Happy Halloween!!

Best day of the year!!! More photo's to come!!!

Torula Yeast

The other day Andi was reading a couple of products I had bought at the store and she came across an ingredients she couldn't pronounce. When I looked at it, I realized I had never heard of it either. The word was "Torula Yeast." Torula yeast is an additive that is rich in glutamic acid which lends a smoky, savory, umami flavor to foods. It started replacing MSG years ago when people found out about all the side effects from consuming MSG. Torula yeast grows on wood sugars obtained as a byproduct of the paper manufacturing process, on sugar cane, or on sulfite liquors. Sounds weird to me that I would want to eat wood sugars that end up being a "byproduct of the paper manufacturing process" but so far no side effects have been found. These wood sugars are also used in bee keeping and as a trapping agent for olive flies.

However back to the food. The product I had bought was:

I know, I know I bought pesto. It was on sale and in the long run it was cheaper then making it from scratch. However, I never would have known about Tourla Yeast if I wouldn't have gotten it. I started rummaging through our cupboards to see what else we have that might contain the yeast.

Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice is one of my favorites and sure enough,

 it's in there.

It's also in Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts.

So what's in your cupboard???

Pink Slime

Pink Slime. Sounds gross and kinda weird when you first hear it. You definitely aren't thinking about eating it. However, you most likely already have! It's been around since 2001 but didn't really become noticed until the beginning of this year. So what is pink slime???

"Pink slime is beef trimmings. It is made from waste trimmings that are simmered at a low heat until the fat separates from the muscle. It is run through a machine to separate the fat and muscle then it is sent through pipes where it is sprayed with ammonia before being packaged into meat bricks. The bricks are then frozen and sent to grocery stores where it is added to most ground beef as a filler."

Yummy huh!?  Pink slime a.k.a. "soylent pink" was in approximately 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets as of March 2012. As pink slime became known to consumers, controversy and concern over health and sanitation issues became huge. The USDA had approved the use of "pink slime" in 2001 and allows that "beef that contains up to 15 percent of pink slime can be labeled as "100% ground beef." So, who was using and selling pink slime? Well, just about everyone! Safeway, Krogers, Stop and Shop, Target, Hy-Vee, Market Basket, Walmart, Jewel-Osco, and Carr's just to name a few. Fast food restaurants such as Burger King, Taco Bell, and McDonald's all had used it. McDonald's even took the process overseas to their locations in China.

It was also in many school lunches across the US. Parents started petitioning to the USDA to have pink slime removed from their children's school lunches. The USDA responded by stating that the U.S. National School Lunch Program will allow school districts to decided whether they want to purchase beef with pink slime or not. The problem here is that most school districts purchase their beef straight from the USDA and have no idea what there getting. Several cities and states opt-ed out immediately- Miami, New York, Boston, D.C., and Anchorage to name a few. North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa continue to use pink slime today. The USDA reported earlier this year that they plan on purchasing 7 billion pounds of pink slime just for school lunches. 

So.....the final question is....what's in your beef???

Cooking with your wife.....

So here's an interesting story. A guy in LA is on trial for cooking his wife for 4 days and then disposing of her remains down the grease pit in his kitchen's restaurant. Click here to read about it.

Ippuku

A while back, Andi and I went out to dinner at a Japanese Izakaya restaurant in Downtown Berkeley called Ippuku. Izakaya's are small drinking establishments that also specialize in small tastings of food kinda like Spanish Tapas. I always wanted to go to one but could never find one in Boston.

The place was quite small, maybe 50 seats if that. You can sit at low tables like the one above or in booths. In the far back there is the kitchen.

We started off with grilled chicken livers in a soy glaze. They were slightly charred and bitter on the outside which went perfectly with the sweet soy flavor.

Grilled jumbo squid with Japanese mayo and ground ginger. A little chewy for my taste but Andi loved it.

Beef tongue with shishito peppers. If you've never heard of or had shishito peppers, I recommend finding some. There delicious little guys that are great for searing or grilling!

Bacon wrapped mochi!! Mochi are little rice cakes that are kinda have the same texture as marshmallows. Mmmmmm....bacon wrapped marshmallows! There's an idea!! You can find mochi in most Asian markets in the freezer section. They also make mochi ice cream in many different flavors that's also great!

Soft tofu in soy broth with scallions and red onion. Yum!

Grilled pork belly with miso paste. A little bit of a let down since I LOVE pork belly and this was quite tough.

Dungeness crab fritters. Again, another let down. No flavor what so ever. :(

Squid ink fried rice!! Best dish out of the entire meal! The rice had amazing flavor, not salty at all.

Seared beef tenderloin in ponzu with shiso leaf and ground garlic. Another hit! The tartness of the ponzu, bitterness of the shiso leaf and spiciness of the ground garlic worked magic with the soft seared tenderloin.

Mini chicken ramen soup with house made noodles. Total comfort food!

We finished our meal with two items. The first was buckwheat tea. A pleasant change from having it as pancakes or noodles(soba).

The second was soft serve ice cream with a soy reduction. The saltiness of the soy want perfect with the sweetness of the ice cream!

For my first experience at a Japanese Izakaya, I was quite impressed. I'll defiantly be back to this one and can't wait to find more!!



Nothing In Life Is Free

So apperently having this blog is not free. I can no longer post photos because I'm out of memory space and have to "buy" more. I'm working on trying to delete some of my past stuff but don't really want to. Stay tuned as I'll either figure a way around it or get another blog!!

Busy

So I haven't had much time to write anything as I have been working non-stop for a couple of weeks now. One of my sous chef went out to have his appendix removed and myself and my other sous have been covering all the shifts. I do have a couple of good things coming, thought. In the meantime, check out my squash!!

Since I haven't had any time, my garden has been a little neglected. This squash just kept growing and growing. It's 14 inches long and 10 inches in circumference. Super huge!!