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Going through my morning papers, I came across this very interesting article from THE NEW YORK TIMES. Not only it’s educational but it’s also…convenient to those who follow a diet to lose weight. Enjoy… DESSERT AT BREAKFAST MAY HELP DIETERS … Continue reading
Hello, my dear friends…
I’m very glad to announce my upcoming business plan to NYC !
Me, my pans and pots and my Greek recipes are moving to NYC in the following months.
Finally, I will be happy to cook for you as a private cook, in your kitchen, whenever you need me.
As your personal caterer, I will be happy to cook all my favorite, mediterranean recipes that you can find
in this blog and so many more through an every-day meal, or private cooking lessons.
So, for those of you who would like to taste the Greek, famous:
“TZATZIKI”…
“STUFFED TOMATOES”…
…and more, please feel free to state your interest through this blog. The list is now open…
Thank you and …keep posting.
“The Fullerton restaurant aims to be a meeting place for Orange County. With its modern, egalitarian approach to Greece’s culinary tradition, it’s well on its way.
The menu at Kentro Greek Kitchen might as well be a manifesto. The downtown Fullerton restaurant is practically revolutionary, a stereotype-smashing example of what a Greek restaurant can and should be. Here there are no azure murals of the Aegean, no Doric columns carved from stucco, no choral rounds of “Opa!” to accompany the crash of shattered plates. Kentro instead is a paragon of subtlety, Orange County’s primary practitioner of a Greek culinary tradition that revels not in antiquity but modernity.”
By Miles Clements | Special to the Los Angeles Times
I always appreciate any modern Greek approach…
Good work, guys!
So which Mediterranean diet is best?
Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, president of the nonprofit Center for Genetics, Nutrition and Health in Washington, D.C., thinks it’s the one followed in Greece before 1960.”
November 21, 2011 By Karen Ravn, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Browsing today’s papers I came across this very interesting article on THE NEW YORK TIMES. Enjoy…
By the hand of ANAHAD O’CONNOR
January 27, 2012, 2:16 pm
“CAFFEINE ALTERS ESTROGEN LEVELS IN YOUNGER WOMEN”
Your daily dose of caffeine may tinker with more than just your energy levels.
A new study of women ages 18 to 44 found that drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages can alter levels of estrogen. But the impact varies by race. In white women, for example, coffee appears to lower estrogen, while in Asian women it has the reverse effect, raising levels of the hormone.
The study did not look at older women, but women of child-bearing age who enjoy a daily cuppa have little reason to fret, the researchers said. The effects of caffeine on estrogen are so minimal that in healthy women, it has no impact on ovulation or overall health, at least in the short term.
“This is important physiologically because it helps us understand how caffeine is metabolized by different genetic groups,” said Dr. Enrique Schisterman, an author of the study and senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health. “But for women of reproductive age, drinking coffee will not alter their hormonal function in a clinically significant way.”
The study, which was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analyzed data on more than 250 women who were examined one to three times a week over two menstrual cycles. They provided blood samples along with details about behaviors like exercise, eating and smoking. On average, they consumed about 90 milligrams of caffeine a day, equivalent to roughly one cup of coffee.
After controlling for a number of variables, like age and diet, the researchers found that among Asian women, those who had 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day had higher estrogen levels compared to those who consumed less. A similar pattern was seen among black women, though it was not statistically significant. In white women, however, 200 milligrams or more of caffeine appeared to have a slight lowering effect on estrogen.
Nationwide, about 90 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 34 drink the caffeine equivalent of one to two cups of coffee every day.
Why caffeine would have a different impact depending on race was unclear, though Dr. Schisterman said it was likely that genetics has an influence on caffeine metabolism. But the source of caffeine also seemed to make a difference. When the researchers looked exclusively at caffeine from beverages other than coffee — like green tea and soda — it was linked to higher estrogen in all women, regardless of race. Various levels of antioxidants and other compounds in the drinks, as well as additives like milk and sugar, might play a role, he said.
Dr. Schisterman noted that while healthy, premenopausal women should not worry about caffeine intake in the short term, more research was needed to see if there could be a cumulative impact over many years or decades.
“We don’t know if there are long-term effects of these small shifts in hormonal levels,” he said.
Do you need help in your kitchen?
Do you have unanswered questions?
Help is on the way.
Take a look at these few cooking tips.
Don’t be afraid of the mess… Keep cooking!
PEELING ONIONS MAKES YOU CRY?
Leave the onions in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before peeling. Never cry again.
FRY, YES… SMELLS, NO.
Frying can cause your house to smell like a cook house. For avoiding that, when frying, burn some potato & lemon skin in an ashtray.
SEASON AT THE END…
Season your favorite tomato salad only when you are ready to serve. Otherwise, it will look more like a soup because the salt tends to drain the fluids, leaving your tomatoes shrunken.
IT’S A SECRET…
When cooking a risotto, add the hot vegetable broth gradually and not from the beginning. As the boiling comes to an end, reduce the amount of broth so that the risotto won’t over-cook. The risotto must be firm, “al-dente” as the Italians say.
DID YOU KNOW THAT…
In Greece, after the 15 of August, the lobster fishing is forbidden, because their breeding season starts?
“RAKOMELO“
Do it like the Greeks… Drink “rakomelo” and you ‘ll never catch a cold !
Here’s a Greek traditional, safe recipe that combines only three ingredients!!!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of “raki”
1 tablespoon of honey
a pinch of cinnamon
HOW TO:
In a pot and in low heat, warm the “raki” but be careful not to boil it.
If it warms too much and splashes around, its alcohol may blaze up.
Remove from heat and add the honey and cinnamon. Blend well. That’s it.
Make sure you drink it hot. There’s nothing better for cold treatment.
In Greece, there is a special recipe called “Imam Baildi”.
Its roots are somewhere in minor Asia. My grand mother (who came from Smyrna)
used to tell me this story:
In Turkish, “Βayilmak” means “faint”. So, it’s the Imam who fainted.
There is a story in Turkey that goes like this:
During the Ramadan (when Muslims are forbidden to eat anything before sunset),
there was this Imam who was chanting from his minaret. Suddenly,
a strong cooking smell reached up his nostrils.
This smell coming from a neighboring house,
was so delicious that made him faint and fall of the minaret.
Since then, this dish took the name “Imam baildi”.
Maybe, it was a woman of another religion who cooked that day
since a true Muslim woman would have never cooked anything before sunset during the Ramadan.
Ottawa’s Greek Fest in August 2011 made everybody dancing into the streets.
If you’d like to see the video, please press here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhDgpXWkFHE
They had dancing, live music, kids activities, souvenirs,
Greek language lessons, church service and of course…Greek cuisine.
Here’s the menu:
Dolmades 
Greek Salad
Spanakopita, Turopita
Pita Bread
Souvlaki Stick
Souvlaki on Pita Bread
Gyros Platter
Moussaka
Lamb-Greek style
I wish I was there. Maybe next summer I will
Until then… God bless !
A very interesting article from USA TODAY. I’m giving it as is…
“As Americans show greater interest in eating locally produced fruits and vegetables, an increasing number of farmers markets are selling year-round.
Since 2010, the number of winter markets jumped 38% from 886 to 1,225 in August 2011, according to the updated National Farmers Market Directory. These winter markets, defined as those operating at least once between November and March, now account for nearly 17% of the nation’s 7,222 operating farmers markets.
“Consumers are looking for more ways to buy locally grown food throughout the year,” Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said in announcing the upswing. “Through winter markets, American farmers are able to meet this need and bring in additional income to support their families and businesses.”
USDA attributes part of this increase to the greater use of hoop house technology, which covers crops with plastic and allows farmers to grow food in colder weather. It gives farmers grants to promote such work.
It lists the 10 states with the most winter markets, followed by the number of markets for 2011 vs. that for 2010:
Note*: these states are new to the top 10 list.”
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
FRUITandCAKE 