Quick Tip of the Day

If you worry about rings being lost or knocked off a nightstand, just slip it onto the earpiece of a pair of glasses (or sunglasses).  This way, even if the glasses are knocked off  by children, pets, or anything else, the glasses will still be easier to find than a small ring.

How Healthy are Things Cooked in a Microwave? (Also, a Super Quick way to Husk Corn)

The other day during my perusals of the internet, I found a discussion of a super quick way to husk corn.  In an attempt to find out the veracity of the method, I did the thing that you should never do on the internet.  I read the comments section.  As the method includes cooking it in the microwave, there were several people who said that they would never cook corn in the microwave, because it destroys nutrients.  Boiling was much better.  My first reaction was a giant "Seriously? No, just... no". But I have been known to be wrong before.  Therefore, instead of just making assumptions and moving on, I decided to look into it just to make sure.

These days I think most people know how a microwave works.  The waves, similar to radio waves, are pointed at the food in the microwave, and interact with polar molecules.  Polar molecules are ones that have a positive and a negative end, kind of like a battery.  Water is a good example of a polar molecule, and is also found in most of our food.  So the microwaves will make the polar molecules vibrate and heat up, heating up the food.  This is why water will boil in a microwave.  So does this process damage the nutritional value of the food?  Yes, but only to the same extent that adding any form of heat would.  Steaming is often considered the best form of heating, although even then it's not 100% clear.  As I had thought, however, boiling a vegetable will remove more nutrients than microwaving it.  The water will leech some of the nutrients during the boiling process.  Therefore, if the water is thrown away, those nutrients are thrown away with it.

Ok, on the fun part!

When I was a kid, we used to cook corn in the microwave.  It was fast, easy, and tasty.  Not to mention that it got my sister and I out of her hair for a little bit when we were sent outside to husk the corn. But once the corn was husked, it was wrapped in wax paper and thrown into the microwave.  After learning the trick that I'm about to share (I can tell, you're super excited... or just want me to get to the point) the wax paper is just extra waste.

Step 1: Get your ear (or ears) of corn

Step 2: Cook the corn in the microwave for approximately 3 minutes per ear, with the husk on.  I have been told that this works if you cook the ears in the oven as well, but I have not tried it.

Step 3: Cut off the end. Ensure that you have a clean cut.  If the leaves are still attached to the cob, this method will not work.

Step 4: Grab the top of the ear by the leaves/silk. Careful, as the corn will be HOT!
Step 5: Give the corn a solid sharp shake. The corn cob will come out of the husk, clean, and free of silk.

You may want to use a glove or dishtowel for this part.

Nice clean ear!

All the silk left in the husk

Observations: If the corn is not fully cooked through, some of the silk will still stick to the cob.  I like my corn a little crunchy, so this will occasionally happen to me.  I have also found that precooking the corn before putting it on a grill is a good way to get both the caramelization from the grill and have the corn cooked all the way through.

As a final treat:  My favorite corn ever comes from Toro, in Boston.  It's grilled with cotija cheese, aioli, lime and cayenne.  It seems to be, I'm sorry to say, impossible to recreate at home.  However, with my heat gun, I can come somewhat close.  This recipe provides a reasonable combination of ingredients, especially for faking an aioli.  The preparation method, however, is a bit different. Both because I don't have a grill, and the recipe does not include adding a little bit of char to the kernels.

6 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 medium garlic clove, minced
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup crumbled Cotija cheese (about 4 ounces)
6 ears corn, husks on
1 medium lime, cut into 6 wedges

Mix together the mayonnaise, garlic, salt and cayenne in a small bowl.  If you have any concerns about how spicy the corn will turn out, start with less cayenne and then mix to taste.

Microwave the corn, in the husk, until just cooked (you want it to be a little crunchy still, but not raw).

Remove the husk, and cut each ear in half.  Place the corn on a metal sheet pan, and use the heat gun to give the corn a little bit of grilled char.  Sorry, in this case, the broiler on your oven is not enough.  It will only dry out the corn.  The heat gun produces heat of either 750 degrees or 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Drizzle the corn with a little bit of the mayo recipe, a little extra cayenne, and a squeeze of lime.

You're welcome.

References:

"Electromagnetic Fields & Public Health: Microwave Ovens." WHO. World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2013. <http://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/info_microwaves/en/>.

"Is Microwave Cooking Healthy?" LIVESTRONG.COM. Live Strong, n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2013. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/370537-is-microwave-cooking-healthy/>.

"Microwave Cooking and Nutrition." Microwave Cooking and Nutrition. Harvard University, n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2013. <http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Microwave-cooking-and-nutrition.shtml>.

"Shucking Corn--Clean Ears Everytime." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Sept. 2011. Web. 08 Aug. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnBF6bv4Oe4>.

Drowning in Squash?

If you are the sort who gardens, belongs to a CSA, shops farmers markets, or just shops local grocery store sales, there is a good chance that you have ended up with a lot of squash (at least in New England).  When you still have squash coming out your ears after roasting, sauteing, making zucchini bread, crudites, and any other application you can think of, you might start looking for other ideas.

If you haven't made a "pasta" out of squash before, you're definitely missing out.  Using a vegetable peeler or mandolin, peel the squash into thin strips.  put the strips into a colander, place the colander in the sink, coat them with a bit of salt, and wait for about twenty to thirty minutes. Do not skip the salt, or this will not work.  I will explain why.

*Warning, Science Ahead*

Salt is hygroscopic, meaning that it will pull moisture from the surrounding environment.  Kind of like why we get really thirsty if we eat a bunch of potato chips.  With the squash, this means that the salt will penetrate the cell membrane, and pull out the water stored inside.  When that happens, similar to popping bubble wrap, the squash will go from being turgid to being floppy, like a pasta noodle.  By doing this in a colander, all the excess water will drain away. Alton Brown explains this in an episode that you can find here, and using props.

*Science Bit Complete*

Once squash noodles have been made, they can be used in a lot of different ways. Trying to feed someone who is gluten free?  I've made lasagna with eggplant and zucchini instead of noodles, and had it turn out really tasty.  Pasta salad?  Done. Pretty much anywhere you can use pasta, you can substitute squash.  But as the noodles were already salted, remember to cut back on any more added salt.

The recipe that I made recently also came from the Alton Brown episode listed above, and can be found here. It was perfect for what I had from my CSA.  I used zucchini, lettuce, spring onions, and hakurei turnip (which was more like a radish).  The dressing consists of olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and black pepper.  I did not have any basil on hand, so I substituted the olive oil with a fantastic basil infused olive oil from the Boston Olive Oil Company. All I had were whole almonds, so I threw them into the spice grinder for a minute or two to chop them up, and topped it with that and some manchego cheese.  Manchego is a spanish varietal of cheese from La Mancha, and if you've never had it, I highly recommend it.

Zucchini Pasta Salad- You can see the manchego in the lower left on top of my mandolin.

It's a really easy, fast recipe that was super tasty.  Since I was using one of the largest zucchini I had ever seen for the salad, I had plenty for a couple of days, and it stayed cool and refreshing for that whole time.

One final note on recipes from Good Eats/Alton Brown.  I find Alton Brown fantastic in regards to technique and science.  His recipes, however, are not always as transcendent as I would like them to be.  By sticking with the science, but tweaking the flavors, I always end up with a good final product. From what I understand about his philosophy, I'd like to think that he'd approve of this perspective.