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 To ease my unhappiness at the abrupt end of Gourmet publication in November, I decided to cook every recipe in the last issue. I've been working my way through, to the delight of my family. For more background you can read the first and second batches of recipes. I finally got through the incredible dessert section, and this post includes some delicious entrees and side dishes.
Shrimp and Pancetta on Polenta, pictured at the right, was easy to make with the perfect blend of creamy, salty and seafood flavours. Pancetta, for those of you who don't know, is also known as Italian bacon. It is salt cured and spiced but not smoked, like American bacon. This is a 25 minute meal, and that's a pretty accurate time, once you get the shrimp cleaned.
Squash and Red Pepper Pilaf is a nice bright side dish with its big chunks of yellow squash. The pumpkin seeds add a nice crunchy touch to this dish.I served it with the Broiled Lamb Chops with Mint Chimichurri. The lamb chops are rubbed with a cinnamon and pepper blend before broiling, and they were succulent and delicious. At least this is what my family told me, since I have an aversion to lamb. Everyone else at the table couldn't get enough of them, eating every last scrap of meat, so I know they were good. The mint chimichurri was kind of like a mint pesto, made from a mix of fresh mint, fresh parsley, vinegar, olive oil and garlic. It was a perfect compliment to the lamb. I made this dish again for company a few days later, and it turned out just as well the second time around.
 My teenage son made the Broiled Chicken, Romaine and Tomato Bruschetta. This was a complicated recipe, preparing many different ingredients and then broiling them each individually. They took up too much room on the broiler pans to put them all under there together. The recipe is for one person, and he was making it for five. By mistake, he spread the sauce on the bread instead of on the chicken before he broiled them. We also used round tomatoes instead of the plum tomato the recipe called for, because the round ones looked much riper and more succulent when I was buying them. It definitely took longer than the promised 25 minutes, even with me in there helping out occasionally. But the finished bruschetta were worth it, crunchy, garlicky, and filling enough to make a meal on their own. My son had some fun "building" the bruschetta, and they were extremely messy to eat, so have lots of napkins handy.
Lime-spiked Seafood with Roasted Sweet Potatoes is truly a gourmet blend of flavours and textures. This is a recipe written for two, so I made it as a lunch for my husband and I just before he went off on a week long business trip. It is scallops and salmon in a creamy sauce that is sharp with lime flavour and spicy peppers. The roasted sweet potatoes are a perfect base for the sauce, and are easy to prepare while the sauce is cooking, or vice versa.
 Creamy Blue Cheese Spaghettini with Escarole and Walnuts is a fun take on the same old spaghetti. The blue cheese melts into a creamy sauce, and escarole and walnuts add texture and crunch. This dish is in "Ten Minute Mains". Well, it took a bit longer than ten minutes. Maybe I'm a slow cook, but it seems to take me longer to make most of these recipes than the magazine says it should. Still, this is an easy and very unique supper dish.
Lastly, I made Rava Dosas with Potato Chickpea Masala. This is a 40 minute dish, and sure enough it was a lot more work than previous recipes. The crepe-like pancakes, rava dosas, were deliciously light and easy to prepare. The filling has Indian spices. If I made it again I would add more hot peppers, just because I like spicy food.
This brings me right up to two full-fledged Thanksgiving turkey dinners. The first is a rural Pennsylvania Thanksgiving with no less than 9 side dishes, not counting the stuffing, as well as a turkey and several desserts. I will make all those side dishes piece meal instead of doing the whole dinner at once. The second is Deep Roots, a southern Thanksgiving meal, also with many side dishes and a seafood theme. I might do this as a complete meal if I can round up enough people to eat it all. So stay tuned for lots of turkey, stuffing and more pies.
 I am cooking my way through every recipe in the last Gourmet magazine, which folded last November and sent out a final issue to faithful subscribers. In case you missed them, you can read more of why I am doing this, and the first batch of recipes I prepared. In this batch, I finally get through that delectable and high calorie dessert section and move on to some "everyday" and "quick kitchen" dishes.
The last two recipes in the section of elaborate and rich desserts are Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle and Fig Crostata, which is pictured to the right. The fig crostata is like a fig newton all grown up. The fig filling is rich and subtle, the pastry flaky and delicious, and mascarpone cheese on top sets it off with a perfect creamy accent. Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle is ethereal, a new take on the traditional trifle with autumn flavors. I did make a change in the recipe the second time around – yes, I've already made it twice. I whipped the pumpkin and gelatin mixture with beaters before folding in the whipped cream, to make it fluffier. Digging into the layers of moist gingerbread, pumpkin mousse and sweetened whipped cream is a dessert experience made in heaven.
The following recipes are all from the Quick Kitchen section, and are billed as 15 minute recipes. Don't believe it – it takes 15 minutes just to chop up the ingredients for some of them. Maybe if you have all your prep done ahead of time, you can cook some of these in 15 minutes. Portugese Kale and Potato Soup took at least 15 minutes just for the cooking. This is a nice, hearty soup for a light supper.
 Smothered Pork Chops with Mushrooms wasn't such a big hit. I bought pork shoulder chops as the recipe called for, but even with all the braising, they were still a bit tough. I have much better pork chop recipes, so I wouldn't make this dish again. Again, I don't see anyone preparing this dish in the 15 minute time frame. The Apple Noodle Kugel I served for dessert made up for the subpar pork chops. My family isn't so familiar with kugels, and the sweet apple pairing with the noodles and topped with sour cream was an unusual taste. By the way, the kugel did not reheat well, so try to eat it all up on the first serving.
The next three recipes were in a 25 minute section, which is a much more reasonable estimate of the time it takes to pull these recipes together. Stewed Potatoes and Green Beans with Tomatoes is a delicious vegetarian recipe, which can be served as a rather hearty side dish, or topped with a fried egg and feta cheese as the entree. We did the cheese and egg thing, which was delicious. Leftovers were just as good the next day.
I'm not a huge fan of veal, but I gamely cooked the Veal Cakes on Silky Eggplant. The eggplant lived up to its name, with a smooth and rich texture, and I think someone who liked veal would really appreciate this dish. Spanish White Beans with Spinach turned out to be a very thick, hearty stew, which paired perfectly with homemade french bread. It's a meatless meal packed with nutrition that can be pulled together in about half an hour, perfect for a weekday family dinner.
I made the Cafe au Lait Puddings on the night of the Super Bowl, but decided that it would be a mistake to serve the equivalent of a strong cup of coffee with sugar and cream to my family that late at night. Instead, I put them in the fridge overnight and we ate them for breakfast the next morning. They are a sweet breakfast treat, even if they do tend to make teenage boys a bit silly. If you've ever eaten Coffee Nips, these puddings taste exactly like that. They are everything a coffee lover could want. There are lots more recipes to go, including a couple of full Thanksgiving dinners, so stay tuned for more Gourmet meals.
 Muscle cramps are a common complaint among my family and friends, especially those stabbing pains that come on in the middle of the night and force you to stagger out of bed and walk them off. If you are suffering from muscle cramps, it is possible you aren't getting enough potassium. Here are the facts about this essential mineral, and some surprising foods that can interfere with potassium levels..
What exactly is potassium, and how do our bodies use it?
Potassium is one of the most basic elements that make up matter on this earth, and one of the minerals we need to get in our diets to stay alive. It is an electrolyte, meaning it turns into charged ions when it is in a solution (body fluids) and can conduct electricity. Potassium is a positively charged ion with a higher concentration inside cells. The body keeps a tight control on levels of sodium and potassium in and out of cells, as this affects nerve transmissions, muscle contractions and heart function.
Industrialized cultures tend to eat about 3 times more sodium than potassium, while primitive diets had a much lower amount of sodium than potassium. This change in the relative amounts of these electrolytes may account for some of the diseases we experience today. Very low levels of potassium are known as hypokalemia, and can be caused by severe vomiting, diarrhea, kidney problems, use of diuretics or laxatives, anorexia or alcoholism. Symptoms of low potassium include weakness, tiredness and cramping in the arms and legs, abdominal cramping and bloating, nausea, heart palpitations, fainting and abnormal psychological behaviour. Severe symptoms should be treated by a doctor.
So why not just pop a potassium supplement every day?
High potassium supplements can have serious side effects, and should only be taken under a doctor's supervision. For this reason supplements in the US are only allowed to include up to 99 mg potassium in a serving. Too much potassium is called hyperkalemia, and can be just a serious as very low levels. Symptoms of hyperkalemia are tingling of hands and feet, muscle weakness, temporary paralysis, abnormal heart rhythm and cardiac arrest.
How can you get the potassium you need to get rid of those leg cramps? Foods high in potassium include bananas, prunes, baked potatoes with the skin, orange juice, tomatoes and tomato juice, raisins, blackstrap molasses (read the labels as some have more potassium than others), spinach, squash, lima beans and almonds. Unless you have severe symptoms and are under a doctors care, the best thing to do is include at least one or two of these foods in your diet every day, and eat a variety of other fruits and vegetables as well. It can be as simple as adding a banana or a spoonful of blackstrap molasses to your diet. Also avoid foods such as Earl Grey tea and licorice, which can interfere with the way your body uses potassium.
What do Earl Grey tea and licorice have to do with potassium?
If you are a tea drinker and love Earl Grey tea as much as I do, you may be surprised to learn that it can cause low levels of potassium. Oil of Bergamot, the flavoring in Earl Grey, contains a substance called bergapten, which is a potassium channel blocker and interferes with the flow of potassium in and out of cells. In April 2002, the Lancet reported a case study of high intake of Earl Grey tea causing muscle cramps and problems with vision. The symptoms disappeared when the subject cut down on the amount of Earl Grey that he was drinking every day.
Eating large amounts of black licorice as a habit can also lead to low potassium levels. Black licorice contains a compound called glycyrrhizic acid that increases output of potassium in the urine. The culprit is actually an herb called licorice, that is used to flavor some kinds of red and black licorice. The herb licorice has been used to treat coughs, cold, ulcers and stomach problems, and is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant with anti-tumour activity. However it shouldn't be used on a long term basis or by pregnant women or people with heart conditions, as it can deplete your potassium stores.
For more information about potassium, the essential elements and nutrition in general, visit Thirdplanetfood.com.
More about potassium from Linus Pauling Institute.
 How else can you get that creamy meltiness in a grilled cheese sandwich, or the smooth, velvety texture of macaroni and cheese? Not to mention cheeseburgers. American cheese is so mild as to be almost tasteless, but it is all about texture and mouthfeel. And hey, some people actually like their cheese to be unobtrusively in the background of the other flavours. Many of us keep a supply of American cheese in our fridge. The difficult part is deciding what to buy, and is it really even cheese? If you read the labels you will find a dizzying selection of process cheese, process cheese food, process cheese product, process cheese spread, and even imitation cheese product. Reading the ingredients doesn't always help. I will tell you the rules for American cheese, and what manufacturers need to have in the different products in order to legally give them the names.
Process cheese is a mixture of two or more other cheeses, melted together with emulsifiers added to keep it from separating. The process was first developed in Switzerland in 1911, and in 1916 James Kraft applied for an American patent. This cheese was introduced commercially to the American public in the 1950's when convenience foods began to take off, and this is probably when the name American cheese became popular. Kraft is still one of the biggest sellers of American cheese today. Incidentally, in the United Kingdom processed cheese is known as cheese slice.
Food service companies love American cheese for the same reason many home cooks love it – it melts easily without separating into an oily layer. It also has a longer shelf life than most other cheeses. Because it is made up of scraps and unsellable pieces of other types of cheese that would be thrown away, it is a good way to reduce waste in the industry. Just be careful what kind you buy, because some are 100% cheese, and some can have less than half their weight as actual cheese.
Pasteurized process cheese is mostly real cheese, with some other products allowed as emulsifiers and preservatives. These products are acidifying agents, cream, water, salt, artificial colorings, spices and flavorings. Pasteurized process cheese can not have more than 43% moisture content, and must have at least 47% milk fat. It is often a mixture of cheddar and colby cheeses.
Pasteurized process cheese food only needs to have 51% of its weight in actual cheese. The rest can be made up of things like milk solids, whey and water. They can have up to 44% moisture content, and the milk fat only needs to be 23%.
Pasteurized process cheese spread is a spreadable variation of cheese food, which must meet the 51% cheese rule. It can also contain sweeteners and stabilizers like xanthan gum or carageenan. The moisture content can be as high as 60%, and milk fat must only be 20%. Cheese spread has to be spreadable at 70º F.
Pasteurized process cheese product does not need to have even 51% of its weight in actual cheese. It also doesn't need to meet the requirements for milk fat and moisture. You are going down hill fast with this product. Sometimes water is the main ingredient in pasteurized process cheese product.
Imitation cheese, as the name implies, isn't even cheese at all. It's made from vegetable oil and may be shaped like American cheese, but will have less flavour and not melt as well.
If you are vegan or lactose intolerant, but still can't give up cheese, you can try soy cheese made from soy milk or tofu. It has less calories and fat than traditional cheeses, and the calcium and protein are about the same. Some brands melt better than others, and taste? Well, it's not like eating real cheese, but if real cheese isn't an option, it's an acceptable substitute.
What additives are used in American cheese? It can include mold inhibitors like potassium sorbate, sodium sorbate or sorbic acid, sodium propionate or calcium propionate. A variety of emulsifying agents can be used such as monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate, trisodium phosphate, sodium metaphosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium tartrate and calcium citrate, among others. Acidifying agents such as vinegar, lactic acid, acetic acid and phosphoric acid can be added. Harmless artificial colorings can be added. This is the FDA definition of harmless, which is very much up for debate. Lecithin can be added to prevent the slices from sticking to each other. Discussing all these additives needs an entire new post, but just look at the amount of sodium in them. American cheese can be very high in sodium. You should be aware that this is a highly processed food, read your labels, and definitely avoid brands that add food dyes, as these are unnecessary and can be harmful.
To wrap it all up, there's no doubt American cheese is best for cooking macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese, but just be aware that it 's a highly processed food with many chemicals added. Save it for those comfort foods, not as part of your everyday cooking. Your best choice is pasteurized process cheese, as this has the highest amount of cheese, the lowest moisture content and the highest milk fat %. If you are getting deli cheese, be sure to ask about it, as they do sell cheese food and cheese product there as well. Next best would be pasteurized process cheese food. It only has to have half the weight in actual cheese, but is better than the cheese product, which really doesn't need to follow any guidelines, and can have water as the main ingredient.
Finally, if you are confused you aren't alone. Even the professionals in the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products, an international committee for deciding milk product standards, are grappling with American cheese.
Chemical and Engineering News talks about all kinds of processed cheese.
FDA Definitions of Cheeses
American Dairy Products Institute
 I subscribed to Gourment magazine for about 20 years, always looking forward to the next delicious issue arriving in my mailbox. I loved the literary articles, by reporters I got to recognize like old friends, the mouthwatering photography, and the wealth of information I needed to turn out gourmet meals. I loved having a seemingly endless supply of fail proof recipes to pick and choose from all month long. When they abruptly shut the magazine down at the end of last year, it was crushing. There really is no substitute for Gourmet, which has been around for over 50 years. We were left with the Thanksgiving issue, lots of turkey dinners to cook and not even a word of goodbye from the editors.
Even though I think the whole shutdown was done in a way very insensitive to their subscribers, some of whom had been with them for decades, I am not going to hold that against Gourmet. Instead, I decided to cook every single recipe in the last issue I received. Of course it had to be November, so I'll be having several full-blown Thanksgiving dinners this year. I started at the beginning, and have been cooking my way through, somewhat in the order they are printed, every delicious and tantalizing dish from the last of Gourmet.
I started with Walnut Date Bread, something I would have normally passed over. It wasn't a decadent bread, but it was still good, and my teenage boys appreciated it.
Next came Pizza Patate. This mild-tasting pizza calls for potatoes sliced very thinly, with a mandoline. Since I didn't have one at the time, I spent about 45 minutes painstakingly slicing them by hand. Then, I had the brilliant idea to ask for a mandoline for Christmas! The pizza was delicious, with subtle flavours of potato and rosemary. The boys weren't crazy about it, as it was too far away from their idea of what pizza should be.
Scarlet Carrot Soup was next on my list. I didn't make the crisp carrot ribbons for the top, but this soup was delicous on its own, and very healthy with the red and orange vegetables.
 Next I tried the Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake. Since I am not a vegan, I did cheat a bit on this recipe. I used real cream cheese instead of soy cream cheese, and real butter. This is lighter than a traditional cheesecake, but still delicious and it comes with a bit less guilt.
The Cranberry-Apple Crumble Pie was next in line. This recipe gets double thumbs up. It was easy to make, decadent and delicious with a tart, sweet flavour. Everyone in our house gobbled it up. The Lemon Custard Pie, next in line, was more of a problem. The graham cracker crust was so crumbly that when I poured in the filling, pieces broke off and started floating around in the filling. Since I followed the directions to a T, I'm not sure why this happened. I guess you have to pour your filling in very carefully. Even though it didn't look that great, the pie was delicious. But you have to love lemon to appreciate this pie, because it is tart.
We needed a break from the constant desserts by now, so I skipped ahead and made Beef and Snow Peas with Pan Fried Noodles for supper one night. These were unexpectedly delicious. I've never pan fried Chinese noodles in a huge cake before. The crispy noodle cake is irresistable.
I decided to make the Vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner piecemeal, and the Shaved Beet and Bitter Greens Salad with Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette was perfect to go with the Christmas dinner I had planned. Especially because I could use my brand new mandoline to shave the beets. Everything went according to plan. I did get the mandoline I was hoping for, and put it to work later in the day on this delicious salad. Refreshing and slightly bitter, I recommend serving it by itself before the rest of the meal, so that your guests can enjoy the crunchy texture and bright colors without being distracted by other foods. I made this salad again on New Years Day.
Then it was back to desserts, and the Spice Cake with Caramelized Pears and Maple Buttercream. This three layer cake, pictured above, is sinfully rich and takes a lot of time to make. Plan on spending several hours in your kitchen. You have to make the cake layers, then the carmelized pear filling, and finally the frosting, which is quite complicated in itself. It's worth it, and it tastes even better the next day, and the day after.
I am still not done with that dessert section, but skipped ahead to make the rest of the Vegetarian dinner. The Vegetarian Shepherds Pie is a long recipe with many ingredients. I made the Rich Vegetable Stock a day or two ahead. Plan on another long cooking day for the Shepherds Pie, as there is a lot of chopping, slicing and preparation to do. I cut down the recipe amounts since I didn't need 8 servings, and to my chagrin I forgot to cut down the amount of cooking water I added to the potato topping, so it was too runny. The dish was still delicious, even with the topping running into the stew. Luckily I had enough stew that wouldn't fit in the pan to remake the dish the next day, with the topping made properly this time. Once again, this dish is worth the long preparation time, if you are looking for a high end vegetarian dish.
 There are two more recipes in the Vegetarian Thanksgiving meal. The first one I was leary about – Sauteed Green Beans and Brussels Sprouts with Chile and Mint. I had a bad batch of brussels sprouts once and haven't made them in years. I bravely bought my sprouts, and prepared the dish. It was amazingly good. In fact, it was great. I will definitely make it again, especially as brussels sprouts are so healthy.
Lastly I made the dessert for the meal, a Grape and Almond Frangipane Tart. I made it in a round tart pan instead of a rectangular one as the recipe called for. It doesn't make a bit of difference. I served the tart to my teens for breakfast – you have to get creative when you make this many desserts – and it was deliciously crunchy, fruity and almond-flavoured with just a hint of sweetness.
That's my progress so far, and I am just getting warmed up and enjoying this trip immensely. My Gourmet copy is already looking like it's about 20 years old, dogeared and covered with spatters of food. It's fulfilling its final purpose as a cookbook. Stay tuned for my next batch of cooking adventures.
 "Eat peas on New Year's Day to have plenty of everything the rest of the year."
In the American South, eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day ensures good luck for the next 12 months. This custom is supposed to date back to the Civil War, when General Sherman burned the fields and stripped the South of their food. Black-eyed peas were considered animal feed, so those fields were left alone, and they became a valuable food source. If you dine on such a humble food on the first day of the year, you can only become more prosperous as the year goes on. The peas are served in Hoppin' John, a spicy rice and bean dish, or with pork, ham or cabbage.
I love to eat black-eyed peas on New Years Day as well, but for me its a day to look back to my Nigerian roots and prepare bean cakes, also known as kosai if you live in the north, or akara in the south. They aren't quite the same coming off your stove as they are fresh from the hot oil in the open air of Kano market, but I do the best I can. This recipe needs to be started at least two days ahead, and if you can let the batter sit for several days and ferment they will be even better.
 
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Bean Cakes
- 1 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas
- 2 onions, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
- several fresh hot red peppers, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups (1 liter) peanut or palm oil, or a mixture
- Soak black-eyed peas overnight, or about 8 hours.
- Drain peas and remove skins. This takes a while. You can rub the skins off between your hands, or you can hurry it along by giving them a couple quick pulses in the food processor, just to make the skins slip off more easily. You can also mash them a bit with a potato masher to loosen the skins. Fill the bowl with water and let the skins rise to the top, then pour them off. Keep working at it until all the skins are removed.
 Combine peas, onions, peppers, and salt in a food processor or blender. Process until very smooth.- Let the batter sit at least overnight, and possibly for several days. It will become lighter and frothy.
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pot to 360°F (180°C). Drop batter into hot oil in rounded spoonfuls, about 6 at a time. Fry until golden turning half way through, about 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. They are good hot or at room temperature.
Makes 10 – 15 bean cakes.
 
What food do you traditionally eat on New Years Day?
 With Christmas right around the corner, why am I thinking about …beets? I guess it's all the festive reds and greens that make me think of foods with a vibrant red color. Or it's the cold weather that turns my thoughts to root vegetables of all kinds. Either way, beets are a powerhouse of nutrients and phytonutrients, just what we need during this cold and flu season. They will also add a bright spot of color to your kitchen and table.
Beets are high in folate, the B Vitamin that plays a role in DNA metabolism and is essential for preventing birth defects. They also provide vitamin C, manganese, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, and are a good source of fiber. Like all brightly colored plant foods beets are chock full of phytonutrients. They provide betalains, which are antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and are being studied for their properties of preventing cancer.
If you usually buy canned beets, treat yourself to a bunch of fresh ones next time. They are more versatile when they are raw and haven't been sliced or chopped up – you can grate them into a salad or slice and fry them as in the recipe below. They are a delight to work with as the bright red color makes its mark all over your kitchen. As a bonus, you get a bunch of beet greens, which you should not throw away! These are high in calcium, iron, beta carotene, and a lengthy list of other vitamins and minerals. An easy way to prepare your beet greens is to make Check Rice, a Liberian specialty.
 Check Rice
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound beet greens (about two bunches)
- Wash beet greens, remove thick stems and chop coarsely.
- Combine 3 cups water with salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover. Simmer 10 minutes.
- Spread greens over top of rice, cover again and cook another 5-10 minutes over low heat, until rice is soft and water is absorbed.
- Fold greens into rice before serving.
This recipe makes 4 servings. You can tinker with the amount of beet greens, using more or less if you wish. They do make the rice a nice faintly pink color. You can also subsitute other greens such as spinach and kale.
 Fried Beets
- As many raw beets as you want to make. Plan on about 2 large ones per person for hearty appetites.
- about 1/4 cup olive oil
- Wash and peel your beets, and cut them into slices.
- Heat oil in a large, flat skillet.
- Add beets in as close to a single layer as you can get. Fry the beets until very soft and starting to turn brown and crispy, turning at least once.
- Salt, pepper and serve.
This dish is absolutely decadent. The high sugar content of the beets carmelizes as they cook, giving them a sweet taste and crispy texture.
Beet and Carrot Soup
 3 or 4 large shallots, sliced (makes about 1 cup)- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or less, if you don't like it hot)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced thickly
- 1 pound beets, leaves trimmed off, peeled and chopped coarsely
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pan and saute the shallots, thyme, bay leaves, red pepper and coriander until shallots are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add sliced carrots, beets, salt and pepper.
- Add 8 cups of water, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes until vegetables are very tender.
- IMPORTANT! Remove the bay leaves. If you don't they will puree into sharp pieces that will be impossible to get out.
- Puree soup in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return soup to pot.
- Add vinegar, and additional water if you like it thinner. Heat and serve.
 If Indian, North African or Ethiopian foods are a part of your cooking, you will want to have a supply of clarified butter on hand in your kitchen. Ghee is the Indian name for this golden oil. You can buy it for a pricey price, or you can make your own for the price of a pound of butter. You can make ghee by simmering the butter over very low heat and skimming off all the salts and solids, to leave a clear, golden liquid with a delicious smooth, nutty taste.
Ghee
- 1 pound real unsalted butter
- Melt butter over low heat in a small saucepan.
- As it melts, the solids will separate from the butter in a fluffy light foam. Skim this foam off the top with a spoon.
- Continue to barely simmer and skim, until the ghee has stopped foaming, about 30-45 minutes.
- Strain out any black particles which have settled at the bottom of the pan. These are casein particles.
- Cool and store in the fridge, or in a shelf away from heat and sunlight. This will keep for months, or plenty long enough for you to use it all.
  
What can you do with clarified butter or ghee? In Ethiopian cooking, you can use clarified butter to make spiced Niter Kebbeh. The Moroccan delicacy smen is made with clarified butter. Ghee is better than butter if you are frying foods at a high temperature, because it no longer has the whey and casein particles, which tend to burn. Clarified butter makes a superior hollandaise sauce to regular butter. It's a natural to serve with lobster or crab. Ghee is used extensively in Indian cooking, for everything from sautes and sauces to frying your chapatis. Try it on your popcorn. If you are lactose intolerant, you should find it easier to digest since the casein particles are removed.
 My father loved cherry pie – it was his favorite, and since he passed away recently, this cherry pie is in his memory. It isn’t particularly healthy, it’s comfort food. The sour cherry flavour combined with sweetness and a flaky crust is guaranteed to make you feel good, and sometimes that is the most important thing.
To make a really good cherry pie you need to throw some nutrition out the window. Don’t try to make a low fat version of the crust. The fat is what "shortens" the crust, and makes it deliciously flaky. It won’t be the same with a low fat substitute. In fact, some people swear by lard when they make their pie crust. I use vegetable shortening.
Do learn to make a pie crust from scratch. It’s easy to do, quick once you learn how, and worlds away from a store bought crust. It doesn’t even compare. Learn to make it, and then teach your children.
Buy a pastry blender. They are a pretty cheap little kitchen gadget, and you need one if you are going to dedicate yourself to a life of homemade pie crusts. This recipe uses a 9 inch pie pan. Invest in a nice 9 inch glass pie pan – your pie will brown really nicely in glass.
Cherry Pie
For the crust
- 1 cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco) plus 2 tablespoons
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 8-12 tablespoons cold water
 This recipe makes two pie crusts, both of which you will need for your cherry pie.
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl
- Cut the shortening into flour mixture with your pastry blender. To do this you just keep working the shortening and flour through the pastry blender until it is evenly dispersed and the pieces are no bigger than peas.
- Sprinkle water into flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork until flour is moistened enough to hold together and form a ball. Do not add any more water than necessary.
- Gather pastry into ball. Divide in half. Place the first half between wax paper and roll flat with rolling pin until it is large enough to fit in and overlap your 9 inch pie pan. Peel off the top layer of paper.
- Invert the crust over the pie pan, peel off the other layer of paper, and press into the pan. Cut off the excess crust about 1 inch over the edge of the pan. Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork, and set aside.
 Now, roll out your second crust from the remaining dough the same way. Put this crust aside while you mix up the cherry filling.
For the Filling
Preheat your oven to 400° before starting this step.
- 3 cups sour cherries, canned, or pitted if you use fresh
- 1/2 cup cherry juice (from the can)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons tapioca
- 3/4 cup sugar (use 1/4 cup more if your cherries are really sour)
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
 Mix filling ingredients and let stand at least 15 minutes.- Pour filling into pie pan lined with the bottom crust.
- Dot top of pie with 1-2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces.
- Place second pie crust over the top of the pie, allowing the edges to overlap with the first. Use a knife to trim the edges evenly with the pie pan. You can press around the edge of the pie pan with a fork to seal the edges, or flute the edges with your fingers.
- Cut slits in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.
- Bake at 400° for about 45 minutes, or until top is browned and filling bubbles up through slits.
 What is your favorite comfort food?
 For many of us the daily lunch routine has turned into a boring or guilt-ridden chore. We pack a lunch for convenience, and to avoid spending extra money on food, but it’s so hard to break away from the traditional sandwich model. Far easier to throw together a sandwich with processed lunch meats, and grab one of the many prepackaged, fatty, salty or sugary snacks that are available out there.
But you can pack a healthy lunch, with a variety of flavours and textures that will have you or your kids counting down the minutes to lunchtime. It requires a bit of extra effort to prepare the ingredients, which can then sit in the fridge in separate containers, waiting to be thrown together in the morning in no more time than it takes to make a sandwich. This lunch is layered with all four food groups, and has a combination of sweet, crunchy, tart, and savory flavors that is truly satisfying.
The recipe below contains a layer of grapes, curried chicken salad, raita, which is a minty yogurt sauce, chickpeas and sliced almonds. The combinations you can try are only limited by the number of foods you can imagine. Here are some ideas to use for your different layers:
- Fruits: sliced grapes, dried cranberries, other dried fruits, sliced apples soaked in lemon juice, fresh berries, sliced avocados, sliced cherry tomatoes.
- Proteins: chicken salad with curry, pesto, or your favorite spices, tuna salad, feta cheese, smoked salmon, shrimp, ham salad or chopped baked ham, chopped hard boiled eggs, or fresh mozzarella chunks.
- Sauce: raita (recipe below), plain yogurt, salsa, chopped tomatoes, your favorite salad dressing, hot pepper sauce.
- Carbohydrate layer: chickpeas, blackeyed peas or other types of beans, cooked pasta, orzo, rice, couscous, tortilla chips, potato salad, croutons, polenta cubes, quinoa, bulghur pilaf, any other grains.
- Topping: toasted nuts such as almonds, pecans or walnuts, toasted fresh grated coconut, chopped cherry peppers, or hotter peppers if you like, sunflower seeds, toasted sesame seeds.
Whatever your favorite flavour or seasoning, you can fit it somewhere into this dish, or add an extra layer to accomodate it. Keep a supply of ingredients all made up in the fridge, and throwing together your healthy lunch is easy. This lunch does need to stay cold. If you don’t have access to a fridge, then be sure to pack it in a cold pack.
Curried Chicken Layered Lunch
Chicken Layer
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 rotisserie chicken, boned and meat shredded or chopped
Raita
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint, or 1 tablespoon dried mint
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Other Layers
- 1 cup red grapes, sliced in half
- 1 can cooked chickpeas, drained
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- Make chicken salad: Cook onion, garlic and ginger in oil in a heavy skillet about 5 minutes. Add curry powder, cumin and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add onion mixture and 1 cup yogurt to chicken and mix well.
- Make raita: Stir together 1 cup yogurt, mint, chopped cucumber and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Select 4 16-oz size containers, either plastic with lids for travel, or glasses or bowls to eat at home. Layer ingredients in the containers in the following order: grapes, chicken salad, raita, chickpeas, and then almonds sprinkled on top.
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