Mushrooms

It’s that time of year again.

Yep, that’s me all stinky, sweaty, and dirty, with a whole pile of fresh-harvested wild mushrooms (Thadd’s never forgiven me for that haul, which I proudly say he’s never equaled). Unfortunately, that was my biggest haul ever, by a lot. In addition to the giant puffballs, I also harvested something like 25 lbs. of hen-of-the-woods. Both are yummy, and both freeze like a dream. And, I collected both in MI, not VA.

Yes, you read that right: something MI has VA does not. Or, if it does, I can’t find them. We found normal puffballs last year, but not giants. And, no hen-of-the-woods. What we have found every year are these beauties:

Common chanterelles. Yum.  We’ve harvested a good many, but nothing like the shear poundage of the MI haul. Now, these are more delicate mushrooms, considered more gourmet by many. But, I tend to put them on par with the hen-of-the-woods. And above them both I put the chicken mushroom (also called sulphur mushroom). I don’t have any pictures of those–I am not sure why, actually–but they’re yummy. They taste like chicken! No, really, I mean it.  Not in the “here, try this live toad–I swear it tastes just like chicken!” kind of way, either.

So,  the mushrooms should be back, starting about now. Chicken mushrooms pop in late spring here, and we qualify. I’ve been so busy I’ve stopped hunting wild foods, and I need to start again. Mushrooms, berries, wild onions and lettuces, pawpaws, nuts…there’s so much tasty goodness out there to be had. I need to get back into the woods. I miss it. A lot. It keeps me sane, and I am a little nuts right now with the busy.

This is a new priority for me. Or rather, a renewed priority.

Umami

I am a bit in love with miso. It adds this incredible depth of flavor, sometimes known as “umami”, and when paired with mushrooms it’s absolutely amazing. Above, I’ve roasted chicken in a miso-based sauce, with lots of shitakes. The roasted brussel sprouts are zested with lemon, a fresh, nutty compliment to the chicken pasta dish.

Another All Local Feast

I didn’t get photos of the venison (gifted to us by my nephews Josh and Willie), and the photographs of the rest aren’t spectacular due to technical difficulties (meaning I’d screwed up the settings on my camera and couldn’t figure out how to reset them); but, the food was amazing.

The menu was a fresh baby greens salad, wilted orange-glazed kale, olive-oil roasted sunchokes, and broiled venison with a coffee dry rub.

Tonight will be venison with cauliflower-potato puree and veggies. All local. Yum!

Preserving Summer

The harvest season is in full swing, and it’s the perfect time to think ahead to the long months we’ll have without this bounty.

Above: Peach sauce, made with local scratch-and-dent peaches. We rarely sweeten any of our sauces, and this sauce in particular didn’t need it. The flavor is fresh and rich–we’ll enjoy this treat in the colder months ahead. Below: Sour pickles. Yep, that’s mold you see, and it’s supposed to be there.  These have been pickling for about a week, with about 3 more to go. The mold is skimmed every few days.

Since we have a garden this year, we’re planning a lot of preserving. A partial list:

-Pesto (this freezes beautifully)

-Tomatoes, diced and sauced (canned)

-Melon (dehydrated)

-Mushrooms (frozen & dehydrated)

-Green & pole beans (frozen)

-Apples (sliced and sauced)

-Peaches (sauced, chunked for pie & cobbler filling)

-Blackberries (Frozen)

-Pickles (dill, sour, bread & butter)

And probably some things I am forgetting. Home-preserved products taste so much better than store bought, and are usually better for you because you can pick the produce fresh and at peak ripeness. You can also control the type and am0unt of additives and spices, which is wonderful for people who are watching their sodium, who have problems with things like MSG or certain spices, who are diabetic and need to watch their sugars, or who are trying to stay away from too many additives. It’s also cheaper than buying out of season produce, and easier on the environment.

Best. Stroganoff. Ever

I don’t have any pictures of the stroganoff, as we couldn’t wait that long to dig in, but it was made with these:

We got about 5.5lbs of Chicken o’the Woods mushrooms last weekend, and when MJ mentioned she’d seen a recipe for Venison and Chicken Mushroom stroganoof, I think I actually started drooling. A short trip to the grocer and a few hours of thawing out last year’s venison (thanks again to my brother for the wonderful loins and steaks!) later, I was ready to whip something up.

I varied from the recipe a bit, and I also added some shitakes (we’re growing our own for next year!); but, I left in the brandy for the cream sauce.  It is a measure of how much I love UC and my friends that the sauce made it to the table at all. Served over whole wheat pasta and sided with spicy zucchini, it was an amazing dinner if I do say so myself. We’re doing this again very, very soon. And very, very often.

Foodie and Frugal, Week of 12.13.08

Above: tonight’s dinner: Polenta with wild mushrooms (chicken and puffball), onions, and fricasse’ sauce. It was served with a mix of peas and collard greens. Yummy! Below: last night’s dinner: okra & pinenut pasta with blue cheese sauce and herb rubbed salmon.

I’ve been a bit lax on the whole “Foodie and Frugal” thing, and apparently it’s been missed. Sorry about that. So, here’s the menu plan for this coming week:

Monday: Lentil & Sausage Soup. You see this here a lot because it is very tasty, very hearty, very healthy, and very quick. Mondays see both UC and I gone for classes, me at Body Combat and him at Tai Chi; so, we need a quick meal. We use turkey sausage to keep the fat down. Lentils are a complete protein and full of fiber, so it keeps you full.    The recipe we use makes a huge pot that feeds us for several meals (and occasionally a few helpings even make it into the freezer) for under $3.00. We’re using the chicken stock I am making tonight from the hens we got a while ago as the base:

Tuesday: Not Your Mom’s Meatloaf and Sweet potatoes. This recipe is one of the absolute best I’ve made recently. I’ll try to get it up on the sidebar later this week. It’s also very healthy, and low-cal. Served with sweet potatoes for antioxidants its’ pretty much a complete meal, but we’ll toss in some beets or corn, too. This can be a bit pricier just because it has meat, but it also has veggies in it. It’ll give us two meals, so I’m going to guess $1.50/person per meal.

Wednesday: Chicken or beef kabobs. This is movie night, and we feed lots of people. We make the main dish, everyone brings a side to pass. Tonight, it’s meat and veggie kabobs. I think I’m going to do them in a Thai peanut sauce.

Thursday: Beef Stew. You’re seeing a lot meat on this menu, it’s true. Our veggie dish was tonight. While I like to do more, UC is back to trying to gain weight, so we’re back to eating more meat (its seems to be the most effective thing he can do). This does break the bank a bit, unfortunately, but it keeps him in good shape. Beef stew is a pretty effective use of the beef, and it’ll also mean I can crock pot it. Which is great, since this is our night for spin. I’ll brown off the meat earlier in the day, then toss it in the crockpot with carrots, onion, corn, peas, and potatoes. We’ll have it with some of the sourdough UC is making right now, and probably brown rice.

Friday: Chicken Lasagne. This is one of the dishes you’ll see on my menu for my Ready to Go Meals this week, so I am just going to toss another one in the oven. This will give us some leftovers for later. I’ll be using whole wheat noodles, spinach, TVP, mushrooms, and a low-fat cheese combo I make myself (there’s no ricotta in this, but it’s actually doesn’t need it). This is really frugal, and with all the protein and fiber, it’s incredibly healthy.

Saturday: Yule. This is our holiday celebration with good friends. We’ll be cooking off a turkey and a bunch of other stuff, but the specifics are still in the works.

I expect to spend $35-45 on groceries. The rest is from the pantry.

Check back tomorrow for my Ready To Go Meals selections for this week. Also, check the RSS Feed on the sidebar for my published articles on treating ADD/ADHD and Depresison with diet.

Frugal Weekly 10.20.08, Still No Camera

I know, you miss my food pics. So do I. Unfortunately, Things have had to come before New Gadgets, and so still no camera.  You’ll just have to sift through the archives for your fix.

This past weekend, some friends got together with us at our place and canned 3/4 of a bushel of tomatoes, yeilding 24 quarts. Next Sunday, we’ll finish off the remaining 2 bushels (they weren’t ripe yet this week to can), and that should be enough tomatoes for a good, long while. Thank goodness for their pressure cooker! In the meantime, I’ll be canning pickled eggplant and green tomatoes, and giving some jalepenos to M & D (hey, can you guys email me–my email program seems to have lost your addresses) for their pickling pleasure. I’ll also be heading to Roundabout Farms to pick up our cold-storage goods, and I’m really excited to get beets with the dirt still clinging. I do hope I can borrow a camera for the day, so I can post some pics here.

This week in food and cooking, our menu:

Sunday: Herb-seared pork chops, served with balsamic-roasted butternut squash and peppered peas & green beans. This is one of my favorite ways to do butternut squash because it turns out so creamy and rich.

Monday: Tofu & chickpea saag over brown rice. This is one of my DH’s obsessions right now. He’s chosen a few dishes he’d like to get good at making, and since he loves saag this is on the list. Expect to see this on my meal plans a lot for while. Fortunately, it’s tasty. And, cheap, nutritious, and filling.

Tuesday: Roasted chicken with mixed veggies & biscuits. I’ll be brining the chicken overnight tonight, and popping it in the oven tomorrow before I head to weight training. DH will be home to watch it and hopefully making the biscuits, and we can eat after I get home and shower.

Wednesday: Salmon patties with winter squash and apple-onion hash. I serve my salmon patties with dill yogurt sauce, and the winter squash will be steamed. The apple-onion hash is pretty peppery, which compliments everything nicely.

Thursday: Crock-pot chuck steak with potatoes & carrots. My grass-fed farmer feels the latest animal has too strong a flavor, so gave me a chuck steak to try out for critiquing. Since this is one of my very heavy training days, and since both DH and I train together at 6:45 p.m., this is a great night for us to crockpot. I’ll treat it like a potroast.

Friday: Creamy roasted root veggies soup with salad and homemade ciabatta. I cooked up turnips & sweet potaotes as a side dish to my black bean burgers on Saturday. I’ll be using the leftovers, along with some beets, carrots, and mushrooms to make a creamy, rich soup.

Saturday: Friend Alex’s birthday party (Happy Birthday, hon!), so dinner at her mom’s.

Breakfasts:

Porridge (wheat berry & rye), home made “egg mcmuffins,” fermented oats & wheat flakes.

I haven’t gone grocery shopping yet, but according to my pricebook, we should be in undre $100 for the two of us this week. We’re trying, yet again, to up UC’s calorie intake. I never believed stuffing 4,000 calories into someone would 1) be necessary or 2) be this difficult. Since he can’t really have it in simple carbs and sugars, that leaves proteins and complex carbs. Grass fed beef and veggies just doesn’t have the kind of calorie count. His stomach isnt’ big enough to hold as much food as it would take to stop him losing weight with a healthy diet and nothing else. So, back to the Uber-Smoothies twice a day.

Uber Smoothies (600-700 calories each)

-2/3 c. yogurt of your choice

-2 scoops whey protein

-1 raw egg

-1/2 cup milk

-1 banana

-Additions (endless combinations): peanut butter (organic, of course), almond butter, vanilla, honey,  malt, instant coffee, other fruits, oatmeal, almond extract, fruit juices, nutella, and the kitchen sink)

Put into blender, or put into very large glass and use stick blender. Whip until frothy. Stick in freezer for a while if desired (about 15 minutes). Drink.

Obviously, at 5′ and 110 lbs, I can’t go anywhere near this stuff. Just breathing the air around it while I blend it probably adds more calories than I work off in my hardest training sessions. UC, however, can down two, and just about break even on his calories for the day. Maybe. What I wouldn’t do for his metabolism (though, I have no desire to be 6’6″ tall).

Look for another “Consumer Education” blog next week. I am still waffling on the topic, largely because I have too much to say and not enough focus or time to do it in. So, if you’ve got requests, let me know.

In the meantime, eat well.

No Cohesion

It will come as no surprise to my readers that I love to make my own weird food and beverages, and that I occasionally want strange things to cook in. What I am really saying is I’ve had some random things on my “wish list” for a while, and have no good way to hook them into a cohesive post. They’re still worth mentioning, but I don’t want to dedicate a whole post to any one of them.

And, I’m busy right now. We had to essentially move our entire kitchen out of our apartment for a day, and now we’re trying to put it all back together while cleaning every surface and dish. I’ve also been busy working on the Meals To Go project. More on that as soon as i can, but for now, it’s hush-hush. Just know that I am not sitting around on my bum doing nothing.

So, what things do I want to the point of obsession?

-Keft D’uca crystals. I made kefir for a while, and it was alright; but, this looks amazing and I think we’d drink more of it. Unfortunately, they’re out right now.

-Fil Mjolk Dairy Starter Culture (sorry, can’t do the umlat). I’ve heard some rave reviews about this, and given how much I tend to like things in this vein, I think it would be an amazing addition to the household.

-Kombucha Mushroom Starter Kit. I had kombucha a while ago and liked it, but it’s almost $5/bottle for 12 oz. This would pay for itself in two batches.

-Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 slow cooker. I like this one because it has the different inserts, and that would allow me to make so many things I can’t do with just my 4-quart. I could make a lot less steel cut oats, for example, with the 2-quart insert. Or, a whole chicken with the 6 quart.

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Stuffed Pasta and Amazing Salad

First, it looks like a camera may happen in the relatively near future, so keep checking. I miss pictures, but thanks for all of you who are sticking with me through the Food Porn dry spell!

Last night’s dinner was spectacular: Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with ricotta, spices, heirloom tomatoes, and garlic, topped with a vodka sauce and chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms. We had planned to use UC’s homemade sauce, but he forgot and put all of in the freezer earlier in the day. Thank goodness for TJ’s Organic! Served with a salad of mixed local, organic greens, fresh & unpasteurized chevre, and bacon-wrapped figs, and a side of fresh, homemade ciabatta. The figs were the first of the season here, and the season is so short we pretty much gorge on them for these few short weeks. In good news, it was also a very inexpensive meal that gave us plenty of leftovers for lunch today.

The dinner was simple, beautiful, and scrumptious. I am pretty sure that if I can get a camera before figs go out of season, I’m going to make this whole meal again just for the sake of having pictures.

Where Did the Frugal Go?

My weekly grocery and meal plan frugal posts have been missing. This is because, simply, I have been missing. I was gone for the better part of July, and then had family visiting until just yesterday, which unfortunately left no time for blogging.

You can expect those posts to start up again next week. This week is playing catch-up from all the time I haven’t been living as I normally do: grocery shopping, house cleaning, car stuff, business stuff…the list is endless, really.

I ate a lot of things I normally don’t during this hiatus, and my body is really starting to rebel. Don’t get me wrong, the foods was spectacular; but, a month of it wasn’t necessarily the best thing for me. So, starting this coming Monday, I’ll be off processed sugars totally again, and cutting severely down on “white” foods, such as potatoes, white rice, etc. Normally, we don’t eat a lot of those types of foods anyway, but when traveling so extensively without kitchen access, they become pretty difficult to avoid.

We were able to do a meal plan this week, for the first time in over a month, and while I can’t list all the groceries and prices (because I haven’t done the shopping yet), I can tell you what’s On The Menu:

-Tonight is local HH Farms spicy Italian saugage & lentil soup (made in the crock pot). Served with homemade cornbread & local honey.

-Friday. BLTs, on UC’s homemade, whole-grain bread! It’s so nice to have bread again. The tomatoes are local from Waterpenny Farms. The bacon isn’t local this time, because we’re out and didn’t get a chance to order more, but the lettuce is also from one of my producers.

-Saturday. Fish (TBD) with quinoa risotto &  fresh vegetables. This is market day, so while we have a plan for the general meal, we usually keep it general enough to insert whatever looks best to us at the time.

-Sunday. Baked stuffed shells with vodka sauce, served with homemade ciabatta. This is our baking day, and we do pretty much everything we can to maximize the use of the oven. Stuffed shells are a great way for us to use up leftovers, like small bit of meat and veggies that didn’t get turned into lunches. Just run them through the meat grinder, mix with cheese, stuff into shells, cover with sauce, and bake. I use a variety, depending on went into the grinder, but it almost always includes ricotta or cream cheese. If things work out right, it’ll be cheese I made myself. The sauce will be homemade, as we’re putting up a decent bit of it again this year from scratch-and-dents from a few of the farmers I know.

-Monday. Spicy orange stir fry over lemon-scented brown rice. This is a fantastic way for us to use up any delicate veggies, such as squash, before they go bad. We’ll also be using some freshly made tofu from the Twin Oaks Commune here in VA. This is the best tofu I’ve ever had, made from bean to bar (so to speak) right on the commune. As far as I have been able to investigate, I should be able to have this tofu without interference to my  thyroid medication. Since I love tofu, this makes me very, very happy. And, it allows me to support a great local business and way of life. Also, at $2/lb, it’s hard to beat.

-Tuesday. Beef and barley stew, with homemade bread. Pannill’s Gate produces the best grass-fed beef I’ve had thus far, and we’re buying a good bit from them these days. I was lucky enough to spend some time on the farm with Patty, one of the owners, and got to take a serious look at their operation. They’re one of the cleanest I’ve ever seen. Their cows are happy and healthy, and the farm does what it says it does: 100% pastured, grass-fed beef, no hormones, no antibiotics. Beyond organic. I’d give you the website, but they’re still working on it. In the meantime, if you’d like to talk with them about their beef, just email me and I’ll get you their contact information.

And, that’s where we left off. We’ll do more planning on Saturday after the market and our trip to SNP to help clear a blow down.

This week, we’re hoping to gather some more Chicken of the Woods mushrooms. We got about 4 lbs. last week, and they’re just fantastic. Unless it rains sometime in the near future, though, I am not holding out much hope. We’ll be cooking down more tomatoes, of course, for sauce. Baking day will include: ciabatta, sandwich bread, roasted garlic, The Best Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies In the History of the World, So Hippy it Hurts muffins, and possibly some other things.

It’ll be a busy week, but I am really looking forward to it.