Miracle on Toast: DIY Laser

The miracles are only limited by your talent. Wired

Miracle on Toast: Great Literature

One classic finds another Heldfond

Fresh Farm Harvested Cilantro and Garlic Chive Chopped Pesto on Egg and Avocado Sandwich

Legality and Gourmet Value of Your Pet Cat Meat

The man pulled over by the cops last weekend with the marinating, meowing cat in the trunk of his car brought a few questions to mind. Does cat work marinated with chili infuse oil? Should it still be meowing and complaining with dampened, infused fur in the trunk of the car and marinating at the same time? There's also the question of legality...

"Rubbing the cat with chili-infused oil, while not specifically addressed, is also a violation of the state's [New York] general cruelty law, which prohibits torture."

Navarro -  Still Smells Like Chili Peppers

Slate Magazine does a fine job in its cat food article running through some fine print on legality of pet eating in various States.

Needless to say the police confiscated the cat, , and put it up for adoption.  See its second of nine lives at Weird News and CBS News.

Marinated Live Cat for Dinner

Poor Cat.

A Perfect Standard - Thick Cut Bacon, Eggs, Fruit

It's little things like this that makes you smile. The espresso with scalded milk and honey was there, too, just off screen. :)

The New Organic Big Business

Link to Bigger Picture

The organic business has been undergoing rapid consolidation. Looks like the small producers are getting pushed out.  Cornucopia

Pasta in Duck Fat and Soup with Fresh Thyme, Oregano, Garlic, Tomato, and Parmeggiano Reggiano

Simple and luxurious.

Candied Flowers

by TAG Editor

This is the time of year where nature starts blooming, again, for the four seasons areas of the country.  Violets, pansies, cherry blossoms and crabapple blossoms are a perfect for this.  Garnish your favorite ice cream, dessert, and fruit with creme fraiche.

Ingredients:
1 egg white, pasteurized powdered (for safety) or meringue powder
superfine sugar
edible blooms

Dip blooms in egg white or brush the whites on to the bloom gently.  Lay out sugar in a shallow dish and dip blooms face down. Sprinkle the back side of blooms with more sugar until complete.

Place tray of dusted blooms in an oven at 200 degrees with the oven door open and leave for 30 minutes or until dry. This will cook the egg whites at a low temperature and make them safe from salmonella development. Make sure the egg whites are cooked through and dried.

Leg of Duck with Gravy and Beet Greens

by Frou Frou Feliz

Aromatic and earthy duck and beet greens work harmonious with the gravy adding a layer of richness.

Ingredients:
2 leg of duck with the thigh attached
2 tablespoon duck fat
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
1 bunch beet greens (can substitute spinach or another dark green)
2 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper

On medium low heat, add duck fat to a heavy bottom saucepan. Place duck legs and cover cooking 7 minutes each side. Remove and reserve duck legs. Turn off heat to pan. Reserve drippings in the pan.

In a separate pot, boil a quart of water.  Add greens. Cook for one minute and drain. Arrange on plates. Add duck legs on top or to the side.

Turn flame on to medium. Add butter to the duck drippings. Add rosemary and sage and flour. Stir until aromatic. Add enough water to make a thick gravy, about 1/4 cup.  continue stirrring. Ladle over duck and beet greens. Serve with buttered rustic bread.

Pork Loin with Duck Fat Sauce on a Bed of Dandelion Greens, Violets, and Fruit

by Frou Frou Feliz

Pork loin gently cooked makes a nice light meal that accentuating the Spring flavors of fresh dandelion greens and violet blooms.



Ingredients:
2 pork loins
2 tablespoons duck fat
1 cup dandelion greens
1/2 cup violet blossoms (use baby herb or mesculin mix if you don't have violets or dandelion greens
1 green tart apple, sliced thin
3 mandarines, peeled and sectioned
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
sea salt and pepper to taste

In heavy bottom pan, add duck fat. Turn flame to medium. When heated, add pork loins and cover. Cook for 4 minutes each side. Remove and slice pork in 1/4 inch slices. Add salt and pepper to duck fat in pan to taste. Stir and reserve.

Toss greens and fruit with lemon juice, vinegar, thyme and some salt and pepper to taste.  Arrange of plates or wide, shallow bowls.  Fan out pork loin slices. Drizzle duck fat over slices and greens.

Rib Eye Steak with Rosemary Sage Reduction, Lime Beets and Roasted Root Vegetables.

by Frou Frou Feliz

Wonderful earthy flavors combine for this harmonious, rich meal ensemble of root vegetables and rib eye steak.



Ingredients:
2 rib eye steaks
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon duck fat
2 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon fresh sage
1/3 cup Duck Stock or Chicken Stock
salt and pepper to taste

Beets with Lime

Roasted Vegetables

In a heavy bottom pan add 1 tablespoon butter. Turn flame to medium low.  When butter starts to turn golden add steaks and cook for 4 minutes each side. Remove steaks.  Arrange on plates with beets and roasted vegetables. Put in warm oven.  Add duck fat and herbs and cook until done. Pan will be a rich brown color. Do not burn.  Keeping the flame low will prevent this. Add stock and reduce scraping sides and bottom with a wooden spoon until half the liquid has evaporated - 1-2 minutes.  Remove steaks from warm oven.  Pour reduction over steaks.

Roasted Root Vegetables

by Frou Frou Feliz

Roasted root vegetables is a simple yet very rich foundation recipe that can be served on its own, as a side dish or as a foundation to another recipe.  It's fine to incorporate other types of vegetables, fruit or a bit of flesh. This is a flexible recipe.


Ingredients:
3 potatoes, chopped into 2 inch pieces
3 carrots
other vegetables
2 small onions, quartered
4 clove garlic, peeled
2 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all ingredients and toss in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon each. Put vegetables in an oven proof baking dish and cook for an hour turning vegetables every 20 minutes until golden.

Beets with Lime

by Frou Frou Feliz

The robust flavor of beets are perfect with strong flavor dishes with earthy overtones. Adding a spritz of lime to slice beets creates a nice counterpoint.

Ingredients:
3 beets, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 lime

Boil beets in a quart of water until done, about 15 minutes. Slice a 1/4 inch thick.  Squeeze lime over. Toss and serve.

Polenta

by TAG Editor

Comfort food, Italian style. This is like the continental version of grits. It goes with anything tasty and sticks to the gut.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1 quart Chicken Stock
1 cup coarse ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
Parmeggiano Reggiano/Pecorino/Asiago/Manchego

In a large, oven-safe saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the red onion and salt and sweat until the onions begin to turn translucent, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the garlic, and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, making sure the garlic does not burn.

Turn the heat up to high, add the chicken stock, bring to a boil. Gradually add the cornmeal while continually whisking. Once you have added all of the cornmeal, cover the pot and place it in the oven. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring every

10 minutes to prevent lumps. Once the mixture is creamy, remove from the oven and add the butter, salt, and pepper. Once they are incorporated, gradually add the Parmesan.

Serve in heaping spoonfuls topped with Roasted Garlic, Caramelized Onion and your favorite grated hard cheese.

With the remaining polenta, form into a cylinder in a ziploc to set. Once set, turn the you can cut them into discs and sautee them until browned and serve as a side.

Home Brewed Kombucha

by TAG Editor

Kombucha is a part of the probiotic family of "foods" such as yogurt, kimchee, and saurkrat that aid digestion. The flavor can vary widely, though, it is usually based on black tea and maybe some sugar. It might be slightly alcoholic and also carbonated.*

Ingredients:
Enough tea (Green Tea, Earl Grey, Assam, English Breakfast...) leaves to make a quart of tea
1 quart of distilled water
4 tablespoons organic sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
1 bottle "Synergy" Brand Kombucha (these can be bought at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and most food co-ops)
Lid or cheesecloth with rubberband or string to cover

Make sure all equipment is sanitary when fermenting to keep wild bacteria and yeast at bay. Brew fresh tea by pouring hot water into heat proof quart jar containing ball of loose tea leaves or 4 satchels of tea. Let steep for 5 minutes and remove the tea leaves. Add sugar and vinegar or lemon juice (the acid from the lemon juice keeps the pH lower to control the fermenting environment.

Cover with lid (make sure Kombucha can breath) or cheesecloth and tie and put in a warm place, ideally around 80 degrees for a week and up to two weeks.

You can buy Kombucha Mother/Starters:

The best and easiest way to get started
Synergy's Kombucha comes in single servings of 20 oz. You can use this as a starter (they always have a bit of mother in them, too - string or mat of culture) and add to your tea.

Major Kombucha Power:
Happy Herbalist
Kombucha.org

*Results cannot be guaranteed. Please perform due diligence in regards to the process and outcomes of probiotic foods before attempting to make them at home.

Salmon Ragu with Crispy Salmon Skin

by Frou Frou Feliz

This is a seafaring take on the traditional Bolognese Ragu. Instead of Ground Beef or Pork, I use "ground" salmon and simmer it to perfection. I then top it off with crispy salmon skin to add a nice crunchy kick to that wonderful textured capellini and Ragu.




Ingredients:
1 lb fresh or flash frozen salmon, skinned (reserve whole skins) and cubed into 1 inch pieces
4 small tomatoes, diced
3 cloves garlic, sliced thin into disks
1/2 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves
1/2 teaspoon fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons duck fat/bacon fat
2 teaspoons butter
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

In a heavy saucepan on low heat, melt fat and butter. Add garlic, marjoram, and basil. simmer for two to three minutes until the garlic just starts to brown. Remove all herbs from pan and reserve in a small bowl.

Add an extra teaspoon of butter to the saucepan with flame still on low. Add the salmon skins skin side down. Cook for three minutes or until crispy on one side then flip and repeat on the second side until crispy. Remove from saucepan and reserve.

Take the reserved herbs and add them back to the saucepan. Add salmon cubed meat and sautee until cooked. Break up the salmon pieces with a wooden spoon. Add diced tomatoes to the salmon and herbs. Add bay leaves and stir. Keep on low and simmer for 20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Make some capellini al dente. It's about 3-4 minutes, the cook time.

Toss drained capellini with the Salmon Ragu. Arrange on plates. Top with crispy salmon skins. Garnish with fresh Marjoram.

Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmeggiano Reggian or Asiago if you'd like. Enjoy!

Smoke-y Chick Peas With Spinach, Eggplant, Tomato and Manchego Cheese

Discovered at an ancient tapas bar in Seville, I enjoyed this so much that one small plate was simply not enough. Smoked paprika was once obscure, but can now be found almost everywhere. You can serve this dish as is or over rice, orzo or couscous. Mercury News

Eggplant:
• 1 small eggplant, unpeeled, diced in 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

To complete:
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 Spanish onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 cups roasted, cubed eggplant
• 1 (15-ounce) can chick peas, drained, rinsed
• 1 (14-ounce) can chopped Imported Italian tomatoes in juice
• 2 cups chopped fresh spinach (or) 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
• 1 cup crumbled Manchego cheese

To make roasted eggplant: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss together eggplant, olive oil, salt and pepper in large bowl. Spread on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and bake 30 minutes until golden brown and tender. This can be done up to 2 days prior to assembling recipe. Makes about 2 cups.

To complete: Heat oil in large non stick saute pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and smoked paprika and saute for 1 minute to soften onions. Add roasted eggplant chunks, chick peas, tomatoes and bring to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes, add the spinach and cheese.

Two Ways, Classic Flan and Earl Grey Blackberry Reduction Flan

by Frou Frou Feliz

Oh the classic and the bad. So creamy and rich and deceptively simple. Recipes coming soonish.

Salmon Ceviche/Poki with Apples

by Frou Frou Feliz

This is what you do with the fresh funny shaped parts you have after making sashimi or sushi. It is delish.

Ingredients:
1 lb salmon chopped up roughly
1 Fuji apple slivered
1/2 of lime, squeezed
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Throw all ingredients together and toss.