Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Beef a l'Orange

Onion and tomato soup with toast
Food Diary (December 05, 2011)
Breakfast: Sourdough toast
Lunch: Lamb dumplings, veal dumplings
Dinner: Onion and tomato soup with toast

The lamb and veal dumplings had an unusual but interesting flavor combination. The lamb dumpling contained carrot, coriander, sesame oil and eggs while veal was paired with celery, sesame oil and egg. I forgot to take a photo unfortunately but I still remember the taste!

I am grateful to whoever invented the refrigerator. Yesterday I made  Beetroot Chocolate Fudge Cookies and froze extra dough. It came in handy today. There's more, and hopefully it lasts.


If you live in Sweden and want to be considered for testing a dessert product from Ekströms click here

Today's Favourite Photo
Peppermint Bark Snowflakes

Today’s Favourite Blog
Microbiologists have discovered that feeding citrus skins to cattle can drastically reduce the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria (such as E. coli and salmonella) in cows' gastro-intestinal tracts. This would translate into lower rates of dangerous pathogens in meat and reduce the livestock industry's dependence on potentially dangerous antibiotics.

The citrus skin is waste product. The Florida orange industry alone produces five million tons of orange peels and pulp and this is dumped. Now if all goes to plans cattle will be feeding on this.

Citrus peels contain a chemical, d-limonene, that is toxic to pigs and poultry. But cows, with their four stomachs, can digest orange peels. Lets hope the scientists are correct on this one, and lets hope all cows have four well functioning stomachs.

Feeding citrus peels raises a number of issues. How will it affect cattle in the long run? Do the peels need to be organic, otherwise some of the pesticides may end up on the plate, along with some orange flavour if you are lucky? I am wondering whether ducks should be fed orange peels to get a natural duck a l'Orange. 

The scientists must have tested all sorts of different ingredients and found citrus peels to be useful. It would be most interesting to see what else they tried on cattle.

This reminds me of a personal experience. I used to volunteer for Greenpeace and once a Greenpeace staff and myself drove around the country photographing fires, eating and drinking. We came to a field of cows and some idiot had dumped a whole lot of paper for the cows to feed on. And the cows seemed happy, they were choosing paper over grass, presumably for the intellectual content. Maybe the scientists should have done some tests. The chemicals from the paper/ink might have killed some bacteria.

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15 comments:

  1. I also loved that peppermint bark photo when I read the original post!

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  2. Oh, those snowflakes look absolutely perfect! (YAY for leftover cookie dough too. That's the best part of baking at home. Always having deliciousness at your fingertips!)

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  3. Yep, that sounds like a good use of orange peel to me! As long as the vile stuff is kept far, far away from my person, I'm happy ;)

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  4. Hahaha I had the same idea then you with Duck a l'Orange. But hey if it does work...less orange waste and better meat. Worth studying.

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  5. hi three cookies...mmm beef al'Orange, wow! sounds authentic, looks like one too . hey and your cookies looks very catchy and also of unique design too...cool..
    Good news on the discover of citrus peels for cows, as long as they are not sprayed with pesticides.. but how can we really ensure that. have a nice day to you.. how's the stock exchange performing over there, banker? :)

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  6. Wow I have to check Lizzy's Peppermint Bark Snowflakes. Gorgeous! I now need to check your beetroot cookies!

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  7. Four-legged paper recycling machines ... how organic.
    Naturally orange-flavored duck and beef ... milk? What next?
    I've told Lizzy her peppermint bark are too nice to eat, perfect to hang on the Christmas tree tho.

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  8. Yummychunklet: it is very attractive

    Mary: having at your fingertips is a great thing, but sometimes not so great when cravings take over willpower:)

    Hannah: for the foreseeable future while it is being tested it will be kept far away

    Cheap Ethnic Eatz: hopefully it is a win win situation

    Wan: regarding pesticides, maybe monitor where the peels come from. Nothing is certain though. Yes the markets – you know how major markets are behaving globally, similar situation in Sweden I supposed. Not sure whether or not I should say this proudly – I am not a banker:)

    Nami: you are welcome

    ping: 4 legged and 4 stomached natural recyclers:) They are organic but polluting at the same time, producing environmentally damaging exhaust fumes like cars do:)
    Exactly, what next? Time will tell.
    The her peppermint bark would make a nice decoration but it probably will disappear

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  9. I've seen that picture of the snowflake bars, they are just beautiful!
    Fascinating about the citrus skin.
    *kisses* HH

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  10. Oh, THANK YOU for featuring my peppermint bark...it IS an honor :) Interesting tidbit about the cows...it sounds like a win-win situation for the cattle owners and juice makers!

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  11. Your dumplings sound delicious indeed, but the soup photo is also beautiful!
    I can testify that mandarin peel is an amazing product to infuse in vodka. Mandarin peel-infused vodka is one of my best home alcohols! (Probably in the winning 3).
    I have also heard mandarin peel is used in some Chinese dishes... I should check which ones. In short: it can't be bad for cows! I would love to taste ducks fed on orange skin! Whatever the animals are fed, it's always better than drugs. By the way, last Saturday I have discovered my butcher sells free-range turkey! I was so happy I bought 1 kg. I must say the taste is so different from the drugged turkey I have been refuisng to eat recently. I felt a bit stupid because I should have asked my butcher a long time ago... (it wasn't well visible: the French don't eat turkey very often and I was sure such turkeys didn't exist). Since he only sells free-range meat, I won't be surprised if he sells free-range snails ;-)

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  12. Heavenly Housewife: they certainly are beautiful, probably even more fun to eat it

    Lizzy: you are most welcome. Hopefully it is a win win situation

    Sissi: I have never tried mandarin flavoured vodka. Lemon flavoured vodka is nice so I can imagine it should be good. One day I will try infusing it at home. If its in your top 3 it must be good:)
    I have not heard of mandarin peel being used in Chinese cuisine but then the cuisine is quite diverse so its definitely possible.
    Its funny when you write “drugged turkey”! Congratulations on finding drug free turkey. I can imagine it tastes quite different from drugged turkey. The difference between organic and factory farmed chicken is quite large whereas the difference in beef, pork etc is less. I guess turkey is similar to chicken.

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  13. That's great news about the citrus skins. I wonder if it would change the flavour of the beef too?

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  14. I love that Onion and tomato soup shot!

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  15. Mr. Three-Cookies, even the colour of the meat is darker! And the breasts are of course smaller... not pumped with hormones.
    As for pork I agree, but it depends on the dish. Sitr-fried pork or bacon is similar, but pork roast is so much better that my husband asked me what I changed in my recipe when I made it first time with free-range pork (of course I haven't changed anything). It was amazing.

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