Product Review: "Silk" Apples

As the 20+ varieties of apples come in at the Central Market, I get new varieties to try out. One such was the Silk apple which was described as having a wonderfully smooth texture and delicious flavor. They looked like Golden Delicious to me which I am not fond of, preferring a good amount of tartness to offset the sweetness. Sadly, this is also how I felt the Silk apple tasted ... insipidly sweet.

I mentioned this likeness to Tom at lunch while handing him over his third Silk apple of the week.

He said, "I thought maybe they were just bred by someone who doesn't like apples."

Ouch!

You know, next time, he could speak up earlier ... I can make applesauce with any kind of apple and get that tartness in there with some lemon juice.

Best Simple Chili

By popular demand, I am reposting this which I ran in 2004 (that seems so long ago!). This is not too spicy as long as you are not using really hot chili powder.

Just remember ... no beans. As we discovered on vacation one time, we have raised the girls to be good Texans in that respect. "No beans," Rose said sharply. "Chili should never have beans and that is that."

Because you need something to have with the Skillet Cornbread, here's my favorite chili recipe. I found this in Matt Martinez' Culinary Frontier, one of the best Tex-Mex cookbooks ever. I almost always have to adjust seasonings but I can live with that because he has the easiest techniques I have ever found to replace the usual ones found in Mexican cookbooks.

From Matt Martinez's Culinary Frontier. I'm pretty sure I increased the seasonings in this but otherwise it is his recipe.

Step 1:
1 pound ground beef
3-4 tablespoons chili powder
1-2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 cloves minced garlic
2-3 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
4 tablespoons chopped onion
Brown the meat, then drain most of the fat. Add all the seasonings, garlic and onion and saute for 2 minutes.

Step 2:
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
2-4 tablespoons cornmeal
Add tomatoes and water, and simmer uncovered until tender, about 1 hour or more, until the meat reaches the desired tenderness. (If the chili seems too soupy, mix the cornmeal with a little water and mix it into the chili. Simmer for 15 minutes to thicken.)

Thoughts for Food

From my quote journal.

A salesman who travels southern Georgia and Alabama was told of a boarding house in a small town in his territory that had great food. One day he saw some cars parked outside of a house that looked right and went in. There were about ten people sitting at a big dining table heaped with food. He took an empty chair. He was a chatty type, and so were they. They passed the platters, and he ate his fill. When he stood up and asked the lady at the head of the table how much he owed her, she said, "Oh, you don't owe anything. This is a private home. We home you enjoyed your dinner.

Gail Greenblatt, quoted in A Gracious Plenty

Weekend Joke

A young man was visiting his brother and sister-in-law for Christmas dinner. As he arrived at their house he found his young nephew, Mikey, helping them bake some cupcakes.

After they were done, his sister-in-law allowed Mikey to put the icing on. When the boy had finished, he brought them to the table.

"The cupcakes look delicious, Mike." his uncle said. He took a bite and said, "Mikey these are so good."

As he finished cupcake and took another, he again complimented his little nephew. "The cupcakes look beautiful, Mikey," his uncle said. "How did you get the icing so neat?"

His nephew replied, "It was easy. I just licked them."

The uncle turned pale. He pointed to the plate of cupcakes. "You licked all of these?"

Mikey replied, "Well no. After a while my tongue got tired, and I got the dog to help."

Thoughts for Food

From my quote journal.

We had a kettle; we let it leak:
Our not repairing made it worse.
We haven't had any tea for a week...
The bottom is out of the Universe.

Rudyard Kipling

Weekend Joke

Three cooks, one from Kentucky, one from California and one from Oregon were sitting on a park bench passing the time. Suddenly, the cook from Kentucky reaches under the bench and drags out a new bottle of bourbon, takes a big swig, tosses the bottle into the air and shoots it with a pistol.

"What did you do that for?" asks the cook from California.

"We got lots of bourbon in Kentucky" was the reply.

Next the cook from California takes out a bottle of fine wine, takes a huge swig, throws the bottle into the air and shoots it with a pistol.

"What did you do that for?" asks the cook from Oregon.

"We got lots of wine in California" was the reply.

The cook from Oregon takes out a bottle of Henry's Private Reserve beer, takes a humongous swig and shoots the cook from California.

"What did you do that for?" asks the cook from Kentucky.

"We got lots of Californians in Oregon" was the reply.

Fine Art Friday - a day late

A Peeled Clementine by Duane Keiser

Pumpkin Bread Pudding?

Bread pudding made with challah bread, pumpkin, spices, half and half ... and then topped with a caramel sauce?

Oh, I am there, especially when I consider that I was trying to figure out what to make for Monday's book club. Could be time to get pumpkin-ish! And The Anchoress has it spelled out for us.

Thoughts for Food

From my quote journal.

A lot of people have never really had the chance to taste a decent apple pie, but after a minute's sensual reflection will know positively what they would expect if they did. They can taste it on their mind's tongue...

M.F.K. Fisher

Weekend Joke

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.

Suddenly her husband burst into the kitchen. "Careful ... CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOSH! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my GOSH! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful ... CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving with you in the car."

I am increasingly approving of The Nutrition Diva

She is part of the Quick & Dirty Tips podcasting family. I enjoy several of those podcasts as a matter of fact.

What makes me point out The Nutrition Diva? She uses common sense. And science.

I like that.

For instance, I had fallen prey to high fructose hysteria (to my shame, as I now realize) and she helped shake me into common sense (emphasis added):

... As is so often the case, a little chemistry helps makes things a lot clearer. Table sugar, or sucrose, is actually made up of two types of sugar molecules; it’s about equal parts glucose and fructose.

Regular corn syrup, the kind that you can buy on the grocery store, has a different profile. It’s much lower in fructose than table sugar. You heard me correctly: Corn syrup is naturally quite low in fructose. And that makes it a poor substitute for table sugar. Things made with regular corn syrup don’t taste the same as things made with table sugar.

The breakthrough for food manufacturers came when they figured out how to produce a corn syrup that was higher in fructose. High-fructose corn syrup actually has about the same amount of fructose as regular table sugar—making it a viable alternative for food processing. Because corn syrup is so much cheaper than cane sugar, manufacturers quickly adopted it and high-fructose corn syrup has largely replaced cane sugar in manufactured foods.

But here’s what gets lost in the high-fructose hysteria: Foods and drinks made with high-fructose corn syrup are, in general, no higher in fructose than foods made with regular sugar. But they are cheaper. ...

Or this bit of information about how much water to drink? Now, this one I knew. But it was refreshing to hear a little known bit of information being brought to light through a venue that is fairly popular (or so I'd bet):

... I bet you’ve heard it said that you need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day in order to stay properly hydrated. Perhaps you’ve also read that by the time you feel thirsty you’re already in an advanced state of dehydration, or that most of us are chronically dehydrated. Chances are also good that you’ve been told that drinking caffeinated beverages like tea and coffee cause you to lose more fluid than you take in.

What would you say if I told you that all of these widely held truths are little more than urban legends?

I can almost hear your shocked expressions! The dehydration myth has become so firmly entrenched in our collective consciousness that it may indeed come as a surprise to learn that there is very little scientific support for any of these notions. ...

Yep.

You don't have to listen to the podcast if you'd rather read. Full transcripts are available for each show.