Slow Days: Lamb Stew for Saint Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2023March 30, 2023 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically.

Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the Fast Diet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.

Saint Patrick’s Day is an occasion that demands to be celebrated with special foods. No, not green beer. No, it doesn’t have to be Corned Beef & Cabbage. Look in most common cook books [James Beard, Fannie Farmer, Joy of Cooking, et alia] for ‘Irish Stew’ and you will find that it is made of lamb. Thus lamb, even better, lamb stew is appropriate for March 17th. When young Patrick was enslaved in Ireland, he worked as a shepherd — so there’s another reason to celebrate good Patrick with lamb. Most recipes are really plain and basic: cubed raw lamb, cubed potatoes, sliced onions, water, salt. We tried many of those recipes, and although they are surely authentic, they are just plain DULL.

How happy we were to find this recipe in the book Salute to Healthy Cooking by the French Culinary Institute! We prepare a large batch periodically, and serve it twice a year: on St Patrick’s Day in March and also in December during the run-up to Christmas. Lamb has much symbolic significance to Christians, so serving it during Lent and Advent makes sense to us.

Lamb Stew for two can double or triple!	Need: saute pan + Dutch oven with lid + non-stick pan
½ pound boneless lamb shoulder, cubed cooking spray salt + pepper	Sear lamb cubes on all sides in a heavy pan spritzed with non-stick spray or oil. Cook meat in batches so pan doesn’t cool. Put cooked meat in a Dutch oven, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
½ cup onions, chopped	Put onions in saute pan and cook until tranluscent with enough water to make them sizzle .
1 oz dry red wine	Deglaze pan with wine, stirring up brown bits.
	Heat the oven to 350 F.
¾ tsp white whole wheat flour water ½ Tbsp tomato paste	Sprinkle deglazed pan with flour and stir. Add to lamb in Dutch oven. Add enough cold water to go to top of the lamb but not cover it. Stir in tomato paste.
1 tsp thyme 1 bay leaf	Add herbs. Heat to a simmer over medium heat. Cover casserole and put in oven. Bake 1 hour, making sure stew is not boiling.
¾ c. carrots, cut in 2” batons	Add carrots, cover pan, bake 15 minutes.
½ cup cubed potatoes	Add potatoes, cover pan, bake 45 minutes. Remove bay leaf.
Salt + pepper	Add salt and pepper. Take off heat and cover until vegetables are cooked.
6 pearl onions, trimmed and peeled 1 cup/5 oz turnips, in 2” batons water ½ tsp sugar 1 tsp butter	Put vegetables in a small non-stick pan with sugar and butter. Add enough water to cover the vegetables half-way up. Simmer 10 minutes, uncovered, shaking pan occasionally.
	Plate stew with the glazed vegetables.

Here is the stew in all its glory, served with an individual Soda Bread from Friend Ann.

And while you are doing your Irish thing, the best item to go with Irish Stew is Irish Soda Bread. I usually prepare a batch in the morning, so we can enjoy them for breakfast. Then the remaining ones are served at dinner with the stew. The recipe that I use is based on the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, with a few tweaks.

Makes 12 individual biscuits or 1 large loaf	Preheat oven to 400F. Buttered cookie sheet.
1 cup white flour 1 cup white whole wheat flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 Tbsp sugar 3 Tbsp butter	Cut the ingredients together, using two knives or a pastry blender. Purists would do it with their fingers. Non-purists might blitz this in a food processor.
½ – 1 cup raisins [black or golden] or currants 1 Tbsp caraway seed	Stir these into the dry mixture.
¾ cup buttermilk or soured milk – all of the milk may not be needed, or you might need more	Add milk bit by bit, stiring with a fork, until the dough is moistened and forms a ball.
For 12 individual biscuits	Roll/pat out dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a 2” or 3” round cutter. Use a knife to mark an ‘X’ on top of each.
For one large loaf	Gather the dough into a single ball, and flatten slightly. Use a knife to incise an ‘X’ on the top.
	Bake at 400F 10-15 mins or 20 mins for large loaf

A portion of Irish Stew with a fruited slice of Soda Bread loaf.

Comparing Plans: Mediterranean Diet

February 15, 2023February 14, 2023 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

Dear Husband has decided, since his birthday is tomorrow, that he will shift his eating plan into a higher gear: in addition to Fasting two days each week, he would like the Slow Day meals to be more Mediterranean in nature. What a good idea! This ancient Way of Eating has been studied since the 1950s and causing double-takes for decades — how can they eat all that olive oil and wine and cheese and still be healthy??!?! It is not about what they do eat but what they do not eat: butter, cream, red meat, refined carbohydrates, processed foods, sweets. Is there any benefit to eating like a Mediterranean? Oh yes!! A large, long-term study in the US showed that a Mediterranean Diet lowers cholesterol, helps the body to regulate blood sugar, and reduces damaging inflammation linked to metabolic disease, all while keeping arteries flexible and free from plaque. AND it can promote weight loss. In sum, a Mediterranean Diet, along with other healthy lifestyle choices, seems to reduce early death due to heart issues by 80%. W.O.W. Dr, Michael Mosley, originator of the Fast Diet, highly recommends a Mediterranean Diet for everyone on Slow Days. How similar are the Fast Diet and the Mediterranean Diet? Let’s look at a comparison:

Is this food allowed on this diet…	MEDITERRANEAN	On Fast Days
Fatty Animal protein: beef, lamb, pork	< 3 oz sv.	Small servings
Lean Animal protein: chicken, turkey	3 oz sv	Yes, preferred
Eggs	Up to 7 per week	Yes
Beer, wine, cocktails	Yes to wine	On Slow Days
Oats, barley, quinoa, brown rice, whole-wheat bread/pasta	Yes	in moderation
Nuts + seeds	Yes, 3 sv/week	in moderation
Beans, legumes: peas/kidney beans/lentils/chickpeas	Yes, 3 sv/week	Yes
Seafood protein, especially with Omega-3 fats	3 sv/week	Yes, preferred
Apples, melons, pears, all other fruits	Yes- 3 sv /day	Yes
Berries	Yes	Yes
Leafy green vegetables: spinach, chard, kale, lettuce	Yes	Yes
Dairy: Cheese, milk, yogurt	fat-free preferred	Some
Vegetable oils: olive, canola	preferred sources	in moderation
Animal fat: butter, lard, or margarine substitutes	no	in moderation
Root vegetables: beets, sweet potatoes, carrots	Yes	Yes
Other vegetables: onions, tomatoes, peppers	Yes	Yes
Fat	Only plant-based	No
Protein	seafood-based	Yes. lots
Higher fiber	Yes	Yes
Limit refined Carb intake	Complex carbs only	Complex carbs only
Whole grains	Yes !!	Yes
Simple carbs: cookies, pastries, cake, bread, processed foods	None or very limited amounts	Not on Fast Day
Number of days per week to follow the regimin	7 of 7	2 of 7
Do calories matter?	No	Only 600 on Fast Days

Based on information from the Cleveland Clinic website.

There are many ways to add vegetables to your diet deliciously, such as Zucchini-Feta Fritters for breakfast [or dinner] and Felafel at dinner [or breakfast]. Try making changes to one meal a week, to conform to the new guidelines, then expand your repertoire to other meals.

Zucchini-Feta Fritters & Fruit: 178 calories 5 g fat 3 g fiber 8.4 g protein 31.6 g carbs 208 mg Calcium NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage. PB GF – if using GF flour Savory with the feta, sweet with the melon – a flavor adventure for breakfast.

4 zucchini-feta fritters ** 3 oz watermelon 2 Tbsp plain, fat-free yogurt Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water

Start the fritters the night before to allow the zucchini to drain thoroughly. Using 1.5 Tablespoons per fritter, place the batter on a hot griddle which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Flatten the fritters, and cook on both sides until well browned. Plate with the melon and yogurt. Serve with beverage of choice, noting their calorie count. [Refrigerate the remaining batter until you have time to cook and freeze the remainder.]

**Zucchini-Feta Fritters makes 23-24 each: 34 calories 1.5 g fat 0.3 g fiber 1.5 g protein 3 g carbs 34 mg Calcium PB These are a yummy treat, at breakfast or as a pre-dinner nibble. 1-1/8 pound [18 oz] zucchini salt 1 two-oz egg 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled or diced ¼ cup fresh dill weed OR 2 Tbsp dried 2 Tbsp fresh parsley ¼ c white whole wheat flour ¼ cup self-rising flour Grate the zucchini and put it in a collendar over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and use your fingers to toss the zucchini to distribute the salt. Let sit several hours or overnight. Place the zucchini in a clean bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Combine well. Heat a griddle/large skillet and spray with non-stick spray. TIP: I used a 1.5 Tbsp scoop, but a heaping tablespoon would do as well. Make piles of the batter on the cooking surface, then flatten them, and cook until well-browned on both sides.

Felafel with Vegetable Salsa: 205 calories 5 g fat 7.5 g fiber 9 g protein 26.5 g carbs 139 mg Calcium PB GF The felafel recipe is from Molly Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook. Perfect for any time of year. Felafel is so convenient to have in the freezer for ‘instant’ meals.

6 falefel patties ½ cup diced fresh tomatoes ½ cup diced orange or yellow bell peppers 2 Tbsp red onion, chopped 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine the chopped vegetables with the lemon juice. Let sit while the felafel warms. If frozen, warm the felafel. Plate the felafel and the salad. It’s that easy?!? Yes it is!

FELAFEL: makes 26 patties each patty = 25 calories

2 cups canned chick peas [if you use dried chickpeas, you will get a grainer product. Factor in the time to reconstitute and cook them] 1.5 cloves garlic, crushed [add as much as you enjoy!] ¼ cup celery, minced ¼ c. scallions, sliced 1 egg 1½ tsp tahini ½ t. cumin ½ t. tumeric ¼ t. cayenne ¼ t. black pepper 1.5 t. salt

Combine in food processer until ingredients form a uniform paste. Scoop into a bowl and chill 1 hour. Form into balls on a silicone mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. I used a 1½ Tbsp scoop and then flattened the patties. TIP: You don’t have to bake them now. You could freeze the patties on a cookie sheet, then put them frozen into bags to cook later. Bake at 400F for 10-15 minutes. The patties should be heated through and have an outside ‘crust’ which is firm to the touch. In most recipes, you will cook them further. At this point you want them to be firm enough to store well. There will be about 25 of them. Use now or cool and freeze for later use.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday …………………………… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg + apple or pear	barley flour + white whole wheat flour
Tattie Scone: mashed potatoes	1 egg + plain fat-free yogurt + fat-free milk
egg white + milk	baking soda + baking powder + honey
white whole wheat flour + baking powder	dried fig + grapes or melon
Optional smoothie	deglet noor dates + salt
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday:………………………….. single portion for Thursday:

smoked haddock=finnen haddie	cooked chicken + mushrooms
onion + potato	Brussel sprouts + green beans
butter + milk + bay leaf	Barley pilaf: quick barley + whole wheat orzo
parsley + peas or asparagus	stock + thyme + chives or scallions
Sparkling water	Sparkling water

Slow Days: Greek Pizza

January 13, 2023January 6, 2023 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many discussions on the Fast Diet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.

Every Saturday we enjoy pizza for dinner. Not store-bought, not delivered, but home-made. Mostly, we will prepare the red-sauce-mozzarella type, and we vary the toppings week to week. But once in a while, I suggest a “Greek” pizza. This variety was developed by a Greek immigrant who ran a pizzeria in New London, Connecticut in the 1950s. Since then, Greek Pizza has been popular in New England and eastern New York. Very regional. [I’m not going to get in the middle of which culture really invented pizza — I’d rather just eat it.] My version is based on reading many recipes, taking out the best bits, and putting them together in this recipe.

You will need two whole wheat pizza crusts, each 8″ in diameter. This takes [about 6 ounces of dough for each crust] Pat the crusts out on an oiled baking sheet. Preheat oven to 490F.

Salad Dressing makes 7 Tbsp dressing 1/4 cup virgin olive oil 1.5 Tbsp red wine vinegar 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice large pinch oregano Shake together in a small jar with a lid. Brush each crust with 1 Tbsp of dressing. Save the rest for the salad.

Pizza Topping enough for 2 pizza shells thaw or cook 5 oz spinach. Squeeze it in your hands to expel extra liquid. 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella 1/2 tsp garlic powder pinch ground nutmeg pinch crushed red pepper. Toss lightly to combine, and divide between the pizzas.

8″ dough rounds, brushed with salad dressing

Garnish for each pie: 3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled 3 black olives, pitted and cut in half or quartered 2-3 cherry tomatoes, halved

Bake at 490F for 4 minutes on an oiled baking sheet on the upper of two oven racks. After the first part of baking, remove the pizzas from the baking sheet and move them to the bottom rack with no pan under them. This bakes the bottom of the pizza nicely. Bake 3-4 minutes longer, until the cheeses melt. Serve with a salad of greens which are tossed with the same salad dressing above. Try this pizza some time — I think you will enjoy it.

Slow Days: Peach Wine DIY, Bottling

January 3, 2023December 31, 2022 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day ? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the Fast Diet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.

Bet you thought I’d forgotten about that peach wine that we started a year ago! Mine has taken a l-o-n-g time to clear and maybe your’s did too. We have to wait until all the particles — the ‘lees’ — have settled, lest the wine be cloudy. This can take anywhere from 5 months to more than a year! It does not harm the wine to wait that long. You might have seen these words on a bottle of grape wine: ‘aged on the lees for 12 months’ or ‘sur lie.’ That is the wine-maker telling you that he/she left the wine in a barrel, settling, and in contact with the lees, for a long time. Some say that this adds more flavor to the wine. There is a quicker way to settle the lees, and that is by adding a chemical substance with various trade names. For me, the fewer chemicals I add to the wine, the better.

Equipment: several large [4-6 cup capacity] jars with lids. 5 wine bottles. 1 Liter measuring cup or equivalent. 5-7 corks, size #9. jar large enough to hold all the corks. Camden Solution. sugar + water hydrometer and cylinder. corking device.

Let’s get down to bottling now that the wine is crystal clear. First, we decant the wine off the lees. I like to sterilize [with Camden Solution, remember?] large jars, holding 4-6 cups, and pour the wine off the lees into the jars. Have a few jars available so you can pour from the fermenting bottle without stopping. If you pour some wine out, then put the bottle down, some of the lees will kick up and cloud the wine again. Cloudy wine at the bottom can be poured into an appropriately sized bottle and topped with an air lock. It will settle again, yielding some more wine in a month or two. The remaining lees can be poured down the sink. Wash 5 wine bottles and give them a sterilizing rinse.

Next, prepare a Simple Syrup. That’s 1/2 cup of granulated white sugar dissolved in a 1/2 cup of water — heating gently will help to dissolve the sugar. Pour boiling water in to a jar and add 5 corks. The corks will float so to submerge them fully, I put a smaller diameter jar on top of them to hold them down. Soak the corks for 10 minutes — not longer. After 10 minutes, drain the corks and keep covered.

Simple Syrup before the sugar all dissolves.

You now need the hydrometer and the cylinder that goes with it. Sterilize them both. Take a good look at the hydrometer. See the line labeled 1.000? If you take the Specific Gravity [SG] of the wine and it floats at the 1.000 line [or closer to the 0.990 mark], then all the sugar that you initially put into the mixture has ‘fermented out’ and turned to alcohol. This produces a very dry wine, but with less flavor. Taste it and see how you like it. If you love it, go ahead and bottle it as is.

Here is the initial reading I took from my Peach Wine: ~0.904 Too dry. If, like me, you want to make a less dry wine, then you will want to add some of the Simple Syrup. Sterilize a 1 Liter measuring cup and pour 750 ml wine into it. Add a little bit — 1 Tablespoon? — of the syrup and pour the wine into the cylinder and test it again. Taste as you go — in little sips! If you get tipsy at this point, your judgement and small-motor skills will be impaired!

If you expect me to give you exact amounts, dream on — this is the ‘art’ of wine-making. Continue to taste and pour and test until it suits you. This time [it varies from batch to batch], the SG that tasted good to me was between the ’10’ and the ’20’ — about 1.015. When you find an SG level that appeals your taste, bottle it. To do that, pour the contents of the 1 Liter measuring cup into the clean bottle until the wine level is just a little way up the neck — 2- 3″ below the top of the bottle. The empty space between the bottom of the cork and the top of the wine is called “ullage.” Continue to adjust the SG for each bottle of wine and to fill the bottles to a good ullage. IMPORTANT: Since you have added more sugar, there is the risk that the sugar will start fermentation again. Then pressure builds up in the bottle and the cork explodes out of the bottle! You do not want your wine to go to waste, so add either 1/2 or a full Camden tablet to each bottle to stabilize it. This adds a little Sulfite to the wine which kills the bacteria.

Now you can cork the bottles. Take a cork [I use #9] and dip one end into Camden solution. Put that end into the corker [pictured above, center] and push it down to the lower end of the tube. Place the bottles on a surface lower than a counter: on the door of an open oven or the door of an open dishwasher or into a sink or on the floor. Stand near and above the bottle so you can get good leverage. Put the corker on the mouth of the bottle and, while keeping the corker upright, push down on the handles to move the cork into the bottle. Takes some getting used to… Put a label on the bottle [there are websites for that], telling the type of wine and the date of bottling.

And now you have a country wine of your own making. Resist the urge to drink a bottle tonight. The wine will improve if you ‘lay it down’ [put it on its side in a cool, dark place] for a month or so. Then you can cook with it or drink it with meals. Dear Husband, who knows a bit about wine, suggests that country wines are better chilled. Remember that the recommended amount of daily wine for women is 5 oz and for men it is 8 oz. Be responsible with alcohol — your health depends on it.

Slow Days: My Grandmother’s Christmas Cookies

December 16, 2022December 7, 2022 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

My father’s mother was not a good cook. No surprise there. Born in 1884, she was raised to know how to run a household, not to do the cooking and cleaning. In fact, one of the stipulations that my great-grandfather made when my grandfather asked for her hand, was that the wedding would be delayed until such time as the prospective groom had a sufficient income to hire domestic help. Once I asked my father what his family would eat when it was cook’s night off. He replied that his mother would open a can of ravioli and that was dinner. One of my grandmother’s two signature recipes was for the cookies that she made at Christmas. We would drive through the night from Connecticut to Pennsylvania to arrive before Christmas morning, and my grandmother would greet us with the cookies that she had just taken from the oven. They were cut-out cookies, misshapen and often a bit burned, but my father loved them. My sister and I never understood that when we were children, but now I get it. My mother, a great baker of cookies, asked for the recipe and here it is in the original: “Lard, Molasses, Cinnamon, and enough Flour.” My grandmother’s devotion to those cookies tells me that the recipe was from her beloved mother, who no doubt had it from her mother: Agnes Waugh Greason, 1811-1885. My grandmother called the cookies “Ginger Snaps” although there is no ginger in them. My mother called them “Greason Cut-outs” in honor of the Greason Family. Ancestor William Greason/Grayson settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1775, and married Agnes Waugh, 1756-1855. Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna River was the frontier at that time, and supplies were scarce. The lard was from your own pig; molasses was obtained by barter [cane sugar was unavailable]; flour was milled locally; cinnamon was a precious commodity. When you encounter a recipe with such ingredients, you know it is an old one, from a time of perilous scarcity. Now I bake these cookies every December. At first, Dear Husband would not eat them. Lard? ick! But once he found that the recipe had such a long family history, he has taken to them and even finds them to be good to eat..

Simple ingredients tell you that it is a recipe from the early 1800s.

Original recipe	Scaled down recipe	Preheat oven to 325F.
1 cup lard 2 cups molasses 2 tsp cinnamon	1/3 cup lard 2/3 cup molasses 2/3 tsp cinnamon	Mix together, either by creaming by hand or by using an electric mixing device.
‘as much flour as necessary to make a soft dough rollable’	1 cup white whole wheat flour*	Stir in the flour thoroughly.
	Cinnamon red-hots	Roll out in batches on a floured surface to around ¼” thickness. Cut in your preferred shape. I use a Moravian Star** and press a red-hot into the center of each one.
		Bake on parchment paper until firm to the touch, 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the pan. These cookies store well, as a ‘frontier’ cookie would need to do.

*I use white whole wheat flour because I think it is more like flour that would have been available in 1840. **The Moravians are a common religious group in eastern Pennsylvania, so I think that their many-pointed Christmas star is an appropriate cookie shape. If you want a Christmas Cookie with a history, try these.

Religions: Mithraism

December 7, 2022December 6, 2022 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

The Roman Empire left a big imprint on Europe and many of its influences lingered after the Empire fell. Think: Romance Languages. But its religions did not remain, having been supplanted by Christianity. Many of us are familiar with the deities of their official religion, since the planets bear their names. Few are familiar with a secret cult which flourished among the Roman military and merchants who dealt with the far-flung army. It was the Cult of Mithras and from 100-300 CE, it gave Christianity a run for its money. Although Mithras is mentioned in Persian texts many thousands of years age, his Roman following sprang into existence only in the late 1st century CE. Mithras was a young, clean-shaven, free man who was born from a rock. [why? how? when? who knows] He is friends with Sol, the invincible Sun god. For some reason I can’t explain, Mithras, with the approval of Sol, hunts and kills the Bull, symbol of fertility and vitality. Mithras and Sol then eat the flesh of the Bull and drink its blood. This paves the way for rebirth and renewal and resurrection. The Cult of Mithras was a secret society from which there are no written records. Their temples were built in caves or under-ground, to promote mystery and secrecy in dark places. Every temple had a sculpture or painting of Mithras killing the Bull over the altar. What little we know of their religion involves a baptism [in water? in blood?] to mark the start of a new life; a ritual of pretending to die and then come to life again [perhaps going under-ground then reemerging was symbolic of that]; and a shared communion of wine and food. The religion was monotheistic, unusual in pantheistic Rome, and Mithras’ birthday was December 25th. Perhaps the ‘date’ of Christmas was said to be December 25 [even though it wasn’t] to take the day away from Mithras’ followers. Indeed, many scholars see so many similarities between the two religions that one might think that the Cult of Mithras was established to counter Christianity. Dr Martin Luther King, while at theological school, wrote a paper on the influences of the two religions on each other. The Mithras Cult was a secret males-only society, like a men’s fraternal lodge, and it thrived for several centuries — until it didn’t. Being a member of ‘the in-crowd’ surely attracted members, but that exclusivity also probably killed it. Christianity spoke of resurrection too, but for everyone — not just the few. As the power of the Roman Empire faded, the soldiers left the outposts of service, and the Cult of Mithras dwindled and died, not to be revived.

Eating meat in ritual meals was a big part of the Cult of Mithras. Excavations of temples reveal a variety of bones from the feasts, including rabbit, game birds, and pig. Our breakfast is about the rabbit that got away, causing the hunter to make a cheese meal instead. Our dinner contains meat from the sacrificial bovine itself, cooked in a pie with mushrooms. Of the four Mithraic sites in the UK, one is in Wales, one is in London, and three are on Hadrian’s Wall. These meals are very British.

Welsh Rabbit ScrOmelette: 152 calories 9.5 g fat 0.6 g fiber 11.4 g protein 3.4 g carbs 97.5 mg Calcium NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF The origional version of this recipe is served in Old Williamsburg, Virginia at Chowning’s Tavern. We love it for a homey supper, just as people did in Colonial Days and here are the same flavors in breakfast form.

1½ two-oz eggs HINT: If you are serving one person, crack three 2-oz eggs into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Whip up those eggs and pour half of their volume into a jar with a lid to store in the ‘fridge for next week. ¼ oz Cheddar cheese ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce ½ tsp dry mustard 1 oz pear or strawberries Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Grate the cheese and stir in the Worcestershire and mustard. Spritz a fry pan with olive oil or non-stick spray and heat over meduim. Whisk and pour in the eggs. Add the cheese mixture and scramble or let cook then fold as an omelette. Prep the fruit and the beverages and ponder the rebellious days of Colonial America.

Steak & Mushroom Pie: 277 calories 5 g fat 7 g fiber 27 g protein 25.6 g carbs 34 mg Calcium Two very compatible flavors together again, topped [not encased] in puff pastry. Similar to a meal enjoyed at The Sign of the Angel in Lacock, Wiltshire, England. A real treat. HINT: recipe serves 2 [TWO], photo shows one serving.

4 oz grilled sirloin steak [leftover from a previous meal, perhaps] 1.5 cups mushrooms 1 Tbsp red wine ¼ cup creamed onions ½ tsp thyme + salt & pepper to taste 1/6 sheet puff pastry [Pepperidge Farm, frozen sheets are easy to find and use] per person: 1/3 cup peas

Thaw the frozen puff pastry for 40 minutes on the counter. Rewrap and return one sheet to freezer. Remove one of the sheets, unroll it carefully, and cut the sheet into 6 squares. [TIP: stack the remaining 5 pieces with waxed paper or cling wrap between the layers. Pop into a zipper bag and freeze for later use.] Cut the steak into ½”-1” cubes. Combine the meat with the mushrooms, wine, onions, seasonings in an oven-proof dish just large enough to hold the meat mixture yet large enough to be topped with the puff pastry. Heat the meat mixture until it is warm. Lay the puff pastry on top, decoratively slitting the crust. Bake at 400 F. about 15 minutes, until the crust is well-browned. Cook the peas and imagine that you are dining in an English country restaurant.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday …………………………… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg + Parmesan cheese	2 two-oz eggs
70-calorie whole-grain bread	milk + sugar
half & half [blend cream]	white whole wheat flour
apple or strawberries	sweet cherries + clementine
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday:………………………….. single portion for Thursday:

pork shoulder + garlic	slices of cooked roast beef
onion + red wine + olive oil	rounds of pickled beets
zucchini + bell pepper	Dijon mustard+ shallot
Mongol bread or other 86 calorie flatbread.	red wine vinegar + olive oil
Sparkling water	Sparkling water

Slow Days: Ossobuco

November 25, 2022November 17, 2022 ~ me ~ 1 Comment

Italian cuisine runs the gamut from plain to complex, from North to South, from pasta dishes to pasta-less dishes. In the North, the Piedmont Region has foods that one never finds in the southern part of the country: beef in plenty, cheese from water buffaloes, rice, butter, corn, and fewer tomatoes. One famous dish from Milano in the Piedmont is Ossobuco. The word means ‘bone with a mouth’ since the meat in the meal is slices of veal shank with a hollow bone in the center — the bone with a mouth. As we get into the cooler weather and past Saint Martin’s Day [when the farm animals were slaughtered], our thoughts turn to eating rich, flavorful stews or heavier pasta dishes. Enter Ossobuco. Perhaps the most difficult part of the recipe is finding the veal, since veal has justly fallen into disrepute due to the sad way that the veal calves have been raised. Our veal comes from D’artagnan, an online source of many meats, and it is raised humanely in France. That solved, preparing Ossobuco is not a complex process. Our recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazen’s excellent Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

We make a large batch so we will have leftovers. Four veal shanks will serve many using this recipe

6-8 Servings	Large covered Dutch oven or 16” cast iron pan with cover.Preheat oven to 350F
1 Tbsp vegetable oil + 1 Tbsp oil 4 veal shank slices, each 1½” thick white whole wheat flour, pepper, salt	Heat oil in casserole over medium high heat until quite hot. Dry meat with paper towels and dredge in seasoned flour. Cook meat on both sides until ‘deeply browned.’ Depending on size of the casserole, you might do this in stages. Add more oil as needed. Put meat aside on a plate.

The wine is simmering and the brown bits are being scraped off the pan.

½ cup dry white wine	Add wine, cook down by half while scraping up brown bits. Pour it off and save it.
1 Tbsp butter ½ c onion, chopped finely ½ c celery, chopped finely ½ c carrot, chopped finely	Put butter into casserole over medium heat on stove top. When melted, add vegetables. Cook, stirring a bit, 6-7 minutes to form the soffritto. In Italy, they call it soffritto, in France it is mirepoix.
1 tsp garlic, finely chopped 1 strip of lemon peel, no white pith	Add these, cook and stir ~1 minute, until vegetables are wilted but not brown.
	Put veal atop the soffritto, laying the pieces flat if possible, or overlapping them slightly.

Ready for the oven, all ingredients in the pot.

½-1 cup homemade meat broth 1 c canned Italian plum tomatoes with juice 3-4 sprigs of thyme 2-3 sprigs parsley, chopped 2 bay leaves freshly ground pepper + salt	Chop tomatoes and parsley. Put all of these into the casserole, along with remaining deglazing liquid. Liquids should come up to top of the veal slices, but not cover them. Bring to a simmer and cover. Put casserole in the heated oven and set a timer for 2 hours.
	Every 20 mins, check the cassserole. Turn and baste shanks, adding more liquid, 2 Tbsp at a time, if needed.
	When meat is very tender, take casserole from oven. Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs. If sauce is too thin, cook it down on the stove-top.
	Now for the heresy! Remove meat shanks and slice meat, saving the marrow bone. Add slices back to the sauce, stirring them in. Nestle marrow bones in the center of the pot, standing on end.

For a vegetable course, we prepared an antipasto plate of vegetables marinated in Italian Vinaigrette. For bread, no-knead focaccia, sliced for ease of serving.

Fresh, hand-cut pasta, 5 oz per person drizzle olive oil	Cook pasta 1-3 minutes until al dente. Drain, adding some water to sauce. Drizzle pasta with a bit of oil.
focaccia	Present casserole and pasta separately, allowing diners to serve themselves and to take one of the marrow bones if they like. Serve with slices of focaccia loaf.

One could serve risotto or polenta, to be in keeping with Northern Italian cuisine, but we opted for fresh pasta which is more typical in the North than the South. For dessert, panna cotta with fruit coulis.

Slow Days: Cranberry Corn Sticks

November 4, 2022November 1, 2022 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

Autumn in New England means foliage in stunning colors, apple cider, the last of the sweet corn, apples, cranberries, and Thanksgving. In our family, Thanksgiving is not just a feast on a particular day, rather it is an unfolding process of celebrating local foods. Cornmeal was introduced to the early European settlers here [the Puritans at Plymouth, Massachusetts] by the First Nations people who had grown corn for centuries. Dried, it could last the winter, providing vitamins and carbohydrates all year long. The Puritans thought they would be growing wheat, but the climate was unsuitable. Cornmeal filled in for flour in many foods of the era. In old recipes, the word “Indian” in the title [Indian Pudding, Indian Bread] meant that the dish contained cornmeal. Cornbread caught on all over the Eastern seaboard and people now tend to think of it as a Southern thing, despite its deep roots in New England. For breakfast on Thanksgiving, we get out the old corn-stick molds for a history-soaked breakfast. These cast-iron pans allow you to bake corn-bread in the shape of little corn cobs. Mine were from my mother’s kitchen, though I don’t remember her ever using them. The design goes back to 1919, so I guess they were my grandmother’s pans. Bottom Line: corn bread + cranberries + cute cast-iron pans = Fun Fall Breakfast.

Here are two recipes that I have used, Fannie Farmer and Hayden Pearson, both as New England as you can get:

Corn Bread by Fannie Farmer	8×8” baking pan or cast-iron cornstick pans. Preheat oven to 375F
¾ c cornmeal ½ c white whole wheat flour ½ cup white flour ¼ cup sugar 3 Tsp baking powder ¾ tsp salt	Sift together into a large bowl.
1 cup milk 1 egg, well beaten 4 Tbsp butter, melted	Add these to dry ingredients and mix well.
	For Corn Sticks, one 7-stick pan is filled using 1 cup batter. The pan must be greased in all its crannies with melted butter. For Corn Bread, butter the baking pan.
½ – ¾ cup cranberries	After batter is in the pan, poke cranberries into the Corn Sticks, using 4-5 per Corn Stick. For Corn Bread, sprinkle the berries on top and gently swirl them into the batter.
	Bake 15 minutes for Corn Sticks; 25 minutes for Corn Bread.Since I have left-over batter from the Corn Sticks, I bake it and use it in the turkey stuffing.

Sunny Acres Corn Bread by Hayden Pearson	8×8” baking pan or cast-iron Corn Stick pans. Preheat oven to 425F
¾ cup yellow corn meal 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour 2/3 cup white flour 3 ¼ tsp baking powder ¾ tsp salt 1/3 c white sugar ¼ tsp allspice	Sift these into a large bowl.
2 eggs, beaten 1 stick/8 Tbsp butter, melted ¼ c milk 1 Tbsp brown sugar	Add these to dry ingredients and mix well.
	For Corn Sticks, one 7-stick pan is filled using 1 cup batter. The pan must be greased in all its crannies with melted butter. For Corn Bread, butter the baking pan.
½ – ¾ cup cranberries	After batter is in the pan, poke cranberries into the Corn Sticks, using 4-5 per Corn Stick. For Corn Bread, sprinkle the berries on top and gently stir them into the batter.
	Bake 15 minutes for Corn Sticks; 25 minutes for Corn Bread. Since I have left-over batter from the Corn Sticks, I bake it and use it in the turkey stuffing.

Vermeer

October 30, 2022October 27, 2022 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

The Dutch Baroque style of painting was quite different from the Italian Baroque of Caravaggio. In both, light is a key factor — light contrasting with shadows to lead the eye into the painting and to guide the viewer to certain points. But while Caravaggio was all about sensuality and dramatic violence, the Dutch artists were about light: the clear, luminous, low-humidity light of Northern Europe. Johannes Vermeer was a painter in Delft: born, raised, and baptized in that city on 31 October, 1632. He appears to have been self-taught, although perhaps influenced by friends of his father who was an art dealer. Vermeer began to paint and he specialized in ‘interiors’ — people [mostly women] in rooms, doing ordinary things. The rooms are drenched in light from a window on the viewer’s left, making the colors of clothing and carpets glow, and bringing a sense of calm. He used expensive pigments and worked very slowly. Vermeer’s paintings have a clarity and perfection that makes them almost photographic. Indeed, in modern times, there has been much debate about whether he was merely ‘copying’ what he saw through a camera obscura — a viewing device that projects scenes onto a surface. For more about whether and how Vermeer used optical aids to create his art, give some time to the fascinating film Tim’s Vermeer, in which an inventor tries to duplicate The Music Lesson. However he did it, Vermeer produced some beautiful paintings, most of which were purchased by a single patron in Delft. When he died precipitously in 1675, his wife had difficulty paying his debts, and his work was forgotten. In the mid-1800s, he was rediscovered by a French art critic who wrote copiously of Vermeer and his 80+ works. There is no way that Vermeer painted that much in the 20 years that he was active! In the 1920s-30s, “newly discovered Vermeers” were coming out of the woodwork: forgeries all. He is one of the most forged and mis-attributed artists of all time, some forgeries fooling Nazi art hoarders. Now, around 34 works are said to be by Vermeer, and each one is a cherished peek into life in 17th century Delft. Which one is your favorite?

A Flemish breakfast and a simple supper for an artist who was not a financial success during his lifetime.

Holiday-After Breakfast: 139 calories 6 g fat 0.6 g fiber 14 g protein 6.4 g carb 37 mg Calcium NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF The boiled egg and meat are typical of a Flemish breakfast that Vermeer would have known. I named it ‘Holiday-after’ as it employs a few left-overs from a feasting table, such as Easter as seen below.

1 two-oz egg, hardboiled 1.5 oz ham OR beef OR turkey 1.5 oz pineapple OR ¼ cup mixed berries Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water

Warm the meat or not. Cut the fruit in bite-sized pieces. Plate the meat, egg, and fruit. Brew your beverages of choice. Sit down and relax with your easy anytime breakfast.

Fish Cakes: 212 calories 4 g fat 5 g fiber 9.6 g protein 34 g carbs 52 mg Calcium [food values for dinner using ONE 1/3 cup-size cake and side dishes.] PB GF This recipe is from Legal Seafood Cookbook, from the restaurant chain in Boston, Mass. Fish cakes have been popular where ever there are folk who want a little fish to go a long way.

NB: The Fish Cake recipe can produce 6 cakes, each 1/3 cup in size. Each cake = 92 calories 1.7 g fat 1 g fiber 8 g protein 12 g carbs 22 mg Calcium NB: The Fish Cake recipe can produce 8 cakes, each 1/4 cup in size. Each cake = 69 calories 1.3 g fat 0.6 g fiber 5 g protein 9 g carbs 16 mg Calcium

1/3 cup green or white onion, chopped 1-2/3 cup mashed potatoes [no milk, no butter] ¼ tsp dry mustard + salt + pepper 1 two-oz egg 2 Tbsp milk 6 oz cooked fish [cod, haddock, salt cod, salmon or a mixture], flaked into small pieces 1 tsp butter ½ cup pickled beets 1 cup baby greens or sliced lettuce leaves cherry tomato ½ tsp olive oil + ½ tsp vinegar + salt + pepper

Combine the onion, potatoes, egg, seasonings, and milk, stirring. Stir in the fish, gently but thoroughly. Using a 1/3 cup measure as a mold, portion the fish/potato mixture into 6 cakes. Put on a plate or cookie sheet while the pan heats up. Heat a heavy fry pan, such as cast iron, and spray with non-stick spray. Cook the fish cakes on one side, flattening them slightly with a turner. Remove from the pan and add 1 tsp of butter to the pan. Spread the butter around, return the fish cakes, and cook them on the other side until they are browned. Serve while hot. What you don’t eat today, let cool completely, then freeze with waxed or parchment paper between the cakes.

Slow Days: Corn Fritter Breakfast

October 14, 2022October 13, 2022 ~ me ~ Leave a comment

Fresh corn is a food that comes but once a year, and that is in late Summer. True, supermarkets will offer corn on the cob in May, but they have to bring it in from far away. To get the full effect, you must get your corn locally and in season. After you cook up a batch for dinner-time feasting along with burgers or grilled chicken, cut the cooked kernels off the remaining ears and turn them into Corn Fritters. Southerners would insist that a fritter must be deep-fat fried, but in New Hampshire, a griddle works very well and is easier. Here in Northern New England, these delights are served many ways: as a savory side dish, if chopped chives or scallions are added; as a cocktail nibble when prepared as tiny rounds; as a first course at dinner, with maple syrup [Yes, seriously. Children swoon at this]; as a dessert, with maple syrup; and at breakfast, with maple syrup. Can you tell that we like our fritters? Here are two recipes to try:

Fannie Farmer Cookbook	makes ten 4” diameter fritters
1 cup corn kernels, drained if canned 1 egg yolk	Stir together.
½ cup + 2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt pinch of paprika	Sift or stir together with a fork.Add to the corn/yolk.
1 egg white	Beat until stiff and fold into the corn/flour mixture.
Pan greased with bacon fat.	For each fritter, pour 3 Tbsp batter into the hot pan. Don’t let it spread too widely. You should get 2 or 3 into a 10” pan or use a larger griddle. Cook a few minutes until bottom is set and brown.
	Flip and cook a little longer.
Maple syrup	Serve hot with maple syrup.

For a complete breakfast, I cooked up some back bacon and wrapped it around slices of sweet, ripe melon. Here are those fritters, waiting for the maple syrup!

thekitchn.com	7 three-inch fritters
1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour 1 Tbsp fine yellow cornmeal 1.5 tsp granulated sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper	Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cayenne pepper together in a large bowl.
1.5 c. corn kernels 1 Tbsp New Mexico green/red chiles 1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives	Seed and mince the jalapeno, if using. Toss these with dry ingredients until the vegetables are coated.
1/4 c. whole milk 1 large egg	Mix together in a measuring cup until incorporated, then pour into flour-corn. Stir until all flour is moistened. Batter will be quite thick, but do not overmix. Let sit.
Wipe pan with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil OR spray with cooking spray	Heat oil into a large cast iron skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Drop 1/4-cup portions of batter evenly around pan and flatten each slightly. Cook until golden-brown on the bottom, 2-3 mins.
	Flip cakes and cook until puffed, brown and cooked through, 2-3 mins more. If using frozen corn kernels, they may need 1-2 minutes more cook time per side.
	Remove fritters to a towel-lined basket. Keep making fritters with remaining batter.
Maple syrup	Plate fritters, serve warm or at room temperature.

	Leslie on Slow Days: Ossobuco
	Leslie MacGregor on Slow Days: Aunt Ethel’s…
	me on Camargue
	Gordon Allen on Camargue
	me on Comparing Plans: Plant-Based…

Eating well, with creative recipes, to follow the Fasting Lifestyle according to Michael Mosley's "Fast Diet."

Join me in following the Fasting Lifestyle, with recipes & tips

Following the Fast Diet Lifestyle

Slow Days: Lamb Stew for Saint Patrick’s Day

Comparing Plans: Mediterranean Diet

Slow Days: Greek Pizza

Slow Days: Peach Wine DIY, Bottling

Slow Days: My Grandmother’s Christmas Cookies

Religions: Mithraism

Slow Days: Ossobuco

Slow Days: Cranberry Corn Sticks

Vermeer

Slow Days: Corn Fritter Breakfast

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: