Blend me your ears!

One flavor against another.  One aroma entwining with other unique smells, working together to make a completely new and provocative scent.  Each individual smell working with others to create memory and association.  Most every morning we mix the smells of coffee, soap, fresh-pressed cotton, toothpaste and toast – and that combined ‘breakfast’ smell will stay with us for many, many years.  Walking into downtown eateries, we are met with scents of fried meats, orange juice, floral arrangements, outdoor diesel fumes, the fish of the day, and the perfume of the cashier – but as remote as it all might seem, it all brings the association of ‘eating downtown’ to us.  With creating new things to eat and ‘taste’ – because of our noses – the opportunity is there for introducing many great marriages of aromas and flavors. 

The easiest of techniques for ‘training’ of the blending together these many flavors we come across simply is to hold single ingredient scents to one’s nose and to mentally remember them.  Subsequently hold other intended scents and aromas to the nose one after the other, apart and then together.  It’s as easy as it sounds.  Work varied blendings until there is found a combination of smells that work with the memory and sensibilities that you have learned.  Trust your sense of smell.  Trust your experience.

I am no nutritionist, and don’t claim to be.  My mom was a great cook, and she served her delicious food with love and laughter (which incidentally are the BEST condiments).  However, having been raised during the depression, her concepts of preparation and presentation in our new, more prosperous ‘baby boom’ world had her putting butter and mayonnaise on almost everything.  I loved it, but it had its consequences.  Then I was a skinny kid, but my youthful eating habits didn’t support that rich intake in my later years.

My brother and I had to work to alter those habits, and this book reflects that altered mindset from my food perspective.  It is always wise to educate oneself in nutrition and watch what one eats.  ‘Read the label’ -- simple yet very prudent advice.  Avoid highly processed foods if possible, and limit use of salts, sugars and chemicals.  Lighten up on dairy and red meats, use butter and animal fats sparingly, and deep-fry no more often than once a week if you can.   Easily said, but boy, what a task.  We find ourselves overwhelmed at the thought of having to give up foods we hold to comfort or habit, so we often surrender without a fight in deference to our ‘loves’. 

There are alternatives to this defeatist style of thinking; and the most basic manner of approach is moderation – altering our diet so gently and subtly that we don’t really recognize any substantial change -- making the task much more, shall we say, palatable.   Give it a try, it isn’t that hard.  Most all ingredients I refer to in this book are easily found in the local supermarket.  This presentation of cooking is for everyone, and even those actively instituting controlled food preparation and ingredient choice can use these recipes as a reference with slight augmentation. 

See what you can come up with.   ‘Healthy’ will only be an incidental by-product.

         FATS AND OILS – No one loves pork fat more than I, trust me.  Butter, ah, a gift from Heaven.  But it’s the flavor and texture that I crave most, not necessarily the actual ingredient.  Just trimming the amounts of the animal fats intake by a third, then later by a half (or maybe even more) in preparation and cooking, and substituting the other portion with canola, olive, or safflower oil will fare better with the body and digestion, and not alter the original beloved taste and texture noticeably at all.

       CREAMS AND CHEESES – in most dishes, these elements are added for a rich ‘mouth feel’ of smoothness and silkiness to the tongue.  And mayonnaise, what is it about whipped oil and egg that’s so irresistible?   Reducing quantities of these elements in foods such as gravies, sauces, dips, or baked goods, and replacing that partial amount removed with a selection of the following offerings:  smooth-blended soy curd (soft ‘silken’ tofu), thickened yogurt/Greek yogurt, canned evaporated milk, or smooth-blended cottage cheese.  These will maintain the lovely mouth-feel and taste while enhancing the nutrition and contributing considerably less fat. Actually, the reduced-fat dairy items and mayonnaises available commercially are surprisingly satisfying (they’ve already replaced some of the animal fats with heart-healthy oils).  Soy based vegetarian isn’t bad, but completely non-fat versions of soured creams, soft and aged cheeses, and mayonnaises, however, will disappoint you.

      FLOURS AND GROUND GRAINS – Not all flours, semolinas, farinas or breakfast wheat grains are as nutritious as our bodies would like.  Simply adding a teaspoonful of fresh wheat germ per cup of the ground grain in a cereal, baking recipe or coating adds a richer flavor as well as a significant lift in nutritional value.