To Buy Organic or Not?

On my latest walk with the ipod, I was able to enjoy The Splendid Table's podcast from May 16, 2009. I believe this may have been a repeat, but it was a great show so I listened to it again, anyway. In the St. Louis area via radio or via the Internet, anyone can enjoy this radio show at 3:00 p.m. every Saturday on 90.7 FM KWMU.

A spokesperson from EWG, or Environmental Working Group, shared a list of the fruits and vegetables that should be bought organic, and which conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables are okay if organic isn't available. To summarize, here are just a few from that list:

Top Fruits and Veggies to Buy Organic (laden with pesticides otherwise):
Peaches, apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, lettuce, grapes, carrots, spinach, potatoes


Can Buy Conventional, non-organic (contain least amount of pesticides)
Onion, avacado, pineapple, asparagus, sweet peas (frozen), cabbage, eggplant, broccoli, sweet potato

For the complete list, you can visit EWG website. There are magnets and wallet cards available, too (for a small donation).

I was surprised to hear about apples containing a lot of pesticides; fortunately, the organic apples at my local market aren't that much more expensive than conventional apples.

Roasted Chicken and Veggies ... SO EASY and good!

Photo of our dinner tonight, fresh off the stove top, headed for the oven for the final bake. Click on the photos for a close up -- see how juicy that chicken is?




I found some marinated chicken legs (my son's favorite chicken) in the freezer that were seasoned with Asian Garlic Seasoning a few weeks ago then sealed in Press-N-Seal. I use my usual ratio for the wet rub: shake about 1 teaspoon of Garlic Earth Seasoning of choice for every 1 - 1 1/2 lb. of meat, along with a few drizzles of olive oil.

Once thawed, I cooked the chicken on the stove in a little olive oil for about 15 minutes, rotating the chicken legs about every 5 minutes, to brown. While that was cooking, I sliced up some organic carrots, celery and broccoli, threw them in the pan, topped them with a couple more tablespoons of olive oil and a few more shakes of seasoning. I tossed the veggies a little bit, then put this iron skillet in a preheated oven (375 degrees F) and baked it all for about another 40 minutes until done. So easy!

When I put the plate full of chicken, veggies and side of ravioli in front of my son, he exclaimed, "I almost drooled! Yum!"

Does it get any better than that?

Like Crab Rangoon? You'll love this Crab Rangoon Dip!

2 pkgs. light cream cheese, softened
6 oz Sweet and Sour Sauce (Kraft works well)
1 tsp. Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning
a few Tbsp. milk plus a little more as needed
2 cans crabmeat, drained (or 1 - 8 oz pkg. imitation crabmeat, chopped)
4 green onion tops, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (see end Suggestion for make-ahead tip). In a medium bowl, use a mixer (hand mixer works well) to combine cream cheese, Sweet and Sour Sauce, Asian Seasoning, and a few tbsp. milk. The milk helps to make mixture smooth -- only add a little more if needed. Fold crab meat and onion into mixture with a spoon or spatula. Transfer dip into a deep round or oval pyrex/casserole dish. Cover with foil, bake for about 20 min., then remove foil and bake another 15 min. until bubbly. Serve warm. BEST served with the Homemade Wonton Chips.

Suggestion: Can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake.

Easy and elegant party suggestion: You can fill at least 4 packages of small phyllo cups (found in frozen section of many grocery stores) with this recipe. Fill ahead, freeze or refrigerate overnight then bake for about 10-15 min. at 350-375 degrees F until warm and bubbly. Serve immediately. They’ll go like hotcakes!

EASY Italian Chicken Recipe

"Everyone loves my chicken recipe!" a recent Garlic Earth Italian Seasoning convert exclaimed. I asked her what she does to it and here's her easy recipe:

Patsy's Stovetop Italian Chicken

Chicken breasts (boneless will cook faster)
A few shakes of Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning*
Olive oil or olive oil spray
1/2 a can of stock (chicken or vegetable and low sodium will do)
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
Cheese (Provel, Parmesan, Havarti, ...)

Rinse chicken, put on plate or tray and drizzle or spray some olive oil on top of chicken. Lightly shake some Italian Seasoning onto chicken. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes in refrigerator while you assemble rest of ingredients.

Place chicken in a frying pan. Pour in stock. Add pasta sauce and a few more shakes of the Italian Seasoning into sauce. Let simmer over med-low heat, covered, for about 20-25 min. Make sure chicken is white throughout or temp of chicken reaches 170 degrees. Top with cheese, let melt and serve.

*Remember general rule of thumb for seasoning with Garlic Earth seasonings: 1 teaspoon for every 1 - 1 1/2 lb of meat/veggies.

Spring Rain + Morels + Italian Seasoning = YUM!

We discovered a secret patch of morels right after a nice spring rain. A simple flour breading with a little Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning is all we did and YUMMY! Thinking back, I didn't even LIKE mushrooms until about 7th grade when an old family friend from Orchard Farm fried some up. Man! That was like nothing I have ever tasted.

Preparing the Morels
Cut off bottom of stem, split morels in half lengthwise, and rinse. There will be dirt, sand and possibly little bugs. It's necessary to soak the mushrooms, too. Put morels in a bowl of salty water for at least one hour in the refrigerator (we placed a small plate on top of mushrooms to keep them from floating).

Sauteeing the Morels
Rinse them off and pat dry. Cover each one in flour and saute in a pan of melted butter or olive oil and a few shakes Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning.

Serve immediately.

Southwest Seasoning on Pasta?!

Oh, yeah.

Rosie, a caterer and one of my business/cooking mentors, fed me some of her pasta while I was making my seasoning at her kitchen. What a treat. I always enjoy taking a break to enjoy her famous potato salad, pasta salad, roast beef, ... This pasta was delicious. I had to ask for the recipe. She replied, "It's your seasoning on there!"

I have been making and eating my Southwest Seasoning for years and never thought to put it on pasta. Imagine eating pasta with a zing of lime in the end! To simplify things, Rosie uses a vegetable peeler to "cut" the carrot into the pan. Great idea. You get little curls of carrot -- kids might like that, too. Here's her recipe:

Rosie's Pasta with Southwest Seasoning
Serves 2
2 servings of cooked pasta (Rosie prefers spaghetti noodles al dente "kind of chewy")
little bits of veggies (broccoli, celery, carrot, zucchini ...)
leftover cooked chicken or turkey, chopped or shredded
a couple tablespoons of melted butter or olive oil
2 teaspoons Garlic Earth Southwest Garlic Seasoning
a few shakes of Parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, steam the veggies in a little olive oil for a couple minutes, covered. Add the chicken to reheat, toss in the pasta, add the 2 Tbsp. olive oil or butter and Southwest Seasoning, toss. Put in bowl, top with cheese and serve.

Our First Podcast!

A very warm thanks to the folks at AgriMissouri for giving us the opportunity to publish our first podcast (I'm sure Sarah had a LARGE part to do with it -- thank you, Sarah!) Here's the link:

AgriMissouri Podcast

P.S. Earlier this week, I marinated a bunch of chicken, such as bone-in chicken breasts and chicken legs, in the Balsamic Marinade made with our Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning. My son, Jack, exclaimed, "Man! This chicken is GOOD!"

It makes me happy to make him happy. I'll get that exact recipe up soon so you can make someone happy, too.