Jerk Chicken Marinade

July/August Theme: Homemade summer

The humidity and temperature both dropped in DC today, which, while completely welcome and meant the weather was gorgeous, also served as a reminder that summer is winding down. Which is a little sad. But if you are feeling at all similarly, I think this recipe could help-- grilled and tropical-tasting jerk chicken.


I've been meaning to make this for a few weeks and finally made it last night, and it was really good. I wanted to find an interesting marinade recipe to go along with the made-from-scratch theme. To be honest, it does take a little while to cut up all of the ingredients that make it up, but I think you can really tell the difference, in addition to all of the benefits of making something form scratch rather than buying processed/packaged marinade. The flavors are really interesting-- soy sauce, with all spice and nutmeg, thyme and lime juice. I'm mostly focusing on the marinade aspect (versus the chicken cooking), since you could use this with either grilled or baked chicken.


Since I am currently grill-less, I used a grill pan to grill the chicken. I only marinaded the chicken this for an hour since that was all I had time for, but the recipe actually says that you could marinade chicken with this for up to 12 hours, which could be interesting.



And lastly, a few photos from my summer vacation- this recipe would have tasted even better sitting out in one of these places...




Jerk Chicken Marinade
From Gourmet

3 scallions, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4-5 jalapeno chiles
1/4 c fresh lime juice
2 T soy sauce
3 T olive oil
1 1/2 t salt
1 T packed brown sugar
1 T loosely packed fresh thyme leaves
2 t ground allspice
2 t freshly ground black pepper
3/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Marinade chicken for at least one hour, but can also be used to marinade chicken over night, up to 12 hours, before cooking.

Environmental Advantages of Cooking with Non-Processed Food

Image source: http://www.slashfood.com/2011/03/24/u-s-food-industry-to-trim-packaging-waste-by-4-billion-pounds/.

Going along with July/August's theme of homemade or do-it-yourself food items that you might otherwise purchase processed, I thought I'd look into some of the environmental and related health reasons for decreasing prepackaged and preprocessed food consumption. Processing and packaging are obviously two separate things, but often go together with food choices.

While looking up the statistics mostly confirmed things that I had assumed (processed food requires more energy to produce than fresh food, since processed food re-constitutes fresh food, which takes energy), I was surprised by the portion of energy required for this stage, and it was good to remember how many stages there are to packaging and selling of processed food. For instance, think of the energy required to retail packaged food, which is completely separate from its production.

Advantages of cooking with non-processed foods:

Less energy used. Eating non-processed or packaged food can decrease food's carbon footprint because substantial energy is required to transform fresh food to the processed food found in a grocery store.

• According to the Earth Institute, "Growing food accounts for only one fifth of [the US food system's annual energy consumption]. The other four fifths is used to move, process, package, sell, and store food after it leaves the farm....While 21 percent of overall food system energy is used in agricultural production, another 14 percent goes to food transport, 16 percent to processing, 7 percent to packaging, 4 percent to food retailing, 7 percent to restaurants and caterers, and 32 percent to refrigeration and preparation." (As a side note, this is also a reason to each local food, as eating fresh food doesn't necessarily mean that less energy was spent on food transport.)
• Often the energy in the food is less than that required to produce it: "Processing breakfast cereals requires 7,125 kilocalories per pound—easily five times as much energy as is contained in the cereal itself" (from same Earth Institute article).
  

Decrease in chemical exposure. Due to the chemicals currently used in food packaging, the packaging itself can lead to environmental and animal and human health problems.

• A 2011 study found that food packaging (i.e. cans, wrappers, and polycarbonate bottles) is a substantial source of BPA exposure, which has been found to cause endocrine disruption in animals and in some human studies.
  
• As the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy explains, in addition to promoting packing materials without BPA, BPA exposure from food packaging can be lessened by cutting consumption of prepackaged foods and cooking form fresh ingredients.
  
• The IATP also shows an image from the article of the top 10 canned foods known to leach the most BPA, which I found slightly unnerving as coconut milk, the canned item I probably buy the most of, is at the top of the list.

So try to use non-packaged or non-processed foods whenever you can! More recipes coming on this theme during August.

Pasta Salad with Homemade Caramelized Leek & Goat Cheese Dressing

July/August Theme: Homemade summer

Since July is almost over, and really, in DC July and August tend to blend together into one hazy heat-filled period of time, I'm going to combine July and August's theme into one. True to form, it has indeed been heat-filled here lately, which is when I start to fixate on dishes that are served cold, a favorite being pasta salad.



The classic versions I think of are made with either mayonnaise or Italian dressing along with cubes of cheddar cheese and broccoli. Usually, when I make pasta salad, I go in a completely different direction from those. But I thought that it would be interesting to try to make something in the spirit of those pasta salads, but with a homemade dressing made of more unique ingredients and sans mayonnaise.

The cool thing about this recipe is that I started with the base of the dressing with the pasta, and then added in the other elements somewhat experimentally based on what I had. So you could do a lot of different things with it if you changed which vegetables/fruit/protein you added to it. Other ideas I had included asparagus, zucchini, and almonds.

The dressing might sound complicated, but is very easy as long as you are willing to caramelize the leeks. The flavor that comes out is very interesting and somewhat rich, which then plays off of the vegetables, etc well.





Working on this dressing got be thinking about other summer staples that are often store-bought, but that are easy to make from scratch- salsa and meat marinade in particular came to mind. So the theme for July and August will be summer recipes that you might usually use a store-bought ingredient (in this case, the dressing for the pasta salad) with an easy homemade version. I'll also be doing a post about the topic of homemade versus processed food products in general, looking at some of the advantages to making things yourself instead of buying them. Happy summer!







Pasta Salad with Homemade Caramelized Leek & Goat Cheese Dressing

Makes a large batch, so consider halving if only want a few servings

1 T olive oil
touch of salt
6-7 radishes, sliced very thin
1 bunch broccolini or broccoli(about 2 C chopped)
4 C dry pasta, such as macaroni
1 15-ounce can chick peas
2 medium Granny Smith apples

Dressing
Juice of one lemon
1 t salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
3 T olive oil
1.5 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 T honey
4 ounces goat cheese, softened
2 medium to large leeks (about 2 C chopped), caramelized

1. Remove dark green tops and root from bottom of leeks. To wash, halve leeks lengthwise and thinly slice crosswise in large bowl of cold water. Wash leeks well and lift from water into large colander.
2. Heat 1 T of olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat, add leeks and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Turn to low and cook for 20-30 minutes until brown and caramelized.
4. In meantime, boil large pot of water, about 4 quarts with salt added. When water is boiling, add pasta. Cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.
5. Slice radishes into very thin slices. Chop apples into small cubes.
7. Once leeks are done, chop brocollini or broccoli into small pieces, and saute lightly in same pan as leeks were cooked in. Cook only until lightly sauteed but still crisp.
8. Set pasta, fruit and vegetables aside.
9. To make dressing, combine caramelized leeks, lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil, vinegar, honey, and softened goat cheese in food processor, and combine until ingredients are finely ground.
10. Combine dressing with pasta. Once pasta is room temperature, come both with fruit, vegetables and chick peas. Put in refrigerator until cold. Serve chilled.

Thai Stuffed Peppers

June Theme: International Food Issues & International Recipes



While I have to admit I can't completely vouch for the Thai authenticness of this recipe, I was drawn to it because of the mix of some interesting flavors for a stuffed peppers recipe, which I usually think of as being an Italian or all-American dish.



But the stuffed peppers have a completely different flavor in this case because of the cilantro, peanuts, and Thai flavors. I ate this with rice when I made it, because it does end up tasting like a lot of meat at once (so it could be interesting to add other vegetables to the pepper stuffing). Don't skip the fresh lime juice, which makes them taste really fresh!





Thai Stuffed Peppers

1 lb ground turkey
2 T Hoisin sauce
2 T soy sauce
1/2 C chopped peanuts
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fish sauce
1/4 t ground back pepper
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro
1 T ground or fresh ginger
5-6 large sweet peppers (I used sweet cubanelle peppers)
Juice of one lime

1. Combine the turkey, peanuts, shallot, garlic, fish sauce, black pepper, soy sauce, Hoisin sauce, lime juice, and cilantro in a mixing bowl.
2. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and membranes.
3. Stuff the turkey mixture into the pepper halves, mounding the mixture slightly.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F, uncovered, in a lightly-greased pan for 35-40 minutes, until meat is cooked through.

Adapted from Crossroads Cooking

International Food Crises caused by Spikes in Food Prices

June Theme: International Food Issues & International Recipes

But a brief aside before getting to the actual topic...

So, first of all, my one-month hiatus from the blog accidentally turned into a three-month hiatus. Instead of trying to figure how that's possible, and how that much time went by, I'm going to focus on the fact that I'm excited to get back to the blog, and the whole monthly theme plan that I have been working on.



In the time since I last posted, I went on a month-long work trip to Indonesia, and one tiny blog-related thing came full circle: the image at the top of the blog is of rice paddies, and while I was in Indonesia I went on a hike outside of Jakarta through some amazingly beautiful actual rice paddies.



Even though I've been back for a few months, I've still been thinking a lot about my trip, and so it seemed like a good time to do a post on international food policy issues. And then with the next couple of posts, I'll post some internationally-inspired recipes!

And now to the topic at-hand: food prices.

Maybe you remember the news coverage on the global food crisis in 2007-2008; that was the first time I remember learning about some of the complicated causes of escalating food prices and the potential impacts.

That particular food crisis was blamed on factors including rising energy costs and an increase in demand for food brought on by a growth in the middle class in China and India. In addition, demand for biofuels in developed countries was also blamed, including by the World Bank; since biofuel production requires food sources as an input, theoretically their production competes with food resources and increases prices through an increase in demand.

Why does this matter? Even though households in the US are obviously also affected by increases in food prices, because households in developing countries spend a higher portion of their income on food, they are adversely affected. According to a 2008 NYT article, "Even the poorest fifth of households in the United States spend only 16 percent of their budget on food. In many other countries, it is less of a given. Nigerian families spend 73 percent of their budgets to eat, Vietnamese 65 percent, Indonesians half."

In the food crisis of 2007-2008, these stressors affected not only people's access to food, but led to social unrest; increases in food prices lead to riots in several countries, including Haiti and Egypt.

And now, upon observing high food prices in 2011, many have predicted that another food crisis is on the horizon. An article by Lester Brown in Foreign Policy names similar causes for this crisis as the one in 2007-2008, but adds that climate change-induced effects such as soil erosion, which shrinks production.

What can be done? Obviously this is an incredibly complicated issue, but suggested policy options to deal with this issue include convincing the US and EU to lesson subsidies and tax benefits for biofuel production, and programs to increase agricultural productivity in developing countries so as to decrease prices (see NYT 2008 article). In addition, it seems that legislation targeting climate change should be a long-term policy goal, with development programs that work on the effects of climate change on agriculture helping in the short term.

This policy topic is as bit harder to tie directly back to "your own table" (other than maybe not using biofuels and trying to limit climate change). For me, it's more of a reminder to think of ways to affect and change developed country agriculture policy, including biofuel policy, since it seems that this is one factor among the many complicated ones that combine to cause food crisis in developing countries.

Brief Blog Hiatus

I am out of the country for work for most of March, so the blog will be on a brief hiatus! Back in April with more posts.

Garlic Cloves Confit

February Theme: Indulgence.



I'm packing to go on a work trip, so this will be short! And simple: garlic slow-cooked in olive oil-- and that is the whole recipe. And yet, this dish is really something in-and-of itself. Plus, it's very indulgent: it doesn't even really fit into any one meal, so you basically need to let yourself have an appetizer or snack of this in between your normal meals. Even though the flavor relies on just garlic, because of the way it's prepared, the flavor is unique. The garlic is slow-cooked to the point of being as spreadable as butter, and the flavor is earthy and rich. It's great alone on baguette, or added to a sandwich.





Garlic Cloves Confit

1/2 C peeled garlic cloves
About 1/2 C olive oil

Put garlic into a small heavy saucepan and add enough olive oil to cover garlic. Bring just to a simmer, reduce heat, and cook at a bare simmer until garlic is tender, about 25 minutes. Let garlic cool in oil.

The garlic keeps, in the oil, for up for two weeks, covered and refrigerated.