NEW BLOG ADDRESS

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE MOVED OUR BLOG TO http://www.cuisinewithpanache.wordpress.com/

MOVING OUR BLOG MAKES IT EASIER FOR VISITORS AND FOLLOWERS TO POST COMMENTS.  CHECK OUT MY RECIPE FOR SALVATORE RICOTTA CHEESE...RICH, SMOOTH AND CREAMY USING ONLY 4 INGEDIENTS, ALL AT THE NEW BLOG ADDRESS.

ALL THE BEST,
CHEF KEN

Fresh Cheddar Cheese

Fresh Cheddar Cheese...Ready to eat in 30 days

Put Your Heart Into It.

Three months ago today I underwent Open Heart Surgery to repair an Ascending Aortic Aneurysm that was on the verge of exploding. My Cardiologist, during a routine annual stress test, saw a small shadow on my chest x-ray and sent me to Cedars-Sinai for an MRI which discovered a very large Aneurysm that could have ruptured at any time. How is this pertinent to a Food Blog? Well it's this, since food has alot to do with your health, I've been bombarded with information on what to eat and how to change my diet so to become healthier and protect my Heart from further disease. Jump forward to the present… I've started Cardiac Rehab Physical Therapy to help rebuild my stamina and strength and one of the things the program offers is a consultation with a Certified Dietitian. I thought this would be interesting as I've never talked to a Dietitian before.   She's about food…I'm about food.

The meeting was very pleasant and interesting. This woman knew more about food than I knew there was food to be known about. She could rattle off statistics about a Big Mac or an avocado in a flash. I was impressed. We talked about HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, Antioxidants, Sugar, Salt, etc. I already knew that salt and fat wasn't good for a healthy heart and always believed that all food should be eaten in moderation. I said I believed in moderation, not practicing it! So here I am fresh out of the hospital after undergoing surgery and 20 pounds overweight. I was plagued with the dilemma of what I learned as a Chef, “butter, salt and fat are good” and wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, what side of the road should I drive? Coming to the conclusion and returning to my old mantra “all things in moderation”, I would adjust my diet to be healthier without depriving myself of some of the things I've learned to love over the years. Tricky right? Not really. It's just a matter of educating yourself, making a plan and executing the plan!  The Dietitian gave me some terrific ideas on how to eliminate some of the salt and fat from my diet without sacrificing flavor. Keep in mind this Dietitian is a Vegetarian and I'm a Carnivore so there were a few things I found hard to swallow (no pun intended) but nevertheless very helpful in my quest to lose weight and become healthier. She doesn't like butter, prefers smart beat. I like butter, don't like the chemicals in margarine.  Solution…don't slather everything in butter and instead use unsalted butter in moderation.  When she goes to a restaurant she orders pizza with whole wheat crust, roasted vegetables and no cheese. I almost ran from her office screaming “PIZZA WITH NO CHEESE!” The roasted vegetable idea sounds good but no cheese? Once again I’ll apply my philosophy of moderation, easy cheese please and low sodium if possible!

And one more thing I changed the name of my blog to  "Been There, Done That, Eat This"

which will most likely be the name of my cookbook... 

Hope you all enjoyed reading my Blog.

Chef Ken

Some of you been asking for recipes, here's one I made yesterday. Even though it's vegetarian it's yummy for meat eaters too. I used soy burger instead of beef and no salt added beans and corn to make it a little healthier for people who are watching their salt. Believe me there is still plenty of salt in the recipe due to the soy burger and the canned roasted chilies. Next time I try this recipe I'll roast my own chilies (fire roasted Anaheim chilies) and find a less sodium laden soy burger product.   Now that I've figured out how to put photographs with my recipes, on my blog I'll be posting a lot more recipes. Can you believe it I took this picture with my phone.
Chef Ken

Vegetarian Chili

1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup onion chopped
1/4 cup celery  chopped with leaves
1 tablespoon jalapeno chilies, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
14 oz soy burger
1 tablespoon garlic clove, minced
2 each bay leaf
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 cup diced green chili
28 oz tomato, crushed
1/4 cup chili powder
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans        no salt added
1 can (15 oz) corn, canned       no salt added
1 can (15 oz) black beans         no salt added
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas            no salt added
2 cups water

1. In a large sauce pan heat oil and sauté onions, celery, jalapeno, garlic, until onion is transparent.

2. Add soy burger and mash with potato masher to break soy burger into small chunks, sauté until soy is browned.

3. Add bay leaf, cumin, Italian seasoning, green chilies, crushed tomato, chili powder and water simmer covered for 30 minutes, adding additional water if chili starts get dry.

4. Add kidney beans, corn, black beans, chickpeas simmer an additional 15 minutes. 

5. Serve with your favorite bread.

Servings: 13

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/13 of a recipe (7 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 158.05                                                  
Calories From Fat (22%) 34.33                                
Calories From Protein (24%) 37.45                    
Calories From Carbohydrates (55%) 86.27
Calories From Alcohol (0%) 0
% Daily Value
Total Fat 3.92g 6%
Saturated Fat 0.44g 2%
Monounsaturated Fat 1.22g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.49g
Trans Fatty Acids 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 326.39mg 14%
Potassium 476.84mg 14%
Total Carbohydrates 22.73g 8%
Fiber 6.64g 27%
Sugar 1.91g
Net Carbohydrates 16.09g
Protein 10.43g 21%

Seasonal Fruits & Vegetables

Last week I talked about the kind of additives put into frozen convenience food and fresh is always better than frozen and that seasonal fruits and vegetables are better still. So what is fresh? Can’t you just walk over to the produce section of your local supermarket and grab a few tomatoes and oranges, they’re fresh right? Of course they are but some may be fresher than others. We live in Southern California and through improvements in trade, it’s possible that nearly any type of produce can be purchased all year long. There's no question some foods taste better and have better vitamin quality during local harvest season. I believe that's why people crave in-season fruits and veggies during certain times of the year. With the start of Summer in just a few days, it's good to know which fruits and vegetables are in season for this area so we can buy the freshest, tastiest and

healthiest produce we can. Not to mention buying local is good for the environment, a smaller carbon footprint if you will. Here is a list of seasonal Summer fruits for Southern California. (Local spring vegetables are usually still in good supply)

Apricots            Cherries          Grapes             Plums             Yellow Squash

Blackberries      Corn               Green beans     Peppers

Blueberries        Cucumber       Melons             Raspberries

Cantaloupe        Eggplant         Nectarines        Tomatoes

Carrots              Fresh herbs    Okra                 Tropical fruits

Celery               Garlic              Peaches           Watermelon

For a more extensive, list check out the website below:

http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/?page_id=996

If you don't live in So Cal it’s easy to find a list of seasonal fruits for your area on the web.  Google “Seasonal Local Produce”.

Another reason buying local and seasonal fruits and vegetables is this, some fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes and melons when out of season are picked green or slightly ripe and shipped from Mexico or Chile and other places. Picking green or unripe produce doesn't give fruits or vegetables time to extract its optimal amount of vitamins and flavor from the soil and the sun and it may take days or even weeks before those items reach the supermarkets. That's why melons and tomatoes in the Winter have little or no taste. Some produce is even gassed in sealed rooms with Ethylene gas to ripen. Even though Ethylene gas is a naturally occurring gas from some fruits and vegetables, forcing it to ripen in this way still does not impair the lost vitamins and flavor. That's why putting unripe produce such as avocados in a brown paper bag will help then to ripen. The Ethylene gas given off by the avocado is trapped in the bag and ripens the avocado.

One last thing, buying in season saves you $$$$.

Happy Shoppn’ and  Good Cookn’

Chef Ken

Fresh Vs. Frozen Convenience

Some years ago I was asked to put on a demo comparing Supermarket bought frozen food to freshly made packaged food at a local Health Food Market by

purchasing the most T.V. popular frozen foods in the market. I went to work first by researching every ingredient listed on the side of the box that I couldn’t pronounce or didn’t know off the top of my head. Using “a Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives”, By Ruth Winter M.S., I found some of the ingredients being put into our food are chemical flavor enhancers, stabilizers (for long term freezer storage), texturizers and artificial colors. I also learned about “GRAS” (Generally Regarded as Safe), a rating by governmental agencies such as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), sometimes given to an ingredient in order to rush it to market before all the research has been analyzed and the product thoroughly tested. This is do to politics, lack of money and a shortage of scientists and/or market pressure. When researched farther, I found ingredients that might be harmful and some even regarded as Cancer Causing. Here are a few of these ingredients on the list to watch out for:

MALTODEXTRIN the sugar obtained by hydrolysis of starch. A combination of maltol and dextrin used as a texturizer and flavor enhancer in candies, particularly chocolate.

MALTOL a white crystalline powder with a butterscotch odor found in the bark of young larch trees, pine seeds, chicory wood tars and roasted malt. It imparts a “freshly baked” odor and flavor to breads & cakes. Used as a synthetic chocolate, coffee, fruit, maple, nut and vanilla flavoring agent for beverages, ice cream, ices, candy, baked goods, gelatin desserts, chewing gum and jelly.

DEXTRIN AKA British gum. White or yellow powder produced from starch and used as a foam stabilizer for beer, a diluting agent for dry extracts and pills, in polishing cereals, for preparing emulsions and dry bandages, for thickening industrial dye pastes, and in matches, fireworks, and explosives. Also used as a thickener in cream and cosmetics. May cause allergic reaction.

Here is my favorite…

SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE a texturizer and subsequent clearing for use in food starch modifiers, a water softener, also cleared by the USDA Meat Inspection Department to preserve meat by decreasing cooked-out juices in canned hams, pork shoulders, chopped hams and bacon. Also used as a dilutant for Citrus Red No. 2 which is used in angel food cake mix, beef, desserts, gelling juice, goat, canned ham, lamb, lima beans, meatloaf, meat toppings, meringues, and mutton. Also used in canned peas, pork, poultry, sausage products and veal. It may deplete the body of calcium if taken in sufficient amounts, and such a case of low calcium was reported in a patient poisoned with a water softener. Also used in bubble bath and as a texturizer in soap. It is a crystalline salt which is moderately irritating to the skin and mucus membranes. Ingestion can cause violent purging.

The point I’m trying to make here is that “Fresh Made From Scratch” is always healthier than packaged frozen convenience food. Seasonal local fruits and vegetables are better still, which I will dissect and Blog next week. Also coming soon to my Blog will be some ideas about The Green Sustainable from Farm to Fork movement. The ingredients listed above were found in “HEALTHY CHOICE BRAND” frozen dinners. If you still insist on purchasing packaged frozen convenience food, “Weight Watchers Brand” and “Lean Cuisine Brand” came out on top as the healthiest.

Wishing you all the best and healthy cooking,

Chef Ken

Le Cuisine de Hospital

Two months ago I was put into the hospital to undergo heart surgery for a congenital heart condition (Bicuspid aortic valve stenosis, ascending aortic aneurysm and a bypass). After nearly 9 hours under the lamps in the OR, I had more tubes coming out of my body than Chipmunks have nuts. With orders from the Doctors (I had 8) and my Surgeon I was to eat nothing but what was on the Special No Salt Cardiac Menu. Not having had anything to eat in nearly 3 days, one might say anything would taste good... not so!  That first bite was so bad I thought maybe the Surgeon had accidentally severed my taste buds from my brain.

For 5 and a half days I was subjected to culinary torture. Waiting in my room 3 times a day to see how science had manipulated the food to new low flavor standards. I started to get desperate.

I offered to buy my nephew's half eaten In and Out burger for 20 bucks he had left from his lunch.

I begged nurses to bring me the one thing in the cardiac floor food pantry that had any salt, Ry Krisp crackers.

Visitors unwillingly taunted me to the edge of sanity by bringing in outside food to consume as I choked down my lunch devoid of flavor.

I dreamt of Mario, Gordon, Emeril, Wolfgang and yes even Rachael.

Someone must have developed a machine that can suck even naturally occuring salt from food. I couldn’t believe how bland some of the food was. The matzo ball soup was a wet cracker ball floating in hot cloudy water to give it the look that chicken might have been in the broth at one time or another, maybe to wash its feet. If it wasn’t for my wife being there every minute of the visiting hour schedule, I’ve would have gone mad. She wiped my sweaty foodie brow assuring me there was still pizza on the outside.

All in all I was not sentenced to a life of no salt. My Cardiologist recommends no more than 3000 mg of sodium per day (thats about 1.25 teaspoons of table salt). Excess salt puts stress on the heart and arteries by increasing blood pressure that can cause aneurysms, which can burst and put you under in 2 minutes, ala John Ritter. So the moral of the story is all things in moderation, get a doggy bag and please try some fresh herbs and less salt.

Chef Ken Kline

This is a test photo for my new blog, wasn't sure how it would work, putting a photo onto my blog.
Photo of me playing with fire and getting ready to serve a Gourmet Pasta Bar at a wedding I catered.

Day one, Food with Panache blog

Today's June 2, 2011
First day of my new blog, this blog is linked to my catering business Panache Catering. However I'll be touching on subjects above and beyond and including catering. Such as food and politics, travel and food, restaurant reviews, recipes, cooking techniques and secrets, photos and stories about recent parties we've catered pretty much anything having to do with food. I have no expectations how, if at all this blog will develop. That all depends on my followers and feedback. So if you can imagine a bottle of champagne smashed on the bow of a ship, I launch my blog, hope it doesn't sink!