Here's Chef Jose Andres taking a whiff of his giant paella at the opening of the White House Farmers Market last week.
I was skeptical it would be good, because he was making a paella for hundreds. But it was actually delicious. By the way, that's a huge mushroom on the plate.
The President's Cancer Panel made quite a stir this week when it released a report (pdf) on environmental cancer risk. It said what many health researchers, doctors and advocates have been saying for a long time -- that we face increased health risks from exposure to chemicals, only a fraction of which have been tested. It also advocated buying organic food without using the word (it said food grown without pesticides instead).
Though it got little attention, here is what the panel recommended to avoid exposure to toxic chemicals:
Q: Of all the shocking statistics and stories in the book, what is the one that affected you most?
A: I visited 20 states. I saw things I never thought I would see. I smelled things I never thought I would smell in my life. But one night, I was at a small family farm in Illinois that raised pigs. Across the street was a pig factory. It was at night. The workers had gone home. And as soon as it got dark, you could hear the screams and the squealing and the crying. It was not like one pig over there. Like hundreds.
Q: Did something happen?
A: No. This was just a night on a factory farm. Because the pigs get bigger and bigger and the pens don't. And they fight. It sounded like children being tortured. And it didn't stop. It was the most haunting and most tragic sound I've ever heard. And I think it was because it didn't stop. If there had been a commotion in the barn and they all started making noise, I might have forgotten about it. But this was arresting. That tells me these are really unhealthy animals, that there are too many animals and that they really are stressed out.
- Samuel Fromartz
Image: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies, source Washington Post.
Truth be told, I was a little worried by the recipe testing I did for my story, "Whole New Ballgame for Whole Grains," in the WaPo. I was baking out of Kim Boyce's recently published Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours
But Boyce, a former pastry chef at Spago and Campanile in Los Angeles, does not shy away from butter. Now I like butter, but in baking muffins, scones, pancakes and waffles steadily for about three weeks, I was eating a lot of the stuff. (Yes, it adds incomparable flavor to baked goods). I was also eating more sugar than I usually do, though Boyce relies on dark sweeteners like brown sugar and unsulphured molasses, though does not shy away from white sugar when needed. Here's the nutritional information for the rather large-size whole wheat chocolate chip cookie pictured above: 240 calories, 7 grams saturated fat. And yes, it tastes phenomenal.
So does this defeat one of the oft-stated purposes of whole grains, which is to boost the health quotient in your diet? As we know, whole grains add fiber, minerals, antioxidents and vitamins, most of which are lost in refined white flour.
I have two thoughts about this. Yes, the added saturated fat and sweeteners do reduce the health of the baked good. On the other hand, they do end up higher on the health spectrum than a baked good made with white flour, butter and white sugar. And this is especially true of baked goods that you buy in the store, which I often find are far more loaded with sugar than these recipes.
But, more importantly, consider the purpose of Boyce's exercise. She wasn't aiming to make a health cookie. As I wrote in the article, "Although purists might bristle at her use of white flour, butter and sugar, it's important to remember that Boyce is not aiming for low-fat and sugar-free. She is aiming for taste: a new kind of taste arising from these under-used grains." And that emphasis on taste may open the uninitiated to the flavors of these grains.
The bottom line -- these pastries are delicious, the kind of thing you'd make on the weekend or a special occasion. The carrot muffin would be a slam dunk on Mother's Day, for example. But there are healthier ways to get whole grains, through porridges and breads that Boyce also dabbles with in the book. Another direction, try the risottos or salads or stews that Lorna Sass has in Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way
I consume whole grains largely through breads, made with a mix of flours, water, salt and yeast or sourdough starter. But I often make barley risotto (high in soluble fiber) and usually have cooked whole grains in the refrigerator that can be easily added to a salad. I'm also starting to experiment with sprouted whole grains. And I'll be posting on a spelt pizza dough recipe so check back soon.
By the way, I was also thrilled that my friend Barry Estabrook (aka Politics of the Plate) was right next to me in the food section. He just won a well-deserved Beard Award for his story on slavery in Florida's tomato fields.
- Samuel Fromartz
Six years ago, the Virginia Avenue Community Garden, just a mile or so away from the US Capitol, was a deserted lot, with a broken playground, a ramshackle building, thriving drug activity, and not much else. But it was decent land, with full sun and lot of potential. So a few hardy gardeners on Capitol Hill took on the task of creating a community garden, working with the parks department, getting initial grants, trucking in compost and soil and slowly turning the park into an urban oasis that now is home to 60 gardening families, a fruit orchard, a fig tree and blackberry brambles -- all of it organic.
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This is hard to pass up -- the Mark Bittman ouvre, How to Cook Everything
Mark Bittman? There's an App for That - Slashfood .
How to get our Bittman fix? Let us count the ways: There's his New York Times "Minimalist" column, of course; his expert contributions at KitchenDaily.com; his health and fitness articles for Runner's World and Men's Health; and, lest one forget, his 1044-page tome How to Cook Everything. I happen to own that $35 behemoth myself; I thumb through it compulsively, getting Bittman's take on everything from scrambled eggs to bouillabaisse. But now the book's contents can be downloaded to your iPhone -- for less than two bucks.
Culinate, the smart food site, is apparently behind the app. What a great idea. I can't wait for more.
Oh, wait there already is more. Michael Ruhlman has an iPhone app too, based on his book Ratio. It helps you calculate ingredients in "all fundamental culinary preparations."
Now, Rodale, where are the organic gardening apps? J.I. Rodale would have been all over this.
- Samuel Fromartz
Imagine if Matisse limited himself to one color. His paintings wouldn't be quite so beautiful. It's the same with whole grains. Once you start cooking with them, you realize white flour is kind of monochromatic. Whole grains extend the range of flavors and textures in baking, but you need to know how to use them. Take spelt, for example. This grain goes back at least 7000 years, which means bakers had a lot of time to play with it. Unlike whole wheat flour, it doesn't have bitter notes -- in fact, it is slightly sweet -- and it creates a tremendously rich, nutty crust. For these reasons, I recommend starting with spelt rather than whole wheat flour if you're new to whole grains.
Now whole grains have the reputation of being heavy, leaden, bombs, but that needn't be the case. This loaf was light and airy, not dense at all (though the crumb was fairly tight). While open-hole ciabatta loaves are all the rage these days, this loaf can make a nice sandwich or toast. The flax seeds add an assertive bite and crunchiness. Paired with spelt, they complement one another.
When I bake, I aim for taste, texture and the experience of a stellar loaf, but that said, this bread packs a nutritional punch. One serving of spelt contains 8 grams of fiber and a whopping 10.7 grams of protein. Flax seeds are chock full of omega-3 fatty acids and are also extremely high in fiber. Since the loaf contains 50% white bread flour, those figures are reduced, but still, a couple of slices for breakfast will last you until lunch.
I use a stiff sourdough starter in this dough, which helps build up the mild acidic flavor notes. The bread flour adds structure, so the loaf isn't too dense, but as you get used to spelt you can try reducing the percentage of white flour. For those who work with bakers percentages, this dough has a roughly 70% hydration (excluding the flax seed soaker).
Can this loaf be made with instant yeast instead of sourdough starter? Probably, though I haven't tried it. Thinking out loud, I would make a biga starter with 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast, 106 grams water and 80 grams of each type of flour. Then I would try adding another 1/2 to 1 teaspoon instant yeast to the final dough. If you try this, let me know how it works out.
This recipe makes two large batards or boules.
Sourdough
70 grams stiff starter
80 grams water
60 grams organic white bread flour
60 grams organic spelt flour
Flax Seed Soaker
1/2 cup (85 grams) organic flax seeds
75 grams water to barely cover the seeds
Final Dough
250 grams sourdough
Flax seed soaker
280 organic white bread flour
280 organic spelt flour
400 grams water
14 grams coarse sea salt
1. Mix starter, cover and let sit overnight (8-12 hours) at room temperature of about 75 F degrees. Pour the flax seeds into a separate bowl and just barely cover with water, then cover the bowl. By the morning, the flax seeds will have absorbed all the water. (In a pinch, even 2 hours of soaking will do). Ideally, the starter will have risen fully and then just started to deflate.
2. Combine the starter and water in a bowl and mix it up with a wooden spoon or spatula until combined. Add the flours and using a plastic bench scraper, spoon or mixer with dough hook, mix the dough until all the lumps of flour are gone. This will take about 2 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
3. Add salt and mix on a slow speed, about 4 minutes. If kneading by hand, do so until the salt is mixed throughout and the dough is starting to take on a smooth appearance, about 5 minutes. Add the flax seed soaker and using your hands or the mixer, continue mixing until the seeds are evenly distributed.
4. Form into a ball and place in a clean, oiled bowl and cover for the first rise. Assuming the temperature is around 75F, turn the dough out onto the counter and fold it at 50 minutes. Be careful not to tear the skin of the dough. Fold again at another 50 minutes. Let it rest for another 50 minutes, for a total rise of 2.5 hours.
5. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured counter, divide in two and form into rough batards or boules. Let rest for 15 minutes, then finish shaping the loaves. Place them in a floured towel inside a bowl, or a floured couche for batards and cover with a towel or plastic wrap.
6. The final rise should take 90 minutes. Or, to build up the flavor of the loaf, cover the loaves then let them sit for 30 minutes before putting them in the refrigerator in a closed plastic bag. (I use Ziploc Big Bags
7. When ready to bake, check the loaves. They should have risen by about 75%. If they have risen sufficiently in the refrigerator, keep them there until baking. Otherwise, remove one loaf and let it rise at room temperature for another hour as the oven is preheating.Turn the oven to 460 F with a baking stone in the middle of the oven and a rimmed sheet pan on the bottom. Preheat for at least one hour.
8. When ready to bake, slash the loaf in a square pattern with a bread knife or blade, then place in the oven on the heated stone. (Batards can be slashed lengthwise). Pour 2/3 cup of water into the sheet pan and close the door. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn down the oven to 420 F and keep baking for another 15 minutes. Check the loaf. It is done when you rasp it on the bottom with your knuckle and it makes a distinct hollow sound. If not yet done, turn down oven to 400 F and keep baking for 10 minutes. Then turn off the oven, open the door slightly and let the loaf sit for another 10 minutes. Repeat with the second loaf.
9. Allow the loaf to cool for at least one hour before cutting it open.
Check out this loaf and others on yeastspotting.
- Samuel Fromartz
I had expected the use of plastic bags to decline with the new 5-cent a bag tax in Washington, D.C., but the change came exceedingly fast. In the first month the tax was enacted, plastic base use dropped 87%. According to the Washington Post:
In its first assessment of how the new law is working, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue estimated that food and grocery establishments gave out about 3 million bags in January. Before the bag tax took effect Jan. 1, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer had said that about 22.5 million bags were being issued each month in 2009.
I actually noticed a dramatic behavioral difference when I was in Denver, which has no plastic bag tax. Grocery store clerks do not routinely ask, as they do here, "Do you want a bag?" Instead, they just pull one out. The result: people use a lot more bags.
In D.C., the money collected is being used to clean up the Anacostia, which empties into the Potomac River. This is a no-brainer incentive for positive consumer behavior, especially when the cost is so minimal and easy to avoid. Imagine if a simple act like this went national?
- Samuel Fromartz
Ed Bruske has another great post over at the Slow Cook. He's incensed about the lunch served recently at his daughter's school in D.C. He also found out that his in-depth report on the cafeteria program had repurcussions -- for the personnel, not the food. The principle got reprimanded for letting Ed in for a look. Here's his picture and post.
Is anyone home at D.C. Schools Food Services? I was ready to have a perfectly civilized discussion–blog-to-blog–with Sam Fromartz over at ChewsWise on the subject of what we can do to get kids to eat better when I was stopped dead in my tracks by the lunch being served at my daughter’s elementary school here in the nation’s capital. Look at the photo above and tell me what you see. Do you see the same thing I do? French fries, a bag of Sun Chips, and an 8-ounce carton of strawberry-flavored milk.
Read the rest: You Call This Food? | The Slow Cook.
On another topic, thanks for all the great suggestions stemming from the last post about how to feed kids good food. (See the comments section).
And if you can't relate because you just don't have kids, read Tom Philpott over at Grist on why you should care about school lunch.
Well, the early results of Jamie Oliver's experiment at reforming school lunch are getting some attention -- because they have been so dismal. When given a choice, the kids in Huntington, W. Va., prefer the chicken nuggets, breakfast pizza, and fries to his Food Revolution, by a wide margin, according to a West Virginia University study (pdf).
As a result, school meal purchases declined, as did milk, which Oliver had switched to plain skim from chocolate and strawberry.
Having a six-year-old daughter, I have some thoughts about these results. I pity the star chef, because in a culture of snack and fried foods, it's hard to introduce anything that is remotely healthy -- and then get kids to choose it -- in a few weeks.
We have veggies and/or fruit at every meal and eat a wide range of foods, such as legumes, pasta and whole grains along with fish and meat. But given a choice, salty crackers, cured meats, olives and pickles always win the day. None of those are objectionable in moderation, but that can be a difficult concept for a six-year-old. And given a choice, my daughter will always pick my home-made baguette over a whole grain loaf, which is why I don't make baguettes so often. Sugary flavored milk is not an issue, because it's not a choice. Never has been.
And that's the key. Like Michelle Obama, who declared French fries her favorite food, nearly anyone will make the choice for fried, salty, fatty if they don't think about it. Kids in particular tend to choose what is familiar. It's not easy to get them to try new things, especially if they are brown or green.
But if you feed kids a wide range of foods, repeatedly, they will eat them, especially if they don't have a choice. Exposing kids to foods at an early age also helps. (Oliver introduced new foods to 60% of the kids at the school). Our daughter favors broccoli and salad over meat because we routinely eat those foods. She has never liked cheese (ever), which opens her to a lot of options outside the usual kid universe of pizza and mac 'n cheese.
And here's a plug for school gardens. Last year, we planted lettuce from seed with my daughter's kindergarten class. The class nurtured the plants indoors, transplanted them to the garden, watched them grow over several weeks, then harvested the full heads.
And guess what? When it came time for the kids to eat the salad they grew, they did -- even those who had an aversion to the stuff. Planting changed the story, which changed the meal.
But I commiserate with Oliver. He's trying to change ingrained habits and tastes in a few weeks. The odds clearly aren't in his favor - at least yet.
"Three to four months is not enough time to see if this program is going to be successful," says principal Patrick O'Neal, who has embraced healthier eating, dines with the children and has shed 20 pounds since October.
"I think it's a spark to start a bigger fire," O'Neal says. "I don't see it as a failure, and I don't see it as a true success yet. It's going to take some time for it to ignite nationwide."
Do you have tips on how to get kids to eat good food?
- Samuel Fromartz
Mendy Heaps, a stellar English teacher for years, had never given much thought to the food her seventh-graders were eating. Then her husband, after years of eating junk food, was diagnosed with cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure and suddenly the french fries, pizza and ice cream being served in the cafeteria at rural Elizabeth Middle School outside Denver, Col., took on a whole new meaning.
Heaps was roused to action. She started teaching nutrition in her language arts classes. She bombarded colleagues, administrators and the local school board with e-mails and news clippings urging them to overhaul the school menu. She even took up selling fresh fruits and healthy snacks to the students on her own, wheeling alternative foods from classroom to classroom on a makeshift “fruit cart,” doling out apples for a quarter.
Finally, the school’s principal, Robert McMullen, could abide Heaps’ food crusade no longer. Under threat of being fired, Heaps says she was forced to sign a personnel memorandum agreeing to cease and desist. She was ordered to undergo a kind of cafeteria re-education program, wherein she was told to meet with the school’s food services director, spend part of each day on lunch duty recording what foods the students ate, and compile data showing the potential economic impact of removing from the menu the “grab and go” foods Heaps found so objectionable.
Read the rest here: A Teacher Crusades for Better School Food and Gets Stomped | The Slow Cook.
Barry Estabrook over at Politics of the Plate has a post on a new book -- one I'm eager to read.
The words “local, seasonal, sustainable” have been repeated so often and with so little thought that they have become soothing background noise, feel-good mood-music for any socially conscious eater worth his or her naturally obtained organic sea salt. So it’s refreshing to encounter a book that treats the subject intelligently.
Was it Holden Caulfield who said that the measure of a good book was one that makes you want to call up the author on the phone?Reading Ben Hewitt’s The Town That Food Saved impelled me to pay a visit to the author at his home, a raggedy farmstead at the end of a rutted, muddy, unmarked lane tucked among the folds and hollows of north-central Vermont.
