Candied Bacon

Dangerous candied bacon

What is that dark slimy looking spider like blob up there? Well its simply one of the most addicting flavors to ever be added to confections and desserts. Candied caramelized bacon. Thats right salty and smoky taste awesome with sweet and chewy food. Its almost evil. Putting meat in dessert feels bad, but tastes so good. Ive written this recipe before, but by popular request I have chosen to give candied bacon its own recipe. Its is amazing baked into chocolate chip cookies, or if youre really fancy these monster chocolate toffee cookies. You could also use it to garnish cupcakes (think banana peanut butter Elvis style!), doughnuts or whatever needs a modern and slightly wild kick. Whatever you put it in, people will ask you for the recipe. Send em here.

There are two popular recipes for candying bacon. Well one is more popular than the other. Most often I see recipes suggesting people put bacon on a silpat, cover with sugar, and let it do its thing in a 300 degree oven. That will work, and it will work with much less effort. But the bacon fat will crowd the baking sheet, and prevent the sugar from adhering and caramelizing perfectly. Small batches on top of the stove allows you to perfect the carmelization.

Candied Bacon

1 lb bacon
1 cup demura sugar (raw sugar)

Par-cook the bacon in a wide sauce pan or stock pot until only beginning to brown. You want to render off half the fat so you dont get that swimming in fat problem. I usually work in batches of 4-5 strips, pouring the fat off into a can between batches. You will finish cooking the bacon as it caramelizes.

Fry bacon a little bit to render off fat first

Pour off all remaining oil from pan. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of sugar right on to the pan. Lay 4 strips of half cooked bacon on top, and cover with another layer of sugar. Let sit for 3-4 minutes until the sugar begins to melt. You may hear a quiet hiss or see small bubbles. If its loud and spitting oil you need to turn the heat down or you will burn the sugar. Periodically press the bacon down and into the sugar to really coat it. Flip after 5-6 minutes, and repeat. The bacon will be a very dark brown when its ready. Remove from pan and let harden in a cool place on a cookie sheet about 3 minutes. Repeat until all the bacon is done.

I find a pound of bacon takes the better part of an hour, maybe more like 90 minutes after clean up. You can chop the bacon up and add it to any baked good, or freeze it in airtight bags. The bacon is coated in salt and sugar, which means it should last for a few months. Dont be too ashamed to it plain like candy, sooooo good.

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Dried Peppers

Much hotness

Right before my CSA ends there is usually an onslaught of food I cant quite eat in a week. These foods usually include many pounds of apples, many varieties of giant gourds, and a relatively small amount (less than a pound even) of hot hot peppers. Last year I canned them with oil. This year, not knowing what to do, I kept them in a pile by the window. I have piles of vegetables decorating my home like rich people have bouquets of hydrangea. Some of the peppers dried out on their own. A swell way to preserve them until Im ready to tap their heat.

You can do the same with any mixture of peppers you grow or get from the market. I plan to make some spunky chili powder and give it away for Christmas. The following is less of a recipe an more of a suggestion. Easy nonetheless.

Dried Peppers
Several dried peppers, whole but rinsed

Heat oven to 150 degrees. Place peppers on a tray. Allow to dry out in warm oven 2-3 hours.

Wrinkled hotness

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Ditmas Park CSA Extended Season Week 2

Fall foods, earthy, and not as vibrant as the summer varieties

Is there a better way to get your weeks food then with a group of like minded people sharing a supporting a farm? You can say hello to your farmer, swap recipe ideas, swap unwanted vegetables with your neighbors, ask questions. Its nice. Hundreds of times nicer then the grocery store.

I bought two of five weeks of the extended share option from my neighbor. That breaks down to a whole share, every other week. I will spend less time rushing between my neighborhood and Ditmas Park, a bonus. The trick is for me to spread the extra food over 2 weeks before it wilts. Not so hard with potatoes, beets, onion, and squash. Tomatoes, peppers, turnip, and bok choy are on this weeks menu.

Ditmas Park CSA Extended Season Week 2
8 oz honey!
1 fat turnip
2 green peppers
1 big head of bok choy
2 tomatoes
6 small beets
10 small potatoes
3 big onions (I swapped my broccoli and cauliflower one onion, I just cant eat that much food)
1 big honking daikon
1 hubbard squash

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Ditmas Park CSA Week 5

Week 5 looks pretty normal

This is the third time I have picked up, and the 5th CSA share I have split with my easy-going-veg-likin roommate. Last week looked much like week three: tomatoes, green beans, purslane, summer squash, beets, corn garlic, onions, new potatoes, parsley, cucumbers. Notably we did get a cantaloupe. We did not get garlic, peppers (hot or mild), turnips, herbs, lettuce, or braising greens. These are just some of the foods from last summer (and occasionally other weeks this year) that I really miss, and would like back.

This summer Jorge is growing big beautiful food, which we receive in abundance, but the varieties seems to be of the every-day-kitchen variety. Tomatoes and cucumbers are excellent and I will never get bored with variety of ways to eat them, but the really garden extraordinaire vegetables arent here this year. Im craving the challenge in discovering the best way to eat a bundle of callaloo greens or dinosaur kale. Im ashamed to admit that I have been buying produce from other farmers. It feels like cheating but in the past month I have bought daikon, kohlrabi, golden beets, turnips, radishes, mint, and thyme.

1/2 chicken and giblets

The chicken looks bigger than the previous one and it came with a bag of giblets, awesome. I inquired about giblets on my last pick up, and now they are here. I think its mostly livers, maybe two tiny hearts. Im sure my father will enlighten me in the comment section, eh Dad? Im replacing the my foreign vegetable conundrum with natural chicken conundrums. How to cook up those livers?! Must figure something soon, they smell fowl :)

Mystery meats, clue its part of a chicken...

Complete list of vegetables for week 5 of the Ditmas Park CSA:
6 tomatoes
4 summer squash
4 cucumbers
2 mild purple peppers
1 bag green beans
1 big onion
1 huge bunch of basil
1 large cantaloupe
3 (ish?) lbs new potatoes
...and I forgot to pick up the 4 ears of corn, zoot!

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Garden Harvest in a Pickle Jar

Garden goods pushed into a pickle jar

Early Saturday morning I cleared out my humble 36" by 30" nugget of garden with my plot partner to prepare for cool weather crops. Because of square foot gardening and the neighborhood greenthumb Ive taken home a remarkable amount of food. Not quite enough to feed myself every day, but more than I need on top of my CSA. I took home an armful of what was left in the ground about 1/2 lb beans, a few hot cherry peppers, some stalks of potent basil, and celery greens. Rather than chop it raw for a salad or cook my harvest, I decided to pickle everything together to savor the garden freshens. What grows together, goes together and makes for an outrageous crisp raw pickle. I plan to use my pickled beans in bloody marys, but they would be nice as finger food along with cured meats or cheese plate. Also try chopping the beans and serving them on top of salads.

Last of the summer veggies right out of the ground

Garden Jar Pickled Beans

2 1/3 cups water
2 tblsp salt
1 1/2 tblsp sugar
2 1/2 tblsp white wine vinegar
2 peeled garlic cloves, smashed
1 hot pepper, quartered
1 inch lemon zest
1 handful garden herbs
1/2 lb string beans

I did a variation of this pickled bean earlier in the year. I made the mistake of boiling beans with the liquid. The beans became mushy when I was after a crunchy pickle. I suggest boiling the water, salt, vinegar and sugar in a sauce pan and pouring into a clean mason jar on top of the garlic cloves, hot pepper, lemon zest, and herbs. The hot water will dissolve the salt and sugar while bringing out the flavor in the herbs.

Inside the world of a pickle jar

Cool the jar until no longer steaming, 20-30 minutes, and add the beans. Screw lid on, and shake vigorously. Let sit for 2-4 days until beans have a zesty tang. I like to sample part of a bean every day to see how the flavors are developing. Store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

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Ditmas Park CSA Week 20

Did I say something about missing my favorite vegetables earlier this summer? Well its all erased. I welcome this weeks turnips, sweet potatoes, squash, and parsley with open arms. This week was a really generous portion and wide variety of vegetables. I will be picking and choosing what to eat first considering what to hold on to for the future. The season is almost over, though I extended until Thanksgiving so yay for that.

I am confused about the large white root vegetable. Last week it looked like a rutabaga to me. I identify purple top and white root end with rutabagas. This week it looked more like harukei, but ah ha its a slightly purple. Not harukei. Maybe it is a rutabaga and we are calling it a turnip because they are related? These vegetables seem starchier then your average turnips. Let me know what you think, especially if you are in my CSA.

Week 20 CSA
1 butternut squash
2 pumpkin shaped acorn squashes (swapped for broccoli)
2 tomatoes
1 onion
3 turnips/rutabagas (swapped for cauliflower)
1 great big piece of diakon
1 sweet potato
7 beets
5 potatoes
bunch of parsley
bunch of celery
bag of lima beans
5 apples

1/2 chicken
dozen eggs

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Day 002 Sydney

I did well the first 2 days in Sydney. I was very mentally awake. What happens to your physical body on a 14 hour time difference is out of your control. It was raining and gray, so first priority in the morning was buying umbrellas. Afterwards off to Blacktown to love on some marsupials, reptiles, and birds. Australia really has great wildlife even if half of it (spiders, snakes, crocs, dingos, stingers, jellies, etc.) will kill you.

Koalas are like little furry people

I pet the kangaroo after it grabs the food I was feeding it away.

Wallabys are miles cuter than kangaroos, this one followed us around.

Wiped after an afternoon of cuddling marsupials we headed to the Rocks towards Sydney Central. Lord Nelsons is the oldest pub in Sydney, and brews its own beer. Most beers in Australia are watery, but the beer at Lord Nelsons is excellent.

Pure drinks, food and rugby at Lord Nelsons in Sydney

Lord Nelsons beer list

Ketchup is called tomato sauce. Never mind because sweet chili is the new ketchup. Its bright pink with little chili bits floating in it. A bit like sweet an sour sauce. Not at all spicy. It comes with fries, chips, wedges along side sour cream. Sour cream is unbelievably luscious here. Thicker and with less tang than Americas sour cream. I could eat it by the spoonful, or just apply it to my thighs as they say in my family.

Potato wedges with sweet chili and sour cream at Lord Nelsons, top notch pub fare

We tried reading the paper and playing pass and play Scrabble while digesting plate of wedges and a few pints of beer. Not a bad way to pass a Sunday afternoon unless World Cup Rugby is on. It was. Until I learn the rules, rugby is just a violent beastly man on man in shorty shorts sport.

After a few hours a walk, train ride, and stop at the bottle shop for white wine we sat down for seafood at Garfish in Kirribilli. Its BYOB. Its chilly but they have lovely covered outdoor seating with area heaters. Pacific oysters are plump with a clean ocean flavor. Again they come with sweet chili, like most things in Australia.

Snapper pie with broccoli rabe

Garfish serves an elegant list of regular dishes including snapper fish pie, fish and chips, salt and pepper squid, and a few more. The highlight is the specials hauled daily from the ocean. I had the famed Australia favorite barramundi. A thick moist flavorful piece of fish that practically melts in your mouth. Served on a comforting and familiar bed of peas and potatoes I cant imagine a better meal.

Barramundi on buttered peas and potatoes

For dessert, or do they say pudding, we had caramel ice cream on a Belgian waffle. Indulgent. Rolling off our chairs, we made our way down to the waterfront for the best view in Sydney. Sydneys harbor is full of nooks, crannies, and beaches, but only this view includes the Opera House and bridge. It was nearly 50 degrees by now, and jet lag attacks after 8 pm, so off to bed. No Sydney night life for me. Food, koala, and coffee.

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Ditmas Park CSA Week 6

Big stuff in week 6 from the Ditmas Park CSA

Its the week of the callaloo bigger than a raccoon/medium sized dog. Callaloo bigger than a small child. Callaloo big enough to curl up in bed with, not like its gonna keep you warm. This bunch of callaloo is so big I tell you it takes up the entire bottom shelf of my fridge hiding the tupperware containers in a forest of leaves. Not to mention a large head of cabbage, thats also pretty big.

Ditmas Park CSA Week 6

1 enormous head of callaloo
1 bunch of basil
1 head of cabbage
1 red onion
1 white onion
2 cucumbers
2 zucchinis
2 heas of garlic
1 yellow squash
1 bag of yellow wax beans
8 medium tomatoes
11 red sweet peppers
6 eggs

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Australias Exotic Fruit Farm 2 Fruit Tasting

Tasting fruits in whole form

Youre greeted with a cool glass of water with splash of West Indian Lime at the Cape Tribulation Exotic Fruit Farm on arrival. The flavor is recognizably lime, but subtler, less tart. The fruit farm has been collecting and growing unique tropical fruits since 1988. The tasting is a chance to get up close and personal with some very rare fruits, many of which are grown on the same land the farm sits on. Trish, our instructor also offers lots of information on recognizing when the fruit is ripe, peeling and cutting the fruits, and recipe and flavor pairings. Its a fruity dream in a tropical rain forest.

Tasting list

Breadfruit is a large spiky fruit. When its fully ripe, its a falling apart mess. Its eaten in its starchier state, and has lots of uses. We had ours roasted like potatoes. The flavor was nutty, and rooty. Very like a parsnip.

Roasted breadfruit

Youve probably heard of the next one, jakfruit. Its available in a can in the states, and Ive had it in halla halla, an Asian dessert. The canned version doesnt have much to do with the real thing. Its a monster. Jakfruit is the biggest tree-born fruit and can weigh as much as 88 pounds. The segments of the jakfruit are removed and cut into pieces after the skin is removed. The fruit is full of a sticky latex that will aggressively adhere to skin and clothes. Its recommended to wear gloves when cutting it up, and wipe your knife to prevent build up.

Cutting the jakfruit

The flavor is beautiful. Bright honey, banana, even a little watermelon in there. The texture is crunchy, and smooth. The segments contain seeds, which can be boiled and eaten too.

Jakfruit segments

Pomelo are becoming less and less exotic. They are widely available in New York City markets. These Burma bases fruits are the granddaddy of a many other citrus fruits, namely grapefruit.

Cutting the pomelo

Pomelos are still very similar to grapefruits. The fruits are triple the size with a drier texture. The fruit, pith and rind are all edible. The flavor is less bitter than grapefruit, but with a good citrus taste.

Pomelo fruit

After the first 4 fruits the tasting took a real departure towards very exotic. Sapodilla is small brown fruit which turns a caramel color when ripe. An indicator of its sweet caramel flavor. I found it similar to a fresh date, but fleshier with a little mealy texture. Its wonderful.

Cutting the sapodilla fruit

The sapodilla is also used to make gum. The seeds should not be eaten. The sapodilla fruit is best fresh, and hard to cook.

Sapodilla, soft and sweet

Yellow sapote was another fruit first for me. Its texture is like no other fruit. Its velvety soft and a little dense. The flavor was mild. My eyes may be playing tricks on my palette, but I detected some pumpkin notes, perhaps a little peachy too.

Yellow sapote in halves

Because of the yellow sapotes unique texture it goes very well with cheese, in yogurt, and ice cream. Its just a delight to feel it in your mouth and shines with its stand-out yellow color. Of all the fruits I tasted I really imagine this one having its own place in the commercial market.

Yellow sapote fruit with a creamy texture

Next Trish held up what looks like a plus size unripened tomato. In fact even the farmers have a hard time knowing when this fruit is ripe. They watch the birds to know when to pick it. The black sapote is ripe 4-5 days later. From then you must be quick to eat it, or falls apart.

Youd never guess whats inside the black sapote fruit

Black sapote is also known as pudding fruit, because its flavor is just like pudding, Jell-o pudding to be more exact. Its related to persimmon, and shares a similar taste. The flavor is sugary, and undistinguished. But its minimal flavor and decadent texture makes it a great palette for other flavors. Go ahead and add cocoa powder or orange juice, maybe some cinnamon or spice. Black sapote could be the healthier vegan alternative to custards and richer desserts. If it werent so hard to package I can imagine this fruit also having a greater life in the international market.

Black sapote the pudding fruit

Davidson plum is local to the Daintree rain forest area. Its another surprise, but this time not so sweet. The tiny plum is mouth wrenching sour. Remember warheads? Its that sour, but I believe with more of a physical effect. Your face can not stop its self from puckering and twitching. The color is as large as the flavor, fluorescent magenta. How does nature event this stuff?

Mini Davidson plum with a huge flavor

The davidson plum is popular in savory foods. It does well in sauce with gamy flavors. Kangaroo with davidson plum anyone? It can also be used to color foods with 10x the color of a beet. If I got my hands on some of these plums you can bet Id make some really radical sour pickles.

Davidson plum electric sour flavor

The star apple is neither an apple or a star, discuss. Well, there is a star revealed by cutting the fruit in thirds. The flavor is mellow and sugary, a bit like a fresh fig. The texture is velvety and airy. Emphasis on the mouth-feel rather than the flavor.

Cutting the star apple

The star apple should be eaten in wedges. The skin is not edible.

Star apple

The next fruit has many names to many people. Guanabana aka soursop aka custard apple or the peoples jakfruit. Its the best fruit Ive tried yet. The flesh is wet and avocado soft with some fibers. The flavor doesnt know when to stop. Complex flavors are sweet, acidic, and a bit perfumed. Describing the taste is like describing the flavor of a banana. Nothing compares.

Saving the best for last, guanabana

Guanabana is ripe when the scaly skin is pale green. The stay away from the toxic seeds. The fruit is often paired with champagne. This fruit has an international reputation already, and I cant remember seeing it in America. I am dead set on finding it at home.

Guanabana aka soursop aka custard apple

With or without the exotic fruit farm the Cape Tribulation in Northern Queensland is a spectaluar place to visit. Combind with this special farm dedicated to collecting, and educating people on the delights of fruit I think its a number one destination for anyone interested in food. Really interested? Try a work stay or a few nights in their B&B. You only stand to risk to spoil your senses.

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Ditmas Park CSA Week 15

As you can tell by the light in this photo the days are getting shorter. It was 80 degrees, windy, and humid today. A combo I hate, but we can call that fall in NYC for now. The vegetables this week were still abundant, and delightful. The yellow wax beans were the most juicy and tender Ive seen all year. Cant wait to crack into that squash.

I should note that I traded cauliflower for extra zucchini with a fellow CSA member. The swap box was empty, which leads me to wonder if the volunteers werent aware they should put food in it so that members have something to swap. I forgot to pick up the eggplant. If my head werent connected to my body Id probably forget that too.

CSA Week 15 Veg List
5 tomatoes
13 small and medium potatoes
1 head broccoli
1 big ole squash
1/2 lb yellow wax beans
4 zucchini (traded 1 head of cauliflower to get 2 extras from another memeber)
1 pepper
1 onion
1 eggplant, not pictured

1/2 chicken
1 dozen eggs

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Take my Gourd Please Happy Halloween

Time to eat some squash before they multiple and completely fill up my kitchen like alien beings.

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Ditmas Park CSA Weeks 1 2

Week 2 veg heaven

I had a mighty 1st week of the 2010 Ditmas Park CSA season. I am splitting a whole share with my roommate and first-timer Nicole. A great haul of beets, 2 kinds of onions, green beans, 3 kinds of herbs, 2 kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, purple kale, eggs, and 1/2 a chicken. It was beautiful. I took many pictures, and they corrupted before I could get them off my camera. Week 1 will have to be a memory. Pictures and description of the chicken made it out alive and are coming.

Week 2 was Nicoles week to pick up. I didnt get to it until late Wednesday, so these photos are of 3 day old veggies. Hmmm, something is off in my fridge and storage. Need to work on the humidity level, almost everything is wilted. The cabbage is 1o inches in diameter. Its as big as a globe and could possibly sustain its own satellites if it were launched into orbit.

5 little beets
2 yellow onions
1 large head of green cabbage (maybe 3-4 lbs)
1 head red lettuce
1 head green lettuce
3 bunches of herbs: mint, thyme, and basil
3 cucumbers
3 zucchini
1/2 lb green and yellow string beans
4 tomatoes
1 small head cauliflower
18 eggs (maybe because they are small, usually just a dozen)

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Cooking Healthy Soil at Prospect Farm

Working with our hands at the Prospect farm

I was fully ready to post a pie recipe Ive been hanging on to in my photo bank today. I cant find that pie, and instead I will treat you to me delightfully disgusting, filthy Sunday of sifting soil, and trench composting at my volunteer run urban farm in Brooklyn! Prospect Farm is 5,000 square feet of my neighbor Toms land. I have been volunteering with several neighbors to clear and cultivate the land. Or goal is to grow food for our community.

We have one big obstruction, soil! Our soil, like most Brooklyn soil is full of heavy metals. Lead is the biggest problem. Rather than build over the poor soil and pay to truck in soil from some healthy far away place we are trying to remediate our soil with compost. The idea is to bury a layer of compost that breaks down in the soil and lowering the percentage of bad soil with our new good composted soil. We dont know if this works yet, as Oren our master composter says, its all a big science experiment.

The Prospect Farm volunteers have been getting together about once a month to clear and compost in different areas. Today was round 5. We either have big muscles from months of digging, or have become a tight working group. 5 volunteers finished the job incredibly quickly in less than 4 hours. Heres a demo of how we get the job done or if you prefer a recipe for healthy soil:

Step 1
Dig the dirt (which is full of rocks, broken glass and garbage) out of designated area to create a 15-18 inch deep trench. The dirt is shoveled into buckets so it can easily be carried over to the sifters.

Step 2
Buckets of dirt are sifted over screens stapled to wood frames balanced on a wheel barrel. The dirt is pushed through the screen to separate the rocks, broken glass, and garbage from the dirt. The rocks are put into a huge rock pile in the middle of our farm, the dirt is dumped into a mound to be cover the compost trench at the end. We have found all kinds of weird garbage in the dirt. Lots of plastic army men, a jesus statue, and a Twix wrapper from 1992.

The diggers and sifters rely on each other to keep a regular pace. The sifters need the diggers to keep the buckets full, and the diggers rely on the sifters to work fast enough to empty the buckets. Often the diggers are faster then the sifters. We only have one wheel barrel and there are more steps involved in sifting the soil.

Step 3
When the trench is 15-18 inches deep it is layered with compost. The first layer consists of food scraps that neighbors bring to the farm and are collected over a month. The food has begun rotting in bins over the month, and smells putrid. The smell is worse than any normal NYC garbage, and in the worst summer heat has the power to make me gag. Regardless the food scraps will break down to create black rich soil.

Next a carbon layer is added to balance all of the food scraps. We are using shredded copies of the New York Times because the New York Times is printed with eco-friendly soy inks. We have used wood chips in the past.

Followed by a layer of horse manure courtesy of our neighbors at the Kensington Horse Stable.

Step 4
The sifted dirt is piled back on top of the layered compost or as it is sometimes called compost lasagna.
Step 5
The process is done. We tamp the dirt down with our feet. Its squishy but dry, and feels nice to do a jig on. The composted area is covered with plastic to prevent weeds from growing. In 6 weeks the soil will be ok to grow in, and in 6 months to a year fresh new layer of soil will be ready below the old.

So why are we doing all of this labor and mucking with wet rotting food in the middle of summer? The main reason is try to repair all the crap we have done to our soil in NYC. Its our way of saying, "Im sorry NYC has neglected and dumped on you soil, now please grow some badass tomatoes." The other reason is its FREE FREE FREE! Thats right, all of our materials are recycled trash, which technically saves the city hundreds of pounds of crap they dont have to pick up and haul off our pathetic island of humanity. Neighbors donate their food scraps at designated compost collection times on the farm. The shredded newspaper is reused from the final living New York Times delivery customers. The horse manure comes only at the cost of a smelly car trunk. All of our tools belong to the volunteers, and our hands do all the work. Its a pretty neat way to fix our soil. Believe that we will coax some excellent vegetables out of that soil!

Keep up with more happenings or volunteer on the Prospect Farms Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ProspectFarmBK

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