Natural herbs can help fight outdoor insect pests

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

Natural herbs can help fight outdoor insect pests

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) – Now that summer is here many families will spend a good amount of time barbequing and enjoying the outdoors. Pests like mosquitos and gnats can ruin any family get together, but now they don’t have to thanks to things you can possibly find right in your backyard.

You can say goodbye to those pesky bugs just by picking up a few extra ingredients all while loading up on your hot dogs and hamburgers.

Eric Baker – Owner, Baker Garden and Gift: “There’s definitely natural things, and a lot of the natural repellents you buy off the shelves as far as repellents a lot of them are based off of a natural material we can grow here locally.”

Eric Baker, Owner of Baker Garden and Gift says herbs like lemon sage and rosemary confuse the bugs sensors and will have them flying away for good.

Eric Baker: “Pluck off two or three stems and you know crush them or rub them up between your hands and not only are they going to release oils in the air, but they are going to release oils on your hands and that is going to be and you are going to detract insects just with that.”

This au natural route is so simple all you have to do is buy or grow the herbs then set them in a glass or chop them up and put them next to your grill. The natural herbs won’t only keep the bugs and mosquitos away, all you have to do is pull some off, add it to your food to make for a more flavorful meal.

Eric Baker: “Thyme is an excellent one that people use in marinades, so they might marinate their meat.”

For things like aggressive bees and hornets, it’s best to lure them away. You can get something like this wasp trap.

Eric Baker: “Probably do is fill this up with a liquid, and it could be a soda pop, you know something that is going to be sugary, and then crawl up in the center of this guy and then they are kind of locked.”

One thing to remember, anywhere you put the trap bees will come, so make sure to keep it far away from the fun.

Eric Baker: “You want to put it off to the side, you know maybe on the side of the garage where you’re not going to spend a lot of time.”

This summer as you’re shopping for new plants or even your favorite barbecue treats, make sure to take a spin in the herb isle to ensure a bug free summer.

Baker says another thing to make sure you have a bug-free summer is keep your yard groomed by picking up pet waste and making sure all garbage is put away.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from herbs to Home Page

If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites THEY ARE FREE. Spanishchef more than doubled its ‘New Visitors’ last month simply by signing up to these sites:

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

With Potato Gnocchi, a Tender Touch Is Rewarded

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

With Potato Gnocchi, a Tender Touch Is Rewarded

But it is a bit of a touchy-feely process (like making pastry or bread) even if you are careful to use the exact quantities of ingredients and precisely follow the instructions.

Don’t be discouraged. Achieving perfectly sublime gnocchi on the very first try is a little unlikely, but still very much worth the effort. Like matzo balls, another member of the multicultural dumpling family, gnocchi can run the gamut on texture from tender to terribly tough (though if I may offer an opinion, tender gnocchi are certainly far preferable).

So regard it this way: Your first result may not be perfect, but will taste good nonetheless. Subsequent attempts and familiarity with the process will invariably yield deliciously successful gnocchi, as I learned in my recent trial runs at home. Practice and a light touch are paramount. Soon you’ll find that making a batch goes quite quickly, once the potatoes are cooked.

You need to use potatoes that are “floury,” like yellow Yukon Gold or common russets, and you need to keep them from getting waterlogged. Baking the potatoes in their skins gives the best results; if you boil them, you must take care that they are not overcooked. Remove them from the pot and slash them open immediately to let the steam escape. Then handle them as little as possible. After they have been run through a food mill or a wire sieve, quickly add the flour and seasonings, and very gently mix the dough, just until it comes together. Knead for only about a minute, otherwise the gnocchi will be chewy or tough. Once the gnocchi are shaped, they may be left uncovered on a floured baking sheet for up to several hours.

My favorite sauce for them, at least this time of year, is an easy, fragrant sage butter. Adding sweet early peas at the last minute makes for a fine combination. The finished gnocchi should be showered with grated Parmesan and freshly milled black pepper. A few minutes under the broiler for browning is also a very good idea.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from gnocchi to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

'How to Build a Better Pie'

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

pork Greg Vore

‘How to Build a Better Pie’

It’s been said that simple foods are the most difficult to master. Take, for example, pie. Its familiar, comforting, iconic character comes with countless questions, even for baking hobbyists: How do you make a perfectly flaky crust? What kitchen tools are absolutely essential? How does one thicken a fruit filling? Luckily, just in time for prime summer pie season, comes the chef Millicent Souris’s new cookbook, out today, titled “How to Build a Better Pie.”

While Souris explores the virtues and versatility of the American classic — she favors leaf lard for its transparent, clean finish; believes almost anything can be baked with crust; and loves marrying fruit with fresh herbs — there’s one topic she won’t budge on. “I don’t think you elevate pies by making them look really pretty,” Souris says. “I think you elevate them with the integrity of ingredients.”

Her collection of easy-to-use recipes range from traditional — sweet bourbon pecan and savory chicken pot — to highly original, like her paltry fruit, a pie born from the same notion as its humble beginnings at a time when, Souris says, “few ingredients were stretched to feed more.” During Hurricane Irene last summer, Souris had six nectarines — lush and fragrant, but on the verge of spoiling — sitting on her kitchen counter. Rather than let them go to waste, she created a thrifty, practical recipe to turn the fruit on the fringe into something rich, indulgent — a sum far more enjoyable than its individual parts. “Pie is as humble as you want it to be,” Souris explains. “And the best part is making something out of nothing.”

To celebrate the publication of her cookbook (there will be a party, open to the public, tonight at the Brooklyn Kitchen from 6:30 to 8:30), Souris created a special pie recipe for T: “This is an easy pie that doesn’t require a lot of oven time. The cracker crust tastes like the best shortbread you’ve ever made, and it works wonderfully with any summer fruit. But I’ve got my eye on strawberries at the moment.”

T’s Easy Summer Pie: Strawberry Lemon Curd by Millicent Souris
For a 9? glass pie plate

Saltine Vanilla Wafer Cracker Crust

½ sleeve saltine crackers (16)
16 vanilla wafers
1 stick unsalted butter
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg white (save the yolk)
1 tablespoon kosher salt.

Melt butter in a small pan. Pull from heat before it browns and let cool. Toss the crackers and wafers in a food processor and pulse until crumbs begin to form. Gradually add the butter, sugar, salt and egg white. Turn the food processor off, and turn the mixture into the pie plate. With a level, steady hand lightly press the crust into the plate. Evenly tap the crust across the bottom of the plate and up the sides about half an inch. It should be even in thickness. Place crust in refrigerator to rest for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once the crust has rested, bake it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Pull and cool. While the crust is baking, make the lemon curd.

Lemon Curd
Yields 2 cups

Juice zest of 3 lemons
½ cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
pinch of kosher salt.

Fill a medium-size sauce pot about a third way with water and heat. Use a bowl that will fit atop the pot, or nestle down a bit, without touching the water. Cut the butter into small chunks and toss in the bowl with the sugar. Place on the pot so it starts to melt as you zest the lemons, keeping the zest separate to add at the end. Whisk the melting butter and sugar together and add the lemon juice, whisking together well.

Lift your bowl and make sure the water is gently simmering (not boiling). Gently beat the three eggs in a separate bowl. Add the eggs to the bowl over simmering water, whisking everything together. Once the mixture is combined, use a rubber spatula to continuously scrape the bowl around the sides (especially the bottom) so everything cooks evenly. The mixture will thicken in 7 to 10 minutes, and should become more cohesive as it firms up along the edges of the bowl.

Add the lemon zest and salt. Mix. Turn into another bowl and place cling wrap flush across the top of the curd (this prevents a “skin” from developing). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Strawberry Topping

1 pint strawberries (the smaller the better)
2 tablespoons raw sugar
Zest and juice of one lemon
½ teaspoon salt
3 sprigs of tarragon, or 4 sprigs of mint, or 4 sprigs of chervil
A scraped vanilla pod (optional).

Hull the strawberries, then cut in half lengthwise (if they are bigger than the tip of your fingers). Toss them with the raw sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. Pick the herb of your choice and chop. Gently bruise the stems and toss the them, the herbs and vanilla pod with the fruit. Let the mixture macerate at room temperature, while everything else cools.

After 30 minutes, fill the crust with the curd. Refrigerate again until the curd settles and tightens.

Cut the pie into 8 slices, soaking the knife into hot water after each slice and wiping it clean. Plate the slices, then take a spoonful of the dressed strawberries to top the pie. Finish with a drizzle of strawberry juice and enjoy.

“How to Build a Better Pie,” $24.99. Go to amazon.com.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from pie to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

How Juicing Solved All My Problems

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

How Juicing Solved All My Problems

Well really just one problem, but it was a big one.

Until recently, I felt extreme guilt about my vegetable-intake. I wasn’t anywhere near five servings a day and it really gnawed at my conscience because I love veggies and live in the land of organic, local greens and perpetual farmers’ markets.

I’ve also been practicing Bikram yoga, which has been great for getting rid of stubborn water weight. The problem is that it purges my body of essential nutrients as well. Not only that, but in my post-yoga-lobotomized state, cooking a healthy veggie-rich meal is akin to operating a bulldozer while on Valium.

juicing
Tip: You can add a little Agave syrup if you want to make your drink extra sweet.

juicing

According to the product description on the website, the low speed technology of the juicer allows the healthy enzymes in your vegetables to stay intact, which isn’t the case when you cook your greens or use high-speed blenders. Since replacing the vitamins and minerals you lose while sweating it out in yoga is essential, juicing quickly became my go-to before and after each session.

A week into conscientious juicing, I felt reborn. My legs no longer cramped in Bikram and I noticed a huge difference in my skin. It was softer, more luminescent (I credit my use of cucumber in every batch). Not to mention guilt over my veggie intake was severely dissipated, freeing myself up to dwell on other inadequacies.

A word on the juicing process:
The first time I started juicing it was an experience—mostly because I have an aversion to reading directions. Still despite my stubbornness and lousy track record with appliances, I managed to assemble the contraption with ease. If I can do it, this surely means whoever designed the thing, should apply for a job at Apple. It’s the iPhone of juicers—that intuitive and sleek.
juicing

I wish I could say the rest of the process was as seamless, but somehow I managed to get kale and spinach everywhere—even my walls. I blame this on being a novice at juicing since by the second or third time, I was juicing with no spills. The only downside to juicing is that you must clean all 548346 pieces (I’m exaggerating) thoroughly. The first time I did it, I comforted myself with the thought that I was burning extra calories. If you don’t have a garbage disposal, as I don’t, disposing of the pulp can be a drain-clogging pain. But again, this just takes practice because within a week, I got the whole operation down to 15 minutes, including the chopping of the vegetables.

juicing

If you’re really hardcore, you can eat the pulp it spits out for extra fiber.

For several weeks, I experimented with various recipes, but have landed on my favorite: kale or rainbow chard, half a pineapple, and cucumber. I like using kale and chard so that I feel good about eating superfoods, and because I find those vegetables unsatisfying to cook. (No matter how large the bushel is, it always seems to reduce down to a couple forkfuls after steaming.) The pineapple adds a sweetness to the concoction, which cuts any bitterness from the leafy greens, while the cucumber adds a fresh spa-like flavor. I’m not kidding you when I say that this legitimately tastes good—like sitting-on-a-tropical-beach-with-a-glass-of-fresh-juice good.

juicing

It might be tempting to order that trendy juice cleanse that’s been sweeping the offices of every health and beauty editor in the country. But with a juicer and a little research, you can replicate the process. The Omega even comes with a few juicing recipe suggestions. Check ‘em out below!

Have you found a miracle product recently? Let me know in the comments!

Energy and Vigor

·         3 apples
·         3 celery stalks
·         handful of spinach
·         handful of kale
·         1 slice of ginger

This juice is an excellent energy enhancer. It’s packed with blood-purifying greens, minerals and vitamins. Spinach and kale are abundant with beta-carotene and vitamin C, which supports liver cleansing and aids in blood flow. Celery is an extremely alkaline vegetable and helps with digestion, giving you a good amount of magnesium, calcium and natural sodium, which together helps transmit signals from our brains to our muscles so that they function properly, clearly a benefit for energy levels. Ginger is excellent at helping to reduce inflammation in the body, especially in the joints, therefore helping to support maneuverability.

Stamina and Endurance

4 apples
2 bananas
1 Tbsp Spirulina, Chlorela or Blue-Green Algae
Handful of almonds

Banana and spirulina are good sources of potassium and important for the conversion of glucose to glycogen for energy. Magnesium (from bran, almonds and spirulina) is important for the storage and release of glycogen. Almonds are also a high energy food, producing six calories per gram. Adequate levels of chromium (banana) and zinc (from spirulina) help balance blood sugar regulation and therefore energy production.

Recipes for juicing with Bill & Sheila

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from juicing to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Refreshing soups to savour this summer

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

Refreshing soups to savour this summer

In this heat, try to keep your food easy, cool and light. Keep preparation to a minimum, and avoid heat-generating appliances. That means there’s no better time to slurp up some cold soups!

You could be lukewarm about cold soups and associate them with baby food made out of leftovers, but

it takes a friend to whip up a delicious cold soup in a blender… leftover roasted tomato, vegetable broth and some herbs… and mama mia, you’d be a convert!

Cold soups are fun, conversational and best of all, a great way to stay cool. Pair it with a fabulous salad made with some great fare from your local market and you have a great summer meal that doesn’t require your stove top, oven or grill. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Cold treatment
The king of cold soups is the Spanish Gazpacho, crammed with nutritious vegetables; the classic version has cucumber, though you could use zucchini.

Another hot (read cold) favourite is the Ceviche, basically a seafood soup that requires no cooking owing to the acid in the fresh lime juice cooking the shrimp. Add jalapeno pepper, green chillies, chilli powder, cumin and tortilla chips to it and it’s superlative.

Robust yoghurt-based soups make hearty meals with lots of texture, and you can pack them with nutritious ingredients like spinach, greens, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Nothing is more appealing than icy-cold soups with slightly spicy accents. They are equally satisfying, whether offered as a starter or as a light main course. Chilled soups usually need stock, so keep in mind if you start out using a bad-tasting stock — your soup will be bad too!

Gazpacho Soup

Ingredients:
6 pcs fresh tomato, 200 gms cucumber, red, yellow and green peppers about 120 gms each, salt to taste, pepper from the mill, 60 gms bread croutons, 5 gms espellette chilli powder, a few cloves, 80 gms tomato paste, Tabasco sauce to taste

Method:
Peel the tomatoes by removing the skin with a knife and keep it to decorate the centre of the plate.
Blend the tomatoes, the cucumber, the three kind of peppers (keep 30 gms of each pepper diced for serving separately with bread croutons)
Make a paste of olive oil, chili powder, salt, pepper, tomato and blend it for 2/3 minutes.
Check for seasoning. Cover with cling film and keep in the chiller.
Serve chilled. Also serve separately 10 gm of croutons, red peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers, per person. Serve in a chilled plate or soup bowl.

By Chef Thomas Figovc, Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon

Mulberry-n-yoghurt cold soup

Ingredients:
400 gms mulberry (shehtoot), 150 gms low fat yoghurt, a pinch of rock salt, 10 ml lemon juice

Method:
Blend mulberries in blender; add yoghurt, rock salt and lemon juice.
Add crushed ice
Garnish with a dollop of yoghurt and fresh mulberry.
Serve chilled.

By Chef Gagandeep, Qube, Leela Palace Hotel

Did You Know?
Frank Sinatra always asked for chicken and rice soup to be available to him in his dressing rooms before he went on stage.

Cold Tips
Chill your soup in the fridge for at least an hour.
Pour the soup into shot glasses and pass them around as an aperitif.
Chill the soup bowls.
Leftover pasta tastes good as garnish.

Soup recipes with Bill & Sheila

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from soups to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Mushrooms for Autism: White Button Mushrooms, Shiitake, Reishi, and Oyster Mushrooms

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

Mushrooms for Autism: White Button Mushrooms, Shiitake, Reishi, and Oyster Mushrooms

The Fabulous Four Fungi – Reishi, Shiitake, Maitake and Cordyceps – offer powerful support for theimmune system. These and other fungi with healing properties specific to autism can be served on the plate or taken as supplements. Spec ific mushrooms may affect specific emotional expressions and behaviors. Sandra Williams, PhD, of Lost Creek Shiitake Mushroom Farm, spoke at the 2012 AutismOne Conference on nine types of healing fungi that can help people on the autism spectrum. In this article, she discusses the healing properties white button, shiitake, reishi, and oyster mushrooms.

Perkins, OK (PRWEB) May 31, 2012
“Mushrooms in general strengthen and stimulate the immune system,” according to Sandra Williams, PhD, owner of Lost Creek Mushroom Farm, specializing in shiitake mushroom log kits. “Mushrooms contain immunostimulants that can strengthen and increase immune system activity. Some, like the reishi (ling zhi), contain immunomodulators that can adjust the level of function in the individual’s immune system. Their effects on various cancers are well documented. Furthermore, for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) specific mushrooms may have specific effects on the body and on behavior.”

Dr. Williams spoke at the 2012 AutismOne Conference in Chicago, May 23-27, presenting nine types of fungi that can be helpful to children with ASD and are available as functional foods or as supplements available online or in health food stores.

“Some people are physiologIcal fungiphobes – they don’t like mushrooms and their bodies can’t process them.. Clearly, if a child is fungiphobic, mushrooms are not a path of nutritional recovery for ASD.

For young fungiphiles, children who can and will eat mushrooms, there are some good possibilities for improving function and responses.

People on the autism spectrum can over-respond to toxins, allergens, normal bacteria and parasites, and under-respond to viruses, yeast, and intracellular bacteria. These responses require a specific type of immune system response, TH2. According to holistic pediatrician John Hicks, MD, ofElementals Living in Delavan, WI, “The immune shift that people on the spectrum get is a TH2 shift. This leads to suppression of the cell-mediated side. This is the shift that mushrooms address. I have been using mushrooms successfully to shift the TH2 immune dysfunctions. This seems to work like transfer factor, but with less specificity; a general rebalancing of the immune system.”

Williams spoke about the nutritional, health, medicinal properties and possible behavioral effects of white button mushrooms, shiitake, reishi, enoki, maitake, oyster, lion’s mane, and shaggy mane. “Cordyceps is not a mushroom, but a parasitic fungus that is being cultivated for its impressive health and medical uses, including treatments for cancer, heart disease, nerve disorders, sexual dysfunction and more.”

“For people on the autism spectrum,” Williams said, “White button mushrooms can help detoxify the body and they may reduce the need for repeated behaviors. Shiitakes strengthen the immune system, can help increase connection with the self, and generate feelings of joy. Reishi can fight infections, relieve anxiety and improve adrenocortical function. It can support a “rootedness in the self.”

According to Robert Rogers, author of the recently published book, “The Fungal Pharmacy,” the oyster mushroom “falls between a high-grade vegetable and low-grade meat,” high in protein, low in fat, and loaded with vitamins and minerals. It contains anti-tumor and anti-viral compounds and is used to treat nerve disorders.
“Oyster mushrooms may be able to reduce the startle response in children with autism,” Dr. Williams said, “and bring them to a more solid footing.”

Of these mushrooms, white button, shiitake, and oyster are readily available in supermarkets, farmer’s markets, online fresh and dried, and as grow-your-own kits. Reishi is edible, but woody and does not have an appealing flavor. Reishi is available as Ganoderma coffees, teas and other products; and also in supplement form alone or in combination with other mushrooms or immune-stimulating products. For children who can eat mushrooms but don’t like the texture, color, or flavor, the mushrooms can be dried, ground and added to foods they enjoy.

For more information on these and other mushrooms that can address ASD, contact Dr. Williams at mushroomsforasd(at)yahoo(dot)com. The Lost Creek Mushroom Farm website has information available about the healing effects of shiitakes. Lost Creek Mushroom Farm Shiitake Log Kits are available online at http://www.shiitakemushroomlog.com, by phone at 800-792-0053 , and at slightly higher prices, on Amazon.com.
Sandra WIlliams
Lost Creek Mushroom Farm
800-792-0053

Recipes for Mushrooms with Bill & Sheila

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from mushrooms to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

5 tips for a healthier potato salad

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

5 tips for a healthier potato salad

Potato salad, an essential mainstay of backyard barbecues, pool parties, and picnics, marks the height of spring and the start of summer. And, a party without potato salad and all the fixings just wouldn’t seem like a real party. But with all the traditional toppings such as mayo, chopped eggs, and even bacon, it can be a caloric and fat overload that isn’t exactly waist-friendly.

So we’ve teamed up with Laura Cipullo, registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, to put together some tips that will help make the next potato salad you make a little lighter while still retaining all the flavor.

Use red or sweet potatoes
Red potatoes have a lower glycemic index than other types of potatoes, meaning they won’t spike blood sugar as quickly as others. Yukon Gold or other waxy potatoes are great as well, and sweet potatoes are even better since they contain more fiber, iron, magnesium, vitamin A, and beta carotene by weight than their regular counterparts. Try this recipe.

Keep the skins on
Avoid peeling the potatoes since the skin contains fiber that will slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream.

Add another vegetable
Adding another vegetable, such as broccoli or celery, can add more fiber and help balance out the natural sugar found in the potatoes. More fiber can help you feel satiated with fewer servings. Also, try replacing some of the cooked potatoes with cooked cauliflower (you can cook them together). After draining, return them both to the pot and cook for a few minutes over medium heat to dry them out a bit. Cauliflower contains a lot of moisture, but this will help prevent watery dressing.

Use olive oil and lemon juice
Instead of a heavy mayonnaise, try using a combination of olive oil together with lemon juice, vinegar (balsamic, red-wine, white-wine, or sherry all work very nicely), and perhaps some mustard (try whole-grain or Dijon) to make a flavorful dressing without mayonnaise.

Try Greek yogurt
A combination of Greek yogurt and fat-free sour cream is a tasty, healthy alternative to mayonnaise. Greek yogurt is preferable to regular yogurt because it contains more protein and therefore helps to slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream.

Get more potato salad tips here.

More from The Daily Meal:

Guiltless grilling tips
9 steps to successful deep-frying
How to organize your dream kitchen
Chef Tom Colicchio’s grilling tips and essentials

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from potato salad to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

The KFC cookbook: a Colonel of truth?

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

The KFC cookbook: a Colonel of truth?

On Monday, KFC will release what its spokeswoman calls a “long-lost” autobiography and cookbook, allegedly authored by the so-called Colonel Harland Sanders some 40 years ago and sequestered since then in the “vault” of some “forgotten-about storage facility”. The Sanders story remains the basis of the KFC creation myth, and the company has never shrunk from using his kindly, goateed image as a kind of avuncular mask.

I’ve seen a preview of the book and the recipes are deeply unappetising, using lots of canola oil and margarine. There are deep-fried parsnips, a peach cobbler (“If you use frozen thawed peaches be sure to drain them well in a colander”) and “coffee the way we used to make it on the farm”. This last calls for a whole egg, “shell and all”, to be crushed into the coffee grounds. Perhaps it’s sublime.

What’s most striking about the recipes, of course, is how little they resemble anything the chain produces today. (Like BP, KFC now exists only in initials.) There isn’t a Zinger® salad or a Fully Loaded™ in sight. But that isn’t surprising. According to Ron Douglas, who wrote a book exposing secret recipes and who claimed to have cracked the “11″, Sanders was furious with the “sons of bitches” to whom he sold the business. They “prostituted every goddamn thing I had,” he said. “I had the greatest gravy in the world and … they dragged it out and extended it and watered it down that I’m so goddamn mad!”

In addition to the 11 herbs and spices in the “secret” recipe and the barbecue sauce it claims Sanders created, during the mid-90s KFC served rotisserie chicken supposedly based on a “lost” Sanders recipe. Odd, then, that two-thirds of young Americans don’t even realise he was a real person.

Without wishing to launch WoM’s equivalent of the Hitler diaries, it seems conceivable that the volume is genuine. The style (he always calls it “cookin’”, for example) may be a little homespun, the southern wisdom just a mite hackneyed, and there may be some strange mindblanks. (“I’m 19 years older than my first child, Margaret, so that must mean I was about 18 years old when I was married” – you’d have thought that someone who built an empire the size of KFC might remember a detail like that.) But all these are in keeping with a man deeply attuned to the importance of self-branding.

By the time Sanders died in 1980, aged 90, his business had over 600 branches in three countries; it now has 15,000 in 105. Today part of Yum! Brands, which owns 38,000 restaurants around the world, KFC sells more than one billion meals a year. It’s hard to parse Sanders’ identity amid this: he seems to have enjoyed creating a persona for himself, painting his face on the side of his car before he was famous, and the company – let’s say – tends to emphasise the positives of his biography.

Colonel Sanders cooking fried chicken.

Sanders actually grew up in Indiana. He began working when he was 10, so the story goes, to feed his family. He spent time on the railways and held jobs as an insurance salesman and a streetcar conductor. He once shot a man, and when he was a lawyer he supposedly assaulted his own client in court. The “Colonel” business was an honorific bestowed on him by the state of Kentucky: it has nothing to do with any military career, and Sanders only adopted his trademark Southern garb after receiving it. (Churchill, whose war record is a little more distinguished than Sanders’, was also a Kentucky colonel, but the old lion chose not to mark the distinction by donning a string bow tie.)

Sanders had finally wound up in Kentucky, running a service station, by the time he was 40. This folded in the mid-1950s, making the then-65-year-old perilously close to bankruptcy. He started franchising his fried chicken recipe to nearby diners, taking a commission on each meal they sold, and in 1964 he sold the new business for $2m (at least $15m in today’s money). He spent the rest of his life tirelessly travelling round the world visiting his restaurants and giving money to charities and churches. (Don’t miss this clip of him on an evangelical chat show in 1979.)

KFC was in the news for two other reasons this week. Greenpeace staged a stunt drawing attention to the chain’s alleged involvement in the destruction of the Indonesian rainforest. (Fast food, after all, is rarely good for the environment.) And the ASA announced that a 2005 KFC advert, featuring call centre workers singing with their mouths full, had attracted more complaints than any other commercial in British TV history. I confess I found that campaign quite funny, and rather more original than this strange piece of self-mythologising from a bogus soldier.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from kfc to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Sweet as Pie

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

By Pamela Berger
sweetpeachblog.com

Sweet as Peach Pie

It’s hard not to like a sweet peach. You feel lucky when you find one as it immediately satiates and delights. So when I was trying to find the best peach pie for this month’s cover shoot, master baker, Maggie Sweeney of Cake Hag (cakehag.com) was the only one to call.

Upon my request, Maggie upped the ante with a Brandied Peach Pie recipe that is incredibly scrumptious and perfectly Southern. The crust is distinctly homemade with depth and a wonderful flaky texture. A touch of brandy added to the sweet peaches surprises and soothes.

Maggie suggests using Freestone peaches which are easily found at your local grocery store. Firmer and less juicy, these peaches are excellent for baking. She recommends keeping the dough cold (great tip is to cool your hands in ice before kneading) and not overworking the dough. Less is always more. Maggie also warns against using aluminum pie pans as the heat transfers too quickly and can compromise the overall taste. As Maggie says, “A good glass or ceramic pie pan isn’t expensive. Use one.”

Cake Hag is a whiz with the pie, but as the name implies, Maggie also makes incredible cakes, such as Carolina Carrot, Red Wine Velvet and Jameson’s Irish Whiskey Pudding Cake. Everything is delicious.

Brandied Peach Pie

Filling

2 1/2 – 3 pounds ripe peach meat (off the pit, skin removed – amount needed depends on depth of pie plate – deep dish needs requires more peach) in medium thin slices

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons corn starch

1 teaspoon good quality ground cinnamon

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Juice of small lemon

1/3 cup brandy

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Crust

2 1/2 cups all natural, unbleached all-purpose flour + flour for rolling

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

8 tablespoons unsalted butter in small cubes

4 oz cream cheese in small cubes

2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar or lemon juice

3 – 6 tablespoons of milk, as needed

350F oven

Equipment

9” Glass pie plate

Pastry cutter or food processor

Plastic wrap

Instructions

Chill cubed butter and cream cheese in freezer until butter is hard.
Sift all dry crust ingredients together in medium bowl.
Sift granulated white sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon together (filling ingredients) and set aside.
Begin cutting chilled butter and cream cheese into the dry crust ingredients until the mixture consists of crumbled small, pea-sized crumbs. Alternately, pulse ingredients in a food processor until the same consistency is achieved.
Add vinegar, followed by milk, in tablespoon increments until mixture just begins to come together.
Separate crust mixture into halves – quickly form a rough disk of each halve, working the dough as as little as possible, wrap each disk in plastic wrap and put in freezer to chill.
In a large pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Add peaches, brown sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt and cook until peaches just begin to soften.
Using a whisk, add the sugar/cornstarch/cinnamon mixture and continue cooking until the liquid begins to come together and bubbles.
Add brandy before removing mixture from heat. Thoroughly mix brandy into peach mixture, remove from heat and set aside or place in fridge to cool.
Using a smoothly floured surface and a lightly floured rolling pin, begin rolling out the larger disk of chilled dough until it reaches an even thickness throughout and about 12” in diameter – at that point fold crust in half and transfer to pie plate, making sure the crust overlaps the plate edges once the crust has been evenly placed.
Roll out the second disk the same way. At this point you can cut strips to lay a lattice top, roll out a full top crust cutting vent holes, or roll out a full top and use a stylized cutter – in all cases making sure to seal the edges of the crusts together and pinch-flute the crust circumference around the pie pan.
Combine 1 egg white with 2 tablespoons of whole milk and lightly brush crust with this mixture using a pastry brush. Then sprinkle crust with granulated or sanding sugar.
Place pie on a sheet pan in the center of the middle rack of the heated oven. The pie will take from 35-45 minutes to bake but begin watching the pie at 20 minutes, in 5 minute increments, to make certain the crust isn’t browning too fast before the pie cooks completely. If the crust is browning too quickly lay a sheet of foil gently over crust until the pie has finished baking.

TIPS

The crust does best when it is kept cool and worked the least – use the freezer as needed to chill or re-chill the crust or crust ingredients.
Freestone peaches will be easier to remove flesh from the pit, and yield more meat-per-peach.
Remove the skins before slicing peaches by blanching the peaches in boiling water for 15-30 seconds and quickly placing them in ice water. Skin comes off beautifully and on a freestone peach, the flesh separates quickly from the pit.
Smell each peach butt before buying it. If they don’t smell like peach heaven, even if they feel ripe, they won’t have great flavor.
Use the best ingredients you can, from butter to flour to peaches to produce a fantastic peach pie.
Freezing your own skinned, sliced peaches, just covered in peach juice, will equal a delicious peach pie in the off-season.
Pie crust can be fragile and it does sometimes tear. If that happens just quickly patch it without over working the dough. It’s way more important to have a delicious crust then a pretty crust.

To read more about Cake Hag and to see more photos, check out our June print or digital edition.

baking with Bill & Sheila

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from pie to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Beer - Summer brews that satisfy

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

Beer – Summer brews that satisfy

Summer is just a few weeks from officially being here, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the switch to lighter, refreshing beers.

Cold weather is perfect for heavy stouts and barleywines, but when it is warm or hot out, you want something a little different.

Here are a list of the top 10 beers I think you should make sure to drink this summer. Not all of them are summer seasonals, but they are all great summer beers.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

This is the standard by which all German-style hefeweizens should be judged. This unfiltered German wheat beer is nearly perfect. It is light and refreshing, full of flavor, and relatively easy to find in stores. It has 5.4 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), and is a perfect beer to enjoy day or night. From now until September, you’d be hard-pressed not to find at least one of these in my fridge. If you can’t find this, try this: Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse.

Brooklyn Lager

Brooklyn Lager from the Brooklyn Brewery is a personal favorite. I often grab some of this throughout the year at local liquor stores, but during the summer this refreshing pre-Prohibition-style lager (meaning all barley malt, no adjuncts), is a staple of mine. If you’re a fan of the recent craft can revolution, this is available in both cans and bottles. If you can’t find this, try this: Cape Ann Fisherman’s Brew.

Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Festina Peche is one of the most refreshing beers you will ever find. Brewed by Dogfish Head, it is a twist on the Berliner weisse, a tart German-style wheat beer. This one has the tartness, but it is also brewed with fresh peaches. That makes for a wonderful drink. And it is light at 4.5 percent ABV. If you can’t find this, try this: Dieu Du Ciel’s Solstice D’été Aux Framboises.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager

Sierra Nevada is one of the oldest and largest craft breweries in the country, and when they brew a beer, they brew it right. The Summerfest is a Czech-style pilsner , light, grassy hops, easy to drink. Sierra Nevada’s version is spot on for the style. I have a six-pack of this in Beatrice (my beer fridge) as I write this. If you can’t find this, try this: Lagunitas’ Czech-style Pils.

Berkshire’s Czech Pilsner

I’m on a pilsner kick lately, so there’s no surprise that two of them made this list. I’m one of the biggest fans you’ll ever find of this beer. This beer has more of a bready aroma and the citrusy hops really come through wonderfully on this beer. It is crisp, tasty and if you’re having a barbecue, you’ll want one of these in your hands to enjoy with a cheeseburger. If you can’t find this, try this: Samuel Adams Noble Pils.

Allagash White

The third wheat beer on this list, this is a Belgian-witbier. A Belgian witbier is brewed with coriander, bitter orange peel and sometimes other spices. This one is light and spiced to perfection. Take a sip and you’ll see why it is one of the best wheat beers of any style brewed in the United States. If you can’t find this, try this: Clown Shoes Clementine.

Samuel Adams Porch Rocker

This is a brand-new beer that will be hitting shelves in the next couple of weeks for the first time. It is a shandy — an ale blended with lemon flavors. I didn’t think I’d like this beer when I first poured it in my glass, but I couldn’t get enough of it. A good mark of a beer is after you finish one, you want another. I wanted several more after having one. It’s a great poolside beer. If you can’t find this, try this: Slumbrew Happy Sol.

Narragansett Summer Ale

Narragansett has the admirable quality of taking a simple style, brewing it right and not trying to make it too complex — some beers are fine simple. This blond ale is a simple beer, but simply good. It is lightly hopped with a decent body for a blond ale. Like potato chips, you’ll have trouble stopping at just one. If you can’t find this, try this: Victory Summer Love.

The Bruery’s Hottenroth

Unlike Dogfish Head’s Festina Peche, the Bruery’s Hottenroth is a traditional Berliner weiss. It is very low in alcohol, about 3.5 percent ABV, and very tart. That tartness, though, makes you want to take sip after sip after sip. If you try this beer, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. If you can’t find this, try this: White Birch Berliner Weiss.

Sixpoint Apollo

This is another new beer this year, and another wheat beer — this time a kristalweizen. A kristalweizen is a filtered hefeweizen. I haven’t had many of this style, so I don’t know how this compares to others like it, but what I do know is I love this beer (yes, I have some cooling in Beatrice right now).It is light, easy to drink and full of traditional wheat beer flavors. Nothing not to love. If you can’t find this, try this: Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier.

If you try all of these, and still think there are better summer beers, let me know because I want to try them.

Norman Miller is a MetroWest (Mass.) Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, email [email protected] or call 508-626-3823. Check out The Beer Nut blog at http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut/.

All About Beer with Bill & Sheila

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from beer to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Natural herbs can help fight outdoor insect pests

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from herbs to Home Page

Recommended Reading

With Potato Gnocchi, a Tender Touch Is Rewarded

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from gnocchi to Home Page

Recommended Reading

‘How to Build a Better Pie’

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from pie to Home Page

Recommended Reading

How Juicing Solved All My Problems

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from juicing to Home Page

Recommended Reading

Refreshing soups to savour this summer

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from soups to Home Page

Recommended Reading

Mushrooms for Autism: White Button Mushrooms, Shiitake, Reishi, and Oyster Mushrooms

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from mushrooms to Home Page

Recommended Reading

5 tips for a healthier potato salad

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from potato salad to Home Page

Recommended Reading

The KFC cookbook: a Colonel of truth?

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from kfc to Home Page

Recommended Reading

Sweet as Peach Pie

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from pie to Home Page

Recommended Reading

Beer – Summer brews that satisfy

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from beer to Home Page

Recommended Reading