Resources for cooking for a person with type 2 diabetes

Question

I am a private chef and will have to cook for 16 days for a person recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

The meals I'm required to prepare are lunch and dinner. There will be six people and dinners are served family style.

I have occasionally cooked for the family in the past and the meals have always been simple, eclectic and very healthy made from the highest quality ingredients which I have access to. I have never baked for this family and don't see any reason to start now.

What I need is information and resources on low-glycemic, diabetic diets. We also love to eat creative, fun and interesting foods so that should make it easier. I'm just curious what ideas are there, so please share.

Asked by Adam S

Answer

Recently diagnosed Type II Diabetes patients are frequently prescribed a low-carbohydrate diet. The type of carbohydrate ("slow" or "simple" are familiar terms) doesn't matter so much as the total number of carbohydrates.

A person with this dietary prescription would have learned to count gross carbohydrates and to eat the same number of carbohydrates at every meal. Their calories ought to come primarily from protein and fat, but also from a modest portion of carbohydrates.

Therefore, something such as a salad w/ dressing, a protein, a vegetable side, and a modest portion of starchy food would probably be most appropriate. Legumes, and other fiber-rich sources of carbohydrates, have the added benefits of being more satisfying and nutritious (as opposed to, say, white rice). They also sport a low glycemic-index.

For example: Salad, a reasonable portion of a creamy-type chicken dish, a steamed (non-starchy) vegetable side, and a modest portion of whole grains, legumes, or starchy vegetables.

Dessert, for the recently diagnosed, is probably too optimistic. Something along the lines of a low-sugar lemon sorbet might work. Sugar substitutes, although they taste bad, are medically acceptable.

You can find specific recommendations on the number of carbohydrates for diabetics on various websites, but it's probably easiest to just ask your client about their individual situation.

There is one extra consideration that is easy for a cook to miss: thickeners, such as cornstarch or flour, can have a very high carbohydrate content; certain vegetables, while they do not seem starchy, actually have quite a bit of sugar. If your client is seriously following the diet I've described, then such carbohydrate sources must be taken into account.

Answered by shotwell

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What's a good resource for knowing what spices are, and what to use them on?

Question

I know what spices like garlic and black pepper are, and what foods you typically put them on. But spices like cardamom, rosemary, thyme, paprika, whatever, completely elude me. I haven't found a good resource yet that explains all of them. Is there some kind of "spice cheat sheet" out there that I can tape to my kitchen cabinet?

Asked by Clinton Judy

Answer

It's not a "cheat sheet", and is rather too big to stick to your fridge, but I highly recommend the book The Flavor Bible, which is an encyclopedia of exactly these associations. What ingredients does any particular ingredient go with? How do you cook it? Absolutely terrific book!

Answered by Harlan

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vegetarian cookbook for kids

Question

I am looking to buy a vegetarian cookbook for my 11 year old niece. She has some basic cooking knowledge, and has just turned vegetarian (and so she's cooking for herself). Does anybody have any recommendations?

Asked by n/a

Answer

We have both of Mollie Katzen's books for kids, Pretend Soup and Honest Pretzels. The recipes are decent and the layout really works for younger kids. An 11 year old might find them too basic, though.

Answered by n/a

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Tips/resources for learning how to plate dishes

Question

I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on a couple books about plating from Amazon (Food Styling, by Custer, Dishing with Style, by Trovato, perhaps Culinary Artistry, by Dornenburg), but before I do, I figured I'd ask if anyone here has tips or resources that may be of help. I'm thinking websites or book recommendations, but any advice will do.

The lower the cost, the better, but since I'm willing to buy a book or two, I'm willing to put the money elsewhere as well.

Thanks!

Asked by awshepard

Answer

http://www.tastespotting.com is everything you need. You will get hundreds of ideas there.

Also, remember what the director of my culinary school says: "Food should look like it fell from Heaven onto the plate." Don't get too fussy in other words.

Editing to add a more complete answer.

The ability to plate effectively and beautifully is a combination of two things: an artistic eye and technical skill.

The latter I will deal with in a moment. The former requires some inborn talent, but it can be nurtured. Teach yourself about basic visual concepts such as proportion (how things relate to each other in size), contrast, and negative versus positive space (positive space is the space actually taken up by what you are working with; negative space is the empty space. Much as in music, it's the spaces between the notes that bring interest to the whole assemblage).

Then start paying attention to the plates you see. What do you like about them? What don't you like. Then go out, buy some play-doh, make some food-shaped things and some sauces of various consistencies, and start playing with your plates. A note: almost every fine dining restaurant in the world uses white plates exclusively. There is a reason for this; it shows the food off better. That being said, there is a time and a place to break that fashion. Sometimes for tradition (charcuterie and cheese plates are often served on wooden boards) and sometimes for dramatic effect (a pure white cream soup in a black bowl, e.g.)

Now, on to technical skill. The first and most important thing to do is think about how you are going to plate the final dish before you even start prep. This thinking will inform how you cut your products, what shapes you are looking for, and what consistency you want your sauces to be. It will also inform how you prepare your garnishes--are you looking for something upright and dramatic? Something smeared across the plate? You need to plan ahead, and that means careful knife skills and sauce work. Keep colours in mind, too!

Then you need to start practicing on how you sauce your plates. Thinner sauces/flavoured oils will spread. Thicker sauces and purees stay in place, and thus can be shaped. The first real skill I learned for saucing a plate is using a thick puree, dropping a dollop on the plate, then quickly smearing with the back of a spoon. When done right, it can be very pretty, and for that reason is quite common. it's also the sort of thing you only tend to see at restaurants, to it often impresses dinner guests at home. The easiest way to practice this technique is with homemade mayonnaise.

You will also want to invest in a couple of squeeze bottles. This will allow you to place (thick) sauces wherever and however you want. Again, mayonnaise is a perfect consistency to practice with. Just whip up a batch and spend your afternoon playing.

Also, if you're putting sauce on the plate with a spoon, use the spoon end-on, don't drop it from the side of the spoon.. You will have much more control this way.

Then comes the rest of the food you're putting on the plate. With anything that has been fried, sauteed, or roasted with juices, always pat the bottom dry on some paper towel first, to prevent runoff on the plate (unless of course that is what you want). Tongs are invaluable until you get your fingers to a point that they can tolerate relatively high heat. And always remember: once you place something, that's it. Moving it around will cause mess and problems.

For more advanced techniques, look at things like ring molds (for packing loose products together) which are available in a wide variety of shapes. Plain tin cookie cutters also work very well for this purpose, and are FAR cheaper than ring molds. Also teach yourself to make quenelles, the football-shaped blobs made by shaping something soft in two spoons.

Hopefully that all helps.

Answered by n/a

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What are good references for Gluten free baking

Question

I have several members of my family who are GF. Baking for them has become a real challenge. I'm looking for good references to learn to understand how to work with this limitation in my baking. What are good references (online or print) for good GF baked goods?

Asked by acrosman

Answer

This is an excellent site to learn about gluten free baking:

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

I have personally tried many of the recipes and they have been excellent.

Answered by James H

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Coffee brewing methods - scientific analysis?

Question

Can anyone point out websites or academic articles analyzing coffee brewing methods?

I can easily identify taste differences between the various methods, but I'd like to know which ones are comparable and what variables are most important.

Methods:

drip
cold-brew (toddy)
pour-over
french press
other?

espresso

Beans:

type (arabica, robusta, other?)
roast (light->dark, freshness)
ground (fineness, consistency)

You can read about all this stuff all over the internet, but it's all anecdotes. I'd like to see, e.g., the results of mass spectroscopy given different processes.

Asked by keflavich

Answer

Could this help: http://www.goodfood-project.org/www/Links/Hashimoto.pdf?

I had a quick flick and it basically uses infrared analysis to work out the quality and underlying flavor of the beans.

Other sites I found (though less of what you asked) are http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B0/B701/22MB701.html which is just a general look at the science behind coffee and http://www.marco.ie/other_pdfs/070516_SCAE_Gold_Cup_Filter_Presentations.pdf which looks at the methods behind brewing.

Anyway, hope this helps.

Answered by Sebiddychef

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What are Good Resources for Baker's Percentage Ranges?

Question

I would like to try to apply the baker percentage concept to create my own baked good recipes (cakes, cookies, muffins, etc.). However, I can't seem to find any resources that indicate appropriate ranges for each type of recipe. I have found many resources that explain the baker percentage concept, but none that provide appropriate ranges. What are some good resources that explain baker percentages for various baked goods?

Answer

You are confusing terms here. Baker's percentages are used for bread and bread only. In pastry baking, ratio is even more important as in bread, but traditionally, nobody calles it "baker's percentages".

The book you want is Ruhlman's Ratio. It gives exactly the information you want for pastry and some other things (noodles, mayonnaise). About the only common ratio he doesn't explain is ice cream. It also has some recipes, but the main focus is on the exact proportions of flour, sugar, fat and liquid you need for each type of baked good.

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Where to learn what ratios to use in cooking?

Question

I am learning to cook. I want to know whether there is a good resource at what ratios of ingredients to use when I am cooking. Thank You. :)

Answer

How about Ruhlman's book, Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking?

The entire work is dedicated to breaking cooking down into ratios, and it includes recipes. I hear the bread recipe is particularly good.

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