Valentine's Day,Turkey Bolognese & Potato Gnocchi

Note: If this is the your first time logging onto my blog to get up to speed return to the blog dated 12-17-12 titled Chronicles of a Food Junkie.

I really haven't eaten any red meat since I started the "change" as I now call it. I've had pork , but no beef in 3 months.  Most of the beef raised in this country is corn fed, and anyone with a lick of common sense would know that cows eat GRASS, not corn. Of course there are a lot of people in this country that haven't got any fucking sense at all, let alone a lick of sense.The city of Oakland is full of them.

Most of the corn that is grown worldwide is from Monsanto seed stock, and it is genetically modified. We have no idea what the effects of this modification has on our health or nature.

The logic Monsanto would like us all to believe is that their seed stock is resistant to pests, but nature adapts, just like we do. Because cows stomachs cannot digest corn, they become ill from eating it. When they become ill they are given antibiotics. The majority of the beef these days contains traces of antibiotics, and these antibiotics are being absorbed into our bodies. Because we are literally bombarded with these antibiotics our bodies are less resistant to colds, flu's, and viruses. We get sick, go to the doctor, the doctor prescribed more friggin antibiotics, and we don't get better.

Also, decades ago ranchers found out that when they gave cattle small amounts of antibiotics the cattle gained weight. In an industry where weight means the difference between a profit or a loss, this process became standard practice. We don't know exactly how much antibiotics are being given to cattle, but it's estimated that between 15 and 17 million pounds of antibiotics are administered to cattle yearly in the US alone.

The European Union and Canada have outlawed this practice, but the US continues to approve the use of antibiotics to stimulate weight gain. The World Health Organization urges all countries where this practice is common to terminate or rapidly phase out antibiotics for growth promotion.

Where the hell is all this leading? I'm making this bolognese with free range turkey, not beef, and no pork as a starter. I'm getting back to my Ginnie roots. Italians do not eat a lot of beef. Cows were used primarily for milk and cheese production. Cows were expensive, and dishes such as veal piccata were a luxury for the average Italian. Pigs, chicken, goat, and sheep are the main meats Italians eat. I do miss my cheese burgers, and I'm not saying I'll never eat beef again, because I most likely will. That would be tantamount to saying something stupid like, because I got a dose of the clap back in 1970 I'm never going to have sex again.

Besides the reasons I stated above Geraldine doesn't eat beef, at all. When we first started our life together we would go out and eat cheese burgers all over San Francisco, looking for the best burger in the city, but she quit eating red meat. So, if I make it with turkey she'll eat it. Everything I do, I do for Geri. If she was your old lady you would too.

And that leads us to Valentine's Day. To the love of my life Geraldine Marie Haslett, this gnocchi is for you girl. Love you kid.

So, this recipe is made with turkey, and my gnocchi, well, it's to die for.


Peace,

Make Food/Not War


Food Consumption: 2-14-13

Breakfast: cereal w/soy milk and banana, orange juice, lemon yogart

Lunch: 2 chicken legs, a little salmon

Dinner: Gnocchi w/turkey bolognese, salad w/my vinaigrette, black olive, mustard greens, cucumber, radishes, steamed and sauteed brussel sprouts w/s & p.

Dessert: Chocolate truffles by Godiva, Martinelli's sparkling cider.

Exercise: 6 miles walking


Gnocchi Recipe: Serves 6 as entree'

Ingredients:
3 pounds Idaho Russet potatoes
1 tea spoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup all purpose organic flour and more to work with
3 eggs beaten

1) Bake potatoes in the oven at 450 degree till done. Put aside and let cool. Remove the skins and run through a potato press.
2) In a large mixing bowl add the nutmeg, white pepper, salt and mix till throughly incorporated.
3) Punch a hole in the center and pour the egg mix into it. Mix the egg and the potato completely together.
4) With a large spoon Mix in the flour and the potato/egg mix in batches. Incorporating the flour into the dough, ensuring there are no lumps.
5) Take a large handful of dough and on a floured surface gently roll out the dough with both hand. With a knife or dough scraper cut the gnocchi into your desired size. Repeat this will all the dough has been rolled out and the gnocchi is made. Place on floured pans until ready to cook.
6) In a large pot of hot salted boiling water place the gnocchi and cook till till they rise to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and add the bolognese.

Hopefully the photos below will give you an idea of the process. It very easy actually. A little messy, but easy. If you'll notice I score the gnocchi  with a folk. This allows some of the bolognese to get trapped in those little grooves.

Pressed potatoes and egg mixture

Gnocchi Dough

Dough rolled out

Finished products before cooking

Wed. 2-6-13 My Boring Life

My life is very boring today and that's ok, because I'm healthy, and I have more that I need. Not really much in my culinary world to write about today, so I won't babble on.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food Consumption:

Breakfast: 2 egg omelet, fried red potatoes and 2 pieces of Rudy's brown bread, green tea w/agave

Lunch: Orange juice, cup of Amy's organic vegetable lentil soup, 10 crackers

Snacks: crackers, cheese

Dinner: Pasta w/evoo, salt, minced garlic, fresh oregano & parsley, white wine, cherry tomatoes, Romano cheese and Brussel sprouts steamed and pan fried with evoo, s & p, garlic powder.

Exercise: 5.5 miles walking

Vinaigrette

I've been making this vinaigrette for quite a while. A couple of friends came over for lunch a while back and said, "I gotta get the recipe for this dressing." I don't hold onto anything. Give it away, give it away, give it away now. That's my policy. I don't have any recipe that's so precious that I have to keep it hidden. Secret ingredients to me are silly at best. If you've got a good product people will buy it, and the original is the original.

Without further ado.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Geraldine's Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup champagne vinegar
1 tea spoon Dijon mustard
dash Worcestershire sauce
6 cloves garlic minced
1 large plumb tomato, stemmed, skinned & seeded
1/2 teaspoon herbs of Provence
juice from 1/2 lemon
juice from 1/2 orange
couple turns from the pepper mill
big pinch of onion powder
big pinch of celery salt
pinch kosher salt

1) Make a cross with your knife on the smooth side of the tomatoe, and Blanch them for 15 seconds in boiling hot water. Remove the stem, skins and seeds. Set aside.
2) Put all the other ingredients in a blender, add the tomatoes, give a couple of good pulses, and you got yourself some vinaigrette.
3) Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. Good for up to two weeks.

Food Consumption today 1-5-13

Breakfast: Cereal, soy milk, blueberries, banana, fresh squeezed orange juice & grapefruit

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich on brown bread, rice and collard greens w/garlic, fresh lemon, red bell pepper, scallions, evoo, s & p.

No dinner

Snacks: nuts/raisins

Exercise: 4 miles walking

Clean As A Whistle

My colon is clean as a whistle. I had a great doctor and anesthesiologist. The whole staff was very professional. The pre-op and post-op transition went extremely well. I passed gas within 5 minutes of getting out of surgery and tooting like a locomotive. I was able to walk on my own out to the street where my wife was ready with the car. We came home, no nausea or vomiting, and I made an omelet with diced red bell peppers, scallions, a piece of brown bread with real butter, and fried red potatoes.

I wasn't going to blog today because I thought I would be so spaced out that I'd just want to return to bed. The anesthesiologist gave me just enough drugs to keep me awake throughout the whole procedure, and I never felt a thing. I got to see everything on the screen the whole trip up the colon and back out. Besides a couple of hemorrhoids there was no indication of pol lops.

I feel very lucky. I'm in fairly good physical condition. Considering all the drinking and drugs I did when I was young my brain is more or less intact. Once I get this remaining weight off I'll be hitting the running track again. Life can be good sometimes.

That is it for today. Tomorrow or Wednesday I'll do the blog and recipe for my vinaigrette.

I'd like to thank the man Dale who many years ago told me to get my fanny checked. He's gone, but his words live on.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food Consumption: 1-4-13

Breakfast: Green tea w/agave, 1 piece of brown bread w/butter, red potatoes w/s & p, herbs of Provence, 3 egg omelet w/red bell peppers and scallions

Lunch: Cheese quesadilla w/green onions, mango juice

Dinner: Big salad, cheese and crackers, 1 8 oz. beer

Exercise: 3 miles walking

Baltimore Ravens Do It As Predicted

I hate to say I said it, but I did.  In my blog of 1-21-13 titled Pulled Pork, Walking and The Superbowl. I predicted the Baltimore Ravens would beat the San Francisco 49ers. It was a great Stuper Bowl. The 49ers had me seriously worried after the lights came back on. Great game.

Beyonce' is the most beautiful woman in the world.

It's off to the colonoscopy in the morning. I'm all cleaned out, and ready to go!

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Ground hogs, Colonoscopies, & the 49ers

If this is your first time logging onto this blog please refer to the blog of 12-17-12 titled Chronicles of a Food Junkie to get up to speed.

Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow today which means according to legend winter will end sooner than later. Since winter began in early October it makes perfect  sense. But, historically February is a rainy month in California. I'm not planting anything for at least another 6 weeks.

I have a very dear friend who's afraid of getting a colonoscopy because someone is sticking a scope up his ass. He's 3 year older than me, and has never had one. After my best friend Joe Chase died when I was 49, he was 53,  I had every test in the world done, and a colonoscopy was one of them.

There's two things I hate about getting a colonoscopy. The first is pre-op, and the second is post-op. Every year right around my birthday I get a physical. Each time I have the usual blood tests done, and of course my doctor does a rectal exam for prostate cancer. After he gloves up and lubes his finger he usually says something like, "This will only take a few seconds." This is when I stop him, look him straight in the eye and say something like, "Look Doc, we only do this once a year. You to take your time when you're up there. I want you to feel around real careful like, and make sure everything is just the way it should be, got it." If they catch prostate problems early there's a good chance you can beat it. Same thing with the colon. Since I had my last colonoscopy done when I was 49, and it's done every ten years, my number is up this year.

When I was working in the trades as a painter I was doing a job in the Castro district of San Francisco for this lovely gentleman who was dying. He told us he was paitning the place so when he died he didn't leave a mess behind for someone else to clean up. I assumed he was dying of aids. I was there painting his apartment for 7 days, and we would talk throughout the day. Finally I asked him what he was dying of. He just looked at me and said,  "Prostate cancer. Get your fanny checked." The fact that a simple procedure such as this can save your life doesn't seems like something to be freaked out about.

The pre-op for a colonoscopy sucks because you have to drink this solution that cleans you out. It is the most vile disgusting thing in the world. It's supposed to be banana flavored, and if you've read my daily food intake you know I love bananas, but calling it something it's not doesn't help. It makes me gag when I drink it. It does clean you out, that much I'll give it, but drinking it is right up there with the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life.

Well, I called the doctor and said, "What else is there besides that gallon of banana flavored crap to clean me out." The gal there replied, "That's what we use." I siad, "You didn't answer my question." She said, "Let me ask the doctor, and I'll call you back." She did call me back, and I was right for a change. There is another product. It contains 2 6 oz. bottles of crap juice that you drink with a little water. You drink the first bottle the night before the procedure. Shit you insides out, and drink the second one 3 hours before the pre-op. Much better.

The procedure itself is painless. You're in a semi-conscious state, and you can actually look at the screen and see the insides of your colon. It's the fantastic voyage all over again. Last time I was clean as a whistle up there, and I'm hoping for the same prognosis this time.

The post op is where you hang out, and they wait for you to pass gas. Last time it took me 45 minutes before I could blow wind, and then they all let out a cheer. Geri drove me home, and before we got to the house I had to vomit, and then one more time after we got home I blew chunks. You're completely out of it when you get home, and all you want to do is go to bed and sleep.

I think my friend likens a colonoscopy to get butt rapped, and that's why he won't do it. It's called
preventative medicine for a reason.

Colonoscopies and butt probes for prostate problems suck, but they are much better than the alternative.

This same friend who's freaked out about the colonoscopy took my $100.00 bet on the 49ers, which I predict will loose. They can be stopped, and the Baltimore Ravens have the defense to do it. I'll leave it right there. You read it here first. By the way, I predicted this almost two weeks ago. Some gotta win and some gotta loose, good time Charlie's got the blues. Tomorrow it's gonna be Jimmy or Johnny.

I also got a dinner bet with another friend and four points.

Win or loose I also predict the streets of San Francisco to be on fire Sunday evening.

No more blogs till Tuesday 2-5-13.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food Consumption for 2-2-13

Breakfast: Cereal w/blueberries and banana, green tea w/agave

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich, shared can of sardines with the dogs on the trail

Snacks: Mint tea, nuts/dried fruit,  peppermint tea w/agave

Dinner: to early to tell...friend's birthday at Betty's diner in Berkeley. I plan on having a hearty dinner since I have to fast all day tomorrow, and half the day Monday.

Exercise: 6 miles trail walking w/the mutleys

Banana bread, Colonoscopy

Usually when Geri makes banana bread I devour a couple of pieces 10 minutes out of the oven, smothered with butter. This  time I had an end piece with no butter. So far I've had only 4 pieces and there are still two pieces left. This might not sound very amazing to any one else, but to me it's a little victory for me against obesity. That banana bread should have been gone a long time ago, yet there are still two pieces left. I'm learning control. I look at food now and see and just say, "I don't need that." Before I would have plucked it up and plopped in my mouth, almost unconsciously.

Early Monday morning 7:30 AM I go in for a colonoscopy. Tomorrow I will do a blog on it, and
Sunday and Monday there will be no blogs. Sunday I will be eliminating, cleaning myself out. This will be the second time in two months. Saturday night is an old friends' birthday, and we are going to Betty's diner in Berkeley, so that will be my big meal before I shit my insides out, and fast for a day and a half. I should loose a couple of pounds doing that for sure.

Next week I will put up the recipe for my vinaigrette that I use for salads which I been promising to write up.

Another short blog.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Breakfast: plain green tea, 1 piece banana bread, cereal w/bananas & blue berries

Lunch: salad w/Romain lettuce, black olives, red bell peppers, S & P, evoo and fresh lemon

Dinner: honey turkey sandwich on roll,  tomato, cucumber, Dijon mustard, & black pepper. Salad with all the of above from lunch.

Snacks: last small piece of banana bread, dried fruit and nuts

Exercise: 7.5 miles