Chez Marcita Presents: Raw Milk Butter

Can you imagine the doors that were opened when Bill and I learned that he could eat butter made from raw milk? For years, he’s had an allergy to cow-dairy products. But a friend of ours learned that pasteurization is what causes the allergic reaction for many people, including her son. So when we had the opportunity to try raw milk, and found out Bill’s system could handle it, it meant more options on the menu. Ice cream! Butter! Buttermilk! Now we’re making butter with the raw milk we get from our local cow share program. Watch this video on how to make butter from raw milk. It’s simple and easy, and a decadent treat to have on hand.

Chez Marcita Presents: St. Paddy’s Lamb Stew

I’m not Irish, but I love lamb. What could be better for St. Patrick’s Day than lamb stew? Join Bill and me in the kitchen as we create this wheat-free, dairy-free, corn-free one-pot meal. Find the recipe on page 40 of my cookbook, Nothing to Sneeze At: Main Dishes for People with Allergies.

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.

Flageolet Beans: A Little Bit of French in West Michigan

Flageolet beans are often cited as “the caviar of beans.” One of my favorite recipes for Lamb Shoulder from Chocolate & Zucchini calls for this pretty, pale green, kidney-shaped legume and, since I’d never seen them in West Michigan grocery stores, I have always substituted white canellini beans. Until I spotted them on the shopping list at West Michigan Co-op.

Turns out, there’s a farm in Holland, Michigan, called Shady Side Farm that grows flageolet beans, in addition to a variety of heirloom beans. (Up until a year or two ago, I didn’t even know Michigan is one of the top producers of dry beans!) It was nice to see that Shady Side Farm had recently set up a booth at the Kerstmarkt, a Dutch-style open-air holiday market in Holland, Michigan.

I was so excited to make the lamb shoulder recipe again–this time with the flageolet beans. The recipe is easy but it does require planning ahead, as do most recipes that use dry beans, because they need to soak in twice their volume of water overnight.

In the morning, rinse and drain the beans. For about a half pound, I sliced one large onion and sautéed it with the beans in olive oil, cooking for 15 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions were soft.

Then you pour in cold chicken stock (or cold water plus one bouillon cube) to cover the beans, bring them to a simmer, and cook for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the beans are tender but still holding their shape.

Season with salt 30 minutes into the cooking, and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper just before serving.

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving

I am fascinated by the variety of Thanksgiving traditions people bring to their table. I love how we are influenced by our families, our heritage, and our experiences. But I have to say I can’t think of a single thing that I must have for Thanksgiving every year. As long as I get to cook—using local, organic, and seasonal ingredients as much as possible—I’m happy.

Most of the fun is the creative process in cooking but it’s also about trying new things. So when Bill and I had guests with vegetarian preferences this year, I was excited to look for recipes. I was also challenged to find ones that would accommodate both a vegetarian diet and Bill’s allergy restrictions: wheat, corn, and pasteurized cow dairy. Thankfully, the world is at my fingertips through the internet!

After a light appetizer–and a favorite at our house–of Warm Goat Cheese Toasts with Rosemary, Walnuts, and Honey (substituting Manchego cheese for goat cheese), we started with a bowl of Winter Squash Soup.

The rest of the meal was a selection of sides and two vegetarian main dishes: Veggie Balls and Potato Leek Quiche, but this time with a Greek twist on the quiche since I used sheep’s feta cheese and added spinach.

For sides, we had one of my favorites from Epicurious.com: Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Leeks and Corn (sans corn). Also, instead of just wild rice, this time I used Lundberg’s Wild Blend.

We also had Mark Bittman’s Mashed Cauliflower from his book How to Cook Everything. It’s a great substitute for mashed potatoes if you want to take advantage of a seasonal vegetable that’s difficult to store, or if you’re looking to lower carbs!

Finally, for a little greenery, I made a simple Raw Tuscan Kale Salad recipe from one of my fellow foodies over at 101Cookbooks.

And for dessert? Two choices: my first ever Pumpkin Pie, plus Gourmet magazine’s Flourless Chocolate Cake (made with raw milk butter!).