Fresh Indian cuisine

Indian cuisine is one of my favorite picks when we go out to eat! The last time I went to a local Indian lunch buffet, I found it unique that one of their Dals had been made with yogurt. Any of the lentil curry dishes may also be made with coconut milk or heavy cream.

This morning, I put about ¼ cup fat-free yogurt (at room temperature) in a skillet and combined it with about ½ cup curry sauce, making sure it was completely dissolved before I put the heat on low. For anyone who will attempt this recipe, I will say that it is not error-proof. On my first try, I combined the ingredients at medium heat, and it was too hot for the ingredients to create the desired consistency! The yogurt curded before it had the chance to mix well with the curry sauce, and unfortunately, once yogurt curds it is irreversible. The same philosophy applies with other protein foods if the food is mechanically treated or when heat is applied – the proteins in the food “denature” and the consistency will not revert back to the way that it was before. However, if the temperature is not too hot, and the ingredients are mixed well enough before adding heat, the consistency should remain. I let the heat stay on low for about 10-30 minutes once the ingredients were vigorously mixed together.

I made a vegetarian curry and a chicken curry with this sauce. I kept it low in fat for my husband and added cooked lentils to the paste and created vegetarian dal. For the chicken curry that I prepared for lunch today, I had added 1 tablespoon of heavy cream and mixed that together before combining the curry sauce, and then adding onions, chicken, and peas. At least for me, the heavy cream gave the flavor more definition.

The curry sauce can be one that you choose pre-made or can be made from scratch with a great recipe.

 Enjoy!

Qick & easy teriyaki sauce

My allergy to monosodium glutamate (MSG) has not kept me away from enjoying the teriyaki sauce that I absolutely love! This quick & easy recipe is additive-free, and will give you piece of mind! The best part is that you can substitute the soy sauce to a low-sodium soy sauce (if you'd like), it goes great over chicken, veggies, tofu, etc; and it is gluten-free! Enjoy!


Ingredients
6 Tablespoons of soy sauce
4 Tablespoons of brown sugar
1 clove of garlic
1 1/2 cup of water
2 Tablespoon of cornstarch


Directions
Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, and minced garlic in a medium size bowl.
Strain the mixture to eliminate the garlic pieces.
Mix the cornstarch in the mixture BEFORE cooking it. Press your spoon against the chunks until the cornstarch is completely disolved.
Bring the water and teriyaki mixture over medium heat in a pan, and bring to a boil, while constantly stirring.
Your sauce should be thickening as you stir, and as a few minutes go by.

Pink Slime!

As much as 70% of store bought ground beef (and makes up 25% of any beef
patty with it) have the filler known as “pink slime”. Before
the ground beef is packaged for sale, the remnants of the animal are
ground up, sprayed with ammonia, and packaged as ground beef. The
ammonia is supposed to kill the bacteria remaining in the intestine of
the carcass. A former USDA scientist said that the ground-up
connective tissue and beef scraps that are normally meant for dog
food.


This has become a growing concern for consumers and parents of
children who eat school lunches that have the filler. Currently,
vendors do not have to list the pink slime on labels. Advocates for
candidness are starting and signing petitions at websites like Change.org
and/or forwarding concerns directly to first lady Machelle Obama.


It’s no wonder there have been outbreaks of E. Coli, leaving folks
wondering where it came from. I believe that even presenting the
opportunity for harmful bacteria such as E. Coli even with sterilizing
compounds like ammonia is unacceptable, simply because of human error. They may spray or pour all they want to decontaminate it, but spots
are probably always missed.


Over many years, I have always had a hunch that meat vendors wouldn’t
tell consumers everything when it came to processing ground beef
before packaging it for sale. Ever since that, I had been buying the
steak cuts and putting them in my food processer to create the same
product (minus the slime :-)). Even though most people are okay with
eating packaged ground beef, I will never look at eating it the same
way again – it just won’t set well with me. As mentioned throughout
many of my posts, it is important to know what you’re eating. How can
we do that when we have omitted information?


References:

http://www.kmbc.com/r/30646429/detail.html
www.thelunchtray.com
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2012/03/09/pink-slime-in-70-percent-ground-beef-reports-says/