BigBangKitchen

.. fusion of food & science …


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Continuing with the theme of serving sizes from both the Green and Red recipes, here is a good side dish recipe involving shiitake mushrooms and garlic.

Ingredients:

Shiitake mushrooms, quartered

Garlic, minced

Salt & Pepper

Parsley, minced

Olive oil

Putting it Together:

1. Stem and quarter the shiitake mushrooms.

2. Combine the mushrooms, minced garlic, salt and pepper and minced parsley together, mixing together.

3. Saute the combination above in olive oil, until just beginning to get crisp on the outside.

Enjoy!

Happy kitchening, cooking & cuisine!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!


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The first recipe of the 3 primary Christmas colours, green, is a side dish. For this recipe, keep in mind what 1 serving size is. Depending on how many you want this side dish to serve, just mulitply the number of people to the single serving size. For example if there are 6 people total at your dinner, # of total people x 1 serving size. Therefore in this example 6 x 1 = 6. Make sure you have enough for 6 people.

Ingredients: *amounts will vary to number of people side dish is for. Adjust accordingly.

Olive oil

Broccoli florets

Green olives, chopped

Capers (optional)

Lemon zest

Dried red pepper flakes

Garlic

Putting it Together:

1. Warm olive oil over medium heat and add broccoli florets and saute them until soften – let them sizzle and brown a bit.

2. Add chopped green olives, capers (if using), lemon zest, dried red pepper flakes and garlic. Saute until broccoli is golden and flavours have melded together.

Enjoy this green side dish!

Happy kitchening, cooking & cuisine!


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Heading into mid-October and giving thanks over Thanksgiving weekend, here is a little bit of slick science for a very well known oil that we may all be using – olive oil.

Here is the science about this oil. For 1 tbsp or 15 ml of olive oil there is:

  • 132 calories
  • 15g fat
  • 4.6 g monounsaturated fat
  • 1,464 mg omega 6-fatty acids
  • 10,600 mg omega 9-fatty acids
  • 2.15 mg Vitamin E

So what does all that mean? Good question. Olive oil has been well documented to being at the cornerstone for the healthy Mediterranean diet as the monounsaturated fats, flavones, quercetin and omega-9 fatty acids create a healthy combination of protective nutrients that are famous for heart health properties.

Enjoy using this healthy oil!

Happy kitchening, cooking & cuisine!


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From the slick science of olive oil to a recipe using olive oil:  Olive Oil & Sweet Potatoes

Facts: serves 4

Ingredients:

– 1 lbs of sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

– 3/4 cup low salt vegetable stock

– 3 tbsp cold-pressed virgin olive oil

– 1 shallot*, finely chopped (* a small red onion was used by this cook)

– 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

– 1 tsp dried thyme

– 1 tsp sweet paprika

– 1 tsp crushed coriander seeds

– pepper

Putting it Together:

1. Sweet potatoes into a saucepan with just enough veggie stock to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 7 minutes or nearly tender. *Note: This step was substituted by cooking the sweet potatoes on the bbq till just tender.

2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in skillet and stir-fry the shallot over medium heat for 3 minutes to soften. Add the garlic, thyme, paprika, and coriander seeds and stir for about 1 minute.

3. Add the sweet potatoes (from the bbq version, the skin was peeled off and then cut into slices) and stir mixture for about 3 minutes until the potatoes start to break apart. Add pepper to your taste. Stir for an additional minute or so and very lightly mash up the mixture to break up the potatoes more (if needed). Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy!

Happy kitchening, cooking & cuisine!