Tasty Beetroot Pesto Tagliatelle

During a Family Home Evening (A night that we LDS folk set aside to spend with our family and do things together like study, play games, discuss topics etc) I mentioned to my wife that we should try and have at least one vegetarian meal each week, it would be healthier for us as a whole and more in line with D&C 89. She did agree, if only to allow me to experiment more. That was how this dish came into being, it's so simple, super healthy and delicious.

Sorry about the poor quality. The camera I used is not mine.

Why a Beetroot pesto? I don't like Beetroot? Some of you will be saying. I use to not like beetroot either but have slowly changed my opinion over the last few years. Beetroot is a superfood, it is packed full of nutrients and antioxidants. Studies have shown it can increase the white blood cells (The defenders of the body against foreign invasion), help in reduction of blood pressure, have a high content of folic acid, Vitamins A and C. It can be eaten raw or cooked, both ways taste good.

A typical 100g serving of Raw beetroot looks like this:-

• Calories: 43
• Protein: 2g
• Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrate: 10g
• Fibre: 3g

For this healthy, tasty dish you will need:- Serves 2 with some pesto left over.

400g Raw Beetroot (You can used pickled if you desire)

30g of Cashew Nuts

10g Almonds

1 clove of Garlic

2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese

1 tsp fresh parsley

1 tsp oregano

50ml Olive Oil

pinch of salt and pepper to taste

4 nests of Tagliatelle

sprinkling of Parmesan for the top

First peel and rough chop your beetroot (use gloves because the red will get everywhere) and put in a food processor. Then add the nuts, garlic, cheese, herbs, olive oil and seasoning. Blend until it all comes together, 30 seconds or so. Taste and correct seasoning. 

Boil a pan of salted water and add the Tagliatelle. Once it is al dente transfer to a frying pan, then add some spoonfuls of your beetroot, about 2-3 per person. Stir until all combined and put into bowls, top with Parmesan and serve straight away. 

Goes great with some garlic bread or ciabatta. I can promise you that this will become a household favourite and will help you get some super healthy food into you. 

Amazing Rye Rolls

Here in Finland they love to eat Rye products. Don't know what rye is? Ever heard of Black Bread? Well that is Rye Bread. Rye is a grain that is ideally suited to colder climates and those areas with poorly soil types. It is also healthier for you than any wheat flour as it contains less gluten and good soluble fibre, recent research has also shown that Rye flour can help reduce cholesterol. Finland grows over 70,000 tonnes but consumes over 100,000 tonnes every year. The shortfall is imported from Germany and Poland (two of the biggest growers of Rye in the world).

Recently Finnish Rye bread has taken off in New York City thanks to an Ouluite. You can read the article about this here.

Bread has always been very important to the Finnish people, sometimes for the poorest it was the only meal. Traditional Rye Bread was made into a flattened disc with a hole through it. this was then mounted on a stick, in the ceiling, where it would stay for week, even months.

Traditional Ruisreikäleipä

So last week I had my mother in law round for a dinner of meatloaf and salad. I also thought to give a go at making some Rye Rolls (I have made 100% rye bread before). They came out really tasty and went down a treat with everyone present.

So here it is, you will need to have with you:-

500ml Milk
50g Fresh Yeast (or 14g dried yeast)
3 tbsp Golden Syrup
3 tsp Salt
75ml Oil (I used olive oil, but you can use any kind besides motor oil)
400g Rye Flour
300g Wheat Flour (with some extra just in case and for dusting)

First heat your milk up to around 30oC and stick into a bowl then add the yeast in. Leave for about 10 minutes. Then add the syrup, salt, oil and rye flour. Mix until it becomes some stodgy mess. Then start adding the wheat flour, keep adding a little at a time until it comes together in a smooth but slightly sticky dough (rye dough should never be as dry as normal bread dough). Then put into a fresh bowl and cover, stick in a warmest place. Most Finns put some warm water into the sink and put the bowl in there.

Leave to rise for 25-30 minutes and then dust some wheat flour onto a table and take dough out, knead for a short while, about 5 minutes and then break into pieces and roll into roll shape. Place onto a greaseproof papered baking tray and cover. Turn oven on to 225oC and wait to heat up. When it has reached that temp, about 10 minutes, add the rolls into the oven and cook for around 10 minutes.

Serve the traditional Finnish way with butter, freshly sliced cheese, ham and salad.

Not all healthier foods need to taste like cardboard as these will testify to your tastebuds.

Fats

For this weeks nutrition related article I though about tackling one of the two (the other being Carbohydrates) most commonly confused nutritional elements.

A delicious array of cheese.

What is Fat?

Fats are a group of compounds that are generally insoluble in water and are needed for processing certain vitamins and minerals (See below). There are many categories and divisions of fats, firstly they can be put into two initial groups; Solid Fats, which are solid at room temperature, and Oils, which is a liquid at room temperature. They can be divided further, which we will look into, like saturated fats, trans fats etc.

What is the confusion?

The main source of the confusion about fats mainly comes from the name. People see the word FAT and automatically equate it to that belly and increasing waistline. Of course there is some truth in that but all nutrients are involved in that, as was mentioned in the first article, the importance is balance. For starters Vitamins A, D, E and K need fat to be processed and absorbed into the body's system. Fats are also important in containing fatty acids (in fact fat is composed of glycerol and three fatty acids, that is why the chemical name is triglyceride), that are essential for our daily diet (but I will go more in Fatty Acids on a different article).

Some myths that I have found throughout the internet and from my life as a Chef in regards to Fat are the following:

•  Less Fat means weight loss. This isn't entirely true, in fact according to figures obesity rates have soared by 20% in the last 10 years (the same time that the low-fat revolution has been active). The key to weight loss is by managing calories, fats can help this because they are filling and thus make it easier to avoid over eating. 
• All fats are the same. Another big myth, fats have differing values depending on their structure. Also it is scientifically researched that Saturated and Trans Fats are worse for you when taken in excess than mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated. However all fats taken in excess cause problems and all intakes should be taken into account by your age, weight and activity. 
• Eating Fat-Free is better. This is so not true that it hurts me so much to see health nuts proclaim it as such. Fat-Free foods normally contain higher concentrations of sugar, refined carbohydrates and calories. Don't think so? Just check next time you go to the markets.

So what is recommended in your diet for fat? Well according to food scientists, about 20-30% of your calories should come from fats however to break this down further it is recommended that no more than 10% should be Saturated fats and no more than 1% come from Trans fats. 

However we shouldn't get too scared by all this and start trying to have no fat in our life. If we look at something foodies call the French Paradox we can see that having a lifestyle high in saturated fats doesn't mean you will have a heart attack. It is all about how you eat, all comes down to the magical word BALANCE. If we took the time to just go out for a walk 30 minutes a day, our body would function a whole lot better. If we ate more greener, stable, vitamin rich foods our body would perform harder, better, faster, stronger (That was deliberate for those who get it). So think about your lifestyle and its needs when planning your meals.

Sources of Fats

Here is a list of some sources of fats and what kinds they are:

Monounsaturated Fats

• Olive oil
• Sunflower oil
• Peanut oil
• Sesame oil
• Avocados
• Olives
• Nuts (mainly peanuts, almonds, macadamia, pacans, cashews and hazelnuts)
• Peanut butter

Polyunsaturated Fats

• Soybean oil
• Corn oil
• Walnuts
• Tofu
• Fatty Fish (Salmon, Herring, Trout, Tuna, Sardines and Mackerel) 
• Soy Milk
• Seeds (Sunflower, Flax, Pumpkin and Sesame)

Saturated Fats

• Red Meats, especially the high fat cuts (Chops,Rib-Eyes, Tenderloin, Shoulder) 
• Chicken with the skin 
• Ice Cream 
• Lard
• Butter
• Whole-fat Diary (Milk and Cream)
• Palm and Coconut oil

Trans Fats

• Cheap and Stick Margarines (also commonly know as Baking Margarine) 
• Snack Foods (Popcorn, microwave Burgers and Hotdogs, Crisps)
• Vegetable Shortening (Crisco)
• Fried Foods
• Commerically baked products (Doughnuts, Pizzas, Muffins, Cakes)
• Sweets

Home made Peanut Butter.

What does our body use it for?

Fats have the important job of helping our skin and hair remain healthy. People who suffer from skin and hair conditions are normally advised to take foods that contain higher concentrates of fats, like nuts, seafood etc. It also provides cushioning for our organs against shock (not as in boo you scared the living day lights out of me kind of shock), regulation of our body temperature (which is why I can currently stand this -20oC plus Finnish Winter) and helping the cells in our body stay healthy and perform their tasks. 

Fat is also an emergency energy store, each gram contains around 37 kilojoules (8.8 kcal/g). During the digestion process the fats are broken down into glycerol and fatty acids. The glycerol is turned into glucose by the liver and stored for energy. 

Another very important but very unheard of duty for Fats is in the helping the body against diseases. When the body realises that a substance, chemical or biotic, starts reaching unsafe levels it essentially dilutes it into new stored fat tissue. This protects the organs from the substances and eventually the body removes it by the metabolising, sweating, urination, hair growth and sebum excretion (this is an oily, waxy substance the body excretes to help the skin and hair stay healthy). 

It is impossible, and indeed unwise to try, to remove all fats from your diet. To do so would neglect the body of essential nutrients that would lead to several serious conditions. The essential fat (needed to maintain body functions and thus life) percent for a human body is 2%-5% for Men and 10%-13% for Women. For a healthy lifestyle men should have an overall body fat % of 8%-19% in under 40's and 11%-21% for over 40's. Women should have 21%-32% for under 40's and 23%-33% for over 40's. Having over 25% for Men and over 35% for Women is considered obese. 

Effects of cooking on Fats

There is little effect on fats from cooking other than to make it more digestible. 

We could go on and on about Fats and the pros and cons, but I believe that what is currently wrote here will do for now. Maybe in the future I will go more into detail on fats and each type. 

Bessarabian Pancakes

This recipe came about when I was working at The Famous Creg-Ny-Baa (on the Isle of Man). As one of two full time Chefs there, it was our job to come up with a list of specials everyday and one of those had to be a starter. I then remembered reading in a book about stuffed pancakes from Bessarabian (a region in modern day Moldova) and thought they would make a nice, tasty little started for all our customers because it also was vegetarian. After making them up and we tried them, my boss suggested that a sauce would really help, I agreed with him and thought a light chilli and tomato sauce would be the call.

This is also the first Skill 2 recipe posted, I put it as such because it does need more concentration than the previous recipes and has three main components.

The ingredients needed are:-

For the Pancake;

4 eggs, beaten

3tbsp butter, melted

250ml single cream

250ml soda water

175g plain flour

pinch of salt

1 egg white, lightly beaten

olive oil for frying

For the filling;

350g feta cheese, crumbled

50g Parmesan Cheese, grated

40g butter

1 clove of garlic, crushed

450g Spinach (If using fresh, rough chop, if using frozen drain it and squeeze as much water out as you can)

For the Sauce;

400g tin Chopped Tomatoes (you can use fresh if you want)

2tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

2 chillies, roasted, peeled and chopped.

1tbsp dried basil

1tsp sugar

pinch of salt and pepper

So first lets make the Pancake batter, you can do this by putting the eggs, butter, cream and water into a food processor and turning on, then adding the flour and salt into it until fully combined. Those with a food processor can put the flour and salt into a bowl, then form a well in the centre, in another bowl combine the eggs, butter, cream and water and then whilst whisking pour into the flour until fully combined. Leave the batter to rest for about 15 minutes. Then grease a small frying pan (about 15cm) and put on a medium heat. When hot, pour about 4 tablespoons of the batter into the pan, tilt the pan lightly to help the mixture spread. Cook for about a minute and a half then turn over and cook for about a minute. Turn out onto a plate and get a nice stack, leave to cool. 

For the filling add to a bowl the feta, parmesan, butter and garlic. Mix together well and then add the spinach, mix thoroughly. Now you can put into the pancakes. Grab a pancake from your stack and put about 3tbsp of the mixture in the centre of it. Brush a little of the egg white around the edge and then fold it over. Press the edges down well so that it seals, put onto a greaseproof lined baking tray. Repeat for all pancakes. 

For the sauce put all the ingredients into a pan and heat for about 10 minutes, simmering nicely. Then blend until smooth, then taste and correct seasoning.

Heat the oven to 200oC and place the pancakes inside for 10 minutes, take out and put on a plate, drizzle some of the sauce on top and serve.

This can be a delicious lunchtime meal or tasty snack, as well as a great start to a larger meal.

And as they say in Moldova Poftă bună!

Proteins

So for us to have a better understanding of nutrition we need to have more information on the nutrients and what there functions are. So today I will be writing about Proteins, 'Why proteins first?' you ask, well no particularly reason I just thought to start at this one.

What is Protein?

A collagen triple helix. Source: Wikipedia

Protein is an essential part of every living things. It is composed of different amino-acids in one or more chains. These chains perform a massive array of functions within the body and are very essential, many of these amino-acids need to be provided by food. When a protein contains all the essential amino-acids in the correct proportion are said to be of high biological value.

There are two kinds of proteins:-

1. Animal Protein. This is obviously found in meat, game, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and cheese. Some of these proteins names collagen, myosin (meat, poultry and fish), albumin, ovoitellin (eggs), and casein (milk and cheese).
2. Vegetable Protein. Most of these proteins are found in the seeds of vegetables. Greent and Root vegetables have a low proportion of protein compared to their weight. Peas, beans and nuts have a higher value and contain the most amount of protein, however not necessarily of high biological value. Cereals such as wheat, are very good because of the amount eaten in a typical sitting. Some of these protein names are gliadin, glutenin.

It is preferable that the body gets a mix of both animal and vegetable protein as it helps the body get a complete variety of the amino-acids it needs. However you can still be fairly healthy on a vegetarian and vegan diet. During the digestion process, proteins are broken down into amino-acids and these are then adsorbed into the bloodstream.

What does our body use it for?

Proteins are essential for the growth and repair of the body tissues. It can also be use as a fuel source if the body is running low on carbohydrates and lipids. It is important that children, expectant and nursing mothers get more protein than other adults. You can go over on your protein intake, it will be used for energy and fuel. However continual excessive consumption of protein can lead to kidney stones and liver related problems.

The minimum recommended intake of protein is:-

• 0.75 grams per kilo Adult Female
• 0.84 grams per kilo Adult Male
• 1 gram per kilo for expectant and nursing mothers

Effects of cooking on protein

When proteins are heated they coagulate (set) at different temperatures, when they go over their setting temp shrinkage occurs. This is most noticeable when grilling or roasting meats. Protein is easier to digest when it is moderately cooked rather than under or over cooked, as is most common with many households. 

Chocolate Lasagne

I came up with this recipe after looking at similar ones. I wanted to produce one that was easy but also unique. I tested it out of my family on New Years Day and it went down a treat. I would class this as a Skill 1 recipe.

1 Packet of Domino cookies around 350g(or for those outside of Finland Oreo's or similar, you can essentially use any kind of biscuits)
6 tbsp melted butter
200g Soft Cheese
400 ml Double Cream
2 sheets of gelatine (or agar-agar if you are a veggie)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1tbsp sugar
handful or two of mixed chocolate chips (or about 100g of bashed chocolate in chips are not available)

First put your biscuits and butter into a food processor and crush finely. If you have no food processor, stick them in a food bag and then bash the living daylights out of them. Then put half of them on the bottom of a standard size (9*13) baking dish, press down with a spoon until all evenly distributed, put aside. Soak your sheets in some water and leave to one size.

In a bowl whip your cream to soft peak, then in another bowl whip together a tablespoon of sugar, the soft cheese and the vanilla. Add the cheese mix to the soft cheese and fold into the cream. Then melt your gelatine in a pan then sieve it into the cream mixture, combine.

Pour half the mixture on top of your biscuit in the dish. Sprinkle half of your chocolate chips in. Then layer the rest of the biscuit mix on top of the cream with a spoon, taking care when spreading. Pour and spread the rest of the cream and chips. Put in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. You can also sprinkle some coco powder on top if you choose.

Serve straight from the fridge and watch everyone wow in amazement. 

Nutrition: The Key to a Healthy Body

Over the next few weeks I will write several articles based on nutrition. In every catering course (to my knowledge) there is classes on basic nutrition and food science with options to go more in-depth. Nutrition is one of the most important things for our bodies and yet many people are either confused or lack the knowledge about it.

So what is Nutrition?

Nutrition is the breaking down (digestion) of materials from foods to provide energy and heat, for repair and growth and help regulate the body. In nutrition (the study of nutrients) a food is any substance, a liquid or solid, which provides the body with one or all of the things mentioned above. Most foods contain several nutrients but some foods, like sugar, contain only one nutrient.

If more people knew about and practised good nutrition, then many of the health problems that inhibit thousands of people in the world could be avoided.

There are six main classes of nutrients and these are: Carbohydrates, Fats, Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals and Water.

The main function of nutrients

Digestion

Digestion is the chemical and mechanical breakdown of foods into smaller elements for ease of absorption. There are three main areas in which this takes place:

1. In the mouth where a mechanical action starts by breaking the food into smaller pieces and saliva is introduced to the food and the starch is broken down by an enzyme in the saliva. 
2. The stomach is next. In here a chemical action takes place where the gastric juices are added and proteins are broken down. At the same time a mechanical actions is going on where the muscles of the stomach are contracting, thus mixing the food to help the digestive enzymes.
3. After passing from the stomach, the food enters the small intestine. Here proteins, fats and carbohydrates are digested further and absorbed into the blood. 95% of the absorption of nutrients happens here.

In the large intestine water and minerals are re-absorbed from the waste products. Bacteria in the large intestine produce vitamins, noticeably biotin and vitamin K, and these are absorbed into the blood as well. 

Source: Wikipedia 

For the body to fully benefit from foods it is very important to stimulate the flow of saliva and gastric juices. This can only be achieved if the food looks, smells and tastes good. If one of these factors is not met then the digestive process is not acting at 100%. This, as well as lacking in one or more nutrients, leads to a state of malnutrition.