Depravity, dawn to dusk

Tomorrow is not only Super Bowl Sunday, but International Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. Just sayin'.

Still more Super Bowl slow cooker recipes

This simple dip can be made so many different ways. You can use any type of cheese, any type of Mexican sauce, and any kind of dipper. UseHomemade Taco Seasoning Mix instead of the purchased kind if you like.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

• 10 oz. can enchilada sauce
• 2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
• 2 tsp. taco seasoning mix (from 1.25 oz. pkg)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, minced
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in 3-4 quart slow cooker and stir gently. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours, stirring twice during cooking time, until blended and smooth. Serves 12-16. This is a wonderful appetizer served with tortilla chips, bagel chips, breadsticks, or toasted french bread slices.

Grease

Hush puppies

Ingredients:
2 cups yellow corn meal
1 cup plain flour (flour is what gave it the
lighter taste and you can experiment with the
amount you use if you want)
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (you can also use plain milk in
a pinch, but nothing compares to buttermilk)
3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt. I use Lowreys but just
about any brand will work as you are just looking
for something to spice things up a little
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper blend (again, the idea
is to spice things up a little).
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 cup bacon grease. This is another big key to
the flavor. In a pinch you can use other types
of cooking oil, but bacon is my favorite.

You also need some type of cooking oil to deep fry
these in. I usually use Crisco oil although peanut oil
and some of the lower fat oils work well too.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add your
eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Stir it all up until
the flavors are thoroughly blended.

Turn your cooker on medium-high heat. When it's
hot you can drop your hush puppies in using a
table spoon. Allow them to brown on all sides.
They should begin floating when done, but if they
don't, don't overcook them.

Another Super Bowl Experiment

Slow-Cooker Tex-Mex Chicken Recipe #252501

From Kraft Food & Family, Fall 2007

by Vino Girl

6½ hours | 20 min prep

SERVES 4

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
• 1/2 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix (TACO BELL HOME ORIGINALS Taco Seasoning Mix)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
• 1 green pepper, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 1/2 cups salsa (TACO BELL HOME ORIGINALS Thick 'N Chunky)
• 1 cup shredded mexican cheese (KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese)

1. Mix chicken with seasoning and flour in slow cooker.
2. Stir in all remaining ingredients except the shredded cheese; cover with lid.
3. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours).
4. Stir just before serving.
5. Top with the shredded cheese.
6. Serve over rice and garnished with fresh green onions and cilantro.

© 2009 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Share your experience with others, and post your comments on the recipe. Type 252501 in the Search box at the top of Recipezaar, to get back to this recipe easily. Recipe Notes & Rating:  5 stars  4 stars  3 stars  2 stars  1 star

Shackleton's Stash

Turns out Sir Ernest Shackleton left more booze at the South Pole than previously thought:

Five crates of Scotch whisky and brandy belonging to the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton have been recovered after more than 100 years in the ice.

They were buried beneath Shackleton's Antarctic hut, built in 1908 for a failed expedition to the South Pole.

Some of the crates have cracked and ice has formed inside, which means experts will face a delicate task in trying to extract the contents.

The ice-bound crates were first discovered three years ago.

The master blender at whisky company Whyte and Mackay said the find was a "gift from the heavens" for whisky lovers.

Richard Paterson, whose firm supplied the Mackinlay's whisky for Shackleton, said: "If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analysed, the original blend may be able to be replicated.

Black-eyed peas, Mumbai style?

I love Southern food, and spicy food. Here, the twain seems to meet:




Last time I ate black-eyed peas, I was nestled up to the bar at Ed Mitchell's barbecue joint, The Pit, in Raleigh, North Carolina. They looked familiar and comforting, swimming in a porky broth that paired nicely with the incredible chopped pork.
I'm probably not alone in pairing black-eyed peas with Southern cuisine, but did you know they are just as at home in Indian cuisine, too? This recipe from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries is about as good of an introduction as you can find.
One great thing about black-eyed peas: they cook quickly. It only takes around 35 to 45 minutes to cook them from scratch (and less if you're using a pressure cooker). That will give you time to focus on flavoring these guys, which Iyer takes on with abandon.
This is not a mild dish. Red onions are cooked in oil until deep-red and caramelized, before being blended up with fresh garlic. Cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cardamom also make an appearance along with turmeric and a healthy pinch of cayenne. Each bite is layered and intense. When paired with some rice, this makes an excellent vegetarian meal.

Cinnamon-Flavored Black-Eyed Peas

- serves 3 to 4 -
Adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer.

Ingredients

1 cup dried black-eyed peas
1/4 large red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
2 cardamom pods
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Procedure

1. Dump the black-eyed peas into a large pot. Pour enough water in to cover, then stir with your fingers. The water might appear slightly dirty. Drain this water off and repeat this process twice, then pour in 3 cups of water and turn the heat to high. When boiling, cover the pot, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 35 to 45 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, pour 1 tablespoons of the oil into a small skillet set over medium heat. Add the red onion. Stir often, and cook until they are well caramelized and dark purple. It should take about 25 to 30 minutes. When done, add this to a blender along with 1/4 water and the garlic cloves. Blend until smooth.
3. Combine the garlic and red onion mixture with 1/2 cup water, tomato paste, salt, cayenne, and turmeric in a bowl. Stir well until combined.
4. Pour the rest of the oil into a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cardamom pods. Cook for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant, then add spice mixture. Stir well, then reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover the pan and simmer for 8 minutes. When done, turn off the heat and wait for the black-eyed peas to finish.
5. When the black-eyed peas are tender, pour in the sauce from the skillet. Simmer the blacked-eyed peas for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cardamom pods.
6. Serves with white rice and a sprinkling of cilantro.

Gotta get someone to do this for Sunday!

Healthy & Delicious: Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Posted by Kristen Swensson, February 1, 2010

"The hype is not unfounded. This recipe is aces."

[Photograph: Kristen Swensson]

Spinach and Artichoke Dip is one of Cooking Light's most popular recipes, and I've been meaning to try it for some time now. There was never an excuse until this week. So, thank you, impending Super Bowl. Thank you.

As it turns out, the hype is not unfounded. This recipe is aces. It puts non-light versions to shame. To shame.

Garlicky, cheesy, and creamy, you won't be able to tell it's a healthy substitute for an historically unhealthy dip; neither will your picky Uncle Bobby. It pairs beautifully with baked chips or bread rounds, contains no mayonnaise, and best of all, includes a big ol' helping of vegetables. Each 1/2 cup comes out to only about 135 calories and 7 grams of fat, too. Compared to restaurant brands, that's fairly phenomenal.

I changed a few things from the original recipe, based on reviews and forgetting to buy enough mozzarella. First, I sautéed ten ounces of fresh spinach, instead of defrosting eight ounces of frozen. This seemed to give the dip more body and fresh flavor.

Second, I increased the parmesan and cut 25-percent of the cream cheeses and mozzarella. The reduced-fat version made everything a little creamier without affecting the flavor. Finally, for smoother texture, I creamed the cheeses together before adding anything else to the mixture. As always, all changes are reflected below.

In conclusions: go Saints, go Pete Townshend, and go forth and try this dip. It's a winner.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

- makes about 10 servings of about 1/2 cup each -

Adapted from Cooking Light.

Ingredients

10-ounce bag fresh spinach
6 ounces (3/4 block) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
6 ounces (3/4 block) fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella, shredded
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed (not minced)
6 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese, divided

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Tear spinach into bite-size pieces, removing any thick stems. Rinse in a colander, leaving a little water on the leaves. In a large nonstick skillet or Dutch oven, sauté the spinach over medium heat until wilted. Drain in the colander, pushing a little of the extra water out.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheeses with a potato masher. Add sour cream and mash more. Add spinach, mozzarella, artichokes, pepper, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of the parmesan. Stir everything until thoroughly combined.

4. Pour mixture into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan on top. Bake 30 minutes, or until parmesan is melted dip is all bubbly. Remove from oven and give it a minute or two to cool down. Serve with baked tortilla chips to applause.

Printed from http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/spinach-and-artichoke-dip-recipe.html

© Serious Eats

How to make Sunday a little easier

Interested in some different things for the Super Bowl? I'm going to indulge my lentil enthusiasm:

Slow Cooker Lentil and Ham Soup

Rated: Submitted By: queendiva1 Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 11 Hours Ready In: 11 Hours 20 Minutes Servings: 6

"Come home at the end of the day to a richly spiced broth filled with lentils, ham and veggies. Pair it up with cornmeal muffins and you have a great meal!"

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dried lentils 1 cup chopped celery 1 cup chopped carrots 1 cup chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1 bay leaf 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 32 ounces chicken broth 1 cup water 8 teaspoons tomato sauce

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a 3 1/2 quart or larger slow cooker combine the lentils, celery, carrots, onion, garlic and ham. Season with basil, thyme, oregano, the bay leaf and pepper. Stir in the chicken broth, water and tomato sauce. Cover and cook on Low for 11 hours. Discard the bay leaf before serving.

Good stuff

Baked Flounder Fillets in Lemon-Soy VinaigretteGourmet | June 1998

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Yield: Serves 2 two 6-ounce flounder fillets 1 garlic clove 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons olive oil Preheat oven to 450°F. Arrange fillets in a ceramic or glass baking dish just large enough to hold them in one layer. Mince garlic and in a small bowl combine with lemon juice, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Whisk in oil until emulsified and pour vinaigrette over fish. Bake fish in middle of oven until just cooked through and no longer translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Per serving: 285 calories, 16 g fat (2 g saturated), 81 mg cholesterol, 1014 mg sodium, 3 g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 32 g protein Nutritional analysis provided by Nutrition Data

Love that garlic

If you love eating garlic, then this chicken breast recipe is for you. Garlic not only tastes great, it's also good for your health. Baking the chicken breast with garlic makes the chick so tasty, and this chicken recipe is very easy to make.

If you love great tasting food, and want healthy recipes, click here.

Chicken Breast With Baked Garlic Recipe

Chicken breasts - 4 to 6 (whole)
Garlic - 1 to 2 bulbs (or 10 to 15 cloves)
Salt and pepper
Low fat butter

• Slice an opening in the middle of the chicken breast. Do not cut all the way through.
• Peel the garlic and cut into slices. Take these slices and stuff them into the slit you cut in the chicken breast.
• Lightly coat the top of the chicken breast with butter. Then sprinkle on salt and pepper. Leave at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350C, then bake for about 30 to 45 minutes, and serve.

I'm sure that if you love garlic and chicken, you will enjoy this garlic bakedchicken breast recipe! It will serve about 4 people.

Serious Eats Super Bowl Suggestion

Though entirely vegetarian, the chili is substantial, and packs some serious heat. Bizarrely, the parsnips are the highlight, since they pair beautifully with the chipotles.
It's a sweet, smoky combination I would not shy away from serving to Mike Ditka, John Madden, or two of the three Manning brothers. If you've never bought canned hominy before, I found it in the Latin foods section of my supermarket.
And that's a wrap, football fans. There's another lighter Super Bowl recipe coming next week, but until then, go [insert team associated with your region here]!

Winter Vegetable Chili

- serves 4 -
Adapted from Food & Wine.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 pound carrots, peeled cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Kosher salt to taste
14.5-ounce can diced or peeled Italian tomatoes
1 canned chipotle in adobo, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup canned hominy, drained
1 cup canned red kidney beans, drained

Procedure

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion. Saute 5 minutes, until soft and a little translucent, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add bell pepper, parsnips, carrots and sauté about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chile powder, cumin, and salt to taste. Stir to combine. Saute for about 1 minute.
2. While the veggies are cooking, combine tomatoes, chipotle, adobo sauce, and water in a blender. Puree until smooth.
3. Pour tomato mixture into cooked veggies. Add hominy and kidney beans. Stir to combine. Drop heat to medium-low, cover about 3/4 of the pot, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Salt to taste. Serve over brown rice if you have it around. (They go very well together.)

Soup and shrimp

Here's one for the "to do" list:

The majority of recipes I write about here in Cook the Book end up being my dinner and this week's selection has posed a bit of a problem. You see, with the exception of ramen and pho, I've never been one to be satisfied with soup as a meal. I suppose the closest I ever get to serving soup for dinner is a bowl of chili, but that really doesn't count as soup, at least not in my book.

While searching through Clifford A. Wright's The Best Soups in the World I was on the lookout for recipes that would be truly satisfying, soups that you could really sink your teeth into without having to resort to an entire loaf of bread to really fill you up.

This adaptation of Rick Bayless's Black Bean Soup was just what I had in mind. Reading the ingredients list, this could make some tasty tacos or tostadas if it weren't for the 12 cups of water called for in the recipe. There was no doubt in my mind that this combination of shrimp, black beans, tortillas, and queso fresco would make a soup that didn't leave me wanting something else.

I must preface my step-by-step breakdown of this recipe by saying that I cheated a bit during the preparation. Last week's Boston "Baked" Beans taught me that dried beans don't have to resort to hours of cooking, so I broke out the pressure cooker to cut down on the simmering time for this soup. As expected, it worked like a charm, and the pressure-cooked beans simmered with the onion, fennel, chipotle chiles, and chorizo for a little less than an hour to become tender and flavorful.

I whizzed it up using the immersion blender and plopped in the shrimp. The shrimp essentially poached in the soup, and I finished my bowls with the queso fresco called for in the recipe, along with some cubed avocado, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

The soup turned out thick and deeply flavorful with a surprising amount of spice, thanks to the chipotle chiles and chorizo. The shrimp were a nice addition, but I don't think the soup needed them at all; the beans, chips, and cheese made for a hearty soup that left me happily sated and scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Win The Best Soups in the World

As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of The Best Soups in the World to give away this week. Enter to win here »

Rick Bayless's Black Bean Soup

- serves 4 -

Adapted from The Best Soups in the World by Clifford A. Wright.

Ingredients

3/4 pound (1 1/2 cups) dried black beans, picked over
12 cups water
6 ounces (about 1 link) Mexican-style chorizo, casing removed and crumbled
1 stalk fennel, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
4 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined if necessary
5 corn tostadas, broken up or a handful of corn tortilla chips
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or cheddar cheese

Procedure

1. In a large pot, place the beans and cover with 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn the heat off and let the beans sit for 1 hour. Drain.

2. Return the beans to the pot and cover with the remaining 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, stir in the chorizo, fennel, onion, and chipotle chiles in adobo, partially cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 hours.

3. Transfer the soup to a blender, in batches if necessary, and blend until it forms a smooth puree. Return the soup to the pot, add the salt and pepper, stir, and heat over medium heat until hot, then add the shrimp and cook until they are orange-red, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve the soup in individual bowls garnished with the tostadas and crumbled cheese.

Spice clocks

A friend who wants to remain anonymous writes (and I love this):

I just finished reading an interesting essay from 1967 on clocks and culture written by the scholar Carlo Cipolla. In one section he describes certain innovations in clock manufacturing in the 17th century including the use of repeating bells to tell the time without looking at the clock itself. In his understated way he writes:

“One should also mention the repeating mechanism. In an age when lighting of a house was not a simple matter, telling time was a difficult problem at night. In France M. de Villayer allegedly solved the problem by designing a clock with a dial that had different kinds of spices inserted in the place of numbers. At night he reached for the point indicated by the hour hand and tastefully determined the time. English clockmakers searched for less gastronomical solutions and in 1680’s Daniel Quare and Edward Barlow produced repeating devices for watches and clocks.”

Now when my wife wakes up at three o’clock and asks for the time I say “cloves” — and at six o’clock I say “nutmeg.”

Some good news for Burns Night

The US government has lifted its 21-year ban on importation of haggis!

Lots of work, but looks worth it.

Here's a remarkable treatise on making chili.

How Julia Child changed the movies

 

...It is hard to think of an American movie before the 1960s that concerned itself with food. There are, of course, plenty of scenes over dinner in classic Hollywood films and a few moments of food business (James Cagney’s shoving a grapefruit in Mae Clarke’s face in The Public Enemy comes to mind). But we rarely if ever see what characters are eating, and cooking as a process is mostly banished from view. I can think of only one film from the 1940s in which food has a thematic role: the delightful Christmas in Connecticut (1945), in which Barbara Stanwyck plays a food writer, an assumed exemplar of domesticity, whose publisher decides she should make Christmas dinner for a newly returned war hero. The problem is that she can’t; her professional persona is a fraud, and she is really a single career girl who doesn’t know how to boil water. The film ends, predictably, with the promise that she will marry the hero and learn how to cook out of sight of public — and cinematic — view...

Wok's for dinner?

Here's a fun and easy Jamie Oliver idea:

Jamie Oliver recipe: spicy beef stir-fry with eggy rice

Perfect for a Friday night in front of the TV with a couple of cold beers.

Ingredients

5½oz/150g white rice

2 spring onions

1 medium egg, preferably

free-range or organic

Light soy sauce

1 clove of garlic

¾in/2cm piece fresh ginger

1 fresh red chilli

1 small carrot

1 small red onion

Small bunch of fresh coriander

7oz/200g beef minute steaks

1 tsp five-spice powder

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

½ tsp cornflour

2 tsp runny honey

Sesame oil

• Fill your kettle up and put it on to boil. Preheat your oven to the lowest setting and place your plates in the oven to warm.

• Fill the saucepan with the boiling water and place on a high heat. Once boiling, add the rice and simmer according to packet instructions until the rice is cooked.

Meanwhile…

• Trim and finely slice the spring onions. Crack the egg into a small bowl, add a splash of soy sauce and the sliced spring onions and beat with a fork.

• Peel and slice the garlic. Peel the ginger and chop into matchsticks.

• Deseed and finely chop the chilli. Peel and finely slice the carrot and red onion.

• When the rice is cooked, drain it in a sieve then tip back into the warm saucepan. Pour the egg mixture onto the rice and fold in with a fork. Cover with a lid.

• Place the wok on a medium heat. Pick the coriander leaves and put to one side for later, finely chop the stalks.

• Slice the steaks into thin strips and place these in a bowl with the five-spice powder. Season with salt and pepper then toss together until all the meat is evenly coated.

• By now the wok should be really hot so add a splash of vegetable oil and the strips of beef.

• Turn the heat up to high and stir-fry until the beef starts to brown.

• Throw the garlic and ginger into the wok and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the chilli, onion, carrot and coriander stalks and stir-fry for another minute or two.

• Add a splash of soy sauce, the cornflour and the honey to the wok. Drizzle over a little sesame oil and toss everything. Turn the heat off.

• Get the cutlery, salt and pepper and drinks laid out nicely.

• Get your warmed plates out of the oven and divide the eggy rice between them. Spoon the stir-fry over the top, scatter with coriander and tuck in.

Cars are now a new kind of guzzler

One-quarter of all the maize and other grain crops grown in the US now ends up as biofuel in cars rather than being used to feed people, according to new analysis which suggests that the biofuel revolution launched by former President George Bush in 2007 is impacting on world food supplies.

The 2009 figures from the US Department of Agriculture shows ethanol production rising to record levels driven by farm subsidies and laws which require vehicles to use increasing amounts of biofuels.

Got a chicken breast lying about?

• 2 Servings
• Prep/Total Time: 10 min.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup cubed cooked chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Directions

• In a small bowl, beat the eggs, onion, parsley, salt, tarragon and pepper.
• In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter; add egg mixture. As eggs set, lift edges, letting uncooked portion flow underneath. Sprinkle with chicken and celery seed. When the eggs are set, remove from the heat; fold omelet in half. Yield: 2 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1/2 omelet equals 273 calories, 18 g fat (7 g saturated fat), 471 mg cholesterol, 513 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 23 g protein.

Herbed Chicken Omelet published in Quick Cooking January/February 1999, p12

Things that are good for you

Baked beans
Great for soluble fibre (the type that helps to lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels), baked beans also give you 6g of protein per average serving; about the same as in a medium-size egg. Have them on toast, with a baked potato or, if you absolutely must, straight from the can.

Green tea
Swap a couple of cups of your builder’s brew a day for green tea. Especially rich in polyphenols, green tea antioxidants have antibacterial and antithrombotic roles, and regulate the immune system. The lazy man’s solution to boosting antioxidants, which may also help to fight tooth decay.

Oily fish
Fling fresh sardines under the grill, or have them from a can; either way, like mackerel, salmon and anchovies, they are great for omega-3 oils, which seem to make platelets in the blood less likely to clump together and cause a clot.

Parsley
Chew on some after a meal and this herb, which is rich in chlorophyl, can help to keep your breath fresh and mop up pongy odours; vital if out on the town after eating. Also good for vitamin C, a vital antioxidant that helps to protect sperm from free-radical attack.

Apples
With an astonishing 150 supernutrients packed into each apple you eat, this easy-to-transport, easy-to-eat, no-waste fruit is especially good for quercetin, an antioxidant that appears from laboratory research to help to kill off viruses such as herpes, which causes cold sores. Quercetin sits just under the skin so never peel your apples before eating.

Grapefruit
It is said that eating a grapefruit before each meal helps you to cut calorie intake in the meal itself, possibly because it slightly lowers blood sugar and makes participants feel more satisfied. Grapefruits also give you glucaric acid, a supernutrient known to lower “bad”, artery-clogging cholesterol.

Tomatoes
This vegetable is packed with the red pigment lycopene, the main antioxidant in the prostate gland. Studies reveal that men eating tomatoes (or tomato products such as purée, juice and soup) ten or more times a week have a 35 per cent reduced risk of developing prostate cancer.

Pomegranates
You don’t need to fiddle around with fresh pomegranates. Israeli scientists found that men drinking only a couple of gulps (100ml) of this powerful juice each day for 12 months helped to reverse artery damage. This may be down to the fruit’s increasing production of paraoxonase, a cholesterol-breaking enzyme.

New potatoes
A baked potato gives you fast-release energy, making it a great post-workout, muscle-refuelling food. If you are not an exercise nut, new potatoes are a better option. They provide slow-release energy to keep blood sugar levels and appetite under control between normal meals.

Oats 
Have them in muesli or porridge, Oatibix or oatmeal. Full of the soluble fibre called beta glucan, which lowers “bad” cholesterol, they also give us silica, a trace mineral believed to be vital for good- quality skin, metrosexual or otherwise.

Poached eggs 
Eggs give us lecithin, which is turned into choline once eaten, a vital component of transmitters in our brains involved in memory. This brain-boosting food is also fabulously filling — eat two for breakfast (poached or boiled, not fried) and, according to research, you will eat 400 calories less during the rest of the day.

Frozen peas 
The ultimate convenience food, frozen peas lock in the B vitamins needed for a healthy nervous system, plus soluble fibre to help to fill you up and keep cholesterol under control. A 140g portion gives you 16mg of immune-boosting vitamin C, about as much as you will get in a satsuma.

Prunes
Blend them with milk and yoghurt to make an antioxidant-rich, free-radical- zapping drink that also gives ferulic acid, a supernutrient associated with bowel health. The special sugars in prunes will also help to keep you regular and potentially help to resist bowel cancer.

Dark chocolate
The dark varieties (above 70 per cent cocoa solids) are rich in antioxidants. Studies have shown that flavanol-packed cocoa acts in an “aspirin-like” way to stop blood cells clumping together.

Frozen berries
An easy way to increase potential brain- boosting, anti-ageing antioxidants to help to keep you ahead of the game on the work front. Throw them into smoothies or defrost and mix with yoghurt for breakfast.

Olives
Put on home-made pizzas or eaten as a bar snack, olives are good for monounsaturated fats, phenolics and vitamin E, which are all important for artery health and long life.

Almonds 
Ditch cholesterol-raising snacks such as biscuits and cakes and trade them in for a fistful of almonds. Research shows that this will help you to feel full and cut back on artery-clogging fats.

Chillies
These are sure to raise your metabolism: the hotter you can stand, the more their effect. Expect a 15 per cent increase in calories burnt for about two hours after eating a hot chilli sauce.

Wholewheat pasta
The ultimate filling — and so easy to cook. The wholewheat variety has a lower glycaemic index than plain and releases energy slowly. Good for sportsmen who need muscles packed with energy.

Turmeric
As used liberally in Gordon Ramsay’s recipes, this is a great source of curcumin, which is believed to have anti-inflammatory effects and may help to fight bowel cancer. For Indian takeaways, choose healthy dishes such as tandoori chicken and chicken tikka, which provide turmeric but don’t have loads of fat.

Tonight's unemployment dinner

Serve sliced jicama, edged with chili powder or chopped cilantro, and crisp tortilla chips for a delicious texture contrast to this hearty chili.

30-Minute Chunky Beef and Corn Chili

1 pound lean beef cubed steaks
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 1/2 teaspoons spicy seasoning mix (see below), divided use
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, undrained
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1. Cut beef lengthwise into 1-inch wide strips; cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the seasoning mix.
2. Heat oil in a heavy stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir-fry beef with onion for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt, if desired.
3. Add tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a spoon, along with corn and remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons seasoning mix. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, 18 to 20 minutes.

Spicy Seasoning Mix:
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Combine all ingredients. Store, covered, in an airtight container. Shake before using. Makes about 1/3 cup.

Makes 4 servings.
Recipe courtesy of Beef Industry Council.

Leftovers till Groundhog Day

A woman who left her remote home in the Scottish Highlands to buy a turkey for Christmas has finally been able to get back home - 30 days after she set out.

Heavy snow meant it was not possible for Kay Ure to get back to Cape Wrath after a shopping trip to Inverness.

The 54-year-old and her husband John live in the Lighthouse Keeper's cottage at Cape Wrath, on Britain's north western tip, where they run a cafe.

Bad weather meant Mrs Ure could not complete the last 11 miles home.

However, an easing of the poor conditions allowed Mr Ure, 57, to travel to Durness in Sutherland to pick up his wife.

Six dogs

Mr Ure told BBC Scotland they were very happy to be finally reunited.

He said: "It was nice to see her again and she was glad to be home. We're just having small Christmas festivities today and having something nice to eat."

Mr Ure added: "We knew when we moved here it was going to be quite a harsh environment and we were quite prepared for that."

His wife's trip to Inverness and back involved an 11-mile car drive, a boat trip and a bus ride.

On her return, the road to the lighthouse was blocked by heavy snow.

She spent Christmas in a friend's caravan in Durness, while her husband had the company of their six dogs, and two walkers who popped into the cafe.

"Bullions and bullions of apples..."

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." —Carl Sagan [via Reddit, where "horsey" says, "I think you're going to have to make the universe first, then preheat the oven."]

Improvisation

Here's a recipe I tried tonight:

SAUTEED CHICKEN BREAST IN WINE

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

4 chicken breast halves, deboned
3 to 4 tbsp. drawn butter
1 lg. clove garlic, smashed
1 tbsp. sage, crushed
5 to 8 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/3 to 1/2 c. white wine

Flatten chicken breast with mallet to 1/4 inch or less. Dredge in flour mixture with salt and pepper. Heat butter on medium-high. Add sage and garlic. Cook garlic for 1 minute, then remove from pan. Add breast fillets, brown on each side for 1 to 2 minutes. When all are browned, pour in wine, cover and simmer on low for 15 to 20 minutes.Move breast to heated platter and reduce sauce on high if desired. Pour over chicken. Sauteed mushroom may also be added before wine. Excellent served with wild rice.

I didn't feel like pounding the chicken breasts down, so I thawed them for about six minutes in the microwave, then followed the recipe except to double the browning time. When I flipped them to do the second side, the liquid was getting dry, so I added a small can of mushrooms, then lowered the temp to simmer and let them cook for an extra ten minutes over the 15-20 recommended.


At the end of that simmer time the chicken was incredibly tender, so I pulled the breasts out, then hiked the gas to high to reduce the mushrooms and liquid. In the meantime, I made some rice and zapped some canned asparagus. It ended up one of the best dinners in some considerable time.

Baking your way into history

Serious Eats

A Spice Cake Tribute to Miep Gies, 1909–2010

Posted by Carey Jones, January 12, 2010

"I'd baked my special spice cake, Anne's favorite."

Not Miep Gies's spice cake, but not a bad likeness. [Photograph: Carey Jones]

It's funny how those we've never met can move us, I thought this morning, as I brushed back a tear after reading Miep Gies's obituary in the New York Times. Back in my high school theater days, I had played Miep in a production of The Diary of Anne Frank, and ever since then, I've felt a curious kinship with her.

Already in her thirties when she hid Anne Frank and her family from Nazi discovery, Miep survived the occupants and the other protectors of the "Secret Annexe" by decades. Every now and then I would look her up, ask Google whether she was still on this earth, and trust the open-ended birthdate on Wikipedia, taking no news as good news. Every time I did, I marveled at her incredible longevity—this woman who lived through the First World War and the Nazi occupation, watched so many close to her carried off to concentration camps, and lived to see the twenty-first century. She died just yesterday, a month before her 101st birthday.

Each day for more than two years, Miep brought food, conversation and news of the war to the eight grateful occupants of the Annexe, endangering herself and sacrificing many of a wartime woman's meager comforts for the sake of Anne and her family. In a particularly moving scene from the production, lifted straight from Miep's memoirRemembering Anne Frank, she saves her rations to bake a tiny spice cake for her friends in hiding:

For Christmas, Anne proudly presented me with little creamy confections that she'd made herself... she'd beaten me at my own game, which made me more determined to make the most beautiful cake possible for her and the others in return. My bits of butter and sugar were adding up.

[On New Year's Eve,] I'd baked my special spice cake, Anne's favorite. The sight of our parade was like an elixir of pleasure. Before us, eight mouths began to salivate at once at the sight of the cake. Mrs. Frank put on some water for imitation coffee. Beer was poured as we all stood around the table. Anne noticed the message that I'd carved into the top of the cake and called it to everyone's attention. With beer and coffee, we all paused to toast the message: PEACE 1944!

She did not take a piece for herself—a characteristic act of self-sacrifice from a confessed sweet tooth. The image of the Frank and van Pels families gathering around the cutting of that tiny loaf, childlike in their anticipation, is one I've never been able to forget.

Over the course of that production, I must have baked four dozen of these little loaves, and to this day I can't look at a spice cake without thinking of Miep Gies. I'd always guarded the recipe (one, I should note, from my mother's cookbook, not from the Amsterdam of 1945). But in honor of Miepje, I'll print it below. It's simple, to be sure, nothing sophisticated, but warm and satisfying.

Best savored with close friends, and with profound gratitude for the spice, sugar, and selflessness baked therein.

"Miep's" Spice Cake

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk, or sour milk
3 eggs

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2. Cream shortening, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in buttermilk.

3. Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Add to wet ingredients, a bit at a time, and beat until well-incorporated.

4. Pour batter into two 9" greased round pans (or, for smaller cakes, 4 to 5 mini-loaf pans). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean: 20-25 minutes for smaller pans, 30-35 for round pans. Cool for ten minutes; remove from pan and cool completely.