This chapter helps you learn how to cook food that will delight your taste buds. Those who get to enjoy what you cook will be amazed—“I didn’t know healthy food could taste this good!” But it can, and you’ll soon find out how easy it is to become a RealAge chef by mastering these techniques.
People often worry that a healthy diet means bland food. Perhaps they’re used to rich restaurant food that depends primarily on butter and cream for flavor. Fine dining restaurant food is often delicious (if you can stand the richness), but the effect of all that saturated fat on the coronary arteries, the brain, the reproductive organs, and the immune system is huge, and it is likely you will live a shorter life filled with more disability.
To understand how a RealAge kitchen can help you control your genes, it is important to realize that you can prepare very delicious meals without excessive use of either artery-or immune system–aging saturated or trans fats. These delicious meals omit ingredients that raise blood pressure and include ingredients that lower blood pressure. With just a little effort and practice, you can create RealAge-smart and energy-giving meals that are as delicious as a top chef’s, but with ingredients that can help make you younger. Really, by eating to keep disability at bay, you can reverse the aging of your arteries and immune system—and enjoy some great-tasting meals at the same time.
Each of our recipes was created for great taste and to make your RealAge younger. Many of them use techniques that spare arterial-aging fat and, instead, rely on healthy fats.
This chapter explains how to use and adapt time-tested culinary methods to prepare healthy foods at home. We also show how you can make extra quantities of those healthful meals and freeze them to enjoy later, when you might be a little short of time. Lastly, we give some cooking tips to enhance the flavor of your meals in a healthy, RealAge-smart way.
RealAge Cooking Techniques
Grilling and Broiling
Both grilling and broiling involve cooking with dry, direct heat that is transferred across the surface of the food into its center. Grilling is done on a rack. Why don’t cooks grill more often? They should, but most people can’t use their porch, deck, or backyard grills year-round, and many people don’t have indoor grills.
But the way foods are most commonly grilled in the U.S. can be bad for a RealAge diet. The traditional Fourth of July barbecue, with hot dogs, hamburgers, and other meats coated with sodium-and sugar-rich barbecue sauce, is typical. Red meats are full of artery-and immune system–aging saturated fat. Every natural cut of meat has at least 29 percent fat to begin with, and sometimes it gains twice that much by the time it hits the grill. In addition, blackening meat on an outdoor grill produces heterocyclic amines (HCAs), chemicals that may promote or even cause cancer. Finally, fat dripping onto the coals below may produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are carcinogenic molecules. Although their effect on humans is not known conclusively, PAHs have been found to be cancerous in animals.
This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t grill food, however. An easier and healthier “grilling” method is to use a nonstick stovetop grill (such as one made by Le Creuset), which you set directly on the burner of your gas stove, above the flame (2 Kitchen IQ points). These stovetop grills offer the delicious taste of grilling and the grill marks you get from an outdoor grill, but there is a much healthier food result. If your stovetop is electric, you’ll need a ridged grill pan that is flat bottomed instead.
Popular stand alone grills are RealAge-smart. George Foreman–type grills are relatively inexpensive and seem to work well. The fat, marinade, and other juices drip down away from the food and out of the front of this slightly sloped grill. These grills are nice because they cook fast—the top closes so that the top and bottom of what you are grilling are grilled at the same time. Some say, however, that these grills steam meat rather than grill it. (I have not found this true in my tests of one version of this grill.) Steaming toughens animal proteins, so meats—including chicken—may not be as great-tasting as if grilled over wood or even gas. But sandwiches and vegetables are great prepared on this grill, especially panini (Italian grilled sandwiches).
When grilling on the stovetop, do not use high heat. The flame should be low or, at most, medium—high heat can build up and damage the stove or the grill. As with a sauté pan, you know it’s time to put the food on the grill when a drop of water skips and sizzles.
A piece of fresh fish, such as salmon, cooked on a stovetop grill that has been spritzed with olive or canola oil, or cooking spray, and then served with a salad or topped with mango salsa, makes a delicious dinner that is quick and easy at the end of a busy day. Grilling chicken is simple. You need to grill bone-in parts all the way to the center until its juices run clear. Do not mash or press the chicken—it will dry out, especially chicken breasts, which have less fat than the legs. Chicken thighs, legs, or drumsticks can be cooked to about 170°F internally. Use your meat thermometer to check. Boneless parts can be cooked to 165°F internally for at least 15 seconds.
USING MARINADES
Many restaurants use grills primarily to finish boiled or braised pork and beef ribs; to prepare steaks, leg, and shoulder cuts; and to cook ground meats, such as hamburgers. Grilling cuts of meat that don’t have much visible fat—chicken breasts, shrimp, and pork tenderloin, for example—requires extra basting, barding (wrapping lean meat with fat), or larding to prevent burning and drying. Instead, use oil-based marinades to prevent this drying and burning, and to baste and coat meats, including poultry and fish. Marinades also reduce the amount of aging heterocyclic and polycyclic amines and hydrocarbons (HCAs and PAHs) in grilled food. In several studies, bathing food in a marinade—such as balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil as a marinade for chicken—for as little as 15 minutes makes the food taste better and reduces amines and hydrocarbons by more than 90 percent. Although we do not know why marinades work, they have a consistent, beneficial effect. Remember, however, to keep the coating of meats and poultry in extra fat to a minimum, as you can use your daily fat (20 to 30 percent of your diet) to better use. And do not reuse marinades, and keep them and your food cold to minimize the risk of food-borne illness.
GRILLING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Are there tricks to grilling fruits and vegetables? These foods are low in fat (most are less than 8 percent fat) and difficult to grill because they tend to stick to the grill and steam instead of grill. Sure, a few tricks are needed. Some chefs use a hinged wire basket to grill and turn slices of summer squash and sweet onion (especially Walla Wallas and Vidalias) so they don’t stick. Other chefs precook vegetables that would otherwise take longer than other items being grilled; fennel, leeks, and sweet potatoes are often steamed or parboiled before going on the grill for example. Use a hot fire and bring vegetables to room temperature before grilling them—the fire’s concentrated heat lessens the chance of sticking. Very few foods take more than 30 minutes on a hot grill, even when placed 6 inches from the coals, where my grate usually stays. Placing the grate closer just invites charring and undesirable changes in texture and color. Here’s another RealAge kitchen tip: never salt food, especially vegetables, before grilling; it will dehydrate them and they’ll cook unpredictably.
When time is short, you can speed the grilling process by microwaving sliced vegetables or fruits in a covered microwave-safe bowl for a few minutes, and finish them on the grill for better flavor. They’ll pick up some smokiness in just 3 or 4 minutes.
EASY OUTDOOR GRILLING
There are easy ways to use the outdoor grill. “Foil grilling,” for example, is actually steaming. Simply enclose some mushrooms and onions in a foil packet with a few sprigs of thyme and drops of white wine, and use the heat of the fire to cook them gently. What about that fire? Use hardwood briquettes instead of charcoal. (Briquettes have fewer chemicals, and impart more flavor.) Skip the lighter fluid and its carcinogens, and use dry kindling to start the fire. It takes only a moment longer and is a good investment in your health. Toss a handful of dried thyme, sage, oregano, or rosemary on the fire just before placing your food on the grill. Herbal touches linger on slabs of polenta, mustard pitas, and even slices of eggplant and whole pizzas.
You’ll need to be a little creative to make food healthy when cooked on your outdoor grill. Marinate the vegetables and fruits before grilling. Peach halves and pineapple slices, for example, can absorb spice rubs and marinades, and with them, extra flavor. If the grill is hot enough, and the marinade oil-based and liquid enough, the food does not stick and the oil stays out of the fire. You can tell this as you’ll have few flare-ups and little charring.
Roasting
Roasting involves cooking indirectly with dry heat, usually in an oven. The heat is reflected off the walls of the oven, and together with warmed air, creates a wonderful enzymatic reaction that transforms many foods into delicious fragrances, textures, and tastes. The browning process occurs at the surface of the food, caramelizing it to a crackling crust.
Roasting is a term traditionally applied to cooking animal protein. We roast joints of beef, pork and lamb, turkey, and chicken. In the nineteenth century, the term itself came to mean, as it still does, a chuck, rump, or shoulder piece.
Roasting lean meat and skinless poultry requires the addition of fats to prevent the cuts from becoming dry and leathery, yet your RealAge can become older if you baste often with fat. One conventional way to keep roasted meats moist is to lard or bard them. Larding and barding involve penetrating or wrapping meats, respectively, with fattier meats or fat itself so that those fats can saturate and baste the lean meat. You can also baste lean meats with meat juices or drippings, butter, or an oil-laden marinade (olive or canola oil, we hope). Alternatively, you can select cuts of meat with visible layers of fat, so that the meat bastes itself.
Similarly, when restaurant chefs roast vegetables, they usually brush them with a brush full of oil to prevent dehydration and to help brown or char the skin. So as you can see, traditional roasting is a great way to get a month’s worth of saturated (aging) fat in one meal. Yet roasting is too good a technique to reject. You can keep its potential and make your RealAge younger by doing a few things differently.
OVEN-ROASTING
You can roast vegetables for extra flavor and sweetness, either slowly and patiently to preserve their shape and color (for example, to dry plum tomatoes) or quickly and blisteringly to concentrate their flavor, melt their texture, or char their skins (for example, to prepare tomatillos for salsa). High heat (about 450 degrees) gives vegetables a deep, smoky flavor and a silky texture that becomes even smoother when the vegetables are puréed and strained.
Roasting allows the natural juices of vegetables to concentrate; also, for some strongly flavored foods such as garlic, roasting produces an unexpected mellowness. Root vegetables (from parsnips to Jerusalem artichokes to potatoes, carrots, and every kind of onion) are wonderful when oven-roasted. Their natural sweetness is concentrated, and their skins become crisp and crunchy. A cooler 375-degree oven bakes most one-inch chunks of root vegetables (beets, celery root, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes) in about 45 minutes. They’re done when they are tender but not singed.
Using juicy, healthy fats for moisture and not peeling vegetables (2 Kitchen IQ points for using these two techniques) can harness the benefits of roasting for a RealAge, flavor-intense cooking result. Instead of dousing vegetables with oil, paint them lightly, using olive oil from a mister. Keeping the skins on vegetables is another way to retain moisture while roasting. Use natural insulators, like the husks of corn, the jackets of potatoes, or skins of tomatoes, to minimize drying—you can always skin vegetables after they are cooked or incorporate the skins in a dish. Use a whole head of garlic, cut off just enough of the husk to admit a few drops of stock and olive oil, and put the head on a baking sheet in a 450-degree oven for 15 minutes. Or wrap the garlic in foil for softer cloves or separate and roast the cloves in their skins in a 450-degree toaster oven for 10 minutes. (Use a toaster oven if you want to contain the fragrance; if you roast garlic in your regular oven, it may give off a garlic fragrance for several days.)
Both electric and gas ovens are notoriously inaccurate in producing the temperature specified, so be sure to use an oven thermometer to check the actual temperature of your oven before adding food.
PAN-ROASTING VEGETABLES, NUTS, SPICES
Roasting in a hot pan produces great flavor without heating up the whole kitchen. In a way, pan-roasting is like sautéing without the oil but with very high heat. If you’re roasting in a pan, you’ll need a wooden spoon with a flat edge (1 Kitchen IQ point) and a heavy-bottomed skillet. (I use a 12-inch seasoned cast-iron skillet.) A heavy skillet of any kind—even a seasoned wok—will do. The pan must be very hot. The vegetables that take the longest to cook should be added first. Move cubes of onions, potatoes, and squash around the pan quickly, as their outer layers darken and their flesh softens, becoming sweeter and more supple.
Pan-roasting nuts is a wonderful way to add smokiness, toasty flavor, and richness to sauces and stews, and to create a contrasting garnish. The technique requires a moderately hot, very heavy skillet, a watchful eye, and either an able wrist to shake the pan back and forth or the wooden spoon mentioned earlier. Each nut is a little different, so you must carefully smell for the toasty aroma, listen for “pops,” and watch for a change in color. Heat the pan first, then add, for example, a single layer of pistachios, pepitas, pine nuts, or pecans and observe for half a minute. If the nuts smoke, take the pan off the heat. Then, every half-minute for 2 or 3 minutes, shake the pan from side to side to move the nuts on the outside toward the middle. The colors are terrific: pistachios quickly char a little on one side; dull green pepitas deepen to dark olive; pine nuts start to tan a little; and pecans do, too. After they’re toasted, turn them out of the pan and pound them into pesto or a nut butter, or sprinkle them on our frittata.
Roasting (or toasting) spices is usually done on a stovetop in a small, heavy-bottomed skillet. It’s easy to move the spices around a nonstick skillet and hard to burn them. The roasting releases the oils and concentrates the flavors of the spices, from anise to sesame seeds, and takes no more than 5 minutes. The secret is to stay at the stove while the spices are roasting.
To pan-roast whole spices, preheat a very clean, dry pan over medium heat, add the whole spices, and shake the pan or stir to keep the spices from burning. When you smell their fragrance, pan-roast for just half a minute longer or until they begin to darken. Do not let them smoke. (They set off our smoke detector, so it’s an extra incentive for us not to let them smoke.) Transfer them to a dry bowl to cool, then add to a spice grinder or mortar and crush. The aromatic oils that have been intensified by the heat will vaporize a little further, just before they become part of your dish. Toasting and seasoning in this way helps reduce the salt needed to flavor dishes, which in turn helps keep your blood pressure low and your arteries and immune system RealAge-young.
Dried chiles—for example, anchos, guajillos, pasillas, chipotles—are good choices for pan-roasting. A small flame under a very dry, very clean cast-iron skillet, griddle, or Mexican comal (a cast-iron grill) is ideal. Whatever you use, keep a very close eye on the chiles. The second they begin to blacken, flip them, watch for blackening again and a wisp of smoke, and they’re done. They usually take 10 seconds or less, but yield excellent richness and spiciness.
Grains and legumes can also be pan-roasted if stirred or shaken vigilantly until their color begins to darken. You’ll usually be rewarded with faster cooking, better individual grain separation, and a toasty or nutty flavor. Grains and legumes are really tasty, texture-rich ways to make your RealAge younger. Eating two small fistfuls of whole grains and another serving of legumes every day will make your RealAge 3.4 years younger.
OTHER ROASTING TECHNIQUES
You can also roast on a stovetop grill (see “Grilling”) or in a toaster oven (2 Kitchen IQ points)—just about anywhere there’s dry heat. Whole sweet peppers and chiles roast fastest over the open flame of a gas burner but also can be roasted in the oven, under the broiler whether your oven is gas or electric. In either place, keep turning them until their skins are completely blackened. When you’re finished, put them in a paper bag for a few minutes until the steam loosens the skin and it peels off. Don’t wash the skin off because you will wash away the smoky flavor, too.
Baking
Baking and roasting both mean cooking indirectly with dry heat that surrounds and cooks the food evenly on all sides. One difference is that baking is often done at a lower temperature than roasting. Another is that the term baking has traditionally referred to nearly every food, from fruits and vegetables to fish and chicken, not just meat. Baking is usually done in an oven, but can occur atop a stove or a griddle (pancakes), over a covered barbecue grill (skewered peppers, onions, and cherry tomatoes), in a crockpot or stockpot (baked beans), and on the rack of a toaster oven (nearly anything that will fit).
Bake foods uncovered when you want a crunchy surface. The outside will be crisp while the inside remains moist and supple. Baking gives a good crust to the humble baking potato. Bake foods covered when you want juiciness. Trapped moisture helps to steam the food, softening its texture and sometimes capturing aromas that might have wafted away. Covering whatever you’re baking protects the food from drying out and adds steam to the process.
Baking is wonderful for making muffins and cookies, which usually have enough fat in their dough to ensure a tender texture. However, have you ever noticed the oily circle that a fresh-baked commercial muffin leaves behind when you lift it off the plate? That’s usually a solid fat (an aging fat), soaked right through. Cookies sometimes leave the same blotch. Commercial cookies are baked in a very hot oven to allow them to spread out, and this spread is at least partially caused by the fat that’s inside. On the other hand, most fat-free commercial muffins and cookies are either bouncy enough to use for tennis or very sugar-laden that the calorie count lets you eat very little at the next meal. The effect of their sugar content on blood vessels is greater aging. In addition, the sugar load and variation in blood-sugar levels they cause can induce cravings that make you want more simple carbohydrates, leading to further aging of the arteries.
REALAGE BAKING TIPS
Creative RealAge baking methods keep the taste and make food healthier than commercial baking. Drained applesauce or mashed banana or prune purée plus a little canola oil can replace the solid fat in muffins, retaining their texture and bulk but not their risk of heart disease or cancer. (Routinely using drained applesauce, mashed banana, or prune purée as a substitute for fat is worth 4 Kitchen IQ points.) The same goes for cookies, which will come out soft and chewy, never brittle. Use nonstick baking sheets or muffin tins or, if necessary, mist the pan with cooking oil spray, spreading the oil over the pan with a paper towel. Parchment paper can also be used to line a pan, although it sometimes cannot endure high heat.
Basting baked goods can also help retain moisture. If you stuff apple pears with gorgonzola, for example, basting is unnecessary because the fat in the cheese should permeate the apple’s moist flesh. If you stuffed apple pears with raisins and toasted pine nuts instead, you could baste them with apple juice infused with a dried persimmon slice and a cinnamon stick, and then reduce the basting liquid to a glaze. The glaze will penetrate, softening as it is absorbed. In baking as in roasting, basting with liquids that add body, flavor, and texture is an easy, RealAge-smart alternative to basting with a gob of butter or some other solid aging fat, such as in most stick margarines.
Grains and vegetables can also be baked. The steam of covered cooking that can toughen meat and chicken will soften otherwise-tough barley, bulgur, and rice. In addition, some vegetables are better baked or roasted than steamed. Whole artichokes with stuffing are best baked, as the stuffing becomes just a little crunchy and contrasts with the texture of the meaty leaves.
Reducing
Reducing is simply cooking a liquid over high heat (a usual but not necessary condition) in order to decrease its volume. Reducing has two purposes: to concentrate flavor and to thicken. (Knowing how to reduce a liquid is worth 3 Kitchen IQ points.)
Reducing deserves special mention because it is so effective and so effortless, save for having a careful eye. Decreasing the volume of a sauce to half can more than double its flavor. Because reduction thickens as it goes, you don’t have to use flour, which can produce a grainy texture if added improperly. As much as possible, sauces and glazes should taste of the food itself, not of additives, and especially not of fat, salt, or sugar.
Reducing the stocks derived from meat, poultry, and fish can yield rich flavors. In professional kitchens, stocks and broths are sometimes reduced drastically to provide lusciously dense sauces and glazes. If the aging fat is skimmed, reduced sauces can serve as warm accents to a dish, often making your RealAge significantly younger.
CLASSIC SAUCES VS. REALAGE SAUCES
In making most classic French sauces, which are high in saturated and trans fats, reduction is only one method of thickening used. In nearly all classic thickening methods, including reduction, butter or another fat is combined with a starch, which absorbs water and thickens the sauce. But these products are energy-sapping and aging. In some French cooking, for example, butter is cooked with flour to make a roux, or is kneaded (uncooked) with flour to make a beurre manié. Sauces made with these thickeners, often added at the beginning of cooking, can also be reduced. However, high-fat sauces scorch easily, have to be watched carefully, must be simmered gently, and don’t give up their volume quickly. They are also usually “finished” with butter, meaning that a little butter is swirled in at the end. But a RealAge chef can make delicious sauces by reduction without adding extra aging fat. Remember, healthy fats like nut oils, peanut oil, canola oil, and olive oil are fine to add here. They add great taste and make your RealAge younger.
When reducing a liquid primarily to thicken it, use a microwaveable bowl in the microwave and a saucepan on the stovetop. When reducing a liquid primarily to concentrate its flavor, couple the step with deglazing, sometimes in an oven roaster pan and sometimes on the stovetop. Deglazing and reducing on the stovetop require an uncovered pan, a careful eye, and high heat. To deglaze, with the heat on, pour some liquid (water, wine, broth, or a combination) into the hot pan in which you have cooked the food. Using the same spoon or spatula that was used in cooking the food, gently scrape the sides and bottom—these stuck-on bits contain a lot of flavor. Let the liquid boil until it has reduced to several tablespoons. You may want to add lemon juice, herbs, or other flavorings. Thickening with butter, cream, or egg yolk is not necessary.
There are other ways to thicken a sauce in addition to reducing it. For instance, I remove a small amount of the sauce, stir cornstarch or arrowroot into it, and then stir this mixture into the pot or pan of sauce at the end of the cooking process, bringing the pot to a boil for a moment. Both starches will thicken almost anything and add a smooth sheen. Try using a baked potato, toasted corn niblets, winter squash, and caramelized onions, puréed either with water or stock to add body and volume to soups.
An almost complete reduction of pan juices can concentrate the flavor so much that you can compound and layer the tastes, deglazing if necessary to restore the sauce’s volume. Start with a pan of dried-up (or almost dried-up) juices left by whatever has been sautéed, roasted, or grilled. Add a flavorful liquid, deglaze the pan, and let the two flavors mingle; boil the solution rapidly to produce a sauce. Fortified wines (sherry, Madeira, or port), fruit juices (apple, orange, and seasoned tomato juices), and flavored vinegars (Chinese black, red raspberry, sherry, or tarragon flavored white wine vinegar) are some of my favorite liquids for reviving a reduction taken all the way to the bottom of the pan. Instead of “finishing” with butter, try a sprinkling of a little fresh basil, cilantro, mint, or epazote (a pungent herb native to Mexican and South American cooking).
Sautéing
In French, sauter means “to jump.” To sauté food is to make it really move over high heat, cooking it thoroughly yet quickly to retain its shape and nutritional value. Sautéing requires high heat, little time, fast action, an uncovered pan, and enough fat to coat the sauté pan. Traditionally, pure oil or clarified butter is used. (Clarified butter is used because the solids have been removed, which decreases smoking and burning). Before sautéing, food is cut into small pieces—dices, strips, or slices—to increase its surface area, which speeds the cooking process.
There are two secrets to sautéing well: cook just a small amount of food at a time, and use very high heat. If you sauté only small amounts at a time, each piece can be heated and cooked by the fat very quickly, and the moisture does not escape from the food. If there is too much food in the pan, the temperature in the pan drops too low to brown the food, moisture escapes, and the food steams rather than sautés.
CLASSIC SAUTÉING VS. REALAGE “SAUTÉING”
Although sautéing has a popular reputation as a healthful cooking technique, sadly this reputation in restaurants is too often undeserved. In restaurants, sautéing is really more like pan-frying, and sometimes close to deep-frying. Some professional cooking texts recommend using as much as 1/8 inch of oil in the pan, and at least one such text equates sautéing with pan-frying. Actually, with that much fat, they are indeed the same.
Many chefs like to sauté cutlets and fillets, and added fat, aging or not, is always part of the technique because the fat in the pan merges with the fat or seasoning of the cuts, making them easy to cook and turn out of the pan. In fact, sautéing tenderloin gently in butter, not at high heat, preserves its lean shape and juiciness. Sautéing in butter unfortunately also ages you. Why pay to get older? A misting of olive oil would make your RealAge younger. Even omelets (actually, a sauté of egg) made in nonstick skillets usually have fat added to the pan first because it’s easier for the chef to flip the omelet.
Can you sauté without fat? It’s difficult. You can, if the food contains a certain amount of fat, if you use very high heat, if the pan is not crowded, and if the food touches the bottom or sides of the pan at all times. Using a touch of fat spread over the pan with a paper towel, plus a lot of spatula-turning work, I am able to sauté egg white–vegetable omelets.
So, unless you use enough fat, sautéing just doesn’t work very well. Take, for example, aromatics—garlic, onions, shallots, and leeks. Each adds a slightly different flavor component to any given dish. Even cooking just two aromatics together adds complexity and depth to a dish. But without fat, the flavors of these foods are often restrained or absent. Misting the heavy-bottomed skillet with oil will bring out some, maybe much, of these flavors. I usually do not use a nonstick pan because less caramelization and browning can occur than with other skillets. In addition, nonstick skillets often cannot take the heat as well as cast-iron or heavy-bottomed cookware. Some cooks use just a teaspoon of oil for a preheated, very hot pan of sliced onions and garlic, with great success. (Learning how to sauté is worth 1 Kitchen IQ point.)
Sautéing grains such as millet, barley, quinoa, and rices, or legumes such as lentils and yellow peas, gives a subtly different toastiness to each. Here a nonstick skillet performs well. Try misting the pan with oil, or adding a teaspoon of oil to coat the grains or legumes before cooking. Turn the temperature up high and stir or shake briskly, reducing the heat if the food starts to burn. Use a wooden spoon to keep the grains moving and prevent sticking. Rubber scrapers are not recommended, as they eventually melt.
A technique called “water sautéing” or “liquid sautéing” allows us to cook on the stovetop and enjoy moving the food around without adding fat. Enough stock, wine, juice, or sherry to cover the bottom of the pan is brought to a simmer, and food is added, shaken, and turned out when cooked. (Mike uses Ravenswood Zinfandel when “sautéing” many green vegetables.) This is actually simmering, poaching, or steaming the food, depending on whether it’s submerged in the liquid, partially submerged, or floating. Each of these techniques yields its own flavors, but none is really sautéing.
Using a bottle filled with an infused oil, you can add flavor to sautés in two ways: by using enough fat to bring out the flavor of accompanying aromatics, and by adding the flavors of spices or herbs that come with your oil. I use canola oil for infusions and for cooking, as it is mild and has the least saturated fat of any widely available cooking oil. You could also use peanut oil, with its very high smoking point, as long as you don’t overdo it. A squeeze from a squirt bottle is just ¼ teaspoon. I occasionally use extra-virgin olive oil for sautéing. With its strong or delicate taste, I know that it will leave its own flavor in the dish, even at the high heat needed for sautéing.
Microwave Cooking
Cooking in a microwave oven is a nearly all-purpose technique that professional and home cooks alike seldom use. Indeed, some of the finest restaurants in America still do not have a microwave oven. Those that do try not to talk about it. Why? It is considered amateurish. The microwave oven cooks without fat or salt—ingredients without which most chefs do not cook well. However, this characteristic can make the microwave oven RealAge-smart.
Microwaving does not lend itself to high-fat cooking because of the way food is cooked. Microwaves—short electromagnetic waves—penetrate food from the outside in, vibrating water molecules and generating heat. As a result, the food doesn’t get much hotter than the boiling point of water—212 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, this temperature is not high enough to brown the outside surface of food or to caramelize it (brown it by heating the sugar in it). Browning meat, for example, begins at 310°F! So microwaving, while not usually suitable for preparing complete dinners, is great when you need simplicity and speed. Microwave cooking does not require the careful monitoring necessary for broiling, grilling, or roasting, or the quick responses needed in sautéing and deglazing. All you need is the microwave oven and a large microwave-safe nonmetal bowl or plate.
The microwave takes on a whole new persona in RealAge cooking. You can simmer, steam, boil, reheat, reduce, infuse, poach, and braise in the microwave. (Learning how to use the microwave not only for steaming vegetables but also for poaching, braising, cooking grains, and reducing liquids is worth 1 Kitchen IQ point.) Sounds like a technique to make your RealAge younger. But, of course, we want and will insist on great taste, too!
THE MICROWAVE AND VEGETABLES
The microwave oven was made for cooking specific foods, and for vegetables, it’s the best. In fact, I use the microwave primarily to steam vegetables, and that can produce great taste. My own oven uses 800 watts, and many microwave recipes are written for just about that amount of power. I almost always microwave on high and just vary the time.
Almost all vegetables steam well in the microwave—the moisture in vegetables is usually enough to cook them. Steam whole asparagus upright in a Pyrex tumbler and watch the stalks deepen and brighten in color. Steam florets of broccoli or sliced or julienned carrots in a round covered microwaveable dish just until the broccoli is bright green and the carrots are a radiant orange. To ensure even cooking, halfway through the time, stir the outside pieces toward the center or use a turntable. Corn on the cob steams—and surprises when dabbed with chili powder and a squeeze of lime. (One key to great taste is adding stocks, juices, sauces, herbs, and flavorings.) Arrange the ears in a spoke-like pattern, with the tip toward the center of the hub, before microwaving. Arrange other whole vegetables (even potatoes) in a circle, piercing those with skins, so steam can escape.
You can also poach and braise in the microwave. Strongly-flavored greens and root vegetables cook perfectly in beef, chicken, or vegetable stock. Collard greens, chard, and beet greens become smooth and velvety. Kale softens and its hidden sweetness emerges. Celery root and parsnips both become scented and tender, especially when diced and mashed with a little roasted garlic, salt, and pepper. You can poach whole fruits—plums, pears, apricots, and figs—in sweet wine, apple cider, or even water; they keep their shape and retain their essential tastes. Just fill the microwaveable dish to the needed level and cover; uncover after 5 minutes, and let the steam escape. Fruits poached in the microwave are done when they’re fragrant and just soft.
THE MICROWAVE AND GRAINS
You can use the microwave for some grains and the stovetop for others, when you can sauté or pan-roast first. Couscous cooks in the microwave in the time it takes the stock, V-8 juice, or broth to simmer, plus 5 minutes: just add and let the grain absorb the liquid. Polenta cooks in water, stock, milk, or juice in 10 minutes using ordinary cornmeal. Risotto cooks in 18 minutes in the microwave, without the endless standing at the stove, stirring, adding of stock, and paying attention to the possible burning, sticking, or drying out. To microwave risotto, add the cooking liquid to the rice and zap; there’s no need for tablespoons of butter or cream. It’s naturally creamy. Risotto is a great RealAge treat when microwaved.
THE MICROWAVE FOR INFUSING AND REDUCING
You can infuse oils and vinegars in the microwave. For oils in particular, however, the microwave is deceptively efficient, and hot oil looks much the same as oil that is only warm. Warm for only 10 seconds, and then infuse to your heart’s content.
Reduction is a snap in the microwave. You can go from liquid to sauce to demiglace to glaze in as little as 10 minutes, depending on the starting quantity. The secret? Reduce in a microwave-safe container, do not cover, and use your timer. Reducing in the microwave is efficient, easy, and saves on cleanup—no pan or pot is needed.
Steaming
Steaming is often (but not always) a technique used for food that cooks quickly (such as shrimp) or food that might fall apart on the grill or in the pan (such as delicate fish fillets). The food is cooked by hot steam that rises from boiling water below and the food never touches the water. Steaming is a particularly healthful and low-calorie way to cook, as no extra aging fats are used. Also, vitamins that would be lost if you boiled certain foods, such as vegetables, are retained when you steam. (Don’t overcook vegetables in your steamer; when the colors turn bright, they’re usually ready. Learning how to steam is worth 3 Kitchen IQ points.)
As with many aspects of cooking, you can buy beautiful, expensive steaming equipment, or you can put something together that will work just as well. For example, you can set a plate or rack on top of inverted cups inside a pot. A glass lid is handy because you can see the food without having to release steam, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Briefly removing the lid to check on your food won’t affect the progress of cooking.
Steaming is used very often in Chinese cuisine. Take a trip to the Chinatown in the city nearest you and pick up a multi-layered bamboo steamer. It’s very inexpensive, is a beautiful object to have in your kitchen, and allows you to steam several dishes at once, while adding and taking away layers to vary the cooking times. Before you leave Chinatown, visit some produce stores or stands and buy something you haven’t tried before, such as bok choy or fresh vegetable dumplings, and steam them in your new steamer when you get home. Chinese produce shops are a feast for the senses and can inspire you to try new dishes. They are chock-full of good new ingredients that make your RealAge younger deliciously.
Poaching
Poaching is similar to steaming in its methodology and age-reducing benefits but involves placing the food in, not above, gently simmering water. (With the exception of pasta, most foods are never cooked in water at a rolling boil.) For extra flavor, poach your food in wine or low-sodium broth and experiment with adding different herbs, such as thyme or bay leaves. (Learning how to poach is worth 1 Kitchen IQ point.) You can control the temperature by covering, partially covering, or completely uncovering the pot. These cooking techniques, together with juicy marinades and lots of fresh herbs, add zest and zing to meals every time. Go ahead! Be intense! Be younger!
Always Having RealAge Food on Hand: Freezing
Understanding how to freeze food properly is a vital part of your repertoire as a RealAge cook. Freezing enables you to provide healthy, nutrient-rich food for your family, and to have it available on really short notice. Also, when food has been prepared in advance and frozen, having it so easily available decreases stress. For cost-conscious consumers, buying in bulk and freezing for later use can help keep you within budget. For gardeners, learning the best methods of freezing produce will dramatically lengthen the time that the garden’s yield can be enjoyed. For busy working people, freezing is the ultimate time-saver and stress-reducer.
However, freezing is more than simply tossing anything and everything into the freezer and then taking it out to thaw. Although the process is relatively simple, certain procedures help ensure best results. Learning how to freeze and then freezing extra portions of dishes is worth 15 Kitchen IQ points. (It is that important!) Here are the three most important principles of freezing:
1. Try to freeze only the freshest food. Food should be frozen as soon as possible after it is harvested from the garden, purchased from the store, or baked in the oven, once cooled (3 Kitchen IQ points).
2. Remove all excess air from the packaging. Excess air will draw moisture out of the food, which may compromise the taste and texture (3 Kitchen IQ points).
3. Use frozen foods in a timely manner. It’s impossible to safeguard against all loss of taste, texture, or vitamins, but you can minimize such losses by labeling with the date, rotating the contents of the freezer, and then eating what’s in the freezer so that nothing is frozen too long (2 Kitchen IQ points).
What You’ll Need
• A freezer in a convenient location. The freezer in your refrigerator is a good start. It’s handy, it’s already there, and it may need to be cleaned out anyway. If you plan to freeze food regularly, invest in a separate freezer, either the upright or the chest style. It should maintain a constant temperature of zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower (monitor the temperature with a thermometer); keeping frozen food at 25 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit for just one day does more damage to its flavor and nutritional quality than keeping the food frozen at zero degrees for a year. For the sake of your utility bill, keep the unit in an area that averages 50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly below normal (the lower, the better).
• Clear storage containers. Use either the disposable plastic kind or the more expensive glass Pyrex-type that can go from freezer to microwave to table. I use inexpensive ½-and ¾-liter glass tumblers from Crate and Barrel. Why clear? So you can see what’s inside!
• Plastic wrap and extra-heavy aluminum foil. You need these for packaging food.
• Masking tape and a felt-tip permanent pen for marking food with “thaw-by” dates, a description of the contents, and any instructions (such as “thin with broth”). Use your own freezer and taste experience to help create your guide for “thaw-by” dates. Regular masking tape is as good as the more expensive freezer tape.
Remember: freeze fast, thaw slowly (3 Kitchen IQ points). Freezing food quickly helps prevent the formation of ice crystals between food fibers, which decreases food quality. Also, always separate food into individual serving sizes before freezing (6 Kitchen IQ points). It is vital that the packaging be airtight. One way to remove air is to plunge the bag into a bowl or pot of cool water, keeping the open end of the bag out of the water. The water pressure forces excess air out of the bag. Tie or seal the bag before removing it from the water.
Your freezer should be stocked gradually, to keep the temperature as constant as possible. When you do add new food to the freezer, place it near the wall of the freezer, shifting the already-frozen food to the center. The exception to this rule applies to bread or other fresh-baked goods, which tend to attract too much moisture next to the freezer wall. Place these items against already-frozen packages in the center.
In general, freezing can stop the development of molds and bacteria, but it does not eradicate them. Thawed food will spoil more quickly than if it hadn’t been frozen, so be sure to use thawed food in a timely manner. Do not refreeze thawed food.
If you and your family are to enjoy once-frozen RealAge foods, they must taste as great as you prepared them. That means the freezer must be working properly. If you have a stand-alone freezer that is not self-defrosting, the freezer should be emptied completely and defrosted every six months, or when the frost on the walls is a ½ inch thick. This keeps your freezer working properly, ensuring that your “thaw-by” dates are valid, and that no food remains frozen for too long. Using pans of hot water can expedite defrosting of an emptied freezer; however, they should be placed on a cookie rack or some other device that keeps the pan from actually touching the freezer, as direct heat can damage the freezer floor and walls. Wipe down the inside of the defrosted freezer and make sure it is completely dry before you turn it on again.
What to Freeze
FRESH VEGETABLES
Vegetables are a staple of the RealAge diet. Learning how to prepare them deliciously and having the few pieces of equipment so great-tasting vegetables are available year-round increases your Kitchen IQ. Eating five servings (a serving is the size of a small fist) of vegetables a day can make your RealAge as much as five years younger. Because vegetables contain lots of fiber, they help fill you up fast. At only 20 to 50 calories a serving, vegetables help you feel full and keep your weight down. One patient I worked with, who periodically has a weight problem, loses weight on a diet that allows unlimited servings of vegetables. With that program she loses weight even though she averages over twenty-five (yes 25!) servings of vegetables a day. That, coupled with exercise, makes her one healthy woman because vegetables are also full of vitamins, carotenoids, and flavonoids. Many of these substances have antioxidant properties that will help keep you young. And freezing vegetables is a key to keeping your RealAge younger.
It may surprise you to know how many types of vegetables can be frozen successfully. Blanching and then freezing (5 Kitchen IQ points) your garden produce is a wonderful way to extend summer’s pleasure well into autumn. If the vegetables are garden fresh and are blanched and frozen properly, their taste is close to that of freshly picked produce. Although you may not be familiar with the process of blanching, it’s simple and well worth learning.
Simply stated, blanching slows or stops the enzymatic process that continues after a vegetable is harvested. Slowing down that process is vital for good taste of a vegetable that has been frozen. There are two methods by which you can blanch vegetables: by boiling or by steaming. Boiling takes longer, has a high risk of losing the vitamins and minerals from vegetables (since most of the vitamins are just under the skin), and requires a large pot or a powerful microwave oven. For a RealAge cook, steaming is a better option, since you won’t lose vitamins or nutrients. Steaming, which starts when water begins to simmer, can be accomplished in a variety of containers—rice makers, wire baskets, actual steamers, and so on. Vegetables with high water content, such as squash or corn (cut from the cob), can be steamed easily.
How to Blanch Vegetables for Freezing. Blanching by steaming is the method I recommend. Special blanching equipment is available at cooking specialty stores, but you can probably put something together more economically that will work just fine. You’ll need a large pot (minimum 6 quarts) with a tight-fitting lid and a wire basket that can fit inside.
The vegetables are kept above the water, not in it, and the pot is covered. Time the blanching from when the steam starts to escape from under the lid. While you are bringing the water to a boil in your large pot, you’ll also want to set up an ice bath (ice cubes and water) for your vegetables, perhaps in the kitchen sink or in another large pot. Put about a pound of vegetables in a wire basket that will stay above the water, catching the steam. Make sure the vegetables are evenly exposed to the steam. When the blanching time is up, lift the basket out of the pot and immerse it in the ice bath. (Some vegetables are not immersed but simply cooled over the ice water—see chart.) Spread out plenty of paper towels for blotting and drying the vegetables after they have emerged from the ice bath. It’s imperative that your vegetables be completely dry before packaging.
Timing is the key element in blanching vegetables. Here are blanching and chilling times for some of the most common garden vegetables:
Times for Blanching Vegetables
|
Vegetable |
Blanching |
Chilling |
|
Beans, including lima, green, and wax beans |
Steam for 1½ min. |
Chill for 4 to 5 min. in ice water. shell. |
|
Broad beans |
Steam for 5 min. in the pod. |
Chill for 5 min. in ice water; |
|
Beets |
Steam until tender. |
Cool over, not in, the ice water. |
|
Broccoli, washed and split |
Steam for 3 to 5 min. |
Chill for 5 min. in ice water. |
|
Brussels sprouts |
Steam for 6 or 7 min. |
Chill for 10 min. in ice water. |
|
Cabbage, leaves or shredded |
Steam until tender. |
Cool over, not in, the ice water. |
|
Carrots, well scrubbed |
Steam for 4 min. |
Chill for 5 min. in the ice water. |
|
Cauliflower, florets |
Steam for 3 min. |
Chill for 4 min. in the ice water. |
|
Celery, chopped |
Steam until tender. |
Cool over, not in, the ice water. |
|
Chard |
Steam for 1½ min. |
Chill for 5 min. in the ice water. |
|
Green peas |
Steam for 1 to 3½ min. |
Chill for 3 to 5 min. in ice water. |
|
Kale |
Boil or steam for 5 to 7 min. |
Chill for 5 min. in the ice water. |
|
Mushrooms |
Steam for 4 min. | |
|
Mustard greens |
Boil or steam until tender. |
Cool over, not in, the ice water. |
|
Parsnips |
Steam for 3 min. |
Chill for 5 min. in the ice water. |
|
Peppers |
Steam for 2½ min. |
Chill for 4 or 5 min. in ice water. |
|
Pumpkin, puréed |
Boil or steam until tender. |
Cool over, not in, the ice water. |
|
Rutabaga |
Steam for 2½min. |
Chill for 5 min. in the ice water. |
|
Spinach |
Steam for 3 min. |
Chill for 3 min. in the ice water. |
|
Squash, Winter |
Steam until tender. |
Cool over, not in, the ice water. |
|
Turnips, peeled and sliced |
Steam for 1½ min. |
Chill for 5 min. in the ice water. |
|
Turnip greens |
Boil or steam for 2 to |
Chill for 4 min. in the ice water. |
|
|
2½min. |
|
In general, cook frozen vegetables straight from the freezer—don’t thaw them first. When you use frozen blanched vegetables, they will need to be cooked only one-half to one-third the time required for fresh vegetables, as they got a jump-start on the cooking process when they were blanched.
Unfortunately, many typical salad ingredients (such as fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cucumber) do not freeze well. Don’t attempt to freeze them, as you’ll just waste food—they’ll turn out mushy and dull. Instead, enjoy them as much as you can from your garden during summer months, and, at other times, depend on your local farmers’ market or grocery store for your salads.
Like everything else, learning to blanch vegetables properly takes practice. If you have a friend or relative who has a garden and some experience blanching produce, ask him or her to oversee your first try.
Just because you hated vegetables as a kid doesn’t mean you won’t like them now. Try eating them cooked just a little but prepared and combined with other foods in as many ways as possible. This book will give you plenty of ideas. Once defrosted, try steaming them with a little lemon juice or sautéing them lightly. Cook most green vegetables just until they turn bright green. If they turn dull green or gray, you’ve cooked them way too long. Make vegetables your new snack food: purchase bags of precut or baby vegetables and keep them in the fridge.
How to Roast Vegetables for Freezing. Roasting vegetables is another excellent way to prepare them for freezing. (You can also roast and freeze some fruit in a similar way.) Roasting is an excellent choice for the RealAge cook, as the process intensifies the natural flavors of the food. Although fat is required to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan, a couple of teaspoons of olive oil should suffice for a small pan (I use a paper towel to spread the oil and remove the excess), or you might try an olive or a canola oil cooking spray (Spectrum makes an excellent expeller cold-pressed canola oil spray). As with all foods in the RealAge Kitchen plan, the best-quality organic vegetables will yield the most delicious results.
Roasting is extremely easy. After washing and chopping the vegetables, put them in a roasting pan and toss them with a little olive oil. (The vegetables should be in a single layer; try to leave a little space between the vegetables. It is okay if they overlap a little, since vegetables will shrink as they cook.) The roasting pan should be large and not more than 2 inches deep, or the vegetables may simply steam. Use a heavy, flat pan (without grooves for draining fat and juices). Don’t buy disposable aluminum pans, which are too flimsy. Roasting pans vary in size; a standard one is 18 × 13 × 2 inches. Usually you will not cover the pan. For a small quantity of vegetables, a sheet pan or a half-sheet pan or a glass pie dish may be sufficient. Toss the vegetable pieces with your hands so there’s an even coating of oil.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, then put in the pan. A high temperature is necessary so that you don’t just steam the vegetables in their own moisture. Use a clean oven to avoid generating smoke at such a high heat. Halfway through the roasting time, shake the pan gently to rotate the vegetables, or take it out to turn the vegetables over. When you open the oven, there will be a blast of hot, steamy air, so take care to avert your face.
You can cook individual vegetables separately, or you can combine different vegetables that have the same cooking time. Experiment with the addition of herbs, spices, and a small amount of vinegar, lemon juice, and other flavorings before and after roasting.
Here are some common vegetables and the time you’ll need to roast them. Any longer time will caramelize some, such as beets, parsnips, and onions, and simply crisp and darken others, such as broccoli and potatoes. (As with most aspects of cooking, once you’ve roasted several times, you’ll probably be able to gauge for yourself and won’t need the chart, but do continue to experiment with herbs, vinegars, lemon juice, and other flavorings.)
Time for Roasting Vegetables
|
Vegetables |
Time (minutes) |
|
Beets, baby |
30 |
|
Bell peppers and small poblano chiles, sliced |
10 |
|
Broccoli florets |
10 |
|
Fennel slices |
20 |
|
Garlic head, unpeeled |
20 |
|
Leeks, roughly chopped |
20 |
|
Mushrooms, whole portabello |
10 |
|
Onions, wedges |
20 |
|
Parsnips, chunks |
20 |
|
Potatoes, wedges |
20 |
|
Shallots, large whole |
20 |
|
Shallots, medium |
10 |
|
Sweet potatoes, wedges |
20 |
|
Tomatoes, wedges |
5 |
|
Turnips, wedges |
20 |
|
A RealAge kitchen tip: Roasting zucchini yields mush. |
|
After the vegetables have cooled, pat them dry, wrap them tightly in clear plastic wrap, and freeze them.
POULTRY
Most cuts of poultry freeze well. Within two days of purchase, chicken should be frozen if it is not cooked. A slight discoloration of the bones can result, but this is harmless. Do not freeze stuffed poultry. Freeze stuffing separately, then stuff the bird after thawing. Poultry freezes best when patted dry before being wrapped in clear, airtight wrapping. I try to cool the cooked bird in the refrigerator, often for a couple of hours, before wrapping very well and transferring it to the freezer. Wrapping well prevents freezer burn.
FISH AND SHELLFISH
As with all other foods, fish freezes best when fresh. Shellfish runs the risk of getting tough if frozen too long, so eat frozen shellfish within a month or so. Shrimp should be frozen uncooked, in their shells. Lobster and crab are best cooked, shelled, and then frozen. Fish freezes best when patted dry before being wrapped in clear, airtight plastic wrap.
SOUPS, BROTHS, AND STEWS
These dishes are all perfect candidates for freezing, and having them on hand to serve later on is an enormous time-saver. When making dishes such as Rich and Spicy Black Bean Soup or Tortellini Stew with Fresh Soybeans, always double the recipe and freeze half. Here’s another RealAge kitchen tip: use ice cubes to cool your soup before you freeze it. The process will happen more quickly, and the extra water from the ice cubes will evaporate when you reheat the soup.
Remember to freeze these foods in the amounts you intend to serve (worth up to 6 Kitchen IQ points). If you have a small family and make a big pot of soup, freeze the portions in several small containers. (You can always thaw more than one if you decide you won’t have enough, or if you have guests.)
FRUIT JUICES
Fresh-squeezed fruit juices and fruit smoothies are excellent candidates for freezing. Remember that liquid expands by about 20 percent when frozen, so package accordingly. Leave at least ½ inch below the lip of a cup container.
SAUCES
Sauces, such as pesto sauce or pasta sauce, and chicken or vegetable stocks are great time-savers to have in the freezer. Sauces and stocks make your RealAge younger in two ways: they lessen the stress of food preparation and they provide great-tasting, RealAge-smart food whenever you want it. As with soups and stews, always double your recipe and freeze half. For strongly flavored, concentrated sauces, here’s another RealAge kitchen tip: freeze these sauces in an ice cube tray so you can use small amounts each time.
CHEESE
Hard cheeses are excellent candidates for freezing. RealAge recipes call for just a pinch of a cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (real Italian parmesan) for flavoring. Simply grate a little from the frozen block of cheese, then rewrap it and return the block to the freezer. Or unwrap the whole block, thaw, shave curls off the block, and sprinkle them on top of your salads. You can use a small amount because a small amount of an intense flavor is all that is needed. Although all cheese contains saturated fat, and saturated fat ages the arteries and immune system, all of us can live better with a shaving of cheese.
BREADS
For almost everyone—small households and large—freezing bread is a great way to justify buying an excellent, crusty loaf from a favorite bakery without worrying that it won’t all be eaten before it goes stale. Simply cut the loaf in half as soon as you get it home (that way you won’t eat too much because of the guilt or fear of wasting food). After cutting the loaf in half, wrap it securely in airtight packaging, and put it in the middle of the freezer.
NUTS
Nuts such as almonds, pecans, and pine nuts—all an important part of the RealAge diet—will keep in the freezer very successfully. They can be frozen either shelled or unshelled. Just make sure you have a clear, airtight container. An ounce of nuts, five days of the week, can make your RealAge more than 3.3 years younger.
PIZZA DOUGH
Freezing pizza dough that has been baked (but not enough to become thoroughly cooked) is a perfect way to ensure a quick, delicious, and healthful meal at the end of a busy day. (Generally, you don’t want to freeze unbaked pizza dough, as the extremely low temperature may kill the yeast and the dough may not rise later.) See the recipes for great RealAge-smart pizza on pages 158 and 163.
COOKIES, CAKES, AND OTHER TREATS
As explained in my first book, eating the RealAge way is about having dessert first. It’s not about self-denial, so why not keep treats in your freezer, too? Of course, we hope that these are real chocolate-covered strawberries or bananas, or cookies and cakes that you have made yourself, substituting drained applesauce for saturated fats in baking, using healthy oils like canola and olive oil, and avoiding, whenever possible, almost all simple, empty-calorie sugars.
An added benefit of freezing is that when you must defrost a cookie or a piece of banana bread before you can eat it, you will not be tempted by the always-available full cookie jar or whole loaf of banana bread. It’s easier to control your portion sizes—out of sight, out of mind. We love to keep our freezers stocked with fat-free sorbets, zucchini bread made with applesauce instead of shortening, and frozen Twix bars (John only).
Thawing
Remember the RealAge kitchen tip and the rule for freezing: freeze quickly, thaw slowly. The more rapidly food is thawed, the more likely its quality will suffer. Frozen food should always be thawed slowly in its packaging, preferably in the refrigerator. In the refrigerator, a whole (4 pound) chicken takes about 24 hours to thaw; chicken breasts take 3 to 8 hours to thaw. Thawing at room temperature is the next best option. Never thaw food uncovered, as this invites harmful bacteria. If you are pressed for time and the packaging on the food is completely waterproof, you can immerse the package in cool (not warm or hot) water to expedite the process.
Once you’ve had time to retrain your family’s taste buds, start cooking in quantity. Freeze a large portion that’s been divided into convenient amounts—and get used to the extra time you’ll have. Congratulations! You’re well on your way to a new, healthier RealAge lifestyle that will help you and your family feel great and live longer.
By the way, for another 10 Kitchen IQ points, keep a set of free weights next to the kitchen and use them often, while waiting. For more about exercise, see Chapter 9 in The RealAge Diet or the Web site www.RealAge.com (go to the RealAge Café site and click on “My Fitness Plan”).
As you develop as a cook and learn the fundamental methods so that they become second nature, you can broaden your cooking repertoire. Here’s a unique and innovative approach to adding flavor to food, the seven RealAge “Assists.”
RealAge “ASSISTS” to Flavor
For a cooking demonstration before a medical audience at a San Diego hotel, John was forced to create several no-cook, no-fat ways to enhance flavor. These flavor-enhancing methods had to involve no cooking because the hotel would not allow the use of a heating element in the conference room. So, with just a blender and a paring knife, John showed the audience members how they could boost flavor in several ways, calling these methods “ASSIST.” For RealAge methods, we add an S for ASSISTS. Here are the seven buzzwords that will help you remember how to make cooking food even more fun and pleasurable and make your RealAge younger:
(Using these seven methods to enhance flavor boosts your Kitchen IQ by 1 point each.)
Acidify Your Foods
Used sparingly, acids enliven and brighten many foods. For example, traditional vinaigrettes (three-to-one mixtures of oil and vinegar) and lemon juice enhance almost any kind of seafood. The trick is to choose an acid that is doubly flavorful, so you’re adding not only the tingle of the acid but another taste element as well. Citrus fruits do this naturally: they have a sweetness that tempers their sourness. Infusing white distilled vinegar with another ingredient modifies its harshness and gives it another dimension. When cider and wine vinegars are infused with another ingredient, yet another dimension emerges: the fruitiness of the cider, the mellowed tannin of the wines, and the pucker power of the acid. This acidification epitomizes RealAge cooking and the RealAge kitchen: it produces great taste and nutrient-rich but calorie-poor creations.
Vinegars are the most common type of acid and most of us have them in our pantries. Distilled vinegar, fruit vinegar, rice vinegar, and herb vinegars all have special uses. Keeping a variety of vinegars in your pantry increases your kitchen’s IQ. I use distilled vinegar primarily for pickling and sometimes for chutney. The tangy fruitiness of a good fruit vinegar really wakes up salads and salsas; it’s also good on couscous, bulgur, and baby lettuces. Rice vinegar is often lightly seasoned and mild—just sharp enough to complement the bite of serrano peppers and to harmonize with napa cabbage (one of the Chinese cabbages) or green cabbage. Herb vinegars are multidimensional, often have wine or cider vinegar as a base, and are easy to make.
Our favorite vinegars that increase a kitchen’s IQ are high-quality traditional balsamic vinegar and sherry vinegar. Both are aged and strong in flavor. Although they can be expensive, they last a long time and are worth the money. We usually use only a few drops at a time. Add them to the cooking liquids for grains and to tomato sauces for pasta, and sprinkle them on sautéed vegetables or fresh berries and fruits.
Smell Your Food
Your sense of smell is responsible for as much as 80 percent of what is known as taste. It had long been thought that aging destroys a person’s sense of smell, but recent data indicate this is not part of normal aging. We should be able to enjoy great smells and tastes well into the triple digits. That enjoyment of smell can help you have a younger RealAge. When you eat, the aroma of the food in your mouth wafts toward your nose and throat; when this aroma and your nose, soft palate (roof of the mouth), and taste buds all work together, you “taste” the food. So, if you can’t smell, it’s hard to taste.
What can you do to get the full benefits of the wonderful aroma of food? One way is to inhale the aroma and focus on it. Is it floral? Fruity? Spicy? Concentrating on “smell” makes you appreciate the great tastes of RealAge food. Also, you can maximize the aroma of fresh herbs by crushing them. However, don’t overdo it—just crush them enough to release their perfume. Toast grains to bring out their taste—a nuttiness for bulgur and a light perfume for jasmine rice. Toast and grind spices; all will produce a lot of taste with just a little effort.
Add Spices (and Herbs) to Your Foods
Because they’re aromatic wonders, spices pack more wallop per gram than any other food. What is a spice? Herbs are leaves, and spices are everything else—buds, blossoms, stems and roots. Just crush the spice between your thumb and forefinger, or in a mortar and pestle, or in a spice grinder, and the whole kitchen fills with the scent. This increases your kitchen’s IQ as it offers intensified flavor.
One secret to using spices is to roast them before grinding or crushing them, to release their oils. See “Pan Roasting,” for tips on pan-roasting spices. If spices are over-roasted, they can become bitter. Even if they’re not over-roasted, they can become bitter if they’re cooked too long. That’s why freshly ground pepper is added at the end of cooking, not earlier. Seeds toast best, and you can use your nose to tell when they’re done. If they blacken or smoke, throw them out and start over.
Most spices last about six months in the cupboard, and lose their punch if not kept airtight. Should you throw spices out after a certain amount of time? If their aroma is musty, yes. But if it’s just faint, sometimes you can rescue them and use them in the dish you’re making by toasting the spices lightly, letting them cool, crushing them, and adding a little extra. Careful, though—taste the spice before cooling or adding to the dish to be cooked. (We believe in throwing the spices out after six months. Rarely can you prolong the life of dried herbs or spices by storing in the refrigerator or freezer; but this is not usually helpful as they seem not to age well in the refrigerator or freezer.)
We’ve included herbs with spices here because the two are related and because both are critically important in flavor-intense cooking. Herbs (leaves) have the brightest, most delicate taste when they’re fresh, and are more concentrated and potent when they are dried. In general, a dried herb is three times more powerful in flavor than an equal amount of fresh herb. Dried herbs are usually added at the beginning of cooking; fresh herbs should be added at the end.
Herbs are rewarding culinary investments. Most are easy to grow and can survive droughts, neglect, and window-box culture. Growing fresh herbs is not only economical and easy but also a year-round joy in the kitchen (see Chapter 11).
Experiment with Infusions
Intensifying the flavor or adding flavor to plain vinegars and oils can produce fabulous tastes without added calories or saturated fats, making infusions RealAge-smart. The simplest way to infuse juices, vinegars, and oils is to submerge some gently bruised fresh herbs, dried spices, citrus zest, or crushed aromatics in the liquid, and pour the mixture into a clean bottle. Cover with a lid and let the bottle rest in a sunny window for a week. Then strain the flavoring agent out of the liquid and store the liquid in another clean, covered container, such as a wine bottle, in the refrigerator.
Another method is a little more elaborate, but yields more flavor. Place your favorite oil and the chosen flavoring in a blender, give it a brief whirl and, using cheesecloth or a fine filter, let the now infused oil slowly drip, drip, drip into another scrupulously clean container. This process takes time and patience, but it produces a depth of flavor that could otherwise be obtained only with mild heat and two weeks of incubation.
The incubation method is probably the most reliable way to infuse. Warming both oils and vinegars with the flavoring seems to add more tang. (But be careful to keep the solution acid—pH 4.0 or less for aficionados—with vinegars as warming can activate spores.) The stems of herbs contain more tannin than the leaves, so if you want pure herbal flavor, strip the leaves and put the stems aside for another purpose, such as making vegetable stock. Otherwise, just gently warm the liquid on the stove and add the herbs—stems and all—stewing them just until their color brightens. Do not simmer or bubble, just bathe the herbs. Pour the liquid-herb mixture through cheesecloth into a clean, dry bottle and set it aside in a cool, dark place.
Use the freshest herbs you can find for infusions and don’t be afraid to use plenty—you’ll get more flavor. When you use citrus zest, crush it gently between your fingers to release the oils. Strands of orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit zest are also beautiful additions to infusions.
For vinegars, I like to use herbs, spices, and dried fruits. Raisins, figs, berries, dried mango, and dried papaya all add complexity and sweetness to an otherwise puckery vinegar taste. (Try the delicious combination of fig balsamic vinegar and lemon zest.) Fruit vinegars have the best flavor if the fruit and vinegar are simmered together for a few seconds. Try mixing a quart of good white wine vinegar, 2 cups or more of berries, and several sprigs of mint or dill. Let the berries steep (soak) in this mixture in a clean, covered jar in the refrigerator for two weeks before straining. Experiment to see what you like. For example, after infusing the vinegar, leave the berries in. (It’s really worth the trouble to make raspberry white wine vinegar; it has a wonderful fruit flavor that’s great on salads. In clear Bordeaux bottles, the color of red raspberries is a translucent cranberry.)
Here are some of our favorite vinegar-infusion combinations:
Blueberry-dill vinegar
Raspberry-mint vinegar
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme vinegar
Fennel–opal basil vinegar
Cranberry-clove vinegar
Lemongrass-chile vinegar
Herbs, hot peppers, and aromatics also lend great flavor to oils. I like canola oil for infusing because it has a neutral flavor, packs plenty of omega-3 and monounsaturated fatty acids, and absorbs flavor well. To accentuate the color of herbs and the subsequent oil, microwave any green herb for just a few seconds. The green leaves of sweet basil brighten in an instant! Too much microwaving will dehydrate all herbs, so make it brief.
Here are some of my favorite oil-infusion combinations (remember to keep acid):
Roasted garlic–hazelnut oil
Rosemary–orange walnut oil
Garlic, oregano, bay olive oil
Lemon sesame oil
Black, white, pink, and green peppercorn olive oil
Habanero-cilantro canola oil
By the way, infused oils made by Consorzio and by Boyajian are carried by local markets, and have luscious flavor and deep color and are the next best thing to homemade. For juices, especially fruit juices, experiment with whole spices: cinnamon sticks, shaved nutmeg, whole cloves, allspice berries, and juniper berries are among our favorites.
Strive for Symmetry in Flavor Combinations
How do you decide which flavors go together? We try to balance something sharp with something smooth, and something sweet with something sour. We call this principle “symmetry.” It relies on the use of the four types of taste buds—sweet, salt, sour, and bitter—and on playing one against the other.
The way to pair flavors successfully is first to identify what you already like. Decide whether it’s a clear, single taste (such as straight black coffee, which is bitter) or more than one taste (such as coffee with sugar, which is both bitter and sweet). Fresh mango is sweet; fresh mango with lime is sweet and sour. Fresh jicama is sweet; fresh jicama with lime is sweet and sour; jicama with lime and salt is sweet, sour, and a little salty.
If you like more than one taste, adding another taste-bud dimension to dishes (for example, a little salt or ketchup to crisped potatoes and onions) can bring out both the essence of the vegetables and the mellowed tones produced by cooking. Overwhelming a dish with salt can make it taste just one way—salty—so you get only one flavor. Understanding and using symmetry in flavoring food requires both care and a light touch.
Use Tubes of Food
Use tubes of food—they’re convenient and worth the cost. Tubes contain powerfully concentrated foods that are not meant to be eaten straight from the tube. They’re usually combined with tiny amounts of olive oil and occasionally with salt. Anchovies, garlic, harissa (a gutsy Moroccan red pepper hot sauce), olives, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, puréed tomatoes, and wasabi (Japanese horseradish) are all available in toothpaste-like tubes that have screw tops. Keep them in the refrigerator once opened. Tubes are nutrient rich, calorie poor, and add fabulous flavor so they increase your kitchen’s IQ and make you RealAge younger.
These concentrates add an instant boost to sauces, dressings, and marinades. They can also add zip to the liquid used for cooking grains (but not beans, as beans toughen if salt or acid is added to the cooking liquid), and they add depth to pizza bases or cracker spreads.
Tubes are economical but not inexpensive. Although a 5-ounce tube can be $4, it’s worth the extra money if it keeps you from throwing out sprouted garlic and onions, or almost whole cans of tomato paste that are minus 2 tablespoons. Tubes are also space-and time-savers: they’re smaller than a basket of tomatoes, packages of sun-dried tomatoes, or jars of sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, and they are faster to use than opening cans or packages, or slicing fresh tomatoes.
Use Your Sense of Color and Beauty When Preparing Food
Do your best to make your meals a full sensory treat: a production of beautiful colors, seductive smells, great tastes, and pleasurable feelings. Your dinnerware should be a source of enjoyment. The more pride you can take and the more pleasure your cookware, cooking, and presentations can give, the more food enjoyment you will have. We all need these enjoyments to overwhelm the stresses of life. Making eating a joyful, sensuous experience with beautiful cookware, dishes, and pleasurable smells makes you younger. Cooking should even sound good. Blend the richest colors and enjoy all of the sensual aspects of food. Remember, food is a celebration—a daily celebration that can foster a more energetic, vital, and younger life.