Silly Putty Fries to go, please. - FOOD MYTH - BUSINESS

Get out the pitchforks and torches, it's time to kill the monster known as McDonald's (again).

Maybe you've seen the headlines "MCDONALD'S FRENCH FRIES FOUND TO CONTAIN SILLY PUTTY INGREDIENT AND PETROLEUM CHEMICAL" or others similar to it.

In this case, Grant Imahara, host of Mythbusters, took a tour of McDonald's french fries processing plant to learn how their fries are really made, and yes, of course, they are made of potatoes. There are other chemicals used as well, but Natural News used this opportunity to spin a few long sounding scientific chemical names into nasty sounding ingredients that the evil McDonald's is using to deceive us. A few minutes of research revealed what these terrible, terrible chemicals are:

1. Corn starch
2. Vegetable oil

Seriously, the McDonald's bashers are trying to convince their readers that because these same two chemicals are used to make Silly Putty that McDonald's is putting unnatural and harmful chemicals into their french fries. That's like saying because I use vinegar to clean my coffee pot and also use vinegar on my salad, that I'm actually eating a cleaning solution on my salad.

McDonald's does admit to using a total of fourteen additional chemicals in the processing of french fries, all of those chemicals though are used by every fry processing plant in the country, which are then sold by other fast food giants like Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Hardee's, Rally's/Checkers, etc. Not only is it standard industry practice, it has been overseen and approved by the Food and Drug Administration for decades.

Food education is important to our health, but scare tactics don't work, and in many cases creates a backlash. The best example is in the past ten years, Hardee's successfully rebuilt their brand by marketing to people who were tired of being told what to eat, i.e., The Thick Burger. Other restaurants both national and local have also successfully built their brand on this backlash, and the trend is showing no sign of slowing.

The old adage is still true: Everything in Moderation. Eating fast food every once in a while won't kill you. So the bashers need to stop with the sensational headlines.

And in the meantime, we can continue to teach by example by cooking ourselves some good food.

Until Next Time.....
Here is a fun video by PopSugar Foods on how to make McDonald's French Fries at home. Seems like a lot of work, so I'll just visit my local Mickie D's.

Starchly Yours,
Michael

Baked Mushroom Salmon with Wild Rice and Aspargus - RECIPE

On a night like any other I had to come up with some new creative way to cook an entree we've had a hundred times. In the past, I knew of only one way to bake salmon - sprinkle some garlic powder on it, a small slab of butter, wrap in aluminum foil, and throw it on the grill or in the oven.

There's only so many times that can be done before salmon becomes boring. We've all heard it (or even said it) at some point, "Oh, that again. <sigh> Can we order out?"

So I thought it would be great to put some kind of sauce or something on it to change things up. I decided to stay with butter since it gives the salmon a nice flavor, and honestly, who doesn't like butter. Then I thought mushrooms would be a good choice because we love mushrooms around here and I knew we had a paper bag of them left unused from a previous night. I also had some scallions that needed to be eaten before they went bad and became slimy. Finally, instead of cheese and broccoli rice (because The Boss had had steamed broccoli the night before), I chopped up asparagus and mixed it in wild rice. Wah-lah! I looked like I knew what I was doing.

This is what makes cooking fun - creating something new and delicious using just random bits about the kitchen.

Baked Salmon with Mushrooms and Scallions
Ingredients 
- six salmon fillets
- three tablespoons butter
- one cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced
- half cup of scallions (green onions), sliced
- crushed cloves of garlic or garlic powder (to taste)
- one-quarter cup tarragon

Wild Rice with Asparagus
Ingredients
- chopped asparagus
- box of Rice-a-Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice

DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt butter in a medium sized pan, add the sliced mushrooms, scallions, garlic, and tarragon. About two minutes until butter is melted and ingredients are well coated.
2. Place salmon fillets in a baking dish. Pour sauce over salmon, distributing as evenly as possible.
3. Cover the dish with aluminum foil to retain moisture4. Place in 375-degree oven for 20-25 (which is about how long the rice will take)
5. Prepare the Long Grain and Wild Rice per the instructions on the box
6. When there are only about five minutes or less left on the rice, add the chopped. Any sooner and you risk the asparagus becoming too soft.
8. Plate and serve

Entree Calories
Salmon
100 calories; 10 calories from fat;
Total Fat 2.5 g
Sodium 7.5 g
Protein 20 g

Side Dish Calories
Wild Rice
240 calories, 50 calories from fat;
Total Fat 0.5 g
Sodium 750 mg
Total Carbs 43 g (1 g Fiber)
Protein 5 g

Asparagus
3 calories;
Protein 0.4 g

It's quite a quick and simple dish and well worth a try. Low calories yet high in protein and the good fats from the salmon.  

Until Next Time,
Spring is here and summer is coming, time to move some of this cooking outdoors. So here is a great video on how to grill shrimp without a plank (because those planks are expensive) and includes a link to a nice sauce to top your salmon.

Salmonly Yours,
Michael

Traditional Spaghetti Alternative - RECIPE

Desperation is the mother of invention, and while I'm sure that the recipe below has probably been done a thousand times by a thousand different people, I can honestly say that this particular one never occurred to me until I was stuck in the house and had to throw some kind of dinner together.

But it's moments like these that are another reason why cooking can be a blast.

The most recent Reinvention of the Wheel occurred just a few weeks ago. For now, until I customize it a bit more and give it its own personality, I'm just going to call it:

Italian Sausage Spaghetti
Ingredients
- one package Italian sausage (that night I only had a package of Johnsonville Italian Sausage links)
- one box fettuccine noodles (I had Wild Harvest organic whole wheat on hand)
- two cloves garlic (crushed)
- one jar spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Tomato and Basil)
- oregano (to taste) (oregano is my favorite spice for anything that even hints at Italian origin)

Directions
- slice the Italian sausage (if you have links) and cook in a pan with just enough EVOO in the bottom to keep the sausage from scorching.
- boil the noodles per the instructions
- once the sausage is cooked, add the sauce, garlic, and oregano to the pan
- combine noodles and meat sauce (although around here we usually keep the meat sauce and noodles separate so that each person can decide how much of one or the other they want)

Calories
I didn't collect the calorie information this time around because of the situation, but next time I prepare this I will.

Picture
I don't take any pictures of this dish either, so it'll just have to wait until next time.

Until Next Time...
Here's a video from the Johnsonville Kitchens on something else you can do with Italian sausage - yep, make a pizza.
Desperately Yours,
Michael

Unnamed Chickpea Side (a.k.a Garbonzo Bean Love) - RECIPE

As a rookie cook (yet an experienced griller), I made the the mistake that many make - I didn't consider the sides. When grilling, I usually went with the standard potato, corn on the cob, or asparagus, but beyond that, sides dishes were just an after thought to me.

When I slowly began to migrate to indoor cooking, my attitude didn't change much. At the last second, I'd open a can of peas or maybe steam some Brussel sprouts, and ta-da, dinner was done.

It wasn't until recently when I pulled a recipe from Real Simple magazine that had the entree and the side paired that I understood my mistake. Of course, the ecstatic reaction from The Boss is what brought on my epiphany.  

It's all about pairing.

You can have a killer entree, but if you're sides are average or terrible, no one will be overly excited to eat your food.

So thanks to the magazine above, a bit of personal modification, and a little urging from my most honest critic, I have a great little Go-To side that I can experiment with on different entrees. No name yet other than "Chickpea Concoction Side" or maybe "Garbonzo Bean Love" (I just love saying the word "garbonzo" - it's just a fun sounding word). Any suggestions would be welcome.

Unnamed Chickpea Concoction Side (a.k.a "Garbonza Bean Love")
Ingredients
 - one can chickpeas (15.5 ounces)
 - one avocado (sliced)
 - one shallot (thiny sliced)
 - one-half cucumber (sliced)
 - extra virgin olive oil (two tablespoons)

Directions
 - combine the chickpeas, sliced avocado, sliced shallot, and sliced cucumber in a bowl.
 - add the two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
 - stir well and serve
(I made this with baked chicked breasts flavored with turmeric and coriander and spooned three tablespoons of the broth in with the mixture)
 - Makes four servings

Calories
I did some notebook calculations on the nutritional content of this side and came up with the following per serving approximation:
226 total calories per serving
121 fat calories
85 carb calories (31 fiber calories)
21 protein calories

So there you go - a great side that pairs well with baked chicken and is light enough for spring or summer. It's a little higher in fat than I would like, but it's avocado, so it's the "good fat," and the chickpeas are a great source of protein.

Until Next Time...
Here's a video about the most popular use of Chickpeas/Garbonzo beans - How To Make Hummus.
Garbonzoly Yours,
Michael     
               

It's Spring - Are You Ready?

Yes, here in the Midwest there is a light dusting of snow on the ground, the temperature is in the 30s-40s, but today is most definitely Sunday, March 20, the Vernal Equinox.

You know what that means!

Around here, that means we'll be outdoors any chance we get. Biking (The Boss's passion), hiking, walking, and I'll be grilling. In fact, I've already put the gears in motion for our first deck party of 2016.

That also means food festivals. There'll be plenty to choose from. For instance, we've already inked on our calendar the CHOMP Regional Food Truck, Music and Film Festival at our local community college. Chili and Rib Cook Offs are coming soon, and I can guarantee you'll see me and The Boss at one or two of them. (She and The Kid are the chili experts around here, each in their unique way, and each not willing to give up their secrets, but that won't stop them from attending and sampling some of the other great recipes out there.)

Early May I'll start planting my chili peppers - a family tradition I unconsciously carried forward that I was completely unaware of until a few years ago when my dad revealed to me his father's obsession for chili peppers.

We may also bring back the herb garden this year, but instead of the raised bed we had at the old house, we may go with potted herbs right outside the kitchen door. Either way, our hands will be getting plenty dirty with organic potting soil.

Recipes will start lightening up - fewer and fewer heavy comfort foods and more fruits and veggies in our diet (we should really eat more of them anyway)

So stay tuned as Winter leaves us once again and Spring returns in all her glory. To quote a great man, American, and grill master: "Woo-Hoo!"

Until Next Time....
Watch this little clip Top 10 Grilling Tips from SummerKitchen.tv.
Springly Yours,
Michael