I've been lax about making bread. November - January is so busy anyway, I haven't been making the time. I very intentionally don't order bread through my buying club, because I'm planning on making it myself, and then I don't and everything is on a tortilla. Just the other day I went to the supermarket for fruit and a couple of staples and I was drawn in by the bread and bought some sandwich rolls, since I knew I wasn't going to make them this week.

Well, it's a new year. Let's make some bread. Not just bread, either, let's make some sweet and warm and cinnamony bread.

This recipe makes three loaves, which I think is perfect because you get one to freeze, one to give away and one for right now. If you don't have three loaf pans, do cut down the recipe.

First, scald some milk. Lots of folks out there will tell you that if you're using pasteurized milk, there is no need to scald it, but other folks tell you to go ahead and scald if you're making bread. Scalding is about bringing it up to just shy of boiling, stirring all the while, and then quickly turning it off.

I used skim, but you will experience a different level of luxury if you use whole.

Set the milk aside to cool. Get it down under 125 degrees before using it.

What I like to do, for efficiency, is wait until it's down to lukewarm, and toss in the butter.

We're going to need 4oz of softened butter anyway, why not soften it right here in the milk and that'll help cool the milk too.

Get some yeast foaming in a cup of warm water and a sprinkle of sugar. Once frothy, add a cup of sugar.

And three eggs.

And a teaspoon of salt.

Then slowly stream in your warm milk and butter, while mixing.

And then quite a bit of unphotographed flour. 8 cups - a mix of white and whole wheat. If you use all white, it'll be softer, more whole wheat, it'll be drier.

Also, while we're doing the ingredient thing, this is a good time to set aside some butter to soften. You'll need it for greasing the bowl the dough rises in and for greasing the loaf pans, and for brushing with butter near the end.

Mix it together either by hand, or until your machine gives up on you and presents you with dough creeping way up and over the dough hook.

At this point you can give up and revert to doing it by hand.

Knead until smooth.

Then roll into a ball and set to rise in a *buttered* bowl.

Leave it to rise, covered, until doubled in size. I either put dough in my basement near my boiler, or I tuck it away inside my china cabinet.

Meanwhile, make the cinnamon sugar mix to go inside the bread.

That's cinnamon, white sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg and yes, cayenne. A pinch of cayenne doesn't make things hot, it makes things better.

See? You can't even tell there's cayenne once it's mixed together.

Once the dough has doubled (somewhere between 1 and 2 hours), take it out of its hiding place.

And divide it into thirds. You're making three loaves.

Roll a third of the dough out to about a half-inch on a floured cutting board. You're aiming for a rectangle, but no one is looking.

Dampen the dough with a little water - like a teaspoon, and spread that around. Then spread a third of the sugar-cinnamon mixture on top.

Roll the dough tightly from edge to edge.

This roll actually isn't so tight. Looser rolls mean gaps in the bread where the cinnamon swirls fall.

If the roll is too long now, give it a solid smush and then roll a bit more to re-shape.

Do that with each third of the dough and cinnamon-sugar mixture. Drop each into a *buttered* loaf pan and set aside to rise again. You want them to rise until they're fluffy up above the pan. Probably less than an hour.

Once they've risen, bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes, but come back and visit at 30.

At the 30 minute mark, take the loaves out and brush with butter, then rotate them and put them back in.

They're done when they're golden brown, sound hollow when you thump them, and their interior temperature reaches 200 degrees.

Let them cool 5-10 minutes until you're comfortable touching the loaves (not the pans, the pans are still hot) and dump them out of the pans and on to baking sheets.

Give them 20 minutes or so longer to cool and then slice away.

We're all ready for a toaster and some butter.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups skim milk (scalded)

 

• 3 eggs

 

• 1 and 1/4 cups, plus a tablespoon, sugar, divided

 

• 1 teaspoon table salt

 

• 2 packets or 4.5 teaspoons yeast

 

• 1 cup plus three teaspoons warm water, divided

 

• 1/2 cup (4oz) plus 2 tablespoons, butter, divided

 

• 3 tablespoons cinnamon

 

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

 

• a pinch of cayenne

 

• 1 tablespoon nutmeg

 

• 8 cups flour - mixed whole wheat and white

Instructions

• Scald the milk and set aside to cool. Mix a tablespoon of sugar in with the warm water and add the yeast. Let sit until frothy.

 

• When milk is lukewarm, add 1/2 cup butter.

 

• Add 1/2 cup white sugar, salt and eggs to frothy yeast mixture and mix together. Slowly add in milk and butter, stirring or mixing.

 

• Gradually add 8 cups of flour (I prefer 6 white and 2 whole wheat), stirring until well mixed.

 

• Drop dough onto a floured board and knead until smooth. Roll into a ball.

 

• Grease a large bowl with butter and turn the dough in that bowl to cover all sides. Set aside to rise until doubled (1-2 hours).

 

• Mix remaining sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cayenne and nutmeg in a small bowl.

 

• When dough has risen, divide into thirds. Roll each third out into a rectangle as wide as your loaf pan is long.

 

• Dampen dough with water and top with 1/3 of cinnamon-sugar mixture.

 

• Roll tightly and lay seam-side down in a buttered loaf pan. Repeat for all three loaves.

 

• Set aside to rise until fluffy over the top of the loaf pans.

 

• Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, brushing with butter and rotating midway.

 

• Bread is done when internal temperature reaches 200 degrees and bread makes a hollow sound when thumped.

 

• Cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pans to continue cooling.

Details

• Prep time: 30 mins

 

• Cook time: 50 mins

 

• Total time: 4 hour 20 mins

 

• Yield: 3 loaves

 

I love this soup. Who can beat cheese and onion in rich broth? But like so many restaurant foods, when we started cooking at home a lot, the restaurant versions all seemed too salty. I don't order it anymore because there is just too much risk of it tasting like a salt lick. Soup's tricky that way. But if I make it, I'm in control. There are a lot of onion soup recipes out there, with some variation. Some folks insist you need to use yellow onions, or white, or Vidalia or red. There's the white wine camp and the red wine camp and the cognac camp. There's apple cider in some, and balsamic vinegar in others. Some recipes include three hours of baking onions. Some use chicken stock, some use beef stock and some use a mix. This is a fairly quick*, delicious soup. It's hearty and cheesy and warm and rich and a bit sweet. You could even make a vegetarian version with mushroom stock. Let's do this, shall we? Since I'm not doing a vegetarian version, I needed to start with beef stock. Several weeks ago, I ordered something called "soup bones" from the buying club. This was new territory for me. I'm not going to show pictures, because that is somewhat horrifying, but I made a bed of rough chopped carrots and onions and celery and garlic, and spritzed everything with olive oil, and put the bones (ok, it was one huge bone) on top. The bone had a good amount of meat on it, so that all roasted together with a tablespoon of tomato paste (I read that somewhere) and hung around for about an hour in the oven until it was roasty. Then I just simmered it on low all day, and strained it FOUR TIMES. The last strain was after a night in the fridge, and the fat had all congealed on the top so it was pretty easy to remove. I told my mother I was making this and she said it was funny, she was going to make onion soup soon too. And I said, "Are you making the stock, or buying it?" And she said she planned to make the stock, and asked what that entailed, and I told her and she decided to buy stock. So, you know, make your own decision. I'm saving salt this way. But really, what you need to start with are onions. I used red. Other folks have other opinions. I used three pounds of red onions, which was four huge onions. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="They say you can light a candle, or your stove, or chew gum or breathe through your mouth. No. You'll be crying."][/caption] I sliced them, but not paper thin. I considered busting out the mandoline for this, but I figured with the caramelization, they were just going to turn to mush anyhow.

With four tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil, I set them to caramelize.

Then I chopped up some shallots to add depth.

They went in. After about 10 minutes on medium-high, when they were soft and turning sweet, I sprinkled on a half teaspoon of kosher salt. Then I let them keep caramelizing for the rest of an hour, stirring just occasionally. This is an hour. Look at that fond. They're pretty much a liquid. I sprinkled a third cup of flour on top and stirred to coat. They cooked for about five minutes. Then it was time to deglaze. I put almost a cup of malbec - more than 3/4 - in a measuring cup, and filled the rest with balsamic vinegar. Folks use all sorts of wine for this, so feel free. Then the stock. 10 cups.

And herbs and such. A bay leaf.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Every time I use a bay leaf I'm crossing my fingers and chanting to myself, "remember to remove the bay leaf.""][/caption] A little more than a tablespoon of fresh (frozen) thyme. A good bit of black pepper. Now let it simmer. 40 minutes? Until it's all come together and you're ready to eat. Meanwhile, find some bread. I keep the ends of bread in my freezer, but a normal person might need to get a baguette. I've got a lot of soup here, but I only need enough bread ready for four servings - two tonight, two for lunch tomorrow and the rest will freeze. So I dug up a piece of french bread and some miscellany. I cut it into cubes and toasted it in the oven. When the soup was done, or rather, we were ready to eat, because it had been simmering an hour at that point, remove the bay leaf and pour it into individual oven-safe bowls** - on a rimmed baking sheet. I happen to have made a good decision at Goodwill years ago. Sometimes I buy stuff and it just sits, other times I get soup crocks. Top with bread and gruyere. And into a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes to melt. Have it with a salad, not only because it's beef stock covered in cheese and you just should, but also because it's piping hot right now. Have a conversation. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Piping hot. Like, my dinner's on a trivet."][/caption] It won't be long. Remember how I only added a sprinkle of salt to the onions when they were caramelizing? The only salt here is that, plus the cheese, plus whatever's in your bread, so maybe sprinkle your bowl lightly. Taste first. This made eight to ten decent sized servings. *soup quick, not like, grilled cheese quick. **don't have an oven safe bowl? No worries. Melt cheese on bread in the oven, and toss that on top of the soup. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.  Ingredients

• 3 pounds red onions, sliced
• 10 cups beef broth
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup shallots, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup -per serving- stale bread, cubed
• 1 oz -per serving- gruyere or swiss, sliced

Instructions

• Slice onions and chop shallots
• Heat butter and olive oil on medium.
• Add onions and shallots and caramelize on medium, stirring occasionally.
• After 10 minutes, sprinkle with kosher salt and stir. Visit and stir occasionally, but allow onions to stick a bit and create a fond on the bottom of the pot. Leave to caramelize about an hour or until very soft.
• Add wine and vinegar. Scrape fond from pot. Add stock. Heat to simmer.
• Add bay leaf (remember you'll have to remove it later), thyme and black pepper. Simmer 40 minutes or so.
• Meanwhile, toast croutons and slice cheese.
• When soup is done, pour into individual oven-safe bowls, top with croutons and cheese and bake until melted.

Details

• Prep time: 10 mins
• Cook time: 1 hour 50 mins
• Total time: 2 hours
• Yield: 8-10 servings

I love this soup. Who can beat cheese and onion in rich broth?

But like so many restaurant foods, when we started cooking at home a lot, the restaurant versions all seemed too salty. I don't order it anymore because there is just too much risk of it tasting like a salt lick. Soup's tricky that way. But if I make it, I'm in control.

There are a lot of onion soup recipes out there, with some variation. Some folks insist you need to use yellow onions, or white, or Vidalia or red. There's the white wine camp and the red wine camp and the cognac camp. There's apple cider in some, and balsamic vinegar in others. Some recipes include three hours of baking onions. Some use chicken stock, some use beef stock and some use a mix.

This is a fairly quick*, delicious soup. It's hearty and cheesy and warm and rich and a bit sweet. You could even make a vegetarian version with mushroom stock.

Let's do this, shall we?

Since I'm not doing a vegetarian version, I needed to start with beef stock. Several weeks ago, I ordered something called "soup bones" from the buying club. This was new territory for me. I'm not going to show pictures, because that is somewhat horrifying, but I made a bed of rough chopped carrots and onions and celery and garlic, and spritzed everything with olive oil, and put the bones (ok, it was one huge bone) on top. The bone had a good amount of meat on it, so that all roasted together with a tablespoon of tomato paste (I read that somewhere) and hung around for about an hour in the oven until it was roasty. Then I just simmered it on low all day, and strained it FOUR TIMES. The last strain was after a night in the fridge, and the fat had all congealed on the top so it was pretty easy to remove.

I told my mother I was making this and she said it was funny, she was going to make onion soup soon too. And I said, "Are you making the stock, or buying it?" And she said she planned to make the stock, and asked what that entailed, and I told her and she decided to buy stock. So, you know, make your own decision. I'm saving salt this way.

But really, what you need to start with are onions. I used red. Other folks have other opinions. I used three pounds of red onions, which was four huge onions.

I sliced them, but not paper thin. I considered busting out the mandoline for this, but I figured with the caramelization, they were just going to turn to mush anyhow.

With four tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil,

I set them to caramelize.

Then I chopped up some shallots to add depth.

They went in.

After about 10 minutes on medium-high, when they were soft and turning sweet,

I sprinkled on a half teaspoon of kosher salt.

Then I let them keep caramelizing for the rest of an hour, stirring just occasionally.

This is an hour. Look at that fond.

They're pretty much a liquid.

I sprinkled a third cup of flour on top and stirred to coat.

They cooked for about five minutes. Then it was time to deglaze.

I put almost a cup of malbec - more than 3/4 - in a measuring cup, and filled the rest with balsamic vinegar.

Folks use all sorts of wine for this, so feel free.

Then the stock.

10 cups.

 

 

And herbs and such. A bay leaf.

 

A little more than a tablespoon of fresh (frozen) thyme.

A good bit of black pepper.

Now let it simmer. 40 minutes? Until it's all come together and you're ready to eat.

Meanwhile, find some bread. I keep the ends of bread in my freezer, but a normal person might need to get a baguette. I've got a lot of soup here, but I only need enough bread ready for four servings - two tonight, two for lunch tomorrow and the rest will freeze. So I dug up a piece of french bread and some miscellany.

I cut it into cubes and toasted it in the oven.

When the soup was done, or rather, we were ready to eat, because it had been simmering an hour at that point, remove the bay leaf

and pour it into individual oven-safe bowls** - on a rimmed baking sheet. I happen to have made a good decision at Goodwill years ago. Sometimes I buy stuff and it just sits, other times I get soup crocks.

Top with bread

and gruyere.

And into a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes to melt.

Have it with a salad, not only because it's beef stock covered in cheese and you just should, but also because it's piping hot right now. Have a conversation.

It won't be long.

Remember how I only added a sprinkle of salt to the onions when they were caramelizing? The only salt here is that, plus the cheese, plus whatever's in your bread, so maybe sprinkle your bowl lightly. Taste first.

This made eight to ten decent sized servings.

*soup quick, not like, grilled cheese quick.

**don't have an oven safe bowl? No worries. Melt cheese on bread in the oven, and toss that on top of the soup.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. 

Ingredients

• 3 pounds red onions, sliced

 

• 10 cups beef broth

 

• 4 tablespoons butter

 

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

 

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

 

• 1 cup shallots, chopped

 

• 1 bay leaf

 

• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme

 

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

 

• 3/4 cup red wine

 

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

 

• 1/3 cup -per serving- stale bread, cubed

 

• 1 oz -per serving- gruyere or swiss, sliced

Instructions

• Slice onions and chop shallots

 

• Heat butter and olive oil on medium.

 

• Add onions and shallots and caramelize on medium, stirring occasionally.

 

• After 10 minutes, sprinkle with kosher salt and stir. Visit and stir occasionally, but allow onions to stick a bit and create a fond on the bottom of the pot. Leave to caramelize about an hour or until very soft.

 

• Add wine and vinegar. Scrape fond from pot. Add stock. Heat to simmer.

 

• Add bay leaf (remember you'll have to remove it later), thyme and black pepper. Simmer 40 minutes or so.

 

• Meanwhile, toast croutons and slice cheese.

 

• When soup is done, pour into individual oven-safe bowls, top with croutons and cheese and bake until melted.

Details

• Prep time: 10 mins

 

• Cook time: 1 hour 50 mins

 

• Total time: 2 hours

 

• Yield: 8-10 servings

 

 

 I had this butternut squash, and I didn't want to make soup, or lasagna, and it was sitting on the counter for a little while, in fact, it was from the CSA, so it was getting on in weeks. It was time to roast it up. I also needed to make some appetizery-things for an event. Butternut squash is sweet, but it goes very well with savory things. It likes to be with cheese. It likes to be a little bit spicy. I'm not one to make up sweet potatoes and top them with marshmallows, so while other people swear by adding brown sugar to winter squashes, I like to add onion-y flavors and saltiness and heat. This is that, on a cracker. Once it's softened and bright orange, I just sliced it into manageable pieces. Winter squash is a chore to peel, so I avoid that at all costs.I started by gutting my squash and roasting it, open side down, on a pan spritzed with olive oil. 45 minutes or so at 375 - until it's very fork-tender.I use a melon baller to remove the seeds, but a spoon works just as well.

I ran a fork between the skin and the flesh of the squash to "peel" it, and when that got tedious, I used my hands. You'll want to let the squash cool a bit, just for your own comfort.

This was two cups of cooked squash in the end. Then cheese, because of course, cheese. Cream cheese would have worked fine here, but I had some local chevre from the buying club. Most of it was plain, but a third of it had chives in it. I don't expect your groceries look like mine, so add chives. Three ounces of chevre, a bit of caynne and some chives and black pepper.

I hit it up on high with my immersion blender, but you could just dump it in a regular blender or food processor on "puree."

Covered and into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or so or until warmed throughout.

Serve with crackers and veg.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.  Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 3 oz chevre or cream cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon minced chives
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Slice squash in half and remove seeds and strings. Roast face down (open side down) on a lightly oiled baking dish, 45 minutes or until very tender.
• Slice squash into manageable pieces and remove skin (you may want to let it cool first) using fork or fingers.
• Puree squash, chives, cheese and cayenne and pepper until smooth. Add spices cautiously and taste.
• Bake covered at 350 for 20 minutes or until warmed throughout.

Details

• Prep time: 15 mins
• Cook time: 1 hour 5 mins
• Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
• Yield: many appetizer servings

 

 I had this butternut squash, and I didn't want to make soup, or lasagna, and it was sitting on the counter for a little while, in fact, it was from the CSA, so it was getting on in weeks. It was time to roast it up. I also needed to make some appetizery-things for an event.

Butternut squash is sweet, but it goes very well with savory things. It likes to be with cheese. It likes to be a little bit spicy. I'm not one to make up sweet potatoes and top them with marshmallows, so while other people swear by adding brown sugar to winter squashes, I like to add onion-y flavors and saltiness and heat. This is that, on a cracker.

Once it's softened and bright orange, I just sliced it into manageable pieces. Winter squash is a chore to peel, so I avoid that at all costs.I started by gutting my squash and roasting it, open side down, on a pan spritzed with olive oil. 45 minutes or so at 375 - until it's very fork-tender.I use a melon baller to remove the seeds, but a spoon works just as well.

I ran a fork between the skin and the flesh of the squash to "peel" it, and when that got tedious, I used my hands. You'll want to let the squash cool a bit, just for your own comfort.

This was two cups of cooked squash in the end.

Then cheese, because of course, cheese. Cream cheese would have worked fine here, but I had some local chevre from the buying club. Most of it was plain, but a third of it had chives in it. I don't expect your groceries look like mine, so add chives. Three ounces of chevre, a bit of caynne and some chives and black pepper.

I hit it up on high with my immersion blender, but you could just dump it in a regular blender or food processor on "puree."

Covered and into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or so or until warmed throughout.

Serve with crackers and veg.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. 

Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash


• 3 oz chevre or cream cheese


• 1/2 tablespoon minced chives


• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne


• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375.


• Slice squash in half and remove seeds and strings. Roast face down (open side down) on a lightly oiled baking dish, 45 minutes or until very tender.


• Slice squash into manageable pieces and remove skin (you may want to let it cool first) using fork or fingers.


• Puree squash, chives, cheese and cayenne and pepper until smooth. Add spices cautiously and taste.


• Bake covered at 350 for 20 minutes or until warmed throughout.

Details

• Prep time: 15 mins


• Cook time: 1 hour 5 mins


• Total time: 1 hour 20 mins


• Yield: many appetizer servings

[caption id="attachment_2573" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Huh?"][/caption] At least, it enjoys legal vegetable status according to the United States federal government which essentially means that I can eat pizza and get my daily serving of vegetables. Never mind that (1) a tomato is a fruit and (2) seriously? do I have to say why this is ridiculous? That's just one of many outrageous bits of news to be found in this story about Congress pushing back against the Obama administration's attempts to promote healthier school lunches. I posted this story on our Facebook page and asked the question of why government attempts to promote healthier eating are considered by conservatives to be "overreaching" while changes made to a spending bill at the behest of "food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers" are perfectly fine. It would seem to depend on whose behalf they're doing the reaching. I rarely get so political on this blog. And I write all of this as someone who believes in government and its capacity to effect positive change. That's what makes this all so darn frustrating. I prefer to keep my writings on this blog about why it would be so good for there to be a food co-op in South Philly. So I'll end with this point. Our elected government failing to act on behalf of public health by making it easier for children in the low-income, federally funded school lunch program to have access to more than just pizza and french fries is a prime example of why we need to take matters into our own hands. There are numerous examples of how government policy that was written to please large corporate food manufacturers has resulted in a system that is unsustainable, unhealthy, profit-driven, unaccountable and unsafe. There are plenty of good reasons to become one of the South Philly Food Co-op's 250 Founding Members. One of them is that it is our chance, at least in this little corner of the world made up of four zip codes, to take control, establish a place that we own and where we get to decide that pizza, however awesome it is, is not a vegetable. And here is the usual disclaimer about how the opinions expressed in this piece are mine and mine alone and do not reflect any policies or opinions of the South Philly Food Co-op, its members or its board. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments section of this post or via email at dan.pohlig (at) gmail.com.

 

At least, it enjoys legal vegetable status according to the United States federal government which essentially means that I can eat pizza and get my daily serving of vegetables. Never mind that (1) a tomato is a fruit and (2) seriously? do I have to say why this is ridiculous?

That's just one of many outrageous bits of news to be found in this story about Congress pushing back against the Obama administration's attempts to promote healthier school lunches.

I posted this story on our Facebook page and asked the question of why government attempts to promote healthier eating are considered by conservatives to be "overreaching" while changes made to a spending bill at the behest of "food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers" are perfectly fine. It would seem to depend on whose behalf they're doing the reaching.

I rarely get so political on this blog. And I write all of this as someone who believes in government and its capacity to effect positive change. That's what makes this all so darn frustrating. I prefer to keep my writings on this blog about why it would be so good for there to be a food co-op in South Philly.

So I'll end with this point. Our elected government failing to act on behalf of public health by making it easier for children in the low-income, federally funded school lunch program to have access to more than just pizza and french fries is a prime example of why we need to take matters into our own hands. There are numerous examples of how government policy that was written to please large corporate food manufacturers has resulted in a system that is unsustainable, unhealthy, profit-driven, unaccountable and unsafe. There are plenty of good reasons to become one of the South Philly Food Co-op's 250 Founding Members. One of them is that it is our chance, at least in this little corner of the world made up of four zip codes, to take control, establish a place that we own and where we get to decide that pizza, however awesome it is, is not a vegetable.

And here is the usual disclaimer about how the opinions expressed in this piece are mine and mine alone and do not reflect any policies or opinions of the South Philly Food Co-op, its members or its board. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments section of this post or via email at dan.pohlig (at) gmail.com.

Whether we grow our own veggies or receive too much in our CSA or scramble to the farm market to get the last of our favorite produce before the end of the season, sometimes we end up with too much. Freezing is a great way to keep the goodness of seasons past on hand and ready for a meal. But just throwing most vegetables into the freezer isn't the best route to ensuring that today's harvest tastes fresh a few months from now. I've acknowledged that my freezer overflows with homemade foods and preserved produce and bits of things (butter wrappers for greasing pans, ends of bread for making breadcrumbs, and all the leafy, scrappy ends of things I save for stock). About once a week, I look in the fridge and figure out what's just not going to make it onto our plates in time, and then I get a pot of water boiling. I use my biggest pot. This pot happens to have a strainer component, which is helpful but absolutely not necessary. If your pot doesn't have a strainer - and really, whose does? - just be prepared to use a slotted spoon later on. I turn the heat on to get the water boiling and then I prep my veg. I'm really not one to boil vegetables, so what's going on here? Yes, I'm going to drop these nice fresh, crisp veg into boiling water, but I'm not going to cook the heck out of them and end up with something mushy and grey, I'm just blanching them to stop them from ripening. The freezer isn't magic. So you've got veg, let's say it's a carrot, and it's firm and crisp and wonderful, but if you wait too long, the same enzymes that caused it to ripen and turn into a delicious carrot will keep going with their ripening until they've gone too far. You've seen it happen in your fridge. Yesterday's bright, crunchy carrot turns soft and flexible and dark. Yuck. Just freezing most vegetables doesn't stop the enzymatic ripening process, and freezing doesn't kill all of the bacteria. So, gross things can happen, even in the freezer. Since we want out veg to be fresh and wonderful when we pull them out next week or next month, we blanch the veg first. Blanching is just about boiling briefly, then chilling immediately. Today I have carrots, kale, and spinach to freeze. The spinach just needed a good washing. The kale gets de-stemmed and washed. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="tired kale"][/caption]

The carrots get scrubbed and cut into rough sticks. I don't peel my carrots, but this is the time, if you're going to. Of course, you can cut them into whatever shape you like, but carrot rounds remind me too much of canned carrots, so I just avoid that shape. These sticks will work nicely in a stir fry.

When the water is boiling, we're ready to go. This is when I think about the order of things. Sure, you can use fresh water for each vegetable, but I don't. Instead I think about how the veg will affect each other. I'm going to do greens first and then carrots, because if the carrots get infused with a bit of the goodness from the greens, that's no problem, but I might not want any of the sweetness of the carrots to leech out into my greens. This probably isn't a thing, but it's something I think about. Of course, if you're dealing allergies or strong preferences in your house, you'll want to separate your veg accordingly. I dropped the kale into boiling water. Then waited for a few seconds to be sure the water had come back up to a boil, and then set the stop watch. You only want the kale in there for two minutes. This is true of all greens, except collards, which need an extra minute. This is the time to prep your chill bowl. Cold water and ice, enough to cover your veg when they come out of the pot. When my two minutes are up, I pull the strainer basket up out of the pot. If you don't have a basket, use a slotted spoon to remove the veg. And drop the kale right into the ice water. The kale need to chill in the ice water for at least as long as they boiled (2 minutes). Then I drain it - well - squeezing and such. And into a zipper bag. Squeeze the air out well, and use a plastic straw if you have one handy. I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to label them. That way when you're reusing your bag you don't have to cross out whatever was in the bag last. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="My husband, Sous Chef Brian, was excited at this point in the labeling"][/caption]

The spinach is done the same exact way. Boil 2 minutes, drain, ice for 2 minutes, bag and freeze.

I gave the carrots a minute longer. There is science to this (and actually, the science says just two minutes on the carrots, but I cut mine pretty big). [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="I think Sous Chef Brian was bored with the labeling at this point.  He actually does like carrots. "][/caption] Veg like this keep a good 6-9 months in the freezer, and after that they don't spoil but they lose some of their flavor. How do you know how long to blanch your veg for freezing? The Internet is your friend. The National Center for Home Preservation provides guidance on blanching and freezing, canning, drying, smoking and more. If there's a vegetable you're itching to freeze that isn't listed, just Google "blanching rutabega" and you'll get the appropriate time from something like Colorado State University Extension Center or New Mexico State University. Lots of schools have great info on preservation. My most common veg are:

• Greens - 2 minutes
• Corn on the cob - 9 minutes
• Eggplant - 4 minutes
• Green beans - 3 minutes

You'll find tables with more veg at the links above. Just remember, as much time as they spend in the boiling water, they should spend the same on ice before you drain them and pack them up. A few tips that should be obvious, but I've messed them both up in the past.

• Label your veg. You don't want to think you're pulling out spinach one day and find out after the first bite that it's actually mustard greens.
• Freeze them in the quantities you're going to want them in once they're defrosted. No, you're not going to successfully break off half a block of frozen carrots. The advanced technique, which I do when I have bigger quantities, is to blanch, drain, and then lay out on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment or silicone) in the freezer. Then, once each piece is frozen, drop them in a bag or other storage device. That way you can get at just some of them, like how your supermarket veg are frozen.
• Of course, if you use your freshest veg, they'll be more delightful when you defrost them.  But this is how I clean out my fridge.

Happy Freezing! This is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. 

Whether we grow our own veggies or receive too much in our CSA or scramble to the farm market to get the last of our favorite produce before the end of the season, sometimes we end up with too much. Freezing is a great way to keep the goodness of seasons past on hand and ready for a meal. But just throwing most vegetables into the freezer isn't the best route to ensuring that today's harvest tastes fresh a few months from now.

I've acknowledged that my freezer overflows with homemade foods and preserved produce and bits of things (butter wrappers for greasing pans, ends of bread for making breadcrumbs, and all the leafy, scrappy ends of things I save for stock). About once a week, I look in the fridge and figure out what's just not going to make it onto our plates in time, and then I get a pot of water boiling.

I use my biggest pot.

This pot happens to have a strainer component, which is helpful but absolutely not necessary.

If your pot doesn't have a strainer - and really, whose does? - just be prepared to use a slotted spoon later on.

I turn the heat on to get the water boiling and then I prep my veg.

I'm really not one to boil vegetables, so what's going on here? Yes, I'm going to drop these nice fresh, crisp veg into boiling water, but I'm not going to cook the heck out of them and end up with something mushy and grey, I'm just blanching them to stop them from ripening.

The freezer isn't magic. So you've got veg, let's say it's a carrot, and it's firm and crisp and wonderful, but if you wait too long, the same enzymes that caused it to ripen and turn into a delicious carrot will keep going with their ripening until they've gone too far. You've seen it happen in your fridge. Yesterday's bright, crunchy carrot turns soft and flexible and dark. Yuck. Just freezing most vegetables doesn't stop the enzymatic ripening process, and freezing doesn't kill all of the bacteria. So, gross things can happen, even in the freezer. Since we want out veg to be fresh and wonderful when we pull them out next week or next month, we blanch the veg first. Blanching is just about boiling briefly, then chilling immediately.

Today I have carrots, kale, and spinach to freeze. The spinach just needed a good washing.

The kale gets de-stemmed and washed.

The carrots get scrubbed and cut into rough sticks. I don't peel my carrots, but this is the time, if you're going to. Of course, you can cut them into whatever shape you like, but carrot rounds remind me too much of canned carrots, so I just avoid that shape. These sticks will work nicely in a stir fry.

When the water is boiling, we're ready to go. This is when I think about the order of things. Sure, you can use fresh water for each vegetable, but I don't. Instead I think about how the veg will affect each other. I'm going to do greens first and then carrots, because if the carrots get infused with a bit of the goodness from the greens, that's no problem, but I might not want any of the sweetness of the carrots to leech out into my greens. This probably isn't a thing, but it's something I think about. Of course, if you're dealing allergies or strong preferences in your house, you'll want to separate your veg accordingly.

I dropped the kale into boiling water.



Then waited for a few seconds to be sure the water had come back up to a boil, and then set the stop watch. You only want the kale in there for two minutes. This is true of all greens, except collards, which need an extra minute.

This is the time to prep your chill bowl. Cold water and ice, enough to cover your veg when they come out of the pot.



When my two minutes are up, I pull the strainer basket up out of the pot. If you don't have a basket, use a slotted spoon to remove the veg.



And drop the kale right into the ice water.



The kale need to chill in the ice water for at least as long as they boiled (2 minutes).

Then I drain it - well - squeezing and such.

And into a zipper bag. Squeeze the air out well, and use a plastic straw if you have one handy.

I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to label them. That way when you're reusing your bag you don't have to cross out whatever was in the bag last.

The spinach is done the same exact way. Boil 2 minutes, drain, ice for 2 minutes, bag and freeze.

I gave the carrots a minute longer. There is science to this (and actually, the science says just two minutes on the carrots, but I cut mine pretty big).

Veg like this keep a good 6-9 months in the freezer, and after that they don't spoil but they lose some of their flavor.

How do you know how long to blanch your veg for freezing? The Internet is your friend. The National Center for Home Preservation provides guidance on blanching and freezing, canning, drying, smoking and more. If there's a vegetable you're itching to freeze that isn't listed, just Google "blanching rutabega" and you'll get the appropriate time from something like Colorado State University Extension Center or New Mexico State University. Lots of schools have great info on preservation.

My most common veg are:

• Greens - 2 minutes

 

• Corn on the cob - 9 minutes

 

• Eggplant - 4 minutes

 

• Green beans - 3 minutes

You'll find tables with more veg at the links above.

Just remember, as much time as they spend in the boiling water, they should spend the same on ice before you drain them and pack them up.

A few tips that should be obvious, but I've messed them both up in the past.

• Label your veg. You don't want to think you're pulling out spinach one day and find out after the first bite that it's actually mustard greens.

 

• Freeze them in the quantities you're going to want them in once they're defrosted. No, you're not going to successfully break off half a block of frozen carrots. The advanced technique, which I do when I have bigger quantities, is to blanch, drain, and then lay out on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment or silicone) in the freezer. Then, once each piece is frozen, drop them in a bag or other storage device. That way you can get at just some of them, like how your supermarket veg are frozen.

 

• Of course, if you use your freshest veg, they'll be more delightful when you defrost them.  But this is how I clean out my fridge.

Happy Freezing!

This is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. 

A quick Google tells me that vegetarian shepherd's pie is called "shepherdess pie." That upsets me. I don't understand the feminization of healthier foods. Men eat meat, women eat vegetables. It reminds me of this ad for a masculine version of diet soda. I started this story last week, with my vegan garlic mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes without butter and milk are pretty easy; you use stock instead. This dish has been called "Swanson Mashed Potatoes," so I'm guessing it was Swanson chicken broth's idea. Or they popularized it. But you can do it with vegetable stock* too. I added roasted garlic to make it a bit richer. Let's imagine we all cooked together and you've got some taters to start with. Next, clean out your fridge. I was inspired to do this when I thought my fridge had stopped working, and I found homes for my dairy and whatnot, but there wasn't enough space for the veg. I rescued my foods in order of cost. So I had carrots and turnips and mushrooms in the fridge, and also potatoes and onions. Shepherd's pie. I made a meat version 8 months ago, burned it, and I offer this link only for a laugh. I started with my carrots and turnips. I cut the carrots into rounds, and cut the thicker rounds in half. Then I diced my turnips fairly large. Luckily, I was only about halfway through the first turnip when I realized they needed to be peeled. That's the drag about cooking seasonally... I haven't seen a turnip in a long time, and I think I forgot how they work. Turnips do not lend themselves to vegetable peelers. You need to use a knife. I turned my oven to 400 and set my veg to roast. First, I spritzed them with a bit of olive oil.  They were going to be a while, so I took this time to make the gravy. Onions. Only three of these made it in (one was scary) and that was plenty of onion. Diced up. I cut some mushrooms into various sizes. I wanted some to almost melt into the gravy and others to provide a bit of texture. I used about two and a half cups of cut-up mushrooms. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="346" caption="I used about three times this many mushrooms."][/caption] I got the onions going in a tablespoon of oil, and when they were translucent I added the mushrooms. I gave them just a few minutes to toss around in the heat on medium and then added stock and wine and black pepper. A cup of stock, a quarter cup of red wine, and a lot of black pepper. I dialed that up to a constant bubble but not really a boil, to reduce and thicken, and let it go for half an hour while the vegetables roasted. When it was thicker but not quite thick enough, I added some flour and stirred vigorously. I'd have whisked if there weren't mushrooms in the way. The veg were done after they'd been in for about 40 minutes. They were wrinkly and getting crisp around the edges. A creative person would do something with the fond here on the bottom of the pan. I did not. Instead, I added some fresh thyme. And mixed that with the roasted veg. I actually transferred it to a larger pan at this point, too. I poured the mushroom/onion/gravy mix overtop and mixed that together. Then I got out my potatoes. I had mashed up four smallish potatoes and had about four cups. "Recipe" here. I tossed all of that on top of the "stew." And spread it around with a spatula. Everything was cooked at this point, so we just needed to get it warmed up together and get those potatoes just a little toasty on top. 10 minutes at 350. When it was done, it was just golden along the tops of the peaks. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="346" caption="My potatoes have the skin on."][/caption] There was a decent stew-to-potato ratio, but that isn't obvious in the later pictures. On a plate it looks like mashed potatoes that were exposed to some vegetable stew. It looked a bit of a mess on a plate, but was hearty and flavorful. The carrots were just sweet and the gravy was rich and mushroom-y.

It doesn't cut cleanly, it's stew, with potatoes on top.

I had to rush home from a South Philly Food Co-op member meeting to get this post together. It was really inspirational to see a room full of the founding membership and some potential members. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.  *Just a note - my homemade veg stock has no salt, so if you're using something not-homemade, use less salt in the recipe. Or none. Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups mushrooms (baby bella, white, etc)
• 3 large carrots (sliced)
• 3 medium onions, diced
• 2 turnips
• 1 cup vegetable stock (no salt)
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• black pepper, plenty - to taste
• salt, to taste
• 10 sprigs thyme (optional)
• 4 cups vegan mashed potatoes

Instructions

• Peel and dice turnips, slice carrots, spritz with olive oil and place in preheated 400 degree oven in a baking dish. Leave for 40 minutes while you do other things.
• Put 1 tbsp of oil in a saute pan and heat to medium. Add onions and saute until translucent and fragrant.
• Add mushrooms to pan and toss for a minute or so before adding stock and wine.
• Simmer pretty high, not quite boiling to reduce and thicken.
• When carrots and turnips are crisp at edges and wrinkly all over, sprinkle flour over mushroom/onion gravy and stir vigorously.
• Add mushroom/onion gravy to roasted vegetables, with optional thyme. Arrange in large baking dish.
• Top with mashed potatoes (I used 4 potatoes, skin on, 3/4 cup stock and one head roasted garlic). Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are slightly browned at peaks.

Details

• Prep time: 10 mins
• Cook time: 1 hour
• Total time: 1 hour 10 mins
• Yield: 6 servings