Conversations in the Kitchen

Conversations in the Kitchen is a video series about the ways in which kitchens and food can bring people together. Join us as Dr. Koe and a variety of guests and friends of all ages cook up something healthy and delicious, all while chatting about the ups and downs of life and a myriad of other topics often discussed over a meal. Dr. Koe’s eldest daughter, and AgroshareMD contributor, executive sous chef Holly Clark, will be featured in the future as well. We hope you’ll join us as we look at the way food brings us together, regardless of background.

Video #1: Introduction to Conversations in the Kitchen

This video is Dr. Koe’s brief introduction to the ongoing video series, Conversations in the Kitchen. The videos that follow will feature different guests, and Dr. Koe will film them while they make a healthy recipe together. A written description will accompany the videos, and we will always try to include the recipe (when it turns out well!) so you can make this food at home. Dr. Koe has documented kitchen successes (mayo) as well as failures (homemade BBQ sauce)! Guests will include Dr. Koe’s family, farmers, integral participants on the AgroshareMD team, and community members.

The series is not just about cooking nutritious food. It will also include discussions about farming and gardening, general health topics, family life, and anything else that comes up around the kitchen table. We plan to continue this series for several years, and we hope you’ll enjoy it!

Video #2: Keto Pizza

Today’s Conversations in the Kitchen video features Dove Stackhouse. She is an organic farmer, avid seed saver, founding member of ASAN, and member of the AgroshareMD support team. Dove tells Dr. Koe that her farm and business, Whirlwind Farms, is named for the series of all-season whirlwinds she and her husband observed when they were camping on the property before they could purchase it. After buying the property, they experienced severe tornadoes two years in a row and concluded that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” The Navajo sand painting of whirling winds is their farm logo.

This video shows Dove making an almond flour-based keto pizza crust which she then tops with tomato pesto, fresh vegetables and more cheese. While they make their meal, Dr. Koe and Dove talk about ways to save money on healthy foods. For example, Dove buys nuts like almonds in bulk from Aldi or other stores and grinds them at home to save on the cost of buying pre-prepared keto staples like almond flour. She also uses quail eggs in the recipe, which she gets from a fellow participant in the Madison Farmers Market. Dr. Koe and Dove discuss the high omega-3 composition of quail eggs, and the health benefits of adding more omega-3’s to your diet, including possibly easing the effects of and discomfort associated with arthritis.

Keto PIzza Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Large eggs

2 Tablespoon cottage cheese or sour cream

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup almond flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon your favorite salt

1 cup shredded cheese, your favorite

Toppings: the sky’s the limit.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cottage cheese, and butter set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, garlic powder, and salt. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir until combined. Mixture will be wet. Stir in shredded cheese.

4. Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment paper, the bottom one being the parchment on the baking sheet. After rolling out to desired size and thickness, peel the top piece of parchment off. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until desired level of crispness is achieved. 

5. Remove from the oven and load your pizza with all your favorite sauces, toppings, and cheese. Bake for another 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Video #3: Keto with my 88-year-old Dad, Part 1

Today’s Conversations in the Kitchen video features Dr. Koe’s father (who was 88 years old at the time of filming) and is divided into two parts. They shot this video in the small, warm kitchen of Dr. Koe’s tiny house on her Collinsville, AL farm. Dr. Koe chats with her father while she prepares several keto-friendly staples (continued in Part Two) including chaffles (grain-free cheese and egg-based waffles), mayonnaise, and an unfortunately unsuccessful attempt at homemade keto BBQ sauce.

Not only does this video show that you can cook healthful and nutritious food at any age, but it also gives you a glimpse into the simple and self-sufficient lifestyle that Dr. Koe has carved out for herself. She relies entirely on solar power and talks a little about the ups and downs of that in the video, mentioning that she might not have enough power to plug in two waffle makers at the same time.

Her father would typically use a more elaborate recipe and a bigger waffle maker when he made chaffles for himself at home in his Fort Payne apartment. But in this video, Dr. Koe shows a paired down recipe that is simply one chicken (or duck egg) and a half a cup (to ¾ for the larger chicken egg) of freshly shredded cheese. Dr. Koe raises both chickens and ducks and prefers to use duck eggs in preparations like this because the texture is a little different and, in her experience, they don’t scramble as well as chicken eggs.

It is important to get a block of cheese and grate it yourself because pre-shredded bags contain additives and powders to inhibit mold and prevent clumping. She mixes the egg and cheese and then spoons half the mixture into a single serving waffle maker and cooks it for several minutes, checking partway through. This makes a chaffle, or a grain-free and low carb cheese “waffle” that she uses as a bread substitute for everything from pulled pork to salmon salad. Her dad mentions the waffles freeze well, and you can make a large batch ahead of time, store them in the freezer, and then reheat them quickly in a toaster oven or the waffle maker itself.

While she is making chaffles and chatting with her father, Dr. Koe is also simmering an experimental batch of keto-approved BBQ sauce on her gas stove. It has tomato paste, water, garlic, onions, salt, pepper, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, and healthy fat from butter. She uses Whole Earth in place of sugar. Whole Earth is a keto-friendly sweetener which is a blend of stevia, monk fruit, and erythritol. She’s been searching for a quality keto BBQ sauce recipe she can make at home, because store-bought sauces are loaded with corn syrup, sugar, and not safe for a keto or low inflammatory diet. Unfortunately, the search continues, as the homemade version did not taste the way she’d hoped! In the meantime, she uses and recommends Primal Kitchen’s Paleo/keto BBQ sauces available on Amazon.

*Edited 5/8/24: This video is dedicated in loving memory to Dr. Koe’s father, John R. Howland Jr. He passed away May 2nd, 2024 after a full life of 91 years. Dr. Koe and her family have asked that if you feel moved to do so, donations can be made in his name to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. More information can be found here: https://alzfdn.org/donate/

Video #4: Keto with my 88-year-old Dad, Part 2

Today’s Conversation in the Kitchen is a continuation of the previous video, during which Dr. Koe shares her tiny house kitchen with her father. They finish up the chaffles project while the ill-fated BBQ sauce attempt continues to simmer and then Dr. Koe blends up some keto mayonnaise.

Dr. Koe talks about her passion for teaching about health and nutrition, and shares that her idea for this series came about because she wants people to be able to see what it looks like when you make good food. Also, she thinks it is incredibly helpful to see examples of people from all walks of life, ages and backgrounds who are preparing healthy food and taking care of themselves. She loves talking to someone while she prepares her meals.

Although the BBQ sauce did not turn out well, the recipe for homemade keto Mayonnaise is an old standby. Dr. Koe feels strongly about making as much of your food as you possibly can (and growing it as well), because it assures you can control the quality of the ingredients. By making mayo at home, she can use high quality healthy fats instead of the vessel-clogging seed oils that are always used in store-bought mayonnaise. She also uses fresh eggs from her own birds. This is important because the egg is uncooked, so it is crucial that you are certain of the quality and freshness. Dr. Koe also always cracks her eggs into a separate bowl first so that if you get a bad one, the rest of the ingredients aren’t ruined.

She uses the mayo (made with the following recipe), as a condiment on her “chaffle sandwiches,” as well as in the filling for devilled eggs and as a binder for salmon salad. Dr. Koe doesn’t frequently make tuna salad, as she doesn’t enjoy the taste, but uses canned salmon instead to make a similar dish. Please check out our recipe category here on AgroshareMD for more healthy meals. The mayonnaise recipe Dr. Koe made today is included below.

Keto Mayonnaise Recipe:

1 Large chicken egg

1 cup of oil (Dr. Koe uses avocado oil)

1 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt, pepper, and garlic to taste

Add all ingredients to a large (quart-sized) wide mouth mason jar. Using an immersion blender, blend for 30 seconds to a minute, until all ingredients are combined and it looks smooth and creamy, like mayonnaise! Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Note: Dr. Koe has used duck eggs and lime juice in place of the chicken egg and lemon juice when she didn’t have them, and she reports good results!

*Edited 5/8/24: This video is dedicated in loving memory to Dr. Koe’s father, John R. Howland Jr. He passed away May 2nd, 2024 after a full life of 91 years. Dr. Koe and her family have asked that if you feel moved to do so, donations can be made in his name to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. More information can be found here: https://alzfdn.org/donate/