Home Cooking away from Home

Two weekends ago I went up to Pittsburgh and got to see some of my oldest and dearest friends. KD, LX and I prepared the meal above: salmon with onions and brie, my spicy greens recipe, beet salad, and roasted butternut squash. A colorful introduction to fall!

Since then, however, I've been "catching up." Workload has been high, and I haven't felt much like cooking, or even going grocery shopping. This has been frustrating, since I was on such a cooking kick recently and felt really inspired.

But all in all I've been wanting to eat out more lately, and giving myself permission to do so has been a hard road (though a necessary one, since I've been subsisting on Annie Chun's soup bowls and Ezekiel toast with almond butter). Today after my acupuncture appointment with Amy Jo of Re-Soul (and let me tell you, every visit is a soul renewal!) I biked down to Fast and French and treated myself to a turkey plate with gazpacho and a lot of mustard.

Fast and French (or G&M, or whatever you want to call it) is one of my favorite places to eat in Charleston, not just because the food tastes good but because I feel good after I eat it—like I've just eaten something homemade from scratch. Having a repertoire of these homemade "comfort food" places is important when you're feeling too busy or tired or lazy or uninspired to cook—or just when you need a treat.

I did find a fun way to motivate myself to cook this weekend by hosting a pot-luck dinner party. My friend Lili brought Korean food, John brought tortellini salad, Ashleigh brought a veggie plate, Mike brought chocolate and ice cream, TJ brought wine, and I made Serbian Ground Beef and Potato Bake along with an apple crumble. A good time was had by all!

So if you're having a hard time motivating yourself to cook, go out! Find a healthy, delicious restaurant and treat yourself. Or invite some friends over and tell everyone to bring their favorite dish.

How Long Does a Hamburger Last?

The latest attack on McDonald's involves photographer and blogger Sally Davies's experiment with a Happy Meal, which she left to sit out for sixty days, apparently with no effect on the food.

McDonald's spokespeople seem very offended and insist that their hamburgers are made with "100% USDA-inspected ground beef" and cooked with "salt, pepper and nothing else -- no preservatives, no fillers" and that their buns are made with "common government-approved ingredients" (which basically means nothing considering that the government has approved trans fats and artificial sweeteners). Notice they say nothing about what the fries are made with.

But let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's say that this is true. What it means is actually scarier than if McDonald's was using preservatives.

First, it says that "USDA-inspected ground beef" is already so full of preservatives and chemicals that it is not a food. If I didn't have neighbors, I would cook a pound of the USDA beef and a pound of organic, grass-fed beef and let them sit out and see which went bad faster.

Second, what McDonald's doesn't mention is that both hamburger and fries are cooked in some kind of vegetable oil, which is itself "preserved" at high temperatures, making it rancid without any symptoms. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that cooking food in rancid vegetable oil will "preserve" it into a state of plasticity.

McDonald's deserves props for switching to trans-fat-free cooking in 2008, though this was a delayed reaction. However, under their "Nutrition" web page, the motto reads "It's all about delicious choices."

Really?

Of course people want their food to taste good. And those who eat McDonald's say that it does. But that is not what "nutrition" is about. I'm treading on thin ice here, because nutritious food should also taste good. However, this seems to indicate that taste is more important than nutrition; that it really doesn't matter what you're putting in your body as long as it tastes good and you get a variety.

How about "It's all about not getting heart disease" or "It's all about putting things into your body that benefit and nourish it"?

If I haven't convinced you, maybe this will.

So what are you supposed to do with this? Just be aware. You don't have to stop eating McDonald's. I'm not trying to make a point to ruin anybody's good mood. But you deserve to know what you're putting in your body and to make an informed decision. And if you get sick, you deserve to know that what you ate probably contributed to it, because knowing this empowers you to heal yourself by making changes.

Ignorance is killing Americans. It's not McDonald's fault, though they share some of the blame. It's the fault of deliberate and innocent deception and unawareness. And it's my passion and my goal to change that.

Celebrate Non-GMO Month!

In addition to being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October is also Non-GMO Month. GMOs are genetically modified foods. You may have heard a lot about them in the news lately, especially with regard to the "Frankensalmon." I remember when the issue of GMO first came up around the turn of the millennium. I thought, No big deal. It's just science.
And that's exactly what Psychology Today wants us to think. According to writer David Ropeik, fear of GMOs is nothing more than a psychological perception of risk. We fear what we can't control. And because the government won't tell us the details of genetic modification (for the financial safety of the companies making money off of it), we fear GMO corn, soy, and now salmon. By this argument, genetic modification is just a "secret recipe" like the combination of ingredients for Heinz or Coke.
By contrast, there are arguments made based on a history of irresponsible governmental decisions when it comes to food. After all, high fructose corn syrup is made from corn and is therefore "natural," yet it still wreaks havoc on the body. As for trans fats, they are made from vegetables, and what could be better for you? However, now even the infamously mainstream Mayo Clinic is now calling "double trouble for your heart health." (The USDA's replacement for the Food Pyramid, now called MyPlate, still recommends vegetable oils, which are not much better than trans fats; in one study of several thousand men, men asked to reduce saturated fat by consuming vegetable oils had 100% more deaths than those who ate "bad" diets containing saturated fat and cholesterol).
So we have a reason to be suspicious of the government's blanket approval of a new way to mess with our food. Other concerns are animal and environmental health, moral and ethical concerns, and the fact that nobody wants to label GMOs, just like they want to rename high-fructose corn syrup.
What do you think about GMO? A blessing or a curse? Is technology like this safe when it comes to food? Should we trust multinational food corporations and the ever-compliant FDA?

How to Soak Grains: Easy, Quick, and Essential

I've been somewhat distressed recently to learn how important it is to soak grains. Evidently this is how our ancestors have been preparing grains for a long time, and for good reason. The phytic acid in grains interferes with absorption of zinc, calcium, and other minerals, the lack of which are behind such common American diseases as osteoporosis and depression, as well as PMS, fatigue, and memory loss. In fact, zinc deficiency is the fifth leading risk factor for disease in the developing world.

So. I have embarked upon a grain-soaking pilgrimage that started when Ken Immer Changed My Kitchen. He showed me how easy it was to soak quinoa, and I have been doing so ever since.

Recently a food therapy client communicated some apprehension about starting this practice, so I came up with a quick step-by-step process to show you just how easy soaking grains can be.

1. Measure out the amount of grain you want to soak: 1, 2, or 3 cups.
2. Put grain in a wide (rather than tall) container, preferably glass but plastic also works, so that grain is spread out as much as possible.
3. Cover with filtered water until the grain is covered by at least 1 inch. You may need to stir the grains around so that they sink.
4. Seal and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Cooking time reduces the longer you soak; after about a week, cooking time is reduced by about half.
5. Whenever you want to cook some grains, measure out the amount, rinse in strainer, and cook normally, with reduced cooking time.

I have also tested this with rye berries and amaranth to great success. (Rye takes 3 hours to cook when unsoaked; after soaking it took approximately 30 minutes!) I'm going to try it with brown rice next, which is especially high in phytic acid. Other grains to try are kamut, millet, barley, bulgur, spelt, and wheat berries.

The Nourished Kitchen also has a lot of information on soaking grains, including this wonderful Soaked Oatmeal recipe that I'm excited to try. Oatmeal always makes me feel yugh after I eat it, so I'll let you know if soaking it makes a difference. She even has information on soaking and sprouting flour, and maintains that fermentation of grains is even more effective at making the nutrients bioavailable. I'll do another post on sprouting and fermenting.

Jacob's Kitchen

Just discovered two amazing sites of the same name!

The first Jacob's Kitchen is located in Oregon, and I have never seen more beautiful food photography! This guy says part of his dream is to be a food designer, and you can tell, even though he also claims that his photography is amateur. Amazing recipes for back-to-basics, down-to-earth food from homemade ricotta to fried risotto, with a delicious emphasis on baking! He even sells scones, muffins, biscotti, and other pastries on his blog.

I just had to steal one of his photos to give you an idea of how gorgeous this food is, but you really have to see the site for yourself. It's as good as eating all those delectable goodies!

The second Jacob's Kitchen is right here in Charleston! (Serves me right for never going into I'on.) With their claim to sustainable, hormone-free meat, poultry, and fish, I have been remiss in omitting them from my Local Eating in Charleston series. The Post & Courier seems pretty impressed with them as well.

It's hard to choose off a menu of such fantastic choices of "New South Cooking," but the Kobe Beef Burger for $10 stands out, as does the pickled shrimp cocktail and the Split Creek Farm goat cheese, chive, and preserved lemon ravioli. Um, YUM! They serve lunch, dinner, and brunch; I know where I'm going to be this Sunday!

A Breakfast Post! Too Many Eggs Follow-Up

So I got lots of great egg options following my Too Many Eggs dilemma. In addition to the comments on that post and some recipes by e-mail, I even got a suggestion (made by a good friend who was clearly joking) that I egg cars.

But ultimately I decided that I would simply whittle away at my eggs by eating two of them for breakfast every day.

I've been frying eggs and eating them over sauteed mustard greens (don't judge till you've tried it; not a far cry from spinach), but this morning I had scrambled eggs with fresh basil and chives, turkey bacon, and a gluten-free toaster waffle (I think I like the gluten ones better). Still, it was a yummy and very satisfying breakfast.

However, I hear a lot and find myself that it's hard to come up with a good breakfast. By that I mean a fast breakfast. I think most people feel this way. I can't ever seem to get to the office before 10 a.m., and while I think this is largely because I don't have a boss or a regular paycheck, it would still make me feel more productive to get there sooner.

Still, there's no doubt that breakfast is important, and honestly, the breakfast above took about 5 minutes to make. While the coconut oil was heating in the pan for the eggs, I stuck the turkey bacon on a broiler pan and into the oven while it preheated to Broil. Then I cracked the eggs and mixed them around in the fry pan for about a minute. Finally I stuck the waffle in the toaster oven for about 3 minutes while the eggs finished cooking. I cut the herbs from my pots and was ready for breakfast.

That said, I've come up with some fast breakfast options out of necessity. They just require a little planning (and shopping) ahead:

• Amy's burritos (frozen, microwavable in 2 minutes, filling, and delicious)
  
• any precooked grain reheated with a little milk or coconut milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon
• Cook eggs and bacon like above and wrap it all up in a tortilla to go
• A banana—while portable and remarkably filling, you'll probably be hungry an hour or so after eating this unless you pair it with some yogurt or a granola bar. I'm not a huge fan of granola bars, but Ken Immer's gRAWnola (available in locally Charleston and hopefully everywhere else) is a great option, as well as Nicole's Nutty Goodness (also local). And of course, if you're eating yogurt, stay away from Yoplait, etc. If you like flavored yogurt or yogurt drinks, try to buy them at Whole Foods or Earth Fare to ensure they have a minimum of additives. Regardless, a banana is better than no breakfast at all.

Now, something for when you're in the mood and have the time for a decadent egg breakfast. This was sent in by one of my readers (my mom). It's from the cookbook Barefoot in Paris, and she's made it for me before, and it's delicious! The heavy cream isn't an everyday food, but don't be afraid of the calories or the fat; it will satisfy you in a healthy way and leave less room for unhealthy cravings later on in the day.


Herbed Baked Eggs
serves 2

• ½ tsp fresh minced garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley
• 1-2 TBSP freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 6 eggs
• 2 TBSP heavy cream or half and half
  
• 1 TBSP unsalted butter
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Toasted French bread

Preheat broiler for 5 min. and place oven rack 6 inches below heat.

Combine the herbs and cheese and set aside. Carefully crack 3 eggs into each of 2 small bowls without breaking the yolks. Place 2 individual gratin dishes or custard cups on a baking sheet and place 1 TBSP of cream and 1/2 TBSP butter in each. Place under the broiler for about 3 min or until butter/cream mixture is hot and bubbly.

Quickly, but gently, pour each bowl full of eggs into each dish, sprinkle with the herbs and cheese/ salt and pepper and place under the broiler for 5 minutes until the whites are almost cooked. Remove from oven and allow eggs to set for a minute. Serve with hot toasted French bread.