HEALTHY WHITE

Jumat, 19 November 2010

Top 10 Links of the Week: 11/12/10 – 11/18/10

No time to waste! Let’s get right to it.

1) The Kitchn: 10 Things to Buy in the Next 60 Days to Save You Money
Supermarket are holding some huge sales right now, meaning you can stock up on food used all year-round. Butter it up, everybody.

2) Casual Kitchen: Organic Food, Chemicals, and Worrying About All the Wrong Things
ComPLETELY agree with Dan here. Sometimes, our fears are amplified so much by hype, we get distracted from the real issues. Case in point, pesticides.

3) 344 Pounds: Discrimination Against Fat & Obese People
Interesting viewpoint on prejudice leading to an even more eye-opening discussion thread.

4) Divine Caroline: 10 Sugary Cereals to Avoid
Marshmallow Froot Loops are 48 PERCENT SUGAR? Are you JOSHING ME? It’s one of those things you knew, but don’t really know until someone translates it into a stat like that. Yowza.

5) Public Radio Kitchen: What Not to Get the Cook on Your List
Um, not that we’re ungrateful. But … yeah. Lots of cluttery tools out there.

6) Chow: Best and Worst Recipes You Made From a Cooking Show
Oo! Fun, huge thread. Paula Deen's Gooey Pumpkin Bars represent very, very well (with good reason).

7) Mama Says: School Lunches
A glimpse into modern cafeteria cuisine.

8) Jezebel: What Fast Food Really Looks Like
Ooo … reality bites. Entertainingly so.

9) Obama Foodorama: Huge BiPartisan Coalition Urges House to Pass Childhood Nutrition Legislation in Lame Duck
Damn right.

10) The Simple Dollar: Some Thoughts on a Plant-Based Diet
Updates on Trent’s vegetarian experiment. Insightful. A spreading trend, perhaps?

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Gawker: The Internet Has Killed Cooks Source
It will live to “edit” articles no more.

Obama Foodorama: Improved Nutrition Labels on Food Packages Coming Very Soon, Sebelius Says
We’ll see, Sebelius. We'll see.

Plixi: The Windows at Barneys
I had a dream like this once.

stonesoup: Defrosting 101 – The Quickest and Safest Methods Without a Microwave
Behold: THE SUN! (Just kidding.)

THANKSGIVING

AND ALSO

Gawker TV: Tina Fey’s Famous Friends Pay Tribute at the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
Does Jon Hamm ever stop being so dreamy? Seriously now. Oh, also, Fey is my hero. (Well, her and Ina Garten. If they ever combined forces to produce Barefoot 30 Rock, my life would be complete.) (P.S. Alec Baldwin as Jeffrey. It could work.)

Thank you so much for visiting Cheap Healthy Good! (We appreciate it muchly). If you’d like to further support CHG, subscribe to our RSS feed! Or become a Facebook friend! Or check out our Twitter! Or buy something inexpensive, yet fulfilling via that Amazon store (on the left)! Bookmarking sites and links are nice, too. Viva la France!

Kamis, 18 November 2010

Veggie Might: The Battle of Pumpkin Spice Biscuits

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

Do you ever have an idea that you're convinced is the Best Idea Ever? Do you then have the utmost confidence that this idea will be Really Easy to Execute?

Last month, CB and I ventured north where I bought a farm stand's worth of squash. I have since made soup, a pie, and frozen the rest for Thanksgiving.

Then I had the Best Idea Ever. I should make pumpkin biscuits for Thanksgiving dinner. Doesn't that sound amazing?! I pictured them: light, flaky, fragrant with clove and nutmeg, steamy and dripping with butter.

But I decided I should not look in any of my cookbooks or on the Internet for recipes. I would make this happen on my own, armed only with my family's biscuit mix recipe and my own ingenuity.

Between batches three and four, my tiny Hells Kitchen galley looked like the aftermath of a battle between the Swedish Chef and the Pumpkin King.

A heavy dusting of flour blanketed the room like snow. Blobs of dough stuck to the floor and table. Orange puree splattered the walls and my face. My little dog cowered in the far corner of the living room, knowing well enough to stay out of the line of fire.

The first batch was too dry and didn't have enough pumpkin flavor. The second was the right consistency, but it needed more spices. The third and fourth batches were too wet and sticky to be called dough, but the spices were right.

Finally, late in the evening, the oven timer dinged. Batch five was ready. Battleweary and a little queasy, I peeled myself from the couch where the flicker of Veronica Mars, Season 2 kept me tethered to 2006.

The scent of pumpkin pie wafted through the battlefield kitchen. The puffy, pumpkin biscuits looked delicious as I relieved them from heat of the oven, but I had been deceived before. I forked one open, smothered it with vegan butter, and, with a single bite, sent up a cry of victory.

The texture was light and airy and, though savory, essence of pumpkin and warm pie spices came through. I collapsed from joy and fatigue, too full to eat more than one. But my roommate came through, eating biscuit after biscuit, declaring the battle won.

Pumpkin Spice Biscuits taught me a few valuable lessons about recipe development: it is both challenging and worth the effort. And between batches 3 and 4, there are some things even a dog won't eat off the floor.

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If this recipe floats your boat, paddle on over to:

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Pumpkin Spice Biscuits
Makes 10-12 three-inch biscuits

2 cups biscuit mix*
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground clove

*Biscuit Mix
8 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
4 tsp salt
1/2 cup baking powder
1 cup shortening, chilled and cut into pieces

Instructions
Note: Dough may be a little fluffier than typical biscuit dough. A well floured work surface and hands, as well as kneading in a little extra flour, should take care of any stickiness issues. If you like tall, thick biscuits, roll your dough a little thicker than 1/2" and add a couple more minutes to the baking time. Also, a mesh strainer works great as a flour sifter.

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly coat baking sheet with oil or nonstick cooking spray.

2) Sift flour into a large mixing bowl, then measure out 8 level cups into food processor/stand mixer bowl or another large mixing bowl. Add baking soda, salt, and chilled shortening pieces.

3) If using mixer or food processor, pulse in short bursts until shortening is cut evenly and dry ingredients are combined. If using a pastry cutter or fork, cut shortening evenly throughout dry ingredients. Mix should look like bread crumbs.

4) Measure out 2 cups of biscuit mix into a medium mixing bowl and refrigerate the rest. (Now you're ready the next time you want to make biscuits!**) Add pumpkin puree and spices. Mix with a fork until just combined.

5) Sprinkle extra flour onto clean work surface and turn out dough. Powder hands and rolling pin with flour. Knead in a little flour if dough is too sticky to work with. Form dough into ball and pat down into a disk. Roll out dough into a 1/2-inch thick disk. Cut out biscuits with a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter (a juice glass works great in a pinch). Reflour your hands and repeat using scraps until all dough is used.

6) Place biscuits closely together on prepared baking sheet. Make sure the biscuits are touching; it helps them rise. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

7) When lightly golden, remove from oven and wait a couple of minutes before moving to a towel-lined basket or bowl to keep warm. Serve at breakfast with vegan butter or dipped in veggie gravy with your Thanksgiving meal.

**For regular biscuits, just add 1/2 cup of your favorite milk to 2 cups of mix and follow directions 5-7.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price per Serving
117.5 calories, 4.5g fat, .8g fiber, 2.3g protein, $.12

Calculations
Biscuit Mix
8 cups sifted all-purpose flour: 3640 calories, 8g fat, 24g fiber, 104g protein, $1.68
4 tsp salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.08
1/2 cup baking powder: 48 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.48
1 cup shortening: 1760 calories, 208g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $2.24
TOTALS: 5448 calories, 216g fat, 24g fiber, 104g protein, $4.48
PER SERVING (TOTALS/4): 1,362 calories, 54g fat, 6g fiber, 26g protein, $1.12

Pumpkin Spice Biscuits
2 cups biscuit mix: 1,362 calories, 54g fat, 6g fiber, 26g protein, $1.12
1 cup pumpkin: 49 calories, 0g fat, 3g fiber, 2g protein, $0.25
1 tsp cinnamon: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
1 tsp nutmeg: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
1 tsp clove: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
1 tsp star anise: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
TOTALS: 1411 calories, 54g fat, 9g fiber, 28g protein, $1.41
PER SERVING (TOTALS/12): 117.5 calories, 4.5g fat, .8g fiber, 2.3g protein, $.12

Veggie Might: The Battle of Pumpkin Spice Biscuits

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

~~~

Pumpkin Spice Biscuits
Makes 10-12 three-inch biscuits