Newsletter: October, 2009

Happy Halloween

Chef Shelley and dog, Rusty (Dorothy and Toto) visit nursing homes on Halloween.

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints’ Day. It is largely a secular celebration, but some Christians and pagans have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones. Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America during Ireland's Great Famine of 1846. The day is often associated with the colors orange and black, and is strongly associated with symbols such as the jack-o’-lantern. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o'-lanterns, pranking people, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies. (Source: Wikipedia)

Ingredient of the Month - Pumpkin

Fall is here and so are the pumpkins. Pumpkins have so many uses, from carving for Halloween to making tasty dishes and desserts, as well as eating the seeds for a healthy snack. Pumpkin is full of nutrition, including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, selenium, niacin, folate, and vitamins A, C, and E. And, It’s low in calories and high in fiber.

However, not all pumpkins are the same. For baking, make sure you use “sugar” pumpkins, not the kind for carving. For pumpkin history and facts, visit food-facts.suite101.com

Roasting Seeds:

Remove seeds from inside the pumpkin, rinse, and spread out on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt and roast until golden, approx. 10 minutes. Stir every few minutes for even roasting and watch carefully so they don’t burn.

Here is one of my favorite “comfort food” recipes. One wouldn’t think that the ingredients in this dish would taste good together, but the flavors marry fabulously. I like to add the black beans for extra protein and fiber.

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped green pepper
• ½ cup chopped yellow pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 2 cans pumpkin puree
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
• 1 ½ tbsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper
• Dash salt
• Optional:
  • ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • ½ cup sour cream

Heat oil in a large skillet over med.-high heat and sauté onion, peppers and garlic until soft. Stir in turkey and cook until evenly brown.

Drain turkey fat and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin (and black beans if using). Season with chili powder, pepper and salt. Lower heat to low. Cover and simmer 20 min.

Serve topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Vitamin D Found as Key to Preventing Cancer

Recently I have been reading more articles and hearing more news about vitamin D as a key player in preventing cancer. Indeed, at a recent visit to my doctor, he stated, “In my lifetime, this is probably the most significant finding” and now stresses the importance of vitamin D and getting blood tested for appropriate levels.

Both men and women are affected, and most people do not get nearly enough vitamin D which is typically gained from exposure to the sun (no sunscreen), milk products and foods high in Omega 3s such as salmon. Even though we live in a sunny climate and spend a lot of time outdoors, even the sun and food don’t necessarily provide us the large amount needed, and supplements may be needed to increase vitamin D levels (I was prescribed 3,800 mg/day). Ask your physician to check your vitamin D levels to make sure you’re covered.

October Is...

• Celebrate Sun Dried Tomatoes Month
• Cook Book Month
• Gourmet Adventures Month
• Hunger Awareness Month
• National Apple Month
• National Applejack Month
• National Caramel Month
• National Chili Month
• National Cookie Month
• National Country Ham Month
• National Dessert Month
• National Health Care Food Service Month
• National Kitchen and Bath Month
• National Pasta Month
• National Pickled Peppers Month
• National Pizza Festival Month
• National Popcorn Poppin' Month
• National Pork Month
• National Pretzel Month
• National Restaurant Hospitality Month
• National Roller Skating Month
• National Seafood Month
• National Spinach-Lovers' Month
• National Toilet Tank Repair Month
• Vegetarian Awareness Month

(Source: foodreference.com)

Tips and Tricks

Delicious food comes from using the highest quality ingredients. When using vanilla for baking, use Tahitian vanilla. If you can’t find Tahitian, use Madagascar. Both are more expensive than the store-bought brands but the quality is incomparable.

Having a big party but no room to cool beverages? Fill your washing machine’s washer basket with ice and put all the bottles and cans in. When you’re done, melt the ice and run the spin cycle of the machine.

Buy 2 separate coffee grinders: one for grinding coffee and one for grinding spices. Whole spices last longer and are fresher if you grind them yourself.

Ever wondered why your gravy was lumpy? If you added flour at the end of cooking, that’s probably why. Flour and water make glue and that’s what will happen to your gravy if you add it at the end. For thickening dishes, flour should be used at the beginning of the recipe, as it must have time to cook, and corn starch should be used at the end of a recipe, as it will thicken right away (however, don’t use corn starch in gravy).

When using cornstarch, mix one part cornstarch to one part water until it forms the consistency of cream. Always make sure what’s in the pot is at a boil before adding cornstarch mixture.

The Secret to Great Coffee

I never drank coffee until maybe 8 years ago when all the flavored coffees starting to emerge. Now I love and crave coffee, but the taste, (blueberry is my favorite), not the caffeine.

Originally, I bought a cheap coffee maker since I didn’t drink much of it. The coffee tasted lousy. I returned it to the store, thinking something was wrong with the machine and kept trying different brands. I even thought maybe the coffee was old or bad. I just couldn’t make a decent cup of coffee.

I decided to take the plunge and invested in a more expensive brand. While I noticed somewhat of an improvement, I still wondered why my coffee didn’t taste as good as Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks. Even when using their brand of coffee in my machine, there was still no comparison.

The secret is the temperature of the water while brewing the coffee. The heating element in store-bought coffeemakers does not allow the water to reach the boiling temperature of 212 degrees. Even the very expensive brands with all the bells and whistles still have a cheap heating element that is not much different than the one in cheaper coffeemakers. On the other hand, restaurant coffee machines are able to brew their coffee at the boiling point (Starbucks gives you a “wrap” to hold the cup, it’s so hot.).

So what is a coffee lover to do? Best bet is to buy a French press which allows you to boil the water first and then pour it over the coffee beans before brewing. Grind coffee beans to a coarse consistency. With a French press, you will notice a difference in your cup of coffee, especially the richness in taste.