Courtesy of Gling’s CEO/Founder Mike Lee.

Planning a Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year’s party? Gling, a Social Media startup targeting consumers in the Gluten-free community, announced today the release of its 2009 Holiday Menuzine to help Gluten-free dieters plan their Holiday events and parties.

The 2009 Holiday “Menuzine” is a combined Menu of Holiday desserts and appetizers along with articles to help Gluten-free dieters build a whoppingly excellent holiday party. This Menuzine follows closely on the heels of their wildly successful Thanksgiving Menuzine, which included dishes and original Magazine articles written by Gling writers with tips about how to build their Gluten-free Thanksgiving meal.

“The holiday season is filled with party after party, gatherings and small family hang-outs,” says Mike Lee, CEO/Founder of Gling.com, “We felt that there was a huge need to help people create wonderful holiday dishes for Christmas, Hannukah or New Year’s parties. Thanksgiving is tough for some, but many times Christmas appetizers and desserts can be more challenging because they ’seem’ like they should be simpler.”

Some of the delectables included on the Holiday Menuzine include Milk Chocolate Haystacks with Toasted Coconut, Mini Sweet Potato Pies and Crab Stuffed Mushrooms.

“The Holiday Menuzine actually holds more items than the Thanksgiving Menuzine even though it focuses solely on appetizers and desserts. Holiday get-togethers are just too prevalent and we felt people needed lots of choices,” says Lee.

And if you’re building a huge meal, Gling’s 2009 Thanksgiving Menuzine is also a great resource. It boasts a variety of favorites that many new Gluten-free dieters fear they may never eat again: Stuffing, Pies, Entrees and Desserts. Some of the more popular items on the Menuzine are the flourless Chocolate Torte, Easy Apple Pie, drop Biscuits and Sweet & Savory Stuffing. There are also drinks, coffee creamers, dips and appetizers.

For more about gluten-free recipes read Review: Gluten-Free Baking by Richard J. Coppedge Jr.

I have all the respect in the world for vegetarians.  I fully support their diet and at every kitchen I run I try to offer something more than just salad and Portobello burgers for vegetarians.  Their diet is healthy and as long as they don’t try to convert me we’re good.

Vegans are a different story.  I do not support a vegan diet.  Why?  Two reasons:

1. The whole ‘ethical’ farce. There is nothing ethical about being a vegan.  Animals were put here for three reasons, food, clothing and pets.  I abhor people who abuse animals.  Kick a dog in front of me and you are libel to wake up in a body cast.  Now I do not know what basis vegans use for their ‘ethical’ claim but it certainly isn’t based on a Judeo-Christian belief system.  Not religious?  Cool then this part does not apply to you.  If you are religious, then listen up: Genesis 9:3 “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.”  Once again, if you do not have a Judeo-Christian belief system skip on to #2.  If you do, veganism is unethical because it defies God.
2. The whole ‘healthy’ farce.  Since vegans do not consume any animal products they are deprived a certain compounds that only occur in animal fats.  Nothing that grows on a vine, sprouts from a bush or hangs from a tree can replace these compounds.  Most vegans I have known have terrible skin – it is dry and ashy.   It is because they lack proper nutrition.  The other is poor joints. Without at least a little animal in your diet your joints will degenerate years before they would naturally.  You don’t have to eat a medium-rare steak to get what you need, just a glass of milk (no soy milk will not work) or some cheese on that next salad.  So stop it with the whole healthy schtick, it just doesn’t wash.

I am not telling any vegans that they should change their lifestyle.  That would be unethical.  I fully support your right to eat whatever you want, or in this case whatever you do not want.  It is after all what makes you happy and I am all for everyone being happy.  What I am saying is stop the crusade, it has no scientific or spiritual basis; it is simply your choice.  Quietly set your example and perhaps you can turn more people to your cause but the browbeating simply makes you an ass.

My fellow carnivores will enjoy this clip and you herbivores get to see things from our point of view.  Best of all, everyone gets a good laugh.

So with the recent popularity of raw diets, many have the belief that cooked vegetables are worthless.  There is some truth to that.  If the vegetables are cooked to the point of being soft that means the fiber has cooked out, fiber is good.  With the fiber goes the bulk of the nutrients.

At the same time raw may not just be boring but also a little dangerous.  In his groundbreaking book, The Man Who Ate Everything,  Jeffrey Steingarten explored some of the hidden dangers in raw produce in a chapter titled Salad the Silent Killer.  He found that many common veggies have nutrition blockers that prevent absorption not only of their own nutrients but any others also residing in the digestive tract.  Among these are spinach, red cabbage, beets and brussels sprouts.  These inhibiting chemicals can be neutralized by heat, cooking.  Eat them raw and not only are they not healthy but they rob the nutrition of anything you consume with them.

Steingarten is a slave to research and is one of the best resources on the planet for food knowledge.  I rank his opinion high above the combined efforts of the FDA and USDA.  The author draws his conclusions from scientific study and medical research whereas the two bureaucracies rely on lobbyist influence to form policy.

Another reliable source is noted Phoenix surgeon Dr. Terry Simpson who has this to say on the subject of raw vs. cooked vegetables:

Michigan is about to become the 38th state to ban smoking at restaurants. The Michigan law draws a zen-like balance that protects everyone’s rights.  Under the new legislation smoking is banned at all bars and restaurants but does allow smoking at casinos and cigar bars.  Perfection.

Proponents for banning public smoking point out that the number of people who smoke continues to fall each year.  Roughly 20% of Americans are now regular smokers.  Translation: every time a person lights up they are offending four other people.  Not just offending, endangering as the hazards of secondhand smoke are undeniable.  And since there is no such thing as a non-smoking section in a restaurant that allows smoking it stands to reason four out of five people in a restaurant are having their rights violated.

Opponents for banning smoking argue that smokers should have the right to smoke after dinner and they should not have to leave the premises to do it.  They are right but keep in mind that a person’s rights end where they infringe on the rights of others.  Smokers have a right to smoke.  Non-smokers have a right to not breath the smoke of others.  So where’s the compromise?

That is where the cigar bar exemption comes in.  The cigar bar designation tells everyone that smoking goes on there.  If you do not want to endure tobacco smoke do not go to a cigar bar.  Cigar bars give smokers a place to get their grub on without being ostracized for their addiction.  Everyone wins.

Many restaurant and bar owners have been resistant to going smoke-free because they fear it will mean a decrease in business but the opposite has proven true.  Parents that had been avoiding smoked-filled dining rooms to protect their children from the ravages of secondhand smoke have rediscovered old haunts.

Unfortunately, I live in a state, Alabama, where nearly 50% of the population still smokes.  As a result, efforts to enact fair public smoking laws have been thwarted by closed-minded thinking.  Other states just flat out deny smokers the right to go out to dinner and have a good smoke.  That isn’t right either.  So kudos, Michigan, you got it exactly right.

Whole Hog, the grand daddy of BBQ.  The end-all ultimate test of a pitmaster’s ability.  Here two of the best (Lee Ann Whippen & Myron Mixon) give their tips:

Tonight’s episode takes place in Murphysboro, IL where Lee Ann Whippen enters Whole Hog for the very first time. Myron Mixon, of course, has an opinion about that. Check out this preview:

Just how bad does a product have to be if McDonald’s, KFC and other fast food chains refuse to use it?  Pretty bad.  Afterall they have no reservations about using high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, carcinogenic binders and a ton of genetically modified corn (the Chicken McNugget is more GM corn than chicken).  But even the Colonel and the Clown draw the line at using “spent hens.”

The USDA, however, claims that spent hens are safe enough to feed to your children.  To prove it they have spent 145 million of your tax dollars so they could put 77 million pounds of spent hens into your child’s school lunch.  That’s right the USDA, whose Strategic Plan Framework states their goal of  “enhancing food safety by taking steps to reduce the prevalence of foodborne hazards from farm to table,”  is feeding your kids food that even McDonald’s will not.

So what are spent hens?  Good question.  Spent hens are laying hens that no longer produce eggs.  Once they stop producing they are of no use to the producer; they are simply a living, breathing financial liability.  Commercial laying hens spend their lives crammed into tiny battery cages unable to walk freely.  As a result they suffer from osteoporosis.  These brittle bones prevent them from retiring to a farm in the country.  They simply would not survive.

Consequently it is these same conditions that make them hazardous for human consumption.  Their fragile bones splinter quite easily while being processed often making them a choking hazard even in a “boneless” form like a patty or nugget.  Also, one study shows spent hens are four times as likely to be contaminated with salmonella.  Children are very susceptible to salmonella poisoning.

So why does the USDA take such reckless chances with your child’s health?  Could it be because of this government organization’s unholy union with biotech and agribusiness giants like Monsanto and the Biotechnology Industry Organization?  Perhaps their indifference to human life has rubbed off on the USDA?  It would be hard not to conform, afterall much of the department’s leadership is made up of agribusiness moles.

Take Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, a strong proponent for genetically modified corn (which has been proven to be the root cause of every e coli outbreak on record).  In 2001 he was awarded the title Governor of the Year by the aforementioned Biotechnology Industry Organization.  On January 21, 2009, Vilsack was appointed by President Barack Obama as the 30th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The fox guarding the proverbial hen-house.

For more on the issue I suggest reading the article by Blake Morrison, Peter Eisler and Anthony DeBarros for USA Today.

For more about the dangers of GM foods take a few hours to watch the movies The Future of Food and Food Inc.

Photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary.

The Bikini Chef, Susan Irby, has just published another $7 a Meal cookbook.   The $7 a Meal Healthy Cookbook  (Adams Media) features over 300 nutritious, healthy recipes that you and your family will love.  Irby is a cheflebrity who has cooked with the likes of Todd English and Robert Irvine and for the likes of Patrick Swayze, Baby Face Edmonds and Katey Segal.  In this 332 page guide she teaches you how to cook like a celebrity chef without blowing your budget or your diet.

Irby starts the reader off with two very informative chapters on the basic elements of good nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle.  Topics she is well versed in since she has cooking Bikini Cuisine since she was a child.  What is Bikini Cuisine?  According to the chef-author-TV star it is “figure-flattering flavors.”

After the two instructional chapters, Irby then embarks on the 13 recipe filled chapters.  She starts off with breakfast (the most important meal of the day) then rolls through appetizers, salads, soups, entrées featuring proteins that fly, walk and swim.  There are chapters for vegetarians, on sandwiches and even desserts.  No stone is left uncovered.  Each recipe is broken down with a chart that details prep time, cook time, total cost, calories, fat, protein, cholesterol and sodium content.

Guy Fieri checks out at Cemitas Puebla as Tony Anteliz introduces him to authentic Cemitas and Taco Arabes.  With that kind of spread, well, why wouldn’t everyone want to go?

Cemitas Puebla
3619 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
773-772-8435

After last week’s Flay vs. Morimoto Battle: Eggnog what can the Chairman have up his well tailored sleeve?

Well, it’s a battle between Cat Cora and Michael Symon. A contest between the first female Iron Chef (Cora) and the first Next Iron Chef winner (Symon) certainly sounds like fun. I love to watch Symon cook and I love to watch Cat do anything.

The guest judges for tonight include a singer, an actress and a chocolatier as the legendary Patti LeBelle, Tony Award winner Cady Huffman and one of the great patry chefs in the world, François Payard are on hand.  Hmm, two ladies and a pastry chef.  Could the theme ingredient be another sweet holiday treat?  Perhaps Symon can unleash his chocolate covered bacon again.

Originally posted at Well Fed on December 2, 2009.

1682, 12th April: I went this afternoon with several of the Royal Society to a supper which was all dressed, both fish and flesh, in Monsieur Papin’s digesters, by which the hardest bones of beef itself, and mutton, were made as soft as cheese, without water or other liquor, and with less than eight ounces of coals, producing an incredible quantity of gravy; and for close of all, a jelly made of the bones of beef, the best for clearness and good relish, and the most delicious that I had ever seen, or tasted. We eat pike and other fish bones, and all without impediment; but nothing exceeded the pigeons, which tasted just as if bak’d in a pie, all these being stewed in their own juice without any addition of water save what swam about in the Digester. . .

Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn, F.R.S.

The meal to which Evelyn is referring was cooked by Denis Papin.  Papin prepared it for England’s King Charles II and members of the Royal Society, the British national academy of science, to demonstrate his new cooking apparatus the Digester.  And thus began the nefarious history of the Pressure Cooker.

Fast forward two and a half centuries, America has just emerged from the First Great Depression and the Second World War.  It is the era of the working mother which means there is a need for dinner to hit the table faster but the microwave oven is still more than a decade away.  What’s the modern mom to do?  Enter Monsieur Papin’s Pressure Cooker.  The problem is that those early cookers were a bit on the dangerous side.

Today the same cannot be said.  The Pressure Cooker is superior to the microwave oven for speedy cooking because it does not adversely effect the quality of food.  But just how does one use the Digester?  Enter Pamela Rice Hahn.

Hahn, the author of more than 20 books, has just released The Everything Pressure Cookbook (Adams Media) and it is your entrance to the world of pressure cookery.  The author takes you on a quick trip through the history of the device as well as tips and safety measures.  Oh yeah, and 300 recipes for everything from jams and preserves to entrées and even desserts.

So just how fast is pressure cooking?  Remember grandma cooking her pot roast for hours?  Hahn’s takes 45 minutes.  Fall-off-the-bones pork ribs – 55 minutes.  Cheesecake cooks in just eight.  And the quality is just as good if not better than traditional methods.  Professionals have rediscovered this cooking method to handle the extreme time constraints of cooking contests like Iron Chef and Top Chef, too.  If it’s good enough for an Iron Chef then it’s good enough for you.

With the increasing number of deaths each year at the various Black Friday sales it makes one wonder why anyone of sound mind would go.  Sure there is denial – those things don’t happen here just in high crime areas.  Well, that is not at all true.  Recently a Walmart employee was trampled to death in tranquil Valley Stream, N.Y.  A customer at the same Walmart, Jessica Keyes, miscarried purportedly after being knocked down in another Black Friday melee.

Another rationalization stems from pomposity.  I don’t shop at Walmart, that’s for trailer trash.  Well, your hubris won’t save you either.  In another episode two men died at a Toys “R” Us in chic Palm Desert, California after an argument led to an exchange of gunfire.

I know what you are thinking now, California?  New York?  All those people are crazy.  In Lee’s Summit, Missouri two people were mowed down in a shopping center parking lot.  Need more?  In Roanoke, Virginia a man is caught on video striking another shopper five times at a Best Buy.  Fashion Place Mall In Murray, Utah had to close not long after opening because police had to break up nine different fights.  At the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrece, California and elderly lady and nine others were injured when the mall dropped free gift certificates from the ceiling.

These are not events from several shopping days.  These all occured on Black Friday 2008.  Virtually every store in every town has some issue every year.  Conclusion?  No sane person goes to Black Friday sales.

So don’t go.  Seriously, I know that this is the worst economy since the 1930’s, the last Great Depression but there are other ways to give a gift of the heart without spending lots of money and risking your life.  Salsas.

That’s what I am giving this year.  Fresh, homemade salsas.  Talk about cheap, too, much more budget friendly than Rock Band and a lot less annoying than Zhu Zhu Pets.  Produce and a dozen or so 16 ounce Mason jars.  Fresh salsas are better than any thing you can buy at the market.  All you need is a food processor or blender.  Heck a good knife will work.  A good fresh salsa is like a bowl of summer sunshine but it goes better with tortilla chips.

Canned tomatoes are preferrable to fresh because they are picked at the peek of ripeness and the skin is removed.  Frozen pineapple and mangos can be used instead of canned or fresh but thaw and drain them first.  All other produce is fresh and, if possible, organic.  You can easily control the heat, too.  For mild remove all seeds and membranes from chilies.  For medium remove half of the seeds and membranes.  Don’t remove any for a good hot salsa.  For sissies omit the chilies altogether.

Since these salsas contain no preservatives they need to be eaten within two weeks of making which means they are perfect for you last minute Santas.  Each recipe yields roughly two 16 ounce jars of salsa and here are those simple recipes:

Salsa Rojo (aditional red salsa)

• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 onion, quartered
• 2-3 jalapeños or Serranos, sans stems
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 cloves garlic
• sea salt

Place onions into a blender or food processor and blend for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and blend another 30 seconds. Add garlic and peppers and blend until smooth. Add salt to taste and cilantro and blend until well mixed. Chill one hour before jaring.

Salsa Verde (green salsa)

• 6-9 tomatillos, halved or 1 28 ounce can tomatillos, drained
• 1/2 onion, quartered
• 2-3 jalapeños or Serranos, sans stems
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic
• sea salt

Place onions into a blender or food processor and blend for 30 seconds. Add tomatillos and blend another 30 seconds. Add garlic and peppers and blend until smooth. Add salt to taste and cilantro and blend until well mixed. Chill one hour before jaring.

Mango Salsa

• 2 fresh mangos, diced or 20 ounce jar, drained
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 Serrano chilies, diced
• 1 banana, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon Jamacian jerk seasoning (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl.  Place 2/3 of the salsa into a blender or food processor and pulse five or six times then fold back into the salsa.  Refrigerate at least one hour before jaring.

Pineapple Salsa

• 1 28 ounce can diced pineapple, drained
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 jalapeños chilies, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl.  Place 2/3 of the salsa into a blender or food processor and pulse five or six times then fold back into the salsa.  Refrigerate at least one hour before jaring.

Now if you just can’t bring yourself to actually make your gifts but want to avoid the Black Friday free-for-all, buy a copy of Amigeauxs – Mexican/Creole Fusion Cuisine by moi.  They’re only $10!  What?  Friends and family not into cooking?  No problem!  How about a copy of the exciting political thriller A More Perfect Union also by me.  Come on, buy one so my loved ones will get something better than a jar of salsa for Christmas.

Recently Paula Deen got smacked in the kisser by one of her Smithfield hams.  Was it an accident or something more sinister?  Butter could not be reached for comment.

Originally posted on Third Coast Cuisine on 11-14-9.

In a startling admission the FDA acknowledged that it did not thoroughly examine the issue of Vibrio vulnificus contamination from the consumption of raw oysters. In a November 13th press release by Meghan Scott, the FDA announced that it was rescinding its planned 2011 ban on raw Gulf oysters citing that, “It is clear to the FDA from our discussions to date that there is a need to further examine both the process and timing for large and small oyster harvesters to gain access to processing facilities or equivalent controls…” This reversal comes as Democrat and Republican politicians bombarded the FDA and President Obama’s office with complaints and evidence provided by experts on food safety like chefs, restaurateurs, fishermen and food writers.

The FDA had sought to ban raw oysters from the Third Coast (but not oysters from the East or West Coasts) because of 15 deaths annually attributed to Vibrio vulnificus infection. As it turns out the number of deaths was slightly lower than 15 a year and nearly all cases involved people with disease-weakened immune systems who had consumed raw oysters against doctor’s advice. According to U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, (D) of Bay St. Louis, MS the infection rate of Vibrio vulnificus is a paltry .00005%. Hardly the daunting threat the FDA had led people to believe.

Representative Taylor said in a strongly worded letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, “It does not make sense for the FDA to take on this new commitment.” And he was not the lone dissenting voice on Capitol Hill. Joining Representative Taylor in his contempt for the FDA’s policy was Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) who suggested that he might be inclined to cut future funding to the FDA if the issue were not rationally addressed.

Despite what the media and politician’s (let’s face it; they are the same thing) keep saying, the economy is only getting worse.  Americans love their sequels but I don’t think the Great Depression II is one they have been looking forward to.  Never the less it is here.  The big wigs in DC may not be feeling the pinch but the rest of us are and like our predecessors we are pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.

Take Chef Susan Irby (the Bikini Chef) for instance who has just published her new The $7 a Meal Quick & Easy Cookbook (Adams Media).  Irby is a cheflebrity who has cooked with the likes of Todd English and Ming Tsai and for the likes of Patrick Swayze, David Spade and Kate Segal.  But in this 332 page guide she teaches you how to cook like a celebrity chef without blowing your fiscal or time budget.

The 301 recipes found within sound expensive but are not like the Grilled, Herb-Custed Pork Chops with White Wine Sauce ($6.96), Baked Tortillas with Crab and Basil ($6.60) and London Broil with Merlot Marinade ($7 flat).  But what really sets Irby’s work apart from others is the way she gives you a basic recipe then teaches you how to elaborate on it.  Take for instance the humble omelet; first the Bikini Chef gives her basic omelet recipe then she expands on it with the Roasted Red Pepper Omelet, Vegetarian Omelet and the Golden Apple Omelet made with both Parmesan and Bleu cheeses.

Each recipe is broken down with a chart that details prep time, cook time, total cost, calories, fat, protein, cholesterol and sodium content.  The book consists of fifteen chapters thirteen of which are recipes.  The first two are purely instructional with chapter one providing information for those new to the home cooking game include a list for a properly stocked pantry and freezer while chapter two is full of tips for shopping on a budget.

The $7 a Meal Quick & Easy Cookbook is perfect for the 20-something just starting out or the family that is having to reinvent itself because of trying economic times.