Cooking with Coley

What does planning a wedding and buying a house equal? A super busy schedule! That’s what’s going on in my life, so my sincerest apologies for neglecting my blogging duties.

So, I thought that I at least owe you all a tip.

Love baked potatoes but hate those unhealthy toppings? Sour cream and butter add a lot of extra cals, so how about adding something equally delicious but far more nutritious. One word for you - Tzatziki.

My lovely fiance is the one who started this habit in our house, and he got me hooked. Tzatziki, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, is a Greek cold yogurt sauce.  It’s made from cucumbers, garlic, salt and some variety of olive oil, pepper or other added flavors.  Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve had it on a gyro.

You can make your own, or buy it in the aisle at your local grocer where you would buy hummus.  We like the Cedar’s brand.

The candy is all gone and the excuse to dress up is over, but you don’t have to wait until next year to be inspired by the season.

I received a fun tip from Nueva Cocina on what to do with those pumpkins that you didn’t get around to carving.  It’s creative and healthy, so I’d thought I’d pass it along!

Tip:  Don’t toss those pumpkins, use ‘em to make something yummy!

Here’s their recipe:

PUMPKIN FIESTA RICE

What you’ll need:

• 1 Package of Nueva Cocina® Mexican Rice Mix (of course you can use the rice mix of your choice)
• 4 small pumpkins (3 for serving purposes and 1 for recipe ingredient)
• 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
• 2 to 3 small pumpkins, depending on serving size, for baking or steaming

Procedure: 

Cut pumpkins in half, leaving the rind on.  Remove seeds and strings.  Rub pumpkins with olive oil and some salt. Place halves on baking sheets with rind side up. Place a small amount of water in the pan. Bake for 45 minutes in a 350-degree oven.  If you prefer to steam the pumpkins, place halves in steamer with rind side up. Steam until meat and rind are soft.

Combine 1 Cup of pumpkin meat, peeled and cubed with all the ingredients in a package of the Nueva Cocina® Mexican Rice Mix and follow the cooking directions on the box.  When done, serve the rice in half of a small pumpkin for an excellent presentation and great added texture and flavor.

Note: I haven’t tried this recipe.  In fact, I’ve yet to try any of Nueva Cocina’s products before now, but I like the sound of them – they are 100% natural – which means only premium ingredients with nothing artificial added and no preservatives.  Plus, I dig Latin flavors.  I’m expecting some review samples and will report back soon!

Use the juice. Simple words of wisdom.

I love buying pepper rings because it’s like a two-in-one deal: peppers AND a sweet and spicy juice.  Today’s Tuesday Tip for the Novice is simple — don’t toss that extra juice, instead add it to a salad. Whether it’s a pasta salad, a bean salad, or a traditional salad of greens, adding a little juice as part of the “dressing,” adds a ton of flavor without a ton of cals. Barely any in fact.

If you like a little heat, try this out next time you’re fixing up a salad.

Emulsify. Yuca. Ponzu.  Even as an aspiring cook and self-acclaimed foodie, I often stumble across words or ingredients that are completely foreign to me.  Or even if they do ring a bell, I can’t seem to put my finger on exactly what they mean.

My father recently bought me this fun and educational book that helps people like me and you learn some of that basic and not-so-basic food vocab. 100 Words for Foodies spans the gamut of both cooking and dining — from ingredients to preparation to serving.  I thought pulling one of the words would make for a great Tuesday Tip for the Novice.

While it wasn’t easy to select one word out of a 100, I went with something that’s a basic technique and I’m sure you’ll get use of…

Blanch:

Verb–To scald almonds, tomatoes, peaches, or similar foods in order to loosen the skin. To scald food briefly, as before freezing or as a preliminary stage in preparing a dish.

After scalding in hot water, remove the vegetables and immediately plunge them into cold water to stop them from continuing to cook.

Personal Tip: Blanching will not only help preserve nutrients, but if you use broccoli in a salad or as an appetizer on a veggie tray, blanching will turn it bright green and make it look extra delicious.

While deep down I’m still in a state of affliction from the Patriots disappointing loss last week, I can’t deny that I’ll still be in front of the TV for Super Bowl XLV.  I also can’t deny that  part of my affinity for the event is making some yummy snacks. And while I’m all for “cheating” on the weekends and indulging in some of my favorite greasy foods, it can’t hurt to make a few lighter and leaner options when you’re surrounded by fried foods and guilty pleasures.

So whether you are preparing for hosting a big game party, or looking for a distraction because your team isn’t in it, here are some tips and ideas for lower fat, lower calorie game time munchies.  Plus this way you can save some of those cals for game day cocktails.

Here are some suggestions I received today from Carl Germano, RD, CDN and a NY Board certified clinical nutritionist.

1.      Instead of: Beef Sliders with Cheese

Try: Turkey Sliders with sliced tomato

Cooking with Coley  (CWC) add on: look for wheat rolls or serve bun free with a toothpick – they’re even easier to eat that way!

2.      Instead of: Franks in the Blanket with Mustard

Try: Chicken Teriyaki Skewers

3.      Instead of: Nachos with Cheese & Jalapenos

Try: Baked Nachos with Guacamole, Tomatoes and Jalapenos

CWC add on: Buy Multigrain or Baked Tostitos and spice it up with other veggies and a part-skim cheese

4.      Instead of: Beef Chili with Shredded Cheese

Try: Low Fat Turkey Chili with Black Beans, Corn & Salsa

CWC add on: Buy 99% fat free turkey burger and add enough spices that you won’t even know it’s turkey!  Promise!  Ground cumin and dried chipotle peppers can do the trick.  Let me know if you need a recipe.

5.      Instead of: Fried Buffalo Wings with Ranch dip

Try: Baked Chicken Wings with hot sauce dip

CWC add on: Also consider a chicken wing dip – you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, light cheese and celery for dipping

Chances are some of you are making a roast this holiday.  So here’s a quick tip to keep your meat as tender and juicy as can be.

Make sure you allow a roast — beef, pork, lamb or poultry — to sit a little while before carving. Standing time allows the natural juices to redistribute throughout the meat.  This helps to produce evenly moist  meat that is easier to carve. If you carve a roast too soon, you’ll lose the juices.

Keep the roast warm during the standing time by covering it with foil.

Not sure how long to let the roast sit? It depends on the size.  For a large turkey, you want to wait about 30 minutes.  For smaller roasts, 15 minutes may do.

Also, the New England Country Soup’s soup challenge is still going  on through Jan. 9.  Please vote for me here by visiting the SoupChallenge.com.  You can vote once a day.

This week’s Tuesday Tip for the Novice is a unique post.  I was recently contacted by Cindy Cullen of Culinary Arts College, a non-profit site dedicated to elevating American cuisine by encouraging a new generation of chefs to attend a culinary arts college.  Cindy asked if she could contribute an article to Cooking with Coley.  I happily agreed and thought Tuesday Tip for the Novice would be a great venue to exhibit her culinary expertise!

This week, Cindy’s brought to us a few tips on cooking with milk.  Instead of one tip, she’s bringing us four (but don’t worry, they’re quick and easy to retain!)  

1. Milk helps to thicken sauces when folded in towards the end of the process. 
2. If you want your risotto to be creamier, use a cup of milk instead of the last cup of stock.
3. Seafood like squid and fish are more succulent and tender when soaked in milk before they’re infused with herbs and spices and fried or cooked on a grill.
4. Cold milk helps produce lighter pastries and cakes when added to the flour mixture.

These tips were extracted from the larger byline ”Milking Milk for All its Worth – Cooking with Milk Tips.”  For more tips on cooking with milk, stay tuned to Cooking with Coley’s Tuesday Tips for the Novice.  And if you have any questions for Cindy, she welcomes your comments!   Contact her via email at cindycullen84@gmail.com.

Burgers on the grill.  You can’t beat ‘em. But what you can beat is a shrinking round ball of burger meat.  Don’t you hate when that happens? Your perfect patty hits the piping hot grill, and before you know it you’ve got a swollen blob.

Here’s a quick fix so you can avoid a blob burger (works for both turkey burgers or good ol’ ground beef):

Indent the center of your burger with your thumb.  That’s it.  A small indentation in the center of the burger will prevent the center from swelling and the burger cooking unevenly.

Happy grilling!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, today’s Tuesday tip is you guessed it, Thanksgiving-focused.

However, it’s not a how-to or tip to make your life easier.  Not today.  Today I’ve got some advice on staying healthy.  It’s not easy when you’re surrounded by a smorgasbord of Thanksgiving favorites–buttery mashed potatoes, gravy, pie.  Mmmm.  Thursday can’t come soon enough!  

I received some tips from Timothy S. Harlan, M.D. aka Dr. Gourmet that I thought I’d share with you all.   Don’t worry, he’s not going to tell you not to eat carbs, or to skip the pie.  I wouldn’t stand for that on my favorite day of the year! Instead, it’s about moderation. 

Dr. Gourmet says…

Make plans for the leftovers.

Even if you are cooking for only a few, many recipes just don’t serve only 2 or 4 servings. Decide what you are going to do with the extra food in advance. Make that leftover turkey into a salad, serve the dressing with meals for the next few days, or even take some of the treats to work or to your neighbor.

Make specific portions.

I was at Whole Foods the other day and they were selling individual pumpkin pies. I have seen individual serving pies also in the freezer case at other groceries. Depending on how many you are going to serve for dinner at the holidays, this might work great for you.

For instance, if you are only serving 4 people, then having four individual servings of pie instead of a whole pie that serves eight just makes sense. The research is pretty clear that when there are more portions available we tend to eat them. If they are not, we don’t miss them.

His tips may seem obvious, but the truth is we all get caught up in the eating and stuffing our faces on Thanksgiving.  Slow down, enjoy every bite and remember that it doesn’t get better than Thanksgiving leftovers.

If you have more questions about staying healthy this Thanksgiving or all year round, feel free to tap Dr. Gourmet on his site: www.drgourmet.com. Also check out his healthy Thanksgiving menu and my Whole wheat Couscous stuffing for other nutritious Thanksgiving ideas. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you ever read through a recipe and get stumped by certain terms?  You have all the ingredients, and before you know it you find yourself at a road block wondering what the heck the directions mean.

“Cut in” butter was one of the stumpers for me.  Here’s the scoop:

You’ll often see the term when baking.  If a recipe says to “cut in” butter, you’ll want to take the butter out of the fridge about a half hour before you need it (you want it soft but NOT melted). When it comes time to use it, cut the butter into approximately 1/4 inch pieces or small chunks.  When you add the butter to the mixture, you’ll want to use a pastry cutter (pictured left), two knifes, a fork or even your hands to mix the butter in.   (Use your hands as a last result because it may melt the butter which you do not want). Mix until it turns into small crumbs and almost resembles oatmeal.  The butter added to a pie crust yields a nice flaky crust.

What’s Tuesday Tip for the Novice all about?  Want to contribute a tip?  Learn more here!