Five for 2012

I originally wrote this for a magazine that should remain unnamed to protect the guilty. After riding my ass for six weeks I had it sent back to me because it was “not in line with our readers’ wishes”. So it’s (in a trimmed and slightly less in line with their readers wishes version) here, now.

Resolve to make 2012 your “food for me” year. Change your eating and cooking habits for the better. Join me and everyone else who will in a move to make the world a better place, help local farmers and ranchers, and live healthier.

Buy a Cow (or pig or chickens)

Find a local ranching co-op and purchase part of a steer, pig, or a few chickens. The co-op will raise, feed, and prepare the meat for you, ready for pickup when it’s time. You’ll be supporting local ranchers and give the big ol’ finger to concentrated animal feeding operations, have a look and say in the way your animal is raised, and have some excellent meat to look forward to when the time comes. Ask around at work, oftentimes enough people are interested to not just buy a part but a whole animal – a great way to schedule a BBQ and have everyone bring their pieces.

Join a CSA

A typical CSA share

Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a great concept. In essence it works like the co-op above – we, the part-owners of such a CSA, pay someone to grow food for us. CSA are more than just gardens, they’re community assets and a bulwark against watery hothouse vegetables at the supermarket. Every month, two weeks, or sometimes even weekly, a box with fresh produce will be ready for you, delivered or for pickup. But CSA do more than that. Many support families in need by growing extra lots for them or drop off overages at local food banks or pantries.

Farmers benefit because they get to spend their time growing instead of marketing. An early (on buy-in) influx of money helps them purchase better seeds and look ahead without worry about sales later. You, the consumer, get extremely fresh foods from people you know and whose operation you know. It’s a win-win.

You can find a local CSA on LocalHarvest.

Add 12 dishes to your repertoire

I always wanted to learn Southern African cuisine. My tipping point came in form of a book, sent to me by a friend, containing traditional dishes and preparations. Since then I have made it a habit to try something new every two weeks, to cook something from this or another foreign cuisine cookbook. Do the same and teach yourself twelve new dishes for your standard repertoire in 2012. Maybe the next resolution will help with that…

Bake your own bread

Baking bread is easy. Trust me.

Baking bread is an easy enough task. Get some starter, get some flour and other ingredients, preheat your oven, and then knead, knead, knead. Unless, that is, you have a Kitchen Aid mixer or similar contraption. Then it’s even easier.

Setting up your own sourdough starter is easier than it sounds. Just combine equal parts of warm water and AP flour in a non-metallic bowl, add a packet (.25oz) of instant yeast per two cups of flour, cover loosely, and let stand in a warm place for a week. Once it’s fermented (throw it out if it has a pink tinge, the sour smell is normal) move it into the fridge. Every time you take a cup of starter replace with a cup of water and a cup of flour and a pinch of sugar. Simple as that. Starter gets better with age and division, so hand your friends some and make sure they bake their own, too.

There are thousands of recipes for sweet and savory breads on the web. Imagine making a burger from your own co-op meat, with you own CSA lettuce, mayonnaise from your own CSA eggs, on a bun fresh from the oven. What’s better than that?

Have friend over once a month

What will you do with all that meat, produce, bread, and those newly acquired recipes? Have friends over for dinner, of course. Once a month put fresh linen on the table, pull out the good silver, and have friends over for an evening of wine, food, laughter, and friendship. Because, after all, good food is only as good as the company you eat it in.