Modern Vegetarian Dishes

Braised Winter Melon and Seared Matsutake

Fresh Fettucine with Vegetarian Meat Sauce

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No Nutritional Difference between Free-Range and Cage-Produced Eggs

Eggs produced by free-range hens are often perceived by the public to be nutritionally superior to eggs obtained from layers kept in traditional battery cages. However, a recent scientific study has called this popular perception into question by finding essentially no differences in the nutritional quality of eggs produced by hens from both management systems, said the Poultry Science Association (PSA). The findings also showed that cholesterol levels in all eggs were lower than U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, prompting the USDA to review and revise downward its estimates for average cholesterol levels in eggs to 185 mg per egg, down from 213 mg.

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A Duck Breast and Duck Confit Recipe from My Clippings

Ingredients

4 duck breasts, scored
16 oz cooked wild rice noodles

Duck confit

4 duck legs or thighs
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp cracked black pepper
2 sprigs rosemary
3 Tbsp chopped garlic
2L rendered duck fat

Dressing

1 1/2 cups unsalted duck or chicken stock
1/2 cup soy sauce
4½ Tbsp sesame oil
5 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp chopped ginger

Garnish

2 Tbsp white sesame seeds

Method

Duck confit

1. Day 1: Rub the duck with the salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Day 2: Preheat oven to 325°F.
3. Place the duck in a deep pan. Cover completely with rendered duck fat and cover with foil or a tight fitting lid. Bake for 2 hours.
4. Remove the legs from the fat. Strain the fat into a glass bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes. When the cooking juice and the fat separate, ladle the fat over the legs and refrigerate overnight.
5. Day 3: Preheat the oven to 450°F.
6. Remove the legs from the fat and scrape off excess fat, being careful not to rip the skin.
7. In a frying pan lined with parchment paper, place the legs skin side down. Place pan in oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the skin is brown.
8. Drain off excess fat and set meat aside to serve.

Dressing

1. In a saucepan, on low heat, combine stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and ginger until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

Duck Breast

1. In a non-stick frying pan, on medium heat, place duck breasts skin-side down. Cook for about 10 minutes, pouring off excess fat. When skin is crispy, turn the breast and sear for one minute.
2. Place breasts on cutting board skin-side down. Slice.
3. Drain fat from pan and heat noodles, spinach and dressing until the spinach is wilted.

To serve

1. Using tongs, remove noodles and spinach from pan and place in the centre of each plate. Place sliced duck breast on top of the spinach. Pour dressing over top and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Source: ciao!

My Recipe

Fish Fillet with Cream Corn

Ingredients:

1 lb – Frozen fish fillet
6 oz (1/2 of 398 ml can) – Canned cream style corn
1 – Large egg (beaten)

Marinade:

1/2 tsp – Salt
1/4 tsp – White ground pepper
1 tsp – Sesame oil
2 tsp – Cooking wine
2 tsp – Ginger juice
1 Tbsp – Cornstarch

Sauce:

6 oz – Water
3/4 tsp – Chicken broth mix
1/4 tsp – Sugar
1/8 + 1/16 tsp – Salt
2 tsp – Sesame oil
dash – White ground pepper
3/4 tsp – Cooking wine
1½ tsp – Cornstarch

Method:

1. Thaw frozen fish in refrigerator overnight. Cut each fillet into serving size pieces and put on a plate. Mix marinade in a small bowl and add to fish. Toss gently to coat. Set aside for about 20 minutes.
2. Mix sauce ingredients.
3. Coat fish with beaten egg. Fry fish in a non-stick pan in 1 or 2 batches using about 2 tsp oil for each batch until both sides are golden, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove onto serving platter.
4. Rinse and dry pan. Heat 2 tsp oil. Add sauce ingredients and cream corn. Keep stirring until sauce thickens. Pour over fish. Serve hot.

Diet Combining Cholesterol-Lowering Foods Better Than Low-Saturated Fat Diet in Cholesterol Reduction

Persons with high cholesterol who received counseling regarding a diet that combined cholesterol-lowering foods such as soy protein, nuts and plant sterols over 6 months experienced a greater reduction in their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels than individuals who received advice on a low-saturated fat diet, according to a study in the August issue of JAMA.

The researchers found that the change in LDL-C levels from the beginning of the study to week 24 in the low-saturated fat control diet were -3.0 percent or -8 mg/dL. In the routine and intensive dietary portfolio of food components with known cholesterol-lowering properties, the respective percentage changes were -13.1 percent or -24 mg/dL and -13.8 percent or -26 mg/dL for LDL-C levels.

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Top Five Foods to Lower Your Cholesterol ….