Microwaved Oats? Not Steel Cut

Instant oatmeal - the kind you add water to and microwave - meets expectations. Not high expectations; but that's the point. It's a last-resort convenience food, something to keep on hand for near-emergencies.

But steel cut oats are a slow-cook indulgence. I convenience-ize them by making a large pot on the weekend and reheating portions throughout the next week. That way the lovely slightly chewy texture and full flavor stay intact.

Recently I found a container of quick-cook steel cut oats, which seemed like a middle ground between the instant mush and the weekend cooking oatmeal option. The packaging gave two options: stovetop boiling for 5 to 7 minutes, or microwaving. The stovetop method yields a bowl of oats almost as nice as the traditional slow-cook variety, in about a third of the time. But the microwave method is another story.

Beware microwave directions that require stops and starts with stirring in between, and large vessels to prevent boiling over. I have tried this method several times now, in the name of emprical science, and only avoiding the big puddle of spouted oat mess once so far.

That's enough empiricism for me. By the time you follow the directions properly to avoid the mess, you might as well have pulled out a saucepan and boiled the oats. And if you don't have a stovetop available? Stick with a pouch of the actual instant variety.

What are Grocery Lists For?

Earlier this year, I reviewed Living the Savvy Life from a green perspective (Does Savvy = Green?).  To the extent that being savvy means investing your time, energy and money on what matters to you, rather than just accumulating stuff, I found a close correlation of underlying values. And where food is concerned, the concept of keeping the kitchen a well-organized, clean, and joyful place to spend quality time making what you enjoy eating would resonate with most foodies, including the slow food-ists and locavores.

When I started to work through implementing the good advice from Chapter 10: Food, however, I hit a stumbling block right away. As I detailed in Kitchen Inventory Confessions, getting a handle on what's in my cupboards, fridge and freezer was both daunting and humbling. Loving food as I do, I'm prone to fall into the more-is-better trap here. While doing the inventory exercise helped me pare down a bit, it's got to become an ongoing task.

Hopefully the next step, creating a master shopping list, will help with that maintenance.  It should at a minimum keep me from ever winding up again with two open jars of peanut butter in the fridge, and one waiting in the cupboard. If I can find a really good smart phone app to move the items onto, that will really tip the scales in the battle against overstocking.

To simply the process, I skipped the recommended step of dividing staples by the best stores to acquire them from, meant to help reduce running-around time and increase trip consolidation (green points for driving less). Since 90% of my groceries come from Trader Joes on my commute home from work, the occasional Costco or Whole Foods item is easy to catalog mentally.

Looking over the list I came up with, some patterns are clear, and not always consistent with how I picture myself as an eater.  Most notably, lots of dairy. Half and half for tea, low-fat organic milk for nightly cocoa, nonfat yogurt for fruit smoothies, favorite cheeses, and eggs are always in stock. Breakfast and snack foods get replenished frequently; so they make the buy-now list regularly. In contrast, meat rarely makes the list, coming home occasionally almost as an incidental.  And with the exception of spinach for salads and favorite fresh fruits for snacks, produce comes home without being summoned by a list. Whatever's in season and looks good hops into the basket (then the trick is to make sure to use it quickly, before it wilts or goes fuzzy in the crisper). As farmers market season ramps up here, it will be interesting to see if we use the master grocery list more or less than during the winter.

The flip side of the list's usefulness, once you've gotten good at avoiding waste from accidental over-buying, is making sure to keep key foods in stock. For me the biggest key to eating well is having the right ingredients on hand when I need them. That includes healthy snacks, fresh fish and produce, gluten-free staples, and basic ingredients for quick dishes made from scratch. If I run out of the good stuff, I'll default to whatever else may be handy, including all the processed packaged foods that shouldn't be in stock at home anyway. So I'm arming myself with a good list to help me make good decisions between runs to the store.

If you've tried an app you really like to help take this tip paperless, please tell us about it!

Food Day Goals

Over the last few weeks, Occupy Wall Street has caused much bemusement, some irritation, and some admiration for its lack of a defined agenda. And for the last few decades, Earth Day has inspired a host of actions with no single to-do list driving it.

But Food Day?
If anyone asks, "What's this one about, now?" - the answer is clear and concise:

Gelato Artigianale

For me, the quintessential experience of Italy is getting 'un pallino' (one scoop) of gelato at every little neighborhood shop. Well, not every one. Just the ones with artisan - artigianale - gelato.
My favorite this trip was Il Doge, in Venice's Dorsodoro district. Tucked into a corner of Campo Santa Margherita, it serves a steady stream of locals and tourists from morning til night. Like all the best shops, it boasts 'produzione propria' (our own production, or homemade). And about a dozen flavors are offered each day, with many choices rotating through. If your favorite isn't available today, try tomorrow. I love the freedom to try new flavors, something I rarely do at home when it entails buying (and storing, then eating or wasting) at least a pint. Every day a new discovery - or two, on a particularly yummy day. Gelato artigianale makes an inexpensive, simple but delicious treat, an indulgence for every day. Yes, every day.

National Food Day

Today was Food Day in the US, an event simultaneously disheartening and encouraging.

On the down side, having to declare a day to focus on real food suggests just how far we've wandered from having a real food culture. Would France have a Food Day? Or Italy? No - they have agri-tourism, stores closed mid-day to facilitate long, sit-down lunches, cafes with sidewalk tables for the simple pleasure of lingering over a cup of coffee while people-watching, and protests when a McDonald's is proposed in any historic venue.

On the plus side, the event was well-organized and clearly articulates a manifesto for constructive change. In addition, the publicity includes a host of excellent resources for interested Americans.

The real tests of Food Day's success will be what we do after this inaugural year, and how many years it takes to make the exercise obsolete.

The Incredible, Italian, Egg

Having an apartment in Venice meant getting to cook 'at home,' as well as shopping for the ingredients.  Having not yet mastered the open-area markets or the speciality shops, we picked up basics on the first day from the local grocery.  Sure that we would want eggs for something, I choose the jumbo pack - 6. They were comparable in price to free-range, organic eggs in California.

And the label said (in Italian, of course), "specially for pasta!" Although I did not plan to hand-make any pasta, that still sounded promising.

Breaking the first egg was a revelation. The last time I saw a yolk that rich was from a friend's farm-raised duck. To make sure I didn't overwhelm the natural flavor, I made a very simple omelet with few added ingredients. Marvelous!
Not a mere binder or filler like its factory-farmed cousin, the Italian Egg is a food unto itself, worthy of full enjoyment.

Tomato Watermelon Salad

Tomato Watermelon Salad

Some culinary surprises are good - like almond gazpacho, for instance. As lovely as that was, however, the best discovery of the summer had to be tomato watermelon salad, garnished with a mild feta cheese and lardons, and drizzled with a red jalapeno vinaigrette.
I could have eaten mine and then stolen the other three plates, had my family dawdled. Alas, they devoured every bite also. Like summer itself, we were sad to see it go so quickly.

Frozen Yogurt

Speaking of frozen yogurt, I only recently noticed how prevalent shops for the allegedly healthy treat are in the Bay Area.  Somehow, I just assumed that fro-yo had faded away with the arrival of the 90's, like leg warmers (What?! They're back now, too?)

While visiting Oahu recently, we stumbled upon a place called Menchie's, which offers a rotating selection of self-serve options.  Sold by the ounce, it taught me just how many ounces of the low-fat concoction I can handle on a given day. We used the scientific method to craft the perfect make-it-yourself sundae before the vacation was over.

Back home, I started to notice the plethora of fro-yo chains and one-off shops. It was hard to find the self-serve style I had become so fond of, however.  While hunting, I found Harmony Organic in San Carlos and Fraiche in Palo Alto. In addition, I tried out a couple local self-serve shops.

So far, all the self-serve shops lack some of the quality found in the high-end scoop shops. The self-servers use mixes that often taste a bit chemically, while the fancier places boast all-natural ingredients and organic yogurt from regional dairies (Harmony has some flavors from Strauss Family Creamery, while Fraiche sources exclusively from Clover Farms.)

Which is best? Well, fresh and organic win hands down on principle.  But it's hard to beat the pop-in-and-help-yourself option.  When I find a place that combines the two, I'll go steady with it. 'Til then, I'm still playing the field.

Steampunk Epicurean

Pull a Google image search for "steampunk" and you'll see what steampunkers wear.
And YouTube has plenty of steampunk music videos.
But what do steampunkers eat?

Tea seems the most obvious choice - finger sandwiches, crumpets, scones, etc.
And everything else Dickens ever mentioned, or Jules Verne and HG Wells threw into their stories as incidentals.
Or, if you follow the Weird, Weird West off-shoot of classic steampunk, saloon grub.

But if you are going to create an alternate history, why not throw in some food realities of the re-imagined era, such as seasonality, locality and organic growing methods?  With, perhaps, some spices from The East.
Today's slow food dinners would fit right in.

Box of Happiness

I'm always looking for reasons to stay away from McDonald's, because whatever's in their faux food really works on me - while I consume it I feel funny; immediately afterwards I feel bad; and a couple weeks later I want more. Knowing I have this weakness makes me avoid the ads whenever possible, as they very effectively work their subliminal magic, too.

Recently I rode by a billboard with just a giant splash of Mickey D's fries, and the words, "Box of Happiness" on it. And that's where they tripped up. While many have used the expression, and no one can claim the copyright, I still wanted to step up and tell them to cease and desist. For that phrase is used best by Alice Austin, book artist.

The authentic B of H is not loaded with fat and sodium, but with sound advice for fuller living - sleep late, throw a party, drink coffee, eat more pie . . . and not one word about fast food binges.  And until the golden arches offer something as real as that, I'm sticking with the Alice plan.

Big Sky Cafe

A recent work trip introduced me to San Luis Obispo, California, a charming college town (Go, Cal Poly!) nestled among gorgeous hills still green from winter rains.  For a place its size, it offers an impressive range of good eats.  Top honors this trip go to Big Sky Cafe, which was so good the first night that I returned on my only other free night, to try a bit more of the menu.

Although the interior is upscale-casual, the prices are very reasonable, the service friendly and efficient, the menu is clearly the star.  Three names appear inside the printed menu:  the head chef, the sous chef, and the pastry chef.  And all of them deserve credit the beautifully composed and ingeniously designed dishes.

Using the tagline 'fresh market cuisine,' the back of the menu thanks all the local producers of the noticeably high-quality ingredients utilized.

The Morrocan vegetable tagine over couscous was lovely, though not as stunning and complex as my first night's entree, a lamb shank with roasted vegetables (and potato-zucchini latkes!) that rivaled a fine osso buco.

The dessert menu, like the appetizers, salads, sides, and entrees offered, was not extensive.  But I would rather have a modest menu of great choices, with nightly specials rotated in for variety, than a huge inventory of mediocre fare.  The descriptions bordered on food porn; and the desserts lived up to their descriptions.  Shown above are the meyer lemon panna cotta (with blueberries and a pine nut crust) and the beignet with a dark chocolate filling (best shared by three non-diabetics).  The first night's delights, a Chinese 5-spice creme brulee with a garnish of sugar-cooked citrus slices, and an 'amor brujo' chocolate tart, were pure rapture.

Although I'd like to explore more restaurants in SLO, I'll need at least one meal each visit at Big Sky.

Fish Wednesday

We've been truly blessed these past couple years to have a neighbor who loves to fish and love to share.  Along with the fish, he shares stories about catching them, and the rules about size, seasons, and numbers allowed per license.  He has strong preferences between types of trout, while I merely like the differences in their pretty skins and strongly prefer that they arrive in my kitchen pre-gutted.  I have learned to really appreciate the art of filleting, and anyone who will demonstrate it for me.

Besides the lake-caught trout, we've enjoyed a variety of treats from the SF Bay, such as Dungeness crab.  One of my favorites so far is fresh halibut (pictured here).

Although fish caught the same day needs barely any dressing up to be delicious, the gifts of the sea are so lovely they deserve thoughtful preparation.  Fish Wednesday, a blog by a friend of a friend, provides some inspiration and very clear instructions.  Pam covers both the adventure of finding sustainable seafood for sale (a doable feat in Seattle) and creating lovely dishes.  The photos (unlike mine) are always appetizing, showcasing the finished dish.

Cuban Black Beans

As Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) approaches, I start to dream not of gumdrops but of the marvelous Cuban feast for that night. Traditionally, the 24th is all about sharing great food with family and friends. The 25th is for church and/or laying around. And Epiphany, the 12th day of [la la la] is for gifts. A slower, sweeter approach to a winter holiday.

The menu varies a bit from family to family, but typically includes yucca, fried platanos, roast pork, and black beans with rice (aka moros y christianos - reflecting both Cuba's multi-cultural heritage and its sense of humor). An incredibly savory and gratifying meal.

In the summer, I cook the beans in the solar oven; but in the winter I love to have the pot simmering on the stove. Although it's terribly easy to start with canned beans, if I have time to think ahead and soak some dried ones I find the process more satisfying. (Gorgeous, warm aromas infuse the house.)

Hardly any great source of protein, fiber, and iron can be found more cheaply than dried beans; and they store as long as you need them to without any refrigeration or canning. Best of all, they are a vegetable always picked in season but ready to prepare at any time. And for me, Cuban Black Beans are in season all year.

Spa Water

Like many good ideas, the 'new' way to encourage people to drink tap water is a culinary innovation dating back centuries. At a work training recently, attendees were pleasantly surprised to find pitchers of water with cucumber slices, in lieu of bottled water (complying with the ever-more-common bans on spending local government money on unneeded single-serving beverage containers). Just that small touch somehow made the plain drink seem more refreshing, a treat rather than an austerity measure.

Trader Joe's coffee samples are the first stop for many shoppers at their groceries; and typically there is also a spigoted jug of one of the many juice varieties for sale. Over the summer, our local store also experimented with a range of spa waters, in place of the juice option. They added cucumber, strawberries, citrus slices - more or less any one fruit or combination the staff wanted to try. Most worked beautifully (my favorite being strawberry).

At the Atlantis Resort Hotel in Reno, the spa provides elegant jugs of water with therapeutically-oriented enhancements. The appealing flavors help make sure that guests stay well hydrated while moving between steam rooms, hot tubs, and other amenities. But they also advertise (on menu cards by each pitcher) specific health benefits, including:
Citrus - high in vitamin C, to strengthen the immune system, retain healthy levels of calcium, and lower bad cholestrol
Pineapple and mint - helps recovery of muscles and acts as an anti-inflammatory
Kiwi with cinammon and honey - all three for respiratory healing

Whatever you put in them, spa waters offer an elegant alternative to the plastic bottles of plain or flavored water that American culture has come to think of as necessary for health and convenience. And they can change throughout the year, incorporating the fruits, vegetables and herbs in season locally.

First TV Episode Airs

The first episode of Bite-Size Green, the TV show, begins airing this Friday at 4pm, PST.

If you don't live in the Community Media Center 's viewing area (mainly Palo Alto, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and Atherton in California) and have cable service, you can view the show online while it is being aired. To use the live streaming option:

1. Check the program schedule for times and channels.


2. Pick one airing that fits your schedule.


3. Log onto the webcast page a few minutes before the show begins.


4. Click the Watch Now button for the channel airing the show at your time choice.


5. Give your computer's media player a moment to bring up the video window.


6. Watch and send your comments!

The first episode features guest Laura Stec, slow food chef and co-author of Cool Cuisine.

Travels with Alice

Artist Alice Austin visited last weekend for the Codex 2009 Bookshow.

Every jam-packed and fun-filled day included memorable meals, with the obligatory documentation. (Alice's photo albums all include notable food, from donuts to holiday feasts).  

We invested our eating-out budget at places known for their local, seasonal, sustainably raised ingredients (ie, slow food).  From Half Moon Bay to Point Reyes Station to Berkeley, we covered a lot of terrain with sights and events first on the list.  But the great food finds in every direction prove that slow food is not restricted to one small locale, or even to large cities.  The Bay Area has enough dedicated eaters (I refuse to be a 'foodie') to support high-quality, independently owned restaurants even in out-of-the-way corners, out of tourist season, and during a recession.  Each one deserves at least one post of its own (check Alice Austin tags to all from this trip).

If we'd had more time, and not spent it in the kitchen, I would also have loved to take Alice to Jack's Prime for a good burger and any one of JZ Cool's eateries.

Bite Size Green's TV Launch

For someone who doesn't have cable, I manage to watch an awful lot of cooking shows. And this year, as I've started to learn camera and editing skills, I've watched them in a whole new light. How many dishes can you cook in a half-hour segment? What angle does the camera come in from? How often are the breaks?

To improve my skills, I signed up for classes at the Community Media Center, our local public access station. They make the studio available to the community so that anyone can share their views over the airwaves. But they have a strong commitment to quality production as well as free speech; so all crew and show creators must take training before using the space and equipment.

Each studio class produces a show as the final project; and my class voted for a green cooking show, with the title Bite Size Green. I'm tickled; and the closer we get to shooting the more I appreciate the work that goes into all those shows I've been watching in my downtime.
The most scary and reassuring aspect of this episode? Having Laura Stec as the guest.

Her participation is reassuring, because she's wonderful on-screen - articulate, funny, credible and engaging. But securing 'talent' (show biz lingo for the person on screen) of her caliber also raises the bar for our production quality - who knows who might tune in, with such a draw? Her willingness to work with us also shows that in addition to being a talented chef, excellent instructor, public speaker, and author, she's also just a really good egg. And that is why family farmers and slow food chefs are my rock stars.

Last-Minute Green Zebra

Seattle has the Chinook book; the Bay Area has Green Zebra.  Green versions of the usual coupon books for meals, activities and services, they contain offers mainly from locally-owned businesses.  And those expire on December 31 - so I'm giving the Zebra a last browse.

2008 was a year for cooking at home rather than eating out, with some notable exceptions (a fabulous meal at Venus in Berkeley, for instance).  But as it winds to a close, and the economic downturn threatens businesses of all sizes, I feel increasingly compelled to put the dollars I can spare into local ventures that support the health of my community.  Not a huge raw food fan, I nonetheless plan to try Burlingame's Que Seraw SeRaw.  Who knows?  It may be my next food epiphany.  

A few other local bistros and markets made the cut, too; but the biggest enticement is the CoolEatz coupon.  It offers "a bowl of seasonal soup made from local organic ingredients" at any of Jesse Ziff Cool's restaurants.  I have only been to the Cool Cafe at Stanford's art museum so far.    Trying tapas at the jZcool Eatery or splurging on an upscale dinner at Flea St. Cafe both sound like magnificent ways to get ready for 2009.

Fresh Bread: Gluten-free Glory

Well, the simple blood test let me rest assured that I don't have celiac disease - but it didn't tell me why I feel so much better keeping 90% of wheat and related glutens out of my body.  Or what we should do about the carbs we love the best: bread and pasta.

Both of us grew up with the rare pleasure of home-baked bread; but the bread machine had been tucked away in storage for years.  Since baking (even with a machine) is not my forte, I do helpful sous-chef tasks like picking the rosemary, getting three eggs out to warm up, stirring the sourdough starter, and of course, expressing gratitude.  Basha does the rest, with the help of three guides:  memories from her grandmother's kitchen; a gluten-free baking pamphlet a friend copied in the days before many books on the topic were available; and a copy of Bread Machine Magic.

Each loaf comes out a little different, but delicious every time.  The warm yeasty aroma fills the house while we putter at weekend chores; and cutting a hot slice (as soon as the loaf is cool enough to cut) is irresistible.  Eggy yet light and moist and chewy, with a lovely golden crust, this bread in no way resembles the gluten-free doorstops sold in groceries.  With a little restraint, a loaf lasts us a week.  

Laurie Colwin

A friend gave me a gently-loved paperback copy of Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, now several years ago. I tried it on for size, but didn't absorb it well on the first go; and so I shelved it for another day.

In the meantime, I started writing regularly about food, and also reading a variety of food blogs. And my food focus shifted, from anything interesting or yummy to a richer diet of slow food topics - local eating, seasonal harvests, organics produces, pastured meat and dairy, fair trade. Less quantity, more quality.

When I picked the book up again, I found it delightful and engaging. I kept turning it over to glean from the back cover profile something about the woman behind the words. The list of novels all sounded promising; but my mind kept getting stuck on the last sentence, "She died in 1992."

So finally I did what this marvelous writer could not do during her pre-internet lifespan - I Googled her. And not too surprisingly, her works remain well-read and her loyal following continues to grow. I won't repeat the regrets of various commenters in blogs and print articles, but will add one: I wish she were still with us, and blogging. It would be such a treat to read a short bit from her every so often, enjoying a peak into her treasured domesticity. It is hard to fathom that her body and mind are gone from our world, when her voice continues on so clearly.