Miracle Noodles!

Emily Kastl  

Have you ever eaten something and thought “WOW! This is so delicious I wish it didn’t have any calories so I could eat it forever!”? Your wish is the Miracle Noodles’ command! Never heard of these? You’re probably not alone, but due to our country’s current obsession with diet foods, these calorie-free little guys are starting to make a name for themselves. More commonly known as shirataki or “white waterfall,” these traditional Japanese noodles are made from the konnyaku imo root—100% pure dietary fiber. And for you Celiacs out there, they’re gluten free! Since they are zero-calorie and carb-free, they‘re a dieter’s dream.

Image from mamaseacat's Guilt-Free Goodies blog

That’s all well and good, but how do they taste? Much like tofu, Miracle Noodles are flavor-chamelions; they take on the taste of whatever they’re in. Though I haven’t personally tried them, I‘ve read a ton of reviews and they all seemed to be on Team Miracle Noodles. Since they’re just coming onto the scene, they’re currently only available at specialty markets, Asian grocery stores, and online.
Eager to give these sensational shiratakis a try? Next time you make spaghetti, alfredo or any other dish that usually calls for pasta, set aside your Barilla and toss in some Miracle Noodles. If zero calories, no carbs, and flavor versatilty aren’t enough reasons to convince you to make the switch, how about the fact that they’re easier to make than regular noodles? Since they’re packed in water, simply rinse them off with hot water and add them to your dish! It’s like...a miracle!

Icelandic Yogurt

Katie Trucco  

Out with the old and in with the…Icelandic? Yep, as soon as you were getting used to the Greek yogurt craze, another country has taken over grocery store shelves with their own take on a dairy staple.
I found a brand of Icelandic yogurt called Siggi’s, which makes “Icelandic style skyr.” Skyr is a protein-rich strained yogurt that has been a staple in the Icelandic diet for thousands of years. When skim cow’s milk is combined with live active cultures, skyr is formed. Then the water from the cow’s milk is strained, which creates the thick and creamy texture.
The understated label tells the story of why Siggi Hilmarsson decided to bring his native Icelandic yogurt to the United States. He wanted to make a yogurt that had a more subtle flavor than other more popular brands like Yoplait yogurts. Siggi’s is flavored not with processed sugars or aspartame, but with natural ingredients like organic agave nectar and Madagascar bourbon vanilla. It is the only yogurt that I’ve seen with only five ingredients, all of which I can pronounce. It also doesn’t contain any gelatin or artificial flavorings, and the cow’s milk used is free of growth hormones, or more scientifically known as rBGH..
So what does Icelandic yogurt taste like? The first time I tried it, I was not a huge fan. The thick and somewhat grainy texture made it feel like I was eating vanilla flavored toothpaste. However, I gave it another chance. I added some honey to it, which neutralized the bitterness and gave it a much smoother texture and now I can’t stop eating it! Plus, it’s 14 grams of protein—heads up, vegetarians!
Siggi’s comes in many flavors, such as vanilla, mixed berry, peach, strawberry, pomegranate, and blueberry. My honey technique tastes best with the vanilla flavor; the flavoring is sweet enough in the fruit flavors that you don’t really need to add anything else.
Siggi’s is available at Whole Foods. Try one and see if you are ready to jump from one foreign yogurt to another.

Cooking’s New Frontier

Nate Kristel  

Let’s start with an overview. I could throw in my own opinions, experiences and ideas on the topic of molecular gastronomy, but to be honest they aren’t completely formed. I, like many other diners, am new to this modern cuisine (new to it, but all the while intrigued) and haven’t experienced enough of it to pass judgment. What I can tell you about molecular gastronomy are the facts. It’s defined as “A style of cooking in which scientific methods and scientific equipment are used. This type of cooking examines, and makes use of, the physical and chemical reactions that occur during cooking." (about.com). But which methods are these? Which pieces of equipment are used? Which additives manipulate these reactions?
To answer these questions to their fullest, you’d probably need a five-part, 2,438 page book about the topic. Fortunately there is such a book! Modernist Cuisine is the new ultimate guide to modern/molecular gastronomical cooking techniques; and by the way, it costs $625. But I haven’t the money nor the time for such a book, and perhaps neither do you. The point is that molecular gastronomy is a very exhaustive topic, and going for it all in one article would be overreaching.

Image from Time.com book review

Here are some of the basics:

Sodium Alginate and Calcium Chloride: Sounds tasty, huh? Actually, they’re flavorless, all natural, and can be used in the spherification of foods. Sodium alginate is “a salt extracted from the viscous liquid from the cell wall of brown algae". (Molecular Gastronomy Network). Calcium chloride “is obtained as a byproduct of the manufacturing of sodium carbonate [baking soda]". (Molecular Gastronomy Network). One of the coolest recipes I discovered using these two additives, was a recipe for Mango Ravioli, which to me seemed more like a mango egg yolk. Basically, sodium alginate is mixed with a mango puree and then dipped into a bath of calcium chloride and water. When dropped in the bath, the sodium alginate reacts with the calcium chloride to create a surface gel around the mango puree. There you have it, a gel capsule filled with tasty mango puree. Put it in your mouth, bite down, and boom, a gush of mango.

Tapioca Maltodextrin: This turns fatty items, such as peanut butter, caramel or olive oil, into powders. Tapioca maltodextrin is a sugar obtained from tapioca and then dried into a powder itself (Molecular Gastronomy Network). Making olive oil powder is very easy: Take tapioca maltodextrin, mix it with olive oil in a food processor, and then pass through a tamis (basically a strainer). Once made, it can be served as a condiment, used as flavoring or used for texture. I’ve never made it, but it seems really easy and I can’t wait to experiment.

To me, these three additives embody the entire character of this style of cooking. By changing the physical properties of ingredients, a whole new world of creativity is opened up, and many chefs have taken notice. It seems that this style of cooking is constantly becoming more mainstream. Already, chefs have gained fame by running restaurants that base their entire menu on dishes primarily made with molecular gastronomical techniques. Some of the most famous restaurants are: Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50 in New York City, Homaru Cantu’s moto and Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago, and Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli in Roses, Spain. I’d have to imagine that dining at one of these restaurants would be more of an overall experience than a dinner.


Craving more molecular gastronomy? Ian Rosoff recently wrote an article about El Bulli.

A Green Movement: get your greens

Molly Donahue  

If you’re looking to add a bit of green to your diet, smoothies lend themselves as a delicious quick fix. Green? Smoothies? That’s right. Observers might give you a questionable look as you continue to add handfuls spinach to a blender splashing with an array of fruit, but the nutritional benefits and taste will counter any disbelief.
Angela Liddon from the vegan food blog Oh She Glows is one person standing behind the idea of green smoothies or as she calls them ‘Green Monsters.’ There is an entire website devoted to this idea of Green Monsters. A Green Monster consists of any green leafy vegetable, usually spinach, mixed with your usual smoothie ingredients. A common Green Monster might include any type of liquid, banana, ice, and a few cups of raw spinach. Simple.

Image from Oh She Glows blog

The website Green Monster Movement provides many recipes and also allows readers to submit their own recipes as well.
If you are feeling a need for more health benefits, try adding ground flax seed, protein powder, or chia seeds. Pumpkin, cinnamon, honey, carob powder and agave nectar also make great additions. Other leafy greens such as kale, beet-top greens, parsley or even wheatgrass can be added to your Green Monster. It is recommended to rotate the greens that you eat for a variety of nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants.
The smoothies are credited as energy boosters as well as helping to fulfill the daily recommended fruit and vegetable servings. It is recommended to rotate the greens that you eat for a variety of nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants.
This may be just another health kick that the fitness guru’s have dreamt up, but luckily this trend won’t set you back much money and it is guaranteed to give you some added nutrition. So go green, or rather go blue! - but eat greens!

Why I hate Rachael Ray

Ben Thompson  

A lot of Americans love to watch the Food Network, whether it’s to learn new techniques and recipes, or just trying to jazz up their kitchen. I am among the crème de la crème and enjoy tuning in to my favorite channel for some inspiration in the kitchen. Yet among the variety of entertaining shows, there is one that I refuse to associate with; 30-Minute Meals. It’s not even the show that I dislike, it’s the god-awful host Rachael Ray.
Although tuning in to one of her bazillion shows poses the same risk as opening the Lost Ark, I decided to test my luck and watch a few episodes for the sole purpose of proving her lack of contribution to the cooking community. With this said, I have created a list of the top five reasons why I hate Rachael Ray.

She Has To Carry Everything In One Trip

By everything, I mean everything. She runs around the kitchen and grabs as many ingredients as she can fit in her arms, plus more. If she is fortunate to have a pan out, she just stacks everything on top. You may think to yourself, ‘Hey that seems like a good idea’ or ‘That is sure to save her some time during her 30-minute meal.’ However I believe this is just a ploy in making her appear more appealing, when in reality it just makes her look like she raided a K-mart. Her kitchen is the size of a dorm room in Markley; not that hard to take several trips.

Stupid Kitchen Lingo (EVOO and GB)

Unless you watch her shows, I’m pretty certain that you have no idea what EVOO stands for. For the curious reader, it stands for Extra Virgin Olive Oil. And GB? Garbage bowl...she had to abbreviate garbage bowl. Once again Rachael went above and beyond and created a new language to use in the kitchen. The only problem is that she is the only person fluent in it. Is it too much of a mouthful or is she just incapable of remembering ingredient names?

Meals Take Longer Than 30 Minutes

Have you ever tried to recreate one of her dishes from her show “30-Minute Meals?” I have and must say that it does not work like it does on the TV. The reason why she is able to finish her meals so fast is because she cuts corners. On her show, she has ingredients prepared ahead of time in order to speed up her cooking process. Also for those who actually pay attention, half of the time her food isn’t even cooked properly. Take for example Rachael Ray’s Super Bowl party special. She attempts to make chicken and chorizo chili in a polenta bowl. Sounds like a lot for 30 minutes. After tackling the chili, she tries to finish the polenta bowl in the last minutes of the episode, but fails miserably. You can even see it in her facial expression when she takes a bite out of the dish. Her mouth says ‘Mmm this is delicious’, but her eyes scream for mercy.

Annoying Personality

Besides the shows, Rachael Ray herself is an annoying specimen. She acts like a giddy high school cheerleader but sounds like a thirteen-year-old boy going through puberty. Watching her shows is honestly like watching a kid cook. She laughs at her own dumb jokes (“... pizzagna ... pizza and lasagna, why notta ...”), giggles to herself, and puts everything into the form of a question. And to top it all off, she is not even considered a chef among her peers. She uses ingredients from boxes/cans and has little knowledge of cooking techniques that differ from your everyday family chef.

She Is A Sellout

Rachael Ray can be found everywhere and on everything. She has several television shows including her own talk show, many cookbooks, her own product line (for both human and dog needs), and has even starred in several Dunkin’ Donut commercials. She sells her own soul just to put her face up on another billboard. It is hard to avoid her. Rachael Ray is like a virus; slowly spreading in hopes to one day take over the planet, or in this case, the food industry.
Overall she is just a television personality lacking in talent whose career only exists because of her blitzkrieg style of advertising. Fortunately there are plenty of other entertaining, talented chefs to watch on the Food Network. Take Guy Fieri for example... oh wait...

The Delicacies of Fall

Heather Fendell  

Fall evokes many images and feelings for me, but some things that stand out most are the seasonal specialities. These delectable treats are only around from October to November, making their appearances a rare specialty.
The beginnings of the crisp weather always make me crave warm and spicy foods, made with seasonal ingredients. When I think of fall, pumpkin pie, butternut squash soup, caramel apples, roasted pumpkin seeds, and chai tea lattes instantly come to mind. Every year around Halloween, my family and I would carve our Halloween pumpkins and save the seeds to roast for a special treat during lunchtime at school. Most often pumpkins are thought of as decorative, but they are understatedly one of fall’s top ingredients. Pumpkin pie holds a special spot in most people’s hearts, especially around Thanksgiving time as a treat to look forward to at the end of the feast. Starbucks also updates their menu every fall to include the Pumpkin Spice Latte, a favorite amongst many of my friends prior to beginning our football Saturdays.
Another prime produce of fall is the apple; famously symbolic for the start of a new year. Last year while partaking in one of fall’s most traditional activities, apple picking, I was treated to apple cider and caramel apples. Apple treats always evoke memories of home for me whether it is apple pie, baked apples, or apple crisps, or the spiciness of hot apple cider, which never fails to warm me up on a chilly Michigan day.
So take advantage of these fall foods while they’re still around. There’s nothing like walking through the diag, seeing all the leaves change colors while sipping a chai tea latte. Happy fall feasting!