Falling Into Fall...

Here in California, especially the Central Coast, we are fortunate enough to have pretty mild and consistent weather throughout the year. Unfortunately for us that means not witnessing leaves really, really, really changing colors like they do on the East Coast. That's okay though, I'll make-do with our sunny skies and snow-less winters.

So to get into the Fall spirit a gaggle of my friends and I decided to visit Slo Creek Farms for a little apple picking! 

On 40 acres, there were aisle and aisle of apple trees chalked full of apples. With the exception of other apple pickers, it was pretty quiet in between the apples trees; really serine and placid. The tall, bushy trees really separated us from the rest of the farm, the cars, the road; making it a really nice escape from the bustle of life. 

I could probably stick my hands out, close my eyes and pick a dozen apples without even trying.

For the dozen or so apples that I actually picked there had to be at least two dozen apples that were too heavy or old and would just fall down. This made me sad to know they won't reach their full apple potential (or as I like to call it "apple-tential") but then I thought about it and at some point they'll turn into dirt and eventually turn into an apple tree again! The circle of life! 

At the end of our excursion I came home with a few bug bites (this was a last minute adventure and I was wearing a skirt) two apples in my tummy and a dozen in a brown bag.

Apple Picking. How much more Fall can you get!?

Till next time!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

*I would like to dedicate this post to the amazing Food Science legend, Dr. Hany Khalil, whose absence will be felt around the world and beyond. I am so fortunate to have met this man on the very first day of my food science career, a career that will truly be forever shaped by his guidance. I have learned that the world is a big place, so you have to learn as much as you can in order to help as much as you can. So Dr. Khalil, next time we meet, lunch is on me.* 

How Gourd-geous!

Fall is here! Yay! That means sweaters and red leaves and lots of tea! It also means gourds!!  
My love for winter squashes and melons has been a bumpy one. Our first affair was one of hatred because of the laborious hours put into roasting them and risking chopping off my fingers. Now our love has turned into a relationship of adoration and amazement.
I love squash! Plain and simple. This past week I have roasted two different gourds. One being butternut squash the other being an....I don't know. It was just at my house so I had to make it. Maybe you can help me identify it!

Here it is all naked and de-seeded.  I have no idea what it is! Its sweet and has a really soft inside, not to nutty, not too stringy. Help!

For my butternut squash.... I cut the top and bottom off. Scored it in a criss-cross fashion and smothered it in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic for about 45 minutes  to an hour at 425°F in the oven.  And then I demolished about half of it in 15 minutes. 

S'marvelous crackling pepper and salt in oil.  *drooooool*

Poor lil guy didn't even stand a chance. The scoring helped the squash roast a little faster and made it easy to pick, pull and eat right off the plate. 

What's your favorite fall dish?

Coming soon-Fall Time Carrot Soup! 

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

Oktoberfest!

Happy October everyone! Here at The Bean House we decided to celebrate October with a Oktoberfest inspired gathering.
On the menu for this lovely meal we had homemade Spatzel (recipe to follow!), bratwurst, pretzels, sauerkraut, homemade Obatzda, semi-homemade strudel, rustic vegetables and of course beer!

Pretzels! We paired our pretzels with Obatzda. Now I had no idea what Obatzda was until that day but let me tell you, if you like cheese, cheese, butter, cheese, beer and onions, this stuff is THE BEST! Obatzda is of Bavarian origin and is made up of two parts soft cheese (we used Brie) and one part butter. Its then seasoned with some some salt, pepper, onions, paprika and beer! I couldn't even get a picture of it, it disappeared that fast!!! 

Really authentic German vegetables

I looked at our menu for the day and realized we needed some veggies! So I decided to whip together rustic, German inspired veggies! I threw together some potatoes, onions, celery, carrots, rosemary, thyme and chicken broth in a Crockpot and let it hangout all afternoon. With our flavorful mains, this was a good, neutral, hearty side to have.

SPATZLE! I have had Spatzle only a few times in my life and somehow in my crazy head decided it would be a good idea to make it for the first time for a bunch of people! Lucky for me Spatzle isn't that hard to make! I'm planning on doing a Spatzle post soon because its so yummy and fun to eat! But if you can't wait that long, check out one of my favorite Youtube channels, My Drunk Kitchen, who celebrated Oktoberfest recently too! 

Two kinds of homemade Mustard graced our table that night; Spicy Beer Mustard and Sweet Agave Mustard. Yum!

What is Oktoberfest without some BRATWURST!? As the centerpiece of our meal, we boiled our little brats in a pool of onions, chicken broth, water and BEER! We were going to be ambitious and hand make some bratwurst but that...never..happened...Onwards! 

....SAUERKRAUT! Once again, we had plans to make our own but that never happened so we bought it from the store and let it hangout with some sliced apples. Oh! and I would officially like to declare my love for Sauerkraut. 

And to complete the meal; our interpretation of Apple Strudel! I'm pretty sure that so long as it's made with butter, sugar, butter, some kind of pastry dough, more butter and a handful of apples it can be called a Strudel. 

I would have to say that this was one of the best meals I have been apart of in a long time, not because my tummy was full or because I got to spend the entire day in the kitchen but because I was surrounded by some of my favorite people. I love Oktoberfest!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

We're Going On An Adventure!

Grab your safari gear guys, we're going on a hunt! A wild yeast hunt!!!!

My friend Robert Alan invited me to go wild yeast hunting with me the other day and of course I couldn't say no! Robert Alan works at local brewery and is fortunate to be given the task of hunting for yeast! Many breweries use yeast as a flavor component where as others simply use yeast as a fermenting agent, relying on their hops and wort as the major flavor agent. Our job for this adventure was to locate a wild yeast, local to this area that will highlight the terroir of the area. (Terroir or terre is french for "land." Essentially, it is a group of characteristics of a native area that impart a distinct attribute on local agricultural products). This yeast will hopefully be used for beer!
Yeast is a unicellular organism that changes carbohydrates like sugar into carbon dioxide (bubbles) and alcohol. Beer is just that, bubbly alcohol! Perfect! Let's get on with this adventure..
Being in the San Luis Obispo we are right in the heart of the Central Coast's wine region. After stopping at the brewery in Paso Robles for some yeast hunting gear (portable flame torch, sterilized wet swabs, and gloves) we headed west! Robert Alan has a family friend, a singer-song writer, who owns Poalillio Vineyards and welcomed us onto his estate so we could hunt some yeast! This was our view for the afternoon....

Real rough life....

After taking in the beautiful Paso Robles country side we trekked into the wilderness to gather the yeast....

Real rough conditions....

After randomly scientifically selecting the right sample vine, it was time for business

Using sterilized swabs in broth we were great scientists and made sure to follow protocol in the field. First we started with flaming the mouth of the tube (with gloves on!) in order to reduce cross contamination from the air and from us. 

After flaming, we got right into the thick of things, literally...

We decided to harvest yeast from the skins of the grape as well as the grape vine stem. Yeast, as I was told, grows naturally in the microflora of grapes. Who knew!? Well, I mean, can't you just see it all over them!?

After repeating this a few times (Repetition is the science behind statistically reputable data!) we headed back to the lab in order to plate our samples. 

Using a Schwarz Differential Agar plate and accurate precision, Robert Alan plated four samples of our harvested wild yeast.

After plating and carefully labeling our samples, we let them hang out in the cozy incubator and then we waited....

Update! Three days after our wild yeast hunt there was growth on the plates! (And I'm proud to say that the sample I harvested was one of the two that was showing growth. Yay!) Now we just have to hope that it a usable growth and not a bacteria-mold-yeast-fuzz cocktail growing on agar! *Fingers crossed!*

Update! Four days later....Robert Alan and the lab found usable yeast colonies! 

Update! Five days later.... The usable yeast was mixed with wort (unfermented beer). And now the lab just has to wait for a lower degrees Brix and a lower pH (Brix measures the amount of sugar solids in a solution. So a lower Brix means that there are less sugars in the wort which means the yeasts are eating them! And that's a good thing. Remember when I said that yeast breaks down sugars and make by-products? Some by-products like carbon dioxide lower the pH. So a lower pH could also signify that the wort is being eaten by the yeast! Yay!)

I'll keep everyone updated on the wild yeast hunt! But look! We actually did some real science stuff! Woopie!

So until next time

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

A Swirl-wind of Yum!

Today in the kitchen we made... Strawberry and Wine Swirl cookies!

A spoonful of fruity strawberry preserves and a splash of Marsala wine makes this fun cookie appealing to not only the eyes but the tummy too! I was too lazy to write a recipe for this one...so for now... eat with your eyes only! 

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

Did you know....

Did you know that you can regrow celery!? It's true! You really really can!
Celery, Apium graveolens var. dulce, is in the family of plants called Apiacea (or the carrot and parsley posse). You and I know them better as the green things that are sometimes in chicken noodle soup. There are naturally two classes of celery, a white version and a red version. We, as consumers, are typically more drawn to the white version based on its' flavor and crunchy, crisp snap!

Enough about the book-y stuff, let's get our hands dirty and learn how to regrow them!
Here's what you're going to need right now

• 1 celery stalk (all intact)
• 1 ruler
• 1 knife (nothing too hefty)
• 1 glass or plastic container (something you can see into about, that holds about 16 oz of water
• Clean water!

Here's what you'll need to do right now

Making sure that you have a whole intact celery. Now from the bottom (the white part) measure up the stalk about 1 or 1 1/2 inches up (you should be reaching the greenish part now). Take your knife and cut at where you measured 1ish inches. By now you should have a flat bottom with the whiteish beginning of the stalk and a little bit of green. 

Fill up your container halfway full of water (or half way empty for you Debbie Downers). Now place your your celery bottom in the water, place your container somewhere sunny and wait for magic to happen! In a few days (yeah, I said days! Talk about immediate affirmation) you should have something that looks like this!

 A word to the wise, I have tried this about a half dozen times and about 75% of the time I wait too long to plant it! So by the time your roots are about two to three inches long OR you have some leaves growing, go get yourself a little pot and some dirt! Cover the bottom of your pot with some rocks (to make sure the water just doesn't stream out of your pot) and the add some dirt. Place your celery in the dirty and then cover it just enough so that you can still see the leaves. Make sure it is getting plenty of sun and a good amount of water and most importantly some love and within a few weeks you'll have celery growing and you'll never have to buy celery ever again! (Well, that's a stretch but I'm sure you could do it if you planted a whole bunch of them!)

So go stretch out your green thumb!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

Miso Hungry!

Today in the kitchen...Miso Marinade Chicken!
Welcome to my new current obsession....Miso! You may be familiar with this salty, grainy, oh so yummy paste in a Japanese staple....Miso Soup! I found this Miso paste in the refrigerated section at the grocery store by the tofu.

So heres the thing, this recipe is a little guess-timate of everything in there. So here's what you'll need...maybe...I think....

• 1/4th cup Soy Sauce
• 1/3rd cup Miso Paste
• 1/2 tablespoon Peanut Oil or Peanut Butter
• 1/4th cup Rice Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Sesame Oil
• 2 teaspoons Powdered or Ground Ginger (or whole if you prefer!)
• 1/4th cup Coconut Milk
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 4 sprigs of Thai Basil
• Any type of meat you want..chicken, piggie, cow, soybean....

Thai Basil you say!? What's that!? Well it looks a little like this...

Thai Basil (Ocimum Basilicum "Horapha"
 has a purpleish steam and dark green leaves
and
is often paired with thai noodles or soups. nom!

Mix all those yummers in a bowl; I would suggest ab owl with a lid and one that is large enough to hold your desired cut of meat. I decided to use chicken, three whole drumsticks to be exact (Don't hate, I"m on a post-grad budget!) 

I let these little guys simmer for about 24 hours but by all means let them wade in that sauce yummers pool for longer than that! I decided to bake the bird at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes (or until the inside reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit!) And after waiting very patiently, the lovely birds came out like this.....

It wasn't too dry! It wasn't too salty! It wasn't too sweet!

Right off''ah the bone! 

I think it is safe to say....Winner, Winner! Chicken Dinner! So until next time...

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!