Three Cookies

Lard is coming back

2012-03-02T23:54:00.001+01:00

Food Diary (March 02, 2012)

Breakfast: Sourdough toast

Lunch: Pinto bean ketchup curry with rice

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese

Baking/sweets: Chocolates

There was an unusual scene in the supermarket today. A guy was holding a McDonalds tray, eating burgers and fries, with sauce all over the tray and on his clothes. Somehow he managed to walk out of McDonalds and into the supermarket with the tray. He didn’t seem to notice anyone, he probably didn't know where he was, and no one did anything about it. He was probably under the influence, or has mental issues. The McDonalds next to the supermarket is quite nice, very well designed with lots of comforable seating. Eating there would be far more comfortable than standing in a relatively busy supermarket. I wonder what drove him away from McD's? Maybe he didn't want to be seen there? Or maybe he wanted to eat his food, surrounded by food. He was standing by the candy section.

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: Camemberu

Skyve Seared Beef Tartare

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: Gourmet

It looks like lard is coming back in fashion. I think in some parts of the world it never really got out of fashion. Those parts of the world were lucky enough to be sheltered from margarine. Some years ago I was having dinner at a friend's friends brewpub in Germany. A platter arrived with ‘white stuff’. I ate it only to find out later it was fat (from duck I think). I was disgusted. At that time I had a negative image of lard. Times are changing. Not so long ago, for the first time, I saw lard sitting alongside butter and margarine in the supermarket.

Lards fat is mostly monounsaturated, like olive oil’s. And it produces superior pie crusts, crispier fried chicken, and crunchier cookies than vegetable shortenings like Crisco.

There are different kinds of lards. What’s sold in supermarkets, often labeled with the Spanish name, manteca, is almost as bad as shortening was before the trans fats were eliminated, because it’s been processed in the same way—hydrogenated so that it will stay solid at room temperature and need no refrigeration. The real deal can be found mostly at farmers’ markets or some butcher shops, especially by special order. Or you can make it at home.

Leaf lard, from the fat around the pig’s kidneys, is the best, especially for baking.

Durian cake and low salt is bad?

2012-03-01T23:59:00.009+01:00

Fish in spicy tomato sauce with pasta

Food Diary (March 01, 2012)

Breakfast: Rolled oats with pear, sunflower seeds and flax seeds

Lunch: Fish in spicy tomato sauce with pasta

Dinner: Polenta pajeon (Korean pancake)

Baking/sweets:

I am not sure if I can call the polenta pancake pajeon. The idea came from pajeon but adding polenta makes it partially Italian. Doesn’t matter, it was crispy, simple and delicious.

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: Spartlette

Durian banana chocolate mousse cake

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: Care2

Salt has been receiving bad reputation. Like fat, people think it should be avoided. Doctors and dietitians, along with the USDA dietary guidelines, recommend eating a diet low in sodium to prevent high blood pressure, risk of cardiovascular disease, and stroke; and doctors have been putting their patients on low-salt diets since the 1970s. But like fat, salt is an essential component of the human diet.

A study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that low-salt diets actually increase the risk of death from heart attack and stroke — and in fact don’t prevent high blood pressure. This study’s findings have been criticized.

Another study published in 2006 showed that death from heart disease and all causes rose with lower salt consumption. The report found that lower sodium has been associated with stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, that, in turn, has been associated with adverse [cardiovascular disease] and mortality outcomes. Sodium restriction may also influence insulin resistance.

The insulin resistance association is compelling since so many Americans are exhibiting signs of insulin resistance, the precursor to diabetes. Michael Alderman, a blood-pressure researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine said “The problem with reducing sodium enough to change blood pressure [is that it] has other effects — including increasing insulin resistance, increasing sympathetic nerve activity, and activating the renin-angiotensin system and increasing aldosterone secretion. All bad things for the cardiovascular system.”

I am not sure what the verdict it. I guess we will never know the truth because its complex. Different studies will come to different conclusions, and the conclusions may be valid. Too much salt is bad, so is too little, the right amount must be good!

McDonald's Burgers 16th Birthday

2012-03-01T00:04:00.000+01:00

Polenta Coconut Chocolate Cookies

Food Diary (February 29, 2012)

Breakfast: Sourdough with boiled egg

Lunch: Pasta with mushroom bacon sauce

Dinner: Pajeon (Korean pancake)

Baking/sweets: Polenta Coconut Chocolate Cookies

“Like a Kid in a Candy Store”.

I think this phrase is often overused and abused. I am sure some of us probably still get excited when surrounded by candy, and some of us probably look at the dessert section of the menu first. What has changed is that we no longer have to plead and beg to our parents to buy us candy. As mature responsible adults we buy it ourselves without restraint, overeat, feel guilty, talk about it, tweet about it and maybe even do some exercise.

Why am I talking about this? I wasn’t in a candy store today but I visit virtual candy stores everyday, your blogs. The good thing about e-candy stores is that you can see it but you can’t touch it. And since my pantry is never well stocked, I usually can’t make it. Today few ‘candies got me excited’, including okonomiyaki on with a glass. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake, its no candy in the conventional sense of the word. I didn’t have the ingredients to make okonomiyaki but instead settled for pajeon, the Korean version which is much less complex to make. To make pajeon, I added carrots and onions to a simple batter, shallow fried and had it with dipping sauce made with soya sauce and apple cider vinegar. Simple and delicious. We are still like kids sometimes, we want to eat what someone else ate.

Pasta with mushroom bacon sauce

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: Cioccolatto Gatto

Honey and walnut tart

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: Best of Mother Earth

We missed the first public viewing of a 16 year old McDonalds burger. When it was 12 years old the burger had barely changed. I don’t know in what condition it is today, I am sure it is still 'healthy', doing well and has many years to come.