The Great Pantry & Larder Challenge

The end is nigh. Well, rather, the end of 2013 is nigh. Which has encouraged me to take a good, hard look at my food stores, and begin to use them. So, I have created a challenge (of sorts) for myself. I will attempt to eat a lot of what is in the house before more grocery trips. As part of this little goal, I will allow myself to purchase the following for the duration:

Organics to You deliveries. Right now, there is no fresh produce coming from the Clementine garden, and one can only eat so many pickles. I will, however, go the "all veggie" route, since I have all sorts of fruit put up.

Eggs. Though my (recently former) housemate Ashia tried to convince me to keep chickens, I have decided that now is not the time. So, I will buy eggs.

Ashia, trying to talk me into cute chickens.

Coffee. I will not deny myself coffee.

Half & half, milk. I drink my coffee creamy, and will allow myself to buy milk to make yogurt and cheese with.

Flour. I found a wicked good no-knead bread recipe, and will make that instead of buying bread.

Condiments. Worcestershire sauce takes something like 26 ingredients. Homemade mayo concerns me. I will buy condiments.

Other than that, I am going to make an effort to reduce the larder. Maybe put together the cheese press. Maybe save some moolah.
If nothing else, I am hoping to learn what to plant next year (though I already know less pickling cucumbers) in order to eat more efficiently. And start planning menus once again. I'll report once I actually start (estimated date 1/1/14, though I plan to practice starting this week).

Bon apetit, and enjoy your week!

Food Preservation As Art

Warning: The post that follows contains explicit photographs of food in jars.

In my never-ending quest to pull myself from old habits, I find that I have been attempting to read more and watch less. The frosty Portland weather of late has been quite the boon to this goal, as my cute little road bike (Skipper) has been awarded an unexpected vacation. While I am perfectly comfortable riding in rain, the thought of skidding sideways on frosty pavement at 7 AM is, quite frankly, unappealing. So, I will be bussing it until my beloved cloudy (and frost-free) mornings return.

All this extra time on public transit allows a great deal of reading time. Pleasure reading time. Which is simply lovely. I have always enjoyed NPR, especially The Salt. Food stuff plus an NPR bent? Yes please.

Recently, I came across an interesting piece about an artist in New York who is making art from preserved (dehydrated) food. This particular gent was impacted by Hurricane Sandy when he ran out of provisions during the storm. Though my reasons for preserving are quite different from those of Tattfoo Tan, I quite enjoy the idea behind the installation. Sad though that he will not (likely) be eating those delightful concoctions.

Though I don't proclaim that my pantry is art, I do take a great deal of pride when I sweep aside the curtain to gaze at my larder. Pickles (so many pickles), diced tomatoes, peach barbeque sauce, jams, tuna canned in oil, and canned fruit are amongst my favorite items. Plus, homemade canned soup (split pea and potato leek ham soups are finishing up in the canner as I type).

Fruits of my labor

Brussels sprout pickles, roasted corn salsa, and lemon pickled cauliflower

So yeah, I think I enjoy this canning thing. Might just keep on doing it. But, for now, it's a chilly, gray Portland day. Think I need some sunshine, and fortunately have some in jars. Off to eat delicious (albeit not totally pretty) peaches.

Peachy happiness in a jar

Bon apetit, and happy preserving (and art creation)!

Friendsgiving

As is wont to happen on the fourth Thursday in November, I did not trek home to spend the holiday with Iowa kin. For the 12 years I have lived in Oregon, I have been fortunate enough to have spent only a handful of this holiday on my own.

This year, I was lucky. I had several pals who were orphaned on the day for one reason or another. So, we all gathered at a palatial estate in Tualatin to create a true feast. For weeks prior, we all pingponged around a list of what we would bring, and by the few days before the menu was immense (to put it lightly).

Due to working schedules, we supped late, so the hens gathered earlier in the day to cook, cluck, drink wine, and snack.

 

Around 6, we  assembled at the table. Food, food, so much glorious food! The inevitable Calorie Coma quickly followed. We then forced ourselves to have pie and coffee, and dispersed to our respective domiciles. A lovely day spent with a fantastic group of foodies.

Mau flips the bird

The Shrine of Wine

Bon appetit, and enjoy the holidays!

Food Hoarding, Part 2

Thursday night was my grand premiere at the Homebrewed By Design event. And being the prepared little squirrel that I am, I worked long days all this week in order to have Friday off. Combine that with the fact that us bank people have Monday (Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving) off. Which equals...Four Day Weekend! I am especially thrilled about this because I used up the majority of my vacation time by early summer buying a house and doing house stuff. So every little bank holiday is very welcome.

So, what will I be doing on my four (blissful) days off? Adding more goodies to the pantry, of course! On Friday, I went to the first day of the Portland Nursery Apple Tasting. Got close to 15 pounds of Seckel pears and Asian pears. For to make Seckels preserved in rose wine and Seckels preserved in ginger syrup, also to make Asian pear fridge pickles (so so good in salads). Other pantry items being made? Pickled Brussels sprouts, tomatillo salsa, chicken stock, roasted red pepper and tomato soup, and maybe start some sauerkraut. And make some non preserved items, such as mozzarella (fourth try is the charm), an eggplant zucchini stir-fry, and a margherita pizza (using up the end of my green tomatoes and some basil, plus the homemade mozza). Essentially, my aim is to use up all of my produce.

Right now, I have just finished an hour of ballet, followed by two hours of park cleanup. I am sore and sweaty and ready to start switchin' in the kitchen.

Bon apetit, and enjoy the weekend.

The pantry: before shot. New and improved pantry to come.

End Of Summer Garden Season, Onto Winter Gardening. A Recap of the Haul.

Portland has been experiencing an odd weather summer. Warm, right from the beginning. Sunshine in June. A lovely Fourth of July (even on the coast). That being said, my first garden at Clementine might be setting me up for disappointment for next year. Oh well, I have enjoyed it so.

The summer garden has (mostly) been harvested. What remains is ripening tomatoes, Thai eggplant, some carrots, tomatillos (soaking up the last of the sun), and one lone stalk of Brussels sprouts. A few weeks ago, I planted my winter garden (an Iowa girl really has to wrap her brain around this concept), and cleared the harvestables. Here was the total haul, as of Sunday, September 8, 2013 (when I gave up on keeping tabs):

Snap peas (2 lbs)
Kale (3 large bunches)
Lettuce (2 heads)
Oblong zucchini (27)
Jalapeno (1)
Round zucchini (22)
Carrots (77)
Cucumbers (62) 
Gold beets (7)
Purple beans (1 lb)
Lemon cucumbers (4)
Basil (massive amounts)
Assorted Tomatoes (188)
Sungold Tomatoes (67)
Scallions (5)
Broccoli Leaves (many. many many many.)
Cabbage Leaves (a whole lot)
Swiss Chard (1 large bunch)
Bell Peppers (6)

At mid-August, the cucumbers and tomatoes really took off, and I stopped counting and started weighing:

Cucumbers (5 lbs)
Tomatoes (30 lbs)

So, summer was successful. Looking forward to the greens of the winter garden.

Next up...my pantry and larder. Some ill-gotten, but some home-grown.

Bon apetit and happy Fall (t minus one day)!

Bacon

I need a new hobby like I need a sixth hole in my head. However, I ran into a blog post the other day and realized that now is the time to start making bacon. Which will inevitably lead to more advanced charcuterie.

Bacon: The Gateway Meat. Ask any "semi-vegetarian", they will probably eagerly confess to eating the stuff. Because it is salty, fatty, luscious, and BEAUTIFUL.

I popped into my local butcher, and found that they only special order pork belly. And in 8-10 pound increments. I was considering getting some folks together to buy in on 10 pounds, however, later that weekend was at my neighborhood Asian market, and they happened to have it in their butcher case. So I decided to try my hand at beginning charcuterie.

Here is the recipe (extrapolated down to the 2 pounds of pork belly that I have):


1/8 cup salt
1/4 cup organic sugar plus a tablespoon maple syrup
1 T coarse black pepper
1/4 t ground bay
1.5 t fresh minced onion
1/2 t powdered garlic
1/4 t ground thyme
1 t of pink salt (Cure #1)

The process itself is fairly simple: combine everything except the pink salt. Taste, if  it's right, add the pink salt (which apparently tastes horrible and can make you ill). This mixture is the cure. Next, massage the cure into every inch of the pork belly. Rub it good. Like that belly's had a real tough week. Now, put the pork belly in a plastic storage bag and refrigerate for 7-10 days, flipping once halfway through the time.

After the curing process is complete, the remaining cure is rinsed off. You can then either smoke the meat, or slow roast it. Since I do not own a smoker (nor did I wish to smoke it in the grill), I chose to slow roast it. 200 degrees for about 2 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees.

Before Roasting

After Roasting

To use it, slice very thin and fry like store-bought bacon (slow 'n low). Then, in your bare feet, traipse out to the garden, pluck a perfectly ripe tomato from the vine, and enjoy the most satisfying BLT of maybe ever.

Bon Apetit, and have a lovely week!

Food Hoarder Confession One

A decent amount of my food projects this summer have centered around building a pantry and larder for the upcoming cooler months. You know, food hoarding.

In addition to the (rather unexpected) bounty of my own personal garden, Portland has wonderful farmer's markets and chichi grocery stores that occasionally have excellent specials on seasonal seafood and meat. I have taken advantage of all. To the point of filling not one, but two freezers. 

I sometimes just gaze upon the wondrous treats that they hold. Luscious berries, cherries, and peaches which will be a welcome addition to a cold morn's oatmeal. Delectable tuna filets baked up on a chilly evening. Pesto as far as the eye can see...

So, this morning, as I was trying to freeze some chili that I made over the weekend, I hit my space max. I tried to rearrange. To no avail. So, I had to remove the ice cube trays, the last bit of space currently not being used by an actual food product. This created a conundrum. What to do with this ice, as not to waste it? Ice?, you may wonder. Yes, frozen water. I do not want to just toss out frozen WATER. I have recently been introduced to the joy of paying a water bill, so I do everything in my power to not waste it. Because it is horrendously expensive.

Besides, I realized, I have tomatoes now rolling out of my ears, ripening as you watch. So, there was the solution. Can diced tomatoes. See, when you can (some types of) tomato products, it is advised to remove the skins by way of slipping them into boiling water for a few seconds, then plunging them into an ice bath. Voila! Easy peasy skin removal!

This may serve as a prime example of the food hoarder mentality. Add an hour-long project to one's already lengthy To Do list for the day in order to not waste ice.

Bon Apetit, and enjoy the bounty, wherever you may be!