European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Taking the lumps out of Gravy step 1. By Joan Drake los Angeles times Good Gravy a easy words to use As an expletive but a sauce that Many Cooks find difficult to prepare. It need t be so if you understand the three Basic Steps decreasing de glazing and thickening. Pan Gravy begins with drippings rendered when meats and poultry Are sauteed broiled roasted or browned. Once the meat or poultry is cooked remove it from the pan step 1then degrease the drippings by one of the following methods a pour the juices into a measuring cup designed for this purpose step 2with the pouring spout located near the Bottom so the juices May be poured off after the fat rises to the top. A tip the pan and use a Basting tool to Siphon the juices from beneath the fat. A pour the juices into a heat proof Glass Container and submerge it in cold water so the fat rises to the top and May be spooned off. Set the fat aside. Add enough water to the remaining drippings to measure two cups Stock milk Cream wine or Beer May be substituted if desired. De Glaze the roasting pan by gradually pouring this liquid Back into the pan step 3simmering Over Low heat and scraping up any Brown bits off the Bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon place Throe Tablespoons of the reserved fat in a Saucepan step 4. Sprinkle three Tablespoons flour Over the fat and blend into a smooth Roux with a wire whisk or wooden spoon step 5. Cook Over medium heat three to five minutes stirring occasionally to rid the flour of its raw starchy taste. Gradually add the liquid from the roasting pan step 6 and simmer stirring until the Gravy thickens. Continue to simmer about 15 minutes stirring occasionally and adding More water As necessary. Strain before serving if desired. At Home with the French step 3. By Nathalie Dupree Cox news service an unknown terror struck my heart when was invited to meet Audrey a Boyfriend s parents in Paris. Audrey has lived with me on and off since she was 16 and is the closest ill Ever come to having a daughter. Now she s grown up and Beautiful and has graduated from College with top Marks and i m terribly proud of her. I was t prepared for this tension engendered by the idea o mooting his parents getting their approval having a meal with them. Pierre Henri met us at the Airport curly haired and handsome with dark Button eyes and a Sweet smite. As we drove to our hotel he broke the news we both had been invited to dinner to meet his parents at their Homo knowing the reputation of the French Tor keeping their distance and not inviting people to their Homes i had expected to meet them in a restaurant. I know my Way around restaurants i Don t know my Way around French Homos. In 20 years of trips to France i had been invited to a French Home Only three times and i knew it was a special Type of graciousness for this family to Welcome us unknown and unseen. But while it charmed me it made me uneasy. Was it necessary to Call his Mother and accept the invitation or could he . For us what on Earth would to Wear All of a sudden our clothes did t seem right for a dinner of this sort. Should we take a gift Send one after or what after stewing a bit in the juices of self focusing i decided i could Trust this dear boy enough to guide us about his Home and family and make some Good decisions. From the moment we walked into their House we were at Home. It turns out that mothers Are the same All Over the world a and this one wanted her boy to be Happy. The menu was of great interest to us once we were greeted. What would they serve Pierre Henri s father had bought the Best French Champagne for us and was in his element a warm and caring. We were served something to nibble on As we sat Down. But we were still nervous and for the life of me i can t remember what it was. But no one could forget our first course of fresh Goose liver Pate with truffles. Fresh Goose liver very fashionable in France is quite a different thing from the canned pates you buy in gourmet stores and airports. The slices were thick Rich flavorful. We ate them with knife and Fork or on the hot homemade Melba like Toast slices. At moments of great decadence we would smear on butter As Well. There were slices and chips of truffles adding their earthy crunch Ness. And the conversation no one let on that my French nearly non existent was abominable. I spoke pidgin French. Audrey translated fluent at the table. When we were Replete with Goose liver with some pieces still left on the plate the next course was ready. It had been tantalizing us with its odor for More than an hour. Mother and son took charge worrying about it being just right fussing a bit in the Kitchen about its perfection. Was it overcooked it occurred to me Pierre step 2. Step 4. Step 6. La times 6 Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes Friday May 16, 1990 Henri smother might have had some fears about having us to dinner. The roast leg of Lamb arrived perfectly roasted along with some Crisp French Green Beans tiny and fresh. Then salad served after the Lamb a Crisp lettuce tossed with vinegar and the lightest of Olive oils. Were we in some other life we would have had no room but on this night our Joy and enthusiasm Lor each other swelled our capacity to stay at the table and eat dessert was by the local patisserie a a King s cake for Lent made of puff pastry and filled with Almond paste. With it goes a Gold paper Crown which immediately set on Audrey a head. By the time the cheese course was brought on to finish the meal we were full of pleasure enthral d with each other. Smug with the knowledge that our loud ones no matter what their path would have As a companion someone with whom we could break bread we parted company ready to meet the next Day Over lunch of course. Leg of Lamb 1 5 to 6-Pound leg of Lamb 3 or 4 cloves garlic slivered 2 Tablespoons fresh Rosemary chopped 1 cup White wine trim off the leg of Lamb s papery skin called the foil poke Small slits in the Lamb and push in the garlic and Rosemary. Place in pan and surround with White whig place in 500 degree preheated oven turn oven Down to 350 degrees and roast 10-12 minutes per Pound for medium rare. Let rest before carving. Serves 6. Microwaves How Safe Are they 3y Marian Burros jew York times microwave ovens have not been High on anyone a list of important safety concerns for several years now. Fears that Small children will be exposed to Low Levels of radiation escaping from poorly sealed doors seem to have died Down. No oven is allowed to leak More than five Mill Watts per Square centimetre two inches away from the oven which the food and drug administration says poses no Hazard. And the seals on the doors Are better than in the past. Presumably parents have also warned their children not to treat the Glass in oven doors As a window just in Case the amount of radiation leaking from an oven turns out not to be Safe. But new concerns have Arisen Over the last year or two. One is the danger of bums to very Young children who Are increasingly using microwave ovens. The other involves packaging materials containing hazardous substances that Migrate to the food at High temperatures. Unaware of these potential hazards most people consider microwave ovens safer than conventional ovens. Quot the microwave is safer if it is used properly Quot said Matthew p. Maley director of risk management at the shrines Burns Institute in Cincinnati. Quot but the problem is that children who cannot read or follow directions Are using it and they Are put at risk. If you cannot read or follow directions you Are too Young to use a microwave oven. Quot the microwave is a tool like the Kitchen stove and for anyone to use this tool properly they have to be Able to understand How the tool works and understand the directions on How it yet in interviews with 300 mothers conducted last year by the Good housekeeping Institute parents bragged about How Early their children Learned to use a microwave oven. Operating one has joined learning to talk walk and tie shoelaces As benchmarks for precocious Ness. Sixty five percent of the women with microwave ovens said they permitted their children age 4 to 12, to use them. The most recent statistics on injuries from microwave ovens Are from 1985, As reported in the lancet the British medical journal. In 1985 there were 41 such injuries a mostly Burns a in the United states and Britain 10 or 11 of them to children. Maley said that although no statistics Are available since 1986 the shrines Institute has anecdotal evidence of More than 200 injuries to children involving microwave ovens. Maley said children under 7 should not be permitted to use microwave ovens alone. Louis Salesin the editor of microwave news a newsletter on health and safety said children younger than 10 or 12 should not use the oven unsupervised. What concerns Maley Salesin and others about Young children using ovens Are the possibilities for scalding and burning. Among things for parents to consider Are these a children who Are not tall enough to look into a microwave oven can scald themselves while removing a dish. A teaching a child to Cook one item in the microwave oven does not mean the child has the capacity to Cook anything else. Children May assume that since it is so easy to use the oven they can try other foods in it. A often children do not know that Metal should not be used in an oven because it might arc and Start a fire that a food cooked too Long could also Start a fire that certain plastics might melt that foods Cook unevenly so some parts might be raw while others Are cooked and that the raw parts might contain harmful bacteria. And again because foods Cook unevenly children might test a cup of soup with a Finger find it just the right temperature and not realize until they have sipped in that the rest is boiling hot # Only experienced Cooks Are Likely to know that the sugar in Jelly gets much hotter than any pastry surrounding if Maley said a 14-year old boy was hospitalized after he bit into a Jelly doughnut not realizing the heat of the Jelly until he had swallowed it. He burned his oesophagus Maley said that when the Institute microwaved a Frozen Jelly doughnut for 30 seconds the pastry reached 180 f and the Jelly 217 f not Only would the Jelly cause a Burn but the sugar would also stick to the skin or other tissues and could not be removed easily. A there Are a number of reports Maley said about children being scalded when opening packages of microwave Popcorn. The vapor Corning from the package he said is 180 of and at 159 f Walcer will cause a thud degree Burn in one second even adults Are not exempt from danger when the shrines Hospital conducted an Moor real Survey of about 2,000 adults in 1985 and 1986, 75 percent said they had received an injury from use of a microwave oven that caused pain for 18 to 24 hours or More Maley said such an injury is probably the equivalent of a second degree Burn in another unfolding microwave oven drama both children and adults May be at risk from cancer causing substances in certain packaging in one kind of package metallic strips called heat Susce tors Are designed to induce High temperatures that make Popcorn pop and cause foods like pizzas French tries Wattles and fish Sticks to Brown. Concerns have Arisen because the Fra Lias not evaluated the safety of such packages at temperatures above 300 f yet the heat Susce tors teach 500 i in a microwave other potentially hazardous packages Are made of plasticized paper for use in either a conventional of a microwave oven. These too have not been tossed above 300 of even though they Are usually baked at 350 i in conventional ovens the Fra does not have information to show a health risk but the Agency s studies show that the components of this packaging a adhesives polymers paper and paperboard a can Migrate to Tho food during cooking and some of these components contain carcinogenic substances like benzene the chemical in Pernor hot lied water that forced its recall the Agency has asked the Industry to provide it with safety data. In the meantime the prudent advice is to use Glass cookware instead of heat Susce Tor packages in microwave cooking and to use the plasticized packages Only in the microwave where there appears to be no migration of the packing material. In addition plastic wrap should not touch food in tic microwave oven the same migration of undesirable chemicals is known to occur when certain plastics Are placed directly on the food especially fatty food it is belter to use a Glass cover. Booklets offer info on diet nutrition amp health by Randolph e. Schmid associated press Ere comes summer vacations sports beaches bathing suits. And bathing suits mean it May be time to shed some Winter pounds. Sure lots of folks stay in shape All year. But for Many Winter has meant a bit less exercise and a bit More weight i accumulated a weight they want to shed now that warmer weather is approaching. I weight loss programs abound and i some of them actually May help for i awhile. J but folks who want to go it alone a it confronting the need for diet and h exercise a can get some assistance i from Handy government publications. 1 the department of health and human i services for example has available i eating for life a $1 brochure that i discusses How the foods we eat affect our health promote or prevent disease l and can help extend lifespans. Compiled by the National institutes of health and the Public health service the Booklet is item no. 118w and can be obtained from the consumer information Center Pueblo colo., 81009. That Center has available a Host of other booklets too. Useful to folks trying to slim Down for summer May be a fitness fundamentals a discussion of How to set up an exercise program and Monitor your Progress $1, item 129w. A How to take weight off without getting ripped off discusses weight reduction products fad diets and diet aids and sensible weight loss programs free item 529w. A fruit something Good that s not la Leal immoral or fattening Iree item 524w. A nutritive value of foods lists More than 900 foods giving values for calories sodium Calcium cholesterol and vitamins $2.75, item 120w. A eating better when eating out How to compare calories and nutrients in restaurant foods $1.50, item 123w. A making bag lunches snacks and desserts includes ideas for creative and healthy lunches including a Chart listing the calories fat sodium and cholesterol values of various snacks $2.50, item a your Money s Worth in foods discusses taking Stock of your Lood needs and How to meet those needs at a reasonable Price $2 25, item 128w. A sweetness minus calories equals controversy looks at the debate Over artificial sweeteners and i hair safety free item 579w. Quot keep in mind that staying healthy requires More than just Good nutrition Quot the Booklet eating for life Points out Quot regular exercise getting enough rest learning to Cope with stress and having regular physical checkups Are important Quot reducing obesity through exercise and a sensible diet can help reduce the chances of several medical problems including High blood pressure heart disease and some forms of cancer the Booklet says. The framework of a Good diet is to eat a variety of foods to be sure of getting essential nutrients but Only enough calories to maintain a desirable weight. 124w. Friday May 18, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17
