Garlic Tea

I believe whole-heartedly that food has medicinal properties. Growing up with a holistic doctor in the house definitely helped plant this seed in my brain. Luckily that seed was watered and nurtured by many of my mentors throughout my career. Finally, I am coming into a space where it is up to me to continue my education. The little snippets of wisdom I have picked up randomly throughout the years are no longer enough to feed this beast. I want to know all about foraging, medicinal properties of herbs and foods and any other sort of information that can help me to heal myself and the people I care about.
One such snippet of wisdom I picked up years ago has prevailed as the dominant evidence in my mind as to why food can be medicine. At the time I was working too much and subsisting off a diet of coffee, alcohol, medjool dates and parmesan. I was young and invincible. Well, not entirely invincible. I developed a terrible cold that I just couldn't shake. I was taking olive leaf extract and drinking ginger tea, but it wouldn't go away. A waiter at the restaurant I was spending 12 hours a day at told me he could make me feel better, but he said that his cure was really disgusting and I would hate it. For some reason that made me think I should go for it. Before I could back out he crushed 2 cloves of garlic and steeped them in hot water. He added a copious amount of honey and told me to hold my nose and drink. I did as he said and the strangest thing happened. I got this huge rush that started in my toes and zipped all the way up into my brain. It was kind of like smoking your first Newport. For a few seconds I was high, but then it was gone. And within a day or two, so was my cold. I was now a disciple. Any time I start to feel like my lymph nodes are swelling I make myself some garlic tea. I haven't had a serious cold since. It seems like every winter I end up having to make it for a coworker or a friend who's fighting a cold, and they always agree that it helps them feel better. The only thing that's been disappointing to me about the tea in the five years since I learned how to make it is that I've never been able to get that rush again…

Garlic Tea
2 cloves garlic
1 cup water
1 tsp wild honey

Crush the garlic with the flat side of a knife on a cutting board. Allow the garlic to sit for 5 minutes. Now steep with hot water, covered, for 4 minutes. Strain the garlic out and add the honey. Drink and feel better.

Allicin and diallyl sulfides have been identified as the compounds that produce the health benefits in garlic. Allicin is the stronger of the two, but tends to break down quickly especially when exposed to heat. It's actually the byproduct of the amino acid alliin and the enzyme alliinase, which are combined when garlic is crushed or chopped. It is volatile and has a very short lifespan, which is why it is important to chop your garlic fresh, and to let it sit for a couple minutes before you use it so that the allicin might be created. Allicin and diallyl sulfide are so useful because they are antimicrobial, which accounts for why garlic is such a powerful weapon against both bacterial and viral infections. Because it is a powerful weapon it should be treated with respect. Garlic is a blood thinner and should not be taken in high doses before surgery. It should also be avoided if you are allergic to it.

I get this feeling of validation when I learn that the everyday foods I've been incorporating into my diet since I was a child are so good for me. It's not surprising that our food supply does more than provide us with calories, we have evolved together into a very symbiotic relationship. Food heals and nourishes us, making it possible for us to survive; and we cultivate and spread it's seeds, simultaneously ensuring it's survival. I don't believe that scientist will ever be able to make a pill that produces a healthy person, because we can study for centuries to come and still not understand on a scientific level the complex relationship that has evolved between ourselves and our food. Food science doesn't impress me at all, and I hardly pay attention to it. It seems to me that food science is most commonly driven by convenience. That's why all food scientist have managed to do with garlic is chop it up and put it in oil; which by the way, nullifies its medicinal properties and makes it an anaerobic environment that's ripe for the spread of botulism when left at room temperature. It seems that indigenous diets are Man's most coherent attempt at understanding nutrition. The fact that our ancestors believed in eating a variety of clean, whole foods and were so much healthier than we are today makes me think that they are the ones we should look to for the answers we seek. Everyone from the Pharaohs of Egypt to the Romans understood that garlic is a wonderful plant with medicinal as well as flavor enhancing properties. I guess I'm saying that I trust the foods inscribed on the Egyptian pyramids a hell of a lot more than I trust the United States food pyramid.

Essentials

It takes barely any time to cook dinner at my house. This isn't because I have a freezer loaded with Swanson meals and frozen pizzas, or cupboards jammed with instant rice. It's because I have an arsenal of healthy, nutrient-dense ingredients that allow me the versatility to cook quick, tasty meals. The best advice I can give to anyone trying to eat healthier is this: Don't buy junk food. If it's not in your cupboards you can't eat it!
The U.S.D.A. has released a statement saying that produce in our country is losing nutrients. When I read that it made me think about how all food is not created equal. I want to make sure that I'm getting the most out of what I'm eating, because empty calories lead to obesity. When your body is nourished the cravings disappear!
Here's a list of ingredients I like to keep on hand, and a little something about what makes them so great.

1.Butter: Real butter. Preferably from a local creamery. It's chalked full of vitamins a, d and e as well as potassium, phosphorus and calcium. Why should you ditch the margarine? It's a hydrogenated fat that your body doesn't know how to process and it is completely void of nutrients.








2. Brown Rice: I cook it in the rice cooker every time. Sometimes I cook it in chicken stock if I have it on hand. I usually add a little bit of butter, a clove of garlic and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Brown rice hasn't been stripped of all it's nutrients, and it tastes just as good as (if not better than) white rice. And the beauty of the rice cooker is that you don't have to pay too much attention to it. Just set it and come back in 20 minutes to beautifully cooked rice!
3. Garlic: I pick up a fresh head of garlic every time I go grocery shopping. The best way to use it is to peel the clove and then crush it with the back of your knife. Let it sit for about 5 minutes because this allows two of the enzymes present in garlic to react with each other in order to provide maximum health benefits. It's a strong anti-viral and anti-cancer food.

4.Honey: This has to be local! Local honey is a great weapon against allergies. It is also important to support local bee keepers! I rarely use sugar at home. I substitute with honey whenever possible. This is an easy way to add nutrients to your diet. Sugar is full of empty, useless calories. Honey is an antioxidant that has B vitamins, iron and manganese.






5. Cold-expeller Pressed Oils: I always have three oils in my cupboard; grapeseed oil when I'm looking for a neutral flavor in a vinaigrette or when I need to fry something; olive oil for marinating and salads; and sesame oil (quickly becoming a favorite) for it's unique flavor. Most cheap vegetable oils are rancid before you even pop the cap because they are extracted at a temperature that is too high. This causes the production of more free radicals in your body and weakens your cell walls.
6. Medjool Dates: I always keep a package of these in the fridge. Sure, they are ridiculously expensive. But you can't imagine how many times these little things have kept me from driving to the grocery store in the middle of the night for ice cream! Considering the fact that it's a healthy choice that manages to completely satisfy my sweet tooth, I think that it's worth it!

7. Redmond Salt: Throw the bleached salt in your cupboards away and switch to a salt with a high mineral content. My favorite brand is Redmond. It's speckled with 60+ trace minerals, it's completely unrefined and 100 percent natural.








8. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: I get these locally whenever possible because I know that the fresher my produce is, the higher its nutrient content. Because I usually know the person who is growing my food I don't have to worry about the organic labeling so much.

Winter Tip: There are a great variety of root vegetables available now. There are potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabagas, celeriac, carrots, and more. The easiest way to prepare these tubers is to roast them whole in the oven. This actually concentrates the natural sugars and leaves you with a sweeter tasting product. Scrub them, pierce them with a fork a couple times, wrap in foil and put them in a 350 degree oven until they are tender. When they cool a little bit you can slice them open. Add a little salt, butter or even sour cream and you've got a delicious meal; or you can peel them and puree them with some heavy cream for a tasty alternative to mashed potatoes!

Brandade

Skepticism abounded on that slightly chilly day at the dining room table in Hyde Park, New York. Ten aspiring young chefs sat around a large round dining table under a tent on the lawn, being served by upper class men at the Culinary Institute of America. The menu listed our appetizer as "brandade," and somebody at the table said it was salted cod whipped with potatoes. My own opinion was that this was probably going to be just as gross as eating those canned anchovies my mother liked to put on her pizza. Some of my new classmates vowed not to even touch it. Some just looked nervous.

The small pot of brandade was set in front of me, along with a couple slivers of baguette. At this point in my life I refused to be outdone. I was 20 years old, had an incredible resumé and no desire to appear the slightest bit feminine when it came to my work ethic, or my eating habits. As I recall I was only a week away from eating a chocolate covered grasshopper in front of my entire class in order to retain my pride and dignity. I smeared a decent helping of the salt cod on the baguette and shoved it in. Luckily, it was one of the most delicious things I've ever had the pleasure of eating. And now, even though I hate the chill of winter, I know it's not all bad because it signals to me that it is time to make the brandade. I made it this morning, 10 years after I first became enamored with the humble dip, and I sit here shoveling spoonfuls of it in as I type (sans bread at this point in my life, I'll even eat it cold straight out of the fridge!).

There are so many different recipes and methods and a rich history surrounding brandade. Brandade is actually the reason that explorers were able to last out on the ocean for months at a time, and it's the reason our ancestors were able to settle here (America).  As you can imagine, when you are stuck on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for months on end, you make it work when it comes to preparing meals. So sure, brandade can be made without potatoes or milk or even garlic. But if you have those ingredients it can only get better! Here's how I made it this morning:

Brandade:    Yd: 2 quarts

1 pound salt cod

6 yukon gold potatoes

1/2 cup cream

3 cups milk

3 cloves garlic

3/4 cup olive oil

1/3 pound butter

salt and pepper to taste

Soak the cod for 2 days. Change the water each day. This pulls the excess salt out of the fish and makes it palatable. I've been known to use fresh cod if I'm in a hurry, it still taste great. 

When the cod is ready to cook peel the garlic and smash the cloves with the back of a knife. Let it sit for 5 minutes, as this allows the beneficial enzymes in the garlic to react in order to provide maximum health benefits.

Peel and dice the potatoes. 

Place the cod, potatoes and garlic in the pot and cover with milk and cream. The cream keeps the milk from curdling. Cook on medium heat until the potatoes are tender.

Drain off the excess milk and add the butter and olive oil, reserving a little olive oil to drizzle on top.

Season with salt and pepper and beat the mixture with a whisk until it becomes somewhat smooth. 

Place in a nice dish and drizzle some olive oil on top.

Enjoy with some toasted bread or just eat it straight off the spoon!