Saturday, March 13, 2010 |
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Food-O-Rama |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM   
The school lunches served in America are downright scary -- particularly when compared with the far better lunches served in other civilized countries. Compared to the pictures on that blog, the school lunches when I was a kid were gourmet feasts!
Notably, the problem isn't just that we're feeding growing children disgusting junk that will have a lasting impact on their health -- or that we're training them to eat such junk for the rest of their lives. These school lunches send a very clear message to children: "We don't give a shit about you." That attitude pervades government schools in a million ways, many far more damaging. Yet to see it so plainly written on your plate would be particularly degrading.
What's in your fridge? The Anti-Fridge discusses the history of the refrigerator -- and alternatives to it. (The pictures are amazing too!)
I'm fascinated by traditional methods of storing and preserving foods. I don't wish to adopt them myself, absent some compelling reason to do so. I'm curious about the science behind them though.
I am seriously thinking about building a small root cellar in the barn, as that would be helpful for making fermented foods like sauerkraut. Then again, perhaps I can use the super-well-insulated "camping closet" in our basement for that purpose, once I move its contents to the new storage room in the barn. That would be easier!
Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: A guest post by Joel Salatin on the slew of inane regulations affecting his work as a food producer. It's obscene.
Cooking Issues has been doing some great blogging on sous vide cooking. Enjoy!Labels: Food, Link-O-Rama
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Saturday, February 20, 2010 |
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Health-O-Rama |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
South Carolina used to be The Iodine State.
Dr. Davis discusses a patient who nearly gave himself diabetes by eating lots of fruit. He concludes, "When you hear such conventional advice like 'eat plenty of fruits and vegetables,' you should hear instead: 'eat plenty of vegetables. Eat a small quantity of fruit.' Or, as one commenter said, "Fruit and honey, nature's junkfood. Although both have some redeeming qualities, unlike brownies." I used to be a fruit junkie, but now I eat maybe one to two serving of low-sugar berries per week. I don't want any more: it doesn't do good things for me.
Amazing but true! No one died or was injured from a terribly irresponsible experiment in which people deliberately overdosed on homeopathic medicine. As the organizer of the 10:23 event Martin Robin observed, "No one was cured of anything either." Gee, what a surprise!
Tom Naughton's hysterical take on laws limiting raw milk sales. Here's a sample:
Kentucky
Raw milk sales are illegal with one exception: An individual with a written recommendation from a physician may purchase raw goat milk.
"So why do I feel so terrible, doctor?"
"According to your labs, you have a rare intestinal disorder. It's called Capralactinecessitis."
"Oh my gosh! Can it be treated?"
"Yes, but only if you drink milk that would kill a healthy person. I'll write a prescription." Labels: Food, Link-O-Rama
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Beef Brisket Sous Vide |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
I made beef brisket in the Sous Vide Supreme for dinner last week. It turned out great, so I thought I'd post out what I did.
Mostly, I used the instructions from Douglas Baldwin's uber-helpful Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking.
I brined the brisket in saltwater for a few hours, then seared it in a pan. I added the meat to the bag, then some garlic powder, dried thyme, some fresh-ground pepper, a bay leaf, a bit of ground cloves, a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, and one ice cube of beef stock. I vacuumed it up, then cooked it sous vide for about 28 hours at 165 F. When ready, I drained the juice, reserving about 2 cups (!) for later use, then reduced the remaining 1/2 cup in a saucepan to make a sauce. For thickness, I added some frozen blueberries to the pan, cooked them a bit, and then smashed them with my potato masher.
The meat was well done, yet flavorful and tender. Paul gave it two thumbs up.
A few notes:
- I'm not sure the searing was helpful; I'll skip that next time.
- The cube of beef stock definitely wasn't necessary, as it released lots of juice on its own, probably due to the brining.
- The "Practical Guide" recommends 176°F (80°C) for 24–36 hours. However, it notes that the French Laundry does 147°F (64°C) for 48 hours. I split the difference, but I think I'll try the French Laundry way next time.
Dr. Eades aptly summarized the process of learning sous vide cooking in a comment on Richard Nikoley's post on cooking ribeye sous vide:
The pain-in-the-butt part about sous vide cooking is that you have to experiment a little to find how to cook things exactly as you like them. Once you do, though, the advantage kicks in, which is that you can repeat ad infinitum and always get the same result. That's exactly why I try to keep good records of what I've done sous vide, whether it works well or needs some tweaking.Labels: Food
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Saturday, February 13, 2010 |
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Sous Vide Halibut |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Thanks to a hint from Travis on OEvolve, I recently made halibut in my Sous Vide Supreme. (I've cooked salmon sous vide before, using the same time and temperatures as below -- with great results.) Travis' description of "jaw-droppingly good" was not even remotely adequate!
I cooked two fillets -- with zest and juice from two clementines, plus about two teaspoons of rosemary, plus a bit of salt -- at 130 F for just a bit over an hour.
After removing the fish from the Sous Vide Supreme, I drained the juice from the bag into a small frying pan, reduced it by about half, removed it from the heat, then stirred in about a tablespoon of butter until melted. Meanwhile, I kept the fish in the bag, under a towel to stay warm. Then I served the fish, pouring the sauce on top.
It was spectacular. Every bite was perfectly meaty and delicate, just barely infused with the orange and rosemary flavors.
After making such a perfect meal -- but spending just about 15 minutes on it -- I really can't see the point of eating out! And that's not the first time I've had that thought with sous vide cooking. I'm so impressed with it.Labels: Food
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Friday, February 05, 2010 |
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Science Contaminated by Government |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
In prior posts, I've recommended this New Yorker article on the widespread problem of olive oil contamination: Slippery Business. That risk of contamination is one reason why I prefer to cook with coconut oil, lard, and butter.
This fascinating story about the possibility of massive government corruption of science might be a case when "toxic oil" was not to blame. In the early 1980s, a mysterious outbreak of illness in Spain left hundreds dead and thousands seriously injured. It was quickly blamed on contaminated cooking oil. In 1989, some oil producers were sent to prison, even though the supposed toxin in the oil was never identified. Similarly, as even supporters of the standard account admit, scientists haven't ever been able to reproduce the symptoms of the supposedly toxic oil in lab animals.
Even worse, even the epidemiological data looks like it was corrupted by a young government determined to quell the panic. The article says:
In order to demonstrate that the oil had caused the illness, government scientists needed to be able to show, for example, that families who had bought the oil were affected, whereas those who hadn't were not; that the aniline in the oil was indeed poisonous and that the victims were suffering from aniline poisoning; and, bearing in mind that such commercial cooking oil fraud had been widespread for years, just what had changed in the manufacturing process to cause the oil suddenly to become so poisonous. To this day, none of these basic conditions has been met. You'll find the details in the article. The most fundamental problem is simply that the cause and the effects don't seem to match up: many sick people didn't consume the supposedly toxic oil, many oil-consuming people didn't become sick. And that's just for starters.
Do I know what happened here? Of course not. The article might be mere conspiracy-mongering; the author might be twisting the facts to manufacture doubt and controversy where none should exist. Or perhaps the author's complaints and doubts are completely justified. I can only say that, if the article is accurate in its basic information, the government's story doesn't merely smell fishy: it's stinks to high heaven.
The simple fact is that governments cannot be trusted with science. Scientists at the government trough are often quickly wedded to grand theories based on political pressure rather than evidence. Then, because they seek to maintain public trust above all else, they cling to those grand theories as dogmas, even as contrary data accumulates. In the process, they often cause serious harm to people by preventing them from living as well as they might -- or preventing them from living at all.
Essentially, to the extent that science is affected by political pressure, it works on the principle of stare decisis -- meaning "maintain what has been decided and do not alter that which has been established." To support their political paymasters, scientists must adhere to precedent, however wrong.
Of course, some scientists might be willing to buck political pressures, but they risk being marginalized or fired for speaking out. Others might be more remote from those pressures, and so able to do good work in quiet. But for any politically warm topic, I trust government science as much as I trust the State Science Institute on Rearden Metal -- meaning, not at all.Labels: Food, Health, Science
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Saturday, January 16, 2010 |
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Cheese and Butter, Oh My |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
Some notes on cheese and butter:
- A few days ago, Paul and I taste-tested Kerrygold butter (w/ salt) against Organic Pastures' pasture butter. Kerrygold won hands-down. It had a much stronger -- and perfectly buttery -- flavor. (Kerrygold cows are kept on pasture, so their butter would have more CLA et al than conventional butter.)
- If you've not tried Kerrygold's cheeses, I highly recommend them. They are made from pasteurized rather than raw milk, but they're delicious. "Dubliner" is a favorite chez Hsieh; I buy it in huge blocks for cheap from Costco.
- That same morning, I also taste-tested two kinds of mascarpone cheese: Crave Brothers and Bel Gioioso. Crave Brothers won by a wide margin. It was smoother, with a sweeter and more delicate taste. (I bought Crave Brothers at Whole Foods, whereas I got Bel Gioioso at my regular grocery store.) Crave Brothers cows are not pastured, unfortunately. The web site reports that they're fed a mix of "corn, alfalfa and soybeans." So I might see if I can find marscapone from pastured cows. Any suggestions?
- Speaking of raw cheese, the spreadable raw cheddar from Fayette Creamery is wonderful! I've only tried the plain version, but I eat it by the spoonful! (I buy that at Whole Foods.)
- Oh, and I bought Bravo Farms' raw chipolte cheddar at Costco this week. While I normally like a sharper cheddar, it's quite wonderful!
Any other butter and cheese recommendations?Labels: Food
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Brussels Sprouts, Two Ways |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Kelly Valenzuela posted the following recipe for "Browned Brussels Sprouts" on OEvolve a few days ago:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts (trimmed and halved) 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves; cook 15 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, cook one minute. I've not tried that yet, but it sounds yummy. (I would probably substitute coconut oil for the olive oil, as I prefer not to cook with olive oil. Also, I don't use nonstick, so I'd just be sure to use lots of that fat.)
My standard method of cooking brussels sprouts, which I used just last night, is based on Cook's Illustrated's Brussels Sprouts Braised in Cream.
I wash and trim the brussels sprouts, but leave them whole. Then I simmer them in about a cup of cream on the stove for about 20 minutes, until tender by a toothpick test. I stir them periodically, and I'll often take off the lid for the last few minutes to get a thicker cream sauce. (Sometimes I boil the sauce down so much that the brussels spouts caramelize a bit. Yummy!) You do need to watch the pot carefully, particularly as the cream comes to a simmer, because it can easily boil over and make a terrible mess. Oh, and I often forget that I should add a dash of nutmeg at the end, in addition to the salt and pepper. Amazingly, I used to hate brussels sprouts, but now they're one of my favorite vegetables!
Update: The reason that I don't use olive oil for cooking is that I've read that it oxides at fairly low temperatures, based on its smoke point. (Apparently, its smoke point is a matter of some dispute.) So I tend to use rendered lard (in the form of bacon grease), butter, or oil for cooking. However, my knowledge of such matters is very sketchy, so feel free to chime in in the comments with any good sources.Labels: Food
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Saturday, January 09, 2010 |
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Jesus Versus Paleo Eating |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Some weeks ago, Monica Hughes pointed me some Christians discussing the proper response to paleo-diet advocate Mark Sisson's Definitive Guide to Grains. Here's the best, from "Barlow":
As a Christian, I have further trouble with this kind of advice. Think of the eucharist. How are we to know what kind of bread to use in the eucharist if we do not become skilled at baking bread, bake better and better bread, pass on the art of baking bread, etc? Are Christians only supposed to think that the world was set up so that grain will only be grown for the eucharist, and bread only be baked for the eucharist? That all the loaves of bread to be baked should be tasted, notes should be made about what worked or didn't, and then the loaves cast away? It makes no sense. The eucharistic meal is a real meal. It shouldn't be the only place we or our children encounter bread. The eucharist is an overflowing of what culture should be like. We should be a bread-loving, wine-loving culture, with artisans getting as good at baking bread as they are at making wine. Finally, Jesus describes himself as the "bread from heaven" - connecting himself with the whole flow of redemptive history from the manna in the wilderness to bread baked in haste to the grain sack that never ran out after being blessed by the prophet. I don't want to raise my children to wonder why Jesus connected his life-giving body with something "so unhealthy." Then, in a separate comment by the same author:
To clarify, I'm not saying that we need to eat what Jesus ate. I'm just saying that, as a Christian, if Jesus ate it, I can't very well say that eating it is evil or inherently bad for me. Otherwise I'd have to conclude that Jesus was damaging his health and encouraging others to do the same. Well, Barlow, I'll make a modest proposal. I propose that you eliminate the symbolic cannibalism of the Eucharist from your diet. Even apart from the absurdly mystical mumbo-jumbo of transubstantiation, eating your man-god is just plain gross.Labels: Food, Religion
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Saturday, January 02, 2010 |
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The Unsoap Experiment |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Recently, Richard Nikoley reluctantly reported on his six-month experiment without soap or shampoo. It went fabulously well, such that he's now committed.
Like Richard, I hate to seem like a luddite or primitivist, but honestly, I do want to try "The Unsoap Experiment." Ever since I read about it a few months ago on another blog, I've been unsoap-curious and nopoo-intrigued!
Of course, the natural reaction is to say, "Oh, but my hair is gross after just a day or two, I couldn't possibly do that!" However, from what I've read elsewhere, the standard day-after greasiness is a side-effect of shampooing. The scalp produces way more oil than it would otherwise, precisely because you're stripping off all the oils by shampooing daily. So you get caught in a vicious cycle.
You can think of it as similar to the effects of carbohydrate-withdrawal. In the short-term, a person used to the standard American diet might feel tired and foggy unless he eats tons of carbohydrates. Contrary to popular myth, that's not a good reason to reject low-carbohydrate eating. Instead, that result suggests that the person is seriously addicted to carbohydrates, and that he ought to eat far less of them. It's just a vicious-cycle hump to be gotten over, nothing more.
Of course, that might not be true for all people, but that's why Richard recommends trying soapless for at least a month.
Originally, I'd planned to wait on my own "Unsoap Experiment" until I got my thyroid problems under better control. However, then I realized that I might as well start now, since I'm basically incapable of doing anything substantial with my days.
So my Unsoap Experiment is in progress, as of December 31st. I've started by switching to nopoo, as per these instructions. Basically, I wash my hair with a baking soda solution, then condition it with a cider vinegar solution. For now, I'm still using a bit of soap on the critical bits -- just a purely olive-oil-based bar from "Kiss My Face." Also, in an attempt to combat my unbearably dry skin, I've taken to just using pure coconut oil as lotion. So far, the results are encouraging, but I'll post a more detailed report in a few weeks.Labels: Food, Health
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Saturday, December 26, 2009 |
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Paleo Notes on Chocolate |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 1:00 PM
A few weeks ago, I posted the following notes on chocolate and dairy to OEvolve. As some of them might be of interest, here they are, with some editing:
- To make unsweetened chocolate milk, just add pure cocoa powder to milk. (You might need to whisk or blend it, as it might not dissolve easily.) That's how I make my hot cocoa -- with just milk and cocoa powder. I find that the milk is sweet enough for me. (In years past, hot cocoa was just a delivery device for marshmallows. Ugh.)
- The flourless chocolate cake I made for Thanksgiving -- using the Cook's Illustrated recipe -- was fantastic. I used a pound-bar of 70% dark chocolate from Trader Joe's (obtained when I was in California). Other than that, the cake contains only 1/2 pound of butter and eight eggs. You can also add 1/4 cup of liquor or strong coffee. It's super-rich, so a small slice is almost too much. Topped with whipped cream -- no sugar necessary -- it's heavenly!
- Regarding cream, I recently discovered that Costco sells a very thick whipping cream in 1/2 gallon jugs. All whipping cream in my regular grocery stores is ultra-pasteurized, whereas this cream is merely pasteurized. When I opened it, the top had the nice crust of the super-dense cream that I often find in my raw milk. It tastes great -- much better than any of the ultra-pasteurized cream I've been buying. And it whips up wonderfully, also better than ultra-pasteurized cream. So that cream from Costco is now my backup cream for when I don't have enough raw cream.
- I accidentally made my own chocolate mouse some months ago. I started with a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder in a small bowl, and I gradually added a bit of cream, then whisked until well-blended, then added more cream, and whisked more, and so on. I was trying to make chocolate sauce for some fruit, as Ari Armstrong does with cocoa powder and water. I was baffled by the fact that the cream just seemed to be continuously absorbed by the cocoa. But I continued. Ultimately, I ended up with a really excellent mousse.
I love chocolate!Labels: Food
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Saturday, December 19, 2009 |
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Food-O-Rama |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Is foie gras torture? Although animal rights activists say "yes," the facts clearly say otherwise. The fact that these activists persist in their lawsuits against humanely-raised fois gras tells me that they're far more interested in diminishing human welfare (by preventing any use of animals for human ends) than in promoting animal welfare.
The Los Angeles Times reports on the growing criticism of fruit juice: It's time fruit juice loses its wholesome image, some experts say. Despite the connection to rights-violating "sin taxes," I'm glad to see questions raised about the health of juice.
What the World Eats -- a fascinating photoessay showing a week's worth of food for families around the world. The two American families stood out: almost everything on their menu seemed to be packaged junk.
Someday, I'd love to get a miniature Jersey cow. Seriously. Maybe I can get a curly-haired pig too. I've got plenty of room in my new barn!
Monica Hughes of FA/RM, OEvolve, and Ancestral Generation published an op-ed in the Denver Post this week on Animal fat, sugar and diabetes. She analyzes a study to reject the conclusion that exercise and low-fat diet prevent diabetes.Labels: Food, Link-O-Rama
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Saturday, December 12, 2009 |
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A Week of Sous Vide |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Tomorrow, I'll be 35 years old. To celebrate the occasion, Paul bought me a Sous Vide Supreme, the amazing slow-water-bath-vacuum-cooker developed by the Drs. Eades. I managed to wheedle dispensation from him to open it a week early. As my Twitter followers know, I enjoyed a week of delicious experimental cooking with it. Sadly, Paul wasn't able to partake of the fruits of those experiments, as he was in Florida for medical conference all week. (Don't feel too sorry for him. He also missed our freezing cold weather, including an overnight low of -18° F!)
This post is my report on my five days of cooking with the Sous Vide Supreme.
The Sous Vide Method
First, what is sous vide? It's a method of cooking all manner of foods -- on par with roasting, grilling, braising, or sautéeing. To understand sous vide, let's contrast it with the common features of those other methods of cooking.
Normally, we cook meat using temperatures significantly higher than desired in the food itself, then remove the meat from the heat when its middle becomes sufficiently hot. If you're cooking a medium-rare steak, the result is that the meat is well-done on the edges, but then increasingly medium-rare toward the middle. If you overshoot by allowing the meat to remain in the heat for too long, the temperature of the meat continues to rise, rendering it overcooked. Also, the meat loses moisture as it cooks.
The sous vide method of cooking is dramatically different. As the Sous Vide Supreme web site explains:
Sous vide (pronounced soo veed) is a culinary technique that involves cooking vacuum-sealed food at a consistent, low temperature for a longer length of time than compared to other methods. The term sous vide is French for "under vacuum," and was developed in the mid-1970s by chef Georges Pralus for the Restaurant Troisgros in Roanne, France. So if I want a medium-rare steak sous vide, I seal the meat in an inexpensive vaccum ziplock bag with any desired spices. I immerse the bag in a vat of 125° F water for a few hours. (I can remove it from the water bath pretty much whenever I please: the window is hours, not seconds.) The whole steak is cooked to 125° F; it's perfectly medium rare throughout. The fat has melted, and little if any moisture is lost. Then, just before serving, I can create a crust on the meat by a very quick sear in a hot pan or using a torch.
The sous vide method has long been used in fancy restaurants. Drs. Mary Dan and Michael Eades (of Protein Power fame) recently developed a sous vide machine suitable for home use: the Sous Vide Supreme.
The sous vide method requires keeping the water at precisely the right temperature, so the Sous Vide Supreme is no small feat. It does that work remarkably well. It's sturdy, well-designed, and amazingly easy to use.
 Here's mine. That's its lid and rack next to it. The machine is a bit large, just a bit bigger than large bread machine. However, with the staggered handles, it's pretty easy to move around.
As I mentioned, I've been cooking up a storm with my Sous Vide Supreme this week. What did I make?
Monday
 My very first dish was French-style scrambled eggs, using the recipe posted by MD Eades. I had some problems -- of my own making, as I didn't set the temperature high enough at first. Then I overcooked the eggs somewhat. However, the results were completely completely fantastic, unlike any eggs I've had before. They were not just super-flavorful but also smooth and delicate like pudding.
Because these eggs are cooked for such a short time, so I'm pretty sure you could make them without any fancy sous vide machine. Dr. Eades has some helpful instructions for Do-It-Yourself Sous Vide, but even that set-up might not be required. (Dr. Eades might seem like a nice guy for posting those instructions, but don't be fooled! He's just trying to get you sous-vide addicted, so that you'll succumb to the charms of his Sous Vide Supreme!)
 For dinner, I made salmon, using this recipe from Free the Animal. Basically, I just threw the salmon in the bag with a bit of butter, lemon, and dill, then cooked it at 120° F for 40 minutes. It was very flavorful and dense, but I might try it at a slightly higher temperature, perhaps 125° F, next time. (Update: I've since tried 130° F, which I liked a great deal.)
The cooking of fish can be very difficult to time. Even if you watch it like a hawk, it's something of a crapshoot. Plus, it can get stinky and messy. I really appreciated the ease of cooking perfect fish sous vide.
Tuesday
 For breakfast, I made myself four "custard eggs," based on these instructions. Basically, I just put the eggs directly in the water bath, cooking them at 145° F for one hour. Whereas I normally only eat two eggs at a time, I gobbled up these four eggs in no time at all! The whites were very delicate, something like a poached egg, and the yolk was runny but slightly thick.
To my surprise, the eggs couldn't be peeled like soft-boiled eggs: they were too soft. So I cracked them open like raw eggs, and they slid out onto my plate perfectly. It was so easy! I plan to try cooking in-shell eggs sous vide using a variety of temperatures, to see what I like best.
 For dinner, I made myself a 1.5 pound ribeye steak. I cooked it sous vide at 125° F for about six hours. Then I seared it in a very hot pan with bacon grease for one minute on each side. It browned up surprisingly well, without the too-deep layer of well-done common with grilling.
The steak was delicious, but not evenly cooked throughout. I'm not quite sure why not: I might try cooking it for longer next time, but perhaps at a slightly lower temperature. (Update: I need a higher temperature, particularly for cooking that length of time. I've since done 130° F on sirloin with great results.)
Oh and yes, I did eat the whole thing! I was really, really hungry!
Wednesday
 I made myself French-style scrambled eggs again, following the recipe properly this time. It was three eggs, plus a bit of cream and butter, plus an added bonus of goat cheese. I cooked it at 167° F for ten minutes, then I massaged the bag, then I cooked it again for another five minutes. Wowee, it was just as phenomenal as the first batch, if not better! The goat cheese was a very nice addition.
For lunch, I decided to try making vegetables sous vide. I chopped up two zucchini into 1/2 inch thick circles, added a bit of stock, laid them flat in a gallon vacuum ziplock. I wasn't sure how long and how hot to cook them. The guide that came with the machine had some other vegetable recipes, all recommending 183° F for at least two hours. So that's what I did.
That was a serious mistake! They were terribly overcooked, although still edible. Next time, I think that one hour, if not less, would be sufficient. Also, I suspect that the bit of stock increased the cooking rate. I'll have to experiment with that a bit.
 For dinner, I made lamb loin chops, with butter, dried herbs, and garlic in the bag. I cooked them for a bit over four hours at 122° F, then ate them directly, without searing them.
As you can see, the chops cooked perfectly evenly. That surprised me a bit, as they can be difficult to cook evenly by conventional methods, primarily due to the bone. Although these chops look quite red, they didn't have any of that raw texture that I find difficult to eat. They were firm and tender throughout. However, I didn't like the garlic flavor: it was bitter. I'm pretty sure that was because I didn't sear them. Overall though, they were quite delicious.
When I was preparing this lamb, I realized that I could also prepare the other four lamb chops in the vaccum bag, with the herbs and butter, then freeze that. Whenever I want to use it, all that I need to do is thaw it, then throw it in the Sous Vide Supreme. Hooray for easy!
Thursday
 For lunch, I cooked four eggs in shell again, this time at 146° F rather than 145° F. They were basically the same, but you can see the custard-like yolk in this picture. Next time, I'll do 147° F or 148° F.
For dinner, I ate my one leftover lamb chop. I just allowed that to sit on the counter for about a half hour to warm up, then I seared it in a hot pan for two minutes per side. To my surprise, the taste of this lamb chop was better than the chops of the night before. The searing transformed the garlic flavor into something more palatable, I think.
Friday
For lunch, I made French-style scrambled eggs, yet again. (Hmmm... do I like them? Take a guess!) The results were different than before, to my surprise.
This time, I used six eggs at 167° F, again with goat cheese. (No, I didn't eat all six eggs: I had a friend over for lunch. However, I'm pretty sure that I could eat six such eggs all by myself!) When time was up, I was worried that they weren't done enough, so I mushed them a bit again, then cooked them for an extra 2 minutes -- meaning 17 minutes total. They were less dense than my previous eggs, yet still insanely delicious. (Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture.)
I quickly realized that the difference was due to the additional eggs: they just didn't cook as much. Ultimately, they looked far more like the eggs in the recipe posted by MD Eades. (That recipe calls for five eggs.)
I learned two lessons here: (1) I need to be alert to small changes that might affect cooking times. And (2) these eggs can be cooked more or less, and they're delicious regardless!
 For dinner, I made hamburgers. That sounds crazy, but I wanted to try it! I cooked a pound of hamburger, divided into four patties, for three hours at 130° F, with a dab of bacon grease on each. Then I seared two of them in a hot pan for a minute on each side. (I plan to sear and eat the other two for breakfast tomorrow. The green stuff is creamy broccoli purée.)
These burgers were delicious! As you can see they were perfectly medium-rare throughout. They were also super-tender. I might try bumping the temperature up to 135° F next time, as I prefer my burgers medium. Still, these burgers had none of that nasty raw taste: they look more rare than they tasted. Also, I could definitely sear them for a bit longer to get a better crust next time.
I think I could cook the most phenomenal meatloaf in the sous vide: it would be flavorful, juicy, and cooked only to medium, not well done. Yummy!
The Future
I didn't cook any pork or chicken this week! So that's definitely on the agenda for next week.
I'm also interested in experimenting with fruit and other (paleo-friendly) desserts.
The Upside
So what do I think about the sous vide cooking method? I'm really, really impressed. Why?
First, it's incredibly easy. The preparation is simple: pre-heat the Sous Vide Supreme, throw the food into the bag, suck out the air, and submerge it in the Sous Vide. When its time is up, you can simply slide the food out of the bag and on to your plate. You don't need to watch over it, checking temperatures, as you would for other cooking methods. For me, that's huge: I'm now free to fully immerse myself in other tasks while the food is cooking. Plus, I don't have coordination problems with vegetables, as I know that I'll be able to pull out the meat whenever the vegetables are ready.
Interestingly, the Sous Vide Supreme even makes hefty cooking -- like a Thanksgiving turkey -- far easier. MD Eades blogged about the preparation differences in cooking a turkey in the oven versus in the Sous Vide Supreme. The difference in effort is not trivial.
Undoubtedly, sous vide does require some advance planning. A steak will take hours to cook, and short ribs require three days. That's something new for me, as I don't do much slow cooking. Ordinarily, my pan-fried hamburgers are a 15-minute meal, from start to finish. So three hours requires something of a mental shift. But I'm more than willing to muddle through that.
Second, the results are consistently delicious. Apart from my failed zucchini experiment, the food I've cooked sous vide this week has ranged from slightly better to insanely better than when cooked by my usual methods. The eggs are truly phenomenal, unlike anything one can make by other means. The meat is much more evenly cooked, the perfect temperature, and wonderfully moist.
I've been cooking seriously for over a decade, and I've become a pretty darn good home cook in that time. Over the past year-and-a-half, my switch to a paleo-ish diet has simplified my cooking -- and improved it. The sous vide will take my cooking to a whole new level of yummy simplicity. I feel like I'm cheating! Still, I know that I have much to learn.
The Possible Downside
Although sous vide is very easy to use, I wouldn't recommend it for a novice or timid cook -- yet. Why not?
Given that sous vide home cooking is so new, helpful guidelines can be found for some of foods, but the waters are largely uncharted. (No pun intended!) So sous vide success requires the ability to extrapolate from limited information, based on a background knowledge of methods of cooking. You don't need to be an expert chef, but solid experience as a home cook, preferably based on conceptual instruction like that provided by Cook's Illustrated, would help.
For example, although I'd seen a mention of people cooking meatballs and hamburgers sous vide, I couldn't find any instructions for doing so. So I improvised based on the recommendations for steak, paying special attention to the standards for safety. It wasn't hard, and the results were excellent. Yet I know that many people wouldn't or couldn't do that. (I will write up a separate post about the hamburgers, as I took a picture with every step.)
The cooking guide provided with the Sous Vide Supreme is clear, straightforward, and mostly helpful. Yet frustratingly, the temperatures for meats are consistently too high. Presumably, that's for legal reasons: it follows the government guidelines. The government wants us to think that medium-rare is 135° F. Do they think we're morons? (Yes. Yes, they do.)
The good news is that the web will soon been a good source of advice on sous vide cooking. I'm sure we can expect more great recipes on the Sous Vide Supreme Blog. Douglas Baldwin is developing a great resource with A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking. Also, food bloggers will be stepping up to the plate. (Pun intended!) Richard Nikoley has been blogging up a sous vide storm on Free the Animal of late with Sous-Vide Supreme Maiden Voyage: Chicken, Salmon Sous Vide, and Sous Vide: Scrambled Eggs, Bavette, Pork Chops & Pears. I might do some more sous vide blogging myself, but mostly, I plan to make fairly detailed records of what I cook and the results, so that I have my own private store of data on sous vide cooking.
Another downside for some people will be the expense of the Sous Vide Supreme. It's pricey. Personally, I think it's worth every penny Paul spent for it. But others might want to think twice about such a purchase.
Other Notes
Before I close, let me mention a few more random points of potential interest.
First: I bought the Reynolds vacuum pump with the Sous Vide Supreme. That was a mistake on three counts. First, it didn't work. (I need to contact customer service about that. I'm sure we'll get it straightened out.) Second, Reynolds has stopped making the bags, although apparently the pump works with some other bags. Third and most importantly, I already own the equivalent Ziploc Vaccum System. (When Paul placed the order, I thought the Sous Vide Supreme required something fancier than the super-simple system I had already.) I'm going to stick with the Ziplock system, so I just ordered a slew of quart and gallon bags from Drugstore.com.
Second: Food safety is somewhat different using sous vide than using conventional methods. Somewhat to my surprise, cooking temperature isn't all that matters for destroying bacteria: the duration of cooking matters too. Sous vide rocks on that score. Yet if the food is handled improperly, botulism can be a risk. This helpful post discusses these issues.
Third: One common question about cooking sous vide is whether the plastic might leech chemicals. That's not an unfounded worry, given what we've discovered about the BPA lining canned foods. However, from what I understand, that's not a concern, provided that the proper bags are used. (It helps that the food is cooked at such a low temperature.) Moreover, the sous vide method has some noteworthy benefits such as minimizing the oxidation of polyunsaturated fats.
Fourth: Congratulations to the Drs. Eades for a very positive article on the Sous Vide Supreme in the NY Times: Sous Vide Moves From Avant-Garde to the Countertop. Publicity doesn't get much better than that! And it's well-deserved.
Finally: Thank you, Drs. Eades for developing the Sous Vide Supreme! It's going to be tons of cooking and eating fun!Labels: Food
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Saturday, October 17, 2009 |
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New OList E-mail List: OEvolve |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 4:00 PM
I'm delighted to announce the creation of a new OList.com e-mail list for paleo-ish Objectivists (and lurkers) to share information and resources: OEvolve. You can sign up to the Google Group here, but please be sure to peruse this basic information on the list before doing so:
OEvolve @ OList.com
OEvolve is an informal private mailing list for Objectivists and others interested in the proper application of evolutionary principles to diet, fitness, and health. Its basic purpose is to facilitate discussion and information-sharing amongst Objectivists about the practical sciences of cooking, nutrition, fitness, health, and more.
Any Objectivist committed to eating an evolutionary-based diet may participate in OEvolve. Such diets encompass low-carb, paleo, and traditional diets -- including Cordain's Paleo Diet, Sears' Zone Diet, Eades' Protein Power, Weston A. Price's Traditional Diet, and all the myriad variations thereof. Any Objectivist seriously considering switching to such a diet is also welcome to subscribe and post. Moreover, non-Objectivist evolutionary eaters, as well as Objectivists merely curious about such diets, are welcome to subscribe to the list, but only as lurkers; they cannot post.
OEvolve is managed by Monica Hughes. Monica received an MSc and PhD in forest pathology and mycology from State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) in 2008. She is the founder of Free Agriculture - Restore Markets (FA/RM). She can be reached at monicabeth10@gmail.com.
Subscription
To join the OEvolve mailing list as a poster, you must meet two criteria:
- You must be an Objectivist, meaning that you agree with and live by the principles of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism as best you understand them. Newcomers to Objectivism are just as welcome as old-timers. Please do not subscribe if you consider yourself to be a libertarian (or associate with the Libertarian Party), advocate revising Objectivism (like David Kelley's "open system"), or associate with the dishonest pseudo-advocates of Objectivism (most notably David Kelley, Nathaniel Branden, Barbara Branden, and Chris Sciabarra).
- You must eat some form of evolutionary-based diet -- or be in the process of seriously considering or working on doing so.
To join the OEvolve mailing list as a lurker, you need only meet either the first or the second criterion. Please indicate that you wish to only lurk when requesting to join the list. If you are confused or doubtful about the subscription criteria, please contact the list manager Monica Hughes.
Do you wish to join OEvolve? To do so, you must request a subscription via this web form. The OEvolve list is managed through Google Groups, so subscribing requires an account with Google. (It's free and easy to create.) In requesting a subscription, you will be asked to confirm that you meet the criteria for membership.
After you subscribe, please feel free to post an introduction, including your name, location, and a bit about your interest in evolutionary-based health.
List Rules
The OEvolve list has a few basic rules:
- Please be friendly or at least civil in posts to the list. Subscribers who behave like asses, such as by insulting other list members or attacking Objectivist intellectuals, will be removed from the list.
- Please respect the purpose of the list. Subscribers who prove disruptive to the basic purpose of the list -- such as by attempting to arguing against Objectivist positions or posting on irrelevant topics -- will be unsubscribed or subject to moderation.
Interested? Then sign up now!
Also, just as a reminder, the other four lists in my ever-growing OList.com empire are:
- OActivists: OActivists is an informal e-mail list for Objectivists committed to fostering positive cultural and political change. Its purpose is to facilitate and encourage effective advocacy of Objectivist ideas in non-Objectivist forums by facilitating communication with other Objectivist activists. Posts to the list alert subscribers to opportunities to speak out, recommend sources of information, discuss effective arguments and principled strategies, reproduce op-eds and letters written by subscribers, announce events, and more.
- OBloggers: OBloggers is an informal mailing list for Objectivist bloggers. Its basic purpose is to facilitate communication about matters of mutual interest, such as upcoming events, posts of interest, best blogging practices, and the like.
- OAcademics: OAcademics is a forum for Objectivist academics to discuss teaching, research, coursework, dissertations, job prospects, publication, and all other aspects of life in (or after) academia. The list is basically a means of sharing knowledge and experience as ever more Objectivists enter academia.
- OGrownups: OGrownups is an informal mailing list for Objectivists interested in raising and educating children well. Its basic purpose is to facilitate discussion about child development, discipline techniques, education methods, parenting resources, and more.
Labels: Food, Health
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Saturday, October 10, 2009 |
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Name Help |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 11:00 AM
In part spurred by some new friends adopting our paleo-ish diet, Monica Hughes and I have concocted a most excellent plan of creating an OList.com mailing list for Objectivists interested evolutionary-based eating, workouts, and the like. Monica will manage the list.
We've found that lots of people are intrigued by our diet, but they've got a million questions about the principles and practice of it. That's not surprising. Given the prevalence of junk science in nutrition and the prevalence of junk food in the most diets, understanding what to eat -- and why -- can be difficult. So the mailing list will facilitate the sharing of useful information, as well as provide moral support and advice.
As with OGrownups, anyone will be welcome to subscribe. However, to keep the conversation focused, we're going to limit posting to Objectivist practitioners of an evolutionary diet. Everyone else can lurk. We're going to construe that "evolutionary diet" broadly to include Cordain's Paleo Diet, the Primal Blueprint, the Atkins Diet, Protein Power, The Zone, Weston A. Price, and the like. While I certainly have criticisms of some of these diets, the basic goal is to eat foods appropriate to the human animal, as informed by our evolutionary history.
However, Monica and I have terribly serious problem with this new list: we can't figure out what to name it! I'd like to use the OWhatever format, if possible. We don't like OPaleo, as "paleo" is too narrow and too much associated with Cordain. We don't like anything with "primal" or "caveman" or "primitive" or "traditional": we don't want to celebrate primitive man. We don't want anything specific to food or diet, as questions of fitness will also be central to the list. Something suggesting our evolutionary approach would be good, and so one option would be "OEvHealth." However, we're not thrilled about that.
So we thought that we'd ask you -- most excellent NoodleFoodleDoodlers -- what do you suggest?Labels: Food
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Giving Up Before Starting |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Over the past year, quite a few friends from Front Range Objectivism have adopted a more paleo diet, often with excellent results. As you might imagine, I'm delighted! This week, yet another FRO member asked some of us about it. I sent links to my two main blog posts about my diet: The New Diet and What I Eat. I also gave the following general advice:
The key is to change the big things about your diet first. Eliminate all grains, sugars, modern vegetable oils, and soy. Eat full-fat dairy. Eat fatty meats. Eat nuts. Eat eggs. Moderate fruit intake. Then, once you're comfortable with those big steps, you can refine your diet. The person e-mailed us back with the following remarks:
Sugar's out. Does this mean I can never eat another Snickers Bar again? I'd rather shoot myself.
Eliminate all grains - even whole grains, then? I suppose this means wheat, rice--are beans grains? Are potatoes in? I'd rather fall on a newly sharpened blade than to never eat potatoes. No matter how you cook' em, they taste damn good! Boil 'em, fry 'em, mash 'em, bake 'em, bake 'em again. Damn, they're good. Please don't tell me they're out. Amusing, yes -- but I can't help but see problems. Here's what I wrote in reply:
You've started by telling us the various foods that you refuse to give up. If that's going to be your approach, then you might as well not bother attempting to change your diet.
The fact is that certain foods are objectively good for you. They are conducive to health, beauty, and strength. Other foods -- namely most of what people eat today, including what they regard as healthy -- are self-destructive to varying degrees. So if you want the good effects of a truly proper diet, you're going to have to enact the requisite causes by actually eating that diet. Indulging your desires for certain foods simply because you've trained your mind and body to crave them will only frustrate your ends.
It can be somewhat hard to wean yourself off a carb addiction. Your body has to adjust itself to running on proper fuel, primarily fats. That can take few days to a few weeks. Also, you'll find that your tastes change over the course of months. However, if you're like almost everyone I know, you'll soon find that you like your new diet much, much better. You'll relish food in a new way. You'll feel better. You'll look better. You'll think the foods that you used to like are simply gross. And, if you're carb-sensitive, you'll find that any significant deviations from the diet will produce unwelcome effects.
If you "cheat" from the get-go, you'll likely never experience those benefits. Then you might wrongly suppose that the diet just didn't work for you. (That's like blaming capitalism for the failures of the mixed economy!)
Of course, if you discover that you hate a paleo diet, then you can always quit. But I think you should try it in earnest. Focus on finding good foods that you love to eat, rather than on whatever you're not eating. Allow yourself to experience what the diet has to offer. Then you can try deviating from it on occasion as a kind of experiment; that's actually very informative.
I was a major sugar addict for as long as I can remember. I loved candy, bread, and pasta with a passion. Before, I couldn't imagine giving all that up -- yet I have for over a year, happily. The health and energy benefits have been tremendous for me. More than that, I've not sacrificed one iota in terms of my pleasure in food. I enjoy food more now than I used to, precisely because I'm not feeding my carb cravings.
I never could have gotten to that delightful point if I'd declared that I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick rather than give up Jelly Bellies. The person in question wrote me back, in part:Screw it.
I'm in 100%. You're right about everything you wrote to me, Diana. Thank you. ...
I needed the kick in the ass you just gave me. Thank you. I love people who can take a much-needed kick in the rear! And I love people willing to give such kicks to me when needed, even though I might grumble a bit at the time.Labels: Food, Health
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Saturday, September 05, 2009 |
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The Flame Game, Geek Style |
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By Greg Perkins @ 8:00 AM
 A note titled "Alright Men" arrived in my inbox from an old friend, cluing me in to a local tradition which was apparently gaining some fame: You haven't got a hair on you a$$ unless you've done Flying Pie's double habanero pizza. "Man vs. Food" (on the Travel Channel) is doing it this Friday ... not to be outdone, I did it tonight (4, count 'em, four slices) while my co- challenger (not-to-be-named) managed only 2. So, the question is are you man enough? He went on to challenge all comers to meet him at Flying Pie any time during the month and give it a go (August is the only time of year they serve this monstrosity). Another recipient quickly replied: What a load of crap. Were you wearing a pink skirt when you did that?
I bet I wouldn't even break a sweat.
Unfortunately, I am busy any night that you want to do the competition, so I guess I will have to pass. Although, the record books should show that if I wasn't already scheduled for something I haven't thought of yet, that I would eat 5 with no ice cream.
Whoohooo! Winner. In the end, there was just one fool taker for his challenge, so naturally my friend expanded his campaign of peer pressure: OK, ladies, only [one of you] is man enough to take me up on this ... Once [he] and I get a time and place scheduled, I'll let everyone know so if you want to come by, you can see how men eat. And, who knows, maybe some of you will check your ovaries at the door and join us. At this point several of us fell prey to his irresistible powers of persuasion (he's a lawyer). If I had to pick out what made mere words so effective, I would put testosterone poisoning at the top of the list, well known for its capacity to dampen volition. The better part of a dozen males signed on, but no females, which indicates a significant causal factor by Mills Methods of Induction. (As many females as males did attend, but only to mock the guys' idiocy.)
Alright, so Flying Pie will spread diced habanero on pizzas like it's just another flavor of cheese or something, and now we had a shared-strife male-ego-driven test of wills based on it. Being a certified geek, I reflexively broke out some research to see just how ugly this little adventure might turn... and what I might do to better survive it.
First Question: Just how hot are we talking? It turns out that habanero chilies have a Scoville hotness value in the 200,000-300,000 range. (My prior pepper experience topped out at the hotness of the jalapeno pepper, which lands in the comparatively wimpy range of 2,500-10,000.) The Scoville scale is based on dilution into sugar syrup until the heat can't be detected by a panel of five people, presumably selected by their high levels of testosterone. Bottom line? They are saying the heat of a teaspoon of habanero only stops being noticeable when you mix it into about 400 gallons of sugar syrup. Jesus.
Obvious Second Question: Can it harm me physically? The Scoville scale is basically a measure of the level of capsaicin in the peppers. Capsaicin is a chemical that binds to and stimulates nerve endings, especially in mucus membranes, creating that burning sensation. But it's only a sensation of burning -- the consensus seems to be that capsaicin does not itself cause any physical damage when you eat it, though exposure at high enough concentrations could cause irritation, which if great enough could bring "nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and burning diarrhea." So I might hurl -- or come to more fully appreciate the lyrics to a certain Johnny Cash tune the next day, as the pizzeria staff was so helpfully suggesting we would -- but whatever hell my nerve endings might go through, I should come through it with at worst psychological scars.
Third Question: Any chance for a prophylactic... or failing that, an antidote? Sure, everyone has a prescription, and I vaguely remembered a Mythbusters episode that looked them over. Those guys can be pretty objective, so I looked up their results. The upshot? All the various methods, from drinking beer to tequila shots to coating your mouth with Vaseline (ugh) to eating wasabi (wtf!?) and so on are basically crap. They found that your best bet for putting out the fire is to simply drink milk. Others who study such things explain, "Milk contains casein, a lipophilic (fat-loving) substance that surrounds and washes away the fatty capsaicin molecules in much the same way that soap washes away grease." Sweet! I had my secret weapon: just swish and swallow a bunch of milk before, during, and after the ordeal! Maybe this would let me make it through an entire slice and demonstrate my extreme manliness.
So I called up Flying Pie to ask if they served milk. Then I asked, in my most virile tone, if they had a big, tough mug I could drink it from. Hooked. Up.
The evening arrived and we assembled around the table, eyes watering from just the smell of the peppers. I was still wondering just how much the milk could help... 300,000 is a big number. Then our official judge kicked it off! I was careful not to chew any more than necessary (why make a bad situation worse by spreading the capsaicin around?) -- so I was biting off and swallowing hunks of the deadly pie with my best horse-pill-eating technique. Hoo boy! The staff said that the "Man vs. Food" guy gave up in something like two bites, and now I appreciated why. Within about ten seconds I learned I should try to wash every bite down with milk, and to maybe do some extra swishing between slices.
And it was working! Two of us quickly left the others behind, downing slice after slice. He was doing the horse-pill thing, too, but he wasn't using milk. Damn, who is that masked man? Turns out he was none other than The Ringer -- a guy who apparently used to eat whole habaneros right off the plant while gardening. After I'd eaten about 8.5 slices, and just when someone was about to order yet another of the deadly concoctions, the fog of competition cleared long enough for me to see that he would surely go on matching me slice for slice (and staying ahead by one) until my already-full stomach burst.
So I gave my concession toast, ending the ordeal.
I could tell my stomach was none too pleased with me for this gastric offense, but I indeed suffered no ill effects. And I was finally in a position to verify that Johnny Cash was on to something... it's a fact: we don't digest all of the capsaicin we ingest.Labels: Food, Funny, Science
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Saturday, August 15, 2009 |
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The Utility of Utensils |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:01 AM
For some reason that I can't quite fathom, many people seem to think that you simply cannot eat certain foods without a carbohydrate delivery device such as chips, crackers, tortillas, bread, and the like. Usually, such carbohydrate delivery devices offer little to nothing in the way of taste. They certainly aren't healthy, particularly not if fried in vegetable oil. And they often produce that nasty "ugh, I'm so full" feeling that most people consider to be a normal part of eating.
In contrast, I find that silverware of various kinds -- and even my fingers on occasion -- is a wonderful method of transporting the yummy, healthy food from plate to mouth without the intervention of needless carbohydrates. For example:
- Guacamole. I often serve myself a large spoonful or two with a meal, particularly with eggs or steak. It's delicious to eat on its own, just from a spoon or fork. The brand Wholly Guacamole is delicious, and it's made with nothing but good ingredients. Also, I'll eat pico de gallo salsa as a side with steak or eggs.
- Cheese. I will cut cheese into slices or squares, then eat it as a snack or as part of a meal. Silverware is optional. I recently bought a rich, creamy, sharp, spreadable raw cheddar, made by Fayette Creamery and found at Whole Foods, that I eat with relish -- from a spoon.
- Hamburger. Paul and I eat hamburgers once or twice per week, pan fried or grilled. Unlike ordinary grocery store beef, the meat is so fantastic that neither bun nor condiment is necessary to conceal only tolerable taste.
- Nut butters. I haven't eaten nut butters in a while, but I will eat a large spoonful with a glass of milk as a snack.
- Ham and cheese. For lunch, I love to eat cut up chunks of uncured ham and raw emmenthaler (swiss) cheese. Bread is neither required nor desired.
- Fajitas. At Mexican restaurants, I usually order fajitas. I eat the food with my fork, skipping the tortillas. It's delicious!
Somewhat to my surprise, I've found that I much prefer to eat these foods solo than with anything else. I could use some vegetable as a delivery device, but I rarely do that. I like the full blast of unadulterated taste of something yummy -- unless additional foods further accentuate the flavors. Raspberries and good blue cheese together, for example, is divine.
So for those of you who have switched to a paleo or paleo-ish diet, what do you like to eat solo that you used to eat with some carbohydrate delivery device?
Update #1: My server is having some strange problems with file permissions that prevent anyone from viewing the individual post page. (I've submitted a ticket, but it might take a few hours to fix.) So if you want to read the comments or post a comment, please use this page.
Update #2: Nevermind. My file permissions for all my comment scripts have been screwed up too. My web host says that they've turned off access to chmod due to a security problem with the new linux kernel. Hopefully, that will be fixed soon.Labels: Food
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Saturday, July 18, 2009 |
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One Year Later |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 8:21 AM
I'm amazed to report that I've been on my paleo diet of fatty meats, pastured eggs, raw dairy, plentiful vegetables, raw and roasted nuts, and moderate fruit for over a year. I began my diet somewhat gradually in June 2008, then settled on it in a serious way the second week after OCON -- meaning starting on July 14th, 2008.
I've stuck to it remarkably well. Sure, I've eaten some off-diet foods -- usually a bit of dessert when at a party. Yet even then, I've rarely indulged in more than a few bites. In fact, I often like to taste off-diet foods. If I enjoy them, then they're a pleasant indulgence. If not, as happens far more often, I've confirmed my commitment to paleo eating. Yet I've never gone off-diet for as much as a whole meal, e.g. by eating a pasta dish or a slice of pizza. If I did, the effects would be rather less than pleasant, I know.
Somewhat to my surprise, I managed to eat reasonably well for the two weeks Paul and I spent away from home in late June and early July -- first in Maine and then at OCON. OCON was a bit of a problem, as I had no control over the meals served to me by the hotel at the various lunch and dinner events. Happily, except in one instance, I found enough good food to eat. I refrained almost entirely from the constant parade of cloying desserts served. The worst I ate was a half a round of mocha cheesecake. (It was darn yummy but too sweet. I love cheesecake though, so I might work on finding and/or developing a paleo-friendly recipe.) For next year's OCON, I'm going to request special meals from the hotel as needed. It will be meat, veggies, and berries only for me!
I did not expect myself to stick so well to eating paleo, but I've found that I don't miss the foods I've given up. I enjoy eating far more than ever before. Every meal is a wonderful opportunity to eat something incredibly delicious and satisfying. Plus, I'm no longer entranced by the thought of waffles or bread or pasta; I'd much rather eat bacon and eggs and brussel sprouts. Ordinary desserts are cloying sweet to me, and I often feel seriously unpleasant cravings for MOREMOREMOREMORE after indulging in a bite or two. By forgoing sweets as a matter of standard policy, I'm no longer beholden to the cookies in the pantry, as I used to be. Also, I find that preparing paleo foods has simplified my cooking. I spend less time cooking and shopping than before, and I waste less food too.
So what are the results? Let me summarize.
I've lost about 18 pounds, while also gaining muscle from short, intense weight training sessions. That's a huge shift for me. Before, I was gaining three to five pounds per year eating the recommended low-fat, low-calorie, lots-o-grains diet while doing tons of long, boring cardio workouts. That's all changed. I do have a few more pounds of fat to lose. These last few pounds have been stubborn, perhaps due to some hormonal problems I've been working on fixing with my doctor.
I have more strength and energy than ever before. I was able to lift 335 pounds on the leg press at the gym at OCON -- ten reps, no failure. That's not bad for a girl, I think, particularly given that I do all my weight training at home, without any fancy equipment. Also, I never experience the shaky, desperate need for food that occurs with a crash in blood sugar. I can skip one or two or five meals at will, even while doing heavy lifting, mental and physical. I don't get sleepy in the afternoons. At OCON, I found that I could function much better while sleep deprived than usual. (Normally, I'm careful to give myself the seven hours or so that I need.)
All my standard measures of health are significantly improved, including my fasting glucose levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol. (My LDL was elevated when last checked, but given my high HDL and low triglycerides, that LDL is likely lower than the reported calculated value. Moreover, my LDL would be almost entirely the good large fluffy kind, not the bad small dense kind. Next time I see my doctor, I'll get a measured value, plus a particle size test.) I'm no longer eating myself into type 2 diabetes and hypertension, as I clearly was. I'm certain that my fatty liver has been reversed.
I've learned to love all kinds of foods that I hated before: brussels spouts, broccoli, cauliflower, uber-dark chocolate, and more. I really like vegetables, whereas I used to merely tolerate them. Fruits seem intensely sweet to me now.
Last but definitely not least, my relationship with food is much, much healthier. I love to eat, and I'm perfectly capable of consuming vast quantities of food. (When I do, I don't feel painfully bloated and sluggish but merely full.) However, I'm also capable of not eating for 24 or 36 hours. Most importantly, I never feel anything like the always-unsatisfying compulsion for sweets that used to dominate me whenever sweets were within reach.
Overall, I'm darn pleased. Hooray me!Labels: Food
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Saturday, July 04, 2009 |
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Some Notes on Maine |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 12:15 PM
Paul and I spent four delightful days hiking in Acadia in Maine before traveling down to Boston for OCON yesterday. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Bar Harbor, and we hiked various sections of Mount Desert Island. It was our second trip to Acadia; we returned because we enjoyed the hiking so very much last time. The trip did not disappoint: we exhausted ourselves with hours of vigorous hiking each day, then restored ourselves with excellent seafood in the evenings. For example, here we are, as happy as clams, on the top of a hill:
(Click on the picture for a larger version.)
For three of our four days, we hiked on semi-difficult trails -- meaning lots of streams, mud and muck, rocks of all shapes and sizes, exposed tree roots, and some good climbs. Our hikes lasted from four to six hours each day. After the past few months of dissertation work, it was a genuine luxury to be able to physically exhaust myself in that way.
I wore my Vibram Five Fingers on all of these major hikes. Vibram Five Fingers are barefoot "shoes": they protect the feet from cuts and abrasions, while allowing the person the kind and range of motion of bare feet. Here is a picture of me in my Vibram Five Fingers in May:
(Again, click on the picture for a larger version.)
Shortly after my mother took this picture, I ran a very comfortable mile and a half in them on a rocky desert trail. (When running in them, you don't pound-pound-pound like with normal running shoes, and so they're actually easier on your joints. You must be more agile -- and more sensitive to your terrain -- in them.)
I bought my Vibrams last fall: I began hiking and running barefoot in them in a desperate attempt to alleviate serious pain in the balls of my feet due to Morton's neuroma and capsulitis. I'd already tried standard medical treatment -- meaning custom orthotics, steroid shots, heat and ice, and rest. Nothing worked: I couldn't run a half mile without suffering two weeks of crippling foot pain. So last fall, I tried going barefoot, thanks to some posts from Richard of Free the Animal. That solved the problem very quickly -- and finally made clear its cause. Like him, I found the process of learning to walk barefoot quite fascinating! (Maybe I'll post more on that someday.)
I've done quite a bit of running and hiking in my Vibrams, albeit always in dry rather than wet terrain. Acadia was very, very wet. So I was a bit worried about them. However, they passed every test. I had excellent control and perfect grip on slick rocks. My feet didn't get tired, sore, or swollen like they do with hiking boots. I enjoyed the greater control and care required to pick my way through the obstacles on the trail, but they didn't slow me down. Apart from a few spots on my feet rubbed a bit raw -- not surprising given that I hiked over 15 hours in these "shoes" over four days -- they were very comfortable. I expect that I'll use them even more frequently now.
Also, I fasted while hiking. In ages past, I would have been obliged to routinely refuel myself with carbs to prevent myself from collapsing during these kinds of hikes. Now, because my body runs on fat, I was able to eat a smallish breakfast of eggs and fruit, hike for five hours without any food, entirely skip dinner, eat another smallish breakfast of eggs and fruit, then hike for another few hours before eating a snack of nuts, then eat a hearty dinner.
One final tidbit from Maine: I bought some local raw cow's milk at the "alternative" grocery store just a block away from our bed and breakfast. It was excellent -- and what a delight to buy it at a store! The grocery also had some raw goat milk yogurt, but I didn't have time to try that, as I would have liked. However, I did try the pasteurized plain sheep milk yogurt, and that was stellar. It had an extra tang to it, and I definitely liked that. I might try to find a source of sheep's milk in Colorado.Labels: Food, Personal
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Saturday, June 20, 2009 |
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Macronutriets |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 12:04 PM
Of late, mostly out of curiosity, I've tracked my eating on FitDay. The numbers are definitely approximate -- not only because the food quantities inputted are mere educated guesses, but also because all foods vary in their composition more than the numbers given suggest. Moreover, some of the foods I eat aren't in the database or labeled. So I'm not sure what the average fat composition of my raw milk is, nor the amount of carbohydrates left after fermenting it into kefir.
Despite that, I've seen a consistent trend in macronutrients. I eat about 20% carbohydrates, 25% protein, and 55% fat. Right now, I'm only eating about 1500 calories per day because I'm in weight-loss mode. (I'd probably eat about 2000 calories otherwise.) Consequently, I'm eating an average of 77 g of protein, 90 g of protein, and 96 g of fat every day.
Let's compare my numbers with those of two other approaches to diet I've tried, without success:
| | Diana | The Zone | USDA Food Pyramid | | Carbs | 20% | 40% | 45-65% | | Protein | 25% | 30% | 10-35% | | Fat | 55% | 30% | 20 to 35% |
Nearly a year later, I'm still completely happy with my diet. I've strayed from it on rare occasion, usually for something sweet. However, I've almost always found the pleasure not worth the pain. I've not felt like I've given up anything of genuine value to me. And the benefits have been huge. I've lost 19 pounds of fat so far, meaning that I have just one more to lose to reach my goal of 130 pounds. I'm stronger than ever before, and my energy levels are consistently high. When deciding what to eat for a meal, the question is often of the form "Which of the many delicious things that I love to eat will I enjoy now?"
Life is good!Labels: Food
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Saturday, June 13, 2009 |
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Does Your Dairy Cow Eat Candy Wrappers? |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 7:28 AM
I recently ran across an article entitled "By-Product Feedstuffs in Dairy Cattle Diets in the Upper Midwest" by Randy Shaver (Professor and Extension Dairy Nutritionist, Department of Dairy Science, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin at Madison). It describes "by-product feedstuffs commonly used in dairy cattle diets in the Upper Midwest." In other words, the article describes some of the foods given to and eaten by the cows that produce the milk that most people drink. Here's a few of the items that caught my attention:
Candy. Candy products are available through a number of distributors and sometimes directly from smaller plants. They are often economical sources of nutrients, particularly fat. They may be high in sugar and (or) fat content. Milk chocolate and candy may contain 48% and 22% fat, respectively. They are sometimes fed in their wrappers. Candies, such as cull gummy bears, lemon drops or gum drops, are high in sugar content. Several ingredient firms that handle food processing wastes produce blends of candy or chocolate with other ingredients, such as pasta or peanut skins. These are generally standardized to a certain content of protein and fat. ... The upper feeding limits for candy or candy blends and chocolate are 5 and 2 lb. per cow per day, respectively. ... The feeding rate of high-sugar candies should be limited to 2 to 4 lb. per cow per day. Notice that the wrappers on these candies may not be removed before feeding. And here are other modern milk cow foods:
Nuts. Peanuts, cashews, and various nuts or nut mixtures are sometimes available from processors. ... This high fat content restricts their use to less than 2 to 3 lb per cow per day. Nuts and nut mixtures should be analyzed frequently, particularly for fat and protein content, because the different kinds and mixtures are highly variable. And:
Pasta is available from pasta plants and some ingredient distributors as straight pasta or in blends with other ingredients, such as candy. Pasta must be used in limited amounts to avoid depression of milk fat test, because it is mostly starch. It does not have as much of a propensity for depression of milk fat test as cooked starch or bread. ... Pasta can be fed at up to 4 to 8 lb of DM per cow per day depending on the starch content of the diet. Oh, and here's another possibly involving wrappers:
Bakery Wastes. Stale bread and other pastry products from stores or bakeries can be fed to dairy cattle in limited amounts. These products are sometimes fed as received without drying or even removal of the wrappers. They may be run through a forage chopper to facilitate feeding. Some distributors and dairy producers dry and grind the material for inclusion into a concentrate or TMR. The feeding rate of bakery wastes must be limited to avoid milk fat test depression, because they are relatively high in cooked starch. The upper feeding limit for dried bread is 20% of concentrate DM and 10% of TMR DM. Higher levels may be fed to replacement heifers and dry cows. For bakery wastes that are relatively high in fat (i.e. donuts at 25% fat), the feeding rate should be limited so that no more than one pound of added fat per cow per day is consumed. This level may need to be reduced if other sources of non-rumen inert fat are included in the diet. Dried bakery product is a fairly standardized ingredient used by the feed industry. It generally consists of a mixture of bread, cookies, cake, crackers, flours and doughs. None of those foods are even remotely appropriate for cows -- and I have no doubt that relying on such impoverished and unsuitable foods affects the nutritional quality of the milk produced by them. (Measurable differences can be found in conventional versus pastured eggs, as Stephan has observed.)
In contrast, here's a picture of the cows at Isle Farms -- where I have a herdshare -- eating a meal:
Yes, it's the species-appropriate food of high-quality alfalfa hay. Unfortunately for most people and most cows, that diet is no longer the norm.Labels: Food
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Saturday, June 06, 2009 |
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Another Reason to Love Twitter |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 7:04 AM
Paul and I are huge fans of the bulk nuts at Whole Foods, including their pistachios. However, the pistachios I bought earlier this week simply weren't up to their usual standard. They were all the dregs. So, on Thursday, after eating a few of them without much delight, I posted the following tweet:
The @WholeFoods pistachios I just bought are way below their usual standard. Perhaps an effect of the earlier recall? Although the Whole Foods pistachios weren't subject to any recall, I thought that perhaps pulling so many pistachio products off the market might have affected the quality of the available supply. However, within about 12 hours, I got the following tweet reply from WholeFoods, the twitter account of the Whole Foods corporate office:
@DianaHsieh Quality shouldn't have changed - if you're unsatisfied with the product, feel free to bring back for an exchange/refund. Of course, I already know that I can do that. Nonetheless, to hear it from them gives me warm fuzzies. Plus, now I think I might return them. Why suffer through mediocre pistachios?Labels: Business, Food
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Saturday, April 11, 2009 |
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Smaller Farms = Higher Prices? |
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By Diana Hsieh @ 7:05 AM
Why is food purchased from local farms often so damn expensive? I recently ran across two interesting essays on the topic via the blog Food Renegade, both focused on livestock.
First, in Unfair Fare, part-time New York farmer Bob Comis argues that the problem stems from a failure on the part of many small farmers to take advantage of economies of scale. Instead, these farmers tend to rely on the willingness of some not-so-bright folks to pay exorbitant prices for locally-produced food. Undoubtedly, many consumers do need to be smarter shoppers.
Second, in Why Local Food Is More Expensive, farmer Joel Salatin argues that the high prices are largely the product of massive government controls. These controls are not merely ill-suited to the workings of the small farm; they also entail fixed costs that burden small farms far more than large farms.
Whether you will ever buy food direct from a farm or not, I heartily suggest reading this second article. The inanity, burden, and expense of these government controls on farmers is worth glimpsing in its concrete details. It's not a pretty picture.
Notably, while these two explanations for high prices of locally-produced food differ, they are not mutually exclusive. However, in the long run, the government controls over farms are clearly far more significant than the poor judgment of some farmers and consumers. The market can and will weed out inefficient farms via competition over time. In contrast, government controls can only be remedied by a massive cultural and political u-turn toward free market agriculture. Given the general confusion about and hostility to free markets today -- and given that large farms often support such controls as a means of suppressing their competition -- that u-turn will be no easy task.Labels: FA/RM, Food
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