Even though today is a summer day, the temperature is in the 50s and it’s pouring rain. I am glad that I went for a very long walk yesterday morning, when the sun was shining. It’s true that the temperatures yesterday were also somewhat brisk, but I didn’t care. I love the sun shining on my face. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dr. Sukol
Cooking With Heat, with a Recipe for Red Dal
I have learned, mostly over years of reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows with my dad (of blessed memory), that one way to make spices really bloom is to heat them briefly in some olive oil. Last month, I made shakshuka for my entire book group, and I did not skimp one bit on the spices called for in the recipe. A double recipe of this shakshuka meant 4 teaspoons of sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of the Serrano chili powder I discovered the last time I was in Napa. I mixed together all the spices and, when it was time, I slid them into the frying pan along with five cloves worth of chopped garlic. Continue reading
Fat, A Celebration of Flavor
A few years ago I read a cookbook called Fat, a celebration of flavor by Jennifer McLagan. Luckily for me, there was plenty of sage growing in the garden behind my kitchen, so I decided to try the sage butter sauce recipe with pasta. Fry 30 fresh, whole sage leaves in two sticks of butter on medium heat for about 10 minutes, just until the butter begins to brown and the sage leaves turn crispy. Meanwhile, boil 3/4 pound of pasta in salted water and drain when done. Pour the sauce over the hot, cooked pasta and serve with a simple green salad. I added steamed beet greens to the pasta as well. I’m not sure what I was expecting but the results were startling in every way. The texture and flavor were beyond heavenly. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lovage Soup
Many years ago I brought home some lovage from a neighbor’s garden, and I planted it on the eastern side of our house, alongside a screened-in porch. For a long time now it has grown there in abundance every spring, and there is always more than enough to share. This year I’ve been feeding some of it to the chickens, who love greens, especially the lemon balm that grows all over our property. Lovage tastes something like celery, but it grows up to five feet high on thick multi-branched stalks. It’s impossible to use it up. It’s quite beautiful, and would make a great addition to any herb or flower garden. It self-seeds every year, and my patch is easily 20 years old, if not more.
Here’s a lovely soup you can make with lovage. If you don’t happen to have access to any, you can make this soup with celery instead. Continue reading
Cottonseed Oil, Crisco, and Trans Fats
About ten years ago, some fifty years after concerns were first raised about a possible link between trans fats and heart attacks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that partially hydrogenated oils, the primary dietary source of trans fats in ultraprocessed food items, were no longer “generally recognized as safe” in human food. Processed food manufacturers were given three years to reformulate their products or to request an exemption. This action was predicted to prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks a year. Multiply that by 50 years to get an idea of the effect trans fats have on your heart. Continue reading
Cooking with Spice and Heat
I have learned, mostly over years of reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows with my dad (of blessed memory), that one way to make spices really bloom is to heat them briefly in some olive oil. This past Monday, I made shakshuka for my entire book group, and I did not skimp one bit on the spices. A double recipe of this shakshuka translated to 4 teaspoons of sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of the Serrano chili powder I was lucky to discover the last time I was in Napa. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cole Slaw
I have made coleslaw twice in the past few weeks, so I thought you might like to see the recipe. The first time I made it with green cabbage with a little bit of red cabbage for color (and because there was some in the refrigerator). The second time I made the whole recipe with red cabbage and it was exceptionally attractive. Both versions were delicious. Great summer food. Cole slaw is not particularly complicated to make, and the homemade version is always worth it. Continue reading
About Omega-3s and Omega-6s
This week I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned about two specific polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Let’s start with omega-3 fatty acids. These are compounds in the form of a long chain of carbon molecules with several double bonds, each of which acts as a pivot point. Flexible pivot points confer the ability to move in many directions, essential for movement and flexibility. Omega-3s owe their flexibility to all those double bonds, the last of which is located just three carbons from the tail, or omega, end of the molecule. That’s why it’s called an omega-3 fatty acid. Omega means end. In contrast, omega-6 fatty acids contain fewer double bonds, and the last one is located six carbons from the tail. Hence, omega-6. Continue reading
Salmon Teriyaki by the Lake
The first week of May, we spent a long luxurious weekend with old friends who live at the confluence of two quiet lakes north of Detroit. Twenty-four hours a day, we found ourselves looking out large windows at the mesmerizing ripples on the surface of the water, lakes filled with Mallard ducks, geese, swans, a pair of loons, and even the first egret of the season. We saw four waddling yellow puffballs following closely after their Mallard parents. No matter the time of day, no matter the weather, the view out those windows was stunning. Continue reading
The Skinny on Fat
With all the talk about saturated fat and monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and trans fat, it’s easy to get confused about how they fit into the big picture, and to understand what it means for the food choices you make. I’d like to give you another strategy for figuring out what to eat. Instead of FAT, I am going to talk about FATTY ACIDS. First, some definitions.
If fat is a sentence, then fatty acids are words. If fat is a word, then fatty acids are letters. If fat is the universe, then fatty acids are galaxies. If fat is a solar system, fatty acids are planets and moons. If fat is a pyramid, fatty acids are bricks.
If foods are words, then I want to focus on the letters. Today, I want to talk not about olives and avocados, not olive oil and avocado oil, but rather about the o’s and the e’s with which they are spelled. This conversation is not about lard or chicken fat. It’s about the fatty acids of which they are composed. Continue reading