Make your own Citrus Cleaner

http://ybertaud9.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/diy-citrus-cleaner/

DIY citrus cleaner.  I just made this a few days ago, so I haven't had a chance to use it, as it's not ready yet.  All you need is a jar, some white vinegar and citrus peels.  Put both in the jar, close, and let stand for 2 weeks.  When it's ready, dilute with water 1:1, and use on floors, tiles, fixtures, kitchen & bath etc.  Citrus peels have a natural oil in them, so this could be amazing on wood.  It’s antibacterial, smells great, is tough on scum, and there are no chemicals.  I'm looking forward to trying this out.

Saffron Scallops

I love scallops, they're probably my fave seafood, followed by oysters.  I miss the East Coast for the tasty fresh sea treats.

If you know me, you'll know that I don't do diets.  I probably don't work out as much as I should; I walk as much as I can, and bike when the weather permits.  I do yoga each morning, and sometimes some weights or cardio.  Thing is I love fat, and I probably eat more than I burn, so recently I was told about a two-consecutive-days-carb-free "diet".  I don't do diets, and even when I try it ends up like me following a recipe, where I have to change stuff up and make it my own.  So the idea is to not eat carbs for two consecutive days, easy enough, since I don't eat processed simple carbs, the pastries are debatable.

I tried this "diet" last week and this week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Apparently I was supposed to lose nine pounds.  I lost two, and gained it all back as soon as carb free days were over last week, this week so far I haven't gained the two pounds back.  Thing with this "diet" is that during those carb free days, you're also supposed to consume mainly "low fats" (whaa?!), like turkey, lean fish, and olive oil - not gonna happen, no potatoes - fine, and more veg than fruit - also fine.  It's the low fat business that's the issue.

Anyway, the carbs I consume on any average day are rye, oats, quinoa, millet, barley, buckwheat, spelt, wheat berries, rice (brown, wild, basmati, short grained for risotto; I recently discovered short grained brown rice, which takes close to an hour to cook).  I do eat egg noodles.  Point is I don't eat the kind of carbs that this "diet" is wanting to eliminate and my guess is that if I only could eat less of the good high fats and get more cardio in, I'd be fine.  By no means am I over weight, but Id' like to be more toned, without having to purposely "exercise".

All right, so the scallops I used were from Nova Scotia; actually Digby, NS is supposed to have the world's best scallops, or at least one of the best; I had them at two different restaurants, and they were amazing.  PEI has the same situation, but with oysters, from Malpeque Bay - also delicious, and they have annual oyster festivals, chowder and shucking competitions, all loads of fun.

Scallops are best pan fired in butter, obviously  :)
I also like them with saffron and butter.
These scallops were frozen, so I defrosted them before they went in the hot pan.  I was told by a fisherman that scallops are always frozen, even when they are sold "fresh" at the supermarket.  I think they are frozen right away on the fishing boats to preserve freshness.

So, the scallops still had a lot of liquid in them, they probably could've sat in the colander a bit longer, and when I use saffron, I like to fry them longer than usual.  You don't want to fry them too long, just until they turn opaque white, flip them over so both sides get seared.  If they are cooked too long, they shrink a lot and become hard(er).

Melt butter, add saffron, make sure the pan is hot, add scallops, stand them vertically, on the ends where you can see fibbers/ rods, you want to sear them.  My scallops had lots of liquid, so I could've taken them out once they turned white, but I wanted the liquid to boil down and get thick.

You can see the liquid evaporating.

As it boils down it thickens quite a bit: 

And we get a lovely, delicious thick sauce:

Since I made these on carb free day, I served the scallops with asparagus and green and yellow beans.
I normally roast/ bake the asparagus, but this time I made it in a pan with butter.  Once they are on the plate I sprinkle them with salt and pepper, grate parm cheese, and squeeze some lemon juice.  There are days in the summer where that's my meal on it's own.  The beans were also done in a pan with butter and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Verði þér að góðu!  (Icelandic)

Purple Yam

First off, sweet potatoes and yams are not the same thing, just as fennel and anise root are not the same thing, even if the grocery clerk tries to tell you that the terms are interchangeable.  I'll focus on the sweet potato vs yam for this post.  They are two completely different plants.  Yams are related to lilies, where as sweet potatoes are in the morning glory family.  Yams have a rough surface, with ivory, yellow, or purple flesh.  Sweet potatoes have orange flesh with white, yellow, orange, or purple skin.  Sweet potatoes have much more beta carotene, something like 160 times more, 1/2 cup contains twice the RDI (recommended daily intake).  They are also much less starchy, so score lower on the glycemic index.  Yams are a good source of potassium and fibre.  Yams are also not always available at your local supermarket, check out a Caribbean market.

I use sweet potatoes often, because they are delicious, and it's a bonus that they are also nutritious.  I often cut them into fries, and bake them with a Cajun spice blend, and have them as a side or just a snack on their own.  Recently I picked up two yams.  I used one to make my baked fries, with some spices, mix of thyme, basil, savoury, and fennel; I wasn't sure if they'd make good fries, since they are so starchy.  They turned out yummy.  We inhaled them while I was making the dish that follows.

I used the other yam to make a curry.

Super easy and fast, for a healthy home made meal.

Cook some green lentils.  I like to cook them separately, otherwise they get mushy and make the dish look awful.  Drain and set aside.  Lentils don't take long to cook like beans, about 15 minutes, depending on how much you're making.  If you have to, use canned, but soak in cold water first to decrease the sodium.

Melt some butter in a pot, add chopped garlic and onion, cinnamon, cayenne, curry powder, coriander powder, cumin ( I used seeds and pink Himalayan salt rocks, so I crushed them with a mortar and pestle.  If you have cumin powder, use that and fine sea salt, or if you have seeds or coarse salt and no mortar and pestle, place either or both between wax paper or plain paper and use a rolling pin or a round mug to mash or roll over.  If you use a single sheet and fold it in half instead of two separate sheets, it's easier to "pour" the spices into the pot.

Let it all fry for a minute, it'll smell wonderful.  Add a bit of water.  Then add chopped carrots and yam(s), cook for a bit, about 10 min; add cooked lentils, cover and simmer for another 10.

To thicken up the water, I made a roux, basically melt butter and add some flour:

Then stir it into the pot.  

If you don't have as much "sauce" as you'd like, stir in more water.  

Serve with basmati and fresh cilantro.

Selamat makan! (Indonesian)

(I hope I'm getting the right translations, if not please correct me).

An Electronic Nose Sniffs Out Food From Problem Sources

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679608/an-electronic-nose-sniffs-out-food-from-problem-sources

"To see how prevalent it is, Picarro tested products sold by companies from Whole Foods to lesser known brands. So far they’ve found Italian olive oil that is neither from Italy nor olives, as well as cosmetics derived from shark liver oil rather than plants (a compound known as squalane)."

Shakes and Smoothies

Shakes and smoothies are awesome.  They always taste like a treat, but are also healthy.
Here are some flavours I've made lately:

Blueberry smoothie, just frozen blueberries with whole non-homogenized milk.

Mixed berries with milk and plain 10% yogurt.

Raspberry.

Strawberry - peach.

Peach with milk and lavender honey.

The consistency depends on whether I use fresh or frozen fruit, and like I've said before, during off season, I always have frozen fruit in my freezer.  Sometimes I add whole non-homogenized milk, other times almond milk, sometimes orange juice.  Also, ground flax seeds, wheat grass, plain 10% yogurt, honey, vanilla.  Lately I just like whole non-homogenized milk and fruit, very plain, and so good.

Guten Appetit!  (German)

Instant Strawberry Ice Cream

This will probably be the only time I use the word instant here and mean it in a good way.

I just made ice cream in less than 10 minutes.  I was craving something tasty, and thought about making ice cream, but that wouldn't be ready for a few hours to a day, and I wanted something NOW.  Check this out, so yummy and so easy.  Food process frozen strawberries, whip cream with a touch of icing sugar - I should've added vanilla, but I didn't think of that until I was already scarfing down this treat - then fold the berries into the cream et voila.  It was an experiment and I didn't know what would happen, but it worked so well and has so many possibilities.  It has to be served right away, or put in the freezer.  My guess is if you have to freeze it, you may have to blend / mix it before serving.  Also, I think this works best for (frozen) fruit based ice creams.  If you want to use fresh fruit or nuts, chocolate, marshmallows, etc, it'll probably work better if it sits in the freezer for a few hours, so that those ingredients have a chance to soften and mingle  :)  then mix to fluff it.  Yum!

Buon Appetito!  (Italian)

Soup

I love soup.  Make a basic stock and the possibilities are endless.

I like meat based stocks, but you can make an all veg stock as well.  If using meat, boil the meat on it's own first.  Dump out the water, clean the pot, and rinse the meat if necessary; meat gets frothy, so this keeps your stock clean.  In a clean pot, add water, parsley, carrots, celery, peppercorns, sea salt, bay leaf.  You can add other vegetables and spices, this is just a basic stock.  If you're making a sour soup, add the cooked meat closer to the end of the soup being done, just to heat it up, otherwise the meat will get too hard from the acidity.

I used pork riblets for this soup base.  A package for about $4 is enough for 3 stocks, could've been 4, but this way there was enough meat to be part of the meal.  Here are some soup ideas:

Cream of mushroom, goes great with a sandwich, like porchetta on rye with butter and mustard.

Or with egg noodles, I left the carrots and meat in this one.

Pickle soup with star noodles.

I left the celery in for James, with carrots and pork.

Beet soup with flat noodles, using veal stock.

Pumpkin soup, specifically Rouge vid D'Etampes, my fave.  Great with any sandwich.

Tomato soup, which is tasty with noodles, rice, or even mashed potatoes, or on its own in a mug with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Tripe soup.  Try it before you decide you don't like it.

Smacznego!  (Polish)