Food – Page 13 – Alice the Cook

May 4, 2009July 7, 2009

Keeping it Local

Each weekend, I visit our local farmer’s markets to pick up produce for the household. I visit the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and the St. Paul Farmer’s Market on Sundays. I pick up fresh vegetables, herbs, meats, and dairy. I take pride in knowing that I am helping local farmers and other entrepreneurial spirits by visiting and purchasing from their booths. I still shop at our local grocery stores, but I do tend to favor the local shops and vendors.

Some of the delicacies I have encountered include Hope Butter, which provides a delicious finish to any dish or topping, Amish butter, or free-range dairy goods. Some people may not realize that grass-fed cattle and dairy cows are happy and their produce are high in Omega-3 fatty acids (good for you) and have less instances of illnesses and require less antibiotics and growth hormones (also good for you).

In the Twin Cities, I tend to favor plenty of local restaurants because they are not large conglomerates or they use locally raised produce. Among my favorites include Ngon Vietnamese Bistro, Wild Onion, or Lucia’s. Because of the economy, all restaurants are hurting, but if you take a moment to think about where you eat and who benefits from your dining out, you can make it worthwhile.

April 28, 2009July 7, 2009

Food and Kids

Outside of historical cooking, I have several interests but they all pertain to food. On another blog the question came up “how do you get fussy kids to eat their vegetables?” I’ve been blessed as my son likes many vegetables, so it is not a fight. But for several of my friends’ kids, it is a challenge. I thought I would post these suggestions for prosperity and hope that my readers may learn a few things.

Kids are motivated by their parents and peers. If they have friends or parents who eat vegetables, they are more likely to do so as well. Some foods are tastier to kids than others. I still have a strong dislike to brussel sprouts since my mom forced me to eat them as a young child.

What does your child like to eat? Do they like sweet flavors such as ginger, cinnamon, cilantro, etc. or do they like savory flavors such as cumin, curry, mustard, etc. or spicy such as chilis, vindaloo, etc. Use there taste center to your advantage.

Vegetables that are kid friendly:

Sweet Potatoes – baked, oven fried, chips, or mashed. Not bad for you if you leave off the brown sugar and the marshmallows. I add a dash of cinnamon to my son’s and I prefer a cumin and cinnamon blend on mine.
Beets – very red and very sweet. Can be found as chips to start with.
Veggie Booty – a snack food made from real veggies. It’s a good start and a better choice than cheese puffs.
Baby Carrots
Zucchini and yellow squash – can be cut up like french fries and grilled or oven fried
Summer Squash
Edame (soybeans) – Oddly enough, kids like the mild sweet flavor and its an opportunity to “play with your food” as the beans need to be removed from their shell.
Black and garbanzo beans – just fun to eat as you can pop them into your mouth like candy.

If the earlier suggestions fail, there are other suggestions that may work:

If your child likes spaghetti and pizza, make your own sauce by adding pureed zucchini or other vegetables while cooking the sauces
Adding a vegetarian soup to ground meat and adding breadcrumbs or oatmeal before cooking meatloaf or making meatballs.
Making lettuce wrap meals. Meals like tacos and other foods can be made into a sandwich using lettuce leaves instead of bread. This can be fun for the whole family.
When eating out at a buffet, empower your child to select their own veggies. You might be surprised with their selections.
When barbecuing, grill veggies along side the meat so your child will have a tasty selection.
When all else fails, cover the veggies with a sauce the child may like. Ketchup is very popular in our house. When I was a young woman, I did not care for the taste of broccoli, but when I covered it in garlic cheese sauce, I couldn’t get enough of it. Nowadays, I eat the broccoli without any sauce.

I hope these suggestions help. Feel free to add to the comment section your suggestions.

April 23, 2009July 7, 2009

Working with What You Have

After preparing the segment for Renaissance Magazine, Brandon and I had a lot of left overs – about 3/4 lb of pieces of roast pork (uncooked), carrots, leeks, and a few other ingredients. I put them together to create a lovely curry pork and vegetables.

Utilizing the ingredients above and adding a few, I created a dish that was quoted as, “tastes like it came from a ‘nice’ Asian restaurant” from a Chinese national.

Below is the recipe I came up and I have been enjoying it for my lunches.

one cup of leftover braised carrot and leek dish
3/4 lb of roast pork, cut up
one onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of frozen peas
1 tbsp of yellow curry powder (store bought)
1 tsp ground cumin
2 pinches of sea salt
ground pepper to taste
1 tbsp of cooking oil (sesame or sunflower)

In a heated wok, add the oil and when hot enough begin adding the pork to begin cooking. Turn the pork every two minutes so that it begins to brown nicely and add the onions.

Continue to cook and add the left over braised carrots and leeks. Continue to cook and add frozen peas. Continue to stir when cooking and add the curry powder and cumin. Finish with the salt and pepper.

I did not need to use rice or noodles with this dish. It should be sweet and savory, not spicy. Sadly, I ate it all before I could photograph the plate.

April 16, 2009April 18, 2009

Preparing for the next Renaissance Magazine article

My assistant Nicholas and I will be working on the next piece for the July issue of Renaissance Magazine. A lot of work goes into putting the package together.

Nicholas Childs and Alice the Cook demonstrating period cooking at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival (2007).

First, we discuss and select a recipe. This is a challenge as we want to be “period correct” in our selection, have nice plate presentation, and have it taste good. Several recipes that are “very” period correct do not look very good plated or taste very good. So Nicholas and I attempt to find a happy medium.

Second, Nicholas and I head off to the market to pick up the ingredients that are needed to accomplish the recipe and the eventual plating.

Third, Nicholas and I go about cooking. From the time we arrive back into the kitchen to final plating, the process usually takes 3 hours.

Fourth, we take our time prepping the plate, the lighting, the table for the best view of the dish for Renaissance Magazine. In all, we usually take between 30-75 shots. The photos are reviewed, cleaned up (a bit), and prepped for print (high resolution, size, etc.)

Fifth, Writing the recipe is easy. Providing the research and the history of why this dish was chosen and the background information on the food, herbs, and/or techniques used all become part of the final wrap.

Sixth, final review, proof reading, and packaging the segment up for Renaissance Magazine to use.

As you can see, it is a long process, but worth it.

April 14, 2009July 7, 2009

An odd, yet useful, recipe

I love experimenting with different items in the kitchen. Once the cookbook is wrapped up and ready for distribution, I will be looking at creating hand-crafted flavored salts and sugars for the gourmet at heart.

Some of the specialty items I may offer include:

Chili Salt
Garlic Salt
Rosemary Salt
Shallot Salt
Cinnamon Sugar
Nutmeg Sugar
Citrus Sugar

All of the salts will be made with sea salt and the specialty sugars will be made with raw sugar. I will not more later, but this is merely a planning stage.

Recently, I have been experimenting with flavored butters. Once of them is a curry butter that I have been adding to fish and pasta recipes as well as old fashioned popcorn.

4 TB unsalted butter, melted n10686975771_836866_8585
1 tsp of prepared curry powder
1/4 tsp of ground cumin
pinch of salt

Stir the spices in with the melted butter and blend with a wooden utensil. Do not use a metal utensil as it will damage the mix. After mixing, let the butter sit for 5 minutes and blend again before applying.

A Spanish influence flavored butter:
4 TB unsalted butter, melted
1/8 tsp fresh cilantro, minced
1/16 tsp of fresh garlic, minced
1/16 tsp of chili powder
pinch of ground cumin
pinch of fresh lime zest
pinch of sea salt

Combine ingredients and let sit for 5 minutes, occasionally swirling them together to blend. Add to chicken, seafood, or vegetables while grilling. If you prefer vegetarian cooking, substitute the butter for olive oil. The spices need to sit in the olive oil for an hour before using to adopt the flavors. ENJOY!