Check out what's in the meal!
5/30/2011
Thanksgiving Dinner
The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a large meal, generally centered around a large roasted turkey. The majority of the dishes in the traditional American version of Thanksgiving dinner are made from foods native to the New World, as according to tradition the Pilgrims received these foods from the Native Americans. However, many of the classic traditions attributed to the first Thanksgiving are actually myths introduced later
Historical menus
Men eating a Thanksgiving dinner during World War I
According to what traditionally is known as "The First Thanksgiving," the 1621 feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag at Plymouth Colony contained turkey, waterfowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. William Bradford noted that, "besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many." Many of the foods that were included in that feast (except, notably, the seafood) have since gone on to become staples of the modern Thanksgiving dinner.
The use of the turkey in the USA for Thanksgiving precedes Lincoln's nationalization of the holiday in 1863. Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that no "Citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day," and many of the Founding Fathers (particularly Benjamin Franklin) had high regard for the wild turkey as an American icon, but turkey was uncommon as Thanksgiving fare until after 1800. By 1857, turkey had become part of the traditional dinner in New England.
A Thanksgiving Day dinner served to the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935 included: pickles, green olives, celery, roast turkey, oyster stew, cranberry sauce, giblet gravy, dressing, creamed asparagus tips, snowflake potatoes, baked carrots, hot rolls, fruit salad, mince meat pie, fruit cake, candies, grapes, apples, French drip coffee, cigars and cigarettes.
Alternatives to turkey
Non-traditional foods other than turkey are sometimes served as the main dish for a Thanksgiving dinner. Goose and duck, foods which were traditional European centerpieces of Christmas dinners before being displaced, are now sometimes served in place of the Thanksgiving turkey. Sometimes, fowl native to the region where the meal is taking place is used; for example, an article in Texas Monthly magazine suggested quail as the main dish for a Texan Thanksgiving feast. John Madden, who appeared on television for the Thanksgiving Classic every year from 1981 to 2001, frequently advertised his fondness for the turducken, which is in fact three birds (turkey, duck and chicken) nested inside each other and cooked together; he has since disavowed the dish. In a few areas of the West Coast of the United States, Dungeness crab is common as an alternate main dish, as crab season starts in early November."Similarly, Thanksgiving falls within deer hunting season in the Northeastern United States, which encourages the use of venison as a centerpiece. Sometimes a variant recipe for cooking turkey is used; for example, a Chinese recipe for goose could be used on the similarly-sized American bird. Vegetarians or vegans may try tofurkey, a tofu-based dish with imitation turkey flavor. In Alaskan villages, whale meat is sometimes eaten.[1] Irish immigrants have been known to have prime rib of beef as their centerpiece as beef was once a rarity back in Ireland; in the past, families would save up money for this as a special sign of newfound prosperity and hope. In the United States, a new globalist approach to Thanksgiving has become popular due to the impact of massive immigration on the country. Some take the basic Thanksgiving ingredients, and reinvent them using flavors, techniques, and traditions from their own cuisines, while others celebrate the holiday with a large festive meal with or without turkey.
Given the working holiday it is also common for immigrant communities in North America to participate in the holiday by launching their own celebrations of the holiday. Thus, it is not uncommon to find Chinese and other large immigrant communities celebrating Thanksgiving in the same family spirit but with the food of the feast being of their own respective cultures instead.
Historical menus
Men eating a Thanksgiving dinner during World War I
According to what traditionally is known as "The First Thanksgiving," the 1621 feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag at Plymouth Colony contained turkey, waterfowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. William Bradford noted that, "besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many." Many of the foods that were included in that feast (except, notably, the seafood) have since gone on to become staples of the modern Thanksgiving dinner.
The use of the turkey in the USA for Thanksgiving precedes Lincoln's nationalization of the holiday in 1863. Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that no "Citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day," and many of the Founding Fathers (particularly Benjamin Franklin) had high regard for the wild turkey as an American icon, but turkey was uncommon as Thanksgiving fare until after 1800. By 1857, turkey had become part of the traditional dinner in New England.
A Thanksgiving Day dinner served to the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935 included: pickles, green olives, celery, roast turkey, oyster stew, cranberry sauce, giblet gravy, dressing, creamed asparagus tips, snowflake potatoes, baked carrots, hot rolls, fruit salad, mince meat pie, fruit cake, candies, grapes, apples, French drip coffee, cigars and cigarettes.
Alternatives to turkey
Non-traditional foods other than turkey are sometimes served as the main dish for a Thanksgiving dinner. Goose and duck, foods which were traditional European centerpieces of Christmas dinners before being displaced, are now sometimes served in place of the Thanksgiving turkey. Sometimes, fowl native to the region where the meal is taking place is used; for example, an article in Texas Monthly magazine suggested quail as the main dish for a Texan Thanksgiving feast. John Madden, who appeared on television for the Thanksgiving Classic every year from 1981 to 2001, frequently advertised his fondness for the turducken, which is in fact three birds (turkey, duck and chicken) nested inside each other and cooked together; he has since disavowed the dish. In a few areas of the West Coast of the United States, Dungeness crab is common as an alternate main dish, as crab season starts in early November."Similarly, Thanksgiving falls within deer hunting season in the Northeastern United States, which encourages the use of venison as a centerpiece. Sometimes a variant recipe for cooking turkey is used; for example, a Chinese recipe for goose could be used on the similarly-sized American bird. Vegetarians or vegans may try tofurkey, a tofu-based dish with imitation turkey flavor. In Alaskan villages, whale meat is sometimes eaten.[1] Irish immigrants have been known to have prime rib of beef as their centerpiece as beef was once a rarity back in Ireland; in the past, families would save up money for this as a special sign of newfound prosperity and hope. In the United States, a new globalist approach to Thanksgiving has become popular due to the impact of massive immigration on the country. Some take the basic Thanksgiving ingredients, and reinvent them using flavors, techniques, and traditions from their own cuisines, while others celebrate the holiday with a large festive meal with or without turkey.
Given the working holiday it is also common for immigrant communities in North America to participate in the holiday by launching their own celebrations of the holiday. Thus, it is not uncommon to find Chinese and other large immigrant communities celebrating Thanksgiving in the same family spirit but with the food of the feast being of their own respective cultures instead.
Slow Food Recipe
We should remember that the United States in not only the land of fast food chains but new ideas are also developed in the country. I would like to show a sample recipe to those of you who are aware of what they eat:
Braised Coconut Chicken with Ginger
Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1Tb coconut oil
1 Tb olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks green garlic (mostly just the white/light green parts)*
11/2 Tb fresh ginger, minced
1 red pepper, cut into small pieces
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
handful cilantro
Green garlic is simply immature garlic -- often pulled when farmers are thinning the garlic crop in Spring (though more often now also being grown as a crop in its own right). Its flavor is milder than mature garlic, so if you don't have green garlic on hand, try using about 2-3 cloves of minced garlic.
::Prepare the green garlic by trimming the ends, cutting it lengthwise and then dicing into small pieces. If dirt is present, let sit in a bowl of cold water while you chop the onion and the red pepper. Swish once or twice and the dirt will fall to the bottom of the bowl. Use a slotted spoon to remove the green garlic.
::Sauté onion in 1Tb coconut oil (can use olive oil instead) for 5 minutes, then add green garlic, ginger, red pepper and red pepper flakes. While vegetables are cooking, combine salt, coriander, cumin, white pepper and turmeric in a small bowl to create a spice mixture and rub on both sides of 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, reserving any leftover spice rub (you will add it later). Remove vegetables from pan.
::Brown both sides of chicken in oil in a heavy bottom, oven proof pan (I use my Le Creuset French Oven). Set chicken aside. Pour 1/2 cup chicken stock and scrape up the little bits of spice/chicken. Stir the vegetables into the stock. Add 1 can coconut milk (shake first to combine). Return chicken to pan, adding remaining spice mixture and spooning some of the vegetable/liquid mixture over the chicken. Bring to a boil.
::Cover and place in a 325º oven for 2 hours (or put in slow cooker on high for 4 hours). When remove from oven, shred the chicken using two forks. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and serve over sweet brown rice with Sautéed Savoy Cabbage.
Braised Coconut Chicken with Ginger
Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1Tb coconut oil
1 Tb olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks green garlic (mostly just the white/light green parts)*
11/2 Tb fresh ginger, minced
1 red pepper, cut into small pieces
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
handful cilantro
Green garlic is simply immature garlic -- often pulled when farmers are thinning the garlic crop in Spring (though more often now also being grown as a crop in its own right). Its flavor is milder than mature garlic, so if you don't have green garlic on hand, try using about 2-3 cloves of minced garlic.
::Prepare the green garlic by trimming the ends, cutting it lengthwise and then dicing into small pieces. If dirt is present, let sit in a bowl of cold water while you chop the onion and the red pepper. Swish once or twice and the dirt will fall to the bottom of the bowl. Use a slotted spoon to remove the green garlic.
::Sauté onion in 1Tb coconut oil (can use olive oil instead) for 5 minutes, then add green garlic, ginger, red pepper and red pepper flakes. While vegetables are cooking, combine salt, coriander, cumin, white pepper and turmeric in a small bowl to create a spice mixture and rub on both sides of 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, reserving any leftover spice rub (you will add it later). Remove vegetables from pan.
::Brown both sides of chicken in oil in a heavy bottom, oven proof pan (I use my Le Creuset French Oven). Set chicken aside. Pour 1/2 cup chicken stock and scrape up the little bits of spice/chicken. Stir the vegetables into the stock. Add 1 can coconut milk (shake first to combine). Return chicken to pan, adding remaining spice mixture and spooning some of the vegetable/liquid mixture over the chicken. Bring to a boil.
::Cover and place in a 325º oven for 2 hours (or put in slow cooker on high for 4 hours). When remove from oven, shred the chicken using two forks. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and serve over sweet brown rice with Sautéed Savoy Cabbage.
Try something new!
SLOW FOOD
Good, Clean and Fair
Good:
The word good can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For Slow Food, the idea of good means enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals. The pleasures of good food can also help to build community and celebrate culture and regional diversity.
Clean:
When we talk about clean food, we are talking about nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on our local ecosystems and promotes biodiversity.
Fair:
We believe that food is a universal right. Food that is fair should be accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.
source:http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php
Good, Clean and Fair
Good:
The word good can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For Slow Food, the idea of good means enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals. The pleasures of good food can also help to build community and celebrate culture and regional diversity.
Clean:
When we talk about clean food, we are talking about nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on our local ecosystems and promotes biodiversity.
Fair:
We believe that food is a universal right. Food that is fair should be accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.
source:http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php
Super Size Me
SUPER SIZE ME
As the film begins, Spurlock is in physically above average shape according to his personal trainer. He is seen by three doctors (a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner), as well as a nutritionist and a personal trainer. All of the health professionals predict the "McDiet" will have unwelcome effects on his body, but none expects anything too drastic, one citing the human body as being "extremely adaptable." Prior to the experiment, Spurlock ate a varied diet but always had vegan evening meals to appease his then-girlfriend (now wife), Alexandra, a vegan chef. At the beginning of the experiment, Spurlock, who stands 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall, had a body weight of 185.5 lbs (84 kg).
Experiment
Spurlock has specific rules governing his eating habits:
He must fully eat three McDonald's meals per day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
He must complete every item on the McDonald's menu at least once over the course of the 30 days (he managed this in nine days).
He must only ingest items that are offered on the McDonald's menu. This includes bottled water. Any and all outside consumption of food is prohibited.
He must Super Size the meal when asked, but only when asked. He is not able to Super Size by his own accord.
He will attempt to walk about as much as a typical U.S citizen, based on a suggested figure of 5,000 standardized distance steps per day,[8] but he did not closely adhere to this, as he walked more while in New York than Houston.
On February 1, Spurlock starts the month with breakfast near his home in Manhattan, where there are an average of four McDonald's (and 66,950 residents, and twice as many commuters) per square mile (2.6 km²). He aims to keep the distances he walks in line with the 5,000 steps (approximately two miles) walked per day by the average American.
Day 2 brings Spurlock's first Super Size meal, at the McDonald's on 34th Street and Tenth Avenue, which happens to be a meal made of a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Super Size French fries, and a 42 ounce Coke, which takes 22 minutes to eat. He experiences steadily increasing stomach aches during the process, and promptly vomits in the McDonald's parking lot.
After five days Spurlock has gained 9.5 pounds (4.5 kg) (from 185.5 to about 195 pounds). It is not long before he finds himself with a feeling of depression, and he claims that his bouts of depression, lethargy, and headaches are relieved by a McDonald's meal. His general practitioner describes him as being "addicted." He has soon gained another 8 pounds (3.5 kg), putting his weight at 203.5 lb (92 kg). By the end of the month he weighs about 210 pounds (95.5 kg), an increase of about 24.5 pounds (about 11 kg). Because he could only eat McDonald's food for a month, Spurlock refused to take any medication at all. At one weigh-in Morgan lost 1 lb. from the previous weigh-in, and it was hypothesized by a nutritionist that he had lost muscle mass, which weighs more than an identical volume of fat. At another weigh-in, it was said by a nutritionist that he gained 17 pounds (8.5 kg) in 12 days.
Spurlock's girlfriend, Alexandra Jamieson, attests to the fact that Spurlock has lost much of his energy and sex drive during his experiment. It was not clear at the time if Spurlock would be able to complete the full month of the high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, and friends and family began to express concern.
In Day 21, Spurlock has heart palpitations. His internist, Dr. Daryl Isaacs, advises him to stop what he is doing immediately to avoid any serious health problems. He compares Spurlock with the protagonist played by Nicolas Cage in the movie Leaving Las Vegas who intentionally drinks himself to death in a matter of weeks. Despite this warning, Spurlock decides to continue the experiment.
On March 2, Spurlock makes it to day 30 and achieves his goal. In thirty days, he "Supersized" his meals nine times along the way (five of which were in Texas, three in New York City). His doctors are surprised at the degree of deterioration in Spurlock's health. He notes that he has eaten as many McDonald's meals as most nutritionists say the ordinary person should eat in 8 years (he ate 90 meals, which is close to 8 years of eating it once a month).
source: Wikipedia
As the film begins, Spurlock is in physically above average shape according to his personal trainer. He is seen by three doctors (a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner), as well as a nutritionist and a personal trainer. All of the health professionals predict the "McDiet" will have unwelcome effects on his body, but none expects anything too drastic, one citing the human body as being "extremely adaptable." Prior to the experiment, Spurlock ate a varied diet but always had vegan evening meals to appease his then-girlfriend (now wife), Alexandra, a vegan chef. At the beginning of the experiment, Spurlock, who stands 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall, had a body weight of 185.5 lbs (84 kg).
Spurlock has specific rules governing his eating habits:
He must fully eat three McDonald's meals per day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
He must complete every item on the McDonald's menu at least once over the course of the 30 days (he managed this in nine days).
He must only ingest items that are offered on the McDonald's menu. This includes bottled water. Any and all outside consumption of food is prohibited.
He must Super Size the meal when asked, but only when asked. He is not able to Super Size by his own accord.
He will attempt to walk about as much as a typical U.S citizen, based on a suggested figure of 5,000 standardized distance steps per day,[8] but he did not closely adhere to this, as he walked more while in New York than Houston.
On February 1, Spurlock starts the month with breakfast near his home in Manhattan, where there are an average of four McDonald's (and 66,950 residents, and twice as many commuters) per square mile (2.6 km²). He aims to keep the distances he walks in line with the 5,000 steps (approximately two miles) walked per day by the average American.
Day 2 brings Spurlock's first Super Size meal, at the McDonald's on 34th Street and Tenth Avenue, which happens to be a meal made of a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Super Size French fries, and a 42 ounce Coke, which takes 22 minutes to eat. He experiences steadily increasing stomach aches during the process, and promptly vomits in the McDonald's parking lot.
After five days Spurlock has gained 9.5 pounds (4.5 kg) (from 185.5 to about 195 pounds). It is not long before he finds himself with a feeling of depression, and he claims that his bouts of depression, lethargy, and headaches are relieved by a McDonald's meal. His general practitioner describes him as being "addicted." He has soon gained another 8 pounds (3.5 kg), putting his weight at 203.5 lb (92 kg). By the end of the month he weighs about 210 pounds (95.5 kg), an increase of about 24.5 pounds (about 11 kg). Because he could only eat McDonald's food for a month, Spurlock refused to take any medication at all. At one weigh-in Morgan lost 1 lb. from the previous weigh-in, and it was hypothesized by a nutritionist that he had lost muscle mass, which weighs more than an identical volume of fat. At another weigh-in, it was said by a nutritionist that he gained 17 pounds (8.5 kg) in 12 days.
Spurlock's girlfriend, Alexandra Jamieson, attests to the fact that Spurlock has lost much of his energy and sex drive during his experiment. It was not clear at the time if Spurlock would be able to complete the full month of the high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, and friends and family began to express concern.
In Day 21, Spurlock has heart palpitations. His internist, Dr. Daryl Isaacs, advises him to stop what he is doing immediately to avoid any serious health problems. He compares Spurlock with the protagonist played by Nicolas Cage in the movie Leaving Las Vegas who intentionally drinks himself to death in a matter of weeks. Despite this warning, Spurlock decides to continue the experiment.
On March 2, Spurlock makes it to day 30 and achieves his goal. In thirty days, he "Supersized" his meals nine times along the way (five of which were in Texas, three in New York City). His doctors are surprised at the degree of deterioration in Spurlock's health. He notes that he has eaten as many McDonald's meals as most nutritionists say the ordinary person should eat in 8 years (he ate 90 meals, which is close to 8 years of eating it once a month).
source: Wikipedia
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