Posts tagged as "cooking gadgets"

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Peanuts and Peppers: A Sweet Heat

May 18, 2012

When warm spring days roll around, that’s the perfect time to heat up the grill and roast some peppers. The beauty of roasting jalapenos is that the process of roasting tames the intensity of the pepper’s heat without diminishing its flavor.

Use These Tools to Make Savory Meals – While Eliminating Fat

January 27, 2012

In this country, we are hard on our food.

We want it fast, fried or flame-broiled. Outside of America, such as in Europe, cooking techniques are gentler and focus on maintaining the inherent qualities of the ingredients in a recipe. Poaching, slow cooking, steaming, baking and simmering are commonly-used techniques that preserve both the flavor and health benefits of food, and are easily to employ, given the right tools. I often say that we should eat with awareness, but more importantly, we should cook with attentiveness.

Celebrate Thanksgiving with Apple Tart En Pappillote

November 18, 2011

Thanksgiving is almost here! Time to enjoy the indulgences of delicious, homemade but healthy cooking.

Last week I shared one of my unique recipes that doesn’t require pots or pans – it uses paper instead! Parchment cooking helps food maintain its moisture while providing easy clean up. Remember, food will cook faster and still can brown if the temperature is high enough.

Cooking with Paper

November 9, 2011

The French call it, en papillote – a technique of baking food encased in parchment paper. Unlike parchment paper used for writing (which is not actually made from paper), parchment paper sold for kitchen use is treated with sulfuric acid. The process creates a surface that is sleek, smooth and impervious to oil and moisture. It is also resistant to heat up to 425°F, according to PaperChef.com, a manufacturer of parchment products. In the final process, a silicone coating is added that creates a further non-stick surface.

Stressed out? No time for cooking? Then, it is time to cook under pressure!

October 14, 2011

What do you do when you get home from a busy day and don’t have hours to prepare a meal? Order in? Eat out? Instead of these typical, less-healthy options, try cooking under pressure. Pressure cooking is efficient, reduces energy, shortens cooking time and creates less stress in the kitchen. The newer pressure cookers are not your mother’s model.

Every Kitchen Needs a Mandoline Slicer

July 8, 2011

I love kitchen gadgets that make my life easier. A mandoline slicer is one of those tools. It’s the right tool for certain jobs – namely, whenever you need to create a lot of uniform slices of fruits or vegetables in a short time.

Contemplating Chuck Wagon Cooking - Then and Now

May 27, 2011

Bring on the old days of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid. What ever happened to their colorful sidekicks such as Gabby Hayes and Festus? You remember those characters: the feisty cook, the reticent wrangler or the all-around handy cowboy who supported the leading man.

In movies and TV, the camp cooks were often called “cookie” (for obvious reasons), but real cowboys used other terms, too: bean wrangler, dough pincher, pot wrassler, bean master, biscuit shooter, dough belly and belly cheater, to name a few.

Phoenix Food Demo Featured Frittata – and More

May 20, 2011

Dr. Richard Collins - The Cooking Cardiologist

What an experience I had conducting a cooking demonstration at a Sears Appliance Store in Phoenix, Arizona! Here are the highlights of my adventure.

Equipping a heart-healthy kitchen

December 9, 2010

Improper food preparation, rather than the ingredients themselves, can drive a recipe into an unhealthy state. In America, we are very tough on our food. We want it fast, deep fat fried, flame-broiled, blackened, and high-heat sautéed. In Europe, cooking techniques are more gentle: poaching, slow cooking, steaming, baking and simmering. I always believe that we should eat with awareness, but more importantly, we should cook with attentiveness. Take for example olive oil. When heated beyond its smoke point, free radicals are formed and the oil degrades becoming far worse than a trans fat.

The Cooking Cardiologist

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