Whole Foods Cupertino offers such interesting classes in their Culinary Center. This week I took two, a Gluten Free tour of the store and an International cooking class.
I learned that gluten is in a lot more things that I thought! Not that I plan to go gluten free anytime soon, but there is so much interest in it these days, I wanted to find out more. It turns out, if you are super sensitive to gluten, besides the normal stuff, you need to be careful with caramel coloring, seasonings, latex gloves and even the glue on stamps!
For the International Cooking class, we used recipes from x all over the world from people, who received microloans from Whole Foods. We made a Thai Soup, a Mango tea bread, Quinoa drink and a beans and rice dish. We had a lot of fun and got to sample a lot of tasty food too. As always, the Culinary Center director, Jamie, was there to guide us through the recipes, and we end up learning a lot of tips and tricks.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Roasting Veggies for all week long
I have been thinking about Tamar Adler's book, An Everlasting Meal -Cooking with Economy and Grace, ever since we heard her speak at Montalvo last year. I skimmed through the book quickly when I got it, and now I find myself going back for inspiration.
Today, my inspiration was the How to Stride Ahead section of the book - She talks about preparing roasted vegetables one day and then using them in various ways though out the week. I made a trip to the local Farmer's Market and loaded up with about $20 of organic produce, and a beautiful squash purchased from Gospel Flat Farms a few weeks ago, was also part of the plan.
Squash - The first thing I did was slice up the squash, lightly oil and salt on both sides and put it on two separate sheet pans in a 425 degree oven, and then I set off for the Farmers market. When I got back 30 minutes later, the squash was beautifully roasted, I took it out of the oven and got to work on my purchase.
Cauliflower - washed, dried and cut into similar size pieces, again lightly coated in olive oil and salt, and into the oven - for 20-25 minutes
Broccoli - washed, dried, and cut into similar size pieces, again lightly coated in olive oil and salt, and into the oven - for 20-25 minutes
Beets - wash and remove the greens, lightly coated in olive oil and salt and packed into a roasting pan with a lid, for 375 for 1 hour, let cool, then remove skins under running water.
Greens - from beets and others, wash put in a wok and cook down, sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt.
Everything was cooled and put away in the refrigerator, the whole process took about 1.5 hour of my time including clean up.
Solar Oven -I should also tell you that I cooked some garbanzo beans and some yellow lentils in my two tiered enamel pot in the Sun Oven yesterday. I'm cooking some big white beans today. I really love that thing. If it's sunny out, I almost feel like I'm wasting the heat if I don't get it out and cook something.
Now I'm dreaming about what I can do with all these precooked veggies and beans all week long. I bet they will be delicious!
Today, my inspiration was the How to Stride Ahead section of the book - She talks about preparing roasted vegetables one day and then using them in various ways though out the week. I made a trip to the local Farmer's Market and loaded up with about $20 of organic produce, and a beautiful squash purchased from Gospel Flat Farms a few weeks ago, was also part of the plan.
Squash - The first thing I did was slice up the squash, lightly oil and salt on both sides and put it on two separate sheet pans in a 425 degree oven, and then I set off for the Farmers market. When I got back 30 minutes later, the squash was beautifully roasted, I took it out of the oven and got to work on my purchase.
Cauliflower - washed, dried and cut into similar size pieces, again lightly coated in olive oil and salt, and into the oven - for 20-25 minutes
Broccoli - washed, dried, and cut into similar size pieces, again lightly coated in olive oil and salt, and into the oven - for 20-25 minutes
Beets - wash and remove the greens, lightly coated in olive oil and salt and packed into a roasting pan with a lid, for 375 for 1 hour, let cool, then remove skins under running water.
Greens - from beets and others, wash put in a wok and cook down, sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt.
Everything was cooled and put away in the refrigerator, the whole process took about 1.5 hour of my time including clean up.
Solar Oven -I should also tell you that I cooked some garbanzo beans and some yellow lentils in my two tiered enamel pot in the Sun Oven yesterday. I'm cooking some big white beans today. I really love that thing. If it's sunny out, I almost feel like I'm wasting the heat if I don't get it out and cook something.
Now I'm dreaming about what I can do with all these precooked veggies and beans all week long. I bet they will be delicious!
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Sauerkraut demo at Common Ground
On Sunday, Diane and I did a demonstration on making sauerkraut at a Garden Share at Common Ground in Palo Alto. It went really well lots of people came and asked questions, We had a young man 10 or 11 years old with a very mature palate who really liked the sauerkraut we brought as a finished product, he even took some home with him and shared it with his family.
I find fermentation to be a fascinating subject. It is another way that humans have been able to preserve harvest from one season to be used in another. I was not a fan of fermentation until i heard Zandor Katz speak after coming home from the first time i heard him speak, i immediately made a batch of sauerkraut and have loved it ever since.
It is very easy to make just cut up some cabbage, add salt knead it with your hands to break down the cell walls, pack it in a jar, make sure the cabbage is submerged in the liquid to prevent molding, cover it, leave it on the counter and let it go. Taste it every few days until you get a taste you like, and then put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process.
The fermentation bacteria are already on the vegetables, putting it in salt creates an environment that these bacteria can thrive in, and the bad bacteria cannot. No liquid needs to be added, the solution is created by the liquid in the cells of the cabbage.
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This is a mixture of cabbage, golden beets, and carrots we made from the weekend before,that was brought to the garden share.
The mixture put into a pickl-it jar, a fancy krauting crock, one of these is not really needed to do saurkraut.
I find fermentation to be a fascinating subject. It is another way that humans have been able to preserve harvest from one season to be used in another. I was not a fan of fermentation until i heard Zandor Katz speak after coming home from the first time i heard him speak, i immediately made a batch of sauerkraut and have loved it ever since.
It is very easy to make just cut up some cabbage, add salt knead it with your hands to break down the cell walls, pack it in a jar, make sure the cabbage is submerged in the liquid to prevent molding, cover it, leave it on the counter and let it go. Taste it every few days until you get a taste you like, and then put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process.
The fermentation bacteria are already on the vegetables, putting it in salt creates an environment that these bacteria can thrive in, and the bad bacteria cannot. No liquid needs to be added, the solution is created by the liquid in the cells of the cabbage.
.JPG)
This is a mixture of cabbage, golden beets, and carrots we made from the weekend before,that was brought to the garden share.
The mixture put into a pickl-it jar, a fancy krauting crock, one of these is not really needed to do saurkraut.
The mixture we made at the demo at the garden share.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Biochar
Back in November of 2012, Diane and I took a class at the Sunnyvale Community Garden on Biochar. Biochar is basically a charcoal made from any type of biomass and used as a soil amendment. It is produced using a high temperature, low oxygen burn called pyrolysis.
In the class we were introduced to biochar as well as taught how to make a small biochar oven using a one gallon paint can obtained from your local hardware store, a number 10 can (the type used in industrial sized kitchens), and a tall juice can. We also made a biochar oven using a 55gallon drum and a piece of stovepipe which can alo be found at the local hardware store. At home here we use woodstove pellets to make our char. You start by filling the paint can with the dry pellets along with a little bit of them soaked in alcohol. You then light the soaked pellets, the whole process takes about 45 minutes.
This week on Thursday the 7th I started a seed germination trial to see what percentage of biochar to soil produced the best yield. Today Saturday the 9th I discovered one sprout in the 25% mix.
Its Sunday and more and more sprouts are coming through I will count them on Monday.
In the class we were introduced to biochar as well as taught how to make a small biochar oven using a one gallon paint can obtained from your local hardware store, a number 10 can (the type used in industrial sized kitchens), and a tall juice can. We also made a biochar oven using a 55gallon drum and a piece of stovepipe which can alo be found at the local hardware store. At home here we use woodstove pellets to make our char. You start by filling the paint can with the dry pellets along with a little bit of them soaked in alcohol. You then light the soaked pellets, the whole process takes about 45 minutes.
Its Sunday and more and more sprouts are coming through I will count them on Monday.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Seedlings
The other thing I'm doing this year, is simplifying my plant choices. Last year I had more than 10 types of pepper plants, the identification tags got lost for some of them, I didn't like all of them etc. This year, I've got two types: Fresno Chili and a hybrid Jalapeno. I have one type of eggplant and two types of tomatoes. However I do plan to buy some grafted tomato seedlings this year. I'm fascinated by them.
I've got a little herb seedling garden started with : parsley, basil, oregano, cilantro etc. these annuals will supplement my other herbs that made it through the winter like sage and lemon grass. There is also some cucumber and zucchini seedlings getting ready to germinate any day now. Dave loves the huge sunflowers, so this year, I'm trying to start a lot of seedlings, usually we lose some to our chickens and other critters. I've got 16 hopeful sunflowers currently waiting to germinate in peat pots.
The other pleasant surprise is that the kale, collards and chard seedlings that were planted in early winter are finally beginning to grow and the fava plants are over two feet tall now. I'm beginning to start thinking about making fava pesto. It's delicious!
Whole Planet Foundation International Cooking Class Benefit
For the month of March, Whole Foods Cupertino is offering events and cooking classes to benefit the Whole Planet Foundation. This week I attended the Sangria /Bingo benefit and an International Cooking Class.
The Sangria/Bingo benefit was a lot of fun. There were only 8-10 of us, Whole Foods provided snacks, Sangria for $1/glass and Bingo cards- $2 for the first one, and $.50 for each additional card. As prizes they gave away some healthy products like organic wine, chocolate and snacks.
The International Cooking Class used recipes from the folks benefiting from the Whole Planet Foundation. Jaime, the Culinary Director, put together 3 recipes from around the world: Honduran Coconut Bread, Indian Vegetable Biryani, Haitian Pumpkin Soup. There were about 8 of us in class, so we each contributed to one or more recipes. At the end of class we got to try everything, and it was quite delicious. I was on the coconut bread team. It was fun to make something with yeast, I hadn't done that in a long time. Although the recipe called for a 15 minute yeast proofing, a 1.5 hour first rise, 45 minute second rise and a 25 minute bake, we were able to speed up those steps and have some really delicious bread within the 2 hour class period. Jamie has a no fear attitude when it comes to cooking and she knows where you can make adjustments to the recipe. It was also great to learn from her the proper way to shape a roll. Another tip I learned was "studding". One of the recipes called for a jalapeno studded with cloves. This made it easy to remove the cloves and the jalapeno when the right amount of spiciness was achieved.
These Whole Foods cooking classes are a remarkable value. This class was only $20, and that was a little bit higher than usual because of the benefit to the Whole Planet Foundation. - I give this class a "spoons -up"
The Sangria/Bingo benefit was a lot of fun. There were only 8-10 of us, Whole Foods provided snacks, Sangria for $1/glass and Bingo cards- $2 for the first one, and $.50 for each additional card. As prizes they gave away some healthy products like organic wine, chocolate and snacks.
The International Cooking Class used recipes from the folks benefiting from the Whole Planet Foundation. Jaime, the Culinary Director, put together 3 recipes from around the world: Honduran Coconut Bread, Indian Vegetable Biryani, Haitian Pumpkin Soup. There were about 8 of us in class, so we each contributed to one or more recipes. At the end of class we got to try everything, and it was quite delicious. I was on the coconut bread team. It was fun to make something with yeast, I hadn't done that in a long time. Although the recipe called for a 15 minute yeast proofing, a 1.5 hour first rise, 45 minute second rise and a 25 minute bake, we were able to speed up those steps and have some really delicious bread within the 2 hour class period. Jamie has a no fear attitude when it comes to cooking and she knows where you can make adjustments to the recipe. It was also great to learn from her the proper way to shape a roll. Another tip I learned was "studding". One of the recipes called for a jalapeno studded with cloves. This made it easy to remove the cloves and the jalapeno when the right amount of spiciness was achieved.
These Whole Foods cooking classes are a remarkable value. This class was only $20, and that was a little bit higher than usual because of the benefit to the Whole Planet Foundation. - I give this class a "spoons -up"
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Exploring the Seasonal Color + Taste Palette - Winter
I was looking forward to this class that I found on Good Eggs for several weeks, and I was not disappointed. Sasha Duerr and Kelsie Kerr gave us a fabulous day long experience in a beautiful setting in Bolinas, CA. We spent the day alternating between learning how to dye natural fibers with colors derived from plants from Sasha, and eating wonderful food prepared by Kelsie.
The class was held at Gospel Flat Farm, a lovely setting, it seemed like we were in a different world, after traveling the 15 miles of winding roads, with what seemed like endless curves, and quite a few bicyclists to maneuver around. If you have a chance to visit, you should stop in, at the honor farm stand, which had a really nice selection of fruits and veggies, and an art installation too.
Sasha had the dye pots already bubbling by the time we arrived at 10 am. There were shades of blue from the cabbage, and yellows and greens. She gave us a little lesson about mordants (we used alum) and how to go about dying the napkin that we would later use for our lunch ( awesome !)
Kelise kept us well fed, from the morning snack of bread, jam and honey, the afternoon snack of farm fresh hard boiled eggs with fava bean tendrils and lunch of a delicious kale -bean soup, salad, cabbage salad and bellweather farm cheese with artichoke, ending with lemon curd cookies all very delicious and mostly from the farm. Another highlight was when Kelsie led us in a tasting of 18 different citrus. She really knows her citrus.
We each dyed napkin and a table/runner scarf made from silk. We came home with a packet of information that included recipes for some of the food we ate, and some recipes for making plant dyes at home. I can't wait to try this on my own. Plus I just bought Sasha's book from Amazon.
The class was held at Gospel Flat Farm, a lovely setting, it seemed like we were in a different world, after traveling the 15 miles of winding roads, with what seemed like endless curves, and quite a few bicyclists to maneuver around. If you have a chance to visit, you should stop in, at the honor farm stand, which had a really nice selection of fruits and veggies, and an art installation too.
Sasha had the dye pots already bubbling by the time we arrived at 10 am. There were shades of blue from the cabbage, and yellows and greens. She gave us a little lesson about mordants (we used alum) and how to go about dying the napkin that we would later use for our lunch ( awesome !)
Kelise kept us well fed, from the morning snack of bread, jam and honey, the afternoon snack of farm fresh hard boiled eggs with fava bean tendrils and lunch of a delicious kale -bean soup, salad, cabbage salad and bellweather farm cheese with artichoke, ending with lemon curd cookies all very delicious and mostly from the farm. Another highlight was when Kelsie led us in a tasting of 18 different citrus. She really knows her citrus.
We each dyed napkin and a table/runner scarf made from silk. We came home with a packet of information that included recipes for some of the food we ate, and some recipes for making plant dyes at home. I can't wait to try this on my own. Plus I just bought Sasha's book from Amazon.
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