Simply: Home Cooking

Brining

For years now, I've been brining my Thanksgiving turkey before roasting it, but recently, I've started brining just about all animal proteins before broiling, searing, roasting, grilling, or smoking them - it basically improves anything cooked by a dry heat method. Brining serves many purposes, among them imparting flavor, retaining moisture, and improving tenderness. Brining takes a bit of planning ahead, but the results will be well worth it.

If soaking your fish/meat/poultry in salty water sounds odd or sends you into fits of concern about sodium intake, consider that just about any poultry, much of the fish, and most of the pre-marinated meats in the store are injected with saline solution that contains a lot of other chemicals you probably don't want to know about.

The most basic brine consists of 1 cup (yes, a cup) of salt dissolved in 1 gallon of water, which in home kitchen terms reduces to 1/4 c of salt to 1 quart of water or 2 T of salt per 2 c of water. This is all well and good, but pretty boring.

Here is my favorite brine recipe, which can be varied infinitely based on the flavors you want to impart - it makes enough to brine approximately 2 lbs of meat/fish/poultry:

• 2 c water
• 2 T kosher or sea salt (non-iodized, please - iodized will make your meat have a metallic flavor)
• 1 T maple syrup
• 3-5 juniper berries, crushed with the flat of a knife blade
• 3-5 peppercorns, crushed with the flat of a knife blade
• 1 bay leaf, crumbled
• fresh or dried herbs of choice: you can use entire sprigs of rosemary, thyme, sage, etc. - just crush them slightly in your hands
• 1 small dried chile pepper or 1/4 tsp chile flakes - optional

Combine the ingredients, stirring gently until the salt crystals are completely dissolved. Some cooks like to heat the brine, which speeds the salt dissolving and melds the flavors more quickly. If you do this, be sure to cool it to room temperature or lower before adding your meat. Place the meat in a non-reactive container - I prefer to use glass or stainless steel bowls, but food-grade plastic bags and containers are also usable - and add enough brine to cover completely. If your meat floats, weigh it down with a plate to submerge it completely. Brine for approximately 1 hour per pound, basing the calculation on the largest piece you are brining.

Remove the meat from the brine, pat it dry, and allow it to sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour before cooking - this ensures a better color on the outside and a crisper skin on poultry.

Smoke, grill, broil, or roast the meat as you normally would - you'll be impressed by the difference in flavor and texture!

Once you've tried out the basic brine, feel free to experiment: you can vary the liquid, the sweetener, and spices and herbs. Remember, though, if you add an acidic element to the liquid (wine, vinegar, fruit or fruit juice), your meat will be even more tenderized - overbrining in these liquids might result in grayish meat with a mushy rather than tender texture.

Fair Food

In recent months, a lot of activity at Fair Food Network, where I work, has focused on the publication of a book written by Oran Hesterman, our president/CEO. We launched the national book tour last Thursday in Ann Arbor, and so far the book has been met with a lot of enthusiasm and has garnered some great reviews (see Kirkus Reviews and this Kresge Foundation press release for 2 examples).

Where are YOU on your journey toward helping create a more sustainable, more equitable, fairer food system for our future generations: Just starting to think about buying more local food? Seriously into buying local, sustainable food? Involved in food systems change at the community level? Ready to influence the movement on a national scale?

Regardless of where you are on your food systems journey, I recommend this book as one that gives everyone practical steps to take to move us beyond what’s on our own plates and in our own refrigerators toward what we can do in our neighborhood, our greater community, and our country (and maybe even globally!) to make healthy, fresh food available to everyone now AND into the future.

Ready to get more involved?

• For a sneak peek at the content, see “Moving from Conscious Consumer to Engaged Citizen” on the Fair Food Network Blog.
• Find out whether Oran will be in your town on tour on the Fair Food book site and come hear him in person.
• Pick up or order the book at your favorite independent bookseller!

Once you've educated yourself about how broken the food system is (and as the Kresge release says, "that [book]’s been written – more than once"), you will begin to see the problems all around you, both in our nation and in the world (see "High, dry, and up against a wall"). Oran Hesterman's Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All will take you one step further and show you where to look for solutions AND how to become part of the solution.

 

Gratin of Greens

A gratin is a dish with a crunchy topping, usually baked in a shallow dish, sometimes browned under a broiler at the last minute. Gratins are usually quick to put together and can make either a great vegetarian entrée or side dish.

The original recipe, Bright Lights Chard Gratin, comes from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets—I highly recommend this book for its approach to seasonal cooking of what’s available in your local market.

I’ve altered the recipe to reduce the amount of butter used and make it easier to throw together at the last minute, particularly if you keep blanched greens and fresh bread crumbs in your freezer. You can use any greens you have on hand for this—spinach, kale, collards, chard,...or a mix—they should be barely tender when you mix everything together.

Serves 4-6 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side.

Ingredients:

• 2 T butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 T flour
• 1 c milk
• 1 c grated or crumbled cheese
• 2 lbs of greens with the tender parts of their stems, blanched, shocked, and well-squeezed out
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 c fresh bread crumbs
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 T fresh herbs, finely chopped—dill and parsley are a good combination

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly grease a shallow 2 quart baking dish.
2. Sauté the onion in 1 T of the butter until just turning brown around the edges.
3. Add the flour, stir to combine, then whisk in the milk, stirring constantly until the sauce boils.
4. Reduce to a simmer, and cook for 5 m, stirring occasionally.
5. Mix gently with the cheese and greens and remove from the heat.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then transfer to the baking dish.
7. Melt the remaining 1 T butter, then mix gently into the bread crumbs, garlic, and herbs. Sprinkle this mixture over the greens in the baking dish.
8. Bake 20-25 m, or until bubbling and golden, then let it rest 5 m before serving.

Variations:

• If you don’t eat dairy, use olive oil for the butter, broth or stock in place of the milk, and either use non-dairy cheese or leave that ingredient out entirely.
• If you can’t eat gluten, use either potato starch or rice flour for the flour and substitute gluten-free bread crumbs or crushed gluten-free crackers for the topping.

Do ahead:

• You can assemble this casserole through step 7 up to 24 hours in advance. Once cool, store tightly covered in refrigerator. Take out of the refrigerator while the oven preheats and bake as in step 8.
• You can make the greens mixture through step 5, cool and store tightly covered in the refrigerator up to 48 h in advance. Make the crumb mixture for the top and store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 48 h in advance. Assemble the dish and bake as in step 8.
• This is the ultimate “take-apart” dish: if you have blanched greens, white sauce, grated cheese, and the crumb mixture on hand, it can be ready to eat in less than 45 m.

Download Gratin of Greens