The Harvest Eating Podcast

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496-What Are They Putting In Our Food? Apr 12, 2023

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Today I am speaking about a subject I am passionate about food labels and additives. While we can't avoid all additives, we can certainly read labels and just say no to food with too many questionable ingredients.

A great example is ice cream, I did a story on Instagram yesterday (you are following me right?) whey I showed the label of a "French vanilla" ice cream, it has all the regular ingredients you find in ice cream like milk, cream, eggs, sugar, etc. but also contained many additives, dyes, and nasty chemicals some of which are banned in other countries.

I have been speaking on this subject for years, going back to my days formulating pasta sauces and NOT agreeing with food scientists and manufacturing consultants insisting I put additives to extend shelf life in my products. I find many labels that are just way too long and have up to 20-30 ingredients, many of them preservatives, dies, conditioners, texture enhancers, etc.

I saw a clip from CBS News recently, now I am no fan of MSM but this was a pretty straight story, basically calling into question the chemicals we have in many foods and why they exist when the experts say the ingredients are known carcinogens.

The standard answer from industry groups and brand spokespeople is the FDA says these items are GRAS or generally regarded as safe. However, the FDA, USDA, NIH, etc. have all been caught lying their asses off so how can you trust them? In short, I don't trust them.

On the heels of this story news recently broke about "tech" companies engineering vaccines into vegetables and other food products. I find this practice to be insane, devious, and highly insulting to me. Don't you dare try to vaccinate me without my knowledge, you demons! Another story has recently come to light about big pharma working with big ag to place vaccines in protein, like pork, chicken, beef, etc. Not only has this been ongoing since about 2015, but they also have not told us about it. When questioned about this food industry groups will fight tooth and nail to prevent the regulators from making laws so they have to disclose what they are putting in the feed of animals and how it might affect us.

I also read a story about how Chinese scientists vaccinated dairy animals with mRna covid vaccines and fed milk to mice who in turn were then showing these demonic nanoparticles in their blood from drinking infected milk.

Again I find this to be the most insulting, criminal, devious, and wreckless practice imaginable. If the FDA is not regulating these companies who produce factory farm products; milk, dairy products, pork, beef, chicken, fish, and cured meats for the inclusion of vaccines in the animals or protein sources, the Chinese have proved we could be getting vaccinated ourselves.

I think this clearly points out what I say constantly, food is the number one important fact of life, especially the sources of food we eat. That's why I am traveling back east in a few short weeks with my wife to look at specific areas and some homestead property, I'll be dammed if I'm going to keep eating food produced through the shady partnership of big ag, big pharma and the criminal cabal running the US government, screw that. Big changes are coming to our diet.

Thanks for listening…..!

Resources:

https://open.substack.com/pub/petermcculloughmd/p/chinese-load-cows-milk-with-mrna?r=tyhdm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-food-additives-banned-europe-making-americans-sick-expert-says/

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495-Think, Plan, Cook-Easter Dinner Yet To Be Decided Apr 06, 2023

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I spend a lot of time thinking about food, I've been criticized or "ribbed" about this personality flaw by my wife, and several past girlfriends. I am constantly talking about the next meal, or food trends I'm infatuated with, or food products I want to develop.

I contemporaneously imagine how food and culture bring people of all nations together and also tear them apart. I picture how to plate up food in my mind by separating the plate into zones and imagining which food will go best in what zone, to overlap foods or not, to sauce on top or underneath, to use whole herbs or chopped, to drizzle with oil or sprinkle with cheese. The possibilities are endless.

Even with all that thought, sometimes coming up with original recipes, ideas or meal plans can be a challenge for me, and likely you too. We only have a certain number of dishes or techniques in our "culinary inventory" to choose from in order to make meals or holiday dinners.

I find myself planning new ways to cook old foods like slow-cooking tomatoes for 3 days to make intense sauces or fermenting peppers for 8 weeks to make mayonaise or how I might stretch meals made in one pot so I can make dinner, and lunch the next day, and maybe a picnic the day after. I like to think about cold fried chicken and tangy coleslaw and lemony iced tea on a hot day under a shade tree at a local park or lake.

Near constant thought about food, man what would I do without food….too hard to imagine so let's move on.

As I write this Easter Sunday dinner is only 4 nights away. It's a big day for many and certainly for our family as we will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, a very important tradition and reminder for us that just happens to coincide with a nice gathering and hopefully great food and meaningful conviviality.

When I think of Easter dinner leg of lamb, beef brisket and ham all come flashing to me with bright lights. But there are many other food traditions related to Easter as well but our kids don't collect eggs anymore and we don't buy hollow chocolate bunnies anymore either. We will buy them some nice dark chocolate bars and maybe some candy too but I will be spending more time today imagining dinner not treats.

Recently I had a few BLTs that were amazing….did you see the pictures on my Instagram feed? If not, please go follow me there! Those tangy and crispy sandwiches had me thinking about summer, and all the freshly-harvested food that I hope I will find locally to cook with, sadly I then remember how lame southern Utah's food scene is and my mind turns yet again to Easter supper.

I have been presenting my family with 3-4 choices to see if anything has a consensus that would make my life easy. Man, it would be nice to have a smoked brisket with BBQ sauce, coleslaw, mac-n-cheese, green beans, or collards with a flourless chocolate cake for dessert! But a nice grilled ham steak with apple sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and carrots sounds good too!

Then there's always the classic Jewish-style slow-cooked beef brisket with onion tomato gravy and related side dishes or leg of lamb. I mentioned earlier, but that nasty New Zealand lamb will only please my wife and father-in-law. The rest of us will be having pizza or grilled cheese.

As you can tell, I have more thinking to do, with that said, please check out the show notes, and God Bless, I love you all!

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494-This Is How You Make Super Crispy Roasted Potatoes Apr 04, 2023

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This is a quick episode today to explain how I recently made extremely crispy lard roasted potatoes that went alongside a ribeye steak. This "technique" is like many, not my invention and not the invention of the person you might have heard it from before….if that makes sense.

So getting right to it first take your fat (lard, olive oil, duck fat, beef tallow) and place in small pot, add about 2 tbs minced rosemary, a few smashed garlic cloves and bring to a simmer…..keep this moving so you don't burn the garlic. This quick infusion will leave the fat loaded with flavor, set aside and let cool.

Next place a pot of salted water (1/4 c salt) on the stove over high heat, while that is heating you want to take either russet potatoes or gold potatoes or red potatoes and peel them and cut into odd shaped chunks about golf ball size, but don't pay too much attention to the size.

When the water has come to a rolling boil add 1/2 tsp baking soda to the water then add the potatoes and stir, let them come back to the boil, turn down a touch and let them cook roughly 8 minutes or until they are very tender, and on the verge of being overcooked…but not overcooked.

Drain then place on a sheet tray, allow the potatoes to cool off, and release a lot of steam (moisture) which will dry them a tad. During this time crank your over to 450 with the fan on if you have one, while the oven is heating toss potatoes with fat and a generous pinch or two of salt and pepper if you like pepper, toss the potatoes to coat then place on a parchment paper lined sheet tray.

The action of handling the potatoes; draining, tossing, etc. will beat up the exteriors a bit, making them look sort of shaggy which is good. Place into the hot oven and cook for about 25 minutes or until looking quite golden brown remove and use a spatula, or your fingers and turn them over. You can add some olive oil or melted butter at this point so they have a better chance of achieving a deep brown color. Continue cooking until they are quite brown and crisp. When Omi did these potatoes she used a baking dish and enough lard to allow them to be basted with the melted lard upon flipping.

When finished I like to place it in a large bowl or platter and garnish it with fresh parsley or chives.

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493-START NOW-Food Storage Bundles That Increase Self Sufficiency Quickly! Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

Let me come right out and say this; we are in very uncertain times in this country.

Recently I heard the pathetic treasure secretary attempt to "calm the people down" and convince us the banks are safe. The illegitimate puppet leader said the same thing too, basically, everything is fine, go back to your devices, nothing to see here.

However, the banks are vastly undercapitalized, FED reduced the reserve requirement in 2020 to zero %. The BRICS nations are trading without the dollar, OPEC just cut crude oil production by over 500,000 barrels per day for the rest of 2023, and the border is wide open. Suffice it to say, our republic is quickly falling apart.

So on to the bundles…..the idea here is to get inexpensive and related items that can be made into simple meals that will satisfy and keep you from going to stores. These simple ideas and strategies are aimed at those of you who have not started storing food yet.

Think about this, if you have a can of tuna, a jar of peanut butter, some bullion, and a jar of BBQ sauce what are you going to make? On the flip side if you had a can of roast beef, a box of potato flakes, some bullion, and a can of vegetables you could make a beef stew. The idea is to make sure these bundles or kits are built with related items that go easily together into simple meals.

Pasta Bundle, Buy:

assorted shapes of pasta
small cans of tomato paste
28 ox cans of tomatoes, petite diced are my favorite but whole peeled are good too.
Parmesan cheese-good stuff if you can afford it and have a freezer, or green can if not, better to have than not IMO
Italian seasoning

Rice and Beans Bundle, Buy:

black beans, I buy at Costco
rice, I prefer aromatic rice like Basmati or Jasmine but long-grain or brown rice is perfect too
organic if possible, onion and garlic powder (keep frozen)
full-fat coconut milk, which I buy from Walmart or Amazon (links below)
Chipotles in Adobo

Tuna Casserole Bundle, Buy:

your favorite tuna
egg noodles or other shapes like farfalle or even pinwheels
cans of peas and carrots or bags of frozen
cans of cream of mushroom Soup (I eat this stuff once per year, but in a pinch, I'm fine with it)
bags of powdered milk (see below)
containers of cheddar cheese powder (see below)

Roast Beef Stew Bundle, BUY:

cans of roast beef, which I buy from Costco
cans of green beans
cans of peas and carrots
Better than bullion beef base or cubes you like
1 Potato starch

Chicken n Dumplings Bundle, BUY:

cans of chicken breast
cans of green beans
cans of peas and carrots or frozen
Better than bullion chicken base or cubes you like
all-purpose flour

Morning Coffee Bundle-MOST IMPORTANT ITEM!!!!!!!

your favorite whole bean coffee-you know what mine is!
freeze-dried instant coffee, yes I keep this stuff too (see below)
half & half or other creamers or 2 cases of Evaporated milk (unless you take coffee black)
packets of sugar in the raw

Fat Bundle (I prefer To Keep these Frozen if Possible)

butter
extra virgin olive oil
coconut oil
lard
beef tallow
Duck fat?

These bundles can be customized with dried spices, dairy, seasonings, fresh vegetables, etc. These are examples to get you thinking of buying bundles so all items are in-stock and ready to go should the day come you need them.

Storage:

I think these bundles or kits could be ticked into a flat plastic container and slipped un a bed, or stacked together on top of shelves or just about anywhere. I also suggest placing a simple label on the front so they are easily identified. And lastly, these should be rotated thru every so often to ensure they stay fresh.

Links To Check Out:

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Resources for this episode: (NOT AFFILIATE LINKS)

Coconut Milk https://www.amazon.com/Chaokah-Chaokoh-Coconut-Milk/dp/B00D0TAHHO

Canned Chipotles https://a.co/d/7JwoMKe

Powdered Milk https://a.co/d/6sQqJQZ

Cheddar Cheese Powder. https://a.co/d/daNSN2q

Canned Vegetables https://a.co/d/daNSN2q

Half and Half https://a.co/d/daNSN2q

Sugar in The Raw https://a.co/d/i7bgbqB

Freeze Dried Coffee. https://a.co/d/bIS3a66

Quality Pork Lard https://whiteoakpastures.com/products/pastured-pork-lard?variant=38035090276548&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic

492-Roasted Broccoli-Everyone Loved it! Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

The other night I had some friends and relatives eat dinner with me. I made a simple menu consisting of chicken Cacciatore and roasted broccoli. The broccoli was a huge hit!

Just about everyone was busy chomping and crunching up the broccoli and mumbling things about how tasty it was. Here is the trick…..FIND FRESH BROCCOLI!

Then, blanch it in a lot of salty water for 2 minutes, and transfer it to ice water. Dry off the broccoli and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper then into a preheated 450-degree oven for like 8 minutes or until some char appears, the broccoli should be fork tender. Now your oven and mine cook completely differently, so while it might take 15 minutes in your it might take 8 minutes in your neighbor's oven, you get the idea….just watch it, and have a paring knife to poke the stems, then should be slightly tender, not mush. Also, don't burn the broccoli.

When it's done toss it in a little melted butter or more olive oil, a drizzle of lemon juice, and lemon zest to add a nice contrast. That's it…..!

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491-Mise En Place-Why does it matter? Mar 22, 2023

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I have mentioned the term "mise en place" before and emphasized how important it is if you plan on becoming a better cook. It means "everything in its place" and is the foundation of the French culinary discipline. Anyone who has worked in a professional kitchen knows this term and uses this discipline daily.

The degree to which it's followed says something about the chef or cook, it allows anyone watching to understand whether or not this person is ready to make a dish in an efficient manner. Mise en place allows the chef to confidently perform and reduces the possibility of a timing issue that can affect performance and the dish itself.

"Mise en place is a French culinary phrase that means "putting in place" or "gathering". It refers to the setup required before cooking and is often used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that are expected to be prepared during a shift."

-wikipedia

Over the years I have hired or promoted many, many chefs in restaurants that serve all types of food. From concessions to Forbes 4-star. During the hiring process, I and other culinarians determine a potential chef or cook's abilities to do the job they are seeking first by looking at his mise or station. In a higher-level position, we always ask the applicant to cook for us.

For example, we'd ask for a breakfast dish, a lunch dish, and dinner entree, or appetizer, or a combo of all these things. We even would put themes on these dish requests, maybe rustic, maybe refined, maybe ethnic, maybe dietary preference. But overall, we look at the applicant's mise en place, the "kitchen dance" and then the maintenance of his or her station. If any of these two items are not top-notch, chances are this person will be passed over. By the way "kitchen dance" is how the person moves about in the kitchen. Could be slow and casual, like a sloth, or more purposeful like a military walk, quick, athletic, etc.

Of course in this example of mise en place, I describe a professional kitchen environment, but likely you are not in this type of business and by and large just cooking at home, so why would you care about mise en place? In my professional opinion, mise en place has its place (pun intended) in the home kitchen as well.

I can't tell you how many times I have witnessed people cooking amid a mess or disorganization and missing tools, ingredients, etc. Starting a dish then looking for missing ingredients to drop into a bowl or pan or what have you. In a prior life, this would really annoy me, since I have aged like a fine wine I am more tolerant of messy cooks, but it still does bother me a bit if I am honest.

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490-Thinking Like a Chef While Cooking At Home Mar 15, 2023

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Visit Harvest Eating

Today's show is done at the behest of one of my Telegram subs and is my attempt to let you see how chefs think at work, and at home too. This topic could go in many directions so I hope I did justice to this subject and provided some helpful insight into how I try to process home cooking using my chef background.

Some of the things I did not mention on the show were mise en place (everything in its place) or what we chefs refer to as "being ready" for the "pick up". I see many people cooking with poor or non-existent mise en place. So if you're making a pb& j you need the following for your mise en place:

peanut butter
bread
jam, jelly, preserves? what do you like?
toaster?
knife
cutting board
plate
napkin
a glass of milk….haha….just kidding on these last few items.

You get the point though-don't start cooking until you have gathered everything you need, including equipment and a place to put the prepared food. And, if you don't want me barking at you clean as you go, do not leave a bunch of containers, etc on the counters and work around them, that pisses me off to no end!

"Mise" can be complicated, let's examine an easy example; making a poached egg on toast. You'll need water boiling in a pot, a slice of toast in the toaster, a slotted spoon, a paper towel or kitchen towel, an egg, salt pepper, and in my case, Worcestershire sauce, serving vessel, all ready to go so you can execute this simple dish.

This probably makes sense to you now. These are just a few of the things that go into cooking at home, in my mind.

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