With all of us out there who are trying to cut back on the amount of fats we eat, a particular question keeps popping up around dinner time: Do you want your (insert tasty food here) baked or fried? Years ago, I wouldn’t even DREAM of choosing baked chicken over fried. But time is...
So far, we have seen traditional ovens go against microwave ovens AND the art of baking doing battle with boiling. Now it’s time we focus our attention on two methods of cooking which rely solely on a large amount of water: This week, we watch as two heavy weights battle it out. Our reigning...
Last week we explored the three main ways that thermal energy can DIFFUSE through our food during cooking: Radiation is the transfer of waves of energy from every ATOM in the universe. Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy between two or more objects that are touching each other. Convection transfers energy through fluids...
We have focused a lot of time and energy on the science behind certain foods. However, there is a tremendous amount of information to be gained by studying the tools we use to create our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This week we are going to begin a journey into several different methods of preparing...
I was blessed to have parents that were avid readers. I’m not saying we were that family that went around the neighborhood quoting Shakespeare, but there was always something to read by my parents side at home. Like most habits from parents, this one found its way into me at a very young age...
We’ve looked at several different types of snack foods so far. What we are about to study is much more complicated that simply popping popcorn. It contains a few more steps than making potato chips. Nevertheless, this baked favorite DOES share one important step that is found in the creation of corn and tortilla...
The many varieties of corn may give us the tasty snacks of popcorn, tortilla chips, and corn chips. However, there is no reason why corn should have ALL the fun. This week, we are going to look at another type of chip… THE POTATO CHIP Unlike corn and tortilla chips, the potato does not...
Next to wheat and rice, corn is the third largest human food crop in the world. This versatile plant not only provides food for millions of people around the world, it also provides nourishment to livestock. In addition, it can be converted into oil for cooking, thickening powders like corn starch, corn syrup for...
I love to snack on foods. I can’t lie about it. My friends have all known of my torrid love affair with chips and salsa over the years. It is shameful. Now I HAVE made an honest attempt at curbing this desire later in the evenings. But if I am near a bowl of...
I hope I didn’t scare anyone out there last week with my introduction to chocolate making. It is true that the seeds that are used to make chocolate must be covered in all kinds of tiny organisms which do a very good job at rearranging many of their ATOMS. It may sound disgusting, and...