Top 11 Compounds in US Drinking Water

 

Homemade Vegetable, Chicken and Beef Stocks for Making Baby Food Recipes

My Own Secrets to Making a Good Stock

• Simmering without Over-Simmering
• Skimming the cooking stock
• FRESH ingredients - you wouldn't eat those wilty, moldy veggies or 6 day old chicken in the fridge, why toss them into your stock?
• COLD water
   

We have had a lot of recent requests for "Stock" recipes.  Many parents with older babies want to use stocks to make meats, for mixing with rice and noodles etc.. All work very well and will freeze well if you follow the advice and directions below! 

Stocks are great for making soups; here's an example: take 3 cups of stock, add some rice, carrots, onions and celery coupled with some cooked diced chicken and VIOLA, soup! Simmer for 20 minutes or until veggies are soft and tender.

Please ensure that the ingredients you choose for your stock are age-appropriate for your infant!  Leave out or substitute anything you feel is not right for your baby!  All of the ingredients below should be age appropriate for the 8 month or older baby!  Happy Stocking!

Basic Soup Stocks: Vegetarian, Beef, and Chicken

"Stocks are not compost heaps. If you wouldn't eat that moldy old mushroom or aging chicken as is, then don't subject your stock to them! Yesterday's, or even last week's, vegetables are fine, as long as they're still healthy. The beauty of stock ingredients is that the ideal ingredients are usually the trimmings from the soup you're about to make (leek roots and leaves, tiny, end-of-the-head garlic cloves, potato parings, etc.)

Use a stockpot that is tall and narrow to help slow water loss from evaporation.
To extract the most flavor from your stock ingredients, start with cold water.
Meat stocks benefit from long, slow cooking. Vegetable stocks do not. Quick vegetable stocks should take 25 to 30 minutes; basic vegetable stocks, 45 minutes to one hour. Chicken or beef stocks can take anywhere from one hour to five; longer if you're using a slow cooker.

Certain herbs and vegetables will turn bitter as they steep. Strain as soon as the stock is finished. Also, some vegetables should be avoided altogether in stocks. The cabbage family (turnips, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) does not do well in stock. Nor do most powdered herbs, ground black pepper, onion skins, artichoke trimmings, or too many greens. When in doubt, simmer the ingredient separately first, and taste the water. "

How I Start A Stock

1. Gather up our chosen spices, veggies and/or meats
 
2. Decide what we will use to make the stock - crock pot, sauce pot?
 
3. Decide if a commercial stock starter will be used.  We have added a 1/2 cube of an all-natural, low sodium, no MSG broth cube. We use 14 cups of water so that the 1/2 cube of broth is negligible as far as sodium is concerned.  The choice is yours! 

4. Wash and Cleanse your veggies, rinse your meats.  
 
5. Arrange your prepared spices, meats and veggies and start stocking!

Courtesy of Healthy Cooking Tips

Chef Tim Johnson

Remember...Grace is upon you so eat to live!

Wooden or Plastic ... some myths on chopping boards (KitchenTips)

I have always opted for a wooden chopping board, simply for esthetic reasons, but at some point I was rather concered about germs that may remain in the wood. The reason for this was perhaps the fact that new plastic cutting boards were advertised on TV, trying to convince everyone that plastic was better because it is non-porous.

Then I started reading and investigating and surprisingly enough, a wooden board is no harm to you. Wood cutting boards are actually better not only for your knifes but hygene too ...

Myth 1 - wooden boards are so porous that harmful organisms such as salmonella, e-coli and listeria soak in, are hard to remove, and easily contaminate other foods placed upon it later.
Myth 2 -plastic, because it is not porous, can be more easily and safely cleaned.

The fact is that although everyone believed those myths are true, including health officials, no one actually tested them until 1993.
I read that Microbiologists at the University of Wisconsin's Food Research Institute contaminated wooden cutting boards and plastic ones with all bacteria that cause food poisoning.

What happened?

Without washing or touching the boards, the bacteria on the wooden board died off in three minutes. On the plastic board the bacteria not only remained but actually multiplied overnight.

It seems wood has a natural bacteria-killing property, which plastic does not.

Anyway, this doesn't mean you have to rush off to the shop to buy a wooden chopping board. As long as you wash the plastic with anti-bacterial cleaner, you are pretty safe

Courtesy of Healthy Cooking Tips

Chef Tim Johnson

Remember...Grace is upon you so eat to live!

Storing Fresh, Frozen or Cooked Meat Safe (KitchenTips)

So, what do you do when you get home from the supermarket?
Do you stuff everything into the fridge or do you think ahead and freeze the foods you won't be able to eat by the best before date? Or perhaps, you just leave the shopping bags on top of your worktops for few hours before you start thinking what to freeze and what to eat fresh?

When you bring fresh, cooked or frozen meat home from the supermarket it is important to follow the storage instructions on the label. Storing meat at the correct temperature and using it by the specified date prevents spoilage and the chance of food poisoning.

All raw and cooked meat is highly perishable, so it should refrigerated at a temperature between 0ºC (32ºF) and 4ºC (39ºF), or kept in the freezer at -18ºC (0ºF) or colder. If meat is left at 7ºC (44.4ºF), for example, the bacteria causing food poisoning multiply rapidly.

Bacteria begin multiplying when meat is left out of the fridge for two hours or longer, which is why it is a good idea to take your shopping straight home and into the fridge or if you plan on stopping somewhere enroute from the supermarket, you could use a cool bag.

All pre-packaged meat, including poultry, should be left in its wrapping until you are ready to cook. Loose pieces of meat should be covered loosely to allow air to circulate and keep the surface dry, inhibiting bacterial growth. Any meat that will not be used within a few days should be frozen as soon as possible.

Courtesy of Healthy Cooking Tips

Chef Tim Johnson

Remember...Grace is upon you so eat to live!

Cooking a perfect Risotto (KitchenTips)

Follow the steps below for a perfect Italian style risotto.

The ingredients for risotto vary from recipe to recipe but the basic ones are:

4-6 cups HOT vegetable/chicken/beef stock (broth)
3 tbsp butter
1 cup minced onion
2 cups Arborio, Vialone Nano, or Carnaroli rice
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Steps:

1. Heat a heavy duty saucepan on LOW and melt 2 tablespoons butter.

2. Add the minced onions to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the rice to cooked onions, stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for approximately 2 minutes. It is important that you do not rinse the rice before cooking as rinsing will remove the starch that gives risotto its creamy texture. Frying the rice with the onions means that grains will be coated with liquid-resistant fats which will prevent them from quickly absorbing the cooking liquid.

4. Add enough HOT stock to cover the rice. Stir with a wooden spoon. The liquid must be hot to keep the temperature in the pot constant without interrupting the cooking process. It acts as a melding agent - by releasing the rice's starch.

5. Bring mixture to a gentle boil, stirring frequently. As liquid evaporates, add more. The ratio of rice to stock is approximately 1 to 3, but the amount might vary. The liquid should be added in small amounts, ½ to 1 cup at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.

6. The rice will roughly double in volume when cooked.
Begin tasting the rice after 15 minutes of cooking. Continue testing until the texture is al dente.

A properly cooked risotto is creamy (what Italians refer to as "ben mantecato"), not soupy. The grains of rice should remain "al dente" or slightly resilient to the bite.

7. When the rice is cooked, stir in the remaining butter and the cheese, remove from heat and serve immediately.

Serving immediately produces the best results - before the rice absorbs additional moisture causing a gummy texture.

Couryesy of Cooking Tips

Chef Tim Johnson

remember...Grace is upon you so eat to live!

  While food safety controls are being tweaked, here are 15 tips on making your food safer, from the market to the table.

1. Consider your source.  Eating locally grown food is becoming more popular, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's safer than supermarket produce.

Locally grown food is pretty much on par with what you would find in a supermarket, in terms of food safety.

At farmers markets, you may get the chance to meet and talk with the people who produced your food.

Farmers markets have become more common, with 4,385 U.S. farmers markets in 2006, up from 1,755 farmers markets in 1994, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Eating food shipped from overseas? The melamine-tainted animal feed ingredients came from China. But that doesn't mean that all imported food is suspect.

"The assumption that the imported products are unsafe is absolutely not true. In fact, there are as many outbreaks associated with foods grown in the United States. So blaming it on imported products, I think, is a cop-out.

2. Map your supermarket route. Don't cruise the store aisles aimlessly. Gather nonperishable items first, fresh or frozen goods last. That strategy minimizes the time that perishable goods sit in your shopping cart instead of in a freezer or refrigerator.

 3. Be choosy. Select fresh produce that isn't bruised or damaged. Check that eggs aren't cracked. Look for a clean meat or fish counter and a clean salad bar. Don't buy bulging or dented cans, cracked jars, or jars with loose or bulging lids. If fresh-cut produce (such as half a watermelon or bagged salad mixes) is on your shopping list, choose those that are refrigerated or surrounded by ice.

4. Pack it up. At the grocery store, bag fresh fruits and vegetables separately from meat, poultry, and seafood products.

Bring an ice chest to keep frozen or perishable items if it will take more than an hour to get those items home.

No ice chest? If it's hot outside, put the groceries in the air-conditioned passenger area of your car instead of putting them in the trunk, which may not have air-conditioning.

5. Keep your kitchen clean. Wash your cutting boards, countertops, refrigerator, pots, and utensils regularly in hot, soapy water, especially after they've been in contact with raw meat, poultry, and seafood.

6. Check your cutting boards. They shouldn't have lots of cracks and crevices where bacteria can lurk.  

7. Sanitize. The FDA recommends periodically sanitizing your cutting boards, countertops, and kitchen sink drain with a homemade mixture of one teaspoon of chlorine bleach to one quart of water.

Sponges and dishcloths can house bacteria, so wash them weekly in hot water in the washing machine.

8. Store your food properly. Refrigerate frozen and perishable items as soon as possible.

Don't store foods near household chemicals or cleaning products. Some produce -- like onions and potatoes -- don't need to go in the refrigerator, but don't store them under the sink, where they could be damaged by leaky pipes.

9. Check the refrigerator and freezer temperature. Set the refrigerator temperature to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, set the freezer to zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Use a refrigerator thermometer to check those temperatures periodically.

10. Wash your hands. Before you handle food, lather up with soap and hot water, washing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Repeat after handling produce, meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.

11. Wash fruits and vegetables in running water. A small scrub brush may help, but don't use soap or other detergents to wash produce.

What about produce washes? "All of these solutions and washes may have some applications but studies show that washing with water is as safe as anything else," says Pillai, who calls water the "most effective, the safest, and the cheapest" way to wash produce.

12. Thaw foods in the refrigerator, not on the countertop. It may take longer, but it's safer.

13. Cook foods thoroughly. Use a meat thermometer to make sure meat is fully cooked. Never put cooked meats on an unwashed plate or platter that has held raw meat.

14. Store leftovers safely. Refrigerate leftovers in tight containers as soon as possible and use them within three days. When in doubt, throw it out.

15. Maintain perspective. There's no such thing as a zero risk. There's no such thing as a sterile product..

Everyone in the U.S. should get more education about food safety, so the responsibilities are being spread all across from the proverbial farm to fork.

While you can't control everything that affects your food, you should not lose a sense of reality. I still believe that we have one of the safest supplies of food in the world.

Courtesy of Healthy Cooking Tips

Chef Tim Johnson

Remember...Grace is upon you so eat to live!