Stinging Nettles Pesto

The first time I came across stinging nettles I was in a friend’s back yard and he said to stay away from them or I’ll be very uncomfortable when they sting and burn my skin. Then I heard an herbalist talk about how she forages for them all around Grand Rapids, Michigan. To many people, they’re a weed and a bad memory. Others use nettles for medicinal purposes. Some even consider them a superfood. When I heard the herbalist talk about her passion for cooking nettles, I thought I’d try them sometime.

Photo via Wikipedia

Recently, they were on the spring menu at Salt of the Earth, one of my favorite local restaurants. I had them as a side dish–like sautéed greens–with pork. They tasted a lot like spinach! When my CSA farmer at Mud Lake Farm emailed me that she was offering nettles in our delivery last week, I knew I had to give them a try at home. They were delivered in a plastic bag along with the order of greens Bill and I usually get.

I stuck them in the fridge for a day or two until I found a recipe that sounded good. Ultimately, I settled on a pesto, inspired by two bloggers who had posted their recipes online: Jess Thomson and Michael Ruhlman.

With about 3/4 of a pound of nettles, I wasn’t sure exactly how to vary the quantities in their recipes, but I listed my approximate measurements below. (I hate measuring!) The main differences in the recipes were that I used pine nuts like Jess did, but Pecorino like Michael did (since Bill can eat sheep’s cheese but not pasteurized cow’s cheese.) It was so easy to make.

The key is NOT to touch the nettles until they are cooked. These are the tools I recommend using: rubber gloves, scissors, and tongs.

I put a large pot of salted water on the stove with the flame on high. When it was boiling rapidly, I donned the rubber gloves as a precaution, then used the scissors to cut the bag open. I also used the scissors to trim the woody stems from the nettles. Then I took the tongs and put the nettles into the pot.

After boiling for three minutes to remove the chemical that makes them sting, I put them in an ice bath, as Michael suggests on his blog. This cools them quickly so you can keep moving with your recipe.

Then I put them in a colander, cut off more of the thicker stems, and chopped them coarsely.

Then came the fun part. All of the following ingredients went into a food processor along with the nettles:

5 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped

Juice from half a lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/3 cup Pecorino cheese, grated

1/2 tsp. salt

Ground black pepper to taste

I processed the mixture for a couple of minutes until well blended. And what I got was pesto. Just like basil pesto or spinach pesto, with lots of antioxidants. My recipe yielded about two cups…..plenty to freeze for later! Watch what I use the pesto for in my next blog post.

Potager Restaurant: Simple Cooking, Simple Eating

“A good kitchen respects its sources and chooses ingredients that are sound, seasonal, and local whenever possible.” That’s why the menu at Potager Restaurant in Denver, Colorado, changes monthly, adapting to the seasons.

Run by Teri Rippeto and her father, Tom, who believe the best tasting food is organically grown, and harvested in ways that are ecologically sound by people who take care of the land, the restaurant’s ingredients are sourced from a network of like-minded suppliers they know personally and trust. I love it when restaurants list their sources on the menu!

In April, Bill and I enjoyed a dinner at Potager with family members and were not disappointed.

Because so many dishes on the menu looked enticing, I ordered several appetizers to appease my curiosity: White Bean and Spring Greens Soup, Oxford Farm Kale Salad, and Home-made Beef and Pork Sausage. (Ordering a variety of small plates seems to be a trend for me lately! I did the same thing at Five Bistro in St. Louis.)

Bill ordered the Triple M Bar Ranch Grass-fed Red Wine and Thyme-Braised Lamb Shanks. Like many high-quality locavore restaurants, they were able to accommodate his wheat allergy by substituting the accompanying couscous with roasted potatoes.

I tried a bite of niece Kristin’s pizza. It was wood-fired and covered in arugula– and so flavorful from the goat cheese. Delish!

At Potager, they believe the meal is “the center of human existence.” And the table is where “we are nourished, put in touch with the source of life, and reconnected to traditions.” It’s simple cooking and simple eating, honoring the season and honoring the people that grow, raise, and harvest the food.

Check it out next time you’re in Denver!

Five Bistro: An Experience for All Five of Your Senses

When Bill and I travel, food is a primary focus. So when we planned a road trip to the Plains with a stop in St. Louis, we looked for a farm-to-table restaurant for our dinner. And we hit the gold mine at Five Bistro, where “Chef Devoti and his staff are committed to providing a memorable dining experience that evokes all five of your senses.”

One of my favorite attributes about locavore restaurants is when they cite the sources (i.e., farms) for their food. Another is when they align their menu offering with the season. That’s why the menu changes daily.

After an amuse bouche of arancini (fried risotto ball), we began with the house-made charcuterie, which was excellent and included sausages, rabbit confit, cured meats, pates, pickles, a smoked chicken egg (!), shitake mushrooms, mustard, and cherry jam. It’s flavorful and filling.

That’s why I opted for a soup and salad approach for dinner. There were so many great things to choose from but I didn’t want to over-eat. So I got the potato soup-puree and farm salad with local field greens and lamb pastrami.

Bill got the half chicken (with stinging nettles….yum!).

And for dessert? What could be happier than cheesecake made with goat cheese and topped with a strawberry compote?

Our meal really did appeal to all five senses. We had a wonderful seat at the front window of the restaurant, which is located in The Hill district of St. Louis. The food tasted and smelled delicious, and it felt wonderful in our mouths. The background music provided an ambience without being disruptive.

And, I’d like to add a special thanks to our server, who we appreciated for her knowledge about the menu, the restaurant’s philosophy, and food issues in general. It’s always a great experience when the staff is as involved in the food experience as the chef. Five Bistro is a must-do for locavores in St. Louis.

Know Thy Customer

One of my top-five favorite restaurants in the country is Blue Hill at Stone Barns, up the hill from Tarrytown, New York. For me living in Michigan it’s like a pilgrimage to go there because executive chef Dan Barber is more than a creative culinary artist. He’s an inspiration for home cooks and anyone who eats (that’s everyone!) by creating consciousness around everyday food choices. Three years ago I made the pilgrimage to Stone Barns with my friend and fellow home-chef, Cathy. When we visited this year, we brought Bill.

Arriving at our table we found a Field and Pasture Four Season Journal that lists the potential harvest by month. I loved reading the list and anticipating what we might be eating that night.

On the restaurant’s website there’s a phrase: Know Thy Farmer. Dan Barber’s philosophy is that great cooking starts with great ingredients. And great ingredients start with great farmers. You can find all the local farms that inspire the menus at both Stone Barns and Blue Hill New York (in Manhattan) by scrolling over a map on their webpage.

But I’d like to offer a new phrase that incorporates both restaurants’ philosophy: Know Thy Customer. The staff goes out of its way to accommodate people with food allergies, like Bill. At Stone Barns, where each meal is a “farmers’ feast” comprised of multi-course tastings from the day’s harvest, no meal is alike. It’s amazing to see how meals are customized for each person. It’s not just about food allergies; it’s about making your experience delightful by being attentive to your preferences–all within the confines of a seasonal harvest.

Here were our preferences for ingredients to avoid:

Bill: Wheat, corn, cow-dairy

Cathy: Mayonnaise

Marcia: Shellfish, mushrooms

We decided upon the 8-course feast, which means a variety of dishes keep coming out over a timespan of two to three hours.

The Vegetables on a Fence was the first to arrive, along with Pickled Asparagus and an egg-yolk dip (that I cannot remember the name of!). We were also given a pot of pea shoots, along with pruning shears (in foreground) with which to cut off the shoots. These were then dragged through the citrus-pepper oil shown on the white ceramic plank.

One of the favorites among the three of us was the “make your own tacos” course served with celery root tortillas. Yes! Tortillas made from celery root! In the center was a nice arrangement of shrimp and mussels, which Cathy and Bill enjoyed. I got to have fresh spinach as a substitute for shellfish.

And when Cathy and I were served Red Fife Bread with Marmalade of Greens and Fresh Ricotta, Bill had wedge of roasted rutabaga.

Because it’s not the time of year for beef, we enjoyed a Parsnip Steak instead, cut  tableside by our server. The way it was prepared, you would have thought you were eating steak. It was so delicious.

To see the other courses we enjoyed, check out the slideshow below. We really enjoyed our meal and the excitement of wondering what would be served next.

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Chez Marcita Presents: Bill’s Fab Meatloaf

I already posted Bill’s meatloaf recipe a few years ago on Life Is Fare, but now you can see the chef in action as he prepares this cozy comfort food. It’s wheat-free, corn-free, and dairy-free, and made with grassfed beef and pastured pork. Happy food heaven!

Chez Marcita Presents: A Classic Rock Trip to the CSA

Join Bill and me as we drive across town to pick up produce from our winter CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Lakeshore Family Farm. In this short video, we’ll explain how a CSA works and show you what we got in our half share one week in February. Special thanks to Grand Rapids radio station WLAV for providing a rockin’ soundtrack for a Wednesday afternoon road trip.

Please share this post with your friends, especially those who might want to learn more about a CSA program.

Chez Marcita Presents: Coq au Vin

I’m not sure who started the big-meal-on-Sunday tradition but it works well for Bill and me. It’s the one day we generally don’t go anywhere so we have plenty of time to cook in the kitchen together. I love making a one-pot meal in the oven those days, especially in the wintertime.

This demo on Coq au Vin is from our cooking videos series. It’s a variation on the recipe in my cookbook Nothing to Sneeze At, which is a variation on Julia Child’s recipe for Coq au Vin. No wheat, no corn, no dairy. I’ll show you how to make this easy chicken-in-a-pot-with wine. And I’ll even show you how to cut up a chicken!

Hit Upside the Head

I’m not a big fan of crudeness when it comes to writing. It’s not that I have a problem with expletives–I use my own share of them occasionally as a reaction to something unexpected–but using the f-word and other obscenities in a book gets pretty vulgar.

However, I see why authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin did it in their book Skinny Bitch. They’re trying to get your attention and, as one woman said in her testimonial on the authors’ website, she felt she was hit upside the head when she read it. Obese and frustrated at the numerous ways she tried losing weight, Skinny Bitch was like a wake-up call. She actually lost 180 pounds (from an overweight of 300+ pounds) by following the authors’ advice, which is basically to go vegan.

According to their website, Rory Freedman is a former agent for Ford Models, and a self-taught know-it-all. Kim Barnouin is a former model who holds a Master’s of Science degree in Holistic Nutrition.

I do think they know what they’re talking about even though their smart-mouthed approach gets a little old. That’s why I stuck with the book instead of being turned off by statements like, “Beer is for frat boys, not skinny bitches. It makes you fat, bloated, and farty.” Or “Eat your fiber and crap like a champ.” Or “F__ excuses about not having the time or money.” (Luckily, it’s a quick read. If I can do it, you can, too.)

The authors include facts supported by research and practical plans to “stop eating crap and start looking fabulous.” It’s not about fad dieting. Rather, it incorporates the theme “you are what you eat” throughout. The chapters on meat include hardcore facts about the meat industry and factory farming as graphic as Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals. The book clearly demonstrates how our food industry leaders are intertwined with our government, making it difficult for consumers to get quality, healthy food at the grocery store. The authors offer suggestions for eating well, what to avoid, and a supportive “just do it” attitude (if you can look past the accompanying f-words).

I’m still a carnivore and, even though I only eat happy meat, I have to say Skinny Bitch got me thinking about going vegan. It was more than reading (again) about the horrific conditions on factory farms. It’s about what our bodies were designed to consume. Sure, we have canine teeth but do we really need to tear apart meat anymore? Do we really need to consume dairy products (my favorite food group) after we’re weaned from mother’s milk? And how about all those food allergies? Food for thought, I guess. The only thing I can’t consider, if I were to go vegan, is fake meat. (And there are many “substitutes” listed in the resource section of Skinny Bitch for vegans.) I’m really curious why anything that looks and tastes like meat, but isn’t, would be appealing to vegans.

So, if you’re interested in learning more about our screwed up food system, or you’d like a new approach for tackling weight loss, get a copy of Skinny Bitch. And get ready for some sass.

The Perennial Plate: Episode 78

Insects as protein. Watch David Gracer, an entomophagy (bug eating) expert, offer a good case for making wider use of bugs.  He’s eating them to save the planet, not to make a buck.

Another Way to Cook Turnips

When I got inundated with turnips from my winter produce CSA last week (after trading my beets for more turnips), I started thinking of how to get creative with recipes. The first attempt was Bill’s spontaneous root vegetable melange. The next attempt was something you may have had with Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes and turnip puree.

I had one very large purple turnip and only two Yukon potatoes. Ideally, I would have added a couple more potatoes, but it still turned out pretty tasty. All I did was peel and dice both vegetables, making them uniform size. Then I put them in a big pot of water and cooked the vegetables until tender (about 15-20 minutes). This also turned into a science lesson: I learned that turnips are less dense than potatoes and float to the top!

When they were done I simply mashed them and added a little buttermilk leftover from making butter, along with salt and pepper.

It was a delicious side dish to accompany roast chicken with gravy and oven-roasted carrots.