White Rice and the Myth of Nutrient Density

White Rice and the Myth of Nutrient Density

Sataran   9:06 PM

Nutrient density is the name of the game these days.  Dr. Joel Furhman is all for leafy greens because they're some of the most nutritionally dense foods known to man.  He's especially high on kale.  If he were stranded on a deserted island with only one food, Dr. Fuhrman says he would choose kale.   Ok, I'm sold; I already eat kale.  Not daily but maybe once every fortnight.

But let's look at another source of nutrient density.  This time of the animal kind -- egg yolks.  For me, egg whites aren't dense enough nutritionally, so I discard them.  Actually, I despise egg whites with a deep-seated passion.  That's the real reason why I'm focusing on the yolks exclusively; they are an important source of vitamins and minerals.  I don't think there is another food that is more dense nutritionally.  Maybe cow or chicken liver but there is nothing easier to cook than hard-boiled eggs. 

This is what the yolks look like when you don't soak them immediately in ice water.  The greenish-yellow tint isn't very pleasing visually.  You want the bright yellow tint which reminds you of well-done scrambled eggs or eggs benedict.  Next time, I'll have a bucket of ice water ready.

I'll store these yolks until I'm ready to consume them during the week.  I eat at least one everyday.  Sometimes two. 

Here's my dinner.   It's the usual grass-fed beef steak seasoned with dried onions and coffee.  Some safe starch in the form of white Bismatti rice.  Steamed Brussel sprouts, cut green beans and some onions.  Herbs, olive oil and apple cider vinegar. 

'Tis the first time in a while that I've cooked a whole steak for dinner.  Lately, I've been having soup regularly.  It's just a whole lot more convenient to microwave a bowl of soup than cook a piece of steak with obligatory side dishes; you only need to make a pot of soup once a week.  For me, it's usually a mix of bone broth with vegetables -- carrots and turnips.  I add some turmeric and beet horseradish, which turn the color yellow and red, respectively.  I also pour in some white rice and a sprinkling of nori for flavor.

I don't know what Sally Fallon may think,  as she's been ruffling some feathers lately acting divisive and what not.  But this is a nourishing meal par excellance.  Healthy fats, healthy carbs, enough but not too much protein from the the grass-fed muscle meat, and plenty of micronutrients.  The bone broth has tendons and collagen, so we have healthy Monos and Safas.

High on the nutrient density scale, too.  But let's not get carried away like Dr. Fuhrman and say that you should only eat something that's nutrient-dense:  white rice is empty calories but fulfills an important function.  It's a clean source of glucose and does the body no harm; it is not ever intended to be a fount of protein, minerals or vitamins.  That's what Dr. Fuhrman seems not to understand.  Sure, kale is excellent.  But what is your glucose source?  Brown rice?  Wild rice?  Pinto beans?  Red kidney beans?  Surely, not when you are beset with IBS or intestinal permeability?

Eating white rice is like filling your car with clean, unleaded gas when your gas tank is empty.  You need 60-150 grams of pure gluclose, depending on your size, activity, and protein intake.  That will keep you from burning ketones, which is stressful and not the best fuel for those who're destined to be sugar burners.  Nothing more benign and easier to digest than white rice.  Clean, unenriched and straight from the Himalayas.

Bone Broth: From Plain Vanilla to Cherry Garcia

Bone Broth: From Plain Vanilla to Cherry Garcia

grass-fed Sataran   11:42 AM

If you're into ancestral eating, bone broth is considered de riguer.  A South American proverb claims "good broth will resurrect the dead."  Indeed, the bone broth tradition goes back many years. Traditional cuisines in most cultures reserve a special place for bone broth.  Aside from bringing you back from the dead, bone broth supposedly strengthens the immune system, heals the gut, relieves digestive problems, and alleviates arthritis and joint pains.

Ok, enough positives here.  I'm sold, especially since my joints are rather stiff in the morning.  So I decided to make some bone broth.  While the quality of your bone stock is important, right now, you can't get grass-fed beef marrow bones from the two largest mail-order dealers:  U.S. Wellness Meats and Slanker's.  They're "out of stock," excuse the pun.  Last time I checked, they were still out of stock (and it's been more than a year).  Perhaps avid followers of ancestral eating are buying them up and stockpiling them like hotcakes.  So I decided to use marrow bones from feedlot cattle instead.  

Better feedlot than never.

Make sure to wash these marrow bones. They are cut with a gigantic saw in one swoop so there are needle-like bone fragments.  I even use a vegetable brush to get rid of the hanging fragments.  Trust me, you do not want sharp bone fragments in your mouth.

For about an hour or two, I boil these marrow bones in medium-high heat.  I add about a half cup of apple cider vinegar when boiling.  Usually the marrow core falls right out.  If they don't, I use wooden chosticks to push them out from one end. 

Separating the marrow from the bone

The marrow bones still have tendons and ligaments attached.  You don't want to throw these out.  So I separate them from the bones using my steak knife. 



Once the tendons are detached, you can throw away the bones.  These are marrow bones which do not really dissolve.  I also throw in smaller bones (usually short and back ribs which I collect over a week) or neck bones.  These do dissolve and become soft like marshmallows and hollow out when you boil a whole lot longer (24+ hours).  I usually leave such smaller bones in when serving for the "primeval" visual effect.  This should give your vegan pals some kicks.

Leave some short ribs in to shock your vegetarian pals.

After cooling in the refrigerator, the bone broth is covered by a snow-white top and becomes Jell-o like underneath it.  Some people like to serve it cold and eat the gelatin.  I don't. 

Jell-o gelatin.

I usually heat the gelatin to melt it and serve with minimal seasoning (black pepper and salt).  This allows me to savor the pristine flavor of the bone broth.  This would be "plain vanilla" bone broth. 

Plain vanilla bone broth.

Another option is to make a separate soup with vegetables and combine the two when serving.  I used to make them simultaneously and mix the two into one immediately.  At a ratio of about 1 to 5 (broth to soup).  What you have is a strong vegetable soup with a hearty bone broth stock.

Bone broth with kale and other veggies.

Obviously, this will not work well with certain vegetables.  If you're using broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, mushrooms or kale, you want to keep the ingredients apart and mix them when ready to serve.  Being a newbie, I learned this through trial and error.  Carrots, potatoes (or yuca), turnips, zucchini and butternut squash tend to hold up well, however.  I've mixed them with the bone broth and stored them for more than a week without them spoiling. 

When ready to serve, I also use more seasoning (turmeric, dried chopped onions, minced garlic) and sprinkle some nori (Japanese shredded seaweed).  Sometimes, I put kale and chorizo slices, and even drop a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil for a taste of Portuguese kale soup.  That would be "bone broth Cherry Garcia."

Chorizoes and nori in bone broth for breakfast.

I've experimented with different types of bones.  From Slanker's, I bought some buffalo marrow bones.  Unfortunately, the buffalo bones don't produce hearty enough marrow core, as they're not as rich as beef marrows.  Those who've eaten buffalo steak know how lean the beef is and the same goes for the marrows.  So no buffalo broth again.  Since I don't eat chicken (personal preference), I haven't tried making the "Jewish Penicillin," as chicken broth is known.  No porcine broth either as I prefer processed pork (such as chorizoes) and bacon.  At the moment, I'm only dedicated to making bovine bone broth.

I also purchased some grass-fed cow knuckles.  Boiling and detaching tendons took more than a week.  And then I was left with a huge naked knuckle which I boiled for umpteen hours, hoping to dissolve its intractable core.  My gas bill would have hit the roof if I hadn't bailed.

This is no chicken. It's a huge cow knuckle I tried to dissolve unsuccesfully.

So this was an exercise in futility comparable to trying to peel yuca with a potato peeler.  The amount of tendons I reaped wasn't woth the time I spent, the knife blade I ruined, nor the sore knuckles incurred from the process.

Not enough cartillage for the trouble.

Still intact cow knuckle core after umpteen hours of boiling.

So cooking your bone broth is really an adventure in ancestral eating!  Yes, it can become a misadventure if you don't know what you're doing.  But there are enough variations in making this ancestral broth to suit everyone's palate:  From Plain Vanilla to Cherry Garcia.  If not, it can become an acquired taste soon enough, as it did for me.

How Coffee Became My Favorite Seasoning

How Coffee Became My Favorite Seasoning

Sataran   3:38 PM

I recently became interested in properly seasoning my steak. Prior to adopting my current Paleolithic diet, I only occasionally ate steak; I really didn't like to cook and when I did, it was something simple like a pan-fried sirloin steak.   For seasoning, I would spray some ginger, Rosemary, black pepper and salt. More often, though, I did without them and used A1 Steak Sauce.

Rosemary and ginger on feedlot beef.

After switching to grass-fed beef, however, I realized that you don't want to obscure the taste of beef with an overpowering steak sauce. Grass-fed beef combines a slightly gamey flavor that is complex and aromatic, when properly cooked medium rare. To savor it, you want some basic herbs and spices, not strong steak or soy sauce that crowds out the beef flavor.

Black pepper and salt, obviously. Rosemary and ginger, too.  But I became intrigued upon reading that a coffee rub made from ground coffee beans is great on steak.   Jake's Grillin is probably the best known brand.  Most large stores sell coffee rubs made with ground coffee, red pepper, paprika and sugar.   However, they're really "spice rubs" and often contain questionable ingredients like MSG, cornstarch, and anticaking or coloring agents.   So I decided to take the matter into my own hands and make my own coffee rub.

A1 on feedlot ground beef.

First, I fully thaw the steak.  Then spray some black pepper and Kosher salt (which is stickier than regular salt).   I also sprinkle some dehydrated, minced garlic, which brings out the pungent garlic flavor better than chopped garlic when oven-broiled.

Dehydrated minced garlic.

Depending on how thick your steak is, you can put ground coffee on both sides. For thin brisket slices, I use only one side.  For sirloins or T-bones, use both sides.  My starter coffee rub was ground coffee beans.  Soon, I graduated to instant coffee and instant espresso, which stick to the surface better and work just as well.  Recently, I've settled on instant decaf, which is less bitter but just as flavorful.

Instant decaf for less bitterness.

After broiling at 150F for about 8-10 minutes, you'll notice dark streaks which look like burnt marks. When done, the steak resembles a corned beef or pastrami round at the cold cut counter covered in black peppercorns and spices.

Wow, the coffee rub brings out the strong beef flavor that is thick, toasty and rich. With decaf, the taste is a bit more subtle but the smoky beef flavor is just as striking.

Hickory-smoked brisket slices from U.S. Wellness Meats.

Later, I experimented with various cuts and also with pork. The rub goes well with pork loins and chops. Since I slow-cook my pork, the instant coffee granules get seared even tighter and form a toasty crust, giving pork the faux burnt flavor.

Broiling your steak in an electric oven seems to be the best way. I didn't realize the depth of flavor which coffee brings out when used this way -- a whiff of bitterness and toasty flavor, balanced by the saltiness and delicacy of other spices. The adjective robust was probably coined to describe the strong yet complex beef flavor which emerges.

So I stopped cooking my steak any other way. And threw away my last bottle of A1 Steak Sauce.

Au revoir, A1.

Plantains and "Hyperpalatability"

Plantains and "Hyperpalatability"

Sataran   5:47 PM

A colleague of mine mentioned plaintains being an important food source in the Caribbean. So I decided to try eating them for a while. Unfortunately, that would mean ingesting some sugar: about 28 grams of sugar per 200g of serving. These are copious amounts of sugar for me. In 2011, my sugar intake was 15-20g per day, all from vegetables and occasional berries.  Nonetheless, I'm pretty lean now and I never tasted plantains before. So chalk one up for biohacking.

I first tried those plantains that hadn't ripened yet. These greenish plantains are sold separate from the yellow ones.

I tried boiling them first. They tasted like starchy potatoes or taro and I sensed no sweetness at all. Then I baked them in my electric oven at 350F on each side, using coconut oil for lubrication. Again, no sweetness and I actually had to sprinkle salt to make them appetizing. Not impressed: what's the point, I wondered? Why not eat yuca and avoid the sugar, which I couldn't detect anyway. Why pay for fructose when you can't taste it and the stuff isn't half as palatable as yuca or batata or yams?

Then I bought some yellow plantains. I left them on my window sill to make them go ripe. These were soon gaining dark streaks and seemed to be spoiling quickly, so I decided to bake them.

This time, I used Kerrygold butter, which is the only form of dairy I consume at the moment. I was very surprised to find that they're available at ShopRite.

Recently, I've been putting a tablespoon of Kerrygold butter in my coffee and the result has been nothing short of spectacular: healthier than the ultra-pasteurized heavy cream and guar-gum filled coconut milk. Stronger, too. Now I know why the Sherpas of Nepal drink tea made from yak butter.

Kerrygold butter melting in my coffee.

Using a baking pan, I put the sliced plantains and placed small chunks of Kerrygold butter at strategic locations: 375F on one side for 20 minutes and then flip and rotate for 25-30 minutes. Except I overdid it and some of the twice-baked plaintains became charred.

I tried again the next day and succeeded in turning them bright golden. Well, sort of. Maybe a little undone this time but the problem seems to be the uneven heating inside my oven.

These plantains tasted completely different. They were incredibly sweet and I could tell that the sugar had caramelized. Now I know why they are prized in the Caribbean: they taste like bananas but are less overtly sweet than the really ripe banana. What you taste is the sugar that oozed out during the 50-minute baking process. Those who've tasted fried parsnips know how different the parsnips taste when fried (vs. raw or boiled). Try mixing sugar with butter in a frying pan and taste the sugar as it turns brown when heated at 320F or above.

Perhaps the sweetness should be balanced by some sour taste. So I mix some frozen cranberries, which go well with anything overwhelmingly sweet.

Wow, what results is a whole-food dessert that makes portion control next to impossible! For the next two weeks, I could not stop baking and eating them like hotcakes. I would bake 4 large plantains and finish them in one sitting. I don't know any other food source whose portions I cannot control like this. Never did I think that a "whole food" could be as "hyperpalatable" as manufactured products like sodas and candies.

Regrettably, I had to eliminate them from my diet. Although there is no added sugar, there is simply too much "endogenous" sugar upon caramelization. And I don't have a good track record of pushing away from the table when it comes to sugar. I'm glad I got around to tasting them, however. There is no "hype" when it comes to plantains; they're simply too tasty and too palatable. Hyperpalatable.

In Praise of Yuca (aka Cassava, Tapioca)

In Praise of Yuca (aka Cassava, Tapioca)

Sataran   5:35 PM

I'm often asked, "Why eat yuca? It's all empty calories." Well, yuca serves its purpose well.

Yuca often goes by names such as cassava, tapioca, manioc and mogo, depending on what country you're from. It is a staple root vegetable in Central and South America, also in the Caribbean, Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. I'll refer to it as "yuca" throughout, however, since the package I buy identify it so (though subtitled "cassava").

Peeling yuca can be a time-consuming affair. A simple potato peeler won't do. You'll need a sharp butcher knife to have a go at its tough, waxy exterior. Before discovering that Goya sells frozen yuca, I spent countless hours peeling and swearing that I would never buy yuca again.

Let the professionals at Goya do the peeling

Even with a Ginsu knife, it's just too time consuming. What you need is a hunting knife with a good handle, since the rough skin requires twisting the blade at different angles; it is very easy to pop the blade off of your flimsy Ginsu knife. That's why Goya's packaged frozen yuca is a godsend. Out of a bag, the frozen yuca slices look bleached white:

I've experimented with different ways of cooking yuca. Microwaving it zaps the moisture right out and the yuca resembles a flatbread or pizza crust. If you like the dry, hard flatbread taste and texture, then use your microwave oven. But my favorite method is to boil for a long time, usually about an hour.

Yuca slices showing fine ridges and texture after the boiling.

 

Boiling yuca preserves the moisture, making it somewhat creamy and more appetizing. After tasting a properly-boiled yuca slice, I can't believe how anyone can go back to eating potatoes; it's a richer and tastier version of white potatoes.

As time passes, the yuca slices slowly dehydrate and the fibrous texture begins to separate (see above). They're still perfectly edible and I enjoy tasting them at different stages of dehydration. When completely dry, they become quite hard. At this point, you can microwave them to soften them up. I keep the yuca slices at room temperature for about a week, helping myself to them occasionally for munching between meals and to complement my main dishes.

I eat my yuca with just a simple condiment: Kosher salt. The small and grainy salt particles are ideal for yuca (unlike Himalayan or crystal salt which dissolve in liquid). I suppose olive oil and coconut oil might go well with yuca also, especially when served as a side dish to steak or pork. Here's one such combination: pieces of chorizo and beef steak with yuca, boiled red cabbage and steamed broccoli.





How about for breakfast, along with bacon and eggs? Any meat entrée traditionally eaten with a starchy complement could use a yuca side dish.

Keeping a steady supply of this Spanish root vegetable means going through a 5-lb. bag every ten days or so. Once it becomes your staple starch, it's very hard to eat anything else. In my next post, I'll explain why yuca isn't really nutritionally deficient. Yuca, indeed, compares favorably with other starchy tubers like yams, sweet potatoes, and potatoes when it comes to nutrition.

How Instant Coffee Replaced Filter Coffee

How Instant Coffee Replaced Filter Coffee

Sataran   5:23 PM

I have made a complete switch to drinking instant coffee. This after drinking filter coffee for more than 20 years. Why the switch? Well, I used to hop over to either Dunkin Donuts or Au Bon Pain to get my coffee. When I was in Canada, it would be Tim Horton's or Second Cup. That was my morning routine: getting a fresh cup of filter coffee with Half & Half and 2 packs of Domino sugar.

Then I had my epiphany and realized that sugar is evil and dairy may be allergenic, if not carcinogenic. So I started drinking from the communal coffee pot at work, using either stevia or Splenda for sweetness and coconut milk in lieu of cream. This was good for a while but I began to mightily miss heavy cream in my coffee.

Through a series of experiments, I came to realize that if I drank stronger coffee, I could cut down on the overall volume drank and do without the cream. With stronger coffee, I need to drink only once in the morning and evening -- no mug full of weak and lukewarm coffee to sip for an entire day.

Stronger coffee cuts down on overall caffeine intake.

Besides, you can increase the dose with instant coffee and mix other ingredients which improve the taste. For example, I add a teaspoon of instant espresso to boost the flavor. The concentrated espresso flavor can be jarring if you're not used to drinking espresso. My favorite is Ferrara but the other two aren't bad either.

I also sprinkle cinnamon powder and add some extra virgin coconut oil. Then I add a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa. Either Hershey's or Nestle's unsweetened cocoa gives my coffeee the rich, mocha taste that I've come to like.

Then comes coconut milk. There isn't a brand that I haven't tried. I find these two brands to be acceptable. Naive Forest is a bit thicker and creamier than Thai Kitchen but it tends to crust after a few days. One tablespoon from either source is plenty for me.

As for instant coffee, my favorite brand is Savarin. Works perfectly well when mixed with instant espresso. Cheaper does not mean inferior. I've tried most other brands (Folger's, Maxwell, Nescafe) and I simply prefer Savarin. Two heaping teaspoons for an 8-oz. coffee cup.

What results is not just coffee. It really is a coffee-flavored energy drink packing quite a punch. In an 8 oz. serving, the drink resembles a stronger version of Caffè Americano or long black mixed with mocha. The coconut milk gives it the softer, creamier taste but not quite as creamy as espresso mixed with hot milk.

Back in my student days, my staple coffee drink used to be cappucino and au lait from Cafe Milano on Bancroft.  When I started working, I drank Au Bon Pain's house coffee mixed with cream. When drinking coffee as strong as this, however, you don't quite miss the taste of steamed milk and foam, nor pasteurized heavy cream. 

Do you really need steamed milk?

Even when you drink twice a day.

Chorizoes with Steamed Vegetables

Chorizoes with Steamed Vegetables

Sataran   4:56 PM

Since I'm on a fairly restrictive diet, I avoid gluten grains, dairy, nightshade vegetables, legumes, soy, and nuts. But processed meats have been my one weakness. In particular, I haven't been able to rid myself of chorizoes -- especially Premio's chorizoes available at ShopRite, a supermarket chain in the Northeast. These chorizoes have corn syrup, maltodextrin, red pepper, and paprika. In other words, artificial ingredients (horreurs) and nightshade spices.

However, I don't seem to react badly to these. Perhaps the small dose is hormetic. So I've been making these Spanish sausages a treat once a week. They're incredibly tasty when cooked just right in an electric oven.

I usually cook at 350F for 10 minutes. Then I split them open, spread them out and cook for 15 minutes more at 350F. Flip them over and cook another 15 minutes. I like my pork well-done (and they should be well-done, a la PHD). So I don't mind the overcooked texture and slight burntmarks from broiling in my electric oven for 40 minutes. Spray some thyme, ginger and garlic powder and eat with your steamed vegetables. Goes well with steamed broccoli, French green beans and yuca.

Or, try with boiled red cabbage and collard greens. Always served with herbs as seasoning and a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar.

Wash it all down with a cup of Dragon Well green tea.