Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Find the recipe for this sweet and pleasing Crisp recipe below

I'm currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This book is absolutely informative, humorous and overall wonderful. Growing up in the suburbs and subsequently living in urban areas for over ten years, I know a big fat ZERO about rural farm life. This book is my personal guide to farming, growing vegetables and raising pigs, chickens and cows. Since its all new information for me, I'm absorbing it like a sponge.

The book tells the story of the author's family who move from Tuscon, AZ to a rural farm in Southern Appalachia to exclusively grow their own food for one year. Along the way, we are introduced to her delightful two daughters, her husband's bread making talents, wise insight into food politics and the plight of farmers, a smattering of flavorful recipes and some particularly ornery roosters.

The book is part memoir/part education about food systems.

On to the recipes...

So far, I've made two dishes and both exceeded my expectations. Partially due to the fact it's the first time I've purchased, cooked and eaten rhubarb and zucchini. (Don't laugh! I grew up on Spam and Tang.) I'm copying these two recipes from the book below and will recommend that you try these. For more of the natural recipes featured in the book, or to learn more about the book click HERE.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP

Thanks to Kay Hughes for this recipe

3 cups strawberries, halved

3 cups rhubarb, chopped

½ cup honey

Mix together thoroughly and place in an 8”x8” ungreased pan

½ cup flour

½ cup rolled oats

½ cup brown sugar (or a bit more, to taste)

¾ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

1/3 cup butter

Mix until crumbly, sprinkle over fruit mixture and bake at 350° for 40 to 50

minutes, until golden.

***note: I found this crisp a bit too sweet for my taste. Next time I make it, I'm halving the honey. Also the dish came out of the oven with too much liquid from the strawberries cooking down and the excess honey. I poured out about a full cup of sweet and tasty juice. This made the crisp less like a soup and produced an addictive alcoholic beverage after I poured a shot of vodka in the strawberry/honey concoction. Hey why not!

DISAPPEARING ZUCCHINI ORZO

¾ lb pkg orzo pasta (multicolored is fun)

Bring 6 cups water or chicken stock to a boil and add pasta. Cook 8 to 12

minutes

1 chopped onion, garlic to taste

3 large zucchini

olive oil for sauté

Use a cheese grater or mandoline to shred zucchini, sauté briefly with chopped

onion and garlic until lightly golden.

thyme

oregano

¼ cup grated parmesan or any hard yellow cheese

Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove mixture from

heat.

Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve cool or at room

temperature.

Close up of Disappearing Zucchini Orzo

Did You Know: What goes into a Twinkie?

Courtesy of the little TV monitor in my office elevator:

8 out of the 39 ingredients used to make Twinkies derive from corn.

Now what I find alarming isn't the fact about corn, but that 39 separate ingredients are used to make what is essentially a simple sponge cake with "creme" filling.

Scary, isn't it? I'm afraid to google the ingredients...

Upcoming Event: Brooklyn Cheese Experiment

Hey folks: Nick Suarez asked me to help spread the word about his latest and greatest "Experiment." I previously covered his Brooklyn Beer Experiment and I'm proud to announce the upcoming Brooklyn Cheese Experiment.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brooklyn Cheese Experiment

Sunday September 13, 2009 1-5pm

The Bell House 149 7th St, Brooklyn

Advance Tickets: $20, includes a beer. Day of Tickets: $25

Competitive cookoff gurus Theo Peck and Nick Suarez, present to you the Brooklyn Cheese Experiment, a cheese cookoff and homebrew-off of epic proportions. Amateur chefs will whip up their favorite cheese-based dishes ranging from sweet to savory, while local homebrewers pit their home made brews against each other in Brooklyn's premier culinary competition. The audience, along with a beer and cheese judging panel (including Andrew Knowlton of Bon Appétit magazine and the brewers of Sixpoint brewery) pick their favorite dishes. Prizes and cash will ceremoniously be given away to those who strive for cook-off glory.

Do you have what it takes to compete? An after party will ensue in the front lounge for the true epi-curious cheese and beer lovers.

Please visit http://www.thefoodexperiments.com/ for more information.

Contact Email: info@thefoodexperiments.com

This event is sponsored by Murray’s Cheese.

A portion of the ticket sales will help support Ovarian Cancer Research.

Julie & Julia

I finally saw the movie Julie and Julia this afternoon.

Watching Meryl Streep portray Julia Child was absolutely entertaining. So entertaining, I will dress as her for Halloween (Yes, I'm claiming it here first on August 18). Streep single handedly propels the film forward. But the half of the movie about Julie Powell cooking and blogging just falls flat. Julie Powell's quirky, snarky, telling-it-like-it-is personality that seeped into the pages of her book was left out of the film. Instead, Julie was winey, two dimensional and just plain boring. She cooks, she blogs, she complains to her husband, she idolizes Julia Child. That's a yawnfest and it wasn't FUNNY. This was a comedy after all!

While watching Julie & Julia, I drew an immediate comparison to Gangs of New York. Being a history buff (betcha didn't know that did you?) I liked Gangs of New York for the story line. However, Gangs was good only because of Daniel Day Lewis. He is the primary reason I watch the movie when its on TBS or TNT on a Sunday afternoon.

Julie & Julia is nothing without Meryl Streep. It was a disappointing movie though and very disjointed weaving the two women's stories together.

Takoyaki To Go

Takoyaki is served

I’ve never eaten anything Japanese until this weekend. Peter guided me to Otafuku, a tiny eatery on 9th and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. Now I know the stereotype that everything in Japan is compact, but c’mon, this place is smaller than the bathroom on the space shuttle! It's so small only four customers can comfortably stand inside while waiting for their order.

I immediately noticed the only people eating out front were Asian, so I start thinking this place must be fairly authentic.

Having no clue what food Otafuku served (the picture menus on the wall didn’t help either), I had Peter order me whatever he was getting. He opted for Takoyaki which, to quote the micro sized menu, is a six piece serving of hot, savory wheat flour balls with your choice of boiled octopus, cheese or plain inside. Peter ordered octopus for himself and cheese for me.

When asked what toppings we wanted, Peter grinned and said to add everything. I curiously watched as the smiling woman behind the counter squirted lines of white stuff on top of our food (Peter thinks it might be mayo) followed by some squirts of brown stuff (I think it was some kind of a soy sauce). Unidentified green bits were sprinkled on and then a generous heap of dried bonito flakes were piled on top. The woman stuck two pointy sticks in the Takoyaki and we were good to go.

Otafuku Storefront

Right before the Benito flakes were added

Takoyaki in the molds behind the griddle

After snapping some pictures of my exotic Japanese lunch, I was hit with the pungent fish smell of the bonito flakes which made my stomach start to churn. Bravely forging ahead, I discovered the Takoyaki tasted pretty good. My cheese balls were mushy on the inside and to my surprise didn’t taste like cheese. The flavor was creamy and salty from the white and brown sauces. I sampled the octopus Takoyaki which had a similar flavor just with the addition of a rubbery hunk of octopus in the center.

While we ate off the trunk of my car, I realized that Takoyaki reminded me of ebelskivers which my brother-in-law Mark introduced me to. Ebelskivers are simple pancake balls that can have a sweet or savory filling. I haven’t had any in close to a decade but I vividly remember eating a pile of ebelskivers with jelly, syrup and butter on the side.

I have to say, I like ebelskivers better.

The End of Fish?

A short, but important post, especially since I just had seafood for dinner.

While perusing No Impact Man's blog, by Colin Beavan, I came across a frightening post stating that "the total eradication of all fish stocks in the world is due to be completed by 2048."

The primary causes are over fishing, coastal pollution and our over eating of fish.

To learn how to eat seafood and fish sustainably, check out this link and especially watch the You Tube video.

Sorry I'm not elaborating much on the story line here, but I'm up to my ears in moving boxes for next Saturday's move.

Chocolate Fondue Anyone?

Tiramisu Fondue

My friend Tiffany hosted a chocolate fondue tasting at The Melting Pot in Hoboken, NJ. Featuring five fondues carefully paired with alcoholic beverages, that sounds like a good way to spend an a couple hours on a Wednesday evening don’t you think?

The fondue and drink pairing menu included:

1) Dark Chocolate Fondue with Double Chocolate Stout Beer

2) Yin & Yang Fondue with Yin Yang Martini

3) Bananas Foster Fondue with Bananas Foster Martini

4) Tiramisu Fondue with Tiramisu Martini

5) Milk Chocolate Fondue with Mavrodaphne Dessert Wine

Yin Yang Fondue

Before I even get into the fondues, I must first rave about the buttery pound cake and perfectly ripened strawberries for dipping into the fondue. I could have happily gorged myself all night on those alone, even if the pound cake was just plain old Entenmann’s - thought I highly doubt it based on the hefty cover charge I forked over. I skipped the bite sized brownies and rice crispy treats for dipping since they were a bit to sweet for my taste.

I spent much of the evening hovering by the Tiramisu Fondue with bits of lady finger goodness happily swimming in the pot and the simply rich Dark Chocolate fondue. I was in heaven with a few drizzles over my strawberries and pound cake which is rather unusual seeing as I don’t care for sweets much. (I prefer salty/crunchy foods.)

The timing of the drinks was completely random so you rarely had an opportunity to actually pair the items together. The predominantly female crowd did gulp down the creamy Yin Yang Martini (sans martini glass) which was served first and as the night progressed it remained the beverage to beat. The Tiramisu Martini, served an appauling two hours later, was a close second.

Yin Yang Martini

I was also surprised at the number of ladies who were smartly dressed in hues of brown for the event. One could only assume they were the true chocoholics.

I freely admit, I would never think to dress in a color that matches a food event. Perhaps I should contemplate a yellow sundress for my next cheese event. Then again....maybe not.

Which would you eat?

My coworker Steve is a gardening god. He grows an impressive array of tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, grapes, herbs, green beans, and apple trees in his verdant backyard on Long Island. He brought me some green beans the other day at work. Yes, if you follow this blog regularly, this is the same coworker who gave me the chocolate mint plant that I blogged about a couple of times already.

Another coworker and I sampled the beans in my cubicle. I was blown away by the bright color, crisp bite, and slightly unusual (almost fuzzy/sticky) texture of the beans. The flavor was light and flawless.

When I got home that night, I had to photograph the beans side by side the store bought beans I already had. If you had to choose which green beans to eat, which pile would you pick from? The dull, wilted, skimpy beans on the right or the plump, bright, pesticide free beans on the left. I think the choice is clear.

I put the beans into a Thai Basil Soup that I've been indulging in frequently the past month. The lush color of the beans balanced perfectly with the mushrooms and red pepper. Honestly though, I nibbled away at half the pile while I was prepping the soup. Yes, they were that good completely raw.

Steve said he'll bring me some more beans and possibly some other veggie goodies from his farm...er backyard soon. I'm looking forward to it and you know I'll blog about it here since homegrown is way better than store bought.

Thanks Steve! And if you would like to try the beautiful Blue Lake beans for yourself check out this link here.