Category: Food

All things food, cooking, recipes, nutrition, health and more!

Farm Fresh Podcast: Raw Milk

Leave a comment

Illinois food safety regulations now allow dairy farms to sell raw milk, but consumers should be aware of the risks.

Get the whole story in this week’s Farm Fresh Podcast from Jim Fraley, Livestock Program Director for Illinois Farm Bureau.

Raw milk does not go through pasteurization – the process of heating the milk to kill bacteria or pathogens.

For more on raw milk & food safety, check out these posts from Food Insight, Midwest Dairy Association & Ask the Farmers.

Tune in every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. for the Farm to Table segment on WJBC Radio.

 

Farm Fresh Answers Podcast
Farm Fresh Answers Podcast
Farm Fresh Podcast: Raw Milk
Loading
/

Pesticides on Your Plate?

Leave a comment

What does a mom who makes pesticide recommendations for farmers feed her own children? Organic. Homemade. Conventional. Store bought.  I use it all.

Yes, I sometimes bought organic baby food. I bought it for the convenience of the pouch packaging. I bought it for the unique food combinations. I did NOT buy it because I thought it was more nutritious or better than conventional.

I am somewhat particular about the country of origin of the foods I feed my children. Any food grown in the US or Canada I am completely comfortable purchasing.

I will admit that I think twice when I see produce, particularly berries, from other countries and often opt not to purchase them. Berries have soft skin that can be easily bruised during transport and I am not as comfortable with the control measures for complex pest management strategies in other countries.  But, I obviously buy foreign grown bananas because they aren’t grown in the US.

My master’s degree is in Weed Science. I studied Herbicide Physiology and lots and lots of chemistry.  My master’s thesis involved glyphosate (aka Roundup). Yes, I sprayed it myself – gasp!

I studied the chemical structures of herbicides, how they breakdown in the environment and at what speed, which products should be used in what situations, and how the herbicides fit into the entire cropping system.

I am very comfortable the pesticides used on our food in the US. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registers chemicals after review of the pesticide ingredients, crops to be used on, the amount and frequency of use, timing and also how the pesticide should be stored and disposed.  They determine the risk of potential harms to humans, wildlife, and non-target species.

The EPA also determines a pesticide tolerance – the maximum amount of pesticide residue that can legally remain in or on a particular food. It takes generally 8-10 years from discovery to registration of a herbicide.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) monitors and enforces pesticide tolerances in both raw and processed foods.  Meat, poultry and eggs are monitored and enforced by the USDA. Food grown domestically and imported food are both monitored for pesticide residues.

Bottom line – I trust the safety of the food I buy because I trust the science behind it.

What’s Cooking Wednesday: Minestrone Soup

Leave a comment

Scrumptious, savory soup often starts with good ‘stock’ (a flavorful liquid base).

You can make your own beef, chicken, turkey or ham stock by boiling meat scraps or bones in water and saving the liquid. Vegetable stocks are generally made with carrots, onions, celery and sometimes tomatoes. Garlic, thyme, bay leaf and other herbs make flavorful seasoning combinations.

Another approach to stocking your soup is to save the broth and/or pan drippings from other dishes.

My mom’s method is a quart container of beef broth in the freezer. Any time she cooks a roast or other beef dishes, leftover broth gets added to the container. Once the container is full, she uses it to make a soup- like this Minestrone recipe (below).

Of course you can always buy broth in a can or carton from the grocery store or use beef bouillon, but look out for the salt content! Ready made broth tends to be high in sodium. By making your own you can use herbs and other spices to add flavor while keeping your salt content lower.

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

  • 4 c beef stock (or broth)
  • 2 c water
  • 2 large carrots, peeled & chopped
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 can chili beans (or 1 can black beans, drained & 1 tsp. chili powder)
  • 2 cups rotini pasta (uncooked)
  • 1 small zucchini, sliced & quartered
  • 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. thyme
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. basil
  • 1/2 tsp. parsley
  • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Instructions:

  1. In large pot, heat beef broth and water to boiling.
  2. Add carrots, tomatoes, onions & beans. Cook until carrots are tender.
  3. Add seasoning.
  4. Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of cold water (Shaking it in a sealed container works well). Add a small amount of the hot liquid from the soup and shake or stir to combine. Pour cornstarch mixture into the soup, stirring constantly as you do.
  5. Add zucchini and pasta. Cook about 15 minutes until pasta is done. Add spinach for the last 5 minutes.

Farm Fresh Podcast: Pork Power

Leave a comment

Tis the season for giving! Did you know Illinois Pork farmers have donated more than 437,000 pounds of pork – which is more than 1.75 MILLION servings Illinois residents 2008?

The program, called Pork Power, provides the donated ground pork to the seven regional food banks in Illinois.

Hear from central Illinois hog farmer, Art Lehmann, about the program and ways farmers are giving back to their local communities.

Tune in every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. to hear the Farm to Table Segment on WJBC radio.

Farm Fresh Answers Podcast
Farm Fresh Answers Podcast
Farm Fresh Podcast: Pork Power
Loading
/

What’s Cooking Wednesday: Dutch Apple Pie

Leave a comment
Dutch Apple Pie

How do you like your apple pie? For me warm & a la mode is the way to go. I think ice cream is especially delicious atop a slice of Dutch Apple Pie, which features a crunchy streusel topping instead of pastry crust.

My mom always bakes this pie inside a brown paper grocery bag – an old fashioned technique that helps steam the filling and keep the top from browning too dark. I’m a little gun shy, however; as the bag could catch fire if it comes into contact with the sides of the oven or one of the elements.

In all the times my mom made this pie growing up, it only happened once. My dad happened to be home at the time and responded to the fire call from the kitchen when the paper bag began to smolder because it was too close to the top element. Mom grabbed the fire extinguisher, but dad said, ‘No, that will ruin the pie!”

Instead he pulled the pie out of the oven with leather gloves, ripped the burning bag off the pie and stomped out the fire with his boots. Yes, he managed to save the pie from becoming a burnt sacrifice…a story he’s still proud to tell many years later.

And it should give you an idea of how delicious this Dutch Apple Pie is, that it would cause my dad (who is also a volunteer fireman) to attempt such heroics.

To avoid such excitement, I just cover the pie with an aluminum pie pan to achieve a similar effect.

Dutch Apple Pie

Ingredients

Single Pie crust – purchased or homemade

Filling:

  • 3-4 large baking apples (about 5 cups)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup butter

Instructions:

To make filling:

  1. Peel and core apples. Cut into bite size chunks.
  2. Stir in sugar, spices, flour and lemon juice until apples are coated. Let sit.

To make topping:

  1. Cut butter into sugar and flour with a pastry blender.
  2. Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.

To assemble the pie:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Place crust in a 9 inch pie pan.
  3. Pour apple filling into the center.
  4. Sprinkle topping over the topping and press lightly to cover the apples.
  5. Fold edge of crust over and pinch to form fluted edge.
  6. Cover pie with an aluminum pie pan (upside down) and place in the oven. Bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover for the last 5 minutes.

[envira-gallery id=”770″]

1 2 3 4 5 6