Cast Iron (Wo)man

I have a serious love/hate relationship with my cast iron skillet. I love its evenness of temperature, ability to sear a steak like nobody's business, that it is non-toxic, non-stick, super inexpensive ($14) and it will probably last my lifetime with proper care.

The care constitutes all of the hate part. Proper seasoning of the skillet prevents the steel from rusting and keeps food from interacting with the metal (which could affect flavor, iron content, and corrode the metal if the food is really acidic, e.g., tomatoes). But its a multi-step process involving elbow grease, grease and hot water. And I'm still not sure if its safe to use butter (since it can go rancid).

Now if you are still using Teflon-coated cookware, please consider switching over. A NY Times article about unusual pets led me to dig deeper when it mentioned that fumes from a Teflon-coated pan can kill a bird. Pans can also cause flu-like symptoms in humans when heated at high temperatures (Wonder if my old roommate Tom is still frying meats in my old Teflon-coated wok that he pretty much ruined to flakes).

DuPont maintains that Teflon is completely safe and agreed in September 2004 to a $107.6 million settlement with residents of the communities around Parkersburg that is funding two major studies of C8's health impacts., DuPont could also be due for another $235 million payout for medical testing costs if a link to illness is proven. DuPont also installed treatment systems to get the chemical out of local water.

C8, a chemical used in the production of its cookware has been linked with severe birth defects
DuPont has a history of flouting safety regulations. Most recently "allegedly failing to provide information to the EPA about the health effects of a pollutant one of its plants spilled into drinking water." Nice job, guys, of course I trust your health claims!

I bought my skillet at my favorite local cookshop, the Brooklyn Kitchen. But really, you can find them at most well-stocked purveyors of kitchen goods.

Sources
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/4716.php
http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200812050678
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/business/14shortcuts.html?pagewanted=print
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2072815/

Christmas 2008

Fresh Bread!

Agriculturally yours....

Turn sour milk into delicious yogurt in just 8 hours!

I'm not sure where I picked it up, but as a child, I remember hearing that you could cook with sour milk. Once I got to cooking age, that no longer seemed to apply, and friends would be unsympathetic when I would tell them about drinking milk past its expiration date because it didn't taste sour—but was definitely past its prime as evidenced by my discomfort.

Well, finally, I get to say I told you so. Turns out sour milk is perfectly drinkable, albeit in its raw, unpasteurized form. (And it should go without saying, from a healthy pastured animal.)

In fact, leaving milk out to sour was a common way to preserve the milk before pasteurization became the order of the day. Soured raw milk actually tastes sour because of the increased amounts of acid—not an unpleasant taste, especially if you're accustomed to and enjoy the tanginess in sour cream, yogurt or goat's milk. But unlike pasteurized milk, where the sterility opens the floodgates for any number of harmful bacterias to proliferate, raw milk never spoils. It sours, then curdles and separates, but even then, it contains many beneficial nutrients and bacteria.

Which meant my week-old souring milk was just ripe for making yogurt.

Recipe for raw milk yogurt.

1. Heat the milk just before the point it's too hot to touch (you should be able to swirl your finger in it without discomfort), which is around 100˚ Fahrenheit.
2. Pour into a clean mason jar.
   
3. Add 1/4 cup of yogurt (I used Hawthorne Valley).
   
4. Cover and set it in the oven with the oven light (and pilot light) on. It needs to be maintained at about 95˚ for 8 hours. Or put it in a cooler with some hot water bottles.
   
5. Cool it in the refrigerator.
6. Mix in some fruit and honey for a delicious breakfast treat or enjoy plain.
   

And yes, raw milk is illegal to sell in New York. But you can join in a cow-share, or buy direct from a farm. Find more info at realmilk.com.

Trial and Error
I think I overheated the milk slightly and it came out a little chewy...more like a cottage cheese. But it's still pleasantly tangy and yummy.

Little Towns, Little Prayers

Little Towns Little Prayers from kate bryant on Vimeo.

Giddy for Raw Milk

I have been trawling the internets looking to get my hands on raw milk delivery. You've seen it on TV, the glass bottles, the milkman in his starched whites, the little icebox truck. Well, now, me too! I found a co-op that delivers in NYC and now I will be the envy of all my eco-foodie-nerd friends.

Nutritional benefits of whole raw milk are many:

Contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) present in pastured (that's grass-fed) cows helps:

• fight cancer
• build lean muscles
• boost immunity.

(It's also present in chicken skin of pastured chickens...no wonder moms always made chicken soup for colds.)

• The rich butterfat contains vitamins A and D which help you better absorb the calcium and protein in the milk.
  
• It's rich in fatty acids which protect against disease and stimulate the immune system.
  
• It contains glyco-spingolipids which prevent intestinal distress (many more adults and children are susceptible to diarrhea from pasteurized milk which kills all this good stuff).
  
• A and D vitamins re-introduced post-pasteurization are measly substitutes for the real thing.

Why do factories homogenize milk? So you won't have to see all the white blood cells, bacteria, blood and pus settled at the bottom as a result of sickly, overworked cows (gross).

Many health advocates (and cow farmers) have promoted its consumption to treat ailments such as:

• allergies
• obesity
• arthritis,
• asthma, digestive/gastrointestinal problems
• PMS
• depression
• anxiety
• psoriasis
• poor digestion
• inflammation
• skin conditions
• bronchitis
• high blood pressure
• kidney disease, etc. (Nina Planck: Real Food)
• boost immunity
• build lean muscle
• cure tuberculosis,

Raw milk is rich in enzymes and contains all 22 of the essential amino acids, the building blocks of life1, including phosphate. Phosphate is essential for the absorption of calcium and is plentifully present in raw milk but is completely destroyed by pasteurization. Prosphatase is an essential agent to the proper development of a strong skeletal structure.

The enzyme lipase is also present in raw milk. Lipase aids in the digestion of fats. It is destroyed by pasteurization as well. Lactase, an enzyme that helps with milk digestion and in the digestion of lactose, is in raw milk.

Dr. Joseph Mercola said on his web site, In my opinion raw milk is the finest source of calcium available. "; Raw milk is also an excellent source of vitamins particularly vitamin B12, a necessary vitamin that is difficult to find in non-meat sources

1. Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland found that raw milk contains 2 1/2 times more of the enzyme lgG than pasteurized milk. This important enzyme inhibits rotavirus organisms that cause diarrhea in infants. Natural vitamin C is 33% higher in fresh raw milk than in pasteurized milk

2. Many people don't realize that vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and enzyme inhibitors that kill pathogens are all destroyed by pasteurization. 2 Francis Pottenger, M.D. proved that raw milk reversed scurvy. Raw milk naturally has enzyme-based pathogen killers. These enzymes include lactoferrin, xanthine, oxidase, lactoperoxidase, lysozyme and nisin. Research has shown that when pathogens were added to raw milk they would not grow. The salmonella could not be found after less than 24 hours. The listeria and the E. Coli would not grow either.

3 Thus, research has shown that raw milk contains enzymes and antibodies that make milk actually less susceptible to bacterial contamination. Dr. Crew used raw milk therapy on people with advanced cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and they improved rapidly. John Fowler M.D., Worcester Massachusetts, reported relief of muscle cramps in pregnancy. He said that raw milk therapy was very effective, and in no instance where used faithfully, were the muscle cramps in pregnant women a cause of discomfort. (http://mysite.verizon.net/jsschleh/gardenhomefarm/id18.html)

Send me your email, and I'll send you the number of my delivery people