Feel Good | Jaden's Steamy Kitchen

Potatoes Anna with Cinnamon and Coriander

I'm sure that a vow to eat healthfully was at the top of most New Year's resolutions lists. Sigh. It certainly was on mine, but I've been doing a lousy job of fulfilling my goal of losing 15 pounds.

I even made it super-easy by limiting myself to just ONE resolution. I typed in my journal that if I could get there by the end of the year, I would pamper myself with a spa day at The Met in Sarasota.

It's May, and I'm so not there yet. Maybe I need to re-evaluate my prize because, as we all know, a change in behavior is only sustainable with a promise of good loot at the end. The words "losing 15 pounds," even the thought of a haircut and four-hour massage, is not enticement enough to turn away that decadent swirl of chocolate frosting or the irresistibly curious bacon toffee. Sugar? Butter? Bacon? Cannot resist.

So I'm thinking that my newly revised prize should be grand, like one in which hordes of people are holding me accountable for my success. Hmmm ... maybe a massive food/wine/music-filled block party to which you are all invited? You're welcome to e-mail me ideas as long you're not selling me diet pills.

But, hey, I did find a nutritious recipe for Potatoes Anna from Cooking Light magazine that I simply love. The super-thin overlapping slices of potatoes are baked in a skillet. The top and bottom layers peel off like crisp potato chips. I've seasoned my version with a combination of ground cinnamon and coriander. At 200 calories per serving, I could almost eat, like, the whole thing.

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My favorite mandolins

Having a mandoline slicer really helps with cutting the potatoes into thin, even slices. My favorite is one by Pampered Chef for $60. It's beautifully designed for the clumsy in mind, with a food holder on safety rails and an unexposed blade. You food (and hands) slide effortlessly guided by the safety rails. It also folds up nicely and the 4 blades (crinkle, V-shaped, regular and grating) are stored in a plastic holder that also slides onto the mandolin for storage. The blade is triggered by a spring action - each time your food guide passes over, it triggers the blade to be exposed. Food passes, blade flush. Simply beautiful. Limitations: no blade for cutting shoestring fries and the wide food holder is 3 1/2" oval shaped and your food has to fit in there.

If you're the daredevil sort and don't use the food gripper anyways, then get the Oxo brand. While it has a massive food gripper that keep your knuckles and fingers away from the blade, it does not have safety rails. It does cut nicely and is very sturdy. One time I went slicer-bezerk and slid off the "runway" and, well, you know what happened. BUT - it cuts shoestring fries! And you get to watch a nifty video of Mario pimping out the product. I own both the Pampered Chef and Oxo - and would never give up either one of them.Unless you offered large sums of money. Or an evening with Rocco. Or my very own Darth Vader voice changer mask. I'm easily bribed by evil temptations.

You know those thin, plastic Japanese style mandolines by Benriner? I wouldn't recommend them unless you are adept at handling juggling knives on a unicycle. Without a stand that holds it erect, you will be balancing the mandoline with one hand at an odd angle and sliding the food back and forth with just a plastic holder doohickey the size of a credit card.

Spend $10 more and get a good quality mandoline.

Cooking Light magazine gave me three gorgeous Cooking Light The Complete Cookbooks to give away! Would you like one? Come over here to enter. The random drawing takes place Saturday (May 10th) morning. It's got 1,200 recipes with 630 color photographs and a companion DVD.

It is an awesome book, and my copy is littered with Post-it notes of recipes I want to incorporate into my, ahem, healthy lifestyle, like this recipe for Potatoes Anna!

Recipe + photo setup after the jump

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May 7th, 2008 in GF-Adaptable, Vegetables & Fruit |

Roasted Duck and Pomelo Salad

I know this photo sucks - my kids played with the camera and did something with the settings and I didn't find out until after the food was eaten!

from my column in Tampa Tribune

Two weeks ago, I took a trip to Los Angeles to teach a couple of cooking classes and to visit family. So, I thought it would be a great idea to bring both of my boys along with me since tickets were only $250 each round-trip for a direct flight from Tampa to Los Angeles.

It was a deal too good to pass up, as I'm a Wal-Mart shopper and easily wooed by a bargain. I wouldn't normally buy tangerine-flavored fingernail polish, but if it's on sale for 35 percent off? OMG. I cannot resist. Give me the entire lot of them.

So, when I saw that the airfare was practically half off, I quickly purchased the tickets, not really thinking of the consequences of spending five hours in a small, enclosed flying contraption with no easy access to reinforcements, aka husband, teachers or relatives. Tag team, FAIL.

Thank goodness for the rolling minibar and $3 Snickers. That newlywed couple in the next aisle going to Hawaii for their honeymoon? My money says they probably swore off having children for the next 11 years. Who knew that flying with kids would be such great birth control? Next time your teenager talks about sex, have 'em sit next to us on an airplane. Cheaper than an intervention or therapy.

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April 30th, 2008 in *MY FAVORITE RECIPES*, Chicken & Turkey, Fast, Feel Good, GF-Adaptable, Great for a Crowd |

Grapes and Grappa, Figs and Olives + Free Cooking Light Cookbooks!

Since I've been working on my cookbook, which is all about modern Asian cooking, almost everything edible that comes out of my kitchen has been Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian or Korean. Yes, it can be tiring and I'm considering starting a new blog called "Steamy Kitchen, UnAsian" just to break the monotony. Gimme some Brazilian! Moroccan! Australian!

My family has been begging for something different, and everytime that I ask the kids, "so what do you want for supper tonight?" They chime excitedly, "McDonald's HAPPY MEALS! Hip, hip, HOORRAYYYY!"

Which is fine. I give in. Because I do love me some McD french fries dipped in soft serve ice cream. I know, You're groaning. It's a leftover habit and craving from my pregnancy days.

Please tell me that I'm not alone in this craving! Please tell me that you, too have strange culinary cravings and secret flavor combinations that just make other people squirm uncomfortably in their pants.

Tell me and I'll enter you in the drawing to win one of three gorgeous Cooking Light The Complete Cookbook - this baby is MASSIVE, weighing in at 4.4lbs with 1,200 recipes, 630 color photographs and a companion DVD. Plus I think there is an offer for 1 free year of Cooking Light magazine subscription inside.

OHOHOH! And there's a bonus...at the end of this post.

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April 25th, 2008 in *MY FAVORITE RECIPES*, Chicken & Turkey, Fast, Feel Good, GF-Adaptable |

Green Beans with Garam Masala Butter and Toasted Hazelnuts

I've been on an Indian food kick lately, as a friend of mine sent me a goody box full of Indian ingredients to experiment with.

I'm new to the cuisine, intimidated by the long list of unfamiliar spices in recipes. How do I pronounce badi elaichi or hara dhaniya without sounding as if I've slammed five shots of tequila for breakfast? If I ask for methi seeds at the market, will the shopkeeper flip out and push the police button hidden under the cash register? Surely, very suspicious.

So, rather than risk sounding stupid, I'll order Indian food at restaurants, where I can read and understand the English description of the dish and point out my selection for the waiter without oophhinen mhyyy moufff.

But then I'm reminded by my friends that they feel the same way about common ingredients used in East and Southeast Asian cooking, such as nam pla, dong-gu and naganegi. My advice to friends who yearned to learn was to start with just one dry spice blend, such as five spice powder, and sparingly sprinkle on roasted vegetables. It's inexpensive, simple and a great way to be introduced to Chinese flavors without having to invest in a cupboard full of one-hit wonders.

It was time to follow my own advice and venture into the world of Indian cooking.

My friend Sowjanya suggested I start with garam masala, a dry-spice mixture very popular in Indian cuisine. It's a warming, aromatic blend of cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and black peppercorns, and it goes well with anything, especially vegetables. Garam masala is the type of spice that when you hold the bottle anywhere close to your face, you'll collapse in ecstasy and moan loudly right there on your kitchen floor. Steamy kitchen, indeed.

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April 23rd, 2008 in Fast, Feel Good, GF-Adaptable, Photography/Blog Tips, Vegetables & Fruit |

Sparkling Ginger Lime & Mint Cooler

Note: This post seems silly now - because

1) I'm not mad at Scott anymore - that was SO last week

2) Andrew had a brain MRI on Tuesday morning

However, this story was published in the Tampa Tribune (my deadlines for the paper are a week ahead of pub date), and I'm not quite ready to talk about Andrew quite yet. (Yes, he's healthy, fine) So I'm posting this little story anyways.

Also, something happened on the way to Flickr...the colors on the photos flattened out and are a little mushy. ??? Can't figure it out this morning and will work on it later. In the meantime, enjoy!

Uninhibited Rage of Energy

I’m mad at my husband and it sucks. 36 hours ago, he lashed out at me, totally uncalled for and ever since then, I’ve been waiting for that apology. Waiting…nothing. That’s the trouble with being married to one of the most stubborn individuals this side of the universe.

When I’m upset, I retreat to my kitchen and make something. Sometimes, the most brilliant concoctions arise from my uninhibited rage of energy. I tear, chop, slather, peel, whirl and blend. Pots clang on the stovetop, the KitchenAid spits out patches of stray flour, the cheap blender vibrates across the counter, and the whirring exhaust fan drowns out angry thoughts in my head. I chop loads of fresh mint because no matter how hard I run my chef’s knife across the leaves, it happily returns with a bright, refreshing, crisp fragrance that bathes my tear-streaked face and clears my breathing.

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April 10th, 2008 in Fast, Feel Good, GF-Adaptable, Great for a Crowd, Life, Photography/Blog Tips, Sweets & Libations |