once you have achieved this perfection, serve with homemade ricotta and sourdough (as in the picture) or on top of a lovely salad of arugula or romaine. This is such an easy “condiment” to make and it’s so healthy! I find it a delightful alternative to my roasted beets with quite the kick. Try it out – and let me know what you think!