So, my last entry in Iron Chef did not win - I lost by 3 points. I was disappointed in myself, if only because I didn't feel I gave it my all, and didn't bring my 'A' game.
But, that's OK - there's a new Iron Chef challenge for me...
Now, there's 8 of us (normally) that participate, so, we normally have two people in each category. It breaks down to Appetizer, Entree, Dessert, and Drinks. The drinks portion is normally a separate flavoring from the main secret ingredient, as it's sometimes difficult to figure out how to put peas into an appetizing form that one would want to imbibe... The last time we pulled, dessert and drinks were given to the same person...
This time has been no different, and I have been given Dessert and drinks. I already know the secret ingredient - Bacon.
To that end, I'm going to put together a medley of tasty bacon-based desserts to see which would stand out the most on a plate, and which will fail and burn in a fiery death of shame and woe...
I have such ideas as these:
Orange-cream puff pastry, dipped in chocolate, with bacon brittle
Apple filo dough with maple-glazed bacon
Pear and bacon tartlet with sugared bacon crumbles
Bacon carrot cake with a macadamia nut bacon brittle
Bacon chocolate chip cookie sandwiches with maple ice cream
I think these are all fairly good ideas and they should translate fairly well throughout the tasting...
If YOU have any ideas that you think would do well, let me know and I will consider mixing them in...
Showing posts with label Meme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meme. Show all posts
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
My own little soap box...
One of the biggest concerns in America (because no where else will you see quite so many frivolous lawsuits) is having healthy food, being healthy, and maintaining a healthy weight.
The real facts about health are more muddied than the Mississippi river in flood season, and there are new "facts" that come up each day about foods... One day you'll be told that margarine should be eaten because it's better for you than butter... Suddenly you're told that it's not, because of trans-fats and other nasty items lurking in wait to suddenly destroy your body.
You're told one day not to eat beef, only to be told the next day that it's actually fairly healthy and you can have it, just as long as all the fat has been removed... And a few months later, beef is once again on the no-no list.
The question is, how did we get to where we are today? Why is it that, of all the nations, we have the most food available per capita, and yet we are filled with hatred and fear toward it? Why do we have one of the highest obesity rates in the world, with Diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, and stroke leading the way in death and disability each year?
100 years ago we had virtually no issues with any of these so-called "Western" diseases. And yet, over the last 100 years (actually, over the last 50 years where it's REALLY taken off), we have had doctors, advertisers, food scientists and other snake oil salesmen try and tell us what we *should* eat, how much, when, why, and how... We've been told that low-fat, low salt, low (or no) meat, high carb, low carb, no carb, high protein, low protein, massively pre-processed foods (or should I say FUD) is good for us, and we should eat it...
We've tried all the latest fad diets, health recommendations, food regimens, exercise and other abuses, all leading to an even higher rate of obesity and obesity-related issues - even if we aren't obese... We've spent the last 50 years brainwashing our children to eat whatever the news tells us, and supplementing it with fast food and quick snacks from the local Kwik-E-Mart (I'd get started on spelling, but that's a different rant altogether - along with Foto.).
I have no doctoral degree, and I don't even claim to understand what goes on inside a carrot when it's cooked versus when it's served raw. I don't know how the digestive tract breaks down foods, and I honestly could care less about whether the percentage of beta-carotene is higher or lower in one food or another. I have a different kind of suggestion from everyone else... It's a little radical, and it could potentially tick off your doctor or nutritionist - not to mention salesmen and fast-food restaurant companies all over the country, but just hear me out...
Try not eating so many overly-processed foods... I'm not saying cut them out completely. Why? Because while it IS possible to do it, it can be a difficult thing for us to do. But just try not eating as many... If what you're eating has a lot of ingredients that you can't pronounce, chances are, they're not found in nature... If they aren't found in nature, ask yourself if you really want to eat it...
I'm not saying that they're the worst things for you - but a lot of what we eat just doesn't need to be that overly processed. There's a reason why other countries who DON'T eat a lot of overly processed foods don't have the same issues with weight and weight-related diseases that the US does... They don't have the same level of processed foods that we do.
So, just throwing it out there to think about... I know, it's a radical idea. Perhaps, it's an idea whose time has come... Maybe the next time you decide to make Velveeta cheese dip, try doing it from scratch, with real cheese, rather than Velveeta - could make a difference - you never know.
The real facts about health are more muddied than the Mississippi river in flood season, and there are new "facts" that come up each day about foods... One day you'll be told that margarine should be eaten because it's better for you than butter... Suddenly you're told that it's not, because of trans-fats and other nasty items lurking in wait to suddenly destroy your body.
You're told one day not to eat beef, only to be told the next day that it's actually fairly healthy and you can have it, just as long as all the fat has been removed... And a few months later, beef is once again on the no-no list.
The question is, how did we get to where we are today? Why is it that, of all the nations, we have the most food available per capita, and yet we are filled with hatred and fear toward it? Why do we have one of the highest obesity rates in the world, with Diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, and stroke leading the way in death and disability each year?
100 years ago we had virtually no issues with any of these so-called "Western" diseases. And yet, over the last 100 years (actually, over the last 50 years where it's REALLY taken off), we have had doctors, advertisers, food scientists and other snake oil salesmen try and tell us what we *should* eat, how much, when, why, and how... We've been told that low-fat, low salt, low (or no) meat, high carb, low carb, no carb, high protein, low protein, massively pre-processed foods (or should I say FUD) is good for us, and we should eat it...
We've tried all the latest fad diets, health recommendations, food regimens, exercise and other abuses, all leading to an even higher rate of obesity and obesity-related issues - even if we aren't obese... We've spent the last 50 years brainwashing our children to eat whatever the news tells us, and supplementing it with fast food and quick snacks from the local Kwik-E-Mart (I'd get started on spelling, but that's a different rant altogether - along with Foto.).
I have no doctoral degree, and I don't even claim to understand what goes on inside a carrot when it's cooked versus when it's served raw. I don't know how the digestive tract breaks down foods, and I honestly could care less about whether the percentage of beta-carotene is higher or lower in one food or another. I have a different kind of suggestion from everyone else... It's a little radical, and it could potentially tick off your doctor or nutritionist - not to mention salesmen and fast-food restaurant companies all over the country, but just hear me out...
Try not eating so many overly-processed foods... I'm not saying cut them out completely. Why? Because while it IS possible to do it, it can be a difficult thing for us to do. But just try not eating as many... If what you're eating has a lot of ingredients that you can't pronounce, chances are, they're not found in nature... If they aren't found in nature, ask yourself if you really want to eat it...
I'm not saying that they're the worst things for you - but a lot of what we eat just doesn't need to be that overly processed. There's a reason why other countries who DON'T eat a lot of overly processed foods don't have the same issues with weight and weight-related diseases that the US does... They don't have the same level of processed foods that we do.
So, just throwing it out there to think about... I know, it's a radical idea. Perhaps, it's an idea whose time has come... Maybe the next time you decide to make Velveeta cheese dip, try doing it from scratch, with real cheese, rather than Velveeta - could make a difference - you never know.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A meme...
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at Very Good Taste linking to your results.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2.Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11.Calamari (even though I'm allergic, I've had it)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23.Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25.Brawn, or head cheese
26.Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34.Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36.Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40.Oxtail
41.Curried goat
42.Whole insects
43.Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45.Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46.Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50.Sea urchin It’s a texture thing…
51. Prickly pear
52.Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57.Dirty gin martini
58.Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60.Carob chips
61. S’mores
62.Sweetbreads
63.Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73.Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75.Roadkill
76.Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78.Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84.Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89.Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91.Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99.Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Apparently, there's not much that I won't try... LOL. I guess going to culinary school helped a lot with that, if only because I got the chance to try a lot of things that aren't in the mainstream, and/or that aren't considered "tasty"... I tried them anyway - where else would I have had the opportunity otherwise? I've even eaten chicken feet (phoenix claws)... They were darned tasty.
~M
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at Very Good Taste linking to your results.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2.
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11.
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23.
24. Rice and beans
25.
26.
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34.
35. Root beer float
36.
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40.
41.
42.
43.
44. Goat’s milk
45.
46.
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50.
51. Prickly pear
52.
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57.
58.
59. Poutine
60.
61. S’mores
62.
63.
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73.
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75.
76.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78.
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89.
90. Criollo chocolate
91.
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99.
100. Snake
Apparently, there's not much that I won't try... LOL. I guess going to culinary school helped a lot with that, if only because I got the chance to try a lot of things that aren't in the mainstream, and/or that aren't considered "tasty"... I tried them anyway - where else would I have had the opportunity otherwise? I've even eaten chicken feet (phoenix claws)... They were darned tasty.
~M
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