Halloween

These are some photos in Albuquerque around Halloween.

Ayuervedic Detox Weekend

I read this article on Ayuervedic Cleansing this month in Whole Living magazine. I was really interested in Ayurveda a few years back because I have always struggled with balance in my daily life. I found out from the little quiz in the article that I have am Pitta Dosha, which turns out to be pretty accurate from the rest of the research I have done the past few weeks on Ayuerdeda. So I am trying this weekend detox right now to try and get all my energy in balance or chakras aligned or whatever. But seriously, so far it feels pretty cleansing. My regimen is loosely taken from the article but I am also improvising as I see fit. If I were actually getting up before the sun rose I'm sure I would get even more out of it. Check out the regimen if you are interested and below is a really nice recipe for Kitchari (the cleansing mung bean mono-diet). It is a result of my experimentation with compiling multiple recipes. Ans, it's supposed to be balancing for all the Doshas.

Kitchari Recipe

This is a mung dal kitchari, which balances all three doshas. It is particularly beneficial for the stomach, lungs, liver, and large intestine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine mung beans are also revered for their detoxification properties. This recipe makes 4-5 servings.

1 cup yellow mung dal (split or whole)

1 cup basmati rice

5-6 cups water

3 tbsp ghee (purified butter)

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 pinch asafoetida (a spice also called hing—available at Indian groceries)

½ tsp cumin seeds

2 whole cloves

1 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon bark

4-5 crushed cardamom pods

10 black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp shredded, unsweetened coconut

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp salt

Optional: 1 cup diced vegetables like squash, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, etc. It is best to use in season veggies.

Wash the mung dal and rice until water is clear. Soaking the dal for a few hours or overnight helps with digestibility.

Boil 5-6 cups water (depending on if you want wetter or drier Kitchari) and add rice and beans. Boil for roughly 20-30 minutes stirring frequently. Add veggies to rice and beans after about 15 minutes.

While boiling rice and beans, heat a large saucepan on medium heat and add the ghee, cinnamon bark, cloves, cardamom pods, peppercorns and bay leaves. Stir for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the coconut and ginger, then the turmeric and salt. Stir until lightly browned.

Add to rice, bean and veggie mixture and mix together very well. Enjoy slowly and outdoors, if possible.

all these bananas

After a month long break working on the Los Poblanos Organic farm I switched to the warehouse for the winter season. In some ways there is more hard labor involved like sorting and packing produce into boxes, defrosting produce that is delivered from California, using a hand truck and forklift to moved boxes around the warehouse, distributing produce into CSA subscriber boxes, and lots of cleaning. I started yesterday and was both delighted and surprised by how much produce ends up in the compost or up for grabs for the workers. I took home a bunch of pears, broccoli, garlic, onions, potatoes, and a whole ton of bananas (well, not a ton but lots and lots). So I decided to eat a few, freeze a couple of bunches and use the rest to make lots of banana bread. Below is my recipe. It can be tweaked for high altitude quite easily by taking out 1/4 tsp of baking soda, 1/4 c flour, using cold eggs, and baking for only 45 minutes. Feel free to make with pecans instead of walnuts, or just take out the nuts, and/or add chocolate chips.

Banana Bread

makes 2 loaves
active time: 30 minutes
total time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients
* 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes
* 2 1/3 cups sugar
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 3 cups coarsely mashed very ripe bananas (6 large)
* 1/4 cup crème fraîche
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* 1 1/3 cups walnuts (4 ounces), toasted and chopped

* Special equipment: a standing electric mixer

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 (9- by 5- by 3-inch) metal loaf pans, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Sift together 3 1/4 cups flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl.

Beat together eggs and sugar in bowl of electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale and mixture forms a ribbon when beater is lifted, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add oil in a slow stream, mixing, then mix in bananas, crème fraîche, and vanilla. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in flour mixture and walnuts gently but thoroughly.

Divide batter between loaf pans, spreading evenly, and bake in middle of oven until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Cool loaves in pans on a rack 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack.
Turn loaves right side up and cool completely.

Turkey Harvest

This year I was lucky enough to reserve one of eighteen turkeys from Los Poblanos Organic Farm in Albuquerque where I participate in the work share program. I helped feed these Heritage Bronze Breasted turkeys and shovel their poop over the last few months. It was cool to have the opportunity to kill my own food and share it with my friends.

How it works: First you catch her,which was pretty easy because they were in their coop. You do this by grabbing her feet and swinging her upside down because this mesmerizes them. Then you put her head down into a bucket with a hole cut in it. You hold her straight up and down (and this is the hard part) you make two deep and hard incisions in a V shape on either side of the jugular. Once the blood has drained and she stops thrashing, you swing her around into a very hot tub of water to loosen the feathers. You pluck all the feathers out (a long and tedious process), cut the head and feet off and then remove the insides. You then clean her out and she is ready to cook. As difficult as it was to end her life with my own hands, I highly recommend this experience if you ever get the chance.

Hunting

Fresh fall salad - Kohlrabi, Fennel & Apple

Today was a sunny and warm fall day here. I got an early start to the farm for my weekly work share harvesting duty and I really sank into a sort of meditative groove of picking, cutting, banding, boxing and counting. I also had some nice conversation with the folks that I was working with. I think I even made a few new friends.

I got home from the farm and decided to take a run with my puppy on the Bosque trail. When I got back I needed to eat something light because it was late so I mixed up one of my favorite new salads. I was inspired to create this coleslaw-like salad last month because of an item I kept getting in my CSA box: Kohlrabi. I found out that Kohlrabi is a German turnip that is slightly sweeter than most turnips you might be used to. The photograph in the post before my last one is a kohlrabi just harvested with roots and all. It can be eaten raw or roasted, baked, boiled, etc. For this salad, you slice it raw into thin slices and mix it in with some spices, vinegar, oil, and other raw fruits and veggies (much like a coleslaw but with much bigger slices of fruit & veggie, not shreds). You can make this salad in a variety of different ways with a number of different ingredient combinations but the main ingredients I have found to work best together are:

1 large or 2 medium Kohlrabi (chop off greens and peel)
1 large Fennel bulb
1 large or 2 medium radishes (I use Easer egg because I like the spiciness)
1 large or 2 medium turnips (with green chopped off)
1 large or 2 medium apples (Jonah or another medium sweet, almost tart variety)
Handful of dried currants (or raisins)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)

The dressing I make for this is:
1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
Dash of each: nutmeg, clove, cardamom, sea salt & pepper
2 tbsp champagne (or white wine) vinegar
2 tbsp vanilla infused olive oil

First, I prepare the dressing in the same medium sized bowl the produce will go into:
Mix champage (or white wine) vinegar and vanilla infused oil with grated ginger. (I also mix in a dash of pomegranate vinegar for a touch of sweetness and a tiny splash of walnut oil for an earthy/nutty flavor). I make the vanilla infused oil myself - it's super easy and smells amazing to make (the recipe at end of blog post). Add a dash of nutmeg, cardamom, clove, sea salt & pepper.
Next, I prepare the veggies and fruits and toss them all in the bowl as I slice them. Using a mandolin might make this step easier but I slice by hand with a VERY sharp knife. Chop all the greens off kohlrabi and peel the tough bitter skin off completely using a veggie peeler. (If you have a masticating juicer save those kohlrabi and turnip greens because they are sweet when juiced and taste great mixed with apple juice!) I quarter the kohlrabi and then slice the quarters into 1/8-1/16" thin slices. Next, slice apple in half and cut out core (leave peel on for red color). I slice the apple slightly thinner than the kohlrabi. Slice radish into thin slices. I use large Easter egg radishes because they are a little spicy but you can use any variety. Slice turnip in the same way. Peel 1 large bulb of fennel apart and then slice the stalks the short way creating little "C" shapes with the fennel. Toss them in as well. Next toast pine nuts (and/or walnuts) lightly with some sea salt and toss them into the bowl along with a handful of dried currants and/or raisins. Using wooden salad tongs toss it all together gently and serve shortly after it is made. I have eaten this salad the next day but it is not as fresh tasting.

I made a huge batch of this vanilla infused oil to give as gifts last holiday season:
In a small saucepan top 3 split vanilla beans with 4 cups light olive oil. Slowly heat until hot and vanilla is aromatic. Cool, strain and store refrigerated. I sealed the oil along with one split vanilla bean into little glass jars with wax.It should keep for a little over a year.

As the night falls I can see that the moon is waning and because of the fairly clear sky there is a mild chill in the air. Off to read for a bit and who knows, maybe I'll be up for going out for a beer at one of the local breweries I haven't tried yet.