US Foreign Policy

Kitchen Tip: How to Keep Herbs Happy

2010-09-02T18:14:14+00:00

With aromatic herbs always on hand, you can use less cream, oil, and salt in marinades and sauces. Here's how to keep these natural flavor boosters at the ready.

Treat fresh herbs just like fresh flowers.

Trim the stems at a 45-degree angle, and place in a glass with two inches of water. Refrigerate for up to two weeks (cover the leaves with an unsealed plastic bag to minimize odor absorption), replacing the water if it gets cloudy.

Dry hardy-leaf herbs like thyme, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves.

Working with one herb variety at a time, wash thoroughly, blot dry, and spread the leaves in a single layer on a paper towel. Microwave in 30-second intervals, turning leaves over for even drying, until crisp and brittle. Microwave times will vary, but the whole process should take no more than two to three minutes total.

Freeze soft-leaf herbs like dill, mint, parsley, basil, and chives.

Place whole sprigs, chopped leaves, or whole leaves in a tightly sealed plastic bag for up to six months. When cooking, defrosting is unnecessary--just break off leaves and add them to the skillet.

Easy Weeknight Dinner

2010-09-02T18:04:43+00:00

Delicious for sauerkraut lovers and easy to double for a larger crowd,

6-8 ServingsPrep: 10 min. Bake: 1 hour

Ingredients

* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes with liquid, cut up
* 1 can (16 ounces) sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
* 1-1/2 cups cooked rice
* 1 medium green pepper, chopped

Directions

* In a skillet, brown the ground beef and onion; drain. Add remaining

* ingredients; transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at
350° for 1 hour. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 170 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 28 mg cholesterol, 594 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 12 g protein.
Click here to find out more!

Indian Pudding in Sturbridge Massachusetts (with recipe!)

2010-08-26T01:57:07+00:00

Indian Pudding was on the menus absolutely everywhere we went in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. We finally tried it the day we had lunch at the Old Sturbridge Village Tavern.

We were expecting a dish something like southern classics corn pone (an eggless corn bread), corn pudding (somwhere between a quiche and a souffle), or spoon bread (a pudding-like bread).

We couldn’t have been more wrong!

It turns out that Indian Pudding, which originated in New England, is a spicy baked pudding made chiefly of cornmeal, milk, and molasses. The name Indian pudding comes from the addition of cornmeal—early colonists called most everything made with corn “Indian.” Originally the pudding was cooked in a pot over the open hearth and was very dense.

And it is NOTHING like the southern dishes we had in mind.

Indian pudding is traditionally serviced with ice cream, whipped cream, or hard sauce for a reason. We declined all of the above, and quickly regretted our choice.

What we received was essentially big bowl of warm molasses, slightly diluted with cornmeal and ginger. It was astoundingly strong in flavour.

Neil, a molasses fan, thought the Indian Pudding was amazing. I found it too sweet to eat.

I also got so loopy from the iron and sugar in just a spoonful that I spent the afternoon running and whooping up and down the dirt roads of historic Old Sturbridge Village (OSV). (Picture an overstimulated child the day after Halloween: that was me. Parents and school teachers will know exactly what I’m talking about.)

To put that phenomenal sugar rush into perspective, the OSV tinker told us that the early settlers at Sturbridge ate an average diet of 5,000 calories a day, and yet had life expectancies into the 70′s and 80′s: they burned off the calories with hard physical labour.

Indian Pudding had to go a long way to making up those 5,000 calories.

This is a good dish to serve on the crisp autumn weekend you fill your cellar with wood for the winter. Or the day you shovel driveways—for your entire zip code.

It should also be a big winner with any anemics or vegan vampires you have over for Thanksgiving dinner.

You can find recipes for Indian Pudding in both Fanny Farmer and the Joy of Cooking, or you can try this recipe from Jasper White’s Cooking from New England via Steven Frederick’s blog.

Indian Pudding

* 2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
* 3 cups milk
* 5 Tablespoons yellow cornmeal or johnnycake meal
* 1/3 cup molasses
* 1/3 cup maple syrup
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
* ½ teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 egg beaten
* 1 cup cold milk
* Heavy or light cream for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Grease a 1 ½ quart soufflé mold or baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter; set aside.
3. Heat 3 cups of milk in a saucepan until it is close to a boil.
4. Add the cornmeal and reduce heat to low. Stir until the mixture thickens (about 5 minutes).
5. Remove from the heat and add the remaining butter, the molasses, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, ginger and egg.
6. Pour into buttered mold or dish.
7. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
8. Pour the cold milk over the pudding and return to the oven.
9. Cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes more or until the top is brown and crisp.
10. Serve hot with cream.

Serves 6 to 8 people.

And if Indian Pudding isn’t hearty enough for your tastes, you might want to try flumadiddle: a baked main course pudding from New England made with stale bread, molasses, spices and pork fat.

Enjoy your taste of Massachusetts!

Apple Cider Doughnuts

2010-08-25T20:53:41+00:00

Apple Season is Just Around the Corner. Picking at Northwest Orchards in Douglas starts September 4th.

What is better on a Sunday afternoon than coffee and donuts? or milk and donuts?

Ingredient List

Makes 18 mini doughnuts

* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
* 1 cup apple cider
* 1 1/2 tsp. egg replacer, such as Ener-G
* 1/3 cup soymilk
* 5 Tbs. apple butter or applesauce
* 4 Tbs. nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
* 1/2 cup superfine sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat doughnut pan with cooking spray.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in large bowl.

3. Bring cider to a boil in small saucepan. Boil 10 minutes, or until liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup; remove from heat. Whisk egg replacer with 2 Tbs. water in small bowl; stir this mixture into cider reduction. Add soymilk, apple butter, and margarine, stirring until margarine is melted. Cool.

4. Stir cider mixture into flour mixture.

5. Fill each doughnut mold half full with batter. Bake 12 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Roll hot doughnuts in superfine sugar.
Nutritional Information

Per doughnut: Calories: 117, Protein: 1g, Total fat: 3g, Saturated fat: <1g, Carbs: 22g, Cholesterol: mg, Sodium: 109mg, Fiber: <1g, Sugars: 14g

You can make your own superfine sugar to dust doughnuts by pulsing granulated sugar in a food processor several times.

Chicken Pot Pie

2010-08-24T17:51:23+00:00

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Food Court Performance

2010-08-21T23:58:58+00:00

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Nutrition and Diet Tips

2010-08-20T00:24:29+00:00

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Super Foods! - Nutrition by Natalie

2010-08-20T00:20:03+00:00

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Carpaccio (Cooking in Manhattan/ Serena Palumbo)

2010-08-20T00:09:19+00:00

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7 Veggie Salad

2010-08-17T12:10:26+00:00

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New Orleans Style French Toast

2010-08-17T12:01:27+00:00

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Healthy Breakfast Food Recipes - Nutrition by Natalie

2010-08-16T22:20:43+00:00

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Beef Panang - Thai Food Dish

2010-08-16T21:46:25+00:00

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