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December 28, 2006
Fish Food?
Recently in the News Headlines that Mike trolls the media around the globe to find, I noticed one from London titled Fish Oil Taken By Mom-to-be Helps Baby.
Certainly true, but not exactly cutting edge news. Readers of our Protein Power LifePlan (published seven years ago) will have already heard that 'news' long hence.
The essential omega-3 oils found richly in the fat of cold water fish, EPA and especially DHA, have long been identified as critical components in building (and maintaining) the neural network, the nerves, the brain, and its sensory appendages, including the eyes. It should come as no surprise that research has again borne this connection out, this time by showing that increasing these fats in the diet of an expectant mother leads to improved hand-eye coordination of her infant.
At no time is a plentiful supply of EPA and DHA more critical than during gestation, when these structures are developing, and I heartily concur with the article's advice that pregnant women should include more of them in their daily diets.
The one bone I had to pick with the article is that the author(s) buried an important warning many paragraphs down in this vague language:
The researchers say concerns about mercury content in certain types of fish have made pharmaceutical-grade fish oil supplements increasingly popular among pregnant women.
Concerns? What concerns about mercury? What certain types of fish? Inquiring minds want to know these details.
To report that fish oils are helpful to the brains of babies in one breath, then in the next mention in passing that eating the fish that contain them may be problematic and not say why seems distinctly incomplete and confusing. For the inquiring minds:
Here's a link to a US government EPA site that will help to answer some of these questions about fish contamination and safe levels of consumption.
Here is the report of a Tiawanese study on the topic.
Here is a site detailing some FAQs about what methyl mercury (the kind mainly found in fish) does in the brain.
And lastly, in case you missed it, here's the previous blog of mine that provides a bit more information about which fish are safest, from a heavy metal contamination point of view.
Everybody, I suspect, knows that mercury is a poison, but some people may not know that it is especially toxic to the developing brain, even in quantities that would prove quasi harmless to the mother.
While the rest of us who are not moms-to-be or kids-to-be can pretty safely increase our intake of EPA and DHA by eating more cold water fish, expectant mothers, breastfeeding mothers, and the infants they carry or breastfeed must be much more careful. Expectant mothers must understand that although the fish they contain good protein and important essential omegas, they will also contain not only heavy metals (such as mercury) but PCBs, dioxins, furans, and other environmental pollutants that fish can pick up and store in their fat as well. With regard to mercury and pesticide contamination, farmed fish may even be more heavily contaminated than their ocean bretheren. About the only way to eat fish and not get amounts of these substances that might be potentially toxic to a tiny neural system is to choose small fish that don't have the time or appetite to eat a lot of other fish--for instance, sardines or anchovies. Sadly, neither of these choices, in my clinical experience, tops the list of preferred fish for the majority of women of child bearing age.
Conversely, as the article briefly mentions, during pregnancy and lactation women can choose to take a purified supplemental form of fish oil--or better yet, because of its phospholipid content, which is even more brain friendly, krill oil--from a reputable company . And by reputable, I mean one that insures the purity of its product by verifiable independent third party quality assurance testing.
Since there are plenty of other ways to get quality protein, to my way of thinking pregnant and nursing women should forego fish (delicious as they are) and opt for quality supplements.
As for me, I'll happily enjoy a side of sashimi in addition to my daily fish oil and krill oil supplements.
Posted by mdeades at 7:19 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2006
Cooperative Cookery
Has the hectic pace of life--especially around the holidays--got you too busy to cook a satisfying and healthy meal every night, but your commitment to healthy eating recoils at fast food and junk? Here's a solution for the coming year: join (or form) a dinner co-op.
Springing up in communities all around the country, groups of men and women, who share a love of cooking and good food, have banded together to share the load by swapping prepared meals, a plan that means no one has to cook every night. There are even online dinner co-op websites to help you get started; some even include recipes that work well for the concept. Hop online; you might be surprised to learn that there's one in your area. And if there's not, all it takes is a bit of organization--and a few interested, like-minded buddies and perhaps a Seal-a-Meal--to get one started.
When you think about it, it really doesn't take much more time or effort to prepare 2 large roasting pans of chicken thighs in butter, garlic, lemon, and thyme than it does 2 individual thighs or enough sauteed or roasted veggies or low-carb mini cheesecakes to feed 10 or 12 than it does to feed one or two. The oven's hot; the ingredients are the same.
Cooking extra servings while you're at it to cut down on the daily effort of feeding yourself or your family is a concept we've long advocated for the individual cook. Make two big pans of Cabbage Lasagna, for instance, and freeze the entire spare or portion it into individual servings to freeze for future lunches or dinners. That method certainly worked well for me, back in the day when I was trying to both run a full time medical practice and get a home-cooked meal to the dinner table every night for Mike and me and three hungry boys.
But the co-op concept is, in some ways,better, since you get to enjoy the unexpected delight and novelty of other people's creative cookery as well as your own and you're not confronted with the same meal several nights running.
Posted by mdeades at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2006
The Pomegranate Secret
In a recent Foodie Finds piece, our local paper's food writer, Amy Wong, waxed poetic about the Power of the Pomegranate, which has become the new darling of the culinary/nutrition world. Tart, delicious, beautiful, and chock full of antioxidant power, pomegranates are suddenly turning up on menus in everything from entrees to cocktails.
One of our favorite Santa Fe restaurants (Julian's on Shelby St. downtown) does a fabulous duck confit with a pomegranate sauce. I should say they do a fabulous duck confit. Period. Because their sauces for this dish change with the season and in the late fall and winter, it's often pomegranate. Makes my mouth water just to reminisce about it.
According to Ms. Wong, at 31 West, the restaurant at the Hotel Andalucia in Santa Barbara, they offer (as so many places do nowadays) a Pomegranate Martini. Likewise, Elements Restaurant and Bar in Santa Barbara has a Passionate Pomegranate champagne cocktail that combines pomegranate liqueur, passion fruit puree, and champagne that I think would add a snazzy and seasonal twist to a New Years Eve celebration. Note to self...
I love both the look and the flavor of fresh pomegranate seed sacs, amid leaves of fresh greens, some crumbles of chevre, a few pecan pieces, all dressed with a light vinaigrette--pomegranate, of course.
They are stunning--like so many rubies--scattered around the plate of Poached Pears in a Sweet Cabernet Reduction Sauce for a jaw-dropping finale to a dinner. (The link will take you to our Low Carb CookwoRx website; just enter the recipe name in the search box and voila!)
Pomegranates have been a part of human cuisine since ancient times, cultivated for millennia in the Mediterranean and India. Their painted images graced the frescoed walls of villas at Pompeii and bowls of them remained on tables hurriedly abandoned there when Vesuvius blew its top in 79 AD. Slightly more recently, Juliet mused to Romeo upon whether it was a nightingale or a lark that "nightly sings in yon pomegranate tree."
They've been called food of the gods, but they can be the devil to work with, staining fingers, clothes, cutting boards and anything else their vibrant red juice touches as the seeds tenaciously hang onto the bitter white pith. Unless, of course, you know the secret for no muss, no fuss cleaning.
Interested? Click here.
Posted by mdeades at 12:01 AM | Comments (3)
December 14, 2006
Pork Fat, The Perfect Gift: One Size Fits All
Looking for the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for carnivore on your Christmas list? Look no further; here it is:
The Grateful Palate Bacon of the Month Club!
That's right; it's the Fruit of the Month Club for carnivores. A different artisanal porcine work of art delivered to your loved one's door each month for a year. Applewood, Alder Smoked, Maple and Alder Smoked, Peppered, and more.
Mmmmm! What will they think of next?
Posted by mdeades at 11:47 PM | Comments (2)
December 11, 2006
Mmm Mmm...Hot Buttered Rum
The weather turns chill, the days are short, Christmas is around the corner and that means it's time for Hot Buttered Rum! Okay, I confess; for me, it means it's time for eggnog, too, but I've already given you the low carb version of that in a previous blog.
I remember one Christmas, Mike and the boys and I decided to spend our holiday away from home, heading to Sun Valley, Idaho to ski. It was the one and only time we actually celebrated our Christmas someplace besides our own home in all the years the kids were growing up. Doing so entailed not only transporting all our presents, our Christmas stockings, and all the can't-do-without, heirloom family ornaments to make the celebration somewhat traditional, but cooking Christmas dinner in someone else's kitchen (albeit a very nice and well equipped one) in the condo we'd rented for the week. We had a wonderful time and some great skiing, but for me, at any rate, Christmas is best spent around the family hearth and we never again elected to do otherwise.
What brings that Christmas to mind, however, is thoughts of hot buttered rum.
I grew up in Arkansas, where although it does snow and can get quite cold in the winter, it's usually in brief intermittant snaps of a few days or a week or so and there's not much opportunity for 'dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh' except in song. I had grown up dreaming of going on a traditional sleigh ride at Christmas.
There's a famous old-time restaurant in Sun Valley called the Trail Creek Cabin, where such luminaries as Ernest Hemingway, Gary Cooper, and their pals used to dine back in the day. In winter, it's accessible only by cross-country ski or...you guessed it...horse drawn sleigh. Mike and the boys surprised me with dinner there during our stay; we fortified ourselves beforehand with hot beverages: hot cocoa for the boys and hot buttered rum for Mike and me.
The night was clear with about a jillion stars overhead and romantic as it seemed at first, even with ski parkas and ear-warmers and the thick woolen blankets the sleigh operators provided, we about froze on the 15 or 20 minute ride out there. I was mighty thankful for the internal antifreeze I'd imbibed beforehand and to this day just the words 'hot buttered rum' conjure up that night.
As with eggnog, the ingredients in Hot Buttered Rum are pretty user friendly for low-carbers, with the singular exception of the 1 cup of brown sugar or molasses used in traditional recipes, which is a pretty easy fix.
The big benefit of hot buttered rum over eggnog, however, is convenience. Once you've got the buttering spices whipped up, they'll keep for a while in a sealed container in the refrigerator, so you can whip up a single mug or half a dozen on the spur of the moment throughout the holiday season. If, for instance, a group of carolers stops by to treat you to a little holiday music, you can treat them (and yourself) to a little almost instant holiday merriment...provided, of course, that they have a designated driver or they're walking. And, if you must, you can make a non-alcoholic version by substituting 1 teaspoon of rum flavoring for the rum in the final preparation step.
Here's my low carb version. Drink it in good health.
Almost No Carb Hot Buttered Rum
Makes about 16 servings
To make the buttered spice base mixture:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp (organic if possible)
24 packets Splenda*
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pinch salt
1. In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the softened butter with the Splenda (or sweetener) until light and fluffy.
2. Add the spices and beat until well combined.
3. Turn the mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap or waxed paper and form it into a log about the diameter of a stick of butter. Wrap tightly around the butter mixture log and refrigerate it for up to 2 weeks.
* You may use the sweetening equivalent of 1 cup of sugar as any sweetener you prefer that is heat stable.
To make each mug of the finished beverage:
1. Into a heavy mug, put 1 pat (about 2 teaspoons) of the butter spice base.
2. Add 1 1/2 ounces of good dark rum.
3. Fill mug with hot water, just off the boil.
4. Stir until melted.
Enjoy!
Posted by mdeades at 9:52 PM | Comments (5)
December 5, 2006
Grilled Cheese
A while back in our local market, I happened upon an item in the cheese case that I hadn't noticed before: Halloumi Cheese. What caught my eye was the tag line: The Cheese That Grills.
This delicious firm sheep's milk cheese hails from the island nation of Cyprus and its makers advertize it as combining the texture of mozzarella with the brine moisture of feta...and it is, indeed, somewhat salty.
Amazingly, you really can grill it; it doesn't melt on the griddle or grate. What it does is brown, like a pancake, and it's delicious.
I've been tossing a couple of slices of Halloumi on the griddle in the morning to serve, drizzled with just a squirt of sugar-free maple syrup alongside the eggs and bacon we have most days for breakfast. It takes the place of low carb toast, tortillas, or pancakes as a dauber of egg yolks when I cook them sunny side up or poached. And the balance of the salty cheese with the sweet syrup is, to my palate at any rate, just lovely.
The makers recommend grilling, then squeezing on a bit of fresh lemon juice and scattering capers over it as a warm appetizer, which sounds scrumptious, too, but I haven't yet tried that.
What I have tried is using it fresh in the traditional Cypriot salad: cut the cheese into cubes and combine with wedges of fresh tomato, chunks of cucumber, black olives, onions, and green bell peppers, dressed simply with olive oil, vinegar, black pepper, and dried oregano. You don't even need any salt, because the cheese is plenty salty enough.
Give it a try if you, like we, are always in the market for something new and savory to try. It shouldn't be hard to find. If you can't find it in your market, ask your grocer; chances are he or she can get it for you.
Posted by mdeades at 10:01 PM | Comments (5)
December 1, 2006
Salami Crisps: The Perfect Low Carb Party Platform
The holidays are upon us and so, too, the specter of holiday parties and the ghost of Christmas future, telling us of the pounds we could pile on between December 1 and New Year's Day.
But the holidays are about joy and fellowship and gaiety and...well...food, which holds center stage this time of year. So if you're planning a gathering of friends during this festive season, here's a little bit of help.
There are many carb-friendly party foods--low carb mini cheese cakes (see recipe in Protein Power), Blue Cheese Lorraine miniatures, deli meats, nuts, cheeses, marinated veggies, fresh crunchy veggies, boiled shrimp, Seviche, steak or tuna tartare, guacamole (very Christmasy all dressed in red and green) and cream cheese dips to name a few. The big problem is often the platform--the cracker for the hors d'ouvre or the chip for the dip.
Here's a carb friendly solution I learned from Mike's sister in Michigan and it works fabulously well as a crispy, savory platform. Make them in batches just before you intend to use them.
Salami Crisps
12 slices of dry thin salami (about 1 to 2" diameter)
12 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese
1. Arrange salami slices in a single layer on several thicknesses of paper towel or on a paper plate.
2. Top each slice with 1 teaspoon grated cheese
3. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds until just starting to crisp.
4. Remove to a wire rack to cool slightly. Repeat.
5. Enjoy as is or use as a platform for hors d'ouvres or for dips.
Posted by mdeades at 12:18 PM | Comments (2)