What did Kandan have for dinner?

To skin or not to skin a potato.

These potatoes were dug minutes before they were cooked.  In the days of the Atkins diet they got a bad rap.  We grow potatoes year roun’ and we eat them too.  We really only have enough to sell in late spring.  We grow Yukon Gold, Red La Sota, Red Pontiac, Kennenbec, and sometimes a fingerling type.  We have a hard time getting some types because many potatoes are cultivated in the north and don’t really ship until it is too hot to grow them here.  We can’t grow the larger types; it gets too hot before they have enough time to develop.

On whether or not to skin, I offer this (borrowed from Georgiaberry’s site, www.SunshineForDinner.com.

Here is a passage from “Bogmail” by Patrick McGinley.

Eales was a fastidious feeder who never touched bacon rind or pork crackling or the thin veins of white fat that made the best gammon [bacon] so tasty.  He never ate the frizzled fat of grilled lamb chops or sirloin steak, nor the crisp earthy jackets of baked potatoes.  Normally he would not have blamed him for avoiding the latter because the jackets of some potatoes were rough with scabs and excrescences.  But Roarty’s potatoes were different, grown lovingly in the sandy soil by the estuary and smooth to the touch as sea scoured beach pebbles.  The man who was not moved to eat the jackets of such potatoes was nothing if not untrustworthy.  He was blind to the beauties of life and the true delights of a wholesome table.  He was probably a man who harboured evil thoughts against his neighbor, a man from whom wise men one and all would lock up their daughters, at least those of them who still retained their maidenheads. The outcome was inescapable; Eales must be destroyed.

Hand tossed home made pizza.

Yea, we bought most of the ingredients in this.  It is composed of tomatoes (our own that we froze last year and turned into sauce), anchovies, bell peppers, onions (again, our own), pepperoni, hand tossed and home made whole wheat crust, and assorted cheeses from the fridge.

The trick to really good pizza is to make sure that you really work the dough, once again, weave those protiens, and use a really hot oven.  If you don’t have a pizza stone then you should get one of those; they even the heat and retain it for when you put your pizza on.

I hadn’t expected the pizza to taste as good as it did.  You won’t get that at your local pizza joint.

This is what pork chops look like before they are chopped.  We ate some BBQ this weekend when my buddies came to hunt squirrels.  We only got one squirrel and we ate it too.  I usually brine chops, 1/2 C sugar and 1/2 C salt per gallon of water.  We use Bullseye BBQ sauce.  Cooks Illustrated rated it the highest of mainstream commercial brands and we agree.

This pork had never had any type of medicines or hormones.  The pig was born here, had a large area to play in, and had friends with her.  It was fed on a steady supply of garden waste and rye grass.  This meat was substantially redder and leaner than anything you can find at the grocery.  I killed both pigs the last week of 2008.  I had been using a friends 270 to kill them as we have had problems with smaller calibers in the past.  I used my 357 handgun this time and was very pleased with the results.  Pigs are very tough and have thick skulls.  They don’t die easily and to minimize trauma and eliminate suffering it is important to use high velocity and larger calibers.  22’s work on chickens, sheep, and goats.  I do not reccommend them for hogs.

Very rarely do I actually get to say that the entirety of a meal came from here.  Excepting some salt, pepper, and a tad of cream, this whole meal came from this little farm.  We buy local foods when we can, and we grow lots of things, including animals.  When we buy local foods the quality exponentially increases.  When we eat what we have grown, the quality increases further.

This is chicken, bok choi, and new potatoes with cream sauce.  I dug the potatoes and cut the bok choi just before we cooked them.  I killed the chickens the day before.  One of the roosters had attacked my boy, Max.  The other was blind in one eye.  I like my roosters but culling is sometimes needed.  Roosters can be dangerous and can be very scary to a small child.  Good thing they are quite edible.

For those of you who haven’t ever had yard bird, the flavor and texture doesn’t resemble commercially produced chicken at all.  You wouldn’t know it was chicken if someone didn’t tell you.  Its texture is more like crab meat than store chicken.  Its flavor is somewhat gamy and the meat is red rather than pale.  I only eat commercial chicken every great once in a while and have gone years without it.  We will likely incubate some eggs to get some more roosters to eat.  The old hens are too busy laying eggs to eat them.

I’m going to go on a tangent here.  When fully implemented, the N.A.I.S. (National Animal Identification System) will make my chickens illegal.  Every animal will have to be micro-chipped.  Commercial producers will be exempt, of course.  We will have to inform the government every time a chicken dies, is killed, sold, or transported.  We will not comply.  This legislation was passed by a Republican congress and implemented by George Bush in back room meetings with the creators of the technology and big agribusiness.  This was the largest power grab in the history of civilization, brought to you by people who say they believe in private property and capitalism.  It is turning small farmers into criminals.  It is being implemented directly by the states with enforcement and insentives coming from the federal government.  In addition, The Ammunition Accountability Act is being proposed in a bunch of states and will effectively make firearms prohibitively expensive to use.  Try killing chickens with a spear.

How long before they make my vegetables illegal too?

I know this isn’t dinner.  We had left over fajitas for dinner.  They were a pretty good story of their own.  We made them out of left over pork roast (our own of course), shaved up and dusted with seasoning and added to bell pepper, onions and such.  The fajitas also had the last or near the last tomato from a friend’s garden.  The tomato was ripened in the window and tasted as good as a grocery tomato, and we knew where it came from.  We grow a lot of tomatoes and even local greenhouse tomatoes still taste like fast food to me in the winter.  Brandywines at the end of the season is the ultimate tomato experience and once you’ve had them, all else is inferior.

This is Egg Nog.  I thought it fitting for twelth night, the end of Christmas and the beginning of Carnival.  The remainder of the nog will be cast out to the dogs after this.  I might make it again in the summer.

Beware this recipe.  It makes 2 gallons of nog.

1 1/2 gallons whole milk (I had to use store milk this time but if you can get good milk it is much better.  I haven’t tried goat milk on this one.)

3 dz eggs (fresh omega-3, farm, or at least organic; ours are fed on green rye grass all winter)

1t salt

3 1/2 cups sugar (I think the flavors of honey are too overpowering here.)

2 T actual vanilla extract (you can use the domestic stuff if you have to but don’t use anything with artificial flavor.  That stuff can be good for baking but you won’t like it in this.  If you can get that Mexicano stuff then use that.

1 1/2 t nutmeg  (you should use freshly ground.  Nutmeg doesn’t cost much to buy the whole nuts and they last for years.)

Here’s how you cook it.  First, start heating the milk, then start beating the eggs.  You don’t want the milk too hot, don’t scald or boil.  The eggs should get thick and pale.  (I never used to know what this meant until about 10 years ago when we were making some kind of white foamy cake, but the difference in color and texture changes substantially.  Proteins are weaving.)  Once thick and pale then beat in the sugar a little at a time.  Gradually add hot milk while still beating; I add about 2/3 of it but you can get away with less than that.  You have to add some of it.  Once mixed then add all back to a low/medium heat and stir constantly for 30 to 40 minutes with the temperature gradually rising.  If you go over 170 degrees you might curdle the milk so be careful about your temperature and your flame.  Timing is everything.  If you heat it too fast then it is ruined.

What is being made here is a custard type thing but not foamy or curdled; it’s syrupy.  Just like the eggs get thick when you are beating them, the nog will thicken.  Again, be patient, don’t cook it too fast and you must constantly stir.  The mixture will thicken a bit more when it cools.

Okay, now we chill the nog until it gets cold.

In a 1/2 pint cocktail glass add a double jigger dark rum such as Myers or Bacardi Select (and a tiny sliver of Amaretto for a more delicate finish if you like).  Add enough of the nog to fill the glass 2/3 of the way.  Add some fresh whole milk leaving enough room for the cream.  (You do have to add milk.  It is too thick and not creamy enough without it.)  Use whipits, instant whipped cream for the culturally unaware, on top.  (I suppose you could make whipped cream but I’ve found that whipits travel much more easily.)  Grate nutmeg on top and serve.

I’ve tried egg nog a bunch of different ways, recipe after recipe, and this is what I’ve come up with.  It makes a lot of egg nog and it costs a bit for the booze after you’ve made the nog.  Someone more mathematically inclined could chop that recipe up and make it work on a smaller level.  If you do then remember that it takes a lot less time to heat up smaller amounts of liquid so you would really have to watch your flame.  It takes time and heat in conjuction.

Happy Mardi Gras

Sincerely

Kandan Mobley

This is New Year’s dinner.  The ham is fresh from our own pigs and had actually only been killed the day before.  The green onions were from the garden picked just before serving.  The black-eye peas were from dry.  And the cabbage was fresh but was from the grocery.

This is a symbolic meal in many places and can vary quite a bit from family to family.  The ham represents health, the peas represent luck, and the cabbage represents money.  The onions and corn bread were added just because peas are commonly served that way here.

There isn’t much left on the plate because I had already eaten much of it before it occured to me to take the picture.

This is some homemade granola.  It is made from oat, coconut, pecans, English walnuts, raisins, brown sugar and honey.  It is baked until toasted and that is about it.  It sounds as if it would taste like horse feed but it is actually very good.

adaylong.  a word you may find here again as I attempt to put these pieces together.

What I had for dinner last night was pork heart.  This is rarely kept and is sometimes used in boudain.  Many of us eat the heart of the beast on the day of killing.  This is an archaic ritual, but one of worthy cause.  The heart is not wasted and is consumed by those who enjoy it.  I have an appreciation of the archaic.

The meat was removed from a freshly dead pig and moved to a frying pan.  My lovely young wife then sauteed with a bit of olive oil, some salt and pepper, and freshly pulled garlic.  Cardiac muscle is a bit of a stretch for many but only comes along as fresh every great once in a while.  We eat hearts.

It was served with extra sharp cheddar Cabot, and some Kashi crackers.  The dressing didn’t cost much.

I’ll go in a bit more about the carnage when the chops kick in.  In the mean time I want plenty of greens.

I started this blog from an idea I had some time go.  I apparently don’t eat like “normal” people do.  I work hard all day, everyday.  I consume and burn way more calories than the average person and my weight can fluctuate more than most people’s if I am not careful.  I do not attempt to lose weight  as maintaining weight is necessary.  I am not advocating a diet, though diet will definitely enter the picture.  This is not a political blog, though it is impossible to properly discuss food devoid of politics.  This blog is about food.

My wife started a business, www.SunshineForDinner.com, that delivers some of the kinds of food we eat.  This came out of several discussions we have had over the course of many years and realized that we would have happily purchased something along the lines of what she offers.  We are not wealthy people, or world travelers but we eat very well.  We have a small farm and know many others that also have small farms.  We eat locally, excepting our decadent vanities such as coffee, avacados, macadamias, tangerines, shrimp, champagne, etc.

I don’t think that many of you could eat like this, as the ingredients can be difficult to aquire and some things are a bit labor intensive.  Georgiaberry and I are both rather experienced in the kitchen as well.  I will be posting some recipes, though not likely thorough and complete.  If you want to try to cook some of these things then you will have to know what you are doing.  This will only serve as inspiration to the amateur. The wide array of foods we grow and eat is impressive and sharing our experiences may help you to make more out of the bounty of Earth.

I’m going to try to post what I had for dinner last night over the next few hours, and, of course, the New Year’s meal later on today. I won’t likely post every day as my schedule is rather occupied. For the time being, welcome to my world, god bless, and have a prosperous new year.