by Eric

Food Pyramid to My Plate to Healthy Plate

…to my very own dinner.

So yesterday, I found this in a Kaiser email —

Pretty cool.
Dig in to smart food choices p_govt_plate

Nutrition advice is plentiful and often confusing. But The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a tool that makes smart food choices a lot easier to make.

In 2011, it replaced its long-standing Food Pyramid with MyPlate, an illustration of a plate that shows the latest nutrition research. Half of the plate is devoted to vegetables and fruits. The other half is reserved for grains and protein, and off to the side is a small cup for dairy.

“This is a big step in the right direction,” says registered dietitian Carole Bartolotto, MA, RD, a senior consultant for Kaiser Permanente Health Education. “The old diagram emphasized grains, while the new one emphasizes vegetables and fruits. That’s an important shift.”

Years before the launch of the MyPlate initiative, Kaiser Permanente created its own food publication: The Healthy Plate. It uses a photograph of a dinner plate, pictured at left. Healthy foods are shown in the right proportions to give nutrition guidance that can be easily understood at a glance.

“Whereas MyPlate says ‘protein,’ we show salmon, which is a healthy source of protein and omega-3 fats,” says Bartolotto. “MyPlate says ‘grains’ but we show brown rice,” because whole grains are a good source of fiber and B vitamins. The Healthy Plate also shows a generous serving of steamed carrots and broccoli—nutrient-rich, non-starchy vegetables with the added benefit of being low in calories.”

I was already thinking about grilling a piece of fish for dinner, it was such a beautiful day. Why not salmon?
I had some broccoli and carrots in the crisper, but I also had a small, lone head of romanesco. I used that instead of the carrot, since romanesco and broccoli are relatives.

Just had some risotto for dinner, so I used my fabulous Iacopi Prim Mateca beans instead. I cooked up a batch on Tuesday, just in case.

There you have it.

Grilled salmon with an Asian marinade and sauce.
Steamed broccoli and romanesco with a bit of the same sauce.
Beans with a few oven-dried tomatoes to kick ‘em up a notch.

MY healthy plate

It took a few years for me to learn to grill salmon properly. (But then, we only grill it two or three times a year. Might do it more often, now that I know.) Finally I found this method, and it works. (Note: Salmon was pre-cut in 8 ounce fillets, ate half for dinner, balance for next day lunch.)

From Weber’s Big Book of Grilling
Timing is Everything

Cook direct medium
Make sure the fillet is well oiled and place the fillet flesh side down first. As soon as you lay it on the cooking grate, it will begin to cling, and it will cling tighter and tighter until it has cooked enough to conveniently release its grip entirely. This is the time to turn it. Now, lots of cookbooks will tell you to grill 1-inch-thick salmon fillets for about 5 minutes on each side. Well, 5 minutes is usually not enough time for the salmon to surrender its hold. If you extend the grilling time when the flesh side is on the grate 7 to 8 minutes, the fillet will come off the hot grill easily.

To pinpoint the ideal turning time, check the salmon after about 7 minutes by very lightly gripping the fillet with metal tongs. Turn your wrist gently to lift one edge off the grate. If it is sticking, wait a minute and try again until it pulls away easily. When turned and done, slip a spatula between the flesh and skin, leave the skin on the grate and deliver your masterpiece.

Besides avoiding the hassle of stuck fish, this method, which is sometimes called “the 70/30 rule” produces deep mahogany grill marks on the flesh side, a nice presentation on the plate, and a proud chef. Enjoy.

CONDENSED VERSION… Grilled Salmon dinner
Cook Direct Medium
One inch salmon should be done in total of 10 minutes
Well oiled salmon on grill… DON’T MOVE
check at 7 minutes, turn when ready

For the sauce, I borrowed from a “Barefoot Contessa Parties!” recipe for Asian Grilled Salmon.
For the sauce/marinade:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons good soy sauce
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Directions
Whisk together the mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl (I shake it in a small jar.). Drizzle half of the marinade onto the salmon and allow it to sit for 10 minutes. Spoon the reserved marinade over the cooked fish.

p_dinner_served Not only healthy, but yummy.

02.14.12

by Eric

my pasta for we two

to make Spaghettini with Crab and Jalapeno

I have made egg noodle pasta many times over 40 years, probably with the same Atlas pasta machine. The recipes have varied as my influences have varied, but now — as a septuagenerian — I’ve settled on a go-to recipe and call it, “my pasta for we two.” After all, its just eggs, flour and a bit of water, but oh, the proportions, quality of ingredients and methods of mixing and kneading can dramatically affect the resulting noodles.

Going back, James Beard, my mentor for most things cooking, taught me to mix with a food processor, to have the eggs at room temperature and the importance of resting the dough. Most of my early pastas are his, using AP flour.

Time passes…

Bill Buford, the author of HEAT and disciple of Mario Batali taught me the mantra, “one egg, one etto.” He explained that one etto is 100 grams of flour, and later modified his mantra to, “one GOOD egg, one etto.”

I start buying eggs from pastured hens; buy me a kitchen scale and time passes…

Thomas McNaughton of flour + water taught a pasta making class at CUESA, and taught me to use “00” flour and a Kitchen Aid mixer.

I buy me a Kitchen Aid mixer, give my food processor away, and time passes.

The Kitchen Aid manual taught me the paddles and hooks and speeds to use in dough-making. Armed with information and dangerous, I got my flour and eggs together and made me some noodles.

For we Two: my_eggs_flour
BASIC EGG NOODLE PASTA

4 etto (400g) 00 flour or sifted AP flour
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon water

Place eggs, water and flour in the mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix for 30 seconds.
Remove flat beater and attach dough hook. Turn to Speed 2 and knead 2 minutes. Scrape down sides with a spatula as you see fit. After a few sprays of water, the dough should all came up onto the hook. Hand knead dough for 30 seconds to one minute. Cover with a dry towel and let rest 15 minutes before running through Pasta Maker. *Roll through to 7 for fettuccine… 6 is too thick and a bit tough. Continue reading →

02.08.12

by Eric

St. Elmo’s Shrimp

The two-week hype leading to Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis was in full swing. About the fourth time somebody mentioned having the world famous shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo’s Steak House, I said to Carol, “Eric and I ate there on our cheese road trip in the summer of 2008. We had the shrimp cocktail and it was good, but I don’t remember it being SO SPECIAL.”

That same day I got an email from Eric on that very subject:

Dad–

On Eats, in honor of the Super Bowl in Indy, you should reprise our meal at St. Elmo’s, or maybe try to replicate the cocktail sauce at St. Elmo’s as one of the tapas at your SB party, and write about that?

–E

Well, here’s the story:

Friday Dinner

St. Elmo’s Steak House Indianapolis, Indiana

I suggested we stop in Indianapolis for the night, about two hours to the southeast [of Chicago]. Maybe we could get a tour of the new stadium for the Colts that will open this fall. Besides, I’ve never been there — except passing through on US-40 on the way to an OSU v. Illinois football game in 1960. Stephanie, the Hilton desk clerk, told us we would find plenty of places to eat on Illinois Street, the street just outside. Indeed, McCormick & Schmick’s was in the hotel and we passed at least four steak houses, including Weber Grill Restaurant and the ubiquitous Ruth’s Chris and Morton’s. St. Elmo’s Steak House was about three blocks down and looked local, maybe because of the plain, old time sign. Lots of cops were on the street — something about a Black Congress rally on the weekend — so I asked a cop about St. Elmo’s. “Great,” he said. “Be sure and have the Shrimp Cocktail.”

the cops and yours truly

Our waiter Billy, sporting muttonchops, was really nice and very thorough. But once he had started his spiel, there was no stopping him. That was okay with the “world famous shrimp cocktail we grind our own horseradish daily,” because we weren’t familiar with that and contemplated ordering it. But the, “Founded in 1902 as the country’s first Steak House. Although we are a steak house, for those of you who are not fans of red meat,” I said, “Billy, you can stop there, we love red meat.” But he continued, “,we have a terrific selection of seafood, flown in daily. Our vegetables are fresh, not frozen, from local Indiana farms.” Billy gave good spiel, and good service.