Not Another Editorial About New Year's Resolutions

Yes, that time of year is upon us again: during the December holidays we were especially good to each other, and on January 1, we resolve to be especially good to ourselves. We'll eat healthier, we'll make our lifestyles more sustainable, we'll be more frugal (the current economic climate leaves us little choice), we'll turn over that new leaf that pops up every year around this time....

Enough already with the resolutions! You've been there, done that, got the bumper sticker, bought the tee-shirt, misplaced the button, and chipped the coffee mug. In two places. Fear not--you can relax, because I'm not going to exact a single pledge from you. After all, you're slogging through the vicissitudes of winter and you've got enough to deal with. Of course, if you try the strategy that I'm about to present and it just happens to be good for you, and supports naturally raised and locally grown foods, and can save you money, and is warm and comforting and tastes delicious to boot, well, that just can't be helped, can it?

So what's the strategy I'm talking about? Sustainable home cooking. And the watchword that connects sustainable home cooking to all of those factors is control. When you prepare your own food rather than dining out or bringing home a ready-to-eat meal...

• You can control the quality of the ingredients that go into your recipes and make healthier choices. Look for food that's organically produced. Now, "organic" is a word that means different things to different people (you can learn more about it on our website), but at the very least it starts you off in the right direction. (You can travel further along the healthy road by reading our reasons to buy sustainable). Frankly, I've never encountered anyone with a chronic craving for pesticides and growth hormones with a side order of antibiotics. No resolution necessary.
• You can control the deliciousness of your food. Try to buy from local sources like farmers markets. Don't know where to find them? Go to Eat Well Guide for a complete listing of suppliers near you. Of course, if you really have a hankering for a tomato that has traveled thousands of miles and is completely devoid of flavor, this one may not apply. But I'll bet that's not you. Again, no resolution necessary.
• You can control costs; you'll unquestionably save money by essaying a little home cooking. Why pay someone to do something you're perfectly capable of doing yourself? Not sure you can cook? Let's discuss.

If you're a complete novice when it comes to cooking, there are recipes galore all over the internet, not to mention right here. As we always say, you can make any recipe sustainable by using local, fresh, sustainably-raised ingredients. Don't try to be too ambitious your first time out; start with something simple like soup, a perfect antidote to winter weather and a pretty foolproof dish to prepare. Unlike baking, which is arguably a science, cooking is an art, and a little more of this or a little less of that or the complete substitution of one ingredient for another doesn't amount to a hill of beans. (Another great ingredient for soup, I might add.)

Now, if kitchen terrain is a road more traveled for you, I'd like to share an idea I cooked up some time ago: the Conceptual Recipe. Let's continue the soup theme, but this time we'll do it with my conceptual recipe. It's not just a recipe for soup; it's a recipe for how to make soup. And it's called:

(Anybody Can Make) Soup

All it takes is time. Remember, all the ingredients are flexible and everything is optional. Except the water.

If you'd like to use any dried ingredients (like dried mushrooms), start soaking them in warm water now. Put a small amount of neutral oil (like canola oil) in a large soup pot. Over medium heat, brown some meaty bones (beef or lamb for example, and a couple of pounds perhaps) in batches. Arrange them so there's only a single layer and each piece has room around it, otherwise they'll steam and not brown. When one side is browned, turn them over. (Don't move them until they're really browned though.) When they're all browned, set them aside.

Next, add lots (a few cups perhaps) of coarsely chopped vegetables and cook until tender letting them pick up all the fond (the brown bits) left behind by the bones and meat in the pot. Which vegetables should you use? Well, what did you find at the farmers market today? How about onion, carrots, parsnips, turnips, celery (or celery leaves), parsley (including the stalk)--you get the idea. When the vegetables are softened, add back the meat bones and enough water to cover well (and then some), scraping up the brown bits. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until meat is tender--this could take hours depending upon how much stuff you've started with. Alternately cover and uncover--the idea is that you want it to keep simmering (covered) and to reduce a bit (uncovered), but not down to nothing. Remember to skim off and discard the protein scum that forms. When meat is tender, remove bones from the pot, break up the meat and reserve. Discard the bones and fish out the vegetables--they've given their all to the soup. (Alternately, you can strain the veggies out, but remember, you're keeping the liquid, not the veggies!) Congratulations, you've just made stock.

Now you're going to turn the stock into soup. Add some vegetables like onion, carrots, parsnips, turnips (no leaves or stems this time) cut into bite-sized chunks and any soaked softened drained vegetables you might have started with. You can also add a handful of some kind of dry starch like barley, pasta, or rice. Continue to cook over medium heat stirring occasionally. Covering the pot will prevent any further reduction. When the starch and veggies are cooked, add back the reserved meat.

Notice that you haven't added any salt to the soup yet. If you did, as the stock reduced, it would be much too salty. Since you're not reducing any more, now is the time to season. Here's one of my secrets: instead of using salt, I like to use a little soup/bouillon base. You've probably seen it in the soup aisle of your local supermarket. I like the product that comes in a small jar; it has a thick consistency and is, in my opinion, superior to regular bouillon cubes. And as a bonus, they have an organic line and a vegetarian line as well! It's salty stuff, but adds another layer of flavor that salt doesn't match. If you can't find it, regular bouillon cubes will do just fine. Use about the same amount that you would use if it were salt (in other words, to taste). If you'd like to, you can add a little heavy cream at the end, again, to taste. Serve with hot crusty bread (something we'll never be able to make from a Conceptual Recipe).

So give it a whirl. And give us an account of your story in The Parlor, Sustainable Table's forum in the Sustainable Home Cooking board. Did you try a recipe for the first time? Did you try the conceptual (Anybody Can Make) Soup recipe? Let us know what you made--and how you made it sustainable--and tell us how it turned out.

Even more important, pass this web page along to just one person--like someone who hasn't begun to take action yet, but doesn't think that wasting money on an unappetizing plateful of chemicals is such a great idea. (That's only common sense, right?) Send them to our website where they can learn more about why cooking with local, sustainable food can be more flavorful, healthy, and economical than they ever wanted to admit.

Oh, and by the way, feel free to keep any resolutions you might have already made. Or just enjoy your soup while you're trying to figure out how you're actually going to keep all those promises.

Have a great 2009!

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