I Eat, Therefore I Cook

Disregarding any potentially fallacious logic inherent to the title of this post :), something that I enjoy doing nearly every day is cooking. I think that I learned to cook fried and scrambled eggs when I was six or seven years old. Bacon followed soon afterward! Since then, I have tried cooking many things with reasonable degrees of success. I usually don't go to a lot of trouble, preferring to throw a collection of vegetables, seasonings, and some type of meat (usually chicken) into a pot and let it stew. However, I occasionally go to a bit more trouble. I sometimes eat fish, which I bake with different vegetables and seasonings. I can also make some pretty good chili and stir-fry. As I have gotten a bit older, I have become a lot more health conscious. Consequently, I have greatly reduced my intake of cholesterol (no more egg yolks!) and sodium. Also, I try to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Most recently, I have attempted to reduce my intake of trans fats (partially and fully hydrogenated oils) to zero. I do not subscribe to any particular diet fads, however, I think that I am pretty well in tune with many aspects of the Mediterranean diet. I do eat a fair amount of fat, but I try to consume mostly monounsaturated fats, which are the healthiest. Olive oil and nuts like walnuts and almonds contain mostly this type of fat. I have stopped eating beef (no, I did not become a Hindu, although I have known some pretty cool Hindus :) ) because it is very high in saturated fat. The cattle disease BSE is pretty scary too! As previously mentioned, I eat a lot of chicken and some fish, but I also eat turkey and lean ham. When I was a kid I loved to eat fried pork rinds, which is basically just fried slabs of solid fat! I do love chocolate, cookies, cakes, etc., but I have cut way back on my processed sugar intake. When I bake, I now substitute honey and molasses for sugar when a sweetener is called for. If a recipe calls for margarine or vegetable grease, I always substitute olive oil. Also, instead of using all white flour, I use part whole wheat flour. Whole wheat items, like breads, tend to be digested more slowly than things like white bread (do you remember Wonder Bread?) and are thus less likely to make the consuming party obese! Anyway, with all the substituting that I make in my quest for greater health through selective gastronomics, I have developed some of my own recipes. I have listed two below that are really quite good. When I make them for friends or relatives, there is never any left over. I know that some of my visitors like to cook, so I hope that you will try these recipes and more importantly, I hope that you will enjoy them! :)

Apple Walnut Muffins

Mix together:

2 egg whites
1/6 cup honey
1/3 cup extra light olive oil
1 pealed and finely chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
dash of cinnamon
dash of ginger

In a separate bowl, sift together:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine all ingredients and slowly add milk while mixing until a thick batter results. Approximately 3/4 cup milk should be about right if you want to measure.

For baking, use a non-stick muffin pan. However, even "non-stick" cookware often sticks anyway (so much for truth in advertising!), so spraying it with a non-stick vegetable spray like "Pam" is a good idea. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 25 minutes. A 12" by 12" baking pan can also be used to make a cake, however, the cooking time will need to be increased to 35 or 40 minutes. A good test for doneness is to stick a toothpick or a sharp knife into the muffin/cake. If it pulls out clean, then it is done.

Banana Nut Bread

Mix together:

2 or 3 mashed ripe bananas
3 egg whites
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup extra light olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
dash of cinnamon
dash of ginger

In a separate bowl, sift together:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine all ingredients and mix well until a thick batter results. Pour into a non-stick bread pan. Here again, a non-stick vegetable spray is a good idea. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 to 70 minutes.

The Nesting Instinct and Something for a Friend

A few months ago, not long after my experience with the duckling, I discovered that a nest was being constructed on top of a wreath hanging on a wall near where I live. I watched as the nest grew in size over a period of several days, but I had still not caught sight of its builder. Finally, I spotted the avian culprit lying low and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible behind the green fabric leaves and white flowers of the wreath. It was a dove!

I watched her for a few days, approaching a little closer each day. She did not seem particularly concerned about my presence. However, she sat absolutely still as I observed her. I tried not to make any sudden movements and I only watched her for a few seconds at a time before I slowly turned and walked away. After about a week, I decided to try and take a picture of her. I brought out a little step ladder so I could get to approximately the same height as the nest, carefully set it up, climbed two steps slowly, aimed the camera and pressed the shutter release. The flash went off and I froze expecting the dove to startle and fly away. However, she just sat immobilized on the nest as if nothing had happened. Here she is (please click on the picture for an enlargement):



Emboldened by the Dove's tolerance of my presence and picture taking, I decided to attempt another shot from a different angle. Again, to my great satisfaction, the dove was completely cooperative.



Over the course of the next two weeks or so, every time I looked at the nest, the dove was there. I don't know if she ever left. I assumed that she was sitting on some eggs, but I wondered if she was getting hungry. I thought that her mate might be feeding her as she sat, but I never saw him. Nevertheless, she persevered and I continued to watch her every day. At long last, my patience (and hers too!) was rewarded when I noticed a tiny head poking out from beneath her. I continued to carefully watch for a few more days, not wanting to startle the dove from her nest and baby. Then, I decided to try and get a picture of the mother and chick. Once again, I was very pleased that she tolerated my efforts.



The next day, I saw another tiny head peaking out from beneath the mother dove. The two chicks grew fast. It seemed that nearly every day they were bigger and their feathers more fully developed. In about three weeks, they grew from tiny helpless chicks into juvenile doves about half the size of the mother. I didn't want to disturb them and so I didn't take any more pictures during this period. One day, I found that the mother was gone. I figured that she was off to get something to eat. I decided to try and take a picture of the two half grown doves in the nest. I got out my step ladder and carefully climbed into position and raised my camera. Just before I was about to press the shutter, one of the little doves jumped and flew from the nest to a nearby bush. I was quite surprised! I climbed down and approached the dove in the bush. This time, it didn't even let me get close. It flew again to a nearby tree. Then, I began to worry a bit that it was too far from the nest and the mother wouldn't be able to find it to continue feeding it. I decided to give up on taking any further pictures. I carefully removed my step ladder and withdrew from the remaining young dove in the nest. The next day, I was glad to see the mother back on the nest with the one baby. The day after that, they were both gone. I continued to hear doves cooing for the next few days, so I assumed that one or both of the young doves were still hanging around and were possibly still being fed by their mother. This was a very interesting experience and I was glad to have been able to observe the mother dove and her babies.

For My Friend:

Earlier this week, my friend Pantea asked me to help her get the word out about a petition that seeks to stop the flooding of the reservoir behind a dam which is nearing completion in southern Iran. This dam will submerge parts of the famous and historical site of Pasargadae (this link has some very nice pictures, so please take a look) which was founded by Cyrus the Great around the year 547 BCE (approximately 2500 years ago). I have done a bit of net surfing to learn more about this dam project. It is called the Sivand Dam and it is being built on the Polvar River near the site of Pasargadae. The Iranian government has delayed by one year the original schedule to fill the reservoir to allow an international team of archeologists to excavate the area to be flooded. In the past six months, these archeologists have made a number of very interesting discoveries, but with so little time remaining, and so much work left to do, the team has recently said that they will need four years to thoroughly dig the site. I sincerely hope that they will be granted more time! The petition may not be able to stop the dam's flooding, but if enough people sign it, it may at least allow a further delay in the flooding. So, in the interest of preserving as much as possible of the as yet undiscovered historical treasures of Pasargadae would you please add your name to this petition? Thank you!