Thursday, May 16

WHAT’S GOOD

The Chemistry Of Cooking Over An Open Flame – What Makes Smoky, Charred Barbecue Taste So Good?
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The Chemistry Of Cooking Over An Open Flame – What Makes Smoky, Charred Barbecue Taste So Good?

The mere thought of barbecue’s smokey scents and intoxicating flavors is enough to get most mouths watering. Summer is here, and that means it is barbecue season for many people in the U.S. I am a chemist who studies compounds found in nature, and I am also a lover of food – including barbecue. Cooking on a grill may seem simple, but there is a lot of chemistry that sets barbecue apart from other cooking methods and results in such a delicious experience. Cooking over an open flame – whether from gas, wood or charcoal – allows you to use both radiant and conductive heat to cook food. Romary/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Cooking with fire First, it is important to define barbecue because the term can mean different things in different cultures or geographic locations. At its most basic, barb...
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Whats Good: Sugar Detox? Cutting Carbs? A Doctor Explains Why You Should Keep Fruit On The Menu
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Whats Good: Sugar Detox? Cutting Carbs? A Doctor Explains Why You Should Keep Fruit On The Menu

One of my patients – who had been struggling with obesity, uncontrolled diabetes and the cost of her medications – agreed in June 2019 to adopt a more whole-food plant-based diet. Excited by the challenge, she did a remarkable job. She increased her fresh fruit and vegetable intake, stopped eating candy, cookies and cakes and cut down on foods from animal sources. Over six months, she lost 19 pounds and her HbA1c – a measure of her average blood sugar – dropped from 11.5% to 7.6%. She was doing so well, I expected that her HbA1c would continue to drop and she would be one of our plant-based successes who had reversed diabetes. Her three-month follow-up visit in March 2020 was canceled because of COVID-19 lockdowns. When I eventually saw her again in May 2021, she’d regained some of the ...
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Whats Good: Tasty Leftover Brisket Recipes To Try
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WHAT'S GOOD

Whats Good: Tasty Leftover Brisket Recipes To Try

If you had a barbecue party the day before and have plenty of leftover food, don't throw them out - you can use them to create new delicious dishes. A lot of people would agree that beef brisket is better on day 2! If you have no idea how to repurpose your leftover beef dish, here are some tasty leftover beef brisket recipes that you should try now! Leftover Brisket Smoked Chili What you need: 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced 1 can black beans 1 can kidney beans Olive oil 1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced 1/2 green pepper, diced 1/2 white onion, diced 3 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes 3 1/2 cups fire roasted tomatoes 1 1/4 cup brisket 2 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teapsoon smoked paprika 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 t...
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Free Soul Food Recipes Breaking New Ground
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Free Soul Food Recipes Breaking New Ground

Free soul food recipes continue to break new ground. While more health experts are complaining about the high calorie, salt and fat content in soul food, more websites are heading the call for healthier recipes. The huge (pardon the pun) problems with obesity is blamed on the high fat and calorie content in much of the food we eat. To respond to this growing demand, more soul food recipe publishers, websites and restaurants are offering healthier recipes. The response? A growing resurgence in the popularity of this southern cuisine. An added bonus is attracting the interest of new people to this southern comfort food. Examples of Healthy Changes Examples of healthier changes is replacing many of the high fat seasonings, such as fat back, ham hocks and bacon drippings. These traditiona...
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Decaf Anyone?
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Decaf Anyone?

That Morning Cup o' Joe May Do More Than Perk You Up: It Might Destroy You With a Starbucks on virtually every block, and "a grande iced triple-shot, extra-whipped skim mocha" a normal way to ask for an afternoon drink, it's not always easy to remember what it was that we drank before the caffeination of Manhattan. With a couple of cups of java just to get going in the morning and a double espresso to concentrate better in the afternoon, coffee is becoming synonymous with energy. And New York is all about energy. But is it good for us? Symptoms of caffeine overuse include depression, anxiety, restlessness, stomach upsets, nausea and vomiting. Moderate to heavy coffee consumption may even lead to heart disease. Addiction to sugary coffee drinks or sweet colas may also lead to extreme ...
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When Did Coffee Become A Status Symbol?
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When Did Coffee Become A Status Symbol?

Odds are when you go to the grocery store, you see many people with a Starbucks coffee cup in hand. At some point, this has made it to almost a "right of passage" to get into the grocery store. What's funny about this is most of these cups are filled up with low-quality "coffee" beverages which are mostly made up of sugar and chocolate. Those who have one of these cups in their hand probably wouldn't be able to tell a cup of coffee from Starbucks from a cup of your regular old gas station coffee. Another thing that gets lost in this is why not support the local guy? While Starbucks, Dunkin and Tim Horton coffee chains boom, there are many local coffee shops that provide a better product at a similar price. Plus you are helping someone in your community build and maintain their busines...
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Starbucks Or Dunkin Donuts, Who Has Better Coffee?
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Starbucks Or Dunkin Donuts, Who Has Better Coffee?

People love their coffee. Some people can't go through an entire day without it, and some people can't go through half a day without it. Coffee provides an instant burst of energy for those who need it, and caffeine is a stimulant of the body and the mind. Two of the most popular brands in the nation are Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. In bigger cities, you can't go a few blocks without seeing one of the two and there are branches of each present in both towns as well. Some people swear by Starbucks and some people swear by Dunkin Donuts. Let's look at some of the pros and cons of each in order to determine whose is better. First, let's look at Starbucks. The coffee giant has exploded during the last 15 years, and they've even expanded to various drinks and foods beyond coffee. Still, ...
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The Salad Of Modern Times
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The Salad Of Modern Times

While we completely agree that eating salad is eating healthy, the many choices and food combinations today seem to have neglected the real essence of salads. True salad is abundant in organic ingredients. It is loaded with darker greens, fruits and raw vegetables in low-fat vinaigrette that offers low in fat and low in calorie meal. This is called the salad matrix. It is an approach to encourage darker-colored greens and more organic components in light dressing to guarantee high amounts of proteins, calcium, vitamins, digestive enzymes and antioxidants. We may find it hard to adapt, but low in fat salads are the only way to change our eating lifestyle for the better. It's simply dabbing in the raw and nourish in a bowl of greens. Here are sample salad matrix recipes to try: Simple O...
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Want To Persuade Americans To Swap Out Beef For Plant-Based Burgers, Taste Alone Won’t Do It
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Want To Persuade Americans To Swap Out Beef For Plant-Based Burgers, Taste Alone Won’t Do It

The big idea Consumers are more likely to choose a plant-based meat substitute when the restaurant’s advertising highlights the social benefits of doing so rather than its taste, according to recently published research I conducted with a colleague. We also found that showcasing the social costs of meat consumption also leads to a preference for plant-based “meats.” To reach this conclusion, we conducted two online experiments to examine the advertising of plant-based burgers and meatballs. Participants were recruited via the crowdsourcing website Amazon Mechanical Turk. In the first one, 156 participants were shown one of three commercials for a plant-based burger. They saw either a social appeal (“good for the environment and animal welfare”), a health appeal (“good for your health – n...
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Pull off a stress-free Thanksgiving dinner with this turkey day menu and timeline
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Pull off a stress-free Thanksgiving dinner with this turkey day menu and timeline

Let’s face it, no matter how wonderful it is to be surrounded by family and friends on Thanksgiving, cooking for a group of people is an incredibly daunting task. For most people, prepping for turkey day takes days to mentally and physically prepare. In order to pull off a successful dinner that you’ll actually enjoy, planning ahead is key. That means shopping well in advance, cooking dishes in advance that hold well in the refrigerator and following our Thanksgiving menu and timeline. Here’s the menu the Southern Kitchen team will be whipping up come Thanksgiving: The Mains Oven-Roasted Turkey Virginia Willis’ Bourbon Baked Ham The Sides Grilled Kabocha Squash Salad with Maple Vinaigrette Oyster Cornbread Dressing Bebe’s Green Beans Bourbon Collard Greens Extra Cheesy Mac and Cheese...
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