Healthier cooking enjoyment

Cooking for an Allergy-free Lifestyle

Concerned about Martie’s reflux, my cooking and what I serve, the Cooking for an Allergy-free Lifestyle book-cover on p. 19 of the November 2011 FOOD & HOME Entertaining magazine most certainly caught my eye.

 

The RANDOM HOUSE STRUIK description states it is a recipe book with a difference. Tammi Forman wrote it as a person with allergies, for people with allergies sharing her family secrets and recipes. The recipes are coded for egg-, wheat-, gluten-, dairy-, nut-, yeast- and sugar-free options for quick reference. The description further states it is a highly practical book, for a balanced lifestyle of affordable allergy-free just as delicious recipes as those laden with dairy, wheat or egg, with the  emphasis on convenience. The book is said to feature 146 recipes ranging from breakfasts, breads, salads and dressings, to soups, main meals, cakes and bakes. At R180-00 I am most certainly going to order a copy. Loot has it for R151-00.

Four basic STOCK recipes

Increased awareness about how to improve our own and our family’s health is resulting in increased popularity of low-fat cooking. However, this does not mean ‘diet’ food which is boring, bland and unappetising (The best ever low fat 2003: 4).

Concentrated fat-free stock is a very important aspect of low-fat cooking. Herewith four essential stock recipes that are easy to make: vegetable, chicken, beef and fish stock

Ingredients	Vegetable	Chicken	Beef	Fish
	2x Tbsp Sunflower oil	1.3kg wings, neck	1kg marrow bone	650g fish bones
		—	650g stewing	—
Water	2.25 litres	4 litres	2.8 litres	1.3 litres
Dry wine	—	—	—	125ml
Onions	115g chop finely	2x cut wedges	2x halved	1x sliced
Celery	4x sticks chopped	2x chopped	2x sticks chopped	2x sticks chopped
Carrots	115g chop finely	2x chopped	—	1x sliced
Black pepper	—	10x corns	8x corns	4x corns
Parsley	—	10x fresh sprigs	—	4x fresh sprigs
Bay leafs	—	2x	—	1x
Bouquet garni	1x	—	1x	—
Leeks	115g chop finely	—	—	—
Fennel	85g chop finely	—	—	—
Tomatoes	85g chop finely	—	—	—
Lemon	—	—	—	½ sliced
Thyme	—	4x fresh sprigs	—	—
Cloves	—	—	4x	—
Method	Cook onions and leeks in oil for 5 minutes. Stir. Add remaining vegetables and cook for 10 minutes. Stir. Add water and bouquet garni and simmer for 20 minutes.	Cook chicken and onions at low heat, stir frequently, until brown. Add water and while boil skim off foam. Add remaining ingredients, partially cover and simmer gently for 3 hours	Boil bones and beef, skim off the foam that rises. Press a clove into each onion half. Add celery, peppercorns and bouquet garni. Partially cover and simmer gently for 3 hours. Remove beef and simmer for further 1 hour	Boil ingredients and skim off the foam that rises. Partially cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes.
Storage	Sieve, cool and use, store in refrigerator or freeze up to 3 months.	Sieve and when cool discard layer of fat n surface.reeze up to 6 months.	Sieve and when cool discard layer of fat n surface. Freeze up to 6 months.	Sieve, cool and use, store in refrigerator or freeze up to 3 months.

Bouquet garni: tie 4 fresh parsley stems, 1 clove, 1 bay leaf and 4 peppercorns in a piece of clean muslin.

Download 4x _STOCK_recipes

The best ever low fat. 2003. Parragon.

Making low-fat cooking interesting and sustainable

Kreitzman’s (2000: 6) “expertise centres on low-fat cooking, the result of an almost lifetime battle with obesity coupled with my enduring passion for food in all its glorious and fascinating aspects.” Sounds familiar? Her philosophy is no added fat.

Dreadful boredom as result of unimaginative low-fat cottage cheese, steamed fish, grilled skinless chicken breasts and piles of undressed raw salads will only result in desperate binging. A low-fat lifestyle should be of own violation and enjoyable to be sustained. Eating must be a celebration, not punishment. (Kreitzman 2000: 6)

 Many traditional recipes are based on fat and calorie-dense cooking techniques. It is not necessary to sauté in butter, fry in oils, enrich with cream or flavour with high-fat cheese (Kreitzman 2000: 28). It is essential to adopt a whole new set of cooking techniques, such as:

• Using oil-water sprays for grill-frying (seven-eighths water and one-eighth oil, such as sunflower, olive, walnut or sesame) together with non-stick baking sheets (no brushing or even shallow frying) — shake and spritz lightly (Kreitzman 2000: 29).
• Use fat-free stock-sautés (instead of oil and butter/margarine) or stock and wine. Be careful with stock-cubes with a high salt and fat content.
  • Make own mushroom soaking liquid with dried mushrooms, soaked in very hot water for 30 minutes and strain.
  • Vegetable, fish, chicken and beef stock recipes (The best ever low fat 2003: 11)
  • Use wine and Teriyaki sauce
  • Swiss bouillon powder
  • Use fresh citrus juice, e.g. lemon, and Worcestershire sauce
  • Replace butter/oil and flour sauces and toppings with low-fat and no-fat dairy, vegetable purées and concentrated fat-free stock
    • Make a custard with ricotta, egg whites and Parmesan (Kreitzman 2000: 80)
    • Stabilize yogurt through straining and for savoury cooking by whisking in Dijon mustard (5g to 300g)
    • Tomato sauce infusion (Kreitzman 2000: 33)
    • Ricotta, Quark, Mozzarella and Fromage Frais (Kreitzman 2000: 42)
    • Remove skin and fat from poultry
    • Cut off visible fat from meats
    • Achieve texture, colour and flavour with tomatoes, peppers, roasted or braised garlic, aubergines and even peas
    • Infuse intensified flavours
      • Basics include white onion, garlic, red onions for colour and flavour, and spring onion
      • Spices simmered in stock and wine become gentle and mellow: paprika, turmeric, cumin and coriander
      • Sun-dried tomatoes
      • Black olives add unique flavour
      • Chillies (deseeding and ribbing reduces heat)
      • Vegetables add taste, texture and nutrition: carrots, fennel, peppers and celery
      • Wines (white, red, vermouth or sherry), vinegars (e.g. balsamic), etc.
      • Make use of technology savvy non-stick cooking utensils

 Kreitzman, Sue. 2000. The low fat cook book. Dorling Kindersley.

Start low-fat cooking with the basics in mind

“The subject of diet is incredibly vast and complex, and many diets conflict so badly that it can become terribly confusing for someone searching for the right path to health.” (Oostingh, 2002: 5)

 Oostingh (2002: 6-10) gleaned from several books on healthy food the following:

• At least 50% raw fruit and veggies, “packed with enzymes, minerals, vitamins, proteins and chlorophyll” (p. 6) … contain countless health-giving substances … a natural antibiotic effect … protection from cancer-promoting substances … boost immunity … and slows down ageing.
• Eat only small amounts of meat, eggs and diary products. Preferably rather eat fish and free-range chicken. Only eat fat-free diary, preferably yoghurt, from which calcium is far more absorbable.
• Foods containing unsaturated oils are essential, because the brain for example depends on lipids for its growth and repair. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are further crucial for growth and development, but cannot be manufactured by the body. It is therefore important to supplement EFAs to maintain a good balance of Omega 3 and 6. Cold-pressed flaxseed oil is a good source, including Omega 9. Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) are manufactured in the body, but because they perform very important functions—such as lowering bad LDL cholesterol inside the body while raising good HDL cholesterol—it is good to supplement, but heating damages the good qualities.
• Minimize the intake of sugar, because the body has no need for refined sugar and most health conditions are negatively affected by high sugar consumption. Small amounts of raw honey can be taken as alternative, but avoid artificial sugars.
• Give preference to eating complex carbohydrates—such as butternut, potatoes, unrefined grains, pulses, cereals and beans—rather than refined carbohydrates.
• Variety of good foods spread throughout each day ensures a wider range of nutrients.
• Reduce the intake of acid-forming (20%) but eat more alkaline-forming (80%) foods.
• Avoid carbonated drinks; processed and preserved food; cut down on caffeine and alcohol intake; do not cook in Teflon-coated, plastic and aluminium cookware and minimize cling-wrap because of likely chemical contamination.
• Supplement selectively and get your mind sorted.

Oostingh, Lauren. 2002. Low fat goes luscious. Struik.