I’ve learned so much about food and cooking from watching cooking shows on television. As a teenager I would watch and long to be able to make the kinds of recipes being shown; dreamed of having a fancy kitchen, a professional mixer or food processor. Kathleen Collins has made a very detailed study of how those shows have changed over the decades of television history, and how those shows have influenced those of us who like to cook and eat.

The history of television cooking shows is much longer and richer than I could have imagined. Some of the earliest shows sound like some of the crazy Food Network shows on now. And it is interesting that throughout the entire history of cooking on television, here has been a voyeuristic quality and also a  vicarious quality. In other words, we love watching others cook thins we know we will never cook ourselves. And yet I think a regular viewer of these shows learns about cooking and technique, much like watching someone cook in a kitchen , but because television cooking shows are such controlled and “chopped up” presentations, they do not teach how to plan a meal, how to cook a whole meal or party so all the food is ready at the same time. They never teach you about cleaning up, or planning your shopping and menus so you don’t have a lot of waste.

Food is entertaining becuase it is part of all of our lives, and have used the cooking shows to help live  out and shape our fantasies of the ideal life. Collins does a great job of showing how these shows have excelled at that and captured the moving target of the American Dream over the last fifty years.

The title implies a diet book, but it is much more than the typical diet book. It has the usual suspects: eating plans, nicely exercises, allowed and not allowed foods. But the book expands the idea of dieting and shows that most of us need to put more than our bodeis on a diet. The pantry and refrigerator are prime targets, and we can move out from there.

Uliano’s plan has a basic, but thoughtful, beginning: figure out what you really want before you begin. How many times have I jumped into a plan of self-improvement in excitement after reading a book or seeing something on television?

And this book does inspire, It connects what we eat with the ecological and environmental movements we are all thining about. It offers three different levels of being green to show that living better is possible for all of us. And she lists many websites and company names that sell the kinds of healthy foods and products recommende in the bookthat makes it easy to do further research on the specific topics that appeal to you. ( )

Author’s Website: http://www.gorgeouslygreen.com

How much actual food do you eat? That is the somewhat disconcerting premise that underlies this book. Michael Pollan suggests that, because of the great many processed food products with many additives and the policies of seeking to make more food at a   lower cost, much of the food in the American diet today is not actually real food.

He suggests that if we made it a point not to eat any foods or food products that our great grandmothers would not recognize as food, we would go a long way to helping world ecology and our own health (p.148). He says we should also avoid ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, and products with more than five ingredients.  He says we should also avoid high fructose corn syrup. Pollan is quick to point out that these things by themselves are not necessarily bad for us, “but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed” (p.150).

Great detail is taken in this book to explain all the nasty details of why corporate food manufacturing, contemporary farming practices and government policies have conspired to make the things we eat not as healthy and nutrient rich , plus more harmful to the environment, than in the past. He explains why the various traditional and aboriginal diets are good models to copy, because these cultures discovered over a long period of time what food combinations work well together in terms of health and longevity. Contemporary and nontraditional foods have not been tested by time, and their effect on our bodies cannot be measured.

The book outlines eating guidelines that are basically a balanced approach, and common sense: eat more plants, especially leaves; eat meals rather than snacks (preferably at a table and not alone), eat slowly, and don’t look for magic quick solutions to dietary issues.

In addition to the practical advice, the book is an eye-opening view at the way our thinking about food has shifted from food itself to the nutrients food provides, and how we have begun trying to replicate these nutrients with synthetic substitutes. Pollan paints a picture where the cult of nutrition has taken over and allowed us to be jangled around by marketing claims of health issues that may or may not be true.

His argument against nutritionism is worth considering and his practical points worth beginning to implement.

Recipe: Red Beans and Rice

Cooking time (duration): 3 hours plus 6-12 hours soaking time

Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)

My rating:4.0 stars

Recipe by Brian Tomlin.
Microformatting by hRecipe.

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream (or omit and make it ¾ cup mayo)

2 stalks celery, diced small

½ red or green bell pepper, diced small

1 small carrot, diced small

1 cup seedless grapes, cut in half

¼ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

¼ teaspoon paprika

1. Cook Chicken: Preheat oven to 400. Place chicken breasts on a sheet pan, coat both sides with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until chicken is cooked through but not dried out (165 degrees), about 20-25 minutes.
2. Cool breasts. The chicken can be cooked a day ahead and refrigerated.
3. Cut cooled/chilled chicken into ¾ inch dice, or shred.
4. Place chicken in a large bowl and add all other ingredients. Mix Well.
5. Refrigerate mixed salad for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours) before serving to allow the flavors to combine.
6. Serve on rolls or bread with salad greens and thin cucumber slices.

New York chef Tom Valenti gives us food that is appealing, healthful, unpretentious and easy to prepare. The book opens with 16 pages of full-color photographs of recipes from the book, a great inspiration when you don’t know what to buy or cook, and easy to find at the front of the book.

The Introduction explains all the basics of the diet diabetics need to follow, and it isn’t that different from the way the rest of us should be eating. The Introduction also discusses, in plain terms, the science behind diabetes.

The recipe chapters give basics presented elegantly from a gourmet chef but food real people will want to make and eat.All the nutritional information is provided for each recipe, along with the traditional diabetic dietary exchanges. It is a book I would definitely want around if I were diagnosed with diabetes. As it is, I have found many great basic recipes to add to everyday menus.

The fish chapter is probably the best: 35 recipes for the most popular kinds of fish and shellfish we all love. The recipes add just the right flavors to complement the fish, making it taste great without complicated procedures. The salsa and relishes chapter is also a great resource.

 Ingredients:

• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast (cooked)
• 1 small pork tenderloin
• 2 veal cutlets
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 16 oz. cans creamed corn (or 8 ears corn cut and scraped plus 2 T. cream)
• 2 16 oz. cans tomatoes, undrained
• ½ lemon, sliced
• 1 cup cut okra
• 1 cup lima beans
• 2 to 4 potatoes, diced
• 12 oz. ketchup
• 3 T. Worcestershire sauce
• Tabasco (or other hot sauce) to taste
• 1 T. vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic tied in cheesecloth
• 1 T. dry mustard
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1/8 t. cayenne pepper
• 1 t. salt
• black pepper to taste
• 2 slices white bread, crumbled (if needed to thicken)
• 1 bell pepper, red or green, chopped

Procedure:

1. Roast drumsticks and tenderloin in a 325° oven or 30 minutes.
2. Lightly brown veal cutlets in a skillet.
3. Shred or dice chicken breast, veal cutlet, chicken drumsticks and pork.
4. Sauté onion in 1 T. butter in bottom of large stockpot.
5. Add meats, chicken broth, tomatoes, okra, creamed corn, lima beans, and potatoes.
6. Add seasonings.
7. Heat until barely simmering, then lower heat to Low and cook slowly for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.
8. Before serving, remove cheesecloth containing garlic. Add bread if stew needs to be thickened.

Just what I’ve been craving. An adventurous food book! A British blogger from a family where food is the primary, or it seems only, past time, finds himself turning forty. It is not surprise that his great mid-life crisis causes him to act on his life goal to “go everywhere and eat everything.” The resulting book is as eclectic as the world’s food cultures.

 His schedule for the “year” (p.13):

• March and April: UK and Ireland
• May: Australia
• June: more UK
• July: Japan
• August: Hong Kong and China
• September: Mongolia, Russia and Finland
• October: United States
• November: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil (and Thanksgiving in California)
• January: Germany and Iceland
• February: Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia
• March: The Philippines, India
• April: South Africa, Mozambique, Senegal, Morocco
• May: Turkey, Italy, France, Spain

Part travelogue, part global food profile, part wacky adventure story, the book is full of unexpected bits about food culture (Icelanders are obsessed with hot dogs?) And the book proves the best part of enjoying food is sharing it with others. The people he meets as he travels around the globe are as interesting as the foods he describes.  In fact, I wish there were more descriptions of both people and food. Not that the book lacks either, but Majumdar’s style is so familiar, I just want more courses.