Dinner for a Party

Ok, whatever. I just posted about the new low Glycemic Load diet. Which we have been following very nicely, thank you. Husband has lost 10 lb and I am still sitting - through hormonal swings - at about 5lb lost. I think next week I'll see even more.

At any rate, we had our weekly run to the Chinese store - Oh MY - it is Chinese New Year and the place was so crowded! But I digress - we came home with some pre-made chinese chicken skewers and some verdant and beguiling green beans, not to mention our other finds.

Ergo. For dinner, a bit of a break from said diet, we had: lumpia (the famous phillipino egg rolls, which we buy pre-made from the 99 Ranch Market - who needs to slave all day when you can get perfection for a very reasonable price?), Chicken skewers, rice (white - shudder - we have been eating nothing but brown, and as it would turn out nobody ate more than a few tablespoons), green beans cooked with gobs of garlic, peanut oil, sesame oil and chili oil - all in vastly reduced amounts over what we would have used a year ago. Everything was pow-d (how you shake the wok to make everything "jump") until there was a bit of browning on the beans. Then I added some low-sodium soy sauce and covered the lot with a plate on a low heat to steam just a bit.

The skewers cooked on a pancake grill and a leafy green salad with some green onions and some rice wine vinegar and peanut oil - just the teensiest bit made for some forage.

We pretty much feasted after having such diet fare for the last few weeks. But we were actually pretty restrained, and the flavors we so full that we felt really full without over-eating.

I think that given our particular social circle that this would be a really good dinner to offer. No bones, lots of veg, a bit of fried and nothing too challenging in terms of eating or of cooking.

So I'm blogging so that I won't forget to serve this!

Rice
Salad
Chicken Skewers
Lumpia
Green beans with garlic

Yummo. Hope I don't have to pay the price with the scales tomorrow.

New Year, New Challenges - Low Glycemic Load Cooking

The hubby has been given orders from the doctor. Lose weight. Now, you know of course, it's my fault that the man is a pie-monkey. My cooking is going to be the death of him, so my cooking is going through a metamorphosis of sorts.

I could lose a bit of weight, too, so I've really embraced this new regime.

I've always looked askance at the "Zone" and "Beach" sorts of diets. Couldn't do Atkins anymore because it doesn't work (something about getting older, I guess), and it's really not very healthy. Oh, and did I mention - booooooooring - which to a foody is the death-knell of any sort of program.

As luck would have it, I came across a diabetes website - http://www.mendosa.com/ which has some really interesting scientific information about maintaining steady glucose levels at all times. Which in layman's terms means you never get hungry. Ever. Mendosa has an extensive list of GI's and GL's of tons of different foods, and you can find lots of info on the internet, too.

I know that is a big claim to make, but I've been doing it for two weeks and I've never been hungry - or even worse - bored.

The basic idea is that all foods have a GI (glycemic index) and also a GL (glycemic load), and in a nutshell the idea is to not spike your insulin. By not spiking your insulin and eating foods that slowly and steadily release into your blood stream you avoid not only hunger, but the crash and burn cycle that leads to over-eating carbs.

Not that you can't eat carbs - in fact you really have to, you just have to eat low GI/GL carbs like brown rice, cracked wheat, beans of all sorts and the like. Veggies and fruits are all almost no GL so they can be eaten to your heart's content.

I think it's working. I've lost five pounds in two weeks. I'm not cranky, I'm not rebellious, and not bored. I'm cooking every night and even though I'm rethinking menues, they are still interesting and I get the thrill of cooking, which is what it's all about for me.

Last night I made eggplant parmesan. I had beautiful Japanese eggplants from the trip to the 99 Ranch Market which I sliced lengthwise into pretty thin (1/4") slices. Those were sauteed in a non-stick wok (also from beloved 99 Ranch Market - $10!!!!!) with a smidge of olive oil. I added a bit more olive oil to each batch. Eggplant has a GL of 2 - and anything under 10 is considered low.

Then I sauteed onions, shallots and garlic with some mexican dried oregano, a bit of rosemary and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and of course sea salt and fresh ground pepper. This got a good blast of wine and then canned plum tomatoes and was set to simmer to reduce. I didn't reduce it quite enough - note to self, strain out some of the juice next time if I'm in a hurry.

Lastly I fried up some hamburger (99 cents a pound at the hispanic market down the street) and some sweet italian sausage from Trader Joe's (notice how it's really noooooo problem to stick to the quest - the overarching theme of the blog). This all went into the tomato sauce.

Then the layering began.

Eggplant, sauce, slices of mozzarella and dollops of ricotta mixed with an egg and some parmesan, salt and pepper. Repeat.

Once it's all in the pan - basically lasagna style - you put it into a 375 F oven for about an hour. Take out and rest for a good bit - you should start this early if you want to eat before 7:00.

We served it with a huge leafy green salad with a vinegar and olive oil dressing. Acids like lemon and vinegar keep coming up in what I'm reading about low GL diets, apparently they help lower the GL's even more, so I'm making sure some is included with every meal.

It was really good, felt like "normal food," and as usual, was so filling (even with modest portions of the eggplant parmesan) that there was absolutely no snackage between dinner and breakfast - something that has always been a huge problem here.

Tonight I'm making baked falafal, hommous, and tabouli. Maybe some stuffed grape leaves (brown rice), if I can tear myself away from puttering in the yard long enough.

The best part of the low GL is that wine is zero!

Ina's-Eli's Asian Salmon

I had some great salmon fillets from Fresh & Easy and wanted a quick dish that didn't require grilling, for a change. I remembered a dish Ina Garten made with panko bread crumbs that had sounded great. Being lazy, I didn't bother to look up the recipe and pretty much winged it, using the idea as a framework, with the goal of asian-tasting salmon with a crunchy topping being my desired destination.

I had left-over chinese dumpling dipping sauce (the usual suspects: soy sauce, sesame oil, grated ginger and garlic, rice wine vinegar, chinese wine, a little hoisin or oyster sauce, depending on what you have/like and a bit of nam pla) that seemed to me to make way more sense to use than to start from fresh; I was in a hurry, right?

I lined a small baking dish with foil, put the fish in skin side down, poured the sauce over (about 3/4 c), spread a liberal amount of panko on top, topped that with chopped fresh green onions, spooned a bit of the dipping sauce over each fillet, and then drizzled everything with sesame oil and a tad of canola oil (to keep the panko from being mushy). Then I popped it in the oven at 350 F for about 20 minutes.

Oh, my. It was so good. And the little bit of leftovers made a heavenly breakfast, too.

For those of you who really like a recipe to follow I've cut and pasted Ina's below. I was shocked that it received so many bad reviews in proportion to good reviews. Most of the issues seemed to deal with too much salt and mushy panko. I think reducing the seasoning, and the marinating time, and drizzling the panko with oils will cure most issues that were reported.

It really is an amazing and different way to prepare salmon, though, and I highly recommend you give it a go. I think it will work great with other seafood, too - I'm going to try large butterflied shrimp next time. I think you could also change the seasonings - like use garlic, white wine and butter, and so forth. I think the basic shining point of the technique is that you get gbd (golden brown and delicious) goodness, which is always tutti bene.


Eli's Asian Salmon
Copyright 2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved
Show: Barefoot ContessaEpisode: Going, Going, Gone
RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(175)
Cook Time
20 min
Level
Easy
Yield
5 servings
Close
Times:
Prep
10 min
Inactive Prep
15 min
Cook
20 min
Total:
45 min

Ingredients
2 1/4 pounds center-cut salmon fillet (1 1/2 inches thick)
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon toasted (dark) sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chili paste
1/2 cup sliced scallions (2 scallions)
2 tablespoons minced garlic (8 large cloves)
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Directions
Line an 8 by 12-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Place the salmon in the pan.
In a mixing cup, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, lemon juice, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, chili paste, scallions, garlic, and ginger. Pour 1/3 of soy sauce mixture over the salmon fillet. Sprinkle the panko evenly over the fillet. Pour the rest of the soy sauce mixture evenly over the panko. Be sure to soak the panko completely and if any runs off, spoon back onto the salmon. Set aside for 15 minutes, leaving all the sauce in the pan.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Roast the salmon for 18 to 20 minutes, or for about 12 minutes per inch at the thickest part of the salmon. The internal temperature will be 120 degrees F on a meat thermometer when it's done. Remove from the oven, wrap tightly with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Rated: 3 stars out of 5175 Reviews
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All About…

the Quest continues in 2009

The year is starting off really well, quest-wise. I've barely stepped into a chain grocery store, so far, with the exception of buying some chicken breast at Stater Brothers in a pinch. They were $2.07 per pound for skinless, boneless. If I could have made it to the Fresh & Easy I could have got them for $1.69 per pound.

I've included a picture of a 99 Ranch Market, instead of the usual artwork. I doubt I could find an artist's rendering of one of these stores even if I did scour the net for hours at a time, as I have been known to do. Who knew so few people besides Van Gogh liked to draw potatoes, anyway (http://shopcookeat-ablogaboutlove.blogspot.com/2008/10/potatoes-au-gratin-happy-once-happy.html)?

In the down-time during the holidays I spent time thinking about the direction of this blog. It has two purposes, which I am trying to give equal attention to: My quest to stay out of big box grocery stores in favor of the smaller, locally owned versions (or at least ethnic, as the 99 Ranch Market, or small, as the wonderful Fresh & Easy), and also to preserve and record what my family shares at the dinner table, and how those dishes are made, so that when I am gone they will still be able to re-create some of our family dinners.

I'm still not certain how much focus to give to one or the other of these goals. I do know they are compatible, however, because I shop to cook, and cook because it is my passion - the two are inextricably intertwined activities. My passion to NOT eat bland, corporate-produced food - even the veggies and the meat are pallid, boring substitutes for what I can find in my hispanic or asian, or arab or indian stores, perfectly collides with my passion to feed my family the very best I can - at half the price, generally.

But I wander. I think that what I will start doing in the new year, in furtherance of the actual quest part of my blog, is to begin posting the amazing specials from the stores that actually are producing sales. I say this because, for instance, my arab and indian stores never have specials. They just have what is fresh and available for the most amazing prices you can imagine. Sort of like Trader Joes - no real sales, just real deals.

Therefore, the picture of the 99 Ranch Market (http://www.99ranch.com/) above, and also, I am including links, as I will each week, to their fabulous fliers. I want to do whatever I can to get you into these stores, and that will be the emphasis of quest posts in the coming months.

And a word about the coming months. I hope to be working full-time by the summer or at least the end of summer. I have been a full-time student since June of 2004, and now I am finishing my master's degree and am planning to go out and start earning an income. I hope. Times are scary, especially for someone who has trained to be a government employee - boos, hissing, I hear it all.

But I think it is an honorable and worthy way to spend my remaining years of productivity, so there. Anyway, I don't know how my questing and cooking lifestyle will hold up under the new rigors of employment. I figure I already go to school and raise three children full-time, so I hope to be able to manage without much change in pace. At least the weekends won't be entirely gobbled up by papers, projects and required reading - so hopefully things will all balance out.

But enough of my musing, here are the specials for this week - do try to get to a local store around you soon - the prices and the quality, and just a peek into a different culture are more than enough reward for stepping out of the rut/comfort zone!

Sales for 01/01 - 01/07/2009

http://www.99ranch.com/showpict.asp?pict=VIPImages/010109-pl.jpg

http://www.99ranch.com/showpict.asp?pict=VIPImages/010109-gal.jpg

http://www.99ranch.com/showpict.asp?pict=VIPImages/010109-gbl.jpg

There are also lots of non-ad specials that you will find once there - this week there were New York steaks (boneless) for $2.99 a pound and live Maine Lobsters for $10.99 per pound. Yum.

Soup and more Soup

After months of the hottest weather ever, it is soup-friendly cold.

Soup is something my family never gets tired of, and of course, it is good for your body and your soul.

The biggest problem people have in making soup is not respecting the soup. That sounds funny, I know, but you really have to treat soup with a certain kind of reverence. No leftovers, unless they are appropriate, and no fake ingredients.

Soup always starts with a broth. I'm no rigid traditionalist on this matter. I personally like nothing more than to boil bones, but I know that isn't everybody's cup of tea. I also am perfectly happy to use store-bought broth, or even bouillon cubes - or even water, if that is what I have.

If you are making broth from, hopefully, the carcass of a home-roasted chicken (or even a store-roasted chicken), you want to add the bones, some veggies (carrot, celery, onion, maybe a tomato or two) and some spices - bay leaves and peppercorns - to a pot and cover it with cold water. Salt generously and bring to a gentle simmer and let bubble away on the back burner for an hour or so.

Many chefs insist you have to skim, skim, skim away the entire time. I think that is way too much trouble, gets more spoons and dishes dirty, and just generally discourages people from making soup in the first place. So I don't skim. Nobody has ever died from my soup either, or done anything but want more, so I feel fairly confident that this deviant behaviour will not end in total ruin.

Once you've made your broth you will need to strain it. I put it in a colander over a big bowl or even another pot. I'm all about saving things from getting dirty, so I think the idea of using cheese cloth to strain is another needless way to make yourself more work that really doesn't make any difference in the end result.

Now that you have your broth, put it back on the heat and start chopping veggies. One or two onions, 3-4 carrots (microwave these after you've peeled them and they will be much easier to chop), several stalks of carrots, a turnip if you have one on hand, and always some squash - yellow crookneck, zucchini, mexican white zuchini - whatever you find at the market or have on hand. I also add either canned tomatoes, or roasted tomatoes out of the freezer. If I don't have either of those I whiz up a few fresh tomatoes in the food chopper. Easy, and tons of extra color, nutrition and flavor.

Now that you've done the veggies you'll have to decide what kind of starch you'll add. The options are pretty much potatoes, rice or noodles. If you add noodles add them at the very end, when the soup is basically finished (when the veggies are nicely done - don't worry about cooking it all day!) and cook just long enough for the noodles to be done. If you are adding potatoes or rice, add it after all the veggies are in. If you have cooked, chopped leftover chicken you want to add it now - not before, because it will become very stringy and nasty if you cook it for a long time.

Finally, season to taste with salt and pepper.

If you are making soup without home-made stock you will start by sauteeing your onions, carrots and celery in some olive oil or canola oil. Just give them some color and then add your water. This will give you a veggie stock which will make a very good soup indeed.

Soup makes a great afterschool snack and even a good breakfast in the winter - at least my kids love it!

As always, keep the ingredients as real as possible, and your soup will be divine, and your family will think, as they should, that you are a goddess.