On the List: Milk and Homemade Hot Chocolate

So does milk do a body good?

It really depends on who you ask.  The whole foods people will tell you yes, as long as it is whole milk and minimally processed. Raw movement followers will only take it raw.  Lactose intolerant folks have very real issues and need alternatives.  Vegans are adamantly opposed to eating any animal product. Vegetarians seem split on the issue; it depends on how they practice. 

Me, I am a fan.  I like it with cookies, in fact I like it in cookies - when it comes to cooking and baking, milk inevitably smooths out a recipe like nothing else. Visit my fridge and you will find dairy all around, including cheese, milk, yogurt, ice cream, heavy cream, half and half, chocolate, and more.  In addition to tasting great, milk is a super food.  It is a great source of calcium, vitamins A and D, and other vitamins and minerals.  Milk and milk products have  been found to reduce tooth decay. It also is frequently cited as a combatant to a host of ills including osteoporosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, and colon cancer. 

That being said, there is much controversy around milk, including the following issues:

Industrial farming 

Industrial farming is a problem; that is one idea all the different foodie groups can get behind.  There is a lot of play in the media on how this affects meat purchases, but far less conversation on milk and eggs.  Suffice it to say that the same problems (environmental, humane, gastronomic, and health) pervade and are passed through the animals into the dairy products.  Organic industrial milk is not much better than its mainstream counterparts; while the animals are not exposed to antibiotics, they are living in horrendous conditions and eating soy and corn 'vegetarian diets', both of which do not make for good food.  Cows are ruminants; they need to be able to roam on pasture and eat the grasses that have naturally produced milk for many years.  Organic milk does not guarantee these conditions. 

Pasteurization and homogenization

Pasteurization is a process to eliminate bacteria in milk, usually caused from unclean conditions.  The milk is boiled at various heats, rendering the milk more or less sterile.  Pasteurization also contributes to longer shelf life for milk products. There is some controversy here, as some believe that any pasteurization decreases milks nutritional qualities.  Others hold that the High Temperature Short Time process is the only acceptable form of pasteurization. Homogenization is a process that equally distributes cream with the rest of the milk; prior to it, folks would shake their milk bottle vigorously before pouring, to ensure cream did not collect at the top.  

Milk pasteurization is required per most State regulations.  It is a federal offense to transport raw (unpasteurized) milk across state lines.  Homogenization is not legally required.  

That being said, the raw milk movement has taken off in America.  If you are willing to make the trip to purchase it at various farms across the country, you are in for a tasty treat. 

Fat content

Whole, 1%, 2%, Skim...there are a lot of choices in the dairy case.  The whole food movement believes that milk should be eaten in it's purest form, which means whole milk only.  Lower fat alternatives are advocated by the American Heart Association and other like health organizations.  

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is added to most industrially farmed milk; it is not added to grass fed or raw milk products.  

Is it cruel to milk cows?

There is a lot of debate about this.  Industrialized farming does seem cruel when it comes to milking cows.  In order to give milk, they must be impregnated regularly.  They give birth to calves but are not allowed to feed their young (who are fed a milk supplement by machine, and if they are male eventually sent to the veal crates). They are milked several times a day using machinery that is said to cause lesions and be uncomfortable for the animals.  These practices are more likely to occur on large industrialized farms, which have the equipment and money necessary to implement large economy of scale production.  Smaller farms may include some of these practices, but they do not have the capital nor the mandate to do so as fully as industrialized farms.  

So what to do?  If we had a backyard and I had my druthers, we would have a pasture for pet cows, but for now I have to make some practical choices for me and my family.  We are dairy eaters and I will continue to use milk products for their heath and gastronomic benefits, albeit in moderation. I don't think it is necessary to drink milk with our meals, nor I do I include dairy products in every meal.  As far as snacks go, I think cheese is a great choice for nibbling, but try to avoid anything over processed such as flavored milks, gogurt, or milk chocolate that uses corn syrup as an added ingredient.  

That being said, I now shop much more carefully for dairy products. I buy grass fed, HSTS pasteurized, non-homogenized, whole milk.  Try saying that 5 times fast.  It is not easy to come by; I usually find it in the organic markets or Whole Foods.  I like the Natural by Nature and Sky Top Farms brands.  They are small farms within 150 miles of my home.  The milk tastes like the milk I remember drinking as a child; it is creamy, with a light floral scent (I am guessing from the grass), and cooks beautifully.  I kind of like shaking it before serving; it is a nice reminder of what I have chosen for my family and and excellent way to get my yaya's out.

When I cannot find this milk, my next stop is the Organic Valley brand. I like them because they actually make an effort to purchase grass fed milk from their cooperating farmers (mostly small farms).  But it is not a requirement (120 days of annual pasture feeding is their standard), and you can taste the difference; it tastes like any other organic milk.  This brand is homogenized and pasteurized, and is very readily available in most supermarkets and grocery stores across the US.  

As a side note, I am not a fan of soy milk; it highly processed, estrogenic, and environmentally problematic. More on that in a future post, but here is a link to a recent piece by Umami Girl on the matter - I agreed with her completely.  I do like coconut milk and use it regularly in my cooking and baking.  Goat milk is another great alternative, but it does take some getting used to.  

Below is one of my favorite milk treats, homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream.  Once you choose your milk, enjoy every sip.  

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Hot Chocolate With Whipped Cream

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

2 cups milk (any kind will work)

1/2 cup cream

Method

1. Sift sugar and cocoa together and add to a small sauce pot.  Add milk and turn heat on medium high.  Sir constantly until all ingredients are blended (about 5 minutes).  
2. Using an electric mixer, whip cream on high for 2 - 3 minutes, until stiff peaks form.  
3. Pour hot cocoa into cups, top with whipped cream, and serve. 

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Baking My Angst Away

Hi.  It's me again. 

Sorry to bother you so late, but I really need to talk.  I know you must be tired from a long day and that this kind of violates our protocol, but if I can just get a few minutes of your time. 

You see, or rather you hear, my son will not sleep.  He just won't rest and is up every 2 - 3 hours and the kid is 20 months old already and YES, YES, I KNOW!  He's probably teething.  We've talked about this before.  It doesn't change the fact that my husband and I are becoming zombie mental cases with attitudes.  And YES, I KNOW - he's just a little boy, but that does not ease my circadian rhythms none, understand?  Oh, and yeah, I took an extra pill, I even almost gave him one.  It doesn't seem to help either of us sleep.

Anyway, we're up again, cruising the kitchen for some comfort.  The mixer makes too much noise and I am afraid I might hurt him if I go near the food processor. So I stand before you, my devoted and loyal oven, for a little comfort and plea for patience.

Nothing soothes my rumpled and crumpled soul like baking.  Now with cooking, you add a little of this, a little of that and poof, you get dinner.  But baking is a much more precise process.  Of course you can improvise, as can an acrobat cycling across the high wire. But like that trained performer you best know what you're doing.  An extra 5 minutes is the difference between caramelized and burned.  Too much flour and you'll need a hacksaw to cut through your work.  And then there is the tricky business of the egg white, cream, and yeast.  

But the rewards of baking are far greater than the sum of the final product.  It is the process that relaxes my body like a shiatsu massage.  Rough day?  Start kneading bread.  Too much going on?  Zest a lemon.  The physical acts of baking are repetitive and require confidence, both of which calm me in a storm.  And then there is the comfort in knowing that when I slowly cook egg yolks with sugar, it will turn into custard, or if I keep beating heavy cream it will whip into a delicious treat.  I can count on it as sure as the sun will rise and the tide will come in.  

Anyway, my son won't sleep.  He is teething or growing or evil or something.  It doesn't really matter why anymore, what matters is that we are exhausted.  And I am on the edge.  So the other morning, when duty wailed, I took him down to the kitchen with me, gave him a bottle of milk, and started baking.  Nothing fancy mind you; I can't deal with a pastry bag at 2 am.  But I made a fantastic banana bread that I've been perfecting for a few weeks now.  As I chopped the chocolate and smashed the bananas, I felt lighter and my anger eased gradually.  By the time it came out of the oven I was feeling zen like and hungry.  My son quickly gobbled it down and went back to sleep shortly thereafter.  

This simple recipe comes from Elana's pantry, a great gluten free site.  My adapted version is below.  Happy baking.

Shut Up And Go To Bed Banana Bread

3 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup agave

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

3 eggs, whisked

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 - 3 mashed bananas

1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and sugar in a large bowl
3. In a separate bowl, combine agave, oil, eggs, and vanilla
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry. Add banana and chocolate.
5. Add batter to a greased and floured 9 inch cake pan
6. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes. Note: If you are using a convection oven, test the cake after 25 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and cool

Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

On the List: Aromatics

Ah the list.  How I admire and envy the folks who are organized enough to always document their shopping lists each week.  The same people who diligently stick to their budgets, clip their coupons and their guns, and plan their meals well in advance of preparation.  Unlike me who is always in a panic/need of a special spice or a specific grain which I forgot to write down and I guess I could make it next week but oops I bought all the produce for it...you get my dilemma.  Same schtick, different week.

Short of intensive shock therapy, I doubt I will ever completely change my ways.  But I do have one trick in my grocery bag that keeps me going, a set of standards that I purchase every week no matter what.  Of these, my most important are the aromatics: celery, carrots, and onions.  They are named for their wonderful scents, which are particularly sweet and mouthwatering when cooked together.  When properly stored, they last for a long time. They are incredibly versatile and flexible, and did I mention they are cheap as well as highly nutritious?  Every week they automatically go in the cart, boosting my confidence and balancing my budget.  

A few notes on purchasing: I do not like the stores to choose for me; it is a little patronizing and tends to yield less than perfect produce.  So my advice is to look for the whole vegetable in an unbagged, uncut, and loose state.  If you can find things with the leaves on top, even better. Don't get me wrong - I am no purist and sometimes we all need to compromise, especially if you are shopping with two crazy children screaming for gogurt.  I am just saying, try this if you can.  Don't buy a bag of vegetables; select the ones that look best to you and put them in your own bag. Each week I buy 3 onions, a bunch of carrots, and a bunch of celery. 

I also like to mix it up.  If they are selling rainbow colored carrots, I am all over it.  Sometimes I prefer red onions to yellow, or even scallions or leeks.  Vidalia onions are always a treat. And if you can find celeriac, please give me a call because once you peel the damn thing it is delicious.  

Once you get them home, cut them up.  Peel the carrots, and then cut the tops and bottoms off, slicing the remainder in half.  Same with the celery.   Put it all in a tea towel or a plastic bag with a paper towel. Add to the crisper.  As for the onions, peel and cut them into eights, then add them to a plastic bag with a paper towel and set them next to their carrot/celery brethren. If you don't have time to peel the onions, leave them on the counter and out of the fridge.  

And now to cook.  Here are three easy things to do with aromatics all week long:

1. Fine chop them and add greens, tomatoes, chick peas, flax seed, and dressing. 
2. Rough chop them and add to 12 cups of boiling water, along with 2 pounds of chicken bones, salt, and pepper.  Lower heat to simmer, cook for 1 1/2 hours, and you will have delicious chicken broth. Discard solids.   Serve with steamed carrot coins, dill, and egg noodles. 
3. Mince them and saute in 2 tbsp of olive oil for 10 - 15 minutes, until soft.  Add 28 oz of canned, whole tomatoes.  Mash tomatoes, add 1 cup of red wine, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup white sugar.  Simmer for 20 minutes and serve with pasta.

Enjoy every bite, and please leave me a comment below about your own experiences with aromatics. 

Images: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

20 years

This week-end marked a milestone for me, my 20 year high school reunion.  I had hemmed and hawed about going, worrying if I had anything in common with these people anymore, bemoaning my weight, and delaying purchasing tickets.  Now that it is over, I am only sorry that I hesitated, because I had a blast and it was well worthwhile.

Waistlines were bigger and hair was smaller (in some cases non-existent). Some folks were married with children and others were single and fabulous.  I met lots of other stay at home moms, and envied folks with big careers.  I loved seeing all the smart kids, and learning about what they were doing.  Lot's of attorneys, doctors, financial services gurus, accountants, small business owners, and teachers.  

One friend later remarked about how many people seemed trapped in the high school mentality.  I smiled and agreed, but later thought about it.  He and I were both floaters in high school, friends with everyone and never bound to a single group.  It was the kind of thought we probably would have shared 20 years ago, and it still stands today.  And that of course means we were also still in our high school mode, on the inside but still outside. I suppose it was natural for all of us to gravitate to our former roles.  The cliques still buzzed like little hives.  Some other folks seemed to be holding court.  And some folks were still aiming to please, seeking approval from others who then and now would never acquiesce.  Finally, I also saw and experienced a lot of forgiveness to and from people who may have hurt me/been hurt by me. Past transgressions were overlooked or even transcended in the spirit of evening. 

I have to thank my husband for attending with me; as Jen Balaban (now Fritch) remarked, he deserves a gold star for enduring it.  It was also great to have a neutral party there, someone who wasn't part of my high school experience but knows me so well.  It was like having an anthropologist on hand to observe. On the way home we were chatting in the car and exchanging observations.  He remarked on how large our class was - 700 something people in all, of which probably 150 - 200 turned out.  He also noticed how diverse we were, which I guess was less common in the eighties than it is today.  And then he said something that was so kind, so generous and will stay with me always. 

"Julie, you always talk about how much you admire people who can light up a room, people who draw others in and around them.  What I saw tonight was a bunch of people who look at you like gold, who just loved you and root for you no matter what."  

So now you all know why I married him.  But it was true, not just for me but for all of us.  The friends we had back then really stay with you always, even if you never get to see them but for once every 20 years.  There is a staying power that comes with shared experience, and it ultimately translates into long term albeit hazy bonds that cannot be severed.  I remember fine details about friends from Warnsdorfer Elementary School, Churchill Junior High, and East Brunswick High School; their brothers and sisters, their parents, our teachers, the smell of the classrooms, field day, dances in the gym, parties, where they went to college, football games, the first day of 7th grade, East Brunswick Soccer Club, Farrels, Bella Pizza, trips to Luray Caverns, TAG, IPLE, Ms. Trabilsy's (later Eichorn) wedding, the Metropolitan Club, the fly in Ms. Merli's classroom, Mr. Kenny's ex-wife and antics, scrunchies, Mr. Hanley and chorus, bar/bat mitzvah's, sweet sixteens, crazy science teachers, the Constitutional competition, Model UN, and so much more.  No matter what, I will always remember these folks, and am glad that we had one evening to reconnect.  Class of 1989, it was great to see you - I wish you all the best in your lives, and thank you for the memories.  

Want to share something about the reunion?  Leave me a comment below and tell me about it.

The Best Guest

I love being the hostess. But what I love even more is being hostess to a great guest, you know the kind everyone loves to have in their home. The gal who tells good jokes. The guy who makes everyone smile. The couple who gently takes your screaming 3 month child in their arms and kindly offers its parents a chair and a drink. Good guests are hard to come by, and once found are treasured like nothing else I know.

While I am an excellent hostess, I have had to study to become a good guest and in doing so have found that I have ultimately attracted better company to my own table. Maybe it is just a coincidence but I like to think it is good karma that as my guest skills have improved, so have my own hostessing fortunes.

The best guest never:

• Argues with the host or the other guests.
• Smokes in the house.
• Drinks red wine when there is white furniture nearby.
• Brings their pet.

The best guest always:

• Arrives on time. Never 15 minutes early, when I am mental with last minute details and still in my bathrobe. Never more than 30 minutes late, after things have started and then complains that there are no more appetizers.
• Puts everyone at ease. A great guest comes right in and makes you feel at home in your own home. They can put others at ease, diffuse difficult situations, and fill pregnant pauses with comfortable conversation.
• Offers to help. I love it when someone comes over and offers to help put things out or even better clean up. They always get my love and respect, and lots of extra dessert.
• Brings a small gift for the host/hostess. It is just common courtesy, and does not have to be a painful exercise.

Regarding that last point, the key to a good gift is being thoughtful. Don't bring a great bottle of wine to an alcoholic's home. No flowers for asthmatics or the highly allergic. Rethink that ham for the vegetarian. You get the gist.

Once you know the no-no's, think small, homemade, and fun. Here are some of my favorite recipes for the successful guest - enjoy and have a great holiday.

Spiced, Candied Pecans

Ingredients

1/2 cup of light corn syrup

1 tsp of cayenne, chipotle, or ancho chili powder

1 lb shelled pecans

Sea salt

Turbino sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper or foil on a large, rimmed pan.
2. Place corn syrup and chili powder in a large bowl and mix. Let stand for 5 minutes.
   
3. Add pecans to the bowl and mix.
4. Spread the pecans evenly on the parchment paper or foil. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and turbino sugar.
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool and serve or place them in a decorative jar with ribbon.

Gravlax

Note: Please note that this recipe needs to be refrigerated for 3 days before serving.

Ingredients

2 1 lb fillets of salmon

1 tbsp black pepper

1/2 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 bunch of dill

Method

1. Place the salmon fillets side by side. One each fillet, place 1/2 the pepper, salt, and sugar.
2. Place the dill on one fillet and top with the other.
3. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place in a rimmed pan and weight the salmon with a heavy object (I like to use a Le Creuset pot top). Place in the refrigerator.
4. Chill for 3 days, turning the salmon over nightly.
5. Slice thinly and serve the salmon. For parties, place on a nice platter with small boiled potatoes and Greek yogurt.

Hummus

Ingredients

1 lb of dried chick peas or 2 cans of chickpeas

1/2 cup of tahini (you can find it in the supermarket, usually near the peanut butter)

1 lemon, juiced

2 cloves of garlic

Sea salt

Black pepper

Method

1. If using dried beans, soak them overnight. Rinse beans and place in food processor.
2. Add tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. Pulse food processor 20 times, or until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. If you like, try any or all of following additions to the food processor: 1/4 cup of roasted red peppers, 1 tsp ancho chili powder or 1 tbsp lemon zest.
4. Serve on a platter with pita bread and fresh vegetables.

Meat and Poultry Matrix

When did meat become so complicated?

Trying to figure out what to buy and why has become a full time occupation for me.  I spend hours at the supermarkets and online reading labels, researching ingredients, and making the best decisions I can.  Some of them are pricey and some are dicey, but they are the choices that my family lives and eats by, so I try to get it right.  

That being said, I am most stumped by meat and poultry.  So much misleading and conflicting information, coupled by the fact that all research leads me to conclude we should be eating less and less of both.  What I have learned can be summed up as follows:

• Most supermarket meat is not from a farm, it is from a factory.  The animals are treated badly; they live horrible lives in confinement and are killed in a cruel manner.  And most importantly, the factory lifestyle generates unhealthy meat and poultry.  The animals are chocked full of antibiotics and other medications, they are mixed and matched Frankenstein style, so it is impossible to trace where they came from, and they tend to be filthy.  
• Unless grass fed and pasture raised, organic and/or free range meat does not provide much relief from the above.  They are fed a slightly better diet (although organic cows still are fed corn and not grass, which is really unnatural), but generally live in the same crappy conditions and have very similar problems to non organic factory meat and poultry.  
• Grass fed and pasture raised meat and poultry is the best way to go, but it is very expensive and difficult to come by.  Often it needs to be shipped and therefore has some environmental limitations.  But this is outweighed by the other environmental, humane, and gastronomic benefits it provides.  

To manage this, I only cook meat twice a week.  I try to only use grass fed, pasture raised, and organic products.  And I try not to purchase any of this at the supermarkets.  I have decided to try and track the products that I have tried, in an effort to keep my research straight. Here is my high level meat and poultry  matrix that documents what I have found.  

Do you have any additional information for me on this topic?  Comment below and let me know - I will be updating this post and the matrix on a regular basis.  

Sour Grapes

For those of you who follow NJ politics, our fair city of Hoboken has a new Mayor.  Dawn Zimmer will hold office for the next four years, and hopefully restore credibility to our local government.  I have great faith in her and her team, and for one am very excited and proud of Hoboken for electing such a smart, honest, and capable woman to the office.  It feels like we have cleaned out our cabinets, rid ourselves of the stale and pale, and started fresh.  Congratulations Mayor Zimmer and best of luck in everything you do.

That being said, a word about the losers who have run less than appetizing campaigns.  In particular, I would like to cite Beth Mason for the most consistently expensive, divisive, and bizarre campaign I have ever witnessed, TWICE.  As you my loyal readers know, this site is normally reserved for tales in and out of the kitchen.  Beth honey, this one's for you.

Recipe for Disaster

Ingredients

1 lb horse steaks, butterflied (technique where meat - otherwise too thick to cook properly - is sliced into dual, conjoined sections)

Directions

1. Using a mallet or other blunt instrument, beat horse until tender.  Beat it some more.  Beat it one more time, attempting to sever the link between the two pieces. 
2. Place meat on a broiler plate.  The meat will cook in its own fat. 
3. Heat the broiler on high.  Cook for 4 months or until charred. 
4. Plate on a silver platter. Serves less than 25%.