Marie Rama's Blog, page 3
May 16, 2014
Always Hungry? Here's Why
New studies show to lose and maintain weight, count and reduce the simple carbohydrates you consume, not the calories.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/opinion/sunday/always-hungry-heres-why.html?hp&rref=opinion
April 30, 2014
Green Giant Tells Consumers to Eat Brownies with Spinach
Classify this idea under “Things that make you go hmmm.”
Green Giant is selling pureed vegetable pouches, believing consumers will mix pureed spinach into brownies and pureed squash into mac and cheese in order to increase their daily servings of vegetables. Read about it here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/dining/stealth-vegetables.html?hp
April 29, 2014
Some good news (perhaps!) for those of us who love our bacon, salty snacks and preserved...
Some good news (perhaps!) for those of us who love our bacon, salty snacks and preserved lemons.
April 28, 2014
From Cronuts To Piggy Tails
An article about the Cronut, an expensive and very popular hybrid pastry that merges a donut and a croissant, made me wonder if it was possible to create a donut filled with bacon.
At first, I envisioned a round jelly donut with a sweet bacon-jam filling. After some research I found a jelly donut dough that had the right balance of sweetness and texture, but the filling I’d put together from a combination of fresh cranberries, bacon, sugar, and ginger root overwhelmed the bacon, masking its savoriness. So I ditched the filling and changed my recipe to instead wrap whole strips of sweetened cinnamon-laced bacon in a jelly-roll donut pastry. I call these pastries Piggy Tails and my husband, friends, and neighbors think they have the potential to be commercially sold. I don’t know about that, but I do think they make the perfect surprise treat for Mother’s or Father’s Day.
If you’ve never made donuts with yeast dough before, don’t be intimated. The dough is easy to put together and rolls like a charm around the sweetened bacon strips.
Our cookbook Bacon Nation has many other recipes to make your mom or dad happy. Try the Downside-Up Apple Bacon Pecan Muffins, the Bacon-Cranberry Cornbread, Nuevos Huevos Rancheros, French Toast Bread Pudding with Bacon and Cinnamon, and the very easy Candied Bacon Slices.
Happy Mother or Father’s Day, and happy cooking from Bacon Nation!
Piggy Tails
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one 1/4 ounce packet)
½ cup warm water, 110 degrees F
¼ cup sugar, plus more for rolling and coating after frying, if desired
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, or more as necessary
2 tablespoons soft butter
2 medium egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons low-fat milk or water, if necessary
Canola or peanut oil for frying
16 bacon slices
1/3 cup light brown sugar, more or less
Cinnamon to taste
1.) Whisk together the yeast, water, and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Let the yeast mixture set until it foams, about 5 minutes.
If the yeast fails to foam after 5 minutes, throw it out and start again with fresh yeast.
2.) In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and 2 cups of the flour.
3.) Add the butter, egg yolks, and vanilla to the foamy yeast mixture. Mix for about 30 seconds on medium speed to incorporate the butter.
4.) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter-egg mixture and mix on low speed just until the dough starts to come together.
Change to a dough hook and knead on medium-low speed for about 30 seconds to 1 minute just until the dough is combined and still slightly tacky. Be careful not to over-mix or you will toughen the dough. (You can also knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured work surface, about 1 minute.) After kneading, the dough should be slightly sticky. If it’s very sticky, knead in a little more flour. If it’s too dry, knead in a little milk or water, one tablespoon at a time, to moisten.
5.) Transfer the dough to a lightly buttered bowl; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
6.) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
7.) Set the bacon slices on a rack over a large roasting or heavy, rimmed baking pan. (You may need two baking pans to cook 16 bacon slices.) Sprinkle each slice with about 1 teaspoon brown sugar and cinnamon to taste.
Bake in the preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes or until the bacon is cooked, but still slightly soft and not too crisp. Remove from the oven, cool slightly on the rack and then transfer the slices to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and cool completely.
8.) Transfer the raised dough to a lightly floured work surface and cut it in half.
Set one half aside covered. Roll the other half into a 12 by 6-inch rectangle, about 3/8-inch thick.
Slice the rectangle into 8 strips, each 6 by 1-1/4-inches.
9.) Fold a strip of the cooled bacon in half lengthwise. Lay the folded strip at one end of a dough strip and spirally wrap the dough around the bacon, pulling the dough slightly and overlapping it as you wrap.
The dough will be somewhat flexible; don’t be afraid to stretch it gently as you wrap the bacon. Leave ½ to 1-inch of bacon peeking out the end. Pinch the edges firmly so that they remain closed during frying. You can gently roll the “piggy tails” under the palm of one hand to press and seal their edges. Repeat with the remaining dough and bacon, transferring the pastries to a lightly greased baking sheet. Let rise, uncovered, until nearly doubled in size in a warm place, about 45 minutes.
10.) About 10 minutes before you are ready to fry the Piggy Tails, heat a large heavy-bottom pot with at least 1-1/2 inches of oil over medium heat until the oil reaches 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
Gently place the piggy tails into the hot oil, one to three at a time, depending on the size of the pot. Don’t crowd them in the pan.
Fry them about 40 seconds or until golden brown on one side. Turn them over and fry about another 40 seconds. (The exact time will depend on the heat of the oil. Adjust the heat, as necessary, to maintain the oil temperature of 350 degree F. Using long-handled tongs, transfer them from the pot to a paper-towel-lined cooling rack when they are a deep golden brown on both sides.
11.) If desired, in true jelly-roll fashion, roll them while still warm in a mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon to taste. They are best eaten warm.
Makes 16.
April 27, 2014
The Morphing Croissant
It seems to be the American way to fiddle with what’s tried and true. This story reports whole wheat croissants are the hot bakery item. But are they better?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/opinion/sunday/bake-and-switch.html
April 25, 2014
April 19, 2014
April 17, 2014
Udon Soup with Roast Pork
Udon Soup with Roast Pork
I could eat this soup every night of the week; it’s healthy, savory and satisfying. I’ve included a recipe for making the roasted pork from country-style spare ribs, but to save yourself a little time, you can always pick up 4 to 6 ounces of cooked or roasted pork in the prepared food section or deli of just about any good supermarket.
Finished Bowl of Steaming Udon Soup with Roasted Pork
Soup Ingredients
To Make the Soup
1 head baby bok choy, rinsed, leaves separated from stalks
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
3 ounces shitake mushrooms, rinsed and thinly sliced
3-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha (chili sauce), or other hot sauce
3 ounces udon noodles
4 ounces (about 1 cup) boneless country style spare ribs, roasted and thinly sliced (see recipe below)
1 scallion, both white and green part, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1.) Cut the bok choy stalks crosswise into thin slices, discarding the hard core. Cut the leaves into thin ½-inch wide strips. Set both stalks and leaves aside separately.
2.) Heat the sesame and vegetable oil in a 3 to 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the bok choy stalks, carrots, and ginger, and cook over medium heat 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; add the mushrooms and cook 2 to 3 minutes more until the vegetables are softened.
4.) Add the chicken broth, soy sauce and Sriracha; cover, bring the broth to a boil. Add the noodles and the pork; stir well to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered about 5 minutes.
5.) Add the bok choy leaves and scallions; partially cover and adjust the heat to simmer the soup. Cook about 3 to 5 minutes more or until the noodles and vegetables are tender. Transfer noodles, meat, and vegetables to 2 serving bowls. Ladle the broth into the bowls over the meat and vegetables and serve. Serves 2.
To Make the Roast Pork
6 to 8 ounces boneless country style spare ribs
2 teaspoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
1.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2.) Place the ribs on a roasting pan. Combine the brown sugar, ginger, salt, pepper and cayenne in a small bowl; rub the seasonings on the ribs to coat all sides.
3.) Roast the pork about 45 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 140 degrees F. Slice the pork thinly before adding to the Udon soup above.
April 3, 2014
Tastes Like Chicken, But it's ...
The real food market continues to be nibbled away at by fake, processed foods that taste like chicken, beef, and bacon. This is sad and some think necessary. Read on …
April 2, 2014
Way Past the Time to Get Our Heads Out of the Sand
Each of us needs to become a climate change activist. Read Mark Bittman’s excellent editorial on what is the battle for our survival.
Small changes in lifestyle can help to make a difference. Here’s a short list of everyday steps you can take. Send me your ideas to share on my blog.
Produce less garbage. Everything that can’t be recycled ends up in a land fill or the ocean. Think about all the garbage that’s floating in the ocean now.
Recycle everything.
Stop buying coffee and fast food sold in disposable containers.
Eat what you purchase: we throw out way too much food.
Compost.
Buy and drive smaller cars, hybrids, electric cars.
Bring reusable bags to carry home groceries and goods from the market or retail stores.
Purchase produce, like salad greens, that doesn’t come packed in a container you need to throw away.
Walk rather than drive, whenever possible, and coordinate driving to run errands efficiently so you drive less.
Buy fewer goods. How many “things” does one really need in one lifetime?
Sell or purchase used goods on the Internet to encourage and practice consumer-product recycling.
Get involved with local environmental agencies and encourage energy conservation at your local schools and neighborhood associations.
If it’s all beginning to sound a little dire or even catastrophic, it’s because it is.
