Orgasmic Organic
Oh baby, oh baby… am I converted. Our family is officially going organic.
I have just received my very first order (what took me so long!?) from Organic Farm (organicfarm@126.com, free delivery). The bag that arrived was so heavy, I could barely lift it to the kitchen. And I only spent 243RMB.
Hopping around the kitchen like a possessed flea, this was like Christmas to me. I slashed opened that bag and a nest of luminescent treasures awaited – purple cabbage and onions the colour of king’s robes, pale gold and very smooth ginger, pearlescent soy beans and olive green mung beans and chalky buckwheat flour (hello, pancakes!), packets of dark green herbs busting with chlorophyll and pungent on the nose – the basil leaves are so rich and fleshy and abundant, I will be making Italian all weekend. There is a kilo of Fuji apples possessing that tangy, fragrant and elusive scent reminiscent of my early years as an apple aficionado on the small island of Tasmania – where the best apples in the world are grown, and where you will never know a better crunch sensation on your teeth.
There are pale green zucchinis, long cucumbers, cherry tomatoes with tight shiny skins the colour of fire engines, and the cleanest, shiniest, firmest potatoes you’ve ever seen in your life, nestling in an Organic Farm brown paper bag like something from a stylized, boutique greengrocer in Greenwich Village. You can just feel your teeth sliding into those potatoes, cut into fat chips and roasted in the oven, and sending you soaring backward in time to your childhood, when potatoes really tasted like potatoes.
This is truly bliss in a bag. I’m itching to break open the eggs. Where to start? What to try first? It’s all so overwhelming. I think I’ll soak the soy beans first – for the massive pots of vibrant vegetable and pulse soup we make every weekend, sometimes studded with flecks of bacon, sometimes swirled with Indian spices, sometimes sprinkled with croutons and grated cheese. Then tomorrow night it will be basil-infused lasagne, and with all those apples – a syrupy apple pie, dusted with brown sugar. Sunday morning will be buckwheat pancakes – the kids’ favorite – and a ratatouille seems vital with all those zucchinis and tomatoes. The packet of mint – it’s been a long time since my husband and I indulged in a mint julep…
This is certainly looking like deliciously organic weekend.
Tania McCartney
Comments Add a public comment
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Hi Sienna - how does one join the BOCA group?
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is there a website for the organic farm? or
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There's no website per se - if you email them, they send you a twice-weekly list of goods available (this varies with the seasons - very organic) and then you have a couple of days to send in your order via the excel spreadsheet order form. They deliver twice a week (I take Fridays, can't wait till Friday!). Enjoy!
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Hi Tania, Great blogs! I posted all the contact info on how to join the BOCA group in one of my earlier blogs a few months ago. I think it's called "The Big O", have a search and you'll find it in Family Matters! Kristen
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Thanks, Kristen!
Interesting that we both associated the organic food experience with the Big O...
What does that say about us organic-craving women...
;)
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I don't know but we'd better not discuss in a 'family' blog! :)
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join Beijing Organic Consumers Association (BOCA) here
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ beijing_organic_consumers
for info about ALL the organic options in town! nearly 300 members now, lots of expertise.
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sorry there was a space in that link
here it is again
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/beijing_organic_consumers
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do you have a good buckwheat pancake recipe ??
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Yes! And I love how you can substitute the fat for applesauce…
½ cup buckwheat flour ½ cup whole wheat flour 1 egg, beaten ½ tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 cup water ½ cup vegetable oil or ¼ cup applesauce ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix first six ingredients then add water, oil/applesauce and vanilla. Mix until smooth but don’t over-beat.
Cook about 1-2 minutes each side.
Serve with pureed berries with a dash of honey or maple syrup. If you want a cake-ier pancake, add another egg and a little more baking powder. Can also substitute wholewheat for full buckwheat but pancake will be heavier.
And thanks for the organics yahoo link! Maybe we can all share some more scrummy recipes on it?
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oh...we are wheat free because of dd's food intolerances...gonna try it all buckwheat and something extra...maybe corn starch? to bind it more. Any suggestions?
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Add that second egg along with a little more buckweat flour (maybe a tablespoon or two) if the mixture becomes too runny.
Also add bicarb soda, along with the baking powder, to help lighten and bubble the batter. Around 1/2 teaspoon should be sufficient to get things rising more. Experiment with measurements, adding a little more each time - you don't want it tasting too bi-carby.
Don't over-beat. All pancake batters should still have pufflets of flour throughout - this is how underbeaten it should be.
When you cook the pancakes, make sure you flip them just when the bubbles BEGIN to burst - the longer you wait, the flatter the pancakes will be.
Let me know how they go!
Do you cook with rice flour? Gives cookies a divine crunch.
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I will try the rice flour!
I made my standard tofu spice cookies today, with all buckwheat flour. The batter tasted bitter at first, but after baked they are...ok. Spongy texture which is ok with me since uncoordinated little fingers and crumbly cake-like cookies are not a mix.
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Tofu spice? Sounds interesting... And any excuse to shovel tofu into my kids without them knowing. Come on - stop holding out on us! Share the recipe!
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ok this is not the real recipe, this is what I did the last time. I change it a little each time, new flour, new oil, less, more, they never turn out the same but have never been bad!
Tofu Spice Cookies.
Tasty and dense with real nutrition, these cookies are soft and spongy in texture, and travel well. We double this recipe, keep a big bag in the freezer and place a few into a Ziploc bag before outings. Drop by teaspoonful--warning, how they land is how they will bake, pretty much.
Combine in medium bowl: 1 ½ c. Whole spelt flour (or whole rye, or whole wheat)--we used all buckwheat most recently because of Gluten free diet and it turned out good.
1 c. dried chopped fruit (optional): apricots, raisins, dates, or Sun-maid fruit bits
approx. ½ c. ground flax seeds (or ground nuts like almond, pine nuts, cashews, etc) a rounded ½ t. baking powder plus 1/4 t baking soda
Combine in blender, or whisk in bowl: ½ c. honey or a bit more 1 package (500g or 1 jin) tofu 1 or 2 eggs ½ c. healthy oil: sunflower oil, pumpkinseed oil, coconut oil, or other oil 1 tsp. of each: ground ginger, ground nutmeg and cinnamon (more or less, to taste) plus a dash of clove if u like it ½ tsp. sea salt 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 T water
Put liquid mixture into bowl and add flour until it is a slightly loose batter, it should be thick and a bit gloopy (not quite as unyielding as choc. chip cookie dough). Taste batter and if not sweet enough can add 2 T Raw Sucanat unprocessed sugar, a bit of molasses or extra honey. (Buckwheat flour will taste Coo3 bitter but will mellow out after baking--just pay attention to the sweetness level. )
Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto well-oiled or buttered dark metal baking sheet. Bake at 200C (400F) for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms appear a little darkened around edges and the house smells divine. Cool 5-10 minutes. While still warm, remove carefully with spatula to plate to cool fully. If cookies are difficult to remove from baking sheet, can increase baking time slightly. If too cakelike or crumbly can add a bit more water, honey or other liquids.
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forgot to say, you can add anything u like, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds...just grind 'em up and toss 'em in. good for the lil ones.
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Tofu cookie joy joy! Thanks Liora! I will make them while the kids aren't looking...
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Sounds delicious! The organic food co-op in my hometown is the place I'm most looking forward to visiting when I finally go back for a visit. Have you seen the Beijing Organic Consumer's Association (BOCA) yahoo group? They've got tons of information about great places to eat and buy organic in the area.