Fresh To Impress

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Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:53:53 -0400

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Wed, 06 Jun 2012 07:19:21 -0400

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Tue, 05 Jun 2012 07:42:29 -0400

3 gal. of Brown Swiss raw milk. Let the dairy projects...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:13:45 -0400

3 gal. of Brown Swiss raw milk. Let the dairy projects begin.

Butternut squash risotto w/ poacher.

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:04:35 -0400

Butternut squash risotto w/ poacher.

Red cabbage, red onion, fennel, saute.

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:59:48 -0400

Red cabbage, red onion, fennel, saute.

Sunflower Sprout Sauerkraut!

Sun, 13 May 2012 14:48:00 -0400

Equipment

Crushing sprouts releases their juices

Finished kraut, ready to ferment!

Sunflower Sprout Sauerkraut!

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Sun, 13 May 2012 14:42:42 -0400

Sunflower sprouts are fast and easy to grow at home.

Sun, 06 May 2012 20:26:00 -0400

Sunflower sprouts are fast and easy to grow at home.

Grow Sunflower Sprouts

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:10:00 -0400

Yes, the humble sunflower seed, slick black shell and all, is good for more than just keeping you occupied on road trips. The seeds, unroasted, unsalted, and still in their shell, will grow sunflower sprouts with a little time and water.

Green-leafed and crispy-stemmed, Sunflower sprouts are sort of like the alfalfa sprouts that top your coffee shop sandwich. But they have an especially great crunch factor and a peppery, sunflower seed-y kick to them.

You can grow sunflower sprouts in your home with minimal equipment and effort. We learned the wonders and secrets of growing sunflower sprouts from Chris Brittenburg and Aeros Lillstrom of Who Cooks for You Farm in Western Pennsylvania. Their method entails turning bread trays into chia pets, with a dense carpet of sprouts growing from a thin layer of sawdust

What to Grow In:

Because the seeds already contain the energy and nutrients the sprout will use to grow, you don’t need to grow sprouts in a nutritious growing medium, thus saw dust is fine. Your seeds will feel pampered in plain old dirt, or anything other than straight-up clay or sand.

What to Grow On:

Brittenburg and Lillstrom use plastic bread trays, but any object with a flat surface that allows water through can work. Use what you have, a cooling rack (lining it with newspaper will keep the sprouts from falling through), a basket, a plastic tub or tub lid, or even a cardboard box and/or lid. If you’re growing inside, you’ll need something to go under the porous object to catch the water (unless your growing sprouts in your sink, which is an option). Again, you could use random things you have on hand) a plastic box or lid, a baking tray or pan, a platter, your roommate’s towel. Alternatively, you could invest a few bucks in plastic trays for both the water-tight and porous pieces from any greenhouse or gardening center.

Grow On!

1. Lay newspaper down on your growing surface, then sprinkle a light layer of sawdust or dirt (just enough to cover the newspaper).

2. Sprinkle sunflower seeds (with your hand or a cup) thickly across the dirt or sawdust. You want to come close to covering all the sawdust with seeds, but not so thick the seeds lay one on top of one another.

3. Sprinkle another thin layer or sawdust or dirt on top of the seeds, just enough to cover them.

4. Water lightly and gently (don’t wash out the seeds!) once a day, or whenever the sawdust/soil is dry. Use a watering bucket, a gentle sprayer, or with a plastic container with small holes poked in it.

5. Put in a warm, sunny spot, either inside or out. If you put it outside, bring it in on chilly nights.

Harvest Time!

Depending on the temperature and amount of sunlight (warmer and more sun is better, within reason) your seeds experience, they should turn into several inch long sprouts with two fat leaves peeking out of the shell in a week and a half or longer. Harvest your sprouts before their second set of leaves starts to grow (they’ll get bitter).

1. Rub your hand back-and-forth over the top of your sprouts (like you were petting a dog… vigorously… and against the grain). This will help throw off most of the shells.

2. Cut your sprouts off with a sharp knife just above the soil.

3. Gently, put your cut sprouts into a large bowl or sink of water. Shake the up in the water a bit to help release dirt and shells.

4. Allow the dirt to settle, then press the sprouts (which will be floating along with the shells) down slightly into the water. With your other hand (or with a partner) scoop up the shells left floating behind and compost them.

Once you’re happy with the cleanliness of your sprouts, enjoy them in/as salads, in sandwiches, tacos, pad thai, on pizza, and tossed in spaghetti just long enough to wilt them.

The sprouts will keep in the fridge, and you can cut them as you need to use them, but if you make a large harvest, be sure to ferment yourself some Sprout Kraut.

Garlic Mustard

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:47:00 -0400

Garlic Mustard

Garlic Mustard: Out of the Woods & onto the Table

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:45:00 -0400

Garlic Mustard is just a small, green plant, but it makes conservationists furious. The little herb grows profusely in forests across the country and is notorious as a terrible invasive.

A native of Europe, Garlic Mustard spread quickly across Eastern North America where it outcompetes and overruns native wildflowers (http://www.ipm.msu.edu/garlicFAQ.htm#3). Interestingly enough, the plant is also a member of the family Brassicaceae—the same family as broccoli, cabbage, kale, bok choy, and turnips (not to mention mustard). While, Fresh to Impress was unable to find nutritional information specifically for Garlic Mustard, brassicas as a family are famed for their nutritional whallop. Vitamins A, B, C, K abound in the leafy greens (or roots) of the Brassica family, as well as potassium, iron, magnesium, beta carotene, and other anti-oxidants (http://www.nutrition.gov/whats-food).

The chance to do a good deed for your body and the forest ought to be all the inspiration you need to forage a bushel of Garlic Mustard, but if that doesn’t convince you perhaps your palate will.

Garlic Mustard leaves have a spicy, garlic flavor and a wonderful bitterness to them (catch young leaves in the spring for less bitterness) making it a flavorful choice salads, soups, pasta, wraps, and any every other way you can think to use greens.

We’ve been eating our Garlic Mustard raw (for optimal nutritive value and texture) with dressings of our own concoction. But I also liked these ideas for aioli, pesto, rostis.

Hunting and Harvesting

You’ve probably walked past Garlic Mustard a hundred times and never noticed it—on the side of road, in the woods by the park, out in the country. The plant is short its first year, less than a foot high, and grows in clusters of heart-shaped leaves. Look for Garlic Mustard in moist, shady spots and recently disturbed areas, especially areas with limestone bedrock (http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pdf/alpe1.pdf). If your still unsure of where you might be able to find some, ask your nature buff friend, your local biology teacher, or conservation agent.

Garlic Mustard is best in spring, when the plant hasn’t gone to flower yet and its young leaves aren’t too bitter. Gather up a bunch of leaves in one hand is cut it with a knife or just pluck it, getting as much stem as you like.

Rosehip Tea

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:19:00 -0400

Rosehip Tea

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Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:59:00 -0400

Sourdough Cornbread Pancakes w/ Mole and Sweet Potatoes &...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 07:40:00 -0400

Sourdough Cornbread Pancakes w/ Mole and Sweet Potatoes & Kale.

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Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:07:02 -0400

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Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:51:15 -0400