Smoking Bishop Tweetcipe

A number of years ago I attempted to cook a full semi-accurate Victorian Christmas meal. I couldn’t find a goose in all of Galveston so I cooked a traditional American turkey to go with Waldorf celery boats, savory tartlets, green peas, potatoes á la maitre d’hôtel, mincemeat pie and sugar plums. My family and I also drank a number of cups of Smoking Bishop over the course of the day. The drink is mentioned in “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, and interestingly, the recipe has been around since the 1600s – long before Charles wrote his now famous Christmas story. It’s such a good cold weather drink; it shouldn’t be limited to just the holidays.

From Historical Foods Newsletter:

Smoking Bishop

6 large oranges
2 large lemons
½ cup of brown sugar (demerara)
1 bottle (750ml) red wine
1 bottle (750ml) ruby port
8 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground mace

The day before: bake the large oranges and lemons in the oven on a shallow baking tray (with a lip to contain any leaking juice) on a low heat at 120°C until they are pale brown (after about an hour and a half). If any liquid leaks from the fruit when baking pour this from the tray into the bowl with the fruit and wine.

After the fruit has baked in the oven stud the oranges and lemons with one of the cloves pricked into each, place into a large bowl, add the ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and mace. Add the sugar and pour in the wine – but not the port or the cinnamon sticks. Stir gently for a few minutes. Cover and leave in a warm place overnight or for 24 hours.

The next day: cut the baked oranges and lemons in half and squeeze all the juice into the spiced wine in the bowl. Do not worry about adding in the pulp and pips; this will be strained through a sieve next.

Pour this wine, fruit and spice mix through a sieve into a large saucepan, using the back of a spoon to press out the juice from the pulp in the sieve. Then add the cinnamon sticks. Heat the wine to a high simmer for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat under the saucepan and add the port. Heat the liquid very gently for 20 minutes (so as not to boil away the alcohol). In the last two minutes turn up the heat to a medium simmer and get the Bishop ‘smoking’ hot with vapors rising.

A Dickens of a Christmas

Charles Dickens was a foodie. I believe this to be true, because of the way he describes his culinary experiences. He wrote eloquently of Christmas dinner in “A Christmas Carol”:

There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavor, size and cheapness were the themes of universal admiration. Eded out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish) they hadn't ate it all at last! Yet every one had had enough, and the youngest Cratchits in particular were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows.

Unlike the Cratchits and their contemporaries of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, we are blessed with running water, separate bedrooms, trash service, and child labor laws. However, this is an economically challenging time, and a Victorian meal can inspire something simple, frugal, and memorable.

The centerpiece of a traditional, Victorian, Christmas Dinner would be a large foul. Goose is what Dickens describes, but turkey would also be traditional. I believe a perfectly roasted chicken would also suffice. The bird could be stuffed with the sage and onion dressing the youngest Cratchits enjoyed, or since we all probably prepared that for our American Thanksgiving, perhaps a dressing that features nuts and dried fruits to tempt the palate. In 1843 London, apples and prunes would have been likely choices for the dressing. If you’d like something a little more contemporary, try using dried currants and pine nuts.

Side dishes would include the ever-popular mashed potatoes. (Definitely not traditional, but mascarpone cheese sure makes them creamy!) Dig into your Commonly Supported Agricultural (CSA) basket and roast some of those seasonal root vegetables (probably parsnips and rutabaga, maybe some carrots). The spicy bitterness in winter greens perfectly complements the decadence of goose, so remember your mustard greens or Brussels sprouts. (They are also power foods, so you can feel good about your celebratory indulgences.)

In the 19^th century, the clever Mediterranean vintners were fortifying their wine with distilled alcohol, so their wine could survive the arduous journey by sea to England. Madeira would therefore be an authentic beverage choice. In fact, the more well traveled (and arguably mistreated) the Madeira, the better it is said to taste.

The obvious dessert would be plum pudding. While the flavors and texture can be foreign to us, the preparation is endearing (every family member takes a turn in stirring while making a wish, and some stir from east to west to honor the journey of the Magi). Serve it with a sprig of holly on top for tradition. Light the brandy on fire for dramatic presentation. Suet is typically difficult to find, unless you have access to a butcher, so you may have to substitute coconut oil or very cold butter, but it won’t be quite as light. You can also add some cocoa powder if you have someone in your family who defines dessert by chocolate!

Until next time, eat well!

Turkey Brining Tweetcipe

As promised, here is a great homemade brining solution that will ensure a flavorful, moist turkey. Brining is necessary when you use a fresh organic turkey that has not been “enhanced” with a saline solution. This recipe comes from one of my favorite Food Network chef-celebs, Alton Brown:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger

1 gallon heavily iced water

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Two to three days before you want to cook the turkey, begin thawing it in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket or large cooler. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

That’s the brining solution, but I might as well give instructions on how I would cook this bird, too:

1 (14 to 16 pound) young turkey

1 red apple, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

Grapeseed oil

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add these to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with grapeseed oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Once the meat is browned to your liking, cover with foil. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Let's Talk Turkey

It’s about that time of year when everyone will be thinking about cooking a turkey – at least at Thanksgiving, although many of us repeat the process a month later for Christmas, as well. If you’re planning on preparing a turkey feast this year, but don’t plan on hunting your own bird, there are a few things you should consider.

Free range birds are touted as the best tasting, because they’re out and about, getting exercise that makes the meat leaner, and eating a variety of foods that contribute to the overall flavor. If the bird is truly free range, it probably will taste better. Unfortunately, many companies will advertise their birds as free range, even though they’ve been bred to have larger breasts, making the bird far too top heavy to do much ranging.

One thing to keep in mind is just because a turkey says “free range” does not mean you’re getting a healthy, humanely raised bird. One way to tell whether or not your bird has been humanely raised is its size – a true free range bird will rarely exceed 14-16 pounds. Another way to make sure you’re getting the right bird is to choose an organic free range turkey.

By choosing organic turkey, you’re buying from a farm that does not inject their birds with antibiotics. However, if you’re buying from a local turkey provider, you may want to talk to them about their actual practice. Becoming organic certified can be expensive, but many small businesses that raise turkeys will raise them organically (without antibiotics) and simply not jump through the hoops of certification.

Beyond choosing a free range, organically grown turkey, the other thing you can do that will ensure high-quality flavor is to buy a bird that hasn’t been frozen. Depending on where you live and what kind of access you have to the marketplace, this may be difficult, and honestly, a frozen turkey won’t ruin the dinner. Just be sure to thaw your turkey slowly and keep it sealed during the thawing process. For the best results, make sure you choose a turkey that is not of the commercial variety – you’re typically paying for empty weight because the birds have been plumped up with saline solution or full of antibiotics.

If you do choose to get a free range turkey this year, check back next week for my Tweetcipe, which will provide you with the instructions for brining your turkey – the perfect way to ensure a moist, delicious bird for your guests.

Until next time, eat well!

Pumpkin Soup Tweetcipe

Before you start eyeballing your 20 pound Halloween pumpkin with the idea that you can make it into pies, put your knife down: Not all pumpkins are created equal for cooking.

There is a big variety of pumpkins and some are good for carving and some are good for eating. All pumpkins are edible but carving pumpkins have low sugar levels, thinner walls and are stringy. If you want to make a good pie, what you need is the smaller – no larger than 5 pounds – and sweeter Sugar pumpkin.

It isn’t easy to prepare a pumpkin for cooking. I did it one time and afterwards I decided that canned organic pumpkin will do me fine in the future. But if you’re curious, here’s how to do it:

Prep the pumpkin: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the stem and cut the pumpkin into quarters. Scrape the seeds and pulp into a strainer. You can bake the seeds later to snack on or add to a salad.

Roast the pumpkin: Put the wedges on a baking sheet and cover tightly with foil; bake until the flesh is tender, about 90 minutes. Remove the foil and let cool.

Puree and strain: Scoop the pumpkin flesh out of it’s shell, place in a food processor and puree until smooth. Line a colander with cheese cloth and place the colander over a bowl. Put the pumpkin puree in the colander to drain excess liquid. Place the colander and bowl in the refrigerator to drain overnight.

This recipe for pumpkin soup (from pumpkinsoup.org) will get your taste buds ready for the upcoming holidays:

Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Sugar Croutons

2 tablespoons brown sugar
15 oz of homemade or canned pumpkin puree
2 cans salt free chicken broth, 14 ½ oz each
1 cup chopped onion
5 tablespoons softened butter
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 slices whole wheat bread
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup heavy whipping cream
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Handful cilantro leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together the cinnamon, half the sugar, and the butter and spread it evenly over one side of each slice of bread. Put the bread, buttered side up, on a baking tray and bake for about 8 minutes or until the bread is toasted.

Cut the bread slices into small squares or triangles.

Sauté the onion in the rest of the butter until tender, then add half the chicken broth. Stir the mixture well, bring it to a boil, then cover the pan, turn the heat down, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

Process the broth in a food processor or a blender until it is smooth, then put it back in the pan and add the other can of broth, the salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin puree, pepper, the rest of the sugar and the ginger.

Stir the mixture well and bring it to a boil.

Cover the pan, turn the heat down, and let the pumpkin soup simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring it all the time.

Stir in the cream and warm it through without boiling.

Ladle the soup into 6 serving bowls and top each one with some croutons and cilantro leaves.

Pumpkin Seeds: A Healthy Snack

It won’t be long before many of us will be busy scooping the innards out of a bunch of pumpkins and doing our best to bring out the creativity buried inside us, as we design the year’s perfect jack-o-lanterns. Whether scary, adorable, or downright works of art, the jack-o-lantern is a popular tradition with most families around this time of year.

Most people simply spread newspapers, scoop out the seeds and stringy bits, and toss it away. However, did you know that pumpkin seeds make a healthy, low calorie, high fiber snack (much better for us than the potato chips we love to munch)? Pumpkin seeds, when properly rinsed, baked and seasoned, can also make a nice addition to a soup, trail mix or salad.

Since baking pumpkin seeds is such a great way to avoid wasting those perfectly edible, little bits, hopefully this year you’ll take one extra step in your jack-o-lantern carving fun and try a few of these tasty ideas. By simply switching from potato chips to pumpkin seeds this time of year, when you need a crunchy fix, you get a small edge up on combating that dreaded holiday weight gain.

In my research, I discovered that pumpkin seeds are often referred to as “nature’s perfect food,” because they are such a great source of vitamins and minerals. They are high in potassium and calcium as well as Vitamins B, C, D and E. In many cultures, pumpkin seeds are used as a homeopathic remedy to treat medical conditions like prostate and kidney disease. There are even claims that pumpkin seeds, because they are high in L-tryptophan, can help you beat back depression!

What I love about pumpkin seeds is that once you have them baked and flavored, they’re an easy snack to grab and eat on the run, and they really satisfy my cravings when I have the munchies – without adding a lot of fat. They’re a great healthy snack and complement many different dishes.

Preparing the Seeds

After removing pumpkin seeds from your future jack-o-lantern, wash them well in a colander, but don’t worry too much about the stringy pulp that may continue to stick to them. The stringy bits will dry up and fall off in the oven. Put the seeds on a paper towel and blot to dry.

Put the seeds in a bowl and toss them with a little safflower, grape seed or olive oil. In a separate, small bowl: combine your spices, then sprinkle over the seeds and stir to coat. Bake seeds on a lightly buttered cookie sheet, in a preheated, 325 degree oven, stirring occasionally, until the seeds are dried out and light brown, 30-45 minutes.

You can season pumpkin seeds in a variety of different ways and to your personal taste. Here are some of my favorite combinations:

Mexican
Cumin powder
Chili powder
Tiny pinch of cayenne powder
Chipotle powder
Salt

Sweet
Brown sugar
Cinnamon powder
Ground allspice
Freshly grated Nutmeg
Ground Cloves
Tiny pinch of salt

Middle Eastern
Cardamom powder
Garam masala
Cumin powder
Ginger powder
Turmeric powder
Curry powder
Salt

Italian
Garlic salt
Oregano
Thyme
Marjoram
Basil

Until next month, eat well.

Thai Cucumber Salad

The long English cucumber is my favorite kind of cucumber because I find them more flavorful and dense than their shorter, seedier brothers. Plus, organically grown English cucumbers don’t need to be seeded or peeled when used in a salad, which saves time. I suggest peeling conventionally grown cucumbers due to the residual pesticides that cling to the skin. Here’s a wonderful, light salad that goes well with grilled meat.

CUCUMBER SALAD

1 English cucumber, sliced thinly
1/2 sweet onion, sliced thinly
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (or two shakes of red pepper flakes)
2 tablespoons cilantro, fresh chopped
6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix water, vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt. In a serving bowl arrange the cucumber, cilantro, and onion in layers. Pour the vinegar mixture over the salad. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes before serving.

For a creamy salad dressing, omit the water and whisk in ½ cup of plain yogurt in the marinade before pouring over the vegetables.

Avoiding Pesticides On Food

The growing rate of obesity in this country has everyone paying a little more attention to the food they eat. Adding more fruits and vegetables to the diet is a great way to add healthy choices that can be delicious, too. Unfortunately, many conventionally grown fruits and vegetables bought at the grocery store introduce you to a whole new concern with regard to your health: how much pesticide and herbicide residue you and your family might be consuming.

Organically grown meats, fruits and vegetables offer a safer alternative that lets you avoid concentrated pesticide and herbicide residue as well as other additives like growth hormones, antibiotics and flavor additives. Going completely organic, however, is not only expensive but probably not really necessary. What I recommend is that when choosing which fruits and vegetables to buy organic, you focus specifically on the foods that are the most likely to carry pesticide residue even after being washed thoroughly with water.

I’ve been doing some digging around on the Internet – something I enjoy doing when I’m not digging in the garden – and I learned that by avoiding the so-called “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables that typically have the most residue, you can eliminate almost all – around 80% - of your exposure to the toxic stuff.

Why do you want to avoid ingesting pesticides and herbicides? They are designed to kill weeds and pests that can destroy the product while it is growing and during transport and storage. A recent study has linked higher traces of pesticides in children with a higher incidence of ADHD. While the effects of these poisons on the human body aren’t completely known, it just makes sense that you would want to ingest as little as possible.

The Environmental Working Group analyzed a significant amount of data that the FDA and USDA collected over the last ten years. They came up with a list of the worst fruits and vegetables to buy from conventional growers – and these are the ones you should either consider growing yourself or concentrate your organic purchasing budget on.

The list makes sense to me: fruits and vegetables that are more difficult to wash well or have more porous skins (thus absorbing residues into their flesh) scored higher on the pesticide residue scale than those whose skins we don’t tend to eat and those that can be scrubbed thoroughly.

The dirty dozen, as compiled by the Environmental Working Group, are:

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Blueberries
• Nectarines
• Bell Peppers
• Spinach
• Kale
• Cherries
• Potatoes
• Grapes (Imported)

If you want to buy organic, the dozen fruits and vegetables listed above are the ones I would put the emphasis on. By eliminating your risk with these fruits and vegetables, you can still lower your intake of residues and improve your access to safe food without breaking the bank. The top ten safest fruits and veggies listed below are ones you can choose to buy from conventional growers and reduce your food costs without increasing your risk too much.

• Onions
• Avocado
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapple
• Mangos
• Sweet Peas
• Asparagus
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant

It's important to wash, scrub and peel (when appropriate) all produce well, even local and organic foods. Commercial food washes can be a great way to help ensure safety, and I use them regularly. Of course, the best way to be assured of the least amount of pesticides is to buy local organic produce from a farmers market, CSA or – my favorite - grow it yourself.

Until next month, eat well!

August Tweetcipe - Elegant Peach Soup

In my area of Austin one can’t help but notice all of the produce stands along the side of the road advertising ripe peaches from Fredericksburg, located about 90 miles from Austin. The extra rain we got in the spring has caused a bumper crop of peaches and people are happily stopping in at the stands to buy some of the best fruit we’ve had from the Hill Country in years. Here is an easy,elegant peach dessert that can be made one day ahead. Two cups of strawberries may be substituted for peaches, if you prefer.

PEACH CHAMPAGNE SOUP WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM

4 fresh peaches, peeled* and diced
1/3 cup champagne or sparkling wine
5 T sugar
3/4 cup orange juice
3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
Vanilla ice cream
fresh mint for garnish

In a food processor combine peaches, champagne and sugar. Process until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in orange and lemon juices. Cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, ladle soup into 4 chilled bowls. Add a small scoop of ice cream in the middle of each bowl. Garnish with fresh mint. Serves 4

* To easily peel peaches, drop them in boiling water for 45 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and let them cool. The skins will slip off easily.

Interview With Chef Cynthia, Part II

As promised, here is the rest of my interview that was conducted by a local high school student for her English class, along with a couple of questions from my readers. I’d love to hear more from you about what you’d like to know about cooking (and my favorite part, eating) so feel free to leave a comment or question!

Q: What is your favorite type of food to cook? When cooking, what would you say is easy, healthy and works on a budget?

Chef Cynthia: I like to cook most everything. I read cookbooks like some people read novels, using these books and the Internet to explore creative new dishes all the time. I’ll share some of them in my blogs. Probably the easiest things to cook are one-pot meals, like soups, stews and casseroles. To make them even easier, try buying frozen vegetables rather than fresh; they’re already cut to size and retain their nutritional value.

The healthiest things to cook, in my opinion, are combinations of vegetables and beans with grains like brown rice, quinoa or barley. The flavor can be boosted with fresh herbs, spices, cheese or chopped nuts. This is where creativity and daring comes in! For a tight budget, the best foods to buy are vegetables, especially in-season. For example, in winter corn on the cob might cost $1.50 each. In the summer, when we can grow corn here in Texas, the price usually drops to 33 cents or less, and it will be easy to find locally grown, maybe even organically grown, corn. Whole grains are also good, healthy, filling and inexpensive, especially if they are bought from the bulk food section of the grocery store.

Q: Chefs, more than us regular amateurs, know the value of the right kitchen tools, so what is the one kitchen tool or utensil you would never be without?

Chef Cynthia: I know that a lot of cooks and chefs will respond with a clever comeback and say “hands” in response to this question. I think, though, that it’s not so much our hands but what we’re able to do with them – especially when we have the right tools to use! While I completely agree that not a lot can be done without some hands-on involvement (you may groan at the pun), a good, sharp 8" knife is a close second.

When I get in the kitchen to cook, the first four things I do are wash my hands, put on an apron (because I've gotten tired of washing grease spots out of my clothes), grab my favorite knife and get out my cutting board. A few of my other favorite tools are my cutting boards, zester, and temperature probe (food safety is, after all, an extremely important part of cooking).

Q: I noticed you have grown some of your own things in your garden and also shopped at farmer's markets. What is the one ingredient where it makes the most difference (in taste) to get fresh?

Chef Cynthia: My mouth waters just thinking about answering this question, but the answer is a three-way tie: peaches, tomatoes and cantaloupe. Commercially grown grocery store peaches and tomatoes are usually flavorless and have a mealy texture — and with the prices they command in the produce section, I won't waste my money on them.

If I can't get fresh, local peaches (and I've also run out of the fresh summer peaches that I put in the freezer), I will purchase frozen peaches from the store. As for tomatoes, I will happily use canned, preferably without salt. During the winter and spring, we just go without fresh tomatoes in our salad at home. I'll add dried cherries or cranberries instead.

Grocery store cantaloupe tastes OK until you eat a garden fresh melon! I'm not a huge fan of cantaloupe, but I grow them in my garden. The taste of the garden-grown melon is sweeter while the distinctive cantaloupe flavor is mellower, which makes a big difference to me.

So there you have it, straight from this happy cook’s mouth. Thanks for the great questions, and feel free to send along more. Next month, I’ll be talking about pesticides and food – two things that really do not go together!

Until next time, eat well!

Chef Cynthia

July Tweetcipe - Caesar with no Toga

Seeing Caesar salad on a restaurant menu is almost as common as table salt. More than likely the venerable salad choice is listed on the menu of your favorite place to eat. It’s so common, in fact, that most of you have probably formed definite opinions as to what is a worthy Caesar salad.

As for me, I’ve occasionally been served a Caesar salad dressing that had mayonnaise in it…and that’s just wrong. I have never tasted a more perfect Caesar dressing than the one I came across in a tiny little paperback cookbook called “Cooking in the Nude-For Men Only”. What can I say, I’m a rule breaker. It’s a great cookbook, by the way. The original recipe entitled Caesar and Please Her calls for a lightly coddled egg. I just don’t think it’s a crucial ingredient and it’s an extra step I don’t mind skipping.

Here’s the otherwise barely changed recipe that I like to make at home and for clients:

1 small garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ Tablespoon anchovy paste
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, juiced
1 head of romaine lettuce, sliced or torn into bite sized pieces
½ cup good quality parmesan cheese, grated
Salt/pepper to taste
Shaved slivers of parmesan
Croutons (homemade, if you have the time)

Whisk together the first six ingredients in a salad bowl. Add lettuce and grated cheese. Fold carefully to mix. Taste for seasoning with salt and pepper. Top with shaved parmesan and croutons.

An Interview with Chef Cynthia

I believe that learning to cook early in life can help kids and young adults get a great head start on eating healthier. So, when a local high school student wanted to interview me for a report she was doing in her English class, I was thrilled to help. The questions she asked got me thinking about my cooking style, and my journey to becoming a personal chef, so I wanted to share the interview with you guys.

Q: What got you interested in cooking? Most people seem to just prefer grabbing a fast food meal.

Chef Cynthia: Cooking is something I took a natural interest in as a child. The famous phrase “you are what you eat” always stuck with me. It just makes sense, doesn’t it? One of the easiest things you can do to support a healthy lifestyle is to eat nutritious, whole, unprocessed - or barely processed - foods.

I didn’t always do that. When I was a kid, I ate fast food burgers and hotdogs as much as anyone else. My mother changed her eating habits when I was a teenager and through her, I learned and tasted the difference between unprocessed foods and fast foods. We switched to wheat bread, more chicken and less beef, unsweetened tea, less mac and cheese and creamy salad dressings. . As a young adult I preferred eating at sit-down restaurants, though my food choices weren’t any healthier.

Becoming a massage therapist in my late 20s focused me on healthy lifestyles. I learned more about eating better which, combined with my natural enjoyment of cooking, gave me more incentive to broaden my horizons and taste buds. As a massage therapist, I enjoyed helping others feel better and improving their well being; cooking is another way to fulfill that mission.

Q: You mentioned before how restaurants often aren’t any healthier than fast food. Since so many people love to eat out, or grab restaurant or fast food to save time, how do you inspire people, especially teenagers, to focus more on cooking at home?

Chef Cynthia: I would appeal to their logic and sense of creativity. Start with logic: everyone should know about all of the carbohydrates, preservatives and artificial flavorings in fast food. There’s too little nutrition and fiber and way too much sodium, sugar and empty calories. Restaurant food may taste better than fast food and offer more variety, but it usually isn't much healthier.

To live our lives with fewer health issues and to perform our normal daily activities, physical or mental, our bodies need food that provides the right fuel. Just like with a car, the better the fuel, the better the performance. With this logic, why would a person choose to live on fast food?

For creativity, cooking provides a huge opportunity to make untold new food dishes, flavors and combinations. You can combine your skills and knowledge, like chemistry, math, personal taste and a little daring to create some awesome dishes that will make a good impression. The more creative the chef, the more people admire them. I think teenagers like a challenge, and they like to impress others. Learning to cook delicious meals accomplishes both. There’s nothing clever or creative about buying fast food.

Next month I’ll post the rest of this interview, plus I’ll answer a question or two you guys post as comments to this blog. Until then, Eat well!

Greenhorn to Green Thumb: Grow your own veggies and make a beautiful salad to boot

There’s something almost magical about growing your own food. You plant, you harvest, you eat, using the nourishing soil of Mother Earth and your own skills. Of course, it’s not entirely simple; there’s a lot to learn about gardening, but that may only be the opinion of this greenhorn.

My neighbors have a fenced-in garden area, measuring about 30’ x 30’ with 16 rows for planting. This is the second year they’ve kindly let me loose in the garden plot to grow anything I want. Navigating the travails of getting things right has been quite a “growing” experience; one can learn about soil components and amendments, crop rotation, companion and succession planting, pest recognition and treatment, and you still never know how your harvest will turn out.

It all begins with the right type of soil, the right soil and air temperature and the right plants for the season; then, of course, the right amount of water is crucial. Tomatoes don’t like wet feet, you know! I use drip irrigation on an automated timer system, which does the job beautifully.

You’ve heard about people talking to their houseplants in the belief that it will help them grow. I’m the same way with my garden. I feel a bit like the vegetable whisperer when I see yellowed leaves or stunted plants. “Would you like some fertilizer today?” “How can I help you grow?” “You have beautiful leaves, but where are your blooms?” They say when you talk to your plants, they respond because of the carbon dioxide you exhale, which, of course, they take in. It must work; after all, would “they” lie?

There’s always more to learn about gardening. I’m regularly researching the Internet, reading gardening books, needling my friends who have gardens and going to the information desk at the local nursery with plastic bags of bugs and sick plant leaves needing identification and diagnosis. By the way, my “go-to” book for gardening information is the incredibly useful Back to Basics – A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills – recommended reading for aspiring green thumbs.

Then there’s folks like my father, Charlie, who now focuses on growing tomatoes. He simply pops the seeds in the ground, waters occasionally, adds some mulch, and then proceeds to harvest more than he can eat, with nary a complaint about blossom end rot or hornworms (things I have had to learn about the hard way.)

Between putting into practice what I’ve learned over the last year and getting some nice rains this spring for a change, my garden is coming along better this summer than last. The only real drawback is battling weeds, but I’ll conquer them, too. I’ve managed to produce about 30 tomato plants of all varieties, eggplant, peppers, melons, squash, several varieties of beans and peas, onions, radishes, basil, cucumbers and okra. The plants seem to relish the nearly 100 degree heat - much more than I do!

I can grow a lot of vegetables in 900 square feet, and although I don’t plant the entire area at once, I end up with enough seasonal vegetables to feed a whole football team at times. Thus, I am often seeking ways to use up excess vegetables, even after giving some away to my garden benefactors, neighbors and friends. I created this recipe after helping a catering friend with a large backyard buffet dinner in which he cooked nearly the entire meal at the outdoor kitchen, including a grilled corn salad. That salad inspired this recipe. Try it and enjoy!:

GRILLED CORN & GREEN BEAN SALAD

• 4 ears of corn
• ½ lb fresh green beans
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• ½ t ancho chili powder
• ½ yellow onion, grated or minced
• 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ c chopped almonds or whole pine nuts

Pull corn husks down to stalk end. Remove silk. Replace husks and tie together with kitchen string. Soak in water for 30 min. Place on grill, medium-high heat, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes. Remove husks and let corn cool. Blanch beans in boiling, salted water for 3 minutes. Drain well.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut corn off the cobs. Add corn and green beans to sour cream mixture and stir. Serve cold or at room temperature.

(Photo credits to Scott Wilson)

Go nuts with toasting for fuller flavor

How great is it when you can add a shower or sprinkle of nuts or seeds to a dish? You add color, texture, variety, often very solid nutrients, and some extra flavor.

But do you know how to really bring out that flavor? Toasting.

Say, for example, you have some walnuts you’d like to add to a salad. A tasty, crunchy addition that packs some very beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, manganese and copper (all very important nutrients), walnuts help provide cardiovascular protection, help as an anti-inflammatory in your body, and even provides antioxidants that can support your immune system and battle cancerous cells. Studies have shown that people with type 2 diabetes can even have reduced LDL cholesterol - that’s the bad type – from eating just one ounce of walnuts per day.

A nice addition, right? Although there is a catch: walnuts, like so many nuts, are fairly high in calories. You don’t need to eat many to get the health benefits, so you don’t need to add many to a salad, or whatever dish you choose.

Here’s the tip: use fewer nuts or seeds, but bring out a lot more flavor from them simply by throwing them in a toaster oven or roasting them gently in a dry pan for just a few minutes over medium heat. When they begin to sweat (or perspire, or glisten, or whatever phrase you prefer), you can remove them from the heat, let them cool for a minute, then add them to your dish. Watch the pan while they’re toasting though, and stir often, because they burn quickly.

The oils in the nuts or seeds will be released just enough to spread out the flavor across your palate as you enjoy your meal. You can save money and calories while enjoying the full flavor and nutritional benefits of your favorite nuts and seeds with this simple tip. And don’t ignore the full range of nuts and seeds you can add to your culinary repertoire like flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, fenugreek seeds, caraway seed, whole cumin and coriander seeds, sunflower seeds and hazelnuts. You’ll find everything in either the spice section or in the bulk foods section of the grocery store. And buy organic for extra health benefits, if you can.

But that’s not all: Toasting brings out the flavor in whole grains too. Lightly toast basmati rice, steel cut oats or quinoa in a little butter or olive oil (I like to use both in equal parts) and then follow your recipe’s instructions.

I’ll have plenty more for you as we go, and some recipes to help you take full advantage of these tips. Enjoy, go nuts and eat well!

This is my favorite spiced nut recipe. I make enough to fill a big container during the holidays and then I’ve got something suitable for a party, midnight snack or edible gift.

SPICED NUTS

• 2 cups assorted nuts
• 2 t cumin
• 1 t cayenne
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 ½ t pie spice
• 1 ½ t cinnamon
• 1 egg white
• 1 t water

Set oven at 300 degrees. In medium bowl mix spices and sugar well. Whisk egg white and water in another medium bowl until frothy. Pour nuts into egg white and stir until nuts are fully coated. Pour the nuts into a strainer, discarding the egg white mixture. Let nuts drain well. Then put the nuts in the spice mixture. Stir the nuts until fully coated. Place nuts on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper or silpat sheet and separate. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring twice. Let cool on sheet pan and store in airtight container.

Organic: it might not be what you think it is

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know I’m a big fan of eating good food. And by good, I mean good for you in addition to tasting good.

More and more people are embracing the idea of finding healthier choices these days, and one of the options they are turning to is organic foods. Interestingly, as more and more people shop for organicly grown products, there is a danger that they are becoming less, well, organic,than they once were.

The reason is that as demand goes up, big food companies become interested in getting a share of the market. And when big companies get involved, they invariably want to streamline things to make production more efficient and profitable. As a result, they have pushed the USDA in recent years to create legal definitions of what is and what is not organic.

This might sound like a good idea since everyone would have a clear understanding and the playing field would be level for all producers, big or small. But interestingly, as organic rules are put in place by the government, it creates a formal process for large company lobbyists to bend and shape the rules through amendments and exceptions.

A prime example of this happened three years ago when Anheuser-Busch had its Wild Hop Lager certified as organic. The fact was, however, that the hops that were used in the Wild Hop Lager had been grown using chemical fertilizers and pesticide sprays—certainly something that a consumer would not expect in an organic product! The reason they were able to claim that the beer was organic was that there was a rider attached to the 2006 agricultural appropriations bill that listed 38 specific items that could be included in any food product while still allowing it to be certified as legally organic. Those ingredients included things like food colorings, starches, sausage and hot-dog casings, fish oil, chipotle chili pepper, gelatin, and of course, hops.

So just like that, hops were legally designated as an organic ingredient no matter how they were grown themselves. I have a feeling that consumers who bought Wild Hop Lager for its “healthier” properties would be unhappy to know it had pesticide and chemical fertilizers used in its production!

The challenge, then, is what to do when you want the healthiest food possible and you can’t trust the term “organic?” I think there are a couple of rules of thumb to keep in mind:

1. Be skeptical of “organic” products from large food companies. I don’t want to paint all big corporations with the same brush, but in general, large firms have a huge investment in the way they already do things, so it stands to reason that lobbying to change the rules to fit the way they grow things is cheaper than changing the way they produce the food they sell.
2. Shop local. If you meet the farmer who grows your food (or even better, tour the farm itself) , you can feel a lot better about how it was grown.

That’s it for now. If you have any questions about “organic” food you’ve come across, reach out to me and we’ll investigate it together. And as always, eat well!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification

Digging deeper into growing your own food

Did you know that the average distance food travels from the farm to your plate is about 1,500 miles? How fresh can it be when it embarks on such an excursion, handled by processors, distributors and store clerks? While our system of food distribution is rather remarkable, it’s also costing us plenty in chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, transportation costs, and even lost nutrients and flavor in the food itself.

In a previous blog, I mentioned Community Supported Agriculture, also known as CSAs. They’re essentially partnerships between farms and groups of shareholders. The farm produces a harvest each week, and shareholders receive their – you guessed it – share, often half a bushel or more of vegetables, herbs, nuts and even fruit.

Johnson’s Backyard Garden, located on the east side of Austin, Texas, is one example of a thriving CSA. In a given week, they harvest around 15 varieties of vegetables and herbs and even pecans.

JBG delivers its harvest to a large area; there are 17 neighborhood locations throughout Austin where shareholders can pick up the week’s offerings. The box of farm fresh pickings usually feed a family of 2-4 for a week. You can find out a lot more about Johnson’s Backyard Garden at their incredibly thorough website, http://jbgorganic.com/ (Tip: See their “10 Reasons to Buy Local” here: http://jbgorganic.com/localfood.php).

Natural Springs Garden, a CSA that is near and dear to my heart, is located on the west side of Austin and only a few miles from where I live. Karla and Al Garcia use organic methods to grow over 80 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs throughout the year. Although they started selling their produce to CSA shareholders just one year ago, Karla says that their membership is now 40 shares and she has an ever growing waiting list. Through an alliance with a local spice company they will soon be selling their own line of dried herbs. Now that’s stretching your harvest!

You can find a CSA near you at http://www.localharvest.org/csa/. Of course, if you have the time and the green thumb (never hurts to try, as long as you’re careful with the gardening tools!) you can also till a little soil in your own backyard garden and plant seeds from a local store.

Whether you’re tilling on a farm or tending to your own garden, you’ll be amazed by how much you learn about your food and how much you appreciate it when you’ve grown it yourself. Some people feel they’re so busy that they may not have time to join a CSA or plan and grow their own little garden. The desire is there but the time to do it is not. To help with this, I’ve found that some clients prefer that I manage their CSA membership for them or help them with their backyard vegetable garden. There’s fun in the planning, the excitement of getting food fresh from the garden and turning the ingredients into delicious, nourishing meals for the week. It’s something a personal chef like me can help with as clients purposefully progress to better, local and healthier eating.

The famous French phrase “il faut cultiver notre jardin,” popularized by Voltaire’s Candide, calls upon us to tend to our own gardens. While this is meant to be a larger statement about life, it certainly applies to how we should eat: locally with an eye toward whole, unprocessed foods, preferably from a garden in which we have a hand in growing. It’s one of the keystones for healthy – and tasty – living.


Picture credits:
http://www.jbgorganic.com/

Fresh from the farm to your plate: Eat and live better in a CSA

I have an easy quiz for you: What’s better than fresh farm produce from the store?

Easy answer: Fresh produce direct from the farm!

Wouldn’t it be great to have a direct pipeline from the garden to your table? I’ve found, as many of my clients have, that a great way to do that is to become involved with a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

A CSA works by having community members, like you, become shareholders of a farm’s seasonal harvest in their area. It’s similar to a “co-op”, except that multiple people share ownership of the harvest only, not the whole farm. A CSA is generally run by a single “head honcho” farmer who handles the main operations. Sometimes they hire farmhands to help work the land, sometimes they get volunteers or interns; shareholders are encouraged – and in some CSAs, required – to pitch in periodically. The head farmer plans and organizes the propagation, planting, watering, fertilizing and harvesting, tending to a variety of seasonal, organically grown vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Shares of the harvest are then sent out to shareholders, with baskets divided in half bushel or bushel baskets. The baskets can be made ready every week or two weeks, depending on how much food each shareholder wants to – or can – use.

A lot of people like to go to the farm and pick up their shares; some put in a little work on the farm at the same time, bringing their fresh produce home when they’re finished. You can also pay a little extra and have those shares delivered to you. Many CSAs also offer something in between where there’s a neighborhood drop off, and on a certain day each week you can go pick up your shares. The options are many.

The harvest will vary by time of year, local climate and soil conditions. A basket in a given week might include potatoes, green beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers, basil and onions, for example. Most CSAs also provide recipe ideas and more ways to use your harvested bounty than you might have known about beforehand.

Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? The notion that you’re using fresh, organically-grown fruits, vegetables and herbs from a local farm or garden in which you’re part owner?

You probably hear the term “eat local” quite a bit; let me tell you, this is the ultimate in eating local. It’s healthier for the earth and much healthier for you. Time matters, too: The fruits and vegetables you get in the produce section of your local megamart was in storage for who knows how long, which can lead to great losses of valuable vitamins and nutrients, depending on the harvest date and type of produce. So if you can get them to your table in 12 hours instead of weeks or months, you get more nutrition from your food. Plus, fresh produce often tastes better!

Participating in community supported agriculture just makes sense to me. Many of the health problems we experience as we grow older start with how we eat throughout our lives, starting in the womb! Nutrition is extremely important for good living. You can’t get much fresher or healthier than produce direct to you from a nearby farm. It’s something I highly recommend you explore.

There are about 2,500 CSAs in the United States and the number is growing quickly. To find one near you, go to http://www.localharvest.org/csa/.

Next time, we’ll explore a CSA near my home west of Austin and more advantages to growing your own food. Until then, eat well!

Photo credit: Johnson’s Backyard Garden http://jbgorganic.com/csa.php

How many chefs will fit in your kitchen?

One of the things I have enjoyed about being a personal chef is getting to know other chefs around the country and the world. Since we all tend to work in our own geographic area, we don’t really compete with each other, so our industry is one in which people get along well and help each other with no hesitation.

There are two formal groups that I am involved in: the United States Personal Chef Association (uspca.com) and the Personal Chef Cooperative (personalchefscooperative.com). Both provide an opportunity for chefs to access resources and to interact with each other. They also provide training, certifications and codes of ethics to help all chefs maintain the highest standards.

I have to admit, though, that one of the benefits I like best is the ability to share recipes and ideas with personal chefs in other areas. There is nothing like getting the perfect lobster bisque recipe from a chef in Maine or discussing the secrets of a great apple fritter with one of my peers in Washington. And of course, they know to come to a certain chef here in Lakeway, Texas for a good prime rib roast recipe or a little Tex-Mex!

The resources of the chef community are fun, but they can come in handy in some very important situations as well. All clients are unique and I often run into one-of-a-kind challenges that call for creative solutions. It might be a birthday party with guests who have to be gluten free. Or a request for hors d’oeuvres that include an unusual ingredient that reminds the hosts of an exotic international trip they took. You never know!

So throw those challenges at me, because even though you might only see me and an assistant or two in your kitchen, there is an entire world of chefs working on making your meal a success.

Until next month, eat well!