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Symbiosis of mind and body is ever-present in the kitchen, where great amounts of personal creativity meet nutritional necessity. As the saying goes, “You are what you eat.” However, a glimpse into the lives of those passionate about food reveals that who you are defines what you eat and how you make it.
The beans are rehydrating and the yeast is being reactivated in Allison Jones’ bread. She walks through her small living room into the larger kitchen and dining room area where, judging by the flour-covered table, things are already underway.
Jones will be making spicy sweet potato chili, an original concoction. As she gets started, fresh cut onions, olive oil, green peppers, red peppers and sweet potato are tossed into a large silver pot and liberal amounts of chili powder, cumin and other spices are added to the mix.
The scent of the organic ingredients and southwestern seasoning fills up the well-lit room and music plays faintly from her laptop speakers on the cluttered table. Even her housemate’s cat, Jinxy, is interested.
Chatting in her kitchen, dark blond-haired Jones exudes a down-to-earth confidence, while her voice sounds astonishingly similar to Drew Barrymore’s. With both Jones’ look and her cooking, one thing is certain — she likes to keep it natural.
“I like to eat food that isn’t all that processed,” Jones said. “So whatever I can do to either keep things somewhat local, or to do it myself, I try to do that.”
Jones has been cooking as a hobby and as a necessity — she is a picky eater — since she was a freshman in high school. Now a third-year philosophy student at UMaine, she focuses on healthy, sustainable foods by buying ingredients in bulk and making dishes from scratch.
She cooks primarily vegetarian meals, although she is casual about it — she used organic chicken stock in the chili and ate beef jerky a few months ago when there was nothing else. While Jones was a strict vegetarian when she began college, her main focus now is on sustainable, locally grown foods.
“At this point it doesn’t seem like I’m going really out of my way,” Jones said. “I guess it is more complicated in stepping back from the habits I’ve formed.”
A large portion of her ingredients come from the Natural Living Center on Longview Drive in Bangor. She can get cheap flour and spices in bulk and purchases a lot of vegetables at the farmers market.
As she adds the chicken stock, a bottle of beer, canned tomatoes and eventually beans to the boiling chili, Jones tells me how much of her cooking knowledge comes from her friend’s mom. She taught Jones the art of canning and preserving by making jam and jellies and eventually gave her a cookbook for Christmas.
A lot of Jones’ cooking philosophy is based on planning. While she estimated she spends about six hours each week cooking, that can mean five hours making dinner for the whole week, or a full day of bread making that can last her a whole month. She aims to spend only about 20 minutes cooking per serving.
While the chili pot heats up — it will take about 45 minutes — Jones goes into her cupboard and shows me how she makes her own granola. By buying the oats and other ingredients in bulk, she is able to conjure up her own combinations for far cheaper than stores would charge.
Her other favorite dishes reinforce the do-it-yourself attitude. She loves Thai food, but can’t afford to order it so she makes her own — typically Massaman curry or pad thai, which she said are quick and cheap. For pasta, a college culinary staple, she will make her own tomato or Alfredo sauce.
“I enjoy cooking enough so that I don’t care if something turns out well or not,” Jones said. “I’ll do it just to have something to do with my afternoon, but a lot of it isn’t that hard.”
To avoid the monotony of eating the same meal all week, Jones said she tries to cook and share meals with friends as often as possible, especially during her summers in Bar Harbor. She had already let everyone know through Facebook she would have a ton of chili to share because of our interview.
In Jones’ cooking, a symbiosis is formed between using natural ingredients and challenging herself in the kitchen. For instance, she bakes bread with whole wheat flour both because it is better for you and more challenging. Sacrificing taste for healthfulness is not on Jones’ menu.
However, she is not one for the holier-than-thou, all-or-nothing health food extremism. Initially, she had a goal to eventually only eat food from Maine, processed by her or by non-industrial techniques.
“In time I’ve both made huge steps towards that, like I’ve progressed in that direction, but it’s no longer the ultimate end goal for me,” Jones said. “I’ve learned to kind of balance things.”
She never made the conscious decision to eat healthfully, but understands the real implications of the way people eat. One of her friends, who only ate meat and carbs, was hospitalized because he was potassium-deficient and his heart was shutting down.
When the bread dough finally rose, Jones quickly began flatting the bulbous glob onto a pan. She leaves holes with her fingers where she says the oil will collect, adding to the bread’s flavor.
After the foccacia is put in the oven, we sit down to eat bowls of chili she prepared earlier. As our bowls cool, I sneak a piece of the soft, smoked Gouda cheese when she has her back turned.
The chili is delicious. Even as a carnivore, I hardly miss the taste or the texture of meat in the dish. The chili powder and other spices blend perfectly with the vegetables and the sweet potato gives the thick soup a unique flavor.
As we both slurp up the meal, wiping strands of the melted cheese away from our faces, we discuss the wealth of information available on food. Jones’ philosophic studies seem to be coming out as she ponders the positives and negatives of this reality.
She has been able to learn a ton about cooking, eating well and making positive choices to support the economy and the environment. The problem is, everyone has their own take on the same information.
But inside her kitchen, the situation is much less complicated. At the end of our meal she explains to me how, while some people will channel their passions into creating art or music, she creates food to share with her friends.
“Cooking is a means of being creative that’s not useless,” Jones said. “It serves a purpose.”
Pickled Beet Salad
Ingredients:
Baby spinach, arugula, or mixed field greens
3/4 cup thinly sliced pickled beets sprinkled lightly with cinnamon
Goat cheese
3/4 cup worth of an assortment of cucumber, carrot and/or red pepper (whatever is available to you)
Handful of unsalted pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, or walnuts
Olive oil, to taste
1. Fill serving bowl with green.
2. If using cucumbers, thinly slice and place on greens; if using carrots, julienne or thinly slice and place on greens; if using red pepper, cut into strips and likewise place on greens.
3. Place picked beets on top of vegetables.
4. Crumble goat cheese and nuts on salad.
5. Only immediately before serving, drizzle salad lightly with olive oil and toss to coat greens. Adding the oil to the salad before serving will cause the greens to wilt.
A side note: This recipe does not require salad dressing as the acidity from the pickled beets and olive oil acts as a tangy vinaigrette, which pairs well with the creaminess of goat cheese. For added involvement, make the pickled beets yourself, incorporating the cinnamon into the brine.
Spicy Sweet Potato Chili
Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 45 min.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion
2 bell peppers (any color)
2 sweet potatoes
Beans (dry) or 2 15-oz cans (bean variety of your choice)
12 oz bottle of medium-dark beer (brown ale, stout, porter all being acceptable varieties, PBR is not)
32 oz vegetable or chicken stock (4 cups water with appropriate amounts of bouillon)
1 cup tomatoes of any variety 16 oz canned tomatoes of any variety
3 Tbsp olive (or other preferred oil)
2 Tbsp chili powder
3 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp garlic salt (or fresh garlic and 1 tbsp salt)
Liberal quantities of Sriracha (or other hot sauce) to taste
Cheese of your choice for garnish; I personally find smoked gouda particularly good
1. If using dried beans, either rehydrate over night or boil 45 minutes with generous amounts of water in small saucepan before beginning to make chili.
2. Dice onion and put in large stockpot with olive oil, bringing the pot to medium heat and let sit for 10 minutes or until onions become translucent. Meanwhile, dice peppers and sweet potato, adding them to the pot once finished.
3. Add chili powder, cumin, garlic salt and Sriracha to vegetables in stockpot and continue cooking on medium heat 10 minutes.
4. After 10 minutes, add chicken or vegetable stock, beer and tomato. Bring heat up to high until the chili is boiling and then turn down to low, leaving chili to simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.
5. Turn off heat and serve with shredded cheese on top.
Pepper and salt can be added to taste.
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Garlic Focaccia Bread Sticks for Chili
Prep time 50 minutes. Bake time 20-30 minutes
Ingredients:
5 – 6 cups all purpose flour (if choosing to incorporate whole wheat flour, use extra water and consider also using bread flour in equal proportion to substituted volume of wheat flour to maintain consistency)
2 Tbsp baking yeast (equivalent of one packet if purchased in packets)
1 tsp sugar
2 cups warm water (lukewarm to touch, too hot will kill the yeast)
5 Tbsp olive oil (or other preferred oil)
Garlic salt, or preferred topping (basil, feta, rosemary or thinly sliced onions and peppers also make good toppings) to taste
1.In a small bowl, combine water sugar and yeast. Let sit for five minutes. Bubbles should form at surface. If they do not form, there may be a problem with the age of the yeast or water temperature.
2.While yeast mixture is sitting, measure out flour into a larger bowl. Make a well in the center, adding two Tbsp of olive oil and yeast mixture and stir until a dough forms. Dough does not have to be completely uniform or together at this point.
3. Place dough on a well-floured surface, such as a cutting board or clean countertop. Knead dough by folding the dough upon itself with the heel of your hand for 10 minutes.
4. Place dough in a clean, well-oiled bowl and let sit 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
6. Punch down dough and place on a well-oiled baking sheet or pan, stretching or rolling dough out across the entirety of the pan.
7. Oil the top of the dough and add garlic salt or other seasonings evenly across surface of dough. Let dough sit for 15 minutes.
8. Bake on top rack for 20-30 minutes or until edges of bread begin to brown. The top of the bread should remain slightly doughy, not crunchy. Cut into breadsticks and serve fresh for best taste.
Bread sticks can be cut up and frozen for use later on. Put in toaster or oven before serving.
Bangor Daily News