Food Archives - Page 8 of 8

17Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Vince’s Turkey and Chicken Stuffing Recipe

Food

I’ve always had a great stuffing recipe, but even great can be made better. I’m 71 now, so here’s how I make (and use) my better-than-great turkey and chicken stuffing. Stuffing Recipe: Chicken In a No. 8 cast-iron skillet, melt 6 oz. butter as you cut a medium white onion, into pieces that are not too fine—say 1/3” x 1/2”. Over a low heat, soften the onions well, but do not brown them. Take a loaf of white bread—for example, Arnold’s® Italian White—break pieces approximately 3/4″ square, forming a layer atop the onions and butter. Sprinkle ground sage, thyme leaves and marjoram fairly generously on the layer. Sage should predominate, thyme next and marjoram should be used in smaller measure. Using a wooden spoon, stir everything to uniformity. Add another…

01Jul 2013 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

What is Grappa?

Food

[caption id="attachment_3921" align="alignright" width="480"] Grappa - CCA Share Alike 2.0 Generic by Carsten Tolkmit[/caption] I feel compelled to write this article. Why? My namesake, Vincent Summers of Australia, died from drinking grappa. Or, rather, what he thought was that beverage. It appears it was actually biofuel. What is the stuff? Before describing it, let's clarify terms. Glossary of Terms Brandy – spirit produced distilling wine Grappa – a grape-based pomace brandy Pomace – the solid remains, stems, skins, pulp, and seeds, after pressing out the juice After crushing grapes to produce wine, and pressing the wine from the solids, the remains are distilled to—in part—avoid waste, and to produce a tasty spirit. Although originally the drink may have been something to be endured as much as it was something to…

24Jun 2013 by Vincent Summers 3 Comments

Yum! Cicada Stir Fry

Food

[caption id="attachment_3897" align="alignright" width="480"] Cicada Stir Fry - Erik K. & Jason H.[/caption] My friends, Erik K. and Jason H., are adventurous in many respects. They love camping; they love eating. Above all, they like strange! To them, however, the idea of cooking and eating a cicada stir fry isn’t strange at all. But why don’t I let Erik do the explaining? Also Sprach Erik! Jason & I often think of new and interesting (read daring) things to eat. Insects always seem like something worth working our way into since so much of the world’s population is already way ahead of us on this front. [caption id="attachment_3899" align="alignleft" width="300"] Showcase Ingredient[/caption] Cicada Stir Fry We cooked up the Cicadas by simply par-boiling, then stir-frying. Set them aside and stir-fry in…

03Dec 2012 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Why are Some Bananas Sweeter than Others

Food

Some bananas are sweeter than others. How is that? Having purchased the golden fruit many times, I asked myself, why are some bananas sweeter than others? You pick up a bunch of small, curly, bright yellow fruits.¹ You take them home. On the way, you remove the one with the label. You peel it most of the way down. With a few quick bites, you finish it off. You go shopping again. Displayed are large, straight bananas. You note some bananas are sweeter, while others are starchier. Banana Varieties Each variety of banana is grown for a specific end use. Some (plantains) are fried in a skillet. They are starchy. Others are raised for sweetness and aroma. Those are called dessert bananas. The most popular form of dessert banana is…

11Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 5 Comments

Why Some Boiled Eggs Don’t Peel Right

Food

[caption id="attachment_3204" align="alignright" width="440"] Eggs: Microsoft Clipart[/caption] What's the matter with boiled eggs? It looks like one egg should be as good as another, right? So what makes them different? You put a pot of water on to boil. When it finally reaches a boil, you add some ordinary chicken eggs to make egg custard, deviled eggs, egg salad, or just individual "hen fruits" to munch on with a free sprinkling of sea salt and a little cracked pepper. But... Problem Peeling Boiled Eggs? You experience a problem when you go to peel them. Why don't your boiled eggs peel right? In fact, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Why not every time? Anatomy of an Egg Within the eggshell lies more than just a white and a yolk.…

09Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

How Cream Turns to Butter

Food

[caption id="attachment_3195" align="alignright" width="440"] Old-Fashioned Butter Churn[/caption] You've seen it as a youngster. A demonstration in which cream is turned into butter by whipping, perhaps by an electric mixer, perhaps using a hand mixer. How is it possible? Cream is a suspension of fat globules spread throughout a water-based or aqueous solution—a solution that contains water-soluble substances. Preventing the tiny fat globules from joining together—coalescing—is a kind of membrane surrounding each one, called a milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). Butter? MFGM Composition and Structure This membrane is composed of proteins, enzymes, and lipids.¹ Actually, there are two layers that develop around each fat core—a phospholipid layer (developed at the time of formation) encased within a plasma membrane layer (formed at the time of secretion).² The combination is often referred to…

02Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Potato Varieties: Nutritional Differences

Food

[caption id="attachment_3153" align="alignright" width="440"] Photo by Scott Bauer - USDA Agricultural Research Service[/caption] Potato varieties just may be the spice of life. The humble potato is a tuberous vegetable. Some give it a bad reputation. Many consider it to be a massive source of calories and little nutritional value. This is wrong. Most potato shortcomings result, not from the potato, but from the way in which it is prepared. As an example, consider the potato chip: thin potato wedges fried in oil and practically dipped in salt. Or what about the baking potato? Is it served with great gobs of sour cream or, perhaps butter or cheese? Even potato salad is hard to rationalize as salad. Chunks of potato goodness set in a veritable sea of high-fat dressing? Bad for…

08Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

BHA and BHT in Your Food – What are They?

Food

[caption id="attachment_17284" align="alignright" width="440"] Ever feel like you're a Guinea Pig?[/caption] You enjoy good food when you can prepare it, but sometimes you must settle for store-bought. The box that comes in contains a huge list of ingredients in super small print. Most of them don’t sound like something you'd put in food! Among these are two items written as acronyms, only—BHA and BHT. BHA and BHT? What are they? BHA BHA stands for butylated hydroxyanisole. Now you know that’s not food. Butylated hydroxyanisole is actually a mixture of two chemicals. One is 2-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole. The other is 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole. Its structures are seen at left. It is an antioxidant. Yet, it is not so much an eating kind of antioxidant, but in the preservative sense. It may be either added to…

06Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Aquaponics: Symbiosis of Plants and Fish

Food

[caption id="attachment_9328" align="alignright" width="440"] Commercial aquaponics system. - Image CC-SA 2.0 Generic by ryan griffis, Growing Power, Milwaukee.[/caption] About once a month I paid a visit to a couple that live about twenty minutes from me. One day they discussed with me their new found interest in aquaponics.1 I received a royal tour of the greenhouse, which holds a basin for fish, pumps, tubs, tubing, gravel beds, and filters. I was favorably impressed! One Man's Poison Fish produce body wastes. The word wastes in this instance can be changed to treasure, as the fish wastes serve as food for the plants. The waste water is pumped through plastic piping above tubs of pea gravel, in which the plants are rooted, free of soil. The piping has small holes. This sprinkles…