Combining Foods and Flavors

In Becoming Recipe-Independent, I talked about my budget-conscious preference for using recipes as little as possible or not at all.

I do draw on my culinary training when grocery shopping and cooking, so rather than assume that everyone can easily do without their recipe books, I'm going to recommend a book-- though it's not a cookbook.

A number of months ago, a foodie friend introduced me to The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg.

It's a big, encyclopedic-like book, and in that regard it's a phenomenal resource, particularly for anyone interested in learning about mixing and matching food and flavors.

Knowing what foods and their flavors go with other foods and flavors goes a long way when you're doing your grocery shopping and thinking about what meals you might like to prepare.

For instance, using the turkey, apples, spinach and walnuts from the Feb 28th grocery list, I made a meal (pic above) that might seem like unusual food/flavor combining, but let me explain, though first I'll share my method for making this delicious meal.

Turkey, Spinach and Apple
1) Saute a chopped apple in a saucepan with some butter.
2) Toss in a handful of thawed, frozen spinach; maybe add a little more butter since the spinach will soak up all the moisture in the pan.
3) Having baked a portion of turkey breast in tinfoil in a 350-degree oven for a couple of hours, slice the cooled meat.
4) Gently toss the turkey meat, spinach and apples together and serve in a bowl topped with walnuts.
5) Serve with crusty bread and olive oil for dipping and if you have any cheese on hand, say feta or something with bite, serve alongside bread.

Now, spinach is a bitter green, so it lends itself well to sweet, and apple is sweet as are walnuts which are also astringent, and oily, as is turkey.

Given that turkey and walnuts are oily, the bitterness of the spinach cuts through the oiliness. It's always good to combine a bitter with an oily because the latter helps digest oils and fats.

So this is a small example of how The Food Bible cross-references foods and flavors to indicate creative ways of mixing and matching when cooking.

And as I mentioned above, once you have a sense of what goes with what, you can begin to do-away with using recipes because you'll feel more confident grocery shopping and then once home in the kitchen, more confident combining the groceries you've purchased.

Are you a Foodie or a Gourmand?

I copied this fun-facts passage from Andrea the Gastronaut's blog:

Wikipedia says, “…foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.

Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.

For this reason, foodies are sometimes viewed as obsessively interested in all things culinary.”

Which are you, a foodie or a gourmand?

Potato Latke and Roasted Vegetables

Tonight I have a couple of friends coming for dinner. I'm making a dish that is easy to prepare, low in cost, and one that I think looks incredibly good on the plate.

It's my version of a potato latke or potato pancake, topped with chunks of baked salmon, apple sauce and parsley (pic left).

With the latke, I'm going to serve baked vegetables (below) because they'll be a colorful addition, adding eye-appeal plus flavor and texture to the meal.

The ingredients needed to make this meal are listed in the Feb. 28th shopping list.

Potato Latke & Roasted Vegetables
1) Cut up a couple of apples (you can peel them or not) and put into saucepan with a little water. Simmer for about 15 mins, or until apples are soft. Squish apples with a fork, then set aside.
2) Grate 2 big russet potatoes in a bowl. Squeeze potatoes of liquid (discard liquid). Add two eggs to potatoes, stirring in with fork. Add couple spoons of flour (rice/wheat, rye), enough to bind potatoes.
3) Meanwhile, put one fillet of salmon in oven @350. Bake about 15 mins or until salmon is cooked to your preference: rare/med/well done.
4) Now chop into chunks onion, zucchini, bell pepper, carrots, asparagus. Scatter veggies on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and put in oven with salmon. Bake about 30 mins. or until veggies are soft and lightly browned.

5) While salmon and veggies are cooking, heat olive oil in a pan or skillet, drop heaping spoons of potato/egg/flour mix into pan and shape with spoon, patting the top and sides. Cook over med heat, browning the latkes on both sides. When sufficiently browned, remove latkes and put on plate lined with paper towel (towel will soak up excess oil). Cover with foil until you've browned all the latkes.
6) If you're uncertain about whether the latkes are cooked all the way through, cut one open. If it's not properly cooked, once you've pan fried all the potato mix, continue cooking the latkes in the oven.

To Serve: put one or two latkes on each plate, top with flaked pieces of baked salmon, pop a spoon of apple sauce on the salmon, and to the side, place the roasted vegetables. If you've any parsley or green garnish on hand, top the lot with a sprig.

If you fancy serving dessert, wash a box of blackberries, spoon into small bowls, top with yogurt, sprinkle with maple granola and drizzle with honey -- so easy and delicious. (These items are also on the Feb 28th shopping list.)

More Meal from your Frozen Favorites

I tweeted recently with medical blogger, Kristie McNealy, on the convenience of frozen meals.

Kristie had just posted this tweet: "Gross, March is National Frozen Food Month... Do we really need a month for junk food?"

My response: "I make great dishes using Amy's frozen dinners as starters, adding fresh veggies to create a nutritious meal."

Not that I'm an advocate of eating frozen meals on a regular basis, not at all, however, I find they have their place, particularly if you're running short on time, inspiration, or you simply can't be bothered making a whole meal from scratch.

When Whole Foods has Amy's organic frozen meals on sale for under $4, I'll buy a couple. You'll note I added them to my Feb. 28th grocery list, I wanted to demonstrate the value of having good quality frozen meals in your freezer for the reasons I mention above.

Usually I look out for Amy's vegetarian Indian meals because they have the most flavor. I prefer not to buy frozen meals with meat in them because to me the texture of meat in frozen meals resembles soggy cardboard.

One of the ways I make use of Paneer Tikka (pic to left) is with leftover chicken or fish.

The tomato masala sauce is yummy over white meat or a delicate fish like sole, flounder or tilapia and the chunks of soft cheese in the sauce add a delicious creamy texture.

Adding your own roasted cashews gives crunch factor (since frozen meals can be quite soft in texture) and because it comes with spinach and rice this is a well-rounded meal.

Amy's "Rice Mac and Cheese" (pic at top) does very well with the addition of any green veg you might have in your fridge or freezer, i.e. spinach, peas, broccoli, etc. This is important because a meal without color is lacking essential nutrients; and for crunch-and flavor-factor top with a little turkey bacon.

The "Broccoli Pot Pie" (pic at top) is a great side for a spicy protein like a pan-fried, peppery piece of salmon, and if you can be bothered add an additional side of garlic mash or roast potatoes.

So as you can see from my suggestions, frozen meals lend themselves well to jazzing up. I wouldn't chose to eat an Amy's (or any other frozen meal) straight out of the box; I think I'd be very disappointed and still hungry once I'd finished.

Let me know what you add to your next frozen meal in the effort to create a more delicious, nutritious and colorful convenient meal.