There's no time like the present...

to start on the path to self sustenance. In these uncertain economic times, growing and producing your own food, water and electricity/power probably never looked better. It may seem like a dramatic statement to take your family's consumption needs in to your own hands but there are many great reasons outside of impending economic chaos to be tackling consumption and the impact it has on our world. When individuals provide more for themselves they lessen their tax the earth and this cannot be elaborated enough. Providing solar electric power, home grown fruits and vegetables and well water for a household are very basic goals which can seriously impact one's pocket book in a positive way. Furthermore, you will be healthier for the effort especially if you choose to grow your own food. We are in the process of lessening our dependence on big agriculture, non-renewable power and our strained reservoirs. Stay tuned to see how we're attempting to mitigate our carbon foot print, stay healthy and save money in one fell swoop.

O'Bradley's Venison & Guinness Hunter's Pie

Well, I am a good part Irish after all. And what a perfect hearty Irish dish to herlad in the cooler days of Fall. This was amazing. There are more more pieces of venison shoulder left in the freezer so I'll be making this again.

Pictured at top are the starring cast in this dish but there are a few things I threw which are not in shown here that really made it shine. My recipe follows:

O'Bradley's Venison & Guinness Hunter's Pie

1 pound of lean venison shoulder
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic minced
a sprig of fresh thyme
4 juniper berries smashed
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1 bottle extra stout Guinness
2 carrots diced
2 cups beef broth
15 button mushrooms sliced
5 russet potatoes - peeled, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup cream

I started by dicing the venison in to 1/2" chunks. Then I diced the onion, carrots and sliced mushrooms. In a heavy bottomed pot I browned the venison on all sides very well. In went all the vegetables except for the potatoes. Those go in to a pot of salted, boiling water to make the mashed potatoes.
After the vegetables cook down a bit, add the galic and all the herbs and spices. Also throw in a bottle of Guinness, the broth and season a bit to taste. Cook covered for about 1/2 hour. Butter individual remakins or a larger casserole as I did and pour in the contents of the pot. Make the mashed potatoes adding salt, pepper, cream and butter and mixing until creamy. Spoon the mashed potatoes over the casserole/s and bake for 40 minutes until the mashed potatoes are golden brown. Serve with Guinness, of course! Serves 4 adults heartily.

FALL!

I can't tell you how much I look forward to the beginning of this new season and to closing the chapter on Summer. By now there's been many a blistering hot day, enough home grown tomatoes that not another can be given away and more than enough ants in the house to warrant getting an ant eater for a pet. Don't get me wrong, I love Summer as much as any season but eventually I welcome a change. What I love and look forward to most is the ability to really get back in to my kitchen full swing, rev up my three ovens, the rotisserie and my bread machine. This season bares breads, cookies, scones, casseroles, roasts, stews, and braises. When the last heat of Summer has dwindled, my kitchen takes over where it left off. Yes, I did cook a lot through Summer but Fall and Winter are a cooking marathon. My family has been eagerly awaiting the bounty and I am glad to provide it. What's more, no begins the best time to cure cheeses and meat! The cheese cave will be cooling some lovely bricks and rounds of cheese while cured meats and sausages will hang from the cooler. Although I will miss my Summer garden, there will be garlic, onions, broccoli, spinach, chard and salad greens galore to fill the void that the tomatoes and peppers leave. I am so ready!!!

A Quickie Using My New Toy

Here's a quick video of the red kale, lettuce, collards, broccoli and other cole crops which are sprouting up in my Fall garden. Since I'm planting successively there are several barren spots which have been seeded to produce behind what's now sprouting and in full force.

End of Summer Meets Beginning of Fall

We decided to dig up some of our potatoes. There are tons... too many so we took the ones towards the top and left the ones towards the bottom of the barrel to become larger. We'll dig these up over time but they store best in the cool, dark soil so there's no harm in leaving them to mature. We planted Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac. My trusty assistant helped me with the arduous task of digging out the potatoes. Then he conducted an inventory by counting them. For tonight's dinner we have a total of 40 red and white potatoes. There's probably 100+ still in the barrel at varying stages of maturity. Further down is a picture of Winter greens starting to fill out in the back vegetable bed. I have curly red kale, collard greens, spinach, swiss chard and lettuce all blended together. I'm direct seeding these sucsessively so that there will be organic, fresh greens on our table, direct from the garden throughout Fall and in to Winter. Also included are pictures of my pepper plants which have already born their first red peppers but are just now coming in to their own and have many more weeks of production ahead. The tomatoes are also still going very strong. I've got a few plants which are loaded with green tomatoes and have yet to produce their first red one. Most however are still in high produciton or just finisheing. Ah, the beauty of heirloom tomato varieties... the gift that keeps giving. And last but not least, my favorite landscape grass is pictured at the bottom. I just love the contrast of the spikey leaves and tufts at top. The broccoli, cualiflower, brussel sprouts are not shown as they are just tiny, indescriminate little sprouts as of yet. As soon as they get larger and begin to become exciting, I'll post pictures.

Beignets & Cafe Au Lait

Yesterday was a blissfully cooler day than Saturday and in celebration of the anticipated cooling I made a Classic New Orleans breakfast of beignets and cafe au lait. I started the rich yeast dough the night before. Beignet dough requires a slow cool rise overnight in the refrigerator. Yesterday morning I awoke bright and early to check the dough. It had risen above the rim of its' glass proofing bowl and was making it's way over the edges like a muffin top. The dough was clearly doubled and ready. I punched it down and allowed it to rest for about 15 minutes. I was trying to be as quiet as possible as all my men were still sound asleep. I put a few inches of grape seed oil in to large wide skillet and began to heat the oil to 365. After a spell I went back to the dough which was warming and rising on my wooden pastry counter. It was enough dough to make 60 of the lovely little pillows known as beignets. I proceeded to roll the dough in to a rectangle that was 1/4" thick. I used a bench scraper with a knife edge to carefully cut the dough in to 60 squares that were approximately 2 1/2" each. I carefully dropped the squares in to the oil and they began to brown and billow immediately. Each square pocket bulged with ethereal soft, sweet, goodness. Once each pocket was ready, I scooped them out with my wire spider and in to a brown paper bag filled with powdered sugar. After being bounced a few times and thoroughly dusted with sugar, they were piled high on a large platter lined with paper towels. I fried all 60 and made the cafe au lait before calling the boys. They came rubbing their eyes, barely awake to the table, where a mountain of fresh, sugar dusted, billowy warm "doughnuts", as we call them over here on the West Cost awaited. I had some fruit preserves which I'd made along with hot chocolate from scratch and we feasted until we could not lift another beignet to our lips. It was a delicious treat.