News Flash!

Fazoli's has announced, that beginning April 1, they will begin baking their breadsticks with ZERO trans-fats! Yay! For all of us who love those breadsticks, smothered in garlic, the good news is you can go back to eating them. Just go get some exercise afterword!

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The Color of Food

I was reading an article recently in Baking Business which underscored the need for food to look as good as it tastes. While many consumers are looking to 'upgrade' their eating choices to a more healthful stage, they also want food that looks appetizing. A study done by the R&D firm of DD Williamson of Louisville KY, shows that while something may say it's a healthy choice, may have a sufficient amount of proteins, carbohydrates and fiber, unless it looks good, we're not eating it. So manufacturers are finding the need to still add artificial colors to give the food a palatable look.

Color plays a huge role in a consumers perception of good food. Does anyone really want to eat blue ketchup? Well, okay maybe there are a few children out there that will find it exciting, however most adults are still grabbing the red version of ketchup. Color of food actually sets off neurons in the hypothalmus. Interestingly enough, food must look good enough to eat before a sighted individual can be convinced of it's food-worthiness. So when a company fails on a food product, it may not be the marketplace, it could just be it didn't "look" good. Kind of reminds me of the Billy Crystal - Ricardo Montalban schtick!

So what do you do when your food doesn't look good? Well, for manufacturers they turn to the old stand-bys: Certified colors. You know them. You've seen them on just about every food label printed. There are only seven certified colors! Wow only seven! They are, in no particular order, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6. They add a specific amount of these colors to bring out the best look of a product.

For baked goods Yellow 5 is the most commonly used. It makes food look rich. I should say it helps food appear rich. The food itself is rich, however it has a coloration problem. You could say it's like George Hamilton, until he gets a good tan, he just doesn't seem all that appealing. Thus the color addition.

So don't be put off by a color addition in your favorite foods. It's there for a reason, and it probably wouldn't be your favorite food for long without it. We are emotional beings. Go with the emotion of color and let it work it's magic for you!

We'll talk about natural colorants in another post soon.

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Food or Bait?

This evening we were in San Diego. We stopped at a tackle store to take a look at some lures for the Big guy. I step away because I'm suddenly getting the urge to buy a license and go rent a boat so I can sit all day in the hot sun and hope something bites the end of my line.....not.

I am bored and am walking around looking at stuff trying to look interested. Something catches my eye, here's how the conversation went:

Me: Wow! Live crawdads! Mmmmm. Dinner?

Guy in line: No, breakfast! heh heh.

Me: Well, I could cooked you up a really good serving of Etouffe' for ya if you'd like. :-)

Guy in line: ha ha, let me see if I can get a fish to take the bait first. If not I'll give you a call!

I think I found a new catering gig! LOL, I'm also wondering if these little guys are cheaper here than at the fish market.

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IMBB 13 - My Little Cupcake or Muffin!

all cupcakes
Originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

Yay! I did get these finished. This is my second entry in IMBB. My first was with Pim's rice IMBB-4. That entry was just emailed it to Pim, prior to my having a blog.

I have to say thanks to Makiko of I was just really very hungry for hosting this months Is My Blog Burning. This has been such a fun event! I think most people have a favorite cupcake or muffin so I predict the entries wil be plentiful!

My entry is tiny cupcakes. You can see the regular sized cupcake in the back of the picture for scale. I always try to keep sweets to a minimum. One because they're so cute that way, and two because no one ever really knows how many you ate!

I started this evening with a simple chocolate cake recipe. My favorite is from Hersheys. Their Deep Dark Chocolate Cake is the one I usually turn to if I need a chocolate cake.

I then put together a white cake mix. See my post from February about my search for the perfect white cake. I used that recipe tonight. I also added a few chopped cherries to the batter for some of the cupcakes.

I poured three different sizes of white and chocolate batters. I mixed in some macaroon coconut into a half cup of the white batter and spooned a half teaspoon full on three of the small chocolate ones. I love chocolate macaroon cupcakes! I also put a dab of seedless raspberry preserves in three.

The fun part was decorating these little cupcakes. I frosted using a simple butter frosting. Half pound of unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, powdered sugar until just sweetened. Beat the butter together with the vanilla, then begin adding the sugar until it is at the right consistency but still a little stiff, add a couple teaspoons of milk or half anf half to bring to a spreadable consistency. I used the white to do the cherry cakes and the teeny chocolate ones. I then added a clue to the frosting to indicate inside flavors - Cherry, raspberry dots, coconut on the chocolate macaroon, etc.

After finishing with the white buttercream I added some cocoa powder to the remaining frosting, whipped it up and frosted the others with chocolate. Of course going into the piping bag there was a white residue so I frosted the smallest ones that were left over with the marbled frosting.

As you can see, some basic cake and frostings you can be creative and make some pretty good looking sweets even when you have a terrible pain in your jaw! (see previous post)

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Ohhhhh.

On Tuesday I went ot the Endodontist. That was a good thing, yet my first mistake. He told me in order to complete the root canal my dentist began a week ago, he had to use some really icky chemicals to kill the nerve. It would be sore for a couple of days and then in about three weeks they'd take another look at the tooth and make sure it could be crowned. Ugh. I wasn't in any pain until last night. I have had a really painful left lower jaw for about 24 hours now. I had hoped to participate in IMBB - Cupcakes. I have them baked, but I am not sure I will have the stamina to get them frosted and completed in time. Oh the pain, I usually have a really high threshold for this kind of stuff, but this is really kicking my hiney. Ick, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Exedrin and hot compresses are not touching this thing. I think I need real drugs.

Hopefully I'll get the cupcakes done. See you soon.

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HACCP, HACCP, who has the HACCP?

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points that is. HACCP is a program that was adopted by the USDA and other food regulatory agencies in 1997. It gives critical guidelines to help a food manufacturer, processor, restaurant or other food related business to establish a written protocol to ensure food safety and cleanliness down to the microbial level. HACCP is not a mandatory program at this time.

Food. We all love eating, until we eat something that disagrees with us. Was it the food? Was it the flu? Was it the way the food was handled by someone else? Did someone who was ill at the salad bar sneeze on my food? Ick. These are things we as consumers really don't want to think about, however, forewarned is forearmed.

Many restaurants and food processors are beginning to display their HACCP certifications. Large firms, of course, are the first to stand up and be counted with regard to HACCP programs. I noticed one, when we stopped for breakfast one morning before the Fancy Foods Show in San Francisco, displayed in the restaurant's front lobby. Most consumers wouldn't take notice of the certificate of participation. That's why I'm talking about it now.

HACCP is a good thing. It's not just another regulatory entity out to make one's life miserable. Recently, while participating in our bi-annual FDA inspection, the inspector (those guys are authorized to carry guns now!, whole other post later) informed me that HACCP helps establish guideline protocols. The food facility actually sets their standards according to the feasibility, cost and effectiveness for thier establishment. However, he cautioned: "Be careful in setting your standards too high. If you've set a standard, and are in violation of your own standard, and I come in to inspect, you're in violation. Be prudent, but don't make your standards impossible to follow."

What should a consumer expect from the manufacturing/production sector including restaurants. Good food, that is within acceptable hygiene standards, kept warm or cold (depending on the food), on a timely basis. Some restaurants or food establishments will excel, other will be average while others will ignore this all together.

In the book, The Secret Life of Germs, by Philip Tierno Jr., PhD, Dr. Tierno discusses the nature of germs and their effect on us - the buying public. Interestingly enough he says that most of us come in good contact with germs all the time without really being bothered by them. He also says that the occasional bug gives our bodies a way to build up immunities and assist in keeping us healthy. The germs we really want to stay away from have gained some noteriety in the past few years: the dreaded E-coli 0157 and Staphylococcus. Those little, unseen germs can wreak havoc on even the heathiest of people.

So what should you watch for when you purchase food?

1. Certain raw foods: heat kills bacteria. When heat is not present in processing food bacteria is not killed, and there is a risk of increased infection in some people. Raw eggs - we used to love them in Ceasar Salad - some people can still eat them without a problem, however, take note and be prudent. Don't allow small children, pregnant women or people whose immune systems are already at risk due to other illnesses to consume rhese types of food. Raw meats, unpasteurized cheeses and juices can also be problematic.

2. Foods that encounter numerous people in the manufacturing process: Salads containing raw and cooked foods are a good example. Go back to our Ceasar salad: The restaurant's garde manger (salad guy) had to go back to the grill to get the chicken, cooked by someone else, when you made it a 'Chicken' Ceasar Salad. Point being: more than one person handled the food. A garde manger is not the only person who would make this salad, I've seen them for sale at fast food places lately. When you have it trucked in from a distribution center, factor in the refrigeration of the warehouse, the trucking company, the chicken processor and the weather all as contributors to the freshness and stability of this product. Again be prudent.

3. Salad Bars: Main thing to check? Is it cold? If not, take a by and order something else. No need to pick up a cold while at lunch on a nice sunny day. Anything creamy, milky, fish-y or egg-y, must be kept cold!

4. Another contributor to the food safety process: Old foods at home. Not necessarily just in the fridge. Any food that has been around a while, whether canned, frozen, or fresh has a life. It is best to eat it when it is still in a good timeframe. Storing food for emergencies? Store what you eat, eat what you store! Rotate it out so you rarely have anything older than necessary. Of course somethings can be store for quite a long time under the proper storage conditions but admit it, how many of us really have a refrigerated garage that keep foods at a lovely 68 - 72 degrees all the time? And that's just the canned stuff.

5. Last but certainly not least: Personal hygiene. We can prevent a lot of "food related" illnesses if we are mindful of where our hands go and when we really should give 'em a good scrub. What's a good scrub? When you've got them lathered up, sing happy birthday to yourself twice, then rinse. A friend of mine did a study for her graduate program in college: She taped a sign on a stall in the bathroom of a very popular place on campus. She 'hid' in that stall and recorded how many people really washed their hands, and if there was anyone else in the bathroom at the time. Most people, if they were alone in the bathroom, left without scrubbing up. Only when other people were present did most people wash their hands. So next time you want to blame that food professional for the bad food - did YOU wash your hands?

Food safety is simple. Keep it clean, keep it fresh, keep it at the right temperature, and don't introduce pathogens that can cause problems by being careless.

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Kitchen Facts and fiction about knives

Occasionally I will go out on a limb and underscore some of the kitchen facts and fiction floating around out there. At the top of my alltime kitchen facts and fiction is: Knives. Is there a more controversial subject in the kitchen? Well of course there is, but we'll start here anyway.

Retailers have convinced the buying public that you MUST have an expensive set of knives in order to be a successful chef, cook, homemaker, or occasional griller. If you go to the usual suspects, any one of many, Williams Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, Target, Robinsons May, Dillards, etc etc etc., you'll find a gorgeous array of blades. Sometimes cruising through channels on TV will also get you thinking I really need that boning knife! I won't even mention the internet. There are Henkels, Wusthofs, Philipe Richard, Calphalon, Cuisinart, Farberware...on and on. So what do you do? I'd love to say just listen to me, however, there are better people to confirm this myth than me. Ask a chef. They'll tell you what I will say here, but with even more authority.

What most people need are three basic knives. A good chef's knife, a serrated knife (8 inch) and a good paring knife. When I say good I don't necessarily mean expensive. You can spend as little as $15 on a good knife. Then when it gives up the ghost in a couple of years, you won't cry when you replace it.

Chef's knife: 8 - 10 inch blade. Use whichever length works for you, there is nothing worse than a knife too big for the user. So if an eight inch knife does the job well, while wrestling with a larger knife is awkward, go with the smaller one. Chef's knives are for chopping vegetables, cutting up meat, smashing garlic, if that's your method, and dicing vegetables.

Your serrated knife will be your best friend when you need to slice something. It will cut cleanly without crushing the most delicate of fillings. DO NOT use it for chopping anything, it will not cooperate with you, it knows what it does best. It loves tomatoes, citrus, pies, cakes, cooked meats, and the occasional meringue.

Paring knife: a 3.5 to 5 inch knife will be used for intricate work as well as peeling. Use it with all types of food stuffs. Your paring knife will cut through the softest of fruit without bruising it and will slice apples for pie in no time. It's great for mincing herbs, garlic and shallots. It also will double as a corer for strawberries and tomatoes.

The most important thing to look for when purchasing your knives, is that it is "fully forged". This means that the blade, the bolster (the part where it becomes one with the handle), and the tang (the handle) are forged from a single piece of steel. You really want to see that the steel runs through the handle. There is nothing worse than having the bolster and blade loosen from the handle and have a wobbly knife. Knives should also be balanced well. This means that the blade should be no heavier than the handle or vice versa. A good way to check this is to put the knife at the bolster, on a strong finger, it should balance equally there without a wobble in either direction.

I currently own 2 chef's knifes and I am in the market for at least two more. Paring knives - 4 currently. And one serrated edge knife. All the other stuff is just fluff and clogs up usable drawer space.

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