Tasty Bytes Multimedia InfoBlog
So much to know, so little time.
Take a minute to veg out here—you'll be glad you did!
Antioxidants, Anyone?
We all need antioxidants to protect our health, but did you know you can find rich sources right here?
We have varieties of vegetables that beat out blueberries in the antioxidants race. Read on:
- Purple carrots and potatoes contain anthocyanins which are powerful antioxidants that protect key cell components.
- Anthocyanins neutralize the damaging effects of free radicals which disrupt the structure of other molecules leading to cellular damage, ageing, and various health problems.
- Anti-inflammatory properties of anthocyanins have also been observed; they neutralize enzymes that destroy connective tissue and they repair damaged proteins in blood vessel walls.
- Finally, anthocyanins may prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting and inhibiting the absorption of LDL, the bad cholesterol.
Ask for Russian Blue potatoes and Purple Haze carrots for a delicious win for your health.
would you grow your garden at the beach?
You don’t have to be a plant scientist to know intuitively that that would be a bad idea. But why is it that very little of food value would grow in sand? The answer is, like all living things, vegetables need nutrition to grow.
Poplar Bluff’s dark, rich organic soil is chock full of soil creatures that find, build and deliver life-sustaining nutrients to the plant. The plants trade the sugar they make for the minerals and nutrients delivered. The more nutrients, the more sugar the plant makes. Eventually, there is so much sugar that it is just stored in the veggie for later (yep, they hoard sweets). A well-fed root veggie doesn’t burn all that sugar, so that’s what creates the unbeatable flavour.
WORLD RENOWNED GROWING CONDITIONS
- Poplar Bluff Organics is ideally situated in the highest, coldest point of the Palliser Triangle, east of Calgary. It’s unrivalled the world over for cool-season root vegetables.
- Our warm, sun-filled days followed by cool nights support the enzymatic process that sweetens vegetables.
- Our growing conditions are second to none, but we take it one step further. Our carrots, parsnips and beets are exclusively cold-harvested to ensure the peak of sweetness is captured in every bite.
- Buy local: please ask for Poplar Bluff Organics and Carrots by Cam at your organic grocery.
Why Kennebecs are Not Sold in Stores
The famous Kennebec potato is sought after by French fry aficionados everywhere. Problem is, they’ll go green within four hours of light exposure, so they’re not sold in stores.
Restaurant chefs seek out Kennebecs for their amazing properties, but you can bring them home, too.
Just make an appointment at Poplar Bluff Organics to pick them up, or ask your organic grocery store to order them in for you. Keep them in a paper bag in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.
Aromatherapy for Slumbering Spuds
- Healthy, high quality food is “live”, that’s why good potatoes will eventually sprout.
- To keep our potatoes in optimum cooking condition, Poplar Bluff Organics uses aromatherapy to “sleep” the potatoes and inhibit sprouting. That’s why you might smell dill, caraway, mint, or cloves on the packaging.
- In fact, you can use this aromatherapy hint in your own refrigerator to keep everything fresher. Why does it work? Cell-division is inhibited.
- Just another example of a trusted organic solution for daily life.
THE golden girls ~ Heavy lifters of nutrition and flavour
For unbeatable flavour and nutrition in potatoes, go for the gold, the heavy lifters in the nutrient category. There's a direct correlation between colour and nutrient density in vegetables. The darker the flesh, the more packed with nutrients; the more nutrient dense, the better the flavour. Golds have tons of carotenes, Vitamin A family, and lutein for eye health. Just be sure to serve with butter or oil, since carotene needs fat to be absorbed. Powerful stuff!
Farmhouse Chocolate Cake
This is a rich, moist cake, the kind you’d find on a big, scrubbed pine table. It cries out for a cold glass of milk or a steaming cup of coffee. The pepper is controversial. Some folks just can’t imagine why you’d add it to a cake, but it gives it a delicious zing. You can skip it if it scares you, but why not try it?
¾ lb. Poplar Bluff organic potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks, or 1 cup cooked and mashed organic potatoes. (Use a starchy potato that mashes up smoothly.)
Coarse salt, pinch
Cocoa powder for dusting
5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 T. honey
½ c. boiling water
1 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
¼ - ½ t. finely ground black pepper
½ c. unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ c. oil
2 c. sugar
5 large eggs at room temperature
2 t. vanilla
- Cook the potatoes until tender, drain and mash. Measure out 1 cup for the recipe.
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Lightly butter a 10" tube pan or bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder. Put the chocolate and honey in a small bowl. Pour in the boiling water and leave the chocolate to melt and cool, stirring occasionally until it’s very smooth.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, a pinch of coarse salt and the pepper together.
- Cut the butter into chunks and put in large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light.
- Add oil and beat until combined and light.
- Gradually pour in the sugar and beat until this mixture is very light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating for at least a minute after each one.
- Beat in the chocolate, then the potatoes, then the vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with the ½ cup cold water, stirring just until combined and smooth.
- Scrape the batter into the pan, shake the pan and rap it lightly on the counter to release large air bubbles.
- Bake until the cake tests done, about 50 minutes or so.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so, then turn out the cake and leave it upside down on a rack to cool completely.
Delicious with or without your favourite glaze or icing.
Secret Ingredients
You won't believe it, but this cake contains two unusual ingredients: organic potatoes and black pepper.
Potatoes are the secret to its moist richness, while the pepper adds a flavour zing.
Easy to put together and a real crowd-pleaser! One of Rosemary's favourites.