3 Random Questions, with Answers

Q: Can you roast a chicken in a toaster oven?

a bird in the pan is worth two in the fridge

A: Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure can – as tested on Saturday night.  It took 45 minutes at 350˚ F on convection bake in our new Krups countertop oven.  Some of the crispiest most golden skin I’ve managed in a long time.

Q: I noticed that the whipping cream I bought contains carrageenan as well as cream.  What is carrageenan?

A: Carrageenan is a seaweed extract that has been used to thicken and improve the texture of processed foods since the 1930s.  (I wouldn’t consider whipping cream to be a processed food, but that’s just me.) Organic whipping cream does not contain carrageenan, a possible carcinogen that has been shown to cause intestinal problems in many animals, including as rabbits, rats, mice and guinea pigs.

Q: Will you PLEASE tell us more interesting facts about the most exalted of all vegetables – the parsnip?

late fall harvest

A: Romans considered parsnips to be an aphrodisiac.  (I don’t know about plain old parsnips, but I tell you — my version of parsnip soup sure changed my mood for the better…)

Mukka Express by Bialetti

Bialetti claims that its Mukka Express will “revolutionize your cappuccino experience.”

Mukkas have been around for awhile, but it wasn’t until the demise of our Vesuviana Electric (isn’t it gorgeous?…so sad), that they even came on my radar.

I found a stovetop Mukka on ebay from a lovely woman in Calgary – used only once, it was shiny and new when it arrived in the mail, complete with instructional DVD.  The price was right too – only US$20, compared to the MRSP of US$89.95.

it'll do...for now

We’ve had it for a couple of weeks, and probably made “cappuccinos” with it 9 or 10 times.  Why the quotes?  Quite simply, while the Mukka makes a tasty latté, it just doesn’t have the steam power to do a true cappuccino.  At least we haven’t been able to get it to produce enough froth for 1, never mind 2, cappuccinos.

Which is OK, except that I like foam.  Lots of it.  Give me a Sahara-dry single shot cappuccino every morning and you’ll never hear another peep out of me.  Wait – that’s unlikely — but I would say thank-you and smile very sweetly!

We will continue to use the Mukka, but probably not with the enthusiasm with which we greeted its arrival.  It’s good on a number of fronts – quick, easy to use, easy to clean – but the lack of foam leaves me feeling high and not-so-dry.

PS In the course of writing this post, I am excited to announce that I may have found a fix for our Vesuviana!  If it works, I’ll show you the difference between and Mukka cappuccino and a REAL one…stay tuned – we may soon have a true capp on our little island once again!

Keep the Drain Flowing Free

I’m willing to admit that we have a kitchen sink drainage problem.  I’ve had the reason explained to me, but I’m not very detail oriented when it come to that kind of stuff.  All I need to know is that it isn’t up to snuff, but that the fix is more hassle than I’m willing to deal with.

So instead, I deal with the problem over and over.  Smart?  Probably not.  But that’s the way it is around here sometimes.

Because of this ongoing problem, I have experimented with many environmentally-safe (and shamefully even resorted to Drano a couple of times) trying to keep the drain clear.  Here’s the most-effective method I’ve found:

To Unclog Your Sink:

• Pour ½ C of table salt down the drain, followed by ½ C of baking soda.  Then pour approx 1 C of white vinegar down the drain.  You may need a bit more vinegar to get all of the baking soda down the drain.  Allow to sit for 30 minutes.

fire burn, and cauldron bubble

• After 30 min, pour a full kettle (at least 1.5L or 6 C) of boiling water down the drain.  You may have to plunge lightly to help with the process.  Repeat with another kettle of boiling water.
• If the clog is REALLY BAD and the sink is still not draining properly, then repeat the entire process from the beginning.  When I first tried this method, it took 3 repetitions in each sink to get everything running smoothly.  I now do this in each sink once per week for maintenance.  (Except when I forget.)

It works way better than Drano.

Bake Bread? Buy Book!

Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice is a must have for the would-be baker.  I have cooked and baked sweets for many years, but I have never made bread on a regular basis.  Oh, I had a bread maker in the 90′s — I it bought at a garage sale for $10 — and the first loaf I made came out beautifully.  A bit of a strange shape, mind you, but nothing we couldn’t get over for the sake of fresh bread.

But after that, I could never get it to produce again.  Every loaf after that was a dense brick-like manifestation that had no place but in the compost.

I did have plans to attend a 15-week professional baking course beginning in September, but I just couldn’t stomach the idea of commuting for another 4 month stretch.  So I decided instead to take some weekend courses both in Victoria and Vancouver.

Both of the instructors in both of the bread courses I have taken so far have recommended The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  I bought it after the first suggestion and I don’t plan to ever look back.

The Foccacia is the best I have ever tasted.  The ciabatta is airy, light and chewy – everything I want it to be.  The Lavash is the perfect accompaniment to dips and spreads.  The one bread I wasn’t fond of was the Anadama, but I don’t think I’ll ever find a version of that bread that I like. After trying it, I realize that I don’t like cornmeal in a sandwich bread.  So there.

I highly recommend this book.  The photos and instruction are exceptional.  Although I did find myself flipping pages back and forth a few times to get the foundational steps right, I was never “lost,” as I have found myself in some other bread baking texts.

As well, the author provides a number of options for retarding the dough over to the next day, so that the bread can be risen, shaped and risen during daylight hours.  Do not be put off by recipes that appear to take 2, or even 3, days.  The actual hands-on work time is a few minutes here and there.  The rest of the time, it’s mostly the yeast doing all of the work.

Did You Know? Soy & GMO

Almost 60% of the world’s soybean crop is genetically modified.  In the US, it’s over 91%.  The world’s most widely planted GM crop, transgenic soybeans carry genetic material from petunias, viruses and bacteria that enable them to survive repeated dousings of Monsanto’s controversial herbicide, Roundup.

A 2009 study in the journal Toxicology has shown that glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup are toxic to human reproductive cells, even at levels that are currently legal on our food.  Some studies on the effects of GM food on the human system are just as bleak — finding problems such as organ damage, precancerous conditions and enhanced food allergies.

Proponents of genetic engineering claim it results in increased yields, and provides a solution to help feed the world’s growing population.  However, genetically modified soybeans have consistently lower yields than conventional soy, and increasing weed resistance has seen the re-emergence of old school defoliants such as 2,4-D (a component of Agent Orange).   In the US, the use of 2,4-D on soybeans more than doubled from 2002 to 2006.

In North America, approximately 70% of the processed food on supermarket shelves contains at least some genetically modified ingredients.  Soybeans are used to produce numerous food ingredients and additives, many of which do not contain soy in their name.  For example, Lecithin is a soy-based emulsifier used widely in chocolate, ice cream, margarine, and baked goods.

Other possible hidden sources of soy include hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein, textured vegetable protein, vegetable gum, vegetable broth, isolates, methylcellulose, mono- and diglycerides, vegetable broth, vegetable oil, vegetable protein, vegetable starch, vegetable fat and natural flavouring.

I try to avoid GM foods wherever I can.  I buy only organic non-GMO tofu, edamame, miso, etc. —   like this beautiful smoked tofu from neighbouring Saltspring Island, and I limit the number of processed foods in my cart.   I don’t claim to be anywhere near perfect though – one of my bads is soy sauce – Yamasa is my hands-down favourite, you see – and they don’t have an organic option.  That said, all this talk about DNA damage has me thinking that I should give Kikkoman’s non-GMO offering a try… I’ll let you know what I think.

organic tofu is only an island away

For more information:

• The World Health Organization – an excellent resource page with easy-to-understand answers to 20 commonly asked questions about genetic modification.  A good place to start if you want to learn more about the topic in general.
• Organic Consumers Association
• Mother Earth News
• GMO Compass
• Monsanto Corporation – I always try to look at both sides…There is a lot of corporate dogma/denial/double-speak going on here though.  Definitely worth a look, if only so you know what they’re saying.