Solar cooking - brrr!

When you have a production schedule to meet, you plan and hope for the best. Today was overcast all morning, chilly, and pretty windy to boot. But Angelina was a great sport, cooking my adapted ratatouille recipe, polenta, and a strawberry-rhubarb crisp for the camera. Fortunately, all three dishes turned out well, with a little extra cooking time.

Thursday we'll tape in the studio, interviewing Solar Cooking International 's board member (and local solar PV business owner) Michael Mora. SCI does serious work with simple cookers in over two dozen countries, bringing life-changing benefits such as reductions in water-borne illness, cleaner indoor air, more time for women and girls to attend school or work rathering than gathering wood, less money spent on firewood for households already living under the poverty line, increased safety for women and girls who would otherwise risk assault while gathering wood outside their villages or refugee camps, and reductions in deforestation. An amazing amount of good from an incredibly simple, affordable, locally-adaptable technology.

Today's food shots will speak to local viewer's stomachs, and the SCI portion to their hearts and minds. All in one half-hour of Bite-size Green TV.

Homemade Yogurt

After making 30-minute mozzarella last summer, I was sure that Ricki Carroll's Home Cheesemaking could lead me through any dairy magic I dared. All the hard cheeses still seem a bit too involved for my liking; but yogurt was so obvious I couldn't ignore it.

At least once a week, I bring home a quart of non-fat plain yogurt, in a plastic quart container. These are very handy for storage; but now I have a life-time supply. Sure, they are recyclable; but do I have to keep generating more?

My first attempt at yogurt gave me enough anxiety that I consulted the book and bought a commercial starter (YoGourmet packets, from the grocery store). The instructions didn't match exactly, but were close enough to let me know where the wiggle room lies. In short:

• Heat a quart of milk on the stove to 180 degree Fahrenheit.


• Let it cool to between 105 - 115 degrees.


• Mix in the starter.


• Pour into a Pyrex quart measuring cup.


• Keep warm (incubate at about 110 degrees), covered, for 4 - 6 hours.


• Chill, covered, in the fridge.

Notes:
You can use a couple tablespoons yogurt as your starter, instead of buying it.
My milk thermometer is a little espresso temp stick; any thermometer for liquids will do.
On my first batch, I incubated in the oven, which over-heated the yogurt. Tasted great - don't know if the heat killed the active cultures, though.
On the second batch, I wrapped the container in towels and kept in an unheated microwave. Maintained about 100 degrees, and tasted great. Set up fine, not quite so firm.
My whole milk batch was really rich, creamy and high-calorie.
My 2% fat milk batch was tangier, and a little thinner.
I used Pyrex for heat resistance and insulation. Other materials are probably fine, too.
* Good, fresh milk really helps. I use Clover, because it is local to me and humane-certified. Never, ever use ultra-high pasteurized - everything good has been cooked out.

Spinach avocado grapefruit salad

Summer may be officially 6 weeks away; but it felt like we started the season today. Salad provided half of supper, transitioning us from cool-season cooked veggies to warm-season raw foods. For the next 6 months, we'll get creative with spinach, combining flavors in new ways as different fruits debut at the farmers market.

Tonight:

organic spinach leaves - fill half a large bowl

half an avocado, chunked

half a pink grapefruit, supremed

bits of spiced pecans

vidalia onion vinagerette dressing

Two diners, two bowls. In a pinch, can be stretched to serve three with the same ingredients.