A Few Words About Paula Deen

As a baker who writes about it, I have a little bit to say about a current story in the news.

The revelation this week by Paula Deen that she has Type 2 Diabetes, and has known about it for three years, has the world buzzing.  Paula is being vilified by medical doctors and others who say that by continuing to promote her fat-and-sugar-laden recipes while negotiating a deal to be the spokeswoman for a Diabetes drug company is hypocritical if not downright unethical.  To paraphrase, Chef Anthony Bourdain calls Deen "...the most dangerous woman in America."  Doctors on morning talk shows are speaking out about Deen's irresponsibility in face of the dangers of obesity and its impact on Americans.  Perhaps negotiating with a drug company is what is really leaving a bad taste in peoples' mouths more than Deen's style of cooking.  Or, maybe some people are envious of a self-made woman who continues to fight to keep what she's earned.  Maybe Deen is looking out for herself, as she's always had to.  Look at her humble origins and the force she has become.   In business, she has always fought and won.  And now she's fighting a personal battle for her health while publicly advocating moderation when discussing the recipes that have made her famous.  I can't see her doing anything differently.

I don't know...

The Food Network, and cable television in general, I believe, have to diffuse some of the heat on this one.  They hired Deen to do what she does: to charm us as she delivers Southern goods, a smiling, cheerful, grandmotherly woman in a beautiful kitchen.  Her show is TV's version of comfort food as she lovingly combines the richest of ingredients and practically serves her fixings right to the camera's lens.  A good portion of her followers watch her as entertainment, but don't go out and make her recipes (true of many "foodie" fans).  For many who do use her recipes, it's likely not an everyday, or even an every week, thing.  Maybe you'll make her banana walnut cake for a special birthday, but you probably won't make it more than once a year.  And that hamburger with bacon and egg served up on a glazed donut?  I don't know anyone who'd ever actually do that, though the Food Network sure thought it would garner an audience, more as a Ripley-like "believe it or not" amusement than anything else, I'm guessing...  If we tune in to watch it, we're contributing to its promotion.

I don't have cable TV and haven't had it for almost three years, about the same time that Deen was diagnosed.  For me, now, food TV is what's offered up on PBS.  Cooks Country is one of my favorite shows, and to be sure, butter and cream abound there, as it does in reruns of Julia Child's cooking shows.  Lidia Bastianich is no stranger to butter, olive oil, fatty meats, and cheese.  And what about Rachael Ray?  She uses a lot of meat and dairy products, and cheese seems to dominate many of her recipes.  Popular baking shows like Cupcake Wars promote, what else, cupcakes.  And what are cupcakes but white flour, sugar, butter, cream cheese, and cream? Should all these shows be called on the kitchen mat for promoting unhealthy ingredients?  No.  They should not.  People watch these shows for entertainment.  Maybe more cupcake shops have opened up because of it, but how often does one go out specifically for a $4-plus cupcake? 

Cooking shows are more popular than ever, yet in researching the final paper for my masters thesis on the history and relationship of women in the kitchen, I discovered that more families are eating out, more often, than ever before. So, we're watching these indulgent food shows on TV, but most of us are not recreating that food in our kitchens. 

Maybe we should put the microscope to those massive meals and deals offered up by the national chain restaurants lining our highways.  Better yet, maybe we should take personal responsibility for what we order out, or put in our shopping carts, on our table, or in our children's mouths, and make healthy choices most of the time, and an indulgent one now and then.

That's my two-cents.

Tomato Pie, with a Little Paula Deen Influence

My friend Rose has suggested I post a recipe for tomato pie, something I'd never heard of.  I went on-line to research this interesting dish, and found a number of recipes.  They vary a little, but basically it's seasoned tomato slices in a pie crust, topped with melted cheese.  Seems simple enough, but what sold me are the enthusiastic endorsements from people who love any version of this recipe and serve it again and again.  I haven't made it yet, but the 343 people who positively reviewed Paula Deen's recipe on The Food Network Web site can't be wrong.  Based on some of their suggestions, I've made a few modifications.  I can't wait until Katie's tomatoes are ripe enough to give this one a try! (They're all still very, very green, but beautiful!).  If you try it, let me know how you like it.

TOMATO PIE
adapted from Paula Deen's recipe

2 lbs. tomatoes, peeled and sliced (blanch in boiling water for 15 seconds before peeling)
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 c. chopped green onion

1 9" pre-baked deep-dish pie crust (if using your own, brush bottom and sides with beaten egg white before baking - that'll help keep it from getting soggy).

topping:
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. sour cream
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Mix all topping ingredients together

Directions:

Place sliced tomatoes in colander in sink, sprinkle with salt, and let drain for 10 minutes to remove excess water.

Layer tomato slices, basil, and onion in pie shell.  Season with salt and pepper.

Spread mayo/cheese mixture over top.

Bake at 350-degrees F for about half an hour or until lightly browned.  Slice and serve warm.

Photo credit:  http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2003/09/29/pa1a20_tomato_pie_lg.jpg

S'Mores, Indoors!

Today was a gorgeous day and tonight promises to be cool.  Katie and Bill have their fire pit ready, Adirondack Chairs circling round.  A fire at night usually means we break out the graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hershey Bars.  We find good marshmallow sticks in the woods and the S'More fest is on.  If, however, you do not have a fire pit, and don't want to work through a blackened marshmallow to get to the soft middle, how about making your S'Mores in the oven?  It's easy to do and it will remind you of your campfire days!

S'Mores, Indoors
(inspired by Paula Deen and the Food Network)

Preheat oven to broil.
Place oven rack about 6 inches from broiler.

Have ready:  graham crackers, halved, marshmallows (not mini), Hershey bars (1/2 a bar per S'More)

Place a piece of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, shiny side up. 
Arrange graham cracker squares (half a cracker) on cookie sheet.  On top of each, place a large marshmallow.  Heat under broiler until marshmallow begins to brown and is soft in the middle.  Watch carefully, this can happen very quickly.
Remove from oven.  Place half a Hershey Bar over soft marshmallow.  Place other half of graham cracker on top.  Press down.  

Let sit for a minute, then enjoy!

Photo credit: http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2003/11/07/pa1b01_smores_lg.jpg

Coca-Cola Basted Ham

I've been doing a little research on the southern tradition of the Coca-Cola basted ham.  There are a number of different methods, it seems, but one consistency is that cola makes a wonderful ham.  This recipe from the Food Network's Paula Deen is simpler than many and has 5-star reviews.  Reviewers said it is the best ham they've ever had.  If you have an Easter ham sitting in your fridge and you're wondering just how you're going to prepare it, take a look at this recipe.  If you have a smaller ham, just reduce the rest of the ingredients proportionately.

Ingredients


•1 (18-pound) cured ham
•2 (12-ounce) cans cola (NOT diet)
•Canned pineapple rings
•Brown sugar
•Maraschino cherries
•Cloves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place ham in a shallow roasting pan. Baste the ham with cola. With toothpicks, stick some pineapple rings on the ham, about 4 or 5 rings. Sprinkle some brown sugar on the rings. With toothpicks, place a cherry in each pineapple ring hole and then stick some cloves in the rings. Cover it with foil. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes per pound of ham, or until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees F. Baste with cola about every 30 minutes during cooking.

Original Recipe and Photo: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/cola-basted-ham-recipe/index.html

Coming back from vacation

It’s the pink elephant in the room as your vacation ends and thoughts of going back to work invade your psyche. It’s there, but you don’t want to acknowledge the fact that your total escape from accountability is coming to an end.

When I’m away, I try to be away from everything. This trip to North Carolina found me packing basically a swimsuit, flip flops, a night shirt, shorts and t-shirts. The one pair of pants I wore on the plane served me well for our solitary restaurant night. Not packed in my bag was a blow dryer or my new big-barreled curling iron for my new, shorter “do.” Nope. My hair took a vacation too and it was pretty interesting given its propensity to curl in a not-so-lovely way with sea-side humidity factoring in… Despite my hair’s self expression I enjoyed the freedom from maintenance and all things typically required in regular world. I was not ecstatic at the thought of resuming real life. Sometimes, though, the end of something wonderful opens the door to another thing totally unexpected.

My trip home was eventful in regard to meeting a very interesting person. I chose an aisle seat because I hate having to climb over two people if, God forbid, I have to use the plane’s bathroom. I was sitting there anticipating which of the people approaching me was going to occupy the center seat, hoping it would stay empty. I usually prefer not to chat (believe it or not!) and would rather sleep or read on such trips. But, the flight was oversold so I knew that seat would be filled. The man who sat next to me (man – actually, the same age as my kids) turned out to be one of the most interesting people I’ve EVER met, and we had such a terrific conversation that I’ve thought about it a lot since saying good-bye. Adam Sabourin is a Black Hawk pilot, a West Point graduate, now a full-time pilot in the Army National Guard. Adam was part of the Class of 2002 at West Point, written about in Bill Murphy Jr.'s book In A Time of War (link here: http://www.amazon.com/Time-War-Perilous-Journey-Points/dp/080508679X). While an Army pilot, he served two tours of duty in Iraq. When I met him Saturday, he was on his way to a wedding for his friend Katie, the widow of his best friend from West Point. Her husband, Timothy Moshier, was shot down and killed in Iraq (his company replacing Adam's) in 2006, leaving behind his wife and one-year-old daughter. Adam had been to Albany once before, when he bore the honor of returning his friend's ashes to the Moshier family in Delmar. And now, he was flying in to Albany again, to attend Katie’s wedding to her second husband, also a graduate of that same West Point class. Adam spoke with such respect and regard for Tim, and for Katie, and was attending this new wedding with happy optimism for her while remembering his lost friend. What an emotional day it must have been for him.

Adam and I spoke of my connection to West Point (I was married there, at the Catholic Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity, in 1974. A family priest assigned to West Point officiated). We also spoke of our families (babies - his daughter, my grandson), work, backgrounds, and even cakes, and weddings. He told me that his mother is an accomplished cake baker. He knew a lot about the process and the demands of baking cakes for people. I told him about my blog so he added it as a “favorite” on his Blackberry, and he said he could see comparisons with my masters thesis topic and Paula Deen’s life. Turns out he knows Paula Deen’s family well, and has met her on occasion. He said she’s just as lively and vivacious in real life, a treat to know. What a wonderful two-degrees from Paula Deen I’ve experienced!

Adam and his wife Erica live in Sacremento now, have a brand new house, and are expecting their second child, a son who will join their 3-year old daughter, in October. Adam is an accomplished, confident, and honorable young man, and I’m happy to have met him. I hope to find him on facebook to continue the conversation that seems to have just begun.

Photo credit: http://media.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/newsroom/images/3164196.jpg

Ode to the Barefoot Contessa!

I REALLY love the Food Network. Sometimes I wonder if a twelve-step program is necessary to deal with the addiction. Turns out the FN has been my gateway "drug" to craving more reality programming. Recently I’ve been exposed to HGTV (interest due to construction of the new digs – love Property Virgins) and now I’m hopelessly caught up in TLC’s Jon and Kate plus Eight – a guilty pleasure. Despite all the doom-and-gloom press, there’s hope that they work things out and stay married. I am always so sad for divorcing couples and just love those kids. They’re so damn cute. Let’s face it, life is not easy and this show highlights just how hard it can be for young couples (they’re in their early thirties) facing challenges in their marriages, no matter the stressors. In my retrospective mid-50s mind, I wonder if they can get through this and be fine. (In my own life, I wouldn’t have known it might have been fine, but then, it might not have.) I watch it more than sometimes. It’s whenever I can catch that show. I can stop anytime, though. (Can you spell r-e-h-a-b?) Note: I do have a real life and it’s busy.

When I'm in TV world, I worship the Food Network’s Ina Garten, a.k.a. The Barefoot Contessa. She’s one of the best cooks I’ve ever watched on television. Her joyful manner and calm demeanor add to her charm. I’ve been told I “look like that lady on the Food Network” and while I don’t think so, I can see where people might make a comparison. We both have dark hair, are about the same age, and neither of us are a size six. She sees her husband Jeffrey, a professor, on weekends. I see Russ, also a professor, every third weekend or so. We both have important relationships with wonderful gay men in our lives. That’s where the similarities end. She lives in the Hamptons. I could only dream of living in the Hamptons (though my cousin Billy does!). She used to work in the White House as some sort of engineering, mathematical wizard. The last white house I lived in was a raised ranch on Salem Drive in Saratoga Springs. I took algebra three times before I finally moved on to geometry.

My admiration for the Contessa is great and I use her recipes all the time. She has a terrific approach to creating and serving wonderful meals. There’s no pretension as the food, rather than the cook, takes center stage. She presents a personalized, welcoming table geared toward her guests’ interests. My favorite of her recipes is for raisin scones, which I’ve changed up a bit. Ina calls for heavy or whipping cream and I use buttermilk. She kneads and shapes hers differently than I do. Still, it’s basically the same thing and it gets rave reviews. Rather than claim my scones as an old Irish family recipe (I’ve inherited no old Irish family recipes), I always give Ina credit. If I'm asked, I refer to the Food Network website (http://foodnetwork.com), my source for many favorite dishes.

If you're one of those who turns down scones because you find them too dry, do what our friends across the pond do - serve them with jam and/or clotted cream (found in specialty stores like Putnam Market in Saratoga Springs). No clotted cream? Just beat up a very firm batch of sweetened heavy cream, almost to the butter stage.

Next time I bake these I’ll take photos and add them to this post, but for now, here’s the recipe. (Though I swore I’d never use it after high school, algebra ultimately came in handy when I started baking and had to figure quantities! – and wasn’t there something about pie squared?!)

Raisin Scones - makes 24! (double batch – use your algebra and reduce by half if you prefer)

4 cups flour
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. kosher salt
3 bars ice cold butter, finely diced or grated (watch those knuckles)
scant cup of buttermilk – about a tablespoon short of a cup, or heavy cream
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ - ¾ cup raisins, tossed in a little bit of flour
2 tbsp. brown sugar tossed with 1 tsp. cinnamon
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water)

In large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until it mixes in enough and is the size of small peas.
In separate bowl, whisk together four eggs. Add buttermilk and vanilla and pour all at once into flour mixture. Mix until all dry ingredients are incorporated.

On floured surface, separate batter into fourths. Flatten each fourth into a disk about six inches round and one inch thick. For each disk, press one fourth of the raisins into the surface and sprinkle with 1/4th of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Roll up jelly-roll style and then shape into a ball, seam side down. Flatten the ball into a new six-inch round circle with more height in the center and tapered a bit at the sides (1/2 inch at sides, inch in the center). Cut each circle into sixths and separate scones. Place ½ inch apart on parchment-lined cookie sheet and brush with egg wash. If you don’t have a pastry brush, just dab the egg on with a scrunched-up paper towel. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.

Bake in preheated 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool for 10 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely, or not.

You will be adored for these.


Next blog: The Food Network’s Ellie Krieger. Her incredible and healthy recipes are the perfect antidote for all the butter in this recipe, and for my future tribute to Paula Deen!

(photo of Ina Garten from Google Images: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cardiogirl.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/ina-garten.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cardiogirl.net/%3Fp%3D711&usg=__h-uAL2qHsN4pGx_ZQlEmK0-JdCk=&h=460&w=360&sz=40&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=rZYh1KzNXHl99M:&tbnh=128&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3DIna%2BGarten%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG)