“It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.” - Sir William Osler






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 The Ham

Back to the topic of food. I enjoy writing about it and reading about it, but have not really had any recent meals I thought were interesting enough to write about. My standards have declined a bit since moving back to the family home, as my main goal right now is to use what they had in the pantry in addition to what I brought with me. But today, we'll talk about ham. 

It's been said, accurately, that "eternity is a ham and two people." Well, try it with one person sometime. I purchased this ham at Costco back before Christmas, in the hope that maybe I could make my mother a nice New Year's dinner. Sadly her health was declining rapidly at that point and the ham never got used. So I froze it, and when I moved it came with me - approximately two kilos of pork and sodium. Eventually I had to use it, so I thawed it out and heated it in the oven. That was nearly a month ago, and here is what I did with it:

Dinner of ham, broccoli and mashed potatoes, repeated for a second night. I sliced it thin and used it for sandwiches once or twice. Then I decided to try ham salad (mayonnaise, mustard, onion, pickle relish, celery). I've always been fond of ham salad, but it was really too rich to eat for multiple meals and I was very tired of it by the time I finished it up. 

The caregivers had purchased a lot of dried beans (one of them had found a recipe for "chili beans" that my mother really liked) and I decided that next I would use those and the ham for bean soup. It was a success and I wound up making two batches of it. (It's a good thing that ham is preserved and lasts a long time, as it was still edible for all these experiments. Also, bean soup freezes well.) 

Lastly I decided to try jambalaya, a rice dish with sauteed veggies, canned tomatoes, chicken broth... and ham. The very last of it. 

I have no idea how many meals this came to, but it was a lot. Easily fifteen, probably more. The Epic of the Ham was a definite success, but I don't think I will be eating it again for a while. Now it's time to figure out what to do with the chicken in the freezer. 

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Fish Update

Per my brother, the fish my cousin gave him was a combination of trout and walleye (walleye is a kind of pike). Both freshwater. As for the preparation method, he emailed me: "The walleye was the best. Dipped in panko crumbs and fried. Delicious!" 

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 Caboose Potato Soup

One of my parents' caregivers recently bought us what looked like a job lot of zucchini, as it was on sale cheap. I happen to like oven-roasted zucchini, but my parents and aunt find it somewhat less appealing. So it was off to the Internet, the world's biggest cookbook, for soup recipes. 

I am not a fan of sliced zucchini cooked in vegetable soup; it gets really limp and unappetizing. I gave this some thought, inspired by memories of a trip to Ireland I took with my aunt a few years ago. The hotels there which cater to tour groups do the usual choice-of-three-entrees dinner menu, and the first course was always soup. Described as "vegetable soup," it was not the tomato- or broth-based type you might visualize. Rather it was a pale green puree, a cream-type soup, certainly with potatoes as a main ingredient. It was always tasty.

So I found this recipe and made it, of course with a few alterations: no garlic as my aunt hates it, vegetable broth instead of chicken because that was what we had in the house. For herbs I used the thyme and a small amount of Italian blend seasoning. I did throw in some half and half at the end. It was very well received, and I will be making it again soon. You do cook the zucchini and potatoes until very soft, then puree it which solves the consistency issues you get with long-cooked sliced zucchini. 

My father tasted it and said "My father called this caboose potato soup." Oh, really? I asked for more information and he gave me some family history I had not heard before: his grandfather was a railroad man, working the Pittsburgh-to-Chicago run. In those days of the early 20th century the crew member assigned to the caboose was the designated cook. The meal was almost always a stew or soup, due to limited kitchen facilities on board plus irregular eating hours - this could be kept hot and the crew could help themselves. Potatoes were plentiful and cheap, and make a fine soup base. So this is really more of a soup concept than an actual recipe:

Saute some onions, add broth or water plus a cooked green vegetable (peas, green beans, celery, even lettuce could work here), add the sliced potatoes and simmer; then puree when everything is soft. Add some cream or cheese if you like.  It's difficult to screw this up and it is always good. As a bonus, it freezes well. 

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"What's For Dinner?"

As the chief cook and bottle washer for my parents and aunt I am constantly trying to figure out what to cook for dinner that they might like. I have limitations placed on me: my aunt can't tolerate garlic, my father hates vegetables, no one likes spicy food. I've been doing this for about a week and am perilously close to running out of options. Trying to feed people nourishing food on a nightly basis is not the easiest thing to do.

Dinner last night was a success: everyone loved it. Also it was easy in that most of the preparation was done the night before.  It was roast chicken, but the ingredients and technique were specific: Mimi's Sticky Chicken. Check out the recipe. I can recommend it highly. I applied the spice rub the night before, leaving out the garlic powder and cayenne in deference to people's tastes, and chucked it in the oven the following afternoon. The chicken roasts at 250 degrees for five hours. Yes, that is correct - though I confess that I got nervous and turned it up to 275 for the final hour. It was moist, tender and delicious. 

If you search for "sticky chicken" you will find several quite different recipes, so I appended a link above. We will definitely be making this again. I served it with sauteed spinach, which my father didn't eat; but then, you can't have everything.

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Crack Chili Con Carne

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Variations on a Theme 

I've never been a fan of eggs Benedict. For one thing, I don't really like poached eggs - I prefer them either scrambled or hard boiled. For another, I find them awkward to eat. Have you ever tried to cut an English muffin with a knife and fork? English muffins were made to be bitten. A plain toasted buttered English muffin is truly heaven on its own and should not be loaded down with a drippy egg. And for yet another, you have to get your Hollandaise sauce ready to go before you can begin the rest of the recipe (and good luck with poaching eggs if you've never done it before). For my money, this is truly a restaurant meal if you want to indulge.

And yet I find the concept interesting because the basic recipe yields itself to so many other approaches. The variety of what you might call Benedictine egg dishes is truly impressive and makes good reading, even if you have no intention of making them yourself. As I was writing this piece it occurred to me that the egg McMuffin is in fact a low-rent twist on the idea of eggs Benedict. You're welcome.

Eggs Sardou, while by no means low calorie, is an interesting vegetarian twist on the idea. Artichoke bottoms sub in for the English muffin, and they are topped with creamed spinach... then the egg and Hollandaise. This one I would eat.

Then you have eggs Hussarde - similar to Benedict, but incorporates a slice of tomato on top of the ham/Canadian bacon, and is served atop a red wine sauce with onions, mushrooms and minced ham. Wow. You won't need to eat for the rest of the day.

I found a recipe from an inventive chef blogger titled  Eggs Benedict Cumberbatch, served on a slice of sauteed polenta instead of an English muffin, with arugula and Parmesan on top instead of Hollandaise. This sounds awfully good; extra points if served to you by Mr. Cumberbatch himself.

Sling some asparagus on top of your muffin and you have Asparagus Eggs Benedict. I was somewhat disappointed that this variation did not have a fancy name attached.

New Orleans, known for its rich and fancy French based cuisine, is a true haven for Eggs Benedict and all its variations. Brennan's restaurant, which has been around for more than 70 years, seems to be very well known for these dishes. Should you find yourself there and wish to up your cholesterol count, this is the place to go. I think that I will need to practice my Hollandaise sauce skills before attempting any of these myself.

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An Excellent Chicken Recipe

I'm going to post a favorite of mine, which I found on a website called Deep South Dish (a blog with incredibly good and fattening recipes). I have made this many times. The leftovers make excellent work lunches. Here we go:

- three lb chicken pieces, on the bone with skin (yes. Trust me on this.)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp Cajun spice mix (if you don't have access to this, omit and add a pinch more of everything else)
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1 cup water (I generally use more like 1 1/4 cup)
- 1 cup rice
- 2 cans cream of something soup (chicken, celery, mushroom)
- 1/2 tsp salt, or less

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the seasonings (leaving out the salt for now) and then mix the soup, water and 1/2 tsp of the mixed seasoning. Set the rest of the seasoning aside for later. Set aside also one cup of the the soup water mix. Add the rest of the soup/water mix to the rice and place this on the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan. Place the chicken on top, sprinkle with the seasonings and the salt, and spoon the rest of the soup mixture on top. Cover the pan with two thicknesses of aluminum foil and bake for 1 hr 15 minutes; then remove foil and continue baking for another 20 minutes. Serve with salad or green vegetable.

This may sound ghastly, but trust me it is delicious and tastes a lot like Thanksgiving dinner. Even if you use chicken breast - as I usually do - the chicken stays moist and does not overcook. If you have leftovers, strip the chicken meat from the bones and skin and pack it in storage for lunch or dinner later (the leftover rice is good, too). Yum.

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Basic Chili


As an addendum to the previous post, I will tell you what I brought to the office today for lunch though I would never think of cooking it in the office (impossible, really). It's no gourmet surprise but works well enough on a busy week.


1 lb mince (aka ground beef, ground turkey, etc)
some chopped onion, maybe 1/2 cup or more
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, preferably "Mexican style" (plain is fine)
1 15 oz can beans (pink, kidney, even black beans)
generous amt chili powder, between 1-3 tablespoons
shakes of cumin and garlic powder
salt, pepper


This is what I call good old housewife 1960's chili. And I mean that in a good way. Brown your meat, throwing in onion. Drain (if meat is not low fat). Add undrained beans, tomatoes and spices. I sometimes add some cayenne or Tabasco. Keep tasting to see if it is as you like it, simmer from 30-60 minutes. Serve with your choice of shredded cheese, chopped onion, sour cream.


You can turn leftovers into "chili casserole" as my mother used to call it. Layer the chili in a greased casserole with tortilla chips, chopped onion and shredded cheese. (This is also known as "Mexican Lasagna"). Bake at 350 degrees till done, maybe 45 minutes. It isn't great but it isn't bad either.

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posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
Hands Off My Kettle!


The food writers of the Guardian have done it again. One of their recent "Word of Mouth" blog posts deals with fixing lunch in the office. Not bringing your lunch, but cooking it in the office. The writer gives the example of using the office kettle to boil eggs in. Need I mention the primary use of said kettle is to boil water for tea? I can only imagine the sulfury, eggy taste of the first cup of tea made out of that kettle after lunch. And I'd get tired of boiled eggs for lunch awfully fast.

As always, the comments are gold - better than the article really. I append a few.

As I worked in a foundry, I fear my eggs would have been very hard indeed.

According to my mother (a fount of misleading information) boiling eggs in the kettle gives you warts.

I've been crisping bacon in the laminator and making my own pesto in the shredder for years. It makes the office smell wonderful.

Rather than turning my pasta into tagliatelli in the shredder, we could use my pasta and your bolognese sauce to make ravioli in the laminator. Is there no end to the glory of the office lunch?

I've converted our office water-cooler into a fermentation vat and am currently conditioning a young but surprisingly fruity Rioja.

My jerky is nearly ready, I've had little strips of beef hanging in front of the aircon for two weeks now.

Several comments from vegans, folks with egg allergies and those fearful of salmonella livened up the debate. I also would not be doing my blogging duty if I did not point out that the comments include a very clever ode to the George Foreman Grill. You're welcome.

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"I Look Forward to Your Next Article, 'How to Breathe'"

I have come to enjoy reading the Guardian's "Word of Mouth" food articles (for a conservative, this is akin to explaining that you read Playboy for the interviews). One writer, Tony Naylor, has a series titled "How to Eat" various food items (i.e., what is your favorite way to serve a hamburger?) Today's article may have hit a new low, however:

How To Eat Breakfast Cereal

Dear Lord, Tony. I may not be at my best in the morning, but give me a little credit. Do read the comments: they are hilarious. The title for this post is taken from one of them.

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The British have a real talent for desserts. (Have you noticed this?) I may be more prone to their charms because of my UK heritage, or because I'm not a chocoholic. Most traditional Anglo desserts aren't based on chocolate. Or because I think everything goes better with gravy - the dessert variation is a baked or steamed dessert with a sauce on top. As a med student many years ago I wangled my way into a plastic surgery rotation at Oxford, and whenever the hospital canteen served rhubarb crumble with custard sauce I was the happiest camper in town. Yes, the custard was lumpy and made from Bird's dessert powder, but even so.

Though I adore it, trifle may not be to everyone's taste... but if you haven't tasted sticky toffee pudding, put it on your bucket list. Yes, it is that good. Steamed desserts like Spotted Dick (it has currants in it, and in Britain it comes in a can. No, really) and sticky toffee pudding are good but best reserved for cold weather. Not to worry, the Brits excel at summer desserts too. They pioneered the class of desserts known as "fools," usually a mixture of fruit and cream, chilled. The fruit can be cooked as in gooseberry fools, or raw, crushed and macerated with sugar, such as raspberry fools. You whip the cream, chill the fruit, and mix the two together.

A variant of this idea is Eton Mess. The name comes, I think, from the fact that the schoolboys at Eton would mash everything on the dessert plate together with their spoons and then eat it. It sounds unappetizing but it is really delicious. It is now past high strawberry season and I should have posted this earlier, but here we go. The recipe is made easier by the existence of Trader Joes, which sells vanilla meringues in large plastic buckets. If you don't have a TJ's near you, you may be forced to make your own, or look around at any local specialty stores.

Ingredients are simple: strawberries, meringues, whipping cream. You will use equal parts of each. Crush the meringues, but not too finely. Mix with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. Let chill for a little while, maybe half an hour, and eat. You want the meringue to still be a little crunchy. Yum.

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Easter Dinner

It's no secret that holiday dinners are quite often anchored in ritual. There's something comforting about anticipating your favorite dishes every year, and I also enjoy trying holiday foods traditional to other families. I have never forgotten the Thanksgiving Eve I spent shelling Brazil nuts with my brother and new sister-in-law (they were going into the turkey stuffing, which was one of her traditional family recipes; it was delicious). The magazine articles that appear every November, urging new Thanksgiving menus on us, I always find pointless. Nobody wants to change the foods they remember from childhood - unless it's something they really couldn't stand. If you ever find yourself at a holiday gathering with a bunch of people you don't know and need to break the ice, try asking about the foods they hated; everyone has one. Remind me to tell you about my aunt's creamed chestnuts sometime.

But one of the things I like about Easter in our family is our total lack of any Easter dinner tradition. When I was a kid we went to the local country club for Easter brunch after church, where the buffet held all the scrambled eggs and bacon we could eat and there was an Easter egg hunt afterward: perfect for a kid. Unfortunately I am not seven years old any more and I have been known to entertain guests for Easter dinner on occasion. What to fix?

You might think: Lamb. But no. Since my father doesn't really like it, we never had it when I was growing up and it never really occurred to me to try cooking it. Ham, another tradition, simply scares me as I have never baked one. Besides, they're huge and the thought of coping with leftovers for weeks was enough to put me off. Asparagus? Too much of a cliche. While there's nothing wrong with a dinner of baked ham or lamb, asparagus and scalloped potatoes, something in me rebelled at the entire concept.

When in doubt, research. I went to my trusty cookbook collection and found the idea for my first real Easter dinner in the Silver Palate Cookbook: an aioli platter. Aioli is a mayonnaise made with garlic. It is easy to make in a food processor, can be made in advance, is delicious and impresses the hell out of your guests. The cookbook suggested serving it with cod and carpaccio, but I was not about to serve raw meat; instead I roasted an eye of round and served it with a variety of steamed vegetables. Cauliflower, artichoke hearts, new potatoes, asparagus (all right, we had asparagus, but there is nothing that goes better with aioli). It was an absolute smash hit and even the lone vegetarian in the group was happy. If red meat is not your thing, I think a large poached salmon filet would do just as well. This would probably have become my Easter dinner tradition if I entertained more often and if my father and I weren't on diets, at least in theory.

This year I needed something low-cal and low-carb. Letting my mind wander between patients one day last week, I brainstormed baked chicken breasts, green beans, mashed cauliflower and fruit salad for dessert. The dinner was more adventuresome than it may sound, as I had never tried mashed cauliflower. I had read about it many times as it has been a mainstay for those on low-carb diets for years. The green beans broke new boundaries for me, too: I microwaved them. The only veggies I'd ever cooked in the microwave until today were frozen peas. It worked remarkably well, which is encouraging me to try to expand my use of the microwave beyond reheating leftovers and cooking frozen dinners.

For the green beans: trim and cut two cups of green beans into one-inch pieces. Place in a covered microwavable dish with 1/2 cup water. Nuke for four to five minutes on high.

Silver Palate aioli recipe:
8 to 10 garlic cloves, peeled (I often use less, as this is a LOT.)
2 egg yolks at room temp
salt and white pepper
juice of one lemon
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups oil (half olive, half peanut) at room temp. Note: if peanut allergies are an issue, substitute good quality canola or safflower oil. What you are trying to do is cut the strong olive oil taste.

Puree the garlic in a food processor or blender. Add egg yolks, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper (I'd go easy on the salt). Process to a smooth paste. Then with the machine running, add the oil slowly - almost drop by drop at first. As the mixture forms an emulsion you can slightly increase the pouring speed, but don't dump it in. When all the oil has been added, transfer to a bowl, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate. It will last a few days.

Mashed califlower: steam until soft, drain and return it to the hot pan with a few tablespoons of milk. If you have a stick blender, use it to puree the cauliflower - otherwise you may have to do it in the food processor. Add a couple tablespoons of Parmesan, salt and pepper. It doesn't taste like mashed potatoes, but it's pretty good.

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posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
That Old Time Casserole Rock and Roll

I have a weakness for casseroles. They're just so retro, with overtones of old-school church suppers and comforting, ideal moms who were home ec majors. Most casseroles taste great and they stick with you, plus you generally are left with lots of leftovers for lunches.

Casseroles are also billed as "economical," but I would not necessarily agree with this claim. As the late, great Peg Bracken pointed out they generally call for expensive ingredients such as pimento, mushrooms, almonds or other nuts, and cheese. Casseroles can be made without these extras, but you lose a lot of flavor and the end result is likely to be one of those heavy, gloppy, beige dishes loathed by today's food writers. Still, they feed a lot of people and are especially useful because they will fill the need of either protein + veg or protein + starch. You then need only a salad or something like rice to serve the casserole on.

They are high-calorie; no way around that. You can lighten them up a bit by subbing vegetables in for the pasta (broccoli and asparagus work well here). If you are looking for a binding sauce that's lower in calories than the usual butter/flour/milk white sauce, use either skim milk or fat-free broth and add cornstarch to thicken. I have tried this and found that it works very well. If you use the milk/cornstarch option, get ready to drag out every herb in your arsenal because the resulting sauce has very little taste!

Another bonus of casseroles is that they can be made ahead and frozen, then produced on short notice. Hence the ubiquity of casseroles as "crisis food." If someone dies or is hospitalized, you bring a casserole. It's one less thing for the bereaved or stressed-out family to worry about. If you are planning to freeze your creation, I recommend undercooking the vegetables and pasta slightly so you don't wind up with a mushy, textureless final product.

I recently came across a casserole recipe billed as a good Christmas gift which I've been meaning to try; I finally got around to it this weekend. Let me just say you wouldn't catch me making this to give away at Christmas, not because it isn't good but because it is a fair amount of work. I might give it to a dear friend who had recently been bereaved. If I could bring myself to part with it.

Chicken, Mac and Cheese Casserole
from Better Homes and Gardens "Food Gifts" Magazine 2011
serves 6 to 8

8 oz. dried penne pasta
1 lb. skinless boneless chicken breast
1 T. olive oil
1-2 tsp dried Italian seasoning, crushed (I used 1/2 tsp each basil, oregano and dried parsley)
1/8 tsp each salt and pepper
3 T. butter
1/2 C. chopped onion
2 minced cloves garlic
3 T. flour
2 T. tomato paste
3 C. milk
2 C. shredded cheese (8 oz) - I used Cheddar but recipe says Swiss or Gruyere will also work.
2 C. soft bread crumbs
1/2 C. shredded Parmesan
3 T. melted butter

Okay. Get a big pot of water on the stove for the pasta and then get started. I found it helpful to prep the ingredients ahead of time. Chop the onion and garlic, mix the herbs, salt and pepper, dice the chicken breast and grate the cheese. To make the breadcrumbs I tore up three slices of bread and put them through the Cuisinart.

In a large skillet, heat the 1 T oil over medium heat. Add the diced chicken breast and sprinkle as it cooks with the herbs, salt and pepper. Cook till no raw or pink chicken can be seen and then take it out of the pan and drain on paper towels.

In the same skillet melt the butter and add the onion and garlic. Cook gently till tender, then add the flour and stir well till combined. Let this cook for a minute then add the tomato paste; incorporate this and then gradually add the 3 cups milk. Cook till thick and bubbly and stir in the cheese till melted. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.

During all this, you will have gotten the pasta cooked. Drain it, put back in the pasta pot, add in the chicken and cheese sauce and stir well. Place the mixture either in a 9x13 inch pan or two smaller pans (the total surface area should be about 117 sq. in, which is the area of the 9x13 pan. I try to use this rule if I am splitting a recipe into smaller serving sizes to freeze).

The topping: mix the breadcrumbs, Parmesan and melted butter. Place this into a plastic bag or bags for topping later. To cook, place the casserole (covered with foil) in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove foil and cover with breadcrumb mixture and bake another 30-40 minutes. If you are freezing casserole, cover tightly with foil and attach the bag of crumbs. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before cooking.

This is good stuff and I highly recommend it, if you can put up with the workload and number of dishes you will dirty in the process.

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posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
This Is Counterproductive

Reading food blogs while counseling patients on their diabetes... that's just wrong. Bad doctor.

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posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
So Delicious. Must Share.


Last week I returned from a two-week vacation in Italy. Half of said vacation involved a cooking class, which was great fun. It was taught by Arthur Schwartz, a food writer from New York who loves Italy and Italian food. Arthur doesn't do fancy or complex recipes and neither do I, which is a big reason why I was attracted to the class. We made a few different kinds of frittata over the week, but my favorite was this spaghetti and broccoli rabe frittata. We made it with regular broccoli, as the broccoli rabe wasn't available; but tonight I made it with the rabe and OMG, people. You have to try this.

We were blessed with some great kitchen staff who helped out during the class (they washed a lot of dishes and did some of the prep work). One of the women helping out could flip a frittata like nobody's business. She took a big, flat metal pan lid, slid the frittata out of the pan onto the lid, then flipped the whole thing back into the pan to cook the other side. All of us amateur cooks in the class instantly worshiped her. And tonight, by golly, I successfully flipped the frittata myself. Someone should give me the Nobel prize for cooking, I am telling you. (The secret is to cook it until it is really set, which means you have to be patient.)


So, here is my recipe, adapted from Arthur's.

1 bunch broccoli rabe
3 T. olive oil, divided
1 large clove of garlic
salt, black pepper (or you could use hot red pepper flakes)
5 eggs - I used six
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan
about 6 oz of spaghetti, cooked
recipe calls also for 6 oz mozzarella, which I skipped.


There is some prep work involved here, but not that much, and it is oh so worth it. First, clean the broccoli rabe and peel the thick stems. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it and throw in the veg. Boil for five minutes and drain. Then, add the chopped garlic to 2 T. of the oil in a 10-inch skilet, preferably nonstick. When garlic is sizzling add the chopped, drained broccoli rabe and stir it around for a few minutes until tender. Add some salt and pepper.

While you are doing all this, boil the spaghetti till done - I broke it in half first, which worked well.

Beat five eggs in a large bowl very well, add the cheese, cooked and drained pasta and the broccoli rabe. Add another tablespoon of oil to the frying pan and then put in the mixture. You can poke it with a fork now and again to make sure any loose egg on the top filters down. If it looks like there is not enough egg to bind the mixture, beat and add another one. (The egg is not supposed to be the main ingredient, but more of a binder; it is supposed to be heavy on the pasta and veg.)Cook over low to medium heat.

Give this a good seven to ten minutes, then loosen the frittata, slide it onto a plate or a pan lid, then pray to your deity of choice, carefully flip the frittata back into the pan and cook the other side. Try not to eat the whole thing by yourself. Leftover frittata makes a great lunch or snack.

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posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
Yakisoba


About a year ago the food writer Mark Bittman published an intriguing-sounding article about yakisoba, a quick meal involving noodles and vegetables. Japanese food has always intimidated me - I am not a big fan of sushi, and I would never make tempura at home. (Why mess with a deep fryer if you don't have to?) But this sounded simple and quick, a good dinner for one. As is my wont, I printed his article and added it to my overstuffed notebook of recipes. There it sat patiently waiting for months while I kept forgetting to look for the noodles and mirin mentioned in the recipe.

What really attracted me to yakisoba was Bittman's encouragement to personalize it. I must confess that I like to play with my food, and any recipe that tells you to improvise and experiment is a recipe that I will probably try. You can basically add any vegetable and/or protein that you want to the noodles - I used onion, cabbage and mushrooms. I think thinly sliced celery would also work. You cook the add ins first, then take them out of the pan and put in the noodles. I finally found fresh yakisoba in the refrigerated section of my local Albertson's. Any grocery with a decent selection of ethnic/Asian foods should have them. You do have to add some water to the pan as you cook the noodles to help separate them. Then add your veg back in, add the sauce (which you have mixed prior to beginning the cooking process) and voila!

Ah, the sauce. What to put in it? My noodles came with a packet of powdered flavoring, and I might try this next time just to see how it tastes. But Bittman's description of the sauce is really what inspired me to try the recipe. He says that yakisoba recipes "use everything from applesauce to mustard, neither of which works for me" and recommends a combination of ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire, mirin and Tabasco. To me this tasted kind of like Spaghetti-O's, but I think I used too much ketchup. I'll use less next time. I like mustard much more than ketchup, so I may go hunting for a mustard-based sauce to see if this works better.

If you think this combination sounds high in sodium, you would be correct. I found a low-sodium recipe for yakisoba here; you may want to give this a try if sodium is an issue for you. All told, this was a worthy experiment and one I will make again. Yakisoba is the sort of thing I can tweak and polish for years, and that's just the kind of recipe I like.

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posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
Raclette


I've been meaning to post about my experience with raclette for awhile, but as usual have put it off. At least now I can tell you that I have made it several times and have been extremely happy with the result. If you're in an area with chilly weather, this may still be a useful post for you...

I came across this post on raclette at Tea and Cookies some time ago and was instantly riveted. I had certainly read about raclette, but had always thought of it as the sort of dish you would have to experience in its native land (in this case, Switzerland). Who knew that raclette cheese was so widely available? And doesn't melted cheese and potatoes sound like the most delicious dinner ever?

So off I went and found myself some raclette (try Trader Joe's or the fancy cheese section of an upscale supermarket). While I was at it I also bought the cornichons, a traditional garnish for raclette, and some baby potatoes. Tara of Tea and Cookies also suggested brussels sprouts as a side, which I think would be excellent. You really do need something pungent and/or spicy as an offset to the smooth, rich, bland combination of melted cheese and potatoes.

Raclette in its natural state is a somewhat strong-smelling cheese, though not unpleasantly so. Melted it is deliciously mild. The website recommends heating it in a toaster oven, which I think would work great. Not having a toaster oven I used a lidded glass dish and stuck it in at 275-300° while boiling the potatoes.

I like the look of the little potatoes, but you can also boil regular sized potatoes and cut them up. When done, put the potatoes on plates, throw on a dab of mustard, a spoon of cornichons and divvy up the cheese. I am here to tell you, this is delicious. Best served with white wine, but any beverage will do.

Labels: Ingestion

posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
Home Again, Home Again...


jiggety jig...

I was home for all of 60 hours and then packed up for the annual ACP meeting in San Diego. I am now home from that and am happy to report that it was a great meeting. Basically, you sit in lecture halls all day and listen to talks on various aspects of medicine. These talks begin at 7 am and go till about 5 pm, every day, for three days.

It is less exciting than it sounds. But you learn a lot.

In an effort to save money on the trip I shared a hotel room with three of my fellow partners from The Firm. (I'm getting quite used to this whole roommate thing by now.) I am sure I bored the hell out of them by mentioning Guatemala's lack of showers, hot water and working toilets every time someone complained about sharing the bathroom.

Do I have anything else to say about Guatemala? Well. The clean air regulations we have here, they don't have there, and it shows. The air quality is terrible whether you're in or out of the city.

Guatemala has great buses. In Antigua we went to the crafts market and while wandering around found ourselves in the bus depot. Their buses are all deactivated school buses from the States, shipped down to Central America and treated to bright, eyecatching paint and chrome jobs. Mostly they run shuttles between Guatemala City and Antigua but they run to other towns as well. "I love these buses!" cried one of my fellow internists (who had a lot of experience in third world countries). "Nepal, Guatemala, Peru - it's all the same bus!"

We went to Antigua for the last two days of the trip, which is traditional for the group. It's always wonderful to get there after a hard week's work but it was doubly so this year, partly because of our no-water ordeal and partly because we got accomodations at the best hotel in the city. It's called Hotel Casa Santo Domingo and, if you ever get to Antigua, I highly recommend it. Breakfast was included and was outstanding: The best breakfast buffet I have ever been to. They had custom made omelets, fantastic homemade tortillas and pupusas, delicious fruit and great beans and rice. I am all about the beans and rice.

So now I'm home and making lentil soup. I posted about lentil soup previously, but I'm going to do it again because I have found a better recipe, courtesy of Nigel Slater. To make it, first, you need better lentils than the standard brown grocery store lentils (although they will do in a pinch). I highly recommend ethnic markets for cheap, good quality, fine green lentils. If you're in Los Angeles, Pico Boulevard has a stretch heavily populated with Israeli markets which are a great source for lentils, barley and dried beans. So you've got the lentils. Chop and saute some onion, celery and mushrooms and throw in a chopped garlic clove. Sort, wash and add the lentils once the vegetables are soft. Cover with chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add a splash of Worcestershire. Once the soup is on its way, wash, chop and add some baby broccoli and let cook until done - I usually give it 45 minutes to an hour. It is SO GOOD and is even better the next day. This recipe is cheap, delicious and good for you and makes a lot. It lasts me a week for work lunches.

Labels: Ingestion, Medicine, Travel

posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
Cheap and Cheerful

Via Instapundit, 30 Ramen Hacks. I especially liked the "ramenepherd's pie" idea. (Shepherd's pie with ramen on top instead of mashed potatoes.)

Labels: Ingestion

posted by Dr. Alice at #

 
If You Bought These In the First Place, You Deserve What You Get


A candy bar called Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Bars? What could possibly go wrong?

Almost 28,000 prophetically named Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge bars have been pulled from the market for lead levels that are more than twice the U.S. government's tolerance. The problem was found after tests by the California Department of Public Health.

Oh, here's the kicker: they're imported from Pakistan.

(h/t Dave Barry)

Labels: Ingestion, Random Thoughts

posted by Dr. Alice at #