One Secret for Delicious Soup–A Parmesan Cheese Rind

...s. All you do is add them to soup or bean dishes. Add them at the start of cooking, because they need a good long while to soften up and release their flavor goodness. They don’t make the dish taste cheesy, but rather add that elusive umami (rich, savory) character to the dish. I think it would be redundant to use the rind if you are already using meat or bacon fat or the like in your soup, but for vegetable-based dishes, it really adds a nice tou...

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Citified Parched Corn

...ping, high-energy trail food. It can also be ground into flour and used in cooking. I have vague elementary school memories of claims that a warrior* could walk a whole day nourished on just a handful of parched corn. (They did not mention that the warrior might be cranky at the end of the day–which I suspected might be the case. I’ve heard similar claims about Roman soldiers marching on handfuls of barley. Poor guys. But now that I’ve tried parch...

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Saturday Linkages: Bitters, Dogs and Native Plants

...2/we-only-bond-with-complex-landscapes.html … How To Make Homemade Bitters Cooking Lessons from The Kitchn http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-bitters-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-197883 … 100 Years of Dog Breed “Improvement” http://wp.me/p1VSYl-eg Los Angeles Was Once a Forest of Oil Derricks http://southland.gizmodo.com/los-angeles-was-once-a-forest-of-oil-derricks-1469825345 … Full-color handout for plant-based eating. Tips for foo...

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Saturday Linkages: Poison, Pee and Plagiarism

...p://www.nwedible.com/2013/03/how-to-use-pee-in-your-garden.html … Plagiarism Jane Goodall’s Troubling, Plagiarized, Error-Filled New Book, ‘Seeds of Hope’ http://thebea.st/X9k58O ??? Hard times for Marshmallow farmers!: http://youtu.be/h9RfuD1Im4U Vegan Black Metal Chef, A Vegan Cooking Show Like No Other http://laughingsquid.com/vegan-black-metal-chef-a-vegan-cooking-show-like-no-other/ … The Archdruid Report: The Illusion of Invincibility http:/...

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Notes on Mark Bittman’s “Behind the Scenes of What We Eat”

...lready doing– just like us. You’re trying to support local farmers. You’re cooking from scratch and eating whole foods. You’re trying to source ethically raised dairy products and meats. You’re growing some of your own food. All of this is important. Michael Pollan’s advice–Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants— is pretty much the same as Bittman’s recommendations. (I wonder if Pollan and Bittman hang out? Maybe Bittman crashed on Pollan’s sofa du...

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