Vegetable Broth & Abraham Mignon

Did you know that global food loss and waste amount to between one-third and one-half of all food produced? In the United States alone, 40 percent of food gets tossed every year—and that amounts to $162 billion in waste annually, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. While food waste is a global systemic issue, there are things that we can all do at home to minimize our personal food waste: creating efficient grocery lists, saving food scraps to make your own broth, or composting are a couple of examples of how you can have an impact on an individual level.

Every couple of weeks Nick and l make vegetable broth. We’ll take our vegetable scraps and freeze them for broth. We eat a limited amount of meat so don’t have bones very often, but when we do, we save those as well for bone broth. 

Broth, also known as bouillon is a savory liquid made of water in which bones, meat, or vegetables have been simmered. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, gravies, and sauces.

With a rich history, Broth has been an integral part of both eastern and western cooking traditions. In the east, More than 2,500 years ago, in Chinese medicine, bone broth was used to strengthen the kidneys and support digestive health. It subsequently became a staple of traditional Asian meals, and nowadays it is frequently used as the base for various Chinese, Korean and Japanese soups.  Alternatively in the west, "Broth" was noted in a fifth-century book of Roman recipes. 

I’ve paired our vegetable broth recipe with the work of Abraham Mignon.  Mignon was a still-life painter, best known for his lush compositions, Mignon developed a distinct style marked by precise detail and drawing.

Food waste or food loss is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail, and consumption.

Broth Ingredients: 

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil 

4 cups of water 

1 cup of Vegetable Scraps 

1 bay leaf 

Any herb scraps you may have 

Salt 

Recipe: 

In a large saucepan add your olive oil on medium heat 

Add in onion, garlic, and leek scraps set a timer for 5 min 

Add in the rest of the vegetables, stir and set a timer for 10 min 

Add in water, salt and herbs, let boil for two-three hours on low-medium heat 

Strain the broth and Voila - you have vegetable broth! 

Let broth cool off before storing.

pablo picasso's blue period & blueberry yogurt muffins

winter blues. i've been seeing allot of blue. i've been feeling blue. everything seems blue.  

after a lovely trip to the metropolitan museum of art. nicholas (my boo), nafisa (my bestie) and picasso (the one and only) inspired this pairing of picasso's blue period with blueberry yogurt muffins.  

pablo picasso's somber blue paintings guised with melancholy affirm themes of loneliness, isolation, poverty and despair. while you examine the depths of this period in picasso's career pair it with some of the subtle sweetness, moist texture and rich flavors of the blueberry yogurt muffins.

blueberry yogurt muffins

yields: 12 muffins

prep time: 10 min

cook time: 30- 40min

total time: 40 min

ingredients:

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup of greek yogurt

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon+ lemon zest, optional

• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 cups of blueberries (you could also use frozen)

directions: 

• preheat oven to 350F

• in a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, lemon zest, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.

• add the flour, baking powder, and mix until just combined.

• fold in 2 cups of blueberries and gently stir to incorporate (frozen blueberries bleed and run less than fresh and if using frozen do not thaw them first; add them directly into the batter frozen; alternate berries or other seasonal fruit such as strawberries, peaches, pears, or plums may be substituted)

• pour batter into muffin pan.  

• bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is lightly brown and set.(or a toothpick comes out clean,

peter paul rubens inspired chocolate beet cupcakes with grape buttercream icing

my boo has taken up drawing recently. let me explain: he spends sundays enveloped in studying old masters paintings and at least once a week will set his alarm for 4:30 am, at which time he will sit at our table and draw for an hour before he goes off to work. the passion is infective. i was flipping through a book of peter paul rubens work and it hit me. chocolate beet cupcakes! inspired, i started baking immediately and thinking about the light, texture and contrast examined in rubens paintings. i wanted to make a frosting that would ignite those elements and voila (!) grape buttercream frosting.  

• prep time: 20 min
• cook time: 30 min
• total time: 1hr 30

---

makes 18 cupcakes

cupcake ingredients: 

• Oil and flour for preparing the pan
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup mild flavored vegetable oil
• 3 eggs

• 1 3/4 cups sugar (or your favorite natural sweetener)

• 2 cups cooked pureed beets (3 medium beets)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

---

grape butter cream frosting ingredients:

• 1 cup of heavy cream

• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of melted unsalted  butter
• 2 tbsp of grape jam/jelly
• 1 tsp of cinnamon 
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar

directions:

• whip butter and sugar until fluffy, slowly add in cream,vanilla,jam,and cinnamon, whip for 2 min, make sure all ingredients are mixed well and frosting is fluffy.  

directions:

•  preheat oven to 375 F degrees. 

•  partially fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to simmer. put the chocolate and 1/4 cup of the oil in the top of the double boiler, (**very important to put the chocolate and oil into the pot at the same time!**) heat until just the chocolate melts; remove from the heat and stir until well combined.

•  Combine the and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in the remaining 3/4 cup oil, chocolate mixture, beets, and vanilla.

• sift the all-purpose flour into a large bowl. stir in the baking soda and salt. gently stir the flour mixture into the egg and chocolate mixture just until the flour is mixed in. pour batter into cupcake pan.

•  bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

•  carefully remove cake from the pan and let cool on a rack. when completely cool, dust with powdered sugar. 

---