Chef Daniel Angerer's Blog

SOUP...THE LIQUID ASSET OF THE MOMENT – the blog

Not so long ago soup was what you got at the soup kitchen when you were down on your luck. Soup is what my mother advises me to eat when I happen to have a cold. Soup is what my grandparents ordered when they took us kids out to a restaurant. Last year bone broth became fashionable and it became the “it” food of the moment. 

It's becoming winter, and while I find the warmth of a stove comforting as I prepare dinner, I’ve also discovered that my motivation to fire up my home stove is declining. 

The best soup I've had recently was a bowl of spiced butternut squash with apple and quinoa along with some chopped kale.

The following recipe is made with parsnips and chestnuts. Of course, this recipe works just as well if you prefer foraging for your own chestnuts, but I defer to vacuum roasted and then frozen chestnuts available in select markets such as Whole Foods. If you'd like to cook your own chestnuts you can roast them, which lends more fragrance and nuttiness compared to boiling. In either case, you’ll need to cut slits on each chestnut beforehand, an absolutely essential step to cook them properly. For oven roasting, these slits serve as steam vents. If you don’t make the slits, the chestnuts can become mini bombs. Chestnuts exploding inside your oven will not make this recipe a quick clean-up job.

Parsnip soup with chopped apple

Parsnip and Chestnut Soup with Coconut
(recipe makes four portions)
5 oz (1 can) unsweetened coconut milk with no binders (e.g., carrageenan or xanthan, such as Thai brand)
15 chestnuts, peeled and cooked 
2 parsnips, chopped into 1/4-inch cubes (no need to peel)
1 white onion, peeled and finely chopped 
1-inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped 
2 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil)
1 pinch cayenne 
1 teaspoon sea salt, and more to taste
4 cups vegetable broth (no sodium) 
2 cups water 
freshly milled black pepper

1. Put the coconut milk in the freezer for 10 minutes. Open the can and spoon off the creamy part. Keep that cream in the refrigerator. Reserve the coconut liquid.
2. Heat the oil in a gallon-sized pot on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, chestnuts, parsnips, salt and cayenne and cook covered with a lid for 20 minutes. Stir the mixture every 5 minutes. 
3. Add the reserved coconut liquid, the vegetable broth and two cups of water and bring to boil, then continue to simmer on low heat without a lid. 
4. Strain the mixture through a colander and reserve the liquid. Transfer the cooked vegetables into a kitchen blender and process. Slowly add the cooking liquid one cup at a time through the blender lid opening and continue to blend, making a smooth consistency. This process takes me about 5 minutes.
5. Adjust seasoning with sea salt. 
6. Ladle the soup into four bowls. Just before serving the soup add 1/4 of the reserved, refrigerated coconut cream on top of each bowl. Garnish the soup with black pepper from the mill.

parsnips

Chef’s Note: Even my kid loves this soup, especially when I sprinkle salted popcorn over the soup just before serving. Your favorite brand of crushed potato chips can fill in instead. 

FALL APPLES - the blog

As fall has arrived, a friend of mine went apple picking to the beautiful Hudson Valley last week. She was kind enough to surprise me with a big bag of apples when she returned to the city. I love apples, but I can only eat a small portion of raw apples. If I eat too much, I get a strange stomachache. At home, I watch over our refined sugar intake, especially as my daughter gets super hyperactive from it. Always tweaking recipes, I came up with the following apple pie. The recipe is made with butter, but I decided to use a substitute – vegan Earth Balance butter, since I have that all the time in my refrigerator. 

An apple pie version with the apples nicely arranged.

Feel Good Apple Pie
(Recipe for a 12 inch diameter apple pie, yields 8 pie wedges) 

Pie Crust 
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ cups whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup vegan butter such as Earth Balance
4 tablespoons cold water 

Pie filling 
4 large apples, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 ⅓ cups unrefined apple cider, I bought mine at the local farmers market 
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons kudzu, potato starch or arrowroot can be substituted (more on kudzu at the end of this recipe) 

1. To make the crust, combine salt, pastry flour, and lastly the vegan butter. Mix well. Sprinkle the barley flour over this mixture, mix slightly, and add the cold water to make a thick ball. 
2. Quickly roll out between two sheets of wax paper.
3. Shape the dough into a 12-inch circle and place it into a lightly greased pie pan. Crimp the edges at the top of the pan. With the tons of a fork, prick the bottom and sides of the piecrust - this way, the piecrust won't puff up and it will allow the liquid from the pie filling to soak into it, which makes it super tasty.
4. Bake the piecrust for 15 minutes in the hot oven.
5. Meanwhile, combine the apples with 1/3 cup of the apple juice and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Then mix-in cinnamon and lemon juice.    
6. Combine the thickener and remaining 1 cup of apple juice, stir until dissolved. Add mixture to the apples and simmer for about 1 minute or until thickened. Spoon the apples into the crust and pour the thickened mixture over them.
7. Bake the pie for 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chef's tip: I topped my apple pie with 1 cup of crushed walnuts that were first toasted and caramelized in 3 tablespoons of maple syrup in a skillet over medium-heat setting and then cooled on an oiled plate. They had a dark-brown caramelized color with crunchy texture. In addition, I chopped them with a chef’s knife and then sprinkled them over the apple pie along some fresh pomegranate seeds. 

Pomegranate

A note on kudzu
Kudzu is an unrefined, gluten free root starch derived from a Japanese tree. Kudzus applications are versatile. It can be used to thicken soups, sauces, stews, etc. In general, it has to be mixed with a cold thin liquid, e.g., water, apple juice, and the like, in order to work.

 

 

WONDROUS CHARCOAL - the blog

Activated charcoal has been a remedy for ages. I was curious about how it is being produced….after it is burned, it is treated with oxygen to open millions of pores in its atomic structure. Up to this day, it is still the go-to substance when it comes to preventing the majority of poisons from being absorbed into the bloodstream. It also eases gastrointestinal problems, such as stomach cramps, gas, and indigestion, because it absorbs excess gas in the gastrointestinal tract. It also prevents hangover. Because the body does not digest charcoal, particles of toxins will cling to it and exit the body.

Really black!

It sounds unlikely, but charcoal is an effective way to cleanse dirt and debris from the skin and body overall. The porous surface of charcoal has a negative electric charge that attracts positively charged unwanted toxins and gas.

When I feel unusually moody or suddenly tired, full from a heavy restaurant meal, activated charcoal often helps me get back in the game within minutes. I tried it on my child who had a tantrum after she ate sweet snacks. Activated charcoal calmed her down within about 10 minutes – sounds unlikely – try it out. Further, activated charcoal is often used in body detox products. It greatly helps alleviate body odor and bad breath – hurray!

And here comes the sell! Anti-aging properties – studies have shown activated charcoal prevents many cellular changes associated with aging, adrenal gland, and kidney function. Famous gerontologists discovered its powerful anti-aging properties in a study showing activated charcoal to increase the average lifespan of older test animals by approximately 34 percent.

Take it or leave it. It made me feel better in the following situations. When...

• eating out at restaurants or consuming junk foods
• drinking alcohol
• when I feel tired or unsettled 
• I dip my toothbrush into the powder about 3x a week and it does amazing whitening my teeth 
• also its my magic remedy for jet lag

How about brushing your teeth with charcoal?

Try it! You will most likely feel an immediate effect within a few minutes of consumption. It can be taken as a supplement every day to eliminate toxins of your system. It is recommended to take it between meals and not to combine it with the intake of vitamins, as it may interfere with the absorption of such. 

Charcoal production
The source of the charcoal counts. Fine grain material, e.g., wood or coconut shells, works well. You should know that it might stain the stool, which is normal. Activated charcoal is readily available in capsule form. The normal intake is two capsules a day. I take it after the above-mentioned bullet point. I make sure to drink a glass of water after the intake. 
It is important to note that activated charcoal is not charcoal from your barbecue. Barbecue charcoal is loaded with toxins and chemicals, and it should never be consumed!

More charcoal reading...

http://www.charcoalremedies.com/faq