CK Friday Links--Friday March 28, 2014

Links from around the internet. As always, I welcome your thoughts.

PS: Follow me on Twitter!
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Lots of links this week... how about some recipes to start us off?
In 90 seconds flat, the great Paul Prudhomme teaches you how to cook the perfect fish. (Youtube)



THIS is the M+M Cookie recipe you've been looking for. (Alosha’s Kitchen)

Yes, you can make a legitimate Paella, with a socarrat and all, in your own home. Here's how. (Beyond Salmon)

Versatile, satisfying, delicious: Irish Colcannon. (Bibberche)

Related: Rumbledethumps. (Casual Kitchen)

Articles:
Are climate models lying about food too? (Center for Global Food Issues)

Why blogging is a really, really good idea. (Scripting News)

Useful article on why people fall for conspiracy theories. (Bloomberg)

Do you have popcorn brain? (Lenore Robinson)

Your brain is a brilliant supercomputer. Here’s how to "prime it." (Steve Pavlina)

Which is worse: "theory laziness" or "data laziness?" (Noahpinion)

You'd be surprised how the best investors are just… lucky. (Fortune)

For intermediate level investors and above: How P/E ratios can mislead. (Philosophical Economics)

Watch every standard advertising cliche get mocked in this "generic" video. (Youtube, via Happy Holidays)



And as you watch that video above, remember, we consumers ultimately pay for all those inane cliches. (Casual Kitchen)

Finally.... a book recommendation: Nicholas Taleb's latest book Antifragile. This book is unlike any book you'll read, and it will give you a profound and practical new way to think about your world. Easily the best and most insightful non-fiction book I've read in the past year. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.



Got an interesting article or recipe to share? Want some extra traffic at your blog? Send me an email!


How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

30 Grams of Protein Within 30 Minutes of Waking Up

I know I've been kind of hard on Tim Ferriss in the past here at Casual Kitchen, but there's one idea that I got from him that changed my mornings forever:

Eat 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.

It's a great dietary rule of thumb because it's simple, flexible, and easy to remember. And this easy-to-employ diet hack drives three significant benefits:

1) You'll have a steady blood sugar level for hours after eating, which helps keep you in a calm, focused mental state. This is the ideal state for creative or knowledge work, and it's helped my writing immensely.

2) 30 grams of protein will give you complete satiety for up to 3-4 hours. You won't feel hungry and you won't need to eat.

3) Finally, this is an extremely flexible rule. The world won't come to an end if you eat 24 grams of protein one hour after waking up. You'll still capture all the benefits.

Contrast this with a more typical breakfast of fruit, or worse, starchy, sugary branded boxed cereal. These foods merely put you on a hunger roller coaster, leaving you craving still more carb-rich food within an hour or two of eating. Result? You eat twice as many calories and twice as often, yet you still feel hungry. Pointless.

What kinds of foods can you eat to achieve 30 grams of protein? Here are some ideas:

A dollop or two of peanut butter (7 level Tablespoons yields about 30g protein)
2-3 fried or boiled eggs (about 6-8g protein per egg, depending on size)
3-4 handfuls of nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts, cashews, etc.)
A few pieces of good quality breakfast sausage
1 can of tuna (about 40g protein)
A whey- or soy-based protein shake (a typical serving size contains 30g protein)
Canadian-style bacon or ham (5-6 oz yields about 30g protein)
Cottage cheese (½ cup yields about 15g protein)
Hard cheeses (yield: roughly 10g protein per ounce)
Unsweetened yogurt (roughly 10g protein per cup)

Obviously you can mix, match and combine any of the above. Best of all, none of these food items costs very much money--in stark contrast to branded boxed cereal, which is far more expensive, far less healthy and far less filling.

This protein-based meal technique is easy to remember and it easily solves the "what do I want for breakfast?" problem. Try it, and let me know what your results are!

Related Posts:
Eat Less, Exercise More Doesn't Work. Wait, What?
How Do I Follow the Wheat Belly Diet?
Why Box Wine Is Better
How to Blind-Taste and Blind-Test Brands

How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

CK Friday Links--Friday March 21, 2014

Links from around the internet. As always, I welcome your thoughts.

PS: Follow me on Twitter!
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The proposed nutrition label changes do very little. (A Sweet Life)

Want to guess the impact soda taxes have on obesity? Zero. (Jayson Lusk)

The irony and senselessness of "anti-monoculture mania." (Butterflies and Wheels)

Why breakfast is getting more expensive. (Financial Times)

Cooking as an analogy for anti-consumerism. (Early Retirement Extreme)

How our brains stop us from achieving our goals... and how to fight back. (Lifehacker)

Does thinking negatively affect your performance? (50 by 25)

School is teaching me that putting my head down, keeping my mouth shut, and doing the busy work will get me the grade. (Penelope Trunk)

Why low cost index funds should be your "default portfolio." (Morningstar)

Nicholas Taleb, author of Fooled by Randomness, talks about how to avoid "outcome bias." (Farnam Street) (Sidenote: I’m plowing though Taleb's latest book Antifragile and simply love it.)

Exceptional interview with Bill Gates on conquering poverty, saving the environment and why he's so optimistic. (Rolling Stone)






Got an interesting article or recipe to share? Want some extra traffic at your blog? Send me an email!


How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

What Happens Once You've Cooked a Recipe 100 Times?

Readers, do you have any recipes you've cooked so many times that you've lost count?

When you reach this point with a favorite dish, interesting things happen. You barely need to look at the recipe. Preparing it becomes relaxing, even meditative. You don’t think about the process steps and how to do them. Heck, you hardly need to think at all, and the recipe comes out great every time.

Despite all I've written here at Casual Kitchen, you'd think cooking would be meditative and relaxing for me all the time. You'd be wrong. Usually I try to avoid cooking--or even better, shirk it off onto somebody else. But there are several key recipes here, recipes like Chicken Mole, Risotto, Black Beans and Rice, North African Lemon Chicken and Groundnut Stew, that I've made hundreds of times, and I’m so comfortable with these recipes that preparing them becomes as mentally demanding as folding the laundry. Which is my idea of a meditative exercise.

My introduction to this idea was in New Zealand. Our friend Richard, who owns a cafe and catering company in the city of Christchurch, was teaching me how to make a "flat white" (like a cappuccino, only better). Coffee is a refined art in New Zealand and I was struggling to get it just right. The grounds needed to be pressed just enough, the milk needed to be frothed just right, and everything needed to be combined with just the right amount of flair. I screwed up several that went right into the wastebasket. Then, finally, I made one that got a passing grade. Maybe a C-minus.

Richard told me, "after you've properly made 200 of these, I'd let you in front of a customer." I stared at him. As naive as I'm sure this sounds, this was the first time I'd really thought about the concept of making something so many times that it becomes second nature, that you don’t have to think about it, and you can start to add your personality to the process rather than just complete the process.

These are the kinds of things you can do after you've cooked a recipe 20, 50 or even 200 times:

1) You can carry on a conversation while you cook, and pay sincere attention to both tasks.

2) You can scale up the recipe for a large dinner party or a big group with little additional stress.

3) The cooking experience becomes easy, even effortless.

4) You confidently modify the recipe, or add improvisational flourishes as you cook. You know exactly how the recipe works and you know what variables you can and cannot tweak.

5) You make it... and it tastes amazing every time. You may not even know why it tastes amazing, but it just does.

Perhaps this is the home cook's version of the so-called 10,000 Hour Rule. Then again, you certainly don't need 10,000 hours to get good--really, really good--at cooking. Why? Well, just do the math: It only takes fifty hours to make a 30 minute recipe one hundred times (the majority of the recipes here at CK can be made in under 30 minutes for $2 a serving or less). Using the time-saving strategy of heavy rotation--rotating in the easiest, least expensive and most-loved recipes on a twice- or three-times-a-month basis--you could hit the I cooked this 100 times mark with four or five favorite recipes within just a few years.

Which makes cooking healthy food for your family an even easier part of your life than it already is.


Related Posts:
Thoughts On Recipe Development
Making It a Treat
Re-Seasoning: Never Be Bored With Leftovers Again
The Paradox of Cooking Shows

How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

CK Friday Links--Friday March 14, 2014

Links from around the internet. As always, I welcome your thoughts.

PS: Follow me on Twitter!
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Go ahead and lick that bowl: salmonella from raw eggs has never been rarer. (Slate)

Prescribing antibiotics to children may contribute to obesity, (New York Times) but Jayson Lusk questions the Times' conclusions. (Jayson Lusk)

Also from Dr. Lusk: Have you noticed how much beef and pork prices have been going up lately? Some possible explanations why. (Jayson Lusk)

Don't panic over spinach. (Reason)

How should we think about regulating marijuana? Start by looking to alcohol and tobacco regulations of the past. (Appetite for Profit)

How Coca-Cola uses a "Black Book" to make Simply Orange, uh, "juice." (Chicagoist)

Even anti-locavores sometimes need math lessons. (The Big Questions)

A useful, mess-preventing cupcake tip! (Owlhaven)

Will a SodaStream machine really save you money? Nope. (Business Insider)

Silence has become the ultimate luxury. (New Republic)

32 useful tips for when you can't fall asleep. (Greatist)

A good post on Kathryn Schulz's exceptional book Being Wrong, one of the best non-fiction books of the past several years. (Farnam Street)




Got an interesting article or recipe to share? Want some extra traffic at your blog? Send me an email!


How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

Recipe: Roasted, Toasted Garden Barley Pilaf

This recipe is really good, really easy and really cheap. It takes just 15-20 minutes of active cooking time, and the cost is a hilariously low 40c a serving.

This hearty and delicious dish can serve five or six as a main course, or it can serve up to eight as a side. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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Roasted, Toasted Garden Barley

Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons butter, in all
1 ¾ cups barley
1 medium onion, chopped or slivered
2 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 carrots, cut into medium-thick slices
2 cups bouillon plus 2 cups water

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350F/175C, and bring the bouillon/water mixture to a simmer. Meanwhile, melt 3 Tablespoons of the butter in a nonstick pan, add vegetables, and saute on medium heat for 5 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Transfer sauteed vegetables into a 2-½ quart (2.3L) casserole dish.

2) Melt the remaining 3 Tablespoons butter in the same nonstick pan. Add barley and saute on medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until the barley is lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. Combine barley with sauteed vegetables in the casserole dish.

3) Pour the hot bouillon/water mixture over the combined barley and vegetables. Bake for 1 hour at 350, cover for the first 30 minutes and uncover for the remaining 30 minutes.

Serves 5-6.
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Recipe Notes:
1) A few ideas for variations/substitutions:
Use mushrooms and onions for the sauteed veggies.
Add in ¼ cup currants or dried cranberries before baking.
Add in ¼ cup cashews or almonds before baking.
Or, simply feel free to add whatever veggies you have on hand, or whatever happens to be on sale in the store.

Spice modifications: add ½ teaspoon thyme for a homey variation, add ½ teaspoon cayenne for a spicy variation, or perhaps add ½ teaspoon garam masala for a curry-style variation.

2) Outrageously cheap: At about 40c a serving, this recipe transcends "laughably cheap" to the point where I need to invent new phrase. Maybe "outrageously cheap?" Let's go over the costs:

Barley 75c
Onion 25c
Celery 30c
Carrot 20c
Butter 50c
Spices/bouillon 10c
Total $2.10, or 35c-42c per serving.

Once again: don't think you can't eat healthy, hearty food on very little money. You can. Enjoy!

Related Posts:
Easy Beet "Pesto"
Easy Chicken In Tomato Sauce
Easy Curried Chickpeas and Tofu
Baking for Beginners: How to Make a Sponge Cake
The Risotto Blogroll: 20 of the Internet's Best, Most Delicious Risotto Recipes


How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

CK Friday Links--Friday March 7, 2014

Links from around the internet. As always, I welcome your thoughts.

PS: Follow me on Twitter!
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Clearly not enough people read my post on the azodicarbonamide controversy, as the "Yoga Mat Sandwich" meme keeps gaining velocity. (Environmental Working Group)

Why nobody drinks orange juice any more. (Quartz) Related from CK's archives: Never From Concentrate? Never again!

Locavores in constant fear of being identified with the "McRib-gobbling proletariat." (St. Louis Magazine)

Disturbingly, nobody field tests organic farms. Nobody. (National Post)

Video footage of animal "hunting kills" is impoverished voyeurism. (A Mindful Carnivore)

Why NONE of us ever takes advice. (Wall Street Journal)

Higher education is a really bad deal for most. (Early Retirement Extreme)

What Jay Leno can teach you about personal finance. (Daily Finance)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway annual report usually contains incredibly useful insights for individual investors. This year, see in particular the section titled "Some Thoughts About Investing" on pages 17-20 (pages 19-22 in the PDF)

More on investing: Never, never, never, never, NEVER!!! chase performance. (The Reformed Broker)


Got an interesting article or recipe to share? Want some extra traffic at your blog? Send me an email!


How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

Recipe: Risotto Primavera with Asparagus and Green Peas

This laughably easy risotto recipe is adapted from of my favorite new cookbook: Mollie Katzen’s The Heart of the Plate. It’s delicious, inexpensive, and you can get it on the table in around 30 minutes.

[PS: If you’re interested in more risotto recipes, be sure to check out Casual Kitchen’s Great Risotto Blogroll!]

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Risotto Primavera with Asparagus and Green Peas
[Slightly modified and simplified from The Heart of the Plate]

Ingredients--Vegetables:
1 Tablespoon butter
About 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-½ inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
1 ½ cups frozen green peas
¼ teaspoon salt

Ingredients--Risotto:
5-6 cups mild stock (vegetable, chicken or beef) OR 1 buillon cube with 5-6 cups water.
1 Tablespoon butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 ½ cups rice (purists require a risotto-style rice like Arborio: we used regular rice)
½ cup white wine
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
1) Bring the stock/bouillion to a simmer in a medium-sized pot. While stock/bouillon is heating up, melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the asparagus and garlic, cover, and partially cook for 1-2 minutes. Don’t overcook! Then, add the frozen peas (it’s okay if they’re right out of the freezer), re-cover, and cook for just 1-2 minutes more. Remove vegetables from the pan, cover them, and set aside.

2) Using the large saucepan you just cooked the vegetables in, add another 1 Tablespoon butter and the finely chopped onion, and saute on medium heat for 5 minutes or so, until onion softens.

3) Add the rice and stir until coated. Then, add the wine. Continue to stir until the wine is absorbed, about a minute or two. Then slowly ladle in the simmering stock, one ladle-full at a time, stirring frequently. Continue gradually adding the stock until the rice is creamy and al dente, about 18-20 minutes.

4) Turn off heat. Add the parmesan cheese and the vegetables, and gently combine everything well. Season with fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Serves 4 generously as an entree.

Recipe notes:
1) We used an extremely mild bouillon-based stock of just one chicken bouillon cube in about 5-½ cups of water. The risotto came out perfect: not too salty-sodiumy, with a mild and delicious flavor that complemented, rather than overwhelmed, the vegetables. This is a convenient shortcut if you don’t happen to have homemade (or worse, store-bought) stock handy.

2) Feel free to include other vegetables! My girl Mollie suggests using snap peas, snow peas or even fava beans. For an optional garnish, consider adding fresh mint leaves or a few strips of lemon zest. Enjoy!

How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.