Chocolate contains a variety of substances, which definitely have an effect on the mind or body chemistry. These include compounds like theobromine, the primary alkaloid in cocoa and chocolate also stimulates the heart and has many therapeutic uses.
People associate the "chocolate high" with the theobromine content, which oddly enough has a stronger biochemical effect for horses and is normally banned in horse racing since it's considered to give them a competitive edge.
Tryptophane, an essential amino acid and precursor to serotonin, that most people associate with turkey, can also be found in chocolate. Tryptophane can help to calm and relax the body, but I like chocolate simply for the fact that it's an easy way to spoil yourself! Get my recipe for Mexican hot chocolate after the jump.
Eating with your fingers is fun -- I'm not embarrassed to do it, even in public. That's one of the reasons why bar food, along with the spicy, crunchy salt coating, is so darn satisfying.
I don't believe in giving up anything when it comes to food, but I don't want my nibbles to take up my whole allotment of fat for the day. I created this version of jalapeño poppers that are baked but still have the yummy contrast of creamy filling with crunchy breadcrumb coating.
Remember when sun-dried tomatoes were trendy in the 1980s? They were considered chic, foreign, even elegant. I remember one of my first experiences eating them in a Pittsburgh restaurant called Café Allegro.
I had a Gorgonzola-stuffed pear -- which I still think about to this day -- and creamy, luscious bow-tie pasta with plumped sun-dried tomatoes soaked in oil.
These tomatoes are so sweet and tangy. Why did they fall out of favor?
Dulce de Leche, a sweet found in Argentine, Uruguayan and Chilean cuisine, is prepared by cooking sweetened condensed milk to create a sumptuous sauce that tastes like melted milk caramels.
I will warn you -– it is dangerous. I could eat it out of the container with a spoon, but it can also be extremely versatile when used sparingly as a topping for healthier ingredients to make hundreds of fast desserts.
It was one of those things that my granny always insisted on: finding ways to use leftovers and never wasting food. Even though I've grown up eating leftovers, I've never liked eating a big plate of odds and ends, a spoonful here and bite there.
I wondered if that's why Americans waste about 27 percent of their available food. But what if you could turn those tidbits into something luscious? I guarantee that you won't be tempted to toss that handful of broccoli florets, those spoonfuls of blue cheese crumbles or your remaining half a jar of olives.
First I took a look in my freezer before proceeding on to my self-imposed "Top Chef" challenge. Frozen dough disks didn't look that interesting resting in my freezer door, until I remembered that they're Goya empanada wrappers that you can fill with just about anything. Bingo!
Tamari almonds make their way into my banana-nut breakfast smoothie as they add a hint of saltiness against the sweetness of really ripe bananas. But as unexpectedly good as they may taste, I was in for another shocker: As I recently reviewed my grocery bill, I realized that those tamari almonds were almost $2 a bag!
Since I had a bottle of low-sodium tamari taking up space in the cupboard, I shopped for the plain, raw almonds with the skins on and tried my hand at homemade tamari almonds.
During grad school, when I wasn't busy studying or working my part-time job, I was all about entertaining. My favorite co-host was my cousin Frank, and he always had great ideas, including shortcuts to making complicated recipes without losing a lot of the taste or texture.
I'm sure that the experts from the famous Pierogie Plus, a 10-minute drive from my family's house, would swat me for not making the dough myself. But when I crave my favorite treat, I use wonton wrappers to make them, an idea my clever cousin Frank came up with.
This week, we've had our first cool night on the East Coast, which got me craving something warmer for dinner. Savory beef with a soupy tomato sauce is my favorite Cuban country dish (with the exception of black beans and rice, of course!).
I've always wondered about the name, but realized the shredded beef does indeed resemble a twisted old dress shirt. There are several stories as to how the dish was named, but my favorite is about a very poor man who didn't have money to buy food for his family. He took some "ropa vieja" -- old clothing -- from the closet and cooked it in a pot with a lot of love. Miraculously, it turned into a rich and hearty beef stew.
I'm not sure how this myth got started -- I used to believe it too, before I met my husband, who grew up in Germany. Every time I tell someone I'm making schnitzel for dinner, they talk about hot dog buns and sauerkraut. Then they try to convince me that I really meant sausage and they will go as far as to ambush random passersby to help corroborate their story.
In truth, the word schnitzel comes from the German term "schneiden" which means to cut, so schnitzel means cutlet. Thus, Wiener Schnitzel is not a cut-up hot dog, but rather a "cutlet from Vienna or Wien." See how I make it after the jump.
Here's a little restaurant technique to make the rich, sweet, tangy, roasted tomatoes that many restaurants use to add a flavor and dimension to various dishes.
I like them best with pasta and although they do take time to cook, they are well worth the wait.
Making tomato confit isn't hard but it can heat up the house and seem wasteful to run the oven for hours -- so why not use an energy-saving toaster oven?
"Do you want to make some spaghetti?" my granny used to say as she pulled a roasted spaghetti squash from the oven.
She would transfer the two halves to her mangled cutting board and hand me a fork. We would both scrape the fork over the squash, freeing the steamy fibers that look very much like golden yellow strands of vermicelli.
I could hear the popping and perking of her homemade sauce warming on the stove. "Turn the heat down," she would instruct when the popping became too vigorous. She served hers with tomato sauce, but I like to use a protein-packed bolognese to make it a complete, cool-weather meal.
Grapes have become my latest post-workout snack because they are water-packed and also help to curb my hunger when I come out of the yoga studio with serious munchies.
But don't limit grapes to snack food -- you can also make surprising, gorgeous desserts with them.
Concord grapes have a short season, but their flavor is unique and honey-kissed. Search them out at a local farmer's market.
I've been craving a lobster roll from Mary's Fish Camp in New York as of late, but since I've already maxed out the bank account with a mini trip to Miami, Mary's will have to wait for October.
I'm hooked on their lobster roll, that's really the only reason I go there. If you are lucky enough to get a table, their "limited" supply lobster roll is at market price, usually around $33.
So here is my healthier (and cheaper) version that you can have at home -- yes, Mary's fans know it's not exactly the same. Yet it's still tasty and satisfies the craving, working out to about $12 a pop.
OK, I'll admit, I'm a fan of the HBO series "True Blood," but not for the reason most fans like it -- the sexy drama, gorgeous vampires and loads of gore. Watching it is a real break from cooking -- the mental and physical side. After all, you can't cook for a vampire!
I was recently thinking back to an episode when Bill Compton had his first bite with Sookie, cautioning her to take an extra dose of B vitamins. Well, I think that's good advice for all of us, because B vitamins -- especially B-12 -- support the production of red blood cells and prevent anemia.
If you're vegetarian or happen to have type 2 diabetes, you're probably not getting enough, but there's good news: You can get it from yogurt and milk, about four servings a day to get good levels of B12. If you are carnivorous like our friend Bill Compton, then your best sources are calf's liver, snapper, venison, scallops and shrimp -- or even a piece of beef tenderloin, one of my favorite cuts of beef -- and it's even low in fat.
Grilled mango with balsamic drizzle. Photo: Jennifer Iserloh
If you've ever tasted real aged balsamic vinegar, you know that nothing compares with its aroma, texture and dark, deep flavor.
The real McCoy is from Modena, Italy, made from the white Trebbiano grape and aged for 12 to 25 years. A 4-ounce bottle of the good stuff (that's just 1/2 cup) can range from $100 to $150!
Sadly, my budget doesn't keep me from craving foods, so I've reduced some inexpensive balsamic vinegar to get a rich-tasting drizzle that I can use on my grilling favorites.
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