In my column, Green Pans, I said that I had emailed the Thermolon Company on where one could purchase Green Pans here in the US. Well, I have received an email back from a Ms Ronica Kaur. In her email, Ms Kaur stated that you can purchase the Green Pan from the following places
Target Stores
Crate & Barrell
Bed, Bath and Beyond
Chef's Catalog
I went to the web sites of each of these companies and found that they do indeed offer Green Pans for sale, but none of them carry a complete set of pans or they only carry one type of pans like sauté pans or frying pans. So if you are seriously interested in purchasing a complete set of cookware or bake ware you will need to go the Home Shopping Network and purchase them.
I have written an email to a Ms. Valarie Kagan of GreenPan Inc. to see if she would send me a price list of all the Green Pan lines as well if it is possible to purchase from the manufacturer. I’ll keep you all posted in a later blog.
I went to my first farmer’s market of the season this past weekend. On Friday night, Connie and I went to the Trader’s Point Farmers Market located at the Trader’s Point Creamery in Zionsville. If you have never tried any of Trader’s Point products, you are missing out on the wonderful dairy products. All of there cows are grass fed. They do not get any grains and all of the milk is grass fed milk. Trader’s Point produces, milk, chocolate milk (The best in my humble opinion), yogurt, cheeses and ice cream. If you are trying their products, I know they are sold at Marsh, O’Malia’s and at their shop at the creamery. For an excursion they offer tours of their creamery and it is worth the trip.
Anyway, back to the farmer’s market. We walked around to see what was being offered. It was well represented and we made some wonderful purchases. We bought Swiss chard, Arugula, Spring Onions, assorted lettuces and strawberries. The produce was fresh and smelled wonderful. The highlight of the market, for me, was our purchase of grass fed rib eye steaks and grass fed lamb fennel sausage. Grass fed beef is leaner than grain fed beef and has less moisture than supermarket steaks. Therefore grass fed beef requires a marinade to keep the meat from becoming too dry when cooking. I am looking forward to grilling these in the not to distant future.
On Saturday morning we cut up the strawberries and served them on a slice of pound cake with some crème fraiche that we purchased from Trader’s Point and it was such a wonderful breakfast. We went to another market located at the YMCA parking lot on Fort Harrison and bought more strawberries and some asparagus. The asparagus was large and freshly picked and the strawberries were bright red and picked that morning.
For lunch that day, I fried some of the lamb sausage into patties, roasted the asparagus and spring onions, and made a fresh batch of romesco sauce. We served the meal with a loaf of fresh Tuscan bread along with some home made mint iced tea. Dipping the vegetables in the romesco sauce and then placing in the mouth reminded me of being in Spain. I love this time of the year with all the fresh vegetables and the flavors that explode in ones mouth. So go to your local farmer’s market and enjoy all of the spring vegetables and flowers.
This week’s winner for which recipe you want was the Spicy Pork Stew. So here it is.
SPICY PORK STEW
Ingredients:
2 lb lean pork, cubed
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
6 to 8 New Mexican green chilies, roasted and peeled, seeds and stems removed, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and diced
2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups water
Steps:
1. In a Dutch oven, Brown pork in oil
2. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes
3. Add remaining ingredients to Dutch oven, cover and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until meat is very tender
Please don’t forget to vote is this week’s recipe choice question. If any of you know where there are great farmer’s markets or produce stands, let me know and you just may show up in this blog. Till next week, eat well and healthy!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
As you, my loyal readers, requested
To those of you who are new to my blog, I always have a poll question for you to answer. My latest poll was a question about which recipe I should supply next. Well the time frame for the poll is over and the results ended in a tie. So you readers win. You will get two recipes this week.
I thought it ironic that both recipes have the same primary ingredient, mushrooms. I love mushrooms. I love the way that mushrooms provide a meaty flavor and hardiness to any recipe that they are in. I guess my loyal readers are mushroom lovers just like me.
MUSHROOM SOUP (6 servings)
Ingredients:
8 oz Fresh Mushrooms
2 tbsp onions, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp non-salted butter
2-3 tbsp flour, separated
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup light cream or evaporated milk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
Steps:
Cut mushrooms into slices
Melt butter in large frying pan
Add in onions, garlic, and mushrooms, cook until onions are soft.
Blend in 2 tbsp flour and stir.
Add chicken broth and heat until slightly thickened, stirring frequently
In a bowl add cream and stir in additional tbsp flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg
Add cream mixture to soup
Heat to thicken while stirring frequently
MANICOTTI WITH MUSHROOMS (6 Servings)
Ingredients:
½ oz dried porcini mushrooms
6 large manicotti (dried)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small onion, finely sliced
4 oz roasted red peppers, chopped
¾ cup low-fat ricotta cheese
½ tsp salt
½ tsp coarse black pepper
1 ½ cups tomato sauce (your favorite jarred, can or freshly made)
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Steps:
In a small bowl, cover dried mushrooms with hot water, set aside to soak for 30 minutes
After mushrooms have soaked, drain and chop coarsely
Meanwhile, prepare manicotti according to package directions, drain and cool
Lightly spray 8x8-inch baking pan with olive oil, set aside
Over medium heat, heat a nonstick pan and add olive oil
Add mushrooms (except porcini), garlic and onions, cook mixture about 8 minutes
Add porcini mushrooms and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes
Add roasted peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
Turn off heat, and stir in the ricotta.
Add salt and pepper to taste
Transfer mushroom mixture to a large re-sealable plastic bag.
Pipe the filling into cooled manicotti shells through a hole cut in the corner of the bag.
Place the manicotti shells in prepared baking dish.
Top with tomato sauce and then sprinkle Parmesan over top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve immediately
I hope that you will try these recipes and will leave comments about them on this blog. I am looking forward to see how you like them.
I thought it ironic that both recipes have the same primary ingredient, mushrooms. I love mushrooms. I love the way that mushrooms provide a meaty flavor and hardiness to any recipe that they are in. I guess my loyal readers are mushroom lovers just like me.
MUSHROOM SOUP (6 servings)
Ingredients:
8 oz Fresh Mushrooms
2 tbsp onions, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp non-salted butter
2-3 tbsp flour, separated
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup light cream or evaporated milk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
Steps:
Cut mushrooms into slices
Melt butter in large frying pan
Add in onions, garlic, and mushrooms, cook until onions are soft.
Blend in 2 tbsp flour and stir.
Add chicken broth and heat until slightly thickened, stirring frequently
In a bowl add cream and stir in additional tbsp flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg
Add cream mixture to soup
Heat to thicken while stirring frequently
MANICOTTI WITH MUSHROOMS (6 Servings)
Ingredients:
½ oz dried porcini mushrooms
6 large manicotti (dried)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small onion, finely sliced
4 oz roasted red peppers, chopped
¾ cup low-fat ricotta cheese
½ tsp salt
½ tsp coarse black pepper
1 ½ cups tomato sauce (your favorite jarred, can or freshly made)
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Steps:
In a small bowl, cover dried mushrooms with hot water, set aside to soak for 30 minutes
After mushrooms have soaked, drain and chop coarsely
Meanwhile, prepare manicotti according to package directions, drain and cool
Lightly spray 8x8-inch baking pan with olive oil, set aside
Over medium heat, heat a nonstick pan and add olive oil
Add mushrooms (except porcini), garlic and onions, cook mixture about 8 minutes
Add porcini mushrooms and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes
Add roasted peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
Turn off heat, and stir in the ricotta.
Add salt and pepper to taste
Transfer mushroom mixture to a large re-sealable plastic bag.
Pipe the filling into cooled manicotti shells through a hole cut in the corner of the bag.
Place the manicotti shells in prepared baking dish.
Top with tomato sauce and then sprinkle Parmesan over top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve immediately
I hope that you will try these recipes and will leave comments about them on this blog. I am looking forward to see how you like them.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
A Spicy Hot Place
Over the past couple of weeks I noticed that a new restaurant had opened in the place where one of my favorite breakfast diners used to be. I look back fondly on Jaki-Dans. The former owner of Jaki-Dans is a close friend and our daughters were friends all through school. It is hard to believe the girls are both 21 and all so grown, but I digress.
I worked from home yesterday and I decided that I would try the new place during lunch. The name of this restaurant is Picoso and it is located on the corner of 17th Street and Orinoco Ave in Columbus. From the name I assumed that the restaurant was either a Mexican or Spanish restaurant. But that was the only assumption I wanted to make because I wanted an open mind and judge the restaurant on its merits.
I arrived at 11:45 AM and it was all ready full. That gave me a good feeling because usually when a restaurant is full it usually means the food is rather tasty. I walked to the counter and sat down. The interior of the place is warm and cheery and the color scheme made one realize that this was a Mexican style restaurant. It was clean and the wait staff was cheery and made on feel welcome. After I sat down, I looked around the place. There was seating for approximately 50 people at tables and there were 3 seats at the counter. I was given the menu and I was surprised to see that the menu was quite small. There were a limited number of items. There were 3 types of tacos, one type of burrito, a Cobb salad, and finally nachos. The prices were not extravagant. There were different types of meat for the dishes and what I found very pleasing was that if you chose beef, you didn’t get ground beef, you got diced brisket. That is a traditional way of serving Mexican food in West Texas and New Mexico.
I ordered the burrito with the brisket as my meat choice. It was served quickly and I was pleasantly surprised with the portion size. It was generously filled with a wonderful lime-cilantro infused rice, perfectly cooked ranchero beans, lettuce, and traditionally shredded queso fresco cheese. The flour tortilla was grilled before the ingredients added and rolled. They then covered the burrito with fresh sour cream. The burrito comes with salsa. I chose the hot salsa and it is fresh and tasty. The salsa contained fresh diced habanero pepper. It was wonderful.
After the meal I tried their cheesecake. It was a traditional New York style cheesecake that is served on top of a lime glaze and whipped cream flaked with lime zest. It was perfect compliment to the meal. The velvety cheesecake and the lime glaze quenched the heat in my mouth from the peppers. Portion was more than adequate, as I couldn’t finish it because of the richness of this dessert. The price of this meal was very reasonable. For a burrito, drink, and dessert my cost was less than $15.00
Monday –Tuesday 11:00 AM – 7:30 PM
Wednesday 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Thursday – Friday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
I worked from home yesterday and I decided that I would try the new place during lunch. The name of this restaurant is Picoso and it is located on the corner of 17th Street and Orinoco Ave in Columbus. From the name I assumed that the restaurant was either a Mexican or Spanish restaurant. But that was the only assumption I wanted to make because I wanted an open mind and judge the restaurant on its merits.
I arrived at 11:45 AM and it was all ready full. That gave me a good feeling because usually when a restaurant is full it usually means the food is rather tasty. I walked to the counter and sat down. The interior of the place is warm and cheery and the color scheme made one realize that this was a Mexican style restaurant. It was clean and the wait staff was cheery and made on feel welcome. After I sat down, I looked around the place. There was seating for approximately 50 people at tables and there were 3 seats at the counter. I was given the menu and I was surprised to see that the menu was quite small. There were a limited number of items. There were 3 types of tacos, one type of burrito, a Cobb salad, and finally nachos. The prices were not extravagant. There were different types of meat for the dishes and what I found very pleasing was that if you chose beef, you didn’t get ground beef, you got diced brisket. That is a traditional way of serving Mexican food in West Texas and New Mexico.
I ordered the burrito with the brisket as my meat choice. It was served quickly and I was pleasantly surprised with the portion size. It was generously filled with a wonderful lime-cilantro infused rice, perfectly cooked ranchero beans, lettuce, and traditionally shredded queso fresco cheese. The flour tortilla was grilled before the ingredients added and rolled. They then covered the burrito with fresh sour cream. The burrito comes with salsa. I chose the hot salsa and it is fresh and tasty. The salsa contained fresh diced habanero pepper. It was wonderful.
After the meal I tried their cheesecake. It was a traditional New York style cheesecake that is served on top of a lime glaze and whipped cream flaked with lime zest. It was perfect compliment to the meal. The velvety cheesecake and the lime glaze quenched the heat in my mouth from the peppers. Portion was more than adequate, as I couldn’t finish it because of the richness of this dessert. The price of this meal was very reasonable. For a burrito, drink, and dessert my cost was less than $15.00
I would highly recommend Picoso to anyone. To me, it is the best Mexican style restaurant within the city limits of Columbus. There are many places in Columbus where one can get a quick lunch, but Picoso is just as quick but provides food that shames all of these pretenders. It is my hope that Picoso becomes a success because Columbus would be at a loss if this restaurant fails. If this restaurant had opened in the new areas of downtown it would be an instant success but the meals would be more expensive to pay for the prime location. To the owners Daniel and Kimbery Heilman, Good Luck and don’t change what you are doing. I’ll be back soon for more of your delicious food.
1644 Orinoco Ave, Columbus, IN 47201
(812) 799-0358
Hours of Operation:Monday –Tuesday 11:00 AM – 7:30 PM
Wednesday 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Thursday – Friday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
"Green" Pots and Pans
Everybody seems to be concerned with environmental issues. Some people are concerned for global warming, others believe in recycling, while others, like me, worry about pesticides and chemicals in our food. I try to eat as much organic food as I can.
However, through my research I found that most of the harmful chemicals we eat come from the cookware that we use. Most of us use a traditional non-stick pans in our cooking. Traditional non-stick is Teflon® based plastic material that is layered over the metal of our pans. We all have used it and over time we see the pan start to chip and flakes end up in our food. We all know that you need to use plastic or wooden utensils to cook with non-stick cookware. When my pans started to flake and chip I thought it was because I got lazy and started using metal utensils. This partially true but the real cause was because I was using the wrong heat setting for traditional non-stick.
Traditional non-stick cookware is made by coating the pan or pot with PTFE (PolyTetraFluoroEthylene); a waxy, synthetic substance. PTFE has well documented disadvantages in household use. Above 500 degrees, this PTFE coating starts to breakdown. The released fumes can potentially harm the respiratory tract and cause nausea and headaches. So when you overheat your non-stick pan not only to you damage the pan but possibly your health. Additionally, PTFE coatings are manufactured with the aid of PFOA (PerfluoraOctanoic Acid) which is classified as a persistent pollutant of the environment. Besides that, PFOA is a chemical that the human body has tough time expelling and is known as a likely human carcinogen, according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
After learning about this information, I wanted to find a substitute for traditional non-stick. I did quite a bit of research on the web and found a substitute. This new non-stick is made without PTFE and doesn’t use PFOAs. The non-stick is a ceramic based non-stick that also is able to withstand temperatures up to 850 degrees. What this means is I could then put these new types of non-stick pans into the oven. This was my type of non-stick. This type of non-stick is called Thermolon®. It is used in the production of the ‘Original Green Pan’.
The first pan I bought was a 14 inch paella pan from the Home Shopping Network (HSN). It was from the Chef Todd English collection. Chef English is an award winning chef and was voted as one the 50 sexiest men in America by People magazine. I watched the demonstration of the pan and then I chose the paella pan because it would serve very well as my test bed of this new cookware. When the pan arrived, I was surprised to see that the non-stick surface is a blue-gray color and that the weight of the pans was very light. I made a chicken, chorizo and shrimp paella with my new pan. It crisped the rice the way that I like and cooked the rest of the ingredients perfectly. Clean up was breeze. I was able to wipe the pan clean with just a sponge and water. Nothing stuck, no soaking and then the pan is dishwasher safe. I fell in love with this cookware on the spot.
I have ordered different sets from HSN and all have worked as described. In fact, I gave my expensive Calphalon® hard anodized non-stick cookware to my daughter for a wedding present. I use nothing but Green Pan for my cooking and baking.
Recently, there is another company that has started producing ceramic based non-stick. I receive quite a bit of spam from them wanting me to try their cookware. The company is OrGreenic®. I have read their information and have watched their infomercial and the pans seem to be very similar to the Green Pan. The difference that I saw was that the non-stick material is green in color instead of blue-gray. I also noted that there was no mention of Thermolon® technology. After searching their website I also noticed that there was no ability to order sets of pans. You could only order individual pots and pans, plus I didn’t see any type of bake ware. I may order their introductory 8 inch fry pan to test with and right about the results at a later time.
Currently, the only place to purchase Green Pan in the United States is from HSN and it is from the Chef Todd English collection. I have been to the Thermolon® website and they have many different lines of cookware. I went to there ‘where to buy’ tab and looked under the United States. What I found was a mailto link. I have sent an email to the address provided asking where I could purchase their cookware from a retailer or wholesaler. I am still waiting for a reply.
I am very happy with my current Green Pans and I recommend them highly to anyone. These pans are wonderful to use, simple to maintain and clean up is a breeze. But the greatest benefit is that I know that unwanted chemicals are not getting into my food and I am doing my small part for living green.
If you are interested in more information or purchasing ceramic non-stick visit the following websites:
Home Shopping Network (Chef Todd English Collection)
OrGreenic
Thermolon
However, through my research I found that most of the harmful chemicals we eat come from the cookware that we use. Most of us use a traditional non-stick pans in our cooking. Traditional non-stick is Teflon® based plastic material that is layered over the metal of our pans. We all have used it and over time we see the pan start to chip and flakes end up in our food. We all know that you need to use plastic or wooden utensils to cook with non-stick cookware. When my pans started to flake and chip I thought it was because I got lazy and started using metal utensils. This partially true but the real cause was because I was using the wrong heat setting for traditional non-stick.
Traditional non-stick cookware is made by coating the pan or pot with PTFE (PolyTetraFluoroEthylene); a waxy, synthetic substance. PTFE has well documented disadvantages in household use. Above 500 degrees, this PTFE coating starts to breakdown. The released fumes can potentially harm the respiratory tract and cause nausea and headaches. So when you overheat your non-stick pan not only to you damage the pan but possibly your health. Additionally, PTFE coatings are manufactured with the aid of PFOA (PerfluoraOctanoic Acid) which is classified as a persistent pollutant of the environment. Besides that, PFOA is a chemical that the human body has tough time expelling and is known as a likely human carcinogen, according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
After learning about this information, I wanted to find a substitute for traditional non-stick. I did quite a bit of research on the web and found a substitute. This new non-stick is made without PTFE and doesn’t use PFOAs. The non-stick is a ceramic based non-stick that also is able to withstand temperatures up to 850 degrees. What this means is I could then put these new types of non-stick pans into the oven. This was my type of non-stick. This type of non-stick is called Thermolon®. It is used in the production of the ‘Original Green Pan’.
The first pan I bought was a 14 inch paella pan from the Home Shopping Network (HSN). It was from the Chef Todd English collection. Chef English is an award winning chef and was voted as one the 50 sexiest men in America by People magazine. I watched the demonstration of the pan and then I chose the paella pan because it would serve very well as my test bed of this new cookware. When the pan arrived, I was surprised to see that the non-stick surface is a blue-gray color and that the weight of the pans was very light. I made a chicken, chorizo and shrimp paella with my new pan. It crisped the rice the way that I like and cooked the rest of the ingredients perfectly. Clean up was breeze. I was able to wipe the pan clean with just a sponge and water. Nothing stuck, no soaking and then the pan is dishwasher safe. I fell in love with this cookware on the spot.
I have ordered different sets from HSN and all have worked as described. In fact, I gave my expensive Calphalon® hard anodized non-stick cookware to my daughter for a wedding present. I use nothing but Green Pan for my cooking and baking.
Recently, there is another company that has started producing ceramic based non-stick. I receive quite a bit of spam from them wanting me to try their cookware. The company is OrGreenic®. I have read their information and have watched their infomercial and the pans seem to be very similar to the Green Pan. The difference that I saw was that the non-stick material is green in color instead of blue-gray. I also noted that there was no mention of Thermolon® technology. After searching their website I also noticed that there was no ability to order sets of pans. You could only order individual pots and pans, plus I didn’t see any type of bake ware. I may order their introductory 8 inch fry pan to test with and right about the results at a later time.
Currently, the only place to purchase Green Pan in the United States is from HSN and it is from the Chef Todd English collection. I have been to the Thermolon® website and they have many different lines of cookware. I went to there ‘where to buy’ tab and looked under the United States. What I found was a mailto link. I have sent an email to the address provided asking where I could purchase their cookware from a retailer or wholesaler. I am still waiting for a reply.
I am very happy with my current Green Pans and I recommend them highly to anyone. These pans are wonderful to use, simple to maintain and clean up is a breeze. But the greatest benefit is that I know that unwanted chemicals are not getting into my food and I am doing my small part for living green.
If you are interested in more information or purchasing ceramic non-stick visit the following websites:
Home Shopping Network (Chef Todd English Collection)
OrGreenic
Thermolon
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