KitchenSavvy

No Mix-ology

Hi.  My wife keeps telling me that I shouldn't mix the last leftovers, say from a container of hummus, with the new one.  I say there is no reason not to.  What do you think?
- Jake

There is good reason behind your wife's concern, and that is that you are mixing food that has already had a chance for bacterial growth into new food, thus accelerating the time at which it will go bad.

Take as a hypothetical example a fresh 16 fluid ounce container of store-bought hummus.  Let's say, for the sake of discussion, that there is one bacterium per tablespoon of hummus (no food is ever completely bug free), that the bacteria multiply once every 6 hours under refrigeration, and lets just say that once there are more than a billion bacteria per tablespoon you are likely to get sick from eating it.  Remember, these are just made up numbers for the example.  Real numbers would depend on what bacteria, what food, what temperature, and a host of other factors.

So, after 6 hours in our theoretical hummus there will be 2 bacteria per tablespoon, after another 6 there will be 4, and so on.  After a week, there will be 2²⁷ = 134,217,728 bacteria per tablespoon, give or take a few million. You may be OK if you eat it.

Now, let's suppose that you take one tablespoon of leftover hummus from the 7-day old container, and stir it into another new one.  Now you have "diluted" the old hummus, and raised the per tablespoon bacteria count in the fresh stuff from one to a mere 4,194,304.  After a week of sitting around in the fridge, there will be 1,125,899,906,842,620 bacteria per tablespoon, a million times our hypothetical limit. Not good!

Do the same thing again, and you will have 35,184,372,088,832 bacteria per tablespoon at the start of the week, and around 9½ sextillion bacteria per tablespoon at the end of the week.

OK, so you get my drift, whatever the real numbers may be.  Mixing old food into new makes the new food go bad quicker, and doing it repeatedly just accelerates the rate at which your food goes bad.

Your best bet is to either throw away the last little bit of any old container, whether it's hummus or something else, or eat it separately (assuming it hasn't gone bad), before digging into the new stuff.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Say Again!

If a diet calls for 9 ounces of protein daily, how many grams would that be?
- Kitty

Nine ounces equals 255 grams, but if a diet calls for nine ounces of protein, the first thing I would recommend is checking out just exactly what the author meant by the word 'protein'.  Technically, proteins are organic molecules made up of amino acids, which are the basic building blocks for life.  Your body uses amino acids to build or repair tissue.  They are also necessary for almost every chemical reaction in the human body.

According to the USDA, by this definition of protein, you need about 0.75 grams per kilogram (2.24 pounds) of weight.  An average person weighing 155 pounds would need 155 / 2.24 X 0.8 = 52 grams of protein per day,  or 1.8 ounces. Pregnant or lactating women need more protein, as do people engaged in strenuous physical activity.  Protein requirements also change with age.  By the technical meaning of protein, 255 grams would be almost 5 times the amount needed by an average healthy person.

The other way in which the word 'protein' is used it to mean foods, such as meats, that are the primary source of protein in western omnivore diets.  This is what is meant, for instance, when someone refers to a meal as having a protein, a vegetable and a starch.  The protein content of foods varies widely.  For example, cod has around 22%  protein by weight, while turkey breast meat has about 32% protein by weight.

In order to simplify dietary guidelines, recommendations are frequently made in terms of the amount of protein rich foods to eat, since most people don't track specific nutrients, if they watch anything at all.  Unfortunately, in the process the word 'protein' has now become ambiguous. Are they talking about protein rich foods, or the actual protein amount itself?

If a diet says to consume 9 ounces of protein rich foods such a meat and fish, at say 20% protein by weight on average, that means you would get about 1.8 ounces of real protein, or very close to the recommended amount.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Tex-Mex Polenta Stacks

This recipe was inspired by a question from my friend Corinne.  She had tried to replicate a dish she had enjoyed in New Mexico but couldn't get the polenta to brown the way it was done in the original dish.  Corinne sent a picture she had taken and asked if I had any idea how they had gotten the polenta to toast.

My guess is that the restaurant where she first ate it had a big flattop grill that the polenta was reheated on. Cook tops run at a fairly high heat, much higher than most home cooks are comfortable working with.  Lacking a cook top, what might be done to increase the browning?  I had a few suggestions.  First, make the polenta thicker, so that less moisture is being cooked out before browning can occur.  The excess moisture takes heat way from the pan, and makes the polenta turn mushy rather than browning it.

Second, use a pan which will retain a lot of heat so that when the polenta is added to the pan, it doesn't cool down too much, and third add a small amount of sugar to the polenta.

I had also thought of using a bit of butter along with some oil in the pan to get the added browning from the protein and lactose in butter, but a few tests convinced me that wasn't a good idea, since the milk solids in the butter burned.

Tex-Mex Polenta Stacks (Serves 4)

Polenta
3	C	Water
1	Tsp	Salt
3/4	Tsp	Sugar
1 1/2	C	Polenta or Finely Ground Cornmeal
2	Tbsp	Butter
1/2	C	Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Red Pepper Coulis
1	12-fl Oz Jar	Fire Roasted Red Peppers, drained
		Salt and Peper to taste
Salsa
3		Tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
6		Scallions, white part and tender green, finely chopped, divided
2		Jalapeno Peppers, seeded and finely diced, or to taste
1		Bell Pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3	Tbsp	Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1 1/2	Tbsp	Lime Juice, optional
		Salt and Pepper to taste
For the Stacks
1/4	C	Olive Oil
3/4	C	Sour Cream

1. Lightly grease a sheet pan. Set aside.
2. Bring the water, salt and sugar to a boil. While whisking, add the polenta flour a little at a time.
3. Reduce heat to medium low and cook polenta, stirring frequently until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes.  It should be quite thick.  If necessary, continue to cook  longer until it thickens up.
4. Stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese.
5. Pour the polenta into the prepared sheet bread pan and spread with an offest spatula. It should spread out to about ⅜" thick (1 cm).
6. Let cool until set.
7. Meanwhile, make the Red Pepper Coulis by blending the drained peppers until smooth.  If necessary, add a bit of water or olive oil to make it thin enough to spread on the plate with a spoon.  Taste and adjust seasoning.
8. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the chopped scallion.  Make the salsa by combining the rest of the scallion with all of the other ingredients.  Allow to sit 15 - 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.
9. Using a 2½" to 3" circle cutter, cut 12 polenta rounds.
10. Have a large plate with paper towel on it ready.
11. Using a heavy frying pan, preferably cast iron, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat, just until it starts to smoke.  Add as many polenta rounds as will comfortably fit and brown quickly on one side, about 1 - 2 minutes.  Turn and brown the other side for about another minute or so.  Move the fried polenta to the paper towel and continue, adding more oil as needed, until all of the round have been browned.
12. Spread 3 tablespoons of the pepper coulis on each of four plates. Put a polenta circle on each plate, and top with 2 - 3 tablespoons of salsa.  Repeat with another polenta circle and more salsa, ending with third circle of the fried polenta.  Top each with 2 - 3 tablespoons of sour cream and garnish with the reserved chopped scallions.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Vegetarian Minestrone

My oldest daughter is a vegetarian, so visits home can be a challenge and a learning opportunity for the 'head cook'.  On her last visit, I wanted to try something new.  I had read that dried mushrooms ground into a fine powder was one way to add flavor depth to food.  Some refer to this meatiness as Umami.

To test the idea, I made the following Vegetarian Minestrone, using both ground up dried mushrooms and the rind of a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano in the soup.  The latter is a common trick in Italian minestrone recipes.  You want to use a hearty, full-flavored vegetable stock rather than a broth which can be thin and watery.

The resulting dish was a anonymous success.

Vegetarian Minestrone

2	Tablespoons	Olive Oil
1	Small	Onion, diced
1	Medium	Carrot, peeled and cut into rounds
2	Small	Zucchini, ~8", halved and cut into chunks
1	Stalk	Celery, cut crosswise into chunks
1		Red Pepper, seeded and diced
2	Cloves	Garlic, minced
3/4	Cup	Diced Green Beans
1	14-fl Oz Can	Diced Tomatoes
3	Cups	Low Sodium Vegetable Stock
1	Tablespoon	Dried Oregano
1 1/2	Teaspoons	Dried Basil
4	Pieces	Dried Porcini Mushrooms, ground fine, about 2 teaspoons
1	Piece	Rind from Parmesan Cheese, maybe 3" X 2"
1	19-fl Oz Can	Cannelini Beans, or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2	Cup	Orzo, or other short pasta like macaroni
		Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Sauté the chopped vegetables, except the green beans, in olive oil for a few minutes. Add the minced garlic and sauté one minute more.
2. Add all of the rest of the ingredients, except the orzo. Add more stock or water if needed. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes
3. Add the pasta, turn heat up to a gentle boil and cook about 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
4. Remove and discard the cheese rind.
5. Adjust the seasoning as desired.
6. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the side to garnish.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Lighten Up! What Do You Mean by 'Lighten Up'?

In our local newspaper recently was an article titled Italian twist lightens up classic French onion soup¹.   The author is a well known and respected chef, author and TV personality.  The lead in says, "In my quest to slim down this French classic, I turned to Italy.  I swapped out Gruyere in favour of Parmigiano-Reggiano and moved the croutons and cheese off the top to make room for a poached egg.  Finally, I added some pancetta for flavour."

To see how "slim" the Italian version is, compared to the classics, I turned to three authoritative sources Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Larousse Gastronomique, and Auguste Escoffier's Ma Cuisine (1984), as well as The Culinary Institute of America's The New Professional Chef, and my own recipe. Using my recipe software, I loaded the ingredients from all six source, making one modification to most of the recipes.  In each case, if the recipe only specified stock or broth, I substituted the low sodium kind.  The reason for this is simply that most of the other recipes had over a full day's worth of sodium in them.  Switching to low sodium reduced this dramatically, at the cost of about 25 additional calories per serving.  It also resulted in an average of 10 more grams of protein.  All other nutrients stayed essentially the same.

In order to be sure I was comparing similar portion sizes, I scaled all of the recipes so that portions were 1¼ cups each, the same as the "Italian Twist" recipe.  The table below shows the result:

	Larousse*	Escoffier**	KitchenSavvy	CIA	Julia Child	Italian Twist
Calories	121	314	294	424	477	599
Fat (g)	3	12	12	19	19	21
Protein (g)	15	21	22	31	30	36
Carbs (g)	8	31	20	27	41	57
Fiber (g)	1	2	2	3	3	7
Chol (mg)	9	29	34	59	47	230
Sodium (mg)	84	459	302	559	839	1052

* The recipe from Larousse Gastronomique does not use any cheese, which is why the results are so low for that recipe.

** Escoffier's recipe was imprecise in some measures.  Most importantly, it called for "a little bechamel" and "grated cheese".  In order to make the recipes comparable, I used ¼ cup of bechamel, which seemed right in the context, and the same amount of grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese as called for in the recipe by Julia Child.

The Italian Twist recipe is higher in calories, slightly higher in grams of fat, and off the scale in cholesterol, compared to the others.

So, how can this be?  Well, Julia Child's recipe, for example, calls for 1 to 2 cups of grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese for eight servings.  Since a pound of Swiss cheese will make about 4 cups of grated cheese, that works out, worst case, to about ½ pound of cheese in the total recipe or 1 ounce of cheese per serving - 107 calories. Instead the Italian Twist recipe uses ½ cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano in a recipe for 4 servings (46 calories per serving), four large eggs (74 calories per serving), and 2 ounces of pancetta (28 calories per serving).  The twisted recipe replaced 107 calories with 148 calories.  

Nearly all of the cholesterol increase is attributable to the poached egg -- 185 of the approximately 190 mg increase.

So the Italian Twist recipe is not so slim after all.  Hence my question: "What Do You Mean by 'Lighten Up'?"

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¹  Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Saturday, January 12, 2013, pg E10

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Caramelized Onion and Potato Flan

By popular request, here is my recipe for a Caramelized Onion and Potato Flan.  OK, really, in a comment on the article "Substitute for Gruyère Cheese", Cindy asked if I would post it.

The recipe is based on one published in A Year of the Best: Seasonal Recipes From The Best of Bridge with Chef Vincent Parkinson.  The KitchenSavvy version adds more flavor depth with the addition of bacon, rosemary and garlic, and by using Jarlsburg cheese, which has a slightly stronger,  more nutty flavor.  See the post "Flavor Layering" to understand what I mean.

 Caramelized Onion and Potato Flan (serves 8 to 10)

2	Oz	Bacon, about 3 slices, cut crosswise into ¼" (6mm) strips
1	Tbsp	Butter
2	Large	Onions, thinly sliced
⅛	Tsp	Salt
½	Tsp	Dried Rosemary Leaves, finely ground
2	Cloves	Fresh Garlic, minced
¼	Tsp	Fresh Ground Black Pepper
6 - 8		Russet (or other baker) Potatoes, thinly sliced
¾	Lb	Jarlsburg Cheese, grated
		Cooking Spray

1. In a medium sautée pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Using a slotted spoon, remove to a dish lined with paper towel.  Set aside.
2. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat.  Add the butter, and when melted add the onions.  Sprinkle with the salt, toss to coat evenly with the fat, cover and reduce heat to low.
3. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the onions are completely soft.
4. Uncover, increase heat to medium-low, and cook the onions, turning frequently, until they are a deep mahogany brown.  Adjust the heat as needed to get the onions to caramelize without burning.
5. In the last minute, add the rosemary, garlic and ground pepper, and stir to distribute.  Cook until the pungent raw garlic odor subsides.  Cover and let cool enough to handle.
6. Crumble the drained bacon.
7. Lightly spray the inside of a 10 - 12 cup baking dish with cooking spray.
8. Arrange ⅓ of the sliced potatoes in an even layer in the bottom of the dish.  Spread half of the caramelized onions over the potatoes, followed by half of the bacon, and about ¼ cup of the grated cheese.
9. Repeat with another layer of potatoes, then the rest of onions and bacon, and another ¼ cup of cheese,  finishing with a final layer of potatoes.  Press firmly to compress the layers a bit, and then top with the remaining cheese.
10. Bake in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 50 minutes or until the cheese has melted and started to brown.
11. Remove from the oven and let set 10 - 15 minutes before serving.

Tip 1: For a meat-free version, omit the bacon and use 2 tablespoons of butter, starting in step 2.

Tip 2: Instead of rosemary, try other savory herbs such as sage, thyme, or marjoram.

Tip 3: The Jarlsburg can be substituted with another melting cheese such as Gouda, Gruyère or Emmental, depending on taste.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com

 

 

Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

No Peeking!

I keep hearing that when you cook rice you shouldn't lift the lid to see how it is doing.  Why not?
- Sally

The theory is that if you peek at the rice, either the pot will cool down, meaning that it will take longer to cook, or that you will lose moisture so the rice won't cook properly.  So, how true are these theories?  

To find out how much moisture is lost, I did the following simple experiment.  Into a regular saucepaan, I weighed out 170 grams of white long-grain rice, 275 grams of water, about the same ratios as given in most recipes. I added ¼ teaspoon of salt and then weighed the pot with the ingredients in. Total weight was 1573 grams.

I then cooked the rice on full for 2 ½ minutes, until it came just to a simmer, lowered the heat to low and continued to cook the rice for 20 more minutes.  Finally I let the covered pot rest off heat for five minutes.  This is my normal procedure for cooking white rice.  The resting period allows the rice on the bottom of the pot to rehydrate since it is sometimes a bit drier than the rest.  The rice was nicely al dente, dry, with separate grains.  Just what you want.

At the end of that time, I re-weighed the pot with contents, which came out to 1570 grams.  The difference in weight, 3 grams, is the amount of moisture lost during normal cooking.

I then repeated the experiment, using the same pot, the same weights of rice and water, the same amount of salt, and the settings, cooking for the same amount of time, except that during the 20 minutes of cooking, I lifted the lid every 5 minutes to peek inside.  Total peek time was around 3 - 4 seconds each time.  The difference in weight this time was 13 grams.  Subtracting 3 from 13, I get 10 grams more weight lost with peeking, or about 2 teaspoons.  This difference might be due to moisture lost by peeking or errors in measurement. The result was just slightly softer and more moist, but still easily within range for properly cooked rice.

Next, I did the same experiment one more time, peeking every 2 minutes, again for 3 to 4 seconds each time.  The rice ended up being a little under-cooked with some moisture left in the bottom of the pot.  The weight loss was very close to the second batch.

Repeated experiments would reduce measurement errors.

Finally, I tried using a measuring cup to measure one cup of water and weighed the result.  Repeated tests showed an error of ± 4 grams, or a range of 8.  Coincidentally, I discovered that the line on my measuring cup isn't parallel with the bottom, so the error depended in part on which end of the line I was looking at when measuring the water.  Similarly, weighing the standard measure of rice that came with my rice cooker resulted in ±3 grams, or a range of 6.

So, where does all of this get us?

1. An occasional quick peek didn't make any appreciable difference.
2. If you are measuring by volume, chances are that the errors in measurement are greater than the amount of moisture lost by peeking once or twice.
3. Peeking too often resulted in undercooked rice, more likely because removing the lid causes loss of heat than because it causes lost of water, as was shown by the amount of water left in the bottom of the pot and the fact that the weight lost for nine peeks was close to the same as for only three peeks.

Bottom line -- like almost everything else, peeking is OK in moderation.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Coming Clean

In your post on Seasoning Stainless Steel, you say to "wash in warm water with a small amount of dish soap and dry immediately."  I thought that soap would dissolve the fat, so you would damage the coating if you use it.
- Comment^*

Seasoning in this sense involves heating oil in a frying pan, or other cooking surface, to form a non-stick layer (see Seasoning Frying Pans).  The oil undergoes a process of polymerization which forms a shellac-like compound.  Because of this chemical process, the fat is no longer actually fat, per se, and is more like a plastic.  According to McGee, 'the combination of heat, metal, and air oxidizes the fatty acids and encourages them to bond to each other "polymerize" to form a dense, hard, dry layer.  ... Highly unsaturated oils - soy oil, corn oil - are especially prone to oxidation and polymerization.'  Add to that list flaxseed oil.  As the food grade equivalent of linseed oil which is used for varnish, flaxseed oil gives what some feel is the most durable seasoned surface.

Since the oil has polymerized, it is no longer as susceptible to the surfactant properties of soap.  A mild dish soap solution and cleaning with a soft cloth will not damage the seasoning.  My guess is that if your seasoning is coming off during washing in a mild soap solution any of a number of factors may be the cause:

• A strong soap solution, or dishwashing detergent is being being used.  Dishwashing detergents are more harsh and have a higher pH.
• The pan is being left to soak.  Over time water will penetrate and cause rusting on cast iron, which will cause the seasoning to come off.
• Scrubbing too hard or with an abrasive pad.  If necessary, you can rub a little table salt on the moist surface of the pan and rub it with a dish cloth to help remove stubborn material.  This will abrade the seasoning, but not as bad as say steel wool.
• Using the wrong oil.  Oils that are low in unsaturated fats will not form the necessary polymers as readily.
• Not heating the pan to a high enough temperature or for a long enough time for polymerization to happen.

A properly seasoned pan will not suffer from a quick wash in a mild dish soap solution.

For another interesting article on this subject, see Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning: A Science-Based How-To.

^* This post is based on a comment received from 'Svensson' on the prior Seasoning Stainless Steel entry.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

How Much is it Worth to You?

This is someplace where I might be accused of being a bit of a broken record.  I find myself constantly amazed by the amount we are charged in the supermarket for labor we could just as well do at home.  On previous occasions, I've written about $100 Onions, and Saving Money on Groceries.  This time, it's the difference in cost between split chicken breasts with the skin and bone in versus boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

On a recent trip to our local store, I found split chicken breasts sold at $8.80 per kilo ($3.93/pound) and right beside them boneless, skinless chicken breasts at $18.08 per kilo ($8.07/pound).  I bought a package of two split breasts to see how long it would take me to skin and bone them at home.  The answer, 2 minutes and 17 seconds.

Here's the math:

• 0.662 kg Split chicken breasts @ $8.80/kg = $5.83
• Yield after removing skin and bones = 0.412 kg
• Scrap 0.250 kg (saved for making stock)
• 0.412 kg skinless, boneless chicken breasts @ $18.08/kg = $7.45
• Savings $7.45 - $5.83 = $1.62
• Equivalent hourly "wage" $1.62 X 60 / 2.28 = $42.66

Calculated as an annual wage, that would come out to nearly $89,000 per year. 

I don't know about you, but it sort of galls me to pay such an exorbitant mark-up to save a couple of minutes work once a week.  How much is it worth to you?

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered, nor can we guarantee we will answer questions immediately
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

2,000,000 and Counting

KitchenSavvy is pleased to announce that it has received over two million page views since its inception.  Quite a milestone! 

Started as a cooking Question & Answer blog, KitchenSavvy now has over 300 articles.  While staying true to the original mission, articles now also include recipes, commentaries, book and product reviews.

KitchenSavvy attracts nearly 50,000 readers every month from virtually every country in the world.  While we have a number of loyal followers, site analytics indicate that over 90% of viewers are new readers, suggesting that the majority of traffic comes from chefs, both professional and amateur, looking for answers to their food questions.  Talk about achieving the goal you set out to accomplish.

We hope that KitchenSavvy's many loyal and new readers continue to enjoy and benefit from the site.  And if you have a food or cooking question, or simply wish to congratulate KitchenSavvy on 2,000,000 hits, send us a note at Questions.