Looking for a charitable year-end donation?

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Aloha everyone!

I am taking a new job here on Maui! In addition to our running an oceanfront Bed and Breakfast, I am the new Children's Yoga and Education Coordinator through the Haiku Hot Yoga Maui Studio and partnered with the Maui Youth Health Rangers Club! We are a 501(c)(3) entity called Ke Kula 'Ike no ke Kauiaulu in Hawaiian, which translates to School of Knowledge for the Community. This amazing opportunity allows me to tie in many of my driving life factors: yoga, children, farming and gardening, health and nutrition, Mother Ocean, and the environment!

So what does this all mean? I'm currently taking a Hot Yoga teacher training through Haiku Hot Yoga Maui to be our Youth and Teen Hot Yoga teacher! This is an intensive training that draws upon my many years of Hot and Bikram Yoga and my focus is to gear our Hot Yoga classes toward children and the prevention of childhood diabetes. At our studio we will grow microgreens for immediate consumption and have free microgreens starter kits for our kids participating in the Maui Youth Health Rangers Club to take home! We will have a community garden where the children and adults alike will be able to take responsibility for where and how their food comes from! Our garden is visible from the courtyard of our studio.

The Maui Youth Health Rangers Club will have an after-school science club exploring many things from our inside environment to our community and our outside environment. Children participating in the Club will have their yoga paid for and be encouraged to do 30, 60, and 90 day Hot Yoga challenges where the children will have science based health documentation of each other as they get healthy and combat childhood diabetes. 

While we're cleaning up our “inner ocean,” we're also cleaning up our outer ocean, partnering with marine conservation agencies here on Maui. Our Maui Youth Health Rangers Club, along with other members of the community will be getting to work with, play in, and clean up our Mother Ocean.

We are restoring our personal health and well-being, our community's health and well-being, and our environment's health and well-being with a strong focus on our youngest generations!

I am looking to raise $2000 by the end of the year. All donations are tax deductible!!! Please consider donating any amount, big or small as a gift for a GREAT cause!! How can you help? Also, please check our website http://www.HaikuHotYogaMaui.com for great items you can donate to help us out!

 

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Please check out my yoga story. 

Mahalo,

Alexis Distad

Haiku Hot Yoga Maui
P.O. Box 791353
Paia, HI  96779
808.344.9270

a 501(c)(3) entity

Ke Kula 'Ike no ke Kauiaula

School of Knowledge for the Community

99-0300957

Or please donate online!!

Summer's here! Slow Smoking on the BBQ: Why and How-To

Recently Tara Firma Farms, one of the two farms that I work on, asked all the employees to write an article for our weekly newsletter.  I thought that this would be a great excuse to get back to my overly neglected blog.  Enjoy!

 Slow smoked pork shanks over lettuce and homegrown backyard broccoli flowers.

Summer is here!  Slow Smoking on the BBQ: Why and How-To!

Every year, as soon as the weather gets nice (which is both subjective, and roughly year round for us in the beautiful Bay Area) my husband Eric fires up our Weber coal BBQ and goes to town!  Sometime last year, Eric mastered the art of slow smoking, and we have now found my favorite way to cook food.  This really simple technique is a fan favorite in our house, and we'd like to walk you through how it's done.  Please note that this is for use on coal BBQ's.  If you have a gas BBQ, you can purchase a smoke box for a similar effect.  Or better yet, you can purchase a coal BBQ for best taste. :)

We find that since the meat we get in our CSA box is of such incredible taste and quality, that very little is needed to be done prior to smoking it.  We really like to have the meat speak for itself.  Season ahead of time with a dry rub of your choice.  There are a variety of seasoned salts available in the farmstore that are great for this purpose, such as French Herb, Rosemary, and Garlic.  We also like a seasoning from Trader Joe's called 21 Seasoning Salute.

In his own words, here's how the Master gets it done :)

Slow Smoking - Why and How-To:

WHY
1) Great INTERNAL Moisture.  "Low and Slow" means exterior doesn't burn while bringing internal temp up.
2) Fantastic Color.  "Smoke Ring" just inside outer surface.
3) TASTES AMAZING.  Rub or marinade permeates COMPLETELY.  Because internal moisture is still present, all of the juices add to the flavor, so you really taste the meat.
4) It makes your neighbors insanely jealous, and makes your whole neighborhood smell UH-MAZING!

HOW-TO
In order to achieve good "smoking" conditions, you need two things.  WOOD CHIPS and *INDIRECT* heat.  The wood is important as it actually creates the smoke.  Not all wood is equal, also.  I prefer mesquite for chicken and either apple or pecan for pork.  (I don't really have a wood preference for smoking beef, yet).  I soak several handfuls of wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes and try to use large chunks.  I put these directly on the hot coals and replenish them when the smoke dies down.

Equally (if not more) important is the indirect heat.  If you put the meat right over the coals, it will cook quickly and unevenly and the results will not be positive.  I make sure to keep the meat as far from the heat as I can.  I keep this in mind when I lay out the coals.  For pork, I use a "two-zone" arrangement with all of the coals only on one side of the BBQ.  Then I put a metal pie tin half-full of water on the other side under the meat.  The water helps keep the air moist, which in turn keeps the meat moist.  The tin also catches the drippings which helps extend the life of the grill.  I do the same with quartered chicken.

For whole chickens, I set up the coals in a "Ring of Fire".  I dump the coals around the outer edge, adding some new coals to help fill all of the ring.  I add the same half-full pie tin to the center and put the bird above it.  The ring helps ensure equal heat all around the bird.  I also use an open, half full beer can to stand her upright.  (Technically, I use a stainless steel facsimile to avoid aluminum and dye, but you get the point.)

Keep the lid covered as much as possible to avoid losing that precious smoke!

For grilling those scrumptious fresh veggies, I tend to put them right over the coals as the meat is coming close to done.  The goal is to cook them quickly and efficiently.  They have different properties and can handle it.

QUICK NOTES:
1) As always, grass fed/pastured meat cooks faster than corn fed meat.  If you expect it to take an hour, assume it will be ready in 45 minutes.
2) Digital thermometers are your friend.
3) Practice often! (And have fun!)

 Enjoy!  Your lovely farmhands, Alexis and Eric Distad.

Alexis getting down on some smoked pork skin!  Believe me, it was incredible!

50/50 Burgers: A Love Story

I've recently made a few posts on my Facebook page, From Farm To Table, about my 50/50 burgers and have had some inquiries on how to make them.  So, here we goooooo!

I stumbled into 50/50 burgers last summer when I NEVER wanted to see another summer squash in my CSA box again.  But alas, they kept coming.  "What on earth can I do with all this?" I thought.  "Maybe I can hide them in some grass fed ground beef in burger form, similar to my meatloaf."

So out came the Cuisinart with the shredder attachment and in went all those beautiful green and yellow summer squashes.  As much shredded squash as I could cram in, one pound of grass fed ground beef, and salt and pepper to taste all went into a mixing bowl.  I kneaded them together, as if it were bread, until mixed throughly.

The burgers were spectacular!

Since then I've experimented with all different types of veg.  The more veg the better!  I love to put in whatever is seasonal.  This is a great trick to use if you have some veg leftover before you get your next CSA box, you have an abundance in your garden, you want to get some more vegetables in your diet, or you'd just like make 6-8 burgers out of that pound of grass fed ground beef!

Last night I made my 50/50 burgers with a bunch of beet greens, stems removed (I don't like the texture), and half each of white and red onions, both chopped.  Add in one pound of grass fed ground beef and sea salt and chili garlic sauce to taste.  (I tend to shy away from black pepper and use red pepper instead -- and I used to abhor spicy, too!).  I kneaded all the ingredients together for about 3 to 5 minutes until all the veg is incorporated in with the ground beef.  It might seem like this is more than the ground meat can hold.  But if it sticks, it fits!

I also made my first grass fed lamb burger the other day.  I put in a ton of fresh mint from my garden and pine nuts in it.  It was soooooo good! Play with it!  I've used chard, kale, beet greens, basil, mint, various fresh herbs, peppers, squash, garlic, and many many more.  All are delish!

Have fun, enjoy, and please let me know what you've tried and how it came out!