When Food Kills
Looking at the title, I suddenly had visions of huge mutant spears of broccoli running at defenseless humans with machetes! But, no, although I do like that visual, I am talking about, of course, fatty foods and overeating and what it REALLY does to one’s body. As any regular reader of my blog knows, I am a HUGE proponent of moderate eating and I know food is more than just fuel. We are emotionally linked to food and to try to discount that link, to me at least, is silly. But recently, I had somebody very close to me go through a triple-bypass. And honestly, it has changed the way I look at all things food.
Let me get out of the way, that I have my cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar checked regularly. My numbers are all great. Also, I do exercise regularly and try to incorporate all the “should” eat foods regularly into my diet. But all that aside, having a loved one be so close to a major heart attack or death due to three blocked arteries, has left it’s mark on me.
Now when I watch Man Vs. Food, I think about Adam Richman’s poor arteries… And wish he would take better care of himself. The same goes for every overweight Chef on the Food Network and the Cooking Channel (you know who you are). Especially because they all seem to be preparing fattening food. Almost as if to say to the home audience, with a wink and a nudge, we know this is bad for us, but, come on, you know you want to eat it… And of course we do! Macaroni and cheese is GOOD (actually saw a chef label this as healthy because she used whole wheat pasta, along with two sticks of butter and about a pound of cheese)! Fried foods are FABULOUS! But nothing, absolutely nothing, is worth jeopardizing your health. By the way, is it me or do we as a nation seem to have given up on healthy eating? Five dollar pizzas, heart attack burgers, bacon fests, potatoes fried in lard… It is as if we are saying, the economy is bad, I lost my retirement, prospects are few, so I will be damned if I don’t eat what I want. Even the food these networks profile are fat-laden and artery clogging… Over the top donut shops, quadruple cheeseburgers with foie gras and bacon and my favorite, the 50 pound pizza topped with half of the butcher shop.
So, now I mumble to myself through these programs, “He better be careful” or “I hope she has had her cholesterol checked” even “Really? Do you need to add ANOTHER stick of butter?!” So please, go get your numbers checked, don’t ignore symptoms and eat AND exercise moderately. We Americans tend to be an all or nothing bunch. Exercising five hours a day and eating only raw vegetables OR sitting on the couch eating only fried foods. I am thankful every day that my loved one’s heart issue was dealt with before a major coronary event or death and would not wish the surgery and aftermath on my worst enemy.
By the way, he is doing well, walking daily, drinking plenty of water and has made significant dietary changes. His prognosis is good. Now go eat your broccoli before it tries to eat you! LOL!
Fournos Lobster Pizza with Garlic Cognac Mushrooms recipe | restaurant recipes | pizza recipes
Fournos Lobster Pizza with Garlic Cognac Mushrooms recipe | restaurant recipes | pizza recipes.
Chef Ivan Flowers of Fournos Restaurant in Sedona, Az created this sinfully delicious lobster cognac mushroom pizza! One bite and you are hooked…
My Best Thing I Ever Ate-Fried!
So, of course I regularly watch the Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate… And get hungry. Then lament the fact that I am in a small town and there is NO possible way for me to fulfill my deli craving at 9:00 p.m. Well, the show has me thinking, what are the best things I ever ate and why. So here is my first edition, the deep fried foods.
Best fried vegetables- I have to go with this hole in the wall sushi joint near my house, Masaki. They do a vegetable tempura that is deep fried vegetable perfection. A lot of tempura’s I have had have a slight fishy tatse to the batter. Yes, shared oil! But not here, light, airy batter enrobing perfectly cooked vegetables. They even do the daikon radish & enoki mushroom! But my favorite is the sweet potato. Slightly salty & crispy outside. Sweet & creamy inside. The dipping sauce they serve is also great. A slightly sweet, thin, brown sauce. LOVE these vegetables!
Best French Fry- Now before I call this, I have to say that a lot of this has to do with the memory of my life when I ate them… If you asked me my favorite type of fry, I would immediately say, “Pomme Frites.” But when I searched my taste memory for the BEST fry, I came up with its very opposite, a short, fat, large steak fry. My favorite french fry? The Seasoned fries at Tommy’s restaurant. Oh, the memory of walking back to school at lunch time, clutching that greasy, fragrant paper bag in my hand… They were crisp, creamy and seasoned with a paprika colored salt. Always had extra seasoning on mine. Really, the perfect fry. At a time in my life when fries and red licorice ropes for lunch was perfectly acceptable.
Best Fried Sandwich- The Monte Cristo at Disneyland. Yes, Disneyland! I grew up in California, so a trip to Disneyland, while not every weekend, was pretty commonplace. Hell, I still remember when they had the tickets-A through E. My mother had an entire drawer full of the A tickets in the kitchen. I digress. So, there was a restaurant that was in the Pirates of Carribean ride. You could eat and watch the boats go by… It was VERY dark and seemed very fancy to me as a child. It was here that I had my first and best Monte Cristo sandwich. Made the right way, dipped in egg batter, fried, then topped with powdered sugar and served with raspberry jam for dipping. Biting into that was like going on a trip. The sweet, french toast like first taste, then the salty meat and oozing nutty swiss cheese. Then the next bite adding raspberry jam for a pop of fruit! I still dream about that sandwich…
Best strange Fried Thing- I think of this like a niche market. Not everybody does it, but when you can find it done right… OMG! This has to be the deep fried dill pickle spears at a neighborhood diner. Cornmeal batter, still slightly cool and crunchy dill pickle, ranch for dipping. I don’t think I need to say anything more.
Best Fried Sweet- The apple fritters at the Von’s in Marina Del Rey. Really, the best apple fritter I have ever eaten. And believe me, I have eaten quite a few. These fritters have the perfect proportion of apple chunks to doughy batter. Of crisp edges to fluffy centers. And the absolutely perfect amount of that sticky, really too sweet, icing. Used to go on Saturday at 7:00 a.m. just so I could get my hot little hands on them. Yes, they sold out that fast… Would always buy four and think I would save some for Sunday. But no, I ate them all that day. They were just too good.
Best Fried Egg- yes, as the final best of fried I am including a fried egg. Why? Well, because creating a perfectly cooked fried egg is hard to do and even harder to find. I like mine over easy, so I can dunk my buttered Rye toast into the yolk. The best fried egg I ever ate was at Edie’s Diner in Marina Del Rey (it is closed now). Edie’s was where we went late night and drunk. Or early morning and hungover. Nothing cured my hangover faster than a couple of perfectly cooked over-easy fried eggs, buttered rye toast, breakfast potatoes and LOTS of water at Edie’s.
Well there it is, my first Best Thing I Ever Ate blog. There will be more. But in the meantime, what was the best fried food YOU ever ate? Let me know. I am always looking for new favorites.
I Love The Smell Of Lighter Fluid in the Morning!
Really. I do. Because that smell signifies the beginning of summer. Growing up, it was the smell of my Father putting the match to the VERY soaked (Homer Simpson has nothing on my Dad when it comes to lighter fluid use!) Kingsford Charcoal sitting in our round top Weber’s grill that meant, AAAAAH Summer is FINALLY here! And to this day, every time I catch a whiff of burning lighter fluid, it brings on a flood of memories from summers past and the fabulous grilled meals I enjoyed during them.
I grew up before the ubiquitous “outdoor kitchen”. You know, fancy gas grill, counter space & working sinks. When we grilled, we did it the old-fashioned way, Weber grill pulled far away enough from the house to not start a fire, plenty of charcoal, lighter fluid and fireplace matches to keep the thing burning and tupperware filled with marinated chicken, hot dogs & hamburgers. We normally dusted off the Weber around Memorial Day and kept it out until the end of September. Though my Mom went through a period where she grilled our turkeys for a couple of Thanksgivings, the May to September schedule was pretty much standard. While my Dad manned the grill, we girls were in charge of making the ice cream. Usually fresh peach. We would take turns cranking our old-fashioned model that was covered in rock salt. I always got first shift, because as it froze it got harder to turn and me being the youngest didn’t have the strength to turn the darn thing at the end. In between shifts we would swim in the pool and peer over my Dad’s shoulder at all the great things he was grilling. Then after a day of swimming, turning ice cream & smelling lighter fluid, it would finally be time to eat!
We would eat outside, sitting at our wooden table with benches covered with paper plates and condiments. Nothing tasted as good as those grilled burgers and dogs in buns, smothered in ketchup and eaten while we were still wearing our damp swimsuits. Of course, then we got the ice cream. Lush vanilla speckled with fresh peach. Really the best I ever had. Nothing in any five-star restaurant has even come close.
That really is summer to me. People you love, a Weber grill aflame and sharing great food. What could be better? Happy Memorial Day! Now get outside and light your grill!
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