May 24, 2009 | My Recipe Favorites
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Here’s how to hard boil an egg – and have it come out perfectly cooked … without cracking the shells.
Try this very simple method.
Start with eggs that are a bit older. The eggs should be stored in your refrigerator for as little as a week.
* Place the eggs in a pan just big enough to hold them in a SINGLE LAYER.
* Cover the eggs with cold water.
* Bring to a rolling boil.
* Cook for 1-4 minutes (depending on size of egg, and number of eggs in pan.)
* Remove from heat – but keep the eggs in the very hot water.
* When the water has cooled enough that you can put your hand in it
(About 20-25 minutes), the eggs will be perfectly cooked.
What is a perfectly cooked egg? Perfectly cooked eggs are when the yolks are moist and orange (not pale yellow with a dark ring – that’s a classic sign of overcooking). When sliced, the egg will look different that you are used to – because it will NOT be pale and it will NOT have a dark ring around the edge. But trust me — that is a good thing.
Apr 16, 2009 | My Recipe Favorites
I took a Chinese Cooking class many years ago. The first thing I learned is that if you want really good Chinese food … go to a restaurant. They have all the spices and tools that are needed to prepare those scrumptious dishes.
I did take away two things. The first is that all commercial white rice packages have directions on them that no Chinese would follow. The white rice would be too gooey. Flaky rice is the goal. Each piece should be separated from the other. My instructor said her family measured with their fingers. The white rice should come to the first joint of your index finger, and the water to the next joint. If you follow the Uncle Ben directions, you will see that there is a difference. (See my Prefect Brown Rice Recipe)
How to poach chicken is by far the best thing I learned from the class. The true Chinese chef would use all the chicken. Poaching an entire chicken or two at a time. But I prefer to poach just the breasts.
My family calls this “White Chicken”. We usually serve the chicken breasts with white or brown rice, stir-fried snow peas, and a salad.
I purchase large chicken breasts and have my butcher split them in two and remove the bones from the center, trim up the edges, and leave the skin on. I feel the skin gives more flavor. But if you want to get rid of more of the fat … you can remove the skin. (I remove it after cooking anyway.)
Here’s all you do. Fill a large pot with water. Add some onion or a scallion for flavor if desired. And a little salt. (I don’t know why, but seems I always throw a little salt in. Maybe because I usually don’t salt food once its on my plate.)
Bring water to a boil.
Wash the chicken to be sure there are no bone fragments, and trim it of you have not had your butcher do that.
[Just a reminder here, raw chicken must NEVER be placed on a surface that has had any other meat on it. I have a special plastic sheet that I drew a “C” on to remind me this is for chicken only.]
Add the chicken to the boiling water – bring to a second boil.
Now here’s the part you may balk at … cover the chicken in the pot … and turn OFF the heat and let the chicken poach for 1 hour.
Well, if you’re skitterish about this, go ahead and leave the heat on low for the hour. But I’m here to tell you that the chicken will cook in that hour without the heat. So it’s great for hot summer days!
And the other good thing – the chicken can stay in the hot water over an hour. When the hour is up, you can finish preparing the rest of the meal first – before taking the chicken out of the water.
Remove the chicken from the water, trim away the fat – and serve.
Save the broth for making a soup – or other dish that calls for broth. I try to use my refrigerated broth before 2 days are up. If not, I just dump it. You can freeze it for a short time, but I haven’t experimented with that. I saw one tip that said to put the broth in ice cube trays. That sounds like a good idea.
Caution: Be sure to store to the broth while it is hot, before bacteria can form. Don’t let it sit around until you finish your meal.
This chicken will keep for days. I often make several pounds, and then I create several dishes from it. Here’s what I like to make with the poached chicken besides the ‘white chicken’ dinner.
Chicken Salad
Chicken Picatta
Chicken Taco Casserole
Soup from the Broth
I’ll publish my recipes for the other chicken dishes in time.
Originally Published as: http://www.squidoo.com/poachedchicken
Apr 16, 2009 | My Recipe Favorites
I love this recipe because I don’t really have to measure anything. I usually cook half of a 2-pound package of organic short-grain brown rice at a time. When ready, I place in ½ cup containers and store in my refrigerator (for up to one week – but it never lasts that long).
One half cup of brown rice is 2 points for Weight Watchers. My package says 1/4 cup is 180 calories. I find that hard to believe. Maybe it’s uncooked.
OK, ready for the easiest way to cook perfect brown rice? Rice that is soft in texture – without causing the rice to become mushy. The labels on most packaged brown rice (and white rice as well) recommend a method that is very ineffective.
1. Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds.
2. Bring a large pot full of water to a boil with a tight fitting lid. (I use Brita filtered water).
3. Add the rinsed rice and stir it ONCE, and bring to boil.
4. Leave it uncovered – and continue boiling for 30 minutes. (I usually turn the fire down a bit)
5. Pour the rice into a strainer over the sink and drain for 10 seconds.
6. Return rice to the pot – heat OFF – COVER and set aside to allow the rice to steam for 10 minutes.
7. Uncover the rice, fluff with a fork – and season with salt if desired.
8. Eat or place in storage containers and refrigerate.
Your rice is ready to be eaten now or later.
I’ve broken it down to 8 steps. But basically it’s: boil water, rinse rice, boil rice for 30 minutes, drain rice, steam in covered pot for 10 minutes. That’s it.
If you like to measure – or if you want to get an idea of how much water to use, the original recipe (from Saveur Magazine) calls for 12 cups of water for 1 cup of uncooked rice. But you can see from the directions, it doesn’t matter. Just lots of water so the rice has room to move about when boiling.
First Published at: http://www.squidoo.com/PerfectBrownRice
Apr 10, 2009 | Weight Loss
Who is Dr. Hyman?
(From the back cover of “UltraMetabolism”)
“Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D., is the author of the New York Times best seller “UltraMetabolism” and coauthor of the New York Times best seller “UltraPrevention”. He is the editor in chief of Alternative Thereapies in Health and Medicine, the most prestigious journal in the field of integrative medicine. After spending the last ten years conducting pioneering, hands-on research with over two thousand patients as co-medical director at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, one of the world’s leading health resorts, Dr. Hyman has discovered the seven fundamental causes of obesity. He is now in private practice in Lenox, Massachusetts. Visit his websites: www.drhyman.com and www.ultrawellness.com.
Dr. Hyman calls himself a “whole-listic” doctor because he takes care of people with a “whole list” of problems. And the patients with the biggest lists are those whose thyroid systems are not functioning well. Many of you may suffer from some or all of the symptoms we will speak of, and they are all clues to a low-functioning thyroid.”
Dr. Hyman practices ‘functional medicine’. Instead of finding a medication to cover up the symptoms of a patient, he looks inside the patient to determine why the symptoms are appearing. By learning more about a patient, a doctor can erase unwanted symptoms by simply changing what goes into the patient. Dr. Hyman has a method of determining what foods are triggering your symptoms. From migraines to weight gain, to heartburn, high cholesterol. I’ll tell you more about that in a future blog.
Apr 07, 2009 | First Blog Post on Thyroid and Me
“I can’t lose weight. I have a thyroid problem. I’ll never be able to get rid of these extra pounds.”
Sound familiar? Well that was me about three years ago. That’s when I learned that I was making excuses for my inability to lose weight. That was before I found out the secret to losing weight … even with hypo-thyroidism. And now I want to share with you what I have learned over a lifetime … about dieting and your good health.
About 10 years ago one of my doctors suggested I get my thyroid checked. Why? You ask. She noticed my throat was sort of large, and I was tired, and my skin was very dry. Also, I had gained about 10 pounds each year for the previous three years!!! Wow, I was 30 pounds over weight and gaining every day.
I went to an endocrinologist, and undertook a really thorough testing program. To take a film (x-ray) of my thyroid, I had to go to the hospital and get an injection, then return hours later for my film. This allowed for a beautiful picture of my thyroid. Eat your heart out Elizabeth Taylor. (She had been in the same hospital and had her thyroid x-rayed that same year.) My thyroid was beautiful. The doctor asked if he could use it in articles, because it was such a perfect butterfly.
There are two types of thyroid problems. Hyper-thyroid means your thyroid is overactive. The hyper-thyroid symptoms here are: palpitations, heat intolerance, nervousness, insomnia, breathlessness, increased bowel movements, light or absent menstrual periods, fatigue, fast heart rate, trembling hands, weight loss, muscle weakness, warm, moist skin, hair loss, and staring gaze.
The Hypo-thyroid refers to those with an underactive thyroid. Symptoms are: fatigue, weakness, weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight, coarse, dry hair, dry, rough pale skin, hair loss, cold intolerance, muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches, constipation, depression, irritability, memory loss, abnormal menstrual cycles, and decreased libido.
That’s what I have and my symptoms as I mentioned above were thick throat, overly tired, dry skin, and my fingernails slightly raise at the end instead of the usual curve down, as well as disappearing eyebrows.
For me the answer was simple, take one little Synthroid tablet every day. Well, it didn’t exactly work that well at first. I had heart palpitations, so the doctor had me drop one tablet each week. But eventually we got the right formula – and I’m still taking one a day (although I’ve switched to a generic variety). I keep hoping I’m getting better, but my yearly blood check doesn’t say so.
What I do know is that for years, I struggled with losing weight. I think I purchased about every book on weight loss I could find. Trying one for a few months, maybe lose a little, only to gain it back again. Then switching to the newest ‘fad diet’. Finally I just gave up and said to myself, “You have a thyroid problem, so you will never be able to lose weight. You’re metabolism has slowed to nothing. It’s hopeless. Learn to live with it.”
Then one day my daughter handed me a book. “UltraMetabolism” by Dr. Mark Hyman. This book changed my life, my health, my outlook. In the book Dr. Hyman shares seven myths about weight gain. I will be sharing these with you in my blog.
Dr. Hyman practices ‘functional medicine’. Instead of finding a medication to cover up the symptoms of a patient, he looks inside the patient to determine why the symptoms are appearing. By learning more about a patient, a doctor can erase unwanted symptoms by simply changing what goes into the patient. Dr. Hyman has a method of determining what foods are triggering your symptoms. From migraines to weight gain, to heartburn, high cholesterol. I’ll tell you more about that in a future blog.
Jack LaLane was right – you are what you eat. And Dr. Mark Hyman’s unique approach to medical health has proven it to me over and over.
To make a long story short … I didn’t just take Dr. Hyman’s advice. I also listened to my doctor who said I needed to exercise. So I joined Curves, and Weight Watchers.
I’m proud to say I lost weight, made my goal in Weight Watchers in about 1 year (I’m a Lifetime WW and have maintained my weight for 1 ½ years), and my eyebrows are coming back. (Do you know that another sign of Thyroid deficiency is the thinning of the eyebrows at the end, nearest your hairline.) My fingernails are very strong. I still have dry skin — but hey, I’m 65 years old!!! And, yes, I am still taking the Synthroid because my blood tests still say I need it. But that’s OK. Because I have more energy than ever – and feel and look better.
My hope is that this blog will be interactive … with you, the readers contributing to the mix. If you complete the form, I’ll send you a brief description of each blog so you can decide if the topic interests you.
