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Arlene Wright-Correll |
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Arlene Wright-Correll |
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| Introduction and Recipes
by Arlene Correll Tuesday, November 05, 2002 As a child of the depression and a Citizen of the Universe, I have been labeled, over the years, as a survivor. Fortunately for me, Carl has survived with me or because of me or in spite of me and our 5 children are also termed survivors by others. The other day, coming out of a store, I made the statement that “we have become a nation of wimps”! Now after quiet deliberation and study, I want to add except for the new breed of homesteaders that we find ourselves coming across in increasing numbers. This makes me extremely happy and I want to share some of our adventures, secrets or survival instincts of the past years. We have been rich and we have been poor, many times. As our 12 year old once said, rich is better. The richness mostly has been in the fact that we always remembered, “school is never out”. We basically are on our 6th homestead adventure here in KY. I want to talk about cooking today. As a cancer survivor and stroke survivor, I turned to becoming a vegetarian and can tell you I am long past the medical “extinction”deadline given to me in April 2nd 1992! Cooking is an art. Especially if one is a gardener and especially if one cooks with herbs and spices. I love looking for food, whether in the stores or in the garden. I can instantly see it, in my mind’s eye as a finished product. I enjoy storing it, handling it, cutting, dicing, preparing and especially eating it. I love to share this with all, so it became important for my radical food change not to put everyone off, from family to friends, when invited to sit down to dine. Yes!, Dine, Not eat… That is too mundane. No matter how trivial the food, or how meager the amounts, or how humble the home, one can light a small candle, use something for a place mat and remember, life is too short not to use the good china! (regardless whether it’s your grandmother’s prized inherited heirloom, or a plain carved bowl, or something you threw on the potter’s wheel.) Each day is a good day to be above ground and to put joy into everything we do. The social communion at the end of cooking is a great gratification whether at a campfire, candlelight, gas light or whatever. With all that in mind, let me share a very good meatless burger recipe with you. Home Farm Herbery’s Mexican Black Bean Burgers (*This recipe is best made a day ahead and refrigerated as it allows it to set and you are able to work the patties better.) 3 pounds of cooked Black Beans (rinsed and drained) ¼ cup diced onion ½ cup diced red bell pepper (If you don’t have a red one, don’t panic, use green!) 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 egg or egg substitute 2 tbsp cilantro * 2 tbsp Olive oil ** Put all above ingredients in a food processor. (For those of you who do not have such an appliance, just mash the heck out of the black beans and dice everything else as fine as you can and mix well) Add in 1 cup bread
crumbs as needed in order to form patties. Form into patties and fry in olive oil. You will need 8 hamburger buns and we like to use the mixed grain ones when we can find them. A great topping for these are salsa (homemade or store bought or guacamole (see Recipe below) For the partying type, one can form these into meatballs and gently fry them and make your own Swedish meatball sauce. Or for an Italian night, top your favorite pasta and sauce with some Black Bean meatballs by just substituting Oregano for the cilantro. *(
Note Fresh
herbs = dried herbs conversion memo.
If you use fresh herbs then use 3 times as much as is called for
in your recipe. It
really makes a difference) **
Olive Oil…(There is a great debate about olive oil, price etc. I have
found that I can get great olive oil for 99 cents and $1.99 in such
stores as 99 cent stuff or Big lots. And whenever I find them, I stock
up and take back to the boonies and store in a cool dark place.) GUACAMOLE
is simple to make and a delicious addition to Mexican meals or
appetizers. Ingredients 2
ripe avocados 1-teaspoon
salt 1
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2
small Roma tomato, finely chopped Juice
of one medium lemon ¼
teaspoon chili powder 1
teaspoon finely chopped onion
Peel
and mash avocado. Add
salt, pepper, chili powder, tomato, and onion. Mix well. Add
lemon juice and mix well. The lemon juice will prevent the guacamole
from turning brown. Serve
with chips or with fajita or burrito fixings. Choosing
the right avocado Very
ripe avocados make the best guacamole. Choose avocados that feel
uniformly soft when you press the skin. Avoid hard avocados and ones
with noticeable bruising. The flesh inside should be dark green where it
touches the skin and lighter green—but not yellow—touching the pit. We, at the Home Farm Herbery, sincerely hope that you will enjoy the two recipes we have shared with you and we look forward to more sharing. Until the next time.. “Tread
the Earth Lightly”… and in the meantime… may your day be filled
with… Peace,
Light and Love, Arlene W. Correll About
the author, Arlene
Wright-Correll (1935-
), free lance writer, award winning artist and avid gardener is
mother of 5 and the grandmother of 8.
For almost 40 years she was an International real estate
consultant and during the last 20 years of her career traveled to many
parts of the world. She
has been a cancer and stroke survivor since 1992.
While working and raising her children she had many hobbies
including being a very serious home-vintner for approximately 14 years
while residing in upstate New York in St. Lawrence County producing
2,000 to 3,000 bottles of wine a year.
She was the president of the St. Lawrence County chapter of the
American Wine Society in
"Tread the Earth Lightly" & in the meantime
may your day be filled with... Peace, Light, and Love, Arlene Wright-Correll www.learn-america.com
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