ORGANIC A to Z - Cooking the hell out of the ORGANIC ALPHABET!

Spring Sprung PIZZA

gregory — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:31 -0400

I first took note of Spring when I found Asparagus and Morel Mushrooms growing in my backyard! I was doing the dishes one day and looked out the window to see these poofy looking things all over the ground. I figured my dog, Midnight, had taken a crap and went outside to clean it up. But oh no, those were not turds but gorgeous morel mushrooms! I picked a handful, ran to a farmer’s market and got a positive ID on the fungus. Indeed, California Black Morels!

Super Nutty Cookies!

gregory — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:51:58 -0500

Show

ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!!!

Ingredients

3/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Butter at room temperature
1 Egg at room temperature (yes that had better be an ORGANIC FREE RANGE egg!)
1/4 tsp Salt (preferably sea salt)
1/2 tsp Vanilla (natural, non of that artificial vanillin jive)
1/4 tsp Almond Extract
11/4 C Flour
1 C Almond Meal
1 C Chocolate Chips or Pieces
1/2 C Nuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375∞.

Method

Making cookies is SO EASY I cannot understand why anyone would buy them OR those nasty tubes of chemical dough at the grocery store. Give this recipe a shot and enjoy! These are easy, delicious, impressive and kinda healthy. The health factor? Well, they’re organic for one plus they are full o’ nuts! As I mentioned on the text for the show, the almond meal is a great and healthy addition. You can use almond meal in a myriad of ways as a flour substitute, but I like it best in cakes and cookies.

OK! Got your ingredients? Got the oven preheated? Grab a fork or a beater and wash your hands...here we go!

In a big bowl cream together your butter and sugar by simply beating the hell out of it with a fork, a mixer or your (freshly washed) fingers. Crack in and beat the egg followed by your salt, vanilla and almond extract. Almond extract is wicked potent so do NOT add more! Add your flour in 2 or 3 stages till well incorporated and then the almond meal. The batter is going to get thick now, don’t over mix, but just bring all these wet and dry ingredients together. Add your chocolate and nuts! Like I said on the show, I like to buy these giant 1 pound bars of chocolate which I cut (or hammer) it up into tons of pieces. I love how random the sizes are, it makes for more fun when you are eating the cookies...there's always chocolate there but sometimes you get an extra big chunk and it's a fiesta for your mouth!

If you are aiming to make ice cream sandwiches you should make bigger cookies. If you just want cookies, any size or shape will do. Right! Use a tablespoon or your hand and scoop up some dough and plop it down on a cookie sheet. Flatten the dough down with your hand. Pop that sheet in the oven at 375∞ and bake away for 10 or 12 minutes—every oven is different so it’s hard for me to tell you exactly when they’re done. But you’ll know it when you see and smell ‘em--they will be glistening and smell amazing and just a tiny bit browned on the bottom.

Take the cookies off the baking sheets to avoid further cooking and cool ‘em on a wire rack or a plate. Don’t attempt to add ice cream with warm cookies and hot camera lights around….that’s just gonna make a big n’ delicious organic mess! Do sample a cookie while its still warm and gooey and ultra yummy!!!

ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!!!

gregory — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 04:28:12 -0500

Well it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere and raining like mad out here in California…perfect weather for ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!!!

As promised, I’m posting the final episodes of ORGANIC A to Z from Southern California. Both “I” and “J” were taped back in a warmer, sunnier and more ice cream friendly Los Angeles. If you’re too cold to rock the ice cream, just make these awesome cookies. If you’re sweating down under this January, enjoy the whole sando with some OG ice cream in between!!!

!!!ORGANIC A to Z is BACK!!!

gregory — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 02:17:04 -0500

MUCHOS APOLOGIES!

I AM BACK!

I never intended to be away for so long, just thought it’d be a quick break from the show, but an adventure ensued! I started working as a pastry chef again, then started teaching cooking classes, finally decided to get into wine—literally. I moved to Sonoma County and took a job as a Harvest Intern doing all the grunt work for a family-run, sustainable winery.

And now, I’m back with new videos, new recipes and more info than ever all from my new home in the ultra -organic Sonoma County!

Coming in January we’ll have regularly updated posts on local, organic and sustainable eating, cooking and living! Till then I’ll post a few appetizers as well as the remaining two shows taped in Los Angeles.

HERB GARDENS

gregory — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 23:41:40 -0500

Side tracking a bit, we're showing you how to GROW HERBS for the letter H!

GINGER

gregory — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:07:25 -0500

G is for GINGER, my favorite rhizome!

More info and recipes to come SUPER SOON!

-GGG

FENNEL

gregory — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:00:22 -0500

For the letter F we rock the FENNEL BULB!

I used to be afraid of FENNEL simply 'coz I didn't know what the hell it was or what to do with it. But now I love it and eat it every chance I get! Watch on and check back soon for recipes and more info on this glorious veggie!

EGGPLANT

gregory — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:11:59 -0500

EGGPLANT, YUMMY!

Eggplant rocks, a most glorious fruit! I know some of you out there are not fans…but I blame that on poor execution. Eggplant is so versatile and there are so many varieties, you need to expand your repertoire! Go out there and try some of the funky ones you can easily find at any health food store or farmer’s market. Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and the real Italian varieties are my favorites because they are sweet, tender and easy to cook. As they’re not bitter they do not require any salting and sweating—just cut ‘em up and cook them!

DATES

gregory — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 03:46:57 -0500

D is for DAMN GOOD!

Dates are cute, wrinkly, healthy, sweet and yummy little buggers! A great raw choice for sugar!

I remember the first time I ate a real date—not the crusty cigar kind you find in lame groceries. A real date isn’t dried out, it’s plump and moist with a thin skin, long seed and an incredibly intense sweet flavor. I have fond memories of eating dates and spitting the seeds out into humid Florida nights with my crazy old raw food friend Jason.

Dates are high in iron, potassium, fiber and a bunch o’ vitamins. They’ve got no fat or cholesterol. YES they are 50 to 70% sugar…but it’s a good, natural sugar. Most dates don’t even have sucrose. If you’re looking for a healthy way to satiate a sugar craving dig on a date!

CHICKEN

gregory — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:01:03 -0400

Hey Hey!

Here's the third installment of ORGANIC A to Z! Featuring C we jump off the vegetarian tip and cook one of my favorite tasty treats: CHICKEN!

YES, the bird. I know a lot of the vegetarians out there are retching at me for doing chicken on the show. Oh well. I love to eat chicken and I think the majority of people out there do too. I also suspect that the majority of folks out there don’t think about chickens enough and assume poultry is a lesser evil of meats. That’s not true baby.

Conventional poultry production is just plain wrong. Tens of thousands of birds “living” together under bright lights day and night, with no access to sunlight, fresh air, or a space to walk, which is irrelevant anyway ‘coz many chickens have been bred to have ginormous breasts that are so large their little legs cannot support the weight! Imagine eating a sickly, depressed, mutant bird that rooted in its own shit, rarely slept, couldn’t walk and was kept alive by antibiotics and freakish growth drugs? Doesn’t sound very appetizing, nutritious or ethical. So make an effort to go organic—it’s really the only way to ensure you are eating a healthy, happy bird that was given a humane life.