12 Best Foods We Dont Eat (NYTimes)

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
   How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
   
   
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
   How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
   
   
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
   How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
   
   
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
   How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
   
   
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Just drink it.
   
   
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
   
   
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
   How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
   
   
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.” They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
   How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
   
   
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,” it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
   How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
   
   
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
    How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
    
    
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
    How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.


12. Jacques's Beans: A blend of pinto beans, Mexican coarse bacon, tomato juice, cilantro, mustard powder (lots), soya sauce, turmeric, basil, cinnamon, oignons, chicken stock cooked in one large pressure cooker over low flame for 2 hours.
    How to eat: Call me. I made way too much of it as it grows when cooked. I froze 85% and can't eat it in a foreseable future; our pets don't care for it. Great for aerating body and immediate vicinity. I'll put more turmeric next time and make less of it.
    
    
13. 
    

What Did We Do All Summer?

We grew tomatoes. The first edition came out yesterday, with a first item shown here and later eaten in 5 seconds.

Happy 61st Ron, and here's 20 years ago

Happy sixty-first Ron Smith, you now a Texan and I a Mexican. Remember Louisiana 20 years ago? Troubleshooting a machine we designed and built. Things were'nt so cool all the time. They seem to have improved a lot. I think youth is overrated. The best is yet to come! And here's my family 20 years ago, at my sister Lise's birthday and Yvette's marriage to Dale. Wow, what a hen house assembled at my mother's Ste Adele house! Those chicks (my sisters) have been going downhill since, o cruel fate, but so have we. We don't talk so fast anymore and our muscle tone went the way of the 45RPM record player. But we don't get in trouble so often and life is more sweet!

Le Tablier De Grand'mère

Te souviens-tu du tablier de ta grand-mère ?
(Merci à Yolande. English translation in the comments below)

Le principal usage du tablier de Grand'Mère était de protéger la robe en dessous, mais en plus de cela, il servait de gant pour retirer une poêle brûlante du fourneau; il était merveilleux pour essuyer les larmes des enfants, et à certaines occasions, pour nettoyer les frimousses salies.
Depuis le poulailler, le tablier servait à transporter les oeufs,les poussins à réanimer, et parfois les oeufs fêlés qui finissaient dans le fourneau.
Quand des visiteurs arrivaient, le tablier servait d'abri à des enfants timides; et quand le temps était frais,Grand'Mère s'en emmitouflait les bras.
Ce bon vieux tablier faisait office de soufflet, agité au dessus du feu de bois. C'est lui qui transbahutait les pommes de terre et le bois sec jusque dans la cuisine.
Depuis le potager, il servait de panier pour de nombreux légumes.
Après que les petits pois aient été récoltés venait le tour des choux.
En fin de saison il était utilisé pour ramasser les pommes tombées de l'arbre.
Quand des visiteurs arrivaient de façon impromptue, c'était surprenant de voir avec quelle rapidité ce vieux tablier pouvait faire la poussière.
A l'heure de servir le repas, Grand'Mère allait sur le perron agiter son tablier, et les hommes au champ savaient aussitôt qu'ils devaient passer à table.

Grand'Mère l'utilisait aussi pour poser la tarte aux pommes à peine sortie du four sur le rebord de la fenêtre pour qu'elle refroidisse, tandis que, de nos jours, sa petite fille la pose là pour décongeler.
Il faudra de bien longues années avant que quelqu'un invente quelque objet qui puisse remplacer ce bon vieux tablier qui servait à tant de choses.

Happy Birthday, Geraldine, October 28, 1919

.
For your birthday, mother of mine
I caught a fish at sea today
Then I ate him with a good wine
So now in me I feel him play
And swim around my DNA
















You dead and gone for all these years,
You still frolic around my brain
All your stories, laughter...and tears
Still rumble like a distant train
Somewhere in New Brunswick or Maine

The fish, the train, the thoughts of you
Give my life all the vitamins
I need to work and play...THANK YOU
You were and are...and I don't mince
my words...the greatest gal of all.

Jacques
(Jimmy)

Pressure Cookers Are Back To Soften Our Lives

When I was a kid, the soft rocking motion and hiss from the valve on Geri's 'Presto' was always good news. A delicious dish was coming up, Acadian stew with tender chicken and crisp carrots, a Québecois stew with beef, new potatoes and yellow turnip, dumplings and wedges of cabbage, all offering textures that cannot be had by any other cooking method. Since my mom's birthday is coming up soon, we bought a pressure cooker for remembrance sake and I just used it for the first time today. It successfully delivered a squid stew with new potatoes, garlic, dill, leek, cilantro, basil , yellow peppers, paprika and white wine with other more discreet herbs.
There are no words to describe what happens to a rubbery giant squid when subjected to 15 atmospheres of pressure and 250F temperature: it slices like salmon and tastes like heaven! Wish you were here maman! Oh well you always are, actually, and to tell the truth, you never really liked my cooking. ;-) So we'll take you out with the four sisters on your birthday. A good restaurant. How about Desjardins, the King of High Class Sea Food in Montreal? I hear they use a pressure cooker with their lobster, crab and...(noooooooo! dont click on the next link pleeeeease! ) ...squid ?

Fishes, Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

Thanks a million Nikki for that premature Christmas Gift, and, on behalf of the yellowtails, sea basses, corvidas, surf perches and other fishes lurking in the kelp pads this morning, F*ck You! Hope to cook something tasty for us tonite. Gotta go, sun's up!

The Art Of The 'Velouté'

We always buy too many veggies that get funny looking after awhile. Then we have broccoli stem leftovers, too much tomato salad getting soggy in its balsamic vinegar, limp celeries and green onions, chicken stock saved last week and looking lonely in the fridge. Throw it all together with a few onions and carrots, a small potato, then heat/stir the pot violently for 10 minutes in 2 tblsp of olive oil, mixing in a little cilantro and parsley, garlic, a touch of tarragon, chili, ginger and lemon pepper, not enough to be able to identify any of these. The secret of a good velouté is too make it like a good crowd at a concert, a diffuse hush of applause and no one standing up yelling 'bravo' like an idiot
.
The real secret however is white pepper, applied generously AFTER the entire mix was propelled to heaven in a moderate speed blender, leaving tiny morcels of mystery. It is a solemn duty for every Frenchman on earth to bring to America both the velouté and the white pepper. They are missing out on something great. It's true that Colonel Sanders's secret herbs and spices is actually WHITE PEPPER, nothing else. This is a proven fact. Chicken and white pepper fit together like papa into mama. And a good velouté is on par with good sex. But unfortunately for French cuisine better than good sex is still hard to beat. Here's an idea: on a frisky autumn night, have sex and then soup, velouté of course, with a toasted and buttered French bread tip and a good Shiraz.

Fish In The Microwave, Happiness Is

We all have our own microwave cooking horror stories: Yeah! gray meat, limp vegetables, awful mashed potatoes. Maybe that's why many of us turn to this gizmo only for reheating . But that's a mistake. Fish is one food that the microwave oven actually cooks better, faster, and neater than its conventional counterpart.

Calling the microwave an oven has been the mistake. Instead of heating from the outside in, as a conventional oven does, a microwave heats internally. Household electricity converted to high-frequency microwaves excites the moisture and fat molecules in food; the resulting vibrations create friction that produces internal heat. Therefore, what you cook and how you cook is quite different in the microwave oven. A little knowledge should help you produce great results with your next piece of lingcod or salmon, or lowly rockfish like those we caught today.

Why does fish steam so well in a microwave oven?

Fish benefits from quick, moist cooking. Its tender tissues don't need extended braising to break down the fibers. The moisture in fish helps the microwaves generate rapid heat inside. The enclosed heat and moisture in turn create steam to gently cook the fish in a fraction of the time it would take with regular steaming or baking.

Why does fish sometimes take so long to cook?

You may be overloading your oven. The rate at which a microwave oven cooks relates to how much food it must heat. Whether you steam two or six fish steaks over simmering water, the cooking time is about the same. Not so in a microwave oven. The motto of microwave cooking is "more mass, more time." Also remember to rotate fish to achieve even results for large quantities.

Why more and more I use the microwave with fish ?

I'm lazy... and sensitive to the delicate, the fresh and the exquisite. I Finland I taste their national dish, a small mountain of small fish with nothng but a dash of salt and pepper. Delicious because freshly caught., mostly. I caught a smallish bottom dweller this morning that I could have thrown back to the sea. It was too small to fillet so I put him whole in the microwave for 50 seconds and ate it in melted butter spiked with just a teaspoon of white wine, salt and pepper. . My fork pulled it apart and ....brought to my mouth an experience that I would rate as an 11 on a scale of one to 10. The spine pulled out with one tiny tug extrating all its little bones. It was a passionate embrace, a summit in my 64 years on planet Earth. Please do the microwave if you are having fish for dinner. Write for recipes. And post your results with your own recipes here too.

Cinco De Mayo Recipe