You may have seen, heard or read in the news yesterday and today about the recent reported cases of salmonella outbreaks related to tomato consumption, specifically to the plum or Roma and round tomato varieties. Food safety is always a concern as there are many parts to the food chain with each link as equally important as the other. The root cause of the outbreak is still under investigation and undetermined at this time, but one can be sure that human error is to blame.

As the worlds food resources continue to be strained and as energy costs continue to rise we will keep seeing more and more breaks in the food safety chain. In the past few years we have seen many specific contaminated food sources and they seem to be occurring more frequently too. Spinach, lettuce, green onions, beef, pork and now tomatoes added to the ongoing carrier list of food borne illnesses.  As a result of the recall even fast food giant McDonalds has removed tomatoes from their menus, and joining the list of companies pulling tomatoes from the shelves and menus are Wal-Mart, Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, and Taco Bell. It is reported that most of the salmonella cases related to tomato consumption have been around New Mexico and Texas. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, so these are still okay to eat raw. However, cooking any of the affected tomatoes would kill the illness causing germs such as with preparing a tomato sauce where the food items is heated to above 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here is some specific information about the warning:

FDA warning

• The FDA recommends that consumers not eat raw Roma, red plum or red round tomatoes unless the tomatoes are from the sources listed below.

• Consumers can continue to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home.

• These states, territories and countries where tomatoes are grown have not been associated with the outbreak: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

The list will be updated as more information becomes available. Visit www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#retailers for more information

• Cooking tomatoes at 145 degrees for at least 15 seconds will probably kill the bacteria. Simply washing tomatoes can help, but it won’t necessarily remove the salmonella bacteria, because when tomatoes are picked on very hot days and put into cold water to chill, salmonella on their surface can be drawn into the fruit.

Other resources:

From Prevention.com

Protect Yourself Against Salmonella

Is Your Produce Poisoned?

Food Safety Basics

FDA.com

Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts

On a recent trip back to New Orleans last month I decided it was time to capture and document some of the ole family recipes which were a part of the traditional fare during holiday reunions. My late grandmother Sadie Boudreaux, more affectionately known as Momom made a great potato salad and was always a hit at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other family get together. I got the recipe from my mother who knew it by heart and it was dictated to Monique who hand wrote the notes, and then I transferred it to Word for digital preservation.

Having lived on a farm all her life among the rice and soybean field country of Acadia Parish Momom had to feed a family of 7 and I am sure this recipe had it’s roots in making a simple preparation with available ingredients. The one thing that struck me the most about this potato salad recipe was with the use of fried eggs and the lack of any mustard, which is more of a southern tradition. The fried eggs really adds a richer flavor and also the liquid yolks provide the yellow coloring that most potato salads get from the yellow mustard.

Ingredients

5          lbs        Red new potatoes

1          Tbsp    White vinegar

6          each     Eggs, fried over easy in butter

1          cup       Blue Plate mayonnaise

To taste            salt and white pepper

Procedure 

1. Peel the new potatoes and then boil in salted water until just done. Then mash them up well
2. Sprinkle the potatoes with the vinegar
3. Fry the eggs in a skillet and then add them and the butter to the potatoes and mash well
4. Stir in the mayonnaise to smooth out
5. Season to taste with salt and white pepper

I like to watch the Food Network often and run across various shows that appeal to me for pure entertainment, folly, and in some cases I actually learn a few things. I also enjoy watching Hell’s Kitchen on Fox for the pure stupidity that the contestants seem to display in the kitchen. Food shows on television are more prevalent than ever, I can remember the days when I could count on one hand the number of food related shows and all of them were on the educational public channels. The French Chef with Julia Child, The Frugal Gourmet with Jeff Smith, The Galloping Gourmet with Graham Kerr and a few others which I can’t seem to recall. Of course Julia was my favorite, she started me cooking at home when I was 13 years old, French omelets and eggs all over the floor teaching myself to do the flip and keep it in the pan.

The other night Monique and I were just surfing the channels and I ran across the show Good Eats with Alton Brown on the Food Network, and there were two shows back to back, the first one covered Puff Pastry Dough and the second installment was all about Pâte à choux. Both shows were very informative and refresher courses if you will, reminding me of the ole culinary arts pastry classes I had taken during my culinary apprenticeship back in 1984. Back then Master Pastry Chef Mark Fitch was the instructor and he employed a scientific approach to teaching us about pastries and baking basics. We learned about gluten, enzymes and chemical reactions with yeast, water, oxygen, and nitrogen.  Bulk Fermentation Time (BFT), docking, proofing, knock back, and the typical procedures for each stage of the baking process.

Basic bread making procedure steps are: 1. Scale ingredients, 2. Mix ingredients, 3. Bulk fermentation time, 4. Knock back, 5. Scale into loaves or portions, 6. Proof dough, 7. Bake.

Like I said, the two shows brought me back in time 24 years past to what I had learned and not much has changed. Basic culinary procedures and practices have remained fairly constant for some time now, the change today comes from how creative chefs can be in deciding presentations and combinations of the final product.

This week I am preparing a birthday menu for Monique and will incorporate puff pastry dough into the appetizer utilizing a dish we did at the Columns Hotel, I will be making Crabmeat en Crute which is lump crabmeat artichoke bottoms, and supreme sauce in a puff pastry dough and baked to perfection.

Some of the other food shows that we like to watch are Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Emeril Live, The Essence of Emeril, Paula’s Home Cooking, Paula’s Party, Iron Chef and Iron Chef America, The Secret Life Of, and Unwrapped.

Do you have any cooking shows on television that you like to watch and are you inspired to get in the kitchen and prepare new things? Or are you encouraged to enjoy new dining experiences based on food shows?

Well I finally documented all the dinner special menu items including appetizers and entrees from the Columns Hotel during my 2 year stint there and the chefs were creative in their style and use of ingredients, some sauce preparations are shared between various items such as rabbit, chicken breast, veal and sweetbreads being the primary entree features.

Some of my favorite dishes are any of the Stuffed Veal Chop menu items and most of the Rabbit menu items.  Check out the attached Word document link below for all the documented menu items, it is 8 pages long.

DinnerSpecialsMenu.doc