Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for October, 2007

That phrase is actually one of my pet peeves. Our bodies are chemical factories – metabolism, or turning food into energy and body tissues, is one big chemical reaction. The problem is that most people don’t know the meaning of “all those long words” on food ingredient lists.

Now, for the most part, I try to prepare and eat whole foods processed primarily by me, although I don’t churn my own butter or butcher my own hogs and cattle But I do buy whole veggies and make many meals at home (except for the regular Tuesday dinner out with friends and sometimes Dan and I go out).

Lately I’ve been hanging out on a Web site called DiscussCooking.com, where people, duh, talk about all aspects of cooking. One member, who apparently has a more scientific background than I do, wrote the following during a discussion of “chemicals in food”:

“I’m thinking for lunch I’m going to have a bowl of lactuca sativa with solanum lycopersicum, and strips of meleagris ocellata prepared in an aqueous sodium chloride solution prior to the intiation of a conductive thermal energy transfer. All of which will be topped with piper nigrum, sodium chloride, and an emulsification of impure dilute acetic acid and lipids.

Uh … salad with lettuce, tomato, grilled turkey, salt, pepper and a vinaigrette!”

See? Didn’t sound so appetizing till you knew what it actually was, right?

The point is, we need to learn which chemicals are okay and which are not and buy our food accordingly. I had Seafood Yellow Curry at Bangkok Garden over white rice this evening. It was great

Some interesting fallout from the Bush administration’s illegal activities over the last several years:

• European and American rights groups file torture complaint against Rumsfeld
• What Lies Beneath: Alberto Gonzales’ legal troubles may just be beginning

So our former secretary of defense is accused of torture and our former attorney general is accused of perjury, among other crimes. I wonder what other former, and possibly current, administration officials might be guilty of?

I celebrated the first really cool day of fall with one of our favorite cold-weather meals: meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. I was also inspired by the food blogging event “National Meatloaf Appreciation Day.”

My meatloaf is a pretty traditional one – it’s from the Betty Crocker cookbook I was given by my mom when I got my first apartment in college. The only change I made is that I use 1 lb. of ground beef and 1/2 lb. of ground pork instead of 1-1/2 lbs. of ground beef.

This time, I put chili sauce on top instead of catsup. I still put catsup on my meatloaf after it’s sliced; Dan likes his with the gravy. We love it as is and since there are only two of us, we usually get to enjoy it for several days

I was sure I had all the ingredients I needed, but sure enough, one was missing – bread crumbs. Yeah, I could make my own, but it has to bake for an hour and a half already, so Dan went to the little store up the street. We almost ended up with Italian-flavored bread crumbs – would have been an interesting twist, I guess – but then he found the plain ones (shopping by cell phone, don’tcha know), so we used those. (When I want Italian-flavored bread crumbs, I want to season them myself with my own herbs from the garden.)

Anyway, it came out just a fabulous as we remembered – moist but firm and just delicious. I also made mashed potatoes and green beans with diced tomatoes and garlic – a real stick-to-your-ribs dinner.

Betty Crocker Meatloaf

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup milk
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg
3 slices bread, torn into small pieces
1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup catsup, chili sauce or barbecue sauce

Heat oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients except ketchup. Spread mixture in ungreased loaf pan, 8 1/2×4 1/2×2 1/2 or 9×5x3 inches, or shape into 9×5-inch loaf in ungreased rectangular pan, 13×9x2 inches. Spread catsup over top. Bake uncovered 1 1/2 hours.

Came across a cheesecake blogging event roundup, and since I recently bought my first springform pan in anticipation of making my own cheesecake, here is a placeholder for the cheesecake roundup: Hay Hay, It’s Donna Day – Cheesecake Roundup

I’ve been thinking about getting a butter crock for a while now. And since I’ve recently developed a hankering for herb butter, and had some honey butter at a restaurant recently, I want one even more. So I’ve been checking them out and will probably get one soon. So this is a placeholder for some links about the topic.

• Flavored butter recipes
• Butter crocks

PhotoFriday’s photo challenge this week is Wholesome. Is there anything more wholesome than an adorable kid playing on the playground? This is my nephew Patrick, who lives in Oak Park, IL, with his dad, my brother Brad, his mom Barbara, and his sister Katharine. Dan and I just spent the weekend with them and I have dozens of pix of the kids, as well as downtown Chicago. I love this one.