Keeping Food Safe

As a chef and a certified and registered Servsafe instructor of food safety, I teach my students how to avoid food borne illness in food service.  As a home cook instructor, I emphasize many of the same skills which can be used in the home kitchen to prevent loved ones from suffering the symptoms of food borne illness.  Research studies have determined that most food borne illnesses have their origin in the home, not in restaurants, and that the symptoms are commonly dismissed as 24 hour flu.  And, furthermore, that foodborne illness which may result in a tummy ache for a teen, can result in dehydration and death in the elderly, pregnant women, infants and, in general, anyone having a compromised immune system. 

But sometimes no matter what we do, contaminated food enters our homes without us knowing.  A couple of weeks ago while shopping with a student at an Ingles grocery store, I entered the produce aisle and there in the lettuce section, in front of me was a single pack of Tanimura & Antle Field Fresh Wrapped Single Head Romaine.  I immediately suffered the bells and whistles in my head, resulting from a recollection of a recent food safety recall for the very same lettuce because of possible contamination with e coli bacteria.  There it was, right there in front of me, in easy reach at my local Ingles grocer.  If I had not been alerted to the recall, I may very well have taken that home with me.

Food borne illnesses from e coli, salmonella and listeria (bacteria and viruses referred to as pathogens) have become more and more common recently and the only way to know about the possible contamination is to stay informed.  Shocking, but true, listeria contamination resulted recently in a massive recall of onions and associated deli products made with those onions as an ingredient.  I find the best way to stay informed about possible food contamination is to go to www.foodsafety.gov and register for automatic alerts.  You will be alarmed at the frequency of the alerts, but you will be informed. 

In addition to knowing where your food comes from and possible contaminations, here are five more preventative actions you can take to keep your family safe:

Personal hygiene, especially hand washing, is the one best preventative measure.   Hand washing means soap and hot water, scrub for 10 to 15 seconds, rinse and dry with a paper towel.  Your skin has a high concentration of staph and touching skin, hair, nose and mouth guarantees the spread of bacteria and viruses lurking on your skin unless hands are washed frequently.  Hand sanitizers should not be used in place of hand washing. 

Sanitizing with a solution of bleach and water can reduce pathogens on work surfaces, utensils, dishes, glassware and sinks.  Using soap alone will only clean the surfaces, not sanitize.

Time and temperature can be used to your advantage to control pathogens.  Don’t give them time to reproduce by providing optimum temperatures.  Pathogens in foods that require refrigeration, multiply fastest in temperatures between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit.    Make sure your refrigerator stays at 40 degrees or below, and the less time refrigerated foods are exposed to room temperatures the better.  The four hour rule should always apply, that is, if a food which requires refrigeration is at room temperature for 4 hours (cumulative), toss it! 

Cooking temperatures are as important as cooling temperatures.  You can find tables on many websites that will tell you the safe temperatures for serving cooked meats, eggs, fish etc., in order to prevent food borne illness.  In addition, thawing should always be done in the refrigerator, under cold running water or as part of the cooking process.  Never leave foods that require refrigeration on a kitchen counter to thaw. 

Cross contamination (passing pathogens from one surface to another) can occur when using the same utensils or surfaces for preparation of foods that need refrigeration before cooking, and foods that are eaten raw.  Always wash foods to be eaten raw, and always prepare them on sanitized surfaces with sanitized utensils.

For more on food sanitation and safety, you can purchase my book As Good As It Gets, Cooking Skills for Life, Volume 1 at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  

EAT SMART, America!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

A New Kind of Labor in America

Yes, I know the subject of this blog is anti-aging gastronomy, but if you have been following me, you know that on special occasions and holidays, I must digress and get on my soap box.  It is the only chance I have to do so , since all of my other writing gigs are ghostwriting for which I cannot take credit.  So, here is my Labor Day soap box!

This Monday, September 3, will be celebrated around the nation with picnics, beach parties and parades as has become the customary way to celebrate an American and Canadian holiday we know as Labor Day.  For most, it is the celebration that marks the last weekend of summer and the return to school.  But for many of us who grew up in communities where blue collar workers with barely a high school education were able to feed their family of four and provide a decent roof over their head, it is a day to reflect on the state of the American manufacturing industry, an industry which from 1978 to 2007 suffered a loss of jobs in textiles, garments, metals and electronics topping 60 percent, jobs given to foreign competition. 

Labor Day which became a national holiday in 1894 began as a coming together of union workers to show solidarity.  Ironically, the very same labor unions that were formed for the protection of those workers, has all but made them extinct.  To see what unions have done to our manufacturing industry over the last thirty years one has only to drive through any abandoned industrial park in any city.  Never again will those broken buildings  be home to American manufacturers of leather goods, textiles, steel or electronic gadgetry. 

Private sector business growth is tied to profitability.  With profit comes business growth and with business growth comes economic prosperity in the form of additional human resource requirements, added technology, more machinery, research and development, engineering design and expanded supply chains.  The bottom line is that unionized workers have a profoundly negative impact--- on the bottom line, not just in terms of compensation and benefits, but also in terms of job performance where bad performers are protected, and in the uncertainty that comes with walk outs and strikes.  Furthermore, as in the case with the U.S. automakers, when times are bad, union workers still demand the same compensation and benefits as when times are good.  As was the case with GM and Chrysler, bankruptcy is the only way out. 

So, what do those of us celebrate now, those of us who have been raised in households where along with Memorial Day and Fourth of July, Labor Day was celebrated with patriotic music and gatherings of steelworkers, sewers, pressman, autoworkers, and machinists who bragged about their college educated kids?  Well, I for one still crank up John Phillip Sousa for all the neighbors to hear, and raise the red, white and blue, not only in remembrance of our forefathers who labored to make this the greatest country in the world, but also to celebrate a different type of laborer.  I celebrate the mothers who labor first with birth followed by years of balancing two careers, to trash collectors, plumbers, stylists and carpenters, to ditch diggers, salesmen and bankers, and to all of the  service-workers who suffer greatly, getting by on minimum wage.  But most of all I celebrate the small business owners who labor 60 to 70 hours a week to make their payroll and plant the seeds of all private enterprise.

EAT SMART, America!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

In addition to my blog, you can now read more of my culinary “bytes” at www.oliveoiltimes.com

EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon  and for Nook at Barnes & Noble

Chop Chop Kitchen Co-op 

Launch Postponed

We are still in need of help to build a community kitchen co-op (Chop Chop) and restaurant (Beyond the Bull) for food makers who believe as I do that anti-aging gastronomy is the antidote to age related chronic disease.  However, due to commitments and other unforeseen events, we are going to have to postpone the crowdfunding campaign for a couple of months.  I will keep you informed as to the rest of the project and when the time is right, relaunch the campaign to raise the funds needed to equip the kitchen.  That is, unless one or more of you decide that you would like to invest in a partnership or share in the profits of this sure to succeed venture.   

10 reasons to invest today

 True healthcare reform starts in the kitchen.  Anti-aging food is alkaline forming and therefore promotes wellness.  If inflammation is really the cause of chronic disease such as diabetes II, then Chop Chop Kitchen and its sister restaurant, Beyond the Bull (BTB) is the first step to healing America’s health and healthcare.

Anderson, SC needs jobs and Chop Chop Kitchen Co-op will produce 15 to 20 jobs immediately in the restaurant and 50 to 100 long term with phase 2, the manufacture and distribution of Food From The Farmacy specialty sauces created in the co-op kitchen and restaurant.

Supporting  SC food-makers and entrepreneurialism creates small business.  There is nowhere for a food maker with a great idea to get started without a commercial kitchen.  There is no funding for startup operations in food service.  This kitchen co-op will provide the commercial space for production and an office and mentor to help them get started whether it is a caterer, baker, ice cream maker, candy shop, food truck, specialty food manufacturer or event organizer.  More businesses means more jobs!

Everyone needs camaraderie and a place to hang out.  This will be it for food makers in the golden corner of South Carolina.

We all have a need to feel like we are part of something larger, something of importance, something in which we can make a difference.   The something larger in this instance is supporting a community of food makers, artisans and small business entrepreneurs who share in one passion---food. 

The Anderson community, family and friends need somewhere to eat out that offers an alternative to hamburgers, deep fried foods, pasta and barbecue.  The restaurant will serve anti aging gastronomy, no added sugar, no refined flour and emphasis on alkaline producing fresh, local ingredients.

For the sake of the next generation, we need to change the American palate and the American plate.  This is the first tiny step for the sake of your kids.

The location we have chosen is available now.   The space on Rte. 81, in Anderson, near the AnMed hospital system campus was previously occupied by a restaurant, the  interior needs no major improvements, the kitchen is large and there is an outside patio perfect for the garden.

If we succeed, doesn't that mean that you have a chance as well?

Cool stuff---in exchange for your pledge you get tickets for tastings, entrance to food markets, unlimited use of the kitchen, cooking classes, and more.

Here's one more---return on investment.  Better than real estate or financial institutions.

SAMPLE MENU

EAT SMART, America!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

Paleo, Paleo, Schmaleo…

It seems like every health, nutrition, vitamin, food, doctor and diet website has something to say about the pop culture diet, the Paleo diet, short for Paleolithic, so I thought I would add my two cents worth as well.  From what I have read and been told first hand by Paleo diet followers, the diet limits foods to those that would have been eaten by Paleolithic (cave) men, and that eating like a caveman promotes wellness, provides the body with high energy and prevents the common age related diseases currently on the rise.  These are noble goals and shared by proponents of other diets as well, including the one that I strongly support and advocate and refer to as the name of my blog suggests, anti-aging gastronomy. 

Eating like a caveman does not refer to using your hands and tearing meat from the raw and bloody bone.  But rather, it refers to the type of food, whole, natural, the way God intended, before man decided that it could use improvement.  As if God didn’t get it quite right!  That means, eating foods in natural form before the agricultural revolution when man went from being a hunter gatherer exclusively to sowing and harvesting such foods as grains and legumes like wheat, barley, chick peas and flax, followed by animal husbandry and raising animals for human consumption, animals that were fed by  man instead of nature. 

When proponents make their claims regarding the benefits of the Paleo diet to our modern day human bodies, they are making claims based on unspoken assumptions that may or may not be true.  First, that cavemen were in better health than more modern man, those who followed after the agricultural revolution, and second, that the human body of today is the same as those of our ancestors, the caveman, in order to benefit from the same foods.  Skeptics, on the other hand, claim that our bodies have evolved through the process of natural selection and therefore, do not process nor benefit from these foods like a caveman did.  Then there is the life span issue.  Paleolithic skeletal remains suggest 33 years was the average age for a caveman and skeptics compare that to our average age now which of course, far exceeds that, but who knows for how long at our current dependency on added sugar and refined grains.  But to reach this conclusion, skeptics assume that diet is the only factor that determines life span.  And, of course, it is not.

There is something to be said for consuming raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, roots and tubers.  They are almost, with just a few exceptions, alkaline producing and therefore highly beneficial to modern man as we know and study him today.  Excluding grains which are highly acid forming may not be such a bad thing.  But, in small enough portions, and in whole grain form, grains offer some essential nutrients and longer sustaining energy, more even levels of glucose.  But meat and fish, both with extremely high acid producing qualities, are foods which should be avoided or moderately consumed along with whole grains, because as we now know, acid producing means inflammatory. 

Here’s my two cents worth.  I have witnessed and experienced profound measurable improvement in my body, my husband’s and in those around me who stick to the 60/40 alkaline to acid producing diet, eliminating added sugar and refined grains, a diet to which I refer to as anti-aging.  Some would call it anti-inflammatory, a diet which includes moderate amounts of protein and whole grains, and dairy only occasionally and only of the goat variety.  I believe any diet which completely eliminates an entire food group, to me is eliminating some important nutritional elements as well.       I believe in moderation and in the notion that inflammatory foods have proven to be the downfall of American health, apparent in the chronic diseases of modern man.  If the Paleo diet consists of meat, fish and plant based food only, it is in fact eliminating an entire food group, the one that is responsible for endurance.  And, unless the diet puts a limit on the portion size of meat and fish, it leans far to the acid producing side which is highly inflammatory.  I say use common sense.  Leave the Paleo way of eating to the cavemen.  I am sure there are a lot of people out there who think there are still some around. 

This week I launched a funding campaign for a cafe and kitchen co-op.  The kitchen co-op will be a hub for the SC upstate community, a fully equipped commercially licensed kitchen for rent for the sole purpose of promoting food makers of anti aging gastronomy---artisans, caterers, entrepreneurs with ideas of starting a business and home cooks who just want to can their garden vegetables.  The café will be a full service restaurant for the purpose of providing the community with fresh local menu items and a showcase for the co-op members.  No refined grains, no added sugar, and 60% alkaline producing will be the standard for both.  Please go to www.getfunded.com and search CHOP CHOP KITCHEN CO-OP.  Pledge as little as $ 1.  Every dollar counts. 

EAT SMART, America!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon  and for Nook at Barnes & Noble 

The Cocktail Course

Many years ago, before I discovered the benefits of eating an anti-aging diet, I jumped on the juicing diet fad bandwagon in one of many attempts to lose the extra pounds that I was carrying around.  I was reminded of it recently when my husband and I decided to join the annual going back to school neighborhood multi family yard sale last weekend.  Going through box after box of stored memorabilia, collectibles, and household goods, was like watching an old home movie, or turning the pages of a scrapbook of our lives.

  Like hundreds of thousands of other forty somethings in the 80s, I plunked down $ 200 more or less and bought a popular state of the art juicer, hawked by a well known sports octogenarian who swore into the camera that drinking a concoction of carrots, celery and parsley, freshly juice every day was the key to his longevity and good health.  For one whole week, I juiced every vegetable and fruit I could get my hands on to try out the machine.  After weeks of juicing, I was no closer to a normal weight than before I had started and generally felt no different, although I did notice a tinge of permanent orange on the fingers of my left hand, no doubt from all of the carrots.  A decade later and 3000 miles away from where I had first used it, here it was again, it’s shiny stainless steel blade none the worse for wear.  So out to the yard it went with all the other boxes that had crossed the continent more than once and still remained unopened through the last two moves.  As the day wore on, it became apparent that no one was interested in a $ 200 juicer, not even for $ 30 bucks.  I took that as a sign. 

At the end of a long day of powerful deal making and highly impressive negotiations,  there I was at my kitchen counter pondering what to do with my  $ 200 juicer when suddenly it came to me.  I am always looking for more ways to prepare and consume vegetables that could then be served to offset small amounts of acid producing foods like protein and grains.  With experience I have been able to come up with enough interesting ways to prepare alkaline producing vegetables, condiments, soups, salads, and such for every meal except for one.  The one course that is particularly difficult with which to accomplish this balance is the cocktail course.  Yes, you heard me.  That’s right.  In my family the first course to every evening meal is the cocktail.  Now, staring at the juicer I knew I had a way to convert that course to a 60/40 (alkaline to acid producing) ratio as well.

All alcoholic beverages are acid forming, whether it is vodka from potatoes, gin from juniper berries or tequila from the blue agave.  Now, I have tried to rationalize my participation in the cocktail course by thinking of the juniper berries, and blue agave, and potatoes as vegetables, of plant origin and therefore, alkaline producing, right?  Wrong!   Sugar, fermentation and distillation yield an acidic forming product.  But, here’s the good news.  A contemporary cocktail such as an appletini or cosmopolitan, is made of anywhere from 1 to 2 oz of alcohol and the rest of the glass is filled with a mixer.  Sooooo, as I eyeball my juicer staring me in the face, I realize it is the key to rendering the cocktail course from one that is acid producing to an oh-so-good alkaline forming first course.  By juicing fresh whole parsley, celery, lemon, lime, cucumbers, avocado, tomatoes, apples, carrots, beets, lettuces, chili peppers and any other vegetable of your liking (not all together, of course) and adding good spices and herbs like cinnamon, mint, basil and red pepper flakes, you can turn an acid forming classical martini of gin and dry vermouth (fortified wines are even higher in acid forming qualities), or a contemporary one like a cosmopolitan into a powerhouse of alkalinity.  Just leave out the vermouth and bottled mixers and fill to the brim with liquid vegetables, freshly juiced including the fiber.  And there-in lies the reason why no one bought my juicer.  I do believe in serendipity. 

Eat Smart Mexican Martini (my favorite cocktail thus far)---Juice celery stalks with leaves, cucumbers and lime zest.  Add the juice of one lime.  Chill a martini glass and pour in 1 1/4 ounce of Tequila.  Fill to brim with juice.  If you like a salted rim, coarse ground sea salt will do the trick.

EAT SMART, America!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon  and for Nook at Barnes & Noble

A Personal Day

Today I am taking a personal day, not a day off from the office as I suppose is the context for most people, but a day to reflect on the passing of someone who will always have a special place in my heart.  My nephew, Michael “Miggs” Daly passed away on October 10, 2010.  He died in his sleep, at 35, in his own bed, unexpectedly, from complications of diabetes.  Complications of diabetes---words that are more and more familiar to all of us as the diabetes epidemic spreads across America. 

Michael was diagnosed at the age of 8 with juvenile diabetes, also referred to as diabetes I.  Although the cause of juvenile diabetes may not be the same as adult onset diabetes more commonly referred to as diabetes II, the symptoms, management and outcome may be the same depending on severity.  However, there is one BIG difference between the two, that is---diabetes II is self-inflicted and, therefore, is 100% preventable.   We Americans inflict this on ourselves by gorging on soda, sweet tea, beef, pasta, bread, and baked goods, and feeding our addiction to added sugar and refined grains.  Eliminate these foods from the diet and we eliminate the words, complications of diabetes II. 

I think of Michael every day at least once, but with the approach of Fall, he is on my mind more so not only because  it was in the Fall that this tragedy occurred, but also, because of the upcoming annual event to take place this September 30 in his honor.  Michael’s Walk is his mother’s way of honoring her son’s battle and to help raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes  Research Foundation (JDRF).    The second annual walk and timed run begins at Harvey’s Beach in Old Saybrook, CT, Michael’s favorite place to be.   You can join Michael’s family and friends in the 5K memorial run/walk along the Connecticut shore or you can donate in his memory by going to 

Michael Daly 5k Memorial Run/Walk

Michael is remembered and loved by a great many people.  This letter, written by a special friend at the time of his passing, speaks for us all.

                                         

                                              Letter to Michael’s Family and Friends

When I was 5, I had a friend named Michael who saw my shyness and coaxed me to play with others with his easy smile and sweet words of encouragement.  We played at the beach in a town named Old Saybrook.  I felt safe. 

When I was 12, I had a friend named Michael, who saw my teenage insecurities.  He went out of his way to include me in his circle of friends with his easy smile and sweet words of encouragement.  We were friends at the beach in a town named Old Saybrook.  I felt safe.

When I was 18, I had a friend named Michael who visited me, frightened and alone in Boston, my first time far away from the beach in a town named Old Saybrook.  But he was there with his easy smile and sweet words of encouragement.  I felt safe.

When I was 25, married with kids of my own, I had a friend named Michael who gave me strength and made me laugh with his easy smile and sweet words of encouragement in a surgical suite in a hospital far away from the beach in a town named Old Saybrook.  I felt safe.

Now, I have only the memories of my friend, Michael, with his easy smile and sweet words of encouragement.  Alone, for the first time, I walked to the beach in a town named Old Saybrook where my world no longer felt safe.  But, with an easy smile and sweet words of encouragement, I prayed for Michael, that he did.    (Letter from Michael’s friend, Christi Moutinho Holmes on Michael’s passing)

My nephew, Michael Scott “Miggs” Daly passed away on October 10, 2010.  He was 35 when he died in his sleep from complications of diabetes.  He was uncle, brother, son, and nephew, but most of all, friend.  If friendships were wealth, then Michael’s legacy was worth a fortune.  To Michael, the richest man in town!

For the sake of the next generation, EAT SMART, America!

Chef AngelaB

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

I read some disturbing news today reported by a well known and highly regarded  doctor of integrative medicine.  According to the article, The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a group charged by congress to analyze and recommend preventive medical services, published its assessment of the value of physician counseling patients on diet and exercise.  The report indicated that the health benefit of counseling was small, and the official recommendation was for clinicians to choose which patients to counsel based on their history and not a recommendation for primary care physicians to counsel all adult patients.  What?  Doesn’t that once again put the emphasis on treating symptoms after the damage is done, imply that physicians have no influence on changing patient behaviors and furthermore that they should limit visits to writing prescriptions, ordering tests and performing surgery?

                The mainstream medical community is finally in agreement with alternative medical practitioners such as chiropractors and naturopaths, massage therapists, and nutritionists who have known for decades, that inflammatory foods in the diet of Americans are responsible for obesity and age related chronic disease.  I for one can give personal anecdotal evidence, having reduced my blood glucose from 109 to the current 85 as the result of a diet consisting of at least 60% alkaline forming foods and the elimination of refined grains and added sugar.  But, sadly, this was not at the suggestion of any primary care physician with whom I had entrusted my health for nearly 50 years, but rather at the advice of my chiropractor.    

                It seems like everyone except the medical community has heard the call to action, Eat Smart programs are popping up across the nation , celebrity chefs are promoting changes to school lunch programs, the National Restaurant Association’s KidsWell program was launched ensuring that member restaurants have at least one healthy kid’s meal, and schools across America are responding to the USDA recommendations for a change to eating patterns.  But, unfortunately, although the objectives are noble, if you read the mission statements and look at these programs close up, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know they will not succeed in changing the behavior of the adult American who lives on a diet of soda, sweet tea, pizza, sandwiches with 10 oz of meat and pasta.  And of all the families I know, there is not one where the behavior of the child rubs off on the parents, but rather, in every family I know, the child imitates the parent.  Just ask anyone what their favorite go to meal is and they will respond with a food which was a family favorite growing up---most likely served up by their moms. 

                There are, however, ways to go about changing the diet behavior of adults.  One is through the influence of the family physician.  After all, if you go to your doctor and are told that smoking a pack of cigarettes a day is causing you to have symptoms of emphysema and shortness of breath and you must stop the habit, you would do it, right?  Physicians must influence behavior before symptoms of chronic disease manifest themselves and the patient starts down the domino path of one pill for this, one pill for that, and so on and so forth.  And, the behavior must be a change to the American diet of the adult, not the child.  Your child will do as you do.  We are our parents, after all.

The second is through social mores.  Eating out is a social more and the restaurant is where the majority of meals are now prepared and consumed.  If dining out at a restaurant that serves anti aging gastronomy becomes the social norm, the latest fad, the cool thing to do, then adult behavior will adjust and so will the American palate.  The restaurant industry has done it before and I am proposing to do it again now with the first eat smart restaurant to be located in the upstate SC. 

Later this month I am going to launch a funding campaign for a cafe and kitchen co-op.  The kitchen co-op will be a hub for the upstate community, a fully equipped commercially licensed kitchen to be shared by food makers for the sole purpose of promoting anti aging gastronomy---artisanals, caterers, entrepreneurs with ideas of starting a business and home cooks who just want to can their garden vegetables.  The café will be a full service restaurant for the purpose of providing the community with fresh locally produced menu items and a showcase for the co-op members.  No refined grains, no added sugar, and 60% alkaline producing will be the standard for both.

I am counting on you, my reader as well as the community to help launch the first restaurant serving this new cuisine to which I refer to as anti-aging gastronomy.  Stay tuned and for the sake of the next generation, EAT SMART, America!

               

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

P.S.  My current book EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon 

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-America-anti-aging-primer-ebook/dp/B008H76MAK/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341433257&sr=1-5&keywords=eat+smart%2C+america

and  for NOOK  at Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/angela-bell?keyword=angela+bell&store=ebook

Herbs and spices

some of the smartest foods we know!

Herbs and spices are what make ordinary dishes into extraordinary dishes.  Thankfully they are all alkaline.  Eat as much as you want and add plenty when cooking.  There are many ways to use the stems and seeds of herbs that generally are picked for their leafy parts.  Throw them into a freezer bag instead of your trash bag.  Punch up the alkalinity (and flavor) of any finished dish by sprinkling with flat leaf parsley, cilantro or chili flakes, basil leaf, ground ginger, cumin, crushed black pepper or cinnamon.   

Herbs are the leafy part of aromatics, like the leaves of parsley and sage, and can be eaten cooked or raw although some, like sage and rosemary are not as appetizing eaten uncooked because of the texture.  Since heat brings out the aroma of any ingredient, cooking them, even a fast toss in a dry sauté pan increases the intensity of the flavor.  Bruising has a similar effect.  Smell a whole basil leaf then bruise it either by rubbing it between two fingers, tearing it or cutting it then smell again---much stronger aroma, right?

Cooked herbs add the tantalizing aroma and therefore the perceived taste which you will smell long before your eyes ever see the finished plate.  There are two ways to cook herbs in a dish.  You can either start out with them in the bottom of the pan, heated in oil to which you will add the other ingredients and cook for a long time, or you can add them in at the end of the cooking time to give an extra boost of flavor.  Some work best one way, some the other.

For example, start out a fresh tomato sauce with a whole sprig of rosemary heated in oil in the bottom of the pan.  When the aroma is strong, it is time to add the tomatoes.  Rosemary needles and stalk need time to melt, releasing the perfumed oils of the plant.  The needles will fall from the stalk which you can remove later.  The longer it stays in the sauce, the stronger the flavor in the sauce.  Basil on the other hand, should be cut or torn and tossed in at the end.  Basil is delicate and its aroma weakens the longer it is cooked. 

Experience and experimentation will give you the know-how with herbs.  But, for now you can use the following rule for best results---the more delicate the leaf, the shorter the cooking time, the more dense the leaf the longer the cooking time.  That means mint, basil, parsley, dill, cilantro, and chives which have delicate leaves can be used raw or at the end of the cooking process.  Their stalks, like parsley stems, which are woody rather than delicate, can be used in soups and stews with a long cooking time.

Sage, oregano, tarragon, thyme, rosemary and bay all have tougher leaves, and therefore should be heated in oil at the beginning, or placed inside the turkey, on top of the lamb, on the bottom of the roasting pan, or in the Dutch oven with the sauce, for example, and cooked for a long time.  Their stalks can be used as well along with the leaves in the cooking time, but removed before serving.  Bay leaves should also be removed as they do not break down or soften during the cooking process even if boiled in a stock or sauce.

A lot of chefs I know prefer using dried herbs to fresh   If you are using dried herbs, you will use less than the fresh so a little goes a long way.  Take parsley for instance, a teaspoon of dried parsley flakes is denser and therefore stronger in flavor than a teaspoon of minced fresh parsley.  Rubbed sage is more intense than fresh chopped, and dried oregano more than fresh picked.  As for cooking time, I think all dried herbs should go in at the beginning.  From the point of view of flavor, dried is a satisfactory substitute, but eating anti aging gastronomy is about eating smart.  The only smart thing to do is to use fresh herbs and a lot of them.

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

P.S.  My current book EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon 

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-America-anti-aging-primer-ebook/dp/B008H76MAK/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341433257&sr=1-5&keywords=eat+smart%2C+america

and  for NOOK  at Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/angela-bell?keyword=angela+bell&store=ebook

It’s just another tax, Mr. Bloomberg!

To ban or not to ban sugar drinks of a large size is all over the news and on the social networks with both sides having their say.  Americans are raised on sugar starting with baby formula, then refined grain products in the form of sandwich bread and pasta, followed by prepackaged foods with more sugar, more refined grains and high fructose corn syrup, energy drinks, sweetened fruit juices, baked goods, pizza, sweet tea and soda.  Banning large size soda isn’t going to put a dent in America’s love affair with sugar.

But, I think both sides are missing the point---by arguing the merits of its effect on obesity they are missing the bigger, more dire picture.  The debate should not be over the benefits of the ban, the debate should be over legality, the constitutionality of the ban itself.  As my brave, Scottish immigrant mother would say if she were still alive today,  it’s gall some people have, to do what they think is best for me.  It’s I alone who will do that and no one else.   That intervention, or should I say intrusion, has to stop somewhere and I say, stop it here!  Send elected government officials and the misguided members of the Supreme Court a clear message.    As a citizen of the republic of the United States, it is I, and I alone, who will make the decisions as to how I spend my hard earned income in the consumer market.  You will not force me to buy health insurance, you will not limit my food choices by telling me what is good or bad for me based on the standards of other government regulators, nor will you force me in the future to buy an American made automobile, or U.S. grain fed beef or prohibit me from the purchase of table salt. 

Although I am a strong advocate of ridding America of all added sugar, my position is this.  There is nothing more important to the sustainability of life than the food we feed ourselves.  NO ONE should make that choice for us.  If we allow this ban to take effect, what’s next, and next and next?  At some point, we may find ourselves shopping at the Agway for human food right between the dog chow and bird seed.  And, by the way, Mr. Bloomberg, why don’t you call the related penalty what it really is, according to the Supreme Court---a tax!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

P.S.  My current book EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon 

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-America-anti-aging-primer-ebook/dp/B008H76MAK/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341433257&sr=1-5&keywords=eat+smart%2C+america

and  for NOOK  at Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/angela-bell?keyword=angela+bell&store=ebook

What makes you fat?

I recently heard a popular cooking network star proclaim with gusto during her segment in which she was demonstrating how to make a vegetarian stew from chick peas, not to worry about the amount of carbs in the dish.  “It’s a myth,” she said, “that carbs make you fat.  Carbs don’t make you fat,” she yelled with conviction as she pointed a bejeweled finger into the camera, “fat makes you fat, you nerds.”  Wrong---if only it were that simple.

People watching their diet often cut down on dietary fat in order to lose body fat.  After all, it was long believed that obesity and other chronic diseases associated with obesity were the result of eating too much fat.  For decades the medical community as well as the USDA recommended a low fat diet in order to lose weight and reduce risk of obesity and heart disease.  In previous posts I explained the reasons for avoiding bad sugar and bad flour, two carbohydrates that do, in fact, make you fat, now let’s talk about dietary fat.  We need fat in our diet.  Our bodies need it as a source of energy, to process the fat soluble vitamins A,D,E, and K, and as the source of essential fatty acids, important for the normal function of certain glands, metabolic functions, growth and reproduction.

Not All Fats Are Equal

 There are three types of fat.  Two are bad fats.  They are fats that raise cholesterol and can therefore increase the risk for heart disease.  The two bad fats are saturated and trans fats.  Saturated fats are in foods that are often referred to as fatty meats like bacon, salt pork, sausage, short ribs, steak with marbling and the skin of poultry, and in lesser amounts in lean meats and poultry.  But it is also in dairy products such as cheese, ice cream and sour cream and certain oils like palm and coconut oil, although it is uncertain at this time as to whether or not saturated fats from dairy products have the same effect as saturated fats from meat and poultry.  All animal protein and dairy contain some saturated fats and coincidentally, all animal protein and dairy are highly acid producing in the body as well.  Which means, once you start eating good food, that which is alkaline producing, you will avoid these bad foods altogether or at least reduce the portion size to a minimum.  For those of you new to this blog, by good food I mean a diet of 60% (minimum) of alkaline producing foods on each and every plate. 

Trans fat, the second bad fat, is manufactured by hydrogenating liquid oil into a solid fat.  Trans fats are identified as such on food labels, but only if the amount exceeds a minimum of .5 grams so you must read the ingredients list on all packaged foods and look for the term hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oil.  Foods most likely to contain trans fats are snack foods, baked goods and butter substitutes.  And again, since these foods are all highly acid producing, once you start eating good food, these too will be avoided. 

The third type of fat is the good fat---unsaturated fat of which there are three:  monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and omega-3.  Nuts and seeds, oils made from nuts and seeds and avocados are good sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.  Omega-3 fatty acids are found in many species of fish such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel and in soybean products, walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil.  Since most people don’t  eat fish species that are rich in omega-3, or soy products or flaxseed, that leaves canola oil which is the oil I recommend for all cooking applications not just for the omega-3 fatty acid, but also because it has no flavor and therefore does not interfere with the flavors from seasonings and other ingredients.  For those of you who don’t eat fish, there are of course omega-3 over the counter nutritional supplements available.  Omega-3 is beneficial in keeping arteries free of plaque. 

Now, I think you can see why I say that the cooking network star is wrong about fats making you fat.  They may indeed contribute to a heart attack, but make you fat?  No!  Bad sugar and bad flour, two carbohydrates, make you fat.  Now that you “nerds” know that some fats are good and some fats are bad, how do you avoid the bad and enjoy the good?  Look at it this way, avoid fatty animal proteins, high fat dairy and hydrogenated oil, and the next time you want to snack, grab a few nuts or seeds.  As for the fish?  Well, there is a pill for everything. 

 Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

P.S.  My current book EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon 

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-America-anti-aging-primer-ebook/dp/B008H76MAK/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341433257&sr=1-5&keywords=eat+smart%2C+america

and  for NOOK  at Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/angela-bell?keyword=angela+bell&store=ebook