Leslie Bartosh, CEC, AAC, FMP

Choucroute Garnie A deep dive in the freezer yielded a one-pound piece of pork belly.   This was left over from a demo, on making bacon. Definitely, this was not enough to cure for bacon.   Normally, making bacon is what I do with pork belly. A one-pound piece of pork belly is not enough to justify the time involved in making bacon.   So, I decided to smoke it without it being cured. This decision was facilitated by my having recently finished a new batch of sauerkraut.   Choucroute Garnie came to mind. Normally Choucroute Garnie contains sausages with other cured and smoked meats.   In this case, I did not have any sausage on hand.   But I did have some house made Canadian Bacon. The pork belly was seasoned with my pork rub.   I used apple and mesquite pellets for flavor and lump mesquite charcoal for heat.   The result was delightful! To make the dish, I simmered some of the fresh sauerkraut with white wine and juniper berries.   After about thirty minutes, I added the

Pho with Vegan Eggroll I have been a fan of well-made soups for quite a while.   Soups are an opportunity for a cook to show their skills.   Anyone can deep fry.   Most cooks can grill.   Better ones can saut é to the point.   The best ones can make excellent sauces, soups and braises. Since I am still learning how to cook, I am not sure I belong in the classification of best cooks.   But I have been known to put together a nice soup, every once in a while. The Pho shown in this picture came about because I had a small amount of leftover flank steak that I wanted to use up.   It was not enough to make a meal.   Not enough to freeze for future use.   It was just right for a bowl of Pho! I had some very nice gelatinous chicken stock in the freezer.   The stock served as the starting point for this soup. It was a simple matter of seasoning the stock appropriately and assembling the garnishes.   As much as I enjoy soup, I felt like we needed something crisp for textural cont

  My recalcitrant food calendar managed to cooperate with me last Friday; when this Poke showed up! A nice surprise indeed!  Nice textures, flavors, clean food! #LifeLongLearning #LifeLongTeaching #FamilyFood #Poke #FishyFriday    As always, your questions or comments are welcome. Until next time, Bon Appetit Y'all! Leslie Bartosh

 Making homemade sauerkraut is really quite easy.  Read on to see just how simple it is. Sauerkraut is rooted in food preservation.   That really is what it is.   Green cabbage preserved through the lacto-fermentation process. Traditionally, sauerkraut was made so cabbage could be consumed through the winter time when there were few fresh vegetables available.   Late summer and early fall were the traditional times for sauerkraut to be made. In today’s world, I do not need to preserve food.   But I enjoy doing so.   There is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from eating a food I produced.   And, in the case of sauerkraut, it is also a very healthy food to consume.   It is nutrient dense providing many nutrients with few kcalories; it is a natural source of probiotics, and it is high in fiber. In its simplest form, Sauerkraut is made with only two ingredients:   fresh cabbage and salt.   The cabbage is shredded and mixed with salt. Ideally the cabbage is very fresh