What's Cooking (Take Three!)

[Jenise]

Christina, I'm going to have to go look up freekeh--that's new to me. But speaking of stuffings, my brother-in-law used lentils in his lamb stuffing last night and it was pretty delicious though texturally not as nice as rice. I haven't seen the brown rice from Rancho Gordo, but I am definitely in love with Lindberg's short grain brown rice. It's the first brown rice that I like as well as the brown basmati I discovered at your suggestion years ago.

I've eaten my share of Lundberg rice, and I even have a jar of their brown rice syrup that I occasionally use in bread. But this might be of interest to you: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/business/smallbusiness/lundberg-family-farms-confronts-reports-of-arsenic-in-its-rice-case-study.html#:~:text=Lundberg%20Family%20Farms%20grows%20rice,acres%20throughout%20the%20Sacramento%20Valley.

[Jenise]

Thanks, Larry. I read the article once then scanned it a second time for the answer to the question: how did the arsenic get in the rice? It talks about water but never actually says that the water is the prime suspect. At least, I don't think it did. Did I miss something?

[Jenise]

Oh, and dinner? Grilled skirt steak with chimichurri. Haven't decided if that will go on rice or get wrapped in tortillas.

Last night I made main-course size shrimp and pesto pinwheels: puff pastry spread with pesto, prosciutto, parmesan, shrimp, pine nuts, and a good dose of lemon juice; then roll up, slice, and bake. Served with sweet potatoes and a saute veg mix.

And a nice young Chablis.

[Jenise]

Those sound wonderful, Jeff. Aren't they fun to make? And you can put almost anything in there.

Oh, and dinner? Grilled skirt steak with chimichurri. Haven't decided if that will go on rice or get wrapped in tortillas.

Skirt steak/chimichurri, great combo.

I believe the arsenic comes from the soil. Here's another link: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm#:~:text=Among%20all%20tested%20rice%2C%20the,Everyday%20Value%20Long%20Grain%20Brown.

It appears that brown rice has more arsenic than white rice.

Here's a link to a CR test article that I tried to enlarge and convert from webp to jpeg: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/mag ... in%20Brown.

Those sound wonderful, Jeff. Aren't they fun to make? And you can put almost anything in there.

Yes. The idea started off as a pastry "purse" of some kind. The pinwheels, however, cook up well and look good, even if they somewhat lessen the impact of the puff.

I made poor man's jambalaya last night. When I prepared the seasoning mix I discovered I didn't have any thyme. I substituted herbes de Provence instead. That worked out just fine and the dish was more fragrant than usual. Probably the lavender in the herbes blend. I may make this change permanent.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Great substitution, Paul. I love that blend and renew/replace my stash annually from Penzey's.

I get mine from Penzey's, too.

-Paul W.

Me three.

Me not four.

I get mine from Penzey's, too.

-Paul W.

I stopped buying from them. They have bombarded me with propaganda. I realize that a lot of people didn't like Trump. I'm one of them. But stop with the garbage emails. I might buy something if it didn't come with a speech.

[Robin Garr]

I get mine from Penzey's, too.

-Paul W.

I stopped buying from them. They have bombarded me with propaganda. I realize that a lot of people didn't like Trump. I'm one of them. But stop with the garbage emails. I might buy something if it didn't come with a speech.

Certainly your prerogative. I've read, though, that Bill Penzey read his clientele's demographic very accurately, and if he lost a few Trumpanzees along the way, he boosted the hell out of his business - during the pandemic - from people who loved it.

Left or right, I think it's stupid for a business owner to inject politics. He may potentially half his business. Moral: if you have a business, don't talk religion or politics. --Ramen

[Jenise]

Left or right, I think it's stupid for a business owner to inject politics. He may potentially half his business. Moral: if you have a business, don't talk religion or politics. --Ramen

I don't think Bill cares. He walks his talk and that matters more to him than the business he loses. To that I think, good for him!

Interesting. I don't buy spices very often, so I've missed out on any political rhetoric from Penzey's.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Bill's very liberal on social matters. Believes black lives matter, supports gay rights, hates discrimination of any kind, wants a peaceful world and a truthful government. I don't read most of what he writes on those topics because he's not shortwinded!, but I do agree with them so nothing there to irritate me.

[Robin Garr]

Here's a good article about Bill Penzey, his politics, and the way it has actually helped his reputation and his business. If any of you have a problem with The New Yorker paywall, let me know and I'll ... um ... work something out. It's a good short piece, though, worth the quick read. Here's the intro:

The C.E.O. Who Called Trump a Racist (and Sold a Lot of Spice Mix)
By Helen Rosner
February 1, 2018
A week after Donald Trump was elected the forty-fifth President of the United States, Bill Penzey sent an e-mail to a few thousand people. “The open embrace of racism by the Republican Party in this election is now unleashing a wave of ugliness unseen in this country for decades,” he wrote. “The American people are taking notice. Let’s commit to giving the people a better choice.” The recipients weren’t friends or colleagues or the fellow-members of an activist group. They were customers—subscribers to the mailing list of Penzey’s Wisconsin-based company, Penzeys Spices, which, with an online store and sixty-five retail locations, is America’s largest independent spice retailer. At the end of the message, he mentioned the company’s Thanksgiving specials, including a gift box of four mini-jars of spices for ten dollars.

Image caption: Bill Penzey, who owns the largest independent spice retailer in the United States, is upending the conventional wisdom that business and politics don’t mix.

Penzey, a bespectacled, rosy-cheeked man in his middle years, founded his namesake company in the late eighties as a mail-order business. Almost from the start, he used the brand’s official communiques as a megaphone, devoting the first and last pages of his catalog to personal notes and op-eds. Over the years, Penzey expressed his dismay at, among other things, urban white flight, low teacher pay, and the use of Native American iconography in sports. With the advent of social media, he expanded his platform to include the e-mail newsletter and a company Facebook page. And with the election of Trump, he found an issue that nearly everyone took personally.

Penzey’s post-election statements—including a follow-up e-mail telling Trump supporters, “You just voted for an openly racist candidate for the presidency of the United States of America”—went viral, earning coverage everywhere from USA Today to Fox News. ...

Link for the full story:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annal ... -spice-mix

I made a purchase from Penzey's today!

[Jenise]

Yay Jeff! I regret that twice in the last two weeks I've been in the close proximity of our only B&M Penzey's up here but was not able to fit in a stop. DANG. If you ever get the chance--tons of samples, a real fun experience.

[Jenise]

I actually made a real dinner last night!!! Due to illness that has been off the table for a week now. Made a simple beef and broccoli. Unfortunately, wanting to do without carbs I skipped rice and added bean sprouts to the beef instead which watered down the whole dish (I anticipated that effect so had a corn starch slurry ready to go, but even then it was overall just too wet) but wow, meat!

Lebanon bologna and Swiss cheese sandwich for lunch.

Tom kha gai and Sichuan dry-fried beef for dinner.

-Paul W.