Monthly Archives: May 2010

On being green

I sometimes have to take good-natured ribbing from friends back home in NY about the culture in California, the SF Bay Area, and Berkeley and environs – in that order.

The stereotype of the “California yahoo” seems to increase in magnitude with that progression, reaching its apex smack-dab in Berkeley.

I’m asked regularly if I’ve replaced my roof with cow dung and am growing organic crops up there.

I’m told that we Californians talk out of both sides of our mouths, namely driving everywhere and then dumping on others for not buying organic.

Well, I may concede a bit about the driving. When I lived in NYC I did not have a car. Public transport is very good there, and having a car is of negative value in most areas. I tell them I tried living here without a car for 5 years, but it was impossible given how spread out things are and how difficult it was to shop for food. Supermarkets are not on every corner.

I further justify myself by pointing out that I bought a Honda Civic new in 1999, it has less than 50,000 miles on it, and continues to serve the needs of 4 people.

I suppose the bottom line is that I do what I can, and try to do more all the time. I make choices based on information I may not have been cognizant of 10 years ago. Now, the more I know, the more I want to learn. Where food is concerned, I read labels and seek out information before I buy. If that makes me a yahoo, then so be it.

I’m happy to say that many of us here in California and elsewhere are making incremental changes.

Some things are harder than others. For example, until organic, grass-fed beef takes over a larger part of the market share and prices drop, I cannot afford to purchase it exclusively. We don’t eat very much red meat, perhaps once a week, so I try to buy it 50% of the time. Chicken – pretty much the same program; every other chicken I bring home is organic. With pork, I buy Niman Ranch as often as possible. Issues here are complicated, particularly with beef. People in the US are accustomed to the flavor of grain fed beef – mostly in the form of feed lot beef – but are not knowledgeable about its production. Many say they don’t care, but I bet they would if they saw things first-hand.

I made a full transition to organic eggs. They taste much better and I feel good about not increasing demand for the crueler product. I’m happy to say that a non-organic egg has not entered chez Renate for 5 years. Even Costco now carries organic eggs in 18-egg packs.

I try to buy local, organic produce, whenever possible, and shop for fruits and veggies almost exclusively at farmer’s markets and stores that are careful about what they offer, like Berkeley Bowl. This is a no-brainer. If you don’t want synthetics in your fruit salad, then buy organic, or from local farms that use natural pesticides and fertilizers, even if they’re not certified as organic. Ask!

There are some “green” things I started doing that actually save me money and make life easier.

I buy in bulk and store in air-tight, food-grade, NSF approved, plastic containers. You have no idea how much easier it is to work in the kitchen when you don’t have to futz with bags of flour and sugar. Costco, Smart & Final and 99 Ranch serve me well. I was even able to buy a two-pound package of Red Star active dry yeast at S&F for $5.49. Hello! Those little 3-packs can go for $2.50! Not only will you save money, but there will be less packaging for the environment to have to contend with. Here’s a photo of a portion of my pantry. Popcorn, brown sugar, raw sugar, bread flour, AP flour, whole wheat four, brown Jasmine rice, iced tea bags, yeast – all there.

Food stored in plastic containers - bought in bulk

We also use hot and cold travel cups that look disposable. The hot cups are porcelain with silicone tops and sleeves, and the cold cups are non-BPA plastic with a screw-on lids and plastic straws. We take home-brewed coffee and iced tea out the door and save a small fortune without generating plastic trash from take-out iced lattes. Sure, we buy coffee out sometimes, but as a treat. The Eco-First cold drink cup is from Copco, and costs about $7.99. The Eco Cup for hot beverages is from Decor Craft Inc., and sells for about $10.

enviro cups 5-10

You might also want to start using some of the phosphate-free, enviro-friendly products for your dishwasher (and clothes washer, for that matter). Not only are many of these fully biodegradable and biorenewable, they’ll help prevent suds-lock. My Costco now even carries Ecover dish tablets, a product I love.

box of ecover dishwasher tabs

I also stay away from disposable wipes, and use one of the “green” spray cleaners and a cloth that resists bacteria, which I wash along with the rest of my laundry. You can pick up a container of Costco’s version of a friendly cleaner, if you want the most bang for your buck. It comes with a spray bottle and you can dilute it. Just shy of 1 and 1/2 gallons, it’ll last forever. If you’re a purist, and want little more than pure soap suspended in water, look for products at a place like Berkeley Bowl. Sometimes you do want something like this, as I do for my stall shower, which my dog visits daily to lick water off the tile.

costco multipurpose enviro-friendly cleaner

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that we should all think about this stuff and do what we can. Start with a few easy things and go from there.

Not destroying the environment, not running through every natural resource we have, and keeping harmful things away from and out of our bodies are always good, no matter what you think about global warming.

Savory Oatmeal for Dinner!

7 Replies

Does this look like a bowl of oatmeal? Well, it is!

When I first came out with my savory oatmeal recipes, friends thought I was crazy. Yeah – crazy like a fox.

The only reason people look at you like you have 35 heads when you serve oatmeal with ham and cheese is because it’s customary in the US to have it for breakfast – and to have it sweet. Well, I don’t like it sweet. And I don’t like it much plain. Enter my plan to treat it like any other grain – which it is.

The one problem, if you can call it that, is the mushy texture. No getting around that, but you can minimize it by using slow-cooking oats, and employing other ingredients that add some contrast.

The two recipes I came up with may be modified to your liking (and I encourage that!), but the oatmeal served with assorted toppings is best cooked only with chicken stock, and the version that includes cheese needs some milk and butter. Makes sense, since the latter should turn out creamy. You can use water in place of stock, of course, but it’ll be less savory. Use a good, organic, low-salt stock if you don’t make your own. A cheap, salty stock will taste terrible in this dish, so just…don’t.

Avocados are looking beautiful now at Berkeley Bowl, Whole Foods, Monterey Market and Raley’s, and I’ve even been able to get some decent tomatoes, so it’s a good time to try this frugal, healthy dish. Just make sure to use high-quality, ripe fruit. Don’t forget that avocados and tomatoes are both fruit! Organic is best, if you can swing it.

I’ll give you the ham and cheese recipe, too, which you should try one rainy day. It looks like you won’t have to wait until next winter for that, given the weather here in the Bay Area!

Don’t be put off. My family loves this stuff. My Mother-in-Law won’t eat it any other way, in fact. You have to at least try it.

Oatmeal with Avocado, Tomato and Sea Salt
Serves at least 6 as a full meal

4 cups thick-cut oatmeal (not instant – the slowest cooking kind you can get)
2 quarts organic, low-salt, chicken stock
Pinch of salt
2 large, ripe, Hass avocados, cubed
2 large, ripe, good tomatoes, cubed
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Coarse sea salt

1) Add oatmeal, pinch of salt, pepper and chicken stock to heavy guage dutch oven or similar vessel and stir to combine
2) Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer
3) Cover and cook to desired consistency, stirring often, especially when the mass starts to thicken (I cook for 20 minutes when using the really thick oats)
4) Spoon into deep serving bowls
5) Top with avocado, tomato and a couple cranks of sea salt

Note that I sometimes add cubed, leftover chicken breast before the avo and tomato, as in the photo, but this is optional.

Ham & Cheese Oatmeal
Serves at least 6

4 cups thick-cut oatmeal (not instant – the slowest cooking kind you can get)
1 quart organic, low-salt, chicken stock
2 cups milk
2 cups water
2 cups finely cubed cooked ham
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 1/2 – 2 cups aged (or extra sharp, at least) white Cheddar cheese in small cubes. Use good, natural cheese!

1) Add oatmeal and all liquids to heavy guage dutch oven or similar vessel and stir to combine
2) Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer
3) Cover and cook to desired consistency, stirring often, especially when the mass starts to thicken (I cook for 20 minutes when using the really thick oats)
4) Stir in pepper, butter and ham and allow to cook for another 30 seconds
5) Remove from heat and stir in cheese, but do not mix it in too much because you want to wind up with pockets of melted cheese
6) Cover and allow to sit for a couple of minutes
7) Serve in deep bowls under a couple of over-easy eggs, if you want to be fancy about it

Warm Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad

1 Reply

warm brussels sproats salad with pine nuts and nut oil

I love a warm salad during summer. It can sit out on the counter while your meat or tofu grills and be the better for it.

I make these salads a little luxurious, too, by breaking out my pricey specialty oils, like walnut and hazelnut. Sticking to fresh produce and a simple preparation allows the flavor of the oil to shine.

One salad I’ve honed combines Brussels sprouts, pine nuts and a vinaigrette made with orange juice, hazelnut oil and a little onion powder. Onion powder is one of those oddball things that adds complexity and prevents blandness, especially with concoctions containing citrus juice. Don’t substitute raw onions -they won’t work the same way.

Now, not everyone likes Brussels sprouts, so feel free to substitute green beans. If you like these cabbage creatures, however, you’ll love the way this salad provides a little sweetness and nuttiness to balance their strength and bitter notes.

I generally make this when Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market have beautiful, fresh Brussels sprouts with tight heads. The fewer stray leaves you have for this recipe the better, but nothing’s a show-stopper.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad
Serves 6

2 pounds Brussels sprouts
Scant 1/4 cup canola oil
Sea salt
3 tablespoons pine nuts

For vinaigrette:
2 or 3 tablespoons roasted hazelnut or walnut oil*
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from sweet oranges – not too tart)
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1). Whisk together ingredients for vinaigrette and set aside. Don’t worry about the lack of salt.
2). Toast pine nuts quickly in a saute pan. Keep them moving over a medium-low flame. You know how to do this. Move to a small bowl and set aside.
3). After you clean and trim sprouts, steam them for a minute or two, depending upon size, and then plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process. Dry thoroughly (this is important!) and cut in half, lengthwise. You can roast them without par-cooking; try it both ways and see what you like best.
4). Toss sprouts with canola oil and a generous number of cranks of sea salt on a sheet pan. When coated, arrange them cut side down.
5). Roast at 400 F. until you get some browning action on the cut side, but you don’t want them to overcook. Sometimes this takes 10 minutes, sometimes 20, like if I’m working with Rambo-sized vegetables. Once they are just tender, remove them to a nice, large bowl regardless of how they look.
6). Pour vinaigrette over Brussels sprouts and toss to coat.
7). Taste and adjust seasonings.
8). Allow to sit on counter for a good 45 minutes, tossing every now and then.
9). Top with pine nuts right before you serve.

*This can be expensive, like $15-for-a-small-bottle expensive. Sometimes the people from La Tourangelle are at Costco selling an assortment pack of three 8.5 ounce bottles of oil, usually hazelnut, almond and walnut, for $20. This is a steal. Keep it in the fridge – this is a must!

Library Book Sales for Cookbooks!

Leave a reply

stack of books bought at albany library book sale in may 2010

Stack of cookbooks bought at the Albany (CA) library book sale in May 2010

When Friends of the Albany Library holds used book sales, I’m there with my bags, egg sandwich and coffee in the parking lot in my car at the Albany Community Center (1249 Marin Avenue) 30 minutes before the doors open on the first day of the sale.

There is no better place to vamp up your cookbook collection than library book sales, and Albany’s are top-notch, especially the one or two big sales they have each year, though the smaller ones are good, too. There are no restrictions, meaning you can buy as many books as you want, and they are not “picked over,” meaning professional book buyers have not had first dibs on the stock. This is important information, and I suggest you check out a site like this one before you travel. I guess everyone has to make a living, but you’ll see these professional buyers arrive at sales first thing with huge containers, which I find, well, kind of obnoxious, but maybe I shouldn’t. I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at a valuable find, but this is pure serendipity for me, because I buy for myself and to give gifts to my friends. My good karma has paid off, because I found first editions, early printings, of both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, several copies of Victoria Wise’s American Charcuterie, based on recipes from the Berkeley store she owned and operated for 12 years – Pig-by-the-Tail – the first real charcuterie market in the US. Victoria Wise was Chez Panisse’s first chef, to boot, so a pretty good pedigree there and her out-of-print book is wonderful.

At the Albany sale, as with many others, stock is replenished throughout the day, but I find it’s best to come on Saturday for a weekend event, because there is often serious competition for cookbooks. The Food Network, celebrity chefs, and all the other hoopla have elevated the status of cooking from respectable trade to cult, so you won’t be the only one looking.

I bought 10 books for a total of $8 this Saturday. I go to the $1 room first, and then the 50 cent room, where I often find fun, kitschy works, like manufacturer’s cookbooks, or crazy stuff from the 60’s and 70’s that feed my obsession with molded salads and terrines and other scary things. This week I got a couple of Betty Crocker 1964 spiral bound planners and a C&H book, where everything calls for C&H sugar. Don’t turn your nose up at this kind of book, because they often have good information in addition to being fun to look at and read, given how dated they are. The C&H book has a nice little chart of the stages of cooked sugar, for example.

betty crocker parties for children

Here’s the C&H book, from which I learned right off the bat that C&H stands for California & Hawaiian. I didn’t know that. I grew up with Domino sugar.

C&H dessert cookbook

I also picked up Escoffier’s Cook Book of Desserts, Sweets, and Ices, from 1941, which is an extract of a larger work published in English. Every cook should have a book by Escoffier to keep them humble. His recipes are arcane, written in paragraph form, and esoteric. Often you won’t have any idea what to do, and you’ll think, “What does THAT mean?” Outrageous reading.

With general cookbooks, I gravitate toward antiques, but will pick something up if it grabs my eye. I could have done without 1974’s The Great Cooks Cookbook, but it involves a couple of chefs whose recipes I love, and it was only $1. Besides, look at the young and handsome Jacques Pepin!

While a book sale is great for oddball things, it can save you a fortune on books in print costing an arm and leg elsewhere. You have to have patience, but eventually you’ll come across some things you’ve been wanting to buy. These books go first, though, so this is why I suggest you start early in the day and hang around a bit for stock replenishment.

I live in El Cerrito, and there’s an annual sale in September at EC library (6510 Stockton Avenue), but in a room so small I can’t deal with it very well. Long and thin, and access only from one end. No room to pass. They also have stuff outside. That said, when I went it was rainy, so maybe they move more outside when the weather’s good.

Berkeley, Richmond, Kensington, Oakland and other East Bay cities also have used book sales. A good way to start is by looking at library websites.

Happy hunting!

Akitachow.com: A food site and a big dog

Yes, we have cats.

Monthly Archives: May 2010

On being green

Savory Oatmeal for Dinner!

Warm Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad

Library Book Sales for Cookbooks!

Fried Sweet Plantains