The high bloodpressure is dropping back into the pre-hypertensive and the ‘normal’ range. Which is good. But it’s not all that—I was dizzy yesterday. So it’s that AND the ears, for which I have an appointment — in June. Sigh. But I’m feeling a lot better. Jane’s been doing a huge amount of yard work, in which I show up and snip a few judicious snips, and wash a pond filter, big deal. She’s moving basalt chips and rebuilding the lotus pond edge. WHich is looking great.
I can however do the cooking and kitchen and such, so I am. Cooking with both sodium and carb restriction is entertaining, but we had an experimental substitute last night—sometimes I’ll put several weird things into a potentially bland dish to see which ‘surfaces’ as a good taste, which is neutral, and which you would’t want.
So I tried, on pork, caraway seed, celery seed, cooking sherry, black pepper, coriander, sage, and very little salt, and came to the conclusion that caraway and possibly sage and black pepper were the best tastes in the lot, celery seed and sherry the worst combined with the others, and so I’m going to try making my own caraway-heavy pork sausage.
Work on the books is going well, however: this is our first time working in sequence, Jane in total control of Alliance Rising now, myself in the rough stage of the new Foreigner book, with discussion and input from Jane, and we are thus getting quite a bit of work done. Todd is working on the new Foreigner cover, for the book I turned in last fall, and I like his sketch, so things are buzzing along.
As most bookstores shelve by author, we’ll have to go to the F’s instead of the C’s? That’s bound to escape the notice of many (potental) readers.
With pork sausage, try anise seeds for sweetness.
I have cookbooks…one is Beard’s “American Cookery”, which has suggestions for seasoning your home-made sausages. Leaving out the ones involving garlic and other questionable materials, for 2 to 3 pounds of meat:
(a) 2 tsp well-crumbled sage, preferably whole sage
(b) 1 tsp each thyme and ground coriander, and a little basil
(c) 1 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 3/4 tsp ginger
(d) 1/2 tsp crushed anise seeds (mortar and pestle recommended), 1 tbsp paprika, and 1 tsp Tabasco
(Salt and black pepper are assumed.)
At least my comment’s cooking related, but I have no ideas on sausage making, except it’s probably best if others make it. I like sausage.
Spring rolls — Any resemblance to spring rolls here is purely coincidental. I don’t know what was with me today, but clearly I need to watch another video or two and refresh my technique. I must’ve made every mistake you could make this morning, and am sure now I want to cheat and use Cole slaw as a base and add veggies to that, or else use a food processor to chop better.
Well, the spring rolls are in the oven, but oh, they don’t look anything like the nicely done ones I’d made the last three times I’d made any. Not going to win any awards for presentation this time. LOL. They should taste fine, though: Cabbage, carrots, celery, yellow squash, bell pepper, chopped not too well (I didn’t have enough cabbage prepped and made the mistake of trying to roll with whole leaves. Haha, not a good idea with cabbage!) Spring roll wrappers, and I omitted any egg wash, only used water. I think a few will break due to poor wrapping, or burst from air bubbles. I didn’t chop any onion or shallots; forgot.
But hey, these should still taste good. I don’t have any sweet and sour sauce and not much in pickles (either bread and butter pickles or kosher dill pickles are what I have on hand). I do have soy sauce, however, so all is not lost. Think I got some hoisin sauce last grocery trip. Maybe.
In another 20 to 30 min., they should be ready to take out of the oven and cool; about 19, I think; didn’t use the whole packet of wrappers, so I froze them.
Hmm, sesame seed oil needs to go on the shopping list! 😀
Do the spring rolls have a doughy texture after being baked? That sounds like a nice texture contrast with the cabbage. Oh, and as far as I’m concerned, sesame anything is magic. “Appear sesame!” Hahaha
They should end up like spring rolls (that is, egg rolls) so not really a doughy texture, but a crispy wrapped shell outside, then the veggies plus meat if any on the inside. When I’ve made them homemade, I typically just do a veggie filling and serve any meat or seafood separately. I have not tried to make bad or wonton or dim sum before, but that might be fun and investing.
LOL, these look goofy but they taste OK. Except, well, they don’t taste Asian. I need to look at a recipe again. I think one recipe called for adding Chinese Five Spice powder. So I have some very goofy-looking, very Americanied spring rolls here! LOL. The soy sauce only helps a little.
Try some hoisin sauce.
Ginger and soy make Asian to my taste buds, my latest cooking projects have been gyoza (potstickers) and a mix of seasoned rice vinegar and soy sauce has been my favorite dipping sauce.
Drat! I thought I got hoisin sauce, but I must have not got it, last store trip. So, next trip.
Good to hear you’re doing better. Yeah, I was going to suggest the anise with pork. Also, I really like coriander (cilantro?) with pork, but I know people either hate it or love it. Never met anyone who felt neutral about cilantro. Maybe the (coriander) seeds are sweeter than the leaves.
Glad the books are going well and the cover art is starting. Looking forward to the Alliance books and new Foreigner.
I will be ordering a bookcase soon, plus some temporary shelves for my current old bookcase, because one shelf has gone walkabout (presumably lurking in storage).
The cats have kept their flea collars on so far, and I’ve ordered the liquid doses for their necks. (Dang, pricey, it’s been a while since I’d bought those.)
I do not use salt when I cook because my Mother did not use salt in her cooking. She did not use salt because her Mother did not use salt because her Father had to be on a low salt diet.
Also, I have been taking two pills for high blood pressure and one for heart rate for at least 20 years – and they do work. Hypertension is a true silent killer – no symptoms and you wake up dead.
Raining up here in New Hampshire
Hi, all. Off topic but, tooth extraction went well Wednesday morning. I’ve had very little to no pain on 600 mg of ibuprofen and 325 mg of acetaminophen every four hours. I’m on Keflex (cephalexin) 500 mg every 6 hours for antibiotic, which can be taken with food.
I used snack sized baggies (three of them) half filled with water and with all the air squeezed out, and put in the freezer the night before for an ice pack which worked brilliantly. 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off you can time to TV commercials. Put the pack on when the show starts, take it off at the first commercial break, back on at the second, etc. . .
First checkup Thursday was good. Everything still cool and hardly any swelling of my cheek, but puffiness of the gum and floor of my mouth, which is a strange feeling. I go to see him again Tuesday. So far, so good.
Suggestion: If you like curry, put chicken legs in a casserole dish or crockpot. Mix coconut milk, curry, mustard, a little honey, some leftover low sugar jam (orange marmalade or apricot is very good), and pour it over the chicken and let it cook low and slow.
The traditional ‘redneck ice pack’ is a bag of frozen vegetables. I used a bag of frozen edamame when I stupidly whacked myself in the head last month.
I have a two-pound bag of rice, in a ziplock bag, in the freezer: non-thawing icepack.
My favorite for pork has been thyme, sage, and savory (which is hard to find.) I use garlic in that mix as well, but you wouldn’t want that. I’ll have to remember to look for a savory plant now that I have a garden again, its been a long time since I had it!
Caraway has always been a spice I can’t stand, and cilantro/coriander tastes like soap to me.
One more for pork: Rosemary, coarse ground pepper, coarse salt, a few drops of Liquid Smoke, and enough honey (sensing a trend here?) to bind it together. Pat onto a pork roast. It will bake into a crust and keep the meat inside juicy.
An alternative opinion on salt and high blood pressure from a reputable scientist.
From the blurb on his book, ‘The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong’:
“Dr. James J. DiNicolantonio is a cardiovascular research scientist and doctor of pharmacy at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. A well-respected and internationally known scientist, he has contributed extensively to health policy and has testified as a nutrition expert in front of the Canadian Senate regarding the harms of added sugars. He is the author or coauthor of approximately 200 medical publications and serves on the editorial staffs and boards of several medical journals.”
Article in the Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4546722/Salt-won-t-heart-attack-says-scientist.html
“… The orthodox medical view on salt is based on a straightforward hypothesis, which says eating higher levels of salt leads to higher levels of blood pressure — end of story. But as with so many simplistic health theories, this is based on a fundamental misunderstanding, compounded by faulty science.
…
Evidence in medical literature suggests approximately 80 per cent of people with normal blood pressure (that is, a reading of below 120 over 80) do not suffer any signs of raised blood pressure — none at all — when they increase their salt intake.
Among those with prehypertension, or higher blood pressure, three quarters are not sensitive to salt. And even among those with full-blown high blood pressure, more than half — about 55 per cent — are totally immune to salt’s effects.
The dangerous myth that salt raises blood pressure began more than 100 years ago, with French scientists Ambard and Beauchard. They based their findings on studies of just six patients.
…
But this misinformation did not take hold worldwide. The average Korean, for instance, eats over 4g of sodium a day. They feast on tteokguk, a broth-based soup full of salt, and bulgogi, grilled meat marinated in a sea of sodium-packed soy sauce. They eat kimchi — cabbage preserved in salt — with every meal.
Yet Koreans have some of the world’s lowest rates for hypertension, coronary heart disease and death due to cardiovascular disease. This is known as the ‘Korean Paradox’. South Korea also has one of the lowest death rates from coronaries in the world, along with Japan and France.
What do people from these three countries have in common? They all eat a very high-salt diet.
The Mediterranean diet, too, widely recommended as heart-healthy, is not exactly low in salt — think of all those anchovies and sardines. Even where blood pressure does increase, the benefits of a higher salt intake — a lower heart rate, reduced insulin levels, more balanced adrenal hormones and better kidney function — are likely to outweigh any risks.
…
Low salt intake has several side-effects that magnify our risk of heart disease, such as increased heart rate, compromised kidney function, underactive thyroid glands, heightened insulin levels — a risk factor for diabetes — as well as heightened cholesterol.
…
If you slash salt intake dramatically, you could also develop an iodine deficiency, since salt is our best source of iodine
…
Consuming too little salt can set into motion an unfortunate cascade of changes that result in insulin resistance, an increase in sugar cravings, an out-of-control appetite and ultimately internal starvation, sometimes known as hidden cellular semi-starvation, which promotes weight gain. … ”
Full article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4546722/Salt-won-t-heart-attack-says-scientist.html
We’re not going totally crazy, but Jane and I have different metabolisms and she’s perpetually pre-hypertensive. I’ve only recently visited that territory, after 3 meals from a cook who really laid on the salt. So I decided, what the hey, let’s try knocking it down and see if we can get Jane’s to budge. We’ll see how this works. Right now the med has been doing its job and I have one number in the normal range, but not the other, though it is dropping.
Have you considered replacing some of the salt with vinegar? It pleases the tongue too. Americans salt their “French” Fries, Canadians sprinkle vinegar.
I have recently noticed that ground cumin seeds enhance the salt flavour of a dish, so I have to use less salt when I am using it. Perhaps there are other spices that do the same, though I don’t know…
The one sure-fire thing that will elevate your BP is stress. Anything you can do to lower the stress level in your life is bound to help.
Getting old is stressful, don’t you find? Quite a conundrum.
Beats the devil out of having to do puberty and the teens over again, though. At least in my opinion.