Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha’ penny,
Two ha’ penny,
Hot cross buns!
I just finished reading Food, Inc.: How Industrial Food is Making us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer — And What You Can Do About it, edited by Karl Weber and compiled as a companion piece to the movie, which I also just watched. I actually watched the movie (by Robert Kenner) first, not realizing that was the correct order of things.
I’ve read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation
In any case, if you eat, you might be interested in this book and film. The film was done first. The book contains information from people who weren’t in the film. Schlosser says the film and the book are not just about food. They’re also about threats to the First Amendment and the corrupting influence of centralized power.
Contributors include (listed in order they appear in the book)
I think the information provided by this book and film is very important, though not half as fun as reading Barbara Kingsolver’s take on food issues in her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I’m reading now. In fact, her book was written before Food, Inc., and I wondered, hey, did they read Kingsolver? Because if they didn’t, they should. But sure enough. She was listed in the “to learn more” section at the end of the book.
Know what’s really good?
This.
Know what makes it taste even better?
This.
When I was putting together my mother-in-law’s recipe for fish soup, I discovered that the author of one of the most-used books in my kitchen had died. Three years ago this month. Sharon Tyler Herbst, who wrote the Food Lover’s Companion (among many other food books), died in January 2007 after fighting ovarian cancer.
Growing up, I never knew much about eating fish, except that fish usually came in breaded sticks from the freezer. When I married a Norwegian (who ate fish almost every day when he was growing up), I couldn’t help but learn more about eating fish. These days, whenever we visit Norway, we eat a lot more fish than we usually do. My absolute favorite fish dish is my mother-in-law’s fish soup. I tell my son that he liked his bestemor’s fish soup before he was even born. We were visiting Norway during the summer I was pregnant with him. When I ate Bestemor’s fish soup, he kicked like crazy. If you ever want to try the best fish soup ever, here it is.
Ingredients
2 pounds (about 4 cups) fish (I use cod and salmon)
1 teaspoon salt
bottle of wine
2 tablespoon butter
2 cups carrots, finely sliced
2 cups leeks, finely sliced
2 tablespoon flour
4 1/2 cups broth from fish
1 1/2 cups crème fraîche (see recipe below)
2 cup shrimp
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
Salt
Pepper
Put fish in water and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat just
until boiling and remove from heat.
With a slotted spoon, remove the fish from the
water and cut into small pieces. (Check for
bones.)
Open a bottle of wine and pour
yourself a glass. (Mine was
strawberry wine from Florida.)
Remove fish residue from water with a small
strainer or spoon.
Melt 2 tablespoon butter in bottom of a pot.
Add carrots and leeks and warm through.
Sprinkle flour over vegetables, then add fish
broth. Heat to boiling.
Stir in crème fraîche.
Place fish in soup with slotted spoon. Heat to
boiling, then add shrimp and dill. Salt and
pepper to taste.
Vær så god! ~ Bon appétit! ~ Dig in!
………………………………………………………………………………………
Crème fraîche
I made my own crème fraîche, thanks to Sharon Tyler Herbst’s Food Lover’s Companion. I changed the amounts to 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and 3 tablespoons buttermilk. Here’s what she said: “This matured, thickened cream has a slightly tangy, nutty flavor and velvety rich texture. The thickness of crème fraîche can range from that of commercial sour cream to almost as solid as room-temperature margarine. In France, where crème fraîche is a specialty, the cream is unpasteurized and therefore contains the bacteria necessary to thicken it naturally. In America, where all commercial cream is pasteurized, the fermenting agents necessary fo crème fraîche can be obtained by adding buttermilk or sour cream. A very expensive American facsimile of crème fraîche is sold in some gourmet markets. The expense seems frivolous, however, when it’s so easy to make an equally delicious version at home. To do so, combine 1 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass container. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70°F) from 8 to 24 hours, or until very thick. Stir well before covering and refrigerate up to 10 days.Crème fraîche is the ideal addition for sauces or soups because it can be boiled without curdling. It’s delicious spooned over fresh fruit or other desserts such as warm cobblers or puddings.”
………………………………………………………………………………………
Without pictures
Ingredients
2 pounds (about 4 cups) fish (I use cod and salmon)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon butter
2 cups carrots, finely sliced
2 cups leeks, finely sliced
2 tablespoon flour
4 1/2 cups broth from fish
1 1/2 cups crème fraîche
2 cup shrimp
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
Salt
Pepper
Put fish in water and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat just until boiling and remove from heat. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon from the water and cut into small pieces. (Check for bones.) Remove fish residue from water with a small strainer or spoon. Melt 2 tablespoon butter in bottom of a pot. Add carrots and leeks and warm through. Sprinkle flour over vegetables, then add fish broth. Heat to boiling. Stir in crème fraîche. Place fish in soup with slotted spoon. Heat to boiling, then add shrimp and dill. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.
Crème fraîche
Combine 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and 3 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass container. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70°F) from eight to 24 hours or until very thick. Stir well before covering, and refrigerate up to 10 days. (Source: Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst, 1995.)
I have the makings of a master chef. Here he is browning hamburger for tacos.
We tried a wonderful summer squash recipe by Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes with green peppers, onions and tomatoes from our garden. It was delicious! Elise recently gave me permission to use two of her recipes in an article (which hasn’t been published yet). She has the best recipes.
