Nov 15 2019

Epic Thanksgiving Feast Layer Cake

Posted on November 15, 2019 by dana

I’m so thrilled to see so many of you sharing the One-Hour Turkey post with your families and friends on social media! Thank you! I can’t wait to hear about your life-altering experiences with it. But, if that one blew your minds… hang onto your hats! This one takes the cake! (pun heartily intended.)

“What’s better than a thanksgiving feast?” I ask you. WELL, A THANKSGIVING FEAST IN ONE EPIC LAYER CAKE FORMAT, FRIENDS! I got the inspiration from a series of posts on “meat cakes” over at Vegansaurus back in 2010 (in a past life long ago… when I was a (gasp) vegan). Culinarily curious gal that I am, I felt compelled to take up the challenge and put my vegan cooking skills to the test of tests by making as much of it from scratch as possible… from the faux turkey base to the mashed potato icing and cranberry sauce topping. Mind you, this could easily be made carnivore-style. Just swap in real turkey, butter, and cream as you please! Mmmmm.

With Turkey Day right around the corner, I thought I’d bring this post back from the archives, for those of you still looking for that “blow them away” holiday table treat. I have to say, making it was much simpler than it seems (bonus!), and I still consider it one of my greatest culinary endeavors thus far. (You’ll have to bear with the shoddy photo quality. I was but a wee blogger back then!)

It’s an entire holiday dinner in one meal: “turkey”, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. For a lover of sweet and savory together, this business rocked my palate’s world. And everyone, even my most carnivorous of friends, was transfixed by the beast. They thought it was a regular cake, until I sliced it open and displayed its hidden magic! Everyone embraced it, vegan or not, and they gobbled it up like they were the (very very hungry) turkeys. And oh yeah baby, it was even better the next day.

I started with a base of homemade “turkey” seitan, for the meat part. Seitan is a protein-rich meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten powder… and though it may seem intimidating, its super easy peasy lemon squeezy to make. After a “meh” test run with one recipe I found, my bestie directed me to Ellen DeGeneres’ recipe… and holy gobblesworth, it was DELISH!

The big “trick” to making it successfully is to freeze between layers, which allows it to “set” and makes for easy spreading with the softer components like the potatoes and sauce. For the turkey and stuffing, I filled them each into a round pie pan, packed them down, and froze them for about an hour before layering, which created the right shape and size to begin with.
I also planned ahead to stack them in a way that makes sense, considering their textures. Turkey on the bottom because it’s sturdy and pre-shaped from the pie pan, then I slathered that with mashed potatoes. Once that had set in the freezer, I turned out the pre-frozen stuffing from the pie pan on top, and slathered that with sweet potato puree. Once that was set, it was easy to layer on the cranberry sauce. Then another layer of turkey, then sweet potatoes, another pan of stuffing, and the icing of mashed potatoes once more. I “piped” out a border to hold in the cranberry sauce topping, using a Ziploc bag with a corner snipped off, which really added to the “cake” effect. I know, it sounds m-fing crazy. And it was time-consuming, but actually really fun, and more rewarding than I ever imagined. I mean, I never pictured myself making a whole (delicious) thanksgiving meal by myself, much less turning it into a trompe l’oeil like a layer cake!

Hungry yet? Well, an epic feast deserves an epic post, so here come the recipes! And yo, it’s so much simpler than it sounds. Trust.

The Seitan Turkey

4 Cups vital wheat gluten
1 Cup bread crumbs
1 Cup nutritional yeast
3 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 large onion small dice and caramelized
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 Cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Cups strong No Chicken, chicken stock (veggie stock)
1 full sheet of cheesecloth
Butcher’s twine

Start a large pot of water boiling. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another. Caramelize the onions until soft and golden brown and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix the two bowls together until a loose batter forms, and shape that into a loaf-y shape. Lay it out onto a full sheet of cheesecloth, folded over once.

Roll it up tight into a cylinder, and tie it with bakers twine at either end and twice in the middle. Drop that puppy into your hot water, cover, and let simmer gently for 2 hours, turning once throughout.

When it’s done, carefully unwrap it while it’s warm. Otherwise, the outer layer sticks to the cheesecloth and makes it much harder to remove. If you’re feeling cheeky, you can brush it with Earth Balance butter and blackening spices and bake it awhile to get a nice browned outside. I didn’t find this necessary, either way really. By the by, this makes a HUGE roast, so I’d halve the recipe if you’re cooking for a smaller crowd. Or, just freeze half and save it for a rainy day!

The Stuffing

This is the one component that was semi-homemade, as I used Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix and followed the instructions by adding veggies and broth. I just wanted to mention it because I used sauteed Trader Joe’s Stuffing Starter (a blend of celery, onions, fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme) as the base, which was too easy and tasty for words. But I am bereft to report that, this year, they’ve discontinued the stuffing starter. WHY, TRADER JOE, WHY?!? So sub in some celery, onions, and herbs of your choice. In my mother’s tradition, I also added raisins, which bring a supremely sweet and rich dimension that I simply adore.

The Sweet Potatoes

One 3-pound bag whole sweet potatoes
Unsweetened, organic soymilk to taste
Earth Balance butter, to taste
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

This one is very dependent on how you like your mash. I boiled the sweet potatoes whole until they were fork tender. The skin just slips off when they’re warm, but be careful not to burn your fingers. I pureed them in my sexy-ass 14-cup Cuisinart (thanks, Cuisinart!) and added enough milk and butter until they were juuuuuust right. I gotta say, this was the silkiest, most satiny, savory-sweet deliciousness ever. I lurved these babies!

We don’t have pictures of these final two parts, whoops! Use your imaginations, k?

The Mashed Potatoes

One 5-lb. bag whole russet potatoes
Unsweetened, organic soymilk to taste
Earth Balance butter, to taste
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

I did these the same way as the sweet potatoes, and I don’t really know what I did wrong (was it the type of potato? The cook time? Did I over-puree?)… but they turned out a bit gluey and thick. It was actually pretty suitable for this dish, especially the icing part… but if it were just a side dish I’d have tossed it out and started over cuz I prefer my mashed taters more light and fluffy in general.

The Cranberry Sauce

1 bag whole, fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice, with pulp.
1 cup sugar
cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to taste
pinch of salt

This one is simple pimple. Just boil everything up in a pot, then reduce and simmer until it reduces to your desired thickness. Add the spices last, so you can monitor how potent you want them.

That’s it! Just layer and freeze, layer and freeze, “ice” with mashed taters, and brace yourself for an EPIC flavor party in your mouth. To serve, just cut into slices and warm them up individually, but it’s also super yum when cold. Oh, enjoy all the compliments and comparisons of yourself to Martha Stewart…. cuz that’s just how fly this bad boy is. It really is. YUM. And if you’re like me, after your tastebuds do a happy dance, you and your friends can do one too… like we did!

So, what do you think? Would you give it a shot?

Nov 4 2019

How to cook the perfect holiday turkey in only one hour.

Posted on November 4, 2019 by dana

This is not a joke, nor an exaggeration. Indeed, it is a promise. A gift to you, from the bottom of my heart. Because you CAN cook the perfect turkey in one hour, and transform your Thanksgiving experience forever. Believe me, you and your guests deserve it. Not only is it perfectly juicy, tender, and flavorful every time… but the skin is crisp and gorgeous, too. It’s everything you want your bird to be… in a fraction of the time of normal cooking methods.

I’ve been cooking turkeys this way for about 9 years now, ever since my high school bestie posted her father-in-law, Ron’s, youtube instructional… and I’m never going back. Nor are the friends and family that I’ve turned onto this style (and there are many). Why in gobble’s name should anyone slave over a bird for hours on end, basting and fussing and checking temperatures… when you could be kicking back with a glass (or three) of wine and good conversation and family and friends?!?

So without further ado, I present to you… Ron’s One-Hour Turkey. Beloved by all who dare to try it themselves – satisfying dinner guests with minimal effort and maximum reward!

And to make it even easier for you, here’s a handy dandy link for the Granite Ware Covered Roaster you’ll need. I got mine at Target, but Amazon Prime is even easier!

Your guests will be shocked and awed when they find out how quickly your bird was cooked. It’s like a magic show and dinner. DINNER THEATRE! Welcome to the good life, friends.

(…and stay tuned, folks, because coming up soon is my famous, epic, thanksgiving feast layer cake recipe! I’m full of delicious inspiration and holiday cheer!)?

Jan 22 2016

Korean Wife Camp: Kkakdugi – Cubed Radish Kimchi

Posted on January 22, 2016 by dana

Kkakdugi, or Korean radish kimchi, is a common banchan (side dish) served with meals such as galbijjim (Korean braised short ribs), gomtang (oxtail soup), or tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet). But it’s delicious with any meal, any day of the week, in my humble opinion! (And it has a delightfully scatological-sounding name, which pleases my inner 12-year old endlessly. Pronunciation: cock-dooki. LOL.)

Being a kimchi, it is a salted, fermented, pickled vegetable – and the result is a tangy, spicy, crispy, salty and a tiny bit sweet, refreshing bite that’s chock full of health benefits such as probiotics, vitamins, and fiber. It’s got the umami factor in spades, and it’s easier than easy (and super affordable) to make! The lactobacillus that are cultivated during the fermentation process aid in digestion and gut health, as well as providing crucially deep, memorable flavor profiles.

Impress your friends, family, and your own mouth with a scrumptious batch of homemade Kkakdugi!

kkakdugi steps

What you’ll need:
1 lb Korean Radish (aka Mu) – cut into 1″ cubes (choose a heavy radish with smooth skin. the higher the ratio of white skin to green skin, the sweeter the radish will taste.) NOTE: if you can’t find Mu, you can substitute Daikon, which is widely available. But if you can get proper Mu, it’s a bit sweeter and more nuanced in flavor.?
1 Tbs Kosher Salt
1 Tbs Honey (or sweetener of your choice)
3-4 Cloves Garlic – finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger – finely chopped
1/3 cup Gochugaru powder (korean red chili flakes.) There is no substitution for this, but if you can’t find them in your local Asian grocery, you can order them on amazon.
2 Tbs Fish Sauce (I love this brand, because it’s just fish, salt, and water – and no creepy additives. If you can’t find (or stand) fish sauce, you can use soup soy sauce, or simply plain soy sauce.)

What you do:
1. Toss the cubed radish with the salt and honey, until well coated. Set aside for 45-60 minutes.
2. In a separate container, mix together the garlic, ginger, gochugaru, and fish sauce.
3. Drain the radish, reserving 1/3 cup of the liquid and add both to the spice mix. Toss well to coat.
4. Pack the radish into a lidded container, trying to eliminate any air pockets. Loosely place the lid on top. ***Don’t put it on tightly, or the container could explode!
5. Leave the kimchi out at room temperature for 1-3 days, depending on your preference. Taste the kimchi once every 1/2 day, and when you feel it’s done, you can transfer it to the refrigerator for storage. We personally prefer ours best when it’s gently fermented, after about 1 full day, but your mileage may vary.

The kimchi will last in your fridge until, basically, the end of time. It will just get more sour, unctuous, and carbonated as it continues to slowly ferment with time. But honestly, this stuff is so damn tasty it won’t last long at all.

PS: my kkakdugi is much more of a brownish-red color than yours will be, so don’t fret. The gochugaru powder I used is from our family estate in Yeoju and is much less vibrantly fire-engine red than most commercial brands. So expect your finished product to look like cubes of delicious hellfire, friends! cubed radish kimchi kkakdugi

Mar 11 2015

Five minute, four ingredient, no-knead bread for your mouth

Posted on March 11, 2015 by dana

Friends, I am dead serious. I am here to share with you the no-knead bread baking secret that will change your life forever. Never again will you buy a store-manufactured boule, made with god knows what extra ingredients and preservatives.

All it takes is four simple ingredients, and about 5 minutes of “hands-on” work time… and for a mere fraction of the cost of store-bought loaves, you’ll be drowning in the intoxication of freshly baked, homemade bread that will have you questioning: “why buy, when I can bake?”

Your friends will envy you. Your spouse and children will worship you. You will rise to legendary domestic goddess status among all who come to dine at your home or receive a loaf as a gift. It’s crusty. It’s chewy. It’s delicious.

Prepare, people. There is no going back from here.

Granted, there is a lot of downtime. So, patience is necessary. But trust me, while there may be 10 or so steps to follow, the effort you’ll actually put in is so minimal, you’ll be shocked at how foolproof and simple the process is.

What you’ll need:

3 cups unbleached white flour (I use high quality flours like Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur, or Trader Joe’s private label (which is exactly Bob’s Red Mill, at a fraction of the cost.)
1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast (Food 4 Less has the best deal in town)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1-1/2 cups lukewarm water

What you do:

Gently mix together your flour and salt in a decently-sized bowl. I use a Le Crueset.
Mix your yeast into the water, and add the yeasted water to your dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated with a wooden spoon. Your dough will look a hot, shaggy mess, but it will become clear that it’s done all the “coming together” it’s going to do.
***The above steps should take about 2.5 minutes total***
Cover your mixing bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave in a secure place on a counter top, preferably where the temperature is stable, for the next 12-18 (or more) hours. After 12-18ish hours have passed, your dough will have risen at least by double, and be sort of bubbly and smell amazingly yeasty-fermenty-bready. (that’s a technical term.)
Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface

Fold the dough over on itself a couple of times, gently pressing it down each time to remove excess air bubbles. Cover with the plastic wrap and let sit about 15 minutes *This step is optional. If you’re pressed for time, just skip this step and go straight to step 7. Your bread may just be a bit “airier” if you skip it. Still delish.*
With wet hands (which, rather than floured hands, helps preserve the flour/water balance) fold the edges of the dough inward to the center, helping the dough find its way into a ball-shape with a smooth upper surface. Plop it into a parchment-lined 9-10″ bowl, (or wooden Banneton Basket, if you’re a baller like me). Cover, and let sit for 2 more hours.
30 minutes before your dough is done resting, pre-heat your oven with your cooking vessel in it to 450 degrees. I get my best results using a Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven and Casserole Cooker (which is super affordable), but you can use a Le Creuset, pyrex, or similar heavy, covered pot if you prefer. Preheating your vessel is crucial, so don’t forget.
Once the dough is ready, lift the parchment paper with the dough in it, and place it into your dutch oven. (If you’re not using parchment, just plop the dough in, naked.) Give it a jiggle so the dough relaxes into the base of the vessel.
Cover, and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the cover and allow it to continue for 15-20 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s golden and crusty, and the bread has a bit of a hollow sound when you gently tap or knock on it.

Then voila! You’re done! Gently lift the bread out of the pot, so it stops cooking, and try and patiently let it cool enough to handle before cutting into it. Then slice it up, and savor that warm, fresh-baked flavor and crusty, chewy texture. Good luck not eating the whole loaf right there and then! But while you do, practice your humblest expressions of thanks, in anticipation of all the praise you will soon be receiving from your loved ones!

Sep 2 2014

Korean Wife Camp: Radish Water Kimchi – Dongchimi

Posted on September 2, 2014 by dana

My father in law, (aka Paul’s stepfather), Edgar, loves Korean food almost as much as I do. Together, he and I definitely have the true Koreans in our family beat in terms of our obsession with their own cuisine. So for Father’s Day, we took him to a fun Korean BBQ restaurant called Kang Hodong Baekjong – one of the few in town where the meat is cooked over coals, rather than just a gas burner. It’s so delicious.

But the part of the meal that really caught my attention was a delicious banchan dish called Dongchimi, or radish water kimchi. (Banchan is a blanket term for the fantastic array of free side dishes famously served alongside Korean barbeque.) It was deceptively simple-seeming: just thin slices of “moo” or Korean radish served in a salty, tangy, frosty broth – an utterly refreshing and fabulous palate cleanser. I couldn’t get enough! And while Dongchimi literally translates to “winter kimchi,” the fact that it’s served cold makes it especially delightful in the heat of summertime.

But when I asked my future mother-in-law how it is prepared, she told me it takes too long to make, so she just buys it pre-packaged at the store. What more tantalizing bait for an aspiring cook/wife/mother could there be, I ask you? A challenge! This presented the perfect opportunity for me to learn it, make it, perfect it, and dazzle the shit out of my Korean mother-in-law with the results!

And while my mother-in-law was right, it does take rather a while to make (thanks to the fermentation process), the actual “hands-on” prep time and effort involved is quite minimal. The trick of this dish, really, is patience while it does it’s pickly thing and makes fermentation magic on your countertop. So, to make it simple, I’ll break up the recipe by days.

What you’ll need:

Day 1:
5 lbs Korean Radishes, cut into pieces about the size of your palm. (If you can’t source Korean radishes, you can substitute daikon, which is available in most supermarkets.)
1/2 cup kosher salt (I use this brand exclusively because it’s free of the caking agents found in other brands)

Day 5:
3 green Korean chiles
3 red Korean chiles, each pierced with a fork a few times
1 cup Asian pear, cubed
3 green onions, roots and all
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, minced
10 cups water

Grab a large glass jar. I used this one, which has a gallon and a half capacity and worked perfectly. Place your salt into a bowl, and give the radish slices a good rinse. While they’re still wet, roll them each in the salt until well-coated, and place them into the jar. If you have any leftover salt in the bowl, sprinkle it on top of the radish slices in the jar. Cover and refrigerate it for 4-5 days, during which time the salt will pull moisture from the radishes, softening them and preparing them to absorb all the flavors in the delicious, briney broth you’ll be creating later.

After a few days have passed, you’ll notice about an inch or two of water has collected at the bottom of the jar, which will serve as the base of your brine. Grab the rest of your ingredients, its go time!

Toss the chiles, cubed Asian pear, and green onions into the jar. Place your minced ginger and garlic into a cheesecloth bundle and drop that in, too.

Add your 10 cups of water, give it a good stir, and cover it up again. Then put your patient pants on and leave it to ferment at room temperature on your counter.

Within a day or less, you’ll notice the formerly clear brine has begun to take on a milky, cloudier hue. That’s when you know the magic is happening! After a day, give the broth a taste, and see if you’re happy with the balance of mild spiciness, tangy tartness, and salty savoriness. Try a bit of radish, too. If it’s too crunchy, you might want to cut your chunks in half to speed up their softening. You want them to still have a bit of crisp to them, but they shouldn’t feel “raw” to the tooth, either. But it’s all a matter of preference. In our case, we left it out for two full days before it achieved perfection. Then just transfer it to the fridge, and take bits of radish and broth to enjoy at your leisure!

I was quite nervous that after all the time that went into making this, it wouldn’t match up the quality of Kang Hodong Baekjong’s delicious dish. But when we had our first bowlful with dinner, I was delighted to find that I loved it and even preferred it to the original! And when Paul declared it “restaurant quality,” I knew we had a hit on our hands. But the biggest win of all was when my Umuni (that’s mother in law in romanized Korean) tasted it, she said it was the best she’s ever had, and begged me to make a jar for her too! I nearly fell down dead on the spot.

To serve, slice the radish very thinly, and place in a bowl with a ladle or two of the chilled brine and a few chunks of Asian pear. If you have company, toss in a chile or a bit of green onion for color. Eat the veggies, sip the brine.

Dongchimi pairs fantastically with a hearty steak from the grill, or burgers… but I enjoy it with pretty much everything! And because it’s fermented, it’s chock full of nutritious probiotics which support digestive function and gut health (among other great benefits), and high in oxygen saturation, so it’s a wonderful elixir for when you’ve overindulged and find your belly in a bit of gluttonous distress.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Stay tuned, because next up will be my tried and true traditional napa cabbage kimchi recipe! It took me 5 attempts to perfect it, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Until next time….안녕! (Goodbye!)

Aug 26 2014

Korean Wife Camp: Korean-Style Chicken Soup

Posted on August 26, 2014 by dana

My usual staple chicken stock recipe is courtesy of the domestic goddess to end all goddesses, lady Ina Garten herself. (Bow down, people, and hail your queen.) But her method, while delicious and consistent, requires a whole day and night of time and energy. Which I can spare maybe once every three or four months in pursuit of a ginormous bulk batch of her nectar. It’s kind of a lot of work.

In between those times, this Korean-style chicken soup, or dak guk, adapted from Maangchi.com) takes but a laid-back hour to make, and is incredibly soothing and delicious given how dead easy it is to make. I mean, whoever heard of one-hour chicken stock that was full-bodied and tasty as hell?! It’s almost good enough to completely supplant my beloved Barefoot Contessa stock. Almost.

What I also love about this recipe, is that it makes better use of the ingredients, and produces less food waste. It always chaps my ass to fish out, strain, and throw out (or even compost) the stewed-past-death chicken carcasses, dried out meat, and baby-food mush veggies when making Ina’s recipe… but this one avoids that, giving second life to the ingredients that make it so flavorful and hearty in the first place.

What you’ll need:
(serves 4)

For the broth:
2 chicken breasts (I’ve made this with boneless, skinless breasts and, as pictured, a spatchcocked double breast on the bone. Both were totally delicious, so it’s up to you! I use breasts because they’re healthier and easy to shred… but you could use legs if you’re more of a dark meat connoisseur.)
16 whole cloves of garlic – skinned. (Do you know about this method of peeling large quantities of garlic? You’re welcome!)
1 medium/large onion – halved and quartered, skin on
2-3 Tbs ginger – sliced roughly
16 cups water
2 Tbs fish sauce (I love this brand, because it’s just fish, salt, and water – wayyy less additives than others. If you can’t find (or stand) fish sauce, you can use soup soy sauce, or simply plain soy sauce.)
1 Tbs salt

For the chicken topping:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper – ground
2 Tbs sesame oil

For optional spice:
2 Tbs gochugaru powder
2 tsp sesame oil
cayenne pepper (to taste)

Brace yourselves for how easy this is, because at first blush, it appears too good to be true.

Put the first four ingredients into a stockpot and add the water. Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour, uncovered.

After an hour, remove the solids, reserving the chicken and garlic. The ginger and onion can enjoy a trip to the compost or trash.

Add the fish sauce and tablespoon of salt to the stock, and stir. It will have reduced to about 12 cups at this point. Now taste that shit. Can you believe that only took one hour?! The stock is now DONE.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, use your hands to pull it into shreds. Don’t snack on it just yet.

Place the garlic cloves into a small bowl, and mash them into a paste with a fork. Mix in the sesame oil, salt and pepper, and then massage the garlic oil paste into the chicken meat. This gives the chicken an incredibly moist consistency, perfumed with so much aromatic flavor… it’s addictive. Snack on some now. Marvel at what you have created. Then, stop snacking. You want there to be plenty for your assembled soup!

I personally like to gently sautee sliced carrots and celery and add them to the broth for a bit more veggie bite and fiber – but carrots and celery are my chicken soup favorites. You could do this with any vegetables of your preference, or give veggies the middle finger and let the chicken and stock speak for themselves. If you do add veg, once they’ve reached your desired level of doneness, hit them with a splash of soy sauce for a bit of extra umami caramelization. Then just layer them into your serving bowl with some chicken, ladle on some stock, and enjoy the simple, rich, soul-soothing properties!

This recipe is extra brilliant, because you can make it in advance, which makes it great for entertaining or daily lunches! Just keep the chicken, broth, and veggies (if you use them) in separate containers in the fridge. When you’re ready to serve, reheat the stock to a simmer, and pour it over the chicken as you serve. Easy peasy. And oh, so good.

For those of you who enjoy a bit more spice in life, here are two ways to heat things up a bit:
1. sprinkle whatever veggies you sautee with cayenne while they’re cooking.
2. make a paste using 2 Tablespoons Gochugaru (korean red chili flakes) and 2 teaspoons sesame oil in a bowl. You can add some to the chicken when mixing in the garlic, or just spoon it directly into your soup. Or both! Which is what I do. Mmmmm.

I hope you try this. It might just change your life forever.

If you do, come back and let me know how it went!

Jul 15 2014

Korean Wife Camp: Bori Cha – roasted barley tea

Posted on July 15, 2014 by dana

I’m straight-up addicted to this tea. It’s traditionally served in Korean homes and restaurants, either hot or cold, in lieu of plain drinking water – and has a delicious, nutty, clean, refreshing taste that compliments whatever it accompanies. I am head over heels in love with it, drinking gallons each week like I’m some weird herbal vampire and this barley tea is my life blood. It’s dead easy to make, and even easier to drink.

And it’s good for you! Roasted barley tea has been found to inhibit bacterial colonization and adhesion, specific to the major cause of tooth decay and implicated in cardiovascular diseases. It’s also known to assist in digestion, improve blood health, and (according to eastern medicine) control damp heat in your system. Which is something I struggle with a lot. I’m super damp guys. Just ask my acupuncturist.

But even if for no other reason than general thirst, this shit is the yum.

You can find roasted barley in packages at most Asian supermarkets, as this tea is also widely consumed in Japan (as mugicha) and China (dàmàichá). Or you can find it on Amazon. It looks roughly thusly, depending on the brand:

(In some markets you’ll get lucky and find it pre-packaged in teabag form, both in cup-sized and pot-sized tea bags.)

It takes about 1 Tablespoon in about 2.5 cups of water for a small batch.
But I say, fuck small batches. This stuff is meant to be consumed with gusto, not merely sipped!

So, I fill up my giant 16-quart Le Creuset stockpot to the handles and scoop in about 15-20 Tablespoons (or basically just enough to cover the surface of the water).

It’s really not an exact science, which I love. Depending on how weak or strong you like your tea, adjust the amount of barley and brew time accordingly. We like a hearty brew around these parts, so I set it up to boil rapidly for about 15 minutes, but have been known to get distracted and let it boil as long as 30. It was delicious and no one died.

But most people get it to a boil and go 5-15 minutes. Depending on the strength, the color will fall somewhere between weak tea and strong tea.

Then, because I make such giant batches, and prefer to drink it iced, I usually just take it off the heat, pop the lid on, and let it sit overnight to cool before I bottle it. But you can drink it hot, immediately, if that’s your bag. A bonus to letting it sit until it cools is that the barley sinks to the bottom and I can just ladle it out into jars, or dunk jars in to fill them quickly without hassling with a strainer. I always advocate for fewer dishes to dirty.

Then I throw the leftover barley into my composter, or feed it to the dogs. I suppose you could toss it into a salad if you felt like it.

Here’s my haul from the pot above:

So, the large mason jars are half-gallons, and the milk jugs are 4 cuppers. And the glass on the right was the little bit that didn’t fit anywhere except my very thirsty mouth. It will last me maybe a week. Probably less.

As you can see, I was practicing my Hangeul on the labels, and have quite a ways to go until my block lettering skills are better than a 3-year-old.

….And I just finished off another batch while writing this. Try it yourself! It’s a real summertime, or anytime, treat!

May 19 2014

I’m Fed Up. And you should be, too.

Posted on May 19, 2014 by dana

In the United States, it is estimated that 93 Million Americans are affected by obesity. By 2050, 1 out of every 3 americans will have diabetes. More than 9 Million adolescents (children and teens 6-19 years old) are considered overweight.

Why? Because we’re all victims of an elaborate scheme to convince us that by simply “eating less and moving more,” we can solve America’s weight problem. We’re told, over and over, that with less calories, we’ll lose weight. But what we’re not told is that all calories are not created equal. Or that one soda?a day?increases a child?s?chance of obesity?by?60%. We’re not told that SUGAR is the main culprit behind America’s obesity epidemic. No one tells us that low-fat/low-calorie foods are filled with hidden sugars to make them more palatable, making those “health foods” just as responsible for our weight problems as candy and soda.

How do I know all this? Because Paul and I went to the movies a couple weeks ago and watched one of the greatest documentaries I’ve ever seen:

Fed Up is the movie the food industry doesn’t want you to see. It explains, in terms easy to understand, how, for the past 30 years, everything we thought we knew about food and exercise is dead?wrong.

As it turns out, sugar is behind our nation’s #1 health epidemic… and this movie exposes how “big food” has gone to great lengths to hide that fact in an effort eerily similar to the way “big tobacco” tried to hide smoking’s negative health risks for so many years.

I thought I was pretty well-read when it comes to dietary and health information. I knew that sugar was no good, (as are most sugar substitutes, especially the artificial kind), and that “fat” is not the dietary demon we’ve been led to fear for the past 30 years. And yet, this movie shocked, awed, and moved me in ways I never expected.

It’s not propaganda. It’s not untested theory. The movie is teeming with nutritionists, scientists, and politicians from both sides of the aisle, who corroborate the information shared about how mislead we’ve been, and the dangers of sugar – particularly when it comes to the diets of our children.

Today’s 10 year olds are the first generation expected to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Just think about that for a second. It’s not because of global warming, or terrorism, or anything else… it’s because of our diets.

Whether you’re fat or thin, whether a parent or childless, whether healthy or unhealthy… I cannot encourage you enough to go see Fed Up. It will change the way you view your diet, your health, the food on your plate, and the shelves at your grocery. And hopefully, it will change your future.

I know it did for me.

May 12 2014

The Best Chicken Recipe You’ll Ever Make

Posted on May 12, 2014 by dana

This is your formal notice that all chickens cooked by any method other than this are hereby rendered unacceptable. It is, by far, the easiest, tastiest, tenderist, moistest, cry-over-your-plate-ist bird ever to cross the threshold of my lips.

I happened upon Jamie Oliver’s “Chicken in Milk” recipe whilst desperately searching for ways to make chicken dinners less boring, and curiosity couldn’t keep me away. We are dieting pretty hard in our house these days, but found ourselves relying too heavily on fattier cuts of pork and beef because we both find chicken rather… snoozeworthy. So I was on the hunt for chick-spiration. But cooking chicken in milk? This was a new concept, and I was intrigued. I’ve heard many an italian wax rhapsodic over the merits of milk-braised pork, so it should follow that, if that works – this must be something special too! Plus, I think we can all agree that Jamie Oliver knows his shit. (Hi Jamie! I love you and your food revolution SO MUCH!)

And it’s true. It is an absurdly special dish. Paul is just as blas??about birds as I am, but his tastebuds were riveted by this preparation. Ding ding ding, we’ve found our solution to the boring bird! WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER! So here I am, sharing my adaptation.

Not only is this recipe dead-simple, but it is extremely modification-friendly, which means that it won’t get boring. I’ve done it 3 different ways now, all of which were damned delicious. I even made a version using coconut milk instead of cow’s milk for all you lactose-intolerant folk! See below for more ideas, after the recipe. And if you don’t use much sauce at all (and really, it’s moist enough on it’s own) you’ll save the fat/calories of whatever milk you used to cook it with!

Milk-roasted chicken with rosemary, shallot, and lemon cream sauce

?Ingredients:

1 whole roasting chicken (ours was about 4 pounds.) (Get a good quality chicken. It really makes a difference. Ours is from the farmer’s market.)

1 Tablespoon butter and/or olive oil

2 cups milk (I prefer St. Benoit Organic Whole Jersey Cow’s Milk – it will change you forever, it’s so good.)

2 springs fresh rosemary

The zest of 1 lemon (I used meyer lemon in this one)

5-7 cloves garlic, skin on

2 medium/large shallots, sliced thinly

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation:

Rinse your chicken and dry very well. Salt him liberally, and let him rest, uncovered, in the fridge overnight or as long as you can before cooking. If you don’t have time, just salt and pepper him. Also, it’s ideal, but not imperative, if you can let him come to room temperature before cooking. There’s not right or wrong – just do what you can with the time you have!

Pre-heat your oven to 325? F.

Heat a dutch oven or roasting pan on the stovetop until good and hot. Melt your butter and/or oil in the bottom. Lay the chicken in, breast side down, and let brown for a few minutes. Then flip him, and brown the other side. Transfer the chicken to a plate when you’re done, and pour the excess oil out of the pan.

Return the chicken to the pan, breast-side down. Add all the other ingredients to the pan and place it, uncovered, in the oven for 60-90 minutes, (depending on the size) or until the internal temp is around 150 and the juices run clear. Baste it every 20 minutes or so with the liquids in the pan, if you can.

Remove the chicken and cover loosely with foil to let it reabsorb the juices it expressed while cooking, and it will continue to cook for a bit to come to full temperature. Let it rest for about 20 minutes if you can stand waiting through the smell that’s now teasing you to the brink of drooling.

Then carve that sucker up, and drizzle with the pan drippings if you like! Enjoy!

Modification Inspiration:

Try Jamie’s Original Recipe, with sage, lemon and cinnamon. It is ridiculously tasty. Very savory and holiday-nostalgic.

Try a Thai-inspired turn, featuring coconut milk, like this one from The Kitchn.

Go totally thanksgiving on that beast, swapping in fresh thyme, sage, dried cranberries, orange zest, a bit of nutmeg, and some sweet potato chunks.

Get curry in a hurry with coconut milk, yellow curry, some chili peppers, and cinnamon. Toss in carrot and potato chunks, and you’ve got a meal in a pot!

Use your imagination! ?Swap in and out whatever herb combinations suit your fancy. Explore new citrus zests and spice blends. Adapt it to suit your tastes and have fun experimenting!?

My next incarnation will be an attempt at greek-style chicken, relying on oregano, lemon, and kalamata olives to spice it up. I’m also going to sub in all-white meat chicken breasts from our new local butcher shop, to make it even leaner. I’ll report back with my findings! And if you try one that turns out famously, please share your invention with me, too! ?We’ve got to stick together in the quest to keep chicken from boring our faces off, no?

Apr 2 2014

Our Farmer’s Market Lifestyle: FarMarCore

Posted on April 2, 2014 by dana

From left to right:
Back row: asparagus, mixed green lettuce, artichokes, bacon, pork chops
2nd row: mixed green lettuce, cheddar cauliflower, satsuma tangerines, persian cucumbers, baby broccoli
Front row: ground breakfast sausage, hot and sweet italian pork sausages, black cod, eggs, pork chops, sirloin steaks, ground beef, strawberries

One of my favorite things about life in Los Angeles is the year-round availability of seasonal, fresh food through our local farmer’s markets. And on Wednesdays, we can walk out of our gym after our morning workout, and literally be steps from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market – one of the biggest and best markets in the city, shopped by local yokels and some of the hottest chefs in town, alike. And on Saturdays, a smaller version pops up, but with more meat purveyors.

What started for us as a weekly trip for our fresh vegetables, has evolved into our main grocery outings for the week – including meat, fish, and eggs… all from small local farms that we feel wonderful supporting. *Pats self on back*

I was a vegetarian from 1997-2012, and a vegan from 2009-2011. Now, I’m a pretty voracious carnivore… but with a crushing conscience. I’m all: “give me the beef! But did this cow have a nice life?!?” Like some kind of existential carniv-angst. Since going back to meat, I’ve struggled to reconcile all the horrors of factory farming industry against my appetite and what makes my body function best. I’ll admit it: I’m a huge meat snob.

We had already eradicated farmed fish from our diets, relying solely on whatever was wild, sustainable, and on-sale that week at the market. And for a while, I was content buying meat from Whole Foods, thanks to their meat rating system… but I always harbored deep abiding fantasies of buying an auxiliary freezer, and signing up for whole shares of animals from local farms. I pictured us, sitting down to dinner, able to think of Old Bessie, grazing on the fields of some idyllic local farmland, all happy and anti-biotic free, and say a little thanks to her for the delicious steak. Or saying a grateful prayer to the spirit our sow Porky, for the yummy bacon. I dreamed of raising backyard chickens, clucking busily away, as they laid our breakfast’s healthy, humane, happy eggs.

Alas, we own a condo, with a freezer is barely big enough to manage all the many quarts of homemade stock we keep on hand, a terrace that would not give any chicken a very happy life, and persnickety neighbors who would not much care for any carefree clucking so close to their homes.

… for now.

But! We quickly realized our farmer’s market is so much more than just organic, local, seasonal and delicious fruits and vegetables! There are purveyors of beef, heritage pork, fresh fish caught by independent fisheries, and super fresh eggs laid by sprout-fed, happy chickens, too! And the more we dabbled into these delights, the better we felt about our diets, our ethics, and our connection with the community. So we grab our reusable produce bags (like the good hippies we are) and head there twice a week.

(source)

I’m sure you’re thinking, “but Dana! Doesn’t that cost like a hundred million dollars every week!?!?” But the answer, my friends, is NOPE. It actually kind of balances out!

The salmon, for instance, is $3 less than the usual sale price at Bristol Farms, a whopping $10-$30 less than the regular price. And it’s absolutely the best salmon we’ve ever had. Fresh from the Alaskan waters of the Atlantic, scaled, filleted, and de-boned to perfection – and we buy it from the fisherman himself! The beef is around the same price as we were buying it at Whole Foods, and way more tasty and tender than anything we’d ever had from grocery. The pork, eggs and chicken are all decidedly more expensive – but the difference in taste is enormous, and the confidence and comfort we get from knowing the source, and it’s superior nutritional content makes it absolutely worthwhile to us. Plus, the affordability of the produce we buy helps make up for those more luxurious expenses, because it’s almost always less expensive than store-bought prices.

And that’s how we came to adopt a FarMarCore lifestyle. Yeah, it’s a word I made up. But in my defense: A) I love a good portmanteau. Can’t resist the chance to make one if the opportunity presents itself. (see “carniv-angst, above); and, B) Everyone and their mother are adopting the suffix -core… appending words to connote a?rebellious, anti-mainstream lifestyle, social movement, type of music, style of fashion, or genre of film (see: nerdcore, normcore, mumblecore, beardcore.) And that’s kinda what we’re doing, shirking the mainstream grocery chains in favor of local, seasonal, independently-run farmers for the majority of our food. FAR-MAR-CORE. It’s totally a thing now. Hashtag it, bitches.

Anywheeze: if you’re in the area, or are headed to another LA market soon, here’s our favorite vendors + products to keep an eye out for. Most of them roam to various markets throughout the week:

Pork – Peads & Barnett’s: Locally-Raised Heritage Breed Pork– Specifically Mangalitsa, Middle White and Pure Berkshire. Oliver, the owner, is adorable… and it’s simply the best pork I’ve ever had. We especially recommend the sausages and the baby back ribs. SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. I never was much for pork, until we discovered Peads & Barnett’s. Now it’s easily our most often consumed meat each week. Oliver also sells beautiful pincushion and protea flowers, if you want some beautiful florals to accompany your pork!*

Beef – Rancho San Julian: 100% grass-fed beef, from cattle all born and raised on Rancho San Julian, never fed corn or soy. Each cow is of traceable heritage, raised humanely and grazed on a rotational system out on the hillsides of Santa Barbara. The beef is dry aged and delicious. We especially love their NY strips, rib eyes, and sirloins. (Wednesdays)
-?Novy Ranches: 100% grass-fed, free range, born-and-bred Angus cattle raised by a veterinarian and his family with great love and care in Northern California. Their care and feed produces a highly nutritious, healthier meat than those fed corn and soy. Dry aged aged 21 days to perfection. Absolutely delicious.?(Saturdays)

Eggs and Chicken – Lily’s Eggs: Lily?s 400 hens are the sole proprietors of several acres of open pasture, roaming freely. What we love about Lily?s Eggs is their dedication to the humane treatment of animals and their fierce commitment to quality production. We buy the sprout-fed variety, which come from four different breeds of chickens, and makes for a lovely assortment of eggs that not only taste great, and are packed with nutrition… but also look great on a counter-top, where they can be stored and double as decoration! And their fresh chicken is to die for. Succulent, juicy, and antibiotic/hormone-free, humanely raised, openly roaming.

Salmon – FishWife Salmon: We were falling over ourselves with excitement when we found Ryan selling his sockeye salmon at the Saturday market. He, himself, captains the vessel that catches thousands of pounds of wild sockeye in Bristol Bay of Alaska. How much closer to the source can you get? The fish is gorgeous, pre-cleaned, filetted, and flash frozen. And less expensive than anything we could buy at Bristol Farms or Whole Foods. Even on sale.* (you can also order online through his site, even if you’re not local!)

Misc. Fish – Community Seafood: This is a membership service that brings in the freshest catches from independent fishermen, varying by week according to what was most recently caught. They have a small amount of fish available to non-members for a couple dollars more, and we’ve tried their ridgeback shrimp (meh) and their halibut (absolutely incredible). I’m a bit too picky about seafood to subscribe to a CSA like this… but it’s a great option for people who have less persnickety palates.

Butter – Organic Pastures Dairy: If you’ve not yet cooked with raw butter, you’re in for a treat. The smell of it melting in a pan is almost too much to bear. It’s nutty, rich, creamy, and tastes so wholesome it’s like the cow is just chillin’ in your backyard. Made from?100% USDA certified organic, Grade A, raw milk of super premium quality from cows that are pasture grazed 365 days a year.

Bread – Bezian’s Bakery: Don’t be put off by the pro-sourdough propaganda posters all over his stand. This bread is made with virgin organic wild yeast, resulting in a probiotic fermented sourdough that’s the best we’ve ever had. I’m not gluten intolerant or anything, but am often left feeling slightly “nervous” inside after eating breads. Not Bezian’s! And he swears that it’s tolerable to people even with gluten sensitivities/allergies. Just not to those with Celiac. And they offer many unique flavors, all delicious (except the tea – skip that). It’s worth trying, even though his stall look cray.

Lettuce – Fairview Gardens: Absolutely the most tender, crispy, juicy, refreshing and delicious organic lettuce blends we’ve found. I swear, we eat like ten times more salad than ever before since happening upon their pre-washed, bagged mixes. It just makes life so easy, and so tasty.

Apples – Cuyama Orchards: They’ll only be around another week or so until the fall, but their Pink Lady apples have been a staple in our house for months. Crisp, juicy, always organic and delicious, every week.

Berries – Harry’s Berries: Definitely a splurge, but oh, so slurgeworthy. Their strawberries are like ruby jewels of sweetness. We consume them like rabid animals.

Tangerines – Regier Family Farms: Clementine season is almost over, but their little tangerines are absolutely phenomenal. (Hint: pick the golf-ball sized fruits for the best flavor.) After a brief break until mid-May or so, they’ll be back with peaches, which I’m sure will be just as good in their own peachy way.

Meyer Lemons – Garcia Organic Farm: I can eat these babies by the slice! They taste like tangerines and lemons had a delicious baby. We start every day by drinking a glass of water, with a half lemon squeezed into it. Good for our livers, our acupuncturist says. And this makes it good to the very last drop.

Broccoli and Cauliflower – Gloria’s Fruits and Vegetables: Sweet, tender, and clean-tasting, their broccoli (and baby broccoli) are hard to beat. And their cauliflower is always firm, fresh, and often available in heirloom varieties like cheddar (yum), or the gorgeously fractal romanesco.

*These vendors can be found at Santa Monica Farmer’s Market exclusively.

Note: I am not being paid to promote any of these farmers, nor am I getting kickbacks or anything from them other than possible hugs. I just really want to share their great work with the people of LA, and encourage others to explore their local farmer’s market as an alternative to store-bought groceries.

Write On, Dana.

{formerly LaRueblog.}

Category Archives: clean eating