Archive for the ‘Organic Produce’ Category

A Great Carrot Gratin

Posted 02 Mar 2011 — by chefshirle
Category Gardening, Organic Produce, Vegan, Vegetarian

I’ll admit it…I’m a Veg-aholic. I love all vegetables, even the lowly beet. I’m constantly on the look out for new ways of preparing old versions of veggie side dishes. So, after a day of cooking potato gratin for my clients and drooling over the decadence that IS all things “gratin,” I came home to a fridge full of carrots. The urge I had to make a gratin that night forced me to eye up those sweet, orange roots in a new way. I thought, “why not carrots instead of potatoes?”…and was pleasantly surprised at the creamy deliciousness that I had created.

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Sage Sizzle…No Shizzle!

Posted 25 Feb 2011 — by chefshirle
Category Gardening, Herbs, Organic Gardening, Organic Produce, Vegan, Vegetarian

I had a bumper crop of Sage last fall. It seemed such a waste to just let it die off as winter approached and, as you might know, I have an issue with “wasting” herbs. (see my “Herb Preserve” post to see how far I’ve gone to save some herbage)

Anyway, I noticed the trend of frying herbs about 2 years ago and hadn’t yet experimented with this idea until last fall.

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Stop Monsanto’s Genetically Modified (GMO) Alfalfa-NOW!

Posted 01 Feb 2011 — by chefshirle
Category Gardening, Organic Gardening, Organic Produce, Vegan, Vegetarian

HOLY HELL! Monsanto is at it again… Read this:

We just found out that “after years of bureaucratic wrangling, Secretary Vilsack and the Obama administration are only days away from approving Monsanto’s genetically modified (GMO) alfalfa. If approved, GMO alfalfa will fundamentally undermine the entire organic industry overnight. In addition, the USDA says American consumers don’t care about the contamination of organics.

Please join us in calling on Secretary Vilsack and President Obama to stand up for organic family farmers by rejecting the approval of Monsanto’s GMO alfalfa. Tell them to protect organic integrity and seed biodiversity over corporate profits.”

Go here and make your voice heard. It will only take a short second to save generations of Organic Farmers crops and livelihoods. DO IT!

Radical Riffs: From Produce Sack to Pot Scrubber.

Posted 16 Dec 2010 — by chefshirle
Category Kitchen Tips, Kitchen Tricks, Organic Produce, Recycled Merchandise

It began innocently enough, I had bought a couple netted bags of brussel sprouts, then came the net bag of small red potatoes. Next thing I knew it was clementine season and those little citrus gems came in a little net bag as well. And I couldn’t or wouldn’t throw the colorful bags away. They had to be good for some reuse, right?

Well, right on I was, one night at my kitchen sink…you see, I have a metal scrubby that I happily use on my stainless steel pots and pans, but I had nothing similar to scrub up my more delicate cookware. Until I started to look at that metal puff sitting there on my soap dish. Its construction seemed simple…layers of netted metal all rolled into a neat donut. Read More

Incredible Edible (and Local) Eggs

Posted 05 Jul 2009 — by chefshirle
Category Eggs, Organic Produce, Vegetarian

Eggs Beauty

So, which came first. The brown egg or the white egg?…or maybe the green hued or speckled blue? What about baby bird or dinosaur sized?These days most consumers of eggs settle for the lowly large white egg. There they sit, stacked upon one another in their Styrofoam cartons from chickens that I can only imagine live a horror of a shortened life. I know that if I were a producer of eggs, as in if I were a chicken, I would not be giving it “my all” to create the tastiest and oldest forms of protein known to man. Which lead me to look at the label on the cartons of eggs I was buying. I happened to be shopping at Whole Foods one afternoon when I noticed the address of the farm. I was pleasantly surprised that these protein powerhouses came from a farm in Hillsborough, North Carolina, which is about 11 miles from my home in Durham.

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Zesty Escabeche Soy Cutlets

Posted 20 Apr 2008 — by chefshirle
Category Mexican Food, Organic Produce, Soy Cutlets, Vegan

Zesty Escabeche Sauced Soy Cutlets

I am going to start this off by saying that I have been seduced by this dish. No. ‘Seduced’ is not strong enough a word. More like ‘captured’ by the combination of flavors. The zest of the vinegar, the sweetness of those browned onions, the fragrant allspice. It’s all there. In one tantalizing bite after tantalizing bite.

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Buying Organic Eggs for Easter?…Then What About The Dye?

Posted 19 Mar 2008 — by chefshirle
Category Easter Eggs, Organic Produce, Spices

Organically Dyed Easter Eggs

Well friends, here we are at the doorstep of Spring when colorful eggs lay hidden in yards and children run about like little freaks searching them out.

So I ask…you spend the extra cash to buy organic eggs, so why not dye them organically?

Back in the olden days of Persia, people would give each other dyed eggs as a symbol of springs arrival and rebirth. With that said, we know that Paas Color Kits were not around. So, what did they use to dye the eggs?

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