Back to Basics

BARDING AND LARDING
Two traditional preparation techniques for roasted foods that are naturally lean are barding (tying thin sheets of fatback, bacon, or caul fat around a food) and larding (inserting small strips of fatback into a food). The extra fat helps keep the meat tender and juicy. Venison, wild boar, game birds, and certain cuts of beef or lamb may be candidates for barding or larding.

Variations using different products are also employed to add flavor to roasted foods. For example, a roast, rather than being larded with fatback, may be studded with slivers of garlic. The garlic will not have the same tenderizing effect as the fatback, but it will add plenty of flavor.

Today, with increased concern over the amount of fat in diets, every trace of visible fat or skin is often removed in an effort to reduce fat, even though the amount of fat releasted from skin or fat layers as foods roast does not penetrate far into the meat. Fat and skin provide some protection from the drying effects of an oven without dramatically changing the amount of fat, and foods stripped of their natural protection of fat or skin can become dry and lose flavor. If roasts are drastically trimmed, an alternative "skin" should be added in the form of a coating or crust made from such ingredients as seasoned dried potato flakes, rice flakes, corn flakes, cornmeal, or finely ground dried mushrooms. Or the fat or skin may be left in place during roasting and removed just before serving.

The Professional Chef, 7th Edition
by The Culinary Institute of America

Ain't It the Truth?

Spinach, Spinach Everywhere

Once again from the inspired kitchen of my friend, Marcia:

I threw a dish together tonight that turned out pretty well. Put a little olive oil in a nonstick heavy skillet and saute' half a sweet onion. When translucent, add a full package of baby spinach and stir occasionally until just wilted....then crumble a bit of feta over the top and add fresh ground pepper...um, um good....oh serve immediately while hot....we loved it. with a little smoked salmon on crackers and a little glass of blas du blanc.

Sounds great and it made me remember one of my all time favorite quickie spinach recipes from Trattoria Cooking.

Spinach with Cream and Parmesan

2 pounds fresh spinach, stems and bruised leaves discarded, or two 10-ounce packages frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of any water
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup heavy cream (I prefer half-and-half)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano
Salt to taste

If using fresh, wash the spinach thoroughly under cold running water. Bring a large saucepan halfway full of water to a boil over medium heat, then add the spinach and cook until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking. Drain the spinach and squeeze out any excess water.

Heat the butter in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. When it begins to foam, add the cream and bring it to a gentle boil. Add the spinach and parmigiano and season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring, until the cheese is melted and the cream is almost all reduced, 2-3 minutes. Serve hot, next to grilled or roasted meat.

Makes 4-6 servings.

This is not nearly as healthy as Marcia's recipe but all of this spinach talk got me rooting through the freezer. Naturally, not a bit of spinach was to be found. Just one more thing to add to my grocery list.

Once Again, Obvious-Man Strikes!

A unique side-by-side comparison of four popular diets – Atkins low-carb, Ornish low-fat, the Zone and Weight Watchers – has found no difference in each plan's weight loss potential. When the fat-free chips are down, the type of diet doesn't seem to matter nearly as much as whether people actually follow it.

From the Dallas Morning News (free registration required).

From hard experience I can say this is totally true. It is calories in versus calories out. That means eat less and move more. Period.

Bananas - Is There Anything They Can't Do?

Part III about that amazing wonder fruit, the banana.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Blogging Around

COMMON SENSE
Too Many Chefs has a great piece about diets including a link to an article about diets of long ago ... no, I'm not talking about the crazy cereal diets back at the beginning of the last century. We're talking 1087.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO ...
The 2004 Food Blog Award results are up at Accidental Hedonist including one for my favorite category, Best Blog - Humor, given to The Amateur Gourmet (one of my favorites). If you have ever been interested in seeing what is out there in the food blogging world just go check out the nominees.

COVER YOUR LEFT EYE
Monkey takes a trip to the eye doctor that is much more amusing and informative than mine usually is. That's probably because I never thought of being helpful and sorting all the medicines while waiting.

It's Funny Because It's True

5 seconds ... but I want it now!
Homer Simpson,
watching meatloaf in the microwave

You really don't expect to find yourself living those Simpsons moments but there I was in the kitchen at lunchtime ... watching last night's leftovers go around and around in the microwave for the third minute in a row ... 40 seconds ... 37 seconds ... 18 seconds. I couldn't take it anymore and yanked the door open - perfection! Then I realized - I have become Homer. Anyone got a donut?

Macaroni

The tubes of pasta known as macaroni were probably introduced into English cuisine by a group of young, rich, well-travelled dandies who slavishly aped continental style and custom -- in Horace Walpole’s words “travelled young men who wear long curls and spying-glasses”. They formed the Macaroni Club, which dined in ostentatious style at Almack’s club. In 1770 the Oxford Magazine described these insolent fops thus: "There is indeed a kind of animal, neither male nor female, a thing of the neuter gender, lately started up amongst us. It is called a Macaroni. It talks without meaning, it smiles without pleasantry, it eats without appetite, it rides without exercise, it wenches without passion."

Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany by Ben Schott

But does it like cheese?

Black Eyed Pea Redemption

My good friend Marcia has the solution to my thinking that black eyed peas taste like dirt. She's a life long Texan so I think I can trust her on this and it does sound delicious. Maybe a black eyed pea salad is in my future ...

FYI....I have a blackeyed pea recipe for you to try....wash canned in colander, add chopped avocado, green onions chopped and chopped tomatoes....cilantro if you like it and salt and pepper....If you like fresh jalepanos, seed, de-membrane and then finely chop and add to mixture.......then pour catalina salad dressing and toss...leave in frig for a few hrs. or overnight to let flavors meld....I love it....maybe you won't taste dirt!!! when serving add little fritos.. it's a treat, I promise!

New Year's Dinner

My mother-in-law had bought a regular grocery store ham which we baked in the oven. We also made a black-eyed pea recipe that my brother-in-law had gotten from the internet. It looked interesting, kind of like barbecued beans. And I finished up the potato salad that my MIL started but got too tired to finish (poor thing, she's so easily tired these days ... it is worrying).

Two discoveries from that meal:

1. I have never been so thankful for Kuby's double smoked hams. Whoever produces that ham she bought evidently is under the impression that a double blast of salt can pass for flavor. Ick!


2. I have decided that I do not like black eyed peas. They DO taste like dirt! How do I know what dirt tastes like? Some things shall never be revealed. (I loved the way that sounded ... actually, I have a good imagination.)

Gone to Houston

We're going to Houston for the weekend so I'm posting a few things ahead of time. Since it will be New Year's I had a few things collected (this is a rather impromptu trip, just for fun) and there's no need to waste them. So you can read them all at once or ration them out. Your choice.

Happy New Year to everyone!