Home Chef Cooking Tips

Juicy Grilled Corn on the Cob

Just watched an episode of Top Chef where the chefs (working in teams of 4) had to prepare a healthy school lunch on a very limited budget (less than $3 per student). What amazed me was how many of the teams paid little, to no attention, to fruits and vegetables. In one particularly bad example, a team making bananna pudding didn’t like the taste, so they added 2 lbs (!) of sugar to sweeten it (it should come as no surprise that this team lost).

Anyway, with summer here, and simple, healthy fruits and vegetables on my mind, I thought I’d share this easy summer BBQ dish – grilled corn on the cob. Although many people prefer to grill corn still in the husk, I find this more often leads to dried out corn with burnt kernels. Here’s a quick tip to keep your corn juicy and sweet.

Start with 6 ears of corn, remove the husks and as much of the silk as possible.

Place all of the corn in a large pot and cover with cold water for 10 – 15 minutes (you may need to put the lid on to keep all the ears submerged).

Remove the corn from the pot one at a time, do not remove any exces water, and immediately wrap in aluminum foil (twist both ends to create a fully sealed package for the corn to steam in).

Place the wrapped corn on your grill and let roast for ~20 minutes, turning once half way through.

The water will not only help to keep the corn from drying out, but will also provide the steam to help it cook.

Once cool enough to unwrap, add a little butter (or margarine) and enjoy.

Chopped Mushroom Stems and Onions

Basic knife skills are one of the most important things to learn when you first start learning to cook. Not only are knife skills necessary for properly preparing ingredients for recipes, but they also make cooking much safer since there’s less chance that you’ll cut yourself.

When I first started cooking, since I was mostly self taught, I thought that all the prep time I was spending cutting, chopping and dicing, was just a normal part of the recipe (that and the ocassional hand cramp from not holding the knife properly). Some recipes, like Spicy Stuffed Mushrooms, required so much time to prepare that as much as I enjoyed them, it was a lot of effort. Little did I know that if I actually knew how to properly chop, I would be able to cut the prep time by more than half. Today, now that I know better, I have no problem cutting, slicing and dicing my way through any ingredient list.

But, as I’ve already mentioned, I did not learn any basic knife skills until many years after I started cooking, and that was actually by accident (lucky me). I happen to be watching a Jacques Pepin cooking show, and he devoted the majority of this particular show to basic knife techniques. Although I could not find that original footage, I did come across Chef Tomm who demonstrates and explains the most basic knife techniques. I hope you enjoy it.

Avocado

Did you know that more avocados are consumed on Cinco de Mayo than on any other day in the year. Why? Guacamole.

As much as I love guacamole, although it is cholesterol free, it does contain quite a bit of fat. In fact a typical 1 oz serving contains 60 calories, 21 of which are from fat. So in order to indulge in one of my favorite dips, and greatly reduce the fat content, this low fat recipe substitutes peas for a portion of the avocado. The peas have a similar texture and a more vibrant green color, while lending a slightly sweeter flavor. The best part is that the calories contained in a 1 oz serving are reduced to 26, with only 8 calories from fat. Now that’s a low fat dip that I can eat every day.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients:

• 10 oz package of frozen peas
• 1/2 small ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup cilantro, stems removed
• 1/2 ripe tomato, deseeded and chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped onion (optional)
• Squeeze of fresh lime juice

Preparation:

Original recipe from Fiona Haynes – About.com

Mr Sweet Potato-Henge

This is what happens after a long day at work when you promised your kids you’d make sweet potato fries when you get home. They don’t forget, & you tend to get silly.

The result – how Stonehenge was really built, if the world was inhabited by Mr Potato-Heads instead of people.

Sweet potato fries are a nutritious, easy to prepare, alternative to frozen, packaged french fries, that go great with everything from burgers to ham and turkey. Here’s how to do it.

Ingredients:

• 3 – 4 Med to large sweet potatos, scrubbed but not peeled
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable oil
• Ground Nutmeg
• Ground Cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Cut sweet potatos in half lengthwise, then into 1/2 thick fries
• Place fries into a large mixing bowl, then pour vegetable oil over top and toss to coat all fries.
• Sprinkle in nutmeg and cinnamon while tossing to insure that all fries are evenly flavored (both of these can be added to taste, if unsure, start with 1 tsp each)
• Spread fries evenly onto two non-stick baking pans and place on center and lower rack in oven.
• Bake ~20* minutes, remove and flip fries.
• Return to oven, but switch shelves.
• Bake another ~20* minutes, fries should be browned on both sides and is easily pierced with a fork. (*oven temperatures vary so check occasionally to make sure they don’t burn).
• Transfer to a bowl and serve

Can also be cut into wedges, but reduce oven temp to 350F and increase cooking time to ~25 min per side.

These also make a great side dish at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Steamed Carrots

When preparing healthy meals for your children, there are many different ways to cook their vegetables, but only three methods will retain their color, flavor and nutrients. These three methods are blanching, steaming and stir frying.

All of these methods are quick cooking, so there is no time for the color, flavor or nutrients to be lost. Here’s a quick look at each method.

Blanching The vegetables are plunged briefly into a pot of boiling water, removed and then plunged into cold water to stop the cooking process. This method preserves the brilliant green color of leafy vegetables. Blanching is typically used when adding vegetables to other cooked dishes or salads, or before freezing.

Steaming The vegetables are cooked in the steam directly above boiling water (or stock). A steaming basket, or rack, is inserted into a saucepan with a small amount of liquid which is tightly covered. In order for the vegetables to steam evenly, they should be cut into similar sized pieces. Steaming is preferred to boiling since the vegetable juices (and color and nutrients) are not removed into the cooking liquid.

Stir fry The key to good stir fry is to have the oil hot, and have the vegetables cut on a diagonal. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, or wok and have the vegetables pre-cut. The diagonal cuts provide a greater surface area for the vegetables to cook than a standard straight cut. The increased surface area and the hot oil, reduces the amount of cooking time required. Once the vegetables are added to the hot oil, stir continually with a wooden spatula/spoon for a few minutes. Never let the vegetables sit in the bottom of the pan, since they will burn and soak up the oil.

In order to obtain a vegetables maximum nutritional benefit when preparing healthy meals for your kids, these three techniques are the preferred cooking methods to maintain their color, flavor, and most of all the vegetables nutritional content.

Walnuts - Image by funadium

Believe it or not, there are actually a few things on your Holiday table that are quite healthy for you. If you happen to be the one hosting the family gathering this year, make sure these in your pantry, and they find their way onto your table.

Roasted Nuts

Nuts are heart healthy for two reasons, protein and unsaturated fat. The protein in nuts is high in the amino acid arginine that relaxes blood vessels. The unsaturated (good) fat in nuts also lowers blood cholesterol. Additionally, the unsaturated fats trigger a chemical reaction in your body that will cause you to digest food slower, which means you’ll feel fuller longer (and less likely to have that second round of desserts).

Chocolate

As far as sweet indulgences go, a good quality chocolate (at least 70%) has several health benefits. High percent chocolate doesn’t contain the milk fat of lesser quality chocolate. Also, dark chocolates are rich in a specific type of antioxidant called flavenoids, which have been shown to lower risk of heart disease, lung cancer, prostate cancer, asthma, and type 2 diabetes. Flavenoids also reduce the amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream, which can lead to hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis).

Cranberries

The health benefits of cranberries are totally under appreciated. Like chocolate, cranberries also are high in flavenoids and provide the same health benefits. Additionally, cranberries have been shown to reduce cavity and plaque producing bacteria in the mouth. This means better breath and fewer cavities.

So as the Holiday season gets in full swing, instead of reaching for another chip full of dip, or helping of sausage stuffing, try adding a little more of these healthy powerhouses to your plate. Your body will thank you for the healthy snacks.

It is a widely accepted fact in scientific circles that eating foods rich in antioxidants help to protect your body from harmful free radicals. By helping to neutralize these radicals, antioxidants provide a barrier against heart disease, premature aging and some types of cancer.

By neutralizing free radicals that enter your body, antioxidants provide a protective barrier within your body. Free radicals are simply chemically active atoms or molecule fragments. They are active because they are electrically charged, either positively, missing electron(s), or negatively, containing excessive electron(s). This electrical charge seeks to become neutralize itself by scavenging your body to remove (or donate) electrons, in the process damaging your healthy cells.

Free radicals are generated naturally within, and are generated externally. Internal sources of free radicals include aerobic respiration, metabolism, and inflammation. External sources include sunlight, strenuous exercise, x-rays, smoking, alcohol and pollution.

Regardless of the source excessive free radicals (generated by pollutants) can cause damage to your body in excess of what it can naturally combat. Every time a free radical is neutralized by an antioxidant, the antioxidant itself is consumed, and is no longer able to defend your body. This is why your body’s level of antioxidants must be maintained.

The most antioxidant rich foods are nuts and berries – natural and unprocessed – which make a very tasty and healthy snack.

The top seven antioxidant rich nuts and berries (in terms of antioxidant content per serving) are:

-          Blackberries

-          Walnuts

-          Strawberries

-          Cranberries

-          Raspberries

-          Pecans

-          Blueberries

To make sure that your child receives the full benefit of theses nutritional powerhouses, each healthy snack should be at least a single serving in size.

For the berries, a single serving is 1/2 cup, and for nuts a single serving is 1 oz, or approximately 1/4 cup.

Are you one of those parents who thinks it takes too much time to prepare healthy meals for your kids? After all, is it really worth the effort to save a few calories? Then why don’t you consider this:

• Childhood obesity rates have tripled in America since 1980
• 16% of all children aged 6 – 19 are obese 
• 70% of obese adolescents will be obese as adults
• Obesity leads to increased risk of heart attack, stroke and early death

Children’s Health magazine recently determined the 20 Worst Kid’s Foods in America.

If you’re in the food industry, the color of money isn’t green-it’s beige.

Parents know that the majority of their kids favorite foods, from french fries to white bread to chicken nuggets, are beige. Beige is the color of highly processed foods, which means cheap, calorie-rich, nutritionally bankrupt food.

Next time you’re at your favorite fast food restaurant and your child is checking out the kids menu, steer them clear of those monochromatic clusters of cheese sticks, dinosaur-shaped chicken and fried potatoes.

When eating out, follow this simple rule: all kids dishes must come with at least two colors (and ketchup doesn’t count).

In case you’re interested,  the #1 Worst Kids Meal in America is the Uno Chicago Grill Kids’ Kombo with French Fries

• 1,250 calories
• 79 g fat (11.5 g saturated)
• 2,850 mg sodium

The moderately active 8 year old only requires 1600 calories and ~60 gms of total fat (17 saturated) per day! Add to this 150% of your child’s recommended daily allowance of sodium (salt) and you can see why this is the worst kid’s meal in America.

Should you find yourself at Uno’s with a hungry child, have them try this instead;

Kids Pasta

• 300 calories
• 3 g fat (0 g saturated)
• 270 mg sodium