Growing Rice in Africa

I am interested in growing good things to eat.  My interests range from backyard herb gardens to farmers and farming globally.  I found this press release from the United Nations reassuring.  I wonder about the world food supply and the effect of global warming on the earth.  I wonder how many rice farmers in Africa are women.  And I love Rice.

http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/164713/icode/

19 November 2012, Rome - Global rice production for 2012 is forecast to outpace consumption in 2012/13, resulting in an upward revision of 5 million tonnes in 2013 closing inventories, according to a new forecast by FAO's  Rice Market Monitor issued today.

"Compared to last year, world rice carryover stocks are expected to rise by 7 percent, or 10 million tonnes, to a new high of almost 170 tonnes, marking the eighth consecutive year of stock accumulation," says the RMM. "As a result, the world rice stock-to-use ratio is forecast to rise from 33.6 percent in 2012 to 35.5 percent in 2013."

Learn how to cook rice with pictures and directions for the beginning cook at this this wonderful blog:

Lazy Woman's Red Cooked Beef

I eat a lot of vegetables and beans for conscience, health and because I love them. But I would not describe myself as a Vegetarian entirely. Sometimes in the Winter, I long for some succulent fatty braised Beef.

Red Cooked Pork Belly

I hate all the browning required in traditional braised Beef recipes. It is time consuming and it messes up the stove bigtime. I also possess a slow cooker which is an American invention I appreciate. So one day when I was busy tidying the hovel, listening to music and not feeling at all like doing any serious cooking, I did this good thing that my family likes a lot. I Red Cooked a Chuck Steak. Oh yummy.

Red Cooking is a Chinese culinary technique for braising/stewing. Wikipedia has an excellent description of classic Red Cooking. If you go there to learn more, please give $5.00 to their fund drive if you can spare it. Wikipedia is an excellent resource. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_cooking

Classic Red Cooking usually involves soy sauce and varied Chinese flavorings that I do not always have in the pantry. I always have soy sauce (chief ingredient in red cooking), garlic, molasses, and some form of vinegar or white wine. So I threw this nice looking Chuck Steak (larded with pieces of garlic) in the slow cooker on the lowest temperature and added 6
tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons Vinegar or Wine and 1 tablespoon Molasses and went away for hours. I came back to delicious succulent brown braised Beef. 

Note: Chuck is the most flavorful of Beef cuts and it can be quite fatty. Fat equals flavor. I often cook this a day ahead, chill it in the refrigerator and remove the fat before serving. Feel free to double the "sauce" if your Chuck Steak is large. Just keep the same proportion of ingredients. And if you have a slice of fresh Ginger, throw it in the sauce. You can also add Sesame Oil (just a smidge as the flavor is very strong) toward the end of the cooking time if you have some. This Beef will perfectly good if you do not. 

Beans? Oh the horror of it all.

O tempora! O mores! - Cicero

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The notion of putting beans in chili has been a sensitive topic as long as competitive cook-offs have been around. So this year the International Chili Society is saying: let's do both. For the first time, the International Chili Society will have traditional red chili and bean-optional chili categories at its 46th world championship event, which returns to West Virginia starting Friday.

I have always had beans in my chili. I am originally from New Jersey. And I like beans. This is like the no-grated-cheese-with-seafood-sauce controversy. That is, no controversy at all. I don't know about other Italians, but I always add grated cheese to any kind of pasta and/or pasta sauce. Everybody has a chili recipe. I am sure the purists will groan about mine.

Plum Street Chili

1 and 1/2 pounds of coarsely ground Beef Chuck

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 small Onion, chopped

4-5 cloves of Garlic, chopped 

1 15 ounce can of diced Tomato (I prefer tomato sauce but my Jesse likes the tomato chunks) 

1 15 ounce can of Red Beans ( 2 cans if you like Beans)

1 whole Chipotle Pepper in adobo sauce, deseeded and chopped

Ground Cumin, one tablespoon or to taste

Your favorite ground Chili Powder, one tablespoon or to taste (optional)

1/4 teaspoon Cocoa powder or instant Expresso powder (optional)
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

One Bay Leaf (optional)

Warm the Olive Oil and saute the chopped Onion until transparent. Add the Garlic and then the Chipotle Pepper and saute for another minute. Go slow and just warm in the Oil. Essentially you are creating a flavor base.  Add the Cumin, Chili Powder, Cocoa or Coffee powder and Bay Leaf. 

You cannot get Chili grind Beef in Pennsylvania. I settle for a lean coarsely ground Round or Chuck. I saute the ground Beef in my wok so it browns quickly. I leave the meat in little chunks so the chili has texture. You do not want to mash the Beef.

Add the Beef to the flavor base, saute a minute or two longer. Then add the Tomatoes and the Beans. Simmer the chili until it is reduced and thick as you like it.  Chipotle Peppers add a lovely hot and smoky flavor to Chili. Serves 5-6. 

World Food Day Poster Contest 2012

MAYSHA MAHFUZ  Bangladesh - First Place

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