The Cookbook's official release is Tuesday, October 25th but we're getting started early. The first event which involves the cookbook, More Than Your First Cookbook, is tonight.
Northwest Missouri State University's office of Campus Activities holds an event each Thursday for students called "Late Night Thursday" and I'm it tonight. For those of you that follow my blog, the university of over 7,000 students is in Maryville, Missouri. Now I spent over 20 of my last years in the food industry here in the northwest corner of Missouri. I'm excited and nervous at the same time about this opportunity to work with students on improving their cooking skills.
Tonight starts at 9:00 PM on the 3rd floor of the Administration Building in the Family & Consumer Science kitchen area. I will talk about the cookbook and answer questions from the audience throughout the evening. However, the main fun will be the working with volunteer students making food for everyone to sample. The students will do the cooking and I'll be there to direct and encourage them.
We will be making five recipes from the cookbook tonight. First, we will make Nadine's Corn & Black Bean Salsa and serve with multi-grain tortilla chips. The next recipe will be Italian Baked Chicken. Since this recipe takes a little time in the oven, while it bakes we will work on Jane's Salad and Jane's Dressing. The last item of the night will the French Dip Panini. We'll do that after tasting the chicken dish.
This should be a fun interactive evening for all. There will be door prizes as well including several of my cookbooks. If you are close and have the time, please try and make the event. I'll let you know next week how it the night went.
This has been a busy week. Tuesday night we had fun being a celebrity judge at Hy-Vee's Fall Soup Contest. The first two guest bloggers (one chef & one dietitian) are finalizing their material for their blog. I hope to have one of them as next week's blogger.
Remember that the recipe tomorrow is Homemade Basil Pesto. Enjoy!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
WeightWatcher Points - Soups
More Than Your First Cookbook
Soup Chapter
My calculation of WeightWatcher Points
For the soups, one cup is a portion. Remember that you can get all the nutritional information for the recipes in the cookbook on my website barrybeacom.tateauthor.com .
Baked French Onion - 7 pts.
Barry's Chili (No Beans) - 11 pts.
Beef Stew - 6 pts.
Chicken Noodle - 3 pts.
Chili (Ground Beef & Beans) - 8 pts.
Cream of Broccoli - 7 pts.
Dave's Green Chili - 11 pts.
Ham & Bean - 4 pts.
Hearty Vegetable Beef - 4 pts.
Lentil (Vegetarian) - 5 pts.
Minestrone - 3 pts.
Robinson's Hearty Hodgepodge - 7 pts.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Update - Six Months In
It's hard for me to believe that last week's blogs were the end of my first six months of doing Cabana Boy Cooks. Where does time go?
I have had so much fun doing this blog four days a week. I just hope that all of you that have been following the blog have enjoyed it as much. We have covered a lot of topics together that I hope have helped in the kitchen and made cooking more fun or interesting at least. In these six months, there have been 30 new recipes for you to try. I doubt that anyone but Claudia and I have tried all of these recipes. If any of you have, please let me know. In fact, if any of you have made over half of the recipes I'd love to know. Please click on the comment area right after the blog and tell us how many you have tried.
I'd love to know that everyone was successful and pleased with each recipe. That's probably not possible because everyone has different tastes. But, again, let us know. The thing that is more likely, someone had a bad experience following one of the recipes. If you had a disaster and can now laugh at it, please let us hear from you on what went wrong. It might help someone else down the road. Or remind us all that we need a sense of humor when working in the kitchen with food. I'm serious, please don't be shy as we all want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly (my favorite western).
In these first six months, the blog has averaged over 100 hits a week. When I started this was beyond my dreams. But now as we start the second six months, I want to get that average up to 200 hits a week. That is 200 hits a week by the one year anniversary of starting the blog. I'll need help to do that. Please spread the word about the blog to everyone you know. Even if they are great cooks, they may know someone that would enjoy checking it out.
The blog has had hits from over 15 countries outside of the USA. A few of the countries have had only one hit like Burma and United Arab Emirates, but seven countries are in double digit counts. Germany leads the way with over 50 hits since the start. I've got a nephew in the military over there. He must have told some friends to check out the blog. The tough part for anyone from another country is the measurements and temps. They don't use the same system as we do here in the USA. I may have to work on converting all the recipes for them. I'll have to see how much work that would be.
Tomorrow's blog will have the WeightWatcher points for the soup chapter of the cookbook. For the soups a portion is one cup. The points range from 3 to 11 but remember they are hearty soups.
This week's recipe is for Home Basil Pesto. It only makes one cup but pesto goes a long ways. My favorite way to serve pesto is over Gnocchi. Gnocchi is an Italian dumpling made with potato, flour and egg. You can find it dry, frozen or fresh. I got mine at Tenuta's in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Remember the hanging 300lb piece of cheese in an earlier blog. You should be able to get 10 to12 servings of pesto gnocchi out of this one cup. A little garlic bread (week 7 in blog) and a salad make for a great dinner with the pesto gnocchi. Try it.
I have had so much fun doing this blog four days a week. I just hope that all of you that have been following the blog have enjoyed it as much. We have covered a lot of topics together that I hope have helped in the kitchen and made cooking more fun or interesting at least. In these six months, there have been 30 new recipes for you to try. I doubt that anyone but Claudia and I have tried all of these recipes. If any of you have, please let me know. In fact, if any of you have made over half of the recipes I'd love to know. Please click on the comment area right after the blog and tell us how many you have tried.
I'd love to know that everyone was successful and pleased with each recipe. That's probably not possible because everyone has different tastes. But, again, let us know. The thing that is more likely, someone had a bad experience following one of the recipes. If you had a disaster and can now laugh at it, please let us hear from you on what went wrong. It might help someone else down the road. Or remind us all that we need a sense of humor when working in the kitchen with food. I'm serious, please don't be shy as we all want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly (my favorite western).
In these first six months, the blog has averaged over 100 hits a week. When I started this was beyond my dreams. But now as we start the second six months, I want to get that average up to 200 hits a week. That is 200 hits a week by the one year anniversary of starting the blog. I'll need help to do that. Please spread the word about the blog to everyone you know. Even if they are great cooks, they may know someone that would enjoy checking it out.
The blog has had hits from over 15 countries outside of the USA. A few of the countries have had only one hit like Burma and United Arab Emirates, but seven countries are in double digit counts. Germany leads the way with over 50 hits since the start. I've got a nephew in the military over there. He must have told some friends to check out the blog. The tough part for anyone from another country is the measurements and temps. They don't use the same system as we do here in the USA. I may have to work on converting all the recipes for them. I'll have to see how much work that would be.
Tomorrow's blog will have the WeightWatcher points for the soup chapter of the cookbook. For the soups a portion is one cup. The points range from 3 to 11 but remember they are hearty soups.
This week's recipe is for Home Basil Pesto. It only makes one cup but pesto goes a long ways. My favorite way to serve pesto is over Gnocchi. Gnocchi is an Italian dumpling made with potato, flour and egg. You can find it dry, frozen or fresh. I got mine at Tenuta's in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Remember the hanging 300lb piece of cheese in an earlier blog. You should be able to get 10 to12 servings of pesto gnocchi out of this one cup. A little garlic bread (week 7 in blog) and a salad make for a great dinner with the pesto gnocchi. Try it.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Whole Roasted Chicken
Whole Roasted Chicken
(4 to 6 servings)
Ingredients:
4 to 5 lb. Whole Fresh Chicken
1 Carrot cut in 4 or 5 pieces
1 Stalk, Celery cut into 4 or 5 pieces
½ Small Yellow Onion cut into 4 pieces
4 Tbsp. Butter, room temperature
1 Tsp. Rosemary, crushed
1 Tsp. Thyme, crushed
Salt & Black Pepper, as needed
1 Cup Liquid
Directions:
To start, remove any giblets in the chicken’s body cavity and toss or safe for a future dish. Now rinse the chicken inside and out under cold running water and let drain. While chicken is draining, rinse and cut up the carrot, celery and onion and set aside. Combine the butter, rosemary and thyme in a small bowl with a fork until thoroughly mixed and set aside. Take the chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper in the body cavity and add the vegetables. Pack them in if necessary. Place the chicken in a roasting pan on a rack. Take your hand with some of the butter mixture in it and spread under the chicken skin all over the breast. Using some more of the butter mixture and spread it all over the outside of the chicken. Now add the cup of liquid to the pan and place in a pre-heated 375 degree oven. Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until a thermometer registers 165 degrees. Remember to check the chicken from time to time to see if you need more liquid. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before carving/serving.
Note: For the liquid, you can use just plain water or chicken broth. I
personally like to use white wine.
Note: Some people like to set the oven as high as 425 degrees when
roasting a chicken. If you do that, watch your time and how
dark the skin may get.
Note: For a taste change, instead of the vegetables, try some citrus.
Lemons, limes and oranges add great flavor. Just use some
zest in the butter mixture and cut up the fruit and place in the
body cavity.
Note: One more note for those not wanting to use butter in this dish.
You can use olive oil to rub under and over the chicken skin.
It will still help with the browning of the skin.
Ideas for Future Efforts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Oven Thermometers
This week's recipe is for Whole Roasted Chicken and it will be out on the blog tomorrow. One of the things that recipes usually tell you is a cooking time for an item in the oven. Then they will say or until it reaches an internal temperature of XXX. Well how do you know when it hits that internal temperature?
The only way to know is by using an oven thermometer. There are basically three types of thermometers out there for you to choose and use. I have and use two of them but have to admit that one doesn't get used much anymore.
The first type is your old standard meat thermometer which is oven proof. This is the one I don't use much because technology has improved to make it much easier to get a temperature. However, there is nothing wrong with this thermometer. To use this thermometer, you simply insert it into the thickest part of the meat and leave it while your dish bakes. Remember not to touch a bone with the thermometer as that will cause an incorrect reading. The thermometer usually has readings in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Here in the US we use Fahrenheit in our recipes. I believe the rest of the world uses Celsius. The reason most people don't use this thermometer today is the convenience of the other two types. This thermometer requires you to either stick your head in the oven to read it or pull the dish out of the oven to check the temperature.
Our second type is the one I use when I'm looking for an internal temperature of a dish. It really works the same way as the thermometer above but it has a remote temperature reader that sits outside the oven. This remote reader has an oven proof cord that connects the probe in the meat with the remote reader. So you stick the probe into the meat just as you would with any other type of thermometer and set the reader on the counter next to the oven. One of the main reasons I like and use this thermometer is the bells and whistles that come with it. The best one is an alarm that you can set for the desired temperature. So if you are looking for a temperature of 165, you just set the device to 165 and an alarm will go off when the dish reaches that temp. I think they are pretty slick and help me so I don't forget to check the temperature when using the first or third type of thermometer.
Speaking of the third type, it is an instant read thermometer. You just stick it into the meat or item being tempted and it will give you an instant reading. This type of thermometer is better suited for checking temps of burgers and steaks than items in an oven. As with the first one, you either still have to stick your head in the oven or pull the item out.
I'd probably would be better off if I got rid of the first one and used just the second and third choices in thermometers. The choice is yours as to which one or ones will meet your personal needs. My favorite places do carry these items so check them out at Kohl's, Food Network and QVC.
The only way to know is by using an oven thermometer. There are basically three types of thermometers out there for you to choose and use. I have and use two of them but have to admit that one doesn't get used much anymore.
 |
| Oven Proof Thermometer |
The first type is your old standard meat thermometer which is oven proof. This is the one I don't use much because technology has improved to make it much easier to get a temperature. However, there is nothing wrong with this thermometer. To use this thermometer, you simply insert it into the thickest part of the meat and leave it while your dish bakes. Remember not to touch a bone with the thermometer as that will cause an incorrect reading. The thermometer usually has readings in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Here in the US we use Fahrenheit in our recipes. I believe the rest of the world uses Celsius. The reason most people don't use this thermometer today is the convenience of the other two types. This thermometer requires you to either stick your head in the oven to read it or pull the dish out of the oven to check the temperature.
 |
| Demote Oven Thermometer |
Our second type is the one I use when I'm looking for an internal temperature of a dish. It really works the same way as the thermometer above but it has a remote temperature reader that sits outside the oven. This remote reader has an oven proof cord that connects the probe in the meat with the remote reader. So you stick the probe into the meat just as you would with any other type of thermometer and set the reader on the counter next to the oven. One of the main reasons I like and use this thermometer is the bells and whistles that come with it. The best one is an alarm that you can set for the desired temperature. So if you are looking for a temperature of 165, you just set the device to 165 and an alarm will go off when the dish reaches that temp. I think they are pretty slick and help me so I don't forget to check the temperature when using the first or third type of thermometer.
Speaking of the third type, it is an instant read thermometer. You just stick it into the meat or item being tempted and it will give you an instant reading. This type of thermometer is better suited for checking temps of burgers and steaks than items in an oven. As with the first one, you either still have to stick your head in the oven or pull the item out.
I'd probably would be better off if I got rid of the first one and used just the second and third choices in thermometers. The choice is yours as to which one or ones will meet your personal needs. My favorite places do carry these items so check them out at Kohl's, Food Network and QVC.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
WeightWatcher Points - Breakfast
Below are the estimated WeightWatcher points per serving for each recipe in the Breakfast chapter of the cookbook, More Than Your First Cookbook. I used their PointsPlus calculator to figure the points per serving.
Remember that the nutritional information may vary because of the brands you used. If you change the portion size, it will change the points per serving. Make sure you make that adjustment.
Biscuits and Sausage Gravy - 12 pts. per serving
Boiled Eggs - 2 pts. per serving
Breakfast Casserole - 15 pts. per serving
Breakfast Soft Tacos - 6 pts. per serving
Cheese Omelet - 9 pts. per serving
Double Cinnamon Baked French Toast - 7 pts. per serving
Eggs Benedict - 6 pts. per serving
French Toast - 3 pts. per serving
Fried Eggs - 2 pts. per serving
German Puffy Pancakes - 12 pts. per serving
Ham and Scrambled Eggs - 7 pts. per serving
John's Pancakes from Scratch - 9 pts. per serving
Matt's Ham Strata - 13 pts. per serving
Poached Eggs - 2 pts. per serving
Quiche Lorraine - 13 pts. per serving
Scrambled Eggs Deluxe - 7 pts. per serving
Remember that the nutritional information may vary because of the brands you used. If you change the portion size, it will change the points per serving. Make sure you make that adjustment.
Biscuits and Sausage Gravy - 12 pts. per serving
Boiled Eggs - 2 pts. per serving
Breakfast Casserole - 15 pts. per serving
Breakfast Soft Tacos - 6 pts. per serving
Cheese Omelet - 9 pts. per serving
Double Cinnamon Baked French Toast - 7 pts. per serving
Eggs Benedict - 6 pts. per serving
French Toast - 3 pts. per serving
Fried Eggs - 2 pts. per serving
German Puffy Pancakes - 12 pts. per serving
Ham and Scrambled Eggs - 7 pts. per serving
John's Pancakes from Scratch - 9 pts. per serving
Matt's Ham Strata - 13 pts. per serving
Poached Eggs - 2 pts. per serving
Quiche Lorraine - 13 pts. per serving
Scrambled Eggs Deluxe - 7 pts. per serving
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Update
October is finally here and three weeks from today is the official release of my cookbook More Than Your First Cookbook. It seems like forever since I was told the release date. But everything has been working towards the 25th of October.
My website is now done. It is up and running at barrybeacom.tateauthor.com so please check it out. The website consists of five pages; Home, About the Author, About the Cookbook, Nutritional Information and Events. The two pages I'm most excited about are the Nutritional Information and Events.
The Nutritional Information page has the breakdown on each recipe in the cookbook. The page is actually set up by the recipe chapters in the cookbook. So if you click on the Breakfast chapter, all the breakfast recipe nutritional information comes up. Now information is in a format that should be familiar to everyone. The format is the same as you would find on any item you buy at the grocery store. Some will look healthy and some will not. All you need to do on those that are not so healthy is serve a smaller portion. Remember that all my dietitians over the years say it is alright to eat or try everything but to do it in moderation. I know that I will have to go through all of the recipes for my wife and convert to WeightWatcher points.
The Events page will list all the events that I will be involved in for the cookbook. There is nothing listed as of today but I will be learning how to go in and add/delete events this week. I hope to have some listed by the beginning of next week. So be sure to set the website as a favorite on your computer and check out the upcoming events.
Because I'm figuring the points for my wife, I will be putting them on the blog each week on Wednesday a chapter at a time. This week I'm also talking about oven thermometers and the recipe will be for a Whole Roasted Chicken.
My website is now done. It is up and running at barrybeacom.tateauthor.com so please check it out. The website consists of five pages; Home, About the Author, About the Cookbook, Nutritional Information and Events. The two pages I'm most excited about are the Nutritional Information and Events.
The Nutritional Information page has the breakdown on each recipe in the cookbook. The page is actually set up by the recipe chapters in the cookbook. So if you click on the Breakfast chapter, all the breakfast recipe nutritional information comes up. Now information is in a format that should be familiar to everyone. The format is the same as you would find on any item you buy at the grocery store. Some will look healthy and some will not. All you need to do on those that are not so healthy is serve a smaller portion. Remember that all my dietitians over the years say it is alright to eat or try everything but to do it in moderation. I know that I will have to go through all of the recipes for my wife and convert to WeightWatcher points.
The Events page will list all the events that I will be involved in for the cookbook. There is nothing listed as of today but I will be learning how to go in and add/delete events this week. I hope to have some listed by the beginning of next week. So be sure to set the website as a favorite on your computer and check out the upcoming events.
Because I'm figuring the points for my wife, I will be putting them on the blog each week on Wednesday a chapter at a time. This week I'm also talking about oven thermometers and the recipe will be for a Whole Roasted Chicken.
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