Paralyzed By Choices

I recently left a job that I had held for 4.5 years. To my great astonishment, my colleagues presented me with a gift certificate for Williams-Sonoma as a parting gift. Everybody knows how much I like to cook and eat, so it was apparently the most obvious choice.

In these lean economic times, gift certificates are much appreciated. Trouble is, I become paralyzed by the number of options available to me in spending it. Do you buy a whole bunch of little things, or do you put it towards the cost of a single, expensive item? Do you get something you really need or do you get something frivolous that you would never have bought on your own dime?

My initial thought was that I'd like a meat grinder. I don't mean the electric kind, but a really old-fashioned, hand-cranked grinder (see the squeaky, unattractive grinding process in the video below). Not very sexy, but I find that I can't always get my hands on the ground meats I want. If I can grind my own poultry, or make a mixed grind, that would save me a lot of trouble.



Sadly, Williams-Sonoma only has the electric kind and they ain't cheap.

So what do I do with $80 CAD? Pretty much anything would make me happy because kitchen gadgets to me are like toys to a toddler. One caveat: I can't get any large, hefty gear because my kitchen is tiny and I am all out of storage/counter space. I'd like to hear YOUR ideas.

What the World Eats

Time magazine has published a thought-provoking photo essay titled, "What the World Eats". It is an excerpt from a book called "Hungry Planet" by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. Each photograph depicts a family along with the foods they have consumed in one week.

The Ukita family from Kodaira City, Japan (shown above) spends around $317.25 USD eating a lot of fish, but also a lot of processed, packaged, or instant foods. In sharp contrast, the Aboubakar family from Darfur spends a paltry $1.23 USD in a refugee camp in Chad to feed six. The Revis family from North Carolina goes through a stunning $341.98 USD on one week, predictably on a lot of junk food. Probably the most wholesome-looking diet is maintained by the Namgay family of Shingkhey Village, Bhutan: for $5.03, this family of 13 feeds on a generous amount of vegetables, grains, some fruit and a very modest amount of meat. Not a bottle of pop or bag of potato chips in sight.

There's no judgment here -- this is just how things are in different parts of the world. I think the closer people are to the earth and the animals they eat, the less they need to spend on packaged food and groceries in general. I also find the photo essay endearing in its list of family favorites. The Polish family's favorite is pig's knuckles with root vegetables. Mutton seems to be a favorite in Egypt and Mongolia. Coca Cola seems to be the universal favorite among soda drinkers (except for the Italians); as a Pepsi-hater, I approve! It makes me laugh to see Kellogg brand cereal among the staples of the families from Kuwait and Italy.

When I first moved out on my own, I made a third of what I do today. I was extremely frugal and also very health-conscious, having lost a quarter of my body weight through rigorous exercise and calorie management. I learned very quickly that meat and packaged foods are the fastest way to blow a budget; fresh produce gives the most bang for the buck. I did my $40 CAD groceries once every 2 weeks and rarely ate out. I have no memories of feeling deprived or limited in any way.

It is said that people who make more spend more, and I have to concede that it's true. $40 is now my minimum weekly food budget, not including birthday dinners and parties which can average $40-80 per head.

For sustainability and ethical farming reasons, I'm starting to go back to my frugal ways. I treat meat and animal products as a luxury and buy no more than one cut of meat per week for myself. Two if I'm cooking for someone else. At that rate, it is possible (and sensible) to expend the extra dollars on ethically and organically raised meat. I load up on fruits and vegetables weekly, if not twice a week. The weekly farmer's market held next door to my office is now part of my regular ritual. I have the occasional weakness for wine or Diet Coke, but I don't bring junk food into my home and toss out all take-out flyers for recycling.

What do you do to spend less for better health (yours and the environment's)?

Bollito Misto

For the past month or so, I have been crippled by a severe case of allergic contact dermatitis -- first on my shins, later spreading to the rest of my body, irritating every available patch of skin below my face. It was a bitter comedy of errors, with each course of treatment resulting in worse and worse outcomes until a specialist finally determined that I was violently allergic to a common over-the-counter ointment. Funny how sometimes the cure is far worse than the illness.

The last two weeks were supposed to be my first vacation this year. Much to my chagrin, I spent almost every minute of that time house-bound and incapacitated. One of the tragedies of losing that rare "me" time was that I was unable to do cooking of any sort, nor could I write, eat out, or take the time to explore farmer's markets. I have only just started the road to recovery, so bear with me as I try to catch up.

I admire both the technical sophistication of haute cuisine and the rustic comforts of simple home cooking. My book is focused on the latter, which is why I was delighted to come across the Italian tradition of bollito misto. The literal translation is "boiled mixed", called thus because it is quite literally a boiled mixture of whatever you want for dinner.

I first heard of it on Gourmet magazine's Diary of a Foodie show, in episode 28 titled "Bovine Rhapsody". The program featured a Tuscan family that raises Maremmana cattle the old-fashioned way. They put their home-grown beef into a pot of water, along with whole tomatoes, whole onions, basil and parsley. The mixture simmered for two hours until the meat was tender. That's bollito. The meat was removed from the broth and served with salsa verde, home-made mayonnaise and boiled, peeled potatoes. Simple, slow food.

If you consult the recipes of top chefs, you will encounter far more exotic variations. Giada De Laurentiis's recipe adds celery, bay leaf, carrots, beef stock and calls for a Gorgonzola sauce as an extra condiment. Iron Chef Mario Batali's recipe incorporates an arsenal of meats such as calf's tongue, veal shank, beef cheeks, beef sausages, capon and turkey breasts on top of the beef brisket. It is said that King Vittorio Emanuele II used to sneak away from the royal court with his friends to grab a bite of bollito; it is likely that his Highness was addicted to the seven-meat version like Batali's. Impressive, but the humble farmer's version is far more appealing to me.

Here is my version.

Bollito Misto
Serves 4-6

1 lb beef brisket (or any other kind of meat for stewing), whole or cubed
1 large tomato, whole
1 large onion, coarsely chopped into large chunks
1-2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 cup baby carrots
4 cups of water
a couple of sprigs each of basil, parsley
salt, to taste

1. Put all ingredients except for the salt into a large pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Skim off any impurities (i.e. scum) that rise to the surface. Continue until the broth is reasonably clear.
   
4. Add more water if necessary to ensure that all the ingredients are submerged.
5. Simmer for 2 hours.
6. Add salt to taste. (1 tsp was appropriate for me.)
7. Serve the meat and vegetables with or without the broth. (I personally liked the broth a lot.)
   

If you have time to make the aforementioned salsa verde, mayo or boiled potatoes as accompaniments, feel free to do so.

Much Ado About Salad

I have a long history of killing plants. Not from neglect. In fact, I am so attentive to them that I smother them with too much affection. I water them too much, give them too much sun, feed them too much and get too zealous in driving pests away.

However, I do take instruction well. Now that I am a home owner, with space to grow things, I've started educating myself through books and friends whose own gardens are like Eden itself.

Lo and behold, I have grown something that I can actually eat. I grew two rows of organic Lettuce Rouge D'Hiver (Lactuca sativa) from seed this season. It is a French lettuce similar to Romaine, with shades of red like its name suggests, and a light, peppery aftertaste. It took a very long time to get big and leafy due to the lacklustre summer weather. Once or twice it even wilted a bit due to some freak heat spells. But it is a hardy plant that springs right back with a bit of water and sun. It's also a gift that keeps on giving: I trim only what I need and the rest goes on growing.

Also from seed, I grew a flower pot full of lemon basil. My fingers smell like lemons or lemongrass every time I touch the delicate little leaves. Unlike other sweeter varieties of basil, the leaves of the lemon basil are narrow and petite. It has a lot of applications in Asian cuisine, particularly in curries.

However, to celebrate my first harvest -- can't believe I'm actually using that word! -- I decided to make a simple vinaigrette using good quality olive oil, balsamic vinegar and finely chopped lemon basil. I would like to emphasize "good quality" because cheap oils are tasteless and supermarket vinegars are sharp and acrid. When you allow yourself to splurge even just a bit on these things, you quickly learn how they are supposed to taste: smooth, rounded with fruity notes. I used to hate balsamic vinegar until someone bought me the fancy stuff... now I can't go back.

I chopped my red lettuce, cut strips of orange and yellow bell peppers that I had roasted and peeled, tossed everything together with the vinaigrette, and sprinkled some freshly ground pepper and fleur de sel. Some crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese would have been a nice addition.

I finally understand why gardeners become so infatuated with sticking seeds in soil, getting dirt under their fingernails, duking it out with unwanted pests, and rejoicing whenever it rains. It's the same reason why cooks like to make things from scratch, fussing over high quality ingredients, kitchen equipment and culinary techniques.

So it looks like the black thumb is going away, hopefully to be replaced by a green thumb. I can't wait until next year to start growing more ambitious edibles. Send me your suggestions!

A Meal for a Song

One Ring Zero, a quirky pop band from New York, have asked their favorite chefs for recipes then turned those recipes into songs. "The Recipe Project" includes recipes... er, lyrics by Iron Chefs such as Mario Batali and Michael Symon as well as Chris Cosentino (often seen on the Food Network). You can listen to some samples here. The ingredient recitations alone are hilarious.

Band member Michael Hearst also has a solo project called "Songs for Ice Cream Trucks". The album is a sugary, twinkling confection that will give you an ice cream craving and a cavity. If you have kids or if you are a kid, you'll love it. Give it a listen.