September 13th 2008, Newsletter
Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market, Inc
Sarah’s Corner
From our friend Sarah Fritschner
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, spoke this week in London, England at an event sponsored by Compassion inWorld Farming. He pointed out that meat production accounts for 18% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7600005.stm).
Shoppers at farm markets – even if they’re buying meat – have already reduced their carbon footprint in a few ways. Presumably, local farmers are not clear-cutting forest to provide land for their animals to graze (as occurs in tropical rainforest). Also, if the animals are grass fed and grass finished, they aren’t eating grain that requires fertilizers to be made and transported. In addition, animals raised and processed nearby aren’t transported so far to markets.
You can reduce the meat you consume by making recipes from yesteryear, when housewives were admonished to stretch their dollars by combining meat with vegetables and starches, from tortillas and rice to pasta and breadcrumbs. Now, those recipes are as much about saving the earth as saving money.
Cherry tomato gratin
This dish is so easy, the most difficult aspect is waiting for the oven to heat. Of course you can cut up regular tomatoes to make this recipe, but cherry tomatoes are so abundant this time of year and this is an easy way to use them. I love the taste of freshly made breadcrumbs (drop pieces of bread in a blender or food processor), but store-bought ones will work.
4 cups cherry tomatoes
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon (freshly ground) black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup bread crumbs (about 2 slices)
2 to 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, optional
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pour the tomatoes into an 8- by 8-inch baking dish (or casserole of similar size) and season with salt and pepper. Cook 15 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add bread crumbs and toast until light brown and fragrant, stirring often (this should take only a few minutes).
If using goat cheese, crumble it over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake 15 minutes more. Serves 4.
Stuffed peppers
There was a time when stuffed peppers were every day family fare but in these days of rushed dinners, they are the time-consuming stuff of informal dinners with company. Or you can spend some weekend time preparing a bunch and freezing them for later. Savvy cooks always wonder if they can’t just skip cooking the peppers in water before baking. You can, but then the entire dish takes longer to bake (up to an hour) and sometimes the final result is a little uneven – sometimes the peppers are a little watery, sometimes underdone. If that method suits your style, by all means skip the pre-cook.
Bell peppers from the supermarket come in a variety of sizes. This recipe calls for 4 peppers about the size you’d find in a supermarket.
Sometimes I add 1 teaspoon ground fennel seed to this to give it the taste of Italian sausage.
1 cup brown or white rice
2 teaspoons salt
4 medium green peppers
1 pound ground lamb, beef, or bison
1 medium onion, about 1 cup chopped fine
1 small jalapeno, minced, optional
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon allspice
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and the rice, cover and lower heat to simmer white rice 20 minutes; brown rice 40 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut peppers in half vertically and clean out core and white membrane. When water boils, add 4 halves and simmer 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat with remaining peppers.
Meanwhile, combine ground meat, onion and jalapeno (if using) in a wide, deep skillet and cook over medium heat until onion softens, about 15 minutes, stirring to break up the meat. If the meat seems fatty, pour off excess fat.
When the onion has softened, add 1 teaspoon salt, oregano, pepper, allspice, cooked rice and 1 cup tomato sauce. Stir gently to combine evenly.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
When the peppers are cool enough to handle, cut a thin slice off their curved backs so they’ll lie flat in a pan. Fill the pepper halves with meat/rice mixture, and place them in a 9- by 13-inch casserole as you do. Pour remaining tomato sauce over all and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Serves 4.