Nutritional Tip from Hazel

BBQ Tips to Prevent Cancer Many people avoid BBQ foods because the are worry about the cancer risk. However, although the risk is real, it can be greatly reduced by changing the way you do it and the food you choose to grill. The risk comes from HCAs – Heterocyclic amines, which is a cancer-causing compounds formed by combining HIGH heat and muscle proteins of the red meat, poultry and seafood. Consumption of HCAs is linked to cancers of colon and stomach. Here are some tips for you to enjoy your BBQ foods without needing to worry about your health. Turn the gas down and raise the grilling surface from the heat source to lower the cooking temperature. This can avoid the black char that can form on meat. The carcinogen content in the char is extremely high. Marinating and flipping meat often. Marinating can decrease HCA formation by up to 96 percent according to the American Institute of Cancer Research. Grill leaner cuts of meat that will drip less and cause less smoke. Fats on the meat melt under high heat and turn into grease. As the grease drip onto the red hot charcoal, lots of smoke arise which consists of another cancer-causing compound called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons-PAHs. Therefore, do not just focus on your red meat - beef, pork, lamb, and sausages/hot links at the BBQ but try using Chicken and Fish as other options. If you really enjoy red meat, try making kabobs. The smaller pieces of meat reduce cooking time and you can include more vegetables on the kabobs. Try grilling vegetables and fruits as they do NOT form HCAs. Also, fruits and vegetables contains cancer-fighting nutrients and phytochemicals which stimulate enzymes that can convert HCAs to an inactive, stable form that is easily eliminated from the body.

Interested in learning about weight goal and nutrition needs? Schedule a free body weight and fat% analysis with Hazel at 626-283-5128 or email tohazel@smarteater.net.

Shirley Corriher's Touch-of-Grace Biscuits

My sister, Maggie, was here from Portland over the weekend and she sent me this recipe so we made them.... they were cakey but really good. So the following is the actual article and video that she sent me.

SHIRLEY CORRIHER'S TOUCH-OF-GRACE BISCUITS

Every week, Food52's Senior Editor Kristen Miglore is unearthing recipes that are nothing short of genius.

Today: Never again suffer a dry biscuit, thanks to food scientist Shirley Corriher (and her grandmother).

- Kristen

The number one problem with biscuits, if you ask anyone who cares about biscuits, is getting stuck with one so pasty and dry that no slather of butter or jam can redeem it. It's as bad as being presented with a trampled-looking well done steak, when you ordered medium rare. Maybe worse.

A foolproof solution comes to us from none other than Shirley Corriher -- chemist, baker and author of CookWise andBakeWise -- who recreated her grandmother's technique after too many problem biscuits of her own. (Granny said to add "a touch of grace", and an iconic recipe was born.)

So: the answer to dry biscuits? Make them wet. Really, really wet. If you take a suspiciously moist batter and put it in a hot oven, you get steam, which puffs up the biscuits and makes them airy inside, while still sizzling up a great crust.

They're downright meditative to assemble -- after pinching together the dry ingredients with a bit of shortening (or butter or lard, for you purists), you stir in cream and buttermilk until it looks like cottage cheese, per Corriher's instructions. "It should be a wet mess," she says.

So even if your spooned-and-leveled cups of flour turn out to be more loaded than Corriher's, or it's a humid day (two things that can really affect the outcome of batters and doughs), you'll still be okay -- because you just keep pouring and stirring until it looks like something that couldn't possibly stand up and become a biscuit.

What keeps the biscuits from spilling all over is this fun step: you plop your batter (from an ice cream scoop!) into a pie plate full of flour, then toss it all around and let the flour fall through your fingers until you're left with just a lump of dough bound together by a thin skin of flour. (Don't wear black -- you're going to get floured.)

Then you roll them into your buttered cake pan, nudging them all up against each other, so none have a chance to fall flat. They get steamy, soft middles while the tops and outer edges turn coppery and crisp. (See a great video of Corriher demonstrating the technique here.)

Be warned: these are not your tall, proud, layer-upon-flaky-layer biscuits. Those are their own animal, and require thoughtful folding and cutting. Corriher's are a humbler beast, but just as good (and arguably much easier to throw together).

They're squat little puffs you'll want to grab, steaming, from a basket passed over fried chicken or bacon and eggs. You'll want to make them with your kids. You'll want to whip them up, and then tear them apart, with unexpected guests. You'll want to turn to them when you're alone and in the mood for biscuits, because they're so moist, they're actually still good after a day or two, with a quick warm-up in the oven. And you'll definitely want to pour gravy all over them.

Shirley Corriher's Touch-of-Grace Biscuits

Note: Corriher, ever the scientist and tinkerer, published one version of this recipe in CookWise in 1997, and a fairly different one in BakeWise in 2008. We tried and loved both, the newer one edged out (she knows her tinkering).

Makes about 12-14 medium biscuits

Adapted slightly from BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking (Scribner, 2008)

Butter for greasing, or nonstick cooking spray
2 cups (9 oz/255 g) spooned and leveled self-rising flour (low-protein Southern U.S. flour like White Lily or any self-rising flour)
1/4 cup sugar (or less, if you prefer your biscuits less sweet)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup buttermilk, or enough for dough to resemble cottage cheese (if you are not using low-protein flour, it will take more than 1 cup)
1 cup plain all-purpose flour, for shaping
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing

See a slideshow and the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Want more genius? Try Ann Seranne's Rib Roast of Beef

Got a genius recipe to share -- from a classic cookbook, an online source, or anywhere, really? Please send it my way (and tell me what's so smart about it) at kristen@food52.com.

Photos by James Ransom

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