Se, Soups Ee make mM Neer, us GARDINER WILSON ee hearty - dinners a IN SUMMER it’s main Ses course salads that get cheers ° for quick, wholesome, one-dish dinners. But as fall : sets in, hearty homemade aan soups appeal as simple din- : ner fare. If you’re keen on soups and salads, there's a group of soups worth getting to know. Sometimes referred to as ‘‘stockless,’’ these a ee z soups don’t need added stock to start. They make their own as they cook. . Vegetables and meat simply aS meld with the cooking water to . yield a nutritious broth, with fla- . vors coaxed to rich robustness by . unhurried cooking and gentle heat. These soups adapt well to : seasonal ingredients and to cooks pet who like to improvise. : , . Begin with a large soup pot that ' noe has a base thar conducts heat . evenly. Leisurely cooking loses its appeal if you’re worried about scorching. ot Use less tender cuts of meat - : . since they’re tenderized by slow cooking with moist heat. Meaty beef shanks make a substantial vegetable soup, borscht, or te. minestrone. eyo, Some cooks prefer to brown the meat, adding flavor and helping to seal juices into the meat. But vo simpiy adding water allows fla- a voring extractives from the meat a to seep unhindered into the broth. : ho Use ham hocks or the end of ‘ woe . the roast ham for thick, peasant- . style split pea soup. Salt pork for so splendid black bean soup. Ox . tails, just like grandma used. Or soup bones, which add consider- able flavor. Remember that boiling temperatures toughen meat. Gen- tle simmering ensures that moisture stays in the meat and tough connective tissue transforms to gelatin (this is the reason for soup gelling when chilled). Cooking times will vary from one to two hours. Add chopped, sliced or finely ground fresh vegetables when the meat is almost cooked. Or if you wish a softer texture and thicker pureed soup, add vegetables from the start. During cooking, plant acids ' counteract some of the softening / of vegetables. You may wish to / add tomatoes or tomato juice near ‘ the end of the cooking time because of their high acidity, Acids also muddy the color of green peppers, peas and beans since they aller the makeup of chlorophyll, See Make pave 47 46 -— Wednesday, October 17, 1990 - North Shore News Environmentalists and cattle industry face off over effects of beef on the planet and on man’s health EEF HAS come under fire lately — not on top of the barbecue, but in the media. By Peggy Trendeli-Whittaker News Reporter Environmentalists have charged cattle raising with a host of sins against the planet, and their rallying cry is enun- ciated strongly in the best-sell- ing book, Diet for a New America. In the book, author John Robbins accuses the meat in- dustry of contributing dramatically to topsoil toss, excess water and energy con- sumption, the perpetuation of world hunger and the high rate of ilinesses such as cancers and heart problems. Now the cattle ranchers are fighting back with a few ac- cusations of their own. A sein- inar entided How Now, Green Cow was held in Vancouver last month by the Beef Infor- mation Centre to combat the blows dealt them by the swell- ing number of John Robbins followers. While Robbins told the News earlier this year that the facts contained in his book have met every challenge levied at_ them by the meat industry, Dennis Layeraft, general manager of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, says a team of scientists commissioned by the industry have indeed pin- Share your recipes 44 if we didn't eat cattle, we would have to invent a use for livestock because their forage crops are essential for soil preservation. 9¥ — Richard Johnson 44 That was not an information session, that was an indoctrination session. 99 pointed flaws. While Robbins quotes a study showing that it takes 2,500 Ibs. of water to produce one pound of beef, Laycraft says that that figure is exag- gerated almost 10-fold. And the 16 Ibs. of grain it lakes to produce a pound of beef, is, according to Laycraft, more like three or four pounds of grain. As conflicting claims emerge from the struggle between en- vironmentalists, backed by their studies, and the meat in- dustry, backed by theirs, it becomes apparent that the an- swers aren't black and white. The U.S. studies quoted in Robbins’ book lay 85 per cent of the blame for that country’s annual 7,000,000,000-ton top- soil loss on the livestock in- dustry’s doorstep. But Richard Johnson, head of the Alberta Environmental Centre’s — soils branch, tells a different story. “There’s no agriculture in PUMPKINS ACHIEVE prominence at this time of -— Colin Stark the world that’s sustainable that doesn’t include forage crops (and livestock),’’ he told the audience at the Vancouver seminar. ‘‘If we didn’t eat cat- tle, we would have to invent a use for livestock because their forage crops are essential for soil preservation.’’ Forage crops are deep- rooted, he said, and help pre- vent water runoff and soil ero- sion. However, at least one man in attendance at the seminar was not convinced that by turning grass into protein, cattle are, as Johnson vlaimed, ‘some of the most efficient recyclers in the world.” « Colin Stark of the EarthSave Foundation said of the seminar “That was not an information session, that was an indoctrina- tion session... They have four expensive experts who were dyed-in-the-wool supporters of beef production.” A vegetarian who has notic- the year, thanks to Thanksgiving pies and Halloween jack o'lanterns. Readers are reminded that the North Shore News is Jooking for your favorite pumpkin recipes and The deadline for your ideas is 10 a.m. Monday morning. Drop off your entvies at the North Shore 1139 Lonsdale Ave. Nocth News, ed a radical improvement in his health and soccer performance since he gave up meat and dairy products eight months ago, Stark says he didn’t buy the arguments raised by the seminar’s speakers. At least one thing’ was made clear at the How Now, Green Cow presentation: consumers trying to decide whether or not to alter their meat-eating habits will have a great amount of conflicting information to wade through before making up their minds. More light will be shed on the subject at two upcoming events in the Lower Mainland. On Friday, Oct. 19 the YM- CA is holding a one-day con- ference on Food and the En- vironment for students in Grades 10 through 12. The workshop will be held at the downtown Y (955 Burrard) from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call 681-0221, local 321, for registration information. And on Saturday, Nov. 24, the Canadian Farm Animal Care Trust and the B.C. Socie- ty for the Prevention of Cruel- ty to Animals present a sym- posium called Can Animal Farming Survive the Greening? at the Aldergrove Motor Inn. For information call John van der Hoeven at 681-7271, General information on the topic of cattle and the en- vironment can be had by call- ing the Beef Information Cen- tre i¢é*.0113) or the EarthSave Fowrinareeit (731-5885), next Wednesday's Food section. Vancouver, ad- decorating tips for a close-up look at the squash in dressed to “Creative Pumpkins.”