Food Basics

Model Changeover

Look for things to be relatively quiet here over the next week as we retool and perform "model changeover."

We've got a new computer coming, which has already begun arriving in bits and pieces. This time it'll require a full reconfiguration of office space, as we're keeping the old one in order to give husband Paul his shot at the Internet.

Other things are happening, too. There will be big news in several areas once we get everything organized!

Watch this space!

TWS

Yuma's Winter Harvest

Most of the year it’s so quiet at our place you can hear the flap of a bird’s wing, or a car going down the “big” road, half a mile away. In summer, there are times when I might be the only person in a couple of square miles, after our neighbors, few as they are, go to work.

Winter is a different story altogether. Harvest time.

They come one at a time, in their own cars, and in bunches on busses. The pickers come blessedly late; according to the weather. If it’s too cold, you can’t harvest lettuce, so they have to wait until any hint of frost goes away. In the fields in Yuma, there’s not much before-sunup work at this time of year.

The guys who run the massive equipment that helps in harvesting may have been working long into the night before, parking all kinds of trailers and tractors at the exact right spot for use in the morning. That’s noisy stuff; our dogs aren’t used to this kind of activity. They do a lot of barking at trucks and tractors and backup warning beepers. We’re glad to catch a few hours’ shuteye before the crews arrive.

This year has been amazing, the way things have worked out. All last week we had hundreds of pickers harvesting lettuce in the square mile around our house, all at the same time. I stood in the road one day, and tried to count the cars and busses, but eventually gave up and said, “Yep, there’s a lot of people out there!” ;>)

It is noisy all day. You’ve got the trucks and tractors and big packaging equipment running. Every now and then you’ll hear a brief few notes from somebody’s radio playing Tejano or Salsa or some other kind of music with a Hispanic flair. (The hip-hop, or heavy metal people seem to have different jobs.) You can hear the radios in the white pickup trucks that belong to management at full blast, shouting orders in Spanish. Now a lot of these guys have cell phones, but they still yell.

This week we had pickers in the broccoli field right across the street. (I know, the politically correct term is probably “agricultural workers”, but what we say is pickers. Those who come earlier in the season for weeding purposes we call hoe-ers. ;>)

Hey, it is what they do. No dissing intended. It’s hard, awful, work out there in the mud and sun all day. I know I couldn’t last half a day in those jobs. Anyway, I digress.

I’m trying to think of a way to describe those extraordinary packing machines. Yes, they are huge. Imagine a single, albeit very large, tractor with a long metal framework extending out both sides for probably fifty feet. The machines don’t do the packing; the people do. All the machines do is hold the cellophane, the rubber bands, the boxes, as they work their way down multiple rows at the same time, with each person working one row. I say persons because the pickers are about equally divided between men and women, as far as I can tell. But for the short time they’re out there harvesting, this tranquil spot in the desert sounds for all the world like living down the road from GM’s Ypsilanti Stamping Plant. Or Zug Island. (If memory serves.)

Whether it’s individual bunches, heads for retail sale, or loose in boxes for the food service trade or salad plant, it’s now all mechanized. When I first moved here in 1986 we saw a phenomenon we called “the dancing lettuce.” Then you could see a long trailer with big open boxes, about four feet by four feet sitting on top. As the tractor pulling the trailer moved exceedingly slow down the rows, you could see lettuce appearing to jump up and down in the boxes. That’s because there were people on the other side picking the lettuce and tossing it up and over into the boxes. It was a cool sight, and I’m sorry to see it go. But it’s probably easier for everybody to do it differently now.

We have small fields, often divided into 20 or 40-acre parcels. It’s not like the Midwest, where you can see wheat or corn stretch off for miles. That’s because there is no rain in Yuma, or at least not enough to grow a crop. There is no free water coming out of the sky, so it has to come from somewhere else. The small parcels each have a little canal (otherwise called a ditch) that eventually feeds from the Yuma Main Canal. Farmers have to pay the irrigation district for the water, just as you pay your home water bill to your city or county.

There is an ancient joke that an Arizona farmer may well forget his wife’s birthday, or his anniversary, but he damn well remembers his day on the ditch.

The Big Daddy of All Canals, the All-American, is on the other side of the I-8 freeway, and feeds the Imperial Valley in California. But one way or another it all comes from the Colorado River.

After the produce is harvested, it goes away to a variety of shipping locations (gigantic refrigerated buildings called “coolers,” ) or the Dole Salad Plant we have here. They package those ready-made salads at your local grocery store.

The odd thing is, that due to the way things are shipped and handled, the chances of my getting broccoli from the field right here at my local Albertson’s is slim and none.

*More tomorrow on traveling veg, the where and how. And if my local ag guy, Kurt Nolte from AWC is watching, sorry I jumped the gun. But hey, after all, this is a blog, and I can easily change any goof-ups. Please feel free to leave a comment!

Broccoli

If you happen to see Andy Boy Broccoli in your local grocery store sometime in the next week or two, chances are it came from right here! They're harvesting the field across the street today. Yesterday they got about six semi-trailer loads out of the field, and they're set up to come back again today. This is just a small area -- about 20 acres, so you can imagine how much of the green stuff comes out of the whole county over a season!

Yuma County is roughly the same size as Northern Ireland. It's 133 miles north to south, and about 90 miles east to west. It's not all agricultural -- I'd guess only about a third or less is used for produce. The rest is open desert. The reason I bring this up is that it appears that the harvest season in full swing is becoming a point of interest for tourists coming through. We're starting to get busloads of snowbirds from elsewhere visting Yuma just to see where they grow the lettuce.

This is a good thing -- most people have no idea where their food comes from. ;>) Hey, I was surprised, too, when I found out the different kinds of things that are grown all winter!

eGullet

We've had a warm welcome in the forum and many nice e-mails from the folks at eGullet. If you want to know more about anything food-- from the latest news to regional cuisine to techniques -- you can't go wrong with a visit over there!

Garnish with Kale

You don't often think of the Desert Southwest as being an agricultural center, but here in Yuma AZ, right on the Mexico and California borders, we grow massive quantities of things like lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and citrus fruits. Right now the season for these things is winding down, but we're stocking our freezer for the months ahead.

There's really nothing like the taste of fresh produce right out of the field! You really can't freeze lettuce, but we get our fill of that while it's available. We also grow kale and flowering kale here -- that pretty dark green, purple or white garnish you see often in restaurants.

One of the reasons they use kale as a garnish is that it has staying power. It can sit on a buffet at room temperature for hours without wilting, and it's easily arranged on a platter to make anything look fancy. It's usually widely available most of the year, and the price is not a big concern, because you don't need much to dress up a dish.

Mayonnaise/Miracle Whip

James Bond eats his lobster "with a good mayonnaise." (The book version of James Bond, that is.) If you've got a blender or a wire whisk w/strong arm, it's not hard to make your own. A good, homemade mayonnaise is truly worthy to dress lobster, or any other prime seafood or meat.

I'll give a recipe later on, but meanwhile let's talk about the eternal clash between mayonnaise and Miracle Whip.

Many people mistakenly believe they are the same thing. They are not. Bargain brands of either are also quite different than the original. The closest to homemade mayonnaise is Best Foods/Hellman's, and the next best is Kraft. Other brands differ widely in taste and texture. The cheaper you go, the farther you get from the taste of actual mayonnaise, which should be fluffy, eggy, and without noticeable vinegar. That's because you really do need to break some eggs to make real mayo, and the lesser varities tend to have less egg, and cheaper oils.

Miracle Whip is a unique product. It does seem to start out much like mayonnaise, but has additional sugar and vinegar, which defines it as a salad dressing. (mayo has no sugar, or a tiny amount) I've tried and failed to duplicate it my own kitchen.

I have learned to make a lot of name-brand things at home for less money. Stay tuned!

Sometimes you don't have the room or the budget for two big jars of stuff, since the quart jar of either is the best value for a small family. One thing you can do, if you happen to prefer Kraft mayonnaise over Hellman's, is to add half a cup of sugar to a cup of Kraft mayo, and let it sit on your counter long enough to come to room temperature. This is close to Miracle Whip, the closest you can get without buying the original.

A friend of mine used to use equal parts of mayo and Miracle Whip in her potato salad and/or coleslaw, to "slow down" the vinegar. This is another thing that only works with Kraft products. Oddly enough, if you try this with Hellman's, the two dressings cancel each other out and you end up with a tasteless blob.

The purposes of Miracle Whip are limited to "common" things like bologna salad, potato salad, tuna. Please don't try to dress a lobster or prime rib with it! It is excellent for its own pupose.

I quite literally had never had mayonnnaise until I married and moved away from home. My mother preferred Miracle Whip over mayonnaise, and so that's what we had. As a newly-married couple, Paul and I enjoyed entertaining and one time we invited my co-worker Bob and his wife over to have a "horses doovers cook-off." Wendy brought a simple mayo-based item, and I was in love with mayo forever. All it was, that tiny rye bread you can get at the grocery store, spread with mayo, topped with a slice of onion and sprinkled with parmesan cheese out of the can. She put it under the broiler for a minute or two. After I tasted it, I actually said, "Wow! This is mayonnaise?"

So here's the recipe for basic mayonnaise:

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Cold eggs won't do the deal.
1 egg + 1 yolk (give the white to the dog ;>)
1 cup corn oil or olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered mustard
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

Put everything but the oil in the blender. Whizz it all up for a minute. Then add the oil in a continuous stream until you can see the blender's not mixing anymore.

It's the same thing for "The Armstrong Method." Just plan on a good twenty minutes to accomplish it.

Bologna

This humble lunch meat is often ignored or derided. To me, it's a comfort food, reminding me of Mom and home. I get the good stuff -- either beef or garlic. The bargain brand containing chicken or turkey has an odd texture, a result of the processing which gives you more than just the meat, if you get my drift ;>)

I was stunned yesterday to find that the lady at the deli counter where I shop had never heard of bologna salad before! When I lived in Detroit, it was a staple at deli counters in most all the grocery stores, but had to figure it out myself once we moved West, since it was not to be found anywhere. Guess it's a regional thing.

Knowing Albertson's don't hire no dummies, I thought maybe there were others who hadn't as well. So here's a couple of ways to do it:

1/2 pound bologna
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
2 Tablespoons sweet pickle relish

Chop up the bologna a bit for better processing, and mix up the whole thing in the food processor. That's all! Some people like a bit of minced celery, or grated cheddar cheese added.

If you're lacking a food processor, just chop up the bologna fairly small, and mix it up in a bowl.

This is a great thing to keep around for quick lunches!

Spoons, Knives, and Gadgets

Probably the best investment you can make for your kitchen is a good set of knives. Before you get into paying the big bucks for your tools, there are a wide variety of kitchen utensils available at your local dollar store. Look in at several of them, because they don't all carry the same things.

Of course, you get what you pay for, so don't expect a dollar-store item to last long and faithfully. This is a good way, however, to find out what things you'll use a lot, and want the top-of-the line merchandise.

I buy wooden spoons at the dollar store, because at four in a package for a dollar, they're at disposable cost, and you've always got a clean one handy.

Garlic

Garlic is wonderful stuff! It's rumored to have a mild antibiotic affect, and also keeps away vampires (or is it werewolves?) All I know is that we've never had a vampire or werewolf sit down at our dinner table, so I guess it works ;>)

In addition to being the main flavoring in a lot of Italian dishes, there are some sauces and etc. you can make quickly to add a bit of oomph to something that might otherwise be a little dull.

Add a couple of minced cloves of Garlic to a cup of homemade (or good brand-name) mayonnaise, and you have Aioli sauce, which is great for roasted meats, or as sandwich spread. Add a half capful of Mrs Dash traditional, and you've got a quick salad dressing.

For a showy garnish for roasted meat, or a sliced tomato and cucumber salad, try whipping some heavy cream, adding a minced garlic clove, and salt& pepper to taste.

A half teaspoon of garlic powder in a cup of chicken bouillon or canned chicken soup is comforting when you have a cold.

Not About Food!

This morning I was wading through the "communities" at Orkut, and a realization hit me like a bombshell. This is exactly the same as the early days of Yahoo, or Excite, when they had e-mail discussion groups with members in the thousands. This is really the same thing. In some cases, you have people talking about the groups where they go to talk. Yikes!

I'm a member of Linked In, Monster Networking, and Ryze as well, and there's the same group of writers at Ryze talking about writing, and another talking about promoting their work. I hope I could light a firecracker under some sedentary butts, but by and large it seems that these writers are more interested in talking about promo than doing it. ;>)

Oh, kids, there is no magic formula!!!!

[How do you get to Barnes&Noble? Promote, promote, promote!]

Monster Networking sends me updates every week, with e-mail addies from a few members I dutifully e-mail. I've not had a response from any of them, and since I'm not in a position to give anybody a job, I don't expect it.

I've never understood what to do at Linked-In, and nobody has ever enlightened me.

I had thought about getting serious about my career and directions for such. After dissolving the partnership with my small publisher, I now have time needing to be filled with income-producing activity. I wonder how much point there is in posting a request at a place where everybody else is doing the same thing, or just there to play. I'm more a responsive job-seeker, where I look for an opportunity and then act, rather than a blast-your-resume to the zillions kind of person.

I'm not looking for fulltime, 9-5 in an office anyway. I live out in the tullies, so I'd need to be able to telecommute. A writer and promoter who cooks and can manage people can do so many things! I look at all my experience and say, "Whew!"

What I'd really like is to be the house mother at one of those wacky reality TV shows, where they have a bunch of kids trying to out-diss each other for the camera. None of them have a Mom person to give them cookies when they're sad or tell them to behave themselves when they need a good talking to.

Well, tell me, readers, what should I do next?