Aromatic Essentials

There is something special about walking into someone’s home and relishing the aroma of garlic and onions sauteing in a pan in a kitchen nearby. Garlic and onions as well as bell peppers and celery are commonly used in recipes as a sort of backbone to magically transform food into mouthwatering dishes. It is inconceivable to think you could complete cuisines such as Cajun, Indian, Mexican or African without these essential aromatics!

If you’re one of the very few who don’t cook with these gems, then consider some interesting health facts that you might not have heard of before.

• Garlic

Nursing mothers will be happy to hear that this marvel will help their babies nurse longer and drink more breast milk. According to researchers, the trick is for mom to consume garlic two hours prior to feeding time when the aroma is strongest in the breast milk which will be much more enticing to baby. (Tricks of the Trade, Vol. I from Midwifery Today).  You can make a great peanut sauce with garlic and enjoy some healthy Vietnamese spring rolls for lunch!

• Onion

It is well documented in medical science that onions share cancer fighting properties with garlic and bell peppers, as well as various antiseptic properties. Some websites even re-post this unsourceable statement about onions: “Egyptians numbered over 8000 onion-alleviated ailments.” Whether or not this is a historical exaggeration, there was plenty of evidence left behind by the ancient Egyptians that illustrate how much the onion was highly regarded in their cuisine and health.  Try an enchilada recipe  for a healthy dose of onion goodness!

• Bell Pepper

According to scientists, a serious depletion of vitamin A occurs in smokers due to a carcinogen found in cigarettes. Foods rich in vitamin A, such as bell peppers and chili peppers, can protect smokers from developing emphysema or lung inflammation. Also, the high vitamin C content in bell peppers have also been seen by researchers to protect people from developing cataracts and from crippling rheumatoid arthritis. (World’s Healthiest Foods)  A good way to enjoy this aromatic is in salads or a sausage wrap this summer!

• Celery

Celery contains a high amount of a natural steroid called androstenone, which increases pheromone levels in men when they sweat. Co-authors Dr. Judy Garman, Dr. Walter Gaman and Dr. Mark Anderson call celery “vegetable Viagra” in their new book called “Stay Young: Ten Proven Steps to Ultimate Health.”  So, get yourself some stalks of celery and peanut butter (or hummus) as a snack or in stuffing with a nice cut of pork for the ladies.

Without a doubt, there is more to these essential aromatic foods than meets the eye. There are other aromatics that are worth mentioning and exploring such as shallots, ginger, herbs, spices, peppers and others.  All have unique properties to enrich your life and, most especially, your palate.  So, cook more at home and be in control of your health!

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Spring Roll Party

A great way to spend an afternoon with friends and family is to invite them over for a culinary adventure!  I asked two of my friends, Gene and Hong, to walk me through Vietnamese spring roll making, and they both agreed to educate and share their experience with me.      

 To save money and time, Gene, Hong and I decided to share the task and cost of preparing some things at home the day before doing the spring rolls.  I boiled two pounds of shrimp, Gene BBQ’d a pork loin, and Hong brought some fried tofu from a local vendor.  Here’s how Gene and I prepared our stuff…     

 Gene’s BBQ’d Pork Loin     

1. In a ziploc bag add ground black pepper, garlic powder and a squirt of Sriracha hot chili sauce.
2. Add loin to mix and shake it up
3. Marinade for1 hour
4. Grill, sear and smoke the loin
5. Add BBQ sauce at the end

Yvette’s Shrimp Boil      

1. Thaw a 2 lb bag of frozen shrimp, devained and shelled
2. Boil water and add shrimp with shell on
3. Scoop the shrimp out when they float to the top (small strainer helps)
4. Let them cool and then peel off the shell

(I could have put some Cajun spices to the boil but I didn’t think of it)     

On the day we planned to make these spring rolls, we first went to an Asian supermarket, and for me this was the intimidating part!  Most staff are willing to help but the easiest way is if you have an Asian friend to take you on a small tour. (Thanks, Hong!)  This author was surprised to discover fresh and inexpensive herbs there!   Compare prices at your local Asian market vs. regular grocery store and be amazed!  

Here’s how we did all the prep work the day of of spring rolling…     

 Peanut Sauce Prep     

1. Saute 4-5 shallot cloves, chopped
2. Once the shallots are caramelized, throw in 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3. 1 cup of hoison
4. 1/3 of a jar of peanut butter
5. 1 cup of water (or as much as desired in thickness)
6. Dash of rooster sauce or Tabasco sauce to taste

Rice Noodle Prep      

1.  Boil the rice noodles or bun (pronounced like boon) for about 5-8 minutes for a softer noodle
2. Separate the noodles in small clumps in a large strainer for easier pickin’s
3. Rinse the bun two times in cold water

Herb Prep      

1. Wash the curly lettuce twice
2.  Soak and wash twice the cilantro (Ngo), Thai basil (Que), mint (Kanh Gioi), lemon herb (Rau ram). thin leeks (He).  For a spicier mix add spearmint (Hung Cay) or peppermint (Hung Hui).

 Okay!  Let’s put all these things together!!!  

The square kind is best for rolling!

Clumped noodles

Thin Leeks

Curly Lettuce

Fried Tofu

Step 1: Add water to both sides of rice paper and put on a plate

Step 2: Arrange lettuce, herbs, mung beans, pork and shrimp

Step 3: Add clump of noodles

Step 4: Add tofu (optional, of course)

Step 5: Roll once, then bring corners in to look like an open envelope

Step 6: Add the leeks before we continue rolling

Step 7: Finish rolling

Gene with a spring roll and peanut sauce

Hong and Clyde, my dog

Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

 

For a recipe on crispy spring rolls, check out my article on Associated Content.  

 

 

           Introduction to Asian Cuisine with Dorothy Huang

If you were ever frustrated about how your attempts at Asian cooking turn out, it’s possible you might be tempted to give up and just order in.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2972480/introduction_to_asian_cuisine_with.html?cat=22     

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Beyond StoveTop Stuffing!

StoveTop stuffing is perhaps the most popular brand during the Thanksgiving holidays but why not try something new and exciting to stuff that gorgeous turkey!

Ingredients:

• 3 white bread loaves (If in Texas, buy sweet tasting Buttercrust bread), shredded
• 2 cups of raisins
• 3 sticks of celery, chopped
• 10 oz bottle of Manzanilla Spanish olives (or as many as you’d like)
• 4-6 oz package of almonds
• 3 cans of Carnation evaporated milk

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients and stuff your 20 pound turkey!  Or, if you’d like, bake this mix in a separate pan and enjoy!

Variation:

Toast the white bread and cut it in very small pieces, and then add the rest of the ingredients.

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Water: The Main Ingredient!

Not only is water necessary for our survival, it is essential in the many food dishes and drink preparations that require certain types to make them palatable  to the senses.  Alkaline water, for example, is used in Asian cuisine to give a yellow color to noodles and cakes, or to give beans, seeds and veggies a bright color.  Rose and orange blossom water are other examples that give Middle Eastern dishes a unique and exotic flavor. Depending on what type of flavor we’re after in our dinner masterpieces, it is the type of water required in our recipes that is the one ingredient that needs more attention.  Hopefully, this water guide will help you decide on what type of water to use.

Photograph by A.J. French

• Artesian Water- The king of quality water you can find! Artesian aquifers are found beneath the surface protected by rock and clay without any exposure to outside contamination or air pollutants.  Impressed? Benefits from drinking (or cooking) with this water range from getting strong hair, skin, nails and bones to potentially reducing your Alzheimer’s risk due to the high silica content in the water (Reuter’s Health, 2009).  This water is great to cook with but can also be used to produce a tasty home-brewed beer!!

• Well Water- If you can tap into an aquifer by drilling a well in your backyard, then make sure you have a good well water system installed.  If you’re unlucky to have an old well system, then chances are you might run greater risks than worrying about smelly water!  Hazards with using well water include high lead, salt, bacteria, arsenic, and petroleum hydrocarbons just to name a few.  Cooking-wise, the high iron content in well water may turn your poached eggs green but don’t let this discourage you from using well water in your pan.  Get your water tested, filter it and enjoy the benefits of taping into water from a natural aquifer.

• Distilled Water – This water is heated to the boiling point so that impurities separate out when it becomes a vapor.  The impurities are eliminated and the water gets moved from steam to liquid by a cooling it.  This process follows Raoult’s law.  Distilling has been around since biblical times for different uses (e.g., perfumes, alcoholic drinks, etc.), and it has “purified” water from lakes, rivers and streams to this day.  It is still potable water that can be used for human consumption but still tastes bad.  I would use it in a steam iron or car.

• Spring Water – Similar to well water in that they both come from an aquifer but is different in that they flow out to the surface naturally.  This water is rich in trace minerals, so that part is good for you, but beware of drinking from a spring outside the safety of a bottled water company!  There are quite a few studies that show hot springs have a very high level of fluoride, so don’t use them to cook your food or think you’ve got instant hot drinking water for coffee or tea if you’re camping somewhere!  Fluoride is good for your bones and teeth but too much of it (like too little of it) is not healthy (USA Today, 2006).

• Mineral Water - So, you may wonder what the difference between spring and mineral water is…  Well, the only difference is that spring water must be collected directly from the source that the water flows out of, and mineral water is the water that comes from underground and flows over rocks, which increases the mineral content.  Also, mineral water can’t be treated like spring water but can be filtered to get rid of any grit and dirt.

• Sparkling Water - This water can come out with carbonation naturally or artificially.  It can be filtered and then carbonated again.  Besides making cool spritzers out of this water, it can be added to bread recipes replacing still water.  It assists in the rising process of the bread and gives it a holier look to it!  Tonic water is perhaps my favorite of the sparkling water category.  What makes it different from say a regular club soda is the anti-malarial drug, quinine, added to it.  Historically, the English mixed this drug into their sparkling water and added gin to the mix to mask the taste; hence, the classic gin and tonic!

• Rainwater - Harvested rainwater has many good uses for the home but it is unwise to use for drinking and cooking despite its purity from the heavens.  It’s in the collection that one must worry about.  Collected improperly, all sorts of pollutants, bacteria, etc. during collection could contaminate the water making it unsuitable for human consumption.  However, many people will filter and treat their rainwater to drink and cook with.   Action Against Hunger, a cool charity founded in France, developed a water program called WaSH (water, sanitation and hygiene) to help third world countries find, collect and clean water for the poor.  Rainwater is just one source that can provide healthy water for many.

• Hard Water vs. Soft Water – It is debatable which one is better but a lot of people enjoy soft water for drinking and cooking.  For some, cooking with soft water makes food look and taste good.  More than likely it’s the sodium content found in the water!  If you have high blood pressure or retain lots of water, drinking straight soft water from the tap might not be a great idea.  Filtering both hard and soft water with a Pur water filter or an expensive reverse osmosis system is enough to make them tasty to drink and acceptable to cook with.

“We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in on direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.”
–Memoirs of a Geisha

Article submitted by Yvette M. Palladino
Contributing writer for H4M
Enjoys ice cold cactus water for good health!

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Fideo: Goodness from Mama’

All ingredients combined!

My grandmother makes quite a few dishes that are particular to a Mexican household.  You won’t find fideo (or Mexican spaghetti) in many Mexican restaurants but what you will find is a variety of ways this dish is prepared.  In my house, this is how this deceptively simple dish is made…

Ingredients:

• 1 Box of fideo (or vermecilli)
• 5 tbsp of vegetable or olive oil                      
  

  Finished goodness from Mama'!!!

• 3-4 tsp of onion powder (or to taste)
• 3-4 tsp of garlic powder (or to taste)
• 1/2 of an onion, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 small or regular sized tomato, diced
• 2 tbsp of Hunt’s tomato sauce (or more to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of hamburger meat seasoned with onion salt, crumbled
• Onion salt, sprinkle to taste

Serves 4

Directions:

1. Add a little vegetable or olive oil to a warm pan and have a sauce pan on the side with warm water
2. Pour entire box of fideo (or vermecilli) into the pan and toast to a golden color
3. Sprinkle onion and garlic powder to the fideo during the toasting
4. After toasting the fideo, add the chopped onion, garlic and green pepper and saute for flavor infusion
5. After sauting, add the chopped tomato and the Hunt’s tomato sauce
6. Add warm water to the mix of ingredients a little at a time so that the flavors get soaked up by the noodles

Add drained hamburger meat crumbles to the finished product for a heartier meal.  Many in my family eat this dish with warm corn tortillas that are fresh from the local corn tortilla shop.  Heaven!!!

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