Ohio Takes A Stand

Farmers and animal rights activists have reached an agreement about the future of farming in Ohio. Check it!

Move to Limit ‘Factory Farms’ Gains Momentum - NYTimes.com

Child Nutrition Act

Updated info from Slow Food on the Child Nutrition Act.

One step closer to passing the Child Nutrition Act : Slow Food USA

Nutrient content claims and health claims

This is from one of my favorite food policy blogs. The blog is written by Parker Wilde, who teaches at Tuft's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. The article is a good look at the difference between nutrient content claims and health claims.

U.S. Food Policy: A fine line: nutrient content claims and health claims

Chef Tom Colicchio on Capitol Hill

He's not the best speaker, but Chef Tom Colicchio made some good points on the Hill the other day. Check it out on YouTube:

YouTube - EdLaborDemocrats's Channel

Goat Cheese, Swiss Chard and Basil Pizza

So what do you do when you have a ton of greens in your fridge (because you've been slacking on the CSA thing this week) and you're supposed to get more veggies tomorrow?

Make pizza!

Andy and I threw this pizza together tonight in about 30 minutes, including the baking time (but not the dough rising time).  It was awesome...seriously awesome, but I'm a huge fan of goat cheese, and this pizza has it!

If you have the time, definitely make this pizza crust.  It turns out really well every time I make it and anyone that eats it, loves it.  You can do it with bread flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix, which is what I used today) and you can mix your yeast in with the flour without proofing it (for the Active Dry type), as long as your water is hot enough.  It's a very forgiving dough, and it tastes great!

Goat Cheese, Swiss Chard and Basil Pizza
by Me (with a little - or a lot - of help from Mark Bittman for the pizza dough)

Ingredients:

1 recipe of par-baked pizza dough (see below) on a cookie sheet

1 bunch of swiss chard

1 4 oz. container of goat cheese crumbles (that's right, I bought the grocery store container of pre-crumbled goat cheese.  No Greenmarket for me, I was tired.)

A few basil leaves

Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Cut the leaves away from the stem on the chard.  Chop the stems into 1" (or so) pieces. Slice the leaves into really thick ribbons.

2. Heat about 2 tbs. olive oil in a large skillet.  Put the stems in and saute for about a minute or two.  Add the leaves and cook just until they're wilted.  Take the pan off the heat (and turn the heat off).

3. Spread olive oil on your pizza crust.  Don't put on so much that it pools, or your crust will get soggy.  Just use a pastry brush, your fingers, or a paper towel to spread it on your dough.

4. Spread the chard evenly over the dough, spread the basil, then spread out the goat cheese crumbles.  I wish I would've taken a picture of this before we put it in the oven - it was so pretty!

5. Put it back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.  Goat cheese doesn't really melt, but you're looking for the crust to finish getting golden, and for the goat cheese to get a bit brown.

6.  Eat.  For dessert, check out A Long Bakes Knight.  Yes, shameless self-promotion.

Pizza Dough - makes enough for 1 large pizza
adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ingredients:
3 c. all-purpose flour, or bread flour, or a combination of both
2 tsp. active dry or instant yeast
1 to 1.5 tsp. salt (Mr. Bittman's recipe calls for 2 tsp. salt, I think even 1.5 tsp. is a bit too salty for my taste)
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 c. very warm (100 - 110 F) water

Instructions
1. Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in your food processor.  Pulse a few times to mix it up.
2. Turn the food processor on and add the olive oil and the 1 c. of water.
3. After about 30 second the dough should form into a ball that's slightly sticky.  If it's too dry, add a tsp. of water and process a bit more.  If it's too wet (unlikely), add a tsp. of flour at a time and process.
4. Once your dough has formed a slightly sticky ball, dump it out of the processor onto a lightly floured board or countertop.  Need a few strokes until it's a smooth ball.
5.  VERY LIGHTLY oil a small mixing bowl and put the dough in, then cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit until it doubles in size.  In the summer heat, it took about an hour.  In the winter, I leave it under a hot light and it still takes about an hour or an hour and a half.  If you're doing this in the morning, you can let it rise in the fridge all day.

When you're ready to make the pizza, preheat your oven to 450 F.  Oil a cookie sheet (or prepare a pizza stone, if you're feeling fancy).  Slowly start stretching or rolling the dough until you have a good size (you could make two small pizzas or one large).  I usually stretch it until it fits my cookie sheet pretty much to the edges.  Put your cookie sheet in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes.  You don't want to completely bake the dough, but you do want to get it solid enough that the toppings aren't going to burn before your dough is done.

Quick! How Do We Make the Salmon Bigger?

Really? Do we really need fish with a constant "on" button just so they get bigger? I mean, you'd think we'd learn...what with the whole "free range, organic, etc" movement getting bigger right now. I don't need hormones in my chickens or cows to make them bigger, and I don't want my salmon genetically altered to make it bigger. Sheesh. Nature, people, let's work with it, not against it.

End of soapbox. You should still read the article.

Genetically Altered Salmon Set to Move Closer to Your Table - NYTimes.com

Top Chef Takes On School Lunches

Top Chef recently did an episode that had the chefs making lunches on a school lunch budget. I wish I could have seen the episode, but the blog article is cool too. Sam Kass from the White House kitchen was the guest judge. The interesting thing - it says the chefs weren't able to complete it successfully and stay in budget.

Our Blog : 06/24/10 - Top Chef takes on school lunch : Slow Food USA