Moronacity Cooking

Southwestern Scrambled Eggs

Diane Ursu — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:02:45 +0000

Eggs work well as a base for combining other kinds of food together for a complete and nutritious meal. Southwestern Scrambled Eggs contain ingredients that provide many different benefits.

The eggs, turkey, and cheese are excellent protein sources. Eggs contain many important vitamins and minerals, especially in the yolk. Eggs’ reputation is tarnished with the amount of cholesterol within, but the body does not absorb most of that cholesterol, so an “egg a day” is much more beneficial than we once believed.

Black beans provide a lot of filling fiber and cancer-fighting antioxidants. Avocado is rich in monounsaturated fat that lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol, as does olive oil. Garlic fights cancer, increases cardiovascular health, and also works as an antibiotic and antiviral food.

Sriracha is made from sun-ripened chilies. It has a fresh flavor and provides the right amount of spice in small amounts, or plenty of heat in greater amounts.

Southwestern Scrambled Eggs Ingredients

2 Eggs
1/2 cup Colby Cheese, freshly shredded
3 ounces Turkey Kielbasa, diced
1/2 cup Black Beans (soaked and cooked or canned)
1 to 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic
2 ounces Avocado, diced
Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to taste)
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Sriracha

Southwestern Scrambled Eggs Recipe

Whisk eggs, Colby cheese, and a splash of water in a bowl and set aside.
Pour olive oil in pan. Add turkey kielbasa and coat with olive oil.
Heat over medium heat until slightly browned or until heated as desired.
Lower heat. Pull turkey to one side of the pan and use a spatula to push the olive oil to the opposite side.
Add garlic and sauté for about one minute. Do not brown.
Add egg and cheese mixture and black beans and stir with spatula, mixing with the garlic and turkey.
Increase heat to medium and thoroughly cook eggs.
Place eggs on plate and top with diced avocado and Sriracha to taste.

Healthy Chef Salad

Diane Ursu — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 03:34:49 +0000

This chef salad is packed full of healthy nutrients. It is the perfect post-workout meal that will help build muscle and fight cancer-causing free radicals. The almonds and avocado add healthy fats that help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol.

At first glance, this looks like a fattening salad, but opting for fresh and organic products will do much more for health and weight loss than eating a lower-calorie salad containing ingredients made with flavor enhancers and sweeteners such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and high-fructose corn syrup. See “Weight Loss for Idiots: Diet Foods” to learn more about these substances.

Buying Organic Food

It is easy to find fresh vegetables, and most stores offer organic alternatives for each type. Avocados do not need to be organic. According to the article, “What You Should & Shouldn’t Buy Organic,” published by Greenopolis, “Their thick skins protect the fruit from pesticide build-up.” Tomatoes can also be non-organic, but wash thoroughly. Lettuce and cucumbers should always be organic.

Healthy meat, cheese, and other products can be difficult to find. This recipe uses Hormel Natural Choice Oven Roasted Turkey, which is minimally processed. On their webpage, “Overview: Packaged Deli Sandwich Meats,” Hormel explains, “Our meats are preserved using High Pressure Processing (HPP), [an] all-natural process that doesnâ€™t require preservatives. Instead, intense cold water pressure protects food against bacteria, while maintaining freshness and enhancing flavor.” Hormel’s Natural Choice meats also do not contain trans fat or gluten, and no nitrites, nitrates, or MSG are added.

Organic cheeses are often the better choice. Regular, processed cheese may contain growth hormones and dyes.

Many nutritionists advise against using nutritionally-devoid croutons, but some people enjoy the crunch far too much to leave these off of the salad. Rothbury Farms Organic Whole Grain Seasoned Croutons have a wonderful flavor. The croutons are large, however, and a serving size is only about three or four croutons. To get the most out of your croutons, you may wish to break them up into smaller pieces.

Green leaf lettuce and a fresh herb salad were used as the lettuce base for this salad. Overall, it was about two to three ounces of lettuce, equaling about two to three cups.

Chef Salad Ingredients

2-3 oz Lettuce
1/2 Salad Tomato
1/2 oz Colby-Jack Cheese
3 to 4 oz Cucumber
1 hard-boiled Egg
1 oz Avocado
3 slices Hormel Natural Choice Oven Roasted Turkey
10 Almonds
2 tablespoons Croutons

Chef Salad Recipe

Fill the bowl with lettuce.
Crush the almonds to break them up into smaller pieces. You may wish to do the same with the croutons.
Dice the remaining ingredients.
Layer them on top of the lettuce.

Serve with the dressing of your choice. If you buy your dressing instead of making it, be sure to check labels for monosodium glutamate (MSG) and high-fructose corn syrup, which is also simply called “fructose” on some labels. Avoid these dressings. These ingredients are not always used in every variety from a specific brand, so check every label. Bolthouse Farms salad dressings are affordable alternatives that are all natural and wonderfully flavorful, so less dressing is needed.

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 0 hour
Total time: 15 min

Nutritional Information

Calories: 370
Fat: 23g
Fiber: 3.5 g
Protein: 25 g

Weight Watchers POINTS: 9

The products mentioned in this article are not paid sponsor links, but are mentioned because the author has found them to be healthy alternatives to the over-processed junk foods that are so prevalent in American grocery stores.

Baked Ziti

Diane Ursu — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:12:20 +0000

The Sopranos fans are quite familiar with baked ziti. In fact, it is fair to say that many of them have probably watched the show while sipping on a glass of wine and enjoying some homemade baked ziti. Some might ask, “What exactly is baked ziti, and how is it made?”

Pasta is named for its shaped. Ziti is hollow and cylindrical, like what is found in a box of traditional Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, only bigger. Baked ziti is like most other wonderful Italian pasta dishes consisting of one’s favorite sauce, meat, and cheese. That’s pretty much it.

Baked Ziti Ingredients

These ingredients can be found in any grocery store. It is very important to use the best ingredients. One might be tempted to buy processed, shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, but anyone who has used fresh cheese knows that the shredded cheeses are not the same; they are weak in flavor and have a different consistency. Also, manufacturers add anti-clumping agents to shredded cheese. Fresh mozzarella comes in balls or cylinders packed in water. It is soft and a little messy to work with, but is worth it.

Ground sirloin is strongly recommended for this recipe mostly because it is lean and is one of the healthiest options among ground beef products. It also has a good flavor and does not shrink because of the low fat content. This particular baked ziti recipe uses ground sirloin instead of meatballs, and is quite cheesy and saucy.

1 pound ziti;
Pinch of salt;
1.5 to 2 pounds lean ground sirloin;
8 cups pasta sauce;
8 oz block Pecorino Romano;
8 oz block Parmigiano-Reggiano or parmesan;
8 oz Mozzarella;
15 to 30 ounces ricotta cheese;

Two pans for stovetop cooking;
A very large bowl â€“ larger than 3.5 quarts;
A large, baking pan â€“ larger than 3.5 quarts;
Cheese grater;
Cutting board;
Knife and spoon;

Baked Ziti Recipe

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat the baking pan with a thin layer of canola oil to prevent sticking.
Place the ground sirloin in a pan, cover, and brown over low to medium heat.
Cook the ziti in the other pan with salt (to taste) until it is al dente â€“ about seven minutes.
Grate the Romano and parmesan cheeses.
Place the ziti in the large bowl; add 4 cups of sauce and Â¼ each of the Romano and parmesan cheeses, and mix together.
Place the meat in the large bowl and gently mix with the ziti mixture.
Place half of the ziti mixture in the baking pan and spread the ricotta cheese on top.
Cover the ricotta with all of the mozzarella and half of each of the remaining Romano and Parmesan cheeses.
Pour 2 cups of sauce over the cheese in the pan.
Add the remaining ziti mixture.
Pour the remaining 2 cups of sauce on top of the ziti.
Sprinkle the remaining Romano and Parmesan cheeses on top.
Cover the ziti with foil and place in the oven for 60 minutes (if you make a half batch, try cooking it for only 45 minutes).
Uncover the ziti and continue baking it for 15 to 30 more minutes â€“ the center of the ziti should be hot and the sauce will boil.
Remove from the oven, cover with the foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Information

Savoury French Toast

Diane Ursu — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:14:18 +0000

Laura Calder recently featured “Savoury French Toast” on her show, French Food at Home. It is much different from what is traditionally made in American homes, and anyone who tries this recipe may never go back to the old family recipe. The good news is that Savoury French Toast is just as easy to make.

The herbes de Provence that are added to the egg really enhance the flavor of this dish. Herbes de Provence are a blend of thyme, basil, savory, fennel, and sometimes lavender flowers. The herbal blend may vary among brands.

In France, French toast is called “pain perdu” (click on each word to hear its pronunciation), which means lost bread. The lost bread comes from stale baguettes that were not used quickly enough. Soaking the bread in the milk revives it for this wonderful dish.

Savoury French Toast Recipe

2 slices of a baguette, stale such as that from the previous day;
1/4 cup milk;
1 egg;
1 pinch salt and pepper;
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence;
2 teaspoons butter.

Slice the baguette on an angle to get larger slices. The slices in the accompanying photos are 1 to 1.5 ounces each.

Pour the milk in a bowl and soak the baguette slices for five minutes on each side. The baguette slices should soak up most of the milk. Place the egg, salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence in another dish and beat.

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Do not let it brown, but just melt. Remove the bread from the milk and place it in and coat it with the egg mixture. Remove from the egg mixture and place into a frying pan over medium heat. Fry until golden brown, then flip and repeat on the other side. If the bread is wide enough to stand on its side, also fry the sides.

Calder recommends topping the French toast with tomato jam (see “French Tomato Jam“) or ketchup. The French Tomato Jam recipe is a magnificent condiment for the Savoury French Toast.

Don’t waste the egg! Throw any leftover egg in the frying pan and eat it with the toast.

Nutritional Information

Nutritional information will greatly vary depending on the size and type of the baguette slices.

French Tomato Jam

Diane Ursu — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:52:18 +0000

Tomato jam is recommended for the Savoury French Toast recipe, but it goes with so many other things. Finding a tomato jam recipe is challenging, however. While many of them exist and are readily available on the Internet, it is difficult to tell which to use.

Some tomato jams are obviously jam with plenty of sugar and other spices. Other tomato jams are saucier and flavored with Italian herbs and spices. After much searching through English-language cooking websites, I turned to Google.fr to search for tomato jam that is truly in the French style. After viewing several recipes, I determined that a recipe from RecettesdeCuisine.tv was a good representation. The following delicious recipe is an adaptation of the Recettes de Cuisine recipe.

French Tomato Jam Ingredients

4.4 pounds tomatoes (16 medium tomatoes were used to test this recipe);
4 1/3 cups sugar;
1 tablespoon vanilla extract;
2 tablespoons lemon juice;
3/4 cup apple juice.

I used a juicer to extract the juice from two apples which, at first, was not enough. I ran the pulp through a second time to extract more juice that gave me the perfect amount of 10 oz (the French recipe calls for 20 cl).

Be sure to use a pan that holds more than three quarts to allow room for boiling and stirring.

Making the Tomato Jam

Peel and core the tomatoes (see “How to Remove Tomato Skins“), and then dice them.
Dissolve the sugar in 1 1/4 cups water over medium heat. The sugar will not completely dissolve. Occasionally stir.
Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and apple juice. Stir.
Add the tomatoes.
Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the temperature, and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
Uncover and gently boil the mixture for about two hours over low heat. Stir occasionally for the first 90 minutes. Stir frequently for the last 30 minutes to keep the jam from burning.

The volume of the jam will reduce by half. It will darken in color and the tomato chunks will shrink. The jam is finished if it is syrupy when a little is placed on a cold plate.

Cool the jam and use on bread, hamburgers, eggs, or anything else! This French tomato jam goes well with the following:

How to Remove Tomato Skins

Diane Ursu — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:32:39 +0000

Tomatoes are great for making pasta sauce, ketchup, and even tomato jam! The peeling must be removed for all of these wonderful recipes, but it is a very simple process. In fact, it is easier than peeling an apple as long as you know how to boil water.

All you need is a pan for boiling the tomatoes and a bowl for a tomato ice bath. Don’t forget the knife for coring!

Remove the stems and the cores from the tomatoes.
Fill a pan with enough water to cover the tomatoes and boil. Make an ice bath in another pan or bowl.
Place the tomatoes in the pan of boiling water just long enough for the skins to crack â€“ about one minute â€“ sooner for small tomatoes, longer for larger tomatoes.
Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and place in the ice bath to cool them just enough to handle.
Remove from the ice bath and peel away the skins. They should slide right off.

Pannukakku, the ‘Finnish Pancake’

Diane Ursu — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:38:35 +0000

Pannukakku is a Finnish dish that is often referred to as a “Finnish pancake.” It is a very simple mixture of eggs, milk, flour, and sugar, but it is a more delightful treat than what one might expect from its commonplace ingredients.

This recipe is inspired by the pannukakku of the Suomi—a restaurant in Houghton, Michigan—although it is not the Suomi’s recipe. It is the result of testing many recipes and tweaking the ingredients.

Perhaps the most difficult part of this recipe is pronouncing it. According to some of the Keweenaw locals of Finnish descent, it is pronounced “BAH-noo-gock-goo,” with the stress on the first syllable and short, “g” sounds – the “B” sound may indicate a “P” with no puff of air. Listen to the Finnish pronunciation, here.

Pannukakku Recipe

4 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Set the oven temperature to 425 degrees.

Use a wire whisk or a fork to beat the eggs until they are fluffy. Add the milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt, and mix thoroughly. Add the flour and mix. There will be little lumps of flour in the batter.

Do not beat into submission! Do not use an electric mixer! Do not pass go or collect $100! Over-mixing will make the pannukakku too dense. Also, do not rest the batter.

Put 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter in an 8–11-inch pan and place in the oven, even if the oven isn’t heated to 425. Melt the butter completely without burning. This should take about five minutes.

When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the oven and tilt it to coat the bottom of the pan with the butter. Leave the excess butter in the pan.

Pour the batter into the pan—the hot edges of the pan will immediately begin cooking the outer part of the pannukakku—and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

The batter will rise above the edges of the pan and will be a golden color when finished. Remove from the oven and rest for three minutes. The pannukakku will settle. Unlike other pannukakku recipes, the edges of this pannukakku will not be much higher than the middle.

Cut into six pieces. Serve with jelly, jam, or preserves.

Nutritional Information

Serving size: 1/6 of the Pannukakku

Weight Watchers POINTS: 4
The Zone blocks: 1

Zucchini Bread

Diane Ursu — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:15:10 +0000

This fantastic zucchini bread recipe has a prominent cinnamon flavor that makes a sinful combination with butter spread on top. It is a summertime favorite when garden zucchinis are plentiful.

This certainly is not classified as “diet” food, but it can be incorporated into a healthy diet with careful planning and thoughtful serving sizes. The origin of this recipe is unknown as it has been passed down in the family.

This zucchini bread is excellent after it has been stored in a tightly-sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. It becomes moist.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Combine the following together with an electric mixer:

2 cups ground zucchini;
4 eggs;
3/4 cup canola oil;
2 1/2 cups flour;
1 1/2 cup sugar;
2 tablespoons baking powder;
1 teaspoon baking soda;
1 teaspoon salt;
2 teaspoons vanilla;
3 heaping teaspoons cinnamon.

Blend all ingredients well. Pour into two well-greased 5×9 bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. It is done when the sides pull away from the pan.

Healthy Zucchini Bread Variations

Substituting the oil with applesauce or other substitute is one option for bringing down the calorie and fat count for this recipe.

When calculating the nutritional information, replace the oil’s calorie and fat content with that of the substitute. If the substitute contains fiber and protein, add those to the values listed under Weight Loss Information, below.

Three-quarters (3/4) of a cup of canola oil contains 1,440 calories and 168 grams of fat.

Another calorie-cutting trick is to substitute each whole egg with two egg whites. Discard the egg yolks or use them for another recipe.

Nutritional Information

Since serving sizes may vary, the following information is for the entire batch of zucchini bread (2 loaves).

Calories â€“ 3,868;
Fiber â€“ 2 g;
Fat â€“ 188 g.

The following is for one 1.4-ounce serving size, or 1/16 of a loaf:

Weight Watchers POINTS: 3
The Zone blocks: 1 carbohydrate, 2 fats

Caprese Salad with Avocado

Diane Ursu — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:49:08 +0000

Caprese salad is very tasty while offering great health benefits. This recipe adds a twist to the traditional Caprese salad: avocado.

Avocado adds creaminess. It also provides healthy, monounsaturated fat that helps to raise the good HDL cholesterol and lower the bad LDL cholesterol, and is also a good source of vitamin E, folic acid, and potassium.

The secret to a great Caprese salad are the tomatoes. Flavorful tomatoes are abundant in the summer, but can be difficult to find in the winter, but not impossible. Choose your favorite firm, ripe tomatoes out of the garden. If you must buy tomatoes from the grocery store, choose Campari tomatoes or cherry tomatoes that are firm, yet ripe.

Mozzarella cheese is the protein source for this salad. Avoid shredded mozzarella in favor of a whole chunk that is sold in spherical or cylindrical shapes.

Choose basil leaves that are green, intact, and firm, not wilted. Purchase a basil plant or find basil leaves in the produce section of the grocery store.

Choose a lighter-purple avocado that is slightly soft when you push on it with your finger. Green avocados are hard and unripe. Dark-purple avocados are overripe and the fruit will most likely be brown.

Caprese salads are traditionally served with equal-sized slices of tomato and mozzarella, but dicing may be a personal preference. Combine the following:

Tomato, sliced or diced, 2 cups;
Mozzarella cheese, sliced or diced, 2 ounces;
Avocado, diced, 1/2 oz;
Basil, 3 leaves;
Olive oil, 1/3 teaspoon;
Balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon or to taste;
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste;
Salt, to taste.

Equal parts â€“ one tablespoon â€“ of olive oil and balsamic vinegar work great if dieting is not of concern.

Nutritional Information

Weight Watchers POINTS: 4
The Zone blocks: 2

Gourmet Italian Burger

Diane Ursu — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:06:57 +0000

The Italian gourmet burger is a tasty alternative to the traditional mustard-and-ketchup cheeseburger. A special blend of Italian herbs and spices combined with provolone cheese and complimentary condiments makes this a refreshing favorite.

The amount of spices used to make the Gourmet Italian Burger is unknown. This recipe was developed simply be tossing together a few favorite ingredients. The following measurements are estimates.

Finely-minced garlic (about one-half clove per patty)
Basil (1/4 teaspoon dry);
Oregano (1/4 teaspoon dry);
Crushed red pepper (1/4 teaspoon dry);
Butter (1/2 teaspoon);
Freshly-ground pepper;
Salt.

Combine the herbs and spices with about three ounces of lean, ground sirloin. Shape the patty so that it is slightly larger than the bun. Lean, ground sirloin should not shrink. Place patty in a frying pan or on the grill.

Preparing the Bun and Adding Hamburger Condiments

While the hamburger patty is cooking, lightly toast the hamburger bun in a toaster or broiler.

Provolone cheese originates from Southern Italy and is a great addition to any sandwich. It does not matter which type of Provolone is usedâ€“dolce or piccanteâ€“it will combine nicely with the gourmet burger patty and the other hamburger condiments without overpowering the other flavors. Melt a slice of provolone on the gourmet burger patty before removing from the grill.

It is important to use hamburger condiments that enhance and compliment the flavor of the gourmet Italian burger. Gather the following:

Sliced tomato;
Green leaf lettuce;
Mayonnaise;
Provolone cheese â€“ either dolce or piccante is fine.

Melt the provolone cheese on the hamburger patty prior to removing it from the grill or pan. Spread the mayonnaise on the bottom half of the bun.

Remove the patty from the grill or pan and place on the bottom half of the bun. Top with lettuce and tomato and add the top part of the bun.

Food and Wine Pairings

Choose mild-flavored foods such as boiled potatoes with parsley and butter or pasta tossed in olive oil to serve with this dish. Add a tossed salad with a mild vinaigrette dressing or green beans for the vegetable.

The milder, semi-dry varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, or Merlot are good choices for a wine pairing. Italy’s Chianti goes very well with this dish.

Nutritional Information

Weight Watchers POINTS: 6
The Zone blocks: 3