Cookware Gallery
Archive for August, 2010
Can We Be Healthy and Sweet?
Today’s foods are far removed from the original, as are most of our attitudes about food. Today we tend to feed out appetite instead of our body. Consider this intrusion into our diet, one having enormous impact on health and family well-being.
For millennia our ancestors searched the seasonal savannah and gathered nutrients from the bounty of Eden. Whole and unadulterated foods rich in fiber, minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates and proteins were naturally selected—a wise mix by which the miraculous (and resilient) human body adapted and thrived over eons.
Around 500 A.D., refined sugar arrived on the scene and the spice of sweetness began navigating the trade routes.
By 1647, Dr. Thomas Willis (a medical man of considerable training) observed a disease he referred to as Diabetes and its prevalence among those who could afford to feed their sweet tooth.
By 1997, the US Department of Agriculture determined our average consumption of this new substance had reached 154 pounds per individual per year. Corporate sponsored science is always cautious to draw causality, so just let the graph speak for itself.
Natural sweeteners abound: honey, barley malt, maple, sucanat, stevia, rapidura, raw cane juice and agave—all easily replace refined sugar. Molasses, which is simply the nutrient waste of refined sugar, is a wonderful sweetener to cook with, rich in fiber and glycemic (insulin) moderators–the very nutrients our body needs to effectively mitigate the onslaught of sweet (…so why does industry take the goodness out?).
Hypothesis: can we be healthy and sweet?
Corollary: does waterless cooking retain nature’s honest sweet?
Result: Tastefully cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Fairness: for a multi-billion $ corporate view of sugary goodness, visit: SweetSurprise
Black Rice, the New Brown
In a previous post on the health advantages and benefits of long grain brown rice (see Rice: the Long and the Short), it was noted that parboiled non-milled varieties of rice preserve nature’s honest food value.
There is better news of course in Mother Nature’s pantry. Ancient Chinese custom has it that a rare black rice so tasty and nutritious of a kind, only emperors were allowed to eat it.
Although black rice is still relatively rare, it’s distinctive flavor and mix of robust antioxidants is now generally available.
If you’ve never heard of black rice, much less seen it, the dark-hued grain is now in supermarkets such as Whole Foods and appears to be gaining a foothold in kitchens and restaurants throughout the U.S.
Like brown rice, black rice is full of antioxidant-rich bran found in the outer layer (nutrients sadly sacrificed during the milling process to make white/quick-cook rice). Black Rice Bran contains antioxidants known as anthocyanins, purple and reddish pigments — found in blueberries, grapes, and acai — antioxidants linked to decreased risk of heart disease and cancer, improvements in memory, and other health benefits.
One spoonful of black-rice bran — or 10 spoonfuls of cooked black rice — contains a healthful amount of anthocyanins according to a new study recently presented at the American Chemical Society, in Boston. For those aware of acai health benefits, this is good news. For information, links to the study and more: Health.com via CNN
A reminder that waterless cookware retains the natural goodness of Mother Nature’s honest efforts–the only cookware capable of preserving 98% of Mother’s nutrient value. Other cookwares simply can’t measure up to our waterless performance. Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Monday Mornings: a Story Behind the Numbers
Statistics are funny things easily spun, but there’s always a story behind the numbers.
- 50 years ago, the average American family spent 2% of food dollars in restaurants
- 25 years ago, the average American family spent 25% of food dollars on restaurant meals.
- Today over 65% of family food dollars are spent at restaurants—especially fast food eateries.
It’s commonly known that restaurants appeal to taste by adding thick, rich, unbalanced highly saturated fats to much of the food served. Most burger joints use something less than a 70%/30% meat-to-fat ratio. 60/40%? Tasty, but not healthy.
On the other hand, growing interest in organically grown produce and free range meats continues to drive down the costs of these unadulterated foods. From 5% of market share three years ago, organic produce now claims over 20% of the market. Support sustainable farming and ranching; shop local meat sources, take advantage of seasonal produce abundance, and retain their wholesome goodness using waterless cooking methods.
Inside the food friendly, cook-friendly, health-friendly beauty and durability of stainless steel waterless cookware is an attitude about food, diet and change, about reverence for nature’s complexity and appreciation of simpler values. Eating a balanced diet daily helps avoid so many ills. Did you know that a well balanced diet mollifies stress? True, a stressed body (nutritionally malnourished) feeds a stressed mind.
For example, after a relatively restful and rejuvenating weekend it’s reasonable to assume Americans could handle the stress of a new workweek. And yet:
- 80% of heart attacks occur 8:00am to 10:00am Monday mornings.
- 70% of strokes occur 8:00am to noon Monday mornings.
The mind is just a sail; the body is the ship. Stay afloat!
Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Get The Sugar Out
Ann Louise Gittleman has amassed some startling data about the ill effects of sugar on the body human. In her book Get The Sugar Out (2008) Gittleman tells an engaging story about our sweet tooth and the havoc it plays on the chemistry of our health, especially the health of our children.
Very helpful are Gittleman’s practical steps to take when navigating free of the addictive sugar high.
Of her top ten tips, consider those that have at their center an appreciation for the honest value of real food in the diet, foods that revive and revitalize from the inside out, the kind of food at the center of waterless cooking:
1) stop adding sugar to anything
2) eliminate processed carbohydrates from your kitchen
3) stick with unprocessed whole foods
4) thin out sweetener substitutes (just as addictive)
5) avoid fat-free foods (loaded with sugar)
6) the more natural the food the better
7) become a food detective (understand labels)
eat for nutrition as well as taste
9) listen to your body (her previous book Your Body Knows Best)
10) eat regular, balanced meals
Speaking to the essential Tools of the Trade (in trade for the old sugar habit), Gittleman recommends every kitchen have at least the following:
- Blender
- Food processor
- Good set of knives
- Steaming rack (stainless steel)
- Quality waterless cookware
Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Waterless iPhones “…in the News”
With so many consumers now using smartphones, insurers are seeing an increase in “gadget” claims. One-in-five iPhone users have made an insurance claim during the past 12 months. One insurance provider notes the serendipity of incoming claims, from “I dropped it from a hot air balloon” to “I accidentally buried it in the garden.”
Of interest here at the blog are more common mishaps: “I dropped it in a blender” or “It fell in my boiling kettle” and a really odd one: “I defrosted it with the meat.” Some explanations deserve a little more context (…was this iPhone already frozen?).
Just so you know, these claims are from the U.K., a place where:
1) more than 75% of households own and use stainless steel waterless cookware (@ 28% in the U.S.);
2) there are 10 times more organic farms in Europe than in the U.S.;
3) the incidence of heart disease, stroke and diabetes is nearly half that of Americans.
Two Morals from the Brits:
…best to step away from the stove when on your cell;
…prevention is still 90% of the cure—waterless stainless cookware.
Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Saute: Sear in the Flavor
One of the most common pieces of cookware is the sauté pan, and it’s also one of the pieces that is misused most often. I know, cooking is a matter of personal preference, but sautéing is a specific method, and there are certainly right and wrong ways to do it.
Before you begin, you will want to ensure all of the pieces are of uniform shape and size to ensure even cooking. Start by heating your cooking fluid in the saute pan (recommend reserved stock rich in natural oils, nutrients and flavors, or virgin oils–olive or coconut–light on butter). You want the pan to be piping hot before you add the food in order to achieve a good sear.
It should be noted that searing and sautéing are two distinct methods, since searing only cooks the surface of the food. Sautéing is meant to be a fast cooking process, so avoid overcrowding the pan which inhibits your ability to sear food and the resulting drop in pan temperature will alter outcomes.
Stir Fry Basics
Our August 17 post discussed a few rice cooking tips. Remember that results vary by type of rice (short or long grained for example), so choose rice based on desired outcome.
A common Rule of Thumb for cooking:
1) two parts water to one part rice;
2) Bring water to a boil, add rice, turn heat to low or off, stir and cover (close waterless vent if applicable to your cookware);
3) Cooking time varies, depending on type of rice (short/medium or long/wild grain, fissured or whole grain for example).
Unique to stainless steel waterless cookware is the ability to distribute and maintain consistent temperature. This is the ideal environment for achieving evenly cooked, steamy moist rice every time.
With long-grain brown rice, it’s best to start rice first given it’s longer cooking time. Nutrient-rich brown rice is then ready to serve when Stir Fry is done (25 to 30 minutes).
Stir Fry recipes are as varied as cooks who prepare these tasty servings. Depending on diet, stir fry is equally at home on rice, fresh salads, pasta, potato, squash, cubed buns or crispy dry flatbreads. Entrees, tastes and textures are innumerable.
A meat marinade is a great way to begin. Michelle Smith offers a tasty & basic recipe (below), but consider omitting oils called for. Oils and fats distort taste, are not health-friendly and unwanted when using nontoxic, nonstick waterless cookware. Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
| 3/4 cup sherry or chicken broth 1/3 cup soy sauce 1 small onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 pound boneless beef top round steak, cut into 2-inch strips 3/4 lb boneless chicken breasts (cut to 1/2 inch cubes) |
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided 3 medium carrots julienne 1 cup fresh broccoli florets 1 medium green pepper julienne 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro 12 cups torn mixed salad greens 3 peeled oranges, cut to 1/2″ pieces |
| 1. | In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Pour 2/3 cup marinade into a large resealable plastic bag; add beef. Pour 1/3 cup marinade into another plastic bag; add chicken. Seal bags and turn to coat; refrigerate for up to 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade. |
| 2. | Drain and discard marinade from beef and chicken. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1-1/2 teaspoons oil; stir-fry beef until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. In the same pan, stir-fry chicken in 1-1/2 teaspoons oil until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm. Stir-fry carrots and broccoli in remaining oil for 5 minutes. Add the green pepper, onion and mushrooms; stir-fry for 5-6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in cilantro and reserved marinade. |
| 3. | Toss salad greens and oranges; place on a large serving plate. Top with the stir-fried beef, chicken and vegetables. |
RICE: the Long and the Short
Sticky or clingy rice (more often than not) is the result of the type of rice cooked, not the cooking or the cook. Similarly, light fluffy individuated rice is also the outcome of the type of rice used. If your rice isn’t cooking the way you desire, it isn’t you. It’s more likely the type of rice.
If sticky or clingy rice is the outcome desired (for rice balls, wraps, sushi, clumps ideal for chop sticks), consider short-grain or medium grain parboiled or converted rice. For light fluffy rice, use long-grained rice varieties.
Brown rice can be short, medium or long grained. This type of rice requires two-to-three times longer to cook but the health advantages shouldn’t be dismissed because of time. Brown rice has retained the outer fruit and seed coats, the embryo, plus the oil- and enzyme-rich aleurone layer. During a normal cooking cycle, the nutrients of brown rice seep into the germ adding color, aroma, and a taste often referred to as mildly nutty.
Milled white rice, for the most, is mainly starch and protein. Quick cook rice (white, brown, or parboiled) is fissured to disrupt the cell wall of the grain. Methods of producing fissured rice include dry heat, rolling, microwaving or freeze-drying. Fissured rice more readily absorbs water, thus quick cooked. But faster is not necessarily better in the long run. Much is sacrificed as the whole rice kernel is milled into a ghost of its natural self.
In the short run, choose the type of rice designed to achieve the result you want.
Next up on the blog: Stir Fry using the unique advantages and benefits of stainless steel waterless cookware to achieve optimal retention of nature’s good bounty—in the stir, and the rice. Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Summer Fajitas
Want to change up the usual burgers & dogs on the outdoor grill? Explore the world of Fajitas!
Easily prepared, Fajitas are flavored by a cornucopia of recipes and one’s own tasteful imagination—whether Latin, Cajun, Gyro, sweet Island blends to cosmopolitan fare—they are scrumptious, fresh and nutritious.
Prepare your entree (15 minutes or less): Cube & sear meat—beef, chicken, pork, lamb, shrimp, scallop, for example. For a quick refresher, see our post on searing meat for waterless cooking tips. And keep in mind that waterless cookware is ideally suited for, and right at home on, the outdoor grill.
Steam your Vegetables: assorted vegetables (peppers, onions, carrots, corn, and beans) can be lightly steamed by folding them into the seared meats.
Add the final touches: To finish off, serve chilled leafs (watercress for a tangy whim), sprouts, tomatoes and citrus with a choice of cheese or other dairy accent. Tease your palate with around-the-world flavors and dashes of your own favorite spices. We personalize our Fajita recipes by adding humus and, occasionally, dried soy nuts for a little crunch. 
Invite your family & friends to a new backyard taste. Fresh Flatbread (dough prepared earlier in the day–watch the video) toasted on the outdoor grill (3 minutes) adds much to the aroma, taste and moist texture of Fajitas. Enjoy these worldly wraps easily prepared on the outback grill. Serve iced citrus beverages of choice & savor the change in latitude & attitude.
Making Flatbread from Scratch < (video link) …Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Debunking the Bunk
Opinions are a mile wide and run just as deep.
I noticed this headline on Google the other day: “’Waterless’ Cookware is, as you have surmised, basically a scam for preying on health oriented consumers.” The statement seemed offensive enough to pursue so I followed the thread to ChefTalk, signed up, got comfortable and settled in for an entertaining read.
The quote came from a chef in response to a young man’s post (dated Nov 2008). The young man was asking for help in determining the best affordable cookware to buy for his family. He mentioned seeing a Waterless Cookware demonstration and the thread went on from there (see our July 21 post – “The $2500 Cookware Set…? with respect to county fair or home demonstrations). If you’re interested in comments posted to the ChefTalk forum on waterless cookware, click this link to ChefTalk.
The Chef went on to say, “There is no evidence that waterless cookware produces healthier foods than other pots and pans. The logic behind it holds up only as long as the salesman is talking.”
For the sake of fair play, I registered as ‘Home Cook’ at ChefTalk and added comment to the thread. I believe it important to recognize the difference between opinion and honest science. People are entitled to both, of course, but in the constant pander of self-promoting title and entitlements, a whisper of truth can be difficult to hear.
As family cook, I hold a more humble reverence for evidence, science and nature. Just my opinion, but a well-schooled chef wouldn’t proclaim ignorance in the face of solid science and nutrition. A well-seasoned chef, one of good taste anyway, wouldn’t use title to be condescending nor to intimidate curious, health-oriented consumers. It’s all rather tasteless for a Chef.
Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive
UPDATE: Sept 23, 2010. “Debunking the Bunk” has been a popular post and privately, some folks have pointed out that we offered no ‘science’ in this post to support the claim that waterless cookware is in fact a more nutritious way to cook. Please reference our blog posts: Vegetables: the Minerals of Health and Veggie Wars. These posts link to seminal research and, for a litany of good science thereafter, demonstrate an ever-widening confirmation that low-pressure steam cooking (waterless cooking) is the most food-friendly, cook-friendly, health-friendly method we have.
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