Walnuts

We bought our house in Kelowna for the back yard.  The house itself was run down and had good bones but the yard, oh the yard!  It was blessed with mature trees.  There were a cherry tree, an apricot tree, a prune plum tree, a pear tree and a hazelnut tree.  The crowning glory, though, was a huge English walnut tree in the back corner of the lot.

The Okanagan is home to Canada’s only desert and, while slightly less arid than the desert lands immediately to its south, Kelowna in the summertime is very dry and very hot.  Our tree-filled back yard was an oasis, drawing birds, neighbours,and neighbourhood kids to its comfortable shade in equal numbers. 

We picked the fruit from our trees as it ripened in succession and then waited for the walnuts.  In early October we harvested them in huge numbers and my husband stained his hands dark brown prising them from their green husks and then extracting them from their shells.  We toasted the nuts lightly in the oven and then packed them away in the freezer.  Throughout the rest of the year we gave countless pounds of walnuts away as gifts—always gratefully received—and still enjoyed plenty for ourselves.

When we moved back to Vancouver Island, Jack mourned nothing from our time in Kelowna except the walnut tree.  He missed it terribly.

Some years later, when we were shopping for the home we are living in now, we were both delighted to find that the lot to our building boasted a large English walnut tree.  It was one of the many things that decided our purchase here.  We can now enjoy a close view of that tree from our apartment’s balcony.

Last year, the walnuts on our tree didn’t ripen.  One of our neighbours, who has lived here for more than 20 years, says it was the first time that had ever happened.  This year things are looking better.  The tree is heavy laden and the green husks on the walnuts are starting to split open slightly; a good indication that they are ripening as they should.

We have some competition for the walnuts from our tree.  The neighbourhood squirrels have been using the power lines in front of our place as a highway, and make daily stops to check the ripeness of “their crop.”  Jack yells the occasional, half-hearted “Get-out-of-there-you-little-bastards” imprecation at them but he is greatly entertained by their comings and goings and suspects—quite rightly—that there will still be enough left for the building residents even with the squirrels taking their share. 

Joe Public is a greater problem.  Because it is on the grounds of an apartment building, some people seem to view our tree as public domain.  Last year, we woke one morning to find a guy with a truck, a ladder, and buckets making ready to harvest the nuts from our tree.  My fella was not nearly so half hearted in his confrontation with him!

Walnuts are an ancient food source.  There are native species throughout Europe and Asia and one species—the Butternut or Black Walnut—is native to North America.  They’ve formed part of the human diet for a very long time. 

The oldest archeological site where walnuts were unearthed is in the Shanidar caves in northern Iraq, dating back to the Mesolithic Era. 

Items from the New Stone Age or Neolithic period found in Switzerland's lake district included walnuts. The Neolithic period began in Southwest Asia from about 8,000 BCE and expanded throughout Europe between 6,000 to 2,000 BCE. 

In North America, the upper Great Lakes region provides archeological evidence of walnut consumption dating back to 2000 BCE. Along with eating the walnut itself, First Nations people used the sap of the walnut tree in their food preparation.[1]  

Besides being a longstanding and very flavourful component our diet, walnuts are rich in nutrients.  They’re a good source of protein, vitamin E, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant phytonutrients. 

The form of vitamin E found in walnuts is somewhat unusual, and particularly beneficial. Instead of having most of its vitamin E present in the alpha-tocopherol form, walnuts provide an unusually high level of vitamin E in the form of gamma-tocopherol. Particularly in studies on the cardiovascular health of men, this gamma-tocopherol form of vitamin E has been found to provide significant protection from heart problems.[2]

Phytonutrient research on the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of walnuts has moved this food further and further up the ladder of foods that are protective against metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular problems, and type 2 diabetes. Some phytonutrients found in walnuts - for example, the quinone juglone - are found in virtually no other commonly-eaten foods. Other phytonutrients - like the tannin tellimagrandin or the flavonol morin - are also rare and valuable as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. These anti-inflammatory and antioxidant phytonutrients also help explain the decreased risk of certain cancers - including prostate cancer and breast cancer - in relationship to walnut consumption.[3]

The nutritional data at http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3138/2 may prove helpful to you, although the serving size is quite large.  Walnuts are—like all nuts—rich in oil and therefore high in calories.  Moderation is key:  If you limit your serving to a smaller quantity (7 whole walnuts = 163 calories), you’ll still obtain a nutritional benefit, especially if that portion comprises part of a varied and balanced diet.

I find it fascinating that the lovely tree outside my building has a heritage dating all the way back to Mesolithic times.  I’m glad that the walnuts I’ll get from that tree are so nutritious.  I’m grateful for the shade the tree provides, for its beauty, and for the entertainment provided us by its squirrel “farmers.”  Most of all, though, I’m grateful for the flavour that these walnuts will add to my dishes throughout the year.  Free food is good.  Good free food is even better.

 

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[1] http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch411.html

[2] http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=99

[3] http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=99

Photo:  marianinut.com

Borscht and Biscuits

I made borscht tonight, or at least a variation of it.  It was ridiculously simple to make and very satisfying to eat.

Borscht came to North America with immigrants from Eastern Europe and from Russia.    There, it was often a vegetarian soup.  Meat was a luxury for much of the population.  Long winters and limited food supplies required that every bit of every vegetable be used, so vegetable trimmings were stored in a covered container outside the door, where the cold winter weather kept them frozen.  Just before the spring thaw the trimmings were used to make a richly flavoured and nutritious soup.  The ingredients varied regionally but could include beets, potatoes, cabbage, carrots and onions. 

My purpose in making borscht this evening was to use up some of the leftovers from last night's dinner.  Preparation was simple and straightforward.  I sweated some onion until it was tender and translucent, then added the stock I made from the drippings and bones of yesterday's pork roast.  (Pretty nearly any stock except fish stock can be used to make borscht.  I've used chicken, pork, beef, and vegetable stocks with equal success.)  Once the stock was heated through, I stirred in some tomato paste--about 2 Tbsp. for 4 cups of stock.  When the tomato paste had been incorporated I tasted the stock and adjusted the seasoning with a little salt. 

It's always best when making any vegetable soup to add your ingredients based upon how long they'll take to cook through. Tonight I added the beets first, then when they had started to soften a bit I added the potatoes.  The carrots and cabbage were cooked through last night so I added then just a couple of minutes before I served the soup.  I also stirred in about 1/2 cup of diced cooked pork.

I usually garnish borscht with a spoonful of sour cream dolloped in the middle of the dish.  It's mixed through the soup before eating.  Tonight I used plain yogurt instead. 

I served the soup with simple baking powder drop biscuits, hot from the oven.  Here's the recipe:

2 c. flour (either all purpose or half whole wheat, half all purpose)

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. cold butter

1 c. milk (I used 1/2 c. water, 1/2 c. low fat evaporated milk)

Whisk together the dry ingredients, then cut the butter into the flour just as you would for pastry.  Mix in the milk until the mixture forms a fairly stiff dough.  Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake the biscuits at 400 degrees until they start to brown and are cooked through.  

So that's it:  borscht and biscuits.  Cheap, nutritious, tasty, and filling.  Did I mention tasty?  It was a lovely meal.

Budget Permitting

I feel very strongly that, whenever possible, we should buy locally grown produce, meat, and eggs.  It’s good for the earth, good for local farmers, good for our community, and good for us too.  Sadly my budget is now preventing me from putting my money where my mouth is.  Health problems have kept me from working for several months now.  Because I’m self-employed I don’t qualify for unemployment benefits, and I don’t have private disability insurance.  Our spending has been drastically curtailed but, even so, rapidly rising food prices are making it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. 

Some time ago, we made a decision that in order to buy locally raised, better quality meats, we would eat meat less often.  Now, if we limit ourselves to locally raised meats, our budget will not allow us to eat meat at all.  I’ll admit to a certain selfishness here:  I could forgo meat altogether—it would be the planet-friendly choice and probably better for my health—but I like meat and I’m unwilling to give it up entirely.  The few meat meals we eat (three or less each week) must now be made using meat purchased on sale at our regular grocery store.

Even purchasing meat on sale at the grocery store and limiting our consumption of it will require that we cut back on other things.  Dairy goods are becoming increasingly expensive so cheese is now a treat for us, limited to one or at most two meals a week. 

We have to carefully consider how much nutrition our dollar gives us, so processed breakfast cereals are no longer an option, and when we eat oatmeal or Red River cereal we eat it plain or with yogurt.  We often have to choose between buying yogurt and buying milk so we’ve opted for the yogurt because the beneficial bacteria in yogurt cultures make it the healthier choice.  We limit our consumption to a single serving each day so choosing yogurt for breakfast means we don't have it as an option for dessert.

Our choice of vegetables and fruits is becoming increasingly limited too. While we would love to continue buying local organic produce, it is often too expensive for us to do so.  We buy only what’s seasonal and on special these days, and we use every single bit of what we buy.  There’s not a lot of stuff making the trip from our apartment to the dumpster!

I know this sounds like I’m complaining but I’m actually quite proud of how well we eat on the money we have.  I’m writing this because I know that an awful lot of people are facing the same, or greater, challenges to achieving good nutrition at a price they can afford.  That being the case, you’ll likely see the focus of my blog changing to reflect these challenges. 

Tonight, though, we feasted.  I cooked a pork shoulder roast in the slow cooker today and served it with smashed potatoes, steamed cabbage, and carrots that were cooked along with the roast. We had a baked apple topped with an oatmeal crumble for dessert.  

Here’s a rundown on how I prepared our pork roast feast:

I started by placing a quartered apple, a quartered onion, several cloves of garlic, and some carrots in the bottom of my slow cooker container.  I seasoned the outside of the roast generously with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and poultry seasoning.  I put the roast on top of the fruit and vegetable layer in the slow cooker at about 8:00 this morning, set the temperature on low, and let it do its magic.  Shortly before dinner I took the roast out of the slow cooker, set it on a metal rack in a rimmed cookie sheet and tented it with foil.  I let it rest for 20 minutes before trimming the fat from the outside of the roast and then slicing enough meat for supper.

To make my smashed potatoes I boiled some unpeeled red skinned potatoes until they were fork tender.  I drained the potatoes and then mashed them with the garlic cloves from the slow cooker, a little butter, and some low fat evaporated milk.  (We keep this on hand because we don’t buy a lot of milk but I do sometimes need it for recipes.  Mixed with an equal amount of water evaporated milk can be used in any recipe that calls for milk.  It can also be used undiluted as a lower fat, less expensive alternative to cream.)

My steamer takes a while to get going so I started steaming the cabbage right after I took the pork out of the slow cooker.  The carrots I scooped from the liquid in the bottom of the slow cooker and directly onto our plates just before serving.

I prepared our baked apple just before I took the pork out of the slow cooker.  I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.  While it was heating, I cut a golden delicious apple in half and scooped the seeds out of the middle using a melon baller.  I cut a small slice off the peel side of each apple half so that they would sit in the pan without rocking and then placed them in a buttered pie plate put them in the oven. 

 

While the apple halves started baking, I assembled a crumble topping from 1/4 c. each of oatmeal, flour and brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp. melted butter.  I stirred the dry ingredients together with a fork then mixed the melted butter in.  When the apple halves had cooked for about 20 minutes (right before we sat down to dinner), I took them out of the oven and pressed the crumble topping onto the top of each apple half.   

The apples went back into the oven for about 20 minutes longer.  I served them straight from the oven, piping hot.

It was a simple, inexpensive, very flavourful meal; comforting on a grey day like today and tasting of the season.  We both felt fortunate indeed to have such a feast in front of us.

Preserving the Sunshine

Wash, dry, slice, slice, slice.  Slice, slice, wash, dry, slice, slice, slice.  That was the rhythm of my morning. 

I was fortunate enough to get a great many field peppers this week.  As you can see from my photo, they were really beautiful—many coloured and interestingly shaped.  I wanted to make a painting of them and took a lot of pictures so that I’ll be able to do that later.  Today, though, I concentrated on getting them into my freezer.

Sweet bell peppers are a favourite of mine.  I love to cook with them, but they can be expensive.  The mild, often damp, climate here means that local peppers are almost invariably greenhouse grown.  Our greenhouse peppers come in three colours, like traffic lights:  red, yellow, and green.  They rarely cost less than $1.97/lb.  In winter and early spring, they can cost as much as $5.00/lb.  On our food budget, this makes them a luxury.

When we lived in the Okanagan, mid-September was the time of year to buy peppers.  Farmers, anxious to get them out of the field and sold before the arrival of the first frosts, would offer them very inexpensively but you had to be right there at the farm to get them.  We would buy huge bags of them, in every colour available.  I would arrange them in bowls like floral arrangements before putting them by for the winter months. 

Since moving back to the island, I’ve rarely seen Okanagan peppers in our markets or grocery stores.  I was delighted to find them this week.    

Culinarily speaking, bell peppers are a gift to cooks for the sweet, high note they add to dishes.  Nutritionally speaking, they are a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals.  Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C at 175 milligrams per cup (that's more than twice the amount of vitamin C found in a typical orange) and a good source of another antioxidant vitamin—Vitamin E.  They’re also an outstanding source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients.[1]

Because I love their flavour and value their nutrition, whenever I’m fortunate enough to get a quantity of affordable bell peppers I preserve as many as I can. There are lots of ways to put peppers by.  They are commonly dried but I don’t have a dehydrator and air drying them in our humid climate can be a hit or miss operation.  Peppers can be pickled too—and I enjoy them that way—but there’s a limit to how many pickles the two of us will consume in a year’s time. 

This year, I used some of my peppers to make a batch of Jean Anderson’s sweet red pepper paste.   (http://www.food52.com/blog/2535_jean_andersons_sweet_red_pepper_paste_massa_de_pimentao)  I froze the paste in four ounce containers; a perfect amount of dipping sauce, or spread, or topping for the two of us.  The rest of the peppers I froze in strips, on parchment covered cookie sheets, and then transferred to freezer bags.

The trick to using frozen peppers is to add them to the pot directly from the freezer:  thawing them before use results in an unpleasant, watery texture.  If I need diced peppers for a recipe, I can dice the frozen strips.  A very few minutes at room temperature softens them sufficiently to do this, and a sharp knife makes quick work of chopping them before they have a chance to thaw completely. 

Just as a frozen green bean will never be as fine in texture or flavour as a fresh green bean, a frozen bell pepper will never yield that sweet crunch that a pepper fresh from the field provides.  But when the winter weather has set in and summer is but a memory, adding some frozen peppers to a dish can bring the flavour of sunshine to our dinner plates. 

My bags of frozen peppers are now resting at the top of my freezer; rainbow coloured promises of good things to come.  I’m so glad I took the time to put them by!

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[1] http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50#nutritionalprofile

Nutrition chart:  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50#nutritionalprofile

Shipwreck

This rather unprepossessing dish comes as directly from my mother as if I had lifted it from the wagon wheel-legged table that sat in the kitchen of my childhood home.  Every mom in our neighbourhood made a similar dish, based upon ground beef and macaroni, ground beef and potatoes, or ground beef and rice. 

Called variously Hamburger Hash, Goulash, Slumgully or—my personal favourite--Shipwreck, this homemade concoction predated Hamburger Helper by decades.  It was our loaves and fishes dish.   With the addition of more veggies and starch, Shipwreck could stretch a pound of hamburger to feed as many people as cared to put their knees under your table.   It was the week-before-payday standard, the mom-can-my-friend-stay-for-supper expectation, the we-were-just-in-the-neighbourhood-and thought-we’d-drop-by fall back.

I’m sure my mom won’t mind me revealing to you that the secret to Shipwreck’s endless stretchability lies in the gravy.  If you make a flavourful enough gravy, and add just enough of it to moisten the dish without making it gloppy, no one will notice how little meat actually makes it to their plate.

 I make it a little differently from my mom’s version but the same basic rules of assembly apply.  There are no hard and fast proportions and any left over cooked vegetables found in the fridge can perfectly well make their way into the pot.  The basis of the meal always remains the same. 

Mom’s gravy consisted of undiluted cream of mushroom soup with a beef bouillon cube dissolved into it.  That’s way too salty and chemical tasting for me.  I try to make this dish with left over pot roast gravy or gravy from a regular roast of beef.  If I don’t have gravy, I make one from a basic roux of 3 Tbsp. butter and 3 Tbsp. flour used to thicken about 3 c. beef stock. (I prefer homemade stock but will use stock in box if homemade isn’t available.)  I season the gravy with sherry, Worchestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.  If you remember those cream soup based sauces fondly, you can achieve a similar flavour and texture by substituting low fat evaporated milk for half of the beef stock.  You’ll need to salt the sauce more heavily if you choose to use the milk.

Once the gravy is made, I begin assembling the dish by browning a pound of ground beef.  I add a generous amount of Worchestershire sauce to the pan as the meat is browning, and allow the liquid to cook off completely so that the sauce is absorbed right into the meat.  Once the meat has browned, I add an equal or greater total quantity of coarsely chopped onion, coarsely chopped cabbage and thinly sliced carrot.  If you want to add garlic to this dish, it should be grated into the pan with these vegetables. 

I sauté the vegetables until the onion is translucent and then add about a cup of beef stock to the pot.  I continue cooking and stirring until the vegetables are tender crisp, adding more stock in small quantities as needed.  When the vegetables are cooked, little or no stock should remain in the pan.

To finish the dish, I add some pasta (for nostalgia’s sake, I use wholewheat elbow macaroni but whatever you have on hand will do), and I stir in any left over vegetables I happen to have in the fridge.  This week it was corn kernels from left over corn on the cob and some steamed green beans.  I add enough gravy to just moisten the ingredients.  I continue stirring until everything is heated through, and then simply serve the dish in soup plates. 

If you’re feeling fancy-schmancy you can top each serving with some buttered bread crumbs that have been baked in the oven for a few minutes until browned, and maybe a little chopped parsley, but that’s it.  Just serve it and enjoy it.  It tastes surprisingly good and may take you on your own little journey down memory lane.

Good Food, Great Cause

James Barber aimed to make good food accessible to regular folk.  Through his television show “The Urban Peasant” and through his thirteen cookbooks, he taught ordinary people, with ordinary kitchen skills, how to prepare good, simple food using seasonal, local ingredients.  

Chef Barber spent his retirement years on a four hectare farm here in the Cowichan Valley.  He raised miniature donkeys, was an active volunteer, and continued both to love food and to write about it.  He died at the age of 84, sitting at his dining room table, reading a cookbook, while a pot of soup simmered on the stove.  His wife commented said “he definitely left this world in a way that he would have wanted to."[1]

As part of the Cowichan Wine and Culinary Festival this week, local chefs are hosting an event which will both honour James Barber and benefit one of my favourite valley places; Providence Farm. 

Providence Farm was established in 1864 by the Sisters of Saint Ann and has, since 1979, been a working organic farm operated by a non-profit organization.  The farm provides vocational and horticultural therapy to persons with mental health issues, developmental delays, and brain injuries.  It is a happy productive place in a beautiful setting, producing healthy food and a variety of crafts for sale in the farm store, and live plants for sale in the nursery.  The farm also rents allotment garden space to community members who don’t have access to garden space at home, and provides stables and riding trails for the Therapeutic Riding Association.

James Barber had hoped to provide the staff and community members at Providence Farm with a wood burning oven.  This year’s fundraiser will launch the wood burning oven project by offering a tasting menu prepared by local chefs.  As guests tour the farm they will find stations throughout the historic buildings, offering beautiful food paired with local beer, wines and ciders.

The participating chefs for the fundraiser include Bill Jones from Deerholme Farm, Fatima da Silva from Bistro 161, Brad Boisvert from Amusé Bistor, Brock Windsor from Stone Soup Inn, Paul Stewart from Harbour House Hotel, Jonathan Duquette from Rock Salt Café, Matt Horn from Cowichan Pasta Company, and special guest Robert Clark from C Restaurant. 

Besides benefiting a wonderful cause, this event affords people an opportunity to gain an appreciation of what Providence Farm does for our community while enjoying great food and drink in a beautiful, tranquil setting. 

If you would like to attend the James Barber Fundraiser, it takes place Thursday, Sept. 15, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.  Tickets are $100.00 each.  Ticket information is available by phone at (250) 746-4204 or on the Providence Farm website:  www.providence.bc.ca.  You can email the farm at provfarm@providence.bc.ca.

 

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[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/tv/story/2007/12/02/barber-tvchef-obit.html

Photo:  victorialodging.com

Mocha Cupcakes

 I wasn't feeling great today and sometimes, when I’m not feeling great, I crave a little something-something.  Usually that something-something involves either chocolate or coffee.  Today I decided to satisfy my taste for both by making mocha cupcakes.

I don’t often make cupcakes.  I usually prefer to make a more traditional cake, either in a sheet pan or with layers and frosting, but cupcakes do serve a certain purpose:  They’re quick to bake, easy to serve, and—if you want to save some for later—you can cover unfrosted cupcakes in foil and freeze them right in the pan.

Here’s my recipe.  It makes about 18 cupcakes.

Prepare your pans either by buttering and flouring them or by lining them with cupcake cups.  I prefer cupcake cups myself.  I know that it’s another piece of paper you’re throwing away, but they cut down on prep time and they make the finished cupcakes easier to serve.  

You'll need:

1/2 c. unsalted butter

2 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 c. sifted Dutch process cocoa

1-3/4 c. unsifted all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1-3/4 c. good, strong coffee, cooled to room temperature

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, then blend in the eggs.

In a second bowl whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until combined.  Mix in 1/2 of the coffee.  Continue alternating the flour mixture and the coffee, ending with the flour mixture.  Stir until combined but try not to over mix the batter. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until they spring back when lightly touched.

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans.  If you’re freezing them, wrap them and put them in the freezer once they’ve cooled.  If you’re icing them, you may want to try this mocha butter cream frosting:  

Cream together 1 c. unsalted butter, 1/2 c. sifted Dutch process cocoa and 1-1/2 tsp. espresso powder.  Gradually add sifted icing sugar to the creamed mixture until the frosting reaches the sweetness and consistency you prefer.  If it gets too thick while you’re adding the sugar, thin it with a little milk.  The finished frosting should spread easily without being runny.

Because I like the contrast in texture they provide, I garnished my cupcakes with dark chocolate covered espresso beans.  Garnish is optional though.  The cupcakes are just fine without it.