Recipe Time

I have some requests for my Black Bean burger recipe so here we go. I will include my Whole Wheat Focaccia recipe as well so you have buns for your burgers as well.

The burgers are easy if you have a food processor. This is what you need.

1 can Black Beans (Costco now has S&W's organic black beans for cheap)
1/3 cup onion
1/3 cup carrot
2-3 Cloves Garlic
1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup bread crumbs
Spices ( Later we'll go through different ideas here)

I start by using the grating attachment on my food processor to grate the carrot and the onion. Then I switch to the blade and add the beans (rinsed and drained )and garlic. I process them until they are together and then add the oats and bread crumbs. You also add spices at this time. The trick is to decide what flavors you want.

Regular old burger flavors.

Salt and pepper to taste
Worcestershire sauce to taste. (start with a tsp)
Cumin to taste.

Spicy Burger

Add some hot or chili sauce to the regular burger or some chili powder.

Italian Style

Switch the Worcestershire sauce for balsamic vinegar and switch the cumin for some oregano and some basil to taste. Also add to the processor with the beans 1/4 cup of ready to eat sundried tomatoes (not the ones in oil).

This recipe makes 4 patties.

Focaccia Buns

4 -4 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 pkg yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp honey or agave nectar
2 cups water between 100 and 110 degrees
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Add yeast to warm water and honey or agave and allow it to bloom for 10 minutes. Add salt and 1 cup of flour to a large bowl. When the yeast has bloomed add it to the flour and salt and stir. Now add the olive oil and any herbs if you want herbed focaccia. stir in and then add 1 cup of flour at a time until the dough barely comes together. This dough should be too sticky to handle by hand. When that level is reached transfer the dough to a bowl that has been oiled with olive oil and then make sure that the entire surface is coated with oil. Cover with a towel and allow to raise about an hour until double in bulk.

It will still be hard to handle when risen. Add a dusting of organic blue corn meal to a large cookie sheet and make 8 equal balls of dough. Set the balls on the cookie sheet and press them into a 3/4 inch flat round. Allow to rise for 1/2 hour. Heat oven to 450 and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

For more variations add some sundried tomatoes to the dough or some Italian cheese. The possibilities are many. You need to play with your food.

Be very well and more soon....

Found A Nice Little Trail

Normally when we head down to Tidewater to visit Pam's dad and her Uncle Buster we end up driving 10 miles down to Waldport to get in a walk by the ocean. Saturday Pam decided we should give Athena a little off lead time and check for a road to let her go along the highway since there are a bunch of closed gates for forest access roads.

So off we go up the hill and 1/2 mile from the house we spotted a closed gate. It came up so fast that we drove by and had to turn around and come back to it.

It ended up having signage that said it was open to recreational users and closed to anything motorized which is a bonus. We likely would have headed up even if it had no sign anyway.

It turned out to be about 2 miles each way with about 1000 feet of elevation gain which is a nice little morning walk - not hard, but useful anyway.

We raved about it to Pam's dad and he decided to join us Sunday. Not too far in Athena spied a group of elk and set to chasing them uphill. She can make about 25 MPH but the elk were faster so she relented.

Along this trail there are 2 places where you can hear the wolves that someone raises in the area. I'm sure they were letting us know to keep our distance.

The trail must not have scared Pam's dad off as he elected to head up with us again today. Athena was conserving her energy for a potential chase, but it never presented itself.

Now we have a nice go to walk for the next time we are down this way.

Be very well and more soon....

Truth In Advertising

I think truth in advertising should include the names of menu items on fast food menus. There are a couple of things being advertised lately that can use some name adjustment to more accurately reflect what the consumer gets.

Let's start with the Whopper Jr. There isn't much junior here. Without cheese it has 370 calories which is 1/4 of what most people should get in a day, 21 grams of fat of which 6 is saturated which is 40% on both counts and 560 mgs of sodium which is more than 50% of what a healthy diet allows. So the truth in advertising name should be Plenty O Whopper If You Don't Have Fries And A Coke and Eat Really Clean All Day Otherwise.

McDonald's has been advertising Fish McBites. They are cute little balls of "fish" and breading. They pack 500 calories when you add the Tartar sauce - 31% of a day's worth, 35 grams of fat with 5 grams of saturated fat which is almost all of your daily fat and 35% of the saturated fat, and 790 mgs of sodium which is almost 80% of a day's worth. Let's call them Fat and Salty McBites.

KFC has revived the Chicken Pot Pie. If you eat one you may need reviving yourself. Thay pack 790 calories - 1/2 a day's worth, 45 grams of fat with 37 grams of saturated fat which is purely obscene along with nearly 2 days worth of sodium at 1970 mgs. Let's call this The Paramedic Special Pot Pie.

Finally, our friends at Jack in the Box have the Hot Mess. This name is close to true. It has 846 calories - more than 50%, 59 grams of fat with 20 grams saturated fat which are both over 100% of what you should eat daily, and 1201 mgs of sodium which is also more than 100% of a healthy diet. Lets call this the Hot Heat Attack Mess From Hell.

I wanted to do Wendy's Spicy Santa Fe Burger but I was unable to find the nutritional info.

Please don't eat this stuff or feed it to your kids - they are human too even if they seem like aliens most of the time and the stuff affects them the same way it does you.

Be very well and more soon....

Toe Headed Heaver - Oh And Time On The Mountain

You know you've had a perfect day on the mountain when a 3 or 4 year old boy uses both hands to chuck a snowball at your car as you are leaving Paradise parking lot. I know his dad missed it and I hope his mom did too. The best part was that Pam, Sherrie and I all saw the whole thing develop from inside the car.

We were up at Paradise to head up towards Camp Muir. It is never a guarantee that you will succeed when a mountain is involved and between a little bit of a late start and my 3rd time in a row mis-remembering the time necessary to arrive at the trailhead and actually hike the trail we ended up turning around 2/3rds of the way up with 1.5 miles and about 1700 feet of elevation gain to go.

There was some sporadic low clouds (fog?) that we walked through by the top of Panorama Point hill. Then you could see Mt Adams and Mt Hood that were - at times - floating on the clouds like islands.

 

 

Our turn around was 3 miles in and just under 2900 feet of elevation gain so we got a nice workout in even though we did not make Camp Muir. Our glissade down Panorama Point hill was really fast and very entertaining. Pam and I passed on our garbage bags we used to glissade to a couple of women who were heading up. They were exited.

John Muir said that any person who spends time in nature gets back much more than their effort and that is completely true. I always say that anytime on a mountain beats time doing almost anything else.

Be very well and more soon...

What You Need To Know About Olive Oil

When I use olive oil I use only Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Why you ask? There are differences in the quality and processing of olive oil that makes some good for you and others not so much.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made from the first cold press of the fruit. That means that the oil is not heated above 80 degrees which retains more of the nutrients from the fruit and also that there is no chemical extraction in the process.

The next level is cold pressed olive oil which may be called Virgin Olive Oil. It has likewise not been heated, but it is not from the first pressing which will produce the bigger flavor. You may like this if you are looking for a milder flavor.

What you don't want is any light olive oil which is processed using chemicals to extract as much oil as possible after the cold pressing is done. You are better off using Virgin coconut oil or organic canola oil if you are looking for a lighter flavor.

You will notice that I said organic canola oil as any other is most certainly made from genetically modified canola and I recommend you avoid it. Also corn oil is almost guaranteed to be GMO and the corn has shown in studies that the genetic modification remains stable even after processing and consumption which is bad since the modification is meant to destroy the gastro -  intestinal tract. Think Crohns, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Colitis, etc.

For the best quality olive oil most sources will suggest that the fruit be from Italy, Spain or Turkey or Organic olives from the US - primarily California. My favorite is Arrezio which I buy from a restaurant supply place. Your local Cash and Carry will also carry good quality olive oils. I also like cans as oils can be affected by light and become "light struck" like beer and wine.

Anything around $20 a gallon is a good price, but read where the olives are from.

Be very well and more soon....

Perfect Pizza Crust & Sauce

I know I have posted this recipe at least 3 times, but I get asked for it often. Magically, it is usually right after I make pizza for someone. Hmmm.

So here we go.

Pizza Dough

2 3/4 Cups Organic Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 Cup water between 100 and 110 degrees
1 Tbsp Honey or Agave Nectar
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Pkg Yeast

Add the yeast and honey or agave to the hot water and stir well. Allow the yeast to "proof" or "bloom" until it is foamy.

Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients (I use a food processor with a dough blade). Once the yeast is foamy add to the flour mixture and process until it comes together. Once it is a ball allow it to knead in the machine or knead it by hand for a minute or so. Add to an oiled bowl and let rise for an hour.

I like to use some organic blue corn meal to dust the board as I roll the dough out. I flip it several times as I roll it so a little of the corn meal gets on both sides. I also use a little corn meal on the pizza pan which keeps the dough from sticking.

I bake mine at 550 for 10 - 12 minutes. The more toppings, the lower the oven temperature and the longer the baking time is the rule. This makes a kind of thin 14" pizza or a very thin 16" one.

Pizza Sauce

Sundried Tomatoes make the best sauce, but NOT the ones in oil. You need the ones they call "ready to eat" which are not in any liquid at all.

I heat up water in a tea kettle and pour over the tomatoes in a glass measuring cup until just covered. This allows the tomatoes to soften up and become easier to work with. They are ready in 15-30 minutes, but won't be hurt if left longer.

In a food processor, blender or magic bullet type machine add the tomatoes and water and add 2 garlic cloves, a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 Tbsp Dried Oregano and process or blend. Add water or olive oil as necessary to get the consistency you like and TASTE the sauce. Do you want it more garlicky? Add some. Only you can get the sauce right for you.

The amount of sauce is also a personal taste thing. I like a thin coating on the crust, but others like a thick layer over the cheese. Do what you like.

The only problem with this recipe is that it will wreck you for delivery pizza. It won't satisfy anymore.

Be very well and more soon.....