Egg Scares

The egg recall reminds me why I eat locally and organically.

The salmonella scare was caused by two egg factories (interesting word but appropriate to their scale of operations) who buy their chickens and feed from the same supplier. It has affected hundreds of thousands of people.

Not me. I buy my eggs from a farmer near Joshua Tree. His chickens work on the farm, picking insects in the orchard so he does not have to spray chemicals. He has a variety of chickens, so the eggs vary in color and size.

The chickens live outside and eat insects, so they're less likely to get sick than chickens who live mainly inside and eat "chicken food." (Mad Cow spread through England because they used ground up chicken parts as "cow food" and “chicken food.”) Even if there was a problem, it would affect hundreds of people, not thousands.

Small is beautiful.

Alexis Koefoed raises chickens and eggs that are served in restaurants like Chez Panisse. Chefs say they taste better than factory-farmed products. She's done the math on her small farm, and says that eggs should cost $8 a dozen for farmers to make a living wage.

Even at that price (eight times the 99 cent store price!), it works out to less than one dollar per egg, incredibly cheap for a good-quality protein, practically a meal in itself. I almost feel bad paying a mere $5 for my dozen eggs.

On Splendid Table recently, Michael Pollan explained how all progressive social movements start among the wealthy who have the time and resources to devote to them. He mentioned the abolitionists and suffragettes, and said the movement toward real food is heading the same way.

I think he's right. I think it's up to all of us who can afford it to put our money into the hands of farmers who grow our food locally and organically. The more we support these farmers, the more others will move into sustainable farming instead of factory farming (of plants and animals).

Best of all, paying our local organic farmers directly lets us feel ethically virtuous and progressive, while eating the freshest most delicious food. It's a win-win situation.

Corn Risotto

Corn, tomatoes and fresh basil are a classic summer combination. I made this risotto with organic corn from Finley Farms and heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from our garden.

You could stir in a spoonful of pesto in place of the basil for a more intense flavor hit. Use a good vegetable stock. Wine adds to the complex flavor but you can omit it.

If you don't eat butter, use all olive oil. If you don't like the occasional roll of tomato skin, peel the tomatoes.

Although risotto has a reputation as time-consuming, it only takes about 30 minutes. It needs regular but not non-stop stirring. You can make a salad, cook some side dishes, or have a good kitchen conversation while cooking risotto.

Corn Risotto
2-3 cups vegetable stock
kernels from 2 ears of corn
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, in 1/4 to 1/2 inch dice
1 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup sauvignon blanc or other crisp white wine
1 lb tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Put the stock in a pot on the back burner. Cut the corn kernels off the cobs, and add the cobs to the stock to give it extra flavor. Bring to a simmer.

Melt the butter and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Stir in the onion and cook gently until soft but not brown. Add the arborio rice and stir until it is well-coated with butter. Pour in the white wine, stir, and let simmer until it is evaporated.

Now start adding the hot stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition. When the stock is fully absorbed, add more. After about 10 minutes, the rice will be partially cooked. Now add the corn kernels and diced tomatoes. Stir well. Add a sprinkling of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Keep adding stock. The amount you will need depends on the juiciness of the corn and tomatoes. If you run out, add boiling water from the kettle.

The risotto is cooked when the rice has a creamy quality and just a slight chewiness. Stir in the chopped basil, and season to taste.

Serve in shallow bowls sprinkled with more basil or parmesan. Should serve 4 but might not.

Goat Cheese Pesto Appetizer

I like good strong flavors, especially in my cheese. As the French know, a small piece of flavorful cheese is more satisfying than a large amount of tasteless cottage or string cheese.

I'd been toying with the idea of a goat cheese and pesto spread, but all the recipes I found included cream cheese or mascarpone. This seemed to miss the point of the intense base note of the goat cheese contrasted with the piquant heat of the pesto.

So I tried it this way. I bought Sonoma Valley fresh goat cheese from Trader Joe's. It's a little crumbly with a good deep flavor. I layered it with fresh pesto and served it with organic crackers.

It was great. The flavors burst in the mouth, the crackers added a bland crunch, and a few bites were very satisfying. No one spoiled their dinner by overdoing the appetizer.

Best of all, it lasted a couple of weeks in the fridge. The last tablespoon was the finishing touch in a garden risotto.

Goat Cheese Pesto Appetizer
6 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup pesto

Line a one-cup container with plastic wrap. (I know, but it won't be heated. Use wrap made from recycled plastic - available at health food stores.) Spread half the goat cheese in the bottom. Using a bent-angle spatula, spread the pesto on top. Then pat in the remaining goat cheese. Press it down firmly, cover with the wrap, and refrigerate for a couple of hours or days. At serving time, unmold onto a small plate and remove the plastic wrap. Serve with plain crackers.

Serves 4-6

Eggplant Dip

Last year I planted a variety of eggplants: Thai, Italian, African, Chinese - and all produced like mad. I called it the International Year of the Eggplant.

We ate them in ratatouille, on the barbecue, in spaghetti sauce and stir-fries.

Larry did his best to be appreciative but he was happy to see the season come to an end. This spicy-sweet dip, however, was gobbled up rapidly even in the waning days of eggplant season.

It is from Sarah Leah Chase's Cold Weather Comforts. She based it on a Chinese dish called Strange Flavor Eggplant.

Serve it with pita chips. (Sarah's recipe to make your own: cut 4 large pitas horizontally into 2 rounds, brush them with a combination of 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1 tbsp roasted sesame oil, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cut into irregular bite-sized triangles and bake at 350° 7-9 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool and store in an airtight container. Warning: these are addictive.)

Use whatever eggplant you have: small round white ones, big purple ones, or anything in between. The roasted sesame oil is essential - you can find it and brown rice vinegar at your local independent health food store.

Eggplant Dip
1 1/2 lbs eggplant
3 tbsp vegetable oil (or less)
2 tsp roasted sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
3 scallions, trimmed and minced
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
3 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp light brown sugar (or less)
1 tbsp brown rice vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Prick the eggplants in several places with a fork and coat them with a little oil. Roast, turning once during cooking, until very soft, 20-40 minutes depending on the size of the eggplant. Let rest until cool enough to handle.

Peel and stem the eggplant. Process in food processor until smooth, or dice it very fine and mash it a little.

Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar and vinegar until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Warm 2 tbsp vegetable oil and 2 tsp roasted sesame oil in a medium-size pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, one minute. Whisk soy sauce mixture again and add to pan. Bring to a boil. Stir in the eggplant and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and optional cilantro.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled, accompanied by toasted pita chips.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Surplus tomatoes

If your tomatoes are bursting off the vine faster than you can eat them, put some aside to use over the winter in soups and stews.

You could can them in preserving jars, but who needs all that hot work in these lazy days of August?

Instead, wash and dry them and throw them in a zip-loc bag in the freezer. (Plastic is food-safe as long as you don't use it for liquids or hot foods.)

The tomatoes will change texture in the freezer, so they won't be good in salads, but in any cooked use they will be great. They will taste better than canned tomatoes with no worries about preservatives. And when you defrost them the peel will slip right off.

It's a great way to preserve your home-grown tomatoes without a lot of work.

Beets and Mint

When you see fresh young beets with their greens attached, take them home with you. They are nutrition powerhouses, and simple to cook and enjoy.

Sometimes I think that beets are the ultimate health food. From lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides to boosting iron in the blood and enhancing cancer-fighting cells, beets are good for the body.

Use the greens in Wilted Greens or Luscious Lemon Greens. Or just steam them, toss them with walnut oil or balsamic vinegar, and serve as a side dish.

Roast the roots in the toaster oven so you don't have to heat the kitchen too much. If you don't think you like beets, roasting will surprise you. It deepens their flavor, and makes them an excellent foil for the lemon and mint.

(A word on roasting - a lot of recipes suggest wrapping the beets in aluminum foil to roast, but I don't recommend cooking in aluminum, especially if you're consuming any form of fluoride -- toothpaste, bottled sodas or drinks, tap water in some municipalities. Fluoride helps aluminum cross the protective blood-brain barrier into the brain. I guess the jury is still out on the aluminum-Alzheimer's link, but I'm not risking my brain.)

Beets and Mint
2 bunches of small beets
1/2 lemon
handful fresh mint, chopped

Cut the greens from the beets and save for another recipe. Scrub the roots but leave them intact. Put them in a covered dish in a 350° oven for 20 minutes until tender when pierced with a knife. Allow them to cool until you can touch them, then cut off the tops and tails and peel off the skin. (Or leave the skin on if you prefer, just trimming off the stem ends.) Dice into 1-inch cubes and toss with the lemon juice and mint. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This is good warm, cold or at room temperature.

Organic dairy farming

As more of us turn to organic dairy products, small farmers are rising up to meet the demand.

The New York Times ran a story recently about a farmer in Mississippi who had always wanted to raise cattle but was struggling to make ends meet.

Then he found organic milk at his local grocery store - and was amazed that it came from a dairy 1000 miles away and was flying off the shelves. So he moved into the milk business. He now has 12 cows and the residents of Oxford, Miss., are proud as punch to use his milk.

There is something heart-warming about knowing that your food is supporting a real local family. My favorite stalls at the Hollywood Farmers Market are manned by the farmers and their families, and I enjoy putting my food dollars directly into their hard-working hands.

Barbecue Corn

We had a good dinner Sunday night.

Larry barbecued the organic corn to perfection. That, with baked potatoes and a tomato salad made with a fresh-picked Brandywine from the garden, made for a great summer supper.

I had pulled back the husks on the corn and removed the silk. Then I replaced the husks and tied them with a piece of string. Normally I would have soaked them for 20 minutes while Larry lit the coals, but I was talking to my mother on the phone and Larry started dinner without me.

And he did great.

He placed the unsoaked corn directly on the grill, and every few minutes he picked an ear up with tongs and sprayed it with water. This prevented the string from catching fire and stopped the husks from getting too burned.

Meanwhile, inside the husks, the heat was concentrating the flavor of the corn kernels. After about 20 minutes, we shucked the corn and ate it straight - no butter or seasoning. Mmmmmm.

Perfect Popcorn

Although Joy does most of the cooking, I occasionally take a spin in the kitchen. A few years ago, we realized that I have a knack for the P-Foods. I was exposed at an early age to potato chips and pretzels, and I also learned how to order pizza (see post of March 8, 2010).

But I can also cook a mean pot pie, as I am an inheritor and keeper of my Mom Mom Daniels’ famous chicken pot pie recipe. I may share that recipe with you someday, if you are lucky.

My other claim to fame is that I make the best popcorn in the world. It’s part culinary science and part spiritual practice. I can’t guarantee that this will work on an electric stove. If you have a gas stove, however, you are ready to rock and roll:

First – find a 3-quart saucepan or pot with a lid. If you have several, choose the one that gives the best popcorn vibes.

Second – buy organic popcorn and olive oil, along with sea salt.

Third – collect a few of the old fashioned, handle-less paper bags from a supermarket. (I use Vons.)

Cover the saucepan with a thin coating of olive oil and place four kernels of corn in the bottom – spread out, not bunched. The oil should cover about ¾ of the corn kernels. Turn flame to medium-high.

When the fourth kernel has popped, immediately cover the bottom of the saucepan with corn. Place the lid on. The popping will start soon. I recommend occasionally turning the pot, but it’s not always necessary. You’ll soon learn how level your range burners are.

When the popping passes the top of the Bell Curve and starts to slow, you can turn the flame down to medium low. If you’ve correctly measured the corn, it might begin to nudge the lip upward as it finishes.

Leave the lid on for the last few pops. Shake the pot a few times.

Now pour the exquisitely popped popcorn into the paper bag, add some salt, and then close the bag and shake, using your hips. Place the bag on the counter for a few minutes to absorb any extra oil.

If you’ve done this right, you won’t have any un-popped kernels, and there won’t be very much oil left in the pot.

Wipe out the pot without burning yourself, and repeat. Let this second batch cool and store it in an airtight container - you'll want another bowl later in the week.