If I approached cooking in a more professional way....

...this would be the result.

This is how my mind works

A conversation with my daughter concerning diet and nutrition made me think about something.  Brown rice is considered to be a very healthy food, far better for you than white rice.  I read the backs of packages, including the nutritional label, and while I didn't remember the details, what I thought I remembered made me question that universal belief.  So I went to Nutritiondata.com, which is my go-to website when researching nutritional information.

Comparing amounts of cooked rice in equal weights -- 100 grams, for example -- I discovered that there is very little difference in nutrition.  One hundred grams of white rice has more calories (14.6% more) and carbohydrates (17.9% more) while brown rice has 2 grams of fiber and white rice none.  A bit of a difference, but not enough to make brown rice a superfood.

What I noticed, however, was when I changed my measurement to volume (one cup,) that a cup of cooked brown rice weighed more (195 grams) than a cup of white rice (158 grams.)  This changed the nutrition quite a bit, giving brown rice more calories and 4 grams of fiber vs. zero for white rice.

I've sent Nutritiondata a note asking about this -- does a cup of brown rice actually weigh more than a cup of white rice?  (I'll update this if and when I get an answer.)  For practical purposes the point may be moot.  We serve ourselves in volume -- a "scoop" or "spoonful" of something, a 'cup" or "half cup" if we measure.   

When experts compare the relative ability of boxers, they refer to someone as the "pound for pound" better fighter.  This acknowledges that the heavyweights, by sheer volume, can pack more power than the lighter weights.  More brown rice will have more nutrients than less white rice.  Conceding that there are slight advantages nutritionally, and pending an explanation from Nutritiondata's experts, brown rice's reputation as a far superior alternative to white rice may be exaggerated.


Update: Apparently I ask good questions.  Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N (that means she's an expert) devoted an entire column on December 13 (over a month later!) to answering my question.  Read "The surprising truth about brown rice." 

The Sunshine Condiment

From "The Proper Mustard," the newsletter of The Mustard Museum.

FIVE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

1. I will use mustard every day.
2. I will be bold and try mustard on all kinds of foods.
3. I will smile whenever I eat mustard - life's too important to be angry when eating the sunshine condiment.
4. I will be more tolerant of ketchup eaters.
5. I will share my mustards with others.

The Best Nutrition Website on the Internet

With the onset of the new year and its attendant resolutions, many people are going on diets. Low-calorie, low-fat, low-carb -- almost all dieters (and many folks who aren't on a diet) are reading those ubiquitous nutrition labels on packaged foods.

Nutritiondata.com does a much, much more thorough job. The site analyzes a bazillion different foods, including fast foods, for not only nutrition, but also how a food fits into a particular kind of diet.

An unusual feature is the "fullness factor" that measures satiety against nutrition. (Along with cool full color graphs.)

For people who are interested in what they're eating, this site can't be beat.

Bon appétit.

Times Change

When I was young, we lived in a small west Texas town that received 2 1/2 TV channels. We got CBS (Channel 13), NBC (Channel 11) and sometimes we could receive ABC (Channel 28.) To get good reception, my dad had to go outside and use a pipewrench to turn the antenna the right direction to get a better signal. In addition to the school library, we had a bookmobile, a panel van that occasionally came to town with books that could be checked out. You could say we lived out in the boonies.

Last week I went online to The Mustard Museum and ordered three jars of Plochman's Chili Dog-flavored mustard. They arrived yesterday, and upon tasting, the mustard does indeed taste like chili. We had hot dogs for supper last night, and it was like eating chili dogs.

I asked around, and chili-flavored mustard is not available locally, even at Market Street. Forty years ago my family would not know about such things. If you wanted mustard, you got mustard; there were no flavors or varieties, only what was available at the local grocery store.

Now when I need to find something I look online before I look anywhere else. The world has exploded into view for me. I'm reminded of Robin Williams' character in Moscow on the Hudson. A Russian refugee, he wanders into a grocery store and is so overwhelmed by the variety of products available that he passes out.

While I'm not quite that overwhelmed, I am aware enough to realize that I have lived in a transitional era. Like Henry Adams, I often find myself unprepared for the scope of the changes that have occurred and continue to occur. Like Adams, I have had to continually educate and re-educate myself in order to cope and take advantage of what the brave new world has to offer.

It doesn't take a lot of self-awareness to realize that my parents -- who didn't have indoor plumbing until they were nearly adults -- lived a different life from my children, who have never "dialed" a phone. My job is to ensure that my children realize that there is a connection between the generations.

And so we sit back and eat our chili-flavored mustard dogs, and I explain to my kids what a test pattern used to look like on a black-and-white TV.

The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg

Ever since our marsupial ancestors decided to eat what came out of a chicken's behind, mankind has looked for the perfect way to cook it. The advent of cooktop stoves made it possible for us to finally do it right. For taste, texture, portability and ease of preparation, nothing beats a hard-boiled egg. After years and years of searching, I've found a fail-proof way to cook and peel the perfect hard-boiled egg every time.

1. Carefully place the eggs into your favorite pot or pan. Add enough cold water to completely cover the eggs.
2. Place on the stove, turn on the heat and bring water to a boil.
3. Boil for ten minutes. No more, no less. Use a timer if you have to.
4. When ten minutes is up, pour out the water and rattle the eggs around in the pan. The idea is to crack the eggs' shells fairly evenly around the entire shell, not to pulverize it.
5. Immediately plunge the eggs into icewater.
6. Wait a minute or so and peel the eggs. I start with sort of a belt around the middle so the ends just lift off.
7. Rinse away whatever small pieces of shell remain. (The only thing nastier than getting an eggshell in your food is getting a piece of pecan shell anywhere in your mouth.)
8. Salt, pepper and eat. Or devil. Or make a salad. Or slice and put on a salad.

Enjoy.