Monday, December 20, 2010

Whole Chicken on the BBQ, the meal that keeps on giving

Throwing a whole chicken on the BBQ can be a wonderful thing if done right, though there is no ONE right way to cook a bird. I have been experimenting with some different methods and have found what I think works the best. The single most important factor here, is the bird you choose. There truly is a world of difference in flavor between the common industrial bird and an organic/sustainable family farmed bird, who lived on a balanced diet and can roam freely, eat bugs, feel the sun on it's back and do other...chickeny things. What the bird eats, how it lives, how healthy and happy it is during its life will determine how much nutrition you get out of it and how good it tastes.

I recently had the pleasure of picking up a Bauer Family Farms bird from the Whole Foods store in San Mateo. The cool thing about Whole Foods is they tell you where the animal is from so that you can check it out for yourself. The label card said it was Organic, Local and Free Range, all the things I was looking for. So, 12 bucks later I was out the door and ready to get this bird cooking. I BBQed it over some mesquite hardwood natural coals (recipe below) and it was perfect. Now I really can't take credit for how good it tasted because I didn't do much to it. Normally I would buy a chicken a day in advance so that I could brine it and then leave it  in the fridge for a night, so that the skin gets dry and cooks up crispy. I didn't have time for any of that, so I just looked around at what I had, stuffed it with some fruit, vegetables and butter and got it on the grill. The chicken just tasted good by itself. If I had done nothing to it, I am convinced that this particular bird would have been just as juicy and tasted just as chickeny (which should be a new word included in the dictionary, because it is the only way to describe the taste difference between a bird of this caliber and an industrial one).

Well, after enjoying it so much, I used the bones a second time to make a broth, which I then turned into an amazing Split Pea Soup, which is why I call it the meal that keeps on giving.

I looked up the Bauer Family Farms website and gave them a ring to compliment them on their animal. Turns out the phone number on their website is just their family home phone number. I was greeted with "Hello?" to which I replied,
"Uh, is this the Bauer Family Farms?"

"Yeah, this is Mitchell Bauer. What can I do for you?"

A good sign from the outset, no corporate phone tree, no mumbo jumbo and most importantly, no flim flam, just a real family farm.

Mitchell spoke very generously with me for about 30 minutes. He didn't think it strange at all that I called and actually seemed very excited and proud to speak about his family's farming practices. He told me how his grandfather has started the farm in 1952 in Snelling, CA. He told me how they had been a turkey ranch, up until 2006, when they decided to go all organic. They got a deal with Central Coast Farms to distribute their birds to Whole Foods. They took the deal and have been organic chicken farmers ever since. He explained to me how his Grandfather (who still walks the ranch a few times a week) thought it was funny when they switched to all organic. His Grandpa said that it was like they were just going back to the old way of doing things, before all the pesticides and antibiotics were introduced and he welcomed the positive change. Nowadays they use ladybugs to ward off pests and pull weeds manually. 

Mitchell went on to tell me how their chickens live in a building about the size of a football field and a half and the area that they have free access to outside is even bigger. Outside the chickens have mini shelters to hide from the sun if they want, hay bales to pick at, grass to snip at and plenty of bugs to nibble on. They feed them an all vegetarian diet of whole grains, corn and oregano. He told me how oregano is one of the reasons they don't have to use antibiotics, because it keeps the birds so healthy, in conjunction with their otherwise healthy lifestyle. They also grow almonds, strawberries and a whole lot of other produce. He invited me to bring my kids up in the spring and see the farm first hand (which I will be doing). He said that would be the best time to visit because we could see the young chicks and taste, what he made sound like, the best strawberries in California. He thanked me for my call and said he hoped to see me come up and visit.

Now can you imagine this level of transparency and customer service from Tyson foods or Foster Farms? No. Not a chance. That is because those big industrial companies are afraid of what he public would think if we could see inside of their buildings. The secret to good cooking is good ingredients, plain and simple. Here is what I did with that succulent bird.

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole organic/free range local chicken.
Olive oil.
1 stick of butter, sliced up in pats.
1 leek, chopped.
1/2 apple (I used a Gravestein but you can use whatever suits you).
2 cloves of garlic, minced.
Salt and Pepper

TO BASTE:

1/2 stick of melted butter.
1 lemon.
A few splashes of white wine.
1 Tbsp. of chopped dill.
1 pinch of dried Thyme.

DIRECTIONS:

None of this is set in stone, nor was it planned out before hand. This is just one example of a way to do it. The process is what will always be similar, but the ingredients will change based on whatever is in season at the time, and whatever I happen to have in the house at the time. Like I mentioned before, I normally brine and then dry out the skin of a chicken before I BBQ it, but I am starting to think that if you get a tasty, healthy chicken, then those steps may actually be a detriment to the finished product as you are really just filling the bird with water, making it "juicier" seeming, though not necessarily tastier. Leaving the Chicken out on a raised cooling rack in the fridge overnight still might be worth doing, but only if you are planning on eating the skin, which I normally don't.

I get the coals hot and then spread them out. I then spread a second layer of coals on top of the first. Wait until the second batch catches and then I cover it up and bring the heat down by closing up the vents until they just have a crack of air going in.

Chop up the ingredients and shove them inside the bird. Reserve some of it to cram under the skin of the chicken as much as you can. All of the butter gets shoved under the skin so that it will melt and leak all over the bird as it cooks. Make sure you get a lot of the chopped leaks under the skin. It will create some space between the skin and the flesh. Salt and pepper the skin. Do not rub oil or butter on the outside of the skin, we will do that at the end.

Place the chicken on the hot rack of the bbq and cover it up. I put the breast up first. Let it cook for about 30 minutes undisturbed. You can check it every now and then to make sure the skin is not burning, but once you know where to set the vents and control the heat, you won't need to check it. Flip the bird and cook it  for another 20 minutes on the breast side. Take the cover off the bbq and the coals will start to heat up again. Brush on the butter/wine/dill/thyme mixture and flip the bird over with some long tongs. Brush the other side and repeat the flipping and brushing until all the sauce is gone. Pull it off and let it rest for a few minutes before carving it up.

Enjoy with a glass of your favorite wine and some fresh or roasted vegetables on the side.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Vegan Challenge

I recently challenged myself to eat as a vegan for a week straight. I wrote down my daily menu and my thoughts about the end of each day. Overall the experience was worth the experiment. The extra energy I had during the week was almost enough to convince me to put down the steak and milk forever, but not quite. I have certainly reduced my meat and dairy intake since the week and I plan on eating more and more plant food. 

I love meat, and I love dairy, and I still  know they are nutritious. It is also worth noting, that while I experienced more energy throughout the week, my body was still telling me to eat meat. I can not exactly tell you how that is at this point, but when I did start eating meat again, it felt good. My body felt stronger and I felt more grounded. I am still processing through the transition to and from a meat eating diet, and I can not put it together into a clear thought yet, but when I can, I will. Here is my menu for the week.

DAY 1
BREAKFAST:
·         1 packet of organic apples and cinnamon instant oatmeal, made with almond milk rather than water.
·         1 sliced banana in the oatmeal.
·         1 tall glass of orange juice.
·         Coffee with almond milk.
SNACK:
·         Jamba Juice Strawberry Soy Protein shake.
LUNCH:
·         Vegan “Boca Burger”  with whole wheat bun/pickles/tomato/ketchup/mustard- MISTAKE #1 *
DINNER:
·         Fake Vegan “Chicken” burger with whole wheat bun/pickles/tomato/ketchup/mustard- MISTAKE#2*
TEA TIME:
·         1 cup of chamomile tea.
·         ½ of a pomegranate.

* Day 1 was full of mistakes as you can see. Both mistakes had to do with fake meat products. I had heard that they were tasty and provided a lot of protein, which is tough for vegans to get. After reading the 25+ ingredients on the package of these items I decided that a heavily processed item like this could not possibly be healthier for me than a piece of real meat. Additionally, they really do not taste like meat and I found that I could get the same amount of nutrition from the source ingredients in the products. For example, I would rather eat black beans and a salad, as opposed to a “black bean burger” with a million other random ingredients, like soy protein and isolated textured vegetable protein, inside of it to make it look and feel like a burger.
However, having said all of that, I still felt really good at the end of day 1. I had a lot of unusual energy at night and was able to go to sleep well.
For the remainder of the week I stuck to some core principles:

1.       Don’t eat any pre-packaged product that has more than 5 ingredients in it.
2.       Don’t eat any fake meat products.
3.       Focus on getting the right amount of protein and everything else will pretty much fall into place.
4.       Make sure that some of the food you are eating is fortified with Vitamin B-12. You really don’t need a whole ton of this stuff, but you do need it, and cannot get it from just consuming plant food. Good sources are some cereals, almond milk, some Odwalla drinks. 

DAY 2
BREAKFAST:
·         1 packet of organic apples and cinnamon instant oatmeal, made with water.
·         Chopped banana in the oatmeal.
·          1 green Odwalla “Superfood” drink.
COFFEE BREAK AT WORK:
·         1 black coffee
LUNCH:
·         Fried tofu/ green curry with potatoes, onions and mini corn at a local Vegan friendly Thai restaurant in Foster City (Basil Cha Cha).
·         Brown Rice.
·         Water.
DINNER:
·         Roasted sweet potatoes, zucchini and mushrooms.
·         ½ Avocado with balsamic vinegar
·         Raw corn on the cob.
·         Handful of large green olives.
·         Tall glass of Orange Juice.
SNACK:
·         Almond/raisin/peanut butter/seed/raw oats bar that I made in the food processor. I was making a snack bar for the next day, but decided to eat one as I felt I still needed some extra protein for the day.
TEA TIME:
·         Chamomile Tea.
I realized after day two that I would need a snack in between breakfast and lunch so I made the almond snack bar for the following day. It was delicious and worked out perfectly. After day two I started to feel like a machine. My body was operating at a level that I haven’t felt in quite a while. I was thinking clearly and just had a ton of noticeable new energy overall. I also decided that I would really rather make my own lunch, rather than rely on a restaurant, as we really have only one Vegan friendly restaurant in Foster City. Sure every restaurant has at least one thing you can get, but I just wanted more control over everything I was eating and I certainly wasn’t going to eat Thai food every day.

DAY 3:
BREAKFAST:
·         1 packet of organic Maple Syrup instant oatmeal, made with water.
·         Orange Juice.
COFFEE BREAK AT WORK:
·         1 black coffee.
·         1 banana.
SNACK:
·         Almond/raisin/peanut butter/seed/raw oats bar.
LUNCH:
·         Handful of green olives.
·         Hummus.
·         2 Carrots (dipped in the hummus)
·         ¼ of an English Cucumber.
·         ½ Avocado.
·         1 Odwalla Soy Protein drink (enriched with Vitamin B-12)
DINNER:
·         Roasted Mushrooms with balsamic vinegar.
·         Tomato/bell pepper/garlic gazpacho.
·         Toasted whole wheat bread with olive oil and sea salt.
TEA TIME:
·         1 Cup of Chamomile Tea.
·         ½ of a Pomegranate.
Day Three was the first really perfect day of eating. I finally found my groove and felt full all day, with tons of energy. I started noticing that I the items I was eating were starting to taste better and I wasn’t even thinking about eating meat anymore. It might not seem like much food, but I was seriously full and felt great. Something interesting I noticed is that when I am full of plant food, I stop eating, when I am full of animal food, I never know when to stop; I just keep eating until I get sick of the flavor. Something about my body just understands when to stop eating this stuff, and I guess the desire to eat it just isn’t as great. A big juicy steak makes my mouth water, carrots and hummus does not, but is ultimately just as nutritious and enjoyable once I am eating it and especially after I am done eating it.

DAY 4:
BREAKFAST:
·         1 packet of organic apple and cinnamon instant oatmeal, made with water.
·         1 small glass of almond milk.
·         Orange Juice.
COFFEE BREAK AT WORK:
·         1 black coffee.
SNACK:
·         2 cups of raw almonds.
LUNCH:
·         ½ pound of Kale salad with avocado/flaxseed oil/red onion (whole foods)
·         1 Odwalla Soy Protein drink (enriched with Vitamin B-12)
DINNER:
·         Faro with Olive oil
·         Roasted French Beans with olive oil and Sea Salt
·         Roasted Zucchini.
·         Apple Juice cut with water.
TEA TIME:
·         1 Cup of Chamomile Tea.
By day four I was completely in the groove and had made the complete shift over. I started actually cutting back a little on things. I realized that I had been eating so many vegetables to try to make up for the “missing” meat in my diet. I found that I could now reduce the quantity of each item and still trust my body to tell me how much I needed to eat. I think I had been overcompensating for my perceived (greater) and actual (not as great) reduction of calories.
Day 5:
BREAKFAST:
·         1 packet of organic apple and cinnamon instant oatmeal, made with water.
·         Orange Juice.
COFFEE BREAK AT WORK:
·         1 black coffee.
·         1 order of hash browns w/ketchup.
LUNCH:
·         Whole wheat flat bread.
·         ¼ English cucumber.
·         2 mini packs of Hummus.
·         1 Tomato.
·         1 Avocado.
·         1 Carrot.
·         Water.
·         5 large green olives.
DINNER:
·         2 pints of Allagash White Ale (…What? Beer is Vegan!)
·         Garlic Fries (Whilst watching Ultimate Fighting Championship Fight Night)
DAY 6:
BREAKFAST:
·         2 pieces of walnut whole wheat toast with Olive oil.
·         Tomato
·         Coffee with Almond Milk.
·         Small Orange Juice.
LUNCH:
·        Skipped lunch.
DINNER:
·         Hummus.
·         Tomatoes.
·         Cucumbers.
·         Tortilla Chips.
·         Coffee.
·         Apple Juice.
TEA TIME:
·         Chamomile Tea.
DAY 7
BREAKFAST:
·         1 Walnut Whole Wheat Toast with olive oil.
·         Grapes.
·         Apple.
·         ½ banana.
·         Orange Juice.
·         Coffee.
LUNCH:
·         Kale salad with avocado/ 2 tbsp flaxseed oil/lemon juice/red onion.
·         Apple Juice.
DINNER:
·         Beginning of Phase 2 of Experiment, added in Fish and Eggs for the next week. Still abstained from all dairy and Beef/Pork/Poultry (made an exception for Turkey Day).
·         Sashimi for Dinner!

As I said, overall the experiment was a total success and has absolutely inspired me to make drastic cuts to my meat consumption, I had no idea what it has been doing to my energy. I lost 10 solid pounds during the week and I have kept it off for 3 weeks since I stopped the experiment and actually lost 3 more pounds since then. I did not have a goal to lose any weight, but it was an added bonus. The reduction in portion sizes and just eating less meat in general has helped as well. This is the celebration steak I had when I added meat back into my diet:



A local, Grass fed, boneless, rib eye, with shallots and garlic, Mimolette, Blue and Parmesan cheese. Medium rare. It was perfect. I would have normally ate this in one sitting, but I could only, or only wanted to, eat half of it. I ate the other half chopped up in a sandwich the next day. Making meat a side dish is tough, especially when it tastes so good, but the health benefits of eating mostly plant food are obvious.