Monday, May 14, 2018

Farm Pharmacy, or as some say: Farmacy.

The latest professional health rage is "culinary medicine." It's hilarious how serious science suddenly is about its exciting discovery since culinary medicine has been the oldest continuous knowledge on this planet. In ancient China, India, Arabia, South America and Greece food was medicine. It was that simple: herbs, roots, bark, leaves and seeds were prescribed for whatever ailed. And they worked so well for so long  Crusaders who discovered the dietary regime as one of the treasurers of the Holy Land they were sacking brought the idea back to a very ignorant Europe. They set up special places people could go to feel better by eating special foods, which is how our word hospital evolved from the word hospitality. In fact even today our symbol/icon for pharmacy is the basic kitchen mortar and pestle and the lettering is Rx. That X, like the X in Xmas, signals letters missing. In this case the letters e-c-i-p-e: Rx stands for recipe. Your grandmother was correct: eat chicken soup when you have a cold.

This morning's hot news fit to print is California experimenting by serving supernutritious food to see if it improves the health of the chronically ill, reducing the need for medical interventions and expensive medicines. You can trace this thinking straight back to the ancient Greeks who got it from the Asians: "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food"  is actually part of the Hippocratic oath,  and damning to the hypocritical pharmaceutical industry that put us for a century in a dark age.

Truth told, because too much early exposure made me highly allergic to industrialized medical care, for  years I have been experimenting and employing food as a remedy for whatever ails me and those who ask me for help. I think I am alone among my senior citizen peers in not carrying around a loaded pill case. I take nothing and am proud of the emptiness. Creating meals for the challenged, which I had been doing for myself, became a prized part of my catering business.

So, here's a bit of what I've learned:
SINUSES: Try to be bitter
A year ago I read successful experimenting led a scientist to posit a connection between our bitterness taste receptors and sinuses: bitter foods seemed to help the body unblock sinuses. Since I live with the constant threat of totally blocked sinuses around my left eye and preferred not to have major septum smashing surgery to open them, I went on a bitter food orgy. Well, just a lot of arugula in my salads and plenty of broccoli rabe and broccolini--which I love anyway.  Also a handful of almonds a day either in my morning yogurt or in hand at the end of the day. I couldn't find bitter melon. But no matter: this regime appears to have been miraculous. Since I started in earnest, I have not had to dose myself with antibiotics to clear the bacteria blocked in the sinuses, not felt the intense pressure on my left eye, not had to use an inhaler or do much irrigating.
   So if you suffer from blocked sinuses, do give bitter foods a try. There isn't any downside unless you are personally allergic to one or some of them. In addition to my personal favorites, you can use grapefruits, lemons, cider vinegar, cranberries, dandelion greens, chicory, Brussels sprouts and more. Here are a few ways to go:

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas with Arugula and Goat Cheese
Make as many as you need

For each one:
1 lg Portobello mushroom, stem removed
2 tsp good quality olive oil
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp black olive paste or pitted black olives lightly mashed
1 oz herbed soft goat or feta cheese
5-6 capers
1 handful fresh arugula, chopped
freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 425º.

Coat the top and bottom of the mushroom each with 1 tsp olive oil and place on a baking tray, with the stem side up. Sprinkle pepper and lemon juice on the mushroom. Fill the stem hole and surround with olive paste.
 Spread goat cheese evenly on the stem side. Top with capers and arugula. Season with freshly ground pepper and optionally, a light splash of olive oil.
 Bake 10 minutes at 425.  Serve warm. 


American Fattoush, a Levant Salad

Serves 4

2 sm pita breads, split, with each piece cut into 6 triangles
 1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and shredded
1 handful fresh arugula, washed and stemmed
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves only minced
6 sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves only coarsely chopped
8-10 cherry tomatoes, washed and thinly sliced
6 pitted Kalamata or similar olives, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into thin rings, then cut rings in half to make strings
3 oz fresh Feta, crumbled or cut into small pieces
2-3 Persian cucumbers or 1 sm English cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste (remember olives and feta can be salty)

Put pita on a baking sheet and bake at 350º until crisp and dry. Cool and break into smaller pieces.
 Toss all ingredients together in a large salad bowl.
 Dressing:
1 clove garlic mashed
¼ tsp ground cumin
juice of ½ lg lemon
½ cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Arugula, Date and Plum Salad with Mint
For 4 
Combine 4 large handfuls of arugula, 4 fresh pitted dates chopped, a large and firm black plum pitted and sliced thin, 4 scallions diced, 1 tbsp chopped walnuts, 2 salad turnips quartered and sliced thin for crunch, 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan and 1 tsp minced fresh mint leaves--all tossed together. Dress with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 3 tbsp good fruity olive oil, a small garlic clove smashed, salt and pepper. (Use only as much dressing as you like.)





How to cook Broccoli Rabe
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
Chop the bunch of rabe into large pieces. Put it in the boiling water 1-2 minutes. This leaches out the excess bitterness.  Drain well and let it air dry. 
   Cover the bottom of a medium skillet with 1/8" good quality olive oil. Turn on medium heat. Throw in a large pinch of red pepper flakes and some freshly ground black pepper. Mince 4 garlic cloves. When the oil is hot, add the rabe and garlic and stir to blend.  Sauté 5-7 minutes until broccoli is hot and soft but still very green. Season with sea salt to your taste and serve.  You'll be surprised how delicious and lovable this is.  (I put the leftovers over orrechiette and penne pasta.)


COUGHING: NEWARI TEA
I have a weak reflex that can keep me coughing into pain so I'll do anything to stop it once it starts. In Nepal I was counseled by the Newari people of the Kathmandu valley to drink tea brewed from a specific combination of spices, roots and herbs. It not only helped but turned out to be tasty to boot.Here are the ingredients and their raison d'etre:


Ajwain Seeds: thins excretions to smooth digestion, break coughs
Jimbu (a sage like parsley plant)
Garlic: sulfur cleans lungs
Ginger: raises body temp, heat get things flowing
Turmeric root: known antibiotic and reliever of inflammation
Fenugreek: mucilage coats stomach/throat lining, soothes inflammation
Cumin seed: stimulates digestive enzymes, detoxes liver
Salt (Himalayan red salt if you have it)
Black peppercorns: antibiotic, increases hydrochloric acid that kills bacteria

Boil these ingredients in a large saucepan of water until water is reduced by half. Strain and drink.




WALNUTS
In 2012 I suffered a thyroid collapse from extreme exhaustion and all Western doctors could do was monitor it and hope. But a Chinese American friend well versed in Chinese medicine and healing techniques told me that walnuts can help to restore the body's lost chi, or energy. In Chinese medicine, kidneys are chi storehouses, so to restore energy, you have to boost the kidneys and evidently walnuts can do that. I started eating a few raw walnuts every few days and all I can say is that the doctors are still trying to figure out why my hyperthyroidism was not followed by a bout of hypothyroidism as it was supposed to be.  Since then I've counseled several people on the curative power of walnuts and keep eating a handful every few days myself, most often in my morning yogurt and sometimes toasted in a greens or red beet salad.

Georgian Spinach Walnut Paté
I posted this recipe twice recently so scroll down to find it.

Fresh Fruit Crisp
You can make a delicious gluten free dessert with almost any fruit and a crunchy "crisp" topping made from unsalted butter, walnuts, oats, brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. Rhubarb, apples and peaches are especially good fruits to use individually. You need enough to fill a 9" pie dish, cut into bite sized pieces. Season with a pinch of nutmeg, cloves, ginger and a tsp of vanilla. Toss with perhaps 1/4 c light brown or raw sugar, although for rhubarb you will want to double that and perhaps add raisins which are natural sweeteners. For the topping, in a small bowl, combine a softened stick of unsalted butter with 1/2 c light brown or raw/turbinado sugar, 1 c chopped walnuts and 1/2-1 c oats plus a pinch of cinnamon. You mix this up with your hands into chunks and spread it over the fruit. Bake at 350º until the crust is crisp and fruit juices are oozing up around the edges, usually 40 minutes.
Serve with yogurt or ice cream or whipped cream or just plain.

GINGER
For millennia ginger has been used to fight nausea and doesn't have the side effects of Dramamine and the like. You can chew on it or grate it up into a tea or bake it into cookies, muffins or gingerbread. Ginger also warms the body, which is why it's traditionally served in winter dishes. You can sometimes quickly defeat an onrushing cold by getting the body to sweat profusely: take a very hot shower, wrap up in thick clothes, drink ginger tea and get under the covers.

Cold Carrot Ginger Soup
serves 4

2 lg leeks, thinly sliced and cleaned by soaking, dried
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 sm onion, chopped
3 med carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated or minced
1 med all purpose potato, peeled and thinly sliced
½ tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ c vegetable or chicken broth
3 c half-and-half
1 tbsp minced chives

Melt butter in a medium saucepan and add the leeks and onion. Sauté on medium heat until soft and translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add carrots, ginger and potatoes. Continue to sauté, stirring, another 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are tender enough to be mashed with a fork,10-15 minutes.
Pureé. Chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.  Add the half-and-half, stirring to blend. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with the chives.

TURMERIC
Americans have a new superfood wonder that's been medicine in Asia for millennia.  I've watched Nepali women nonchalantly rub it all over raw chicken before cooking it because it's antibiotic and can remove some of the toxic bacteria.  It also reduces inflammation. I've had success by just stirring a tbsp of ground turmeric into boiled water and drinking the tea. Turmeric can warm the body and thus get its interior liquids flowing. For this reason in South Asia a pinch is always put into gas producing beans and lentils: it's thought to prevent bloat.




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