butter... good or bad?

cooking in the kitchen is showing me that dishes, like a perfume, have different layers of scents and flavours. that subtle one, the one that you can never put your finger on, but know almost innately, is the scent of oil or butter. having cooked a few dishes in my time, butter seems to be a ubiquitous component of every meal. my question, why?

butter is supposed to be bad, right? saturated fats lead to cardio-vascular problems and premature heart attacks.
in the kitchen, butter is the magical ingredient, adding mellow nutty flavours and lots of flavour.

so, which one is it? watching the chefs on tv use it so liberally gives the viewer a sense that a) it's necessary and can't be avoided and b) it's ok.

in cooking at home though, is it? i think that a touch of it nice because it's flavour really is irreplaceable, but 1/2  a stick?!?! do you want to have a heart attack at 22 yrs old!?

on the other hand, my brother in law's family uses butter incessantly and i can say that they are in better health (or so it seems) than any one in my family. so i guess it can't be all that bad? p.s. did i mention the french supermodels and everyone else there????

to become a true chef, does it mean that i have to adopt the insane amounts of butter that are called for in every dish i make? i mean, WHY?!?!?

pomogranates - the ultimate stocking stuffer

did you know that pomogranates used to be the fruit of choice for children to receive at christmas in their stocking because it was round and available only then? the roundness filled out the toe part of the stocking toe.

recently, i bought one because it had been such a long time since i had last eaten one at home. one hiccup? tita nilda's not around to open it for me and, let's face it, i'm lazy. but, i remembered seeing on jaime oliver how to open it "easily" so i thought i'd try it.

basically, use water as both your shield and your sieve. you open the pomogranate under water to avoid the bright red juice from popping onto your favourite white sweater (it doesn't come out) and as a way of making the more bitter white pith areas to float to the top while the heavy seeds fall to the bottom.

verdict: it really works!

while it still took a little while to open, i wasn't assulted by red stains every where and the explosion of tart juice in my mouth mixed with the crunch of the individual seeds, made it all worth it. definitely recommend it to anyone who's planning on enjoying promogranate, experienced opener or not!

how NOT to microwave a sausage

based on my last experience of a microwaved sausage, i thought, why not microwave another one and change up my usual egg-a-day routine?

answer: the last time was a fluke

warning: DO NOT MICROWAVE YOUR SAUSAGE ON HIGH FOR 10 MINS (even if you're afraid of getting a parasite)

uh, didn't know you could make actual cardboard out of meat... like acutally. i mean, completely devoid of any moisture and hard enough for me not to be able to poke it with a fork --- or a knife.  i was stubbord and didn't want to waste a) the sausage and b) the hard work it took waiting 10 mins to cook the thing in the microwave so i tried eating it... but idea...

why 10 mins? b/c any one who's talked to me lately knows that i'm convinced -thanks to parasitology- that i'm going to get Trichinella, a roundworm transmitted to humans by eating undercooked meat). p.s yes, it's real, google it. there was even a case where it ended up in someone's brain :S so, with that image in mind, i set out to make a very failed dinner and ended up having a can of campbell's... so well for my 3 protein servings a day...

reduced to frozen meals in a bag

exams are in full force now and i find myself more and more opting for the "no work" option of cereal 2-3 times a day and insta-food from a bag. while cereal isn't bad (actually, it's quite satisfying for a 4am snack whilel trying to prep an exam) dinner from a bag is highly not advisable.

wait, ok, not exactly. let's say that terriyaki is best made fresh and not found in frozen sauce pellets that melt in the microwave...


according to the bag, it requires 10-15 mins total to "make" your dinner, including pouring out a mixture of frozen veggies and chunks of "chicken" (i have my doubts). in the spirit of trying everything out once, i can now say that i've tried it and it's not meant for me. first, there was basically no chicken to be found. i ended up adding 2 frozen sausages to the plate and microwaving it along with dinner. second, the veggies turned out grey and not like the picture on the bag (surprising? not really...) and finally, the "enticing" smell that should draw someone in actually make my stomach doubt if eating was truly necessary. in the end, i ate it but probablly should have just stuck with a nuc-ed sausage and frozen veggies.

solution to this eating dilemma? have a salad bar in your fridge. seems to me that if i had everything ready to throw into a pan when i was ready to eat, i'd be much more inclined to make dinner rather than opt for a funky tasting - and smelling - meal.

p.s. i sit here writing this while munching my lunch of soy milk and corn flakes. maybe i shouldn't talk...

1 down, 1 prepped, 1 to go - exam season hits london hall rm 510

make a great stirfry today using shedded red cabbage that i had sitting in my fridge. super simple and didn't need much time, but enough for one to walk away knowing that they've had a break in the kitchen.

basically, in a med. hot pan, started by searing a chicken breast in one piece while i sliced up some left over onion. flipped the breast and put it to one side of the pan while adding a little more oil and throwing in the onion. once they looked golden brown, i added pre-chopped garlic and ginger. stirred that around for a while then took out the chicken breast and put it aside. to the pan i added the shredded cabbage, some water, ~1/2C soya sauce and a good few squirts of vietnamese hot sauce (for pho). stirred that around and covered it until they seemed a little soft. then i added the chicken breast that was still not completely done and let it steam essentially on top of the cabbage. after a few minutes, i took it off the heat and turned to the carb portion of the meal.

in another pot, i boiled a little water and added short quick cooking pasta (done in 3 minutes). poured out the water, added some cabbage, pan sauce and the chicken breast to the pasta pot. "shredded" the chicken breast (that was completely cooked and juicey) stir and ready to eat.

best part, the texture of the cabbage! i loved the softness, but the distictive pops in your mouth as you munched on the thicker portions of cabbage leaf.