TO MEAT OR NOT TO MEAT?
There are many reasons to become a vegetarian. You don't want to kill animals - plant eaters need less space to grow their food - could it be healthier?
I used to be a vegetarian but no longer.
If you drink milk, this means the males have to be killed: you might as well eat them. And if we do, we should also make use of the cheap cuts, the offal and the difficult bits (see Oct. issue). At the moment the bulk of our pork offal, for instance, is exported to China: 5000 food miles for food which we won't eat ourselves .....
What about health issues?? For vegetarians, beans or whole grains eaten on the same day as eggs or milk, supply all the protein they need. For vegans it is trickier: they have to take at least a regular supplement of vitamin B12. See [1].
As Lierre Keith says in her book The Vegetarian Myth, you cannot live but by killing things. "The truth is that agriculture requires the wholesale destruction of entire ecosystems. The truth is also that life isn’t possible without death, that no matter what you eat, someone has to die to feed you."
Personally, I eat meat every few days, and then only animals which have had a happy life. I like what traditional Chinese medicine says, namely that you should think of meat as an accent, not the centerpiece of a meal. Be selective, respect what you eat, don't stuff yourself with sentient beings.
As to soy, commonly used as a meat substitute, see [2]! For sources and more info, see [3].
To do:
Now is the time to plant autumn raspberries. They have many advantages over the more common summer ones: See www.cottagesmallholder.com/nows-the-time-to-plant-summer-and-autumn-raspberries-5697/ and www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9481098/A-foolproof-guide-to-growing-raspberries.html.Sow broad beans and peas. You can still plant garlic. It likes sun, and woodash.
To eat:
Veg: Brussels', beet, sprout tops, cabbage, celeriac, celery (and stilton!), corn salad, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, salsify, kale, cavolo nero, kohlrabi, landcress, leeks, parsnips, pumpkin/squash, rocket, spinach, swede, turnips, winter radish, endive, winter purslane.
Meat: wood pigeon, pheasant, wild duck, goose, grouse, partridge, venison. Judging by the shooting going on outside, pheasant can't be that expensive! For (Christmas) game recipes, see www.gametoeat.co.uk/
Fish: megrim, clams, crab, cuttlefish, mussels, oysters, scallops, sea bass, whiting, American signal crayfish.
If you are interested in growing and growers in Somerset, see http://incredible-edible-somerset.ning.com/ - there is plenty of stuff going on.
MOCK PUMPKIN SOUP
2 onions, swede, carrots, garlic, stock, milk, cream, bayleaf, seasalt, pepper, nutmeg.
Chop onions, sauté. Add chopped swede, carrots, garlic and fry until they start to change colour. Add 600ml stock and 300ml milk, simmer with bayleaf until tender. Remove bay, liquidise. Add salt, pepper, plenty of nutmeg. Serve with cream.
GRILLED APPLE AND CHEESE SANDWICH, serves 2.
2 slices of bread; cheese, 1 sliced apple.
Toast both slices of bread. While waiting, slice apple and cheese. Put cheese on bread, apple on top. Place under grill until cheese is melted and starting to brown.
ENERGY BREAKFAST for one.
Sauté clove of garlic, add large handful of spinach (and squeeze of lemon juice). When the spinach cooks down, make hole, crack egg into it, cover pan, cook to desired consistency. When the yolk has set a little, top with cheddar and pepper. On toast.
BROCCOLI CREAM CHEESE CASSEROLE 300g broccoli, 200g cream cheese, 1 celery, 400ml water, 1 onion, 120g butter, 240g dried breadcrumbs, sunflowerseeds, grated cheese.
Slightly undercook broccoli and celery in salted water. Drain, save water. Mix this with cream cheese. Combine this with broccoli/celery, put in casserole. Saute onion, add crumbs and seeds. Spoon crumb mix over broccoli mix, top with grated cheese. Bake for 30 mins at 160°C.
GREEN and RED SALAD, serves 2-4
Green salad leaves, grated raw beet, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, (chopped red chilli; soft crumbly goat's cheese; toasted pine nuts, walnuts or almonds).
You can keep it simple and mix it all together. Or, to enjoy the contrast in colour, dress the red and the green separately and put the beet on the leaves without mixing.
Nice dotted with goat's cheese and/or toasted nuts.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH HOTCAKES for 2 (if main course)500g butternut squash, de-seeded and sliced thinly, 125ml milk, 30g butter, 1 egg, 115g plain flour, ½ tsp bicarb of soda, ¼ tsp salt, oil, (sour cream).
Cook squash for 10 mins until tender. Mix with milk & butter. Add egg, stir. Add flour, bicarb, salt: stir. Heat oil: cook tablespoonfuls of the mix for 2 mins; little bubbles appear. Cook other side, serve immediately. Very good with sour cream. Leftovers can be gently reheated in a frying pan.
HERBY SWEDE, serves 4 as a side dish.
1 large swede (about 650g), 40g butter, 2 thinly sliced onions, sage, rosemary, stock to cover.
Cut swede into slices as thick as a pound coin. Put slices of swede and onion in pan, season and strew sage and rosemary over. Cover veg with stock, add butter. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the veg are tender enough to crush between your fingers. Serve as a side dish, with some of the juices spooned over.
BEETROOT CAKE
220g grated beetroot, 130g wholemeal flour, 2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 150g softened butter, grated zest of 1 orange, 75g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 60g ground almonds, 150g of dried fruit and nuts.
Cream butter and zest, beat in sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices, fold in. Add fruit, nuts, ground almonds and beet. Spoon into lined tin and bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes.
Next issue: British cheese.
[1] http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/12323-5-brain-nutrients-found-only-in-meat-fish-and-eggs-not-plants.html
[2] Though soy is a bean, unless it has been fermented, don't eat too much of it: www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/jul/25/food.foodanddrink and www.endo-resolved.com/soy.html.
[3]
www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/may/18/uk-pork-deal-china
www.veganhealth.org/
www.zoeharcombe.com/2011/08/the-vegetarian-myth-lierre-keith/
but also www.amazon.com/review/R3M4LC3USB5H3S?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr_rdp_perm
