Quick meal organizing
Now that September is here, many of us are back on schedule with organizations, activities and harvest. Anne Kennedy, a dietitian with the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, has suggestions for nutritious meal planning.
Families are constantly on the go, juggling different interests and racing through meals in order to get to the next activity. Parents worry that fast-paced meals may compromise good nutrition. The Canadian Dietetic Association has some helpful hints:
- Plan meals. Planning can save time and money plus result in tastier and more nutritious meals. Collect quick and easy recipes. Commodity groups like the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency offer free recipe books.
- Be efficient. When you have time to cook, make a double or triple batch. Freeze the extra food in meal-size portions. Remember to date and label these meals. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator so they will be ready to prepare when you arrive home.
- Don’t be afraid to use frozen entrŽes. However, read the label and select the lower fat version of these dinners. Frozen entrŽes tend to lack calcium, vitamins A and C, and fibre. Choose carefully. Complete the meal by adding milk and some raw or cooked veggies.
- Take advantage of your microwave. Eggs, fish and many vegetables cook in a matter of minutes using a microwave. The shorter cooking time means more nutrients are retained.
- Plan for snacks. When dinner is delayed or if there is only time to eat part of a meal, use nutritious snacks to fill the void. Fruit, muffins, hard-cooked eggs, vegetable sticks and cereal bars are portable and nutritious snacks. Avoid going more than four hours without food. It plays havoc with your nutrient intake and your waistline.
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Faster cooking lentils
Convenience is the key. InfraReady Products Ltd., a Saskatoon-based food processing company, working with the University of Manitoba has successfully reduced the cooking time of lentils from 30 minutes to 15.
The process, known as micronization, uses infrared energy to heat the water naturally contained inside the lentils. InfraRed processing was commercially developed in Europe in the late 1980s.
During the process, starches are gelled, resulting in reduced cooking requirements. While the precooked lentils undergo an almost undetectable color change and slight wrinkling, once fully cooked they appear to be exactly the same as their raw counterparts. Precooking creates fissures in the lentils which allow easier uptake of water during cooking, said Susan Amtfield, a University of Manitoba researcher.
In addition to reducing the cooking requirements, the process imparts a pleasant roasted flavor and helps eliminate undesirable raw flavors or textures. Minimal processing ensures the natural goodness remains.
Lentils are high in protein and folic acid and have long been a staple food in European countries. Reduced cooking requirements offer convenience for domestic consumers and overseas customers who are faced with high fuel prices.
For a breakfast on the run, consider this recipe taken from Discover the Pulse Potential by the Saskatchewan Pulse Crop Development Board, Centax Books, Regina, Sask., 306-525-2304 or fax 306-757-2439.
Lentil bran muffins
1 cup buttermilk 250 mL
2 cups bran flakes 500 mL
21Ú2 cups flour 625 mL
1 tablespoon 15 mL
baking soda
1Ú2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
1Ú2 cup canola oil 125 mL
1 cup sugar 250 mL
2 eggs 2
1Ú2 cup raisins 125 mL
21Ú2 cups lentil puree 625 mL
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
Pour buttermilk over cereal and let stand until absorbed.
In a medium bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt, then set aside.
In a large bowl combine oil, sugar, eggs and raisins. Add lentil puree, then the dry mixture and then the cereal mixture. Spoon into nonstick, medium-sized muffin tins, filling 3Ú4 full. Bake 15-20 minutes. Yield: 20 muffins.
Reader requests
Those searching for the book, I’m On Your Side, by Jane Nelson and Lynn Lott, will find it through an interlibrary loan at their public library.
P.O., Hazelridge, Man., requested a recipe for a relish with cucumber that tastes like dill juice. We tested different recipes, and adapted this “quick vegetable relish” taken from Food – a la Canadienne, from the Canadian agriculture department. The cookbook is available for reference in public libraries across Canada (Catalogue No. A73-1316), or for purchase from Queen’s Printer, Ottawa, 1967.
This uncooked relish is quick and easy to make. It makes two cups, (500 mL) and keeps three to six months in the refrigerator.
Quick vegetable relish
1 cup diced 250 mL
tomatoes (cucumbers can be substituted)
1Ú4 cup diced celery 50 mL
2 cups diced 500 mL
cucumber
1Ú4 cup brown sugar 50 mL
2 teaspoons salt 10 mL
1Ú4 cup vinegar 50 mL
1 teaspoon dill seed 5 mL
(one dill head) or to taste
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Cake recipe wanted
Dear TEAM: If any ladies have a chocolate cake recipe which requires 12 eggs, please send it in. I hope to see this in your column. – E.S., Watrous, Sask.
Sausage recipe wanted
Dear TEAM: I make my own homemade sausage, but have been unable to come up with a good ham sausage recipe. Does someone have a recipe? – H.Z., Prince Albert, Sask.
Dear H.Z.: One source indicated that ham sausage is also called schinkenwurst, and is a smoked and cooked sausage containing pieces of ham in a pork bologna filling. I contacted different butcher shops and meat companies, but no one gives out their recipe.
However, Alice at Atlas Cutlery and Butcher Supplies, 306-934-6458 sells a complete ham sausage mix, which is simple to use. Each winter Alice puts on a monthly seminar to teach people how to process meat for their own use.
As well, we are grateful to Ed and Sarah Friesen of Ardath who make a sausage called krakowska or KK, and have shared their recipe. It is made from fresh ham legs, which are boned out and all the lean meat is kept separate.
The meat is ground through a 11Ú2 inch (four centimetre) grinder plate or cut up into 1-1 1Ú2 inch (2.5-four cm) chunks. The trimmings from these hams can be used in this sausage if you can grind them very fine.
In most cases, it is best to just go along with the lean meat as it makes a much nicer sausage. You may add up to 20 percent of very lean pork butts or pork shanks, if available.
Ingredients for (five kg)
10 pounds
1Ú2 pint ice water 625 mL
11Ú2 ounces salt 15 g
1Ú2 ounce cure 2 mL
2 tablespoons garlic 30 mL
powder (optional)
3 teaspoons ground 15 mL
white pepper or black
1 teaspoon coriander 5 mL
2 tablespoons 30 mL
ground mustard
1 teaspoon marjoram 5 mL
mustard seed (optional)
Mixing: Place all meats into the mixer and add all the ingredients. Mix well until all the spices are evenly distributed. Remove to pans or tubs, packing the meat tightly, although not over six inches (15 cm) high. Place in a cooler overnight. Stuff into fibrous casings two or three inches (five or eight cm) in diameter by 28 inches (80 cm) long.
Smoking and cooking: Put in a preheated smokehouse at 130 F (55 C) with dampers wide open for one hour. Apply a heavy smoke, gradually increasing the smoker temperature to 160-165 F (70-73 C) with dampers one quarter open. Keep sausage in smoker until you reach the desired color or until sausage reaches 152 F (66 C) internally. If you are using a steam cabinet you may remove from the smoker at 130 F (55 C) and cook in steam cabinet until 152 F (66 C) is reached internally.
When sausage is cooked, place under cool water shower until the internal temperature is reduced to 110 F (40 C). You may leave at room temperature for 45 minutes or until desired bloom is obtained. Remove to cooler and hold overnight.
Note: Internal temperature must reach at least 150 F (65 C), but if internal temperature gets too high, 160 F (70 C), the sausage casings will wrinkle when dry.
