Homemade Flour Tortillas

  

There's nothing that truly propels me toward the 'real food' movement than finding things in my fridge that should be spoiled, but are still perfectly preserved. As I was culling the beasts that have taken over the recesses of the refrigerator, I noted a single flour tortilla in a package whose expiry date indicated 'August 7th'. Now, I'm not a math genius by any stretch of one's imagination, but I can calculate that this edible item should be displaying some kind of decomposition. As you can guess, it looked exactly the same as the day it was purchased. Oh. Dear. Gawd. Talk about a Halloween nightmare. 

Then, I made the mistake of reading the ingredient list:

Enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (soybean, cottonseed) with mono- and diglycerides, glycerin, corn syrup solids, salt, baking powder (baking soda, corn starch, sodium aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, monocalcium phosphate), potassium sorbate and calcium propionate (preservative), monoglycerides, fumaric acid, L-cysteine hydrochloride.

I used to live in the bliss of commercially prepared tortilla ignorance, but after seeing a bread product remain perfectly pliable and mold-free for nearly three months, I decided it was time to make my own. So, I did. 

The great news is, flour tortillas are ridiculously easy to make. Ridiculous! Not only that, you'll save all your potassium sorbate, calcium propionate, fumaric acid and L-cysteine hydrochloride because this recipe has none:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup hot water

I love recipes I can remember. After mixing the dry ingredients, I cut the butter into the mix, then added the water. After kneading the dough for about 5 minutes, I rolled them into small balls, then let the balls rest for 20 minutes. 

I recommend dividing the dough into eight balls. Initially, I was going to make 16 smaller ones, but realized they'd be too small for anything but dolls. Or leprechauns. (It's known fact that leprechauns love tortillas.) Once rested, all you need to do is roll out the balls until they are paper thin, then place them in a medium-high heat non-stick or cast iron pan for a few minutes each side. You'll know it's time to turn them when bubbles start to form, and the surface begins to brown. I didn't use any oil, and the result was amazing. 

These tortillas have a wonderful, flaky texture in addition to an authentic taste. Although there is a small investment of time to make them, you could make several batches and freeze them. These certainly won't keep for months in your refrigerator, and you can taste why. 

Leftover-Palooza

Argh. It's been too long since my last post, but like many of you, I've been busy! As a wife and mom who also works full time, life is a constant battle for balance. It can be so tempting to rely on convenience and ease, pulling  out frozen prepared meals or dinner in a box to make life a little simpler. Although it appears that 'convenience foods' save us time, I've learned that this isn't always the case. 


For all the time it takes to reheat and microwave an assembly of packets, you can assemble something great with leftovers. Some of the best dishes ever created were devised as ways to use up wholesome ingredients that are a shame to waste. Wasted food makes me cry, and the fact that 27% of food in North American households ends up in the trash sends me bawling. Not only do we eat too much crap food, we throw an awful lot away. 


I believe it's time we celebrated leftovers! Cooking a roast chicken is great, but making chicken enchiladas the next day is even better. Pork roast? Yes, it's good, but what I really want is the pulled pork sandwich for lunch. Some of my fondest memories of our family's traditional corned beef and cabbage dinners was not the big production, but the corned beef hash Mom would make the next day. Oh so good!

As busy as I was this week, I did manage to create a comforting favourite after a hectic workday, that took me 20 minutes to finish. On the weekend, we popped into the new location of the farmer's market here in Halifax (which is also one of the oldest in North America, established in 1750) to take advantage of the gorgeous local bounty. We got our hands on some phenomenal grass fed beef, dutch gouda cheese, handmade herbed foccacia bread, and an array of local organic vegetables. After a lazy Sunday dinner, I had a beautiful piece of  leftover steak, which allowed me to make this: 

This is what I'm calling a 'Hot Steak Sandwich'. It reminds me of one of my favourite comfort foods - the hot hamburger sandwich. Like in the picture, a hot (meat of your choice) sandwich is made by using leftover meat, piling it over toasted bread, and smothering it in gravy. It's usually served with leftover vegetables, most often mashed potatoes. For Monday's dinner, I toasted the leftover focaccia in the oven with some shredded cheese. (If any of the gouda had been left over, it may have made its way on the sandwich.) 




I sliced the steak and tossed it in a pan with chopped onion. From the beef juices leftover from Sunday's feast, I made a gravy.




Finally, I used some peas to add to the mix, and heated this through. Once the bread was toasted, the beef mix just needed to be spooned over top. That's it...in 20 minutes flat. So quick, and so freakin' tasty - why torture the family with 'microwave roast in a bag'?


My favourite aspect of using leftovers is the all the creativity you can roll in. There's no pressure to be authentic, no standard of excellence to compare yourself to. It's a challenge to be efficient and resourceful. What are your favourite leftovers? Tell us what ingredients make you long for the next day. 

Lower GI Pumpkin Muffins

I love fall in eastern Canada. It is my favourite season filled with brisk cool air, bountiful crops, and a plethora of bright leaves displaying their finest across the forest. I remember hearing from one of my readers (Denise, I'm looking at you!) who expressed envy at countries who get to experience the turning of seasons. Although in the midst of winter's deep freeze I tend to envy the tropics, it's the arrival of fall that makes me so grateful for the equinox. This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, so a lot of my thanks goes to Mother Nature.

When fall arrives, my thoughts turn immediately to pumpkins. For most folks, this means jack o' lanterns, toasted seeds or pie, but for me, it's the excitement of pumpkin muffins. I was first introduced to a pumpkin muffin in a wonderful coffee shop near my office that has local fair trade brew. The muffins were handmade by a local baker who used fair trade, organic ingredients. I liked them for the cinnamon crumble on the top. They stopped selling this morning delight a few years ago, and I've been on the quest for the best pumpkin muffin ever since. The richness and moisture of a quality pumpkin muffin is a moment of breakfast joy. (Or lunch, brunch, dinner, snack, midnight forage, etc...)

There are a number of great pumpkin muffin recipes out there, and I've perfected a few. However, my new challenge is to create a lower GI version of this harvest treat that will satisfy my spice cravings but still remain edible. I've assembled a recipe to try and lower the GI value (glycemic index) and make this a healthy breakfast item rather than a sugar surge covered in crumble. It's not an exact science, but by changing up a few ingredients, we can shift the sugar spike to a slow release.

Here's the recipe:

Lower GI Pumpkin Muffins

• 
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup semisweet 70% cocoa chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix the sugar, flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt together and sift. Combine the honey, oil, and eggs, and stir into the dry ingredients. Add in the pureed pumpkin, the walnuts and chocolate chips. Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups, and bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

OK. I know you're thinking - 'this is a 250 calorie muffin - are you nuts?!' Maybe so. There is a higher fat ratio from the nuts and chocolate, which helps to lower the impact of the sugars and starches. In return for spending these calories, you get a a decent little breakfast filled with antioxidants, vitamin A, magnesium, iron and 4 grams of protein! You have to get your calories from somewhere, so if you make them really count, you don't need to feel guilty. Considering that these hearty suckers will keep you going farther for longer, you can feel good about eating 'em. You'll be less likely to get into the office doughnuts, and that is a definite nutrition bonus.

To achieve this balance, I substituted honey for white sugar. Honey is sweeter than table sugar, and the body digests it more slowly. Because it's a liquid, I reduced some of the other liquid to keep the moisture ratio in tact. If you use honey in place of sugar, you can do a one for one ratio up to a full cup. Because honey browns foods much faster, I reduced the oven temperature slightly to ensure it didn't brown too quickly. I also added 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour in place of white. The added whole grains also temper the rapid digestion of sugars. The nuts and chocolate also add more fat, flavour, and a host of nutrients. Stick with 70% cocoa chocolate and you can indulge in antioxidants.

But really, what you want to know is how it tastes. I have to be honest - I think it puts the coffeehouse muffins to shame! There is no better way to celebrate the turning of the bountiful harvest season than hot coffee (fair trade, of course) and this sweet, spicy and moist breakfast muffin. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Corn Sugar?

The term ‘corn sugar’ has a quaint, somewhat old fashioned ring to it. It sounds a lot less industrial than ‘high fructose corn syrup’, which is what the Corn Refiner’s Association would like us to think. About two weeks ago, the CRA submitted a petition to the United States FDA, to officially change the name from HFCS to corn sugar. The goal, as stated on their website, is to ‘eliminate the confusion’. From this, I assume they believe we are confused about the source of HFCS, despite the fact the term ‘corn’ was already in the title.

So, why are the Corn Refiners rebranding? Well, food manufacturers are swapping out HFCS for old fashioned sugar. Some of this is due to consumer pressure, as HFCS has had a lot of bad press lately, particularly from studies suggesting that the way we metabolize HFCS is different than table sugar, and promotes faster weight gain. The debate rages on, as chemically, HFCS and table sugar are both similar in structure. The Corn Refiners are capitalizing on this, and so to cement in our minds that there is no difference between the sweeteners, a new name is born.

However, it’s not just consumer pressure that’s driving the switch to sugar. The production of ethanol from corn sources is driving up the price, making HFCS about equal in cost to sugar. With little financial incentive for manufacturers to use HFCS, the switch to sugar provides a marketing tool to label their products “made with sugar”. With two battlefronts to wage through, the CRA certainly has to step up their game to win an image war.

If there is one thing I agree with the CRA on, it’s the following statement from their press release:

“The last thing we want is for Americans to think that avoiding high fructose corn syrup is the answer,” said Registered Dietitian Carolyn O’Neil. “All added sugars should be consumed in moderation – corn sugar, table sugar, honey and fruit juice concentrates. These sugars contain an equal number of calories that must be burned off– or the body will convert them to fat.”

They are absolutely correct. The reality is, as smug as we can feel about demonizing HFCS as the culprit for the obesity epidemic, we eat too much of the sweet stuff period. It’s interesting to look at the overall picture and realize that whether you buy products with HFCS or not, it’s not the substance that matters, but the quantity we consume. If we are going to make any headway in changing the obesity trajectory we are on, we’ve got to ask ourselves why so much of what we buy is so sweet. More often than not, it’s because the food item is so poor on its own, its being masked as edible by sweeteners.

So, if few products contained added sweeteners, would we care about HFCS vs. sugar? Probably not.

Memories of Wiener Schnitzel

This week certainly has been an interesting one for me as far as food goes, as I've been voraciously reading many of the entries for Project Food Blog. I'm surrounded by a smörgåsbord of people who love food, learning tons about their motivations and food heritage. Many of the stories I read were dedicated to family. When you think about it, food and family are synonymous as we spend more time engaged in eating with our families than just about any other activity. Especially my family.

This inspiration has helped me craft this week's post, dedicated to warm family memories of wiener schnitzel. I suppose I could tell you all about our German heritage, including a rich tradition of culinary excellence that has carefully passed this guarded recipe down through the generations. But, that would be a lie. The actual story of my love for wiener schnitzel can be credited to my Mom, and not because it was ever prepared. 


Mom has a great sense of humour. Like many amateur comedians, she likes to try on impressions and accents. Her approach is always to spring it on you when you're not expecting it - like when I would call her at work and ask "what's for supper?" I know I fell over the day she answered in a heavily exaggerated  German accent, "SOUR-KROOWT vand VEEENAH SHHNITZEL!" Then, promptly hung up the phone. (We like phone jokes in our family...prank calls, pretending to be an answering machine, etc..) Even though we never did eat this dish, wiener schnitzel was forever a running joke, and permanently imprinted in my brain.


Years later, I found myself traveling around Europe, with a stop none other than in Germany. I was on an organized tour, which included several authentic meals. You can only begin to imagine my complete and utter excitement when I heard we were having sauerkraut and wiener schnitzel. Oh.My.Gawd. It was no joke. I thoroughly enjoyed the lightly breaded and fried pork cutlet, seasoned with thyme and paprika, dressed in a lemon sauce. The mild sauerkraut was made with purple cabbage, seasoned with apple and raisins. After the meal and a few liters of fine German draught, I called my mother. It was the most expensive 5 minutes of laughter I can say I've had.


Since then, I have made this fine dish a few times. Here's how to make outstanding wiener schnitzel that can be served with just about anything you wish. For my version, I made roasted herb potatoes, and a matchstick vegetable salad. 


Weiner Schnitzel (makes 4)


4 pork cutlets pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
1/4 cup flour
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
juice of 1/2 lemon
chopped capers


Mix the breadcrumbs, thyme, paprika, garlic powder, salt & pepper. Dredge the cutlets in flour, then coat with beaten egg, and cover with the breadcrumb mix. In a medium-high heat pan, bring the olive oil and butter to bubbling, then slip the pork cutlets in. Fry on each side for 2-3 minutes, or until golden. Set aside to rest. Deglaze the pan with the wine and chicken stock, scraping all the brown bits, and turn heat to low. Add lemon juice and capers, and stir until the sauce thickens. Serve the sauce over the schnitzel. 


Dankeschön!

Why You Need a Nerd in Your Kitchen

All this thinking is making me hungry...

I started my blogging journey in December 2009. I had an idea, a laptop, and an itchy finger. I knew I wanted to share some of the crazy thoughts that stew in my brain, but what exactly? Then, my stomach rumbled and I knew. 


The appeal of food blogging is universal. As humans, we eat several times a day. We make constant decisions about this very act, not only for ourselves, but often for the people we love. Food defines us beyond mere survival more than we care to realize. We are surrounded by food and food issues in most aspects of daily living. Like a mirror, our cultural traditions are reflected back at us at the potlucks we attend. We grapple with the politics of food by making hard choices in the grocery aisle, or reading about food recalls in the headlines. We revel in food science as we discover new antioxidants and find risks in industrial food systems. We trace our history through recipes and ingredients that have traveled the same migratory and immigration patterns as our ancestors, leaving us an edible legacy. And, we find pleasure in food, relishing sweet moments of time that nourish the mind, body and soul. With such depth and richness to connect me to a wide audience, I felt the stomach was the natural place to write from the heart.

So, the blogging began. To my epicurean delight, the journey became the destination. In the process of figuring out what I was doing in the blogosphere, I found more than an outlet for words; I found so much to learn. Could anything be better for a nerd? Though I am a learning consultant by day, blogging has become a virtual classroom where I can discover, be inspired, and share. My learning philosophy is fairly simple; we are all experts, and by sharing, we build greater knowledge. Being a nerd in the kitchen is all about learning and sharing: a great recipe, a technique, a cool gadget, a food philosophy, a controversy, a story...A nerd's scope is endless.


Writing a great blog is not about being an expert. It's a place to connect with your readers in a way that makes them want to drop by for another visit. What keeps me returning to my favourite bloggers is a personality that emanates beyond the text, pictures and recipes. I feel like I'm dropping in on a friend, having a warm cup of coffee and some great conversation. Why would a kitchen nerd be a great food blogger? Well, nerds are humble, awkward, and perhaps a bit clumsy, but always intrigued by the questions the kitchen poses. This intrigue comes with the duty to experiment and document the answers.


As a writer, I am also obsessed with taking these grand, random and sometimes disjointed thoughts and processing them into something perfectly digestible. This is the art of blogging - conveying complex ideas in a simple way, so that you can have a great conversation with your readers.


As your Kitchen Nerd, I eat - therefore, I write and share.

New Look and Project Food Blog

As you can see, I've made some changes to Kitchen Nerd central. I'm preparing for Project Food Blog, a contest sponsored by Foodbuzz, the site featured in the ads. If you can imagine a food blog version of American Idol, you'll have a good idea of what I'm in for. The contest begins on September 12, requiring the 1700+ entrants to submit blog posts based on predefined challenges. Each week, contestants will be whittled down, until a winner takes $10,000 in prize money and earns a special website sponsored by Foodbuzz. 


Although winning would be a lot of fun, I've discovered that this is a prime opportunity to meet other food bloggers and develop my skills. As part of this development, I wanted to redevelop the site to reflect a more personal theme. I hope you like the new look, and will keep coming back!


In the coming weeks, you'll see my submissions to Project Food Blog. To find out more, click on the Project Food Blog widget on the right hand side of the site. If you like what you see, you can help me move through the challenges by visiting my site, and voting on the Project Food Blog contest site.


Thanks for checking it out!