Food Co-Op Exploring

I'm over/up in Albany for the holiday weekend and, after a few email exchanges compiling lists of potential tastiness for the weekend, Sars and I decided to wait to go to the groceria until I arrived. Our Altos Gatherings tend to revolve around food, cooking, snacking, grazing. The two of us came up with a weekend plan balancing real meals and easy munchies for work time and fun times. We made a final shoppin list while Friedrich acclimated to all the fun new places to explore in our hostess' appartment and then we were off. Sars had heard all sorts of good things about a nearby food co-op, so we decided to check it out first and then swing by the Chopper House (read: Price Chopper) to grab the few processed, not-so-good-for-you and consequently not-sold-at-food-co-op items on the list. We discussed Food, Inc. in the car and tried to walk a balance between responsible consuming and not grossing ourselves out so much that we wouldn't be able to eat our krispie treats. [Side note. Sars: "Sooo...that one bag of marshmallows is enough for ONE batch? Let's get twoooo.]

The co-op - Honest Weight Food Co-Op - was just as amazing as the recommendations suggested. Fantastic selection, cheap enough prices to make it do-able without compromising fair trade for things like organic chocolate and real 100% juice, and very user-friendly. The veggies-and-fruit section could have been bigger, but I suspect it will be once we continue through summer. My favorite part, of course, might have been the lovely, delicious range of cheeeeeses. I miss passing through the fancy cheese shop on the way to the train in Philly to spend my rather generous cheese budget (yes, I had a separate line item in my monthly budgeting to keep me in really good dairy products. Pretty sure I spent more on cheese than was decent, but who cares about decent when there's a good cheese in front of you?). Well, we tried some samples and I knew immediately that we would be getting the locally-produced pesto goat cheese spread that I tried. Mmmmmm. I would go back all the time just to keep an eye on their local selection.

I think Sars' favorite part might have been the bulk grains, nuts, flours, etc. area. Huge - and I mean HUGE - variety. As she said as we started walking through it, "Why would you ever BUY granola in a store when you can make it yourself?" We managed to snag some organic, fair-trade dark chocolate chips for our lazy pain au chocolat (along with the ready-to-bake croissants we got at the Chopper House). I also spotted a great giftie in the chocolate section for Rhianyn, as part of the celebration for her passing her drivers' exam: raw, unprocessed cacao beans. !!! I don't know if I've ever actually seen them before; I'm almost scared what she'll do with them, but it'll be fun and adventurous, I'm sure. I *doooo* have that stone mortar and pestle that Victoire made me buy years ago...

It was a lovely, foodie adventure that culminated in lots of great eats (like curried chicken and some carrot & sweet potato chips). I'm sure Sars will become a loyal customer, and perhaps even a co-op member. Now I just need to find a similar place in the "Quiet Corner" of CT...

Citrus Zester Update


So I used my new favorite tool again today to zest some lemon and I learned a lesson. Although the tool's ergonomics are very different from other kitchen tools used in zesting, and for the better I might add, this lovely tool can still do the same damage to your hands and fingers as a classic grater. I was grating a lemon and I got a little too close to the blade!!! Must be careful!

My Favorite New Kitchen Gadget

It seems that each cook has their favorite part of their kitchen. The appliances, the cookbooks, the ingredients, the memories from their kitchen. For me it is the tools that I love. I love to go to a kitchen section in a store and look at all the cool tools to use. Vegetable peelers, mini choppers, knives, cutting boards, lemon juicers, spatulas, reamers, melon ballers, funnels (they're like fancy tunnels, right Erin?), pastry blenders, I could go on forever. I love all those cool gadgets that I can use to make the process of cooking much easier and smoother.

I love making lemon bars and other lemon deserts like lemon meringue pie, which of course requires lemon juice and lemon zest. Well I finally had to bite the bullet and get a lemon zester.
The above picture is the zester, which is super cool because if you pull on the gray end and push the red button on the other end it pulls out of itself. When you're finished adding your lemon zest to your ingredients, you can easily slip the zester back together. Sleek and small it fits very nicely into your kitchen drawers and doesn't take up a lot of room.

The first time I used it was to make the Lemon Lentil Soup which Erin made earlier in the month. And contrary to popular belief the lemon flavor of Lemon Lentil Soup does not come from Lemon Curd.

Now I have a feeling that some people will comment on me lacking such a vital tool in the kitchen, but for a while I used bottled lemon juice and dried lemon peel in recipes just because Mom always did that. And in a pinch, for a recipe that calls for just a few tablespoons of juice or peel I think the bottled stuff is great. However, after using this zester I almost feel like I want to buy real lemons to use in every recipe that calls for lemon just so I can use my new tool!!! And after this very long discussion about lemons, I feel that the lime is often overlooked in its ability to liven up recipes. Limes are way cool too. Perhaps now I shouldn't call my favorite new gadget a lemon zester, but a citrus zester so I don't offend anyone in the produce section or appear prejudice towards any fruits or vegetables.

Lemony Lentil Soup

This was on thekitchn last week, and today seemed an appropriately rainy day to try it out.

I started with an onion, green onions, celery and garlic.

Throw it all in a pot with 2 t cumin, 1 t coriander, 1/4 t cloves and some olive oil.

Add the zest of one lemon, and save the lemon.

Cook it down till the vegetables are soft, and then add 2 cups of rinsed red lentils, and 2 bay leaves, which I'm pretty sure I was supposed to have added in the previous step. Whoops.

Then I added 8 cups of water, as dictated by the recipe. I think next time I'd use unsalted chicken or vegetable stock (not broth, though) for a bit more flavor. Let this cook for 30 minutes or so, until the lentils are cooked and falling apart. Then I added a couple of handfuls of torn spinach leaves, just for color, and and because I like spinach.

The recipe called for finishing it with 1/4 to 1/3 cup lemon juice, but I think I ended up using closer to 1/2 cup, between what I got from the zested lemon and what I squirted out of the bottle until I liked the taste of the soup. At the end, I added a few grinds of black pepper, and probably about a teaspoon of sea salt. Next time I make it, I'm going to up the spices, and use stock, and that'll probably reduce the amount of salt that's necessary, or maybe eliminate the need for it altogether.

I got some sourdough from the not-bad-half-bad-too-bad bread section (a classic Emily term for the day-old bread they sell at a discount), which was the perfect complement. A good meal for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

What is "cooking," exactly?

I ask this because I'm thinking of the one thing many of us Altos turn the stove on for more often than food - tea, the elixir of life. Honestly, is there anything better than that first sip of tea in the morning? Or when you're dragging in the afternoon? Or at night, when you're working late and there's no better company than your favorite mug?

Ok, I know that we're not all tea drinkers. Some of us (and particularly some Alto associates) are fans of other hot beverages. To each his or her own, even if they are wrong.

My sister noted the following this afternoon:

emily: i think i am a tea snob

i have to drink Bigalow Earl Grey here at the library and it is so sub par

I, on the other hand, think Bigelow Earl Grey is one of the more passable bagged Earl Greys, unlike Twinings, which tastes of pepper, and Stash, which tastes of bananas (don't even get me started on the Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey. Yuk.)

Anyway, I was thinking that since we do consume tea in much the same way we consume food - through our mouths - it should be fair game for blogging.

Also, my tea cabinet is an incredibly prominent part of my pantry - it's the only actual cabinet, and all of the other food is relegated to open shelves. Protect what's most important.

No More Armadillo-Eating

Ok, so apparently, eating armadillos has been linked to current cases of leprosy. So - no more recipes involving armadillo meat, m'kay?