Like Your Meat! This is worth reading.

For years I've been trying to persuade people to eat less red meat, and when they do, to eat "grass fed". Yes its more expensive, but how much is your good health worth? Because of the enormous demand for meat today, the production of beef, pork and lamb has evolved from the traditional farming methods to horribly cruel husbandry, with the animals being raised in cramped cages in dark warehouses, often stacked one on top of the other, especially in the case of poultry. Most of these animals never see the light of day, and are unable even to move in their cramped conditions, they exist under totally inhumane conditions. I wonder how people can believe that raising them this way, injecting them with hormones and other chemicals to increase their growth can possibly produce something that is healthy to eat? The spread of cancer over the years has coincided with the increased meat consumption. Not only does raising animals for meat production this way compromise the flavor of the product, we are at risk from eating inferior food, but also putting (real) farmers out of business. Any animal that is farm raised, by that I mean grazing in fields under the sun, exercising and eating its natural food 'grass' is a healthy animal, the meat from those animals is untouched by chemicals and hormones, and has so much more flavor. So many people I speak to about this say "Oh I don't want to know", not only is that remark ignorant, but the cold hearted willingness to turn a blind eye to whats going on just so you can eat meat without a care or a worry about how it's raised, well you deserve to suffer the consequences. Those of you who do care about humane farming, correct husbandry and animal welfare, not to mention your own good health, will take notice of this snippet I have pasted here from an article by Joel Salatin about the dangers of eating meat raised using (what should be) unacceptable methods. Joel Salatin is co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming.The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. But more money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. “We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure,” says Salatin. The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It’s usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don’t see it, ask your butcher.

Warming Winter Pasta Bake

I had my winter firewood delivered and lit my first fire this week, and it put me in the mood for some comforting winter food. For whatever reason I always lean towards pasta when I think of comfort food. I hadn't shopped in a while, so I was going to have to prepare something from my pantry and garden. I'm teetering dangerously close to becoming a food hoarder, so my pantry is usually pretty well stocked. Although I must add that living alone has (fortunately some might say) forced me to control my urge to have my pantry compete with the innovatory in my local supermarket's. I love to garden, so I usually have a lovely selection of fresh herbs growing in my garden, something I rarely have to buy. I also had every ingredient needed in my pantry and fridge for this spectacular pasta dish. It really was delicious, I made an Arugula salad, and toasted some ciabatta bread, and enjoyed it with a delicious glass of red wine…

Beautiful Beech Mushrooms, so delicate and so delicious. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Pasta Baked with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Fresh Basil & Beech Mushrooms… 2 cups Rigatoni Pasta/ 1 tsp Sea Salt/ 2 ounces unsalted butter/ 2 level tablespoons plain flour/ ½ tsp Malden salt (any sea salt will do)/ 1-cup full fat milk/ 3/4-cup good white wine/ Freshly ground black pepper (to your taste)/ 1 cup grated cheese (of your choice) recommended Gruyere/ 2 bay leaves/ 6 sprigs fresh Thyme/ 2 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped/ ¼ tsp grated nutmeg/ 3 ounces salted butter/ 1 cup Beech Mushrooms/ 1 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped./ ½ cup fresh Basil leaves, torn./ 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano./ Pre heat the oven to 375 Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 12 minutes, remove the cooked pasta, drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat and whisk in the flour, slowly add the milk whisking constantly, place back on the heat, add the wine and keep whisking, add the black pepper. Add the salt, and gradually stir in the cheese. Once all the cheese has melted, add the bay leaves, thyme, garlic and nutmeg. Stir well to combine, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Melt the butter in a small saucepan until sizzling, Cut the base off the mushrooms separating them, add the mushrooms to the pan, baste the mushrooms well with the sizzling butter for about one minute, remove and drain on kitchen paper, set aside. In a medium-mixing bowl add the pasta, tomatoes, basil and mushrooms and mix together very gently so as not to damage the delicate mushrooms. Pour the mix into a Casserole baking dish. Using a conical sieve, strain the white sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle the Parmigiano Reggiano over the pasta and bake for 15 minutes. Serve with a lovely green Arugula salad, and toasted garlic ciabatta (for texture) Enjoy :o)