Recipes Blog

I had questions about the quality of food we have been having for a long time. I have made a post about the same topic here before. On that occasion I wrote about my worries regarding food products coming from China and problems associated with hog industry in America (as reported by Nicholas D Kristof of New York times). I pointed the criminal collusion between the manufacturers and their auditors to circumvent the government’s checks and safe guards.

But I never suspected baby food industry. Who in their right mind would do some thing to harm babies? Especially since these products are consumed by kids of these manufacturers too. And I did not find any proof to contradict this belief so far. But, recently CDC (Center For Disease Control) has disclosed that they have found traces of rocket fuel in baby formula! Can any one believe it? Rocket fuel chemicals in baby formula!

On second thought, this should have been expected. Since the US has the biggest arsenal of arms on the planet, we are bound to test and use them much more than the rest of the world. Naturally residue of the chemicals used in bombs, rockets etc are bound to contaminate the drinking water sources and eventually reach even baby formula. The large number of air planes flying around the country are also bound to leave behind a huge amount of pollutants behind.

The chemical which was found in the powdered baby formula is “perchlorate”. This chemical can occur naturally in certain cases. But in most cases, the contamination is coming from defense installations and activities related to NASA. The amount of the chemical found by itself is within limits of consumption for adults. But when this is mixed with contaminated water, the level of contamination will become beyond safe limits. And the limits are set for adults. So this must be really high for infants! The water in many parts of the US is contaminated with perchlorate and some of these are above safe limits already!

These findings were released by the scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who looked for the chemical, perchlorate, in different brands of powdered baby formula.

Perchlorate is considered to be a reason for thyroid problems. But there are no studies which ties this chemical directly to the condition. As thyroid hormones are responsible for human metabolism, this may adversely affect the baby’s over all growth and intellect.

Iodine is known to counteract the effects of perchlorate to some extent. Hence, government has made it mandatory for baby formulas to have iodine in them. This can prevent the adverse effects of this chemical to some extent.

In the same study, cow’s milk has the highest amount of perchlorate in it. So, we have to drink our milk also at our own risk!

Due to the havoc it can create in the baby food market, authorities are still vouching for the safety of baby formula. As there are no conclusive studies to prove the adverse effects of perchlorate, we have to keep our arms crossed and wait in the hope that the CDC is correct in their assessment.

Here is an interesting Chinese vegetarian dish made of bamboo shoots. Unlike the typical non-vegetarian items usually found in Chinese restaurants, this is a nice variety.

Ingredients are:

3/4 pounds or 350 grams of good quality winter bamboo shoots
2 1/2 ounces or 75 grams of preserved mustard green
1 1/2 cups or 350 milliliter of vegetable oil for deep-frying
1/2 teaspoon MSG, only if you like the taste

Directions to cook:

Remove the husks from the bamboo shoots. Then, roll-cut them into diamond-shaped pieces. Dip the preserved mustard in water for approximately 5 minutes time so as to decrease its saltiness. Squeeze away the surplus water and cut it in to 1 1/2 inch or 3 1/2 centimeter pieces.

Heat the oil in a wok to about 400 degree Fahrenheit or 205 degree Celsius, or until a piece of scallion green or ginger browns pretty fast when tossed into the oil and a haze rises above the oil surface. Add the preserved mustard and deep-fry it for another 30 seconds. Remove from oil and drain it. Now, add the bamboo shoots and reduce the heat to low. Deep-fry the bamboo shoots for another 30 seconds more, then increase the heat to high level and deep-fry for another 3 minutes more, or until the shoots become brown outside and tender inside. Remove from oil and drain them. Add the preserved mustard in to the oil and deep-fry for another 5 minutes more. Remove from oil and drain it.

Pour all of the oil out of the wok. Add the preserved mustard and bamboo shoots in to the wok. Stir-fry so as to blend every thing well, then sprinkle some of the MSG. Remove in to a serving dish and serve.

The original slogan for crock pots at its inception, way back in the sixties, was “It cooks all day while the cook is away”. Those words were potent enough to get a few million people to start using them in the seventies. Later the popularity of crock pots started to diminish in the early eighties. Right now, it is resurgence time for these utensils. If you join the enthusiastic bunch of crock potters, you can also be cooking your dinner while working at your office, during your kids soccer practice, during a thorough yard cleaning etc. As you have the option to throw most of stuff in to the pot and do not have to worry about every step of cooking, crock pot cooking can reduce the stress associated with routine cooking. Young adults who are starting to live and cook on their own love this a lot.

If you use crock pot, even less expensive cuts of meat also will become really tender and tasty. Thus crock potting is especially good for this recession time as it saves you money. Many a times, there will be a lot of leftovers from this type of cooking and those can be used in the next few days. As cooking many meals at a single time is economical in time spent and monetary terms, this is an appropriate cooking method for the current times. Retired people struggling to make a living on their meager income are also going back to this electric gadget they are familiar from their past use during younger days.

Many families are enjoying the aroma of dinner in all areas of their home when they arrive in the evening! And this rejuvenating smell is going to linger in your home all through the afternoon. These and other factors have added to the increase in the sales of crock pots to an amazing number at 8.9 million in 2008.

The current bunch of crock pots are much more attractive than their older counterparts. Some of them look pretty much like some of your cool gadgets with their stainless steel bodies. They have multiple heat settings and cooking time settings, making it much more easier for ladies to manipulate the appliance better.

In the seventies, there were a lot of complaints about the quality of the food cooked in crock pots. This was to be understood as it was a new invention and there were no recipes prepared exclusively with crock pot in mind. There were people who complained about the same taste found for any thing and every thing cooked in crock pots. There were complaints about the food being too dry even I the closed cooking environment. Even some others felt that the food created looked ugly.

But in the recent years, recipes created solely with crock pots in mind are coming in to the public domain. Endorsements from TV chefs, celebrity chefs etc have added flavor to new crock pot cooked food items.