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does anything say “Farm” like pie?

does anything say “Farm” like pie?

by | Sep 29, 2024 | Care of the Soul, Dessert, DIY, Eating Local, Food, Foraging, Gratitude, Lard, Local Farmers, Pie, Uncategorized

Hand pie, fry pie, stack pie, fruit pie, cream pie, depression pie…. is there anything more humble yet sublime than homemade pie?

There is nothing that better represents how, with a little ingenuity and elbow grease, pleasure and love can come from the kitchen even when times are tough. Today, as we near October, Pennsylvania is thick into apple season, and my wild trees have been giving up their fruit. This year was a particularly good one for all the fruits here, for which we are all grateful.

I used to get all cheffy and elaborate when making pies and preserves, but now that I have come to savor the difference between supermarket produce and the things I seek out from local farms and forests, I want to keep the focus on the particulars of the fruit, and keep the seasonings simple.

My wild apples are unlike those from the orchard, being a little different in texture and very intense in flavor. They are also as wild as can be, so have odd skin color and blemishes, which do not bother me at all. For baking, I like a mix of varieties – which always makes a pie more interesting. I like a crisp and tart variety mixed with a good Golden delicious or two.  Delicious apples have gotten a bad rap after years of being the apple favorite of elementary schools, hospitals, and convenience stores, which is entirely unfair. A good Delicious apple has a juicy-sweet spiciness, and a texture that bakes up soft and tender. I was pretty delighted to discover a wild tree that has knobby, small, very seedy fruit with a Golden Delicious flavor, though they are kind of a pain to peel and woud take a ton to make a full pie.

I do pack my pie with lots of fruit and little else, and stick to crusts made from fats like butter, lard, or a combo. This is a very basic recipe, adapted from my Mom’s McCall’s Cook Book, in which I have discovered a surprising number of new-old ideas. It can be easily adapted to pretty much any fruit, adapting a little for straining the excess liquid when using juicier fruits – I find 1/2 cup of liquid is the perfect amount to form a softly gelled, not runny fruit filling.

Bonus: If you strain off excess fruit liquid, remember to make some fruit shrub using your remaining vinegar water from the pie crust.

So, here’s your next weekend plan – Hit your farmer’s market for apples & snacks, go home & bake yourself a pie, go for a tramp in the woods, come home, enjoy pie. Best of all, Sunday morning pie for breakfast is the best… 

Old Fashioned Apple Pie

Simple yet sublime, this is the way to go when the fruit is at peak perfection. Try to get a mix of apples, crisp and tart, but a few good orchard Golden Delicious add a sweet spicy, juiciness that really makes it. This is a basic recipe for fruit pie in general, subbing one fruit for any other, straining if necessary the filling so that you have no more than 1/2 cup of liquid.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 recipe Pastry for 2-crust pie I've included my recipe in this post, but If making dough keeps you from this simple pleasure, use store bought pre-rolled crust
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
  • 8 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples 10 - 12 medium apples
  • 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
  • dash kosher salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter

Equipment

  • 1 9-10 inch pie plate I prefer glass pie plates, but cast iron and metal work well also, but may cook faster so take care to watch the crust
  • 1 Rolling pin

Method
 

  1. In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, clove, flour, and salt, mixing well.
  2. Preheat oven to 375°F, arrange rack in the center of oven.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of your pastry disks into an 11-inch circle. Line your pie pan and set aside.
  4. Add your sugar mixture to your sliced apples in a large bowl, tossing lightly to combine well
  5. Turn the apples and spice into the prepared pie crust, mounding highest in center. with a knife, cut small chunks of butter and dot evenly atop the apples
  6. Roll out the remaining pastry disk into an 11-inch circle. Gently place on top of pie, trimming excess using a sharp knife so the top crust is very slightly larger than the ecge.
  7. Gently roll top crust under the bottom crust, sealing the filling inside, and pressing gently with your fingertips. Crimp the edge to give a finished edge, either with your fingers or a fork. Gently slice slits in your top crust to allow steam to escape
  8. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet to catch any leaking juices, and slide into preheated oven. Bake 45 - 50 minutes, until crust is golden but not too brown.
  9. Remove to wire rack and allow to cool fully before cutting. Warm pie is delicious, but the juices will not have set and your pie will not slice well. Still good!

Notes

Serve with a thin slice of cheddar cheese, custard stirring cream, or ice cream.

Bard Crust

Combo of lard & butter. I make this only with lard rendered from pork I know - the tubs of hydroginated lard available at the supermarket have been altered for shelf stability, and are not as healthful or tasty. Home rendered lard is subject to variations of season and diet of the animal. This does add an additional challenge to dough texture, as it will vary in firmness and water content, but it also adds a level of flavor that can't be otherwise replicated.
If that sounds like more than you are willing to take on, Just use two sticks of butter and follow the same steps for an all butter crust.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings: 1 Double crust 9-10-inch pie
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 TBS granulated sugar
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter (salted is fine too) cut into 1/2-inch pieces (1 stick equals 1/4 pound)
  • 1/2 cup rendered leaf lard, very cold/frozen cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup very cold water
  • 2 TBS cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup ice

Method
 

  1. Stir the flour, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the butter and lard piecesand coat with the four mixture. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture, working quickly until mostly pea-sized pieces of butter/lard remain. Be careful to not overland.
  2. Combine the water, cider vinegar, and ice in a measuring cup. Sprinkle 2 TBS of the ice water misture over the flour mixture, then mix and cut it in with a bench scraper (or your hands). Add as needed additional water - this understanding is something you will gain with practice. Go slowly, sprinkling 1/4 - 1/2 tsp at a time, undil the ball of dough has enough moisture to come together into a ball, with some dry bits remaining.
  3. Squeeze and pinch with your fingertips to bring all the dough together, adding small drops of the water mixture if necessary.
  4. Cut the ball in half, shape into two flat disks, wrapping separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, preferably overnight, to give the gluten strands in the flour time to relax, and make the crust roll out more easily.
  5. Wrapped well, your dough can be refrigerated for 3 days, or frozen for 1 month.

Notes

If you need some guidance about rolling your dough, this is a very comprehensive video and photo series. Pie is a skill, but it is not rocket science and I have every confidence with a little persistence, pie will become a valuable tool in your weekly menu rotation for pies both celebratory and everyday, sweet and savory. 
I make crust as one of my regular morning cooking projects, tucking crust into the freezer for a future day. Making pie is no big deal at all when you break down into two sessions the making of the crust and the making of the pie. 
The fat quantities remaing the same for an all butter crust pie - simply use two sticks of butter in place of the butter & lard. 

My wild, organic-as-can-be apples, ready for pie

Whole Grain Bulgur Salad

Whole Grain Bulgur Salad

by | Aug 4, 2024 | Uncategorized

This is an easy summer staple around here – so flexible and delicious!  It is so welcome to see ancient grain options returning to the mainstream as they are often more nutrient dense, offered by brands focused on fair treatment of farmers and employees, and protecting critical biodiversity. Bulgur is often less expensive and a good substiture for rice, and is more nutritious and gluten-stable, plus the cooking ease is hard to beat. Mayo-free salads like this are perfect for picnics and work lunches too.

Summer Bulgur Salad

The Martha Stewart website is always a good resource when you are exploring a new ingredient. Martha was one of the first to revisit abandoned varieties of regional ingredients and bring them back to the mainstream conversation.
I use this recipe as a suggestion - it is very forgiving, and good with simple chopped cucumber, tomato, and red onion, diced fresh apple and/or celery in place of the pomegranate seeds, no raisins or fruit at all, with or without the parsley and mint, use what you have. It's a summer kitchen workhorse, and a quick. cool meal on a steamy summer day.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup bulgur Bob's Red Mill will be fresher and higher quality
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 scallions sliced on the bias
  • 1/2 cup parsley leaves chopped
  • 1/2 cup mint leaves chopped
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
  • 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • freshly ground black pepper

Method
 

  1. In a medium bowl, combine bulgur and salt. Top with boiling water, cover with a plate until absorbed, about 30 minutes.
  2. Toss in remaining ingredients, season to taste with salt and pepper.
an inward kind of holiday

an inward kind of holiday

by | May 26, 2024 | Uncategorized

This is Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer. I think of him often, and for sure every Memorial Day. Here is a link to an unforgettable recording  of him and others describing the last days of pulling out of Saigon, piloting the helicopters filled with desparate people.

There is so much about this program that has become lodged in my heart; Second Lieutenant Vandegeer’s eloquence, sheer exhaustion, and drain of emotion is really gripping and unforgettable.

When the recording was made, he was 28. He had no idea, or perhaps he had every idea, his days were numbered. Lt. Vandegeer’s helicopter was shot down in 1975, and he never returned to his Ohio home. His remains were not recovered until twenty years later.

I honestly do not get the romance for war. Listen to this soul-weary young soldier. All his talents, dreams, courage, and labor made it possible for so many other soldiers to return home. But the numbness in his voice tells the hard truth that some part of every single soldier who made it home died on the battlefields with their fallen brothers and sisters.

Enjoy your BBQ, your beers, your day off, and this fine summery holiday. But also? Be sure to take the time to deeply ponder all those soldiers who never made it home. And those who will never be the same.

Being citizen of a country aspiring to greatness is not a right to take for granted, but a call to service and active citizenship. Our best thanks to our fallen soldiers is for us to tend and mend the ideals they died for, and to strive our hardest to be Americans worth fighting for.

A heartfelt thank you for your service, Veterans, and deep space for the memories this day brings you.

 

Irish as it gets…

Irish as it gets…

by | Mar 16, 2024 | Blog, Books, History, Holidays, Pantry, Recipes, St. Patrick's Day, Things We Love, Uncategorized, Unprocessed, Whole Grains

Ireland has a lot to offer in the way of lessons about the intersection of food soveriegnty and empire-building, but she also has much magic, mirth, and devotion to the ingredients of home. While other peasant cultures are colorful and spicy, Ireland’s unique gift was the juxtaposition of salty sea air and arguably the best grass in the world. Hence, legendary cattle and dairy. So, the basic ingredients of much Irish cuisine are white in color, and rooted in the devotional ways of tending the family cow. Because of the extraordinary quality of the raw milk, the foods may be white, but are anything but bland.

Darina Allen, commonly known as “The Julia Child of Ireland”, has written several books that have brought much joy to my table and garden. While very wordly and modern, Darina is also very much rooted iin the old ways and traditions of Ireland, using raw milk from her own pastured cows, eggs gathered from free ranging chickens, foraging for wild herbs, mushrooms and hedgerow fruits.

About this bread, she says, “In our household of nine children, Mummy made this bread virtually very day of her life, well into her 80’s. She always had a light hand at baking. Whevever we were, her bread was on of the things that we looked forward to when we came home for a few days. So many happy memories are made at the kitchen table.”

And what could be more fitting than to, on this day of celebrating Ireland, to bake a simple, inexpensive bread with instructions calling for blessing the bread, and letting the fairies out? However you celebrate, highly recommend you spend a minute learning about and reflecting upon the Irish “Troubles.”  Spoiler: It was more than a crop failure. And then, do what the Irish have always done and get on wtih keeping on and making merry with what you’lve got.

St. Patrick’s Day blessings to you – “Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig dhuit!”

Mummy’s Brown Soda Bread, Darina Allen, “Forgotten Skills of Cooking” p199

 

Mummy's Brown Soda Bread

Darina Allen is often called the Julia Child of Ireland. What could be more Irish than her Mother's brown soda bread?
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings: 1 large loaf
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups White Whole Wheat King Arthur White Whole Wheat works well
  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda sifted
  • 1-1/2 - 2 cups buttermilk

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  2. Mix flour in a large, wide bowl, then add the salt and baking soda. Lift the flour up with your fingers to distribute the ingredients evenly. 
  3. Make a well in the center and pour in 1-1/2 cups of the buttermilk. With your fingers stiff and outstretched like a claw, stir in a circular movement from the center to the outside of the bolt in ever increasing concentric circles. When you reach the outside of the bowl seconds later, the dough is made. (Should it still be dry, add the remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk and distribute).
  4. Sprinkle a little flour on the countertop. Place the dough onto the flour. (Fill the bowl with cold water now so it will be easy to wash later.) Wash and dry your hands to make it easier to handle the dough.
  5. Sprinkle a little flour onto your hands. Gently tidy the ball of dough tucking the edges underneath with the inner edge of your hands. Pat the dough gently with your fingers to flatten it slightly into a found loaf about 1-1/2” thick. Slide one hand underneath, and with your other hand on top, transfer the dough to a baking sheet. 
  6. Cut a deep cross into the bead (this is called “blessing the bread”) and then prick it in the center of each of the four sections to “let the fairies out.” There’s also a tactical reason for doing this - the last part of the loaf to bake fully is the center, so cutting the cross opens out the center during cooking, allowing the heat to penetrate more evenly. 
  7. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400°F and cook for a further 15 minutes. Turn the bread upside down and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, until cooked (the bottom should sound hollow when tapped). Cool on a wire rack.

Rashers, homemade brown soda bread slathered with butter, and pastured eggs ☘️

 

Lessons from Ireland

Lessons from Ireland

by | Mar 17, 2023 | Uncategorized

SOMETHING TO PONDER IN THE WORLD OF FOOD AND FARMING

Infected Irish Lumper potatoes doing the Great Hunger. Did you know that the Irish do not call the potato famine a Famine? The Irish hunger was political, not agricultural, and at the time millions of Irish were starving, dying, and leaving as refugees, Ireland under English rule was a net exporter of food, shipped out under armed guard.

Here, the holiday merry-go-round is already churning. We’ve barely started with the shamrocks & green beer and Easter & Mother’s Day are already hot on its heels.  Could I ask you to indulge me for a minute?  I would like to tarry just a little at St. Patrick’s Day.

Not because I’m so very Irish (I am), but because Ireland offers one of the most memorable and recent cautionary tales about why we should be petrified about the extent of our current American practice of growing just a few varieties of a few crops year after year (monoculture).

It’s hard to imagine famine when you take for granted the endless array of processed foods in the typical American grocery store.  But, do a little Googling and you’ll soon learn that the huge cornucopia of shiny boxes and bags are manufactured from less than 12 crop varieties. And new GMO options are being introduced and approved fast.

It is so, so dangerous to have your entire food supply invested in one single variety of one single crop, yet it’s unbelievably commonplace and even celebrated as the kind of modern progress needed to feed the world. Which, freed from war and corporate overreach, the world is perfectly capable of feeding itself.

I can’t decide if our choice to play agricultural roulette is due to an over-abundance of confidence or ignorance, but it’s frightening. The really crazy thing is how many of us are Americans today because our ancestors were forced to flee starvation and workhouses in Ireland.  The Great Irish Hunger wasn’t all that long ago –  how quickly we forget.

For a while, the potato was a true savior for Ireland. It found its convoluted way from the Andes in South America to the struggling Irish peasants.  The Irish climate suited the tuber perfectly and these poor families were finally able to grow enough food to feed their families well on their tiny plots of land.

In the Andes, as many as 200 species of potato may be planted in the same field.

In the Andes, farmers cultivated diversity in the potato and enjoyed as many as 4.000 varieties. A really good source for learning about agrobiodiversity is the website SustainableTable (dot)org. Here’s a bit of Sustainable Table’s take on the potato situation in the Andes:

“This abundance of diversity is the result of farmers artificially selecting traits over generations for specific purposes, like resistance to disease, tolerance to high altitudes or poor soils, etc. This diversity is important for food security—in the event that a particular crop variety fails due to drought, flooding or a disease, another variety might survive to avoid food shortages.”

Meanwhile the Irish tale goes a little differently:

“In stark contrast to this [Andes] model of agrobiodiversity,  the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s was the result of a fungus that completely destroyed the Irish potato crop because only a few varieties of potatoes had been imported from the Andes to Europe, none of which were resistant to the disease. Because of a lack of crop diversity and over reliance on one crop to feed many of its population, Ireland experienced widespread famine and death.”

The Irish you see, had a history of smallholder diversified farming but without their land, were no longer able to grow the variety of crops they relied on before the British occupied Ireland.  The British made it illegal for Irish Catholics to own or lease land and Irish farmland had been repurposed to raise grain and cattle to satisfy England’s insatiable taste for beef.  Irish farmers were forced onto tiny plots of meager land and struggled with subsistence wages. The potato was the only crop that could be counted on to keep a family fed under such restrictive conditions.

A one acre field of lumpers could be counted on to feed a family for a whole year

Irish potatoes were especially vulnerable because they planted just one kind, Lumpers.  And, because potatoes grow from other potatoes, they are like genetic clones – each exactly the same as all the others.  So, when an airborne mold blew into Ireland, the single crop expected to feed about 3 million people was devastated almost overnight, with few backup alternatives.

Of course, the suffering and starvation part of the tragedy was caused by a perfect storm of greed, prejudice and politics which amplified the already bad enough crop failure. I hope I’m wrong about this, but it feels like we may never get the greed + power = politics part right, but the lack of biodiversity?  That we are able to avoid.

Yet, amazingly enough, we don’t.  Industrial Farms plant huge monocultures of the three main government subsidized crops, year after year. They deplete the soil of beneficial microbes thereby becoming more and more reliant on synthetic (petroleum-based) fertilizers and pesticides.

Think about these statistics also from Sustainable Table:

  • Almost 96% of the commercial vegetable varieties available in 1903 are now extinct.
  • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), humans now rely upon just 14 species of mammals and birds to supply 90% of all animal-derived foods.
  • Twelve plant crops account for more than three-quarters of the food consumed in the world, and just three—rice, wheat, and maize—are relied on for more than half of the world’s food.
  • Reliance upon modern varieties of rice has caused more than 1,500 local rice varieties in Indonesia to become extinct.

For some reason, when Americans embrace new technology, we have a way of kicking the old to the curb so fast it’s lost forever.  Few farmers preserve their old hybrid seeds just in case their new GM crop fails.  I don’t know about you, but I like the security of  knowing I’ve left a popcorn trail to guide me home if the new and improved turns out to not be so great after all.

Have we learned from the Irish potato famine?  Let’s see:

  • Dominant food source invested in extremely few crops of one variety, check.
  • A national food system serving the desires of the few not the needs of the many, check, check.
  • Limited access to land discourages initiative and opportunity for people to feed themselves and rise above the limitations imposed by the system: check, check, check.

Well, it seems to me that what we’ve learned is how to do it again. The saddest thing is that we can’t even blame foreign occupation for our situation.  At least not unless you believe America is occupied by Monsanto, Cargill, General Mills, Dean Foods & Friends.  But blaming things on corporations implies you have no choice in the matter. Which is not entirely true.

So today, on this day in which we all claim to be Irish, you can take a small step or two to do your part to restore biodiversity to our food system.

First, consider planting a small garden and growing a few heirloom varieties of your favorite fruits and vegetables.

Or, if gardening is not your thing, consider signing up for a Community Shared Agriculture  (CSA) share from a local farm growing heirloom fruits & veggies. Even better if they offer eggs and meat from heritage breed livestock.  And if they have fresh, locally produced dairy products too, well lucky you.  Go for it, please.

And, if even a weekly box of goodness is too much, at least do some shopping at your local farmer’s market. Buy from a farmer who grows his/her own produce, not a reseller. Home gardeners and small, diversified farmers are doing most of the work saving plants whose claims to fame are flavor and hardiness instead of uniformity and ability to withstand processing and shipping. But the success of their work is completely dependent on your commitment to buy from them.

Come ON, you can do it! The future is riding on what you have for dinner….

Whole Grains: Wild California Rice

Whole Grains: Wild California Rice

by | May 7, 2022 | Beef, Change, Freezer, Meat, Pantry, Recipes, Uncategorized, Unprocessed, Whole Grains

Wild California Rice. Have you tried it?  It’s obviously not local to Pennsylvania, but it is a sustainable, healthful, and tasty addition to your year-round pantry. It’s perfect for stretching meats or mushrooms, stuffing poultry, making cabbage rolls, stuffing squash, tomatoes, or peppers, and adding to substantance tol cold salads and soups.

Wild rice is actually not a true rice, but is instead an aquatic grain. It is an extremely important food in Native American traditions, where the ritual of harvest, drying and hulling is an important cultural touchstone to old ways. Nutritionally it is a powerhouse, near quinoa in protein content. It is not certified organic, but no pesticides or herbicides are necessary, and the water used is carefully managed to conserve and reuse before allowing it to drain back to the source.

This California wild rice is a more production-oriented product than the wild indigenous product. It is farmed from similar grains as the truly wild rice, but is instead intensively managed making it more productive and reasonably priced. The flavor is hard to describe, being somewhat floral, nutty, and smoky at once. The texture when properly cooked is toothy and substantial; and a 1/4 – 1/2  cup portion is really filling.  It really is a different ingredient entirely from regular rice – a direct substitution would certainly work, but might not be exactly what you had in mind.

Wild rice takes longer than more common white rices; about 45 – 55 minutes. Cooked rice also freezes well, so packets of precooked rice or other whole cooked grains like farro, spelts, or rye berry is a handy ingredient to have at the ready in your freezer. I really had no recipe in mind, just wanted to spend some time getting to know the rice, so I cooked the entire pound bag, even though I was cooking just for myself.  I mean, if I am going to boil a grain for almost an hour, I want to make that hour count, right?

From my pound of dry rice, I got about 14 loosely measured cups of cooked rice, of which I scooped approximate two cup portions into zip lock freezer bags, squeezed the air out as completely as possible, flattening and sealing the packages. I lay them flat on a plate and freeze, then the packages once frozen will stack neatly upright and fill as little freezer space as possible.

So, now I have seven 2 cup portions of frozen rice, ready to quickly steam as a side or toss into soups and recipes. Your milaege may vary. What are we gonna make? When cooking Rancho Gordo products, I always return to their Rancho Gordo Recipes for inspiration. Steve Sando rubs elbows with some diverse and interesting food people, and the recipes and ideas always give me if not specifics, direction.

The linked recipe for stuffing caught my attention. Of course I did not make it exactly, since my rice was already cooked, and I didn’t really have all the ingredients, but I was close. And just because it is called stuffing, doesn’t mean it wasn’t good in a bowl, by itself, as a main dish. I did stuff a roasted squash for lunch, brushed first with Swad coriander chutney, garnished with a plop of thick whole milk yogurt,  it was a bright spot in a dark, dreary, rainy day.

The recipe makes about six cups, and I only used one, so once again, I have cooked for both now and later, and when summer squash and chickens arrive, I am so ready with a frozen quart ready and waiting. By the way, freezing grains has very little effect on their quality, particularly if you cook them a tiny bit al dente. Mushy overcooked grains will not magically improve in the freezer.

Okay, here we go, to the printable recipe:

Wild Rice Stuffing

This recipe will stuff a 12-pound turkey or half a dozen game hens. It's delicious as a side dish for meats, as a filling for cabbage rolls, squashes, ingredient in soups & salads, or simply on its own.
Print Recipe
Servings: 6 cups
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups cooked wild California Rice
  • 1/2 - 2 tsp Mexican Oregano
  • 1 pound lean ground beef, pork, elk, venison, or bison
  • 1 can green chilis
  • 1/2 large red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped and lightly toasted pecans
  • 2 Tbs fresh orange zest

Method
 

  1. Sauté meat in heavy large skillet over medium heat until cooked through, breaking up with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. If your skillet has excess grease or liquid, drain the beef, and remove excess from pan. 
  2. Add chiles and onions to the meat. Continue to sauté over medium heat until onions are soft, about 10-15 minutes, adding a bit of liquid if necessary to keep beef from becoming dry. 
  3. Add the cooked wild rice (frozen is okay), sauté gently until heated through, again taking care to keep it moist, not wet. Stir in the pecans and orange zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Can be prepared a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate once cool. If you'd like to serve as a side dish, re-warm covered in 350°F. oven for 20 minutes.) Transfer to bowl and serve. 
  5. If using as poultry stuffing, cool completely and fill bird. 

Notes

When I purchase a bag of wild rice, I cook the entire pound, which I then portion a loose two cups into ziplock pint bags for the freezer. Cooked slightly al dente, the rice is a really handy ingredient to have ready for fast meals and saved cooking time, as wild rice takes about an hour.
*Also, about the orange zest - whenever I have good oranges, I always scrub the outside and zest the orange before peeling, saving the zest in a freezer container for later recipes. If you don’t have it, you could substitute chopped apple, parsley, lemon zest, raisins or cranberries for a fresh bit of bright flavor; it's a flexible recipe overall.