Kitchen Intuition: Dietary guidelines (and tomato sauce)

Along with the new year, Americans got a list of our government’s new dietary guidelines (which happens every five years). It’s a long read, but fortunately, it is a document that’s geared more toward the professionals who advise us about our diets and develop food policies and programs, so we’re not expected to wade through it all. And there is a summary that gets to the gist of things pretty quickly: eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, protein and oils while limiting saturated and trans fats, added sugar and sodium. And move around more than you do now (the government also issues physical activity guidelines).

I don’t think there is any breaking news there. The articulated limit on sugar is new, but we’ve all known we should be easing back on that already. The guidelines also remind us that we should be careful when it comes to our consumption of sodium and certain kinds of fats. Again, this is not something that we didn’t already know. So then why are we still struggling with these perennial dietary problems?

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Kitchen Intuition: Winter reading (and viewing)

Last week, when I wrote about commonsense detoxing, I linked to Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules” as it’s a good guide to setting food goals. It’s a very quick read, with 64 simple, concise suggestions for anyone trying to set personal policies about food that might make the many eating decisions we face every day less complicated. For example, maybe it would be a lot easier to pass on a donut at work because of your policy against certain snacks if you know you’ll get to have a homemade brownie later (“39. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.”).

Much of “Food Rules” is drawn from Pollan’s earlier book, “In Defense of Food,” which is a lengthier justification for making thoughtful choices about food, without getting too bogged down by details. In it, Pollan argues that food cannot be reduced to its nutritional components without losing something in the process—that even while we learn more about the qualities that make food healthy, there is still much that we have yet to discover. While research continues and we are faced with the battle for a place in our shopping carts between nature and processed food, he suggests that the safe course is to trust what has been serving humans for millennia: eating real food.

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Kitchen Intuition: 6 commonsense detox tips

Happy New Year! The way the holidays fell on Fridays this year was quite a treat, giving us back-to-back long weekends. And now it is wonderful having this two-day buffer between New Year’s Day and Monday morning. Whether you’re still nursing a hangover or ramping up the obligatory seasonal resolve, surely more than a few people out there this weekend are thinking about some form of detoxing.

The word "detox" can mean a lot of things, depending on whom you ask (if you ask Google, you’ll get 64 million results), and companies seeking to capitalize on our confusion about the merits of detoxing have flooded the marketplace with all sorts of products, from juicers and supplements to diet books and clinics. Unfortunately, though, there is little evidence to support the claims of the industry.

The good news is that there’s plenty you can do in the new year to feel better and improve your health, and if you ignore the marketers, you can probably even save some money.

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Kitchen Intuition: Lo mein

Today is the first day of what I like to call "nebulous week"—the days between Christmas and New Year’s that can be marvelously formless and unscripted. We’ve jumped through the holiday hoops, and now our time might once again be our own to do with as we please. In some ways, I feel like this week is the best gift of the holiday season—an offering from the calendar, giving us an occasion when we might get reacquainted with ourselves; a chance to ponder, plan and play.

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Kitchen Intuition: Holiday treats

With less than a week to go until Christmas, I thought I’d share a few of my family’s favorite holiday treats. Some have stood the test of time and others are recent additions, but all have proven to be worth repeating.

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Kitchen Intuition: Congee

Congee is another in an ever-growing list of cheap, easy and flexible meals that can be made with whatever is handy in the refrigerator or pantry. The only ingredients required are rice and a liquid, which could just be water. But the possibilities for improvisation and variations are innumerable. It is known by many names around the world, from jook to kanji, but congee is the one I’ve seen most often.

It is often described as "gruel," which is a horrible word that could only inspire desire in starving orphans. And even worse, many recipes depict congee as overcooked, mushy, watery rice. But in fact, congee is similar to risotto in that they both are prepared by cooking rice for an especially long time while also (optionally) adding different flavors and textures to the mix.

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Kitchen Intuition: Avocado pasta

Here’s a secret weapon to tuck into your back pocket and save for a day when you just don’t have the time (or desire) to cook, but need to feed people anyway: Pick up a ripe (it should be ever so slightly squishy) avocado or three on the way home, and you can have dinner ready 20 minutes from the moment you walk in the door. The only other things you need are some pasta, citrus juice (either lemon or lime will work), garlic and olive oil. If you want, you can also use chopped basil, cilantro or onion.

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Kitchen Intuition: Reduction sauce

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and that you’re enjoying the leftovers! Now that Thanksgiving is over, I want to get back to sauces, and this is one that could end up being quite handy for other special meals throughout the season. It’s a reduction sauce, and it comes with a story.

In the spirit of the season, there are two things I am very thankful for that are relevant to a reduction sauce. One is this column, because I’ve gotten to explore some topics that I might not have visited on my own, and I’ve also had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with readers that I might never have met if I weren’t writing. I appreciate your comments and emails so very much. The second thing is my neighborhood in downtown Chattanooga. I’ve lived in many places, but my nine years in Highland Park have been unique in that I’ve not only gotten to know my immediate neighbors, but also people down the street and around the corner and all the way on the other side of the neighborhood. It’s a friendly place, and people get out and mix with each other more than any other place I’ve ever lived.

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Kitchen Intuition: Thanksgiving soup

Now that your planning for Thanksgiving is done (you are done, right?—just kidding, I’m not, either), it’s maybe time to give some thought to what will happen to all the leftovers.

For a lot of people, the leftovers are the best part about Thanksgiving, and for good reason. Who can argue with a turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes on the side or a drumstick and stuffing drizzled with gravy?

But after a couple of days, when everyone starts to get a little tired of turkey, you’re maybe ready to use it all up and move on. In my household, this is where turkey soup comes in. Making soup is our favorite way to use up the leftover meat once everyone’s had their fill. Given just a little planning, it’s a quick prep (less than an hour, mostly unattended), and depending on your mood, it can easily be tweaked to work with what you have on hand.

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Scenic City Supper Club's fall artisan dinner

Sunday evening’s Scenic City Supper Club was another triumph for the creative team that continues to bring delightfully unique dining experiences to Chattanoogans in the form of pop-up dinners.

After debuting in the spring with the goal of shining a spotlight on our local dining scene, this third SCSC iteration focused attention on the local creatives and producers who supply Chattanooga with sustainable food and inspiration to prepare it in innovative ways.

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Kitchen Intuition: Gravy (velouté sauce)

In doing my planning for this year’s Thanksgiving, I’ve discovered a couple of things about gravy. One is that a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of making gravy. The other is that my thinking about turkey gravy has been misguided for a while. I've had it in my head that it can only be made once the turkey is out of the oven, and that has led to some lackluster results.

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Kitchen Intuition: Thanksgiving planning

Thanksgiving is without a doubt my favorite holiday of the year. It’s uncluttered by modern commercialism; simple in its reminder to be thankful; flexible when it comes to faith and religion; and unencumbered by obligatory gifts, costumes, ceremonies, services or Hallmark guilt. All you have to do is cook and/or show up and eat.

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Kitchen Intuition: Cranberry sauce

Talking turkey last week put me in a Thanksgiving frame of mind, but I also don’t want to abandon the discussion of sauces, so I’ll bring things back around to the topic with a classic for your holiday table: cranberry sauce. Most Thanksgiving tables feature cranberry sauce from a can, but I’m pretty sure this is because not many people know how incredibly quick and easy it is to make your own. And the canned and homemade versions just don’t compare at all. On one side, you have an overly sweetened gelatinous blob made with high-fructose corn syrup (and who knows what else), and on the other, you have a fruity, flavorful, textured treat—and you can brag that you made it yourself!

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Kitchen Intuition: Get your local turkey now

If you’re going to get a local turkey for Thanksgiving this year, now is the time to reserve it. Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is only a month away, and farmers are currently taking orders for delivery just before the holiday. The number of available turkeys is limited, so the only way to assure that one makes it to your table (and that you get the size you want) is to find a farmer or market and get your order in now.

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Kitchen Intuition: Mirepoix

I’m taking a break from sauces this week to bring you something that you’ll run into pretty often if you spend any time reading about sauces. You’ve quite likely cooked it many times before but maybe didn’t know it had a name. If you’ve ever chopped a medley of onions, carrots and celery, either to put in a salad or to sauté in preparation for making soup, stew or sauce, you’ve made a mirepoix.

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Kitchen Intuition: Hollandaise in 10 minutes

I can’t believe how quick and easy it is to whip up a hollandaise sauce, and once you do, you can make all sorts of plain dishes into something really fancy and special. The classic combination is asparagus and hollandaise, but that’s just the beginning. Pour it over roasted root vegetables, sautéed spinach, mushrooms, squash, eggs, meat or fish to make an otherwise-dull meal a lot more exciting. Did you overcook or dry out a main dish or side? Hide it under sauce and maybe no one will ever know.

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Kitchen Intuition: 5 uses for béchamel sauce

Last week, I wrote about mac and cheese, which is probably the most common use for a béchamel sauce in American kitchens—but it's certainly not the only one. There are plenty of other ways to use this simple white sauce, and most of them are perfect for brightening up the chillier, wet days that have recently rolled into town. Here are five more ideas for using a béchamel.

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Kitchen Intuition: Mac and cheese

I’m still having fun reading about, watching videos, talking with people and experimenting with sauces. I’ve also noticed that many food writers acknowledge that one of the famous mother sauces is of more use to home cooks than the others, at least on a day-to-day basis. The others are handy for more ambitious cooks or the occasional dinner party, but the majority of people—who are trying to get food on the table most evenings while also juggling kids, pets, jobs, caregiving, cleaning, schoolwork and other responsibilities—have to leave that sort of thing to chefs and cooking shows.

But béchamel sauce is special. It doesn’t take long to make, you don’t have to have any special ingredients, and it is the basis for quite a few dishes—including one of the most awesome comfort foods ever: mac and cheese. And that’s exactly where I went this past week, as summer officially turned into autumn and I found myself in the mood for something simple, decadent and gooey.

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Kitchen Intuition: Roux

A roux-based chicken and okra gumbo. (Photo: Alice O'Dea)

If you spend any time working with sauces, you’re going to have to become familiar with roux. You might already be acquainted with it, whether or not you know what roux is. If you’ve ever made gravy, gumbo or mac and cheese from scratch, you’ve probably also made a roux. It is, simply, a thickener made of fat and flour.

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Kitchen Intuition: Sauce

Please be patient with me this week, as I’m going out of my comfort zone and tackling a topic that I maybe won't ever feel qualified to discuss: sauce. I’m not going to be able to do it all in one column, but I hope this will serve to define the matter a bit.

You wouldn’t think that it would be so hard to write about such a simple thing as sauce, but I’ve tried a number of times in the year I’ve been writing this column, and over and over again, I’ve become overwhelmed by the subject. And I don’t think I’m the only one. It’s easy enough to follow a recipe to make a specific sauce (I’ve written about vinaigrette, mayonnaise,pesto, pad thai, curry and peanut sauce), but it’s a bit harder to deal with the idea of sauces as a group.

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