In times as lean as these, it's hard to believe I'm still a loyal Starbucks fanatic. To those who say "Come on, $3 for a cup of coffee is such a rip-off!" I still say, "Actually, it's $2.73--tax included." In fact, Starbucks' costliness was precisely the reason I asked my friends to solely buy me Starbucks gift cards for Christmas. And armed with several of these cards, I'm ready to resume my habit.
But Starbucks is one tricky fella. Of course I knew that a caffe latte every day couldn't be good for you. But like most people I never thought to look up the nutrition facts. Turns out I'd been ingesting 150 cals almost every day.
What's the most caloric Starbucks beverage? A venti Hazelnut Hot Chocolate with whipped cream at a whopping 720 calories. Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, that's 36% of your suggested daily intake.
So what if you want to indulge, but not to a ridiculous degree? First, you can stick with coffee . . . and their "tall" size. Starbucks actually carries a "short" size, which holds eight ounces, but I've never heard anyone request it. A tall cup of coffee contains only 5 calories, and a tall Caffe Americano contains only ten. Their variety of teas, including their iced teas, contain between zero and just five.
But personally I don't frequent Starbucks to buy coffee I could brew in my dorm, so I was more interested in the content of their specialty drinks. Cappuccinos are a good way to go, at only 90 calories per tall cup. The Coffee Frappuccino Light has only 90 calories and the Expresso version contains only 80, but make sure you specify that you want the "light" version--their regular counterparts have almost 200 calories.
If you love Starbucks' lattes but want to watch your calorie intake, non-fat milk is the way to go. The skinny lattes ("skinny" specifies the substitution of skim milk) come in Vanilla, Caramel, or Hazelnut and all only contain 90 calories per tall cup.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Starbucks: The Right Way
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Upcoming Food Events
Restaurant Week continues until Friday! Here are the details for it and some other upcoming food events.
Center City Restaurant WeekWhen: January 25 - 30 and February 1 - 6
What: Discounted, three-course dinner menus at some of the city's most popular restaurants. Click here to see participating restaurants and menus.
How Much: $35 per person, not including drinks, tax, and gratuity.
Sausage-Making WorkshopWhere: La Cucina, in Reading Terminal Market, 12th St. and Arch St.
When: February 2, 5:54 - 7:45
What: Learn how to make all kinds of sausage in this interactive class led by master butcher Charles Giunta. Call (215) 922-1170 for reservations.
How Much: $55
Valentines Day Cookies Decorating Demonstration
Where: Foster's Urban Homeware, 399 Market St.
When: February 7, 2:00 pm
What: Right in time for Valentine's Day, learn about cookie decorating from some masters of the craft.
How Much: Free!
"I'll Eat All of You" - Sendak and Food Gallery TalkWhere: The Rosenbach Museum and Library, 2008 Delancey Place
When: Wednesday, February 18th, 6:00 pm
What: A discussion of the role of food and eating in children's author Maurice Sendak's work, including how he uses food to express love, power, and desire. Space is limited; click here to RSVP.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday Blog Lovin' - Make your own almond milk!
Blog: Family Style Food
Almond milk is a delicious alternative to soy milk and cow's milk. Check out this blog to learn how to make almond milk and other healthy and simple recipes.
Relearning to Savor Olive Oil
Olive oil has become such a routine presence in our everyday lives that we often forget it’s there. Not only is it so commonplace, but standard issue extra virgin olive oils often taste like little aside from a nominal olive-y overture. But when is the last time you tasted an olive oil that you could actually savor, an oil whose taste you enjoyed purely for the joy of tasting the oil and the bread with nothing else? An olive oil whose strength of flavors burst through the liquid over your tongue and made you stop and think about where it came from? What kind of olives produced such flavorful oil? How was it made? What makes this oil lighter or darker than others? Why does it taste like olive oil?
Grab yourself some simple, high quality bread, hunt down an olive oil of interesting provenance (an unremarkable aisle in fluorescent-lit Fresh Grocer doesn’t count) and taste away. Try to find an olive oil other than an Italian variety, and forget about cold-pressed extra virgin. Some high-end kitchen stores (not Williams-Sonoma) such as LeRoux Kitchen in Portland, ME, Portsmouth, NH, and Martha's Vineyard, have olive oil tasting sections where you can taste oils from places as disparate as Portugal and Syria. See if you can find one of these shops, or just seek out an interesting-looking oil on your own. I'd also be psyched if someone wanted to organize a tasting . . . hint hint.Tweet
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Live Blogging - Top Chef Season 5: Episode 10
12:31
Unsurprisingly, Jeff is asked to pack his knives, leaving Team Euro intact, just barely. This reality show loss is going to stick with him for a decade? You need to get over it, or you'll just seem pathetic. I have no idea what's going on with next week's preview, and I only see Eric Ripert occupying the guest judge spot. I guess a little mystery never hurt.
12:24
The 4 winning chefs, Carla, Jamie, Hosea, and Leah, are in the top this week. Someone seriously needs to send Toby Young back to England. His comments are so inane that they make Padma actually look like she knows what she's talking about. Carla finally gets a win, or a "touchdown," as she says, and takes Super Bowl tickets as her prize. That's a hell of a lot better than the cookbook they handed out a few weeks ago. With Carla's first win comes Stefan's first time in the bottom, but he handles himself with surprising humility. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Jeff, who thinks that because his dish was more complicated, he should win automatically.
12:12
Jamie takes on Camille, who I don't even remember, and despite a lack of confidence in her dish, she wins her round thanks to the audience vote. Jeff and Josie go into a battle of Miami-inspired ceviches, and the all-star wins all 10 points against Jeff, although the judges seem to enjoy both dishes. The final duel is between Fabio and Spike, so there should be more than enough charisma to go around. After a healthy round of trash-talking, Spike wins the judges' votes, but Fabio grabs the audience points, which is enough to lead the season 5 contestants to victory. Unlike the past few weeks, no one botched their dishes badly, so the elimination is actually up in the air for once.
12:02
After the longest commercial break in history (8 minutes, seriously?), we get some riveting shots of the contestants getting ready in the morning. This is why we don't need super-sized episodes every single week. But actually, they have spent so little time actually cooking this week that I'm getting pissed off. This should be exciting, though. The chefs cook live head to head for 20 minutes, with the judges scores counting for 7 points and random audience tasters' scores counting for 3. Once Nikki says "chicken liver, " I know Leah has this round in the bag, and she proves me right with a 7-3 win. It looks like Hosea is making a corn dog with fish, and I didn't realized that Seattle was so characterized by Asian cuisine, but he crushes Miguel. The battle between Carla and Andrew, turns out to be a bit of a flop, and Carla grabs the win with her flavorful gumbo. Stefan seems positive that he'll slaughter Andrea, but Andrea takes all 10 points, hopefully bringing Stefan's ego down a notch. At least he admits that he's a douchebag, though. A douchebag with self-awareness is just so much better.
11:41
So the current contestants each face off against past contestants, with each duo cooking the regional cuisine of an NFL team. Stefan, as the winner, gets to select his team and opponent, and he quickly picks Andrea, probably because she was eliminated twice on her season. Carla is excited to compete against Andrew, one of her favorites, and I'm sure that section of the kitchen will be FULL of energy, maybe a little too much. I don't really understand why Jamie is freaking out about cooking a dish inspired by her hometown of San Francisco, but she better get her shit together quickly.
11:29
Another week, another super-sized episode, and the last thing I want to hear about is Leah and Hosea's relationship. You made a mistake, we get it, so please give it a rest already. I love how Top Chef always gets right into the action with the Quickfire, and it's something Super Bowl inspired, but I don't really get it. All the chefs are writing their names on a chalk board and being assigned food groups, but they all end up having to incorporate whole grain oats into their dishes. Carla is noticeably excited, even though immunity has been abolished, because, like OMG, she eats oatmeal four times a week. The challenge seems to drive Jeff to insanity, as he beats some poultry with a frying pan in the corner. He maintains enough sanity, however, to prepare another trio of dishes. Stefan prepares a banana mousse, but he decides to garnish the plate with a whole Rose. Last time I checked this was still Top Chef and not Top Florist, but nice try. Fabio, Jeff, and distracted Leah bring up the rear, and Carla, Jamie, and Stefan lead the pack, with Stefan taking the win, his fifth back to back victory. It must have been the rose. The chefs enter the holding area and find personalized football jerseys, leading up to their elimination challenge, Top Chef Bowl, and their opposition, former all-star contestants burst through a poster in the kitchen. I mean it's more like the Top Chef B-Team, and I don't really get why the current contestants are so starstruck.
Top Chef Live Blogging Tonight!
As usual, don't miss Tucker's live blog of this week's Top Chef episode, starting at 10 pm tonight!
Better Know a Spice: Galangal (a.k.a. Blue Ginger)
Spice: Galangal
What is it? Also known as Blue Ginger, it is used extensively in Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian cuisine.
Where'a it from? There are two varieties of galangal: greater (laos) galangal is native to Java, and lesser (kencur) galangal, used less commonly is found on the south east coast of China.
Is it an imposter of ginger? Greater galangal is a creamy-colored rhizome with a gingery, camphorous bouquet, while lesser galangal is orange in color and is hotter and more pungent. It is used either as a whole root or powder.
Is it a “Defisher”? Galangal is effective in neutralizing the salty fish taste and is therefore used most frequently in fish and shell-fish recipes. Its flavor is tempered best by garlic, ginger, chili, lemon or tamarind.
What are its health benefits? Galangal cures gas!
Spice up your life: For centuries, a tonic of galangal and lemon juice has been used in south-east Asia as an aphrodisiac- move over chocolate covered strawberries!
Will it burn my mouth off? Yes! 5/10 on my mouth-burning scale
Recipe Idea: Add it in coconut milk for a Thai soup!
Where can I buy it? Indonesian Groceries on 16th-17th and Morris, Asian Grocery complex on 11th and Market, and Reading Terminal
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
R-easy-otto: An Experimental Recipe
I was puzzling over what to cook for myself and a couple friends - I wanted something vaguely Italian, but nothing too heavy and nothing too complicated. So I decided to go for risotto. Wait a minute, you say - but wait. Contrary to popular belief, risotto is NOT (at least not always or necessarily) in a cream sauce. It is just the starch released from the rice that creates the creamy texture. And risotto is far from complicated. Like any one-dish meal, it is scary how simple it is.
I had no recipe in mind when I dropped into Fresh Grocer to scour the produce section. I had glanced at a few options and so had in mind the general technique, plus I knew from experience common ingredients, but this was still an experiment. So I came away with two shallots, two yellow squash, a few handfuls of cremini mushrooms (way cheaper to get the loose than the packaged), and a bunch of kale. (Leafy greens? Why yes!) I also grabbed the backbones of the dish: arborio rice and vegetable broth.
Onwards, to the kitchen we go!
Basically, here's what you do:
1. Put some olive oil in a large pot, preferably wide bottom but it doesn't really matter. Don't skimp on this. Seriously.
2. Chop up some garlic, I used 3 cloves, but it's up to your taste.
3. Chop up the shallots (you can use any kind of onion), put it in with the olive oil and garlic, and turn on your stove. This is really just to get the oil flavored so don't worry if your onions aren't cooked.
4. WASH and chop all your veggies. If you use a leafy green like kale, I recommend cutting or ripping it up into bite size pieces because the high fiber content makes it stringy and hard to bite through if you have big pieces.
5. Put all your veggies into the pot with the oil, garlic, and onion family member. Don't worry if there's water. Remember, we're making rice here. Rice <3 water. I also added some pepper, "italian seasoning mix" (something I would not have done had I been in my own kitchen), and a bit of oregano. The seasoning choices are completely up to you. Experiment! But think about your veggies and make sure they'll go well.
6. Measure out 1 cup of rice and dump it in. This amount of rice made a dish that served 3 hungry girls (we play hockey, we don't eat like wusses).
7. Most risotto recipes, especially the pretentious ones, will tell you your broth should be hot. Whatever. For 1 cup of rice I used 3 cups of room temperature vegetable broth.
8. Stir it up a little, cover it maybe, or don't, but if you don't you might have to add more liquid later on. Make sure your heat is on low because you want it to be simmering. Barely. Boil is bad.
9. Once in a while, stir. When it gets towards the end (when the liquid starts to really disappear) taste your rice. Is it al dente (this is the goal)? Is it hard? Use your judgment as to when it will be done and if you will need more liquid. You shouldn't have to add more than a half cup extra liquid especially if you are using moist veggies.
10. When it is done - that is, the rice is al dente, perfectly cooked, a bit creamy, and the liquid is basically gone, give it a good go 'round with your stirring utensil, which will help loosen it up and cream-ify it a bit.
11. It'll be hot, but taste-test. Needs some salt? Add it in.
12. Dish it out and enjoy! We added parmesan onto our bowls for another flavor, but you can totally do it without cheese if you so choose.
Literally the hardest part of making risotto is waiting for it to be done. Don't let anyone scare you out of this dish. It's ridiculously easy and all your friends will be super impressed. What, don't you want to be the next Food Network Star?
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Time of the Burrito Will Come to a Close
I was walking out of Chipotle this evening with my vegetarian Fajita Burrito bowl in tow when I overheard two girls talking behind me.
“So I was in Greek Lady and it was totally empty.”
“Really?”
“Yeah – apparently Chipotle is taking all their business.”
“But they’re not even the same thing!”
“I know, I thought it would have been just Qdoba but apparently they’re stealing everyone’s business.”
So, kids, support your locally-owned businesses and go back to frequenting Greek Lady once in a while. You really don’t want them to disappear altogether – no one wants to be completely reliant on Chipotle for their nutritional and culinary requirements, no matter how delicious it is. The novelty of Chipotle will wear off soon, I promise you, and you will once again be left with the same old dilemma of where to eat on campus. Gyro or burrito? Not burritos, again…
And the saddest part of this story is that I've already been to Chipotle twice in the last week and a half, and not at all to Greek Lady.
