Tap Water and Sleep: A Couple Interesting Factoids

Two things our bodies need to function: Water and Sleep

Here are some interesting things I've come across that, while I'm glad I did, totally freaked me out as.  First, about tap water.  A friend of mine who is an RN in California sent me an email a while back in response to my earlier blog on drinking water.  Check out what she had to say:

"Your post about drinking water reminded me of my luxurious tour of the San Francisco water sewage treatment facility. Very interesting. I learned more about the sources of water collection: street run-off, water from mills and industries, etc. As I learned how the water is collected and 'purified,' I realized just how many chemicals we might be drinking in our water from car oil to paint thinner. And it doesn't stop at our drinking water. The 'solid waste' is put in vat so to speak, where anaerobic bacteria eat the bacteria that can harm us. Once it's through this process, it is converted into fertilizer to be spread on our commercial crops, and sold in nurseries.

"Although many people (including the tour guides of the treatment plant) think this is very efficient and resourceful, I'm really concerned about this practice. As I was thinking of all the chemicals and toxins that are in this solid waste, I asked the marine-biologist who was one of the guides of our tour, if she was concerned at all about what chemicals might be dumped on our soils, and into our food. She really didn't have a response. So, when you buy commercial veggies and fruits, keep in mind that fertilizers such as solid waste are most likely used to grow those foods. Bacteria may not be an issue, but detergents and soaps, bleach, gasoline and oil that drip from cars, recreational and prescribed drugs that are excreted, caffeine that is excreted, cigarette butts that litter our streets (are are filled with hundreds of chemicals), not to mention who knows what other chemicals that are dumped by households and industries, are all going into our commercial food (not sure of the percentage, but my understanding at this tour was that most commercial food growers use this to fertilize), and into our recycled water. Lovely isn't it? I've read a couple of studies that have tested for drugs that are in our recycled water, but I'd like to look for studies that test for a broader range of chemicals in our water and fertilizers."

Whew eee!  If you needed a wake-up call or an excuse to examine the water you drink on a daily basis, there you go!

The second topic of this post: Sleep

How often do you wash and/or replace your pillow?  I read a recent study relating some pretty disturbing information about bugs, feces, dead skin, among other nastiness that hang our in pillows despite the nice, clean, fabric softener-smelling pillow cases we put on them.  You can read the whole story here.

I recently got a new pillow from IKEA that is specifically designed for side sleepers, like myself.  It has been awesome and it was only $9.99 in-store, online it is 14.99 (I don't get any kickbacks from IKEA; I wish!).  The better sleep I've gotten since has been well worth the already-reasonable price.

Another pillow that is endorsed by tons of people, including hotels in Laughlin, NV that stock only that pillow in their hotels is My Pillow.  I haven't gotten one yet but I intend to--they take a whole assessment of your body/sleep habit (side, back, etc.) and totally guarantee their pillow.  In fact, the people that visit the Laughlin hotel are the most frequent customers of My Pillow, the company says, as they experience great sleep when they visit the hotels and want it still when they get back home

So there you have it; a couple factoids that will definitely aid you on your quest for health!

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A Father's Day Treat: Strawberry Shortcake

Father's Day at our house means pampering Dad with, well, what else?  Yummy food!  July is almost here, and along with watermellons come strawberries.   The Dads in my life (father of my children and my own father) absolutely love strawberry shortcake.

So, how hard can it be to make, right?  Full-proof--you are thinking--like, who even NEEDS a recipe for that.  Well, the strawberries and the whipped cream are the straight forward part.  The part that gets a little dicey in certain circles is the "shortcake" part.  How do you like your "shortcake?"  Do you actually like cake, a biscuit, or a scone, and if you even tell me that you whip up some Bisquick, well, I won't completely fault you, but hope to lead you to tastier pastures instead...and no, I'm not saying you are a cow if you go to town on some strawberry shortcake. 

Back to the issue at hand:  what kind of "shortcake" to pair with your strawberries and whipped cream?  For me, the perfect strawberry shortcake is the right amount of "cake," strawberries and cream. Too much of any item just doesn't work.  Over the years, I have made several different recipes.  Today my husband asked for the "scone-like" kind.  I immediately had memories of a dry english scone, flavorless, that almost chipped my teeth.  No thanks, I thought.  Usually I make something along the lines of a biscuit, but biscuits can sometimes have too much, well, biscuit--there is just too much bread hanging out. 

I set to work making the scone-esk style "shortcake," because, afterall, this day is not about me.  Scone-like he will get, but not the tooth-chipping kind.  I made the dough much like I would make biscuit dough, only I rolled it out thinner (so as to make each cake thinner and not create that imbalance of too much bread I was talking about), I cut the cakes into squares with a knife instead of a biscuit cutter (faster, easier, and just more rugged for the home-style shortcake), and last I took the extra 30 seconds to crack an egg, add a couple teaspoons of water, and put an egg wash on top to make it shiny, crunchy, and golden like a scone should be. 

That said, here is the recipe for this Father's Day's Strawberry Shortcake.
(Print this Recipe)
Strawberries:

Clean, de-stem, chop up in a bowl with white sugar to taste.  Set aside to macerate for 30 minutes while you make the shortcake.
*Today I had around 6 cups of chopped strawberries and I added almost a cup of sugar, but that's me.  Just consider that your topping of choice will be sweetened, so adjust accordingly; or, back off on the sugar you add to your topping if you are making it from scratch, which you should because it is so much tastier than the bottled or tubbed varieties. 

Whipped Cream (from scratch)
2 c. whipping cream
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1-2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Mix this all together in a kitchenaid or whip with beaters until soft peaks form.

Shortcake Recipe (from the New Best Recipe Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

5 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1/2 c. plus 1 Tbs. half-and-half or whole milk

Egg Wash:

1 egg beaten with 2 tsp. water

Directions:

1.  Wash, chop, and add sugar to your strawberries. 

2.  Preheat an oven to 425 degrees.

3.  For the shortcake: in a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to combine.  Add the butter pieces and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15 1-second pulses.  Transfer to a medium bowl.

4.  Mix the beaten egg and the half-and-half in a separate cup.  Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture.  Combine with a rubber spatula until large clumps form.  Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and lightly knead until it comes together.

5.  Roll out the dough to about 1 1/2 inch thickness.  Take a sharp knife and cut squares (and I use that term loosely--they can be odd shaped, rectangles, etc.) out of the dough.  Just make a grid to create same sized squares/shapes to allow for even baking. 

6.  Using a pastry brush, or spoon if you don't have a brush, put the egg wash on top of each square--give it a good going over so it isn't dry on top, but not too much to have it running all over the place.  A little running over the shortcake dough isn't going to hurt anything. 

7.  Place squares on a baking sheet and cook at 425 for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Assembly:

I like to cut the shortcakes in half with a bread knife.  If the shortcake is particularly large, sometimes I will, after cutting it in half, will break the top and bottom pieces in half to create a super-layered shortcake (as seen below).  Next, place the bottom of the shortcake on a plate and top with strawberries, then with whipped cream, and top it off with the other half of the shortcake.  For an added flair, sprinkle some powdered sugar over the whole thing (through a sieve), and place a strawberry on top.  Happy Father's Day!

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The Best Pancakes Ever (The Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream Pancakes)

My favorite pancakes are ones that are NOT soggy, dense, or tasteless; so basically light, fluffy, and slightly crispy on the outside--not a burned crispy, just enough to give a nice little texture.  I made these this morning, and was I surprised at how amazing they were!  I seem to use that word, amazing, a lot on this blog, but be happy, because if the said food isn't amazing, I won't write about it!

Generally speaking, sour cream pancakes scare me.  It's like I'm afraid of some gooey, messy, slightly tangy funkiness that is going to mess with my maple syrup and butter happiness (or berry syrup--I recommend Bauman Farm's marionberry from Oregon).  So you can imagine my total and utter shock at how, like I said before, AMAZING these pancakes were.

When you make this batter, it really doesn't look like much, in fact I found myself thinking I should have doubled the recipe.  But the batter doesn't run all over the skillet like other batters--it just sits there.  So this recipe actually makes 6 pancakes, using a 1/4c. of batter for each one.

This recipe is from Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl Cookbook (I would vote it the best overall cookbook of the year according to me).  Like Ree Drummond says about this recipe, don't overmix the batter or worry about it being "totally combined."  A little lumpy and bumpy works just fine.

The Pioneer Woman's Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes

Makes 6 pancakes (using 1/4 c. of batter each)
(Print this Recipe)
Ingredients:
1 c. sour cream
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or 1/4 c. and 3 Tbs.)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1.  Place a skillet (cast iron if you have one) on med-low heat. 
2.  In a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
3.  In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla.
4.  Add the egg mixture to the flour and stir until just combined; don't worry about the lumps and bumps.
5.  Melt 1 tsp. of butter in the skillet (this is better than oil for flavor and good crunchiness.  Use a 1/4 c. of batter for your pancakes.  Make sure the skillet doesn't get too hot so that the pancakes have enough time to cook without burning. 
6.  Serve with butter and maple syrup, berry syrup, or whatever floats your boat!

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Part II To My Blog on Onions and Iodine; Supplemental Iodine

In light of recent events in Japan and concerns over exposure to gamma radiation, and since my blog on onions and iodine continues to get regular hits, I thought I would share where I buy my supplemental iodine.  I get it from http://www.magnascent.com/  (I don't receive any compensation or other kickbacks from mentioning this or any other site if you buy their products.)  Another site that sells this same product but under a different name (Nutridine or Nutroidine) is Nutrimedical.com, a site run by Dr. Bill Deagle.
These sites are amazingly informational, and talk about this specific iodine in relation its state, how it helps protect the thyroid gland, etc.  Many are concerned about gamma radiation and the potential for thyroid cancers in the future.  In my opinion, this is a great way to get the needed iodine to defend against any gamma radiation that is being carried to the U.S., as well as getting the amount of iodine that our bodies need.

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Grilled Pork with Vermicelli Noodles (Bun Thit Nuong)

Pronounced boon-thit-naug (rhyms with long), this dish as is as standard in Vietnamese homes as hot dogs are in America, only healthier!  What you basically have in this dish is thinly sliced grilled pork on top of rice noodles, along with a few vegetables and a special sauce that combine to create a medley of wonderful flavors. This dish takes time in the preparation: the marinade (ideally overnight), and chopping of the vegetables/making the sauce, but provided you do that ahead of time, assembly goes super fast.  What that dials down to is about 10 minutes to cook the meal and then assemble the dish.  The noodles can be done in advance or cooked at the same time as the meat.  Traditionally, the noodles are served at room temperature. 

There's a backstory to this dish and recipe: When my husband was in graduate school, he had a friend from Vietnam who recommended a restaurant to us in Southwest Portland, Oregon. Being the food-adventurous twenty-somethings that we were, we gladly embarked on trying out a new food and restaurant. We instantly fell in love with this particular dish, although most folks we know who like Vietnamese food always get pho, not necessarily because it is a better dish, but because it is more of a known entity. We, however, never seem to break away and order something different at the numerous Vietnamese restaurants we have tried in several states. To date, Pho Hung in Portland, is unbeatable: the best tasting, the best balance of meat and noodles, best sauce, and affordable--I will tell you that even if the price went up I would pay it because their's is so good, so it is a bonus that it is a good deal.

Naturally, as time went on, we grew weary of not getting our fix, and weary of trying new places that just didn't match up.  Plus, we were spending our eating out money and getting disappointed every time we searched for an equal tasting dish to Pho Hung when we moved out of state.  The story goes that my husband insisted I start making it.  What did I know about Vietnamese food or the needed ingredients?  While a fair American cook, I was little nervous to make this dish.  Every native that we spoke to swore that it was the easiest thing, so eventually I just got the guts to approach a Vietnamese woman one day in a Vietnamese market in Phoenix.  She spoke very little English, but once I was able to communicate that I was looking for the ingredients to make this--not just the basics, but how SHE made it, and what brands she used, I was almost home free.  She led me isle by isle, walked me up to the butcher and pointed out what type of meat and what thickness, etc. 

I did pull recipes off-line for the sauce, but I was regularly disappointed.  The first mistake I made was to go with a Chinese fish sauce, thinking all fish sauces were the same before I spoke with the lady in the grocery store.  The Chinese fish sauce was WAY too salty, and not the right flavor.  In fact, my husband and I vow to this day that the Chinese fish sause left a permanent stink in our fridge.  Once I got at a recommended Vietnamese brand, I was okay. 

Here is the recipe that I tinkered with to my liking and one that I use regularly; it passed muster!  If you want to do this right, go to your local Asian market or Vietnamese market and pick out the correct brands/types.  You can always tinker later with different brands if you want, but I recommend starting out with these.  While it might seems like you are spending a lot up front, consider that these sauce/marinade ingredients will last you quite a while.  I can usually make the dish over 5 or more times before having to get more.  Amortized over time, this dish is really affordable and cost effective. 

Grilled Pork with Vermicelli Noodles
(Bun Thit Nuong)

Ingredients:
Serves 6
(Print this Recipe)

For the Pork:
1/2 of a pork picnic roast (4 lbs. each half; most roasts are in the 7-8 lb. range) or a small pork butt roast, cut off the bone and sliced as thin as deli ham for a sandwich.  Any grocery meat department will do this for you.  The meat will be marbled and have stringy fat.  This is what you want!  Buying lean pork will actually hurt you in this case, because lean pork will be tough and chewy.  The marbled fat/string bits melt off in the cooking of the pork and leave behind a tender, moist tasty morsel, and we all know there is nothing worse than dry pork!  You also want long, wide pieces(not to be confused with thick), where possible, as this is easier to cook on the wire rack and marinade than small little pieces.

For the Pork Marinade:
1/4 c. oyster sauce
1/4 c. fish sauce (Three Crab brand)
1/4 c. honey
3/4 c. yellow or red onion, grated
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 1/3 c. vegetable oil

For the Sauce:
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbs. white granulated sugar
2/3 c. warm water
2 Tbs. FRESH lime juice (trust me on this; the bottled variety will make it nasty!)
1/4 c. Fish sauce (Three Crab brand)
2 Tbs. grated carrots
1 Tbs. grated pickled daikon raddish (optional, but makes it a whole lot better; sold at the refridgerated section at Asian markets.  Sometimes you buy the whole raddish and grate it yourself if they don't sell it already grated with carrots in the refridgerated section.)

Noodles:
1 small, or 1/2 large Vietnamese Vermicelli rice noodles

Vegetables/Toppings to Prepare:
1 head of romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and sliced really thin
1/2 cucumber, cut into long, thin, square strips *This shape is the only way to go. Otherwise, you end up with a mouth full of cucumber and it's just not conducive to the dish.
1/2 carrot, grated
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup scallions (little green onions--the while and some of the green part), chopped
1/4 dry roasted UNSALTED peanuts, chopped up in a food processor

Directions:

1.  *Rinse and dry your thinly sliced pork.  Place in a gallon ziplock bag.
(*Sometimes in the slicing you can get dust from the bone if your butcher cut around a bone-in roast and that stuff isn't nice to crunch down on.  Besides, never a bad things to clean your food first!)

2.  Prepare the marinade by mixing together all the marinade ingredients, and dump into the ziplock bag holding your sliced pork.  Place in the fridge until ready to use.  Ideally, marinade a few hours or overnight.  I have used the pork right away in a pinch, but the flavor just isn't as great.

3. When you are ready to cook the pork, preheat your oven to broil, or bake at 500 degrees.  (You can also use a true grill, but for those of us wanting this during winter with a few feet of snow outside, I use my oven and it turns out great!)  Prep a rimmed cookie sheet by lining it with foil (this allows for easy clean-up) and place a wire baking rack in/on the cookie sheet.  Now take your marinaded pork and lay it out on the rack.  The marinade can be on the pork; doesn't need to be wiped off.

4.  Place the pork in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until browned and slightly crispy on the edges.  It might even look slightly burned because of the marinade, but as long as it is just around the edges you will be fine.  This is due to the brown sugar and oyster sauce carmelizing on the meat.  When you remove the meat from the oven and allow it to cool a minute, move it to a cutting board and chop it into bite-sized pieces.  Place them in a bowl for assembly.

5.  While the meat is cooking, bring a quart of water to a boil and follow the directions on the noodle package for cooking directions.  Most Vietnamese noodles will direct you to bring the water to boil, place the noodles in the water and TURN OFF the burner/remove from heat and allow the noodles to sit in the water for 8 minutes before draining.  If you make the mistake of actually continuing to boil the noodles, they will absolutely disinigrate, and/or get the nastiest texture ever and fall apart on you when you drain them.  Once the noodles are done, drain/rinse with cool water, and place in a large bowl for assembly.

6.  Before or during cook, prep your various vegetables and place in bowls for assembly.



Clockwise: Peanuts, scallions, cilantro, and mint

 7.  Before of during cooking, prepare your sauce by combining all sauce ingredients in a bowl.

8.  When you are ready to assemble this dish, use large bowls to assemble into/eat out of.  Assembly goes in this order for each person you are serving/bowl preparing, from the bottom to the top of the bowl:

1 c. Lettuce (very bottom of bowl underneath the noodles)
1/2 c. Bean sprouts
A handful of noodles, about 2 cups
6-8 Cucumber strips, placed off to the side of the bowl on the noodles
1 Tbs. grated carrot, placed off to the side of the bowl on the noodles
1 Tbs. Mint (in the center)
A pinch of Cilantro, or more to taste (in the center)
1 tsp. Scallions (sprinkled around)
2 tsp. Peanuts, chopped (sprinkled or served in the center with the mint and cilantro)
1/4-1/2 c. grilled pork pieces, placed off to the side of the bowl on the noodles
Serve a 1/2 cup of sauce on the side with each bowl and to allow each person to put it on themselves.

Enjoy!!!!

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Homemade Biscuits

Biscuits.  Light, fluffy, dense.  The last two may seem contradictory, but in fact it is possible to achieve a light and fluffy biscuit that is rather solid.  The key is to make them correctly with the best ingredients.  Now, if you are reading this saying "oh yeah, I've had biscuits!  My favorite kind come from a can," then we seriously need to have a talk.  It is true that some people just didn't grow up with homemade biscuits and don't really know where to start.  Others claim they don't have the time to make them.  Well folks, biscuits take a whole 10 minutes to make and 10-12 minutes to bake.  Period.  So, tell yourself you are worth the 20 minutes and just say no to all those nasty, chemically, preserved alternatives that you find in the refrigerated food section at the grocery store.

While there exists much debate among biscuit connoisseurs over whether buttemilk or cream reigns supreme as the liquid agent in stellar biscuits, I maintain there is room for both.  For years I regularly made the buttermilk variety, thinking that the only way to get a fluffy biscuit was to have that necessary ingredient and the reaction between the buttermilk and baking soda.  As of the past few years, I've really enjoyed biscuits made with half-and-half or cream.  What you get is a creamy biscuit without the tang that is present in the buttermilk variety.  Again, make no mistake, I'm a big fan of the buttermilk biscuit.  I just prefer a change once in a while, especially depending on what I'm making to serve along side them.  Love, love, love this recipe, and my favorite thing to serve it with is a chicken soup or the like.

Homemade Biscuits
(from Ina Garten's Family Style Cookbook--a must have in your cookbook library!)
(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, diced
3/4 cup half-and-half
1 egg mixed with 1 Tbs. water for egg wash (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients and butter in a bowl and use a pastry blender (or a fork if you don't have one; just may not want to use your hands because they will bring up the temperature of the butter and you don't want that) until mixture resembles coarse meal. 

Next, gradually add the half-and-half and stir together using a fork.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead it until it comes together, only a couple minutes.  Press or roll out dough to desired thickness--I prefer about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.  This creates a really puffy biscuit.  **A little trick I do once I've rolled out the dough is to gently pat/push in the sides of the dough toward the center.  This gives the dough a little slack and allows the dough to not be so pressed down and thin when I cut/punch out the biscuits.

Finally, punch out or cut into biscuits.  I'm a tad traditional and like the rounded shapes, but if you don't have one, just use a sharp knife, make sure to dip it in flour repeatedly, and cut into desire shapes of equal sizes to allow for equal cooking time.

Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and coat in egg wash if desired. I find the biscuits can sometimes have a bit of flour on the tops of them, so the egg wash is a nice, quick little step to make ‘em golden brown.  Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

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Apple Crostata

After making this, I just may swear off apple pie forever!  This is quicker, easier, A-MA-ZING and practically full-proof!  Once again, make this and you'll be famous (just like Ina Garten who I adapted it from).

Apple Crostata
(Print this Recipe)
makes 2 apple crostatas
Ingredients

For the pastry:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated or superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (1/2 stick) very cold unsalted butter, diced
½ cup very cold lard, cut up in pieces
2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:
(this filling is for 2 crostatas; if you are only making one, cut the portions in half.)
5 large Granny Smith apples
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated or superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:

For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter and lard and toss lightly to coat all sides of the butter and lard. Not sure why we do this--only that is is a critical step to making a fantastic crust--so just go with it.

Next, dump this mixture into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough becomes a solid mass.

Turn the dough onto a well-floured board and form into a disk that is a 6-8-inch circle (this will allow it to chill faster and also make it easier to roll out later without cracking). Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or you can put in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet.

For the filling, peel, core, and cut the apples into 8ths. Cut each wedge into 3 chunks—they will look big, but when they cook they will be the perfect size and texture. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Cover the tart dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly on the apples. You can take your index finger and poke the filling down into the apples here and there—this is a trick I learned when making apple pies—it makes sure the flavors of the topping get down into the apples and don’t just stay on top. Of course you want the filling mostly on top, so do it in about 4 places.

Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle. Also, no egg wash is necessary. When I originally made this, I thought that in order to have such a nice, golden brown crust that someone must have egg-washed the dough to make it look pretty. NOPE! It turns that beautiful color all by itself (due largely to the butter content in the crust).

Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla icecream.

Yumm!!! 

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