a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: Cooking-Roasting Tips

Pure Soy Milk

I received the OK from the Washington State Department of Agriculture to sell my soy milk. I’ve looked at the soy milks sold in grocery stores including stores like the Skagit Valley Food Coop and Community Food Co-op in Bellingham, and it’s impossible to buy unadulterated soy milk. Almost all of them have some added sugars such as cane sugar. They all have stabilizers such as gellan gum or carrageenan; salt; various vitamins; and some add oils such as canola oil. Pure soy milk doesn’t seem to be sold anywhere.

You can get it from me. I’m selling it on Saturdays at the Mt. Vernon Farmers Market in downtown Mt. Vernon, Washington. The Anacortes Food Coop also carries it.

And why would you want pure soy milk? If you are using it for cooking, such as making soups, curries, or hot pot dishes, having added sugars, gums, salt, and additional oils, ruins the flavor.

September 26, 2017
Peanut Butter-Miso Soup for Winter

Happiness is a basket of eggs. Hens laying eggs again is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner.

While we wait for spring to arrive, a good way to warm your heart on a cold day is with a steaming bowl of peanut butter-miso soup. I saw this made on a Japanese program last week, and it’s a satisfying combination that is simple to make.

For soup for two or three, take a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter and one of miso and stir them together. Put two cups of water in a bowl and bring it to a simmer. Add the peanut butter-miso mix and stir it into the simmering water. Then add cubed tofu and fresh vegetables such as napa cabbage, bok choy, spinach, and green onions. Add meat too, if you like.

The peanut butter and miso combination makes a surprisingly rich, complex, satisfying flavor. Use a peanut butter that has no sweeteners or fillers. Look for the ingredients on the jar of peanut butter. The only ingredient should be roasted peanuts. Or roast your own peanuts and make your own peanut butter.

January 17, 2017
Close to Perfect

I had a feeling this loaf was going to be good. Relaxation is the main ingredient for making bread. After mixing flour from Skagit grown wheat with water and salt, I let the dough relax for twelve hours, folding it a few times as the wheat flour relaxed. After adding my levain, I let it relax another twelve hours, again folding it a few times to see how the dough was rising.

There’s not a lot to making good bread. Most of the time the dough is just relaxing, and I am off doing my own thing. After relaxing for so long, the dough pretty much shapes itself. There is no need to knead, no need to fuss. When it feels like a soft, baby’s butt, the dough is ready to bake. A light coating of olive oil once it comes out of the oven keeps the crust soft enough to cut easily, and yet still crisp and flaky.

I baked a close to perfect loaf of bread today. Our cat, Rusty, had a close to perfect nap.

January 8, 2017
Slow Food – Dinner Eight Months in the Making

It takes a long time to make a sumptuous winter dinner. After growing slowly for eight months, the end has come for this rooster. Yes, it’s sad, but he did have a wonderful childhood, raised by a mother who cared for him. He spent a summer running around with his siblings, dashing through flower beds, chasing each other around the pond, playing hide and seek in the brush. And this fall, when he matured, he had plenty of romance.

But, I can only keep a select number of roosters, and this one did not make the cut. He was too aggressive with the hens and other roosters. The roosters that get to stay must have better manners and treat the hens with more care.

So into a covered pot he goes, salted, and dusted with crushed pepper and allspice, and laid to rest on a bed of rosemary.

After four hours in a 200ºF oven, covered, and 15 minutes uncovered under the broiler, he’s nearly ready for dinner. All he needs to do now, is rest ten or twenty minutes before carving.

And finally, a simple feast, great for a December night.

December 6, 2014
Softening the Edges

Ever notice when you cut raw potatoes how sharp the edges are? If you’re cooking for someone you love, take a minute or two to do something about those edges. Do you really want to serve them sharp-edged potatoes? Before cooking them, it’s easy to soften the edges with a peeler. Just run the peeler over the cut edges. With the edges softened, the potatoes will be easier to eat once they are cooked.

With their edges softened, the potato pieces will look more appetizing in dishes like potato salad, curry rice, and niku-jyaga 肉じゃが.

What to do with trimmed off edges? Toss them in a salad, put them in soup, mince them and use them to thicken stews, or let the chickens have them along with the other scraps you have for them. They’ll turn them into wonderful eggs.

August 22, 2014