Irish Boiled Dinner

Tonight was pumpkin carving night and that meant Irish dinner.  Why?  Because according to many sources the Irish brought us the Jack-o-lantern (and can really be thanked for much of Halloween, for that matter), and so to celebrate the roots of this season enjoyment we started our evening with Irish Boiled Dinner.  The way my mom makes this feast is by boiling corned beef, but I tried a new recipe tonight and boiled fresh organic brisket in beer.  I have to say, I'd rather have the corned beef and the beer on the side, and I disagree with the cooking times the original recipe listed, so I'll tell you what they said, and what I did.  The recipe came from Cooks.com:

Put 2lb beef brisket in dutch oven; add two 12oz bottles of Lager beer, 2c water (or enough to cover meat), 2 bay leaves, 10 black peppercorns, 1/2c parsley, and 2t salt; start water.

In saucepan add 2T olive oil, 3 cloves garlic (sliced), 2c leeks (chopped), 1 md onion (sliced); sauté for a few minutes, then add to dutch oven.

Bring water mixture to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours or until meat is tender.  Meanwhile chopped your veggies to add later:  3/4lb carrots (cut in large pieces), 3/4lb red potatoes (peeled), 2lbs green cabbage (cut in sixths, leave part of the core in to keep leaves together).  Add carrots and potatoes in last 25 minutes and cabbage in last 15 minutes.  Remove from water and serve hot.

Notes:  I already mentioned that next time I'll use corned beef and drink the beer.  Also, I used more carrots and potatoes than they called for, and I think they're wrong on their cooking times, so next time I plan to cook my cabbage for 25 minutes and my other veggies for only 15.

March 17, 2009 -  I made this again tonight using the following alterations - I used corned beef (yes, you can buy it organic), boiled it in water, and drank the beer.  The cabbages and potatoes I added 35 minutes before the meat would be done, and the carrots only 15.  The carrots could have used a little less time, perhaps, but otherwise this was delightful.  Try it with Irish Soda bread - yum!

Fall warmth - mulled cider

Nothing says fall like raking leaves on a crisp, cool day before warming up with a hot mug of mulled apple cider.  Sometimes, if I'm being lazy, I'll just pop a mug of cider in the microwave, but for Calvin's introduction to this tasty fall treat I made almost the real thing this morning.  To make the real thing, of course, rum would be required, as would a pot, a ladle, the stove, and time.  Since there's never enough time and I didn't want to wash the pot and ladle, I used a short cut.

Fill a large mug with cold cider and add 1 cinnamon stick.  In a clean tea bag mix 1t nutmeg, 3-4 cloves, 1t orange zest, and 1 cardamom pod - crushed (optional).  Close tea bag and add to mug.  Microwave to desired temperature, remove spices, and enjoy!

Healthy tips for parents (or anyone)

Recently the EWG (Environmental Working Group) released a list of the top eleven things you can do to protect your children from harmful chemicals and yesterday I stumbled across it in an Enviroblog post. It's a list of cheap and easy fixes that we can all aim to enact for the benefit of ourselves, our children, and anyone who enters our homes. You can click here to view the Enviroblog post, and here is a copy of their list:

1. Choose better body care products. Just because a label says "gentle" or "natural" doesn't mean it's kid-safe. Look up your products on CosmeticsDatabase.com. Read the ingredients and avoid triclosan, BHA, fragrance, and oxybenzone.
2. Go organic & eat fresh foods. Opt for organic fruits and veggies, or use FoodNews.org to find conventionally grown produce with the least pesticides. Choose milk and meat without added growth hormones. Limit canned food and infant formula, as can linings contain bisphenol A (BPA).
3. Avoid fire retardants. Choose snug-fitting cotton pajamas for kids, and repair or replace worn out foam items.
4. Pick plastics carefully. Some plastics contain BPA, which is linked to cancer. Avoid clear, hard plastic bottles marked with a "7" or "PC" and choose baby bottles made from glass or BPA-free plastic. Don't microwave plastic containers. Stay away from toys marked with a "3" or "PVC." Give your baby a frozen washcloth instead of vinyl teethers.
5. Filter your tap water. Use a reverse osmosis system or carbon filter pitcher to reduce your family's exposure to impurities in water, like chlorine and lead. Don't drink bottled water, which isn't necessarily better. Mix infant formula with fluoride-free water.
6. Wash those hands. In addition to reducing illness, frequent hand washing will reduce kids' exposure to chemicals. Skip anti-bacterial soaps, since they can be bad for the environment, aren't any better than soap and water, and can contain pesticides that are absorbed through the skin.
7. Skip non-stick. When overheated non-stick cookware can emit toxic fumes. Cook with cast iron or stainless steel instead.
8. Use a HEPA-filter vacuum. Kids spend lots of time on the floor, and household dust can contain contaminants like lead and fire retardants. HEPA-filter vacuums capture the widest range of particles and get rid of allergens. Leave your shoes at the door so you don't bring more pollutants inside.
9. Get your iodine. Use iodized salt, especially while pregnant and nursing, and take iodine-containing prenatal vitamins. Iodine buffers against chemicals like perchlorate, which can disrupt your thyroid system and affect brain development during pregnancy and infancy.
10. Use greener cleaners & avoid pesticides. Household cleaners, bug killers, pet treatments, and air fresheners can irritate kids' lungs, especially if your kids have asthma. Investigate less toxic alternatives. Use vinegar in place of bleach, baking soda to scrub your tiles, and hydrogen peroxide to remove stains.
11. Eat good fats. Omega-3 fatty acids can offset toxic effects of lead and mercury. They're in fish, eggs, nuts, oils, and produce. Choose low-mercury fish like salmon, tilapia and pollock, rather than high-mercury tuna and swordfish, especially if you're pregnant. Breast milk is the best source of good fats (and other benefits) for babies, and protects them from toxic chemicals.

source:  http://www.enviroblog.org/2008/10/healthy-home-tips-for-parents.htm

Southern Sunday

With freezing nights upon us and a garden full of green tomatoes, something had to be done.  So on Sunday we treated ourselves to some southern cooking, organic style (and almost entirely sans processed foods).  We have our own favorite chili recipe, one that uses Italian sausage as well as ground beef, and BBQ baked beans as well as the standard red kindneys.  It also calls for chipotle - yum.  Of course one can't have chilli without corn bread, and we found a great recipe for a southern corn bake makeover in our Healthy Cooking magazine that called for creamed corn, so I did an online search and came up with a homemade creamed corn recipe in order to avoid the canned variety.  Lastly, we come to those green tomatoes, which we coated in a homemeade crunchy breading made from organic corn flakes and mock fried them briefly in only a small amount of oil before putting them in the oven to heat them the rest of the way.  We also trimmed fat and calories by using reduced fat or fat free items whenever available, and kept it healthier by using all organic items (except for the Italian sausage, which I have yet to find in organic form).

Chili:  Saute 1 large onion (chopped) with 3T garlic cloves (minced) in a tablespoon of oil.  Add 1T chili powder, 1/2T chipotle powder, 2T paprika, 1T cumin, 4t oregano, Kosher salt, and pepper to taste, then add 1lb lean ground beaf and 1lb Italian sausage and cook until no longer pink.  Add ~60oz of crushed tomatoes, ~16oz baked beans, and ~15oz red kidney beans.  Simmer for one hour, and serve with cheese, sour cream, and green onion toppings.

Creamed corn:  Melt 2T butter in a small saucepan.  Add 2C corn (fresh or frozen) and 1/2C heavy cream (if using frozen corn add 1/2t sugar) and cook over medium heat, stirring until the cream thickens.

Corn Bake (makeover):  In a large bowl combine 1C flour, 1C cornmeal, 3T sugar, 1/2t salt, and 1/2t baking soda.  In a separate bowl whisk together 1 egg, 1C sour cream, 1/4C unsweetened applesauce, and 1/4C melted butter, then stir in the 2C creamed corn (see above), and add to dry ingredients.  Mix just until moistened and transfer to a 13x9 baking dish to bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so.

Semi Fried Green Tomatoes:  In a shallow bowl combine 1/2C flour, 1t sugar, 1t salt, and 1/4t cayenne pepper.  In another whisk together 1 egg and a dash of milk.  In a third place 1C cornflake crumbs.  Heat 4t canola oil over medium heat.  Dip 1/2inch thick green tomato slices into flour, then egg, then cornflakes and fry, four slices at a time, for ~2 minutes per side, or until golden brown, then remove to an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake in oven at 350 for ~5 minutes or until tender.

Happy Southern eating!

Juicy low fat burgers

It's an oxymoron, you say–the fat is what gives burgers their juice and palatability–and generally yes, that is true, so when we started buying leaner organic meats we started playing with recipes, because we are serious about watching our health and even more serious about buying only natural meats (no added hormones or antibiotics), but we didn't want to give up on taste either.  We perused several different recipes, tried a few of them, and ultimately came up with our own:

1lb all natural lean beef, ~1tbsp olive oil, cracked pepper, basil, and salt to taste.  Mix all ingredients together, then form burgers (based on PC guidelines (portion correctness, that is) this should make four burgers, but we usually make three) and cook to desired doneness.  We recommend grilling, of course (we grill over an all natural wood charcoal we get from Busch's, Full Circle, I think), topping with a fresh tomato and, if you're a cheese lover, provolone, and sandwiching between toasted whole wheat buns.  Yum.  We have no pictures of this one because when they come off the grill we want to get to them fast while they are still hot!

And for anyone who's interested, there are two pretty good all natural yet main stream beef providers out there.  The first, our favorite, is one that we have found at the fresh meat case in Meijer – Naturewell Natural Beef – and the second can be found at places like Kroger (not so local) and Country Market – Star Ranch Natural Beef.