More than a month ago the kids in my “food appreciation” classes here in the District of Columbia peeled a bunch of turnips and turned them into sauerruben, basically the turnip equivalent of sauerkraut.
The turnips were mixed with sea salt and pressed into a heavy-duty plastic bucket, where they have remained in one of the [...]
Tags: fermentation·German·kids·meat·turnips
This meal starts with the roasting chicken we received in our weekly CSA package from farmer friend Brett.
This is not to be confused with the stewing hen I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. Brett, being a man of many facets, deals in two kinds of chicken. One, the laying hen, needs to be [...]
Tags: chicken·dark days challenge·rice·root vegetables·winter squash
The school where I teacher “food appreciation” classes has asked me to consider teaching on a stepped-up schedule during the summer.
Up to now, my focus has been mainly on elementary school children enrolled in the after school program. The classes are informal. I’ve had free range over food topics, from making healthy, whole-grain muffins [...]
Tags: food appreciation·kids
I try to visit a farmers market at least once a week to see what’s being offered here in the District of Columbia in the depth of winter. The tone of the market changes when the temperatures rise above freezing. There is more bustle, more chatter–the food seems to come alive. This display of [...]
Tags: farmer's markets·vegetables·winter
Seems like only a week ago we were reporting on tests that showed swordfish with dangerously high mercury levels being sold in supermarkets in California in Florida.
Now comes the New York Times causing a rumpus with a report that the tuna in sushi also tips the scales with mercury.
The Times conducted tests on sushi [...]
Tags: food news
This is the first in an occasional series about good seafood choices, based on the recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.
A client recently requested a “special” birthday dinner for a friend who loves seafood. I could not think of anything more decadent and delicious than meaty lobster chowder. And isn’t it [...]
The kids in my “food appreciation” classes concluded their recent exploration of nutrition labeling with a comparison of macaroni and cheese.
The macaroni and cheese that comes in the little blue box from Kraft may be one of the most popular processed foods of all times. We know some college students who eat little else [...]
Armed with my new meat grinder, I’ve been anxious to try this trick I first saw performed by Mario Batali: extruding whole-wheat pasta.
The sauce was a simple pork ragu made with ground pork ($8 for a little more than one pound at the farmers market), diced onions, diced carrots and, in the absence of our [...]
Last night I was making the simplest possible dinner, but of course daughter is eating off an entirely different menu–no salad for her–so I put on a pot of carrots to boil.
“No, Dad!” she screamed in horror.
“What’s wrong?” I inquired.
“You know I don’t like carrots!” she stormed.
“Since when do you not like carrots?”
“I mean, I [...]
Tags: carrots
I recently wrote about a mongrel split-pea, lentil and ham soup. That was a great soup, thrown together with a variety of legumes in small quantities that were taking up space in our pantry.
Well, we recently put together a birthday party for our friend Desson and inherited the meaty bone from a honey-glazed, spiral-cut [...]
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
What's in your turkey? We killed and butchered more than 80 birds on the farm of Mike and Michelle Klein in Prince George's County. Thankfully, Michelle did the gutting. Unfortunately, Mike bought his turkey chicks earlier than usual and they did not stop growing. Our prize for helping was a carcass that weighed nearly 40 pounds. It barely fit in the oven. Here, Mike is subjecting a slaughtered bird to the "magic fingers," a machine with a nubby, rotating barrel that removes most of the feathers. 
