Question on Salt Substitutes

I have had a question on salt substitutes and want to address it today.  First, I'm not a doctor or even a registered dietitian so my thoughts are not gospel on the subject.  That being said, I have done some research on the subject and so here are my thoughts.

First, you need to check with your doctor to see if you need to be on a salt free or low sodium diet.  Salt substitutes are not for everyone.  In fact it can harm people's kidneys.  Salt contains Sodium Chloride and the salt substitutes contain Potassium Chloride.  It is the potassium that has an effect on the kidneys.  If you don't you still need to watch your salt intake.  Be smart in using salt in your cooking and especially its use at the table.

I have tried to cook without salt and only use it at the table.  After trying that I was not happy with the results.  Now I use it in my cooking and limit its use at the table.  This works much better for me, my taste and hopefully my health.  I use pepper in a much higher ratio to salt than normal recipes call for.  I do this by trying to lower the salt use and leave the pepper as stated in the recipe.  I like heat or spice so this may not work for you.

There are commercial salt substitutes on the market.  I'll just mention two of them here.  One is made by Morton and is called Salt Substitute.  Thee other one is called Also Salt and I believe it is only sold on the internet.  I'm sure there are others out there, you just need to look.

Another way to give yourself the taste or satisfaction of salt is to use herbs and seasonings.  I just recently talked about herb and spice grinders.  Well here is another reason to have one.  I have attached a link that gives several recipes for herb combinations to grind and use to replace the flavor of salt in your cooking and eating.

Gardenweb Herbs Salt Substitute

I hope this helps get you started on understanding and inquiring about salt substitutes.  Please remember to check with your doctor.

Tomorrow we talk Mandolins.  Friday's recipe is for Pulled Pork.

Tuesday Update

I'm not sure what happened but SUMMER IS OVER.  The K-12 schools have already had a partial week of school.  A week from today is the first day of classes at the university here in town.

I've been so busy, in retirement, getting the cookbook done and available for purchase, canning salsa and pickles, helping get a raffle going for a scooter to help Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nodaway County and blogging.  Summer just passed me by.

Comments and reviews on the cookbook have been coming in and people are quite pleased.  Me too.  I've even signed a few cookbooks already.  Speaking of that, anyone wanting their cookbook signed, just let me know and I'll be happy to do it.

I've also got some cookbooks coming to me.  So if someone needs an extra copy or forgot to order it on time for a particular event (like birthday), you can get one from me.  Just let me know.

Tomorrow I will try and cover salt and salt substitutes in regard to cooking.  Thursday I'll talk about another piece of equipment, the mandolin.  It is something that will make prep work a little easier.

The recipe this Friday is for Pulled Pork.  If you have been following this blog for long, you know I don't have a smoker.  This puller pork is done in the oven using a dry rub.  It comes out moist and falling apart.  Just thought with summer ending and Labor Day weekend coming quick, pulled pork sounded like a great way to start the school year.

Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes

(6 cakes)

Ingredients:

12 oz. Lump Crabmeat

¼ cup Mayonnaise

½ cup Italian Bread Crumbs

1 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning

1 whole Egg

1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice

Canola Oil, as needed for frying

Directions:

Place drained crabmeat in a medium sized bowl and then add the next 5 ingredients (through the lemon juice).  Carefully combine the ingredients together using your hand or a mixing spoon.  Now divide into 6 portions and form into patties approximately 1 inch thick and 2 ½ inches in diameter.  Place on a plate and refrigerate while you heat the oil.  In a large skillet add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan by about ¼ inch or slightly more.  Heat the oil over a medium to medium-high setting and add three cakes at a time.  Cook for about 3 minutes on each side.  Be careful putting the crab cakes into the pan, turning them and removing because they are delicate.  Repeat process with remaining 3 crab cakes and enjoy with your favorite sauce.  One of mine is below.  The crab cakes can be done in an oven at 400 degrees for 9 to 12 minutes.

Sauce:  In a small bowl combine ½ cup mayonnaise, 1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning, 1/2 tsp. of your favorite hot sauce (depends on your heat factor) and 1 tsp. of fresh lemon juice.

Note:                  It takes 2 - 6 oz. cans for this recipe.  If you have access to
fresh crab meat, I'd get a pound so you can have a little snack after the crab cakes are made.

Ideas for Future Efforts

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Spice Grinder for your Kitchen

You know how I'm always telling you that my favorite places to shop are Kohl's, Food Network and QVC for the kitchen.  This week I received my Kohl's peel off promotion and had a 30% off one.  I've been waiting for this to happen because I wanted a spice grinder.  Well I bought this past weekend for just over 31% of the retail price because of their sale price and the extra 30% off.  Now that is saving on something you want or need.  I also had the money to pay for it and so there is no reoccurring interest.  That's what I call a GREAT deal.

New Spice Grinder

I've got some kitchen need ideas for Christmas with our 4 children.  I'm just waiting for QVC to have the right item at the right deal.

What's a spice grinder ?  What everyone uses is really a coffee grinder.  However, you don't want to use your coffee grinder to grind herbs and spices too.  It will give your coffee a very different taste because it is very hard to clean the grinder well enough to use for coffee again.  It is best to have two grinders if you grind your own coffee.  Just make sure you keep them straight as to their use.  If you don't want to use a grinder with your herbs and spices, there is always a mortar and pestle.  This just requires a little more elbow grease.

Why would I want one?  When you grind your own herbs and spices just before cooking, it adds so much more flavor to the food.  For herbs you want to use dried ones to grind into powder.  With spices it takes a little more work (but the results are worth it) as you need to toast the spices first.  To do this, take a large saute pan over medium heat and add the spices you want to grind.  Heat the spices in the pan for 2 to 3 minutes and then remove to a dish and let cool to room temperature before grinding.  Make sure that you have only a single layer of spices in the pan.  Also, don't over fill the grinder.  Do small batches when grinding.

Enjoy playing with your food and getting that great flavor when you grind your own herbs and spices.  Mom won't even yell at you for the playing but thank you for the meal.

Tomorrow is crab cakes for our recipe.  Enjoy them and have a great weekend.

Keep asking Questions

Today, I have another question to answer and a link to a great article on families eating meals together at home.

Let's start with the questions.  Several have asked what is the easiest way to seed tomatoes.  There are a fair number of recipes that ask for tomatoes without the seeds.

There are two basic shapes to tomatoes.  Most tomatoes are basically round.  The easiest way to remove the seeds from these in my opinion is to core the tomato after you have washed them.  Then slice them in half separating the top from the bottom of the tomato.  Now take each half, one at a time, in the palm of your hand with the cut side up.  Holding on to the tomato, turn your hand upside down with the cut side facing down over the sink or a bowl.  Squeeze the tomato sides together and the seeds should drop out of the tomato into the sink or bowl.  Rinse the inside of the tomato under running water and set aside.  Repeat the process until you have removed the seeds from all the tomatoes you needed for the recipe.

Roma tomatoes are more pear shaped and require a slightly different procedure.  Again wash the tomatoes and slice off the top about a half inch down.  Now slice the tomato in half from top to bottom.  Place the tomato half in your hand cut side up.  Turn your hand over and squeeze the sides together for the seeds to drop out.  You may need the assistance of a teaspoon to scrape loose the insides.  Do this over a sink or bowl and then rinse out the insides and set aside.  Repeat procedure with remaining tomatoes.

You can peel the tomatoes first if it is needed for a recipe.  To do that after washing and coring the tomatoes, cut a small X in the bottom of the tomato and place them in a pot of boiling water.  Remove from the boiling water after a minute to two and place in an ice bath.  An ice bath is just a sink or bowl of cold water with ice cubes in it.  Let the tomatoes sit in the bath for up to 5 minutes and the skin should come off quite easily.  Use a paring knife if needed to help pull the skin off.  Once you have done this continue with the procedure stated above for removing the seeds.

I have preached over the years that a family needs to make all the effort needed to plan as many meals as possible at home.  I truly believe that family meals help everyone involved.  I know from experience as well as observation that it is difficult because of everyone's chaotic schedule.  However, it is still very important to get as many meals together and so it takes a little planning.  Mix them up if needed and try to have at least one meal from each meal time during a week.

The TV show, Blue bloods, has a family tradition of Sunday dinner and shows how important it is to each family member.  This dinner is for 4 generations of the family.

Check out the link below to what I stated earlier is a great article on families sharing meals together at home.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=439

Cookbook has Arrived

My wife had ordered the cookbook the first day it became available.  Well it came yesterday right at 3 weeks from the date ordered.  She is thrilled but she is a little biased.

However, I have heard from many family and friends that they have received their cookbooks.  So far, all have been giving very positive responses to me on the cookbook.  Now I'm sure none of them are biased.  I mean family and friends are always straight with you.  Right?

So if you don't really fall into the family and friends category, let me know what you think of the cookbook.  Be sure to read at least some of it and make a few recipes before you respond, but please do respond.  We want to let everyone know this really is a good cookbook.  Then those who have not bought it will know it is worth their time and money.  Remember the link to buy it is at the top of the page.

Thank you for all your help in getting the word out about the cookbook.

On another subject, I had put out on my Facebook page this past week a goal of hitting 2,000 page views.  As of this moment, it looks like we will miss by a few.  The last total I saw was 1,983.  Those 17 views could still happen as it is just 4:00 PM as I write this blog. We still have around 12 hours before this blog comes out.  Please help spread the word on the Cabana Boy Cooks blog.  Thank you in advance.

This week I will try and answer a few more questions that have come to me.  Please keep the questions coming.

I see where Red Lobster is advertising their crab legs this month.  Well, I love crab and so this Friday's recipe will be my version of Crab Cakes and a sauce to go with them.  You can pan fry or bake these crab cakes.  Like anything else we eat, they taste better fried.  Enjoy them whichever way your diet lets you.  Have a great week ahead.

Cucumber Soup (Hot or Cold)

Cucumber Soup

(8 to 10 cups)

Ingredients:

6 tbsp. Butter, divided

2 Yellow Onions, chopped

3 Cucumbers (about 2 1/2 to 3 lb.), peeled, seeded and chopped

1 tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. White Pepper

1 qt. Chicken Broth

2 tbsp. Flour

2 Egg Yolks

1 cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

In a large sauté pan, melt 4 tbsp. butter over medium heat.  Now add the onion and cucumber to the pan and sauté for about 15 minutes.  Stir in the salt, pepper, chicken broth and cover with a lid.  Lower the heat to simmer and continue for about 15 minutes.  Using a regular blender or food processor puree the mixture and set aside.  In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt the remaining 2 tbsp. of butter and add the flour.  Whisk the butter and flour together and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes before adding the pureed mixture.  Continue to whisk mixture until it thickens and is smooth.  Lightly beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and add a tbsp. or two of the pureed mixture to the egg yolks and blend.  Now pour the egg yolk mixture into the pureed mixture.  Reduce the heat to low and add the cream as you whisk.  Be sure not to let the mixture boil but heat for about 2 minutes longer before removing the pan from the heat source.  You can now serve the soup hot or cool it and serve it cold later.  I like it both ways but the choice is yours.

Note:               I will occasionally add a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon to the

                           soup for a little different taste.

Ideas for Future Efforts

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