Is there a Science To Cooking?

  I always like to cook, and I like especially to cook things that are complex. I am amazed at how much science there is in cooking. For example, when you make bread, the yeast has to develop and reproduce, as well as get rid of its waste, and in that process, good food comes about.
  There is another process in cooking, very similar to the yeast process, and this process is called 'fermentation'. Some examples of fermented foods would be kombucha, sourdough and yogurt or kefir. Lately, I have been making sour cream, buttermilk, Greek yogurt and kombucha. I also made cultured butter which was cool. All these things you can make at home and save money by using the particular culture over and over again.
   Kombucha is interesting to make. You take this flat, dehydrated mushroom, and place it in a mixture of tea, vinegar, and sugar for a month. Then you make another batch of tea and take some of the starter and the mushroom, and add it to the new batch of tea, then wait for that to ferment and develop. The mushroom should develop a baby mushroom (I have never heard of a mushroom having a baby) and the baby mushroom should cover the top of the new batch of tea. I will see it when I believe it! The first batch of kombucha tasted strange. It was tart and powerful. I added some sweetener to it and it helped to balance the taste. Kombucha is supposed to be full of probiotics, which are necessary for us to have in order to digest our food properly.
  I made the sour cream with both the raw milk and pasteurized, and the pasteurized milk takes longer to process. I had to leave my pasteurized culture out a lot longer than I did the raw one.
   I made a batch of cream cheese the other day, and it turned out well. Whenever I make this, I end up with a lot of whey, which is supposed to be good for you.
  I tried my hand at making mozzarella, and when it was at the stage where you are supposed to pull it like taffy, it fell apart. There was no cohesiveness to it, so obviously, I couldn't pull it. It had the taste of mozzarella, but not the texture. Good mozzarella is easy to slice and has a nice, sweet taste to it, and stretches. There was no stretch in my mozzarella : (   .
  If you do make a lot of different foods using cultures, you have to keep them separated while they are developing, because the cultures actually do travel in the air and can end up in the containers of the various cultures you have on your countertops and it will weaken the cultures.
   Next step is to try making cheddar cheese. I won't add coloring at this time, but I like the orange color of cheddar cheese. Cheddar cheese is like a comfort food. Maybe I should get a cave like the ones that the first cheddar cheese was made in.
  Another idea that might be a little better tasting than kombucha, is kefir, but kefir made with coconut water instead of milk. Coconuts are an excellent food for nourishment and making it into a fermented food would be even better.
   So, my little kitchen is like a science lab right now. I have to keep some of the cultures in other rooms because I don't want them to blend together and become weak! What a fun way to learn about science, and about food.
   Bon Apetite!    Guten Apetit!

Cultured Butter Snowman

I've always wanted to make molded butter for Thanksgiving, but never was able to do that until today. I took 2 cups of raw cow's cream and added about a fourth of a cup of buttermilk to it. The directions said to let it sit for about 24 hours then chill it. After about 6 hours then you take that mixture and mix it until it turns into butter. I shaped mine after it was finished and here's what it looked like.

Homemade Strawberry "Junket" Type Recipe

For those of you who like Junket, and are having a hard time finding the packages in the stores, here is an alternative for you to make. It is easy to make and tastes close to the real thing.

Homemade Strawberry "Junket" Type Recipe

2 cups milk (whole milk is the best)
4 TBS. Nestle Quik Strawberry milk powder
6 drops double strength liquid rennet*


Heat milk to 110-115 degrees (if its too hot, it won't work). Add 4 TBS. of Nestle Quik Strawberry powder. Add the rennet drops, and stir for about 30 seconds. Pour into 4 dessert dishes and let set for 15 minutes. Refrigerate and serve. Makes 4 servings.

* You can find rennet at the health for store, or, you can order it through www.culturesforhealth.com .
It has to stay refrigerated.

Use Goji Berries in Recipes

Although this is not a list of actual recipes, it gives suggestions on how to incorporate Goji berries into other recipes:

#1) Blend into fruit smoothies

Simply take some organic fresh or frozen fruit, blend it with your favorite milk (I use almond milk), then add in a scoop of goji berries. I also like to add chia seeds, pomegranate powder, camu camu powder and some superfood powders such as Rejuvenate or Living Fuel.

#2) Sprinkle onto granola or cereal

Goji berries make any granola better! Just take a spoon or two and sprinkle them over any cereal. It instantly increases the nutritional density of the cereal while delivering minerals like zinc and phosphorus. Plus, it's rich in vitamins C and E in their natural plant forms, not synthetic vitamin forms.

#3) Add to trail mixes and nut mixes

This is a no-brainer: Any trail mix, nut mix or travel snack mix can be instantly improved with superior nutrition by adding goji berries to the mix. This not only adds great taste to the mixes, it also adds visible natural color that makes it look more delicious without using any artificial colors.

#4) Soak in water to create "goji tea"

When soaked in water -- either cold or hot -- goji berries swell and release nutrients into the water. They've been used for thousands of years in China to make a nutrition-rich "fruity" tea. You can do this at home in mere minutes, and you can also mix goji berries with other teas you might already enjoy.

#5) Bake into muffins and breads

Although goji berries are more nutrient dense when consumed raw, they still pack an impressive nutritional profile when baked. This means you can mix them into recipes for breads, energy bars, muffins and more... and you'll instantly enhance their nutritional density with a superfood powerhouse!

Goji berries have more antioxidant power than broccoli!

As you'll see in our goji berry infographic (http://www.naturalnews.com/Infographic-Benefits-of-Goji-Berries.html), the ORAC scale shows goji berries have a higher antioxidant score than broccoli, grapes and strawberries.

They're loaded with antioxidants and carotenoids, and they've literally been used for over 5,000 years to promote stamina and longevity as part of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Goji berries are discounted now from NaturalNews reader-approved suppliers

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Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036534_goji_berries_nutrition_recipes.html##ixzz21AnCzqHE

Article taken from: Natural News - Goji Berries in Recipes

Vegetable LEGO Bricks

Vegetable Lego Bricks  From Wikihow


  Here is a creative way to make your vegetables look more appealing, especially for picky eaters! I found this recipe on Wikihow this morning. You can find it at Wikihow Make Vegetable LEGO Bricks
It doesn't look overly hard, but could take a little time to work with.

First, you decide which vegetables you want to use. Suggested vegetables are potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, and squash. You can even use tofu. If you add food coloring to the water, the tofu will take on the coloring you put in the pot.
  Cook the vegetables until they are soft, but not mushy. Then soak them in salt water for a couple of minutes to help draw out some of the moisture.
   Now cut the vegetables into cube shapes. Decide which LEGO shapes you want to make. The choices are, one stud squares, four stud squares, or six stud squares. Stud = the little round bumps on the Legos. (See picture on the side).
  Take a straw and poke all the way through the vegetable.You will get a round hole, plus the inside of the vegetable which will be used for the stud. Make sure you make your hole in the same place as the stud would be on the Lego brick.
  Now take a toothpick and push the 'stud' from the bottom of the vegetable brick until it sticks out the top. It should be starting to look like a real Lego brick. Make sure the studs are all even on the top side. You can also use other foods such as sausage, firm jellies, Japanese omelets (never heard of them), cheese, Jello, or broccoli.
  Have fun!!!

Cooking Utensils/Cast Iron

This seemingly minor issue has some serious ramifications. I have a lot of crock pots and glass serving dishes, and have always used metal utensils with them. Being on several cooking/recipe mailing lists, I have realized that using metal utensils with the appliances, bowls, etc. is a no-no. The reason is simple. Metal utensils are too abrasive. I have noticed some wearing down on the insides of my glass bowls and crock-pots because of this. What is recommended to use is plastic.
   One other thing you really want to be careful of as well, is to never wash your cast iron skillet with soap and water. You can use water and a plastic scrubby thing (no Brillo, unless plastic) when cleaning it out. I use the sprayer to make the water come out forcefully on the pan. Also, cast iron can rust if water is left on it too long.

Creme Brule from New York Times

Here is the recipe for the Creme Brule. I tried to save it in Word, but it won't let me save anything anymore.

Crème Brule

When baking the custard, a water bath is worthwhile. It makes the cooking more gentle and even. And, though it is hard to convince a novice cook of this, the custards are done in the oven when still quite jiggly in the center. Once you move the custard to the broiler, keep the door ajar so the compartment stays relatively cool, and keep a close watch.

2 cups heavy or light cream, or half-and-half

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar, more for topping

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream and vanilla bean and cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.)

2. In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of the cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool. Ramekins can be wrapped tightly and refrigerated for a couple of days.

3. When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer. Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from heat source. Turn on broiler. Cook until sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve within two hours.

Source: The New York Times

Note: I used stevia instead of sugar.

Safer Creme Brule

I am creating this blog with the hope that I can find or create nourishing recipes and food items that taste good and are healthful. I would like to find recipes that we cherish and adapt them to a nourishing standard. With that concept in mind, I will explain what I did tonight with Creme Brule!
  I found a recipe on the internet, from the New York Times for Creme Brule. I used only 4 ingredients and experimented with it. It turned out great! And I didn't use sugar either! I used a cup of milk and a cup of heavy cream. I put those in a pot with part of a vanilla bean and heated it until it was hot (not boiling). I mixed 5 egg yolks with 1/2 cup stevia in the mixer bowl. Slowly, I added the milk mixture and mixed it all together, then poured the mixture into 5 pyrex glass dessert dishes. I filled 2 pans halfway up with water and placed the dessert dishes inside of them. I put them in the oven and baked for about 40 minutes at 325. Then I sprinkled about a spoonful of stevia onto the top of each pudding and placed them back into the oven. Instead of broiling, I turned the heat to 450 and left them in the oven about 5 minutes. The tops actually got darker and looks like real Creme Brule! A word of caution with glass dishes. Years ago, Pyrex and Corningware made a strong, fireproof product, but now Pyrex and Corningware are owned by a company in China (I want to think the name is something like, New World Kitchen). The glass products that are put out by these companies are not fire proof anymore. You can't put them under a broiler, or they could break. It is very sad that even our dishes and utensils have come to this! If you make this recipe, enjoy it! It is pretty rich on it's own.
  I also made homemade whipped cream. I took some raw heavy cream and whipped it up and added stevia (I sound like a salesman for stevia!). So now there is whipped cream for the top of the pudding dishes!