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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Adventures in Juicing


Yes, the guy and girl who love their pizza, meatballs, and pancakes have gone liquid.  We are on day two of The BluePrint Cleanse and it's...um...it's...why did I agree to do this again? I'm starving! Consuming nothing but liquid for two whole days has been intense, but I'm pretty proud of us for sticking to it (so far).

Back to why we're doing this. As healthy as we try to be, we really love to eat and tend to over-indulge whether it's dinner out with friends or experimenting in the kitchen.  And after watching the documentary "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead," we thought a little detox would help us atone for our health sins.  I highly recommend if you haven't seen it yet.  This guy's story is amazing and it really makes you think twice about what you put in your body.  While you're at it you can catch "Food Inc." and "Vegucated" but then you may never want to eat anything again...ever.  

While we probably won't be doing The BluePrint Cleanse again anytime soon, we did invest in a juicer to keep-up our health kick. Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon solid food forever. I'm actually quite excited to use it for cooking and baking. There is so much you can do with fresh juice.  You can even use the remaining pulp for soups and muffins!

Cheers!




Sunday, March 10, 2013

A New Spin on Cooking, and Marmalade Too

Shiitake Marmalade
From Modernist Cuisine at Home
5 1/8 Cups shiitake mushroom caps
4 TBS unsalted butter
1/3 Cup shallots, minced
100 mL (3/8 cup) water
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TSP honey
1/4 Cup chives, sliced thin
1/2 TBS tarragon, minced
Salt to taste
Makes about 1 cup; will keep for 3 days, refrigerated.

I love collecting cookbooks, but I truly believe this may be the last cookbook I will ever need.  Modernist Cuisine At Home, the little brother of the famed Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, is 11 pounds and 300 plus pages of culinary porn.  While the food seems straight forward at first (think mac and cheese and burgers), these recipes are like nothing you have ever seen before.  The authors explain the science behind cooking and even improve upon well-known dishes using unusual techniques and gadgets.  Whipping siphons are used to create perfect scrambled eggs, pressure cookers caramelize vegetables in a flash, and blow torches add fantastic crust to sous vide meats.  I cannot wait to fill my kitchen with new toys and start experimenting!

To get started I thought I would start with something simple, like this shiitake marmalade.  This earthy and complex condiment can instantly upgrade anything from roast chicken to omelets   I decided to use for an easy appetizer with goat cheese crostini.  You can also apply the same technique to make bacon marmalade.  Yum!

Pulse the mushrooms in food processor until they are just minced.  Heat butter in pan and sauté mushrooms until lightly browned and dry (about 15 minutes).  Add shallots and cook 8-10 minutes more, or until tender. Stir in water, soy sauce and honey.  Simmer until thick, but still fluid.  Fold in herbs and season with salt.  Serve warm.






            

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The Hungry Yuppies, Annie and Rich, are a young couple from CT who are self-proclaimed foodies. Annie is the chef, and Rich is her willing taste tester. Juggling a full time job in the city wasn't going to get in the way of Annie's love for cooking. It's about eating well whether you have just 30 minutes on a Monday night, or all day on a rainy Sunday.