MC Food With A Purpose

Friends have been finding this blog, and that's great!  My hope is everyone feels encouraged to not only explore their own culinary creativity, but that this becomes a vehicle for sharing....growing....and learning from one another.

To that end, I must include what some might feel is a controversial category....medical cannabis cooking.
I am and have been a medical cannabis patient for a number of years.....self declared originally in 1980, then finally made legal with the passage of California's Prop 215 in 1996.

You'll notice there's now an "Adult Content" announcement when the blog first comes up.  This is simply to assure folks I'm not out to destroy the youth of America by teaching them how to make Pot Brownies.  Call it a disclaimer if you will.  Call it a bit of ass coverage too....both are right.

I don't wish to corrupt any body's morals, there are people much more suited for that sort of work. If anyone wishes to take offense at the presence of Medical Cannabis cooking on this blog, so be it.
No apologies will be offered, because Medical Cannabis is something I truly believe in.  If this is disturbing, perhaps there are other blogs out there more suited to your sensitivities.

All that being said, the Medical Cannabis recipes will be noted appropriately, with MC at the beginning of the blog entry title and appropriate notations in the tags and labels.

Where to begin? Where to begin?
Why, at the beginning, of course!

MEDICAL CANNABIS COOKING
Preparations
   Freeze your leaf!
   Believe it or not, it actually helps in a couple of ways.  The most obvious is that freezing keeps things fresh.
The not-so-obvious thing is that I think it actually helps boost the potency....or at least keeps any from being lost through improper leaf storage.
   Most folk start with Cannabis Butter and just stay there....figuring that's the only way to extract the active ingredients and incorporate them into food.   It's tried and true, dependable, and easy. 

1) CANNA-BUTTER
Butter-1 to 2 pounds in a  heavy, deep pan with a good fitting lid.
Medical Cannabis - 1 ounce (leaf is okay for this....also lots less expensive than buds)
Put a low flame under the pan with butter in it, add the Medical Cannabis a bit at a time, stirring it as the butter melts.
Once everything is in the pan, keep stirring slowly for a while until the butter is completely melted.  Lower the flame and cover.  Let simmer on the stove, stirring occasionally, for 8 hours.
Be careful not to burn the butter!  Flame must be put to lowest possible setting to avoid this, and keep an eye on everything...remember to use all your senses including the sniffer!  Sometimes that can tell when something's gone awry before anything else kicks in!
As long as the butter has that familiar nutty, cannabis smell all is right with the world.  Anything past that, remove the whole thing from the heat and let it cool.
Anyway, once the butter is done, strain through several layers of cheese cloth, squeezing until it drips no more. Let the butter cool in a heavy glass jar...keep it in the fridge 'til ready to use.

This butter can be used in any recipes that call for butter or margarine.   Things to be careful about-the resultant flavor will be decidedly Medicated.  Some people like to add a bit of ginger and coriander when making cakes using the butter.

2) CANNA-FLOUR
 This preparation is a great additive with dry ingredients.....adding it with regular flour for example.
What is needed here is a coffee and/or spice grinder and leaf.  I'd recommend cleaning your leaf ahead of time to remove sticks, twigs and other such things.  Don't just throw the cast offs away!  They'll come in handy for making tea!  Put  the clean leaf in the grinder a bit at a time and let it rip!
You notice it has a flour-like consistency....but don't be fooled!

Pour the CannaFlour through a sifter or sieve and you'll see there are still some impurities, things nobody needs to be eating, so put them in a pan of boiling water for tea.  No use wasting a thing!

At this point, some people just add the CannaFlour to the dry ingredients.  Personally I think there's another step....the Activation.
For that you need a dry metal pan.  Do not, repeat Do NOT use one of those non-stick coated pans!  A metal spoon is necessary, too.  NOT wood or plastic or anything else.  An old tablespoon from the drawer will work fine.
Put the pan on a medium flame.
Take the cleaned CannaFlour and pour it into the heated pan.  Start stirring it around, moving the entire contents, watching for little whisps of smoke and color changes.  You'll notice both.  Remove the pan from the heat periodically, stirring constantly.  Place it back on the heat and keep stirring. When it's done (the color change will have become uniform) stop the heating.
IMMEDIATELY REMOVE CANNAFLOUR FROM THE PAN TO A COOL BOWL.  Toss it a few times.
NOW it is ready for inclusion in recipes as part of your dry ingredients.
NOTE:  CannaFlour prepared this way is very potent.   Get a feel for proper dosage by making something like pancakes with a blend of regular flour and CannaFlour.   A 3 to 1 ratio or thereabouts works (3 parts regular flour to 1 part CannaFlour) seems to work, but experiment!  Each person is different.

3) CANNA-TEA
Quick and simple, Cannabis Tea soothes the soul and warms the heart....alone it tastes a little nutty, sometimes a little botanical.   Depends on the strain used among other things.
Canna-Tea can be made from leaf steeped in boiling water or by infusing some CannaFlour in boiling water.
Either way it's great.  Some people like it with a bit of honey.

CannaTea can be made into a nifty substitute for milk in recipes-real simple!  If you can find some powdered milk, whole milk is best, just add the tea and powder together and whammo!
You've got yourself medicated cow juice! Perfect for bowls of cereal or that favorite recipe.

Now, these preparations are fine as stand-alone methods, but they can also be combined to produce very potent medicinal food.

I'll be using all three in my next Medical Cannabis recipe, coming soon.

More "regular" recipes coming too!

Feel free to share your recipes, thoughts and ideas!  And above all else, ENJOY!

PLEASE NOTE: If you wish to share, you can do so anonymously or using your name to receive full credit.