Food Safety

I've never had food poisoning, thankfully.  It's funny, though, that as soon as someone thinks they may have food poisoning, they immediately think about the last meal that they ate out in a restaurant. 

Truth is that most food poisoning occurs from foods prepared at home.  Most of them don't get reported because people think it must have been the flu or some sort of stomach bug.  But the fact remains that the lack of food safety in the home contributes to a lot of illness.

There are those who say, "Oh, I've never sanitized my cutting board and I don't get sick" or something like that.  That may be true.  But new pathogens show up all the time and your old ways of doing things may not keep you from getting sick for much longer.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has come up with 4 simple terms to keep in mind when thinking about kitchen safety.  (Thanks to China Millman's article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for many of these ideas.  Find out more from the CDC at www.cdc.gov/foodsafety.)

• CLEAN
• Wash your hands completely (20 seconds in hot, soapy water) before cooking and often during the cooking process--especially after handling raw proteins.
• Wash all fruits and vegetables in water.  Yes, even organic and items that you'll be peeling.
• Don't rinse meats or poultry.  You're not going to wash off many of the bad microbes and you'll just be contaminating your sink.  Pat them dry with paper towels if you wish.
• Clean cutting boards and countertops with a solution of diluted bleach (1 Tbsp bleach to 1 gallon of water). 
• Sponges can be home to a bunch of microbes that can make you sick.  Sterilize them by microwaving for 1 minute on high or run them through the dishwasher.  Do this frequently.
• Change your dish towels frequently as well.  If you accidentally get some chicken juice on one, that won't help things when you go to dry your hands later on.
• SEPARATE
• Cross-contamination is the biggest concern in your kitchen.  Any contact from raw meats or poultry with foods that aren't going to be cooked can be dangerous.
• Always use separate cutting boards--one for meats/poultry, one for other items.  Be sure to wash your cutting boards, knives, etc after cutting raw proteins. 

• Store these foods separately in your fridge as well.  Try to store raw meats/poultry at the bottom of the fridge so there's no danger of them dripping on other items below them.  Be sure to keep them well wrapped.
• COOK
• Be sure to cook proteins to the recommended temperature.  To be safest, don't use visual cues to tell you this.  Use a thermometer to be sure.
• CHILL
• Refrigerate foods promptly when you get them home. 
• Be sure your fridge is no warmer than 40 degrees.  Use a refrigerator thermometer to make sure.
• If you don't use raw proteins in a few days, freeze them until ready to use.
• If something in your fridge doesn't look or smell good, toss it.  Better to err on the side of caution than get sick.

Here's another article for you to check out on a similar topic.  It helps to dispel some myths that many believe to be true when it comes to kitchen safety. 

Does it take a little extra work on your part to make sure you are preventing food-borne illness in your kitchen?  Sure.  But the alternative is a lot worse!

Clear the Sinuses

For many Jews, horseradish is a traditional part of the Passover meal.  Of course, horseradish goes great with a lot of meals--fish, roast beef, cured meats, sausage.  Pretty much anything that could use the sinus-clearing taste of this herb.

Yes, horseradish is an herb.  In fact, the International Herb Association (no, I didn't know there was such a group either) named it 2011 Herb of the Year (no, I didn't know there was such an honor either).  Horseradish is actually related to cabbage and radishes, all of which are in the mustard family.

Horseradish can be a bit of a task to grow.  Often they are left in the ground for more than one season so they grow bigger.  And you must remove all the roots and rootlets from the plant or the next year, it will choke out anything else you have growing in the vicinity.  Some even suggest growing it in a trash can.

Grating fresh horseradish can be a tear-inducing affair.  The roots are very hard, so they must be grated by hand or in a food processor.  And the potent aroma can stick around a house for a long time.  That's why back in the mid-19th century, H.J. Heinz decided to start selling pre-grated horseradish--the housewives who were doing this job by hand were more than happy to pay for someone else to do it. 

Of course, we don't need Heinz in these parts because we have Kelchner's.  Right here in Dublin, PA, Kelchner's grates and produces horseradish for sale--and it's good stuff.  Can't get much fresher than something packaged down the road.  They offer Grated Horseradish, Horseradish Sauce, Cocktail Sauce, Tartar Sauce, Horseradish Mustard and Horseradish with Beets.  Check out their website for more info about their products. 

Read more about horseradish and get some good horseradish recipes in an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Ramping it Up

Ramps growing in the wild.

It's the time of the year for things to start ramping up from the Deep South to Canada.  We're right in the middle of the brief time that ramps, or wild leeks, are available in forests all along the East Coast.

Ramps grow in bunches in the wild.  They look much like scallions except that they have flat, green leaves that sometimes turn a deep purple or burgundy closer to the bulb.  Like a scallion, both the bulb and the leaves are edible.

Ramps have been popular throughout the East Coast as long as people have been picking them.  Many people think that these potent wild veggies taste like a strong onion and smell like strong garlic.  (The leaves are milder tasting than the bulbs.)

They're great in soups, salads, casseroles--pretty much any application that calls for scallions or leeks.  Just clean them, trim the roots off of the bulb and they're ready to use.  They are only available a short time, but they can be frozen to be used at a later time.

These wild leeks are so popular in certain parts of the country that ramp festivals are in full swing this time of year.  Here's an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette telling about the Mason-Dixon Ramp Festival in Western PA that was held this past weekend. 

So the next time you're out in the woods, look to the ground.  You might just find your dinner!

PA's Rich Food History

Here in Bucks County, we're blessed with many wonderful culinary options--fresh produce, PA Dutch food, wines, Philly soft pretzels and cheese steaks, locally made delicacies.  The list goes on and on.  In fact, our whole state is full of food traditions and history.

William Woys Weaver, noted expert on Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking, is in the process of creating the Keystone Center for the Study of Regional Foods and Food Tourism.  He has broken our state up into 5 culinary regions: Philadelphia Region (includes parts of South Jersey), Pennsylvania Dutch Region (the largest region), Northern Tier Region (influenced by New York and New England), Allegheny Mountain and Southwest Appalachian Region (including Pittsburgh) and Northwest Lakeshore Region (influenced by the wine made there).  The map below (courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) shows how these regions are laid out.

According to a Post-Gazette article, PA has the most culinary regions of any state--mainly because of it's status as the "Keystone State".  From early in our country's history, PA has been physically and politically in the center--a mid-point from the South to the North--both influencing and being influenced by those cultures around it.  That, says Weaver, is what makes PA's culinary diversity so wide. 

Anyone who has traveled around the state knows that this is true.  Italian food in Philly, Polish food in the Northeast and Pittsburgh, PA Dutch food in the center of the state, etc.  For food lovers, PA seems to be the place to be!