Kale Soup Numero Uno

1/2 C olive oil
3 large onions, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
10 C veggie stock
1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes, or 2 C fresh, chopped tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed, or 1.5 C freshly cooked beans
1 pound kale, leaves torn from stems and finely chopped (about 10 C of leaves)
3 medium red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled and cut into a 1/2-inch dice
2 t sweet paprika
Dash cayenne pepper
1 t salt
Liberal seasoning with freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Stir in the onions and garlic, saute until onions are golden, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high, stir in all remaining ingredients, and bring souup to a boil. Lower the heat to achieve a lively simmer and cook about 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened. Discard the bay leaves. Remove about 2 cups of soup and puree in a blender or food processor. Return it to the soup and stir to blend. This soup's flavor will intensity with time, so don't hesitate to make it a few days in advance.

Italian Paysanne Soup

1/4 C white wine
1 C finely chopped onions
1 C finely diced celery or celeriac (or 3 T cutting celery, chopped)
1 C finely diced carrots
1.5 C peeled and diced potatoes
1.5 C peeled and diced parsnips (i substituted kohlrabi)
8 C veggie stock
1/2 t thyme
2 t garlic, crushed (i'd buff this waaay up)
2 C shopped kale
1 T soy sauce
1-2 C grain (i used quinoa)--optional

Combine wine through carrots, cook over medium heat for about 25 minutes. Stir in potatoes through garlic and the soy sauce, bring to a simmer, cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes (until potatoes are not quite tender). Add greens, cook 10-15 minutes longer. Unsure about the amount of liquid, I threw in some leftover quinoa we had in the fridge, but it didn't magically turn this into a stew, it's a soup.

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Groundnut Stew

Olive oil
1 medium onion, choped
1-2 t salt
1/2 t black peper
red pepper to taste
2-3 tomatoes cut up
2-3 T tomato puree
1/2 C smooth peanut butter
1/2 to 1 C water (or stock), more if needed
1 bay leaf

In oil, add onions, fry until slightly brown. Add salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, and some water, the red pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. Then add peanut butter and more water, stirring water in slowly to achieve a creamy consistency. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add additional spices or water as necessary.

Emma's Squash Soup(s)

Cut open 5-6 small squash (one full cookie sheet's worth--the photos are from a double batch) and bake in the oven, halves down in a bit of water on a cookie sheet until you can easily poke through skin with a fork (35 minutes?). Wash, chop and boil about 8 potatoes. If they're thick-skinned, consider peeling (though Emma would frown at that choice). Saute 1-2 leeks in a healthy pour of olive oil. After a minute or two add 4-5 cloves of garlic. Throw in a carrot or two or three, cut into slices. Add spices: probably a bay leaf or two, maybe some thyme, sage if you're feeling crazy, cutting celery, parsley. Salt and pepper. Add water (start with 6 cups, add as needed), bring to a simmer. Or I guess you could pour the potato water right into the pot. Either way. Add potatoes. When squash is ready, scoop out flesh and add to pot. Blend the entire batch, return to pot, and simmer again to warm and reduce if necessary.

I know it's unhelpful that the spices don't have amounts next to them, but really, this soup is all about letting the leek and squash flavors do most of the work. Throw in any fresh herbs you have around, and if that's nothing than try salt and pepper first and go from there.

Honey Time

The bustle of the honey house

A de-capping machine. You drop the frame in and it slices the wax (mostly) off of both sides.

Joy finishing the decapping, Emma working the machine.

Shawn and April decapping

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The Pletzel

The original recipe I found at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. It called for a challah or brioche dough. I ended up going brioche, but I can't seem to find the recipe I used for that--I'm sure brioche doughs are all pretty similar.

Two problems I had with this bread. The first, which you can kinda see in the picture, is that the outside got way more well-done than the middle. Partially my fault, i think i added extra onions, making that layer too thick. It did solidify enough as it cooled. The second was flavor--it wasn't oniony enough for me. For the second pan I roasted the onions a bit longer and added balsamic vinegar to them to reduce a bit. I wonder if they'd have more flavor if you roasted the onions in balsamic, salt and pepper in the oven first, instead of sauteing. Maybe I'm just spoiled--my old work did an onion bread that was uber-yummy.

Currant Jam

You want to strip the berries off their bracts into a colander to rinse them, then heat and simmer in a bit of water for about 10 minutes. Run them through a foley mill (or cheesecloth) to remove the skins. By our calculations, 4.5 quarts of berries + 1.5 C water = about 7.5 C currant juice.

Honey Recipe

6.5 C currant juice
3.25 t dry low-methoxyl pectin
3/4 C honey
9 t lemon juice
6.5 t calcium water (comes in a Pomona's pectin packet)

Mix pectin into honey, stirring well. Add lemon juice to berry juice in pot, bring to a boil (be careful not to scorch the bottom --stir, stir, stir). Add honey/pectin mixture, then return to a boil and boil for a timed 2 minutes, then add calcium water, stir that in, and remove the pot from heat. Can away! If I were a better person I'd have estimates for how many jars this makes. Um, sorry?

Sugar Recipe
4 C currant juice
1-2 C sugar (i'd recommend the high side, to counter the tartness)
2 t pectin
2 t calcium water

Process the same way.

Lazy Sunday Lentils, rambling version

I'm surprised this isn't already up somewhere, it's one of my standards. God, maybe it is and I'm just getting worse at using the internet.

1 # bag of green lentils
1 onion (yellow, usually)
3-4 cloves garlic
a bit of olive oil
cumin
paprika
salt and pepper
turmeric?
3-4 carrots, cut into coins and coin halves
3 celery stalks or a small handful of cutting celery, leaves and stem, diced
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes or equivalent amount (2-3 handfuls) of fresh tomatoes
4 C water (?)

Dice onion and garlic, saute in olive oil in a soup pot. Add spices in ratio of 2 cumin:1 paprika, salt and pepper to taste (lots of pepper...add a little salt now, but save some for the end), and the equivalent of 1/2 turmeric if you feel like it. Maybe start with 2 tsp cumin, etc. Stir well, then add the diced carrots and celery, continue cooking on low (you can cover it if you're worried about the garlic scorching). When the carrots are starting to get tender, pour in lentils. Stir lentils around for a bit--i dunno, 30 seconds? i learned this from my old roommie Visnja. She says it brings out the nutty flavor in the lentils--then add water. How much? Well, I put 4 cups, but you want enough to cook the lentils in. It may be closer to 8 cups--i usually add some water, and add more as the lentils puff up. You can always add more later, but you can also always simmer it to the desired consistency later as well if you add too much early on. Your call. Ramble over. So, you threw in the water, now bring to a boil, then back to a simmer until lentils are cooked. Add tomatoes, let heat through. Now check your spice levels and adjust. I used to add the tomatoes with the water, before the lentils were cooked, but somebody told me that tomatoes get more acidic as they cook, so I started holding them back a bit. I wonder if that's even true. Anyway, the stew is better the second day.

(The next time I make this I'll pin down the water and spice deal and update these directions to sound less crazy).

Grafting and Blossoms

Joy making a diagonal cut in the scion wood (the dormant wood from the existing tree that you want to replicate).

Scion wood bundles

The rootstock end has already been cut

And here they are--don't they look fragile? We taped tightly over the grafts to help press the layers together. The green goo on the end helps prevent moisture loss.

Miraculous! Green growth above the graft.

Pear tree at the end in full bloom, ahead of the young apple trees

Bob calls this the "red balloon" stage, when the buds are full and round. I think these pictured may be just shy of red balloon

A row of blossoming apple trees. The buds are set in the previous summer, so your apple is actually over a year in the making. Amazing, right?

The sepal-like green bit behind the blossom is the calyx. And the slight swelling between calyx and stem? Your future apple. The calyx remains through the process- it's that little bit of stuff in the bottom cleft of the apple.

I think this is a pear blossom.

Brandon's Spinach Quinoa Egg Bake

Ingredients (serves 6):
2 cups red quinoa
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 packs of frozen cut spinach
1 cup of chopped yellow squash
1 Tbsp salt
6 eggs


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and thaw your veggies (if necessary--if not, i'd quickly steam them both). Cook quinoa until fluffy. Combine warm quinoa with thawed/cooked spinach and squash. Stir in salt and parmesan cheese. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl until well mixed and pour over quinoa spinach mix. Spoon into a 9 x 12 glass baking dish and bake-- covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for the final 15. Serve warm with soy sauce to taste.

Stop Beeting Around The Bush

Beet Risotto (serves 3-6)

1 C short-grain rice
1 quart broth
1 onion chopped as finely as you care to
1-4 cloves garlic
2-4 T olive oil
2-8 T butter
1/3 C dry red wine (optional)
1-2 C boiled or roasted beets cut into chunks
grated parmesan (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan/pot, fry onions and garlic in butter and oil on med/low heat until soft. While doing this, bring broth to a VERY low simmer. When onions are soft turn up the heat and add rice. Stir quickly to prevent scorching for about a minute until rice grains become translucent. Then add the wine if you have it. Continue stirring to prevent scorching. When wine is absorbed/cooked off add 1-2 cups of broth. Continue stirring. When broth is absorbed add a cup or two more and stir until absorbed. Continue until rice is done or broth is used up. This part of the process is the most laborious bu if it takes more than a half an hour you could probably stand to cook it at a higher heat. If you run short of broth you can finish with water. Taste periodically to gauge doneness and to season. When rice is soft stir in the chunks of beet. Reduce heat. Watch your food turn a lovely magenta color. Let it simmer 10-15 minutes before serving. Now would also be the time to add your grated parm.

Thanks to Kristin C for initially rocking my world with this fabulous magenta food.

--Emma

Peas, Please

For smaller batches a colander would be just fine, but we've been soaking our tray's worth in custom-made colander-buckets placed in a solid bucket. Until they start to sprout we rinse them once a day to keep them moist. When they do sprout, pour them into a soil tray (I've also heard of people doing this special sprouting mats, as well--less mess?), and then just water them (rinse them) once a day until they're about 7 inches high.

Shawn's Tortilla Soup

For a batch fit for 4-6:

1 C onions, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 T veggie oil
1-2 minced chiles (meh, to taste)
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t dried oregano
3 C of equivalent of veggie stock
3.5 C chopped fresh tomatoes (don't give me that look, you've bought winter tomatoes)
1/3 C fresh lime juice (I'm not sure if Shawn went bottled or fresh)
1 C corn
salt to taste

Saute onions and garlic, add chiles, cumin, oregano, then add tomatoes and sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook until the tomatoes begin to release their juices, stirring occasionally (will take longer with "winter tomatoes"). Add stock and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, add the lime juice and salt to taste.

Serve topped with grated monterey jack cheese and crumbled tortilla chips (get the thicker kind), garnish with cilantro if you have it.

Cream of Radish Green and Beet Green Soup

No premade stock necessary! A heavy vegetable stock will drown out the flavor of the greens, so it's easier just to make a light stock from scratch as you prepare the greens.

I used:
1 onion
1 large potato
1 clove garlic
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 cups water
greens of 2 bunches radishes
greens of 2 beets
1/2 head romanesco broccoli
1 cup milk (buttermilk?)
a lot of salt

I simmered the onion, potato, garlic, and celery in the water for 20 minutes before adding radish and beet greens and the basil, which I then simmered for another fifteen minutes.

I pureed the whole mess, along with the milk. Then I added in some romanesco broccoli that I happened to have on hand, which I'd steamed separately. Then tried to 'reheat' the soup, even though it had only been off the stove for a minute or two. Lesson learned: don't try to reheat thick liquids that are already plenty hot! The soup started to boil, and the whole pot thumped around the stove spewing enormous scalding green bubbles onto my arms.

Oh, I added a good amount of salt, it needed it.

Overall, the soup did not quite have the bite I'd hoped for from the radish greens, but it did have an obscure, aromatic flavor. There aren't enough creamy soups out there, either, and I enjoyed it just for that aspect. Maybe with less potato, or without the blander beet greens, the radish flavor would have come through more. Even the actual radish slices seemed tamped down by the soup.

I was working loosely off a Moosewood recipe ("Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites," 82) which called for buttermilk. That probably would have given the soup the acidic kick it needed. Plus, it would have added a fermented element to the soup, which, as we know from the foodifesto, is a totally positive addition.

That bread in the photo is from a multi-grain loaf from the Truckee Sourdough Company, the best small bread bakery in all of the Sierra foothills, as far as I know. Moosewood reminds you to serve your soups with crusty bread and to preheat the bowls in the oven. I didn't follow this last direction because I was eating out of the neat wooden bowl Rose brought me from Kauai. But it does sound nice.

Tempeh Tempeh Tempeh

Before making tempeh, you'll need to have obtained the starter, spores of the Rhyzopus oligosporus mold. One source is G.E.M. cultures. I've heard that the starter will last 6 months, but I think you can stretch that if you keep it in the fridge and increase the amount you use as it ages.

Here's the KVG recipe:

2.5 C whole dry soybeans, washed and drained
1-1.5 T rice vinegar
water
1 t tempeh starter or 2 oz fresh minced tempeh

that makes one big ziploc bag. We make five times the recipe in a go, so all measurements below will be for 12.5 cups of soybeans. The process, from soaking to finish, takes about 36-48 hours.

1) So, start with soybeans. Cover them with water (7.5 C?) in a big pot and bring them to a boil before letting them soak overnight, covered (8-16 hours for pre-fermentation). Drain them and let the fun begin. Once drained, you'll need to dehull/split your soybeans in an amusing and efficient manner. If you're making a small batch, using a rolling pin or small cutting board to press down on them work, but for larger amounts, might I suggest strapping wooden boards to your feet and stepping on them? These experts use a grain mill. It's important to split the beans because the culture can't penetrate the hull, and you'll be stuck with unfermented soybeans in your tempeh.


2) You now have a mix of cracked soybeans and hulls. To separate out the hulls, fill your bowl or pot of bean/hull mix with water and sloosh it around a bit,. The hulls will float to the top--the trick is to pour them off before they settle. If you can establish a good rhythm, it should take about 5 fill and pour cycles to get most of the hulls away (no need to be too too anal).

I like to think of the hulls as soybean ghosts

3) After the last hull pour-off, cover the beans (about 10 cups of water) and add 1.5 T vinegar (i have a note that says if it's a smaller pot, add 7.5 cups water and only 1 T vinegar). Bring to an active boil and cook, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes (do not pressure cook). The vinegar lowers the pH, which inhibits less desirable molds from jumping in


.

4) Drain the beans then pour onto baking sheets lined with towels to dry. Let stand 20-30 minutes, stir around a bit every once in a while, until they are about body temperature and fairly dry. Transfer them to a large bowl, add the tempeh starter, and stir/mix for 2 minutes (well-mixed is the goal).

5) Now we need some ziploc bags with holes in them. Take your gallon ziploc bags and poke holes in them using, i dunno, a far sewing needle, pushpin, corn cob holders?, in a grid pattern, about 1/2 to 3/4 inches apart. My notes say that you can get about 6 cups in each gallon bag.

6) Incubate. This the the tricky bit. The goal is to keep the fridge at 86-88 degress for 22-28 hours. The instructions we were using, from The Book of Tempeh, recommend putting a lightbulb with a dimmer in a foam cooler, with a rack at the bottom for air circulation. We just put a light bulb in the oven, put a bandana above it so it didn't overheat the bag nearest to it, and left the oven door slightly ajar (rolled up dishcloth to keep it from shutting all the way). It'll be a bit tricky the first time, but then you'll know what it takes to get your oven hot enough. The key is to keep checking it, because once the fermentation takes off, the tempeh will start producing it's own heat.


You'll know it's done when it's got the white mold all around it--the soybeans should look held together, not loose. If it starts turning gray or has black spots it's gone a bit far (you can always cut that chunk off). If it smells ammonia-y, it's iffy. It if smells bad, something went wrong. But hopefully not! You're rewarded with beautiful tempeh that will keep 4-5 days in the fridge, indefinitely in the freezer (don't stack the tempeh bags in the freezer, though, or at least not until they are already frozen, because the live mold will keep fermenting and cause them to overheat)

Lovely tempeh, sauteed with a solid splash of tamari

A later innovation: cloth straps for stability and comfort (and, er, looks?)

Was that too long-winded? It's just:

whole soybeans--> bring to a boil-->soak-->drain and dehull-->second boil (w/vinegar)--> drain and cool--> inoculate-->pack-->incubate-->ta da!

Other instructions/directions/tips can be found at: Mother Earth News, Peter's way, Too Many Chefs, and Bunnyfoot's blog.

Kombucha Instructo

As given to me:

In 1 gallon of water, steep 6-8 black tea bags for 20 minutes. Stir in to dissolve 1-2 cups of sugar. Cool to room temperature in an iced tea dispenser. Add the culture and starter liquid, and cover with a rubberband and piece of fabric over the top opening (it needs air--don't seal it with the lid).

Let sit 2-3 weeks at 65-90 degrees, out of direct sunlight. When it's good and done, remove the culture with 8-12 oz of liquid (this will be used to start your next batch). At this point you may have a baby as well as the mother, you can peel them apart to start multiple batches, or dispose of one of them (compost!)

You can add juice to the kombucha at this point, which will add flavor and carbonation, but never add juice to the culture (i wonder if Sandorkraut would agree with that last point...) If you pour kombucha into bottles, do not tighten the lid too much. Leaving it out an extra day with an added bit of juice makes it fizzier.

Clean brewing container every so often, not necessary to do it each time. Use mild soap, rinse well!!

It's Chili in here

The uber-quick, yum chili:

2 T veggie oil
1 large onion, chopped or diced
1 med. green bell pepper (or more-seasonally appropriate green veggie)
2 med. carrots, chopped
1 C water
1 T chili powder (not cayenne--the stuff sold as "chili powder"--i only recently learned the difference)
1 t ground cumin
3/4 t salt
2 cans (the 15oz's) red kidney beans, drained and washed
1 big can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
opt = 1 pasilla chili, seeded and chopped (or 3/4 C worth)

Heat oil, saute onion, pepper, carrots (and opt. chili) for 3-5 minutes. Then stir in remaining ingredients, heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes til veggies are done (or until desired consistency), stirring occasionally.

We've been mixing in some macaroni noodles for fun.

Shitake Masterpieces