Turkey Galantine - aka A Boneless Whole Bird with Stuffing

Every so often, I like to do a more complicated food project, just for fun.  This Easter, I wasn't hosting the actual event...just contributing a main dish, so it seemed like an opportune time to tackle such a project.  So I decided to debone a whole turkey, pack it full of stuffing, then roll and tie it back up into a bird-like shape.

Sound crazy?  Maybe.  But let's take a step back for a moment...

I first saw this technique about a year ago on an old PBS Special, Cooking in Concert, with Jacques Pepin and Julia Child.  If you've never seen the two of them cook together, it's a real treat.  They had a great friendly relationship kind of like an old married couple and they liked to jab at one another and crack jokes.

"Are you going to put garlic in that?" Julia would quip, disapprovingly.
"Yes, of course.  I'm going to put garlic in it," Jacques would retort, as he chopped 3-4 cloves and dumped it in.

Jacques is, of course, a bonafide trained French Chef (he once served as private Chef to Charles De Gaulle) and Julia is...well...Julia.  But nobody can beat Jacques' knife skills (except maybe Martin Yan, but I digress).  So in this particular episode, they decided to have him demonstrate how to debone (or as he calls it, "bone-out") an entire chicken in under 3 minutes using nothing but a paring knife.  Julia timed him with her watch--all the while, taunting him.  Once he'd finished, she walked to the back of the set, pulled something out, then unceremoneously plopped a 15-pound turkey on the board and asked him to debone it.  The audience laughed.

Here's a YouTube video of Jacques expertly deboning a bird:

Anyway, I found that episode so inspiring because he made it seem so easy to take the entire carcass out of a bird, fill it with something tasty, then roll it back up jelly roll-style and roast it.  Of course, it takes a lot of practice to be able to do it as cleanly and easily (and fast) as he can, but it was fun to try.

Fast-forward to this Easter.  I decided I needed a challenge and I'd just finished reading Jacques' auto-biography and I was reminded of that Chicken Galantine.  I knew just what I was making.

First, I purchased a 15-pound bird.  You don't really want to go any bigger than that or it'll take forever to bone-out and cook.  In fact, I'd go smaller like a 12-pound.  Watch Jacques do it a few times and then get out your sharpest paring and boning knives, roll-up your sleeves, and get to work.

Above is a turkey minus its bones with the exception of the drumsticks, more or less done with Jacques' technique (I didn't re-watch it beforehand, so it was a bit harder than it maybe would have otherwise been, but I succeeded.).  For flavor, I generously coated the meat with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic.

The filling I chose is made of 50/50 farro and short-grain brown rice, chopped drained spinach, finely chopped preserved lemon, chopped fresh tomato, and cubes of feta cheese.  If I had to do it again, I'd add an egg to bind it a bit and allow the bird to stay together in nicer slices.

 

Fill it up, though not too thick or it'll just push out.  Roll it, then tie it like a roast.

 

Coat generously with butter, salt, and pepper and roast it at 425 degrees until it reaches 160 degrees in the center.  Remove it from the oven and let rest, tented with foil for 15-20 minutes (the temp should coast to 165).  Remove the legs and string and slice as best as you can for serving.  If all goes well, it'll look like slices of jelly roll.

Overall, this was a delicious experiment.  Chickens are definitely easier to do and hold-together better, but the turkey was quite impressive coming out of the oven, so there's a trade-off.  And this stuffing was absolutely delicious.  I'll probably be using variations of it in the future for other purposes.

Slow Cooker Tips and Tricks

I've had a few friends post lately that they're dusting-off their slow cookers and they're either

looking for recipes or dissatisfied with the outcome of the first recipes they've tried.  Since I've been around the block a few times with my own slow cooker, I thought I'd do a post with some do's and don't's based on hard food science and personal experience (and a whole lot of trial and error).

Tip #1 - Choose the Right Cooker
You'd think all slow cookers are created the same, but that's not the case.  The original Crockpot brand cooker your mother had was probably a simple heating element underneath a permanently fixed ceramic crock with a dial that had three settings: Low, High, and Off.  Also, it was probably no larger than 5 quarts.

Today's high-end cookers are upwards of 7 quarts and made of all kinds of materials.  Many have fancy computerized controls and timers, probe thermometers, removable pots (for easier cleaning), and non-ceramic ones often have "browning" settings or can convert to a fast-cooking electric stew pot.

My recommendations are middle-of-the-road.  You want a cooker that heats evenly since you're after a "low and slow" cooking method.  This means you should look for a ceramic crock, not a metal insert.  A timer with an automatic "keep warm" setting is nice since you probably want to be away from the house as it cooks and having it slow-down the cooking before you arrive home is usually a must with today's work schedules.  You won't usually find a browning setting on a ceramic model (ceramic will crack if heated fast), so that usually knocks that feature out of the running, but it's a reasonable price to pay for more even cooking.  I'd rather have a pot that does one job well rather than multiple jobs in a mediocre fashion.  Here's how I chose my favorite cooker.

Tip #2 - Choose the Right Recipes
We've all seen those quick 1-minute "dump, stir, cook, voila!" videos that float all over social media.  It looks so quick and easy and the results are usually gorgeous and look delicious.  Ever tried to make those recipes?  They usually end-up as a muddy-colored, dull-flavored mess on a plate.  They're also usually not as easy as they look because they leave out footage of all the chopping and prep work.

In order to understand what recipes work best, you need to understand what a slow cooker is designed for.  Slow cookers were designed to mimic the behavior of bean pots and dutch ovens, which sit over low heat or in a low oven (200 degrees or so) for long periods of time (4 to 8 hours).  Many foods don't stand-up well to that long of a cooking time like lean meats (fish, chicken breast, lean beef, pork tenderloin and loin, etc.).  Contrary to popular belief, they will dry out even if submerged in a flavorful liquid.  If you're going to cook lean meat in a slow cooker, be sure your recipe makes a nice gravy or sauce to re-moisten the meat at the table.

Slow cookers are best at braising and the best cuts of meat for slow braising have fat, marbling, or protective skin coatings.  Things like chuck roasts, pork butt (aka "Boston Butt), pork shoulder, chuck stew meat, whole chickens, chicken or turkey thighs and legs, and so on.  They contain natural fat, collagen, and connective tissue that will break-down and improve in texture and flavor with a long, low, slow cooking.  Hearty soups, stews, and chili are other excellent candidates.

Tip #3 - Maximize Flavor
One thing about long slow cooking is that all of the flavors in the dish will muddle together into a uniform, kind of flat taste.  It'll be savory, but lack dimension and one strong ingredient, like onions or garlic, may take-over the dish.  You can work around this in a variety of ways.

First of all, season your dish well upfront.  Use plenty of salt and pepper.  Add flavorful liquids like chicken stock or wine instead of water.  And make sure you include aromatic vegetables (celery, onion, carrot, garlic) and herbs and spices.  Depending on what you're making, you may want to use sacrificial aromatic veggies that will be removed or puree'd into a sauce and add fresh veggies close to the end of cooking to be eaten whole.

Second of all, adjust seasonings or make a sauce towards the end of cooking.  You may want to pour off the liquid, strain it, and make a simple gravy on the stove.  You may want to puree the softened vegetables into a sauce and add some cream.  Or maybe it needs a tablespoon of vinegar or a squeeze of lemon.  It may also need more salt and pepper or fresh herbs.

Thirdly, consider browning meat in a skillet before cooking.  Contrary to popular belief, browning does not "seal in juices," but it does create flavor, texture, and color.  If your schedule doesn't permit browning in the morning, meat can be browned the night before and all other ingredients measured and prepped and then stored in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, it becomes a dump-and-stir operation.

Lastly, bloom your spices and sweat your vegetables.  Place the aromatics (onions, celery, etc) and any dry spices into a bowl, coat with a little oil, and microwave until the vegetables begin to soften.  This does two things.  First, it cooks some of the sulfuric bite out of the onions and brings out the sweetness.  Without pre-cooking, onions can take over a pot of soup and make it acrid and inedible.  Secondly, it blooms the spices.  Most spices in your cabinet are oil soluble, meaning their flavor carries best in oil, not water.  Cooking them for a short time in oil brings out their best flavor.

Tip #4 - No Peeking!
Slow cookers cook best when a small head of steam builds-up inside the pot, which creates slightly increased pressure (similar to a pressure cooker, but not nearly as powerful).  Every time you open the pot, you're releasing that steam and it has to build-up again, which will add to the cooking time.  Open the pot as infrequently as possible.

Tip #5 - Size Your Recipe or Pot Correctly
Slow cookers are designed to work best when the pot is half to 2/3 full.  This is because the pot needs area for a head of steam to build-up and help with the cooking.  If you overfill the pot, there won't be enough extra room.  If you under-fill the pot, it'll take too long to recover when the lid is opened.  Also less of the food will be in contact with the heated sides of the pot.  You also may lose the cooking water and scorch the bottom of your meal.  If you're going to be cooking for 2 people on a regular basis and want to make smaller recipes, consider buying a smaller cooker or having two sizes.

Tip #6 - Spray the Crock
I have a cooker with a dark-colored crock and every time I'd cook something, I'd end up with "ring around the crock," a white haze that lines-up with water line of the cooked food that was impossible to scrub off, even when soaked in vinegar.  I believe this is a mineral residue, from hard water, chicken bones, etc.  If you spray your crock with cooking spray prior to adding the food, this will never happen.  Even if you're doing a soup that's all liquid, still spray the pot.  Your scrubbing arm will thank you later.

Tip #7 - The Amount of Liquid Matters
Slow cookers actually don't need a lot of water to cook.  An inch or so is plenty for large cuts of meat.  One of my favorite recipes is a chicken cooked in a slow cooker where you add the chicken dry, season it, place a few veggies around it, then start cooking.  The chicken releases just enough juice to do the cooking and makes a really concentrated flavorful gravy for serving with it.

Here are a few of my Favorite Recipes that work in a Slow Cooker:

• Halloween Pork Stew
• French Chicken in a Pot - Skip browning step, cook for 8 hours on low.
• Chili
• Beans
• All Day Red Sauce - Use your favorite recipe.
• Meatballs in Red Sauce 
• Overnight Breakfast Casserole
  
• Braised Pork Short Ribs
• Pulled Pork Sandwiches
• Steel-Cut Oats
• Apple Butter

Here are some great Slow Cooker Resources:

• FoodInJars.com - Great recipes for Slow Cooker Fruit Butters
• Slow Cooker Revolution - By America's Test Kitchen
• Slow Food Fast - By Bob Warden
• Serious Eats
• Hamilton Beach Set 'N Forget Programmable Slow Cooker - My Favorite
• 365 Days of Slow Cooking Blog
• A Year of Slow Cooking - By Stephanie O'Dea

Perfectly Toasted Buns

Just look at these...

 

Have you ever seen anything quite so perfect?  So buttery?  So toasty?

For those not in the know (or not from around these parts), those are perfectly grilled "New England-Style" hot dog buns, ready and waiting for their dogs.  They're also known as "top-loaders".

Unlike regular American-Style hot dog buns, which are formed individually and cut on the side, New England buns are shaped as a single loaf, creased on top to delineate the buns, and then sliced after baking to produce separate rolls with an opening in the top to receive the hot dog (or other filling) and open-crumb cut sides.

The right way to serve a New England style hot dog bun is to toast it lightly on each of the cut sides on a griddle with butter...just as you see in the photo above.

In most of New England, these babies are also the only acceptable vessel to use when assembling a lobster roll.  While it may make more sense to use a larger sub or torpedo roll, hot dog buns are just the standard for some reason and you don't mess with a good thing.

Portion Sizes, Then and Now (According to the CDC)

The CDC recently posted this new info-graphic:




Let me start by saying that I don't particularly like the shoddy job they did qualifying the data in the graphic.  For one, it's unclear what size was ordered (I doubt a 7oz was larger than a "small" in the 1950's and clearly, a 42oz is a "large" or "extra-large" by even today's standards).  Shame on them for using scare tactics rather than concrete data to make their point..especially when the accurate data is scary enough.

That said, it does help to put things into perspective, does it not?

Would You Like a Spot of Tea?

I'm a pretty big fan of a good cup of tea.  I never really got into coffee and I figure why bother getting myself attached to that much caffeine this late in life, but tea--there's just something great about a well-made cup of tea.  I even went through a "tea snob" phase for awhile where I delved into loose-leafs and learned all the terms and whatnot, but honestly, a good black blend in a tea bag is just fine by me these days.

I thought I'd take a moment to do a little tea primer and present some neat tea facts that I'll bet you didn't know.

What *is* Tea?
With the exception of herbal and fruit teas, all tea comes from the same plant called Camellia Sinensis.  The leaves are picked off the very tips of the plant branches by hand and are processed in one of three ways to make the three major kinds of tea:


Black Tea - The most common, also known as "regular tea" here in America (we're so elegant, aren't we?).  To make black tea, the leaves are fermented (actually, oxidized) to turn them a darker color and develop flavor.  They're then dried.

Green Tea - Green tea starts with the same leaves, except they're steamed instead of being fermented/oxidized, then quickly dried.   The result is a tea that retains a very grassy flavor and light green color that is popular in Asian cultures.

Oolong Tea - Oolong is more or less a hybrid of Green and Black, both in taste and production process.  The tea leaves, from specific varietals of the plant,  are partially fermented, steamed, twisted, and dried.  The result is similar to green tea but milder in taste.

Other Fun Tea Facts

• Terms like "Orange Pekoe" (pronounced "peck-oh," not "peek-oh") refer to the size of the leaves (the "grade"), not the flavor as most folks think.  Most commercial tea bags (Lipton, etc.) are actually made with a pretty low grade of tea that comprises of the smaller particles and dust remaining after the larger leaves have been sifted out.  It makes for inexpensive and quick brewing, so that's not necessarily a bad thing for a tea bag.
• Tea is often sold and marketed by where it is grown and like fine wine, the taste of the tea has a lot to do with its origin.  Tea grown in Ceylon (current day Sri Lanka), for example is a mild-tasting tea with an orange color while Darjeeling tea tastes quite different and is darker in color.
• There are commonly accepted names for blends of tea that you'll often see on the market.  For example, a robust blend of black teas is often sold as "English Breakfast" or "Breakfast Blend."  A black blend flavored with the essence of bergamot, an orange-flavored citrus plant, is marketed as "Earl Grey" and its lighter cousin made with oranges is called "Lady Grey." Jasmine tea is green tea with the flowers of the jasmine plant added.  Lapsang Souchong tea is smoked to give it an earthy, woodsy flavor.
• A cup of coffee has between 180 and 200 milligrams of caffeine while a cup of tea has around 90 and the kind of caffeine in tea has a "slower burn," so you don't feel the effects quite the same way as you do with coffee.  Green tea has even far less at about 60mg per cup.
• Tea in general is very high in antioxidants, which are thought to help prevent cancer.  Green tea contains more antioxidants than most foods.
• Caffeine is extremely water soluble to the point that you can make your own "decaf" tea.  Simply brew a cup of tea and discard it.  Use the same tea bag or leaves to brew a second cup.  While you won't get as strong a brew, most of the caffeine will have been tossed away with the first cup of water.  The same works with coffee but it's harder to get a satisfying cup of coffee from second-hand grounds than it is with tea leaves.
• Herbal Teas are any tea made exclusively from herbs, flowers, berries, fruits, and other items not derived from the camellia sinensis plant (the tea plant).  All herbal teas are inherently caffeine free unless they've been blended with real tea.
• Even if you buy the most expensive tea leaves you can find, tea is still cheaper by volume (brewed) than just about any other beverage in the world, including soda.
• The British are credited with the practice of adding milk and sugar to black teas.  Asians would consider adding sugar or dairy to green tea uncouth, though a little honey is acceptable, if you must.
• "Red Tea" is actually an herbal tea made from the rooibus plant.  It's similar in health benefits to green tea, including the antioxidants but is completely caffeine free.
• "White Tea" is a fourth type of tea made from the camellia sinensis plant.  It's grown in a very specific region of China and is processed in a very specific, minimal way to preserve flavor.  It comprises some of the most expensive tea in the world.
• If you're going to invest in good loose-leaf tea leaves, be sure to invest in a cup-style tea infuser rather than a tea ball.  This ensures that the tea leaves have plenty of room to unfurl and really move around.

When High Nutrition Equals Cookies

As a foodie and someone who is going to be a parent shortly (very shortly), I've been following a few blogs related to child nutrition and specifically, the hot topic of school lunch nutrition.  Yeah, I know it'll be awhile till I have to worry about that, but it's an interesting subject.  One of the best blogs out there on the topic is The Lunch Tray.

In any event, today's post was about a rather controversial bag of animal crackers (read: animal cookies) and how that bag of cookies happened to end-up back on the breakfast trays of students at the Houston school department after a big parental intervention during which they were removed.  When queried, part of the response by the food services director really jumped out at me as yet another example of what's wrong with our approach to food today in general.  That was:

"In our current 'Select Items' bid, we are seeking additional breakfast items that are high in iron and meet calorie requirements.  Bid responses will be tabulated in December and we could see these new items on menus as early as February, replacing the need for a cracker item."

That's right folks.  When it comes to institutionalized (and Government-sponsored) food nutrition programs, menu planning, or in this case, the options offered at the a-la-carte line, comes down to purely a numbers game.  Nothing more, nothing less.  An RFP goes out for something like, "A breakfast food item with approximately 100 calories and N miligrams of iron."  If the only qualifying item that comes back in the bids is a package of cookies, those end up on the tray.  Plain and simple...by the numbers and by the book.  Little or no thought goes into whether it's an appropriate choice to offer.

The really sad part is that the same attitude is making its way into the grocery stores and into our cupboards.  Wait.  Who am I kidding?  It's been there in various forms for ages...it's just worse now than ever.  Want proof?  How about the "one serving of whole grain" Froot Loops?  How about the new WhoNu? Cookies, claiming, "As much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal.  As much Vitamin C as a cup of blueberries," and so on?  How about Kashi with their, "As much protein as an egg," campaign?  Is fortification of food really justification to eat dessert as your breakfast or lunch?

Why am I reminded of the scene in Wall-e with the people loafing around on mobile carts plugged into multimedia all day sipping away on "nutritious" slurpees?

When Marketing Folks Invent Reality

Generally speaking, I try to keep rants in this forum to a minimum, cause I know you folks probably don't want to hear it. :-)  But every so often, a food-related thing comes along that I just feel the need to comment on.  Not only to get it off my chest, but in hopes that it'll educate people as well.

I just picked-up a gallon of lowfat milk that was, oddly, branded Land-O-Lakes (yes, the butter people).  It's honestly not all that surprising since most of the dairies in nearby Massachusetts send their milk to one or two processing plants that churn out jugs of the white stuff labeled Hood, Garelick, Cumberland Farms, Guida's, and a bunch of others.  Why not add another well-known label to the mix.  I'm sure they get a nice fat kickback of some sort for the label recognition.

Anyway, there on the jug was a big red star-burst proclaiming, "Zero Trans Fats!"

Um.  Duh.

Clearly, the folks who designed the milk label were borrowed from the butter and margarine departments and they didn't actually do any marketing or scientific research whatsoever.  Milk and its competitor products (soy, rice, etc.) have never and will never contain trans fats.  I give them a pass on the label for real butter because margarine, marketed as a substitute for butter, did have trans fats and it's reasonable to market "real butter" as an alternative.  However, on milk, the label is just plain silly.

You see, with a few small technical exceptions, trans-fats are a man-made thing created as a result of our desire to make liquid vegetable fats semi-solid (read: spreadable) at room temperature.  In other words, they can only be present in things like shortening, margarine, and non-dairy or semi-dairy "spreads."  Milk, which is a natural animal-based product (at least last time I looked), has no business having trans fats in it.

What truly bugs me about this entire thing is that companies are so desperate to sell their product that they're willing to borderline lie to us (staying just barely inside the lines of federal law).  They're willing to pretend as though something formerly was unhealthy for us or that their product used to have an ingredient in it just so they can tout that their own product IS NOW healthy for us.  It's like me marketing soda to you and printing, "No Arsenic Included!" on the label.  It's just plain absurd.

And the really sad part of all of this is that your average American is so out of touch with what's IN their food that they start to believe it when companies tell them something's not there that was never there in the first place.  "OMG, I'm gonna buy the [fill in the blank] milk cause it has NO trans fat in it!"  And if it costs a buck more for that milk, all the better for the company...and the consumer gets unknowingly screwed.

I'd love to see the return of honest advertising.  Instead of telling us what your product doesn't have, tell us what it does have.  Instead of telling us that a steady diet of your product and only your product every meal will make us healthy (that means you, Cheerios), market your product as being a part of a healthy diet, when combined with other healthful foods.

It's these kind of silly, borderline lie-based marketing tactics that contribute to our dietary and health problems in America.  Take, for example, the cookies being marketed as being equivalent to a bowl of oatmeal.  Who the heck wouldn't eat an Oreo for breakfast if they thought it was good for them?  Effective?  Yes.  Shady?  Absolutely.

So What IS White Whole Wheat Flour, Anyway?

Ever since the "whole grain" movement started a few years ago, you've undoubtedly seen claims on loaves of bread as being made from "white whole wheat."  If you're like me, you've questioned how one goes about making white flour from whole grains as the outside portion (i.e. the "healthy parts) of the wheat grain is nearly always brown.  I wondered, do they have some chemical bleaching process that's probably not good for you?  Is this really just some marketing scam to keep you buying Wonder Bread?

First of all, the US Government won't let you label a flour "whole grain" unless you've ground the flour from the entire kernel--the endosperm, germ, and bran.  For a visual, see this Wikipedia article.  Regular white flour comes from only the white endosperm part of the kernel.  The bran and germ are discarded (or sold separately).

So how do they do it?

First of all, they use a wheat variety that's lighter and color and has a milder flavor to begin with.  They then plant it for harvest in the spring, when it won't be quite as hard as "red winter wheat" (the gold standard for most bread flours and pasta).  The result is a flour that can be ground whole and that will be a slightly off-white color when finished.  Lighter color flour = lighter color bread.

Being very curious and having satisfied myself that it was indeed unbleached whole wheat flour, I finally picked up a bag of King Arthur Flour's  version about two weeks ago.  I've been slowly using it in my pizza and bread doughs as I would regular whole wheat flour (i.e. mixed 30% to 50% with plain white flour) and I have to say I'm quite impressed.  In fact, it behaves much more like white flour than classic whole wheat does in that it doesn't dry things out and produces a decent gluten structure.

I'm thinking I may bite the bullet soon and try it in a dessert like cookies or cake just to see how it turns out.  In the mean time, if you're looking for ways to get more whole grains into your diet and you like to bake, I highly recommend that you pick up a package and start experimenting.

The photo was "borrowed" quite shamelessly from KAF's website.  Hopefully, they're happy that I'm promoting their wonderful products and won't get too upset.  :-)

The Post in Which I Actually Commend Walmart *gasp*

Unless you've been living under a rock this past week, surely you've heard that Walmart has announced that it will be lowering the salt and sugar content and eliminating trans fats in all of its own food products (i.e. the "Great Value" brand).  It'll also be lowering prices on its fruits and veggies and opening stores in "low income neighborhoods" and so-called "food deserts" (communities without full service supermarkets within a reasonable distance).

The last two facts don't impress me all that much as I don't think very much of Walmart's fresh produce and well, why wouldn't they use any excuse in the world to open stores in untapped markets.  That's what they do.  However, the first bit of info--the part about lowering the amount of "bad things" in their own foods is significant, IMHO...for a couple of reasons.

Let me just preface this by saying that I'm not patting Walmart on the back for being a good Samaritan or a stand-up member of the community it serves.  I don't believe for a moment that they don't have strong underlying reasons for doing this that center around improving their poor self image and increasing the percentage of the family budget that goes into their coffers.  This is as much marketing, if not more, than it is a gesture of good will and you can be sure the bean counters approved this plan before it went to press.  That said, on with my reasons for why this is a good thing for us:

• Walmart is the 800 pound gorilla in the room.  When Walmart does something, others follow the lead because they have to if they want to compete for consumer dollars.  I see the likes of Target, Stop & Shop, Safeway, and others jumping on the bandwagon within the year.  It's practically inevitable and just a matter of how fast they can scramble to pull it off.
• Even though they're only making changes to their own store-brand products, the other manufacturers that sell products alongside the store brand will almost definitely jump on the bandwagon and make many of the same changes.
• Walmart has shown us time and time again that they have the buying and negotiating power to force manufacturers of the products they sell to do things they wouldn't normally choose to do out of fear of losing one of their largest customers.  Maybe Walmart will realize the effect they're having and take a more direct approach by telling their manufacturers, "You need to follow our nutrition standards or we won't sell your products."  Okay, it's a long-shot, but I can dream anyway.  :-)

Don't think it'll make a difference?  Think even a small amount of reduction in sodium, sugar, and trans fats won't make a difference?  I ask you to take a walk around any grocery store and read the labels on the back of some of your favorite food products.

Take cottage cheese, for example.  That's a healthy food, right?  High in protein and they make low-fat versions.  Well, your average cottage cheese has over 400mg of sodium in just a half-cup serving (doesn't matter which brand--I've looked).  That's more than the USDA's new allowance for an entire meal for a high-school aged student.

How about those boxed brownies in your pantry that we all know and love?  Did you know more than half the leading brands, including Pillsbury, still have NOT removed trans fat from their formulas?  This is after the American Heart Association has told us that Trans Fats are quite possibly WORSE than saturated fats and direct cholesterol intake.

The reality is that we're a nation of sugar and sodium "junkies".  Most of the foods we buy (especially packaged ones) don't need nearly as much salt and sugar as they have in them in order to still taste "good" or to be properly preserved.  However, we've been fed so much sugar and salt by the processed food industry that many of our taste buds require more and more in order for the food to not taste bland.  It's an identical phenomenon as you see with those who eat hot sauce on everything--they need it hotter and hotter over time to still get the same zing and anything without hot sauce tastes just blah.

The great news is that if we gradually reduce the amount of sugar and salt in things, our taste buds re-adjust over time to where they should be and the food will still taste great.  What's more, the food becomes cheaper to produce.  It's a win-win situation.

So yeah, I thank the management folks at Walmart for what they're doing.  It may not be out of the pure goodness of their money-hungry hearts, but the side effects are a positive thing and I'll take it.

Another Good Reason to Eat More Local/Organic/Home-Grown/Etc.

Most of the time, I don't push a specific position on most of the "earthy crunchy" movement in food (as I like to call it).  I think that you need to do the research, watch the documentaries, talk to your local farmers, and make your own choices for you and your family.  Generally speaking, I do believe that our food supply has become more factory-oriented and that we're doing ourselves and our bodies a disservice by continuing to support such practices.

At the same time, I understand the cost-prohibitive nature of eating locally or choosing organic over conventionally grown foods--even for middle-class folks like myself.  I realize that many families don't have the financial luxury to shop at places like Whole Foods, local markets, or even the higher-priced farmer's markets.  The fact is, our cost of living and our paychecks are calculated on the 99 cent per pound chicken as opposed to the $5.49 per pound chicken.

My personal beliefs on the subject aside, I think that once you've done the research and ironed-out your position, you can achieve some of your goals.  Even if we only swap-out 30% of the food we eat with something that is better or something that advocates for the better, we're doing ourselves and the industry a service--by "voting with our forks," as they say.

This morning, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Unearthing this Life and Jennifer posted this article about a recent study involving the nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables we eat and how that has changed over the years as farming becomes less about agriculture and more about manufacturing food faster and with fewer resources.  In a nutshell, the study found that the less time the food is spending on the plant, the less time it has to absorb nutrients and minerals that our bodies get from eating it.  It's really that simple and, if you think about it, it just makes sense.

I'm not saying we should all go out tomorrow and buy nothing but organic produce and pay the premium for it.  However, if you can swing by a farm stand on your way home or visit the farmer's market this weekend or even support your local non-chain grocer (who, in turn, can order better products for you if they are well supported and have the cash flow to do so), you're doing your part to say, "Yes, I want 130 mg of calcium in my broccoli instead of 48 mg."  And, you're doing your body some good...

Greek-Style Yogurt...On the Cheap

Greek-style yogurt is all the rage as of late. And why shouldn't it be, for all it's extra-creamy goodness?  What I don't like, though, is its premium price tag and I'll bet you don't either.

The fact of the matter is that there's nothing all that different between Greek Style yogurt and a quality American yogurt except for the fact that it's a little thicker--something achieved by straining out some of the water.  That is, of course, assuming that your choice of Greek yogurt isn't imported from Greece or made from sheep or goats, or something other than a cow.

Here's the awesome part though...you can make your own and save some cash and it does not require any specialized equipment or knowledge akin to cheesemaking.  Here's how you do it.


First, buy yourself a large container of quality yogurt.  If you like organic, by all means, indulge.  If you're partial to store brand, that'll honestly work just fine.  Full-fat will yogurt produce a decadent product akin to whipped sour cream (which I can testify is FAN-Friggin-TASTIC), but low-fat or nonfat is probably a more sensible choice if you're planning to eat this everyday.  Also, if you're into the whole "probioitic" thing, you can look for one with "active yogurt cultures".

(Okay, so the graphic was shamelessly borrowed from Stonyfield because I forgot to take a photo of my container of cheapo store brand.  Hopefully, they won't sue me cause I'm giving them free advertising).


Place a wire mesh strainer over a tall mixing bowl (you need at least 2-3 inches between the bottom of the strainer and the bowl).  You can get a mesh strainer at any discount or big box store for a couple of dollars.  Put a paper towel into the strainer (or two if you buy chintzy thin ones) and dump in all of the yogurt.  Fold the top of the paper towel over the top of the yogurt.

When you're done, it should look like this:

Next step, cover it loosely with some plastic wrap (optional), stick it in the fridge, and walk away.  While it's sitting there, moisture will begin to weep out of the yogurt and into the bowl.  How much depends on how long you leave it in there and how much fat the yogurt had in it.  I've found that nonfat drains much faster...sometimes in as little as 2-3 hours.  Overnight will give you a thick cream-cheese consistency (more on that later).

As you can see, I let this one go a little bit long and I ended-up with a spreadable consistency.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  Add some herbs or some honey and walnuts or cranberries and slather it on a bagel.  However, that's not what we're after.  We want Greek yogurt.  See the water in the bottom of the bowl?

If you did what I did and went too far, add some of the water back in a spoonful at a time till it thins to the consistency we're looking for.  Alternatively, add a flavorful liquid like orange juice.

Now, I don't know about you, but I hate plain yogurt and one of the things I like about the Chobani brand of greek yogurt is the "fruit on the bottom".  So let's doctor this up a bit.  First, put your yogurt back into the original container (or if you threw it out like I did, find a suitable container in your kitchen).  Squirt in a couple tablespoons of honey.

If you don't like honey, some maple syrup, corn syrup, or agave nectar would also be appropriate.  Plain sugar won't melt in--if you want that, you'll need to make simple syrup.  Honey is easier.  If you're looking for vanilla yogurt, add a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract--and yes, the fake stuff is fine.  Stir well.

In a suitable serving bowl (like the one above), add a tablespoon of your favorite preserves.  Looser preserves work better here than firm ones.  You can loosen store-bought preserves by adding a little water to it and microwaving on low for a minute or so.  After the preserves, pile-on the yogurt.

And voila!  Greek-style yogurt.

And the Price?
Last I checked, a large container of Chobani Greek-style yogurt was $5.99-7.99.  A container of store brand is $2.99-$3.99.  Assuming you're going to lose 1/3 to 1/2 of the contents in water, it works out to maybe $1 to $3 cheaper.  If you compare it to the individual cups, which average $1.29 when not on sale, you're making out like a bandit.  Even at $1 per cup, it's a bargain.

What about the Nutrition?
Nutritionally, you're probably looking at similar to the manufactured stuff.  Here's why...  When you take water out of a product, you're concentrating everything else that was already there.  This means that strained yogurt is going to have more protein, fat, calories, calcium, etc. than a same-sized portion of its American cousin.  The same applies if you make it yourself.  On the other hand, zero concentrates to zero, so nonfat when you start will be nonfat when you're done--keep that in mind when making your choice.

What I like the most is that I know what's going into it because yogurt is yogurt and you can always buy all-natural farmstand jams.  With the prepared cups, not so much.  I'd wager most of them are more akin to pie filling (which wouldn't be such a bad idea from a dessert perspective...maybe even some chunks of graham cracker).

So go ahead and mix yourself up a batch of easy Greek-style yogurt on the cheap and enjoy.

Social Responsibility; GMO & Organic?

There's currently a measure on the table over at the FDA to authorize the growth of genetically modified crops of Alfalfa. This is a significant landmark situation for two reasons:

First of all, the FDA has been rubber-stamping genetically modified seeds for years and this is the first time a legal fight started by an activist group has stopped them in their tracks and forced them to use the proper approval process, which includes public commentary. This is going to set a great precedence where we actually get to help make the decision as the people who are eating the food.

The second reason this is a landmark event is because Alfalfa is a cover crop that's often planted in beds on the off-years and during the winter to give the ground time to rest and acquire nutrients. Alfalfa is an open-pollinated grass, which means that pollen will blow off of the Alfalfa fields and into other fields and pollinate other crops, producing second-generation crops with part of the DNA from the genetically modified Alfalfa, effectively contaminating the gene pool. For folks who are dead-set on eating 100% organic and non-GMO products, this is a nightmare.

I have a slightly different view on the matter. First of all, I do think that we have the right to know where our food comes from and how it was grown. That's what personal choice and American freedom is all about. If I were to choose to eat organic, I'd want to know that I'm truly doing so and not eating organically grown products that have been accidentally cross-bred with GMO crops.

My second opinion on the matter is that the politics behind GMO crops are just plain nasty and hurt the smaller, more quality-oriented farms. People don't realize this, but once you genetically alter a crop, you can patent the seed for that crop. Whenever another farm wants to grow from your seed, you are entitled to payment for using your patent and they pretty much have to buy the seed from you, the patent owner. You can't collect seed at the end of the year for re-use because they want their royalty fees. To make matters worse, there's basically only one company left, Monsanto, that owns the majority of the world's GMO seed patents. Monsanto is so large that they've got all the legal bullying power to put small farms out of business and they use it often and with a heavy hand.

Here's how it works. You're a small farmer that wants to grow non-GMO food. You plant your beds and the farm down the street that is using GMO seeds open-pollinates your field by mistake (the wind blows where it blows). You collect the seeds from your crop at the end of the year with the intention of using them again next year to save money. However, some dude from Monsanto knocks on your door and says, "Prove to us you're not collecting and re-using our genetically modified seeds." And of course, you can't because your seeds do indeed contain part of the genes from their seeds.

The small farmer then gets buried in legal paperwork by Monsanto until he can no longer afford to fight and has to close-up shop. Morally speaking, the farmer is every bit within his right--and probably legally speaking too. However, he doesn't have the money to go up against the giant, so legal or not, he loses.

Kinda sucks, doesn't it? Read more about it here and decide for yourself how you feel. If you feel as strongly about it as I do, be sure to submit your public comment to the FDA before the comment window closes on March 3rd.

Easy Meal: Lego The Eggo

Here's a quick and easy tip to save money and feed your family a healthier breakfast...

Next time you make a batch of pancakes or waffles, make extra. Put them in a zip-top bag, squeeze out as much air as you can, and pop them in the freezer. Instead of buying frozen waffles and pancakes, use your own frozen ones. You can pop them right into the toaster while still frozen, just like the supermarket version, except they taste a whole lot better and you can control the ingredients! It's also much cheaper.

Want it even healthier? Buy real maple syrup. The real stuff actually has a few vitamins and minerals in it that our body needs while the fake stuff is mostly corn syrup, artificial maple flavor, and caramel coloring. If you're going to put that much sugar into your body, shouldn't you get something out of it?

Want it even healthier, still? Substitute up to half of the flour in your favorite pancake or waffle recipe with whole-wheat flour. If you're looking to increase fiber, add a teaspoon of ground flax meal. I guarantee that even kids won't know they're eating something whole grain and healthy.

Enjoy!

Popcorn Update

In my post the other day about the Locally Grown Popcorn, I promised a update once I popped it...



As you can see, it popped-up quite normally. And, with a little butter and some salt, it tasted great! Maybe a little more flavor than store-bought.

It strikes me odd that we've let something even as simple as popcorn go by the wayside in terms of flavor and quality. The stuff in the microwavable bags just tastes awful. I've never been able to get used to the chemical after-taste of whatever it is they put on it. Perhaps I should share my recipe for old-fashioned stovetop popcorn. It's cheaper, healthier, and requires no special equipment.

Stovetop Popcorn

A heavy-bottomed sauce pan with a lid and a long handle
About 1/2 cup of popping corn
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
table salt
2-3 tablespoons real butter

1) Add just enough oil to the pan to coat the bottom. Place three popcorn kernels in the pan, cover, and place it over high heat.
2) As soon as all three kernels pop, remove the pan from the heat. Add enough kernels to form about a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Quickly replace the lid and place it back on the burner.
3) Gently shake the pan to toss the kernels every few seconds. Once kernels start to pop, reduce the heat to medium-high and toss vigorously over the burner to prevent burning.
4) Once the popping begins to slow-down, remove the pan from the heat and crack the lid open slightly to allow steam to escape (but not popping corn!). Let the popping subside.
5) Pour hot popcorn into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt.
6) Place butter in the hot pan and swirl to melt it without turning it brown. Place pan over still-warm burner if needed. Once melted, pour the butter over the popcorn and toss well with your hands.
7) Serve, preferably while watching a great movie.

An Interesting Find: Locally Grown Popcorn

Last week, I was prowling about the farmer's market and I happened upon a table that was selling stalks of locally grown popcorn. I remembered reading a post over at the Chiot's Run about growing popcorn I'd been intrigued. I'd never put much thought into how the dried little kernels made it from a stalk into the package. So, I snatched-up a few stalks.

As I paid the woman, I asked if there was anything special I needed to know about popping them.

"Oh, you just scrape them off," she said as she mimed a scraping motion, "and pop them in a pot with some oil like usual."

As it turns out, popcorn starts its life much like sweet corn. The farmer then pulls the husks back at the end of the season and allows them to air-dry on the stalk, hoping birds don't start treating the field like their own personal buffet.

As it also turns out, the scraping of the kernels is not quite so easy as the woman made it sound. Well, not all that easy in a condo, at least. As you scrape, either with your fingers or something like a knife, the kernels pop out and probably a quarter of them land everywhere but in the bowl. I'm still finding them all over the dining room. :-)

I now have a small container of tiny kernels sitting in the pantry, waiting for a a good movie to arrive from Netflix. I'll be sure to post some photos of the popped corn when we get around to making it and let you know how it tasted.

Interesting Food - Groats (aka "Scottish Oats" aka "Steel-Cut Oats"

As Americans, we're fond of convenience food and that means that most of us grew-up eating the kind of oatmeal that comes out of a package. How can you argue with something where you just add hot water and stir and end-up with a (mostly) nutritious meal? Then again, the packets are quite small (as an adult, I can easily eat two), relatively expensive compared to plain oats, and as with many convenience versions of foods, they're much less healthy than the original product, having much of their benefits stripped away by processing and then masked by sugar, artificial flavors, and thickeners.

Don't get me wrong. I've tried plain "Old Fashioned" rolled oats--you know, the kind in the blue can with the dude in a certain black hat on the logo. I've even tried oats from Bob's Red Mill, thinking that maybe if they came from a smaller, higher-quality manufacturer, they'd taste better. Nonetheless, I could do nothing to adjust my taste buds to the funky texture, odd chew, and blah, almost metallic taste of plain old oats. No amount of cinnamon, sugar, honey, maple syrup, spices, or dried fruit could mask what my personal taste buds just couldn't learn to appreciate.

Ever since watching an episode of Good Eats focusing on oatmeal, I've been intrigued by a different type of oats known as "Steel-Cut" oats. They're also known as "Groats" or "Scottish Oats." Groats start off the same as any other oat but are cut with steel blades or burrs (as the name suggests) instead of being hulled and rolled into that familiar flat shape. Because they're less processed and contain more of the original goodness like bran, they retain many more nutrients, flavor, and have a heartier texture when cooked. Think of them like the brown rice of the oat world.


As luck would have it, I happened upon some Groats in the bulk foods aisle of Whole Foods the other day, which allowed me to try a small portion without breaking the bank on an entire package. After consulting Mr. Brown's recipes and a few found via Google, I chose a preparation method and jumped in head-first. After about 30 minutes (it takes that long for a groat to soak in water, much like a grit for all you Cousin Vinnie fans), I had myself a steaming-hot bowl of oatmeal. Adding a generous spoonful of brown sugar and stirring, I dug-in. And wow! What a difference.

If you've ever had rice pudding or a loose risotto, it's something like that except brown and it tastes more wholesome (as it should). The individual grains have a not so subtle chew like al dente barley that's different but pleasant. The generous amount of starch given-up by the oat granules as they cook create a velvety and not unpleasantly sticky sauce that you can thin-out or leave thick as you please. I think I've finally found an oat product I can live with.


Unfortunately, because of the size of the granules, groats do take at least 30 minutes to cook. There's just no way around it (unless I can find a pressure cooker recipe). Good 'ole AB has a recipe involving an overnight soak in the slow cooker, but that seems like an awful lot of work to me for a single serving (that, and my slow cooker has a 5-quart crock, which is a bit overkill).

Luckily, I discovered that they keep well in the fridge and reheat in the microwave even better than you'd expect. I've found that if I make a batch in the evening and package it into serving-sized containers, I can add a spoonful of brown sugar in the morning to freshen it up, pop it into my lunch bag, and heat it up at work to munch on while digging through my morning email.

I've also seen recipes where it's steamed like rice and used to make a pilaf. I'd like to give that a try soon.

Be sure to give it a try when you have a chance. Here are a few resources:

• Alton Brown's Recipe for Steel-Cut Oatmeal - I substituted regular milk for the buttermilk and it comes out just fine. If you want that tangy flavor, try a couple spoonfuls of yogurt stirred-in after cooking instead of the remaining milk.
• Alton Brown's Recipe for Overnight Oatmeal
• Bob's Red Mill - They also carry organic.
• McCann's Irish Oats - Available at most grocers, McCann's makes a great product and aside from Bob's is one of the few to be able to guarantee their oats are Gluten Free (for our Celiac friends).
• Whole Foods - Aside from carrying groats in the bulk foods aisle (by the pound), they also carry major brands including Bob's, McCann's, and others.

Credit Where Credit is Due:
I didn't happen to snap any of my own photos of the cooking and eating process. As such, the photos above are compliments of your friendly neighborhood Google Image search. My sincere apologies and thanks to the original owners for accepting my loose interpretation of "fair use."

Smarter Choice Than What?

This post is something I think all parents should at least have a look at...

Apparently, I've been living under a rock, as I haven't been aware of a recent food controversy about a new product labeling program called "Smart Choices." This new labeling program, sponsored by the food industry, not the government, is designed to help consumers "build healthy habits for the long term," by labeling products with a prominent, recognizable stamp of approval from the program.

Sounds great, doesn't it? You can just roam the aisles of the supermarket and grab any item with the Healthy Choices label and feel good about the contents of your shopping cart, right? Have a look at some of the products that have already been approved and maybe you'll think otherwise. Here are a few (mind you, I'm cherry-picking to make a point):

• Froot Loops
• Cocoa Puffs
• Lipton Iced Tea (even non-diet)
• "Bagel-Fuls" Bagels filled with flavored cream cheese
• Kid's Cuisine frozen meals (Hot Dogs, Chicken Nuggets, Toasted Ravioli, Mac & Cheese...to name a few)
• Lunchables Pizza
• Slim Fast
• Classic "Cheese and Crackers" Style Lunchables (listed in the "Snack" category instead of meals)

I should add that there are no plain or pantry ingredients on the list as of yet. The plain veggies category is completely empty and even the processed veggies list is minuscule. Even their "generic benchmark" list, whatever that means.

So how do candy-like, sugar, and fat-filled products like Froot Loops and cream cheese stuffed bagels get on the list? The same way foods like Cheerios can make medical claims like the ability to lower your cholesterol. The companies massage numbers and facts heavily and tweak their recipes slightly to make the product "sound" more nutritious than it is. Here are a few examples:

• Serving Sizes - The calorie and fat counts used on the program's label are by "serving size." If you've ever looked at your favorite foods, you'll realize that most of us realistically use 2 to 3 times the serving size as an actual serving and that often, that's a pretty reasonable serving.
  
• Adding "Healthy" Ingredients in Small Amounts - Manufacturers add vitamins, minerals, and other healthy ingredients to their product recipes like fiber and "whole grains" and then claim the food is healthy. When the first ingredient is still sugar (or corn syrup) and the last is the healthy ingredient, I don't call that healthy.
• Comparing Apples to Oranges - Supposedly, the program lets you choose healthier products. However, the program isn't based on the comparison of two similar products. It's based on nutritional value calculations from the product label and a loose set of nutritional limits set by industry participants. What does this add up to? A box of "Cereal A" may contain the Healthy Choices label while a box of "Cereal B" beside it may not when Cereal B is the healthier of the two by a long shot. Both may meet the criteria for the label, but the manufacturer B produces a product that is two or four times healthier but isn't a member of the program.

The bottom line is that the manufacturers are setting standards that their products already meet and then trying to sell you those standards as a way to live by. My advice? Read the government-mandated nutritional panels yourself and make your own decisions. That's the healthiest choice of all.

Many thanks to GoodEater.org for pointing-out this important issue and helping to spread the word.

Fooducation: Learning About Half-Sour Pickles

As an experienced cook, it's always fun when something crosses my desk (or my dinner plate) that's new information. That came this week in the form of a good-sized bag of pickling cukes that I picked up at a local farm stand.

You see, there's this restaurant nearby that makes its own pickles to serve with bread at the beginning of the meal. They're by far the most delicious things I've ever tasted. They're essentially the type of pickle you expect to get with a deli sandwich but crisp and fresh-tasting. I generally eat the entire bowl.

Last year, I attempted to duplicate the recipe and just plain couldn't. I was starting with a basic dill pickle recipe and began adding and removing individual ingredients to try to get that distinct garlicky flavor. I just couldn't do it. Eventually, I gave-in and emailed them for the recipe. I was pleasantly surprised that they were more than happy to give it to me. I was even more surprised to see the secret ingredient listed as, "pickling spices."

That's right. They used a packaged product, and here I was rummaging through my spice rack, assuming the answer was in there. I chuckled, filed the recipe for a future batch, stocked my pantry with a jar of pickling spice, and moved on.

Just the other day, when I acquired the beautiful batch of pickling cucumbers, I pulled-out the recipe, now ready to give it a try. After reading the ingredients a little more closely, I was perplexed. There was *no* vinegar involved. "Hrrrm," I thought. That's typically the case when making sour pickles, a labor intensive process involving fermenting the pickles at room temperature in a brine for several weeks. The natural bacteria in the air causes the production of lactic acid in the brine (as opposed to acetic acid found in vinegar) and pickles the pickles naturally. Eventually, you shut-down the reaction by refrigerating the pickles.

The pickle recipe I had in my hand said "Half-Sour Pickles," which, according to some Googling, are made using the same process, except they're stopped a few days into the process before they become completely fermented. The recipe in my hand did not do that. It called for leaving the pickles on the counter for an hour, then refrigerating them for a week.

Confused, yet not willing to distrust the restaurant's chef, I mixed-up a small batch anyway and did as instructed. The brine smelled exactly like the restaurant's pickles, so I figured that was a good sign. They've been sitting in the fridge for about 5 days now (they require 7 days) and I tasted one. They seem to be working, though not quite there yet.

So what's the deal? After mulling over my research and thinking about the flavor of the restaurant's pickles, I've come to the conclusion that this is a "modified half-sour pickle." You see, real sours and half-sours are made with a brine, a combination of water, salt, and flavorings (in this case, garlic and pickling spices). The brine provides flavor and the right conditions for the natural bacteria to do its thing. To make half-sours, you'd leave them to ferment for up to 3 days. For full-sours, you'd let them go 1-2 weeks. The scary part is that this whole process is a balancing act of letting the "good bacteria" do its job while attempting to keep the "bad bacteria" (the kind that'll make you sick) out of the brine. Since most people are not lab scientists, making sour pickles at home is a bit like playing Russian roulette, except with better odds unless you know what you're doing.

In this case, the brine was the same but there was no fermenting period other than the hour spent on the counter "loosely covered". According to my research, even if we assume a few lonely bacteria got in there during that hour, the bacteria slow-down and don't really do much when exposed to refrigerator temperatures. So how, exactly, are my pickles pickling?

What I think is happening is they're not actually pickling. That is, they're not converting to pickles as a result of acid. Instead, they're being brined--preserved with salt and absorbing the flavors in the liquid. That would explain the lack of pungent vinegar taste. It's possible that there's a little acid production going on, but probably not very much.

Whatever the case, they're darned tasty and I'd like to share them with you:



Half-Sour Pickles
Courtesy of Gregg's Restaurant

Washed pickling size cucumbers, cut into spears or 1/4-inch slices

1 ½ tablespoons pickling salt

1 ½ teaspoons pickling spices (Such as these)

¼ teaspoon hot pepper seed or flaked red pepper

8 small gloves garlic

1 half-gallon glass jar with cover (or 2 wide-mouth quart canning jars)

Fill jars with washed cucumbers. Pack them in tightly. Mix salt, garlic, pickling spices and pepper in a bowl with about 2 cups of hot water; stir until the salt is dissolved. Add some cold water until the liquid feels comfortable to the touch, not hot. Add to the cucumbers. Add more water (warm) if necessary to fill the jar. Let stand on counter, loosely covered, for about 1 hour. After 1 hour cover tightly and refrigerate for 7 days. Taste on the 7^th day.

Note:

All ingredients can be purchased at any market. You may vary the recipe to your liking or size of jar. Pickles do not keep very long since there are no preservatives. Enjoy!