Health: Super Foods

Here is a link to super foods whose components help fend off cancer.  I think these items are tasty and consider them to be a mainstay of my diet anyway.
http://www.wholeliving.com/183667/50-ways-stand-cancer

- sesame seeds
- fruit and berries including citrus and dried fruits
- black and brown rice
- shitake mushrooms
- wild caught fish
- cruciferous and dark leafy green veggies
- ginger
- fiber includes fruits, whole grains, beans, & veggies with lentils containing very high amount
- tumeric
- allium such as garlic & onions
- wine

Small Batch: Ice Pops Paleta

here is a more recent video of their fundraising activities from kickstarter to refinance losses from Hurricane Sandy

Fact vs Fiction: Organic Benefits

The organic produce market in the United States has grown quickly, up 12 percent last year, to $12.4 billion, compared with 2010, according to the Organic Trade Association. Organic meat has a smaller share of the American market, at $538 million last year, the trade group said.
 - statistics from an article on the NY Times website/Sept 3, 2012

Reports on "The Stamford Univ study" that I have read have done nothing to document the seeds used (heirloom, hybrid, GMO) nor the farm size (small, medium, mega) - both factors - in my opinion - that contribute greatly to the quality of the end results for fruits and vegetables.

Learn more about heirloom seeds here:
http://rareseeds.com/magazine

ORGANIC GROWERS:
http://www.cporganics.com/

The Stamford Study:
http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2012/september/organic.html

Italian Farmhouse Recipes: pasta frolla and pizza dough

Pasta Frolla

1.5 cup plus 1 tbl AP flour

7 tbl unsalted butter room temp

2 large egg yolks

.5 cups sugar

pinch fine sea salt

zest of 1 lemon, minced

ideal temp 65-68 degrees F

Pizza Dough

1. 1/3 cups luke warm water

2 teaspoons dry yeast

.5 cup olive oil

4*4.5 AP flour

1 tsp fine sea salt

TOMATO HARVEST ON THE HUDSON

Locally Grown: Farmhouse Pizza

The reason I am posting about homemade ricotta has mainly to do with our goats and uses of their goats milk.  Early on in my farming life, I read about Coach Farms also in NYS, and how successful they have been with goat's cheese - chevre - the fresh kind.  Twenty years later, we have goats, and our herd is growing.  Now I have to decide what is the best use of the goat's milk!  Since our farm is specializing in all things Neopolitan pizza - I thought it may be good to see how homemade ricotta comes out with some goats milk and some heavy cream from cows milk.  We have a really great dairy - Evans Farmhouse - that makes a decadent heavy cream - so yellow/cream colored and rich.

Nearby to the farm, we already have 2 cheesemakers - one that makes raw milk aged cheeses of different varieties.  And another that makes the chevre.  So I thought instead of duplicating their work - (I use their cheese on our pies too) - and I'll try a different cheese and see how it comes.   I know a dairy nearby that produces curds and I'll work with them on fresh mozzarella.

Ultimately, the pizzas will be entirely fresh picked and locally grown and baked all right here in the Unadilla Valley and expanding to other areas of the Northeast.  I've had the idea to freeze prepared veggies and meals since 2005 and things are only finally coming to fruition.  We already grow the tomatoes, basil, garlic and the cheeses, mushrooms, other herbs can be purchased from others.   To be continued...

Homemade Ricotta: Lemon Juice

Makes about 1 generous cup of ricotta

3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream (see Note above about using less)
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pour the milk, cream and salt into a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan. Attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Heat the milk to 190°F, stirring it occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom. Turn off the heat [Updated] Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.

Line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. At an hour, you’ll have a tender, spreadable ricotta. At two hours, it will be spreadable but a bit firmer, almost like cream cheese. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.) Discard the whey, or, if you’re one of those crafty people who use it for other things, of course, save it. Eat the ricotta right away or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

from Smitten Kitchen