Food by Jude   Eat well, live long and have more fun!

Pork Chops Modena and Chocolate Bread Pudding with a secret

Have you read “The Case of the Purloined Pork Chop”? Or, maybe you’ve picked up the sequel, “B is for Bludgeoned Bananas”.

The first book relates the tale of an unloved pork chop pushed through a heater vent by a vengeful child. In the sequel, the same misguided youth takes out her revenge on a sweet and gentle banana. Sadly, both are true stories, but the tragedy doesn’t end there. Mishandling of food can be dangerous to everyone.

More often the culprit is not an impertinent imp, but a poorly washed work surface such as a cutting board, or kitchen counter. And, when in a rush to prepare a meal, the need to wash the counter is often overlooked. Unfortunately, the results can be unpleasant, and extremely uncomfortable. Sometimes down right dangerous.

The solution is easy - just get into a routine.

Before you begin any activity in the kitchen, wash your hands well with soap and hot water. And, if you have those long glamorous nails, scrub under them with a brush.

Always wash again after handling raw meat, fish or poultry.

Wash the lids of cans or jars before opening, beer and soda cans included!

Clean the blade of your can opener after each use.

Carefully clean all parts of the food processors, blenders or food choppers, etc., immediately after use.

Wash knives after each use, and before using on another food.

Fruits and vegetables should be washed well, and rinsed in warm water. Rinse again in cold water to cool them.

Scrub counter tops well, and sanitize with a solution of bleach and water. Pre-mix a quart or so, and have it ready. I use a tablespoon of bleach to a quart of water, and keep it in a spray bottle. It is far less expensive than what you can buy in the supermarket and works just as well.

Wooden cutting boards should be soaked in the bleach solution after cutting meat, fish or poultry.

If Fluffy has a habit of jumping on the counter, have a container of sanitary wipes near by.

Kitchen sponges can get pretty nasty. Place them on the top rack of the dishwasher next time you run it.

Have a good supply of clean dishtowels. They are relatively inexpensive. Colorful towels also “brighten up” the kitchen.

This may seem like a lot of work altogether, but it’s really not if you get into the habit of cleaning as you go. And the result of a safe venue for food preparation is priceless.

It is also important to carefully examine the heater vents for unappreciated comestibles. Even if you don’t check, sooner or later you will know that they are there. It generally takes about 6 months to get rid of the smell.

The culprit, now a very successful business woman, has been taking cooking classes from an exclusive cooking school for several years and is considered by her peers to be somewhat of a gourmet. Egad, I remember the repast of a box of macaroni and cheese, corn chips and marshmallow cream; now that’s really pushing the pork chop!

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Onion Confit from Provence, Salad Capresse w/Pesto Dressing and Crispy Blueberry Grunt

Father’s Day is coming. What do you get the guy who has everything? Or more specifically, what can you get, that you can afford?

Guys like expensive toys – cars, golf clubs, Harleys, drill presses, et al. Last year I thought some books on his favorite hobby would be good gift. Then, I discovered they were being used as levelers under his truck!

This year, the Father’s Day present will be a gift certificate to the hardware store – and, a really nice dinner.

I always plan the dinner around an entrée he really enjoys, which in June is always something BBQ’d. Since he likes to BBQ it himself, I have more time to spend on the side dishes, appetizer and dessert.

This year’s “manly” meal will consist of onions, corn on the cob, tomato salad and a dessert featuring blueberries.

• Onion Confit
• Dad’s Grilled Steak (ask him for the recipe)
• Salad Capresse w/Tomatoes, garlic and cheese
• White Corn on the Cob (boil ‘til just heated through)
• Crispy Blueberry “Grunt”

This seemingly simple and ordinary repast has a hidden agenda – all these dishes contain ingredients especially beneficial to men’s health. We want to keep Dad healthy!

Starting with the starter – onions prevent heart disease by raising HDL (healthy cholesterol). They also decrease triglycerides, keeping blood pressure at healthy lower levels.

Ripe, red, juicy tomatoes, whether from your garden or the grocer are especially prodigious for Pop! Replete with lycopene, an antioxidant (more specifically a carotenoid) which, when found in high concentrations in the blood, puts Dad at a lower risk for prostrate cancer. Other benefits of lycopene include possible prevention of cataracts and an ability to keep older people active. A bit of fat, such as olive oil helps with the absorption, and makes the tomatoes taste great - especially if you add a little garlic!

A clove of garlic includes a sulfur compound, diallyl disulfide (DADS), which appears to smooth blood flow by preventing platelets from clotting.

A lean piece of beef, such as flank steak is a good entree choice, as long as it’s not the size of a laptop computer. Beef contains potassium, which is good in the prevention of stroke.

Corn on the cob, an ever-popular favorite, is a significant source of soluble fiber which is instrumental in the fight against cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Look for the sweet white corn; it has twice the fiber of its yellow brother.

I’ve saved the best for last. Blueberry Grunt – with its macho sounding name has, thanks to the blueberries, high levels of potassium and iron. Blueberries are the top gun of antioxidants, those fierce destroyers of free radicals.

Å Japanese study has found that they can also ease eyestrain, making it easy for Dad to write all those checks.

If you can, fix Dad a nice dinner, and let him know how healthy it is. He will appreciate your efforts, and probably change the oil in your car and rotate your tires.

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Auntie Ann’s Aloha Salad, Chicken a la King Albert and Snappy Cheese Straws

We’ve all heard the old adages – “What goes around comes around” and “there’s nothing new under the sun” - both are especially true of food and food preparation.

A few weeks ago we went on a long weekend trip, and I grabbed an armload of books from the 1930’s and ‘40’s to read on the way (don’t worry, I wasn’t driving).

I found dozens of recipes for spaghetti containing condensed tomato soup, canned corn and American cheese (no garlic, herbs or spices). I quickly passed over these and went on to read about the virtues of casseroles based on canned, cut up tamales, the ever-popular canned tomato soup, and more corn; topped with, you guessed it, American cheese.

These recipes of course were for family meals. Other popular items of the day were stuffed green olives and turtle soup (obviously, pre-PETA). For those more sensitive or perhaps less affluent there was mock turtle soup, which contained a calf’s head, veal and spices.

Every era has its forgettable food. Nevertheless, I did find a plethora of recipes and food trends that were intriguing, nostalgic and adaptable for current tastes. I decided to create a 1940’s menu that would be reminiscent of the times and healthy too.

In a book given to me by my mother-in-law, entitled “Adventures in Good Cooking”, by Duncan Hines, of cake mix fame (vividly illustrated in purple crayon, by my husband) I found a number of recipes for Chicken a la King. This is an entrée that had its conception in the early 1900’s but remained popular throughout the 1950’s.

Of the many recipes I reviewed, one from a farm-restaurant in Lincoln Massachusetts oozed to my attention. Containing butter, heavy cream and melted chicken fat, it weighed in at 60 grams of fat (all saturated) per serving!

The gauntlet was thrown down, and I knew I had to take on the challenge. Chicken a la King was a favorite recipe of my Dad’s.

The next question was what to serve with it? I wanted something that would offset its rich (but now low fat) taste, and still reflect the 1940’s.

Leafing through the books again, I found that gelatin salads were popular even as far back as 1939. This is really no surprise, Jell-O made its debut in 1897.

Gelatin salads have fallen out of favor. But there was a time, and not too long ago, that every church supper or scout potluck had a table full of these wiggly wonders, whose sheer number would rival the Babe’s homerun record.

When I was first married, I made up a gelatin salad with pineapple for my Aunt Ann, who had lived in Hawaii. She liked it a lot. I put the recipe through the retro mill and came up with a new version.

Only one thing was missing, something crisp. I opened the cover of “Any one can Bake”, circa 1929, from the Royal Baking Powder Co., and bingo, there it was - cheese straws.

I discovered many recipes for cheese straws, and most of them call for “nippy” or “snappy” cheese, and lots of butter.

The Royal Baking Powder recipe called for eggs – which was different than most, so I started with their recipe.

But, what exactly was, or is “nippy” or “snappy” cheese? The terms were not for a particular variety of cheese, or brand name. It was simply a hint to the cook, to use a grating cheese with a “nippy” flavor, most typically a sharp cheddar. Kind of like us knowing exactly what nacho cheese is today.

So, what goes around comes around - once more. And nothing is new under the sun - since the 1940’s, except maybe low-carb cookies and lite beer.

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Bleu Moon Apple and Ham Salad, Crab Salad Cioppino Style and Sourdough Tomato Dressing

Dining out of doors has always intrigued me.

I lived in an apartment for the first 10 years of my life. When my parents bought a house, it had a patio! We were so excited. We could see the Golden Gate Bridge while we ate. That is, if we could have ever eaten outside. It was always too cold and too foggy.

Now, I have the patio, the weather and the view. I love to eat outside, and during the spring, summer and early autumn, we eat outside a lot. I am making up for all those years eating “oven barbecued” chicken with my nose pressed against the window.

I think everything tastes good outside, even cold food.

As the thermometer rises, and kitchen cooking seems less desirable, cold meals have a lot of appeal. They don’t take long to assemble. You can prepare them ahead of time – or not. With a little thought, they can be very healthy, nutritious and satisfying, and even elegant.

With a little improvisation, imagination and intrepidity, and you can boldly go where no cook has gone before – outside on the deck or patio, with your feet up. Dinner awaits in the fridge.

The thing to keep in mind when planning a cold meal, or any meal for that matter, is balance.

Your healthy meal should contain:

*Protein: meat, fish, poultry, eggs or beans, etc.
*Complex carbohydrate: pasta, bread, grains, potatoes, etc.
*Fruits and vegetables (more of these that the others)
*Dairy: milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.

This is important for everyone, but particularly for growing children. This is a good time to set a good example for their future eating habits. Have them help you select the items needed for a nutritious meal; make it a game.

Have a list on the inside of a pantry door, with suggestions that they like, under each category.

It doesn’t really matter if they decide they would like a glass of prune juice with their pasta salad - even if it seems odd, it is still a healthy choice.

Getting your kids familiar with meal planning gives them a head start, not only with food preparation, but math as well. Measuring out ingredients gives them practical and useful experience.

Dread taking your kids shopping with you? Get them involved. Teaching them early on to select fresh fruits and vegetables and to read labels, sets them on the path to a healthy lifestyle, and may even distract them from the candy aisle.

Maybe you’ve been there, and done that, and it’s just the two of you. Often this is a time when we get lazy. Cooking seems a chore, and nutrition goes out the window.

Cold meals are quick and easy to prepare and may get you back in the swing of cooking. Eating them outside adds to the enjoyment.

If you think about making each meal a “special event”, it becomes fun to prepare and could rekindle more than just your interest in food.

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