Peasant Pie with a Flaky Crust

I want to do a little bit of recount of last week’s topic and shed some light for my readers and myself.  This blog is forcing me to study during the summer.  I am interested in the concept of “peasant” food and agrarian movements and the relationship to much of the “green” awareness and urban/agricultural growth in the U.S., particularly the region I live in, the desert southwest.  I believe that “peasants” are commoditized.  Nowadays, we would call peasants, low-income (and often minority) population. Their culture tends to influence pop culture and I especially see this with food ways and traditions. 

I have noticed quite the following of going back to scratch cooking for one thing.  Heck, I am totally interested in making more people aware of this concept that seemed to disappear during the 1980s popular culture.  I really believe that a lot of people in my age group are more accustomed to fast paced processed food ways than previous generations and it is a trend that has grown since the 1950s.  The food industry has also caught on even if it means changing food labels to “all-natural.” 

Low-income and working-class populations from the past have managed to prepare foods in such a way that is economically efficient, energy dense and for the most part flavorful and this is a popular trend now.  Magazines, cooking shows, and newspaper articles are showing today’s folks how to cook on a limited budget because sadly, many of us don’t know how.  I really appreciate these ideas.  So we look to those who have survived on self-sufficiency which is a good thing, but we still have our mass producers who claim to be following the same principles, when they are not.  It is expensive to eat healthy.  I want to explore more about some of these movements so I will be reading about La Via Campesina, an agricultural movement developed in many Central American countries to curtail the devastation caused by agribusiness to the poor inhabitants in these countries.

I would really like to present a challenge for the week.  Choose a meal each day to make something from scratch.  I don’t mean go gather your own eggs or anything, but do make something that comes from a can or the freezer already prepared with more than one or two ingredients unless you added them.  Jam, prepared salad dressings and flavored yogurts are a culprit. 

My example

Breakfast- Peach French Toast Casserole (Kinda need to get up early)

Lunch-Caprese Sandwich  (Easy)

Dinner-GF Gnocci  w/chunky tomato sauce and salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (awesome kids cook meal because making the gnocci is like playing with play-doh. (Easier than I thought)

Snack 1- Grape Slushies (Easy)

Snack 2- GF Caramel Apple Pie

Recipe

Gluten Free Pie Crust

I have never been a pie maker because the crust is so daunting and then when we converted to a gluten-free diet, this became such a challenge that I actually threw in the towel.  The crust falls apart, sticks to the counter or wax paper.  It has a sandy texture or is just plain awful. 

But I have two apple trees and they are ready for some baking and I really like the salty crust contrast with sweet tart apples.  I can say that I definitely got it.  Hurray for me.

2/3 cup of chilled butter or shortening of choice (you can probably mix the two)

1 cup of superfine white rice flour (

1 cup of tapioca or potato starch

2 tbls sugar

1 tsp of baking powder

1 tbl cold milk or ice water

1 tsp xantham gum

1/2 tsp salt

Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter or shortening. (If you have a food processor, I mixed dry ingredients with blade then grated butter with grater attachment.)  Add cold milk and it should make a soft dough.  Shape dough into a disk and wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in fridge for a couple of hours.  Remove disk and roll out on rice floured surface like parchment paper.  Place in pie plate.  I turned mine upside down grabbed the parchment and flipped it over.  A little messy, but some practice will improve this method. Fill with favorite pie filling.

Food Stratification

My husband told me a story about being at a friend’s for a dinner party.  He was standing in a line waiting to serve himself some food and another guest said that the food being served was “peasant food.”  The food being served was traditional food here in New Mexico.  He was really offended.  I don’t blame him.  What is so terrible about peasant food aside from the word peasant which does entail some derogatory meaning?   The food on the other hand is probably some of the smartest food this person was going to eat.  When I was a kid, “peasant” food was pretty much all we ate and for the most part it was pretty darn healthy.  It was mostly vegetarian and low in saturated fat, high in complex carbohydrates and micronutrients.   Not all our food was this healthy.  I drank loads of Kool-Aid, ate salami and bologna regularly and cookies with whole milk were often the snack of choice.  However, at dinnertime, my mom would definitely conjure up something creative and healthy and really tasty.   On the occasion we did go out, it was a treat.  Convenience foods that were easy to make and overly processed were too expensive and I think my mother knew better.   I know that some of these foods would have made my mom’s life a bit easier. 

The weirdest part about convenience foods while I was growing up was that they were more expensive.  Only the more affluent people could afford them and they were extremely unhealthy.   I can remember schoolmates teasing me about what I ate.  I ate wheat bread instead of white bread.  I ate the crusts.  I didn’t eat the school pizza.  I ate vegetables.  It seems that this trend is still around because my son gets some flack from the kids at school, but the opposite is true.  The convenience foods are less expensive and more available and it is the more affluent that can eat healthier.  I am really interested in this shift and I think that I am going to have to research it more to find out why the change and why do so many people still choose to eat the convenience foods despite their income level?  I know a lot has to do with taste preference, and there is a way to change it, but it is an investment that so many of us are unwilling to commit to and I can understand the reasons why.  That is why I am committed to posting whole food recipes on this blog, most of which are gluten-free and whole grain.  I am going try something new and I need your help. I am going to post a daily menu for the meals I make that are whole and healthy.  You can try the recipes or give me your ideas of what you make and I can adapt them for my family to eat.  Here it goes, your suggestions are appreciated.  Meanwhile, I am going to research the shift in class eating habits.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Hazelnut Mocha Oatmeal	Grape Nuts w/skim milk, raisins and almonds	Blue cornmeal blueberry pancakes w/pinon, butter, and maple syrup, skim milk	Choco Cherry oatmeal w/almonds and skim milk	Tropical Oatmeal w/lite coconut milk, pineapple and orange juice	Grape Nuts w/skim milk, blackberries and almonds	Egg Scramble w/corn tortillas, salsa and cheddar
Lunch	Ice Cream (bad)	Peanut butter and Jelly w/Milk	Leftover Rice and Ice Tea	Asparagus, tomato and Swiss pizza on puff pastry, green salad and ice tea	Some kind of veggie sandwich from Which Wich and Ice Tea	Leftover red pepper pasta, salad and ice tea	Birthday party so who knows
Dinner	Fried Bologna sandwich, hot peppers, Watermelon and Fritos	Pinto Beans w/ Cheesy Spanish Rice, including bell peppers, lean grass-fed beef and tomatoes	Grilled Chicken sub w/spicy mustard, lettuce and tomato Apple, celery waldorf salad w/walnuts	Roasted Red Pepper Pesto w/GF pasta. Whole plant salad Wine and water	Fresh caught stuffed trout W/garlic bread crumbs and veggies, parsley lemon pesto, salad and skim milk	Going out	Chicken bratwurst w/sauerkraut and mustard, sweet potato fries, corn on cob, milk
Snacks	Homemade gf Chex mix	Banana smoothie Bing cherries	Cherries and Larabar Homemade PB rice krispie treat	Peach Bowl of Choco Pebbles	Cottage Cheese and Pineapple Grape and melon slushie	Grape slushie yogurt	PBJ on wheat bread w/skim milk Snow cone

Notes: 

It is a big week for us due to my son’s regional track practice and events so finding time to cook will be challenging.

On Monday, we had just returned from Colorado so this day was a bust.  No more cheat days for the month.

Grocery bill this week was about $150 which is $25 over what I try to spend

Exercise included pulling weeds every day and watering, running for 30 minutes 3 times this week

What are your goals this week?

Recipe of the Week

Blue Pancakes w/Pinons

1 ½ cups of blue cornmeal

½ cup brown rice flour

1 ½ cups of blueberries

½ cup pinon nuts

¼ cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp xantham gum

2 eggs

1 ½ cups of milk or a mixture of buttermilk and regular milk or any milk of choice

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbl melted butter or oil

2 tbl softened butter reserved w/2 tbls of pinon nuts

Roast pinon nuts and combine dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients and adding more milk for your desired consistency. Add melted butter, blueberries and pinon nuts.  Heat griddle to 350 degrees and start cooking.  Meanwhile, smash pinon nuts and softened butter together, serve w/maple syrup.                                                                          

Plant a Seed and Consume its Sweetness

One of my favorite memories as a child was watching my grandpa in his garden.  I used to help him with the harvests and we would sit under the willow tree in the front yard and snap beans and shell peas.  I learned a lot about life during the conversations that we had.  I was so blessed to have someone sit and listen to my childhood ramblings for hours.  I have a hard time doing that now.  I really think our grandparents know that children inherit the Earth, so they take time to listen and less time to gossip.  Since I have started gardening, I am reminded of the parable in the bible about planting seeds on good soil.  To me, good soil is the faith and truth you put into it in order to yield a large harvest.  We can apply the meaning of this parable to many different things.  It truly does outline the image of total health.  I hope to achieve this with people in my own neighborhood.  I see this coming to fruition throughout many neighborhoods in my community. 

One of the hardest tasks I encounter is trying to balance my professional life with my family life, but I really try to keep up with the haps in my own community.  One project I have been looking at is Project Feed the Hood. They organize to help eliminate food deserts by engaging with communities through gardening and helping to build self-efficacy in low-income and diverse populations by providing the opportunity and the right to feed their families healthy meals without having to travel far or spend a lot of money for fruits and vegetables. In addition, providing food that you have worked to grow gives a person something to be proud of. They have an urban garden in the SE heights, a food desert near the air force base.  They also have a garden in the Westgate area to provide the opportunity for those who live in an area that is not only a food desert, but face challenges planting their own gardens due to lack of space and sandy dry terrain. Another project with the same idea in mind is East Central Ministries.  It is a micro-business in the International District to help the community through gardening and selling gardening products.  You can find vegetable and herb plants and ollas at Whole Foods Market.

These are not the only places doing this.  More and more people throughout the U.S. are developing areas to combat food insecurity.  They do run into challenges like cost, lack of water, and property issues.  In the next month many of us gardeners are going to see an increase in water use rates due to lack of revenue by the Water Utility Authority claiming that all the conservation efforts has backfired and now they are strapped for cash.  I have faith that we will still meet these challenges and continue with these very important projects. 

On to sweetness, blueberries are in season and I made something to celebrate their sweet and nutritious qualities and I didn’t have to add a whole lot of sweetener. 

GF Blueberry Cobbler w/Lemon Cornmeal Topping

For the berries

5 cups blueberries

1/3 cup cane sugar

Juice from one lemon

1 tbls cornstarch

Mix all ingredients together and set aside to let juices macerate a little

For the cobbler

1 cup of cornmeal

½ cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup of tapioca starch

½ tsp salt

3 tbls sugar

Zest from one whole lemon

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp xantham gum

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk a little more or less, you could use any milk but use less

3 tbl melted butter

Mix dry ingredients and then mix wet ingredients.  Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients and mix until it is like a drop biscuit dough.  Pour blueberries into a buttered 8x8 casserole dish or cast iron pan. Drop biscuit dough on top and put in a 325 degree oven for about 35-45 minutes.  Crust will be a golden yellow and blueberries should have leaked their juices through some of the dough.   *Note: You can probably use about 2 cups of regular flour for the gf flours.