Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By JANET K. KEELER
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2001
deconstructing
explanations from the inside out
Chartreuse cauliflower is a genetic cross between green broccoli and traditional creamy-colored cauliflower. Broccoflower is milder tasting than its parents but remains more cauliflower than broccoli. When raw, the green veggie tastes like cauliflower, when cooked more like broccoli. The chlorophyll in the broccoli gives the vegetable its color.
Broccoflower originated in Holland and has been grown in the United States since 1989. Tanimura and Antle, a company in Salinas, Calif., owns the trademark on the hybrid name.
Select broccoflower the way you would cauliflower. Look for a firm head with compact florets; the leaves should be crisp and green. Avoid heads with brown spots. Store unwashed and tightly wrapped broccoflower in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The vegetable can be cooked in the same ways as cauliflower: steamed, boiled or stir fried, among other ways, and in soups, casseroles, salads or as dippers. Broccoflower is high in vitamin C and folic acid.
www.kayskreations.net
Looking for ready-made recipe cards? Some surfing yielded sites with attractive cards to download -- for non-commercial use only, of course. Kay's Kreations lets you print 3- by 5-inch or 4- by 6-inch cards, as well as shopping lists.
Also worth a peek: Sheryl's Graphics has several whimsical cards (www.sherylsgraphics.com), and those at Warm Fuzzies (www.warm-fuzzies.com, then click on "printables") have a teddy bear theme. You'll need to scroll to the bottom of the home pages to find the free recipe card links.
"Lettuce is divine, although I'm not sure it's really food." -- Diana Vreeland (1906-1989), editor of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue
Don't use marinades as sauces unless they are boiled after the raw meat, poultry, or seafood has been removed. If a marinade is used as a mopping sauce while grilling, make sure it is cooked for at least three minutes over high heat.
You have a better shot at winning $1-million in the Pillsbury Bake-Off than from the Florida Lottery. But you don't have much time. Entries must be postmarked by Oct. 15. One hundred finalists will be chosen (by Dec. 15) to win an expense-paid trip to Orlando to compete and prepare their dishes in minikitchens at the Bake-Off, Feb. 24-27. Get rules or enter online at www.bakeoff.com. To receive rules and an entry blank by mail, call (800) 533-1822 through Sept. 30.
The American Institute of Cancer Research is on a mission to get us to eat less meat. Its "New American Plate" campaign suggests that meat should take up only one-third, or less, of the space on our plates. The other two-thirds should be vegetables and grains. Vegetables are especially important because they contain many elements known to help prevent and fight cancer. To get a free booklet with recipes, call toll-free 1-800-843-8114 or go online at www.aicr.com.
An advertisement in Fresh Cup, a trade publication for the tea and coffee industry, shows that the green tea craze may have gone too far. Mocafe, a California gourmet coffee company, is advertising green tea latte, on ice no less. Any health benefits derived from green are likely to be overridden by the queasy feeling you'll get from looking at what resembles iced pea soup.
Tasters around the newsroom give Act II's new microwave kettle corn lukewarm reviews. Kettle corn, an early American invention, is traditionally popped in a big kettle with sugar. Act II's microwave version is not as sweet or flavorful as the corn found at flea markets and fairs. The "slightly sweet, slightly salty" corn needs to be more sweet or salty. One taster, who didn't know it was kettle corn, asked "is there something different about the popcorn?" If it had been sweet enough, he would have known for sure. A three-pack retails for $2.19.