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Archive for the ‘Organic Food’ Category


Valentine’s Day: A big celebration day for florists around the world! In the U.S., it’s their number one holiday with as much as 20% of annual business. According to a CBS report, Americans will spend $1.7 billion on flowers for their sweeties.

And you? As one of the long-time ads in the States says, you certainly “… care enough to send the very best”, right? Well, keep in mind that these days, part of the “very best” means organic and Fair Trade.

Why?

First of all, by buying organic you’re ensuring that your loved one isn’t inhaling poisonous chemicals. If that’s not enough reason, (more…)

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While I’ve been busy doing research and experimentation on the best and simplest way to make yogurt, you might think that Nils has been sitting back and just enjoying the fruits of his wife’s new passion. Au contraire! Or I should say (in German) Im Gegenteil!

During my ventures into the world of lactobacillus, Nils was looking for a study he remembered from years ago, which came to be known as “Ein Jogurt geht auf Reisen” (“Journey of a Yogurt”). A fascinating study! (more…)

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In our household, we love yogurt. But ever since we’ve become more aware of the negative impact plastics have on our health, wildlife, the environment, and the future of our planet, eating the stuff has left a … ahem … sour taste in our mouths.

Now, if I go to our organic food store, I can find yogurt in a large glass jar. But, there’s no low-fat version and certainly no sheep milk yogurt (which I prefer). At the regular grocery store, we can find large 14-oz/400g plastic containers which somehow make me feel slightly less guilty, but still not a long-term solution. The most common is the worst: those “cute” 4-oz/125g containers of yogurt that are so much more practical, right?

Eating yogurt = guilty pleasure. :-(

But as of this afternoon, we can take the guilty out of our pleasure. (more…)

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Garbage day on our farm in South Africa doesn’t mean rolling a big green garbage bin out to the front lawn for pick-up. It means, hauling the bag(s) into the back of the car and driving 40 minutes on mostly country roads to our dump.

This is what we saw during Week 50.

I believe that if we all had to regularly face the inconvenience and this “in your face” look at what we’re doing to our planet, we’d re-think and take greater care about what we consume and how we treat our Earth. I know that my attitude and habits have changed since this first trip ever to our dump. (more…)

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Due to flu and other 24/7 commitments we didn’t have time to post Week 40′s Impact Effort on-time … Here we go! Worth the wait, I think.
Something a little different, brought to you by Nils this week.

As you might recall, three weekends ago, we went to the local organic farmer’s market to buy local (and if possible, organic) produce.  By doing so, we felt, and are now convinced, that the quality of goods is significantly better. While the variety may not be as large as that in the huge grocery stores, the produce was also not picked green several weeks prior and ripen in crates. Additionally, the food products didn’t travel from afar, thus producing less carbon emissions and packaging materials. The majority of goods we purchased were not only local, but also organic so our bodies and the earth aren’t subjected to chemicals, pesticides, hormones or genetically modified materials.

Since it’s harvest season, we, in fact, succeeded in finding a rich variety of vegetables and herbs. And, we found some nice cuts of organic meat. That following week, we cooked up several dishes from what we bought, and we kept track, as best we could, of what we cooked so we could share some of our recipes.

Normally, my cooking’s inspired more by spontaneous ideas and gut feeling than by recipes, so some of the  recipes might not be very exact. However, we had fun cooking it, and the results were excellent. We are very pleased with the quality of produce we bought which led to a series of nice dinners. Making impact by buying and cooking local was really delicious! We plan to keep it going!

Leg of Lamb with Pumpkin Seed Crust (with roasted potatoes and green beans) – 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs (1.3kg) leg of lamb, deboned
  • 5 whole garlic cloves
  • Bunch of thyme
  • Bunch of sage
  • 1 cup (1/4l) red wine
  • 1 cup (1/4l) water
  • 1 large onion
  • 1/3 cup (80g) crushed pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup (80g) goat cream cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 8 medium-sized potatoes
  • Olive oil
  • 3/4 lb (330g) green beans
  • Coarse salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 tsp corn starch

Preparing the meat:

  • Heat oven to 170°C (>< 340°F)
  • Rub meat with coarse salt.
  • Cut little pockets into the thicker pieces of meat with a sharp, pointed knife and slip the whole (or half, depending on clove size) garlic cloves inside.
  • Put thyme and sage in the center of the meat ond roll it into a neat package, secure the roast with string or a net.
  • Heat olive oil in a pot which can also go into the oven. We like to use a cast iron pot for roasts.
  • Sear meat on all sides on high heat for a couple of minutes.
  • Add cup of red wine and cup of  water.
  • Add onion (quartered).
  • Place pot, covered, in oven.

A good general rule is  to roast the meat for 20 min per pound. In our case, we checked in after 45 min. Check the meat with a thermometer to get the desired result.

Crust:

  1. Mix egg, goat cream cheese and finely crushed pumpkin seeds into a thick paste.
  2. When roast is half done, spread paste over the top of the lamb and turn on the grill for a few moments, until the crust is hardened and starts to get golden brown.
  3. Return lidded pot to the oven and continue to cook at  170°C (>< 340°F).

Potatoes:

  1. Get the firm kind of potato that does not get mushy when boiled, e.g., any of the “waxy potatoes” like Round, Yellow or Red Potatoes, Australian Crescent, Yukon Gold. If you have new potatoes, you might want to keep the potato skin, in our case we had to peel and quarter the potatoes.
  2. Boil in salt water until almost done.
  3. Quickly rinse in cold water.
  4. Add some  olive oil.
  5. Put in a baking pan (hint: put the potatoes back in the pot, add some oil, and close the lid. Shake the potatoes with the lid closed,  and the oil will distribute well).
  6. Add some coarse salt and thyme, and
  7. Put in oven 200°C (400°F) for app. 20-25 min, until the potatoes turn golden.

Beans:

  1. Wash and cut beans.
  2. Put in a pot with a little water.
  3. Close lid and boil for approx 10 min.

HINT: don’t start to early with the beans, since they tend to get mushy when kept warm too long.

Gravy:

  1. When the roast is done, remove it from the oven.
  2. Remove roast from the pot and place it back in the oven on a heat resistant plate (turn off the oven, the roast should sit for a few moments).
  3. Put pot on the stove on med-low.
  4. Add a teaspoon of cornstarch (dissolved in some cold water) and stir the sauce when pouring it in the hot pot.
  5. Keep stirring until the starch is completely blended.
  6. Let simmer for a few minutes, add salt and pepper to your taste.

Hokkaido Pumpkin Soup (12 servings)

Ingredients:

  • 5 lbs (2kg) Hokkaido pumpkin
  • 3 inch (7cm) fresh ginger root, finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 bunch of cilantro (app 2/3 ounce, 20 grams)
  • 1 cup of cream (250g)
  • 1/2 cup of sour cream (125g)
  • Salt
  • Olive oil
  • Pumpkin seed oil
  • Water
  1. Thoroughly wash the pumpkin, since the skin will be used as well.
  2. Chop in half and remove the seeds and the strings holding the seeds.
  3. Chop pumpkin in even sized chunks (approx 1 inch, 2 cm).
  4. Heat up olive oil in large pot, add chopped garlic and saute until  golden brown.
  5. Add pumpkin and 4 cups (1l) of water and cook until soft and mushy.
  6. Add finely chopped ginger and cilantro.
  7. Blend until smooth (in blender or food processor).
  8. Put back on stove on low, add cream and sour cream.
  9. If soup is too thick, add water until consistency is as desired.
  10. Add salt as required. Let steep with very low heat for another 30-40 min.
  11. Serve with some pumpkin seed oil and fresh cilantro leaves.

This freezes nicely.

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce (4 servings) - great gluten-free recipe

Meat Sauce:

  • 1 lb (440g) ground beef
  • 1 lb (440g) tomatoes
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1/2 eggplant
  • 1 cup (1/4l)  vegetable broth
  • Salt, pepper, chili pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  1. Coarsely chop garlic and onion.
  2. Heat a large pan or pot with olive oil.
  3. Add garlic and onion and fry until golden brown.
  4. Add meat and fry until liquid from meat and onion has dissipated.
  5. Add red wine, vegetable broth, chopped tomato, carrot and eggplant.
  6. Cover and let simmer for 1-1/2 – 2 hours.
  7. Add salt, pepper and chili as desired.

Squash:

  1. Heat oven to 200°C (400°F)
  2. Quarter thesquash, remove the seeds and place face down on a baking pan.
  3. Add water (approx. 1/2 inch) and put baking pan in the oven.
  4. Bake for approx 1 hour until soft.
  5. Scrape out the squash with its “spaghetti strands” directly onto the plate.
  6. Add the meat sauce and enjoy!

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September hasn’t yet departed, but temperatures have dipped and there’s that telltale scent of autumn’s arrival.

Here, even in the city, autumn comes alive. Shop window displays captivate with the colors and textures of the local harvest, inspiring culinary visions. Yet faceless pumpkins of varied shapes and sizes will become jack ‘o lanterns, soup or pie? Bunches of tender, baby carrots cry out for a delicate stock to bring out their blush and flavor. Plump green grapes look the most pleasing, but I know that the softer blues and even nearly blacks could be sweeter, gentler. Shiny, bulbous peppers, red, yellow and green, perch awkwardly on their lopsided cheeks; which will have the right pleasant bitterness for a sauce? I breathe in their aromas. The yellow will do. Gnarled, fibrous cabbages seem to squat in wait for rebirth as a hearty German Gruenkohl dish.

I look forward to time in the kitchen with Nils. What shall it be? Pumpkin soup, a specialty in Austria, is without question. With snips of local chives and a drizzle of Austrian pumpkin seed oil. Certainly. Carrot and ginger bisque? Ah yes, I will excavate the cookbook shelf for that recipe. Tuscan vegetable soup? Definitely. A round of crusty bread and it’s a meal in itself. Ah wait, I forgot to mention that mushrooms are in season. A Viennese Chanterelle (Eierschwammerln) Goulash!

The approaching chilly weather seems not so threatening now. I think only of the warmth and comfort that these dishes bring. Perhaps the vendors selling fresh roasted chestnuts on the street will return this weekend.  Ah, and we will surely spend time at the weekend taste testing local “Sturm” (also known as Must or Federweisser), a “young wine” that’s a little like a slightly alcoholic grape juice. It’s available locally for a few short weeks per year. It’s delicious. Perhaps a little bit too much so.

In case you haven’t yet guessed, this week’s Impact Effort will be related to our local harvest season. We’re not yet sure what that means and what it will look like, but it will involve food.  Good food, good drink, and taking advantage of all that our local harvest has to offer.

How about you? Does your local area have specialities being harvested now? This may be the perfect time to experiment with buying local, if you’re not already doing so.

REMINDER: Don’t forget to submit your Slacktivist Impact Effort! Submissions can be made until midnight EST, Tuesday, October 5th, 2010.

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