Tasty Cole Slaw

Those farmer's market cabbages are cheap and this is an easy chop-and-dump recipe that will keep for many days in the fridge. All measurements are approximate.

Dry ingredients:
Green and/or red cabbage
3 carrots
Red onion

Carefully cut chunks off green and/or red cabbage about the size of two fists, immerse in water, and rinse well. Farmer’s market cabbages may pick up some sand. Chop cabbages into bite-sized, 1/8 inch strips. Put into large bowl.

I always cut more than I need and save several handfuls out of the bowl, to make sure the ratio of wet-to-dry ingredients is correct. Cole slaw swimming in sauce is gross. You want to be able to taste the cabbage. Extra prepared cabbage can be thrown into soups or stir fries.

Finely shred three carrots. You can scrub them clean with a potato brush, or just remove a strip of the outer layer with a potato peeler. I use a potato peeler to shred the carrots and discard the cores. Put into the large bowl.

Mince a handful of red onion and combine all in the bowl.

Wet ingredients:
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the following.

1/2 cup light canola mayonnaise
1/4 cup quality Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. honey (or agave)
2 tsp. celery seed (Don’t leave this out — it’s amazing how a little celery seed adds to this dish.)
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper

Fold the combined wet ingredients into the dry a bit at a time, to the wetness you prefer.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours to combine the flavors.

Preparing Pumpkins, Pumpkin Mushroom Soup

October is the time of year to freeze pumpkin purée in bags to use throughout the winter. One great staple here is Pumpkin Mushroom Soup.

Bake Pumpkin for Purée

The farmer’s market is full of pumpkins throughout October, but don’t wait for after Halloween to buy them at a discount, because they disappear! Maybe those left are sold immediately to food manufacturers. A local farmer told me they’re ground up for mulch. Another told me he likes blowing them up with a shotgun -- sounds fun!

You can cook with jack-o-lantern pumpkins -- I did for years -- but the smaller, pie pumpkins are way easier to work with. Cutting up a large pumpkin is difficult and can be dangerous. Cutting and cleaning out a pumpkin that is already baked is considerably easier.

1, Carefully poke holes in pumpkin for air to escape.

2. Bake at 375° until softened. A 5 lb. pie pumpkin will take about an hour.

3. Remove and cool.

4. Slice across the middle, clean out goop, and scoop out flesh.

If someone in the house enjoys the healthy goodness of roasted pumpkin seeds (I can’t stand the things myself), put the goop in a large bowl, fill with water (the seeds will float), and separate the seeds in a single layer onto a baking sheet. Toss them with some salt and roast in a 300 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir occasionally. 

This purée is delicious as-is. Add a little butter and/or nutmeg and/or cinnamon, if you think it needs it. You can also make a delicious soup.

Pumpkin Mushroom Soup

1/2 pound fresh mushroom, sliced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon curry powder

3 cups chicken stock
Approx. 16 ounce pumpkin purée (the amount sold in a large can)
1 tablespoon honey
dash of nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup heavy cream (optional)

Sauté mushrooms and onions in butter. Add flour and curry powder and stir until bubbly. Gradually add the stock; stir until mixed. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, add pumpkin, honey, and other seasonings. Stir while cooking, approximately 15 minutes.

Add cream and heat through without boiling. We’ve been skipping the cream for health reasons and it’s just as delicious.

Hippie Bread

This bread recipe is presented as a ritual in the Tassajara Bread Book, 1970, from Shambhala Publications (Copyright by the Chief Priest, Zen Center, San Francisco). Simplified to be reasonable (They go through every knead) it is the best wheat bread recipe I’ve ever used — soft and light, not heavy and grainy like so many wheat breads. Be warned, this bread recipe takes ALL AFTERNOON. But it makes four (or more) loaves.

6 cups “baby bottle” lukewarm water
3 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup, or agave)
2 cups dry milk

In the largest bowl you own, put the water, and sprinkle in the yeast and stir lightly to dissolve. Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring each lightly. Let rise 20 minutes.

Add
6 cups whole wheat flour
a cup at a time, stirring as you go. When all is in, beat 100 times, adding air. Stir in 2 more cups whole wheat flower as best you can — switch arms, it’s tough!

Cover bowl with a plate and set in a warmish place. Let rise for 1 hour.

Pour and sprinkle in
2 1/2 tablespoons salt
1/2 cup canola oil

Do not stir, FOLD the ingredients in, avoiding cutting and tearing.

Fold in, a cup at a time,
4 cups whole wheat flour

Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead (pushing and folding) for about 10 minutes. Oil your large bowl lightly, drop the dough in, cover, set in a warm place and let it rise for 1 hour.

Punch the dough down about 25 times (probablly the most satisfying part of making bread, other than eating it). Cover, set in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour.

Take out onto a floured surface, shape into four loaves and put in four medium bread pans that have been lightly oiled. I use my Pyrex meatloaf pans. Cover with towels and let rise 20 minutes.

Carefully, so they don’t deflate, cut slits into the tops of the risen loaves with a sharp knife (I do three at a diagonal). Brush surface with an egg white beaten in 1/4 cup of water. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Finished loaves will resound with a deep, hollow thump when tapped with your finger.

Let cool an hour before cutting. I freeze three in sealed plastic bags and leave one to eat — those can be frozen without cutting, making it easier to cut later.

Below, loaves plain, with nuts (great!), with raisins (needed cinnamon), and twisted into a rope shape made with daughter Maleah.

Homemade Granola

Whisk together:
1/3 Cup light brown sugar
1/3 Cup maple syrup
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
4 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt

Stir in:
5 Cups old fashioned oats
2 Cups chopped almonds
until all the oats are coated with the liquid mixture

Spread parchment paper on a sheet pan. Dump the mixture on, and compact it evenly with a potato masher.

Bake at 325° for 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool 1 hour. Break apart into large chunks.

Add:
2 Cups raisins

This will keep for 2 weeks in fridge. You can eat it with milk like cereal, combine it with cereal, or just snack on it as is.

Two Tomato Sauces

The Quick Tomato Sauce below is pretty good, with fresh, local, summer tomatoes. If you're going to use those bland winter tomatoes shipped in from afar, you're best to simply throw fresh herbs into some Prego.

If you have some hours and feel like cooking, the Roasted Tomato Sauce is a good way to use up those tomatoes that are edging past their prime, especially if it is still fresh tomato season and you're headed to the farmer's market to pick up more fresh tomatoes.

Gary's Quick Tomato Sauce

Medium chop 3 to 4 tomatoes.

Put your pasta water on to boil. While your pasta cooks, cook your sauce in a sauté pan.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the pan.

Throw in:
• 1 tbsp. capers
• Thin slices of garlic (or pre-minced from store)
• Chopped tomatoes

Simply stir so the garlic doesn't burn. Drain your cooked pasta.

I always add my pasta to my sauce, so I can control the ratio of sauce to pasta. Use a slotted spoon and tongs to plate -- depending on the tomatoes, it can be a bit liquid-y. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and throw on some basil leaves for fun. Serve.

You can top with a quality grated cheese or homemade bread crumbs.

A variation we enjoy: throw a few peeled, deveined shrimp into the heated olive oil in the pan, cook a minute on each side, remove. Make your sauce as above. When pasta is added, stir in shrimp to reheat. I've found shrimp can be affordable when used this way -- a handful in a pan instead of a bowlful on the table.

Gary's Roasted Tomato Sauce

You can do this in large batches (as I am right now), but you need to be careful of juice overwhelming your baking sheet (I just carefully poured hot liquid off after an hour of cooking -- not ideal!). When it cools, I'll put servings in freezer bags and freeze for later. Measurements are approximate -- don't skimp on the dried herbs!

Ingredients
3 to 6 tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Finely diced onion
Garlic powder (or minced garlic from the store. I think the powder sticks better and burns less.)
Dried oregano
Dried thyme
A good quality olive oil

Peel 3 to 6 tomatoes.

This is a messy, tedious process when you're doing a bag full of tomatoes, but not difficult. Cut a cross in the top and bottom of each tomato, where the stem attaches. Drop tomatoes in boiling water for 4 minutes. Remove to cutting board. I use a combination of long tongs and a sharp knife. First I cut the tomato in half through the stem part. I put each half stem side down on the cutting board and notch to remove the stem chunk. I also remove any large areas of white, they tend to stay chewy. (I don't bother seeding, but some do at this point. Seems like a waste of tomato to me.) The skin should pull off easily. Be careful, hot tomato will stick to your fingers and it hurts!

Most of the imperfections, dark spots, etc. on farmer's market tomatoes will come off with the skin, which is handy.

A lot of juice, seeds and water will end up on your cutting board -- just throw this away. An apron is always a good idea when working with tomatoes.

If you skip this step, pieces of skin will not allow you to make a creamy sauce, and the tomatoes will not roast properly.

Some tomatoes will come out of this process as beautiful, intact halves that are picture perfect. Some will come apart. No matter, we're making sauce.

Place the tomato halves cut side up on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. A wire rack on this can be helpful, but is not mandatory.

Add ingredients to top of tomatoes in this order: salt and pepper; finely diced onion; garlic powder; dried thyme; dried oregano (rub between fingers when sprinkling to release the flavor). Over the top, drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in 325° oven for 2 hours. Check after the first hour to be sure nothing is burning.

After 2 hours, turn up to 400° and cook for an additional 1/2 hour.

Pull out of oven, carefully place all in a saucepan and break up with a spoon, or potato masher. An immersion blender works well here to smooth the sauce. Bring to a boil, cook 5 minutes.

If you like your sauce very smooth, cool this sauce and smooth to your liking in a food processor. The immersion blender works fine for me!

Left, a large batch of roasted tomatoes just out of the oven.

I Lowered My Cholesterol Levels with Diet and Exercise

Many of you know I've been on a plan to lower my Cholesterol levels with diet and exercise.

Doctors readily put patients on Statin drugs rather than address lifestyle changes, but my doctor was thrilled when I approached her with my own researched plan. I'm over half Scottish and don't understand why people address the symptom with a costly drug and not the disease with prevention.

I'm not a nutritionist or a doctor, and I developed this plan because it sounded like something I can live with. Turns out, I CAN live with it. That doesn't mean it you can. You need to come up with your own plan and run it by your doctor so you aren't jumping on and off a diet that's impossible for you.

First, my numbers. The first number was on 7/19/12. The second was from 11/6/12, four months later.
Total cholesterol: 221, 186 (Target is below 200)
HDL (good) cholesterol: 36, 37 (Target is above 40)
LDL (bad) cholesterol: 136, 124 (Target is below 100)
Triglycerides (another bad cholesterol): 247, 127 (Target is below 150)

People tell me I'm losing weight, but since that's not the goal, I haven't been keeping track.

I accomplished this with a combination of diet, exercise and supplements.

EXERCISE

I exercise 30 minutes a day, on an elliptical at home in front of internet TV.

I also set up a place where I can stand to work on my computer, many hours a day. We Americans sit too much!

SUPPLEMENTS

I believe I should be getting what I need from the food I eat, so I keep the pills to a minimum. Daily:
500 mg DHA
2 capsules Juice Plus Orchard Blend
2 capsules Juice Plus Garden Blend

DIET

I'm not starving. In a sentence, I eat as much fresh fruits and vegetables as I want, and avoid baked goods, pasta and cheese.

My body chemistry adjusted to this within a couple of weeks and my taste buds came back with the reduced sugar content of the foods I'm eating. I taste the subtleties in food now.

I switched from coffee to green tea because of its proven value in lowering cholesterol. This was way easier than I thought, since coffee was my only remaining addiction, and many teas taste like dishwater. I chose a major brand, Bigelow, and down four coffee cups every the morning.

A typical lunch for me is whole grain oatmeal with Michigan blueberries, or sardines on slices of cucumber.

I snack on Michigan apples any time of day.

We do a lot of stir fry for dinners. We're NOT vegetarians, eating chicken, lean pork or beef, but it's possible the portions have reduced . We leave out the butter, cream and cheese, and have cut way back on salt. No pasta, bread or rice, just the great stuff that goes on top of it.

I say "yes" to:

Canola, peanut and olive oil.

Fiber: fruits, vegetables, beans, oats, barley.

Fish at least three times a week.

A handful of walnuts or almonds daily.

I say "no" to:

Whole milk, cream, iced cream

Butter, egg yolks, cheese

Liver and Kidney

Sausage, baloney, salami, hot dogs, duck, goose

Fried foods

Coconut oil, palm oil, shortening, margarine, lard

Fast food

Pop

Substitutions:

There are a lot of products out there that claim to taste just like the foods we're avoiding -- they aren't. I don't see the point in substituting when I an just not eat something.

I do use Benecol spread because it has plant stanols, recommended to lower cholesterol levels, but it's expensive, and the whole point of giving up butter is to not crave the taste, so I don't throw it in everything.

Beer is really bad for you. I drink brandy, but can see how alcoholism is easier on the hard stuff. I do not make cream-filled brandy alexanders.

I'm not a fan of tofu, or soy beef substitutes, so I don't eat them.

I found a pasta substitute that tastes great. I take a large zucchini and use a vegetable peeler to thinly slice lengthwise into wide ribbons. Stop when you get to the seeds. Put in a colander, toss with some salt and drain in the sink about 30 minutes. Rinse well and pat dry. No, you don't need to cook it.

So if you want to avoid the Statin drug for cholesterol, develop a diet, exercise and supplement plan with your doctor. It's working for me.

Gary's Turkey and Stuffing (and Gravy and Broth)

Whole turkeys are great for meals throughout the year. Dishes that can be made from leftovers are often better than the bird itself. Yet cooking an entire turkey is terribly inefficient . Even cooking and less drying out can be accomplished much more easily with a cut up bird. However, tradition dictates we present the whole tom in all its glory at holidays, even though slicing and serving a whole bird is also more difficult.

Add to this traditional inefficiency the problem of stuffing. Everyone loves stuffing and it tastes best when cooked inside the turkey. But too much stuffing can not be jammed into the bird cavity or it will not cook well and will impede the cooking of the turkey itself. Plus, no matter how big the turkey, the stuffing that fits inside can not possibly feed all the relations there to enjoy it.

Through trial and error throughout the years I have developed the methods below, methods that can be adapted to your own cooking situation. A real benefit to whole bird roasting is the part most people throw away: the carcass can be used to easily make homemade turkey broth.



Buying.

Of course, Beattys always buy turkeys on sale. You can get some great buys before Thanksgiving. If you have a freezer that can handle it, stock up on turkey for year 'round dinners.

Butterball turkeys are pre-brined, if you want to skip the brining step below.

Before thawing, make sure your turkey, roasting pan and rack FIT in your oven. You may have to return it for a smaller bird.



Thawing.

Do not wait until the last minute to thaw your turkey. It must be thawed completely to cook through.

Refrigerator thawing over several days is best (One day of thawing for every four pounds of turkey). If you are short on time, you can put the bird, still wrapped, in cold water in your clean sink. Allow 30 minutes per pound for a whole turkey. Do NOT thaw a turkey at room temperature, unless you want to invite bacteria to the holidays.



Brining.

Used to be, cooks opened the stove to baste their turkeys. They'd scoop up juices with a large spoon to pour over the breast. Trouble is, that lets the heat out of the stove and, for clumsy people like me, can be dangerous. Today, we brine our turkeys.

Brands like Butterball are pre-brined, that is why they come through so juicy. You can achieve the same results brining your less expensive, store brand turkey. I've seen many recipes for brine, but the only recipe, in my experience, that contributes to the flavor of the bird is below.

1 gallon vegetable and/or chicken broth
1 cup kosher salt (Doesn't break down as quickly as processed salt)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns

Bring to a boil together in a big stock pot, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge.

Remove giblets from the turkey cavity and save in your refrigerator. In a big, clean bucket (I bought a plastic pail from Gordon's Food Service I use ONLY for brining. Do NOT use a used pail. Chemicals from whatever was in it before will contaminate your food.) pour the brine mixture. Put your thawed bird in head first (Or, missing head first, I guess). Fill up with iced water. Seal the lid and refrigerate for six to eight hours.

No one has a 'fridge that will accommodate this bucket, of course. I hope for cold weather and keep the sealed bucket in my garage overnight. The iced water keeps it cold. All this worry about bacteria makes me consider vegetarianism.

After brining, remove the bird, dry the outside with a clean cloth and discard the brine (Do not cook with anything that has been in contact with raw meat. Vegetarianism anyone?)



Cooking.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.

Make your stuffing (More on stuffing later). It also works to simply put aromatics in your bird: onions, carrots, rosemary stalks, sage stalks, apple slices, etc. Remember the problem mentioned earlier about the stuffing in the bird tasting best? Why not just throw some onions in the cavity when the bird cooks and make the stuffing afterward using the onions, broth made with the giblets and other aromatics? Details under "stuffing" below.

Stuff your turkey loosely. Arrange in a big roasting pan, on a rack, breast side up. Tuck the wing tips underneath and the leg ends together. Some cooks tie everything tight with kitchen twine.

Rub the bird with vegetable oil. Salt and pepper.

Form a piece of aluminum foil over the breast, from front to back. Press it down to form it, then lift it off and set aside. This will be used in 30 minutes.

Place the roasting pan in the middle of your oven. Roast the bird at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove pan and place your aluminum foil tent over the breast (Don't burn yourself). Put the bird back in the oven and turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Cook for 10 minutes a pound. Remember to include the 30 minutes at 500 degrees in your total. Don't trust a timer, they can screw up during important occasions. I tape a piece of paper above the oven with the time written on it.

While the turkey is roasting, brown the rinsed giblets in a little oil in a large saucepan. Fill with water and boil for about an hour. This will provide you with a tasty broth to use with some store-bought chicken broth for the gravy. Chop up the solids fine to use in the stuffing.

When time is up, remove turkey from oven. Use a meat thermometer to be sure the internal temperature reaches 161 degrees. Move the turkey to a cutting board and cover with a clean cloth to keep the heat in.

Now you make your gravy and, maybe, your stuffing.



Stuffing.

Store-bought stuffing mixes, when you're going through this much trouble to cook the bird, is no sin. Here's now to add that in-the-bird flavor.

Cook according to package directions, substituting chicken broth for water.

Remove your aromatics from inside the bird, discard any herb stalks, and chop small to put in the stuffing. Careful, these will be hot.

Add your cooked, chopped up giblets from above.



Gravy.

You start this in the turkey pan with the drippings and move everything to a large saucepan to thicken.

3 cups giblet broth from above and chicken broth
2/3 cup red wine (Never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink)
plus 1/3 cup red wine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. fresh herbs, like oregano, thyme or rosemary
Salt and pepper

Leave the drippings from the turkey in the pan and place the roasting pan over medium heat.

Add the broth and 2/3 cup wine and whisk to combine, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes to reduce slightly.

Tip the pan, removing fat from the top with a spoon and placing a few tablespoons worth of fat into a large saucepan (Everything will transfer to this large saucepan soon). Heat the liquid to return to bubbly.

Mix cold the flour and 1/3 cup red wine. You can put them in a container and shake them if needed. You want a mixture free of lumps.

Turn the heat to medium under the large saucepan. Add the flour mixture to the large saucepan and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture starts to thicken and become smooth. If you don't cook the flour first, your gravy can taste flour-y.

Turn the heat under the large saucepan to high. Add the bubbly liquid from the roasting pan to this saucepan a little at a time and whisk to combine. (It is OK to not use all the drippings from the turkey pan if they don't fit. Save it to boil into the turkey broth.)

Your gravy should be slightly thin in the pan because it will thicken once you serve it. Whisk in the herbs. Season with salt and pepper.



Turkey Broth.

Once everything is eaten and everyone is fat and happy, you probably don't want to think about cooking. No worries, turkey broth couldn't be simpler. After you strip your turkey of meat for leftovers, put the carcass, bones and all, into a stock pot, pour in water, and boil for an hour or two. Drain off the solids and you have an excellent broth for cooking or to use as-is for soup. It keeps in the refrigerator for one to two weeks, or you can freeze portions of it in tightly-sealed freezer bags.



This blog has been typed from scrawled notes and memory, and will be revised more through the years, I am sure. Once you are comfortable with the steps involved you will want to develop your own methods. For the very best way to cook poultry, see my upcoming blog entitled Sauteed Chicken. Quick, easy and flavorful, Sauteed Chicken will make you wonder why anyone goes through the trouble to cook an entire bird at once!