Food Fascination

My office is setting up a community garden, and after hearing many exclamations that beets seem to be a popular item, and “what do you do with BEETS?!?” I was challenged to provide an answer. So, one-cube-away, here you go

Yes, they’re an odd color, and yes, they’ve got a flavor you may not quite be used to. Get over it! Beets are tasty, full of all kinds of vitamins, nutrients, and fiber. Not to mention a great way to add color to your plate (the easiest “diet plan” ever is to make sure your plate has at least four colors of fresh food on it every time you eat.) Beets are useful for both their roots and their greens. The roots are high in copper, vitamins B1, B2, and C. The greens are high in iron, vitamin A, and potassium. So if you’re getting sick of bananas and spinach, throw some beets into the mix. They also have a high natural sugar content (table beets are a cousin to sugar beets, after all) and are buttery-smooth when cooked.

So, grab a few beets from the grocery store and prepare to experiment!
Things to remember when working with beets:

1- Both the greens and the roots are edible, so there is very little waste
2- Don’t peel the beet roots until AFTER they’re cooked, otherwise they will “bleed” both color and flavor. This isn’t true for soups, since the color has nowhere to go but right back into the soup.
3- The juice can stain - in fact, it is often used as a dye. Wear a pair of latex gloves (you should have a box around for meat prep anyway), then use lemon juice to wash off any stains.
4- Like all root veggies, they are tough and crunchy - so use very tiny raw pieces (such as grated beet root) or cook them.
5- Raw beets don’t freeze well - they break down too easily when the ice crystals start forming. Instead, cook and then freeze them.

Recipes:
Roasted Beets
Red Root Soup
Beet Hummus
Ironman Salad
Crimsion Pear Sauce

Roasted, beet roots are easily eaten on their own as a great side dish, but can also be tossed into a salad of mixed greens with feta cheese and raspberry dressing, or frozen for later use. Roasting is also a great way to pre-cook beets for use in other recipes.

You’ll need:
1 pound of beets
1/4 cup olive or vegetable shortening
If desired, seasonings - try basic salt and pepper, or parmesean and thyme, honey and pepper, or even lemongrass. Experiment!

Trim the greens off the top of beets. Wash and lightly rub each beet root with oil or vegetable shortening. Lay out on a baking pan covered in foil. Roast in a 450 degree oven for 40-50 minutes, or until they’re smooth when stuck with a fork.

Remove from the oven and cool, peel and chop into pieces, then go beet crazy! Makes 1 pound of roasted beets.

This is one of my standard weeknight dinner options, and for those of the “But I can’t cook!” variety, it can be simplified even further. The ravioli is the easy part - buy your favorite frozen or deli pasta and boil it (this is the tough part - boiling water!)

For the rose sauce:

Those who are comfortable in the kitchen will need:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
4 cups milk
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 small can plain tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons basil

(you’ll be making a roux - for more information, check Make It : Roux )
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour. Add the milk and Parmesan slowly, alternating and stirring well over medium heat. Add the garlic, tomato sauce, and spices. Whisk occasionally over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens. Top boiled ravioli with the sauce, and a bit extra Parmesan. Enjoy!

For those of the “I can’t cook” variety
Get a bottle of your favorite jarred alfredo sauce and dump it into a glass bowl. Stir in one small can of plain tomato sauce. Heat in the microwave and serve over ravioli.

Enjoy!

For part 1 and the backstory, check But I can’t cook! Part 1

CousCous with Fresh Herb mixture
Couscous is deceptively simple and easy to make. Trust me.

What you’ll need:
Water (or a can of veggie or chicken broth)
A box of couscous (near the rice, usually. Or check the Ethnic food section)
Fresh herbs. Check in the produce section - they’re usually sold in small boxes. Good options are basil, thyme, lemongrass, oregano, and mint. Feel free to experiment!
Olive oil
Lemon juice

Check the box of couscous. Usually the direct you to boil 2 cups water or broth to prepare the whole box. One can of broth is two cups. Put it on the stove and let it boil. Pull the pan off the stove, dump in the couscous, and cover the pot (with a plate, if you don’t have a lid.) Let it sit. Really!

Using washed hands (or a knife, if you’re comfortable with that) rip up the fresh herbs into small pieces. Toss them into a small bowl, then cover them with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. Stir and let that sit for a few minutes while you wash your hands. The lemon juice helps the flavor of the herbs seep out into the olive oil. (Lemon is an acid, which breaks down the cell walls, releasing flavor).

Stir together the couscous (yes, it’s done) and herb mixture. Spoon into bowls and enjoy!

I have been issued a challenge from a friend at work. She claims a complete inability to cook (although she can, when paying proper attention, boil water). I argue that anyone, even if they can burn water, can make a good meal that is worthy of impressing a date or treating yourself to a great dinner. This can be done with minimal chopping, cooking, or danger to life and limb.

Don’t believe me? Try this:

Option #1:
Roasted chicken, balsamic French bread, and wilted spinach salad
This one involves less than ten minutes of prep, and you won’t even have to use the microwave!

What you’ll need to feed 2-4 ish people:
A pre-roasted chicken (in the deli of most grocery stores)
One bag of baby spinach or spinach salad
Fresh French bread
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar (by the olive oil in the grocery store)
(optional)
Salt and Pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes
Craisins (by the raisins - they’re dried cranberries)
Salad dressing (try a raspberry vinagarette)

On your way home for the evening, stop by the grocery store and pick up one of the pre-roasted chickens they sell for five or six bucks in the deli - not fried (as tempting as it smells) - if they have pre-sliced or chicken breasts, even better. Get those. Or, if you’re trying to cut fat even further one of the roasted turkey breasts. Also purchase whatever else on the list you need.

As soon as you get home, spread the spinach salad over a large plate. Open the chicken. Set the lid of the chicken container over the spinach (the leftover heat and humidity will wilt the spinach) If you are comfortable with a knife, then slice off some chicken breasts. If you’re not, then wash your hands and rip into it, getting as large of chunks as you can. Spread the salad over as many medium-sized plates as you have people for dinner, then lay the chicken over the salad. If you’re using it, drizzle some vinagarette over the whole thing - or sprinkle craisins over the plate - or both.

On a separate plate, dump a bunch of olive oil onto the plate. Drizzle some vinegar over it. If you’d like, add salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, or red pepper flakes. Take the bread out of it’s paper bag. Set it on the table to let people rip their own chunks. The idea is that you rip a chunk of bread, dip it in the flavored oil, and chow.

There you go - fancy dinner in under ten minutes.

Why does sour cream always turn into little lumps when I mix it into my hot soup?

To add marbled color, of course! Ok, so maybe those whitish balls of sour cream floating around in your otherwise creamy soup isn’t exactly appetizing, which is a shame because the creamy mouthfeel and bit of tang that sour cream adds is so darn good.

Dairy can be a double-edged sword when you’re cooking. The creamy mouthfeel, rich taste, and wide range of possibilities make milk, cream, sour cream, half and half, cream cheese, and even buttermilk great additions to your ingredient list. However, the protein structures that give dairy products these very features are what make it a little more difficult to deal with.

Milk is made up of two major things - protein that acts like a “net” and lightly binds things together, and fat that coats other ingredients and fills in the molecular “spaces,” making your food creamier. To test this out, blow bubbles in your milk with a straw - the proteins are what make those bubbles stick around so long.

However, that protein net is very sensitive to temperature. When it’s shocked with heat, the proteins seize up and hold onto each other, jealously guarding the fat it wraps around. It’s not that the milk doesn’t want to play nicely, it just doesn’t like being thrown in with a group of strangers. When this happens, it’s known as “curdling.” While curdling is also a sign of milk going bad, it is just the proteins seizing up and “protecting” the fact. This is how cottage cheese and regular cheese are made - the controlled curdling of milk using heat, bacteria, or other agents (such as vinegar).

Of course, the last thing you want is cottage cheese in your creamy tomato soup. Preventing this is as easy as planning ahead a bit. If you are adding anything dairy to your warm food, during cooking or during serving, then simply let it warm up a bit. There are two ways of doing this - one, set it out on the counter while you’re doing the prep work. I promise - it won’t go sour in the 45 minutes or so that it’s sitting out. Your other option is known as “tempering.” Put your dairy in a small container, then whisk or stir in a very small amount (2 Tablespoons or so for each cup of dairy) of the hot soup or hot mixture. Do this once or twice, then immediately stir in the dairy. This raises the temperature of the dairy without throwing it into a very hot environment - which gives the proteins a chance to relax and get ready for their hot bath.

As a “Day Job,” I work in the creative department of a mediumish company in Spokane. More often than not, we end up having conversations that may as well be titled “Cooking With Creative” - because to some extent and at different levels, all of us in the department are foodies. Today the question of seasoning a wood bowl came up.

Wooden dishes, unlike glass or metal, do need a small amount of attention and care to get the longest possible useful life out of them. This is also true of wooden cutting boards and butcher blocks. Because wood begins as a living plant instead of a static material (such as metal ore or sand), it’s cells continue to react to the environment it’s placed in. Wood will warp, expand, contract, crack, and absorb odors, especially if kept in a kitchen. However, an easy way to protect against this and extend the life of your woodware is to season it.

Much like you would season a cast-iron pan, seasoning wood is about filling the pores with something of your choosing, rather than allowing the cells to absorb whatever they come in contact with. Oil repels both odors and liquids while helping to maintain a moisture balance in the wood, preventing warping and cracking. However, please, as someone speaking from unfortunate experience, do not use your usual cooking oil! Olive oil, vegetable oil, and most cooking oils all go rancid after time, and you end up with a very sour, fairly bacteria-filled substance that has seeped through your woodware. In the end, your options are to either grind it down and basically start again, or throw it away and buy a new one - neither option is very inexpensive or fun.

So what do you use? There are several schools of thought out there as to what, exactly, to season the wood with, but I have always (and continue) to prefer mineral oil. This is a food-grade oil that does not go rancid, has no taste, and no smell. There are some who say walnut oil is another option, and it is - however, I am hesitant to use it because there are those with very severe nut allergies, and should they eat something prepared on or served in a walnut-oil seasoned dish, it could be dangerous. Walnut oil is also significantly more expensive.

So, start by heading to your pharmacy section at the grocery store. You’ll find the mineral oil in with the laxitives. Now don’t get scared! You won’t get the runs from seasoning your wood with this oil - it takes several tablespoons for that effect to be noticed, and a very tiny percentage of the oil, if any, will actually get on your food.

Throughly wash and dry your woodware. Let it dry for a day or two. Then gently spread a very small amount of the mineral oil in and on the wooden surfaces. Let it dry for a few hours, and if it’s your first time seasoning it, then add another layer or two, letting it dry between each layer. Re-season the wood every month or two.

This, of course, is the not-fanatical-about-it method. There are those who season every week. There are also those who refuse to use soap on seasoned wood. While it’s true that most of the time your salad bowl needs little more than wiping out with water, I am a HUGE fan of actually washing your cutting boards - too much nasty bacteria to kill if you cut meat or unwashed greens on those puppies.

The other option you have is mineral oil with a bit of beeswax mixed in. While this will add some water repellency to your wood, the extra expense and effort doesn’t really outweigh the barely-noticeable benefits. Beeswax also leaves a slightly sweet smell, which could transfer to foods.

Once your woodware is seasoned, be sure to keep it out of water unless you’re washing it (store cutting boards on their side so the bottom doesn’t soak in dishwater as it’s drying). Re-season it occasionally - the wood will slightly darken and the grain will stand out more as you go, but this is entirely natural.

And above all, enjoy! Having beautiful (or even “just functional”) utensils for serving and preparing food is no good if you don’t actually use them!

Chicken salad is probably one of my all-time favorite go-to dishes. It is quick to make, can hold a huge variety of ingredients, and is easy to make up into sandwiches or a single-plate lunch. Start off with the basics, try a few variations, and then let your imagination (and taste buds) run wild. This is a perfect recipe to use up leftover chicken you have from other recipes, last night’s dinner, or the cheap rotisserie chicken at the store.

1 - 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 1 pound shredded chicken
1 - 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise or salad dressing / miracle whip
1 box Long Grain and Wild Rice

In a deep frying pan or wide saucepan, cover the chicken with water (if you have it, add a cube of bullion or teaspoon of chicken stock). Place over medium-high heat. Let the water reach a boil, and poach chicken for 8-12 minutes, or until cutting into the thickest part of the meat reveals no pink.

Set poached chicken on a plate and allow to cool until you can comfortably handle it. (In the fridge, if you’re in a hurry) Shred or roughly chop the chicken - don’t worry about making it look pretty.

Prepare the wild rice according to package directions.

Combine shredded chicken, mayonnaise, and wild rice in a bowl. Refrigerate - serve alone, on a tortilla, on bread, with crackers, however you care to try it.

Try adding:
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sliced red or green grapes
1 small red apple, sliced into small chunks
1/4 cup feta cheese

I promise, roux (pronounced “roo”) is not nearly as scary as it sounds. It’s actually a fairly simple mixture that goes a LONG way in making your everyday cooking easier / better.

All that a roux is made of is a fat, a starch, and a liquid. For white sauces like alfredo, this is butter, flour, and milk. It could be sausage grease, flour, and milk in a sausage gravy. It could be oil, cornstarch, and chicken stock in a slightly thickend Almond Chicken sauce. Just about anything that combines these three elements qualifies as a roux.

The benefits of this concoction are that it acts as both a stablizer and a thickener. The fat binds the starch molecules so that when they are exposed to heat and explode (ok, it’s not quite that dramatic, but a fun image) they have enough structure to trap liquid and thicken it rather than becoming lumpy. The higher the ratio of fat and starch to liquid, or the longer it’s heated (to a point) the thicker the liquid gets.

The benefit of this is that other things can be suspended in the “web” that the fat and starch create. Everything from cheese to chicken to spices can also be suspended, creating the creamy sauce we all imagine.

So, imagine my surprise when I pick up a shredded cheese blend from the store yesterday to make some homemade mac and cheese. I look at the back of the package, to see what they suggest, and they give instructions to boil the cheese with pure milk and dump in noodles.

While, at the surface, this appears to be a good idea, it would end up being a greasy, lumpy mess that wouldn’t really taste, look, or feel appetizing. The cheese grease would float to the top of the milk while the solids would sink to the bottom and get slightly gritty. Yuck.

So, don’t be afraid of a little roux. Want to try it yourself? A basic roux to experiment with:

2 Tbsp butter (melt over low heat or in the microwave)
2 Tbsp flour (whisk into the butter with a fork or whisk)
Slowly add 1 cup milk, stirring or whisking. Heat, stirring often, until it begins to thicken.

You usually want to add at least a little salt to roux, since all three ingredients can be a little bland without spice.

There you go! Add a few handfuls of shredded cheese before the milk (it will look like a solid mass, but it will smooth out once you add liquid), some garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. Pour over noodles, and you’ve got homemade mac and cheese.

Or, use the white sauce with some extra milk, toss in diced-up leftover ham and pototo chunks for a darn good soup.

Or toss in parmesean and feta cheese for a greek sauce to pour over spinach and chicken.

The possibilities run far and wide. Don’t be afraid of roux!