Fats - The Good, The Bad, and The What-The-Hell-Is-That-Even-Made-Of?

Fats are a very important part of our diet. Let me rephrase that slightly- The RIGHT fats are an important part of our diets. In fact, without a little good fat in our diets we would not live very long. Fats are crucial to many physiological functions, mainly acting as a source of energy and as a conduit for crucial fat-soluable vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K. Fats are also responsible for helping to maintain healthy skin and cell membrane structure! When selecting any food product, it is always helpful to know the difference between the 4 major groups of fats. Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, Saturated, and Trans fats.

Mono and Polyunsaturated fats are considered your 'good fats' while Saturated and Trans fats are really the fats you should be limiting and excluding respectively, as much as possible if you're trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. The good fats can be found in foods like natural olive oils, avocados, nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews), and by extension natural nut butters, seeds such as sunflower, sesame, pumpkin and
flax, fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines) and tofu. These good fats actually help boost a healthy metabolism and encourage your body to burn more calories as well as helping prevent heart disease and/or strokes, type-2 diabetes and boost your mental development and immune system!

The bad fats, found in most commercially prepared products, margarines, vegetable shortenings, packaged snack foods, are the fats that are proven to raise LDL levels (Low-Density Lipoprotein or bad cholesterol) and lower HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein or good cholesterol) leading to the very bad health conditions most people wish to avoid.
Always check your labels. Remember this, the good fats should make up about 20%-35% of your daily calories-from-fat intake while saturated fats should not exceed 10% of your daily calories-from-fat intake. If possible, avoid trans fats completely.

For an easy way to differentiate between the good and bad fats remember this- most unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature while most saturated and trans fats are solid at room temperature.

Trans fats are made through a purely chemical process of 'partial hydrogenation.' This means that an actually healthy fats is packed full of hydrogen atoms and converted into a now unhealthy, solid fat. Think of it this way. Your probably not going to wash an entire pound of crisco down your kitchen sink. You know that drain will clog. But olive oil can go through the pipes with ease, causing no issue. The same goes for your arteries. The more solid the fat, the more likely it is your arteries can develop a clot!

Now that we know the difference... making wise decisions just got that much easier! So 'If at room-temperature it doesn't melt, be prepared to loosen your belt, but if at room-temperature it's in a liquid state, you'll be healthy and looking great!'

This statement bodes true for most saturated fats, however there is an exception as not all saturated fats are created equally. The operative word here being 'CREATED'. Coconut oil, is a very tasty NATURAL oil extracted from the 'meat' of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm. 1 tsp or about 4 g, can actually be up to 3.9g unsaturated fat or 19% of your daily saturated fat intake. This being said, the benefits of coconut oil make these numbers seem far less daunting. Firstly, close to 50% of the fat found in coconut oil, 'lauric acid' actually has many health-promoting properties.

Lauric acid is what's known as an MCFA or MCT (Medium-chain Fatty Acid or Medium-chain Triglyceride.) Most common vegetable and seed oils are made up of LCFA's or LCT's (Long-chain Fatty Acids or Long-Chain Triglycerides.) These LCT's are large molecules, which means they are harder for your body to process and break down and will usually just be stored in your body as fat. However, MCT's are a shorter chain fatty acid, thus a smaller molecule AND very easy for your body to break down. Your liver will be able to burn the fat immediately, converting it into energy - much like the process of carbohydrates but without the accompanying insulin spike! So while having a higher saturated fat content, the fat is easily converted into energy, not stored as fat in your body AND significantly helps boost your metabolism! Here's another plus.. When lauric acid is in your body, it is converted into the monoglyceride 'monolaurin.' The benefits of monolaurin are amazing. In your body, it exhibits non-toxic antifungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antiprotozoal properties. Basically, monolaurin disrupts the lipid membranes in micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi essentially destroying them. Monolaurin compound can be an effective combatant for fungal diseases such as ringworm and athlete's foot, as well as a great way to fight 'candida albicans' better know as either oral or genital yeast infections!

On a slight aside, here's a tidbit of info on cooking with olive oil. Olive oil is best used in salad dressing and only for sauteing foods at low to medium heats. When you use olive oil at a high temperature of cooking you actually begin to change the chemical properties of the oil itself. Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat containing many forms of 'phenols.' These forms of carbolic acid are great for your body, however up to 80% of the dihydroxyphenols are lost when the oil is heated using high heats. The majority of the vitamin E also goes out the door with the heat application as well. Olive oil also has a much lower smoke-point than other cooking oils. This means that it will burn at a much lower temperature. When the oil begins to burn, chemical changes occur within the molecules. 'Oxygen radicals' begin to form quite rapidly. These radicals are known to have carcinogenic effects which have been linked to cancers of all sorts. Just breathing in the fumes from burning oil can be dangerous. So keep that olive oil handy for your homemade salad dressing or make sure you use low temperatures while cooking with it... Really.. try the coconut oil..

So the next time you need to buy cooking oil, and yes I have replaced ALL cooking oils with coconut oil, think on it for a minute. Will you buy a cheap, lower fat-content oil that will actually make your body STORE fat, or a slightly higher and SATURATED fat coconut oil that will boost your immune system, give you all the good preventative 'Anti-' benefits (that costly prescription drugs don't do half as effectively if you do need them), and OH, did I mention the benefits to your skin and hair!? I challenge you to try coconut oil. You can buy it at most Superstores (Loblaws), Sobeys, Bulk Barn (great if you only want to try a small bit) and any hippie health-food store
xoxo

Coconut Banana Bread- LA LA YUM!

I don't know many people who don't enjoy a slice of banana bread. In fact, I only know one person who detests bananas. Isn't that bananas? xo

I'm also very fond of coconut now that I know a lot more about it's hidden health benefits!! This recipe I think is still a bit rich, however I am going to experiment with more ways to cut out the sugar. My roommate hates dates, but you could always soak and puree some dates to mash in with the bananas. You might need to adjust your flour measurement, but I'm sure that would significantly cut down on the added sugar factor.

You'll need:
Dry mix-
1 3/4 cup Flour (I was using whole wheat)
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened and used less sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp orange zest

Wet mix-
About 3 large super ripe bananas (mine were frozen and really dark brown and sweeeet)
1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 egg + 2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla or one vanilla bean insides scraped out
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 tbsp fat free sour cream

Pre-heat your oven to 350° (325° if you have a convection oven)

Step 1- in a bowl, mix together all the dry mix ingredients.

Step 2- In a second bowl, mash the bananas very well and mix in the rest of the wet mix ingredients. Whisk gently to break up the eggs, but don't over whisk or you'll risk the bread being too dry..

Step 3- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together. If you find the batter is too thick, add a bit more coconut milk to thin it out. It should be just pourable, well plopable 

Step 4- Pour into a loaf pan lightly greased with coconut oil and a bit of flour. Bake for about 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, insert a tooth pick into the centre. It should still come out with batter. Turn the pan and bake for another 20 minutes. Test again with the toothpick. My oven cooks it perfectly in this time, but no two ovens are the same, so if it's still not cooked, set your timer at 5 minute intervals and check with a toothpick until it comes out clean!

Let the loaf rest for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Resist all urges to devour the entire loaf. This loaf makes about 16 slices, so it lasted us 4 nights.

You can try substituting about 2 Tbsp of flour for cocoa powder, or add 1/4 cup chocolate chips to the batter.

As I mentioned, I was using sweetened coconut. My bananas were extremely sweet and I find that coconut milk, while the brand I buy says 0g sugar, still has a beautiful natural sweetness to it so I actually only used about 1/3 cup brown sugar. Again, try some pureed dates and maybe bring the added sugar down to 1/4 cup!

Le Yum
xoxo

Chewy, No Bake, Almost Vegan Granola Bars

     Every so often most people will decide they need to lose weight. Some of those people actually MAKE the effort to do so by exercising and changing their eating habits. For me, I've decided to make these changes too. I've cut out most superfluous sugars, replaced regular and whole wheat flour with Red Fife, whole grain, spelt and chick pea flours, cut down on meat intake, upped legume, fruit and veggie intake and cut way down on my dairy intake. Boy does my tummy thank me for THAT last one ;)

On that note, I'm trying to replace most store bought 'treats' and 'snack foods' with natural and tasty alternatives where I can control the quantity of sugar that is added (if it's even needed!)

Last night I made some really chewy granola bars that are just simply delish! I didn't really measure anything so my quantities are guesstimated here but you can always play around with the ingredients and find out what you like. I used honey for this batch as money was a bit tight this week. You can replace it with Agave nectar or brown rice syrup, the latter having the least amount of calories as well as actually having the lowest amount of sugar per serving AND making these vegan... Unfortunately I just couldn't afford to buy both honey and rice syrup and I need the honey for other things.. Next time tho! I did get some dried fruit mix but I won't use it again as it has too much sugar. I ran out of $$ to buy for fresh fruit to dehydrate.. and I didn't actually add the dried blueberries since my roommate didn't like them...

 Makes About 10 bars

Ingredients

2 tsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp cashew butter

1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter... 

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup honey

1 Tbsp molasses

1  cup TOTAL of:

Chopped dry roasted and unsalted almonds

Sesame seeds

Sunflower seeds

Dried apple ( I dehydrated my own in the oven to avoid added sugar)

Chopped high quality dark chocolate chopped

Dried blueberries (again I made my own)

Flax seeds

About 1 1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup Rice Crispies or organic rice or kamut puffs

Method

Mix the first set of 'liquid' ingredients in a plastic or glass mixing bowl to make a smooth paste where all of the coconut oil is incorporated.

Add the 1 cup of mixed ingredients. Pop the bowl into the microwave and nuke for about 20-30 seconds. This will melt the chocolate in with the nut butters and will also help with the addition of the dry ingredients.

Add the rice cereal and the oats. Again, since you heated the liquid mixture you will find it much easier to incorporate the oats and rice cereal. Once all the oats are coated with the 'liquid' mixture, line a loaf pan with a thin layer of coconut oil and press the mixture in nice and tight. Chill for at least 2 hours, then cut and enjoy!

For the 1 cup of add-ins feel free to omit, swap or add anything you like. Always use dry roasted unsalted nuts ( unless you don't worry about sodium intake.) You might want to try: 

Cashews

Golden or Thompson raisins

Carob chips

Banana chips

Poppy seeds

Other types of dried fruit         (just remember commercially prepared ones have added sugars and things you most likely can't pronounce)

Just go nutz and have fun!!

Best Beef-free Burger

Some days I crave nothing but meat. Beef, lamb, chicken, I could eat them all. But today was different. We have had four consecutive nights that included ground beef. Two nights of beef enchiladas and two nights of my spin-on-a-friends'-grandmothers spaghetti and meaty goodness sauce. So it was time for some foliage and extra veggies! I knew I wanted burgers but couldn't bring myself to pull the ground beef out of the freezer. I decided that mushrooms were a must, and some excuse to finish my avocado (not that I ever need one). So portabello mushroom sliders were the dinner special chez nous!

You need:
4 small portabello caps
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic thinly sliced
4 slider buns
About 1/2 small log of goat cheese
Tomato slices
1/2 a small avocado sliced
Roasted red pepper strips ( I make my own instead of buying them in a can or bottle)
Lettuce leaves
Dijon
Mayo


Step 1: Make the marinade for the mushroom caps by mixing the balsamic vinegar, dried herbs and sliced garlic. Place the mushroom caps in the marinade and spoon over the mushrooms. I let mine marinate for about 2 hours flipping and spooning again half way through.

Step 2: Once the mushrooms have marinated, grill them if you have a small electric grill (like a George Foreman or Cuisinart grill) or sear in a non stick pan.

Step 3: ASSEMBLE! It's that easy! Just make sure you put the goat cheese right on top of the hot mushroom so it melts and the flavours meld into a mouth watering combination!

Step 4: Devour! I ate mine so fast that I wish I had another! My friend thought the sliders were so good, she thought they had meat in them!! PSYCH! lol

We had ours with oven roasted potato wedges and our first corn on the cob of the year! BTW, I owe a big shout out to my friend for picking, without a doubt, the BEST corn I've had in forever!

* If you want to make your own roasted red peppers here's some tips
I usually use red, orange or yellow peppers for this, green peppers are sometimes too bitter.
Wash the peppers and pat them dry. Lightly rub them with some olive oil. If you have a gas stove, you can place the pepper right over the flame. If you don't have gas then put the oven on high broil. It takes longer in the oven, but it's still worth it. Leave it over the flame or under the broiler until the skin turns black. Flip the peppers around until the whole pepper is black. Let the peppers cool for a few minutes, then wrap them in paper towel and rub off the black skin. The pepper should be cooked, but not burnt under the skin. Voila! roasted red peppers at home, and they definitely don't taste like they have been sitting in a can.

You can also make a sweet vinegar pickling liquid to give the peppers even more flavour. I use a combination of white vinegar and cider vinegar, about 1/2 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup cider vinegar ( don't be afraid to play around and find out what your flavour preference is), 3 Tbsp of sugar, 2 cloves of garlic lightly chopped, rosemary (fresh or dried) maybe 1 stem fresh or 2 tsp dried, and a pinch of thyme (again fresh or dried). Place everything in a small pot and heat just until all the sugar is dissolved. While the peppers are still warm, place them in a jar or container and pour the warm pickling liquid over them. Place in the fridge and by the time everything is cold, the peppers can be eaten, enjoyed and loved!!

Moroccan Bean and Turkey Stew - A Flavourful Fowl Makeover

   
     When buying a turkey at the holiday's a good butcher will always know how to advise you on the right size bird to buy to feed your brood. For the average family the rule is 1 pound per person plus about another 3-4 pounds for leftovers. It's always a struggle trying to find that glorious turkey that will undoubtedly feed the family and maybe have enough to send home with the 'kids'. More often than not, there is so much food on your dinner table you could feed an entire army! Kids fight over the stuffing, the older folk fight over the neck and the kitties get the giblets. One happy family dinner! Once the hoopla is over and done with, doggy bags packed and gone, one often large problem remains. The remains of the often too large turkey, that is! What once was "will this be enough?" has now turned into "what the HECK am I supposed to do with all this?" Sounds familiar doesn't it?! So the next weeks regimen usually consists of a few (hundred) turkey sandwiches, some turkey pot pie, turkey soup, and some desperate attempts at making turkey NOT taste anything like turkey. I came up with one recipe that masks the flavour of the fading fowl and turns it into a mouth watering Moroccan myriad of flavours.

You'll need:

2 small onions, sliced or diced
Olive oil for sautéing
1 large diced carrot
2 Cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste

2  tsp paprika 

2 1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground mace

1/8 tsp ground cardamom

2 cups diced turkey (white and/or dark)
3 cups turkey stock

1 can 19fl oz (540 mL) navy beans rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/8 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Start with about 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy bottom pot and sauté the onions until translucent, about 5 mins on medium heat. Add diced carrot and  for about 5 more minutes. Now add the chopped garlic and let cook for about 2 minutes.

2. Add in the tomato paste and all the dried herbs and spices. Stir in the diced turkey and add the turkey stock and beans. Let simmer for about 20 minutes or until your carrots are tender.

3. Add your chopped apricots and raisins and let cook for another 5 minutes (depending on how soft your apricots and raisins are - you want them soft but not mushy)

4. Just before serving your stew, garnish with the chopped parsley.

If you like a twist, you can replace the chopped parsley for cilantro, add a squeeze or two of lemon juice, or add a dash or ten of your favourite hot sauce ( mine is 'El Yucateco XXX-Hot'- a habanaro based hot sauce I pick up from my local Mexican restaurant

I served mine on cardamom and saffron infused rice and I could hardly tell that turkey was in my dinner...

(Sorry, no picture.. I ate it too fast!)

Xoxo,
-C

Growth Hormone Used in Beef and Dairy Cattle - Research Assignment for Biology

Over the past 60 years many significant changes have taken place in the food production industry worldwide. Dairy and cattle farms have increased in size and have boosted production at an astounding rate to meet the demands of the growing population. Through scientific advances in genetics, changes in feed and the use of hormones, farmers have been able to speed up the natural growth process of beef cattle and increase the natural production of milk from dairy cows. This process has raised many eyebrows over the decades and is still quite a controversial issue of ethics today. 

In the 1950’s the average dairy cow could produce about 665 gallons of milk per year, however with new technology and the use of hormones, today the average cow can produce about 2,320 gallons, almost three and a half times more annually. The beef industry has seen the same types of changes since the fifties. A cow, raised naturally and grass fed takes about 23 to 25 months to mature to an appropriate age for slaughter depending on breed. With the implementation of new corn-based feeds and growth hormones, cows grow and gain weight faster, reducing their maturing period down to an astonishing 13-15 months, at least 10 months less than nature intended. Cows are natural herbivores, meant to eat grass and plants. However in the 1970‘s large feed lots discovered they could shorten the growth period and reduce feeding costs by feeding cows corn. The implementation of new feed and hormones together reduced the natural development and production to what we today see as ‘normal’.

Hormones are chemicals that are naturally produced in an animals’ (and humans’) body that control important body functions such as growth, development and reproduction. While hormones are already present in the living organism, additional hormones are sometimes given to speed up these natural body functions. Hormones can be separated into two categories, steroid hormones and protein hormones. In general steroid hormones can be taken orally, an example being birth control medication for women, while protein hormones have a tendency to break down in the stomach losing their ability to act within the body, thus they are usually administered via injection to have full effect. Both types of hormones can be further categorized as natural or synthetic. In Canada there are six hormonal growth promoters that have been approved for use in the beef and dairy industries. Progesterone, testosterone and the female sex hormone estradiol-17β are the naturally occurring hormones administered to cattle to promote rapid growth and increase milk production, while synthetic trenbolone acetate or TBA, zeranol, and the progestin melengestrol acetate or MGA are also used. Another growth promoter rBST or recombinant bovine somatotropin is widely used in the United States, approved solely for use in beef cattle, but has been banned in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and all 27 countries in the European Union. In Canada it is illegal to administer synthetic growth hormones to dairy cows, while in the United States, these restrictions do not exist. 

The hormone MGA is a steroidal progestin that, while not approved for use in humans, is used as a feed additive for cattle to promote rapid weight gain and growth. Protein growth promoters, on the other hand are usually administered via subcutaneous implants, usually behind the cows’ ear in a small pellet form. The ear was chosen as the best injection site for cattle as the ears are always discarded after slaughter and there had been concerns that injection to other cutaneous sites could show higher concentrations of the growth hormones in the edible meat products. There are often incidences of irritation or infection at the injection sites causing discomfort to the cows. The determining factor the countries against the use of rBST was the ethical issues related to its use. It was found that cows given the rBST had extremely high chances of developing clinical mastitis, whereby painful inflammation of sensitive udder tissue occurs. The chronic inflammation is sometimes accompanied by even more painful mammary gland infections. Clinical mastitis in dairy cows can also lead to bacterial infections like staphylococcus aureus. When this type of infection occurs, somatic cell counts increase to try and fight the infection. These excess somatic cells then enter the milk humans drink. Hormones are used to keep dairy cows in a constant state of milk production. This can also lead to Bovine Leukemia Virus, Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus, and Johne's disease, similar to the human Crohn's disease and they often go unnoticed because they are difficult to detect and have long incubation periods. 

With the use of hormones, cows grow and gain weight at a rate that is quite hard on their body structures. It is not uncommon for cattle to have weak, brittle bones that break easily, and low tolerance immune systems.  

While the FDA and World Health Organization have explicitly denied there is any evidence that the use of these hormones can affect human dairy and beef consumers, there is also no evidence disproving the concerns. Many large animal rights’ activist groups and consumer groups such as the Organic Consumers’ Associations of Canada and United States all feel that the use of hormones is not only an issue of ethics where the animals are involved, but issues of concern exist widely for the consumers. It is hard to believe that consuming meat or dairy products pumped with extra hormones and growth promoters could have no effect on human consumers. In the late 1970‘s, a study conducted in northern Italy looked at specific rates of young boys and girls who consumed meat and dairy products that had been treated with illegal growth promoters. The study showed that a high percentage of both boys and girls were reaching puberty, and both were developing breasts at a much earlier age than normal, age 7-10. The ‘Beef Hormone Dispute’ eventually led to the ban of imported meat treated with hormones across the European Union in the 1990’s during the mad cow disease crisis. Still to this day, the FDA  maintains that since the bovine growth hormone is not active in humans, there is no connection between the early onset of puberty in humans and the use of growth promoters, though no effort has been made by the FDA to collect any data or evidence to confirm their claim.

It seems that the decision to support or refuse the use of hormones has been left to the consumer. Today, more and more consumers are opting to purchase their meat and dairy products from shops whose suppliers avoid the use of growth promoters. More consumers are also considering the negative impact on the animals’ health and the ethical treatment of animals. Movies and books such as ‘Food Inc.” and “Forks over Knives” exposing the use of hormone growth promoters have become popular in the past decade. These movies, while not explicit evidence according to health organizations, lend to the feeling of conspiracy over the issue, driving more people to support their local hormone-free butcher shops, farmers and dairy producers instead of the larger corporations that monopolize the beef and dairy industries. The questions that most educated consumers are left with are sincere enough to deserve proper investigations and consumers as a whole must demand in the future that proper data be available to prove or refute the issues at hand. 

Szilvásgombóc

My Gramma and Greatgrama always make/made the best. I could eat these by the bucket load! Here's a recipe in Hungarian...

A titok: a krumplit előre meg kell főzni és alaposan kihűteni, ellenkező esetben ragadni-nyúlni fog a tésztánk, vérnyomásunk gyors emelkedését eredményezve! Biztosra mentem: már előző nap megfőztem és összetörtem a krumplit, a hűtőben várt további sorsára. Ahogy számítottam rá, kevés lisztet vett fel, nem ragadt, nem nyúlt, gyönyörűen lehetett vele dolgozni.

Szilvásgombóc
Hozzávalók:

80 dkg főtt krumpli
25-30 dkg liszt 
2 tojás
ízlés szerint 
20 szem szilva 
1 ek. cukor
1 kk. fahéj
olaj és zsemlemorzsa a meghempergetéshez 

A krumplit jó előre sós vízben megfőzzük, melegen összetörjük, és teljesen kihűtjük.
Hozzáütjük a tojásokat, majd beledolgozzuk a lisztet. Krumplifüggő, hogy mennyit vesz fel, nekem 30 dkg elég volt. Vigyázzunk, ne legyen túl kemény, mert élvezhetetlenné válik a gombócunk!
Lisztezett munkalapon ujjnyi vastagra nyújtjuk, s egyenlő méretű négyzetekre vágjuk.
A szilvát keresztben félbevágjuk, kimagvaljuk. A mag helyére 1-1 kiskanálka fahéjas cukrot teszünk, a két szilvafelet összetapasztjuk, majd beburkoljuk a krumplis tésztával körös-körül, ki ne folyjon főzés közben a leve.
Több adagban lobogó forró vízben kifőzzük a gombócokat. Ha feljönnek a víz tetejére, rászámolunk még 1-2 percet, s már kész is! Pirított zsemlemorzsára szedjük, óvatosan meghempergetjük benne.
Azon forrón tálaljuk, édesszájúaknak további fahéjas cukor kíséretében.

Belgian Waffles with Blueberry Syrup

     Feeling rather inspired this morning I awoke to the thought of waffles for breakfast. I will admit to a small amount of salivary over-production at this point...lol... BUT not just any old waffle would suffice. I REFUSE to buy waffles from the frozen food section of the grocery store - they taste like cardboard to me. So logically I deduced that I had all the necessary ingredients to make waffles. But again not all waffles are the same. There is a North American twist on this recipe that uses baking soda instead of yeast, but I promise you they aren't as good.

My first task, which I really should have considered before getting too excited was finding out if we have a waffle maker. Alas, she is small and will only make two waffles at a time but she works and is square just like true Belgians (waffles, not the people :) . . .) BUT a square does not a Belgian Waffle make.. NO NO! It's all in the process. True Belgian waffles are started with yeast, mixed with egg yolks, flour, butter, sugar, and whipped egg white folded in at the end. This makes them super soft and moist on the inside and crisp crisp crisp on the outside. So I digress for now, here's the recipe!

Belgian Waffles
-makes about 12-16 waffles depending on the size of your waffle iron.

Gather up:
- 1 package of active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warmed milk ( zapping in the microwave for about 25 seconds will do)
- 3 eggs, separated
- 2 3/4 warmed milk ( yes more milk.. trust me)
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups flour
- 1/2 vanilla bean ( or about 2 tsp vanilla extract)
-  1 ounce of love :)

Start by adding the package of yeast to the 1/4 cup of warmed milk. Let it stand for about 10 minutes until it gets nice and frothy.

In a large mixing bowl gently whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt, melted butter, vanilla, love and 1/4 cup of the remaining milk. Stir in the yeast mixture.

Now stir in the flour and remaining milk, alternating between the two, and finishing off with flour.

In another bowl whisk your egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the whites into the waffle batter until just incorporated. Don't whisk the egg whites in, they will un-fluff and the waffles won't be as poofy!!

Now for the hard part. Set the mixture aside, covered, in a warm-ish spot and let it rest for about an hour. It will get nice and bubbly.... See the tiny bubbles??!?!?!?

......................................... Intermission............................................

While you're waiting, if your as bored as I am now, you can make the blueberry syrup. It's easy. The recipe is further down.

............................................. Act 2 .................................................

Ok so the hour has elapsed so get the waffle iron heated up and ready to waffle!!!! HAHA I used waffle as a verb! I'm SUCH A DORK!

Depending on the size of you waffle iron, scoop anywhere from a 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of the mixture onto the waffle iron and gently close the lid. You may need a bit of pan spray on the waffle iron before you scoop on the mixture. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the waffle iron stops steaming and the waffle is a nice deep golden colour.
You can keep them in a preheated oven, 200 degrees should do, until you are ready to serve.

Blueberry Syrup

Gather up:

1 pint of Blueberries
2 cups of maple syrup
1/2 vanilla bean

Place the ingredients in a small sauce pot and slowly bring to a light simmer. Keep it simmering for about 5 minutes, or until the blueberries start to break down and get really soft.

And VOILA!! Les Gaufres Belgique! LE YUM!

-Leggo My Effin' Waffle Biotch this Ain't no Eggo Crap!-

Killer Kleenex- FOOD ALLERGY ALERT!!

Ok, so as you all know, I'm a total nerd/dork/dweeb/freak with way too much time on my hands.

The story goes as such:

My besty (insert dorky Big Bang Theory reference here) and I were out shopping one day at the drug store and I found a box of Kleenex that claims it 'Stays Cool'. Impossible I thought to myself so I swiped one of the free samples and shoved it in my pocket. I kept this kleenex a secret for a few days because I was a bit apprehensive of the mockery that could ensue upon my claiming Kleenex now has the ability to stay cold. BUT IT DOES!!  Kleenex Cool Touch. So me being me I bought a box at a cost of nearly $4. A few days later I decided to read the ingredients list on the packaging to see if I could determine the active 'cooling' ingredient(s). Most people (unlike myself and my pal) are not as adept at understanding these in-organic chemical ingredients (mind you, why would Kleenex have so many chemicals in it anyway?) but I did notice one very much organic ingredient - Cocos Nucifera, also known as coconut oil.

As it happens, and this is what sparked my interest, I work with a young man who is highly allergic to every nut under the Tuscan sun (except the peanut- go figure) including coconut. We maintain a rule in our little work space that there is at least two epipens on site at all times as we do work with nuts in our little fine-dining establishment.

So my question of the day (and no I did not test this theory nor do I wish to) will this kleenex kill my work counterpart? I am sitting here with the box in front of me and alas it has no written warning on the box that it does indeed contain a nut ingredient that could potentially induce an anaphylaxis reaction. Why?
I know when I roast Hazelnuts at work my co-worker has to leave the building to avoid a near death experience. I am currently on the phone with Kleenex to get my question answered... Awaiting response.

Spin on my Mama's Brisket

Love beef but find it a bit pricey these days? Try a cut of beef that isn't quite as well known as say the Tenderloin or the Striploin... or the default dinner-in-a-pinch lean mean ground beef!

Here's what I learned during my time working in THE best butcher shop in Ottawa, The Manotick Village Butcher.

Brisket is a wonderful dinner option. Brisket is one of the nine primal cuts located on the lower breast or chest area of the cow. It is comprised of the superficial and deep pectoral muscles. Cows do not have collar bones so these front muscles are extremely important in supporting the cows weight while standing and movin' around grazin'. Because so much weight is placed on these muscles, the brisket contains lots of connective tissue and tends to be a very tough cut of meat. Long, slow cooking is required to break down these connective tissues and leave a mouth-watering, fall-apart-on-your-fork meal.

SO get out your crock pots folks, and prepare thyselves for one doozy of a dinner.. You can either prep this dinner and toss it in the crock pot before you go to work, or even before you go to bed.

You will need:

* 4lb brisket "flat cut" or "first cut" with a nice 1/4 inch fat cap still on it.

* 4-5 nice sized carrots cubed

* 4 onions halved and sliced

* 4 large, I said LARGE potatoes 1/2 inch cubes

* 1 lb button mushrooms cut in half, stems are ok

* 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

* 2 Tbsp brown sugar

* 1 Tbsp tomato paste

* 2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

* 3 sprigs of fresh thyme

* 1/2 cup dry red wine

* 1 tsp chipotle powder or canned chipotles in adobo sauce finely mushed up

* 3 cups low sodium beef broth

* 1 heaping tsp dijon mustard (pommery would do well also) 

* 1/8 cup low sodium soy sauce

* 1/4 cup strong black coffee

* 1/2 ounce semi-sweet chocolate (half a brick of 'Bakers' chocolate will do)

Score the top (fat side) of the brisket in a diamond pattern, try not to cut the meat and season well with salt and pepper and let sit for half hour.  Once brisket has sat for the half hour  seared it off to get a nice dark colour.

Place the onions on the bottom of the crock pot. Place the seared brisket on top, fat cap facing up. Any drippings from searing the brisket go in too. Mix the beef broth, brown sugar, tomato paste, wine, chipotle powder, soy sauce, coffee, pepper and garlic and pour over the brisket. Cook for about 4 hours on high heat. After 4 hours add the carrots and potatoes. Let cook for another hour then add mushrooms. Cook for another 45 minutes. 

Here's the fun part... Pull out the brisket and set aside while nibbling the 'bits'. Strain the liquid, keeping all the veggies and strain off any excess fat. Reduce the liquid by half in a saucepan. You want the consistency to be, as the french say ' Nappé' or coats the back of a spoon. Taste for salt at this point. Reducing liquids concentrates flavours so I salt very little before.Take the sauce pan off the heat and whisk in 1/4 of a brick of bakers dark chocolate (semi-sweet is ok too but you may want to add less brown sugar- I actually used the PC 'The Decadent Dark Chocolate Chunks'~ about 8 little chunks)

MMMMMMMMMM good!!!

Home Made Garam Masala

 
So In light of it being my day off and I'm beyond myself with boredom, I'm sharing some of my favourite recipes. I hate going to Bulk Barn or the Grocery store (which I have aptly re-named Lowblows tee hee hee) I started making my own spice mixes. I actually started this garam masala concoction when I worked at The Manotick Village Butcher in Ottawa Ontario and had many an opportunity to make a wonderful Butter Chicken and Chicken Curry that pissed the butcher off to no end.. What do I care.. It sold every time and furthermore it was requested by some of the patrons!!

Garam Masala is a Hindi term meaning Hot (garam) and Mixture (Masala). I make mine quite spicy but for those who don't appreciate the eye-watering, mouth-on-fire sensation that I seem to be immune to here's a good recipe to follow. I make quite a large batch as I use it often but you can easily reduce this recipe by half if you don't make Indian food as often as I do.

     * 1/4 cup cumin seeds
     * 2 Tbsp Coriander seeds
     * 4 Black or Green Cardamom pods cracked
     * 2 Tbsp black peppercorns
     * 2 tsp ground mace
     * 3 sticks cinnamon broken into smaller pieces
     * 2 tsp ground nutmeg
     * 10-15 cloves
     *  6-8 strands of saffron
     * 2 malabar leaves crushed (basically the East Indian version of the bay leaf- use bay leaves if you like)
     (*Kick it up a few notches like I do and add anywhere from 1/2 tsp to 1 Tbsp of cayenne powder)

Start with all your whole spice ingredients and toast them lightly in a dry non-stick pan. 3-4 minutes on a medium-low heat, continuously moving them around should do the trick. Add in any powdered spices you have and toss them around for about 10 seconds on the heat. Turn off the heat and let the spices cool in the pan. Once they are cool grind them in a coffee grinder and store in an air-tight jar.
And as they say in Hindi आप का खाना स्वादिष्ट हो (āp kā khānā svādiṣṭa ho).. Means Bon Appetit!!

Chai Spiced Pancakes with Peach Cardamom Syrup

Amidst my pharmaceutically induced REM sleep last night I dreamt up a recipe for Chai Spiced Pancakes with Peach and Cardamom Syrup. They were amazing.
It's a bit long winded and I'd suggest making the Chai spice mix and the jam a few days before you want the pancakes but again, they're AMAZING!!

PART 1 – Chai Spice Mix

I went traditional Masala style on this spice mix but I promise you it's worth the effort. This little recipe should make somewhere around a half cup of this mix and you only need a little bit for the pancakes so you can store the rest in an air-tight jar. I use only dry ingredients for this as well so it will probably last until D-day! This recipe will be available in my cookbook but in case you feel like having these for breakfast before the year 2025, I’m posting it here too..

Most of the ingredients you will probably already have, so check the pantry, cupboards, drawers, spice rack and maybe even that jar that fell behind the microwave last week.

Gather up:

·      *  3-4 cassia sticks (yes you can use cinnamon, no they are not quite the same thing in terms of flavour but they are interchangeable in this case)

·      * 4 tsp ground ginger

·      * 5 cracked cardamom pods

·      *  ¼ tsp black peppercorns

·      * 3 whole allspice berries

·      *¼ tsp fennel seeds

·      *1 whole star anise

·      * ¼ tsp coriander seeds

·      *2-3 strands of saffron

·      * ¼ tsp white poppy seeds

·      * ¼ tsp ground mace

·      *½ a bay leaf

·      * ½ tsp Ajwain (it’s a seed sort of like fennel seeds but they are slightly more bitter. You can sometimes find them in a bowl at the cash of most Indian restaurants but I don’t suggest grabbing a handful from that bowl… If you’re feeling adventurous, try an East Indian grocery store or just add a few more fennel seeds.)

Take all the whole spices and lightly toast them in a dry, non-stick pan. It should take two or three minutes until the smell is absolutely amazing. BUT if you suddenly feel the urge to turn on the Bollywood channel and you miraculously become fluent in Hindi, you’ve toasted too long!

Take the pan off the heat and add any spices you have that are already ground. They will also lightly toast just with the residual heat from the pan and other spices. Let everything cool for about 15 minutes then grind all the spices together. (I use a small, clean coffee grinder, but you can use a mortar and pestle if you like doing it old school and have great upper arm strength. I don’t, and I prefer my Chai mix to be very fine so I give the grinder the workout.)

Et Voila, le Chai Spice mix!!

Part 2 – Peach Cardamom Syrup

This part takes some time because essentially you are making a quick jam, but I promise you that if you make this you will want it every morning on toast or by the spoonful.

Gather up:

* 4 large ripe ripe ripe peaches

* ¼ cup cane sugar (I hate white sugar but use what you have)

* 2 tsp lemon juice

*  About 3 cardamom pods, cracked, toasted and ground.

* ¼ cup water

* ½ tsp of Chai spice mix!!

* ½ cup maple suryp

Start by blanching the peaches in boiling water just to make it easy to remove the peach fuzz. Once all the fuzz is removed, cut the peaches in quarters and remove the pits. You can cut the peaches into small chunks if you like but everything will be pureed in the end.

Put all the ingredients in a saucepot and reduce until the peaches are super tender and all the water has evaporated. Use a small hand emulsion blender to ‘whiz’ all the ingredients together. If you don’t have an emulsion blender, use a regular blender or Cuisinart or let it cool and mash it with your feet ( but don’t tell anyone) and there you have a nice peachy cardamomy jammy. You can jar it and store it in the fridge.

For the pancakes I used about ¼ cup of this masala peach concoction with about ½ cup of maple syrup… or more if you like oodles of syrup on your flapjacks. Try warming the syrup and jam up together just before you pour it over your pancakes… DELISCIOUS!!

Part 3 – The Pancakes

You can use any old recipe for pancakes that you have, or just throw a bunch of things into a bowl as I do and stir and pray.. But here’s a super simple recipe anyway.

Gather up:

·    * 1 cup of flour (all purpose or even half A.P and half whole wheat for you healthy-life-style-inclined persons)

·    * 2 Tbsp cane sugar 

·      * ½ tsp salt

·     * 2 tsp baking powder

·     * 1 Tbsp Chai mix

·      * 1 cup milk

·      * 1 egg

·     * 2 Tbsp butter, melted, or vegetable oil.

In one bowl mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and YES the Chai mix.

In a second bowl whisk the egg and the milk just to break down the yolk.

Whisk the milk and egg into the dry ingredients. Just before all the ingredients are smooth and fully incorporated, whisk in the melted butter (or oil).

Cook the pancakes how ever large or small you like them. Stack ‘em and pour on your peach cardamom syrup and enjoy! Namaste!! 

Sugar v.s Sweetener - Truth Be Told

Take a seat. This is a sugar related science lesson for all you non-believers, and those of you whose lackluster attention in grade nine science class has led to some ignorance on this topic.

Most people think that sugar is bad for you. Well in truth, it is.

In its refined state, the most common form of sugar retailed in North America.. oh heck, let's be honest here... worldwide, it has absolutely NO nutritional value WHATSOEVER! Refined sugar is in everything. Take a look around your kitchen and try to find ten products that don't contain refined sugar. I bet most people can't find five. It's in your bread, breakfast cereal, crackers, and yes it's hiding in your junk food. Sugar, to some, is like a drug. You eat it, you love it, you want more!

What exactly is sugar? Well, in its most pure form, it is the juice of the sugar cane or sugar beet plants. A plant- that can't be so bad right? Well in it's raw form, and of course in moderation, it's not THAT horrible. But everything good goes out the door during the refining process: the enzymes, fibre, vitamins and minerals are all essentially washed away.

So what is the sugar refining process you ask. First, the sugar cane is pressed to remove all the natural sweet sugar syrup. The sugar is then washed and passed through filters to remove any non-sugar bits and to remove the natural brown colour. Essentially all that remains is the pure, concentrated carbohydrates which the human body has a hard time digesting without the presence of the now depleted proteins, vitamins and minerals. Once all those good properties are stripped away, the sugar is dried and packed ready for your enjoyment. Oh and just so you know, sugar filters are sometimes made of charred animal bones!

So refined sugar is really just a useless, simple, incomplete carbohydrate. YUCK! Incomplete carbohydrate metabolism often results in the formation of a 'toxic metabolite' such as pyruvic acid and abnormal sugars that contain five carbon atoms. Pyruvic acid has a tendency to hang around and accumulate in your brain and nervous system and the abnormal sugars in the red blood cells. These toxic metabolites essentially mess around with how your healthy red blood cells metabolize oxygen. This means they cannot get enough oxygen to survive and function normally. Don't forget red blood cells carry that most valuable oxygen throughout your whole body. In time, some of the cells will inevitably die. This can and WILL interfere with the function of any part of the body reliant on oxygen (a.k.a all of you) and is the beginning of degenerative diseases. So in essence refined sugar can be linked to an array of medical problems like hypoglycemia, mental and emotional disorders, increase of uric acid in the blood, and an increase of neurotransmitters in the brain. But lets not scare ourselves too much... Yet.

Do you ever wonder how sugar works is pound-packing, butt enlarging, thigh popping magic? Or why you seem to need a new bra another cup size larger after christmas? When you consume refined sugar only an extremely small amount is fully metabolized. The rest is stored in the liver in the form of glucose (glycogen). Since the liver has a very limited capacity, a daily intake of refined sugar (above the required amount of natural sugar) soon makes the liver blow up up up like a balloon. But even your liver knows when enough is too much. When the liver is filled to its maximum capacity, the excess glycogen is returned to the blood stream in the form of fatty acids. These are taken to every part of the body and stored in the most inactive areas: your belly, your butt, your boobs and your thighs. No if's and's or.. Butts!!

High fructose corn syrup is just as bad. Manufacturers love to use it.. in EVERYTHING: yogurt, juice, beer, cookies, candy... the list goes on. It's unbelievably cheap to produce and it's processed even more than sugar, therefore more concentrated, and as a result, even sweeter than sugar. By extension, food manufacturing companies can produce all the fructose corn syrup they like and they need to use less of it to make your sweets sweet! It's a money grab really. Pennies to produce and yet a 2 Lt bottle of Pepsi or Coke sells for over TWO DOLLARS! Imagine the profits there!

So all that doesn't mean that if you eat refined sugar, your gonna die a horribly painful, mentally altered, butt enlarged death, but you should probably look into alternatives. NATURAL alternatives. Not the commercially touted artificial sweeteners you probably have in your pantry or you grandparents carry around religiously.

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS ARE THE DEVIL! This means diet soda, sugar-free foods and basically anything with Nutra-Sweet, Equal, Sugar Twin, and I'm sure there are more I don't know of. I've actually recently discovered I have a severe allergy to sodium cyclamate ( Sugar Twin) and a lesser allergy to oh yes wait for it.. Aspartame.

Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by scientist James M. Schlatter at the G. D Searle Company ( since purchased by Monsanto). In 1970 Aspartame was put before the FDA for approval. DENIED... EIGHT TIMES! The G.D Searle Company tried again in 1973. But. alas, the FDA's researchers found it to be dangerous and it's use in foods should not be permitted. But somehow, in 1974, the G.D Searle Company got it approved for use in dry food. The following year, the FDA got a bunch of science geeks together to do some more research and found that Searle's Company's research and testing methods weren't up to par and the results varied greatly and were inaccurate as well as slightly manipulated. So just before Aspartame actually made it into dry foods, the request was denied again. A few more years of trying later, in 1981 actually, when a new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes was appointed, Aspartame was approved for use in dry foods. In 1983, Aspartame made it's way into a multitude of drinks. That same year Arthur Hayes was forced to leave the FDA amid charges of impropriety and, oh yeah accepting gratuities from FDA-regulated companies... A.K.A he was taking bribes! Anyway, another lump of years later in 1996, Aspartame had it's final victory, having all restrictions lifted for use in, well anything (despite the 90-some proven symptoms resulting from ingesting it). Aspartame can be linked to problems such as memory loss, nerve cell damage, Alzheimer's, bloating, nervous symptom disorders, hair loss (look out ladies and gents), joint pain, mental confusion, and many more I'm sure I've forgotten due to ingesting this crap.

So how is it that one little product such as Aspartame can do this much damage? Well chemically aspartame is made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms. Here's the kicker. It's part methyl-alcohol compound, when digested in the stomach converts into a methyl aldehyde, better known as Formaldehyde. We used that stuff to preserve dead piglets in grade 10 science, we didn't have it in our tea at lunch! Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin. Equal, also contains an ingredient called phenylalanine which, yes, does occur naturally in the brain, but increased levels can result in seizures, depression and schizophrenia. Nutra-sweet really is the devil too. It contains saccharine, a coal-tar compound. Saccharine in its basic substance form is benzoic sulfilimine which has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose. Yummy!

Now for my favorite bash of the evening. Splenda (commercial name for sucralose). It is true that the Splenda molecule is comprised of sucrose (sugar) — except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms. Chlorinated sugar! Delicious! Chlorine is a powerful oxidant and is used in bleaching and disinfectants. As a common disinfectant, chlorine compounds are used in swimming pools to keep them clean when little kids, the elderly, or the just plain lazy individuals decide to use it as their personal lavatory. In the upper atmosphere, chlorine based molecules have been implicated in the destruction of the ozone layer. Do you really want that in your morning cup of java or pot of tea? Sucralose, by the FDA's definition is 98% pure. What they won't tell you is that the other 2% is comprised of small amounts of heavy metals. No, not ACDC or Alice Cooper lol...Mainly methanol and arsenic. Hey, your food my be potentially poisonous, but it's low in calories!

Clearly refined sugar and artificial sweeteners are bad for us. But just in case you still don't see that, here's one last reason why. Our bodies do a delicate balancing act everyday- it's our pH balance (pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution in our bodies) and everything we put into our body has it's own pH balance. When our bodies digest food, an acid or alkaline "ash" is left behind, depending on the foods' mineral content. And guess what? Refined sugar and artificial sweeteners are highly acidic! When our bodies get too acidic, we are prone to more illness, i.e the flu, colds, skin problems, allergies, headaches, and those are the minor maladies we notice right away. Severe thyroid gland damage, liver damage, or adrenal gland damage can occur over time, and unless you can see your insides, good luck noticing those before it's too late. When there is too much acid in our body, it will begin neutralizing its self, taking alkalizing minerals from reserves. If reserves are low, our body takes minerals from our bones and muscles which could lead to osteoporosis. And if that doesn't freak you out, consider this: it's been proven that cancer cells thrive in acidic environments!

I believe that sugar or unnatural alternatives are unavoidable where all commercially prepared food is concerned. But purchasing organic products that use unrefined sugars are the best. And remember moderation is the key. You may not see the harm in one can of Coke a day, but that is still a lot of sugar. Try one can a week.

Inspiration

A diploma in Culinary arts and a love of science bring to my plate a new way of looking at food, manufacturing, production, and most important, consuming.

Food, in itself is a wonderful gift. Although a necessity, it can also act as a medium to express artistic ability and creativity, while combining passion and pleasure in a gratifying manner. To serve friends or family a meal built with a firm grasp of even basic culinary knowledge, a passion to please and intractable integrity, will undoubtedly result in a well-received affair.

A basic understanding of culinary terms and processes is important. But a knowledge of the basic structures of the food you are handling is of higher consequence, since without this information, how will you know the appropriate method of preparation for an item?

Molecular Gastronomy is known to many, but fully understood by some. The term 'Molecular Gastronomy" is just a fancy way to describe 'food science', and food is just that: a science. My goal is to help my friends, family and anyone else interested in reading my posts, understand exactly what they consume and how it affects their health (mental and physical) and what alternatives are available. Every once in a while I would also like to share good recipe I find or create.