As we wind down from the holidays, and count the calories and pounds we have accumulated in less than a month, many of us look to the New Year as a fresh start. Who hasn't vowed to exercise more, eat better, and lose weight.
Then about a month later, many of us fall off the wagon. The good news is that there are many ways to make small changes in our favorite recipes that make a big difference in our waistlines. Of course, eating less of even a good thing doesn't hurt either!
Fresh herbs add a huge punch of flavor without calories, fat or carbs. Many grocery stores have expanded their offerings of these items, so experiment. Thyme and rosemary are great with salmon, chicken and pork. A simple marinade of garlic, olive oil and herbs on a flank steak is a beautiful thing.
Add citrus juices to the above (Orange and Rosemary are wonderful together on pork and chicken) for a healthy option to plain old grilled chicken. Tarragon is a lesser know fish that is great with eggs, potatoes, and lighter fishes. Arugula adds a nice peppery flavor when added to a dish just before serving.
Cilantro is a key ingredient in Mexican and many Thai and Indian dishes. Smoked paprika adds a delicious earthiness to dishes - think comfort food Spanish style. Chicken, potatoes and shrimp are great with this unique paprika. Toss cubed veggies with olive oil and smoked paprika and roast for a wonderful vegetarian dish.
Chilies come in all sizes shapes and heat levels - some smoky, some sweeter, some very hot. Chop a few up into a lighter version of chili - ground turkey, white beans and your mix of veggies, and experience a whole new level of flavor. Add spinach, fennel, swiss chard to add fiber, veggies and color to chili. Make it a stew by adding chopped sweet potatoes or even eggplant instead of the beans. Beans come in all flavors too - black are great in chili!
Grains are a wonderful source of fiber and iron - check out the many variations and get a few recipes from BobsRedMill.com. Why eat just pasta? Or try spaghetti squash for a healthy, lighter version of pasta.
Looking for a healthier way to eat? Do you tend to snack too much while cooking? A personal chef can do all the cooking for you and help make your comfort food favorites a bit healthier.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Happy Holidays
Not much to say but happy holidays to all! As I come off a cold, I look forward to tasting the Christmas goodies shared with family and friends.
What is your Holiday feast traditions? Ham? Beef? Seven Fishes? There are so many great holiday traditions in food, from eggnog, to cookie bakeoffs. Roasted Turkeys to Dad's special waffles....panatone, stollens, pfeffernuesse, english pudding with hardsauce and of course fruitcake.
What is your favorite Holiday dinner? Enjoy it regardless, and be safe if your Christmas is a white one....
What is your Holiday feast traditions? Ham? Beef? Seven Fishes? There are so many great holiday traditions in food, from eggnog, to cookie bakeoffs. Roasted Turkeys to Dad's special waffles....panatone, stollens, pfeffernuesse, english pudding with hardsauce and of course fruitcake.
What is your favorite Holiday dinner? Enjoy it regardless, and be safe if your Christmas is a white one....
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Visions of sugarplums
As we enter into the holiday season, our minds wander to those sweets and treats that inevitably come with the holidays. Chocolates, peppermint sticks, cookies in every shape size and color. In that famous poem, the children went to sleep with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.
What the heck is a sugarplum? According to Wikipedia - A sugar plum is a piece of candy that is made of sugar and shaped in a small round or oval shape. Usually the center is a seed or fruit, with many recipes using dried cherries, raisins, figs, nuts or even coconut. But ironically - no plums! Well, unless you count prunes, which started as a plum. The finely chopped fruits are rolled into balls, then rolled in sugar. I suppose this tastes better than fruitcake to many.
Fruitcake by the way is good for more than a regift or a doorstop. But where did the fruitcake begin? Fruitcakes have been around since Roman times; in fact, I think I’ve actually eaten some that have been around since Roman times. Your classic Roman fruitcake featured raisins, pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and barley mash. Today's versions vary from dark to light, spiked or not, and contain all different fruits. If you are not a fan of fruitcake - it makes a great stuffing for pork chops. OK - stop making the face.....trust me - they are yummy! Here's the recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-Chops-with-Fruitcake-Stuffing-10923
Eggnog - that rich thick concoction of milk or cream, eggs and winter spices. Perhaps spiked with brandy, sherry or rum....but originally only cognac was used in England, where it originated. This creamy treat was a luxury, as many people in medieval times could not afford milk. Now we can find it in the dairy case, as early as Halloween, in many flavors, fat contents and brands.
Gingerbread cookies came later. At first gingerbread began as gingerbread cakes in the form of religious symbols and saints made by monks. After soldiers fought the crusades in the Middle East, travelers from the West brought back many exotic spices including ginger. The upper class people started making gingerbread using their own forms -made out of wood to depict royalty, castles and flowers. It wasn't until the early 1800's that the actual Gingerbread men cookies were made. Balls of dough were rolled together and shaped into figures by women, children and royalty. They were decorated and enjoyed by everyone. Cookie cutters were created several years later, making the uniform shapes of gingerbread boys, pulled from the tale of Hansel and Gretel.
I love gingerbread cookies - the smell, the taste and of course the messy way I decorate is all part of my Christmas tradition....what is you favorite holiday treat?
What the heck is a sugarplum? According to Wikipedia - A sugar plum is a piece of candy that is made of sugar and shaped in a small round or oval shape. Usually the center is a seed or fruit, with many recipes using dried cherries, raisins, figs, nuts or even coconut. But ironically - no plums! Well, unless you count prunes, which started as a plum. The finely chopped fruits are rolled into balls, then rolled in sugar. I suppose this tastes better than fruitcake to many.
Fruitcake by the way is good for more than a regift or a doorstop. But where did the fruitcake begin? Fruitcakes have been around since Roman times; in fact, I think I’ve actually eaten some that have been around since Roman times. Your classic Roman fruitcake featured raisins, pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and barley mash. Today's versions vary from dark to light, spiked or not, and contain all different fruits. If you are not a fan of fruitcake - it makes a great stuffing for pork chops. OK - stop making the face.....trust me - they are yummy! Here's the recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-Chops-with-Fruitcake-Stuffing-10923
Eggnog - that rich thick concoction of milk or cream, eggs and winter spices. Perhaps spiked with brandy, sherry or rum....but originally only cognac was used in England, where it originated. This creamy treat was a luxury, as many people in medieval times could not afford milk. Now we can find it in the dairy case, as early as Halloween, in many flavors, fat contents and brands.
Gingerbread cookies came later. At first gingerbread began as gingerbread cakes in the form of religious symbols and saints made by monks. After soldiers fought the crusades in the Middle East, travelers from the West brought back many exotic spices including ginger. The upper class people started making gingerbread using their own forms -made out of wood to depict royalty, castles and flowers. It wasn't until the early 1800's that the actual Gingerbread men cookies were made. Balls of dough were rolled together and shaped into figures by women, children and royalty. They were decorated and enjoyed by everyone. Cookie cutters were created several years later, making the uniform shapes of gingerbread boys, pulled from the tale of Hansel and Gretel.
I love gingerbread cookies - the smell, the taste and of course the messy way I decorate is all part of my Christmas tradition....what is you favorite holiday treat?
Saturday, November 29, 2008
PTSD - Post Thanksgiving Stuffed Disorder
Ahhh...the bird is done, the dishes are put away and family has left for their own homes leaving behind delicious leftovers and a hangover of emotions.
As much as we love our families, do we need stress at 6AM fretting over the turkey that you chose for it's size, planned out (3 times) the exact number of minutes it needs to roast, the exact method that was settled on between turkey "experts" of all ages and written in broken notes the night before?
Should we worry that our pies are dry, the cranberries are too tart, and will anyone really like parsnips and spinach together? And what about breakfast, and snacks, and drinks, and post dinner sandwiches, and do I have enough plastic containers to send home a goody bag with everyone? What will the kids eat, no please do not take your juice box into the living room, no I don't have Eggos, or chicken nuggets - we are having turkey.
Why do we do this to ourselves every year? Because we love to cook. We love not having to drive in holiday traffic. And because deep down, we really do love our families...the joy of traditions over the dinner table. The expected spats, and spills. The worrying, fretting, good nature and community spirit it takes to do dinner for 8 or 10 or especially 30. So whatever you table on your table, and those who came to share the feast - I hope you remember just one thing - Christmas is less than a month away - and we get to do another big meal with our beloved families all over again. Pass the eggnog!
As much as we love our families, do we need stress at 6AM fretting over the turkey that you chose for it's size, planned out (3 times) the exact number of minutes it needs to roast, the exact method that was settled on between turkey "experts" of all ages and written in broken notes the night before?
Should we worry that our pies are dry, the cranberries are too tart, and will anyone really like parsnips and spinach together? And what about breakfast, and snacks, and drinks, and post dinner sandwiches, and do I have enough plastic containers to send home a goody bag with everyone? What will the kids eat, no please do not take your juice box into the living room, no I don't have Eggos, or chicken nuggets - we are having turkey.
Why do we do this to ourselves every year? Because we love to cook. We love not having to drive in holiday traffic. And because deep down, we really do love our families...the joy of traditions over the dinner table. The expected spats, and spills. The worrying, fretting, good nature and community spirit it takes to do dinner for 8 or 10 or especially 30. So whatever you table on your table, and those who came to share the feast - I hope you remember just one thing - Christmas is less than a month away - and we get to do another big meal with our beloved families all over again. Pass the eggnog!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Dining out disappointments
Is it just me or has the quality of dining out gone terribly wrong? Restaurants that used to be good are now at best mediocre. I often feel it is the same old choices, prepared in haste, without a speck of consideration for the person who will be eating the meal.
Granted, I have not been fortunate enough to dine at the very high end, well respected establishments of late, but I am not a regular at McD’s either. Have we as a nation settled for the fast food mentality? Is it too much to ask for a well steamed vegetable, or a meal that is hot, rather than dried out? Does anyone know how to use spices? Or has bland become the new taste to match the enthusiasm we must feel for the future.
As a personal chef, I know how easy it is to make something that tastes good. A little thought, a touch of this and paying attention to your food while cooking it can be the difference between ok and yummy! I am not saying everything has to be fancy. In fact a simple piece of salmon, drizzled with olive oil, a little salt and pepper was broiled beautifully in my own oven. The portabella sandwich I had the other day at a new place in Foxboro was well…missing the meaty taste of the mushroom. The spinach was tasty, but where’s the “beef”? Portabellas are nice thick mushrooms, which should have easily been recognizable under a spoonful of spinach. I guess the chef just didn’t care enough to pick the thick one for me.
In my business, it is all about making my customers happy. I want to feed them food they love, prepared the way they love it and reduce their stress after a long hard day of dealing with the world. Let me know if you feel the same way about today’s choices for dining out.
And be sure to contact me if you are ready to have dinner done your way, for about the same cost as dining out. www.HomePlateAdv.com is my website – check it out for better dining options.
Granted, I have not been fortunate enough to dine at the very high end, well respected establishments of late, but I am not a regular at McD’s either. Have we as a nation settled for the fast food mentality? Is it too much to ask for a well steamed vegetable, or a meal that is hot, rather than dried out? Does anyone know how to use spices? Or has bland become the new taste to match the enthusiasm we must feel for the future.
As a personal chef, I know how easy it is to make something that tastes good. A little thought, a touch of this and paying attention to your food while cooking it can be the difference between ok and yummy! I am not saying everything has to be fancy. In fact a simple piece of salmon, drizzled with olive oil, a little salt and pepper was broiled beautifully in my own oven. The portabella sandwich I had the other day at a new place in Foxboro was well…missing the meaty taste of the mushroom. The spinach was tasty, but where’s the “beef”? Portabellas are nice thick mushrooms, which should have easily been recognizable under a spoonful of spinach. I guess the chef just didn’t care enough to pick the thick one for me.
In my business, it is all about making my customers happy. I want to feed them food they love, prepared the way they love it and reduce their stress after a long hard day of dealing with the world. Let me know if you feel the same way about today’s choices for dining out.
And be sure to contact me if you are ready to have dinner done your way, for about the same cost as dining out. www.HomePlateAdv.com is my website – check it out for better dining options.
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