peas on moss: story of a nutritionist in culinary school

Try Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers for free

2012-02-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

MyBlogSpark and Green Giant sent me some coupons for fresh vegetable steamers, which were introduced last fall to the grocery stores. Send me your address, and I'll send you the coupon. The only catch: You have to write me a review :) Email me privately with your contact info.

NEW! Green Giant^®Valley Fresh Steamers^® Vegetables with Pasta

Green Giant^® is adding pasta to their already popular Valley Fresh Steamers^® lineup, with two new varieties, including Macaroni and Cheese Sauce with Broccoli and Pasta and Vegetables with Alfredo Sauce.

Valley Fresh Steamers Vegetables with Pasta are made with 100% natural ingredients and are prepared in less than seven minutes, offering a more convenient way to make family-friendly meals! With creamy sauces and freshly steamed vegetables, these steam-in-the-bag sides help make serving dinner to your entire family a whole lot easier.

Valley Fresh Steamers Vegetables frozen mixes let you steam vegetables in only four to seven minutes and are perfectly sauced. No messy pans to clean up as the sides include steam-in-the-bag technology, making it super convenient for mom.

· Varieties:

o Macaroni and Cheese Sauce with Broccoli - classic elbow pasta and broccoli in a mouth

watering cheese sauce

o Pasta and Vegetables with Alfredo Sauce – delicious corkscrew pasta with

carrots and broccoli in a savory Alfredo sauce

· Package Size: 2 ¼ cup (244g) frozen, 1-2 servings per package

· Currently available nationwide

· Suggested Retail Price:

o Macaroni and Cheese Sauce with Broccoli (MSRP $2.39)

o Pasta and Vegetables with Alfredo Sauce (MSRP $2.39)

Green Giant Valley Visit - Videos!

2012-02-09T23:32:00.000-08:00

Green Giant posted the videos from our visit to the Green Giant Valley last summer! That was such a fun trip, and I had a great time meeting the other bloggers, many of whom you can see on these interviews. My favorite was the testing lab. Now that I work in a test kitchen, the test lab makes so much sense! The endless taste-testing and comparison testing must be as palate numbing as it can get, but it's so important to make sure that the product is consistent and delicious.

I hope you enjoy the videos. Again, thanks to the marketing team and Green Giant Valley for a fun, expenses-paid trip and to my friend Stephanie who put me in touch with MyBlogSpark and other great opportunities through General Mills.

Ho Ho Ho! Many thanks, Green Giant and Sprout!

Justifying Super Bowl Snacks

2012-02-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

All right, I admit, unless the Seahawks or Broncos are playing, I am probably not going to watch the Super Bowl. Don't mistake me; I like football, and I've enjoyed a few Huskies games in person. But games on television just don't carry the same magic. So I usually just watch the commercials, but now you can watch them on Hulu too. Hmmm now why would I want to watch it?

I have gone to a few football parties for the snacks and the chatting. When we lived in Pueblo, some women in the Junior League hosted a really great party. Two years ago, we went to an uncle and aunt's house "on the Eastside" in Lake Sammamish. This year, we're probably going to try juggle football parties and some relaxation time. As a food researcher, I feel that it's my responsibility to inspect snacks at the football parties. As a nutritionist, I should probably also double check the choices that we have for healthier snacks. Most of the time, you'll find typical party fare, like chicken wings, chips, dips, nachos, beer, soda, and cookies. These are delicious, but they're a bit hard on the beach body. So, if you're trying not to damage your diet or train for your next 8k run (Torchlight anyone?), then maybe try some healthier game foods.

You can add a vegetable platter, hummus dip, fruit and yogurt dip, baked chips, and even flavored calorie-waters to the menu to provide some slightly healthier options. Don't forget, you do get days off your diet, so don't feel like you have to forgo a bite of a delicious treat, but choose those indulgences carefully to enjoy them the most.

Green Giant sent a tasty looking recipe for Sriracha Veggie Cheese Balls, so I figured I'd share it with you. It's not gluten-free, but you could substitute Pamela's gluten-free baking mix for it. Sriracha is spicy, so use it sparingly, or generously, to your taste.

Sriracha Veggie-Cheese Balls and Sauce

Looking for wonderful appetizers made using Original Bisquick® mix and Green Giant® frozen broccoli? Then check out these baked cheese balls served with sauce - perfect if you love Thai cuisine.

Prep Time 25 Minutes

Total Time 50 Minutes

Makes 25 Servings

Veggie-Cheese Balls

2 cups Green Giant® frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, squeezed to drain

2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend (8 oz)

1 cup Original Bisquick® mix

1 egg

1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 to 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce

Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons sriracha sauce

2 tablespoons sliced green onions (2 medium)

2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray or grease bottom and sides of 15x10x1-inch pan.
In large bowl, stir together veggie-cheese ball ingredients. Slightly wet hands with water for easier rolling; shape mixture into 1-inch balls; place on pan.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix dipping sauce ingredients.
Immediately remove balls from pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

Makes 25 Servings

Do-Ahead

•Cover and refrigerate unbaked balls up to 24 hours. Bake as directed.•Cover and freeze unbaked balls up to 1 month. Heat oven to 350°F. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brown.•Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month. Heat oven to 350°F. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until heated through.•Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month. Place 6 frozen balls on microwavable plate. Loosely cover with waxed paper. Microwave on High 45 seconds to 1 minute or until heated through.

1 Serving (1 Veggie Ball)

Calories 70

(Calories from Fat 40),

Total Fat 4 1/2g

(Saturated Fat 2 1/2g,
Trans Fat 0g),

Cholesterol 20mg;
Sodium 170mg;
Total Carbohydrate 4g

(Dietary Fiber 0g,
Sugars 0g),

Protein 3g;

Percent Daily Value*:

Vitamin A 4.00%;
Vitamin C 4.00%;
Calcium 8.00%;
Iron 0.00%;

Exchanges:

1/2 Starch;
0 Fruit;
0 Other Carbohydrate;
0 Skim Milk;
0 Low-Fat Milk;
0 Milk;
0 Vegetable;
0 Very Lean Meat;
0 Lean Meat;
0 High-Fat Meat;
1 Fat;

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

© 2012 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved

You can view the original recipe here and browse for other ideas as well. Thank, Green Giant, for the ideas!

Culinary Expertise Important for Nutrition Professionals

2012-01-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

Ever since the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, manufacturers have been required to post nutrition labels on their products. Up to recent years, freshly made foods from instutional and restaurant food services have not been required to post their information. However, that has changed in the last few years. Restaurants of certain sizes and numbers of locations are required to provide their customers with the nutritional information about the items they serve. This has opened up a huge window of opportunity for nutrition experts to assist food service companies with providing accurate information about the foods prepared. However, it also requires a handy and advanced knowledge of professional cooking.

In the May 2011 ADA Journal article "How Accurate Are Your Nutrient Calculations? Why Culinary Expertise Makes a Difference," the authors say that this is an excellent time for nutritionists, registered dietitians specifically, to step up their culinary expertise and assist manufactureres in product development and nutrition knowledge. However, they caution eager experts from rushing in and providing incomplete information. There are challenges intrinsic to recipe writing and nutrient calculations, and nutrition experts must know the recipes well and the quirks to cooking, such as volume change and unused portions of ingredients (like marinades).
While it is a great window of opportunity for nutrition and diet experts to assist food manufacturers and restaurants with nutrient label development, those embarking on this type of work should be sure to develop competencies in culinary nutriton. This is the core of the thesis of these authors, and this is one of the biggest reasons that I chose to attend culinary school. I knew how to cook, and I was comfortable with reading recipes and entering nutritional data. But now that I have developed an understanding for restaurant prep cooking and line cooking, I see how it can change and how the knowledge has enhanced my understanding in utilizing the nutrient databases more effectively.

Source:
Powers, Catharine H., Mary Abbott Hess, and Mary Kimbrough. How Accurate Are Your Nutrient Calculations? Why Culinary Expertise Makes a Difference. May 2011 Journal of the American Dietetic Association Supplement. S8-S11.

The Great Fat Debate

2012-01-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

Corrie's Cake

If you've been following the latest debates in nutrition over the last few years, you'll probably notice that among the debated topics is the "great fat debate" which questioned whether or not food saturated fat content has an effect on your heart health or related chronic diseases. In 2011, the American Dietetic Association published latest information from those debates and some of the explanations behind why saturated fat's role in increasing heart disease risk has been questioned.

According to the summary of the debate, saturated fat might be wrongly accused of increasing heart risks. For the last thirty years, fat and saturated fat have been emphasized as the components of food that are dangerous and should be limited. One might think that if people were taught to avoid those foods, the population would decrease their overall saturated fat intake and lower their risk of chronic disease. That doesn't seem to be the case, and over those same decades the incidence of obesity and diabetes have increased markedly. Apparently, the reduction of overall saturated fat has led to the increased consumption of refined carbohydrates. This, the debate hosts suggest, is more likely the culprit for the obesity and chronic disease issues in America.

This theory has been supported for a while with natural and alternative medicine advocates. When I worked at the Vitamin Cottage, many of the customers I met and many of the health professionals with whom I worked agreed: we need to eat more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and less fat.

As a current culinary student and intern at a food lab, it's really hard to say no to fat. When I'm preparing a dish, and it seems to lack just a touch of something, I'm learning that we should first reach for the salt crock or the butter dish. I used to briefly cringe when I did that, but I'm started to get desensitized to it. That's probably not actually a good thing.

Well, if restaurant food isn't going to be my source of healthy food, then I need to plan to eat more healthfully when I'm not in the lab. Lately, I've been sort of lazy at maintaining my healthier eating. Back to eating oatmeal for breakfast (and not hitting the snack bar at work).

Get some fruit smoothie in you!

2012-01-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

Mom and me in Grandma's kitchen...oh a few years ago

MyBlogSpark has offered a coupon to bloggers in that network, and I want to share it with you. This is good for $1.00 off one package of Yoplait frozen smoothies. It's not valid in certain states, so check with your grocer to be sure you can use it. Just click on the link for the printable coupon.

Thanks, Yoplait and MyBlogSpark!

Vegetarian Diets for Weight Management

2012-01-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of the General Mills trip 2011

In the June 2011 Journal of the American Dietetic Association an article was published that discussed the potential benefits of controlling weight by switching to a vegetarian diet. If you've ever attempted a vegetarian diet, then you'll know that there are times that following it can be challenging. In the past, it was harder to maintain the vegerianism, at least for me. So, the idea of following a vegetarian diet in order to lose weight seemed a little extreme.

The authors of the article say that vegetarian diets result in healthy weight loss and can result in healthy weight maintenance over the long term. They also said that even if the vegetarian diet isn't completely adopted, increasing the fruit and vegetable content in a diet has "value beyond weight loss goals."

One of my culinary classmates has been a vegetarian for years. He follows a virtual vegan diet at home, but at school he mostly tries to avoid meat products. He allows for butter and accidental cross contamination from meat, since we are students preparing meals.

You can check out Lyle's blog here, and keep checking back for vegetarian recipes as the quarter goes along. Lyle and the rest of my cohort entered the 4th (of 5) quarter in class, and they'll be doing fine dining. Should be fun! One really great feature about fine dining is that vegetarian meals can be absolutely excuisite and gourmet!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

2011-12-27T22:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks to MyBlogSpark for this tasty recipe. It was originally designed for publication in preparation for the holiday season, but there's no reason you can't enjoy pumpkin bread throughout the rest of the winter.

You can read the original format of the recipe by clicking here. Be sure to browse their other recipes, too. I have found their site to be easy enough to navigate, and I admit a bias. My grandfather used to develop products for General Mills and Betty Crocker. It holds a special place in my heart. Sorry for the unabashed plug there!

View Recipe

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Gather everyone around the table to enjoy this moist and delicious pumpkin bread. Made with no nuts, no dairy, no eggs, and no gluten--no kidding!

Prep Time

Minutes

Total Time

3:10

Hrs:Mins

Makes

servings

box Betty Crocker® Gluten Free yellow cake mix

can (15 oz) pure pumpkin

1/2

cup canola oil

teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2

teaspoon ground ginger

1/4

teaspoon ground cloves

teaspoons gluten-free vanilla

1/2

cup gluten-free semisweet chocolate chips (dairy- and nut-free)

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 9x5-inch or 8x4-inch loaf pan with oil.
In large bowl, stir all ingredients except chocolate chips until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread evenly in pan.
Bake 9-inch loaf 55 to 65 minutes, 8-inch loaf 60 to 70 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 2 hours before slicing.

Makes 16 servings

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker^® Kitchens

Always read labels to make sure each ingredient is free of allergens that you are sensitive to. Products and ingredient sources can change.

Cooking Gluten Free?

Always read labels to make sure each recipe ingredient is gluten free. Products and ingredient sources can change.

Nutrition Information:

1 Serving (1 Serving)

Calories 200

(Calories from Fat 80),

Total Fat 8g

(Saturated Fat 1 1/2g,
Trans Fat 0g),

Cholesterol 0mg;
Sodium 150mg;
Total Carbohydrate 29g

(Dietary Fiber 1g,
Sugars 14g),

Protein 1g;

Percent Daily Value*:

Vitamin A 80.00%;
Vitamin C 0.00%;
Calcium 0.00%;
Iron 4.00%;

Exchanges:

1/2 Starch;
0 Fruit;
1 1/2 Other Carbohydrate;
0 Skim Milk;
0 Low-Fat Milk;
0 Milk;
0 Vegetable;
0 Very Lean Meat;
0 Lean Meat;
0 High-Fat Meat;
1 1/2 Fat;

Carbohydrate Choices:

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Mission: Impossible

2011-12-27T22:42:00.000-08:00

Don't you hate it when you're sitting at your computer and you get struck by a craving for a specific food that would require elaborate cooking or a dash to the car in the pouring rain to the your favorite restaurant? Well, that's typically what happens when I crave pho (pronounced "fuh"), a popular Vietnamese noodle soup featuring fragrant beef broth - for pho tai - filled with beef tendon, basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, lime, hoisin, and jalapeno. Josh and I first tried it in Pueblo, CO, but it's so popular here in Seattle that pho restaurants dot the city in almost the same density as coffee houses. So, with so many pho houses around, why would I consider a pho craving a mission impossible? Because pho costs $5.75 or more per bowl, and there isn't one nearby.

Mission: Impossible the movie also premiered this weekend, and it was played on IMAX five days before that. My friend had a chance to see it (about which I was very jealous!). So, since I am in the mood to embark on an impossible mission, and since I'm so cheap, I figured making pho would be a good challenge.

So, first I decided to do it the real way. There are probably as many recipes to make pho as there are restaurants that serve it. I went to one of my favorite food blogs, Steamy Kitchen, which is written by Jaden Hair. She provides a beautiful recipe that looks so easy. You can read it here. Okay, roll theme music.

I trucked down to Uwajimaya, our local Asian food market. It has everything you need for pho ingredients, including a little spice satchel that included all the spices you need to make it. I also found the beef bones and thinly sliced beef I needed. I lugged it all home and tossed it into my trusty, old slow cooker. I followed the recipe, mostly, and the next day, I had pho. It wasn't as salty as most restaurant versions, and since I'd skimped on beef bones - hey, they're not as cheap as I thought they'd be - it wasn't packed with flavor the way I'd hoped. Also, when I brule-ed my onion and ginger, I mostly burned the bottom of my cast iron pan and didn't really find that the flavor was especially delicious. As an aside, one of my coworkers uses a blow torch to brulee his onion and ginger, which has both the sexy appeal of blow torches and totally avoids the burnt pot. According to Gisslen's Professional Cooking, the brule-ing makes the broth more flavorful and more colorful. Okay, so maybe I'll give it another go.

Cue mystery look from super spy Cruise.

Now for instant pho. I bought a bowl of instant pho once. Ugh. Salt and fake fish sauce. It took a lot of ice cream to wash that away.

Okay, back to the Internet to search for recipes that are more...my pay grade. You should be hearing the exciting, explosive music and imagining Cruise rolling away from rocketing cars flaming in the background. I opened my email, and I found the most recent Serious Eats update, and Lo! A faux pho recipe nestled among the article covering ways to enjoy Ramen noodles. You can find that recipe here.

Essentially, the recipe calls for using half of the seasoning packet and then adding fish sauce and sugar. Tonight, for my solo dinner, I did just that. Ta-Dah! Pho! Well, instant pho!

My ramen noodles were a little weird with the pho broth, but it was flavorful and warm on this cold rainy night. So, conclusion: go out for Pho or take the time to follow Jaden's recipe to the T. In desperation, you can do the faux pho recipe from Serious Eats. Cue credits.

Oh, and go watch Mission Impossible on the IMAX or in your favorite theater. I'm hoping that I'll get to win tickets to watch the game, so I'll be entering this post into a drawing for free tickets. (Shameless plug, ey?) You could also see what IMAX will be bringing to your neighborhood by liking their Facebook page. If you've already seen it, I'd like to hear your thoughts. I haven't gotten a chance yet; I've been waiting to see if I can score these tickets, which were made available to bloggers through IMAX through MyBlogSpark.

Christmas Eggnog

2011-12-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

This eggnog contains raw eggs, so you should not eat it if you have a compromised immune system, are pregnant, elderly, or very young. You could substitute the eggs for pasteurized egg whites and whole eggs, if you still want to make the recipe. The eggnog is thick and frothy, and you should drink it as soon as it is assembled so it does not separate and become runny. Discard any leftovers.

Josh remembers drinking eggnog as a kid, and his Mom sent me a version of the recipe she and her sister used to make. Naturally, after I read her recipe, I made modifications to it and combined it with one I found online. So, here's the version we made.

Homemade Eggnog

4 organic eggs, shells washed, eggs separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold, kept refrigerated until needed
1 cup whole milk, kept refrigerated until needed
1/4 cup rum or brandy, optional, refrigerated
Nutmeg and grater (or ground nutmeg)
1 orange, washed well
Zester
Small mixing bowls
Whisk or mixer with whisk attachments
Mugs or small cups

Wash the egg shells of the eggs. Dry them off.

Wash the orange, dry it off, and zest half the peel. With a sharp pairing knife, carefully shave off orange peel, leaving the white pith behind on the orange. Cut into skinny slices. Set orange zest and "slices" aside.

Into two clean mixing bowls, separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Place the egg yolks back in the refrigerator. Beat the egg whites into soft peaks. Refrigerate.

Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk until pale yellow and the sugar is mixed in. Refrigerate.

Pour the heavy whipping cream into a clean mixing bowl and whisk until thickened but not forming peaks.

Pour the milk, orange zest, and whipped heavy cream into a pitcher, add the egg yolks and fold together. Fold in the whipped egg whites and brandy, if using. Be careful not to break the volume you built into the egg whites and whipped cream.

Spoon or pour the eggnog into the small cups. Grate or sprinkle nutmeg over the top. Take the skinny orange slices, twist into a corkscrew shape, and place on top. Enjoy!

Serves 4.

Green Bean Casserole - a new take

2011-12-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

I've had the pleasure of getting to connect with Green Giant throughout this year. They even sponsored a trip to visit their facility in La Seur, MN. Recently, they've posted some Christmas recipes, which I wanted to share with you.

Green Bean Casserole can seem so....ordinary sometimes. I always look forward to it, because it's the only time I'll eat it, but for something different, try this recipe.

View Recipe

Holiday Beans and Cranberries

Beautifully served beans for the holiday. What’s more, there’s a bonus--it’s low fat!

Prep Time

Minutes

Total Time

Minutes

Makes

servings

bag (12 oz) Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen cut green beans

1/2

cup dried cranberries

tablespoons honey

teaspoon grated orange peel

1/4

cup Betty Crocker® Bac~Os® bacon flavor bits or chips

Cook beans as directed on package; drain.
Stir in cranberries, honey and orange peel.
Top with bacon flavor bits.

Makes 4 servings

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker^® Kitchens

Special Touch

Arrange green beans on a round platter in a wreath shape, and place orange wedges in the center for a festive finish.

Nutrition Information:

1 Serving (1 Serving)

Calories 135

(Calories from Fat 10 ),

Total Fat 1 g

(Saturated Fat 0g,

Cholesterol 0mg;
Sodium 140 mg;
Total Carbohydrate 30 g

(Dietary Fiber 4 g,

Protein 5 g;

Percent Daily Value*:

Vitamin A 8.00%;
Vitamin C 6.00%;
Calcium 6.00%;
Iron 8.00%;

Exchanges:

1 Fruit;
3 Vegetable;

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Walkers Mincemeat Tarts

2011-12-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

Photo from Walkersshortbread.com

Mincemeat pies are a traditional favorite of the British Isles, and I vaguely remember the desserts from childhood when we lived in Hong Kong. My parents aren't really into British food, but we had access to it when we dined with friends or spent the Holidays with different families and friends. I remember buying a jar of mincemeat as a child and wanting to make a pie with it. I don't remember if we actually baked one.

Well, I was exploring the Cost Plus World Market holiday aisles this Christmas season, and lo-and-behold, Walkers (famous for its shortbread biscuits) offers miniature mincemeat tarts. They're small enough for one person to enjoy a personal pie without having to invest in a whole pie. That's good for Josh and me, because he's gluten-free and can't enjoy them. So, I was able to enjoy the whole package of mini tarts all month long.

Mincemeat tarts are packed with apple, currants, sultanas, and candied citrus. They're sweet and fruity. Pungent with spices, they complement a cup of strong tea very well. The crusts of the mini tarts were heavy and not flakey, and they were starchy enough to hold up to the heavy fruit filling. Each pie was large enough for four bites, which is a perfect size for a tea break in the afternoon between wrapping gifts and writing cards.

Walkers brand pastries are sold in different locations, but I found the Mincemeat Tarts at Cost Plus World Market. Look for them this holiday season and enjoy a little bit of foggy, Scottish winter in your own home.

Modernist Cuisine

2011-12-17T00:58:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered what kind of kitchen a chef, a scientist/inventor, and a chemist would have? You probably imagine top notch cooking equipment, maybe some crazy beakers and glass tubing, a lot of scales, a centrifuge, and a sous vide water bath. You'd be pretty darn close to correct. The Intellectual Ventures labs in Bellevue, just east of Seattle, looks like a chemist-chef's dream. You may or may not have heard of IV before. It's run by Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft, renowned mathematician and scientist in his own right, and professionally trained at the French Ecole De La Varenne Cooking School. He partnered with ChefsMaxime Bilet and Chris Young, who both come from Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck experimental kitchen. Each of these chefs have pedigrees of their own.

Food & Wine Magazine did an interesting write-up on them this summer, because this summer, IV published it's flagship cookbook set Modernist Cuisine. It is a six-book set that includes an exhaustive explanation about the science behind food and food cookery. The purpose of the book is to record some of the modern cooking methods that top restaurants around the world have been using lately. The book also shows techniques and equipment needed in order to achieve successful meals. Some of the recipes are complicated, but some of them are home-cook friendly. Food & Wine adapted a few of the MC recipes, and they do look very do-able.

Here's the one I want to try:
Caramelized Carrot Soup

I even put "pressure cooker" on my wish list for Christmas this year, just because I want to try it! My friend, Chef Eric Rivera at Alinea Restaurant, said that I should actually get a pressure canner, because then I can can proteins. He also suggested a brand. Um, Eric? I'm just getting started... first things first.

The other element of the MC book set that really distinguishes it from scientific cooking books is the quality of the photos. Nathan Myhrvold is also an accomplished photographer, and he hired a team of talented photographers to capture food while its cooking in a way that really hadn't been done before. I've skimmed over the photos, but I found that I really have to carefully examine each photo, because the styles are so incredible. Here's the Food & Wine link to the photos.

Nathan Myhrvold gave a TEDTalk about his book, and you can watch his video on Huffington Post's website. It's a pretty succinct explanation of the book, its purpose, and its vision. I really like how Myhrvold describes how they cut the equipment in half and some of the (potentially dangerous) things that occured when they photographed a halved cooking wok.

The reason I'm blathering a bit on about a particular book and cuisine style is that I have actually taken a full-time temporary position as a culinary research assistant at the IV lab. I am taking a break from school (I have just two quarters and a summer session remaining) in order to work at the lab. Now you might think, Kimberly, you should finish school! You're right, and I agree.

But, when Chef Maxime Bilet tells me that I have a good resume, and when the sous chef tells me that he liked how I worked, and when their administrative assistant says "Congratulations, we think you're the best fit for our team," it seems like...well, as Chef KG said, "a no-brainer."

I talked to my chefs - literally all of them - about taking the position and taking time off from class. Of course, I'm not so conceited to think that I'm negatively impacting the cohort with whom I was progressing through the quarters, but I was concerned that the chefs understood why I was taking time away. I am committed to completing the program, because I believe SCA is a strong program producing talented people. At the same time, this opportunity is pretty exciting.

I start Monday. I have no idea what to expect, but it should be very educational. I picked up Blumenthal's books to brush up on science, and our nutrition instructor at SCA (and former colleague of mine) has leant me a food science text book. I intend to read those through so I don't seem totally clueless about modernist cuisine. Then I'll try get my hands on the book set :)

Sicily

2011-12-07T18:46:00.000-08:00

I haven't gotten to travel to Europe yet, but after this research paper, I am adding Sicily to my list!

Introduction to Sicily:

Whenever I think of Sicily, I think of two things: the food and the movie, The Sicilian, based on a Mario Puzo book. Romance notwithstanding, I know that my image of Sicily is pretty inaccurate. So, in doing some research, I sought out the Anthony Bourdain “No Reservations” television show and a few blogs written by Sicilian foodies as well as the typical resources of tourist books and Wikipedia. The result was two days of frantic and amused reading and, hopefully, a more accurate perspective on Sicily.

Geography:

Sicily is an island located south and just west of Italy, which is a large, boot-shaped peninsula in central Europe. Parts of the islands just off Sicily are actually closer to Africa than they are to Italy, so you will find a strong influence from Northern African culture, language, and ethnicity. You’ll also see African influence in the cuisine. Sicily is surrounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north; the Ionian Sea to the east; and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Straits of Sicily are just west of the island, and Pantelleria is further west and closer to Africa.
According to cookbook author Clarissa Hyman, Sicilians actually refers to Italy as “Continente” while they consider themselves a self-sufficient island. Although the author doesn’t say so, the self-sufficiency probably stems from the experience that Sicilians have had in comparison to northern parts of Italy: they’re a less wealthy region than other parts of Italy, and so they’ve been forced to be more creative with the resources they have. Sicilian food is distinctive from other foods of Italy, and it is indicative of the blending of various continents and peoples throughout time.

Terroir and Climate:

According to the website unabashedly called “Beauty and Romance of Sicily,” the terroir of Sicily is what gives fruits, vegetables, and all other food its unique Sicilian value and flavor. The website’s author writes “Travelers have noted that the lettuce is especially tender and tastes something like milk. This is due largely to Mount Etna. Eruptions from the active volcano have fertilized the soil to an incomparable richness.” This is probably true. Volcanic ash, according to the University of California in Santa Barbara, shows that volcanic soil is especially fertile. According to the site, Sicilian farms flourish on volcanic soil, and populations risk living near active volcanoes because southern Italian soil is otherwise comprised mostly of limestone, which results in poor quality soil.

The higher quality soil allows for uniquely Sicilian produce to be grown, such as specific varieties of artichokes and tomatoes. The Sicilian island of Pantelleria is known for its capers, according to Anthony Bordain, and the farmer he interviewed claimed that the land is what makes its produce unique. Hyman agrees, and she quotes the adage “They don’t know how to make it the way we do.”

Hyman also writes that volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, and other storms have shaped the island and its people. Both the island and its people are resilient, not quite Italian, and distinctive. The cuisine that results from this region is easily recognizable, and it has had a powerful influence on American Italian cuisine.

History and External Cultural Influences:

Cookbook author Clarissa Hyman gives an excellent history of Sicily. She starts by saying that “contradictions and extremes abound in Sicily.” The Greeks brought beautiful architecture and honey, wine, ricotta, and olives. The Romans brought mosaics, Baroque architecture, roads, wheat, grains, and pulses. The Byzantine Empire brought monasteries, new religion, sharp cheeses, and spicy biscuits. The Arabs also brought sugar cane, citrus, eggplants, rice, spices, and couscous. They taught new agricultural methods and new cooking methods, including the idea of stuffing vegetables, deep-frying, and spit-roasting. These methods are most evident in Jewish-Italian cooking that was found in that region until the Spanish Inquisition, which resulting in displacing populations all over the Spanish Empire. The Spanish also gave Sicily tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, squash, the prickly pear, and chocolate, because they were simultaneously conquering nations along the Mediterranean and exploring the New World. Afterwards, the Normans, who also conquered Italy, brought dried fish, shortcrust pastry, farsumagru (stuffed meat rolls), eel with spices, and Béchamel sauce.

High class and low class cuisine were very distinctive during these times of conquest. Conquerers and rich landowners enjoyed elaborate banquets that represented cuisines of the conquerer-du-jour, while the conquered were often forced to make deal with gruel. The high class cuisine was called “Monsu,” a riff on the French word “monsieur,” which described the higher class. That said, Hyman points out, “the strong, feisty Sicilian women have fought hard to do the best for their children, driven by hunger to heights of remarkable inventiveness.” Nothing was wasted, including vegetable and animal trim. Polpette were made by rolling trimmings of vegetables and meat together into flavor-packed meat balls which were fried and eaten as a secondi course. Anthony Bourdain was given a sample of Fritolla, essentially offal from various animals that are fried in oil and served very hot. In fact, when Bourdain ate the Fritolla, he ate them almost as soon as they came out of the steaming pot while they were piping hot. His Sicilian host explained that once the Fritolla cool down, they become very tough and disgusting.

Culture:

In researching Sicilian culture, I found that one notable feature about Sicilian attitude is the strong sense of pride – borderline chauvinism – in their identity and in their contribution to the world’s cuisine. According to the website Sicilian Culture, “the French loved Italian cooking so much…they took Italian wives and chefs back to France with them…[sic] this his how great French cuisine was born as well.”

According to the Beauty and Romance of Sicily website, “the Sicilians are also famous for their long leisurely meals, creating an atmosphere of relaxed indulgence. Their lunches begin at one o’clock and go on until three or four. Then dinner begins at about eight and can last for hours. Lingering is encouraged in Sicilian restaurants.”

Three Key Sicilian Ingredients:

It turned out to be extremely difficult to limit myself to just three ingredients. Cheese, like Pecorino Siciliano and Caciocavallo; fruits like oranges, lemons, figs, apricots, peaches and grapes; and sweets made from marzipan, candied fruits, and sundried fruits are just a few of the items that are famous from Sicily. In addition, Sicilian wine is renowned. So, my favorite selections, which I hope are unique:

Trapani salt is famous, according to Anthony Bourdain. While admiring the salt marshes, he also dined on a dish of fish encrusted in salt and then baked. One thing that surprised him about the dish is that the fish was not salty, despite its cooking method. The outer, salted layer is peeled away, of course. The inner flesh is moist and flavorful, though the flavor is almost entirely that of the fish itself. As a culinary student, I found that interesting, because we are often taught to add both seasoning and flavoring in order to achieve a sophisticated, professionally prepared dish. Based on the writings of Sicilian food experts, the food of this Italian island is pretty basic and natural.

Sicilian olives are famous, according to an article written for shoppers of PFI, a Seattle-based food purveyor. The author writes that Sicilian olive oils are “typified by their grassy green flavor and their peppery finish.” The popular Castelvetrano olive is an ash-cured Nocellara del Belice olive, and these olives are grown in Sicily as well. In addition to olive growing, Sicily’s climate is also perfect for citrus production, and PFI carries a signature Sicilian oil, Olio Agrumati, citrus oil. In this dish, “olives and citrus fruits are crushed together to produce a flavored oil that is perfect condiment for use on pasta, chicken or fish,” the author shows.

Wine writer for the Italian Made website, Vincenzo Mormino, writes that Sicilian vineyards are prolific. Grape growing is credited to the Greeks, but the author makes a point to suggest that the Phonecians were also very effective in their grape growing. The author also believes that the native Famous wines include Marsala vergine, Marsala solera, Moscato Passito di Pantelleria, and Malvasia delle Lipari. The writer adds that drier table wines are up-and-coming, but he didnb’t name any wines specifically. He credits the Mazara Valley location and the soil from the Gibellina Mountains as producing the hearty grapes that make Sicilian grape juice sturdier than the northern Italian juices. The growing region occupies the west side of the island, in the regions of Salemi, Marsala, Menfi, Alcamo, Trapani, and Castelvetrano.

The author waxes rather eloquently:

The rolling hills planted with vines are themselves the main attraction; the mountains are merely a backdrop. It's a good place to breathe the tranquility of the real, rural Sicily of centuries past.

Three Sicilian Dishes:

Pizza sfincione

The author of the Sicilian food blog Sicilian Cuisine writes that Palermo has claim to a traditional Italian pizza, which they call “sfincione.” The dough is made using the sponge method, where a dough base is prepared and allowed to rise. This base is then blended with more flour and water and kneaded until a smooth and very soft dough is formed. The blog author writes that the word sponge either originates from the Latin word “spongia” or the Arabic word “sfang.” The apparent confusion about the source of the word is again indicative of the influence of different cultures on Sicily throughout history. The blogger says that the best – and most traditional – combination is “tomato sauce, onions, anchovies, the typical caciocavallo cheese and breadcrumbs. Some people also add sliced artichokes.” You can find these pizzas all over Sicily, and you can even find them sold out of the back of mini pickup trucks like impromptu food trucks.

Recipe for the dough: 500 gr flour 00 - 500 gr hard wheat flour - 1 ts sugar - 1tbs salt - 25 gr brewer's yeast - 1/2 lt warm water - 1/2 glass of olive oil or 100 gr lard -
Recipe for the condiment: 500 gr tomato sauce - 4 chopped onions slightly stewed - 50 gr anchovies - 350 gr caciocavallo cheese cubes - oregano - breadcrumbs - olive oil

1. Sift the two flours and put them in a bowl together.
2. Add salt and sugar.
3. In a smaller bowl put the yeast and add some warm water until it dissolves.
4. Little by little add the yeast with the water to the flour mix and start stirring all the ingredients together forming a dough.
5. Remove it from the bowl and transfer it on a kitchen surface (a bit floured), adding the remaining water and the olive oil (or the lard) and kneading for about 15 minutes until it becomes smooth and soft. Give it the shape of a ball.
6. Now the dough has to rise under a blanket in a warm place for about 2 hours. It has to double its volume.
7. Preheat the oven at 180° or 200° degrees; (It really depends on the oven).
8. Remember to stew and chop onions thinly, chop anchovies in small pieces and the cheese in cubes as well. Then, prepare some tomato sauce.
9. In a pan put some breadcrumbs with a drizzle of olive oil and toast it until golden brown.
10. After the 2 hours stretch out the dough and press into a large oiled baking tray. (It's even better if you can let it rise in the tray for another half an hour.)
11. Cover the dough with the tomato sauce, the onions, the anchovies.12. Put the tray in the oven for about 15 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and add the caciocavallo cut in small cubes, then cover all in breadcrumbs.
14. Put back inside the oven for some more minutes, about 10 minutes, again it depends on the oven and on how thick is the dough. Check after 5, just to be sure. 15. Bake the pizza until the bottom of the crust is golden

Warm Sicilian octopus salad
Ingredients (serves 4-6 people)
1kg octopus
750g potatoes in small cubes
1 stick chopped small
1 carrots julienne
75gr stoned green and black olives
1 tbsp of white wine vinegar
Juice of 3 lemons
Parsley
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Finely chopped chili pepper (optional)

Procedure
First, ask you fishmonger to prepare the octopus so that it’s ready for cooking. Every chef has his own way of tenderizing an octopus before cooking but one simple way is to dip it into boiling water several times for about 10 seconds each. Then place it in a large pan of boiling water (no salt!) and leave to cook for for about 1 hr or until you can easily prick it with a fork. Leave to cool in the water and then drain and chop into pieces of about an inch long.
While the octopus is cooling, bring another pan of water to the boil, add a teaspoon of white wine vinegar, salt well and add the cubed potatoes. When ready, drain and leave.
In the meantime, get a large mixing bowl and add several tablespoons of olive oil, a good pinch of salt, some chopped parsley, some black pepper and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice. Mix well. Here you can add the finely chopped chili if you want a little kick.
Put the octopus back into a pan of hot water to warm up for a minute or two, drain well and add to the mixing bowl along with the potatoes.
Then add the olives, the carrot and the celery and mix well. Spoon onto a serving dish, pour any extra olive oil mixture on top, add a little more chopped parsley and one final dribble of olive. Serve with a good glass of white Inzolia wine!

Sigaretta all Ricotta (Ricotta filled cigarettes)

This is from Manuella Darling-Gansser’s Spring in Italy. While it’s not the origin of the popular cannoli, it is probably something close to the origins of the cannolis.

60 g unsalted butter, room temperature

75 g caster sugar

45 g unbleached plain flour

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 organic egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks

Icing sugar for dusting

250 g very fresh, full-cream ricotta

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius

2) Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and vanilla extract, then gently fold in the egg whites.

3) Line two oven trays with greaseproof paper. Place small, well-spaced spoonfuls of the pastry mixture onto the trays and spread them out to form 6 cm circles. Bake for 5 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown. Remove from the oven and while still warm, carefully roll the biscuits around the handle of a wooden spoon to form cigarettes. Slide them off and leave them to cool completely.

4) To make the filling, beat the ricotta with the sugar to make a smooth, lump-free cream.

5) When the cigarettes are completely cold, spoont he ricotta fillinginto a piping bag and fill the cigarettes generously. Dust with icing sugar and serve right away.

If you like, add 2 tablespoons of grated lemon or orange zest or 2 tablespoons of grated chocolate to the ricotta filling.

Makes 18-20 little cigarettes.

Regional nature of traditional Italian cooking:

Sicily has been home to a multitude of invaders, and each invader brought a new way of agriculture and cooking. As is typical with lands that have been overrun by other nations, the occupied people will incorporate the new methods into their existing habits, and the hybrid cuisines develop a distinctive quality from their neighboring populations. Sicilian food is distinctive from other parts of Italy because the population was poor but had the advantage of living on fertile land. In modern agriculture, according to the Italian Made website, Sicily is home to the second largest organic production in Italy. The growing season is long and generous, so foods available on the island include fresh vegetables, herbs, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.

Because Sicily is surrounded by abundant seas, seafood is a significant staple. Sardines, anchovies, tuna, and swordfish are commonly found on Sicilian plates. The seafood is marinated, brined, herbed, stewed, roasted or grilled.

In the introduction of the Italian Made website, the writer says “On analysis, la cucina italiana is a miscellany of regional, provincial, local and family dishes that vary from season to season and cook to cook. It is a deliciously random fund of little treasures, of recipes rarely written down but passed intuitively from one generation to another, modeled according to the produce available and enhanced by knowing hands.”

The pride in Italian made food explains somewhat the origins of the Slow Food movement, too. It seems that the reflective nature of Italian diners and chefs may have leant itself to allowing the movement to start there. Founded in 1989, it seeks to fight against the fast food and fast paced life that seemed to absorb western society’s way of eating. Now the Slow Food movement is strong internationally, and it has a particularly strong following in Seattle. The restaurants that serve traditional and authentic Sicilian food in Seattle even mention following a more traditional way – a slower way – of cooking.

Traditions of the Italian Table in Sicily:

The website to the popular guide book series Lonely Planet starts by saying that “a huge part of anyone’s visit to this gorgeous island will be taken up with eating, and with learning the many unwritten (and written) rules of eating the Sicilian way – understanding the strict order of the dining ritual, matching tastes and preparation methods, choosing the right dessert, having the right coffee.”

It’s not surprising that there are strong food traditions in Sicily. What you will find is that snacking and enjoying smaller meals is common throughout Sicily. The Lonely Planet guide describes food courts where little snacks, called buffitieri, pane e panelle chickpea fritters, sfincione pizzas, frittola offal meats that are incorporated into various bread rolls and sandwiches, and sweet brioche breads filled with fruits, coffee, nougats, or other sweet treats. Through this list, the influence of other cultures is evident, ranging from the scaccie pancakes that resemble Middle Eastern flatbreads and other bread dough snacks.

Popularity of Italian food in America:

Italians have had a strong influence on American history, and there are many famous Italians. Although this paper features Sicilian cuisine, I’ve included this list because it is interesting and rather entertaining. You could find plenty of other famous individuals from other ethnic groups as well. Source: http://www.sicilianculture.com/history/history.htm

KEY: (Italian Born) (Sicilian Descent) (Italian Descent) (Italian or Sicilian & Other Descent)

Danny Aiello (Actor)
Anna Maria Alberhetti (Actress)
Alan Alda (Actor/Writer/Director)
Mario Andretti (Race Car Driver)
Michael Andretti (Race Car Driver)
Anna Maria Angeli (Actress)
Michelangelo Antonioni (Film)
Giorgio Armani (Fashion Designer)
Charles Atlas (Fitness/Bodybuilder)
Frankie (Avalone) Avalon
Anne Bancroft (Entertainer)
Joseph Barbera (Cartoonist)
Cecilia Bartoli (Opera Singer)
Mario Batali (Chef)
Lou Bega (Singer)
Vincenzo Bellini (Composer)
Monica Bellucci (Model/Actress)
Tony Bennett (Singer)
Roberto Benigni (Actor)
Yogi Berra (Baseball Legend)
Carlo Bo (Writer)
Andrea Bocelli (Singer)
Jon Bon Jovi (Musician)
Joseph Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (Ruler of France)
Sonny Bono (Entertainer, Politician)
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Artist)
Lorraine Bracco (Actress)
John Cabot (Explorer)
Julius Caesar (Roman Empire Ruler)
Augustus Octavian Caesar (Emperor)
Frank Capra (Film)
Claudia Cardinale (Actress)
Frankie Carle (Carlone, Song Writer)
Cardinal Carpino
Renato Carosone (Singer)
Roberto Cavalli (Fashion Designer)
Joe Causi (Radio Personality)
Enrico Caruso (Opera Singer)
Richard S. Castellano (Actor)
Valentina Cervi (Actress)
John Ciardi
Russ Columbo (Singer)
Pat Cooper (Comedian)
Nicholas Coppola Cage (Actor)
Dominic Chianese (Actor)
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Cristoforo Columbo (Columbus)
Perry Como (Entertainer/Singer)
Francis Ford Coppola (Film Director)
Sophia Coppola (Actress/Director)
Valentina Cortesa
Lucia Corvelli (Model/Actress)
Lou Costello (Castillo) (Comedian)
Franco Cristaldi (Film Director)
Justin R. Cristaldi (Super Genius)
Lucille Cristaldi (Actress)
Maria Grazia Cucinotta (Actress)
Mario Cuomo (Politician)
Alfonse D'Amato (Politician)
Bobby Darin (Entertainer)
Leonardo DaVinci (Inventor/Artist)
Lorenzo de'Medici
Dino De Laurentiis (Director/Producer)
Beverly D'Angelo (Actress)
Tony Danza (Actor)
Dom DeLouise (Actor)
Robert DeNiro (Actor)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Actor)
Desi Di Nardo (Poet)

Joe DiMaggio (Baseball Legend)
Dion DiMucci (Musician)
Brian De Palma (Director)
Danny DeVito (Actor)
Al DiMeola
Tamara Dona (Entertainer)
Jimmy Durante (Entertainer)
Mary Ann Esposito (Chef)
Edie Falco (Actress)
Federico Fellini (Film Director)
Geraldine Ferraro (Politician)
Fabrizio Ferri (Photographer)
Connie Francis (Singer)
Giovanni Furno
Lou Ferrigno (Actor/Bodybuilder)
Enrico Fermi
Giuseppe Ferrata
Jim Florio (Politician)
Fabian Forte (Entertainer)
David Franzoni (Cinema)
Galileo Galilei (Astronomer)
James Gandolfini (Actor)
Giuseppe Garibaldi (Patriot)
Jeanine Garafolo (Comedian)
Joe Garagiola (Sports)
Jeffrey Giuffre (Jazz Musician)
Rudolph W. Giuliani (Politician)
Valerie Golino (Actress)
Lee Iacocca (Industry)
Nathalie Imbruglia (Singer)
Michael Imperioli (Actor)
Ashley Judd (Ciminella) (Actress)
Alicia Keys (Musician)
Fiorello LaGuardia (Politician)
Anthony LaPaglia (Actor)
Frank Langella
Mario Lanza (Opera Singer)
Cyndi Lauper (Singer)
Jay Leno (Comedian)
Sergio Leone (Spaghetti Western)
Tea Leone (Actress)
Ray Liotta (Actor)
Liberace (Entertainer)
Johnny LoBianco (Referee)
Robert Loggia (Actor)
Gina Lollabrigida (Actress)
Vince Lombardi (Football Legend)
Sophia Loren (Actress)
Patti Lupone (Broadway Entertainer)
Nicolo Machiavelli
Anna Magnani (Actress)
Henry Mancini (Composer)
Rocky Marchiano (Boxer)
Gugliemo Marconi (Inventor)
Dean Martin (Singer/Actor)
Al Martino (Singer/Actor)
Marcello Mastroianni (Actor)
Tommy Mattola (Music Industry)
Filippo Mazzei (Entreprenuer)
Natalie Merchant (Musician)
Antonio Meucci (Inventor)
Sal Mineo (Actor)
Grace Mirabella (Publisher)
Liza Minnelli (Entertainer)
Vincente Minnelli (Director)
Lou Monte (Entertainer)
Joe Montegna (Actor)
Indro Montanelli (Journalist)
Ornella Muti (Actress)
Mya (Singer)

Don Novello
Giana Nanini (Musician)
Dean Obeidalla (Comedian)
Alfredo James Pacino (Actor)
Cologero (Chazz) Palminteri (Actor)
George Pataki (Politician)
Luciano Pavoratti (Singer)
Joe Pesci (Actor)
Bernadette Peters (Lazzara, Entertainer)
Regis Philbin (TV Personality)
Mike Piazza (Baseball Great)
Luigi Pirandello (Author/Playwrite)
Joe Piscapo (Comedian)
Louis Prima (Musician)
Marco Polo (Explorer)
Mario Puzo (Writer)
Christina Ricci (Actress)
Phil Rizutto (Baseball Announcer)
Ray Romano (Comedian)
Isabella Rossalini (Actress)
Bobby (Ridarelli) Rydell (Entertainer)
Susan Sarandon (Actress)
Supreme Court Justice Scalia
Jack Scalia (Actor)
Italo Scanga (Artist)
Francesco Scuvullo (Photographer)
Martin Scorcese (Film Director)
Frank Serpico (Law Enforcement)
Talia Shire (Actress)
John "Goomba" Sialiano (Entertainer)
Frank Albert Sinatra (Singer/Actor)
Frank Sinatra, Jr. (Singer)
Nancy Sinatra (Singer)
Tony Sirico (Actor)
Mira Sorvino (Actress)
Paul Sorvino (Actor/Singer)
Bruce Sprigsteen (Musician)
Sylvester Stallone (Actor)
Fabio Taglioni (Motorcycle Designer)
Gay Talese (Actor/Writer)
Quintin Tarantino (Actor)
Adam Tomei (Actor)
Marisa Tomei (Actress)
Joe Torre (Baseball)
Giuseppe Tornatore (Film Director)
Federigo Tozzi
John Travolta (Actor)
John Turturro
Salvatore Quasimodo (Poet)
Jerry Vale (Singer)
Frankie (Casteluccio) Valli (Musician)
Louis Vanaria (Actor/Singer)
Versace (Fashion)
"Uncle" Floyd Vivino (Entertainer)
Amerigo Vespucci (Explorer)
Verdi (Composer)
Bobby Vinton (Singer)
Vivaldi (Composer)
Valentino (Designer)
Rudolph Valentino (Actor/Singer)
Marco Zanuso (Architect)
Frank Zappa (Musician

Wikipedia overly simplifies the description of Italian American heritage and food. Essentially, Italian food is the collection of food traditions that the immigrants brought with them. You can see the influence of Americanized Italian food in dishes like the muffuletta sandwich in New Orleans or the toasted ravioli dish in St. Louis. These types of dishes are almost more like fusion Italian food.

According to Wikipedia, the advent of convenience foods and popular restaurants projected Italian food to the forefront of popular foods. The site shows that

Italian-derived food has become remarkably common in convenience cooking, especially with canned foods such as Franco-American's SpaghettiOs as well as the popularity of Italian-American specialties from take-out counters in supermarkets and restaurants. In particular, the pizza parlor is one of the most ubiquitous of American eateries, with businesses ranging in size from single proprietorships all the way up to large chains such as Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut. In a cross-cultural variation of the theme, refrigerated, ready-to-heat-and-eat spaghetti has become a popular convenience item in Asian convenience stores in the U.S.

Chef Ettore Boiardi was probably one of the first "Italian" celebrity chefs within the United States, so much so that he is credited with popularizing the cuisine to many non-Italian-Americans and the public at large. Chef Boiardi is more commonly known by his commercialized, eponymous brand name, "Chef Boyardee."

Americanized Italian Food:
Wikipedia also lists other popular Italian-style dishes, and I’ve edited the list to include ones that seem to have come from Sicily.

· Baked ziti

· Italian bread -- Perhaps a bit closer to French bread in composition and appearance, American "Italian bread" is a lean white bread, often braided and covered in sesame seeds, with a thin but usually crisp crust and a soft crumb.

· Pizza -- A version of the Sicilian pizza, a larger square pie in which the dough is risen an inch or more, and which is topped (contrary to native Sicilian tradition) in much the same way as the thin-crusted round Neapolitan form, including the use of mozzarella.

· Muffuletta - a large sandwich with cold cuts and olive salad, made on a round loaf; originated in New Orleans

· Italian sandwich—a type of roast beef sandwich native to Chicago, similar to a French dip sandwich.

· Cannoli - a sweet ricotta filling in a fried pastry shell

· Evushgadil or biscotti d'annodare - knot cookies

· Sfogliatelle - a sort of custard turnover made with leaved ("foglie") pastry; a similar pastry, larger and filled with a type of pastry cream, is sometimes called a "lobster tail"

Authentic Sicilian Dishes in the PNW and Restaurants where you can find them:

La Medusa

http://www.lamedusarestaurant.com/about.htm

4857 Rainier Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 723-2192

La Medusa was opened by Sherri Serino and Lisa Becklund in October 1997. The two developed a "Sicilian Soul Food" menu inspired by the recipes of Sherri's Sicilian grandmother. The name La Medusa came from Sherri's mentor, Claudia Medusa.

Dish to eat at La Medusa:
Alaskan halibut and spinach tagine with artichokes and fava beans

La Fontana Siciliana

http://www.lafontanasiciliana.com/aboutus.htm

120 Blanchard Ave

Seattle, WA 98121

La Fontana is an urban oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of Belltown. As you step into the courtyard you are drawn in by the bubbling fountain and the aroma of Sicilian cuisine in the air. La Fontana has been a fixture in Belltown for over a decade. Proprietor Mario Fuenzalida’s food philosophy of utilizing the freshest ingredients prepared to order ensures that every meal is a pleasurable and memorable experience. The wine list has been specially crafted as a showcase to the food; it features quality Sicilian and Italian wines that highlight the unique flavors of La Fontana’s menu.

Dish to get when you’re at La Fontana:

Pollo Marsala

Sicily’s most famous dish. Chicken breast sautéed in Marsala wine and mushroom sauce.

Enza Cucina Siciliana

http://enzaseattle.com/aboutus.html

2128 Queen Anne Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109-2359

Enza Cucina Siciliana is that rare thing: a totally authentic Italian restaurant where literally everything (homemade pasta, sauces and baked goods) is made on the premises by Enza Sorrentino herself. Using only fresh, natural ingredients, Enza's recipes rerepresent the genuine, richly-flavored dishes of the Italian countryside. A meal at Enza's is an experience you will never forget!

Mamma Enza was born and raised in Sicily. Her passion for cooking began when she was seven years old, watching her grandmother prepare large meals for the farmers who worked in the family's vineyards. At the age of 30, she left her 9-to-5 job to start catering and managing restaurants full time.

Enza moved to Seattle in 2002 and quickly became well known in the Italian restaurant community: she was the original chef at la Vita e Bella, Mondello Ristorante, and la Mondellina. Today, Enza Cucina Siciliana is one of only two food establishments in Seattle that are owned and operated by first-generation Italian women.

Dish to eat when you’re at Enza Cucina Siciliana: Cannoli
A crunchy pastry tube filled with sweetened ricotta, garnished with chocolate chips

Resources, in order of reference

The Beauty and Romance of Sicily. Accessed on Oct 14, 2011. http://www.beauty-and-romance-of-sicily.com/cookingclasses.html

University of California Santa Barbara. Accessed on October 14, 2011. http://volcanology.geol.ucsb.edu/soil.htm

Sicilian Culture. Accessed on October 15, 2011. http://www.sicilianculture.com/food/

PFI Newsletters. Accessed October 14, 2011. http://www.bigjohnspfiseattle.com/newsletterarticles/sicilian_olives_and_olive_oils.html

Sicilian Cuisine Blog. Accessed October 15, 2011. http://siciliancuisine.blogspot.com/2011/03/traditional-pizza-from-palermo-is.html

Italian Made. “Regionality of Italian Food.” Accessed October 15, 2011. http://italianmade.com/region-italy-food.html

The Lonely Planet. “Sicily.” Accessed October 15, 2011. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/sicily/travel-tips-and-articles/67155

The Best of Sicily. Accessed October 14, 2011. http://www.bestofsicily.com/food.htm

Think Sicily. Accessed October 15, 2011. http://www.thinksicily.com/guide-to-sicily/food-and-wine-in-sicily/sicilian-recipes.aspx

Darling-Gansser, Manuella. Spring in Sicily – Food from an Ancient Land. Melbourne: Hardie Grant Books, 2009.

Hyman, Clarissa. Cucina Siciliana – Authentic Recipes and Culinary Secrets from Sicily. Brooklyn: Interlink Books, 2002.

“Italian Cuisine.” Wikipedia. Accessed October 14, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_cuisine

“Italian American Cuisine.” Wikipedia. Accessed October 14, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian-American_cuisine

Jacques, one of the reasons that I love cooking

2011-11-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

Jacques Pepin is one of the chefs that definitely piqued my interest in cooking. I watched Jacques and Julia’s cooking show before I even knew that they were the founding chefs of cooking in America. Julia would state how she wanted to do a recipe, and then Jacque would disagree and explain the truly classical way to doing that recipe. Then Julia would respond with a “yes, but we’re doing a show for home cooks.” Then Jacque would acquiesce, and a brilliant, inspiring meal would come together in the remaining 20 minutes of the show. There were times that I would be so inspired to cook an item, and I would rush to the kitchen hoping to find a whole salmon and roll of parchment to try make Salmon en Papillote or ground lamb to make sausage. Alas, my parents’ refrigerator wasn’t stocked the way a French chef might stock her refrigerator. Nonetheless, the desire to cook those items stayed with me, and the passion is the chief reason that I enrolled in culinary classes.

Jacques Pepin was born in Bourg-en-Bresse, a small town outside of Lyon, France, and he grew up working in his parents’ restaurant, Le Pelican. Lyon is at the heart of the Burgundy region, and is famous for sausages, frog legs, and fish quenelles. Fish quenelles are composed of puffed up egg and chopped fish, according to Herve This. According to the Guardian, Lyon is the food capital of the world, because “of what’s not in Lyon but nearby. The food makers, like Regis Marcon and his son, or Alain Chapel, 15 miles east,…or Le Pyramide 15 miles south… and because of what is grown in the dirt itself… Beaujolais. Macon, where the white grapes start.” The proximity to the wealth of some of the most notable restaurants and food growers in the world would definitely have a profound effect on a young, food-loving boy. What Jacques reminisced about were the markets. “What I see and remember more than anything else were markets. The Marche St. Antoine, along the Saone in Lyon, or the market in Antibes…I realize my travels are always associated with local roducts and restaurants.” As far back as he can remember, he remembers the food and family in the kitchen. “I have been defined by food all my life.”

During the World War, Jacques was sent by his parents to live on a farm where he ate farm-fresh produce and drank milk fresh from the cows. During an NPR interview, he said that milk “is probably one of my first memories of food.” Because France was torn by war, Jacque’s mother worked hard to create nutritious meals with practically nothing. Because his father was away in the French Resistance, Jacques’ mother would scavenge supplies from farms up to 50 miles away. Her resourcefulness was something that many French homes were forced to do during the war, and the determination to survive and succeed influenced Jacques’ career development. He also learned to save everything, and even today apple peelings are saved for drying.

At thirteen, he dropped out of school to cook full time by working in some of the most famous kitchens in Paris. He trained under Chef Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athenee, at Maxim’s, at Fouquets, and eventually worked as a private chef for the secretary of the treasury. The early years were challenging; food was still being rationed in post-war France. He told the NPR interviewer that he loved the structure and repetition of apprenticeship, a training route for chefs that existed long before culinary arts programs. Including the private chef position for the secretary of the treasury, who was eventually elected as a Prime Minister, he cooked for three heads of state in France, including Charles de Gaulle.

He moved to the US in the 1960s, worked at Le Pavillon, and was offered the opportunity to cook for President John F. Kennedy. He didn’t; instead he became the director of Research and Development for the Howard Johnson hotel chain, and he worked in R&D for 10 years. While at LE Pavillon in New York, Jacques developed friendships with titans of food, including food critic Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Helen McCully. He credits McCully as being a mentor and “surrogate mother” for him. Apparently, working at the greatest French restaurant in America had its benefits.

Also in the 1960s, at McCully’s suggestion, Jacques reviewed a new cookbook written by an American woman and two friends that sought to encapsulate most of the cooking techniques and knowledge of French cooking and give it to the housewives and home cooks of America. This, as history shows, was the start of a very long and dear friendship. As Julia gained fame as a television cook, Jacques was close behind. They taught together at the famous Boston University Food Studies program. They also collaborated on the television program Julia and Jacque Cooking at Home. This program earned a Daytime Emmy in 2001. Jacques is now 75 years old, and he is still cooking on PBS. Now he has a show called Fast Food My Way.

He has published 26 cookbooks and hosted twelve public television shows, including Essential Pepin, in 2011. Two of his earlier books include La Technique and La Methods are even used as culinary text books. Jacques also wrote for Food & Wine and continues to attend the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Co. In addition to his cooking shows and books, he also helped to cofound and remains the Dean of Special Programs at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. From that school, famous chefs including Bobby Flay can claim to have learned from some of the best chefs.

Jacques Pepin may portray a cozy chef for home cooks, but he is still the chef of the heads of state and a professional. New York Times writer Sarah Rosenberg found that the chef is still particular about techniques and methods. When he entered into the culinary field, chef work wasn’t the glamorous, television-quality career that it is portrayed as now. He observes that the modern chef hopefuls completely different than his peers – he said that one of the two students has dreams of writing a book or being on television. Culinary schools certainly shorten the time that an apprentice cook spends learning his craft, but Jacques fears that they rush through the basics and try move to fancy, creative cookery before they’re ready. He says that it comes back to repeating those skills until the skill becomes part of your body and your instinct. Still, culinary schools are packed with young (and not so young) hopefuls at making a go in the culinary world.

“Any mother would have wanted their child to marry a doctor, a lawyer…not a cook,” he is quoted for telling Rosenberg. The food industry in general has changed, from the supermarkets to the farmers markets, and it is related to how consumers have become more educated and more worldly about their food. With the advent of pop food culture, Jacques is generally optimistic, but he definitely turns the view back to technique first.

“All the great chefs I know – they are technicians first,” he told New York Times writer Jeff Gordinier. Some of these great chefs actually studied under Jacques, like Tom Colicchio from Craft who used La Technique to learn some of the methods of the trade. The first and most important lesson for being a good cook: have a sharp knife. The rest of the techniques follow when you have the right tools.

Jacques’ influence on French cuisine is most obvious in the American experience of French cuisine as defined by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. From techniques he learned in war-torn France as a child to being a famous chef at a French restaurant in New York City to being a celebrity of his own right, Jacques seeks to interpret technique for home cooks and hopes to instill tried and true methods into young chefs. As with the modern application of classical technique in popular restaurants today, it comes down to apply ancient technique to new foods. Jacques Pepin definitely had a strong influence on chefs like Thomas Keller and other modern-day kings and queens of chefdom. He’s not the father of professional cooking, but he’s certainly a duke or earl of the foundations of food. His cooking show with his daughter, Claudine, showed me that cooking was something that was both a useful skill and a community adventure. His recipes for squid and oysters were actually the first times I ever saw those sea creatures in a European application – the Chinese have a completely different way of serving seafood and my parents aren’t big on it. I can’t directly credit him for my eventual decision to go to culinary school, but the seed had been planted when I watched his cooking shows and read his cookbooks as a young girl.

Recipes from Jacques Pepin

Tarte Tatin

We make a souffleed pancake at work, but this dessert definitely has me wishing that we made this instead.

This famous upside-down apple tart starts with caramelized apples, studded with almonds and bits of chewy apricots, and topped with a flaky, buttery crust. Inverted, this dessert makes an impressive—and mouthwatering—presentation.

Ingredients
Yield: 8-10 servings

Pâte Brisée
1 c. flour
6 tbsp. very cold unsalted butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 c. ice water

Filling
1/3 c. sugar
3 tbsp. water
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 lb. Golden Delicious apples
1/2 c. sliced dried apricots
1/4 c. slivered almonds or pine nuts
1/2 c. water

Glaze
2 tbsp. sugar

Garnish (optional)
1 c. heavy cream
1 tbsp. rum
1 tbsp. confectioners' sugar

Preparation
For the pâte brisée:
Put flour in a food processor. Cut butter into 1/4" slices and add to flour. Add salt and sugar, and process 5-8 seconds. Butter should still be visible in the dough. Add the water and process 5-10 seconds, just until the dough starts gathering. Turn it out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Form it into a loose mass.

Cover the dough with another piece of plastic wrap and roll the dough out to form a circle 11" in diameter. Lift the enclosed dough round onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate while you prepare the apple filling.

For the filling:
Cook the sugar with 3 tbsp. water in a nonstick ovenproof 12" skillet over high heat until it caramelizes (3-4 minutes). Remove the skillet from the heat, and set aside. The caramel will harden. Remove the apple cores. Split the apples and cut into quarters.

Arrange apple quarters on top of the caramel skin side down in one layer. You will use 20-24 pieces. Sprinkle on the apricots and nuts, and dot with butter. Slice remaining apples thin (4-1/2 to 5 cups), and arrange in the skillet to fill empty spaces. Add 1/2 c. water, and bring to a boil. Cover, and boil gently for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and cook over med. heat for 7-8 minutes, until there is no visible liquid.

Preheat oven to 400°. Remove dough round from the refrigerator, and place on a large cutting board. Peel off plastic wrap. Trim the edge to make the dough round, then fold the edge in on itself to form a border.

Lift the dough carefully, and arrange on top of the apples in the skillet. Press it down gently, and sprinkle with 2 tbsp. sugar. Bake for 45 minutes. Incline the pan. If any visible juices remain, cook over med. heat on the stove for 3-4 minutes. The tart can be cooked a few hours ahead.

Before serving, heat skillet for a few minutes, shaking it to release the apples. Place a round platter upside down over the skillet and invert the contents of the pan onto it, so the crust is now on the bottom.

To prepare the garnish:
Beat the heavy cream with the rum and sugar until firm but not stiff.

To serve:
Cut into wedges and serve with flavored whipped cream.

Recipe courtesy of Alfred A. Knopf, ©2001 Jacques Pépin

Fine-Herbes Omelet: Conventional and Classic

I included this recipe, because the ability to prepare an omelet in the classic way is somewhat of a gauntlet that we had to run when we were in the 2^nd quarter portion of the culinary program. I am now a snotty judge of omelets. I included Jacques’ version, because his television demonstration was the second time I’d ever seen anyone roll an omelet from the pan. The first was while on a vacation, and it was one of the most memorable elements of the trip.

The elegance of this omelet is in its simplicity. A mixture of fresh herbs is delicately folded into creamy eggs-a beautiful addition to any brunch menu.

Ingredients
Yield: 1 lg. omelet

3 lg. eggs
Dash salt and ground black pepper
2 tbsp. herbs (1 tbsp. finely chopped parsley and 1 tbsp. finely chopped mixture of chervil, tarragon, and chives)
1-1/2 tsp. unsalted butter

Preparation
For the conventional omelet:
Mix the eggs, salt, pepper, and herbs in a bowl. Melt the butter in the omelet pan. When hot, pour the egg-herb mixture into the center, and cook over med. heat for 10-15 seconds. Stir the eggs with a fork, so the runny part flows between the set curds. Repeat a few times.

When most of the eggs are set but slightly liquid, the omelet is ready. Using a fork or spatula, fold in half in the pan. Invert onto a plate and serve.

For the classic omelet:
Using a fork, beat the eggs with the salt, pepper, and herbs in a bowl.

Melt the butter in a 6-8" nonstick skillet. When foaming, add the eggs. Holding your fork flat, stir the eggs quickly while shaking the pan back and forth. Continue so the eggs coagulate uniformly.

When eggs are lightly set but moist, incline your pan forward so most of the eggs gather at the far end of the pan. Stop stirring. The mass of eggs should thin out around the edges at the near end. Using your fork, fold this thin edge toward the center of the omelet, enclosing the thick, moist center.

Press the fold into place, creating a rounded edge. Run your fork between the edge of the pan and the far edge of the omelet to loosen. Using the palm of one hand, tap the handle gently where it joins the pan, to shake the omelet and make it twist and lift onto itself, so the lip rises above the edge of the pan. Fold this lip back toward the center of the omelet, meeting and overlapping the edge of the other lip. Press with the flat of the fork to shape the omelet into a point at each end.

Holding your serving plate, bang the underside of the pan against the counter at the omelet end, so the omelet moves against the edge of the pan. Invert the omelet onto a plate. Press with the flat of the fork to shape the omelet into a point at each end. Serve.

Recipe courtesy of Alfred A. Knopf, ©2001 Jacques Pépin

Duck Liver Pâté Epicurious | November 1996
I’ve only had foie gras once, and I was rather distracted by the guilt of eating it. This seemed like a great alternative.
by Jacques Pepin
Jaques Pepin's Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine

This may not be as good as a true foie gras, but it's similar enough in flavor for a dish that costs only pennies to make. Not only can the pâté be served on toast — it can also serve as a finish for a classic Beef Wellington or enhance a stuffing or a meat loaf.

Yield: Makes 1/2 cup, enough for about 16 toasts

3 ounces duck fat
1 large shallot, peeled and coarsely chopped (2 1/2 tablespoons)
1 duck liver (about 3 ounces), cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Cognac
16 1/4-inch-thick horizontal slices from a small baguette, toasted
1. Place duck fat in a skillet, and cook over medium to high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until the fat has melted and some of it has browned.
2. Add the shallots, and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Add the liver, herbes de Provence, and garlic, and cook over medium to high heat for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the salt and pepper.
3. Transfer the mixture to a blender, add the Cognac, and blend until liquefied. If a finer textured pâté is desired, push the mixture through the holes of a strainer with a spoon. This will yield 1/2 cup. Let cool for at least 1 1/2 hours, then cover and and refrigerate until serving time.
4. Spread the pâté on the toasted baguette slices, and serve. The pâté will keep, well covered, for 3 to 4 days.

Source Information
Jacques Pepin's Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine

Bay Books & Tapes, Inc.

References

This, Herve. Molecular Gastronomy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.

Child, Julia and Jacques Pepin. Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1999.

Pepin, Jacques. Chez Jacques Traditions and Rituals of a Cook. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc and Stweart, Tabori & Chang, 2007.

“Jacques Pepin.” Delish website. shttp://www.delish.com/cooking-shows/famous-chefs/celebrity-chef-jacques-pepin

“The Long View: French Gourmand Jacques Pepin.” NPR Interview Transcript. http://www.npr.org/2010/12/29/132364039/the-long-view-french-gourmand-jacques-pepin

“Jacques Pepin.” Cookstr website. http://www.cookstr.com/users/jacques-pepin/profile

“Jacques Pepin tells story of his dazzling career.” ABC News interview. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/chef-jacques-pepin-tells-story-dazzling-career/story?id=8461562&singlePage=true

Gordinier, Jeff. “There’s the Wrong Way and Jacques Pepin’s Way.” New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/dining/jacques-pepin-demonstrates-cooking-techniques.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Bill Buford. “Why Lyon is food capital of the world.” The Observer. 12 Feb 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/feb/13/bill-buford-lyon-food-capital

Respect the Bird!

2011-11-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Turkey Day, also known as Thanksgiving Day. It's a day wrought with controversy, both historical and familial.

http://www.theholidayspot.com/thanksgiving/history.htm

On the historical side, the origins of Thanksgiving are a bit dubious. Now, I'm not a historian, and my best American history friend isn't close by to double check my facts, so just deal with the inaccuracies of my account. As a kid, I was taught that the first settlers struggled through the first winter, and the indigenous people shared their food with them to help them survive. Those first "pilgrims" celebrated the generosity by hosting a large dinner of turkeys, green bean casserole, and corn. They were joined by smiling faced "Indians" who were so happy to share their land and their food. That was the first Thanksgiving, and we've celebrated together ever since.

Well, as I grew older, I discovered that there were some slightly different versions and experiences, ahem. In addition, it wasn't always a national holiday. One friend of mine, who works for the trivia site Sporcle, found out that while President George Washington implemented the first Thanksgiving, the exact date was sort of up to the President's declaration. In some ways, President Abraham Lincoln is the one who actually established it as the last Thursday of November. Then President Franklin Roosevelt established the holiday shopping season, presumably to help boost economic recovery by encouraging citizens to shop more. Hmmmm that sounds like a familiar plan.

So, Thanksgiving has quickly become the kick-off day for the holiday shopping season for many of us. I noticed that just after Halloween, Christmas decorations became available at the grocery stores. Cartons of Eggnog started shoving low-fat milk and soy milk out of the way on the dairy shelves. The once-reclusive pumpkin puree - and its mysterious cousin "pumpkin pie filling" - now occupies front and center of an end-cap and a center display. Tinsel and brightly coloured glass ornaments are creeping from Aisle 16 into the other aisles. I know that some of the foods are completely appropriate for Thanksgiving, but lots of the items are more Christmasy than Thanksgivingy.

And have I ranted about the advertising that constantly bombards me? I almost forgot that it was Thanksgiving and not Christmas that we're leading up to. Sales, new clothes, fashion everywhere... I was torn between wishing I had more money and the feeling of disgust at all the materialism. And it all starts with Black Friday.

Black Friday is more of an event than Thanksgiving, I think. If you're not familiar with this day, it's the day after Thanksgiving, and it's the day in which many retail businesses severely discount products in the hopes that people will shop...a lot. The stores will open eeeeeaaaaaaaaarrrrrly in the morning, and shoppers line up super duper early to be the first in line to get the largest selection of products and to get the store specials. One friend is going to a store at midnight after Thanksgiving dinner.

As a side note, Nordstrom did its own version of respecting Thanksgiving, but it is still participating in the Black Friday craziness too.

Even so, I'm not participating.

An Aside: A friend of mine has offered a great alternative to shopping and buying material things: she and her husband founded Live Your Love, a fair trade tea company whose profits go to support food and education in Sri Lanka, and they are encouraging people to consider spending their money at businesses that have a positive impact on the community - local or international. If you HAVE to shop, then you could at least check these guys out.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving.

Allrecipes asked its bloggers and fans to participate in "Respect the Bird," an effort to keep Thanksgiving's focus on Thanksgiving and giving thanks. We do have almost 4 weeks to prepare for Christmas, after all. There are, as with any big pledge and movement, extreme ways to observe Thanksgiving, even boycotting businesses that participate in the Black Friday extravaganza. I probably won't go so far to write-off my friends, family, and retail workers who do play a roll and buy a lot of things (or sell a lot), but I do get it. We do need to take advantage of the time to really observe Thanksgiving for what it is: Thanks and Giving.

Case in point: The embodiment of thanks and giving, Clay Gleb, an alumnus from Pepperdine University, manager at Vashon Island Thriftway, a grocery store on the island. The backstory: our alumni association did a call for donations to help the Union Gospel Mission meet their need for turkeys this year. It was really short notice, so there was no way to know if the UGM would receive donations from our alumni, because donors contacted the UGM on their own. Clay decided to donate in a more direct way: the grocery store donated 25 turkeys to the Mission over the weekend, so that they would have turkeys to distribute in time for the holiday. At 20 bucks a bird, that's a really nice gift.

So, tomorrow, when you get together with friends or family for Thanksgiving, try to focus on the thanks and the giving part and let the Christmas stuff happen later. I'm making a gluten-free cornbread dressing, and I'm pretty excited about it. I got hooked on cornbread dressing in Texas, and it's really easy to make a gluten-free cornbread. The rest of the vegetables have change over the years, but I've settled on Mirepoix (say "mere-pwah") of carrots, celery, and onions; cremini mushrooms, garlic, and herbs. I've added some chicken sausage, too. Should be good. Right before serving, I'm going to drizzle some turkey drippings over it all so that they take on the nice, savory, juicy flavor of the turkey.

http://respectthebird.com/

Cambodia

2011-11-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

The really cool thing about being in the third quarter of culinary school is that we have to research different topics related to the material we're studying. We started the quarter in Southeast Asia, and my country was Cambodia. I was really moved by the country's history. When my parents worked in Hong Kong, they were working with Vietnamese refugees who were fleeing Vietnam for better lives. It made sense that other Southeast Asians, like Cambodians, would also attempt to enter Hong Kong by boat, the way the Vietnamese refugees did. By knowing this, I felt that the Cambodian history was even more tragic; the people felt that their own country was in such a state that it would be better to be a refugee in a compound than to live at home.

I've decided to include my papers on the blog, because I think the information is very important. You might wonder if future classes run across this blog and are tempted to use the material, but since it is posted for the public, the instructors would also know that this exists. It's also not likely that other students will focus on the same materials that I do, because I continue to look at my world through a nutritionist's lens. So here's my perspective about Cambodia.

Country – Cambodia

Geography – Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the west.

Terroir – Cambodia is 181,040 square kilometers. It is located on the Indochina peninsula sandwiched among Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. In addition to the Gulf of Thailand, it has a large river, the Mekong river, and a large lake, the Tonle Sap or “Great Lake.” Most of the seafood and fish consumed in Cambodia come from the river, the lake, and the gulf. It is a tropical region, existing just 10 degrees above the Equator. As such, it has a very monsoonal climate, seasonally switching between periods of wet and dry seasons. It has high temperatures and high humidity almost all year around. Two-thirds of the land was covered in forest, but deforestation and slash-and-burn farming have decimated the trees. 75% of the region is lowlands, ideal for growing rice. The Mekong Delta is also rich in nutrients and makes growing a steady crop possible. The Cardamom Mountains, the Elephant Range, and the Dangeck Mountains also dot the land.

History – The Khmer people group existed in present-day Cambodia on the edges of the Chinese Funan Empire as Chenla. The Chenla was the first unified Khmer Republic. This unification didn’t last very long, and it split into Land Chenla and the Water Chenla. The two areas quickly became absorbed into the Empire of Angkor. The empire also included present-day Vietnam, Laos, and the Malay Peninsula. While part of the Angkor Empire, Theraveda Buddhism became a popular religion. In the mid 1200s, the Thai also began migrating to the Chenla area.

Around 1430, the Angkor Empire fell, and there was a large amount of migration by Vietnamese into the Khmer lands. The Khmer people switched from focusing on commerce and began focusing on agriculture. In that time, the capital was established at Phnom Penh. In 1863, the Khmer lands became part of the French Protectorate along with Vietnam, and the French tried to expand even further. After the Siamese French War, valuable farmland was ceded to Thailand after the French lost. Cambodia remained a French Protectorate land through World War I.

In 1941, Prince Norodom Sihanouk was established as the monarch of Cambodia, and he was treated like a pawn by most of the other nations in the area and by the Imperial powers that controlled much of Southeast Asia. In March 1945, the Japanese swept through Southeast Asia and took control of that region. The 1940s and 1950s were marred by struggles for independence, and the 1960s were a decade of political and economic unrest. In the 1970s, the prince was ousted after a rebellion led by the Khmer Rouge. In the new regime under the Khmer Rouge, a period of “self efficiency” became the justification for murders and deaths of one to three million people. Attempts to regain the strength of the Chenla republic were mostly unsuccessful, and Cambodia remains a relatively poor nation in the present day.

Culture – The Khmer culture is heavily influenced by India, Thailand, Vietnam, and France. The cuisine, religion, and social structure represents an assimilation of each of the different cultural groups, and distinctive features drawn from each culture can be found. For example, the Vietnamese-style fish sauce, nuoc cham, also includes chopped peanuts, like in Thai cuisine, in the Cambodian version of the sauce. Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity are some of the major religions that have influenced the culture.

Economy – Agriculture makes up for approximately 90% GDP as of 1985, and 80% of the work force is occupied by agriculture. Rice is the primary crop, but rubber is also a significant export. In 1967 the production of rice was sparse, and assistance from the UN’s FAO was needed. Typically, there are two crops of rice harvested during the January through March period. In addition to rice and rubber, Cambodia also grows maize, cassava, and sweet potato.

Effect of Imperialism and Conquests – The Khmer culture reached its peak around the same time as the Funan Empire. Each period after that seems to be dominated by a different empire or people group. While interacting with the Funan Empire, the Khmer focused on commerce and appeared to become wealthy from that. After Chenla was absorbed by the Angkor Empire, the Thai, the Vietnamese, and the Indians migrated freely throughout the Khmer lands. With the ease of travel, cultures and religions intermingled. Buddhism and Islam became significant religions. Because these religions have specific behavior and culinary rules, their influence can easily be identified in the culinary culture of the region. For example, water buffalo and oxen are commonly consumed over pork products. Vegetarian dishes are also popular, and this falls within the Buddhist food restrictions.

According to the Asia Recipe website, the multiple conquests and subsequent wars have had a dramatic negative impact on Cambodia. The writer believes that Cambodia will not be able to draw itself out of its impoverished existence without significant assistance from foreign nations. Education and food are scarce, but not due to lack of availability but due to the inappropriate or inefficient distribution. After the 1970s Khmer Rouge Republic fell, the population was composed of roughly 65 percent females. However, because education of women is not prioritized, the population remained relatively uneducated. In addition, since resources were distributed unevenly, farmers in the regions focused on subsistence farming rather than farming for profit.

Characteristic Ingredients – Except for Cambodians following Muslim or Buddhist diets, common ingredients found in a Cambodian kitchen include rice, fish, vegetables like Takuon, fermented fish, hot peppers, lemongrass, mint, ginger, sugar, rice noodles, bananas, mangoes, papaya, rambutan, palm fruit, beef, pork, poultry, and eggs. Animal meat is typically reserved for special occasions, but fish is eaten more frequently. According to a recent CNN blog report, Kampot peppercorns used in traditional Cambodian cooking is one ingredient that set Cambodian spicy dishes apart from related dishes in Thailand. The writer describes the pepper as citrusy and nutty and has a range of flavors. This spice has potential of gaining popularity and becoming an exportable product. And “raise the profile of the nation’s cuisine.” The World Wide Gourmet also shows that coconut milk is a significant and “essential ingredient of Khmer cooking.” Flavor profiles focus on balance among sweet, salty, bitter, and sour – often in the same dish. This is a common characteristic of Southeast Asian cooking. Use of colorful and fresh ingredients is also characteristic of Khmer cooking, as it is with Vietnamese cooking.

Borrowed Ingredients and Sources - The evidence of other cultures is evident, such as the usage of lemongrass common in Thai cooking and mint from Vietnamese cooking. The cuisine is pungent and full of flavor, which is a characteristic of Southeast Asian cooking, such as Thai and Indian cooking. Tea is not commonly consumed, according to Charmaine Solomon, and hot or warm water is the usual meal accompaniment. There was no explanation for why hot water was preferred to tea or cold water. The Worldwide Gourmet says that Cambodians prefer cold tea to hot tea, which is more commonly consumed in Chinese cuisine.

According to the author of “Flavors of Cambodia,” authentic Cambodian recipes were rarely written down and were pass from mother to daughter. With the influence of multiple countries and cultures, “authentic” cuisine is pretty difficult to find. Soy sauce and wheat and rice noodles were brought from China, and Indian curries are found to be “authentically Cambodian” as well.

Fuel and Cooking Equipment – As is common in Asian cooking, a wok placed over a large open flame is the cooking utensil of choice. No discussion as to the type of fuel is given in the cookbooks referenced for this project. In the Khmer language, the wok is called a chbang khteak. Most of the ingredients in Cambodian cooking are fresh, but fermented fish products, fish sauce, coconut milk, and some curry pastes can also be found in the typical Cambodian kitchen.

Nutritional Concerns and Food Security

Food insecurity is high in Cambodia. According to the World Health Organization, 50 percent of children live with diarrhea and require medical care. 7.8 percent of women 15-19 years old are mothers or are pregnant with their first child. 39.5 percent of children suffer from stunted growth due to child malnutrition. 3.7 percent of the female population has a BMI of less than 17, and only 16.1 percent of the population has a BMI in the normal range. Anemia affects over half of the population women and children of all ages. These are all indicators of poor nutritional care, poor food distribution, and poor healthcare. It is possible to link these deficiencies to the history of the country that has been decimated by wars. The traditional diet of the Khmer people would have helped address iron intake, because vegetables, especially the green leafy ones, are a large part of the diet. Seafood contains calcium and other nutrients and would also help to prevent anemia and stunted growth. Because the traditional diet would be adequate, it is safe to assume that the population struggles more with food distribution than with composing an adequate diet.

Three Dishes – The following recipes are three examples of Cambodian cooking that clearly show influences from their surrounding countries and from Chinese cooking. I chose them because they sounded tasty and doable.

Barbecue Beef Skewers (Sach ko tro gnouit) Recipe

Flavors of Cambodia

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Marinating time: 1 hour

Cooking time: A few minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

For 4 servings

- 400 g (14 oz.) beef flank steak

- 1/2 tsp. black pepper

- 1 stalk of lemongrass

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 2 shallots

- 2 tbsp. soy sauce

- 2 tbsp. palm sugar or honey

Method

1. Cut the beef into small cubes. Peel and chop the lemongrass, garlic and shallots.

2. Marinade - Mash the pepper with the lemongrass, garlic and shallots until a smooth paste is formed. Add in the soy sauce and palm sugar.

3. Skewer the beef pieces onto bamboo skewers and marinate for 1 hour in the marinade (step 2).

4. Cook the meat on the barbecue or under the broiler, basting regularly with the marinade, and turning halfway through the cooking time.

Braised Pork with Coconut Milk and Pineapple (Samlo kti) Recipe

Flavors of Cambodia

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 75 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

For 4 servings

- 600 g pork or fresh ham

- 4 tbsp. Khmer curry paste

- 4 tbsp. neutral-flavored cooking oil

- 300 ml coconut milk

- 1 small pineapple

- 4 round eggplants or 1 long eggplant

- 1 tbsp. tamarind pulp

- 1 small bunch Thai basil (or substitute cilantro)

- 3 tbsp. fish sauce

Method

1. Cut the pork into large cubes. Peel and quarter the pineapple, remove the core and cut the flesh into 5 mm thick slices. Cut the eggplant into large sticks.  2. Bring the tamarind pulp to a boil with a little water and strain it, collecting the juice. Remove the basil leaves from the stems.  3. Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the pork and curry paste. Once it is lightly browned, add the pineapple, tamarind pulp and fish sauce.  4. Add a small glass of water, cover and cook for 1 hour at very low heat.  5. Add the eggplant and continue cooking 10 minutes longer.  6. Add the coconut milk, bring to a boil for an instant and correct the seasoning to taste.  7. Sprinkle with Thai basil and serve.

Khmerrocks.com. “Pickled Mustard Green Soup with Chicken Recipe.” YouTube Video. http://www.khmerrocks.com/2010/10/pickled-mustard-green-soup-with-chicken-recipe-2/ Transcribed recipe from video below.

5 cups water

1 lb chicken cut into bite size pieces

3-4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed

½ tsp chicken powder

1 Tbsp sugar

3 tbsp fish sauce

3 cups chopped pickled mustard greens

Cilantro sprigs

Bird’s eye chile to garnish

Bring water to a boil, and add chicken and garlic. Return to a boil and skim off frothy scum. Lower heat and simmer with lid on until chicken is cooked, about twenty minutes. After chicken has cooked, return to a boil and add remainder of ingredients, except the cilantro and chiles. Stir to combine and then taste and adjust accordingly. Ladle into bowls, top with cilantro and chiles. Enjoy!

Resources

“After the Killing Fields: Political Instability and Its Effect on Chronic Hunger in Cambodia.” Asia Recipe Website. Accessed 5 October 2011. http://asiarecipe.com/cameffects.html

“Barbecue Beef Skewers (Sach ko tro gnouit).” The Worldwide Gourmet website. Accessed 5 October 2011. http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/bbq-beef-cambodia/

Boycoff, Pamela. “Tiny Peppercorns Give Cambodian Food a Big Boost.” Accessed 5 October 2011. http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/29/tiny-peppercorns-give-cambodian-food-a-big-boost/

“Braised Pork with Coconut Milk and Pineapple (Samlo kti).” The Worldwide Gourmet website. Accessed 5 October 2011. http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/pork-cambodia/

“Cambodia.” Nutrition Landscape Information System (NLIS) Country Profile. World Health Organization. Accessed 5 October 2011. http://apps.who.int/nutrition/landscape/report.aspx?iso=khm

Khmerrocks.com. “Pickled Mustard Green Soup with Chicken Recipe.” YouTube Video. http://www.khmerrocks.com/2010/10/pickled-mustard-green-soup-with-chicken-recipe-2/

“Flavors of Cambodia.” The Worldwide Gourmet. Accessed 5 October 2011. http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/countries/flavors-cambodia/

Ross, Russel. Cambodia: A Country Study. Washington, DC: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication, 1990.

Solomon, Charmaine. The Complete Asian Cookbook. Sydney: Lansdowne Publishing Pty Ltd, 1999.

What's In Your Refrigerator with Eric Rivera

2011-11-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

So, as I've mentioned before, I learn so much from my friends. Total understatement, really. I would say that 99.999 % of anything I've ever done that is at any point brilliant or creative, there are probably scores of individuals who could claim some partial credit. In tonight's case, Chef Eric Rivera has 100% of the rights to this brainy idea.

You may have noticed that I post a lot of thoughts on Facebook and Twitter. Well, tonight, I posted "Solo dinner. What should I eat?" I expected comments about choosing high gluten foods, since Josh isn't around to be poisoned by them. I also expected some tongue-in-cheek "pizza!" comments from friends who knew that I was a nutritionist. What I actually got was a gift from Eric. I loved it so much, I had to share it with you. This might not be the only marker of true friendship, but in the food world, I'd say it's virtually a statement of affection.

If you haven't seen Eric's writings, you should. I sorta posted for him while he staged at the world-famous Noma restaurant in the spring. He never complained that I only managed to post one story while he was gone (good thing that our mutual friend David Nelson recruited several writers!). He has given me all sorts of great advice about careers and learning. Some of them I've acted on (setting up stages at different restaurants), and some of them I haven't (buying a sausage stuffer to make sausages at home). Anyway, check out Eric's blog, which is an incredible roll of his tasty dishes.

Eric Rivera What ingredients do you have?
26 minutes ago ·
Kimberly King Schaub hehe Eric, is this "what's in your refrigerator?" ?
14 minutes ago ·
Eric Rivera Yes, I love this game!
14 minutes ago ·
Kimberly King Schaub I have diced, roasted squash, no meat, bell pepper, crimini, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt/pepper, some spices, pumpkin muffins, milk, and chicken stock
14 minutes ago ·
Kimberly King Schaub i also have 1 can garbanzos and 1 can black beans
13 minutes ago ·
Kimberly King Schaub greek yogurt, orange juice. random asian condiments
13 minutes ago ·
Kimberly King Schaub go
13 minutes ago ·
Eric Rivera Roast the bell pepper, cool, peel, puree and add whisked yogurt to it along with toasted garlic and toasted "some spices".....that's your sauce. Warm up the garbanzos with onion in chicken stock until the garbanzos are done, strain, keep the liquid, for another use. Puree beans, hummus now...... Top sauce over hummus, olive oil, salt/pepper to season. That's it. simple.
3 minutes ago ·

Cinnabon service contest!

2011-11-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

I'm part of a promotions group (MyBlogSpark) that hosts competitions, does give-aways, and other cool things with General Mills' products. Here's one you can do. Enjoy!

Cinnabon is looking for ways to warm the hearts of others this holiday season and needs your help to Spread the Warmth through its Random `Packs´ of Kindness contest.

Cinnabon wants you to share its ooey-gooey awesomeness with friends, family, co-workers, and even strangers, and then share your story online! From November 6th through January 7th, share any act of kindness to qualify for a chance to win prizes! Simply photograph or video the reaction to a random act of kindness and submit it to the Cinnabon Facebook page for a chance to win free weekly Cinnapacks or a cash prize of $2,500 and a $2,500 donation to the charity of your choice.

For more contest rules and information on how you can help Spread the Warmth visit the Cinnabon Facebook page.

Line Cooking and Setting Up Your Station

2011-11-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

My first time working on a line was at Stopsky's Delicatessen when we opened in May 2011. It was terrifying. Of course, the chef and the other cooks were supremely helpful, but there's something truly intimidating about the first time you hear "Order In!" barked in your ear. I obviously survived, because here's the post about it. But, for those who will be approaching line cooking at some point, here are some thoughts I've gleaned from the lessons I've learned.

First, think about what you're going to need on your line. You'll probably have a reach-in refrigerator with bins on the top in which you will put your ingredients. You want everything to be in the skinniest pans you can find and that will fit your ingredients - think 9th pans, 6th pans, and 3rd pans. "Vertical thinking" is what Chef Robin Leventhal taught me.

The other is that you want to place the ingredients together in the way you'd use them. For example, Catherine, our lead line cook for the deli line, thought about how the menu items were assembled and clumped those ingredients together as much as possible. She did this by deciding where the cook should stand in order to access the ingredients we use the most and then placed the remaining pans of ingredients in the line in the order of how we access them. The items we "fire" (cook/prepare/serve) the least often were placed in the low-boys - the bottom part of the reach-in or further away from where you should stand. The items we fired the most were right in front or just to the left or right.

Catherine's added task was to arrange where the hot wells (the water-filled tubs that kept food hot), toaster, panini presses, and other tools we use were to be placed. That way, you were working from left to right as much as possible. For the culinary lines at school, we had zones in front or behind us as well, so we had to work out where we wanted to stage our plates, hold our tongs and tools, and place our other equipment. It's complicated, but if you act out how you'd prepare an item when it's ordered, then it makes more sense.

My classmate Rob developed a great way to avoid cross contamination. It worked for his grill station because nobody was using the flat-top. Of course, it only works this way in school when we have multiple tools and bains at our fingertips. The concepts can be used in real restaurants though. He used a separate tong for each meat being prepared and for the raw versus cooked foods. I wouldn't probably have separate tongs for pork, chicken, and beef, but I strongly recommend following Rob's raw versus cooked tongs. It was quite brilliant.

I portioned out my frites and fish portions and divded them with patty paper, a trick I learned at Stopsky's. It made it easy to pack lots of portions into a small pan and to see quickly how many portions I had in my line. The challenge is that you end up using zillions of patty papers, a rather unsustainable habit. Not sure what the fix to that would be.

Enough words. Now to the photos.

Fry station (that was my station on Thursday and Friday)

Fry Station, Rob's station Thursday and Friday.

Saute Station, Derek's station

Some crazy 5th quarter students :)

Square One Pizza - Real version

2011-10-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

After Chef Vicky allowed us to experiment with our own pizza doughs, she demo'd a pizza assembly for the bistro. This quarter we're making pizza in advance and selling by the slice. Customers can also wait for a made-to-order pizza, but they don't have to. In previous quarters, they were baked to order, but since that took a long time, Chef changed it. I bet sales will go up, because pizza-by-the-slice is probably a popular lunch option.

One thing that Jess, one classmate of mine, said is that you must be careful when transporting the pizza from the stone oven to the cutting board. One of her perfectly baked pies fell face-down on the floor. Sad panda.

Chef Vicky's Square One Pizza Dough

Yield: 5# dough

Sponge
1#8oz Double Zero bread flour
1 Tbsp Honey
0.60 oz SAF Yeast
1.5 qt warm water

Mix together sponge ingredients and allow to ferment for about an hour in a warm spot

Add in
3#8oz Double Zero
3/4 oz (1 1/2 Tbsp) Kosher salt
4 oz Olive oil (Pomace)

Combine the sponge with the additional flour, salt, and olive oil in the really huge Hobart Mixer. Mix for about 3-5 minutes or until the gluten develops and the dough is really stretchy. Transfer to oiled mixing bowl and allow to rest.

Portion into 5 oz dough balls. Place in lightly greased hotel pans and cover with plastic.

I'll work on converting this recipe to a home size... but for my classmates, that's the recipe :)

Pink Together

2011-10-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Each year, different companies join together with the Susan G Komen Foundation to help bring more awareness to Breast Cancer. This year, I had the opportunity to get involved as a product sampler from General Mills as part of their participation in the Pink Together campaign. General Mills sent bloggers a gift box of all sorts of things, and my box included a box of Total cereal, a cookbook, a water bottle, a little pink backpack, and white-and-pink headphones.

Okay, okay, get off the floor and stop laughing. If you know anything about me, you know that pink isn't really my personal pick. Fortunately, I have a beautiful mother who loves pink and who will likely sport the pink pack, water bottle, and headphones.

I have been nibbling away at the Total cereal, and I think I'll probably make it part of a mixture of muddy buddies and other snacky foods. I'm all about health, but I don't actually eat much cereal in its traditional form.

Anyway, General Mills didn't send me the box of toys and Total to wax eloquent about the ways we can use its cereal. They want us to talk about breast cancer awareness.

Breast cancer affects thousands of families every year, and it affects women of all sorts of ages. In addition to the women being affected by breast cancer, men can also contract breast cancer, but it's rare. The Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation was founded in 1982 in memory of Susan Komen who fought cancer by focusing on opportunities to educate others about breast cancer. Nancy G Brinker took up Susan's fight and the foundation was established to raise funds to help raise awareness about breast cancer and ways to address breast cancer risk. You can find more information about the Foundation at their website.

General Mills has partnered with the Foundation in the Pink Together program, and some of the proceeds from the sales of different General Mills products will go towards the Foundation. I was also sent a Yoplait yogurt coupon, and I selected the Whips! Strawberry. I really like the Whips flavors because they're really light and have a dessert texture rather than a breakfast yogurt texture. That's a pathetic description, but if you've had mousse and yogurt, then you'll get an idea of what I mean.

Breast cancer has affected people I care about. My English teacher from high school had successfully resisted cancer several times, but in 2006, she passed away. Her strength through the treatments was amazing and inspiring. Her influence on a generation of scholars was also significant. Mrs. Penny Sandford taught AP and IB English, and my classmates and I had her for three years through International Baccalaureate years. She taught us to write dialectic journals and read classic literature with a critical eye. I actually don't read the Classics any other way, though I've stopped highlighting and analyzing sentences now. However, the exercise of examining writings for literary tools truly makes reading rich and interesting.

In addition to giving bloggers samples, you also have the opportunity to enter a drawing to win a grand prize of samples similar to mine. I will select a winner, so look for the directions below. Here's what you could win:

Your prize pack and your giveaway winner´s prize pack will contain:

A 16 oz. box of Total cereal

VIP coupons valid for one box of Cheerios and Multigrain Cheerios cereal and one cup of Yoplait yogurt

Betty Crocker Living with Cancer Cookbook Pink Together Edition, which includes a collection of more than 150 delicious recipes with complete nutrition information and a 32-page Pink Together Survivor Ambassador bonus section that shares inspirational personal stories of survival as well as recipes

Water bottle and removable silicone awareness bracelet

Drawstring sport backpack

Rhinestone ear buds

To enter the drawing, you must be a new follower of my blog and of my Facebook page. Then answer this question: What is your favorite cancer fighting food? I will select one winner on October 30th. Two runners up will also receive coupons for samples of Green Giant's Steamers vegetables.

You can follow the Pink Together campaign on Facebook and watch videos of survivors and loved ones of cancer patients on YouTube. In memory of Mrs. Sandford, here is my favorite Emily Dickinson poem, which we analyzed in English class. This poem and many others can be found on Poets.org.

Fame is a fickle food (1659)
by Emily Dickinson

Fame is a fickle food Upon a shifting plate Whose table once a Guest but not The second time is set. Whose crumbs the crows inspect And with ironic caw Flap past it to the Farmer's Corn – Men eat of it and die. "Disclosure: The Pink Together prize pack, information and coupons have been provided free of charge by General Mills through MyBlogSpark."

Square One Pizza Demo

2011-10-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of each quarter, the chefs will teach the students how to cook some of the dishes. This is particularly helpful because we operate rather independently of each other once we start cooking on the line. Chef Vicky demonstrated the pizza dough rolling and prepping method, and then we had a chance to experiment. Good thing our first tries weren't sold to the public.

It seems that lots of us knew to bring camera phones the first days, because it's pretty hard to remember everything covered during the presentations.

Here is my photo reel of the pizza demo.

Flour your board - see the dough we made to the chef's left?!

Portion control!

Gently roll the dough; you shouldn't need to put much weight on the pin

Or you can pick it up and stretch it (maybe she could, but I couldn't)

Spread onto the pan (We used full sheet pans because we were doing student lunch)

Now you try! Rob is trying to help me with my awkward method

We divided into groups. Lyle worked while we watched

Apparently it takes some concentration

Culinary School: Third Quarter Report

2011-10-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

The third quarter at SCA is so different from the second quarter. We now get to serve our food to the public, and the public pays for the food!

Whereas second quarter emphasized quantity cooking, third quarter focuses on developing line cooking skills in different stations. In addition, we get to cook cuisines from around the world. I have really been looking forward to third quarter for various reasons, including the "real cooking" aspect of line cooking. I have also been anticipating studying under Chef Vicky McCaffree for two quarters, since the first day that she shadow-taught Chef Gregg Shiosaki's first quarter class last Fall.

The contrast between Chef KG and Chef Vicky is almost comical. Chef KG is a more traditional Japanese chef who likes to see how we attempt a project and then floats around to correct us when we're wrong. He was almost famous for saying "Why you do that?!" Sometimes, it was because I didn't really know what I was doing, or because I was going rogue (anyone remember my pulled pork sandwiches?). Other times, I totally misunderstood what he was telling me. I enjoyed studying under him, but the preparation for each rotation was rather intense. I would Youtube cooking methods - especially the butchery station - because our demos were fast-paced and sometimes hard to track. I wrote time-sensitive checklists to make sure I wasn't dragging behind. The sushi station was famously difficult, though I managed to get done on time.

Chef Vicky's demos tend to be hands-on in an experimental way. When she was teaching us to make Paneer (Indian cheese), she distributed recipes to us and had volunteers cook the recipes and see how the product turned out. We then got to eat the experiments and see which method we preferred. Chef Vicky also jumps in and demonstrates how we should prepare or plate a dish as we're doing it. We are also responsible for just 12 portions of a dish and usually have enough time to prep our own stations more easily. As far as falling behind schedule, there wasn't much that we could actually be behind in - the restaurant opened at 11:15, and we sure-as-heck better have our dishes ready.

Another reason I really enjoy learning under Chef Vicky this quarter is that she doesn't really bust me for messing up a dish. I didn't fry my frites quite crispy enough, and she came over with the plate of soggy frites and said "let's fry the next batch together." It's nice that she does it that way, because working the line can be intimidating and stressful enough. It's much easier on the soul to have the chef collaborate rather than holler. (On a random side note, that's why I enjoy working at Stopsky's Delicatessen - the chefs and cooks there recognize that I'm new and are more than willing to show me and explain the "why" behind the cooking method)

So far, third quarter is going well. We've done some really interesting things. More to come!

Large portions lead to larger intakes, regardless of energy density, study says

2011-09-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

Researchers at the University of Tennesee found that children will consume larger amounts of food - and thus more calories - when they are served larger portions than normal. They will not stop eating when they have eaten the normal amount; they continue eating until the food is gone.

The study went like this: if we give children two different types of soft snacks and give them different sizes - one twice as large as the other - would the kids stop eating when they are satisfied? To find out, the researchers gave children snacks at different times over a month-long period to see if they would notice a difference in the snack sizes.

The two snacks compared were applesauce and chocolate pudding. The small applesauce provided 65 calories; the small chocolate pudding came in at 176 calories. The larges provided 129 calories and 357 calories, respectively. The small serving was approximately the size of a standard pudding cup, about 150 grams; the large is about the size of two normal sized pudding cups. The kids were served in bowls, rather than prepackaged containers to mask the relative sizes of the snacks.

Researchers conducted a study comparing both lower energy-density foods and higher energy-density foods and found that it didn't actually matter which snacks the kids ate, it mattered on how large the snack was. They didn't find that children ate differently between the two flavors - the relative consumption between applesauce and chocolate pudding was the same. The finding that larger portions led to larger caloric intake supported previous studies about portion sizes and entree sizes.

The researchers believe that because applesauce and chocolate pudding were fairly equally accepted by the children in the study, care takers to could take advantage of the fact that children enjoy applesauce enough to not notice that chocolate pudding is absent. This allows caretakers to control caloric intake at that point. Since larger portion size led to the larger caloric intake, caretakers should make sure that they are serving appropriate portions, otherwise, the children could be consuming large numbers of calories without being aware of them. 357 calories is a pretty good sized snack - more like a breakfast.

As a nutritionist, I was a little surprised to find that kids didn't seem to alter their intake when the pudding and applesauce snacks were twice as large as normal. It might have to do with their hunger levels at the point that they get to eat a snack. It might also have to do with our training to "clean our plates." My mom taught me that. The better thing is to teach a kid to take less when serving herself or to save half of the food for later. I think that's what I'd recommend to a kid I eat with: if you can't finish it, wrap it, you can eat it later. (This obviously doesn't work for all kids and all situations)

The application to a culinary expert: serve smaller portions. I really enjoy rich foods, so I try to eat less of it. Of course, anytime you add a rich food to your intake for the day, your overall intake is higher -- over time, this will lead to weight gain. My fix: restrict my calories when I am not enjoying my food - such as at breakfast. Sorry, breakfast lovers, but for me, breakfast on weekdays is just a way to kick-start my metabolism.

Obesity and Access to Farmer's Markets

2011-09-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Does the availability of certain types of grocers affect the health and obesity of a population?

The April edition of the American Dietetic Association Journal published a study examining the potential association between obesity and per capita farmers' markets, grocery stores or supermarkets, and supercenters in different US counties.

The researchers, who are professors of geography, public health medicine, and nutrition at both East Carolina University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that supercenters and grocery stores per capita were inversely associated with obesity in both rural and urban areas. They also found that farmers' markets were not significant in the overall rural and urban combined numbers, but were significantly inversely related to obesity rates in non-metro, rural areas. They concluded that generally, the density of food venues was inversely associated with county-level obesity prevalence. They didn't draw conclusions about obesity at the individual level.

So what does this mean to a nutritionist and a culinary student? Because I advocated for farmers' markets and greater involvement of the agricultural community in Pueblo schools, I have hoped for evidence that farmers' markets have significant positive impact on their communities. While this study isn't the Holy Grail that we can uphold as proof that every community needs farmers' markets, we can show that farmers' markets have as positive of an impact as larger grocers do, because they contribute to the inverse relationship between obesity and the density of grocers. That means, the more available grocery stores are to a population, the lower the county-level incidences of obesity. It also means that areas where few grocers are available, the obesity rate could be higher.

Choices and selection are what consumers seek, and manufacturers seek ways to increase choice and selection often. What used to be a relatively straightforward task of selecting Cheerios for breakfast has now become a label-reading, box-comparing adventure of deciding on flavors, whole grain benefits, size, and color of your different Cheerios options. I don't seek to disparage the creativity and the selection; I feel that I benefit from it. But I also recognize that there are communities and dense urban areas where only one or two stores, one of which may be a convenience store attached to a gas station, serve a population. The customers here have a much more limited selection, and they may not be given the same access to fresh produce, recent manufacturer creations, or even healthier selections. It is these under-served populations that need our help.

It's great that grocery store density improves obesity, so let's get more food access to more individuals!

How can you help?

peas on moss: story of a nutritionist in culinary school

Try Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers for free

Green Giant Valley Visit - Videos!

Justifying Super Bowl Snacks

Sriracha Veggie-Cheese Balls and Sauce

Culinary Expertise Important for Nutrition Professionals

The Great Fat Debate

Get some fruit smoothie in you!

Vegetarian Diets for Weight Management

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker® Kitchens

Mission: Impossible

Christmas Eggnog

Green Bean Casserole - a new take

Holiday Beans and Cranberries

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker® Kitchens

Walkers Mincemeat Tarts

Modernist Cuisine

Sicily

Warm Sicilian octopus salad Ingredients (serves 4-6 people)1kg octopus750g potatoes in small cubes1 stick chopped small1 carrots julienne75gr stoned green and black olives1 tbsp of white wine vinegarJuice of 3 lemonsParsleySalt and pepperExtra virgin olive oilFinely chopped chili pepper (optional)

Italian Made. “Regionality of Italian Food.” Accessed October 15, 2011. http://italianmade.com/region-italy-food.html

Jacques, one of the reasons that I love cooking

Respect the Bird!

Cambodia

What's In Your Refrigerator with Eric Rivera

Cinnabon service contest!

Line Cooking and Setting Up Your Station

Square One Pizza - Real version

Pink Together

Square One Pizza Demo

Culinary School: Third Quarter Report

Large portions lead to larger intakes, regardless of energy density, study says

Obesity and Access to Farmer's Markets

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker^® Kitchens

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker^® Kitchens