Let's make bacon!

I can't help it, the Simpson phenomenon has entered my mind and set up shop as references involving Homer Simpson abound.

(Lisa) “I’m going to become a vegetarian”
(Homer) “Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?”
(Lisa) “Yes”
(Homer) “Bacon?”
(Lisa) “Yes Dad”
(Homer) "Ham?”
(Lisa) “Dad all those meats come from the same animal”
(Homer) “Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!”"

Homer is right though, the idea that bacon, ham, and so many other parts come from the same animal not only dances on the line of a mythical and magical animal but also shows the state of human ingenuity as we can eat just about every part of the animal (more-so if you are Andrew Zimmern).

My favorite part of pork, is in fact bacon.  I thought I would try making some.  After being inspired by Chef Robert Sills, I thought I would get some pork belly and try it out.  So, I spontaneously stopped into Matekers Meats, near Tesson Ferry Road, and asked if they had any bacon that was nitrite free.  They didn't have any but suggested to me that I get pork belly.  So, they gave me a good deal and I went home with 1 &1/2 pounds of pork belly.  But, what should I do with it?  Well...

So, the first one was for a maple brown sugar type of bacon: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/maple-cured-bacon.html .

I went ahead and did the marinate, where I didn't have any pink curing salt and instead just used regular Kosher salt.  After 7 days in the refrigerator, 250 degrees and 2 hours later, I then put them back in the oven at 350 degrees and cooked them up nice and good. Also, of note: I sprinkled some pure, unbleached, sugar on them before they finished cooking.

Next, what was I doing with the other side?  Korean style: http://seoulfuladventures.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/makin-bacon/ 

I will say that after I followed pretty much the same steps as the first batch of bacon, I noticed that it didn't really have a taste of anything other than the soy sauce. I wanted it to have a really bold Korean chili powder flavor, like the Korean chili powder that my brother-in-law's wife brought me, from Korea.  Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, it really didn't have as good as a flavor as the maple one did.

 I think if I do it again, the maple ones will cure in salty maple syrup and brown sugar; large amounts of both.  As for the Korean one, a lot more chili powder.  I did like that it didn't taste like store-bought bacon.  My made at home bacon still tasted like pork, which is something so unusual, because store-bought bacon tastes nothing like pork.  Anyhow, if you are looking to make your own bacon, give it a try on either of those links.

 

Candy that is so unreal.

A visit to Walgreens showed me something new and interesting, it is about time that a company makes candy that isn't full of junk.  After all, candy is made with some pretty simple ingredients but thanks to The Corn Growers of America and other mafia-type organizations, things like High Fructose Corn Syrup and other corn derivatives and making their way into our candy.  I love how people complain and think that there must be some secret ingredient "X" that people are eating that is making Americans fat and obese and no one bothers to think at the facts.  The number one fact being that before HFCS was introduced into our food the obesity percentage was low and now after all these years it is high.  I wonder why???

Anyway, while always looking for something new and fun, I came across a candy company doing something odd: they have candy made with no artificial anything, no hydrogenated anything, no corn syrups, no preservatives and no GMO's.  What we have here, if sold in a little confectionary shop in New York City, would be some expensive candy.  But, distributed and sold at Walgreens, you have a great tasting candy in a catchy package.

The first one I tried was a candy bar called "Unreal 8".  What I love about this company, is that they don't give crazy names to their bar.  It is not a Milky Way or a Mars.  What we have here is called an "Unreal 8", and then under the name, it has some descriptors listed; "chocolate, caramel, peanut, and nougat bar".  Then it has the brand name: "Unkunked."  This is great because what they did do, is make candy that wasn't full of junk.  The bar tastes like a Snickers bar with dark chocolate and is less sweet than the big name one.  This one I like better.

What this company has also done, is by not using anything artificial, that means that when it made its "M&M's" copy, it uses natural colors.  Their candy coated chocolate pieces are called "Unreal 41" and they are colored with such insane items like beetroot juice and turmeric root extract.  Think of how insane that is! Someone using natural dyes from natural edible items to color candy.  No crazy people here!  No yellow #50 or red #4, this is all natural and gives the candies a nice shade of colors.

All four candy types are tasty.  Nothing is too sweet and while it may still add inches to your waist if you are not careful, at least it will not lead to other complications like artificial dyes, chemicals and fake sugars do.  So, I like these and it makes me feel as though, compared to what is out there, these Unjunked candies are healthy.  I like them and as a former candy junkie, I think they taste great.  I want to say that if you are eating healthy, don't waste it by eating something with 30 artificial ingredients.  Try one of these instead.

A needle in a haystack

I'm not going to go on about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup.  I'm not.  I can't stand the commercials that come out when more and more people are disapproving of this ingredient.  So, when I'm in a store and find a giant aisle filled with snacks, it is like finding a needle in a haystack, when I look for a snack product with no high fructose corn syrup.

This picture on represents HALF of the aisle.  There is probably a million calories right there, in that picture.  So, after 5 minutes of searching, I find this:

Out of everything, I find one item with no high fructose corn syrup.  What is interesting, is that I have never seen a single product from Entenmann's that has been without high fructose corn syrup, before this day.  All of their other products still have it.  I love donuts, but even the local grocery store claims that they bake their donuts fresh each morning but they have high fructose corn syrup in them so I know that to be false.  So, if you are looking for donuts, these Entenmann's "Softees" are good and without the hfcs in them.

Frozen yogurt?

My wife, who is on Weight Watchers, wanted a low point and thus low calorie snack.  She purchased some cultured milk drink and I put together what is to be an awesome frozen yogurt snack.

Now, what is so cool about this stuff, is that it is just like some super yogurt.  It is plain flavored, but has low calories, high good fat, high carbohydrates and high protein: like good yogurt.  It is also filled with Probiotics, which most yogurts are not as they destroy them.  I don't think most people realize that the probiotics are what makes yogurt so healthy.

So, 3 cups of the above item mixed in a bowl with 1/4th cup of this stuff:

This is whey low powder.  It is a mixture of fructose and lactose and is very low in calories and has low GL's.  It is very diabetic friendly because it has 1/4th of the carbs per gram of regular sugar.  What also makes this interesting, is while it adds sweetening flavor, it also reduces blood glucose levels.  This makes it great for diabetics and it has been testing on type 2. (http://www.wheylow.com/Articles.asp?ID=263#3 )

So, this one says it is specially made for ice cream so that is what I did with it.  Also, I did add 1 cup of squished blackberries.  When it was all finished, it turned out to be very smooth.  Not only that, but this recipe made 6 cups of frozen confection.  What the remarkable thing is: is that each cup counts as a serving size with only 73 calories!  No ice cream has 73 calories a cup!

For recipe information, let me know, but each cup turns out to be 2 weight watcher points.

Is someone getting paid under the table?

I know its an old phrase, but it still fits even today when things that are very harmful to our health can be found to be safe by certain government entities and yet things which are okay for us are deemed as illegal.  My wife saw an article from not too long ago that states that a new study shows that sugary foods can be as harmful to your health as alcohol and the researcher's idea is to tax sugary foods.

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/12_for_action/san-francisco-study-calls-for-new-sugar-regulations

Now, while there may be some case or truth to this idea, it is very much a complete *cough, cough* bullshit, news worthy article.  Let's see this from my side or point of view:

So, a group of scientists have discovered that regular sugar foods is harmful to you.  Furthermore, the real culprit, High Fructose Corn Syrup, isn't even mentioned as a suspect in obesity, heart disease and everything else.  "Because of the way sugar is metabolized in the liver, the liver will turn sugar into fat causing insulin resistance all of the diseases of metabolic syndrome," 


What science is now showing is that the above quote actually describes High Fructose Corn Syrup and NOT sugar.  If this was really the case with sugar, then we would have known this for thousands of years.  High Fructose Corn Syrup is the newest thing which means that if a family had been eating very sugary foods for hundreds of years without and issue and all of sudden in the past 50 years or less they start getting health issues, I would point at the new factor, not the old one.  These scientists even consider putting an age limit on soda and other snacks.  Which is sad because I have yet to find a single soda that uses sugar, they all use high fructose corn syrup.

So, is taxing something sweet the answer to stopping people from eating it or reducing it?  I don't think so.

Fun for the kids and edible

Yeah, it is a fun thing for kids to do, but it doesn't taste too awesome.  While on one of my wife's trips to JoAnn's, I discovered something interesting...

If you see this right, it is a sugar fondant pressed thin enough to be like a thick paper, which can be colored and shaped and placed on a cake or whatever.  To the right of the picture is some food coloring markers.  So, I cut the paper in thirds, gave a piece to each of my two sons and gave them access to the markers.  Then I let them go.

I'm not a cake decorator and not professionally selling anything so these may look a bit childish: and they are.  What is important to see is the color and easy way in which you can draw using the food coloring markers on this sugar paper.  After wards, we ate it.  In this case, the paper had a very subtle and sweet flavor.  The markers had no flavor.  I think of this as a great way to give kids something to do.  I would also suggest maybe making some sugar cookies or regular icing cake and letting your kids draw and play on it using these.    
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=zprd_10817740a

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=xprd388486

That's not sugar free!

As a chef attempting to make sugar-free recipes I find myself surrounded by a set of chefs, who are idiots. Listen, I don't care how much experience these other chefs have but when you say that you have a recipe for something that is sugar-free and then you have sugar listed, like maple syrup, corn syrup, HFCS, honey or other things, it is NOT sugar free.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/232686/make_sugar_free_homemade_apple_butter.html

I just finished making apple butter the second time and this time, this recipe, made eleven 8 oz jars and this was done with a completely sugar-free recipe: which means that no sugar was added.  No honey was added, no blue agave nectar, no corn syrup or anything like that.  It is the most close to nature for these products and as such, this is how sugar-free should be. 

In regards to diabetes, which I attempt to make all of my foods work well with, some things are good to eat and others are not.  For instance, meats have almost no GL's or glycemic loads so they are okay for people with diabetes while other things like processed white flour is high on the glycemic load list and the sugars therein stay in your bloodstream longer so they are not good.  Now, what I love concerning this is the statement on the American Diabetes Website, http://www.diabetes.org/ , stating that "All of our recipes meet the ADA Guidelines and can help you fit nutrition into your busiest days."

So you think, "good, there are recipes that I can make and it will be good for my body."  That is not the case though.  Some of the recipes use high processed things and then on the bottom of the recipe it states " Not all recipes presented here are necessarily appropriate for all people with diabetes, nor will all recipes fit into every meal plan. No two meal plans are alike. Work with your health care provider, diabetes educator or dietitian to design a meal plan that's right for you, and includes the foods you love". 

This is contradicts itself.  A website claiming that all articles on the site are written by women and then having articles written by men with an annotation under them, does not still qualify it.  So, why did the site say that all recipes are good for Diabetics but not all recipes are good for Diabetics?  I have no idea but it would be a good question to ask them. The worse part is that on the site it says that these recipes come from a book that is given out by the ADA.  This is as bad as someone saying that they are going to make a Vegan Pumpkin pie and then use butter and not use pumpkins.

Well, to everyone who reads this: Diabetics should not take in that many glycemic loads per day, as your body has a hard enough time dealing with little bits of sugar anyways.  My products, use as low GL foods as I can get and I do a bit of molecular gastronomy at times in order to make them as diabetic friendly as possible.  These people and most others, seem that they do not care about the consumer.

"Here is my diabetic friendly candy bar, using high fructose corn syrup and all-purpose bleached flour.  Enjoy"

The dangerous chemical we call sugar

We have all heard it growing up: "sugar makes your teeth rot", but does it really? More curiously, is why sugar has come under attack in the recent years and why it has also become a messiah to others.

We all know what sugar is, right? Sugar is a plant's food that is stored in the plant. For those of you who remember your grade-school studies, photosynthesis is when a plant takes sunlight and carbon dioxide and makes energy, or glucose, sugar. This sugar is what the plant uses to do work and get energy from. Much of the same is true of humans, as we eat the plants and absorb that glucose as our bodies use it to get energy from as well. Sugar is natural and it is a natural way of storing energy. Sugar has always been under attack from psychologists as they sometimes think it is responsible for making kids over-active and making them act out. Dentists complain because the sugar gives energy to the bacteria, which then decay our teeth. Doctors complain because sugar is empty calories and causes aches and pains in our bodies when we have too much. Lastly, sometimes our pancreas doesn't release enough insulin and then that can be a problem with too much sugar remaining in our bodies.

So a group of wizards met in the desert and decided that sugar should be removed from all things and replaced. But what do you replace it with? Options flew all over the place. One such suggestion was Sweet n' low, which contained Saccharin. Saccharin has repeatedly been shown and tested to cause cancer in lab animals and a warning label is required on all packages noting this. They say that safe amounts are less than 6 packets and less than two 8 ounce drinks made from it.

What about Aspartame? It is a chemical that instantly absorbs into anything, be it watery liquids or tissues and organs. It has been linked to be the cause of up to 92 different reactions from simple anxiety to death.

Okay, here is Splenda, there can't be anything wrong with it right? Well, Splenda is made from real sugar, that is correct, but it also has a man-made chlorine molecule in it as well as as many pieces removed, to make the sucralose indigestible. This causes issues as because so much has been removed or changed we have no idea what the man-made chlorine can do to your body. These leaves some people in the dark, as it may be a potential danger but without correct information, we have no idea.

Well, what about those HFCS ads? High fructose corn syrup is when sugar is mixed with regular corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is bad because it is not natural; your body doesn't recognize it as a sugar, so your body doesn't release insulin to fight it. The sugar goes straight into your blood where it either travels around causing havoc and/or is stored for immediate use: turned into fat. Currently according to the government, Americans consume more HFCS than white sugar each day. As a result, Americans are getting fatter, getting diabetes, having more body and head aches and have worsening teeth. When there are too many coincidences, I tend to thing there is a connection and in this case, I believe as well as many other doctors and experts, that there is a connection.

So, why not use the natural sugar? Well now things made with natural sugars cost more than those with the HFCS and the substitutes. You could also use harmless substitutes like Stevia or Xylitol.