My wife hates fish but she loved tonight's dinner

Before launching into my post, let me give credit where credit is due. The following was inspired by the New York Times recipes Roasted Hake With Sweet Peppers and Asparagus with Anchovies and Capers. Now, to my post:

Saturday evening dinner was fun to make and fun to eat. I've been playing in the kitchen with cod for the past month or more. I'm getting feel for cooking this fish. I feel comfortable putting cod on my dinner menu.

From recent past experience, I know I like sweet red peppers  and Kalamata olives served with hot, flaky cod. And I know my wife likes this, as well.

What I didn't know was whether or not my wife and I would like asparagus with capers and anchovies. But the description had a nice ring and I knew the green of the veggie would look great on the plate next to the bright red of the pepper.

I made my rice first. This is quick and easy. Boil 7.5 ounces of water, add 4 ounces of brown rice and let sit over very low heat for fifteen minutes. When all water is gone and the rice is nice and fluffy, leave the pot covered and simply set aside. The hot pot will help the rice retain heat.

• 7.5 ounces of water
• 4 ounces of brown rice (I used a mix composed of a number of varieties of brown rice.)

Next, I made the achovy/caper mix. It should sit for 15 or 30 minutes or even longer before being served. The wait time mellows the flavours.

I finely chopped:

• 1 garlic clove
• 2 small anchovy fillets
• 1 teaspoon of capers, rinsed

. . . and blended all together into a paste using a mortar and pestle. Finely chopping the three ingredients made the blending go faster.

Next, over medium heat, I heated about a tablespoon of olive oil. This might have been a little generous but I like olive oil. You can use a little less, if you like. Then, I added about a tablespoon of finely chopped red onion and cooked it until tender. It should be translucent but not browned. I combined the cooked onion with the anchovy/caper paste and blended in two teaspoons of fresh squeeze lemon juice. A sprinkle of salt and a grind or two of pepper and I set the paste aside to mellow. Here is a list of the ingredients just mentioned:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped red onion
• 2 teaspoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice

It is now time to turn our attention to the cod. I had two, inch-thick-plus pieces of cod weighing about 165 grams. Enough for two servings. I patted the cod dry. Then I finely chopped 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves and sprinkled this over both sides of the cod. I also lightly salted and peppered the fish at this time. With the seasoning of the fish complete, I set the cod aside.

I had half a sweet, red pepper in the fridge. I chopped this into long strips and placed these in a medium sized pan to fry with a little olive oil. I thought I my dinner could use more red pepper and so I opened a jar of grilled, red peppers, removed two large pieces, chopped these into long strips and dropped them into the skillet with the fresh, red peppers. Next, I added about an eighth of a cup of diced red onion to the frying mixture.

With the onion translucent and the red peppers softening, I cleared a circular spot in the middle of the fry pan and added a little olive oil -- maybe a tablespoon. I placed the fish in the opening, pushed the red peppers up against the fish and covered all to cook over medium heat for four minutes.

While the fish cooked, I combined 1 teaspoon of sherry vinegar, a finely diced clove of garlic and a pinch of salt. I whisked in two teaspoons of olive oil and about four ounces of chopped Italian parsley.

At this point, it was time to flip the fish. To prevent the cod from sticking, I splashed a little olive oil onto the pan before returning the fish to the skillet. I sprinkled 2 tablespoons of chopped Kalamata olives onto both pieces of fish. Just to be clear, that's one generous tablespoon for each piece. I covered the skillet again and in four minutes this would be ready to serve.

I microwaved my eight stalks of asparagus for a minute and then tossed the vegetable into a fry pan to finish cooking. As  the asparagus cooked, I tossed it with the caper/anchovy paste.

Time to serve:

• Divide the warm, cooked rice in half and place half on each plate. 
• Place four stalks of asparagus on the side of each plate. If necessary roll the stalks in the paste as serving.
• Now, place a piece of olive-topped cod in the centre of each plate, right on top of the bed of rice.
• Surround the cod with the red pepper/onion mix.
• Lastly, sprinkle some of the Italian parsley mix onto the fish. Taste first to judge how generous you want to be with this. I was very generous.

Beautiful. My wife hates fish. Clearly, our cod had been well handled. It had no off flavours. The red pepper and the black olives went beautifully with the white, flaky fish. We were both surprised at how good the anchovy and caper paste was with the asparagus. Again, there was no off-putting fishy flavour. My wife tells me that when the anchovies are good, they add a pleasant depth to the flavour of the dish. Our anchovies were good.

Weight Watchers: a good source for healthy recipes

Before all my heart stuff began, I weighed a little more than 200 lbs. Today, I weigh about 165 lbs. I owe my weight loss to the encouragement of my doctors, to the support of my loving wife and to a certain extent to the inspired meal ideas provided by Weight Watchers.

I didn't join Weight Watchers; my wife did. She went on the program and I tagged along. Many of the Weight Watchers meals follow the same rules that guide my heart healthy diet. Where the two diets differ, my wife and I make a few small changes and all falls back into sync.

A person taking the Weight Watchers path to weight loss doesn't so much go on a diet as learn a new way of approaching eating. Diets are over when the weight is lost. For this reason, many folk put back the pounds they've shed as soon as they've also shed the diet. Weight Watchers teaches its adherents a new way, a better way, to eat with the accent on flavour.

We eat lots of fruits and vegetables and we minimize the meats, especially red meats. We've both learned to love the rich variety of fish available in our local stores. My doctors are very pleased with my success.

This morning my wife picked up a new Weight Watchers magazine with 35 new recipes. Tonight, we tackled the recipe featured on the cover: lemony one-pan orecchiette with sausage and broccolini. We substituted broccoli for the broccolini and one low-fat turkey sausage for the pound of spicy sausage used in the recipe.

Ingredients

1 ground meat from one large, spicy, turkey sausage
1 large onion diced
1/2 tsp salt
3 minced garlic cloves
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 900ml box chicken broth
8 oz. orecchiette pasta
2 cups chopped broccoli
4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped, fresh basil

• Remove the sausage meat from the skin, break up and cook in the skillet over medium heat for about eight minutes. When nicely browned, transfer to a bowl.
• Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent. Add the salt while the onion is cooking. This may take five minutes
• Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute.
• Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
• Add the pasta and cook for about eight minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add broccoli and cook for another four minutes. The pasta should be al dente at the finish.
• Turn the heat down to low, add the cooked sausage, three Tbsp of Parmesan, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Sprinkle in tomatoes. Bring everything up to temperature. You may have to boost the heat briefly.
• Sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan and serve.
• A little heart healthy vegetable oil for frying the various ingredients: sausage, onion, garlic . . .

Depending on how you feel about lemon zest, you may want to cutback on the suggested Tbsp. My wife and I loved the strong hit of lemon. You might feel differently. We also like heat and we may double the amount of red pepper flakes.

Using only a small amount of spicy, turkey sausage kept the saturated fat content of this recipe quite low. But, the flavour hit is quite high. This dinner does not come across as a heart healthy or diet meal. And, that's the way it should be.

Keep an eye out for the Weight Watchers magazine. Many magazine stands carry them. You might be pleasantly surprised at the recipes inside.

Should you eat eggs? Do you feel lucky?

I wrote a blog piece under the headline: Should you eat eggs? Do you feel lucky?

If you want to know the answer, please click the above link.

I'll give you the answer as a teaser. Should you eat eggs? The answer is maybe and I'm not joking. Only you and your doctor can say for certain. Unless your doctor is my heart and stroke specialist and then the answer is a firm "No."

Now, click the link and get the whole story.

Broccoli and cauliflower soup

 
The broccoli was on sale. Two for one read the sign at Remark. I got two. And the cauliflower was on sale as well. I bought one. And then I took all home, put all in the fridge and discovered I already had both broccoli and cauliflower in the fridge.

By the time the old veggies were eaten, the new veggies were old. Oops. Hating waste, I decided to put my aging purchases to immediate use. I made broccoli and cauliflower soup.

I chopped one small onion and three garlic cloves and dropped these into a deep pot with a splash of olive oil. With the onion turning translucent and the garlic taking on a deep toasty tone, I tossed my broccoli and cauliflower into the mix. Both the broccoli and cauliflower were, of course, chopped into large chunks. When the cauliflower started to show signs of being pan roasted, I dumped 900 ml of chicken stock into the pot. Then I immediately added 500 ml of 1% milk to the mix. I placed a cover on the pot and left all to simmer.

Half an hour later all the veggies were tender. Using a handheld blender I turned my bubbling mixture into thick, smooth soup. My wife liked the result but I found it wanting. I sprinkled a little paprika and a little herbs de Provence into the pot. I made sure to taste the soup as I went as both can pack a strong punch. Too much would overpower the simple flavour undertones on which my soup was based.

At the table I added a swirl of no-fat sour cream and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese. A quick pass of the pepper grinder and the soup was ready to enjoy.

I've got enough soup to last for days and the cost was minimal.

A fine vegetable peeler at a fair price

Kuhn Rikon peelers are the best.

I use my peeler everyday. But despite its constant use, it has stayed sharp. Why? Good Swiss quality combined with the fact I bought two.

But all good things come to and end. Saturday I tossed one of my Kuhn Rikon peelers. It was getting dull.

I bought my Swiss-made peeler at the suggestion of some fine cooks I know. Since buying my two, I came across a review by America's Test Kitchen. It said about the Kuhn Rikon product:

3-packs were out of stock in London, Ont. Ordered online.

It's a featherweight (3/8 of an ounce), but surprisingly sturdy, and its razor-sharp blade effortlessly skinned anything we threw at it—and at $3.50, it’s a steal. (I'm paying $15.00 for a three pack at Bed Bath and Beyond in London, Ontario. Not so much of a steal but I'm not complaining.)

Is this an ad? No. This is a review. As I blog on cooking, at times I will mention stuff I use in the kitchen and like.

If you are Canadian and feel $15 is too much for a peeler, buy one 3-pack and share the cost with a couple of friends.

Add: Bed Bath and Beyond e-mailed me to say that they did not have these peeler packs in stock in London. The pick-up they promised would be impossible. They sent me an number to call and told me to order the peelers online. There would be no charge for the shipping.

When I called, I was told that Bed Bath and Beyond was very sorry for the inconvenience, it might take as long as ten days for the peelers to arrive at my home if I decided to order them, for this reason I was being offered a thank-you-for-your-patience discount. I'm now getting three peelers for $12 plus the Ontario sales tax.

Now I think I'm getting a steal.

Go light on the butter

Some folk actually prefer the light, clean flavour of margarine to butter.

My heart doctors all agree: go light on the butter. My heart-healthy diet demands spreads like Becel or Olivina. Butter is a no-no.

It's tough convincing folk that margarine, with its long list of ingredients and additives, is superior to butter. But, trust me, it is. At least, it is if you pick the right kind.

First, look for tubs of soft, spreadable margarine. These are generally trans-fat-free. You want to stay as far away from trans fats as possible. These fats are the worst fats. Next, check the saturated fat content. Less is better. Again, soft margarine is generally preferable to hard. Lastly, make sure the margarine is "non-hydrogenated."

I have some friends who often invite my wife and me for dinner. They keep a tub of Becel in their fridge just for me. But they insist on using butter despite the fact the husband has heart problems. And his brother has had to have stents inserted to open plugged arteries. They believe my fears are overblown and direct me to newspaper articles to support their position. Don't fall into the same trap. Newspapers can be poor sources for health information.

According to a recent article in a Harvard University health publication, many studies "have suggested that the type of fat in the diet is extremely important, and that replacing trans fat and saturated fat with unsaturated plant oils can have major health benefits."

The linked article quotes Harvard nutrition expert Walter Willett: "Making healthy types of fat in the diet a priority is one of the most important things people can do about their long-term health and well-being."

If you need more convincing, check out the following:

Is Butter Really Back? (Harvard Public Health magazine)
We Repeat: Butter is Not Back. (The Nutrition Source)
Butter is not back: Limiting saturated fat still best for heart health (Harvard Chan School release)

More from the New York Times

The New York Times has a wonderful cooking section. It is so good, and I use it so often, that I subscribe to the paper as my way of saying thank you.

I grabbed the above image to tempt you to click on the link: Linguine With Lemon Sauce.

Because of my heart condition, I substituted no fat sour cream for the heavy cream and I used two tablespoons of olive oil spread, Becel, instead of butter. If I wasn't avoiding saturated fat, doctors' orders, I'd have left the recipe alone. I like the taste and texture of cream and butter adds more flavour than the spread. Still, if you want a heart healthy meal, make my changes and enjoy. My wife still gave my dinner four stars.

The dinner is deficient in vegetables. I served asparagus on the side with a squeeze of lemon. The addition of the green stalks of asparagus kicked up the visual beauty of the dinner and the squeeze of lemon tied all together. When I make this again, and I will, I will make sure to serve asparagus off to the side.

America's Test Kitchen offers some excellent cookbooks

Having a heart condition does not mean giving up good cooking. In fact, I dine better today than I did before my condition was diagnosed. A few months ago I began following America's Test Kitchen online. I soon realized they often put their cookbooks on sale. I bought a number.

Tonight I made its braised cod peperonata recipe. It was excellent, both the recipe and the result. I made two modifications: I substituted herbs de Provence for the thyme and I added large chunks of mushrooms.

Here is a link to the recipe online: Braised Cod Peperonata. And here is a link to the America's Test Kitchen site where the book, The Complete Cooking For Two Cookbook, was on sale at the time that I wrote this post.

The next time I make this, I'm going to serve it on a bed of white and black rice. It will be a show stopper. Hmmm. Maybe I should invite some friends for dinner. If you make this, don't forget to have a glass of white wine with dinner. A quarter cup of white wine goes into the recipe. You must use the remainder within a day or two or it will go off. That would be such a waste.

Cheers!

Navel oranges: an annual heart healthy treat

Around our house, navel oranges are an annual treat. When I worked in produce back in the late '60s, the business owner confessed navel oranges were his favorite. Valencias were nice but navels were the best: sweet, seedless, with an easy-to-peel skin. (To peel: quarter the orange and peel the skin free starting at the pointed ends.)

I love 'em, and so does my wife and granddaughters. Navels make a good afternoon snack, are wonderful accents when mixed into a green salad and they even make a great heart-healthy dessert when served alone or mixed with other fresh fruit. According to the Cleveland Clinic, orange coloured fruit such as oranges, cantaloupe and papaya are all rich in beta-carotene, potassium, magnesium and fiber.

In doing a little research to write this post, I've learned that there are a number of varieties of navel oranges. I gather, the Washington navel orange is the original and best known navel orange. And many folk claim that California oranges bearing the heritage sticker are the best of the best. I gather that oranges, like tomatoes, have been bred more for ease of handling and shipping than for flavour. The heritage oranges harken back to a time when flavour was king (or queen). For more info on heritage oranges click the link:

What is the Difference Between Heirloom and Regular Navel Oranges?

Here in London, Ontario, I buy my navel oranges at the Remark store on Hyde Park at Oxford Street. Often their oranges carry little, black, oval stickers emblazoned with the word "Heritage". If memory serves me correctly, these oranges are available each year mainly from January through April. It seems they are gone from the shelves by May at the latest.

Cauliflower Soup Seasoned with Medium Hot Curry

 I saw this on the Harvard Public Health site. It is really good advice:

Forget calories and focus on food quality. Let your body do the rest. . . . Any weight-loss approach that involves deprivation wears you down, psychologically and biologically. Give your body what it needs and it will reward you. Work with, rather than against, your body. (edited version)

Ingredients

1 lb. cauliflower
400 ml of 1% milk
1/4 teaspoon of medium hot curry powder
2 quarter-inch thick large slices of red onion
9 oven-roasted garlic cloves
a sprinkle of dry tarragon
a sprinkle of chopped or crumbled feta
salt and pepper to taste

I love making soup using cauliflower as the base. Cauliflower makes a thick, smooth soup but without adding fat-heavy cream. I used 1% milk for this soup but often I use low sodium chicken stock in the box. In these cases, I use no milk at all.

Put a tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil in a large pot and fry the red onion until it is translucent. Don't be cheap with the olive oil. We all need some fat and olive oil is one of the good guys. With the onion translucent, add the cauliflower and milk. Simmer until the cauliflower is soft. This may take about twenty minutes. Take care not to boil. When the cauliflower is done, add the medium hot curry and the oven-roasted garlic cloves.

Using an immersion hand blender, mix the cauliflower, garlic, curry and milk until thick, creamy and smooth. If necessary, turn up the heat under the pot for a few seconds to bring the soup to serving temperature. Spoon into bowls, add a sprinkle of dry tarragon and some crumbled feta cheese, and serve.

Time-saving tip

A small, grocery store near my London, Ontario, home has oven-roasted garlic in the antipasto bar. I used this in my soup. It saved me from having to roast my own garlic. Roasting the cloves isn't difficult but it does add another step to the prep time. Look for oven-roasted garlic cloves in a grocery store near you. Maybe you will get lucky.

Equipment tip

Many sources claim the Breville BSB510XL Control Grip Immersion Blender is one of the best. I found it available at Best Buy on sale for a hundred bucks. Regularly it sells for $120. If you don't have an immersion blender, the Breville is worth a look.

A fine recipe from the New York Times

Tonight I made a ragout recipe that I saw in the New York Times. It was very good but a little on the hot and spicy side. I might have over done the cayenne pepper. I put a dollop of no-fat sour cream on top of the ragout and this plus the rice helped to lessen the heat.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of this dinner. Visually, it was a ten. First, I laid down a circle of white, basmati rice. I left a hole in the middle to cut the calories. Then I laid down a second circle of rice but this time it was black rice. I got the wonderful, black rice on sale at HomeSense. It had a nice texture but it was the dramatic look that made this rice worth the effort.

And the rice did take a little effort as I cooked two pots of rice. I did not mix the rice during the cooking. I've learned the black colour comes out in the water and stains the white rice a dark, almost black shade. The lovely white and black contrast is lost.

I spooned the ragout into the middle of the plate and then one side of the plate I placed a large bunch of bright, green broccoli and on the other side I placed a grilled, spicy, turkey sausage. If I make this again, and I think I will, I will cut the grilled sausage into large sections and drop all into the ragout. I found the turkey sausage dry. I think finishing it in the ragout for about ten minutes will add moisture.

I don't have a proper flash and the window light was gone at 5:30 p.m. when I served dinner. The room lights make the food look funny. I need daylight to get good pictures. I either have to get my meals together by 5 p.m. at the latest or wait for spring before taking any pictures.

Zucchini ribbons topped with hot sauce rich with flavour

This was one of the best vegetable dishes we have ever made.

Mix oodles of good, healthy stuff and put the mixture on top of noodles carved from a few raw zucchini squash and you have one fine dinner. And, it's quick to make plus very heart healthy to boot.

It took but a couple of minutes to shred the zucchini.

Kitchen shops sell inexpensive tools to carve vegetables into long strips resembling spaghetti. I got one for Christmas and tonight my wife and I used it. Wow! The results were wonderful.

First, we made the ersatz spaghetti using two fresh zucchini and then we set the zucchini noodles to the side. The next time we will use three zucchini. When briefly fried, the zucchini shrinks in volume.

Next, we fried four large, chopped mushrooms in a clean, light, virgin olive oil. Before the mushrooms were done, we added a teaspoon of coarsely chopped garlic. This coats the mushrooms, giving them a hint of garlic flavour. We often use chopped garlic that comes in an incredibly large jar from Costco. It keeps well and the taste is very light.

Low in calories.

Quickly, and in order, we added eight, quartered small tomatoes, about two ounces of chopped, bottled artichoke, some zucchini disks made from the stubs leftover from the noodle making, two chopped green onions, eight roasted garlic bulbs halved, and four tablespoons of Paese Mio Hot Chili Pesto. (If you cannot find the Paese Mio, chop up a small, hot, chili pepper.) As soon as the mix was evenly coated with pesto, we pushed the mix to the side of the large, deep non-stick frying pan. (The next time we made this, we used a second large pan for frying the noodles.)

We added a little more olive oil, keeping it on the clean side of the pan, and then we dropped the strands of zucchini into the hot oil. Being thin, it cooked quickly. Before the zucchini could lose all its raw crunch, we mixed it with the mix sitting off to the side. As a finishing touch, we added two ounces of soft, low-fat, goat cheese. We mixed all and served it with a light dusting of grated Parmesan cheese.

This meal was a nine. It could have been a ten but the rich mix of colours were a bit too muted. I think serving the zucchini as a base, maybe "buttered" with a little Becal margarine containing olive oil, and then topped with the sauce mixture would have added the missing visual punch.

Another day, another salad. This one is a salmon salad.

Yesterday I published a post on making heart healthy salads. Today, my wife and I threw another heart healthy salad together and even though little changed it was a new salad. The main substitution was canned salon for the bottled tuna. Without the spicy, Mediterranean tuna the salad was able to welcome a completely new flavour -- the canned salmon. We also eliminated the apple chunks.

I am going to get my cholesterol under control. That's a promise. I'll wait a couple of months and then I'm going to ask my family doctor to run some tests.

A bad heart leads to a pleasant life

I had my annual heart and stroke check-up Friday. My cholesterol is down from its highs but it is not as low as the doctors would like. Damn. (Forgive the language.)

I'm now off Lipitor and onto Crestor at the 40mg level. I am also taking 10mg of ezetimibe. The two drugs have been found to work very well together at controlling cholesterol numbers. The Harvard Medical School health publication reports:

After an average of six years, those in the statin-plus-ezetimibe group had an average LDL level of 54 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) — well below what was once considered a “good” LDL level.

This morning I cut the maple syrup in my steel cut oats to 1 tsp from 1 tbsp. I'm lowering my sugar intake. (I thought the oats actually tasted better with less syrup.) And for lunch my wife and I made a wonderful tuna salad containing:

• romaine lettuce - am't is your decision
• baby spinach - am't is your decision
• green onion (2-chopped)
• half a sweet pepper (1/2-chopped)
• spicy, bottled Mediterranean tuna (65 g)
• a sweet, navel orange (1-chopped)
• a sweet, Ambrosia apple (1-chopped)
• a smattering of chopped pistachios (10 g-chopped)
• lemon juice - a generous squeeze
• I used a light dressing from Remark in London. - The dressing is your choice but go lite and use sparingly.

The salad that my wife and I made was delicious, filling and heart healthy. I had no idea having a heart condition could be so pleasant.

Soup can be easy, tasty, inexpensive and very healthy

Isla enjoys making and eating soup—especially when trusted with a Corningware mug.

I just read a great New York Times produced article on how to make soup. Check it out. It is a beautiful piece of writing, very inspiring. Tomorrow I'm heading over to Best Buy to get myself a Breville 1.2L 280-Watt Control Grip Immersion Blender. According to the Times and others, this is the toy to use when making certain soups. Just be careful not to burn out the motor. Read the instructions.