Categories
Recipes

Tofu Cheesecake

Ingredients

Create your own Tofu Cheesecake with Hobby Farms

Crust

  • 1 cup low-fat graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/2 cup finely ground almonds
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 4 T. butter, softened

Filling 

  • 16 ounces silken tofu
  • 16 ounces tofu cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 T. grated lemon zest
  • 2 T. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 T. cornstarch

Preparation

Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, ground almonds and sugar. Add softened butter and mix with a fork until the butter is evenly distributed among the crumbs. Turn half the mixture into a lightly greased 7-inch springform pan.

Spread and pat the crust to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon the remaining crust mixture around the sides of the pan, and with your fingers, press up the sides to a height of about 2 inches, leaving it thicker around the bottom edge where the sides and bottom of the pan meet. Make the crust thinner around the top edge. Chill in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Filling
In a large bowl, combine tofu and cream cheese, and mix well with an electric mixer. Add sugar and eggs, and mix to incorporate them completely. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Then blend in cornstarch.

Pour filling into prepared crust, filling it within 1/2 inch of the top.

Bake in center of oven for 50 to 60 minutes. The cake will be lightly browned around the edges, and should jiggle slightly in the center. Turn off the heat but leave the cake sitting in the oven for another 60 minutes. The top of the warm cake should be lightly golden-brown and just soft to the touch in the center. Set the cake on a cooling rack and let it cool to room temperature. Cover the cake with foil and refrigerate in the pan overnight before serving.

Serves 8.

Categories
Urban Farming

School to Train New York Farmers

Urban farm, New York

Courtesy Just Food

Farm School NYC will utilize urban farms around the city as classrooms for hands-on agricultural instruction.

Country farming and city farming are like two sides of the same coin: Both involve raising plants and animals for food and require similar expertise in horticulture and animal husbandry. But in contrast to their country cousins, urban farmers face unique challenges when it comes to dealing with land scarcity, an urban ecosystem and the political whims of city governments. Until now, there have been limited opportunities for urban farmers to obtain a well-rounded education about all of the aspects of urban farming while receiving hands-on experience in the field.

In response to that need, Just Food in New York announced that in January 2011, it will open Farm School NYC: The New York City School of Urban Agriculture. The school will offer a two-year certificate program in urban agriculture in addition to individual short courses for non-certificate students.

More Than ‘Just Food’

Just Food has connected local farms to New York neighborhoods since 1995. It helps to increase access to fresh food in the urban setting by promoting community-supported agriculture and by facilitating increased production, marketing, and distribution of food from community gardens.

In a natural next step, Just Food initiated the formation Farm School NYC to make urban agriculture training programs accessible to people of all income and educational levels, to expand urban farming, and subsequently to reduce hunger and diet-related diseases in low-income urban communities.

Farm-based Learning

Farm School NYC will offer academic education and hands-on field experience for aspiring urban farmers. The program meets urban-farming businesses’ increasing need for education in food security and economic development, says Jacquie Berger, executive director for Just Food.

“This program is for those [who] want a career in urban farming, which requires a broader and deeper experience in the urban farm setting,” she says.

According the school’s executive board, Farm School NYC is the first of its kind. While other universities might offer agriculture programs or short-term community certificate programs, this program is unique in that the scope, intensity and size of the program is more comprehensive any other, says Berger.

In addition to the expected agriculture courses, the farm school’s coursework includes carpentry basics, food justice, culinary skills, marketing, and small-farm planning and design. Instructors will have diverse backgrounds, from those with formal agriculture training to those with community organizing experience.

Academic work will be balanced with farm work in real-world classrooms that include community gardens and urban farms scattered throughout the city.

Taqwa Community Farm in the Bronx will host one of the Farm School NYC classrooms. In the shadow of Yankee Stadium, what once was a vacant lot is now a vibrant urban farm full of garden plots, fruit trees, chickens, bees and a water-catchment system.

“Taqwa Community Farm in the Bronx is the type of urban farm that we want to invest in and replicate,” Berger says. “It is a model to follow.”

She says she hopes Farm School NYC will perpetuate the practices of this farm throughout New York and along the East Coast.

Farm School Enrollment

Enrollment in Farm School NYC is available to anyone who can commute to the class locations. The courses are 10 weeks long. A typical week will include one three-hour weeknight class and one four-hour weekend class. The first year will consist of 15 courses, and during the second year, students will participate in a five-month apprenticeship with advanced courses in their chosen fields of study.

Just Food expects 10 certificate students to enroll in Farm School NYC per course during the first semester and plans to expand to 100 students as they admit those interested in individual courses. The directors of Farm School NYC are working with universities in New York to obtain accreditation for the program in the near future.

Application

Students wishing to enroll in Farm School NYC will need to complete a written application and interview. They will be selected based on demonstrated desire, life experience and their plans after completing the program. Applications are available through Just Food’s website or by calling 212-645-9880 extension 224.

Cost

The cost of the certificate program will be determined based on need using a sliding scale. Individual courses will cost up to $15 per hour of classroom time.

Work Study

Certificate-track students are required to participate in work-study during their second year. The work-study helps defray student fees and ensure the sustainability of the school.

Categories
News

Tips from Kentucky Chefs and Producers

Tips from the Incredible Food Show in Lexington, Ky.
Photo by Sarah Dorroh Sweeney
The Incredible Food Show in Lexington, Ky., featured cooking demonstrations by Kentucky chefs.

The secret is out—the people who bring you Hobby Farms and Hobby Farm Home magazines are die-hard foodies. So when the Incredible Food Show came to town, you know we were there. The more than 100 vendors at the show celebrated food grown, produced and sold in Kentucky, including cheeses, barbecue sauces, cakes, wines and more. We attended cooking demonstrations and producer seminars, and to get you in on the action, we’ve highlighted some of our favorite foods and tips.

Lisa Munniksma – Editor, Hobby Farms
Best of Show: Coal Country Beeworks Honey
Honey seems like an odd thing to choose as best in show, but Coal Country Beeworks honey tasted so sweet and balanced—exactly how I think honey should taste. Plus, it has a sweet story: CCB director Tammy Horn, PhD, of the Eastern Kentucky Environmental Research Institute, plants pollinator-friendly trees and flowers on reclaimed mine sites to develop a commercial honey industry in Appalachia and strengthen the bee population in the region. The honey is a delicious byproduct of her work.

Kitchen Tip: “Some of the best cheeses in the world stink, and that’s OK,” says Pat Wylie, cheesemonger for Good Foods Market & Café in Lexington, Ky. The trick is to know the difference between a good “stink” and a bad one. Cheese with an ammonia smell is not good. Wylie suggests letting the cheese sit for a little while, and if the smell doesn’t go away, throw it out.

When storing cheese, to prevent it from picking up odors and tastes from other food (such as onions or fish) in your fridge, wrap the cheese in wax paper or cheese paper, and put it inside a sealed plastic bag. Don’t wrap the cheese in plastic wrap for long-term storage, as the plastic will impart a petroleum-plastic taste.

Producer’s Tip: Jim Mansfield of New American Lamb in Salvisa, Ky., encourages small-scale farmers to get in on the mutton and lamb market. He says this is a great because meat prices are high, there is rising consumer demand—particularly from the ethnic market—and there are fewer producers raising sheep. Farmers should become involved with their local or state sheep associations and can form cooperatives with other producers to have a larger presence in the market.

Stephanie Staton – Editor, Hobby Farm Home
Best of Show: Howard’s Creek Authentic Beer Cheese
I love beer cheese, and this brand is the perfect blend of mild flavor followed by a slight heat. It reminds me of Sunday lunches with my family at Hall’s on the River, one of our favorite restaurants in Winchester, Ky.

Kitchen Tip: Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water after cooking, says celebrity Chef Giada De Laurentiis. Use it to add moisture back into sauces or to help grated cheeses, such as Parmesan, stick to the pasta. The natural starches in the pasta water work to break up sauces that are too thick.

Sarah Dorroh Sweeney – Associate Editor, Hobby Farms and Hobby Farm Home
Best of Show: Good Foods Market and Café’s Lavender Shortbread Cookies/Shell-Bee’s Gourmet Sea Salts & Spices
Do I have to pick just one favorite? After all of my taste-testing, the lovely lavender shortbread cookies were supposed to be my first and only purchase at the show. Dusted with sugar and speckled with organic lavender blossoms—the smell and taste was divine. However, Shell-Bee’s selection flavor-infused Demerara sugar was hard to pass up. This sugar, derived from an island off the coast of Africa, has only recently been made available in the U.S. My personal favorite is the Vanilla Bean & Lavender. Lucky for me, the two make a heavenly combination!

Kitchen Tip: The key to a successful cake is finding a recipe that combines taste with artistry, say the chefs at Sullivan University. For sculpture decorations, choose a material that isn’t too heavy or too wet. Try molding rice cereal treats into your desired shape and then cover that with a thin layer of marzipan, especially for decorative pieces larger than 1 inch. Then use your decorations to cover any flaws.

Gardener’s Tip: Take this tip from Barbara Napier, Innkeeper of Snug Hollow Farm, a bed and breakfast on 300 acres: When planning your garden, “grow what you’re gonna eat, grow what you’re gonna love.” There’s no sense planting row after row of produce that neither you nor your family is going to enjoy.

Rachael Brugger – Associate Web Editor, HobbyFarms.com 
Best of Show: Edward Lee’s Butternut Squash Soup
I may need to roadtrip to 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky., just for another taste of this creamy soup. Instead of using butter or cream, Chef Edward Lee creates his own butternut stock using the squash’s skin, seeds and netting, and purees that with his roasted squash. To balance the soup’s sweet creaminess, he garnishes it with country ham, Brussels sprout leaves, chopped dried figs and blue corn hominy—all grown locally!

Kitchen Tip: For a stress-free Sunday supper or holiday meal, freeze your appetizers ahead of time to minimize your kitchen responsibilities the day of your meal. But beware, says Chef Allyson Butcha, who serves up meals to Kentucky’s first family—don’t leave your tasty treats in the freezer too long. Contrary to what most people think, freezing food actually dries it out. So if you need to keep a few courses in the freezer prior to the big meal, keep the time limited.

Categories
Animals

Othello’s New Horn

Scottish Blackface sheep
Photo by Sue Weaver
Othello’s new horn is growing in, but it will always be a bit shorter than his other horn.

Remember Othello, the Scottish Blackface lamb that Dad got Mom for her birthday? He grew a new horn!

A few days after Othello came to our farm, Mom went out in the morning to feed and Othello had pulled off one of his horns. He was distressed, there was blood everywhere, and the horn core was exposed. 

Horns are made up of two layers: The one you see is made of keratin, the same fibrous protein in human hair and fingernails, and a core of living bone is underneath. Horns start to grow soon after birth and continue growing all their wearer’s life. Scottish Blackface rams grow huge, spiraling horns, so Othello’s were already almost 5 inches long when he was only 9 weeks old! 

Scottish Blackface sheep
Photo by Sue Weaver
Dad sprayed Blu-Kote on Othello’s horn to keep it healthy as it grew back.

Mom saw Othello’s horn core, and she started to cry. She thought he’d be disfigured for life. But when she called the nice people who bred Othello, they said not to worry. Lambs’ horn cores don’t fill the whole outer covering, so sometimes they catch their horns on something and yank the covering off. He’ll grow another horn, they told her. It just won’t be as long as the other one. 

So Mom dried her tears and Dad found an aerosol can of Blu-Cote and sprayed that on Othello’s horn core. (That’s why his name is Othello Bluehorn.) They did that for three days until the tender horn-core covering dried up.

A week or so later, a tiny ring of horn covering appeared at the base of Othello’s horn core. It grew and grew up the side of the core until the core was re-covered with the outer horn layer. 

Now Othello’s “good” horn is starting to spiral, and his other horn is half as long. Mom says it lends him an air of distinction, so while she wishes it hadn’t happened, she isn’t so sad about him losing it after all.

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Categories
News

Muscovy Duck Regulations Revisited

Muscovy Duck
Courtesy Stock.XCHNG
The Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting comments on a Muscovy duck ruling until Dec. 30, 2010.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is revisiting a ruling on Muscovy ducks to allow the ducks to be raised on farms and in other small-scale settings.

The regulations put in place in March 2010 under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act allowed the use of Muscovy ducks for commercial purposes and were intended to help control expanding feral populations, but they did not consider certain uses of domesticated Muscovy ducks. The current proposed changes to the ruling reiterate that the captive-bred ducks cannot be released to the wild, but they take into account small-scale farmers who raise Muscovy ducks for eggs, meat and show. The FWS is accepting public comments on the proposed changes until Dec. 30, 2010.

“When we published proposed regulations to govern Muscovy ducks in 2008, few people commented on them,” says George Allen from the FWS’s Division of Migratory Bird Management, who wrote the ruling and its proposed changes. “However, after we finalized regulations last March, many people contacted me about their concerns with the regulations.”

Tobi Kosanke, who keeps Muscovy ducks on her farm in Hempstead, Texas, is one of the people who has expressed concerns with the March 2010 regulations as well as the current revisions.

“This regulation makes it illegal for individuals to keep pet Muscovies in their house or yard and for subdivisions and golf courses to maintain their pet duck populations. It also makes it illegal for counties and cities to place Muscovy ducks on their ponds,” she says.

While she’s pleased that the revisions allow the Muscovy ducks to be kept for show and food purposes, she encourages people make comments to FWS on the proposed changes.

“There are better ways to solve this problem, such as making it illegal for them to be sold or given away at carnivals and flea markets,” she says.

The problem of Muscovy ducks being released into the wild, she contends, results from a small minority of irresponsible pet owners. Because of this, she believes the majority of people who keep Muscovy ducks as pets suffer under the current regulations and the regulations should be modified to accommodate this group of Muscovy duck owners.

Kosanke also believes the Muscovy ducks should not be controlled by the federal government.

“Muscovy duck problems that exist in the U.S. should be handled by specific counties and states: local problem, local solution,” she says. “What I find particularly inappropriate is that Mallards, who do migrate and are also a nuisance in local pockets of the U.S., do not have a control order and are not required to be marked.”

Native to Mexico, the Muscovy has set up natural habitats in parts of Texas. Although the Muscovy duck is not a migratory bird in the U.S., the Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects all naturally occurring Anatidae listed in Mexico and Canada’s treaties, says Allen. It also does not take into account wild versus domesticated birds. 

“We don’t have the option of regulating some Muscovies and not regulating others,” he says. “What we can do is put regulations in place that accommodate the uses of which we are aware.”

Allen has the task of balancing viewpoints like Kosanke’s with the opinions of state wildlife agencies that don’t want the Muscovy duck, which is exotic to most of the U.S., to be introduced to the wild.  

“I know that Muscovies are not the problem that many other introduced species are, but I don’t think we should approve their release in locations where they are not native,” he says.

While the current ruling does not require that feral populations of Muscovy ducks in parks or ponds be controlled, it does allow state and local entities to control them. This authority was already available to the states before the Muscovy duck fell under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

In the meantime, Allen says, the FWS has asked the Law Enforcement Division not to enforce the prohibitions on keeping Muscovies in small operations.

You may submit your comments regarding the Muscovy duck regulations through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R9-MB-2010-0037. You may also submit your comments by mail to Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R9-MB-2010-0037; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203-1610. All comments, generally including personal information provided, will be posted on the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

Categories
Crops & Gardening

No Cover Crops, No Till

Compost
Photo by Jessica Walliser
I filled the back of my Subaru with the free leaf compost that our municipality gives away.

Decision made. I am not going to plant a cover crop in the vegetable garden this year. It’s a stretch for me as I have done it for many years, but a few seasons ago I adopted the no-till method of gardening and have fallen in love with it. I find it’s hard to handle cover crops if you can’t till them come spring.

Two years ago, I planted winter rye, cut it down in the spring and covered it with several inches of old horse manure. It didn’t work nearly as well as tilling it under, and I had to battle rye springing up in the garden all summer long. Planting seeds in the stubble was a big pain, too. 

I still believe that cover crops are so very good for the soil, but I can’t seem to manage them right with the no-till methods I’m using.  So I had to make a choice.

What I will do, however, is start stacking up the organic matter this fall. Typically, I’ve done this in the spring; spreading out layers of newspaper topped with organic matter, then planting right through it.  Works like a charm but it’s a whole bunch of work every spring. 

So, this year, I’m going to mix it up. After every plant has been pulled or harvested, I’m going to do the newspaper and compost/aged manure trick then just let it sit there all winter. What this ideally will mean is I will be completely ready to plant come spring—no need to “wait until the soil can be worked” to plant my radishes, peas and lettuce. I can do it when I’m ready instead of when the weather is. I think first, though, I’d better fill up the tire on the wheel barrow.  

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Categories
Urban Farming

Preparing Plants for Indoors

Indoor plants

Introduce outdoor potted plants to the indoors slowly in order to keep them healthy.

A drop in temperatures means it’s time to prepare potted plants to head indoors for the winter, but your leaved lovelies will need more than a simple change of scenery to survive the cold season.

“If plants are brought in without any re-adaptation, the leaves will yellow and fall off just like they did when the plants were taken outside in the spring without proper hardening off,” says James Schuster, a plant pathology specialist at the University of Illinois Extension. “Proper preparation will take at least two weeks to minimize foliage defoliation.”

Insect Patrol

First, check your plants for insect damage, actual insects and insect eggs. Examine the undersides of the leaves as well as where the leaf petioles attach to the stem. Using a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol, remove any insects and eggs. In some cases, an insecticide or organic pesticide may be necessary.

“This insecticide must come in contact with the insect to kill it since there are no residual activities for prolonged control,” Schuster says. “Therefore many repeat applications may be necessary.”

Insects and their eggs are often in the soil. On very porous soils, more mealy bugs will feed on plant roots than on the upper part of the plant. For longer control, an inorganic insecticide may be more appropriate.

“Follow all label directions and precautions on both organic and inorganic insecticides,” Schuster says. “Instead of using an insecticide, you can remove old soil, rinse the roots, and repot the plant with fresh soil when it is finally brought into the house. However, both insecticide use and repotting can cause serious stress to the plant.”

Disease Control

Diseases are a little more difficult to control as there are no curative fungicides for most plant diseases. Therefore, diseases need to be prevented.

Powdery mildew can be a serious indoor disease on plants kept outside, often causing severe defoliation weeks after the plant is brought indoors. You may or may not see a white powdery growth on the foliage. Begin to use a fungicide several weeks before the plant is brought inside, but do not use it once plants are indoors.

Introduce Plants to Indoors

“Plants need to be slowly reconditioned to indoor growing conditions,” Schuster says. “Start by bringing the plant into the house for an hour or two and then putting it back outside. Each day add several more hours to its inside time.”

Keep your outdoor plants away from plants that have remained inside throughout the summer to prevent the spread of insects and disease.

“After two or three weeks, the plant should be ready to stay inside. Do not wait for frost to start preparing your plants for indoor life,” Shuster says.

Categories
Urban Farming

Making Olive Oil

Antique olive press

Photo by Rick Gush

Moreno, our gracious and enthusiastic host, and the president of the oil cooperative show off the antique olive crusher. Moreno is responsible for the restoration on the antique wheel machinery and the public spokesman for the cooperative.

I’m writing an article about how to make your own olive oil for Urban Farm’s sister publication Hobby Farm Home. To take some photographs, my wife and I took a trip to a local olive press. We went to a modern oil press, called a frantoio, to talk to the folks at the facility. Attached is a small museum with a nicely restored antique oil press. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the huge stone slab olive squashers used before the wheel crusher was invented. 

Olive oil has a long history in Liguria, and it’s a good bet that the locals were making olive oil on this very spot several hundred years before the Roman era began. There are dozens of frantoios around here, and people come in by the thousands to get their oil pressed. 

The cooperative that runs this frantoio has 1,700 members who bring their harvested olives here to be processed into olive oil. Most of these members just use the olive oil for personal use, but around 20 percent derive a significant portion of their income from selling it.

Boy, are the people proud of their oil! They arrive with boxes and bags of olives and wait patiently for their turn in the processing order. The machinery has several mixing stages during which smaller loads cannot be fully processed, so the minimum amount a member can bring it at any one time is a quintale or about 225 pounds. Most people bring in 500 to 1,000 pounds of olives.  This frantoio, like most others, works on an appointment-only basis, and getting an appointment can be difficult in abundant years. 
 

Olive oil producers

Photo by Rick Gush

A proud couple wait as their plastic tank gradually fills up with oil.

I found it surprising that the entire olive, including pit, is ground up during the processing. The crushed pit residue is removed later, but it seems to add a chemical-catalytic effect that helps separate the best-flavored oils. Experiments using a pitting machine to allow pressing of just olive flesh have concluded that the oil tastes worse in the pit-less processing.

When the oil pours out of the final filtering machine, it’s magic. Not only is it a good-looking product, the sight of it pouring out of the spout and into the containers the members will take home is what the hullabaloo is all about.

The good news for my family back home in the states is that my wife acquired some really good oil and some kitchen utensils made with olive wood. The Christmas gift acquisition season has begun!

Read more of Digging Italy »

Categories
Homesteading

Weird Broccoli

Broccoli
Photo by Cherie Langlois
My new Italian-variety broccoli didn’t produce any heads.

Whenever we return from a trip somewhere, my family and I come home with two kinds of souvenirs: the real, hold-in-your-hands kind that you pick up along the way (from polished stones gathered for free on a beach in Wales to that expensive Mickey sweatshirt bought from a Disneyland tourist shop) and the intangible kind. Souvenirs in the latter category have included different ways of interacting with people (say, taking time for polite greetings during hurried transactions, as is customary in France); new passions (such as for learning Spanish or for Greek cuisine); and ideas for new food plants to try growing on our hobby farm.

Fragrant oregano infusing a hike on the Greek island of Crete; fresh cilantro sprinkled over Costa Rican gallo pinto; sweet Mirabelle plums swooned over while picnicking in a Paris park. These are a few of the edible “souvenirs” that now grow on our farm, bringing lovely memories back with each bite.

Broccoli leaves
Photo by Cherie Langlois
It turns out, the new broccoli I planted is usually grown for its leaves.

Keen to try Italian varieties after devouring so many wonderful veggies on our trip to Italy two summers ago, we ordered some Italian seeds from Gourmet Seed International this year. One of these was a type of lush and leafy broccoli called Spigariello. From the description, I thought it would produce tiny heads to harvest.  Well, the seeds I planted did indeed grow into tall, lushly leaved plants, but I waited and waited—and there was no sign of any broccoli heads, even tiny ones. 

Finally, after an online search, I discovered what the problem was: This weird broccoli variety is actually grown for its leaves, not the heads (and people who had grown it reported few, if any, of the latter). Kind of embarrassed, I grabbed scissors and snipped off a bunch of leaves. Eaten raw, they reminded me more of kale than broccoli, so I gave them my standard kale treatment: sautéing the chopped leaves with minced garlic in olive oil until slightly tender, then adding a few splashes of teriyaki sauce during the last few minutes of cooking. Delicious! 

P.S. I think our turkeys like this strange and prolific broccoli even more than we do. When our first frost arrived this weekend, I gathered the last succulent younger leaves and tossed the still-leafy stalks to our flock. The turkeys went into a piranha-like feeding frenzy, devouring every last leaf within minutes. Seriously, they scare me sometimes.

~Cherie

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