Antibiotic-Free Chickens

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Of course, when we get our chickens, they won't live in crowded conditions that foster disease in conventionally raised chickens (nor will we eat them).  But there's some interesting news from Bell & Evans, a Pennsylvania-based chicken farm (near Harrisburg) that long has spurned antibiotic treatment as a cure for chicken ailments. (The problem with antibiotics, as most of us know, is that overuse leads to resistance to the curative effects of antibiotics, both in the animals that are given them routinely and in the humans who eat those animals.  In fact, it was antibiotic overuse that fostered the growth of "superbugs" and led to a number of tainted-meat recalls--over 100 million pounds worth--during the last several years.)

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Scott Sechler, president of Bell & Evans, told the New York Times that herbs and spices are just as effective as antibiotics in maintaining the health of his chickens.  In particular, he adds a commercially produced oregano oil (as well as cinnamon) to a feed he has specially milled for his birds. Mr. Sechler also drinks oregano tea himself!  If you'd like to make oregano oil, at home, here are instructions.  Oregano oil also has been found effective in treating diarrhea caused in piglets by E. coli.  Regarding cinnamon, I'll make one point:  I (Melinda) tend to have high-normal blood sugar, but since I started consuming at least a teaspoon of ground cinnamon a day (in my morning tea), my levels have dropped to well within the mid-normal range.  Herbs and spices really rock, for both non-human and human animals!

Spectacular Winter Salad with Gremolata!

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This is adapted from the Cabbage and Radish Slaw on Food52. Thinly slice some cabbage, green or red. Or you could julienne some turnips instead, or kohlrabi, or well-scrubbed Jerusalem artichokes. Coat the cabbage (or whatever) with gremolata (see winter greens gremolata recipe in post just below), and add in some mashed Garlic Confit (see instructions below) and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Stir well, then sprinkle very thinly sliced radishes over the salad. (Using a mandoline slicer, available at department stores or online, makes it really easy to slice most veggies quite thinly, or to shred or julienne them, i.e., make them matchstick-like). The author of the recipe suggests tucking the salad into wraps, either alone or w/ "gooey pulled pork." You also could substitute cheese or hard-boiled eggs or flavored tofu, etc., for the pork.

Garlic Confit--This is a recipe from "Dash and Bella," a beautifully poetic blog about cooking and raising a child.

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• 3 whole heads of garlic, cloves separated; leave skins on
• olive oil
• salt
• a sprig of thyme or rosemary, if desired

Poke a small hole in each garlic clove with the tip of a paring knife, so they don't explode as you cook them. Put the unpeeled garlic cloves in a large, heavy pot and cover with olive oil. Add salt and/or herbs, or not, as you choose. Put the pot on a back burner and bring to boil--do NOT let your own face or child's face anywhere near the pot!!! (You remember that whole mediaeval thing about boiling oil...?! It was a torture you def. want to avoid.) Reduce the heat to low the second it boils, so it doesn't sputter. Gently simmer the cloves about 20 minutes, then test one with the tip of a paring knife. The cloves should be soft all the way through. Let them cool to room temp. (Be sure to save the oil for salad dressing or other oily uses!)

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They're ready to use now. To be decadent (oh, why not??), you can suck them right out of the skins, or you can do it primly and properly by squeezing the contents of some cloves onto French bread or into soup/stew, or you can use it in the Winter Salad above. The cloves, in the skins, will keep in the fridge for several weeks as long as they're completely covered with the oil.

Here are three other uses for garlic confit from Dash and Bella:  1) Corn, Cherry Tomato, Arugula, and Spinach Salad;  2) Garlic Confit Vinaigrette;  3) Lime Potatoes with Poached Eggs (that one makes me feel weak in the knees.). The recipes can be found at the bottom of the post on garlic confit.  Bon appetit!

Winter Greens Gremolata

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Traditionally (see left), gremolata is a condiment made with finely chopped raw parsley, lemon, and garlic; it has a wide range of uses and really perks up whatever you eat it with (yes, I know, don't end a sentence with a preposition).  But here's a kicked-up wintertime version from FOOD 52 (the crowd-sourced recipe compilation) that's much more substantial; it incorporates greens we're growing in the hoophouse, which are lightly cooked (blanched in boiling water) first.

Winter Greens Gremolata--makes ~2 cups

• 1 bunch arugula
• 1 bunch Italian parsley
• 1 bunch Lacinto [or other] kale
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, for the blanching water
• 6 anchovy fillets (vegetarians or those who dislike anchovies can substitute pitted kalamata olives)
• 6 peeled garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon zest [that's an important ingredient for the flavor]
• 2 tbsp capers, drained of brine
• 2 tsp white-wine vinegar or champagne vinegar [I'm sure you won't ruin this if you use a less pricy white vinegar]
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• kosher salt, to taste

Bring large pot of water to boil. Trim any heavy stems from your greens. Add 1 tbsp kosher salt to boiling water & turn down to simmer. Toss in kale & blanch 5 minutes, stirring a bit. Remove kale w/ tongs and put in colander over large bowl. In the same pot of simmering water, blanch parsley & arugula for 1 minute only. With tongs, remove greens from water & add to draining kale; allow greens to cool a bit, then form them into a ball & squeeze out remaining liquid into the bowl. [I would save that vitamin-packed water for use in a broth, rather than discarding.] Put greens into the bowl of a food processor.

With mortar & pestle [or flat side of heavy knife on a cutting board] mash the garlic & anchovies into a paste & add to food processor, along with lemon juice, lemon zest, capers, vinegar, & olive oil. Whiz at least 30 seconds. Taste & adjust flavors (salt, lemon, vinegar) to suit your taste. Pulverize again till gremolata is relatively smooth.

You can keep in a jar in the fridge w/ a thin layer of olive oil atop, though the gremolata will lose some of its bright color. Or you can freeze it in a jar or ice cube tray, in which case it retains its bright green color. Defrost at room temp. about an hour before using.

This gremolata is great on fish, chicken, pasta, rice, you name it; it's also the basis of a fine winter salad of cabbage, cilantro, and radishes--yum!  See the post, above, for that salad.

Winter Market, Part III: Saturday, December 29th, 2012

The goddess Persephone

This is it, the last Winter Market of 2012, yet with many more to follow in 2013.  We are just so amazingly blessed to have the freshest, most local, totally organic produce possible!  Many thanks to Devorah for the great job she's doing.  And all in the middle of winter, during the so-called "Persephone period," when plants normally are dormant or dead (see here for Devorah's earlier comments on the Persephone period).  Persephone, the ancient goddess of fertility, was abducted by Hades because she was so beautiful; her mother Demeter bargained to get her back, but the bargain involved Persephone returning to the Underworld for three months each year.  That was the ancient Greek explanation for the vegetatively barren winter months.

What we expect to offer in our little "Persephone work-around" hoophouse on the 29th is arugula, carrots, radishes, kale, chard, scallions, cilantro, parsley, lettuce mix, and--just maybe--our first little bit of broccoli!  There are so many wonderful dishes to make with what we have, and some of the recipes can become the basis of 5 or 6 different meals.

Melinda's Winter-Greens and Basil Pesto Sauce--this is truly a laissez-faire recipe. Feel free to substitute ingredients, change amounts to suit your taste, and so forth.

• 2 to 4 bunches of winter greens of your choice--chard, any sort of kale, bok choi, arugula, radish greens, turnip greens, spinach, dandelion greens, chickweed--and you can use a LOT, because it all becomes much smaller once you pulse it in a food processor (my last batch, which made enough for several pasta meals, included 2 bunches of kale, 1 bunch of radish greens [which are a little spicy], and a bunch of turnip greens)
• scallions, if you like, roots removed
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 or more large garlic cloves, peeled (I use a whole small head, but I'm a garlic freak!)
• about a cup of nuts of your choice--walnuts, cashews, pine nuts, almonds--or more to taste
• about a cup of olive oil; more if needed
• about a cup of pecorino or parmesan cheese (or vegan substitute), or more/less to taste
• 1 tsp salt (or more/less to taste)



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• about a half cup dried basil--start with that amount, then add more if you think it's needed

Remove tough stems from kale & discard; if you use chard or bok choi, trim and chop the stems into ~1/2-in. chunks. Start with one bunch of greens, add part of the olive oil and the lemon juice. Whiz in food processor till smooth. Repeat with any other greens you're using, including chopped chard or bok choi stems; for scallions, first chop into ~2-in. lengths, then add. Whiz again till smooth, scraping down sides periodically. (If you want a less caloric pesto, you can substitute plain yogurt or low-fat cottage cheese--or even broth or soy milk--for some of the olive oil, though of course these will alter the flavor of the finished pesto.) Add 1/2 cup dried basil, nuts, garlic, & salt and whiz again. Start adding cheese a quarter cup at a time & taste; keep adding till it suits you! If you think the pesto is too thick, add more oil. Put pesto into jars or zip-type plastic bags and refrigerate or freeze. The flavor develops further as the pesto is stored.

The pesto can be used classically on pasta (adding beans is nice too). Or you can coat roasted or grilled lamb chops or beef steaks with pesto and rewarm them in the oven before serving. Or you can start with a whole chicken, gently loosen the skin with your hands (while nevertheless not removing it), and rub the meat under the skin with pesto sauce (rubbing the interior with lemon juice is nice too); then roast the chicken till done. Pesto sauce can also be mixed into minestrone; it can be used on hoagies or grilled cheese sandwiches or vegetarian wraps. Whatever you do, have fun & eat well!

Garlicky Beet Spread with Yogurt, Dill, and Horseradish

This recipe is also from the NYT Dining Section; it's something like the beet dip that Aby used to bring to Harvest Fests, but with a twist.
Garlicky Beet Spread [or Dip] with Yogurt, Dill, and Horseradish--makes 2 cups

• 2 medium beets, scrubbed and trimmed
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for beets
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 very large garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp kosher or sea salt, or to taste
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt [or one cup drained American yogurt; for instructions on how to drain American yogurt, see here]
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, or more to taste
• 2 tsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 1/2 tsp prepared [jarred] horseradish

To roast beets, heat oven to 375 degrees. Put beets in a small baking dish & drizzle with olive oil. Add 3 tbsp water to bottom of dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake till tender, ~1 to 1 1/2 hours, turning beets after 45 minutes. Let cool, then peel.

Using a food processor, pulse walnuts, garlic, & salt till very finely ground. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add peeled beets, oil, yogurt, lemon juice, dill, and horseradish and pulse till relatively smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired. Serve with fritters or latkes, or use as a dip for vegetables. (Picture credit)

Swiss Chard Fritters

A recipe from this past week's NYT Dining Section, adapted from the new cookbook Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (a simply wonderful cookbook, by the way).  Check out their blog in our blog list.
Swiss Chard Fritters--makes ~14 fritters, 4 appetizer servings

• 14 oz Swiss chard leaves, stems removed
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill 
• 1 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 3 oz crumbled feta cheese (about 1/2 cup)
• olive oil



Swiss chard fritters topped with beet spread

• lemon wedges, for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add chard, and simmer 5 min. Remove from pot and drain well, patting leaves dry with a paper or kitchen towel. Place chard in food processor with herbs, nutmeg, sugar, flour, garlic, and eggs. Pulse till well blended. Fold in feta by hand. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large saute pan on medium-high heat. When oil is hot, spoon in 1 heaping tbsp of the mixture for each fritter (you should be able to fit 3 fritters per batch). Press down gently on fritter to flatten. Cook 1 to 2 min. per side, until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet [or large plate?] lined with toweling. Add another tbsp oil to the pan and repeat. Serve warm with lemon wedges (optional).  In the photo, the fritters are topped with a garlicky beet spread (see post above for the recipe; photo credit)