I’m a convert. Pinot Noir at $100.00 a bottle or a fine bottle of craft beer for $1.50?
Tapped In: A visit with the craft beer kings of San Francisco
Foreign markets thirsty for America’s craft beer
Craft brewers now produce 1 out of every 10 beers sold
I am so hipster.
Peanuts May Lower Cardio Death Risk – Medpage Today
Nut (predominantly peanut) consumption is inversely related to all-cause and especially cardiovascular mortality in African-American and Chinese men and women.
The inverse association of nut consumption and mortality is unrelated to baseline metabolic conditions.
It’s a cardiovascular intervention that literally costs peanuts.
via Peanuts May Lower Cardio Death Risk | Medpage Today.
This is great news. My unique preference for peanut butter and pancakes turns out to be scientifically heart healthy given my ethnicity. More peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Pad Thai with crushed peanuts, spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Update 03.04.15
I ate a mini peanut cup last night. The jar of dry roasted peanuts was moved from the cupboard to my office. I have absolutely zero guilt. It’s for my heart.
Semi-Organic Vegan Split Pea Soup
You’re probably thinking to yourself what kind of parent forces this type of soup on their children? Well, before you flame me in the comments section, my parents never fed this soup to me as a child. As a parent, I never made or force fed my children with this soup. The origins of this soup are simple. It’s Sunday. So what do you want for lunch? It’s winter. Soup.
How about some split pea soup? Rather than mine the internet I went to my cookbook collection. After a few unsuccessful look ups I settled upon Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. My recipe is adapted from Madison’s recipe. After over 40 years of cooking I’ve finally figured out why I can never follow a recipe.
I can’t follow a recipe because I usually don’t have all of the ingredients.
The reason why this soup is semi-organic is because not all of the ingredients are certified organic. I’m pretty sure the organic portion is due to the fact those ingredients were on sale. (I want a healthy soup, not the most expensive split pea soup ever made). 11:00 am. Soup should be ready by noon. My recipe gets posted only if it tastes good.
- 2 cups split green peas, rinsed
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 T dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 1.5 quarts vegetable stock or broth
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Soak the split peas in water while preparing the soup ingredients.
- Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
- Add onion, celery, and carrots. Saute for around 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and dried herbs, and fresh black pepper. Saute for another 2-3 minutes.
- Drain and add the split peas. Add the vegetable stock/broth and bring to a boil.
- Stir often so the peas don’t stick.
- Reduce the heat, partially cover, and simmer gently for approximately one hour.
- It’s yummy tummy time.
For the curious regarding semi-organic: carrots, vegetable stock and most of the herbs were organic. The rest of the ingredients were high quality but not USDA certified organic.
From Paleo To Plant-Based, New Report Ranks Top Diets Of 2015 : The Salt : NPR
For the fifth year in a row, the government-researched DASH diet (an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) ranked No. 1 overall diet. It’s similar to the Mediterranean diet: heavy on fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, poultry, fish and nuts.
via From Paleo To Plant-Based, New Report Ranks Top Diets Of 2015 : The Salt : NPR.
Rather than just another recipe for my first post of 2015 I have posted a link to a story on the best diet for optimal health. Eat well. Live well. Stay healthy.
Happy Holidays 2014
Tri-Tip Beef Stew
My memories of beef stew growing up was that it came out of a can and tasted pretty bad. My mother was not a very good cook. She was however very good at opening cans. Consequently, I never really cared much for beef stew.
This weekend we had friends over for dinner. At first, we were thinking pizza. No, we just did that a couple of weeks ago with this crew. So I decided to cook but wanted to keep it simple. I also wanted to clean out the freezer a bit since winter is coming and there might be some stuff in there that needs to get cooked. I went rummaging. I found tri-tip steaks.
“Am I going to grill these things before next summer?”
Probably not. Stew. Problem solved.
Tri-Tip Tips:
This cut makes a wonderful stew. The packages of stew meat you find in the store consist of cubes from different cuts. Some are very lean which makes for a healthier dish, but less flavor. A good tri-tip is well marbled and the extra fat makes this stew quite tasty. You’ll note no potatoes in this stew. I served the stew over plain rice. Add potatoes if you wish. We had homemade cornbread and salad on the side. A crusty bread works too. Readers with a keen eye will notice this recipe is similar to Mike’s Pot Roast. You caught me.
Update 01.07.17
As much as I love making this stew I have a confession to make. I’ve been making beef stew with top blade steak. I’m not going to change the name of this stew. But I should. Good tri-tip has been hard to find at the stores but one store always seems to have top blade steaks in their meat case. Well marbled too.
If you decide to use top blade keep the steaks whole and brown on both sides. The rest of the instructions are the same. Prior to serving pull the steaks apart with two forks into bite sized chunks. This particular cut will make the most tender beef stew you ever had.
A lot better than canned too.
Tri-Tip Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 lbs boneless tri-tip roast, well marbled, cut into one inch cubes
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T butter (optional)
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 stalk celery, small dice
- 1 carrot, peeled, small dice
- 3-4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1/2 lb white mushrooms, rinsed and quartered
- 1/2 lb frozen organic green peas
- 1/2 C Sweet Marsala wine
- BIG Pinch dried thyme
- 2-3 T tomato paste with basil
- 1 C low sodium beef broth
- Salt and pepper
Method
- In a cast iron enamel covered pot heat 2 T of oil on medium high heat. Brown beef cubes in pot, several minutes on each side. You might need to do this in batches to allow a good browning of the meat.
- When beef is browned add the onions, small dice carrot, and celery to the pot and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, mushrooms and a pinch of thyme, and saute for another minute. Add the Marsala wine and continue to saute until the alcohol evaporates. Add tomato paste, beef broth and mix thoroughly.
- Cover and adjust the heat down to a low simmer.
- Cook for 2 hours, or longer.
- Approximately 45 minutes before serving add 1 T butter (optional) and the remaining carrot chunks. Reduce heat back to low.
- Around 10 minutes before serving, add 1/2 pound frozen organic green peas.
- Simmer on low heat until peas are heated through.
- Adjust for seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
What 200 Calories of Every Food Looks Like – The Atlantic
I know that Chipotle burritos are extremely caloric, but I’ve managed to convince myself that the burrito bowl—all the cheese, guac, and juicy beef, but without the tortilla wrapping—is practically a health food.
No need to work out today, I walked up the Metro escalator! And sure, eight drinks a week is technically “heavy drinking” for women, but I’m Russian.
via What 200 Calories of Every Food Looks Like – The Atlantic.
Go to the article for some sample pictures. If you dare.
The Dreadful Inconvenience of Salad – The Atlantic
The Dreadful Inconvenience of Salad – The Atlantic.
A start-up will contribute an interesting answer to the million-dollar food-policy question: If healthy food was as easy as junk food, would we eat more of it?
Salad from a vending machine.
garyskitchen.net 