Provo Farmers Market and CSA

It's not secret that I love fresh produce. And, since reading In Defense of Food, I find myself gravitating more towards organic, locally grown produce. That's why I signed up for my local CSA.

"What is a CSA?" you ask. A brilliant idea, for one. CSA stands for community shared agriculture. Essentially, you pay a local farmer at the beginning of a growing season to pay for the growing costs. Then, each week throughout the season, the farmer provides you with a box of freshly picked, locally produced vegetables and fruits. You don't usually choose what you get, but that's part of the fun, really. It teaches you to cook new dishes.

I signed up for the smallest share available which is still way too much for me. My current CSA shares are just vegetables, so I supplement with fruits from the farmer's market, another place to get fresh, local produce.

Not only does local, organic produce taste better, but it supports the agricultural culture of your area. The more we support these local farmers, the less dependent we'll be on industrially produced supercrops, which lack the nutritional quality and ecological integrity of local foods.

Oh, and did I mention how delicious they are? :)

Homemade, wholesome pizza and more Utah gardening adventures

HAHAHA! Skeeaired? Don't be. It's not a dangerous spider. I mean, you don't want one to bite you (leaves a nasty welt, I hear), but they're good at killing bugs you don't like. Oh, and they jump. *Shiver.* But, look how fuzzy he is. I mean, in a way, isn't Harold here kind of cute? Just look into those eyes. And those other eyes...and those ones too... He's just a hardworkin' arachnid; don't hate!

It's called the Daring Jumping Spider. I ran into this cuddly little fellow yesterday as he was attempting to climb into my tomato plant. I should have let him.  My tomato plant is covered in filthy vermin! It's stressing me out. Those are my tomaters, free loaders! Yuck. Anyway, they'll soon be getting a thick serving of organic insecticide.

Ok. Now I'd like to get serious with you for a minute. Because, I'm going to show you my pizza. I made a pizza the other night and it was wonderful and healthy and you need to know about it.

So, good pizza must begin on a solid foundation. I wanted this pizza to have a kick-butt dough and I found one called Jay's Signature Pizza Crust. However, as is my wont, I Meg-ified it by subbing half whole wheat flour. That made this a pretty healthy dough since the fat is just a bit of olive oil. This crust is outstanding! Be warned: this is a yeast dough and must rise, so you'll have to start it about an hour before baking it (but it is SO worth it!)

After rising and rolling, it was time for some exceptional ingredients. I wanted simple but striking flavors, so I opted for no tomato sauce (gasp) and went with 3 toppings:

Emmentaler cheese, basil, and vine-ripe tomatoes.

Three words (and one article) for you: I am a genius.

Bahaha. But it did turn out pretty good.

Next, we threw it on my $10 baking stone and this is what came out:

And then we had ourselves a little slice of heaven. Actually, several rather huge slices.

Everyone loves pork fat

Especially me.

J and I decided that there's enough garlic used on these to burst the space time continuum, which is why my hands smelled like garlic the day before I actually cooked them.

And the day of. But I think J likes when I smell like ribs.

When we eat these, it's hard not to just shove them down our throats as fast as our breathing will allow. That's how good they are. Tender, juicy, barbecue-y pork fat. Can you blame us?

I'd love to disclose the recipe, but my brother has sworn me to secrecy (he's our family grill master). So, I thought I'd just post these pictures to tease everyone.

Just kidding. I like you too much for that. But aren't they tempting?

How to make quick, healthy, and easy biscuits!

I love homemade rolls, but I rarely have time to make them, as worth the effort as they are. So, I make a lot of biscuits because they take about 10 minutes to mix up and 10 minutes to cook. Easy!

Oh, but there's a price. It seems to me that, in general, the less time a bread takes to cook, the more fat and/or sugar it contains. I don't know when you last made biscuits, but most of the recipes I've seen call for nearly a cup of butter per 10-12 biscuits. I love butter, but if the thought of it settling on my hips isn't enough, the claustrophobia of closing arteries usually does the trick.

So, I developed this recipe. Butterless? Not in your dreams. Significantly lower in fat and more nutritious? Now we're talking. And no one is going to know these are "healthy." They're tender, crumbly, and scrumptious.  Really. I was surprised myself.

Meg's Rosemary Oatmeal Biscuits

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

1 c white flour
1 c wheat flour
1 c quick cooking oats
1 tbs dried rosemary
4 tsp baking powder
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 c butter
1/4 c olive oil
1 c milk

Mix up the flours, oats, rosemary, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Next, cut in the butter with a pastry blender (a food processor might not be a good idea because you want the oats to stay whole).
Add olive oil.
Finally add the milk.

Drop biscuits using a 1/4 c measuring cup on to ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.

How to cook tender chicken: My favorite trick for juicy, perfect chicken

Pan-sauteed chicken over a spinach and strawberry salad

The number one compliment I get on my chicken is that it's moist.  I've lately noticed that a lot of us suffer from CCS: Chewy Chicken Syndrome. Maybe we're afraid of salmonella.  Maybe we like dry, chewy, tasteless chicken.  However, there are ways to treat CCS.  For me, I use a special trick that I rarely ever see home cooks use: pan-sauteeing.

I thought for awhile that I was really on to something unique, until I realized Julia Child's covers this method in-depth in her cookbook The Art of French Cooking. 

First: never use those pre-frozen, bagged, chicken wannabees.  Why? Because they suck.  And you won't get beautiful, juicy chicken out of them.  Buy them fresh.  They cost about the same, and all you have to do is wrap them individually and freeze them when you get home.

So, first, defrost your boneless, skinless chicken boobs. I mean breasts (sorry, I had to).  However, don't let them cook in the microwave unless you like chewing rubber (my dog does). 

While you're defrosting, get your stainless steel skillet hot.  Medium-high hot.  Sprinkle a little salt over your chicken and then toss those bad boys on the skillet.  Yeah, straight on.  As in, no oil.  I know, I know.  But this works!

What you're doing right now is searing the outside, which will not only help keep the moisture in, but will turn your chicken a delicious golden brown.  Mmmmmmm....

See how the outside is browned but the middle is still raw?

It takes a little practice to know when to turn them, but only turn these baddies once! It's usually about 3-5 minutes per side.  Don't sear them any longer and don't keep turning them because you'll only burn the outside and cook the inside and you don't want the inside of the chicken to cook during the searing process.  We're going to do that with low heat.

Once you're done searing, the juicy part begins.  Now you're going to add some broth or stock to the pan and reduce heat to low.  The amount you add depends on whether or not you're creating a sauce for the chicken.  If you are, then you'll add as much as you need. If not, add only enough to keep the chicken from cooking in dry heat-- about 1/4 inch in the pan, like the ones below.  You aren't going to add too much liquid, so don't worry about that.  Worry about not adding enough, which will dry your chickies out.

Now, cover and let them simmer.  I usually shoot for 5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness.  The ones above, as you can see, are quite thick.  I probably simmered these guys about that long.  I know it's tempting.  I know you want to because so many of us suffer from CCS.  But don't overcook those breasts!  If they're a little pink still, you can keep simmering.  But you can't unsimmer them if you overcook them.

At some point, I'm going to put up a few quick, easy, gourmet-tasting sauces that I make using this method.  But for now, just add a little butter to the stock and season those puppies up and voila!

I put these chickies over a spinach salad with strawberries, carrots, and apple.  I whipped up a little dressing that about even parts red wine vinegar and raspberry jam plus a little olive oil.  Simple. Fast. Divine.  Enjoy!

How to use sirloin steak

There are a lot of reasons why I love Mexicans.  The taco is one of them.

You know I'm cheap.  Make that frugal.  Well, when it comes to beef, cheap cuts usually mean tough.  That's why these tacos are perfect-- the "toughness" doesn't matter.

Not only that, but these are fresh and healthy.  Do not read: low fat.  They are not the same for me.  Whoever said healthy can only mean low-fat was probably a shrewd, miserable person whose taste-buds fell off.  I think that, in a day, you need to keep your fat intake moderate and that you should strive to make those healthy fats whenever possible.  But never eating fat is as extreme as it is boring.

It's all about balance and moderation.

Hey, can you hand me the rest of those Skittles?  I dropped them on my ice cream filled chocolate cake.  Thanks.

Anyway, to make these, here's what you need:

Meg's Sirloin Tacos

(Note: I never measure anything.  It's not my style.  Too useful.  Portions will vary upon how many people you're cookin' for)

• sirloin or flank steak
• fresh tomatoes
• fresh white onion
• fresh avocado
• corn tortillas
• cheese
• seasoning (i like cumin, oregano, and a little chili powder, but taco seasoning works too)
• salt n' peppa

The key to these bad boys is to not over cook the meat.  American's love to overcook meat.  We're so afraid of the meat we cook it bone dry.  Here's what I like to do:
Get your pan HOT.  Stainless steel is really best for this. No oil.
Sear the outside VERY quickly and then turn it down to med/med low and finish cooking with the lid on and a little liquid of some sort (just a little) to keep it from drying out.  With flank steaks, you really probably want the middle pink; they're tough enough as it is. 

While they meat is searing, season it up.

When the meat is done, dice up the tomatoes, onions, and avocados and mix together.  Shred some cheese.  I go light on the cheese with these, unless I use chicken.

Toast the tortillas in a pan before serving. 

Easy, peasy!

J loves apple pie. Actually, I do too.

Cutting the apples does take forever.  But man is it worth it!  They key to a great apple pie is, for me, 90% about the crust.  I use AllRecipes' Basic Flaky Pie Crust but substitute butter for shortening.  The key to a good crust is to keep it COLD.  It gets it's tender, flaky texture because, if kept cold, the better doesn't melt it all into one blob.  Also, try not to work pie crust dough too much, as this builds the gluten, which will make the dough chewy.  NEVER use bread flour for pie dough.

Oh, and here's a great tip (thanks D): before baking, brush the dough with a mixture of butter and sugar.  This not only makes it taste better, but gives it a shiny, golden finish.

Unbelievable Roast Chicken. Oh, and it's thrifty, too.

This beautiful bird cost me around $3.  And, thanks to Julia Child, it was incredibly easy.  All you do is brush it with butter and then cook 15 minutes at 425.  After that, decrease temp to 350 and baste every 10 minutes.  A three pound bird takes around 1hr15.  I added carrots, onion, and celery to the pan and after cooking in the juices, they were wonderful.  I also seasoned all with dill.

And believe me; this poulet roti tasted just as good as it looked.  

Also, I saved the bones and made about 6 cups of delicious, healthy, homemade stock. 

Welcome. Have some bread.

This is Susan's Farmhouse White Bread, which I modified to be mostly whole wheat (and added some flaxseed).  Julia Child, food genius, says that American methods for making bread involve too much yeast and heat, which causes the yeast to produce rancid gases, thereby tainting the taste of the loaf. 

 

What I like about Susan's Farmhouse bread (you can find it at Farmgirl Fare) is that she uses very little yeast and does a much slower rise (slow because of the lack of heat).  This allows the flavors of the grains to come through.  Yum!