7 MORE DAYS TO WATCH FOOD INC. FREE
Please take the time out of your busy schedule to watch Food, Inc. This movie is being offered for free viewing now through April 29th. That's 7 days from this posting. If you've ever wondered where your food is coming from and why this blogger encourages you to learn how to make your own meals from basic ingredients, this documentary will offer you a LOT of those answers.
Here is an interview by Bonnie Hunt with Robert Kenner, director of "Food, Inc.,"
He explains some of his reasons for making the movie. This is the 3rd part of a 3 part interview:
I am including the following link to the movie, but this stream will only be good for 7 more days.
Click on this link: FOOD, INC (streaming through April 29, 2010)
SOURDOUGH'S SYMBIOSIS
SEED PHYSIOLOGY
Included inside of an unaltered wheat berry are the elements needed to encourage growth. The protective wrapper of the wheat berry (also known as the bran) consists of roughage and nutrients. The endosperm is a starchy substance that makes up the main portion within the wheat berry's inside. Until the root system of the new seedling is developed, the endosperm provides the germinating seed with crucial nourishment. The germ is a small embryo of yet another plant. When wheat is commercially machined in to white flour, the nutritious germ and bran are gotten rid of, stripping the finished flour of its nutrients that are organically present. Legally, commercial manufacturers must add three to four synthetic vitamin products into their retailed 'enriched' flour. Sixteen vitamins and eleven minerals are found in whole wheat grains.
THE SEED IS COMPLETE
Sourdough starters contain a balance of lactobacillus and yeast microorganisms growing in a mixture of flour and water. The ratio of yeast to lactobacillus at room temperature is well balanced, with yeast increasing at a slower rate. When refrigerated, lactobacillus production drops. Starters generally thrive in environments between sixty-five and eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit. If your house is cooler, you might need to seek out a heated spot around a light bulb, on top of a refrigerator or in close proximity to a heater. In homes which aren't cooled, a starter may be prevented from getting too hot by setting it in a dish of water.
THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP INSIDE A SOURDOUGH STARTER
The baker which contains this process and nurtures it with regular feeding and care is rewarded with a healthy and natural supply of leavening.
SOURDOUGH BREAD MAKING OVERVIEW
As you learn, it is a great idea to bake just one loaf each time so that any disappointments will not deplete your stocks. Initially, baking one loaf each day will offer enough rehearsal to master your skills and adjust your recipe to your preferences. Your loved ones will really enjoy the aroma of a newly baked loaf each day. Loaves that you don't prefer to serve can be repurposed into salad croutons or crumbs for birds.
Write down rising intervals, ratio of water to flour as well as the resulting flavor whenever you change the proportions of your ingredients. If your written instructions are committed to memory, you will be ready to expand your recipe to make more loaves with each batch of dough.
You'll need an acidic liquid (I favor Kefir) and freshly ground whole wheat flour. Pour the liquid into your flour and combine well with a fork. The mixture may seem to be somewhat dry. Let it soak through the night.
In the morning, mix a share of the sourdough starter to the soaked flour combined with honey, sea salt and olive oil. Knead the dough until elastic.
When ready, put the dough inside of a greased bowl. I use a lidded casserole container for this as an alternative to covering with plastic wrap that may adhere to the dough. Place the dough in the bowl inverted and turn it to rub the edges around the dish. Flip the dough over and set it bottom side down. This oils the top of your dough and keeps it from drying out, forming a skin and binding the dough in the rising process. Cover with the greased lid of your casserole container.
Heat the oven for 1 minute and shut it off. This action will briefly warm your oven and allow you to set your container of dough in this insulated warm box to rise. Allow the dough to rise 4-5 hours or until it has doubled.
Gently press down and knead the dough. This second kneading shifts the yeast to a fresh area inside the dough, allowing it to gain access to new food, raising the dough a 2nd time.
Form the dough and place into (or onto) a greased heat-proof container. This may be either a bread pan, baking pan
Remove the dough from the oven. Locate a small cake pan on the lower rack of the oven. Warm a kettle of water to boil on your stove as you preheat the oven. When the water boils, pour it in the small pan within the oven. Close the door and allow the oven to preheat for 10 minutes. When prepared, speedily set your bread pan of dough in the oven and close the door.
In around forty-five minutes, your bread will probably be ready. Check for doneness by tapping on the underside of the pan with an oven mitt. The bread is done as soon as your thump produces a hollow noise. Invert the pan onto your gloved hand and allow the loaf to fall out. Flip your bread pan upside down and allow your loaf cool atop the pan. Coat the hot loaf with butter to allow the crust to become a more supple, chewy consistency as opposed to hard, thick and crunchy.
Provide time for the loaf to cool before slicing. Work with a knife with a serrated blade for easy slicing.
HOW TO REMOVE CAST IRON BUILDUP
Thick gunk and rust can assault cast iron cookware. Mercifully, cast iron pots and pans are tolerant of neglect and can be refinished
FIRST, SCRUB OFF WHAT YOU CAN
Salt and baking soda can be used to clean much of the debris off of the surface, rinse with vinegar and HOT water. After drying the pan, place it upside down on the oven rack. Foil placed onto the bottom rack will catch any drips from the pan as it warms. Turn on an exhaust fan, open a window and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake the pan for an hour, shut off the heat and leave the door closed while the pan cools inside the oven. This will heat the extra grease on the pan past its smoke point and melt it from your pan.
This step is included so that pans with a lot of buildup can have the bulk removed before actually stripping them. It is a bad idea to heat oils past their smoke point when cooking because it signals the release of carcinogens (free radicals). Yet, in order to remove the extra oil from the pan, it is necessary to heat the metal above the smoke point of the oil. Be sure the room has plenty of fresh air circulating.
This step could be skipped, but it is included because pans with a lot of oil residue could catch fire. It is advisable to get the bulk of that buildup off of your pan to reduce the chance of a flame-up prior to subjecting the pan to the high temperatures of a self-cleaning cycle with an automatically locked door.
Remove the pan from the oven after it has cooled; wash and dry it.
HOW TO STRIP YOUR COOKWARE
Keep fresh air circulating by opening a window and running an exhaust fan.
BACK TO BASICS ALTERNATIVE
An alternative method is to strip your cast iron using a fire pit. Using hard wood, build a hot fire. A soft wood that is full of sap will cover your pans with a black, sooty film. Place the pan in the coals of your roaring hot fire. Keep your fire burning for at least 2 hours. Let the fire burn itself out and cool. Remove the cooled pan and scrub it clean.
OXIDATION
It is likely that any rust will be reduced to a fine dust on your pan. Should you find this, scrub it away with baking soda and coarse salt. Rinse the surface clean with hot water, drying carefully.
When working with hot materials, ovens and/or open flame, you should follow all safety precautions. The purpose of this article is to inform the reader. When utilizing these methods, the reader assumes all liability.
MICROWAVE OVENS: A HEALTH RISK?
Years before microwave ovens were retailed in this country, the US War Department came into possession of German research on microwave ovens. This was research seized at the end of World War II. The Nazis had developed the earliest forms of microwave ovens as a means preparing meals quickly for troops invading Russia. The German research documents were transferred to the US War Department for further study.
The Russians acquired some of the German ovens and began their own testing on the biological effects of their use. The Soviets outlawed the use of microwave ovens and issued an international warning on the biological health hazards as well as the environmental health hazards associated with the use of microwave ovens. Eastern European scientists concurred with the Russian findings and urged strict environmental limits.
The Russians also tested thousands of workers exposed to microwaves during radar development in the 1950s. They concluded that simple exposure to the energy field was sufficient to cause side effects. These results caused the Russians to limit exposure to 10 microwatts for industry workers and 1 microwatt for civilians.
People exposed to microwave radiation experienced microwave sickness characterized by chronic stress, high blood pressure, headaches, memory loss, dizziness, eye pain, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, stomach pain, nervous tension, inability to concentrate, hair loss, plus an increase incidence of appendicitis, cataracts, reproductive problems, cancer, adrenal exhaustion, ischemic heart disease. These symptoms are suggestive of inflammatory difficulties.
When first introduced in the US, many cooks shunned microwave ovens. It was thought that exciting molecules within foods was an unnatural tampering that would render foods unsafe. Many other countries shared the concerns of the Russian researchers and outlawed the use of microwave ovens. The US government, however, assured citizens that microwave ovens were safe to use in food preparation and heating.
With the arrival of Perestroika in 1987, Russia rescinded their restrictions on the use of microwave ovens.
changing and damaging foods and the nutrients they provide.
Dr. Hertel concluded that there were definite health risks associated with consumption of foods cooked in a microwave oven compared to conventionally prepared foods. He went on to say that consuming micro-waved foods had cancerous effects on the blood. His findings were published in 1991 along with an article about him in the Journal Franz Weber.
Manufacturers of microwave ovens effectively used trade laws and the Swiss court to silence Dr. Hertel and threaten him with personal ruin if he revealed his findings. In March 1993, Dr. Hertel was convicted for "interfering with commerce" and prohibited from further publishing his results. This decision was reversed in a judgment delivered in Strasbourg, Austria, on August 25, 1998. Switzerland was ordered to pay Dr. Hertel compensation.
Retailers, manufacturers and the government continue to assert that these appliances are harmless to humans. However, this is in contrast to the published studies that offer evidence to the contrary. Not only must we consider how our foods are grown and harvested, but how they are prepared.
Alice: "I don't have a microwave."
Leslie: "How do you live without a microwave?!"
