The Unrefined Chef

Got Eggplant

2011-01-23T18:38:00.000-06:00

Introduction: Got Eggplant!

Growing up in America during the 60's and 70's, their was only one way to prepare Eggplant... and it was a mushy glob of tasteless goo as a result. Maybe my childhood memories of eggplant would have been much different if I had been born into an Italian family or better yet... Greek!

It appears that the Eggplant lobby has been very active among vegetarians... it's almost as if there is a contest afoot to see just how many different ways one can prepare this veggie-fruit-berry. Confused by that term? Me too! But it's the best way to describe eggplant, which is a member of the same family as tomatoes (a veggie-fruit), although botanically the eggplant is considered a berry.

Eggplant has an interesting history, it appears in Chinese agriculture as far back as 544 AD from a treatise written by Qi Min Yao Shu. Since most of the names given to this plant are derived from Arabic and African terminology, and none are from Greek or Roman words, it can be deduced that the Arabs introduced eggplant into the Mediterranean diet.

As a member of the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes and tobacco, it is most likely that ancient Greeks and Romans thought the eggplant to be poisonous and avoided it. However, once introduced onto the palate of Greeks and Italians in the Middle Ages the culinary traditions of using eggplant became prolific across the region.

Cooking with Aubergine:

Some of the more well-known traditional dishes containing eggplant are: Moussaka (Greece), Baba Ganoush(Turkey), Mellanzane Alla Parmigiana (Italy), Ratatouille (France) and Escalivada (Spain) are only a few examples. Here is a few videos showing how to prepare some of these dishes.

Greek Lamb Moussaka:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrmGI903WY0
...

This was the closest version to a traditional version of Moussaka I could find on YouTube, but obviously the Aztec influence of adding corn crept in from somewhere. If you look around at other videos, you'll find they are using hamburger, which is fine for an Americanized version... but lamb is more traditional and also becoming more available in American Supermarkets. If you're worried about cost, consider the traditional method of using less meat and more vegetables. With cheap hamburger meat, the tendency is to use more meat with a thin layer of eggplant.

It is also more traditional to use preserved lemons, with the rind included... giving the dish a cleansing and refreshing zest. Yes, I know... we Americans don't take to well to this in our savory meat dishes. Another absent ingredient in these traditional recipes is feta cheese. I like adding it into the yogurt/cream layer.

Greek Moussaka:

1 lb Ground Lamb
1 medium yellow onion chopped
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 large eggplant sliced 1/4" lengthwise
1 lemon sliced 1/4" whole removing seeds, sautéed with salt to soften
2 Roma tomatoes diced
1 egg beaten
16 oz greek yogurt
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp nutmeg and cinnamon
8 oz feta cheese
2 oz Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions - Brown lamb on medium heat with a light drizzling of olive oil, after sufficient browning add onions, garlic and spices, turn down heat to avoid burning garlic. Once onions are translucent add tomato sauce and simmer for 5-10 min. on low heat.

While meat is simmering, line eggplant slices on a tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, rotating halfway through to cook evenly on both sides.

In mixing bowl beat one egg, incorporating yogurt and feta cheese. In casserole dish cover bottom with one layer of eggplant followed by a layer of meat add diced tomatoes and layer of lemon slices. Cover with a layer of yogurt/feta mixture. Repeat the process with another layer of eggplant. After adding the last layer of yogurt/feta mixture sprinkle top with a liberal portion of bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.

Dede's Mediterranean Kitchen: Baba Ganoush

...

The term Baba Ganoush has a funny translation from its Arabic roots. Baba means "father" and Ganoush (variant spellings) means "spoiled". "Spoiled father" means this is a great healthy dish to prepare on Father's Day or any time you feel like making a fuss over Papa.

Traditionally the eggplant is roasted whole (a smoky flavor can be imparted by putting the eggplant on the grill a few minutes each side and turned), but there are other methods to prepare a flavorful end product. I have had great results with peeling and marinating my eggplant in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and cumin for about 20-30 minutes then placing them on a low heat grill to cook. Similar smoky flavor to the traditional version. The excess marinade can be put in the food processor with the grilled eggplant, garlic and tahini.

I like using cilantro as the garnish, but as the video version points out... parsley is a perfectly acceptable alternative.

Baba Ganoush:

1 large Eggplant
3 Tbl Olive oil
1 lemon juiced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic
2 oz cilantro
1/4 cup tahini

Directions - In a bowl make marinade by whisking together olive oil, lemon juice and spices. Peel and slice eggplant into 1/2" thick rounds and marinate for 20-30 minutes. Heat grill to medium temperature and be sure to rub down grill surface with olive oil to make it a non-stick surface for the eggplant. Grill eggplant on both sides, you're looking for a nice grill mark, without charring the surface completely as you would if the skin were still left on.

In a food processor add leftover marinade, grilled eggplant, whole garlic cloves and tahini paste. Add or reduce amount of tahini paste based on the consistency of the mixture after processing. If it's too runny, add more tahini to thicken.

Serve with pita chips or crudites (raw veggies).

Nutritional Profile:

Nutritionally eggplant offers a great source for dietary fiber, potassium and folate, plus Vitamin B5 and B6. For those looking to cut back on their carbohydrates to follow Atkins diet or The Zone diet, eggplant is not a very good option. About 80% of the calories in eggplant come from its carbohydrate content.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2858/2

Eggplant, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	102 kJ (24 kcal)
Carbohydrates	5.7 g
Sugars	2.35 g
Dietary fiber	3.4 g
Fat	0.19 g
Protein	1.01 g
Thiamine (Vit. B₁)	0.039 mg (3%)
Riboflavin (Vit. B₂)	0.037 mg (2%)
Niacin (Vit. B₃)	0.649 mg (4%)
Pantothenic acid (B₅)	0.281 mg (6%)
Vitamin B₆	0.084 mg (6%)
Folate (Vit. B₉)	22 μg (6%)
Vitamin C	2.2 mg (4%)
Calcium	9 mg (1%)
Iron	0.24 mg (2%)
Magnesium	14 mg (4%)
Phosphorus	25 mg (4%)
Potassium	230 mg (5%)
Zinc	0.16 mg (2%)
Manganese 0.25 mg
Percentages are relative to US recommendationsfor adults.Source: USDA Nutrient database

...

Scientific Research: Anti-oxidant properties of Poly-phenolics

http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/1_MeetingAbstracts/890.22

Looking at some possible health benefits of adding more eggplant to your diet? Well, according to the abstract of this research article in The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Online Journal, the dark colored skin of eggplant (solanum melongena) are responsible for giving the fleshy fruit inside a higher content of Poly-phenolic compounds, which are utilized in the the body to inhibit oxidative modification of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind).

Through isolation of these compounds we may be able to cultivate eggplant varieties with higher content and increase their benefit, or we could be playing God and adding more imbalance to our already imbalanced diet by monkeying around with natural selection and plant genetics.

Gardening With Eggplant:

Growing eggplant in your own garden is a great idea, however, there are a few details to consider before you dive in. Eggplants are not very tolerant of cold, if they experience a frost any time during the early Spring or Fall... you can forget them surviving it. A Fall frost is not as bad though, you can at least harvest the fruit and let the plant die.

Expert Village: How To Grow Eggplant.

...
As touchy as eggplant is to cold weather, it is curious to note that New Jersey is the state that can boast the highest production of eggplant. It seems a rather cold climate up there... but it is "The Garden State" for a reason, I suppose.

Eggplants are also susceptible to the same pest problems a tomato plant might suffer, so it's important to keep that in mind and rotate these crops accordingly.

Digging Into Eggplant

To wrap it up, eggplant doesn't have to be a yucky mushy glop of tasteless goo. It offers a great culinary experience with a little bit of effort and proper handling. Hope you are up to the task and enjoy expanding your palate to include this veggie-fruit-berry on your dinner table in the near future.

Dig In!

Chef Archer

Escarole (Endive or Chicory)

2011-01-23T18:00:00.001-06:00

Introduction: Eat Your Garnish

Do you remember when you were a kid, one of your parents saying something so outrageous that you just had to give them that "rolling eyes" look. My dad did that to me all the time... and now, as an adult, I do it.

Growing up in the 70's and "Out West" we had a chain of restaurants called Kip's Big Boy that my family ate at frequently, since my mother wasn't inclined to be a domestic goddess or gifted with culinary skills. I don't know if they are still around, but they aren't in Oklahoma anymore. It was during these family dinners that I had a bad habit of playing with my food or not eating what was ordered.... typical kid stuff. So dad would say "just eat your garnish then, it's the healthiest thing on your plate."

*5 year-old Todd rolls his eyes.... then continues using his french fries as Tonka bulldozers through the sea of ketchup*

"Yeah right, Dad!"

Restaurants today have apparently ditched "the plate garnish" in their attempt to streamline food costs. It is much more economical to use a garnish that visually elaborates what may be inside the food, or a sprinkle of freshly chopped herbs to enhance the flavor.

For those of us who remember the old-style practice from the 70's and before... it was a simple bunch of parsley, or a piece of endive and orange wheel or lemon wedge pushed off to the edge of the plate. Nobody ate it, except maybe my dad. It was simply there to make the food look presentable and make the plate look full.

When I think of endive and it's relative "escarole", I think of --inedible-- plate garnish. Dad was right, though... it was probably the healthiest thing on my plate. Why aren't we eating this stuff more often?

Gardening: Escarole Escapades

Escarole is a great leafy green to add to your cool season Oklahoma garden... it tolerates the occasional Spring frost and cooler Fall temperatures. Here's all the information you'll need at Library 4 Farming. It has a long growing season, but if you're patient it gives you plenty of bang for the buck with multiple harvests.

Not many pests around during the cool season, but even when it warms up they don't seem to go after these bitter greens as much as they will other garden goodies, like tomatoes and snap peas.
Escarole is less bitter if blanched, which in garden-terms means covered up so it gets less direct sunlight. This will result in yellowish-white ribs and less chlorophyll in the curly leaves. Another excellent gardening resource that explains how to blanche in more detail is here.

Basic Information: Just The Facts Ma'am

Whether it was originally cultivated in India or the Mediterranean is under contention, but it was a part of the Egyptian agriculture food supply and thankfully they began keeping written records for us to study. For those interested in following a Paleo-diet regimen, looking at earliest writings of human culture can be a valuable resource. Escarole is an excellent source for nutrients such as: folate, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, calcium and potassium. Also a great source of fiber, which helps lower your risk of colon cancer.

It's a long shot since kids and vegetables seem to be mortal enemies, but if you're tired of making your kids choke down carrots they don't want to eat for Vitamin A and healthy eyes... then try sneaking in some escarole in a salad mix or soup they love to eat.

Escarole, endive and chicory are all related species and sometimes confused for each other. Gourmet Sleuth sorts it all out; including pretty pictures for the visual learner. Wikipedia is again somewhat disappointing, but gives a decent basic summary of information under "endive".

Chicory is more popular in Europe, specifically Belgium and France. Most Americans are familiar with it as an additional flavoring of coffee Down South in Cajun country, or a complete coffee replacement. In this use, it is the chicory root that is commercially important, which is roasted and ground. I've never tried chicory coffee, but the folks at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans say it adds a chocolate-like flavor to their coffee.

Belgian Endive or Witloof Chicory, is becoming more popular as chefs have discovered it for the purpose of finger food, capable of delivering a myriad of cheese, salmon, caviar, or other fillings with it's boat-like shape. Eye appealing and nutritional, this type of endive is what farmers produce when they blanch it and harvest it early.

I will cover these two relatives of Escarole in greater detail, with recipes, during a later time.
Since Escarole is a variety of Endive, you won't find it as Escarole in the USDA National Nutrient database. They have a separate listing for Chicory, which includes the Belgian Endive. Here's a nutritional profile for a half cup of raw chopped Escarole (Endive):

Endive, raw

Refuse: 14% (Outer leaves and core)
Scientific Name: Cichorium endivia
NDB No: 11213 (Nutrient values and weights are for edible portion)

Nutrient	Units	1.00 X 0.5 cup, chopped ------- 25g
Proximates
Water	g	23.45
Energy	kcal	4
Energy	kJ	18
Protein	g	0.31
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.05
Ash	g	0.35
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	0.84
Fiber, total dietary	g	0.8
Sugars, total	g	0.06
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	13
Iron, Fe	mg	0.21
Magnesium, Mg	mg	4
Phosphorus, P	mg	7
Potassium, K	mg	78
Sodium, Na	mg	6
Zinc, Zn	mg	0.20
Copper, Cu	mg	0.025
Manganese, Mn	mg	0.105
Selenium, Se	mcg	0.1
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	1.6
Thiamin	mg	0.020
Riboflavin	mg	0.019
Niacin	mg	0.100
Pantothenic acid	mg	0.225
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.005
Folate, total	mcg	36
Folic acid	mcg	0
Folate, food	mcg	36
Folate, DFE	mcg_DFE	36
Choline, total	mg	4.2
Vitamin B-12	mcg	0.00
Vitamin B-12, added	mcg	0.00
Vitamin A, RAE	mcg_RAE	27
Retinol	mcg	0
Carotene, beta	mcg	325
Carotene, alpha	mcg	0
Cryptoxanthin, beta	mcg	0
Vitamin A, IU	IU	542
Lycopene	mcg	0
Lutein + zeaxanthin	mcg	0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	mg	0.11
Vitamin E, added	mg	0.00
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)	mcg	0.0
Vitamin D	IU	0
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	mcg	57.8
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	0.012
4:0	g	0.000
6:0	g	0.000
8:0	g	0.000
10:0	g	0.000
12:0	g	0.000
14:0	g	0.001
16:0	g	0.010
18:0	g	0.001
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	0.001
16:1 undifferentiated	g	0.000
18:1 undifferentiated	g	0.001
20:1	g	0.000
22:1 undifferentiated	g	0.000
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	0.022
18:2 undifferentiated	g	0.019
18:3 undifferentiated	g	0.003
18:4	g	0.000
20:4 undifferentiated	g	0.000
20:5 n-3 (EPA)	g	0.000
22:5 n-3 (DPA)	g	0.000
22:6 n-3 (DHA)	g	0.000
Cholesterol	mg	0
Amino acids
Tryptophan	g	0.001
Threonine	g	0.013
Isoleucine	g	0.018
Leucine	g	0.025
Lysine	g	0.016
Methionine	g	0.004
Cystine	g	0.003
Phenylalanine	g	0.013
Tyrosine	g	0.010
Valine	g	0.016
Arginine	g	0.015
Histidine	g	0.006
Alanine	g	0.015
Aspartic acid	g	0.033
Glutamic acid	g	0.042
Glycine	g	0.015
Proline	g	0.015
Serine	g	0.012
Other
Alcohol, ethyl	g	0.0
Caffeine	mg	0
Theobromine	mg	0

USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22 (2009)

As a simple reminder to myself, and any others wishing to utilize this wonderful resource, all you have to do is open up any page in the database and drag and drop it into your blog editor. If you try to cut and paste, it won't work... no matter how many million times you try. Trust me.

Let's Cook - Endive In

Below are a few recipes that I have found and used as templates for making my own Escarole dishes. This is only a few examples of what you can do to incorporate Escarole into your diet, it's what I've done, but there are many other options out there and I encourage you to explore them.

The first recipe is one that I like to call "The Russian alternative to Tabouleh". It is a Kasha Salad with uncooked vegetables and a simple vinaigrette. Kasha is a buckwheat groat and very popular in Slavic countries and Russia. It has a nutty flavor and has played a key role in the diets of the poor, working class people of the region for centuries. There is a Russian saying that loosely translates "All we need to survive is cabbage soup and kasha porridge".

KASHA SALAD

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Kasha
1 shallot minced
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1 cup black "beluga" lentils
1 bayleaf
1 Tbl Olive Oil
1 Red Bell Pepper diced
2 Cubanelle peppers diced
1/2 Red Onion diced
1/2 cup sweet corn kernels (frozen or fresh)
2 Roma tomatoes diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (add/sub: mint)
1/4 cup chopped watercress (add/sub: arugula, mizuna, mustard greens)
1 cup chopped escarole

Vinaigrette:

2 freshly squeezed lime juice
1 lime zest
4 cloves minced garlic
3 Tbl Olive oil
1 Tbl Ginger Ale
1 Tbl White wine vinegar
1 tsp coriander
Salt & Pepper to taste (optional: cayenne)

Directions:

In a saucepan, drizzle with olive oil and cook shallots until they start caramelizing, add kasha and toast briefly to brown before adding 1 cup of vegetable stock. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. In another suacepan, put lentils (rinsed and cleaned) into 4 cups of water, add bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes. Drain and discard bay leaf, season with salt and pepper. Don't salt the water while boiling. Let both kasha and lentils cool while preparing the vinaigrette and vegetables.

Put all vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor and pulse several times until blended. Chop and dice vegetables and incorporate them (minus the leafy greens) into a bowl with kasha and lentils. Kasha will have to be broken up with a fork. Make sure it is not too hot before adding vinaigrette or it will soak it all up and you'll have a messy clump of goo that tastes good, but doesn't look very appetizing.

In a serving bowl spread escarole, watercress and cilantro mixture on the bottom and add the kasha, lentil and chopped vegetable mix in the center. Take a moment to appreciate all the hard work you put into it, and the beautiful eye pleasing and very colorful finished product that almost looks too good to eat.

Dig in and enjoy... let somebody else worry about the dishes later.

...

The second recipe I like to use escarole in is a classic Mediterranean soup. As you can see in the recipe from YouTube, some people like a very basic soup with nothing much more than chicken broth, white beans and escarole. There is nothing wrong with keeping it simple, if that is your desire or budget.

I like a little more complexity of flavors, since my palate seems to be a little more developed than most folks. I can usually taste something and pick out the ingredients no matter how complicated the recipe. That aside, the main concern here is to steer away from the chicken stock-based soups and go more toward using low sodium vegetable stocks instead.

As long as you read the label and don't see anything too alarming, store bought vegetable stock is alright, but if you really want to be a cheap thrifty crazy person like me in the kitchen, then making a homemade stock out of the onion ends and other vegetable refuse you have laying around after preparing a big meal is a snap... right?

Not everybody can be or wants to be Martha Stewart, I know... but here's a veggie broth of hers if you're inclined.

TUSCAN CANNELLINI & ESCAROLE SOUP

Ingredients:

1 Tbl Olive oil
1 medium yellow onion diced
3-4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped baby carrots
1 Tbl chopped fresh basil (add/sub: oregano)
2 cans Cannellini beans
1 head Escarole chopped or shredded
3-4 cups vegetable broth (if 3: add 1 cup white wine)
1 tsp fennel seeds
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:
If you are using white wine in this recipe, re-constitute the diced sun-dried tomatoes in a cup of white wine for about 30 minutes. You can top it off to equal a cup again and add it to the soup broth later. In a large stock pot drizzle olive oil and cook onions on medium heat until translucent, add garlic.

Cut baby carrots on the bias and add to pot and let cook for a few minutes before adding the sun-dried tomatoes and white wine. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and add to pot with the shredded escarole. Add vegetable stock and reduce heat to simmer. Roll basil leaves and cut in strips, add to pot with other seasonings and continue simmering another 5 minutes.

To serve add a few shavings of a fresh hard Italian cheese like pecorino on top. Serve with a toasted baguette lightly seasoned with olive oil and garlic. If you serve this on a crisp fall evening, your family will think they have died and gone to heaven.

They do drink white wine in heaven?

They better!

...okay here's some links that I used to research the recipes I shared in this article.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/escarole_white_bean_soup.html
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Black%20lentil%20and%20kasha%20salad

Dig In!

Chef Archer

Swiss Chard

2011-01-23T17:37:00.000-06:00

Introduction: Take A Walk With Me Child...

Strolling through the modern American mega-market produce section, it's not hard to see who has won "top billing" on our dinner tables. With my shopping cart ready to collect the bounty to fulfill my nightly culinary cravings and dreams; a moment to pause and take a mental snapshot of what I see.

*Keep in mind, this is the view of an average Tulsa grocery store produce department... results may vary depending on where you live.

Front and center is rows and rows of bananas, a few plantains for the adventurous, and directly behind it are strawberries, raspberries and all the citrus fruits. It made me wonder if the person responsible for this arrangement was reading the diary of a British Naval Officer circa 1750.

Not to make light of the important discovery of the healthy benefits of eating fruits packed with Vitamin C, but it's clear to see that after nearly 300 years (and modern ocean-travel), the top dog of the nutritional lottery is Ascorbic Acid. We will see in a moment that there are other resources available that will offer plentiful Vitamin C, but aren't being promoted like The Citrus Family.

If you ask me, I think we are land-locked and a little too enamored with the visual appeal of a TROPICAL OASIS greeting us as we walk into a grocery store. Some of us recognize the huge carbon footprint that it creates to have such a display year-round. Is there a more sustainable way to promote eating fresh fruits or attaining precious Vitamin C?

Something to think about...

After going to the store for a few decades and buying the same old produce over and over... let's see if this list sounds familiar: Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Celery, Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Garlic, Lettuce, Spinach and maybe some Broccoli or Cabbage. You can tell that this is the majority of what people buy year round, just by how prominent they are displayed. If I was funnier, that would be a David Letterman Top Ten List, with broccoli and cabbage duking it out at #10 just to get on the list.

What else is hiding in the produce section that I haven't discovered yet? And are those items more or less nutritional, do they taste awful... is that why they are hiding?

Swiss Chard is one of those hiders... and packs a powerful nutritional punch. It's a shame more people aren't eating it. As a matter of fact, it's a shame more people aren't growing it in their perfectly manicured front yard landscape. It's a hardy grower and very visually appealing if you get the colored varieties.

Swiss Chard: The Little Big Man of Nutrition

Swiss Chard is in the beet family, but cultivated more for its leafs than its edible root bulbs. The Wikipedia entry has a general, although disappointingly brief, summary of information. The World's Healthiest Foods article about Swiss Chard, has much more information and a list of useful references for further investigation. Here's a little bit about what they say regarding swiss chard's nutritional profile:

If vegetables got grades for traditional nutrients alone, Swiss chard would be one of the vegetable valedictorians. The vitamin and mineral profile of this leafy green vegetable contains enough "excellents" to ensure its place at the head of the vegetable Dean's List. Our rating system awards Swiss chard with excellent marks for its concentrations of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron, vitamin E, and dietary fiber. Swiss chard also emerges as a very good or good source of copper, calcium, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, protein, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, folate, biotin, niacin and pantothenic acid.

Ah interesting... Swiss Chard is an excellent source of Vitamin C, plus a nice B Vitamin array and healthy minerals and fiber. It's not as sweet as citrus fruits, this must be why it hasn't caught on with the American palate yet.

An invaluable resource for us savvy science-geek foodies, is provided online by the USDA and allows us all access to nutritional information about everything food-related we could possibly want to study. It's called the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (Release 22).

A new one comes out every year, so this is the 22nd year it has been made available. You can search the database online or download it to your computer and go nuts analyzing all your recipes. You can also look at some nutritional profiles of fast-food offerings... very enlightening.

Chard, swiss, cooked, boiled, drained, with salt

New Search

Refuse: 0% NDB No: 11765 (Nutrient values and weights are for edible portion)

Nutrient	Units	Value per 100 grams	Number of Data Points	1.00 X 1 cup, chopped -------175g
Proximates
Water	g	92.65	0	162.14
Energy	kcal	20	0	35
Energy	kJ	84	0	147
Protein	g	1.88	1	3.29
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.08	1	0.14
Ash	g	1.26	1	2.21
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	4.13	0	7.23
Fiber, total dietary	g	2.1	1	3.7
Sugars, total	g	1.10	0	1.93
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	58	1	102
Iron, Fe	mg	2.26	1	3.95
Magnesium, Mg	mg	86	1	150
Phosphorus, P	mg	33	1	58
Potassium, K	mg	549	1	961
Sodium, Na	mg	415	0	726
Zinc, Zn	mg	0.33	0	0.58
Copper, Cu	mg	0.163	0	0.285
Manganese, Mn	mg	0.334	0	0.585
Selenium, Se	mcg	0.9	0	1.6
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	18.0	0	31.5
Thiamin	mg	0.034	0	0.060
Riboflavin	mg	0.086	0	0.150
Niacin	mg	0.360	0	0.630
Pantothenic acid	mg	0.163	0	0.285
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.085	0	0.149
Folate, total	mcg	9	0	16
Folic acid	mcg	0	0	0
Folate, food	mcg	9	0	16
Folate, DFE	mcg_DFE	9	0	16
Choline, total	mg	28.7	0	50.2
Betaine	mg	0.1	0	0.2
Vitamin B-12	mcg	0.00	0	0.00
Vitamin B-12, added	mcg	0.00	0	0.00
Vitamin A, RAE	mcg_RAE	306	0	536
Retinol	mcg	0	0	0
Carotene, beta	mcg	3652	0	6391
Carotene, alpha	mcg	45	0	79
Cryptoxanthin, beta	mcg	0	0	0
Vitamin A, IU	IU	6124	0	10717
Lycopene	mcg	0	0	0
Lutein + zeaxanthin	mcg	11015	0	19276
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	mg	1.89	0	3.31
Vitamin E, added	mg	0.00	0	0.00
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)	mcg	0.0	0	0.0
Vitamin D	IU	0	0	0
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	mcg	327.3	0	572.8
Lipids
Cholesterol	mg	0	0	0
Amino acids
Tryptophan	g	0.018	0	0.032
Threonine	g	0.086	0	0.150
Isoleucine	g	0.154	0	0.270
Leucine	g	0.135	0	0.236
Lysine	g	0.103	0	0.180
Methionine	g	0.020	0	0.035
Phenylalanine	g	0.114	0	0.199
Valine	g	0.114	0	0.199
Arginine	g	0.122	0	0.213
Histidine	g	0.038	0	0.066
Other
Caffeine	mg	0	0	0
Theobromine	mg	0	0	0

USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22 (2009)

NutritionData.com has a useful tool that shows more visually how Swiss Chard stacks up, and you can click through here to read the full page, which also duplicates the nutritional information above from the USDA SRS 21 (last year's version).

From the Nutrition Data information, the one negative about swiss chard boiled and drained with salt added, is that it has too much sodium. This is probably using an amount of salt required for canning and preservative processes. The little half teaspoon amount you are likely to use cooking raw swiss chard should be considerably less and not an issue.

When we salt to taste, we don't need to create a brine. Sodium is one of those nutrients that "nutritionism" has completely maligned and distorted in the public's mind. If we stay away from the processed foods like canned soups, ramen noodles, and all the sauces, salad dressings and condiments, replacing them with home made versions as much as possible, then our sodium intake wouldn't be an issue.

Using low-sodium products is a step in the right direction, if you can't take the leap out of the center aisles in the grocery store, where all the bad stuff is located.

http://www.formerfatguyblog.com/2008/03/01/recipe-red-swiss-chard-with-onions-and-raisins.html

Swiss Chard: Recipes

I like the Former Fat Guy's recipe, seems to be a nice variation on this Epicurious recipe, but if you're not a raisin lover or familiar with goji berries, it may be a little daunting to try for folks who ease up and tread lightly when "change" is thrust upon them.

A good rule of thumb, for trying Swiss Chard is to think of it as a Spinach substitute. If you like Spinach Artichoke Dip... then try Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip. FarmGirlFare has done exactly that with her version of garden to table cuisine:

Yes, I'm going to provide links and show pictures of anyone out there putting good healthy food in the spotlight. We're all on the same team and need to do as much as we can to support each other and help those folks sitting in a McDonald's drive-thru.... to see the light.

My own personal contribution to great recipes using Swiss Chard? I have a few.

The first one is a very Americanized version of the Iranian dish "Ghormeh Sabzi", which is a very popular dish in the Persian culture and has a number of variants based on the flora and fauna of the particular region. Notably from the link above, you will notice no Swiss Chard. Which is why I respectfully call my dish something else... and say that it is a "Sabzi-like" dish. I like exploring world cuisine, but know when I'm attempting something that others hold dear in their food culture traditions, that I must honor them as much as I can.

Persian Herb Stew

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Spinach
1 cup Swiss Chard
1 cup Dandelion Greens
1 Bunch Cilantro
1 juice of freshly squeezed Lemon
1 medium-sized yellow onion diced
1 shallot diced
16 oz can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
16 oz can of red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 Tbl olive oi
l1 tsp Fenugreek
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Turmeric
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a stock pot over medium heat sweat your onions and shallots in olive oil. Once they start browning andcaramelizing then add all your greens, let them cook down before lowering heat. Add lemon juice and beans, simmer for 30 minutes adding water if needed. Take off heat and add cilantro and other spices. Serve over Rice Polow (my version is saffron-infused rice, dried currants, pine nuts, lemon juice and yogurt).

When I was younger, my aunt Polly would serve a version of this during her weekly Baha'i meetings. I've taken the liberty of adding a few things, but I've maintained the vegetarian status of this dish. If you look at the Ghormeh recipe again, they serve this with lamb. Meatless or not, this is packed with flavor and nutrients.

For the second dish, I am modifying a Belgian Stoemp recipe to include Swiss Chard. After reading the small blurb on Wikipediaabout this dish, and seeing that it was very similar to the Irish Colcannon, I went to the store and started gathering ingredients:

: Belgian Stoemp raw ingredients: Red Potatoes, Turnips, Baby Carrots, Onion, Garlic, Swiss Chard, Dill, Farmer's cheese, Greek Yogurt, Half & Half, Salt & Pepper and Nutmeg

Typically this dish is a collection of root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, with the green being cabbage. The Belgians also love their pork products, so bacon is added and the Stoemp itself is served along side a bratwurst or other popular pork sausage.
To replace the animal fats and proteins, I took the bacon out and added a mild farmer's cheese and the versatile Greek yogurt, which also were utilized for thickening.
Instead of using butter, healthier extra virgin olive oil imparts great flavor and adds better fat. Lastly, instead of just having potatoes and carrots as the root vegetables, I also added turnips to the recipe for their subtle flavor enhancement.

Belgian Stoemp

INGREDIENTS:

1 Bunch (about 2 cups chopped) Swiss Chard
3 Red Potatoes cubed, with skins left on
3 Turnips cubed and peeled
8 oz Baby Carrots
1 bunch fresh dill
1 medium-sized yellow onion
6-8 garlic cloves
4 oz Farmer's cheese
1 pint Half & Half
4 oz Greek Yogurt
Dash of ground Nutmeg
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a stock pot over medium heat, sweat onions until translucent and add potatoes, turnips and carrots. Continue on medium heat and stir occasionally until potatoes and turnips are fork tender, about 30-45 minutes. Add Swiss Chard and let it start cooking down before adding Half & Half slowly in stages, stirring inbetween. Add Greek yogurt and begin mashing vegetables with a fork or potato masher. Leaving big chunks is desirable. As mixture begins to thicken add garlic, dill and farmer's cheese and reduce heat to a simmer. Stir in melted cheese and serve.

: This is how lumpy and runny Stoemp will look right before taking it off the stove

...in the final plate presentation, I used leftover breakfast bacon and the uncooked, colorful Swiss Chard ribs as a garnish.

Swiss chard is definitely a winner at the dinner table and on the waist line. Don't be afraid to use it and experiment.

Next weekend we'll look at Escarole and an African Kasha salad recipe, one of my favorites. Would love to hear any feedback or suggestions for other articles.

Until next time.... Dig In!

Chef Archer

Lowering Sodium Intake

2011-01-21T20:42:00.000-06:00

5 Major effects of High Blood Pressure: Kreative Vistas 3D medical animation

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Of all the problems that the Western diet has caused... sodium over-consumption seems to be the most critical and perplexing. What is so perplexing about it is that scientists and nutritionists have been vacillating on "it's healthy" and "avoid it" for many decades now. Who really knows what to believe or who to trust?

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/lowering-your-salt-intake.html

Just look at this article out of the "...-For-Dummies" series and notice the error correction the first commentor made. Good thing there's doctors out there reading this stuff and willing to speak up. To their credit, at least the webmaster/editors of the Dummies site has left this comment up for us to read, they could have easily removed it and quietly tried to correct the error... or leave it as is. But even doctors and universities are confused about this subject. Just look at this video from UC Davis:
UC Davis News

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A study by UC Davis questions the scientific logic of the effort to limit our salt intake. This comes to light despite public health guidelines that push for lower sodium consumption. For more read http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9265

The truth is, nobody is going to have any definitive answers for any of us, but we can arm ourselves with some good rules of thumb and eating habits that reduce our sodium intake and hopefully help us avoid the health issues associated with high sodium intake. Fortunately, some companies are starting to listen and help us consumers make better choices when we go grocery shopping.

As it turns out... our own use of salt while preparing food from scratch, using fresh ingredients is not the culprit to our high sodium intake. Most of the sodium we consume is in the form of processed foods, condiments and sauces, and fast foods (which happens to include those fast food soda drinks, too).

If you could just reduce the amount of quick drive-thru lunches and only shop for foods in the perimeter of the grocery store, buying only low sodium condiments, then we could cut out up to 75% of our sodium intake easily.

That is a significant piece of information to arm yourself with the next time you feel guilty picking up the salt shaker. Maybe your guilt is better placed when you go down to the break room vending machine for the 2nd or 3rd bag of chips or cookies, or drive into McDonald's or Arby's for a "quick" lunch.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/15/america.salt.addiction/index.html

The FDA is set to help ween us off our sodium addiction, since it really wasn't our doing in the first place... it was the food industry that did this to us. Many of the major processed food companies like Heinz and Kraft are working with the new FDA guidelines to reduce the amount of sodium in their products slowly. Any one who has gone cold turkey off sodium can tell you that it is not an easy task.

More than three-quarters of our sodium intake comes from processed foods, while only about 6 percent comes from the saltshakers on our dinner tables, by some estimates.
For this reason, much of the sodium reduction needs to take place at the environmental level, not through individual initiative, says Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University, in Boston, and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association.

Here are some great tips from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, an agency under the National Institute of Health that is directly responsible for disseminating information to help people avoid diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

h ttp://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/prevent/sodium/sodium.htm

Tips for Reducing Sodium in Your Diet

Buy fresh, plain frozen, or canned "with no salt added" vegetables.

Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types.

Use herbs, spices, and salt-free seasoning blends in cooking and at the table.

Cook rice, pasta, and hot cereals without salt. Cut back on instant or flavored rice, pasta, and cereal mixes, which usually have added salt.

Choose "convenience" foods that are lower in sodium. Cut back on frozen dinners, pizza, packaged mixes, canned soups or broths, and salad dressings — these often have a lot of sodium.

Rinse canned foods, such as tuna, to remove some sodium.

When available, buy low- or reduced-sodium, or no-salt-added versions of foods.

Choose ready-to-eat breakfast cereals that are lower in sodium.

As the very perky woman in the video below suggests, one of the better way to help reduce your salt usage at home, is by using other seasonings. My favorite is fresh minced garlic, I use a lot of it. No fear of vampires here. It is also fortunate that I am not a close-talker, or in the habit of whispering secrets in somebody's ear.

Ask Amy - Lower Sodium Intake

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Food flavor enhancers like vinegar and lemon juice can also help us reduce our need for salt to make something bland taste better. All three: salt, vinegar and ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C), are natural preservatives that help reduce spoilage and add flavor. Our modern food industry has over-used salt in this capacity, but we can correct this imbalance by adding more of the other two.

A few more useful links to more information about how you can change your eating habits to lower your sodium intake without suffering in the absence of taste or enjoyable foods.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/26/health/main6434928.shtml

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=870

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284

and finally.... something I think is worth thinking about before you eat another fast food meal, a major culprit in many of our nutritional imbalances that lead to disease and higher healthcare costs... not just increased sodium intake. Listen and try to follow Michael Pollan's Five Food Rules in this video:

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Salt and sodium are important requirements of the human diet, don't neglect them wholesale, instead keep your intake in moderation and enjoy them as just one of many options in your arsenal of food flavor enhancers. Your health and enjoyment of food is bound to improve.

Namaste
Chef Archer

Parlez Vous Moo-Tard

2011-01-21T20:09:00.000-06:00

Food Loves French's TV ad:

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...and the behind the scenes dating club introduction Webisode:

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Mustard: One of the least offensive, to us un-refined folk, in your arsenal of refrigerator door condiments. Great ad campaign by French's... your food loves it, and so should you. Put the onus on your food... is it guilting you for not using French's yet, do you "feel" the peer-pressure mounting?

Read all about the history of French's Golden at their website. But where did the French family(who are really New Yorkers, not French anymore) get their knowledge of mustard-making? Wikipedia has an even more interesting history of mustard all the way back to ancient Roman culinary skills.

It was from the Romans that the Gauls were introduced to the wonderfully pungent concoction, and over the next several hundred years perfected its production until a couple of fellows in Dijon, France around 1777 named Maurice Grey and Auguste Poupon got together and shared recipe (Grey) with bank account (Poupon) and VIOLA! they created the world's best condiment.

The folks in Dijon take the production of their mustard very seriously, which is why the quality of their mustard has such worldwide notoriety, it's too bad we don't have this kind of loyalty to our food agriculture in the US, from the one's producing or the one's consuming.

From "The Perfect Pantry" blog:

Though the original Grey Poupon store still stands in downtown Dijon, most of the world's Dijon (or Dijon-style) mustard is produced elsewhere, from seeds grown in Canada. The Grey Poupon you find on every supermarket shelf is made today by Kraft Food, but in medieval times, mustard was made by a mustardarius -- someone whose sole responsibility was to oversee the growing and preparation of mustard.
The mustardarius would soak brown mustard seeds in water to activate the enzyme myrosinase. When the desired heat level was achieved, he would add an acidic liquid, usually wine or vinegar (for stronger mustards) or verjuice (a milder acid, which resulted in what we now call Dijon mustard), and a bit of salt. The mustardarius had a lot of control over the taste and strength of the final product.

Can we petition Kraft Foods to hire a few Canadian mustardarius-es?

Except for the nebulous "spices" and "natural flavorings", the ingredient list on a bottle of plain French's Golden Mustard is very un-alarming.

INGREDIENTS:
Distilled Vinegar, Water, No.1 Grade Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric, Paprika, Spice, Natural Flavors and Garlic Powder.

Anyone worried about the un-natural bright yellow color of plain mustard can go straight to turmeric in the ingredients list as the culprit. What is turmeric? It is a member of the ginger family and has a very bright orange colored root, that is oven dried and ground into a fine bright yellow powder. Turmeric is used as a substitute for saffron, which is a much more expensive spice. The flavor it imparts is a very subtle one, unlike ginger, somewhat bitter and peppery which comes from the active ingredient curcumin.

Therefore, the color of French's Golden Mustard is very natural. And if you believe the results of this 1998 University of Texas research study: "Mechanisms of anticarcinogenic properties of curcumin: the effect of curcumin on glutathione linked detoxification enzymes in rat liver", turmeric has anti-carcinogenic properties that make it something you want to ADD to your diet.

Looking at some YouTube videos for making homemade mustard...

The Howcast version:

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In The Mood For Food version:

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Someone should explain to Chef Kev that there is a reason Mustard Gas is a very effective weapon.

Seriously, when you break apart the mustard seeds, they release an enzyme called myrosinase, which comes into contact with sinigrin (a glucosinolate) contained in the plant tissue vacoules. The combination of these two produces a substance called allyl isothiocyanate, (AITC) which is responsible for the heat you experience from mustard, wasabi and horseradish. It is toxic in large enough doses, so don't play around.

No, you aren't making weapons-grade mustard gas, but anything with cyano- in the name... isn't for play time. We all are familiar with the effects of cyanide and the "don't drink the kool-aid" meme. Fortunately in this particular chemical form, AITC has some beneficial attributes by inhibiting the proliferation of prostate cancer cells in this 2003 study at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

Guys... eat your mustard, wasabi and horse radish religiously, that's all I'm sayin'...

Moving on, I really had a hard time finding three videos of homemade mustard... I guess if honey-mustard salad dressing was acceptable I could have included Mr Salad Dressing's offering, but he used a store-bought mustard preparation, which kind of defeats our purpose here.

Ran across the Monastery Mustard video and although they don't show how their mustard is made from scratch, it is a nice video. Even though I am not the "monastic" type, I do share a common goal (or "ministry" in their words) of helping provide people with healthier food options, to nourish their bodies with eco-friendly food products.

I appreciate what these "old gals" are doing, their community is richer from their efforts. We all need local food purveyors of this quality in our area.

Monastery Mustard - Cooking Up A Story:

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The problem of mustard when we add industrial food production into the equation, is one of exponential growth of market choices for the consumer. Hundred years ago we had one choice, now we look at the condiment aisle of a modern mega-market grocery store and there are dozens of options.

All I need is one good mustard... and I can add honey or stone-ground mustard seed, or tarragon myself depending on my palate cravings and momentary whims. But since the marketplace has become saturated with product choices in every nook and cranny of the food industry... then I have to be a vigilant label-reader. And if you have to do this down every single aisle.... you'll spend all day reading... bring a sleeping bag, it may take a few days.

It's overwhelming...

Advice straight from Michael Pollan.... if you are reading a food label and any of the first five ingredients is un-pronounceable or foreign to you, then put it down. You really don't need it.

French's Mustard isn't in violation of this rule, but in the interest of sharing my refrigerator contents with the world, I thought I'd share one of my own "lapses in good judgement". Turns out I have broken this rule without even knowing it. As a "flavor-whore", I love stronger mustards like Cajun, Chinese mustard etc.

As a matter of coming clean about my addiction: there are three different bottles of mustard in my fridge and at the drop of a hat any one of them could be mixed with honey, vinegar & oil, cream or wine to produce a sauce for pork or dressing for salad. A very versatile thing to have around.

Zatarain's (you pronounce that anyway you please) makes a Cajun mustard. The first 4 ingredients are pretty straightforward:

Water, Distilled Vinegar, Ground Mustard Seed and Salt.

So far so good.

Ingredient #5 -- Propylene Glycol Alginate.

What?

The Straight Dope dealt with this topic rather humorously.

PubMed handled it a little more seriously.

So PGA comes from kelp and has been used in the food industry a long time without much cause for concern, no Dow Chemical-like body count from mass poisoning. It just sounds too much like car anti-freeze, which is poisonous and apparently tastes good to dogs.

I just want to know why we aren't isolating natural thickeners, like the glycosylates in okra mucilage, for example... and use them in place of other substances like PGA or xanthum gum for viscosity. We are studying these natural compounds for medical uses, why not industrial food uses?

Well, I bought this Creole Mustard and will have to find something to use it on, probably ham or turkey sandwiches. But I don't plan on buying this brand of mustard again. I'll stick to Dijon or stone-ground mustard without PGA.

The Un-Refined Chef Homemade Mustard recipe:

You've watched the two videos up front, and here's a good basic mustard: From the Good Eats episode: Pretzel Logic, Alton Brown shares a recipe for homemade mustard. It looks like Alton's version is a good way to recycle the pickle juice left over from your Bread N Butter Chips. I love pickle juice, drink it straight when I get a hankering... but not in my mustard.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup Dry Mustard Powder
1/4 cup Whole Mustard seed (ground slightly in mortar and pestle)
1/3 Tbl Brown sugar
1/2 cup White Wine (drinkable, not cooking wine)
1/3 Tbl Cider Vinegar
2-3 cloves Garlic
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt and Turmeric
Dash of Paprika
Water as needed (once it thickens on the stove, or dries out in the fridge)

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process the heck out of it. And when you think you've accomplished that, hit pulse a few extra times for good measure. About halfway in, take the lid off and scrape the sides and bottom with a spatula to make sure everything is getting blended together thoroughly. Should be a little liquidy, put in a saucepan on the stove with medium heat under it and keep stirring until it almost starts to bubble, cut off heat and let stand for 30 minutes or until cool.

Once cooled, pour into a glass storage container with lid and refrigerate. Should keep for at least a month. Adjust the recipe to your own monthly mustard eating needs. To experiment with different flavor variations try adding; honey, horseradish or tarragon in addition to or in place of the above ingredients.

Next article we'll begin the journey, biting off a bigger chunk of industrial processed food yuckiness when we explore how to make our own homemade salad dressings, like Ranch, Bleu Cheese, and Italian. Hope to see you then... we'll leave you today with a food-related Beatles classic.

Mean Mr Mustard - The Beatles:

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Chef Archer

Ketchup... Yes You Can

2011-01-21T18:33:00.000-06:00

Relax... making your own ketchup doesn't have to be a mystery. Here's more than you'll possibly ever need to know about the history and etymology of ketchup. If you garden and end up with a huge harvest of tomatoes all at once, this is a great way to use them up.

Confession time: I can't remember the last time I bought a bottle of ketchup. Seriously! I don't eat it, unless I am putting it in something else... and most of the time I use plain tomato sauce. This is a clear indication that I don't have any kids running around and digging into my fridge.

I remember being a 'kid' and craving big mounds of ketchup with salt and pepper mixed in for my greasy basket full of curly fries.... it wasn't that long ago. But somewhere between here and there, my metabolism changed... and eating greasy foods started to cause major intestinal distress. After a few sleepless nights, I finally put two and two together and realized the greasy fried foods and me were going our separate ways.

The number of times I have eaten french fries from one of those fast-food burger places in the last year I can count on one hand. Don't get me wrong... I still love and crave those foods, but I can't eat them as regularly as I used to and... I'm glad that my body rejects that lifestyle. Eating healthier isn't a hard choice in my situation.

The need for ketchup is something I don't have anymore, but I know there are a few moms with kids out there that might. I'm hoping those moms are a little health-conscious, too. If they are, then they have read the ketchup bottle ingredient label just like I have and noticed something unusual. Ketchup doesn't have just one corn syrup listed... it has TWO.

That's a little disconcerting to me, how about you?

Thank ConAgra foods for helping those poor subsidized corn farmers pedal their poison (high-fructose corn syrup) and just normal plain corn syrup, too, in those familiar brands of ketchup lining the grocery store shelves. We might as well be hooking our kids up to a sugar IV.

Sure they're little hummingbird-like metabolism can crank through those empty calories without much problem, most of the time. But the real harm is setting those sugar-craving tastebuds with such a high base-line at such an early age.... and those cravings will only increase as they age. We are just now beginning to realize the complex relationships we develop as kids to our food, the physiology of how our tastebuds work and why we have certain cravings. I was a toothpick as a kid, could eat a horse and not gain an ounce.

Not anymore, my sweet tooth has caught up to me and now I struggle with weight issues just like a lot of us middle-aged folks, which is why I am so interested in what people are doing to rebel against the Western Diet and the host of health-issues it has caused.

So let me put up my soap box now... and let's look at doing some home made ketchup without as much sugar.

If you're reading that label above and wondering about Lycopene and why it's important enough to be displayed so prominently, then read this.

The Howcast version:

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"A Blessed Relief for Mothers..." that's some voodoo marketing right there! Wow! If you're not one of those folks with sensitive tastebuds that can taste the can in the canned tomatoes, this could be workable. Certainly a time saver, too.

Jonathan Wallace (random Youtuber English bloak with a greenhouse) version:

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Notice the tomato skins and seeds are left in... with the smaller grape and cherry tomato varieties the process of taking the skins off turns into a nightmare chore. If you don't want a chunk of sticky tomato skin wedged in your teeth while enjoying your home-made ketchup, using a sieve or ricer as you're bottling, to sift out the woody bits of cinnamon or chunks of tomato skin, would be advisable.

The organic/gourmet Steviva version:

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Love how this guy thinks... you could use his healthy ketchup on french fries (oops, but those are unhealthy) so his next thought was naturally onion rings.... oh yeah "whole wheat" onion rings. Okay, nice try... but if you buy fresh potatoes and pan fry them in a little bit of olive oil and lightly salt them while they are hot and draining on a rack or paper-towel lined plate.... those are just as "healthy" as the onion rings.

It's NOT what some would consider "healthy"... but healthier than McDonalds and the like. Baby steps!

Nice visual aid at the beginning of the video though.... one tablespoon of store-bought ketchup has one teaspoon of sugar in it. Quick conversion factor: 1 Tablespoon = 3 teaspoons.

Let's make some Un-Refined Chef Homemade Ketchup:

I'm not going to go through the list of ingredients one-by-one from the back of a bottle of Heinz ketchup, because 1) I don't have one to look at from my fridge, and 2) the main objectionable ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup.... and probably too much salt. I'm skeptical about the red dye, since the FDA cracked down a few years ago to get rid of the carcinogenic one... nobody wants to be known as the company using "red dye" in anything food related. It is entirely possible to have a very bright looking ketchup as long as you stay away from brown sugar and molasses as your choice of sweetener. If a dye is used... then it has to appear on the ingredient label. Avoid them!

INGREDIENTS:

5-6 Roma tomatoes
1 small yellow onion (substitute shallots)
2-3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup molasses (feeling brave: sub a red delicious apple or mango for natural fruit sugars)
10-12 fresh basil leaves
1 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/8 tsp ground allspice, clove, cinnamon
Fresh ground Sea Salt and Black Peppercorns to taste

DIRECTIONS:
To start, sweat your onions in the olive oil on medium heat in a sauté pan, once they get some caramelizing started then add your chopped garlic. No need to knock yourself out finely mincing, let the food processor do that for you at the end.

Add your roughly chopped roma tomatoes, vinegar and molasses then simmer on low heat for about an hour. Stir occasionally and look for a little thickening. Take off heat and add your basil and other spices. Pour contents into a food processor and blend ingredients thoroughly.

When you're finished pour through a sieve or ricer into a storage container. Quality control inspection at this stage is mandatory, if you haven't been monitoring progress all along. Adjust salt/sugar ratio to your liking. Add a little cayenne or Tabasco if you like a kick and want to keep the kids out of "your" ketchup. Refrigerate and enjoy for the next two or three weeks.

For this recipe, (which I down-sized considerably from Epicurious), it should be noted that your ketchup has a longer shelf life than last week's mayonnaise because tomatoes are naturally more acidic, plus the addition of our old friend "vinegar", we are not giving the aerobic bacteria much to work with, but don't get complacent and let this hard work go to waste in the nether recesses of the back of your fridge.

What else can I do with home-made ketchup?

So you're not in the mood for french fries and onion rings... what else is there? Ketchup + Mayonnaise + Sweet Relish = Poor Man's Thousand Island. If you take my suggestion above about adding mangoes (leave them diced and chunky), then you can plate up some grilled shrimp on a bed of rice and pour the ketchup/mango mix over it. I make a spicy papaya ketchup with roasted red bell peppers for a dipping sauce to go with Patata Bravas, a traditional Spanish tapas, to rave reviews.

There isn't much difference between ketchup and chili sauce (at least the American version of chili sauce), so you could add some fresh horseradish to your home-made ketchup and squeeze some lemon juice, too... making your very own cocktail sauce for cocktail shrimp. That'll make you a big hit at the next party!

Final note: No, I will not encourage anyone to destroy a perfectly good breakfast dish by adding ketchup. Go right ahead though... don't let me stop you!

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While I encourage this video guy to get singing lessons.... I will also start working on the next Un-Refined Chef article when we discover how to make our own home-made mustard. I'll brush up on my French.

Au Revoir Mon Ami/e... Bon Appetit!

Chef Archer

Home-made Mayo Clinic

2011-01-21T16:27:00.000-06:00

Mayonnaise, that ubiquitous condiment that sits in your refrigerator door waiting to be slathered between two slices of bread, a mound of sliced animal flesh (like honey roasted ham) and a slice of cheese, lettuce leaf and tomato if you're really "doing it up".

What is "Mayo"?

Why is Miracle Whip and Mayo different?

Where did Mayo come from?

If you need a few of these questions answered, you can read the history of Mayonnaise at Wikipedia, and then head on over to Miracle Whip. I'm no genius, but there doesn't seem to be any difference in the major ingredients, Kraft just happened to have a mechanical guy sell them a machine that emulsified the ingredients more thoroughly and cheaper. Not a big deal.

Doesn't that look healthy??!!

Miracle Whip tastes sweeter. Hellman's is the original American mayo... and based on it's European ancestors. Take your pick. Now.... quit fighting and acting snobby! THEY ARE BOTH CRAP compared to what you can make at home.... fresh!

How do you make home-made mayonnaise?

Howcast version:

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Gordon Ramsey Cookalong version:

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BBC Good Food version:

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Just went to the fridge and grabbed my jar of Miracle Whip, let's look at the food label ingredients:

Water, Soybean oil, Vinegar, Sugar, Modified Cornstarch, Eggs... those are the biggies. Contains less than 2% of...
Salt, Mustard Flour, Paprika, Spice, Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (as a preservative), Enzyme Modified Egg Yolk, and Dried Garlic.

First of all, you can bet that Kraft Foods is buying the cheapest soybean oil available on the market... to keep their production costs lower and maximize profit. Anybody in business should expect them to do no less... but it's our responsibility as consumers to say to Kraft "We are shopping for food items with OUR HEALTH as our main priority, and will only buy products that meet our standards." Kraft will make products that meet both their cost/profit ratio and our personal health standards if we quit buying their unhealthy products.

This is happening gradually, and the marketing geniuses at Kraft have heard the voices of their consumers because right below the ingredient list is a highlighted disclaimer: NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP OR ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS.

Thank you Michael Pollan!

Next on the ingredient list is vinegar. People who worry about mayonnaise being a raw egg product and spoiling... are not to be discouraged, but... Vinegar is one of those weapons in our "long before modern technology and refrigeration days" when we had to fight off bacterial invasions stealing our precious food supply. The addition of vinegar helps to lower the pH of mayonnaise so those pesky airborne microbes that land on everything uncovered don't have a happy environment to set up shop and colonize your mayo.

Vinegar is a good friend to us Un-Refined Chefs.

However, the salmonella already on the egg shell from the mother hen... and likely transfered into your egg mixture no matter how carefully you try not to... can be a very nasty bug if enough of them are consumed. And as careful as you try to be with one or two eggs... try being THAT careful with 10,000 in an industrial food complex. Ain't gonna happen no how and no way!

Sugar is another ingredient I will write a full Un-Refined Chef article about soon. We consume to much of it (I'm guilty, too). There needs to be some "natural" alternatives that are healthier for us than the white granules we process and subsidize to death, or the fructose injected corn syrup crap that has gotten into EVERYTHING the last few decades.

The reason I like making food from scratch is that it allows me to control the amount of sugar and sodium that I am consuming daily. Kraft may have gotten the message about high-fructose corn syrup, but they are still pandering to my sweet-tooth cravings and the exact amount is probably too high, but unknown unless I go work for them and find out.

The last ingredient we'll discuss is the potassium sorbate, which is used as a food preservative. In my bookmarks on my browser, I have several links that help me find out information about food products and chemicals... I run across new ones everyday. My advice to anyone is to be curious about what goes into your body. Nobody else is going to protect you, and in fact, many are making good business out of your ignorance.

Potassium Sorbate is not a dangerous food additive, especially in the low quantities needed. It is the lack of this ingredient that will probably make your homemade batch of mayonnaise break down and separate after a week in the fridge. In this capacity it helps stop fermentation, acidification and further food deterioration. Potassium Sorbate also acts as an inhibitor for yeast and mold.

According to this research paper "Mixture design for evaluation of potassium sorbate and xanthan gum effect on properties of tapioca starch films obtained by extrusion", students in Brazil are attempting to make a food packaging wrap that is biodegradable and anti-microbial with Potassium Sorbate in the final bio-polymer. Take heart... if it can go INTO the food AND be a food wrap... you can eat the package, too!

Seriously...

Let's do some Un-Refining Chef recipe stuff:

We've watched the home made mayonnaise videos and now we're ready to get down to brass tacks. When you are buying your ingredients, be mindful of a few things. Quality in = quality out. I know that extra virgin olive oil is extra virgin olive oil.... it doesn't have to be the most expensive, but stay away from blends and chemical additives and the processed "cheap" stuff. How to be an Olive Oil snob!

Other oils are acceptable, and if you believe the BBC video above... preferable. I don't see anything wrong with using a very high quality extra-virgin olive oil. It won't "overpower" the mayonnaise with anything but great flavor... and that's what we're going for, right?

Eggs are the second ingredient of major importance. Organic Valley is a brand offered at my local grocer, finding something comparable in your area is important. A healthy bird that isn't cooped up all day long in the dark and pumped full of antibiotics... will produce a nice healthy egg. The yolk will be a nice bright orange, too. If it looks dull and yellow... you're not buying the right eggs.

As a fan, Alton Brown is a great resource for foodie-amateur-scientists, and he's done a show about The Mayo Clinic, with a very good recipe to follow. But I have a few un-refined suggestions and alterations.

1 whole egg (organic, and remember separating whites from yolks increases risk of salmonella)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil.
1 Tbl vinegar (I like white wine vinegar infused with tarragon)
1/2 lemon juice freshly squeezed
Drizzle of agave nectar
Pinch of dried mustard
Coarse sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Follow the same procedures used in the videos.... eggs and vinegar first in the food processor, then while blending add the oil slowly... this is the most important step, it helps create the chemical bonds that we call an emulsification. Add the seasonings last and give the processor another quick whirl.

Once you've made your own home-made mayonnaise, you'll need to use it up quickly. A good tuna/ham/chicken salad for sandwiches or maybe cole slaw (with carrots and apples) or German potato salad. Whatever you like with mayonnaise! Your tastebuds will thank you for it!

If you have any suggestions for more un-refined recipes and articles, feel free to comment. I will continue my exploration of condiments next with a look at ketchup. The only thing that allowed me to eat mom's liver and onions.... Sorry mom!

Chef Archer

	Buy fresh, plain frozen, or canned "with no salt added" vegetables.
	Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types.
	Use herbs, spices, and salt-free seasoning blends in cooking and at the table.
	Cook rice, pasta, and hot cereals without salt. Cut back on instant or flavored rice, pasta, and cereal mixes, which usually have added salt.
	Choose "convenience" foods that are lower in sodium. Cut back on frozen dinners, pizza, packaged mixes, canned soups or broths, and salad dressings — these often have a lot of sodium.
	Rinse canned foods, such as tuna, to remove some sodium.
	When available, buy low- or reduced-sodium, or no-salt-added versions of foods.
	Choose ready-to-eat breakfast cereals that are lower in sodium.