Cooking for 150 (at your house)?

Well, that's what I've been doing for the past two days (sorry I've been a bit too busy to post). Four times a year, the Dean's Scholars convene to devour carloads of food, and I've been lucky enough to be the head chef for the past year. Our dinner to honor the outgoing senior class last night was a great success!

We generally have 150 attendees at these dinner parties, and we prepare and cook all of the food at one of our professor's houses. Yes, with two ovens, a stovetop, grill, and electric wok, we cook for 150. The theme for senior dinner this year was Chinese food (so we employed an extra 10 or so rice cookers). In total, we had about 15 helpers each shift, cooking for a total of 14 hours over two days. I couldn't do it without them. This year's menu was:

Appetizers

• Pearl Balls
• Turkey Pot Stickers
• Chicken Wings
• Chinese Hard Boiled Eggs
• Hunan Candied Pecans
• Braised Black Mushrooms
• Shrimp Chips

Main Dishes

• Minced Chicken & Veggies in Lettuce Cups
• Cantonese Roast Duck
• Grilled Korean Beef
• Moo Shoo Pork & Veggies
• Shrimp Curry
• Cashew Broccoli
• Spicy Braised Eggplant
• Mixed Noodles
• Cold Asparagus
• Cucumber Salad
• Rice

Dessert

• Almond Jello with Lychees, Pineapple, and Mandarin Oranges
• Fortune Cookies
• Almond Cookies
• Dean's Scholars Snickers Cake
• Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
• Mango Ice Cream
• Strawberry Ice Cream

Everything is homemade (except for the two types of cookies for dessert), and is a big undertaking. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as executive chef, and hope that their helpers next year are as good as mine have been. Recipes for a couple of the dishes to come soon.

In the News: HALF of Americans Use Supplements

Supplement facts:

• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that more of half of U.S. adults use dietary supplements -- including multivitamins, minerals and, herbs.
• The most popular supplements are multivitamins, used by 39% of U.S. adults in 2006.
• While some supplements are helpful, supplements cannot replace proper nutrition.
• Several epidemiological studies showed there was no significant difference between people who take supplements and those who do not
• Some supplements may have side effect like prescription drugs
• Supplements are not regulated in the same way as prescription drugs

Basically, eat well. Most multivitamins won't harm you, but they cannot replace proper nutrition. I just thought it was interesting how many people take vitamins in the USA.

Why Eating Makes Us Feel Good

Everybody eats.  And many of us eat and eat and eat. Having a full stomach makes us feel good and content. But why do many of us overeat...continuing to stuff ourselves even when we are full?

Evolution has given us the instinct to eat a lot every time we can, preparing for hard times. It's the drive to survive, like squirrels storing up for the winter. It's also fueled by competition: beating others to the food.  And as for that warm, content feeling after eating a meal, scientists studying that good feeling call it ingestion analgesia, literally pain relief from eating. Despite the modern environment bombarded by appetizing advertisements and fast food, the wiring in the human brain hasn't changed. The reward circuits in the brain still release chemicals that comfort and satisfy.


The body rewards fatty, salty, and sugary foods by releasing endogenous opioids, chemicals which help control pain. A study published in Nature Neuroscience recently suggests that high-fat, high-calorie foods affect the brain in much the same way as cocaine and heroin. According to this study, when rats consume these foods in great enough quantities, it leads to compulsive eating habits that resemble drug addiction.

It is this addiction to foods that are bad for us that has helped to cause the current obesity crisis in the United States, and many other parts of the world. Our brains tell us that we are full, but we ignore ourselves because evolution tells us to keep eating. We need to learn to listen, and I leave you with a few tips that might help:

• STOP EATING when you are full
• Eat when you feel hungry, because if you wait too long to eat (become 'starving') then you are more likely to overeat.
• Eat slowly - give your brain time to figure out that you have eaten, and are full. The dinner table is not a competition of which family member (or apartment mate) can finish first (if it was, I would consistently lose)

Instant Noodles: A College Staple

Ramen noodles are another food that I believe every college student has consumed. Sadly, these instant noodles are extremely cheap (19¢ per package), and require only water, a microwave, and a few minutes to make. However inexpensive and easy, these noodles are terrible for the body.

First, let us think about the ingredients. The seemingly innocent noodles are actually deep fried. That doesn't bode well for any health aspect of the food. This is basically taking enriched flour (the non-whole grain variety), which is already stripped of pretty much any fiber or nutritional value, and dropping it in oil. The seasoning packet is almost all pure salt. How do I know? I looked at the ingredients list on the package. Ingredient number one is salt. Followed by the phrase 'contains less than 1% of...' 


Next, we can look at the nutrition information on the package. One package of ramen (technically two servings) contains 14g of fat (half of which is saturated fat).  That means one bowl of ramen has one fifth of your daily fat intake (remember, this is just noodles and broth). Ramen also contains almost 1800mg of sodium - 75% of your daily intake. Definitely not good. Lastly, there are 52g of carbohydrates (hey, they are noodles), however, only 2g of this are dietary fiber. In total, this constitutes 400 calories for the bowl of ramen noodles, 150 of which come from fat. Ew.


All of these factors combine into a higher risk for weight gain, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Instead of buying ramen deathbricks, try getting some whole grain pasta, and jarred pasta sauce. It might cost slightly more per serving, but it will keep you going in the long run. More on pasta soon.

Pizza Perfect

Pizza - one of the staple foods of your average college student. Probably one of the reasons for the freshman fifteen, and definitely not the best food for you.

The average slice of cheese pizza contains 300 calories and 11 grams of fat. A good way to save on the fat is to order your pizza with part-skim cheese, which will save you up to 24g of fat per pie. When ordering, try to avoid the most destructive toppings - pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, and extra cheese.

Fun (ish?) pizza facts:

• A standard pizza in Italy contains 500 to 800 calories
• A medium cheese pizza from Pizza Hut has over 2,150 calories
• About 3 billion pizzas are sold in the U.S. each year, 400 million of which come from Domino's
• Pizza is the 4th most-craved food among Americans (after cheese, chocolate, and ice cream)
• Dipping sauces from major pizza chains can contain up to 18 grams of fat per little tub
• You save 20 to 50 calories per slice by blotting away the excess oils - not much, but if you're eating a few slices it adds up

Try adding vegetables to your usual pizza order to get some of the nutrients your body needs. Some of the best toppings are green peppers, mushrooms, onions, roma tomatoes, pineapple, chicken, broccoli, and spinach. Also, add a packet of crushed red peppers to your pizza - the capsaicin in the pepper has been shown to stimulate metabolism. There are definitely ways to make your pizza healthier, just try to avoid eating a pie for dinner every night. Portion control is key with foods like pizza.

Good at home pizza tools:

• Cuisinart AMB-14PP Chef's Classic Nonstick Bakeware 14-Inch Pizza Pan
• Oxo Good Grips 4-Inch Pizza Wheel
• Norpro Deluxe Pastry & Pizza Roller

"All Natural" ≠ All Natural

When you're shopping for groceries, you see numerous claims on packages.  One product may have a full serving of fruits and vegetables, another may be fat free, a third may be grown in the USA, and another might be "all natural."  Which one of these packages is lying to you? As you probably guessed by the post title, it is the package that says "all natural." 

Though I cannot say for certain that the product is not made from all natural ingredients, the term "all natural" is not regulated by the FDA. For example, some consider high-fructose corn syrup as all natural, because it comes from a plant. Whereas whole kernel corn is healthy, when you refine it and extract the sugars to make high-fructose corn syrup, you get a blatantly unnatural ingredient that contributes to higher rates of obesity and type-II diabetes.

Of course, it's all quite ridiculous. By some definition, anything derived from plants, animals or elements found on the planet could earn the "all natural" label. The key is in understanding that the process is unnatural, not the source. When you chemically or structurally alter food ingredients into a form that no longer appears anywhere in nature, it is no longer natural. So again, instead of believing the claims on the front of the box - check the list of ingredients. More posts on some sneaky ingredients are coming soon. 

Recipe Three: Margarita Chicken

Chefs love alcohol.  If you've never watched Top Chef (on Bravo TV) before, I think you are missing out big time.  I think one of my favorite quotes from the show is, "you're not cooking until you're drinking."  I was reminded of this quote earlier today, and thought I would share my first (of many to come) recipes with alcohol.


Margarita Chicken
Makes 3 servings

Ingredients

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup margarita mix
• 2/3 cup tequila
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chicken seasoning

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a large resealable plastic bag.  Squeeze out all the air and massage the bag to combine the ingredients.  Refrigerate for at least one hour (overnight is best).
2. Preheat grill to medium.  Remove chicken from the bag and grill until cooked through.
3. Serve hot. You can garnish with baby arugula and lime if you want.

Nutrition Information

• 217 calories
• 6g carbohydrates
• 0g dietary fiber
• 4g sugars
• 2.5g fat
• 20g protein

I love this recipe (and it actually tastes like a margarita!!).  It has been thoroughly tested on college students.  At one of our huge dinners for the Dean's Scholars, it was completely devoured.  More on cooking for the Dean's Scholars soon, as we have our end-of-year dinner coming up in less than 2 weeks!! Hope y'all enjoy!