No More Hamburgers For Me

I read too much. The information in Fast Food Nation isn't new to me, but reading it again just drills home all the facts of the American meat industry. The sad life the animal lives in a factory farm, the inhumane killing at the slaughterhouse, the poor and unsanitary working conditions in the processing, the migrant workers, the corporate greed. It's so incredibly frustrating. I am absolutely not purchasing meat in the grocery store anymore. I don't order it out. I'm not going vegetarian completely because there are sustainable, humane options; but please, don't offer me a hamburger.

Potato Pancakes

A woman in my cooking class Emailed me last night asking about the potato pancake recipe I mentioned in class. I thought about it all day since I know how to make potato pancakes, I make them all the time, but I've never made them from a recipe. I just have a list of ingredients I mix together to make what I think is enough for the boyfriend and myself. So here's my attempt at a [large] four serving recipe:



4 large potatoes, washed, peeled & coarsely grated
1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped OR 1/4 t onion powder
1 egg
3 T flour OR corn starch (for gluten-free version)
salt & pepper
cooking oil (for frying)

1. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl.
2. Heat cooking oil on a griddle or large non-stick pan on medium heat.
3. Spoon palm sized potato mixture onto griddle and flatten to about 1/4" pancakes. Cook until mostly white (2-3min), then flip pancake and cook another minute or so. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
4. Serve with sour cream and applesauce (and/or maple syrup).

The best way to grate the potatoes is with a food processor add-on. I don't have one of those, so I do it by hand. It's a little more hazardous- I typically lose a fingernail or two in the process (not in the potato mixture, just to be clear). =) I also use typically a little more than half quantity when I make this for two people (I like to make a little extra for lunch the next day). When I do this I crack the egg into a cup, scramble it with a fork and only pour half in the mixture. (Save the rest for scrambled eggs for breakfast!)



Let me know if you try this and how it came out so I can adjust ingredient quantities! Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread

This St. Patrick's Day I hosted friends for dinner. I made the traditional corn beef, cabbage and potatoes. I meant to serve it with this amazing Dijon Mustard I purchased at Trader Joe's, but I completely forgot and only realized its absence the next morning when I saw the mustard in the fridge. Oops. I did however serve dinner with Irish Soda Bread, and instead of serving store bought bread, I decided to make it myself! I found a dozen recipes online and picked one I thought was closest to my favorite store bought brand: Katie Reilly's (sold ready-made at Shop Rites in the area, but you can also buy the mix online here). Or you could just use mine:

3 c Flour, sifted
3 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Salt
1/2 c Sugar
1 c Raisins
1 Egg
1 1/4 c Milk
2 t Unsalted Butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 375* (350* for glass dish).
2. Mix (by hand) all dry ingredients together in one bowl.
3. Mix egg and milk in another bowl.
4. Mix wet and dry together, then add butter.
5. Pour into a greased 8" baking dish, sprinkle sugar on top.
6. Bake 40 – 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

I used King Aruthor Whole Wheat Flour and sifting it was lots of fun since I don't actually have a sifter, just one of those little handheld strainer thingys- but I did notice the final product before baking was significantly smoother. I'm sure the whole wheat flour gave the bread the hearty taste and texture I was looking for. I also used organic raw sugar in and on top of the bread which makes a difference over processed granulated sugar. Overall, all my ingredients were organic except the Baking Soda, which cannot be organic as far as I know, and the "natural sea salt" I used. Here's a picture of my finished product:




The first time I baked this, it was perfect after 42min, the second time I didn't allow the butter to soften properly and baked it for 47min. I have an electric oven so it's quite inpercice. Both breads came out pretty amazing and not dissimilar. Enjoy!

Basic Skills Cooking Class

Last night was the last of a 5-session basic skills cooking class I took through the Princeton Adult School. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect considering I hadn't taken a cooking class since it was mandatory for a quarter in middle school. But compared with the descriptions, price, and actual class time of comparable beginner courses at the local community colleges and through the township, it seemed like a sure bet I was going to pick up some skills and tips over a span of 5 weeks time and at a decent price. The chef also seemed considerably skilled and, after a brief Google search, my assumption was confirmed. Check out Chef Davide Ercolano's website here.

Chef Davide and I share a common interest in cooking and promoting locally grown and organic food and the beginning of the first class was a little bit like an Alton Brown episode, to which Chef David stated "if you know Alton Brown's show, this class is going to be a little bit like that." Yup, this was going to be an awesome class.

And it was. It was a great class because I feel I learned some very useful basic skills; because the chef was great, talented and enthusiastic; and because the other members of the class itself were great too. Everyone in the class was friendly and engaged and I am particularly grateful to have made some connections with like-minded aspiring cooks. It was just a very fun, educational, and tasty experience. I cannot wait to take another cooking class!

As for the skills I learned in Basic Cooking Skills with Chef Davide:

- To heat the pan first before adding any fat (butter, oil, etc.)
- How and what to blanch, why
- That kale is tasty cooked or raw and very nutritious
- How to make a vinegarette
- What the difference between broth and stock is
- To cook potatoes in boiling water (not start them in cold) to make smoother, lighter mashed potatoes
- To cook pasta in 4 times as much water
- How to break down a whole chicken
- How to break down a whole fish
- The importance of a well [properly] stocked pantry
- That a Japanese knife only has one sharp edge
- That 8" is standard for a chef knife
- What marjoram is
- How to make gnocchi

What, you want more details? Better take a cooking class. ;) Of course there's probably more, but I've already implemented them so heavily into my own cooking I don't think I just learned them. And some things I already knew, like canola oil is made from rapeseed and only called canola oil since it comes primarily from Canada, Canada Oil/canola oil, get it? Either way, I learned a lot of useful tips and ate a lot of awesome food and highly recommend anyone take a basic skills cooking class- even you experienced cooks will learn something, I promise!


Chef Davide and the black bass we enjoyed in our final class.

Advertising in Song Lyrics?

This thought of advertising in song lyrics hit me this morning when Fabolous's "You Be Killin' 'Em" came on the radio. What caught my attention was right in the first verse, he raps about her Louis Vuitton shoes causing "shoe-icide" and "iPhone 4 Face Time." Looking up the rest of the lyrics, he also raps about having a donkey with Juan Valdez (yeah, I googled that one), playing green as long as Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics player since 1998- yes I googled that too), wearing Timbos (Timberland boots) and rocking a "BBM Pose," which according to Urban Dictionary is "Usually a sexy mirror photo, stomach photos, thongs , big boootayyyss! Most people default it for there BBM." (BBM = BlackBerry Messenger.)

There are 6 brands mentioned in this one song: Louis Vuitton, iPhone 4, Juan Valdez/Columbian Coffee, Paul Pierce/Boston Celtics, Timberland, and BlackBerry.

And what does this have to do with food? Well, it reminded me of something I read in "Chew on This," that in March 2005 McDonald's offered to pay rappers for mentioning "Big Mac" in their songs. Research I've been able to do shows that McDonald's was in talks with a Massachusetts marketing firm recruiting rappers to "do what they do best" and let them "creatively bring to life the product in their song." The rappers would get anywhere from $1 to $5 every time the song is played on regular or satellite radio. McDonald's seemed to think this was the solution to "culturally relevant" advertising at the same time they started promoting salads as healthy alternatives. Fortunately, eight months after the March announcement, bad press and public outcry caused McDonald's to stall their plans because, they say, they couldn't find suitable lyrics.

So while rappers aren't rapping about Big Macs, they're providing lots of other "hidden" advertising for products starting with Adidas, with a song by Run-DMC called "My Adidas," in 1986. Although originally the song was just about their favorite shoes, Adidas saw it was a golden opportunity and made a deal with the band for around $1.5million to promote Adidas. Since then it's become kind of the norm to advertise in songs or videos. I'm not sure why I didn't see it sooner.

Food, Inc. Reading List

So early January I finally got around to watching Food, Inc. which speaks to the status of the food industry in American today. I'd been making small changes in my diet and food habits for awhile now, keeping an eye on the news and hearing reports from friends and family, many of whom had seen Food, Inc. previously. So while not all new, the information in Food, Inc. basically changed my life. Basically it left me wanting more, I needed to know more, I needed to be involved in this local, organic movement- away from factory farming and big business. I got on the Food, Inc. Website, took the survey, read some articles, followed "Take Part" on twitter and checked out the reading list.

My favorite boyfriend (okay my only boyfriend, who still happens to be my favorite), Alex, got me a Kindle for Christmas, easily my favorite gadget these days. But really, since I've gotten it, I haven't put it down, so with my newfound love of learning where the food I eat comes from, I added the reading list from Food, Inc. to my Amazon wishlist. I even made a Listmania List, so you can add all the books to your cart in one step. ;) There's 12 books on the list from authors like Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser as well as one from Farmer Joel Salatin. I can only read one book at a time (meaningfully, I mean, I can read more than one book at once, but I typically get sucked in and confused if I am following too many stories- like reading the Sookie Stackhouse series and watching True Blood in season... I don't recommend it). Either way, I'm on book 3 on my Food, Inc. reading list.

First up was "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. I choose this first because it was showing up on everyone's Kindle library more often than any other book on the list and has an astonishing number of reviews on Amazon (668), resulting in a 4.5 star rating. It was a great read chronicling the authors journey through the industrial food world, the organic, the industrial organic and the pastoral. The information in it was fascinating and created great arguments for and against different ways of producing and eating food. I particularly enjoyed his thoughts on vegetarianism and veganism and have personally come to the conclusion that neither is sustainable nor natural. Not to say that the inhumane slaughter of animals is, it clearly isn't, I just think there are ways to maintain a well rounded diet locally and organically. Pollan's week at Polyface Farm with Joel Salatin shows me that it is possible. (Joel and his farm are also featured in Food, Inc.) I really wish there were more farms like his around here.

Next up was "Chew on This" by Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson. It breaks down the dangers of the fast food industry in a way that appeals to adolescents, the ones who are effected most by big business advertising and who are feeling the weight of its propaganda (literally). It's detailed about how the fast food industry came to power and stayed in power, what decisions were made that lead America to its current massive state of obesity. It speaks to what's in the food we eat, why this food is not good for us but tastes sooo good: "natural and artificial flavor." I've always wondered what these "natural flavors" were on a food label. Turns out it's a way of hiding a long list of additives (derived naturally, from nature, or synthetically, in a lab) that make our food taste and smell better. And most of the companies who manufacture these additives are right here in New Jersey, which explains why my exit on the Turnpike always smells like cake or popcorn (seriously, IFF is headquartered on my exit). I guess the most eye opening things in this book are the descriptions of working conditions in the fast food industry and in the slaughterhouse industry, which is largely producing for the fast food industry. After a glimpse of this in Food, Inc. I can safely and happily say I no longer consume fast food. Not that I did much before: I've been counting calories for awhile (not really watching my weight, but paying attention to what I consume and if the food I'm eating is worth it- a Dunkin Donuts vanilla bean coolatta is nearly 1,000 calories!) It's just completely unnecessary.

"Chew on This" was fairly graphic for a teen book, so I'm on a little break right now, reading "The Unadulterated Cat" by Terry Pratchett. I plan on (again, finally) watching Supersize Me soon and then following up with more reading from the reading list. I'm thinking I might need to keep going with the fast food kick and read "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser next.