The Season's Bounty

Well, summer is winding down, but that certainly doesn't mean that the availability of great fruits and vegetables is dwindling....quite the opposite!

Right now, you can find great buys on all kinds of squash (zucchini, summer squash, sweet potatoes) and tomatoes are at their peak right now. We are also going to be seeing some great mushrooms very soon. Such a yummy time of year!

On Sunday, Sept. 5th, I will be doing a Chef Demo at Seattle's Pike Place Market highlighting some dishes using these fresh, widely available, healthy and well priced vegetables. I hope you can join me!

When: Sunday, Sept. 5th, 2-3pm

Where: Pike Place Market, Seattle - demo tent just N. of the main entrance

Cost: Free; samples will be available and recipes will be given out to attendees.

Be ready to salivate!

I just love food websites, and one of my favorite is http://www.tastespotting.com/.

The photos are beautiful. All you have to do is click on the ones you like and you'll automatically be linked to the blog and the recipe of the person who posted the photo. I've made some wonderful dishes from the website, and here's my latest yumminess - cucumber gazpacho

You can make it festive by serving it as I did, or just put it in a mug and enjoy!

I served the cold soup along with some caprese (with pesto instead of basil leaves) and proscuitto & arugula wrapped nectarines - a lovely summer appetizer trio!

Pike Place Market Fruit Festival

I had the great honor of judging the "Iron Chef" like competition at the Pike Place Market recently. The two competing chefs were Ron Anderson of Ettas and Josh Green of The Virgina Inn. The competition began with the unveiling of a secret ingredient which was a local cornish game hen and Chukkar Cherries from the market. Both chefs were given $25 and 20 minutes to purchase additional menu items from farmers at the Pike Place Market, and both made delicious dishes.

In addition to me, the other judges were Keren Brown, Seattle's Frantic Foodie and Julie Filips the site developer at Allrecipes.com. Check out the Allrecipes.com website sometime soon for the recipes which Julie offered to post. The winner, after a tough and difficult deliberation was Ron of Ettas. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun. I'll be there again next year, for sure!

Take a trip to the S. of France!

Over the past several years, I've had the fortunate opportunity to visit my cousin in the South of France at about this time of year. As the weather begins to make way for warmer weather here in the NW, I'm reminiscing of some lovely dinners on my cousin's pool side patio facing the ocean. Our evenings there are always memorable ones, as you can probably imagine!

Here's a recipe that takes me back to the S. of France every time I make it. All you need is a nice glass of rose and you'll be transported, too.

Chicken Saltimbocca with Spinach and Roasted Tomatoes
Serves 4

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (3-4oz.), pounded to about 1/2“ thickness.
4 thin slices prosciutto, trimmed of any fat.
8 fresh sage leaves
4 ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons feta cheese
16 oz. fresh baby spinach
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat broiler- low setting

Meanwhile, cut tomatoes in ½ and take out a slight bit of the core to make a small indent about the size of a nickel. Place 1 ½ tsp. feta on each tomato half. Place in a baking dish or on a jelly roll pan lined with tin foil. Set aside

Heat 1T oil in a large, non-stick skillet over med-high heat. While the pan is heating, sprinkle chicken breasts lightly with ¼ teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Place 2 sage leaves in the center of each breast, and then wrap the breast in a slice of prosciutto (like a belt), covering the sage leaves and overlapping the ends underneath. Place chicken in the hot pan, seam side down, cooking until lightly browned, about 4-5 min. Repeat with other side. When finished, remove from pan and keep warm.

Place tomatoes under broiler, and broil until cheese is beginning to melt, approx. 5 min.
While the tomatoes are cooking, place the chicken skillet back on the stove at med-high heat and add 1 tsp. olive oil to pan. When hot, but not smoking, add garlic and saute for approx. 1 min. Add spinach, a bit at a time, tossing gently until mostly wilted. Sprinkle with lemon juice and a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper.

Serve by dividing spinach onto 4 plates, and topping the spinach slightly with 1 chicken breast. Place tomatoes on plate alongside. This also makes a beautiful presentation on a platter if you prefer to serve it family style. The chicken tastes great the next day, too, at any temperature.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do whenever I need a little "je ne sais quoi"!

Bon Appetite mes amis!

Yogurt- is it really healthy?

I am a lifelong yogurt eater. I love it and have enjoyed it most every day since I can remember, and I loved that my Mom put it in my school lunches, too! That said, I've discovered some interesting things about store-bought yogurt within the last few years, and here's a summary of my findings. DO NOT ASSUME ALL YOGURT IS HEALTHY!

Most store purchased yogurt is loaded with sugar.

It might be helpful to know that the recommended TOTAL daily allowance for added sugars is 6 1/2 teaspoons/25 grams for women, and 9 1/2 teaspoons/38 grams for men.

Most 6oz. yogurts contain about 12 grams of naturally occurring sugar from the milk, but many store brands have the same in added sugar. For example, a Stoneyfield Farm yogurt (believed to be the "healthiest yogurt) has a total of anywhere from 17g to 35g of total sugar - meaning the added sugar component is from 5-23 grams of sugar! If you eat the 35 gram Stoneyfield Farm Fat Free Chocolate Underground yogurt, you've basically reached your recommended added sugar limit for the day. If you are consuming anything else that contains sugars on the same day (beware- it's everywhere, even in places you might least expect it), you are surely going over your daily allowance.

Now, there's help for this if you love yogurt as much as I do. Take the time to make your own. It's super easy! I make a weekly batch with the Donvier Yogurt Maker. It only takes 10 min of your "hands-on" time - literally. Just heat milk (2% or whole) for about 7 minutes, let it cool slightly for about an hour, pour into the provided cups and set them in the machine. Turn it on for anywhere from 8-12 hours and your yogurt is ready. This is a great way to create yogurt with no added sugars except for the ones you add and have control of. To my mind, this is the best, healthiest and tastiest yogurt. All natural, and with all the health benefits that yogurt is supposed to provide...which we know are many!

Lastly, if the proposition of making your own yogurt is too much, I recommend buying Dannon All Natural Nonfat Plain Yogurt - it's the closest store-bought yogurt to homemade.

Happy eating!

Concerning food packaging - BPA free options

Lately, you may have heard about the growing problems related to plastic food containers. Many contain the chemical BPA (Bisphenol A) which is known to leach from the containers and ends up in the urine of people that drink or eat from them. Studies have shown that BPA acts as an endocrine disruptor in animals, including early onset of sexual maturation, altered development and tissue organization of the mammary gland, and decreased sperm production in offspring.

It may be most harmful in the stages of early development and this is why the State of Washington recently announced that they are seeking a ban on BPA, most importantly for baby bottles where it is most present.
Prior to this announcement by WA State, however, a independent study by Consumer Reports found that BPA is present in most all canned goods, too. It was found in the white liners of the cans. WHAT!!!??? I have always enjoyed the convenience of canned tomatoes and beans, but now I'm concerned. What to do? I've made the switch to organic for the "dirty dozen", but I certainly don't have time to can my own tomatoes. So, I did a thorough search for BPA free options and here's what I found:

Canned beans - Eden Organic states that no BPA is used in their canned beans
Canned tomatoes - Due to the acidity of tomatoes, nobody, including Eden Organic is able to can them without BPA. The only real option I have found are tomatoes packed in a tetra pack. There are not many brands, but one I can find fairly easily is the Pomi brand. A bit more expensive than canned tomatoes, but very tasty and may be worth the expense if you regularly use canned tomatoes and want to get away from too much BPA.

There you have it! Food for thought...as always.

Happy and safe cooking :-)

Winter bounty...cooking Kale and other Winter Greens

If you've been to the grocery store or a farmer's market recently, you've undoubtedly seen a bounty of kale and other wonderful winter greens. To many, including some in my family, these greens do not appear at all appetizing. Thanks to Bon Appetit, however, I recently discovered a few ways to make them enjoyable for even the fussiest of eaters. I hope these ideas for cooking kale and other winter greens will prompt you to give them a try for a healthy boost at your dinner table.

Whenever you are preparing any winter greens (Kale, Collard Greens, Chard, Mustard greens, etc.), it’s best to first begin by rinsing and drying the greens and then separating the leaves from the tough stems. Do not discard the stems, however, as they can be enjoyed as much as the leaves. Here are some ideas…

Flash cooked Kale or Winter Greens:
1. Trim the stems (at the root end) and cut them into 1” sections. Roughly chop the leaves.
2. Place some oil in a large non-stick pan, and when it’s hot, add the stems. Cook them until they just begin to brown, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the leaves to the pan and continue to cook until the leaves are wilted. Turn off the heat and then season with some salt and pepper and lemon juice if you like. Serve immediately, or at room temperature.
For a nice twist, add some chopped, seeded tomato along with the leaves in step 3, and add a bit of feta to top it off instead of the lemon juice.


More ideas to try….
Cook kale or winter green leaves for a minute in a pot of salted, boiling water. Drain the leaves and squeeze out any excess water. Sauté with olive oil and garlic for 2 minutes. Enjoy as such – or with a squeeze of lemon juice (if you like) - or:

• Place the greens in a buttered gratin dish and top with grated Parmesan and bread crumbs. Broil until just warmed through and the top is beginning to brown.
• Add greens to an omelet or frittata with sautéed onions, chopped fresh herbs and crumbled feta or goat cheese.
• Add greens to a bowl of canned, drained chickpeas (or any white bean), sliced carrots and celery, sautéed chopped onion and a bit of hot chicken broth. Top with a poached or fried egg and enjoy with thick toasted bread.
  

Prepare 12 large Tuscan kale leaves - rinse, dry, cut lengthwise in half, removing center ribs and stems. Toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Arrange them on baking sheets, in a single layer. Bake at 250° for about 30 minutes, until the leaves are crisp. Cool leaves on a wire rack. Serve upright in tall drinking glassed for a dramatic presentation.

Happy cooking!