Green Options

One of the toughest parts of the holidays is indulging in rich, high calorie desserts.  And you’ll be hard pressed to find a bakery with organic goodies on display.  But the most difficult, for me, is baking at home where the temptation to voraciously consume an entire bowl of gooey batter is too much to resist — but far too gluttonous a proposition to consider.

So, to satisfy my need for sinful sweets sans the fat and calories, I embarked on a journey to create a healthy yet decadent delight that is as easy to make as it is on the waistline.  It’s also no accident that it has a striking similarity in texture and taste to buttery cake batter.  You’re welcome.

I also managed to resuscitate the vastly under used flavor of butterscotch in the process, which interestingly, contains neither butter nor scotch. Does anyone else find that puzzling?

You can ponder quandries like that while shoveling heaping spoonfuls of butterscotch goodness into your mouth but given the endorphin overload that will likely result from this delectable dietary dessert, you may only be able to muster mono-syllabic “Mmmm”s.

Are you someone who simply must have real Champagne on New Year’s Eve? Champagne is the name of a district of France which has ideal soil and climate conditions for the production of this very famous sparkling wine. Here are some wines made according to organic methods of the National Union of Independent Agrobiologists, (a French organic certifier) ~

• Serge Faust Champagne (Organic)
• NV (Non Vintage) Pascal Doquet Premier Cru Rosé (Organic)
• NV Pierre Brigandat Brut Réserve (Biodynamic)
• NV Larmandier-Bernier Premier Cru Vertus (Biodynamic)
• ’97 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvée (Biodynamic)

These are all examples of recommendations Treehugger made years back for organic and biodynamic Champagne, and they are still in style today. If you are not as picky about your bubbly being real and organic/biodynamic and prefer to buy local/domestic for the holidays then we also have several great sparkling wines to share.

The holidays are starting to wind down, but there’s still that mad dash to New Year’s Eve, the lavishly fun and festive foray into the next chapter of your life.  If you’re a diehard foodie like me, your new year’s resolution probably consists of things like wanting to learn how to cook gourmet meals or master the art of entertaining — all while saving money and being as eco-conscious as possible in the process.  It wouldn’t hurt to look fabulous while doing it, either! 

Who are these women who arise looking airbrush perfect, whisk the kids off to school, work a full day and manage a perfectly prepared home cooked meal for dinner anyway?!

With the help of Behind the Burner, I have put together a cheat sheet for navigating the new year in style.

Before we delve into becoming a master chef and entertainer extraordinaire, let’s look like one.  Thanks to Shannon Reed, kitchen couture is as stylish as designer label clothing.  From jackets to aprons, she creates unique chef attire that is anything but uniform, and her selections will shroud you in the confidence you need to take on the task of cooking like a pro.

But what to make?  Recipes in gourmet food magazines are either overly simplified and lacking in the artistry of the craft or too complex, resulting in a dilapidated dish that looks nowhere near as perfect as the glossy photo that accompanies it.  

Twas the night before Christmas,
when what was to be seen,
Not a fossil fuel stirring, as Santa went green.
He’s already horse-powered, no petrol on his list,
But this year he’s adding a new sustainability twist,
In our crazy-busy world, we needed someone to share,
A way to live with joy and appreciation, a reason to care.
Too many messages today of fear, emptiness and dread,
Santa wanted transformation to dance in our head.
So as young and old nestled all snug for the night,
Santa’s sleigh took off in a different light.
Sure he packed toys for good kids but there was more,
Something that comes from a garden, not just store.
Santa dug in his root cellar and brought out his . . .
Yukon Gold . . .

Okay. This recipe may not be the healthiest most sustainable, seasonal, vegan dessert or even what most people would consider traditional holiday fare. However, it has become a regular christmas staple in our household and like most traditions, it has a story attached to it.

Nothing dramatic really, but about 15 years ago, I was experiencing one of those ‘blue’ christmases that Elvis sang about - all lonely and weepy and not much fun. My friends took turns trying to keep me from total despair and I found myself slumped on a stool in my dear friend Roberta’s kitchen a couple of days before christmas. I was a bit like a dry sack of flour so she put me to work as she was busily preparing her family’s favorite holiday dessert, strawberry squares.

Keep reading to get this delicious recipe . . .

We would like to thank all of the delicious recipes that we received for our Fair Trade Recipe Contest in honor of Fair Trade Month in October. Although we may be a little late announcing the winner, it is well worth the wait since all of you have the chance to view the fabulous entries. We have also had the chance to try the recipes and let me tell you, they were yummy! The winner will receive a gift certificate from Buy Well Coffee.

Our winner for the Fair Trade Recipe Contest is (drum roll please):

Candy McMenamin from Lexington, SC

Not only were both her recipes absolutely wonderful, but in addition to using fair trade and organic ingredients, she went above and beyond by submitting 2 entries both using our sponsoring product of Buy Well Coffee products. Nice touch Candy!

Thank You again to all the submissions for the contest. Please enjoy the recipes listed below to help make your holiday meal a little more special.

Do you usually bring wine when you are invited to a dinner party? Are you going to toast a little bubbly on New Year’s Eve? Perhhaps you are skilled at the art of making homemade wine?

While you are searching for the perfect bottle to share, here are some ideas to consider for the gift wrap:

1. Wrap a bottle of wine and champagne into something fun and festive by wrapping them in funnies (which will also work well for eco box wine) or any scrap paper for that matter.

2. Make a wine bottle sleeve. This is for that sweater that you can’t donate because of the holes in it or the fact it shrunk in the wash. Simply snip off a sleeve and tie with a ribbon. If it is cold outside, this will keep the reds at a good temperature as you travel to the party.

3. Fabric gift bags make extra special gifts themselves. These adorable presents are “easy to make and encourage the recipient to reuse the wrapping, instead of tossing it in the trash.”

When I was growing up, the silky sounds of Nat King Cole crooning, ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire…’ was the hallmark of the holidays for me.  Every time I would hear it, I’d get that rush of childlike exuberance that encapsulates the magic of the season, and makes you feel like anything is possible.  

Yet, despite the fact that inordinate amounts of food were also synonymous with the holidays in my family (6 courses and 3 hours worth of dishes to be exact, by hand), we never had one dish with a chestnut in it.  Not a one.  For shame.

So, as I got older, and began to nurture my inner chef, I decided to remedy that travesty by starting a new tradition of savory chestnut soup to begin the descent into our annual colossal feast, much to my Grandmother’s chagrin who quite religiously served Italian Escarole soup.  (And by religiously, I mean had served Escarole for 30+ years prior to my first course usurping; or usouping, as it were. OK, bad joke.)

But my soup was a big hit, and each year I’d add or change the ingredients, perfecting my chestnut prowess with new and interesting pairings.  Needless to say, some years were better than others.  The addition of raisins, for example.  Disaster.  Cranberries, however.  Surprisingly delicious.  And those tart little buggers are still the perfect complement to the soup.  The cranberries, that is — not my family!

And now for the first time ever outside the hallowed halls of the Snowfield residence, I am sharing my coveted recipe for you to share, which now includes honey glazed grilled salmon, making it a hearty first — or even second — course for your own foray into holiday gorging and merriment.

Continuing our series from Bon Appetit Management chefs, is a visit to the West Coast for seasonal salads, brightly colored with pomegranate and persimmon over lush green arugula. No wonder the rest of the country gets a bit green with envy over the steady diet of local salad all year.

My personal answer is a CSA farmer with a few greenhouses, a trend I hope catches on. Until then, we can all have visions of persimmons dancing in our heads with this menu from Chef Melissa Miller, Café Bon Appetit at SAP Corporation in Menlo Park, CA.

Over on the opposite coast, fish is local and the dishes from Chef Michael Aquaro at Duke University in Durham, NC, include Oyster Stew, Cumin Crusted Petit Poussin, and Southern “Pecan Pie” Braised Greens. Recipes for the Oyster Stew and Dried Cranberry Oatmeal cookies are included in this post.

Recipes follow the jump.

Giving Mother Earth a Gift This Holiday Season by Cooking Green.

Can a winter’s holiday feast be local and sustainable? It doesn’t seem such an easy task, even for a locavore like myself as I contemplate turnips, a few remaining pumpkins and sweet potatoes. Even so, with some resourcefulness and help from regional chefs of the Bon Appetit Management Company, we can all have a Low-Carbon Christmas — even in the frozen tundra of the upper Midwest.

Bon Apetit, a company that offers corporations, universities and colleges onsite catering and food service with a commitment to sustainable, local cuisine, had four of its chefs from various regions of the country put together low-carbon, high-flavor menus for the season.

The regions include Upper Midwest (follows), Northeast, West Coast and Southeast. Each of the menus will be featured in an Eat Drink Better post beginning with the upper Midwest menu, below.

General tips for parties and seasonal gathering that keep things low carbon include not using bottled water or disposable dinnerware. Don’t use bottled water and compost food waste as much as possible. Use less beef and dairy products.

Menu after the jump.

Once a year, Food Bloggers from all over the world band together for a fundraising campaign called ‘Menu for Hope’.  Last year, they raised over $90K for the UN World Food Programme, the United Nations international food aid organization.This year the charity raffle goes until the 24th of December. They explain:

“Menu for Hope again raises funds for the WFP’s school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa.  This is the second year we are supporting this program, which assist the WFP’s efforts to supply the program by buying directly from local farmers who practice conservation farming methods.  With this program, we help feed the kids (which keep them in school) and support their parents and community farming. This sustainable approach to aid is something we believe in and strongly support.”

Together they’ve whipped up a delectable list of amazing food related prizes for this raffle:  Click here to view the list of all the prizes. Every US$10 donation will buy you one virtual raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice.