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Culinary Olympics 2004

It is the most important event for the “Cooks and Chefs” — the International Exhibition of Culinary Art.

Creativity and innovation, tradition and new ideas meet under an international influence, just like in a melting pot. The event sets trends for the future and all aspects of the perfect art of cooking are presented in a competition of the best.

More than one thousand cooks and confectioners from 33 countries competed for medals and the Olympic champion title in an Olympic competition at the Culinary Olympics 2000 in Erfurt. Altogether 115 national and regional teams and about 300 individual exhibitors demonstrated their efficiency with culinary top performances in front of an enthusiastic audience: Cooking live in the “glass” kitchens and with artistic exhibitions at the Plate Presentation.

Pork Fried Rice

• 2 cups Cooked Japanese Rice (left over rice is the best)
• ¼ cup Chopped Onion
• ¼ cup Chopped Carrot
• ¼ cup Chopped Green Pepper
• ⅓ cup Diced Ham/Pork
• 2 Eggs
• ½ teaspoon Garlic Salt
• 1 teaspoon Chicken Bouillon
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Vegetable Oil

1. Put a wok or a pan on high heat.
2. Add oil to the pan.
3. Wisk the eggs in a small bowl.
4. Put the eggs in the heated pan and scramble very quickly.
5. Stop the heat and remove the scrambled eggs from the pan into a dish.
6. Put the pan on high heat and add more oil.
7. Saute vegetables and ham until soft.
8. Add garlic salt and chicken bouillon.
9. Add rice and stir well.
10. Add the scrambled egg that was cooked earlier to the rice mixture and mix together.
11. Turn the heat down to low, add soy sauce and stir quickly.
12. Stop the heat right away and serve.

Makes 2 servings

Harumaki — Spring Roll Recipe

Spring roll (egg roll) is called harumaki in Japan. Haru indicates spring and maki means rolling. It’s a simple appetizer, which is popular in Japan. For Japanese spring roll filling, shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots are often used. Find cooked strips of bamboo shoots at Asian stores. Also, it’s good to use shrimps instead of pork. You may use leftovers, such as stir fries for the filling. Try different ingredients to make spring roll at home.

• ¼ pound Ground Pork
• 1 cup Bean Sprouts
• ½ cup Boiled Strips of Bamboo Shoots
• 4-5 dried Shiitake Mushrooms
• 1oz. Harusame (Bean Starch Noodles) or Cellophane Noodle
• 1 teaspoon Grated Ginger
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
• ⅔ cup Chicken Soup
• 1½ tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 2 tablespoons Sake Rice Wine
• Mixture of 1 tablespoon Water and 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
• 10 Egg Roll Wrappers
• Mixture of 1 teaspoon Flour and 1 tablespoon Water
• Vegetable Oil of frying

1. Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water for 30 minutes to soften.
2. Sprinkle cornstarch over pork meat and stir the meat.
3. Boil starch nooldes (harusame) in a pan for a minute and drain.
4. Cut the noodles into 3-inch length.
5. Cut shiitake into thin strips.
6. Heat oil in a frying pan and add ginger and saute.
7. Add pork meat in the pan and saute well.
8. Further, add shiitake and bean sprout and saute.
9. Add chicken soup, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sake in the pan.
10. Add starch noodles in the pan and simmer.
11. When it boils, add mixture of water and cornstarch and stir well.
12. Place the filling into a bowl and cool.
13. Put 1-2 tbsps of filling on an egg roll wrapper.
14. Fold one side over the filling to cover.
15. Further, fold both sides of the wrapper over and roll to the edge.
16. Seal the edge with the mixture of flour and water.
17. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry spring rolls in 360°F until it’s brown.

Kitchen Knives

The knives in your kitchen come in all sizes and shapes. Some are for dining, chopping, slicing, carving, and tearing. But which knives are made for what purpose and which are essential to have in your kitchen?

Crème Brûlée

This is one “fancy” dessert that you can make ahead of time (I did this batch while watching TV) with a minimum of effort and still have all your guests excited about your culinary skills. Creme brulee should start with a custard base that is richer, creamier, and silkier than other cremes (creme anglaise, creme caramel, flan, etc.). On top of that custard should be a layer of caramelized sugar. This sugar can thick or thin. A thick layer is usually produced by caramelizing sugar in a pot and pouring the liquid caramel over the custard. Thin layers (some as thin as paper) are produced by directly heating a sugar layer using a broiler or torch. I make my creme brulee with a torch and turbinado sugar.

Slow Simmered Spicy Barbeque Sauce

There are many recipes for making barbeque sauces. Some are quick and simple – combining the primary flavors into a simple sauce or dipping and basting. Other recipes take a lot of time and produce a complex layering of flavors. Although the flavors may be complex, it’s not necessary for the procedure to be complex. For example, this slow simmered recipe of mine is easy to throw together, requiring only the two or three hours to reduce the sauce to the desired thickness.

Enchiladas Recipe

• 1 Medium Onion, chopped
• 1 Clove Garlic, minced
• 1 pound Mild Cheddar or Longhorn or any mild yellow cheese, grated
• 12 Corn Tortillas
• Grapeseed Oil or Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Salsa
• 3 tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup Canned Crushed Tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large fry pan at high heat add 3 Tbsp of grapeseed oil or vegetable oil. Add a tortilla to the pan. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift up the tortilla with a spatula, add another tortilla underneath. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift again, both tortillas, and add another tortilla underneath. Repeat the process with all the tortillas, adding a little more oil if needed. This way you can brown and soften the tortillas without using a lot of fat. You do this process to develop the flavor of the tortillas. As the tortillas brown a little, remove from the pan one by one to rest on a paper towel, which absorbs any excess fat.

Sauté the chopped onion and garlic, then turn off the heat. Add 1 cup of salsa. Dissolve 3 tablespoons of tomato paste into 1 cup of water, add to pan. Add 1 cup of crushed fire roasted canned tomatoes. Taste. If the sauce tastes too vinegary, add a teaspoon of sugar.

Put some olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole pan. Take a tortilla, cover 2/3 of it lightly with the shredded cheese, then roll up the tortilla and place it in the casserole pan. Continue until all tortillas are filled and rolled. Add sauce to the top of the tortillas in the the casserole pan. Make sure all are covered with the sauce. If not, add a little water. Cover the whole thing with the rest of the grated cheese. Put the casserole in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Serves 4.

Not by Bread Alone

“People aren’t getting fat from eating carbohydrates,” said registered dietitian Christine Kreins, an outpatient dietitian at MountainView and Spring Valley hospitals. “People are eating too much food.”

“The big misconception is that carbohydrates cause you to become fat,” agreed Kristine Clark, a registered dietitian and director of sports nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. “Thanks to the Atkins and South Beach diets, that’s the message that has been shouted from the rooftops.

“Nothing could be farther from the truth.”

While Laura Kruskall, a registered dietitian and chairman of the nutrition science department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, concurred with her colleagues, she will concede what she called a half-truth: “Carbohydrates will cause you to gain weight — if you eat more calories than you burn.”

The essence of Japanese flavor, in a bottle

• Soy sauce.
  
  You will need regular dark soy sauce for this.
• Mirin.
  
  This is labeled as “sweet rice wine” or “fortified rice wine”. It’s used strictly for cooking.
• Sake.
  
  Again, you don’t need an expensive bottle, but do get one you won’t mind drinking.
• Dried Bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
  
  This can be a bit expensive, but is really essential. Be sure to keep it stored in an air-tight container. Mine is stocked in the freezer.
• Dried konbu seaweed
  
  This comes in big sheets. Cut up the sheets with some scissors into about 10 cm / 3 inch lengths for ease of use. (Don’t confuse this with dried wakame seaweed, which is quite different.)

To make the essence, combine 1½ cups of soy sauce, 1 cup of mirin, 1½ cups of sake, about 3 pieces of konbu, and a huge handful of the bonito flakes in a pan. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer it gently until the liquid is reduced to about ⅔rds. Let it cool, then strain through a fine sieve and store in a jar or bottle in the refrigerator.

Dreamland BBQ

Dreamland is eminently known for bar-b-que ribs. The original Dreamland Café is located about two miles from the intersection of Hwy 82 and Interstate 59 just south of Tuscaloosa in an area known as Jerusalem Heights. In the years since Mr. John “Big Daddy” Bishop first opened his store, little has changed.

The roads have been paved much the same as they were back in 1958. The décor inside is warm and dark. The dining room is small with a big bar, a few tables, booths, and a pot bellied stove. Beer signs hang from the oak beams and Christmas lights hang from the walls all year ‘round. It isn’t fancy, but then again the ribs are the main attractions anyway.

The atmosphere is casual-down home. You may rub elbows with somebody famous while you sit at the bar; and people come from all over to enjoy the ribs. The point is that it doesn’t matter who you are, at Dreamland everybody is special and everybody is there for the same reason-the rib. The legendary ribs, service and atmosphere are also available in our Birmingham, Mobile and Atlanta locations. In addition to the legendary ribs and sauce, the menu has been expanded to include such items as: baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, pork sandwiches and bar-b-que chicken.

Odd looking, completely delicious, these tomatoes jump out of the box

Tomatoes are America’s favorite food. Fresh tomatoes rank among the five top items in the produce department and are the second most popular item in food service. We consume 19 pounds per person per year — and that’s not counting tomatoes processed for sauce and ketchup. Next to Italy, we devour more tomatoes per capita than anywhere else.

We like to grow tomatoes too. According to Seed Savers Exchange, one third of all garden plants sold in the United States are tomatoes.

That’s pretty amazing for a fruit/vegetable that originated in the New World and likely circled the planet before landing back here 300-plus years ago, carried by immigrants.

The tomato started to go awry in the 1940s, when seed companies started breeding hybrids that became ever more homogenized. The tomato became more about shelf life, refrigeration, transport, consistent appearance and durability. Mass-marketed, industrial-farmed, genetically engineered fruits edged out seasonal, local ones. Hard, rubbery, scentless, taste-free tomatoes flooded supermarket bins. Most important, consumers could get their tomatoes year round.

The Non-Expert: Diet

Question: Hey, is any of that stuff you wrote today about diets true? — Brad

Answer: Nope. In fact, if you really want to lose a little bit of weight, here’s what you can do: exercise more, trade in your soda for water, lay off the alcohol, and eat a balanced diet. It’s not a solution for everybody, but it does work for a lot of people.

Top 10 sci-fi films

1. Blade Runner
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. Star Wars/Empire Strikes Back
4. Alien
5. Solaris
6. Terminator/T2: Judgment day
7. The Day the Earth Stood Still
8. War of the Worlds
9. The Matrix
10. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Thousand Island Dressing

Thousand Island Dressing

Makes About 1½ Cups

Total Time: 15 Minutes

• ½ cup Mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons Ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Red Bell Pepper, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon Sweet Pickle Relish
• 1 tablespoon Red Onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon Minced Fresh Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 teaspoon Prepared Horseradish
• 1 Hard-cooked Egg, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Chill at least an hour before serving for flavors to develop. Keeps for one week.

Red French Dressing

Red French Salad Dressing

Makes About 1 Cup

Total Time: 15 Minutes

• ¼ cup Ketchup
• ¼ cup Honey
• 2 tablespoons Yellow Onion, grated
• 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 2 tablespoons Water
• 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
• ¼ teaspoon Celery Seed
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl. Chill at least an hour before serving for flavors to develop. Keeps for one week.

Blue Cheese Salad Dressing

Blue Cheese Dressing

Makes 1 Cup

Total Time: 10 Minutes

• ½ cup Mayonnaise
• ½ cup Blue Cheese Chunks
• ¼ cup Sour Cream
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• ½ teaspoon Dry Mustard
• ½ teaspoon Sugar (or to taste)
• Salt, Pepper, and Tabasco to taste

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Chill at least an hour before serving to allow flavors to blend. If too thick, thin out with a little milk. Keeps for up to one week, chilled.

The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning

Home canning has changed greatly in the 170 years since it was introduced as a way to preserve food. Scientists have found ways to produce safer, higher quality products. The first part of this publication explains the scientific principles on which canning techniques are based, discusses canning equipment, and describes the proper use of jars and lids. It describes basic canning ingredients and procedures and how to use them to achieve safe, high-quality canned products. Finally, it helps you decide whether or not and how much to can.

Saveur.com

Saveur is for people who experience the world food first. It was created to satisfy the hunger for genuine information about food in all its contexts. With its emphasis on heritage and tradition, home cooking, and real food, the magazine evokes the flavors of food from around the world (including forgotten pockets of culinary excellence in the United States). It celebrates the culture and environment in which dishes are created and the people who create them. It serves up rich, satisfying stories that are complex, defining, and memorable. Saveur is the definitive culinary and culinary-travel magazine of its generation.

Researchers link soft drinks to diabetes

The doctors behind one of the nation’s most comprehensive public health studies have concluded what most dieters already know: Chugging down sodas packs on the pounds.

The study of more than 90,000 women also suggests that increased consumption of sodas and other sugary drinks may significantly increase the chance of getting adult-onset diabetes, according to the study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association…

The study shows that women who drank one or more sugary drinks a day had an 83 percent greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes than women who drank less than one a month. The study shows that over a four-year period, weight gain was highest among women who increased their soda consumption from one or fewer drinks a week to one or more a day. An average 12-ounce can of soda contains 150 calories from 10 teaspoons of sugar.

Added Sugars, Less Urgency? Fine Print and the Guidelines

In the previous five sets of [dietary] guidelines, sugar consumption was addressed among the specific recommendations, which are what most people see. In 1980, it was, “Avoid too much sugar.” In 2000, the guidelines said, “Choose beverages and foods to moderate your intake of sugar.” But the same 2000 advisory committee also wrote: “There is no direct link between the trend toward higher intake of sugars and increased rates of obesity,” and, “There is no consistent association between intake of total sugars and nutrient adequacy.”

On the other hand, the 2005 recommendations make the connection: “Compared with individuals who consume small amounts of foods and beverages that are high in added sugars, those who consume large amounts tend to consume more calories but smaller amounts of micronutrients. Although more research is needed, available prospective studies suggest a positive association between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain. A reduced intake of added sugars (especially sugar-sweetened beverages) may help in achieving recommended intakes of nutrients and in weight control.”

Building Better Bodies

For a glimpse of what post-human athletes may look like beginning in the 2012 or 2016 Olympics, take a look at an obscure breed of cattle called the Belgian Blue.

Belgian Blues are unlike any cows you’ve ever seen. They have a genetic mutation that means they do not have effective myostatin, a substance that curbs muscle growth. A result is that Belgian Blues are all bulging muscles without a spot of fat, like bovine caricatures of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Pardon Me, Your Schadenfreude Is Showing

Schadenfreude (pronounced SHAHD-n-froy-duh) is the German term for malicious pleasure taken in another person’s misery. And according to those who have studied the sensation, it’s something almost all of us feel now and again, secretly smirking when a colleague gets passed over for promotion or crowing aloud when a preening politician gets sent to the slammer. Like it or not, schadenfreude — in German, “schaden” means “damage,” and “freude” means “joy” — is part of the human condition.

Oddly, for all the schadenfreude we Americans evidently exude — the word has appeared in nearly 300 U.S. newspaper articles in the past year — the English language has no word for the phenomenon. (Note to selves: If we do come up with one, let’s make it easier to spell.)

Tilapia with Dijon Mustard and Pecan Topping

• ½ cup Mayonnaise
• ¼ cup Brown Mustard
• 1 pound Tilapia Fillets, if frozen, thaw
• ¼ cup Chopped Pecans, finely chopped

Lightly butter a large, shallow baking pan, such as a jelly roll pan. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, and mustard.

Using paper towels, pat fish lightly to dry. Arrange fish fillets in prepared baking dish. Spread mayonnaise mixture over each fillet. Sprinkle each fillet with chopped pecans; press down gently.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Use 2 to 3 fillets per person, or 4 to 6 ounces. Serve with broccoli and tomato slices. Tilapia recipe makes 4 servings.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 355 Calories; 31g Fat; 23g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 65mg Cholesterol; 401mg Sodium.

How to Chop Up a Chicken

1. Begin by removing the wing tips (just the final joint), and then the chicken’s tail, which contains an oil filled gland that will simply add to the oiliness of stewed or fried chicken.
2. Next, put the chicken breast side down, and slice cleanly up the spine, pressing down so the blade scores along the ribs. Turn the chicken upright, with the neck pressed into the cutting board, and cut straight down along the spine to open the chicken; my father-in-law (a retired butcher) holds the blade still and taps the back of the blade repeatedly with his other hand to drive it through the ribs.
3. Open the chicken as if it were a book and press it flat against the cutting board; the sternum will begin to split and you’ll be able to remove its bony central core by pulling it up. Cut through the center of the breast, lengthwise, and you’ll have two chicken halves.
4. One will have the neck attached; remove it by cutting through it with the knife, pressing down on the back of the blade with your other hand.
5. To quarter the chicken, cut each half on a slight diagonal, to separate the breast from the thigh. If you want eight pieces, cut the breasts in half (again on a diagonal), and separate the drumsticks from the upper thighs by flexing the legs and cutting through the knee joints.

Tips:

• The knife is important; it should be quite sharp, with an 8-inch (20 cm) blade, and stiff enough that it won’t twist.
• As with all manual tasks practice makes perfect; my father-in-law, who did this for a living, quarters a chicken in about a minute.
• If you’re making soup stock, add the trimmings (other than the tail) to the pot.

How to make sour mix used in many cocktail recipes

1. Whisk one egg white in a medium sized bowl until frothy.
2. Stir in one cup of sugar.
3. Add two cups of water.
4. Squeeze enough fresh lemons for two cups of juice.
5. Add lemon juice.
6. Stir all ingredients well.
7. Using a funnel, pour liquid into container large enough to hold one quart.
8. Seal and store in refrigerator.
9. Use for recipes calling for sour mix.

Tips:

• Discard if not used within four or five days.
• Use the freshest ingredients and bottled water for best taste.
• Shake container if mixture has set for awhile.

What temperature should I store and serve this wine at?

Most of the enjoyment that comes from drinking wine involves its aroma. Taste only has four aspects — sweet, sour, salty, acid. The nose does the rest. Vapors are created as wine warms up, so the wine needs to be a few degrees below its ideal drinking temperature for this to work.

• 100°F Warm Bath
• 66°F Vintage Port
• 64°F Bordeaux, Shiraz
• 63°F Red Burgundy, Cabernet
• 61°F Rioja, Pinot Noir
• 59°F Chianti, Zinfandel
• 57°F Tawny/NV Port, Madeira
• 55°F Ideal storage for all wines
• 54°F Beaujolais, rose
• 52°F Viognier, Sauternes
• 48°F Chardonnay
• 47°F Riesling
• 45°F Champagne
• 43°F Ice Wines
• 41°F Asti Spumanti
• 35°F Fridge Temperature
• 32°F water freezes
• 0°F Freezer Temperature

Coffee Making

For a long time humanity has been wondering how could a computer make coffee…

People need coffee to wake up, and stay awake for a long time in front of the computer. It is common wisdom that coding is better at night!

The main trick is interfacing a coffee machine to the computer, so that it can be controlled by software. This HOWTO will show you how to do so.

Apple-Cinnamon Granola

• 1½ cups Regular Rolled Oats
• ½ cup Coconut
• ½ cup Coarsely Chopped Slivered or Sliced Almonds, or Chopped Peanuts
• ½ cup Sunflower Seeds
• ¼ cup Sesame Seeds
• ½ cup Honey or Maple-flavored Syrup*
• ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 cup Coarsely-chopped Dried Apples

Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease jellyroll (15 x 10 x 1) pan. Stir together rolled oats, coconut, nuts and seeds. In separate bowl, combine honey or syrup, oil and cinnamon; stir into oat mixture. Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes then stir. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

After baking immediately turn mixture out onto a large piece of foil. Allow to cool and then break into chunks. Just before serving stir in apples. Can be stored at room temperature in tightly sealed containers or bags for up to 2 weeks. May also be stored longer in the freezer.

Makes about 7½ cups.

*Don’t substitute low sugar or light syrup in this recipe. The natural sugar in syrup and honey acts as a much needed preservative.

Coconut Granola Bars

• 2¼ cups Quick-Cooking Oats, uncooked
• 1 cup Flaked Coconut
• ¼ cup Wheat Germ
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Butter or Margarine
• ¼ cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• ½ cup Honey
• ½ cup Peanut Butter
• 1½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• ½ cup Chopped Unsalted Peanuts
• ½ cup Raisins or Dried Cranberries

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9-inch square pan. Combine oats, coconut, and wheat germ in pan. Bake for 25 minutes, stir occasionally. Remove from oven and set aside. Increase oven temperature to 350°F.

In a saucepan combine butter, sugar and honey. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat when butter melts and sugar dissolves. Add peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until peanut butter melts. Pour over mixture in square pan. Add peanuts and raisins, and stir well. Continue stirring until mixture becomes moist.

With greased fingers press mixture firmly into pan. Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: 2 dozen.

Granola Bars

• 1 cup Granola
• 1 cup Quick-Cooking Rolled Oats
• 1 cup Chopped Nuts
• ½ cup All-Purpose Flour
• ½ cup Raisins, Dried Cranberries or other mixed dried fruit bits
• 1 Beaten Egg
• ⅓ cup Honey
• ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil
• ¼ cup Packed Brown Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon or Freshly Grated Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with foil. Grease the foil; set pan aside. In a mixing bowl combine granola, oats, nuts, flour, and raisins. Stir in egg, honey, oil, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Press evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool. Use foil to remove from pan. Cut into 24 bars.

Microwaved-Baked Granola

• ⅓ cup Butter
• ⅓ cup Honey
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ cup Walnuts, chopped
• ½ cup Coconut
• ½ cup Sunflower Seeds
• 1 bag of Microwave Popcorn, popped
• ½ cup Raisins or Dried Cranberries

Place butter, honey, vanilla and cinnamon in a microwavable measuring cup. Cover cup with vented plastic wrap. Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until butter is melted. In a greased 13 x 9 microwavable pan, combine nuts, coconut, seeds and popcorn. Drizzle butter mixture over nut mixture. Toss. Microwave for 3 minutes. Stir. Cook for 2 to 3 more minutes or until dried fruit begins to plump. Spread granola on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container.

Raisin-Date Granola

• 2 cups Regular Rolled Oats
• ½ cup Coconut
• ½ cup Coarsely Chopped Slivered, Sliced Almonds, or Chopped Peanuts
• ½ cup Sunflower Seeds
• ¼ cup Sesame Seeds
• ½ cup Honey or Maple-Flavored Syrup
• ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil
• ½ cup Raisins or Dried Cranberries
• ½ cup Snipped Pitted Whole Dates

Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease jellyroll (15 x 10 x 1) pan. Stir together rolled oats, coconut, nuts and seeds. In separate bowl, combine honey or syrup, oil and cinnamon; stir into oat mixture. Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes then stir. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

After baking immediately turn mixture out onto a large piece of foil. Stir in raisins and dates. Allow to cool and then break into chunks. May be stored at room temperature in tightly sealed containers or bags for up to 2 weeks. May also be stored longer in the freezer.

Makes about 8 cups.

*Don’t substitute low sugar or light syrup in this recipe. The natural sugar in syrup and honey acts as a much needed preservative.

Fat Bounces Back

Government nutrition advisers since the early 1990s have conveyed a simple message: Eat less fat. But Americans have steadily gained weight — lots of it — making obesity one of the nation’s top health concerns.

Now, the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food labels and health claims on them, is easing its decade-long war on fat, and increasingly taking aim at calories. In an effort to draw attention to foods’ overall caloric content, the agency may even change the “Nutrition Facts” box, eliminating the line giving the number of calories from fat, and increasing the type size for overall calories.

“When we emphasized fat in the early ‘90s, it didn’t seem to work,” says Lester Crawford, acting commissioner of the FDA. “We’ve concluded that the emphasis on low fat and no fat obscured the central message that calories are the main thing.”

Pate Brisee

• 3¾ cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1½ teaspoons Salt
• 1½ teaspoons Sugar, optional
• 1½ cups (3 sticks) Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
• 6 to 12 tablespoons Ice Water

In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, salt, and sugar. All ingredients should be cold. Add the pieces of butter and process for approximately 10 seconds, or just until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. (To mix by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender or 2 table knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.)

Add ice water, drop by drop, through feed tube with machine running, just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; do not process more than 30 seconds. Test dough at this point by squeezing a small amount together. If it is crumbly, add a bit more water.

Divide dough in half. Place 1 half on a piece of plastic wrap. Grasping ends of the plastic wrap with your hands, press the dough into a flat circle with your fists. This makes rolling easier than if the pastry is chilled as a ball. Repeat with second half. Wrap the dough in the plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.

Yield: enough for 1 (11-inch) double-crusted pie.

Will Life Be Worth Living In 2,000AD?

Cooking will be in solar ovens with microwave controls. Garbage will be refrigerated, and pressed into fertiliser pellets.

Food won’t be very different from 1961, but there will be a few new dishes — instant bread, sugar made from sawdust, foodless foods (minus nutritional properties), juice powders and synthetic tea and cocoa. Energy will come in tablet form.

Shrooms: Not Just For Salad Anymore

“Mushrooms restore health both on the personal and ecological level,” says Stamets, mycologist and owner of Fungi Perfecti, a family-owned mushroom business in Shelton, Wash. “Mushrooms can heal people and the planet.”

Stamets, a former logger turned scanning electron microscopist, is bent on showing that fungal mycelium and mushrooms (the actual mushroom is the fruit of the mycelium) are the cornerstone of several Earth-friendly, multi-billion dollar industries. To him, there’s no end to what spores can do.

Fruit Emporium — fruit pictures & rankings!

How much is a pineapple worth? Is a strawberry really better than a cherry? What does that spiky fruit at the supermarket actually taste like — does it taste any good? Where does the humble apple fit into all this? Every fruit analysed and rated according to how weird they taste and how good they taste.

Yellow Pound Cake

• 2⅔ cups White Sugar
• 2 cups Butter
• 8 Eggs
• 8 tablespoons Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3½ cups Cake Flour

1. Separate the eggs. Beat the whites to stiff peaks, and reserve the yolks.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter or margarine. Beat in egg yolks. Stir in milk and vanilla. Add flour, 1 cup at a time. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour batter into well greased large tube pan.
3. Bake for 90 minutes at 325°F (165°C).

Freezing Meats

Frozen meats can be safely frozen indefinitely as long as your freezer maintains a temperature of 0°F or lower. At this temperature, bacteria, yeasts, and molds are inactive (not destroyed). Freezing meat simply stops the clock when microbes are concerned. So, if a piece of meat is about to go bad when you freeze it, it’s about to go bad when after you thaw it. It’s best to freeze fresh meat shortly after purchase unless you plan on using it.

Enzymes are not stopped by freezing, but merely slowed down, so the quality of the food may diminish over time. This is not a safety issue, but a food quality conern.

Those Magic Thawing Trays

You’ve probably seen them on TV for $19.95. These things are touted as wonderful to quickly thaw your frozen meat or whatever without the partial cooking you get from a microwave thaw. Yes, they do work, but here’s the secret: they’re made out of cast aluminum, which has great temperature-conducting qualities. So check your cupboards (or your mom’s) for a heavy cast aluminum baking pan. These were popular in the 50’s, and may also be found at rummage and/or estate sales for a fraction of the cost. They don’t actually thaw in minutes, but do cut thawing time significantly.

Can Too Many Diets Hurt Your Health?

Adults who have attempted losing weight in the past dieting should try, for a change, to build a lifestyle of healthy eating and regular exercise. By looking at more than the loss of pounds, your overall state of health could improve.

Good nite, sleep tight, don’t let the bugs bite!

It appears that coriander comes from the Greek word Koris meaning a bedbug and Ancient Greeks and also many contemporary Europeans believed that coriander leaves smelt like bed sheets infested with bed bugs. Hence the name and hence the absence of the herb from traditional European cuisine.

The golden state of ale

Although developed primarily for export, India Pale Ale (IPA) soon became a pub favorite with thirsty Londoners as well. In 1890, Bass became the first brewery to receive a trademark in Great Britain for pale ale. That brew, called a “bitter” by the Brits, is still one of the best known in a long line of distinguished English beers that includes Fullers and Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale. In fact, for most of the last century, when you asked for a pale ale or an IPA, what you got was undoubtedly British.

But that all changed in 1976, when David Grossman, a young chemistry student and beer fanatic from Cal State Chico, began a home brewing operation and experimented with his own version of English pale ales. Two years later, he and a friend, Paul Camusi, cobbled together a small brewery out of dairy tanks, a soft-drink bottling machine and equipment salvaged from defunct breweries. They named it after their favorite hiking grounds and on Nov. 15, 1980, brewed the first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Beer aficionados were immediately smitten with its floral bouquet, spicy flavor and exceptionally hoppy finish, a result of the brewer’s use of generous quantities of Cascade hops. A legend — and a new style of American beer — was born.

Today, more than 1,000 brands of pale ales are brewed around the country, and some of the best come from California…

Hop heads, as pale ale lovers are called, like to compare their favorite beers to California Cabernets. “Hop-driven beers do the exact same thing to your palate as a big red wine,” Yoon says. “Hops provide tannin, so you have that parched dryness in your mouth. The more hops a brewer uses, the dryer the taste.” Which means that most California-style ales are too overpowering for sushi, grilled fish or even a hamburger. But as with California Cabs or Pinot Noirs, there is a whole range of flavor profiles in these pale ales.

KitchenAid Pie Pastry

• 2¼ cups (550 ml) all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon (3 ml) salt
• ½ cup (125 ml) shortening, well chilled
• 2 tablespoons (25 ml) butter or margarine, well chilled
• 5-6 tablespoons (60 to 70 ml) cold water

Place flour and salt in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Stir Speed and mix about 15 seconds. Cut shortening and butter into pieces and add to flour mixture. Turn to Stir Speed and mix 30 to 45 seconds, or until shortening particles are size of small peas.

Continuing on Stir Speed, add water, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) at a time, mixing until all particles are moistened and dough begins to hold together. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into a smooth ball and flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator 15 minutes.

Roll one half of dough to 1/8 inch (3 mm) thickness between waxed paper. Fold pastry into quarters. Ease into 8 or 9 inch (20 or 23 cm) pie plate and unfold, pressing firmly against bottom and sides. Continue with one of the procedures that follow.

For One-crust Pie: Fold edge under. Crimp, as desired. Add desired pie filling. Bake as directed.

For Two-crust Pie: Trim pastry even with edge of pie plate. Using second half of dough, roll out another pastry crust. Add desired pie filling. Top with second pastry crust. Seal edge. Crimp, as desired. Cut slits for steam to escape. Bake as directed.

For Baked Pastry Shell: Fold edge under. Crimp, as desired. Prick sides and bottom with fork. Bake at 450°F (230°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack and fill.

Alternate Method for Baked Pastry Shell: Fold edge under. Crimp, as desired. Line shell with foil. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 450°F (230°C) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove pie weights and foil. Cool completely on wire rack and fill.

Yield: 8 servings (two 8 or 9 inch [20 or 23 cm] crusts).

Per serving (one crust): About 134 cal, 2 g pro, 13 g carb, 8 g fat, 0 mg chol, 118 mg sod.

Per serving (two crusts): About 267 cal, 4 g pro, 27 g carb, 16 g fat, 0 mg chol, 236 mg sod.

Variation

Pastry for Four Pie Crusts

Double the ingredients and prepare in the 6 quart (5.68 L) mixer bowl.

Yield: 16 servings (four 8 or 9 inch [20 or 23 cm] crusts).

The World’s Healthiest Foods

The George Mateljan Foundation is a non-profit organization with no commercial interests. Our purpose is to show you a healthier way of eating that’s enjoyable, affordable, quick and easy to fit your personal needs and lifestyle.

Cook Smarter

When I was little, I so loved tuna noodles — that comforting combination of macaroni, tuna and cheddar cheese — that my mother taught me the recipe. Her first rule of cooking, besides no little fingers on the chopping boards, was to assemble everything ahead of time. That way, we wouldn’t be halfway through a recipe before discovering we were out of a key ingredient.

While waiting for the pasta water to boil, I measured one cup of macaroni, opened a can of tuna, and, for the cheese sauce, gathered together a cup of milk, a cup of grated cheese and two tablespoons each of butter and flour. My ingredients were like my stuffed animals, which I also liked to line up in a row.

Later, when I became a professional chef, I learned this lineup had a name: mise en place. Literally translated as “put in place,” mise en place (MEEZ-ahn-plahs) is a French term for the prep work that is crucial to both professional chefs in restaurants and to home cooks in their own kitchens.

Home Work

The first key to professional-style home cooking is to organize an assembly line of individual stations where you measure, chop and cook — each in discrete stages.

The second key is to take breaks between each stage.

• Start clean: Put on a clean apron and turn on your favorite music. Clear your counters and stove top of any extraneous equipment or ingredients and sponge them down. What the heck — if you want to really play professional, pretend the health inspector might show up and sweep your floor, too. Then go look at the sky.

• Assemble all your equipment. Place any pots you’ll need on your burners and make sure all utensils are easy to reach. Set out your favorite cutting board and place a damp towel beneath it to ensure that it does not slide. Sharpen your knife. Dance to the music a little.

• Assemble your ingredients. If your counters are separated into different areas by your sink and stove, consider using one as your work space and another for your raw materials.

  If you are working from a recipe, use the ingredient list as a checklist. Pull out all your “dry stores”: all the oils, vinegars, spices and seasonings you will need. If you like using ramekins, go ahead and measure the ingredients at this point, too. Otherwise, put the containers in an area with measuring spoons and cups nearby. Before opening the refrigerator door, review every vegetable and fruit you’ll need, then pull them all out at once. Check out the evening news.

• Wash, peel, chop… Then wash all your vegetables, peel whatever needs to be peeled and start chopping. As you finish each ingredient, place the prepped materials in individual bowls and set aside for easy retrieval later. I like to start with vegetables and do meats and fish last to keep my cutting board as sanitary as possible. When all the prep is done, wash and put away the cutting board and knife, and take another rest if you’re not pressed for time. The cooking comes next, so it’s nice to be refreshed.

Got Grapefruit? It May Help You Lose Weight

Eating half of a grapefruit three times per day before meals appears to help people shed unwanted pounds, according to new study findings reported this week.

Moreover, regular grapefruit-eaters experienced a decrease in insulin, which in excess can increase the risk of weight gain and cardiovascular problems.

These findings suggest that adding grapefruit to your diet may be a good idea, a study author told Reuters Health.

“There’s something inert about fresh grapefruit that dose help you with weight loss,” said Dr. Ken Fujioka of the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, California. “All in all, I would recommend it.”

Homefoodsafety.org

The American Dietetic Association and the ConAgra Foods Foundation have joined together in a consumer education program, Home Food Safety… It’s in Your Hands®, to communicate the important role consumers play in preparing foods safely in their own homes.

Foodmakers Search for A New Fat… Again

When major food companies began widely using partially hydrogenated oils in the 1970s, they thought they were making their products more healthful. Consumer groups and regulators applauded the industry’s switch from heavily saturated fats, such as lard and palm oil.

But the evidence is growing that the trans fatty acids in partially hydrogenated oils are damaging to the heart too — and more so than other kinds of fats. Once again, the food industry is looking for an alternative fat, only this time there doesn’t seem to be an easy answer.

Recommendations Issued for Food Pyramid

Not any bread will do, a panel of doctors and scientists told the government Friday in issuing its final recommendations about what advice should go into the federal food pyramid.

The proposals for the five-year update of government’s nutrition advice say people should eat at least three one-ounce servings of whole grains each day, “preferably in place of refined grains” or white bread.

The committee also called for Americans to control their weight by being physically active.

The recommendations could keep people very busy. To prevent weight gain, many people should do up to 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity, and those who have lost weight and want to keep it off may have to do up to 90 minutes, the report said.

4 Tips for Faster Walking Technique

1. Stand tall. No slouch in the shoulders, forward lean from the waist, or excess sway in your back. CUE: Keep your eyes on the horizon.
2. Focus on quicker, not longer steps. Yes, your stride does get longer as you walk faster, but that’s shouldn’t be your goal; let it happen naturally. Instead really concentrate on taking faster steps. CUE: Count how many steps you take in a minute; shoot for over 135.
3. Bend your arms. Bend our elbows at a right angle so your arms can swing more quickly; target a quick, compact arm swing. CUE: Hands should trace an arc from rubbing waistband at your hip on the back swing, to chest height (no higher) in the front.
4. Push off of your toes. Consciously push off the toes and generate as much boost at the end of each step. CUE: Feel like you’re showing someone behind you the bottom of your shoe on every step.

The Golden Mean

Scarsdale Diet, grapefruit diet, Beverly Hills diet, Cambridge diet, liquid protein diet, cabbage soup diet and, of course, Atkins diet and South Beach diet: The names change, the formulas alter, but the gimmick diet never goes away. For that reason alone, there is something pleasantly predictable about the regular reports of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, published every five years since 1980. Written under the auspices of the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, the reports are intended to reflect not the latest fad but widely accepted conclusions about nutrition. These then determine the content of school lunches and meals for the elderly and form the basis for the venerable “food pyramid.” Historically they have been moderate, ungimmicky and unsurprising.

In recent years, their recommendations have come under challenge from diet gurus, such as the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins, who have argued that they reflect an unjustified “bias” toward low-fat foods. Nevertheless, the committee’s preliminary 2005 conclusions are, once again, moderate, ungimmicky and unsurprising. Americans, the guidelines state, eat too few fruits and vegetables, get too little exercise and eat too much sugar. They should consume a wide variety of foods, choose fats and carbohydrates wisely, use little salt, limit calories — no “eat as much as you want” suggestions here — and drink alcohol in moderation. All of that, of course, is advice that could have been proffered in Aristotle’s time.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. FAO is also a source of knowledge and information. We help developing countries and countries in transition modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices and ensure good nutrition for all. Since our founding in 1945, we have focused special attention on developing rural areas, home to 70 percent of the world’s poor and hungry people. FAO’s activities comprise four main areas:

• Putting information within reach.
• Sharing policy expertise.
• Providing a meeting place for nations.
• Bringing knowledge to the field.

Baba Ganoush

• 1 medium Eggplant
• ¼ cup Lemon Juice (or less)
• ¼ cup Tahini
• 1-2 Garlic Cloves (or powder to taste)
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• Salt (optional)
• Parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce the eggplant with a fork a few times and bake for about 40 minutes or until tender and somewhat deflated. Mash, chop, or puree the eggplant depending on how you want it. Then add the other ingredients. Serve at room temperature.

Per Serving (4 – 5oz servings): 140 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 4g dietary fiber, 4g protein, 11g carbohydrate, 0mg cholesterol, 5mg sodium

Onion Sandwiches

• 8 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened
• 16 slices Pepperidge Farm White Sandwich Bread
• 1 Large Vidalia Onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• Salt, preferably sea salt
• 2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
• Leaves of Bunch Parsley, finely chopped

1. Butter bread slices on one side, then put a thin layer of onions over butter on eight of the slices. Lightly season onions with salt, then assemble sandwiches with remaining bread slices. Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut out two small rounds from each sandwich, making 16 small sandwiches in all. (Discard trimmings.)
2. Spread some of the mayonnaise around the outside rim of each sandwich. Roll the rim of each sandwich in parsley to coat completely. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for a few hours.

Serves 2 to 4

Hostess Twinkies Sushi

• 3 Hostess Twinkies
• Assorted dried fruits
• Assorted fruity candies
• 2 green fruit roll ups
• Dried mangoes (looks like pickled ginger)

Slice Hostess Twinkies into pieces about an inch tall. Slice fruit roll ups in strips to be long enough and wide enough to wrap around the Hostess Twinkie pieces. Wrap the fruit roll ups around the Hostess Twinkie pieces. Place dried fruits and candies into the cream filling. Place Twinkie rolls on a plate or in a bento box. Garnish with strips of dried mango to resemble pickled ginger if you wish! Serve with chopsticks if you wish.

Farmland Information Center

The Farmland Information Center (FIC) is a clearinghouse for information about farmland protection and stewardship. It is a partnership between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and American Farmland Trust.

Eat Well Guide

The Eat Well Guide is a free, online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy and eggs from farms, stores, and online outlets in the US and Canada (restaurants will be coming shortly). Consumers simply enter their zip code to find local products that were raised sustainably, including no antibiotics, no added hormones, pasture raised, grass fed and organic.

Creative Writing 101

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages

One-Pot Cooking

One-pot cooking used to be the exclusive domain of bachelors, campers and college students just moved away from home. Meals were quick, simple and often right out of the box. The concept was great — just one pot to wash, but the meals could be quite uninspired.

Here are a few variations on the “one-pot” theme, which broaden the possibilities for creative cuisine, while maintaining the simplicity and energy savings of one-pot cooking.

Soy how was it for you ?

So here’s a quick guide to the three main types [of soy sauce] — Japanese, Chinese and rubbish.

• The Chinese use about 4 parts soy bean to 1 part wheat and naturally brew the mix. They were the guys who invented it but often Chinese soy sauce is a little bit heavy handed and sodium laden.
• The Japanese use equal quantities of soy bean and wheat which results in a lighter sauce, more subtle and more in keeping with the delicate flavours of their food.
• The rubbish is made from hydrolised soy protein with caramel and syrup added for colour and flavour.

Caramel Sauce

• ¾ cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Water
• 4 tablespoons Butter
• ¾ cup Heavy Cream

Combine the sugar and the water in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Give it a stir. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer, without stirring, until the syrup cooks down to a caramel, 10 to 15 minutes. As the sugar caramelizes, you can swirl the pan for even color. Remove from the heat. Carefully add the butter (the sugar will bubble like crazy). Then, wearing an oven mitt to protect your hand, stir. Add the cream and stir until smooth.

The New Yorker

Somewhere in the middle pages of “1984,” Winston Smith is being inducted into the shadowy and, as it turns out nonexistent “Brotherhood” of resistance to Big Brother, and, to celebrate, the Inner Party member O’Brien pours him a glass of wine. Winston has never had wine before, but he has read about it, and he is desperately excited to try it since he expects it to taste like blackberry jam and to be instantly intoxicating. Instead, of course, the wine tastes the way wine tastes the first time you taste it — a bit acidic and bitter — and a single sip, or glass, isn’t intoxicating at all. The intensity of this experience as a model of disappointment was significant enough for Orwell so that he inserted it in his dystopia right there among all the greater horrors — as though the future weren’t bad enough, that whole wine thing will go on, too.

Robert Parker Online: Robert Parker’s Rating System

Here then is a general guide to interpreting the numerical ratings:

• 90-100 is equivalent to an A and is given only for an outstanding or special effort. Wines in this category are the very best produced of their type. There is a big difference between a 90 and 99, but both are top marks. As you will note through the text, there are few wines that actually make it into this top category because there are not many great wines.

• 80-89 is equivalent to a B in school and such a wine, particularly in the 85-89 range, is very, very good; many of the wines that fall into this range often are great values as well. I have many of these wines in my personal collection.

• 70-79 represents a C, or average mark, but obviously 79 is a much more desirable score than 70. Wines that receive scores between 75 and 79 are generally pleasant, straightforward wines that lack complexity, character, or depth. If inexpensive, they may be ideal for uncritical quaffing.

• Below 70 is a D or F, depending on where you went to school. For wine, it is a sign of an imbalanced, flawed, or terribly dull or diluted product that will be of little interest to the discriminating consumer.

In terms of awarding points, my scoring system gives every wine a base of 50 points. The wine’s general color and appearance merit up to 5 points. Since most wines today are well made, thanks to modern technology and the increased use of professional oenologists, they tend to receive at least 4, often 5 points. The aroma and bouquet merit up to 15 points, depending on the intensity level and dimension of the aroma and bouquet as well as the cleanliness of the wine. The flavor and finish merit up to 20 points, and again, intensity of flavor, balance, cleanliness, and depth and length on the palate are all important considerations when giving out points. Finally, the overall quality level or potential for further evolution and improvement — aging — merits up to 10 points.

An Exploration of Sourdough

What can we say? We love bread, and our feelings are well summed up in two quotes.

“It isn’t bread that feeds you; it is life and the spirit that feed you through bread.” — Angelus Silesius, Der Cherubinischer Wandersmann

And we feel there is no better bread than bread made with sourdough. As Dr. Ed Wood summed it up,

“10,000 years later, and there’s no better way to raise bread!”

In the beginning, all risen breads were sourdough, or naturally leavened, breads, and there is no real reason they can’t be today. The move to using commercial baking yeast was brought about to save time, not to make better bread. With practice, you can get the taste, crumb and rise you want from sourdough.

Joy of Baking

A Baking Resource by Stephanie Jaworski.

Sourdough Starter

• 1½ cups Lukewarm Milk
• ¼ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 1 teaspoon Honey
• 2 cups Unbleached White Flour
• ¼ cup Spring Water

1. To prepare the starter, place the milk in a mixing bowl.
2. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk.
3. Whisk in the honey and 1½ cups of the flour.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature (72 to 76°F.) for 72 hours (3 days).
5. After 72 hours, stir in the ¼ cup water and whisk in the remaining ½ cup flour.
6. Cover again with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours; the mixture should be bubbly and have a sour, tangy aroma and taste.
7. Remove the amount of starter the recipe calls for and set aside.
8. Transfer the remaining starter to a sterile glass jar and replenish it by mixing in ½ cup water and ½ cup flour. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Make It Yourself

All a pizza was at first was a way to use up leftover bread dough. Squish it flat, put some stuff on it and bake it. All the tricky stuff is in trying to take it to higher levels.

We’re here to help you solve as many of those obstacles as you have interest in. Dive in! Mix up a couple batches of dough, grate up some cheese and make a batch of sauce. Now get started familiarizing yourself with your oven and pizza pan or stone.

Keep notes on what you did! That way, when you hook the big one, you’ll be able to do it again.

As your confidence builds, branch out to more exotic toppings! And don’t forget the Mus-go pizza (everything in the fridge mus-go).

Once you’ve made a few pizzas on your own to get the hang of it, here’s a great idea: Have a pizza party where everyone brings a topping or some key ingredient. You do the dough (5 minutes of work). Anyone who shows up empty handed does the clean-up. Use your new-found knowledge to supervise the construction.

Instawares Restaurant Supply

Welcome to instawares.com, the quickest and easiest way to purchase Restaurant, Kitchen and Janitorial Supplies online. Instawares, Inc can help you save time and money with your next purchase.

Shopping at Instawares.com is a breeze, you can spend your time knowing we have the best prices, and the lowest free shipping threshold in our industry. We have thousands of items from hundreds of brand name manufacturers. Enjoy!

How to Make Fried Oreo Cookies!

Some of you are possibly cringing in disbelief at such an atrocious food concept. Heck, I couldn’t believe that fried Oreo cookies existed! I first discovered about it while surfing an article on how to win at carnival games. Later in the article Robert (the author) mentioned that fried Oreos were an ever popular American carnival junk food that his friends liked.

Admittedly, I got extremely curious about it and as a result, I found many recipes for these weird fried Oreos littered all over the Internet.

I obviously couldn’t keep this information to myself. So today I am going to teach you how to make your own fried Oreos! Contrary to all those other boring online recipes with just words written all over your screen, mine has got vivid pictures to illustrate every step! Good news for all you lazy readers.