I grew up with eastern european parents who made things like Galaretka, also known as Zimne Nogi (translated: cold legs) This is basically jellied pig’s feet. It was a mixture of meat & things that sat in a giant pot and my dad loved it! Polish food includes things like pork knuckles in beer sauce with sauerkraut, and carp in aspic with raisins. We ate things like, “Śledzie,” (pickled herring), beetroot soup, lots of kielbasa and pickled anything. They like to pickle things in Poland – there’s even pickle soup! I still love some Polish dishes like Gołąbki and Pierogi, both of which I make often. My parents cooked with sticks of butter and no meal was complete without sour cream but I make things my own way now.
With a background like mine, I was bound to forge my own unique food trail and the things I eat seem normal to me, but maybe not to everyone. For example, here are some of my favorite treats:
~Sauerkraut straight out of the jar
~Sardines, straight out of the can
~Pickled beets
~Pickled herring with onions
~A wedge of raw cabbage eaten like an apple
~Cold boiled potatoes with mayonnaise
~I could still eat some pigs feet but only after a beaker of czysta wodka, no ice.
If anybody has a more unique favorite snack, maybe I can add it to my repertoire. There’s nothing you people out there are eating that can scare me. Bring it. – Jenny Jones
I saw this doughnut pan at Bed Bath & Beyond and although I was skeptical, I decided to try it. Well… THAT was a good idea! I love these healthy oven-baked doughnuts. The only down side is that they are so light, it’s too easy to eat three – I’m not kidding. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
It’s true. There are some foods that are usually healthy, but not always:
1. “Green” potatoes – When potatoes are exposed to too much light and turn green under the skin, they can develop a toxin called solanine. If ingested, it can cause headaches, nausea, fatigue, and gastrointestinal problems. If you see any green, cut if off clean.
2. Rhubarb leaves – You never see rhubarb sold in the stores with the green leaves attached and there’s a reason. Rhubarb leaves contain dangerously high levels of oxalic acid which can cause serious kidney damage potentially leading to death. You’d have to eat a lot to kill you, but even a little can make you sick.
3. Mushrooms – Certain types of mushrooms can be deadly. Just one bite from a Death Cap, Destroying Angel, or Deadly Webcap can kill you. Death Caps alone contain over seven toxins and one bite can lead to a nasty death.
4. Cherries – If the seed inside a cherry is damaged in any way, it releases prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide), which can result in death.
5. Casu Marzu (Live maggot cheese) – It’s actually served in some fine restaurants in northern Italy. I won’t go into the details but you can google it.
It’s an oven-baked apple pancake and I’m still working on it before I post the recipe. I usually cook with Granny Smith apples but they were too tart for breakfast so I switched to Gala. I still have to figure out the right temperature for the edges not to burn… oh… I mean “not be so well done.”
Here’s something fun to make for your next party. You can call it a giant chocolate chip cookie but calling it a chocolate chip pizza makes it taste better! And oh yes, it’s my healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe – made with half the butter. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Finally, a new way to use my thousands of cherry tomatoes. By slow roasting them at 200 degrees for 6 hours with olive oil & spices, the flavors explode. I am pureeing them tonight over some pasta. Can’t wait! Cooked tomatoes help protect against prostate cancer so guys….. eat cooked tomatoes, the more concentrated, the more lycopene.
Anyone with non-stick pots will be happy to see what I found. It’s a new silicone steamer that won’t scratch your pots, it’s flexible so it fits into almost any size pot, and it has silicone handles for easy lifting. Steaming vegetables retains most of their nutritional benefits so even if you don’t have a steamer, cook them in a covered pot with very little water.
I make pizza often and using different methods. This one is made using a pizza stone and wooden peel for that nice charred crust, but the same recipe can be made using a regular pizza pan, preferably the kind with holes in it. My healthy barbeque chicken pizza is so good, I don’t wait for leftover chicken. I cook chicken just so I make this delicious pizza. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
If you like a super crispy pizza crust like I do, then a pizza stone is the way to go. Last night I was craving a plain cheese pizza but it had to be well done and crispy so I used my favorite pizza stone (yes, I have more than one!). This one is black so it absorbs heat really well. I placed it in the oven and preheated it as high as it would go – 500 degrees. Those commercial ovens go a lot higher than that but I preheated the oven and stone for almost an hour and put my pizza in there using a wooden peel. I used to sprinkle the peel with cornmeal but now I just use parchment paper. I cover the peel with parchment, place my pizza dough on top and spread the sauce and cheese. Then I slide it onto the stone, paper and all, and later on when it’s almost done, I remove the paper and let it finish. In this photo I had just removed the paper and I still baked it another couple of minutes for an even more well done crust. Then… no fork, no plate… just slice, pick up, and into the pie hole!
I grew up with eastern european parents who made things like Galaretka, also known as Zimne Nogi (translated: cold legs) This is basically jellied pig’s feet. It was a mixture of meat & things that sat in a giant pot and my dad loved it! Polish food includes things like pork knuckles in beer sauce with sauerkraut, and carp in aspic with raisins. We ate things like, “Śledzie,” (pickled herring), beetroot soup, lots of kielbasa and pickled anything. They like to pickle things in Poland – there’s even pickle soup! I still love some Polish dishes like Gołąbki and Pierogi, both of which I make often. My parents cooked with sticks of butter and no meal was complete without sour cream but I make things my own way now.
