• Sweet Potatoes (other methods use Tumeric for the bright orange color)
• Onions
• Olive Oil
• Carrots (also adds to the color)
• Curry Powder
• Chicken Stock
• and Coconut Milk

It is really cheap to make (<$10 for about 6L) and freezes well. I know some people who add lentils to the soup. I have, but don’t notice any difference. If I’m looking to inject some protein, I’ll poach some white chicken meat and then put it in the soup to further stew. I like to drizzle a little EVOO on top with a dash of fresh lemon juice.

Ingredients:
1 2 1/2 pound pork butt
2 tablespoons jerk seasoning paste
1 batch mango and banana relish (see below)
12+ large tortillas (lightly toasted/warmed)

Directions:
1. Rub the jerk seasoning all over the pork.
2. Place the pork into the crockpot/slow cooker and cook on low heat for 8 hours.
3. Remove the pork and shred with 2 forks.
4. Place the pork back into the liquid in the slow cooker and cook, without the lid, until the liquid has reduces to a thick sauce, about 20 minutes.
5. Assemble wraps with pulled pork, jerk spice reduction to taste and mango and banana relish.

Mango and Banana Relish

Ingredients:
2 large mangoes (peeled, stoned and cut into small pieces)
2 bananas (peeled and cut into small pieces)
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
1/4 cup red onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)

Directions:
1. Mix everything.

The major premise of this article is that Farmers Markets are great – but only if you are “well-heeled”.  “Designer varieties” of produce may taste fantastic, but their high cost is out of reach for the average person.  Really?   This seems to me to be an overly simplistic argument and it doesn’t quite ring true.  It hasn’t been my experience, and I see a great cross-section of society at our local market each week.

Personally speaking, the fact that locally grown organic produce tastes so much better than food that is conventionally grown is enough.  The quality of the fruits and vegetables that are field-grown, picked at their peak, and then sold within a day or two from harvest taste so much better than food that is engineered to travel long distances before being sold.  These fruits and vegetables speak for themselves.  And I listen.  For me, taste is everything, and this produce is worth the additional cost.  The premium that you pay for this quality can easily be made up by making smart choices with your other food purchases.

Wente references sources and studies (cherry-picked to be sure) that suggest that organically grown food is no more nutritious than conventionally grown food.  I will concede it is possible that in some cases this may, in fact, be true.  Nutritionally speaking, a freshly-picked organically grown apple and a freshly-picked conventionally grown apple may offer the same value.  This, however, does not take into account the possible negative long-term consequences of a diet that has a high concentration of food that has been sprayed and modified.   The jury is still out and it may take years of studies to settle this issue one way or another.  I guess we’ll see.

Having said that, I don’t think that you are “poisoning’ yourself or your children when you eat food that is conventionally grown.   There is no need for hysterics.  Trace amounts of herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides present in these foods, consumed in moderation, are unlikely to dramatically reduce your life span.  However, it also makes sense to me that children could be more susceptible to the adverse effects of a diet composed entirely of conventionally grown food due to the fact that they eat more in relation to their body weight.  Do your own research, and then make your best decision.  To me, it seems both practical and possible to strike a balance in terms of your weekly food choices.

In response to her point that organic produce is priced out of the reach of average families, well, you have to be creative.  Don’t be a victim.  There are ways to make this happen, including reducing your consumption of expensive, over-processed, tasteless, and nutritionally devoid food products.  If you shop intelligently for the majority of you pantry staples, you can plough the rest of your food savings into buying quality fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat and fish that is offered by people who care about what they are providing.

I won’t address the environmental argument for local, sustainable, organic farming in this post.  I will say that in addition to the superior quality and taste, for myself and many others, patronizing local farmers markets also has to do with re-establishing a connection to where our food comes from.  As an added bonus, there is also the sense of community that permeates the market, something that is in short supply these days, particularly in large cities.

How can it be a bad idea to have a better understanding of where your food is coming from, and at the same time, support the continued existence of locally grown food?  What is the true “cost” of not having a strong, diverse, and local food-chain?

Do yourself a favour this summer and enjoy a field-ripened pepper, some garlic, or a heirloom tomato that has been picked at its peak and brought to market within a day or two.  Taste is paramount.  The argument surrounding the “high cost” of quality organic produce is just a distraction in this debate.

1. Put can of Carnation canned milk in a pressure cooker (or three. Trust me, you’ll want re-enforcements!)
   
2. Add water (as per pressure cooker directions). Can should be submerged.
3. Seal pressure cooker
4. Turn on the heat (as per pressure cooker directions).
5. Bring to a boil and then bring the temperature down. 40-50 minutes.
6. Release steam and safely open the pressure cooker. Let the can cool down and then open it up and know what ‘sex in a can’ means.

DON’T YOU DARE USE ‘LITE’ CREAM. YOU USE THE FULL FAT VERSION DAMN YOU AND LICK IT UP. LIFE IS SHORT! EAT IT UP!

As one to blow out others’ candles, I make the pilgrimage to the seedy part of Pioneer Square. It’s a bit dodgy, but a good sandwich deserves the work. Like Frodo with the ring, I had a ten dollar bill with the name Porchetta written all over it. I was told that the line up started at 1130AM. I showed up at 1120 and not a soul there. Were they shitting me? It’s like showing up 2 hours early for a birthday party and you end up helping the hosts 94 year-old nanny find the potty. I went for a walk around the block (literally 5 minutes) and when I got back, there are 25 people in line. Had they been hiding in the bushes waiting to see what I would do?

Like Sea Monkeys in a cup of warm water, they populated in front of my eyes. I got my arse in line and waited. I hate to wait. I think it’s overrated and it is a rare situation where the wait is worth it. I don’t do foreplay with my food. Let’s get it on and be done with it. The line moved like a well oiled machine. As I got closer I saw various lovely beasts aging in the cooler window. Think Amsterdam red-light district meets Piggily Wiggley down under.

I can see the counter staff mere feet away from me. I can hear them excitedly ask each other, “It that the guy from the Hanging Pig?” “Is that the guy that PETA hates?” They were excited and who can blame them. I’m there to ‘represent’.

I step up. They get giddy with delight. Who will he choose to put in his order? I look at the one with the glasses and in my best Tom Jones accent, I say, “I’d like the Porchetta please.” She smiles. It’s all about the tease. She says in her waspy smokey tone…”Sourdough or ciabatta?” She thinks she has me. She is challenging the co-founder of the Hanging Pig. “Whatever the chef thinks best”, I reply. Checkmate.  She prepares my sandwich by loading pound after pound of braised pork shoulder into the bun. In total, the meet braises for over 18 hours. Un F*CKING believable. I take my sandwich, give her a wink and a ten dollar bill and head out.

Just down the street there is an enclosed Japanese garden. I find a spot, unwrap my sandwich, and…cry…. I don’t know what came over me. You watch these babbling idiots stand on the Olympic podium and start to blubber. All their years of training. All the missed dates. All the time working on their craft…comes down to meet moments. I felt like I had been preparing for this sandwich my whole life. Baloney on wonder bread. Corned beef on onion loaf. Leftover meatloaf on french loaf. Even bacon explosion on fresh Kaiser buns. But now…this. I took it all in. I unwrapped the paper like a tentative virgin and looked into the eyes of excellence.

The sandwich is about 10″ long. I spent an hour working on it and couldn’t finish it. There has to be at least 1.5lbs of meat in there. Simply unbelievable. If you love pork and you love sandwiches (if you don’t, WTF are you doing here?) make a trip to Salumi. You will thank me. salumicuredmeats.com‎

Salumi: 309 3rd Ave S, Seattle, WA‎ – (206) 223-0817‎

To take away his thunder, I wanted to share with you a recent conversation where he came to my house and begged me for my Sicilian potato recipe. Should this come to light in court, I want everyone to know that he approached me, not the other way around.

Paul:

“Please  Fletti, give me your precious potato recipe. I will offer my third and forth borns to you in return.”

Me:

“Paul, we have known each other many years, but this is the first time you’ve come to me for counsel or for help. I can’t remember the last time you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is date-night babysitter to your two children. But let’s be frank here. You never wanted my friendship. And you feared to be in my debt. I understand. You found paradise in the company of my smoker. You had a good trade, you made a good living. The police protected you and there were courts of law. So you didn’t need a friend like me. Now you come and say “Chris Fletti, give me justice.” But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me “Godfather.”

You come into my house on the day I make my Sicilian potatoes and you ask me to show you the recipe. Rovers, Rovers, what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you’d come to me in friendship, your  old three-hour potato recipe that ruined your confidence in making mashed potatoes would be suffering this very day. And if by some chance an honest man like yourself had trouble with a recipe, then these would become my troubles as well.  These recipes that challenge you would learn to fear you.

Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider this recipe a gift of my very special skills.”

I really believe that Paul and my relationship went to a new level after this conversation. He now knows why they call me the godfather of the spud. This is a really simple recipe (plus I got to break in my new Le Creuset.)

• 5 big russet potatoes
• lots of Parmesan cheese
• onion, sliced, and fried until sweet and slightly brown
• salt, pepper, olive oil
• 2 cups of low-sodium chicken stock

1. Olive oil in the casserole dish. Bottom and sides wiped to prevent sticking.
2. Using a mandolin (if you don’t have one, stop this recipe, go get one, and come back), slice up the 5 potatoes after you peel them
3. One layer of potatoes
4. One layer of onions
5. Cheese sprinkled
6. Salt & pepper and a drizzle of olive oil
7. Repeat steps 1-6 two more times.
8. Pour chicken stock on top
9. Push down with all your might
10. Wrap tightly with tin foil and then stick the lid on top
11. Bake at 375 degrees for 1hr 20min
12. Remove lid and tin foil
13. More cheese and back in the oven until its brown (about 15 minutes)

That’s how we do it Godfather style. Part of you will think about getting naked when you eat this. Don’t fight it. Also don’t stand too close to the open oven door. These potatoes are delicious. Next time I will use bacon fat rather than olive oil and 1 lb of bacon in this seems about right. Watch for future posts. If you are going to ‘swim with the fishes’ and you need to choose a last meal, make this one of the sides.

Note: I can’t stress enough the importance of mise-en-place. Simply put, having all your ingredients ready to use before you start. If you are doing your prep as you cook, you won’t enjoy it as much. Photo proof below.

Potatoes

Mise-en-place

Lovely cheese love

Spuds after the mandolin

Layered with care.

Layered on top of each other

My baby’s first run at cooking. Isn’t she beautiful.

Time for a close up.

All in all, yes, Paul got my recipe. Yes, he learned from the master of the potato. Yes, he will sleep with the fishes if he ever says that this was his recipe.

I had his potato recipe when we were working a contract in the old Think Tank days. It took three hours and it was…memorable. Let’s leave it at that.

We had the first of the Walla Walla’s last week.  The undisputed King of Onions will be around through to the end of September, but you can never have enough.  I’ve been told that they are so sweet, you can eat them as you would an apple.  Even better, try Maddie’s (Klipper’s preeminent Recipe Czar) suggestion of slicing and enjoying them topped with a piece of cheese.  I would think that a sharply aged cheddar would complement them nicely.  A great addition to your summer salad, these onions are best appreciated raw, although you can, of course, cook with them.  I’ve heard that they are delicious caramelized.

There are always special treasures for the motivated early-bird market shopper.  Broccoli, cucumbers, zucchini, and a small selection of gorgeous beans often sell out quickly.  With produce this fresh and beautiful, you have to do very little to enjoy them.  In fact, the less, the better.

And then, of course, there are the eggs. It breaks my heart to tell a customer that we have already sold out of these beautiful farm-fresh, free-run, organic wonders.  Don’t let this happen to you – get there early.  The market opens at 9 AM.

Now as a Catholic, I get the biscuit = body of Christ and the wine = blood. That’s all straightforward. But did one have to be Jewish in order to make one of these sweet eggy loafs?  I googled Challah and saw about 1,000,000 recipes. Okay, Nikita was right. But which one should I choose. Long story short, here is the one I chose, the dough looked like shit when I first made it. You have to let it rise, then rise again, then braid it, then let it rise, then bake it. Jeeze! It takes less time to learn Yiddish!

Anyway, I stuck with it and I was rewarded with an unbelievable end result. Here is the recipe and to follow that, the picture evidence of my creation:

Yield: 2 loaves

5 1/2 – 6 c. flour

1 T dry yeast

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/4 t salt

6 T vegetable oil

1 1/2 c water plus 2 t

1 egg

——-

1. In a small bowl (#1), put yeast, 1 T sugar, 1/4 c water. Mix and let it stand for 15 minutes or until it bubbles.

2. In bowl #2 put all dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar; mix them well.

3. In bowl #3 put all wet ingredients: water, oil, egg, and the yeast mixture after it’s bubbled; mix them well.

4. Mix everything together to make the dough. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour until you can handle it. Use your hands to mix and press the mixture until it forms a ball of dough.*

5. Cover with a towel, and let the dough stand in a warm place for an hour or an hour and a half until it doubles in size. (It wasn’t doing it for me so I warmed the oven to 150degrees and stuck the dough in there for 30 minutes.)

6. Punch the dough to let out the air bubbles (this is the fun part!).

7. Let stand for 10 minutes.

8. For traditional-style challah, separate dough into six even pieces, roll each piece into a snake either between your hands or on the table, and make two braids. Turn the ends under so they look pretty. You may need to keep a little flour out to keep them from getting too sticky. Or, weave them into any design you like. Place them on greased and floured cookie sheets.

9. Beat one egg in a small bowl. Brush both braids with egg. Let them stand half an hour, and then brush with egg again. If you like, sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds after the second egg wash.

10. Let rise for an hour or an hour and a half until the loaves double in size. Be patient!

11. Heat oven to 375F. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until the tops turn golden.

—

This bread makes the world’s best French Toast. We had it for breakfast Saturday morning and it was out of this world. Make it. Follow this recipe. And bless Nikita for opening my eyes to this lovely baked good. Cost of production: $2.50 a loaf.  Make two and you save yourself $10bucks. As a good friend, I brought a loaf to Paul, but his family lie in waiting. When he left for work they tippy-toed into the kitchen and left him mere scraps to sample. It is sad, but a cautionary tale. Bad things happen to good baking.

Note: If you look closely in the last picture (view of the cut loaf), you can see the ‘Last Supper” on the bottom right hand side. On the upper left is a relief of ‘Jonah and the Whale’ and on the bottom left is the ‘state of Texas’ and the ‘oldest Jonas brother riding a pony’.

The scapes were pickled in a brine that had a 5% salt content (50 grams or 1/4 cup of kosher salt to 1 litre of water), along with some fresh tarragon and a tablespoon or so of a modified pickling spice recipe that is also included in the book.  You could instead use a commercial pickling spice, or just make up your own using a combination of spices such as peppercorns, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, ginger, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, etc.  The key point here, though, is the magical 20:1 water to salt ratio of the brine itself.  This provides a salt solution that is mild enough to allow the good bacteria to go about its business of creating the lactic acid necessary for a successful pickle, while at the same time strong enough to keep the “bad” bacteria away.

It would normally take about a week to pickle the scapes (or just about any other vegetable) if you kept them out on the counter (uncovered) during the fall, winter, or spring (at least in Vancouver).  However, the recent warm days have presented somewhat of a challenge.  According to Ruhlman, it is important to ensure that: (a) the pickles are completely submerged in the brine; and, (b) the room temperature is below 23 degrees Celsius.  If not, you are clearing the way for the “bad” bacteria to take over.  So, like an  obsessed soccer/hockey mom/dad, I was constantly ferrying my pickles around the kitchen, from the counter, to the fridge, and back, while paying close attention to the long-term weather forecast, for the better part of two weeks. At this point, you should reboil boil and cool the brine in order to stop the fermentation process.

My newly pickled friends are now ready to enjoy.  I tasted one last night.  I would describe them as vividly green, lightly salted, mildly sour, and with a spicy, garlicky kick.  In other words, a perfect accompaniment for the Classic Caesar.  Last week was also the end of the BC Spot Prawn season.  I picked some up for the Caesars, along with a few extra pounds to freeze for future use.

The Caesars did not disappoint.

And so, the time has come to say goodbye to both the mysterious & unwieldy garlic scape and the sweet king of prawns.  Farewell, dear friends, and godspeed.  I take a measure of comfort knowing that I will be enjoying your preserved goodness for some time to come.

Paul, who created this amazing looking site needs the nice looking threads for his continued advocacy of pig rights.