Newark Natural Foods

It’s always nice to bring a little gift when you are invited to someone’s house.  A local market had a large selection of homemade mixes sold in colorful fabric bags and I was inspired. It would be really simple to make a small drawstring bag from fabric scraps and use it to hold a bag of homemade mix.  Just mix a recipe with dry ingredients only and place in a plastic bag.  Put the plastic bag into the cloth bag and enclose a small card with directions.

It’s best not to make the recipient put too many additional ingredients. There are many ways to substitute dry ingredients for fresh (dried fruit, dehydrated vegetables and herbs, vanilla bean seeds instead of extract).

Some ideas for gifts …

Pancake/ waffle mix with small container of real maple syrup.

Cornbread mix and jar of interesting salsa.

Cookie mix with a shiny cookie cutter tied to the drawstring.

Muffin Mix and a box of unbleached paper baking cups.

You could make an herbal tea mix and tie on a stainless steel infuser.

If you don’t have time or inclination to sew… bring a homemade treat in a pretty dish.  Purchase pottery from local artists ( check out the farmer’s market, Romanick’s on Main Street and the Newark Arts Alliance- right around the corner from the co-op) or peruse the thrift store for some fancy dishes or trays.

After all, in the world of food…presentation is everything!

I just started making Kombucha and should have two extra scobies a month to share.
Email me at
sashablythe@gmail.com
Please let me know if you are local or not.

I still have water kefir grains to share too.
(i am not comfortable mailing them in hot weather, though, as they seem to offgas a lot, and blow up the bags I mail them in.)

I have started keeping a tote bag in my car with several sizes of containers. When I go to a restaurant, I take my tote with me and then I can take my leftovers home in my reusable containers. If you use stackable containers, the tote won’t take up much room in the trunk.

It also helps to have someone in the family who is willing to go out to the car and get the containers when you forget to bring them in!

I’ll be the first to admit that tempeh is not very appealing as far as looks go. In fact, it sometimes just looks like it is old and moldy! It does also have a slight bitterness to it that can be cooked out or disguised with flavoring.

Tempeh can be fried, baked, marinated or grilled. It makes a great protein base in recipes like Tempeh Parmesan or Tempeh Reuben sandwiches. You can crumble it, saute it in oil, add seasonings and use as a base for patties, toss into chili or hash, even make it into a paté.

Here is a recipe for a quick and easy tempeh dish:

Savory Tempeh Strips

1 pkg. tempeh, sliced lengthwise into 10 strips

olive oil

1½ tbsp. Bragg’s

1tbsp. catsup

2 tsp. agave nectar

1 clove garlic, finely minced ( optional)

Sauté the tempeh in olive oil over medium flame until golden on both sides. You can cut the strips in half if that makes it easier to fit in your pan. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining ingredients. Turn down flame and pour sauce over tempeh. Let the strips cooks lightly on each side to dry them out.

Serve as is or use to make a sandwich (like a BLT)

Currant Scones

With tea or with coffee, these scones are perfect!

Combine:

    2 cups w.w. pastry flour

    2 tsp. Baking powder

    1/2 tsp. baking soda

    1/2 tsp. groung nutmeg

    1/2 tsp. salt

Cube:

    4 oz. cold butter (or margarine)

Work butter into flour mixture with hands until small pea sized pieces have formed.

Stir in:

    1 cup currants

Whisk together:

    1 egg yolk

    3/4 cup milk (or soymilk)

    1/4 cup maple syrup

Mix dry and wet ingredients lightly. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 10 -12 times. Cut in half and form two 6″ circles. Slice each into 6 wedges. Tranfer with a wide spatula to an ungreased baking tray. Bake at 375 for 18-22 minutes until lightly browned. Break into wedges to serve.

6 cups scrubbed red or yellow potatoes (you may peel if you wish)

Flour (a few tablespoons on a small plate)

6 tbsp. butter or margarine

2 tbsp. chopped chives (optional)

2 ½ cups milk or soymilk

2 ½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Slice potatoes thinly and dredge them in the flour.  Layer them in a 9×13” pan.  After each layer, dot with margarine or butter and sprinkle with chives. You should have three layers. Warm the soy or dairy milk and whisk in the mustard and salt. Pour over potatoes. Cover with foil and bake in 350° oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 45 minutes more until potatoes are tender and top is browned.

Making maple sugar is pretty simple. You just need to cook the water out of the syrup. To make one cup of maple sugar, start with a cup of syrup. Pour into a pot and simmer over low heat for about 25-30 minutes. Stir, stir, stir. (And did I mention you should stir?) You especially need to stir near the end. The syrup will become foamy. When it seems as though the syrup is all foam, pour into a ceramic bowl. If it collapses, you are not done cooking and back into the pan it goes.

When the foam has cooled, break it up and grind it in a food processor, with a mortar and pestle or in batches in a blender. Store sugar in a glass jar. Use as a substitute for regular sugar, one for one.

This may not be the best time of year for finding good slicing tomatoes, but there are some tasty ways to make use of tomatoes when they are out of season. My favorite way is to make Oven Roasted Tomatoes.  Roasting produces a semi-dry tomato with a concentrated flavor and a chewy texture. It fares nicely in pasta and grain dishes. Pureed, they make a lovely base for roasted tomato soup.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes
4 ripe Roma tomatoes

Sea salt

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 250°.  Cut tomatoes into 1” slices.  Arrange cut side down in a parchment-lined jelly roll pan in a single layer. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake 2-3 hours until soft and wrinkled. Cool and use or refrigerate.

Another way to add tomato flavor is to use sun-dried tomatoes. These can be bought packed in oil or a dried form that can easily be reconstituted . You can also make your own in a food dehydrator or in your oven.

Making Sun-dried Tomatoes
Cut Roma tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. Remove the little white hard part near where the stem was attached. Place in dehydrator and dry according to manufacturer’s instructions. Or… place on rack in baking pans and leave in a very low oven (150°) until no longer sticky… 15-20 hrs. or so. Cool. Store in glass jars or plastic bags.

Reconstituting Sun-dried tomatoes
Pour boiling water over the dried tomatoes in a small bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate and let the tomatoes soak until softened. Drain. Mix tomatoes with minced garlic, if desired. Stuff tomatoes into a jar and cover with olive oil. Store in refrigerator.

Alas…in my never ending quest for ways to use up old bananas, I offer: