Strata!

I ordered 1/2 gallon of milk from the dairy earlier this week. I used half to make yogurt, but what would I do with the other half? Given that eggs are no short supply, I decided to try my hand at making strata. Before this past Christmas, I had never had it. Thanks to Andy's mom, I tasted it for the first time during Christmas brunch at her house. And boy, was it delicious!

Strata is essentially a layered breakfast "casserole" with milk, cream, cheese, eggs, bread, herbs and veggies and/or meat. Thank you again to Andy's mom, I received the cookbook, Eggs: Fresh, Simple Recipes For Frittatas, Omelets, Scrambles and More by Jodi Liano, for Christmas. My hens started laying eggs around Thanksgiving, so this was the perfect gift!

I used the Herbed Tomato Strata recipe as my guide. I say guide, as I'm not one to strictly follow recipes.

Ingredients (according to what I used):

6 eggs (from my hens)
2 cups of whole milk (from the dairy)
1 cup of heavy cream
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (from my garden)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (from my garden)
1 baguette, sliced in 1/2 inch portions
1 1/2 cups gruyere
1 yellow roasted sweet pepper, chopped
2 cups chopped baby bella mushrooms, sauteed in butter
4 smoked tomatoes (from my friend's garden), chopped
Dash of salt and pepper

Mise en place

I used 1 1/2 cups of gruyere (as opposed to the 2 cups of mozzarella the original recipe called for) because I find mozzarella to be quite boring.  Also, because it is a stronger-flavored cheese, I use less. The original recipe called for fresh tomatoes, which I refuse to buy until tomato season, so I chose mushrooms and [jarred] roasted yellow pepper. Luckily, I had some of my friend's homegrown and smoked tomatoes. Just adding a few to any dish really gives it that smokey flavor. I used more parsley than the original recipe calls for because I have it in my garden and because I like it!

Directions:

Butter a 9 x 13 in glass baking dish. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, Parmesan, thyme, parsley and dash of salt and pepper.

Arrange half of the sliced bread on the bottom of the backing dish. Top with half of the egg mixture, half of the gruyere cheese, half of the mushrooms, pepper and smoked tomatoes.

First layer of bread, cheese, veggies

Complete first layer

Repeat the layering, using all the remaining ingredients. Let the strata stand for 20 minutes at room temperature, occasionally pressing the ingredients with a spatula to keep the bread well coated.

Ready to go in the oven

Preheat the oven to 350. Baked the strata until golden brown, puffed, and set, about 45 - 60 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, remove the strata from the oven and press on the top layer of bread, keeping it submerged in the custard (OOPs, I didn't do this). Let the strata rest for about 10 minutes upon removing it from the oven. Cut into squares and serve right away.

The strata is done!

I plan to eat this throughout the week, let's see how long it lasts :)

Chickens in Heaven

I have six hens in my backyard. And maybe I should just say "back" because there is no yard left--they ate it all. I cannot grow enough greens for both them and me in my garden so I started buying greens at the SFC Downtown Farmers' Mkt for them. My friends gave me a hard time, "You are buying that for your chickens?!! Why don't you just buy some cheap iceburg lettuce if they want greens?" My justification is that if I eat their eggs, then really aren't I just feeding myself, via my chickens?


I had thought about asking some of the farmers for their greens scraps, but hadn't done it yet because I thought that any scraps they would have would just go to their chickens or back to compost that would then feed their crops. But on Saturday, I gave it a try and asked Brenton Johnson of Johnson's Backyard Garden if they had any. I was in luck! I came home with three bags of scrap greens for the chickens, which put them in heaven!

Three bags o' chicken gourmet greens

The girls, getting their party on

Going at a cabbage leaf

I Was Spoiled by Yogurt

I was spoiled by yogurt while serving in the Peace Corps in Bolivia.

In addition to up a recycling project at an orphanage and teaching English at the university,  I gave private English classes to a German/Bolivian boy whose family settled in Bolivia some 20+ years ago. As a Peace Corps volunteer, one cannot take monetary payment for services given. The German family was very thankful for their son’s private lessons, and as a way of thanking me, gave me homemade bread, pickles, cheese, cured meats, jam and yogurt. The family owned a dairy, so milk was omnipresent. 

When I returned to the States, I longed to have freshly made yogurt. I missed the sour bite that I grew accustomed to over the two years and I missed seeing the cows whose milk I was consuming . I was determined to start making my own yogurt.

Lucky for me, I found a dairy here in Central Texas from which I could buy fresh milk every two weeks. The cows are the ones that frolic in our bucolic dreams. They eat grass. They aren’t given hormones. They are treated with dignity.

Once I found the dairy, I needed to find a recipe. I searched online and found many recipes, after all, yogurt is quite simple to make.  However, my curiosity got the best of me, and ended up purchasing the book by Anne Mendelson, Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages. If you enjoy cooking and learning about the history of food, I highly recommend this book. It is a wonderful reference that weaves together the history of dairy products (horse, goat, cow, sheep, etc. etc) throughout the world with 120 recipes, simple and complex alike. 

Making yogurt usually takes place at my house in the evening. (You’ll see why shortly.) Flip to page 158 and you will find “Homemade Yogurt: Basic Recipe with Cow’s Milk.” The steps are as followed:

2 quarts milk

4 tablespoons plain unflavored yogurt (as the starter) *I generally buy organic yogurt*

Fresh milk and plain yogurt (for starter)

“Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan and gradually heat it to or just below boiling.”

When I first started making yogurt, I had a thermometer. However, it kept getting steam in it and now it no longer works. So, I’ve learned to heat the milk slowly and recognize when it is near the boiling point. Because you want the milk to heat slowly, make sure you are heating the milk on medium heat and you are stirring occasionally. This should take ~ 15 minutes. However, it is best if you are right near the pot so as to not burn or boil the milk. You can tell the milk has reached the “magic point” when you see small bubbles and the milk looks like it wants to start “rolling” like if you were to boil a pot of water. 

Slowly heating the milk on the stove-top

Remove the pan of milk from the heat. 

“Let it partly cool until not quite hot to the touch, about 110 to 115 degrees.” (Without a thermometer, this feels like a very hot bath that you would get into without getting yourself burned.) I speed up the cooling process by either placing a large metal spoon (metal conducts heat away from the milk) into the milk and stirring frequently OR by placing the pot of milk into cold water. The stirring method takes ~15 minutes and the water immersion method takes ~10 minutes.  Again, you want to be present during this process so the milk arrives at the proper temperature.

Expediting the cooling process by stirring with a large metal spoon

Once the milk is cooled “not quite hot to the touch”, place four tablespoons of the starter yogurt into the pan.

Stir. 

Funnel the milk/yogurt mixture into a mason jar(s). Place jar, wrapped in a towel, into a cooler. Close cooler. It is very important that the milk keep warm for 4-6 hours so that the yogurt sets. If you do not have a cooler handy, you could also wrap the jars and place them in the oven (oven off) with the oven light on. Make sure the cooler is in a place in which it will not be disturbed during the incubation process.

Place the jar into a cooler to keep warm

Cover with a towel, then close lid

Since I make the yogurt in the evening, I always let it set overnight. Inevitably, this is way more than 6 hours (I sleep a lot!); there is no harm in letting the yogurt have more time to set. 

In the morning, open the cooler, unwrap the towel from the jar and open it. Voila! The consistency should be that of“delicate custard, not a heavy putting.”

Voila! Yogurt!

My breakfast today

I find that my yogurt keeps much longer than store-bought yogurt. Sometimes several months even. I use it in place of sour cream; place dollops on top of spicy lentils; and eat it for breakfast with granola. 

Is Walmart our savior?

By now you've probably heard of Walmart's big announcement--it will be a leader in promoting healthier food and healthier food choices. Being a strong critic of Walmart, I am quite suspect of their "new leadership" for many reasons. Rather than write about my suspicions, I encourage you to check out Anna Lappe's blog post. I applaud Ms. Lappe--her write-up has been my favorite that I've read so far because it covers so many of the [controversial] bases.

The Fox still Guards the Hen House

Tonight I came across the article in the Austin American-Statesman, "At taste test, Georgetown students pick healthful menu options." Before reading it, I became excited--Maybe the school is introducing new fruits and veggies or locally-grown produce into the cafeteria! However, after reading the article I quickly learned that Georgetown schools, like the rest of America, are once again being tricked by large agri-biz and food companies (ConAgra, Tyson, etc.). Reduced-sodium and reduced fat mac and cheese, bacon and pizza is not what we should be eating; we should be eating real food! I find it so upsetting that the article (and, therefore, I presume, the school) emphasizes the "improved" and "healthier" options. Remember when SnackWells cookies came out? Well, that is a prime example of  "healthier" options being presented to the American public. And look where it got us. Real change has got to start with real food. (I define real food as food that has not been processed, is made in the same facility where it is being served and uses lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and some animal products.)

But Joy, you should at least applaud the district's efforts in looking to provide healthier food to it's students. Ok, clap. Once. 

I realize that changing what schools serve to their students is a huge undertaking for the following reasons:

(1) Many schools lack an actual kitchen where they can prepare real food; instead they are equipped with ovens and microwaves that essentially re-heat heavily processed foods

(2) Kitchen staff may lack trainings as to how to prepare real food.

(3) As mentioned in the article, students can be picky and the school wants to make sure it is serving what students will eat.

(4) Many schools look to food and beverage sales as a way to bolster their meager budget. This is unfortunate because this pits schools (and therefore the health and wellness of students) against multi-national companies looking to profit.

(5) Most schools are reimbursed by federal dollars for the meals they serve. Too bad federal agricultural policy encourages us to consume commodity crops (soy, corn, wheat, etc). Let's see if we can find some commodity crops in this article....soy bacon (soy--commodity crop); reduced-fat mac and cheese (high fructose corn syrup=corn; wheat = commodity crop; milk = overproduction in this country and government is looking to "dump" extra milk products on everything from school mac and cheese to Dominoes pizza).

I think the sneakiest thing about the situation is that it's prime example of an industry self-regulating itself. Tyson and ConAgra are "stepping up to the plate" to produce healthier foods, right? Wrong. Read more here at Michele Simon's blog, Appetite for Profit.  "No need for government regulation when we can regulate ourselves." Will we ever learn to not let the fox guard the hen house?

So not to be a complete Debby Downer, I'll offer up what I would rather have read:

(1) "Georgetown schools teach kitchen staff how to make lunches from scratch using twice the amount of fruits and veggies as before"

-OR-

(2) "Georgetown students taste new fruits and veggies being offered in the cafeteria"

-OR-

(3) "Georgetown school district commits to buying 10% of it's produce from local fruit and vegetable farmers."

OK, you get the idea, I could go on. 

Freezer Creation #1

After my "post-work" bike ride, I came home to the house hungry. What's for dinner? I asked myself. I opened my freezer and found about 2.5 cups of frozen black beans, 1 cup of frozen sweet potato and 2 cups of homemade chicken broth. Perfect! A pureed black bean-sweet potato soup! I added one can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 chopped yellow onion, 4 garlic cloves, chili powder, cumin, a touch of smoked paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Plus a little bit of water. And a tablespoon of sugar. I pureed it with my boyfriend's new immersion blender and served it garnished with cilantro from my garden and local totopos from El Milagro.

I'm a big fan of preparing food ahead of time and then freezing it in individually wrapped bags. For example, I buy several pounds of dried black beans and cook them as opposed to buying canned beans which have more sodium and cost more money.

(To use dry beans: Pour dry beans in large soup pot. Pour boiling water over beans so that there is about 3 inches of water above the beans so they have room to expand. Soak overnight. The next day, throw out water [on plants], rinse and cover beans by about another 3 inches of water. Cook for one hour on medium heat or until beans are soft enough to be easily crushed by your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Discard water [on plants] and let beans cool. Individually package beans in amounts you need--I usually bag them by 2 cups each.)

I'm also a big fan of homemade chicken broth because it is infinitely healthier than what you can buy, even the low-sodium versions (which still have 25% or more of your daily sodium intake in one serving). Making your own broth is super easy and, like the beans, I make it ahead of time and bag it up to use for soups, cooking rice, braising veggies, etc.

I just happened to have the previously roasted and mashed sweet potatoes. I had made extra at one point and then froze it thinking it would be easy to use for yammy muffins. However, adding the sweet potato to the soup gave it more body and a hint of sweetness.

Thawing out black beans and mashed sweet potato

Thawing out homemade chicken broth in warm water

Chopped garlic and onion and my trusty compost bucket

Black bean-sweet potato soup in a flash!