Book Praise from Green Leaders
March 22, 2009 by New Green · Comments Off on Book Praise from Green Leaders
“I love Cooking Green! Kate Heyhoe’s thoughts are right on target and offer many ways for all of us to pay attention to conservation and be conscientious with food, cooking, and waste management.”
—Jesse Ziff Cool, founder of CoolEatz restaurants and catering, author of Simply Organic, www.cooleatz.com
“Brimming with fresh ideas and down-to-earth recipes, Kate’s new book covers everything from eco-food shopping to haybox cooking. You’ll never look at boiled water the same way again.”
—David Joachim, coauthor of The Science of Good Food and Mastering the Grill, www.davejoachim.com
“Cooking Green is the next logical step for chefs and cooks who think local, organic, and sustainable. Take the ‘cookprint’ test and become an ‘ecovore’—the future of cooking may just depend on it.”
—Ann Cooper, Director of Nutrition Services, Berkeley Unified School District, author of Lunch Lessons, www.lunchlessons.org
“I founded a children’s cooking school 20 years ago and am thrilled to incorporate the new term ‘cookprint’ into all of our classes thanks to Kate’s vision and knowledge. With this clever and resourceful cookbook we can teach thousands of kids (and their parents) new ways to keep their bodies, minds, and their world a safe and healthy place to learn and live!”
—Barbara Beery, children’s cooking expert and best-selling cookbook author, www.batterupkids.com
“Cooking Green breaks new ground, deserving a place in every environmentalist’s library. In simple language full of do’s and don’ts for mindful cooking and eating, author Kate Heyhoe gives you all the information you need to shrink your cookprint, along with more than 50 recipes to get started. Not only does it thoroughly and thoughtfully present the new green basics of cooking, it provides the reasoning behind the recommendations, so as the climate changes, you can too, and so can your personal habits.”
—Linda Mason Hunter, author and pioneer in America’s green movement, www.hunterink.com
“Let’s save the planet one bite at a time! With Cooking Green, Kate Heyhoe gives us eaters the tools we need to preserve our natural resources while improving our dinner.”
—Sherri Brooks Vinton, author of The Real Food Revival, www.therealfoodrevival.com
“Best of all, it’s so well-written and informative that I can say confidently that it’s one of the few environmental book I’ve ever read that’s actually fun to read. Cooking Green’s key gift to readers, however, is its surplus of creative and counterintuitive thinking—and its absolute lack of junk science. Cooking Green is the kind of book you’ll want sitting on your shelf as a reliable resource for decades of intelligent kitchen decision-making, and it’s selling at a very reasonable $9.99 at Amazon. Use it to shrink your own carbon cookprint! —Daniel Koontz, Casual Kitchen, July 22, 2009.
“…when it comes to the green kitchen Kate Heyhoe is really the Green Goddess. A dynamic combination of Michael Pollan, Alton Brown, and Wonder Woman all rolled into one. After finishing this book you will definitely be convinced that you can help save the planet while preparing dinner every night.” —Heather Jones, ProjectFoodie.Com, July 9, 2009.
Buy Cooking Green
Cooking Green:
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen
the New Green Basics Way
-
Recipes
Greek Citrus-Honey Cake
March 22, 2009 by Kate Heyhoe · 1 Comment
Serves 12
From Kate Heyhoe’s Cooking Green
Green Meter:
- Green Goodness: Bakes in slow cooker using almost no fuel; kitchen stays cool
- Prep/Cooking Times: 15 minutes prep +2-1/4 hours unattended
- Prime Season: Year-round
- Conveniences: Quick ‘n’ easy dessert; small slices serve many
- New Green Basic: Use as no-oven, slow cooker template for other quickbreads and cakes.
This rustic and distinctive cake can be addictive with tea at breakfast, with cheese at lunch, and after dinner with grapes and fresh fruit. It’s inspired by a cake in Lynn Alley’s book The Gourmet Slow Cooker, and it’s like the sweets served at Mediterranean cafés and coffee houses—moist with lemon-honey syrup, fruity with olive oil and oranges, spiked with cinnamon and yogurt. Cornmeal and almonds give it texture you can taste. And unless you mention it, no one will guess it’s made in a Crock-Pot.
For easy mixing and one less bowl to wash, measure the wet ingredients starting with the yogurt into a 4-cup measuring cup, then add the eggs and whisk.
- 1/2 cup olive oil (mild, or mix of mild and fruity), plus extra for greasing
- 1-3/4 cups sugar
- 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (double-acting)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces (1 cup) plain yogurt (regular or low-fat)
- 2 teaspoons orange oil or 1 tablespoon orange extract
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds, or pine nuts
- Syrup:
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1. Grease the bottom and sides of a 5-quart slow-cooker insert (crock) with a small amount of olive oil. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom. Set in the paper and grease it.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon and salt. Separately combine the yogurt, remaining olive oil, orange oil or extract, and eggs, beating with a wire whisk. Pour the yogurt mixture into the bowl holding the dry mixture and combine until uniformly mixed. Stir in the nuts. Pour the batter into the crockery insert.
3. Lay a folded dishtowel across the top of the crock (covering the batter without touching it), cover with the lid, and cook on high 2 hours and 15 minutes, or until the edges turn brown and pull away slightly from the insert, and a wooden skewer poked in the center comes out clean. Lift the insert (using potholders) out of the cooker and let it rest, uncovered, 15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake with a knife or spatula. Place a plate over the top and, holding it securely (it’s hot: use potholders), flip the crock over, so the cake falls onto the plate. Remove the parchment. Let the cake cool slightly.
4. Stir the honey and lemon juice together until completely combined. While the cake is warm, poke holes in the top with a fork, about 20 times. Spoon the glaze over the top and sides, letting the glaze seep in slowly before adding more. Serve in thin slices.
Buy Cooking Green
Cooking Green:
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen
the New Green Basics Way
-
Recipes
Toasted Garlic Trout with Lime
March 22, 2009 by Kate Heyhoe · Comments Off on Toasted Garlic Trout with Lime
Serves 2
From Kate Heyhoe’s Cooking Green
Green Meter:
- Green Goodness: Sustainable fish, often local; use of preblanched garlic saves fuel
- Prep/Cooking Times: 5 minutes prep +10 minutes cooking
- Prime Season: Year-round
- Conveniences: Quick ‘n’ easy; healthy, high in omega-3s
- New Green Basic: Use as a basic recipe for skillet trout; use the blanched, toasted garlic method in other skillet recipes. Substitute fillets for butterflied trout.
Rainbow trout is often overlooked but has a wonderfully mild yet distinctive flavor. The Environmental Defense Fund rates farmed rainbow trout as an “eco-best” fish because of its minimal impact on the environment. In this recipe, garlic cloves, mellowed by blanching, toast in the pan for a sweet crunch that harmonizes well with trout and lime. To save fuel and water, blanch the garlic whenever you’re boiling water for another use, up to four days earlier. If you increase the number of trout, you’ll probably need two skillets.
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 rainbow trout, cleaned and butterflied (3/4 to 1 pound)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 large cloves blanched garlic, halved lengthwise (see Note)
- Lime wedges, for serving
1. Pour the lime juice into a shallow dish. Dip the trout into the lime juice, coating on all sides. Sprinkle the inside (flesh part) with cumin and a generous pinch of salt. Close the fillets (as if closing a book) and sprinkle cumin and salt on the skin surfaces.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to ripple, gently place both trout into the pan, keeping them closed. Add the garlic cloves, pushing the garlic to the sides of the pan. Cook the trout about 5 minutes, flipping the pieces over when the skin is crisp and golden. Cook another 5 minutes or so, until the inside flesh is cooked through (it will flake when gently prodded). While the trout cooks, stir the garlic pieces occasionally, until the edges become slightly crisp and start to color. (If garlic browns too much it turns bitter, so remove it when golden, and set aside.)
3. Remove the trout from the pan. Spoon toasted garlic on top of each piece, and serve with lime wedges.
Note: To blanch garlic, place whole unpeeled garlic cloves in boiling water and leave in for 2 minutes. Remove from the water and peel (the peels should slip off easily). Refrigerate up to four days.
Buy Cooking Green
Cooking Green:
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen
the New Green Basics Way
-
Recipes
Potatoes and Green Beans
March 22, 2009 by Kate Heyhoe · Comments Off on Potatoes and Green Beans
One-Pot Prep
Makes 1-1/2 pounds each of potatoes and green beans
From Kate Heyhoe’s Cooking Green
Green Meter:
- Green Strategy: One pot and precooking save fuel and water; passive boiling saves fuel
- Prep/Cooking Times: 5 minutes prep + 5 minutes active cooking +20 minutes unattended
- Prime Season: Year-round for potatoes; green beans in summer and fall
- Conveniences: Shaves off cooking time later in other recipes; can be made in advance and keeps up to 3 days; less equipment to wash; adaptable to other vegetables
- New Green Basic: Plan ahead and cook multiple vegetables with about the same amount of water and fuel as one vegetable; use the basic passive method to replace continuous boiling.
Use this method to save fuel, water, and your own time. It’s a handy template for boiling potatoes and blanching vegetables together, even if you don’t serve them in the same dish. Eat the vegetables separately or together, as in a Nicoise potato salad. Enjoy them right after cooking with a little butter and salt; or refrigerate and serve later in a salad, gratin, casserole, soup, Spanish tortilla, quiche, or omelet. Besides green beans, you can blanch a sequence of vegetables, assembly-line fashion, like carrots, broccoli, and asparagus, for example.
You’ll need a large pot, a skimmer (like a Chinese spider or a large slotted spoon), a colander, and a bowl of chilled water (with ice or ice packs, or prechilled in the fridge) for shocking the beans. Shocking stops the cooking process and helps set the color. If the vegetables are cut in small pieces though, cold tap water works almost as well as iced water. (Capture and repurpose the cooking and chilling water, for a greener cookprint.)
Smaller potatoes cook faster and don’t get waterlogged like large, halved potatoes. Use any variety (Yukon Gold, red, russet, white). A wealth of nutrients lie just under the potato skin, so eat the peels, and put potatoes at the top of your organics list.
- 1-1/2 pounds potatoes (2–3 inches in diameter, about 7)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 to 1-1/2 pounds green beans
1. Scrub the potatoes but do not peel. Place in a large pot with the salt, and add water to cover by 2 inches. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. While the water heats, trim the stems off the green beans. Prepare a bowl of chilled or ice water.
2. When the water boils, add the green beans (they’ll float above the potatoes) and push them down to submerge. Cook 2–3 minutes, until crisply tender or until desired degree of doneness.
3. Scoop the beans into the bowl of chilled water until cool. Drain in a colander. Leave the cold water in the bowl if blanching other vegetables, and add more ice or chill packs if needed.
4. The potatoes will not be done. Cover the pot, turn off the fuel, and let the potatoes passively cook 12–15 minutes, or until a skewer penetrates to the center. Scoop the potatoes into the colander to drain. Use now, or refrigerate the beans and potatoes separately (will keep 3 days).
Buy Cooking Green
Cooking Green:
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen
the New Green Basics Way
-
Recipes
Freezer Packs
March 14, 2009 by Kate Heyhoe · Comments Off on Freezer Packs
Quicktip: Make Meats Last Longer
by Kate Heyhoe
Fresh meat and poultry can last up to three days longer if stored at 31 degrees F. (The spoilage rate slows down, but without solid freezing.) My fridge has a programmable bin with this setting, but you can lower a regular bin’s temperature by tossing in a freezer pack. By the way, fish markets tend to have loads of freezer packs; next time you shop at one, ask them for a pack or two for keeping the fish cool on your way home (and in your fridge). Wash the pack well with a little bleach in the water to remove any odors, and re-use it whenever you need to chill out, or chill in.
8 Green Ways to Use a Freezer Pack
Freezer packs thaw very slowly, especially if placed in an already cool environment. Keep some handy in your freezer, then use them:
- In a bowl instead of ice when shocking vegetables in “ice water”
- In the refrigerator meat bin (a lower temperature can extend freshness up to 3 days)
- To take up vacant fridge or freezer space (the motor won’t need to work so hard)
- To keep groceries chilled in an ice chest (less need to rush home, so you can do more errands while you’re out; plus perishables will last longer if kept consistently cold)
- For chilled drinks on patios and at barbecues (with fewer trips indoors, the house and fridge both stay cooler)
- To keep fish at its peak of freshness, even in the fridge (ever wonder why fish markets keep fish on ice?)
- Under your milk carton (dairy products prefer 34 degrees F., slightly cooler than most fridges, which should run between 35 and 38 degrees to prevent freezing more sensitive items).
Find more tips to shrink your cookprint in Kate Heyhoe’s book Cooking Green
